Scientists and engineers have had to measure or estimate the radar cross section (RCS) of objects ever since the invention of radar.

This guide explains how RCS is typically measured on test ranges, and how testing may be tailored to meet specific requirements. The book provides basic and advanced information on instrumentation systems, test range design, and measurement technology.

The book's mission is to present and explain the rules of good measurement practice. Those rules assure that the electromagnetic test environment is optimized for the particular object being measured. Examples are rules governing the uniformity of the incident field in the target zone and the minimization of undesired background echoes.

Individual chapters describe the design and operation of outdoor test ranges, indoor chambers, dynamic test ranges, and near-field (compact) ranges.

In other chapters, discussions include:

- Target support fixtures: plastic foam columns, string supports, metal pylons; unusual methods are also discusses, including one involving no support at all.
- Calibration: Instrumentation calibration, RCS calibration, primary and secondary standards, calibration by substitution
- Outdoor test ranges: Real estate needed, antenna selection, ground-plane optimization, berms, radar fences
- Scale-model testing: scaling laws, dielectrics and absorbers, metallic coatings, resistive sheets
- The electromagnetic principles governing accurate RCS measurements are explained in easy-to-read style. The explanations are supported by simple analyses and augmented by measured and computed illustrations.

Radar Cross Section Measurements is a valuable source for professional people needing reference material on the measurement of RCS targets both indoors and outdoors. It will be especially useful to aerospace engineers and scientists working with modern radar systems.

1 Radar Cross Section Fundamentals
1.1 The Need for RCS Measurements
1.2 Electromagnetic Wave Properties
1.3 The Radar Range Equation
1.4 Radar Cross Section
1.5 Polarization Scattering Matrix
1.6 Basic Test Range Requirements
1.7 Summary

2 Instrumentation Systems
2.1 The CW Cancellation Radar
2.2 The Noncoherent Pulsed Radar
2.3 Coherent Radars
2.4 Multiband Scattering Matrix Radars
2.5 Digital Functions in Multiband Radars
2.6 Summary

3 Target Support Structures
3.1 Foam Columns
3.2 String Supports
3.3 The Metal Pylon
3.4 Other Structures and Techniques
3.5 Summary

4 Measurement Errors
4.1 Instrumentation and Sensitivity
4.2 Target Illumination
4.3 Background Contributions
4.4 Target-Environment Interactions
4.5 Summary

5 Calibration

5.1 Instrumentation Calibration
5.2 Calibration Scatterers with Curved Surfaces
5.3 Calibration Scatterers with Flat Surfaces
5.4 Calibration by Substitution
5.5 Summary

6 Outdoor Test Ranges
6.1 Ground-Plane Configuration
6.2 Two-Path Propagation
6.3 Effect of Antenna Pattern
6.4 Imperfectly Reflecting Ground Planes
6.5 Defeating the Ground Plane
6.6 Summary

7 Indoor Chambers
7.1 Wall Reflections
7.2 Chamber Configuration
7.3 Chamber Absorbing Materials
7.4 Test Chamber Evaluation
7.5 Summary

8 Compact Ranges
8.1 Dielectric Lenses
8.2 Large Reflectors
8.3 Reflector Edge Configurations
8.4 Dual-Reflector Configurations
8.5 Chamber Diagnostics
8.6 Summary

9 Data Processing and Reduction
9.1 Statistical Measures
9.2 Hard-Target Characteristics
9.3 Display Formats
9.4 Background Subtraction
9.5 Summary

10 Radar Imagery
10.1 Radar Imaging Principles
10.2 The Range Profile
10.3 Zero-padding and Windowing
10.4 The Cross-Range Profile
10.5 Image Formation and Diagnostics
10.6 Summary

11 Dynamic Test Ranges
11.1 The Instrumentation Radar
11.2 Dynamic Target Imaging
11.3 The Tracking Radar
11.4 Metric Data
11.5 Some Dynamic RCS Test Ranges
11.6 Summary

12 Scale-Model Testing
12.1 Scaling Laws
12.2 Dielectrics and Absorbers
12.3 Metallic Coatings and Resistive Sheets
12.4 A Specific Full-Scale/Scale-Model Comparison
12.5 Summary

13 Test Security
13.1 General Requirements
13.2 Target Shelters
13.3 Range Security
13.4 The Black Program
13.5 Summary

INDEX

Eugene F. Knott is an electrical engineer with a 30-year career in RCS research and development. He received his MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1966. He spent 16 years at the University of Michigan Radiation Laboratory conducting RCS measurements of lab models and developing RCS prediction measurements of lab models and developing RCS prediction models. At the Georgia Institute of Technology he extended similar models and conducted feasibility programs. He also worked at the Boeing Company in Seattle.