Radar and ARPA Manual

3 Target detection

3.1 Introduction

The ability of the radar system to detect and display a

given target depends on a large number of factors some

of which are constant and others which may vary in

quite a complex manner. The significance of some of

these factors may be almost self-evident while that of

others may be much less obvious. The

rada range equation

is an expression which attempts to formalize the rela-

tionship between the maximum range at which a target

can be detected and the parameters on which that range

depends. In the form in which the equation is used by

radar engineers to predict detection ranges of targets by

taking into