Over-the-horizon radar surveillance of airfields for counterdrug applications

Airfield surveillance utilizing over-the-horizon radar (OTHR) offers the opportunity to gather significant intelligence concerning activity levels at suspect drug smuggling airports. It also provides the potential to classify aircraft initially from observed takeoff data, which would be helpful in interdiction efforts. This paper discusses the radar signal components and signal processing techniques to accomplish this capability. An actual takeoff, observed by SRI International's Wide Aperture Research Facility (WARF), illustrates how the range-Doppler display plays an important role in developing and automating this capability. The ultimate capability is automatic take-off recognition, initial target classification, rate of climb indication, and track to destination; all important contributions to the counterdrug command, control, and interdiction team.