The use of a clutter map in the artillery locating radar ARTHUR

Since artillery shells and birds have similar radar cross sections, a clutter map is introduced to prevent the overloading of an artillery locating radar by bird echoes. A simple mathematical model for the function of the clutter map has been developed. The model is based on a stochastic description of the birds, including the distribution of cross sections, velocities, and bird densities. In parallel with the mathematical analysis of the clutter map, Monte Carlo simulation has been performed to verify the properties of the map. Calculations indicate that efficiency of the radar is increased dramatically when the clutter map is used. Without the map, at very low bird densities (such as 0.1 to 0.2 birds/km²) the system is overloaded, wasting all its time on birds. When the map is introduced the system manages to handle ten times more birds before it enters the overload regime