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RADAR

Nagarjuna palle

RADAR IN ANCIENT PERIOD

Conceived as early as 1880 by Heinrich Hertz

Observed that radio waves could be reflected off metal objects.

Radio Aid to Detection And Ranging

1930s
Britain built the first ground-based early warning system called Chain Home.

1940
Invention of the magnetron permits high power transmission at high frequency, thus making airborne radar.

Before Radar - What is R A D A R ?

Following the First World War in which Acoustic detection had been used against attacking aircraft in France experiments were carried out across the South and South-East of Britains coasts. The system was effective in principle and the large parabolic dishes focussed the incoming parallel sound rays to a single point at which a listening device could be positioned. In calm air conditions a range of about 15 miles (25 km) could be achieved but the speed (350 kph) of the aircraft in existence when the system was eventually abandoned was such that only about 4 minutes warning of approach could be given. radio transmissions and direction sensing (see Dr Hans E Hollmann) through the work of scientists working with short wavelength radio direction finders that the use of audio-detectors had little future. However as an illustration of the rapid progress that can be experienced in science and technology in only a decade the concrete dishes and wheeled trolleys are a monument to ingenuity and innovation in times of need despite their ultimate failure.

This earlier version ( left ) from just after the First world war period - through to the Japanese version (above) showed that the thinking behind the technology did not really changed. In fact the electronic device of Christian Huelsmeyer had a far more scientific principle and clearly much greater potential than these. It is hardly surprising that RADAR developed as it did. By early 1936 it was becoming clear that developments in a number of sites give some detailed historic information about the development of the early sound detection systems and are well worth visiting and reading.

We all know that a RADAR is used to detect the position of aircraft using radio waves. The term RADAR was first coined in 1941 and stands for RAdio Detection And Ranging. Before the invention of RADAR there was obviously a need to detect enemy aircraft. So what do you think they did? See pictures below

RADAR IN MEDIEVAL PERIOD

Currently
Radar is the primary sensor on nearly all military aircraft. Roles include airborne early warning, target acquisition, target tracking, target illumination, ground mapping, collision avoidance, altimeter, weather warning. Practical frequency range of conventional RADAR is 225MHz-35GHz.

Two common transmission techniques:

pulses continuous wave

Pulse Doppler
Carrier wave frequency within pulse is compared with a reference signal to detect moving targets.

Frequency Modulated CW Radar

Use for radar altimeters and missile guidance.

Moving Target Indicator (MTI) System

Signals compared with previous return to enhance moving targets. (search radars)

Frequency Agile Systems

Difficult to jam.

SAR / ISAR Phased Array - Aegis

Essentially 360 Coverage Phase shift and frequency shift allow the planar array to steer the beam. Also allows for high / low power output depending on requirements.

Where : f is the apparent frequency v is velocity of wave in the medium vobs is the velocity of the receiver relative to the medium; positive if the receiver is moving towards the source. vs is the velocity of the source relative to the medium; positive if the source is moving away from the receiver fO is the frequency of wave

Radar Frequencies

Wavelength

1 km

1m

1 mm

1 mm

1 nm

Frequency

1 MHz

1 GHz

109 Hz

1012 Hz IR UV Visible

UHF
VH F 0 1

L-Band

S-Band

C-Band

X-Band

Ku K Ka W

5 6 7 8 Allocated Frequency (GHz) 7 6 5 Wavelength (cm) 4

10

11

12

30 20

10 9

A pulsed radar is characterized by a high power transmitter that generates an endless sequence of pulses. The rate at which the pulses are repeated is defined as the pulse repetition frequency. Denote:
pulse width, , usually expressed in msec pulse repetition frequency, PRF, usually in kHz pulse period, Tp = 1/PRF, usually in msec

Transmitter Synchronizer RF ATR

Duplexer
Power Supply Echo TR (Switching Unit)

Antenna

Display

Video

Receiver

Antenna Bearing or Elevation

EEE381B

Range
c = 3 x 108 m/sec t is time to receive return

c*t 2

divide by 2 because pulse traveled to object and back

Radar beams can be attenuated, reflected and bent by the environment

Atmospheric attenuation Reflection off of earths surface Over-the-horizon diffraction Atmospheric refraction

Ramb

return time

PRF

A target whose range is:

R < Ramb = c / (2 PRF) = cTp / 2
0 10 20 30

Ramb
return time PRF

A target whose range is :

R > Ramb = c / (2 PRF) = cTp / 2
0 10 20 30

Ramb

PRF

Which target is which?

0 10

?
20 30

The PRF is another key radar parameter and is arguably one of the most difficult design decisions. The range of a target becomes ambiguous as a function of half the pulse period; in other words targets that are further than half the pulse period yield ambiguous range results. Ramb = c / (2 PRF) = cTp / 2

A basic principle of radar is that it directs energy (in the form of an EM wave) at its intended target(s). Recall that the directivity of an antenna is measured as a function of its gain. Therefore antenna types most useful for radar applications include parabolic and array antenna.

Early airborne radars typically consisted of parabolic reflectors with horn feeds.

The dish effectively directs the transmitted energy towards a target while at the same time gathering and concentrating some fraction of the returned energy.

Recent radars more likely employ a planar array

It is electronically steerable as a transmit or receive antenna using phase shifters. It has the further advantage of being capable of being integrated with the skin of the aircraft (smart skin).

The main lobe of the radar antenna beam is central to the performance of the system.
The side lobes are not only wasteful, they provide electronic warfare vulnerabilities.

Airborne radars are designed for and used in many different modes. Common modes include:
air-to-air search air-to-air tracking air-to-air track-while-scan (TWS) ground mapping continuous wave (CW) illumination multimode

A target that is tracked is said to be locked on; key data to maintain on locked targets is:
A frame of reference using pitch and roll from aircraft attitude indicators is required for angle tracking. Three angle tracking techniques are:
sequential lobing conical scan monopulse range, azimuth and elevation angle.

synthetic-aperture radar (SAR): A coherent radar system that generates a narrow cross range impulse response by signal processing (integrating) the amplitude and phase of the received signal over an angular rotation of the radar line of sight with respect to the object (target) illuminated. Note: Due to the change in line-of-sight direction, a synthetic aperture is produced by the signal processing that has the effect of an antenna with a much larger aperture (and hence a much greater angular resolution). (IEEE standards)

Video 1

Final image with lots of artifacts and features. Step by step analysis of the image.

Employs continual RADAR transmission Separate transmit and receive antennas Relies on the DOPPLER SHIFT

Motion Away: Echo Frequency Decreases

Motion Towards: Echo Frequency Increases

Transmitter CW RF Oscillator

Antenna
OUT

Discriminator

AMP

Mixer

IN
Antenna

Indicator

Pulse Echo

Single Antenna Gives Range, usually Alt. as well Susceptible To Jamming Physical Range Determined By PW and PRF.

Continuous Wave Requires 2 Antennae Range or Alt. Info High SNR More Difficult to Jam But Easily Deceived Amp can be tuned to look for expected frequencies

 Amplitude Modulation
Vary the amplitude of the carrier sine wave

Frequency Modulation
Vary the frequency of the carrier sine wave

Pulse-Amplitude Modulation
Vary the amplitude of the pulses

Pulse-Frequency Modulation
Vary the Frequency at which the pulses occur

Azimuth Angular Measurement

Relative Bearing = Angle from ships heading. True Bearing = Ships Heading + Relative Bearing N
Ships Heading Angle

Target Angle

Determining Altitude

e ang tR n Sla
Altitude Angle of Elevation

Altitude = slant range x sin0 elevation

Signal Reception Receiver Bandwidth Pulse Shape Power Relation Beam Width Pulse Repetition Frequency Antenna Gain Radar Cross Section of Target

Signal-to-noise ratio Receiver Sensitivity Pulse Compression Scan Rate

Mechanical Electronic

Carrier Frequency Antenna aperture

Signal Reception Signal-to-Noise Ratio Receiver Bandwidth Receiver Sensitivity

 Only a minute portion of the RF is reflected off the target. Only a fraction of that returns to the antenna. The weaker the signal that the receiver can process, the greater the effective range .

Measured in dB!!!!! Ability to recognize target in random noise.

Noise is always present. At some range, noise is greater that targets return.

Noise sets the absolute lower limit of the units sensitivity. Threshold level used to remove excess noise.

Is the frequency range the receiver can process. Receiver must process many frequencies
Pulse are generated by summation of sine waves of various frequencies. Frequency shifts occur from Doppler Effects.

Reducing the bandwidth

Increases the signal-to-noise ratio(good) Distorts the transmitted pulse(bad)

Smallest return signal that is discernible against the noise background.

Milliwatts range.

An important factor in determining the units maximum range.

Mapping radar scans a large regions for remote sensing and geography applications
Wearable radar which is used to help the visually impaired Air traffic control uses radar to reflect echoes off of aircraft Weather radar uses radar to reflect echoes off of clouds

Search radars scan a large area with pulses of short radio waves
Targeting radars use the same principle but scan a smaller area more often Navigational radars are like search radar, but use short waves that reflect off hard surfaces. They are used on commercial ships and long-distance commercial aircraft

Weather radars use radio waves with horizontal, dual (horizontal and vertical), or circular polarization Some weather radars use the Doppler effect to measure wind speeds

Used to study the Earth's ionosphere and its interactions with the upper atmosphere, the magnetosphere, and the solar wind

Electrons in ionosphere are radar targets These electrons can scatter radio waves

The strength of the echo received from the ionosphere measures the number of electrons able to scatter radio waves or what we call electron pressure

Some electrons are moving due to heat - In this case the echo is scattered The echo will contain a range of frequencies close to the transmitter frequency As the temperature increases, the electrons move faster So radar can act like a thermometer and measure the temperature of the ionosphere

When an electron is removed from an atom, the remaining charged atom is called an ion The ion gas can have a different temperature from the electron gas The electron/ion mixture is known as a plasma and is usually in motion (like our wind) So incoherent scatter radar can also measure wind speed

Remote Radar Network for Traffic Observation

in Tokyo Bay

Tokyo University of Marine Scienc

To prevent maritime accidents in congested waters and improve the efficiency of vessel traffic, it is important to know the vessel traffic characteristics and carry out appropriate vessel traffic management.

Up to now, vessel traffic observation has needed expensive resources such as a ship or car equipped with special radar observation system and experienced observation staff.

In order to perform long-term and long-range vessel traffic observations in Tokyo Bay, completely automated remote radar/AIS network system has been developed.

Kawasaki Radar Station

Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology Monitoring Station

Yokosuka Radar Station

Radar antenna at Yokosuka radar station

Radar antenna and AIS receiver at Kawasaki radar station

Composite radar image from Yokosuka and Kawasaki radar stations displayed on the monitoring screen

Composite radar image and ships positions and speed vectors obtained from AIS on web site

AIS information display on web site

RADAR IN THE FUTURE

Named WSR-88D S-band radar radiation wavelength is = 10.7 cm Power is 750,000 kW

Tallahassee (right)

Radio Detection and Ranging

When the electromagnetic pulse hits something, some of it bounces back Can determine where the particle was Measures reflectivity of the particle NEXRAD can also detect motion of the particles (Doppler effect)

Better Determination of Precipitation Type Better Estimates of Rainfall Amount Better Detection of Hail

Image courtesy

Dual-Polarization Radar tells us about the size, shape, & variety of objects.

= Size (| + ) = Shape (| + ) = Variety Image courtesy

NEXRAD Doppler Radar Network

NEXRAD Facts and Figures

158 radars (141 in the Continental US)

120 National Weather Service radars 26 Department of Defense radars 12 Federal Aviation Administration radars

NEXRAD Data Types

Archive Level I (raw receiver data) Level II data (digital data in spherical coordinates at full resolution) Archive Level III (digital products) Archive Level IV (forecaster-generated products)

NEXRAD Data Types

Archive Level I (raw receiver data) Level II data (digital data in spherical coordinates at full resolution) Archive Level III (digital products) Archive Level IV (forecaster-generated products)

24 products available from all CONUS radars in real time Lowest 4 elevation angles only Low-precision because values are quantized (e.g., 0-5, 5-10, 10-15)

ns f

dBZ levels higher than 30 (dark green) are rainfall reaching the ground. Those above 65 (purple) are likely hail.

dBZ values below 30 become important now. If rain and < 30 generally very light drizzle not reaching ground. But, if snow, it likely reaches the ground

Radar on left more sensitive

New radar technology will result in improved forecast and warning operations.

Nagarjuna