Estimating Target Heights Based on the Earth Curvature Model and Micromultipath Effect in Skywave OTH Radar

Abstract

Skywave over-the-horizon (OTH) radar systems have important long-range strategic warning values. They exploit skywave propagation reflection of high frequency signals from the ionosphere, which provides the ultra-long-range surveillance capabilities to detect and track maneuvering targets. Current OTH radar systems are capable of localizing targets in range and azimuth but are unable to achieve reliable instantaneous altitude estimation. Most existing height measurement methods of skywave OTH radar systems have taken advantage of the micromultipath effect and been considered in the flat earth model. However, the flat earth model is not proper since large error is inevitable, when the detection range is over one thousand kilometers. In order to avoid the error caused by the flat earth model, in this paper, an earth curvature model is introduced into OTH radar altimetry methods. The simulation results show that application of the earth curvature model can effectively reduce the estimation error.