Radar cross sections of small boats at 94 GHz

This paper briefly discusses a procedure to measure the radar cross section (RCS) of small boats at 94 GHz. It describes an extremely simple and moderately low cost set of hardware that was used to perform these measurements. An analysis of the calibration method including measurements of reference corner reflector returns and those from the sea were made throughout the trials. Results include polar patterns made from the peak RCS at each angle. In the case of the largest boat, a 41 ft fly-bridge cruiser, it was possible to process the high resolution range profile data to identify the positions of the larger scatterers. Analysis of the measured data for all of the craft shows a linear relationship between the median RCS of the non-metallic boats and their physical cross-section when viewed side on.