Modeling Sea Clutter Doppler Spectra for L-Band Airborne Radar Under Medium Incident Angles

In ground-based L-band radar sea clutter, Bragg scattering caused by short gravity waves on the sea surface frequently exhibits azimuthal dependence, with higher order Bragg-scattering spectra clearly visible alongside the first-order spectrum. Recent measurements from an L-band airborne moving target detection (MTD) radar, operating in side-looking mode with HH polarization at medium incident angles (30°–60°), near the Zhoushan Fishing Ground in Ningbo, China, also reveal azimuth-dependent and multipeak characteristics, that pose challenges for target detection within the endo-clutter region. To better understand the clutter characteristics in L-band airborne MTD radar, this article investigates the modeling of sea clutter Doppler spectra under medium incident angles ranging from 30° to 60°. Using the small slope approximation (SSA) incorporating a time-varying rough sea surface with spikes, a systemic expression for the Doppler spectrum, accounting for the sea clutter space-time coupling, is derived. Specifically, the Doppler spectrum related to the sea surface is expressed as an azimuth-dependent underlying spectrum weighted by the antenna beam (i.e., the spatial spectrum), while the spectrum due to spikes is represented as a convolution of the spatial spectrum with an azimuth-independent underlying spectrum. Each individual spectrum is characterized with Gaussian profiles, forming the basis of a comprehensive spectrum model that can successfully capture an azimuth-independent peak and approximately 2–7 or more azimuth-dependent peaks in the real-world sea-clutter Doppler spectra. Note that the proposed model is directed against sea echoes with azimuth-dependent scattering properties from the main lobe of the two-way antenna pattern, and thus, suitably characterizes the corresponding sea-clutter Doppler features.