The basic quantities that determine radar range performance are related by the radar equation. With this equation, received radar echo power can be calculated from known characteristics of the transmitter, receiver, and antenna and with knowledge of target range, target cross section, and the propagation characteristics of the transmission medium. Other forms of the radar equation are useful for computing signal-to-noise ratio, which permits detection performance to be predicted from the Pd-Pfα curves of Chapters 9 through 11. (Signal-to-noise ratio also enters into the prediction of parameter estimation accuracy when the fundamental radar system parameters have been specified).

Chapter Contents:

• 12.1 Introduction
• 12.2 Classical Radar Equation
• 12.3 Radar Equation and Signal-to-noise Ratio
• 12.4 Antenna Gain and Effective Aperture
• 12.5 Radar Cross Section
• 12.6 Noise Factor and Noise Temperature
• 12.7 System Loss Factor
• 12.8 Example of Radar Equation Calculation
• 12.9 Search Radar Equation
• 12.10 Summary of Search Radar Status
• 12.11 The Beacon and Jamming Radar Equations
• Problems
• References

Inspec keywords: radar cross-sections; radar detection

Other keywords: fundamental radar system parameters; radar equation; transmitter characteristics; detection performance; parameter estimation accuracy; antenna characteristics; signal-to-noise ratio; target cross section; received radar echo power; transmission medium propagation characteristics; receiver characteristics; radar range performance

Subjects: Radar theory; Signal detection