Estimating self-clutter of the multiple-pulse technique

Autocorrelation function (ACF) estimates from voltage data measured by high-frequency ionospheric radar systems that utilize the multiple-pulse technique of Farley (1972) are susceptible to interference from self-clutter. Self-clutter is caused by simultaneous returns from multiple transmitted pulses echoing from unwanted, or ambiguous ranges. Without accurate estimates of self-clutter it is impossible to account for all the uncertainty in estimates of the radar ACF. Voltage- and power-based self-clutter estimators are presented and evaluated using a modified version of the radar data simulator of Ribeiro et al. (2013a) and data from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). It is shown that self-clutter caused by ambiguous ranges filled with ground scatter can be accurately estimated using a voltage-based self-clutter estimator but that for ionospheric origin self-clutter a maximal estimator must be used. Two maximal self-clutter estimators are discussed and verified using the radar data simulator. A discussion of the application of the self-clutter estimator as it is applied to ACFs obtained with Saskatoon SuperDARN radar is also presented.