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Two measurement systems for Radar Cross Section (RCS) measurements are described. One system employs propagation over a ground plane whereas the other system employs free space propagation in an anechoic chamber for target illumination. A comparison of measured data for different targets over a wide range of frequencies is presented. The measured data is also compared to RCS data computed using the Numerical Electromagnetics Code (NEC) computer program. The results may be useful for evaluating radar systems operating in the HF band of frequencies.
This paper considers the radar cross-section (RCS) simulation, measurement, and analysis of rotating structures found in today’s modern airframes. Addressed will be scattering characteristics from helicopter main and tail rotor systems; how these characteristics can be simulated, measured, and reduced to identify the individual scatterers withing the helicopter. The effect of radar system parameters on the scattered signal will also be discussed. Finally, actual RCS measurements from helicopters in flight wil be resented and analyzed using the above discussed techniques.
The target designer using a compact range to verify the predicted RCS of his target needs to know what measurement errors are introduced by the range. The underlying definition of RCS assumes that the target is in the far-field, in free-space, and illuminated by a plane wave. This condition is approximated in a compact range. However, to the extent that these conditions are not met, the RCS measurement is in error. This paper, using the results of the preceding companion paper1, formulates an error budget which shows the typical sources that contribute to the RCS measurement error in a compact range. The error sources are separated into two categories, according to whether they depend on the target or not. Receiver noise is an example of a target independent error source, as are calibration errors, feed reverberation (“ringdown”), target support scattering and chamber clutter which arrives within the target range gate. The target dependent error sources include quiet zone ripple, cross polarization components, and multipath which correspond to reflections of stray non-collimated energy from the target which arrives at the receiver at the same time as the desired target return. These error contributors depend on the manner in which the target interacts with the total quiet zone-field, and the bistatic RCS which the target may present to any off-axis illumination. Results presented in this paper are based on the design of a small compact range which is under construction at RRI. The results include a comprehensive error budget and an assessment of the range performance.
A performance simulation for analyzing the measurements of target RCS in a compact radar range has been applied to a small indoor range which will be installed at RRI. A dual reflector collimator has been examined with respect to both quiet-zone quality and the amount of stray energy in the chamber which eventually end up as clutter or multipath interference. The complicated ray geometries, beyond the reach of hand calculation, are discovered by complete tracing of all the rays from the feed source. The ray pats which interfere with target measurements are shown convincingly by graphical display. Vector clutter subtraction is widely used in compact ranges in order to reduce the background clutter to an acceptable level. Some of the effects which limit the effectiveness of clutter subtraction are also addressed in the paper. The sources of measurement errors which are obtained by this simulation are used in the measurement-error budget analysis, which is the subject of the follow-on paper.
A new radar cross-section (RCS) measurement facility has been designed and built at the Houston Advanced Research Center in Houston, Texas. This facility is capable of performing fully polarimetric RCS measurements over a frequency bandwidth of 2-40 GHz ad nearly an entire hemisphere of bistatic angles. What makes this facility unique is the fact that both the transmit and receive antennas are mounted on moveable platforms. The transmit antenna is fixed at 0º azimuth, but can be positioned anywhere from 10º to approximately 165º in elevation. The receive antenna can be positioned anywhere from 0º to 180º in azimuth and the same range in elevation as the transmit antenna. Monostatic measurements can be approximated by moving the transmit and receive antennas close together. The radar equipment is built around the HP 8510 vector network analyzer, and the measurement process is controlled and automated by an HP UNIX workstation running HP’s Visual Engineering Environment software.
Advanced Radar Cross Section (RCS) Data Analysis, consisting of comparisons of measured RCS data to predictions, multiple plot overlays, imaging, etc., it is most often performed off-line. This causes a lag in data acquisition time by as much as several days. McDonnell Douglas Technologies Incorporated’s (MDTI) Radar Measurement Center, a large target (40 feet) indoor RCS measurement facility, used an advanced RCS data analysis system, based on a Tektronix XD-88 superworkstation, for on-line data processing. This system connects over a Local Area Network to the data acquisition computer. This allows the workstation access to each data file immediately after each measurement for processing, without affecting the data acquisition capabilities of the radar system. The hardware used for connections, capabilities of the MDTI-written software, and the capability to store plotted data on VHS videotape directly from the workstation, is described herein.
New results of wideband polarimetric radar-cross-section-(RCS-) antenna measurements are presented. A special antenna network description including polarization information and multiport feeding offers new insight in antenna behavior. The procedure omits the utilization of a standard gain antenna for absolute gain determination and no RF-feedline is necessary to the antenna under test. Antenna radiation, scattering and feed characteristics are all obtained with one measurement setup. Theory as well as measurements on different dual-polarized antenna types demonstrate the efficiency and uniqueness of this technique.
Transmit – receive modules (T/R) utilizing GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology for amplifiers, attenuators, and phase shifters are becoming integral components for a new generation of radars. These components, when used in the aperture of a low sidelobe electronically steerable antennas, require careful alignment and calibration at multiple stages along the RF signal path. This paper describes the calibration technique used to measure the performance of an active aperture 64 element S-band phased array antenna that employs T/R modules at every element. RF component performance and phased array sidelobe characeristics are presented and discussed.
In the search for an ideal test-object support for simulate free-space radar-cross-section (RCS) measurements, low-density polystyrene foam has achieved considerable popularity. However, significant error can be introduced into a measurement by the use of an inappropriately designed support. Although low back-scatter radar cross section (RCS) can be obtained with this material, interactions can occur between the test object and the mount which will cause measurement errors in excess of several dB. We present results of measurements performed on a simple test object supported on a low-density foam column which demonstrate this effect. As we discuss, this error can be incorrectly interpreted to be caused by poor alignment of the test object with the radar-range coordinate system. Finally, we show that the errors can be explained by differential propagation effects. In addition, this simple theory provides the insight necessary to devise appropriate measures to minimize the errors cause by the presence of the support.
Clutter rejection is designed to remove range clutter and repeatable radar parameters from the measurement. The technique to be used is one that gains the customer acceptance, does not significantly increase range time, and produces good results. Techniques which require significant data processing have not been accepted by our customers. Fixture subtraction requires very accurate target positioning and is too slow. Only background subtraction met all the requirements. This paper will discuss a new background subtraction method. In this technique the pylon is effectively removed from the measurement area, but not from the chamber. This is done with a small pole termination target and the antenna measurement slide. Thus a true background is measured. The technique has been highly successful, gaining the acceptance of our customers and users alike. Range measurements will show how well the technique works.
When attempting to make accurate Radar Cross Section (RCS) measurements, it is vital to understand the background levels of both the range and the target support fixture. Typically these support fixtures are either foam columns or metal pylons. Determining the RCS levels of the metal pylons requires the installation of a termination device to hide the rotator which has a significantly lower RCS than the pylon being measured. Quite often this is an impossible task, especially at lower frequencies. An algorithm that accurately determines the pylon background levels independent of the RCS contribution of the pylon terminator is presented. This algorithm requires translating the terminator linearly and isolating the background from the resulting interference pattern. Data is included that validates the implementing computer code.
Clutter returns can seriously limit the performance of high sensitivity Radar Cross-Section (RCS) measurement ranges. Within the direct sample space of the target, clutter is controlled by: minimizing the antenna response outside of the angle subtended by the target and by careful transmit pulse control. However, clutter returns are also produced from areas outside the sample space of the target. This paper discusses the application of pseudo random phase coding techniques to suppress this type of clutter. It defines the nature of this type of clutter, identifies a method to suppress it, describes the hardware used for online suppression, and presents experimental results to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique. The technique is important for both outdoor and indoor ranges (particularly in unprepared, echoic, environments); experimental data is present for both cases.
Classical radar target imaging uses an inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) algorithm based on the two dimensional Fourier transform. The technique has resolution limitations in the time-domain (or down-range) dimension somewhat larger that the inverse of the band-width of the interrogating radar system (depending on the frequency domain windowing function utilized). The resolution in the cross-range domain (or doppler-domain) is related to the inverse of the aspect angle sector over which the target is observed. This paper will present radar target imaging techniques based on modern autoregressive (AR) spectral estimation algorithms (superresolution) which overcome these limitations. Techniques are shown for the generation of ISAR images even with severly [sic] limited frequency or angle domain data. Images will be shown where the quality of the image does not degrade even when the bandwidth of the original data is reduced by a factor of 16. Thus clear images are produced using these techniques with data where the classical Fourier-based techniques produce only “fuzzy blobs”
Superresolution (SR) processing techniques have been used for many years in direction finding applications. These techniques have proved valuable in extracting more information from a limited data set than conventional Fourier analysis would yield. SR techniques have recently proven to be an extremely powerful radar cross section (RCS) analysis tool. Typical resolution improvements of 2 to 30 times may be achieved over conventional Fourier-based range domain data in both the one-dimensional and two-dimensional image domains. Typical measurement scenarios which can most benefit from SP processing are presented. These include: VHF/UHF RCS measurements, measurement of resonant targets, and performing detailed scattering analysis on complex bodies. Measurement examples are presented illustrating the use of SR processing in a variety of test conditions. When the advantages of SR processing are combined with the accuracy of Fourier techniques, a new window is opened through which target scattering characteristics can be seen more clearly than ever.
This paper addresses measurement and data processing techniques for dynamic helicopter radar signatures. Data products are presented and interpreted to highlight the utility of instrumentation radar systems as a means for determining radar scattering characteristics of objects with rotating components. Investigation of rotor-body multipath phenomena in helicopter imagery cannot sufficiently resolve ambiguities regarding ray traces that contribute to observed scattering events. The diagnostic insights gained from concurrent doppler spectral data aid in resolving these ambiguities. Unique spectral signatures resulting from rotor-body interactions are investigated, and a methodology is developed for diagnosis of the responsible scattering mechanisms. The results provide valuable insights into the radar spectral signatures o conventional helicopters.
Range resolution of a radar image can be obtained by use of wide-band signal (linear FM or chirp waveform) and cross-range resolution by object rotation which synthesized a large antenna aperture (the so called ISAR method, refer [1]). Although both cross-range profiles can be resolved by rotation of the abject about two mutually orthogonal axes, however, the data manipulation would be quite cumbersome and the measurement implementation would require a mechanical support system by which the objet [sic] can be independently tilted and rotated relative to the radar axis. In this paper, the algebraic reconstruction technique (ART)[2] for tomography is used to resolve the vertical cross-range profile (along the axis normal to the ground) while the horizontal cross-range profile still resolved by ISAR method. Applications of the ART to a simple circular pattern and a complicated emblem pattern of the CSIST show that ART is a suitable approach and easier than ISAR method to obtain the second cross-range resolution.
This paper describes new developments in broadband Microwave power amplifiers for compact RADAR Cross Section (RCS) Ranges. The RF Power level of transmitters used in compact RCS ranges for the most part has been limited to a watt or two. This is due to the limitations of the power available from solid state RF amplifiers and the power handling capabilities of PIN diode switches, used to pulse modulate the RF amplifier output. Inherent impedance mismatches of the PIN diode switch, RF amplifier and RF output circuits produce reflections of RF energy. The reflected RF energy reverberates between the output circuits of the RF amplifier and the antenna. Reverberation of RF energy between mismatches continues until circuit losses reduce the energy to zero. These reverberations manifest as deterioration of the RF output pulse fall time waveshape. The radiated pulse fall time is extended and damped rather than abrupt. This deterioration of pulse waveshape, due to reverberations, is ring down time. RF pulse ring down deteriorates the resulting RCS measurements. New broadband microwave Traveling Wave Tube (TWT) technology, combined with extremely quiet power supplies and modulator, provide increased power, low noise floor and reduced ring down time resulting in improved RCS measurements.
The new HP 8530A microwave receiver has been designed specifically for antenna and radar cross section (RCS) measurement applications. With its capabilities and features, high-speed single parameter and multiple parameter measurements are possible. High-Speed measurements are a necessity for certain applications but oftentimes other factors will determine the actual test time. Measurement speed for various applications will be discussed and, more specifically, multiple parameter measurements using the HP 8530A’s internal multiplexer or external PIN switching.
As new military aircraft with low radar signatures pass from the design stage to production and deployment, the techniques for measuring and confirming their low signatures must move from the laboratory to the flight line. Measuring the RCS characteristics of carrier-based aircraft is particularly difficult because it must be done either while the aircraft is in flight or while it is one a crowded flight deck or hanger deck. This paper describes an approach to Navy flight-line RCS measurements that minimizes space, yet still provides enough information to identify a degradation in low signature performance and to pinpoint the source of the problem. It uses a small reflector on a positioner combined with a stepped frequency gated CW radar at 8-12 GHz to sweep a spot illumination over the aircraft while producing downrange profiles at each spot. The primary advantage of this configuration is that it restricts the RF radiation in all three spatial dimensions, thereby minimizing the scattering from other objects in the crowded environment. A secondary advantage is that the data can be processed to yield resolution of scatterers on the aircraft under test to within two or three feet. Adding an automatic focusing ability to the reflector antenna can improve the resolution to about one foot.
Martin Marietta designed and brought on-line an indoor far-field chamber used for radar cross section (RCS) evaluation. The range has conductive walls on all sides except for the pyramidal absorber covered back wall. The chamber was designed such that wall/floor/ceiling interactions occur with a distance (time) delay allowing for their isolation from the test region. Software gating techniques are used to remove these unwanted signals. This paper presents an analysis of the conductive chamber using Geometrical Optics (GO). The objective was to analyze and evaluate the plane wave quality in the chamber test region. The evaluation of the plane wave was performed using the angle transform technique. The measured results were compared to analytical results and measured antenna patterns.