Optimisation of bistatic HF surface wave radar configurations

HF surface wave radars are increasingly being deployed in bistatic configurations, usually via the mechanism of overlapping the coverage of two monostatic radars and sharing signals, but sometimes as intrinsically bistatic radar designs. In either case, the advantages which may attach to bistatic scattering geometries may easily be compromised by suboptimum positioning of the transmitting and receiving systems. Here we address the problem of finding the optimum spatial configuration for a given palette of radar missions, taking account of target signatures, clutter, noise, propagation and geographical constraints on the siting of the radar facilities.