Basic Principle of Radar

Transmitted signal Antenna Transmitter Target

Receiver

Echo signal

Target detection and information extraction

Range to Target

RADAR: RAdio Detection And Ranging

Radar Simplified Block Diagram

Antenna/Antenna Controller

Target Transmitter/ Modulator Frequency Gen. Timing Control

Duplexer Receiver

Signal Processor

Data Proc. Displays Ext. Users

Pulse Radar Concept

IEEE standard RADAR-frequency letter band nomenclature

Band Designation Nominal Frequency Range Specific Frequency Range for Radar based on ITU Assignments in Region 2
138-144 MHz 216-225 MHz 420-450 MHz 850-942 MHz 1215-1400 MHz 2300-2500 MHz 2700-3700 MHz 5250-5925 MHz 8500-10,680 MHz 13.4-14 GHz 15.7-17.7 GHz 24.05-24.25 GHz 33.4-36 GHz 59-64 GHz 76-81 GHz 92-100 GHz 126-142 GHz 144-149 GHz 231-235 GHz 238-248 GHz

HF VHF UHF L S C X Ku K Ka V W mm

3-30 MHz 30-300 MHz 300-1000 MHz 1-2 GHz 2-4 GHz 4-8 GHz 8-12 GHz 12-18 GHz 18-27 GHz 27-40 GHz 40-75 GHz 75-110 GHz 110-300 GHz

Spherical Coordinates
z R

EL
AZ
Horizontal plane

Antenna axis

Azimuth Angle References

North Azimuth angle

Ships head Roll axis Roll axis Azimuth angle a. Land based Azimuth angle

Pitch axis

Pitch axis

b. Shipboard

c. Airborne

Radar Ranging Concept

Tp = Pulse Width Tprt = Pulse Repetition Time Fprf = Pulse Repetition Frequency

Transmit

Target echo

Tp

Round trip propagation time (Range)

Time

Range Ambiguity

T1 R

E1

T2

E2

T3

E3

T4

a. Unambiguous range

T1 Ra

E0

T2

E1

T3

E2

T4

R b. Ambiguous range

Plot of the maximum unambiguous range Run as a function of the pulse repetition frequency fprf
Unambiguous range, nautical miles 10,000

1,000

100

10 10 100 1,000 10,000

Pulse repetition frequency, Hz

Angular Target Location Concept

Antenna pointed away from target

Antenna pointed toward target

Resolution in Range and Cross-Range

Cross-range resolution

Cross-range Range resolution Range

Range Resolution and Processed Pulse width

Tp = pulse width

Unresolved

Near resolved

Resolved

Width processed pulse width

Range Resolution and Processed Pulse width

Tp = pulse width

Unresolved

Near resolved

Resolved

Narrow processed pulse width

Cross-Range Resolution with Antenna Beams

Antenna scan

Targets separated by less than beamwidth

Targets separated by antenna beamwidth

Targets separated by greater than beamwidth

Signal echoes Unresolved

Signal echoes Near resolved

Signal echoes Resolved

Cross Range Resolution Geometry

Beamwidth

Cross-range resolution

Range

Cross Range resolution = Beam Width

Enhanced Cross-Range Resolution (SAR) Concept

Effective length

Beamwidth

a. Small real antenna, targets not resolved Position 4 Effective length Position 3 Beamwidth Position 2 Position 1 b. Large synthetic antenna, targets resolved

Plan Position Indicator (PPI) Display

PPI Display of Resolution

Azimuth

Radar Location

Four targets - unresolved

Four targets - resolved

Doppler Shift

Transmit

Target echo Target moving at speed vp

Doppler Shift as a Result of Radial Motion

Radar

This target produces a Doppler shift

This one has no Doppler shift

Only part of this targets velocity produces a Doppler shift

Doppler Resolution Concept

Doppler Resolution : Doppler frequency must differ by at least one cycle over the observation time.

Doppler Resolution fd = 1/Td , Td = observation time

Concept of Detection
Detection Principle Target? No Yes Yes No Detection? No Yes No Yes Result Correct Correct Error Error (False Alarm)

Target echoes Amplitude Threshold

Interference

Time (range)