Influence of atmospheric propagation in the maritime boundary layer on the measured RCS of ships

Propagation in the maritime boundary layer is determined by the refractive index of the atmosphere above the sea. The refractivity is determined by a set of parameters, which characterize the atmosphere and the underlying medium, the sea surface. During experimental RCS measurements of ships the measured RCS is dependent on the actual propagation properties. To deduce calibrated and valid data these have to be taken into account. A simulation package was developed using the parabolic equation model TERPEM and the CAD based RCS simulation tool CADRCS which are merged to a general RCS model NAVRCS. The contribution describes the philosophy of the approach and discusses typical simulation results, which are compared with validation measurements.