Radar Cross Section (RCS) Explained

This page clarifies what Radar Cross Section (RCS) is, along with the equation used to calculate it.

Radar Cross Section is a measure of the amount of electromagnetic (EM) energy intercepted by a target and scattered back towards the radar system. Simply put, it quantifies how “visible” an object is to radar.

The radar cross section is defined as the ratio of reflected power to incident power density. It’s also sometimes referred to as the target cross section or supply cross section.

The equation for calculating radar cross section (σ) is:

$σ = 4*π*(Reflectedpower per unit solid angle) / (Incident power per unit area)$

The unit of measurement for radar cross section is square meters (m²).