A study of microwave over-sea propagation with high-potential x-band doppler radar

Abstract

Subject and Purpose. The paper is devoted to the microwave propagation over the sea in the nearshore region. Emphasis is on microwave attenuation measurements in the semi-shade and deep-shade areas with a view to study conditions of the microwave propagation on a beyond-the-horizon path in the nearshore area using a radar method. Methods and Methodology. A radar technique, developed and tested, provides measuring a microwave attenuation coefficient along a 60 km long beyond-the-horizon path in the tropospheric surface layer. High-grade radar and Doppler radar beacons (racons) are employed. Of interest are experimentally obtained temporal dependences of signals from racons situated at different heights and, also, spatial field distribution curves from a steadily moving racon running a height 1 to 27 m for 25 minutes. Results. A prototype of high-grade X-band coherent continuous-wave (Doppler) radar has been designed and fabricated. A radar technique has been developed and tested for the analysis of microwave beyond-the-horizon propagation conditions in the shadow region, which involves continuous-wave (Doppler) radar and Doppler racons with a radar cross section (RCS) of about 60 m2. Conclusions. The technique proposed enables reliable tracking of racon responses up to a double radiohorizon range on over-sea paths. This technique can be used for radar calibrations when dealing with various location problems in the nearshore area, including detection and tracking small-size and low-flying targets and their radar identification.

Keywords

• attenuation
• beyond-the-horizon propagation
• doppler racon
• radar