First‐order bistatic high‐frequency radar ocean surface cross‐section for an antenna on a floating platform

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Abstract
The first‐order bistatic high‐frequency radar cross‐section of ocean surface is derived for the case of a fixed receiver and a floating, but tethered, transmitter. A general expression for the bistatically received first‐order electric field is obtained from earlier work based on fixed antennas. A small displacement caused by the platform motion is added in the source term to modify the stationary antenna model. Based on the assumption that the ocean surface can be described as a Fourier series with coefficients being random variables, the first‐order bistatic radar cross‐section is derived. The effect of the platform motion is found to produce a sum of Bessel functions in the final cross‐section result, varying in order from zero to infinity. Under appropriately specified conditions, the bistatic model with antenna motion is verified to reduce to the monostatic model with antenna motion and the bistatic stationary model, respectively. Assuming a simple model in which the platform motion is caused by the dominant ocean wave, simulations are made to show the effect of platform motion on the radar cross‐section under a variety of sea states and operating frequencies.
Funding Information
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC 402313‐2012, NSERC 238263‐2010, RGPIN‐2015‐05289)

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