Clutter Model Based on Real-Time Terrain

"MARK Resources proposes to develop a procedure for simulating ground/sea clutter seenby an airborne radar that is both realistic and practical. The procedure will bedesigned to be implemented in a real-time hardware-in-the-loop testing environmentSimulation of ground and sea clutter seen by airborne radars is difficult to do inreal time bacause of the complexity of these signals. Ground clutter is spatiallynonhomogeneous, and the clutter spectrum is strongly dependent on the engagementgeometry, the antenna pattern, and where the beam is pointing. Moreover, airborneradars frequently employ monopulse processing, which means that the clutter spectrumis different in each receiver channel. For a maneuvering platform and a scanningantenna, the spectrum must be updated frequently to keep up with the changingconditions, which places severe requirements on the simulation system.An off-line simulation will be developed in Phase I to be used to determineimportant cost and performance trades. The ability to simulate realistic environment signals in real time is important inthe development and testing of all types of radars, for both military and commercialapplications."