Radio Science,Volume 33, Number 4, Pages1077-1093, July-August1998

Over-the-horizon radar target registration improvement

by terrain feature localization
JamesR. Barnum and Erik E. Simpson
SRI International, Menlo Park, California

Abstract. This paperaddresses the problemof over-the-horizon radar (OTHR) target

positionregistrationin the presenceof ill-definedionosphericstructures. At present,
OTHR is subjectto frequentpositionuncertaintiesdue to ionosphericabnormalities, such
as tilts and ambiguousmultipathpropagationmodes,that are difficultto model
adequatelyduringradar operation.The detectionand registrationof discreteterrain
featuresin parallelwith routineradar operationswere studiedwith the goalof
significantly reducingradar targetpositionerrorsundermostcircumstances. The Wide
ApertureResearchFacility(WARF) experimental OTH radartestbedwasmodifiedto
enablethe automaticdetection,processing, display,and registrationof terrain features
and HF repeater(beacon)echoesin parallelwith aircraftdetectionand tracking
operations.Many distinctterrainfeaturelocationswere studiedin significantdetail,
includingcities,mountainpeaks,and an island,and the automatically determinedposition
correctionoffsetswere statisticallycomparedwith collocatedbeaconsthat servedas
groundtruth. It wasfoundthat 100% of the offsetshad expectederrorsof lessthan 5.7
nauticalmiles(1 nauticalmile equals1.852km); and 93% of the offsets(withbetter
ionospheric propagation)had expectederrorsof lessthan 3.2 nauticalmiles.We conclude
from the researchthat terrain featurescan be usedto provide coordinateregistration
benchmarksover an OTHR coveragearea in the sameway that beaconscan be used.

1. Introduction wave (FMCW) waveformand receivingaperturesof

A 3-year investigationwas conductedusing the approximately2.5 km. A typical resolutioncell is
Wide Aperture ResearchFacility (WARF) high-fre- approximately18 km deepand 20 km wide.Targetsof
quency(HF) over-the-horizonradar (OTHR) [Bar- interest include single-engineprivate aircraft, larger
num, 1973; Washburn et al., 1979; Barnum, 1986, aircraft, and ocean-goingvesselsof all sizes[Barnum,
1993] to determine if prominent land backscatter 1986, 1993;Raytheon,1992].
enhancements,called terrain features, could be used 1.1. Motivation
as coordinateregistrationbenchmarks.The project
wasdubbed"terrainmapping,"or "TMAP" for short. Real-time ionosphericmodeling is conductedat
most OTHRs to enable conversion of measurements
The operationalapplicationof TMAP is to improve
of target slantrange(SR) and slantazimuth(SA) to
targetpositioningaccuracyat the RelocatableOTHR
groundrange and groundazimuth,from which lati-
(ROTHR) (AN/TPS-71) systems locatedin Virginia
tude and longitude are computed.The time history
(ROTHR-VA) and Texas(ROTHR-TX). The work
and first derivativesof range and azimuth with time
alsowill apply to a plannedROTHR deploymentat
are usedto computetarget courseand speed.OTHR
PuertoRico (ROTHR-PR). The currentapplication
of these ROTHRs is to support counterdrug(CD) target positioningerrors stem primarily from impre-
aircraft surveillanceand interdiction[Barnum,1993]. ciseknowledgeof the ionosphericprofilebetweenthe
radar and target.
The immediateoperationalapplicationof the TMAP
The modelingproceedswith the recordingof quasi-
researchis to improvethe accuracyof groundposi-
tioning of CD targetsof interest.Both WARF and verticalionograms(QVIs) and wide-sweepbackscat-
ROTHR utilize the frequencymodulatedcontinuous ter ionograms(WSBIs). QVIs and WSBIs are re-
cordedevery5 min between6 and 30 MHz at WARF
and every12 min between5 and 28 MHz at ROTHR,
Copyright1998 by the American GeophysicalUnion. usingrelativelywide antennabeam widths.
Paper number98RS00831. At WARF [Barnum,1993],computer-assisted trac-
0048-6604/98/98RS-00831511.00 ingsof the QVI ordinarymode and virtual geometry
1077
1078 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES

constantradar parameters.A ROTHR DIR includes

16 beamssampledsimultaneously. At WARF it in-
cludesfrom five to 20 beams (dependingon the
ROTHR-VA mission)sampledfive at a time, in sequence.
The modeling at both radars is occasionallyren-
deredinadequatedue to (1) unaccounted latitudinal
andlongitudinaltilts in electrondensity,(2) mistaken
propagationmodes,and (3) the operator'sinabilityto
match candidate real-time ionospheric models to
information derived from available vertical and
oblique soundings.
Clearly, additional forms of ionosphericmeasure-
ment or actualgroundtruth couldhelp in correcting
errors in the models and in refining the position
estimatesof specifictargets.Suchforms of truth are
ROTHR-TX midpath vertical soundings,oblique soundingsfrom
points downrangein the radar coverage,HF beacon
Figure 1. Current Relocatable Over-the-Horizon Radar echoes,detectionsof identified targetswith a priori
coverage areas. known positions,detectionof land-seatransitionsby
virtue of changesin groundecho Doppler shift be-
tween earth and ocean [Blair et al., 1969] with long
are used with a K-corrected version of the secant law integration times, and echoes from known terrain
and Martyn's theorem [Davies, 1965] to derive syn- features. The latter approachis the subjectof this
thetic backscatter ionograms as a set of oblique paper. During the courseof the TMAP work it was
ionogramssteppedin range.The syntheticionograms determinedthat portable,modulated,single-antenna
are then fit, by changing critical frequency as a HF repeating beacons could be used as reliable
function of range, to the observedleading edgeson benchmarks[Ferraroand Bucknam, 1997], and this
the measuredWSBI [Barnum,1993].The variationof capabilityis currentlybeingimplementedat ROTHR.
E and F] propagationretardation with solar zenith HF beaconswere alsousedat WARF to quantifythe
angle, and its effect on the F2 virtual height, are accuracyof TMAP.
accountedfor. Virtual height tables are constructed The ROTHR-VA and ROTHR-TX coverageareas
for the E, F], andF 2 one-hop,lower-raypropagation containseveralterrain opportunities,as indicatedin
modes,and one of these (typicallythe F 2 layer) is Figure 1, particularly at the longer ranges, where
selectedasthe primarymodefor a particularoperation. propagationis lessdefinedand errors are larger. The
At ROTHR [Raytheon,1992], precomputedone- new ROTHR-PR coveragewill be almost entirely
dimensionalray tracingresultsfrom candidateChap- over land.
man layers,castin terms of syntheticQVI and WSBI,
are automaticallyretrievedand iterated to arrive at a 1.2. Terrain Mapping Background
closestpossiblematch between theory and measure- Past studiesof ground echoesfrom discretescat-
ment. The models have been incremented in critical tering sourceshave shownpromisefor benchmarking
frequencyand catalogedso as to permit rapid library OTHR coordinate registration.In 1971, Washburn
query and retrieval. The variation of F 2 layer maxi- [1971a,b] publisheda studyof high-resolutionobser-
mum ionization height is estimatedusing historical vation and analysisof discreteHF echoesin OTH
gradients. The syntheticbackscatterionograms are ground backscatter.He used the WARF systemto
then used to constructcoordinateregistrationtables achievespatialresolutionsof 0.5ø in azimuth and as
(CRTs) for all availablepropagationmodes,includ- small as 450 m (3 Its) in SR. Several repeatable
ing mixed modesand both one-and two-hop modes, discrete echoes were found within areas of New
that are usedby the trackingsystemto map radar SR Mexico, Texas, and elsewhere in the continental
and SA to ground.SeparateCRTs are computedfor United Statesthat exhibitedunusuallydetailedmode
each dwell illuminationregion(DIR) under surveil- definition and contrast. The most notable echo was
lance. A DIR comprisesthe area searched with locatedin the vicinity of Albuquerque,New Mexico,
 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES 1079

possiblyon the face of the SandiaMountain Range domain noncoherent averaging was chosen, as it
(or the city itself). Washburnconcludedthat such could be used with special TMAP processingin
echoescouldprovidea naturalmeansfor ionospheric parallel with normal operations.
sounding,since they returned backscatteroblique A total of 236 hoursof terrain mappingdata were
ionogramswith identifiabletwo-waymodesthat could systematically collectedand analyzedduring1993 and
be attributed to the various transmit and receive 1994 from the feature locations indicated in the
propagationpaths.Without question,the echoesob- WARF southeasterncoveragesectorshownin Figure
served by Washburn would be useful for OTHR 2. Collection periods included late spring,summer,
targetcoordinateregistration,oncethe actualground fall, and early winter months, both day and night
location of these featurescould be determinedusing (propagationconditionspermitting). The most fre-
HF beaconsor other known reference targets. quently sampled areas were E1 Paso and Corpus
Baslerand Scott [1972] used a pulse sounderlo- Christi, Texas, and Mexico City (correspondingto
cated near Washington,D.C., with a 4ø azimuthal short,medium,and long ranges,respectively).Radar
resolutionand pulselengthsassmallas 10/•s (1.5-km waveforms identical to those used to track CD-sized
rangeresolution)to map discretegroundfeaturesas aircraftwere usedthroughoutthe tests.HF repeating
a functionof rangeand azimuth.IslandssuchasCuba beaconslocated at E1 Paso and Corpus Christi were
and largecitiessuchas KansasCity providednotable used during the TMAP experimentsover these loca-
and repeatable returns. Similarly, Basler and Scott tions to providegroundtruth.
[1973] analyzed swept-frequencybackscatteriono- This paper will restrict its scopeto the F 2 layer
gram recordsthat displayedthese discretefeatures results from E1 Paso and Corpus Christi, where
and outlined how thesetwo-wayionogramscould be beaconregistrationenabledquantitativeconclusions
used to model the ionosphereby meansof midpath regardingthe accuracyof the technique.The final
h' - f curves(vertical ionograms)derived using a report on the project [Barnum and Simpson,1997]
K-correctedversionof Martyn's theorem. contains a complete summary of results from all
WARF terrain features studied, as well as several
1.3. Approach promisingfeatureswithin the ROTHR-VA coverage
These past studiesdemonstratedthat large cities, area (Figure 1). For example,during a brief study,
mountains,or islands (with prominences)provide consistentechoeswere recorded from Panama; Cuba;
discrete,repeatablegroundechoenhancements rela- the three northern Andes mountain ranges,particu-
tive to surrounding unpopulatedor relativelyuniform larly near Santa Marta, Colombia; and near Barce-
terrain. The goal of the present studywas to deter- lona and Maracaibo, Venezuela.
mine the accuracywith whichthesefeaturescouldbe
usedfor coordinateregistrationenhancement.A key
objectivewas to develop a procedurewhich could 2. Terrain Feature Processing
utilize the radar data that are normallyand routinely Terrain maps displaythe reflectanceof radar en-
recordedduring radar operationsto detect localized ergy from the Earth's surface (ground, water, or
terrain features. In this way, no special or time- artificial). Variation in the electricalpropertiesand
consumingmodes of radar operationwould be re- orientationof the surfacecanbe expectedto resultin
quired. For example, it became clear that large variable radar brightnessas a function of range and
amountsof noncoherentbackscatteraveragingwould azimuth. Figure 3 showsan exampleWARF terrain
be useful for increasingthe contrastof terrain fea- map over the southeastTexas area. The map is
tures relative to the variable-amplitudebackground, subdividedinto an arrayof 33 rangecells(roughlyleft
includingthe effect of travelingionosphericfocusing to right acrossthe map) and 20 azimuth cells.The
irregularities. Noncoherent averagingin radio fre- cellsmeasureapproximately9 km in rangedepth and
quencyshouldbe useful becauseHF scatteringand 20 km in azimuthalwidth. The backscatteramplitude
Faraday rotation effects tend to decorrelate with (gray scalebrightness)hasbeen noncoherentlyaver-
time. However, OTHRs are not normally operated agedandcontouredin 3-dB steps,asdescribedbelow,
over enormousbandwidthsbecauseionosphericdis- and library features (thin black contour sets) have
persionwill limitthe siz• of usefulbandwidths and been usedfor correlationwith bright spotsat Corpus
the HF spectrumis increasinglyoccupiedby other Christi and Laredo, Texas. The HF beacon location is
radio users, particularly at night. Therefore time indicated by a small circle. The "box properties"
1080 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON
Figure 2. Terrain feature locationsstudiedat the Wide Aperture ResearchFacility over-the-horizon
radar. Statistics were obtained on features with solid circles.
windowin the lower right of the displayindicatesthe
DIR identification,start and stop (update) times,
frequency,equivalentionosphericvirtual height, SR
and position at center of box, DIR dimensionsin SR
and SA, range resolution,and coherentintegration
time (CIT). Figure4 showsa cartographicmap of the
same area, from which one can visually correlate
additionalhotspotsin Figure 3 with McAllen, Texas,
and mountainrangesnortheastof Monterrey,Mexico.
It is necessary
to illuminateterrainfeaturesrepeat-
edly (as with detection of targets) to clarify their
existencerelative to background noise and lesser
clutter echoes.Additionally, relatively high spatial
resolutionis desirableto separateone feature from
another. Finally, it is necessaryto detect terrain
featuresat the sametime and at the samefrequency
the radar is tracking targets, so that terrain feature
and target registrationoffsetswill agree.Fortunately,
these objectivescan be achievedby processingthe
raw radar data usingdifferent algorithmsin parallel
with routine OTHR operations.
TMAP processingis performed in radar slant
space,as an adjunctto target range-Dopplerprocess-
ing. Coordinate correctionsare computed by first
applying correctionsto SR and SA, then by trans-
forming to ground range and ground azimuth, and
finally by transformingto latitude and longitude.At
WARF, corrections derived from either beacon or
RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES
terrain feature offsetsare shownon separatedisplays
and forwardedto the radar database,which supplies
them to the targettrackerto correcttargetpositions.
2.1. Terrain Map Computation
A terrain map displaysnormalized,noncoherently
averaged,total backscatteramplitudeas a functionof
range and azimuth (Figure 3). By comparison,an
OTHR processeseach range-azimuth cell into a
Doppler spectrumduring each coherentintegration
time (CIT) period, which correspondsto a radar
"dwell."A range-Doppler(RD) mapon eachreceiver
antenna beam (typically0.5ø wide) is thereby con-
structedand subsequentlynormalizedto equalizethe
high-Doppler noise level above which targets are
detectedand tracked. The terrain map retains and
usesonly the non-D6pplerprocessed
radar data
product known as "beam-formedrange transforms"
(BRTs). The complex-amplitude
renderingof BRTs,
when Fourier transformed as a function of time at
eachbeamand rangebin, yieldsthe RD map.TMAP,
however,takesthe absolutevaluesquared(power)of
the BRT and then averagesthese powersover the
dwell. Typically,there are 128 or 256 BRTs thereby
averagednoncoherently.At WARF a calibratetone is
injected into the receivers at the front end and
retrievedin the parallelRD map processingfor usein
equalizingthe receiver gain on all beams incorpo-
 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES 1081

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UBI:•RY
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Figure 3. Example terrain map over southeastTexas, showingseveralprominent features.

rated into a given terrain map. At ROTHR, all 16 vided) by the median backscatteramplitude in the
beams in a dwell are processedsimultaneouslyand whole map (from all rangebins and azimuthbeams)
gain-equalizedduring the range and digital beam- to enable the computation of relative amplitude
forming processing.The ROTHR BRTs are not contours,as well as to improve TMAP display con-
readily available,however,so we found it convenient trast. For ROTHR terrain mapping, prior to the
to invoke Parseval'stheorem [Bracewell,1965] and median map normalization,eachrangebin amplitude
computea near equivalentof the averagedBRTs by is normalized by the interpolated median amplitude
noncoherentaveragingof all Doppler spectrumam- from all 16 beamsat that range.This stepremovesthe
plitudesat eachrange-azimuthcell for each CIT. The frequentlylargevariation of backscatteramplitude,as
use of time domain windowingto shapethe Doppler a function of range, that occursas a result of the use
spectrumis not a seriouseffect, since many dwells of very large DIRs (e.g., 500 nauticalmiles long) (1
must be averaged in the end to stabilize terrain nauticalmile equals1.852 km) over which the iono-
backscatterrelief. Therefore temporal fluctuations sphericillumination typicallyvaries by more than 10
within a singleradar dwell are insignificant. dB. This step also removed occasionallarge-scale
Each WARF terrain map is normalized (i.e., di- land-seabackscatteramplitude transitions.
1082 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES

Figure 4. Digital map coveringCorpusChristi,Texas,southernTexas,and portionsof Mexico.

Averaging over a period of several minutes was ently a resultof the lognormalamplitudefluctuation
foundto be necessary to obtainconsistent,repeatable statisticsgenerallyobservedwith OTH targets.
terrain maps. It appearsthat temporal variationsin
2.2. Terrain Feature Characterization
ionosphericpropagation,includingtravelingelectron
density irregularitiesand Faraday rotation, tend to for Map Comparison
produce structurein the terrain maps on the same Once terrain maps are produced, the question
levelasthe terrainvariationsthat are the objectof thearisesof howbestto comparetwo mapsderivedfrom
study.Averagingfor a period of 5-10 min tends to data taken at different times, and possiblyunder
produce terrain maps that more accuratelyreflect different conditions (different frequencies, band-
actual groundvariations.Averagingfor longer peri- widths, ionosphericparameters,etc.). The chosen
ods (up to 20 min) seemsneither to improve nor methodof comparison (looselytermed"correlation")
degradethe image produced.Many of the resultsto utilizesa representationof terrainmapsasamplitude
date used averagesof whole DIR scanningepisodes contourmaps (similar to cartographicrelief maps),
(with constant radar parameters), which typically with nested sets of contours spaced by 3 dB in
lasted 10-20 min. Best results are obtained when the amplitude. Contours of constantamplitude are lo-
quantities averaged are the log amplitudes of the cated in the two-dimensionalrange-azimutharrays
terrain map, rather than normalizedpower, appar- that are augmentedwhere applicableto includemul-
 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES 1083

tiple steers.The algorithm ensuresthat all contours 2.3. Correlation of Terrain Maps With Library
are topologicallyclosedby traversingthe boundaryof Terrain Features
the map, if necessary.If this bounding device is Terrain map contour structuresare fit to a set of
necessary,the points lying on the boundary are
librars'featuresby determiningwith an iterative algo-
referred to as virtual to distinguishthem from actual
rithm which contoursbest match given library fea-
points within the map. This enforced closureof all
tures with the same geographicalarea. The process
contourspermitshandedness to be associated
with each
beginswith basicdata quality tests,proceedswith an
contour,sothat it can be known immediatelywhether
algorithmthat finds the best fitting score (basedon
a given contour enclosesa minimum or a maximum.
Once all the contourshave been located, they are
the degreeof map and library contouroverlap),and
ordered into contour structures, each of which con- concludeswith further quality teststhat were empir-
tains the contour itself (the boundaryof the struc- ically determinedto be important to reducingcorre-
lation error.
ture) and any number of additional contour struc-
tures whose boundariesare completelyenclosedby A DIR with a mean subcluttervisibility(SCV) less
the boundingcontour.Thus the whole map itself can than 40 dB is discarded, since an SCV below 40 dB is
be representedas a contourstructurewhoseboundary not sufficient for target tracking. Disturbed iono-
(entirelyvirtual) is the boundaryof the map itselfand spheric conditions are alsoresponsiblefor a low SCV,
whosecontentsare all the subsidiary contourstructures. leading to poor terrain mappingperformance.
After buildingthe contourstructures,the algorithm The TMAP processing beginsusing the strongest
identifiesterrain featuresascontourstructureshaving library feature located within the same geographical
strongrelief (at leasttwo nestedcontours)and spatial area covered by a given terrain map. A searchfor the
compactness. A feature may or may not also exhibit strongest terrain feature structure is then performed
internal structure, such as multiple maxima, or in- within a circular area of radius rs = 0.03R measured
cluded minima. A library of terrain features is con- from the highest point of the strongest library feature.
structed manually by selecting visually prominent R is the SR to the center of the DIR, so the value of
terrain features from several representative time- the criticaldistancers is 90 km (50 nauticalmiles) at
averagedterrain mapsover the samelocation.When an SR of 3000 km (1600 nauticalmiles). The search
selectinga contourstructurefor inclusionin this data- area is bounded by the DIR edges; no wrap is
base,it isimportantto choosestructures whosecontours allowed. The highest point of the library feature is
containno virtual points,sincethe actualboundaries defined as the center of the smallest rectangle that
of those contours would be indeterminate. In our
enclosesthe highestcontourlevel.If no closedterrain
studya library databasewas preparedthat organized feature contour structure is found within the critical
the contour structuresrepresentingthe features. distance, the process skips to the closest feature
Variations in terrain map backscatterenhance- outside rs. An option will be provided in a future
mentswith frequencyand angleof illuminationmight version to skip to the next library feature (if any)
alsobe expected;however,no dependenceof this sort within the DIR.
has been found. After processinghundredsof nomi- Coordinate registrationrelative to a set of library
nal 10-min terrain map files at WARF and mixing all terrain features is carried out by finding the SR and
frequencies,ionosphericheights, radar bandwidths, SA offsets, ,Xr and ,Xa, that maximize the combined
and azimuthal resolutions, the standard deviation of
fitting score to the library set. The fitting score is
TMAP errors (comparedwith beacons)remainedas definedasthe sumof amplitude-weighted overlapped
small as the standard deviation of the measurement
candidateterrain and library contour areas, divided
of beaconpositionsalone.A possibleexplanationfor
by the sum of nonincluded areas, for all feature
the frequencyand elevationindependenceis that the contours. The score varies from 0 to 1.0. Mathemat-
very bright features studied and catalogedconsisted
ically, the scoringprocessproceedsas follows:
of either dense,randomlyspacedconductingreflec-
Two measuresof the quality of fit between two
tors (e.g.,cities)or largemountainpeaksthat resem- contours are defined:
bled rough mirrors. Only one library representation
of a given suchterrain backscatterenhancementwas
required for all matching cases, which simplified area{C• r3 C2}
fr(Ci, C2)= (1)
developmentof the referencelibrary. max[area{C1}, area{C2}]
1084 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES

area{C1
CIC2} A•t
fB(C1,
C2)area{C1
UC2}' (2) wi A•' (3b)
where C1 and C2 are any two contours.The inter- whereA• is the amplitude (power)of the corre-
sponding
section(A) and union(LJ) operatorsproduceareas the mapcontourandthe indexi runsoverall
enclosed contours of the terrain feature. If no
that contain the intersection and union of contained
mapcontourfor the appropriate featurelevelcanbe
points,wherecontainment
issensitive
to thehanded- found,the term in (3) is still accounted,with zero
ness of the contour.By convention,right-handed contribution to the numerator.
contourscontainenclosedpointsand correspondto
The scoreis computedfor the sum of the Sc•:
regionsof increasing amplitude,andthusto peaksin contributionsfrom all library terrain features in-
the map structure.In contrast,left-handedcontours cludedwithinthe map.A maximizationis carriedout
containnonenclosed pointsand correspondto val- usingthe simplexalgorithmdescribed by Presset al.
leys.Theseareplottedasdashed contours(Figure3). [1988].The determinationof the tightestmap con-
With this convention,intersectionhas the usual cor- tour is reconsidered
in the evaluationof (3a) and (3b)
respondence with logical"and,"while unioncorre- on eachsimplexalgorithmiteration.In futurework
spondsto logical "or," and left-handedcontours an optionwill be providedto measurecoordinate
precede theirenclosed areaswithlogical"not."These registrationoffsetsfor individuallibrary features
conventions, for example,prohibitthe matchingof withina map,with separatescoringoperations.
contours which enclose maxima with those which Followingthisgeneralmatchingprocedure, which
enclose minima. nearlyalwaysconverges on somesolution,we found
The termfr maybe interpretedasthe "tightness" that further automatic testsare desirablefor improv-
of the fit of two contours because it measures the ingthereliability of TMAP. Thesetestswerederived
degreeof overlapof two areas,normalizedby the after examination of all data recorded over the refer-
maximum area size between the two contours. The encebeaconsat E1Pasoand CorpusChristi.The tests
termfB maybe interpretedasthe "goodness" of the are the following:
fit becauseit measuresthe degreeof area overlap 1. A candidate terrain map contour structure
relativeto the totalareaof bothcon- must have at least two nested and closedamplitude
(intersection),
tourslessthe overlapregion(union).Bothfr andfB contours.Furthermore,the innermost(smallest)con-
vary between0 and 1. tour of the fitted terrain feature must be wholly
Thetwoexpressions definedby(1) and(2) areused containedwithin the outermostcontour of the library
to establisha quantitativemeasureof the correlation feature. If not, the candidate terrain contour struc-
of a terrainmapwith a setof terrainfeaturesby the ture is not well defined, and the match is discarded.
followingalgorithm: 2. A displacement
greaterthan the criticaldis-
1. Identify
terrain
mapcontour
CM in tancers is unrealisticand is discarded.The on-line
¸ thatresults
thelargest
valueoffr(CM
¸, C•ø),whereC•¸ isthe ionosphericmodelshouldbe checked.
3. A threshold of 0.30 is set as a minimum score.
outermost contour of each terrain feature. In these
Matches below this threshold are discarded.
expressions,subscripts
M andF denote"map"and
"feature,"respectively,
andsuperscript
O denotesthe The processskipsto the next strongestlibrary
outermost contour.
featurewithin the DIR to seeif anyother matchesare
2. Foreachcontour
C• withinC•¸, findC• that possible.
fr( CM,
maximizes i C•) while ß - CM
constraining
C•t ¸, 2.4. Registration Calibration
orC• withinCM
¸. The procedures describedabovedetermineregis-
3. Computethe correlation
scorefor eachterrain trationwith respectto the identifiedlibraryterrain
feature as
features;absoluteregistrationrequiresknowledgeof
the true ground location of the library features.
Z w,f(ci,, cid) Correlation of radar terrain features with carto-
i
graphicfeaturesisproblematic
at best.Reflectance
is
- , (3a)
ScF
-- • wi a function both of the dielectric propertiesof the
i reflectingsurfaceandof the surfaceorientationon a
 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES 1085

scale comparableto the radio wavelength,and nei- simultaneousbeaconfiles (describedbelow) and had
ther of these are commonlypresentedon maps.The DIR placementsthat wholly contained a library ter-
true location of terrain features can be determined in rain feature.A total of 191 files (96 at E1 Pasoand 95
one of two ways:(1) establishthe library-entry at the at Corpus Christi), or 60% of these terrain feature
same time the radar is tracking a target with known files, survivedthe matchingprocessdescribedabove.
location (portable HF beacon or aircraft) near the The reasonsfor discarding131 files were as follows:
feature,or (2) observeand catalogthe feature under (1) five files failed the minimum 40-dB SCV thresh-
a wide range of different operating conditions,and old; (2) 112 files failed the hotspotconstraintsfor a
take the averageapparentlocationas the estimateof minimum of two contours and maximum inner con-
true ground position.The first approachwas accom- tour size;(3) no fileshad a displacementgreaterthan
plishedat E1 Paso and Corpus Christi, usingthe HF the criticaldistance(followingthe first two tests);and
beacons already in place at these locations. The (4) 14 files failed the minimum 0.30 scorethreshold.
secondapproachis less reliable becausesystematic An exampleterrain map at E1 Paso,before match-
biases can exist due to ionospheric tilts, so this ing, is shown in Figure 5. The E1 Paso HF beacon
approachhas been consideredonly for application location is indicatedby a small circle.
under politically difficult or complexcircumstances, Figure 6 showsthe samedisplayafter applicationof
when groundtruth cannotbe made available. automatic terrain fitting, which correctedthe whole
DIR to the northwestby 22.1 km in SR and 0.16ø in
2.5. TMAP Data Collection and Processing SA. The displacementin SR (-22.1 km) and SA
Numerous terrain featureswere located for study, (-0.16 ø) indicated on Figure 6 is defined as the
as shown in Figure 2, for which the ionospheric quantity that will be added to a target measurement
propagation conditionscan be summarizedas fol- by the tracker to correct its registration.
lows: We found that terrain mappingtendsto emphasize
1. During the winter, spring,and fall the propa- the dominantpropagationmode usedto plan surveil-
gation was best during the day, usingthe F2 layer. lance DIRs. Terrain featureswill not usuallyreturn
2. During the spring and early fall, maximum visible detections on the weaker modes sometimes
usable frequenciesfell off rapidly after sunset,and detectedon targetsbecausethesemodesappearto be
conditionswere marginal until sunrise. averagedwith backgroundterrain scatter from the
3. During the late fall and early winter of 1994, dominant mode. The dominant mode is typically
when solar activity was very low, the ionosphere either the round-tripone-hopsporadicE (1Es-lEs),
became unusableabove 6 MHz (the WARF lower or round-trip one-hop F 2 lower ray (1F2L-1F2L),
frequencylimit) after sunset. dependingon radar range and seasonalionospheric
4. During the summer, propagation via the E s conditions. In the event that it is determined that a
layer was usually best during the day, to ranges of target hasbeen trackedon more than one ionospheric
about800 nauticalmiles.The F 2 layerwasoften of no mode simultaneously,TMAP registrationcorrections
value at all during the day, but conditionsusually are appliedonlyto the dominantmodeof propagation.
improvedby late afternoon.The F 2 layer was usually
available throughout the night to medium and long
ranges,exceptthat conditionswere often disturbed. 3. Baseline HF Beacon Processing
5. Latitudinal ionospherictilts were most preva- HF beaconslocated near E1 Paso and Corpus
lent, and terrain feature offsetstherefore the largest, Christi,controlledby modemfrom WARF, were used
around sunset for all seasons. during the TMAP experimentsto provide ground
The results establishedthat many prominent ter- truth. Automatic beacon detection is accomplished
rain features are repeatable,regardlessof radio fre- usingrange-Dopplerprocessingto recognizethe bea-
quencyand ionosphericmode, and are thus readily con modulation sidebandpair (typically at _+10Hz
usable for TMAP. Doppler shift at WARF). The mean SNR of the
All data were organized into terrain map "files" beacon pair is displayedas a function of range and
which correspondedto episodeswhen all radar pa- azimuth pixel in the DIR, similar to the terrain
rameters were held constant. A file lasted 5-20 min. feature display. Real-time beacon detection is per-
Of the total of 447 availableF 2 layer files at E1 Paso formed on each beacon scan,and spatiallyinterpo-
and Corpus Christi, 322 could be matched with lated beacon detections are tracked with time. The
1086 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES

Figure 5. Terrain map recordedover E1 Paso, Texas,with F 2 layer propagation.

short-term statisticsof echo variation in range and
azimuth were measured and determined to be within
1 nautical mile in range and 0.1ø in azimuth (2
nauticalmilesat 1140nauticalmile range).This result
establishedthe basic measurementprecisionfor
TMAP and demonstratedthe perpetuityof averaging
both beacon and terrain feature data for
minutes prior to quantifying propagation offsets,
without risk of smearingdiscretefeatures.The bea-
con SNR maps were noncoherentlyaveragedwith
time, in the sameway asthe terrain maps,over exactly
the samedata time spans,so that one-to-onecompar-
isons could be made. Final beacon localizations
computed
at the end of a scanaverage(aswith a
terrain map), with interpolationin SR and SA.
Example beacon maps used in off-line analysisat
El Paso, before and after position correction, are
shownin Figures 7 and 8, respectively.The beacon
location is indicated by a small circle. These data
correspondto the same time periodsfor the terrain
maps shown in Figures 5 and 6, respectively.An
several automaticallydetectedand interpolatedbeaconecho
is shownby a crosson the display.When the operator
pressesthe "positionbeacon"buttonon the operating
menu,-the cross snaps to the beacon position, as
shownin Figure 8. The beacondisplacementsin SR
and SA (-20.5 km and -0.24 ø) indicatedon Figure8
were compare favorably with the displacementsfor the
terrain map (-22.1 km and -0.16 ø) in Figure 6.
The beaconmapswere recordedin 1993 and 1994
 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON
Figure 6. Same as Figure 5, but with terrain map automaticallyfitted to E1 Pasolibrary feature.
between the months of April and December, and
negligible seasonal or temporal dependence was
found when ionosphericconditionswere viable for
target detection. This result may be due, in part, to
the insubstantialnumber of F 2 layer detectionsdur-
ing summer daytimes,as it is generally understood
that largeruncertaintiesin ionosphericheightand tilt
occurat thesetimes.The data were groupedinto the
E and F 2 layers for E1 Paso and the F2 layer for
CorpusChristi.The beaconlistswere comparedwith
the similarlistsfor terrain feature recording,and only
the files common to the two typeswere saved.
Table 1 summarizeslong-termbeaconoffset statis-
tics for the final list of files. The errors in range were
always "long," in the sensethat the beacon target
RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES 1087
appearedto be farther awaythan truth. In both cases,
the offsetstandarddeviation(s.d.), or dispersion,was
between5 and 10 nauticalmiles.The normal operat-
ing practice at WARF is to avoid absurd or very
difficultsituations,suchasthe useof summerdaytime
F 2 layerswith virtual heightsabove500 km, or to try
to operate the radar with lessSCV than required to
detecttargets.It is likely that someof theseundesir-
able situations,if encountered,would producelarger
beaconoffsetsthan reported here.
The effect of assuminga spherical Earth, rather
than an oblate spheroid,for conversionof SR and SA
to ground coordinatesalso tends to position targets
farther away than truth and probably accountsfor
someof the observedmean offsets.Computederrors
1088 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES

.' ...

' "--. •[•.......

•:
':"•:"q:':::'•:•I:;•t4-•'3•:'•"H.i,..'"V•I?':A•,"•t
'He[g:/-"•?"::"•:'4:.'k-•:•
'•..... '"• ......
•'"'• •

...: "..'•""-.
.: '.
..

./ . .

...

. ..
.. ....,.
.

--,.
..

:.

. BEACON LOCATION. .

;.•;•:..

'"'.
;.i
:'•....-'.
•
.... ..

Figure 7. Example averagedbeacon map over E1 Paso,Texas, usingF 2 layer.

are 1.6 nautical miles at E1 Paso and 2.7 nautical
at Corpus Christi, which accountsfor a substantial
portion of the mean F 2 layer offsetsat these loca-
tions. These errors affected
feature offset resultsin the sameway, so the differ-
encebetweenoffsetswasnot affected.In general,the
errors due to Earth modeling will be higher at the
longer rangesand more southerlysteers.
The SR and SA beacon displacementswere con-
verted to ground range (GR) and ground azimuth
(GA) usingthe extantmodel virtual heights,and the
signs were changed to define these quantities as
offsets, which are a direct measure of the error in
ground position of the measurement. The beacon
miles offsetswere compareddirectlywith terrain offsets,as
described below.
both beacon and terrain
4. TMAP Performance Statistics
The GR and GA offsets, Arange and Aazimuth,
respectively,were measuredfor all terrain and bea-
confilesin common.Table 2 liststhe raw (unnormal-
ized) statisticsof the Arange and Aazimuth for the
191 terrain feature and beaconoffsets.An important
finding was the similarity between the terrain and
beacon offset statistics,which should indicate similar
ionosphericinfluenceson both data sets.
The medianoffsetfor eachtype of file wasusedas
 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES 1089

BEACON Loc.AT•ON

Figure 8. Same as Figure 7, exceptthat the dwell illumination region has been automaticallyshifted
to match detection with actual beacon location.

a normalization term to remove the effect of assum- its correspondingmedianlistedin Table 2 to generate
ing a sphericalEarth and to accountfor any uncer- normalized offsetsaccordingto
tainty in the absoluteregistrationof the terrain library
Arange' = Arange - median(range) (4a)
features.Each range and azimuth offset for a terrain
file or a beacon file thus was adjustedby subtracting Aazimuth' -- Aazimuth - median(azimuth) (4b)

Table 1. Long-Term Offset Statisticsfor 1993-1994 Beacon Data CorrespondingWith

Terrain Feature Processing
Arange, nautical miles Aazimuth, øN
Number of
Beacon Location Layer Files Mean s.d. Median Mean s.d. Median

E1 Paso F2 96 1.6 9.2 3.0 0.11 0.28 0.09

CorpusChristi F2 95 4.7 6.4 5.1 0.07 0.21 0.05
1090 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES

Table 2. Unnormalized Terrain Feature and Beacon Offset Statisticsfor Processingof E1 Paso and CorpusChristi
1993-1994 Data

Arange,nautical miles Aazimuth,deg

Measurement Minimum Maximum Median Mean s.d. Minimum Maximum Median Mean s.d.

El Paso F2
Terrain -0.1 -36.6 5.0 3.5 9.7 0.00 1.00 -0.06 -0.05 0.31
Beacon 0.0 -33.6 3.0 1.6 9.2 0.00 0.83 0.09 0.11 0.28

CorpusChristiF 2
Terrain 0.0 23.0 5.5 5.2 8.2 -0.01 0.70 0.02 0.01 0.23
Beacon 0.0 19.7 5.1 4.7 6.4 0.00 0.84 0.05 0.07 0.21

One nauticalmile equals1.852 km.

Figures9-12 plot Arange' and Aazimuth', for the of merit for the terrain feature matchingprocess,
E1 Pasoand CorpusChristi data sets,respectively,as under the assumptionthat the beaconoffsetsrepre-
a functionof sequentialfile number(throughout1993 sentthe bestcorrectionthat couldbe performed.
and 1994). Note that the larger beaconexcursions, Figures13 and 14 showscatterplotsof the normal-
typicallyoccurringnear sunset,were trackedwell by ized beacon-terrain differences, in coordinates of
the terrain feature. AAazimuth'versusAArange',for the data setsplotted
The valuesof Arange' for the terrain feature were in Figures 9-12. We found no correlation of offset
subtractedfrom the valuesof Arange'for the beacon, error with fitting score,for scores>-0.3. The errors
and the samewas done for Aazimuth' accordingto exceeded ___0.5ø in azimuth and _+5 nautical miles in
range eight times at E1 Pasoand six times at Corpus
AArange' = Arange'(beacon)- Arange'(terrain) (5a) Christi.
Table 3 summarizes the statistics of these measure-
AAazimuth' = Aazimuth'(beacon)- Aazimuth'(terrain)
ments,asfollows:(1) minimumand maximumdiffer-
(5b) ence, mean, and standard deviation in range and
azimuth;(2) mean positionerror (alwayspositive),
These differences between the normalized beacon
computed as the hypotenuseof the right triangle
and terrain feature offsetsdefine the primary figures

50
40
[---•
....
I....
]....
I....
'....
I....
[....
I....
[....
I....
]....
I....
]....
I....
]....
I....
[....
I'"' 2
[ ] I [ ] ] [ • •
30

20 1

0 m 0

-20 -1
-30

-40 -2

-50
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
File Number File Number

Figure 9. Comparisonof median-normalizedterrain fea- Figure 10. Comparisonof median-normalizedterrain fea-

ture and beacongroundrange displacements as a function ture and beacongroundazimuth displacements as a func-
of file sequencenumber(time) for E1 PasoF 2 layer data. tion of file sequence
number(time) for E1PasoF 2 layerdata.
 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES 1091

40' 40
30 30

20 20

..1o
•c0
ß

•-10 • -10
0 ßßß
ß

. -30

.... , .... I .... , .... I .... , .... I ....

'500 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50

FileNumber AbR'(nmi)

Figure 11. Comparisonof median-normalizedterrain fea- Figure 13. Scatterplotof differencesbetweenthe median-
ture and beacongroundrangedisplacements as a function normalizedbeaconand terrain feature offsets,usingdata
of file sequencenumber(time) for CorpusChristiF2 layer shownin Figures9 and 10 for E1 PasoF 2 layer, in terms of
data. azimuth differenceversusrange difference.

formed by the range error and the azimuth error; and affectedby the differencein range.In fact, the errors
(3) RMS positionerror, computedas follows: at the CorpusChristi 1200-nauticalmile rangewere
lessthan at the E1Paso800-nautical mile range.This
RMS position error insensitivityin absoluterms error to changesin range
appearsto havebeeninfluencedby the largerazimuth
=[(meanposition
error)2+ (s.d.position
error)2]
ø's (6) errorsat the shorterrange,whichyieldedcross-range
Table 3 indicates that the RMS error for all data distanceerrors similar to those at the longer range.
files was on the order of 5 nautical miles, and was not The larger radar-ionosphereobliquity anglesat the
shorter range may have accentuatedoff-path ray

-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
File Number AAR'(nmi)

Figure 12. Comparisonof median-normalizedterrain fea- Figure 14. Scatterplotof differencesbetweenthe median-
ture and beaconground azimuth displacementsas a func- normalizedbeaconand terrain feature offsets,usingdata
tion of file sequencenumber(time) for CorpusChristiF2 shownin Figures 11 and 12 for CorpusChristiF 2 layer, in
layer data. terms of azimuth differenceversusrange difference.
1092 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES

Table 3. Median-Normalized Differences Between Terrain Feature and Beacon Offsets for All Processed Files

AArange', AAazimuth', AAposition,

nauticalmiles deg nauticalmiles

Measurement Minimum Maximum Mean s.d. Minimum Maximum Mean s.d. Mean RMS

E1 PasoF2 0.1 -25.5 -0.1 4.7 0.00 0.77 -0.02 0.25 3.8 5.7
CorpusChristiF 2 0.1 - 19.7 0.0 3.5 0.00 -0.33 -0.04 0.12 3.4 4.5

deviations due to tilts. Cumulative distributions of WARF or ROTHR during target surveillance.The
actualpositionerror showthat an accuracyof 9.2 km signalprocessing, includingcontourmatching,is fully
or better is achievedfor over 80% of all processed automatic. Several data quality measureswere de-
data at E1 Paso and Corpus Christi. visedto ensuregood TMAP performance,and 60%
The reasonsfor the 14 stray points in Figures 13 of all terrain maps recordedat E1 Paso and Corpus
and 14 were investigated.It was found that 10 files Christi survivedthese quality tests.The comparisons
(5%) were recordedunder very poor propagation of TMAP and HF beacon ground position offsets
conditionsand four files (2%) had a mode identifica- yieldedthe followingresults:(1) 100% of the offsets
tion discrepancy,with errorsof approximately20-25 had expectederrorsof lessthan 10.5km; (2) 93% of
nautical miles. For the latter files, two or more modes the offsetshad expectederrorsof lessthan5.9 km; (3)
were visible on the terrain map, but the strongest 5% of the data were recordedwith poor propagation;
TMAP mode was different from the strongestbeacon and (4) 2% of the data had a mode identification
mode. It is not clear if TMAP or the beacon had the
discrepancy.
correctdefinition of the dominantmode. In any case, TMAP library features can be easily registered
the effect of multipath on the TMAP processing using portable beacons.Aircraft activity at known
appearsto be minimal. The 10 fileswith poor prop- airportsalso can be usedbut requiresmore time.
agationwouldhaveproducedpoor targettracks,or in We conclude from the research that terrain fea-
somecasesno tracksat all, so they have questionable tures can be used to provide coordinateregistration
value.
benchmarksover an OTHR coverage area, in the
The TMAP matchingstatisticsimprovemarkedlyif sameway that beaconsare used.Ferraroand Buck-
we ignorethe 2% of data that may havehad a mode nam [1997]reportedthat beaconcorrectionsto target
identification error and the 5% of data with poor groundpositioncan be applied out to a radiusof at
propagation.A total of 177files(88 at E1Pasoand 89 least 300 km from the source, and we found no
at CorpusChristi)remained.Table 4 liststhe revised evidence in our work to the contrary. The TMAP
statistics,from which it can be concludedthat the best
processtends to emphasizethe dominantmode of
93% of the data had expectedRMS errorslessthan 4
propagation,so the correctionsare applied only to
nauticalmiles at radar rangesof 800 and 1200 nauti-
cal miles.
this mode during target tracking. Operationally
speaking,perhapsthe most importantfeature of the
chosenTMAP processingapproachis that it can be
5. Conclusion conductedin parallel with, and transparentto, radar
TMAP usesdata (BRTs or RD maps,and CRTs) operations.Moreover, the 500-kHz frequencydiver-
that are routinely recorded at an OTHR such as sityin use at ROTHR may serveto more thoroughly

Table 4. Median-NormalizedDifferencesBetweenTerrain Feature and BeaconOffsetsWith Stray PointsRemoved

AArange', AAazimuth', AAposition,
nauticalmiles deg nauticalmiles

Measurement Minimum Maximum Mean s.d. Minimum Maximum Mean s.d. Mean RMS

E1 PasoF2 0.0 -5.4 -0.2 1.8 0.00 -0.48 -0.03 0.20 2.7 3.1
CorpusChristiF2 0.0 -5.1 0.2 1.9 0.00 -0.32 -0.03 0.11 2.8 3.2
 BARNUM AND SIMPSON: OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR TERRAIN FEATURES 1093

decorrelatebackscatteramplitude fluctuations,thus Basler, R. P., and T. G. Scott, Ionosphericstructurefrom

improvingterrain feature localization. obliquebackscatter soundings, RadioSci.,8(5), 425-429,
1973.

Acknowledgments. The effort describedin this paper Blair, J. C., et al., H.F. ionosphericradar ground-scatter
was sponsoredby the DOD CounterdrugTechnologyDe- map showingland-seaboundariesby a spectral-separa-
velopmentProgram(ARPA order 9308), throughthe Air tion technique,Electron.Lett., 5(4), 75-76, 1969.
Force Research Laboratory at Rome, New York (RL Bracewell,R., The Fourier Transformand its Applications,
contract F30602-93-C-0111).Numerous engineeringand pp. 112-113,McGraw-Hill, New York, 1965.
scientificcontributionswere providedby the OTHR staffof Davies,K., IonosphericRadioP/opagation,Natl. Bur. Stand.
SRI. In particular,DouglasWestoverdevelopedthe origi- Monogr.,vol. 80, pp. 160-175, Gov. Print. Off., Washing-
ton, D.C., 1965.
nal approachto beacon echo analysis,and Victor Frank
providedguidanceon the effectsof ionospherictilts and Ferraro, E. J., and J. N. Bucknam, Improved over-the-
irregularitiesto be expectedduringterrain mappingexper- horizonradar accuracyfor the counterdrugmissionusing
iments.WARF operationalassistance wasprovidedby the coordinateregistrationenhancements,in Proceedings of
above individuals, as well as by David Carpenter, Jane the 1997 IEEE National Radar Conference,May 13-15,
Carpenter,JamesGaddie,David McCall, JamesMcCrumb, 1997, pp. 132-137, IEEE Press,Piscataway,N.J., 1997.
RickRiggs,andGlenTomlin. Press, W., et al., Numerical Recipesin C, pp. 289-293,
CambridgeUniv. Press,New York, 1988.
Raytheon Company,Relocatableover the horizon radar
References (ROTHR), Prod.Syst.Des.Oper.Doc. G539971,contract
Barnum, J. R., Skywave polarization rotation in swept- N00039-90-C-0027, Wayland, Mass., 1992.
frequencysea backscatter,Radio Sci., 8(5), 411-423, Washburn, T. W., Discrete echoesin ionosphericallyprop-
1973. agatedgroundbackscatter,Ph.D. dissertation,Stanford
Barnum, J. R., Ship detectionwith high-resolutionHF Electron. Lab., Stanford, Calif., 1971a.
skywaveradar,IEEE J. OceanicEng.,OE-11(2), 196-209, Washburn,T. W., Discrete echoesin ionosphericallyprop-
1986. agated ground backscatter, Tech. Rep. 5, contract
N00014-70-C-0413, SRI Int., Menlo Park, Calif., 1971b.
Barnum, J. R., Long-rangesurveillanceof private aircraft
by OTH radar, with CD applications,paper presentedat Washburn, T. W., L. E. SweeneyJr., J. R. Barnum, and
the Tactical Technologiesand Wide Area Surveillance W. B. Zavoli, Development of HF skywaveradar for
International Symposium,Off. of Drug Control Policy, remote sensing applications,
A GARD Conf Proc., 263,
1-17, 1979.
Counter-DrugTechnol.Assess.Cent., and U.S. Dep. of
Energy, Chicago,II1., Nov. 2-5, 1993.
Barnum,J. R., and E. E. Simpson,ROTHR target coordi- J. R. Barnum and E. E. Simpson,SRI International, 333
nate registrationimprovementby automaticterrain map- Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025. (e-mail:
ping,Tech.Rep.RL-TR-97-9, contractF30602-93-C-0111, barnum@sri.com)
U.S. Air Force Rome Lab., Rome, N.Y., 1997.
Basler,R. P., and T. G. Scott, Ground backscatterobserved
with high-resolutionobliquesounders,Radio Sci., 7(2), (ReceivedOctober1, 1997;revisedMarch 4, 1998;
239-243, 1972. acceptedMarch 12, 1998.)