In chapter 11, we cover the radar range equation, ranging, and detection.
A key aspect of this is detecting the target. This chapter gives problems in some depth to show the development of detection theory. It is not assumed that you have a deep mathematical background to understand this material. For those who do have a deep mathematical background, supplementary material is put in the problem solutions to describe a more mathematically rigorous treatment of the problems. For whatever level of mathematical understanding you have, however, it is best to start out with a non-mathematical understanding. Teaching experience shows us that the students do best when they can visualize the detection process. As you solve these problems, try to visualize how the solution is reached. Many graphs are included in this section to help you visualize the problems.
Problem 1 - Detecting an alien invasion
Problem 2 - New aliens arrive, becoming harder to detect
Problem 3 - Humans fight back with better alien detection techniques
Problem 4 - Humans try other new techniques for alien detection
Problem 5 - Detecting aliens in localized human groups - CFAR
We urge the use of spreadsheets to help you with these problems. Although they cannot help with the thinking, they are very useful for the calculations.