<h2>AAS  96-117</h2><h2>CHARACTERISTICS OF DEBRIS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR DETECTION AND TRACKING</h2><h4>R. Sridharan, MIT Lincoln Laboratory</h4><h2> Abstract </h2>The recently conducted debris campaigns by AF Space Command have provided an interesting data base for the examination of the characteristics of a population sample of debris in space.  Processing of these data have revealed certain characteristics of the population that have significant implications for the ability of radar sensors to detect, track and characterize these objects. It will be shown that by appropriate processing, the detection sensitivity of the UHF discovery radars can also be enhanced. The data base collected hitherto provides insight into the characteristics of debris and their interaction with the detection radars.<br><br>