Surface Traveling Wave Effect in Radar Images of Turntable
S. Sunil Kumar, Neha Bhandari, Shyam Rankawat, Jilu Suthan
Defence Laboratory, Jodhpur 342011
Abstract
The turntable is an important element
of ISAR imaging. It must contribute negligibly
to the RCS of the Object-Under-Test that is
placed upon it. The turntable used at the
NFDRF Radar Cross-Section Range at Jodhpur
is a rigid metal circular structure of 8.0 m
diameter capable of supporting a payload of 40
tons, and installed flush with ground surface.
The turntable construction uses a number of
countersunk fasteners to attach the tabletop
onto the structural framework, so that the
tabletop itself is free of protrusions.
As the turntable’s contribution to the
ISAR image of the Object-under-test should be
minimal, a Near-Field Imaging study of the
turntable response has been carried out. The
study has been carried out in X-band (9–11
GHz), for both Horizontal and Vertical
polarizations. Antennas are mounted at approx
30m from the center of the turn table. It is
observed that all the fasteners on the table
show up prominently when imaged with
vertically polarized excitation, while they are
totally absent in images created using
horizontally polarized excitation. To
investigate further, one radial row of fasteners
is covered with conducting tape. It is observed
that the contribution of this row then
disappears from the Vertically Polarized image
also.
These results originate from the effects
of surface traveling waves. Surface traveling
waves are introduced only when there is a
component of the incident electric field
tangential to the surface and in the plane of
incidence. The electric field component
induces surface currents that flow along the
body in the longitudinal direction. Whenever
these currents encounter a geometrical or
impedance discontinuity, they are partly
reflected back towards the direction of
incidence. Here, the surface traveling waves
are generated on the turntable in vertical
polarization mode only as table is horizontal.
The radar images of the turntable clearly
demonstrate this surface traveling effect by
showing up the fastener discontinuities in
response to vertically polarized incident
radiation.
Keywords: Surface Traveling Wave, RCS,
ISAR Imaging.
1. Introduction
High Resolution Radar images of the
Object-Under-Test (OUT) are generated by
ISAR measurements. The OUT is deployed on
a precision azimuth positioner and backscatter
data are acquired over multiple aspects and
frequencies. These multi-aspect and multi-
frequency data are processed to form high-
resolution images of the Object-Under-Test.
The NFDRF (Near-Field Diagnostic
RCS Facility) at Jodhpur has the capability of
carrying out 2D SAR and ISAR imaging of
large targets. For ISAR measurements, a large
Positioner is installed such that its Turntable,
which is of 8 m diameter, is flush with the
ground surface. It is capable of handling a load
of 40 tons, and provides servo-controlled
positioning accuracy of +/- 0.5 degree.
As the OUT reflections are the prime
data of interest, we would like the reflections
contributed by the background to be minimal.
The reflections associated with the turntable
have been measured to evaluate this
background signature, for both Horizontal and
Vertical Polarizations.
 A remarkable difference is noted in the of which 10 are along the radial lines. The
Images of the Turntable for the two fastener used is an Allen Countersunk M10
polarizations. The difference is understood to Screw of head diameter 20mm and depth 30
arise from the surface traveling wave effect. mm.
The following sections describe the Turntable,
the measurements and measurement results,
and a discussion on the observations.

2. Turntable Construction
The Turntable is a stainless steel
circular plate of 8 m diameter (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Turntable at NFDRF Radar Cross-Section

Range at Jodhpur

Figure 2 Drawing of Top View of Turntable

The structural framework of the Table has
twelve radial sections, extending from an inner Figure 3 Close-up of fasteners
circular frame (Figure 2). The tabletop is
attached to the structural framework using a All fasteners are flush with the table
number of fasteners. For assembling one surface so that tabletop itself is free of
section a total of 28 fasteners have been used,
 protrusions. Figure 3 shows close-up views of
the fasteners.

3. Measurement Setup
The test setup uses an Antenna
Assembly approximately 30 meter from the
center of the turntable, and at a height of about
2 meters. Antennas for both horizontal and
vertical polarization are configured. The
microwave measurements are carried out with
Agilent PNA 8362B, over X-band frequencies
between 9.0 to 11.0 GHz. ISAR measurements
are carried out by rotating table at slow speed
of 0.003 rpm, and acquiring data at 0.32 deg
step-size, over a 20 degree aspect angle. Two-
dimensional Calibrated Radar Images (in
down-range and cross-range) are constructed
from this data, over a 10 m x 10 m image zone.
The image resolution is of the order of 15 cm.

4. Observations
4.1 Clean Turntable
Figure 4 shows the calibrated radar
image of the turntable for horizontal
polarization. For this and all subsequent
images, the radar is positioned to the right of
the target as in the image, so that the horizontal
extent of the image depicts the down-range,
and the vertical extent describes the cross-
range. It is observed that the image is fairly
clean (levels about -60 dBsm), with some Figure 4 ISAR Image of Turntable for Horizontal
isolated peaks of <-40 dBsm on the leading rim Polarization
and along the centerline. Figure 6 Close-up of ISAR images of
shows the same image for vertical shows a close-up of the ISAR image of a line
polarization. Here we see that the individual of fasteners. Each fastener is seen to measure
fasteners have each distinctly contributed to about -40 dBsm individually.
the image. The overall signature of the
turntable is significant, with levels of the order 4.2 Aluminum Foil Applied
of -30 dBsm, and leading and trailing edge Experiments are further conducted to
peaks that approach -20 dBsm. The trailing investigate the intersection joints by covering
edge peak (the leftmost hotspot) is very high, one of the lines at position 330 deg with
measuring almost -15 dBsm. These signature Aluminum foil (Figure 7). The objective is to
levels of the turntable will contaminate the provide a smooth metallic surface to shield the
signatures measured for the DUT significantly. fastener discontinuities.
 Figure 6 Close-up of ISAR images of Fasteners

Figure 5 Image of Turntable for Vertical Polarization

The ISAR image of this configuration, shown

in Figure 8 shows that the reflections of the
fasteners along this line are substantially
reduced, however residual signatures are still
present
Figure 7 Radial line of fasteners covered with Al foil

Figure 10 ISAR Image of turn table where three
screws are covered.
Figure 8 ISAR Image of Turntable when the 330 deg
Radial line is covered with Al foil
This same effect is also investigated by
applying short patches of Aluminum Foil on 3
pair of fasteners on the 30 deg radial line, as
shown in Figure 9. The resulting image (Figure
10) shows the disappearance of two of these
contributors from the image, while a residual
from the third remains- the uneven surface
being presented by the foil is also apparently
sufficient to cause reflections.
Figure 9 Three set of fasteners are covered at 30o deg
5. Discussion
When the angle of incidence is a small
grazing angle off the surface, and there is a
component of the incident electric field
tangential to the surface and in the plane of
incidence, surface traveling waves can be
induced. The surface wave travels toward the
rear of the body and is backscattered by any
discontinuity that it encounters along its
journey (Figure 11). Reflected traveling waves
radiate back very strongly in the monostatic
backscatter direction when the incident angle is
in the neighbourhood of the so-called Peter’s
angle, calculated from end-fire antenna theory,
typically about 15 to 20 degrees [2]. At these
angles, traveling wave echoes at low grazing
angles are reportedly nearly as significant as
specular echoes at normal incidence.
The precondition for surface traveling
waves- that there be a component of E-field
tangential to the surface and in the plane-of-
incidence- explains why the images of the
fasteners are observed only for the vertically
polarized case.
 According to literature, the magnitude covered. However, residual scattering is still
of the current increases towards the rear of the observed, presumably due to minor disruptions
body and unless they are absorbed there, or in surface flatness, even with foil application.
flow around some smooth termination, the
currents are reflected back towards the front of
the body. Although there is no easy way of
estimating the surface wave contribution to the
RCS, an estimate for the angle at which a
maximum in the pattern of the traveling wave
return occurs has been given in [1], with the
assumption that the end-points of the object to
be the sole discontinuities. This angle θ is
given as
θ = 49.35 λ l
where l is the dimension of the DUT
along the direction of incidence, and λ is the
wavelength.
Here our turntable is round, with a
diameter of 8 meters. Using this length along
with a wavelength of 3 cm, gives an estimate
for θ as ~ 3 degrees, and the prediction is 4
Figure 11 Reflections off typical discontinuities
deg for a length of about 4.5 m. The
measurement scenario considered in our case, The turntable, when used with vertical
the Turntable has been illuminated at about 4 polarization, must therefore be carefully
deg incidence, which is close to the predicted covered with absorber, or otherwise shielded
angle for maximum backscatter. A very large from view, so that the turntable reflections do
hotspot is indeed noticed from the trailing rim not contaminate the signatures measured for
of the turntable. the Device-Under-Test.
However, the other effect being
captured here is the scattering from the 6. Conclusion
multiple discontinuities that the traveling A comparison of signatures for
surface waves encounter along the length of horizontal and vertical polarization has been
their travel. Although the effect of incident carried out for a Turntable used to position the
angle on these images has not been Object-Under-Test for ISAR measurements at
investigated so far, it is strongly suspected that the NFDRF Facility, Jodhpur. These
these returns will be observed over a wide signatures, at near grazing incidence, are
range of incident angles, owing to the near- found to be substantially different. The images
isotropic scatter from small discontinuities. obtained in this study serve as a dramatic
The ISAR signatures of the table capture each illustration of the Surface Traveling Wave
such discontinuity with very good clarity. Effect that is present when the E-field is in the
An attempt has been made to smoothen plane of incidence and there is a component
out the discontinuities presented by the tangential to the surface. The other
fasteners using thin Aluminum foil to cover polarization, i.e., when the E-field is
them. A significant reduction is observed in the perpendicular to the plane of incidence, shows
contributions from the fasteners that are so a complete absence of this effect.
 It is important to take into account
these effects, not only in this case, where the
background scattering from the turntable is
sought to be minimized, but also in the RCS
management of OUTs where similar effects are
likely to be present. The contribution of
innocuous looking fasteners to the RCS of
OUTs should not therefore be overlooked.

7. References
1. Knott E F, Shaeffer J F, & Tuley M T,
“Radar Cross Section, 2nd Ed. “, Artech
House, 1993
2. Peter N.R. Stoyle, “ISAR Image
Interpretation” Defence & Evaluation
Research Agency (DERA).
3. M.I Skolnik. “Radar Handbook”, New
York, 3rd Ed., McGraw Hill, 2000