Environmental Effects on Ground-based Radar Measurements

Radar cross section (RCS) measurements require a well-calibrated radar system. Often, the calibration process is performed by evaluating the received echo signal from a target with well-known RCS. In a ground-based setup, radar measurements may be significantly affected by the environment in general and by the multipath in particular. This paper analyses the importance of the multipath effect on radar measurements both in theory and in some experiments for different geometries, environments and vegetation.