Chapter 4 The Radar Ambiguity Function

The radar ambiguity function represents the output of the matched filter, and it describes the interference caused by the range and/or Doppler shift of a target when compared to a reference target of equal RCS. The ambiguity function evaluated at is equal to the matched filter output that is matched perfectly to the signal reflected from the target of interest. In other words, returns from the nominal target are located at the origin of the ambiguity function. Thus, the ambiguity function at nonzero and represents returns from some range and Doppler different from those for the nominal target.