The Effect of the Plasma Sheath Surrounding a Flight Vehicle on the Effective Range of Radar,
Abstract
Derivation of expressions describing the effects of a plasma sheath, caused by an ionizing shock wave at supersonic velocities, on the effective range of an onboard radar installation. The plasma sheath is analyzed as a lossy transmission line and as a receiver with a given noise temperature. Equations are obtained for the reduction in the SNR due to the noise emission of the plasma, the reduced power transmitted through the plasma, and the reduced effective antenna surface. A numerical example given for a flight vehicle moving 3.5 km/sec at an altitude of 60 km shows that the radar range can be reduced by a factor of 3.5. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 05, 1971
- Accession Number
- AD0724994
Entities
People
- V. F. Mikhailov
Organizations
- National Air and Space Intelligence Center