RF Spectrum

RF and Radar Bands

 One Way Attenuation over different
frequencies

C: 4-8 Ghz, X: 8-12 Ghz, ku: 12-18, k: 18-27, ka: 27-40, v:40-75, w:75-
110
Interested bands are ka and W
One Way Rain Attenuation
One Way Cloud Attenuation
 Bistatic and Monostatic
Radars

There are two basic antenna configurations of radar systems: monostatic an

bistatic
(Figure 1-19). In the monostatic configuration, one antenna serves both the
transmitter
and receiver. In the bistatic configuration, there are separate antennas for th
transmit and
receive radar functions.
 Power Density at a distance
R

Unwanted signals in a search radar are generally described as noise and

clutter. (Noise was discussed earlier in detail concerning the Radar
Basics.) Clutter is the term used and includes ground returns, sea
returns, weather, buildings, birds and insects. The definition of clutter
depends on the function of the radar
the three fundamental functions of radar systems are to:
Search for and find (detect) targets, to track detected targets, and in some
cases to develop an image of the target.
In all of these functions the radar performance is influenced by the strength
of the signal coming into the radar receiver from the target of interest and
by the strength of the signals that interfere with the target signal.
In the special case of receiver
thermal noise being the interfering signal, the ratio of target signal to noise
power is called
the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR); if the interference is from a clutter signal,
then the ratio
is called signal-to-clutter ratio (SCR). The ratio of the target signal to the
total interfering
signal is the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR)
Essentially all radar systems use an antenna that has a
directional beam pattern rather than an isotropic beam
pattern. This means that the transmitted power is
concentrated into a finite angular extent, usually having a
width of several degrees in both the azimuthal and
elevation planes

In this case, the power density at the center of the

antenna beam pattern is higher than that from an
isotropic antenna, because the transmit power is
concentrated onto a smaller area on the surface of the
sphere, as depicted in Figure 2-2
Directional Radiation Pattern
The power density in
the gray ellipse depicting the antenna
beam is increased from that of an
isotropic antenna.

Directivity: The ratio between the

power density for a lossless
directional antenna and a
hypothetical isotropic antenna
Antenna Gain: The gain, G, of an
antenna is the directivity reduced by
the losses the signal encounters as it
travels from the input port to the
point at which it is launched into
the atmosphere
 Received Power at Radar:
The power reflected by the target back toward the
radar, Prefl, is expressed as:
the product of the incident power density and a factor
called the radar cross section (RCS) of the target.
The units for RCS are square meters (m2).
The radar cross section of a target is determined
by
the physical size of the target, the shape of the target,
and the materials from which the target is made,
particularly the outer surface.
Power Density back at
Antenna
 Power Density at the Radar Receiver:

As an example of its significance, if the range from

the radar to the target doubles, the received power
density of the reflected signal from a target decreases
by a factor of 16
(12 dB)
 The radar wave reflected from the target,
which has propagated through a distance R
and results in the power density given by
equation (2.5), is received (gathered) by a
radar receiver antenna having an effective
antenna area of Ae.
The power received, Pr (watts) from a target
at range R at a receiving antenna of effective
area of Ae is found as the power density at
the antenna times the effective area of the
antenna:
 It is customary to replace the effective
antenna area term Ae with the value of
receive antenna gain Gr that is produced
by that area.
Also, because of the effects of tapering
and losses, the effective area of an
antenna is somewhat less than the
physical area, A.
the relationship between an antenna gain
G and its effective area Ae is given by
where a is the antenna
efficiency. Antenna
efficiency is a value between
0 and 1; however, it is
seldom below 0.5 and
seldom above 0.8.
 Solving (2.7) for Ae and substituting
into equation (2.6), the following
expression for
the received power, Pr results:
 For many monostatic radar systems, particularly those
using mechanically scanned antennas, the transmit
and receive antennas gains are the same, so in those
cases the two gain terms in (2.8) are replaced by G 2
For a bistatic radar, one for which the receive antenna
is not collocated (located at the same site) with the
transmit antenna, the range between the transmitter
and target, Rt, may be different from the range
between the target and the receiver, Rr. In this case,
the two different range values must be independently
specified, leading to the bistatic form of the equation
 Receiver Thermal Noise
NOISE: There is always an interfering signal
described as having a randomly varying
amplitude and phase, called noise, which is
produced by several sources.
Random noise can be found in the environment,
mostly due to solar effects. Noise entering the
antenna comes from several sources.
Cosmic noise, or galactic noise, originates in
outer space. It is a significant contributor to the
total noise at frequencies below about 1 GHz
but is a minor contributor above 1 GHz
Cosmic noise and galactic radio noise is random noise that originates outside
the Earth's atmosphere. It can be detected and heard on radio receivers
 Solar noise is from the sun. The suns
proximity makes it a significant
contributor; however, its effect is reduced
by the antenna sidelobe gain, unless the
antenna main beam is pointed directly
toward the sun
Ground is a source of noise, but not at as
high a level as the sun, and usually enters
the receiver through antenna sidelobes.
 Thermally agitated random electron
motion in the receiver circuits
generates a level of random noise with
which the target signal must compete.
Though there are several sources of
noise, the development of the radar
range equation in this chapter will
assume that the internal noise in the
receiver dominates the noise level
For target detection to occur, the target signal
must exceed the noise signal
 Thermal noise power is essentially uniformly
distributed over all radar frequencies; that is, its
power spectral density is constant, or uniform. It
is sometimes called white noise.
Only noise signals with frequencies within the
range of frequencies capable of being detected
by the radars receiver will have any effect on
radar performance.
The range of frequencies for which the radar is
susceptible to noise signals is determined by
the receiver bandwidth, B.
The thermal noise power adversely affecting radar
performance will therefore be proportional to B.
The power, Pn, of the thermal noise in the radar receiver
is given by
 for a simple unmodulated transmit signal, the bandwidth of
the targets signal in one received pulse is approximated by
the reciprocal of the pulse width, (i.e., B 1/).
If the receiver bandwidth is made smaller than the target
signal bandwidth, the target power is reduced, and range
resolution suffers.
If the receiver bandwidth is made larger than the reciprocal
of the pulse length, then the signal to noise ratio will suffer.
The optimum bandwidth depends on the specific shape of
the receiver filter characteristics. In practice, the optimum
bandwidth is usually on the order of 1.2/, but the
approximation of 1/ is very often used
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO AND THE RADAR
RANGE EQUATION

When the received target signal

power, Pr, is divided by the noise
power, Pn, the result is
called the signal-to-noise ratio. For a
discrete target, this is the ratio of
equation
Ultimately, the signal-to-interference
ratio is what determines radar
performance. The interference can be
from noise (receiver or jamming) or
from clutter or other electromagnetic
interference from, for example,
motors, generators, ignitions, or cell
services. If the power of the receiver
thermal noise is N, from clutter is C,
and from jamming noise is J , then the
SIR is
 Multiple Pulse Effect
Many modern radar systems perform
spectral analysis (i.e., Doppler
processing) to improve target
detection performance in the
presence of clutter.
Doppler processing is equivalent to
coherent integration insofar as the
improvement in SNR is concerned.
This section describes the
 v

White: noise containing many

frequencies with equal intensities
 A more appropriate form of the RRE
when n
pulses are coherently combined is
thus

This form of the RRE is often used to

determine the SNR of a system, knowing the
number of pulses coherently processed
 Losses
Included are losses due to clear air, rain,
component losses,
beam scanning, straddling, and several signal
processing techniques. It is important to realize
that the loss value, if used in the denominator of
the RRE as previously suggested,
must be a linear (as opposed to dB) value greater
than 1. Often, the loss values are specified
in dB notation. It is convenient to sum the losses
in dB notation and finally to convert to
the linear value.
 And Finally RRE becomes:
 Losses Explanation
In fact, there is some loss in the signal level as it travels
from the transmitter to the antenna, through waveguide
or coaxial cable, and through devices such as a circulator,
directional coupler, or transmit/receive (T/R) switch.
For most conventional radar systems, the loss is on the
order of 3 or 4 dB, depending on the wavelength, length of
transmission line, and what devices are included. For each
specific radar system, the individual losses must be
accounted for.
The best source of information regarding the losses due to
components is a catalog sheet or specification sheet from
the vendor for each of the devices.
 The EM wave experiences attenuation in the
atmosphere as it travels from the radar to the
target, and again as the wave travels from the
target back to the radar.
Atmospheric loss is caused by interaction
between the electromagnetic wave and oxygen
molecules and water vapor in the atmosphere.
Even clear air exhibits attenuation of the EM
wave. The effect of this attenuation generally
increases with increased carrier frequency
 Range-dependent losses are normally expressed in units of
dB/km. Also, the absorption values reported in the
technical literature are normally expressed as one-way loss.
For a monostatic radar system, since the signal has to travel
through the same path twice, two-way loss is required. In
this case, the values reported need to be doubled on a dB
scale (squared on a linear scale).
For a bistatic radar, the signal travels through two different
paths on transmit and receive, so the one-way loss value is
used for each path
 Receive Loss
Component losses are also present in the path
between the receive antenna terminal and the
radar receiver.
As with the transmit losses, these are caused by
receive transmission line and components. In
particular, waveguide and coaxial cable, the
circulator, receiver protection switches, and
preselection lters contribute to this loss value
if employed
 Signal Processing Loss
Most modern systems employ some form of
multipulse processing that improves the
single-pulse SNR by the factor n, which is the
number of pulses in a coherent
processing interval (CPI), often also

called the dwell time

p
 Some examples of the signal processing
effects that contribute to system loss are
beam scan loss, straddle loss (sometimes
called scalloping loss), automatic
detection constant false alarm rate (CFAR)
loss, and mismatch loss.
Beam shape loss arises because the radar equation is
developed using the peak antenna gains as if the
target is at the center of the beam pattern for every
pulse processed during a CPI
If the CPI is defined as the time for which
the antenna beam scans in angle from the
3 dB point, through the center, to the
other 3 dB point, the average loss in
signal compared with the case in which
 Straddle loss arises because a target
signal is not generally in the center
of a range or a Doppler filter.
It may be that the centroid of the
received target pulse/spectrum is
somewhere between two range bins
and somewhere between two
Doppler filters, reducing
 Other Variables

Range as a Dependent
Variable

In using (2.18), one must bear in mind that some of the losses in
Ls (primarily atmospheric attenuation) are range-dependent.
Solving for Minimum Detectable RCS

Another important analysis is to

determine the minimum detectable
radar cross section, min
. This calculation is based on
assuming that there is a minimum
SNR, SNR required min
Decibel Form of RRE
 Average Form of RRE

where PRI is the interpulse period (time between

transmit pulses), and PRF is the pulse repetition
frequency.
 In this form of the equation, the average power
dwell time terms provide the energy in the
processed waveform, while the kT terms provide
the noise energy.
In particular, the SNR for a system can be adjusted
by changing the dwell time without requiring
hardware changes, except that the signal/data
processor must be able to adapt to the longest
dwell.
Often, for a radar in which np pulses are coherently
processed, the dwell time, T, is called the coherent
processing interval, CPI.
 PULSE COMPRESSION: INTRAPULSE
MODULATION

The factor of N in equation (2.17) is a form of signal processing gain

resulting from
coherent integration of multiple pulses. Signal processing gain can also
arise from processing
pulses with intrapulse modulation. Radar systems are sometimes required
to produce
a given probability of detection, which would require a given SNR, while at
the
same time maintaining a specified range resolution. When using simple
(unmodulated)
pulses, the receiver bandwidth is inversely proportional to the pulse length
, as discussed
earlier. Thus, increasing the pulse length will increase the SNR
However, range resolution is also proportional to , so the pulse must
be kept short to meet range resolution requirements. A way to
overcome this conflict is to maintain the average power by transmitting
a wide pulse while maintaining the range resolution by incorporating a
wide bandwidth in that pulsewider than the reciprocal of the pulse
width.
This extended bandwidth can be achieved by incorporating modulation
(phase or frequency) within the pulse. Proper matched filtering of the
received pulse is needed to achieve both goals.
The use of intrapulse modulated waveforms to achieve fine-range
resolution while maintaining high average power is called pulse
The appropriate form of the radar
compression

range equation for a system using

pulse compression is
Using (2.29) and the substitution developed in equation (2.26) for the
average power form of the radar range equation, the result is
Numerical Problem
RRE Plot
One Way Link Equation
To this point, the components of the interfering signals discussed have
been receiver thermal noise and clutter. In many defense-oriented
radar applications, it is expected that the radar system will encounter
intentional jamming.
Jamming signals are one of two varieties: noise and false targets.
The effect of noise jamming is to degrade the SIR of target signals in
the radar receiver to delay initial detection or to degrade tracking
performance.
In many cases, intentional noise jamming is the most limiting
interference. The intent of false target jamming is to present so many
target-like signals that the radar processor is overloaded or to create
false track les.
In any case, the power received at the radar from a jammer is required
to determine its effect on radar performance. Since the signal from the
jammer to the radar has to propagate in only one direction, a
simplication of the radar equation for one-way propagation is
valuable.