Welcome!   This is a collaborative work in progress. The collaborators include:

• National Institute of Standards and Technology
• US Air Force Research Laboratory
• US Air Force 46th Test Wing
• US Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division
• Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Northrop Grumman, and many other companies and institutions.

The goal of this site is to promote cooperation by and between the collaborators and the US RCS community. The overarching goal is to improve the quality of data products produced by the US RCS community. This Web site is an outgrowth of the Radar Cross Section Measurements Working Group (RCSMWG) which was absorbed by the Range Commanders Council Signature Measurements Standards Group. Under the auspices of the RCC SMSG Radar Committee, a task to demonstrate the feasibility of certifying RCS facilities was initiated and is currently underway with the above organizations participating.

Other tasks that preceded the RCS Certification Demo project have included:

• Development and implementation of the Common Data Format (CDF) for archiving RCS data (available for on-line viewing or download the MS Word document (336kB), and

An historical review of the RCS Certification Demonstration Program is available for online viewing. Various points of contact at NIST and the participating facilities are listed at the end of that document.

These projects have been undertaken with significant participation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, Department of Commerce). NIST has continued to enforce the unbiased, rigorous scientific process necessary to raise the level of standards employed throughout government and industry.

Within the context of certification of RCS facilities, NIST has contributed by researching and tailoring a standard by which RCS facilities may be certified. The standard, still under review, is based on the National Conference of Standards Laboratories and American National Standards Institute document NCSL/ANSI-Z-540-1. A copy of the current version of the RCS-specific draft of a derivative document--Handbook for the Assurance of Radar Cross Section Measurements--is available for viewing (Part 1 = 82kB, Part 2 = 29kB) or downloading (in Microsoft Word, 125kB).

Please follow the following links for more information and examples:

• History of the RCS Range Certification Demo Project
• RCS Range Certification Demo Project Points of Contact
• Range Book Table of Contents
• Range Book Description (Section-by-Section)
• Evaluator Information
• DoD/NASA RCS Facilities Catalog
• Radar Basics (off-site)