Radar Clutter Analysis Based on Sea-To-Sea Wave Propagation in SISO and SIMO Radar

Existing data on sea clutter in maritime radar was analyzed based on the conventional maritime radar that operated while both the transmitting and receiving antenna is located on the shore, detecting targets on the sea surface. For improvement of maritime radar performance, both the transmitting and receiving antenna is proposed to be mounted on vessels on the sea surface, creating a sea-to-sea propagation scenario. Therefore, the radar clutter in this situation needs to be newly evaluated. This paper presents a measurement of radar clutter in the above-mentioned scenario, emulated in a wave simulator facility. It was found that clutters in the form of positive Dopplers were dominantly present in the system, corresponding to the approaching wave, while small negative Dopplers were also measured, due to the receding wave. Additionally, measurement using a single-input multiple-output (SIMO) configuration found that the clutters increased statistically and in receiving power, due to the multiple receiving antenna used.