Simulation of narrow-band monopulse measurements of closely-spaced targets

When more than one target is in the main lobe of a monopulse radar, the problem of target resolution is important. Simulation of monopulse measurements by two methods of resolving the targets is considered. The first method uses pulse compression by means of a phase coded waveform in order to enhance the range resolution. The second is the transmission of a series of short pulses combined with Doppler processing in order to resolve targets in radial velocity rather than by range measurements alone, The returning echoed subpulses do not occur simultaneously with those generated by the signal processing system, causing each subpulse to generally contribute to two consecutive matched filter outputs. Thus, to be fully resolvable by measurement of range, any two targets in the beam must be separated by a range (time) exceeding two subpulse intervals. In Pulse Doppler the returning echoes are captured within a series of range gates during the periods between the transmitted pulses. Knowledge of both range and range rate, subject to ambiguities in both, is obtained. An algorithm for the simulation of monopulse measurements of closely spaced targets at given ranges, range rates, and RCS is presented.