Modelling and simulation in commensal radar system design

Air traffic control using FM Band broadcast emissions to implement air traffic control Radar is attractive to developing nations since it utilises existing, well supported infrastructure, such as FM Broadcast and Mobile Telephony, providing emissions and data connectivity respectively. In the current work we present a multistatic, multi frequency band, commensal, Radar system architecture and a suite of tools to design and implement such a system. The system we describe consists of spatially distributed transmitters and receivers, operating at different frequencies. The receivers do not process the direct signal, which is recorded independently, and shared by network. We outline the simulation tools we have developed to assist in the deployment of this technology in the most operationally effective way. These tools include multisite radar simulation and modelling of multistatic radar cross section and propagation using terrain elevation models.