MULTIPATH MODELING: DISTATIC RADAR DETECTION WITH DUCTING AND MULTIPATH

BISTATIC AND MONO-STATIC RADARS ARE AFFECTED BY DUCTING AND MULTIPATH UNDER CERTAIN ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. THESE EFFECTS MAY BE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE DEPENDING ON THE PARTICULAR CONDITIONS AND TARGET-GEOMETRY. LOW FLYER DETECTION IS TYPICALLY ENHANCED BY THE PRESENCE OF AN EVAPORATION DUCT. IN ORDER FOR THE NAVY TO APPROPRIATELY ASSESS THE CAPABILITY OF ITS RADARS IN DUCTING AND MULTIPATH CONDITIONS, QUANTITATIVE METHODS MUST BE AVAILABLE TO COMPUTE AND PREDICT DETECTION PERFORMANCE. SEVERAL NAVY MODELS ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO COMPUTE THE DETECTION RANGE OF MONO-STATIC RADARS IN DUCTING CONDITIONS. SIMILAR MODELS FOR BISTATIC SYSTEMS ARE NOT AVAILABLE AND SHOULD BE DEVELOPED. THE PROPOSED WORK IS INTENDED TO SHOW THAT CURRENT NAVY MONO-STATIC DUCTING/MULTIPATH MODELS CAN BE APPROPRIATELY MODIFIED TO MAKE THEM APPLICABLE TO THE EVALUATION OF BISTATIC RADAR DETECTION PERFORMANCE WITHOUT A MAJOR EXPENDITURE. USE OF SLIGHTLY MODIFIED ALGORITHMS WILL PRODUCE THE MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE CAPABILITY WITH MINIMAL INVESTMENT. IN ORDER TO USE EXISTING DUCTING MODELS TO EVALUATE BISTATIC RADARS, CENTRA WILL: STUDY THE DUCTING PROBLEM AS IT APPLIES TO BISTATIC DETECTION OF LOW-FLYING TARGETS AND DETERMINE ITS UNIQUE ASPECTS; EXAMINE EXISTING DUCTING MODELS; MODIFY THE EXISTING MODELS TO INCLUDE BISTATIC EFFECTS; AND IMPLEMENT THE MODIFIED ALGORITHM.