Development of the Two D Wall for Simulation of Glint from Atmospheric Propagation and Multipath

Abstract

In the development of airborne radars, it is often useful to have a means of testing and evaluating the efficacy of the radar in the presence of angle (or phase) noise, referred to as glint. Glint typically occurs when the illuminated body is characterized by multiple scattering centers whose relative positions shift while the object is being illuminated. These phase shifts produce a distorted return which can undermine the accurate determination of the attributes of the object such as location or velocity. In addition to this source of phase noise, other sources of phase noise include atmospheric scintillation as well as reflections of a scattered return from adjacent obstacles, (i.e. multipath). The ability to evaluate the effects of the sources of phase noise is highly useful in developing methods to mitigate their effects. The Two D Wall would provide such an environment.