Exploitation of elevation angle control for a 2-D HF skywave radar

ONERA, sponsored by the French Ministry of defence (aeronautics program department SPAe), has conducted the realization and experimentations of the skywave HF radar, called NOSTRADAMUS. This is a new concept of over the horizon radar constituted of a monostatic surface array on a three arms star. This choice of structure allows an azimuthal coverage of 360 degrees and elevation beam forming capability. This paper presents the NOSTRADAMUS system and describes the real time frequency management system of the radar by using the elevation focalization. We present new soundings techniques which have been developed and implemented in the management of the system such that the radar is completely autonomous.