An Analysis of Radar Detection on a Plasma Sheath Covered Reentry Target

The plasma sheath will be generated on the surface of the reentry object due to the effect of aerodynamic thermoionization, causing multi-component signals with Doppler frequency components in the radar echo. This situation will further result in the appearance of false targets that seriously affect the detection of reentry targets by radar, causing positioning errors and even tracking losses. In this paper, the echo signal model of the plasma-sheath-covered reentry target is established, and the multi-domain characteristics of the echo signal in terms of time, time-frequency and range are analyzed, revealing the influence mechanism of plasma sheath on radar detection of reentry target. Through range-period analysis, the influence of intra-pulse Doppler frequency caused by plasma sheath is determined, as well as inter-pulse Doppler frequency on target range measurement. Theoretical analyses conducted in this study are verified by simulation results, laying theoretical foundation for effective detection and reliable tracking of plasma-sheath-covered reentry targets.