Radar Signature Tools for Small Boats in Dynamic Sea Environments Navy SBIR FY2012.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2012.1 Topic No.: N121-038 Topic Title: Radar Signature Tools for Small Boats in Dynamic Sea Environments Proposal No.: N121-038-0022 Firm: Delcross Technologies, LLC 3015 Village Office Place Champaign, Illinois 61822 Contact: Duane Setterdahl Phone: (217) 363-3396 Web Site: www.delcross.com Abstract: Modern marine radar systems can provide detection and tracking of various sizes of ships, and progress in signal processing has allowed for the detection of some smaller and faster targets, largely due to the wake generated by the boats movement through the water. However, detection of small boats still remains a very challenging problem. Most small boats are simply not visible on a typical marine radar display any more than a large breaking wave. To tackle this complex problem, we plan to simultaneously consider a number of relevant factors related to: the sensor, the radar scattering phenomenology, and the CAD geometry and CEM modeling. Each of these technical areas relies on some knowledge and interaction with the other areas to sufficiently address the detailed concepts. To be successful with this integrated technical approach, we must be diligent to maintain an overall focus on implementing solutions ultimately in the form of robust software tools, not just performing technical studies. There are several study and analysis activities that will be performed during Phase I Base and Option, but our overall research and development approach is still focused on end-user software tools as we advance the technology toward a Phase II effort. Benefits: Commercial marine radar systems typically operate at either 3 GHz or 9 GHz, and systems at both of these frequencies are required for large merchant vessels traveling in international waters. Marine radar for the military have additional capabilities typically in terms of their ability to suppress clutter and operate at high resolution, and they tend to operate near X-band or Ku-band. They share much of the same issues as commercial marine radar in terms of the challenges in detecting and tracking small boats on the surface. The types of small boats potentially encountered spans a broad range of small boats and watercraft. Depending on 1) the cargo and the intentions of the occupants on board at the time of engagement, and 2) their proximity to U.S. Naval and/or other friendly assets, these small boats may be friendly, completely benign/harmless, an unintentional threat, or a very imminent threat. A capability that is severely lacking - whether it is for commercial, civilian, or military application - is the ability to not just detect, but identify a sea surface target that has been detected. For small boats, this problem is significantly compounded as the surrounding sea surface backscatter becomes very noticeable "clutter" to the signal processing stage of the radar receiver. This is because of the typically very low radar cross section (RCS) of small boats relative to the RCS of the sea surface return. Serious progress is needed in the modeling and prediction of small boat radar signatures at high frequencies to help radar designers and operators improve their ability to reliably detect, track, and identify small boats. The result of this effort will be a commercial grade suite of software tools that will provide such a capability. Return