RADAR TARGETS

INTRODUCTION TO RADAR CROSS SECTION

RADAR CROSS SECTION OF TARGETS The Radar cross section is the property of a scattering object, or target, that is included in the Radar equation to represent the magnitude of the echo signal returned to the radar by the target.
The radar cross section of a target is the (fictional) area intercepting that amount of power which when scattered equally in all directions, produces an echo at the radar equal to that from the target.

Reradiated power density back at the radar

=PtG * 4 R2 4 R2 A definition of the radar cross section found in electromagnetic scattering is

Radar cross section

Radar cross section

In this equation (2.36), it is assumed that the target is far enough from the radar so that the incident wave can be considered to be planar rather than spherical. Radar cross section depends on the characteristics dimensions of the objects compared to the radar wavelength.

 For most common types of radar targets such as aircraft, ships, and terrain ( ground , landscape, mountain) , the radar cross section does not necessarily bear a simple relationship to the physical area, except that the larger the target size, the larger the cross section is likely to be.

Scattering and diffraction

Scattering and diffraction are variations of the same physical process. When an object scatters an electromagnetic wave, the scattered field is defined as the difference between the total field in the presence of the object and the field that would exist if the object were absent (but with the sources unchanged). The diffracted field is the total field in the presence of the object. With radar backscatter, the two fields are the same, and one may talk about scattering and diffraction interchangeably.

 When the wavelength is large compared to the objects dimensions, scattering is said to be in the Rayleigh region. The radar cross section in the Rayleigh region is proportional to the fourth power of the frequency , and is determined more by the volume of the scatterer than by its shape. At radar frequencies , the echo from rain is usually described by Rayleigh scattering.

 At the other extreme, where the wavelength is small compared to the objects dimensions, is the OPTICAL region.
Here radar scattering from a complex object such as an aircraft is characterized by significant changes in the cross section when there is a change in frequency or aspect angle at which the object is viewed.

 Scattering from aircraft or ships at microwave frequencies generally is in the optical region. In the optical region, the radar cross section is affected more by the shape of the object than by its projected area.

 In between the Rayleigh and the optical regions is the resonance region where the radar wavelength is comparable to the objects dimensions.
For many objects, the radar cross section is larger in the resonance region than in the other two regions.

 The radar cross section of a simple sphere is shown in Fig. 2.9 as a function of its circumference measured in wavelengths
2a/ where a is the radius of the sphere and is wavelength). The region where the size of the sphere is small compared with the wavelength (2a/ 1) is called the Rayleigh Region.

 Since the cross section of objects within the Rayleigh region varies as -4, rain and clouds are essentially invisible to radars which operate at relatively long wavelengths (low frequencies). The usual radar targets are much larger than raindrops or cloud particles, and lowering the radar frequency to the point where rain or cloud echoes are negligibly small will not seriously reduce the cross section of the larger desired targets.

(2a/ 1)
Size of the sphere is small compared with the wavelength

(2a / 1).

 At the other extreme from the Rayleigh region is the optical region, where dimensions of the sphere are large compared with the wavelength (2a / 1). For large 2a / , the radar cross section approaches the optical cross section a2. In between the optical and region is the Mie, or resonance region. The cross section is oscillatory with frequency within this region. The maximum value is 5.6 dB greater than the optical value, while of first null is 5.5 dB below the optical value.

 Since the sphere is a sphere no matter from what aspect it is viewed, its cross section will not be aspect-sensitive.

The cross section of other objects, however, will depend upon the direction as viewed by the radar.