Airborne Radiometeorological Research

This paper deals with the Naval Research Laboratory´s airborne research in military radar and propagation problems. The military problems include predictions of radar and propagation conditions at specific places and times, and hence, fruitful research must be directed at establishing the geophysical causes of signal behavior. The flying laboratory system for quantitative measurements of ground and sea-clutter and of microwave field strengths is described, and some of the experimental conclusions given. Philosophy and equipment of a new research aircraft for radar and propagation studies is described, and its optimum use in airborne propagation research is outlined.