Shallow Water Bottom Characteristic Measurement Sensors

To evolve High Range Resolution based NCTR algorithms for application to shipboard TBMD, Self Defense, and Area Defense missions, the Navy surface radar community needs a comprehensive tool that combines detailed target, propagation, and environmentmodels with a flexible coherent radar model. RF signature models, such as Xpatch, can compute the complex frequency, polarization, and aspect angle RCS dependence of targets. Current NCTR development generally involves application of candidate NCTRalgorithms against idealized radar signal returns calculated from RCS profiles generated by such models. The limitation of this approach is that it does not account for deviations from an idealized signal return, due to radar errors, propagation effects,and natural and man-made interference. Consequently, their effects must later be evaluated through expensive, yet limited, live target testing. TSC proposes to develop a tool that combines detailed radar and environmental models with complex backscattermodeling. It will integrate TSC's Signal Environment Simulation (SENS) - an existing comprehensive coherent radar model - with existing signature models such as Xpatch, and a six degrees of freedom target trajectory model. This tool will provideeffective support for Navy NCTR algorithm development efforts, as well as for predictive or post-test analysis of live target testing.This research and development effort could lead to a unified NCTR development tool capable of modeling all effects fromwaveform generation and transmission through propagation reflection from the target and reception and signal processing. Such a tool provides a unique capability for design and development of NCTR methods and algorithms, as well as a much neededpredictive analysis capability for NAVY testing.