Suez University

Faculty of computers and information

Radar
Fundementals and applications

By

Ahmed Osama El-Morsy

1st year

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Introduction:
Radar technology is one of the most advanced technologies for measuring object distances
from the earth. Because of this, there has been a variety of radar systems that are used for various
purposes. Radar systems are classified under various categories depending on their functions and
purposes.

We can observe different objects around the world. Similarly, radar-like radio detection and
ranging are used to assist the pilots while flying through fog because the pilot cannot notice that
where they are traveling. The radar used in the airplanes is similar to a torchlight that works with
radio waves in place of light. The airplane transmits a blinking radar signal and listens out for
any indications of that signal from nearby objects. Once the indications are noticed, then the
airplane identifies something is near & it uses the time taken for the indications to reach for
discovering how distant away it is. now we will discuss an overview of Radar and its working.

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Definition:
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (ranging),
angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site.

It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather
formations, and terrain. A radar system consists of a transmitter producing electromagnetic
waves in the radio or microwaves domain, a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna (often the
same antenna is used for transmitting and receiving) and a receiver and processor to determine
properties of the objects. Radio waves (pulsed or continuous) from the transmitter reflect off the
objects and return to the receiver, giving information about the objects' locations and speeds.

Development:
Radar was developed secretly for military use by several countries in the period before and
during World War II. A key development was the cavity magnetron in the United Kingdom,
which allowed the creation of relatively small systems with sub-meter resolution. The
term RADAR was coined in 1940 by the United States Navy as an acronym for radio detection
and ranging. The term radar has since entered English and other languages as a common
noun, losing all capitalization.

Serious developmental work on radar began in the 1930s, but the basic idea of radar had its
origins in the classical experiments on electromagnetic radiation conducted by German
physicist Heinrich Hertz during the late 1880s. Hertz set out to verify experimentally the earlier
theoretical work of Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell. Maxwell had formulated the general
equations of the electromagnetic field, determining that both light and radio waves are examples
of electromagnetic waves governed by the same fundamental laws but having widely different
frequencies. Maxwell’s work led to the conclusion that radio waves can be reflected from
metallic objects and refracted by a dielectric medium, just as light waves can. Hertz
demonstrated these properties in 1888, using radio waves at a wavelength of 66 cm (which
corresponds to a frequency of about 455 MHz).

The potential utility of Hertz’s work as the basis for the detection of targets of practical interest
did not go unnoticed at the time. In 1904 a patent for “an obstacle detector and

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ship navigation device,” based on the principles demonstrated by Hertz, was issued in several
countries to Christian Hülsmeyer, a German engineer. Hülsmeyer built his invention and
demonstrated it to the German navy but failed to arouse any interest. There was simply no
economic, societal, or military need for radar until the early 1930s, when long-range military
bombers capable of carrying large payloads were developed. This prompted the major countries
of the world to look for a means with which to detect the approach of hostile aircraft.

Fundamentals of Radar
The RADAR system generally consists of a transmitter that produces an electromagnetic signal
which is radiated into space by an antenna. When this signal strikes an object, it gets reflected or
reradiated in many directions. This reflected or echo signal is received by the radar antenna
which delivers it to the receiver, where it is processed to determine the geographical statistics of
the object.

The range is determined by calculating the time taken by the signal to travel from the RADAR to
the target and back. The target’s location is measured in angle, from the direction of the
maximum amplitude echo signal, the antenna points to. To measure the range and location of
moving objects, the Doppler Effect is used.

The essential parts of this system include the following.

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.

Waveguides:
The waveguides are transmission lines for transmission of the RADAR signals.

Antenna:
The antenna used can be a parabolic reflector, planar arrays, or electronically steered phased
arrays.

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Duplexer:

A duplexer allows the antenna to be used as a transmitter or a receiver. It can be a gaseous

device that would produce a short circuit at the input to the receiver when the transmitter is
working.

Receiver:
It can be a superheterodyne receiver or any other receiver which consists of a processor to
process the signal and detect it.

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.

Radar Range Equation:

There are different kinds of versions available for the radar range equations. Here, the
following equation is one of the fundamental types for an only antenna system. When the object
is assumed to be in the middle of the antenna signal, then the highest radar detection range can
be written as

Rmax = 4√Pt λ2G2σ/(4π)3Pmin

= 4√Pt C2G2σ/fo2(4π)3Pmin

‘Pt’ = Transmit power

‘Pmin’ = Minimum detectable signal

‘λ’ = Transmit wavelength

‘σ’ = Cross-section of the target radar

‘fo’= Frequency in Hz

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‘G’ = Gain of an antenna

‘C’ = Light speed

In the above equation, the variables are stable as well as rely on radar apart from the target
like RCS. The order of transmit power will be 1 mW (0 dBm) & the gain of antenna
approximately 100 (20 dB) for an ERP (efficient radiated power) of 20 dBm (100 mW). The
order of least noticeable signals are picowatts and the RCS for a vehicle might be 100 square
meters.

So, the radar range equation’s exactness will be the input data. P min (minimum noticeable
signal) mainly depends on the bandwidth of receiver (B), F (noise figure), T (temperature) &
necessary S/N ratio (signal-to-noise ratio).

A receiver with narrow bandwidth will be more responsive as compared with a wide BW
receiver. Noise figure can be defined as; it is a calculation of how much noise the receiver can
contribute toward a signal. When the noise figure is lesser then the noise will be less the device
donates. When the temperature increases, it will affect the sensitivity of the receiver through
rising input noise

Pmin = k T B F (S/N)min

From the previous equation,

‘Pmin’ is the least detectable signal

‘k’ is the Boltzmann’s constant like 1.38 x 10-23 (Watt*sec/°Kelvin)

‘T’ is a temperature (°Kelvin)

‘B’ is the bandwidth of a receiver (Hz)

‘F’ is the Noise Figure (dB), Noise Factor (ratio)

(S/N) min = Least S/N Ratio

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The i/p thermal noise power which is available can be proportional toward the kTB wherever ‘k’
is Boltzmann’s constant, ‘T’ is temperature and ‘B’ is the bandwidth of receiver noise in hertz.

T = 62.33°F or 290°K

B = 1 Hz

kTB = -174 dBm/Hz

The above radar range equation can be written for received power like a range of function for a
provided transmit power, antenna gain, RCS & wavelength.

Prec = Pt λ2G2σ/(4π)3R4max = Pt C2G2σ/(4π)3R4fo2

Prec = PtG2(λ/4π)2 σ/4πR2

From the above equation,

‘Prec’ is the received power

‘Pt’ is the transmit power

‘fo’ is the transmit frequency

‘λ’ is the transmit wavelength

‘G’ is the gain of an antenna

‘σ’ is the cross-section of radar

‘R’ is the range

‘c’ is the speed of light

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Types of radar:

1. Bistatic radar

Bistatic radar is a radar system that comprises of a transmitter and a receiver that are separated
by a distance that is equal to the distance of the expected target. A radar in which the transmitter
and the receiver are located at the same place is known as a monastic radar. Most long-range
surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles employ the use of bistatic radar.

2. Continuous-wave radar

A continuous-wave radar is a type of radar where a known stable frequency continuous wave
radio energy is transmitted and then received from any of the objects that reflect the waves. A
continuous-wave radar uses Doppler technology which means the radar will be immune to any
form of interference by large objects that are stationary or slow-moving.

3. Doppler radar

A Doppler radar is a special form of radar that employs the use of the Doppler Effect to produce
velocity data about an object at a given distance. This is achieved by sending electromagnetic
signals towards a target and then analyzing how the object’s motion has affected the frequency
of the returned signal. This variation has the capacity to give extremely accurate measurements
of the radial component of a target’s velocity in relation to the radar. Doppler radars have
applications in different industries including aviation, meteorology, healthcare, and many others.

4. Monopulse radar

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A monopulse radar is a radar system that compares the received signal from a single radar pulse
against itself with an aim of comparing the signal as seen in multiple polarizations or directions.
The most common form of monopulse radar is the adaptation of conical scanning radar which
compares the return from two directions to directly measure the location of the target. It is
important to note that most of the radars that were designed since the 1960s are monopulse
radars.

5. Passive radar

A passive radar system is a type of radar that is designed to detect and track objects by
processing reflections from non-cooperative sources of illumination in the environment. These
sources include such things as communications signals and commercial broadcasts. Passive radar
can be categorized in the same class of radar as a bistatic radar.

6. Instrumentation radar

Instrumentation radars are radars that are designed to test rockets, missiles, aircraft, and
ammunitions on government and private test ranges. They provide a variety of information
including space, position, and time both in real-time and in the post-processing analysis.

7. Weather radars

Weather radars are radar systems that are used for weather sensing and detection. This radar uses
radio waves along with horizontal or circular polarization. The frequency selection of weather
radar depends on a performance compromise between precipitation refection and attenuation as a
result of atmospheric water vapor. Some weather radars are designed to use Doppler shifts to
measure the speed of wind and dual-polarization to identify precipitation types.

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8. Mapping radar

Mapping radars are used to scan a large geographical region for geography and remote
sensing applications. Because of their use of synthetic aperture radar, they are limited to
relatively static objects. There are some specific radar systems that can sense humans behind
walls thanks to the reflective characteristics of humans that are more diverse than the ones found
in construction materials.

9. Navigational radars

Navigational radars are generally the same as search radars. However, they come with much
shorter wavelengths that are capable of reflecting from the earth and from stones. They are most
common on commercial ships and other long-distance commercial aircraft. There are various
navigational radars that include marine radars commonly mounted on ships for collision
avoidance and navigational purposes.

Applications:
The applications of radar include the following.

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

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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

Remote Sensing

It can be used for observing whether 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

To monitor the meteors

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References

Lidarradar.com - Different types of radar systems

https://lidarradar.com/definition/different-types-of-radar-systems

Wikipedia- Radar

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar

ssla- Radar

https://www.ssla.co.uk/radar/

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