Radar Systems

IIT Bombay - EE 602

Lecture-2
Propagation of Radar Signals
Kushal R. Tuckley
02/20/2023 kushal@ee.iitb.ac.in 1
 Electromagnetic Wave Modelling

Travelling Wave
EXH
Poyintin
g Vector

Standing Wave
Topics in Propagation of Radio Waves
Path Attenuation
Ground reflection
Path Geometry
Refraction
References:
Lucien Boithias Radio Wave Propagation,
North Oxford Academic (Div. of Kogan Page)
1984, Rev. 1987, ISBN 0-046536-06-6
John Griffith - Radio wave Propagation and Antennas, An Introduction
Prentice-Hall International, 1987, ISBN 0-13-752312-2
MPM Hall, LW Barclay (ed)- Radio Wave Propagation,
Peter Peregrinus Ltd. 1989, ISBN 0-86341 156 8
 Radio-wave Propagation Phenomenon

W. Hepburn

02/20/2023 4
 Path Geometry-1
Line of sight (LoS) and Fresnel Zone
Optical Line of Sight

r
h1 R
h2
Earth Surface

For very Reliable communication, The Fresnel Ellipsoid should be clear

r (radius) = 0.5 { (wavelength)  R (link distance)}0.5
(This means Fresnel Radius is about 38m for a link of 20 Km at 900 MHz)
Impractical, Hence the ground and effects must be considered at UHF
communications.
 Path or Bulk Absorption

Attenuation: The radar signal strength reduces due to the

absorptions in the media.
E  E 0 e d P  P0 e 2d
Units of α (Napers.m-1)
E ( dBVm 1 )  E 0 ( dBVm 1 )  8.6858d ( dB )

E (dBW )  E 0 (dBW )  8.6858d (dB)

2.4 GHz
5.0 GHz

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Semfio Networks
 Atmospheric Effects-1
•Spectrum for
Terrestrial
Absorption

•Atmospheric
Absorption is
negligible for
UHF
 Ground Reflection

(Difference in Path Length) 

 D 2  h2  h1  
2 0.5

 D 2  h2  h1  
2 0.5

2h1h2 4h1h2
Small signal Approximation
 Phase Difference ( ) 
(h2+h1) << D, Renaming DR R R

(Amplitude of Resultant Vector) r  d ((1   cos  ) 2  ( sin  ) 2 ) 0.5

σ- Reflection coefficient (Erefl/Einsident)
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 Refraction of the Radio Waves

77.6  4810e  6
Refractive Index n  1  p   10
T  T 
‘p’ barometric pressure in mbar, ‘e’ partial pressure of water vapour in mbar, T is in 0K.

Earth radius seems to be increased by a factor (k)/ Earth flattens!

(Distance to the horizon) d  2kah With k=1.33 d (km)  4.12 h(m)

n- Refraction Coefficient and N= 10-6 X n (millionth of Refraction coefficient)

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 Path Geometry-2
• The RF waves get refracted due to the refractive
index gradient in the earth’s atmosphere
Normal Gradient • Normal effect is the earth’s radius
dn/dh= - 39x10-6 / Km appear increased! More line of sight
distance!
• If The gradient is less (N<-157).
This is called ‘Super Refraction’ the
Normal Sub
h RF waves are confined and the
Refraction ducting is observed
• If the gradient is less negative or
becomes positive. Sub-refraction
Super
causes the RF path to turn
Refraction upwards

N= 10-6 X n
 Path Geometry-3
Straight Path Super Refraction/ Ducting
Normal path Sub Refraction

Losses due to the pointing Direction of the beam

Loss (dB) = 1.28 Go 2 Where, ( = d/2a)
Go - Gain along the axis. d - Link length and a – effective radius of the earth.

•The Refraction is modelled

as the change in earth’s
effective radius.
•Minimum Value of K to keep
the path free of obstacle

Path length change for geometrical path length of 200km (K same meaning as ‘k’ on slide 9)
Path Geometry- 4  Diffraction
 Computing Diffraction Loss
Modeled as knife-edge Diffraction

Source: Deygout J (1966) Multiple knife-edge
h
diffraction of microwaves.
Tx Rx
IEEE Transactions on Antennas and
Propagation vol AP-14, 4: 480-489 d d
1 2
d

Radius of Fresnel Zone= Rx={(λd1d2)/(d1+d2)}0.5

 = 1.414 X= 1.414 X(h/Rx) =h {2(d1+d2)/ λd1d2}0.5 = Diffraction parameter
Loss in dB = 6.9 - 20 log [ {( -0.1 )2 + 1} 0.5 + - 0.1 ]

Losses due to the pointing Direction of the beam

Loss (dB) = 1.28 Go 2
Where, ( = d/2a)
Go - Gain along the axis. d - Link length and a - effective radius of the earth.
 Atmospheric Effects-2

•Spectrum for
Absorption due
to Mist and
cloud

•Atmospheric
Absorption is
negligible for
UHF
 Atmospheric Effects-3

•Spectrum for
Absorption due
to rain

•Atmospheric
Absorption is
negligible for
UHF
 Atmospheric Effects-4
Multi-path Fading :
It is the most important factor that affects the signal strength
of the UHF communications links and terrestrial Radars.
(Approximate formula for the desired probability of Failure)

A=10 log F+35 log d - 10 log p-78.5

Where,
F- frequency in GHz;
d -Distance in Km
p- probability of failure (less signal strength)
A-The ratio of the free space strength and the minimum strength in dB

e.g 1: 10 GHz 20 Km, 1 % failure (A= 10+105+20-78.5= 56.5 dB)

e.g.2: 1 GHz, 40 Km, 0.05 % failure (A= 10+ 108 + 23- 78.5= 62.5 dB)
 Atmospheric Effects-5
Multi- Path
Losses
Graph showing the
relation between the
fading loss due to
terrestrial multi-path
with link distance for
a given availability
 Atmospheric Effects-6

Ground/ Specific
Reflection
Graph showing the
signal strength
variation for a
particular reflection
coefficient R
(D is the Diameter and
Di=0.61 λd/h)
 Atmospheric Effects-7
Ground
Reflection and
atmospheric
scintillation
Serious threat :
Fade margin
increases in
presence of
scintillations
e.g. Refl. Coeff =0.7,
The required margin
increases from 10.7dB
to 20.5 dB
(For 2 dB scintillations)
 Parameter Considerations in Radar Design
(a) Frequency Selection
Lower frequencies  low propagation loss
require larger antennas

Distributed targets  Echo due to backscatter

Generally Target size << λ, weak echo
Received energy is higher & Consistent if target size ≈ λ

Metal/ hard reflections/ Higher Frequencies 

Target size >> λ Optical Reflection, Echo strength fluctuates

Permission to transmit: Regulatory Authority for India

Wireless Planning Commission (WPC)  NFAP
02/20/2023 20
 Revisiting Some of the Applications
Band Frequency
Applications
Name Range

coastal radar systems for sea state

HF 3–30 MHz monitoring, Ionospheric sounding, Over the
Horizon (OTH) radars,

('P' for 'previous‘) applied retrospectively to

P < 300 MHz
early radar systems

50 to very long range, ground penetrating, ST and

VHF
330 MHz MST profilers

very long range (e.g. Ballistic Missile early

300 to warning, ground penetrating, foliage
UHF
1000 MHz penetrating; 'ultra high frequency‘, Wind
profilers

long range air traffic Control and Surveillance

L 1–2GHz
Boundary layer radars, (L for long)
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 Parameter Considerations in Radar Design
(b) Transmitter Power and Antenna Shape

Total RF power calculation- Link Budget - Chapter2

Transmitter Power/ Switches – Chapter 4

Link Budget and Receiver sensitivity - Chapter 6

Antenna Design – Localization of target and user

requirement on positioning accuracy- Chapter5
Sharp positioning  lesser beam-width  larger
antenna
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 Example of Atmospheric Radar Design

02/20/2023 23
 Questions?

02/20/2023 24