Coverage Area Analysis of Combined Sky-Wave and Surface-Wave Monostatic High Frequency Radar

Abstract

High-frequency combined sky-wave and surface-wave monostatic radar (CSSM-HF RADAR) is a new type of radar system inspired by the skywave components of high-frequency surface-wave radar (HFSWR). The new type of radar uses the combined propagation paths of skywave and ground wave to detect targets, including four paths without considering ionospheric stratification. The related research of the CSSM-HF RADAR is relatively rare, and this paper carries out a detailed simulation analysis of its coverage area. Coverage area analysis is significant for subsequent work, such as target detection, frequency selection, and echo propagation path matching. In this paper, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the atmospheric background is derived at first, and then the parameters that change with propagation paths are analyzed. Finally, the coverage area of each propagation mode is calculated by setting the minimum detectable SNR. The simulation results show that the coverage areas of the four propagation paths at low frequency have overlapping regions. As the operating frequency increases, the coverage area of each propagation mode gradually separates, and some areas that cannot be covered may appear, however, the whole coverage area of the CSSM-HF RADAR increases.

Keywords

• CSSM-HF RADAR
• coverage area
• sky-wave
• surface-wave