Backscatter analysis of dihedral corner reflectors using physical optics and the physical theory of diffraction

Physical optics (PO) and the physical theory of diffraction (PTD) are used to determine the backscatter cross sections of dihedral corner reflectors in the azimuthal plane for the vertical and horizontal polarizations. The analysis incorporates single, double, and triple reflections; single diffractions; and reflection-diffractions. Two techniques for analyzing these backscatter mechanisms are contrasted. In the first method, geometrical optics (GO) is used in place of physical optics at initial reflections to maintain the planar nature of the reflected wave and subsequently reduce the complexity of the analysis. The objective is to avoid any surface integrations which cannot be performed in closed form. This technique is popular because it is inherently simple and is readily amenable to computer solutions. In the second method, physical optics is used at nearly every reflection to maximize the accuracy of the PTD solution at the expense of a rapid increase in complexity. In this technique, many of the integrations cannot be easily performed, and numerical techniques must be utilized. However, this technique can yield significant improvements in accuracy. In this paper, the induced surface current densities and the resulting cross section patterns are illustrated for these two methods. Experimental measurements confirm the accuracy of the analytical calculations for dihedral corner reflectors with right, acute, and obtuse interior angles.     

Radar cross section of trihedral corner reflectors using PO and MEC

Physical optics (po) and the method of equivalent currents (mec) are used for the formulation and calculation of the backscatter cross section of both the triangular and square trihedral corner reflectors. Scattering from a trihedral corner reflector is dominated by single, double, and triple reflections by the interior walls. A physical optics integration is performed on the entire surface of each plate for the evaluation of the singly reflected fields. Doubly and triply reflected fields are evaluated by first using geometrical optics (go) at initial reflections to calculate the incident plane wave on the plate where the last reflection occurs. Physical optics is then applied on the illuminated area of that plate. First-order diffractions, which are based on the fringe current expressions for the exterior edges of the trihedral, are also included in the analysis. Predictions compare very well with both experimental and fdtd data.     

Dihedral corner reflector backscatter using higher order reflections and diffractions

The uniform theory of diffraction (UTD) plus an imposed edge diffraction extension is used to predict the backscatter cross sections of dihedral corner reflectors which have right, obtuse, and acute included angles. UTD allows individual backscattering mechanisms of the dihedral corner reflectors to be identified and provides good agreement with experimental cross section measurements in the azimuthal plane. Multiply reflected and diffracted fields of up to third order are included in the analysis for both horizontal and vertical polarizations. The coefficients of the uniform theory of diffraction revert to Keller's original geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD) in far-field cross section analyses, but finite cross sections can be obtained everywhere by considering mutual cancellation of diffractions from parallel edges. Analytic calculations are performed using UTD coefficients; hence accuracy required in angular measurements is more critical as the distance increases. In particular, the common "far-field" approximation that all rays to the observation point are parallel is too gross of an approximation for the angular parameters in the UTD coefficients in the far field.     

Analysis of one-dimensional zonal reflectors

A one-dimensional zonal reflector is a conducting surface which is uniform in one direction and has a zonal profile in the other. Similar to a cylindrical reflector, it converts a cylindrical wave from a line-source into an outgoing plane wave. The radiation performance of such reflectors with TM-wave illumination is analyzed by the method of moments (MoM). The influence of corner diffraction and zoning on the sidelobe level is investigated. Three types of configurations are considered, which include the parabolic zonal reflector and two stepwise zonal reflectors of different configurations. It is found that corner diffraction makes a significant contribution to the sidelobe level, but zoning intrinsically raises the far-out sidelobes. Numerical results show that the near-in sidelobes of the stepwise zonal reflector can be significantly decreased by adjusting the geometrical configuration     

Diffraction and Reflection of a Plane Electromagnetic Wave by a Right-Angled Impedance Wedge

The interior of a right-angled impedance wedge is a natural model of a corner reflector and is of interest in the development of wireless propagation models. Using a previously-developed solution for the diffraction of a plane wave by a wedge of arbitrary angle, the geometrical optics field is determined and the diffracted field is computed. If an impedance compatibility condition is not met, the geometrical optics field is discontinuous across a plane specified by the edge of the wedge and the incident field direction. The diffracted field is required to compensate for this and its magnitude is proportional to the discontinuity. The field is computed for a variety of impedances and incident angles. Simple analytical approximations are also provided and their accuracy quantified.      

各向异性材料涂覆金属二面角反射器的RCS分析

该文基于均匀平面波入射下无限大金属衬底各向异性材料表面等效电磁流的一般表达,利用物理光学法结合多次反射,研究了各向异性材料涂覆金属二面角反射器的后向电磁散射特性,分析了不同材料参数及不同二面角对后向RCS的影响,得到了一些有益的结论。     

Radar polarimeter measures orientation of calibration corner reflectors

We have analyzed radar polarimeter signals from a set of trihedral corner reflectors located in the Goldstone Dry Lake in Cafifornia, and observed three types of scattering behavior: i) Bragg-like slightly rough surface scattering that represents the background signal from the dry lake, ii) trihedral corner reflector scattering that returns the incident polarization, and iii) two-bounce corner reflector scattering resulting from a particular alignment of a trihedral reflector. In the latter case, we can measure within about 3° the orientation angle of the apparent dihedral trough, even though the 2-m reflector is much smaller than the 10-m resolution element of our radar. Thus a radar calibration approach using trihedral corner reflectors should be designed such that precise alignment of the reflectors is ensured, as three-bounce and two-bounce geometries lead to very different cross sections and hence very different inferred calibration factors.     

Optimum corner reflectors for calibration of imaging radars

Trihedral corner reflectors are widely used as calibration targets for imaging radars because of their large radar cross section (RCS) and extremely wide RCS pattern. An important source of uncertainty in the RCS of a trihedral sitting on a ground plane is the coherent interaction of the ground plane with the trihedral. At UHF and low microwave frequencies the large physical size of corner reflectors become a limiting factor in regard to difficulties in field deployment and deviation of their RCS from the expected values. In this paper, a general class of corner reflectors with high-aperture efficiency referred to as self-illuminating corner reflectors, is introduced whose coherent interaction with the surrounding terrain is minimized and their total surface area is two-thirds of that of a triangular corner reflector having the same maximum RCS. Analytical expressions based on geometrical optics and a new numerical solution based on near-field physical optics for the RCS of two simple self-illuminating corner reflectors are presented and compared with backscatter measurements. Also the panel geometry for an optimum corner reflector which has the shortest edge length among polygonal self-illuminating corner reflectors is obtained. High-aperture efficiency is achieved at the expense of azimuth and elevation beamwidth. It is shown that the 1-dB RCS beamwidths of the optimal corner reflectors, both in azimuth and elevation directions, are about 16°. RCS measurements of corner reflectors in the presence of a ground plane show that the RCS of self-illuminating corner reflectors are less affected by the coherent ground interaction     

Depolarizing trihedral corner reflectors for radar navigation andremote sensing

A conventional trihedral corner reflector can be modified to present either a twist-polarizing or a circularly polarizing response by adding conducting fins of rectangular corrugations of prescribed dimensions and orientation to one of its interior surfaces. Since the modified reflector retains most of the mechanical ruggedness and ease of manufacture of the original, it is suitable for deployment in the field for extended periods as required in radar navigation and remote sensing applications. For most directions of incidence the response of the reflector is dominated by triple-bounce reflections from the interior and is a function of the size and shape of the reflecting panels, the dimensions of the corrugations, and the orientation of the reflector with respect to the radar. Experimental results show that prototype twist-polarizing and circularly polarizing reflectors respond as predicted     

Reflections, diffractions, and surface waves for an interiorimpedance wedge of arbitrary angle

The asymptotic-impedance wedge solution for plane-wave illumination at normal incidence is examined for interior wedge diffraction. An efficient method for calculating the diffraction coefficient for arbitrary wedge angle is presented, as previous calculations were very difficult except for three specific wedge angles for the uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (UTD) expansion. The asymptotic solution isolates the incident, singly reflected, multiply reflected, diffracted, surface wave, and associated surface wave transition fields. Multiply reflected fields of any order are considered. The multiply reflected fields from the exact solution arise as ratios of auxiliary Maliuzhinets functions; however, by using properties of the Maliuzhinets functions, this representation can be reduced to products of reflection coefficients which are much more efficient for calculation. A surface-wave transition field is added to the surface wave boundaries. Computations are presented for interior wedge diffractions although the formulation is equally valid for both exterior and interior wedges with uniform but different impedances on each face for both soft and hard polarizations. In addition, the accuracy of the high-frequency asymptotic expansion is examined for small diffraction distances by direct comparison of the exact and asymptotic solutions     

A new calibration algorithm of wide-band polarimetric measurementsystem

The principle and experimental results of a new self-consistent calibration algorithm for a wideband polarimetric scattering measurement system are presented. The calibration targets include a flat plate, a dihedral corner reflector, and a rotated dihedral corner reflector. The rotation angle of the third calibrator can be derived in the calibration process and used to verify the calibration performance. Experimental results show that the calculated rotation angle of the third calibrator over the operation bandwidth is in good agreement with its actual angle, hence it provides a self-consistent parameter of the calibration algorithm. Based on the signal-to-noise consideration, an optimal rotation angle for a dihedral corner reflector is found to be 22.5°. This calibration technique is also useful in characterizing the frequency and polarization responses of dual-polarization antennas     

强散射体的RCS分析

用简单的强散射体制作简易的目标模拟体．以较小的反射体模拟散射较强、体积较大的目标可以有效地提高目标的生存能力,达到伪装、迷惑的目的．常见的强散射体有二面角反射体、三面角反射体等,采用矩量法计算它们的RCS,通过分析、比较和计算结果来选择合适的强散射体．     

Beam diffraction by planar and parabolic reflectors

In the complex source point technique, an omnidirectional source diffraction solution becomes that for a directive beam when the coordinates of the source position are given appropriate complex values. This is applied to include feed directivity in reflector edge diffraction. Solutions and numerical examples for planar strip and parabolic cylinder reflectors are given, including an offset parabolic reflector. The main beams of parabolic reflectors are calculated by aperture integration and the edge diffracted fields by uniform diffraction theory. In both cases, a complex source point feed in the near or far field of the reflector may be used in the pattern calculation, with improvements in accuracy in the lateral and spillover pattern lobes     

Offset dual-shaped reflectors for dual chamber compact ranges

The application of the theory of the synthesis of offset dual-shaped reflectors to the design of compact ranges is examined. The object of the compact range is to provide a uniform plane wave with minimum amplitude and phase ripple over as large a volume as possible for a given size reflector. Ripple can be lowered by reducing the edge diffraction from the reflector producing the plane wave. This has been done either by serrating or rolling the edge. An alternative approach is to use dual offset-shaped reflector synthesis techniques to produce a reflector aperture distribution that is uniform over most of the aperture, but with a Gaussian taper near the edge. This approach can be used together with rolling and/or serration if desirable. The amount of phase and amplitude ripple obtained with two different dual-shaped reflector designs is studied as a function of position in the plane wave zone and reflector size in wavelengths. The amount of both transverse and longitudinal (z-component) cross polarization is studied     

Cylindrical and three-dimensional corner reflector antennas

Two reflector antennas are proposed. The first is constructed by adding a cylindrical reflecting surface of suitable radius to theV-shaped corner reflector antenna. The feeding element is a half-wavelength dipole. The resulting cylindrical corner reflector provided a 2 dB increase in gain, minimum sidelobe level, low input reactance, and uncritical dependence of performance on frequency. The second antenna is constructed by adding a cylindrical surface to the three-dimensional corner reflector. This extension provided an increase in gain of at least 6.5 dB, an input resistance compatible with the commercially available 50- or75-Omegacoaxial cables, low input reactance, and uncritical dependence of performance on frequency. A grid-type cylindrical corner reflector antenna, and a three-dimensional corner reflector antenna with a cylindrical subsurface of finite reflecting surfaces were designed, and the measured input impedances, gains, and field patterns showed excellent agreement with the theoretical results for both antennas.     

Calibration of a polarimetric radar using a rotatable dihedralcorner reflector

Based on the existing mathematical formalisms of radar polarimetry, it is necessary to perform accurate and diversified polarimetric measurements in the real world to thoroughly investigate signature definition, identification, and classification of radar targets. For this study the Delft Atmospheric Research Radar (DARR) is used. This ground-based polarimetric FM-CW radar operates in the S-band. The purpose of the present paper is the polarimetric calibration of the DARR. Among the passive reflectors, a rotatable dihedral corner reflector is a suitable calibration object. It enables one to measure different scattering matrices with only one reflector. One alignment must be performed and the scattering matrices are measured at the same range. By measuring several scattering matrices, the accuracy of the calibration result can be estimated. A measurement campaign with a rotatable dihedral corner reflector was therefore performed. The experimental results and the calibration procedure are presented in this paper     

Scattering from a hyperboloidal reflector in a cassegrainian feed system

The scattered field from a hyperboloidal reflector is calculated by integrating the induced current density over the front of the hyperboloid. The resulting integral expressions for the fields possess a stationary term which, when evaluated, yields the geometrical ray-optics approximation to the scattering problem. The complete field, including diffraction effects, may be obtained by numerical evaluation of the integrals. The formulas are applied to a hyperboloid illuminated by an idealized, sharply cut off uniform feed pattern. Characteristic diffraction phenomena are reduced with increasingD/lambdauntil the geometrical ray-optics result is obtained in the limit of vanishing wavelength. Theoretical field patterns are also obtained for a horn-fed hyperboloidal subreflector in a Cassegrainian feed system; they indicate that for moderately large hyperboloidal reflectors spillover may be reduced to an acceptable level, but there is a tendency toward increased forward spillover. The results of 9600-Mc model tests compare favorably with the theoretical patterns.     

基于极化分解的舰船和角反射器鉴别方法

使用角反射器是舰船电子对抗中常用的一种无源干扰方式,它在时域、频域和空域上与舰船的雷达回波都没有显著差异,因此传统单极化雷达很难有效鉴别舰船和角反射器。分析了舰船和角反射器在极化回波上的特性差异,并基于Krogager极化分解提取了单频点和多频点情况下的特征矢量,通过支持矢量机对舰船和角反射器进行了鉴别。电磁计算数据表明：该方法可以较好地对二者进行鉴别,且对单角反射器和阵列角反射器都有效,为解决舰船和角反射器的鉴别问题提供了一个可行的思路。     

Antenna patterns of an open structure mixer at a submillimeter wavelength and of its scaled model

To verify the enhancement in sensitivity of a Schottky barrier diode using a 90° corner reflector at submillimeter wavelength a 65∶1 scaled model of the open structure mixer was constructed and investigated at 2.8 cm wavelength. The results show clearly the advantage of a 90° corner reflector, the reality of the deviations for 45° and 60° corner reflectors found for submillimeter wavelengths, and the equality of the antenna patterns for a 90° corner reflector and a “cat-eye” (corner cube) reflector.     

Calibration of a cross-polarized SAR image using dihedral cornerreflectors

An X-band cross-polarized synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image taken from an aircraft has been absolutely calibrated using 45°-inclined dihedral corner reflectors with an aperture dimension of 15 cm×25 cm. The experiment was carried out during an airborne SAR campaign (called the SAR-580 Experiment) conducted by the National Space Development Agency of Japan in 1983. The experimental procedure, the characteristics of the corner reflector, and the results of the experiment are described