MTI RADAR

Outline

More on Pulse Doppler Radar

Finding Doppler Frequency Shift
Determination of Moving/Stationary Objects on A-Scope
and PPI
Use of Single and Double Delay Line Cancellers
Blind Speeds
Received Signals from Precipitation
Signal Sampling and Power Spectrum
Doppler Spectrum
Mean Doppler Velocity and Doppler Spectrum Variance
Radar Noise
MTI vs. Pulse Doppler Radars

Both distinguish moving objects from stationary objects by

looking at the Doppler Frequency shift.
MTI (moving target indication) radars
Typically operate with ambiguous velocity measurements
(blind speeds), but with unambiguous range measurements
Pulsed Doppler Radars
PRF usually high enough to operate with unambiguous
Doppler measurements but with ambiguous range
measurements
Operation

Reference signal is sent

Signal echo is measured
Difference between signals is calculated to find Doppler
frequency shift

Vref  A sin(2ftt )
Vecho  B sin[2 ( ft  fd )  4ftR / c]
Vdiff  C sin(2fdt  4ftR / c)
Finding Doppler Frequency Shift

fd  1 /   fd can be found quickly

fd  1 /   many pulses need to be sent to find fd
Determining Moving Objects From A-scope

A-scope is a display of echo amplitude vs. time

Superposition of echoes can be helpful in separating
moving objects from stationary object
“Butterfly Effect”
Oscillogram of an output signal of a phase-
detector
Echoes signals of fixed clutter have got the same amplitude pulse
to pulse and can be cancelled:
magenta: output of the phase-detector (actually period)
green: output of the memory (delayed period)
blue: cancelled video
Determination of Moving Objects on PPI

PPI (plan position indicator)

Angle vs. Range display
Different method must be utilized on PPI – Delay line
canceller
Single Delay Line Canceller

V 1  k sin( 2fdt   0)
V 2  k sin[ 2fd (t  T )   0]
V  V 1  V 2  2k sin(fdT ) cos[ 2fd (t  T / 2)   0]
Signal delay T=1/PRF
Output of canceller is a cosine wave at the Doppler
frequency
Amplitude of output is a function of the Doppler frequency
and T
Frequency Response of Single Delay Line Canceller
Frequency Response of Single Delay Line Canceller

Response is zero when

fdT  0,    n (n   )
fd  n / T  nfp
Target velocities that result in zero MTI response are called
“blind speeds”
vn  n / 2T  nfp / 2
Somewhat effective removal of clutter
Double/Multiple cancellation more effective
Frequency Response of Delay Line Cancellers
Frequency Response of Delay Line Cancellers

Avoid blind speeds by making first blind speed greater

than maximum radial velocity
Increase wavelength of signal propagated
Increase PRF
Low radar frequencies (large wavelength) require larger
antenna size
High PRF results in Range Ambiguity!
Example: First blind speed 600 knots
Range (without ambiguity) = 130 nautical miles at 300 MHz
or 13 nautical miles at 30 MHz
Trade off between range and velocity ambiguities
One solution is “Staggered PRF MTI”
Signal Sampling and Power Spectrum

Conversion from continuous time to discrete samples

Power Spectrum Density (PSD)
Describes power as a function of frequency
Fourier transform of the autocorrelation function, if it can be
treated as a stationary process.
∞
S  f =∫ Re j2 f  d 
−∞

∞
R= f   f ∗− = ∫ f t  f ∗ t −dt
−∞
Doppler Spectrum

Backscattered power received as a function of Doppler

frequency, or velocity

Describes the echo of a contributing region of signal

Function given as S(f), S(V), or S(ω);
Doppler Spectrum Spread
2V
Large difference of size means large spread
f= =2  f

Turbulence
Air motion across beam
Average Power

Average Power can be given in terms of Doppler velocity

or frequency
∞ ∞
Pr =∫ S V dV =∫ S  f  df
−∞ −∞

∞
Pr =∫ N V  p V dV
−∞

N V  p V dV
∞

∫ N V  p V  dV
−∞
Mean Doppler Velocity and Doppler Spectrum Variance

A more convenient measure of the Doppler spectrum

spread can be given by the variance, σ2
Found from mean Doppler velocity

∞ ∞
2
∫ VS V  dV ∫ V − V
  S V dV
2
 = −∞∞
V v =
−∞
∞

∫ S V  dV ∫ S V dV
−∞ −∞
Radar Noise

Thermal Noise
Thermal excitation of electrons in electrical components
Always exists in any electrical system
Totally random, but has a normal distribution
Coherent Averaging or Stacking
Quantization Noise
Quantization noise due to rounding errors
Dithering
Coherent Noise
Coherent radar systems use a master oscillator to derive
frequencies and timing signals
Leakage from these signals into the receiver causes noise
0/π Phase Modulation