10 CM Radar Ground Clutter Measurements Taken from a Coastal Steamer Radar on Passage from Bergen to North Cape in May 1982,

Abstract

The problems of radar backscatter from a rough surface have attracted a mass of research work, trials, theory and also speculation for the last forty years. Nevertheless, even at the 1982 IEE/IERE radar conference, (ref. 6) whole sessions are being devoted to radar clutter from sea, ground and precipitation. In 1981 the author needed to have a reliable measure of the order of magnitude of ground clutter return from a relatively low platform looking at mountainous terrain with negative depression angles i.e., looking up from a valley floor to surrounding hills and mountains. As the literature was not very helpful a short trial was carried out using a conventional marine radar to gather a set of statistics which were not to the author's knowledge readily available. Terrain trials from airborne radars are widely reported in the literature and well reviewed some twelve years ago by Nathanson, whilst more modern work from SLAR and SAR equipment gives plenty of data at a wide range of negative depression angles where terrain screening, particularly from high altitudes, is now a dominant factor.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADP002738

Entities

People

  • P. D. L. Williams

Organizations

  • AGARD

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Altitude
  • Clutter
  • Depression
  • Depression Angles
  • Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Electromagnetic Scattering
  • Ground Clutter
  • High Altitude
  • Literature
  • Radar Clutter
  • Radio Waves
  • Remote Sensing
  • Terrain

Readers

  • Climatology
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Radar Systems Engineering.