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Book review [review of pulse doppler radar: principles, technology, applications

(alabaster, c.; 2012]

Article in IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine · November 2013

DOI: 10.1109/MAES.2013.6678492

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Book Review
Pulse Doppler Radar: Principles, Technology, Applications
Clive Alabaster
Scitech Publishing, Edison, NJ, 2012, ISBN: 978-1-89-112198-2,
$127.06 USD, Hardcover, XXX pages, New
Reviewed by
Theodoros G. Kostis, Hellenic Military Academy, Greece
H
aving studied this
new book by Clive Al-
abaster once at Cran-
field University but now
at White Horse Radar, en-
titled Pulse Doppler Radar, I
can say that I have learned
about pulse Doppler ra-
dar. Truly I have become
a member of the guild of
pulse Doppler radar en-
gineers that really know
how this radar sees with
its electromagnetic eyes.
Pulse Doppler is an advanced signal modulation tech-
nique used in modern 4-D radar systems capable of detecting
a target in three dimensional spatial coordinates plus its radial
velocity (range-rate) while tracking the contact through time.
Pulse Doppler radars were invented and successfully built
around the 1950s for the United States military. For example
systematic research was conducted by Westinghouse Aero-
space & Systems Division in Baltimore, Maryland. At around
1959 during the Vietnam War there was a need to track and
fire upon low flying Mikoyan MiG aircraft. For at this low
altitude flight over the jungle detection was impossible with
existing pulse radars onboard U.S. aircraft. Therefore a firing
solution could not be locked because the jungle clutter was
overwhelming the MiG’s backscattering. Actually MiG-17
and MiG-21 aircraft camouflaged in jungle colors used to am-
bush American aircraft from below as they passed them by.
Therefore a new type of airborne radar that could look down
in the jungle and discern a target by virtue of its speed was
required in order to obtain the corresponding firing solution.
Consequently the AWG-10 fire control pulse Doppler radar
was devised by Westinghouse which first flew on-board a Mc-
Donnell Douglas Phantom F4-B during the 60s in the Vietnam
skies.
Now let me first be a reporter and tell you what you are
expected to see and find in this book. This book achieves a
thorough and deep explanation of the principles, technolo-
gy, and applications of pulse Doppler radars in full technical
40 IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE
Theodoros G.
Kostis
detail. In essence it is a primer for designing pulse Doppler
radars and is split in three main parts.
The first part is comprised of eight chapters explaining
the basic pulse radar concepts required for understanding
the latter two parts. First there is the historical justification
for using pulsed systems against continuous wave radars
and their associated detection performance. Then the simple
pulse radar and the Doppler sensing radar are discussed in
order to pave the way for the explanation of the ambiguity
function which is an important tool for depicting the wave-
form behavior in time and frequency. The explanation of the
phenomenon of clutter comes next which was the motiva-
tion for advancing the research in the field of pulse Doppler
digital processing. This introductory section finishes with
the presentation of pulse Doppler radar hardware. Thus the
foundations for using a pulse Doppler radar are now laid.
The second part analytically explains the theory and
techniques specific to Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF) se-
lection and optimization for pulse Doppler radars. This is
important because every application needs an optimized
PRF sequence in order to be able to optimally detect a target.
It is comprised of two sections; part IIa which explains high
pulse repetition frequency issues related to frequency modu-
lation ranging and part IIb which deals with medium pulse
repetition frequency detection performance.
The third part discusses four representative case stud-
ies related to airborne fire control, airborne early warning,
missile seeker, and ground based air defence issues, which
illustrate the wide variety of pulse Doppler radar usefulness
especially for military applications.
Let me now be an analyst and attempt to assess the need
and the quality of this book.
First let us establish the general need for pulse Doppler
radar in technical terms. Continuous wave radars can mea-
sure speed using the Doppler effect. Adding a frequency
modulation can provide range measurements. Since the re-
ception time is concurrent with transmission time antenna
isolation problems can be counterproductive to target detec-
tion. Moreover it has high power consumption and serious
issues with target tracking functions needed for fire control
radars. More importantly its weight requirements for high
NOVEMBER 2013

power output are incompatible with compact airborne mili-
tary systems. Pulse radar can estimate location information
from measuring the round-trip time from radar to target.
Although Doppler information is inherent in the pulse’s fre-
quency spectrum, when it is not processed then the speed of
a target cannot be estimated. Therefore a pulsed radar that
could at the same time extract Doppler information about a
target is the desirable solution.
The author answers the
question of what are the
precise waveform parameters
and best schedule designs for
use in a medium PRF pulse
Doppler radar.
We now move on to understand the need for this book.
Remember that the pulse duration determines the accuracy
of the radar’s range resolution. And that its reciprocal which
is the pulse’s frequency determines the accuracy of the ra-
dar’s Doppler resolution. Unfortunately these two param-
eters are antagonistic because as a signal becomes small its
spectrum becomes large and we have the radar uncertainty
principle, meaning that low Pulse Repetition Frequency
(PRF) eliminates range ambiguities but has velocity ambigu-
ities and high PRF avoids velocity ambiguities and presents
ambiguities in range.
Therefore the logical upcoming question would be
whether medium PRF multiple waveforms in the form of
a schedule could provide the best fit for the application, in
other words procure acceptable ambiguities for useful oper-
ational use. And what would be the precise frequency of the
medium PRF waveforms that would successfully address
NOVEMBER 2013 IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE
Kostis
target intricacies and match environmental conditions? Ac-
tually this is the exact question that the author is mainly an-
swering in this book.
The author answers the question of what are the precise
waveform parameters and best schedule designs for use in a
medium PRF pulse Doppler radar.
Using multiple waveforms trying to match target and
clutter just-in-time conditions is a solution. This is the good
news. The bad news is that there are numerous issues spe-
cific to pulse Doppler radar that need to be compensated
like eclipsing, blindness, response to clutter, PRF schedule
designs that eliminate ghosting, and PRF selections that pro-
vide maximum visibility that need to be considered. And this
book contributes to the knowledge domain that is essential
to practicing radar engineers. Thus it is a specialized book
that provides around 200 pages on dedicated PRF issues for
pulse Doppler radar. Other excellent books in the subject are
Introduction to Airborne Radar by G. W. Stimson where we
find about 160 pages on pulse Doppler radar and PRF selec-
tion for air-to-air operation, in Introduction to Radar Systems
by M. I. Skolnik we find around 100 pages on Moving Target
Indicator (MTI), and Pulse Doppler Radar, in Radar Systems
Analysis & Modeling by D. K. Barton we read about 70 pages
on MTI and pulse Doppler and in Radar Foundations for Imag-
ing & Advanced Concepts by R. J. Sullivan we find about sixty
pages on MTI and pulse Doppler. The engineering quality
of all books mentioned in this nonexhaustive list is excellent
and a reader will benefit by reading pulse Doppler informa-
tion by all authors.
Let me finally be an advisor and speculate what various
professionals, lecturers, and students may find this book of
value and why.
My work is centered on devising novel intelligent coun-
termeasures for pulse Doppler radars. Thus I have found this
book to be a cornerstone for electronic warfare professionals
trying to fully understand pulse Doppler radar electromag-
netic sighting abilities, because you have to know very well
the modus operandi of the concept you are trying to provide
countermeasures for in order to successfully perform this ac-
tion. The writing style and accompanying figures of this book
do so with accuracy and clarity. For lecturers this book will
41
 Kostis
provide highly technical arrows in their quiver and they will
be able to keep their audience very interested. Unfortunately
exercises are not provided and weather radar is not covered
but then Rome was not built in a day. For students this book
is especially of value for their Master and PhD thesis.
To sum up my advisory letter this book is ideal for prac-
ticing engineers, researchers, and lecturers focused on mili-
tary applications. In my experience this book is of immense
value to select radars for specific applications for national
security projects, author scientific publications and lecture
on radar systems.
The typography quality is excellent as any typical Scitech
Publishing product. The after sales support is provided by
Scitech’s website at http://www.scitechpub.com where one
can find more information.
42 IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE
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In conclusion this book deeply explains the pulse Dop-
pler radar theoretical domain with assisted military appli-
cations. The preliminary information is friendly to newly
introduced audience to pulsed Doppler radar. And as the
book chapters advance it becomes helpful to radar engineers
that need to understand the assorted concepts and need to
understand advanced radar systems.
So do you want to be taught how to see with electro-
magnetic pulse Doppler radar eyes? Do you want to con-
trol the practice of this craft? After having studied this
book you will have become a member of the pulse Dop-
pler radar Guild!
The author of this review would like to thank the ex-
ternal reviewers and the IEEE A&E Systems Magazine
editors for their constructive comments.
NOVEMBER 2013