Fluctuations of ground clutter return in airborne radar equipment

The fluctuations of the envelope of returned signals from random ground clutter are theoretically analysed for the case of an airborne radar equipment. Fluctuations within a single range sweep as well as pulse-to-pulse fluctuations are considered. The optimum filter from the point of view of maximizing peak signal to r.m.s. clutter is derived. Fluctuations from pulse to pulse are calculated for a particular set of parameters and are shown to vary rather widely as a function of range and azimuth angle.