Impact of radar illumination area and platform velocity on sea clutter statistical characteristics

In addition to radar parameters and marine environmental factors, the statistical characteristics of radar sea clutter are significantly influenced by the state of the measurement platform, leading to substantial differences in sea clutter measurements across platforms. To support cross-platform conversion applications of sea clutter data and characteristics, this study investigates the effects of illumination area of radar resolution cell and platform speed on the amplitude statistical distribution of sea clutter, based on the data with varying radar bandwidths, carrier altitudes, and aircraft speeds, collected at high grazing angles by X-band and Ku-band radar. The variation patterns of typical amplitude distribution parameters are elucidated. The results indicate that amplitude distribution of sea clutter tends to follow Rayleigh distribution as the radar resolution cell area increases. The shape parameter exhibits a negative correlation with the range resolution, stabilizing when the resolution exceeds a threshold. Furthermore, platform speed significantly impacts the amplitude distribution. At higher speeds, the amplitude distribution of sea clutter tends toward greater stationarity. These findings provide critical guidance for cross-platform analysis of sea clutter discrepancies and the development of conversion frameworks.