Non-Rayleigh Sea Clutter: Properties and Detection of Targets

Abstract

Sea clutter has a non-Rayleigh probability density when examined with a radar that has high resolution. This report discusses the properties of non- Rayleigh sea clutter and the detection of targets in non-Rayleigh sea clutter. The spatially varying clutter model is presented and is used to explain the non- Rayleigh nature of sea clutter. The variation of clutter distributions with various radar parameters such as frequency, pulse width, and polarization was determined, and the correlation properties of clutter were established. A way was developed of constructing a realistic realization of the sea surface on a computer, and the surface was used to predict non-Rayleigh clutter densities for various conditions and to indicate some finer points associated with the detection of small targets on the ocean's surface. Finally, various detectors were compared and the problems of pulse-to-pulse and scan-to-scan processing were analyzed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 25, 1976
Accession Number
ADA028875

Entities

People

  • Gerard V. Trunk

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Analysis Of Variance
  • Clutter
  • Composite Materials
  • Computational Science
  • Computers
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • False Alarms
  • Frequency
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Polarization
  • Probability
  • Radar
  • Radar Cross Sections
  • Random Variables
  • Sea Clutter
  • Warning Systems

Readers

  • Acoustical Oceanography.
  • Radar Systems Engineering.