Radar Cross Section and Micro-Doppler Simulation of Offshore Wind Turbines in X-Band

In order to combat climate change, offshore wind turbines are becoming increasingly popular. However, wind turbines' large Radar Cross Section (RCS) and nonzero micro-Doppler signature, combined with multipath propagation due to the sea surface, make it hard for offshore wind turbines and radar systems to live in harmony. The goal of this paper is to simulate the radar signature of an offshore wind turbine on a sea surface in X-band. This is done by using Physical Optics (PO) and the four path model, chosen as a compromise between model accuracy and computation time. An offshore wind turbine's RCS and micro-Doppler signature are computed and analyzed. The results show good agreement with real measurements and other simulation results.