Abstract
Radar cross section (RCS) is a measure of the electromagnetic energy intercepted and reradiated at the same wavelength by any object. The dimensions are those of an area, usually square meters. The object of interest is compared to an idealized object that is large with respect to a wavelength, has an intercept area of one square unit, is perfectly conducting, and reradiates isotropically. It is easy to build an object with these characteristics: A copper sphere is an example. Providing it is large with respect to the wavelength of the incident electromagnetic energy, a copper sphere of projected area 1 m2 has radar cross section (usually indicated by σ) of 1 m2 or, for any sphere of radius \(a,a \gg \frac{{2\pi }} {\lambda }\)
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Barton, D. K. 1975. Radars, vol. 5, Radar Clutter. Dedham, MA: Artech House. Barton has gathered thirty-eight articles on the subject of land, sea, and aerospace clutter.
Barton, D. K. 1985. “Land Clutter Models for Radar Design and Analysis.” Proceedings of the IEEE, Feb. 1985, pp. 198–204.
Barton, D. K. 1988. Modern Radar System Analysis. Norwood, MA: Ar-tech House.
Crispin, J. W., and A. L. Maffett. 1968. RCS Calculation of Simple Shapes—Monostatic. In J. W. Crispin and K. M. Siegel (eds.), Methods of Radar Cross Section Analysis. New York: Academic Press. Extensive theory and detailed calculations for many shapes of varying orientations and polarization angles are provided.
Jenkins, F. A., and H. E. White. 1976. Fundamentals of Optics. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Knott, E. F., J. F. Schaeffer, and M. T. Turley. 1985. Radar Cross Section. Norwood, MA: Artech House, p. 178.
Long, M. W. 1975. Radar Reflectivity of Land and Sea. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.
Nathanson, F. E. 1969. Radar Design Principles. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Rheinstein, J. 1968. Backscatter from Spheres, a Short-Pulse View. IEEE Transactions, vol. AP-16 (Jan.), pp. 89–97. (Also 1966. Lincoln Laboratory Tech. Report 414, Lexington, MA.) Rheinstein’s treatment is exhaustive.
Sears, F. W. 1948. Principles of Physics, vol. 3, Optics. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Van Vleck, J. H., F. Block, and M. Hammermesh. 1947. Theory of Radar Reflection from Wires or Thin Metallic Strips. Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 18, p. 274.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Van Nostrand Reinhold
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Toomay, J.C. (1989). Radar Cross Section. In: Radar Principles for the Non-Specialist. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6985-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6985-1_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-011-6987-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-6985-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive