RADAR

(Radio Detection and Ranging)

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 RADAR

Robert Watson-Watt’s note on Aircraft’s Detection & Location by

Radio Methods published more than 50 years ago. It was the
most significant solitary publication in this field.
 RADAR
RADAR stands for Radio Detection and Ranging System. It is basically
an electromagnetic system used to detect the location and distance
of an object from the point where the RADAR is placed. It works by
radiating energy into space and monitoring the echo or reflected
signal from the objects. It operates in the UHF and microwave range.
 RADAR
A radar is an electromagnetic sensor, used to notice, track, locate,
and identify different objects which are at certain distances. The
working of radar is, it transmits electromagnetic energy in the
direction of targets to observe the echoes and returns from them.
Here the targets are nothing but ships, aircraft, astronomical bodies,
automotive vehicles, spacecraft, rain, birds, insects, etc. Instead of
noticing the target’s location and velocity, it also obtains their shape
and size sometimes.
 RADAR
The main objective of radar as compared with infrared and optical
sensing devices is to discover faraway targets under difficult climate
conditions & determines their distance, range, through precision.
Radar has its own transmitter which is known as a source of
illumination for placing targets. Generally, it works in the microwave
area of the electromagnetic spectrum that is calculated in hertz when
frequencies extend from 400 MHz to 40 GHz.
The radio signals used by radar normally range from centimeters to
meters. The radio signals travel outside from the antenna with
300,000 km per second speed until they strike something and some
of them return back to the antenna.
 RADAR Principle
The electronic principle on which radar operates is very similar
to the principle of sound-wave reflection. If you shout in the
direction of a sound-reflecting object (like a rocky canyon or
cave), you will hear an echo. If you know the speed of sound in
air, you can then estimate the distance and general direction of
the object. The time required for an echo to return can be
roughly converted to distance if the speed of sound is known.
 Design Elements
A Transmitter: It can be a power amplifier like a Klystron, Travelling
Wave Tube, or a power Oscillator like a Magnetron. The signal is first
generated using a waveform generator and then amplified in the
power amplifier which produce high-power RF pulses .
Waveguides: The waveguides are transmission lines for
transmission of the Radar signals.
Radar Antenna: The antenna used can be a parabolic reflector,
planar arrays, or electronically steered phased arrays. The Antenna
transfers the transmitter energy to signals in space with the required
distribution and efficiency. This process is applied in an identical way
on reception.
Duplexer: A duplexer allows the antenna to be used as a
transmitter or a receiver. This switching is necessary that would
produce a short circuit at the input to the receiver when the
transmitter is working.
 Design Elements

Receiver: It can be a super heterodyne receiver or any other

receiver which consists of a processor to process the signal and
detect it. The receiver provides video signals on the output.
Threshold Decision: The output of the receiver is compared with a
threshold to detect the presence of any object. If the output is below
any threshold, the presence of noise is assumed.
Indicator
The indicator should present to the observer a continuous, easily
understandable, graphic picture of the relative position of radar
targets.
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Derivation of Radar Range Equation

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Derivation of Radar Range Equation

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Derivation of Radar Range Equation

Radar cross section

of the target=σ

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Derivation of Radar Range Equation

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Derivation of Radar Range Equation

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Modified form of Radar Range Equation

See the eq. of horn

antenna

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Modified form of Radar Range Equation

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Home Work

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 Types of RADAR

• Bistatic Radar
• Doppler Radar
• Monopulse Radar
• Passive Radar
• Instrumentation Radar
• Weather Radars
• Mapping Radar
• Navigational Radars
• Pulsed Radar
• Pulse-Doppler
• Moving Target Indicator (MTI) Radar
• Continuous Wave (CW) Radar
Pulsed Radar

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 Pulse Radar

The Radar, which operates with pulse signal is called the Pulse
Radar. Pulse Radars can be classified into two types-

1. Basic Pulse Radar

2. Moving Target Indication Radar

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 Basic Pulse Radar
(Stationary Target)

The Radar, which operates with pulse signal for detecting stationary
targets, is called the Basic Pulse Radar or simply, Pulse Radar. It uses
single antenna for both transmitting and receiving signals with the
help of duplexer. Antenna will transmit a pulse signal at every clock
pulse. The duration between the two clock pulses should be chosen
in such a way that the echo signal corresponding to the present clock
pulse should be received before the next clock pulse.

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 Moving Target Indicator

The Radar, which operates with pulse signal for detecting non-
stationary targets, is called Moving Target Indication Radar or
simply, MTI Radar. It uses single antenna for both transmission and
reception of signals with the help of duplexer.
MTI Radar uses the principle of Doppler effect for distinguishing the
non-stationary targets from stationary objects.

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 Moving Target Indicator
It transmits low pulse repetition frequency to avoid range
ambiguities. In an MTI RADAR system, the received echo signals from
the object are directed towards the mixer, where they are mixed with
the signal from a stable local oscillator (STALO) to produce the IF
signal.
This IF signal is amplified and then given to the phase detector
where its phase is compared with the phase of the signal from the
Coherent Oscillator (COHO) and the difference signal is produced.
The Coherent signal has the same phase as the transmitter signal.
The coherent signal and the STALO signal are mixed and given to the
power amplifier which is switched on and off using the pulse
modulator.
 8 Tx

6
7

3
2

Rx

2&3

4 5
Tracking Radar

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 Tracking Radar
The Radar, which is used to track the path of one or more targets is
known as Tracking Radar. In general, it performs the following
functions before it starts the tracking activity.
1. Target detection
2. Range of the target
3. Finding elevation and azimuth angles
4. Finding Doppler frequency shift
So, Tracking Radar tracks the target by tracking one of the three
parameters — range, angle, Doppler frequency shift. Most of the
Tracking Radars use the principle of tracking in angle.

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 Tracking Radar
Angular Tracking

The pencil beams of Radar Antenna perform tracking in angle. The

axis of Radar Antenna is considered as the reference direction. If the
direction of the target and reference direction is not same, then
there will be angular error, which is nothing but the difference
between the two directions.
If the angular error signal is applied to a servo control system, then it
will move the axis of the Radar Antenna towards the direction of
target. Both the axis of Radar Antenna and the direction of target
will coincide when the angular error is zero. There exists a feedback
mechanism in the Tracking Radar, which works until the angular error
becomes zero.

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 Angular Tracking
Following are the two techniques, which are used in angular
tracking.
1. Sequential Lobing
2. Conical Scanning

1. Sequential Lobing
If the Antenna beams are switched between two patterns
alternately for tracking the target, then it is called sequential
lobing. It is also called sequential switching and lobe switching.
This technique is used to find the angular error in one coordinate. It
gives the details of both magnitude and direction of angular error.

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sequential lobing in polar coordinates.

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 Angular Tracking
From the figure, Antenna beams switch between Position 1 and
Position 2 alternately (between two lobes). Angular error θ is
indicated in the above figure. Sequential lobing gives the position of
the target with high accuracy. This is the main advantage of
sequential lobing.

2. Conical Scanning
If the Antenna beam continuously rotates for tracking a target, then
it is called conical scanning. Conical scan modulation is used to find
the position of the target. Following figure shows an example of
conical scanning.

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 Squint angle
Squint angle is the angle between beam axis and rotation axis and it
is shown in the above figure. The echo signal obtained from the
target gets modulated at a frequency equal to the frequency at
which the Antenna beam rotates.
The angle between the direction of the target and the rotation axis
determines the amplitude of the modulated signal. So, the conical
scan modulation has to be extracted from the echo signal and then
it is to be applied to servo control system, which moves the Antenna
beam axis towards the direction of the target.
 Application
Military Applications
It has 3 major applications in the Military:
• In air defense, it is used for target detection, target recognition, and
weapon control (directing the weapon to the tracked targets).
• In a missile system to guide the weapon.
• Identifying enemy locations on the map.

Air Traffic Control

It has 3 major applications in Air Traffic control:
• To control air traffic near airports. The Air Surveillance RADAR is used to
detect and display the aircraft’s position in the airport terminals.
• To guide the aircraft to land in bad weather using Precision Approach
RADAR.
• To scan the airport surface for aircraft and ground vehicle positions.
 Application
Remote Sensing
It can be used for observing weather or observing planetary positions and
monitoring sea ice to ensure a smooth route for ships.

Ground Traffic Control

It can also be used by traffic police to determine the speed of the vehicle,
controlling the movement of vehicles by giving warnings about the
presence of other vehicles or any other obstacles behind them.

Space
It has 3 major applications:
• To guide the space vehicle for a safe landing on the moon
• To observe the planetary systems
• To detect and track satellites