ABSTRACT

Introduction:
Radar is an acronym of Radio Detection and Ranging. The term is used to refer to electronic equipment that detects the presence, direction, height, and distance of objects by using reflected electromagnetic energy. Electromagnetic energy of the frequency used for radar is unaffected by darkness and also penetrates weather to some degree, depending on frequency. It permits radar systems to determine the positions of ships, planes, and land masses that are invisible to the naked eye because of distance, darkness. Radar is an object-detection system which uses electromagnetic wavesspecifically radio wavesto determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish, or antenna, transmits pulses of radio waves or microwaves which bounce off any object in their path. The object returns a tiny part of the wave's energy to a dish or antenna which is usually located at the same site as the transmitter.

Principle and Working

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, you will hear an echo. As you know the speed of sound in air is 340 m/s, you can estimate the distance and direction of the object quite accurately. The time required for a return echo can be roughly converted to distance if the speed of sound is known. Radar uses electromagnetic energy pulses in much the same way. The radio-frequency (RF) energy is transmitted to and reflects from the reflecting object. A small portion of the energy is reflected and returns to the radar set. This new returned energy is called an ECHO, just as it is in sound

terminology. Radar sets use the echo to determine the direction and distance of the reflecting object/planes/missiles.

Full paper deals with the following topics in brief: History Types of Radar Applications

Conclusion:
The development of radar into the highly complex systems in use today represents the accumulated developments of many people and nations. We now have radar systems that are smaller, more efficient, and better than those early versions. Modern radar systems are used for early detection of surface or air objects and provide extremely accurate information on distance, direction, height, and speed of the objects. Radar is also used to guide missiles to targets and direct the firing of gun systems.
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RADAR
BASIC PRINCIPLE: RADAR (Radio Detection & Ranging), remote used to locate & identify objects. Radar signals bounces off the objects in their path, & the radar system detects the echoes of signals that returns. Radar can determine the distance, speed, direction of motion, & shape of the distant objects. Radar can detect objects out of the range of sight & works in all weather conditions making it a vital & versatile tool for many industries. A radar system has a transmitter that emits radio waves called radar

signals in predetermined directions. When these come into contact with an object they are usually reflected and/or scattered in many directions. Radar signals are reflected especially well by materials of considerable electrical conductivityespecially by most metals, by seawater, by wet land, and by wetlands. Some of these make the use of radar altimeters possible. The radar signals that are reflected back towards the transmitter are the desirable ones that make radar work. If the object is moving either closer or farther away, there is a slight change in the frequencyof the radio waves, due to the Doppler Effect. Radar has many uses, including aiding navigation in sea & air, helping detect military forces, improving traffic safety, & providing data. Large networks of ground based radar systems help air traffic controllers to keep track of aircrafts & prevent midair collisions. Commercial military ship uses radar as a navigation aid to prevent collisions between ships (& prevent any other titanic disaster to take place) & to alert ships of obstacles, especially in bad weather conditions when visibility is poor. Military forces around the world use the radar to detect aircraft & missiles, troop movement, & ships at sea, as well as to target various types of weapons. Radar is valuable tool for police in catching speeding motorists. The major radar systems manufacturer's for the U.S. government were Radio Co-operation of America & Raytheon Company. Raytheon introduced missiles, radar systems, mine hunting sonar systems, & Military communication systems.

History: James Clerk Maxwell predicted existence of radio waves in 1860s. As early as 1886, Heinrich Hertz showed that radio waves could be reflected from solid objects. In 1895 Alexander Popov, a physics instructor at the Imperial Russian Navy school in Kroonstad, developed an apparatus using a coherer tube for detecting distant lightning strikes.

Radar systems begin to develop since 1920. \ In 1922 A. Hoyt Taylor and Leo C. Young, researchers working with the U.S. Navy, discovered that when radio waves were broadcast at 60 MHz it was possible to determine the range and bearing of nearby ships in the Potomac River. A breakthrough in radar technology came in 1939. In 1939, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) radiation laboratory was formed in Cambridge, bringing together U.S. & British radar research. The technology became the basis of anti-ship & anti-submarine radar for the U.S. navy.

BASIC RADAR SYSTEM:

Radar basically transmits electromagnetic energy, in the form of short bursts & then detects the echo signals returned from the target. The location Of the target can be determined from the angle / direction of the arrival of the echo signal.

The radar signal waveform is generated by the waveform generator & modulated with the high frequency carrier. The power of the modulated signal is raised to the desired value in the transmitter portion. The Duplexer allows the same antenna to be used for both transmission as well as reception. It performs two functions: It acts as a switch disconnecting the receiver from the antenna during the time the relatively much higher power transmitter is ON to protect the receiver from getting damaged. When the signal is received then it is transmitted to the receiver through the duplexer .The receiver filters out the interference. It also amplifies the desired signal. The purpose of Signal Processing is to reject the undesired signals such as clutter & enhance the desired signals from the target .It makes the decision as to whether the target is present & if so then extract information about it. Data Processing refers to the processing done after the detection has been made such as automatic tracking, target recognition .The Displays put the processing information in a form usable by radar operators. Wavelength of the microwaves is in the Cent metric Mill metric ranges i.e. above 100 GHz. Radar frequencies ranges from 220 MHz to 35 GHz.

HOW RADAR WORKS?

Radar relies on sending & receiving electromagnetic radiations, usually in the form of radio waves or microwaves (high frequency radio waves range in length about 1 mm to 30 cm). Electromagnetic radiations are the energy that moves with the speed of light. Radar systems use long wavelength EM radiations in the microwave & radio ranges. Because of their long wavelengths, radio waves & microwaves tends to reflect better than shorter wavelength radiations, which tends to scatter or be absorbed before it gets to the target. A Radar system starts by sending out EM radiations, called the Signal. The signal bounces off objects in its path. When

radiation bounces back, part of the signal returns to the radar system, this echo is called Return. The radar system detects the return & simply reports the detection or analyses the signal for more information. Even though the radio waves & microwaves reflect better than EM waves of other lengths, only tiny portion -About a billionth of a billionth- of radar signal gets reflected back. Therefore a radar system must be able to transmit high amount of energy in return. A radar system is composed of four basic components: Transmitter Antenna Receiver Display The transmitter produces the electrical signals in correct form for the type of radar system. The antenna sends these signals out as EM Radiations. The antenna also collects incoming return signals & passes them to the receiver, analyses the return & passes it to the display.

RADAR FREQUENCIES: Most radar systems operate in frequencies ranging from the VHF band, at about 150 MHz, to extra high frequencies band, which may go as high as 95 GHz. Frequencies of the radar system are related to the resolution of the system. Resolution determines how close two objects may be & how accurately the system determines the target's position. Higher frequencies provide better resolution than lower frequencies because the beam formed by the antenna is sharper.

1.

TYPES OF RADAR: -

All radar systems send out EM radiations in radio or microwave frequencies & use echoes of that radiation to detect objects, but different systems uses different methods of emitting

& receiving radiations. All radar systems perform the same basic tasks, but the way systems carry out their tasks has some effect on the systems parts. A type of radar called pulse radar sends out bursts of radar at regular intervals. Pulse radar requires a method of timing the bursts from its transmitter, so this part is more complicated than the transmitter in other radar systems. Another type of radar called continuous-wave radar sends out a continuous signal. Continuous-wave radar gets much of its information about the target from subtle changes in the return, or the echo of the signal. The receiver in continuous-wave radar is therefore more complicated than in other systems.

SIMPLE PULSE RADAR: Simple pulse radar is the simplest type of radar. In these systems, the transmitter sends out short pulses of radar frequency energy. Between pulses, the radar receiver detects the echoes. Most pulse radar antennas rotate to scan the wide area. Simple pulse radar is good in locating the objects, but it is not accurate at measuring an object's speed. CONTINUOUS WAVE RADAR: Continuous wave radar systems transmit a constant radar signal. The transmission is continuous, so the receiver cannot use the same antenna as the transmitter because the radar emission would interfere with the echoes that the receiver detects. Continuous wave radar systems are excellent at measuring the speed & direction of an object, but they are not as accurate as pulse radar at measuring an object's position. Some systems combine pulse & continuous wave radar to achieve both good range & velocity resolution. Such systems are called Pulse Doppler Radar System.

SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR: Synthetic aperture radar tracks target on ground

from air. The name comes from the fact that the system uses the movement of airplane or satellite carrying it to make the antenna seem much larger than it actually is. The ability of radar to distinguish between two closely spaced objects depends on the width of the beam that the antenna sends out. The narrower the beam is, better is the resolution. But SAR system is limited to a relatively small antenna with the wide beam because it must fit on an aircraft or satellite .The moving aircraft or satellite allows the SAR system to repeatedly take measurements from different positions. They can pick out individual objects as small as automobile.

PHASED ARRAY RADAR:

Most radar systems use a single large antenna that stays in one place, but can rotate on a base to change the direction of the radar beam. A Phased array radar antenna

actually comprises many small separate antennas, each of which can be rotated. The system combines the signal gathered from all the small antennas. The receiver can change the way it combines the signals in order to change the direction of the beam. PAR can change its antenna beam direction much faster than any other radar system can.

SECONDARY RADAR:

A radar system that sends out radar signals & reads the echoes that bounces back is a Primary radar system. Secondary radar system reads the coded radar signals that the target emits in response to the signal received, instead of signals that target reflects. Air traffic control depends heavily on the use of secondary radar. Aircraft carry a small radar transmitter called Transponders that tells the controllers the location of aircraft.

CLUTTERS are radar signals that do not come from actual targets. Rain, snow, and the surface of the earth reflect energy, including radar waves. Such echoes can produce signals that the radar system may mistake for actual targets. Clutter makes it difficult to locate targets, especially when the system is searching

for objects that are small and distant. Some radar systems use a moving target indicator (MTI), which subtracts out every other radar return from the total signal. Because the signals from stationary objects will remain the same over time, the MTI subtracts them from the total signal, and only signals from moving targets get past the receiver. Other radar systems actually measure the frequencies of all returning signals. Clutter is actually a relative term, since the clutter for some systems could be the target for other systems. For example, a radar system that tracks airplanes considers precipitation to be clutter, but precipitation is the target of weather radar. Radar equation The power Pr returning to the receiving antenna is given by the radar equation:

where Pt = transmitter power Gt = gain of the transmitting antenna Ar = effective aperture (area) of the receiving antenna = radar cross section, or scattering coefficient, of the target F = pattern propagation factor Rt = distance from the transmitter to the target Rr = distance from the target to the receiver. In the common case where the transmitter and the receiver are at the same location, Rt = Rr and the term Rt Rr can be replaced by R4, where R is the range. This yields:

This shows that the received power declines as the fourth power of the range, which means that the reflected power from distant targets is very, very small.

2. APPLICATIONS:
Civilian aircraft & maritime industries use radar to avoid collisions & to keep track of aircraft & ship position. The International air traffic control systems use both primary & secondary radar. Airports uses medium range radar systems called Airport Surveillance Radar to track aircraft more accurately while they are near airport. The military uses the airborne radar to scan large battlefields for the presence of enemy forces & to pick out precise targets for bombs & missiles. Radar are sometimes used to guide gun fires & missiles to shoot down the enemy aircraft. Police uses radar to detect motorists who are exceeding the speed limit.

Now-a-days bombers are equipped with electronic warfare devices such as RADAR JAMMERS to aid them in attacking heavily defended enemy targets. Because bombers are vulnerable targets for fast-moving enemy aircraft and missiles, other fighter aircraft that serve as escorts usually protects them. B-2 Spirit & Stealth are the example whose unique shape & radar absorbent surface help it elude enemy detection systems. SONAR, acronym for Sound Navigation And Ranging, a detection system based on the reflection of underwater sound waves, just as radar is based on the reflection of radio waves in the air. A typical sonar system emits ultrasonic pulses by using a submerged radiating device; it listens with a sensitive microphone, or hydrophone, for reflected pulses from potential obstacles or submarines. The term was later applied by the U.S. Navy to all types of underwater sound devices, including those used for the detection of enemy

vessels by the sound of their measurement of water depths

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Rockets may be fired in midair from small racks mounted on aircraft, or they may be fired at sea from surface ships or submerged submarines. Sophisticated launcher systems for guided missiles often use radar and computerized equipment to identify and locate targets. Radar also helps ships navigate through dangerous waters and avoid collisions. These radar systems search the surface of the water for landmasses; navigation aids, such as lighthouses and channel markers; and other vessels. For a ships navigator, echoes from landmasses and other stationary objects are just as important as those from moving objects. Consequently, marine radar systems do not include clutter removal circuits.

CONCLUSION:
The development of radar into the highly complex systems in use today represents the accumulated developments of many people and nations. Radar found many applications in civilian and military life and became more sophisticated and specialized for each application. We now have radar systems that are smaller, more efficient, and better than those early versions. Modern radar systems are used for early detection of surface or air objects and provide extremely accurate information on distance, direction, height, and speed of the objects. Radar is also used to guide missiles to targets and direct the firing of gun systems. Today almost all commercial and private aircraft have transponders. Transponders send out radar signals encoded with information about an aircraft and its flight that other aircraft and air traffic controllers can use. American traffic engineer John

Barker discovered in 1947 that moving automobiles would reflect radar waves, which could be analyzed to determine the cars speed. Police began using traffic radar in the 1950s, and the accuracy of traffic radar has increased markedly since the 1980s. As radar continues to improve, so does the technology for evading radar. Stealth aircraft feature radar-absorbing coatings and deceptive shapes to reduce the possibility of radar detection. The Lockheed F-117A, first flown in 1981, and the Northrop B-2, first flown in 1989, is two of the latest additions to the U.S. stealth aircraft fleet. ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________