PART

III
Fundamentals
of Radar
7. Choice of Radio Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
8. Directivity and the Antenna Beam . . . . . . . . 107
9. Electronically Scanned Array Antennas . . . .125
10. Electronically Scanned Array Design . . . . . . 135
11. Pulsed Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
12. Detection Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159
13. The Range Equation: What It Does
and Doesnt Tell Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
14. Radar Receivers and Digitization . . . . . . . . . . 195
15. Measuring Range and Resolving in Range . . 215
16. Pulse Compression and HighResolution Radar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229
17.

Frequency-Modulated Continuous
Wave Ranging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245

English Electric Canberra (1957)

The Canberra was Britains first-generation jet-powered light bomber
to be manufactured in large numbers. It entered service in 1951 and
served as a nuclear strike aircraft, tactical bomber, and reconnaissance
platform (photographic and electronic). Flying at Mach 0.88, its ability to
outpace the jet interceptors of the time and its adaptability made it highly
desirable for export. The Canberra set multiple flight records including
first nonstop unrefueled transatlantic crossing by a jet aircraft and the
altitude record twice (1955 and 1957).

Choice of Radio
Frequency

Ferranti AI23: the first airborne monopulse radar

(Courtesy of Selex ES.)

primary consideration in the design of virtually

every radar is the frequency of the transmitted radio
wavesthe radars operating frequency. How close
a radar comes to satisfying many of the requirements imposed on itfor example, detection range, angular
resolution, Doppler performance, size, weight, costoften
hinges on the choice of radio frequency. This choice, in turn,
has a major impact on many important aspects of the design
and implementation of the radar. In this chapter we will survey the broad span of radio frequencies used by radars and
examine the factors that determine the optimum frequency for
particular applications.

100,000,000

Laser Radars

100,000

7.1 Frequencies Used for Radar

Satellite
Communications

40,000

Todays radars operate at frequencies ranging from as low as a

few megahertz to as high as 300,000,000 MHz (Fig. 7-1).

Most Airborne
Radars

10,000

At the low end are a few highly specialized radars. Sounders

measure the height of the ionosphere. Another is over-thehorizon (OTH) radars, which take advantage of ionospheric
reflection to beyond line of sight and detect targets thousands
of kilometers away.

Frequency
(MHz)

1,000

Cellphones
400

At the high end are laser radars, which operate in the visible
and infrared region of the spectrum. Such radars are used to
provide the angular resolution needed for such tasks as measuring the ranges of individual targets on the battlefield.

100

TV

10

Most radars, however, employ frequencies lying somewhere

between a few hundred megahertz and 100,000 MHz. Present
airborne radars used for search, surveillance, and multimode
operation are predominantly in the 425 MHz to 12 GHz range.

Over the Horizon

Radars
1
AM Radio

To make such large frequency values more manageable, it is

customary to express them in gigahertz. One gigahertz equals
1000 MHz, so a frequency of 100,000 MHz is 100 GHz.

Figure 7-1. Shown here is the portion of the electromagnetic

spectrum used for radar.

97

98

PART III: Fundamentals of Radar

3 GHz
(10 cm)

Radar operating frequencies are also expressed in terms of

wavelengththe speed of light (3 108 m/s) divided by the
frequency in Hertz (Fig. 7-2).
Incidentally, a convenient rule of thumb for converting
from frequency to wavelength is wavelength in centimeters = 30 frequency in gigahertz. The wavelength of a
10 GHz wave, for example, is 30 10 = 3 cm.

10 GHz
(3 cm)

37.5 GHz
(0.8 cm)

To convert from wavelength to frequency you turn the rule

around, interchanging wavelength and frequency: frequency in
gigahertz = 30 wavelength in centimeters. The frequency of a
3 cm wave is thus 30 3 = 10 GHz.

94 GHz
(0.28 cm)

Figure 7-2. These wavelengths used by airborne radars, are shown

in their relative size.

7.2 Frequency Bands

Besides being identified by discrete values of frequency and/or
wavelength, radio waves are also broadly classified as falling
within one or another of several arbitrarily established regions
of the radio frequency spectrum such as high frequency (HF),
very high frequency (VHF), and ultra high frequency (UHF).
The frequencies commonly used by radars fall in the VHF,
UHF, microwave, and millimeter-wave regions (Fig. 7-3).
During World War II, the microwave region was broken into
comparatively narrow bands and assigned letter designations
for purposes of military security: L-band, S-band, C-band,
X-band, and K-band (military users tend not to like to talk
in terms of specific frequencies). To enhance security, the
designations were deliberately arranged out of alphabetical
sequence. Although long since declassified, these designations
have persisted to this day.

100

Millimeter
Wave

Frequency
(GHz)

30
Microwave
0

0.1

UHF
VHF
HF

Figure 7-3. Regions of the electromagnetic spectrum commonly

used for radar are plotted here on a linear scale. The bandwidth
available at millimeter-wave frequencies is much greater than at
microwave frequencies.

The K-band turned out to be very nearly centered on the

resonant frequency of water vapor, where absorption of
radio waves in the atmosphere is high. Consequently the
band was split into three parts. The central portion retained
the original designation. The lower portion was designated
the Ku-band while the higher portion was designated the
Ka-band. An easy way to keep these designations straight
is to think of the u in Ku as standing for under and the
a in Ka as standing for above the central band. Only a
portion of these bands are allocated by the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) for radar use, and radar
bands are often further constrained by the bandwidth of
radio frequency components.
In the 1970s a completely new sequence of bands
neatly assigned consecutive letter designations from A to
Mwas devised for electronic countermeasures equipment
(Fig. 7-4). Attempts were made to apply these designations
to radars as well, but largely because the junctions of the
new bands occur at the centers of the traditional bands
about which many radars are clusteredthese attempts
were unsuccessful. In the United States the new band

CHAPTER 7: Choice of Radio Frequency

designations are generally used, as originally intended, only

for countermeasures.

100

If you havent already done so, memorize the center frequencies and wavelengths of these five radar bands:
Band

GHz

cm

Ka (above)

38

0.8

Ku (under)

15

10

10

40
26.5
18.0
Frequency
(GHz)

12.0
10
8
6
4
3

Millimeter

Radar

Ka
K

The best frequency to use depends on the job the radar is

intended to perform. Like most other design decisions, the
choice involves trade-offs involving several factors: physical
size, transmitted power, antenna beamwidth, and atmospheric
attenuation are among the most important.

M
L

0.8

K
J

I
H
G

7.3 Influence of Frequency on Radar Performance

Countermeasures

Ku

99

F
E

UHF

Wavelength
(cm)

5
10
15
30

Figure 7-4. Radar and countermeasures band letter designations

are shown here with their corresponding wavelengths.

Physical Size. The dimensions of the hardware used to generate and transmit radio frequency power are in general proportional to wavelength. At the lower frequencies (longer
wavelengths), the hardware is usually large and heavy. At the
higher frequencies (shorter wavelengths), radars can be put into
smaller packages and thus operate in more compact spaces at a
lighter weight (Fig. 7-5). The limited space requires more tightly
packed electronics, which can present design challenges.
Transmitted Power. Because of its impact on hardware size,
the choice of wavelength indirectly influences the ability of
radar to transmit large amounts of power. The levels of power
that can be handled by a radar transmitter are largely limited
by voltage gradients (volts per unit of length) and heat dissipation requirements. It is not surprising, therefore, that the larger,
heavier radars operating at wavelengths of the order of meters
can transmit megawatts of average power, whereas millimeterwave radars may be limited to only a few hundred Watts of
average power.

Figure 7-5. The physical size and power-handling capacity of radio

frequency components decreases with frequency. A transmitter
tube for a 30 cm radar is shown on top while the transmitter tube
for a 0.8 cm radar is below it.

Most often, though, within the range of available power the

amount of power actually used is decided by size, weight, reliability, cost, and detection range considerations.
Beamwidth. As will be explained in Chapter 8, the angular
width of a radars antenna beam is directly proportional to the
ratio of the wavelength to the width of the antenna. To achieve
a given beamwidth, the longer the wavelength, the wider the
antenna must be. At low frequencies, very large antennas must
be used to achieve acceptably narrow beams. At high frequencies, small antennas will suffice (Fig. 7-6). The narrower the
beam, of course, the greater the power that is concentrated in
a particular direction at any one time, and thus the finer the
angular resolution.

Wavelength
6 cm

Wavelength
3 cm

Figure 7-6. For the same size antenna, the angular width of its
beam is proportional to wavelength.

100

PART III: Fundamentals of Radar

Atmospheric Attenuation. In passing through the atmosphere, radio waves are attenuated by two basic mechanisms:
absorption and scattering (see blue panel). The absorption is
mainly due to oxygen (60 GHz) and water vapor (21 GHz).
The scattering is due almost entirely to condensed water
vapor (e.g., raindrops). Both absorption and scattering
increase with frequency. Below about 0.1 GHz, atmospheric
attenuation is negligible; above about 10 GHz it becomes
increasingly significant.
Moreover, above about 10 GHz the radars performance is
increasingly degraded by weather clutter competing with
desired targets. Even when the attenuation is reasonably low,
if enough transmitted energy is scattered back in the direction of the radar, it will be detected. In simple radars that do
not employ moving target indication (MTI), this returncalled
weather cluttermay obscure targets.
While usually not a concern for airborne radars, the effects
of the ionosphere on radar signals at UHF and below passing through the ionosphere (attenuation, refraction, dispersion,
and Faraday rotation) may also be significant.
Foliage Penetration. In some specialized applications an airborne radar may be required to detect targets hidden under
trees. The ability to do this depends on the attenuation properties of the foliage canopy, which are found to increase with
frequency. In practice, frequencies of L-band or below are necessary for foliage penetration radars.
Fractional Bandwidth. The fractional bandwidth of a radar is
defined as the bandwidth of its signal divided by the center
frequency. Well see later that the bandwidth of a radar signal
defines its range resolution, so the greater the bandwidth, the
finer the range resolution. However, for a given radar bandwidth, the lower the center frequency, the greater the fractional bandwidth. High fractional bandwidths (greater than
about 15%) pose problems for the radar hardware, especially
the antenna.
Coexistence with Other Users. The electromagnetic spectrum is used for many other purposesparticularly communications, broadcast, and radionavigationbesides radar.
By international agreement the spectrum is allocated among
the different users, so some frequency bands are allocated to
a particular application on an exclusive basis, while others
are shared. All users of the spectrum have requirements for
greater and greater bandwidth, yet the electromagnetic spectrum is a strictly finite resource. So even with this regulatory framework, mutual interference can become a problem.
Special techniques to improve transmitter spectral purity and
to suppress interference, as well as work to understand and
quantify the degree of interference that can be tolerated, are
active areas of research.

CHAPTER 7: Choice of Radio Frequency

Ambient Noise. Electrical noise from sources outside the

radar is high in the HF band. It decreases with frequency (Fig.
7-7), reaching a minimum between about 0.3 and 10 GHz,
depending on the level of galactic noise, which varies with
solar conditions. From that point, atmospheric noise predominates. It gradually becomes stronger and grows increasingly
at K-band and higher frequencies. In many radars, internally
generated noise predominates. However, when low-noise
receivers are used to meet long-range requirements, external
noise can be an important consideration in the selection of
frequency.
Doppler Considerations. Doppler shifts are proportional not
only to the closing rate of the target, but also to radio frequency. The higher the frequency, the greater the Doppler
shift that a given closing rate will produce. As will be made
clear in later chapters, excessive Doppler shifts can cause
problems. In some cases these tend to limit the frequencies
that can be used. On the other hand, Doppler sensitivity to
small differences in closing rate can be increased by selecting
higher frequencies.

101

Sky Noise

Noise
Power
(Log Scale)

Atmospheric

Galactic

0.1

1
Frequency, GHz

100

10

Figure 7-7. Ambient noise reaches a minimum between 0.3 GHz

and 10 GHz, depending on the level of galactic noise, which varies
with solar conditions.

Atmospheric Attenuation
Absorption. Energy is absorbed from radio waves passing
through the atmosphere primarily by the gases comprising it.
Absorption increases dramatically with frequency.

Fraction
action of Signal Getting through 1 km of Atmosphere
Atmospher
A. Sea
Level

0.00001

50

0.1

10

0.79

0.9775

0.01
10
50 100 200 300
Frequency GHz

Below about 0.1 GHz, absorption is negligible, while above

5 GHz it becomes increasingly significant. Beyond about
20 GHz, it becomes severe. Typical windows are around
35 GHz and 94 GHz.
Most of the absorption is due to oxygen and water vapor.
Consequently, it not only decreases at the higher altitudes
where the atmosphere is thinner but also with decreasing
humidity.
The molecules of oxygen and water vapor have resonant
frequencies.

O
O2

H
H2O

Loss
(dB/km)

0.1

0.997

When excited at these frequencies, they absorb more energy

hence the peaks in the absorption curve. The peaks are broadened by molecular collisions and thus are sharper at high
altitudes, where the atmosphere is less dense, but their frequencies are the same. (Plot B has the same horizontal axis as A.
The vertical axis is shifted down to encompass the lower curve.)
B. High Altitude

10

O2
O2

30,000 ft
H2O

H 2O

1
Loss
0.1 (dB/km)
0.01

10
50 100 200 300
Frequency (GHz)

102

PART III: Fundamentals of Radar

Atmospheric Attenuation continued

The peaks at 22 and 185 GHz are due to water vapor; those at
60 and 120 GHz are due to oxygen. The regions between peaks,
where the attenuation is lower, are called windows.

Scattering becomes noticeable in the S-band (3 GHz). At those

frequencies and higher, backscattering is sufficient to make
rain visible.

Energy is also absorbed by particles suspended in the atmosphere, but their principal effect is scattering.

Both absorption and scattering by clouds are still negligible

in the S-band. Therefore, meteorological radars operating
there can measure rainfall rates without being hampered by
attenuation or backscatter due to clouds.

Scattering. Radio waves are scattered by particles suspended

in the atmosphere. Scattering increases with the particles
dielectric constant and size relative to wavelength. Scattering
becomes severe when the size is comparable to a wavelength.

Attenuation by Water Clouds (One-Way)

10

dB/km

The principal scatterers are raindrops and, to a lesser extent,

hail (because of its much lower dielectric constant). Snowflakes, which contain less water and have slower fall rates, scatter less energy. Clouds, which consist of tiny droplets, scatter
even less. Smoke and dust are usually negligible scatterers
because of their small particle size and low dielectric constant.

Above 10 GHz, scattering and absorption by clouds becomes

appreciable. The attenuation is proportional to the amount of
water in the clouds.

Attenuation by Rain (One-Way)

10

r
m

/h

/h
m

20 C

10
Frequency (GHz)

100

/h
m
.25

1.2

0.01

5m

mm

/h

0.01

5m

0.1

25

0m

m/

hr

15

dB/km

0.1

10
Frequency (GHz)

100

Attenuation increases with decreasing temperature since the

dielectric constant of water is inversely proportional to temperature. Ice clouds, however, attenuate less because of the
low dielectric constant of ice.

7.4 Selecting the Optimum Frequency

From the preceding, it is evident that selection of the radio
frequency is influenced by several factors: the functions the
radar is intended to perform, the environment in which the
radar will be used, the physical constraints of the platform on
which it will operate, and cost. To illustrate, lets consider some
representative applications. To put the selection in context we
will consider not only airborne applications, but ground and
shipboard applications, too.
Ground-Based Applications. These run the gamut of operating
frequencies. At one extreme are the long-range multimegawatt
surveillance radars. Unfettered by size and weight limitations,
they can be made large enough to provide acceptably high
angular resolution while operating at relatively low frequencies.
OTH radars, as weve seen, operate in the HF band where the
ionosphere is suitably reflective. Space surveillance and early
warning radars operate in the UHF and VHF bands, where ambient noise is minimal and atmospheric attenuation is negligible.

CHAPTER 7: Choice of Radio Frequency

103

However, these bands are crowded with communication signals,

so their use by radars (whose transmissions generally occupy a
comparatively broad band of frequencies) is restricted to special
applications and geographic areas. Where such long ranges are
not required and some atmospheric attenuation is therefore tolerable, ground radars may be reduced in size by moving up to
L-, S-, and C-band frequencies or higher (Fig. 7-8).
Shipboard Applications. Aboard ships, physical size becomes
a limiting factor in many applications. At the same time, the
requirement that ships be able to operate in the most adverse
weather puts an upper limit on the frequencies that can be
used. This limit is relaxed, however, where extremely long
ranges are not required. Furthermore, higher frequencies must
be used when operating against surface targets and targets at
low elevation angles.
At grazing angles approaching zero, the return received directly
from a target is very nearly cancelled by the return from the
same target reflected off the watera phenomenon called multipath propagation (Fig. 7-9). Cancellation is due to a 180 phase
reversal occurring when the return is reflected. As the grazing angle increases, a difference develops between the lengths
of the direct and indirect paths, and cancellation decreases.
The shorter the wavelength, the more rapidly the cancellation disappears. For this reason, the shorter wavelength S- and
X-band frequencies are widely used for surface search, detection of low-flying targets, and piloting. The same phenomenon
is encountered on land when operating over a flat surface.
Airborne Applications. In aircraft, the limitations on size are
considerable. The lowest frequencies generally used here are
in the UHF, L, and S-bands, and only for very specific applications. They provide the long detection ranges needed for
airborne early warning in the E2 and airborne warning and
control system (AWACS) aircraft, respectively (Fig. 7-10). One
look at the huge radomes of these aircraft and it is clear why
higher frequencies are commonly used when narrow antenna
beams are required in smaller aircraft, such as fighters.

Figure 7-8. Ground-based radars commonly operate at lower

frequencies where long range is not important. This radar traces
the source of mortar fire. X-band and Ku-band may be used for
small size and better measurement accuracy. (Courtesy of THALES.)

Figure 7-9. At small grazing angles, the return received directly

from the target is very nearly cancelled by the return reflected off
the water.

The next lowest-frequency applications are in the C-band.

Radar altimeters operate here. Interestingly, the band was
originally selected because its use made possible light, cheap
equipment that could use a triode transmitter tube. These frequencies also enable good cloud penetration. Because altimeters are simple, require only modest amounts of power, and
do not need highly directive antennas, they can use these
frequencies and still be made conveniently small.
Weather radars, which require greater directivity, operate in
C-band as well as in X-band. The choice between the two bands
reflects a dual trade-off. One is between storm penetration and
scattering. If scattering is too severe, the radar will not penetrate
deeply enough into a storm to see its full extent. Yet, if too little
energy is scattered back to the radar, storms will not be visible at all. The other trade-off is between storm penetration and

Figure 7-10. Operating in S-band, the AWACS radar provides an

early warning, its antenna is very large to provide the desired
angular resolution.

104

PART III: Fundamentals of Radar

equipment size. C-band radars, providing better penetration and

hence longer-range performance, are primarily used by commercial aircraft. X-band radars, providing adequate performance
in smaller packages, are widely used by private aircraft.
Most fighter, attack, and reconnaissance radars operate in the
X-and Ku-bands with a great many operating in the 3 cm wavelength region of X-band (Fig. 7-11) and the 2 cm wavelength
region of Ku-band (Fig. 7-12).

Figure 7-11. At X-band, reasonably high angular resolution can

be obtained with an antenna small enough to fit in the nose of a
fighter.

The attractiveness of the 3 cm region is threefold. First, atmospheric attenuation, though appreciable, is still reasonably
lowonly 0.02 dB/km for two-way transmission at sea level.
Second, narrow beamwidths, providing high power densities
and excellent angular resolution, can be achieved with antennas small enough to fit in the nose of a small aircraft. Third,
because of their wide use, microwave components for 3 cm
radars are readily available from a wide range of suppliers.
Where limited range is not a problem and both small size and
high angular resolution are desired, higher frequencies can be
used. Radars operating in the Ka-band, for example, have been
developed to perform ground search and terrain avoidance for
some aircraft. But because of the high level of attenuation at
these frequencies, to date there has been relatively little utilization of this band.
With the availability of suitable millimeter-wave powergenerating components, radar designers are developing
extremely small, albeit short-range, radars that take advantage of the atmospheric window at 94 GHz to give small airto-air missiles high terminal accuracies (Fig. 7-12). At 94 GHz,
a 10 cm antenna provides the same angular resolution as a
0.94 m antenna would at 10 GHz (3 cm).
Typical Frequency Selections

Figure 7-12. Operating at 94 GHz, this tiny antenna of an air-to-air

missile provides the same angular resolution as the much larger
antenna pictured in Figure 7-11.

Earlywarningradars

UHF,L,andS-bands

Radaraltimeters

C-band

Weatherradars

C-andX-bands

Fighter/attack

X-andKu-bands

7.5 Summary
Radio frequencies employed by airborne radars range from a
few hundred megahertz to 100,000 MHz (100 GHz), the optimum frequency for any one application being a trade-off
among several factors.
In general, the lower the frequency, the greater the physical
size of the hardware and the higher the available maximum
power. The higher the frequency, the narrower the beam that
may be achieved with a given size antenna.
At frequencies above about 0.1 GHz, attenuation due to atmospheric absorptionmainly by water vapor and oxygen
becomes significant. At frequencies of 3 GHz and higher,

CHAPTER 7: Choice of Radio Frequency

scattering by condensed water vaporrain, hail, and to lesser

extent, snowproduces weather clutter. It not only increases
attenuation, but in radars not equipped with MTI, it can
obscure targets. Above about 10 GHz, absorption and scattering become increasingly severe and attenuation due to clouds
becomes important.
Noise is minimal between about 0.3 GHz and 10 GHz, but
becomes increasingly severe at 20 GHz and higher frequencies.
Doppler shifts increase with frequency, and this may also be a
consideration in certain applications.

Further Reading
D. E. Kerr, Propagation of Short Radio Waves, IEEE Press, 1986.
M. E. Davis, Foliage Penetration Radar: Detection and
Characterization of Objects under Trees, SciTech-IET, 2011.
L. W. Barclay, Propagation of Radiowaves, 3rd ed., IET, 2012.

Test your understanding

1. Explain the mechanisms by which
electromagnetic waves are attenuated
when passing through the atmosphere.
2. A particular radar has a center frequency
of 15 GHz and a bandwidth of 3 GHz.
What is its fractional bandwidth?
3. The Swedish CARABAS FOPEN radar
operates over the band 2090 MHz.
What is its fractional bandwidth?
4. An X-band radar signal passes through a
severe rainstorm with a horizontal extent
of 10 km and an attenuation of 2 dB/km.
What is the two-way attenuation of the
signal through the rainstorm?

105