Automated propagation advice for OTHR ship detection

The ability of an over-the-horizon radar to detect ships is critically dependent on the choice of operating frequency. The author describes an automated surface mode propagation advice system which has been installed into the Jindalee Over-the-Horizon Radar Facility at Alice Springs (23.5S, 133.7E). The advice is chiefly derived from backscatter measurements performed by the Jindalee Frequency Management System´s Doppler `miniradar´ and includes the optimum operating frequency and a predicted performance indicator for each specific operational radar mission. Global displays of predicted performance, covering the entire surveillance region, are also provided to allow the system to nominate areas where ship detection would be viable with the operational radar. Details on the function, input and output of component modules of the system are included, as well as the basic input data requirements. A sample of the output and diagnostic displays are presented. A few limitations to the system performance have been found. These limitations are described along with the future effort that is required to overcome them