Radar Safety Report

Nick Mortimer and Graham Symonds

Introduction
CSIRO Marine Research has recently installed a standard X band marine radar at
Waterman’s Bar Marine Research Centre. The purpose of the installation is to image
the sea surface in an approximate radius of 3 Km. The radar location is shown in
Figure 1. The radar will operate 24 hours a day during a sampling campaign. CSIRO
Marine Research has been issued a licence from the Australian Communications and
Media Authority to operate the radar at this site.

Figure 1: Radar Aerial View

Safety Standards
Non ionizing radiation (radio waves) exposure standards are set by the Australian
Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA). Maximum levels are
set out in: Radiation Protection Series No.3 Maximum Exposure Levels to
Radiofrequency Fields 3 KHz to 300 GHz. (ISBN 0-642-79405-7). Should we also
mention the general guidelines provided by the Australian Communications
Authority? There are two basic classes of exposure, occupational and general public.
Table 1 show the restrictions for time averaged and instantaneous power flux density.

Table 1: Basic restrictions for time averaged and instantaneous

power flux density.

Exposure Frequency Range Time Averaged Instantaneous

Category Power Flux Power Flux
Density (W/m2) (W/m2)
Occupational 6 GHz – 300 GHz 50 50000
General public 6 GHz – 300 GHz 10 10000

The time averaged power flux is calculated for a fixed point in the earth surface over
a six minute period for frequencies below 10 GHz.

The instantaneous power flux density is calculated over any 1 μs period. It is

recognized that it is generally not practical to measure RF fields over such a short
averaging time and that an estimate can be obtained through knowledge of the
temporal characteristics of each specific source.
Radar Specifications Sitex Model 25.9
The radar installed at the site was supplied by Sitex. The specifications for the system
are shown in table 2 and 3.

Radars transmit short pulses of high energy microwaves. The transmission time for
each pulse is called the pulse width. The number of pulses per minute called the pulse
repetition frequency. The duty cycle is the proportion of time during which the radar
is operating. The duty cycle gives the relationship between the peak power and the
average power. Typically non-coherent radars have a very low duty cycle hence the
low average power values.

Table 2: Radar Specifications

Transmit Pulse Pulse Duty Cycle Average Peak Power

Width Repetition Power
Frequency
80 nS 2000 Hz 0.00016 3.12 W 18.9 kW
300 nS 1500 Hz 0.00045 8.64 W 21.1 kW
600 nS 800 Hz 0.00048 11.38 W 23.7 kW
1200 nS 500 Hz 0.0006 14.23 W 25.1 kW

Table 3: Antenna Specifications

Antenna Type 9 foot open scanning array (2.74m)

Horizontal Beam Width (Hbw) 0.8o
Vertical Beam Width (Vbw) 25°
Antenna Gain 30 dB or 1000
Basic exposure calculations
To calculate power levels around the vicinity of the antenna we must first identify the
transition point between near field and far field. This point can be approximated by
knowledge the antenna geometry. A commonly used rough approximation for this
transition point is:

Near field transition point,

= Weve length (0.03 m)

D = Longest dimension of the antenna (2.74m)

The power density at a point in space in the far field (distance greater than 125m) of
the antenna is given by:

Power density far field, (1)

Pt = Power transmitted (W)
Gt = Antenna gain (30dB or 1000)
R = Range in metres from the antenna

The power density in the near field can be estimated by first finding the power density
at the transition point:

Power density at transition point,

For a rectangular antenna the power at any point in the near field can be estimated by

Power density in near field,

Table 4 show the estimated power at ranges from the radar antenna. The red areas
show the two locations that fail the standards for the general public. These figures are
for a stationary antenna. There is a fail safe mechanism that prevents transmission if
the radar antenna is not rotating.
 The SCANTER 2001 surface surveillance radar has very similar properties to ours
both in peak power and beam width and antenna construction. Figure 2 shows a plot
of the limit for general public for the SCANTER 2001 system. Terma state:

Additional safety margins in respect to microwave radiation can be obtained by

increasing distances to the radiating antennas. As a rule of thumb, the power density
is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the radiating source.
Thus, increasing the distance with a factor of 10 will reduce the power density with a
factor of 100. However this is only true in the far fields distance. Complex
calculations for the region near the antennas show that:

• Power density is a factor of at least 10 times below the ICNIRP (international

standard same as ARPANSA) recommendations for general public for all locations 1
meter or further below the antenna and at any position beyond 7 meter horizontal
distance.
• Power density is a factor of at least 10.000 times below the ICNIRP
recommendations for general public for all locations 20 meters or further below the
antenna.

Furthermore, sector transmission will normally be implemented, stopping

transmission for any part of the rotation not covering the sea surface For additional
safety SCANTER 2001 transmitters are closed down when antenna rotation is
stopped. However, transmission into a stopped antenna can be tolerated without
violating the ICNIRP recommendations for general public, for all locations 1 meter or
further below the antenna or at any position beyond 10 meters horizontal distance.
Finally, for occupational staff, be aware of safety regulations for rotating machinery.

figure 2: Limit For General Public (source SCANTER 2001 - Surface Surveillance Radar)
Field Measurements
Measurements of the output of the radar using a NARDA 8616 with a 8621B probe
we made. Narda Technical Note 2 details how to make a scanning radar measurement
in the near field as follows. First the illumination time of the target must be calculated
and then the attenuation factor due to the integration time of the probe.

(source : Standards-compliant test of non-ionizingelectromagnetic radiation on radar equipment Narda Saftey

Solutions)

No reading was obtained anywhere other than on the roof of the building at a range of
approximately 10m a reading on 0.3 W/m2 with the radar in high power setting. The
integration time of the sensor was estimated a 640mS. At a distance of 10m the
attenuation factor was estimated to be 7.7dB or giving a reduction in the displayed by
a factor of 6. Hence the measured value was estimated to be between 1.2 and 1.8
W/m2. More than five times less than the general public limit, without factoring in the
rotation of the antenna. The uncertainty in the reading is due to the lack of
information of the true integration time of the sensor. This value is close to the
predicted value of 0.9 W/m2 . A RAD-Man ESM20 was also used to confirm that the
average power was less than 10 W/m2 in the vicinity of the antenna.
Table 4: Safe Limits Derived Using Near Field Equation Stationary
Radar

Power(rms) 14.3 W 3.12 W

Gain 1000 1000
P0 0.076394373 W/m2 0.015279 W/m2
Duty Cycle 0.0006 0.00016

Average
Stationary Instantaneous Average
Stationary Instantaneous
Range(m) Power W/m2 Peak W/m2 Power W/m2 Peak W/m2
1 9.1 15173 2.0 12414
2 4.6 7586 1.0 6207
3 3.0 5058 0.7 4138
4 2.3 3793 0.5 3104
5 1.8 3035 0.4 2483
6 1.5 2529 0.3 2069
7 1.3 2168 0.3 1773
8 1.1 1897 0.2 1552
9 1.0 1686 0.2 1379
10 0.9 1517 0.2 1241

Conclusion
We have taken a measured and cautious approach to the situation. It should be noted
that these restrictions are very conservative. The site was chosen because the
shoreline in the immediate vicinity is rocky with no public beach and limited access
due to park restrictions (see figure 1). A public path crosses along the top of the rocky
shore about 20m in front but the radar is 8m above the path and the beam passes well
over the path.

The radar can be operated in any mode if:

 All persons are more the 10m in the horizontal or 1 m in the vertical from the
antenna during operation.
 Warning signs are positioned on the roof of the building and in reception.

As an extra precaution:

 Normal operation is in low power mode (3.12W)

 Radar will not be operated while personnel are on the roof of the building
 Sector scan is used which switches the radar off during the landward part of
each revolution
 A security system is being considered for the roof of the building. If the roof
zone is entered the radar will be shut down. This is being actively pursued, but
is not necessary for the interim period.
 Anchor points have been installed on the roof and safety harnesses are used
when working on the radar.
References