Analysis of Measured L-band Airborne Land Clutter from the Western Cape region of South Africa

This paper presents backscatter analysis of L-band land clutter data, measured from an airborne platform, over various terrain types encountered in the Western Cape region of South Africa. The data processing steps are described and the backscatter results are compared to commonly used literature models. Amongst the terrain types that are reported on, two terrains are included that have not (to the knowledge of the authors) been presented before in open literature. These two terrains are Fynbos (a shrub-like vegetation found indigenously in the Mediterranean climate of the Western Cape) and Informal urban terrains, recorded over the township of Khayelitsha.