PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 68, NO.

3, MARCH 1980 42 1

Fuzzy Sets versus Probability problems which humans are adept at solving through the use of what
might be called approximate or fuzzy reasoning [ 4 ] -[SI . The theory
LOTFI A. ZADEH of fuzzy sets and, in particular, fuzzy logic provide a conceptual frame
work for the solution of imprecisely formulated problems. .This is one
In commenting on A.Kandel’s paper, “Fuzzy Sets, Fuzzy Algebra, of the reasons why so many investigators are currently exploring the
and Fuzzy Statistics” [ 11, my good friend Professor Myron Tribus has usefulness of the theory of fuzzy sets in a wide variety of fields ranging
raised several issues whichare in need of clarification [ 21 . from law and medicine to industrial process controland credibility
First, there is the question of the relation between the theory of analysis. As a case in point, a long list of such applications in opera-
fuzzy sets, on the one hand, and the theory of probability, on the other. tions research-compiledby the European Working Group on Fuzzy
Is it true, as some claim, that the concept of a fuzzy set is merely a Sets-appears in the April 1979 issue of the InternationalJournal of
disguised formof subjective probability? Are there problems which Fuzzy Sets and Systems.
can be solved more effectively by the use of fuzzy set techniques than LikeProfessor Kandel, this author is at a loss to understand how
by classical probability-based methods? Professor Tribus could arrive at his negative assessment of the applic-
In essence, the theory of fuzzy sets is aimed at the development of a ability of thetheory of fuzzy sets bymerely s c a n n i n g the titles of
body of concepts and techniques for dealing with sources of uncer- papers inProfessor Kandel’s bibliography, ratherthanby closely
tainty or imprecision which are nonstatistical in nature. For example, examining their content. Sincehe is asking for justonecounter-
the proposition “X is a small number,” in which small number is a example, it will suffice to point to a rather unexpected and yet success-
label of a fuzzy subset of nonnegative integers, defines the possibility ful application of the theory of fuzzy sets, namely, the so-called fuzzy
distribution [3] ratherthanthe probability distribution of X . What logic controllers which have been tested in various industrial installa-
this implies is that if the degree to which an integer n fits one’s sub-
tions [ 61 -[ 81 , and which may turn out to be particularly well suited
jective perception of small number is p n , then, rr,, the possibility that for use in automobile engine control.’
X may take n as its value, is numerically equal to p n . Thus the proposi- In conclusion, one of the aims of the theory of fuzzy setsis the
tion “X is a small number,” like the proposition “X is a number smaller
development of a methodology for the formulationand solution of
than 5,” conveys no information concerning the probability distribu-
tion of the values of X . In this sense, the uncertainty associated with problems which are too complex or ill-defined to be susceptible to
the proposition “X is a small number,” is nonstatistical in nature. analysisby conventional techniques. Becauseof itsunorthodoxy,it
has been and will continue to be controversial for some time. Even-
As is pointed out in [ 3 ] , fuzzy sets bear the same relation to the
tually, though, the theory of fuzzy sets is likely to be recognized as a
theory of possibility that measure theory does to the theory of prob- natural development in the evolution of scientific thinking. In retro-
ability. In this connection, what is important to recognize is that while
some problems fall entirely within the province of probability theory spect, the skepticism about its usefulness will be viewed as a manifesta-
and some entirely within that ofpossibility theory, in most cases of tion of the human attachment to tradition andresistance to innovation.
practical interest both theories must be used in combination to yield
realistic solutions to problems in decision analysis under uncertainty. REFERENCES
Thus contrary to the belief expressed by Professor Tribus, probability A. Kandel and W. Byatt, “Fuzzy sets, fuzzy algebra,andfuzzy
theory by itself or in combination with the maximum entropy princi- statistics,”Ploc. IEEE, vol. 6 6 , pp. 1619-1639, Dec. 1978.
M. Tribus, “Comments on “Fuzzy sets, fuzzy algebra, and fuzzy
ple, does not provide an adequate tool for the analysis of problems in statistics,”Proc. IEEE, vol. 67, p. 1168, Aug. 1979.
which the available information is incomplete, imprecise, or unreliable. L. k Zadeh,“Fuzzysets as abasisforatheory of possibility,”
Professor Tribus may bemore appreciative of what the theory of Fuzzy Sets and Systems, vol. 1, pp. 3-28, 1978.
L. A. Zadeh, “The concept of a linguistic variable and its applica-
fuzzy sets has to offer after trying to solve the following simple prob- tiontoapproximatereasoning,” Inform. Sci., part I, vol. 8, pp.
lems by the use of conventional probability-based techniques. In each 199-249, 1975; part 11, vol. 8, pp. 301-357; part 111, vol. 9, pp.
of these problems, the data are stated in theform of propositions 43-86, 1975.
B. R.Gaines,“Foundationsoffuzzyreasoning,” I n f . J. Man-
expressed in English, and like the data, the answer is expected to be Machine Studies, vol. 6 , pp. 623-668, 1975.
in the form of a proposition. E. H. Mamdani and S. Assilian, “An experiment in linguistic syn-
thesis with a fuzzy logic controller,” Inf. J. Man-Machine Studies,
X is a large number VOl. 7 , PP. 1-13, 1975.
R. M. Tong, “Synthesis of fuzzy models for industrial processes-
Y is much larger than X somerecentresults,” Inf. J. General Sysf., vol. 4, pp. 143-162,
1978.
How large is Y? W. J. M. Kickert, Fuzzy Theories on Decision Making. Leiden,
The Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff, 1978.
Most Swedes are tall
How many Swedes are very tall? A balanced discussion of the potentialities and limitations of fuzzy
logic controllers may be found in the recent book by W. Kickert [ 81.
Most Swedes are tall
Most tall Swedes are blond
How many Swedes are blond?
It is unlikely that Marie is very young
It is likely that Marie is young Synthetic Aperture Radar Equation
It is very unlikely that Marie is very old H. L. McCORD
How likely is it that Marie is not old? Absmcr-The synthetic aperture radar equation for extended diffuse
It is not quite true thatKati is very tall clutter depends on the area of such clutter pmcessed by the radar. It
It is not true thatKati is short is shown here that approximating the illuminated area by the product
of the range and azimuth lined resolutions can give results which are
How tall is Kati? optimistic or pessimistic, depending ontheamount of range and
Mike is much taller than most of his close friends azimuth weighting used to suppress sidelobes.
How tall is Mike? I. INTRODUCTION
The synihetic aperture radar equation for extended diffuse clutter
Although problems of this kind fall outside theframework of classical is derived here. For this clutter, the radar cross section is proportional
mathematics and probability theory, they are illustrative of the typesof to the integral over ground range and azimuth of the magnitude squared

Manuscript received August 20, 1979. Manuscript received August 8 , 1979; revised October 9, 1979.
TheauthoriswiththeComputerScienceDivision,Departmentof Theauthor is with Radar SystemsEngineering,Inc., Los Angeles,
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, CA 90066.
Berkeley, CA 94720.

0018-9219/80/0300-0421$00.750 1980 IEEE

 422 PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 68, NO. 3, MARCH 1980

TABLE I at the impulse response center. Equation (2) can then be written
-3 dB WIDTHCONSTANT, MATCHED FILTER LQSSES AND DIFFUSECLUTTER
Loss FOR SIMPLETAYLOR WEIGHTING IN RANGE AND AZIMUTH F G ~ A ~ sec~ ,a u ~ kaZ
SIN =
w(x) = 1 + 2 R cos (ax), [ X I < 1 2(4~)~R~kTFLov COS e L,L,d,da

1 I 1 I I where 00 is the clutter backscatter coefficient, a is the grazing angle

I F1 I ‘a La or L,

(dB)
Diffuse Clutter
and Z is the integral over slant range and azimuth of the magnitude
squared of the two-dimensional synthetic aperture
Thefirstfactor
response.
is equivalent to theradarequationspresented
[ 11, [2]. The second factor w l
l
in
ibe called “diffuse clutter loss” here,
0 .QO 0.885 0 .oo 0.35 and it can be signifcant.
0.05 0.916 0.02 0.24
0.10 0.950 0.09 0.19 Table I gives k,, La or L, and the diffuse clutter loss for various
0.15 0.987 0.19 0.20 levels of simple Taylor weighting (cosine-ona-pedestal), assuming
0.20 1.028 0.33 0.27 perfect phase weighting. The values for Z were determined by in-
0.25 1.076 0.51 0.41 tegrating from null to null on the ideal impulse response in both range
0.30 1.130 0.72 0.58
0.35 1.191 0.95 0 -78 and azimuth with the same weighting function in range and azimuth.
0.40 1.262 , 1.21 1.02 This integration region is appropriate when the integrated sidelobe
region is calculated separately.
If the integration region extends from minus to plus infiity in range
and azimuth, then the diffuse clutter loss (for simple Taylor weighting)
reduces to l/kp
of the two-dimensional impulse response. 5eviously published equa-
tions have assumed this integral to be equal to the product of range REFERENCES
andazimuth lineal resolutions.It is shown here that such previous
equations can be pessimistic or optimistic, depending on the amount [ 11 L. I . Cutrona, “Synthetic aperture radar,” in R& Handbook,
M. I.Skolnik, Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970, ch. 23, pp.
of range and azimuth weighting used for sidelobe suppression. 16-1 7.
121 R. 0. Harger, Synthetic Aperture Radar Systems. New York:
11. THE SINGLE-PULSE RADAR EQUATION Academlc Press, 1970, ch. 3, pp. 75-79.
The single-pulse radar equation is:
PGZh2U
SIN =
(4n)3R4kTAfFLo
where is the peak transmitter power, G is the peak antenna gain, A is
the transmitter wavelength, u is the target radar cross section, R is the
Suppression of Range Sidelobes in Bistatic Radars
slant range, k is Boltzmann’s constant, Tis the standard reference tem- J. J. G. McCUE
perature of 290 K, Af is the receiver bandwidth, F is the receiver noise
figure, and LO is the system losses. Absmct-Conventional weighting schemes give little or no suppres-
sion of some of the ran@ sidelobes of a linear-FM rectanguh pulse
111. THESYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAREQUATION passed through matched filter.
It is useful to make the following substitutions into (1):
A bistatic radar is one whose receiver is sited at a distance from the
transmitter. Merits and limitations of such radars have been discussed
by Skolnik [ 11 and by Caspers (21. A recently studied space applica-
tion involved abistaticradar usinglinear-FM pulses to obtainthe
needed range resolution while using a long pulse.Range sidelobes of
* Trfr the pulse received over the direct path from the transmitter threatened
to interfere with the return from the target. The problem revealed a
deficiency in the literature of pulse compression.
In order to reduce the range sidelobes, the receiver can applya
weighting function to the spectrum of the puke. Some advantageous
and weightings have the form H + (1 - H)cos2 w / B , where H is a constant,
u is the offset from the center of the pulse spectrum, and B is the pulse
N, = kaRh fr bandwidth. For Iul > B/2,the spectrum is attenuated by the pulse-
2d,u COS e L, compressing network and perhapsbyamoresharply band-limiting
fdter, so that the weighting consists of a cosine-squared mound on a
where c is the speed of light, d, is the slant range resolution after pulse pedestal of width B and height H. The choiceH = 0.080 is called Ham-
compression, k, and ka are ~ & ~ ~ t a associated
nts with the range and ming weighting; it strongly suppresses the near sidelobes. In thebi-
azimuth weighting functions, P is the average transmitter power, T, is static situation, the far sidelobes may be of as much concern as the
the uncompressed pulse length, f, is the pulse repetition frequency, near ones (or even more, if the target return is always appreciably de-
N, and N, are the SIN improvement factors due to pulse compression layed with respect to the direct signal). One finds statements [3],[4]
and integration of pulses by the processor, L, and La are the matched that with Hamming weighting, the far sidelobes fall off at the rate of
filter losses associated with the range and azimuth weighting functions, 6 dB per octave, but that when H = 0, so that the pedestal height is
d, is the azimuth resolution, u is the radar speed and 0 is the doppler zero, they faU off at 18 dB per octave.
squint angle referenced to broadside. The resultant synthetic aperture These statements about falloff of far sidelobes are true if the weight-
radar equation is ing function is applied to a waveform (lit) sin at. However, a linear-
FM pulse with duration T and a rectangular envelope emerges from a
FG2h30 ka matching fdter with the form (l/t) sin [nBt(l - It/Tl)] for It I < T;
SIN = the argument of the sine is nonlinear in t, so the peaks are unevenly
2da(4n)’R3kTFLoUCOS 0 LrLa
spaced. It is well known [4] that cosine-ona-pedestal weighting has
Now, u is the radar cross section of the collection of scatterers of in- the effect of superimposing three responses staggered in time by 1/B.
terest. For extended diffuse clutter, the radar cross section is propor-
tional to the integral over ground range and azimuth of the magnitude
squared of the two-dimensionalimpulse response of the synthetic Manuscript received October 12, 1979. This work was supported by
the U.S. Department of the Army.
apertureradar. Here, this integral is approximatedby the integral The author is with Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of
over slant range and azimuth divided by the cosine of the grazing angle Technology, Lexington, MA 02173.

0018-9219/80/0300-0422SOO.75 0 1980 IEEE