RCS in Radar Range Calculations for Maritime Target英文清晰版.pdfVIP

RCS in Radar Range Calculations for Maritime Targets by Ingo Harre, Bremen, Germany (V2.0 1 Abstract This web page deals with the RCS (Radar Cross Section) parameter and its application in radar range calculations for the detection of maritime targets. It is the intention of the author to compile the basic facts, which are spread in the technical literature and difficult to find, and to comment them where necessary. RCS data of ships quoted even in technical standards, are often incomplete in that their conditions, such as radar frequency, applicable target aspect range, and statistical properties, are missing. These conditions should be taken into account when performing radar range calculations in order to obtain meaningful results. In this paper the basic facts related to RCS shall be elucidated. Where there are open questions yet, these will be mentioned. 2 What is RCS 2.1 Definitions In radar reference books we find various definitions for RCS, e.g.: BARTON 1, “Measure of the reflective strength of a target”. The E. W. Handbook of U.S. Navy defines, “A measure of the radar reflection characteristics of a target. It is equal to the power reflected back to the radar divided by power density of the wave striking the target. For most targets, the radar cross section is the area of the cross section of the sphere that would reflect the same energy back to the radar if the sphere were substituted. RCS of sphere is independent of frequency if operating in the far field region”. SKOLNIK 2 provides the following short and concise definition, “The radar cross section of a target is the (fictional) area intercepting that amount of power which, when scattered equally in all directions, produces a