Scintillation (radar)
Encyclopedia
Scintillation is a fluctuation in the amplitude
of a target on a radar
display. It is closely related to target glint, or wander, an apparent displacement of the target from its mean
position. This effect can be caused by a shift of the effective reflection point on the target, but has other causes as well. The fluctuations can be slow (scan-to-scan) or rapid (pulse-to-pulse).
It appears especially at seaside level.
Scintillation and glint are actually two manifestations of the same phenomenon and are most properly linked to one another in target modeling.
Amplitude
Amplitude is the magnitude of change in the oscillating variable with each oscillation within an oscillating system. For example, sound waves in air are oscillations in atmospheric pressure and their amplitudes are proportional to the change in pressure during one oscillation...
of a target on a radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
display. It is closely related to target glint, or wander, an apparent displacement of the target from its mean
Arithmetic mean
In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean, often referred to as simply the mean or average when the context is clear, is a method to derive the central tendency of a sample space...
position. This effect can be caused by a shift of the effective reflection point on the target, but has other causes as well. The fluctuations can be slow (scan-to-scan) or rapid (pulse-to-pulse).
It appears especially at seaside level.
Scintillation and glint are actually two manifestations of the same phenomenon and are most properly linked to one another in target modeling.