The result of 20 years of research at MIT Lincoln Lab, this book is of the most significant technological consequence for the industry. It actually solves the problem of low angle radar land clutter by showing the reader how to design and predict the performance of radars that operate in situations where land clutter prevalent.

Radar land clutter constitutes the unwanted radar echoes returned from the earth's surface that compete against and interfere with the desired echoes returned by targets such as aircraft and other moving and stationary targets. The ability to accurately predict the effects of land clutter in surface radar has been an unsolved problem for many years. This book is comprehensive in addressing the topic, containing many interrelated results, each important in its own right. It unifies and integrates all the results so as to create a comprehensive, innovative, and unequaled work.

The results of this book directly enable the reader to predict land clutter effects in surface radar. Modern military aircraft deliberately fly low to hide their presence from radars that are also dealing with land clutter. Depending on the terrain, the performance of the radar varies greatly from very good to very poor. This book helps radar engineers provide accurate assessments of ground clutter, thus bringing their ability to detect and operate against low flying aircraft to a much higher and much more consistent level.

Key Features

• No competing title is available on the market. The information provided cannot be replicated elsewhere. Thus, this will be the standard text on the subject for years to come.


• Actually solves a decades-old problem.


• Contains 310 figures, 140 tables, and 40 full-color graphs.

1: Overview Introduction
Historical Review
Clutter Measurements at Lincoln Laboratory
Clutter Prediction at Lincoln Laboratory
Scope of Book
Organization of Book
References

2: Preliminary X-Band Clutter Measurements Introduction
Phase Zero Clutter Measurements
The Nature of Low-Angle Clutter
X-Band Clutter Spatial Amplitude Statistics
Summary
References

3: Repeat Sector Clutter Measurements Introduction
Multifrequency Clutter Measurements
Fundamental Effects in Low-Angle Clutter
Mean Land Clutter Strength versus Frequency by Terrain Type
Dependencies of Mean Land Clutter Strength with Radar Parameters
Higher Moments & Percentiles in Measured Land Clutter Spatial Amplitude Distributions
Effects of Weather and Season
Summary
References

4: Approaches to Clutter Modeling Introduction
An Interim Angle-Specific Clutter Model
Non-Angle-Specific Modeling Considerations
Terrain Visibility and Clutter Occurrence
Discrete versus Distributed Clutter
Temporal Statistics, Spectra and Correlation
Summary
References

5: Multifrequency Land Clutter Modeling Information Introduction
Derivation of Clutter Modeling Information
Land Clutter Coefficients for General Terrain
Land Clutter Coefficients for Specific Terrain Types
PPI Clutter Map Simulation
Summary
References

6: Windblown Clutter Spectral Measurements Introduction
Exponential Windblown Clutter Spectral Model
Measurement Basis for Exponential Clutter Spectral Model
Use of Exponential Clutter Spectral Model
Impact on MTI and STAP
Historical Review
Summary
References

J. Barrie Billingsley received B.A. Sc. and M.A. Sc. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto. From 1967 to 1978 he was employed by Veridian Corporation in Buffalo, NY, where much of his work involved analysis of scattering from radar targets. Since 1978 he has been a member of the Technical Staff at MIT Lincoln Laboratory where he is the principal investigator for a large-scale program of radar ground clutter measurements. Mr. Billingsley received the 1987 Best Paper Award from the Journal of Defense Research for his paper entitled “Ground Clutter Measurements for Air Defense Radar.” From 1992 to 1997 he served as U.S. National Leader of The Technical Cooperation Program's (TTCP’s) Technical Panel on Radar Clutter Research and was awarded the 1993 TTCP Achievement Award for work in characterizing the low-angle clutter phenomena. He is the author of many technical reports, journal articles, and conference papers on the subject of radar land clutter.