Correction of Refracted Propagation Effects for Airborne Radar Tracking

This paper concerns the correction of refracted propagation effects for airborne radar tracking. An algorithm based on the Kalman filter (KF) is developed that compensates for range and elevation refraction errors, which were analytically derived using a simplified tropospheric model. In particular, the refraction error model applies to a spherically stratified troposphere and does not include the effects of azimuthal refraction errors, small-scale fluctuations, or ducting. The effectiveness of the proposed tracking algorithm is assessed in the presence of tropospheric parameter mismatch and measurement noise. Both theoretical and numerical results are described for a medium range scenario, and a quasi-ellipsoidal racetrack is chosen for the air platform that carries the radar.