Modelling radar sea clutter in the littoral

A model is presented for low grazing angle sea clutter in littoral environments. It is based on a simple characterisation of the clutter in terms of scattering from ripples riding on long waves (the composite model) and from breaking waves; both being subjected to obscuration and multipath illumination. In littoral environments changes to the ocean waves are caused by limited fetch, wave refraction, current variations and enhanced breaking in shallow water. Simple models for these phenomena are described along with their effect on clutter radar cross section (RCS).