X-Band high range resolution radar measurements of sea surface forward scatter at low grazing angles

Radar measurements of a radar calibration sphere test target suspended in sea surface multipath propagation conditions are reported. Wideband measurements together with high range resolution (HRR) processing were employed to resolve the direct reflection component and sea surface reflected multipath components of the received signal. The temporal correlation characteristics of the resolved single bounce multipath signal component are investigated, which shows that a strong temporal correlation in the sea surface forward scatter component exists. Based on this measurement, we propose a temporal correlation extension to an existing low-angle propagation model, together with a correlation filter structure to realize the correlation extension in computer simulation.