An Approach to Radar Target Identification

Abstract : At the operating frequencies of most surveillance radars, air-borne targets are large compared to a wavelength, and their RCS characteristics can, therefore, be described in terms of returns from scattering centers. If the spatial distribution and relative strengths of these scattering centers can be determined, the target can be identified by comparison with data for known targets. The method proposed here enables one to extract this information from RCS data gathered noncoherently within a modest bandwidth. (Author)