Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 77

Radar Engineering

(18EC823),
Module 1 [ Basics of
Radar, Simple form of the
Radar Equation ( Chapter
1 of Text Book ) ].
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
1
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
MODULE – 1:
Basics of Radar: Introduction, Maximum
Unambiguous Range, Radar Waveforms,
Definitions with respect to pulse waveform
- PRF, PRI, Duty Cycle, Peak Transmitter
Power, Average transmitter Power.
Simple form of the Radar Equation: Radar
Block Diagram and Operation, Radar
Frequencies, Applications of Radar,
The Origins of Radar, Illustrative Problems.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


2
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Chapter 1 – An Introduction to Radar
1.1 – Basic Radar
• RADAR is a contraction of the words “Radio Detection
and Ranging”.
• Radar is an electromagnetic system.
• It is used for the detection & location of reflecting
objects such as –
 Aircrafts
 Ships
 Spacecraft
 Vehicles
 People
 Natural Environment
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
3
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
• Radar operates by radiating energy into space
& detecting the echo signal reflected from an
object, or target.
• The reflected energy that is returned to the
radar –
 Indicates the presence of a target.
 Determines location along with other target-
related information (by comparing the received
echo signal with the transmitted signal).
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
4
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
• Radar can perform its function at long or short
distances & under conditions impervious to optical
& infrared sensors.
• It can operate in –
 Darkness
 Haze
 Fog
 Rain
 Snow
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
5
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
• Radar’s important attributes are –
 It has ability to measure distance with high
accuracy.
 It has ability to operate in all weather
conditions.
• The basic principle of radar is illustrated in
Fig.1.1.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


6
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor, Department of
ECE, CMRIT. 7
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
• A transmitter (in the upper left portion of the figure),
generates an electromagnetic signal (such as a short pulse
of sinewave).
• This signal is radiated into space by an antenna.
• A portion of the transmitted energy is intercepted by the
target.
• This intercepted energy is reradiated by the target in many
directions.
• The reradiation directed back towards the radar is
collected by the radar antenna.
• The radar antenna now delivers it to a receiver.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
8
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
• In the receiver, it is processed to detect the presence of the
target & determine its location.
• A single antenna is usually used on a time-shared basis.
• This is useful for both transmitting & receiving when the
radar waveform is a repetitive series of pulses.
• The range, or distance, to a target is found by measuring the
time it takes for the radar signal to travel to the target &
return back to the radar.
• The target’s location, in angle, can be found from the
direction in which the narrow-beamwidth radar antenna
points, when the received echo signal is of maximum
amplitude.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
9
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
• If the target is in motion, there is a shift in the frequency of the echo
signal due to the doppler effect.
• This frequency shift is proportional to the velocity of the target relative
to the radar (also called the radial velocity).
• This frequency shift is called the doppler frequency shift.
• The doppler frequency shift is widely used in radar.
• It is the basis for separating desired moving targets from fixed
(unwanted) “clutter” echoes reflected from the natural environment
such as –
 Land
 Sea
 Rain
• Radar can also provide information about the nature of the target being
observed.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
10
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
• The term radar is a contraction of the words radio detection and
ranging.
• The name reflects the importance placed by the early workers in
this field on the need for a device to –
 Detect the presence of a target.
 To measure the range of the target from it.
• Modern radars can extract more information from a target’s
echo signal than its range.
• Still, the measurement of range is one of its most important
functions.
• There are no competitive techniques other than radar that can
accurately measure long ranges in both clear & adverse weather.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


11
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
[Range to a Target]
• The most common radar signal, or waveform, is a series of
short-duration pulses.
• These pulses are somewhat rectangular-shaped &
modulating a sinewave carrier.
• This is sometimes called a pulse train.
• The range to a target is determined by the time T R it takes
the radar signal to travel to the target & back.
• Electromagnetic energy in free space travels with the speed
of light, which is c=3*(10^8) m/s.
• Thus, the time for the signal to travel to a target located at a
range R & return back to the radar is 2R/c.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
12
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
[Range to a Target]
• The range to a target is then
R= (cTR)/2 - [1.1]
• With the range in kilometers or in nautical miles, & T in
microseconds, Eq.(1.1) becomes
R(km)=0.15 TR (μs) or R(nmi)=0.081 TR (μs)
• Each microsecond of round-trip travel time corresponds
to a distance of 150 meters, 164 yards, 492 feet, 0.081
nautical mile, or 0.093 statute mile.
• It takes 12.35 μs for a radar signal to travel a nautical
mile & back.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
13
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
[Maximum Unambiguous Range]
• Once a signal is radiated into space by a radar, sufficient time must
elapse to allow all echo signals to return to the radar before the
next pulse is transmitted.
• The rate at which pulses may be transmitted, therefore, is
determined by the longest range at which targets are expected.
• If the time between pulses TP is too short, an echo signal from a
long-range target might arrive after the transmission of the next
pulse.
• In such a situation, it will be mistakenly associated with the next
pulse rather than the actual pulse transmitted earlier.
• This can result in an incorrect or ambiguous measurement of the
range.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
14
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
[Maximum Unambiguous Range]
• Echoes that arrive after the transmission of the next pulse
are called second-time-around echoes (or multiple-time-
around echoes if from even earlier pulses).
• Such an echo would appear to be at a closer range than
actual & its range measurement could be misleading.
• This is because it is not known that it is a second-time-
around echo.
• The range beyond which targets appear as second-time-
around echoes is the maximum unambiguous range, Run.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


15
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
[Maximum Unambiguous Range]
• The maximum unambiguous range is given by,
Run = (cTp)/2 = c/(2fP) --- [1.2]
where TP = pulse repetition period = 1/fP, and fP= pulse
repetition frequency (prf), usually given in hertz or
pulses per second (pps).
• A plot of maximum unambiguous range as a function
of the pulse repetition frequency is shown in Fig.1.2.
• The term pulse repetition rate is sometimes used
interchangeably with pulse repetition frequency.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
16
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
17
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
18
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
[Radar Waveforms]
• The typical radar utilizes a pulse waveform, an example
of which is shown in Fig.1.3.
• The peak power in this example is Pt = 1 MW, pulse width
τ = 1 μs, and pulse repetition period T P = 1 ms = 1000 μs.
• The pulse repetition frequency fP is 1000 Hz, which
provides a maximum unambiguous range of 150 km, or
81 nmi.
• The average power (Pav) of a repetitive pulse-train
waveform is equal to (Pt*τ)/TP = Pt*τ*fP .

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


19
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
[Radar Waveforms]
• Hence, the average power in this case is (106 *
10-6)/10-3 = 1 kW.
• The duty cycle of a radar waveform is defined
as the ratio of the total time the radar is
radiating to the total time it could have
radiated.
• This is τ/TP = τ*fP , or its equivalent Pav/Pt.
• In this case, the duty cycle is 0.001.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
20
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
[Radar Waveforms]
• The energy of the pulse is equal to P t*τ, which is 1 J (joule).
• If the radar could detect a signal of 10 -12 W, the echo would be 180 dB
below the level of the signal that was transmitted.
• A short-duration pulse waveform is attractive since the strong
transmitter signal is not radiating when the weak echo signal is being
received.
• A very long pulse is needed for some long-range radars to achieve
sufficient energy to detect small targets at long range.
• A long pulse, however, has poor resolution in the range dimension.
• Frequency or phase modulation can be used to increase the spectral
width of a long pulse to obtain the resolution of a short pulse.
• This is called pulse compression.
• Continuous wave (CW) waveforms have also been used in radar.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
21
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
[Radar Waveforms]
• CW radars have to receive while transmitting.
• CW radars, hence, depend on the doppler frequency shift of the echo
signal.
• This shift is caused by a moving target.
• It is used to separate, in the frequency domain, the weak echo signal
from the large transmitted signal & the echoes from fixed clutter (land,
sea, or weather).
• It is also used to measure the radial velocity of the target.
• A simple CW radar does not measure range.
• However, it can obtain range by modulating the carrier with frequency or
phase modulation.
• Eg. Radio altimeter that measures the height (altitude) of an aircraft
above the earth.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
22
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.1 – Basic Radar (Contd.)
[Radar Waveforms]
• Pulse radars that extract the doppler frequency shift are of 2 types-
 Moving Target Indication (MTI) Radars.
 Pulse Doppler Radars.
• The above types depend on their particular values of pulse
repetition frequency & duty cycle.
• An MTI radar has a low prf & a low duty cycle.
• A pulse doppler radar, on the other hand, has a high prf and a high
duty cycle.
• Almost all radars designed to detect aircraft use the doppler
frequency shift.
• This is to reject the large unwanted echoes from stationary clutter.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


23
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.2 – The Simple Form Of The Radar Equation
• The radar equation relates the range of a radar to the
characteristics of the –
 Transmitter
 Receiver
 Antenna
 Target
 Environment
• It is useful for -
 Determining the maximum range at which a particular radar can
detect a target.
 Understanding the factors affecting radar performance.
 Radar system design as an important tool.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
24
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.2 – The Simple Form Of The Radar Equation
(Contd.)
• In this section, the simple form of the radar
range equation is derived.
• If the transmitter power Pt is radiated by an
isotropic antenna (one that radiates uniformly
in all directions), the power density at a
distance R from the radar is given by,

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


25
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.2 – The Simple Form Of The Radar Equation
(Contd.)
• Power density is measured in units of watts per
square meter.
• Radars, however, employ directive antennas (with
narrow beamwidths) to concentrate the radiated
power Pt in a particular direction.
• The gain of an antenna is a measure of the
increased power density radiated in some direction
as compared to the power density that would
appear in that direction from an isotropic antenna.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


26
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.2 – The Simple Form Of The Radar Equation
(Contd.)
• The maximum gain G of an antenna may be
defined as

• The power density at the target from a


directive antenna with a transmitting gain G is
then

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


27
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.2 – The Simple Form Of The Radar Equation
(Contd.)
• The target intercepts a portion of the incident energy
& reradiates it in various directions.
• It is only the power density reradiated in the direction
of the radar (the echo signal) that is of interest.
• The radar cross section of the target determines the
power density returned to the radar for a particular
power density incident on the target.
• It is denoted by σ and is often called, for short, target
cross section, radar cross section, or simply cross
section.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
28
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.2 – The Simple Form Of The Radar Equation
(Contd.)
• The radar cross section is defined by the
following equation :

• The radar cross section has units of area, but it


can be misleading to associate the radar cross
section directly with the target’s physical size.
• Radar cross section is more dependent on the
target’s shape than on its physical size.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
29
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.2 – The Simple Form Of The Radar Equation
(Contd.)
• The radar antenna captures a portion of the
echo energy incident on it.
• The power received by the radar is given as the
product of the incident power density times the
effective area Ae of the receiving antenna.
• The effective area is related to the physical area
A by the relationship Ae=ρaA, where ρa= antenna
aperture efficiency.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


30
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.2 – The Simple Form Of The Radar Equation
(Contd.)
• The received signal power Pr (watts) is then

• The maximum range of a radar Rmax is the


distance beyond which the target cannot be
detected.
• It occurs when the received signal power Pr just
equals the minimum detectable signal Smin.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
31
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.2 – The Simple Form Of The Radar Equation
(Contd.)
• Substituting Smin=Pr in Eq.(1.6) and rearranging the
terms gives

• This is the fundamental form of the radar range


equation. It is also called for simplicity, the radar
equation or range equation.
• The important antenna parameters are the
transmitting gain & the receiving effective area.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
32
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.2 – The Simple Form Of The Radar Equation
(Contd.)
• The transmitter power Pt has not been
specified as either the average or the peak
power.
• It depends on how Smin is defined. Here, Pt
denotes the peak power.
• If the same antenna is used for both
transmitting & receiving, as it usually is in
radar, from antenna theory, we have
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
33
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.2 – The Simple Form Of The Radar Equation
(Contd.)

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


34
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.2 – The Simple Form Of The Radar Equation
(Contd.)
• These three forms of the radar equation given by
Eqs. (1.7), (1.9), and (1.10) are basically the same,
but with different interpretations.
• These simplified versions of the radar equation do
not adequately describe the performance of actual
radars.
• Many important factors are not explicitly included.
• Hence, it predicts too high a value of range,
sometimes by a factor of two or more.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
35
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.3 – Radar Block Diagram
• The operation of a pulse radar may be described with the aid
of the simple block diagram of Fig.1.4.
• The transmitter may be a power amplifier, such as the
klystron, traveling wave tube, or transistor amplifier.
• It might also be a power oscillator, such as the magnetron
(used for pulse radars of modest capability).
• But, the amplifier is preferred when
 High average power is necessary.
 Other than simple pulse waveforms are required.
 Good performance is needed in detecting moving targets
amidst much larger clutter echoes using doppler frequency
shift.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
36
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
37
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.3 – Radar Block Diagram (Contd.)
• A power amplifier is indicated in Fig.1.4.
• The radar signal is produced at low power by a
waveform generator.
• This is then the input to the power amplifier.
• In most power amplifiers, except for solid state power
sources, a modulator turns the transmitter on and off.
• This is in synchronism with the input pulses.
• When a power oscillator is used, it is also turned on &
off by a pulse modulator to generate a pulse
waveform.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
38
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.3 – Radar Block Diagram (Contd.)
• The output of the transmitter is delivered to
the antenna by a waveguide or other form of
transmission line, from where it is radiated
into space.
• Antennas can be –
 Mechanically steered parabolic reflectors.
 Mechanically steered planar arrays.
 Electronically steered phased arrays.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


39
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.3 – Radar Block Diagram (Contd.)
• The duplexer allows a single antenna to be used on a
time-shared basis for both transmitting and receiving.
• The duplexer is generally a gaseous device.
• It produces a short circuit (an arc discharge) at the
input to the receiver when the transmitter is
operating.
• This is so that high power flows to the antenna & not
to the receiver.
• On reception, the duplexer directs the echo signal to
the receiver & not to the transmitter.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


40
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.3 – Radar Block Diagram (Contd.)
• The receiver is almost always a superheterodyne.
• The input, or RF, stage can be a low-noise
transistor amplifier.
• The mixer & local oscillator (LO) convert the RF
signal to an intermediate frequency (IF), where it
is amplified by the IF amplifier.
• The signal bandwidth of a superheterodyne
receiver is determined by the bandwidth of its IF
stage.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


41
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.3 – Radar Block Diagram (Contd.)
• The IF frequency, for example, might be 30 or 60 MHz when the
pulse width is of the order of 1 μs.
• With a 1 μs pulse width, the IF bandwidth would be about 1 MHz.
• The IF amplifier is designed as a matched filter ; that is, one which
maximizes the output peak-signal-to-mean-noise ratio.
• Thus, the matched filter maximizes the detectability of weak echo
signals & attenuates unwanted signals.
• With the approx. rectangular pulse shapes commonly used in
many radars, conventional radar receiver filters are close to that of
a matched filter.
• The above assumption is true when the receiver bandwidth B is
the inverse of the pulse width τ, or Bτ = 1.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


42
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.3 – Radar Block Diagram (Contd.)
• Sometimes, the low-noise input stage is omitted & the mixer
becomes the 1st stage of the receiver.
• A receiver with a mixer as the input stage will be less sensitive
because of the mixer’s higher noise figure.
• But, compared to a receiver with low-noise 1 st stage, it will
have –
 Greater dynamic range.
 Less susceptibility to overload.
 Less vulnerability to electronic interference.
• These attributes of a mixer input stage might be of interest
for military radars subject to the noisy environment of hostile
electronic counter measures (ECM).
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
43
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.3 – Radar Block Diagram (Contd.)
• The IF amplifier is followed by a crystal diode, which is
traditionally called the second detector, or demodulator.
• Its purpose is to assist in extracting the signal modulation
from the carrier.
• The combination of IF amplifier, second detector, & video
amplifier acts as an envelope detector.
• This is because it passes the pulse modulation (envelope)
& rejects the carrier frequency.
• In radars that detect the doppler shift of the echo signal,
the envelope detector is replaced by a phase detector.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


44
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.3 – Radar Block Diagram (Contd.)
• The combination of IF amplifier & video
amplifier is designed to provide sufficient
amplification, or gain.
• This gain is used to raise the level of the input
signal to a magnitude where it can be seen on
a display.
• The display can be a cathode-ray tube (CRT),
or be the input to a digital computer for
further processing.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
45
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.3 – Radar Block Diagram (Contd.)
• At the output of the receiver, a decision is made whether or not a
target is present.
• The decision is based on the magnitude of the receiver output.
• If the output is large enough to exceed a predetermined threshold,
the decision is that a target is present.
• If it does not cross the threshold, only noise is assumed to be
present.
• The threshold level is set so that the rate at which false alarms
occur due to noise crossing the threshold (in the absence of signal),
is below some specified, tolerable value.
• An integrator is often found in the video portion & a signal
processor (eg. Matched Filter) is found in the receiver before
detection decision is made.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
46
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.3 – Radar Block Diagram (Contd.)
• A typical radar display for a surveillance radar is the PPI, or plan
position indicator.
• The PPI is a presentation that maps in polar coordinates the
location of the target in azimuth & range.
• A B-scope display is similar to a PPI except that it utilizes a
rectangular format, rather than the polar format, to display range
versus angle.
• Both the PPI & B-scope are intensity modulated & hence have
limited dynamic range.
• An A-scope is sometimes used for tracking radar or continuous
staring applications.
• It is an amplitude-modulated rectangular display with the receiver
output on the y-axis & the range (or time delay) on the x-axis.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
47
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.4 – Radar Frequencies
• Conventional radars operate in what is called the microwave region (a
term not rigidly defined).
• Operational radars in the past have been at frequencies ranging from
about 100 MHz to 36 GHz.
• During World War II, letter codes such as S,X, and L were used to
designate the distinct frequency bands for microwave radar
development.
• The original purpose was to maintain military secrecy; but the letter
designations were continued after the war.
• They were a convenient shorthand means to readily denote the region
of spectrum at which a radar operated.
• Their usage is the accepted practice of radar engineers.
• Table 1.1 lists the radar-frequency letter-band designations approved as
an IEEE Standard.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
48
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
49
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.5 – Applications of Radar
• Radar has been employed to detect targets on the ground,
on the sea, in the air, in space, & even below ground.
• The major 8 areas of radar application are mentioned below.
 Military.
 Remote Sensing.
 Air Traffic Control (ATC).
 Law Enforcement & Highway Safety.
 Aircraft Safety & Navigation.
 Ship Safety.
 Space.
 Other.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
50
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.5 – Applications of Radar (Contd.)
• Military :
 Radar is an important part of air-defense systems as well
as the operation of offensive missiles & other weapons.
 In air defense, it performs the functions of surveillance
& weapon control.
 A missile system might employ radar methods for
guidance & fuzing of the weapon.
 The military has been the major user of radar & the
major means by which new radar technology has been
developed.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


51
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.5 – Applications of Radar (Contd.)
• Remote Sensing :
 All radars are remote sensors, but, this term is used
to imply the sensing of the environment.
 4 important examples of radar remote sensing are –
Weather Observation ( weather forecast).
Planetary Observation (eg. Mapping of Venus
beneath its visually opaque clouds).
Short-range below-ground probing.
Mapping of sea ice to route shipping in an efficient
manner.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
52
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.5 – Applications of Radar (Contd.)
• Air Traffic Control (ATC) :
 Radars have been employed around the world to
safely control –
Air traffic in the vicinity of airports (Air Surveillance
Radar, or ASR).
Air traffic en route from one airport to another (Air
Route Surveillance Radar, or ARSR).
Ground vehicular traffic.
Taxiing aircraft on the ground (Airport Surface
Detection Equipment, or ASDE).
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
53
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.5 – Applications of Radar (Contd.)
• Law Enforcement & Highway Safety :
 The radar speed meter, is used by police for
enforcing speed limits (A variation is used in
sports to measure the speed of a pitched
baseball).
 Radar has been considered for making vehicles
safer by warning of pending collision, actuating
the air bag, warning of obstructions or people
behind a vehicle.
 It is also employed for detection of intruders.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
54
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.5 – Applications of Radar (Contd.)
• Aircraft Safety & Navigation :
 The airborne weather-avoidance radar outlines regions of
precipitation & dangerous wind shear to allow the pilot to
avoid hazardous conditions.
 Low-flying military aircraft rely on terrain avoidance &
terrain following radars to avoid colliding with obstructions
or high terrain.
 Military aircraft employ ground mapping radars to image a
scene.
 The radio altimeter is also a radar used to indicate the
height of an aircraft above the terrain & as a part of self-
contained guidance systems over land.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
55
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.5 – Applications of Radar (Contd.)
• Ship Safety :
 Radar is found in ships & boats.
 This is for collision avoidance & to observe
navigational buoys, especially when the
visibility is poor.
 Similar shore-based radars are used for
surveillance of harbors & river traffic.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


56
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.5 – Applications of Radar (Contd.)
• Space :
 Space vehicles have used radar for rendezvous
& docking, & for landing on the moon.
 They have also been used for planetary
explorations, especially the planet earth.
 Large ground-based radars are used for the
detection & tracking of satellites & other
space objects.

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


57
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.5 – Applications of Radar (Contd.)
• Other :
 Radar has also found application in industry for
the noncontact measurement of speed &
distance.
 It has been used for oil & gas exploration.
 Entomologists & Ornithologists have applied
radar to study the movements of insects &
birds, which cannot be easily achieved by
other means.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
58
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.6 – The Origins of Radar
• The basic concept of radar was first demonstrated
by the classical experiments.
• These were conducted by the German physicist
Heinrich Hertz from 1885 to 1888.
• Hertz experimentally verified the predictions of
James Clerk Maxwell’s theory of the
electromagnetic field published in 1864.
• Hertz used an apparatus that was similar in
principle to a pulse radar at frequencies in the
vicinity of 455 MHz.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
59
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.6 – The Origins of Radar (Contd.)
• He demonstrated that radio waves behaved the
same as light except for the considerable
difference in frequency between the two.
• He showed that radio waves could be reflected
from metallic objects & refracted by a dielectric
prism.
• Hertz received quick & widespread recognition for
his work, but he did not pursue in practical
applications.
• This was left to others.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
60
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.6 – The Origins of Radar (Contd.)
• The potential of Hertz’s work for the detection &
location of reflecting objects – which is what radar
does – was advanced by another German, Christian
Hulsmeyer.
• In the early 1900s, he assembled an instrument that
would today be known as a monostatic (single site)
pulse radar.
• It was much improved over the apparatus used by
hertz.
• In 1904, he obtained a patent in England & other
countries.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
61
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.6 – The Origins of Radar (Contd.)
• Hulsmeyer’s radar detected ships, & he extensively
marketed it for preventing collisions at sea.
• He demonstrated his apparatus to shipping companies
& to the German Navy.
• Although it was a success & much publicized, there
apparently was no interest for a ship collision-
avoidance device.
• His inventions & his demonstrations faded from
memory & were all but forgotten.
• Radar would have to be rediscovered a few more times
before it eventually became an operational reality.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
62
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.6 – The Origins of Radar (Contd.)
• During the 1920’s, other evidence of the radar method
appeared.
• S.G.Marconi, the well-known pioneer of wireless radio,
observed the radio detection of targets in his
experiments.
• He strongly urged its use in a speech delivered in 1922
before the Institute of Radio Engineers (now the IEEE).
• Apparently unaware of Marconi’s speech, A.Hoyt Taylor
& Leo.C.Young of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in
Washington, D.C. , accidentally observed, in 1922, a
fluctuating signal.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
63
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.6 – The Origins of Radar (Contd.)
• This signal was observed at their receiver when a ship passed
between the receiver & transmitter located on opposite sides
of a river.
• This was called a CW wave-interference system, but today, it is
known as bistatic CW radar.
• Bistatic means that the radar requires two widely separated
sites for the transmitter & receiver.
• In 1925, the pulse radar technique was used by Breit & Tuve
of the Carnegie Institute in Washington, D.C. , to measure the
height of the ionosphere.
• The CW wave-interference radar (bistatic radar) did not have
significant utililty for most applications.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
64
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.6 – The Origins of Radar (Contd.)
• It was appearance of heavy military bomber aircraft in the
late 1920s & early 1930s that eventually gave rise to
operational military radar.
• After World War I, long-range warning of the approach of
the heavy bomber became an important military need.
• Sound locators were the first of the sensors to be
examined.
• They were used by many armies upto the start of World
War II , even though they were inadequate for the task.
• Attempts were made to detect the spark plug ignition noise
of the aircraft engine, but they were abandoned as they
could be suppressed by proper shielding.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
65
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.6 – The Origins of Radar (Contd.)
• Infrared was examined, but it did not have
adequate range capability, it was not suited
for all-weather & did not find the target range.
• The bistatic CW radar then followed, but the
two-site configuration was cumbersome.
• The radar method did not become truly useful
until the transmitter & receiver were
colocated at a single site & pulse waveforms
were used.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
66
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
1.6 – The Origins of Radar (Contd.)
• In the 1930s, radar was rediscovered & developed
almost simultaneously & essentially independently in
the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Soviet
Union, France, Italy, Japan & Netherlands.
• These radars operated at frequencies much lower ( ≤
600 MHz ) than those generally used in modern radars.
• Compared to microwave radars, they had some
limitations, but they did their intended job well.
• After World War II, radar technology & systems grew
rapidly, and, since then, radar capability has continued
to advance.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
67
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Illustrative Problems & Solutions

Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,


68
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
69
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
70
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
71
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
72
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
73
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
74
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
75
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
76
Department of ECE, CMRIT.
Dr.Ananth Kumar M.S., Assistant Professor,
77
Department of ECE, CMRIT.

You might also like