The application of HBF in small aperture OTHR

Due to the decrease of azimuth resolution and array gain, the performance of small aperture over the horizon radar (OTHR) is not as good as the conventional OTHR. Therefore, it is necessary to find a new method to improve array performance of small aperture OTHR to satisfy the requirements of target detection. In this paper, conclusions on the performance losses are obtained by deducing the expression of signal to clutter ratio (SCR) under small aperture OTHR receiving condition. Based on the conclusions, Hyper Beam, which is derived from sonar array processing, are applied to improve the performance of small aperture OTHR. Eventually, experimental simulations are given to verify our conclusions.