OTH radar phenomenology: signal interpretation and target characterization at HF

Implicitly or explicitly, the extraction of information from radar echoes is based on a physical model of the interaction between the radar system and the target, the study of which is sometimes referred to as radar phenomenology [1]. It follows that the detail and fidelity of the physical model determine the prospective observables, the accuracy of measurement, and the fidelity of interpretation. Of course, there is little to be gained from employing a highly sophisticated model if the radar measurements have neither the dimensionality nor the dynamic range to support estimation of the parameters invoked. Contrariwise, there is much to be lost if valuable information encoded in the target echoes is overlooked because the signal analysis and interpretation procedures fail to undertake the corresponding decoding processes.