TARGET DETECTION AND TRACKING WITH A HIGH-FREQUENCY GROUND WAVE RADAR

Northern Radar's Cape Race Ground Wave Radar (GWR) system became opera tional in the fall of 1990. The radar facility has the potential to pr ovide surveillance of over 160 000 square kilometers of the Grand Bank s off Newfoundland, from a coastal station. GWR is a multipurpose sens or capable of detecting ships, monitoring icebergs and sea-ice, and me asuring surface currents and sea state. The radar system employs a fre quency modulated interrupted continuous wave (FMICW) as the transmit w aveform. This waveform uses a pulse compression technique that combine s good range resolution and high maximum range with a relatively high duty cycle. In this paper, we describe the implementation of the FMICW waveform in a practical real time radar system. We also show some exa mples of vessel, iceberg, and aircraft detection and tracking using th e Cape Race facility. These examples demonstrate that the Cape Race GW R may be used as an effective tool to assist in the management, survei llance, and enforcement of Canadian interests in the Exclusive Economi c Zone.