Polarimetric frequency agile FMCW RCS measurement radar

Abstract

Assessment of the frequencies and polarizations behaviour of the radar cross section (RCS) of moveable targets with an unpredictable trajectory and/or targets with unrepeatable behaviour is difficult using single frequency/polarisation measurements. The variations of the RCS require a large number of measurements in order to acquire a representative RCS of the target over the spectrum of frequencies and different polarisations. The paper presents a RCS measurement radar system developed to measure RCS at different frequencies and polarizations, the relevant meteorological and oceanographic data and target movement simultaneously thus making it easy to assess RCS results and measurement quality. The system was developed for the Royal Norwegian Navy. (4 pages)