Phase Coherence and Signal-to-Noise Ratio Considerations for Sampled Aperture Radar Systems

摘要

The report describes the application of Sampled Aperture Radar (SAMPAR) technology to the tracking of low-angle targets at sea. In particular, expressions are developed and presented describing aperture signals for a conventional SAMPAR configuration which uses coherent local oscillators. The radar signals are shown to contain an interference term in which is contained all of the information used during Correlation Height Analysis (CHA) processing. A continuous wave (CW) experiment designed to evaluate the CHA algorithm is described. Some pre-processing of the interference term is required prior to CHA processing to optimize the results. A discussion is given of the implementation of Doppler processing for various target velocities. Finally a discussion is given of signal-to-noise ratios for typical target geometries and sea-state conditions, in which forward-scatter clutter, back-scatter clutter and system noise are taken into account.