Characteristics of the DC/AC Ratio of Radar Backscatter from Trees

In the analysis of fluctuating clutter in radar systems, the dc/ac ratio, defined as the ratio of power contained in the dc component at zero Doppler to the power contained in the clutter spectrum, is an important parameter which impacts the detection of slowly-moving targets. Thus, proper characterization of the dc/ac ratio is important for a meaningful assessment of system performance. We explain why the dc component can be hidden due to shortness of the data set or due to apodization. We show that a random propagation time can explain any form of dc/ac ratio and many shapes of the broadband Doppler spectra. Examples are based on a paper by Narayanan et al. about backscatter from trees of a radar at 8 GHz.