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Chapter 1
1.Introduction to Radar
1.1 Introduction
RADAR, Radio Aid Detection and Ranging, A method of Detecting position, Ranging the target
and calculating the velocity of the moving Target with respect to center point of the antenna.
Figure: Polar co-ordinate Representation of position of Aircraft.
Where;
r = Range (Distance) from Radar Antenna
β = Azimuth i.e. always clockwise direction from magnetic North as shown in figure above.
1.2 Radar Block Diagram & Operation
The General Block diagram of Radar is;
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Msc.in Engineering
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Figure: General Block Diagram of RADAR
The following figure illustrates a basic primary radar system. Pulses of radar energy are
transmitted in certain desired directions. Some of the pulses of energy may encounter an object
(Aircraft, hills, storm clouds, etc.). A proportion of this energy reflected by the object and some
of these energy, by now very weak, is detected at the receiver information about the object is
extracted and displayed in a suitable form.
Figure: Primary Radar Block Diagram
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Er.Hemant Yadav
Msc.in Engineering
[email protected]
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And the following figure illustrates a basic principle of secondary radar is much the same but
there is one importance difference which should be grasped at the beginning of study; primary
radar employs reflected pulses and secondary radar requires the object to transmit its own energy.
Figure: Secondary Radar Block Diagram
There are three additional terms associated with primary and secondary radar which are of
interest;
Radar Echo: The visual indication on a display of a signal reflected from an object (i.e. primary
Radar)
Radar Response: The visual indication on a display of a radar signal transmitted from an object
in reply to an interrogation (i.e. secondary Radar).
Radar Blip: The collective term meaning either echo or Response.
Antenna
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. Radar Antenna of the
type used for detection of aircraft. It rotates steadily, sweeping the airspace with a narrow beam.
Mostly: Modified Parabolic Antenna and LVA (Large vertical aperture) Antenna are used.
Transmitter
The Radar Transmitter produces the short duration high-power RF pulses of energy that are
radiated into space by the antenna. Mostly Solid-State Transmitter is used.
Duplexer
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A duplexer is an electronic device that allows bi-directional (duplex) communication over a single
path. In radar and radio communications systems, it isolates the receiver from the transmitter while
permitting them to share a common antenna. Most radio repeater systems include a duplexer.
Figure: Duplexer
Receiver
The receivers amplify and demodulates the received RF signal. The receiver Provides video
signals on the output
Modulator
Every time the modulator unit is fired by the trigger unit. It sends a high power, high voltage
pulse to the transmitter. The duration/width/length of the pulse is determined by certain design
characteristics in the modulator. The beginning of each pulse switches on the transmitter and the
end of each pulses switches the transmitter off. Thus, the modulator is a kind of on/off switch
for the transmitter.
Synchronizer
The synchronizer supplies the synchronizing signals. e.g. the duration of the transmitted pulses,
the start of the defection in the indicator and the timing of other associated circuits.
Indicator
The indicator should present to the observer a continuous, easily understandable, graphic picture
of relative position of radar targets. Followings are the information’s obtained from Radar;
a) Aircraft Type & ID (i.e. Mode A)
b) Flight Level (i.e. Mode C)
c) Speed in NM, Track History, aircraft ascending/ descending info.
d) Some Warning like; MSAW (Minimum Safe Altitude Warning), STCA (Short term
conflict Alert), APW (Area Proximity Warning)
e) Some alert like RF (Radio Fail), HJ (Hijack), EM (Emergency of Aircraft Due Technical)
& other details about aircraft.
Encoder
It provides aircraft bearing information like; ACP (Azimuth change Pulse) & ARP (Azimuth
Reference pulse)
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Defruiter
Defruiter removes false reply un-synchronous in time signal.
Decoder
The Decoder, used with the control equipment, decodes the reply signal.
Transponder
The Transponder on the aircraft receives the transmitted signal of frequency 1030 MHz and
transmits the reply signal with a frequency of 1090 MHz.
Altimeter
Altimeter is used to measure the Flight level of Aircraft.
Operation (Working principle)
Figure: The measuring of a round trip time of a microwave pulse
Transmitting of RF Energy with high power through Radar antenna and receives part of
transmitted signal by same antenna in the form of ECHO after reflecting on the surface of
Target(Aircraft) and then measuring the round-trip time to calculate the Range.
It is obtained by recording the round-trip travel time of a pulse t shown figure below, and
computing Range from:
𝑪𝒙 𝒕
𝑹=
𝟐
where C= 3x108 m/s the velocity of light in free space.
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Msc.in Engineering
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Figure: Round trip travel time of Transmitted Pulse
1.3 Application of Radar
The information provided by radar includes the bearing and range (and therefore position) of the
object from the radar antenna. It is thus used in many different fields where the need for such
positioning is essential.
The first use of radar was for military purposes: to locate in air, ground and sea targets.
This evolved in the civilian field into applications for aircraft, ships, and roads.
1. Airborne Radar: aircraft are equipped with radar devices that warn of aircraft or other
obstacles in or approaching their path, display weather information, and give accurate
altitude readings
2. ATC Radar: for target detection, ranging, velocity, Aircraft call sign, Type, Flight
level and also provides other features depend upon of types of Radar.
3. Marine radars are used to measure the bearing and distance of ships to prevent
collision with other ships, to navigate, and to fix their position at sea when within range
of shore or other fixed references such as islands, buoys, and lightships.
4. In port, vessel traffic service radar systems are used to monitor and regulate ship
movements in busy waters.
5. Meteorologists use Weather radar to monitor precipitation and wind. It has become
the primary tool for short-term weather forecasting and watching for severe weather
such as thunderstorms, tornadoes, winter storms, precipitation types, etc.
6. Geologists use specialized ground-penetrating radars to map the composition of Earth's
crust.
7. Police forces use radar guns to monitor vehicle speeds on the roads.
8. Medical; Smaller radar systems are used to detect human movement.
Examples are breathing pattern detection for sleep monitoring and hand and finger gesture detection for
computer interaction.
1.4 Radar Frequencies
The Frequency used depends on the application of equipment of the equipment. In general, when
a high resolution or accuracy is required, high frequencies are preferable. Provided that the
antenna has the same size, the beam width of radiation pattern becomes smaller in proportion to
its wavelength, improving the azimuth resolution and azimuth accuracy. In addition, the higher
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the frequency, the shorter the pulse rise time and the narrower the pulse width, allowing
improvement of the range resolution and accuracy.
Abbreviation of Frequency Range Applications
Frequency (MHz)
L 960-1350 SSR, ARSR, MSSR
S 2700-2900 ASR, Weather Radar, Marine Radar
C 5.3 -5.7 Weather Radar, Navigation Radar, Tracking Radar
X 9000 – 9800 PAR, Navigation Radar, Tracking Radar
Ku 15700 – 17700 Airborne Radar
K 2300 -25250 ASDE
Ka 31800-36000 ASDE, Port Radar, Weather Radar for Cloud
Observation.
Figure: Frequency Range of different types of Radar
Where:
SSR : Secondary Surveillance Radar
SIF : Selective Identification Feature/ MSSR, Mono pulse secondary surveillance Radar
ARSR : Air Route Surveillance Radar
ASR : Airport Surveillance Radar/ Primary Surveillance Radar
PAR : Precision Approach Radar
ASDE : Airport Surface Detection Equipment
What’s the azimuth?
The azimuth is the angle between a celestial body (sun, moon) and the North, measured
clockwise around the observer's horizon.
It determines the direction of the celestial body. For example, a celestial body due North has an
azimuth of 0º, one due East 90º, one due South 180º and one due West 270º.
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Figure: Map view representing the azimuths: 0º, 90º, 180º and 270º.
On the Planner, you’ll find the azimuth and elevation of the sun/moon for the selected date and
time on one of the top panels. The azimuth is also represented on the map by the azimuth lines,
and the elevation on the time bar.
To help you better understand how the azimuth is represented on Photo Pills, I've drawn North
and azimuth angle of the sun for two different moments on the following screenshots.
The first one is telling you that on February 11th 2014 at 10:17am the sun was at azimuth 136.5º;
and the second one that on February 11th 2014 at 3:01pm the sun was at azimuth 214.6º.
What’s the elevation?
The elevation is the vertical angular distance between a celestial body (sun, moon) and the
observer's local horizon or, also called, the observer’s local plane.
For us, the elevation of the sun is the angle between the direction of the geometric center of sun's
apparent disk and the observer's local horizon.
We'll say that the sun/moon is at elevation of 12º when its geometric center is situated at 12º
above the observer’s local horizon or local plane.
The following two pictures show the elevation of the sun in two different positions of the
observer.
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Msc.in Engineering
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Figure: Observer at the sea level, local plane and elevation of the sun & Observer at the top of
a mountain, local plane and elevation of the sun.
Old Questions
1. Draw the block Diagram of Radar? What are the applications of Radar?
2. What are the information that can be obtained from received radar?
3. In indicating the position of target, what is difference between azimuth and
elevation angles?
*End of Chapter 1*
Prepared By;
Er.Hemant Yadav
Msc.in Engineering
[email protected]
