Abstract. We present a novel approach for modulating radar transmissions in order to improve target range and Doppler estimation accuracy. This is achieved by using non-uniform baud lengths. With this method it is possible to increase sub-baud range-resolution of phase coded radar measurements while maintaining a narrow transmission bandwidth. We first derive target backscatter amplitude estimation error covariance matrix for arbitrary targets when estimating backscatter in amplitude domain. We define target optimality and discuss different search strategies that can be used to find well performing transmission envelopes. We give several simulated examples of the method showing that fractional baud-length coding results in smaller estimation errors than conventional uniform baud length transmission codes when estimating the target backscatter amplitude at sub-baud range resolution. We also demonstrate the method in practice by analyzing the range resolved power of a low-altitude meteor trail echo that was measured using a fractional baud-length experiment with the EISCAT UHF system.