Vertical Mobility

RADAR ENGINEERING

T. Venkata Lakshmi
Associate Professor
ECE Department
GEC, Gudlavalleru
Course Objectives:
• To introduce the fundamental concepts in radar.

• To familiarize with working of different radar systems.

• To impart the knowledge of detection of radar signals in noise.

Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course, the students will be able to

• compute different parameters from radar data.

• conceptualize the radar operation.

• distinguish moving target and pulse Doppler radars.

• understand the operation of different radar receivers.

• track different objects by using radar in different noise conditions.

• realize radar systems for electronic warfare.

 Course Content

UNIT - I: Introduction
The Radar equation- introduction, detection of signals in noise,

receiver noise and S/N ratio, probability function, probability of

detection and false alarm, radar cros-ssection of targets,

transmitter power, pulse repetition frequency.

UNIT - II: CW Radar
Principle, doppler effect, block diagram, operation, measurement

of velocity and elevation of target, applications. FMCW radar:

block diagram, principle of operation, applications, salient features.

UNIT - III: MTI and Pulse Doppler Radar
Introduction, principle, MTI Radar with- power amplifier

transmitter and power oscillator transmitter, delay line cancellers,

frequency response, blind speeds , staggered PRFs.

UNIT - IV: Tracking Radar
Tracking with Radar, mono-pulse tracking, conical scan, sequential

lobing.

Radar receivers – noise figure and noise temperature, duplexers and

receiver protectors, radar displays.

UNIT - V: Detection of Radar Signals in Noise
Introduction, matched filter receiver – response characteristics and

derivation, correlation detection, detection criteria, detector

characteristics, automatic detection, constant false alarm rate receiver

UNIT - VI: Electronic Warfare
Electronic counter measures and electronic counter-counter measures,

introduction, electronic counter measures, radar jamming, electronic

counter-counter measures, electronic support, stealth applications

Text Books
1. Merrill I Skolnik “Introduction to Radar Systems”, 3rd Edition, TMH,

2006.

2. G.S.N.Raju “Radar Engineering and fundamentals of Navigational Aids”,

I.K International, 2008.

Reference Books
1.KK Sharma “Fundamentals of RADAR”, sonar and Navigation

Engineering, SK Kataria & Sons, 4th Edition,2014.

2. Byron Edde “Radar: Principles, Technologies, Applications”, Pearson

Education.
 RADAR-Over view
• RADAR is RAdio Detection And Ranging
• Electromagnetic based detection system

• Radiating electromagnetic waves and then studying the echo(reflected

signal)
• The target can be stationary or movable, i.e., non-stationary.
• Ranging refers to the distance between the Radar and the target.
• The Applications of Radars are……
 Controlling the Air Traffic
 Ship safety
 Sensing the remote places
 Military applications
 Basic Principle of Radar

Basic phenomenon employed in RADAR systems to determine the target

 Location
 Speed
 Distance and position
Terminology of Radar Systems

 Range

 Pulse Repetition Frequency

 Maximum Unambiguous Range

 Minimum Range
Range
 The distance between Radar and target is called Range.
 Radar transmits a signal to the target and accordingly the target sends an echo
signal to the Radar with the speed of light, C.
Let the time taken for the signal to travel from Radar to target and back to
Radar be ‘T’.
 The two way distance between the Radar and target will be 2R
Speed =Distance/Time
⇒Distance = Speed×Time
⇒2R=C×T
R=CT/2------------------- (1)
We can find the range of the target by substituting the values of C & T
Range is measured interms of Kms/Nautical miles and T is
interms of µsec.
1 mile = 1.6Kms =0.8689 nautical miles
1 Nautical mile=1.15078 miles = 1.8412Kms
 Pulse Repetition Frequency(PRF)

 The time interval between the successive clock pulses is called pulse
repetition time, TP
 The reciprocal of pulse repetition time is called pulse repetition
frequency, fP
Mathematically, it can be represented as
fP =1/TP----------------------(2)
Therefore, pulse repetition frequency is nothing but the frequency at which
Radar transmits the signal.
 Maximum Unambiguous Range

•Mostly the transmitted signal used is train of narrow

rectangular pulses.
•To receive echo signal, each pulse is provided with certain
delay.
•If PRF is high, PRT is low; the echo signal from the target
might arrive after transmission of next pulse leads to ambiguity
in measuring the range.
• Echos arrived after transmission of next pulse are called
“Second time around echos”.
• So, the duration between the two clock pulses must be selected in
such a way that the echo signal corresponding to present clock pulse
will be received before the next clock pulse starts. Then, we will get the
true range of the target and it is also called maximum unambiguous
range of the target or simply, maximum unambiguous range.

Substitute, R=Run and T=TP in (1)

Run= CTP /2 = C/2fP-------------(3)

 Minimum Range

consider the time required for the echo signal to receive at Radar after the
signal being transmitted from the Radar as pulse width. It is also called the
shortest range of the target.

Substitute, R=Rmin and Rmin=Cτ/2 Equation 1.

Rmin=Cτ/2-------------Equation4
Minimum Detectable Signal(MDS)

Denoted as Smin

If the received echo power is less than Smin,

RADAR can not detect the signal
 Derivation of Radar Range Equation
 Radar range equation is useful to know the range of the target
theoretically.
 Power density is nothing but the ratio of power and area.
 The power density, Pdi at a distance, R from the Radar can be
mathematically represented as −

Pdi=Pt/4πR2---------------------Equation1
Where, Pt is the amount of power transmitted by the Radar transmitter.
 The above power density is valid for an isotropic Antenna. In general,
Radars use directional Antennas.
 Therefore, the power density, Pdd due to directional Antenna will be −

Pdd=Pt.G/4πR2------------Equation2
 Target radiates the power in different directions from the
received input power. The amount of power, which is reflected
back towards the Radar depends on its cross section.
 So, the power density Pde of echo signal at Radar can be
mathematically represented as −
Pde=Pdd(σ/4πR2)----------------------------Equation3
Substitute, Equation 2 in Equation 3.
Pde=(PtG/4πR2)(σ/4πR2)---------------Equation4

 The amount of power, Pr received by the Radar depends
on the effective aperture, Ae of the receiving Antenna.
Pr=PdeAe------------Equation5
Substitute, Equation 4 in Equation 5.
Pr=(PtG/4πR2)(σ/4πR2)Ae

⇒Pr=PtGσAe/(4π)2R4

⇒R4=PtGσAe/(4π)2Pr

⇒R=[PtGσAe/(4π)2Pr]1/4---------------Equation6
 Standard Form of Radar Range Equation
 If the echo signal is having the power less than the power of the
minimum detectable signal, then Radar cannot detect the target since it is
beyond the maximum limit of the Radar's range.
 Therefore, we can say that the range of the target is said to be maximum
range when the received echo signal is having the power equal to that of
minimum detectable signal.
 We will get the following equation, by substituting R=Rmax and Pr=Smin
in Equation 6.

RMax=[PtGσAe/(4π)2Smin]1/4 --------------
Equation7
 Modified Forms of Radar Range Equation
We know the following relation between the Gain of directional Antenna, G and effective
aperture, Ae

G=4πAe/λ2--------------Equation8
Substitute, Equation 8 in Equation 7.
RMax=[PtσAe/(4π)2Smin(4πAeλ2)]1/4

⇒RMax=[PtGσAe2/4πλ2Smin]1/4---------------Equation9
 Equation 9 represents the modified form of Radar range equation. By using the above equation,
we can find the maximum range of the target.
We will get the following relation between effective aperture, Ae and the Gain of directional
Antenna, G

Ae=Gλ2/4π--------------Equation10
Substitute, Equation 10 in Equation 7.
RMax=[PtGσ(4π)2Smin(Gλ24π)]1/4

⇒RMax=[PtG2λ2σ(4π)2Smin]1/4-------Equation11
Problem 1
Calculate the maximum range of Radar for the following specifications −
•Peak power transmitted by the Radar, Pt=250KW
•Gain of transmitting Antenna, G=4000
•Effective aperture of the receiving Antenna, Ae=4m2
•Radar cross section of the target, σ =25m2
•Power of minimum detectable signal, Smin=10−12W

Solution
We can use the following standard form of Radar range equation in order to
calculate the maximum range of Radar for given specifications.
RMax=[PtGσAe/(4π)2Smin]1/4
Substitute all the given parameters in above equation.
RMax=[(250×103)(4000)(25)(4)/(4π)2(10−12)]1/4

⇒RMax=158KM
Therefore, the maximum range of Radar for given specifications is 158KM
.
Problem 2
Calculate the maximum range of Radar for the following specifications.
•Operating frequency, f=10GHZ
•Peak power transmitted by the Radar, Pt=400KW
•Effective aperture of the receiving Antenna, Ae=5m2
•Radar cross section of the target, σ=30m2
•Power of minimum detectable signal, Smin=10−10W

Solution
We know the following formula for operating wavelength, λ in terms of operating frequency, f.
λ=Cf
Substitute, C=3×108m/sec and f=10GHZ in above equation.
λ=3×10810×109⇒λ=0.03m
So, the operating wavelength,λ is equal to 0.03m, when the operating frequency, f is 10GHZ

We can use the following modified form of Radar range equation in order to calculate the maximum
range of Radar for given specifications.
RMax=[PtGσAe/(4π)2Smin]1/4
Substitute, the given parameters in the above equation.
RMax=[(400×103)(30)(52)4π(0.003)2(10)−10]1/4
⇒RMax=128KM
Therefore, the maximum range of Radar for given specifications is 128KM
.
Block diagram of Basic Pulse RADAR
TR/ATR switch---------Transmit Receive/Anti transmit receive switch
Super heterodyne receiver
 Typical frequency range of IF amplifier is 30-60MHz, with a BW of 1MHz.
 Display: The Display is generally a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
i) ’A’ scope provided Range and Echo power.
ii) PPI measures Range and bearing (azimuth angles)
iii) In addition there are other displays like ‘B’ scope, ‘ D ‘ scope etc
(a) PPI presentation displaying Range vs. Angle (intensity modulation)
(b) A-scope presentation displaying Amplitude vs. Range (deflection modulation)
Radar frequency band and its range
• RF spectrum is very scarce and as such Radars are allotted only a certain
frequency bands for their operation by International Telecom Union ITU.
• During 2ndworld war, to keep the secrecy, certain code words were used. The
same designations are continued even today
• Lema Band (L) 1GHZ-2GHZ, Sierra band(S) 2GHZ-4GHZ, Charlie Band (C)
4GHZ-8GHZ, Xera Band (X) 8GHZ-12GHZ
• ITU (International Telecommunication Union) allocated a portion of these bands
for Radar.
Standard radar-frequency Bands
 Fields of Application

• Military
• Remote Sensing
• Air Traffic Control
• Law Enforcement And Highway
• Security
• Aircraft Safety And Navigation
• Ship Safety
• Space
• Miscellaneous Application
MILITARY
• Important part of air defence system, operation of offensive missiles & other
weapons.
• Target detection, target tracking & weapon control .
• Also used in area, ground & air surveillance.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

• Used to safely control air traffic in the vicinity of the airports and enroute.
• Ground vehicular traffic & aircraft taxing.
• Mapping of regions of rain in the vicinity of airports & w
LAW ENFORCEMENT& HIGHWAY SAFETY
• Radar speed meters are used by police for enforcing speed limits.
• It is used for warning of pending collision, actuating air bag or warning of
obstruction or people behind a vehicle or in the side blind zone

REMOTE SENSING
• Weather observation-TV Reporting
• Planetary observation
• Below ground probing
• Mapping of sea ice
AIRCRAFT SAFETY & NAVIGATION
• Low flying military aircrafts rely on terrain avoidance & terrain following radars
to avoid collision with high terrain & obstructions

SHIP SAFETY
• Radar is found on ships & boats for collision avoidance & to observe navigation
buoys, when the visibility is poor.
• Shore based radars are used for surveillance of harbours & river traffic.
SPACE
• Space vehicles have used radar for clocking & for landing on the moon.
• Used for planetary exploration.
• Ground based radars are used for detection & tracking of satellites & other
space objects.
• Used for radio astronomy.

OTHER APPLICATIONS
• It is used in industry for the non contact measurement of speed & distance.
• Used for oil & gas exploration.
• Used to study movements of insects & birds.
 Prediction of Range Performance

The simple form of the radar equation derived earlier expresses the maximum
radar range Rmax in terms of radar and target parameters:

Rmax = [ (Pt .G. Ae . σ)/ (4π)2 . Smin ] 1/4

Where, Pt = transmitted power, watts
G = antenna gain
Ae = antenna effective aperture, m2
σ = radar cross section, m2
Smin = minimum detectable signal, watts
All the parameters are to some extent under the control of the radar designer,
except for the target cross section σ.
The radar equation states that if long ranges are desired,
1. The transmitted power must be large.
2. The radiated energy must be concentrated into a narrow beam (high
transmitting antenna gain).
3. The received echo energy must be collected with a large antenna aperture (also
synonymous with high gain) and
4. The receiver must be sensitive to weak signals.

Note: In practice, however, the simple radar equation does not predict the range
performance of actual radars. The predicted values of radar range are usually
optimistic. In some cases the actual range might be only half of that is predicted.
The failure of the simple form of radar equation is due to
1. The statistical nature of the minimum detectable signal determined by receiver
noise.
2. Fluctuations and uncertainty in radar cross-section.
3. The losses throughout the radar system.
4. Propagation effects caused by the earth’s surface and atmosphere. Because of
statistical nature of receiver noise and target cross section, the maximum radar
range is described probabilistically rather than single number.

Therefore the radar range equation includes

1. Probability that radar will detect a target at a particular range(pd).
2. Probability of making a false detection when no target is present(pfa).
From the above facts it can be concluded that the range of radar is a
function of probability of detection(pd) and probability of false
alarm(pfa).
The prediction of radar range is not accurate as there is uncertainty in
various parameters.
Still radar range equation is an important tool for
i) Assessing the performance of radar
ii) Generating technical requirements and Determining system tradeoffs
for designing new radar systems.
 MINIMUM DETECTABLE SIGNAL

•The ability of a radar receiver to detect a weak echo signal is

limited by the noise present in the frequency spectrum.
•The weakest signal that the receiver can detect is called the
minimum detectable signal. It is difficult to define what is
minimum detectable signal (MDS) because of its statistical nature
and the criterion for deciding whether a target is present or not may
not be too well defined.
•Detection is normally based on establishing a threshold level at the
output of the receiver (as shown by the dotted line ). Whenever Rx
output signal which is a mixture of echo and noise crosses this
threshold then it is detected as a target. This is called threshold
detection.
• Consider the output of a typical radar receiver as a function of time as
shown in the figure below which typically represents one sweep of the
video output displayed on an A-scope.

Fig : Typical envelope of a radar receiver output as a function of

time. A, B, and C are three targets representing signal plus noise.
A and B are valid detections, but C is a missed detection
•If the threshold level were set properly
•If the threshold level is set too low. This is called a false alarm.
•If the threshold level were set too high-------This is called
missed detection.
Here points A,B and C represents signal plus noise.
The signal at A is large which has a much larger amplitude
than the noise. Hence target detection is possible without any
difficulty and ambiguity.
Next consider the two signals at B and C, representing target
echoes of equal amplitude.
But ,for the target C-------------target is not detected.
 •Threshold Level setting: The selection of the proper
threshold level is necessary to avoid the mistakes of
1.Failing to recognize a signal that is present (missed
detection) or
2.Falsely indicating the presence of a signal when it does not
exist (false alarm)
The signal-to-noise ratio is a better measure of a radar’s
detection performance that the minimum detectable
signal.
 RECEIVER NOISE

•Noise is an unwanted EM energy which interferes with the ability of

the receiver to detect the wanted signal thus limiting the receiver
sensitivity.
•It may originate within the receiver itself or it may enter via the
receiving antenna along with the desired signal.
•If the radar were to operate in a perfectly noise free environment so
that no external noise accompany the target signal.
• There would be still be noise generated by the thermal motion of
the conduction electrons in the ohmic portion of the receiver i/p
stages. This is called Thermal noise or Jhonson noise.
Thermal noise is also proportional to BW (Bn) of receiver.
The available thermal noise power generated by receiver is ‘KTBn’
Where, K= 1.38X10-23 joules/degree (Boltz’sman constant)
T=temperature in 0K
Bn= BW of receiver(HPBW)
 In most of RADAR applications the receiver used is super
heterodyne receiver so that the BW of receiver is BW of IF amplifier
stage.
 Here the BW is integrated BW and is given by

Where, H(f) = frequency response of IF amplifier/matched filter

F0 = center frequency/ max.f requency response
 Gain(Ga)
The output noise of ideal receiver = i/p power X receiver noise

Gain(Ga) = output signal power/input signal power = So/Si

Output noise of ideal receiver = Ga.Ni = GaKToBn

 Noise factor of RADAR receiver/IF Amplifier

 Noise factor = noise o/p of practical radar receiver/noise o/p

of ideal radar receiver

Noise factor (Fn) = No/GaKToBn = (Si/Ni)/(So/No)

 Si = Fn(So/No).Ni
 In order to detect the signal/target, the minimum signal to
noise ratio required at the o/p of IF amplifier is (So/Si)min
Smin = KToBnFn(So/No)min.
The RADAR range equation is
Rmax4 = PtGσAe/(4∏)2 Smin = PtGσAe/(4∏)2 KToBnFn(So/No)min

SNR
•Signal to noise ratio is very important as far as radar is

concerned. Because presence of target or not have small

difference.

•Statistical noise theory will be applied to obtain S/N at the o/p

of the IF amplifier hence, it is necessary to achieve a specified

prob of detection and prob of false alarm.

 Consider an IF amplifier with bandwidth BIF followed by a second

detector and a video amplifier with bandwidth Bv,

 The second detector and video amplifier are assumed to form an

envelope detector, that is, one which rejects the carrier frequency but passes
the modulation envelope.
 To extract the modulation envelope, the video bandwidth must be wide
enough to pass the low-frequency components generated by the second
detector
 The video bandwidth Bv, must be greater than BIF /2 in order to pass all
the video modulation.
 The noise entering the IF filter (the terms filter and amplifier are used
interchangeably) is assumed to be gaussian, with probability-density
function given by

Where, p(v) dv is the probability of finding the noise voltage between the values

of v and v+dv,
Ψo is the variance of v is taken to be zero.
 If gaussian noise were passed through a narrowband IF filter-one whose
bandwidth is small compared with the mid frequency-the probability density of
the envelope of the noise voltage output is shown by

Where, R is the amplitude of the envelope of the filter output.

Equation above is a form of the Rayleigh probability-density function.
 The probability that the envelope of the noise voltage will
lie between the values of V1 and V2 is

 The probability that the noise voltage envelope will exceed

the voltage threshold VT is
 The average time interval between crossings of the
threshold by noise alone is defined as the false-alarm time
Tfa,

Where, Tk is the time between crossings of the threshold VT

by the noise envelope.

The false-alarm probability may also be defined as the

ratio of the duration of time the envelope is actually above
the threshold to the total time it could have been above the
threshold, or
 The average duration of a noise pulse is approximately the
reciprocal of the bandwidth B, which in the case of the envelope
detector is BIF. Equating equations discussed above we get
 Consider sine-wave signals of amplitude A to be present
along with noise at the input to the IF filter.
 The output or the envelope detector has a probability-
density function given by

where Io (Z) is the modified Bessel function of zero order

 When the signal is absent, A = 0, the probability-density

function for noise alone
probability that the signal will be detected (which is the
probability of detection) is the same as the probability that the
envelope R will exceed the predetermined threshold VT. The

probability of detection Pd, is therefore,

 Radar Cross Section of Targets
 The radar cross section of a target is the (fictional) area intercepting that
amount of power which when scattered equally in all directions, produces an
echo at the radar equal to that from the target; or in other terms,
 Transmitter Power
The power Pt in the radar equation is the peak power. Peak power is
usually equal to one-half the maximum instantaneous power.
The average radar power Pav, is also of interest in radar and is defined as
the average transmitter power over the pulse-repetition period. If the
transmitted waveform is a train of rectangular pulses of width τ and pulse-
repetition period Tp = l/fp, the average power is related to the peak power by

 The ratio Pav/Pt, τ/Tp, or τfp is called the duty cycle of the radar.
 A pulse radar for detection of aircraft might have typically a duty cycle
of 0.001, while a CW radar which transmits continuously has a duty cycle
of unity.
 Writing the radar equation in terms of the average power
rather than the peak power, we get

 If the transmitted waveform is not a rectangular pulse, it is

sometimes more convenient to express the radar equation in
terms of the energy Eτ = P av/fp contained in the transmitted
waveform:
Pulse repetition frequency and range ambiguities

The pulse repetition frequency (prf) is determined primarily by the

maximum range at which targets are expected.
 If the prf is made too high, obtaining target echoes from the wrong
pulse transmission is increased. Echo signals received after an interval
exceeding the pulse-repetition period are called multiple-time-around
echoes. They can result in erroneous or confusing range measurements.
Fig.1.9 Multiple-time-around echoes that give rise to ambiguities in range (a)
Three targets A, B and C, where A is within Runamb, and B and C are multiple-
time-around targets;(b) the appearance of the three targets on the A-scope;
(c) appearance of the three targets on the A-scope with a changing prf.