THE SPECTRAL CHARACTERISTICS AND TEMPORAL BEHAVIOR OF HF RADAR ECHOES FROM OVER-THE-HORIZON AIRCRAFT TARGETS
Abstract
This report summarizes the results of three years of over-the-horizon (OTH) radar tracking studies. The purpose of these studies was to investigate the feasibility and reliability of utilizing ionospheric propagation paths as a means of extending radar usefulness to ranges beyond the geometric horizon. The principal instrument used in these studies was the Madre research radar, which is a high-power, coherent, moving-target-indicating (MTI) radar operating in the high-frequency portion of the radio spectrum. Detailed analyses of the following three phases of the OTH aircraft target study were made: (a) aircraft time-range tracking, (b) temporal behavior of the aircraft target echo, and (c) spectral characteristics of the aircraft target echo. The essential results are, respectively: (a) a range measurement accuracy of approximately 5 percent may be expected under usual conditions, even if no effort is made to correct the raw slant-range data for the effects of ionospheric path; (b) a typical OTH target can normally be acquired 60 percent of the time during which it is illuminated, compared to a 6 percent acquisition rate for noncoherent radars; and (c) the number of aircraft in a closely spaced group of aircraft can be determined and separated in velocity with a doppler resolution of at least 1/10 cps.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 18, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0368068
Entities
People
- F. E. Boyd
- F. H. Utley
- J. F. Thomason
- J. M. Hudnall
- J. R. Davis
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory