Innovative Signal Processing Techniques for Mitigation of Wind Turbine Farm Interference in Airborne Radar Systems Navy SBIR FY2014.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2014.1 Topic No.: N141-003 Topic Title: Innovative Signal Processing Techniques for Mitigation of Wind Turbine Farm Interference in Airborne Radar Systems Proposal No.: N141-003-0567 Firm: Remcom Inc. 315 S. Allen St. Suite 416 State College, Pennsylvania 16801 Contact: Gary Bedrosian Phone: (814) 861-1299 Web Site: http://www.remcom.com Abstract: An innovative, new adaptive signal processing solution is proposed for mitigation of the impact that wind turbine clutter has on airborne radar performance. Electromagnetic simulations are used to predict radar returns in the presence of wind turbine scattering, terrain multipath, and clutter from terrain and sea surfaces, not only for use in assessment of the solution, but also as a part of the intelligent mitigation approach, providing a method for training the algorithms for a wide variety of conditions and environments. Building on previous work for ground-based radar, the approach employs methods for handling the dynamic clutter environment in airborne operation, and techniques to rapidly adapt and train as new regions enter the radar field of view. The final solution will be a knowledge-aided process, that identifies key features of wind turbine clutter and applies adaptive algorithms to improve radar probability of detection and reduce probability of false alarms. Benefits: The outcome of this SBIR will be a new and innovative method, whose objective is to significantly improve the performance of existing airborne radars when wind farms, potentially containing large numbers of wind turbines, are within their resolution volumes. This has the potential to benefit a large number of military aircraft during operational use. It can also aid in military training and test and evaluation of radar systems at test ranges that are near wind farms, which currently suffer adverse impacts from wind turbine clutter effects. The general technology may also improve performance of air traffic control radar sites, military radar installations, and weather radar. In time, it could benefit the wind energy industry as well, as successful mitigation approaches that reduce potential interference could help to allow proposed wind farm projects to proceed near military and commercial installations where they would currently be denied due to the concern of potential interference with ground or airborne radar. Return