INTRODUCTION

Airborne Doppler Radar systems provide a pilot with ground speed and drift angle
information continuously and automatically. Doppler, unlike most airborne navigation
equipment, does not needs any active system outside the aircraft.

Although more modern systems have superseded the use of Doppler, they may still be
encountered on older transport aircraft and helicopters. In 1982, the Austrian scientist,
Christian Doppler, noted the changing pitch of the sound generated by moving vehicles as
they approached and then passed beyond a stationary point.

Moving a wave propagation source toward a person, causes the frequency of the
sound observed by that person to be higher than the actual frequency at the source. This
phenomenon is called Doppler shift. Other names are Doppler effect of Doppler frequency.

When applying the Doppler principles to an aircraft in flight, with no relative motion
between the radiating source and the receiver (both transmitter and receiver are on board the
aircraft), a Doppler shift still occurs if the transmitted energy returns to the receiver from the
Earth. In this case, the surface of the Earth acts as a reflector.

Frequency: 8.8 GHz or 13.5 GHz

DOPPLER EFFECT

As the Transmitter (the train) moves to the right, the waves are compressed toward
the blue shift. The intervals between the waves diminish and this apparent shortening in
wavelength causes an increase in frequency or pitch.

The frequency appears to increase. As the transmitter passes, the waves are now
stretched. The interval between each wave increases and causes a decrease in frequency and
pitch at the red shift side of the diagram. The frequency appears to decrease.

The diagram above show a stationary transmitter. Assume that the frequency of
transmission is f Hz. The receiver receives the successive wave fronts at f Hz.
 Now assume the transmitter is moving toward the receiver and the velocity is V m/s.
The effect is to decrease the wave front spacing as the transmitter travels toward the receiver.
This appears to the receiver as an increase in the received frequency. Behind the transmitter,
the wave front spacing increases, and a receiver placed opposite R would experience a
reduced frequency. This change in frequency is the Doppler shift.

The change in frequency, the Doppler shift, is represented by FD and is proportional

to the transmitter’s velocity.

FD = VF / c = F / λ

c is the speed of propagation.

F is the transmitted frequency.

V is the velocity of the transmitter.

Example:

Assume a transmitter (9 GHz) is moving toward a stationary receiver at 300 km/h. What
frequency will the receiver record?

First convert 300 km/h to m/s (300 x 1000) / 3600 = 83 m/s

The wavelength for a frequency of 9 GHz is = 0.03 m FD= V / λ = 83.3 / 0.03 = 2777 Hz

This is the Doppler shift that must be added to the transmitted frequency to arrive at the
received frequency. If the transmitter is moving away from the receiver then the Doppler
shift would be subtracted from the transmitted frequency.

Received frequency: 9 000 000 000 + 2777 = 9 000 002 777 Hz

DOPPLER MEASUREMENT OF GS
Since the aircraft cannot fly directly toward a reflecting surface, the radar beam
must tilt downward. The measured Doppler shift must be mathematically corrected for a tilt
angle (θ) in order to resolve the aircraft's forward horizontal velocity.

The diagram below shows an aircraft transmitting a narrow radar beam toward the
ground at an angle θ (called the depression angle). The system receives the beam at a different
frequency than that transmitted.
The basic Doppler shift formula becomes: FD = [(2 VF) / C] cos θ

The frequency received (FR) on a forward facing beam will be:

Frequency transmitted (FT) + [((2 VF) / C) cos θ]

Where θ is the angle of depression of the beam (the angle between the horizontal and
the direction of the beam). The equation shows that the Doppler shift is at its highest when
the angle θ is shallow, or when the beam faces forward in the flight direction. This is
impossible, as there is no reflecting surface in front of the aircraft .

If the pilot makes the beam depression too large, the Doppler shift is very small,
becoming zero when the beam is directed vertically downward. The choice of beam
depression angle is a compromise between these two extremes, a matter of trying to obtain
reliable energy returns with sufficient Doppler shift to be accurately measured. An angle of
approximately 67º normally achieve this. The system considered here is a single-beam system
that has certain disadvantages:

Pitch Error

Changing the aircraft’s pitch changes the θ. If the aeroplane pitches nose down, the
reflected beam in front would depress greater than θ and the Doppler frequency shift would
decrease, even if aircraft speed remains constant. For the system to work correctly, the
aircraft must either fly straight and level at all times, or the aerial must be stabilised in the
pitching plane.

Vertical Motion

Any vertical motion of the aircraft generates a change in the Doppler shift not
associated with the groundspeed.

Drift

If the aerial is fixed, the system measures the speed along the heading. However,
groundspeed is calculated along track. A system design should allow the aerial to move in
azimuth to obtain maximum Doppler shift. This would provide a drift angle as well as a
groundspeed. In practice, this is not done, and the system remains inaccurate.
TWO BEAM JANUS ARRAY
A common way of solving this problem is to transmit a second backward from the aircraft, at
the same depression angle as the front beam. The system then algebraically adds the two
sensed Doppler shifts and calculates the ground speed based on this information. This is
termed a Janus system, named after the Roman god, Janus, who could look forward as well as
aft at the same time.

The frequency received from the forward beam (FR ) is higher than the frequency transmitted.

FR = F + FD

The frequency received from the rear beam (FR) is lower than the frequency transmitted.

FR = F - FD

Using a two-beam system requires adding the two received frequencies to yield a total
received Doppler shift FT as follows:

FT = (F + FD) – (F - FD) = 2 FD or [(4 VF) / C] cos θ

The total frequency received is double that received from a single beam system.

Pitch Error

Aircraft pitch causes an increase in depression angle for one beam and a decrease in
depression angle in the other beam; thus effectively cancelling each other out.

Vertical Speed

Both front and back beams sense the change in vertical speed and in the summation
process they cancel each other out.

OTHER JANUS ARRAYS

By using any of the systems above, the drift angle will be sensed since drift occurs
across the intended track.
 To ensure the calculation of drift angle requires using three or four beams, each
pointing in different directions. The configurations have names that reflect their appearance.
For example, the three-beam lambda configuration is similar to the Greek letter λ. In the
four-beam system, the aerials transmit front left/rear right and then front right/rear left.

If the aircraft has no drift, the Doppler shift measured by the two sets of aerials is the
same in each sequence of transmissions. If there is sideways drift, one set of aerials receives a
larger Doppler shift than the other set. The system electronically calculates this difference as
an error signal that rotates the aerial to ensure that the two signals received are the same. The
angle of movement is the drift.

DOPPLER AERIAL
The Doppler aerial system consists of three or four slotted arrays giving beams, each
with a width that varies between 5.5º to 11º . The beams are depressed to an angle of 67º to
provide a measurable Doppler shift.

Aerial systems may be hard strapped to the airframe and, if so, cause some small
errors in measured groundspeed during prolonged climbs. Alternatively, they may be gyro
stabilised in pitch to reduce these errors.

SIGNAL CHARACTERISTICS
The sensitivity, and thereby the accuracy, of a Doppler radar increases with frequency.
However, the higher frequency, the more rain reflections, scattering effects, and absorption
affect the signal. A compromise is made, and as a result Doppler airborne radar equipment
operates on two frequency bands: 8.8 GHz and 13.5 GHz.

In selecting the actual frequency to use, the pilot must take into account:

The operational height required.

The power output available.

The speed of the aircraft.

A helicopter Doppler normally use the higher frequency in order to increase the Doppler
shift at the low speeds.

OUTPUT AND PRESENTATION

Doppler equipment measures drift and groundspeed. If combined with a heading
input, it gives track and ground speed. This can feed into a specific display or, more
commonly, be integrated into a navigation computer, which can add the measured values to a
start position to produce outputs such as:

Position.

Distance.

Bearing and distance to a waypoint.

Current Wind and wind speed.

Some of the functions of the equipment are:

STBY

Is the setting used during equipment warm-up.

SLEW

Allows the pilot to set a drift and ground speed if the equipment is operating in Memory
mode.

LAND/SEA

Creates a mathematical solution to compensate for practical loss of the beam. When
flying over the sea or flat surfaces, the switch should be set to sea.

ACCURACY AND LIMITATIONS

Modern Doppler radar system are quite accurate. Except errors in the order of 0.1 %
on ground speed and 0.15 % on drift angle.

SEA BIAS
When flying over the sea, the leading edge of the forward beam and trailing edge of the
rear beam are lost due to increased reflection away from the aircraft. This causes the
measured values of ground speed to be lower than the true ground speed. Selecting the “Sea”
position on the land/sea switch provides a bias, which offers some compensation for this
effect. The land/sea switch discriminates between the Doppler frequency over water (fwd)
and land (fdl) when switched to sea. The calibration of the tracker unit is altered to increase
the groundspeed by a nominal 1 – 2 %.

MEMORY MODE
If the sea becomes too smooth, (surface wind less than 5 kts) nearly all the energy
scatters away from the aeroplane and no measurements are possible. Under these
circumstances the system, activates a MEMORY MODE and the drift and ground speed are
frozen at the last measured values. These may not be correct values, but will be used by any
associated equipment. Examples of other situations that cause the system to go into Memory
Mode are:

- Flight over hot desert regions where the attenuation is high.

- Flight in adverse weather such as severe thunderstorm. The water content of such storm
causes excessive scattering of the energy.
PITCH AND ROLL ERROR
Errors due to pitch or roll are cancelled by the Janus Array. When both pitch and roll
occur simultaneously, an error is likely to occur. Limitations for pitch and roll are typically +/-
20º and +/- 30º, respectively. Beyond these, the system loses data enters the Memory Mode.

HEIGHT HOLE ERROR

In a pulse-modulated system, when the Doppler radar is transmitting, the receiver is
shut off. Low flying may introduce an error to the system because the transmitted signals
reflect back to the aircraft before the receiver is functioning again. Likewise, when flying at
high altitudes, the time delay between transmission and reception may cause problems,
reception may occur at exactly the same time that a new transmission is taking place. In such
cases, the receiver is short-circuited.

SEA MOVEMENT ERROR

Doppler measures the drift and groundspeed relative to the terrain beneath the
aircraft. If the surface is moving, as is the case with the sea, the following factors may induce
errors:

Tidal Stream

Tidal streams normally affect narrow waterways. Since the time the aircraft will be over
this type of feature is small the effect is minimal.

Ocean Currents

Ocean current speeds are slow, and thus have little effect.

Water Transport

The surface wind causes wave movement on the surface of large tracts of water.
This error is complex to understand but the resultant error can affect both drift and
groundspeed.

COMPUTATIONAL ERRORS
Processed Doppler information may be subject to heading input errors that are
probably more significant than those of the measured ground speed. The Doppler is based on
an assumption that 1 nm is equivalent to 1 min of latitude. This is only correct at 47º 42’ N/S,
and on the surface of the Earth. As soon as an aircraft is at height, the assumption is again not
true. Both errors are small and are not corrected for.

HEADING ERROR
This is the greatest error in Doppler. The system relies on the accuracy of the
heading input information, which, if wrong, can cause considerable cumulative errors.
SUMMARY OF ERRORS

ADVANTAGES
As mentioned above, the Doppler navigation system is quite accurate. It does not
require any external equipment for basic operation (although updating would require external
means. The system has good, long-term accuracy irrespective of flight time, and the measured
ground speed and drift retain the same accuracy potential. If combined with a short-term
accuracy system, the overall accuracy is excellent.

DISADVANTAGES
Doppler can only give an instantaneous value of drift and ground speed and requires a
link to other equipment. This makes the derived position information dependent upon the
accuracy of such inputs as heading and TAS.

- The equipment is very prone to “loss of signal” and entry into Memory Mode.

- The equipment is costly to maintain.