Organization of Side Lobe Structures from Doppler on Wheels 6

The goal of this research is to reveal characteristics of side lobe beams produced by the Doppler On Wheels 6 (DOW6) radar antenna using ground clutter signatures in the radar data. Side lobes are secondary return maxima that are not part of the main lobe and in some cases may produce “false echoes” and become problematic. The radar data and resulting imagery reveal that ground clutter signatures were being returned from either side of the “straight-ahead” location and a double image of the object was produced. This infers that with increasing scan angles, side lobe structure varies and that after a certain scanning angle the structure splits and two side lobe beams are located on either side of the main beam. In addition, the distant and angle between the side lobe beams from the main beam also increases with increased scanning angles suggesting that the side lobes may not be symmetrical. This research is beneficial in that it reveals a structure of unwanted signals produced by the DOW6 radar, increasing the awareness of the problematic phenomenon and thus decreasing future problems that may be associated with it.