Radar cross section

Uncommon card · No. 196030

Radar cross section (RCS), denoted σ, also called radar signature, is a measure of how detectable an object is by radar. A larger RCS indicates that an object is more easily detected. An object reflects a limited amount of radar energy back to the source. The factors that influence this include: the material with which the target is made; the size of the target relative to the wavelength of the illuminating radar signal; the absolute size of the target; the incident angle (angle at which the radar beam hits a particular portion of the target, which depends upon the shape of the target and its orientation to the radar source); the reflected angle (angle at which the reflected beam leaves the part of the target hit; it depends upon incident angle); the polarization of the radiation transmitted and received with respect to the orientation of the target. While important in detecting targets, strength of emitter and distance are not factors that affect the calculation of an RCS because RCS...

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