A quick look at the first NRL short pulse 95 GHz radar flight data

A new high resolution 95 GHz radar system was incorporated into an existing high speed data acquisition system installed on a NRL RP-3A aircraft. The radar can be operated in either short pulse mode (pulse width 10 nanoseconds) or long pulse mode (pulse width 50 nanoseconds). The high speed data acquisition system can sample the radar return waveforms with total burst rate of up to 500 KHz. A series of measurements was made over the Great Dismal Swamp and the Atlantic Ocean. The radar was deployed in the Altimeter mode during the Dismal Swamp measurements, while both the Altimeter and Aft-looking mode were deployed over the ocean. Representative data are presented.