A comparison of radar sea clutter models

Radar performance prediction has always been an important part of the design and development of radar systems. Performance prediction offers a way of extending limited trials results obtained for the environmental conditions on the day to the full envelope of desired operation. The analysis of radar performance in free space is well documented and understood but the modelling of the radar target in a clutter environment is still an area of active research. This paper concentrates on airborne maritime radar. The key to obtaining realistic predictions of the probability of detecting a target on the sea surface is governed by the spatial and temporal statistics and correlation properties of the sea clutter. Radar detection is governed by the combination of the mean radar cross-section of the clutter and the temporal fluctuations of the pulse-by-pulse radar returns about the mean. Here, two models for the mean radar cross-section of the clutter are compared.