AREPS and TEMPER - Getting Familiar with these Powerful Propagation Software Tools

AREPS and TEMPER are two powerful software tools developed by the government that allow the determination of radar coverage for real world propagation conditions. TEMPER was developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and AREPS by the Space and Naval Warfare System command (SPAWAR) with mutual cooperation between the two. Both tools allow determination of coverage in ducted conditions and in the presence of sub-refraction and super-refraction. Both tools account for multi-path and take into account actual terrain height variations with range. When doing propagation over water both tools take into account surface roughness. This paper gives a discussion of each of these tools with the intention of providing the user with a better understanding of them and of how to use them.