Introduction to Radar

Department of Electrical and Electronic

Engineering
 What is Radar?
• RADAR (Radio Detection And Ranging)
is a way to detect and study far off
targets by transmitting a radio pulse in
the direction of the target and observing
the reflection of the wave.
• RADAR is a method of using
electromagnetic waves to remote-sense
the position, velocity and identifying
characteristics of targets.
• It’s basically radio echo
 RADAR
RAdio Detection And Ranging
Antenna
Propagation

Target
Cross
Section
Reflected
Transmitted Pulse
Pulse (“echo”)

Radar observables:
• Target range
• Target angles (azimuth & elevation)
• Target size (radar cross section)
• Target speed (Doppler)
• Target features (imaging)
Radar Frequencies
 Radar Frequency Bands
Wavelength 1 km 1m 1 mm 1 m 1 nm

Frequency 1 MHz 1 GHz 109 Hz 1012 Hz

IR UV
Visible

Ku
K
UHF L-Band S-Band C-Band X-Band Ka
VHF W

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Allocated Frequency (GHz)

30 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
Wavelength (cm)
 History of RADAR
• Developed in the early 1900s (pre-World War II)
– 1904 Europeans demonstrated use for detecting ships in fog
– 1922 U.S. Navy Research Laboratory (NRL) detected wooden ship
on Potomac River
– 1930 NRL engineers detected an aircraft with simple radar system
• World War II accelerated radar’s development
– Radar had a significant impact militarily
– Called “The Invention That Changed The World” in two books by
Robert Buderi
• Radar’s has deep military roots
– It continues to be important militarily
– Growing number of civil applications
– Objects often called ‘targets’ even civil applications
 The Range
• Distance from the
radar
• Measured from time
delay between
transmitted pulse and
returned signal
received
 The Range
• Remember, in general v=d/t and d=vt
• The range is just a distance
• Since radio waves travel at the speed of
light (v = c = 300,000 km/sec )
range = c•time/2
• Why divided by 2?
 The Range
• The “2” is because the measured time is
for a round trip to and from the target. To
determine the range, you only want the
time to the object, so you take half!
Radar Range Measurement

e
a ng
R
Target

d
itte
m
r ans se
T Pul

e cted
fl
Re ulse
P
c
• Target range =
2
where c = speed of light
 = round trip time
 Doppler Frequency
• Radars use Doppler frequency to extract target radial velocity
(range rate), as well as to distinguish between moving and
stationary targets or objects.
• The Doppler phenomenon describes the shift in the center
frequency of an incident waveform due to the target motion with
respect to the source of radiation.
• Depending on the direction of the target’s motion this frequency shift
may be positive or negative. A waveform incident on a target has
equiphase wavefronts separated by the wavelength.
• A closing target will cause the reflected equiphase wavefronts to get
closer to each other (smaller wavelength).
• Alternatively, an opening or receding target (moving away from the
radar) will cause the reflected equiphase wavefronts to expand
(larger wavelength).
Atmospheric Effects
 Radar beams can be attenuated, reflected and
bent by the environment

• Atmospheric attenuation

• Reflection off of earth’s

surface

• Over-the-horizon
diffraction

• Atmospheric refraction
 External noise sources
Three primary classes of external noise sources
that affect radar operation
Extraterrestrial noise
• the cosmos
• galaxies (particularly the galactic centers)
• stars (including the sun), and
• planets (like Jupiter, a star wannabe)

Atmospheric noise
• mostly from lightning discharges
• varies with geography, seasons, time of day

Man-made sources
Incoherent sources
• Machinery, ignition and switching devices, power generation/distribution
Coherent sources
19 • Computers and other digital systems, RF transmissions
 Extraterrestrial sources
• Broadband power spectrum
• Relatively low levels (compared to other external noise sources)

20
From A.A. Smith, Radio Frequency Principles and Applications, IEEE Press, 1998
Atmospheric sources
• Higher levels of noise from
atmospheric sources than from
extraterrestrial sources.
• Noise levels decrease with
increasing frequency.
From A.A. Smith, Radio Frequency Principles and Applications, IEEE Press, 1998

21
Man-made sources
• Lower noise levels than atmospheric sources at lower frequencies.
• Even in rural setting, man-made noise is about 20 dB higher than thermal
noise level (i.e., ideal receiver) at 100 to 300 MHz

22
From A.A. Smith, Radio Frequency Principles and Applications, IEEE Press, 1998
Man-made sources
• Power-line conducted noise levels comparable to or greater than
atmospheric sources at lower frequencies.
• Power-line conducted noise levels less significant above 50 MHz

23
From A.A. Smith, Radio Frequency Principles
 How Strong Is It?
• The strength of the received echo can also
be measured
• This will vary with the distance of the
target, its size, its shape and its
composition