Can scanning radar (of either ranges) penetrate the forest either from an angle or directly above the forest?
The scanning radar provided will likely not be able to resolve the target in the presence of the forest at the minimum range stated. A more sophisticated radar/algorithm using a pulse compression technique could possibly work in the presence of forest clutter however even the 3.5 km range stated is likely not enough distance to work with so it would still be tough. If one really wanted the radar approach to work in the forest, one would have to work at the higher altitudes and add a pulse compression algorithm which rapidly becomes very complex (and expensive). This leads to another trade though in terms of field of view so the students will have to be careful.
