Far field radar cross-section (RCS) predictions from planar near field measurements

Three modifications to M.A. Dinallo's (Proc. AMTA, 1984) planar NFFFT (near-field-to-far-field transformation) algorithm are described which tailor the near field data collection requirements to the desired far zone RCS (radar cross section) data. Excellent performance was demonstrated at 6% of the far-field distance using simulated near-field data. The modifications result in substantial reductions in data collection time and hardware complexity, thereby offering the potential for practical near-field RCS measurements.<>