Fade Probabilities: Measures for Predicting Search-Radar Performance

By itself, the cumulative probability of detection has been inadequate for accurate performance prediction of the AN/APQ-159, airborne, F-5 radar. For this reason, quantitative measures of fading of target echoes were formulated. Probabilities of 10-percent fade and of triple miss are defined here, and algorithms, as well as some important general properties, are derived for their efficient computation by machine in terms of the single-scan probabilities of detection. Both probabilities are cumulative quantities, dependent on the total number of independent looks at the target.