Introduction to Radar Systems

Dr. Robert M. O’Donnell

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Introduction-1
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 Disclaimer of Endorsement and Liability

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MIT Lincoln Laboratory
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 Introduction to Radar Systems

Introduction

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Introduction-3
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 Acknowledgement

• Developers of Tutorial Material

– Dr. Eric D. Evans

– Dr. Andrew D. Gerber
– Dr. Robert M. O’Donnell

– Dr. Robert G. Atkins

– Dr. Pamela R. Evans
– Dr. Robert J. Galejs
– Dr. Jeffrey S. Herd
– Dr. Claude F. Noiseux
– Dr. Philip K. W. Phu
– Dr. Nicholas B. Pulsone
– Dr. Katherine A. Rink
– Dr. James Ward
– Dr. Stephen D. Weiner
– And many others

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MIT Lincoln Laboratory
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 Background on the Course

• One of Many Radar Courses Presented at the Laboratory

• Relatively Short
– 10 lectures
– 40 to 60 minutes each

• Introductory in Scope
– Basic Radar Concepts
– Minimal Mathematical Formalism

• Prerequisite – A College Degree

– Preferred in Engineering or Science, but not Required

• More Advanced Issues Dealt with in Other Laboratory Radar

Courses

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 Outline

• Why radar?

• The basics

• Course agenda

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 What Means are Available for
Lifting the Fog of War ?
D-Day + 1

The Invasion of Normandy

D-Day

Courtesy of National Archives.

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 What Means are Available for
Lifting the Fog of War ?
Courtesy of US Marine Corp, History Division.

Iwo Jima
1945

Courtesy of National Archives. Courtesy of National Archives.

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 Military Means of Sensing

Optical/IR Radar Acoustic Other

• Ground surveillance/ • Surveillance • Sonar • Chem/Bio
reconnaissance/ID • Tracking • Blast detection • Radiological
• Laser targeting • Fire control • Troop movement
Applications

• Night vision • Target ID/ detection

• Space surveillance
• Missile seekers
discrimination
• Ground surveillance/
reconnaissance
• Ground mapping
• Moving target detection
• Air traffic control
• Missile seekers

• Long range
Attributes

• All-weather
• Day/night
• 3-space target location
• Reasonably robust against
countermeasures

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 Early Days of Radar
Chain Home Radar, Deployment Began 1936
Chain Home Radar Coverage Sept 2006 Photograph of
circa 1940 Three Chain Home
(21 Early Warning Radar Sites) Transmit Towers, near
Dover

Dover
Radar Site

Courtesy of Robert Cromwell.

Used with permission.

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 Chain Home Radar System

Typical Chain Home Radar Site

Radar Parameters
• Frequency
– 20-30 MHz
• Wavelength
– 10-15 m
• Antenna
– Dipole Array on
Transmit
– Crossed Dipoles on
Receive
• Azimuth Beamwidth
– About 100o
• Peak Power
– 350 kW
• Detection Range
– ~160 nmi on
German Bomber

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 Chain Home Transmit & Receive Antennas

Two Transmitter Towers

λ/2 360'

λ/2 One Receiver Tower

240'
215'

95'

45'

0'
Main Gap Filler
Antenna Antenna

Transmit Antenna Receive Antenna

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 Radar and “The Battle of Britain”
Chain Home Radar Coverage
circa 1940
(21 Early Warning Radar Sites)
• The Chain Home Radar
– British “Force Multiplier”
during the Battle of Britain”
• Timely warning of direction
and size of German aircraft
attacks allowed British to
– Focus their limited numbers
of interceptor aircraft
– Achieve numerical parity
with the attacking German
aircraft
• Effect on the War
– Germany was unable to
achieve Air Superiority
– Invasion of Great Britain
was postponed indefinitely

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 Surveillance and Fire Control Radars
Courtesy of Raytheon. Courtesy of Raytheon. Used with permission. Photo courtesy
Used with permission. of ITT
Corporation.
Used with
permission.

Courtesy of Raytheon.
Used with permission. Courtesy of Raytheon. Used with permission. Courtesy of US Navy.

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MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Courtesy of Global Security.
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Used with permission. Courtesy of Raytheon. Used with permission.
 Airborne and Air Traffic Control Radars
Courtesy of US Air Force. Courtesy of US Navy.

Courtesy of Northrop Grumman.

Used with permission.

Courtesy Lincoln Laboratory.

Courtesy of US Air Force.

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MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Courtesy of US Air Force.
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Courtesy of US Air Force.
Courtesy of Boeing Used with permission
 Instrumentation Radars

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 Outline

• Why radar?

• The basics

• Course agenda

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 RADAR
RAdio Detection And Ranging

Antenna
Propagation

Target
Cross
Section
Reflected
Transmitted Pulse
Pulse (“echo”)

Radar observables:
• Target range
• Target angles (azimuth & elevation)
• Target size (radar cross section)
• Target speed (Doppler)
• Target features (imaging)
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 Electromagnetic Waves

Courtesy Berkeley National Laboratory

Radar Frequencies

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 Properties of Waves
Relationship Between Frequency and Wavelength

Speed of light, c
1, 2, 3, …
c = 3x108 m/sec
= 300,000,000 m/sec
Figure by
MIT OCW.

Speed of light (m/s)

Frequency (1/s) =
Wavelength λ (m)

Examples: Frequency Wavelength

100 MHz 3m
1 GHz 30 cm
3 GHz 10 cm
10 GHz 3 cm
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 Properties of Waves
Phase and Amplitude
Amplitude (volts)

Phase, θ A sin(θ )

90° phase offset

Amplitude (volts)
A

Phase, θ A sin(θ − 90 o )

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 Properties of Waves
Constructive vs. Destructive Addition

Σ Σ

Constructive Partially Constructive

(in phase) (somewhat out of phase)

Σ Σ

Destructive Non-coherent signals

(180° out of phase) (noise)

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 Polarization
y
Electromagnetic Wave Electric Field
Electromagnetic Wave Electric Field
Magnetic
Magnetic Field
Field

Vertical Polarization Horizontal Polarization

y y

x x E
z z
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 Radar Frequency Bands

Wavelength 1 km 1m 1 mm 1 μm 1 nm

Frequency 1 MHz 1 GHz 109 Hz 1012 Hz

IR UV
Visible

Ku
K
UHF L-Band S-Band C-Band X-Band Ka
VHF W

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Allocated Frequency (GHz)

30 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
Wavelength (cm)
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 IEEE Standard Radar Bands
(Typical Use)

HF 3 – 30 MHz

VHF 30 MHz–300 MHz

Search
UHF 300 MHz–1 GHz Radars

L-Band 1 GHz–2 GHz

Search &
S-Band 2 GHz–4 GHz
Track Radars
C-Band 4 GHz–8 GHz
Fire Control &
X-Band 8 GHz–12 GHz Imaging Radars
Ku-Band 12 GHz–18 GHz

K-Band 18 GHz–27 GHz Missile

Seekers
Ka-Band 27 GHz–40 GHz

W-Band 40 GHz – 100+ GHz

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 Radar Block Diagram

Waveform
Transmitter
Propagation Generator
Medium

Signal Processor
Target
Cross
Section Pulse Doppler
Antenna Receiver A/D
Compression Processing

Main Computer
Console /
Tracking & Display
Detection Parameter
Estimation
Recording

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 Radar Range Equation

Antenna Aperture A
Transmitted Pulse
Transmit Power PT
Target Cross Section σ

Received Pulse
Figure by MIT OCW. R

Transmit Transmit Spread Target Spread Receive Dwell

Losses
Power Gain Factor RCS Factor Aperture Time
Received Signal
4πA 1 1 σ 1
Energy = PT A τ
λ2 4πR2 L 4πR2

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 Signal-to-Noise Ratio

Received Signal

Noise

Received Signal Energy

SNR =
Noise Energy

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 What the #@!*% is a dB?

The relative value of two things, measured on a

logarithmic scale, is often expressed in deciBel’s (dB)

Example:
Signal Power
Signal-to-noise ratio (dB) = 10 log 10
Noise Power

Scientific
Factor of: Notation dB
10 101 10 0 dB = factor of 1
100 102 20 -10 dB = factor of 1/10
1000 103 30 -20 dB = factor of 1/100
.
. 3 dB = factor of 2
.
1,000,000 106 60 -3 dB = factor of 1/2

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 Pulsed Radar
Terminology and Concepts
Pulse length
Peak power
Power

Target
Return

Pulse repetition interval

(PRI) Time

Pulse length
Duty cycle =
Pulse repetition interval

Average power = Peak power * Duty cycle

Pulse repetition frequency (PRF) = 1/(PRI)

Continuous wave (CW) radar: Duty cycle = 100% (always on)

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 Pulsed Radar
Terminology and Concepts
Pulse length 100 μsec
Peak power

1 MW
Power

Target
Return 1 μW

Pulse repetition interval

(PRI) 1 msec Time

Pulse length
Duty cycle = 10%
Pulse repetition interval

Average power = Peak power * Duty cycle 100 kW

Pulse repetition frequency (PRF) = 1/(PRI) 1 kHz

Continuous wave (CW) radar: Duty cycle = 100% (always on)

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 Brief Mathematical Digression
Scientific Notation and Greek Prefixes

Scientific Standard Greek Radar

Notation Notation Prefix Examples

109 1,000,000,000 Giga GHz

106 1,000,000 Mega MHz, MW
103 1,000 kilo km
101 10 - -
100 1 - -
10-3 0.001 milli msec
10-6 0.000,001 micro μsec

MHz = Megahertz
MW = Megawatt

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 Radar Waveforms

What do radars transmit?

Waves?

Waves, modulated
by “on-off” action of
or Pulses? pulse envelope

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 Radar Waveforms (cont’d.)

Pulse at single frequency

Frequency
Time

Pulse with changing frequency

Frequency Linear
Frequency-
Modulated
(LFM)
Waveform

Time

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 Radar Range Measurement

e
ang
R
Target

d
i tte
r ansm se
T Pul

ected
fl
Re ulse
P
cτ
• Target range =
2
where c = speed of light
τ = round trip time
Courtesy of Raytheon. Used with permission.

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 Antenna Gain

Isotropic antenna Directional antenna

G = antenna gain

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 Propagation Effects on Radar Performance

• Atmospheric attenuation

• Reflection off of earth’s surface

• Over-the-horizon diffraction

• Atmospheric refraction

Radar
Radarbeams
beamscan
canbe
beattenuated,
attenuated,reflected
reflectedand
and
bent
bentby
bythe
theenvironment
environment

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 Radar Cross Section (RCS)

RCS

Incident x σ = Reflected
Power Density Power
(Watts/m2) (m2) (Watts)

Radar Cross Section (RCS, or s) is the effective cross-

sectional area of the target as seen by the radar

measured in m2, or dBm2

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 Signal Processing
Pulse Compression
Problem: Pulse can be very long; does not allow accurate range measurement

1 msec x c = 150 km
2

?
Figure by
MIT OCW.

Solution: Use pulse with changing frequency and signal process using “matched filter”

Matched
Filter
Uncompressed pulse Compressed pulse

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 Bandwidth

Narrowband Low
Waveform c
Frequency

Compressed ΔR = Range
Pulse 2B Resolution

Bandwidth
Time Range

Wideband
Waveform High
Compressed Range
Frequency

Resolution
Bandwidth

Pulse

Time Range
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.

Why Bandwidth is Important

Wideband Target Profile

Bandwidth

Very High
(X 30)
Power

High
(X 10)

Medium
(X 3)

Low

Relative Range (m)

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 Detection of Signals in Noise

Detected Target

False
Alarm Detection
Threshold
Power

Missed
Target

RMS
Noise
Level

Range

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 Coherent Integration

Signal buried
Pulse 1
in Noise
(SNR < 0 dB)
Voltage

+ Pulse 2

0
+ Pulse 3
Signal integrated
.. out of Noise
. (SNR increases by N)

+ Pulse N

Power
|x|2
• Signals are same each time;
add “coherently” (N2)
• Noise is different each time;
0
doesn’t add coherently (N)

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 Doppler Effect

Observer A Observer B

Observer A Hears Observer B Hears

Driver Hears
Figure by MIT OCW.

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 Doppler Shift Concept
λ c
λ
f ==
λf
c v

c
f’ = f ± (2v/λ)
Doppler
shift
λ’
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 Why Doppler is Important

Surface Radar Airborne Radar

Clutter returns are much larger than Note: if you’re moving too, you need
target returns… to take that into account.
…however, targets move, clutter
doesn’t.

Doppler
Doppler lets
lets you
you separate
separate things
things that
that are
are moving
moving from
from things
things that
that aren’t
aren’t
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 Clutter Doppler Spectra

70
Land
60
Sea
50 Rain
Relative Power (dB)

Chaff
40 Birds
30

20

10
Target
0

-10

-20
0 50 100 150 200
Velocity (m/s)

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 Radar Block Diagram

Waveform
Transmitter
Propagation Generator
Medium

Signal Processor
Target
Cross
Section Pulse Doppler
Antenna Receiver A/D
Compression Processing

Main Computer
Console /
Tracking & Display
Detection Parameter
Estimation
Recording

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 Outline

• Why radar?

• The basics

• Course agenda

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 Introduction to Radar Systems Tutorial
Agenda

• Introduction

• Radar Equation

• Propagation Effects

• Target Radar Cross Section

• Detection of Signals in Noise & Pulse Compression

• Radar Antennas

• Radar Clutter and Chaff

• Signal Processing-MTI and Pulse Doppler

• Tracking and Parameter Estimation

• Transmitters and Receivers

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 References

• Skolnik, M., Introduction to Radar Systems, New York,

McGraw-Hill, 3rd Edition, 2001
• Nathanson, F. E., Radar Design Principles, New York,
McGraw-Hill, 2nd Edition, 1991
• Toomay, J. C., Radar Principles for the Non-Specialist, New
York, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1989
• Buderi R., The Invention That Changed the World, New
York, Simon and Schuster, 1996

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