Test Report on an Experimental Low-Angle Tracking Subsystem for An/FPS-16Radar.

摘要

The report describes tests of a new Low-Angle Tracking (LAT) radar technique which uses a vertical antenna array to provide elevation coverage of the region from the horizon to one beam width above the horizon. A beam-forming network behind the array derives the ratio of the signals in two beams. Be design, this ratio is proportional to target elevation angle. The image signal entering the antenna is processed with the target signal in such a way that the system performance is not affected by the presence of the image signal. This process enables the radar to track targets in elevation in the low-angle region. An experimental LAT subsystem was designed that implements the ratio technique. The LAT subsystem was interfaced with an AN/FPS-16 tracking radar at the NRL facility at Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. Tracking data was collected in the low-angle region that indicates elevation accuracies between 1/10 and 1/15 of a beam width. The experiment, supporting theory, and data are presented in the body of the report.