Module III

MTI AND PULSE DOPPLER RADAR

 Introduction
Principle
MTI Radar with - Power Amplifier Transmitter and Power Oscillator
Transmitter

Delay Line Cancellers – Filter Characteristics

Blind Speeds
Double
Cancellation
Staggered PRFs
Range Gated Doppler Filters
MTI Radar Parameters
Limitations to MTI Performance
MTI versus Pulse Doppler
Radar.
 Introduction

• The Doppler frequency shift [fd = 2Vr / λ] produced by a moving target also
used in a pulse radar just as in the CW radar, to determine the relative velocity of
a target or to separate desired moving targets from undesired stationary objects
(clutter).
• Pulse radar that utilizes the Doppler frequency shift as a means of
discriminating moving targets from fixed targets is called a MTI (moving target
indication) or a pulse Doppler radar.
• The two are based on the same physical principle, but in practice there
are differences between MTI and Pulse Doppler radar.
• The MTI radar, usually operates with ambiguous Doppler measurement
(so-called blind speeds) but with unambiguous range measurement (no
second-time around echoes).

• A pulse Doppler radar operates with ambiguous range measurement but

with unambiguous Doppler measurement. Its pulse repetition frequency
is usually high enough to operate with unambiguous Doppler (no Blind
speeds) but at the expense of range ambiguities.
• The discussion in this chapter, mostly is based on the MTI Radar, but much
of what applies to MTI can be extended to Pulse Doppler Radar as well.

• MTI is a necessity in high-quality air-surveillance radars that operate in

the presence of clutter.
• Its design is more challenging than that of a simple pulse radar or a simple
CW radar.

• A MTI capability adds to a radar's cost and complexity.

• The basic MTI concepts were introduced during World War 2, and most of
the signal processing theory on which MTI (and pulse Doppler) radar
depends was formulated during the mid-1950s.

• However, the implementation of theory to practice was speeded up only

subsequently after the availability of the necessary signal-processing
technology.

• It took almost twenty years for the full capabilities offered by MTI signal-
processing theory to be converted into practical and economical Radar equipment.

• The chief factor that made this possible was the development of reliable, small, and
inexpensive digital processing hardware.
 Principle of Operation

• A simple CW radar studied earlier is shown in Fig.1(a). It consists of a

transmitter, receiver, indicator, and the necessary antennas.

• In principle, the CW radar converted into a pulse radar as shown in Fig.1(b)

by providing a power amplifier and a modulator to turn the amplifier on and
off for the purpose of generating pulses.

• The chief difference between the pulse radar of Fig. 1(b) and the one
studied earlier is that a small portion of the CW oscillator power that
generates the transmitted pulses is diverted to the receiver to take the
place of the local oscillator.
• this CW signal also acts as the coherent reference needed to detect the
Doppler frequency shift.
• By coherent it means that the phase of the transmitted signal is preserved
in the reference signal.

• The reference signal is the distinguishing feature of coherent MTI radar.

Figure 1: (a) Simple CW Radar (b) Pulse Radar using Doppler

Information
 If the CW oscillator voltage is represented as A1sin 2πftt where A1
is the amplitude and ft the carrier frequency
Then the reference signal is: Vref = A2sin 2πftt .............................. (1)
• And the Doppler-shifted echo-signal voltage is:

……..(2)
Where A2 = amplitude of reference signal
A3 = amplitude of signal received from a target at a range R0
fd = Doppler frequency shift
t = time
c = velocity of propagation
The reference signal and the target echo signal are heterodyned
in the mixer stage of the receiver. Only the low-frequency (difference-
frequency) component from the mixer is of interest and is a voltage
given by:
……….(3)

• Note that the equations (1) to (3) above represent sine wave carriers upon which
the pulse modulation is imposed.

• For stationary targets the Doppler frequency shift will be zero and hence Vdiff
will not vary with time and may take on any constant value from +A4 to –A4
including zero.

• However, when the target is in motion relative to the radar fd has a value other
than zero and the voltage corresponding to the difference frequency from the
mixer [Eq. (3)] will be a function of time.
• An example of the output from the mixer when the Doppler frequency fd is
large compared with the reciprocal of the pulse width is shown in Fig.2(b).

• If, on the other hand fd is small compared with the reciprocal of the pulse
duration, the pulses will be modulated with an amplitude given by Eq. (3) [Fig.
2(c)] and many pulses will be needed to extract the Doppler information.

• The case illustrated in Fig. 2(c) is more typical of aircraft-detection radar,

while the waveform of Fig. 2(b) might be more applicable to a radar used for
the detection of extraterrestrial targets such as ballistic missiles or satellites.
• The video signals shown in Fig.2 are called bipolar, since they contain
both positive and negative amplitudes.

Figure 2 (a) RF or IF echo pulse train (b) video pulse train for
Doppler frequency fd>I/τ (c) video pulse train for Doppler
frequency fd< I/τ .

• Moving targets may be distinguished from stationary targets by observing

the video output on an A-scope (amplitude vs. range).

• A single sweep on an A-scope might appear as in Fig. 3 (a) shown below.

This sweep shows several fixed targets and two moving targets indicated
by the two arrows.

• On the basis of a single sweep, moving targets cannot be distinguished

from fixed targets.

• Successive A-scope sweeps (pulse-repetition intervals) are shown in Fig.

3 (a) to (e).Echoes from fixed targets remain constant throughout, but
echoes from moving targets vary in amplitude from sweep to sweep at a
rate corresponding to the Doppler frequency.
• The superposition of the successive A-scope sweeps is shown in Fig. 3(f).
The moving targets produce, with time, a" butterfly" effect on the A-scope.
 Figure 3 (a-e) Successive sweeps of a MTI radar A-scope display (echo
amplitude as a function of time)
(f) superposition of many sweeps : arrows indicate position of moving
targets.

Delay-line canceler

• Although the butterfly effect is suitable for recognizing moving targets on an

A- scope, it is not appropriate for display on the PPI. One method commonly
employed to extract Doppler information in a form suitable for display on
the PPI scope is with a delay-line canceler.

• The delay-line canceler acts as a filter to eliminate the d-c component of

fixed targets and to pass the a-c components of moving targets.

• The video portion of the receiver is divided into two channels. One is a
normal video channel. In the other, the video signal experiences a time
delay equal to one pulse-repetition period (equal to the reciprocal of the
pulse repetition frequency).

• The outputs from the two channels are subtracted from one another.

• The fixed targets with unchanging amplitudes from pulse to pulse are
canceled on subtraction. However, the amplitudes of the moving-target
echoes are not constant from pulse to pulse and subtraction results in an
uncanceled residue.
 • The output of the subtraction circuit is a bipolar video just as was the input.
• Before bipolar video can intensity-modulate a PPI display it must be
converted into unipotential voltages (unipolar video) by a full-wave
rectifier.

Figure 4 : MTI Receiver with delay-line canceler

MTI Radar with Power Amplifier

• The simple MTI radar shown in Fig. 1(b) is not the most typical. The block
diagram of a more common MTI radar employing a power amplifier is
shown above.
• The significant difference between this MTI configuration and that of Fig. 1(b)
is the manner in which the reference signal is generated.
• In this diagram, the coherent reference is supplied by an oscillator called the
coho, which stands for coherent oscillator.
• The coho is a stable oscillator whose frequency is the same as the
intermediate frequency used in the receiver.

• In addition to providing the reference signal, the output of the coho is also
mixed with the local-oscillator frequency fl. This local oscillator also must
be a stable oscillator and is called stalo, stands for stable local oscillator.

• The RF echo signal is heterodyned with the stalo signal to produce the IF
just as in the conventional super heterodyne receiver.

• The stalo, coho and the mixer in which they are mixed are called
Receiver- Exciter because of the dual role they serve both the receiver
and the transmitter.

• The phase of the stalo influences the phase of the transmitted signal, any
stalo phase shift is canceled on reception because the stalo that
generates the transmitted signal also acts as the local oscillator in the
receiver.
• The reference signal from the coho and the IF echo signal are both fed into a
mixer called the Phase detector.

• The phase detector differs from the normal amplitude detector since its
output is proportional to the phase difference between the two input
signals.

• Any one of a number of transmitting-tube types might be used as the

power amplifier. These include the triode, tetrode, klystron, traveling-wave
tube, and the crossed-field amplifier.
• A transmitter which consists of a stable low-power oscillator followed by a
power amplifier is sometimes called MOPA, which stands for Master-
Oscillator Power Amplifier.
 MTI Radar with Power Oscillator Transmitter

• Before the development of the klystron amplifier, the only high-power

transmitter available at microwave frequencies for radar application was the
magnetron oscillator.
• In an oscillator, the phase of the RF bears no relationship from pulse to
pulse. For this reason, the reference signal cannot be generated by a
continuously running oscillator.
• However, a coherent reference signal may be readily obtained with the
power oscillator by readjusting the phase of the coho at the beginning of
each sweep according to the phase of the transmitted pulse.
• The phase of the coho is locked to the phase of the transmitted pulse
each time a pulse is generated.
• A portion of the transmitted signal is mixed with the stalo output to produce
an IF beat signal whose phase is directly related to the phase of the
transmitter.
• This IF pulse is applied to the coho and causes the phase of the coho
CW oscillation to "lock" in step with the phase of the IF reference pulse.
• The phase of the coho is then related to the phase of the transmitted phase
and may be used as the reference signal for echoes received from that
particular transmitted pulse.
• Upon the next transmission, another IF locking pulse is generated to relock
the phase of the CW coho until the next locking pulse comes along.
 Delay-line canceler

• The simple MTI delay-line canceller shown earlier is an example of a time-

domain filter.
• The capability of this device depends on the quality of the medium used
as the delay line. The delay line must introduce a time delay equal to the
pulse repetition interval.
• For typical ground-based air surveillance radars this will be several milliseconds.
• Delay times of this magnitude cannot be achieved with practical
electromagnetic transmission lines.
• By converting the electromagnetic signal to an acoustic signal, it is possible
to utilize delay lines of a reasonable physical length since the velocity of
propagation of acoustic waves is about 10-5 that of electromagnetic
waves.
• After the necessary delay is introduced by the acoustic line, the signal is
converted back to an electromagnetic signal for further processing.
• The early acoustic delay lines developed during World War 2 used liquid
delay lines filled with either water or mercury. Liquid delay lines were large
and inconvenient to use. They were replaced in themid-1950s by the solid
fused-quartz delay line that used multiple internal reflections to obtain a
compact device.

• These analog acoustic delay lines were, in turn replaced in the early 1970s
by storage devices based on digital computer technology. The use of digital
delay lines requires that the output of the MTI receiver phase-detector be
quantized into a sequence of digital words.

• One of the advantages of a time-domain delay-line canceller as compared

to the more conventional frequency-domain filter is that a single network
operates at all ranges and does not require a separate filter for each range
resolution cell.

• Frequency-domain Doppler filter banks are of interest in some forms of MTI

and Pulse-Doppler radar.

Filter Characteristics of the Delay Line Canceller

• The delay-line canceler acts as a filter which rejects the d-c component of
clutter. Because of its periodic nature, the filter also rejects energy in the
vicinity of the pulse repetition frequency and its harmonics.

• The video signal of Eq.(3)received from a particular target at a range R0 is

V1= k sin (2πfdt –Ø0) .................................... 4

 where Ø0 = phase shift and k = amplitude of video signal.

• The signal from the previous transmission, which is delayed by a time T =

pulse repetition
interval, is

V2= k sin [2πfd(t – T) – Ø0) ------- 5

• The output from the subtractor is

V = V1- V2 = 2k sin(πfdT) cos [2 πfd( t – T/2) –Øo] --6

sin a ± sin b = 2 sin {1/ 2 (a ± b)} cos {1/ 2 (a ∓ b)}

• It is assumed that the gain through the delay-line canceller is unity. The
output from the canceller consists of a cosine wave at the Doppler
frequency & with an amplitude 2k sin πfdT.

• Thus, the amplitude of the canceled video output is a function of the

Doppler frequency shift and the pulse-repetition interval, or prf.

• The magnitude of the relative frequency-response of the delay-line

canceller [ratio of the amplitude of the output from the delay-line
canceller, 2k sin (πfd T) to the amplitude of the normal radar video k] is
shown below.

Frequency response of the single delay-line canceller: T = delay time

=1/fP
 Blind speeds

• The response of the single-delay-line canceller will be zero whenever

the argument (πfdT) in the amplitude factor of Eq. (6) is 0, π, 2π, . ..,
etc., or when
………. (7)

where n= 0, 1, 2, . . . , and fp= pulse repetition frequency.

• The delay-line canceller not only eliminates the d-c component caused by
clutter (n = 0),but unfortunately it also rejects any moving target whose
Doppler frequency happens to be the same as the prf or a multiple
thereof.
• Those relative target velocities which result in zero MTI response are called
blind speeds and
are given by

……… (8)

• where vn is the nth blind speed. If λ is measured in meters, fp in Hz, and the
relative velocity in
knots, the blind speeds are :
(9)

• The blind speeds are one of the limitations of pulse MTI radar which do not
occur with CW radar. They are present in pulse radar because Doppler is
measured by discrete samples (pulses) at the prf rather than continuously.

• Based on eq 9 there are four methods for reducing the detrimental effects of
blind
speeds:

1. Operate the radar at long wavelengths

2. Operate with a high pulse repetition frequency

3. Operate with more that one PRF (Staggered prf’s)

4. Operate with more than one RF frequency

• Unfortunately, there are usually constraints other than blind speeds which
determine the wavelength and the pulse repetition frequency. Therefore,
blind speeds might not be easy to avoid.

• The possible solution for the blind speed is keep the first blind speed out of
the expected range of Doppler frequency
 Double cancellation

• The frequency response of a single-delay-line canceller (Fig. 7) does

not always have as broad a clutter-rejection null as might be desired in
the vicinity of d-c.

• The clutter-rejection notches may be widened by passing the output of

the delay- line canceller through a second delay-line canceller as shown
in Fig. (9) below.

• The output of the two single-delay line cancellers in cascade is the square of that
from a single canceller. Thus the frequency response is ( 4 sin2πfdT ).

• The configuration of Fig. 9 (a) is called a double-delay-line canceller, or simply a

double canceller.

• The relative response of the double canceller compared with that of a single-delay-
line canceller is shown in Fig. 10.

• The finite width of the clutter spectrum is also shown (hatched) in this figure so as
to illustrate the additional cancellation of clutter offered by the double canceller.

• The two-delay-line configuration of Fig.9 (b) has the same frequency-

response characteristic as the double-delay-line canceller.

Figure 9 : (a) Double-delay-line canceller (b) three-pulse

canceller
Figure (10): Relative frequency response of the single-delay-line
canceller (solid curve) and the double delay-line canceller
(dashed curve). Shaded area represents clutter spectrum.
• The operation of the device is as follows. A signal f (t) is inserted into the
adder along with the signal from the preceding pulse period, with its
amplitude weighted by the factor - 2, plus the signal from the previous
two pulse periods.

• The output of the adder is therefore f(t) - 2f(t + T) +f (t + 2T)

• which is the same as the output from the double-delay-line canceller

f (t) - f (t + T) -f (t + T) +f (t + 2T)

• This configuration is commonly called the three-pulse canceller.

Multiple or staggered Pulse Repetition Frequencies

• The use of more than one pulse repetition frequency offers additional
flexibility in the design of MTI Doppler filters.

• It not only reduces the effect of the blind speeds , but it also allows a
sharper low- frequency cutoff in the frequency response.

• The blind speeds of two independent radars operating at the same frequency
will be
different if their pulse repetition frequencies are different.

• Therefore, if one radar were “blind "to moving targets, it would be unlikely that
the
other radar would be” blind" also.

• Instead of using two separate radars, the same result can be obtained
with one radar which time-shares its pulse repetition frequency between
two or more different values (multiple PRF’s).

• The pulse repetition frequency might be switched every other scan or

every time the antenna is scanned a half beam width, or the period might
be alternated on every other pulse. When the switching is pulse to pulse,
it is known as a staggered PRF.
 An example of the composite (average) response of an MTI radar operating with
two separate pulse repetition frequencies on a time-shared basis is shown below.

Figure : Frequency-response of a single-delay-line canceller for

fP= 1/T1 (b) same for fp= l/T2
(c) Composite response with T1/T2= 4/5.

• Zero frequency response occurs only when the blind speeds of

both radars coincides.
• The disadvantage is that the region of low sensitivity might appear. (that means
may not detect the weak signals)
• As closer the ration of T1:T2 is unity, the lower the lower the value of the first
blind speed.
• But first null in the vicinity of fd=1/T1 becomes deeper.
• Figure below shows the response of a five-pulse stagger (four
periods) that might be used with a long-range air traffic control radar.

Figure 12: Frequency response of a five-pulse (four-period) stagger.

• If the periods of the staggered waveforms have the relationship n1 /T1= n2/T2=
……. = nN/TN, where n1,n2, ..., nN are integers, and if vB is equal to the
first blind speed of a non-staggered waveform with a constant period
equal to the average period Tav= (TI+ T2+ . . . TN)/N then the first blind
speed v1 is given by :

• A disadvantage of the staggered prf is its inability to cancel second-time-

around clutter echoes. Such clutter does not appear at the same range
from pulse to pulse and thus produces un canceled residue.

• Second-time-around clutter echoes can be removed by use of a constant

prf, providing there is pulse-to-pulse coherence as in the power amplifier
form of MTI
 Range-gated Doppler filters

• The delay-line canceller, which can be considered as a time-

domain filter, is widely used in MTI radar to separate moving
targets from stationary clutter.

• It is also possible to employ the more common frequency-

domain band pass filters of conventional design in MTI radar to
separate the Doppler-frequency-shifted targets.

• However the filter configuration would be more complex, than the

single, narrow-band pass filter.

• The narrowband filter "smears" the input pulse since the impulse
response is approximately the reciprocal of the filter bandwidth.

• This smearing destroys the range resolution.

• If more than one target is present they cannot be resolved.

• Even if only one target is present, the noise from the other range cells
that do not contain the
target will interfere with the desired target signal.

• The result is a reduction in sensitivity due to a collapsing loss. (This Loss

Results When Radar
Integrates Additional Noise Samples Along with Wanted (S/N) Pulses)

• The loss of the range information and the collapsing loss may be
eliminated by first quantizing the range (time) into small intervals. This
process is called range gating.
• The width of the range gates depends upon the range accuracy desired
and the complexity which can be tolerated, but they are usually of the
order of the pulse width.
• Range resolution is established by gating.
• Once the radar return is quantized into range intervals, the output from
each gate may be applied to a narrowband filter.
• A collapsing loss does not take place since noise from the other range
intervals is excluded.
Figure 13: Block diagram of MTI radar using range gates and filters

• A block diagram of the video of an MTI radar with multiple range gates followed
by clutter-rejection filters is shown below.
• The output of the phase detector is sampled sequentially by the range
gates. Each range gate opens in sequence just long enough to sample the
voltage of the video waveform corresponding to a different range interval
in space low.
• The range gate acts as a switch or a gate which opens and closes at the proper
time
• The range gates are activated once each pulse-repetition interval.

• The output for a stationary target is a series of pulses of constant amplitude.

• An echo from a moving target produces a series of pulses which vary in
amplitude according to the Doppler frequency.

• The output of the range gates is stretched in a circuit called the boxcar
generator, or sample-and-hold circuit, whose purpose is to aid in the
filtering and detection process by emphasizing the fundamental of the
modulation frequency and eliminating harmonics of the pulse repetition
frequency.
• The clutter rejection filter is a band pass filter whose bandwidth depends upon
the extent of the expected clutter spectrum.

• Following the Doppler filter is a full-wave linear detector and an integrator

(a low- pass filter). The purpose of the detector is to convert the bipolar
video to unipolar video.

• The output of the integrator is applied to a threshold-detection circuit. Only

those signals which cross the threshold are reported as targets.

• Following the threshold detector, the outputs from each of the range
channels must be properly combined for display on the PPI or A-scope or
for any other appropriate indicating or data-processing device.

• The CRT display from this type of MTI radar appears "cleaner" than the
display from a normal MTI radar, not only because of better clutter
rejection, but also because the threshold device eliminates many of the
unwanted false alarms due to noise.

Figure Frequency-response characteristic of an MTI using range

gates and filters.

The band pass filter can be designed with a variable low-frequency

cutoff that can be selected to conform to the prevailing clutter
conditions.
A variable lower cutoff might be advantageous when the width
of the clutter spectrum changes with time as when the radar receives
unwanted echoes from birds.
A relatively wide notch at zero frequency is needed to remove moving birds.
If the notch were set wide enough to remove the birds, it might be
wider than necessary for ordinary clutter and desired targets might be
removed.
Since the appearance of birds varies with the time of day and the
season, it is important that the width of the notch be controlled according
to the local conditions.
 • MTI radar using range gates and filters is usually more complex than an MTI
with a single-delay-line canceller.
• The additional complexity is justified in those applications where good
MTI performance and the flexibility of the range gates and filter MTI are desired.

• The better MTI performance results from the better match between the
clutter filter characteristic and the clutter spectrum.

Limitations to MTI Performance

The improvement in signal-to-clutter ratio of an MTI is affected by factors other

than
the design of the Doppler signal processor such as:
– Instabilities of the transmitter and receiver
– physical motions of the clutter
– Finite time on target (or scanning modulation)
– And limiting in the receiver
• Before discussing these limitations, we shall study the related definitions
Definitions related to MTI Performance
MTI improvement factor: The signal-to-clutter ratio at the output of the MTI
system divided by the signal-to-clutter ratio at the input, averaged
uniformly over all target radial velocities of interest.
With respect to Doppler frequency, the Improvement factor can be expressed as:

Cin = strength of clutter at

clutter filter input Cout =
strength of clutter at clutter filter
output Gav = average filter gain
for moving targets
 Equipment instabilities :
• Pulse-to-pulse changes in the amplitude, frequency, or phase of the
transmitter signal, changes in the stalo or coho oscillators in the receiver,
jitter in the timing of the pulse transmission, variations in the time delay
through the delay lines, and changes in the pulse width can cause the
apparent frequency spectrum from perfectly stationary clutter to broaden
and thereby lower the improvement factor of an MTI radar.
• The stability of the equipment in MTI radar must be considerably better
than that of an ordinary radar. It can limit the performance of MTI radar if
sufficient care is not taken in design, construction, and maintenance.
Internal fluctuation of clutter :
• Although clutter targets such as buildings, water towers, bare hills. or
mountains produce echo signals that are constant in both phase and
amplitude as a function of time, there are many types of clutter that cannot
be considered as absolutely stationary.
• Echoes from trees, vegetation, sea, rain fluctuate with time, and these
fluctuations
can limit the performance of MTI radar.

Antenna scanning modulation

• As the antenna scans by a target, it observes the target for a finite time
equal to : to=nB/fP = θB / θS where nB= number of hits received, fp =
pulse repetition frequency, θB ,θS = antenna beamwidth and antenna
scanning rate.

• The received pulse train of finite duration to has a frequency spectrum

(which can be found by taking the Fourier transform of the waveform)
whose width is proportional to l/to.
• Therefore, even if the clutter were perfectly stationary, there will still be a
finite width to the clutter spectrum because of the finite time on target.

• If the clutter spectrum is too wide because the observation time is too
short, it will affect the improvement factor. This limitation has sometimes
been called scanning fluctuations or scanning modulation.
 Limiting in MTI Radar:

• A limiter is usually employed in the IF amplifier just before the MTI

processor to prevent the residue from large clutter echoes from saturating
the display. Ideally a MTI radar should reduce the clutter to a level
comparable to receiver noise.

• However, when the MTI improvement factor is not great enough to

reduce the clutter sufficiently, the clutter residue will appear on the display
and prevent the detection of aircraft targets whose cross sections are
larger than the clutter residue. This condition may be prevented by setting
the limit level L, relative to the noise N, equal to the MTI improvement factor
I; or L/N = I.

• If the limit level relative to noise is set higher than the improvement factor.
Clutter residue obscures part of the display. If it is set too low, there may
be a “black hole" effect on the display. The limiter provides a constant false
alarm rate (CFAR) and is essential to usable MTI Performance.

• Unfortunately, nonlinear devices such as limiters have side-effects that can

degrade performance. Limiters cause the spectrum of strong clutter to
spread into the canceller pass- band, and result in the generation of
additional residue that can significantly degrade MTI performance as
compared with a perfect linear system.

Benefits or advantages of MTI Radar

• MTI radar can distinguish between moving target and stationary target.
• It uses low PRF (Pulse Repetition Frequency) to avoid range ambiguities.
• MTI principle is used in air surveillance radar which operates in
presence of clutter.
• It is simpler compare to pulse doppler radar.
• Antenna bandwidth is high.
• It is economical.
• It does not require waveforms with multiple PRF.
• It is preferred at UHF frequencies.
Drawbacks or disadvantages of MTI Radar
• Blind speed does not get detected by pulse MTI radar. Blind speed is
defined as magnitude of radial component of velocity of target when
moving target appears as stationary target.
• They can have doppler ambiguities.
 MTI VS PULSE DOPPLER RADAR

• A Pulse radar that extracts the Doppler frequency shift for the purpose of
detecting moving targets in the presence of clutter is either a MTI Radar
or a Pulse Doppler Radar.
• The distinction between them is based on the fact that in a sampled
measurement system like a pulse Radar, ambiguities arise in measuring
both the Doppler frequency (relative velocity) and the Range (time delay).
• Range ambiguities are avoided with a low sampling rate (low pulse
repetition frequency), and Doppler frequency ambiguities are avoided with
a high sampling rate.
• However, in most radar applications the sampling rate, or pulse repetition
frequency, cannot be selected to avoid both types of measurement ambiguities.
• Therefore, a compromise must be made and the nature of the compromise
generally
determines whether the radar is called an MTI or a Pulse Doppler Radar.
• MTI usually refers to a Radar in which the pulse repetition frequency is
chosen low enough to avoid ambiguities in range (no multiple-time-around
echoes) but with the consequence that the frequency measurement is
ambiguous and results in blind speeds.
• The pulse Doppler radar, on the other hand, has a high pulse repetition
frequency
that avoids blind speeds, but it experiences ambiguities in range.
• The pulse Doppler radar is more likely to use range-gated Doppler filter-
banks than delay-line cancellers. Also, a power amplifier such as a klystron
is more likely to be used than a power oscillator like the magnetron.
• A pulse Doppler radar operates at a higher duty cycle than does an MTI.
• Although it is difficult to generalize, the MTI radar seems to be the more widely
used of the two, but pulse Doppler radar is usually more capable of reducing clutter.