Adaptive clutter suppression in step scan radars

Consideration is given to the suppression of clutter echoes with unknown power spectra from weather and sea chaff disturbances. The use of the discrete Fourier transform for clutter suppression in step scan radars is investigated on the basis of a clutter model which is derived in analogy with measured clutter of a radar with a rotating antenna. The procedure consists of a suboptimum method of adaptive clutter suppression after the Doppler filter bank. The procedure promises to be advantageous when the echo signal consists of a finite value sequence (step scan radar) where the prefilter concept would cause a shortening of the coherent integration path.