This research investigates the spatial correlation of RCS. In pulsed radar systems, probability of detection for partially correlated signals depends on the autocovariance of the target\u27s RCS. The RCS changes pulse to pulse due to spatial and time fluctuations. Spatial fluctuation are due to the motion of all scatterers relative to the radar (i.e. changing aspect angle). Time fluctuations are due to relative motion of scatterers to each other (i.e. wings flexing, engines spinning). Theory developed at AFIT [9] can generate autocovariance estimates from a distribution of scatterers. Theory based autocovariance estimates are compared to static measurement based autocovariance estimates in order to validate this theory. Interaction among scatterers is the most significant source of deviation between theory and measurement based autocovariance estimates
