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ii
ABOUT THE EDITOR IN CHIEF
Merrill Skolnik was Superintendent of the Radar Division at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory for over 30
years. Before that he was involved in advances in radar while at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the Institute for
Defense Analyses, and the Research Division of Electronic Communications, Inc. He is the author of the
popular McGraw-Hill textbook Introduction to Radar Systems, now in its third edition, the editor of Radar
Applications, as well as being a former editor of the Proceedings of the IEEE. He earned the Doctor of
Engineering Degree from The Johns Hopkins University, where he also received the B.E and M.S.E degrees in
electrical engineering. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the IEEE,
and the first recipient of the IEEE Dennis J. Picard Medal for Radar Technologies and Applications.
iii
RADAR HANDBOOK
Merrill I. Skolnik
Editor in Chief
Third Edition
New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid
Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul
Singapore Sydney Toronto
iv
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Radar Handbook, Third Edition
Copyright 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies.
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part
of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval
system, without the prior written permission of publisher.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 DOC DOC 0 1 9 8
ISBN 978-0-07-148547-0
MHID 0-07-148547-3
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Information has been obtained by McGraw-Hill from sources believed to be reliable. However, because of the possibility
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from the use of such information.
CONTENTS
Contributors
Preface
Chapter 1 An Introduction and Overview of Radar
Merrill Skolnik
1.1 Radar in Brief /
xiii
xv
1.1
1.1
1.2 Types of Radars /
1.5
1.3 Information Available from a Radar /
1.7
1.4 The Radar Equation /
1.10
1.5 Radar Frequency Letter-band Nomenclature /
1.13
1.6 Effect of Operating Frequency on Radar /
1.14
1.7 Radar Nomenclature /
1.18
1.8 Some Past Advances in Radar /
1.19
1.9 Applications of Radar /
1.20
1.10 Conceptual Radar System Design /
1.22
Chapter 2 MTI Radar
William W. Shrader and Vilhelm Gregers-Hansen
2.1 Preface /
2.1
2.1
2.2 Introduction to MTI Radar /
2.2
2.3 Clutter Filter Response to Moving Targets /
2.9
2.4 Clutter Characteristics /
2.10
2.5 Definitions /
2.19
2.6 Improvement Factor Calculations /
2.23
2.7 Optimum Design of Clutter Filters /
2.25
2.8 MTI Clutter Filter Design /
2.33
2.9 MTI Filter Design for Weather Radars /
2.46
2.10 Clutter Filter Bank Design /
2.52
2.11 Performance Degradation Caused by Receiver Limiting /
2.59
2.12 Radar System Stability Requirements /
2.65
2.13 Dynamic Range and A/D Conversion Considerations /
2.78
2.14 Adaptive MTI /
2.80
2.15 Radar Clutter Maps /
2.83
2.16 Sensitivity-velocity Control (SVC) /
2.87
2.17 Considerations Applicable to MTI Radar Systems /
2.91
vi
Chapter 3 Airborne MTI
James K. Day and Fred M. Staudaher
3.1 Systems Using Airborne MTI Techniques /
3.1
3.1
3.2 Coverage Considerations /
3.2
3.3 Airborne MTI Performance Drivers /
3.3
3.4 Platform Motion and Altitude Effects on MTI Performance /
3.3
3.5 Platform-motion Compensation Abeam /
3.10
3.6 Scanning-motion Compensation /
3.14
3.7 Simultaneous Platform Motion and Scan Compensation /
3.18
3.8 Platform-motion Compensation, Forward Direction /
3.21
3.9 Space-time Adaptive Motion Compensation /
3.23
3.10 Effect of Multiple Spectra /
3.31
3.11 Example AMTI Radar System /
3.32
Chapter 4 Pulse Doppler Radar
John P. Stralka and William G. Fedarko
4.1 Characteristics and Applications /
4.1
4.1
4.2 Pulse Doppler Clutter /
4.14
4.3 Dynamic-range and Stability Requirements /
4.24
4.4 Range and Doppler Ambiguity Resoluton /
4.31
4.5 Mode and Waveform Design /
4.35
4.6 Range Performance /
4.39
List of Abbreviations /
4.48
Chapter 5 Multifunctional Radar Systems for Fighter Aircraft
David Lynch, Jr. and Carlo Kopp
5.1 Introduction /
5.1
5.1
5.2 Typical Missions and Modes /
5.10
5.3 A-A Mode Descriptions & Waveforms /
5.16
5.4 A-S Mode Descriptions & Waveforms /
5.28
Chapter 6 Radar Receivers
Michael E. Yeomans
6.1 The Configuration of a Radar Receiver /
6.1
6.1
6.2 Noise and Dynamic-range Considerations /
6.4
6.3 Bandwidth Considerations /
6.9
6.4 Receiver Front End /
6.10
6.5 Local Oscillators /
6.14
6.6 Gain Control /
6.22
6.7 Filtering /
6.24
6.8 Limiters /
6.29
6.9 I/Q Demodulators /
6.31
6.10 Analog-to-Digital Converters /
6.35
6.11 Digital Receivers /
6.40
6.12 Diplex Operation /
6.46
6.13 Waveform Generation and Upconversion /
6.47
vii
Chapter 7 Automatic Detection, Tracking, and Sensor Integration
W. G. Bath and G. V.Trunk
7.1 Introduction /
7.1
7.1
7.2 Automatic Detection /
7.1
7.3 Automatic Tracking /
7.22
7.4 Networked Radars /
7.46
7.5 Unlike-sensor Integration /
7.49
Chapter 8 Pulse Compression Radar
Michael R. Ducoff and Byron W. Tietjen
8.1 Introduction /
8.2 Pulse Compression Waveform Types /
8.1
8.1
8.2
8.3 Factors Affecting Choice of Pulse Compression Systems /
8.26
8.4 Pulse Compression Implementation and Radar System Examples /
8.28
Appendix /
Chapter 9 Tracking Radar
Dean D. Howard
9.1 Introduction /
9.2 Monopulse (Simultaneous Lobing) /
8.36
9.1
9.1
9.3
9.3 Scanning and Lobing /
9.16
9.4 Servosystems for Tracking Radar /
9.17
9.5 Target Acquisition and Range Tracking /
9.20
9.6 Special Monopulse Techniques /
9.24
9.7 Sources of Error /
9.26
9.8 Target-caused Errors (Target Noise) /
9.26
9.9 Other External Causes of Error /
9.37
9.10 Internal Sources of Error /
9.42
9.11 Summary of Sources of Error /
9.43
9.12 Error Reduction Techniques /
9.46
Chapter 10 The Radar Transmitter
Thomas A. Weil and Merrill Skolnik
10.1 Introduction /
10.1
10.2 Linear-beam Amplifiers /
10.1
10.4
10.3 Magnetron /
10.14
10.4 Crossed-field Amplifiers /
10.16
10.5 Gyrotrons /
10.17
10.6 Transmitter Spectrum Control /
10.19
10.7 Grid-controlled Tubes /
10.21
10.8 Modulators /
10.23
10.9 Which RF Power Source to Use? /
10.25
viii
Chapter 11 Solid id-State Transmitters
Michael T. Borkowski
11.1 Introduction /
11.1
11.1
11.2 Advantages of Solid State /
11.1
11.3 Solid-state Devices /
11.5
11.4 Designing for the Solid-state Bottle Transmitter /
11.17
11.5 Designing for the Solid-state Phased Array Transmitter /
11.24
11.6 Solid-state System Examples /
11.37
Chapter 12 Reflector Antennas
Michael E. Cooley and Daniel Davis
12.1 Introduction /
12.1
12.7
12.2 Basic Principles and Parameters /
12.3
12.3 Reflector Antenna Architectures /
12.16
12.4 Reflector Feeds /
12.25
12.5 Reflector Antenna Analysis /
12.37
12.6 Mechanical Design Considerations /
12.35
Acknowledgments /
Chapter 13 Phased Array Radar Antennas
Joe Frank and John D. Richards
13.1 Introduction /
13.2 Array Theory /
12.47
13.1
13.7
13.9
13.3 Planar Arrays and Beam Steering /
13.15
13.4 Aperture Matching and Mutual Coupling /
13.20
13.5 Low-sidelobe Phased Arrays /
13.28
13.6 Quantization Effects /
13.34
13.7 Bandwidth of Phased Arrays /
13.38
13.8 Feed Networks (Beamformers) /
13.46
13.9 Phase Shifters /
13.57
13.10 Solid-state Modules /
13.53
13.11 Multiple Simultaneous Receive Beams /
13.54
13.12 Digital Beamforming /
13.56
13.13 Radiation Pattern Nulling /
13.57
13.14 Calibration of Active Phased Array Antennas /
13.60
13.15 Phased Array Systems /
13.62
Chapter 14 Radar Cross Section
Eugene F. Knott
14.1 Introduction /
14.1
14.1
14.2 The Concept of Echo Power /
14.4
14.3 RCS Prediction Techniques /
14.16
14.4 RCS Measurement Techniques /
14.27
14.5 Radar Echo Suppression /
14.36
ix
Chapter 15 Sea Clutter
Lewis B. Wetzel
15.1 Introduction /
15.1
15.1
15.2 The Sea Surface /
15.3
15.3 Empirical Behavior of Sea Clutter /
15.7
15.4 Theories and Models of Sea Clutter /
15.27
15.5 Summary and Conclusions /
15.37
Chapter 16 Ground Echo
Richard K. Moore
16.1 Introduction /
16.1
16.1
16.2 Parameters Affecting Ground Return /
16.4
16.3 Theoretical Models and Their Limitations /
16.7
16.4 Fading of Ground Echoes /
16.12
16.5 Measurement Techniques for Ground Return /
16.19
16.6 General Models for Scattering Coefficient (Clutter Models) /
16.29
16.7 Scattering Coefficient Data /
16.35
16.8 Polarimetry /
16.46
16.9 Scattering Coefficient Data Near Grazing /
16.52
16.10 Imaging Radar Interpretation /
16.55
Chapter 17 Synthetic Aperture Radar
Roger Sullivan
17.1 Basic Principle of SAR /
17.1
17.1
17.2 Early History of SAR /
17.2
17.3 Types of SAR /
17.2
17.4 SAR Resolution /
17.6
17.5 Key Aspects of SAR /
17.10
17.6 SAR Image Quality /
17.16
17.7 Summary of Key SAR Equations /
17.21
17.8 Special SAR Applications /
17.22
Chapter 18 Space-Based Remote Sensing Radars
R. Keith Raney
18.1 Perspective /
18.2 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) /
18.1
18.1
18.5
18.3 Altimeters /
18.29
18.4 Planetary Radars /
18.43
18.5 Scatterometers /
18.53
18.6 Radar Sounders /
18.59
Chapter 19 Meteorological Radar
R. Jeffrey Keeler and Robert J. Serafin
19.1 Introduction /
19.1
19.1
19.2 The Radar Equation for Meteorological Targets /
19.3
19.3 Design Considerations /
19.6
19.4 Signal Processing /
19.19
19.5 Operational Applications /
19.25
19.6 Research Applications /
19.33
Chapter 20 HF Over-the-Horizon Radar
James M. Headrick and Stuart J. Anderson
20.1 Introduction /
20.1
20.2 The Radar Equation /
20.5
20.3 Factors Influencing Skywave Radar Design /
20.7
20.4 The Ionosphere and Radiowave Propagation /
20.13
20.5 Waveforms for HF Radar /
20.21
20.6 The Transmitting System /
20.23
20.7 Radar Cross Section /
20.26
20.8 Clutter: Echoes from the Environment /
20.29
20.9 Noise, Interference, and Spectrum Occupancy /
20.40
20.10 The Receiving System /
20.45
20.11 Signal Processing and Tracking /
20.49
20.12 Radar Resource Management /
20.54
20.13 Radar Performance Modeling /
20.55
Appendix: HF Surface Wave Radar /
20.70
Chapter 21 Ground Penetrating Radar
David Daniels
21.1 Introduction /
21.2 Physics of Propagation in Materials /
20.1
21.1
21.1
21.6
21.3 Modeling /
21.13
21.4 Properties of Materials /
21.18
21.5 GPR Systems /
21.20
21.6 Modulation Techniques /
21.21
21.7 Antennas /
21.24
21.8 Signal and Image Processing /
21.30
21.9 Applications /
21.35
21.10 Licensing /
21.39
Chapter 22 Civil Marine Radar
Andy Norris
22.1 Introduction /
22.1
22.1
22.2 The Challenges /
22.3
22.3 International Standards /
22.7
22.4 Technology /
22.10
22.5 Target Tracking /
22.17
xi
22.6 User Interface /
22.19
22.7 Integration with AIS /
22.23
22.8 Radar Beacons /
22.25
22.9 Validation Testing /
22.28
22.10 Vessel Tracking Services /
22.29
Appendix The Early Days of CMR /
22.31
List of Maritime Radar-related Abbreviations /
22.33
Acknowledgments /
22.34
Chapter 23 Bistatic Radar
Nicholas J. Willis
23.1 Concept and Definitions /
23.1
23.1
23.2 Coordinate Systems /
23.3
23.3 Bistatic Radar Equation /
23.4
23.4 Applications /
23.9
23.5 Bistatic Doppler /
23.14
23.6 Target Location /
23.17
23.7 Target Cross Section /
23.19
23.8 Surface Clutter /
23.22
23.9 Unique Problems and Requirements /
23.26
Chapter 24 Electronic Counter-Countermeasures
Alfonso Farina
24.1 Introduction /
24.1
24.1
24.2 Terminology /
24.2
24.3 Electronic Warfare Support Measures /
24.2
24.4 Electronic Countermeasures /
24.5
24.5 Objectives and Taxonomy of ECCM Techniques /
24.8
24.6 Antenna-related ECCM /
24.10
24.7 Transmitter-related ECCM /
24.31
24.8 Receiver-related ECCM /
24.32
24.9 Signal-processing-related ECCM /
24.33
24.10 Operational-deployment Techniques /
24.36
24.11 Application of ECCM Techniques /
24.37
24.12 ECCM and ECM Efficacy /
24.54
Acronym List /
24.56
Acknowledgments /
24.58
Chapter 25 Radar Digital Signal Processing
James J. Alter and Jeffrey O. Coleman
25.1 Introduction /
25.1
25.1
25.2 Receive Channel Processing /
25.2
25.3 Transmit Channel Processing /
25.20
25.4 DSP Tools /
25.22
25.5 Design Considerations /
25.34
25.6 Summary /
25.37
Acknowledgments /
25.38
xii
Chapter 26 The Propagation Factor, Fp, in the Radar Equation
Wayne L. Patterson
26.1 Introduction /
26.1
26.1
26.2 The Earths Atmosphere /
26.2
26.3 Refraction /
26.3
26.4 Standard Propagation /
26.4
26.5 Anomalous Propagation /
26.6
26.6 Propagation Modeling /
26.13
26.7 EM System Assessment Programs /
26.18
26.8 AREPS Radar System Assessment Model /
26.23
26.9 AREPS Radar Displays /
26.25
Index
1.1
xiii
CONTRIBUTORS
James J. Alter Naval Research Laboratory (CHAPTER 25)
Stuart J. Anderson Australian Defense Science and Technology Organisation (CHAPTER 20)
W. G. Bath The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (CHAPTER 7)
Michael T. Borkowski Raytheon Company (CHAPTER 11)
Jeffrey O. Coleman Naval Research Laboratory (CHAPTER 25)
Michael E. Cooley Northrop Grumman, Electronic Systems (CHAPTER 12)
David Daniels ERA Technology (CHAPTER 21)
Daniel Davis Northrop Grumman Corporation (CHAPTER 12)
James K. Day Lockheed Martin Corporation (CHAPTER 3)
Michael R. Ducoff Lockheed Martin Corporation (CHAPTER 8)
Alfonso Farina SELEX Sistemi Integrati (CHAPTER 24)
William G. Fedarko Northrop Grumman Corporation (CHAPTER 4)
Joe Frank The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (CHAPTER 13)
Vilhelm Gregers-Hansen Naval Research Laboratory (CHAPTER 2)
James M. Headrick Naval Research Laboratory, retired (CHAPTER 20)
Dean D. Howard Consultant to ITT Industries, Inc. (CHAPTER 9)
R. Jeffrey Keeler National Center for Atmospheric Research (CHAPTER 19)
Eugene F. Knott Tomorrows Research (CHAPTER 14)
Carlo Kopp Monash University (CHAPTER 5)
David Lynch, Jr. DL Sciences, Inc. (CHAPTER 5)
Richard K. Moore The University of Kansas (CHAPTER 16)
Andy Norris Consultant in Navigation Systems (CHAPTER 22)
Wayne L. Patterson Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (CHAPTER 26)
Keith Raney The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (CHAPTER 18)
John D. Richards The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (CHAPTER 13)
Robert J. Serafin National Center for Atmospheric Research (CHAPTER 19)
William W. Shrader Shrader Associates (CHAPTER 2)
Merrill Skolnik (CHAPTERS 1 and 10)
Fred M. Staudaher Naval Research Laboratory, retired (CHAPTER 3)
xiv
John P. Stralka Northrop Grumman Corporation (CHAPTER 4)
Roger Sullivan Institute for Defense Analyses (CHAPTER 17)
Byron W. Tietjen Lockheed Martin Corporation (CHAPTER 8)
G. V. Trunk The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (CHAPTER 7)
Thomas A. Weil (CHAPTER 10)
Lewis B. Wetzel Naval Research Laboratory, retired (CHAPTER 15)
Nicholas J. Willis Technology Service Corporation, retired (CHAPTER 23)
Michael E. Yeomans Raytheon Company (CHAPTER 6)
xv
PREFACE
Radar is an important example of an electrical engineering system. In university engineering courses, the
emphasis usually is on the basic tools of the electrical engineer such as circuit design, signals, solid state,
digital processing, electronic devices, electromagnetics, automatic control, microwaves, and so forth. But in
the real world of electrical engineering practice, these are only the techniques, piece parts, or subsystems that
make up some type of system employed for a useful purpose. In addition to radar and other sensor systems,
electrical engineering systems include communications, control, energy, information, industrial, military,
navigation, entertainment, medical, and others. These are what the practice of electrical engineering is all
about. Without them there would be little need for electrical engineers. However, the practicing engineer who
is involved in producing a new type of electrical engineering system often has to depend on acquiring
knowledge that was not usually covered in his or her engineering courses. The radar engineer, for example,
has to understand the major components and subsystems that make up a radar, as well as how they fit
together. The Radar Handbook attempts to help in this task. In addition to the radar system designer, it is
hoped that those who are responsible for procuring new radar systems, those who utilize radars, those who
maintain radar systems, and those who manage the engineers who do the above, also will find the Radar
Handbook to be of help in fulfilling such tasks.
The third edition of the Radar Handbook is evidence that the development and application of radar for both
civilian and military purposes continue to grow in both utility and in improved technology. Some of the many
advances in radar since the previous edition include the following:
- The extensive use of digital methods for improved signal processing, data processing, decision making,
flexible radar control, and multifunction radar
- Doppler weather radar
- Ground moving target indication, or GMTI
- An extensive experimental database describing low-angle land clutter, as obtained by MIT Lincoln
Laboratory, that replaced the previously widely used clutter model that dated back to World War II
- The realization that microwave sea echo at low grazing angles is due chiefly to what are called sea spikes
- The active-aperture phased array radar system using solid-state modules, also called active electronically
scanned arrays (AESA), which is attractive for some multifunction radar applications that need to manage
both power and spatial coverage
- Planetary exploration with radar
- Computer-based methods for predicting radar propagation performance in realistic environments
xvi
- Operational use of HF over-the-horizon radar
- Improved methods for detecting moving targets in clutter, including space-time adaptive processing
- Operational use of inverse synthetic aperture radar for target recognition
- Interferometric synthetic aperture radar, or InSAR, to obtain the height of a resolved scatterer or to detect
moving ground targets as well as provide a SAR image of a scene
- High precision space-based altimeters, with accuracy of a few centimeters, to measure the Earths geoid
- Ultrawideband radar for ground penetrating and similar applications
- Improved high power, wide bandwidth klystron power sources based on clustered cavity resonators, as well
as the multiple-beam klystron
- The appearance of wide bandgap semiconductors that allow better performance because of high power and
high operating temperatures
- The availability of high-power millimeter-wave generators based on the gyroklystron
- Nonlinear FM pulse compression with low sidelobe levels
- The replacement, by the computer, of the operator as information extractor and decision maker
The above are not listed in any particular order, nor should they be considered a complete enumeration of
radar developments since the appearance of the previous edition. There were also some radar topics in
previous editions of the Radar Handbook that are of lesser interest and so were not included in this edition.
The chapter authors, who are experts in their particular field, were told to consider the reader of their
chapter as being knowledgeable in the general subject of radar and even an expert in some other particular
area of radar, but not necessarily knowledgeable about the subject of the particular chapter the author was
writing.
It should be expected that with a book in print as long as the Radar Handbook has been, not all chapter
authors from the previous editions would be available to do the third edition. Many of the previous authors
have retired or are no longer with us. Sixteen of the twenty-six chapters in this edition have authors or
coauthors who were not involved in the previous editions.
The hard work of preparing these chapters was done by the individual expert authors of the various
chapters. Thus the value of the Radar Handbook is the result of the diligence and expertise of the authors who
contributed their time, knowledge, and experience to make this handbook a useful addition to the desk of radar
system engineers and all those people vital to the development, production, and employment of radar systems.
I am deeply grateful to all the contributing authors for their fine work and the long hours they had to apply to
their task. It is the chapter authors who make any handbook a success. My sincere thanks to them all.
As stated in the Preface of the previous edition, readers who wish to reference or quote material from the
Radar Handbook are asked to mention the names of the individual chapter authors who produced the material.
MERRILL SKOLNIK
Baltimore, Maryland
#HAPTER
`V>`
"iiv,>`>
i-
, , ,
2ADAR IS AN ELECTROMAGNETIC SENSOR FOR THE DETECTION AND LOCATION OF REFLECTING
OBJECTS )TS OPERATION CAN BE SUMMARIZED AS FOLLOWS
4HE RADAR RADIATES ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY FROM AN ANTENNA TO PROPAGATE IN SPACE
3OME OF THE RADIATED ENERGY IS INTERCEPTED BY A REFLECTING OBJECT USUALLY CALLED
A TARGET LOCATED AT A DISTANCE FROM THE RADAR
4HE ENERGY INTERCEPTED BY THE TARGET IS RERADIATED IN MANY DIRECTIONS
3OME OF THE RERADIATED ECHO ENERGY IS RETURNED TO AND RECEIVED BY THE RADAR ANTENNA
!FTER AMPLIFICATION BY A RECEIVER AND WITH THE AID OF PROPER SIGNAL PROCESSING A
DECISION IS MADE AT THE OUTPUT OF THE RECEIVER AS TO WHETHER OR NOT A TARGET ECHO
SIGNAL IS PRESENT !T THAT TIME THE TARGET LOCATION AND POSSIBLY OTHER INFORMATION
ABOUT THE TARGET IS ACQUIRED
! COMMON WAVEFORM RADIATED BY A RADAR IS A SERIES OF RELATIVELY NARROW RECTAN
GULAR
LIKE PULSES !N EXAMPLE OF A WAVEFORM FOR A MEDIUM
RANGE RADAR THAT DETECTS
AIRCRAFT MIGHT BE DESCRIBED AS A SHORT PULSE ONE MILLIONTH OF A SECOND IN DURATION
ONE MICROSECOND THE TIME BETWEEN PULSES MIGHT BE ONE MILLISECOND SO THAT THE
PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY IS ONE KILOHERTZ THE PEAK POWER FROM THE RADAR TRANSMIT
TER MIGHT BE ONE MILLION WATTS ONE MEGAWATT AND WITH THESE NUMBERS THE AVERAGE
POWER FROM THE TRANSMITTER IS ONE KILOWATT !N AVERAGE POWER OF ONE KILOWATT MIGHT
BE LESS THAN THE POWER OF THE ELECTRIC LIGHTING USUALLY FOUND IN A hTYPICALv CLASSROOM
7E ASSUME THIS EXAMPLE RADAR MIGHT OPERATE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MICROWAVEo FRE
QUENCY RANGE SUCH AS FROM TO '(Z WHICH IS A TYPICAL FREQUENCY BAND FOR CIVIL
4HIS CHAPTER IS A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF RADAR FOR THOSE NOT TOO FAMILIAR WITH THE SUBJECT &OR THOSE WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH
RADAR IT CAN BE CONSIDERED A REFRESHER
o -ICROWAVES ARE LOOSELY DEFINED AS THOSE FREQUENCIES WHERE WAVEGUIDES ARE USED FOR TRANSMISSION LINES AND WHERE
CAVITIES OR DISTRIBUTED CIRCUITS ARE USED FOR RESONANT CIRCUITS RATHER THAN LUMPED
CONSTANT COMPONENTS -ICROWAVE
RADARS MIGHT BE FROM ABOUT -(Z TO ABOUT '(Z BUT THESE LIMITS ARE NOT RIGID
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
AIRPORT SURVEILLANCE RADARS )TS WAVELENGTH MIGHT BE ABOUT CM ROUNDING OFF FOR
SIMPLICITY 7ITH THE PROPER ANTENNA SUCH A RADAR MIGHT DETECT AIRCRAFT OUT TO RANGESp
OF TO NMI MORE OR LESS 4HE ECHO POWER RECEIVED BY A RADAR FROM A TARGET CAN
VARY OVER A WIDE RANGE OF VALUES BUT WE ARBITRARILY ASSUME A hTYPICALv ECHO SIGNAL
FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES MIGHT HAVE A POWER OF PERHAPS WATTS )F THE RADIATED
POWER IS WATTS ONE MEGAWATT THE RATIO OF ECHO SIGNAL POWER FROM A TARGET TO THE
RADAR TRANSMITTER POWER IN THIS EXAMPLE IS n OR THE RECEIVED ECHO IS D" LESS
THAN THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL 4HAT IS QUITE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MAGNITUDE OF THE
TRANSMITTED SIGNAL AND A DETECTABLE RECEIVED ECHO SIGNAL
3OME RADARS HAVE TO DETECT TARGETS AT RANGES AS SHORT AS THE DISTANCE FROM BEHIND
HOME PLATE TO THE PITCHERS MOUND IN A BASEBALL PARK TO MEASURE THE SPEED OF A PITCHED
BALL WHILE OTHER RADARS HAVE TO OPERATE OVER DISTANCES AS GREAT AS THE DISTANCES TO THE
NEAREST PLANETS 4HUS A RADAR MIGHT BE SMALL ENOUGH TO HOLD IN THE PALM OF ONE HAND
OR LARGE ENOUGH TO OCCUPY THE SPACE OF MANY FOOTBALL FIELDS
2ADAR TARGETS MIGHT BE AIRCRAFT SHIPS OR MISSILES BUT RADAR TARGETS CAN ALSO BE
PEOPLE BIRDS INSECTS PRECIPITATION CLEAR AIR TURBULENCE IONIZED MEDIA LAND FEATURES
VEGETATION MOUNTAINS ROADS RIVERS AIRFIELDS BUILDINGS FENCES AND POWER LINE
POLES SEA ICE ICEBERGS BUOYS UNDERGROUND FEATURES METEORS AURORA SPACECRAFT
AND PLANETS )N ADDITION TO MEASURING THE RANGE TO A TARGET AS WELL AS ITS ANGULAR DIREC
TION A RADAR CAN ALSO FIND THE RELATIVE VELOCITY OF A TARGET EITHER BY DETERMINING THE
RATE OF CHANGE OF THE RANGE MEASUREMENT WITH TIME OR BY EXTRACTING THE RADIAL VELOCITY
FROM THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY SHIFT OF THE ECHO SIGNAL )F THE LOCATION OF A MOVING TARGET IS
MEASURED OVER A PERIOD OF TIME THE TRACK OR TRAJECTORY OF THE TARGET CAN BE FOUND FROM
WHICH THE ABSOLUTE VELOCITY OF THE TARGET AND ITS DIRECTION OF TRAVEL CAN BE DETERMINED
AND A PREDICTION CAN BE MADE AS TO ITS FUTURE LOCATION 0ROPERLY DESIGNED RADARS CAN
DETERMINE THE SIZE AND SHAPE OF A TARGET AND MIGHT EVEN BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE ONE TYPE
OR CLASS OF TARGET FROM ANOTHER
"ASIC 0ARTS OF A 2ADAR &IGURE IS A VERY ELEMENTARY BASIC BLOCK DIAGRAM
SHOWING THE SUBSYSTEMS USUALLY FOUND IN A RADAR 4HE TRANSMITTER WHICH IS SHOWN HERE
AS A POWER AMPLIFIER GENERATES A SUITABLE WAVEFORM FOR THE PARTICULAR JOB THE RADAR IS
TO PERFORM )T MIGHT HAVE AN AVERAGE POWER AS SMALL AS MILLIWATTS OR AS LARGE AS MEGA
WATTS 4HE AVERAGE POWER IS A FAR BETTER INDICATION OF THE CAPABILITY OF A RADARS PERFOR
MANCE THAN IS ITS PEAK POWER -OST RADARS USE A SHORT PULSE WAVEFORM SO THAT A SINGLE
ANTENNA CAN BE USED ON A TIME SHARED BASIS FOR BOTH TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING
4HE FUNCTION OF THE DUPLEXER IS TO ALLOW A SINGLE ANTENNA TO BE USED BY PROTECTING
THE SENSITIVE RECEIVER FROM BURNING OUT WHILE THE TRANSMITTER IS ON AND BY DIRECTING THE
RECEIVED ECHO SIGNAL TO THE RECEIVER RATHER THAN TO THE TRANSMITTER
4HE ANTENNA IS THE DEVICE THAT ALLOWS THE TRANSMITTED ENERGY TO BE PROPAGATED INTO
SPACE AND THEN COLLECTS THE ECHO ENERGY ON RECEIVE )T IS ALMOST ALWAYS A DIRECTIVE
ANTENNA ONE THAT DIRECTS THE RADIATED ENERGY INTO A NARROW BEAM TO CONCENTRATE THE
POWER AS WELL AS TO ALLOW THE DETERMINATION OF THE DIRECTION TO THE TARGET !N ANTENNA
THAT PRODUCES A NARROW DIRECTIVE BEAM ON TRANSMIT USUALLY HAS A LARGE AREA ON RECEIVE
TO ALLOW THE COLLECTION OF WEAK ECHO SIGNALS FROM THE TARGET 4HE ANTENNA NOT ONLY
CONCENTRATES THE ENERGY ON TRANSMIT AND COLLECTS THE ECHO ENERGY ON RECEIVE BUT IT ALSO
ACTS AS A SPATIAL FILTER TO PROVIDE ANGLE RESOLUTION AND OTHER CAPABILITIES
p )N RADAR RANGE IS THE TERM GENERALLY USED TO MEAN DISTANCE FROM THE RADAR TO THE TARGET 2ANGE IS ALSO USED HERE IN
SOME OF ITS OTHER DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS
!. ).42/$5#4)/. !.$ /6%26)%7 /& 2!$!2
&)'52% "LOCK DIAGRAM OF A SIMPLE RADAR EMPLOYING A POWER AMPLIFIER AS THE TRANSMITTER IN THE UPPER
PORTION OF THE FIGURE AND A SUPERHETERODYNE RECEIVER IN THE LOWER PORTION OF THE FIGURE
4HE RECEIVER AMPLIFIES THE WEAK RECEIVED SIGNAL TO A LEVEL WHERE ITS PRESENCE CAN
BE DETECTED "ECAUSE NOISE IS THE ULTIMATE LIMITATION ON THE ABILITY OF A RADAR TO MAKE
A RELIABLE DETECTION DECISION AND EXTRACT INFORMATION ABOUT THE TARGET CARE IS TAKEN
TO INSURE THAT THE RECEIVER PRODUCES VERY LITTLE NOISE OF ITS OWN !T THE MICROWAVE
FREQUENCIES WHERE MOST RADARS ARE FOUND THE NOISE THAT AFFECTS RADAR PERFORMANCE
IS USUALLY FROM THE FIRST STAGE OF THE RECEIVER SHOWN HERE IN &IGURE AS A LOW
NOISE AMPLIFIER &OR MANY RADAR APPLICATIONS WHERE THE LIMITATION TO DETECTION IS THE
UNWANTED RADAR ECHOES FROM THE ENVIRONMENT CALLED CLUTTER THE RECEIVER NEEDS TO
HAVE A LARGE ENOUGH DYNAMIC RANGE SO AS TO AVOID HAVING THE CLUTTER ECHOES ADVERSELY
AFFECT DETECTION OF WANTED MOVING TARGETS BY CAUSING THE RECEIVER TO SATURATE 4HE
DYNAMIC RANGE OF A RECEIVER USUALLY EXPRESSED IN DECIBELS IS DEFINED AS THE RATIO OF
THE MAXIMUM TO THE MINIMUM SIGNAL INPUT POWER LEVELS OVER WHICH THE RECEIVER CAN
OPERATE WITH SOME SPECIFIED PERFORMANCE 4HE MAXIMUM SIGNAL LEVEL MIGHT BE SET
BY THE NONLINEAR EFFECTS OF THE RECEIVER RESPONSE THAT CAN BE TOLERATED FOR EXAMPLE
THE SIGNAL POWER AT WHICH THE RECEIVER BEGINS TO SATURATE AND THE MINIMUM SIGNAL
MIGHT BE THE MINIMUM DETECTABLE SIGNAL 4HE SIGNAL PROCESSOR WHICH IS OFTEN IN THE
)& PORTION OF THE RECEIVER MIGHT BE DESCRIBED AS BEING THE PART OF THE RECEIVER THAT
SEPARATES THE DESIRED SIGNAL FROM THE UNDESIRED SIGNALS THAT CAN DEGRADE THE DETEC
TION PROCESS 3IGNAL PROCESSING INCLUDES THE MATCHED FILTER THAT MAXIMIZES THE OUT
PUT SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO 3IGNAL PROCESSING ALSO INCLUDES THE DOPPLER PROCESSING THAT
MAXIMIZES THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO OF A MOVING TARGET WHEN CLUTTER IS LARGER THAN
RECEIVER NOISE AND IT SEPARATES ONE MOVING TARGET FROM OTHER MOVING TARGETS OR FROM
CLUTTER ECHOES 4HE DETECTION DECISION IS MADE AT THE OUTPUT OF THE RECEIVER SO A TARGET
IS DECLARED TO BE PRESENT WHEN THE RECEIVER OUTPUT EXCEEDS A PREDETERMINED THRESHOLD
)F THE THRESHOLD IS SET TOO LOW THE RECEIVER NOISE CAN CAUSE EXCESSIVE FALSE ALARMS )F
THE THRESHOLD IS SET TOO HIGH DETECTIONS OF SOME TARGETS MIGHT BE MISSED THAT WOULD
OTHERWISE HAVE BEEN DETECTED 4HE CRITERION FOR DETERMINING THE LEVEL OF THE DECISION
THRESHOLD IS TO SET THE THRESHOLD SO IT PRODUCES AN ACCEPTABLE PREDETERMINED AVERAGE
RATE OF FALSE ALARMS DUE TO RECEIVER NOISE
!FTER THE DETECTION DECISION IS MADE THE TRACK OF A TARGET CAN BE DETERMINED WHERE
A TRACK IS THE LOCUS OF TARGET LOCATIONS MEASURED OVER TIME 4HIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF DATA
PROCESSING 4HE PROCESSED TARGET DETECTION INFORMATION OR ITS TRACK MIGHT BE DISPLAYED
TO AN OPERATOR OR THE DETECTION INFORMATION MIGHT BE USED TO AUTOMATICALLY GUIDE A
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
MISSILE TO A TARGET OR THE RADAR OUTPUT MIGHT BE FURTHER PROCESSED TO PROVIDE OTHER
INFORMATION ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE TARGET 4HE RADAR CONTROL INSURES THAT THE VARIOUS
PARTS OF A RADAR OPERATE IN A COORDINATED AND COOPERATIVE MANNER AS FOR EXAMPLE
PROVIDING TIMING SIGNALS TO VARIOUS PARTS OF THE RADAR AS REQUIRED
4HE RADAR ENGINEER HAS AS RESOURCES TIME THAT ALLOWS GOOD DOPPLER PROCESSING
BANDWIDTH FOR GOOD RANGE RESOLUTION SPACE THAT ALLOWS A LARGE ANTENNA AND ENERGY FOR
LONG RANGE PERFORMANCE AND ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS %XTERNAL FACTORS AFFECTING RADAR
PERFORMANCE INCLUDE THE TARGET CHARACTERISTICS EXTERNAL NOISE THAT MIGHT ENTER VIA THE
ANTENNA UNWANTED CLUTTER ECHOES FROM LAND SEA BIRDS OR RAIN INTERFERENCE FROM OTHER
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATORS AND PROPAGATION EFFECTS DUE TO THE EARTHS SURFACE AND ATMO
SPHERE 4HESE FACTORS ARE MENTIONED TO EMPHASIZE THAT THEY CAN BE HIGHLY IMPORTANT IN
THE DESIGN AND APPLICATION OF A RADAR
2ADAR 4RANSMITTERS 4HE RADAR TRANSMITTER MUST NOT ONLY BE ABLE TO GENERATE THE
PEAK AND AVERAGE POWERS REQUIRED TO DETECT THE DESIRED TARGETS AT THE MAXIMUM RANGE
BUT ALSO HAS TO GENERATE A SIGNAL WITH THE PROPER WAVEFORM AND THE STABILITY NEEDED FOR
THE PARTICULAR APPLICATION 4RANSMITTERS MAY BE OSCILLATORS OR AMPLIFIERS BUT THE LATTER
USUALLY OFFER MORE ADVANTAGES
4HERE HAVE BEEN MANY TYPES OF RADAR POWER SOURCES USED IN RADAR #HAPTER
4HE MAGNETRON POWER OSCILLATOR WAS AT ONE TIME VERY POPULAR BUT IT IS SELDOM USED
EXCEPT FOR CIVIL MARINE RADAR #HAPTER "ECAUSE OF THE MAGNETRONS RELATIVELY
LOW AVERAGE POWER ONE OR TWO KILOWATTS AND POOR STABILITY OTHER POWER SOURCES
ARE USUALLY MORE APPROPRIATE FOR APPLICATIONS REQUIRING LONG
RANGE DETECTION OF SMALL
MOVING TARGETS IN THE PRESENCE OF LARGE CLUTTER ECHOES 4HE MAGNETRON POWER OSCIL
LATOR IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT IS CALLED A CROSSED
FIELD TUBE 4HERE IS ALSO A RELATED
CROSSED
FIELD AMPLIFIER #&! THAT HAS BEEN USED IN SOME RADARS IN THE PAST BUT IT
ALSO SUFFERS LIMITATIONS FOR IMPORTANT RADAR APPLICATIONS ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE REQUIR
ING DETECTION OF MOVING TARGETS IN CLUTTER 4HE HIGH
POWER KLYSTRON AND THE TRAVELING
WAVE TUBE 474 ARE EXAMPLES OF WHAT ARE CALLED LINEAR BEAM TUBES !T THE HIGH
POWERS OFTEN EMPLOYED BY RADARS BOTH TUBES HAVE SUITABLY WIDE BANDWIDTHS AS WELL
AS GOOD STABILITY AS NEEDED FOR DOPPLER PROCESSING AND BOTH HAVE BEEN POPULAR
4HE SOLID
STATE AMPLIFIER SUCH AS THE TRANSISTOR HAS ALSO BEEN USED IN RADAR ESPE
CIALLY IN PHASED ARRAYS !LTHOUGH AN INDIVIDUAL TRANSISTOR HAS RELATIVELY LOW POWER
EACH OF THE MANY RADIATING ELEMENTS OF AN ARRAY ANTENNA CAN UTILIZE MULTIPLE TRANSISTORS
TO ACHIEVE THE HIGH POWER NEEDED FOR MANY RADAR APPLICATIONS 7HEN SOLID
STATE TRAN
SISTOR AMPLIFIERS ARE USED THE RADAR DESIGNER HAS TO BE ABLE TO ACCOMMODATE THE HIGH
DUTY CYCLE AT WHICH THESE DEVICES HAVE TO OPERATE THE LONG PULSES THEY MUST USE THAT
REQUIRE PULSE COMPRESSION AND THE MULTIPLE PULSES OF DIFFERENT WIDTHS TO ALLOW DETEC
TION AT SHORT AS WELL AS LONG RANGE 4HUS THE USE OF SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTERS CAN HAVE AN
EFFECT ON OTHER PARTS OF THE RADAR SYSTEM !T MILLIMETER WAVELENGTHS VERY HIGH POWER
CAN BE OBTAINED WITH THE GYROTRON EITHER AS AN AMPLIFIER OR AS AN OSCILLATOR 4HE GRID
CONTROL VACUUM TUBE WAS USED TO GOOD ADVANTAGE FOR A LONG TIME IN 5(& AND LOWER
FREQUENCY RADARS BUT THERE HAS BEEN LESS INTEREST IN THE LOWER FREQUENCIES FOR RADAR
!LTHOUGH NOT EVERYONE MIGHT AGREE SOME RADAR SYSTEM ENGINEERSIF GIVEN A
CHOICEWOULD CONSIDER THE KLYSTRON AMPLIFIER AS THE PRIME CANDIDATE FOR A HIGH
POWER MODERN RADAR IF THE APPLICATION WERE SUITABLE FOR ITS USE
2ADAR !NTENNAS 4HE ANTENNA IS WHAT CONNECTS THE RADAR TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD
#HAPTERS AND )T PERFORMS SEVERAL PURPOSES CONCENTRATES THE RADIATED ENERGY
!. ).42/$5#4)/. !.$ /6%26)%7 /& 2!$!2
ON TRANSMIT THAT IS IT IS DIRECTIVE AND HAS A NARROW BEAMWIDTH COLLECTS THE RECEIVED
ECHO ENERGY FROM THE TARGET PROVIDES A MEASUREMENT OF THE ANGULAR DIRECTION TO THE
TARGET PROVIDES SPATIAL RESOLUTION TO RESOLVE OR SEPARATE TARGETS IN ANGLE AND ALLOWS
THE DESIRED VOLUME OF SPACE TO BE OBSERVED 4HE ANTENNA CAN BE A MECHANICALLY SCANNED
PARABOLIC REFLECTOR A MECHANICALLY SCANNED PLANAR PHASED ARRAY OR A MECHANICALLY SCANNED
END FIRE ANTENNA )T CAN BE AN ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED PHASED ARRAY USING A SINGLE TRANSMIT
TER WITH EITHER A CORPORATE FEED OR A SPACE FEED CONFIGURATION TO DISTRIBUTE THE POWER TO
EACH ANTENNA ELEMENT OR AN ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED PHASED ARRAY EMPLOYING AT EACH ANTENNA
ELEMENT A SMALL SOLID STATE hMINIATUREv RADAR ALSO CALLED AN ACTIVE APERTURE PHASED ARRAY
%ACH TYPE OF ANTENNA HAS ITS PARTICULAR ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS 'ENERALLY THE LARGER THE
ANTENNA THE BETTER BUT THERE CAN BE PRACTICAL CONSTRAINTS THAT LIMIT ITS SIZE
/9* -", ,!LTHOUGH THERE IS NO SINGLE WAY TO CHARACTERIZE A RADAR HERE WE DO SO BY MEANS OF
WHAT MIGHT BE THE MAJOR FEATURE THAT DISTINGUISHES ONE TYPE OF RADAR FROM ANOTHER
0ULSE RADAR 4HIS IS A RADAR THAT RADIATES A REPETITIVE SERIES OF ALMOST RECTANGULAR
PULSES )T MIGHT BE CALLED THE CANONICAL FORM OF A RADAR THE ONE USUALLY THOUGHT OF
AS A RADAR WHEN NOTHING ELSE IS SAID TO DEFINE A RADAR
(IGH RESOLUTION RADAR (IGH RESOLUTION CAN BE OBTAINED IN THE RANGE ANGLE OR DOP
PLER VELOCITY COORDINATES BUT HIGH RESOLUTION USUALLY IMPLIES THAT THE RADAR HAS HIGH
RANGE RESOLUTION 3OME HIGH RESOLUTION RADARS HAVE RANGE RESOLUTIONS IN TERMS OF
FRACTIONS OF A METER BUT IT CAN BE AS SMALL AS A FEW CENTIMETERS
0ULSE COMPRESSION RADAR 4HIS IS A RADAR THAT USES A LONG PULSE WITH INTERNAL MODU
LATION USUALLY FREQUENCY OR PHASE MODULATION TO OBTAIN THE ENERGY OF A LONG PULSE
WITH THE RESOLUTION OF A SHORT PULSE
#ONTINUOUS WAVE #7 RADAR 4HIS RADAR EMPLOYS A CONTINUOUS SINE WAVE )T ALMOST
ALWAYS USES THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY SHIFT FOR DETECTING MOVING TARGETS OR FOR MEASUR
ING THE RELATIVE VELOCITY OF A TARGET
&- #7 RADAR 4HIS #7 RADAR USES FREQUENCY MODULATION OF THE WAVEFORM TO ALLOW
A RANGE MEASUREMENT
3URVEILLANCE RADAR !LTHOUGH A DICTIONARY MIGHT NOT DEFINE SURVEILLANCE THIS WAY A
SURVEILLANCE RADAR IS ONE THAT DETECTS THE PRESENCE OF A TARGET SUCH AS AN AIRCRAFT OR
A SHIP AND DETERMINES ITS LOCATION IN RANGE AND ANGLE )T CAN ALSO OBSERVE THE TARGET
OVER A PERIOD OF TIME SO AS TO OBTAIN ITS TRACK
-OVING TARGET INDICATION -4) 4HIS IS A PULSE RADAR THAT DETECTS MOVING TARGETS
IN CLUTTER BY USING A LOW PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY 02& THAT USUALLY HAS NO
RANGE AMBIGUITIES )T DOES HAVE AMBIGUITIES IN THE DOPPLER DOMAIN THAT RESULT IN
SO CALLED BLIND SPEEDS
0ULSE DOPPLER RADAR 4HERE ARE TWO TYPES OF PULSE DOPPLER RADARS THAT EMPLOY EITHER
A HIGH OR MEDIUM 02& PULSE RADAR 4HEY BOTH USE THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY SHIFT TO
EXTRACT MOVING TARGETS IN CLUTTER ! HIGH 02& PULSE DOPPLER RADAR HAS NO AMBIGUI
TIES BLIND SPEEDS IN DOPPLER BUT IT DOES HAVE RANGE AMBIGUITIES ! MEDIUM 02&
PULSE DOPPLER RADAR HAS AMBIGUITIES IN BOTH RANGE AND DOPPLER
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4RACKING RADAR 4HIS IS A RADAR THAT PROVIDES THE TRACK OR TRAJECTORY OF A TARGET
4RACKING RADARS CAN BE FURTHER DELINEATED AS 344 !$4 473 AND PHASED ARRAY
TRACKERS AS DESCRIBED BELOW
3INGLE 4ARGET 4RACKER 344 4RACKS A SINGLE TARGET AT A DATA RATE HIGH ENOUGH
TO PROVIDE ACCURATE TRACKING OF A MANEUVERING TARGET ! REVISIT TIME OF S
DATA RATE OF MEASUREMENTS PER SECOND MIGHT BE hTYPICALv )T MIGHT
EMPLOY THE MONOPULSE TRACKING METHOD FOR ACCURATE TRACKING INFORMATION IN
THE ANGLE COORDINATE
!UTOMATIC DETECTION AND TRACKING !$4 4HIS IS TRACKING PERFORMED BY A SUR
VEILLANCE RADAR )T CAN HAVE A VERY LARGE NUMBER OF TARGETS IN TRACK BY USING THE
MEASUREMENTS OF TARGET LOCATIONS OBTAINED OVER MULTIPLE SCANS OF THE ANTENNA
)TS DATA RATE IS NOT AS HIGH AS THE 344 2EVISIT TIMES MIGHT RANGE FROM ONE TO
SECONDS DEPENDING ON THE APPLICATION
4RACK WHILE SCAN 473 5SUALLY A RADAR THAT PROVIDES SURVEILLANCE OVER A NAR
ROW REGION OF ANGLE IN ONE OR TWO DIMENSIONS SO AS TO PROVIDE AT A RAPID
UPDATE RATE LOCATION INFORMATION ON ALL TARGETS WITHIN A LIMITED ANGULAR REGION
OF OBSERVATION )T HAS BEEN USED IN THE PAST FOR GROUND BASED RADARS THAT GUIDE
AIRCRAFT TO A LANDING IN SOME TYPES OF WEAPON CONTROL RADARS AND IN SOME
MILITARY AIRBORNE RADARS
0HASED ARRAY TRACKER !N ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED PHASED ARRAY CAN ALMOST hCON
TINUOUSLYv TRACK MORE THAN ONE TARGET AT A HIGH DATA RATE )T CAN ALSO SIMULTA
NEOUSLY PROVIDE THE LOWER DATA RATE TRACKING OF MULTIPLE TARGETS SIMILAR TO THAT
PERFORMED BY !$4
)MAGING RADAR 4HIS RADAR PRODUCES A TWO DIMENSIONAL IMAGE OF A TARGET OR A SCENE
SUCH AS A PORTION OF THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH AND WHAT IS ON IT 4HESE RADARS USUALLY
ARE ON MOVING PLATFORMS
3IDELOOKING AIRBORNE RADAR 3,!2 4HIS AIRBORNE SIDELOOKING IMAGING RADAR PRO
VIDES HIGH RESOLUTION IN RANGE AND OBTAINS SUITABLE RESOLUTION IN ANGLE BY USING A
NARROW BEAMWIDTH ANTENNA
3YNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR 3!2 3!2 IS A COHERENT
IMAGING RADAR ON A MOVING
VEHICLE THAT USES THE PHASE INFORMATION OF THE ECHO SIGNAL TO OBTAIN AN IMAGE OF A
SCENE WITH HIGH RESOLUTION IN BOTH RANGE AND CROSS RANGE (IGH RANGE RESOLUTION IS
OFTEN OBTAINED USING PULSE COMPRESSION
)NVERSE SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR )3!2 )3!2 IS A COHERENT IMAGING RADAR THAT USES
HIGH RESOLUTION IN RANGE AND THE RELATIVE MOTION OF THE TARGET TO OBTAIN HIGH RESOLU
TION IN THE DOPPLER DOMAIN THAT ALLOWS RESOLUTION IN THE CROSS RANGE DIMENSION TO
BE OBTAINED )T CAN BE ON A MOVING VEHICLE OR IT CAN BE STATIONARY
7EAPON CONTROL RADAR 4HIS NAME IS USUALLY APPLIED TO A SINGLE TARGET TRACKER USED
FOR DEFENDING AGAINST AIR ATTACK
'UIDANCE RADAR 4HIS IS USUALLY A RADAR ON A MISSILE THAT ALLOWS THE MISSILE TO
hHOME IN v OR GUIDE ITSELF TO A TARGET
7EATHER METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATION 3UCH RADARS DETECT RECOGNIZE AND MEASURE
PRECIPITATION RATE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION AND OBSERVE OTHER WEATHER EFFECTS
#OHERENT IMPLIES THAT THE PHASE OF THE RADAR SIGNAL IS USED AS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE RADAR PROCESS
!. ).42/$5#4)/. !.$ /6%26)%7 /& 2!$!2
IMPORTANT FOR METEOROLOGICAL PURPOSES 4HESE MAY BE SPECIAL RADARS OR ANOTHER
FUNCTION OF SURVEILLANCE RADARS
$OPPLER WEATHER RADAR 4HIS IS A WEATHER OBSERVATION RADAR THAT EMPLOYS THE DOP
PLER FREQUENCY SHIFT CAUSED BY MOVING WEATHER EFFECTS TO DETERMINE THE WIND THE
WIND SHEAR WHEN THE WIND BLOWS IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS WHICH CAN INDICATE A
DANGEROUS WEATHER CONDITION SUCH AS A TORNADO OR A DOWNBURST OF WIND AS WELL AS
OTHER METEOROLOGICAL EFFECTS
4ARGET RECOGNITION )N SOME CASES IT MIGHT BE IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THE TYPE OF TARGET
BEING OBSERVED BY RADAR EG AN AUTOMOBILE RATHER THAN A BIRD OR TO RECOGNIZE THE PAR
TICULAR TYPE OF TARGET AN AUTOMOBILE RATHER THAN A TRUCK OR A STARLING RATHER THAN A SPAR
ROW OR TO RECOGNIZE ONE CLASS OF TARGET FROM ANOTHER A CRUISE SHIP RATHER THAN A TANKER
7HEN USED FOR MILITARY PURPOSES IT IS USUALLY CALLED A NONCOOPERATIVE TARGET RECOG
NITION .#42 RADAR AS COMPARED TO A COOPERATIVE RECOGNITION SYSTEM SUCH AS )&&
IDENTIFICATION FRIEND OR FOE WHICH IS NOT A RADAR 7HEN TARGET RECOGNITION INVOLVES
SOME PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT THE RADAR IS USUALLY KNOWN AS A REMOTE SENS
ING OF THE ENVIRONMENT RADAR
-ULTIFUNCTION RADAR )F EACH OF THE ABOVE RADARS WERE THOUGHT OF AS PROVIDING SOME
RADAR FUNCTION THEN A MULTIFUNCTION RADAR IS ONE DESIGNED TO PERFORM MORE THAN ONE
SUCH FUNCTIONUSUALLY PERFORMING ONE FUNCTION AT A TIME ON A TIME
SHARED BASIS
4HERE ARE MANY OTHER WAYS TO DESCRIBE RADARS INCLUDING LAND SEA AIRBORNE SPACE
BORNE MOBILE TRANSPORTABLE AIR
TRAFFIC CONTROL MILITARY GROUND
PENETRATING ULTRA
WIDEBAND OVER THE HORIZON INSTRUMENTATION LASER OR LIDAR BY THE FREQUENCY BAND AT
WHICH THEY OPERATE 5(& , 3 AND SO ON BY THEIR APPLICATION AND SO FORTH
", /" 6 ," , ,
$ETECTION OF TARGETS IS OF LITTLE VALUE UNLESS SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE TARGET IS OBTAINED
AS WELL ,IKEWISE TARGET INFORMATION WITHOUT TARGET DETECTION IS MEANINGLESS
2ANGE 0ROBABLY THE MOST DISTINGUISHING FEATURE OF A CONVENTIONAL RADAR IS ITS ABILITY
TO DETERMINE THE RANGE TO A TARGET BY MEASURING THE TIME IT TAKES FOR THE RADAR SIGNAL TO
PROPAGATE AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT OUT TO THE TARGET AND BACK TO THE RADAR .O OTHER SENSOR CAN
MEASURE THE DISTANCE TO A REMOTE TARGET AT LONG RANGE WITH THE ACCURACY OF RADAR BASICALLY
LIMITED AT LONG RANGES BY THE ACCURACY OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION
!T MODEST RANGES THE PRECISION CAN BE A FEW CENTIMETERS 4O MEASURE RANGE SOME SORT
OF TIMING MARK MUST BE INTRODUCED ON THE TRANSMITTED WAVEFORM ! TIMING MARK CAN
BE A SHORT PULSE AN AMPLITUDE MODULATION OF THE SIGNAL BUT IT CAN ALSO BE A DISTINCTIVE
MODULATION OF THE FREQUENCY OR PHASE 4HE ACCURACY OF A RANGE MEASUREMENT DEPENDS
ON THE RADAR SIGNAL BANDWIDTH THE WIDER THE BANDWIDTH THE GREATER THE ACCURACY 4HUS
BANDWIDTH IS THE BASIC MEASURE OF RANGE ACCURACY
2ADIAL 6ELOCITY 4HE RADIAL VELOCITY OF A TARGET IS OBTAINED FROM THE RATE OF CHANGE
OF RANGE OVER A PERIOD OF TIME )T CAN ALSO BE OBTAINED FROM THE MEASUREMENT OF THE DOP
PLER FREQUENCY SHIFT !N ACCURATE MEASUREMENT OF RADIAL VELOCITY REQUIRES TIME (ENCE
TIME IS THE BASIC PARAMETER DESCRIBING THE QUALITY OF A RADIAL VELOCITY MEASUREMENT 4HE
SPEED OF A MOVING TARGET AND ITS DIRECTION OF TRAVEL CAN BE OBTAINED FROM ITS TRACK WHICH
CAN BE FOUND FROM THE RADAR MEASUREMENTS OF THE TARGET LOCATION OVER A PERIOD OF TIME
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!NGULAR $IRECTION /NE METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE DIRECTION TO A TARGET IS BY
DETERMINING THE ANGLE WHERE THE MAGNITUDE OF THE ECHO SIGNAL FROM A SCANNING ANTENNA
IS MAXIMUM 4HIS USUALLY REQUIRES AN ANTENNA WITH A NARROW BEAMWIDTH A HIGH
GAIN
ANTENNA !N AIR
SURVEILLANCE RADAR WITH A ROTATING ANTENNA BEAM DETERMINES ANGLE IN
THIS MANNER 4HE ANGLE TO A TARGET IN ONE ANGULAR DIMENSION CAN ALSO BE DETERMINED BY
USING TWO ANTENNA BEAMS SLIGHTLY DISPLACED IN ANGLE AND COMPARING THE ECHO AMPLI
TUDE RECEIVED IN EACH BEAM &OUR BEAMS ARE NEEDED TO OBTAIN THE ANGLE MEASUREMENT
IN BOTH AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION 4HE MONOPULSE TRACKING RADAR DISCUSSED IN #HAPTER IS
A GOOD EXAMPLE 4HE ACCURACY OF AN ANGLE MEASUREMENT DEPENDS ON THE ELECTRICAL SIZE
OF THE ANTENNA IE THE SIZE OF THE ANTENNA GIVEN IN WAVELENGTHS
3IZE AND 3HAPE )F THE RADAR HAS SUFFICIENT RESOLUTION CAPABILITY IN RANGE OR ANGLE
IT CAN PROVIDE A MEASUREMENT OF THE TARGET EXTENT IN THE DIMENSION OF HIGH RESOLU
TION 2ANGE IS USUALLY THE COORDINATE WHERE RESOLUTION IS OBTAINED 2ESOLUTION IN CROSS
RANGE GIVEN BY THE RANGE MULTIPLIED BY THE ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH CAN BE OBTAINED WITH
VERY NARROW BEAMWIDTH ANTENNAS (OWEVER THE ANGULAR WIDTH OF AN ANTENNA BEAM IS
LIMITED SO THE CROSS
RANGE RESOLUTION OBTAINED BY THIS METHOD IS NOT AS GOOD AS THE
RANGE RESOLUTION 6ERY GOOD RESOLUTION IN THE CROSS
RANGE DIMENSION CAN BE OBTAINED
BY EMPLOYING THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY DOMAIN BASED ON 3!2 SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR
OR )3!2 INVERSE SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR SYSTEMS AS DISCUSSED IN #HAPTER 4HERE
NEEDS TO BE RELATIVE MOTION BETWEEN THE TARGET AND THE RADAR IN ORDER TO OBTAIN THE
CROSS
RANGE RESOLUTION BY 3!2 OR )3!2 7ITH SUFFICIENT RESOLUTION IN BOTH RANGE AND
CROSS
RANGE NOT ONLY CAN THE SIZE BE OBTAINED IN TWO ORTHOGONAL COORDINATES BUT THE
TARGET SHAPE CAN SOMETIMES BE DISCERNED
4HE )MPORTANCE OF "ANDWIDTH IN 2ADAR "ANDWIDTH BASICALLY REPRESENTS INFOR
MATION HENCE IT IS VERY IMPORTANT IN MANY RADAR APPLICATIONS 4HERE ARE TWO TYPES OF
BANDWIDTH ENCOUNTERED IN RADAR /NE IS THE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH WHICH IS THE BANDWIDTH
DETERMINED BY THE SIGNAL PULSE WIDTH OR BY ANY INTERNAL MODULATION OF THE SIGNAL 4HE
OTHER IS TUNABLE BANDWIDTH 'ENERALLY THE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH OF A SIMPLE PULSE OF SINE
WAVE OF DURATION S IS S 0ULSE COMPRESSION WAVEFORMS DISCUSSED IN #HAPTER CAN
HAVE MUCH GREATER BANDWIDTH THAN THE RECIPROCAL OF THEIR PULSE WIDTH ,ARGE BAND
WIDTH IS NEEDED FOR RESOLVING TARGETS IN RANGE FOR ACCURATE MEASUREMENT OF RANGE TO
A TARGET AND FOR PROVIDING A LIMITED CAPABILITY TO RECOGNIZE ONE TYPE OF TARGET FROM
ANOTHER (IGH RANGE RESOLUTION ALSO CAN BE USEFUL FOR REDUCING THE DEGRADING EFFECTS
OF WHAT IS KNOWN AS GLINT IN A TRACKING RADAR FOR MEASURING THE ALTITUDE OF AN AIRCRAFT
BASED ON THE DIFFERENCE IN TIME DELAY RANGE BETWEEN THE TWO
WAY DIRECT SIGNAL FROM
RADAR TO TARGET AND THE TWO
WAY SURFACE
SCATTERED SIGNAL FROM RADAR TO SURFACE TO TARGET
ALSO CALLED MULTIPATH HEIGHT FINDING AND IN INCREASING THE TARGET
SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER
RATIO )N MILITARY SYSTEMS HIGH RANGE RESOLUTION MAY BE EMPLOYED FOR COUNTING THE
NUMBER OF AIRCRAFT FLYING IN CLOSE FORMATION AND FOR RECOGNIZING AND THWARTING SOME
TYPES OF DECEPTION COUNTERMEASURES
4UNABLE BANDWIDTH OFFERS THE ABILITY TO CHANGE TUNE THE RADAR SIGNAL FREQUENCY
OVER A WIDE RANGE OF THE AVAILABLE SPECTRUM 4HIS CAN BE USED FOR REDUCING MUTUAL INTER
FERENCE AMONG RADARS THAT OPERATE IN THE SAME FREQUENCY BAND AS WELL AS IN ATTEMPTING
TO MAKE HOSTILE ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES LESS EFFECTIVE 4HE HIGHER THE OPERATING
FREQUENCY THE EASIER IT IS TO OBTAIN WIDE SIGNAL AND WIDE TUNABLE BANDWIDTH
! LIMITATION ON THE AVAILABILITY OF BANDWIDTH IN A RADAR IS THE CONTROL OF THE SPECTRUM
BY GOVERNMENT REGULATING AGENCIES IN THE 5NITED 3TATES THE &EDERAL #OMMUNICATION
!. ).42/$5#4)/. !.$ /6%26)%7 /& 2!$!2
#OMMISSION AND INTERNATIONALLY THE )NTERNATIONAL 4ELECOMMUNICATIONS 5NION !FTER
THE SUCCESS OF RADAR IN 7ORLD 7AR )) RADAR WAS ALLOWED TO OPERATE OVER ABOUT ONE
THIRD OF THE MICROWAVE SPECTRUM 4HIS SPECTRUM SPACE HAS BEEN REDUCED CONSIDERABLY
OVER THE YEARS WITH THE ADVENT OF MANY COMMERCIAL USERS OF THE SPECTRUM IN THE AGE OF
hWIRELESSv AND OTHER SERVICES REQUIRING THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM 4HUS THE RADAR
ENGINEER IS INCREASINGLY EXPERIENCING SMALLER AVAILABLE SPECTRUM SPACE AND BANDWIDTH
ALLOCATIONS THAT CAN BE VITAL FOR THE SUCCESS OF MANY RADAR APPLICATIONS
3IGNAL TO .OISE 2ATIO 4HE ACCURACY OF ALL RADAR MEASUREMENTS AS WELL AS THE
RELIABLE DETECTION OF TARGETS DEPENDS ON THE RATIO %.O WHERE % IS THE TOTAL ENERGY
OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL THAT IS PROCESSED BY THE RADAR AND .O IS THE NOISE POWER PER
UNIT BANDWIDTH OF THE RECEIVER 4HUS %.O IS AN IMPORTANT MEASURE OF THE CAPABILITY
OF A RADAR
/PERATION WITH -ORE 4HAN /NE &REQUENCY 4HERE MAY BE IMPORTANT BENEFITS
WHEN A RADAR IS ABLE TO OPERATE AT MORE THAN ONE FREQUENCY &REQUENCY AGILITY USUALLY
REFERS TO THE USE OF MULTIPLE FREQUENCIES ON A PULSE TO PULSE BASIS &REQUENCY DIVERSITY
USUALLY RELATES TO THE USE OF MULTIPLE FREQUENCIES THAT ARE WIDELY SEPARATED SOMETIMES IN
MORE THAN ONE RADAR BAND &REQUENCY DIVERSITY MIGHT OPERATE AT EACH FREQUENCY SIMUL
TANEOUSLY OR ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY )T HAS BEEN USED IN ALMOST ALL CIVILIAN AIR TRAFFIC
CONTROL RADARS 0ULSE TO PULSE FREQUENCY AGILITY HOWEVER IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE USE
OF DOPPLER PROCESSING TO DETECT MOVING TARGETS IN CLUTTER BUT FREQUENCY DIVERSITY CAN
BE COMPATIBLE 4HE FREQUENCY RANGE IN BOTH AGILITY AND IN DIVERSITY OPERATIONS IS MUCH
GREATER THAN THE INHERENT BANDWIDTH OF A PULSE OF WIDTH S
%LEVATION .ULL &ILLING /PERATION OF A RADAR AT A SINGLE FREQUENCY CAN RESULT IN A
LOBED STRUCTURE TO THE ELEVATION PATTERN OF AN ANTENNA DUE TO THE INTERFERENCE BETWEEN
THE DIRECT SIGNAL RADAR TO TARGET AND THE SURFACE SCATTERED SIGNAL RADAR TO EARTHS SUR
FACE TO TARGET "Y A LOBED STRUCTURE WE MEAN THAT THERE WILL BE REDUCED COVERAGE AT
SOME ELEVATION ANGLES NULLS AND INCREASED SIGNAL STRENGTH AT OTHER ANGLES LOBES !
CHANGE IN FREQUENCY WILL CHANGE THE LOCATION OF THE NULLS AND LOBES SO THAT BY OPERATING
OVER A WIDE FREQUENCY RANGE THE NULLS IN ELEVATION CAN BE FILLED IN AND THE RADAR WILL
BE LESS LIKELY TO LOSE A TARGET ECHO SIGNAL &OR EXAMPLE MEASUREMENTS WITH A WIDEBAND
EXPERIMENTAL RADAR KNOWN AS 3ENRAD WHICH COULD OPERATE FROM TO -(Z
SHOWED THAT WHEN ONLY A SINGLE FREQUENCY WAS USED THE BLIP SCAN RATIO THE EXPERI
MENTALLY MEASURED SINGLE SCAN PROBABILITY OF DETECTION WAS FOUND TO BE UNDER A
PARTICULAR SET OF OBSERVATIONS 7HEN THE RADAR OPERATED AT FOUR DIFFERENT WIDELY SEPA
RATED FREQUENCIES THE BLIP SCAN RATIO WAS A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT INCREASE DUE TO
FREQUENCY DIVERSITY
)NCREASED 4ARGET $ETECTABILITY 4HE RADAR CROSS SECTION OF A COMPLEX TARGET SUCH
AS AN AIRCRAFT CAN VARY GREATLY WITH A CHANGE IN FREQUENCY !T SOME FREQUENCIES THE
RADAR CROSS SECTION WILL BE SMALL AND AT OTHERS IT WILL BE LARGE )F A RADAR OPERATES AT A
SINGLE FREQUENCY IT MIGHT RESULT IN A SMALL TARGET ECHO AND THEREFORE A MISSED DETEC
TION "Y OPERATING AT A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES THE CROSS SECTION WILL VARY AND
CAN BE SMALL OR LARGE BUT A SUCCESSFUL DETECTION BECOMES MORE LIKELY THAN IF ONLY A
SINGLE FREQUENCY WERE USED 4HIS IS ONE REASON THAT ALMOST ALL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL RADARS
OPERATE WITH TWO FREQUENCIES SPACED WIDE ENOUGH APART IN FREQUENCY TO INSURE THAT
TARGET ECHOES ARE DECORRELATED AND THEREFORE INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF DETECTION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
2EDUCED %FFECTIVENESS OF (OSTILE #OUNTERMEASURES !NY MILITARY RADAR THAT IS SUC
CESSFUL CAN EXPECT A HOSTILE ADVERSARY TO EMPLOY COUNTERMEASURES TO REDUCE ITS EFFEC
TIVENESS /PERATING OVER A WIDE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES MAKES COUNTERMEASURES MORE
DIFFICULT THAN IF OPERATION IS AT ONLY ONE FREQUENCY !GAINST NOISE JAMMING CHANGING
FREQUENCY IN AN UNPREDICTABLE MANNER OVER A WIDE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES CAUSES THE JAM
MER TO HAVE TO SPREAD ITS POWER OVER A WIDE FREQUENCY RANGE AND WILL THEREFORE REDUCE
THE HOSTILE JAMMING SIGNAL STRENGTH OVER THE BANDWIDTH OF THE RADAR SIGNAL &REQUENCY
DIVERSITY OVER A WIDE BAND ALSO MAKES IT MORE DIFFICULT BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE FOR A HOSTILE
INTERCEPT RECEIVER OR AN ANTIRADIATION MISSILE TO DETECT AND LOCATE A RADAR SIGNAL
4HE $OPPLER 3HIFT IN 2ADAR 4HE IMPORTANCE OF THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY SHIFT
BEGAN TO BE APPRECIATED FOR PULSE RADAR SHORTLY AFTER 7ORLD 7AR )) AND BECAME AN
INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT FACTOR IN MANY RADAR APPLICATIONS -ODERN RADAR WOULD BE
MUCH LESS INTERESTING OR USEFUL IF THE DOPPLER EFFECT DIDNT EXIST 4HE DOPPLER FREQUENCY
SHIFT FD CAN BE WRITTEN AS
FD VR L V COS Q L
WHERE VR V COS P IS THE RELATIVE VELOCITY OF THE TARGET RELATIVE TO THE RADAR IN MS V IS
THE ABSOLUTE VELOCITY OF THE TARGET IN MS K IS THE RADAR WAVELENGTH IN M AND P IS THE
ANGLE BETWEEN THE TARGETS DIRECTION AND THE RADAR BEAM 4O AN ACCURACY OF ABOUT PER
CENT THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY IN HERTZ IS APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO VR KT DIVIDED BY K M
4HE DOPPLER FREQUENCY SHIFT IS WIDELY USED TO SEPARATE MOVING TARGETS FROM
STATIONARY CLUTTER AS DISCUSSED IN #HAPTERS THROUGH 3UCH RADARS ARE KNOWN AS -4)
MOVING TARGET INDICATION !-4) AIRBORNE -4) AND PULSE DOPPLER !LL MODERN AIR
TRAFFIC CONTROL RADARS ALL IMPORTANT MILITARY GROUND BASED AND AIRBORNE AIR SURVEILLANCE
RADARS AND ALL MILITARY AIRBORNE FIGHTER RADARS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE DOPPLER EFFECT 9ET IN
77)) NONE OF THESE PULSE RADAR APPLICATIONS USED DOPPLER 4HE #7 CONTINUOUS WAVE
RADAR ALSO EMPLOYS THE DOPPLER EFFECT FOR DETECTING MOVING TARGETS BUT #7 RADAR FOR
THIS PURPOSE IS NOT AS POPULAR AS IT ONCE WAS 4HE (& /4( RADAR #HAPTER COULD NOT
DO ITS JOB OF DETECTING MOVING TARGETS IN THE PRESENCE OF LARGE CLUTTER ECHOES FROM THE
EARTHS SURFACE WITHOUT THE USE OF DOPPLER
!NOTHER SIGNIFICANT APPLICATION OF RADAR THAT DEPENDS ON THE DOPPLER SHIFT IS OBSER
VATION OF THE WEATHER AS IN THE .EXRAD RADARS OF THE 53 .ATIONAL 7EATHER 3ERVICE
#HAPTER MENTIONED EARLIER IN THIS CHAPTER
"OTH THE 3!2 AND )3!2 CAN BE DESCRIBED IN TERMS OF THEIR USE OF THE DOPPLER FRE
QUENCY SHIFT #HAPTER 4HE AIRBORNE DOPPLER NAVIGATOR RADAR IS ALSO BASED ON THE
DOPPLER SHIFT 4HE USE OF DOPPLER IN A RADAR GENERALLY PLACES GREATER DEMANDS ON THE
STABILITY OF THE RADAR TRANSMITTER AND IT INCREASES THE COMPLEXITY OF THE SIGNAL PROCESS
ING YET THESE REQUIREMENTS ARE WILLINGLY ACCEPTED IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE SIGNIFICANT
BENEFITS OFFERED BY DOPPLER )T SHOULD ALSO BE MENTIONED THAT THE DOPPLER SHIFT IS THE KEY
CAPABILITY OF A RADAR THAT CAN MEASURE SPEED AS BY ITS DILIGENT USE BY TRAFFIC POLICE FOR
MAINTAINING VEHICLE SPEED LIMITS AND IN OTHER VELOCITY MEASURING APPLICATIONS
{ /
, ,
+1/"
4HE RADAR RANGE EQUATION OR RADAR EQUATION FOR SHORT NOT ONLY SERVES THE VERY USEFUL
PURPOSE OF ESTIMATING THE RANGE OF A RADAR AS A FUNCTION OF THE RADAR CHARACTERISTICS
!. ).42/$5#4)/. !.$ /6%26)%7 /& 2!$!2
BUT ALSO IS QUITE USEFUL AS A GUIDE FOR DESIGNING A RADAR SYSTEM 4HE SIMPLE FORM OF THE
RADAR EQUATION MAY BE WRITTEN AS
0R
0T 'T
S
r
r !E
P 2 P 2
4HE RIGHT
HAND SIDE HAS BEEN WRITTEN AS THE PRODUCT OF THREE FACTORS TO REPRESENT THE
PHYSICAL PROCESSES THAT TAKE PLACE 4HE FIRST FACTOR ON THE RIGHT IS THE POWER DENSITY
AT A DISTANCE 2 FROM A RADAR THAT RADIATES A POWER 0T FROM AN ANTENNA OF GAIN 'T 4HE
NUMERATOR R OF THE SECOND FACTOR IS THE RADAR CROSS SECTION OF THE TARGET )T HAS THE UNIT
OF AREA FOR EXAMPLE SQUARE METERS AND IS A MEASURE OF THE ENERGY REDIRECTED BY THE
TARGET BACK IN THE DIRECTION OF THE RADAR 4HE DENOMINATOR OF THE SECOND FACTOR ACCOUNTS
FOR THE DIVERGENCE OF THE ECHO SIGNAL ON ITS RETURN PATH BACK TO THE RADAR 4HE PRODUCT
OF THE FIRST TWO FACTORS REPRESENTS THE POWER PER UNIT AREA RETURNED TO THE RADAR ANTENNA
.OTE THAT THE RADAR CROSS SECTION OF A TARGET R IS DEFINED BY THIS EQUATION 4HE RECEIVING
ANTENNA OF EFFECTIVE AREA !E COLLECTS A PORTION 0R OF THE ECHO POWER RETURNED TO THE RADAR
)F THE MAXIMUM RADAR RANGE 2MAX IS DEFINED AS OCCURRING WHEN THE RECEIVED SIGNAL IS
EQUAL TO THE MINIMUM DETECTABLE SIGNAL OF THE RADAR 3MIN THE SIMPLE FORM OF THE RADAR
EQUATION BECOMES
2MAX
0T 'T !E S
P 3MIN
'ENERALLY MOST RADARS USE THE SAME ANTENNA FOR BOTH TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING &ROM
ANTENNA THEORY THERE IS A RELATION BETWEEN THE GAIN 'T OF THE ANTENNA ON TRANSMIT AND
ITS EFFECTIVE AREA !E ON RECEIVE WHICH IS 'T P !E L WHERE K IS THE WAVELENGTH OF
THE RADAR SIGNAL 3UBSTITUTING THIS INTO %Q PROVIDES TWO OTHER USEFUL FORMS OF THE
RADAR EQUATION NOT SHOWN HERE ONE THAT REPRESENTS THE ANTENNA ONLY BY ITS GAIN AND
THE OTHER THAT REPRESENTS THE ANTENNA ONLY BY ITS EFFECTIVE AREA
4HE SIMPLE FORM OF THE RADAR EQUATION IS INSTRUCTIVE BUT NOT VERY USEFUL SINCE IT
LEAVES OUT MANY THINGS 4HE MINIMUM DETECTABLE SIGNAL 3MIN IS LIMITED BY RECEIVER
NOISE AND CAN BE EXPRESSED AS
3MIN K4O "&N 3 .
)N THIS EXPRESSION K4O " IS THE SO CALLED THERMAL NOISE FROM AN IDEAL OHMIC CONDUC
TOR WHERE K "OLTZMANNS CONSTANT 4O IS THE STANDARD TEMPERATURE OF + AND "
RECEIVER BANDWIDTH USUALLY THAT OF THE )& STAGE OF THE SUPERHETERODYNE RECEIVER 4HE
PRODUCT K4O IS EQUAL TO r 7(Z 4O ACCOUNT FOR THE ADDITIONAL NOISE INTRODUCED
BY A PRACTICAL NONIDEAL RECEIVER THE THERMAL NOISE EXPRESSION IS MULTIPLIED BY THE
NOISE FIGURE &N OF THE RECEIVER DEFINED AS THE NOISE OUT OF A PRACTICAL RECEIVER TO THE
NOISE OUT OF AN IDEAL RECEIVER &OR A RECEIVED SIGNAL TO BE DETECTABLE IT HAS TO BE LARGER
THAN THE RECEIVER NOISE BY A FACTOR DENOTED HERE AS 3. 4HIS VALUE OF SIGNAL TO
NOISE RATIO 3. IS THAT REQUIRED IF ONLY ONE PULSE IS PRESENT )T HAS TO BE LARGE ENOUGH
TO OBTAIN THE REQUIRED PROBABILITY OF FALSE ALARM DUE TO NOISE CROSSING THE RECEIVER
THRESHOLD AND THE REQUIRED PROBABILITY OF DETECTION AS CAN BE FOUND IN VARIOUS RADAR
TEXTS 2ADARS HOWEVER GENERALLY PROCESS MORE THAN ONE PULSE BEFORE MAKING A
DETECTION DECISION 7E ASSUME THE RADAR WAVEFORM IS A REPETITIVE SERIES OF RECTANGULAR
LIKE PULSES 4HESE PULSES ARE INTEGRATED ADDED TOGETHER BEFORE A DETECTION DECISION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
IS MADE 4O ACCOUNT FOR THESE ADDED SIGNALS THE NUMERATOR OF THE RADAR EQUATION IS
MULTIPLIED BY A FACTOR N%IN WHERE %IN IS THE EFFICIENCY IN ADDING TOGETHER N PULSES
4HIS VALUE CAN ALSO BE FOUND IN STANDARD TEXTS
4HE POWER 0T IS THE PEAK POWER OF A RADAR PULSE 4HE AVERAGE POWER 0AV IS A BETTER
MEASURE OF THE ABILITY OF A RADAR TO DETECT TARGETS SO IT IS SOMETIMES INSERTED INTO THE
RADAR EQUATION USING 0T 0AV FPS WHERE FP IS THE PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY OF THE PULSE
RADAR AND S IS THE PULSE DURATION 4HE SURFACE OF THE EARTH AND THE EARTHS ATMOSPHERE CAN
DRASTICALLY AFFECT THE PROPAGATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND CHANGE THE COVERAGE AND
CAPABILITIES OF A RADAR )N THE RADAR EQUATION THESE PROPAGATION EFFECTS ARE ACCOUNTED FOR
BY A FACTOR & IN THE NUMERATOR OF THE RADAR EQUATION AS DISCUSSED IN #HAPTER 7ITH
THE ABOVE SUBSTITUTED INTO THE SIMPLE FORM OF THE RADAR EQUATION WE GET
2MAX
0AV '!ES N%I N &
P K4O &N F P 3 . ,S
)N THE ABOVE EQUATION IT WAS ASSUMED IN ITS DERIVATION THAT "S y WHICH IS GENERALLY
APPLICABLE IN RADAR ! FACTOR ,S GREATER THAN UNITY CALLED THE SYSTEM LOSSES HAS BEEN
INSERTED TO ACCOUNT FOR THE MANY WAYS THAT LOSS CAN OCCUR IN A RADAR 4HIS LOSS FACTOR
CAN BE QUITE LARGE )F THE SYSTEM LOSS IS IGNORED IT MIGHT RESULT IN A VERY LARGE ERROR IN
THE ESTIMATED RANGE PREDICTED BY THE RADAR EQUATION ! LOSS OF FROM D" TO MAY BE
D" IS NOT UNUSUAL WHEN ALL RADAR SYSTEM LOSS FACTORS ARE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT
%QUATION APPLIES FOR A RADAR THAT OBSERVES A TARGET LONG ENOUGH TO RECEIVE N
PULSES -ORE FUNDAMENTALLY IT APPLIES FOR A RADAR WHERE THE TIME ON TARGET TO IS EQUAL
TO NFP !N EXAMPLE IS A TRACKING RADAR THAT CONTINUOUSLY OBSERVES A SINGLE TARGET FOR
A TIME TO 4HIS EQUATION HOWEVER NEEDS TO BE MODIFIED FOR A SURVEILLANCE RADAR THAT
OBSERVES AN ANGULAR VOLUME 7 WITH A REVISIT TIME TS !IR TRAFFIC CONTROL RADARS MIGHT
HAVE A REVISIT TIME OF FROM TO S 4HUS A SURVEILLANCE RADAR HAS THE ADDITIONAL
CONSTRAINT THAT IT MUST COVER AN ANGULAR VOLUME 7 IN A GIVEN TIME TS 4HE REVISIT
TIME TS IS EQUAL TO TO77O WHERE TO NFP AND 7O THE SOLID BEAMWIDTH OF THE ANTENNA
STERADIANS IS APPROXIMATELY RELATED TO THE ANTENNA GAIN ' BY ' O 7O 4HEREFORE
WHEN NFP IN %Q IS REPLACED WITH ITS EQUAL O TS '7 THE RADAR EQUATION FOR A
SURVEILLANCE RADAR IS OBTAINED AS
2MAX
0AV !ES %I N &
T
r S
P K4O &N 3 . ,S 7
4HE RADAR DESIGNER HAS LITTLE CONTROL OVER THE REVISIT TIME TS OR THE ANGULAR COVERAGE
7 WHICH ARE DETERMINED MAINLY BY THE JOB THE RADAR HAS TO PERFORM 4HE RADAR CROSS
SECTION ALSO IS DETERMINED BY THE RADAR APPLICATION )F A LARGE RANGE IS REQUIRED OF
A SURVEILLANCE RADAR THE RADAR MUST HAVE THE NECESSARY VALUE OF THE PRODUCT 0AV !E
&OR THIS REASON A COMMON MEASURE OF THE CAPABILITY OF A SURVEILLANCE RADAR IS ITS
POWER
APERTURE PRODUCT .OTE THAT THE RADAR FREQUENCY DOES NOT APPEAR EXPLICITLY
IN THE SURVEILLANCE RADAR EQUATION 4HE CHOICE OF FREQUENCY HOWEVER WILL ENTER
IMPLICITLY IN OTHER WAYS
*UST AS THE RADAR EQUATION FOR A SURVEILLANCE RADAR IS DIFFERENT FROM THE CONVENTIONAL
RADAR EQUATION OF %Q OR THE SIMPLE RADAR EQUATION OF %Q EACH PARTICULAR APPLICA
TION OF A RADAR GENERALLY HAS TO EMPLOY A RADAR EQUATION TAILORED TO THAT SPECIFIC APPLICA
TION 7HEN THE RADAR ECHOES FROM LAND SEA OR WEATHER CLUTTER ARE GREATER THAN THE RECEIVER
NOISE THE RADAR EQUATION HAS TO BE MODIFIED TO ACCOUNT FOR CLUTTER BEING THE LIMITATION TO
!. ).42/$5#4)/. !.$ /6%26)%7 /& 2!$!2
DETECTION RATHER THAN RECEIVER NOISE )T CAN HAPPEN THAT THE DETECTION CAPABILITY OF A RADAR
MIGHT BE LIMITED BY CLUTTER IN SOME REGIONS OF ITS COVERAGE AND BE LIMITED BY RECEIVER
NOISE IN OTHER REGIONS 4HIS CAN RESULT IN TWO DIFFERENT SETS OF RADAR CHARACTERISTICS ONE
OPTIMIZED FOR NOISE AND THE OTHER OPTIMIZED FOR CLUTTER AND COMPROMISES USUALLY HAVE TO
BE MADE IN RADAR DESIGN ! DIFFERENT TYPE OF RADAR EQUATION IS ALSO REQUIRED WHEN THE RADAR
CAPABILITY IS LIMITED BY HOSTILE NOISE JAMMING
x , ,,
+1
9
//
,
"
/1,
)T IS NOT ALWAYS CONVENIENT TO USE THE EXACT NUMERICAL FREQUENCY RANGE OVER WHICH A
PARTICULAR TYPE OF RADAR OPERATES 7ITH MANY MILITARY RADARS THE EXACT OPERATING FRE
QUENCY RANGE OF A RADAR IS USUALLY NOT DISCLOSED 4HUS THE USE OF LETTERS TO DESIGNATE
RADAR OPERATING BANDS HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL 4HE )%%% )NSTITUTE OF %LECTRICAL AND
%LECTRONIC %NGINEERS HAS OFFICIALLY STANDARDIZED THE RADAR LETTER
BAND NOMENCLATURE
AS SUMMARIZED IN 4ABLE
#OMMENTS ON THE TABLE 4HE )NTERNATIONAL 4ELECOMMUNICATIONS 5NION )45
ASSIGNS SPECIFIC PORTIONS OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM FOR RADIOLOCATION RADAR
USE AS SHOWN IN THE THIRD COLUMN WHICH APPLIES TO )45 2EGION THAT INCLUDES .ORTH
AND 3OUTH !MERICA 3LIGHT DIFFERENCES OCCUR IN THE OTHER TWO )45 2EGIONS 4HUS AN
,
BAND RADAR CAN ONLY OPERATE WITHIN THE FREQUENCY RANGE FROM -(Z TO -(Z
AND EVEN WITHIN THIS RANGE THERE MAY BE RESTRICTIONS 3OME OF THE INDICATED )45 BANDS
ARE RESTRICTED IN THEIR USAGE FOR EXAMPLE THE BAND BETWEEN AND '(Z IS RESERVED
4!",% )%%% 3TANDARD ,ETTER $ESIGNATIONS FOR 2ADAR &REQUENCY "ANDS
"AND $ESIGNATION
.OMINAL &REQUENCY 2ANGE
(&
6(&
-(Zn -(Z
n -(Z
5(&
n -(Z
,
3
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
8
+U
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
+A
6
7
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
3PECIFIC &REQUENCY 2ANGES FOR 2ADAR "ASED
ON )45 &REQUENCY !SSIGNMENTS
FOR 2EGION
n -(Z
n -(Z
n -(Z
n -(Z
n -(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
n '(Z
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WITH FEW EXCEPTIONS FOR AIRBORNE RADAR ALTIMETERS 4HERE ARE NO OFFICIAL )45 ALLOCATIONS
FOR RADAR IN THE (& BAND BUT MOST (& RADARS SHARE FREQUENCIES WITH OTHER ELECTROMAG
NETIC SERVICES 4HE LETTER
BAND DESIGNATION FOR MILLIMETER WAVE RADARS IS MM AND THERE
ARE SEVERAL FREQUENCY BANDS ALLOCATED TO RADAR IN THIS REGION BUT THEY HAVE NOT BEEN
LISTED HERE !LTHOUGH THE OFFICIAL )45 DESCRIPTION OF MILLIMETER WAVES IS FROM TO
'(Z IN REALITY THE TECHNOLOGY OF RADARS AT +A BAND
IS MUCH CLOSER TO THE TECHNOLOGY
OF MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES THAN TO THE TECHNOLOGY OF 7 BAND 4HE MILLIMETER WAVE RADAR
FREQUENCIES ARE OFTEN CONSIDERED BY THOSE WHO WORK IN THIS FIELD TO HAVE A LOWER BOUND
OF '(Z RATHER THAN THE hLEGALv LOWER BOUND OF '(Z IN RECOGNITION OF THE SIGNIFICANT
DIFFERENCE IN TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS THAT IS CHARACTERISTIC OF MILLIMETER WAVE RADAR
-ICROWAVES HAVE NOT BEEN DEFINED IN THIS STANDARD BUT THIS TERM GENERALLY APPLIES TO
RADARS THAT OPERATE FROM 5(& TO +A BAND 4HE REASON THAT THESE LETTER DESIGNATIONS MIGHT
NOT BE EASY FOR THE NON
RADAR ENGINEER TO RECOGNIZE IS THAT THEY WERE ORIGINALLY SELECTED
TO DESCRIBE THE RADAR BANDS USED IN 7ORLD 7AR )) 3ECRECY WAS IMPORTANT AT THAT TIME SO
THE LETTERS SELECTED TO DESIGNATE THE VARIOUS BANDS MADE IT HARD TO GUESS THE FREQUENCIES
TO WHICH THEY APPLY 4HOSE WHO WORK AROUND RADAR HOWEVER SELDOM HAVE A PROBLEM
WITH THE USAGE OF THE RADAR LETTER BANDS
/THER LETTER BANDS HAVE BEEN USED FOR DESCRIBING THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM BUT
THEY ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR RADAR AND SHOULD NEVER BE USED FOR RADAR /NE SUCH DESIGNATION
USES THE LETTERS ! " # ETC ORIGINALLY DEVISED FOR CONDUCTING ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURE
EXERCISES 4HE )%%% 3TANDARD MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY STATES THAT THESE hARE NOT CONSISTENT
WITH RADAR PRACTICE AND SHALL NOT BE USED TO DESCRIBE RADAR
FREQUENCY BANDSv 4HUS THERE
MAY BE $
BAND JAMMERS BUT NEVER $
BAND RADARS
/""*
,/
,
+1
9" , ,
2ADARS HAVE BEEN OPERATED AT FREQUENCIES AS LOW AS -(Z JUST ABOVE THE !- BROAD
CAST BAND AND AS HIGH AS SEVERAL HUNDRED '(Z MILLIMETER WAVE REGION -ORE USU
ALLY RADAR FREQUENCIES MIGHT BE FROM ABOUT -(Z TO OVER '(Z 4HIS IS A VERY LARGE
EXTENT OF FREQUENCIES SO IT SHOULD BE EXPECTED THAT RADAR TECHNOLOGY CAPABILITIES AND
APPLICATIONS WILL VARY CONSIDERABLY DEPENDING ON THE FREQUENCY RANGE AT WHICH A
RADAR OPERATES 2ADARS AT A PARTICULAR FREQUENCY BAND USUALLY HAVE DIFFERENT CAPABILI
TIES AND CHARACTERISTICS THAN RADARS IN OTHER FREQUENCY BANDS 'ENERALLY LONG RANGE
IS EASIER TO ACHIEVE AT THE LOWER FREQUENCIES BECAUSE IT IS EASIER TO OBTAIN HIGH
POWER
TRANSMITTERS AND PHYSICALLY LARGE ANTENNAS AT THE LOWER FREQUENCIES /N THE OTHER
HAND AT THE HIGHER RADAR FREQUENCIES IT IS EASIER TO ACHIEVE ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS OF
RANGE AND LOCATION BECAUSE THE HIGHER FREQUENCIES PROVIDE WIDER BANDWIDTH WHICH
DETERMINES RANGE ACCURACY AND RANGE RESOLUTION AS WELL AS NARROWER BEAM ANTENNAS
FOR A GIVEN PHYSICAL SIZE ANTENNA WHICH DETERMINES ANGLE ACCURACY AND ANGLE RESOLU
TION )N THE FOLLOWING THE APPLICATIONS USUALLY FOUND IN THE VARIOUS RADAR BANDS ARE
BRIEFLY INDICATED 4HE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ADJACENT BANDS HOWEVER ARE SELDOM SHARP
IN PRACTICE AND OVERLAP IN CHARACTERISTICS BETWEEN ADJACENT BANDS IS LIKELY
4HE WAVELENGTHS OF +A BAND RANGE FROM MM TO MM WHICH QUALIFIES THEM UNDER THE hLEGALv DEFINITION OF
MILLIMETERS BUT JUST BARELY
!. ).42/$5#4)/. !.$ /6%26)%7 /& 2!$!2
(& TO -(Z 4HE MAJOR USE OF THE (& BAND FOR RADAR #HAPTER IS TO
DETECT TARGETS AT LONG RANGES NOMINALLY OUT TO NMI BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE
REFRACTION OF (& ENERGY BY THE IONOSPHERE THAT LIES HIGH ABOVE THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH
2ADIO AMATEURS REFER TO THIS AS SHORT WAVE PROPAGATION AND USE IT TO COMMUNICATE OVER
LONG DISTANCES 4HE TARGETS FOR SUCH (& RADARS MIGHT BE AIRCRAFT SHIPS AND BALLISTIC
MISSILES AS WELL AS THE ECHO FROM THE SEA SURFACE ITSELF THAT PROVIDES INFORMATION ABOUT
THE DIRECTION AND SPEED OF THE WINDS THAT DRIVE THE SEA
6(& TO -(Z !T THE BEGINNING OF RADAR DEVELOPMENT IN THE S
RADARS WERE IN THIS FREQUENCY BAND BECAUSE THESE FREQUENCIES REPRESENTED THE FRONTIER
OF RADIO TECHNOLOGY AT THAT TIME )T IS A GOOD FREQUENCY FOR LONG RANGE AIR SURVEILLANCE
OR DETECTION OF BALLISTIC MISSILES !T THESE FREQUENCIES THE REFLECTION COEFFICIENT ON
SCATTERING FROM THE EARTHS SURFACE CAN BE VERY LARGE ESPECIALLY OVER WATER SO THE
CONSTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE BETWEEN THE DIRECT SIGNAL AND THE SURFACE REFLECTED SIGNAL CAN
INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY THE RANGE OF A 6(& RADAR 3OMETIMES THIS EFFECT CAN ALMOST DOU
BLE THE RADARS RANGE (OWEVER WHEN THERE IS CONSTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE THAT INCREASES
THE RANGE THERE CAN BE DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE THAT DECREASES THE RANGE DUE TO THE DEEP
NULLS IN THE ANTENNA PATTERN IN THE ELEVATION PLANE ,IKEWISE THE DESTRUCTIVE INTERFER
ENCE CAN RESULT IN POOR LOW ALTITUDE COVERAGE $ETECTION OF MOVING TARGETS IN CLUTTER
IS OFTEN BETTER AT THE LOWER FREQUENCIES WHEN THE RADAR TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE DOPPLER
FREQUENCY SHIFT BECAUSE DOPPLER AMBIGUITIES THAT CAUSE BLIND SPEEDS ARE FAR FEWER
AT LOW FREQUENCIES 6(& RADARS ARE NOT BOTHERED BY ECHOES FROM RAIN BUT THEY CAN BE
AFFECTED BY MULTIPLE TIME AROUND ECHOES FROM METEOR IONIZATION AND AURORA 4HE RADAR
CROSS SECTION OF AIRCRAFT AT 6(& IS GENERALLY LARGER THAN THE RADAR CROSS SECTION AT HIGHER
FREQUENCIES 6(& RADARS FREQUENTLY COST LESS COMPARED TO RADARS WITH THE SAME RANGE
PERFORMANCE THAT OPERATE AT HIGHER FREQUENCIES
!LTHOUGH THERE ARE MANY ATTRACTIVE ADVANTAGES OF 6(& RADARS FOR LONG RANGE SUR
VEILLANCE THEY ALSO HAVE SOME SERIOUS LIMITATIONS $EEP NULLS IN ELEVATION AND POOR
LOW ALTITUDE COVERAGE HAVE BEEN MENTIONED 4HE AVAILABLE SPECTRAL WIDTHS ASSIGNED TO
RADAR AT 6(& ARE SMALL SO RANGE RESOLUTION IS OFTEN POOR 4HE ANTENNA BEAMWIDTHS ARE
USUALLY WIDER THAN AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES SO THERE IS POOR RESOLUTION AND ACCURACY
IN ANGLE 4HE 6(& BAND IS CROWDED WITH IMPORTANT CIVILIAN SERVICES SUCH AS 46 AND &-
BROADCAST FURTHER REDUCING THE AVAILABILITY OF SPECTRUM SPACE FOR RADAR %XTERNAL NOISE
LEVELS THAT CAN ENTER THE RADAR VIA THE ANTENNA ARE HIGHER AT 6(& THAN AT MICROWAVE
FREQUENCIES 0ERHAPS THE CHIEF LIMITATION OF OPERATING RADARS AT 6(& IS THE DIFFICULTY OF
OBTAINING SUITABLE SPECTRUM SPACE AT THESE CROWDED FREQUENCIES
)N SPITE OF ITS LIMITATIONS THE 6(& AIR SURVEILLANCE RADAR WAS WIDELY USED BY THE
3OVIET 5NION BECAUSE IT WAS A LARGE COUNTRY AND THE LOWER COST OF 6(& RADARS MADE
THEM ATTRACTIVE FOR PROVIDING AIR SURVEILLANCE OVER THE LARGE EXPANSE OF THAT COUNTRY
4HEY HAVE SAID THEY PRODUCED A LARGE NUMBER OF 6(& AIR SURVEILLANCE RADARS
SOME WERE OF VERY LARGE SIZE AND LONG RANGE AND MOST WERE READILY TRANSPORTABLE
)T IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT 6(& AIRBORNE INTERCEPT RADARS WERE WIDELY USED BY THE
'ERMANS IN 7ORLD 7AR )) &OR EXAMPLE THE ,ICHTENSTEIN 3. AIRBORNE RADAR OPER
ATED FROM ABOUT TO OVER -(Z IN VARIOUS MODELS 2ADARS AT SUCH FREQUENCIES
WERE NOT AFFECTED BY THE COUNTERMEASURE CALLED CHAFF ALSO KNOWN AS WINDOW
5(& TO -(Z -ANY OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF RADAR OPERATING IN THE
6(& REGION ALSO APPLY TO SOME EXTENT AT 5(& 5(& IS A GOOD FREQUENCY FOR !IRBORNE
-OVING 4ARGET )NDICATION !-4) RADAR IN AN !IRBORNE %ARLY 7ARNING 2ADAR !%7
AS DISCUSSED IN #HAPTER )T IS ALSO A GOOD FREQUENCY FOR THE OPERATION OF LONG RANGE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
RADARS FOR THE DETECTION AND TRACKING OF SATELLITES AND BALLISTIC MISSILES !T THE UPPER
PORTION OF THIS BAND THERE CAN BE FOUND LONG
RANGE SHIPBOARD AIR
SURVEILLANCE RADARS
AND RADARS CALLED WIND PROFILERS THAT MEASURE THE SPEED AND DIRECTION OF THE WIND
'ROUND 0ENETRATING 2ADAR '02 DISCUSSED IN #HAPTER IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT
IS CALLED AN ULTRAWIDEBAND 57" RADAR )TS WIDE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH SOMETIMES COV
ERS BOTH THE 6(& AND 5(& BANDS 3UCH A RADARS SIGNAL BANDWIDTH MIGHT EXTEND
FOR INSTANCE FROM TO -(Z ! WIDE BANDWIDTH IS NEEDED IN ORDER TO OBTAIN
GOOD RANGE RESOLUTION 4HE LOWER FREQUENCIES ARE NEEDED TO ALLOW THE PROPAGATION OF
RADAR ENERGY INTO THE GROUND %VEN SO THE LOSS IN PROPAGATING THROUGH TYPICAL SOIL
IS SO HIGH THAT THE RANGES OF A SIMPLE MOBILE '02 MIGHT BE ONLY A FEW METERS 3UCH
RANGES ARE SUITABLE FOR LOCATING BURIED POWER LINES AND PIPE LINES AS WELL AS BURIED
OBJECTS )F A RADAR IS TO SEE TARGETS LOCATED ON THE SURFACE BUT WITHIN FOLIAGE SIMILAR
FREQUENCIES ARE NEEDED AS FOR THE '02
, BAND TO '(Z 4HIS IS THE PREFERRED FREQUENCY BAND FOR THE OPERATION
OF LONG
RANGE OUT TO NMI AIR
SURVEILLANCE RADARS 4HE !IR 2OUTE 3URVEILLANCE
2ADAR !232 USED FOR LONG RANGE AIR
TRAFFIC CONTROL IS A GOOD EXAMPLE !S ONE GOES
UP IN FREQUENCY THE EFFECT OF RAIN ON PERFORMANCE BEGINS TO BECOME SIGNIFICANT SO THE
RADAR DESIGNER MIGHT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT REDUCING THE EFFECT OF RAIN AT ,
BAND AND
HIGHER FREQUENCIES 4HIS FREQUENCY BAND HAS ALSO BEEN ATTRACTIVE FOR THE LONG
RANGE
DETECTION OF SATELLITES AND DEFENSE AGAINST INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILES
3 BAND TO '(Z 4HE !IRPORT 3URVEILLANCE 2ADAR !32 THAT MONITORS
AIR TRAFFIC WITHIN THE REGION OF AN AIRPORT IS AT 3 BAND )TS RANGE IS TYPICALLY TO
NMI )F A $ RADAR IS WANTED ONE THAT DETERMINES RANGE AZIMUTH ANGLE AND ELEVATION
ANGLE IT CAN BE ACHIEVED AT 3 BAND
)T WAS SAID PREVIOUSLY THAT LONG
RANGE SURVEILLANCE IS BETTER PERFORMED AT LOW FRE
QUENCIES AND THE ACCURATE MEASUREMENT OF TARGET LOCATION IS BETTER PERFORMED AT HIGH
FREQUENCIES )F ONLY A SINGLE RADAR OPERATING WITHIN A SINGLE FREQUENCY BAND CAN BE USED
THEN 3 BAND IS A GOOD COMPROMISE )T IS ALSO SOMETIMES ACCEPTABLE TO USE # BAND AS THE
CHOICE FOR A RADAR THAT PERFORMS BOTH FUNCTIONS 4HE !7!#3 AIRBORNE AIR
SURVEILLANCE
RADAR ALSO OPERATES AT 3 BAND 5SUALLY MOST RADAR APPLICATIONS ARE BEST OPERATED IN A
PARTICULAR FREQUENCY BAND AT WHICH THE RADARS PERFORMANCE IS OPTIMUM (OWEVER IN
THE EXAMPLE OF AIRBORNE AIR
SURVEILLANCE RADARS !7!#3 IS FOUND AT 3 BAND AND THE 53
.AVYS % !%7 RADAR AT 5(& )N SPITE OF SUCH A DIFFERENCE IN FREQUENCY IT HAS BEEN SAID
THAT BOTH RADARS HAVE COMPARABLE PERFORMANCE 4HIS IS AN EXCEPTION TO THE OBSERVATION
ABOUT THERE BEING AN OPTIMUM FREQUENCY BAND FOR EACH APPLICATION
4HE .EXRAD WEATHER RADAR OPERATES AT 3 BAND )T IS A GOOD FREQUENCY FOR THE OBSER
VATION OF WEATHER BECAUSE A LOWER FREQUENCY WOULD PRODUCE A MUCH WEAKER RADAR
ECHO SIGNAL FROM RAIN SINCE THE RADAR ECHO FROM RAIN VARIES AS THE FOURTH POWER OF
THE FREQUENCY AND A HIGHER FREQUENCY WOULD PRODUCE ATTENUATION OF THE SIGNAL AS IT
PROPAGATES THROUGH THE RAIN AND WOULD NOT ALLOW AN ACCURATE MEASUREMENT OF RAINFALL
RATE 4HERE ARE WEATHER RADARS AT HIGHER FREQUENCIES BUT THESE ARE USUALLY OF SHORTER
RANGE THAN .EXRAD AND MIGHT BE USED FOR A MORE SPECIFIC WEATHER RADAR APPLICATION
THAN THE ACCURATE METEOROLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS PROVIDED BY .EXRAD
# BAND TO '(Z 4HIS BAND LIES BETWEEN 3 AND 8 BANDS AND HAS PROPERTIES
IN BETWEEN THE TWO /FTEN EITHER 3 OR 8 BAND MIGHT BE PREFERRED TO THE USE OF # BAND
ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN IMPORTANT APPLICATIONS IN THE PAST FOR # BAND
!. ).42/$5#4)/. !.$ /6%26)%7 /& 2!$!2
8 BAND TO '(Z 4HIS IS A RELATIVELY POPULAR RADAR BAND FOR MILITARY
APPLICATIONS )T IS WIDELY USED IN MILITARY AIRBORNE RADARS FOR PERFORMING THE ROLES OF
INTERCEPTOR FIGHTER AND ATTACK OF GROUND TARGETS AS DISCUSSED IN #HAPTER )T IS ALSO
POPULAR FOR IMAGING RADARS BASED ON 3!2 AND )3!2 8 BAND IS A SUITABLE FREQUENCY
FOR CIVIL MARINE RADARS AIRBORNE WEATHER AVOIDANCE RADAR AIRBORNE DOPPLER NAVIGATION
RADARS AND THE POLICE SPEED METER -ISSILE GUIDANCE SYSTEMS ARE SOMETIMES AT 8 BAND
2ADARS AT 8 BAND ARE GENERALLY OF A CONVENIENT SIZE AND ARE THEREFORE OF INTEREST FOR
APPLICATIONS WHERE MOBILITY AND LIGHT WEIGHT ARE IMPORTANT AND VERY LONG RANGE IS NOT
A MAJOR REQUIREMENT 4HE RELATIVELY WIDE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES AVAILABLE AT 8 BAND AND
THE ABILITY TO OBTAIN NARROW BEAMWIDTHS WITH RELATIVELY SMALL ANTENNAS IN THIS BAND
ARE IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS FOR HIGH
RESOLUTION APPLICATIONS "ECAUSE OF THE HIGH FRE
QUENCY OF 8 BAND RAIN CAN SOMETIMES BE A SERIOUS FACTOR IN REDUCING THE PERFORMANCE
OF 8
BAND SYSTEMS
+U + AND +A "ANDS TO '(Z !S ONE GOES TO HIGHER RADAR FREQUENCY
THE PHYSICAL SIZE OF ANTENNAS DECREASE AND IN GENERAL IT IS MORE DIFFICULT TO GENERATE
LARGE TRANSMITTER POWER 4HUS THE RANGE PERFORMANCE OF RADARS AT FREQUENCIES ABOVE
8 BAND IS GENERALLY LESS THAN THAT OF 8 BAND -ILITARY AIRBORNE RADARS ARE FOUND AT +U
BAND AS WELL AS AT 8 BAND 4HESE FREQUENCY BANDS ARE ATTRACTIVE WHEN A RADAR OF SMALLER
SIZE HAS TO BE USED FOR AN APPLICATION NOT REQUIRING LONG RANGE 4HE !IRPORT 3URFACE
$ETECTION %QUIPMENT !3$% GENERALLY FOUND ON TOP OF THE CONTROL TOWER AT MAJOR
AIRPORTS HAS BEEN AT +U BAND PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF ITS BETTER RESOLUTION THAN 8 BAND )N
THE ORIGINAL + BAND THERE IS A WATER
VAPOR ABSORPTION LINE AT '(Z WHICH CAUSES
ATTENUATION THAT CAN BE A SERIOUS PROBLEM IN SOME APPLICATIONS 4HIS WAS DISCOVERED
AFTER THE DEVELOPMENT OF +
BAND RADARS BEGAN DURING 7ORLD 7AR )) WHICH IS WHY BOTH
+U AND +A BANDS WERE LATER INTRODUCED 4HE RADAR ECHO FROM RAIN CAN LIMIT THE CAPABIL
ITY OF RADARS AT THESE FREQUENCIES
-ILLIMETER 7AVE 2ADAR !LTHOUGH THIS FREQUENCY REGION IS OF LARGE EXTENT
MOST OF THE INTEREST IN MILLIMETER WAVE RADAR HAS BEEN IN THE VICINITY OF '(Z
WHERE THERE IS A MINIMUM CALLED A WINDOW IN THE ATMOSPHERIC ATTENUATION
! WINDOW IS A REGION OF LOW ATTENUATION RELATIVE TO ADJACENT FREQUENCIES 4HE WIN
DOW AT '(Z IS ABOUT AS WIDE AS THE ENTIRE MICROWAVE SPECTRUM !S MENTIONED
PREVIOUSLY FOR RADAR PURPOSES THE MILLIMETER WAVE REGION IN PRACTICE GENERALLY
STARTS AT '(Z OR EVEN AT HIGHER FREQUENCIES 4HE TECHNOLOGY OF MILLIMETER WAVE
RADARS AND THE PROPAGATION EFFECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT ARE NOT ONLY DIFFERENT FROM
MICROWAVE RADARS BUT THEY ARE USUALLY MUCH MORE RESTRICTING 5NLIKE WHAT IS EXPERI
ENCED AT MICROWAVES THE MILLIMETER RADAR SIGNAL CAN BE HIGHLY ATTENUATED EVEN WHEN
PROPAGATING IN THE CLEAR ATMOSPHERE !TTENUATION VARIES OVER THE MILLIMETER WAVE
REGION 4HE ATTENUATION IN THE '(Z WINDOW IS ACTUALLY HIGHER THAN THE ATTENU
ATION OF THE ATMOSPHERIC WATER
VAPOR ABSORPTION LINE AT '(Z 4HE ONE
WAY
ATTENUATION IN THE OXYGEN ABSORPTION LINE AT '(Z IS ABOUT D" PER KM WHICH
ESSENTIALLY PRECLUDES ITS APPLICATION !TTENUATION IN RAIN CAN ALSO BE A LIMITATION IN
THE MILLIMETER WAVE REGION
)NTEREST IN MILLIMETER RADAR HAS BEEN MAINLY BECAUSE OF ITS CHALLENGES AS A FRONTIER
TO BE EXPLORED AND PUT TO PRODUCTIVE USE )TS GOOD FEATURES ARE THAT IT IS A GREAT PLACE FOR
EMPLOYING WIDE BANDWIDTH SIGNALS THERE IS PLENTY OF SPECTRUM SPACE RADARS CAN HAVE
HIGH RANGE
RESOLUTION AND NARROW BEAMWIDTHS WITH SMALL ANTENNAS HOSTILE ELECTRONIC
COUNTERMEASURES TO MILITARY RADARS ARE DIFFICULT TO EMPLOY AND IT IS EASIER TO HAVE
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
A MILITARY RADAR WITH LOW PROBABILITY OF INTERCEPT AT THESE FREQUENCIES THAN AT LOWER
FREQUENCIES )N THE PAST MILLIMETER WAVE TRANSMITTERS WERE NOT CAPABLE OF AN AVERAGE
POWER MORE THAN A FEW HUNDRED WATTSAND WERE USUALLY MUCH LESS !DVANCES IN
GYROTRONS #HAPTER CAN PRODUCE AVERAGE POWER MANY ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE GREATER
THAN MORE CONVENTIONAL MILLIMETER
WAVE POWER SOURCES 4HUS AVAILABILITY OF HIGH
POWER IS NOT A LIMITATION AS IT ONCE WAS
,ASER 2ADAR ,ASERS CAN PRODUCE USABLE POWER AT OPTICAL FREQUENCIES AND IN THE
INFRARED REGION OF THE SPECTRUM 4HEY CAN UTILIZE WIDE BANDWIDTH VERY SHORT PULSES
AND CAN HAVE VERY NARROW BEAMWIDTHS !NTENNA APERTURES HOWEVER ARE MUCH SMALLER
THAN AT MICROWAVES !TTENUATION IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND RAIN IS VERY HIGH AND PER
FORMANCE IN BAD WEATHER IS QUITE LIMITED 2ECEIVER NOISE IS DETERMINED BY QUANTUM
EFFECTS RATHER THAN THERMAL NOISE &OR SEVERAL REASONS LASER RADAR HAS HAD ONLY LIMITED
APPLICATION
, , "
/1,
-ILITARY ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT INCLUDING RADAR IS IDENTIFIED BY THE *OINT %LECTRONICS
4YPE $ESIGNATION 3YSTEM *%4$3 AS DESCRIBED IN 53 -ILITARY 3TANDARD -),
34$
$ 4HE LETTER PORTION OF THE DESIGNATION CONSISTS OF THE LETTERS !. A SLANT BAR
AND THREE ADDITIONAL LETTERS APPROPRIATELY SELECTED TO INDICATE WHERE THE EQUIPMENT IS
INSTALLED THE TYPE OF EQUIPMENT AND ITS PURPOSE &OLLOWING THE THREE LETTERS ARE A DASH
AND A NUMERAL 4HE NUMERAL IS ASSIGNED IN SEQUENCE FOR THAT PARTICULAR COMBINATION OF
LETTERS 4ABLE SHOWS THE LETTERS THAT HAVE BEEN USED FOR RADAR DESIGNATIONS
! SUFFIX LETTER ! " # x FOLLOWS THE ORIGINAL DESIGNATION FOR EACH MODIFICATION
OF THE EQUIPMENT WHERE INTERCHANGEABILITY HAS BEEN MAINTAINED 4HE LETTER 6 IN PAREN
THESES ADDED TO THE DESIGNATION INDICATES VARIABLE SYSTEMS THOSE WHOSE FUNCTIONS
MAY BE VARIED THROUGH THE ADDITION OR DELETION OF SETS GROUPS UNITS OR COMBINATIONS
THEREOF 7HEN THE DESIGNATION IS FOLLOWED BY A DASH THE LETTER 4 AND A NUMBER THE
EQUIPMENT IS DESIGNED FOR TRAINING )N ADDITION TO THE 5NITED 3TATES THESE DESIGNA
TIONS CAN ALSO BE USED BY #ANADA !USTRALIA .EW :EALAND AND THE 5NITED +INGDOM
3PECIAL BLOCKS OF NUMBERS ARE RESERVED FOR THESE COUNTRIES &URTHER INFORMATION CAN
BE FOUND ON THE )NTERNET UNDER -),
34$
$
4HE 53 &EDERAL !VIATION !GENCY &!! USES THE FOLLOWING TO DESIGNATE THEIR AIR
TRAFFIC CONTROL RADARS
!32
!232
!3$%
4$72
!IRPORT 3URVEILLANCE 2ADAR
!IR 2OUTE 3URVEILLANCE 2ADAR
!IRPORT 3URFACE $ETECTION %QUIPMENT
4ERMINAL $OPPLER 7EATHER 2ADAR
4HE NUMERAL FOLLOWING THE LETTER DESIGNATION INDICATES THE PARTICULAR RADAR MODEL
IN SEQUENCE
7EATHER RADARS DEVELOPED BY THE 5 3 7EATHER 3ERVICE ./!! EMPLOY THE DES
IGNATION 732 4HE NUMBER FOLLOWING THE DESIGNATION IS THE YEAR THE RADAR WENT INTO
SERVICE 4HUS 732
$ IS THE .EXRAD DOPPLER RADAR THAT FIRST ENTERED SERVICE IN
4HE LETTER $ INDICATES IT IS A DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR
!. ).42/$5#4)/. !.$ /6%26)%7 /& 2!$!2
4!",% *%4$3 ,ETTER $ESIGNATIONS THAT 0ERTAIN TO 2ADAR
)NSTALLATION FIRST LETTER
! 0ILOTED AIRCRAFT
" 5NDERWATER MOBILE
SUBMARINE
$ 0ILOTLESS CARRIER
& &IXED GROUND
4YPE OF %QUIPMENT
SECOND LETTER
, #OUNTERMEASURES
0 2ADAR
3 3PECIAL OR
COMBINATION
7 !RMAMENT
PECULIAR TO ARMAMENT
NOT OTHERWISE COVERED
' 'ENERAL GROUND USE
+ !MPHIBIOUS
- -OBILE GROUND
0 0ORTABLE
3 7ATER SHIP
4 4RANSPORTABLE GROUND
5 'ENERAL UTILITY
0URPOSE THIRD LETTER
" "OMBING
$ $IRECTION FINDER RECONNAISSANCE
AND SURVEILLANCE
' &IRE CONTROL
. .AVIGATION
1 3PECIAL OR COMBINATION
2 2ECEIVING
3 $ETECTINGRANGE AND
BEARING SEARCH
4 4RANSMITTING
7 !UTOMATIC FLIGHT OR REMOTE
CONTROL
8 )DENTIFICATION AND RECOGNITION
9 3URVEILLANCE AND CONTROL
BOTH FIRE CONTROL AND AIR CONTROL
6 6EHICULAR GROUND
7 7ATER SURFACE AND
UNDERWATER COMBINED
: 0ILOTED
PILOTLESS AIRBORNE
VEHICLES COMBINED
n -"
*-/ 6
- , ,
! BRIEF LISTING OF SOME OF THE MAJOR ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY AND CAPABILITY OF RADAR
IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY IS GIVEN IN SOMEWHAT CHRONOLOGICAL BUT NOT EXACT ORDER
AS FOLLOWS
4HE DEVELOPMENT OF 6(& RADAR FOR DEPLOYMENT ON SURFACE SHIP AND AIRCRAFT FOR
MILITARY AIR DEFENSE PRIOR TO AND DURING 7ORLD 7AR ))
4HE INVENTION OF THE MICROWAVE MAGNETRON AND THE APPLICATION OF WAVEGUIDE TECH
NOLOGY EARLY IN 77)) TO OBTAIN RADARS THAT COULD OPERATE AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES
SO THAT SMALLER AND MORE MOBILE RADARS COULD BE EMPLOYED
4HE MORE THAN DIFFERENT RADAR MODELS DEVELOPED AT THE -)4 2ADIATION
,ABORATORY IN ITS FIVE YEARS OF EXISTENCE DURING 77)) THAT PROVIDED THE FOUNDATION
FOR MICROWAVE RADAR
-ARCUMS THEORY OF RADAR DETECTION
4HE INVENTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE KLYSTRON AND 474 AMPLIFIER TUBES THAT PRO
VIDED HIGH POWER WITH GOOD STABILITY
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE USE OF THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY SHIFT TO DETECT MOVING TARGETS IN THE PRESENCE OF
MUCH LARGER ECHOES FROM CLUTTER
4HE DEVELOPMENT OF RADARS SUITABLE FOR AIR
TRAFFIC CONTROL
0ULSE COMPRESSION
-ONOPULSE TRACKING RADAR WITH GOOD TRACKING ACCURACY AND BETTER RESISTANCE TO ELEC
TRONIC COUNTERMEASURES THAN PRIOR TRACKING RADARS
3YNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR WHICH PROVIDED IMAGES OF THE GROUND AND WHAT IS ON IT
!IRBORNE -4) !-4) FOR LONG
RANGE AIRBORNE AIR SURVEILLANCE IN THE PRESENCE
OF CLUTTER
3TABLE COMPONENTS AND SUBSYSTEMS AND ULTRALOW SIDELOBE ANTENNAS THAT ALLOWED
HIGH
02& PULSE DOPPLER RADAR !7!#3 WITH LARGE REJECTION OF UNWANTED CLUTTER
(& OVER
THE
HORIZON RADAR THAT EXTENDED THE RANGE OF DETECTION OF AIRCRAFT AND SHIPS
BY AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE
$IGITAL PROCESSING WHICH HAS HAD A VERY MAJOR EFFECT ON IMPROVING RADAR CAPABILI
TIES EVER SINCE THE EARLY S
!UTOMATIC DETECTION AND TRACKING FOR SURVEILLANCE RADARS
3ERIAL PRODUCTION OF ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED PHASED ARRAY RADARS
)NVERSE SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR )3!2 THAT PROVIDED AN IMAGE OF A TARGET AS NEEDED
FOR NONCOOPERATIVE TARGET RECOGNITION OF SHIPS
$OPPLER WEATHER RADAR
3PACE RADARS SUITABLE FOR THE OBSERVATION OF PLANETS SUCH AS 6ENUS
!CCURATE COMPUTER CALCULATION OF THE RADAR CROSS SECTION OF COMPLEX TARGETS
-ULTIFUNCTION AIRBORNE MILITARY RADAR THAT ARE RELATIVELY SMALL AND LIGHTWEIGHT THAT FIT
IN THE NOSE OF A FIGHTER AIRCRAFT AND CAN PERFORM A LARGE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT AIR
TO
AIR
AND AIR
TO
GROUND FUNCTIONS
)T IS ALWAYS A MATTER OF OPINION WHAT THE MAJOR ADVANCES IN RADAR HAVE BEEN /THERS
MIGHT HAVE A DIFFERENT LIST .OT EVERY MAJOR RADAR ACCOMPLISHMENT HAS BEEN INCLUDED
IN THIS LISTING )T COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH LONGER AND COULD HAVE INCLUDED MULTIPLE EXAM
PLES FROM EACH OF THE OTHER CHAPTERS IN THIS BOOK BUT THIS LISTING IS SUFFICIENT TO INDICATE
THE TYPE OF ADVANCES THAT HAVE BEEN IMPORTANT FOR IMPROVED RADAR CAPABILITIES
**
/" -", ,
-ILITARY !PPLICATIONS 2ADAR WAS INVENTED IN THE S BECAUSE OF THE NEED
FOR DEFENSE AGAINST HEAVY MILITARY BOMBER AIRCRAFT 4HE MILITARY NEED FOR RADAR HAS
PROBABLY BEEN ITS MOST IMPORTANT APPLICATION AND THE SOURCE OF MOST OF ITS MAJOR
DEVELOPMENTS INCLUDING THOSE FOR CIVILIAN PURPOSES
4HE CHIEF USE OF MILITARY RADAR HAS BEEN FOR AIR DEFENSE OPERATING FROM LAND SEA
OR AIR )T HAS NOT BEEN PRACTICAL TO PERFORM SUCCESSFUL AIR DEFENSE WITHOUT RADAR )N AIR
DEFENSE RADAR IS USED FOR LONG
RANGE AIR SURVEILLANCE SHORT
RANGE DETECTION OF LOW
ALTITUDE hPOP
UPv TARGETS WEAPON CONTROL MISSILE GUIDANCE NONCOOPERATIVE TARGET
RECOGNITION AND BATTLE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT 4HE PROXIMITY FUZE IN MANY WEAPONS IS
!. ).42/$5#4)/. !.$ /6%26)%7 /& 2!$!2
ALSO AN EXAMPLE OF A RADAR !N EXCELLENT MEASURE OF THE SUCCESS OF RADAR FOR MILITARY
AIR DEFENSE IS THE LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY THAT HAVE BEEN SPENT ON METHODS TO COUNTER
ITS EFFECTIVENESS 4HESE INCLUDE ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES AND OTHER ASPECTS OF ELEC
TRONIC WARFARE ANTIRADIATION MISSILES TO HOME ON RADAR SIGNALS AND LOW CROSS
SECTION
AIRCRAFT AND SHIPS 2ADAR IS ALSO USED BY THE MILITARY FOR RECONNAISSANCE TARGETING
OVER LAND OR SEA AS WELL AS SURVEILLANCE OVER THE SEA
/N THE BATTLEFIELD RADAR IS ASKED TO PERFORM THE FUNCTIONS OF AIR SURVEILLANCE INCLUD
ING SURVEILLANCE OF AIRCRAFT HELICOPTERS MISSILES AND UNMANNED AIRBORNE VEHICLES
CONTROL OF WEAPONS TO AN AIR INTERCEPT HOSTILE WEAPONS LOCATION MORTARS ARTILLERY AND
ROCKETS DETECTION OF INTRUDING PERSONNEL AND CONTROL OF AIR TRAFFIC
4HE USE OF RADAR FOR BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE HAS BEEN OF INTEREST EVER SINCE THE
THREAT OF BALLISTIC MISSILES AROSE IN THE LATE S 4HE LONGER RANGES HIGH SUPERSONIC
SPEEDS AND THE SMALLER TARGET SIZE OF BALLISTIC MISSILES MAKE THE PROBLEM CHALLENGING
4HERE IS NO NATURAL CLUTTER PROBLEM IN SPACE AS THERE IS FOR DEFENSE AGAINST AIRCRAFT
BUT BALLISTIC MISSILES CAN APPEAR IN THE PRESENCE OF A LARGE NUMBER OF EXTRANEOUS CON
FUSION TARGETS AND OTHER COUNTERMEASURES THAT AN ATTACKER CAN LAUNCH TO ACCOMPANY
THE REENTRY VEHICLE CARRYING A WARHEAD 4HE BASIC BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE PROBLEM
BECOMES MORE OF A TARGET RECOGNITION PROBLEM RATHER THAN DETECTION AND TRACKING
4HE NEED FOR WARNING OF THE APPROACH OF BALLISTIC MISSILES HAS RESULTED IN A NUMBER OF
DIFFERENT TYPES OF RADARS FOR PERFORMING SUCH A FUNCTION 3IMILARLY RADARS HAVE BEEN
DEPLOYED THAT ARE CAPABLE OF DETECTING AND TRACKING SATELLITES
! RELATED TASK FOR RADAR THAT IS NOT MILITARY IS THE DETECTION AND INTERCEPTION OF DRUG
TRAFFIC 4HERE ARE SEVERAL TYPES OF RADARS THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THIS NEED INCLUDING THE
LONG
RANGE (& OVER
THE
HORIZON RADAR
2EMOTE 3ENSING OF THE %NVIRONMENT 4HE MAJOR APPLICATION IN THIS CATEGORY
HAS BEEN WEATHER OBSERVATION RADAR SUCH AS THE .EXRAD SYSTEM WHOSE OUTPUT IS OFTEN
SEEN ON THE TELEVISION WEATHER REPORT 4HERE ALSO EXIST VERTICAL
LOOKING WIND
PROFILER
RADARS THAT DETERMINE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION AS A FUNCTION OF ALTITUDE BY DETECTING
THE VERY WEAK RADAR ECHO FROM THE CLEAR AIR ,OCATED AROUND AIRPORTS ARE THE 4ERMINAL
$OPPLER 7EATHER 2ADAR 4$72 SYSTEMS THAT WARN OF DANGEROUS WIND SHEAR PRODUCED
BY THE WEATHER EFFECT KNOWN AS THE DOWNBURST WHICH CAN ACCOMPANY SEVERE STORMS
4HERE IS USUALLY A SPECIALLY DESIGNED WEATHER AVOIDANCE RADAR IN THE NOSE OF SMALL AS
WELL AS LARGE AIRCRAFT TO WARN OF DANGEROUS OR UNCOMFORTABLE WEATHER IN FLIGHT
!NOTHER SUCCESSFUL REMOTE
SENSING RADAR WAS THE DOWNWARD
LOOKING SPACEBORNE
ALTIMETER RADAR THAT MEASURED WORLDWIDE THE GEOID THE MEAN SEA LEVEL WHICH IS NOT
THE SAME ALL OVER THE WORLD WITH EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH ACCURACY 4HERE HAVE BEEN
ATTEMPTS IN THE PAST TO USE RADAR FOR DETERMINING SOIL MOISTURE AND FOR ASSESSING THE
STATUS OF AGRICULTURE CROPS BUT THESE HAVE NOT PROVIDED SUFFICIENT ACCURACY )MAGING
RADARS IN SATELLITES OR AIRCRAFT HAVE BEEN USED TO HELP SHIPS EFFICIENTLY NAVIGATE NORTH
ERN SEAS COATED WITH ICE BECAUSE RADAR CAN TELL WHICH TYPES OF ICE ARE EASIER FOR A SHIP
TO PENETRATE
!IR
4RAFFIC #ONTROL 4HE HIGH DEGREE OF SAFETY IN MODERN AIR TRAVEL IS DUE IN PART
TO THE SUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONS OF RADAR FOR THE EFFECTIVE EFFICIENT AND SAFE CONTROL OF
AIR TRAFFIC -AJOR AIRPORTS EMPLOY AN !IRPORT 3URVEILLANCE 2ADAR !32 FOR OBSERVING
THE AIR TRAFFIC IN THE VICINITY OF THE AIRPORT 3UCH RADARS ALSO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT
NEARBY WEATHER SO AIRCRAFT CAN BE ROUTED AROUND UNCOMFORTABLE WEATHER -AJOR AIRPORTS
ALSO HAVE A RADAR CALLED !IRPORT 3URFACE $ETECTION %QUIPMENT !3$% FOR OBSERVING
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
AND SAFELY CONTROLLING AIRCRAFT AND AIRPORT VEHICLE TRAFFIC ON THE GROUND &OR CONTROL OF
AIR TRAFFIC EN ROUTE FROM ONE TERMINAL TO ANOTHER LONG
RANGE !IR 2OUTE 3URVEILLANCE
2ADARS !232 ARE FOUND WORLDWIDE 4HE !IR 4RAFFIC #ONTROL 2ADAR "EACON 3YSTEM
!4#2"3 IS NOT A RADAR BUT IS A COOPERATIVE SYSTEM USED TO IDENTIFY AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT )T
USES RADAR
LIKE TECHNOLOGY AND WAS ORIGINALLY BASED ON THE MILITARY )&& )DENTIFICATION
&RIEND OR &OE SYSTEM
/THER !PPLICATIONS ! HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT APPLICATION OF RADAR THAT PROVIDED
INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE BY ANY OTHER METHOD WAS THE EXPLORATION OF THE SURFACE
OF THE PLANET 6ENUS BY AN IMAGING RADAR THAT COULD SEE UNDER THE EVER
PRESENT CLOUDS
THAT MASK THE PLANET /NE OF THE WIDEST USED AND LEAST EXPENSIVE OF RADARS HAS BEEN
THE CIVIL MARINE RADAR FOUND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD FOR THE SAFE NAVIGATION OF BOATS AND
SHIPS 3OME READERS HAVE UNDOUBTEDLY BEEN CONFRONTED BY THE HIGHWAY POLICE USING
THE #7 DOPPLER RADAR TO MEASURE THE SPEED OF A VEHICLE 'ROUND PENETRATING RADAR
HAS BEEN USED TO FIND BURIED UTILITY LINES AS WELL AS BY THE POLICE FOR LOCATING BURIED
OBJECTS AND BODIES !RCHEOLOGISTS HAVE USED IT TO DETERMINE WHERE TO BEGIN TO LOOK
FOR BURIED ARTIFACTS 2ADAR HAS BEEN HELPFUL TO BOTH THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND ENTOMOLOGIST
FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING THE MOVEMENTS OF BIRDS AND INSECTS )T HAS ALSO BEEN DEM
ONSTRATED THAT RADAR CAN DETECT THE GAS SEEPAGE THAT IS OFTEN FOUND OVER UNDERGROUND
OIL AND GAS DEPOSITS
"
*/1 , ,-9-/
-
4HERE ARE VARIOUS ASPECTS TO RADAR SYSTEM DESIGN "UT BEFORE A NEW RADAR THAT HAS NOT
EXISTED PREVIOUSLY CAN BE MANUFACTURED A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN HAS TO BE PERFORMED TO
GUIDE THE ACTUAL DEVELOPMENT ! CONCEPTUAL DESIGN IS BASED ON THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE RADAR THAT WILL SATISFY THE CUSTOMER OR USER OF THE RADAR 4HE RESULT OF A CONCEPTUAL
DESIGN EFFORT IS TO PROVIDE A LIST OF THE RADAR CHARACTERISTICS AS FOUND IN THE RADAR EQUA
TION AND RELATED EQUATIONS AND THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SUBSYSTEMS TRANSMIT
TER ANTENNA RECEIVER SIGNAL PROCESSING AND SO FORTH THAT MIGHT BE EMPLOYED 4HE
RADAR EQUATION IS USED AS AN IMPORTANT GUIDE FOR DETERMINING THE VARIOUS TRADEOFFS AND
OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO THE RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNER SO AS TO DETERMINE A SUITABLE CONCEPT TO
MEET THE DESIRED NEED 4HIS SECTION BRIEFLY SUMMARIZES HOW A RADAR SYSTEMS ENGINEER
MIGHT BEGIN TO APPROACH THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A NEW RADAR 4HERE ARE NO FIRMLY
ESTABLISHED PROCEDURES TO CARRY OUT A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN %VERY RADAR COMPANY AND
EVERY RADAR DESIGN ENGINEER DEVELOPS HIS OR HER OWN STYLE 7HAT IS DESCRIBED HERE IS A
BRIEF SUMMARY OF ONE APPROACH TO CONCEPTUAL RADAR DESIGN
'ENERAL 'UIDELINE )T SHOULD BE MENTIONED THAT THERE ARE AT LEAST TWO WAYS BY
WHICH A NEW RADAR SYSTEM MIGHT BE PRODUCED FOR SOME PARTICULAR RADAR APPLICATION /NE
METHOD IS BASED ON EXPLOITING THE ADVANTAGES OF SOME NEW INVENTION NEW TECHNIQUE
NEW DEVICE OR NEW KNOWLEDGE 4HE INVENTION OF THE MICROWAVE MAGNETRON EARLY IN
7ORLD 7AR )) IS AN EXAMPLE !FTER THE MAGNETRON APPEARED RADAR DESIGN WAS DIFFERENT
FROM WHAT IT HAD BEEN BEFORE 4HE OTHER AND PROBABLY MORE COMMON METHOD FOR CON
CEPTUAL RADAR SYSTEM DESIGN IS TO START WITH WHAT THE NEW RADAR HAS TO DO EXAMINE THE
VARIOUS APPROACHES AVAILABLE TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED CAPABILITY CAREFULLY EVALUATE EACH
APPROACH AND THEN SELECT THE ONE THAT BEST MEETS THE NEEDS WITHIN THE OPERATIONAL AND
FISCAL CONSTRAINTS IMPOSED )N BRIEF IT MIGHT CONSIST OF THE FOLLOWING STEPS
!. ).42/$5#4)/. !.$ /6%26)%7 /& 2!$!2
$ESCRIPTION OF THE NEED OR PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED
4HIS IS FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF THE CUSTOMER OR THE USER OF THE RADAR
)NTERACTION BETWEEN THE CUSTOMER AND THE SYSTEMS ENGINEER
4HIS IS FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXPLORING THE TRADEOFFS WHICH THE CUSTOMER MIGHT NOT
BE AWARE OF THAT MIGHT ALLOW THE CUSTOMER TO BETTER OBTAIN WHAT IS WANTED WITH
OUT EXCESSIVE COST OR RISK 5NFORTUNATELY INTERACTION BETWEEN THE POTENTIAL USER
OF THE RADAR AND THE RADAR SYSTEMS ENGINEER IS NOT ALWAYS DONE IN COMPETITIVE
PROCUREMENTS
)DENTIFICATION AND EXPLORATION OF POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
4HIS INCLUDES UNDERSTANDING THE ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS OF THE VARIOUS POS
SIBLE SOLUTIONS
3ELECTION OF THE OPTIMUM OR NEAR OPTIMUM SOLUTION
)N MANY ENGINEERING ENDEAVORS OPTIMUM DOES NOT MEAN THE BEST SINCE THE BEST
MIGHT NOT BE AFFORDABLE OR ACHIEVABLE IN THE REQUIRED TIME /PTIMUM AS USED HERE
MEANS THE BEST UNDER A GIVEN SET OF ASSUMPTIONS %NGINEERING OFTEN INVOLVES ACHIEV
ING A NEAR
OPTIMUM NOT THE OPTIMUM 3ELECTING THE PREFERRED SOLUTION SHOULD BE
BASED ON A WELL
DEFINED CRITERION
$ETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE SELECTED APPROACH
4HIS IS IN TERMS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RADAR AND THE TYPE OF SUBSYSTEMS TO
BE EMPLOYED
!NALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF THE PROPOSED DESIGN
4HIS IS TO VERIFY THE CORRECTNESS OF THE SELECTED APPROACH
!S ONE PROCEEDS THROUGH THIS PROCESS ONE MIGHT REACH A hDEAD ENDv AND HAVE TO
START OVERSOMETIMES MORE THAN ONCE (AVING TO START OVER IS NOT UNUSUAL DURING A
NEW DESIGN EFFORT
/NE CANNOT DEVISE A UNIQUE SET OF GUIDELINES FOR PERFORMING THE DESIGN OF A RADAR
)F THAT WERE POSSIBLE RADAR DESIGN COULD BE DONE ENTIRELY BY COMPUTER "ECAUSE OF THE
USUAL LACK OF COMPLETE INFORMATION MOST ENGINEERING DESIGN REQUIRES AT SOME POINT
THE JUDGMENT AND EXPERIENCE OF THE DESIGN ENGINEER IN ORDER TO SUCCEED
4HE 2ADAR %QUATION IN #ONCEPTUAL $ESIGN 4HE RADAR EQUATION IS THE BASIS
FOR CONCEPTUAL RADAR SYSTEM DESIGN 3OME PARAMETERS OF THE RADAR EQUATION ARE DETER
MINED BY WHAT THE RADAR IS REQUIRED TO DO /THERS MAY BE DECIDED UPON UNILATERALLY BY
THE CUSTOMERBUT THAT SHOULD BE DONE WITH CAUTION 4HE CUSTOMER USUALLY SHOULD BE
THE ONE WHO STATES THE NATURE OF THE RADAR TARGET THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THE RADAR
IS TO OPERATE RESTRICTIONS ON SIZE AND WEIGHT THE USE TO WHICH THE RADAR INFORMATION
IS TO BE PUT AND ANY OTHER CONSTRAINTS THAT HAVE TO BE IMPOSED &ROM THIS INFORMATION
THE RADAR SYSTEMS ENGINEER DETERMINES WHAT IS THE RADAR CROSS SECTION OF THE TARGET
THE RANGE AND ANGLE ACCURACIES NEEDED TO MEET THE RADAR USERS NEEDS AS WELL AS THE
ANTENNA REVISIT TIME 3OME PARAMETERS SUCH AS ANTENNA GAIN MIGHT BE AFFECTED BY
MORE THAN ONE NEED OR REQUIREMENT &OR INSTANCE A PARTICULAR ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH
MIGHT BE INFLUENCED BY THE TRACKING ACCURACY RESOLUTION OF NEARBY TARGETS THE MAXI
MUM SIZE THE ANTENNA CAN BE FOR A PARTICULAR APPLICATION THE NEED FOR A DESIRED RADAR
RANGE AND THE CHOICE OF RADAR FREQUENCY 4HE RADAR FREQUENCY IS USUALLY AFFECTED BY
MANY THINGS INCLUDING THE AVAILABILITY OF ALLOWED FREQUENCIES AT WHICH TO OPERATE
4HE RADAR FREQUENCY MIGHT BE THE LAST PARAMETER OF THE RADAR TO BE SELECTEDAFTER
MANY OTHER COMPROMISES HAVE BEEN MADE
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
,
,
)%%% 3TANDARD $ICTIONARY OF %LECTRICAL AND %LECTRONIC 4ERMS TH %D .EW 9ORK )%%%
- ) 3KOLNIK ' ,INDE AND + -EADS h3ENRAD AN ADVANCED WIDEBAND AIR
SURVEILLANCE RADAR v
)%%% 4RANS VOL !%3
PP n /CTOBER
- ) 3KOLNIK )NTRODUCTION TO 2ADAR 3YSTEMS .EW 9ORK -C'RAW
(ILL &IG
& % .ATHANSON 2ADAR $ESIGN 0RINCIPLES .EW 9ORK -C'RAW
(ILL &IG
4HIS TABLE HAS BEEN DERIVED FROM )%%% 3TANDARD ,ETTER $ESIGNATIONS FOR 2ADAR
&REQUENCY "ANDS
)%%% 3TD
3PECIFIC RADIOLOCATION FREQUENCY RANGES MAY BE FOUND IN THE h&## /NLINE 4ABLE OF &REQUENCY
!LLOCATIONS v #&2 e
h0ERFORMING ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES IN THE 5NITED 3TATES AND #ANADA v 53 .AVY
/0.!6).34 " /CTOBER 3IMILAR VERSIONS ISSUED BY THE 53 !IR &ORCE
!&2
53 !RMY !2
AND 53 -ARINE #ORPS -#/
! :ACHEPITSKY h6(& METRIC BAND RADARS FROM .IZHNY .OVGOROD 2ESEARCH 2ADIOTECHNICAL
)NSTITUTE v )%%% !%3 3YSTEMS -AGAZINE VOL PP n *UNE
!NONYMOUS h!7!#3 VS %# BATTLE A STANDOFF v %7 -AGAZINE P -AY*UNE
- 3KOLNIK $ (EMENWAY AND * 0 (ANSEN h2ADAR DETECTION OF GAS SEEPAGE ASSOCIATED WITH OIL
AND GAS DEPOSITS v )%%% 4RANS VOL '23
PP n -AY
#HAPTER
/,>`>
7>7->`i
3HRADER !SSOCIATES )NC
6ii}i>i
.AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY
*,
4HIS CHAPTER ADDRESSES SURFACE
BASED RADARS EG RADARS SITED ON LAND OR INSTALLED
ONBOARD SHIPS &OR AIRBORNE RADAR RAPID PLATFORM MOTION HAS A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON
DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE AS DISCUSSED IN #HAPTERS AND OF THIS (ANDBOOK
4HE FUNDAMENTAL THEORY OF MOVING TARGET INDICATION -4) RADAR AS PRESENTED IN THE
PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE 2ADAR (ANDBOOK HAS NOT MATERIALLY CHANGED 4HE PERFORMANCE
OF -4) RADAR HOWEVER HAS BEEN GREATLY IMPROVED DUE PRIMARILY TO FOUR ADVANCES
INCREASED STABILITY OF RADAR SUBSYSTEMS SUCH AS TRANSMITTERS OSCILLATORS AND RECEIVERS
INCREASED DYNAMIC RANGE OF RECEIVERS AND ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL CONVERTERS !$
FASTER AND MORE POWERFUL DIGITAL PROCESSING AND BETTER AWARENESS OF THE LIMITA
TIONS AND THEREFORE REQUISITE SOLUTIONS OF ADAPTING -4) SYSTEMS TO THE ENVIRONMENT 4HESE
FOUR ADVANCES HAVE MADE IT PRACTICAL TO USE SOPHISTICATED TECHNIQUES THAT WERE CONSIDERED
AND SOMETIMES TRIED MANY YEARS AGO BUT WERE IMPRACTICAL TO IMPLEMENT %XAMPLES OF
EARLY CONCEPTS THAT WERE WELL AHEAD OF THE AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY WERE THE VELOCITY INDICAT
ING COHERENT INTEGRATOR 6)#) AND THE COHERENT MEMORY FILTER #-&
!LTHOUGH THESE IMPROVEMENTS HAVE ENABLED MUCH IMPROVED -4) CAPABILITIES
THERE ARE STILL NO PERFECT SOLUTIONS TO ALL -4) RADAR PROBLEMS AND THE DESIGN OF AN -4)
SYSTEM IS STILL AS MUCH OF AN ART AS IT IS A SCIENCE %XAMPLES OF CURRENT PROBLEMS INCLUDE
THE FACT THAT WHEN RECEIVERS ARE BUILT WITH INCREASED DYNAMIC RANGE SYSTEM INSTABILITY
LIMITATIONS WILL CAUSE INCREASED CLUTTER RESIDUE RELATIVE TO SYSTEM NOISE THAT CAN CAUSE
FALSE DETECTIONS #LUTTER MAPS WHICH ARE USED TO PREVENT FALSE DETECTIONS FROM CLUTTER
RESIDUE WORK QUITE WELL ON FIXED RADAR SYSTEMS BUT ARE DIFFICULT TO IMPLEMENT ON FOR
EXAMPLE SHIPBOARD RADARS BECAUSE AS THE SHIP MOVES THE ASPECT AND RANGE TO EACH
CLUTTER PATCH CHANGES CREATING INCREASED RESIDUES AFTER THE CLUTTER MAP ! DECREASE IN
THE RESOLUTION OF THE CLUTTER MAP TO COUNTER THE RAPIDLY CHANGING CLUTTER RESIDUE WILL
PRECLUDE MUCH OF THE INTERCLUTTER VISIBILITY SEE LATER IN THIS CHAPTER WHICH IS ONE OF
THE LEAST APPRECIATED SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL -4) OPERATION
-4) RADAR MUST WORK IN THE ENVIRONMENT THAT CONTAINS STRONG FIXED CLUTTER BIRDS BATS
AND INSECTS WEATHER AUTOMOBILES AND DUCTING 4HE DUCTING ALSO REFERRED TO AS ANOMA
LOUS PROPAGATION CAUSES RADAR RETURNS FROM CLUTTER ON THE SURFACE OF THE %ARTH TO APPEAR
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
AT GREATLY EXTENDED RANGES WHICH EXACERBATES THE PROBLEMS WITH BIRDS AND AUTOMOBILES
AND CAN ALSO CAUSE THE DETECTION OF FIXED CLUTTER HUNDREDS OF KILOMETERS AWAY
4HE CLUTTER MODELS CONTAINED IN THIS CHAPTER ARE APPROXIMATIONS OF THE TYPES OF
CLUTTER THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED 4HE EXACT QUANTITATIVE DATA SUCH AS PRECISE SPECTRUM
AND AMPLITUDE OF EACH TYPE OF CLUTTER OR THE EXACT NUMBER OF BIRDS OR POINT REFLECTORS
EG WATER TOWERS OR OIL
WELL DERRICKS PER UNIT AREA IS NOT IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE -4)
RADAR DESIGNER MUST CREATE A ROBUST SYSTEM THAT WILL FUNCTION WELL NO MATTER THE ACTUAL
DEVIATION FROM THE CLUTTER MODELS OF REAL CLUTTER ENCOUNTERED
-4) RADARS MAY USE ROTATING ANTENNAS OR FIXED APERTURES WITH ELECTRONIC BEAM SCAN
NING PHASED ARRAYS 4HE ROTATING ANTENNA MAY USE A CONTINUOUS WAVEFORM PROCESSED
THROUGH EITHER A FINITE
IMPULSE
RESPONSE &)2 FILTER OR AN INFINITE
IMPULSE
RESPONSE
))2 FILTER OR MAY USE A BATCH WAVEFORM CONSISTING OF COHERENT PROCESSING INTERVALS
#0)S THAT ARE PROCESSED IN &)2 FILTERS IN GROUPS OF . PULSES 4HE TERM -4) FILTER
USED OFTEN IN THIS CHAPTER IS A GENERIC NOMENCLATURE THAT INCLUDES BOTH &)2 AND ))2
FILTERS 4HE FINITE TIME
ON
TARGET DICTATES THE NEED FOR A BATCH PROCESSING APPROACH
4HERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS OF SUCCESSFUL -4) TECHNIQUES BUT ANY SPE
CIFIC -4) RADAR SYSTEM MUST BE A TOTAL CONCEPT BASED ON THE PARAMETERS OF THE ANTENNA
TRANSMITTER WAVEFORM SIGNAL PROCESSING AND THE OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
! NUMBER OF PLAN
POSITION
INDICATOR 00) PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN YEARS AGO ARE
INCLUDED IN THIS CHAPTER TO PROVIDE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENVIRONMENT THAT IS
DIFFICULT TO APPRECIATE WITH MANY MODERN RADARS 4HESE PHOTOGRAPHS SHOW -4) OPERA
TION BIRDS INSECTS AND DUCTING BETTER THAN CAN BE DESCRIBED IN WORDS
!TTENTION IS ESPECIALLY DIRECTED TO THE FINAL SECTION IN THIS CHAPTER h#ONSIDERATIONS
!PPLICABLE TO -4) 2ADAR 3YSTEMS v WHICH PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO BOTH HARDWARE AND
ENVIRONMENTAL LESSONS LEARNED DURING MANY DECADES OF -4) SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
/," 1
/" /" /, ,
4HE PURPOSE OF -4) RADAR IS TO REJECT RETURNS FROM FIXED OR SLOW
MOVING UNWANTED
TARGETS SUCH AS BUILDINGS HILLS TREES SEA AND RAIN AND RETAIN FOR DETECTION OR DISPLAY
SIGNALS FROM MOVING TARGETS SUCH AS AIRCRAFT &IGURE SHOWS A PAIR OF PHOTOGRAPHS
OF A 00) WHICH ILLUSTRATES THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SUCH AN -4) SYSTEM 4HE DISTANCE FROM
THE CENTER TO THE EDGE OF THE 00) IS NMI 4HE RANGE MARKS ARE AT
NMI INTERVALS
4HE PICTURE ON THE LEFT IS THE NORMAL VIDEO DISPLAY SHOWING MAINLY THE FIXED
TARGET
RETURNS 4HE PICTURE ON THE RIGHT SHOWS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE -4) CLUTTER REJECTION
4HE CAMERA SHUTTER WAS LEFT OPEN FOR THREE SCANS OF THE ANTENNA THUS AIRCRAFT SHOW UP
AS A SUCCESSION OF THREE RETURNS -4) RADAR UTILIZES THE DOPPLER SHIFT IMPARTED ON THE
REFLECTED SIGNAL BY A MOVING TARGET TO DISTINGUISH MOVING TARGETS FROM FIXED TARGETS )N
A PULSE RADAR SYSTEM THIS DOPPLER SHIFT APPEARS AS A CHANGE OF PHASE OF RECEIVED SIG
NALS BETWEEN CONSECUTIVE RADAR PULSES #ONSIDER A RADAR THAT TRANSMITS A PULSE OF RADIO
FREQUENCY 2& ENERGY THAT IS REFLECTED BY BOTH A BUILDING FIXED TARGET AND AN AIRPLANE
MOVING TARGET APPROACHING THE RADAR 4HE REFLECTED PULSES RETURN TO THE RADAR A CERTAIN
TIME LATER 4HE RADAR THEN TRANSMITS A SECOND PULSE 4HE REFLECTION FROM THE BUILDING
OCCURS IN EXACTLY THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME BUT THE REFLECTION FROM THE MOVING AIRCRAFT
OCCURS IN LESS TIME BECAUSE THE AIRCRAFT HAS MOVED CLOSER TO THE RADAR IN THE INTERVAL
BETWEEN TRANSMITTED PULSES 4HE PRECISE TIME THAT IT TAKES THE REFLECTED SIGNAL TO REACH
THE RADAR IS NOT OF FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE 7HAT IS SIGNIFICANT IS WHETHER THE TIME
CHANGES BETWEEN PULSES 4HE TIME CHANGE WHICH IS OF THE ORDER OF A FEW NANOSECONDS
FOR AN AIRCRAFT TARGET IS DETERMINED BY COMPARING THE PHASE OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL WITH
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% A .ORMAL VIDEO AND B -4) VIDEO 4HESE 00) PHOTOGRAPHS SHOW HOW EFFECTIVE AN -4)
SYSTEM CAN BE !IRCRAFT APPEAR AS THREE CONSECUTIVE BLIPS IN THE RIGHT HAND PICTURE BECAUSE THE CAMERA SHUTTER
WAS OPEN FOR THREE REVOLUTIONS OF THE ANTENNA 4HE 00) RANGE IS NMI
THE PHASE OF A REFERENCE OSCILLATOR IN THE RADAR )F THE TARGET MOVES BETWEEN PULSES THE
PHASE OF THE RECEIVED PULSE CHANGES
&IGURE SHOWS A SIMPLIFIED BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A COHERENT -4) SYSTEM 4HE 2&
OSCILLATOR FEEDS THE PULSED AMPLIFIER WHICH TRANSMITS THE PULSES 4HE 2& OSCILLATOR
&)'52% 3IMPLIFIED BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A COHERENT -4) SYSTEM
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
IS ALSO USED AS A PHASE REFERENCE FOR DETERMINING THE PHASE OF REFLECTED SIGNALS 4HE
PHASE INFORMATION IS STORED IN A PULSE REPETITION INTERVAL 02) MEMORY FOR THE PERIOD
4 BETWEEN TRANSMITTED PULSES AND IS SUBTRACTED FROM THE PHASE INFORMATION FROM THE
CURRENT RECEIVED PULSE 4HERE IS AN OUTPUT FROM THE SUBTRACTOR ONLY WHEN A REFLECTION
HAS OCCURRED FROM A MOVING TARGET
-OVING
4ARGET )NDICATOR -4) "LOCK $IAGRAM ! MORE COMPLETE BLOCK DIA
GRAM OF AN -4) RADAR IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HIS BLOCK DIAGRAM IS REPRESENTATIVE OF A
MODERN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL RADAR OPERATING AT , OR 3 BAND WITH A TYPICAL INTERPULSE PERIOD
OF n MS AND A #7 PULSE LENGTH OF A FEW MS WHEN THE TRANSMITTER EMPLOYS A VACUUM
TUBE AMPLIFIER SUCH AS FOR EXAMPLE A KLYSTRON OR TENS OF MS FOR A PULSE COMPRESSION
WAVEFORM WHEN A SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER IS USED 4HE RECEIVED SIGNALS ARE AMPLIFIED IN
A LOW
NOISE AMPLIFIER ,.! AND SUBSEQUENTLY DOWNCONVERTED THROUGH ONE OR MORE
INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCIES )& BY MIXING WITH STABLE LOCAL OSCILLATORS ! BANDPASS )&
LIMITER AT THE RECEIVER OUTPUT PROTECTS THE !$ CONVERTER FROM DAMAGE BUT ALSO PREVENTS
LIMITING FROM TAKING PLACE IN THE !$ CONVERTER )N EARLY -4) SYSTEMS THE )& LIM
ITER SERVED THE PURPOSE OF DELIBERATELY RESTRICTING THE DYNAMIC RANGE TO REDUCE CLUTTER
RESIDUES AT THE -4) OUTPUT 4HE RECEIVED SIGNALS ARE THEN CONVERTED INTO IN
PHASE AND
QUADRATURE COMPONENTS ) 1 THROUGH THE !$ CONVERTER EITHER USING A PAIR OF PHASE
DETECTORS OR THROUGH DIRECT SAMPLING AS DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION 4HE IN
PHASE ) AND
QUADRATURE 1 OUTPUTS ARE A FUNCTION OF THE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE OF THE )& SIGNAL AND
&)'52% -4) SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% "IPOLAR VIDEO RETURN FROM SINGLE TRANSMITTER PULSE
HAVE IN THE PAST BEEN REFERRED TO AS BIPOLAR VIDEOS BUT A MORE CORRECT TERMINOLOGY IS
THAT OF THE COMPLEX ENVELOPE OF THE RECEIVED SIGNALS !N EXAMPLE OF SUCH A BIPOLAR
VIDEO EITHER ) OR 1 RECEIVED FROM A SINGLE TRANSMITTED PULSE AND INCLUDING BOTH CLUT
TER AND POINT TARGETS IS SKETCHED IN &IGURE )F THE POINT TARGETS ARE MOVING THE SUPER
IMPOSED BIPOLAR VIDEO FROM SEVERAL TRANSMITTED PULSES WOULD APPEAR AS IN &IGURE
4HE REMAINDER OF THE BLOCK DIAGRAM IN &IGURE SHOWS THE REMAINING PROCESS
ING REQUIRED SO THAT THE MOVING TARGETS CAN BE DISPLAYED ON A 00) OR SENT TO AN AUTO
MATIC TARGET EXTRACTOR 4HE IN
PHASE AND QUADRATURE OUTPUTS FROM THE !$ CONVERTER ARE
STORED IN A 02) MEMORY AND ALSO SUBTRACTED FROM THE OUTPUT FROM THE PREVIOUS TRANS
MITTED PULSE 4HIS IMPLEMENTATION REPRESENTS THE MOST BASIC TWO
PULSE -4) CANCELER
IMPLEMENTED AS A FINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE &)2 FILTER !S DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION -4)
CANCELERS USED IN PRACTICAL RADARS USE HIGHER
ORDER FILTERS AND THESE ARE SOMETIMES
IMPLEMENTED AS INFINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE ))2 FILTERS
4HE OUTPUT OF THE SUBTRACTORS IS AGAIN A BIPOLAR SIGNAL THAT CONTAINS MOVING TAR
GETS SYSTEM NOISE AND A SMALL AMOUNT OF CLUTTER RESIDUE IF THE CLUTTER CANCELLATION
IS NOT PERFECT 4HE MAGNITUDES OF THE IN
PHASE AND QUADRATURE SIGNALS ARE THEN COM
PUTED ) 1 AND CONVERTED TO ANALOG VIDEO IN A DIGITAL
TO
ANALOG $! CON
VERTER FOR DISPLAY ON A 00) 4HE DIGITAL SIGNAL MAY ALSO BE SENT TO AUTOMATIC TARGET
DETECTION CIRCUITRY 4HE DYNAMIC RANGE PEAK SIGNAL TO RMS NOISE IS LIMITED TO ABOUT
D" FOR A 00) DISPLAY
! KEY DISTINCTION SOMETIMES LOST IN THE COMPLEXITIES OF THE SYSTEMS THAT FOLLOW IS
THAT AN -4) RADAR SYSTEM ELIMINATES FIXED CLUTTER BECAUSE THE PHASE OF SIGNALS RETURNED
FROM CONSECUTIVE TRANSMITTED PULSES DO NOT APPRECIABLY CHANGE 4HE FIXED CLUTTER IS
REMOVED AFTER AS FEW AS TWO TRANSMITTED PULSES BY THE SUBTRACTION PROCESS DESCRIBED
&)'52% "IPOLAR VIDEO FROM CONSECUTIVE TRANSMITTED PULSES
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
ABOVE EVEN IF EACH TRANSMITTED PULSE HAS FREQUENCY MODULATION OR OTHER ARTIFACTS AS
LONG AS THE ARTIFACTS ARE IDENTICAL PULSE TO PULSE 4HE POINT BEING MADE HERE IS THAT -4)
SYSTEM OPERATION DOES NOT DEPEND ON THE FREQUENCY RESOLUTION OF TARGETS FROM CLUTTER
4O PROVIDE FREQUENCY RESOLUTION WOULD REQUIRE MUCH LONGER DWELL TIMES ON TARGET THAN
TWO PULSES SEPARATED BY A SINGLE 02) 3UCH EXTENDED DWELL TIMES IS ONE OF THE FUNDA
MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MOVING TARGET DETECTOR
-OVING 4ARGET $ETECTOR -4$ "LOCK $IAGRAM 0ROGRESS IN DIGITAL SIGNAL
PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY BY THE MID S MADE IT PRACTICAL FOR THE FIRST TIME TO IMPROVE
THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CLASSICAL -4) BY IMPLEMENTING A PARALLEL BANK OF &)2 FILTERS
TO INCREASE THE OUTPUT SIGNAL TO CLUTTER RATIO AND REPLACING THE )& LIMITER USED IN
THE PAST WITH A HIGH RESOLUTION CLUTTER MAP FOR EFFECTIVE FALSE ALARM CONTROL !LTHOUGH
THESE CONCEPTS HAD BEEN EXPLORED MANY YEARS EARLIER USING THE 6ELOCITY )NDICATING
#OHERENT )NTEGRATOR 6)#) OR THE #OHERENT -EMORY &ILTER #-& TO IMPLEMENT A
DOPPLER FILTER BANK AND STORAGE TUBES OR MAGNETIC DRUM MEMORY TO IMPLEMENT CLUT
TER MAPS IT WAS THE WORK AT THE -)4 ,INCOLN ,ABORATORY TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE
OF AIRPORT SURVEILLANCE RADARS THAT RESULTED IN ONE OF THE FIRST WORKING EXAMPLES OF
WHAT HAS BECOME KNOWN AS THE -OVING 4ARGET $ETECTION -4$ RADAR 4HE THEORY
AND EXPECTED BENEFITS OF THIS APPROACH WERE DESCRIBED IN TWO REPORTS IN WHICH
PROVIDED THE MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATION FOR THE UNDERSTANDING AND THE PRACTICAL IMPLE
MENTATION OF THE -4$ CONCEPT
4HE PREDICTED SUBCLUTTER VISIBILITY IMPROVEMENT FOR THE !32 AIRPORT SURVEILLANCE
RADAR WHEN THE THREE PULSE -4) PROCESSOR WAS REPLACED BY THE SECOND GENERATION
-4$ )) PROCESSOR IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
!
"
#
#
&)'52% 3UBCLUTTER VISIBILITY COMPARISON BETWEEN THREE
PULSE -4) AND -4$ ))
-4) 2!$!2
0ART OF THIS IMPROVEMENT WAS DUE TO THE USE OF DOPPLER FILTER DESIGNS UTILIZING
EIGHT PULSES INSTEAD OF JUST THREE FOR THE -4) AND PART WAS THE RESULT OF ALLOWING A
LARGER DYNAMIC RANGE INTO THE -4$ PROCESSOR AND RELYING ON A CLUTTER MAP TO SUPPRESS
RESIDUES IN REGIONS WHERE THE CLUTTER LEVEL EXCEEDS THE MAXIMUM CLUTTER SUPPRESSION
OF THE RADAR
4HE BLOCK DIAGRAM OF THE -4$ )) SIGNAL PROCESSOR IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 0ARALLEL
PROCESSING CHANNELS ARE PROVIDED FOR MOVING TARGETS THROUGH THE TWO
PULSE -4) CAN
CELER AND THE SEVEN
PULSE DOPPLER FILTER BANK AND FOR NONMOVING hZERO
DOPPLERv
TARGETS THROUGH THE
6ELOCITY &ILTER ! HIGH RESOLUTION CLUTTER MAP IS BUILT FROM THE
h
6ELOCITY &ILTERv OUTPUT AND THE CLUTTER MAP CONTENT IS USED FOR THRESHOLDING IN THE
TWO PROCESSING CHANNELS )N THE MOVING TARGET CHANNEL THE THRESHOLD OBTAINED FROM
THE CLUTTER MAP CONTENT IS SCALED DOWN BY THE EXPECTED CLUTTER ATTENUATION )N ADDITION
TO THE CLUTTER MAP THRESHOLDING CONVENTIONAL CONSTANT FALSE ALARM RATE THRESHOLDING
IS UTILIZED AGAINST MOVING CLUTTER RAIN AND INTERFERENCE $ETECTION OUTPUTS NAMED
0RIMITIVE 4ARGET /UTPUTS ARE OBTAINED THROUGH THIS PROCESSING FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL PRO
CESSED #0) &IGURE SHOWS THE ADDITIONAL PROCESSING REQUIRED TO GENERATE CENTROIDED
4ARGET 2EPORTS AND THE PROCESSING OF THESE 4ARGET 2EPORTS TO OBTAIN TRACK OUTPUTS FOR
DISPLAY TO THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM
4HE -4$ RADAR TRANSMITS A GROUP OF . PULSES AT A CONSTANT PULSE REPETITION FRE
QUENCY 02& AND AT A FIXED RADAR FREQUENCY 4HIS SET OF PULSES IS USUALLY REFERRED
TO AS THE COHERENT PROCESSING INTERVAL #0) OR PULSE BATCH 3OMETIMES ONE OR TWO
ADDITIONAL FILL PULSES ARE ADDED TO THE #0) IN ORDER TO SUPPRESS RANGE
AMBIGUOUS CLUTTER
RETURNS AS MIGHT OCCUR DURING PERIODS OF ANOMALOUS PROPAGATION 4HE RETURNS RECEIVED
DURING ONE #0) ARE PROCESSED IN THE BANK OF .
PULSE FINITE
IMPULSE
RESPONSE &)2
FILTERS 4HEN THE RADAR MAY CHANGE ITS 02& ANDOR 2& FREQUENCY AND TRANSMIT ANOTHER
#0) OF . PULSES 3INCE MOST SEARCH RADARS ARE AMBIGUOUS IN DOPPLER THE USE OF DIFFERENT
&)'52% "LOCK DIAGRAM OF -4$ )) SIGNAL PROCESSOR
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0ROCESSING OF 0RIMITIVE 4ARGET DETECTIONS AND 2ADAR 4ARGET 2EPORTS IN -4$ ))
02&S ON SUCCESSIVE COHERENT DWELLS WILL CAUSE THE TARGET RESPONSE TO FALL AT DIFFERENT
FREQUENCIES OF THE FILTER PASSBAND ON THE SUCCESSIVE OPPORTUNITIES DURING THE TIME ON
TARGET THUS ELIMINATING BLIND SPEEDS
%ACH DOPPLER FILTER IS DESIGNED TO RESPOND TO TARGETS IN NONOVERLAPPING PORTIONS
OF THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY BAND AND TO SUPPRESS SOURCES OF CLUTTER AT ALL OTHER DOPPLER
FREQUENCIES 4HIS APPROACH MAXIMIZES THE COHERENT SIGNAL INTEGRATION IN EACH DOPPLER
FILTER AND PROVIDES CLUTTER ATTENUATION OVER A LARGER RANGE OF DOPPLER FREQUENCIES THAN
ACHIEVABLE WITH A SINGLE -4) FILTER 4HUS ONE OR MORE CLUTTER FILTERS MAY SUPPRESS
MULTIPLE CLUTTER SOURCES LOCATED AT DIFFERENT DOPPLER FREQUENCIES !N EXAMPLE OF THE
USE OF AN -4$ DOPPLER FILTER BANK AGAINST SIMULTANEOUS LAND AND WEATHER CLUTTER 7X
IS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE )T CAN BE SEEN THAT FILTERS AND WILL PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT
SUPPRESSION OF BOTH CLUTTER SOURCES
4HE OUTPUT OF EACH DOPPLER FILTER IS ENVELOPE
DETECTED AND PROCESSED THROUGH A CELL
AVERAGING CONSTANT FALSE ALARM RATE #!
#&!2 PROCESSOR TO SUPPRESS RESIDUES DUE TO
RANGE
EXTENDED CLUTTER THAT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FULLY SUPPRESSED BY THE FILTER
!S WILL BE DISCUSSED LATER IN THIS CHAPTER THE CONVENTIONAL -4) DETECTION SYSTEM
OFTEN RELIES ON A CAREFULLY CONTROLLED DYNAMIC RANGE IN THE )& SECTION OF THE RADAR
RECEIVER TO ENSURE THAT CLUTTER RESIDUES AT THE -4) OUTPUT ARE SUPPRESSED TO THE LEVEL OF
THE RECEIVER NOISE OR BELOW 4HIS LIMITED DYNAMIC RANGE HOWEVER HAS THE UNDESIRABLE
EFFECT OF CAUSING ADDITIONAL CLUTTER SPECTRAL BROADENING AND THE ACHIEVABLE CLUTTER SUP
PRESSION IS CONSEQUENTLY REDUCED
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% 3UPPRESSION OF MULTIPLE CLUTTER SOURCES BY USING A DOPPLER FILTER BANK
)N THE -4$ ONE OR MORE HIGH
RESOLUTION CLUTTER MAPS ARE USED TO SUPPRESS THE
CLUTTER RESIDUES AFTER DOPPLER FILTERING TO THE RECEIVER NOISE LEVEL OR ALTERNATIVELY TO
RAISE THE DETECTION THRESHOLD ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE RESIDUES 4HIS IN TURN ELIMINATES
THE NEED TO RESTRICT THE )& DYNAMIC RANGE WHICH CAN THEN BE SET TO THE MAXIMUM VALUE
SUPPORTED BY THE !$ CONVERTERS 4HUS A SYSTEM CONCEPT IS OBTAINED THAT PROVIDES
A CLUTTER SUPPRESSION CAPABILITY THAT IS LIMITED ONLY BY THE RADAR SYSTEM STABILITY THE
DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE RECEIVER
PROCESSOR AND THE SPECTRUM WIDTH OF THE RETURNS FROM
CLUTTER 4HE CONCEPT OF A HIGH
RESOLUTION DIGITAL CLUTTER MAP TO SUPPRESS CLUTTER RESIDUES
IS RELATED TO EARLIER EFFORTS TO CONSTRUCT ANALOG AREA -4) SYSTEMS USING FOR EXAMPLE
STORAGE TUBES
!LSO INCLUDED IN THE -4$ IMPLEMENTATION ARE hxAREA THRESHOLDS MAINTAINED
TO CONTROL EXCESSIVE FALSE ALARMS PARTICULARLY FROM BIRD FLOCKS %ACH AREA OF ABOUT
SQUARE NAUTICAL MILES IS DIVIDED INTO SEVERAL VELOCITY REGIONS 4HE THRESHOLD IN EACH
REGION IS ADJUSTED ON EACH SCAN TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED LIMIT ON FALSE ALARMS WITHOUT
RAISING THE THRESHOLD SO HIGH THAT SMALL AIRCRAFT ARE PREVENTED FROM BEING PLACED IN
TRACK STATUSv
)N SUBSEQUENT SECTIONS SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF THE DESIGN OF AN -4$ SYSTEM WILL BE
DISCUSSED 4HUS 3ECTION WILL DISCUSS THE DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE OF DOPPLER
FILTER BANKS AND A DETAILED DISCUSSION OF CLUTTER MAPS WILL FOLLOW IN 3ECTION
3INCE THE ORIGINAL WORK AT ,INCOLN ,ABORATORY TO DEVELOP THE -4$ CONCEPT A NUMBER
OF -4$ SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED THAT VARY IN DETAIL FROM THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT
!LSO THE USE OF CLUTTER MAPS TO INHIBIT EXCESSIVE CLUTTER RESIDUE INSTEAD OF CONTROL
LING CLUTTER RESIDUE WITH INTENTIONALLY RESTRICTED DYNAMIC RANGE HAS BEEN ADOPTED IN
NEWER -4) SYSTEMS
1//
, /
,,
-*" -
/" "6 /,
/4HE RESPONSE OF AN -4) SYSTEM TO A MOVING TARGET VARIES AS A FUNCTION OF THE TARGETS
RADIAL VELOCITY &OR THE -4) SYSTEM DESCRIBED ABOVE THE RESPONSE NORMALIZED FOR
UNITY NOISE POWER GAIN IS SHOWN IN &IGURE .OTE THAT THERE IS ZERO RESPONSE
TO STATIONARY TARGETS AND ALSO TO TARGETS AT o o o KNOTS 4HESE SPEEDS
KNOWN AS BLIND SPEEDS ARE WHERE THE TARGETS MOVE WAVELENGTHS
BETWEEN CONSECUTIVE TRANSMITTED PULSES 4HIS RESULTS IN THE RECEIVED SIGNAL BEING
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% -4) SYSTEM RESPONSE FOR -(Z RADAR OPERATING AT PPS
SHIFTED PRECISELY OR MULTIPLES THEREOF BETWEEN PULSES WHICH RESULTS IN NO CHANGE
IN THE PHASE
DETECTOR OUTPUT 4HE BLIND SPEEDS CAN BE CALCULATED
6" K
L FR
K o
WHERE 6" IS THE BLIND SPEED IN METERS PER SECOND K IS THE TRANSMITTED WAVELENGTH IN
METERS AND FR IS THE 02& IN HERTZ ! CONVENIENT SET OF UNITS FOR THIS EQUATION IS
6" KNOTS K
FR
F'(Z
K o
WHERE FR IS THE 02& PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY IN HERTZ AND F'(Z IS THE TRANSMITTED
FREQUENCY IN GIGAHERTZ .OTE FROM THE VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE THAT THE RESPONSE TO
TARGETS AT VELOCITIES MIDWAY BETWEEN THE BLIND SPEEDS IS GREATER THAN THE RESPONSE FOR
A NORMAL RECEIVER
4HE ABSCISSA OF THE VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE CAN ALSO BE LABELED IN TERMS OF DOPPLER
FREQUENCY 4HE DOPPLER FREQUENCY OF THE TARGET CAN BE CALCULATED FROM
FD
62
L
WHERE FD IS THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY IN HERTZ 62 IS THE TARGET RADIAL VELOCITY IN METERS
PER SECOND AND K IS THE TRANSMITTED WAVELENGTH IN METERS )T CAN BE SEEN FROM
&IGURE THAT THE DOPPLER FREQUENCIES FOR WHICH THE SYSTEM IS BLIND OCCUR AT MUL
TIPLES OF THE PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY
{
1//
,
,
/
,-/
4HE CLUTTER SUPPRESSION NEEDED FROM AN -4) OR -4$ RADAR DEPENDS ON THE CHARACTER
ISTICS OF THE CLUTTER ENVIRONMENT THE SPECIFIC RADAR TARGET DETECTION REQUIREMENTS AND
THE MAJOR RADAR DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS SUCH AS RANGE AND ANGLE RESOLUTION AS WELL AS
OPERATING FREQUENCY 4HE ABILITY OF A RADAR TO SUPPRESS CLUTTER IS DETERMINED BY RADAR
-4) 2!$!2
WAVEFORM AND PROCESSING AVAILABLE DYNAMIC RANGE AND THE OVERALL RADAR SYSTEM STA
BILITY )N THIS SECTION SOME OF THE KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF RADAR CLUTTER AND ITS INFLUENCE
ON -4) RADAR DESIGN WILL BE SUMMARIZED
3PECTRAL #HARACTERISTICS 4HE SPECTRAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CLUTTER AS DISCUSSED IN
MOST REFERENCES IMPLICITLY ASSUMES THAT THE RADAR TRANSMITS A CONTINUOUS CONSTANT 02&
WAVEFORM 4HE SPECTRUM OF THE OUTPUT OF A PULSED TRANSMITTER USING A SIMPLE RECTANGULAR
PULSE OF LENGTH S IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE SPECTRAL WIDTH OF THE SIN 5 5 ENVELOPE
IS DETERMINED BY THE TRANSMITTED PULSE WIDTH THE FIRST NULLS OCCURRING AT A FREQUENCY OF
F o S 4HE INDIVIDUAL SPECTRAL LINES ARE SEPARATED BY A FREQUENCY EQUAL TO THE 02&
4HESE SPECTRAL LINES FALL AT PRECISELY THE SAME FREQUENCIES AS THE NULLS OF THE -4) FILTER
RESPONSE SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HUS A CANCELER WILL IN THEORY FULLY REJECT CLUTTER WITH
THIS IDEAL LINE SPECTRUM )N PRACTICE HOWEVER THE SPECTRAL LINES OF THE CLUTTER RETURNS ARE
BROADENED BY MOTION OF THE CLUTTER SUCH AS WINDBLOWN TREES OR WAVES ON THE SEA SURFACE
AS WELL AS BY THE MOTION OF THE ANTENNA IN A SCANNING RADAR OR DUE TO PLATFORM MOTION
4HIS SPECTRAL SPREAD PREVENTS PERFECT CANCELLATION OF CLUTTER IN AN -4) SYSTEM
/FTEN IN THE PAST THE ASSUMPTION HAS BEEN MADE THAT THE RETURNS FROM CLUTTER HAVE A
GAUSSIAN POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY WHICH MAY BE CHARACTERIZED BY ITS STANDARD DEVIATION
RV AND MEAN VELOCITY MV BOTH IN UNITS OF MS 5SING THIS GAUSSIAN MODEL EACH OF THE
SPECTRAL LINES IN &IGURE WILL BE CONVOLVED WITH THE SPECTRUM
3' F
F
M F
EXP
S F
PS F
4HIS SPECTRUM IS NORMALIZED TO HAVE UNIT POWER AND THE VELOCITY PARAMETERS HAVE
BEEN CONVERTED TO (Z USING THE DOPPLER EQUATION
MF
MV
L
S V
SF
L
&)'52% 0ULSE TRANSMITTER SPECTRUM
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WHERE K IS THE RADAR WAVELENGTH )NSTEAD OF THE STANDARD DEVIATION S F THE POWER SPEC
TRUM CAN BE DEFINED BY ITS
D" WIDTH " AS FOLLOWS
3' F
LN F
LN
EXP
"
P "
WHERE
" LN S F S F
4HE EARLY EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS THAT LED TO THE GENERAL ADOPTION OF THE GAUSSIAN MODEL
WERE OBTAINED WITH RADAR EQUIPMENT OF LIMITED STABILITY AND THE SPECTRAL SHAPE WAS
SOMETIMES DERIVED FROM VIDEO SPECTRA COMPUTED USING SQUARE
LAW DETECTED RETURNS
"Y THE MID
S NEW EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS WERE OBTAINED WHICH SHOWED THAT
THE SPECTRUM FALL
OFF WAS SLOWER THAN PREDICTED BY THE GAUSSIAN MODEL 4HIS LED TO
NEW MODELS BASED ON POLYNOMIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE SPECTRUM USING AN EQUATION
OF THE FORM
P
N SIN
N
30/,9 F
P "
\ F \
"
4HE SPECTRUM SHAPE IS DETERMINED BY THE INTEGER N WHICH MUST BE OR LARGER IN
ORDER FOR THE TWO FIRST SPECTRAL MOMENTS TO EXIST ! TYPICAL VALUE USED FOR THIS SPECTRUM
IS N WHICH RESULTS IN
30/,9 F
P "
\ F \
"
4HE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STANDARD DEVIATION OF THIS SPECTRUM AND ITS
D" WIDTH
IS GIVEN BY
" S F
! POTENTIAL ISSUE WITH THIS MODEL IS THAT THE SKIRTS OF THE SPECTRUM CORRESPOND TO
VERY LARGE RADIAL VELOCITY COMPONENTS OF THE CLUTTER INTERNAL MOTION
$URING THE S AN EXTENSIVE MEASUREMENT PROGRAM CONDUCTED AT THE -)4 ,INCOLN
,ABORATORY OBTAINED MORE ACCURATE DATA ON LAND CLUTTER SPECTRA USING A VERY STABLE
RADAR EQUIPMENT AND DATA WAS COLLECTED UNDER WELL
CONTROLLED CONDITIONS 4HESE NEW
RESULTS LED TO THE FOLLOWING EXPONENTIAL MODEL FOR LAND CLUTTER SPECTRA
3%80 F
LN
LN
EXP
\ F \
"
"
(ERE THE
D" SPECTRUM WIDTH CAN BE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE STANDARD DEVIATION BY
" LN S F S F
-4) 2!$!2
"ILLINGSLEY USED THE PARAMETERS G VC AND A RESPECTIVELY FOR THE GAUSSIAN THE
POLYNOMIAL AND THE EXPONENTIAL SPECTRUM MODELS )N ADDITION THE EXPONENT N IS NEEDED
FOR THE POLYNOMIAL MODEL 4HESE PARAMETERS WERE CHOSEN TO SIMPLIFY THE FUNCTIONAL
DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECTRUM SHAPE )N TERMS OF THE STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE SPECTRAL
WIDTH IN MS THESE PARAMETERS CAN BE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS
G
S V
VC LN S V
B
SV
GAUSSIAN SPECTRRUM
POLYNOMIAL SPECTRUM WITH N
EXPONENTIAL SPECTRUM
!SSUMING A VALUE OF S V MS CORRESPONDING TO WINDY CONDITION THE THREE
CLUTTER SPECTRUM MODELS ARE COMPARED IN &IGURE !S NOTED IN "ILLINGSLEY ALL THREE
MODELS ARE IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT FOR THE UPPER n D" OF THEIR RANGE BUT DIFFER
APPRECIABLY AT THE LOWER VALUES OF CLUTTER SPECTRAL DENSITY
%STIMATED VALUES OF THE SPECTRAL SPREAD OF LAND CLUTTER FROM FORESTED REGIONS AND
FOR DIFFERENT WIND SPEEDS ARE SHOWN IN 4ABLE 4HE VALUES IN THE TABLE ARE BASED
ON "ILLINGSLEYS PARAMETER A BUT COLUMNS HAVE BEEN ADDED WITH THE CORRESPONDING
RMS SPECTRAL SPREAD IN MS !N EXAMPLE OF A MEASURED LAND CLUTTER SPECTRUM IS SHOWN
IN &IGURE 4HE SPECTRAL SHAPE PARAMETER A CAN BE ESTIMATED AS THE SLOPE OF THE
UPPER SKIRT OF THE SPECTRUM IN D" PER MS DIVIDED BY LN 4HESE VALUES OF
A WERE ADDED IN THIS FIGURE
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF GAUSSIAN EXPONENTIAL AND POLYNOMIAL SPECTRA FOR AN RMS
SPECTRAL SPREAD OF RV MS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% -EASURED 3PECTRAL 3PREAD FOR $IFFERENT 7IND #ONDITIONS AFTER *""ILLINGSLEY
7ILLIAM !NDREW 0UBLISHING )NC
7IND
#ONDITIONS
,IGHT AIR
"REEZY
7INDY
'ALE FORCE EST
7IND 3PEED
MPH
n
n
n
n
%XPONENTIAL AC 3HAPE
0ARAMETER A MS
4YPICAL
2-3 3PECTRAL
7IDTH R V MS
7ORST #ASE
4YPICAL
7ORST #ASE
4HE VALUES OF RMS SPECTRAL SPREAD OF LAND CLUTTER AS DERIVED FROM THE DATA IN
"ILLINGSLEY AGREE QUITE WELL WITH PREVIOUS STUDIES )T CAN PROBABLY SAFELY BE STATED
THAT THE POLYNOMIAL MODEL OF LAND CLUTTER SPECTRA IS FAR TOO PESSIMISTIC AT SPECTRAL
VALUES BELOW n D" AND SHOULD BE AVOIDED FOR RADAR ANALYSIS REQUIRING A LARGE CLUTTER
ATTENUATION VALUE
4HE CASE FOR THE EXPONENTIAL MODEL AS PRESENTED BY "ILLINGSLEY IS QUITE CONVINC
ING AND THIS MODEL HAS BEEN WIDELY ACCEPTED AS BEING THE MOST ACCURATE FOR RADAR
PERFORMANCE PREDICTIONS
$&
(* +,
#' &)"
0
0
0
#' .
(#+
* /.
#!",#*
())% * %( #,.-&+
&)'52% -EASURED SPECTRA OF CLUTTER FROM FOREST 3EVERAL WIND
SPEEDS AND AN ESTIMATED VALUE OF A HAVE BEEN ADDED AFTER *" "ILLINGSLEY
7ILLIAM !NDREW 0UBLISHING )NC
-4) 2!$!2
! COMPARISON BETWEEN THE GAUSSIAN AND THE EXPONENTIAL MODELS ON A LINEAR SCALE
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE INDICATES THAT THE DIFFERENCE IN SPECTRAL WIDTH AT EVEN VERY
LOW LEVELS n D" IS NO MORE THAN ABOUT A FACTOR OF &OR MANY ANALYSES THIS WOULD
MOST LIKELY BE INSIGNIFICANT COMPARED TO THE ADDED CLUTTER SPECTRAL SPREADING CAUSED BY
SCANNING MODULATION 4HUS IN MANY CASES THE SIMPLE GAUSSIAN MODEL CAN CONTINUE TO
BE USED IN -4) AND -4$ PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS )N CASE OF DOUBT THE SPECTRAL SPREAD
OF THE GAUSSIAN MODEL COULD BE DOUBLED TO ASSESS THE AVAILABLE MARGIN
.ATHANSON AND 2EILLY HAVE SHOWN THAT THE CLUTTER SPECTRAL WIDTH OF RAIN IS PRI
MARILY DUE TO A TURBULENCE AND WIND SHEAR CHANGE IN WIND VELOCITY WITH ALTITUDE
-EASUREMENTS SHOW A TYPICAL AVERAGE VALUE OF R VT MS FOR TURBULENCE AND
R VS MSKM FOR WIND SHEAR ! CONVENIENT EQUATION IS S VS 2 Q EL MS
FOR THE EFFECT OF WIND SHEAR PROVIDED THE RAIN FILLS THE VERTICAL BEAM (ERE 2 IS THE
RANGE TO THE WEATHER IN NAUTICAL MILES AND Q EL IS THE ONE
WAY HALF
POWER VERTI
CAL BEAMWIDTH IN DEGREES 4HUS FOR EXAMPLE R VS OF RAIN VIEWED AT NMI WITH A
VERTICAL BEAMWIDTH OF WOULD BE R VS MS 4HE TOTAL SPECTRAL SPREAD IS THEN
S V S VT S VS
MS 2AIN AND CHAFF ALSO HAVE AN AVERAGE VELOC
ITY IN ADDITION TO THE SPECTRAL SPREAD NOTED ABOVE WHICH MUST BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT
WHEN DESIGNING AN -4) SYSTEM
4HE CLUTTER SPECTRAL WIDTH IN METERS PER SECOND IS INDEPENDENT OF THE RADAR FREQUENCY
4HE STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE CLUTTER POWER SPECTRUM R F IN HERTZ IS
S V
(Z
L
WHERE K IS THE TRANSMITTED WAVELENGTH IN METERS AND R V IS THE CLUTTER STANDARD
DEVIATION IN METERS PER SECOND
SF
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF GAUSSIAN AND EXPONENTIAL SPECTRA ON LINEAR VELOCITY SCALE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!NTENNA SCANNING ALSO CAUSES A SPREAD OF THE CLUTTER POWER SPECTRUM DUE TO THE
AMPLITUDE MODULATION OF THE ECHO SIGNALS BY THE TWO
WAY ANTENNA PATTERN 4HE RESULT
ING CLUTTER STANDARD DEVIATION IS
LN FR
F
R (Z
P
N
N
WHERE FR IS THE 02& AND N IS THE NUMBER OF HITS BETWEEN THE ONE
WAY
D" POINTS OF THE
ANTENNA PATTERN 4HIS EQUATION WAS DERIVED FROM A GAUSSIAN BEAM SHAPE BUT IS ESSEN
TIALLY INDEPENDENT OF THE ACTUAL BEAM SHAPE OR APERTURE ILLUMINATION FUNCTION USED
4HE CLUTTER SPECTRAL SPREAD DUE TO SCANNING NORMALIZED TO THE 02& IS
SF
S F4
N
WHERE 4 02& IS THE INTERPULSE PERIOD
4HE COMBINED SPECTRAL EFFECTS OF INTERNAL CLUTTER MOTION AND ANTENNA SCANNING MODU
LATION MUST BE OBTAINED AS THE CONVOLUTION OF THE INDIVIDUAL SPECTRA 7HEN BOTH SPECTRA
ARE GAUSSIAN IN SHAPE THE RESULTING SPECTRUM REMAINS GAUSSIAN WITH A STANDARD DEVIATION
THAT IS THE SQUARE
ROOT OF THE SUM OF THE SQUARES OF THE INDIVIDUAL STANDARD DEVIATIONS
"Y INTEGRATING THE TWO
SIDED TAILS OF THE GAUSSIAN AND EXPONENTIAL SPECTRA OUTSIDE
A MULTIPLE K OF THE STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE SPECTRA A ROUGH BUT CONSERVATIVE
ESTIMATE CAN BE FOUND OF HOW WIDE THE -4) NOTCH MUST BE TO ACHIEVE A REQUIRED
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR ) 3UCH A CURVE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE BASED ON THE CLUTTER
SPECTRA SHOWN IN &IGURE !LTHOUGH THIS APPROACH WOULD ONLY BE STRICTLY CORRECT
FOR AN IDEAL -4) FILTER WITH A STEP
FUNCTION PASSBAND IT CAN SERVE AS A PRELIMINARY
GUIDELINE FOR THE -4) FILTER DESIGN
&)'52% #LUTTER POWER IN TWO SIDED TAILS OF SPECTRUM VS MULTIPLE OF STANDARD DEVIATION
-4) 2!$!2
!MPLITUDE #HARACTERISTICS 4O PREDICT THE PERFORMANCE OF AN -4) SYSTEM THE
POWER OF THE CLUTTER RETURNS WITH WHICH A TARGET MUST COMPETE SHOULD BE KNOWN 4HE
AMPLITUDE OF THE CLUTTER RETURNS DEPENDS ON THE SIZE OF THE RESOLUTION CELL OF THE RADAR
THE FREQUENCY OF THE RADAR AND THE REFLECTIVITY OF THE CLUTTER 4HE EXPECTED RADAR CROSS
SECTION OF CLUTTER CAN BE EXPRESSED AS THE PRODUCT OF A REFLECTIVITY FACTOR AND THE VOLUME
OR AREA OF THE RESOLUTION CELL
&OR SURFACE CLUTTER AS VIEWED BY A SURFACE BASED RADAR
S !C S 2 P AZ
C T
S
WHERE S IS THE AVERAGE RADAR CROSS SECTION IN SQUARE METERS !C IS THE AREA OF CLUTTER
ILLUMINATED IN SQUARE METERS 2 IS THE RANGE TO CLUTTER IN METERS PAZ IS THE ONE WAY
HALF POWER AZIMUTHAL BEAMWIDTH IN RADIANS C IS THE SPEED OF PROPAGATION MILLION
MS S IS THE HALF POWER RADAR PULSE LENGTH AFTER THE MATCHED FILTER IN SECONDS AND R
IS THE AVERAGE CLUTTER REFLECTIVITY FACTOR IN SQUARE METERS PER SQUARE METER
&OR VOLUMETRIC CLUTTER SUCH AS CHAFF OR RAIN THE AVERAGE CROSS SECTION IS
C T
H
WHERE 6C IS THE VOLUME OF CLUTTER ILLUMINATED M AND G IS THE CLUTTER REFLECTIVITY FACTOR
MM 4HE VOLUME 6C IS COMPUTED FROM THE HEIGHT EXTENT OF CLUTTER ( METERS THE
AZIMUTH EXTENT OF THE CLUTTER 2 P AZ AND THE RADAR RANGE RESOLUTION CELL S )F THE CLUTTER
COMPLETELY FILLS THE VERTICAL BEAM THEN ( 2 P EL WHERE P EL IS THE ELEVATION BEAM
WIDTH 2 IS THE RANGE TO THE CLUTTER METERS AND C IS THE SPEED OF PROPAGATION
)T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT FOR LAND CLUTTER R CAN VARY CONSIDERABLY FROM ONE RESOLU
TION CELL TO THE NEXT ! TYPICAL DISTRIBUTION OF R TAKEN FROM "ARTON IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE 4YPICAL VALUES FOR R AND G FROM THE SAME REFERENCE ARE GIVEN IN 4ABLE
!DDITIONAL RESULTS FOR CLUTTER REFLECTIVITY ARE FOUND IN "ILLINGSLEY
S 6C H 2 P AZ P EL (
4!",% 4YPICAL 6ALUES OF #LUTTER 2EFLECTIVITY
#LUTTER 0ARAMETERS FOR
4YPICAL #ONDITIONS
#LUTTER
,AND EXCLUDING
POINT CLUTTER
2EFLECTIVITY K M
G M n
L
WORST PERCENT
R M
S
#ONDITIONS
3EA STATE
3EA "EAUFORT SCALE R D"
+"
FT WAVES
+" ANGLE %
SIN % D"
K D"
ROUGH %
#HAFF FOR FIXED
WEIGHT PER UNIT G r
K
VOLUME
G r
R K
2AIN
MATCHED
R MMH
FOR RATE R MMH
POLARIZATION
0OINT CLUTTER
&ROM "ARTON
"AND
K M
,
3
#
8
R D"
n
n
n
n
R M
R D"
n
n
n
n
G Mn r n r n r n
n
G Mn r n r n r n r n
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% $ISTRIBUTION OF REFLECTIVITY FOR GROUND CLUTTER TYPICAL OF HEAVY CLUTTER AT 3 BAND
AFTER $ + "ARTON )%%%
"ECAUSE OF THE IMPRECISION IN PREDICTING R AND G THESE EQUATIONS DO NOT INCLUDE
AN ANTENNA BEAM
SHAPE FACTOR &OR THE MEASUREMENT OF THE REFLECTIVITY OF RAIN REFER
ENCES ON RADAR METEOROLOGY PRESENT MORE PRECISE EQUATIONS
)N ADDITION TO DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER TARGETS THERE ARE MANY TARGETS THAT APPEAR AS
POINTS SUCH AS RADIO TOWERS WATER TANKS AND BUILDINGS 4HESE POINT TARGETS TYPICALLY
HAVE A RADAR CROSS SECTION OF TO M WITH TYPICAL DENSITIES AS SHOWN LATER IN
&IGURE 4HIS GRAPH IS FROM "ILLINGSLEY AND THE ADDITIONAL POINTS INDICATED BY AN
ASTERISK ARE FROM 7ARD
&IGURE A SHOWS A 00) DISPLAY OF ALL CLUTTER OBSERVED WITH A SURVEILLANCE RADAR WITH
A BY
MS RESOLUTION CELL IN THE MOUNTAINOUS REGION OF ,AKEHEAD /NTARIO #ANADA
4HE 00) RANGE IS SET FOR NMI #LUTTER THAT EXCEEDS THE MINIMUM
DISCERNIBLE SIGNAL
-$3 LEVEL OF THE RADAR BY D" IS SHOWN IN &IGURE B
&)'52% 00) DISPLAY NMI RANGE OF A ALL CLUTTER AT A MOUNTAINOUS SITE AND B CLUTTER THAT EXCEEDS
THE SYSTEM NOISE LEVEL BY D"
-4) 2!$!2
) ' $
,% )' $$*( )#%
-"+!* "**
)&"+ #%
',&+"&*
"+
#%
,)$ ) + '
"+ *
)"',* ))"&.( *
#%
%
&)'52% 4YPICAL DENSITIES OF POINT CLUTTER SCATTERERS AFTER *" "ILLINGSLEY
7ILLIAM !NDREW 0UBLISHING )NC
.OTE THAT THE CLUTTER IN &IGURE B IS VERY SPOTTY IN CHARACTER INCLUDING THE
STRONG FIXED
POINT TARGETS AND RETURNS FROM EXTENDED TARGETS )T IS SIGNIFICANT THAT THE
EXTENDED TARGETS ARE NO LONGER VERY EXTENDED 4HE FACE OF A MOUNTAIN AT MI FROM
TO OCLOCK IS ONLY A LINE )F THE -4) SYSTEM WERE INCAPABLE OF DISPLAYING AN AIR
CRAFT WHILE IT WAS OVER THE MOUNTAIN FACE IT WOULD DISPLAY THE AIRCRAFT ON THE NEXT SCAN
OF THE ANTENNA BECAUSE THE AIRCRAFT WOULD HAVE MOVED EITHER FARTHER OR NEARER 4HE
00) DOES NOT HAVE A RESOLUTION THAT APPROACHES THE RESOLUTION OF THE SIGNAL PROCESSING
CIRCUITS OF THIS RADAR 4HUS THE APPARENT EXTENDED CLUTTER HAS MANY WEAK AREAS NOT
VISIBLE IN THESE PHOTOGRAPHS WHERE TARGETS COULD BE DETECTED BY VIRTUE OF AN -4)
RADARS INTERCLUTTER VISIBILITY DEFINED IN 3ECTION
x
/" 4HE )%%% 3TANDARD 2ADAR $EFINITIONS PROVIDE USEFUL DEFINITIONS FOR MANY OF THE
QUANTITIES NEEDED TO QUANTIFY -4) AND -4$ PERFORMANCE BUT IN SOME CASES THE
VAGUENESS OF THE ORIGINAL DEFINITION AND THE LACK OF DISTINCTION BETWEEN PERFORMANCE
AGAINST DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER VERSUS POINT CLUTTER RETURNS HAVE LED TO AMBIGUOUS INTERPRE
TATIONS OF SEVERAL TERMS )N THIS SECTION THE MAJOR DEFINITIONS WILL BE REVIEWED AND
ANNOTATED TO ATTEMPT TO CLARIFY SOME OF THESE POTENTIAL AMBIGUITIES &OR EACH TERM THE
)%%% DEFINITION WHEN AVAILABLE WILL BE QUOTED ALONG WITH A SUBSEQUENT DISCUSSION
)MPROVEMENT &ACTOR 4HE )%%% DEFINITION OF )MPROVEMENT &ACTOR READS
MOVING
TARGET
INDICATION -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR 4HE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER POWER RATIO AT
THE OUTPUT OF THE CLUTTER FILTER DIVIDED BY THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER POWER RATIO AT THE INPUT TO THE
CLUTTER FILTER AVERAGED UNIFORMLY OVER ALL TARGET RADIAL VELOCITIES OF INTEREST 3YNONYM CLUTTER
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HIS DEFINITION ASSUMES THAT CLUTTER IS DISTRIBUTED HOMOGENEOUSLY ACROSS MANY
RANGE CELLS )N THIS CASE THE ABOVE DEFINITION IS EQUALLY VALID BEFORE AND AFTER PULSE
COMPRESSION !GAINST POINT CLUTTER THIS DEFINITION ONLY APPLIES AFTER PULSE COMPRESSION
AND MAY RESULT IN A DIFFERENT VALUE OF THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR 4HE REAL DIFFICULTY WITH
THIS DEFINITION IS HOWEVER THE LACK OF A PRECISE DEFINITION OF THE DOPPLER VELOCITY INTER
VAL WHICH IS TO BE USED FOR THE REQUIRED hUNIFORMv AVERAGING /RIGINALLY THIS AVERAG
ING WAS ASSUMED TO INVOLVE MULTIPLE 02& INTERVALS BASED ON CLASSICAL LOW 02& RADARS
USING A SINGLE -4) FILTER )T WAS FOR THIS REASON THAT THE -4) )MPROVEMENT &ACTOR DEFI
NITION ) PROVIDED IN THE ND EDITION OF THIS 2ADAR (ANDBOOK USED THE NOISE GAIN OF
THE DOPPLER -4) FILTER AS THE NORMALIZING FACTOR 4HE INCREASED USE OF PULSE DOPPLER
FILTER BANKS IN MODERN RADAR HAS HOWEVER LED TO A USE OF THE )%%% DEFINITION WHERE
THE AVERAGING OF THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO IMPROVEMENT IS PERFORMED ONLY ACROSS A
NARROW REGION AROUND THE PEAK OF THE DOPPLER FILTER RESPONSE )N THIS CASE THE COHERENT
INTEGRATION GAIN OF THE DOPPLER FILTER IS AUTOMATICALLY ADDED TO THE CONVENTIONAL -4)
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR VALUE AND MUCH BETTER RADAR PERFORMANCE IS INDICATED
3INCE A DEFINITION OF CLUTTER SUPPRESSION IS OFTEN NEEDED WHICH QUANTIFIES THE INHER
ENT RADAR STABILITY LIMITATIONS APART FROM ANY ADDITIONAL COHERENT GAIN IT IS SOMETIMES
PREFERABLE TO USE THE )%%% DEFINITION OF CLUTTER ATTENUATION )N THIS CHAPTER IMPROVEMENT
FACTOR AND CLUTTER ATTENUATION WILL BE USED SYNONYMOUSLY 7HEN THE COHERENT GAIN OF THE
DOPPLER FILTER IS INCLUDED THE TERM SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO IMPROVEMENT WILL BE USED
#LUTTER !TTENUATION 4HE )%%% DEFINITION READS
CLUTTER ATTENUATION #! )N MOVING
TARGET INDICATION -4) OR DOPPLER RADAR THE RATIO OF
THE CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIO AT THE INPUT TO THE PROCESSOR TO THE CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIO AT THE OUT
PUT .OTE )N -4) A SINGLE VALUE OF #! WILL BE OBTAINED WHILE IN DOPPLER RADAR THE VALUE
WILL GENERALLY VARY OVER THE DIFFERENT TARGET DOPPLER FILTERS )N -4) #! WILL BE EQUAL TO -4)
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR IF THE TARGETS ARE ASSUMED UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED IN VELOCITY 3EE ALSO -4)
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR
(ERE IT WILL BE ASSUMED THAT hPROCESSORv REFERS TO THE -4) FILTER OR A SINGLE DOPPLER
FILTER IN A PULSE DOPPLER FILTER BANK "ASED ON THIS DEFINITION THE CLUTTER ATTENUATION IS
GIVEN BY
#!
0#). 0./54
0#/54 0.).
WHERE 0#). AND 0#/54 ARE THE CLUTTER POWER AT THE INPUT AND OUTPUT OF THE -4) FILTER
RESPECTIVELY AND 0.). AND 0./54 ARE THE CORRESPONDING NOISE POWERS !S NOTED IN THE
)%%% DEFINITION THE VALUE OF #! WILL MOST LIKELY DIFFER FROM FILTER TO FILTER IN A DOPPLER
FILTER BANK DUE TO SPECIFIC CLUTTER AND FILTER RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS
)N THE DISCUSSION ABOVE THE ASSUMPTION WAS IMPLICITLY MADE THAT CLUTTER RETURNS ARE
STATIONARY AND DISTRIBUTED IN RANGE 4HE ABOVE DEFINITIONS WILL BE EQUALLY VALID BEFORE
AND AFTER PULSE COMPRESSION &OR A SINGLE PIECE OF POINT CLUTTER AS OFTEN USED IN ACTUAL
RADAR STABILITY MEASUREMENTS THE DEFINITION OF CLUTTER ATTENUATION WOULD HAVE TO BE
CHANGED AS FOLLOWS TO PROVIDE IDENTICAL RESULTS
CLUTTER ATTENUATION #! POINT CLUTTER )N MOVING
TARGET INDICATION -4) OR $OPPLER RADAR
THE RATIO OF THE TOTAL ENERGY IN THE RECEIVED POINT CLUTTER RETURN AT THE INPUT TO THE PROCESSOR
TO THE TOTAL ENERGY IN THE POINT CLUTTER RESIDUE AT THE OUTPUT OF THE PROCESSOR MULTIPLIED BY THE
NOISE GAIN OF PROCESSOR
-4) 2!$!2
4HE CLUTTER ATTENUATION AGAINST POINT CLUTTER BASED ON THIS DEFINITION WILL BE THE SAME
BEFORE OR AFTER PULSE COMPRESSION AND WILL ALSO BE IDENTICAL TO THE VALUE OF #! OBTAINED
AGAINST DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER WITH IDENTICAL SPECTRAL CHARACTERISTICS
&OR THE PRACTICAL MEASUREMENT OF #! AGAINST A SINGLE PIECE OF POINT CLUTTER IE
CORNER REFLECTOR THE TOTAL ENERGY MUST BE INTEGRATED PER THE ABOVE DEFINITION AT THE
INPUT AND OUTPUT OF EACH DOPPLER FILTER 4HE CALCULATION OF THE ENERGY IS BEST PERFORMED
PRIOR TO PULSE COMPRESSION SINCE THE PRECISE DURATION OF THE UNCOMPRESSED PULSE AND
THEREFORE THE INTEGRATION WINDOW IS ACCURATELY KNOWN )F DONE AFTER PULSE COMPRES
SION UNCERTAINTIES IN THE INTEGRATION OF ENERGY MAY ARISE DUE TO THE TRANSIENT RESPONSE
OF THE PULSE COMPRESSION FILTER
3IGNAL
TO
#LUTTER 2ATIO )MPROVEMENT )3#2 &OR A SYSTEM EMPLOYING MUL
TIPLE DOPPLER FILTERS SUCH AS THE -4$ EACH DOPPLER FILTER WILL ALSO HAVE A COHER
ENT GAIN '# F WHICH AT THE FILTER PEAK HAS A VALUE '# MAX 4HE COHERENT GAIN OF
A DOPPLER FILTER IS EQUAL TO THE INCREASE IN SIGNAL
TO
THERMAL
NOISE RATIO BETWEEN
THE INPUT AND THE OUTPUT OF THE FILTER DUE TO THE COHERENT SUMMATION OF INDIVIDUAL
TARGET RETURNS !GAIN THESE COHERENT GAIN VALUES WOULD USUALLY DIFFER FROM FILTER TO
FILTER DUE TO POTENTIALLY DIFFERENT DOPPLER FILTER CHARACTERISTICS 4HESE COHERENT GAIN
VALUES WILL INCLUDE THE FILTER MISMATCH LOSS BUT NOT THE STRADDLING LOSSES BETWEEN
ADJACENT FILTERS 4HE PRODUCT OF THE CLUTTER ATTENUATION #!I AND THE COHERENT GAIN
'#MAX I FOR THE ITH DOPPLER FILTER BECOMES THE DEFINITION OF THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO
3#2 IMPROVEMENT
)3#2 I #!I '# MAX I
4HIS QUANTITY WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE )%%% $ICTIONARY BUT THE FOLLOWING DEFINI
TION IS COMMONLY USED
SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO IMPROVEMENT )3#2 4HE RATIO OF THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO OBTAINED
AT THE OUTPUT OF THE DOPPLER FILTER BANK TO THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO AT THE INPUT TO THE FILTER BANK
COMPUTED AS A FUNCTION OF TARGET DOPPLER FREQUENCY
4HIS DEFINITION DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY DOPPLER AVERAGING ACROSS THE INDIVIDUAL
FILTERS AND THE DEFINITION DOES NOT PROVIDE A SINGLE FIGURE OF MERIT FOR A RADAR DOP
PLER PROCESSOR BECAUSE EACH FILTER MAY HAVE DIFFERENT VALUES OF CLUTTER ATTENUATION
AND COHERENT GAIN
3INCE EACH DOPPLER FILTER HAS A COHERENT GAIN THAT IS A FUNCTION OF TARGET DOPPLER AN
AVERAGE VALUE OF SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER IMPROVEMENT CAN BE DEFINED BY AVERAGING ALL FILTERS
OVER ITS RESPECTIVE RANGE OF TARGET DOPPLERS
)3#2
F
F
#! '# F DF #! '# F DF
F
F
F .
F
F.
#!.
'# .
F DF
F .
4HE SPECIFIC FREQUENCIES COULD LOGICALLY BE CHOSEN AS THE CROSSOVER BETWEEN INDI
VIDUAL DOPPLER FILTERS 4HIS CALCULATION WILL NOW INCLUDE THE EFFECT OF A TARGET DOPPLER
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
STRADDLING LOSS AND WOULD REPRESENT A SINGLE FIGURE
OF
MERIT FOR A DOPPLER PROCESSOR
4O SIMPLIFY THIS CALCULATION THE AVERAGE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER IMPROVEMENT MAY BE DEFINED
AS THE FINITE SUM
)3#2
.
.
#!I '# MAX I
I
TO WHICH THE DOPPLER STRADDLING LOSS WOULD HAVE TO BE ADDED
3UBCLUTTER 6ISIBILITY 3#6 4HE )%%% DEFINITION OF SUBCLUTTER VISIBILITY IS
3UBCLUTTER VISIBILITY 4HE RATIO BY WHICH THE TARGET ECHO POWER MAY BE WEAKER THAN COINCIDENT
CLUTTER ECHO POWER AND STILL BE DETECTED WITH SPECIFIED DETECTION AND FALSE
ALARM PROBABILITIES
.OTE 4ARGET AND CLUTTER POWERS ARE MEASURED ON A SINGLE PULSE RETURN AND ALL TARGET VELOCITIES
ARE ASSUMED EQUALLY LIKELY
4HE SUBCLUTTER VISIBILITY 3#6 OF A RADAR SYSTEM IS A MEASURE OF ITS ABILITY TO DETECT
MOVING
TARGET SIGNALS SUPERIMPOSED ON CLUTTER SIGNALS ! RADAR WITH D" 3#6 CAN
DETECT AN AIRCRAFT FLYING OVER CLUTTER WHOSE SIGNAL RETURN IS TIMES STRONGER .OTE THAT
IT IS IMPLICITLY ASSUMED IN THE ABOVE DEFINITION THAT SIGNAL AND CLUTTER ARE BOTH OBSERVED
AFTER PULSE COMPRESSION 4HE 3#6 OF TWO RADARS CANNOT NECESSARILY BE USED TO COMPARE
THEIR PERFORMANCE WHILE OPERATING IN THE SAME ENVIRONMENT BECAUSE THE TARGET
TO
CLUTTER
RATIO SEEN BY EACH RADAR IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE SIZE OF THE RADAR RESOLUTION CELL AND MAY
BE A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY 4HUS A RADAR WITH A
MS PULSE LENGTH AND A BEAMWIDTH
WOULD NEED D" MORE SUBCLUTTER VISIBILITY THAN A RADAR WITH A
MS PULSE AND A
BEAMWIDTH FOR EQUAL PERFORMANCE IN A DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER ENVIRONMENT
4HE SUBCLUTTER VISIBILITY OF A RADAR WHEN EXPRESSED IN DECIBELS IS LESS THAN THE
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR BY THE CLUTTER VISIBILITY FACTOR 6OC SEE DEFINITION BELOW
)NTERCLUTTER 6ISIBILITY )#6 4HE )%%% DEFINITION IS
INTERCLUTTER VISIBILITY 4HE ABILITY OF A RADAR TO DETECT MOVING TARGETS THAT OCCUR IN RESOLUTION
CELLS AMONG PATCHES OF STRONG CLUTTER USUALLY APPLIED TO MOVING TARGET INDICATION -4) OR
PULSED
$OPPLER RADARS .OTE 4HE HIGHER THE RADAR RANGE ANDOR ANGLE RESOLUTION THE BETTER THE
INTERCLUTTER VISIBILITY
4HE INTERCLUTTER VISIBILITY )#6 OF A RADAR IS A MEASURE OF ITS CAPABILITY TO DETECT
TARGETS BETWEEN POINTS OF STRONG CLUTTER BY VIRTUE OF THE ABILITY OF THE RADAR TO RESOLVE
THE AREAS OF STRONG AND WEAK CLUTTER ! RADAR WITH HIGH RESOLUTION MAKES AVAILABLE
REGIONS BETWEEN POINTS OF STRONG CLUTTER WHERE THE TARGET
TO
CLUTTER RATIO WILL BE SUF
FICIENT FOR TARGET DETECTION EVEN THOUGH THE 3#6 OF THE RADAR BASED ON AVERAGE CLUTTER
MAY BE RELATIVELY LOW 4O ACHIEVE )#6 A MECHANISM MUST BE FURNISHED TO PROVIDE
#&!2 OPERATION AGAINST THE RESIDUE FROM STRONG CLUTTER 4HIS #&!2 IS PROVIDED IN
OLDER -4) SYSTEM BY )& LIMITING AND IN THE -4$ IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH THE USE OF
HIGH
RESOLUTION CLUTTER MAPS ! QUANTITATIVE DEFINITION OF INTERCLUTTER VISIBILITY HAS NOT
YET BEEN FORMULATED
&ILTER -ISMATCH ,OSS 4HE )%%% DEFINITION IS
FILTER MISMATCH LOSS 4HE LOSS IN OUTPUT SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO OF A FILTER RELATIVE TO THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO FROM A MATCHED FILTER
-4) 2!$!2
4HE MAXIMUM SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO AVAILABLE FROM AN .
PULSE FILTER IS . TIMES
THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO OF A SINGLE PULSE ASSUMING ALL PULSES HAVE EQUAL AMPLI
TUDE 7HEN WEIGHTING IS APPLIED TO REJECT CLUTTER AND CONTROL THE FILTER SIDELOBES THE
PEAK OUTPUT SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO IS REDUCED 4HE FILTER MISMATCH LOSS IS THE AMOUNT
BY WHICH THE PEAK
OUTPUT SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO IS REDUCED BY THE USE OF WEIGHTING
! THREE
PULSE -4) FILTER USING BINOMIAL WEIGHTS HAS A FILTER MISMATCH LOSS OF D"
4HE MISMATCH LOSS FOR THE BINOMIAL
WEIGHTED FOUR
PULSE CANCELER IS D"
#LUTTER 6ISIBILITY &ACTOR 6OC 4HE )%%% DEFINITION IS
CLUTTER DETECTABILITY FACTOR 4HE PREDETECTION SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO THAT PROVIDES STATED
PROBABILITY OF DETECTION FOR A GIVEN FALSE ALARM PROBABILITY IN AN AUTOMATIC DETECTION CIRCUIT
.OTE )N -4) SYSTEMS IT IS THE RATIO AFTER CANCELLATION OR DOPPLER FILTERING
4HE CLUTTER VISIBILITY FACTOR IS THE RATIO BY WHICH THE TARGET SIGNAL MUST EXCEED THE
CLUTTER RESIDUE SO THAT TARGET DETECTION CAN OCCUR WITHOUT HAVING THE CLUTTER RESIDUE
RESULT IN FALSE
TARGET DETECTIONS 4HE SYSTEM MUST PROVIDE A THRESHOLD THAT THE TARGETS
WILL CROSS AND THE CLUTTER RESIDUE WILL NOT CROSS
*,"6
/
/",
1 /" 5SING "ARTONS APPROACH THE MAXIMUM IMPROVEMENT FACTOR ) AGAINST ZERO
MEAN
CLUTTER WITH A GAUSSIAN
SHAPED SPECTRUM FOR DIFFERENT IMPLEMENTATIONS OF THE FINITE
IMPULSE
RESPONSE BINOMIAL
WEIGHT -4) CANCELER SEE 3ECTION IS
F
) y R
PS F
F
) y R
PS F
) y
FR
PS F
WHERE ) IS THE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR THE SINGLE
DELAY COHERENT CANCELER ) IS THE
-4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR THE DUAL
DELAY COHERENT CANCELER ) IS THE -4) IMPROVE
MENT FACTOR FOR THE TRIPLE
DELAY COHERENT CANCELER RF IS THE RMS FREQUENCY SPREAD OF
THE GAUSSIAN CLUTTER POWER SPECTRUM IN HERTZ AND FR IS THE RADAR REPETITION FREQUENCY
IN HERTZ 7HEN THE VALUES OF RF FOR SCANNING MODULATION IN %Q ARE SUBSTITUTED IN
THE ABOVE EQUATIONS FOR ) THE LIMITATION ON ) DUE TO SCANNING IS
N
N
) y
N
) y
) y
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4HEORETICAL -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR DUE TO SCAN MODULATION GAUSSIAN ANTENNA PATTERN N
NUMBER OF PULSES WITHIN THE ONE
WAY HALF
POWER BEAMWIDTH
4HESE RELATIONSHIPS ARE SHOWN GRAPHICALLY IN &IGURE 4HIS DERIVATION ASSUMES A
LINEAR SYSTEM 4HAT IS IT IS ASSUMED THAT THE VOLTAGE ENVELOPE OF THE ECHO SIGNALS AS THE
ANTENNA SCANS PAST A POINT TARGET IS IDENTICAL TO THE TWO
WAY ANTENNA VOLTAGE PATTERN
4HIS ASSUMPTION OF A LINEAR SYSTEM MAY BE UNREALISTIC FOR SOME PRACTICAL -4) SYSTEMS
WITH RELATIVELY FEW HITS PER BEAMWIDTH HOWEVER AS DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION
4HE SCANNING LIMITATION DOES NOT APPLY TO A SYSTEM THAT CAN STEP
SCAN SUCH AS
A PHASED ARRAY .OTE HOWEVER THAT SUFFICIENT PULSES MUST BE TRANSMITTED TO INITIAL
IZE THE FILTER BEFORE USEFUL OUTPUTS MAY BE OBTAINED &OR EXAMPLE WITH A THREE
PULSE
BINOMIAL
WEIGHT CANCELER THE FIRST TWO TRANSMITTED PULSES INITIALIZE THE CANCELER AND A
USEFUL OUTPUT IS NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL AFTER THE THIRD PULSE HAS BEEN TRANSMITTED &EEDBACK
OR INFINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE ))2 FILTERS WOULD NOT BE USED WITH A STEP
SCAN SYSTEM
BECAUSE OF THE LONG TRANSIENT SETTLING TIME OF THE FILTERS
4HE LIMITATION ON ) DUE TO INTERNAL
CLUTTER FLUCTUATIONS CAN BE DETERMINED BY SUB
STITUTING THE APPROPRIATE VALUE OF RF INTO %QS TO "Y LETTING RF RVK
WHERE RV IS THE RMS VELOCITY SPREAD OF THE CLUTTER THE LIMITATION ON ) CAN BE PLOTTED
FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF CLUTTER AS A FUNCTION OF THE WAVELENGTH K AND THE PULSE REPETITION
FREQUENCY FR 4HIS IS DONE FOR ONE
TWO
AND THREE
DELAY BINOMIAL
WEIGHT CANCELERS
IN &IGURE &IGURE AND &IGURE 4HE VALUES OF 6" GIVEN ARE THE FIRST BLIND
SPEED OF THE RADAR OR WHERE THE FIRST BLIND SPEED 6" WOULD BE FOR A STAGGERED 02&
SYSTEM IF STAGGERING WERE NOT USED 4HE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR SHOWN IN THESE FIGURES
FOR RAIN AND CHAFF IS BASED ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT THE AVERAGE VELOCITY OF THE RAIN
AND CHAFF HAS BEEN COMPENSATED FOR SO THAT THE RETURNS ARE CENTERED IN THE CANCELER
REJECTION NOTCH 5NLESS SUCH COMPENSATION IS PROVIDED THE -4) OFFERS LITTLE OR NO
IMPROVEMENT FOR RAIN AND CHAFF
4WO FURTHER LIMITATIONS ON ) ARE THE EFFECT OF PULSE
TO
PULSE REPETITION
PERIOD STAG
GERING COMBINED WITH CLUTTER SPECTRAL SPREAD FROM SCANNING AND INTERNAL
CLUTTER MOTION
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR AS A FUNCTION OF THE RMS VELOCITY SPREAD OF CLUTTER FOR
A TWO
PULSE BINOMIAL
WEIGHT CANCELER
4HESE LIMITATIONS PLOTTED IN &IGURE AND &IGURE APPLY TO ALL CANCELERS WHETHER
SINGLE OR MULTIPLE 4HE DERIVATION OF THESE LIMITATIONS AND A MEANS OF AVOIDING THEM
BY THE USE OF TIME VARYING WEIGHTS ARE GIVEN IN h3TAGGER $ESIGN 0ROCEDURESv IN
3ECTION
"*/ 1 - "
1// , / ,4HE STATISTICAL THEORY OF DETECTION OF SIGNALS IN GAUSSIAN NOISE PROVIDES THE REQUIRED
FRAMEWORK FOR THE OPTIMUM DESIGN OF RADAR CLUTTER FILTERS 3UCH THEORETICAL RESULTS
ARE IMPORTANT TO THE DESIGNER OF A PRACTICAL -4) OR -4$ SYSTEM IN THAT THEY ESTAB
LISH UPPER BOUNDS ON THE ACHIEVABLE PERFORMANCE IN A PRECISELY SPECIFIED CLUTTER
ENVIRONMENT )T SHOULD BE NOTED HOWEVER THAT OWING TO THE EXTREME VARIABILITY OF
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF REAL CLUTTER RETURNS POWER LEVEL DOPPLER SHIFT SPECTRUM SHAPE
SPECTRAL WIDTH ETC ANY ATTEMPT TO ACTUALLY APPROXIMATE THE PERFORMANCE OF SUCH
OPTIMUM FILTERS FOR THE DETECTION OF TARGETS IN CLUTTER REQUIRES THE USE OF ADAPTIVE
METHODS 4HE ADAPTIVE METHODS MUST ESTIMATE THE UNKNOWN CLUTTER STATISTICS AND
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR AS A FUNCTION OF THE RMS VELOCITY SPREAD OF CLUTTER FOR
A THREE
PULSE BINOMIAL
WEIGHT CANCELER
SUBSEQUENTLY IMPLEMENT THE CORRESPONDING OPTIMUM FILTER !N EXAMPLE OF SUCH AN
ADAPTIVE -4) SYSTEM IS DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION
&OR A SINGLE RADAR PULSE WITH A DURATION OF A FEW MICROSECONDS THE DOPPLER SHIFT
DUE TO AIRCRAFT TARGET MOTION IS A SMALL FRACTION OF THE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH AND CONVEN
TIONAL -4) AND PULSE DOPPLER PROCESSING ARE NOT APPLICABLE )T IS WELL KNOWN THAT THE
CLASSICAL SINGLE
PULSE hMATCHEDv FILTER PROVIDES OPTIMUM RADAR DETECTION PERFORMANCE
WHEN USED IN A WHITE
NOISE BACKGROUND !GAINST CLUTTER RETURNS THAT HAVE THE SAME
SPECTRUM AS THE TRANSMITTED RADAR PULSE THE MATCHED FILTER IS NO LONGER OPTIMUM BUT
THE POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENT IN THE OUTPUT SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO BY DESIGNING A MODIFIED
OPTIMIZED FILTER IS USUALLY INSIGNIFICANT
7HEN THE DURATION OF THE TRANSMITTED RADAR SIGNAL WHETHER #7 OR A REPETITIVE TRAIN
OF . IDENTICAL PULSES IS COMPARABLE WITH OR GREATER THAN THE RECIPROCAL OF ANTICIPATED
TARGET DOPPLER SHIFTS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CONVENTIONAL WHITE
NOISE MATCHED FIL
TER OR COHERENT INTEGRATOR AND A FILTER OPTIMIZED TO REJECT THE ACCOMPANYING CLUTTER
BECOMES SIGNIFICANT 4HE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CLUTTER ARE CHARACTERIZED BY THE COVARI
ANCE MATRIX &# OF THE . CLUTTER RETURNS )F THE POWER SPECTRUM OF THE CLUTTER IS DENOTED
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR AS A FUNCTION OF THE RMS VELOCITY SPREAD OF CLUTTER FOR
A FOUR
PULSE BINOMIAL
WEIGHT CANCELER
3# F AND THE CORRESPONDING AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION IS 2# TI n TJ THEN THE ELEMENTS
OF &# ARE GIVEN BY
& IJ 2# TI T J
WHERE TI IS THE TRANSMISSION TIME OF THE ITH PULSE &OR EXAMPLE FOR A GAUSSIAN SHAPED
CLUTTER SPECTRUM WE HAVE
3# F 0#
F
FD
EXP
P S F
S F
WHERE 0# IS THE TOTAL CLUTTER POWER RF IS THE STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE CLUTTER SPECTRAL
WIDTH AND FD IS THE AVERAGE DOPPLER SHIFT OF THE CLUTTER 4HE CORRESPONDING AUTOCOR
RELATION FUNCTION IS
2# T 0# EXP PS F T EXP J P FDT
WHERE S IS THE SEPARATION IN TIME OF TWO CONSECUTIVE CLUTTER RETURNS
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !PPROXIMATE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR LIMITATION DUE TO PULSE TO PULSE REPETITION PERIOD
STAGGERING AND SCANNING ALL CANCELER FIGURATIONS )D" LOG ;N F = F MAXIMUM PERIOD
MINIMUM PERIOD
&OR TWO PULSES SEPARATED IN TIME BY THE INTERPULSE PERIOD 4 THE COMPLEX CORRELATION
COEFFICIENT BETWEEN TWO CLUTTER RETURNS IS
R4 EXP PS F 4 EXP J P FD4
4HE SECOND FACTOR IN THIS EXPRESSION REPRESENTS THE PHASE SHIFT CAUSED BY THE DOPPLER
SHIFT OF THE CLUTTER RETURNS
&OR A KNOWN TARGET DOPPLER SHIFT THE RECEIVED TARGET RETURN CAN BE REPRESENTED BY
AN .
DIMENSIONAL VECTOR
S !3 F
WHERE !3 IS THE SIGNAL AMPLITUDE AND THE ELEMENTS OF THE VECTOR F ARE FI EXP ;JOFSTI=
/N THE BASIS OF THIS DESCRIPTION OF SIGNAL AND CLUTTER IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT THE OPTI
MUM DOPPLER FILTER WILL HAVE WEIGHTS GIVEN BY
W /04 & # S
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% !PPROXIMATE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR LIMITATION DUE TO PULSE TO PULSE STAGGERING
AND INTERNAL CLUTTER MOTION ALL CANCELER CONFIGURATIONS )D" LOG ;K F FR RV =
F MAXIMUM PERIODMINIMUM PERIOD
AND THE CORRESPONDING SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER IMPROVEMENT IS
)3#2
W4OPT S S4
W
OPT
W4OPT & # W
OPT
WHERE THE ASTERISK DENOTES COMPLEX CONJUGATION AND SUPERSCRIPT 4 IS THE TRANSPOSITION
OPERATOR !N EXAMPLE WHERE THE OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE IS DETERMINED FOR THE CASE OF
CLUTTER AT ZERO DOPPLER HAVING A GAUSSIAN
SHAPED SPECTRUM WITH A NORMALIZED WIDTH
OF RF4 IS SHOWN IN &IGURE )N THIS CASE A COHERENT PROCESSING INTERVAL OF
#0) NINE PULSES WAS ASSUMED AND THE LIMITATION DUE TO THERMAL NOISE WAS IGNORED
BY SETTING THE CLUTTER LEVEL AT D" ABOVE NOISE
)T SHOULD BE KEPT IN MIND THAT %Q FOR THE OPTIMUM WEIGHTS WILL YIELD A DIF
FERENT RESULT FOR EACH DIFFERENT TARGET DOPPLER SHIFT SO THAT A LARGE NUMBER OF PARALLEL
FILTERS WOULD BE NEEDED TO APPROXIMATE THE OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE EVEN WHEN THE CLUTTER
CHARACTERISTICS ARE KNOWN EXACTLY !S AN EXAMPLE THE RESPONSE OF THE OPTIMUM FILTER
DESIGNED FOR ONE PARTICULAR TARGET DOPPLER FREQUENCY LABELED AS POINT ! IN &IGURE
IS SHOWN IN A BROKEN LINE !T APPROXIMATELY o FROM THE DESIGN DOPPLER THE PERFOR
MANCE STARTS TO FALL SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW THE OPTIMUM
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% /PTIMUM SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO IMPROVEMENT )3#2 FOR GAUSSIAN
SHAPED CLUTTER
SPECTRUM AND A #0) OF NINE PULSES CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIO D"
!LSO SHOWN IN &IGURE IS A HORIZONTAL LINE LABELED hAVERAGE 3#2 IMPROVE
MENTv 4HIS INDICATES THE LEVEL CORRESPONDING TO THE AVERAGE OF THE OPTIMUM 3#2
CURVE ACROSS ONE DOPPLER INTERVAL AND MAY BE CONSIDERED AS A FIGURE OF MERIT FOR A
MULTIPLE
FILTER DOPPLER PROCESSOR SOMEWHAT ANALOGOUS TO THE -4) IMPROVEMENT FAC
TOR DEFINED FOR A SINGLE DOPPLER FILTER )N &IGURE THE OPTIMUM AVERAGE )3#2 HAS
BEEN COMPUTED FOR SEVERAL DIFFERENT VALUES OF THE #0) AS A FUNCTION OF THE NORMALIZED
SPECTRUM WIDTH 4HESE RESULTS MAY BE USED AS A POINT OF REFERENCE FOR PRACTICAL DOPPLER
&)'52% 2EFERENCE CURVE OF OPTIMUM AVERAGE 3#2 IMPROVEMENT FOR
A GAUSSIAN
SHAPED CLUTTER SPECTRUM
-4) 2!$!2
PROCESSOR DESIGNS AS DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION .OTE THAT FOR RF4 y THE AVERAGE 3#2
IMPROVEMENT IS DUE ONLY TO THE COHERENT INTEGRATION OF ALL THE PULSES IN THE #0)
!N -4) FILTER CAN ALSO BE DESIGNED BASED ON THE CRITERION OF MAXIMIZING THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER IMPROVEMENT AT A SPECIFIC TARGET DOPPLER (OWEVER SUCH A DESIGN WILL USUALLY
PROVIDE SUBOPTIMUM PERFORMANCE AT ALL OTHER TARGET DOPPLERS 4HE SINGLE EXCEPTION IS THE
TWO
PULSE -4) CANCELER WHICH PROVIDES OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE FOR ALL TARGET DOPPLERS
! MORE ATTRACTIVE APPROACH FOR DESIGNING AN OPTIMUM -4) FILTER IS TO MAXIMIZE
ITS IMPROVEMENT FACTOR OR CLUTTER ATTENUATION 4O DESIGN AN OPTIMUM -4) FILTER USING
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR AS THE CRITERION THE COVARIANCE MATRIX OF THE CLUTTER RETURNS AS GIVEN
BY %Q IS AGAIN THE STARTING POINT !S SHOWN BY #APON THE WEIGHTS OF THE OPTI
MUM -4) FILTER ARE FOUND AS THE EIGENVECTOR CORRESPONDING TO THE SMALLEST EIGENVALUE
OF THE CLUTTER COVARIANCE MATRIX AND THE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR IS EQUAL TO THE INVERSE
OF THE SMALLEST EIGENVALUE 4HE OPTIMUM IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR THE THREE MODELS FOR
THE SPECTRUM OF LAND CLUTTER INTRODUCED IN 3ECTION HAVE BEEN COMPUTED BASED ON THIS
ABOVE APPROACH
&OR THE GAUSSIAN CLUTTER SPECTRUM THE OPTIMUM IMPROVEMENT FACTOR IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE AS A FUNCTION OF THE RMS RELATIVE SPECTRUM WIDTH ASSUMING ZERO MEAN FOR
THE SPECTRUM #ALCULATIONS ARE SHOWN FOR -4) CANCELERS OF ORDER . THROUGH
&OR THE POLYNOMIAL CLUTTER SPECTRUM THE OPTIMUM IMPROVEMENT FACTOR IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE AGAIN AS A FUNCTION OF THE 2-3 RELATIVE SPECTRUM WIDTH ASSUMING ZERO
MEAN FOR THE SPECTRUM
&INALLY FOR THE EXPONENTIAL CLUTTER SPECTRUM MODEL THE OPTIMUM IMPROVEMENT FAC
TOR IS SHOWN IN &IGURE AGAIN AS A FUNCTION OF THE 2-3 RELATIVE SPECTRUM WIDTH
ASSUMING ZERO MEAN FOR THE SPECTRUM
&)'52% /PTIMUM IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR GAUSSIAN SPECTRUM MODEL
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% /PTIMUM IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR POLYNOMIAL CLUTTER SPECTRUM MODEL
&)'52% /PTIMUM IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR "ILLINGSLEYS EXPONENTIAL SPECTRUM MODEL
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR OF BINOMIAL WEIGHT
-4) AND OPTIMUM -4) AGAINST A GAUSSIAN SHAPED CLUTTER SPECTRUM
)N &IGURE THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR OF AN -4) USING THE OPTIMUM WEIGHTS
IS COMPARED WITH THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT -4) FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF THE RELATIVE
CLUTTER SPECTRAL SPREAD AND SHOWN AS A FUNCTION OF THE NUMBER OF PULSES IN THE #0)
4HESE RESULTS AGAIN ASSUME A GAUSSIAN
SHAPED CLUTTER SPECTRUM &OR TYPICAL NUMBERS
OF PULSES IN THE -4) THREE TO FIVE THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENTS ARE REMARKABLY ROBUST
AND PROVIDE A PERFORMANCE WHICH IS WITHIN A FEW DECIBELS OF THE OPTIMUM !GAIN IT
SHOULD BE NOTED THAT ANY ATTEMPT TO IMPLEMENT AN -4) CANCELER WHICH PERFORMS CLOSE
TO THE OPTIMUM WOULD REQUIRE THE USE OF ADAPTIVE TECHNIQUES THAT ESTIMATE THE CLUTTER
CHARACTERISTICS IN REAL TIME )F THE ESTIMATE IS IN ERROR THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE MAY FALL
BELOW THAT OF THE BINOMIAL
WEIGHT -4) CANCELER
n /
1//
, /
,
-
4HE -4) BLOCK DIAGRAMS INTRODUCED BY &IGURES AND AND WHOSE RESPONSE WAS
DISCUSSED IN DETAIL IN 3ECTION CONSIDERED A SINGLE
DELAY
CANCELER )T IS POSSIBLE
TO UTILIZE MORE THAN ONE DELAY AND TO INTRODUCE FEEDBACK ANDOR FEEDFORWARD PATHS
AROUND THE DELAYS TO CHANGE THE -4) SYSTEM RESPONSE TO TARGETS OF DIFFERENT VELOCITIES
&ILTERS WITH ONLY FEEDFORWARD PATHS ARE CALLED FINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE &)2 FILTERS
AND FILTERS THAT INCORPORATE FEEDBACK ARE CALLED INFINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE ))2 FILTERS
OR RECURSIVE FILTERS -ULTIPLE
DELAY CANCELERS HAVE WIDER CLUTTER REJECTION NOTCHES THAN
SINGLE
DELAY CANCELERS 4HE WIDER REJECTION NOTCH ENCOMPASSES MORE OF THE CLUTTER
SPECTRUM AND THUS INCREASES THE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR ATTAINABLE WITH A GIVEN
CLUTTER SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION
$ELAY IS USED HERE TO REPRESENT AN INTERPULSE MEMORY FOR AN -4) FILTER !N &)2 FILTER WITH ONE DELAY IS A TWO
PULSE
FILTER &OR FEEDBACK ))2 FILTERS IT IS INAPPROPRIATE TO CALL THEM TWO
PULSE OR THREE
PULSE ETC FILTERS BECAUSE THEY
REQUIRE A NUMBER OF PULSES TO REACH STEADY
STATE
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% $IRECT &ORM OR CANONICAL FORM OF ANY -4) FILTER DESIGN
! GENERAL BLOCK DIAGRAM MODEL APPLICABLE TO ANY -4) FILTER IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HIS MODEL HAS BEEN DENOTED THE h$IRECT &ORM v OR THE CANONICAL FORM IN THE TERMINOL
OGY SURVEY PRESENTED IN 2ABINER ET AL
)T CAN BE SHOWN THAT AN -4) FILTER AS SHOWN IN &IGURE CAN BE DIVIDED INTO A
CASCADE OF SECOND ORDER SECTIONS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE
7HEN A NUMBER OF SINGLE
DELAY FEEDFORWARD CANCELERS ARE CASCADED IN SERIES
THE OVERALL FILTER VOLTAGE RESPONSE IS KN SINN O FD4 WHERE K IS THE TARGET AMPLITUDE
N IS THE NUMBER OF DELAYS FD IS THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY AND 4 IS THE INTERPULSE PERIOD
4HE CASCADED SINGLE
DELAY CANCELERS CAN BE REARRANGED AS A TRANSVERSAL FILTER AND THE
WEIGHTS FOR EACH PULSE ARE THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENTS WITH ALTERNATING SIGN
FOR
TWO PULSES
FOR THREE PULSES
FOR FOUR PULSES AND SO ON #HANGES
OF THE BINOMIAL FEEDFORWARD COEFFICIENTS ANDOR THE ADDITION OF FEEDBACK MODIFY THE
&)'52% -4) SHOWN AS CASCADED FORM OF SECOND ORDER SECTION A IS FOR EVEN ORDER AND B IS FOR
ODD ORDER WITH FIRST ORDER SECTION AT END
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% .TH ORDER &)2 -4) CANCELER BLOCK DIAGRAM
FILTER CHARACTERISTICS 7ITHIN THIS CHAPTER REFERENCE TO BINOMIAL WEIGHT CANCELERS REFERS
TO CANCELERS WITH THE N SINN O FD4 TRANSFER FUNCTION 4HE BLOCK DIAGRAM OF THIS TYPE OF
-4) CANCELER IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
&IGURE TO &IGURE REPRESENT TYPICAL VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVES OBTAINABLE FROM
ONE TWO AND THREE DELAY CANCELERS 3HOWN ALSO ARE THE CANCELER CONFIGURATIONS ASSUMED
WITH CORRESPONDING : PLANE POLE ZERO DIAGRAMS 4HE : PLANE IS THE COMB FILTER EQUIVALENT
OF THE 3 PLANE WITH THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE 3 PLANE TRANSFORMED TO THE INSIDE OF THE UNIT
CIRCLE CENTERED AT : :ERO FREQUENCY IS AT : J 4HE STABILITY REQUIREMENT IS THAT
THE POLES OF THE : TRANSFER FUNCTION LIE WITHIN THE UNIT CIRCLE :EROS MAY BE ANYWHERE
&)'52% /NE DELAY CANCELER
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4WO DELAY CANCELER
4HESE VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVES ARE CALCULATED FOR A SCANNING RADAR SYSTEM WITH
HITS PER ONE
WAY
D" BEAMWIDTH !N ANTENNA BEAM SHAPE OF SIN 5 5 TERMI
NATED AT THE FIRST NULLS WAS ASSUMED 4HE SHAPE OF THESE CURVES EXCEPT VERY NEAR THE
BLIND SPEEDS IS ESSENTIALLY INDEPENDENT OF THE NUMBER OF HITS PER BEAMWIDTH OR THE
ASSUMED BEAM SHAPE
4HE ORDINATE LABELED hRESPONSEv REPRESENTS THE SINGLE
PULSE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE OUTPUT
OF THE -4) RECEIVER RELATIVE TO THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RESPONSE OF A NORMAL LINEAR RECEIVER
FOR THE SAME TARGET 4HUS ALL THE RESPONSE CURVES ARE NORMALIZED WITH RESPECT TO THE
NOISE POWER GAIN FOR THE GIVEN CANCELER CONFIGURATION 4HE INTERSECTION AT THE ORDINATE
REPRESENTS THE NEGATIVE DECIBEL VALUE OF ) THE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR A POINT
CLUTTER TARGET PROCESSED IN A LINEAR SYSTEM
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% 4HREE DELAY CANCELER
"ECAUSE THESE CURVES SHOW THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RESPONSE FOR EACH OUTPUT PULSE FROM
THE -4) CANCELER THE INHERENT LOSS INCURRED IN A SCANNING RADAR WITH -4) PROCESSING
DUE TO THE REDUCTION OF THE EFFECTIVE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT PULSES INTEGRATED IS NOT
APPARENT 4HIS LOSS IS D" FOR A
PULSE CANCELER AND D" FOR A
PULSE CANCELER
ASSUMING A LARGE NUMBER OF PULSES )F QUADRATURE -4) CHANNELS SEE 3ECTION ARE
NOT EMPLOYED THERE IS AN ADDITIONAL LOSS OF TO D"
4HE ABSCISSA OF THESE CURVES 66" REPRESENTS THE RATIO OF TARGET VELOCITY 6 TO THE
BLIND SPEED 6" K FR WHERE K IS THE RADAR WAVELENGTH AND FR IS THE AVERAGE 02& OF
THE RADAR 4HE ABSCISSA CAN ALSO BE INTERPRETED AS THE RATIO OF THE TARGET DOPPLER FRE
QUENCY TO THE AVERAGE 02& OF THE RADAR
4HE CANCELER CONFIGURATIONS SHOWN ARE NOT THE MOST GENERAL FEEDFORWARD FEEDBACK
NETWORKS POSSIBLE 0AIRS OF DELAYS ARE REQUIRED TO LOCATE ZEROS AND POLES ELSEWHERE
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
THAN ON THE REAL AXIS OF THE : PLANE )N THE CONFIGURATIONS SHOWN THE ZEROS ARE CON
STRAINED TO THE UNIT CIRCLE 4O MOVE THE ZEROS OFF OF THE UNIT CIRCLE WHICH MAY BE DONE
TO CONTROL THE FLATNESS OF THE FILTER PASSBAND RESPONSE REQUIRES A CONFIGURATION SIMILAR
TO THE ELLIPTIC FILTER CONFIGURATION SHOWN IN &IGURE LATER IN THIS CHAPTER 4HE TRIPLE
CANCELER CONFIGURATION SHOWN IS SUCH THAT TWO OF THE ZEROS CAN BE MOVED AROUND THE
UNIT CIRCLE IN THE : PLANE -OVING THE ZEROS CAN PROVIDE A OR D" INCREASE IN THE -4)
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR SPECIFIC CLUTTER SPECTRAL SPREADS AS COMPARED WITH KEEPING ALL
THREE ZEROS AT THE ORIGIN
.OTE THE WIDTH OF THE REJECTION NOTCHES FOR THE DIFFERENT BINOMIAL WEIGHT CANCELER
CONFIGURATIONS )F THE D" RESPONSE RELATIVE TO AVERAGE RESPONSE IS USED AS THE MEA
SURING POINT THE REJECTION IS OF ALL TARGET DOPPLERS FOR THE SINGLE CANCELER
FOR THE DUAL CANCELER AND FOR THE TRIPLE CANCELER #ONSIDER THE DUAL CANCELER
%LIMINATING OF THE DOPPLERS MEANS LIMITING THE SYSTEM TO A LONG TERM AVERAGE OF
SINGLE SCAN PROBABILITY OF DETECTION &EEDBACK CAN BE USED TO NARROW THE REJECTION
NOTCH WITHOUT MUCH DEGRADATION OF ) )F FEEDBACK IS USED TO INCREASE THE IMPROVEMENT
FACTOR THE SINGLE SCAN PROBABILITY OF DETECTION BECOMES WORSE
&IGURE SHOWS THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR LIMITATION DUE TO SCANNING FOR CANCELERS
WITH FEEDBACK 4HESE CURVES WERE CALCULATED ASSUMING A SIN 5 5 ANTENNA PATTERN
TERMINATED AT THE FIRST NULLS
4HE NO FEEDBACK CURVES SHOWN IN &IGURE ARE ALMOST INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM
THE THEORETICAL CURVES DERIVED FOR A GAUSSIAN PATTERN SHOWN IN &IGURE /NE OF THE
CURVES SHOWING THE EFFECT OF FEEDBACK ON THE TRIPLE CANCELER IS NOT STRAIGHT BECAUSE TWO
OF THE THREE ZEROS ARE NOT AT THE ORIGIN BUT HAVE BEEN MOVED ALONG THE UNIT CIRCLE THE
OPTIMUM AMOUNT FOR HITS PER BEAMWIDTH 4HUS AT HITS PER BEAMWIDTH THESE TWO
ZEROS ARE TOO FAR REMOVED FROM THE ORIGIN TO BE VERY EFFECTIVE
&)'52% )MPROVEMENT FACTOR LIMITATION DUE TO SCANNING FOR CANCELERS WITH FEEDBACK
-4) 2!$!2
)N THEORY IT IS POSSIBLE TO SYNTHESIZE ALMOST ANY VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE WITH DIGI
TAL FILTERS !S MENTIONED EARLIER FOR EACH PAIR OF POLES AND PAIR OF ZEROS ON THE :
PLANE TWO DELAY SECTIONS ARE REQUIRED 4HE ZEROS ARE CONTROLLED BY THE FEEDFORWARD
PATHS AND THE POLES BY THE FEEDBACK PATHS
6ELOCITY RESPONSE SHAPING CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY THE USE OF FEEDFORWARD ONLY
WITHOUT THE USE OF FEEDBACK 4HE PRINCIPAL ADVANTAGE OF NOT USING FEEDBACK IS THE
EXCELLENT TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF THE CANCELER AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION IN A PHASED
ARRAY OR WHEN PULSE INTERFERENCE NOISE IS PRESENT )F A PHASED ARRAY RADAR SHOULD USE A
FEEDBACK CANCELER MANY PULSES WOULD HAVE TO BE GATED OUT AFTER THE BEAM HAS BEEN
REPOSITIONED BEFORE THE CANCELER TRANSIENT RESPONSE HAS SETTLED TO A TOLERABLE LEVEL
!N INITIALIZATION TECHNIQUE HAS BEEN PROPOSED TO ALLEVIATE THIS PROBLEM BUT IT PRO
VIDES ONLY PARTIAL REDUCTION IN THE TRANSIENT SETTLING TIME )F FEEDFORWARD ONLY IS USED
ONLY THREE OR FOUR PULSES HAVE TO BE GATED OUT AFTER MOVING THE BEAM 4HE DISADVAN
TAGE OF USING FEEDFORWARD FOR VELOCITY RESPONSE SHAPING IS THAT AN ADDITIONAL DELAY
AND THEREFORE AN ADDITIONAL TRANSMIT PULSE MUST BE PROVIDED FOR EACH ZERO USED TO
SHAPE THE RESPONSE &IGURE SHOWS THE VELOCITY RESPONSE AND :
PLANE DIAGRAM OF A
FEEDFORWARD
ONLY SHAPED
RESPONSE FOUR
PULSE CANCELER !LSO SHOWN ARE THE VELOCITY
RESPONSES OF A FIVE
PULSE FEEDFORWARD CANCELER AND A THREE
PULSE FEEDBACK CANCELER
&OR THE CANCELERS SHOWN THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR CAPABILITY OF THE THREE
PULSE CANCELER
IS ABOUT D" BETTER THAN THE SHAPED
RESPONSE FOUR
PULSE FEEDFORWARD CANCELER INDE
PENDENT OF CLUTTER SPECTRAL SPREAD
4HE FIVE
PULSE CANCELER RESPONSE SHOWN IS A LINEAR
PHASE -4) FILTER DESCRIBED BY
:VEREV 4HE FOUR ZEROS ARE LOCATED ON THE :
PLANE REAL AXIS AT
AND
-UCH OF THE LITERATURE ON FILTER SYNTHESIS DESCRIBES LINEAR
PHASE FILTERS
BUT FOR -4) APPLICATIONS LINEAR PHASE IS OF NO IMPORTANCE !LMOST IDENTICAL FILTER
RESPONSES CAN BE OBTAINED WITH NONLINEAR
PHASE FILTERS THAT REQUIRE FEWER PULSES AS
SHOWN IN &IGURE "ECAUSE ONLY A FIXED NUMBER OF PULSES IS AVAILABLE DURING THE
TIME ON TARGET NONE SHOULD BE WASTED 4HUS ONE SHOULD CHOOSE THE NONLINEAR
PHASE
FILTER THAT USES FEWER PULSES
3TAGGER $ESIGN 0ROCEDURES 4HE INTERVAL BETWEEN RADAR PULSES MAY BE CHANGED
TO MODIFY THE TARGET VELOCITIES TO WHICH THE -4) SYSTEM IS BLIND 4HE INTERVAL MAY
BE CHANGED ON A PULSE
TO
PULSE DWELL
TO
DWELL EACH DWELL BEING A FRACTION OF THE
BEAMWIDTH OR SCAN
TO
SCAN BASIS %ACH APPROACH HAS ADVANTAGES 4HE ADVANTAGES
OF THE SCAN
TO
SCAN METHOD ARE THAT IT IS EASIER TO BUILD A STABLE TRANSMITTER AND MUL
TIPLE
TIME
AROUND CLUTTER IS CANCELED IN A POWER AMPLIFIER -4) SYSTEM 4HE TRANSMIT
TER STABILIZATION NECESSARY FOR GOOD OPERATION OF AN UNSTAGGERED -4) IS A SIGNIFICANT
CHALLENGE 4O STABILIZE THE TRANSMITTER SUFFICIENTLY FOR PULSE
TO
PULSE OR DWELL
TO
DWELL
STAGGER OPERATION IS CONSIDERABLY MORE DIFFICULT 4YPICALLY PULSE
TO
PULSE STAGGERING
IS USED WITH -4) PROCESSING WHEREAS DWELL
TO
DWELL STAGGERING IS USED WITH -4$
FILTER BANK PROCESSING
&OR MANY -4) APPLICATIONS PULSE
TO
PULSE OR DWELL
TO
DWELL STAGGERING IS PREF
ERABLE TO SCAN
TO
SCAN STAGGERINGo &OR EXAMPLE IF A BINOMIAL
WEIGHTED THREE
PULSE
CANCELER THAT HAS
WIDE REJECTION NOTCHES IS EMPLOYED AND IF SCAN
TO
SCAN PULSE
STAGGERING IS USED OF THE DESIRED TARGETS WOULD BE MISSING ON EACH SCAN OWING
TO DOPPLER CONSIDERATION ALONE 4HIS MIGHT BE INTOLERABLE FOR SOME APPLICATIONS
o 4HE CHOICE BETWEEN PULSE
TO
PULSE STAGGERING AND DWELL
TO
DWELL -4$ OPERATION IS A SYSTEM CONCEPT DECISION
BOTH APPROACHES HAVE THEIR ADVANTAGES &OR EXAMPLE PULSE
TO
PULSE STAGGERING WILL NOT PROVIDE CANCELING OF CLUTTER IN
THE AMBIGUOUS RANGE INTERVALS 7ITH DWELL
TO
DWELL STAGGERING AN EXTRA TRANSMITTER PULSE ALSO KNOWN AS A FILL PULSE
WILL ENABLE CANCELING OF SECOND RANGE INTERVAL CLUTTER
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 3HAPED
VELOCITY
RESPONSE FEEDFORWARD CANCELERS COMPARED WITH THREE
PULSE
FEEDBACK CANCELER 3EE TEXT FOR FIVE
PULSE CANCELER PARAMETERS
7ITH PULSE TO PULSE STAGGERING GOOD RESPONSE CAN BE OBTAINED ON ALL DOPPLERS OF
INTEREST ON EACH SCAN )N ADDITION BETTER VELOCITY RESPONSE CAN BE OBTAINED AT SOME
DOPPLERS THAN EITHER PULSE INTERVAL WILL GIVE ON A SCAN TO SCAN BASIS 4HIS IS SO
BECAUSE PULSE TO PULSE STAGGERING PRODUCES DOPPLER COMPONENTS IN THE PASSBAND
OF THE -4) FILTER 0ULSE TO PULSE STAGGERING MAY DEGRADE THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR
ATTAINABLE AS SHOWN IN &IGURE AND &IGURE BUT THIS DEGRADATION MAY NOT BE
SIGNIFICANT OR IT CAN BE ELIMINATED BY THE USE OF TIME VARYING WEIGHTS AS DESCRIBED
BELOW /NE FURTHER ADVANTAGE OF PULSE TO PULSE STAGGERING IS THAT IT MAY PERMIT
ELIMINATING THE USE OF FEEDBACK IN THE CANCELERS USED TO NARROW THE BLIND SPEED
NOTCHES WHICH ELIMINATES THE TRANSIENT SETTLING PROBLEM OF THE FEEDBACK FILTERS
4HE OPTIMUM CHOICE OF THE STAGGER RATIO DEPENDS ON THE VELOCITY RANGE OVER
WHICH THERE MUST BE NO BLIND SPEEDS AND ON THE PERMISSIBLE DEPTH OF THE FIRST NULL
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% 6ELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE DUAL CANCELER NO FEEDBACK
PULSE INTERVAL RATIO
IN THE VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE &OR MANY APPLICATIONS A FOUR PERIOD STAGGER RATIO IS
BEST AND A GOOD SET OF STAGGER RATIOS CAN BE OBTAINED BY ADDING THE FIRST BLIND SPEED
IN 66" TO THE NUMBERS OR 4HUS IN &IGURE p WHERE
THE FIRST BLIND SPEED OCCURS AT ABOUT 66" THE STAGGER RATIO IS e
ALTERNATING THE LONG AND SHORT PERIODS KEEPS THE TRANSMITTER DUTY CYCLE AS NEARLY
CONSTANT AS POSSIBLE AS WELL AS ENSURING GOOD RESPONSE AT THE FIRST NULL WHERE
6 6" &IGURES AND SHOW TWO OTHER PERIOD VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVES )F
USING FOUR INTERPULSE PERIODS MAKES THE FIRST NULL TO BE TOO DEEP THEN FIVE INTERPULSE
PERIODS MAY BE USED WITH THE STAGGER RATIO OBTAINED BY ADDING THE FIRST BLIND SPEED
TO THE NUMBER &IGURE SHOWS A VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE FOR
FIVE PULSE INTERVALS 4HE DEPTH OF THE FIRST NULL CAN BE PREDICTED FROM &IGURE
WHICH IS DISCUSSED LATER
&OR A RADAR SYSTEM WITH RELATIVELY FEW HITS PER BEAMWIDTH IT IS NOT ADVANTAGEOUS TO
USE MORE THAN FOUR OR FIVE DIFFERENT INTERVALS BECAUSE THEN THE RESPONSE TO AN INDIVIDUAL
TARGET WILL DEPEND ON WHICH PART OF THE PULSE SEQUENCE OCCURS AS THE PEAK OF THE BEAM
PASSES THE TARGET 2ANDOM VARIATION OF THE PULSE INTERVALS IS NOT DESIRABLE UNLESS USED
AS AN ELECTRONIC COUNTER COUNTERMEASURE FEATURE BECAUSE IT PERMITS THE NULLS TO BE
DEEPER THAN THE OPTIMUM CHOICE OF FOUR OR FIVE PULSE INTERVALS
7HEN THE RATIO OF PULSE INTERVALS IS EXPRESSED AS A SET OF RELATIVELY PRIME INTEGERS
IE A SET OF INTEGERS WITH NO COMMON DIVISOR OTHER THAN THE FIRST TRUE BLIND SPEED
OCCURS AT
2 2 2 ! 2.
6
6"
.
p !LL VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVES PLOTTED HEREIN PRESENT THE AVERAGE POWER RESPONSE OF THE OUTPUT PULSES OF THE CANCELER
FOR THE DURATION OF THE TIME ON TARGET FOR A SCANNING RADAR )F STAGGERING WERE USED WITH BATCH PROCESSING SUCH AS IN A
PHASED ARRAY THESE CURVES WOULD NOT APPLY FOR A SINGLE OUTPUT &OR EXAMPLE IF THE STAGGER RATIO WAS AND A
THREE
PULSE &)2 FILTER IS USED IT WOULD BE NECESSARY TO TRANSMIT SIX PULSES WITH INTERPULSE SPACINGS OF
AND SUM THE POWER OUTPUT FROM THE FILTER AFTER THE LAST FOUR PULSES WERE TRANSMITTED TO GET THE EQUIVALENT RESPONSE
SHOWN IN THESE CURVES
e .OTE THAT THE FIRST DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ALL COMBINATIONS OF THE INTEGERS AND ARE 4HIS hPERFECT
DIFFERENCE SETv FOR THE STAGGER SEQUENCE IS THE KEY TO THE RELATIVE FLATNESS OF THE RESPONSE CURVES
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 6ELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE THREE PULSE BINOMIAL CANCELER PULSE
INTERVAL RATIO
&)'52% 6ELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE THREE PULSE BINOMIAL CANCELER PULSE
INTERVAL RATIO
&)'52% 6ELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE THREE PULSE BINOMIAL CANCELER PULSE
INTERVAL RATIO 4HIS RESPONSE CURVE CONTINUES TO 66" WITH NO DIPS BELOW D" 4HE FIRST
BLIND SPEED IS AT 66"
-4) 2!$!2
WHERE 2 2 2 2. ARE THE SET OF INTEGERS AND 6" IS THE BLIND SPEED CORRESPOND
ING TO THE AVERAGE INTERPULSE PERIOD 4HE VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE IS SYMMETRICAL ABOUT
ONE HALF OF THE VALUE FROM %Q
&EEDBACK AND 0ULSE TO 0ULSE 3TAGGERING 7HEN PULSE TO PULSE STAGGERING
IS EMPLOYED THE EFFECT OF FEEDBACK IS REDUCED 3TAGGERING CAUSES A MODULATION OF
THE SIGNAL DOPPLER AT OR NEAR THE MAXIMUM RESPONSE FREQUENCY OF THE CANCELER 4HE
AMOUNT OF THIS MODULATION IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE ABSOLUTE TARGET DOPPLER SO THAT FOR AN
AIRCRAFT FLYING AT 6" THE CANCELER RESPONSE IS ESSENTIALLY INDEPENDENT OF THE FEEDBACK
EMPLOYED &IGURE SHOWS A PLOT OF THE EFFECTS OF FEEDBACK ON A DUAL CANCELER SYS
TEM WITH HITS PER BEAMWIDTH AND A RATIO OF STAGGER INTERVALS OF 4HE FEED
BACK VALUES EMPLOYED ARE SEVERAL OF THOSE USED FOR THE UNSTAGGERED VELOCITY RESPONSE
PLOT IN &IGURE )F SCAN TO SCAN PULSE INTERVAL STAGGERING HAD BEEN USED INSTEAD OF
PULSE TO PULSE THE NO FEEDBACK RMS RESPONSE FOR THREE SCANS AT A TARGET VELOCITY OF 6"
WOULD BE D" 4HE COMPOSITE RESPONSE FOR PULSE TO PULSE STAGGERING HOWEVER IS
ONLY D" AT 6" THUS ILLUSTRATING THE ADVANTAGE OF PULSE TO PULSE STAGGERING
)MPROVEMENT &ACTOR ,IMITATIONS #AUSED BY 3TAGGERING 7HEN PULSE TO PULSE
STAGGERING IS USED IT LIMITS THE ATTAINABLE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR OWING TO THE UNEQUAL
TIME SPACING OF THE RECEIVED CLUTTER SAMPLES 4HE CURVES IN &IGURE AND &IGURE
WHICH HAVE BEEN REFERRED TO SEVERAL TIMES GIVE THE APPROXIMATE LIMITATION ON ) CAUSED
BY PULSE TO PULSE STAGGERING AND EITHER ANTENNA SCANNING OR INTERNAL CLUTTER MOTION
4HEY HAVE BEEN DERIVED AS EXPLAINED BELOW
! TWO DELAY CANCELER WILL PERFECTLY CANCEL A LINEAR WAVEFORM 6T C AT IF
IT IS SAMPLED AT EQUAL TIME INTERVALS INDEPENDENT OF THE CONSTANT C OR THE SLOPE A
!DDITIONAL DELAY CANCELERS PERFECTLY CANCEL ADDITIONAL WAVEFORM DERIVATIVES EG A
THREE DELAY CANCELER WILL PERFECTLY CANCEL 6T C AT BT ! STAGGER SYSTEM WITH
TWO PULSE INTERVALS SAMPLES THE LINEAR WAVEFORM AT UNEQUAL INTERVALS AND THEREFORE
&)'52% %FFECT OF FEEDBACK ON THE VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE DUAL CANCELER PULSE
INTERVAL RATIO
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
THERE WILL BE A VOLTAGE RESIDUE FROM THE CANCELERS THAT IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE SLOPE
A AND INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO F
WHERE F IS THE RATIO OF THE INTERVALS 4HE APPAR
ENT DOPPLER FREQUENCY OF THE RESIDUE WILL BE AT ONE
HALF THE AVERAGE REPETITION RATE
OF THE SYSTEM AND THUS WILL BE AT THE FREQUENCY OF MAXIMUM RESPONSE OF A BINOMIAL
WEIGHT CANCELER
4HE RATE OF CHANGE OF PHASE OR AMPLITUDE OF CLUTTER SIGNALS IN A SCANNING RADAR IS
INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE HITS PER BEAMWIDTH N 4HUS WITH THE USE OF A COMPUTER
SIMULATION TO DETERMINE THE PROPORTIONALITY CONSTANT THE LIMITATION ON ) DUE TO STAG
GERING IS APPROXIMATELY
N
) y LOG
D"
G
WHICH IS PLOTTED IN &IGURE
4HESE CURVES WHICH APPLY TO ALL MULTIPLE
DELAY CANCELERS GIVE ANSWERS THAT ARE
FAIRLY CLOSE TO THE ACTUAL LIMITATION THAT WILL BE EXPERIENCED FOR MOST PRACTICAL STAGGER
RATIOS !N EXAMPLE OF THE ACCURACY IS AS FOLLOWS ! SYSTEM WITH HITS PER BEAM
WIDTH A FOUR
PULSE BINOMIAL WEIGHT CANCELER AND A PULSE
INTERVAL RATIO HAS AN
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR LIMITATION OF D" DUE TO STAGGERING 4HE CURVE GIVES A LIMITA
TION OF D" FOR THIS CASE "UT IF THE SEQUENCE OF PULSE INTERVALS WERE TO BE CHANGED
FROM TO THE ACTUAL LIMITATION WOULD BE D" WHICH IS D" LESS
THAN THAT INDICATED BY THE CURVE 4HIS OCCURS BECAUSE THE PRIMARY MODULATION WITH A
PULSE
INTERVAL RATIO LOOKS LIKE A TARGET AT MAXIMUM
RESPONSE SPEED WHEREAS
THE PRIMARY MODULATION WITH A PULSE
INTERVAL RATIO LOOKS LIKE A TARGET AT ONE
HALF THE SPEED OF MAXIMUM RESPONSE "ECAUSE IT IS DESIRABLE TO AVERAGE THE TRANSMITTER
DUTY CYCLE OVER AS SHORT A PERIOD AS POSSIBLE THE PULSE
INTERVAL RATIO WOULD
PROBABLY BE CHOSEN FOR A PRACTICAL SYSTEM
/NCE %Q FOR THE LIMITATION ON ) DUE TO SCANNING AND STAGGERING IS OBTAINED
IT IS POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE THE LIMITATION ON ) DUE TO INTERNAL
CLUTTER MOTION AND STAG
GERING )F
N
N L FR
LF
r
R
P
SV
SV
FROM %QS AND IS SUBSTITUTED INTO %Q
L FR
L FR
) LOG
r
LOG G
S
SV
G
V
WHERE K IS THE WAVELENGTH FR IS THE AVERAGE PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY AND RV IS THE
RMS VELOCITY SPREAD OF SCATTERING ELEMENTS 4HIS IS PLOTTED IN &IGURE FOR RAIN AND
FOR WOODED HILLS WITH A KNOT WIND 4HIS LIMITATION ON THE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR
IS INDEPENDENT OF THE TYPE OF CANCELER EMPLOYED
4IME 6ARYING 7EIGHTS 4HE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR LIMITATION CAUSED BY PULSE TO
PULSE STAGGERING CAN BE AVOIDED BY THE USE OF TIME VARYING WEIGHTS IN THE CANCELER
FORWARD PATHS INSTEAD OF BINOMIAL WEIGHTS 4HE USE OF TIME VARYING WEIGHTS HAS NO
APPRECIABLE EFFECT ON THE -4) VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE 7HETHER THE ADDED COMPLEX
ITY OF UTILIZING TIME VARYING WEIGHTS IS DESIRABLE DEPENDS ON WHETHER THE STAGGER
-4) 2!$!2
{x
LIMITATION IS PREDOMINANT &OR TWO
DELAY CANCELERS THE STAGGER LIMITATION IS OFTEN
COMPARABLE WITH THE BASIC CANCELER CAPABILITY WITHOUT STAGGERING &OR THREE
DELAY
CANCELERS THE STAGGER LIMITATION USUALLY PREDOMINATES
#ONSIDER THE TRANSMITTER PULSE TRAIN AND THE CANCELER CONFIGURATIONS SHOWN IN
&IGURE $URING THE INTERVAL 4. WHEN THE RETURNS FROM TRANSMITTED PULSE 0. ARE
BEING RECEIVED THE TWO
DELAY CANCELER WEIGHTS SHOULD BE
!
#
4.
4.
"
#
AND THE THREE
DELAY CANCELER WEIGHTS SHOULD BE
!
#
4.
4.
4.
"
#
$
4HESE WEIGHTS HAVE BEEN DERIVED BY ASSUMING THAT THE CANCELERS SHOULD PERFECTLY
CANCEL A LINEAR WAVEFORM 6T C AT SAMPLED AT THE STAGGER RATE INDEPENDENT OF THE
VALUES OF THE CONSTANT C OR THE SLOPE A !S MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS SECTION A
MULTIPLE
DELAY CANCELER WITH BINOMIAL WEIGHTS IN AN UNSTAGGERED SYSTEM WILL PERFECTLY
CANCEL 6T C AT
4HE CHOICE OF ! IN BOTH CASES IS ARBITRARY )N THE THREE
DELAY CANCELER SETTING
$
ELIMINATES THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A SECOND
ORDER CORRECTION TO CANCEL THE QUADRATIC
TERM BT WHICH COULD BE OBTAINED IF $ WERE ALSO TIME
VARYING #OMPUTER CALCULATIONS
HAVE SHOWN THAT IT IS UNNECESSARY TO VARY $ IN MOST PRACTICAL SYSTEMS
&)'52% 5SE OF TIME VARYING WEIGHTS A PULSE TRAIN B TWO DELAY CANCELER
AND C THREE DELAY CANCELER
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !PPROXIMATE DEPTH OF NULLS IN THE VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE FOR PULSE TO PULSE
STAGGERED -4)
$EPTH OF &IRST .ULL IN 6ELOCITY 2ESPONSE 7HEN SELECTING SYSTEM PARAMETERS
IT IS USEFUL TO KNOW THE DEPTH OF THE FIRST FEW NULLS TO BE EXPECTED IN THE VELOCITY
RESPONSE CURVE !S DISCUSSED EARLIER THE NULL DEPTHS ARE ESSENTIALLY UNAFFECTED BY
FEEDBACK 4HEY ARE ALSO ESSENTIALLY INDEPENDENT OF THE TYPE OF CANCELER EMPLOYED
WHETHER SINGLE DUAL OR TRIPLE OR OF THE NUMBER OF HITS PER BEAMWIDTH &IGURE
SHOWS APPROXIMATELY WHAT NULL DEPTHS CAN BE EXPECTED VERSUS THE RATIO OF MAXIMUM
TO MINIMUM INTERPULSE PERIOD
/ / , - ",7 / ,, ,-4) FILTERS ARE USED AT THE LOWER ELEVATION ANGLES IN WEATHER RADARS TO PREVENT WEATHER
ESTIMATES FROM BEING CONTAMINATED WITH GROUND CLUTTER RETURNS )T IS HOWEVER ALSO
VERY IMPORTANT TO PRESERVE AN ACCURATE MEASUREMENT OF WEATHER INTENSITY AND PRECIPI
TATION RATE 4O MEET THIS DUAL OBJECTIVE -4) FILTERS WITH NARROW FIXED CLUTTER REJECTION
NOTCHES AND FLAT PASSBANDS ARE NEEDED 5SE OF A VERY NARROW CLUTTER NOTCH EVEN PERMITS
MEASURING WEATHER PRECIPITATION RATES WITH A MEAN RADIAL VELOCITY OF ZERO ALBEIT WITH
SOME BIAS
3UCH MEASUREMENT IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE WEATHER USUALLY HAS A WIDE SPEC
TRAL SPREADTYPICALLY TO MSWHEREAS FIXED CLUTTER HAS A MUCH NARROWER SPECTRAL
SPREADTYPICALLY LESS THAN MS
"IAS AS USED HEREIN REFERS TO THE ERROR IN MEASURING RADAR REFLECTIVITY DUE TO THE CLUTTER NOTCH AND LACK OF FLATNESS
OF THE -4) FILTERS 7HEN WEATHER HAS A WIDE SPECTRAL SPREAD AND THE CLUTTER NOTCH OF THE FILTERS IS NARROW THERE IS
MINIMAL MEASUREMENT ERROR INDUCED BY THE -4) FILTERS #ONVERSELY WHEN THE WEATHER SPECTRAL WIDTH IS NARROW AND
THE RADIAL VELOCITY OF THE WEATHER IS NEAR ZERO SIGNIFICANT ERROR IN THE WEATHER REFLECTIVITY MEASUREMENT WILL EXIST
4HERE ARE OTHER CAUSES OF ERROR BETWEEN RADAR ESTIMATES OF PRECIPITATION RATES AND RAIN GAUGE MEASUREMENTS THAT ARE
NOT ADDRESSED HEREIN SUCH AS THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF RAIN
-4) 2!$!2
%XAMPLES OF WEATHER RADAR APPLICATIONS FOR WHICH -4) FILTERS ARE USED
7EATHER $OPPLER 2ADARS .%82!$732
2ADARS WITH ROTATING ANTENNAS THAT
MEASURE PRECIPITATION RATE DOPPLER VELOCITY AND TURBULENCE -EASURES TOTAL RAINFALL
AND PROVIDES TORNADO WARNINGS
4ERMINAL $OPPLER 7EATHER 2ADARS 4$72 2ADARS WITH ROTATING ANTENNAS
DESIGNED TO DETECT SEVERE WIND SHEAR IN AIRCRAFT APPROACH AND DEPARTURE PATHS CLOSE
TO AIRPORTS
!IRPORT 3URVEILLANCE 2ADARS 2ADARS WITH ROTATING ANTENNAS DESIGNED FOR AIR
TRAFFIC CONTROL FUNCTIONS IN THE TERMINAL AREA BUT WITH A SECONDARY FUNCTION OF
DETECTING AND MONITORING SEVERE WEATHER AND WIND SHEAR IN AIRCRAFT APPROACH AND
DEPARTURE PATHS
0HASED !RRAY 2ADARS 2ADARS WITH FIXED ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED ANTENNAS DESIGNED
FOR MANY FUNCTIONS SUCH AS MISSILE DETECTION AND AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL AND USED CON
CURRENTLY FOR MEASURING PRECIPITATION RATES
!S AN EXAMPLE THE DESIGN OF ELLIPTIC -4) FILTERS AS USED IN THE 4$72 WILL BE
DESCRIBED 4$72 IS A #
BAND RADAR USED AT AIRPORTS FOR DETECTION OF DOWNBURSTS
MICROBURSTS AND PREDICTION OF WIND DIRECTION %LLIPTIC FILTERS ARE INFINITE IMPULSE
RESPONSE ))2 FILTERS THAT HAVE THE SHARPEST POSSIBLE TRANSITION FROM REJECTION NOTCH TO
PASSBAND FOR A SPECIFIED LEVEL OF THE CLUTTER REJECTION NOTCH WIDTH AND DEPTH RIPPLE IN
THE PASSBAND AND NUMBER OF DELAY SECTIONS SEE /PPENHEIM AND 3CHAFER 4HE ELLIP
TIC FILTERS CAN BE FOLLOWED WITH PULSE
PAIR PROCESSING FOR ESTIMATION OF WEATHER MEAN
VELOCITY AND SPECTRAL WIDTH TURBULENCE 4HERE ARE TWO DRAWBACKS OF ELLIPTIC FILTERS
&IRST THE LONG TRANSIENT SETTLING TIME &OR A SCANNING WEATHER RADAR IT TAKES ABOUT FOUR
BEAMWIDTHS OF SCANNING AFTER THE TRANSMITTER STARTS PULSING BEFORE CLUTTER ATTENUATION
REACHES TO D" 3ECOND IF THE INPUT CLUTTER SIGNAL REACHES THE LIMIT LEVEL IN THE
)& RECEIVER THERE WILL BE A SIGNIFICANT TRANSIENT INCREASE OF CLUTTER RESIDUE /NE OF THE
ELLIPTIC FILTERS EMPLOYED IN THE ORIGINAL 4$72 RADAR IS USED AS AN EXAMPLE
4$72 OPERATES AT # BAND
'(Z 4HE ANTENNA ROTATES AT RPM AND
HAS A ONE
WAY BEAMWIDTH 4HE 02& IS (Z 4HE ELLIPTIC FILTER DESIGNED FOR
THESE PARAMETERS HAS AN IMPROVEMENT FACTOR OF D" ("7 HITS PER ONE
WAY
D"
BEAMWIDTH ARE 4HE SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE ELLIPTIC FILTER FOR THE ABOVE PARAMETERS
ARE NORMALIZED STOPBAND EDGE RF4 PASSBAND EDGE RF4 STOP
BAND ATTENUATION D" BELOW PEAK FILTER RESPONSE AND PASSBAND RIPPLE D"
4O MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS THE FILTER REQUIRES
DELAY SECTIONS WHICH CAN BE IMPLE
MENTED AS TWO CASCADED
DELAY SECTIONS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE
&)'52% &OUR
DELAY ELLIPTIC FILTER USED IN 4$72
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE FILTER COEFFICIENTS ARE
A
A
B
B
A
A
B
B
4HE CALCULATED IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR THIS FILTER AGAINST LAND CLUTTER WITH ("7 IS
D" AND THE BIAS FOR WEATHER RETURNS WITH SPECTRAL SPREADS OF AND MSEC IS n D"
AND n D" RESPECTIVELY WHEN THE RADIAL VELOCITY OF THE WEATHER RETURNS IS V MS
&IGURE SHOWS THE ELLIPTIC FILTER #7 RESPONSE AND ITS RESPONSE FOR WEATHER WITH
MS AND MS RMS SPECTRAL SPREAD 4HE UNAMBIGUOUS DOPPLER INTERVAL CORRESPONDING
TO FD4 IS MS FOR THE PARAMETERS USED TO CALCULATE THIS RESPONSE
&IGURE SHOWS THE TIME
DOMAIN RESPONSES FOR THIS FILTER AS THE ANTENNA SCANS
PAST A POINT OF CLUTTER SUCH AS A WATER TOWER 4HIS FIGURE SHOWS THE INPUT TO THE ELLIPTIC
FILTER AND THE RESIDUE OUTPUT ! GAUSSIAN ANTENNA PATTERN IS ASSUMED IN THIS FIGURE 4HE
CALCULATED IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR THE SEQUENCE SHOWN TOTAL CLUTTER POWER INTO THE
FILTER DIVIDED BY TOTAL RESIDUE POWER OUT OF THE FILTER NORMALIZED BY THE NOISE GAIN OF
THE FILTER IS D"
! SINX X ANTENNA PATTERN IS ASSUMED FOR THE FOLLOWING THREE FIGURES BUT THE LESSONS
TO BE GAINED FROM THESE FIGURES IS ESSENTIALLY INDEPENDENT OF THE ASSUMED BEAM SHAPE
&IGURE SHOWS THE FILTER RESPONSE IF THE TRANSMITTER STARTS RADIATING JUST AS A NULL OF
THE ANTENNA PATTERN PASSES THE POINT OF CLUTTER 4HE INDIVIDUAL SAMPLES OF RESIDUE ARE
OR MORE D" BELOW THE PEAK CLUTTER RETURN 4HE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR THIS SEQUENCE
IS D"
"#! !
$ !! "
$ !! "!
!
$ !! "
$ !! "!
!
! !
! !
"#
&)'52% %LLIPTIC FILTER #7 RESPONSE AND RESPONSE TO WEATHER WITH R AND MS RMS
SPECTRAL SPREAD
-4) 2!$!2
"
"
!!
" "
&)'52% 4IME
DOMAIN CLUTTER INPUT AND OUTPUT RESIDUE AS ANTENNA SCANS PAST
A POINT TARGET
&IGURE SHOWS THE RESIDUE IF THE TRANSMITTER STARTS RADIATING AS THE PEAK OF THE
BEAM PASSES THE POINT CLUTTER &ORTY
NINE PULSES AFTER THE TRANSMITTER STARTS RADIATING
THE RESIDUE HAS DECAYED ONLY D" )T WOULD TAKE AT LEAST ANOTHER PULSES FOR THE
RESIDUE TO DECAY TO
D" &OR THIS REASON WHEN THE TRANSMITTER STARTS PULSING A SET
TLING TIME OF AT LEAST PULSES MUST BE ALLOWED BEFORE USEFUL DATA IS COLLECTED
&)'52% #LUTTER INPUT AND RESIDUE FROM ELLIPTIC FILTER 2ADAR STARTS RADIATING AT PULSE
NUMBER
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #LUTTER INPUT AND RESIDUE FROM ELLIPTIC FILTER 2ADAR STARTS RADIATING AT PULSE
NUMBER
&IGURE SHOWS THE EFFECT OF THE RETURNED SIGNAL IF THE POINT CLUTTER EXCEEDS THE
)& LIMIT LEVEL BY D" 7HEN THE SIGNAL REACHES THE LIMIT LEVEL THERE IS A STEP INCREASE
OF RESIDUE OF ABOUT D" 4$72 USES CLUTTER MAPS TO NORMALIZE THE RESIDUE FROM THE
STRONG POINTS OF CLUTTER THAT EXCEED THE LIMIT LEVEL
4HE WEATHER MODE OF !IRPORT 3URVEILLANCE 2ADARS IS DEMONSTRATED BY FIVE
PULSE
FINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE &)2 FILTERS USED IN THE !32
AN 3
BAND RADAR USED FOR
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL AT AIRPORTS 4HE DESIGN OF THE FILTERS IS PRIMARILY FOR -OVING 4ARGET
$ETECTOR -4$ DETECTION OF AIRCRAFT BUT SPECIAL ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO PROVIDING FLAT
PASSBAND RESPONSE FOR ACCURATE WEATHER REFLECTIVITY ESTIMATION 4HE FILTER BANK FOR
("7 IS PICTURED IN &IGURE AND THE COEFFICIENTS ARE SHOWN IN 4ABLE
&)'52% %FFECT OF LIMITING ON ELLIPTIC FILTER RESPONSE
-4) 2!$!2
4!",% !32 #OEFFICIENTS OF !32 0ULSE ,OW 02& &IR &ILTERS
&),4%2
#OEFFICIENT
#OEFFICIENT
#OEFFICIENT
#OEFFICIENT
#OEFFICIENT
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
3ELECTION OF FILTERS IS BASED ON CLUTTER AMPLITUDE INFORMATION STORED IN A CLUTTER MAP
4HE FILTERS ARE SELECTED ON A RANGE
CELL BY #0) BASIS
4HESE &)2 CLUTTER FILTERS HAVE THE NARROWEST REJECTION NOTCHES THAT CAN BE OBTAINED
WITH FIVE PULSES AND THE INDICATED LEVEL OF FIXED CLUTTER REJECTION (OWEVER THE
NOTCHES ARE SIGNIFICANTLY WIDER THAN THOSE OF THE ELLIPTIC FILTERS THUS THEY WILL
HAVE GREATER BIAS FOR MEASUREMENT OF WEATHER INTENSITY WHEN THE WEATHER RADIAL
VELOCITY IS ZERO
&OR PHASED ARRAY RADARS &)2 FILTERS SIMILAR TO THOSE DESCRIBED FOR THE !32
ARE
APPLICABLE 4HE FILTERS CAN BE DESIGNED IF THE TIME BUDGET OF THE PHASED ARRAY RADAR
ALLOWS TO UTILIZE MORE THAN THE FIVE PULSES PER COHERENT PROCESSING INTERVAL #0) USED
BY THE !32
RADAR 5SING MORE PULSES MAKES POSSIBLE NARROWER REJECTION NOTCHES
AND THUS LESS BIAS FOR ESTIMATES OF PRECIPITATION WITH ZERO RADIAL VELOCITY
&)'52% 2ESPONSE OF !32 &)2 FILTERS LOW 02& FR PPS FILTERS OPERATING AGAINST FIXED CLUTTER
WITH ("7 4HE UNAMBIGUOUS DOPPLER INTERVAL F 4 IS MS FOR THE PARAMETERS USED TO CALCULATE
THIS RESPONSE
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
1//
, /
,
-
!S DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION THE -4$ USES A WAVEFORM CONSISTING OF COHERENT PRO
CESSING INTERVALS #0)S OF . PULSES ALL AT THE SAME 02& AND 2& FREQUENCY 4HE 02&
AND POSSIBLY THE 2& ARE CHANGED FROM ONE #0) TO THE NEXT 7ITH THIS CONSTRAINT ONLY
FINITE
IMPULSE
RESPONSE &)2 FILTER DESIGNS ARE REALISTIC CANDIDATES FOR THE FILTER BANK
DESIGN &EEDBACK FILTERS REQUIRE A NUMBER OF PULSES TO SETTLE AFTER EITHER THE 02& OR
THE 2& IS CHANGED AND THUS WOULD NOT BE PRACTICAL
4HE NUMBER OF PULSES AVAILABLE DURING THE TIME WHEN A SURVEILLANCE RADAR BEAM
ILLUMINATES A POTENTIAL TARGET POSITION IS DETERMINED BY SYSTEM PARAMETERS AND REQUIRE
MENTS SUCH AS BEAMWIDTH 02& VOLUME TO BE SCANNED AND THE REQUIRED DATA UPDATE
RATE 'IVEN THE CONSTRAINT ON THE NUMBER OF PULSES ON TARGET ONE MUST DECIDE HOW
MANY #0)S SHOULD OCCUR DURING THE TIME ON TARGET AND HOW MANY PULSES PER #0) 4HE
COMPROMISE IS USUALLY DIFFICULT /NE WISHES TO USE MORE PULSES PER #0) TO ENABLE THE
USE OF BETTER FILTERS BUT ONE ALSO WISHES TO HAVE AS MANY #0)S AS POSSIBLE -ULTIPLE
#0)S AT DIFFERENT 02&S AND PERHAPS AT DIFFERENT 2& FREQUENCIES IMPROVE DETECTION
AND CAN PROVIDE INFORMATION FOR TRUE RADIAL VELOCITY DETERMINATION
4HE DESIGN OF THE INDIVIDUAL FILTERS IN THE DOPPLER FILTER BANK IS A COMPROMISE BETWEEN
THE FREQUENCY SIDELOBE REQUIREMENT AND THE DEGRADATION IN THE COHERENT INTEGRATION GAIN
OF THE FILTER 4HE NUMBER OF DOPPLER FILTERS REQUIRED FOR A GIVEN LENGTH OF THE #0) MUST BE
BALANCED BETWEEN HARDWARE COMPLEXITY AND THE STRADDLING LOSS AT THE CROSSOVER BETWEEN
FILTERS &INALLY THE REQUIREMENT OF PROVIDING A HIGH DEGREE OF CLUTTER SUPPRESSION AT ZERO
DOPPLER LAND CLUTTER SOMETIMES INTRODUCES SPECIAL DESIGN CONSTRAINTS
7HEN THE NUMBER OF PULSES IN A #0) IS LARGE q THE SYSTEMATIC DESIGN PRO
CEDURE AND EFFICIENT IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FAST &OURIER TRANSFORM &&4 ALGORITHM
IS PARTICULARLY ATTRACTIVE 4HROUGH THE USE OF APPROPRIATE WEIGHTING FUNCTIONS OF THE
TIME
DOMAIN RETURNS IN A SINGLE #0) THE RESULTING FREQUENCY SIDELOBES CAN BE READILY
CONTROLLED &URTHER THE NUMBER OF FILTERS EQUAL TO THE ORDER OF THE TRANSFORM NEEDED
TO COVER THE TOTAL DOPPLER SPACE EQUAL TO THE RADAR 02& CAN BE CHOSEN INDEPENDENTLY
OF THE #0) AS DISCUSSED BELOW
!S THE #0) BECOMES SMALLER a IT BECOMES IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER SPECIAL
DESIGNS OF THE INDIVIDUAL FILTERS TO MATCH THE SPECIFIC CLUTTER SUPPRESSION REQUIREMENTS
AT DIFFERENT DOPPLER FREQUENCIES IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE BETTER OVERALL PERFORMANCE 7HILE
SOME SYSTEMATIC PROCEDURES ARE AVAILABLE FOR DESIGNING &)2 FILTERS SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC
PASSBAND AND STOPBAND CONSTRAINTS THE STRAIGHTFORWARD APPROACH FOR SMALL #0)S IS
TO USE AN EMPIRICAL APPROACH IN WHICH THE ZEROS OF EACH FILTER ARE ADJUSTED UNTIL THE
DESIRED RESPONSE IS OBTAINED !N EXAMPLE OF SUCH FILTER DESIGNS IS PRESENTED NEXT
%MPIRICAL &ILTER $ESIGN !N EXAMPLE OF AN EMPIRICAL FILTER DESIGN FOR A SIX
PULSE
#0) FOLLOWS 4HE SIX PULSES PER #0) MAY BE DRIVEN BY SYSTEM CONSIDERATIONS SUCH AS
TIME
ON
TARGET "ECAUSE THE FILTER WILL USE SIX PULSES ONLY FIVE ZEROS ARE AVAILABLE FOR
THE FILTER DESIGN THE NUMBER OF ZEROS AVAILABLE IS THE NUMBER OF PULSES MINUS ONE 4HE
FILTER DESIGN PROCESS CONSISTS OF PLACING THE ZEROS TO OBTAIN A FILTER BANK RESPONSE THAT
CONFORMS TO THE SPECIFIED CONSTRAINTS 4HE EXAMPLE THAT FOLLOWS WAS PRODUCED WITH AN
INTERACTIVE COMPUTER PROGRAM WITH WHICH THE ZEROS COULD BE MOVED UNTIL THE DESIRED
RESPONSE WAS OBTAINED 4HE ASSUMED FILTER REQUIREMENTS ARE AS FOLLOWS
L
0ROVIDE A RESPONSE OF
D" IN THE CLUTTER REJECTION NOTCH RELATIVE TO THE PEAK TARGET
RESPONSE OF THE MOVING
TARGET FILTERS
-4) 2!$!2
0ROVIDE A RESPONSE OF
D" FOR CHAFF REJECTION AT VELOCITIES BETWEEN o OF THE
AMBIGUOUS DOPPLER FREQUENCY RANGE
)N THIS DESIGN ONLY FIVE FILTERS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED
4HREE OF THE FIVE FILTERS WILL REJECT FIXED CLUTTER AND RESPOND TO MOVING TARGETS 4WO
FILTERS WILL RESPOND TO TARGETS AT ZERO DOPPLER AND ITS AMBIGUITIES 7ITH GOOD FIXED
CLUTTER REJECTION FILTERS IT TAKES TWO OR MORE COHERENT FILTERS TO COVER THE GAP IN
RESPONSE AT ZERO VELOCITY
7ITH THE ABOVE CONSIDERATIONS A FILTER BANK CAN BE CONSTRUCTED
&IGURE A SHOWS THE FILTER DESIGNED TO RESPOND TO TARGETS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE
DOPPLER PASSBAND 4HE SIDELOBES NEAR ZERO VELOCITY ARE D" DOWN FROM THE PEAK
THUS PROVIDING GOOD CLUTTER REJECTION FOR CLUTTER WITHIN OF ZERO DOPPLER 4HE
D"
SIDELOBE PROVIDES CHAFF REJECTION TO o "ECAUSE OF THE CONSTRAINT OF HAVING ONLY FIVE
ZEROS AVAILABLE THIS FILTER COULD NOT PROVIDE
D" REJECTION TO o
&IGURE B SHOWS THE FILTER THAT RESPONDS TO TARGETS AS NEAR AS POSSIBLE TO ZERO
DOPPLER WHILE HAVING A ZERO
DOPPLER RESPONSE OF
D" 4WO ZEROS ARE PLACED NEAR
PROVIDING
D" RESPONSE TO CLUTTER AT 4HE FILTER SIDELOBES BETWEEN AND
DOPPLER PROVIDE THE SPECIFIED CHAFF REJECTION OF D" ! MIRROR IMAGE OF THIS FILTER IS
USED FOR THE THIRD MOVING DOPPLER FILTER 4HE MIRROR
IMAGE FILTER HAS COEFFICIENTS THAT
ARE COMPLEX CONJUGATES OF THE ORIGINAL FILTER COEFFICIENTS
&IGURE C SHOWS THE FIRST FILTER DESIGNED FOR RESPONSE AT ZERO DOPPLER
#ONSIDERATIONS HERE ARE THAT THE DOPPLER STRADDLING LOSS OF THE FILTER BANK BE MINIMIZED
&)'52% 3IX PULSE FILTERS FOR TARGETS AT A F 4 B &T F 4 AND C COMBINED RESPONSE
OF COMPLETE BANK OF FIVE SIX PULSE FILTERS
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
THIS DICTATES THE LOCATION OF THE PEAK THAT THE RESPONSE TO CHAFF AT DOPPLER BE
DOWN D" AND THAT THE MISMATCH LOSS BE MINIMIZED -INIMIZING THE MISMATCH LOSS
IS ACCOMPLISHED BY PERMITTING THE FILTER SIDELOBES BETWEEN AND TO RISE AS HIGH
AS NEEDED LOWER SIDELOBES IN THIS RANGE INCREASE THE MISMATCH LOSS 4HE SECOND ZERO
DOPPLER FILTER IS THE MIRROR IMAGE OF THIS ONE
&IGURE D SHOWS THE COMPOSITE RESPONSE OF THE FILTER BANK .OTE THAT THE FILTER
PEAKS ARE FAIRLY EVENLY DISTRIBUTED 4HE DIP BETWEEN THE FIRST ZERO
DOPPLER FILTER AND
THE FIRST MOVING DOPPLER FILTER IS LARGER THAN THE OTHERS PRIMARILY BECAUSE UNDER THE
CONSTRAINTS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MOVE THE FIRST DOPPLER FILTER NEARER TO ZERO VELOCITY
#HEBYSHEV &ILTER "ANK &OR A LARGER NUMBER OF PULSES IN THE #0) A MORE SYSTEM
ATIC APPROACH TO FILTER DESIGN IS DESIRABLE )F A DOPPLER FILTER DESIGN CRITERION IS CHOSEN
THAT REQUIRES THE FILTER SIDELOBES OUTSIDE THE MAIN RESPONSE TO BE BELOW A SPECIFIED LEVEL
IE PROVIDING A CONSTANT LEVEL OF CLUTTER SUPPRESSION WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY MINIMIZ
ING THE WIDTH OF THE FILTER RESPONSE A FILTER DESIGN BASED ON THE $OLPH
#HEBYSHEV DIS
TRIBUTION PROVIDES THE OPTIMUM SOLUTION 0ROPERTIES AND DESIGN PROCEDURES BASED ON
THE $OLPH
#HEBYSHEV DISTRIBUTION CAN BE FOUND IN THE ANTENNA LITERATURE !N EXAMPLE
OF A FILTER DESIGN FOR A #0) OF PULSES AND A SIDELOBE REQUIREMENT OF D" IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE 4HE PEAK FILTER RESPONSE CAN BE LOCATED ARBITRARILY IN FREQUENCY BY ADDING
A LINEAR
PHASE TERM TO THE FILTER COEFFICIENTS
4HE TOTAL NUMBER OF FILTERS IMPLEMENTED TO COVER ALL DOPPLER FREQUENCIES IS A DESIGN
OPTION TRADING STRADDLING LOSS AT THE FILTER CROSSOVER FREQUENCIES AGAINST IMPLEMENTA
TION COMPLEXITY !N EXAMPLE OF A COMPLETE DOPPLER FILTER BANK IMPLEMENTED WITH NINE
UNIFORMLY SPACED FILTERS IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE PERFORMANCE OF THIS DOPPLER FILTER
BANK AGAINST THE CLUTTER MODEL CONSIDERED IN &IGURE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HIS
GRAPH SHOWS THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO IMPROVEMENT AGAINST CLUTTER AT ZERO DOPPLER AS
A FUNCTION OF TARGET DOPPLER FREQUENCY /NLY THE RESPONSE OF THE FILTER PROVIDING THE
GREATEST IMPROVEMENT IS PLOTTED AT EACH TARGET DOPPLER
&OR COMPARISON THE OPTIMUM CURVE FROM &IGURE IS SHOWN BY A BROKEN LINE AND
THUS PROVIDES A DIRECT ASSESSMENT OF HOW WELL THE #HEBYSHEV FILTER DESIGN PERFORMS
AGAINST A GIVEN CLUTTER MODEL !LSO SHOWN IS THE AVERAGE 3#2 IMPROVEMENT FOR BOTH
THE OPTIMUM AND THE #HEBYSHEV FILTER BANK
&)'52% #HEBYSHEV &)2 FILTER DESIGN WITH D" DOPPLER SIDELOBES
-4) 2!$!2
xx
&)'52% $OPPLER FILTER BANK OF D" #HEBYSHEV FILTERS #0) PULSES
&INALLY &IGURE SHOWS THE AVERAGE 3#2 IMPROVEMENT OF THE D" #HEBYSHEV
DOPPLER FILTER BANK AS WELL AS THE OPTIMUM CURVE FROM &IGURE AS A FUNCTION
OF THE RELATIVE SPECTRUM SPREAD OF THE CLUTTER /WING TO THE FINITE NUMBER OF FILTERS
IMPLEMENTED IN THE FILTER BANK THE AVERAGE 3#2 IMPROVEMENT WILL CHANGE BY A SMALL
AMOUNT IF A DOPPLER SHIFT IS INTRODUCED INTO THE CLUTTER RETURNS 4HIS EFFECT IS ILLUSTRATED
BY THE CROSS
HATCHED REGION WHICH SHOWS UPPER AND LOWER LIMITS ON THE AVERAGE 3#2
IMPROVEMENT FOR ALL POSSIBLE CLUTTER DOPPLER SHIFTS &OR A SMALLER NUMBER OF FILTERS IN
THE DOPPLER FILTER BANK THIS VARIATION WOULD BE GREATER
&AST &OURIER 4RANSFORM &ILTER "ANK &OR A LARGE NUMBER OF PARALLEL DOPPLER
FILTERS HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION CAN BE SIMPLIFIED SIGNIFICANTLY THROUGH THE USE OF
THE &&4 ALGORITHM 4HE USE OF THIS ALGORITHM CONSTRAINS ALL FILTERS IN THE FILTER BANK TO
&)'52% 3#2 IMPROVEMENT OF D" #HEBYSHEV DOPPLER FILTER BANK COMPARED WITH
THE OPTIMUM
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !VERAGE 3#2 IMPROVEMENT FOR THE D" #HEBYSHEV FILTER BANK SHOWN
IN &IGURE #0) PULSES /PTIMUM IS FROM &IGURE
HAVE IDENTICAL RESPONSES AND THE FILTERS WILL BE UNIFORMLY SPACED ALONG THE DOPPLER
AXIS 4HE NUMBER OF FILTERS IMPLEMENTED FOR A GIVEN SIZE OF THE #0) CAN HOWEVER
BE VARIED &OR EXAMPLE A GREATER NUMBER OF FILTERS CAN BE REALIZED BY EXTENDING THE
RECEIVED DATA WITH EXTRA ZERO VALUES ALSO KNOWN AS ZERO PADDING AFTER THE RECEIVED
RETURNS HAVE BEEN APPROPRIATELY WEIGHTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DESIRED FILTER
RESPONSE EG #HEBYSHEV
&ILTER "ANK $ESIGNS 5SING #ONSTRAINED /PTIMIZATION 4ECHNIQUES &OR A
GREATER NUMBERS OF PULSES IN THE #0) AND WHEN THE ECONOMY OF THE &&4 IMPLEMENTA
TION OF A DOPPLER FILTER BANK CAN BE REPLACED BY A &)2 IMPLEMENTATION MORE DESIRABLE
&)2 FILTER RESPONSES CAN BE REALIZED THROUGH THE USE OF APPROPRIATE NUMERICAL DIGITAL
FILTER DESIGN TECHNIQUES 4HE GOAL IS SIMILAR TO THAT PURSUED WITH THE EMPIRICAL FILTER
DESIGNS DISCUSSED EARLIER BUT FILTERS WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF TAPS CAN BE DESIGNED TO
EXACTING SPECIFICATIONS
!S AN EXAMPLE CONSIDER THE DESIGN OF A DOPPLER FILTER BANK FOR AN 3 BAND '(Z
RADAR USING A #0) OF . PULSES USING A 02& OF K(Z !SSUME THAT THE RADAR REQUIRE
MENTS CALL FOR A SUPPRESSION OF STATIONARY LAND CLUTTER BY D" AND A SUPPRESSION OF
MOVING CLUTTER RAIN BY D" &OR THE FILTER DESIGN A CLUTTER ATTENUATION D" BELOW
THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL BE NEEDED TO KEEP THE SENSITIVITY LOSS DUE TO THE CLUTTER RESIDUE
BELOW D" AND ALSO BECAUSE EACH DOPPLER FILTER WILL HAVE A COHERENT GAIN OF AROUND
LOG D" THIS MUST BE ADDED TO THE FILTER DESIGN SPECIFICATION AS WELL 4HE
TOTAL 3
BAND DOPPLER SPACE FOR THE ABOVE RADAR PARAMETERS IS MS AND ASSUMING THAT
THE LAND CLUTTER SUPPRESSION REGION HAS TO BE o MS AND THAT THE MOVING CLUTTER SUPPRES
SION REGION HAS TO BE o MS THE CONSTRAINT FOR ALL DOPPLER FILTER DESIGNS NORMALIZED TO
THEIR PEAK IS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE
5SING A SIGNAL PROCESSING TOOLBOX DEVELOPED BY $R $AN 0 3CHOLNIK OF THE .AVAL
2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY A DOPPLER FILTER BANK MEETING THE ABOVE CONSTRAINTS WAS DESIGNED
4HE FIRST FILTER WHICH HAS ITS PEAK LOCATED AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO THE LEFT EDGE OF THE
CONSTRAINT BOX IS SHOWN IN &IGURE WITH THE ABSCISSA NORMALIZED TO THE TOTAL AVAIL
ABLE DOPPLER SPACE
-4) 2!$!2
" $
#$!
&)'52% $OPPLER FILTER DESIGN CONSTRAINTS
4HE MISMATCH LOSS OF THIS FILTER IS ,M D" WHICH IS WELL BELOW THAT OF A D"
$OLPH
#HEBYSHEV FILTER BANK ,M D" &OR THE REMAINING FILTERS A RELATIVE SPAC
ING OF $ WAS USED BUT THIS COULD BE REDUCED IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE
DOPPLER STRADDLING LOSSES 4HE THIRD FILTER IN THE FILTER BANK IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
' % #! #(
# $ ##
$ & !! "(
&)'52% ,EFTMOST &)2 FILTER IN DOPPLER FILTER BANK DESIGN
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
' % #! #(
# $ ##
$ & !! "(
&)'52% 4HIRD &)2 FILTER IN DOPPLER FILTER BANK DESIGN
4HE MISMATCH LOSS HAS NOW BEEN REDUCED TO D" &INALLY THE COMPLETE DOPPLER
FILTER BANK IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HIS FILTER BANK COULD BE AUGMENTED WITH ADDI
TIONAL FILTERS AROUND ZERO DOPPLER BUT THESE WOULD NOT MEET THE DESIGN CONSTRAINTS
DISCUSSED ABOVE 4HE MAIN BENEFIT OF A CUSTOMIZED DOPPLER FILTER BANK DESIGN AS
$" %
!# %
&)'52% #OMPLETE DOPPLER FILTER BANK DESIGN
-4) 2!$!2
DESCRIBED HERE IS ITS REDUCED MISMATCH LOSS &OR THE FILTERS IN THE ABOVE DESIGN
THE AVERAGE MISMATCH LOSS IS ,M D" A SAVINGS OF D" AS COMPARED TO THE
ALTERNATIVE OF A D" WEIGHTED $OLPH
#HEBYSHEV FILTER BANK
*
,",
, /"
1-
9,
6
, /
%LSEWHERE IN THIS CHAPTER 3ECTIONS AND PARTICULARLY )& BANDPASS LIMITERS
HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED AS A MEANS OF PREVENTING RECEIVED CLUTTER SIGNALS FROM EXCEED
ING THE RANGE OF THE !$ CONVERTERS NORMALIZING -4) CLUTTER RESIDUE CAUSED BY
SYSTEM INSTABILITIES AND NORMALIZING RESIDUE DUE TO THE SPECTRAL SPREAD OF hFIXED
CLUTTERv CAUSED BY EITHER SCANNING OR WIND
BLOWN MOTION 4HERE ARE OCCASIONAL CLUTTER
RESIDUE SPIKES WHEN CLUTTER EXCEEDS THE LIMIT LEVEL AND IN THE PAST THE ENERGY FROM
THESE SPIKES OF RESIDUE HAS BEEN SUPPRESSED BY FURTHER REDUCTION OF THE LIMIT LEVEL
7HEN LIMITERS HAVE BEEN USED TO NORMALIZE THE ENERGY OF CLUTTER RESIDUE SPIKES THE
AVERAGE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR OF THE -4) SYSTEMS DRASTICALLY DETERIORATES 4HE EQUA
TIONS FOR ) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR OF A SCANNING RADAR IN 3ECTION ARE BASED ON LINEAR
THEORY &IELD MEASUREMENTS HOWEVER HAVE SHOWN THAT MANY SCANNING MULTIPLE
DELAY
-4) RADAR SYSTEMS FALL CONSIDERABLY SHORT OF THE PREDICTED PERFORMANCE 4HIS OCCURS
BECAUSE THE )& BANDPASS LIMITERS HAVE BEEN USED TO SUPPRESS THE ENERGY OF THE RESIDUE
SPIKES THAT ARE CAUSED BY THE LIMITING ACTION ,ATER IN THIS SECTION IT IS SHOWN THAT THE
USE OF A BINARY DETECTION SCHEME INSTEAD OF A DRASTIC REDUCTION OF THE LIMIT LEVEL CAN
BE USED TO MAINTAIN A CLUTTER REJECTION PERFORMANCE CLOSE TO LINEAR THEORY PREDICTION IN
THE RESOLUTION CELLS WHERE CLUTTER LIMITING OCCUR
!N EXAMPLE OF HOW LIMITING THE DYNAMIC RANGE ADJUSTS THE RESIDUE IS SHOWN IN THE
-4) 00) PHOTOGRAPHS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE RANGE RINGS ARE AT
MI INTERVALS
&)'52% %FFECT OF LIMITERS A D" IMPROVEMENT FACTOR D" INPUT DYNAMIC RANGE AND
B D" IMPROVEMENT FACTOR D" INPUT DYNAMIC RANGE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
! NUMBER OF BIRDS ARE SHOWN ON THE DISPLAY 4HE RESIDUE FROM CLUTTER IN THE LEFT PHOTO
GRAPH IS SOLID OUT TO NMI AND THEN DECREASES UNTIL IT IS ALMOST ENTIRELY GONE AT NMI
4HE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR IN BOTH PICTURES IS D" BUT THE INPUT DYNAMIC RANGE
PEAK SIGNAL
TO
RMS NOISE TO THE CANCELER WAS CHANGED FROM TO D" BETWEEN THE
TWO PICTURES !N AIRCRAFT FLYING OVER THE CLUTTER IN THE FIRST MI IN THE LEFT
HAND PICTURE
COULD NOT BE DETECTED NO MATTER HOW LARGE ITS RADAR CROSS SECTION )N THE RIGHT
HAND PIC
TURE THE AIRCRAFT COULD BE DETECTED IF THE TARGET
TO
CLUTTER CROSS
SECTION RATIO WERE SUF
FICIENT !LTHOUGH THIS EXAMPLE IS FROM MANY YEARS AGO THE PRINCIPLE IS STILL THE SAME
EVEN THOUGH CURRENT -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTORS ARE BETTER BY TENS OF D"S 2ESTRICTION
OF THE )& DYNAMIC RANGE IS STILL A VERY EFFICIENT WAY OF NORMALIZING CLUTTER RESIDUE DUE
TO SYSTEM INSTABILITIES OR CLUTTER SPECTRAL SPREAD TO SYSTEM NOISE 4HIS IS TRUE WHETHER
OR NOT THE RADAR USES PULSE COMPRESSION
0RIOR TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN CLUTTER MAPS FOR CONTROLLING FALSE ALARMS
CAUSED BY CLUTTER RESIDUE OR THE MORE RECENT SUGGESTION THAT BINARY INTEGRATION CAN
MITIGATE IMPULSE
LIKE RESIDUE THE USE OF )& LIMITING WAS ESSENTIAL FOR FALSE
ALARM
CONTROL IN AN -4) RADAR 3UCH LIMITING HOWEVER SERIOUSLY AFFECTS THE MEAN IMPROVE
MENT FACTOR OBTAINABLE WITH A SCANNING
LIMITED MULTIPLE
DELAY CANCELER BECAUSE OF
THE INCREASED SPECTRAL SPREAD OF THE CLUTTER THAT EXCEEDS THE LIMIT LEVEL 0ART OF THE
ADDITIONAL CLUTTER SPECTRAL COMPONENTS COMES FROM THE SHARP DISCONTINUITY IN THE
ENVELOPE OF RETURNS AS THE CLUTTER REACHES THE LIMIT LEVEL ! TIME
DOMAIN EXAMPLE
OF THIS PHENOMENON IS SHOWN IN &IGURE FOR A RADAR WITH . HITS PER BEAM
WIDTH /N THE LEFT IS A POINT TARGET THAT DOES NOT EXCEED THE LIMIT LEVEL ON THE RIGHT
IS A POINT TARGET THAT EXCEEDS THE LIMIT LEVEL BY D" .OTE THAT FOR THIS EXAMPLE
) DEGRADES BY D" FOR THE DUAL CANCELER AND BY D" FOR THE TRIPLE CANCELER
4HE EXACT RESULT OF THIS CALCULATION DEPENDS ON THE ASSUMED SHAPE OF THE ANTENNA
PATTERN FOR THIS EXAMPLE A SINU PATTERN TERMINATED AT THE FIRST NULLS WAS ASSUMED
U
4HERE IS A COMPARABLE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR DEGRADATION DUE TO SPECTRAL SPREADING OF
LIMITED DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER &IGURES AND SHOW THE EXPECTED MEAN
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR TWO
THREE
AND FOUR
PULSE CANCELERS AS A FUNCTION OF R,
THE RATIO OF THE RMS CLUTTER AMPLITUDE TO THE LIMIT LEVEL (ITS PER ONE
WAY HALF
POWER
BEAMWIDTH ARE INDICATED BY .
!N EXAMPLE OF CLUTTER RESIDUE FROM SIMULATED HARD
LIMITED DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER IS
TAKEN FROM (ALL AND 3HRADER &IGURE SHOWS A POLAR PLOT OF PART OF A LINEAR CLUT
TER SEQUENCE FOR A SCANNING RADAR WITH . HITS PER BEAMWIDTH 4HIS LINEAR CLUTTER
SEQUENCE IS CONSECUTIVE COMPLEX VOLTAGE RETURNS FROM ONE RANGE CELL OF DISTRIBUTED
CLUTTER &IGURE SHOWS THE PHASE AND AMPLITUDE OF THIS SEQUENCE
)F THIS CLUTTER SEQUENCE WERE D" STRONGER AND PASSED THROUGH A 6 )& LIMITER
ONLY THE PHASE INFORMATION WOULD REMAIN %ACH PULSE WOULD HAVE A 6 AMPLITUDE
7HEN THE RESULTING LIMITED CLUTTER SEQUENCE IS PASSED THROUGH A THREE
PULSE CANCELER
COEFFICIENTS n THE OUTPUT RESIDUE APPEARS AS IN &IGURE A 4HE CORRESPOND
ING PULSE
TO
PULSE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR IS SHOWN &IGURE B
4HE EXPECTED THREE
PULSE CANCELER IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FROM EQUATION FOR
A LINEAR SYSTEM WITH . IS ) N D" )N &IGURE B IT IS SEEN THAT
THIS LEVEL OF ) IS ACHIEVED FOR MOST OF THE PULSES WITH ONLY TWO PULSES HAVING VERY
LOW VALUES OF ) 4HE STATISTICS FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF ) FOR THE THREE
PULSE CANCELER FOR
HARD
LIMITED DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE
.OTE THAT FOR . LESS THAT OF THE HARD
LIMITED SAMPLES HAVE AN IMPROVEMENT
FACTOR LESS THAN D" WHEREAS ALMOST OF THE SAMPLES EXCEED THE ) EXPECTED FOR
A LINEAR SYSTEM
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% )MPROVEMENT FACTOR RESTRICTION CAUSED BY A LIMITER
4HE TIME
DOMAIN ILLUSTRATION SHOWN PREVIOUSLY IN &IGURE LEADS TO THE CONCLU
SION OF (ALL AND 3HRADER THAT USING AN - OUT OF . BINARY DETECTOR AT THE OUTPUT OF AN
-4) FILTER WILL PRECLUDE FALSE ALARMS FROM THE CLUTTER RESIDUES CAUSED BY LIMITING
&IGURE SHOWS IN ADDITION TO CLUTTER RESIDUE THE RETURNS FROM A TARGET THAT WAS
SUPERIMPOSED ON THE DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER PRIOR TO THE CLUTTER
PLUS
TARGET SEQUENCE PASS
ING THROUGH THE )& LIMITING PROCESS /NE CAN SEE THAT MANY OF THE INDIVIDUAL PULSE
RETURNS FROM THE TARGET EXCEED THE DETECTION THRESHOLD WHEREAS ONLY FOUR OF THE CLUTTER
RESIDUE PULSES EXCEED THE THRESHOLD
4O SUMMARIZE 4HE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR IN A MAJORITY OF LIMITING CLUTTER
CELLS EXCEEDS THE AVERAGE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR OBTAINED WITH LINEAR PROCESSING CELLS
WITH POOR -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR CAN BE REJECTED WITH BINARY DETECTION PROCESSING
AND THEREFORE EXCELLENT -4) PERFORMANCE CAN BE OBTAINED EVEN IN REGIONS OF CLUTTER
THAT EXCEED THE )& DYNAMIC RANGE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% -EAN IMPROVEMENT FACTOR RESTRICTION VERSUS AMOUNT OF LIMITING AND CLUTTER
SPECTRAL SPREAD FOR A TWO
PULSE CANCELER AFTER 4 - (ALL AND 7 7 3HRADER )%%% AND
( 2 7ARD AND 7 7 3HRADER )%%%
&)'52% -EAN IMPROVEMENT FACTOR RESTRICTION VERSUS AMOUNT OF LIMITING AND CLUTTER
SPECTRAL SPREAD FOR A THREE
PULSE CANCELER AFTER 4 - (ALL AND 7 7 3HRADER )%%%
AND ( 2 7ARD AND 7 7 3HRADER )%%%
-4) 2!$!2
'
$&
$*
)
$&$*
!% *$,!%+**!)(! *) % $ *# "
&)'52% -EAN IMPROVEMENT FACTOR RESTRICTION VERSUS AMOUNT OF LIMITING AND
CLUTTER SPECTRAL SPREAD FOR A FOUR
PULSE CANCELER AFTER 4 - (ALL AND 7 7 3HRADER
)%%% AND ( 2 7ARD AND 7 7 3HRADER )%%%
.OTE THAT THIS DISCUSSION OF BINARY DETECTION IS ADDRESSED TO THE SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION
OF REAL CLUTTER THAT WHEN VIEWED IN THE TIME DOMAIN BEFORE LIMITING HAS A SMOOTHLY
VARYING CHANGE OF THE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE OF THE CLUTTER VECTOR 4HIS IS DISTINCT FROM
CLUTTER VARIATIONS DUE TO SYSTEM INSTABILITIES THAT ARE NOISE
LIKE WHEREIN THE SYSTEM
DYNAMIC RANGE SHOULD BE LIMITED TO PREVENT THE INSTABILITY RESIDUE FROM EXCEEDING THE
SYSTEM NOISE LEVEL
&)'52% 0OLAR REPRESENTATION OF A LINEAR CLUTTER SEQUENCE
FOR HITS PER BEAMWIDTH AFTER 4 - (ALL AND 7 7 3HRADER
)%%%
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% ,INEAR CLUTTER SEQUENCE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE FOR HITS
PER BEAMWIDTH AFTER 4 - (ALL AND 7 7 3HRADER )%%%
&)'52% A 4HREE
PULSE CANCELER RESIDUE AND B IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR HARD
LIMITED CLUTTER SEQUENCE FOR . HITS PER BEAMWIDTH AFTER 4 - (ALL AND 7 7 3HRADER
)%%%
-4) 2!$!2
$" &) &% ' # %
$%% ! (! '"
!
!
!
!
&!')#& ) *
!
&!') ) #%#+
&)'52% $ISTRIBUTION OF ) AND MEAN OF ) FOR HARD
LIMITED CLUTTER FOR DIFFERENT NUMERS OF SCAN
NING HITS PER BEAMWIDTH &OR REFERENCE THE MEAN OF ) IS ALSO SHOWN FOR LINEAR PROCESSING ) REFERS TO THE
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR OF A THREE
PULSE -4) CANCELER AFTER 4 - (ALL AND 7 7 3HRADER )%%%
# "# !
"!! "
&)'52% !FTER -4) PROCESSING OF THE HARD
LIMITED DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER
SEQUENCE . AND A TARGET SUPERIMPOSED ON THE CLUTTER SEQUENCE THE RESIDUE
SPIKES ARE DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT FROM THE TARGET RETURNS ! BINARY -
OF
. DETECTOR
WILL REJECT THE RESIDUE AND KEEP THE TARGET AFTER 4 - (ALL AND 7 7 3HRADER
)%%%
, ,-9-/ -/ /9
, +1, /3YSTEM )NSTABILITIES .OT ONLY DO THE ANTENNA MOTION AND CLUTTER SPECTRUM AFFECT
THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR THAT IS ATTAINABLE BUT SYSTEM INSTABILITIES ALSO PLACE A LIMIT ON
-4) PERFORMANCE 4HESE INSTABILITIES COME FROM THE STALO AND COHO FROM THE TRANS
MITTER PULSE TO PULSE FREQUENCY CHANGE IF A PULSED OSCILLATOR AND FROM PULSE TO PULSE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
PHASE CHANGE IF A POWER AMPLIFIER FROM THE INABILITY TO LOCK THE COHO PERFECTLY TO THE
PHASE OF THE REFERENCE PULSE FROM TIME JITTER AND AMPLITUDE JITTER ON THE PULSES AND
FROM QUANTIZATION NOISE OF THE !$ CONVERTER
0HASE INSTABILITIES WILL BE CONSIDERED FIRST )F THE PHASES OF CONSECUTIVE RECEIVED
PULSES RELATIVE TO THE PHASE OF THE COHO DIFFER BY SAY RAD A LIMITATION OF D"
IS IMPOSED ON ) 4HE
RAD CLUTTER VECTOR CHANGE WOULD BE EQUIVALENT TO A TARGET
VECTOR D" WEAKER THAN THE CLUTTER BEING SUPERIMPOSED ON THE CLUTTER AS SHOWN
IN &IGURE
)N THE POWER AMPLIFIER -4) SYSTEM SHOWN IN &IGURE PULSE
TO
PULSE PHASE
CHANGES IN THE TRANSMITTED PULSE CAN BE INTRODUCED BY THE PULSED AMPLIFIER 4HE
MOST COMMON CAUSE OF A POWER AMPLIFIER INTRODUCING PHASE CHANGES IS RIPPLE ON THE
HIGH
VOLTAGE POWER SUPPLY /THER CAUSES OF PHASE INSTABILITY INCLUDE AC VOLTAGE ON A
TRANSMITTER TUBE FILAMENT AND UNEVEN POWER SUPPLY LOADING SUCH AS THAT CAUSED BY
PULSE
TO
PULSE STAGGER
)N THE PULSED OSCILLATOR SYSTEM SHOWN IN &IGURE PULSE
TO
PULSE FREQUENCY
CHANGES RESULT IN PHASE RUN
OUT DURING THE TRANSMITTED PULSE 0HASE RUN
OUT IS THE
CHANGE OF THE TRANSMITTED PULSE PHASE DURING THE PULSE DURATION WITH RESPECT TO THE
PHASE OF THE REFERENCE OSCILLATOR )F THE COHO LOCKED PERFECTLY TO THE END OF THE TRANS
MITTED PULSE A TOTAL PHASE RUN
OUT OF RAD DURING THE TRANSMITTED PULSE WOULD THEN
PLACE AN AVERAGE LIMITATION OF D" ON THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR ATTAINABLE 0ULSE
TO
PULSE FREQUENCY CHANGE IN MICROWAVE OSCILLATORS IS PRIMARILY CAUSED BY HIGH
VOLTAGE
POWER SUPPLY RIPPLE )N THE PULSED OSCILLATOR SYSTEM A PULSE
TO
PULSE PHASE DIFFERENCE
OF RAD IN LOCKING THE COHO RESULTS IN ) LIMITATION OF D" !S NOTED ELSEWHERE
FREQUENCY CHANGE DURING A PULSE FROM A PULSED OSCILLATOR DOES NOT LIMIT ) IF IT REPEATS
PRECISELY PULSE TO PULSE
4HE LIMITATIONS ON THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR THAT ARE DUE TO EQUIPMENT INSTABILITIES IN
THE FORM OF FREQUENCY CHANGES OF THE STALO AND COHO BETWEEN CONSECUTIVE TRANSMITTED
PULSES ARE A FUNCTION OF THE RANGE OF THE CLUTTER 4HESE CHANGES ARE CHARACTERIZED IN
TWO WAYS !LL OSCILLATORS HAVE A NOISE SPECTRUM )N ADDITION CAVITY OSCILLATORS USED
BECAUSE THEY ARE READILY TUNABLE ARE MICROPHONIC AND THUS THEIR FREQUENCY MAY VARY
AT AN AUDIO RATE 4HE LIMITATION ON THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR DUE TO FREQUENCY CHANGES
IS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE NUMBER OF RADIANS THAT THE OSCILLATOR RUNS THROUGH BETWEEN
THE TIME OF TRANSMISSION AND THE TIME OF RECEPTION OF CONSECUTIVE PULSES 4HUS THE
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR WILL BE LIMITED TO D" IF O$F 4 RAD WHERE $ F IS THE
OSCILLATOR FREQUENCY CHANGE BETWEEN TRANSMITTED PULSES AND 4 IS THE TRANSIT TIME OF
THE PULSE TO AND FROM THE TARGET
&)'52% 0HASE INSTABILITY
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% 0OWER AMPLIFIER SIMPLIFIED BLOCK DIAGRAM
4O EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF OSCILLATOR PHASE NOISE ON -4) PERFORMANCE THERE ARE FOUR
STEPS &IRST DETERMINE THE SINGLE
SIDEBAND POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY OF THE PHASE NOISE AS
A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY FROM THE CARRIER 3ECOND INCREASE THIS SPECTRAL DENSITY BY
D" 4HIS ACCOUNTS FOR A
D" INCREASE BECAUSE BOTH SIDEBANDS OF NOISE AFFECT CLUT
TER RESIDUE AND A
D" INCREASE BECAUSE THE OSCILLATOR CONTRIBUTES NOISE DURING BOTH
TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING 4HIRD ADJUST THE OSCILLATOR PHASE NOISE SPECTRAL DENSITY
DETERMINED ABOVE DUE TO THE FOLLOWING THREE EFFECTS A THE SELF
CANCELLATION OF PHASE
NOISE BASED ON CORRELATION RESULTING FROM THE TWO
WAY RANGE DELAY OF THE CLUTTER OF
INTEREST B NOISE REJECTION DUE TO THE FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF THE CLUTTER FILTERS AND
C NOISE REJECTION DUE TO THE FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF THE RECEIVER PASSBAND &INALLY AS
THE FOURTH STEP INTEGRATE THE ADJUSTED SPECTRAL DENSITY OF THE PHASE NOISE ACROSS THE
ENTIRE PASSBAND 4HE RESULT IS THE LIMITATION ON ) DUE TO THE OSCILLATOR NOISE
2ATHER THAN PERFORMING THIS INTEGRATION OF THE RESIDUAL NOISE NUMERICALLY A MUCH
SIMPLER ANALYSIS CAN BE CARRIED OUT IF BOTH THE OSCILLATOR PHASE NOISE CHARACTERISTIC AND
ALL OF THE ADJUSTMENTS TO PHASE NOISE ARE APPROXIMATED BY STRAIGHT LINES ON A DECIBEL
VERSUS
LOG FREQUENCY PLOT 4HIS PROCEDURE BECOMES PARTICULARLY SIMPLE WHEN A -4)
&)2 FILTER USING BINOMIAL COEFFICIENTS IS ASSUMED 4HE LOCATIONS ALONG THE FREQUENCY
AXIS WHERE THE STRAIGHT LINES INTERSECT ARE CALLED BREAK FREQUENCIES 4HIS SIMPLIFIED
PROCEDURE WHICH IS SIMILAR TO THAT PRESENTED IN 6IGNERI ET AL IS DESCRIBED IN THE
FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS
4HE FIRST OF THE THREE ADJUSTMENTSOSCILLATOR NOISE SELF
CANCELLATION DUE TO THE
RANGE OF THE CLUTTER OF INTERESTREDUCES NOISE AT THE LOW FREQUENCIES BY D" PER
DECADE BELOW THE BREAK FREQUENCY OF F 42 P (ERE 42 2 C IS THE TIME
&)'52% 0ULSED OSCILLATOR SIMPLIFIED BLOCK DIAGRAM
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 3TRAIGHT LINE APPROXIMATION TO TWO DELAY BINOMIAL -4)
DELAY OF THE CLUTTER RETURN 2 IS THE CLUTTER RANGE AND C IS THE SPEED OF LIGHT &OR THE
SECOND ADJUSTMENT DUE TO THE FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF THE CLUTTER FILTERS WHICH AS STATED
PREVIOUSLY ARE ASSUMED TO BE &)2 CANCELERS WITH BINOMIAL WEIGHTS IT IS NOTED THAT
THE RESPONSE AT VERY LOW FREQUENCIES FALL OFF AT D" PER DECADE FOR ONE DELAY D"
PER DECADE FOR TWO DELAYS D" PER DECADE FOR THREE DELAYS ETC !S AN EXAMPLE
THE APPROXIMATION USED FOR A TWO DELAY -4) FILTER IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE -4)
RESPONSE HAS A PEAK VALUE OF y D" RESULTING IN AN AVERAGE NOISE GAIN OF
UNITY AND THE STRAIGHT LINE APPROXIMATION FOLLOWS THE LOW FREQUENCY ASYMPTOTE UP TO
THE D" LEVEL WHICH OCCURS AT F 4 AND STAYS CONSTANT AT THE D" LEVEL AT ALL
HIGHER FREQUENCIES 4HE JUSTIFICATION FOR THE D" APPROXIMATION AT THE HIGHER FREQUEN
CIES IS THAT THE OSCILLATOR SPECTRAL DENSITY IS MORE NEARLY CONSTANT AND THE AVERAGE OVER
ONE PERIOD OF THE -4) RESPONSE IS UNITY &OR OTHER BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT -4) CANCELERS
THE BREAK FREQUENCIES FOR THE START OF THE RESPONSE FALLOFF ARE F 4 FOR ONE DELAY
FOR TWO DELAYS FOR THREE DELAYS AND FOR FOUR DELAYS
&OR EXAMPLE CONSIDER AN OSCILLATOR WITH SINGLE SIDEBAND PHASE NOISE SPECTRAL
DENSITY AS SHOWN IN &IGURE !LL OSCILLATOR NOISE CONTRIBUTIONS ARE ASSUMED TO BE
COMBINED INTO THIS ONE CURVE 4HE SINGLE SIDEBAND NOISE IS INCREASED BY D" BECAUSE
BOTH SIDEBANDS AFFECT SYSTEM STABILITY AND THE POWER INTEGRATION IS ONLY CARRIED OUT
FOR POSITIVE FREQUENCIES AND BY AN ADDITIONAL D" BECAUSE THE OSCILLATOR INTRODUCES
NOISE IN BOTH THE UPCONVERSION TO THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL AND IN THE RECEIVER DOWNCON
VERSION PROCESS
&IGURE SHOWS THE SPECTRAL MODIFICATIONS DUE TO THE SYSTEM RESPONSES A 4HE
FIRST MODIFICATION ACCOUNTS FOR CORRELATION DUE TO THE RANGE TO THE CLUTTER OF INTEREST
;ASSUMED CLUTTER RANGE IS y NMI KM THUS THE BREAK FREQUENCY IS (Z=
B 3ECOND A THREE PULSE BINOMIAL WEIGHTED CANCELER IS ASSUMED WITH THE RADAR OPERAT
ING AT A 02& OF (Z 4HUS THE BREAK FREQUENCY IS r (Z C 4HIRD
THE RECEIVER PASSBAND IS ASSUMED TO EXTEND FROM K(Z TO K(Z WITH RESPECT
TO THE )& CENTER FREQUENCY -(: TOTAL PASSBAND AT THE D" POINTS AND DETERMINED
BY A TWO POLE FILTER 4HUS THE RECEIVER PASSBAND RESPONSE FALLS OFF AT D" PER DECADE
FROM THE BREAK FREQUENCY AT K(Z AS SHOWN
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% 3INGLE SIDEBAND PHASE NOISE SPECTRAL DENSITY OF A MICROWAVE OSCILLATOR AND THE EFFECTIVE
NOISE DENSITY
4HE ADJUSTED PHASE
NOISE SPECTRAL DENSITY IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE TOTAL NOISE
POWER WITH RESPECT TO THE CARRIER IS DETERMINED BY INTEGRATION OF THE NOISE POWER UNDER
THE CURVE 4HE EQUATION FOR THE POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY OF ANY ONE SEGMENT AS A FUNC
TION OF FREQUENCY IS
3 F 3
F
F
F a F a F
(ERE F AND F ARE THE START AND END FREQUENCIES OF THE SEGMENT RESPECTIVELY
3 (Zn IS THE PHASE NOISE SPECTRAL DENSITY RELATIVE TO THE CARRIER AT THE BEGINNING OF
THE SEGMENT AND @ IS THE SLOPE OF THE SEGMENT IN LOG
UNITS PER DECADE .OTE THAT THE
&)'52% !DJUSTMENTS BASED ON SYSTEM PARAMETERS SEE TEXT TO THE PHASE NOISE OF A MICROWAVE
OSCILLATOR
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #OMPOSITE ADJUSTMENTS AND ADJUSTED PHASE NOISE SPECTRAL DENSITY
D"C(Z VALUES IN &IGURE CORRESPOND TO LOG 3 &URTHER DENOTING THE PHASE
NOISE SPECTRAL DENSITY RELATIVE TO THE CARRIER AT THE END OF THE SEGMENT AS 3 (Zn THE
SLOPE IS DEFINED BY
A
LOG 3 3
LOG F F
4HE SLOPE IN D"DECADE IS EQUAL TO A 4HE NOISE POWER CONTRIBUTION CORRESPOND
ING TO THIS SEGMENT IS FOUND AS
3
A
A
ALL A w
F A A F
F
0
3 ;LNN F
LN F =
A
FA
4ABLE GIVES THE INTEGRATION FOR THE EXAMPLE 7HEN THE INTEGRATED POWERS FOR ALL
SEGMENTS HAVE BEEN CALCULATED THEY ARE SUMMED AND THEN CONVERTED BACK TO D"C 4HE
FINAL ANSWER
D"C IS THE LIMIT ON ) THAT RESULTS FROM OSCILLATOR NOISE 4HE LIMIT
ON )3#2 D" IS ) D" PLUS TARGET INTEGRATION GAIN D"
4!",% )NTEGRATION OF THE 0HASE
.OISE 3PECTRAL $ENSITY OF &IGURE WITH !DJUSTMENTS OF
&IGURE AS 3HOWN IN &IGURE
3EGMENT F (Z
E
E
E
F (Z
E
E
E
3LOPE 3LOPE
D"DEK
@
3 D"C(Z
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
3 D"C(Z
)NTEGRATED
POWER
)NTEGRATED
POWER D"C
n
n
n
n
n
n
E
E
E
E
E
E
n
n
n
n
n
n
E
n
4OTAL INTEGRATED NOISE POWER
-4) 2!$!2
4IME JITTER OF THE TRANSMITTED PULSES RESULTS IN DEGRADATION OF -4) SYSTEMS 4IME
JITTER RESULTS IN FAILURE OF THE LEADING AND TRAILING EDGES OF THE PULSES TO CANCEL THE
AMPLITUDE OF EACH UNCANCELLED PART BEING $TS WHERE $T IS THE TIME JITTER AND S IS THE
TRANSMITTED PULSE LENGTH 4HE TOTAL RESIDUE POWER IS $TS AND THEREFORE THE LIMITA
TION ON THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR DUE TO TIME JITTER IS ) LOG;T $ T = D" 4HIS
LIMIT ON THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR IS BASED ON A #7 TRANSMITTER PULSE AND ON THE ASSUMP
TION THAT THE RECEIVER BANDWIDTH IS MATCHED TO THE DURATION OF THE TRANSMITTED PULSE )N
A PULSE COMPRESSION SYSTEM THE RECEIVER BANDWIDTH IS WIDER BY THE TIME
BANDWIDTH
"S PRODUCT THUS THE CLUTTER RESIDUE POWER AT EACH END OF THE PULSE INCREASES IN
PROPORTION TO THE "S PRODUCT 4HE LIMIT ON ) FOR A CHIRP PULSE COMPRESSION SYSTEM IS
THEN ) LOG;T $ T " T = &OR PULSE COMPRESSION SYSTEMS EMPLOYING PHASE
CODED WAVEFORMS THE FACTOR IN THE PRECEDING EQUATION SHOULD BE MULTIPLIED BY THE
NUMBER OF SUBPULSES IN THE WAVEFORM 4HUS FOR EXAMPLE THE LIMIT ON ) FOR A
PULSE
"ARKER CODE IS
) LOG ;T r $ T = D"
0ULSE WIDTH JITTER RESULTS IN ONE HALF THE RESIDUE OF TIME JITTER AND
) LOG
T
D"
$07 "T
WHERE $07 IS PULSE
WIDTH JITTER
!MPLITUDE JITTER IN THE TRANSMITTED PULSE ALSO CAUSES A LIMITATION OF
) LOG
!
D"
$!
WHERE ! IS THE PULSE AMPLITUDE AND $! IS THE PULSE
TO
PULSE CHANGE IN AMPLITUDE 4HIS
LIMITATION APPLIES EVEN THOUGH THE SYSTEM USES LIMITING BEFORE THE CANCELER BECAUSE
THERE IS ALWAYS MUCH CLUTTER PRESENT THAT DOES NOT REACH THE LIMIT LEVEL 7ITH MOST
TRANSMITTERS HOWEVER THE AMPLITUDE JITTER IS INSIGNIFICANT AFTER THE FREQUENCY
STABILITY
OR PHASE
STABILITY REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN MET
*ITTER IN THE SAMPLING TIME IN THE !$ CONVERTER ALSO LIMITS -4) PERFORMANCE
)F PULSE COMPRESSION IS DONE PRIOR TO THE !$ OR IF THERE IS NO PULSE COMPRESSION
THIS LIMIT IS
) LOG
T
D"
* "T
WHERE * IS THE TIMING JITTER S IS TRANSMITTED PULSE LENGTH AND "S IS THE TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCT )F PULSE COMPRESSION IS DONE SUBSEQUENT TO THE !$ CONVERTER
THEN THE LIMITATION IS
) LOG
T
D"
*"T
4HE LIMITATIONS ON THE ATTAINABLE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR ARE SUMMARIZED IN
4ABLE 4HIS DISCUSSION HAS ASSUMED THAT THE PEAK
TO
PEAK VALUES OF THESE INSTA
BILITIES OCCUR ON A PULSE
TO
PULSE BASIS WHICH IS OFTEN THE CASE IN PULSE
TO
PULSE
STAGGERED -4) OPERATION )F IT IS KNOWN THAT THE INSTABILITIES ARE RANDOM THE PEAK
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% )NSTABILITY ,IMITATIONS
0ULSE TO 0ULSE )NSTABILITY
,IMIT ON )MPROVEMENT &ACTOR
/SCILLATOR PHASE NOISE
3EE DISCUSSION IN TEXT
4RANSMITTER FREQUENCY
) LOG ;O $F S =
3TALO OR COHO FREQUENCY
) LOG ;O $F 4 =
4RANSMITTER PHASE SHIFT
) LOG $E
#OHO LOCKING
) LOG $E
0ULSE TIMING
) LOG ;T $T "T =
0ULSE WIDTH
) LOG ;T $07 "T =
0ULSE AMPLITUDE
) LOG !$!
!$ JITTER
) LOG ;T * "T =
!$ JITTER WITH PULSE COMPRESSION FOLLOWING !$
) LOG ;T *"T =
WHERE $F
INTERPULSE FREQUENCY CHANGE
S
TRANSMITTED PULSE LENGTH
4
TRANSMISSION TIME TO AND FROM TARGET
$E INTERPULSE PHASE CHANGE
$T
TIME JITTER
*
!$ SAMPLING TIME JITTER
"S
TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCT OF PULSE COMPRESSION
SYSTEM "S UNITY FOR #7 PULSES
$07 PULSE
WIDTH JITTER
!
PULSE AMPLITUDE 6
$! INTERPULSE AMPLITUDE CHANGE
VALUES SHOWN IN THESE EQUATIONS CAN BE REPLACED BY THE RMS PULSE
TO
PULSE VALUES
WHICH GIVES RESULTS ESSENTIALLY IDENTICAL TO 3TEINBERGS RESULTS
)F THE INSTABILITIES OCCUR AT SOME KNOWN FREQUENCY EG HIGH
VOLTAGE POWER SUP
PLY RIPPLE THE RELATIVE EFFECT OF THE INSTABILITY CAN BE DETERMINED BY LOCATING THE
RESPONSE ON THE VELOCITY RESPONSE CURVE FOR THE -4) SYSTEM FOR A TARGET AT AN EQUIVA
LENT DOPPLER FREQUENCY )F FOR INSTANCE THE RESPONSE IS D" DOWN FROM THE MAXIMUM
RESPONSE THE LIMITATION ON ) IS ABOUT D" LESS SEVERE THAN INDICATED IN THE EQUATIONS
IN 4ABLE )F ALL SOURCES OF INSTABILITY ARE INDEPENDENT AS WOULD USUALLY BE THE
CASE THEIR INDIVIDUAL POWER RESIDUES CAN BE ADDED TO DETERMINE THE TOTAL LIMITATION
ON -4) PERFORMANCE
)NTRAPULSE FREQUENCY OR PHASE VARIATIONS DO NOT INTERFERE WITH GOOD -4) OPERATION
PROVIDED THEY REPEAT PRECISELY FROM PULSE TO PULSE 4HE ONLY CONCERN IS A LOSS OF SEN
SITIVITY IF PHASE RUN
OUT DURING THE TRANSMITTED PULSE OR MISTUNING OF THE COHO OR STALO
PERMITS THE RECEIVED PULSES TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY DETUNED FROM THE INTENDED )& FREQUENCY
)F A
RAD PHASE RUN
OUT DURING THE PULSE IS PERMITTED THE SYSTEM DETUNING MAY BE AS
LARGE AS OS (Z WITH NO DEGRADATION OF -4) PERFORMANCE
4O GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF INTERPULSE STABILITY REQUIREMENTS CONSIDER A
-(Z
RADAR TRANSMITTING A #7 PULSE OF DURATION S MS AND THE REQUIREMENT THAT NO
SINGLE SYSTEM INSTABILITY WILL LIMIT THE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR ATTAINABLE AT A RANGE
OF NMI TO LESS THAN D" A VOLTAGE RATIO OF 4HE RMS PULSE
TO
PULSE
TRANSMITTER FREQUENCY CHANGE IF A PULSED OSCILLATOR MUST BE LESS THAN
$F
(Z
PT
WHICH IS A STABILITY OF ABOUT PARTS IN
-4) 2!$!2
4HE RMS PULSE TO PULSE TRANSMITTER PHASE SHIFT CHANGE IF A POWER AMPLIFIER MUST
BE LESS THAN
$F
RAD
4HE STALO OR COHO FREQUENCY CHANGE IN THE INTERPULSE PERIOD MUST BE LESS THAN
$F
(Z
P r r
WHICH IS A STABILITY OF PART IN FOR THE STALO AT ABOUT '(Z AND PART IN FOR
THE COHO ASSUMING A
-(Z )& FREQUENCY
4HE COHO LOCKING IF A PULSED OSCILLATOR SYSTEM MUST BE WITHIN
$F
RAD
4HE PULSE TIMING JITTER MUST BE LESS THAN
$T
T
r
r
S
4HE PULSE
WIDTH JITTER MUST BE LESS THAN
$07
r
T
r
S
4HE PULSE AMPLITUDE CHANGE MUST BE LESS THAN
$!
PERCENT
!
4HE !$ SAMPLING TIME JITTER MUST BE LESS THAN
*
r
T
r
S
/F THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS OSCILLATOR PHASE NOISE MAY DOMINATE (OWEVER IN
SYSTEMS WITH LARGE BANDWIDTHS SHORT COMPRESSED PULSES THE TIMING JITTER REQUIRE
MENTS BECOME SIGNIFICANT AND MAY REQUIRE SPECIAL CLOCK REGENERATION CIRCUITRY AT KEY
SYSTEM LOCATIONS
%FFECT OF 1UANTIZATION .OISE ON )MPROVEMENT &ACTOR 1UANTIZATION NOISE
INTRODUCED IN THE !$ CONVERTER LIMITS THE ATTAINABLE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR
#ONSIDER A CONVENTIONAL VIDEO -4) SYSTEM AS SHOWN IN &IGURE "ECAUSE THE
PEAK SIGNAL LEVEL IS CONTROLLED BY THE LINEAR
LIMITING AMPLIFIER THE PEAK EXCURSION OF
THE PHASE
DETECTOR OUTPUT IS KNOWN AND THE !$ CONVERTER IS DESIGNED TO COVER THIS
EXCURSION )F THE !$ CONVERTER USES . BITS AND THE PHASE
DETECTOR OUTPUT IS FROM
TO
THE QUANTIZATION INTERVAL IS .
4HE RMS VALUE OF THE SIGNAL
LEVEL DEVIATION
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% $IGITAL -4) CONSIDERATION
INTRODUCED BY THE !$ CONVERTER IS ; . = 4HE LIMIT ON THE -4) IMPROVE
MENT FACTOR THAT THIS IMPOSES ON A SIGNAL REACHING THE FULL EXCURSION OF THE PHASE DETEC
TOR IS FOUND BY SUBSTITUTING IN THE FOLLOWING EQUATION FROM 4ABLE
) LOG
!
LOG .
LOG ; .
=
$!
;
=
"ECAUSE TWO QUADRATURE CHANNELS CONTRIBUTE INDEPENDENT !$ NOISE THE AVERAGE
LIMIT ON THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR OF A FULL
RANGE SIGNAL IS
) LOG .
LOG ; .
=
)F THE SIGNAL DOES NOT REACH THE FULL EXCURSION OF THE !$ CONVERTER WHICH IS NORMALLY
THE CASE THEN THE QUANTIZATION LIMIT ON ) IS PROPORTIONATELY MORE SEVERE &OR EXAMPLE
IF THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED SO THAT THE MEAN LEVEL OF THE STRONGEST CLUTTER OF INTEREST IS
D" BELOW THE !$ CONVERTER PEAK THE LIMIT ON ) WOULD BE LOG ; .
=
4HIS IS TABULATED IN 4ABLE
4HIS DISCUSSION OF !$ QUANTIZATION NOISE HAS ASSUMED PERFECT !$ CONVERTERS
-ANY !$ CONVERTERS PARTICULARLY UNDER HIGH
SLEW
RATE CONDITIONS ARE LESS THAN PER
FECT 4HIS IN TURN LEADS TO SYSTEM LIMITATIONS MORE SEVERE THAN PREDICTED HERE SEE
3ECTION
4!",% 4YPICAL ,IMITATION ON ) $UE TO !$ 1UANTIZATION
.UMBER OF "ITS .
,IMIT ON -4) )MPROVEMENT &ACTOR ) D"
-4) 2!$!2
0ULSE #OMPRESSION #ONSIDERATIONSo 7HEN AN -4) SYSTEM IS USED WITH PULSE
COMPRESSION THE SYSTEM TARGET DETECTION CAPABILITY IN CLUTTER MAY BE AS GOOD AS A
SYSTEM TRANSMITTING THE EQUIVALENT SHORT PULSE OR THE PERFORMANCE MAY BE NO BETTER
THAN A SYSTEM TRANSMITTING THE SAME LENGTH #7 PULSE 4HE KIND OF CLUTTER ENVIRONMENT
THE SYSTEM INSTABILITIES AND THE SIGNAL PROCESSING UTILIZED DETERMINE WHERE THE SYSTEM
PERFORMANCE WILL FALL BETWEEN THE ABOVE TWO EXTREMES 5NLESS PROVISION IS INCORPO
RATED FOR COPING WITH SYSTEM INSTABILITIES AND CLUTTER SPECTRAL SPREAD THE -4) PULSE
COMPRESSION SYSTEM MAY FAIL TO WORK AT ALL IN A CLUTTER ENVIRONMENT
)DEALLY A PULSE COMPRESSION RECEIVER COUPLED WITH AN -4) WOULD APPEAR AS IN
&IGURE Ap )F THE PULSE COMPRESSION SYSTEM WAS PERFECT THE COMPRESSED PULSE
WOULD LOOK AS IF THE RADAR HAD TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED A SHORT PULSE AND -4) PRO
CESSING COULD PROCEED AS IF THE PULSE COMPRESSION HAD NOT EXISTED )N PRACTICE THE
COMPRESSED PULSE WILL HAVE TIME SIDELOBES FROM THREE BASIC CAUSES 4HE FIRST IS WAVE
FORM AND SYSTEM DESIGN WHICH INCLUDES COMPONENTS THAT MAY BE NONLINEAR WITH
FREQUENCY ETC 4HESE SIDELOBES WILL BE STABLE 4HAT IS THEY SHOULD REPEAT PRECISELY ON
A PULSE
TO
PULSE BASIS AND THUS WILL CANCEL IN THE -4) CANCELER )T IS ASSUMED THAT THE
RADAR SYSTEM IS FULLY COHERENT AS REQUIRED BY RULE IN 3ECTION 4HE SECOND CAUSE
OF PULSE COMPRESSION SIDELOBES IS SYSTEM INSTABILITIES SUCH AS NOISE ON LOCAL OSCIL
LATORS TRANSMITTER TIME JITTER TRANSMITTER TUBE NOISE AND !$ CONVERTER JITTER 4HESE
SIDELOBES ARE NOISE
LIKE AND ARE PROPORTIONAL TO THE CLUTTER AMPLITUDE 4HEY WILL NOT
CANCEL IN THE -4) CANCELER 4HE THIRD SOURCE OF SIDELOBES IS HIGH
FREQUENCY RIPPLE IN
THE TRANSMITTER POWER SUPPLY
)F THE TRANSMITTER POWER SUPPLY INCORPORATES HIGH
FREQUENCY AC
DC ANDOR DC
DC
CONVERTERS AND IF THE CONVERTER FREQUENCY COMPONENTS ARE NOT SUFFICIENTLY FILTERED
THERE WILL BE DISCRETE TIME SIDELOBES OFFSET FROM THE CLUTTER IN RANGE AS PREDICTED BY
PAIRED
ECHO THEORY 4HE PAIRED
ECHO SIDELOBES WILL ALSO HAVE A DOPPLER FREQUENCY
EQUAL TO THE CONVERTER FREQUENCY 4HIS FREQUENCY FCONV WILL ALIAS INTO THE 02& FR
DOPPLER INTERVAL AT THE FREQUENCY FDOP ; FDOP MODULO FCONV FR = 4HESE SIDELOBES WILL
NOT CANCEL UNLESS THE HIGH
FREQUENCY CONVERTERS ARE SYNCHRONIZED TO A MULTIPLE OF THE
02& IN WHICH CASE FDOP
!SSUME THAT THE NOISE
LIKE COMPONENT OF THE SIDELOBES IS DOWN D" FROM THE
PEAK TRANSMITTED SIGNALS 4HIS NOISE
LIKE COMPONENT WILL NOT CANCEL IN THE -4) SYS
TEM AND THEREFORE FOR EACH CLUTTER AREA THAT EXCEEDS THE SYSTEM THRESHOLD BY D"
OR MORE THE RESIDUE WILL EXCEED THE DETECTION THRESHOLD )F THE CLUTTER EXCEEDS THE
THRESHOLD BY D" THE RESIDUE FROM THE -4) SYSTEM WILL EXCEED THE DETECTION
THRESHOLD BY D" ELIMINATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE -4) &IGURE B SHOWS A
SKETCH OF THIS EFFECT
4O ENSURE THAT THE NOISE
LIKE PULSE
COMPRESSION SIDELOBES WILL NOT EXCEED THE SYSTEM
NOISE AFTER THE -4) CANCELER THE SYSTEM STABILITY BUDGET MUST ENSURE THAT THE INSTABILITY
SIDELOBE LEVEL IS LOWER THAN THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE RECEIVING SYSTEM 4HE RECEIVING
SYSTEM DYNAMIC RANGE IS ULTIMATELY DETERMINED IN A WELL
DESIGNED SYSTEM BY THE )&
o !LL SIGNAL PROCESSING FOLLOWING THE !$ DETECTOR IS DONE DIGITALLY )T IS MORE MEANINGFUL HOWEVER TO DESCRIBE AND
DEPICT THE PROCESSING IN AN ANALOG MANNER
p 4HE )& BANDPASS LIMITER ;2ADAR (ANDBOOK ND %D PP n= SHOWN IN THIS AND SUBSEQUENT DIAGRAMS HAS AN
AMPLITUDE OUTPUT CHARACTERISTIC THAT IS LINEAR FOR INPUT SIGNAL VOLTAGES FROM NOISE LEVEL TO WITHIN D" OF THE LIMITER
OUTPUT MAXIMUM VOLTAGE AND THEN TRANSITIONS SMOOTHLY TO THE MAXIMUM OUTPUT VOLTAGE 4HE PHASE OF THE INPUT
SIGNAL IS PRECISELY PRESERVED 4HESE LIMITER CHARACTERISTICS EXIST WHETHER THE FILTER IS IMPLEMENTED IN ANALOG CIRCUITRY
OR A DIGITAL ALGORITHM
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0ULSE COMPRESSION WITH -4) A IDEAL BUT DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE COMBINATION
AND B EFFECT OF OSCILLATOR ON TRANSMITTER INSTABILITIES
BANDPASS LIMITER THAT PRECEDES THE !$ CONVERTER )F SYSTEM INSTABILITIES CANNOT BE CON
TROLLED TO BE LESS THAN THE SYSTEM DYNAMIC RANGE THEN THE SYSTEM DYNAMIC RANGE SHOULD
BE DECREASED !N ALTERNATIVE TO DECREASING THE DYNAMIC RANGE IS TO DEPEND ON A CELL
AVERAGING CONSTANT FALSE ALARM RATE #!
#&!2 PROCESSOR AFTER THE SIGNAL PROCESSING
TO PROVIDE A THRESHOLD THAT RIDES OVER THE RESIDUE NOISE BUT THE EFFICACY OF THIS METHOD
DEPENDS ON THE RESIDUE NOISE BEING COMPLETELY NOISE
LIKE WHICH IS UNLIKELY
!FTER ADDRESSING THE UNSTABLE PULSE
COMPRESSION SIDELOBES IT IS STILL NECESSARY TO
CONTROL DETECTIONS FROM RESIDUE CAUSED BY THE SPECTRAL SPREAD OF THE CLUTTER OR BY LOW
FREQUENCY TRANSMITTER POWER SUPPLY RIPPLE 4HIS CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY LIMITING THE
MAXIMUM SIGNAL AMPLITUDE AT THE INPUT TO THE CANCELER 4HE PROCESS DESCRIBED ABOVE
IS DEPICTED IN &IGURE
/NE APPROACH THAT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN ACHIEVING THE MAXIMUM -4) SYSTEM
PERFORMANCE ATTAINABLE WITHIN THE LIMITS IMPOSED BY SYSTEM AND CLUTTER INSTABILITIES
&)'52% 0RACTICAL -4) PULSE COMPRESSION COMBINATION
-4) 2!$!2
IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4RANSMITTER NOISE WILL BE USED IN THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION
TO REPRESENT ALL POSSIBLE SYSTEM INSTABILITIES THAT CREATE NOISE
LIKE PULSE
COMPRESSION
TIME SIDELOBES
,IMITER IS SET TO LIMIT THE SYSTEM DYNAMIC RANGE TO THE RANGE BETWEEN PEAK CLUTTER
AND CLUTTER INSTABILITY NOISE ,IMITER IS SET SO THAT THE DYNAMIC RANGE AT ITS OUTPUT IS
EQUAL TO THE EXPECTED -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR AS LIMITED BY CLUTTER SPECTRAL SPREAD
OR LOW
FREQUENCY TRANSMITTER POWER SUPPLY RIPPLE 4HESE LIMITER SETTINGS CAUSE THE
RESIDUE DUE TO TRANSMITTER NOISE AND THE RESIDUE DUE TO OTHER INSTABILITIES SUCH AS QUAN
TIZATION NOISE AND INTERNAL
CLUTTER MOTION EACH TO BE EQUAL TO FRONT
END THERMAL NOISE
AT THE CANCELER OUTPUT 4HIS ALLOWS MAXIMUM SENSITIVITY WITHOUT AN EXCESSIVE FALSE
ALARM RATE ,IMITER IS A VERY EFFICIENT CONSTANT
FALSE
ALARM
RATE DEVICE AGAINST SYSTEM
INSTABILITIES BECAUSE IT SUPPRESSES THE INSTABILITY NOISE IN DIRECT PROPORTION TO THE CLUTTER
SIGNAL STRENGTH BUT DOES NOT SUPPRESS AT ANY TIME WHEN THE CLUTTER SIGNAL IS NOT STRONG
!LTHOUGH THE LIMITERS CAUSE PARTIAL OR COMPLETE SUPPRESSION OF SOME DESIRED TARGETS IN
THE CLUTTER AREAS NO TARGETS ARE SUPPRESSED THAT COULD OTHERWISE HAVE BEEN DETECTED IN
THE PRESENCE OF CLUTTER RESIDUE AT THE SYSTEM OUTPUT IF THE LIMITERS HAD NOT BEEN USED
!S A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE CONSIDER A SYSTEM WITH A PULSE
COMPRESSION RATIO OF ABOUT
D" AND SYSTEM INSTABILITY NOISE APPROXIMATELY D" BELOW THE CARRIER POWER
!SSUME THAT THE -4) CANCELER IMPROVEMENT FACTOR IS D" LIMITED BY CLUTTER SPEC
TRAL SPREAD 7ITH THE ABOVE SYSTEM PARAMETERS A RECEIVER SYSTEM THAT WILL PROVIDE
THE MAXIMUM OBTAINABLE PERFORMANCE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE !T THE OUTPUT OF THE
PULSE
COMPRESSION NETWORK THE SYSTEM INSTABILITY NOISE WILL BE EQUAL TO OR LESS THAN
THERMAL NOISE FOR EITHER DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER OR POINT CLUTTER AND THE PEAK CLUTTER SIGNALS
WILL VARY FROM ABOUT D" ABOVE THERMAL NOISE FOR EVENLY DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER TO D"
ABOVE THERMAL NOISE FOR STRONG POINT CLUTTER
"ECAUSE THE -4) CANCELER IS EXPECTED TO ATTENUATE CLUTTER BY D" THE SECOND LIM
ITER IS PROVIDED TO PREVENT THE RESIDUE FROM STRONG CLUTTER FROM EXCEEDING THE THRESHOLD
7ITHOUT THE SECOND LIMITER A STRONG
POINT REFLECTOR THAT WAS D" ABOVE NOISE AT THE
CANCELER INPUT WOULD HAVE A RESIDUE D" ABOVE NOISE AT THE CANCELER OUTPUT 4HIS
WOULD BE INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM AN AIRCRAFT TARGET
)T THE TRANSMITTER NOISE WERE D" LESS THAN ASSUMED ABOVE THE FIRST LIMITER WOULD
BE SET D" ABOVE THERMAL NOISE AND MUCH LESS TARGET SUPPRESSION WOULD OCCUR 4HUS
TARGET DETECTABILITY WOULD IMPROVE IN AND NEAR THE STRONG CLUTTER AREAS EVEN THOUGH THE
-4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR WAS STILL LIMITED TO D" BY INTERNAL
CLUTTER MOTION
)N SUMMARY THE NOISE
LIKE PULSE COMPRESSION SIDELOBES AND THE DURATION OF THE
UNCOMPRESSED PULSE DICTATE HOW EFFECTIVE A PULSE
COMPRESSION -4) SYSTEM CAN BE
3YSTEMS HAVE BEEN BUILT IN WHICH TRANSMITTER NOISE AND LONG UNCOMPRESSED PULSES
COMBINED TO MAKE THE SYSTEMS INCAPABLE OF DETECTING AIRCRAFT TARGETS IN OR NEAR LAND
CLUTTER 3OME EXISTING PULSE
COMPRESSION SYSTEMS HAVE NOT DELIBERATELY PROVIDED THE
&)'52% -4) WITH PULSE COMPRESSION
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
TWO SEPARATE LIMITERS DESCRIBED ABOVE BUT THE SYSTEMS WORK BECAUSE DYNAMIC RANGE IS
SUFFICIENTLY RESTRICTED BY CIRCUIT COMPONENTS /THER SYSTEMS SUCH AS THOSE THAT DELIB
ERATELY HARD
LIMIT BEFORE PULSE COMPRESSION FOR #&!2 REASONS DO NOT HAVE CLUTTER
RESIDUE PROBLEMS BUT SUFFER FROM SIGNIFICANT TARGET SUPPRESSION IN THE CLUTTER AREAS
!N ALTERNATIVE TO THE USE OF LIMITERS IS THE USE OF CLUTTER MAPS IN CONJUNCTION
WITH THE #!
#&!2 #LUTTER MAPS WORK WELL FOR STATIONARY RADARS OPERATING AT FIXED
FREQUENCIES BUT ARE LESS EFFECTIVE FOR OTHER RADARS 4HE #!
#&!2 IS USEFUL EVEN
FOR A SYSTEM WITH )& LIMITERS BECAUSE THERE WILL BE SMALL VARIATIONS ON THE ORDER OF
A FEW D" IN THE COMBINATION OF CLUTTER RESIDUE AND SYSTEM NOISE 4O REEMPHASIZE
HOWEVER WITHOUT THE LIMITERS THERE MAY BE TENS OF D"S DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CLUTTER
RESIDUE AND SYSTEM NOISE
9
,
" 6
,-"
" -
,/" 4HE ACCURATE CONVERSION OF THE RADAR )& SIGNAL INTO A DIGITAL REPRESENTATION OF THE
COMPLEX ENVELOPE IS AN IMPORTANT STEP IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A MODERN DIGITAL SIG
NAL PROCESSOR 4HIS ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL !$ CONVERSION MUST PRESERVE THE LINEARITY OF
AMPLITUDE AND PHASE OVER THE REQUIRED DYNAMIC RANGE HAVE A SMALL EFFECT ON OVERALL
RADAR SYSTEM NOISE TEMPERATURE AND BE FREE FROM UNDESIRED SPURIOUS RESPONSES
!DVANCES IN !$ CONVERTER TECHNOLOGY IS NOW MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO DIRECTLY CON
VERT AN ANALOG )& SIGNAL INTO A CORRESPONDING DIGITAL COMPLEX REPRESENTATION RATHER
THAN GOING THROUGH THE INTERMEDIATE STEP OF FIRST DOWNCONVERTING THE )& SIGNAL INTO
BASEBAND IN
PHASE ) AND QUADRATURE 1 COMPONENTS AND SUBSEQUENTLY USING A SEPA
RATE !$ CONVERTER IN EACH OF THESE TWO CHANNELS
! FLOW CHART OF A DIRECT )& !$ CONVERTER IS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE ALONG WITH
SPECTRAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE SIGNAL THROUGHOUT THE CONVERSION PROCESS 4HE )& INPUT
CENTERED AT THE FREQUENCY F)& IS FIRST PASSED THROUGH A BANDPASS FILTER TO ENSURE THAT
NEGLIGIBLE ALIASING WILL OCCUR DURING THE SUBSEQUENT !$ CONVERSION PROCESS /N THE
RIGHT IN &IGURE THE TOP GRAPH SHOWS THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE PARTS OF THE SIGNAL
SPECTRUM AT THE )& FILTER OUTPUT 4HE POSITIVE PART OF THIS SPECTRUM CORRESPONDS TO THE
COMPLEX ENVELOPE WHICH NEEDS TO BE TRANSLATED INTO THE DIGITAL ) AND 1 REPRESENTATION
4HIS FILTER OUTPUT BECOMES THE INPUT TO THE !$ CONVERTER OPERATING AT A SAMPLING RATE
OF F!$ 4HE SPECTRUM OF THE !$ CONVERTER OUTPUT IS AGAIN SHOWN AND IT IS OBTAINED
SIMPLY BY REPLICATING THE ORIGINAL )& SPECTRUM FROM MINUS INFINITY TO PLUS INFINITY WITH
A PERIOD OF F!$ )N THIS EXAMPLE AN !$ CONVERSION RATE OF F!$ F)& IS ASSUMED 4HE
OPTIMUM CHOICE OF THE !$ CONVERTER SAMPLING RATE ENSURES THAT THE NEGATIVE PART OF
THE SPECTRUM HAS THE SMALLEST POSSIBLE OVERLAP WITH THE POSITIVE PART OF THE SPECTRUM
4HE SMALLEST POSSIBLE OVERLAP OCCURS WHEN THE !$ SAMPLING RATE IS RELATED TO THE
RADAR )& FREQUENCY AS FOLLOWS
F!$
F)&
-
WHERE - IS AN INTEGER GREATER THAN 4HUS OPTIMUM SAMPLING RATES ARE F)& F)&
F)& F)& x ETC 4HE CORRESPONDING MAXIMUM UNALIASED OR .YQUIST BANDWIDTH
IS ".1 F!$ 4HIS VALUE IS THEREFORE THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE CUTOFF BANDWIDTH OF
THE )& BANDPASS FILTER AT THE INPUT TO THE !$ CONVERTER )T IS NOT STRICTLY NECESSARY TO USE
-4) 2!$!2
0
0
0
"
#$+ )
#) +
%($#&!
( +),%
"# + (
+' )'
!+#-
( +),%
,(() **
/
#%+
/
'%($ .&- $'(
%($
&)'52% )MPLEMENTATION OF !$ CONVERSION USING DIRECT SAMPLING OF THE )& SIGNAL
AN !$ CONVERTER SAMPLING RATE AS GIVEN BY %Q BUT OTHER VALUES WILL RESULT IN AN
AVAILABLE .YQUIST BANDWIDTH LESS THAN F!$ 4HIS IS SHOWN IN &IGURE WHERE
THE NORMALIZED .YQUIST BANDWIDTH IS SHOWN AS A FUNCTION OF THE RELATIVE !$ CONVERTER
SAMPLING RATE &ROM THIS FIGURE IT IS SEEN THAT THE DIRECT CONVERSION APPROACH WILL FAIL
WHENEVER A VALUE OF - WHICH IS LOCATED HALFWAY BETWEEN THE OPTIMUM VALUES IS USED
!T THE !$ CONVERTER OUTPUT THE SIGNAL SAMPLES ARE STILL REAL VALUED 4O BE ABLE
TO EXTRACT THE COMPLEX ENVELOPE CORRESPONDING TO THE POSITIVE PART OF THE SPECTRUM
! F
F)& IT IS NECESSARY TO SHIFT THE SPECTRUM AT THE !$ CONVERTER OUTPUT
DOWN IN FREQUENCY BY PTHE AMOUNT F)& 4HIS CORRESPONDS TO A MULTIPLICATION BY THE
TIME SERIES UI E
JI %QUIVALENTLY THE COMPLEX ENVELOPE SPECTRUM BELOW ZERO
FREQUENCY CAN BE SHIFTED UP TO ZERO FREQUENCY BY MULTIPLICATION WITH THE TIME SERIES
P
UI E JI 4HIS RESULTS IN THE SPECTRUM SHOWN WHERE THE DESIRED SPECTRUM CORRE
SPONDING TO THE COMPLEX ENVELOPE IS CENTERED AT ZERO FREQUENCY BUT THE SIGNAL STILL
CONTAINS THE UNWANTED NEGATIVE SPECTRAL COMPONENTS LIGHT SHADING !S A RESULT OF
THIS FREQUENCY TRANSLATION THE SIGNAL HAS NOW BECOME COMPLEX ! DIGITAL &)2 BAND
PASS FILTER WITH A NEARLY RECTANGULAR RESPONSE IS THEN APPLIED TO REJECT THE NEGATIVE
FREQUENCY COMPONENTS AS SHOWN IN THE FINAL GRAPH ON THE RIGHT 4HE DESIRED SAMPLED
COMPLEX ENVELOPE REPRESENTATION HAS NOW BEEN REALIZED BUT AT THE ORIGINAL SAMPLING
RATE OF F!$ )F DESIRED THE OVERSAMPLING CAN FINALLY BE REMOVED THROUGH DECIMATION
BY A FACTOR OF AS SHOWN IN THE LAST STEP IN THE FIGURE
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
"$& #!" %"'
"$ ! "'
&)'52% !VAILABLE .YQUIST BANDWIDTH VS !$ CONVERTER SAMPLING RATE
!$ CONVERTERS ARE TYPICALLY CHARACTERIZED BY THEIR SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO 3.2
PERFORMANCE REFERRED TO A BANDWIDTH EQUAL TO THE !$ SAMPLING RATE /FTEN THIS 3.2
IS NOT AS HIGH AS ONE WOULD EXPECT BASED ON THE NUMBER OF BITS USED BY THE !$
CONVERTER 3OMETIMES THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE OF AN !$ CONVERTER IS CHARACTERIZED BY
AN EFFECTIVE NUMBER OF BITS SMALLER THAN THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF BITS AND CORRESPOND
ING TO THE ACHIEVABLE 3.2 4HE 3.2 OF AN !$ CONVERTER SETS AN UPPER LIMIT ON THE
ACHIEVABLE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR
{ */6
/
7HEN THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY OF THE RETURNS FROM CLUTTER IS UNKNOWN AT THE RADAR INPUT
SPECIAL TECHNIQUES ARE REQUIRED TO GUARANTEE SATISFACTORY CLUTTER SUPPRESSION !S DIS
CUSSED IN 3ECTION THE DOPPLER FILTER BANK WILL USUALLY BE EFFECTIVE AGAINST MOVING
CLUTTER 4HIS REQUIRES THAT THE INDIVIDUAL FILTERS BE DESIGNED WITH A LOW SIDELOBE LEVEL
IN THE REGIONS WHERE CLUTTER MAY APPEAR AND THAT EACH FILTER BE FOLLOWED BY APPROPRI
ATE #&!2 PROCESSING CIRCUITS TO REJECT UNWANTED CLUTTER RESIDUE 7HEN CLUTTER SUP
PRESSION IS TO BE IMPLEMENTED WITH A SINGLE -4) FILTER IT IS NECESSARY TO USE ADAPTIVE
TECHNIQUES TO ENSURE THAT THE CLUTTER FALLS IN THE -4) REJECTION NOTCH !N EXAMPLE OF
SUCH AN ADAPTIVE -4) IS 4!##!2 ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED FOR AIRBORNE RADARS )N MANY
APPLICATIONS THE ADAPTIVE -4) WILL FURTHER HAVE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE SITUATION
WHERE MULTIPLE CLUTTER SOURCES WITH DIFFERENT RADIAL VELOCITIES ARE PRESENT AT THE SAME
RANGE AND BEARING
5SUALLY THE DOPPLER SHIFT OF CLUTTER RETURNS IS CAUSED BY THE WIND FIELD AND EARLY
ATTEMPTS OF COMPENSATING IN THE -4) HAVE VARIED THE COHO FREQUENCY SINUSOIDALLY AS A
FUNCTION OF AZIMUTH BASED ON THE AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION 4HIS APPROACH IS
-4) 2!$!2
UNSATISFACTORY BECAUSE THE WIND FIELD RARELY IS HOMOGENEOUS OVER A LARGE GEOGRAPHICAL
AREA AND BECAUSE THE WIND VELOCITY USUALLY IS A FUNCTION OF ALTITUDE DUE TO WIND SHEAR
IMPORTANT FOR RAIN CLUTTER AND CHAFF !GAINST A SINGLE CLUTTER SOURCE AN IMPLEMENTA
TION IS REQUIRED THAT PERMITS THE -4) CLUTTER NOTCH TO BE SHIFTED AS A FUNCTION OF RANGE
!N EXAMPLE OF SUCH AN ADAPTIVE -4) IMPLEMENTATION IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE
PHASE
ERROR CIRCUIT COMPARES THE CLUTTER RETURN FROM ONE SWEEP TO THE NEXT 4HROUGH
A CLOSED LOOP WHICH INCLUDES A SMOOTHING TIME CONSTANT THE ERROR SIGNAL CONTROLS
A PHASE SHIFTER AT THE COHO OUTPUT SUCH THAT THE DOPPLER SHIFT FROM PULSE TO PULSE IS
REMOVED )T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT SINCE THE FIRST SWEEP ENTERING THE -4) IS TAKEN AS A
REFERENCE ANY PHASE SHIFT RUN
OUT AS A FUNCTION OF RANGE WILL INCREASE PROPORTIONALLY
TO THE NUMBER OF SWEEPS 5LTIMATELY THIS RUN
OUT WILL EXCEED THE SPEED OF RESPONSE
OF THE CLOSED LOOP AND THE -4) MUST BE RESET 4HIS TYPE OF CLOSED
LOOP ADAPTIVE -4)
MUST THEREFORE BE OPERATED FOR A FINITE SET BATCH OF PULSES TO ENSURE THAT THIS WILL NOT
HAPPEN 3UCH BATCH
MODE OPERATION IS ALSO REQUIRED IF A COMBINATION OF -4) OPERATION
AND FREQUENCY AGILITY IS DESIRED
)F A BIMODAL CLUTTER SITUATION IS CAUSED BY THE SIMULTANEOUS PRESENCE OF RETURNS FROM
LAND CLUTTER AND WEATHER OR CHAFF AN ADAPTIVE -4) CAN BE IMPLEMENTED FOLLOWING A
FIXED
CLUTTER
NOTCH -4) SECTION AS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE 4HE NUMBER OF ZEROS
USED IN THE FIXED
ZERO DOPPLER CLUTTER
NOTCH SECTION OF THE -4) IS DETERMINED BY THE
REQUIRED IMPROVEMENT FACTOR AND THE SPECTRAL SPREAD OF THE LAND CLUTTER 4YPICALLY THE
FIXED
NOTCH -4) WOULD USE TWO OR THREE ZEROS &OR THE ADAPTIVE PORTION OF THE -4)
A FULLY DIGITAL IMPLEMENTATION IS SHOWN IN WHICH THE PULSE
TO
PULSE PHASE SHIFT OF THE
CLUTTER OUTPUT FROM THE FIRST CANCELER IS MEASURED AND AVERAGED OVER A GIVEN NUMBER OF
RANGE CELLS 4HIS ESTIMATED PHASE SHIFT IS ADDED TO THE PHASE SHIFT WHICH IS APPLIED TO THE
DATA ON THE PREVIOUS SWEEP AND THIS NEW PHASE SHIFT IS APPLIED TO THE CURRENT DATA
4HE RANGE AVERAGING MUST BE PERFORMED SEPARATELY ON THE ) AND 1 COMPONENTS OF
THE MEASURED PHASE IN EACH RANGE CELL DUE TO THE O AMBIGUITY OF THE PHASE REPRESENTA
TION ITSELF 4HE ACCUMULATION OF THE APPLIED PHASE SHIFT FROM SWEEP TO SWEEP HOWEVER
MUST BE PERFORMED DIRECTLY ON THE PHASE AND IS COMPUTED MODULO O 4HE NUMBER OF
ZEROS OF THE ADAPTIVE -4) SECTION IS AGAIN DETERMINED BY THE REQUIRED IMPROVEMENT
FACTOR AND THE EXPECTED SPECTRAL SPREAD OF THE CLUTTER 4HE PHASE SHIFT IS APPLIED TO THE
INPUT DATA IN THE FORM OF A COMPLEX MULTIPLY WHICH AGAIN REQUIRES THE TRANSFORMATION
OF THE PHASE ANGLE INTO RECTANGULAR COORDINATES 4HIS TRANSFORMATION CAN EASILY BE
PERFORMED BY A TABLE LOOKUP OPERATION IN A READ
ONLY MEMORY
&)'52% "LOCK DIAGRAM OF CLOSED LOOP ADAPTIVE DIGITAL -4)
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% /PEN LOOP ADAPTIVE -4) FOR CANCELLATION OF SIMULTANEOUS FIXED AND MOVING CLUTTER
7HEN DOPPLER SHIFTS ARE INTRODUCED BY DIGITAL MEANS AS DESCRIBED ABOVE THE ACCU
RACY OF THE ) AND 1 REPRESENTATION OF THE ORIGINAL INPUT DATA BECOMES AN IMPORTANT
CONSIDERATION !NY DC OFFSET AMPLITUDE IMBALANCE QUADRATURE PHASE ERROR OR NONLIN
EARITY WILL RESULT IN THE GENERATION OF UNDESIRED SIDEBANDS THAT WILL APPEAR AS RESIDUE
AT THE CANCELER OUTPUT ! DISCUSSION OF !$ CONVERSION CONSIDERATIONS WAS PRESENTED
IN 3ECTION
)N THE ADAPTIVE -4) IMPLEMENTATION DESCRIBED ABOVE THE NUMBER OF ZEROS ALLO
CATED TO EACH OF THE TWO CANCELERS WAS FIXED BASED ON AN A PRIORI ASSESSMENT OF THE
CLUTTER SUPPRESSION REQUIREMENT 4HE ONLY VARIATION POSSIBLE WOULD BE TO COMPLETELY
BYPASS ONE OR BOTH OF THE -4) CANCELERS IF NO LAND CLUTTER OR WEATHER OR CHAFF RETURNS
ARE RECEIVED ON A GIVEN RADIAL ! MORE CAPABLE SYSTEM CAN BE IMPLEMENTED IF THE NUM
BER OF ZEROS CAN BE ALLOCATED DYNAMICALLY TO EITHER CLUTTER SOURCE AS A FUNCTION OF RANGE
4HIS LEADS TO A FULLY ADAPTIVE -4) IMPLEMENTATION USING A MORE COMPLEX ADAPTATION
ALGORITHM AS DISCUSSED BELOW 3UCH AN ADAPTIVE -4) MAY PROVIDE A PERFORMANCE
CLOSE TO THE OPTIMUM DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION
)N ORDER TO ILLUSTRATE THE DIFFERENCE IN PERFORMANCE BETWEEN SUCH CANDIDATE -4)
IMPLEMENTATIONS A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE IS CONSIDERED NEXT &OR THIS EXAMPLE LAND CLUTTER
RETURNS ARE PRESENT AT ZERO DOPPLER WITH A NORMALIZED SPECTRAL SPREAD OF RF4 AND
CHAFF RETURNS ARE PRESENT AT A NORMALIZED DOPPLER OFFSET OF FD4 WITH A NORMALIZED
SPECTRAL SPREAD OF RF4 4HE POWER RATIO OF THE LAND CLUTTER TO THAT OF THE CHAFF IS
DENOTED 1 D" 4HERMAL NOISE IS NOT CONSIDERED IN THIS EXAMPLE )N BOTH CASES THE
TOTAL NUMBER OF FILTER ZEROS IS ASSUMED TO BE EQUAL TO &OR THE ADAPTIVE -4) WITH A
FIXED ALLOCATION OF ZEROS TWO ZEROS ARE LOCATED AT ZERO DOPPLER AND THE REMAINING ZERO
IS CENTERED ON THE CHAFF RETURNS )N THE OPTIMUM -4) THE ZERO LOCATIONS ARE CHOSEN
SO THAT THAT OVERALL IMPROVEMENT FACTOR IS MAXIMIZED 4HE RESULTS OF THIS COMPARISON
ARE PRESENTED IN &IGURE WHICH SHOWS THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR THE OPTIMUM
AND THE ADAPTIVE -4) AS A FUNCTION OF THE POWER RATIO 1 D" 7HEN 1 IS SMALL SO THAT
CHAFF RETURNS DOMINATE A SIGNIFICANT PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT CAN BE REALIZED BY
USING ALL -4) FILTER ZEROS TO CANCEL THE CHAFF RETURNS 4HE PERFORMANCE DIFFERENCE FOR
LARGE VALUES OF 1 IS A RESULT OF AN ASSUMPTION MADE THAT THE LOCATION OF THE THIRD ZERO
REMAINS FIXED AT THE CHAFF DOPPLER FREQUENCY )N REALITY THE ADAPTIVE -4) WOULD MOVE
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% )MPROVEMENT FACTOR COMPARISON OF
OPTIMUM AND ADAPTIVE -4) AGAINST FIXED AND MOVING
CLUTTER OF RATIO 1
&)'52% ,OCATION OF THE THREE FILTER ZEROS
FOR AN OPTIMUM -4) USED AGAINST FIXED AND MOV
ING CLUTTER
ITS THIRD ZERO TO THE LAND CLUTTER AS THE LAND CLUTTER RESIDUE STARTS TO DOMINATE THE OUTPUT
OF THE FIRST CANCELER 4HE ZERO LOCATIONS OF THE OPTIMUM -4) ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE
AND CAN BE SEEN TO MOVE BETWEEN THE LAND CLUTTER AT ZERO DOPPLER TOWARD THE DOPPLER
OF THE CHAFF RETURNS AS THE RELATIVE LEVEL OF THE LAND CLUTTER BECOMES SMALL
x , ,
1//
, *)N MANY -4) RADAR APPLICATIONS THE CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIO IN THE RECEIVER WILL EXCEED THE
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR LIMIT OF THE SYSTEM EVEN WHEN TECHNIQUES SUCH AS SENSITIVITY TIME
CONTROL 34# IMPROVED RADAR RESOLUTION AND REDUCED ANTENNA GAIN CLOSE TO THE HORIZON
ARE USED TO REDUCE THE LEVEL OF CLUTTER RETURNS 4HE RESULTING CLUTTER RESIDUES AFTER THE -4)
CANCELER MUST THEREFORE BE FURTHER SUPPRESSED TO PREVENT SATURATION OF THE 00) DISPLAY
ANDOR AN EXCESSIVE FALSE
ALARM RATE IN AN AUTOMATIC TARGET DETECTION !4$ SYSTEM
!GAINST SPATIALLY HOMOGENEOUS SOURCES OF CLUTTER SUCH AS RAIN SEA CLUTTER OR CORRI
DOR CHAFF A CELL
AVERAGING CONSTANT
FALSE
ALARM
RATE #!
#&!2 PROCESSOR FOLLOWING
THE -4) FILTER WILL USUALLY PROVIDE GOOD SUPPRESSION OF THE CLUTTER RESIDUES 3PECIAL
FEATURES ARE SOMETIMES ADDED TO THE #!
#&!2 SUCH AS GREATEST
OF
SELECTION OR TWO
PARAMETER SCALE AND SHAPE NORMALIZATION LOGIC IN ORDER TO IMPROVE ITS EFFECTIVENESS
AT CLUTTER BOUNDARIES IF THE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION OF THE CLUTTER AMPLITUDE IS NON
GAUSSIAN (OWEVER WHEN THE CLUTTER RETURNS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY NONHOMOGENEOUS AS IS
THE CASE FOR TYPICAL LAND CLUTTER RETURNS THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CELL
AVERAGING #&!2
WILL NOT BE SATISFACTORY AND OTHER MEANS MUST BE IMPLEMENTED TO SUPPRESS THE OUTPUT
RESIDUES TO THE NOISE LEVEL
4HE TRADITIONAL SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN TO DELIBERATELY REDUCE THE RECEIVER
DYNAMIC RANGE PRIOR TO THE -4) FILTER TO THE SAME VALUE AS THE MAXIMUM SYSTEM
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR 4HEORETICALLY THEN THE OUTPUT RESIDUE SHOULD BE AT OR BELOW THE
NORMAL RECEIVER NOISE LEVEL AND NO FALSE ALARMS WOULD BE GENERATED )N PRACTICE THE
INTRODUCTION OF )& LIMITING AGAINST THE GROUND CLUTTER RETURNS WILL RESULT IN AN ADDITIONAL
n{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR RESTRICTION AS DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION #ONSEQUENTLY FOR THE
LIMITED )& DYNAMIC RANGE TO HAVE THE DESIRED EFFECT ON THE OUTPUT RESIDUES THE LIMIT
LEVEL MUST BE SET TO D" BELOW THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR LIMIT OF THE LINEAR SYSTEM
4HE NET RESULT IS THAT SOME OF THE CLUTTER SUPPRESSION CAPABILITY OF THE -4) RADAR MUST
BE SACRIFICED IN EXCHANGE FOR CONTROL OF THE OUTPUT FALSE
ALARM RATE
3INCE RETURNS FROM LAND CLUTTER SCATTERERS USUALLY ARE SPATIALLY FIXED AND THEREFORE
APPEAR AT THE SAME RANGE AND BEARING FROM SCAN TO SCAN IT HAS LONG BEEN RECOGNIZED
THAT A SUITABLE MEMORY CIRCUIT COULD BE USED TO STORE THE CLUTTER RESIDUES AND REMOVE
THEM FROM THE OUTPUT RESIDUE ON SUBSEQUENT SCANS BY EITHER SUBTRACTION OR GAIN NOR
MALIZATION 4HIS WAS THE BASIC PRINCIPLE OF THE SO
CALLED AREA -4) AND MANY ATTEMPTS
HAVE BEEN MADE TO IMPLEMENT AN EFFECTIVE VERSION OF THIS CIRCUIT OVER AN EXTENDED SPAN
OF TIME 4HE MAIN HINDRANCE TO ITS SUCCESS HAS BEEN THE LACK OF APPROPRIATE MEMORY
TECHNOLOGY SINCE THE STORAGE TUBE LONG THE ONLY VIABLE CANDIDATE LACKS IN RESOLUTION
REGISTRATION ACCURACY SIMULTANEOUS READ
AND
WRITE CAPABILITY AND STABILITY 4HE DEVEL
OPMENT OF HIGH
CAPACITY SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORIES IS THE TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH
THAT HAS MADE THE DESIGN OF A WORKING AREA -4) A REALITY 4HE AREA -4) IS BETTER KNOWN
TODAY AS A CLUTTER MAP BUT BOTH TERMS ARE USED
4HE CLUTTER MAP MAY BE CONSIDERED AS A TYPE OF #&!2 WHERE THE REFERENCE SAMPLES
WHICH ARE NEEDED TO ESTIMATE THE LEVEL OF THE CLUTTER OR CLUTTER RESIDUE ARE COLLECTED
IN THE CELL UNDER TEST ON A NUMBER OF PREVIOUS SCANS 3INCE AIRCRAFT TARGETS USUALLY
MOVE SEVERAL RESOLUTION CELLS FROM ONE SCAN TO THE NEXT IT IS UNLIKELY THAT THE REFERENCE
SAMPLES WILL BE CONTAMINATED BY A TARGET RETURN !LTERNATIVELY BY MAKING THE AVERAG
ING TIME IN TERMS OF PAST SCANS LONG THE EFFECT OF AN OCCASIONAL TARGET RETURN CAN BE
MINIMIZED !LTHOUGH THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE CLUTTER MAP IS TO PREVENT FALSE ALARMS
DUE TO DISCRETE CLUTTER OR CLUTTER RESIDUES THAT ARE AT A FIXED LOCATION IT MAY ALSO BE
NECESSARY TO CONSIDER SLOWLY MOVING POINT CLUTTER IN THE CLUTTER MAP DESIGN EITHER TO
SUPPRESS BIRD RETURNS OR BECAUSE THE RADAR IS ON A MOVING PLATFORM EG A SHIP
4HE MEMORY OF A CLUTTER MAP IS USUALLY ORGANIZED IN A UNIFORM GRID OF RANGE AND
AZIMUTH CELLS AS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE %ACH MAP CELL WILL TYPICALLY HAVE TO
BITS OF MEMORY SO THAT IT WILL HANDLE THE FULL DYNAMIC RANGE OF SIGNALS AT ITS INPUT
WHICH MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO DETECT A STRONG TARGET FLYING OVER A POINT OF CLUTTER SOME
TIMES REFERRED TO AS SUPERCLUTTER VISIBILITY 4HE DIMENSIONS OF EACH CELL ARE A COMPRO
MISE BETWEEN THE REQUIRED MEMORY AND SEVERAL PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS 4HESE ARE
THE MINIMUM TARGET VELOCITY THAT WILL NOT BE SUPPRESSED BY THE MAP SO
CALLED CUTOFF
VELOCITY ITS TRANSIENT RESPONSE AND THE LOSS IN SENSITIVITY CAUSED BY THE CLUTTER MAP
SIMILAR TO A #&!2 LOSS 4HE MINIMUM CELL SIZE WILL BE CONSTRAINED BY THE SIZE OF THE
RADAR RESOLUTION CELL
&)'52% #LUTTER MAP CELL DEFINITION
-4) 2!$!2
nx
%ACH MAP CELL IS UPDATED BY THE RADAR RETURNS OR RESIDUES FALLING WITHIN ITS BORDERS
OR IN ITS VICINITY ON SEVERAL PREVIOUS SCANS 4O SAVE MEMORY THE CELLS ARE USUALLY
UPDATED BY USING A SIMPLE RECURSIVE SINGLE
POLE FILTER OF THE FORM
YI A YI A XI
WHERE YI IS THE CLUTTER MAP AMPLITUDE FROM THE PREVIOUS SCAN YI IS THE UPDATED
CLUTTER MAP AMPLITUDE XI IS THE RADAR OUTPUT ON THE PRESENT SCAN AND THE CONSTANT
@ DETERMINES THE MEMORY OF THE RECURSIVE FILTER 4HE TEST FOR DETECTING A TARGET BASED
ON THE OUTPUT XI IS
XI q K4 YI
WHERE THE THRESHOLD CONSTANT K4 IS SELECTED TO GIVE THE REQUIRED FALSE
ALARM RATE
!LTERNATIVELY THE RADAR OUTPUT CAN BE NORMALIZED ON THE BASIS OF THE CLUTTER MAP
XI
CONTENT TO OBTAIN AN OUTPUT ZI Y I
WHICH CAN BE PROCESSED FURTHER IF REQUIRED
!NALOGOUSLY TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CELL
AVERAGING #&!2 PROCESSOR THE AMPLI
TUDE XI CAN BE OBTAINED USING A LINEAR SQUARE
LAW OR LOGARITHMIC DETECTOR
4HE LOSS IN DETECTABILITY DUE TO THE CLUTTER MAP IS ANALOGOUS TO THE #&!2 LOSS ANA
LYZED IN THE LITERATURE FOR MANY DIFFERENT CONDITIONS !N ANALYSIS OF THE CLUTTER MAP LOSS
FOR SINGLE
HIT DETECTION USING A SQUARE
LAW DETECTOR HAS BEEN PRESENTED BY .ITZBERG
4HESE AND OTHER RESULTS CAN BE SUMMARIZED INTO A SINGLE UNIVERSAL CURVE OF CLUTTER MAP
LOSS ,#- AS A FUNCTION OF THE CLUTTER MAP RATIO X,EFF AS SHOWN IN &IGURE WHERE
X DEFINES THE REQUIRED FALSE
ALARM PROBABILITY ACCORDING TO 0F
X AND ,EFF IS THE
EFFECTIVE NUMBER OF PAST OBSERVATIONS AVERAGED IN THE CLUTTER MAP DEFINED AS
,EFF
A
A
&OR EXAMPLE FOR 0F AND @ THE CLUTTER MAP LOSS IS ,#- D" SINCE
X AND ,EFF FOR THIS CASE !LSO SHOWN IN &IGURE IS THE CURVE FOR THE CONVEN
TIONAL #! #&!2 WHERE ALL REFERENCE SAMPLES ARE EQUALLY WEIGHTED )F MORE THAN ONE
NOISE ANDOR CLUTTER AMPLITUDE IS USED TO UPDATE THE CLUTTER MAP CONTENT ON EACH SCAN
THE VALUE OF ,EFF SHOULD BE INCREASED PROPORTIONALLY )T SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT MOST
RADARS BASE THEIR TARGET DETECTION ON MULTIPLE HITS USING SOME FORM OF VIDEO INTEGRA
TION AND THAT A CLUTTER MAP LOSS BASED ON THE SINGLE HIT RESULTS OF &IGURE COULD BE
MUCH TOO LARGE
!N ANALYSIS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF TYPICAL IMPLEMENTATIONS OF CLUTTER MAPS HAS BEEN
DISCUSSED IN +HOURY AND (OYLE &ROM THIS REFERENCE A TYPICAL TRANSIENT RESPONSE
CURVE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE FOR A SINGLE POINT CLUTTER SOURCE D" ABOVE THERMAL
NOISE THAT FLUCTUATES FROM SCAN TO SCAN ACCORDING TO A 2AYLEIGH PROBABILITY DENSITY
FUNCTION A FILTERING CONSTANT OF @ AND ASSUMING FOUR RETURNS NONCOHERENTLY
INTEGRATED IN EACH CLUTTER MAP CELL 4HE ABSCISSA IS IN RADAR SCANS AND THE ORDINATE IS
PROBABILITY OF DETECTION OF THE POINT CLUTTER SOURCE 3INCE THE CLUTTER POINT HAS THE SAME
AMPLITUDE STATISTICS AS THERMAL NOISE THE OUTPUT FALSE ALARM RATE APPROACHES 0F
ASYMPTOTICALLY
!GAINST A SLOWLY MOVING SOURCE OF CLUTTER EG BIRDS THE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION
MAY INCREASE AS THE CLUTTER SOURCE CROSSES THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN TWO CLUTTER MAP CELLS
4O PREVENT THIS A SPREADING TECHNIQUE CAN BE USED THROUGH WHICH EACH CLUTTER MAP
CELL WILL BE UPDATEDNOT ONLY WITH RADAR RETURNS FALLING WITHIN ITS BOUNDARIES BUT ALSO
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 5NIVERSAL CURVE FOR DETERMINING DETECTABILITY LOSS CAUSED BY THE
CLUTTER MAP
BY USING RADAR RETURNS IN ADJACENT CELLS IN RANGE AND AZIMUTH 4HROUGH THE USE OF SUCH
SPREADING AN ADDITIONAL DEGREE OF CONTROL OVER THE CLUTTER MAP VELOCITY RESPONSE CAN
BE ACHIEVED
!N EXAMPLE OF THE VELOCITY RESPONSE OF A CLUTTER MAP INCLUDING SUCH SPREADING IS
SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE RANGE EXTENT OF THE CLUTTER MAP CELL IS MS THE RADAR RESO
LUTION CELL IS MS N PULSES ARE NONCOHERENTLY INTEGRATED THE FILTERING CONSTANT IS
@ THE UPDATE INTERVAL IS S AND THE 3.2 D" /N EACH SCAN THE CLUTTER
MAP CELL IS UPDATED WITH THE RADAR AMPLITUDES IN THE FIVE RANGE CELLS FALLING WITHIN
THE CLUTTER MAP CELL AND WITH THE AMPLITUDE FROM ONE ADDITIONAL RADAR RESOLUTION CELL
BEFORE AND AFTER THE CLUTTER MAP CELL
&)'52% 4RANSIENT RESPONSE OF CLUTTER MAP DUE TO
3WERLING #ASE POINT CLUTTER MODEL
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% 6ELOCITY RESPONSE OF CLUTTER MAP
)T IS SEEN FROM &IGURE THAT THE VELOCITY RESPONSE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE CLUTTER
MAP FROM STOPBAND TO PASSBAND IS SOMEWHAT GRADUAL IN THIS PARTICULAR IMPLEMENTATION
4HIS IS PARTLY DUE TO THE LARGE SIZE OF THE CLUTTER MAP CELL RELATIVE TO THE RADAR RESOLU
TION ! FINER
GRAIN MAP WITH ADDITIONAL SPREADING WOULD HAVE A MUCH BETTER VELOCITY
RESPONSE CHARACTERISTIC
! POTENTIAL PROBLEM WITH THE TYPE OF AMPLITUDE CLUTTER MAP DESCRIBED IN THIS SEC
TION IS THE FACT THAT A LARGE TARGET FLYING IN FRONT OF A SMALLER TARGET MAY CAUSE ENOUGH
BUILDUP IN THE MAP TO SUPPRESS THE SMALL TARGET /NE WAY TO OVERCOME THIS PROBLEM IN
A SYSTEM THAT INCLUDES AUTOMATIC TRACKING WOULD BE TO USE THE TRACK PREDICTION GATE TO
INHIBIT UPDATING OF THE CLUTTER MAP WITH NEW TARGET AMPLITUDES
-
-/6/96
"
/9
" /," -6
)N THE MID S SEVERAL RADAR RESEARCHERS HAD REALIZED THAT SIGNAL PROCESSING ALGO
RITHMS TO ESTIMATE THE UNAMBIGUOUS RADIAL VELOCITY OF A TARGET USING MULTIPLE 02&
DWELLS DURING THE TIME OF TARGET WERE BECOMING PRACTICAL 4HESE RADIAL VELOCITY ESTI
MATES COULD BE USED FOR IMPROVED FALSE ALARM CONTROL AGAINST SLOW MOVING TARGETS
SUCH AS BIRDS 7HEN SUCH RADIAL VELOCITY MEASUREMENTS ARE PAIRED WITH CORRE
SPONDING CROSS SECTION ESTIMATES A POWERFUL DISCRIMINANT FOR DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN
SLOW MOVING BIRDS AND LOW CROSS SECTION MISSILES BECOMES POSSIBLE USING THE SO
CALLED SENSITIVITY VELOCITY CONTROL 36# ALGORITHM
4HE 36# #ONCEPT 3ENSITIVITY VELOCITY CONTROL 36# IS USED WHEN A RADAR MUST
DETECT AIRCRAFT AND MISSILE TARGETS IN THE PRESENCE OF RETURNS FROM UNWANTED TARGETS
SUCH AS LARGE BIRDS OR BIRD FLOCKS 4HE CRITERIA TO ACCEPT OR REJECT TARGETS IS BASED ON A
COMBINATION OF THE RADIAL VELOCITY AND APPARENT 2#3 RADAR CROSS SECTION OF THE TARGET
RETURNS 4HE DESIRED TARGETS MAY HAVE AN 2#3 SMALLER THAN A SINGLE BIRD OR POSSIBLY
nn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
$"
""$
"
" "
"
%$
!$"
%#
%#
"#
##
$%
#$%
$& $#
&)'52% )LLUSTRATIVE ACCEPTANCEREJECTION CRITERIA OF 36#
A BIRD FLOCK IN A SINGLE RADAR RESOLUTION CELL 4HUS DISCRIMINATION REQUIRES A PARAME
TER IN ADDITION TO THE TARGET 2#3 4HE AVAILABLE PARAMETER IS TARGET RADIAL VELOCITY "IRDS
TYPICALLY FLY AT KNOTS OR LESS WHEREAS TARGETS OF CONCERN USUALLY HAVE AIRSPEEDS OF
KNOTS OR MORE )F THE RADAR CAN MAKE UNAMBIGUOUS RADAR DOPPLER MEASUREMENTS
OF EG o KNOTS WITH A SINGLE #0) COHERENT PROCESSING INTERVAL THE RADAR CAN
DETERMINE THE TRUE RADIAL VELOCITY OF EACH RADAR ECHO FROM RETURNS OF THREE OR MORE
CONSECUTIVE #0)S AT DIFFERENT 02&S
4HE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA OF THE 36# ALGORITHM RELATES TO THE TYPE OF TARGET AIRCRAFT
MISSILE BIRD ETC BEING ACCEPTED OR REJECTED )N GENERAL THE CRITERIA ACCEPTS LARGE TAR
GETS HAVING LOW TO HIGH RADIAL VELOCITIES 4HE SMALLER THE APPARENT RADAR CROSS SECTION
OF THE TARGET THE HIGHER THE TRUE RADIAL VELOCITY MUST BE FOR ACCEPTANCE 4HE TRUE RADIAL
VELOCITY VERSUS APPARENT RADAR CROSS SECTION PROFILE IS INTENDED TO ACCEPT AIRCRAFT AND
MISSILES BUT REJECT BIRDS 4HEREFORE THREATENING TARGETS THAT HAVE HIGH RADIAL VELOCI
TIES BUT VERY SMALL 2#3 CAN BE INSTANTLY IDENTIFIED WHEREAS RETURNS FROM BIRDS WITH
THEIR SLOW RADIAL VELOCITIES CAN BE CENSORED ! TYPICAL 3#6 ACCEPTREJECT ALGORITHM IS
DEPICTED IN &IGURE
4O OBTAIN THE DOPPLER SPACE OF o KNOTS AMBIGUOUS RANGE 02&S MUST BE USED
4HIS REQUIRES APPROXIMATE 02&S OF (Z AT , BAND (Z AT 3 BAND AND
(Z AT 8 BAND UNAMBIGUOUS RANGES RESPECTIVELY NMI NMI AND NMI
4HE TRADEOFF FOR SELECTING 02&S IS THAT IN A DENSE TARGET ENVIRONMENT WHEN TRY
ING TO RESOLVE TRUE RADIAL VELOCITY USING DIFFERENT 02&S hGHOSTSve MAY BE CREATED
e h'HOSTSv OCCUR WHEN TARGETS OR NOISE PEAKS AT DIFFERENT UNAMBIGUOUS RANGES FOLD INTO THE SAME BUT INCORRECT
TRUE RANGE CELL 4HE VELOCITY RESOLUTION ALGORITHM THEN GIVES AN INCORRECT RESULT AND THE GHOSTS MAY BE DECLARED AS
THREATENING TARGETS
-4) 2!$!2
)N ADDITION TO THE hGHOSTv PROBLEM MULTIPLE RANGE AMBIGUITIES LEAD TO TARGETS HAVING
TO COMPETE WITH CLUTTER AT ALL RANGES )N PARTICULAR TARGETS AT LONG DISTANCES HAVE TO
COMPETE WITH STRONG CLUTTER RETURNS IN THE FIRST OR SEVERAL RANGE INTERVALS
"ECAUSE OF THE GHOSTING PROBLEM IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE RANGE AMBIGUITIES WHILE
RETAINING ADEQUATE DOPPLER SPACE 2& FREQUENCIES OF -(Z OR LOWER ARE BEST
SUITED FOR THE 36# UNWANTED TARGET DISCRIMINATION TECHNIQUE
2ANGE
AND 2ANGE 2ATE !MBIGUITY 2ESOLUTION 4O APPLY THE 36# ALGORITHM
TRUE RANGE AND RADIAL VELOCITY RANGE
RATE MUST BE DETERMINED FROM THE RANGE
AMBIG
UOUS AND DOPPLER
AMBIGUOUS WAVEFORM 4HIS REQUIRES MULTIPLE DETECTIONS FROM THE
SAME TARGET !SSUME A DOPPLER FILTER BANK OF N
PULSE &)2 FILTERS AND ASSUME A PROCESS
ING DWELL THAT CONSISTS OF THREE #0)S 4HE #0)S MUST USE DIFFERENT 02&S AND MAY ALSO
EMPLOY DIFFERENT 2& FREQUENCIES 4HE DIFFERENT 2& FREQUENCIES CHANGE TARGET 2#3
STATISTICS FROM 3WERLING TO 3WERLING AND THUS LESS RADAR ENERGY IS REQUIRED FOR HIGH
PROBABILITY OF DETECTION 4HE #0)S MUST HAVE SUFFICIENT TRANSMITTED PULSES SO THAT
N RETURNS ENOUGH TO FILL AN N
PULSE FILTER WILL BE RECEIVED FROM THE MOST DISTANT TARGET
OF INTEREST AND THE MOST DISTANT CLUTTER AND ONE ADDITIONAL PULSE TO ENABLE VELOCITY
DETERMINATION MORE ON THIS LATER
4RUE 2ANGE $ETERMINATION 4HE MOST STRAIGHTFORWARD WAY TO DETECT A TARGET AND
SIMULTANEOUSLY DETERMINE ITS TRUE RANGE IS TO DETERMINE ON EACH #0) ALL hPRIMITIVEv
DETECTIONS AT THE OUTPUT OF THE DOPPLER FILTER BANK &OR THIS IT IS ASSUMED THAT EACH
DOPPLER FILTER OUTPUT IS PROCESSED THROUGH AN APPROPRIATE CLUTTER MAP THRESHOLD AND
CELL
AVERAGING #&!2 TO CONTROL THE FALSE
ALARM RATE &OR EACH PEAK DETECTION ADJACENT
AMPLITUDES WILL BE USED TO OBTAIN AN ACCURATE AMBIGUOUS RANGE ESTIMATE DENOTED R}I
WHERE THE SUBSCRIPT REFERS TO THE #0) NUMBER !LSO FROM THE SPECIFIC DOPPLER FILTER
CORRESPONDING TO THE PEAK DETECTION DESCRIBED ABOVE THE PHASE PI OF THE RETURN IS
SAVED )N ADDITION A CORRESPONDING PHASE P I OBTAINED FROM AN IDENTICAL SECOND DOP
PLER FILTER BANK TRAILING OR LEADING THE DETECTION FILTER BANK BY ONE PULSE REPETITION
INTERVAL 02) IS SAVED 4HIS EXPLAINS WHY A #0) OF N PULSES IS NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT
THE 36# CONCEPT &OR EACH PRIMITIVE DETECTION IN A #0) CALCULATE THE SET OF ALL POSSIBLE
TARGET RANGES OUT TO THE MAXIMUM INSTRUMENTED RANGE 2MAX
2} I R}I M 202) I
M MMAX
WHERE MMAX INT 2MAX 202) I
I
WHERE 202) I IS THE AMBIGUOUS RANGE INTERVAL CORRESPONDING TO THE ITH #0) !FTER THE
PRIMITIVE DETECTIONS FROM ALL #0)S IN THE PROCESSING DWELL HAVE BEEN PROCESSED THE
VALUES OF 2} I FROM ALL #0)S ARE SORTED INTO A SINGLE LIST ! FINAL RANGE DETECTION AND
ITS TRUE RANGE IS THEN FOUND AS A CLUSTER OF THREE PRIMITIVE DETECTIONS HAVING POSSIBLE
RANGES WITHIN AN ERROR WINDOW OF TWO TO THREE TIMES THE STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE
AMBIGUOUS RANGE ESTIMATE
4RUE 2ADIAL 6ELOCITY $ETERMINATION &OR EACH TRUE TARGET DETECTION AN UNAM
BIGUOUS RADIAL VELOCITY ESTIMATE MUST NEXT BE DETERMINED USING A SIMILAR PROCE
DURE TO THAT DESCRIBED ABOVE FOR RANGE &OR THIS AN ACCURATE ESTIMATE F}D I OF THE
AMBIGUOUS TARGET RADIAL VELOCITY MUST BE OBTAINED AT THE RANGE CORRESPONDING TO
THE AMBIGUOUS PRIMITIVE TARGET DETECTION ON EACH #0) 4HIS FREQUENCY ESTIMATION
PROBLEM HAS BEEN STUDIED BY MANY AUTHORS WITH THE BEST APPROACH BEING DEFINED
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
BY THE MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATE &OR A SINGLE
PULSE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO 3
AND N PULSES IN A #0) THE #RAMER
2AO LOWER BOUND FOR THE ACCURACY OF THE DOPPLER
FREQUENCY ESTIMATE IS
SF
02& P 3 N N
3 N N
3INCE THE MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATION PROCEDURE TENDS TO REQUIRE A TEDIOUS
COMPUTATIONAL BURDEN A SIMPLIFIED APPROACH FOR ESTIMATING THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY IS
HIGHLY DESIRABLE /NE SUCH APPROACH USING PHASE MEASUREMENTS OF THE DOPPLER FILTER
OUTPUT AT TIMES SEPARATED BY ONE INTERPULSE PERIOD
WAS PRESENTED IN -C-AHON AND
"ARRETT 4HE NORMALIZED DOPPLER FREQUENCY ESTIMATE IS
FD I
Q
Q I
I
02&
P
AND THE CORRESPONDING RADIAL VELOCITY IS
V}I
FD I L
)N MOST CASES OF INTEREST THE ACCURACY OF THIS ESTIMATE OF DOPPLER FREQUENCY IS AS
GOOD AS THE MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD PROCEDURE %XPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE NUMERATOR OF
%Q WHICH WILL BE DENOTED BY K A SIMULATION OF THE PHASE
DIFFERENCE ESTIMA
TOR USING DIFFERENT WEIGHTING FUNCTIONS FOR THE DOPPLER FILTER BANK ARE SUMMARIZED
IN &IGURE )T IS NOTED THAT THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PHASE
DIFFERENCE ESTIMATION
PROCEDURE IS BEST WHEN MODERATE 4AYLOR WEIGHTING FUNCTIONS ARE USED &OR UNIFORM
WEIGHTING THE PROCEDURE WOULD BE SUBSTANTIALLY INFERIOR TO THE MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD
APPROACH 4HE INCREASE IN THE CONSTANT K FOR THE MORE SEVERE WEIGHTING CASES IS THE
RESULT OF THE 3.2 LOSS RESULTING FROM THE USE OF WEIGHTING
5SING AN APPROACH SIMILAR TO THAT USED TO RESOLVE THE RANGE AMBIGUITY ALL POSSIBLE
RADIAL VELOCITIES ARE THEN ENUMERATED TO THE MAXIMUM NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE RADIAL
VELOCITY OF INTEREST ON EACH OF THE #0)S
6}I V}I M 6" I
M MMAX MMAX MMAX
WHERE MMAX INT6MAX 6" I
I
)N THIS EQUATION 6" I 02&I L IS THE BLIND VELOCITY FOR THE ITH #0) 4HE POS
SIBLE TARGET RADIAL VELOCITIES FOR ALL #0)S ARE THEN SORTED INTO A SINGLE LIST AND THE MOST
LIKELY TRUE RADIAL VELOCITY IS FOUND WHERE AT LEAST TWO POSSIBLE VELOCITIES FALL WITHIN AN
INTERVAL LESS THAN TWO OR THREE TIMES THE STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY
ESTIMATE 4HE TIGHTNESS OF THE CLUSTER OF NEARLY IDENTICAL VELOCITIES IN CONJUNCTION WITH
THE NUMBER OF #0)S CONTRIBUTING TO THE CLUSTER CAN BE UTILIZED AS A MEASURE OF RELIABILITY
OF THE UNAMBIGUOUS RADIAL VELOCITY ESTIMATE
4HIS APPROACH WAS FIRST BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE AUTHORS BY $R "EN #ANTRELL OF THE 53 .AVAL 2ESEARCH
,ABORATORY
-4) 2!$!2
%&&" '''%'%$()$)!
-( +,
) $
(# &
' $
.
%'#, ) $
$ !" ' $
-"%', ) $
( !"' $
'# '% !%
%*$
" "!
-
!&
&)'52% 0ERFORMANCE OF PHASE
DIFFERENCE DOPPLER FREQUENCY ESTIMATOR FOR DIFFERENT
WEIGHTING FUNCTIONS OF THE DOPPLER FILTER BANK
#OMMENTS 4HE ABOVE PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING TRUE RANGE AND TRUE RADIAL VELOC
ITY HAS BEEN DESCRIBED FOR A DWELL OF THREE #0)S AND THE ASSUMPTION THAT EACH TARGET
WILL HAVE A RETURN FOR EACH OF THE THREE #0)S )N PRACTICE THIS ASSUMPTION IS NOT ALWAYS
VALID AND THE ACTUAL IMPLEMENTATION MAY CHOOSE FOR EXAMPLE TO HAVE THE DWELL CON
SIST OF FOUR OR FIVE #0)S WITH THE RANGE AND VELOCITY DETERMINATIONS BEING BASED ON
THE BEST GROUPING OF THREE RETURNS 4HE ACTUAL IMPLEMENTATION MUST BE BASED ON THE
PARAMETERS OF THE SYSTEM AND PERMISSIBLE TIME ALLOCATED FOR EACH DWELL
4HE 02&S OF THE #0)S SHOULD BE SELECTED TO MINIMIZE THE CHANCE OF FALSE RADIAL
VELOCITY DETERMINATIONS /NE METHOD OF SELECTING 02&S IS SIMILAR TO SELECTING PULSE
INTERVAL RATIOS FOR STAGGERED 02& OPERATION AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION &OR EXAM
PLE IF OPERATING AT AN AVERAGE 2& FREQUENCY OF -(Z AT AN AVERAGE 02& OF
(Z AMBIGUOUS VELOCITY OF KNOTS AND COVERING A VELOCITY RANGE OF INTEREST
OF o KNOTS THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY DOPPLER AMBIGUITIES TO COVER 5SING THE
FACTORS OF n n AS USED IN 02& STAGGER SELECTION THE INTERPULSE PERIODS OF THE
FOUR DIFFERENT 02&S WOULD BE IN THE RATIO OF 4HE AVERAGE OF THESE RATIOS
IS 4HE 02&S ARE CALCULATED AS q q q
AND q 4HE 02&S WOULD BE ABOUT AND (Z
" -
,/" -**
/" /, ,-9-/
-4) RADAR SYSTEM DESIGN ENCOMPASSES MUCH MORE THAN SIGNAL PROCESSOR DESIGN
4HE ENTIRE RADAR SYSTEMTRANSMITTER ANTENNA AND OPERATIONAL PARAMETERSMUST BE
KEYED TO FUNCTION AS PART OF AN -4) RADAR &OR EXAMPLE EXCELLENT -4) CONCEPTS WILL
NOT PERFORM SATISFACTORILY UNLESS THE RADAR LOCAL OSCILLATOR IS EXTREMELY STABLE AND THE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
TRANSMITTER HAS VERY LITTLE PULSE
TO
PULSE FREQUENCY OR PHASE JITTER )N ADDITION THE
SYSTEM MUST SUCCESSFULLY OPERATE IN AN ENVIRONMENT THAT COMPRISES MANY UNWANTED
TARGETS SUCH AS BIRDS INSECTS AND AUTOMOBILES
(ARDWARE #ONSIDERATIONS )N THIS SECTION RULES AND FACTS RELATING TO -4) RADAR
DESIGN AS DEVELOPED DURING MANY YEARS OF WORK IN THE FIELD WILL BE SUMMARIZED
4HE RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS
/PERATE AT CONSTANT DUTY CYCLE
3YNCHRONIZE AC
DC AND DC
DC POWER CONDITIONERSo TO HARMONICS OF THE 02&
$ESIGN THE SYSTEM TO BE FULLY COHERENTp
0ROVIDE )& ,IMITERS PRIOR TO !$ CONVERTERS
"E WARY OF VIBRATION AND ACOUSTIC NOISE
4HE FACTS ARE AS FOLLOWS
4HE BASIC -4) CONCEPT DOES NOT REQUIRE A LONG TIME ON TARGET TO RESOLVE TARGETS FROM
FIXED CLUTTER )NSTEAD -4) SYSTEMS REJECT FIXED CLUTTER THROUGH A SUBTRACTION PROCESS
WHILE RETAINING MOVING TARGETS
4RANSMITTER INTRAPULSE ANOMALIES HAVE NO AFFECT ON -4) PERFORMANCE IF THEY REPEAT
PRECISELY PULSE
TO
PULSE
2ULE /PERATE AT CONSTANT DUTY CYCLE 4HE TRANSMITTER WHETHER THE TRANSMITTER
IS A SINGLE LARGE TUBE OR A DISTRIBUTED FUNCTION AS IN AN ACTIVE PHASED ARRAY WITH MANY
TRANSMIT
RECEIVE ELEMENTS SHOULD BE OPERATED AT CONSTANT DUTY CYCLE 4HIS PERMITS
THE TRANSMITTER POWER SUPPLY TRANSIENT EFFECTS TO BE IDENTICAL PULSE TO PULSE AND ALSO
PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO SOLID
STATE TRANSMIT DEVICES PERMITS THE DEVICE HEATING AND
COOLING TO BE IDENTICAL FROM PULSE TO PULSE 3OMETIMES CONSTANT DUTY CYCLE OPERATION IS
NOT POSSIBLE BUT THERE ARE VARIOUS TECHNIQUES THAT CAN BE USED TO APPROACH THIS DESIRED
CONDITION #ONSIDER AN -4$ WAVEFORM WHERE A #0) CONSISTING OF N PULSES IS TRANSMIT
TED WITH A CONSTANT 02) 4HE NEXT #0) USES A DIFFERENT 02) #ONSTANT DUTY CYCLE CAN BE
MAINTAINED BY CHANGING THE TRANSMITTED PULSE LENGTH IN PROPORTION TO THE CHANGE IN THE
02) )F PULSE COMPRESSION IS USED THE RANGE RESOLUTION OF THE COMPRESSED PULSE CAN BE
MAINTAINED BY CHANGING THE PULSE COMPRESSION WAVEFORM )F IT IS NECESSARY TO UTILIZE
PRECISELY THE SAME WAVEFORM AND 2& PULSE LENGTH FROM #0) TO #0) WITH FOR EXAMPLE
A KLYSTRON TRANSMITTER THE BEAM PULSE OF THE KLYSTRON CAN BE VARIED TO MAINTAIN CON
STANT BEAM DUTY CYCLE WHILE THE 2& PULSE LENGTH IS MAINTAINED CONSTANT 4HIS WASTES
PART OF THE BEAM PULSE ENERGY FOR THE LONGER 02)S BUT THE AVERAGE POWER LOADING ON
THE POWER SUPPLY REMAINS CONSTANT 4HE SAME TECHNIQUE CAN BE UTILIZED WITH SOLID
STATE DEVICES BY CHANGING THE DRAIN VOLTAGE PULSE DURATION WHILE HOLDING THE 2& PULSE
CONSTANT ! SECOND
ORDER CORRECTION THAT HAS BEEN UTILIZED WHEN CHANGING BETWEEN
#0)S WITH DIFFERENT 02)S IS TO HAVE A TRANSITION 02) THAT IS THE AVERAGE OF THE TWO 02)S
7ITH PHASED ARRAY RADARS IF THE BEAM TRANSITION TIME BETWEEN #0)S TAKES LONGER THAN A
02) IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP THE TRANSMITTER PULSING AT A CONSTANT DUTY CYCLE DURING THE
TRANSITION TIME )F CONSTANT DUTY CYCLE CANNOT BE MAINTAINED OR WHEN STARTING TO RADIATE
o 0OWER CONDITIONERS ACCEPT EITHER AC OR DC INPUT AND PROVIDE A REGULATED DC OUTPUT
p h&ULLY COHERENTv IS DESCRIBED UNDER RULE
-4) 2!$!2
AFTER DEAD TIME THE TRANSMITTER POWER SUPPLY AND HEATING EFFECTS MUST BE ALLOWED TO
SETTLE BEFORE GOOD -4) PERFORMANCE CAN BE EXPECTED 4HE DURATION OF THE SETTLING TIME
DEPENDS ON THE SYSTEM PARAMETERS AND THE REQUIREMENTS
2ULE 3YNCHRONIZE AC DC AND DC DC POWER CONDITIONERS TO HARMONICS OF THE
02& 7HEN AC DC ANDOR DC DC POWER CONDITIONERS ARE USED FOR VOLTAGES APPLIED TO
TRANSMITTING DEVICES THE FREQUENCY AND ITS HARMONICS OF THE CONVERTER MUST BE ATTEN
UATED SUFFICIENTLY SO THAT THEY DO NOT MODULATE THE PHASE OF THE TRANSMITTED PULSES )F
THE POWER CONDITIONER FREQUENCIES CANNOT BE SUFFICIENTLY ATTENUATED THEIR FREQUENCY
SHOULD BE SYNCHRONIZED TO A MULTIPLE OF THE 02& OF THE #0) SO THAT MODULATIONS REPEAT
PRECISELY PULSE TO PULSE AND THUS WILL CANCEL LIKE STATIONARY CLUTTER
2ULE $ESIGN THE SYSTEM TO BE FULLY COHERENT !LL FREQUENCIES AND TIMING SIGNALS
SHOULD BE GENERATED FROM A SINGLE MASTER OSCILLATOR $OING THIS MAKES THE ENTIRE SYS
TEM COHERENT AND MIXER PRODUCTS WILL BE IDENTICAL PULSE TO PULSE AND WILL THEREFORE
CANCEL IN THE -4) FILTERS 7HEN THIS COHERENCE OF ALL FREQUENCIES IS NOT MAINTAINED
CLUTTER RESIDUE WILL OCCUR AND MUST BE QUANTIFIED TO DETERMINE IF IT IS AT AN ACCEPTABLE
LEVEL /NE OF THE PROMINENT PLACES IN WHICH RESIDUE CAUSED BY UNSYNCHRONIZED LOCAL
OSCILLATORS HAS SHOWN UP IS IN PULSE COMPRESSION SIDELOBES )F THE PULSE COMPRESSION
SIDELOBES FROM FIXED CLUTTER RETURNS VARY FROM PULSE TO PULSE THEY DO NOT CANCEL 4HIS
COHERENCY ISSUE HAS BEEN FURTHER DISCUSSED BY 4AYLOR
2ULE 0ROVIDE )& ,IMITERS PRIOR TO !$ CONVERTERS -4) RADARS REQUIRE THAT )&
BANDPASS LIMITERS EXIST PRIOR TO AN !$ ANALOGDIGITAL CONVERTER 4HE LIMITER PREVENTS
ANY CLUTTER RETURN FROM EXCEEDING THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE !$ 4HIS REQUIREMENT
EXISTS FOR EITHER QUADRATURE ) 1 IN PHASE QUADRATURE SAMPLING OR DIRECT SAMPLING
WITH THE ) AND 1 DATA CONSTRUCTED AFTER THE !$ 4HE LIMITER MUST BE DESIGNED TO
MINIMIZE THE CONVERSION OF AMPLITUDE TO PHASE NO MATTER HOW MUCH THE SIGNAL LEVEL
EXCEEDS THE LIMIT LEVEL )F CLUTTER SATURATES THE !$ THE ) 1 DATA IS SIGNIFICANTLY COR
RUPTED 7HEN LIMITERS PREVENT !$ SATURATION THE SIGNALS ARE LIMITED IN A CONTROLLED
MANNER THAT STILL ENABLES GOOD CLUTTER REJECTION ABOUT OF THE TIME
2ULE "E WARY OF VIBRATION AND ACOUSTIC NOISE -ANY 2& DEVICES ARE SUSCEPTIBLE
TO BOTH VIBRATION AND ACOUSTIC NOISE !N AIR CONDITIONER FAN BLOWING ON WAVEGUIDE
HAS CAUSED DEGRADATION OF IMPROVEMENT FACTOR DUE TO PHASE MODULATION OF SIGNALS
6IBRATIONS CAN CAUSE PHASE MODULATION OF AN OSCILLATOR !COUSTIC NOISE CAN ORIGINATE
FROM COOLING FANS AND VIBRATIONS CAN COME FROM SHIPBOARD OR AIRBORNE RADAR PLAT
FORMS #OMPONENTS SUCH AS KLYSTRONS AND SOLID STATE MODULES CAN HAVE UNEXPECTED
SUSCEPTIBILITY TO VIBRATION 2& CONNECTORS MUST BE SECURE 3HOCK MOUNTS CAN BE USED
TO ISOLATE COMPONENTS FROM THE CABINET STRUCTURE )T IS RECOMMENDED THAT ALL 2& COM
PONENTS IN THEIR OPERATIONAL CONFIGURATION BE TESTED FOR PHASE STABILITY IN THE VIBRATION
ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THEY WILL BE USED
&ACT 4HE BASIC -4) CONCEPT DOES NOT REQUIRE SUFFICIENT TIME ON TARGET TO RESOLVE
TARGETS FROM FIXED CLUTTER USING A LINEAR TIME INVARIANT FILTER )NSTEAD -4) SYSTEMS REJECT
FIXED CLUTTER THROUGH A SUBTRACTION PROCESS WHILE RETAINING MOVING TARGETS !N -4)
SYSTEM USING A TWO PULSE CANCELER REQUIRES THE TRANSMITTER TO TRANSMIT ONLY TWO SUC
CESSIVE IDENTICAL PULSES FOR THE SYSTEM TO BE ABLE TO REJECT STABLE FIXED CLUTTER 4HE
RADAR RETURNS FROM THE SECOND PULSE ARE SUBTRACTED FROM THE RETURNS FROM THE FIRST PULSE
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE RESULT FROM THIS SUBTRACTION PROCESS IS THAT THE FIXED CLUTTER IS REMOVED AND MOVING
TARGETS ARE RETAINED 4HE OUTPUT FROM THE FIRST PULSE IS NOT USED MAKING THIS TYPE OF -4)
FILTER TIME
VARIANT /F COURSE THE CLUTTER FILTERS MAY BE MORE COMPLEX THAN A TWO
PULSE
CANCELER e BUT THE PRINCIPLE STILL REMAINS THAT FIXED CLUTTER IS REJECTED BY THE ZEROS IN
THE CANCELER TRANSFER CHARACTERISTIC 4HIS ENABLES PHASED ARRAY RADARS TO HAVE GOOD CLUT
TER REJECTION WITH SHORT DWELLS
&ACT 4RANSMITTER INTRAPULSE ANOMALIES HAVE NO AFFECT ON -4) PERFORMANCE IF
THEY REPEAT PRECISELY PULSE TO PULSE 4RANSMITTED PULSES SHOULD BE IDENTICAL )T DOES
NOT MATTER IF THERE IS INTRAPULSE AMPLITUDE OR FREQUENCY MODULATION OF THE TRANSMITTED
PULSE AS LONG AS IT REPEATS PRECISELY FROM PULSE TO PULSE )F THE VOLTAGE OF THE TRANS
MITTER POWER SUPPLY VARIES PULSE TO PULSE THE TRANSMITTED PULSES WILL NOT BE IDENTI
CAL AND THE RESULTING VARIATIONS MUST BE QUANTIFIED TO DETERMINE IF THE LIMITATIONS ON
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FALL WITHIN THE STABILITY BUDGET FOR THE SYSTEM (OWEVER IF THE ONLY
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PULSES IS ABSOLUTE PHASE NOT INTRAPULSE VARIATIONS PULSE TO PULSE
SOME MITIGATION IS POSSIBLE /NE METHOD OF COMPENSATING FOR SMALL VARIATIONS IN THE
PHASE OF TRANSMITTER PULSES FOLLOWS ,INCOLN ,ABORATORY CHANGED THE ORIGINAL 4$72
WAVEFORM TO AN -4$ TYPE WAVEFORM 4HE ORIGINAL 4$72 WAVEFORM WAS CONSTANT
02& DURING EACH ANTENNA ROTATION AND PROCESSING WAS DONE WITH ELLIPTIC FILTERS 4HEY
THEN MODIFIED THE SYSTEM hxTO ACHIEVE
D" CLUTTER SUPPRESSION USING A NEARBY
WATER TOWER FOR A TARGETv 4HE 4$72 USES A KLYSTRON TRANSMITTER TUBE 4YPICAL PHASE
PUSHING FOR A KLYSTRON DUE TO MODULATOR VOLTAGE CHANGE IS FOR DELTA
%% 4HE
STABILITY BUDGET ALLOCATED A
D" LIMIT ON IMPROVEMENT FACTOR TO THE TRANSMITTER AND
THIS REQUIRED THAT THE RMS PULSE
TO
PULSE POWER SUPPLY VOLTAGE VARIATION BE LESS THAN
PART IN 4HE TRANSMITTER POWER SUPPLY COULD NOT MEET THIS REQUIREMENT WHEN
THE RADAR CHANGED 02& FROM #0) TO #0) AS REQUIRED BY AN -4$ WAVEFORM 4HEREFORE
THE ACTUAL PHASE OF EACH TRANSMITTED PULSE WAS MEASURED AND THIS MEASURED VALUE WAS
USED TO CORRECT THE PHASE OF THE RECEIVED SIGNALS FOR THAT 02) 4HIS TECHNIQUE CAUSES
SMALL PERTURBATIONS IN PHASE FROM WEATHER SIGNALS RECEIVED FROM AMBIGUOUS RANGES
BUT DOES NOT INTERFERE WITH VELOCITY ESTIMATES )T DOES DEGRADE THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR
OF CLUTTER SIGNALS RECEIVED FROM AMBIGUOUS RANGES BUT FOR THE 4$72 OPERATION THAT
DEGRADATION WAS DEEMED ACCEPTABLE
%NVIRONMENTAL #ONSIDERATIONS 4HIS DISCUSSION CONTAINS ESSENTIAL INFORMA
TION FOR THOSE DESIGNING A MODERN SURVEILLANCE RADAR TO DETECT MAN
MADE AIRBORNE
TARGETS 4HE LAWS OF PHYSICS COMBINED WITH THE ENVIRONMENT MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO
DESIGN AN -4) SURVEILLANCE RADAR THAT DOES NOT HAVE COMPROMISES 4HE PROBLEMS
ARE RELATED TO THE UNWANTED RETURNS FROM BIRDS INSECTS AUTOMOBILES LONG
RANGE
FIXED CLUTTER AND SHORT
AND LONG
RANGE WEATHER 4HE CURRENT STATE
OF
THE
ART OF
RADAR CAN AMELIORATE THESE PROBLEMS BUT NOT WITHOUT SOME UNDESIRABLE SIDE EFFECTS
-ANY UNWANTED POINT TARGET RETURNS HAVE CHARACTERISTICS SIMILAR TO THE RETURNS FROM
WANTED TARGETS AND THE UNWANTED RETURNS MAY OUTNUMBER RETURNS FROM DESIRED TAR
GETS BY THE THOUSANDS
e 4HE CLUTTER FILTERS MUST BE DESIGNED BASED ON SYSTEM PARAMETERS TO REJECT THE RADIAL SPEED OF THE hFIXEDv CLUTTER
3EE 3ECTIONS AND
)T HAS BEEN OBSERVED THAT SOME PHASED ARRAY RADARS HAVE POOR CLUTTER REJECTION WHICH IS OFTEN CAUSED BY FAILURE
TO FOLLOW RULE
-4) 2!$!2
4HE PROBLEMS ARE EXACERBATED WHEN ANOMALOUS OR DUCTED PROPAGATION OCCURS
ANOMALOUS PROPAGATION AS USED HEREIN IS WHEN THE RADAR ENERGY FOLLOWS THE CURVATURE
OF THE %ARTH THUS CAUSING DETECTION OF BOTH FIXED AND MOVING CLUTTER AT LONG RANGES
&IGURE FROM 3HRADER SHOWS 00) PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN WITH AN !232
RADAR
MOUNTED ON A
FT TOWER IN FLAT COUNTRY NEAR !TLANTIC #ITY .EW *ERSEY 7ITH NORMAL
PROPAGATION THE EXPECTED LINE
OF
SIGHT IS ABOUT NMI BUT THE CLUTTER ACTUALLY GOES
OUT TO NMI 4HE BRIDGES ACROSS THE INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY CAN BE SEEN /N OCCASION
THE UNWANTED LONG
RANGE CLUTTER AND WEATHER RETURNS COME FROM AMBIGUOUS RANGES
&)'52% !NOMALOUS PROPAGATION DUCTING A NMI MAXIMUM
RANGE AND B NMI MAXIMUM RANGE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE RADAR SYSTEM MUST HAVE FEATURES TO COPE WITH THESE SITUATIONS &OR EXAMPLE IF PULSE
TO
PULSE STAGGERING IS USED THE AMBIGUOUS
RANGE CLUTTER WILL NOT CANCEL AND EITHER THE
02) MUST BE INCREASED OR THE 02) MUST BE MADE CONSTANT OVER THE AZIMUTH ANGLES FROM
WHICH THE AMBIGUOUS RANGE CLUTTER IS RECEIVED !ND BE FOREWARNED OF A PITFALL INTO WHICH
MANY RADAR DESIGNERS HAVE FALLEN &OR EXAMPLE WHEN PRESENTED WITH THE REQUIREMENT
TO TRACK TARGETS THE DESIGNER MAY NOT REALIZE THAT RADAR RETURNS FROM THE TARGETS OF
INTEREST MAY BE EMBEDDED IN SIMILAR RETURNS FROM THOUSANDS OF UNWANTED TARGETS
! TYPICAL LONG
RANGE AIR
TRAFFIC
CONTROL RADAR HAS SUFFICIENT SENSITIVITY TO DETECT A
SINGLE LARGE BIRD SUCH AS A CROW SEAGULL OR VULTURE APPROXIMATE 2#3 OF SQUARE
METER AT A RANGE OF MILES )F THERE ARE MANY SUCH BIRDS IN THE RESOLUTION CELL OF THE
RADAR THEN THE COMPOSITE 2#3 INCREASES 4EN LARGE BIRDS IN A RESOLUTION CELL WILL HAVE
AN 2#3 OF SQUARE METER 7HEN MULTIPATH REFLECTIONS OCCUR SUCH AS OVER THE OCEAN
WHEN THE RADAR BEAM IS CENTERED AT THE HORIZON THERE CAN BE UP TO A D" ENHANCEMENT
OF THE 2#3 OF THE BIRDS GIVING AN APPARENT 2#3 GREATER THAN ONE SQUARE METER TO THE
FLOCK OF BIRDS )F THERE IS BIRD OR BIRD FLOCK PER SQUARE MILE THERE WILL BE ABOUT
BIRD RETURNS WITHIN MILES OF THE RADAR
4ECHNIQUES USED TO COUNTER UNWANTED TARGETS ARE AS FOLLOWS
3ENSITIVITY TIME CONTROL 34# USED FOR ELIMINATING LOW 2#3 TARGETS IN LOW 02&
RADARSTHAT IS RADARS THAT HAVE NO RANGE AMBIGUITIES UNDER NORMAL OPERATION
%NHANCED HIGH
ANGLE GAIN ANTENNAS
4WO
BEAM ANTENNASBEAM LIFTED ABOVE THE HORIZON FOR SHORT
RANGE RECEPTION AND
THEN LOWERED TO HORIZON FOR LONG RANGE
-4$ TECHNIQUES USING CLUTTER MAPS !LSO COUNTING DETECTIONS IN SMALL RANGE
AZIMUTH SECTORS AND INCREASING DETECTION THRESHOLDS IN EACH SECTOR IF TOO MANY
DETECTIONS OCCUR
02&S HIGH ENOUGH SO THAT ALL TARGETS WITH RADIAL VELOCITIES BELOW KNOTS CAN BE
CENSORED
3ENSITIVITY VELOCITY CONTROL 36# WHICH CENSORS RADIALLY SLOW SMALL TARGETS
WHILE ACCEPTING RADIALLY FAST TARGETS AND LARGE TARGETS
#OMBINATIONS OF TECHNIQUES THROUGH ARE USED IN MOST AIR
TRAFFIC
CONTROL RADARS
WHERE THE SMALLEST TARGETS OF INTEREST HAVE AN 2#3 OF ONE
SQUARE METER OR GREATER
4ECHNIQUES AND ARE USED WHEN THE DESIRED TARGETS MAY HAVE RADAR CROSS SECTIONS
SIMILAR TO OR SMALLER THAN A BIRD
4ECHNIQUE 34# IS THE TRADITIONAL METHOD OF SUPPRESSING BIRDS AND INSECTS IN A
RADAR WITH AN UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE 02& A 02& LOW ENOUGH SO THAT THE RANGE TO TARGETS
AND CLUTTER IS UNAMBIGUOUS 34# DECREASES THE SENSITIVITY OF THE RADAR AT SHORT RANGE
AND THEN INCREASES SENSITIVITY USUALLY USING A FOURTH
POWER LAW AS RANGE INCREASES
4HIS HAS THE EFFECT OF NOT PERMITTING DETECTION OF TARGETS WITH APPARENT RADAR CROSS SEC
TIONS OF SAY LESS THAN SQUARE METER &IGURE SHOWS HOW EFFECTIVE 34# CAN BE
AGAINST BIRDS 4HESE 00) PHOTOS WERE TAKEN WITH AN , BAND !232 AIR
ROUTE SURVEIL
LANCE RADAR IN /KLAHOMA .OTE THAT THE MAJORITY OF RETURNS FROM BIRDS WERE ELIMI
NATED BUT NOT &IGURE SHOWS THE EFFECT OF 34# AGAINST BATS AND INSECTSo
o $AYTIME BIRD RETURNS AND NIGHTTIME BAT AND INSECT RETURNS CAN OFTEN BE SEEN IN REAL TIMETHE EXTENT DEPENDS ON THE
WEATHER AND TIME OF YEARON THE .%82!$ 732
$ WEATHER RADAR IMAGES ON THE ./!! )NTERNET SITES
-4) 2!$!2
&)'52% 34# CAN GREATLY REDUCE THE NUMBER OF BIRDS DISPLAYED 2ANGE NMI A "IRDS SEEN WITH
-4) AND B BIRDS SEEN WITH -4) AND 34#
&)'52% )NSECTS WITH AND WITHOUT 34# AND RANGE MILES A BATS AND INSECTS SEEN WITH -4) AND
B BATS AND INSECTS SEEN WITH -4) AND 34#
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE TYPICAL DOPPLER RADAR IMAGES PRESENTED BY 46 WEATHER FORECASTERS OFTEN HAVE THE
BIRDS AND BATS AND INSECTS REMOVED BY HUMAN INTERVENTION
4ECHNIQUE 34# WORKS QUITE WELL FOR UNWANTED BIOLOGICAL RETURNS NEAR THE PEAK
OF THE RADAR BEAM BUT WHEN USED WITH A COSECANT
SQUARED ANTENNA BEAM IT SOLVES ONE
PROBLEM BUT CREATES ANOTHER IT ALSO DECREASES SENSITIVITY TO DESIRED TARGETS AT HIGH
ELEVATION ANGLES WHERE THE ANTENNA GAIN IS LOW 4HE SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM IS TO BOOST
THE ANTENNA GAIN AT HIGH ELEVATION ANGLES TO BE CONSIDERABLY HIGHER THAN THE REQUIRE
MENT FOR THE COSECANT
SQUARED PATTERN .OT ONLY DOES THIS COMPENSATE FOR THE USE OF
34# BUT ALSO ENHANCES THE TARGET
TO
CLUTTER SIGNAL RATIO FOR TARGETS AT HIGH ELEVATION
ANGLES THUS IMPROVING -4) PERFORMANCE 4HE PENALTY FOR THIS SOLUTION IS A LOSS IN THE
PEAK ANTENNA GAIN THAT CAN BE ACHIEVED !N ILLUSTRATION OF THIS APPROACH IS PROVIDED
IN &IGURE WHICH SHOWS BOTH THE !232
ANTENNA PATTERN AND THE CORRESPONDING
FREE
SPACE COVERAGE
&)'52% !NTENNA ELEVATION PATTERN FOR THE !232 ANTENNA
A COMPARED WITH THE COSECANT SQUARED PATTERN AND B FREE SPACE
COVERAGE DIAGRAM
-4) 2!$!2
4HE LOSS IN PEAK GAIN FOR THIS EXAMPLE DUE TO THE BOOST OF COVERAGE AT HIGH ANGLES
WAS ABOUT D" 4HE COMBINATION OF 34# WITH ENHANCED HIGH
ANGLE COVERAGE DOES
QUITE WELL FOR INSECTS AND BIRDS BUT DOES NOT ELIMINATE AUTOMOBILE AND TRUCK RETURNS
6EHICLES HAVE 2#3S THAT EQUAL OR EXCEED THE 2#3 OF MANY DESIRED AIRCRAFT TARGETS
4ECHNIQUE 4HE TWO
BEAM TECHNIQUE REDUCES THE RETURNS FROM VERY LOW ELEVA
TION ANGLES WHERE VEHICLE TRAFFIC AND MANY BIRDS BATS AND INSECTS IS ENCOUNTERED
4HE RADAR TRANSMITS ENERGY USING THE BASIC PATTERN BUT USES A HIGHER ANGLE BEAM
FOR RECEPTION AT SHORTER RANGES AND THE BASIC ANTENNA PATTERN FOR RECEIVING AT LONGER
RANGES &IGURE SHOWS UNDERNEATH THE TRANSMITTING FEED HORN A SECOND RECEIVE
ONLY ANTENNA FEED HORN FOR THE HIGH BEAM 4HE EFFECTIVE TWO
WAY ANTENNA PATTERNS ARE
SHOWN IN &IGURE
!S PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED THE ABOVE TECHNIQUES 34# TWO
BEAM ANTENNAS AND
SOME VARIATION OF -4$ ARE CURRENTLY USED ON MANY AIR
TRAFFIC
CONTROL RADARS 4HE
TWO
BEAM ANTENNAS ALSO UTILIZE SOME HIGH
ANGLE GAIN ENHANCEMENT TO COUNTER THE
HIGH
ANGLE EFFECTS OF 34#
4ECHNIQUE 4HE -4$ APPROACH IS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
4ECHNIQUE ! BRUTE
FORCE TECHNIQUE USED TO ELIMINATE TARGETS WITH RADIAL
VELOCITIES OF LESS THAN APPROXIMATELY o KNOTS RESULTING IN A TOTAL REJECTION INTERVAL
OF KNOTS 4O KEEP THIS REJECTION OF VELOCITIES TO NO MORE THAN OF THE DOPPLER
SPACE AVAILABLE THE AMBIGUOUS VELOCITY MUST BE ABOUT KNOTS 4HIS REQUIRES
02&S OF (Z AT , BAND (Z AT 3 BAND AND AT 8 BAND UNAMBIGUOUS
RANGES RESPECTIVELY NMI NMI AND NMI 4HE MAIN CHALLENGE WITH THIS TECH
NIQUE IS THAT FIXED CLUTTER RETURNS FROM MANY RANGE AMBIGUITIES AS WELL AS ALL TARGETS
OF INTEREST FOLD INTO THE FIRST RANGE INTERVAL 4HUS EXCELLENT CLUTTER REJECTION MUST BE
PROVIDED TO PREVENT FOLDED CLUTTER FROM SUPPRESSING TARGETS OF INTEREST WHICH MAY
BE AT ANY TRUE RANGE
4ECHNIQUE 36# AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION IS USED WHEN IT IS NECESSARY TO
DISTINGUISH VERY LOW 2#3 TARGETS FROM LOW VELOCITY CLUTTER SUCH AS BIRDS INSECTS AND
SEA 3OMEWHAT LOWER 02&S CAN BE USED THAN THOSE USED FOR TECHNIQUE BECAUSE THE
&)'52% 4WO BEAM ANTENNA
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
% "&$!$"%
"( #!$ %
'
"(
#!$ %
'
#! &% $
&)'52% %XAMPLE OF COVERAGE OBTAINED WITH A TWO BEAM ANTENNA
LOGIC PERMITS RETAINING MANY OF THE TARGETS WITH SMALLER RADIAL VELOCITIES IF THEIR 2#3
IS LARGE ENOUGH 36# STILL REJECTS BIRD CLUTTER BUT RETAINS FOR EXAMPLE THE FAST INCOM
ING THREATENING LOW
2#3 MISSILE WHILE ALSO RETAINING THE LARGER CROSS
SECTION AIRCRAFT
WITH LOWER RADIAL VELOCITIES
,
,
3 !PPLEBAUM h-ATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTION OF 6)#) v 'ENERAL %LECTRIC #O 3YRACUSE .9 2EPORT
.O !7#3
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7 7 3HRADER h-4) 2ADAR v #HAP IN 2ADAR (ANDBOOK - ) 3KOLNIK ED .EW 9ORK
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#HAPTER
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i` ->`>iI
.AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY RETIRED
-9-/
-1-
, ",
//
+1
!IRBORNE SEARCH RADARS WERE INITIALLY DEVELOPED FOR THE DETECTION OF SHIPS BY LONG
RANGE
PATROL AIRCRAFT $URING THE LATTER PART OF 7ORLD 7AR )) AIRBORNE EARLY
WARNING !%7
RADARS WERE DEVELOPED BY THE 53 .AVY TO DETECT LOW
FLYING AIRCRAFT APPROACHING A
TASK FORCE BELOW THE RADAR COVERAGE OF THE SHIPS ANTENNA 4HE ADVANTAGE OF THE AIR
BORNE PLATFORM IN EXTENDING THE MAXIMUM DETECTION RANGE FOR AIR AND SURFACE TARGETS IS
APPARENT WHEN ONE CONSIDERS THAT THE RADAR HORIZON IS NMI FOR A
FT ANTENNA MAST
COMPARED WITH APPROXIMATELY NMI FOR A
FT AIRCRAFT ALTITUDE
4HE AIRCRAFT CARRIERnBASED %
$ AIRCRAFT &IGURE USES !%7 RADAR AS THE PRIMARY
SENSOR IN ITS AIRBORNE TACTICAL DATA SYSTEM 4HESE RADARS WITH THEIR EXTENSIVE FIELD OF
VIEW ARE REQUIRED TO DETECT SMALL AIRBORNE TARGETS AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF SEA AND
LAND CLUTTER "ECAUSE THEIR PRIMARY MISSION IS TO DETECT LOW
FLYING AIRCRAFT THEY CANNOT
ELEVATE THEIR ANTENNA BEAM TO ELIMINATE THE CLUTTER 4HESE CONSIDERATIONS HAVE LED TO
THE DEVELOPMENT OF AIRBORNE -4) !-4) RADAR SYSTEMS SIMILAR TO THOSE USED IN
SURFACE RADARS n DISCUSSED IN THE PRECEDING CHAPTER
4HE MISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR AN !%7 RADAR DRIVE THE NEED FOR AZIMUTHAL COV
ERAGE AND LONG
RANGE DETECTION CAPABILITY 4HE AZIMUTHAL COVERAGE REQUIREMENT
IS BECAUSE THE !%7 RADAR SYSTEM IS GENERALLY REQUIRED TO PROVIDE THE FIRST DETECTION OF
AIRBORNE TARGETS WITHOUT ANY A PRIORI KNOWLEDGE OF THE LOCATION OF THESE TARGETS !%7
SYSTEMS HAVE GENERALLY BEEN DEVELOPED AT LOWER FREQUENCIESTHIS CAN BE UNDERSTOOD
BY REVIEWING THE SURVEILLANCE RADAR RANGE EQUATION
2MAX
0A !E S T
TS
P K4 &N , 3 . 7
3ECTIONS THROUGH AND WERE TAKEN PRIMARILY FROM THE SECOND EDITION OF THE 2ADAR (ANDBOOK #HAPTER
AUTHORED BY &RED 3TAUDAHER WITH REVISIONS MADE BY *AMES $AY 4HE REMAINING SECTIONS OF THE CHAPTER WERE
AUTHORED BY *AMES $AY
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% % $ AIRBORNE EARLY WARNING !%7 AIRCRAFT SHOWING ROTODOME
HOUSING THE ANTENNA
WHERE TS IS THE SCAN TIME AND 7 IS THE SURVEILLANCE VOLUME COVERAGE REQUIREMENT PROD
UCT OF THE AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION ANGLES
!S LONG AS THE BEAMWIDTHS OF THE RADAR IN AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION ARE SMALLER THAN
THE REGION TO BE SURVEILLED THIS EQUATION IS NOT DIRECTLY DEPENDENT UPON FREQUENCY
(OWEVER KEY PARAMETERS IN THIS EQUATION ARE DEPENDENT UPON FREQUENCY 0ARTICULARLY
PROPAGATION LOSSES FOR LOW ALTITUDE TARGETS AND TARGET 2#3 FOR SOME TARGET TYPES ARE
GENERALLY ADVANTAGEOUS FOR LOWER FREQUENCIES 4HE RESULT IS THAT !%7 SYSTEMS HAVE
BEEN DEVELOPED AT 5(& , BAND AND 3 BAND FREQUENCIES
!IRBORNE -4) RADAR SYSTEMS HAVE ALSO BEEN UTILIZED TO ACQUIRE AND TRACK TARGETS IN
INTERCEPTOR FIRE CONTROL SYSTEMS )N THIS APPLICATION THE SYSTEMS HAVE TO DISCRIMINATE
AGAINST CLUTTER ONLY IN THE VICINITY OF A PRESCRIBED TARGET 4HIS ALLOWS THE SYSTEM TO BE
OPTIMIZED AT THE RANGE AND ANGULAR SECTOR WHERE THE TARGET IS LOCATED -4) IS ALSO USED
TO DETECT MOVING GROUND VEHICLES BY RECONNAISSANCE AND TACTICAL FIGHTER AIRCRAFT
4HE ENVIRONMENT OF HIGH PLATFORM ALTITUDE MOBILITY AND SPEED COUPLED WITH
RESTRICTIONS ON SIZE WEIGHT AND POWER CONSUMPTION PRESENT A UNIQUE SET OF PROBLEMS
TO THE DESIGNER OF AIRBORNE -4) SYSTEMS 4HIS CHAPTER WILL BE DEVOTED TO CONSIDER
ATIONS UNIQUE TO THE AIRBORNE ENVIRONMENT
"6
,
" -
,/" 3EARCH RADARS GENERALLY REQUIRE n AZIMUTHAL COVERAGE 4HIS COVERAGE IS DIFFICULT
TO OBTAIN ON AN AIRCRAFT SINCE MOUNTING AN ANTENNA IN THE CLEAR PRESENTS MAJOR DRAG
STABILITY AND STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS 7HEN EXTENSIVE VERTICAL COVERAGE IS REQUIRED THE
AIRCRAFTS PLANFORM AND VERTICAL STABILIZER DISTORT AND SHADOW THE ANTENNA PATTERN
!NALYSIS OF TACTICAL REQUIREMENTS MAY SHOW THAT ONLY A LIMITED COVERAGE SECTOR IS
REQUIRED (OWEVER THIS SECTOR USUALLY HAS TO BE CAPABLE OF BEING POSITIONED OVER THE
FULL n RELATIVE TO THE AIRCRAFTS HEADING BECAUSE OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR COVERAGE
!)2"/2.% -4)
&)'52% "OEING 7EDGETAIL AIRCRAFT SHOWING ANTENNAS MOUNTED
ABOVE THE FUSELAGE
WHILE REVERSING COURSE LARGE CRAB ANGLES WHEN HIGH WINDS ARE ENCOUNTERED THE NEED
TO POSITION GROUND TRACK IN RELATION TO WIND NONTYPICAL OPERATING SITUATIONS AND OPERA
TIONS REQUIREMENTS FOR COVERAGE WHILE PROCEEDING TO AND FROM THE STATION
(OWEVER IN THE S AND S A NUMBER OF SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED THAT PRO
VIDE PHASED ARRAY PERFORMANCE IN AN AIRBORNE PLATFORM 4HE -ULTI 2OLE %LECTRONICALLY
3CANNED !RRAY -%3! RADAR DEVELOPED BY .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN ON A "OEING
FOR THE !USTRALIAN 7EDGETAIL PROGRAM IS AN EXAMPLE SEE &IGURE !N ALTERNATE SOLU
TION THAT COMBINES MECHANICAL SCANNING IN CONJUNCTION WITH ELECTRONIC SCANNING IS IN
DEVELOPMENT WITH THE !.!09 RADAR FOR THE % $ AIRCRAFT FOLLOW UP TO THE 53
.AVYS % # AIRCRAFT
, ", /* ,",
,6 ,4HE PERFORMANCE OF AIRBORNE -4) SYSTEMS ARE PRIMARILY DETERMINED BY MOTION EFFECTS
INDUCED ON THE CLUTTER ECHOES PLATFORM MOTION ANTENNA SCANNING MOTION AND CLUTTER INTER
NAL MOTION THE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES USED TO ENHANCE TARGET DETECTION AND MAXIMIZE CLUT
TER CANCELLATION AND THE HARDWARE STABILITY LIMITATIONS OF THE RADAR 4HIS CHAPTER WILL DISCUSS
THE MOTION EFFECTS AS WELL AS THE PERFORMANCE OF VARIOUS PROCESSING TECHNIQUES
{ * /", "/" //1
/-" /*
,",
-4) DISCRIMINATES BETWEEN AIRBORNE MOVING TARGETS AND STATIONARY LAND OR SEA CLUTTER
(OWEVER IN THE AIRBORNE CASE THE CLUTTER MOVES WITH RESPECT TO THE MOVING AIRBORNE
PLATFORM )T IS POSSIBLE TO COMPENSATE FOR THE MEAN CLUTTER RADIAL VELOCITY BY USING
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% $EFINING GEOMETRY @
ANTENNA POINTING ANGLE @ LINE
OF
SIGHT ANGLE P ANGLE
FROM ANTENNA CENTERLINE 6G AIRCRAFT GROUND SPEED 6R RADIAL VELOCITY OF POINT TARGET 6" RADIAL
VELOCITY ALONG ANTENNA CENTERLINE BORESIGHT X ANTENNA AZIMUTH ANGLE X AZIMUTH ANGLE 2
GROUND RANGE TO POINT TARGET AND ( AIRCRAFT HEIGHT
TECHNIQUES SUCH AS TIME
AVERAGED
CLUTTER COHERENT AIRBORNE RADAR 4!##!2 4HIS
TECHNIQUE ATTEMPTS TO CENTER THE LARGEST RETURN FROM MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER AT ZERO DOPPLER
FREQUENCY SUCH THAT A SIMPLE -4) FILTER ALSO CENTERED AT ZERO DOPPLER FREQUENCY WILL
CANCEL THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER
!S SHOWN IN &IGURE THE APPARENT RADIAL VELOCITY OF THE CLUTTER IS 6R
6G COS @
WHERE 6G IS THE GROUND SPEED OF THE PLATFORM AND A IS THE ANGLE SUBTENDED BETWEEN THE LINE
OF
SIGHT TO A POINT ON THE %ARTHS SURFACE AND THE AIRCRAFTS VELOCITY VECTOR &IGURE SHOWS
THE LOCI OF CONSTANT RADIAL VELOCITY ALONG THE SURFACE )N ORDER TO NORMALIZE THE FIGURE A FLAT
EARTH IS ASSUMED AND THE NORMALIZED RADIAL VELOCITY 6N 6R6G IS PRESENTED AS A FUNCTION OF
AZIMUTH ANGLE X AND NORMALIZED GROUND RANGE 2( WHERE ( IS THE AIRCRAFTS ALTITUDE
)NSTEAD OF A SINGLE CLUTTER DOPPLER FREQUENCY CORRESPONDING TO A CONSTANT RADIAL
VELOCITY 6" IN &IGURE DETERMINED BY THE ANTENNA POINTING ANGLE @ THE RADIAL
SEES A CONTINUUM OF VELOCITIES 4HIS RESULTS IN A FREQUENCY SPECTRUM AT A PARTICULAR
RANGE WHOSE SHAPE IS DETERMINED BY THE ANTENNA PATTERN THAT INTERSECTS THE SURFACE THE
REFLECTIVITY OF THE CLUTTER AND THE VELOCITY DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE BEAM &URTHERMORE
SINCE 6R VARIES AS A FUNCTION OF RANGE AT A PARTICULAR AZIMUTH X THE CENTER FREQUENCY
AND SPECTRUM SHAPE VARY AS A FUNCTION OF RANGE AND AZIMUTH ANGLE X
7HEN THE ANTENNA IS POINTING AHEAD THE PREDOMINANT EFFECT IS THE VARIATION OF THE CEN
TER FREQUENCY CORRESPONDING TO THE CHANGE IN @ WITH RANGE 7HEN THE ANTENNA IS POINTING
!)2"/2.% -4)
&)'52% ,OCI OF CONSTANT NORMALIZED RADIAL VELOCITY 6R6G AS A FUNC
TION OF AIRCRAFT RANGE
TO
HEIGHT RATIO 2( AND AZIMUTH ANGLE X
ABEAM THE PREDOMINANT EFFECT IS THE VELOCITY SPREAD ACROSS THE ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH 4HESE
ARE CLASSIFIED AS THE SLANT
RANGE EFFECT AND THE PLATFORM
MOTION EFFECT RESPECTIVELY
%FFECT OF 3LANT 2ANGE ON $OPPLER /FFSET 4HE ANTENNA BORESIGHT VELOCITY 6" IS
THE GROUND
VELOCITY COMPONENT ALONG THE ANTENNA CENTERLINE BORESIGHT AND IS GIVEN
AS n6G COS @ )F THE CLUTTER SURFACE WERE COPLANAR WITH THE AIRCRAFT THIS COMPONENT
WOULD BE EQUAL TO
6G COS X AND WOULD BE INDEPENDENT OF RANGE 4HE RATIO OF THE
ACTUAL BORESIGHT VELOCITY TO THE COPLANAR BORESIGHT VELOCITY IS DEFINED AS THE NORMAL
IZED BORESIGHT
VELOCITY RATIO
6"2
COS A
COS F
COSY
WHERE E IS THE DEPRESSION ANGLE OF THE ANTENNA CENTERLINE FROM THE HORIZONTAL &IGURE
SHOWS THE VARIATION OF THE NORMALIZED BORESIGHT
VELOCITY RATIO AS A FUNCTION OF SLANT RANGE
FOR A CURVED EARTH AND DIFFERENT AIRCRAFT ALTITUDES 4HE VARIATION IS FAIRLY RAPID FOR SLANT
RANGES LESS THAN NMI
)T IS DESIRABLE TO CENTER THE CLUTTER SPECTRUM IN THE NOTCH IE MINIMUM
RESPONSE
REGION OF THE !-4) FILTER IN ORDER TO OBTAIN MAXIMUM CLUTTER REJECTION 4HIS CAN BE
ACCOMPLISHED BY OFFSETTING THE )& OR 2& FREQUENCY OF THE RADAR SIGNAL BY AN AMOUNT
EQUAL TO THE AVERAGE DOPPLER FREQUENCY OF THE CLUTTER SPECTRUM "ECAUSE THE CLUTTER
CENTER FREQUENCY VARIES WITH RANGE AND AZIMUTH WHEN THE RADAR IS MOVING IT IS NECES
SARY FOR THE FILTER NOTCH TO TRACK THE DOPPLER
OFFSET FREQUENCY USING AN OPEN
OR CLOSED
LOOP CONTROL SYSTEM SUCH AS 4!##!2 DESCRIBED BELOW
!N EXAMPLE OF A RECEIVED CLUTTER SPECTRUM GIVEN AN ANTENNA RESPONSE IS SHOWN
IN &IGURE A 4HE 4!##!2 FREQUENCY OFFSET THEN SHIFTS MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER TO ZERO
DOPPLER AS SHOWN IN &IGURE B
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% .ORMALIZED BORESIGHT VELOCITY RATIO 6"2 AS A FUNCTION OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SLANT RANGE
2S AND AIRCRAFT ALTITUDE ( FOR DIFFERENT AIRCRAFT ALTITUDES
4!##!2 4HE -)4 ,INCOLN ,ABORATORY ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED 4!##!2 TO SOLVE
THE !-4) RADAR PROBLEM 4HE REQUIREMENTS AND THUS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 4!##!2
CHANGE DEPENDING UPON THE TYPE OF CLUTTER CANCELLATION PROCESSING EMPLOYED !FTER
MANY OTHER APPROACHES IT WAS RECOGNIZED THAT IF ONE USED THE CLUTTER RETURN RATHER THAN
THE TRANSMIT PULSE TO PHASE
LOCK THE RADAR TO THE CLUTTER FILTER ONE COULD CENTER THE CLUT
TER IN THE FILTER STOPBAND 4HE CLUTTER PHASE VARIES FROM RANGE CELL TO RANGE CELL OWING
TO THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE LOCATION OF THE SCATTERERS IN AZIMUTH (ENCE IT IS NECESSARY
TO AVERAGE THE RETURN FOR AS LONG AN INTERVAL AS POSSIBLE 4!##!2 IS USED TO DESCRIBE
THE CENTERING OF THE RETURNED CLUTTER SPECTRUM TO THE ZERO FILTER FREQUENCY 3INCE THE
TECHNIQUE COMPENSATES FOR DRIFT IN THE VARIOUS SYSTEM ELEMENTS AND BIASES IN THE MEAN
DOPPLER FREQUENCY DUE TO OCEAN CURRENTS CHAFF OR WEATHER CLUTTER IT IS USED IN SHIP
BOARD AND LAND
BASED RADARS AS WELL AS AIRBORNE RADAR
! FUNCTIONAL BLOCK DIAGRAM OF AN AIRBORNE RADAR EMPLOYING 4!##!2 IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE 4HE CLUTTER ERROR SIGNAL IS OBTAINED BY MEASURING THE PULSE
TO
PULSE PHASE
SHIFT VD4P OF THE CLUTTER RETURN 4HIS PROVIDES A VERY SENSITIVE ERROR SIGNAL 4HE AVER
AGED ERROR SIGNAL CONTROLS A VOLTAGE
CONTROLLED COHERENT MASTER OSCILLATOR #/-/
WHICH DETERMINES THE TRANSMITTED FREQUENCY OF THE RADAR 4HE #/-/ IS SLAVED TO
&)'52% #LUTTER 0OWER 3PECTRAL $ENSITY 03$ RESPONSE THROUGH ANTENNA PATTERN A WITHOUT
4!##!2 FREQUENCY OFFSET AND B WITH 4!##!2 FREQUENCY OFFSET
!)2"/2.% -4)
&)'52% "LOCK DIAGRAM OF A RADAR ILLUSTRATING THE SIGNAL FLOW PATH OF THE 4!##!2 CONTROL LOOP
THE SYSTEM REFERENCE OSCILLATOR FREQUENCY VIA THE AUTOMATIC FREQUENCY CONTROL !&#
LOOP SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HIS PROVIDES A STABLE REFERENCE IN THE ABSENCE OF CLUTTER
!N INPUT FROM THE AIRCRAFT INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM AND THE ANTENNA SERVO PROVIDE A
PREDICTED DOPPLER OFFSET 4HESE INPUTS ALLOW THE 4!##!2 SYSTEM TO PROVIDE A NARROW
BANDWIDTH CORRECTION SIGNAL
"ECAUSE OF THE NOISY NATURE OF THE CLUTTER SIGNAL THE NEED TO HAVE THE CONTROL SYSTEM
BRIDGE REGIONS OF WEAK CLUTTER RETURN AND THE REQUIREMENT NOT TO RESPOND TO THE DOP
PLER SHIFT OF A TRUE TARGET THE CONTROL SYSTEM USUALLY TRACKS THE AZIMUTH VARIATION OF
A SPECIFIC RADAR RANGE INTERVAL 4HE MAXIMUM RANGE OF THIS INTERVAL IS CHOSEN SO THAT
CLUTTER WILL BE THE DOMINANT SIGNAL WITHIN THE INTERVAL 4HE MINIMUM RANGE IS CHOSEN
TO EXCLUDE SIGNALS WHOSE AVERAGE FREQUENCY DIFFERS SUBSTANTIALLY FROM THE FREQUENCY
IN THE REGION OF INTEREST
!LTERNATE APPROACHES TO PROVIDING THIS FREQUENCY OFFSET CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WITH
DIGITAL EXCITERS OR ON RECEIVE &OR SOME APPLICATIONS IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO USE MULTIPLE
CONTROL LOOPS EACH ONE COVERING A SPECIFIC RANGE INTERVAL OR TO VARY THE OFFSET FRE
QUENCY IN RANGE 4HIS IS POSSIBLE IF THE FREQUENCY OFFSET IS IMPLEMENTED ON RECEIVE BUT
NOT ON TRANSMIT !T ANY PARTICULAR RANGE THE FILTER NOTCH IS EFFECTIVELY AT ONE FREQUENCY
AND THE CENTER FREQUENCY OF THE CLUTTER SPECTRUM AT ANOTHER 4HE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THESE FREQUENCIES RESULTS IN A DOPPLER
OFFSET ERROR AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE CLUTTER
SPECTRUM WILL EXTEND INTO MORE OF THE FILTER PASSBAND AND THE CLUTTER IMPROVEMENT
FACTOR WILL BE DEGRADED 4HE REQUIRED ACCURACY FOR THE 4!##!2 CONTROL LOOP CAN BE
RELAXED IF THE -4) FILTER IS AN ADAPTIVE FILTER SUCH AS WITH SPACE
TIME ADAPTIVE PROCESS
ING DISCUSSED LATER IN THIS CHAPTER 4HIS IS BECAUSE THE ADAPTIVE FILTER WILL ADJUST TO THE
RECEIVED SIGNALS AND OPTIMIZE CLUTTER CANCELLATION
7ITHOUT ADAPTIVE ADJUSTMENT &IGURE SHOWS THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR SINGLE
AND DOUBLE
DELAY CANCELERS AS A FUNCTION OF THE RATIO OF THE NOTCH
OFFSET ERROR TO THE
PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY 02& FOR DIFFERENT CLUTTER SPECTRAL WIDTHS &ORTUNATELY THE
PLATFORM
MOTION SPECTRUM IS NARROW IN THE FORWARD SECTOR OF COVERAGE WHERE OFFSET
ERROR IS MAXIMUM !N OFFSET ERROR OF ONE
HUNDREDTH OF THE 02& WOULD YIELD A D"
IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR A DOUBLE CANCELER WITH AN INPUT CLUTTER SPECTRUM WHOSE WIDTH
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% %FFECT OF DOPPLER OFFSET ERROR FR 02&
WAS OF THE 02& )F THE RADAR FREQUENCY WERE '(Z 02& K(Z AND GROUND SPEED
KT THE NOTCH WOULD HAVE TO BE HELD WITHIN KT OR 6G
"ECAUSE OF THESE REQUIREMENTS AND THE WIDTH OF THE PLATFORM MOTION SPECTRUM STAG
GER 02& SYSTEMS MUST BE CHOSEN PRIMARILY ON THE BASIS OF MAINTAINING THE STOPBAND
RATHER THAN FLATTENING THE PASSBAND 3IMILARLY HIGHER ORDER DELAY LINE FILTERS WITH OR
WITHOUT FEEDBACK ARE SYNTHESIZED ON THE BASIS OF STOPBAND REJECTION 4HE LIMITING CASE
IS THE NARROWBAND FILTER BANK WHERE EACH INDIVIDUAL FILTER CONSISTS OF A SMALL PASSBAND
THE BALANCE BEING STOPBAND
)MPROVEMENT FACTOR IS AN IMPORTANT METRIC BUT IN ADDITION TO THIS AVERAGE METRIC
DEFINED ACROSS ALL DOPPLER FREQUENCIES IT IS OFTEN IMPORTANT TO CHARACTERIZE THE PERFOR
MANCE AS A FUNCTION OF DOPPLER FREQUENCY PARTICULARLY WITH COHERENT DOPPLER FILTERING
IMBEDDED IN THE PROCESSING CHAIN 7ITH PERFORMANCE CHARACTERIZED VERSUS DOPPLER
&)'52% )MPROVEMENT FACTOR ) VERSUS NORMALIZED DOPPLER OFFSET R
E AS A FUNCTION OF CLUTTER
SPECTRUM WIDTH R C
!)2"/2.% -4)
FREQUENCY THE RADAR DESIGN CAN THEN BE EVALUATED THROUGH THE COMPLETE DETECTION CHAIN
AND OPTIMIZED IN CONJUNCTION WITH ANY MULTIPLE 02& STAGGER WAVEFORMS UTILIZED TO
BRIDGE -4) BLIND REGIONS
0LATFORM
-OTION %FFECT 4O AN AIRBORNE RADAR A CLUTTER SCATTERER APPEARS TO HAVE A
RADIAL VELOCITY THAT DIFFERS FROM THE ANTENNA
BORESIGHT RADIAL VELOCITY AT THE SAME RANGE BY
6E 6R
6"
6G COS A
6G COS A
6G ;COS A
COSA Q =
6X SIN Q 6Y SIN
Q
FOR SMALL VALUES OF P AND DEPRESSION ANGLE E WHERE 6X IS THE HORIZONTAL COMPONENT
OF VELOCITY PERPENDICULAR TO THE ANTENNA BORESIGHT AND 6Y IS THE COMPONENT ALONG THE
ANTENNA BORESIGHT P IS THE AZIMUTHAL ANGLE FROM THE ANTENNA BORESIGHT OR THE INTERSEC
TION OF THE VERTICAL PLANE CONTAINING THE BORESIGHT WITH THE GROUND 4HE CORRESPONDING
DOPPLER FREQUENCY WHEN @ IS A FEW BEAMWIDTHS FROM GROUND TRACK IS
FD
6X
6
SIN Q y X Q
L
L
4HIS PHENOMENON RESULTS IN A PLATFORM
MOTION CLUTTER POWER SPECTRUM THAT IS WEIGHTED
BY THE ANTENNAS TWO
WAY POWER PATTERN IN AZIMUTH 4HE TRUE SPECTRUM MAY BE APPROX
IMATED BY A GAUSSIAN SPECTRUM
( F E
F
DS
PM
E
6 Q
X LS
PM
y ' Q
'P THE TWO WAY POWER PATTERN OF THE ANTENNA IS WHEN P PA WHERE PA IS
THE HALF POWER BEAMWIDTH WHICH CAN BE APPROXIMATED BY KA A BEING THE EFFECTIVE
HORIZONTAL APERTURE WIDTH 4HUS
6
X AS
PM
OR
S PM
6X
A
WHERE 6X AND A ARE IN CONSISTENT UNITS 4HIS VALUE IS LOWER THAN ONES DERIVED BY OTHER
AUTHORS (OWEVER IT AGREES WITH MORE EXACT ANALYSIS OF ANTENNA RADIATION PATTERNS
AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA ANALYZED BY & 3TAUDAHER
! MORE EXACT VALUE OF THE PARAMETER RPM MAY BE OBTAINED BY MATCHING A TWO
WAY
POWER PATTERN OF INTEREST WITH THE GAUSSIAN APPROXIMATION AT A SPECIFIC POINT ON THE PAT
TERN DETERMINING THE STANDARD DEVIATION OF P BY USING STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES OR FITTING
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% %FFECT OF PLATFORM MOTION ON THE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR
AS A FUNCTION OF THE FRACTION OF THE HORIZONTAL ANTENNA APERTURE DISPLACED PER
INTERPULSE PERIOD 6X4PA
THE PATTERN AND USING NUMERICAL METHODS 4HE CALCULATION OF THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR
CAN BE PERFORMED BY AVERAGING THE RESULTANT RESIDUE POWER OBTAINED BY SUMMING THE
SIGNAL PHASORS AT SPECIFIC VALUES OF P FROM NULL TO NULL OF THE ANTENNA PATTERN
&IGURE SHOWS THE EFFECT OF PLATFORM MOTION ON THE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR AS
A FUNCTION OF THE APERTURE DISPLACED IN THE PLANE OF THE APERTURE PER INTERPULSE PERIOD 4P
! DISPLACEMENT REDUCES THE DOUBLE
DELAY IMPROVEMENT FACTOR TO D" 4HIS COR
RESPONDS TO A SPEED OF KT IF THE SYSTEM HAS A 02& OF (Z AND A
FT ANTENNA
APERTURE &OR A SINGLE
DELAY SYSTEM THE DISPLACEMENT HAS TO BE HELD TO FOR A
D" PERFORMANCE LIMIT
x * /", "/"
" *
-/"
4HE DELETERIOUS EFFECTS OF PLATFORM MOTION CAN BE REDUCED BY PHYSICALLY OR ELECTRONI
CALLY DISPLACING THE ANTENNA PHASE CENTER ALONG THE PLANE OF THE APERTURE 4HIS IS REFERRED
TO AS THE DISPLACED PHASE CENTER ANTENNA $0#! TECHNIQUEn )N ADDITION SOME FORMS
OF SPACE
TIME ADAPTIVE PROCESSING ARE EXPRESSLY DEVELOPED TO IMPROVE CLUTTER CANCELLA
TION WITH AN ADAPTIVE FILTER ELECTRONICALLY DISPLACING THE ANTENNA PHASE CENTER
%LECTRONICALLY $ISPLACED 0HASE #ENTER !NTENNA &IGURE A SHOWS THE
PULSE
TO
PULSE PHASE ADVANCE OF AN ELEMENTAL SCATTERER AS SEEN BY THE RADAR RECEIVER
!)2"/2.% -4)
&)'52% 0HASOR DIAGRAM SHOWING THE RETURN FROM A POINT SCATTERER DUE TO PLATFORM
MOTION
4HE AMPLITUDE % OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE TWO
WAY ANTENNA FIELD
INTENSITY 4HE PHASE ADVANCE IS
H P FD4P
P 6X4P SIN Q
L
WHERE FD DOPPLER SHIFT OF SCATTERER %Q
4P INTERPULSE PERIOD
&IGURE B SHOWS A METHOD OF CORRECTING FOR THE PHASE ADVANCE G !N IDEALIZED
CORRECTION SIGNAL %C IS APPLIED LEADING THE RECEIVED SIGNAL BY n AND LAGGING THE NEXT
RECEIVED SIGNAL BY n &OR EXACT COMPENSATION THE FOLLOWING RELATION WOULD HOLD
%C % TAN H Q TAN
P 6X4P SIN Q
L
4HIS ASSUMES A TWO
LOBE ANTENNA PATTERN SIMILAR TO THAT IN A MONOPULSE TRACKING
RADAR 4WO RECEIVERS ARE USED ONE SUPPLYING A SUM SIGNAL 3P AND THE OTHER A
DIFFERENCE SIGNAL $P 4HE DIFFERENCE SIGNAL IS USED TO COMPENSATE FOR THE EFFECTS
OF PLATFORM MOTION
)F THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO TRANSMIT THE SUM PATTERN 3P AND RECEIVE BOTH 3P AND
A DIFFERENCE PATTERN $P THEN AT THE DESIGN SPEED THE RECEIVED SIGNAL 3P $P CAN BE
APPLIED AS THE CORRECTION SIGNAL 4HE ACTUAL CORRECTION SIGNAL USED TO APPROXIMATE %C IS
K 3P $P WHERE K IS THE RATIO OF THE AMPLIFICATION IN THE SUM AND DIFFERENCE CHANNELS
OF THE RECEIVER
! UNIFORMLY ILLUMINATED MONOPULSE ARRAY HAS THE DIFFERENCE SIGNAL $ IN QUADRA
TURE WITH THE SUM AND HAS THE AMPLITUDE RELATIONSHIP
P7
$Q Q TAN
SIN Q
L
WHERE 7 IS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE PHASE CENTERS OF THE TWO HALVES OF THE ANTENNA
(ENCE A CHOICE OF 7 6X4P AND K WOULD IDEALLY RESULT IN PERFECT CANCELLATION
)N PRACTICE A SUM PATTERN IS CHOSEN BASED ON THE DESIRED BEAMWIDTH GAIN AND
SIDELOBES FOR THE DETECTION SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 4HEN THE DIFFERENCE PATTERN $P IS
SYNTHESIZED INDEPENDENTLY BASED ON THE RELATIONSHIP REQUIRED AT DESIGN RADAR PLATFORM
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SPEED AND ALLOWABLE SIDELOBES 4HE TWO PATTERNS MAY BE REALIZED BY COMBINING THE
ELEMENTS IN SEPARATE CORPORATE
FEED STRUCTURES
&IGURE SHOWS THE IDEALIZED IMPROVEMENT FACTOR AS A FUNCTION OF NORMALIZED
APERTURE MOVEMENT FOR A DOUBLE
DELAY CANCELER 4HE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR SHOWN IS
THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR A POINT SCATTERER AVERAGED OVER THE NULL
TO
NULL ANTENNA
BEAMWIDTH )N ONE CASE THE GAIN RATIO K IS OPTIMIZED AT EACH VALUE OF PULSE
TO
PULSE
DISPLACEMENT )N THE OTHER COMPENSATED CASE THE OPTIMUM GAIN RATIO K IS APPROXIMATED
BY THE LINEAR FUNCTION OF INTERPULSE PLATFORM MOTION K6X
! BLOCK DIAGRAM OF THE DOUBLE
DELAY SYSTEM IS SHOWN IN &IGURE ! SINGLE
DELAY
SYSTEM WOULD NOT HAVE THE SECOND DELAY LINE AND SUBTRACTOR 4HE NORMALLY REQUIRED
CIRCUITRY FOR MAINTAINING COHERENCE GAIN AND PHASE BALANCE AND TIMING IS NOT SHOWN
4HE SPEED CONTROL 6X IS BIPOLAR AND MUST BE CAPABLE OF REVERSING THE SIGN OF THE $P
SIGNAL IN EACH CHANNEL WHEN THE ANTENNA POINTING ANGLE CHANGES FROM THE PORT TO THE
STARBOARD SIDE OF THE AIRCRAFT
&)'52% -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR $0#! COMPENSATION AS A
FUNCTION OF THE FRACTION OF THE HORIZONTAL PHASE CENTER SEPARATION 7 THAT
THE HORIZONTAL ANTENNA APERTURE IS DISPLACED PER INTERPULSE PERIOD 6X4P7
7 A WHERE A IS THE HORIZONTAL APERTURE LENGTH
!)2"/2.% -4)
&)'52% 3IMPLIFIED DOUBLE DELAY $0#! MECHANIZATION
4HE HYBRID AMPLIFIER SHOWN HAS TWO INPUT TERMINALS THAT RECEIVE 3P AND J$P
AND AMPLIFY THE $P CHANNEL BY K6X RELATIVE TO THE 3P CHANNEL 4HE OUTPUT TER
MINALS PRODUCE THE SUM AND DIFFERENCE OF THE TWO AMPLIFIED INPUT SIGNALS "ECAUSE
$0#! COMPENSATES FOR THE COMPLEX SIGNAL BOTH AMPLITUDE AND PHASE INFORMATION
MUST BE RETAINED 4HEREFORE THESE OPERATIONS USUALLY OCCUR AT 2& OR )& $IGITAL
COMPENSATION CAN BE USED IF SYNCHRONOUS DETECTION AND ANALOG TO DIGITAL !$
CONVERSION ARE PERFORMED AND THE COMPONENTS ARE TREATED AS COMPLEX PHASORS
&URTHERMORE THE OPERATIONS MUST BE LINEAR UNTIL THE SUM SIGNAL AND DIFFERENCE SIG
NALS HAVE BEEN PROCESSED BY THE HYBRID AMPLIFIER !FTER THIS SINGLE
PULSE COMBINA
TION THE ACTUAL DOUBLE CANCELLATION CAN BE PERFORMED BY ANY CONVENTIONAL -4)
PROCESSING TECHNIQUES
0OWER IN THE !NTENNA 3IDELOBES !IRBORNE SYSTEMS ARE LIMITED IN THEIR ABILITY
TO REJECT CLUTTER DUE TO THE POWER RETURNED BY THE ANTENNA SIDELOBES 4HE FULL n
AZIMUTHAL PATTERN SEES VELOCITIES FROM
6G TO 6G 4HE COMPENSATION CIRCUITS OFFSET
THE VELOCITY BY AN AMOUNT CORRESPONDING TO THE ANTENNA BORESIGHT VELOCITY 6" BUT THE
TOTAL RANGE OF DOPPLER FREQUENCIES CORRESPONDING TO 6G IS OBTAINED BECAUSE OF ECHOES
RECEIVED VIA THE SIDELOBES &OR AIRBORNE SYSTEMS WITH LOW 02&S THESE DOPPLER FRE
QUENCIES CAN COVER SEVERAL MULTIPLES OF THE 02& SO THAT THE SIDELOBE POWER IS FOLDED
INTO THE FILTER 4HIS LIMITATION IS A FUNCTION OF THE ANTENNA POINTING ANGLE THE -4) FILTER
RESPONSE AND THE SIDELOBE PATTERN )F THE SIDELOBES ARE RELATIVELY WELL DISTRIBUTED IN
AZIMUTH A MEASURE OF PERFORMANCE CAN BE OBTAINED BY AVERAGING THE POWER RETURNED
BY THE SIDELOBES
4HE LIMITING IMPROVEMENT FACTOR DUE TO SIDELOBES IS
P
)SL LIMIT
+ ' Q DQ
P
SL ' Q DQ
WHERE THE LOWER INTEGRAL IS TAKEN OUTSIDE THE MAIN BEAM REGION -AIN BEAM EFFECTS
WOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE PLATFORM MOTION IMPROVEMENT FACTOR 4HE CONSTANT + IS THE
NOISE NORMALIZATION FACTOR FOR THE -4) FILTER + FOR SINGLE DELAY AND FOR DOUBLE
DELAY 'P IS THE TWO WAY POWER OF THE ANTENNA IN THE PLANE OF THE GROUND SURFACE
4HE $0#! PERFORMANCE DESCRIBED IN THE PRECEDING SUBSECTION CAN BE ANALYZED ON
THE BASIS OF RADIATION PATTERNS OR THE EQUIVALENT APERTURE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION )F THE
RADIATION PATTERN IS USED THE COMPOSITE PERFORMANCE MAY BE OBTAINED EITHER BY APPLY
ING THE PATTERN FUNCTIONS OVER THE ENTIRE n PATTERN OR BY COMBINING THE IMPROVEMENT
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
FACTORS FOR THE $0#! MAIN
BEAM AND THE SIDELOBE REGIONS IN THE SAME MANNER AS PARAL
LEL IMPEDANCES ARE COMBINED
) TOTAL ) SL ) $0#!
)F THE APERTURE DISTRIBUTION IS USED THE SIDELOBE EFFECTS ARE INHERENT IN THE ANALYSIS
#ARE MUST BE TAKEN HOWEVERIF THE ARRAY OR REFLECTOR FUNCTION IS USED WITHOUT CON
SIDERING THE WEIGHTING OF THE ELEMENTAL PATTERN OR THE FEED DISTRIBUTION THE INHERENT
SIDELOBE PATTERN CAN OBSCURE THE MAIN
BEAM COMPENSATION RESULTS
!GAIN THE PERFORMANCE VERSUS DOPPLER FREQUENCY IS IMPORTANT FOR EVALUATING
OVERALL RADAR DETECTION PERFORMANCE !NTENNA SIDELOBE LIMITED PERFORMANCE CAN BE
APPROXIMATED BY PERFORMING THE LOWER INTEGRAL OF %Q OVER THOSE ANGLES THAT MAP
INTO A GIVEN DOPPLER FILTERS PASSBAND 4HE NOISE NORMALIZATION TERM K MUST ALSO BE
MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE CASCADED NOISE GAIN OF THE -4) AND DOPPLER FILTER BANK AS
.
.
.
I
I
I
. G K 7I
7I 7I COS P K . 7I 7I COS P K .
K .
FOR THREE PULSE -4) AND CASCADED . PULSE DOPPLER FILTER BANK WHERE 7I ARE THE DOP
PLER FILTER WEIGHTS OR
.
.
I
I
. G K 7I 7I 7I COSP K .
K .
FOR TWO PULSE -4) AND CASCADED . PULSE DOPPLER FILTER BANK
-
"/"
" *
-/"
&IGURE A SHOWS A TYPICAL ANTENNA MAIN
BEAM RADIATION PATTERN AND THE RESPONSE OF
A POINT SCATTERER FOR TWO SUCCESSIVE PULSES WHEN THE ANTENNA IS SCANNING )T IS SEEN THAT
THE SIGNALS RETURNED WOULD DIFFER BY $'P 4HIS RESULTS IN IMPERFECT CANCELLATION DUE
TO SCANNING 4HE AVERAGE EFFECT ON THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR CAN BE OBTAINED BY INTEGRAT
ING THIS DIFFERENTIAL EFFECT $'P OVER THE MAIN BEAMS
)SCAN
Q
Q
\ ' Q \ DQ
Q
Q \ 'Q 4PQ 'Q \ DQ
FOR SINGLE DELAY CANCELLATION
)SCAN
Q
Q
A
\ ' Q \ DQ
Q
Q \ 'Q 4PQ 'Q 'Q 4PQ \ DQ
WHERE P NULL OF MAIN BEAM
'P TWO WAY VOLTAGE PATTERN
FOR DOUBLE DELAY CANCELLATIONN
B
!)2"/2.% -4)
&)'52% !NTENNA SCANNING EFFECTS A AS SEEN BY THE ANTENNA RADIATION PATTERN DUE TO THE APPARENT
CHANGE IN AZIMUTH OF THE SCATTERER Q Q Q 4P B AS SEEN BY THE APERTURE ILLUMINATION FUNCTION DUE
TO THE APPARENT MOTION V XQ OF THE SCATTERER RELATIVE TO THE ANTENNA AT POSITION X AND C STEP SCAN
COMPENSATION OF TWO RECEIVED PHASORS
)N ORDER TO TREAT SCANNING MOTION IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN THE APPARENT CLUTTER
VELOCITY SEEN BY THE SCANNING ANTENNA IS EXAMINED TO DETERMINE THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY
%ACH ELEMENT OF AN ARRAY OR INCREMENTAL SECTION OF A CONTINUOUS APERTURE CAN BE CON
SIDERED AS RECEIVING A DOPPLER
SHIFTED SIGNAL DUE TO THE RELATIVE MOTION OF THE CLUTTER
4HE POWER RECEIVED BY THE ELEMENT IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE TWO
WAY APERTURE POWER
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION &X AT THE ELEMENT
)N ADDITION TO THE VELOCITY SEEN BY ALL ELEMENTS BECAUSE OF THE MOTION OF THE PLAT
FORM EACH ELEMENT SEES AN APPARENT CLUTTER VELOCITY DUE TO ITS ROTATIONAL MOTION AS
ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE B 4HE APPARENT VELOCITY VARIES LINEARLY ALONG THE APERTURE
(ENCE THE TWO
WAY APERTURE DISTRIBUTION IS MAPPED INTO THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN 4HE
RESULTING POWER SPECTRUM DUE TO THE ANTENNA SCANNING IS
L F
( F &
Q
a F a
AQ
L
WHERE Q ANTENNA ROTATION RATE
A HORIZONTAL ANTENNA APERTURE
4HIS SPECTRUM CAN BE APPROXIMATED BY A GAUSSIAN DISTRIBUTION WITH STANDARD DEVIATION
S C
FR
AQ
Q
y
N
QA
L
WHERE K AND A ARE IN THE SAME UNITS PA IS THE ONE WAY HALF POWER BEAMWIDTH AND N
IS THE NUMBER OF HITS PER BEAMWIDTH 4HE APPROXIMATION PA y KA IS REPRESENTATIVE OF
AN ANTENNA DISTRIBUTION YIELDING ACCEPTABLE SIDELOBE LEVELS
)T CAN BE SEEN THAT THE ANTENNA PATTERN PULSE TO PULSE DIFFERENTIAL GAIN IS
$' Q
D' Q
D' Q
$Q
Q 4P
DQ
DQ
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HIS SUGGESTS THAT A CORRECTION SIGNAL IN THE REVERSE SENSE TO $'P BE APPLIED
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE C (ALF THE CORRECTION IS ADDED TO ONE PULSE AND HALF SUBTRACTED
FROM THE OTHER SO THAT
#ORRECTION SIGNAL
$' Q Q4P D Q
DQ
D Q
Q4P Q
DQ
WHERE 3P WAS SUBSTITUTED FOR 'P 4HE RADAR TRANSMITS A SUM PATTERN 3P AND
RECEIVES ON THE DIFFERENCE PATTERN $P SO THAT THE RECEIVED SIGNAL IS PROPORTIONAL TO
THE PRODUCT OF THE TWO )F THE SIGNAL RECEIVED ON THE DIFFERENCE PATTERN IS USED AS THE
CORRECTION WE HAVE
%C $P 3P
"Y COMPARING %QS AND WE SEE THAT FOR %C TO APPROXIMATE THE CORRECTION
SIGNAL THE DIFFERENCE PATTERNS SHOULD BE
D Q
$Q Q4P
DQ
4HE DERIVATIVE OF THE SUM PATTERN IS SIMILAR TO A DIFFERENCE PATTERN IN THAT IT IS POSITIVE
AT THE MAIN
BEAM NULL
P DECREASES TO ZERO ON THE ANTENNA CENTERLINE AND THEN GOES
NEGATIVE UNTIL P
2EFERRING TO &IGURE ONE OBSERVES THAT THE MECHANIZATION FOR SCAN COMPENSA
TION IS FUNDAMENTALLY SIMILAR TO THE $0#! MECHANIZATION EXCEPT THAT THE DIFFERENCE
SIGNAL IS APPLIED IN PHASE WITH THE SUM SIGNAL AND AMPLIFIED BY AN AMOUNT DETERMINED
BY THE ANTENNA ROTATION PER INTERPULSE PERIOD
4HE SIGNALS REQUIRED IF THE TRANSMISSION SIGNAL 3P THAT APPEARS IN EACH CHANNEL
IS NEGLECTED ARE 3Q o LQ4P $Q WHERE L IS THE RATIO OF THE AMPLIFICATION IN THE TWO
CHANNELS CHOSEN TO MAXIMIZE THE CLUTTER REJECTION 4HE REQUIRED DIFFERENCE
PATTERN
SLOPE IS DETERMINED BY THE DERIVATIVE OF THE SCAN PATTERN WHICH DIFFERS FROM THE $0#!
CRITERION 4HIS TECHNIQUE IS KNOWN AS STEP
SCAN COMPENSATION BECAUSE THE SYSTEM ELEC
TRONICALLY POINTS THE ANTENNA SLIGHTLY AHEAD OF AND BEHIND OF BORESIGHT EACH PULSE SO
THAT A LEADING AND LAGGING PAIR ARE TAKEN FROM SUCCESSIVE RETURNS TO OBTAIN THE EFFECT OF
THE ANTENNA REMAINING STATIONARY
&IGURE SHOWS THE IMPROVEMENT OBTAINED BY $ICKEY AND 3ANTA FOR SINGLE
DELAY CANCELLATION
#OMPENSATION
0ATTERN 3ELECTION 3ELECTION OF THE COMPENSATION PATTERN
DEPENDS ON THE LEVEL OF SYSTEM PERFORMANCE REQUIRED THE TYPE OF -4) FILTERING USED THE
PLATFORM VELOCITY SCAN RATE AND THE CHARACTERISTICS REQUIRED BY NORMAL RADAR PARAMETERS
SUCH AS RESOLUTION DISTORTION GAIN SIDELOBES ETC &OR INSTANCE AN EXPONENTIAL PATTERN
AND ITS CORRESPONDING DIFFERENCE PATTERN ARE EXCELLENT FOR SINGLE
DELAY
CANCELLATION
$0#! BUT ARE UNSATISFACTORY WHEN DOUBLE
DELAY CANCELLATION IS USED 4HIS IS BECAUSE
THE SINGLE
DELAY CANCELER REQUIRES THE BEST MATCH BETWEEN THE ACTUAL PATTERN AND THE
REQUIRED PATTERN NEAR BORESIGHT WHEREAS DOUBLE CANCELLATION REQUIRES THE BEST MATCH
!)2"/2.% -4)
&)'52% -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR A
STEP SCAN COMPENSATION OF A SINGLE DELAY CANCELER
AS A FUNCTION OF THE NUMBER OF HITS PER BEAMWIDTH
4HE ANTENNA PATTERN IS SIN X X
ON THE BEAM SHOULDER 3TEP SCAN COMPENSATION USUALLY REQUIRES THE DIFFERENCE PATTERN
PEAKS TO BE NEAR THE NULLS OF THE SUM PATTERN TO MATCH
'RISSETTI ET AL HAVE SHOWN THAT FOR STEP SCAN COMPENSATION THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR
FOR SINGLE DELAY CANCELLATION INCREASES AS A FUNCTION OF THE NUMBER OF HITS AT D"
DECADE FOR THE FIRST DERIVATIVE
TYPE STEP SCAN COMPENSATION AT THE RATE OF D"
DECADE AND WITH FIRST AND SECOND DERIVATIVE COMPENSATION AT THE RATE OF D"DECADE
(ENCE FOR A GROUND BASED SYSTEM THAT IS LIMITED BY SCAN RATE ONE SHOULD IMPROVE THE
COMPENSATION PATTERN RATHER THAN USE A HIGHER ORDER -4) CANCELER (OWEVER AIRBORNE
SYSTEMS ARE PRIMARILY LIMITED BY PLATFORM MOTION AND REQUIRE BOTH BETTER CANCELERS AND
COMPENSATION FOR OPERATION IN A LAND CLUTTER ENVIRONMENT )N THE SEA CLUTTER ENVIRON
MENT THE SYSTEM IS USUALLY DOMINATED BY THE SPECTRAL WIDTH OF THE VELOCITY SPECTRUM OR
PLATFORM MOTION RATHER THAN SCANNING 4HE APPLICABILITY OF $0#! OR STEP SCAN COMPEN
SATION IN THE LATTER CASE IS DEPENDENT ON THE PARTICULAR SYSTEM PARAMETERS
4HE COMPENSATION REQUIRED BY $'P CAN BE DETERMINED FROM A 4AYLORS SERIES EXPANSION OF 'P )N THE PRE
CEDING DISCUSSION WE USED THE FIRST DERIVATIVE 5SING HIGHER ORDER TERMS GIVES AN IMPROVED CORRECTION SIGNAL
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
- 1 /
"1-* /", "/"
-
" *
-/"
)N !-4) SYSTEMS HAVING MANY HITS PER SCAN SCANNING IS A SECONDARY LIMITATION FOR
AN UNCOMPENSATED DOUBLE CANCELER (OWEVER THE PERFORMANCE OF A $0#! SYSTEM IS
SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED WHEN IT IS SCANNED 4HIS IS DUE TO THE SCANNING MODULATION ON THE
DIFFERENCE PATTERN USED FOR PLATFORM
MOTION COMPENSATION
3INCE THE $0#! APPLIES THE DIFFERENCE PATTERN IN QUADRATURE TO THE SUM PATTERN TO
COMPENSATE FOR PHASE ERROR AND STEP SCAN APPLIES THE DIFFERENCE PATTERN IN PHASE TO COM
PENSATE FOR AMPLITUDE ERROR IT IS POSSIBLE TO COMBINE THE TWO TECHNIQUES BY PROPERLY
SCALING AND APPLYING THE DIFFERENCE PATTERN BOTH IN PHASE AND IN QUADRATURE 4HE SCALING
FACTORS ARE CHOSEN TO MAXIMIZE THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR UNDER CONDITIONS OF SCANNING
AND PLATFORM MOTION
4HE RELATIONSHIPS FOR A DOUBLE
DELAY THREE
PULSE !-4) ARE SHOWN IN THE PHASOR
DIAGRAM IN &IGURE 4HE PHASE ADVANCE BETWEEN THE FIRST PAIR OF PULSES FIRST AND
SECOND PULSE FOR THE THREE
PULSE -4) RECEIVED BY THE SUM PATTERN 3 IS
H
P 4P
L
W R 4P
W 4P
6X SIN Q SIN 6Y COS R COS Q
AND THE PHASE ADVANCE BETWEEN THE SECOND PAIR OF PULSES SECOND AND THIRD PULSE FOR
THE THREE
PULSE -4) IS
H
P 4P
W R 4P
W 4P
6X SIN Q SIN
6Y COS R
COS Q
L
&)'52% 0HASOR DIAGRAM FOR SIMULTANEOUS SCANNING AND MOTION
COMPENSATION
!)2"/2.% -4)
WHERE P IS THE DIRECTION OF THE CLUTTER CELL WITH RESPECT TO THE ANTENNA POINTING ANGLE
WHEN THE SECOND PULSE IS RECEIVED AND VR IS THE ANTENNA SCAN RATE 4HE SUBSCRIPTS ON
THE RECEIVED SIGNALS 3I AND $I INDICATE THE PULSE RECEPTION SEQUENCE
4HE DIFFERENCE PATTERN $ IS USED TO GENERATE AN IN
PHASE CORRECTION FOR SCAN
NING MOTION AND A QUADRATURE CORRECTION FOR PLATFORM MOTION 4HIS PROCESS YIELDS
THE SET OF RESULTANT SIGNALS 2IJ WHERE THE SUBSCRIPT I DENOTES THE PULSE PAIR AND THE
SUBSCRIPT J DENOTES THE COMPONENT OF THE PAIR "ECAUSE G DOES NOT EQUAL G DIF
FERENT WEIGHTING CONSTANTS ARE REQUIRED FOR EACH PULSE PAIR 4HE VALUES OF K FOR THE
QUADRATURE CORRECTION OF THE FIRST PULSE PAIR K FOR THE QUADRATURE CORRECTION FOR
THE SECOND PULSE PAIR L FOR THE IN
PHASE CORRECTION FOR THE FIRST PULSE PAIR AND L
FOR THE SECOND PULSE PAIR ARE OPTIMIZED BY MINIMIZING THE INTEGRATED RESIDUE POWER
OVER THE SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE ANTENNA PATTERN USUALLY CHOSEN BETWEEN THE FIRST
NULLS OF THE MAIN BEAM
&IGURE SHOWS THE SUM AND DIFFERENCE MAIN
BEAM PATTERNS FOR AN APERTURE
WAVELENGTHS LONG &IGURE SHOWS THE RESIDUE FOR THE CASE WHEN THE FRACTION
OF THE HORIZONTAL APERTURE WIDTH A TRAVELED PER INTERPULSE PERIOD 4P 6N 6X4PA IS
EQUAL TO AND WHEN THE NUMBER OF WAVELENGTHS THAT THE APERTURE TIP ROTATES PER
INTERPULSE PERIOD 7N AVR4PK IS EQUAL TO 4HE CORRESPONDING IMPROVEMENT
FACTOR IS D"
4HE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR IS SHOWN IN &IGURE FOR A RANGE OF NORMALIZED PLATFORM
MOTION 6N AS A FUNCTION OF NORMALIZED SCANNING DISPLACEMENTS 7N 4HE NONSCANNING
CASE IS SHOWN AS 7N 4HE IMPROVEMENT FACTORS WERE COMPUTED FOR THE
WAVE
LENGTH APERTURE PATTERNS SHOWN IN &IGURE
!NDREWS HAS DEVELOPED AN OPTIMIZATION PROCEDURE FOR PLATFORM
MOTION COMPEN
SATION THAT ROTATES THE PHASORS DIRECTLY RATHER THAN BY USING A QUADRATURE CORRECTION 4HE
PROCEDURE DETERMINES THE ANTENNA FEED COEFFICIENTS FOR TWO COMPENSATION PATTERNS ONE
OF WHICH #P IS ADDED TO THE SUM PATTERN 3P AND FED TO THE UNDELAYED CANCELER
&)'52% 3UM AND DIFFERENCE PATTERNS USED TO DETERMINE $0#! PERFORMANCE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% $0#! CLUTTER RESIDUE VERSUS ANGLE FOR NORMALIZED DISPLACEMENT 6N
AND NORMALIZED SCANNING MOTION 7N
PATH AND THE OTHER #P WHICH IS ADDED TO THE SUM PATTERN AND FED TO THE DELAYED PATH
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE PROCEDURE WAS DEVELOPED FOR A SINGLE DELAY CANCELER AND
A NONSCANNING ANTENNA !NDREWS USED THE PROCEDURE TO MINIMIZE THE RESIDUE POWER
OVER THE FULL ANTENNA PATTERN WHICH INCLUDES THE MAIN BEAM AND SIDELOBE REGIONS
&)'52% $0#! IMPROVEMENT FACTOR VERSUS NORMALIZED PLATFORM MOTION 6N AS A FUNCTION OF NORMAL
IZED SCANNING MOTION 7N
!)2"/2.% -4)
&)'52% /PTIMIZED $0#! PHASE COMPENSATION
n * /", "/"
" *
-/" ]
",7, ,
/"
4HE PREVIOUS SECTIONS DISCUSSED THE COMPENSATION FOR THE COMPONENT OF PLATFORM
MOTION PARALLEL TO THE ANTENNA APERTURE 4!##!2 REMOVES THE AVERAGE COMPONENT
OF PLATFORM MOTION PERPENDICULAR TO THE APERTURE 4HE FORMER 7HEELER ,ABORATORIES
DEVELOPED THE #OINCIDENT 0HASE #ENTER 4ECHNIQUE #0#4 TO REMOVE THE SPECTRAL
SPREAD DUE TO THE VELOCITY COMPONENT PERPENDICULAR TO THE APERTURE AND DUE TO THE
COMPONENT PARALLEL TO THE APERTURE 2EMOVAL OF THE COMPONENT PARALLEL TO THE APERTURE
USES THE $0#! PATTERN SYNTHESIS TECHNIQUE DESCRIBED IN !NDERSON WHICH CREATES TWO
SIMILARLY SHAPED ILLUMINATION FUNCTIONS WHOSE PHASE CENTERS ARE PHYSICALLY DISPLACED
2EMOVAL OF THE COMPONENT PERPENDICULAR TO THE APERTURE IS ACCOMPLISHED BY A NOVEL
EXTENSION OF THIS CONCEPT
4HE FIRST TERM OF %Q FOR SPECTRAL WIDTH DUE TO PLATFORM MOTION APPROACHES ZERO AS
THE ANTENNA POINTS AHEAD (OWEVER THE SECOND TERM OF %Q DOMINATES AS THE ANTENNA
APPROACHES WITHIN A FEW BEAMWIDTHS OF THE AIRCRAFTS GROUND TRACK )N THIS REGION
FD y
6Y
Q 6YQ
SIN y
L
L
WHICH YIELDS A SINGLE
SIDED SPECTRUM THAT IS SIGNIFICANTLY NARROWER THAN THE SPECTRUM
ABEAM &OR MODERATE PLATFORM SPEEDS AND LOWER
FREQUENCY 5(& RADARS THIS EFFECT
IS NEGLIGIBLE AND COMPENSATION IS NOT REQUIRED
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
7HEN IT IS NECESSARY TO COMPENSATE FOR THIS EFFECT THE PHASE CENTER OF THE ANTENNA
MUST BE DISPLACED AHEAD OF THE APERTURE AND BEHIND THE APERTURE FOR ALTERNATE RECEIVE
PULSES SO THAT THE PHASE CENTERS ARE COINCIDENT FOR A MOVING PLATFORM 4HIS TECHNIQUE
CAN BE EXTENDED TO MORE THAN TWO PULSES BY USING THE NECESSARY PHASE
CENTER DIS
PLACEMENTS FOR EACH PULSE )N ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE EFFECTIVE 02& THE DISPLACEMENT
MUST COMPENSATE FOR THE TWO
WAY TRANSMISSION PATH 4O ACCOMPLISH THIS DISPLACEMENT
NEAR
FIELD ANTENNA PRINCIPLES ARE UTILIZED ! DESIRED APERTURE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION IS
SPECIFIED 4HE NEAR
FIELD AMPLITUDE AND PHASE ARE CALCULATED AT A GIVEN DISTANCE FROM
THE ORIGIN )F THIS FIELD IS USED AS THE ACTUAL ILLUMINATION FUNCTION A VIRTUAL APERTURE IS
CREATED WITH THE DESIRED DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION AT THE SAME DISTANCE BEHIND THE PHYSICAL
ANTENNA &IGURE A SHOWS THE PHASE AND AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION REQUIRED TO FORM
A UNIFORM VIRTUAL DISTRIBUTION DISPLACED BEHIND THE PHYSICAL APERTURE )T CAN BE SHOWN
THAT IF THE PHASE OF THE ILLUMINATION FUNCTION IS REVERSED E`
E THE DESIRED VIRTUAL
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION IS DISPLACED AHEAD OF THE APERTURE AS SHOWN IN &IGURE B
)N PRACTICE PERFORMANCE IS LIMITED BY THE ABILITY TO PRODUCE THE REQUIRED ILLUMINA
TION FUNCTION !S THE DISPLACEMENT INCREASES A LARGER PHYSICAL APERTURE SIZE IS REQUIRED
TO PRODUCE THE DESIRED VIRTUAL APERTURE SIZE OWING TO BEAM SPREADING 4HIS CAN BE SEEN
IN &IGURE 4HE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CORRECTION VARIES WITH ELEVATION ANGLE SINCE THE
&)'52% #0#4 CONCEPT SHOWING DISPLACEMENT OF THE PHASE CEN
TER A BEHIND THE PHYSICAL APERTURE AND B AHEAD OF THE PHYSICAL APER
TURE #OURTESY OF (AZELTINE )NC
!)2"/2.% -4)
&)'52% #0#4 CANCELLATION RATIO IN DECIBELS AS A FUNCTION OF RELATIVE INTERPULSE
MOTION AND BEAM POINTING DIRECTION #OURTESY OF (AZELTINE )NC
ACTUAL DISPLACEMENT ALONG THE LINE
OF
SLIGHT VARIES WITH ELEVATION ANGLE 4HIS EFFECT IS
MORE PRONOUNCED AT HIGHER AIRCRAFT SPEEDS AND HIGHER RADAR FREQUENCIES ! CHANGE IN
THE MAGNITUDE OF THE CORRECTION FACTOR OR EVEN THE COMPENSATION PATTERN WITH RANGE
HEIGHT AND VELOCITY COULD BE UTILIZED TO RETAIN PERFORMANCE
&IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE THEORETICAL -4) PERFORMANCE OF A #0#4 SYSTEM AS A
FUNCTION OF BEAM
POINTING DIRECTION AND INTERPULSE MOTION NORMALIZED TO THE INTERPULSE
MOTION USED TO DESIGN THE COMPENSATION PATTERN #ANCELLATION RATIO IS DEFINED AS THE
RATIO OF INPUT CLUTTER POWER TO OUTPUT CLUTTER RESIDUE POWER 4HE PEAK ON THE AXIS
IS TYPICAL OF THE OPTIMIZED $0#! PERFORMANCE ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE
-*
/
*/6
"/"
" *
-/"
)NTRODUCTION 3EVERAL METHODS HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED TO COMPENSATE FOR ANTENNA
MOTION !LL THESE TECHNIQUES ARE APPLIED IN THE RADAR DESIGN PHASE FOR A SPECIFIC SET OF
OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS #ONTROLS USUALLY AUTOMATIC ARE PROVIDED TO ADJUST WEIGHTS
FOR OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS AROUND THE DESIGN VALUE
4HE DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL RADAR TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMICAL HIGH
SPEED PROCESSORS
ALLOWS THE USE OF DYNAMIC SPACE
TIME ADAPTIVE ARRAY PROCESSING 34!0 WHEREBY
A SET OF ANTENNA PATTERNS THAT DISPLACE THE PHASE CENTER OF THE ARRAY BOTH ALONG AND
ORTHOGONAL TO THE ARRAY ARE CONTINUALLY SYNTHESIZED TO MAXIMIZE THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER
RATIO 3PATIAL ADAPTIVE ARRAY PROCESSING COMBINES AN ARRAY OF SIGNALS RECEIVED AT THE
SAME INSTANT OF TIME THAT ARE SAMPLED AT THE DIFFERENT SPATIAL LOCATIONS CORRESPONDING
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
TO THE ANTENNA ELEMENTS 4EMPORAL ADAPTIVE ARRAY PROCESSING COMBINES AN ARRAY OF
SIGNALS RECEIVED AT THE SAME SPATIAL LOCATION EG THE OUTPUT OF A REFLECTOR ANTENNA
THAT ARE SAMPLED AT DIFFERENT INSTANCES OF TIME SUCH AS SEVERAL INTERPULSE PERIODS FOR
AN ADAPTIVE -4) 3PACE
TIME ADAPTIVE ARRAY PROCESSING COMBINES A TWO
DIMENSIONAL
ARRAY OF SIGNALS SAMPLED AT DIFFERENT INSTANCES OF TIME AND AT DIFFERENT SPATIAL LOCATIONS
34!0 IS A FAIRLY BROAD TOPIC THAT HAS APPLICABILITY BEYOND THIS CHAPTER ON AIRBORNE
-4) RADAR 4HE PRIMARY MOTIVATION FOR 34!0 IS TO IMPROVE CLUTTER CANCELLATION PERFOR
MANCE AND TO BETTER INTEGRATE A RADARS SPATIAL PROCESSING ANTENNA SIDELOBE CONTROL AND
SIDELOBE JAMMING CANCELLATION WITH ITS TEMPORAL CLUTTER CANCELLATION PROCESSING
4HE APPLICABILITY OF 34!0 TO IMPROVING CLUTTER CANCELLATION MUST BE ASSESSED SPE
CIFICALLY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE KEY PERFORMANCE LIMITERS TO AIRBORNE -4) RADAR CLUT
TER CANCELLATION AS DESCRIBED AT THE START OF THIS CHAPTER 34!0 CAN IMPROVE A RADARS
MOTION COMPENSATION PERFORMANCE AND IS MORE ROBUST THAN NONADAPTIVE TECHNIQUES
IN ADDRESSING GENERALLY NON
DISPERSIVE ERRORS IN THE RADAR FRONT
END 34!0 WILL NOT
DIRECTLY ADDRESS CLUTTER INTERNAL MOTION EFFECTS ANTENNA SCANNING MOTION EFFECTS OR
OTHER HARDWARE STABILITY IMPACTS TO CLUTTER CANCELLATION PERFORMANCE 2ADAR DESIGNERS
NEED TO ASSESS THE KEY LIMITATIONS IN A SPECIFIC APPLICATION BEFORE JUMPING TO THE CON
CLUSION THAT 34!0 WILL IMPROVE PERFORMANCE
34!0S ABILITY TO INTEGRATE CLUTTER CANCELLATION TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL INTERFERENCE
CANCELLATION CAN BE QUITE IMPORTANT TO MANY RADAR SYSTEMS WHETHER THEY TYPICALLY HAVE TO
DEAL WITH INTENTIONAL JAMMING INTERFERENCE OR UNINTENTIONAL OR CASUAL ELECTROMAGNETIC
INTERFERENCE %-) 34!0 GETS AWAY FROM CASCADED SOLUTIONS SUCH AS ANALOG SIDELOBE
CANCELLERS FOLLOWED BY DIGITAL $0#! ANDOR -4) FILTERSTHAT DO NOT GENERALLY CREATE AN
OPTIMUM INTERFERENCE CANCELLATION SOLUTION
/PTIMAL !DAPTIVE 7EIGHTS -C'UFFIN 4HE OPTIMAL LINEAR ESTIMATE IS DETER
MINED BY REQUIRING THE ADAPTED ESTIMATION ERROR BE ORTHOGONAL TO THE OBSERVED VEC
TOR R 3TEADY
STATE CONDITIONS ARE ASSUMED IN THIS DERIVATION THUS THE CONDITION FOR
ORTHOGONALITY IS
%[R D
]
WHERE %[] IS THE EXPECTATION D IS THE ESTIMATION ERROR AND
IS THE COMPLEX CONJUGATE
4HE ADAPTIVELY WEIGHTED ESTIMATE IS OBTAINED BY WEIGHTING THE RECEIVED SIGNAL VECTOR
BY THE ESTIMATE OF THE ADAPTIVE WEIGHTS
S} W} g R
7ITH D DEFINED AS THE DESIRED SIGNAL A MAIN
BEAM TARGET THE ESTIMATION ERROR IS
OBTAINED FROM THE FOLLOWING EQUATION 4HEN SUBSTITUTING %Q INTO AND SOLV
ING FOR THE ADAPTIVE WEIGHT ESTIMATE YIELDS THE DESIRED CONDITION FOR OPTIMAL ADAPTIVE
WEIGHTING
E S} D W} g R D
%[R D
R g W} ] %[R D
]
2R W}
OR
W} 2R
%[R D
]
!)2"/2.% -4)
WHERE 2R %[R Rg] 4HE DESIRED SIGNAL D CAN BE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF S THE SIGNAL
VECTOR OF A TARGET LOCATED IN THE MAIN BEAM AND B THE UNADAPTED BEAM WEIGHT VECTOR
D Bg S 4HIS IS THEN SUBSTITUTED INTO %Q
W} 2R 2 S B
%QUATION IS EQUIVALENT TO THE MINIMUM MEAN SQUARE ERROR WEIGHT EQUATION
GIVEN BY 7IDROW WHICH HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE THE OPTIMUM SET THAT MAXIMIZES
THE SIGNAL
TO
INTERFERENCE RATIO (OWEVER COMPLEX VARIABLES ARE EMPLOYED HERE RATHER
THAN REAL VARIABLES 4HE INTERFERENCE COVARIANCE MATRIX IS FURTHER DESCRIBED IN TERMS OF
THE INDIVIDUAL NOISE JAMMING CLUTTER AND SIGNAL CONTRIBUTIONS
2R . ) +: 23
WHERE . IS RECEIVER NOISE POWER +: IS THE COVARIANCE MATRIX FOR CLUTTER TEMPORALLY COR
RELATED PLUS JAMMING SPATIALLY CORRELATED AND 2S IS THE SIGNAL COVARIANCE MATRIX
4AXONOMY OF 34!0 !RCHITECTURES 7ARD 4HE APPLICATION OF THE ADAPTIVE
WEIGHT EQUATION FROM %Q IN A RADAR SYSTEM PROVIDES NUMEROUS OPTIONS AND COM
PLICATIONS 4HE OPTIONS RANGE FROM A FULLY ADAPTIVE SOLUTION ACROSS ALL AVAILABLE ANTENNA
ELEMENTS AND ALL PULSES IN A COHERENT PROCESSING INTERVAL #0) TO REDUCED DEGREES OF
FREEDOM SOLUTIONS IN ORDER TO BE PRACTICAL 4HE FULLY ADAPTIVE SOLUTION ALSO ENCOUNTERS
PROBLEMS IN THE REAL
WORLD WHERE THE INTERFERENCE ENVIRONMENT IS NOT WELL BEHAVED
EG HOMOGENOUS CLUTTER )N ADDITION "RENNANS RULE INDICATES THAT TO ACHIEVE AN
ADAPTIVE SOLUTION WITHIN D" OF THE OPTIMUM ANSWER REQUIRES . . IS THE NUMBER OF
DEGREES OF FREEDOM INDEPENDENT INTERFERENCE SAMPLES CONTRIBUTING TO THE ADAPTIVE
WEIGHT ESTIMATE 7ITH ANTENNA ARRAY SIZES IN TENS TO HUNDREDS OF ELEMENTS AND #0)
LENGTHS OF TENS TO HUNDREDS OF PULSES THE NUMBER OF DEGREES OF FREEDOM CAN QUICKLY
GET QUITE LARGE RESULTING IN NOT ONLY FAIRLY COMPLEX ADAPTIVE WEIGHT PROCESSING BUT
ALSO THE MORE DIFFICULT PROBLEM OF OBTAINING ADEQUATE SAMPLE SUPPORT FROM CLUTTER AND
JAMMING INTERFERENCE FOR A GIVEN ADAPTIVE WEIGHT SOLUTION
!S SUCH IT IS IMPORTANT TO EXPLORE VARIOUS 34!0 ARCHITECTURE OPTIONS IMBEDDED IN A
RADAR DESIGN SOLUTION 4O BEGIN A FULLY ADAPTIVE ARRAY ARCHITECTURE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HIS IS FOR A LINEAR ARRAY ANTENNA WITH A DISTRIBUTED TRANSMITTER AND DIGITAL RECEIVERS CON
NECTED TO EACH ANTENNA ELEMENT 4HE ADAPTIVE WEIGHT SOLUTION IS DEVELOPED BASED ON AT
LEAST . - VECTOR SAMPLES R OF LENGTH - ANTENNA ELEMENTS BY . PULSES 4HE
ADAPTIVE WEIGHT SOLUTION IS DEVELOPED AND APPLIED TO THE RECEIVED SIGNALS FROM THE SAME
ANTENNA ELEMENTS AND PULSES OF DATA 4HE ADAPTIVE WEIGHTED RESPONSE IS TYPICALLY PRO
CESSED THROUGH DOPPLER FILTERING COHERENT INTEGRATION PRIOR TO DETECTION PROCESSING
7ARD DESCRIBES THE POSSIBLE 34!0 ARCHITECTURES IN THE CONTEXT OF A GENERALIZED
TRANSFORMATION MATRIX FOLLOWED BY THE ASSOCIATED 34!0 PROCESSING 4HE FOUR CATEGORIES
OF 34!0 ARCHITECTURES ARE ORGANIZED IN &IGURE 4HE TRADES FOR AN APPROPRIATE 34!0
DESIGN SOLUTION MUST BE MADE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE TYPE AND SIZE OF THE ANTENNA APERTURE
UNDER CONSIDERATION THE WAVEFORMS UNDER CONSIDERATIONPARTICULARLY THE NUMBER OF
PULSES PER #0)AND MOST IMPORTANTLY THE INTERFERENCE TO BE CANCELLED CLUTTER AND JAM
MING )N GENERAL FOR THE TRANSFORMATION AND DEGREES OF FREEDOM REDUCTION TO BE USEFUL
THE RESULTANT DEGREES OF FREEDOM MUST BE GREATER THAN THE INTERFERENCE RANK
0RE
$OPPLER %LEMENTAL !NTENNA 34!0 #ONCEPTUALLY THE SIMPLEST REDUCTION
IN DEGREES OF FREEDOM IS OBTAINED BY REDUCING THE NUMBER OF TEMPORAL DEGREES OF
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
! "
#
&
$
"
"
$
&
"
$
&
&
&
"
! "
#
#" "
""
"$
"
"
%!
&)'52% 34!0 RADAR BLOCK DIAGRAM
&)'52% 2EDUCED DIMENSION 34!0 ARCHITECTURES
!)2"/2.% -4)
FREEDOM IN 34!0 WHILE STILL PROCESSING THE FULL APERTURE SPATIALLY 4HIS IS SIMILAR TO
A CONVENTIONAL -4) OR $0#! ARCHITECTURE CASCADED WITH DOPPLER FILTERING 7E CALL
THIS ARCHITECTURE A PRE
DOPPLER ELEMENTAL
LEVEL 34!0 ARCHITECTURE &OR A THREE
PULSE
VERSION OF THIS ARCHITECTURE THERE ARE - DEGREES OF FREEDOM )N THIS ARCHITECTURE
PLATFORM MOTION COMPENSATION TAKES THE GENERAL FORM OF ADJUSTING THE ANTENNAS PHASE
CENTER OVER THE THREE TEMPORALLY SEPARATED BEAMS
! BASIC BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A RADAR INCORPORATING PRE
DOPPLER ELEMENTAL
LEVEL SPACE
TIME ADAPTIVE ARRAY PROCESSING IS SHOWN IN &IGURE !N INDIVIDUAL DUPLEXER IS
PLACED BETWEEN EACH TRANSMITTERS CHANNELIZED OUTPUT AND ITS CORRESPONDING ANTENNA
ELEMENT 0ROVISION COULD BE INCLUDED FOR ELECTRONIC BEAM STEERING USING HIGH
POWER
PHASE SHIFTERS OR TRANSMIT MODULES WITH LOW
POWER BEAM STEERING
/N RECEIVE EACH DUPLEXER OUTPUT IS SENT TO ITS OWN DIGITAL RECEIVER 4HE DIGITAL
RECEIVER OUTPUTS ARE PASSED THROUGH 02) DELAYS TO YIELD TEMPORALLY DISPLACED DATA
SAMPLES ! FULL COMPLEMENT OF ELEMENTS AND TIME
DELAYED SIGNALS ARE SAMPLED AND
USED TO GENERATE THE ADAPTIVE WEIGHTS 6ARIOUS ALGORITHMS ARE POSSIBLE TO GENERATE THE
ESTIMATE OF THE ADAPTIVE WEIGHTS FROM %Q 4HE FAIRLY SIMPLE ,EAST -EAN 3QUARED
ALGORITHM GENERALLY YIELDS FAIRLY SLOW CONVERGENCE RATES /THER ALGORITHMS CAN
SPEED UP THE ADAPTATION RATE BUT A MORE COMPLEX MECHANIZATION IS REQUIRED %XAMPLES
INCLUDE A 2ECURSIVE ,EAST 3QUARED ALGORITHM 1
2 DECOMPOSITION WITH 'RAM
3CHMIDT
ORTHOGONALIZATION OR A (OUSEHOLDER 4RANSFORMATION 4HE ADAPTIVE WEIGHTS ARE THEN
APPLIED TO THE RECEIVED SIGNALS AND BEAMFORMED TO GENERATE THREE SUM CHANNEL DETEC
TION BEAMS UNDELAYED ONE
02) DELAYED AND TWO
02) DELAYED BEAMS 4HESE BEAMS
ARE IN TURN ADDED TOGETHER TO FORM THE FINAL 34!0 WEIGHTED DETECTION BEAM
! SIMPLISTIC VIEW OF HOW THESE THREE BEAMS PERFORM MOTION COMPENSATION IS ILLUS
TRATED IN &IGURE FOR THE CASE WHERE THE APERTURE IS PARALLEL WITH THE RADARS PLATFORM
VELOCITY VECTOR 4HE FIRST PULSE RETURNS PHASE CENTER IS ADVANCED BY APERTURE WEIGHT
ING THE SECOND PULSE RETURNS PHASE CENTER IS ESSENTIALLY UNCHANGED FROM THE QUIESCENT
WEIGHTS AND THE THIRD PULSE RETURNS PHASE CENTER IS RETARDED BY APERTURE WEIGHTING
'IVEN IDEAL ANTENNA PATTERNS AND AN APERTURE LARGE ENOUGH TO ADJUST THE PHASE CENTERS
! " #
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&)'52% 34!0 BLOCK DIAGRAM ELEMENT SPACE PRE DOPPLER ELEMENT SPACE ARCHITECTURE
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2!$!2 (!.$"//+
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&)'52% !PERTURE CONTROL FOR PLATFORM MOTION COMPENSATION
FOR THE GIVEN PLATFORM MOTION THESE THREE APERTURES APPEAR AS IF THEY ARE STATIONARY
WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER #LUTTER CANCELLATION ACROSS THESE THREE PULSES IS NO LONGER
LIMITED BY PLATFORM MOTION EFFECTSTHE PRIMARY GOAL OF PLATFORM MOTION COMPENSATION
TECHNIQUES
/F COURSE THIS SIMPLEST CONDITION IS ONLY ILLUSTRATIVE AS GENERALLY THE ANTENNA ELE
MENTS DO NOT BEHAVE EXACTLY THE SAME AND THE PLATFORM MOTION COMPENSATION MUST DEAL
WITH MOTION NOT ONLY IN THE PLANE OF THE APERTURE BUT ALSO ORTHOGONAL TO THE APERTURE
0RE
$OPPLER "EAM
3PACE 34!0 4HE FIRST TYPE OF TRANSFORMATION TO BE CONSID
ERED IS SPATIALLY ORIENTED RESULTING IN BEAM
SPACE 34!0 ARCHITECTURES 4HIS TRANSFOR
MATION IS TYPICALLY REQUIRED FOR MANY LARGE APERTURES 4HE TRANSFORMATIONS CAN RANGE
FROM SIMPLE COLUMN BEAMFORMING TO OVERLAPPED SUBARRAYS TO BEAM
SPACE TRANSFOR
MATIONS SUCH AS A "UTLER MATRIX 4HE GENERAL GOAL IS TO REDUCE THE SPATIAL DEGREES OF
FREEDOM WHILE STILL PROVIDING ACCESS TO ARRAY RESPONSES THAT ALLOW FOR ADEQUATE CLUTTER
CANCELLATION AND BEAMS THAT CAN BE USED TO CANCEL DIRECTIONAL INTERFERENCE AS WELL 4HE
RESULTING BEAM RESPONSES MUST SPAN THE CLUTTER AND JAMMING INTERFERENCE SPATIALLY IN
ORDER FOR THIS TYPE OF TRANSFORMATION TO BE EFFECTIVE &OR EXAMPLE IF A RADARS CLUT
TER CANCELLATION PERFORMANCE IS DRIVEN BY MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER RESIDUE DUE TO PLATFORM
MOTION EFFECTS THE BEAM RESPONSES MUST SPAN THE RADARS MAIN
BEAM AND PROVIDE
DEGREES OF FREEDOM TO ALLOW FOR MOTION COMPENSATION IN THE ARRAY MAIN
BEAM )N ADDI
TION TO CANCEL DIRECTION INTERFERENCE JAMMING OR CASUAL %-) THE BEAM RESPONSES
!)2"/2.% -4)
MUST ALSO SPAN THE SPATIAL DIRECTIONS OF THAT INTERFERENCE !N EXAMPLE OF A SIMPLE
TRANSFORMATION OF THIS TYPE WOULD BE SIDELOBE CANCELER ARCHITECTURE WHERE THE BEAM
TRANSFORMATION WOULD GENERATE A SUM CHANNEL MAIN BEAM AND SELECT ELEMENTS FROM THE
APERTURE AS SIDELOBE CANCELLERS
0OST
$OPPLER %LEMENT !NTENNA 34!0 4HE SECOND TYPE OF TRANSFORMATION
LEADS TO WHAT ARE CALLED POST
DOPPLER 34!0 ARCHITECTURES !S THE NAME IMPLIES THE
ANTENNA ELEMENT SIGNALS ARE FIRST DOPPLER FILTERED AND THEN PROCESSED THROUGH 34!0
4HE MOTIVATION FOR THIS TYPE OF ARCHITECTURE IS THAT THE RESULTANT 34!0 SOLUTIONS CAN
INDEPENDENTLY ADDRESS A SUBSET OF THE CLUTTER INTERFERENCE PROBLEM ISOLATED TO CLUTTER
THAT REMAINS IN A SINGLE DOPPLER FILTER 4HIS TECHNIQUE MAY BE MORE EFFECTIVE FOR RADAR
SYSTEMS WHERE THE CLUTTER ENVIRONMENT AND WAVEFORM SELECTION LEAD TO UNAMBIGUOUS
CLUTTER RETURNS WITHIN THE RADARS 02& 4WO EXAMPLE CONDITIONS THE FIRST WITH AMBIGU
OUS DOPPLER CLUTTER AND THE SECOND WITH UNAMBIGUOUS DOPPLER CLUTTER ARE SHOWN IN
&IGURE 4HE FIGURE SHOWS THOSE ANTENNA ANGLES WHERE THE CLUTTER DOPPLER RESPONSE
REMAINS AFTER FILTERING THROUGH A SINGLE DOPPLER FILTER &IGURE A SHOWS THE RESPONSE
FOR AN AMBIGUOUS 02& OF (Z AND &IGURE B SHOWS THE RESPONSE FOR AN UNAM
BIGUOUS 02& OF (Z FOR A 5(& RADAR 4HIS FIGURE HIGHLIGHTS THAT EVEN WITH DOP
PLER PROCESSING A GIVEN DOPPLER FILTER MAY STILL INCLUDE CLUTTER RETURNS FROM A NUMBER
OF DISCONTIGUOUS ANGULAR INTERVALS 4HE ADVANTAGES OF THIS TRANSFORMATION FROM 02)
TO DOPPLER SPACE ON OVERALL 34!0 PERFORMANCE VERSUS A PRE
DOPPLER ARCHITECTURE ARE
MORE DRAMATIC IN THE UNAMBIGUOUS DOPPLER CLUTTER CASE
02)
STAGGERED DOPPLER FILTER OUTPUTS ARE REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN A SET OF TEMPORAL DEGREES
OF FREEDOM IN THIS ARCHITECTURE 4HE BLOCK DIAGRAM IS MODIFIED TO THAT SHOWN IN &IGURE
WITH MULTIPLE DOPPLER FILTER BANKS ON EACH ANTENNA ELEMENT AND 02) DELAY
0OST
$OPPLER "EAM 3PACE 34!0 4HE FINAL CATEGORY RESULTS FROM IMPLEMENT
ING BOTH DOPPLER AND SPATIAL TRANSFORMATIONS PRIOR TO 34!0 PROCESSING
4HE APPROPRIATE ARCHITECTURE SOLUTION DEPENDS UPON THE RADAR DESIGN CONSTRAINTS
4HE NUMBER OF ANTENNA ELEMENTS AND BEAMFORMING REQUIREMENTS ARE KEY DRIVERS IN THE
&)'52% !NTENNA POINTING ANGLES WHERE CLUTTER DOPPLER MAP TO A SINGLE DOPPLER FILTERS PASSBAND
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
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&)'52% %LEMENT SPACE POST DOPPLER 34!0 ARCHITECTURE
DECISION WHETHER TO TRANSFORM FROM ELEMENTS TO BEAMS OR SUBARRAYS 4HE WAVEFORMS
AND CLUTTER CANCELLATION REQUIREMENTS ARE KEY DRIVERS IN THE DECISION WHETHER TO PER
FORM 34!0 ON SIGNALS BEFORE OR AFTER DOPPLER FILTERING )N ADDITION THE OVERALL TRANS
FORMATION DECISIONS TO REDUCE DEGREES OF FREEDOM ARE DRIVEN BY THE INTERFERENCE RANK
FOR THE RADAR PROBLEM /NE CAUTION IN THE DESIGN PROCESS IS THAT IF THE TRANSFORMATION
IS FIXED IN THE RADAR DESIGN IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE EXCESS DEGREES OF FREEDOM BEYOND
THE TOTAL INTERFERENCE RANK
)MPLEMENTATION #ONSIDERATIONS !S DISCUSSED ABOVE TRANSFORMATIONS AND TECH
NIQUES TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF DEGREES OF FREEDOM IN THE 34!0 SOLUTION ARE IMPORTANT
NOT ONLY DUE TO PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THE NEED FOR SAMPLE SUP
PORT ON THE ORDER OF TWO TIMES THE NUMBER OF DEGREES OF FREEDOM FOR ADEQUATE 34!0
PERFORMANCE
4HE BASIC HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR GOOD CLUTTER CANCELLATION REMAIN UNCHANGED
FROM CONVENTIONAL CLUTTER CANCELLATION ARCHITECTURESLOW PHASE NOISE LOW PULSE
JITTER ETC 4HE REQUIREMENTS ON THE HARDWARE MAY BECOME MORE STRINGENT BECAUSE
THE 34!0 ARCHITECTURE ALLOWS THE RADAR DESIGNER TO ACHIEVE HIGHER THEORETICAL CLUTTER
CANCELLATION PERFORMANCE LEVELS )N ADDITION TO THE ABOVE TEMPORALLY BASED HARDWARE
REQUIREMENTS THERE ARE ALSO SECOND
ORDER SPATIALLY BASED HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS !S
ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE PLATFORM MOTION COMPENSATION RESULTS IN DIFFERENT APERTURE
WEIGHTING FOR SUCCESSIVE PULSES IN A 34!0 SOLUTION !LTHOUGH GENERALLY SPEAKING
WELL
MATCHED SPATIAL CHANNELS ANTENNA AND RECEIVER ARE DRIVEN BY JAMMING CANCELLA
TION AND ANTENNA SIDELOBE LEVELS A SECOND
ORDER REQUIREMENT RESULTS FROM THE NEED FOR
!)2"/2.% -4)
PLATFORM MOTION COMPENSATION )F ANTENNA AND RECEIVER CHANNELS ARE NOT WELL MATCHED
THE RESULTANT SUM CHANNEL BEAMS FORMED FROM DIFFERENT APERTURE ILLUMINATION FUNCTIONS
&IGURE WILL NOT BE MATCHED WELL ENOUGH TO PROVIDE MAIN
BEAM AND SIDELOBE
CLUTTER CANCELLATION
0ERFORMANCE #OMPARISONS 'IVEN THE NUMBER OF 34!0 ARCHITECTURES AND COR
RESPONDING RADAR SYSTEM DESIGN SOLUTIONS GENERAL 34!0 PERFORMANCE COMPARISONS ARE
DIFFICULT TO COME BY )N GENERAL 34!0 PROVIDES A ROBUST SOLUTION TO DEAL WITH CLUTTER
AND JAMMING INTERFERENCE AND HELPS ALLEVIATE HARDWARE MISMATCH EFFECTS WITHIN REA
SON AMPLITUDE AND PHASE ADJUSTMENTS ARE APPLIED TO ANTENNA ELEMENT AND TIME DIS
PLACED RETURNS 'ENERALLY TO ADDRESS TIME
DELAY ADAPTIVE WEIGHTING MORE COMPLEXITY
IS REQUIRED WITH A THIRD DIMENSION FOR ADAPTIVE WEIGHTShFAST
TIMEv OR RETURNS FROM
ADJACENT SAMPLED RANGE CELLS 4HIS EXTENSION CAN BE EXTREMELY COMPUTATIONALLY INTEN
SIVE AND FURTHER BURDEN THE SAMPLE SUPPORT PROBLEM ALLUDED TO PREVIOUSLY
7HEN EVALUATING A RADAR DESIGN AND TRADING OFF VARIOUS WAVEFORMS AND 34!0 PRO
CESSING TECHNIQUES IT IS IMPORTANT TO INCLUDE IN THE ANALYSIS KEY DRIVERS SUCH AS SIGNAL
BANDWIDTH CLUTTER INTERNAL MOTION PLATFORM MOTION ANTENNA SCANNING MOTION THE
AMOUNT OF SAMPLE SUPPORT AVAILABLE FROM NONHOMOGENOUS AND NONSTATIONARY CLUTTER
ENVIRONMENTS AND OTHER EFFECTS SUCH AS LARGE TARGET SAMPLES EFFECTING THE ADAPTIVE
WEIGHT SOLUTION
/" 1 /*
-*
/,
!N AIRBORNE SEARCH
RADAR SYSTEM MAY BE OPERATED AT AN ALTITUDE SO THAT THE RADAR HORI
ZON IS APPROXIMATELY AT THE MAXIMUM RANGE OF INTEREST 4HIS RESULTS IN SEA OR GROUND
CLUTTER BEING PRESENT AT ALL RANGES OF INTEREST /THER CLUTTER SOURCES SUCH AS RAIN AND
CHAFF MAY COEXIST WITH THE SURFACE CLUTTER )N MOST INSTANCES THESE SOURCES ARE MOV
ING AT A SPEED DETERMINED BY THE MEAN WIND ALOFT AND HAVE A MEAN DOPPLER FREQUENCY
SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF THE SURFACE CLUTTER )F THE -4) FILTER IS TRACKING THE
SURFACE CLUTTER THE SPECTRA OF THE SOURCES WITH A DIFFERENT MEAN DOPPLER FREQUENCY LIE
IN THE PASSBAND OF THE -4) FILTER !
KT DIFFERENTIAL IN A 5(& SYSTEM CORRESPONDS
TO (Z WHICH WOULD GENERALLY BE OUTSIDE OF THE TRADITIONAL !-4) NOTCH FILTER IN A
(Z 02& SYSTEM ! SINGLE
DELAY SECONDARY CANCELER CAN BE CASCADED WITH EITHER
A SINGLE
DELAY OR A DOUBLE
DELAY PRIMARY CANCELER 4HE PRIMARY CANCELER TRACKS THE
MEAN SURFACE VELOCITY AND REJECTS SURFACE CLUTTER 4HE SINGLE
DELAY CANCELER TRACKS THE
SECONDARY SOURCE AND REJECTS IT 3INCE THE PASS AND REJECTION BANDS OF THE TWO CANCEL
ERS OVERLAP THE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR EACH CLUTTER SOURCE IS A FUNCTION OF THEIR
SPECTRAL SEPARATION
&IGURE SHOWS THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR A DOUBLE CANCELER WHICH CONSISTS OF
TWO SINGLE CANCELERS EACH TRACKING ONE OF THE SPECTRA )T CAN BE SEEN THAT AS THE SEPARA
TION VARIES FROM TO OF THE 02& THE PERFORMANCE DEGRADES FROM THAT EQUIVALENT TO
A DOUBLE CANCELER TO THE PERFORMANCE OF A SINGLE CANCELER AT HALF OF THE 02&
4HE TRIPLE CANCELER HAS A DOUBLE
DELAY CANCELER TRACKING THE PRIMARY SPECTRA AND A
SINGLE
DELAY CANCELER TRACKING THE SECONDARY SPECTRA 4HE PERFORMANCE OF THE PRIMARY
SYSTEM VARIES FROM THAT OF A TRIPLE CANCELER TO A LEVEL LESS THAN THAT OF A DOUBLE CANCELER
4HE SECONDARY
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE VARIES FROM THAT OF A TRIPLE CANCELER TO A PERFOR
MANCE LEVEL LOWER THAN THAT OF A SINGLE CANCELER
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR A DOUBLE NOTCH CANCELER
TRACKING TWO SPECTRA AS A FUNCTION OF THE NORMALIZED SPECTRA SEPARATION
$FFR .ORMALIZED SPECTRAL WIDTH RC FR
8 * /, ,-9-/
4HE !.!09 RADAR DEVELOPED BY ,OCKHEED -ARTIN FOR THE 53 .AVY IS AN EXAMPLE
OF AN !-4) RADAR SYSTEM UTILIZED FOR AN AIRBORNE EARLY WARNING RADAR MISSION +EY
FEATURES OF THIS SYSTEM INCLUDE A SOLID STATE DISTRIBUTED TRANSMITTER A MECHANICALLY AND
ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED ROTATING ANTENNA DIGITAL RECEIVERS SPACE TIME ADAPTIVE PRO
CESSING DIGITAL PULSE COMPRESSION AND COHERENT INTEGRATION AND AUXILIARY PROCESSING
AIMED AT SUPPORTING THE 34!0 SAMPLE SELECTION PROCESS
4HE !.!09 RADAR ADDRESSES THE !%7 RADAR SURVEILLANCE COVERAGE REQUIREMENTS
DISCUSSED AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS CHAPTER UTILIZING A MECHANICALLY AND ELECTRONICALLY
STEERABLE ANTENNA LOCATED IN A ROTODOME 4HERE ARE THREE SCANNING MODES OF OPERATION
!)2"/2.% -4)
MECHANICALLY SCANNED WITH AN OPERATOR SELECTABLE SCAN RATE AZIMUTH ELECTRONI
CALLY SCANNED WITH THE MECHANICAL BORESITE PROVIDED AS AN INPUT TO THE RADAR AND
MECHANICALLY SCANNED WITH ADDITIONAL ELECTRONIC SCANNING WITHIN AN OPERATOR SELECT
ABLE AZIMUTH REGION
4HE TRANSMIT WAVEFORM INCLUDES 4!##!2 MODULATION TO CENTER MAINBEAM CLUTTER
AT ZERO DOPPLER FREQUENCY (OWEVER BECAUSE THE RADAR IMPLEMENTS ADAPTIVE CLUTTER
CANCELLATION 34!0 THE REQUIREMENTS ON 4!##!2 ARE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS COMPLEX
THAN FOR LEGACY RADAR SYSTEMS 4HERE IS NO NEED TO INCLUDE CLOSED LOOP ADJUSTMENTS TO
THE 4!##!2 MODULATION FREQUENCY 4HE OPTIMIZATION OF THE !-4) CLUTTER CANCELLA
TION FILTER IS ACHIEVED IN THE 34!0 PROCESSING AS OPPOSED TO ADJUSTING THE LOCATION OF
MAIN BEAM CLUTTER TO FIT A FIXED !-4) FILTER
)N ORDER TO IMPLEMENT 34!0 AND ELECTRONIC SCANNING IN THIS RADAR ALL ELEMENTS
OF THE PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA ARE PROCESSED ON TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE 4HE SOLID STATE
TRANSMITTER PROVIDES LOW POWER PHASE SHIFT CONTROL FOR ELECTRONIC STEERING FOLLOWED BY
POWER AMPLIFICATION IN EACH OF CHANNELS 4HESE ARE CONNECTED TO THE ELEMENTS
OF THE PHASED ARRAY THROUGH AN CHANNEL ROTARY COUPLER 4HE TRANSMITRECEIVE ISOLA
TION ON ALL CHANNELS IS PROVIDED THROUGH CIRCULATORS 4HE CHANNELS ARE PROCESSED
SEPARATELY THROUGH RECEIVERS FINALLY FEEDING THE 34!0 SUBSYSTEM WITH DIGITAL
BASEBAND SIGNALS
4HE RADAR PERFORMS PLATFORM MOTION COMPENSATION ELECTRONICALLY AS PART OF THE
34!0 ARCHITECTURE 4HE RADAR IMPLEMENTS AN ELEMENT SPACE PRE DOPPLER 34!0 ARCHI
TECTURE !DAPTIVE WEIGHTS ARE GENERATED AND APPLIED TO THE RECEIVE CHANNELS FORM
ING THREE BEAMS 3UM $ELTAAZ AND /MNI BY WEIGHTING AND SUMMING THE RECEIVE
CHANNELS OVER THREE PULSES TO PROVIDE SIMULTANEOUS CLUTTER AND JAMMING CANCELLATION
4HE ADAPTIVE WEIGHT ALGORITHM IS MATCHED TO THE RADARS OPERATING PARAMETERS AND IS
AUGMENTED WITH ADAPTIVE KNOWLEDGEnAIDED SAMPLING SCHEMES TO MAXIMIZE PERFOR
MANCE IN A COMPLEX HETEROGENEOUS CLUTTER AND JAMMING INTERFERENCE ENVIRONMENT
$OPPLER FILTERING IS PERFORMED AFTER DIGITAL BEAMFORMING
/THER FUNCTIONS DISCUSSED IN THIS CHAPTER ARE NOT REQUIRED FOR THIS RADAR APPLICATION
BECAUSE THEY DO NOT LIMIT PERFORMANCE %XAMPLES INCLUDE SCANNING MOTION COMPENSA
TION AND MULTIPLE SPECTRA !-4) CLUTTER CANCELLATION
,
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2 # %MERSON h3OME PULSED DOPPLER -4) AND !-4) TECHNIQUES v 2AND #ORPORATION 2EPT
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$$# $OC !$ -ARCH 2EPRINTED IN 2EFERENCE
4 3 'EORGE h&LUCTUATIONS OF GROUND CLUTTER RETURN IN AIRBORNE RADAR EQUIPMENT v 0ROC )%%
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& 2 $ICKEY *R h4HEORETICAL PERFORMANCE OF AIRBORNE MOVING TARGET INDICATORS v )2% 4RANS
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& 2 $ICKEY *R AND - - 3ANTA h&INAL REPORT ON ANTICLUTTER TECHNIQUES v 'ENERAL %LECTRIC
#OMPANY 2EPT 2%-( -ARCH
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2, 42 !DAPTIVE 3ENSORS )NCORPORATED -ARCH
2 ! -ONZINGO AND 4 7 -ILLER )NTRODUCTION TO !DAPTIVE !RRAYS .EW 9ORK *OHN 7ILEY
3ONS
#HAPTER
*i i,>`>
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7>i`>
.ORTHROP 'RUMMAN #ORPORATION
{
,
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,-/
- **
/" 4HE PRIMARY BENEFIT OF PULSE DOPPLER RADAR IS ITS ABILITY TO DETECT SMALL
AMPLITUDE MOV
ING TARGET RETURNS AGAINST AN OVERWHELMINGLY LARGE
AMPLITUDE CLUTTER BACKGROUND
.OMENCLATURE 2ADARS THAT RELY ON THE DOPPLER EFFECT TO ENHANCE TARGET DETEC
TION ARE CALLED DOPPLER RADARS 4HE DOPPLER EFFECT MANIFESTS ITSELF WHEN THERE IS
A RELATIVE RANGE RATE OR RADIAL VELOCITY BETWEEN THE RADAR AND THE TARGET 7HEN THE
RADARS TRANSMIT SIGNAL IS REFLECTED FROM SUCH A TARGET THE CARRIER FREQUENCY OF THE
RETURN SIGNAL WILL BE SHIFTED !SSUMING A MONOSTATIC RADAR IE COLLOCATED TRANSMIT
TER AND RECEIVER THE ROUNDTRIP DISTANCE IS TWICE THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TRANSMITTER
AND THE TARGET 4HE DOPPLER FREQUENCY SHIFT FD IS A FUNCTION OF THE CARRIER WAVELENGTH
K AND THE RELATIVE RADIAL VELOCITY RANGE RATE BETWEEN THE RADAR AND THE TARGET 6RELATIVE
AND IS WRITTEN AS FD
6RELATIVEK WHERE K CF IS THE WAVELENGTH C IS THE SPEED OF
LIGHT AND F IS THE CARRIER FREQUENCY 7HEN THE TARGET IS MOVING AWAY FROM THE RADAR
THE RELATIVE RADIAL VELOCITY OR RANGE RATE IS DEFINED TO BE POSITIVE AND RESULTS IN A
NEGATIVE DOPPLER SHIFT
$OPPLER RADARS CAN BE EITHER CONTINUOUS WAVE #7 o OR PULSED RADARS #7 RADARS
SIMPLY OBSERVE THE DOPPLER SHIFT BETWEEN THE CARRIER FREQUENCY OF THE RETURN SIGNAL
RELATIVE TO THE TRANSMIT SIGNAL 0ULSED SYSTEMS MEASURE DOPPLER BY USING A COHERENT
TRAIN OF PULSES WHERE THERE IS A FIXED OR DETERMINISTIC PHASE RELATIONSHIP OF THE CARRIER
FREQUENCY BETWEEN EACH SUCCESSIVE RADIO FREQUENCY 2& PULSE #OHERENCE CONCEN
TRATES THE ENERGY IN THE FREQUENCY SPECTRUM OF THE PULSE TRAIN AROUND DISTINCT SPECTRAL
LINES SEPARATED BY THE PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY 02& 4HIS SEPARATION INTO SPECTRAL
LINES ALLOWS FOR DISCRIMINATION OF DOPPLER SHIFTS
$OPPLER RADARS USING PULSED TRANSMISSIONS ARE MORE COMPLEX THAN #7 RADARS BUT
THEY OFFER SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES -OST IMPORTANT IS THE TIME GATING OF THE RECEIVER
$AVID ( -OONEY AND 7ILLIAM ! 3KILLMAN WROTE THIS CHAPTER FOR THE FIRST EDITION 7ILLIAM ( ,ONG
JOINED THE AUTHORS FOR THE SECOND EDITION *OHN 0 3TRALKA AND 7ILLIAM ' &EDARKO UPDATED THE MATERIAL
FOR THIS EDITION
o 4O ASSIST THE READER ABBREVIATIONS USED THROUGHOUT THIS CHAPTER ARE DEFINED IN A LIST AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4IME GATING ALLOWS THE BLANKING OF DIRECT TRANSMITTER LEAKAGE INTO THE RECEIVER 4HIS
PERMITS THE USE OF A SINGLE ANTENNA FOR TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE WHICH OTHERWISE WOULD
NOT BE FEASIBLE FOR #7 RADAR DUE TO EXCESSIVE TRANSMITRECEIVE ISOLATION REQUIREMENTS
0ULSED RADARS CAN ALSO USE RANGE GATING A SPECIFIC FORM OF TIME GATING WHICH DIVIDES
THE INTERPULSE PERIOD INTO CELLS OR RANGE GATES 4HE DURATION OF EACH CELL IS TYPICALLY
LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO THE INVERSE OF THE TRANSMIT PULSE BANDWIDTH 2ANGE GATING HELPS
ELIMINATE EXCESS RECEIVER NOISE FROM COMPETING WITH TARGET RETURNS AND ALLOWS RANGE
MEASUREMENT WITH PULSE DELAY RANGING IE MEASURING THE TIME BETWEEN TRANSMISSION
OF A PULSE AND RECEPTION OF THE TARGET ECHO
0ULSED TRANSMISSION DOPPLER RADARS HAVE HISTORICALLY BEEN CATEGORIZED AS MOVING
TARGET INDICATION -4) OR PULSE DOPPLER -4) TYPICALLY ELIMINATES CLUTTER BY PASSING
THE RECEIVED RETURNS FROM MULTIPLE COHERENT PULSES THROUGH A FILTER WITH A STOPBAND
PLACED IN SPECTRAL REGIONS OF HEAVY CLUTTER CONCENTRATIONS -OVING TARGETS WITH DOP
PLER FREQUENCIES OUTSIDE THE STOPBAND ARE PASSED ONTO DETECTION PROCESSING 0ULSE
DOPPLER RADARS ON THE OTHER HAND RESOLVE AND ENHANCE TARGETS WITHIN A PARTICULAR
DOPPLER BAND WHILE REJECTING CLUTTER AND OTHER RETURNS OUTSIDE THE DOPPLER BAND OF
INTEREST 4HIS IS TYPICALLY ACCOMPLISHED WITH A CONTIGUOUS BANK OF DOPPLER FILTERS
FORMED BETWEEN TWO OF THE COHERENT PULSE TRAINS SPECTRAL LINES ONE OF WHICH IS THE
CENTRAL LINE 2ANGE GATING PRECEDES THE DOPPLER FILTER BANK 4HE BANDWIDTH OF EACH
DOPPLER FILTER IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE DURATION OF THE COHERENT PULSE TRAIN THAT
IS PROCESSED TO FORM THE DOPPLER FILTER BANK 4HIS PROCESS FORMS A MATCHED FILTER TO
THE ENTIRE PULSE TRAIN
-4) AND PULSE DOPPLER RADARS SHARE THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS
L
#OHERENT TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION THAT IS EACH TRANSMITTED PULSE AND THE RECEIVER
LOCAL OSCILLATOR ARE SYNCHRONIZED TO A FREE
RUNNING HIGHLY STABLE OSCILLATOR
#OHERENT PROCESSING TO REJECT MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER ENHANCE TARGET DETECTION AND AID
IN TARGET DISCRIMINATION OR CLASSIFICATION
-4) RADARS CAN ALSO BE IMPLEMENTED USING A DOPPLER FILTER BANK BLURRING THE HISTORIC
DELINEATION BETWEEN -4) AND PULSE DOPPLER RADARS !S A RESULT THIS BOOK WILL DEFINE
-4) RADARS AS THOSE RADARS WHOSE 02& IS SUFFICIENTLY LOW ENOUGH TO PROVIDE AN UNAM
BIGUOUS RANGE MEASUREMENT VIA PULSE DELAY RANGING OVER THE RADARS INSTRUMENTED
RANGE 4HE UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE 2U IS GIVEN BY CF2 WHERE C IS THE SPEED OF LIGHT
AND F2 IS THE 02& 2ADARS WITH 02&S THAT RESULT IN RANGE AMBIGUITIES WITHIN THE RANGE
COVERAGE OF INTEREST WILL BE REFERRED TO AS PULSE DOPPLER RADARS AND WILL BE THE FOCUS
OF THIS CHAPTER
!PPLICATIONS 0ULSE DOPPLER IS APPLIED PRINCIPALLY TO RADAR SYSTEMS REQUIRING
THE DETECTION OF MOVING TARGETS IN A SEVERE CLUTTER ENVIRONMENT 4ABLE LISTS TYPI
CAL APPLICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTSn 4HIS CHAPTER WILL DEAL PRINCIPALLY WITH AIRBORNE
APPLICATIONS ALTHOUGH THE BASIC PRINCIPLES CAN ALSO BE APPLIED TO THE SURFACE
BASED
CASE /NLY MONOSTATIC RADARS WILL BE CONSIDERED
02&S 0ULSED RADARS THAT EMPLOY DOPPLER ARE DIVIDED INTO THREE BROAD 02& CAT
EGORIES LOW MEDIUM AND HIGH ! LOW
02& RADAR IS ONE IN WHICH THE RANGES OF INTEREST
ARE UNAMBIGUOUS WHILE THE RADIAL VELOCITIES DOPPLER FREQUENCIES ARE USUALLY HIGHLY
AMBIGUOUS !S DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY THIS TYPE OF RADAR IS CALLED MOVING TARGET INDICA
TION -4) -4) RADARS ARE GENERALLY NOT CATEGORIZED AS PULSE DOPPLER RADARS ALTHOUGH
THE PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION ARE SIMILAR
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
4!",% 0ULSE $OPPLER !PPLICATIONS AND 2EQUIREMENTS
2ADAR !PPLICATION
2EQUIREMENTS
!IRBORNE OR SPACEBORNE SURVEILLANCE
,ONG DETECTION RANGE ACCURATE RANGE DATA
!IRBORNE INTERCEPTOR OR FIRE CONTROL
-EDIUM DETECTION RANGE ACCURATE RANGE VELOCITY AND
ANGLE DATA
'ROUND BASED SURVEILLANCE
-EDIUM DETECTION RANGE ACCURATE RANGE DATA
"ATTLEFIELD SURVEILLANCE
SLOW
MOVING TARGET DETECTION
-EDIUM DETECTION RANGE ACCURATE RANGE VELOCITY DATA
-ISSILE SEEKER
3HORT DETECTION RANGE ACCURATE VELOCITY AND ANGLE RATE DATA
MAY NOT NEED TRUE RANGE INFORMATION
3URFACE BASED WEAPON CONTROL
3HORT RANGE ACCURATE RANGE VELOCITY DATA
-ETEOROLOGICAL
'OOD VELOCITY RESOLUTION
-ISSILE WARNING
3HORT DETECTION RANGE VERY LOW FALSE ALARM RATE
4HE CONVERSE OF A LOW 02& RADAR IS A HIGH 02& RADAR THAT CAN MEASURE DOPPLER
UNAMBIGUOUSLY OVER THE SPAN OF RADIAL VELOCITIES OF INTEREST BUT IS USUALLY HIGHLY
AMBIGUOUS IN RANGE ! MEDIUM 02& RADAR HAS BOTH RANGE AND DOPPLER AMBIGUI
TIESn ! BLEND OF MEDIUM AND HIGH 02& KNOWN AS HIGH MEDIUM 02& WHICH WILL
BE DISCUSSED LATER IS CHARACTERIZED AS HAVING ONLY A SINGLE AMBIGUITY FOR THE RADIAL
VELOCITIES OF INTEREST &OR THIS CHAPTER A PULSE DOPPLER RADAR IS CHARACTERIZED AS HAVING
A 02& ANYWHERE WITHIN THE MEDIUM TO HIGH 02& REGIME THAT RESULTS IN AMBIGUOUS
RANGE MEASUREMENTS DURING A COHERENT PROCESSING INTERVAL
! COMPARISON OF -4) AND PULSE DOPPLER RADARS IS SHOWN IN 4ABLE 0REVIOUSLY
UNDEFINED TERMS WILL BE DEFINED THROUGHOUT THE CHAPTER 4HE TABLE ASSUMES AN AIRBORNE
RADAR APPLICATION DESIGNED TO DETECT OTHER AIRCRAFT 3UCH AN APPLICATION IS COMMONLY
REFERRED TO AS AIR TO AIR
4!",% #OMPARISON OF -4) AND 0ULSE $OPPLER 2ADARS FOR !IR TO !IR
!DVANTAGES
$ISADVANTAGES
,OW 02&
-4)
RANGE UNAMBIGUOUS
DOPPLER AMBIGUOUS
#AN SORT CLUTTER FROM TARGETS ON BASIS
OF RANGE &RONT
END SENSITIVITY TIME
CONTROL 34# SUPPRESSES SIDELOBE
DETECTIONS AT SHORT RANGES AND REDUCES
DYNAMIC RANGE REQUIREMENTS
-ULTIPLE BLIND SPEEDS 5SUALLY
DOES NOT MEASURE RADIAL TARGET
VELOCITY 0OOR GROUND
MOVING
TARGET REJECTION
-EDIUM 02&
0ULSE $OPPLER
RANGE AMBIGUOUS
DOPPLER AMBIGUOUS
0ERFORMANCE AT ALL TARGET ASPECTS
'OOD GROUND
MOVING TARGET REJECTION
-EASURES RADIAL VELOCITY ,ESS RANGE
ECLIPSING THAN IN HIGH
02&
3IDELOBE CLUTTER CAN LIMIT
PERFORMANCE !MBIGUITY
RESOLUTION REQUIRED ,OW ANTENNA
SIDELOBES NECESSARY 2EJECTION
OF SIDELOBE RETURNS OF DISCRETE
GROUND TARGETS NEEDED
(IGH 02&
0ULSE $OPPLER
RANGE AMBIGUOUS
DOPPLER UNAMBIGUOUS
!LLOWS THERMAL NOISE
LIMITED
DETECTION OF TARGETS WITH HIGH RADIAL
VELOCITIES 3INGLE DOPPLER BLIND
ZONE AT ZERO VELOCITY 'OOD GROUND
MOVING TARGET REJECTION -EASURES
RADIAL VELOCITY
,IMITED LOW RADIAL VELOCITY TARGET
DETECTION 2ANGE ECLIPSING ,ARGE
NUMBER OF RANGE AMBIGUITIES
PRECLUDE PULSE DELAY RANGING
(IGH STABILITY REQUIREMENTS DUE
TO RANGE FOLDING
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% 4YPICAL 6ALUES FOR AN 8 BAND '(Z !IRBORNE &IRE #ONTROL 2ADAR
0ULSE $OPPLER 7AVEFORM
-EDIUM 02&
(IGH
MEDIUM 02&
(IGH 02&
02&
4RANSMIT $UTY #YCLE
K(Z
K(Z
K(Z
4ABLE PROVIDES THE SPAN OF 02&S AND CORRESPONDING TRANSMIT DUTY CYCLES RATIO
OF TRANSMIT PULSE WIDTH TO INTERPULSE PERIOD FOR THE VARIOUS PULSE DOPPLER WAVEFORMS
USED IN A 8
BAND AIRBORNE FIRE
CONTROL RADAR +EEP IN MIND THAT THE OPERATING FREQUENCY
OF THE RADAR ALONG WITH ITS REQUIRED RANGE AND RADIAL VELOCITY COVERAGE DETERMINES
WHETHER A 02& IS CONSIDERED MEDIUM HIGH
MEDIUM OR HIGH !LSO MODERN MULTI
FUNCTION RADARS ARE TYPICALLY CAPABLE OF UTILIZING WAVEFORMS FROM THE VARIOUS 02&
CATEGORIES IN ORDER TO CARRY OUT THEIR DIVERSE MISSIONS
0ULSE $OPPLER 3PECTRUM 4HE TRANSMITTED SPECTRUM OF A PULSE DOPPLER RADAR CON
SISTS OF DISCRETE LINES AT THE CARRIER FREQUENCY F AND AT SIDEBAND FREQUENCIES F o IF2 WHERE
F2 IS THE 02& AND I IS AN INTEGER 4HE ENVELOPE OF THE SPECTRUM IS DETERMINED BY THE PULSE
SHAPE &OR THE RECTANGULAR PULSES USUALLY EMPLOYED A SINX X SPECTRUM IS OBTAINED
5SING A CONSTANT
VELOCITY AIRBORNE RADAR THE RECEIVED SPECTRUM FROM A STATIONARY
TARGET HAS LINES THAT ARE DOPPLER
SHIFTED PROPORTIONALLY TO THE RADIAL VELOCITY BETWEEN THE
RADAR PLATFORM AND THE TARGET 4HE TWO
WAY DOPPLER SHIFT IS GIVEN BY FD 62K COSX
WHERE K IS THE RADAR WAVELENGTH 62 IS THE RADAR PLATFORM SPEED AND X IS THE ANGLE
BETWEEN THE VELOCITY VECTOR AND THE LINE OF SIGHT TO THE TARGET .OTE THAT THE RELATIVE
RADIAL VELOCITY RANGE RATE TO THE STATIONARY TARGET IS 6RELATIVE
62 COSX WHICH MAKES
THE LATER EQUATION FOR DOPPLER SHIFT CONSISTENT WITH THE ONE PRESENTED AT THE BEGINNING
OF THE CHAPTER )LLUSTRATED IN &IGURE IS THE RECEIVED PULSED SPECTRUM WITH RETURNS
FROM DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER SUCH AS THE GROUND OR WEATHER AND FROM DISCRETE TARGETS SUCH
AS AIRCRAFT AUTOMOBILES TANKS ETC
&IGURE SHOWS THE UNFOLDED SPECTRUM IE NO SPECTRAL FOLDOVER FROM ADJACENT
02& LINES IN THE CASE OF HORIZONTAL MOTION OF THE RADAR PLATFORM WITH A SPEED 62
4HE CLUTTER
FREE REGION IS DEFINED AS THAT PORTION OF THE SPECTRUM IN WHICH NO GROUND
CLUTTER CAN EXIST ! CLUTTER
FREE REGION USUALLY DOES NOT EXIST WITH MEDIUM 02&S
DUE TO DOPPLER FOLDING 4HE SIDELOBE CLUTTER REGION 62K IN WIDTH CONTAINS GROUND
CLUTTER POWER FROM THE SIDELOBES OF THE ANTENNA ALTHOUGH THIS CLUTTER POWER MAY BE
BELOW THE NOISE LEVEL IN PART OF THE REGION 4HE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER REGION LOCATED AT
F 62K COSX CONTAINS THE STRONG RETURN FROM THE MAIN BEAM OF THE ANTENNA
&)'52% #LUTTER AND TARGET FREQUENCY SPECTRUM FROM A HORIZONTALLY MOVING PLATFORM
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
{x
&)'52% 5NFOLDED SPECTRUM WITH NO CLUTTER POSITIONING
STRIKING THE GROUND AT A SCAN ANGLE OF X MEASURED FROM THE VELOCITY VECTOR 2AIN AND
CHAFF CLUTTER MAY ALSO BE LARGE WHEN THE MAIN BEAM ILLUMINATES A RAIN OR CHAFF CLOUD
-OTION DUE TO WINDS MAY DISPLACE ANDOR SPREAD THE RETURN IN FREQUENCY
!LTITUDE
LINE CLUTTER IS DUE TO THE RADAR RETURN FROM GROUND CLUTTER AT NEAR NORMAL
INCIDENCE DIRECTLY BELOW THE RADAR PLATFORM AND IS AT ZERO DOPPLER IF THERE IS NO VERTICAL
COMPONENT OF PLATFORM VELOCITY ! DISCRETE TARGET RETURN IN THE MAIN BEAM IS SHOWN AT
F4 F 62 K COSX 64 K COSX4 WHERE THE TARGET SPEED IS 64 WITH AN ANGLE
X4 BETWEEN THE TARGET VELOCITY VECTOR AND THE RADAR TARGET LINE OF SIGHT 4HE COMPONENTS
OF THE SPECTRUM SHOWN IN &IGURE WILL ALSO VARY WITH RANGE AS DISCUSSED LATER .OTE
THAT THE DIRECTION OF 64 COSX4 IS ASSUMED TO BE THE OPPOSITE OF 62 COSX RESULTING IN
A RELATIVE RANGE RATE OF 6RELATIVE
64 COSX4
62 COSX WHICH IS CONSISTENT WITH THE
DEFINITION FOR DOPPLER SHIFT STATED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER
&IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE VARIOUS CLUTTER DOPPLER FREQUENCY REGIONS AS A FUNCTION
OF THE ANTENNA MAIN
BEAM AZIMUTH AND RELATIVE RADAR AND TARGET VELOCITIES AGAIN
FOR AN UNFOLDED SPECTRUM 4HE ORDINATE IS THE RADIAL OR LINE
OF
SIGHT COMPONENT OF
TARGET VELOCITY IN UNITS OF RADAR PLATFORM VELOCITY SO THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER REGION
IS AT ZERO VELOCITY AND THE SIDELOBE CLUTTER REGION FREQUENCY BOUNDARIES VARY SINU
SOIDALLY WITH ANTENNA AZIMUTH 4HUS THE FIGURE SHOWS THE DOPPLER REGIONS IN WHICH
THE TARGET BECOMES CLEAR OF SIDELOBE CLUTTER &OR EXAMPLE IF THE ANTENNA MAIN
BEAM
AZIMUTH ANGLE IS AT ZERO ANY HEAD
ON TARGET 64 COSX4 IS CLEAR OF SIDELOBE
CLUTTER WHEREAS IF THE RADAR IS IN TRAIL BEHIND THE TARGET X4 AND X THE
TARGETS RADIAL VELOCITY HAS TO BE GREATER THAN TWICE THAT OF THE RADAR TO BECOME CLEAR
OF SIDELOBE CLUTTER
4HE SIDELOBE CLEAR AND CLUTTER REGIONS CAN ALSO BE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE ASPECT
ANGLE WITH RESPECT TO THE TARGET AS SHOWN IN &IGURE (ERE COLLISION GEOMETRY
IS ASSUMED IN WHICH THE RADAR AND TARGET AIRCRAFT FLY STRAIGHT
LINE PATHS TOWARD AN
INTERCEPT POINT THE LOOK ANGLE OF THE RADAR X AND THE ASPECT ANGLE OF THE TARGET X4 ARE
CONSTANT FOR A GIVEN SET OF RADAR AND TARGET SPEEDS 62 AND 64 RESPECTIVELY 4HE CENTER OF
THE DIAGRAM IS THE TARGET AND THE ANGLE TO THE RADAR ON THE CIRCUMFERENCE IS THE ASPECT
ANGLE 4HE ASPECT ANGLE AND LOOK ANGLES SATISFY THE EQUATION 62 SINX 64 SINX4
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
./4% 7
IDTH OF ALTITUDE
LINE AND MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER REGIONS VARIES WITH CONDITIONS AZIMUTH IS MEASURED
FROM RADAR PLATFORM VELOCITY VECTOR TO THE ANTENNA BORESIGHT OR TO THE LINE OF SIGHT TO THE TARGET
HORIZONTAL
MOTION CASE
&)'52% #LUTTER AND CLUTTER
FREE REGIONS AS A FUNCTION OF TARGET VELOCITY AND AZIMUTH
WHICH IS DEFINED AS A COLLISION COURSE 4HE TARGET ASPECT ANGLE IS ZERO FOR A HEAD
ON
CONDITION AND FOR A TAIL CHASE 4HE ASPECT ANGLE CORRESPONDING TO THE BOUNDARY
BETWEEN THE SIDELOBE CLUTTER REGION AND THE SIDELOBE CLEAR REGION IS A FUNCTION OF THE
RELATIVE RADAR
TARGET VELOCITY RATIO AND IS SHOWN IN &IGURE FOR FOUR CASES #ASE IS
WHERE THE RADAR AND TARGET SPEEDS ARE EQUAL AND THE TARGET CAN BE SEEN CLEAR OF SIDELOBE
CLUTTER IN A HEAD
ON ASPECT OUT TO ON EITHER SIDE OF THE TARGETS VELOCITY VECTOR
3IMILARLY #ASES THROUGH SHOW CONDITIONS WHERE THE TARGETS SPEED IS AND
TIMES THE RADARS SPEED IN WHICH CASE THE TARGET CAN BE SEEN CLEAR OF SIDELOBE CLUT
TER OVER A REGION OF UP TO o RELATIVE TO THE TARGETS VELOCITY VECTOR !GAIN THESE
CONDITIONS ARE FOR AN ASSUMED COLLISION COURSE !S IS EVIDENT THE ASPECT ANGLE OF THE
TARGET CLEAR OF SIDELOBE CLUTTER IS ALWAYS FORWARD OF THE BEAM ASPECT
!MBIGUITIES AND 02& 3ELECTION 0ULSE DOPPLER RADARS ARE AMBIGUOUS IN RANGE
AND POSSIBLY DOPPLER !S MENTIONED EARLIER THE UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE 2U IS GIVEN BY
CF2 WHERE C IS THE SPEED OF LIGHT AND F2 IS THE 02&
)F THE AIRBORNE TARGET RADIAL VELOCITY TO BE OBSERVED IS BETWEEN 64 MAX OPENING FOR
OPENING TARGETS POSITIVE RANGE RATE AND
64 MAX CLOSING FOR CLOSING TARGETS NEGATIVE
RANGE RATE THEN THE MINIMUM VALUE OF 02& F2 MIN WHICH IS UNAMBIGUOUS IN VELOCITY
IN BOTH MAGNITUDE AND SENSE IE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IS
F2 MIN 64 MAX CLOSING 64 MAX OPENING 6G L
WHERE 6G IS THE UPPER LIMIT FOR GROUND MOVING TARGET REJECTION 6 REFERS TO THE SPEED
OR THE MAGNITUDE OF THE RANGE RATE
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
&)'52% 3IDELOBE CLUTTER
CLEAR REGIONS VERSUS TARGET ASPECT ANGLE .OTE THE TARGET IS AT THE CENTER OF THE
PLOT WITH THE RADAR PLATFORM ON THE CIRCUMFERENCE
(OWEVER SOME PULSE DOPPLER RADARS EMPLOY A 02& THAT IS UNAMBIGUOUS IN VELOC
ITY MAGNITUDE ONLY IE F2 MIN ;MAX64 MAX CLOSING 64 MAX OPENING 6G= K AND RELY ON
DETECTIONS IN MULTIPLE 02&S DURING THE TIME ON TARGET TO RESOLVE THE SIGN AMBIGUITY IN
DOPPLER 4HESE RADARS CAN BE DESCRIBED AS HIGH
MEDIUM
02& AND CAN BE CONSIDERED
TO BE IN THE HIGH
02& CATEGORY IF THE OLDER DEFINITION OF HIGH 02& NO VELOCITY AMBI
GUITY IS EXTENDED TO ALLOW ONE VELOCITY AMBIGUITY THAT OF DOPPLER SENSE 4HE LOWER
02& EASES THE MEASUREMENT OF TRUE RANGE WHILE RETAINING THE HIGH
02& ADVANTAGE OF
A SINGLE BLIND
SPEED REGION NEAR ZERO DOPPLER (IGH
MEDIUM 02& IS BECOMING MORE
PREVALENT IN MODERN AIRBORNE RADARS FOR AIR
TO
AIR SEARCH
4HE CHOICE BETWEEN HIGH AND MEDIUM 02& INVOLVES A NUMBER OF CONSIDERATIONS
SUCH AS TRANSMITTER DUTY CYCLE LIMIT PULSE COMPRESSION AVAILABILITY SIGNAL
PROCESSING
CAPABILITY MEASUREMENT ACCURACY REQUIREMENTS ETC BUT OFTEN DEPENDS ON THE
NEED FOR ALL
ASPECT TARGET DETECTABILITY !LL
ASPECT COVERAGE REQUIRES GOOD PERFOR
MANCE IN TAIL CHASE WHERE THE TARGET DOPPLER IS IN THE SIDELOBE CLUTTER REGION NEAR
THE ALTITUDE
LINE )N A HIGH
02& RADAR THE RANGE FOLDOVER MAY LEAVE LITTLE CLEAR
REGION IN THE RANGE DIMENSION THUS DEGRADING TARGET DETECTABILITY "Y USING A LOWER
OR MEDIUM 02& THE CLEAR REGION IN RANGE IS INCREASED AT THE EXPENSE OF VELOCITY
FOLDOVER FOR HIGH
DOPPLER TARGETS THAT ARE IN THE CLUTTER
FREE REGION IN HIGH 02& !S
AN EXAMPLE &IGURE SHOWS THE CLUTTER
PLUS
NOISE
TO
NOISE RATIO IN RANGE
DOPPLER
COORDINATES FOR TWO DIFFERENT 8
BAND WAVEFORMS AT SIMILAR ALTITUDES AND AIRCRAFT
VELOCITIES 4HE RANGE DIMENSION REPRESENTS THE UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE INTERVAL 2U AND
THE FREQUENCY DIMENSION REPRESENTS THE 02& INTERVAL WITH THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER
ALTITUDE
LINE AND SIDELOBE CLUTTER REGIONS CLEARLY DISCERNIBLE )N BOTH WAVEFORMS
THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER RETURN IS POSITIONED TO $# THROUGH CLUTTER POSITIONING VIA AN
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
# "
!' '( ! #
!$ !('' %
# "!('' %
)!('' % % * $#
# ' (" %
!('' %$ & $ &
# "!('' %
# ' (" %
)!('' % % * $#
!' '( ! #
!' '( ! #
!$ !('' %
!' %(" % $ #'
!' %(" % $ #'
&)'52% #LUTTER PLUS NOISE TO NOISE RATIO IN RANGE DOPPLER SPACE
OFFSET APPLIED TO THE TRANSMIT FREQUENCY 4HE MEDIUM
02& SPECTRUM 02& K(Z
CONTAINS A RANGE
DOPPLER REGION IN WHICH THE SIDELOBE CLUTTER IS BELOW THERMAL NOISE
AND IN WHICH GOOD TAIL
ASPECT TARGET DETECTABILITY CAN BE ACHIEVED 4HE K(Z HIGH
MEDIUM 02& WAVEFORM HAS A MUCH MORE SEVERE CLUTTER FOLDING AND TAIL ASPECT
TARGETS WOULD COMPETE WITH SIDELOBE CLUTTER AT NEARLY ALL RANGES BUT THE CLUTTER
FREE
REGION IS MUCH LARGER
"ECAUSE THE CLUTTER IS FOLDED IN BOTH RANGE AND DOPPLER WITH MEDIUM
02& A NUM
BER OF 02&S MAY BE REQUIRED TO OBTAIN A SATISFACTORY PROBABILITY OF SUFFICIENT DETECTIONS
TO RESOLVE THE RANGE AND DOPPLER AMBIGUITIES 4HE MULTIPLE 02&S MOVE THE RELATIVE
LOCATION OF THE CLEAR REGIONS SO THAT ALL
ASPECT TARGET COVERAGE IS ACHIEVED 3INCE THE
SIDELOBE CLUTTER GENERALLY COVERS THE DOPPLER REGION OF INTEREST THE RATIO OF THE REGION
WITH SIDELOBE CLUTTER BELOW NOISE RELATIVE TO THE TOTAL RANGE
DOPPLER SPACE IS A FUNCTION
OF THE RADAR ALTITUDE SPEED AND ANTENNA SIDELOBE LEVEL
)F A HIGH
02& WAVEFORM IS USED THE CLEAR
RANGE REGION DISAPPEARS BECAUSE THE
SIDELOBE CLUTTER FOLDS IN RANGE INTO THE UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE INTERVAL ASSUMING THE TAR
GET DOPPLER IS SUCH THAT IT STILL COMPETES WITH THE SIDELOBE CLUTTER (OWEVER IN THOSE
DOPPLER REGIONS FREE OF SIDELOBE CLUTTER AS SHOWN IN &IGURE AND &IGURE TARGET
DETECTABILITY IS LIMITED ONLY BY THERMAL NOISE INDEPENDENT OF RADAR ALTITUDE SPEED
AND SIDELOBE LEVEL 4HIS REQUIRES SYSTEM STABILITY SIDEBANDS TO BE WELL BELOW NOISE FOR
THE WORST
CASE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER 4HUS ALTHOUGH MEDIUM 02& PROVIDES ALL
ASPECT
TARGET COVERAGE THE TARGET IS POTENTIALLY COMPETING WITH SIDELOBE CLUTTER AT ALL ASPECTS
WHEREAS WITH HIGH 02& A TARGET CAN BECOME CLEAR OF SIDELOBE CLUTTER AT ASPECT ANGLES
FORWARD OF THE BEAM ASPECT
&OR TARGETS WITH SUFFICIENT RADIAL VELOCITY HIGH 02& IS TYPICALLY MORE EFFICIENT THAN
MEDIUM 02& 4HE TRANSMIT PULSE WIDTH IS USUALLY LIMITED BY THE TRANSMITTERS ABILITY TO
PRESERVE THE PULSE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE CHARACTERISTICS OVER THE DURATION OF THE TRANSMIT
PULSE &OR A FIXED TRANSMIT PULSE WIDTH AND PEAK POWER A WAVEFORM WITH A HIGHER 02&
WILL HAVE A HIGHER TRANSMIT DUTY CYCLE RESULTING IN A HIGHER AVERAGE TRANSMIT POWER &OR
A GIVEN COHERENT PROCESSING TIME MORE ENERGY IS PLACED ON THE TARGET WHICH IMPROVES
DETECTABILITY &OR THIS REASON HIGH 02& IS USED FOR LONG
RANGE SEARCH OF HIGH
SPEED
CLOSING TARGETS
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
2ANGE 'ATING 2ANGE GATING DIVIDES THE TIME BETWEEN TRANSMIT PULSES INTO MUL
TIPLE CELLS OR RANGE GATES 2ANGE GATING ELIMINATES EXCESS RECEIVER NOISE AND CLUTTER
FROM COMPETING WITH THE SIGNAL AND PERMITS TARGET TRACKING AND RANGE MEASUREMENT
4HE RANGE GATE IS TYPICALLY MATCHED TO THE BANDWIDTH OF THE TRANSMIT PULSE )N A SURVEIL
LANCE RADAR A NUMBER OF RECEIVER GATES ARE USED TO DETECT TARGETS THAT MAY APPEAR AT
ANY RANGE WITHIN THE INTERPULSE PERIOD &IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE GENERAL CASE WHERE THE
GATE SPACING SS THE GATE WIDTH SG AND THE TRANSMITTED PULSE ST ARE ALL UNEQUAL 3ELECTING
ST SG MAXIMIZES TARGET RETURN SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO AND AS A RESULT RANGE PERFORMANCE
3ELECTING SG SS CREATES OVERLAPPED RANGE GATES AND REDUCES THE RANGE GATE STRADDLE
LOSS 3ECTION BUT CAN INCREASE THE POSSIBILITY OF RANGE GHOSTS UNLESS CONTIGUOUS
DETECTIONS FROM STRADDLED TARGET RETURNS ARE hCLUMPEDv PRIOR TO THE AMBIGUITY RESOLU
TION 3ECTION 7ITH RANGE GATING THE RANGE MEASUREMENT ACCURACY IS ON THE ORDER
OF THE RANGE GATE SIZE MMS BUT THIS CAN BE IMPROVED TO A FRACTION OF THE GATE
WIDTH BY AMPLITUDE CENTROIDING
4IMELINE $EFINITIONS 0ULSE DOPPLER RADAR WORKS ON SEVERAL DIFFERENT TIME
SCALES 6ARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS HAVE THEIR OWN NOMENCLATURE FOR TIME
BASED PARAMETERS
4HEREFORE THE TIMELINE DEFINITIONS USED THROUGHOUT THIS CHAPTER ARE DEFINED HERE
&IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE DIFFERENT TIME SCALES 3TARTING AT THE LOWEST LEVEL A SERIES
OF COHERENT PULSES ARE TRANSMITTED AT A PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY 02& 4HE TIME
BETWEEN THE PULSES IS THE INTERPULSE PERIOD )00 WHICH IS SIMPLY THE INVERSE OF THE
02& 4HE RECEIVE PORTION OF THE )00 IS BROKEN UP INTO RANGE GATES 4HE TRANSMIT DUTY
CYCLE IS THE TRANSMIT PULSE WIDTH DIVIDED BY THE )00 4HE TRAIN OF PULSES IS CALLED THE
COHERENT PROCESSING INTERVAL #0) 4HE COHERENT PROCESSING FORMS A BANK OF DOPPLER
&)'52% %XAMPLE OF RANGE GATES WITH OVERLAP EQUALLY SPACED IN THE INTERPULSE PERIOD
SB REPRESENTS THE EXTRA BLANKING TIME AFTER THE TRANSMIT PULSE TO ALLOW FOR RECEIVERPROTECTOR RECOVERY
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0ULSE DOPPLER DWELL TIMELINE
FILTERS FOR EACH RANGE GATE RESULTING IN A RANGE DOPPLER MAP FOR A #0) SIMILAR TO THAT
SHOWN IN &IGURE
3EVERAL #0)S WITH THE SAME 02& BUT POSSIBLY DIFFERENT TRANSMIT CARRIER FREQUEN
CIES CAN BE NONCOHERENTLY COMBINED VIA POSTDETECTION INTEGRATION 0$) )F FREQUENCY
MODULATION &- RANGING IS USED ALL THE #0)S THAT ARE NONCOHERENTLY INTEGRATED MUST
HAVE THE SAME &- SLOPE 4HE GROUPING OF #0)S IS A LOOK $ETECTIONS ARE DETERMINED
FOR THE RANGE DOPPLER CELLS IN A LOOK
-ULTIPLE LOOKS WITH DIFFERENT 02&S OR FREQUENCY MODULATIONS ARE USED TO RESOLVE
RANGE ANDOR DOPPLER AMBIGUITIES 4HIS GROUP OF LOOKS IS A DWELL ! DWELL IS ASSOCIATED
WITH A PARTICULAR ANTENNA LINE OF SIGHT OR BEAM POSITION 4ARGET REPORTS ARE GENERATED
FOR EACH DWELL
! BAR REFERS TO A LINE OF BEAM POSITIONS AT A CONSTANT ELEVATION )N SEARCH A MULTI
BAR RASTER SCANS THE BEAM OVER AN ASSIGNED AREA OR VOLUME TO CREATE A FRAME ! FRAME
MAY HAVE MULTIPLE BARS 4YPICALLY THE ANTENNA WILL VISIT EVERY BEAM POSITION ONCE
DURING A SEARCH FRAME
"ASIC #ONFIGURATION &IGURE SHOWS A REPRESENTATIVE CONFIGURATION OF A PULSE
DOPPLER RADAR UTILIZING DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING UNDER THE CONTROL OF A MISSION PROCESSOR
)NCLUDED ARE THE ANTENNA RECEIVEREXCITER SIGNAL PROCESSOR AND DATA PROCESSOR 4HE
RADARS CONTROL PROCESSOR RECEIVES INPUTS FROM THE ON BOARD SYSTEMS SUCH AS THE INER
TIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM ).3 AND OPERATOR CONTROLS VIA THE MISSION PROCESSOR AND
PERFORMS AS A MASTER CONTROLLER FOR THE RADAR HARDWARE
#OHERENT PROCESSING REQUIRES THAT ALL FREQUENCY DOWN CONVERSIONS INCLUDING THE
FINAL CONVERSION TO BASEBAND RETAIN THE COHERENT PHASE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRANSMIT
TED AND RECEIVED PULSES !LL THE LOCAL OSCILLATORS ARE PHASE REFERENCED TO THE SAME MASTER
OSCILLATOR WHICH IS ALSO USED TO PRODUCE THE TRANSMITTED WAVEFORM 4HE IN PHASE )
AND QUADRATURE 1 COMPONENTS AT BASEBAND REPRESENT THE REAL AND IMAGINARY PARTS
RESPECTIVELY OF A COMPLEX NUMBER WHOSE COMPLEX ARGUMENT IN PHASOR NOTATION IS THE
PHASE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED PULSES 4HE COMPLEX MODULUS
OR MAGNITUDE IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE RECEIVED ECHO STRENGTH
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-ASTER /SCILLATOR 4HE MASTER OSCILLATOR PROVIDES A FREE RUNNING STABLE REFERENCE
SINUSOID ON WHICH THE SYSTEM SYNCHRONIZATION IS BASED
3YNCHRONIZER 4HE SYNCHRONIZER DISTRIBUTES PRECISELY TIMED STROBES AND CLOCKS FOR
THE VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF THE RADAR SYSTEM TO ENSURE THE TIME ALIGNMENT OF TRANSMIT
WAVEFORMS AND THE RECEPTION OF THEIR CORRESPONDING RETURNS 4HESE LOW JITTER TIMING
SIGNALS ARE USED TO ENABLE AND DISABLE THE TRANSMIT POWER AMPLIFIER TO CREATE THE TRANS
MIT PULSE TRAIN BLANK THE RECEIVER DURING TRANSMISSION AND FORM THE RANGE GATES
2EFERENCE 'ENERATOR 4HE REFERENCE GENERATOR OUTPUTS FIXED FREQUENCY CLOCKS AND
LOCAL OSCILLATORS ,/S
3YNTHESIZER 4HE SYNTHESIZER GENERATES THE TRANSMIT CARRIER FREQUENCY AND THE
FIRST LOCAL OSCILLATOR ,/ FREQUENCY &REQUENCY AGILITY IS PROVIDED TO THE TRANSMIT
AND ,/ SIGNALS
#LUTTER /FFSET 'ENERATOR 4HE CLUTTER OFFSET GENERATOR SHIFTS THE TRANSMIT CARRIER
SLIGHTLY SO THAT ON RECEIVE THE MAIN BEAM CLUTTER IS POSITIONED AT ZERO DOPPLER FRE
QUENCY OR $# DIRECT CURRENT AFTER BASEBANDING 4HE SAME EFFECT COULD BE OBTAINED
BY SHIFTING THE RECEIVER ,/ FREQUENCY 7ITH THE CLUTTER AT $# THE SPURIOUS SIGNALS
CAUSED BY CERTAIN RECEIVER NONLINEARITIES SUCH AS MIXER INTERMODULATION PRODUCTS AND
VIDEO HARMONICS ALSO FALL NEAR $# AND CAN BE FILTERED OUT ALONG WITH THE MAIN BEAM
CLUTTER 4HE FREQUENCY SHIFT APPLIED IS A FUNCTION OF THE ANTENNA MAIN BEAM LINE
OF SIGHT RELATIVE TO THE PLATFORMS VELOCITY VECTOR 4HIS PROCESS IS KNOWN AS CLUTTER
POSITIONING
/UTPUT 'ENERATOR 4HE OUTPUT GENERATES THE PULSED RADIO FREQUENCY 2& TRANSMIT
SIGNAL WHICH IS THE TRANSMIT DRIVE SIGNAL THAT IS AMPLIFIED BY THE POWER AMPLIFIER PRIOR
TO BEING FED TO THE TRANSMIT ANTENNA
!NTENNA 4HE ANTENNA CAN BE MECHANICALLY OR ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED -ODERN
PULSE DOPPLER RADARS HAVE MIGRATED TO THE USE OF ACTIVE ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED ARRAYS
!%3!S !%3!S CONTAIN TRANSMITRECEIVE 42 MODULES EACH COMPRISING A TRANS
MIT POWER AMPLIFIER AND A RECEIVE LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER ,.! ALONG WITH AN ATTENUATOR
AND PHASE SHIFTER AT EACH ANTENNA ELEMENT
)F THE SAME ANTENNA IS USED FOR TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE A DUPLEXER MUST BE INCLUDED
4HIS DUPLEXER IS USUALLY A PASSIVE DEVICE SUCH AS A CIRCULATOR WHICH EFFECTIVELY
SWITCHES THE ANTENNA BETWEEN THE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER #ONSIDERABLE POWER MAY
BE COUPLED TO THE RECEIVER SINCE TYPICALLY NO MORE THAN TO D" OF ISOLATION MAY
BE EXPECTED FROM FERRITE CIRCULATORS
!NTENNAS MAY FORM VARIOUS BEAMS 4HE TRANSMIT BEAM CAN BE FORMED WITH UNIFORM
APERTURE ILLUMINATION TO MAXIMIZE THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY ON TARGET WHEREAS THE RECEIVE
SUM 3 BEAM IS TYPICALLY FORMED WITH A LOW SIDELOBE TAPER TO MINIMIZE THE RETURNS
FROM GROUND CLUTTER 4HE 3 BEAM IS USED FOR TARGET DETECTION AND ACTING AS A SPATIAL FILTER
IS THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST CLUTTER AND INTERFERENCE IN THE SIDELOBE REGION 4O
FACILITATE TARGET TRACKING ANGLE MEASUREMENTS WITH ACCURACIES FINER THAN THE ANTENNA
BEAMWIDTH ARE USUALLY REQUIRED ! TECHNIQUE TO OBTAIN SUCH ANGLE MEASUREMENTS OF
A TARGET ON A SINGLE PULSE IS CALLED MONOPULSE -ONOPULSE CAN BE CHARACTERIZED AS
AMPLITUDE OR PHASE WITH PHASE BEING PREFERABLE DUE TO ITS ADVANTAGE IN ANGLE ACCURACY
FOR A GIVEN SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO 0HASE MONOPULSE USES A DELTA OR DIFFERENCE BEAM
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY FORMED BY DIVIDING THE APERTURE INTO TWO HALVES AND SUBTRACTING
THE CORRESPONDING PHASE CENTERS -ONOPULSE BEAMS DELTA
AZIMUTH $!: AND DELTA
ELEVATION $%, ARE FORMED TO PROVIDE PHASE MONOPULSE AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION ANGLE
MEASUREMENTS 3ELF
CALIBRATION ROUTINES CONTROLLED BY THE CONTROL PROCESSOR ENSURE
THAT THE PHASE AND AMPLITUDE MATCH OF THE RECEIVER CHANNELS ENABLES ACCURATE MONO
PULSE MEASUREMENTS ! GUARD BEAM WITH A NEAR
OMNIDIRECTIONAL PATTERN IS FORMED FOR
SIDELOBE DETECTION BLANKING AS DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION
2ECEIVER0ROTECTOR 20 4HE RECEIVERPROTECTOR IS A LOW
LOSS FAST
RESPONSE
HIGH
POWER SWITCH THAT PREVENTS THE TRANSMITTER OUTPUT FROM THE ANTENNAS DUPLEXER
FROM DAMAGING THE SENSITIVE RECEIVER FRONT END &AST RECOVERY IS REQUIRED TO MINIMIZE
DESENSITIZATION IN THE RANGE GATES FOLLOWING THE TRANSMITTED PULSE 20S CAN BE IMPLE
MENTED WITH A GAS DISCHARGE TUBE IN WHICH A GAS IS IONIZED BY HIGH
POWER 2& ! DIODE
LIMITER CAN BE USED INSTEAD OF OR IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE GAS DISCHARGE TUBE 4HE 20
CAN BE REFLECTIVE OR ABSORPTIVE BUT MUST HAVE LOW INSERTION LOSS TO MINIMIZE IMPACT
ON RECEIVE CHAIN NOISE FIGURE
#LUTTER !UTOMATIC 'AIN #ONTROL #!'# 4HE #!'# ATTENUATOR IS USED BOTH FOR
SUPPRESSING TRANSMITTER LEAKAGE FROM THE 20 INTO THE RECEIVER SO THE RECEIVER IS NOT
DRIVEN INTO SATURATION WHICH COULD LENGTHEN RECOVERY TIME AFTER THE TRANSMITTER IS
TURNED OFF AND FOR CONTROLLING THE INPUT SIGNAL LEVELS INTO THE RECEIVER 4HE RECEIVED
LEVELS ARE KEPT BELOW SATURATION LEVELS TYPICALLY WITH A CLUTTER !'# IN SEARCH AND A
TARGET !'# IN SINGLE
TARGET TRACK TO PREVENT SPURIOUS SIGNALS WHICH DEGRADE PERFOR
MANCE FROM BEING GENERATED
.OISE !UTOMATIC 'AIN #ONTROL .!'# 4HE .!'# ATTENUATOR IS USED TO SET THE
THERMAL NOISE LEVEL IN THE RECEIVER TO SUPPORT THE REQUIRED DYNAMIC RANGE AS DISCUSSED
IN 3ECTION 4HE ATTENUATION IS COMMANDED BASED ON MEASUREMENTS OF THE NOISE
DURING PERIODIC CALIBRATION
$IGITAL 0REPROCESSING 4HE ADVENT OF HIGH
SPEED HIGH
DYNAMIC RANGE ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL CONVERTERS !$S ALLOWS )&
SAMPLING AND DIGITAL BASEBANDING 4HE DIGITAL
)&
SAMPLED OUTPUT OF THE RECEIVER IS DOWNCONVERTED TO BASEBAND $# VIA A DIGITAL
PRODUCT DETECTOR $0$ 3UPERIOR )1 IMAGE REJECTION IS AN ADVANTAGE OF A $0$
4HE ) AND 1 SIGNALS ARE PASSED THROUGH THE DIGITAL PORTION OF THE PULSE MATCHED
FILTER 4HE COMBINATION OF THE )& MATCHED FILTER AND THE DIGITAL MATCHED FILTER FORM THE
RECEIVERS SINGLE
PULSE MATCHED FILTER
$IGITAL 3IGNAL 0ROCESSING &OLLOWING DIGITAL PREPROCESSING IS A DOPPLER FIL
TER BANK FOR MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER REJECTION AND COHERENT INTEGRATION 2& INTERFERENCE
2&) THAT IS PULSED AND ASYNCHRONOUS TO THE RADAR TIMING CAN OFTEN BE DETECTED
PRIOR TO THE COHERENT INTEGRATION 2ANGE
)00 CELLS WHERE 2&) IS DETECTED ARE THEN
hREPAIREDv TO PREVENT CORRUPTION OF THE OUTPUT SPECTRUM 4HE FILTER BANK IS USUALLY
REALIZED BY USING THE FAST &OURIER TRANSFORM &&4 HOWEVER THE DISCRETE &OURIER
TRANSFORM $&4 CAN BE USED WHEN THE NUMBER OF FILTERS IS SMALL !PPROPRIATE
WEIGHTING IS EMPLOYED TO REDUCE THE FILTER SIDELOBES 4HE AMOUNT OF WEIGHTING CAN
BE CHOSEN ADAPTIVELY BY SENSING THE PEAK SIGNAL LEVELS USUALLY MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER
AND SELECTING THE DOPPLER WEIGHTING DYNAMICALLY
)F PULSE COMPRESSION MODULATION IS USED ON THE TRANSMIT PULSE TO INCREASE ENERGY ON
TARGET PULSE COMPRESSION CAN BE PERFORMED DIGITALLY EITHER BEFORE OR AFTER THE DOPPLER
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
FILTER BANK 4HE ADVANTAGE OF PULSE COMPRESSION AFTER THE FILTER BANK IS THAT THE EFFECTS OF
DOPPLER ON PULSE COMPRESSION CAN BE LARGELY REMOVED BY TAILORING THE PULSE COMPRES
SION TO THE DOPPLER OFFSET OF EACH DOPPLER FILTER (OWEVER THIS INCREASES THE TOTAL AMOUNT
OF SIGNAL PROCESSING REQUIRED
4HE ENVELOPE AT THE OUTPUT OF THE &&4 IS FORMED WITH A LINEAR ) 1 OR SQUARE
LAW ) 1 DETECTOR (ISTORICALLY LINEAR DETECTORS WERE USED TO MANAGE DYNAMIC
RANGE IN FIXED
POINT PROCESSORS 3QUARE
LAW DETECTORS ARE PREFERRED FOR SOME MODERN
FLOATING
POINT PROCESSORS 0OSTDETECTION INTEGRATION 0$) MAY BE USED WHERE EACH
RANGE
GATE
DOPPLER
FILTER OUTPUT IS LINEARLY SUMMED OVER SEVERAL #0)S &OR EACH RANGE
DOPPLER CELL IN THE 3 CHANNEL THE 0$) OUTPUT IS COMPARED WITH A DETECTION THRESHOLD
DETERMINED BY A CONSTANT
FALSE
ALARM
RATE #&!2 PROCESSn #ELLS WITH AMPLITUDES
GREATER THAN THE #&!2 THRESHOLD ARE LABELED AS DETECTIONS
3IMILAR PROCESSING IS DONE IN THE $!: AND $%, CHANNELS WITH EXCEPTIONS AS SHOWN IN
&IGURE &OR THOSE RANGE
DOPPLER CELLS WITH DECLARED DETECTIONS THE IMAGINARY PART
OF THE $!:3 AND $%,3 RATIOS ARE USED FOR PHASE COMPARISON MONOPULSE TO ESTIMATE THE
AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION ANGLES RESPECTIVELY RELATIVE TO THE CENTER OF THE 3 MAIN BEAM
4HE ANGLE ESTIMATES ARE COMPUTED FOR EACH COHERENT LOOK AND THEN AVERAGED OVER THE
NUMBER OF #0)S NONCOHERENTLY INTEGRATED VIA 0$)
4HE GUARD CHANNEL IS PROCESSED SIMILAR TO THE 3 CHANNEL 4HE GUARD CHANNELS PUR
POSE IS TO BLANK SIDELOBE DETECTIONS AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
0OSTPROCESSING &OLLOWING THE #&!2 IS DETECTION EDITING WHICH CONTAINS THE SIDE
LOBE DISCRETE REJECTION LOGIC &OLLOWING DETECTION EDITING RANGE AND VELOCITY AMBI
GUITY RESOLVERS WORK OVER SEVERAL LOOKS WITHIN A DWELL 4HE FINAL DETECTION OUTPUTS
ALONG WITH THEIR CORRESPONDING UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE VELOCITY AND ANGLE MEASUREMENTS
AND THEIR ESTIMATED ACCURACIES ARE PASSED TO THE MISSION PROCESSOR FOR TRACKING AND
OPERATOR DISPLAY
{ *1 -
"**
,
1//
,
'ENERAL #LUTTER RETURNS FROM VARIOUS SCATTERERS HAVE A STRONG INFLUENCE ON THE DESIGN
OF A PULSE DOPPLER RADAR AS WELL AS AN EFFECT ON THE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION OF POINT TARGETS
#LUTTER SCATTERERS INCLUDE TERRAIN BOTH LAND AND SEA WEATHER RAIN SNOW ETC AND CHAFF
3INCE THE ANTENNAS GENERALLY USED IN PULSE DOPPLER RADARS HAVE A SINGLE RELATIVELY HIGH
GAIN MAIN BEAM MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER MAY BE THE LARGEST SIGNAL HANDLED BY THE RADAR WHEN
IN A DOWN
LOOK CONDITION 4HE NARROW BEAM LIMITS THE FREQUENCY EXTENT OF THIS CLUTTER
TO A RELATIVELY SMALL PORTION OF THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM 4HE REMAINDER OF THE ANTENNA PAT
TERN CONSISTS OF SIDELOBES WHICH RESULT IN SIDELOBE CLUTTER 4HIS CLUTTER IS GENERALLY MUCH
SMALLER THAN THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER BUT COVERS MUCH MORE OF THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN 4HE
SIDELOBE CLUTTER FROM THE GROUND DIRECTLY BELOW THE RADAR THE ALTITUDE
LINE IS FREQUENTLY
LARGE OWING TO A HIGH REFLECTION COEFFICIENT AT STEEP GRAZING ANGLES THE LARGE GEOMETRIC
AREA AND THE SHORT RANGE 2ANGE PERFORMANCE IS DEGRADED FOR TARGETS IN THE SIDELOBE CLUTTER
REGION WHEREVER THE CLUTTER IS NEAR OR ABOVE THE RECEIVER NOISE LEVEL -ULTIPLE 02&S MAY
BE USED TO MOVE THE TARGET WITH RESPECT TO THE SIDELOBE CLUTTER IN THE RANGE
DOPPLER MAP
THUS AVOIDING COMPLETELY BLIND RANGES OR BLIND FREQUENCIES DUE TO HIGH CLUTTER LEVELS 4HIS
RELATIVE MOTION OCCURS DUE TO THE RANGE AND DOPPLER FOLDOVER FROM RANGE ANDOR DOPPLER
AMBIGUITIES )F ONE 02& FOLDS SIDELOBE CLUTTER AND A TARGET TO THE SAME APPARENT RANGE AND
DOPPLER A SUFFICIENT CHANGE OF 02& WILL SEPARATE THEM
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
{x
'ROUND #LUTTER IN A 3TATIONARY 2ADAR 7HEN THE RADAR IS FIXED WITH RESPECT
TO THE GROUND BOTH STATIONARY MAIN
BEAM AND SIDELOBE CLUTTER RETURNS OCCUR AT ZERO
DOPPLER OFFSET FROM THE TRANSMIT CARRIER FREQUENCY 4HE SIDELOBE CLUTTER IS USUALLY
SMALL COMPARED WITH MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER AS LONG AS SOME PART OF THE MAIN BEAM
STRIKES THE GROUND 4HE CLUTTER CAN BE CALCULATED AS IN A PULSED RADAR THEN FOLDED IN
RANGE AS A FUNCTION OF THE 02&
'ROUND #LUTTER IN A -OVING 2ADAR 7HEN THE RADAR IS MOVING WITH A VELOCITY
62 THE CLUTTER IS SPREAD OVER THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN AS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE FOR THE
SPECIAL CASE OF HORIZONTAL MOTION 4HE FOLDOVER IN RANGE AND DOPPLER IS ILLUSTRATED
IN &IGURE FOR A MEDIUM
02& RADAR WHERE THE CLUTTER IS AMBIGUOUS IN BOTH RANGE
AND DOPPLER 4HE RADAR PLATFORM IS MOVING TO THE RIGHT AT KT WITH A DIVE ANGLE
OF 4HE NARROW ANNULI ISO
RANGE CONTOURS DEFINE THE GROUND AREA THAT CONTRIBUTES
TO CLUTTER IN THE SELECTED RANGE GATE 4HE FIVE NARROW HYPERBOLIC BANDS ISO
DOPPLER
CONTOURS DEFINE THE AREA THAT CONTRIBUTES TO CLUTTER IN THE SELECTED DOPPLER FILTER
4HE SHADED INTERSECTIONS REPRESENT THE AREA OR CLUTTER PATCHES THAT CONTRIBUTES TO
THE RANGE
GATE
DOPPLER
FILTER CELL %ACH CLUTTER PATCH CONTRIBUTES CLUTTER POWER AS A
FUNCTION OF THE ANTENNA GAIN IN THE DIRECTION OF THE CLUTTER PATCH AND THE REFLECTIVITY
OF THE CLUTTER PATCH
4HE MAIN BEAM ILLUMINATES THE ELLIPTICAL AREA TO THE LEFT OF THE GROUND TRACK 3INCE
THIS AREA LIES ENTIRELY WITHIN THE FILTER AREA THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER FALLS WITHIN THIS FILTER
AND ALL OTHER FILTERS RECEIVE SIDELOBE CLUTTER &OUR RANGE ANNULI ARE INTERSECTED BY THE
MAIN
BEAM ELLIPSE SO THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER IN THIS RANGE GATE IS THE VECTOR SUM OF
THE SIGNALS RECEIVED FROM ALL FOUR CLUTTER PATCHES /WING TO THIS HIGH DEGREE OF RANGE
FOLDOVER ALL RANGE GATES WILL HAVE APPROXIMATELY EQUAL CLUTTER
&)'52% 0LAN VIEW OF RANGE
GATE AND DOPPLER
FILTER AREAS 2ADAR ALTITUDE FT VELOCITY
KT TO RIGHT DIVE ANGLE RADAR WAVELENGTH CM 02& K(Z RANGE GATE WIDTH MS
RANGE GATE DOPPLER FILTER AT K(Z BANDWIDTH K(Z BEAMWIDTH CIRCULAR MAIN
BEAM AZIMUTH
DEPRESSION ANGLE
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)F THE MAIN BEAM WERE SCANNED IN AZIMUTH WITH THE SAME RADAR PLATFORM
KINEMATICS THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER WOULD SCAN IN DOPPLER FREQUENCY SO THAT IT WOULD
APPEAR IN THE SELECTED FILTER TEN TIMES TWICE FOR EACH HYPERBOLIC BAND )N BETWEEN
THE FILTER WOULD RECEIVE SIDELOBE CLUTTER FROM ALL DARKENED INTERSECTIONS 7ITH THE USE
OF THE PROPER CLUTTER OFFSET WHICH WOULD VARY AS A FUNCTION OF MAIN
BEAM AZIMUTH
ON THE TRANSMIT FREQUENCY AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION THE DOPPLER OF THE MAIN
BEAM
CLUTTER RETURN WILL BE ZERO OR $#
#LUTTER 2ETURN 'ENERAL %QUATIONS 4HE CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIO FROM A SINGLE
CLUTTER PATCH WITH INCREMENTAL AREA D! AT A RANGE 2 IS
# .
0AV'4 '2 L S D!
P 2 ,# K4S "N
WHERE 0AV AVERAGE TRANSMIT POWER
'4 TRANSMIT GAIN IN PATCH DIRECTION
'2 RECEIVE GAIN IN PATCH DIRECTION
K OPERATING WAVELENGTH
R CLUTTER BACKSCATTER COEFFICIENT
,# LOSSES APPLICABLE TO CLUTTER
K "OLTZMANNS CONSTANT r
7(Z+
4S SYSTEM NOISE TEMPERATURE +
"N DOPPLER FILTER BANDWIDTH
,# REFERS TO LOSSES THAT APPLY TO DISTRIBUTED SURFACE CLUTTER AS OPPOSED TO DISCRETE
RESOLVABLE TARGETS 4HESE LOSSES WILL BE DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION
4HE CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIO FROM EACH RADAR RESOLUTION CELL IS THE INTEGRAL OF %Q
OVER THE DOPPLER AND RANGE EXTENT OF EACH OF THE AMBIGUOUS CELL POSITIONS ON THE
GROUNDn 5NDER CERTAIN SIMPLIFIED CONDITIONS THE INTEGRATION CAN BE CLOSED
FORM
BUT IN GENERAL NUMERIC INTEGRATION IS REQUIRED
-AIN
BEAM #LUTTER 4HE NET MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER
TO
NOISE POWER IN A SINGLE RANGE
GATE IN THE RECEIVER CAN BE APPROXIMATED FROM %Q BY SUBSTITUTING THE RANGE GATES
CS
INTERSECTED AREA COS
@ 2PAZ WITHIN THE MAIN BEAM ON THE GROUND FOR D! AND SUM
MING OVER ALL AMBIGUITIES OF THAT RANGE GATE THAT ARE WITHIN THE MAIN BEAM
'4 '2S
# 0AV L QAZ CT
. P ,# K4S "N
2 COSA
4HE SUMMATION LIMITS ARE THE LOWER AND UPPER EDGES IN THE ELEVATION DIMENSION OF THE
SMALLER OF THE TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE BEAMS
WHERE PAZ AZIMUTH HALF
POWER BEAMWIDTH RADIANS
S COMPRESSED PULSE WIDTH
@ GRAZING ANGLE AT CLUTTER PATCH
4HE REMAINING TERMS ARE AS DEFINED FOLLOWING %Q
)F THE MAIN BEAM IS POINTED BELOW THE HORIZON THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER SPECTRAL WIDTH
$F DUE TO PLATFORM MOTION MEASURED D" DOWN FROM THE PEAK IS APPROXIMATELY
$F
62
L
Q " COSF COSQ CT SIN F COSQ
Q " COSF SINQ
H COSF
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
WHERE 62 RADAR GROUND SPEED
K 2& WAVELENGTH
P" D" ONE
WAY ANTENNA AZIMUTH BEAMWIDTH RADIANS
E MAIN
BEAM DEPRESSION ANGLE RELATIVE TO LOCAL HORIZONTAL RADIANS
P MAIN
BEAM AZIMUTH ANGLE RELATIVE TO THE HORIZONTAL VELOCITY RADIANS
S COMPRESSED PULSE WIDTH
H RADAR ALTITUDE
7HEN THE MAGNITUDE OF THE MAIN
BEAM AZIMUTH ANGLE IS GREATER THAN HALF OF THE AZI
MUTH BEAMWIDTH \ Q \ q Q " THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY CAN BE
MODELED WITH A GAUSSIAN SHAPE WITH A STANDARD DEVIATION RC $F
-AIN
BEAM #LUTTER &ILTERING )N A PULSE DOPPLER RADAR UTILIZING DIGITAL SIGNAL
PROCESSING MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER IS REJECTED BY EITHER A COMBINATION OF A DELAY
LINE CLUT
TER CANCELER -4) FILTER FOLLOWED BY A DOPPLER FILTER BANK OR BY A FILTER BANK WITH LOW
FILTER SIDELOBES WHICH ARE ACHIEVED VIA WEIGHTING )N EITHER CASE THE FILTERS AROUND
THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER ARE BLANKED TO MINIMIZE FALSE ALARMS ON MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER 4HIS
BLANKED REGION IN DOPPLER IS KNOWN AS THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER NOTCH
4HE CHOICE BETWEEN THESE OPTIONS IS A TRADE
OFF OF QUANTIZATION NOISE AND COM
PLEXITY VERSUS THE FILTER
WEIGHTING LOSS )F A CANCELER IS USED FILTER WEIGHTING CAN BE
RELAXED OVER THAT WITH A FILTER BANK ALONE SINCE THE CANCELER REDUCES THE DYNAMIC
RANGE REQUIREMENTS INTO THE DOPPLER FILTER BANK IF THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER IS THE LARGEST
SIGNAL 7ITHOUT A CANCELER HEAVIER WEIGHTING IS NEEDED TO REDUCE SIDELOBES TO A LEVEL
SO THAT THE FILTER RESPONSE TO MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER IS BELOW THE THERMAL
NOISE LEVEL 4HIS
WEIGHTING INCREASES THE FILTER NOISE BANDWIDTH AND HENCE INCREASES THE LOSS IN SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO
#HOOSING THE PROPER WEIGHTING IS A COMPROMISE BETWEEN REJECTING MAIN
BEAM
CLUTTER AND MAXIMIZING TARGET SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO 4O DYNAMICALLY MAKE THIS COM
PROMISE THE FILTER WEIGHTING CAN BE ADAPTIVE TO THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER LEVEL BY MEA
SURING THE PEAK RETURN LEVEL USUALLY MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER OVER THE )00S AND SELECTING
OR COMPUTING THE BEST WEIGHTING TO APPLY ACROSS THE #0) !NOTHER TECHNIQUE THAT
IS APPLICABLE TO HIGH
MEDIUM AND HIGH 02& IS TO GENERATE A HYBRID FILTER WEIGHT
ING BY CONVOLVING TWO WEIGHTING FUNCTIONS 4HE RESULT IS A FILTER WITH SIGNIFICANTLY
LESS WEIGHTING LOSS AND LOW FAR
OUT SIDELOBES BUT AT A COST OF RELATIVELY HIGH NEAR
IN SIDELOBES
4O EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER ON TARGET DETECTION PERFORMANCE
THE CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIO MUST BE KNOWN FOR EACH FILTER WHERE TARGETS ARE TO BE
DETECTED ! GENERAL MEASURE THAT CAN BE EASILY APPLIED TO SPECIFIC CLUTTER LEVELS IS
THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR ) 7HEN USING A DOPPLER FILTER BANK AS OPPOSED TO AN -4)
FILTER THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR IS DEFINED FOR EACH DOPPLER FILTER AS THE RATIO OF THE
SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER POWER AT THE OUTPUT OF THE DOPPLER FILTER TO THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER
POWER AT THE INPUT 4HE SIGNAL IS ASSUMED TO BE AT THE CENTER OF THE DOPPLER FILTER
)NCORPORATING THE EFFECT OF FILTER WEIGHTING THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR FOR A DOPPLER
FILTER IS GIVEN BY
) +
.
!N
N
.
.
!N !M EXP [ P N M S C4 ] COS;P + N M .=
N M
{n
WHERE !I
.
RC
+
4
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)00 WEIGHT a I a .
NUMBER OF )00S IN #0)
STANDARD DEVIATION OF CLUTTER SPECTRUM
FILTER NUMBER + IS THE $# FILTER
INTERPULSE PERIOD
#LUTTER
TRANSIENT 3UPPRESSION 7HEN THE 02& IS CHANGED FOR MULTIPLE
02& RANGING THE SLOPE IS CHANGED IN LINEAR &- RANGING OR THE 2& CARRIER IS
CHANGED THE TRANSIENT CHANGE IN THE CLUTTER RETURN MAY CAUSE DEGRADATION UNLESS IT IS
PROPERLY HANDLED 3INCE THE CLUTTER IS USUALLY AMBIGUOUS IN RANGE IN A PULSE DOPPLER
RADAR THE CLUTTER POWER INCREASES AT EACH INTERPULSE PERIOD )00 AS CLUTTER RETURN IS
RECEIVED FROM THE FARTHER AMBIGUITIES UNTIL THE HORIZON IS REACHED 4HIS PHENOMENON
IS CALLED SPACE CHARGING .OTE THAT ALTHOUGH AN INCREASING NUMBER OF CLUTTER RETURNS
ARE RECEIVED DURING THE CHARGING PERIOD THE VECTOR SUM MAY ACTUALLY DECREASE OWING
TO THE RANDOM PHASE RELATIONS OF THE RETURNS FROM DIFFERENT PATCHES
)F A CLUTTER CANCELER -4) FILTER IS USED THE OUTPUT CANNOT BEGIN TO SETTLE TO ITS
STEADY
STATE VALUE UNTIL SPACE CHARGING IS COMPLETE 3OME SETTLING TIME MUST BE
ALLOWED BEFORE SIGNALS ARE PASSED TO THE FILTER BANK 4HEREFORE THE COHERENT INTEGRA
TION TIME AVAILABLE DURING EACH #0) IS REDUCED FROM THE TOTAL #0) TIME BY THE SUM OF
THE SPACE CHARGE TIME AND THE TRANSIENT SETTLING TIME 4HE CANCELER SETTLING TIME CAN
BE ELIMINATED BY PRECHARGING THE CANCELER WITH THE STEADY
STATE INPUT VALUE 4HIS IS
DONE BY CHANGING THE CANCELER GAINS SO THAT ALL DELAY LINES ACHIEVE THEIR STEADY
STATE
VALUES ON THE FIRST )00 OF DATA
)F NO CANCELER IS USED SIGNALS CAN BE PASSED TO THE FILTER BANK AFTER THE SPACE CHARGE
IS COMPLETE SO THAT THE COHERENT INTEGRATION TIME IS THE TOTAL #0) TIME MINUS THE SPACE
CHARGE TIME
!LTITUDE
LINE #LUTTER "LANKING 4HE REFLECTION FROM THE EARTH DIRECTLY BENEATH
AN AIRBORNE PULSE RADAR IS CALLED ALTITUDE
LINE CLUTTER "ECAUSE OF SPECULAR REFLEC
TION OVER SMOOTH TERRAIN THE LARGE GEOMETRIC AREA AND RELATIVELY SHORT RANGE THIS
SIGNAL CAN BE LARGE )T LIES WITHIN THE SIDELOBE CLUTTER REGION OF THE PULSE DOPPLER
SPECTRUM
"ECAUSE IT CAN BE MUCH LARGER THAN DIFFUSE SIDELOBE CLUTTER AND USUALLY HAS A
RELATIVELY NARROW SPECTRAL WIDTH ALTITUDE
LINE CLUTTER IS OFTEN REMOVED EITHER BY A
SPECIAL #&!2 THAT PREVENTS DETECTION OF THE ALTITUDE
LINE OR BY A TRACKER
BLANKER
THAT REMOVES THESE REPORTS FROM THE FINAL OUTPUT )N THE CASE OF THE TRACKER
BLANKER
A CLOSED
LOOP TRACKER IS USED TO POSITION RANGE AND VELOCITY GATES AROUND THE ALTITUDE
RETURN AND BLANK THE AFFECTED RANGE
DOPPLER REGION .OTE THAT AT VERY LOW ALTITUDES
THE ANGLES THAT SUBTEND THE FIRST RANGE GATE ON THE GROUND CAN BE QUITE BIG AND THE
SPECTRAL WIDTH WIDENS
3IDELOBE #LUTTER 4HE ENTIRE CLUTTER SPECTRUM CAN BE CALCULATED FOR EACH RANGE
GATE BY %Q IF THE ANTENNA PATTERN IS KNOWN IN THE LOWER HEMISPHERE )N PRELIMINARY
SYSTEM DESIGN THE EXACT GAIN FUNCTION MAY NOT BE KNOWN SO ONE USEFUL APPROXIMATION
IS THAT THE SIDELOBE RADIATION IS ISOTROPIC WITH A CONSTANT GAIN OF '3,
3IDELOBE $ISCRETES !N INHERENT CHARACTERISTIC OF AIRBORNE PULSE DOPPLER RADARS
IS THAT ECHOES FROM LARGE RESOLVABLE OBJECTS ON THE GROUND DISCRETES SUCH AS BUILD
INGS MAY BE RECEIVED THROUGH THE ANTENNA SIDELOBES AND APPEAR AS THOUGH THEY WERE
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
SMALLER MOVING TARGETS IN THE MAIN BEAM 4HIS IS A PARTICULARLY SEVERE PROBLEM IN
A MEDIUM
02& RADAR WHERE ALL
ASPECT TARGET PERFORMANCE IS USUALLY DESIRED SINCE
THESE RETURNS COMPETE WITH TARGETS OF INTEREST )N A HIGH
02& RADAR THERE IS LITTLE IF ANY
RANGE REGION CLEAR OF SIDELOBE CLUTTER SUCH THAT THE SIDELOBE CLUTTER PORTION OF THE DOP
PLER SPECTRUM IS OFTEN NOT PROCESSED SINCE TARGET DETECTABILITY IS SEVERELY DEGRADED IN
THIS REGION &URTHER IN A HIGH
02& RADAR ESPECIALLY AT HIGHER ALTITUDES THE RELATIVE
AMPLITUDES OF THE DISTRIBUTED SIDELOBE CLUTTER AND THE DISCRETE RETURNS ARE SUCH THAT THE
DISCRETES ARE NOT VISIBLE IN THE SIDELOBE CLUTTER
4HE APPARENT RADAR CROSS SECTION 2#3 RAPP OF A SIDELOBE DISCRETE WITH AN 2#3
OF R IS RAPP R '3, WHERE '3, IS THE SIDELOBE GAIN RELATIVE TO THE MAIN BEAM 4HE
LARGER
SIZE DISCRETES APPEAR WITH A LOWER DENSITY THAN THE SMALLER ONES AND A MODEL
COMMONLY ASSUMED AT THE HIGHER RADAR FREQUENCIES IS SHOWN IN 4ABLE 4HUS AS A
PRACTICAL MATTER M DISCRETES ARE RARELY PRESENT M ARE SOMETIMES PRESENT AND
M ARE OFTEN PRESENT
4WO MECHANIZATIONS FOR DETECTING AND ELIMINATING FALSE REPORTS FROM SIDELOBE DIS
CRETES ARE THE GUARD CHANNEL AND POSTDETECTION SENSITIVITY TIME CONTROL 34# 4HESE
ARE DISCUSSED IN THE PARAGRAPHS THAT FOLLOW
'UARD #HANNEL 4HE GUARD CHANNEL MECHANIZATION COMPARES THE OUTPUTS OF
TWO PARALLEL RECEIVING CHANNELS ONE CONNECTED TO THE MAIN ANTENNA AND THE SEC
OND TO A GUARD ANTENNA THE 3 AND 'UARD CHANNEL IN &IGURE RESPECTIVELY TO
DETERMINE WHETHER A RECEIVED SIGNAL IS IN THE MAIN BEAM OR THE SIDELOBESn 4HE
GUARD CHANNEL USES A BROAD
BEAM ANTENNA THAT IDEALLY HAS A PATTERN ABOVE THE
MAIN
ANTENNA SIDELOBES 4HE RETURNS FROM BOTH CHANNELS ARE COMPARED FOR EACH
RANGE
DOPPLER CELL THAT HAD A DETECTION IN THE MAIN CHANNEL &OR THESE RANGE
DOPPLER
CELLS WHEN THE GUARD CHANNEL RETURN IS GREATER THAN THAT OF THE MAIN CHANNEL THE
DETECTION IS REJECTED BLANKED )F THE MAIN CHANNEL RETURN IS HIGHER THE DETECTION
IS PASSED ON
! BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A GUARD CHANNEL MECHANIZATION IS SHOWN IN &IGURE !FTER
THE #&!2 WHICH IDEALLY WOULD BE IDENTICAL IN BOTH CHANNELS THERE ARE THREE THRESH
OLDS THE MAIN CHANNEL GUARD CHANNEL AND MAIN
TO
GUARD
RATIO THRESHOLDS 4HE DETEC
TION LOGIC OF THESE THRESHOLDS IS ALSO SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HE BLANKING THAT OCCURS BECAUSE OF THE MAINGUARD COMPARISON AFFECTS THE
DETECTABILITY IN THE MAIN CHANNEL THE EXTENT OF WHICH IS A FUNCTION OF THE THRESH
OLD SETTINGS 4HE THRESHOLD SETTINGS ARE A TRADEOFF BETWEEN FALSE ALARMS DUE TO
SIDELOBE RETURNS AND DETECTABILITY LOSS IN THE MAIN CHANNEL !N EXAMPLE IS SHOWN
IN &IGURE FOR A NONFLUCTUATING TARGET WHERE THE ORDINATE IS THE PROBABILITY
OF DETECTION IN THE FINAL OUTPUT OF THE SIDELOBE BLANKER AND THE ABSCISSA IS THE
SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO 3.2 IN THE MAIN CHANNEL 4HE QUANTITY " IS THE RATIO OF
THE GUARD CHANNEL 3.2 TO THE MAIN CHANNEL 3.2 AND IS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE
4!",% $ISCRETE #LUTTER -ODEL
2ADAR #ROSS 3ECTION M
$ENSITY PER SQUARE MILE
#'$
)
&&!$
#'$
)
&&!$
&
&$
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&$
&
&$
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&$
($
'$
($
&)'52% 4WO CHANNEL SIDELOBE BLANKER
'$
&
&
!%&
&& !
&$& !
!%&
&& !
&$& !
'$
!
'$
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$% !
!
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!
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%
%
!
%
&& ! %'&
! &&
&&
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
&)'52% 0ROBABILITY OF DETECTION VERSUS SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO WITH A GUARD CHANNEL
&)'52% -AIN AND GUARD ANTENNA PATTERNS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
" IS SMALL FOR A TARGET IN THE MAIN BEAM AND LARGE D" OR SO FOR A TARGET AT THE
SIDELOBE PEAKS )N THE EXAMPLE SHOWN THERE IS A D" DETECTABILITY LOSS DUE TO
THE GUARD BLANKING FOR TARGETS IN THE MAIN BEAM
)DEALLY THE GUARD ANTENNA GAIN PATTERN EXCEEDS THAT OF THE MAIN ANTENNA AT ALL ANGLES
IN SPACE EXCEPT FOR THE MAIN BEAM TO MINIMIZE DETECTIONS THROUGH THE SIDELOBES )F
NOT HOWEVER AS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE AND &IGURE RETURNS THROUGH THE SIDELOBE
PEAKS OF THE MAIN PATTERN ABOVE THE GUARD PATTERN HAVE A SIGNIFICANT PROBABILITY OF
DETECTION IN THE MAIN CHANNEL AND WOULD REPRESENT FALSE DETECTIONS
0OSTDETECTION 34# )N THE AMBIGUITY RESOLUTION AS THE OUTPUT RETURNS ARE
RANGE CORRELATED THEY ARE SUBJECTED TO POSTDETECTION 34# OR 2#3 THRESHOLDING
APPLIED INSIDE THE RANGE CORRELATION PROCESS 4ARGET RETURNS THAT RANGE CORRELATE
INSIDE THE 34# RANGE BUT FALL BELOW THE 34# THRESHOLD ARE LIKELY SIDELOBE DISCRETES
AND ARE BLANKED OR REMOVED FROM THE CORRELATION PROCESS AND KEPT FROM GHOSTING
WITH OTHER TARGETS
4HE BASIC LOGIC IS SHOWN IN &IGURE "ASICALLY THE #&!2 OUTPUT DATA IS
CORRELATED RESOLVED IN RANGE THREE TIMES %ACH CORRELATOR CALCULATES UNAMBIGUOUS
RANGE USING - OUT OF THE . SETS OF DETECTION DATA EG THREE DETECTIONS REQUIRED
OUT OF EIGHT 02&S .O DOPPLER CORRELATION IS USED SINCE THE DOPPLER IS AMBIGUOUS
4HE RESULTS OF THE FIRST TWO CORRELATIONS ARE USED TO BLANK ALL OUTPUTS THAT ARE LIKELY
TO BE SIDELOBE DISCRETES FROM THE FINAL RANGE CORRELATOR (ERE THREE RANGE CORRELA
TORS ARE USED IN WHICH THE FIRST THE ! CORRELATOR RESOLVES THE RANGE AMBIGUITIES
WITHIN SOME NOMINAL RANGE SAY NM BEYOND WHICH SIDELOBE DISCRETES ARE NOT
LIKELY TO BE DETECTED ! SECOND CORRELATOR THE " CORRELATOR RESOLVES THE RANGE
AMBIGUITIES OUT TO THE SAME RANGE BUT BEFORE A TARGET CAN ENTER THE " CORRELATOR
ITS AMPLITUDE IS THRESHOLDED BY A RANGE VARYING THRESHOLD THE 34# THRESHOLD
! RANGE GATE BY RANGE GATE COMPARISON IS MADE OF THE CORRELATIONS IN THE ! AND "
CORRELATORS AND IF A RANGE GATE CORRELATES IN ! AND NOT IN " THAT GATE IS BLANKED
OUT OF THE THIRD CORRELATOR THE # CORRELATOR 4HE # CORRELATOR RESOLVES THE RANGE
AMBIGUITIES WITHIN THE MAXIMUM RANGE OF INTEREST !N ALTERNATIVE MECHANIZATION
IS TO REPLACE THE RANGE VARYING 34# WITH AN EQUIVALENT 2#3 THRESHOLD INSIDE THE
RANGE CORRELATION PROCESS 4HE 2#3 IS COMPUTED FOR EACH POSSIBLE UNFOLDED RANGE
STARTING FROM THE SHORTEST RANGE AND COMPARED TO THE 2#3 THRESHOLD $ETECTIONS
THAT RANGE CORRELATE BUT ARE BELOW THE 2#3 THRESHOLD ARE PREVENTED FROM COR
RELATING WITH OTHER DETECTS AND ALL OF THEIR UNFOLDED RANGES ARE ALSO PREVENTED
FROM CORRELATING
4HE PRINCIPLE BEHIND THE POSTDETECTION 34# APPROACH IS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE
WHERE THE RETURN OF A TARGET IN THE MAIN BEAM AND A LARGE DISCRETE TARGET IN THE SIDE
LOBES IS PLOTTED VERSUS UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE THAT IS AFTER THE RANGE AMBIGUITIES HAVE
BEEN RESOLVED !LSO SHOWN ARE THE NORMAL #&!2 THRESHOLD AND THE 34# THRESHOLD
VERSUS RANGE ! DISCRETE RETURN IN THE SIDELOBES IS BELOW THE 34# THRESHOLD AND A
RETURN IN THE MAIN BEAM IS ABOVE THE THRESHOLD SUCH THAT THE SIDELOBE DISCRETE CAN BE
RECOGNIZED AND BLANKED WITHOUT BLANKING THE TARGET IN THE MAIN BEAM 4HE 34# ONSET
RANGE REPRESENTS THE RANGE AT WHICH A LARGE DISCRETE TARGET IN THE SIDELOBES EXCEEDS THE
#&!2 THRESHOLD
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05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
&)'52% 3INGLE CHANNEL SIDELOBE BLANKER USING POSTDETECTION 34# OR 2#3 THRESHOLDING TO REMOVE SIDELOBE DISCRETES
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&)'52% 0OSTDETECTION 34# LEVELS
{ 9
,
-/ /9
,
+1,
/$OPPLER PROCESSING SEPARATES MOVING TARGETS FROM CLUTTER AND ALLOWS THEM TO BE
DETECTED WHILE ONLY COMPETING AGAINST THERMAL NOISE ASSUMING THAT THE TARGETS HAVE
SUFFICIENT RADIAL VELOCITY 62K AND THE 02& IS HIGH ENOUGH FOR AN UNAMBIGUOUS
CLUTTER SPECTRUM #OHERENCE THE CONSISTENCY OF PHASE OF A SIGNALS CARRIER FREQUENCY
FROM ONE PULSE TO THE NEXT IS CRUCIAL FOR DOPPLER PROCESSING 7ITHOUT CAREFUL SYSTEM
DESIGN AMPLITUDE AND PHASE INSTABILITIES DURING THE COHERENT INTEGRATION TIME WILL
BROADEN THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER SPECTRUM AND RAISE THE NOISE FLOOR THAT CLUTTER
FREE TAR
GETS MUST COMPETE WITH FOR DETECTION .ONLINEARITIES IN THE SYSTEM CAN ALSO CAUSE
DISCRETE SPURIOUS SPECTRAL SIGNALS THAT CAN BE MISTAKEN AS TARGETS 4HE INSTANTANEOUS
DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE SYSTEM GOVERNS THE SYSTEM LINEARITY AND HENCE SENSITIVITY IN A
STRONG CLUTTER ENVIRONMENT 4HE DRIVING FACTOR UPON STABILITY REQUIREMENTS IS WHEN THE
MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER LEVEL IS AT THE SATURATION POINT OF THE RECEIVER
$YNAMIC 2ANGE $YNAMIC RANGE AS DISCUSSED HERE CAN BE REFERRED TO AS INSTAN
TANEOUS DYNAMIC RANGE AND IS THE LINEAR REGION ABOVE THERMAL NOISE OVER WHICH THE
RECEIVER AND SIGNAL PROCESSOR OPERATE BEFORE ANY SATURATION CLIPPING OR GAIN LIMITING
OCCURS )F SATURATIONS OCCUR SPURIOUS SIGNALS THAT DEGRADE PERFORMANCE MAY BE GENER
ATED &OR EXAMPLE IF MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER SATURATES SPURIOUS FREQUENCIES CAN APPEAR
IN THE DOPPLER PASSBAND NORMALLY CLEAR OF MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER AND THIS MAY GENERATE
FALSE
TARGET REPORTS !N AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL !'# FUNCTION IS OFTEN EMPLOYED TO
PREVENT SATURATIONS ON EITHER MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER IN SEARCH OR THE TARGET IN 3INGLE
4ARGET
4RACK MODE (OWEVER THE USE OF !'# DEGRADES THE SYSTEMS SENSITIVITY SO LARGE
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
{x
INSTANTANEOUS DYNAMIC RANGE IS PREFERABLE )F SATURATIONS OCCUR IN A RANGE GATE DURING
AN INTEGRATION PERIOD AN OPTION IN A MULTIPLE
RANGE GATED SYSTEM IS SIMPLY TO BLANK
DETECTION REPORTS FROM THAT GATE 7HEN A -4) FILTER IS NOT USED THE DOPPLER FILTER BANK
FOR EACH RANGE GATE CAN BE EXAMINED TO DETERMINE IF THERE ARE ANY DETECTIONS DUE
TO SPURIOUS SIGNALS FROM LARGE CLUTTER WITH SUBSEQUENT EDITING OF THESE DETECTIONS IF
THE MEASURED CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIO EXCEEDS THE DYNAMIC RANGE 3IMILAR LOGIC CAN BE
APPLIED TO SATURATED RANGE GATES TO DETERMINE IF THE LARGEST SIGNAL IN THE FILTER BANK IS
IN THE PASSBAND OR REPRESENTS SATURATED CLUTTER RETURNS 3ATURATED RETURNS WITH THE PEAK
SIGNAL IN THE DOPPLER PASSBAND CAN REPRESENT VALID TARGETS AT SHORT RANGES AND NEED NOT
BE SUBJECTED TO THE SIDELOBE BLANKING LOGIC
4HE MOST STRESSING DYNAMIC
RANGE REQUIREMENT IS DUE TO MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER WHEN
SEARCHING FOR A SMALL LOW
FLYING TARGETS (ERE FULL SENSITIVITY MUST BE MAINTAINED IN
THE PRESENCE OF THE CLUTTER TO MAXIMIZE THE PROBABILITY OF DETECTING THE TARGET
4HE DYNAMIC
RANGE REQUIREMENT OF A PULSE DOPPLER RADAR AS DETERMINED BY MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER IS A FUNCTION NOT ONLY OF THE BASIC RADAR PARAMETERS SUCH AS POWER ANTENNA
GAIN ETC BUT OF RADAR ALTITUDE ABOVE THE TERRAIN AND THE RADAR CROSS SECTION 2#3 OF
LOW
FLYING TARGETS !S AN EXAMPLE &IGURE SHOWS THE MAXIMUM CLUTTER
TO
NOISE
RATIO #.MAX THAT APPEARS IN THE AMBIGUOUS
RANGE INTERVAL IE AFTER RANGE FOLDING FOR
A MEDIUM
02& RADAR AS A FUNCTION OF RADAR ALTITUDE AND THE RANGE OF THE INTERSECTION OF
THE PEAK OF THE MAIN
BEAM WITH THE GROUND .OTE THAT THE CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIO IS A RMS
POWER RATIO MEASURED AT THE !$ CONVERTER ! PEAK POWER RATIO WOULD BE D" HIGHER
&)'52% $YNAMIC RANGE EXAMPLE
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE AMPLITUDE OF CLUTTER RETURNS FLUCTUATE OVER TIME AND ARE MODELED AS A STOCHASTIC
PROCESS 4HE CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIO REPRESENTS THE MEAN VALUE OF THIS PROCESS OVER TIME
&IGURE ASSUMES A PENCIL
BEAM ANTENNA PATTERN AND A CONSTANT
GAMMA MODEL FOR
CLUTTER REFLECTIVITY 4HE ANTENNA BEAM IS POINTED AT THE GROUND CORRESPONDING TO THE
RANGE OF THE TARGET !T LONGER RANGES SMALL LOOK
DOWN ANGLES CLUTTER DECREASES WITH
INCREASING RADAR ALTITUDE SINCE RANGE FOLDING IS LESS SEVERE OWING TO LESS OF THE MAIN
BEAM INTERSECTING THE GROUND !T SHORTER RANGES CLUTTER INCREASES WITH RADAR ALTITUDE
SINCE THE CLUTTER PATCH SIZE ON THE GROUND INCREASES 7HILE &IGURE IS FOR A MEDIUM
02& RADAR SIMILAR CURVES RESULT FOR A HIGH
02& RADAR
!LSO SHOWN IN &IGURE IS THE SINGLE
SCAN PROBABILITY OF DETECTION 0D VERSUS
RANGE FOR A GIVEN 2#3 TARGET IN A RECEIVER WITH UNLIMITED DYNAMIC RANGE )F IT IS
DESIRED TO HAVE THE LOW
FLYING TARGET REACH AT LEAST SAY AN 0D BEFORE ANY GAIN
LIMITING IE THE USE OF !'# OCCURS THE DYNAMIC
RANGE REQUIREMENT IS DRIVEN BY THE
MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER LEVELS #.MAX OF D" AT FT D" AT FT AND D" AT
FT FOR THIS EXAMPLE 4HE HIGHER THE DESIRED PROBABILITY OF DETECTION OR THE LOWER
THE RADAR ALTITUDE THE MORE DYNAMIC RANGE IS REQUIRED &URTHER IF THE SPECIFIED TARGET
2#3 IS REDUCED THE DYNAMIC
RANGE REQUIREMENT FOR THE SAME DESIRED 0D INCREASES AS
THE 0D
VERSUS
RANGE CURVE IN &IGURE SHIFTS TO THE LEFT
)N A PULSE DOPPLER RADAR USING DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING THE !$ CONVERTERS ARE
USUALLY SELECTED TO HAVE A DYNAMIC RANGE THAT MEETS OR EXCEEDS THE USABLE DYNAMIC
RANGE SET BY THE MAXIMUM CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIO #.MAX AND THE SYSTEM STABILITY 4HE
PEAK DYNAMIC RANGE DEFINED AS THE MAXIMUM PEAK SINUSOIDAL SIGNAL LEVEL RELATIVE TO
THE RMS THERMAL
NOISE LEVEL THAT CAN BE PROCESSED LINEARLY IS RELATED TO THE NUMBER OF
AMPLITUDE BITS IN THE !$ CONVERTER BY
. !$ AMP
3MAX
LOG
;NOISE=
.
QUANTA
D"
WHERE ;3MAX.=D" MAXIMUM INPUT PEAK SINUSOIDAL LEVEL RELATIVE TO RMS NOISE D"
.!$ AMP N UMBER OF AMPLITUDE BITS NOT INCLUDING SIGN BIT IN THE !$
CONVERTER
;NOISE=QUANTA RMS THERMAL NOISE VOLTAGE LEVEL AT THE !$ CONVERTER QUANTA
4HE RMS THERMAL NOISE VOLTAGE LEVEL AT THE !$ CONVERTER IS GIVEN IN TERMS OF QUANTA
! SINGLE QUANTA REFERS TO A UNIT QUANTIZATION LEVEL OF THE !$ CONVERTER
&ROM THE RELATIONSHIP DESCRIBED ABOVE AND ASSUMING THE !$ CONVERTER LIMITS THE
DYNAMIC RANGE THE !$ CONVERTER SIZE CAN NOW BE DETERMINED !DDITIONAL MARGIN TO
ALLOW FOR MAIN BEAM CLUTTER FLUCTUATIONS ABOVE THE MEAN VALUE ALSO NEEDS TO BE CON
SIDERED 3INCE MAIN BEAM CLUTTER TIME FLUCTUATION STATISTICS ARE HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON
THE TYPE OF CLUTTER BEING OBSERVED SUCH AS SEA CLUTTER OR CLUTTER FROM AN URBAN AREA AND
ARE GENERALLY UNKNOWN A VALUE OF TO D" ABOVE THE RMS VALUE IS OFTEN ASSUMED
FOR THE MAXIMUM PEAK LEVEL THIS ALSO INCLUDES THE D" DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE RMS
AND PEAK VALUES OF A SINUSOIDAL SIGNAL 4HUS THE REQUIRED NUMBER OF AMPLITUDE BITS IN
THE !$ CONVERTER AS DETERMINED BY THE MAIN BEAM CLUTTER IS
;# . =
MAX D" ;FLUCT?MARGIN=D" LOG ;NOISE=QUANTA
. !$ AMP q #%),
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
WHERE #%),X IS THE SMALLEST INTEGER q X 4HE INSTANTANEOUS DYNAMIC RANGE SUPPORTED
BY AN !$ CONVERTER IMPROVES ABOUT D" PER BIT
&OR THE EXAMPLE CITED IN &IGURE WHERE THE MAXIMUM #. IS D" AT A
FT
RADAR ALTITUDE AND WITH A FLUCTUATION MARGIN OF D" AND THERMAL NOISE AT QUANTA
D" THE !$ CONVERTER REQUIRES AT LEAST AMPLITUDE BITS PLUS A SIGN BIT FOR A TOTAL
OF BITS TO ACHIEVE THE PEAK !$ DYNAMIC RANGE OF D" 4HE UPPER PORTION OF
&IGURE ILLUSTRATES THIS CASE 4HE LOWER PORTION OF &IGURE WILL BE USED IN THE
STABILITY DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW
3TABILITY 4O ACHIEVE THE THEORETICAL CLUTTER REJECTION AND TARGET DETECTION AND
TRACKING PERFORMANCE OF A PULSE DOPPLER SYSTEM THE REFERENCE FREQUENCIES TIMING SIG
NALS AND SIGNAL PROCESSING CIRCUITRY MUST BE EXTREMELY STABLEn )N MOST CASES THE
MAJOR CONCERN IS WITH SHORT
TERM RATHER THAN LONG
TERM STABILITY ,ONG
TERM STABILITY
MAINLY AFFECTS VELOCITY OR RANGE ACCURACY OR SPURIOUS SIGNALS DUE TO 02& HARMONICS
BUT IS RELATIVELY EASY TO MAKE ADEQUATE 3HORT
TERM STABILITY REFERS TO VARIATIONS WITHIN
THE ROUND
TRIP RADAR ECHO TIME OR DURING THE SIGNAL COHERENT INTEGRATION TIME 4HE MOST
SEVERE STABILITY REQUIREMENTS RELATE TO THE GENERATION OF SPURIOUS MODULATION SIDEBANDS
ON THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER WHICH RAISE THE SYSTEM NOISE FLOOR OR CAN APPEAR AS TARGETS AT
THE DETECTORS 4HUS THE MAXIMUM RATIO OF MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER TO SYSTEM NOISE MEASURED
AT THE RECEIVER OUTPUT #. INCLUDING THE FLUCTUATION MARGIN AS DISCUSSED ABOVE IS THE
PREDOMINANT PARAMETER THAT DETERMINES STABILITY REQUIREMENTS
4ARGET RETURNS COMPETE WITH CLUTTER RETURNS AND NOISE FOR DETECTION 3UPPOSE DESIRED
TARGETS HAVE SUFFICIENT RADIAL SPEED SO THAT THEY LIE IN THE CLUTTER
FREE REGION OF DOPPLER
FREQUENCY WHEN A PULSE DOPPLER WAVEFORM IS USED 4HESE TARGETS NOW HAVE TO COMPETE
ONLY WITH SYSTEM NOISE 4HIS NOISE CAN BE BOTH ADDITIVE AND MULTIPLICATIVE !DDITIVE
NOISE TENDS TO MASK MULTIPLICATIVE NOISE IN LOW
PERFORMANCE RADARS
!DDITIVE NOISE SOURCES CAN BE EXTERNAL TO THE RADAR SUCH AS ATMOSPHERIC NOISE
SKY TEMPERATURE GROUND NOISE BLACK BODY RADIATION AND JAMMERS OR THEY CAN BE
INTERNAL SUCH AS THERMAL NOISE 4HERMAL NOISE IS ALSO KNOWN AS *OHNSON NOISE AND
'
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GAUSSIAN NOISE THE LATTER TERM ARISING FROM THE GAUSSIAN STATISTICS OF ITS VOLTAGE PROB
ABILITY DENSITY FUNCTION 4HERMAL NOISE IS ALWAYS PRESENT IN THE RADAR RECEIVER AND IS
THE ULTIMATE LIMIT ON RADAR SENSITIVITY 4HE ABSOLUTE LEVEL OF ADDITIVE NOISE SOURCES IS
DETERMINED BY THE SOURCE AND ITS RELATION TO THE RADAR 0ROPER SYSTEM DESIGN CAN REDUCE
THERMAL NOISE TO A LEVEL WHERE MULTIPLICATIVE NOISE CAN BECOME SIGNIFICANT IN LIMITING
THE RADAR SENSITIVITY
-ULTIPLICATIVE NOISE IS CHARACTERIZED BY EITHER A TIME
VARYING AMPLITUDE AMPLI
TUDE MODULATION !- OR A TIME
VARYING PHASE PHASE MODULATION 0- OR FREQUENCY
MODULATION &- 4HE ABSOLUTE LEVEL DEPENDS ON THE STRENGTH OF THE SIGNAL CARRIER
ON WHICH THE NOISE SOURCE IS RIDING -ULTIPLICATIVE NOISE SOURCES ARE FREQUENCY INSTA
BILITIES POWER SUPPLY RIPPLE AND NOISE F NOISE TIMING JITTER AND UNWANTED MIXER
PRODUCTS DISCRETES OR SPURS -ULTIPLICATIVE NOISE MODULATES RADAR RETURNS BY VARYING
THEIR AMPLITUDE OR PHASE AND IS PRESENT ON ALL RADAR RETURNS BEING MOST APPARENT ON
LARGE RETURNS SUCH AS MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER 4HE RESULT IN THE SPECTRAL DOMAIN IS SPURIOUS
MODULATION SIDEBANDS 2ANDOM MULTIPLICATIVE NOISE BROADENS THE SPECTRUM OF THE CAR
RIER FREQUENCY $ISCRETE MULTIPLICATIVE NOISE SOURCES GENERATE DISCRETE SPECTRAL LINES
THAT CAN CAUSE FALSE ALARMS
3YSTEM STABILITY IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE OVERALL TWO
WAY TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE
COMPOSITE SYSTEM FREQUENCY RESPONSE WHICH IS THE RETURN OF A NONFLUCTUATING TARGET
AS A FUNCTION OF DOPPLER FREQUENCY 3YSTEM FREQUENCY RESPONSE SHOULD BE DEFINED BY
THE DOPPLER PASSBAND 4HE FOCUS OF THIS SECTION WILL BE THE STABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR
DOPPLER FREQUENCIES SEPARATED ENOUGH FROM THE CARRIER TO BE OUTSIDE THE GROUND MOV
ING TARGET NOTCH 4HE CONCERN IN THIS REGION IS WHITE PHASE NOISE WHICH DETERMINES THE
PHASE NOISE FLOOR ,OW FREQUENCY IE CLOSER TO THE CARRIER STABILITY IS MORE APPLICABLE
TO AIR
TO
GROUND PULSE DOPPLER MODES SUCH AS '-4) AND 3!2
4HE LOCATION OF AN INSTABILITY SOURCE WITHIN THE SYSTEM WILL DETERMINE WHETHER IT IS
IMPARTED UPON A RETURN SIGNAL VIA THE TRANSMIT PATH RECEIVE PATH OR BOTH )NSTABILITIES
EITHER ON TRANSMIT OR RECEIVE ARE CALLED INDEPENDENT 4HOSE IMPOSED ON BOTH TRANSMIT
AND RECEIVE ARE COMMON
!MPLITUDE INSTABILITIES CAUSED BY !- TEND TO BE CONSIDERED INDEPENDENT SINCE
THE ,/S DRIVE THE MIXERS IN THE RECEIVER INTO COMPRESSION !LSO TRANSMITTERS WORK
MOST EFFICIENTLY WHEN DRIVEN INTO COMPRESSION IE WHERE THE POWER AMPLIFIER IS SATU
RATED AND PROVIDES A CONSTANT OUTPUT POWER LEVEL REGARDLESS OF SMALL DEVIATIONS ON THE
INPUT )NSTABILITIES DUE TO 0- OF WHICH &- IS A SPECIAL CASE TEND TO DOMINATE THOSE
DUE TO !- !S SUCH THE FOCUS WILL BE ON PHASE DISTURBANCES RANDOM PHASE NOISE AND
DISCRETE SINUSOIDAL SIGNALS SPURIOUS SIGNALS
2ANDOM 0HASE .OISE 2ANDOM PHASE NOISE RIDING ON A LARGE SIGNAL CAN MASK
WEAK TARGET RETURNS 4HE OBJECT IS TO SPECIFY SYSTEM PHASE NOISE SO THAT IT IS WELL BELOW
THE THERMAL NOISE WHEN A LARGE SIGNAL AT THE !$ SATURATION LEVEL IS PRESENT IN THE
RECEIVER ! SIGNAL AT !$ SATURATION IS THE LARGEST SIGNAL THAT CAN BE LINEARLY PROCESSED
BY THE RADAR RECEIVER 4HEN THE RADAR SENSITIVITY IS LIMITED BY THERMAL NOISE ALWAYS
PRESENT PLUS A SMALL INCREASE IN THE TOTAL NOISE LEVEL CAUSED BY THE PHASE NOISE
4HE PHASE NOISE OF OSCILLATORS AND OTHER COMPONENTS IS TYPICALLY SPECIFIED AS THE
MULTIPLICATIVE NOISE THAT RIDES ON A CONTINUOUS WAVEFORM OR #7 PHASE NOISE )N PULSE
DOPPLER RADAR TRANSMIT GATING INTERRUPTS THE CONTINUOUS WAVEFORM TO PRODUCE A PULSED
WAVEFORM 'ATED PHASE NOISE IS THE RESULT OF GATING #7 PHASE NOISE 4HE SPECTRUM OF
A PULSED GATED SIGNAL IS DIFFERENT FROM #7 4HE RESULTING NOISE THE GATED NOISE CAN
BE MUCH DIFFERENT FROM THE #7 NOISE ESPECIALLY FOR LOW DUTY CYCLE WAVEFORMS AND
NOISE CLOSE TO THE CARRIER )T IS PREFERABLE TO MAKE NOISE MEASUREMENTS ON EQUIPMENT
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
UNDER THE SAME GATING CONDITIONS THAT WILL BE USED IN THE RADAR SYSTEM 3OME DEVICES
SUCH AS HIGH POWER TRANSMITTERS CANNOT OPERATE CONTINUOUSLY AND ONLY GATED NOISE
MEASUREMENTS ARE POSSIBLE 4HE GATED PHASE NOISE SPECTRUM IS THE SUMMATION OF THE
#7 PHASE NOISE SPECTRUM REPLICAS CENTERED AT FREQUENCIES o NF2 WHERE F2 IS THE 02&
AND N IS AN INTEGER 4HE TOTAL GATED PHASE NOISE IN THE 02& BANDWIDTH F2 EQUALS THE TOTAL
#7 PHASE NOISE IN THE TRANSMIT PULSE BANDWIDTH )N TERMS OF STABILITY REQUIREMENTS THE
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ARE DERIVED USING GATED PHASE NOISE WHICH IN TURN IS CONVERTED TO
A #7 VALUE FOR SPECIFYING COMPONENTS SUCH AS OSCILLATORS 4HE #7 PHASE NOISE FLOOR
IS SMALLER BY A FACTOR OF THE RATIO OF THE 02& TO THE TRANSMIT BANDWIDTH WHEN THE #7
PHASE NOISE IS ASSUMED TO BE WHITE
3ENSITIVITY LOSS DUE TO PHASE NOISE IS QUANTIFIED BY THE INCREASE IN THE SYSTEM NOISE
FLOOR IN THE hCLUTTER
FREEv DOPPLER FILTERS DUE TO THE PHASE NOISE SIDEBANDS ON A LARGE
SIGNAL SUCH AS MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER 3ENSITIVITY LOSS IS THE AMOUNT BY WHICH THE TOTAL
NOISE THERMAL PLUS PHASE EXCEEDS THE THERMAL NOISE LEVEL AS SHOWN IN %Q !
GATED PHASE NOISE TO THERMAL NOISE RATIO OF
D" RESULTS IN AN APPROXIMATELY D"
SENSITIVITY LOSS 4HIS ASSUMES A WORST
CASE SCENARIO WITH THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER RETURN
AT THE !$ SATURATION LEVEL #!'# DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION IS TYPICALLY USED TO REGU
LATE THE MEAN CLUTTER TO A LEVEL BELOW !$ SATURATION TYPICALLY BY THE AMOUNT OF THE
EXPECTED CLUTTER FLUCTUATION LEVEL 7ITH #!'# SENSITIVITY LOSS WILL BE LESS THAN OR
EQUAL TO THE CALCULATED WORST
CASE VALUE
'ATED 0HASE .OISE 0OWER $ENSITY
;3ENSITIVITY ,OSS=D" LOG
4HERMAL .OISE 0OWER $ENSIITY
4ABLE CONTAINS A CALCULATION OF THE PHASE NOISE FLOOR REQUIREMENTS FOR AN
K(Z 02& WAVEFORM #LUTTER LEVELS THAT REQUIRE A
BIT SIGN PLUS AMPLITUDE
BITS !$ CONVERTER ARE ASSUMED AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE TRANSMIT PULSE DURATION
IS MS RESULTING IN A TRANSMIT PULSE BANDWIDTH OF APPROXIMATELY -(Z SINCE
NO PULSE COMPRESSION IS USED 4HE RMS THERMAL
NOISE POWER IS THE THERMAL
NOISE FLOOR
WITHIN THE RECEIVE PORTION OF )00 4HIS POWER LEVEL IS GIVEN IN DECIBELS WITH RESPECT
TO THE CARRIER AMPLITUDE D"C 4HE THERMAL
NOISE DENSITY IS OBTAINED BY DIVIDING THIS
POWER BY THE 02& BANDWIDTH 4HE MAXIMUM GATED PHASE NOISE FLOOR IS SET TO BE D"
BELOW THE THERMAL NOISE FLOOR FOR AT MOST A D" SENSITIVITY LOSS 4HE #7 PHASE NOISE
FLOOR IS THEN OBTAINED BY MULTIPLYING BY THE 02& TO TRANSMIT BANDWIDTH RATIO
4!",% #7 0HASE .OISE $ENSITY &LOOR #ALCULATION
0ARAMETER
4HERMAL .OISE 0OWER AT !$
02& "ANDWIDTH
6ALUE ;D"=
5NITS
D"C
D"(Z
4HERMAL .OISE $ENSITY &LOOR AT !$
0HASE .OISE TO 4HERMAL .OISE 2ATIO
D"C(Z
D"
'ATED 0HASE .OISE $ENSITY &LOOR
02&
TO
4RANSMIT "ANDWIDTH 2ATIO
D"C(Z
D"
#7 0HASE .OISE $ENSITY &LOOR
D"C(Z
#OMMENT
BIT !$ SIGN BITS THERMAL
NOISE SET AT QUANTA
K(Z 02& WAVEFORM
-ARGIN FOR AT MOST D"
SENSITIVITY LOSS
-(Z TRANSMIT PULSE BANDWIDTH
MS PULSE WIDTH W NO 0#
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% .OTIONAL 3UBSYSTEM 0HASE .OISE !LLOCATION
!LLOCATION
3UBSYSTEM
!DJUSTMENT FOR
#OMMON 3OURCE ;D"=
0ERCENTAGE
D"
4RANSMITTER
!%XCITER
02ECIVER
3YNCHRONIZER
3YSTEM
2EQUIREMENT ;D"C(Z=
4HE SYSTEM LEVEL #7 PHASE NOISE FLOOR REQUIREMENT D"C(Z IS ALLOCATED
TO THE CONTRIBUTING HARDWARE UNITS 4HE PERCENTAGES ARE BASED ON EXPERIENCE AND NEGO
TIATIONS WITH THE SUBSYSTEM DESIGNERS ! POSSIBLE ALLOCATION IS PROVIDED IN 4ABLE
$ISCRETES 3OME SOURCES OF DISCRETE SIDEBANDS ARE RIPPLE ON POWER SUPPLIES AND
THE PICKUP OF DIGITAL CLOCKS )T IS DESIRABLE TO KEEP THE INTEGRATED DISCRETE SIDEBANDS
BELOW NOISE AT THE #&!2 INPUT TO PREVENT DETECTING THESE DISCRETES AND PRODUCING FALSE
ALARMS !LL COHERENT AND POSTDETECTION INTEGRATION MUST BE ACCOUNTED FOR WHEN WE
SPECIFY DISCRETE PHASE NOISE REQUIREMENTS
#OMMON DISCRETES ARE AFFECTED BY THE TIME DELAY BETWEEN THE PORTION IMPARTED
ON THE TRANSMIT AND THAT ON RECEIVE 4HE TIME DELAY CHANGES THE CORRELATION BETWEEN
THE PHASE OF THE SPURIOUS MODULATING FREQUENCY FROM THE TRANSMIT PATH WITH THE PHASE
FROM THE RECEIVE PATH 4HIS CAN RELIEVE THE COMMON DISCRETE LEVEL REQUIREMENT FOR
LOW 02& OR -4) WAVEFORMS THAT ARE RANGE UNAMBIGUOUS (OWEVER FOR HIGHLY RANGE
AMBIGUOUS MEDIUM 02& AND HIGH 02& WAVEFORMS THE ASSUMPTION IS MADE THAT THE
NOISE COMMON TO TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE ADDS NONCOHERENTLY IN THE DOWNCONVERSION
PROCESS !S A RESULT THE COMMON DISCRETE POWER INCREASES BY D"
4ABLE PROVIDES THE CALCULATION FOR THE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR INDEPENDENT
AND COMMON DISCRETE LEVELS !S IN 4ABLE A MAXIMUM CLUTTER LEVEL REQUIRING A
BIT !$ IS ASSUMED AND THE RMS THERMAL NOISE LEVEL AT THE !$ CONVERTER IS SET
TO QUANTA 4O FORM THE DOPPLER FILTERS PULSES ARE COHERENTLY INTEGRATED
4!",% $ISCRETE ,EVEL 2EQUIREMENT #ALCULATION
0ARAMETER
4HERMAL .OISE 0OWER AT !$
.UMBER OF 0ULSES
#OHERENTLY )NTEGRATED
4OTAL
$OPPER &ILTER 7EIGHTING
)NTEGRATION
.UMBER OF #0)S
'AIN
.ONCOHERENTLY
)NTEGRATED
4HERMAL .OISE 0OWER AT #&!2
$ISCRETE TO 4HERMAL .OISE -ARGIN
)NDEPENDENT $ISCRETE 2EQUIREMENT
#OMMON $ISCRETE 2EQUIREMENT
6ALUE ;D"= 5NITS
#OMMENT
D"C BIT !$ SIGN BITS THERMAL NOISE
SET AT QUANTA
D"
)00S INTEGRATED PER #0)
D"
D" $OLPH #HEBYSHEV WEIGHTING LOSS
D"
0$) OF #0)S PER ,OOK LOG.PDI
D"C %FFECTIVE NOISE LEVEL AFTER INTEGRATION
D"
D"C
0ROVIDES LOW 0&! DUE TO DISCRETES
D"C D" LESS THAN )NDEPENDENT $ISCRETE
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
4O REDUCE DOPPLER FILTER SIDELOBES A D" $OLPH #HEBYSHEV WEIGHTING IS APPLIED
WHICH REDUCES THE COHERENT INTEGRATION 3.2 GAIN BY ABOUT D" &OR DETECTION
THREE #0)S ARE INTEGRATED NONCOHERENTLY VIA 0$) FOR AN APPROXIMATE INTEGRATION GAIN
IN D" OF LOG.0$) OR D" 4HIS RESULTS IN A THERMAL NOISE LEVEL OF D"C
AT THE DETECTOR ! DISCRETE TO THERMAL NOISE MARGIN OF D" IS USED TO PROVIDE A LOW
0&! DUE TO DISCRETES 4HE COMMON DISCRETE REQUIREMENT IS MADE D" MORE STRINGENT
RELATIVE TO THE INDEPENDENT REQUIREMENT AS DISCUSSED ABOVE
{{ , "** , 1/9, -" 1/"
-EDIUM AND HIGH MEDIUM 02& WAVEFORMS USUALLY USE MULTIPLE DISCRETE 02& RANGING
TO RESOLVE RANGE AMBIGUITIES WHILE LINEAR &- RANGING IS COMMONLY EMPLOYED WHEN
HIGH 02& WAVEFORMS ARE USED
-ULTIPLE $ISCRETE 02& 2ANGING 4HE TECHNIQUES FOR CALCULATING TRUE RANGE
FROM SEVERAL AMBIGUOUS MEASUREMENTS GENERALLY INVOLVE SEQUENTIAL MEASUREMENT OF
THE AMBIGUOUS RANGE IN EACH 02& FOLLOWED BY AN UNFOLDING AND CORRELATION PROCESS
4HE UNFOLDING CREATES A VECTOR OF POSSIBLE RANGES FOR EACH VALID DETECTION BY ADDING A
SET OF INTEGERS ; x += TIMES THE UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE INTERVAL
2UNFOLD 2AMBIGUOUS
C
;
F2
+=
WHERE THE UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE INTERVAL CF2 WITH C SPEED OF LIGHT AND F2 02&
4HE SET OF INTEGERS ;x+= ARE REFERRED TO AS THE RANGE AMBIGUITY NUMBERS WITH + DETER
MINED BY THE MAXIMUM RANGE OF INTEREST + #%),;2MAX F2 C= 2ANGE CORRELATION
OCCURS WHEN THE UNFOLDED DETECTIONS ARE SCANNED AND A CORRELATION WINDOW IS APPLIED
ACROSS LOOKS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE )N THIS EXAMPLE THE CORRELATED TARGET RANGE
HAS AN AMBIGUITY NUMBER OF TH TIME AROUND ECHO ON 02& AND AN AMBIGUITY
! " # !% #
$ $"
#!%
$ $"! "$! #" !
"
! "
!! #
&)'52% 2ANGE CORRELATION EXAMPLE WITH 02&S
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
NUMBER OF ON 02&S AND 4HE )00 LENGTHS OFTEN EXPRESSED IN RANGE GATES PER )00
ARE USUALLY KEPT RELATIVELY PRIME NO COMMON FACTORS EXCEPT THE NUMBER TO PERMIT
UNAMBIGUOUS RANGING AT THE MAXIMUM POSSIBLE RANGE
4HE LOGIC FOR CORRELATION REQUIRES AT LEAST - DETECTIONS ACROSS THE . 02&S IN A
DWELL TO DECLARE A TARGET REPORT WITH - TYPICALLY q FOR MEDIUM
AND HIGH
MEDIUM
02& WAVEFORMS 2ANGE GHOSTS OCCUR IF THE CORRELATED RANGE DOES NOT REPRESENT THE
TRUE TARGET RANGE AND TYPICALLY OCCUR WHEN THERE IS MORE THAN ONE DETECTION PER LOOK
2ANGE GHOSTS CAN ALSO OCCUR IF A TARGET DETECTION ON A SINGLE LOOK CORRELATED WITH OTHER
DISSIMILAR TARGETS OR IF MULTIPLE RANGE CORRELATIONS OCCURRED ON A SET OF DETECTIONS
CORRESPONDING TO A SINGLE UNIQUE TARGET IE MULTIPLE UNFOLDED RANGES FELL WITHIN THE
CORRELATION WINDOW
/NE METHOD FOR EFFICIENTLY SCANNING AND CORRELATING THE UNFOLDED DETECTIONS
INVOLVES COARSE BINNING AS SHOWN IN &IGURE (ERE AMBIGUOUS DETECTIONS ARE
FIRST AMPLITUDE CENTROIDED AND THEN UNFOLDED AS DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY BUT WITH THE
RESULTS STORED IN AN ARRAY WHOSE ELEMENTS ARE THE COARSE BINS 4HESE BINS HAVE A SIZE
LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO THE SHORTEST )00 AND CORRELATION INVOLVES SCANNING IDENTICAL BINS
ACROSS ALL OF THE 02&S IN THE DWELL AND APPLYING A CORRELATION WINDOW )N THE EXAMPLE
SHOWN IN &IGURE THE BINS ARE SET TO NINE RANGE GATES SHORTEST )00 LENGTH AND THE
FIFTH COARSE BIN CONTAINS DETECTIONS ACROSS THE THREE 02&S THAT FALL WITHIN THE CORRELA
TION WINDOW OF o RANGE GATES "LANK OR EMPTY BINS OCCUR WHEN THE UNFOLDED RANGE
FALLS OUTSIDE A PARTICULAR COARSE BIN INTERVAL +EY ADVANTAGES TO THIS APPROACH ARE THE
ABILITY TO CHANGE THE RANGE CORRELATION WINDOW DYNAMICALLY AND PERFORM MOTION COM
PENSATION EASILY FOR THE RANGE CHANGE ACROSS THE DWELL DUE TO RADAR PLATFORM MOTION
ANDOR THE TARGETS MOTION IF THE UNAMBIGUOUS DOPPLER HAS BEEN RESOLVED PRIOR TO THIS
PROCESS !DDITIONALLY THE RANGE GATE SIZES DO NOT NEED TO STAY THE SAME ACROSS THE
SET OF 02&S USED IN THE DWELL IN THIS CASE THE AMBIGUOUS RANGE GATE MEASUREMENTS
ON EACH LOOK ARE FIRST CONVERTED TO COMMON DISTANCE UNITS EG METERS PRIOR TO THE
UNFOLDING AND SCANNINGCORRELATION PROCESSES
' (% )'! *
& #!,(,*
%'$ #'*( ,)-" ',' (%
)'! %%*(,+*# ( #' ! *
()* #'*#/ #** + .
+" *"()+ *+
' (% )'! *
& #!,(,*
()) %+#('-#' ( '! + *
' (% )'! *
& #!,(,*
&)'52% 2ANGE CORRELATION USING COARSE BINNING ON UNFOLDED CENTROIDED AMBIGUOUS DETECTIONS )N
THIS EXAMPLE RANGE GATE SIZE IS THE SAME FOR ALL THREE 02&S
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
!DDITIONAL CRITERIA CAN BE USED TO REJECT RANGE GHOSTS SUCH AS SELECTING THE CORRE
LATED RANGE WITH THE HIGHEST -
OF
. VALUE SELECTING THE DETECTIONS BASED ON THE MINI
MUM VARIANCE ACROSS THE - DETECTIONS OR USING MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD TECHNIQUES
4HE COMPUTED RADAR CROSS SECTION 2#3 OF CORRELATIONS CAN ALSO BE USED IN THE
CORRELATION PROCESS TO REJECT SIDELOBE DISCRETE DETECTIONS AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
POSTDETECTION 34#
4HE GHOSTING PROBLEM CAN BE MITIGATED FURTHER BY A COMBINATION OF DOPPLER ANDOR
MONOPULSE BINNING 2ESOLVING THE DOPPLER AMBIGUITIES FIRST PRIOR TO RANGE CORRELA
TION WILL REDUCE THE SET OF DETECTIONS TO THOSE WITHIN THE DOPPLER CORRELATION WINDOW
&OR CASES WHERE THIS IS NOT FEASIBLE GENERALLY THE LOWER MEDIUM 02&S UTILIZING BOTH
RANGE AND DOPPLER CORRELATION WILL REDUCE GHOSTS 5SING MONOPULSE MEASUREMENTS TO
SEGREGATE AND BIN TARGETS THAT ARE DISTINGUISHABLE IN ANGLE CAN ALSO REDUCE GHOSTING
WHEN THERE ARE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF DETECTIONS IN A DWELL
! TYPICAL MEDIUM
OR HIGH
MEDIUM
02& PULSE DOPPLER WAVEFORM CYCLES THROUGH
. UNIQUE 02&S IN A PROCESSING DWELL . TYPICALLY BEING TO 4HE MEDIUM 02&S
GENERALLY COVER NEARLY AN OCTAVE IN FREQUENCY FOR GOOD DOPPLER VISIBILITY AND GROUND
MOVING TARGET REJECTION (OWEVER HIGH
MEDIUM 02&S HAVE INHERENTLY GOOD DOPPLER
VISIBILITY SINCE THEY ARE AMBIGUOUS IN SIGN ONLY SO THE SPAN OF THE 02&S IN A SET OF
. 02&S IS USUALLY MUCH LESS THAN AN OCTAVE !DDITIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON 02& SELECTION
FOR BOTH WAVEFORMS INCLUDE GOOD VISIBILITY IN SIDELOBE CLUTTER WHERE SOME 02&S MAY
BE OBSCURED BY CLUTTER IN PORTIONS OF THE AMBIGUOUS RANGE INTERVAL AND MINIMIZATION
OF GHOSTS IN THE AMBIGUITY RESOLUTION PROCESSING
$OPPLER !MBIGUITY 2ESOLUTION 2ESOLUTION OF THE UNAMBIGUOUS DOPPLER
VELOCITY
IS NEEDED FOR MEDIUM
02& WAVEFORMS AND IT IS GENERALLY DONE WITH A SIMILAR UNFOLDING
AND CORRELATION TECHNIQUE AS DESCRIBED PREVIOUSLY FOR RANGE AMBIGUITIES !S SHOWN IN
&IGURE VELOCITY UNFOLDING OF DETECTIONS INVOLVES ADDING A SET OF SIGNED INTEGERS
!
# !$
!$
" " # $ !
&)'52% $OPPLER VELOCITY CORRELATION PERFORMED ON TWO DETECTIONS ACROSS TWO LOOKS !MBIGUOUS
DETECTIONS ARE UNFOLDED OUT TO A MAXIMUM POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE VELOCITY
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
TIMES THE 02& VELOCITY FIRST BLIND SPEED TO EACH MEASURED AMBIGUOUS RADIAL VELOCITY
AS FOLLOWS
6UNFOLD
F2 L &CENTROID
;
*
. &&4
+ =
WHERE F2K IS THE FIRST BLIND SPEED 02& VELOCITY &CENTROID IS THE AMPLITUDE
CEN
TROIDED DOPPLER FILTER NUMBER .&&4 IS THE NUMBER OF FILTERS IN THE DOPPLER FILTER BANK
AND ;
* x x += REPRESENTS THE SET OF DOPPLER AMBIGUITY NUMBERS COVERING THE
MAXIMUM NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE DOPPLER
VELOCITIES FOR THE TARGETS OF INTEREST &OR
CASES WHERE THERE ARE ONLY A FEW AMBIGUITIES IN DOPPLER DOPPLER CORRELATION MAY BE
PERFORMED PRIOR TO OR IN CONJUNCTION WITH RANGE CORRELATION TO MINIMIZE GHOSTING
(IGH
02& 2ANGING 2ANGE
AMBIGUITY RESOLUTION IN HIGH 02& IS PERFORMED BY
MODULATING THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL AND OBSERVING THE PHASE SHIFT OF THE MODULATION
ON THE RETURN ECHO -ODULATION METHODS INCLUDE VARYING THE 02& EITHER CONTINU
OUSLY OR IN DISCRETE STEPS VARYING THE 2& CARRIER WITH EITHER LINEAR OR SINUSOIDAL
&- OR SOME FORM OF PULSE MODULATION SUCH AS PULSE
WIDTH MODULATION 07-
PULSE
POSITION MODULATION 00- OR PULSE
AMPLITUDE MODULATION 0!- /F THESE
MODULATION TECHNIQUES 07- AND 00- MAY HAVE LARGE ERRORS BECAUSE OF CLIPPING
OF THE RECEIVED MODULATION BY ECLIPSING OR STRADDLING DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION AND
0!- IS DIFFICULT TO MECHANIZE IN BOTH THE TRANSMITTER AND THE RECEIVER #ONSEQUENTLY
THEY WILL NOT BE FURTHER CONSIDERED HERE
,INEAR
#ARRIER &- ,INEAR FREQUENCY MODULATION &- OF THE CARRIER CAN BE USED
TO MEASURE RANGE 4HE MODULATION AND DEMODULATION TO OBTAIN RANGE ARE THE SAME AS
USED IN FREQUENCY
MODULATED CONTINUOUS
WAVE &-
#7 RADAR BUT THE TRANSMISSION
REMAINS PULSED
3UPPOSE THE DWELL TIME IS DIVIDED INTO TWO LOOKS )N THE FIRST LOOK NO &- IS APPLIED
AND THE DOPPLER SHIFT OF THE TARGET IS MEASURED )N THE SECOND LOOK THE TRANSMITTER
FREQUENCY IS VARIED LINEARLY AT A RATE F IN ONE DIRECTION IE INCREASING OR DECREASING
IN FREQUENCY $URING THE ROUNDTRIP TIME TO THE TARGET THE LOCAL OSCILLATOR HAS CHANGED
FREQUENCY SO THE TARGET RETURN HAS A FREQUENCY SHIFT IN ADDITION TO THE DOPPLER SHIFT THAT
IS PROPORTIONAL TO RANGE 4HE DIFFERENCE IN THE FREQUENCY $F OF THE TARGET RETURN BETWEEN
THE TWO LOOKS IS FOUND AND THE TARGET RANGE CALCULATED FROM
2
C$F
F
4HE PROBLEM WITH ONLY TWO &- SEGMENTS DURING A DWELL IS THAT WITH MORE THAN A
SINGLE TARGET IN THE ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH RANGE GHOSTS RESULT &OR EXAMPLE WITH TWO TAR
GETS PRESENT AT DIFFERENT DOPPLERS THE TWO FREQUENCIES OBSERVED DURING THE &- PERIOD
CANNOT BE UNAMBIGUOUSLY PAIRED WITH THE TWO FREQUENCIES OBSERVED DURING THE NO
&-
PERIOD 4O MITIGATE THIS PROBLEM A THREE
SEGMENT SCHEME IS USED WITH THE FOLLOWING
SEGMENTS NO
&- &-
UP AND &-
DOWN 4HE RANGE IS FOUND BY SELECTING RETURNS FROM
EACH OF THE THREE SEGMENTS THAT SATISFY THE RELATIONS
F F F
F F F
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
{x
4!",% 4HREE SLOPE &- 2ANGING %XAMPLE
4HERE ARE TWO TARGETS ! AND " &- SLOPE -(ZS
4ARGET
"
2ANGE NMI
$OPPLER FREQUENCY K(Z
&- SHIFT K(Z
/BSERVED &REQUENCIES
F NO &- K(Z
F &- UP K(Z
F &- DOWN K(Z
0OSSIBLE SETS THAT SATISFY THE RELATIONS SHOWN IN %Q AND %Q ARE
F
F
F
F
F F
4ARGET
2ANGE NMI
9ES
.O
.O
9ES
WHERE F F AND F ARE THE FREQUENCIES OBSERVED DURING THE NO
&- &-
UP AND
&-
DOWN SEGMENTS RESPECTIVELY 4HE RANGE THEN IS FOUND FROM %Q WHERE
$F F F
OR F F OR
F F
!N EXAMPLE IS SHOWN IN 4ABLE
)F MORE THAN TWO TARGETS ARE ENCOUNTERED DURING A DWELL TIME GHOSTS AGAIN RESULT AS
ONLY .
SIMULTANEOUSLY DETECTED TARGETS CAN BE RESOLVED GHOST
FREE WHERE . IS THE
NUMBER OF &- SLOPES (OWEVER THIS PROBLEM IS NOT SEVERE IN PRACTICE SINCE MULTIPLE
TARGETS IN A SINGLE BEAMWIDTH ARE USUALLY A TRANSIENT PHENOMENON
4HE ACCURACY OF THE RANGE MEASUREMENT IMPROVES AS THE &- SLOPE INCREASES SINCE
THE OBSERVED FREQUENCY DIFFERENCES CAN BE MORE ACCURATELY MEASURED 4HE &- SLOPE IS
HOWEVER LIMITED BY CLUTTER
SPREADING CONSIDERATIONS SINCE DURING THE &- PERIODS THE
CLUTTER IS SMEARED IN FREQUENCY AND CAN APPEAR IN FREQUENCY REGIONS NORMALLY CLEAR OF
CLUTTER ! NO
&- &-
UP DOUBLE &-
UP SCHEME IS RECOMMENDED TO PREVENT DESIRED
TARGETS FROM COMPETING WITH MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER 2ANGE ACCURACIES ON THE ORDER OF OR
MILES CAN BE REASONABLY ACHIEVED
{x " 76 ", -
-ODERN MULTIFUNCTION PULSE DOPPLER RADARS UTILIZE VARIOUS MODES TO ACCOMPLISH TASKS
SUCH AS SEARCH AND TRACK %ACH MODE USES CERTAIN WAVEFORMS OPTIMIZED FOR THE DETEC
TION AND MEASUREMENT OF VARIOUS TARGET CHARACTERISTICS
&OR EXAMPLE THE RADAR OPERATOR MIGHT SELECT A SEARCH MODE AND SPECIFY A SEARCH
VOLUME THAT THE RADAR WILL RASTER SCAN AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 6ALID DETECTIONS IN
SEARCH ARE THEN CONVERTED TO TRACKS IN THE RADAR COMPUTER 4HESE TRACKS NEED TO BE
UPDATED BY A TRACK MODE ON A REGULAR BASIS DEPENDING ON THE TRACK ACCURACY REQUIRED
(IGH TRACK ACCURACY IS NEEDED FOR THREATENING TARGETS OR THOSE THAT NEED A FIRE CONTROL
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SOLUTION IN ORDER TO ENGAGE AS OPPOSED TO NONTHREATENING TARGETS WHERE A GENERAL SITU
ATIONAL AWARENESS IS SUFFICIENT AND HIGH ACCURACY IS NOT REQUIRED
3EARCH 4HE TWO PRIMARY SEARCH MODES ARE !UTONOMOUS 3EARCH AND #UED 3EARCH
)N !UTONOMOUS 3EARCH THE OPERATOR SELECTS A RANGE AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION COVERAGE
AND THE RADAR SEARCHES EACH BEAM POSITION THAT COVERS THIS VOLUME ONCE PER FRAME 4HE
TIME IT TAKES TO COMPLETE A FRAME IS KNOWN AS THE REVISIT OR FRAME TIME 4HE FRAME TIME
SHOULD BE MINIMIZED TO ENHANCE THE CUMULATIVE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION OF TARGETS
-ODERN RADAR SYSTEMS CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ON
AND OFF
BOARD CUES TO INCREASE
THE PROBABILITY OF ACQUIRING A TARGET USING #UED 3EARCH ! #UED 3EARCH MODE ADJUSTS
THE SEARCH VOLUME AND WAVEFORM SELECTION ACCORDING TO THE ACCURACY OF THE CUES
PARAMETERS
2ADARS WITH ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED ARRAY %3! ANTENNAS CAN INTERLEAVE OTHER FUNC
TIONS TRACK UPDATES #UED 3EARCH CALIBRATIONS ETC WITH !UTONOMOUS 3EARCH 4HE
RADAR COMPUTERS RESOURCE MANAGER MUST ENSURE THAT THE MAXIMUM FRAME TIME IS NOT
EXCEEDED WITH THE INCLUSION OF THESE OTHER FUNCTIONS DURING A SEARCH FRAME
&OR AIRBORNE PULSE DOPPLER RADARS !UTONOMOUS 3EARCH CAN HAVE TWO SUBMODES
&ORWARD
ASPECT AND !LL
ASPECT 3EARCH &ORWARD
ASPECT 3EARCH IS DESIGNED TO DETECT
HEAD
ON ENGAGEMENT TARGETS WITH HIGH CLOSING SPEEDS THAT ARE NOT COMPETING AGAINST
MAIN
BEAM OR SIDELOBE CLUTTER &ORWARD
ASPECT 3EARCH USES HIGH
DUTY HIGH
02& WAVE
FORMS TO MAXIMIZE THE ENERGY ON TARGET AND PROVIDE LONG DETECTION RANGE &ORWARD
ASPECT 3EARCH WAVEFORMS INCLUDE 6ELOCITY 3EARCH 63 (IGH
02& 2ANGE
7HILE
3EARCH
(273 AND !LERT#ONFIRM !LL
ASPECT 3EARCH CAN BE EITHER A SINGLE HIGH
MEDIUM 02&
WAVEFORM THAT HAS ACCEPTABLE PERFORMANCE FOR TARGETS THAT ARE COMPETING WITH SIDELOBE
CLUTTER OR THE COMBINATION OF &ORWARD
ASPECT 3EARCH HIGH
02& WAVEFORMS INTERLEAVED
WITH MEDIUM
02& WAVEFORMS DESIGNED TO DETECT TARGETS COMPETING WITH SIDELOBE CLUT
TER SUCH AS -EDIUM
02& 2ANGE 7HILE 3EARCH -273
6ELOCITY 3EARCH 63 IS A HIGH
02& SEARCH WAVEFORM THAT MEASURES DOPPLER FRE
QUENCY UNAMBIGUOUSLY WITH THE POSSIBLE EXCEPTION OF SENSE BUT DOES NOT MEASURE
RANGE 4HIS IS THE CLASSIC HIGH
02& WAVEFORM 4HE TRANSMIT DUTY CYCLE IS MAXIMIZED
TO INCREASE DETECTION RANGE 4HE RECEIVER MAY BE RANGE GATED TO MATCH THE BANDWIDTH
OF THE TRANSMIT WAVEFORM BUT RANGE MEASUREMENT IS NOT ATTEMPTED
! 63 DWELL WILL CONSIST OF A SINGLE LOOK AT A GIVEN 02& 4HE COHERENT INTEGRATION
TIME IS MAXIMIZED WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE MAXIMUM EXPECTED TARGET RADIAL ACCELERATION
63 IS OPTIMIZED FOR 3WERLING ) AND ))) TARGET AMPLITUDE FLUCTUATION STATISTICS AND THE
CUMULATIVE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION OF INCOMING TARGETS OVER SEVERAL SEARCH FRAMES
(IGH
02& 2ANGE
7HILE
3EARCH ,IKE 63 (273 IS A HIGH
02& WAVEFORM
(OWEVER LINEAR
CARRIER &- RANGING IS USED TO OBTAIN A RANGE MEASUREMENT AS DESCRIBED
IN 3ECTION 4HIS RANGE MEASUREMENT COMES AT THE EXPENSE OF FRAME TIME WITH THE
ADDITION OF VARIOUS &- SLOPES FOR EACH DWELL 4HE ACCURACY OF THIS RANGE MEASUREMENT
IS DEPENDENT UPON THE LINEAR &- RANGING SLOPES
!LERT#ONFIRM 4HE BEAM AGILITY OF %3!
BASED RADARS ALLOWS THE USE OF SEQUEN
TIAL DETECTION TECHNIQUES ! SIMPLIFICATION OF SUCH TECHNIQUES IS KNOWN AS !LERT
#ONFIRM 4HE GOAL OF !LERT#ONFIRM IS TO PROVIDE HIGH SENSITIVITY WHILE MANAGING
FALSE ALARMS AND MINIMIZING THE SEARCH FRAME TIME "Y TRANSMITTING A LONGER #ONFIRM
DWELL FOR RANGING ONLY AT BEAM POSITIONS WHERE A SHORTER
DWELL !LERT HAS DETECTED
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
TARGETS !LERT#ONFIRM PROVIDES THE RANGE MEASUREMENT OF CLASSIC (273 WAVEFORMS
WITHOUT THE FRAME TIME EXPENSE OF TRANSMITTING LINEAR &- RANGING DWELLS EVERY BEAM
POSITION 4HE #ONFIRM DWELL CAN ALSO BE USED TO CONTROL FALSE ALARMS PERMITTING THE
!LERT DWELL TO BE MORE SENSITIVE THAN CLASSIC 63
4HE !LERT PHASE IS USED TO SEARCH EACH BEAM POSITION OF THE FRAME FOR THE PRESENCE
OF A TARGET ! 63 WAVEFORM IS USED WITH A LOW DETECTION THRESHOLD AND A CORRESPONDING
FALSE ALARM TIME ON THE ORDER OF A FEW SECONDS 4HE LOWER DETECTION THRESHOLD INCREASES
SENSITIVITY 7HEN AN !LERT DWELL DECLARES A DETECTION A #ONFIRM DWELL IS SCHEDULED
FOR THAT !LERT DWELLS BEAM POSITION )F MONOPULSE MEASUREMENTS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE
!LERT DETECTION THE #ONFIRM BEAM CAN BE CENTERED ON THE DETECTION TO DECREASE BEAM
SHAPE LOSS 4HE #ONFIRM DWELL IS TYPICALLY A (273 WAVEFORM AND ONLY EXAMINES
DOPPLER FILTERS WITHIN A WINDOW CENTERED ABOUT THE FILTER OF THE !LERT DETECTION CUE 4HE
#ONFIRM DWELL MUST PRODUCE A DETECTION CORRESPONDING TO THE !LERT DETECTION IN ORDER
FOR A VALID DETECTION DECLARATION 4HE #ONFIRM DWELL IS USED TO MANAGE FALSE ALERTS
AND PROVIDE A RANGE MEASUREMENT FOR TARGET DETECTIONS 4HE !LERT AND #ONFIRM DETEC
TION THRESHOLDS ARE DESIGNED TO ACHIEVE OVERALL FALSE ALARM TIME EQUAL TO CONVENTIONAL
SEARCH ONE EVERY FEW MINUTES !LONG WITH USING THE SAME 02& IN !LERT AND #ONFIRM
THE TIME BETWEEN THESE DWELLS OR LATENCY SHOULD BE MINIMIZED TO PREVENT A VALID !LERT
DETECTION FROM BEING ECLIPSED DURING THE #ONFIRMATION DWELL
,OW
LATENCY ALSO ALLOWS THE USE OF #ORRELATED !LERT#ONFIRM (ERE A 3WERLING
) TARGET 2#3 FLUCTUATION MODEL IS ASSUMED 4HIS IMPLIES THAT WHEN THE SAME 2& CAR
RIER FREQUENCY IS USED FOR !LERT AND #ONFIRM THE TARGET 2#3 WILL BE RELATIVELY CONSTANT
BETWEEN THE TWO DWELLS PROVIDING ADDITIONAL RANGE ENHANCEMENT IN TERMS OF THE
CUMULATIVE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION
-EDIUM
02& 2ANGE 7HILE 3EARCH ! MEDIUM
02& WAVEFORM IS USED TO DETECT
TARGETS COMPETING WITH SIDELOBE CLUTTER THAT WOULD BE UNDETECTABLE IN (273 -273
ALLOWS THE DETECTION OF NOSE ASPECT TARGETS AT WIDE SCAN ANGLES THAT ARE CROSSING THE
RADAR LINE
OF
SIGHT SUCH THAT THEIR LOW CLOSING VELOCITY PLACES THEM IN SIDELOBE CLUT
TER AND TAIL ASPECT TARGETS IN LEAD PURSUIT ENGAGEMENTS AN ATTACK GEOMETRY WHERE THE
NOSE OF THE ATTACKING AIRCRAFT IS POINTED AHEAD OF THE TARGETS PRESENT POSITION -273
PROVIDES COMPLETE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS PERCEPTION OF THE SURROUNDING TACTICAL ENVI
RONMENT BUT DOES NOT HAVE THE MAXIMUM DETECTION RANGE PROVIDED BY THE HIGHER DUTY
CYCLE OF (273 FOR THERMAL NOISE
LIMITED TARGETS
4HE -273 WAVEFORM USES -
OF
. DETECTION PROCESSING A TYPICAL WAVEFORM
MIGHT BE
OF
%ACH -273 DWELL IS MADE UP OF . LOOKS EACH WITH A DIFFERENT 02&
$ETECTION IS REQUIRED ON AT LEAST - LOOKS TO RESOLVE TARGET RANGE AND RANGE RATE UNAM
BIGUOUSLY 4HE DETECTION THRESHOLDS ARE SET TO PROVIDE APPROXIMATELY ONE FALSE ALARM
PER MINUTE
4HE EFFECTIVENESS OF -273 IS DEPENDENT ON THE ABILITY TO DETECT TARGETS AT THE REQUIRED
RANGES WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY REJECTING DISCRETE CLUTTER DETECTIONS ,OW TWO
WAY ANTENNA
SIDELOBES ALONG WITH THE COMBINATION OF TECHNIQUES DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION SUCH AS
GUARD CHANNEL BLANKING AND POSTDETECTION 34# ARE USED TO MITIGATE SIDELOBE CLUTTER
DISCRETE FALSE ALARMS
-273 ALSO USES PULSE COMPRESSION TO DECREASE THE AMOUNT OF SIDELOBE CLUTTER THAT
TARGETS MUST COMPETE WITH 4HE LOWER 02& REDUCES ECLIPSING AND THE AMOUNT OF CLUT
TER RANGE
FOLDING 4RANSMIT CARRIER FREQUENCY DIVERSITY DWELL
TO
DWELL FORCES 3WERLING
) AND ))) TARGET FLUCTUATION STATISTICS AND IMPROVES CUMULATIVE PROBABILITY OF DETEC
TION PERFORMANCE &REQUENCY DIVERSITY LOOK
TO
LOOK WITHIN A DWELL PRODUCES 3WERLING
)) AND )6 STATISTICS AND IS BETTER SUITED FOR HIGH SINGLE
SCAN PROBABILITY OF DETECTION
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
-273 CAN ALSO BE IMPLEMENTED WITH A HIGH MEDIUM 02& WHICH IS CHARACTERIZED
BY THE WAVEFORMS DOPPLER COVERAGE BEING UNAMBIGUOUS IN DOPPLER MAGNITUDE BUT
NOT DOPPLER SENSE FOR THE MAXIMUM TARGET DOPPLER OF INTEREST 4HE RESULTING SINGLE
BLIND SPEED DUE TO MAIN BEAM CLUTTER PERMITS AS WIDE OF A CLUTTER REJECTION NOTCH
AS REQUIRED TO REJECT MAIN BEAM CLUTTER OR GROUND MOVING TARGETS AND STILL NOT RESULT
IN DOPPLER BLIND SPEEDS FOR TARGETS OF INTEREST - OF . RANGING PROVIDES BETTER RANGE
MEASUREMENT ACCURACY THAN LINEAR &- RANGING USED IN (273 4HE 02&S USED IN A
DWELL MUST BE CHOSEN TO RESOLVE THE HIGH NUMBER OF RANGE AMBIGUITIES WITHIN THE
INSTRUMENTED RANGE
4RACK 4ARGET TRACKING IS DONE BY MAKING RANGE RANGE RATE AND AZIMUTH AND ELEVA
TION ANGLE MEASUREMENTS ON TARGETS 2ANGE MEASUREMENTS ARE OBTAINED USING RANGE GAT
ING AND CENTROIDING ON THE TARGET RETURN WITH RANGE AMBIGUITIES BEING RESOLVED WITHIN THE
TRACKER 2ANGE RATE IE DOPPLER MEASUREMENTS ARE FORMED WITH A CENTROID ON THE TARGETS
DOPPLER RETURN IN THE FILTER BANK !NGLE MEASUREMENTS CAN BE OBTAINED USING MONOPULSE
SEQUENTIAL LOBING OR CONICAL SCAN WITH MONOPULSE BEING THE PROMINENT CHOICE IN MOD
ERN RADARS 4HE TRACKER CREATES WINDOWS OR GROUPS OF CONTIGUOUS RANGE DOPPLER CELLS
AROUND EACH OF THESE MEASUREMENTS IN ORDER TO ASSOCIATE DETECTIONS WITH EXISTING TRACKS
4HE TRACKER USUALLY IMPLEMENTED WITH A NINE STATE POSITION VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION
+ALMAN FILTER ESTIMATES TARGET MOTION IN AN INERTIAL COORDINATE SYSTEM
-ULTIPLE 4ARGET 4RACKING -44 CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED IN SEVERAL WAYS /NE
METHOD 4RACK 7HILE 3CAN OR 473 IS TO USE THE NORMAL SEARCH MODE WITH &- OR
MULTIPLE 02& RANGING AND STORE THE RANGE ANGLE AND DOPPLER OF THE REPORTED DETEC
TIONS IN THE RADAR COMPUTER 4HESE DETECTIONS ARE THEN USED TO FORM AND UPDATE TRACK
FILES 4HE ANTENNA SCANS IN A NORMAL SEARCH PATTERN AND A SCAN TO SCAN CORRELATION IS
MADE ON THE DETECTIONS THAT UPDATE THE TRACK FILES !LTHOUGH TRACKING ACCURACIES ARE
LESS THAN CAN BE ACHIEVED IN A DEDICATED SINGLE TARGET TRACK MULTIPLE TARGETS CAN BE
TRACKED SIMULTANEOUSLY OVER A LARGE VOLUME OF SPACE
! SECOND METHOD OF -ULTIPLE 4ARGET 4RACKING 0AUSE 7HILE 3CAN PARTICULARLY
APPLICABLE TO %3! BASED RADARS IS TO SCAN IN A NORMAL SEARCH PATTERN PAUSE ON
EACH SEARCH DETECTION AND ENTER A 3INGLE 4ARGET 4RACK MODE FOR A BRIEF PERIOD 4HE
ADVANTAGE IS THAT THE RESULTING RANGE ANGLE AND DOPPLER MEASUREMENTS ARE MORE
ACCURATE THAN THOSE MADE WITH A SCANNING ANTENNA BUT THE TIME TO SEARCH A VOLUME
IN SPACE IS INCREASED
4RANSITION TO 4RACK OR 4RACK !CQUISITION IS USED TO CONFIRM SEARCH TARGET DETEC
TIONS AND PROVIDE IMPROVED RANGE ACCURACY WHEN NEEDED )F THE TARGET IS SUCCESSFULLY
ACQUIRED A TRACK FILE IN THE RADAR COMPUTER IS INITIATED 4HE 4RACK !CQUISITION WAVE
FORMS PARAMETERS DEPEND UPON THE TYPE OF SEARCH WAVEFORM THAT PRODUCED THE TARGET
DETECTION 4HE 4RACK !CQUISITION WAVEFORMS THRESHOLDS ARE SET TO REJECT FALSE ALARMS
AND REDUCE THE FALSE TRACK INITIATION RATE TO LESS THAN ONE PER HOUR
&OR 4RACK !CQUISITION A SEARCH DETECTION FROM 63 WOULD REQUIRE A (273 WAVE
FORM TO OBTAIN A RANGE MEASUREMENT (273 AND !LERT#ONFIRM WAVEFORMS ARE FOLLOWED
BY RANGE GATED HIGH 02& DWELLS USING - ON . RANGING TO ACHIEVE THE NECESSARY RANGE
ACCURACY FOR SINGLE 02& TRACK UPDATES 4HE UNAMBIGUOUS (273 RANGE MEASUREMENT OF
THE SEARCH DETECTION IS USED TO HELP RESOLVE THE RANGE AMBIGUITY &OR -273 DETECTIONS
ANOTHER -273 DWELL IS USED FOR 4RACK !CQUISITION /NCE THE TRACK FILE IS INITIATED SEVERAL
RAPID TRACK UPDATES ARE USED TO FIRMLY ESTABLISH THE TRACK
7HEN DOING 3INGLE 4ARGET 4RACK UPDATES A SINGLE 02& WAVEFORM CAN BE USED
4HE RANGE ANDOR DOPPLER AMBIGUITIES ARE RESOLVED IN SEARCH AND IF NECESSARY IN THE
4RANSITION TO 4RACK PHASE "Y USING THE UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE AND VELOCITY PREDICTIONS
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
OF THE TARGET PROVIDED BY THE TRACKER A SINGLE 02& CAN BE CHOSEN SUCH THAT RANGE AND
DOPPLER ECLIPSING IS AVOIDED WITH HIGH PROBABILITY 4HE LENGTH OF THE DWELL IS ADAPTED
TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT ENERGY ON TARGET SO THAT ITS RETURN SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO WILL PRO
VIDE THE NECESSARY MEASUREMENT ACCURACIES REQUIRED BY THE TRACKER 4HIS ADAPTIVE
TRACK UPDATE WAVEFORM ALLOWS THE SEARCH REVISIT TIME TO BE MAINTAINED WHILE TRACKING
MULTIPLE TARGETS
{ ,
*
,",
4HE RADAR RANGE EQUATION IS USED TO DETERMINE THE PERFORMANCE OF PULSE DOPPLER RADAR
4HE RADAR RANGE EQUATION MUST INCLUDE LOSSES BOTH SYSTEM AND ENVIRONMENTAL THAT
WILL DEGRADE THE STRENGTH OF RETURN SIGNALS AT THE DETECTOR 0ROBABILITY OF DETECTION 0D
DEPENDS ON TARGET SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO AND PROBABILITY OF FALSE ALARM 0&! WHICH
ITSELF IS A FUNCTION OF WAVEFORM 4HE FALSE ALARM PROBABILITY DETERMINES THE DETECTION
THRESHOLD AND IS REFERENCED TO AN INDIVIDUAL RANGE
DOPPLER CELL 4HIS PER
CELL PROBABIL
ITY IS DERIVED FROM THE SPECIFIED FALSE REPORT TIME FOR THE SYSTEM
2ADAR 2ANGE %QUATION )N THE DOPPLER REGION WHERE THE SIGNAL DOES NOT FALL IN
CLUTTER PERFORMANCE IS LIMITED ONLY BY SYSTEM NOISE 4HE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE POWER RATIO
IN THE RANGE
DOPPLER CELL AT THE DETECTOR PRIOR TO POSTDETECTION INTEGRATION FOR A TARGET
AT RANGE 2 IS GIVEN BY
2
3.2 O
2
0 ' ' L S 4
2O AV 4 2
P K4S "N ,4
WHERE 2O RANGE AT WHICH 3.2 IS EQUAL TO
R4 TARGET RADAR CROSS SECTION
,4 LOSSES APPLICABLE TO THE TARGET
4HE REMAINING TERMS ARE AS DEFINED FOLLOWING %Q 4HE NET LOSS ,4 USED TO COM
PUTE 3.2 FOR A TARGET IS GENERALLY HIGHER THAN THE NET LOSS ,# USED TO COMPUTE #.2
IN %Q ,4 INCLUDES LOSSES SUCH AS ECLIPSING AND RANGE GATE STRADDLE DOPPLER FILTER
STRADDLE #&!2 AND GUARD BLANKING THAT ARE APPLICABLE TO RESOLVABLE TARGETS BUT NOT
TO DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER
4HE TARGET 3.2 REPRESENTS THE ENVELOPE ) 1 FOR A LINEAR DETECTOR OR ) 1
FOR A SQUARE LAW DETECTOR OF THE TARGET RETURN COMPARED TO THAT OF JUST NOISE 4HE ENVE
LOPE IS MEASURED AFTER THE ENTIRE COHERENT MATCHED FILTER PROCESS IE TRANSMIT PULSE
MATCHED FILTER PULSE COMPRESSION AND COHERENT DOPPLER FILTERING 4HEREFORE 3.2 IS
ASSOCIATED WITH A SINGLE #0)
,OSSES 3OME OF THE LOSSES INHERENT IN BUT NOT NECESSARILY UNIQUE TO PULSE DOP
PLER RADARS THAT EMPLOY DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING ARE DISCUSSED BELOW 3OME OF THE
LOSSES MAY BE INCORPORATED INTO THE OTHER VARIABLES IN THE RADAR RANGE EQUATION #ARE
MUST BE TAKEN TO ACCOUNT FOR ALL OF THE SYSTEM LOSSES WHILE AVOIDING REDUNDANCIES
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
-OST FRONT
END LOSSES ARE APPLICABLE TO BOTH TARGETS AND CLUTTER ,OSSES APPLICABLE
ONLY TO TARGETS WILL BE INDICATED
2& 4RANSMIT ,OSS 4HIS LOSS ACCOUNTS FOR 2& OHMIC LOSSES BETWEEN THE TRANSMIT
TER OR 2& POWER AMPLIFIER AND THE ANTENNA RADIATOR WHICH CAN INCLUDE LOSSES FROM
CONNECTORS CIRCULATORS AND RADIATING ELEMENTS
2ADOME ,OSS -OST RADARS REQUIRE A RADOME TO PROTECT THE ANTENNA FROM ENVIRON
MENTAL ELEMENTS AND TO CONFORM TO THE PLATFORMS SHAPE 2ADOMES WILL HAVE A LOSS THAT
MAY DEPEND ON THE SCAN ANGLE OF THE ANTENNA 4HIS LOSS MUST BE ACCOUNTED FOR ON TRANSMIT
AND RECEIVE IE A TWO
WAY LOSS
0ROPAGATION ,OSS 0ROPAGATION THROUGH THE ATMOSPHERE RESULTS IN A LOSS ESPE
CIALLY AT HIGHER RADAR CARRIER FREQUENCIES 4HIS LOSS IS A FUNCTION OF RANGE ALTITUDE AND
WEATHER )T IS ALSO A TWO
WAY LOSS 0ROPAGATION LOSS IS MORE OF A ENVIRONMENTAL LOSS
THAN A SYSTEM LOSS BUT CAN BE GROUPED WITH THE OTHER LOSSES THAT MAKE UP NET LOSS IN
THE RADAR RANGE EQUATION
3CAN ,OSS "ROADSIDE ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED ARRAY ANTENNAS ARE SUBJECT TO REDUC
TION IN GAIN WHEN THE MAIN BEAM IS SCANNED OFF BROADSIDE 4HE PROJECTED AREA OF THE
%3! APERTURE DECREASES AS BEAM SCANS FROM BROADSIDE 0ROJECTED AREA DROPS AS COSINE
OF SCAN CONE ANGLE -UTUAL COUPLING BETWEEN RADIATING ELEMENTS FURTHER REDUCES THE
EFFECTIVE AREA 3CAN LOSS MUST BE ACCOUNTED FOR ON TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE
"EAMSHAPE ,OSS 4HIS TARGET
SPECIFIC LOSS ACCOUNTS FOR THE LOSS IN GAIN WHEN THE
TARGET IS NOT LOCATED AT THE PEAK OF THE BEAM "EAMSHAPE LOSS IS DEFINED AS THE INCREASE
IN THE POWER OR THE 3.2 REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE THE SAME PROBABILITY OF DETECTION ON A TAR
GET SPREAD UNIFORMLY OVER THE SPECIFIED BEAM COVERAGE AS WOULD OCCUR WITH A TARGET AT
BEAM CENTER "EAMSHAPE LOSS IS USED PRIMARILY IN SEARCH DETECTION RANGE PERFORMANCE
CALCULATIONS
2& 2ECEIVE ,OSS 4HIS LOSS IS SIMILAR TO 2& 4RANSMIT ,OSS EXCEPT IT ACCOUNTS FOR
OHMIC LOSSES FROM THE ANTENNA FACE TO THE FIRST LOW
NOISE AMPLIFIER 4HIS LOSS MAY BE
INCLUDED IN THE RECEIVE SYSTEM NOISE FIGURE OR SYSTEM TEMPERATURE VALUE
)& -ATCHED &ILTER ,OSS 4HE MATCHED FILTER FOR A PULSE DOPPLER WAVEFORM INCLUDES
THE ANALOG )& MATCHED FILTER IN THE RECEIVER AND ANY SUBSEQUENT DIGITAL INTEGRATION OF
!$ SAMPLES TO MATCH THE DURATION OF THE TRANSMIT PULSE )& MATCHED FILTER LOSS QUANTI
FIES HOW WELL THE ANALOG )& MATCHED FILTER COMPARES TO THE IDEAL MATCHED FILTER FOR THAT
POINT IN THE RECEPTION CHAIN
1UANTIZATION .OISE ,OSS 4HIS LOSS IS DUE TO THE NOISE ADDED BY THE !$ CONVER
SION PROCESS AND TO TRUNCATION DUE TO FINITE WORD LENGTHS IN THE SIGNAL
PROCESSOR THAT
FOLLOW 4HIS LOSS CAN ALSO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE RECEIVER NOISE FIGURE VALUE
0ULSE #OMPRESSION -ISMATCH ,OSS 4HIS IS CAUSED BY THE INTENTIONAL MISMATCH
ING OF THE PULSE COMPRESSION FILTER TO REDUCE TIME RANGE SIDELOBES
%CLIPSING AND 2ANGE 'ATE 3TRADDLE ,OSS 4HE LARGE AMOUNT OF RANGE AMBIGUITY
INHERENT IN PULSE DOPPLER WAVEFORMS RESULTS IN THE POSSIBLE ECLIPSING OF TARGET RETURNS
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
{{
WHEN THE RECEIVER IS BLANKED DURING PULSE TRANSMISSION )N A MULTIPLE RANGE GATE SYS
TEM THE RETURNS MAY ALSO STRADDLE GATES REDUCING THE PULSE MATCHED FILTER OUTPUT OF
A SINGLE GATE "ECAUSE OF ECLIPSING AND RANGE GATE STRADDLE THE VALUE OF 2O GIVEN BY
%Q MAY FALL ANYWHERE BETWEEN ZERO AND A MAXIMUM VALUE DEPENDING ON THE
EXACT LOCATION OF THE TARGET RETURN WITHIN THE INTERPULSE PERIOD
&IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE EFFECT OF ECLIPSING AND RANGE GATE STRADDLE ON THE OUTPUT
OF THE PULSE MATCHED FILTER OVER THE )00 %ACH RANGE GATE IS ASSUMED TO BE MATCHED TO
THE TRANSMIT PULSE BANDWIDTH WHICH FOR UNMODULATED PULSES IE NO PULSE COMPRESSION
MODULATION IS THE INVERSE OF THE PULSE DURATION 4HEREFORE REFERRING TO &IGURE THE
GATE WIDTH SG EQUALS THE TRANSMITTED PULSE ST )N &IGURE THE )00 IS SG 4HE PLOTS ON
THE LEFT REPRESENT A RANGE GATE SPACING OF SS EQUAL TO SG 2ANGE GATE STRADDLE LOSS CAN BE
REDUCED BY THE USE OF OVERLAPPING GATES AT THE EXPENSE OF EXTRA HARDWARE AND PROCESS
ING 4HE RIGHTMOST PLOTS REPRESENT THE USE OF RANGE GATE OVERLAP SS SG 4HE
MAXIMUM PULSE MATCHED FILTER OUTPUT AS A FUNCTION OF RETURN DELAY IS SHOWN IN TERMS OF
RELATIVE VOLTAGE AND POWER 4HE hVOLTAGEv PLOT SHOWS THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF CONVOLV
ING THE RETURN PULSE WITH THE MATCHED FILTER OF EACH RANGE GATE &OR A SINGLE RANGE GATE
THIS IS SIMPLY THE CONVOLUTION OF TWO RECTANGULAR PULSES WHICH RESULTS IN A TRIANGULAR
RESPONSE 4O COMPUTE LOSS THE MATCHED FILTER OUTPUT IN TERMS OF POWER IE VOLTAGE
SQUARED MUST BE USED
7HEN THE 02& IS HIGH SO THAT MANY RANGE AMBIGUITIES OCCUR THE TARGET RANGE DELAY
MAY BE CONSIDERED TO BE RANDOM FROM FRAME TO FRAME WITH A UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION OVER
THE )00 ! MEASURE OF PERFORMANCE REDUCTION DUE TO ECLIPSING AND RANGE GATE STRADDLE
IS FOUND BY
5SING THE UNECLIPSED DETECTION CURVE 0D VS 3. FOR THE WAVEFORM AND SELECT
ING A PARTICULAR 3.2 OF INTEREST 3. ALONG WITH ITS CORRESPONDING PROBABILITY OF
DETECTION 0D
2EDUCE 3. BY A FACTOR RELATED TO THE RELATIVE OUTPUT hPOWERv OF THE MATCHED
FILTER AS A FUNCTION OF AMBIGUOUS RANGE WITHIN THE )00 3EE THE THIRD ROW OF PLOTS
IN &IGURE
7ITH THE REDUCED 3.2 DETERMINE THE NEW 0D AS A FUNCTION OF AMBIGUOUS RANGE
WITHIN THE )00 FROM THE UNECLIPSED DETECTION CURVE
!VERAGE THESE NEW 0D VALUES ACROSS THE )00
4HE RESULT WILL BE A NEW DETECTION CURVE INCLUDING THE AVERAGE EFFECT OF ECLIPSING AND
RANGE GATE STRADDLE &OR A FIXED 0D THE DIFFERENCE IN 3.2 BETWEEN THE UNECLIPSED AND
THE ECLIPSED DETECTION CURVES IS THE AVERAGE ECLIPSING AND RANGE GATE STRADDLE LOSS 4HIS
DIFFERENCE REPRESENTS THE AVERAGE INCREASE IN SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO REQUIRED TO OBTAIN
THE SAME PROBABILITY OF DETECTION WITH ECLIPSING AND STRADDLE AS IN THE CASE WHERE
THE TRANSMIT PULSE IS RECEIVED BY A MATCHED GATE WITH NO STRADDLE 3INCE THE DETECTION
CURVE CHANGES SHAPE THE LOSS DEPENDS ON THE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION SELECTED WHICH
IS DEPICTED IN &IGURE &OR ACCURATE RESULTS ECLIPSING AND RANGE GATE STRADDLE LOSS
MUST BE COMPUTED TOGETHER
! LESS ACCURATE APPROXIMATION COMPARES THE AVERAGE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO OVER THE
INTERPULSE PERIOD WITH THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO OF THE MATCHED CASE )N THE CASE OF .
CONTINUOUS RANGE GATES SPANNING THE DURATION OF THE )00 EACH OF WHICH ARE MATCHED TO
THE TRANSMIT PULSE WIDTH THE APPROXIMATE AVERAGE ECLIPSING AND STRADDLE LOSS IS
APPROXIMATE ECLIPSING AND RANGE GATE STRADDLLE LOSS
.
.
4IME .ORMALIZED BY 2ANGE 'ATE $URATION
.O 2' /VERLAP TT TG TS TB )00 TG
4IME .ORMALIZED BY 2ANGE 'ATE $URATION
2' /VERLAP TT TG TS TB )00 TG
&)'52% #ONCEPT OF ECLIPSING AND RANGE GATE STRADDLE LOSS 4HE TOP ROW OF PLOTS SHOWS THE TRANSMIT PULSE FOR A SINGLE )00 OF A PULSE DOPPLER WAVEFORM WITH A
DUTY CYCLE OF 4HE SECOND ROW OF PLOTS SHOWS THE RELATIVE VOLTAGE OF THE MAXIMUM PULSE MATCHED FILTER -& OUTPUT AS A FUNCTION OF RANGE
AMBIGUOUS TARGET RETURN
WITHIN THE )00 4HE THIRD ROW OF PLOTS SHOWS THE OUTPUT IN TERMS OF RELATIVE POWER
4RANSMIT 0ULSE
-& /UTPUT
h6OLTAGEv
-& /UTPUT
h0OWERv
4RANSMIT 0ULSE
-& /UTPUT
h6OLTAGEv
-& /UTPUT
h0OWERv
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
{{
&327
' /&*
#0%3,!#0)'2
0.$#$*+*27.('2'%2*.-
5.%+*/1*-)#-& 20#&&+'
5%+*/1*-)#-& 20#&&+'//0.6
5%+*/1*-)#-& 20#&&+'
5%+*/1*-)#-& 20#&&+' 4'0+#/
"-'%+*/1'& *)-#+2. .*1' #2*.&
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF DETECTION PERFORMANCE WITH AND WITHOUT ECLIPSING AND RANGE GATE
STRADDLE LOSS 4HE APPROXIMATE PERFORMANCE USING %Q IS ALSO PROVIDED 4HE PERFORMANCE WITH
ECLIPSING AND RANGE GATE STRADDLE LOSS WITH THE USE OF OVERLAPPED RANGE GATES IS SHOWN
%Q ASSUMES AN UNMODULATED RECTANGULAR TRANSMIT PULSE SHAPE WITH THE RECEIVE
GATE MATCHED TO THE TRANSMIT PULSE WIDTH 4HERE IS NO RANGE GATE OVERLAP 4HE FIRST GATE
OF THE . RANGE GATES ARE BLANKED FOR THE TRANSMIT PULSE !S SHOWN IN &IGURE THIS
APPROXIMATION IS ONLY VALID FOR A 0D NEAR
4HERE ARE SEVERAL OTHER DETAILS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN &IGURE !S SHOWN
IN &IGURE A PORTION OF THE FIRST VALID RECEIVE RANGE GATE AND POSSIBLY A PORTION
OF THE LAST RANGE GATE IN THE )00 IS TYPICALLY BLANKED TO AVOID RECEIVING TRANSIENTS OF
THE TRANSMIT
TO
RECEIVE AND RECEIVE
TO
TRANSMIT SWITCHING !LSO IF PULSE COMPRES
SION MODULATION IS USED ON THE TRANSMIT PULSE THE RANGE GATE DURATION WILL BE REDUCED
TO MATCH THE TRANSMIT PULSE BANDWIDTH !LL OF THESE EFFECTS SHOULD BE INCLUDED WHEN
COMPUTING THE ECLIPSING AND RANGE GATE STRADDLE LOSS
$OPPLER &ILTER 7EIGHTING ,OSS 4HIS LOSS RESULTS FROM THE INCREASED NOISE BAND
WIDTH OF THE DOPPLER FILTERS THAT OCCURS BECAUSE OF FILTER SIDELOBE WEIGHTING 4HE LOSS
CAN ALSO BE ACCOUNTED FOR BY AN INCREASE OF THE DOPPLER FILTER NOISE BANDWIDTH INSTEAD
OF AS A SEPARATE LOSS
$OPPLER &ILTER 3TRADDLE ,OSS 4HIS LOSS IS DUE TO A TARGET NOT ALWAYS BEING IN THE
CENTER OF A DOPPLER FILTER )T IS COMPUTED BY ASSUMING A UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED TARGET DOP
PLER OVER ONE FILTER SPACING AND IS A FUNCTION OF THE DOPPLER FILTER SIDELOBE WEIGHTING 4HIS
LOSS CAN BE REDUCED AT THE EXPENSE OF INCREASED PROCESSING BY ZERO
PADDING THE COLLECTED
DATA AND PERFORMING A HIGHER
POINT &&4 TO FORM HIGHLY OVERLAPPED DOPPLER FILTERS
{{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
#&!2 ,OSS 4HIS LOSS IS CAUSED BY AN IMPERFECT ESTIMATE OF THE DETECTION THRESH
OLD COMPARED WITH THE IDEAL THRESHOLD 4HE FLUCTUATION IN THE ESTIMATE NECESSITATES
THAT THE MEAN THRESHOLD BE SET HIGHER THAN THE IDEAL HENCE A LOSS )T IS ONLY APPLICABLE
TO TARGETS
'UARD "LANKING ,OSS 4HIS TARGET
SPECIFIC LOSS IS THE DETECTABILITY LOSS IN THE MAIN
CHANNEL CAUSED BY SPURIOUS BLANKING FROM THE GUARD CHANNEL 3EE &IGURE
0ROBABILITY OF &ALSE !LARM 2ADAR DETECTION PERFORMANCE IS DETERMINED BY
THE DETECTION THRESHOLD WHICH IN TURN IS SET TO PROVIDE A SPECIFIED PROBABILITY OF
FALSE ALARMn !S DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION PULSE DOPPLER RADARS OFTEN EMPLOY
A MULTILOOK DETECTION CRITERION TO RESOLVE RANGE AMBIGUITIES 4HIS CAN BE ACCOM
PLISHED WITH LINEAR
&- RANGING AS IN THE (273 WAVEFORM OR -
OF
. RANGING USED
BY -273 4HESE AMBIGUITY RESOLUTION TECHNIQUES DICTATE HOW THE PROBABILITY OF
FALSE ALARM PER RANGE
DOPPLER CELL IS COMPUTED 4HESE CALCULATIONS ASSUME A NOISE
LIMITED ENVIRONMENT
&OR (273 DIFFERENT LINEAR
&- SLOPES ARE APPLIED TO LOOKS THROUGH M OF A M
LOOK
DWELL WHERE M IS TYPICALLY 4HE 02& IS HIGH ENOUGH FOR AT MOST ONLY A DOPPLER SIGN
AMBIGUITY $ETECTIONS IN LOOKS THROUGH M MUST CORRELATE IN DOPPLER WITH DETECTIONS
IN THE FIRST LOOK WHICH HAS NO SLOPE ! DOPPLER CORRELATION WINDOW IS SET EQUAL TO
THE MAXIMUM DOPPLER OFFSET DUE TO LINEAR
&- RANGING FROM A TARGET AT THE MAXIMUM
INSTRUMENTED RANGE &OR DOPPLER
ONLY CORRELATION THE 0&! PER RANGE
DOPPLER CELL TO
PROVIDE A SPECIFIED FALSE REPORT TIME IS
0&!
4D LN
. R M
M
N . F . &- 4&2
M
WHERE .R NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT RANGE SAMPLES PROCESSED PER )00
.F N UMBER OF INDEPENDENT DOPPLER FILTERS VISIBLE IN THE DOPPLER PASSBAND
NUMBER OF UNBLANKED FILTERS&&4 WEIGHTING FACTOR
4D TOTAL DWELL TIME OF THE MULTIPLE 02&S INCLUDING POSTDETECTION INTEGRATION
IF ANY SPACE CHANGE AND ANY DEAD TIME
N NUMBER OF LOOKS IN A DWELL TIME
M NUMBER OF DETECTIONS REQUIRED FOR A TARGET REPORT FOR A TYPICAL (273
DWELL N AND M
M
N BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT N;MN M =
4&2 FALSE REPORT TIME PER -ARCUMS DEFINITION WHERE THE PROBABILITY IS
THAT AT LEAST ONE FALSE REPORT WILL OCCUR IN THE FALSE REPORT TIME THIS
CAN BE RELATED TO THE AVERAGE TIME 4!6' BETWEEN FALSE REPORTS BY
4&2 y 4!6' LN
.&- K&- MAX2MAXC NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT DOPPLER FILTERS IN THE DOPPLER
CORRELATION WINDOW
K&- MAX STEEPEST LINEAR &- SLOPE MAGNITUDE
2MAX MAXIMUM INSTRUMENTED RANGE
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
{{x
!LERT#ONFIRM INCREASES SENSITIVITY BY ALLOWING MORE FALSE ALARMS IN !LERT AND RELY
ING ON #ONFIRM TO REJECT THOSE FALSE ALERTS 4HE !LERT#ONFIRM COMBINATION IS DESIGNED
TO PROVIDE THE SAME FALSE REPORT TIME 4&2 AS A CONVENTIONAL WAVEFORM ! SPECIFIED
FRACTIONAL INCREASE & IN FRAME TIME ACCOUNTS FOR THE EXECUTION OF #ONFIRM DWELLS TO
REJECT FALSE !LERT DETECTIONS & IS ON THE ORDER OF n 7HEN USING A 63 !LERT AND A
LOOK (273 #ONFIRM THE PROBABILITY OF FALSE ALARM PER RANGE
DOPPLER CELL 0&! A AND
0&! C FOR !LERT AND #ONFIRM RESPECTIVELY IS
0&! A
4D A LN
. R A . F A4&2 A
0&! C
&
4D C LN
r
. R C . F CUE . &&
4&2
WHERE 4D A TOTAL !LERT DWELL TIME
.R A NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT RANGE SAMPLES PROCESSED PER )00 IN !LERT
.F A NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT DOPPLER FILTERS VISIBLE IN THE !LERT DOPPLER
PASSBAND
4&2 A 4D C & !LERT FALSE REPORT TIME
4D C TOTAL #ONFIRM DWELL TIME
& FRACTIONAL INCREASE IN FRAME TIME ALLOCATED TO #ONFIRM n
.R C NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT RANGE SAMPLES PROCESSED PER )00 IN #ONFIRM
.F CUE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT DOPPLER FILTERS IN THE #ONFIRM WINDOW CENTERED
ABOUT THE DOPPLER OF THE !LERT DETECTION CUE
.&- NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT DOPPLER FILTERS IN #ONFIRM LINEAR &- RANGING
DOPPLER CORRELATION WINDOW
4&2 OVERALL !LERT#ONFIRM FALSE REPORT TIME
4HE - OF . RANGING USED IN -273 REQUIRES CORRELATION IN RANGE AND CAN BE VIEWED
AS A BINARY DETECTOR -273 IS TYPICALLY A MEDIUM 02& WAVEFORM WITH RANGE AND DOP
PLER AMBIGUITIES $OPPLER IS USED FOR CLUTTER MITIGATION IN EACH LOOK AND THE DOPPLER
AMBIGUITY MAY NOT NEED TO BE RESOLVED SINCE THE TRACKER CAN DETERMINE RANGE RATE FROM
SUCCESSIVE DWELLS ! TYPICAL -273 - OF . CORRELATION WOULD BE THREE DETECTIONS OUT
OF EIGHT LOOKS IE M AND N &OR RANGE ONLY CORRELATION THE 0&! IN EACH RANGE
DOPPLER CELL IS GIVEN BY
M
0&!
4D LN
. F M
N . RU4&2
WHERE .RU NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT RANGE SAMPLES IN THE OUTPUT UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE
INTERVAL DISPLAY RANGERANGE GATE SIZE
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&OR BETTER FALSE ALARM REJECTION DOPPLER CORRELATION CAN BE USED FOR -273 )N THE
CASE WHERE BOTH RANGE AND DOPPLER CORRELATION ARE USED THE REQUIRED 0&! IS
M
0&!
4D LN
M
M
N . FU . RU4&27
WHERE .FU NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT DOPPLER FILTERS IN THE UNAMBIGUOUS DOPPLER REGION
7 WIDTH IN DOPPLER FILTERS OF THE CORRELATION WINDOW APPLIED TO DETECTIONS
FOLLOWING INITIAL DETECTION
0ROBABILITY OF $ETECTION 5SING THE 0&! PER RANGE DOPPLER CELL THE PROBABILITY
OF DETECTION 0D OF A GIVEN LOOK CAN BE DETERMINED FOR A GIVEN TARGET 3.2 THE NUM
BER OF #0)S NONCOHERENTLY INTEGRATED .PDI AND THE TARGET 2#3 FLUCTUATION MODEL
ASSUMED 4HE INVERSE PROBLEM OF DETERMINING THE REQUIRED 3.2 FOR A GIVEN 0D CAN BE
SOLVED VIA APPROXIMATIONS 5NIVERSAL DETECTION EQUATIONS HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED THAT
PROVIDE REASONABLY ACCURATE RESULTS AND ARE REPRODUCED HERE !GAIN THE ASSUMPTION
THAT TARGETS ARE IN A GAUSSIAN NOISE LIMITED ENVIRONMENT IS MADE
&OR A SINGLE LOOK WITH .PDI #0)S NONCOHERENTLY INTEGRATED AND A SPECIFIED 0&! PER
RANGE DOPPLER CELL THE 0D AS A FUNCTION OF 3.2 FOR A -ARCUM NONFLUCTUATING TARGET
CAN BE APPROXIMATED AS
0D 3.2 0&! . PDI
ERFC
LN; 0&!
0&! =
. PDI
. PDI
. PDI 3.2
WHERE ERFCq IS THE COMPLEMENTARY ERROR FUNCTION 4HE REQUIRED 3.2 AS A FUNCTION OF
0D FOR A -ARCUM TARGET IS APPROXIMATED AS
3.2 REQD 0D 0&! . PDI
H
H
. PDI . PDI
. PDI
WHERE
H LN; 0&! 0&! = SIGN 0D LN; 0D 0D =
&OR 3WERLING FLUCTUATING TARGET MODELS THE 0D AND REQUIRED 3.2 CAN BE APPROXI
MATED RESPECTIVELY AS
+ 0 . . N
E
M
&!
PDI
PDI
0D 3.2 0&! . PDI NE + M
NE
.
PDI
3.2
NE
+ M
0D NE
. PDI
NE NE
3.2 0D 0&! . PDI NE
+ M
0D NE
. PDI
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
{{
WHERE
.
PDI
NE
. PDI
FOR 3WERLING ) TARGGET CHI SQUARED DISTRIBUTION WITH DEGRESSS OF FREEDOM
FOR 3WERLING )) TARGET CHI SSQUARED DISTRIBUTION WITH . PDI DEGRESS OF FREEDOM
FOR 3WERLING ))) TARGET CHI SQUARRED DISTRIBUTION WITH DEGRESS OF FREEDOM
FOR 3WERLING )6 TARGET CHI SQUARED DISTRIIBUTION WITH . PDI DEGRESS OF FREEDOM
D X
+ M X D
0 CHI
SQUARED DISTRIBUTION SURVIVAL FUNCTION
+
M P D INVERSE CHI
SQUARED DISTRIBUTION SURVIVAL FUNCTION
X
G A X
0A X
' A
TA
E
T DT REGULARIZED LOWER INCOMPLETE GAMMA FUNCTION
c
TA
E
T DT
4HE INTEGRAL OF THE CHI SQUARED DISTRIBUTION +MX D AND ITS INVERSE +
M P D ARE OFTEN
INCLUDED IN MATHEMATICAL COMPUTATION SOFTWARE PACKAGES
7HEN - OF . DETECTION IE BINARY DETECTION IS USED WITHIN A DWELL THE PROBABIL
ITY OF DETECTION FOR EACH LOOK 0D LOOK IS USED TO COMPUTE THE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION
FOR A DWELL 0D DWELL 7HEN A DWELL REQUIRES M DETECTIONS OUT OF N LOOKS FOR A TARGET
DECLARATION THE 0D DWELL IS
N
0D DWELL
N 0DK LOOK 0D LOOK N K
K M
&OR !LERT#ONFIRM DETECTION PERFORMANCE THE 0D FOR THE !LERT DWELL AND THE 0D
FOR THE #ONFIRM DWELL ARE INDIVIDUALLY COMPUTED AS A FUNCTION OF 3.2 #ARE MUST
BE TAKEN TO NORMALIZE THE 3.2 TO ACCOUNT FOR DIFFERENCES IN DOPPLER FILTER BANDWIDTH
BETWEEN THE !LERT AND #ONFIRM WAVEFORMS 4HE MULTIPLICATION OF NORMALIZED PROB
ABILITY OF DETECTION CURVE FOR THE !LERT DWELL WITH THAT OF THE #ONFIRM DWELL RESULTS
IN AN ESTIMATE OF THE COMPOSITE 0D VS 3. CURVE FOR !LERT#ONFIRM -ORE ACCURATE
RESULTS MUST INCLUDE THE EFFECTS OF LATENCY BETWEEN THE !LERT AND #ONFIRM DWELLS
3EARCH DETECTION PERFORMANCE IS OFTEN CHARACTERIZED BY THE CUMULATIVE PROBABIL
ITY OF DETECTION 0D CUM WHICH IS DEFINED AS THE PROBABILITY THAT THE RADAR WILL DETECT
A CLOSING TARGET AT LEAST ONCE BY THE TIME THE TARGET HAS CLOSED TO A SPECIFIED RANGE
0D CUM IS ONLY DEFINED FOR CLOSING TARGETS 4HE CUMULATIVE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION FOR
THE KTH SCAN OR FRAME IS
K
0D CUM ;K =
;
0D SS ;I==
I
0D CUM ;K = 0D SS ;K = 0D CUM ;K =
WHERE 0D SS;K= IS THE SINGLE SCAN PROBABILITY OF DETECTION ON THE KTH SCAN 4HE ACCUMULA
TION OF SINGLE SCAN PROBABILITY OF DETECTIONS IS STARTED AT A RANGE WHERE THE TARGETS 0D SS
IS APPROXIMATELY 4HERE IS AN OPTIMAL SEARCH FRAME TIME FOR CUMULATIVE DETECTION
PERFORMANCE ! BALANCE MUST BE ACHIEVED ! SHORT FRAME TIME LIMITS THE AMOUNT OF
ENERGY PLACED ON TARGET PER DWELL AND LOWERS THE SINGLE SCAN 0D ! LONG FRAME TIME
ALLOWS THE TARGET TO CLOSE IN RANGE MORE BETWEEN REVISITS THUS LOWERING THE BENEFIT
OF THE ACCUMULATION &IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SINGLE SCAN AND
CUMULATIVE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION
{{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
! #& ##
$ $ #%
!# "" !
&)'52% 3INGLE
SCAN VS CUMULATIVE 0D AS A FUNCTION OF RANGE FOR A FIXED
RADIAL
VELOCITY MOVING TARGET
#LUTTER
LIMITED #ASE 4HE FOREGOING DISCUSSION ASSUMED THAT THE TARGET FELL
IN THE NOISE
LIMITED IE CLUTTER
FREE PART OF THE DOPPLER BAND )F THE TARGET FALLS
IN THE SIDELOBE CLUTTER REGION THE RANGE PERFORMANCE WILL BE DEGRADED SINCE THE
TOTAL INTERFERENCE POWER SYSTEM NOISE PLUS CLUTTER AGAINST WHICH THE TARGET MUST
COMPETE IS INCREASED 4HE FOREGOING DISCUSSION CAN BE APPLIED TO THE SIDELOBE CLUT
TER REGION HOWEVER BY INTERPRETING 2O AS THE RANGE WHERE THE SIGNAL IS EQUAL TO
SIDELOBE CLUTTER PLUS SYSTEM NOISEn 4HE #&!2 LOSS MAY ALSO BE HIGHER OWING
TO THE INCREASED VARIABILITY OF THE THRESHOLD WHEN THE CLUTTER VARIES OVER THE TARGET
DETECTION REGION -ORE ACCURATE CALCULATIONS OF DETECTION PERFORMANCE IN THE SIDE
LOBE CLUTTER LIMITED CASE SHOULD INCLUDE THE PROPER CLUTTER 2#3 FLUCTUATION MODELS
AND #&!2 TECHNIQUES
-/" , 6/" !%3!
!$
!'#
!-
#!'#
#&!2
#.2
#0)
#7
$!:
$%,
D"C
$#
$&4
ACTIVE ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED ARRAY
ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL
AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL
AMPLITUDE MODULATION
CLUTTER AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL
CONSTANT FALSE ALARM RATE
CLUTTER
TO
NOISE POWER RATIO
COHERENT PROCESSING INTERVAL
CONTINUOUS WAVE
DELTA
AZIMUTH ANTENNA BEAM USED FOR MONOPULSE ANGLE ESTIMATION
DELTA
ELEVATION ANTENNA BEAM USED FOR MONOPULSE ANGLE ESTIMATION
DECIBELS WITH RESPECT TO THE CARRIER
DIRECT CURRENT
DISCRETE &OURIER TRANSFORM
05,3% $/00,%2 2!$!2
{{
$0$
DIGITAL PRODUCT DETECTOR
%3!
ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED ARRAY
&&4
FAST &OURIER TRANSFORM
&-
FREQUENCY MODULATION
&-
#7 FREQUENCY
MODULATED CONTINUOUS
WAVE
(273 HIGH
02& RANGE
WHILE
SEARCH
)
INPHASE
)&
INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY
).3
INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM
)00
INTERPULSE PERIOD
,.!
LOW
NOISE AMPLIFIER
,/
LOCAL OSCILLATOR
-&
MATCHED FILTER
-273 MEDIUM
02& RANGE
WHILE
SEARCH
-4)
MOVING TARGET INDICATION
-44 MULTIPLE
TARGET TRACKING
.!'# NOISE AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL
0!- PULSE
AMPLITUDE MODULATION
0D
PROBABILITY OF DETECTION
0#
PULSE COMPRESSION
0$)
POSTDETECTION INTEGRATION NONCOHERENT INTEGRATION
0&!
PROBABILITY OF FALSE ALARM
0-
PHASE MODULATION
00-
PULSE
POSITION MODULATION
02&
PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY
07- PULSE
WIDTH MODULATION
1
QUADRATURE
2#3
RADAR CROSS SECTION
2&)
RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE
RMS
ROOT
MEAN
SQUARE
2&
RADIO FREQUENCY
20
RECEIVER PROTECTOR
273 RANGE
WHILE
SEARCH
3
SUM RECEIVE ANTENNA BEAM PRIMARY BEAM USED FOR DETECTION
3,"
SIDELOBE BLANKER
3.2
SIGNAL
TO
NOISE POWER RATIO
34#
SENSITIVITY TIME CONTROL
473 TRACK
WHILE
SCAN
42
TRANSMITRECEIVE
63
VELOCITY SEARCH
,
,
)%%% 3TANDARD 2ADAR $EFINITIONS )%%% 3TD n P
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)N SPITE OF MORE THAN A HALF CENTURY OF IMPROVEMENTS IN RADAR PERFORMANCE AND
RELIABILITY THE EFFORT REQUIRED FOR DEPLOYMENT OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF MOST
RADARS IS SUBSTANTIAL &URTHERMORE THE POWER
APERTURE PRODUCT IS NEVER AS LARGE AS
DESIRED 4HE FORWARD PROJECTED AREA AS WELL AS AVIONICS WEIGHT IS VERY COSTLY IN MOST
FIGHTER AIRCRAFT PARAMETERS 4HESE PARAMETERS HAVE MOTIVATED USERS BUYERS AND
DESIGNERS TO WANT MORE FUNCTIONS IN A SINGLE RADAR AND ITS COMPLEMENTARY PROCESSING
SUITE !S A RESULT MOST MODERN FIGHTER RADARS ARE MULTIFUNCTIONALPROVIDING RADAR
NAVIGATION LANDING AIDS DATA LINK AND %LECTRONIC #OUNTER -EASURES %#- FUNC
TIONS 4HE PRIMARY ENABLER FOR MULTIFUNCTIONAL RADAR IS SOFTWARE
DEFINED SIGNAL
AND DATA PROCESSING FIRST INTRODUCED IN THE MID Sn 3OFTWARE PROGRAMMABILITY
ALLOWS MANY RADAR SYSTEM MODES TO BE PERFORMED USING THE SAME 2& HARDWARE )N
ADDITION MODERN NAVIGATION AIDS WORK SO WELL THAT EACH RADAR MODE IS DEFINED BY
ITS EARTH SITUATION
GEOMETRY WITH ALMOST ALL WAVEFORM PARAMETERS SET BY LOCAL EARTH
CONDITIONS 4HE MODERN RADAR OFTEN IS NET
CENTRIC USING AND PROVIDING DATA TO A
COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK AND WHERE SUITABLY EQUIPPED HAS ITS OWN )NTERNET PROTOCOL
)0 ADDRESS
-ULTIFUNCTIONALITY IS NOT DEPENDENT ON ANTENNA TYPE )N FACT THE MECHANICALLY
SCANNED !.!0'
AND RADARS HAVE DEMONSTRATED MULTIFUNCTIONALITY IN
COMBAT (OWEVER MULTIFUNCTIONALITY IS FACILITATED BY !CTIVE %LECTRONICALLY 3CANNED
!NTENNA !%3! ARRAYS 4HE MULTIFUNCTIONAL !%3! RADAR IN THE &!
%& FIGHTER IS
SHOWN WITH A PROTECTIVE COVER OVER THE ARRAY IN &IGURE 4HE !%3! IS SHAPED AND
CANTED UPWARD TO AID IN SOME MODES AND TO MINIMIZE REFLECTIONS TO ENEMY RADARS
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !.!0' -ULTIFUNCTIONAL !%3! 2ADAR #OURTESY 2AYTHEON
#OMPANY
4HIS CHAPTER ADDRESSES WHAT SIGNALS ARE EMITTED AND WHY THEY ARE NEEDED IN A
-ULTIFUNCTIONAL &IGHTER !IRCRAFT 2ADAR -&!2 4HE WHY BEGINS WITH TYPICAL MIS
SIONS WHICH SHOWS THE GEOMETRY THAT GIVES RISE TO EACH RADAR MODE AND WAVEFORM
LISTS REPRESENTATIVE RADAR MODES AND SHOWS TYPICAL MODERN AIRBORNE RADAR MODE INTER
LEAVING AND TIMING 4HE ANSWER TO WHAT IS PROVIDED BY TYPICAL WAVEFORM VARIATIONS
AND A FEW EXAMPLES 4HE EXAMPLES ARE NOT FROM ANY SINGLE RADAR BUT ARE A COMPOSITE
OF MODERN RADARS 4HE GENERAL -&!2 IDEA IS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE )T SHOWS TIME
MULTIPLEXED OPERATIONS FOR AIR
TO
AIR !
! AIR
TO
SURFACE !
3 ELECTRONIC WARFARE
%7 AND COMMUNICATION FROM THE SAME RADIO FREQUENCY 2& HARDWARE AND PROCESS
ING COMPLEX OFTEN OVER MOST OF THE MICROWAVE BAND 3OMETIMES MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS
CAN BE PERFORMED SIMULTANEOUSLY IF A COMMON WAVEFORM IS USED
4HE ANTENNA APERTURE USUALLY HAS MULTIPLE PHASE CENTERS ENABLING MEASUREMENT FOR
3PACE
4IME !DAPTIVE 0ROCESSING 34!0 $ISPLACED 0HASE #ENTER !NTENNA $0#!
&)'52% -&!2 INTERLEAVES ! 3 ! ! AND %7 FUNCTIONS ADAPTED
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
PROCESSING CONVENTIONAL MONOPULSE ANGLE TRACKING JAMMER NULLING AND OUT OF BAND
ANGLE OF ARRIVAL !/! ESTIMATION 4HE OPTIMUM PLACEMENT OF PHASE CENTERS IS AN
IMPORTANT DESIGN TRADEOFF ! PHASE CENTER IS AN ANTENNA APERTURE CHANNEL WHICH IS OFF
SET IN SPACE AND PROVIDES A PARTIALLY OR FULLY INDEPENDENT MEASUREMENT OF AN INCOMING
ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVEFRONT &OR EXAMPLE A ONE DIMENSIONAL PHASE MONOPULSE HAS TWO
PHASE CENTERS A TWO DIMENSIONAL PHASE MONOPULSE HAS FOUR PHASE CENTERS $0#! HAS
TWO OR MORE PHASE CENTERS A RADAR WITH A GUARD HORN FOR SIDELOBE SUPPRESSION HAS TWO
PHASE CENTERS AND AN ADAPTIVE ARRAY MAY HAVE MANY PHASE CENTERSn 34!0 IS AN
EXTENSION OF THE CLASSIC THEORY FOR A MATCHED FILTER IN THE PRESENCE OF NONnWHITE NOISE
WHICH INCLUDES BOTH TIME AND SPACE
/VERALL WEAPON SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS USUALLY FAVOR 8 OR +U BAND FOR THE OPERATING
FREQUENCY OF A -&!2 )N ADDITION THE -&!2 APERTURES AND ASSOCIATED TRANSMITTER ARE
USUALLY THE LARGEST ON AN AIRCRAFT AND HENCE CAN CREATE THE HIGHEST %FFECTIVE 2ADIATED
0OWER %20 FOR JAMMING ADVERSARY RADARS AND DATA LINKS WHERE THESE ARE IN BAND
-ULTIFUNCTIONAL 2ADAR !RCHITECTURE !N EXAMPLE -&!2 BLOCK DIAGRAM IS
SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE MODERN INTEGRATED AVIONIC SUITE CONCEPT BLURS THE BOUNDARIES
BETWEEN TRADITIONAL RADAR FUNCTIONS AND OTHER SENSORS COUNTERMEASURES WEAPONS AND
COMMUNICATIONS SEE &IGURES AND LATER IN THE CHAPTER 4HERE IS A MICROWAVE
AND 2& SUITE AN ELECTRO OPTICAL INFRARED ULTRAVIOLET %/ SUITE A STORES MANAGEMENT
SUITE A CONTROLS AND DISPLAYS SUITE A MULTIPLY REDUNDANT VEHICLE MANAGEMENT SUITE
AND A MULTIPLY REDUNDANT PROCESSOR COMPLEX
%ACH MICROWAVE ANDOR 2& APERTURE MAY HAVE SOME EMBEDDED SIGNAL CONDITIONING
BUT THEN MAY BE MULTIPLEXED TO STANDARDIZED COMMON DESIGN 2& FILTER FREQUENCY REF
ERENCE ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERSION !$ INPUT OUTPUT )/ AND CONTROL MODULES !
SIMILAR DESIGN CONCEPT IS USED FOR THE ELECTRO OPTICAL %/ SENSORS STORES MANAGEMENT
&)'52% -&!2 MERGED WITH OTHER SENSORS ADAPTED
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VEHICLE MANAGEMENT PILOT VEHICLE INTERFACE AND INTEGRATED CORE PROCESSING SUITE 4HERE
IS SUBSTANTIAL DATA TRAFFIC BETWEEN THE CORE PROCESSING AND THE SENSORS TO PROVIDE POINT
ING CUEING TRACKING AND MULTISENSOR FUSION OF DETECTIONS 4HE AIM OF THIS APPROACH IS
TO PROVIDE A SHARED POOL OF COMPUTATIONAL RESOURCES WHICH MAY BE FLEXIBLY ALLOCATED
BETWEEN SENSORS AND FUNCTIONS
4HE SENSORS MAY CONTAIN DEDICATED MOTION SENSING BUT LONG TERM NAVIGATION IS PRO
VIDED BY THE VEHICLE MANAGEMENT GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM AND INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYS
TEM '03).3 4HE ON RADAR MOTION SENSING MUST SENSE POSITION TO A FRACTION OF THE
TRANSMITTED WAVELENGTH OVER THE COHERENT PROCESSING INTERVAL 4HIS IS USUALLY DONE WITH
INERTIAL SENSORS SUCH AS ACCELEROMETERS AND GYROS WITH VERY HIGH SAMPLING RATES !N
INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM ESTIMATES THE POSITION OF THE AIRCRAFT IN A WORLDWIDE COORDINATE
SPACE BY INTEGRATING THE OUTPUTS OF THE GYROS AND ACCELEROMETERS TYPICALLY USING +ALMAN
FILTERING TECHNIQUES !CCUMULATED ERRORS IN SUCH A SYSTEM CAN BE CORRECTED BY USING '03
UPDATES AS WELL AS KNOWN REFERENCE POINTS MEASURED WITH THE RADAR OR %/ SENSORS
4HERE MAY BE DOZENS OR HUNDREDS OF STORED PROGRAM DEVICES DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT
THE AVIONICS 4HESE LOWER LEVEL FUNCTIONAL SUITES ARE CONNECTED BY STANDARDIZED BUS
SES WHICH MAY BE FIBER OPTIC OR WIRED 4HE PROGRAMMABLE DEVICES ARE CONTROLLED BY
SOFTWARE OPERATING ENVIRONMENTS INVOKING PROGRAMS 4HE ARCHITECTURE OBJECTIVE IS TO
HAVE STANDARD INTERFACES FEW UNIQUE ASSEMBLIES AND SINGLE LEVEL MAINTENANCE
4HE SUITE OF MICROWAVE AND 2& APERTURES IN A FIGHTER AIRCRAFT MIGHT APPEAR AS
SHOWN IN &IGURE !S MANY AS APERTURES MAY BE DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE VEHI
CLE PERFORMING RADAR DATA LINK NAVIGATION MISSILE WARNING DIRECTION FINDING JAM
MING OR OTHER FUNCTIONS OVER A FREQUENCY RANGE COVERING SEVERAL DECADES 4HERE ARE
APERTURES DISTRIBUTED OVER THE AIRCRAFT THAT POINT FORWARD AND AFT RIGHT AND LEFT AS WELL
AS UP AND DOWN 3OME APERTURES WILL BE SHARED FOR COMMUNICATIONS RADIO NAVIGATION
AND IDENTIFICATION #.) AS WELL AS IDENTIFICATION FRIEND OR FOE )&& DUE TO COMPATIBLE
FREQUENCIES AND GEOMETRIES $ATA LINKS SUCH AS *4)$3,INK AND ,INK CAN SHARE
APERTURES WITH '03 AND , BAND SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS , 3!4#/- %7 APERTURES
MUST BE BROADBAND BY NATURE AND CAN BE SHARED WITH RADAR WARNING RECEIVERS 272
RADAR AUXILIARIES AND SOME TYPES OF #.)S
&)'52% -&!2 2& APERTURES SHARE LOW LEVEL 2& ADAPTED
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
xx
&)'52% -&!2 PROCESSING ADAPTED
4HE APERTURES ARE SIGNAL CONDITIONED CONTROLLED AND INTERFACED THROUGH BUSSES IN THE
AIRCRAFT WITH REMAINING PROCESSING PERFORMED EITHER IN A COMMON PROCESSOR COMPLEX
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE OR IN FEDERATED PROCESSORS DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE AIRCRAFT
/NE IMPORTANT CLASS OF STANDARDIZED MODULES CONTAINS BASIC TIMING AND PROGRAMMABLE
EVENT GENERATORS 0%' THAT CREATE ACCURATE TIMING FOR 0ULSE 2EPETITION &REQUENCIES
02&S ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERSION !$ SAMPLING PULSE AND CHIP WIDTHS BLANK
ING GATES BEAM REPOINTING COMMANDS AND OTHER SYNCHRONIZED REAL TIME INTERRUPTS !
SECOND CLASS CONTAINS 2& AND INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY )& AMPLIFICATION AND MIXING
! THIRD CLASS CONTAINS LOW NOISE FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZERS WHICH MAY INCLUDE $IRECT
$IGITAL FREQUENCY 3YNTHESIS $$3 !$ CONVERTERS AND CONTROL INTERFACE MODULES ARE
THE FINAL CLASS "USSING PROTOCOLS AND SPEEDS MUST HAVE ADEQUATE RESERVES TO INSURE
FAIL SAFE REAL TIME OPERATION
4HE FUNCTIONAL BLOCK DIAGRAM AND OPERATION OF A SPECIFIC SENSOR MODE IS THEN OVER
LAID ON THIS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE INFRASTRUCTURE ! SPECIFIC MODE IS IMPLEMENTED IN AN
APPLICATIONS PROGRAM IN THE SAME SENSE THAT WORD PROCESSING IS ON A PERSONAL COMPUTER
0# #ARRYING THE ANALOGY FURTHER COMMON EXPERIENCE WITH THE UNRELIABILITY OF 0#
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIRES THAT A SYSTEM OF THE TYPE DEPICTED IN &IGURE MUST
BE REDUNDANT ERROR CHECKING TRUSTED FAIL SAFE IN THE PRESENCE OF FAULTS AND EMBODY
STRICT PROGRAM EXECUTION SECURITY 4HIS IS A VERY CHALLENGING SYSTEM ENGINEERING TASK
%XHAUSTIVE MATHEMATICAL ASSURANCE AND SYSTEM TESTING IS REQUIRED WHICH IS COMPLETELY
DIFFERENT FROM CURRENT COMMERCIAL PERSONAL COMPUTER PRACTICE
! NOTIONAL -&!2 INTEGRATED CORE PROCESSING COMPLEX WITH ITS CORRESPONDING INTER
FACES SIMILAR TO THAT SHOWN IN &IGURE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE WHERE THERE ARE
MULTIPLE REDUNDANT PROCESSING ARRAYS THAT CONTAIN STANDARDIZED MODULES CONNECTED IN
A NON BLOCKING SWITCHED NETWORK )NTERNAL AND EXTERNAL BUSSES CONNECT THE INDIVIDUAL
PROCESSING ARRAYS TO EACH OTHER AS WELL AS TO THE OTHER SUITES SENSORS CONTROLS AND
DISPLAYS
5SUALLY THERE ARE BOTH PARALLEL ELECTRICAL SIGNAL BUSSES AS WELL AS SERIAL FIBER
OPTIC BUSSES DEPENDING ON SPEED AND TOTAL LENGTH IN THE AIRCRAFT 4HE SIGNAL AND DATA
PROCESSOR COMPLEX CONTAINS MULTIPLE PROCESSOR AND MEMORY ENTITIES WHICH MIGHT BE
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
ON A SINGLE CHIP OR ON SEPARATE CHIPS DEPENDING ON YIELD COMPLEXITY SPEED CACHE
SIZE AND SO ON %ACH PROCESSOR ARRAY MAY CONSIST OF PROGRAMMABLE SIGNAL PROCESSORS
030 GENERAL PURPOSE PROCESSORS '00 BULK MEMORY "- INPUT OUTPUT )/ AND
A MASTER CONTROL UNIT -#5 4HE 030S PERFORM SIGNAL PROCESSING ON ARRAYS OF SENSOR
DATA 4HE '00S PERFORM PROCESSING IN WHICH THERE ARE LARGE NUMBERS OF CONDITIONAL
BRANCHES 4HE -#5 ISSUES PROGRAMS TO 030S '00S AND "- AS WELL AS MANAGES
OVERALL EXECUTION AND CONTROL 4YPICAL PROCESSING SPEED IS -)03 MILLIONS OF
INSTRUCTIONS PER SECOND PER CHIP BUT MIGHT BE ')03 BILLIONS OF INSTRUCTIONS PER
SECOND IN THE NEAR FUTURE #LOCK FREQUENCIES ARE LIMITED BY ON CHIP SIGNAL PROPAGA
TION BUT ARE UP TO '(Z GIGAHERTZ AND COULD BE '(Z IN THE NEAR FUTURE 3ENSOR
PROCESSING HAS ARRIVED AT THE POINT WHERE THE CONCEPTION OF SUCCESSFUL ALGORITHMS IS
MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE COMPUTATIONAL HORSEPOWER NECESSARY TO CARRY THEM OUT
-&!2 3OFTWARE 3TRUCTURE )MPROPER OPERATION OF MANY FIGHTER SYSTEMS
CAN BE HAZARDOUS !S PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED THE SOFTWARE MUST BE EXHAUSTIVELY
TESTED ERROR CHECKED MATHEMATICALLY TRUSTED FAILSAFE IN THE PRESENCE OF FAULTS
AND EMBODY STRICT PROGRAM EXECUTION SECURITY /NE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS
IS RIGID ADHERENCE TO A STRUCTURED PROGRAM ARCHITECTURE !N OBJECT BASED HIERARCHI
CAL STRUCTURE WHERE EACH LEVEL IS SUBORDINATE TO THE LEVEL ABOVE AND SUBPROGRAMS
ARE CALLED IN STRICT SEQUENCE IS NECESSARY )T ALSO REQUIRES AMONG OTHER THINGS
THAT SUBPROGRAMS NEVER CALL THEMSELVES RECURSIVE CODE OR ANY OTHERS AT THEIR
EXECUTION LEVEL 3UBPROGRAMS OBJECTS ARE CALLED RECEIVE EXECUTION PARAMETERS
FROM THE LEVEL ABOVE THE PARENT AND RETURN RESULTS BACK TO THE CALLING LEVEL !N
EXAMPLE OF SUCH A SOFTWARE STRUCTURE IS SHOWN IN &IGURES AND 4HE SOFTWARE
WOULD BE EXECUTED IN THE HARDWARE SHOWN IN &IGURE
&)'52% -&!2 STRUCTURED SOFTWARE
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
&)'52% -&!2 PRIORITY SCHEDULING
!N -&!2 CAN SUPPORT MANY ACTIVITIES OR MODES CONCURRENTLY BY INTERLEAVING
THEIR RESPECTIVE DATA COLLECTIONS 3URVEILLANCE TRACK UPDATES AND GROUND MAPS ARE
EXAMPLES OF SUCH ACTIVITIES 4HE SOFTWARE NEEDED TO SUPPORT EACH ACTIVITY IS MAPPED TO
A SPECIFIC CLIENT MODULE AS SHOWN IN &IGURE %ACH CLIENT MODULE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR
MAINTAINING ITS OWN OBJECT DATABASE AND FOR REQUESTING USE OF THE APERTURE 2EQUESTS
ARE MADE BY SUBMITTING ANTENNA JOB REQUESTS THAT SPECIFY BOTH THE WAVEFORM TO BE USED
HOW TO DO IT AND THE PRIORITY AND URGENCY OF THE REQUEST
! SCHEDULER EXECUTES DURING EACH DATA COLLECTION INTERVAL AND DECIDES WHAT TO DO
NEXT BASED ON THE PRIORITIES AND URGENCIES OF THE ANTENNA JOB REQUESTS THAT HAVE BEEN
RECEIVED 4HIS KEEPS THE APERTURE BUSY AND RESPONSIVE TO THE LATEST ACTIVITY REQUESTS
&OLLOWING THE SELECTION OF THE ANTENNA JOB BY THE SCHEDULER THE FRONT
END TRANSMIT AND
RECEIVE HARDWARE IS CONFIGURED AND IN
PHASE AND QUADRITURE )1 DATA IS COLLECTED AND
SENT TO THE SIGNAL PROCESSORS 4HERE THE DATA IS PROCESSED IN A MANNER DEFINED BY THE
SENSOR MODE AND THE SIGNAL PROCESSING RESULTS ARE RETURNED TO THE CLIENT THAT REQUESTED
THEM 4HIS TYPICALLY RESULTS IN DATABASE UPDATES ANDOR NEW ANTENNA JOB REQUESTS FROM
THE CLIENT .EW ACTIVITIES CAN BE ADDED AT ANY TIME USING THIS MODULAR APPROACH
!LTHOUGH THIS STRUCTURE IS COMPLEX AND THE SOFTWARE ENCOMPASSES MILLIONS OF LINES
OF CODE MODERN -&!2 SOFTWARE INTEGRITY CAN BE MAINTAINED WITH STRICT CONTROL OF
INTERFACES FORMAL CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT PROCESSES AND FORMAL VERIFICATION AND
VALIDATION SOFTWARE TOOLS )N ADDITION MOST SUBPROGRAMS ARE DRIVEN BY READ
ONLY
TABLES AS SHOWN IN &IGURE SO THAT THE EVOLUTION OF AIRCRAFT TACTICS CAPABILITIES AND
HARDWARE DO NOT REQUIRE REWRITES OF VALIDATED SUBPROGRAMS 3OFTWARE VERSIONS BUILDS
ARE UPDATED EVERY YEAR THROUGHOUT THE LIFETIME OF THE SYSTEM WHICH MAY BE DECADES
%ACH SUBPROGRAM MUST HAVE TABLE DRIVEN ERROR CHECKING AS WELL -ANY LOWER LEVELS ARE
NOT SHOWN IN &IGURES AND THERE MAY BE SEVERAL THOUSAND SUBPROGRAMS IN ALL
2ANGE $OPPLER 3ITUATION -ODERN RADARS HAVE THE LUXURY OF INTERLEAVING MOST
OF THE MODES SUGGESTED IN &IGURE IN REAL TIME AND SELECTING THE BEST AVAILABLE TIME
OR AIRCRAFT POSITION TO INVOKE EACH MODE AS THE MISSION REQUIRES
4HE GEOMETRY THAT MUST BE SOLVED EACH TIME IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE FIGHTER
AIRCRAFT PULSE DOPPLER GEOMETRY IS CENTERED AROUND THE AIRCRAFT TRAVELING AT A VELOCITY
6A AND AT AN ALTITUDE H ABOVE THE %ARTHS SURFACE 4HE RADAR PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 3TRIKE FIGHTER PULSE DOPPLER GEOMETRY
02& GIVES RISE TO A SERIES OF RANGE AND DOPPLER X Y Z AMBIGUITIES AS
SHOWN IN &IGURE WHICH INTERCEPT THE %ARTHS SURFACE AS RANGE hRINGSv AND ISO
DOPPLER hHYPERBOLASv BECAUSE THE %ARTH IS A ROUGH GEOID CONSTANT RANGE AND DOPPLER
CONTOURS ARE NOT ACTUALLY RINGS OR HYPERBOLAS 4HE RADAR ANTENNA PATTERN INTERCEPTS THE
LIMB OF THE %ARTH USUALLY IN BOTH THE MAIN BEAM AND SIDELOBES ! TARGET IN THE MAIN
BEAM AT RANGE 2T AND VELOCITY 6T MAY HAVE TO BE OBSERVED IN THE PRESENCE OF BOTH
RANGE AND DOPPLER AMBIGUITIES /NLY THE TARGETS LINE OF SIGHT VELOCITY 6TLOS IS OBSERV
ABLE ON A SHORT TERM BASIS 4HE RADAR DESIGNERS PROBLEM IS TO SELECT THE BEST WAVEFORM
IN THIS TARGET CLUTTER GEOMETRY (ISTORICALLY THESE WAVEFORMS WERE SELECTED AHEAD OF
TIME AND BUILT INTO THE RADAR HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE -OST MODERN AIRBORNE RADARS
SOLVE THIS GEOMETRY IN REAL TIME AND CONTINUOUSLY SELECT THE BEST AVAILABLE FREQUENCY
02& PULSEWIDTH TRANSMIT POWER SCAN PATTERN ETC
5NFORTUNATELY THE SPECIFICS OF THE WAVEFORM ARE UNPREDICTABLE EVEN TO THE RADAR
WITHOUT EXACT KNOWLEDGE OF THE AIRCRAFT TARGET EARTH VELOCITY GEOMETRY SET AND MODE
OF OPERATION REQUESTED BY THE OPERATOR OR MISSION SOFTWARE 4HIS MAKES TESTING QUITE
DIFFICULT FORTUNATELY TEST EQUIPMENT HAS COME A LONG WAY (ARDWARE IN THE LOOP TEST
ING USING REAL TIME SIMULATION OF THE ENTIRE GEOMETRY AND EXTERNAL WORLD IN THE RADAR
INTEGRATION LABORATORY IS COMMONLY EMPLOYED
!CTIVE %LECTRONICALLY 3CANNED !RRAY !%3! !LTHOUGH MULTIFUNCTIONAL RADARS
HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED WITH MECHANICALLY SCANNED AND ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED ANTENNAS
FULLY MULTIFUNCTIONAL RADARS USE !CTIVE %LECTRONICALLY 3CANNED !RRAYS !%3! WHICH
CONTAIN A TRANSMIT RECEIVE CHANNEL 42 FOR EACH RADIATOR 4HE ADVANTAGES OF !%3!
ARE FAST ADAPTIVE BEAM SHAPING AND AGILITY IMPROVED POWER EFFICIENCY IMPROVED
MODE INTERLEAVING SIMULTANEOUS MULTIPLE WEAPON SUPPORT AND REDUCED OBSERVABIL
ITYn 0ERHAPS HALF THE COST AND COMPLEXITY OF AN !%3! IS IN THE 42 CHANNELS 4HAT
SAID HOWEVER THE FEED NETWORK BEAM STEERING CONTROLLER "3# !%3! POWER SUPPLY
AND COOLING SUBSYSTEM AIR OR LIQUID ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
! MAJOR ENABLER FOR !%3!S IS THE STATE OF THE ART IN MICROWAVE INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
4HIS HAS FOLLOWED THE DRAMATIC COST AND PERFORMANCE GAINS AVAILABLE IN MOST SEMICON
DUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES %ACH 42 CHANNEL HAS SELF
DIAGNOSIS FEATURES WHICH CAN DETECT
FAILURE AND COMMUNICATE THAT TO THE BEAM STEERING CONTROLLER FOR FAILURE COMPENSATION
!%3!S CAN ACCOMMODATE UP TO FAILURES WITH VERY LITTLE DEGRADATION IF PROPERLY
COMPENSATED IN THE "3#
&ROM AN -&!2 POINT OF VIEW THE IMPORTANT PARAMETERS ARE VOLUMETRIC DENSITIES
HIGH ENOUGH TO SUPPORT LESS THAN WAVELENGTH SPACING RADIATED POWER DENSITIES HIGH
ENOUGH TO SUPPORT WATTS PER SQ CM RADIATED
TO
PRIME
POWER EFFICIENCIES GREATER
THAN BANDWIDTH OF SEVERAL '(Z ON TRANSMIT AND ALMOST TWICE THAT BANDWIDTH ON
RECEIVE PHASE AND AMPLITUDE CALIBRATION AND CONTROL ADEQUATE TO PROVIDE AT LEAST n D"
RMS SIDELOBES AMPLITUDE CONTROL ADEQUATE TO PROVIDE D" POWER MANAGEMENT NOISE
PERFORMANCE ADEQUATE TO SUPPORT THE SUBCLUTTER VISIBILITY REQUIREMENTS AND FINALLY SUF
FICIENT STORAGE AND COMPUTING TO ALLOW BEAM REPOINTINGADJUSTMENT IN A FRACTION OF
MSEC &AST BEAM ADJUSTMENT REQUIRES HIGH
SPEED BUSSES TO EACH 42 CHANNEL
/NE OF THE PRINCIPAL ADVANTAGES OF AN !%3! IS THE ABILITY TO MANAGE BOTH POWER
AND SPATIAL COVERAGE ON A SHORT
TERM BASIS S OF MSEC /FTEN ANOTHER ADVANTAGE IS
THAT BOTH THE NOISE FIGURE IS LOWER AND RADIATED POWER IS HIGHER FOR A GIVEN AMOUNT OF
PRIME POWER 4HIS IS BECAUSE THE 2& PATH LENGTHS CAN BE MUCH SHORTER WHICH USUALLY
LEADS TO LOWER FRONT
END LOSSES %ACH RADIATING ELEMENT IS USUALLY DESIGNED TO BE VERY
BROADBAND AND IS DRIVEN BY A 42 CHANNEL IN A TYPICAL !%3! ARRAY 4HERE ARE TYPI
CALLY A FEW THOUSAND CHANNELS IN AN -&!2 !%3! %ACH CHANNEL CONTAINS FIRST
LEVEL
POWER REGULATION FILTERING LOGIC CALIBRATION TABLES AS WELL AS THE OBVIOUS 2& FUNC
TIONS 3OME CHANNELS IN THE ARRAY ARE DEDICATED TO OTHER FUNCTIONS SUCH AS CALIBRATION
JAMMER NULLING SIDELOBE BLANKING CLOSE IN MISSILE DATALINK OUT
OF
BAND DIRECTION
FINDING ETC !LSO THERE ARE USUALLY SOME CHANNELS AT THE EDGE OF THE ARRAY THAT
ARE PASSIVE AND IMPROVE THE SIDELOBES AND 2#3 PATTERN
&IGURE SHOWS THE COMPARISON BETWEEN A CONVENTIONAL MECHANICALLY SCANNED
RADAR WITH THE LOW
NOISE AMPLIFIER AND A HIGH
POWER TRAVELING WAVE TUBE TRANSMIT
TER MOUNTED OFF THE GIMBAL VERSUS A REAL
TIME ADAPTED !%3! WITH TWO DIFFERENT SCAN
REGIMES FOR THE SAME AMOUNT OF INPUT PRIME POWER !%3! PERFORMANCE FALLS OFF FOR
LARGE SCAN COVERAGE BECAUSE OF THE LOWER PROJECTED APERTURE AREA FOR A FIXED MOUNTING AS
SHOWN IN &IGURE ! MECHANICAL SCAN HAS THE SAME PROJECTED AREA IN ALL DIRECTIONS AND
LARGE SCAN ANGLES MARGINALLY REDUCE RADOME LOSSES WHICH RESULTS IN SLIGHTLY IMPROVED
LARGE ANGLE PERFORMANCE .ONETHELESS !%3! PERFORMANCE IS USUALLY SUPERIOR INSIDE
&)'52% %XAMPLE !%3! MANAGEMENT COMPARISON ADAPTED
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
A on AZIMUTH SCAN 5SUALLY A FIGHTER CANT ENGAGE AT LONG RANGE OUTSIDE THIS
AZIMUTH FOR KINEMATIC REASONS
4HE PERFORMANCE DIFFERENCES DEPICTED IN &IGURE ARE THE RESULT OF THREE FACTORS
THE INSTALLED APERTURE CAN BE LARGER IN NET PROJECTED AREA AT THE AIRCRAFT IN
FLIGHT
HORIZONTAL DUE TO ELIMINATION OF GIMBAL SWING SPACE HIGHER RADIATED POWER DUE TO
LOWER LOSSES AND BETTER EFFICIENCY AND LOWER LOSSES BEFORE THE LOW
NOISE AMPLI
FIER 4HE OTHER MAJOR ADVANTAGE IS THAT SEARCH VOLUME CAN BE CHANGED DYNAMICALLY TO
FIT THE INSTANT TACTICAL SITUATION AS SUGGESTED IN &IGURE
4HE FEED NETWORK IS MUNDANE BUT CRITICALLY IMPORTANT )N SINGLE TUBE TRANSMIT
TERS THE FEED IS HEAVY BECAUSE IT MUST CARRY HIGH POWER AT LOW LOSS !%3! FEEDS USE
SMALLER COAX STRIPLINE MICROSTRIP OR 2& MODULATED LIGHT IN FIBER OPTICS FOR TRANSMIT
AND RECEIVE 2& SINCE LESS THAN WATTS 2& OR OPTICAL IS USUALLY REQUIRED (OWEVER
SIGNIFICANT $# POWER IS STILL REQUIRED FOR 2& FEED DISTRIBUTION AMPLIFIERS BECAUSE THOU
SANDS MUST BE DRIVEN #OST WEIGHT AND COMPLEXITY IS STILL AN ISSUE BECAUSE MULTIPLE
PHASE CENTERS NECESSARY FOR ADAPTIVE ARRAY PERFORMANCE REQUIRE MULTIPLE MANIFOLDS
5SUALLY ONCE A SUBARRAY IS FORMED IN THE MANIFOLDS IT IS DIGITIZED AND MULTIPLEXED FOR
ADAPTIVE SIGNAL PROCESSING
!NOTHER IMPORTANT FUNCTION IS BEAM STEERING CONTROL "3# 4HE "3# DOES ARRAY
CALIBRATION FAILED ELEMENT COMPENSATION PHASE AND AMPLITUDE SETTING FOR BEAM
STEERING AS WELL AS SPACE
TIME ADAPTIVE OPERATIONn 4HE "3# IS USUALLY REALIZED
WITH A COMBINATION OF GENERAL PURPOSE PROCESSING OF THE TYPE FOUND IN A PERSONAL
COMPUTER WITH VERY HIGH SPEED INCREMENTAL PHASE AND AMPLITUDE CALCULATION AND 42
MODULE INTERFACE HARDWARE "OTH SCANNING AND ADAPTIVE OPERATION REQUIRE VERY LOW
LATENCY IE THE TIME BETWEEN THE SENSED NEED AND THE FIRST PULSE AT THE TARGET IS USUALLY
MSEC BEAM CONTROL IN A HIGH
SPEED AIRCRAFT PLATFORM
,ASTLY THE !%3! REQUIRES A VERY SIGNIFICANT POWER SUPPLY 0OWER SUPPLIES HAVE
A HISTORY OF BEING HEAVY HOT AND UNRELIABLE %VEN THE BEST SYSTEMS STILL HAVE OVERALL
POWER EFFICIENCIES PRIME POWER IN TO 2& OUT IN SPACE IN THE n REGION IN SPITE
OF YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT 4HE TYPICAL !%3! REQUIRES LOW VOLTAGE AND HIGH CURRENT
AT THE 42 CHANNEL 4HIS FORCES LARGE CONDUCTORS IN THE ABSENCE OF HIGH POWER LIGHT
WEIGHT SUPERCONDUCTORS NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS WRITING )T ALSO REQUIRES VERY LOW VOLTAGE
DROP RECTIFIERS AND REGULATORS #OOLING IS GENERALLY A SIGNIFICANT PERFORMANCE BURDEN
5SUALLY THE POWER SUPPLIES ARE DISTRIBUTED TO IMPROVE RELIABILITY AND FAULT TOLERANCE
/FTEN POWER CONVERTERS ARE OPERATED AT SWITCHING FREQUENCIES UP TO SEVERAL HUNDRED
MEGAHERTZ TO REDUCE THE SIZE OF MAGNETICS AND FILTER COMPONENTS AND SOMETIMES THE
SWITCHING FREQUENCIES ARE SYNCHRONIZED TO THE RADAR MASTER CLOCK
x /9*
--" - "
!IR
TO
3URFACE -ISSION 0ROFILE 4HE MODE STRUCTURE OF ANY MODERN FIGHTER AIR
CRAFT ARISES FROM MISSION PROFILES /NE TYPICAL MISSION PROFILE FOR AN AIR
TO
SURFACE
!
3 STRIKE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE MISSION PROFILE BEGINS WITH A TAKEOFF CON
TINUES THROUGH FLIGHT TO A TARGET AND ULTIMATELY RETURNS TO THE STARTING POINT !LONG THE
WAY THE AIRCRAFT USES A VARIETY OF MODES TO NAVIGATE SEARCH AND ACQUIRE TARGETS TRACK
TARGETS DELIVER WEAPONS ASSESS BATTLE DAMAGE ENGAGE IN COUNTERMEASURES AND MONI
TOR AND CALIBRATE ITS PERFORMANCE !%3!S HAVE DEMONSTRATED SIMULTANEOUS MULTIPLE
WEAPON DELIVERIES
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
&)'52% 4YPICAL AIR TO SURFACE MISSION PROFILE
!IR TO 3URFACE -ODE 3UITE 4HE MISSION NATURALLY CREATES THE NEED FOR AN AIR
TO SURFACE MODE SUITE FOR FIGHTER RADAR AS SHOWN IN &IGURE %ACH GENERAL CAT
EGORY OF OPERATION CONTAINS MODES PRIMARILY FOR THAT FUNCTION BUT MODES WILL OFTEN
BE INVOKED DURING OTHER PARTS OF THE MISSION 7ITHIN EACH MODE SHOWN IN &IGURE
THERE IS OPTIMIZATION FOR THE PARTICULAR COMBINATION OF ALTITUDE RANGE TO THE TARGET
ANTENNA FOOTPRINT ON THE %ARTHS SURFACE RELATIVE TARGET AND CLUTTER DOPPLER DWELL TIME
AVAILABLE PREDICTED TARGET STATISTICAL BEHAVIOR TRANSMITTED FREQUENCY AND DESIRED RESO
LUTION /BVIOUSLY EACH MODE MUST NOT COMPROMISE SOME REQUIRED LEVEL OF MISSION
STEALTHn ! MODERN FIGHTER IS NET CENTRIC AND EXCHANGES SUBSTANTIAL INFORMATION WITH
OTHER SYSTEMS "OTH THE FIGHTERS WINGMAN SUPPORT AIRCRAFT AND SURFACE NODES MAY
EXCHANGE COMPLETE DATA AND TASKING IN REAL TIME TO FACILITATE A MISSION 4HE FIGHTER
AND ITS WINGMAN WILL COORDINATE MODE TASKING SO THAT DURING A HIGH RESOLUTION GROUND
MAP WHICH COULD TAKE A MINUTE TO FORM THE WINGMAN MIGHT BE PERFORMING AN AIR TO
AIR SEARCH AND TRACK TO PROTECT BOTH OF THEM
&)'52% &IGHTER AIRCRAFT AIR TO SURFACE RADAR MODE SUITE
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3OME MODES ARE USED FOR SEVERAL OPERATIONAL CATEGORIES SUCH AS REAL BEAM MAP
2"- FIXED TARGET TRACK &44 DOPPLER BEAM SHARPENING $"3 AND SYNTHETIC APER
TURE RADAR 3!2 USED NOT ONLY FOR NAVIGATION BUT ALSO FOR ACQUISITION AND WEAPON
DELIVERY TO FIXED TARGETSn 3!2 MAY ALSO BE USED TO DETECT TARGETS IN EARTHWORKS OR
TRENCHES COVERED WITH CANVAS AND A SMALL AMOUNT OF DIRT WHICH ARE INVISIBLE TO %/
OR )2 SENSORS 3IMILARLY AIR
TO
SURFACE RANGING !
3 2ANGE AND PRECISION VELOCITY
UPDATE 065 MAY BE USED FOR WEAPON SUPPORT TO IMPROVE DELIVERY ACCURACY AS WELL
AS NAVIGATION
4ERRAIN FOLLOWING AND TERRAIN AVOIDANCE 4&4! IS USED FOR NAVIGATION AT VERY
LOW ALTITUDES OR IN MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN 3EA SURFACE SEARCH 333 SEA SURFACE TRACK
334 AND INVERSE SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR )3!2 WHICH WILL BE DESCRIBED LATER IN
THE CHAPTER ARE USED PRIMARILY FOR THE ACQUISITION AND RECOGNITION OF SHIP TARGETS
'ROUND MOVING TARGET INDICATION '-4) AND GROUND MOVING TARGET TRACKING '-44
ARE USED PRIMARILY FOR THE ACQUISITION AND RECOGNITION OF SURFACE VEHICLE TARGETS BUT
ALSO FOR RECOGNIZING LARGE MOVEMENTS OF SOLDIERS AND MATERIALS IN A BATTLE
SPACE (IGH
POWER JAMMING (I0WR*AM IS A COUNTERMEASURE AVAILABLE FROM !%3!S DUE TO THEIR
NATURAL BROADBAND BEAM AGILE HIGH GAIN AND HIGH POWER ATTRIBUTES !%3!S ALSO ALLOW
LONG RANGE AIR
TO
SURFACE DATA LINKS !
3 $ATA ,INK THROUGH THE RADAR PRIMARILY FOR
MAP IMAGERY "ECAUSE THERE MAY BE THOUSANDS OF WAVELENGTHS AND A GAIN OF MILLIONS
THROUGH A RADAR AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL AND CALIBRATION !'##!, IS USUALLY REQUIRED
FAIRLY OFTEN -ODES OPTIMIZED FOR THIS FUNCTION ARE INVOKED THROUGHOUT A MISSION
7AVEFORM 6ARIATIONS BY -ODE !LTHOUGH THE SPECIFIC WAVEFORM IS HARD TO PRE
DICT TYPICAL WAVEFORM VARIATIONS CAN BE TABULATED BASED ON OBSERVED BEHAVIOR OF A
NUMBER OF EXISTING !
3 RADAR SYSTEMS 4ABLE SHOWS THE RANGE OF PARAMETERS THAT
CAN BE OBSERVED AS A FUNCTION OF RADAR MODE 4HE PARAMETER RANGES LISTED ARE 02&
PULSE WIDTH DUTY CYCLE PULSE COMPRESSION RATIO INDEPENDENT FREQUENCY LOOKS PULSES
PER COHERENT PROCESSING INTERVAL #0) TRANSMITTED BANDWIDTH AND TOTAL PULSES IN A
4IME
/N
4ARGET 4/4
/BVIOUSLY MOST RADARS DO NOT CONTAIN ALL OF THIS VARIATION BUT MODES EXIST IN MANY
FIGHTER AIRCRAFT WHICH REPRESENT A GOOD FRACTION OF THE PARAMETER RANGE -OST FIGHTER
RADARS ARE FREQUENCY AGILE SINCE THEY WILL BE OPERATED IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO SIMILAR OR
IDENTICAL SYSTEMS 4HE FREQUENCY USUALLY CHANGES IN A CAREFULLY CONTROLLED COMPLETELY
COHERENT MANNER DURING A #0) 4HIS CAN BE A WEAKNESS FOR CERTAIN KINDS OF JAMMING
SINCE THE PHASE AND FREQUENCY OF THE NEXT PULSE IS PREDICTABLE 3OMETIMES TO COUNTER
ACT THIS WEAKNESS THE FREQUENCY SEQUENCE IS PSEUDORANDOM FROM A PREDETERMINED SET
WITH KNOWN AUTOCORRELATION PROPERTIES FOR EXAMPLE &RANK #OSTAS 6ITERBI 0 CODES
! MAJOR DIFFICULTY WITH COMPLEX WIDEBAND FREQUENCY CODING IS THAT THE PHASE SHIFT
ERS IN A PHASE SCANNED ARRAY MUST BE CHANGED ON AN INTRA
OR INTER
PULSE BASIS GREATLY
COMPLICATING BEAM STEERING CONTROL AND ABSOLUTE 42 CHANNEL PHASE DELAY !NOTHER
CHALLENGE IS MINIMIZING POWER SUPPLY PHASE PULLING WHEN 02&S AND PULSEWIDTHS VARY
OVER MORE THAN RANGE -&!2 SYSTEMS NOT ONLY HAVE A WIDE VARIATION IN 02&
AND PULSEWIDTH BUT ALSO USUALLY EXHIBIT LARGE INSTANT AND TOTAL BANDWIDTH #OUPLED
WITH THE LARGE BANDWIDTH IS THE REQUIREMENT FOR LONG COHERENT INTEGRATION TIMES 4HIS
REQUIREMENT NATURALLY LEADS TO EXTREME STABILITY MASTER OSCILLATORS AND ULTRA LOW
NOISE
SYNTHESIZERS
!IR
TO
!IR -ISSION 0ROFILE *UST AS WITH AN AIR
TO
SURFACE MISSION THE MODE
STRUCTURE OF A MODERN FIGHTER AIRCRAFT AIR
TO
AIR MISSION ARISES FROM ITS PROFILE ! TYPI
CAL MISSION PROFILE FOR AIR
TO
AIR !
! IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE MISSION PROFILE
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
4!",% 4YPICAL 7AVEFORM 0ARAMETERS ! 3 -ODES
0ULSE
7IDTH
MSEC
$UTY
#YCLE
&REQ
,OOKS
0ULSES
0ER #0)
4RANSMITTED
"ANDWIDTH
-(Z
n
n
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n
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KnK
2ADAR
-ODES
02&
K(Z
2EAL
"EAM
-AP
n
n
n
$OPPLER
"EAM
3HARP
n
n
3!2
n
! 3 2ANGE
n
n
n
4&4!
n
n
3EA
3URFACE
3EARCH
n
n
)NVERSE
3!2
n
n
'-4)
n
&IXED
4ARGET
4RACK
n
'-44
n
3EA
3URFACE
4RACK
n
(I0WR *AM
n
n
#AL!'#
!
3 $ATA
,INK
n
n
n
n
065
0ULSE
#OMP
2ATIO
4OTAL
0ULSES
IN 4/4
BEGINS WITH AN AIRFIELD OR CARRIER TAKEOFF CONTINUES THROUGH FLIGHT PENETRATING INTO
AN ENEMY BATTLE
SPACE SEARCHES FOR AIR TARGETS TO ATTACK AND ULTIMATELY RETURNS TO
THE STARTING POINT !LONG THE WAY THE AIRCRAFT USES A VARIETY OF MODES TO NAVIGATE
EXCHANGE DATA WITH COMMAND CONTROL COMMUNICATIONS INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE
&)'52% 4YPICAL ! ! MISSION PROFILE
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
RECONNAISSANCE #)32 ASSETS SEARCH AND ACQUIRE AIRBORNE TARGETS TRACK AND SEPARATE
BENIGN TARGETS FROM THREATS DELIVER WEAPONS ESCAPE AND ENGAGE IN COUNTERMEASURES
MONITOR AND CALIBRATE ITS PERFORMANCE AND RETURN TO BASE
!IR
TO
!IR -ODE 3UITE 3IMILARLY THE !
! MISSION NATURALLY CREATES THE NEED FOR
A CORRESPONDING MODE SUITE FOR THE RADAR AS SHOWN IN &IGURE !T THE RADAR SEN
SOR AND AIR
TO
AIR MODE SOFTWARE LEVEL THERE IS ADAPTIVE TASK PRIORITIZATION TO INSURE THAT
THE HIGHEST PROCESSOR PRIORITIZED PILOT
SELECTED THREAT IS SERVICED FIRST 0ASSIVE MODES
ARE INTERLEAVED WITH ACTIVE OPERATION TO IMPROVE SURVIVABILITY AND PASSIVE TRACKING AND
)$ %ACH MODE SHOWN IN &IGURE IS OPTIMIZED IN REAL TIME FOR THE PARTICULAR COMBI
NATION OF ALTITUDE RANGE TO THE TARGET DENSITY OF TARGET THREATS ANTENNA FOOTPRINT ON THE
%ARTHS SURFACE RELATIVE TARGET AND CLUTTER DOPPLER DWELL TIME AVAILABLE PREDICTED TARGET
STATISTICAL BEHAVIOR TRANSMITTED FREQUENCY AND DESIRED RESOLUTION
4HE MODE CATEGORY hAUTONOMOUS AND CUED SEARCHv CONTAINS THE MODES MOST COM
MONLY ASSOCIATED WITH FIGHTER RADARS 4HERE ARE USUALLY TWO RANGE
GATED HIGH PULSE REP
ETITION FREQUENCY (02& MODES VELOCITY SEARCH 63 PRIMARILY DEDICATED TO LONGEST
RANGE DETECTION AND RANGE WHILE SEARCH 273 WHICH USES SOME FORM OF &- RANGING
TO ESTIMATE TARGET RANGE 4HERE IS A MEDIUM 02& -02& MODE WHICH PROVIDES ALL
ASPECT VELOCITY
RANGE SEARCH 623 AT THE EXPENSE OF POORER LONG
RANGE PERFORMANCE
)N ADDITION THERE ARE TWO PASSIVE MODES PASSIVE SEARCH AND RANGING IN WHICH THE
RADAR DETECTS AND ESTIMATES RANGE AND ANGLE TO AN EMITTER OR BISTATICALLY WINGMAN OR
SUPPORT AIRCRAFT ILLUMINATED TARGET AND %3- SHARED APERTURE IN WHICH THE 2& AND PRO
CESSOR COMPLEX DETECTS ESTIMATES WAVEFORM PARAMETERS AND RECORDS THEM FOR FUTURE
USE 0ASSIVE SEARCH MAY BE COMBINED WITH CUED BURST RANGING TO BETTER ESTIMATE EMIT
TER LOCATION %XTENDED VOLUME SEARCH IS A MODE USED WITH CUEING FROM ANOTHER ON
OR
OFF
BOARD SENSOR IN WHAT NORMALLY WOULD BE AN UNFAVORABLE GEOMETRY
-ANY MODES AND FUNCTIONS ARE SHARED IN COMMON WITH !
3 ESPECIALLY COUNTERMEA
SURES AND PERFORMANCE MONITORING %XTREMELY IMPORTANT IN BOTH MODES IS IMPLEMENTA
TION OF EMISSIONS CONTROL TO MINIMIZE THE ABILITY OF THE ADVERSARY TO DETECT TRACK AND
ATTACK USING THE RADAR EMISSION 7ITHOUT CARE THESE EMISSIONS CAN EASILY SERVE AS A
STRONG GUIDANCE SIGNAL FOR A HOSTILE ANTIRADIATION MISSILE !2- !NTENNA APERTURES
THAT HAVE MULTIPLE INDEPENDENT PHASE CENTERS CAN PERFORM BOTH ADAPTIVE CLUTTER CANCEL
LATION AS WELL AS JAMMER CANCELLATION WITH SUITABLE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE n
&)'52% ! ! MODE SUITE
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
xx
4HE SUBSUITE OF MULTI TARGET TRACK -44 CONTAINS CONVENTIONAL TRACK WHILE SCAN
473 PASSIVE TRACKING OF EMITTERS OR ECHOES FROM BISTATIC ILLUMINATION MISSILE TRACK
ING WITH OR WITHOUT A MISSILE DATALINK OR BEACON AND SEVERAL MODES TO RECOGNIZE
TARGET NUMBER AND TYPE RAID ASSESSMENT AND NONCOOPERATIVE TARGET RECOGNITION USU
ALLY INCORRECTLY CALLED TARGET IDENTIFICATION 4HE FIGHTER AND WINGMAN WILL COORDINATE
MODES THROUGH THE NET SO THAT BOTH HAVE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS DURING THE LONG TIME
SPAN REQUIRED TO PROVIDE TARGET RECOGNITION
!NOTHER IMPORTANT FIGHTER CATEGORY IS WEAPON SUPPORT -ISSILE UPDATE IS THE MEA
SUREMENT OF MISSILE AND TARGET POSITION VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION TO ALLOW STATISTICALLY
INDEPENDENT MEASUREMENTS FOR TRANSFER ALIGNMENT AS WELL AS MISSILE STATE OF HEALTH
-ISSILE UPDATE PROVIDES THE LATEST TARGET INFORMATION AND FUTURE DYNAMICS PREDICTION
BY DATA LINK )2 MISSILE SLAVING CO ALIGNS RADAR AND SEEKER 3INCE GUN EFFECTIVE RANGES
ARE VERY SHORT GUN RANGING CAUSES THE RADAR TO SENSE THE GUN FIELD OF FIRE PREDICTS
ANGLE RATE AND MEASURES RANGE TO A TARGET FOR TENTATIVE GUNFIRE )T MAY ALSO TRACK GUN
ROUNDS DURING FIRE
4HERE ARE THOUSANDS OF ELECTRICAL DEGREES OF PHASE BETWEEN FREE SPACE AND THE !$
CONVERTERS 4HE COMBINATION OF TEMPERATURE TIME AND MANUFACTURING TOLERANCES GIVES
RISE TO THE NEED FOR SELF CALIBRATION TEST FAULT DETECTION FAILURE DIAGNOSIS AND NEEDED
CORRECTIONS WHICH ARE PERFORMED BY A SUBSUITE OF PERFORMANCE MONITOR SOFTWARE
4IMING 3TRUCTURE 4HE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE REMAINING PARAMETERS IN 4ABLES
AND CAN BEST BE ILLUSTRATED WITH A TIMING STRUCTURE TYPICAL OF FIGHTER RADARS
&IGURE SHOWS A MODERN RADAR TIMING STRUCTURE IN A SEQUENCE OF PROGRESSIVELY
EXPANDED TIMELINES 4HE FIRST ROW OF &IGURE SHOWS A TYPICAL SCAN CYCLE COVERING
THE REQUIRED VOLUME OF INTEREST FOR A SPECIFIC MODE 4HE TIME SPAN FOR A FULL SCAN CYCLE
MIGHT BE TO SECONDS )NSIDE THE TOTAL SCAN CYCLE TIME THERE MAY BE SEVERAL BARS OF
A SCANNED REGION OF SPACE WITH A TIME SPAN OF A FEW TENTHS OF A SECOND ! BAR IS A SCAN
SEGMENT ALONG A SINGLE ANGULAR TRAJECTORY AS SHOWN IN &IGURE LATER IN THE CHAPTER
4!",% 4YPICAL 7AVEFORM 0ARAMETERS ! ! -ODES
0ULSE
7IDTH
MSEC
2ADAR
-ODES
02&
K(Z
2ANGE
'ATED
(IGH 02&
n
n
-EDIUM 02&
n
"URST 2ANGING
n
!CTIVE 4RACK
n
2AID !SSESSMENT
.ON #OOP
4ARGET 2EC
(I0WR *AM
n
n
#AL!'#
n
n
!IR $ATA ,INK
n
n
'UN 2ANGING
7EATHER
!VOIDANCE
n
n
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0ULSE
#OMP
2ATIO
&REQ
,OOKS
0ULSES
0ER #0)
n
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)NSTANT
"AND
7IDTH
-(Z
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0ULSES
IN 4/4
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x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4YPICAL -&!2 TIMING SEQUENCES #OURTESY 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING
%ACH BAR CONSISTS OF MULTIPLE BEAM POSITIONS OF A FEW TENS OF MILLISECONDS EACH WHICH
ARE COMPUTED ON THE FLY TO OPTIMALLY COVER THE SELECTED VOLUME %ACH BEAM CYCLE IN TURN
MAY CONTAIN ONE OR MORE RADAR MODES OR SUBMODES SUCH AS THOSE CONTAINED IN 4ABLES
OR AND DEPICTED IN THE LOWEST LINE OF &IGURE 4HE MODES MAY NOT BE INVOKED EACH
TIME DEPENDING ON THE GEOMETRY BETWEEN THE AIRCRAFT AND THE INTENDED TARGET SET
4HE MODE TIME IS BROKEN UP INTO COHERENT PROCESSING INTERVALS #0)S ! COHER
ENT PROCESSING INTERVAL IS SEGMENTED AS SHOWN IN THE BOTTOM ROW OF &IGURE 4HE
PARTICULAR EXAMPLE SHOWN IS TRACKING THAT MIGHT BE USED IN &44 '-44 065 OR !
'
2ANGING AS SHOWN PREVIOUSLY IN &IGURE AND LATER IN &IGURES AND )T
CONSISTS OF A FREQUENCY CHANGE SETTLING TIME PASSIVE RECEIVING TO BE SURE THE BAND ISNT
JAMMED CALIBRATE THAT DOESNT INTENTIONALLY RADIATE BUT OFTEN THERE IS SOME 2& LEAKAGE
RADIATED AN AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL !'# INTERVAL IN WHICH A NUMBER OF PULSES ARE
TRANSMITTED TO SET THE RECEIVER GAIN AND FINALLY TWO INTERVALS IN WHICH RANGE DOPPLER AND
ANGLE DISCRIMINANTS ARE FORMED 4HESE #0)S OFTEN BUT NOT ALWAYS HAVE CONSTANT POWER
FREQUENCY SEQUENCE 02& SEQUENCE PULSEWIDTH PULSE COMPRESSION AND BANDWIDTH
x "
-
,*/" -E76
", !IR
TO
!IR 3EARCH !CQUISITION AND 4RACK -EDIUM 02& )T MAY BE INSTRUC
TIVE TO EXAMINE HOW SEVERAL MODES ARE GENERATED AND PROCESSED TO UNDERSTAND WHY THE
WAVEFORMS MUST BE THE WAY THEY ARE -EDIUM 02& TRADES LONG
RANGE DETECTION PERFOR
MANCE SEE &IGURE LATER IN THE CHAPTER FOR ALL ASPECT TARGET DETECTION /FTEN
HIGH AND MEDIUM 02& WAVEFORMS ARE INTERLEAVED ON ALTERNATE SCANS SEE &IGURE TO
IMPROVE TOTAL PERFORMANCE !FTER YEARS OF SEARCHING FOR AN OPTIMUM SET MOST
MODERN MEDIUM 02& MODES HAVE DEVOLVED TO A RANGE OF 02&S BETWEEN AND K(Z
IN A DETECTION SET OF FOR THE TIME ON TARGET n 4HESE 02&S ARE CHOSEN TO MINIMIZE
RANGE AND VELOCITY BLIND ZONES WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY ALLOWING UNAMBIGUOUS RESOLU
TION OF TARGET RANGE AND DOPPLER RETURNS IN A SPARSE TARGET SPACE 2ANGE BLIND
ZONES ARE THOSE RANGES IN WHICH A TARGET IS ECLIPSED BY THE TRANSMITTED PULSE 6ELOCITY
OR DOPPLER BLIND ZONES ARE THOSE VELOCITIES OR DOPPLERS THAT ARE EXCLUDED DUE TO THE
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER AND GROUND MOVING TARGET FILTER REJECTION NOTCH 4ARGET DETEC
TION REQUIRES DETECTIONS IN AT LEAST OF THE 02&S WITH ALL 02&S CLEAR AT MAXIMUM
RANGE 4HE 02& SELECTION CRITERIA USUALLY REQUIRES THAT THE 02& SET IS CLEARIN
OTHER WORDS AT LEAST A SPECIFIED NUMBER TYPICALLY OF 02&S MUST HAVE AN ABOVE
THRESHOLD RETURN ECHO FOR THE MINIMUM SPECIFIED TARGET FOR THE FULL SPECIFIED RANGE
DOPPLER COVERAGE
! TYPICAL PROCESSING BLOCK DIAGRAM IS GIVEN IN &IGURE %ACH 02& PROCESSING
INTERVAL IS DIFFERENT BUT THEY AVERAGE OUT TO AN OPTIMUM AS SHOWN LATER IN &IGURE
"OTH MAIN AND GUARD CHANNEL PROCESSING IS REQUIRED TO REJECT FALSE TARGETS 3OME
34!0 PROCESSING MAY HAVE BEEN PERFORMED BEFORE THIS PROCESS BUT TRADITIONAL SIDE
LOBE AND MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER IS LESS OF A LIMIT THAN GROUND MOVING TARGETS WHICH HAVE
VERY LARGE CROSS SECTIONS AND EXO
DOPPLERS IE DOPPLER FAR ENOUGH OUT OF MAIN
BEAM
CLUTTER THAT DETECTION IS NOT LIMITED BY THE CLUTTER RETURN -02& USUALLY HAS A SMALL
AMOUNT OF PULSE COMPRESSION TO WHICH STILL MAY REQUIRE DOPPLER COMPEN
SATION -AIN AND GUARD CHANNELS ARE PROCESSED IN THE SAME WAY /BVIOUSLY THE TWO
SPECTRA ARE QUITE DIFFERENT AND SEPARATE FALSE ALARM AND NOISE ENSEMBLE ESTIMATES ARE
MADE 4HIS LEADS TO SEPARATE THRESHOLD SETTINGS -ULTIPLE CHANNELS ARE USED TO ESTIMATE
INTERFERENCE AND SELECT %##- STRATEGY -AIN CHANNEL DETECTIONS ARE EXAMINED FOR
'-4S AND CENTROIDED IN RANGE AND DOPPLER BECAUSE A RETURN IN RANGE OR DOPPLER MAY
STRADDLE MULTIPLE BINS THE CENTROID OF THOSE RETURNS IN MULTIPLE BINS MUST BE ESTIMATED
FROM THE AMPLITUDE IN EACH BIN AND THE NUMBER OF BINS STRADDLED 4HE GUARD CHANNEL
IS DETECTED AND THE THRESHOLDED RESULTS ARE USED TO GATE THE MAIN CHANNEL RESULTS FOR THE
FINAL HIT
MISS COUNT 'ENUINE TARGETS ARE RESOLVED IN RANGE AND DOPPLER PRESENTED TO A
DISPLAY AND USED FOR 473 CORRELATION AND TRACKING
&ALSE ALARMS ARE A CRITICAL ISSUE IN MOST RADAR MODES 4HESE ARE USUALLY SUPPRESSED
FOR THERMAL NOISE BY CONSTANT FALSE ALARM RATE THRESHOLDING COINCIDENCE DETECTION
AND POST
DETECTION INTEGRATION WITH FREQUENCY AGILITY #LUTTER FALSE ALARMS ARE SUP
PRESSED BY ADAPTIVE APERTURE TAPERING LOW
NOISE FRONT
END HARDWARE WIDE DYNAMIC
RANGE !$S CLUTTER REJECTION FILTERING INCLUDING 34!0 PULSE COMPRESSION SIDELOBE
SUPPRESSION DOPPLER FILTER SIDELOBE CONTROL GUARD CHANNEL PROCESSING RADOME REFLEC
TION LOBE COMPENSATION ANGLE RATIO TESTS SEE &IGURE AND THE hFRINGE REGIONv FOR
AN EXAMPLE ANGLE
RATIO
TEST AND ADAPTIVE 02& SELECTION
&)'52% 4YPICAL -02& PROCESSING ADAPTED COURTESY 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% -EDIUM 02& RANGE VELOCITY BLIND ZONES
-02& 4YPICAL 2ANGE $OPPLER "LIND -AP &OR EXAMPLE A TYPICAL -02& SET
FOR 8 BAND WITH RANGE DOPPLER COVERAGE OF KMn K(Z IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HIS SET IS FOR A n ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH OWNSHIP IE THE RADAR CARRYING FIGHTER
VELOCITY OF MS AND AN ANGLE OFF THE VELOCITY VECTOR OF n 4HE 02& SET IS
AND K(Z (ISTORICALLY A 02& SET WAS
CALCULATED DURING DESIGN AND REMAINED FIXED DURING DEPLOYMENT -ODERN MULTIFUNC
TIONAL RADAR COMPUTING IS SO ROBUST THAT 02& SETS CAN BE SELECTED IN REAL TIME BASED
ON SITUATION GEOMETRY AND LOOK ANGLE 4HE SET WHICH GENERATED &IGURE ON THE
AVERAGE IS CLEAR ON OUT OF 02&S FOR A SINGLE TARGET %XCEPT FOR TWO SMALL DOPPLER
REGIONS ALL THE 02&S ARE CLEAR AT MAXIMUM RANGE WHICH PROVIDES MAXIMUM DETEC
TION AND MINIMUM LOSS AT THE DESIGN RANGE &OR SOME PULSE COMPRESSION WAVEFORMS
THE ECLIPSING LOSS IS ALMOST LINEAR AND PARTIAL OVERLAP STILL ALLOWS SHORTER RANGE DETEC
TION %CLIPSING LOSS IS THAT DIMINISHMENT OF RECEIVED POWER WHEN THE RECEIVER IS
OFF DURING THE TRANSMITTED PULSE )T IS OFTEN THE LARGEST SINGLE LOSS IN HIGH DUTY RATIO
WAVEFORMS 4HE BAD NEWS IS THAT THE AVERAGE DETECTION POWER LOSS IS SLIGHTLY OVER
D" SEE &IGURE
-02& 3ELECTION !LGORITHMS /BVIOUSLY SELECTING 02&S IN REAL TIME REQUIRES
SEVERAL RULES TO GET CLOSE TO A FINAL SET 4HIS IS FOLLOWED BY SMALL ITERATIONS TO PICK THE
OPTIMUM SET &OR MEDIUM 02& BOTH RANGE AND VELOCITY BLIND ZONES ARE IMPORTANT
&IRST THE SOFTWARE MUST PICK A CENTRAL 02& ABOUT WHICH ALL THE OTHER 02&S ARE DEVIA
TIONS TO FILL OUT THE DESIRED VISIBILITY CRITERIA 3ECOND THE 02& SET SHOULD ALL BE CLEAR AT
THE MAXIMUM DESIGN RANGE SO THAT DETECTION LOSSES ARE AT A MINIMUM
&IGURE SHOWS ONE EXAMPLE CRITERIA FOR SELECTING THE CENTRAL 02& IE THE HIGH
EST PROBABILITY OF VISIBILITY 06 )N THE EXAMPLE THE PRODUCT 06 OF THE RANGE 02
AND DOPPLER 0$ TARGET VISIBILITY PROBABILITIES FOR A SINGLE 02& PEAKS AT APPROXIMATELY
AND THUS THE OTHER 02&S MUST FILL IN TO REACH CLEAR OR HIGHER 4HERE ARE SEVERAL
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
&)'52% -EDIUM 02& CENTRAL 02& SELECTION EXAMPLE
OTHER FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED DOPPLER AND RANGE BLIND ZONES AND ECLIPSING AND SIDE
LOBE CLUTTER %VEN WITH 34!0 SIDELOBE CLUTTER IS A MAJOR LIMITATION "OTH SIDELOBE
AND MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER CAN BE MINIMIZED BY NARROW DOPPLER ANDOR RANGE BINS IE
RESOLUTION CELLS WHICH IMPLY LONGER DWELL TIMES AND HIGHER TRANSMIT BANDWIDTH
/NE EXAMPLE METHOD FOR SELECTING A SET OF 02&S FOR -02& IS GIVEN IN %Q 4HE
BASIC IDEA IS TO FIND A TIME INTERVAL 4! REPRESENTING THE DESIRED MAXIMUM CLEAR RANGE
AND THEN TO CHOOSE A SET OF 02)S IN WHICH ALL WILL BE CLEAR AT MAXIMUM RANGE 4HIS CAN
BE ACHIEVED BY DIVIDING 4! BY AN INTEGER TYPICALLY TO 4HIS SET WILL GENERALLY NOT
PROVIDE CLEAR OVER THE RANGE
DOPPLER SPACE 4HE EVEN DIVISOR 02)S CAN BE PERTURBED
ITERATIVELY BY A SMALL AMOUNT TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED VISIBILITY 4HE NORMALIZED TARGET SIG
NAL
TO
NOISE RATIO 40 VARIES DRAMATICALLY WITH STRADDLE AND ECLIPSING LOSSES FOR EXAMPLE
SEE &IGURE 4HE FUNCTION TO BE OPTIMIZED IS A THRESHOLDED VERSION OF 40K OR J
&)'52% %XAMPLE 2'(02& ECLIPSING AND STRADDLE NEAR MAXIMUM RANGE
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&OR EXAMPLE THE THRESHOLD SCHEME MIGHT BE D" 3.2 PER 02) AND OUT OF
FOR ALL 02)S /FTEN MULTIPLE AND DIFFERENT THRESHOLDS ARE USED FOR EACH #0) AND 02)
,OWER THRESHOLDS ARE ALLOWABLE FOR HIGHER NUMBERS OF TOTAL HITS )T SHOULD BE NOTED
THAT ECLIPSING AND STRADDLING AND SO ON HAVE MUCH LESS EFFECT AT CLOSER RANGES WHERE
THERE IS USUALLY MORE THAN ENOUGH 3.2 !NOTHER SERENDIPITOUS EFFECT OF THIS SELECTION
TECHNIQUE IS THAT AS AN INDIVIDUAL 02) RANGE CLEAR REGION GETS SMALLER THE DOPPLER CLEAR
REGION GETS LARGER FILLING
IN THE BLIND ZONES IN BOTH DIMENSIONS
4!
4!
2
4! r C T P 02) K
02) J
# r K
# r J D J
C
40K OR J F R
#
;MOD
=
r
2
;MOD
R
02)
=
6
F
02)
K
BLIND
OR
J
BLIND
K
OR
J
R
WHERE 2C IS MAXIMUM DESIGN CLEAR RANGE
C IS THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT MS
S P IS TRANSMITTED PULSE WIDTH K AND J ARE INDICES EG x
# IS AN ODD INTEGER EG # IS AN EVEN INTEGER EG
CJ IS A SMALL PERTURBATION EG z YIELDING VISIBILITY
6BLIND IS A FUNCTION OF F DESCRIBING ECLIPSING AND STRADDLING
2BLIND IS A FUNCTION OF R DESCRIBING ECLIPSING AND STRADDLING
# IS A CONSTANT REPRESENTING THE REMAINDER OF THE RANGE EQUATION
F IS FREQUENCY R IS RANGE MOD IS MODULO THE FIRST VARIABLE BY THE SECOND
2ANGE
'ATED (IGH 02& 2ANGE
GATED HIGH 02& 2'(02& PERFORMANCE IS
DRAMATICALLY BETTER FOR DETECTION OF HIGHER SPEED CLOSING TARGETS 2ANGE GATES
ARE OFTEN SMALLER THAN RANGE RESOLUTION CELLS OR BINS 2'(02& PRODUCES THE LONGEST
DETECTION RANGE AGAINST CLOSING LOW CROSS SECTION TARGETS 5LTRA
LOW NOISE FREQUENCY
REFERENCES ARE REQUIRED TO IMPROVE SUBCLUTTER VISIBILITY ON LOW 2#3 TARGETS EVEN USING
34!0 2ANGE GATING DRAMATICALLY IMPROVES SIDELOBE CLUTTER REJECTION WHICH ALLOWS
OPERATION AT LOWER OWNSHIP ALTITUDES 0RINCIPAL LIMITATIONS OF 2'(02& CLOSING TARGET
DETECTION PERFORMANCE ARE ECLIPSING A RADAR RETURN WHEN THE RECEIVER IS OFF DURING THE
TRANSMITTED PULSE AND RANGE GATE STRADDLE LOSSES THE RANGE GATE SAMPLING TIME MISSES
THE PEAK OF THE RADAR RETURN &IGURE SHOWS 40I WITH ECLIPSING AND STRADDLE LOSSES
NEAR MAXIMUM RANGE FOR A HIGH PERFORMANCE 2'(02& 4HIS MODE IS OPTIMIZED FOR LOW
CROSS SECTION TARGETS OUT TO JUST BEYOND KM MAXIMUM RANGE 4HE PARTICULAR EXAMPLE
HAS OVERLAPPING RANGE GATES TO MINIMIZE STRADDLE LOSS AND TWO 02&S TO ALLOW AT LEAST
ONE CLEAR 02& NEAR MAXIMUM RANGE 4HE 02&S ARE K(Z AND K(Z $UTY
RATIO IS WITH D" REQUIRED DETECTION 3.2 !VERAGED OVER ALL POSSIBLE TARGET POSI
TIONS AND CLOSING DOPPLERS THE LOSSES FOR THIS MODE ARE A SURPRISINGLY SMALL D"
4HE RANGE
DOPPLER BLIND ZONES PLOT IS SHOWN IN &IGURE CORRESPONDING TO THE
&IGURE WAVEFORM #OMPARED TO THE MEDIUM 02& PLOT SHOWN IN &IGURE THE
CLEAR REGION AND CORRESPONDING LOSSES IS DRAMATICALLY BETTER 5NFORTUNATELY RANGE
IS VERY AMBIGUOUS .ORMALLY A 2'(02& RANGE
WHILE
SEARCH 273 MODE IS INTER
LEAVED WITH THE HIGHEST PERFORMANCE VELOCITY
SEARCH 63 MODE TO RANGE ON PREVI
OUSLY DETECTED TARGETS
/FTEN 273 IS 2'(02& WITH THREE PHASES IN WHICH A CONSTANT FREQUENCY AND TWO
CHIRP LINEAR &- FREQUENCIES TRIANGULAR UP
DOWN OR UP
STEEPER UP ARE USED TO RESOLVE
RANGE AND DOPPLER IN A SPARSE TARGET SPACE !T LOW ALTITUDES SIDELOBE CLUTTER EVEN
WITH 34!0 PROCESSING LIMITS PERFORMANCE FOR ALL TARGETS BUT ESPECIALLY OPENING TARGETS
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
&)'52% 2'(02& RANGE VELOCITY BLIND ZONES CORRESPONDING TO &IGURE WAVEFORMS
4HIS LIMITATION LEADS TO THE NEED FOR ANOTHER MODE INTERLEAVED WITH 2'(02&
&ORTUNATELY THE TIMELINE FOR OPENING TARGETS IS MUCH LONGER NET SPEED IS LESS AND THE
ENGAGEMENT RANGE IS MUCH SHORTER WEAPON CLOSURE RATES ARE TOO SLOW
/FTEN IN GENERAL SEARCH -02&
623 MEDIUM 02& VELOCITY
RANGE SEARCH IS
INTERLEAVED WITH (02& 63 AND 273 AS SHOWN IN &IGURE TO PROVIDE ALL ASPECT
DETECTION 5NFORTUNATELY BOTH 273 AND 623 HAVE POORER MAXIMUM DETECTION RANGE
2'(02& CAN PROVIDE ALL ASPECT DETECTION BUT TAIL PERFORMANCE IS DRAMATICALLY POORER
DUE TO SIDELOBE CLUTTER %VEN WITH 34!0 WHICH SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVES SIDELOBE CLUTTER
REJECTION LOW ALTITUDE TAIL ASPECT DETECTION FOR 2'(02& IS POORER
&)'52% (IGH AND MEDIUM 02& INTERLEAVE FOR ALL ASPECT DETECTION
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF HIGH AND MEDIUM 02&
!N EXAMPLE COMPARISON OF (02& AND -02& AS A FUNCTION OF ALTITUDE FOR A GIVEN
MAXIMUM TRANSMITTER POWER POWER
APERTURE PRODUCT AND TYPICAL ANTENNA AND RADOME
INTEGRATED SIDELOBE RATIO IS SHOWN IN &IGURE !T HIGH ALTITUDE AND NOSE
ON THERE IS
MORE THAN AN D" DIFFERENCE CAUSED BY BLIND ZONES STRADDLE FOLDED CLUTTER PROCESS
ING AND THRESHOLDING LOSSES
2'(02& 3ELECTION !LGORITHMS &IRST AS IN THE -02& CASE ALL 02&S SHOULD BE
CLEAR AT THE MAXIMUM DESIGN RANGE 3ECOND ALL 02&S SHOULD BE CLEAR TO THE MAXIMUM
DOPPLER OF INTEREST /NE POSSIBLE SELECTION CRITERIA IS GIVEN IN %Q !LTHOUGH THE
DETAILS ARE QUITE DIFFERENT THE BASIC PHILOSOPHY IN 02& SELECTION IS TO OPTIMIZE LONG
RANGE CLEAR REGIONS
4!
r 2C
r L
4
T P AND 02) !
AND ) CEIL !
C
6A 6T
02) !
THEN 02)
C r T P
4!
AND 02) 02) r
)
2C
WHERE 2C IS MAXIMUM DESIGN CLEAR RANGE
C IS THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT r MS
SP IS TRANSMITTED PULSE WIDTH K IS TRANSMITTED WAVELENGTH
CEIL IS THE NEXT INTEGER ABOVE THE VALUE OF THE VARIABLE
6A AND 6T ARE THE MAXIMUM VELOCITIES OF INTEREST FOR AIRCRAFT AND TARGET RESPECTIVELY
.ONCOOPERATIVE !IR 4ARGET 2ECOGNITION -&!2 TARGET RECOGNITION 4)$
RECOGNIZES TARGET TYPE BUT NOT UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION 4HERE ARE COOPERATIVE TARGET
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
IDENTIFICATION METHODS SUCH AS *4)$3 )&& AND 2& TAGGING THAT CAN BE UNIQUE 4)$
DEPENDS ON DETECTING FEATURES OF THE RADAR SIGNATURE IN FUSION WITH EMISSIONS AND
OTHER SENSORS 4HE FIVE MOST COMMON 4)$ SIGNATURES ARE MONOPULSE EXTENT SIMILAR
TO THE EXAMPLE SHOWN IN &IGURE RESONANCES HIGH RESOLUTION RANGE (22
PROFILES DOPPLER SPREAD STEPPED FREQUENCY WAVEFORM MODULATION OR MULTIFRE
QUENCY 3&7--&2 WHICH CAN BE TRANSFORMED INTO A RANGE PROFILE AND INVERSE
SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR )3!2 -ONOPULSE EXTENT ALLOWS ESTIMATION OF LENGTH
AND WIDTH AS WELL AS SEPARATION OF CLOSELY SPACED AIRCRAFT ! HIGH RANGE RESOLUTION
PROFILE ALSO ALLOWS THE SEPARATION OF TARGETS FLYING IN CLOSE FORMATION AS WELL AS THE
SEPARATION OF A MISSILE FROM A TARGET ! HIGH RANGE RESOLUTION PROFILE ON A SINGLE
TARGET CAN ALLOW RECOGNITION ASSUMING THE TARGET ATTITUDE IS KNOWN OR HAS BEEN
GUESSED ,ENGTH WIDTH AND LOCATION OF MAJOR SCATTERING FEATURES CAN BE PROJECTED
INTO A RANGE PROFILE IF THE ATTITUDE IS KNOWN 4HE NUMBER OF TYPES OF MAJOR CIVILIAN
AND MILITARY AIRCRAFT AND SHIPS IS AT MOST A FEW THOUSAND EASILY STORABLE IN MEMORY
5NFORTUNATELY RECOGNITION IS LIMITED TO BROAD CATEGORIES RATHER THAN -)' -
VERSUS -)' 3 EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES THAT AIR SHOW VISI
TORS CAN EASILY SEE
4HE BASIC NOTION OF DOPPLER RESONANCES STEPPED 3&7- AND MULTIFREQUENCY
-&2 SIGNATURES IS MODULATION EITHER BY REFLECTIONS FROM MOVING PARTS EG ENGINE
COMPRESSOR TURBINE ROTOR OR PROPELLER BLADES OR BY INTERACTIONS FROM SCATTERERS ALONG
THE AIRCRAFT OR VEHICLE EG FUSELAGE WING ANTENNAS OR STORES 3&7--&2 SIGNA
TURES ARE CLOSELY RELATED TO HIGH RANGE RESOLUTION SIGNATURES A &OURIER TRANSFORM EASILY
CONVERTS ONE TO THE OTHER AND THEY SUFFER THE SAME ATTITUDE ESTIMATION LIMITATIONS 4HE
PRINCIPAL ADVANTAGE TO -&2 IS THAT MANY DEPLOYED RADARS HAVE MULTIPLE CHANNELS AND
SWITCHING BETWEEN THEM ON A SINGLE TARGET IS RELATIVELY EASY ! SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF
THE RECOGNITION PROCESS IS SUMMARIZED IN &IGURE
$OPPLER SIGNATURES REQUIRE HIGH DOPPLER RESOLUTION WHICH IS USUALLY EASILY ACHIEVED
AND LIMITED ONLY BY DWELL TIME 4HE INDIVIDUAL SCATTERERS WHICH GIVE RISE TO DOPPLER
SPREAD ARE SMALL AND SO RECOGNITION IS USUALLY LIMITED TO A FRACTION TYPICAL OF
MAXIMUM RANGE *ET ENGINE MODULATION *%- A SUBSET OF DOPPLER SIGNATURES IS AN
EXCELLENT TARGET RECOGNITION METHOD %VEN AIRCRAFT WHICH USE THE SAME ENGINE TYPE
OFTEN HAVE VARIATIONS IN THE ENGINE APPLICATION SUCH AS THE NUMBER OF COMPRESSOR
BLADES OR NUMBER OF ENGINES WHICH ALLOWS UNIQUE TYPE RECOGNITION 4HE REAL PICTURE
OF *%- IS NOT SO CLEAN BECAUSE OF MULTIPLE ON AIRCRAFT BOUNCES STRADDLING AND SPEED
VARIATIONS BUT CENTROIDING OF EACH LINE IMPROVES THE SIGNATURE ESTIMATE 4HE LAST
METHOD OF 4)$ )3!2 WILL BE DEALT WITH IN ANOTHER SECTION )3!2 WORKS WELL ON BOTH
AIRCRAFT AND SHIPS ! TYPICAL TAIL HEMISPHERE AIR TO AIR )3!2 IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
&)'52% .ONCOOPERATIVE TARGET RECOGNITION SUBMODES
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% ! ! )3!2 EXAMPLE 4! "
4HE FUSION OF THE RECOGNITION OF EACH OF THE SIGNATURES ABOVE PROVIDES EXCELLENT
NONCOOPERATIVE RECOGNITION
7EATHER !VOIDANCE -ANY AIRCRAFT HAVE SEPARATE WEATHER RADARS 7EATHER
AVOIDANCE IS NORMALLY INCORPORATED INTO MODERN FIGHTER RADARS 4HE NORMAL OPERATING
FREQUENCY FOR A FIGHTER RADAR HAS NOT BEEN CONSIDERED OPTIMUM FOR WEATHER DETECTION
AND AVOIDANCEPRIMARILY DUE TO LACK OF PENETRATION DEPTH INTO A STORM AND REDUCED
OPERATING RANGE (OWEVER WITH COMPLEX ATMOSPHERIC ATTENUATION COMPENSATION AND
DOPPLER METHODS WEATHER CAN BE DETECTED WELL ENOUGH TO ALLOW WARNING AND AVOID
ANCE OF STORMS 4HE PRINCIPAL CHALLENGE IS COMPENSATING FOR BACKSCATTER FROM THE
LEADING EDGE OF A STORM AND ADJUSTING FOR ATTENUATION TO SEE FAR ENOUGH INTO A STORM TO
EVALUATE ITS SEVERITY 4HE BACKSCATTER FROM EACH CELL IS MEASURED THE POWER REMAINING
IS CALCULATED THE ATTENUATION IN THE NEXT CELL IS ESTIMATED AND THEN THE BACKSCATTER IN
THE NEXT CELL IS MEASURED AND SO ON 7HEN THE POWER IN THE CELLS DROPS TO THE NOISE
LEVEL THOSE CELLS BEHIND IT ARE DECLARED BLIND 3INCE PENETRATION RANGE INTO A STORM IS
NOT GREAT THE -&!2 WEATHER MODE USUALLY HAS PROVISIONS TO MARK THE LAST VISIBLE OR
RELIABLE RANGE ON THE WEATHER DISPLAY 4HIS IS SO THE PILOT DOES NOT FLY INTO A DARK AREA
BELIEVING THERE IS NO WEATHER
!IR $ATA ,INKS 4HE -&!2 IS PART OF A NETWORK OF SENSORS AND INFORMA
TION SOURCES #)32 NET SOMETIMES CALLED THE 'LOBAL )NFORMATION 'RID ')'
! MAJOR USE OF RADAR AND AIRCRAFT DATA LINKS IS TO PROVIDE TOTAL SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
"Y USING ON
BOARD AND OFF
BOARD SENSOR FUSION A TOTAL AIR AND GROUND PICTURE
CAN BE PRESENTED IN THE COCKPIT 4HIS PICTURE CAN BE A COMBINATION OF DATA FROM
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
xx
OTHER RADAR SENSORS WINGMAN OR SUPPORT AIRCRAFT ON SIMILAR PLATFORMS TO REPORTS BY
OBSERVERS WITH BINOCULARS "ECAUSE THE MODERN FIGHTER IS NET
CENTRIC USING EVERYTHING
AVAILABLE ON
AND OFF
BOARD THE AIRCRAFT NET
CENTRIC OPERATION REQUIRES DRAMATICALLY
HIGHER LEVELS OF DATA EXCHANGE AND FUSION OF DATA FOR PRESENTATION TO THE OPERATOR
2ADAR MODES CAN BE SCHEDULED BETWEEN MULTIPLE AIRCRAFT IN REAL TIME THROUGH THE
DATA LINKS
4HE TWO MAIN USES FOR DATA LINKS ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE AIRCRAFT ARE
HIGH BANDWIDTH IMAGERY TRANSMISSION FROM A WEAPON OR SENSOR PLATFORM TO A SECOND
PLATFORM OR GROUND STATION AND LOW BANDWIDTH TRANSMISSION OF CONTEXT TARGETING DATA
GUIDANCE AND HOUSEKEEPING COMMANDSn 4HE LARGEST QUANTITY OF DATA LINKS ARE
ASSOCIATED WITH WEAPONS 4HE WAVEFORM SELECTED TO TRANSMIT THIS AND OTHER DATA MUST
NOT COMPROMISE THE SIGNATURE OF THE PLATFORM AT EITHER END OF THE LINK n
4HERE ARE NUMEROUS DATA LINKS ON FIGHTERS 4ABLE SHOWS AIR DATA LINKS THAT MIGHT
BE ON A FIGHTER PLATFORM )N SPITE OF THIS FACT THE RADAR OR PART OF ITS APERTURE IS OFTEN
USED FOR A DATA LINK ESPECIALLY TO MISSILES ON THE FLY AND IN RESPONSE TO PEACETIME
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL INTERROGATIONS 0ULSE AMPLITUDE INCLUDING ON
OFF PULSE POSITION
PHASE SHIFT AND FREQUENCY SHIFT MODULATION ARE COMMONLY USED ,INKS MAY BE UNIDI
RECTIONAL OR BIDIRECTIONAL 3OME MISSILES REQUIRE SEMI
ACTIVE ILLUMINATION AS WELL AS
REFERENCE SIGNALS AND MIDCOURSE COMMAND DATA DERIVED FROM MISSILE AND TARGET TRACK
ING 4HE DATA TO AND FROM THE MISSILE IS OFTEN AN ENCRYPTED PHASE
CODE IN OR NEAR THE
RADAR OPERATING BAND )N SOME CASES THE FREQUENCY CHANNEL IS RANDOMLY SELECTED AT
THE FACTORY AND HARDWIRED INTO THE MISSILE &REQUENCY CHANNELS ARE TYPICALLY SELECTED
OR COMMUNICATED TO THE RADAR IMMEDIATELY BEFORE LAUNCH )F THE DATA LINK FREQUENCY IS
WELL BELOW THE RADAR BAND USUALLY A SMALL NUMBER OF RADIATORS AT THAT LOWER FREQUENCY
ARE IMBEDDED IN THE RADAR APERTURE )F THE FREQUENCY IS CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE RADAR BAND
THE RADAR APERTURE OR A SEGMENT OF THE APERTURE IS USED
2ADAR !PERTURE $ATALINKING (ISTORICALLY DATALINK FUNCTIONS EMBEDDED IN
-&!2S HAVE BEEN USED FOR THE MIDCOURSE GUIDANCE OF MISSILES !N EMERGING APPLICA
TION IS THE USE OF THE RADAR APERTURE AS A HIGH POWER HIGH GAIN PRIMARY DATALINK ANTENNA
4!",% !IR $ATA ,INKS
,INK
&REQ "AND
$ATA 2ATE KBS
%##-
!2#
!2#
!2#
!2#
4!$),
*4)$3
*4)$3 ,%4
*423
4!$)83
-&!2
-ILSTAR
4#$,
5(&
5(&
6(&
6(&5(&
5(&
,
,
,
6(&
8
5(&
8
+U
5(& +U
+A
8
+U
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
(IGH
(IGH
-ODERATE
-ODERATEn(IGH
-ODERATEn(IGH
-ODERATE
-ODERATE
-ODERATEn(IGH
-ODERATE
-ODERATEn(IGH
(IGH
-ODERATE
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WHERE DATALINK TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION ARE INTERLEAVED WITH OTHER MODES 4HE PRIN
CIPAL LIMITATION OF MOST GENERAL
PURPOSE DATALINK EQUIPMENT IS THE LOW POWER
APERTURE
PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATED WITH OMNIDIRECTIONAL OFTEN SHARED ANTENNA APERTURES AND LIM
ITED POWER LEVELS 4HIS CONSTRAINS ACHIEVABLE DATA TRANSFER RATES REGARDLESS OF CHANNEL
BANDWIDTH !N ASSOCIATED PROBLEM IS VULNERABILITY TO INTERCEPT AND JAMMING INHERENT IN
WIDEBEAM APERTURES !N 8 OR +U BAND -&!2 CAN EMIT POWER LEVELS IN THE MULTI
KILO
WATT RANGE WITH MAIN
BEAM BEAMWIDTHS OF A FEW DEGREES AFFORDING HIGH DATA RATES AND
SIGNIFICANT RESISTANCE TO JAMMING AND INTERCEPT 4RANSMIT DATA RATES OF OVER -BPS
AND RECEIVE DATA RATES OF UP TO 'BPS HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED USING A PRODUCTION !%3!
AND A MODIFIED #OMMON $ATA ,INK #$, WAVEFORM -ODELING USING REPRESENTATIVE
-&!2 PARAMETERS INDICATES THAT PERFORMANCE BOUNDS ARE AT SEVERAL 'BPS THROUGHPUT
OVER DISTANCES IN EXCESS OF NAUTICAL MILES SUBJECT TO -&!2 PERFORMANCE PLATFORM
ALTITUDE TROPOSPHERIC CONDITIONS AND FORWARD SCATTERING EFFECTS
)MPLEMENTATION REQUIRES ACCURATE ANTENNA POINTING SINCE THERE IS RELATIVE MOTION
WITH RESPECT TO THE OTHER END OF THE LINK /NE TECHNIQUE INVOLVES THE USE OF AN OUT
OF
BAND DATALINK CHANNEL EG *4)$3 TO CARRY '03 POSITION UPDATES $OPPLER SHIFTING
DUE TO LINK GEOMETRY DYNAMICS MUST BE ACTIVELY COMPENSATED ! RELATED ISSUE IS SYN
CHRONIZATION IN TIME TO ALLOCATE TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION WINDOWS AND TO SYNCHRONIZE
TIMEBASES 7HEN EXISTING WAVEFORMS MUST BE USED THIS CAN PRESENT CHALLENGES %XISTING
APERTURE SCHEDULING ALGORITHMS CAN THEN ALLOCATE TIME FOR TRANSMISSION OR RECEPTION
4O ACHIEVE VERY HIGH THROUGHPUTS PHASE LINEARITY IN TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE PATHS
IS CRITICAL SINCE DATA TRANSMISSION WAVEFORMS RELY ON MODULATION THAT IS EVERY BIT AS
COMPLEX AS MANY RADAR MODES 4HIS CAN ALSO IMPACT CHOICE OF TAPER FUNCTION BECAUSE
ANGULAR VARIATIONS IN PHASE ACROSS THE MAIN
BEAM WAVEFRONT MAY INCUR PERFORMANCE
PENALTIES 7HERE THE -&!2 IS PHASE STEERED APERTURE FILL AND SIDELOBE STEERING EFFECTS
CONSTRAIN USABLE APERTURE BANDWIDTH SIMILAR TO 3!2 LIMITATIONS 4HE LATTER IS BECAUSE
THE ELEMENT PHASE ANGLES REQUIRED TO POINT THE MAIN BEAM ARE NOT THE SAME AS THOSE FOR
THE OUTER SIDELOBES OF THE MODULATION USED
,OW BANDWIDTH DATA LINKS CAN USE ALL THE RADAR BANDWIDTH TO IMPROVE ENCRYPTION
AND SIGNAL
TO
JAM RATIOS (OWEVER THE DATA LINK ON A WEAPON IS TRAVELING TO THE TARGET
WHICH WILL INEVITABLY ATTEMPT TO PROTECT ITSELF 7HEN THE WEAPON IS NEAR THE TARGET
THE SIGNAL
TO
JAM RATIO CAN BE VERY UNFAVORABLE !NTENNA JAMMER NULLING IS USUALLY
REQUIRED SINCE TRANSMITTING MORE POWER TO BURN THROUGH MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE #LEARLY
THE DATA FROM AND TO A WEAPON MUST ALSO BE SUFFICIENTLY ENCRYPTED TO PREVENT TAKE
OVER
OF THE WEAPON IN FLIGHT
4IME SYNCHRONIZED WITH A RADAR TRANSMISSION ON A DIFFERENT SET OF BEAMS ANDOR FRE
QUENCIES MESSAGES ARE SENT TO ONE OR MORE MISSILES ON THE FLY TO THE TARGETS /BVIOUSLY
ALL THE RANDOM FREQUENCY DIVERSITY SPREAD SPECTRUM AND ENCRYPTION NECESSARY FOR
ROBUST COMMUNICATION SHOULD BE INCORPORATED INTO THE MESSAGE %ACH MISSILE MAY
ANSWER BACK AT A KNOWN BUT RANDOMIZED OFFSET FREQUENCY AND TIME WITH IMAGE OR
HOUSEKEEPING DATA !GAIN A WAVEFORM AS ROBUST AS POSSIBLE IS USED BUT SINCE THE BASE
BAND DATA AND LINK GEOMETRY MAY BE QUITE DIFFERENT THE DATA COMPRESSION DIVERSITY
AND ENCRYPTION MAY BE DIFFERENT
4HE MISSILE DATALINK WAVEFORM USUALLY MUST BE STEALTHY AND GREATLY ATTENUATED IN
THE DIRECTION OF THE TARGET SINCE ONE COUNTERMEASURES STRATEGY IS A DECEPTION REPEATER
JAMMER AT THE TARGET (IGH ACCURACY TIME AND FREQUENCY SYNCHRONIZATION INCLUDING
RANGE OPENING AND DOPPLER EFFECTS BETWEEN BOTH ENDS OF THE LINK CAN DRAMATICALLY
REDUCE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF JAMMING BY NARROWING THE SUSCEPTIBILITY WINDOW 4IME
AND FREQUENCY SYNCHRONIZATION ALSO MINIMIZES ACQUISITION OR REACQUISITION TIME
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
!N AIRCRAFT USING A DATA LINK IS MOVING WITH RESPECT TO THE OTHER END OF THE LINK
SO THE LINK GEOMETRY IS CONTINUALLY CHANGING IN TIME FREQUENCY ASPECT AND ATTITUDE
4HE SIGNAL PROCESSOR WILL GENERATE WAVEFORMS FOR TRANSMISSION BY THE SEEKER OR DATA
LINK )T WILL ALSO MEASURE TARGET RANGE ANGLE DOPPLER AND SO ON AND PROVIDE THOSE TO
THE OTHER PLATFORM 4HE -&!2 SIGNAL PROCESSOR SENDS MOTION SENSING AND NAVIGATION
ESTIMATES TO CORRECT MEASUREMENTS TO TRACK ENCODE AND DECODE DATALINK MESSAGES
AND TO PERFORM JAMMER NULLING
"EACON 2ENDEZVOUS AND 3TATION +EEPING -OST MODERN MILITARY AIRCRAFT
DEPEND ON IN
FLIGHT REFUELING FOR MANY MISSIONS 4HIS REQUIRES RENDEZVOUS WITH TANKER
AIRCRAFT DURING ALL WEATHER CONDITIONS AS WELL AS STATION KEEPING UNTIL AIRCRAFT CURRENTLY
IN LINE FOR REFUELING DEPART 4HIS MAY INVOLVE DETECTING A CODED BEACON ON THE TANKER
SKIN TRACKING TANKERS AND OTHER AIRCRAFT AT CLOSE RANGE 3TATION KEEPING RANGES CAN BE
BETWEEN AND S OF METERS 3PECIAL SHORT
RANGE RADAR MODES ARE USUALLY USED FOR
THIS PURPOSE ,OW POWER SHORT PULSE OR &-
#7 WAVEFORMS ARE OFTEN USED /NE METER
ACCURACY AND METER MINIMUM RANGE IS USUALLY REQUIRED FOR BLIND TANKING
(IGH 0OWER
!PERTURE *AMMING 4HE BASIC NOTION BEHIND -&!2 HIGH POWER
APERTURE JAMMING IS SUGGESTED IN &IGURE
! THREAT EMITTER WHETHER SURFACE OR AIRBORNE IS FIRST DETECTED AND RECOGNIZED
BY THE SPHERICAL COVERAGE RADAR WARNING RECEIVER 272 FUNCTION POSSIBLY JUST AN
APPLICATION OVERLAY ON THE 2& AND PROCESSING INFRASTRUCTURE SHOWN IN &IGURE
)F THE INTERCEPT IS INSIDE THE RADAR FIELD OF VIEW &/6 FINE ANGLE
OF
ARRIVAL !/!
AND POSSIBLY BURST RANGING ARE PERFORMED WITH THE PRIMARY RADAR APERTURE AS SHOWN
IN THE TOP PORTION OF &IGURE (IGH
GAIN ELECTRONIC SUPPORT MEASURES %3- ARE
THEN PERFORMED AND RECORDED ON THE EMITTER MAIN BEAM OR SIDELOBES USING THE NOSE
APERTURE )F IT IS DETERMINED FROM AN ON
BOARD THREAT TABLE CURRENT RULES OF ENGAGE
MENT OR MISSION PLAN HIGH POWER DENSITY JAMMING BASED ON THE CORRESPONDING
ON
BOARD TECHNIQUES TABLE MAY BE INITIATED USING THE HIGH
GAIN NOSE APERTURE
&)'52% -&!2 %#- EXAMPLE
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
"ECAUSE THE ADVERSARY RADAR MAY ALSO BE A -&!2 THREAT TABLES WILL BE REQUIRED TO
CATEGORIZE THEM BY THEIR APPARENT STATISTICAL NATURE /LD STYLE MATCHING BY 02& PULSE
WIDTH AND PULSE TRAIN ENVELOPE WONT WORK VERY WELL BECAUSE WAVEFORMS VARY SO
MUCH 4HE TYPICAL NOSE APERTURE RADARnBASED EFFECTIVE RADIATED PEAK POWER %200
CAN EASILY EXCEED D"7 WHICH IS NORMALLY MORE THAN ENOUGH TO PLAY HOB WITH THREAT
RADARS &OR EXAMPLE ASSUMING A '(Z IN
BAND SIGNAL n D"I THREAT SIDELOBE
AND n D"7 THREAT SENSITIVITY A JAMMING PULSE D" ABOVE MINIMUM SENSITIVITY
CAN BE GENERATED AT KM /BVIOUSLY IN THE NEAR SIDELOBES OR MAIN BEAM THE RANGE
FOR A D" PULSE WILL BE MUCH GREATER
x{ - "
-
,*/" -E76
", 4ERRAIN &OLLOWING 4ERRAIN !VOIDANCE 4HE NEXT EXAMPLE IS TERRAIN FOLLOWING
TERRAIN AVOIDANCE 4&4! SHOWN IN &IGURE )N TERRAIN FOLLOWING 4& THE ANTENNA
SCANS SEVERAL VERTICAL BARS ORIENTED ALONG THE AIRCRAFT VELOCITY VECTOR AND GENERATES AN
ALTITUDE
RANGE PROFILE THAT IS SOMETIMES DISPLAYED TO THE PILOT ON AN %
SCAN DISPLAY
$EPENDING ON THE AIRCRAFTS MANEUVERING CAPABILITIES THERE IS A CONTROL PROFILE G
ACCELERATION MANEUVER CONTROL LINE SHOWN AS AN UPWARD CURVING LINE IN THE UPPER RIGHT
OF &IGURE n )F THIS CONCEPTUAL LINE INTERCEPTS THE TERRAIN ANYWHERE IN RANGE AN
AUTOMATIC UP MANEUVER IS PERFORMED 4HERE IS ALSO A CONCEPTUAL PUSHOVER LINE NOT
SHOWN IN THE FIGURE WHICH CAUSES A CORRESPONDING DOWN MANEUVER 4HE CONTROL PRO
FILE IN MODERN AIRCRAFT IS AUTOMATIC BECAUSE A HUMAN PILOT DOES NOT HAVE THE REFLEXES
TO AVOID ALL POSSIBLE DETECTED OBSTACLES
)N TERRAIN AVOIDANCE 4! THE ANTENNA SCAN IS IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE SHOWN IN THE
UPPER LEFT OF &IGURE 3EVERAL ALTITUDE PLANE CUTS ARE ESTIMATED AND PRESENTED TO
&)'52% 4&4! MODE EXAMPLE ADAPTED COURTESY 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
THE PILOT ON AN AZIMUTH RANGE DISPLAY SHOWN IN THE LOWER RIGHT OF &IGURE 4HE
TERRAIN AVOIDANCE SCAN PATTERN SHOWS ALL THE TERRAIN THAT IS NEAR OR ABOVE THE FLIGHT
ALTITUDE AND ONE CUT BELOW AT A SET CLEARANCE ALTITUDE FT TYPICALLY &IGURE
LOWER LEFT AND LOWER RIGHT SHOWS THE SITUATION GEOMETRY OF AN AIRCRAFT FLYING TOWARD
TWO HILLS AND THE CORRESPONDING ALTITUDE CUTS DISPLAYED TO THE PILOT 4HIS ALLOWS EITHER
MANUAL OR AUTOMATIC TURNING FLIGHT TO MAINTAIN A LOWER ALTITUDE
4&4! ALLOWS AN AIRCRAFT TO PENETRATE AT LOW ALTITUDE USING THE TERRAIN AS MASKING
THUS PREVENTING EARLY DETECTION 4&4! IS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF STEALTH EVEN WHEN THE
ALTITUDE IS NOT ALL THAT LOW BECAUSE LOWER ALTITUDES PROVIDE SOME TERRAIN OBSCURATION
AND MANY OTHER COMPETING TARGETS WITH SIMILAR CROSS SECTIONS
4ERRAIN (EIGHT %STIMATION 3OME OF THE FEATURES OF 4&4! ARE THE REQUIRED SCAN
PATTERN THE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT FREQUENCY LOOKS REQUIRED TO OBTAIN A VALID ESTIMATE
OF THE HEIGHT OF A POSSIBLY SCINTILLATING OBJECT ALONG THE FLIGHT PATH AND THE RANGE COV
ERAGE "ECAUSE TERRAIN HEIGHT IS ESTIMATED THROUGH AN ELEVATION MEASUREMENT ANGLE
ACCURACY IS CRITICAL 4HE RANGE COVERAGE ALTHOUGH SHORT REQUIRES MULTIPLE OVERLAPPING
BEAMS AND MULTIPLE WAVEFORMS /NE METHOD FOR CALCULATING TERRAIN HEIGHT IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE )T CONSISTS OF MEASURING THE CENTROID AND EXTENT OF EACH INDIVIDUAL BEAM
POSITION OVER MANY PULSES AND ESTIMATING THE TOP OF THE TERRAIN IN EACH BEAM AS SHOWN
IN THE FIGURE 4HE CALCULATION IS SUMMARIZED IN %Q
3I r $I
0R \ 3I \ POWER RECEIVED #R 2E I
CENTROID
0R
I
\ $I \
%R I
#R EXTENT SQUARED 4 #R r %R TERRAIN TOP ESTIMATE
0R
WHERE 3I IS A SINGLE SUM MONOPULSE MEASUREMENT $I IS THE CORRESPONDING ELEVATION
DIFFERENCE MONOPULSE MEASUREMENT
5SUALLY THE RANGE
ELEVATION PROFILE IS MEASURED IN MULTIPLE SEGMENTS WITH SEPARATE
02&S AND PULSEWIDTHS 4HE LOWEST 02& IS USED TO MEASURE THE LONGEST
RANGE PORTION
OF THE PROFILE AT THE TOP OF THE ELEVATION SCAN )T USES THE LARGEST PULSE COMPRESSION RATIO
n %ACH BEAM POSITION OVERLAPS BY AS MUCH AS AND MULTIPLE FREQUENCY
&)'52% 4ERRAIN HEIGHT ESTIMATION #OURTESY 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
LOOKS IN EACH BEAM CREATE AS MANY AS INDEPENDENT LOOKS 4HE SHORTEST RANGE AT THE
BOTTOM OF THE ELEVATION SCAN USES A SHORT PULSE WITH NO PULSE COMPRESSION AND A MUCH
HIGHER 02& BUT THE SAME NUMBER OF LOOKS 4HE PULSES IN A 4/4 ARE ALL THE PULSES THAT
ILLUMINATE A SINGLE SPOT FROM THE OVERLAPPING BEAMS %ACH OVERLAPPING BEAM MUST BE
COMPENSATED FOR THE ANTENNA LOOK ANGLE BEFORE THE BEAMS CAN BE SUMMED FOR A TERRAIN
HEIGHT ESTIMATE FROM ALL THE BEAMS 4HE RADAR CROSS SECTION OF THE TERRAIN COULD BE
QUITE LOW EG SNOW
COVERED LEVEL TREELESS TERRAIN SO SOME PULSES MAY BE INTEGRATED
COHERENTLY TO IMPROVE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO FOR A #0) OF UP TO PULSES AS SHOWN IN THE
4&4! ENTRY IN 4ABLE
4ERRAIN $ATABASE -ERGING &OR THE PURPOSES OF SAFETY AS WELL AS STEALTH ACTIVE
RADAR MEASUREMENTS ARE MERGED WITH A PRESTORED TERRAIN DATABASE &IGURE SHOWS
THE GENERAL CONCEPT OF MERGED 4&4! MEASUREMENTS WITH STORED DATA
!CTIVE RADAR MEASUREMENTS ARE MADE OUT TO A FEW MILES 4HE INSTANT USE TERRAIN DATA
BASE EXTENDS OUT TO PERHAPS TEN MILES 4HE TERRAIN DATABASE CANNOT BE COMPLETELY CURRENT
AND MAY CONTAIN CERTAIN SYSTEMATIC ERRORS &OR EXAMPLE THE DATABASE CANNOT CONTAIN
THE HEIGHT OF WIRES STRUNG BETWEEN TOWERS OR STRUCTURES ERECTED SINCE THE DATABASE WAS
PREPARED &OR THE LOWEST POSSIBLE FLIGHT PROFILES WITH LESS THAN n PROBABILITY OF CRASH
PER MISSION THE PRESTORED DATA IS MERGED AND VERIFIED WITH ACTIVE RADAR MEASUREMENTS
,OW CRASH PROBABILITIES MAY ALSO REQUIRE SOME HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REDUNDANCY )N
ADDITION AS THE AIRCRAFT FLIES DIRECTLY OVER A PIECE OF TERRAIN COMBINED TERRAIN PROFILE IS
VERIFIED BY A RADAR ALTIMETER FUNCTION 4%2#/-4%202/- IN THE 2& AND PROCESSOR
COMPLEX 5SUALLY THE PRESTORED DATA IS GENERATED AT THE REQUIRED RESOLUTION BEFORE A
MISSION FROM THE WORLDWIDE DIGITAL TERRAIN ELEVATION DATABASE $4%$
3EA 3URFACE 3EARCH !CQUISITION AND 4RACK 3EA SURFACE SEARCH ACQUISITION
AND TRACK ARE ORIENTED TOWARD THREE TYPES OF TARGETS SURFACE SHIPS SUBMARINES SNORKEL
ING OR NEAR THE SURFACE AND SEARCH AND RESCUE 4RACKING MAY BE PRELIMINARY TO ATTACK
WITH ANTISHIP WEAPONS !LTHOUGH MOST SHIPS ARE LARGE RADAR TARGETS THEY MOVE RELA
TIVELY SLOWLY COMPARED TO LAND VEHICLES AND AIRCRAFT )N ADDITION SEA CLUTTER EXHIBITS
BOTH CURRENT AND WIND
DRIVEN MOTION AS WELL AS hSPIKYv BEHAVIOR 4HESE FACTS OFTEN
REQUIRE HIGH RESOLUTION AND MULTIPLE LOOKS IN FREQUENCY OR TIME TO ALLOW SMOOTHING OF
SEA CLUTTER FOR STABLE DETECTION AND TRACK )F THE TARGET IS A SIGNIFICANT SURFACE VES
SEL THEN 2#3 MIGHT BE M AND A M RANGE RESOLUTION MIGHT BE USED FOR SEARCH
&)'52% 4&4! TERRAIN MERGING #OURTESY 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
&)'52% 2ANGE PROFILE SHIP RECOGNITION
AND ACQUISITION )F THE TARGET IS A PERISCOPE OR PERSON IN A LIFE RAFT THEN M RESOLU
TION MIGHT BE USED SINCE THE 2#3 MIGHT BE LESS THAN M AND SMOOTHING IS ESPECIALLY
IMPORTANT $0#! AND DOPPLER PROCESSING IS OFTEN INTERLEAVED WITH TRADITIONAL BRIGHT
D" OR GREATER ABOVE BACKGROUND TARGET DETECTION ,OWER 02&S ARE USUALLY USED
WHICH IMPLY RELATIVELY HIGH PULSE COMPRESSION RATIOS AS SHOWN IN 4ABLE 3CAN
RATES ARE OFTEN SLOW WITH ONE BAR TAKING SECONDS
! HIGH RANGE RESOLUTION PROFILE CAN BE USED TO RECOGNIZE A SHIP JUST AS WITH AN
AIRCRAFT )T NATURALLY HAS THE SAME WEAKNESS PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED AND THE ASPECT
OR ATTITUDE MUST BE KNOWN )F THE ATTITUDE IS KNOWN THEN THE MAJOR SCATTERERS CAN BE
MAPPED INTO A RANGE PROFILE AND CORRELATED WITH THE SHIP POWER RETURN IN EACH CELL !N
EXAMPLE OF A SHIP RANGE PROFILE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HESE PROFILES ARE USUALLY
GENERATED IN TRACK WHEN THE PROFILE IS STABILIZED IN RANGE
4HE WAKE OF A SURFACE SHIP OR SUBMARINE NEAR THE SURFACE PROVIDES A SUBSTANTIAL
CROSS SECTION OVER TIME BUT REQUIRES SURFACE STABILIZED INTEGRATION OVER nS OF
SECONDS %ARTHS SURFACE STABILIZED INTEGRATION CAN BE DONE USING A MOTION COM
PENSATED DOPPLER BEAM SHARPENING $"3 MODE
)NVERSE 3!2 ! FAR MORE RELIABLE METHOD OF SHIP RECOGNITION IS INVERSE SYNTHETIC
APERTURE RADAR )3!2 4HE BASIC NOTION IS THAT THE MOTION OF A RIGID OBJECT CAN BE
RESOLVED INTO A TRANSLATION AND ROTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE LINE OF SIGHT TO THE TARGET 4HE
ROTATION GIVES RISE TO A DIFFERENTIAL RATE OF PHASE CHANGE ACROSS THE OBJECT 4HE PHASE
HISTORY DIFFERENCES CAN BE MATCH FILTERED TO RESOLVE INDIVIDUAL SCATTERERS IN A RANGE CELL
#ONCEPTUALLY SUCH A MATCHED FILTER IS NO DIFFERENT THAN A FILTER USED TO MATCH A PHASE
CODED PULSE COMPRESSION WAVEFORM 4HIS IS THE BASIS OF ALL 3!2 2#3 RANGE IMAGING
OBSERVED GEOMETRIC TARGET ACCELERATION TURNTABLE IMAGING AND )3!2
! SHIP IN OPEN WATER EXHIBITS ROLL PITCH AND YAW MOTIONS ABOUT ITS CENTER OF GRAV
ITY CG &OR EXAMPLE &IGURE SHOWS A ROLLING MOTION OF o n THAT MIGHT BE
EXHIBITED BY A SHIP IN CALM SEAS 4HE ROLL MOTION MIGHT HAVE A PERIOD OF SECONDS
4HE MOTION OF ALMOST ALL THE SCATTERERS ON A LARGE COMBATANT ARE MOVING IN ARCS OF
CIRCLES PROJECTED AS SEGMENTS OF ELLIPSES TO A RADAR OBSERVER &OR A RADAR OBSERVER THE
CHANGE IN RANGE D2 ASSOCIATED WITH A ROLL MOVEMENT IS A FUNCTION OF THE HEIGHT H
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% )NVERSE 3!2 NOTION
OF THE SCATTERER ABOVE THE CENTER OF GRAVITY 4HE APPROXIMATE RANGE RATE FOR EACH SCAT
TERER IN ROLLING PITCH YAW MOTION AT A HEIGHT H IS THE TIME DERIVATIVE OF 2 SHOWN IN
&IGURE &OR A GIVEN DESIRED CROSS RANGE RESOLUTION WITH REASONABLE SIDELOBES $RC
A MUST BE EQUAL TO $RC K &OR THE EXAMPLE FT CROSS RANGE RESOLUTION IS OBTAINABLE
WITH A
SECOND OBSERVATION TIME 4HE CORRESPONDING DOPPLER AND DOPPLER RATES ARE
ALSO GIVEN IN &IGURE
&OR A SHIP WHOSE PRINCIPAL SCATTERERS ARE LESS THAN FT ABOVE THE CENTER OF GRAVITY
THE DOPPLERS WILL BE IN THE RANGE OF o (Z AT 8 BAND WITH A RATE OF CHANGE OF UP TO
o (ZS !S LONG AS THE IMAGE RESOLUTION IS NOT TOO GREAT EACH RANGE
DOPPLER BIN CAN
BE MATCH FILTERED USING THE HYPOTHESIZED MOTION FOR EACH SCATTERER AND AN IMAGE CAN
BE FORMED ON THE SHIP %ACH RANGE BIN MAY CONTAIN MULTIPLE SCATTERERS FROM THE SHIP
IN A GIVEN ROLL PLANE AND THEY MAY BE DISTINGUISHED BY THEIR DIFFERING PHASE HISTORY
(OWEVER SCATTERERS IN THE PITCH AXIS AT THE SAME RANGE AND ROLL HEIGHT CANNOT BE SEPA
RATED !LTHOUGH PITCH AND YAW MOTIONS ARE SLOWER THEY ALSO EXIST AND ALLOW SEPARATION
IN OTHER SIMILAR PLANES
2EASONABLY GOOD IMAGES COUPLED WITH EXPERIENCED RADAR OPERATORS ALLOW RECOGNI
TION OF MOST SURFACE COMBATANTS 2ECOGNITION AIDS USING PRESTORED SHIP PROFILES ALLOW
IDENTIFICATION TO HULL NUMBER IN MANY CASES !N EXAMPLE OF A SINGLE )3!2 IMAGE OF
A LANDING ASSAULT SHIP IS GIVEN IN &IGURE 4HE RADAR IN THIS CASE IS ILLUMINATING
&)'52% 3INGLE )3!2 SHIP IMAGE
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
THE SHIP FROM THE BOW AT KM AND n GRAZING 4HE BRIGHT SCATTERERS EXHIBIT CROSS
RANGE SIDELOBES WHICH CAN BE PARTIALLY REDUCED BY SENSING LARGE RETURNS THEN APPLY
ING AMPLITUDE WEIGHTING AND DISPLAY COMPRESSION AS HAS BEEN DONE IN THIS IMAGE
)NTEGRATION OF MULTIPLE )3!2 IMAGES DRAMATICALLY IMPROVES QUALITY
!IR
TO
'ROUND 2ANGING !IR
TO
GROUND RANGING IS USED MOST OFTEN FOR TARGET
ING OF GUNS DUMB BOMBS AND MISSILES WITH SHORT
RANGE SEEKERS AGAINST FIXED OR
SLOW MOVING TARGETS 4HE TARGET IS DETECTED AND DESIGNATED IN SOME OTHER MODE
SUCH AS '-4) $"3 3!2 OR 333 4HE DESIGNATED TARGET IS TRACKED IN RANGE AND
ANGLE TO PROVIDE A MORE ACCURATE DISTANCE AND ANGLE TO THE TARGET 4HE TRACKING
MAY BE OPEN OR CLOSED LOOP 4HE ESTIMATES ARE THEN PROVIDED TO THE WEAPON BEFORE
AND AFTER LAUNCH $EPENDING ON DISTANCE ANOTHER DESIGNATOR SUCH AS A LASER AND
THE RADAR MAY BE ALTERNATELY SLAVED TO ONE ANOTHER "OTH THE RADAR AND THE OTHER
DESIGNATOR MAY BE SUBJECT TO ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTION ESPECIALLY AT LOW ALTITUDES
WHICH IS SOMETIMES ESTIMATED AND COMPENSATED
0RECISION 6ELOCITY 5PDATE 0RECISION VELOCITY UPDATE 065 IS USED FOR NAVIGA
TION CORRECTION TO AN INERTIAL PLATFORM !LTHOUGH '03 UPDATES ARE COMMONLY USED TO
PROVIDE NAVIGATION IN MANY SITUATIONS A MILITARY AIRCRAFT CANNOT DEPEND SOLELY ON ITS
AVAILABILITY &URTHERMORE INERTIAL SENSORS ARE USED TO FILL IN BETWEEN '03 MEASURE
MENTS EVEN UNDER THE BEST CIRCUMSTANCES )NERTIAL SENSORS ARE EXTREMELY GOOD OVER
SHORT SPAN TIMES BUT VELOCITY DRIFT IS A MAJOR LONG
TIME ERROR SOURCE EG KMH
ACCUMULATES M ERROR PER MINUTE ! RADAR MODE MAY REQUIRE POSITION TO KM
FOR PROPER OPERATION
065 GENERALLY USES THREE OR MORE ANTENNA BEAM POSITIONS IN WHICH IT MAKES A
VELOCITY MEASUREMENT AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HIS MODE DIRECTLY EMULATES DEDI
CATED RADAR DOPPLER NAVIGATORS 4HERE IS A THREE
STAGE VELOCITY MEASUREMENT PROCESS
&IRST THE SURFACE IS AUTOMATICALLY ACQUIRED IN RANGE 3ECOND A FINE RANGE MEASUREMENT
IS MADE OFTEN USING MONOPULSE DISCRIMINANTS AND RANGE CENTROIDING SIMILAR TO THAT
SHOWN IN %Q 4HIRD A LINE
OF
SIGHT VELOCITY MEASUREMENT 6,/3 USING DOPPLER
ANDOR RANGE RATE IS MADE ALSO USING CENTROIDING "ECAUSE TERRAIN MAY BE RISING OR FALL
ING AT THE ILLUMINATED PATCHES GIVING RISE TO VELOCITY ERRORS TERRAIN SLOPE IS ESTIMATED
AND USED TO CORRECT THE ESTIMATED VELOCITY
&)'52% 0RECISION VELOCITY UPDATE
CONCEPT
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
! +ALMAN FILTER A RECURSIVE FILTER THAT ADAPTIVELY COMBINES MODELS OF TARGET MEA
SUREMENTS AND OF ERRORS IS EMPLOYED TO PROVIDE A BETTER ESTIMATE OF AIRCRAFT VELOCITY
!LTHOUGH THIS PROCEDURE CAN BE PERFORMED OVER LAND OR WATER SEA CURRENTS MAKE OVER
WATER MEASUREMENTS FAR LESS ACCURATE 4HIS VELOCITY MEASUREMENT PROVIDES IN
FLIGHT
TRANSFER ALIGNMENT OF THE VARIOUS INERTIAL PLATFORMS AIRCRAFT WEAPONS AND RADAR ! SET
OF OUTPUTS IS PROVIDED TO THE MISSION MANAGEMENT COMPUTER FUNCTION INCLUDING .ORTH
%AST
$OWN .%$ VELOCITY ERRORS AND ESTIMATES OF STATISTICAL ACCURACIES
3NIFF OR 0ASSIVE ,ISTENING -OST MODES HAVE A PRECURSOR SUBPROGRAM CALLED
SNIFF WHICH LOOKS FOR PASSIVE DETECTIONS IN A TENTATIVE OPERATING CHANNEL BEFORE ANY
RADAR EMISSIONS IN THAT CHANNEL 4HE DETECTIONS COULD BE A FRIENDLY INTERFEROR A JAMMER
OR AN INADVERTENT INTERFEROR SUCH AS A FAULTY CIVILIAN COMMUNICATIONS TRANSPONDER
4HIS LAST EXAMPLE IS THE MOST COMMON IN THE AUTHORS EXPERIENCE )T IS NOT UNCOMMON
FOR A FAULTY TRANSPONDER TO APPEAR AS A MILLION SQUARE METER TARGET
$OPPLER "EAM 3HARPENING $"3 $"3 IS VERY SIMILAR TO SYNTHETIC APER
TURE RADAR 3!2 SINCE BOTH USE THE DOPPLER SPREAD ACROSS THE ANTENNA MAIN BEAM TO
CREATE HIGHER RESOLUTION IN THE CROSS BEAM DIRECTION 4HE PRINCIPAL DIFFERENCE IS
THE AMOUNT OF ANGULAR COVERAGE BEAM SCANNING RESOLUTION DATA GATHERING TIME AND
ACCURACY OF MATCHED FILTERING IN EACH RANGE
DOPPLER CELL ! $"3 MAP MAY TAKE A SEC
OND TO GATHER OVER AN ANGLE OF n $EPENDING ON THE ANGLE FROM THE AIRCRAFT VELOCITY
VECTOR A 3!2 MAP OF A FEW FEET RESOLUTION MAY TAKE TENS OF SECONDS TO GATHER AT 8
BAND $"3 AND 3!2 ARE COMPARED IN A QUALITATIVE WAY IN &IGURE
!S THE BEAM IS POSITIONED CLOSER TO THE VELOCITY VECTOR THE DOPPLER SPREAD IS SMALLER
AND SO COHERENT DWELL TIMES MUST INCREASE FOR THE SAME RESOLUTION 5SUALLY THERE IS A
TRANSITION FROM SHORTER COHERENT PROCESSING INTERVALS #0)S AND LONGER POST DETECTION
INTEGRATIONS 0$)S TO LONGER #0)S AND SHORTER 0$)S AS THE BEAM APPROACHES THE AIR
CRAFT VELOCITY VECTOR .EAR NOSE
ON DWELL TIMES BECOME PROHIBITIVE AND THE SCAN CENTER
IS FILLED WITH REAL BEAM MAPPING 4HE REAL BEAM USES THE SAME RANGE RESOLUTION BUT
BECAUSE RETURNS FROM THE ENTIRE BEAM ARE USED SOME AMPLITUDE EQUALIZATION IS REQUIRED
TO PROVIDE UNIFORM CONTRAST AND BRIGHTNESS ACROSS THE WHOLE MAP 3OME EFFORT IS MADE
&)'52% $OPPLER BEAM SHARPENING $"3 COMPARISON TO 3!2
-5,4)&5.#4)/.!, 2!$!2 3934%-3 &/2 &)'(4%2 !)2#2!&4
xx
&)'52% $"3 PROCESSING ADAPTED COURTESY 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING
TO MATCH FILTER BOTH IN RANGE CLOSURE AND PHASE HISTORY THE DOPPLER SPREAD SINCE ISO
RANGE AND ISO
DOPPLERS ARE NOT CLOSE TO ORTHOGONAL NEAR THE AIRCRAFT VELOCITY VECTOR SEE
&IGURE 3!2 ON THE OTHER HAND IS USUALLY FULLY MATCHED RELATIVE TO THE DESIRED
RESOLUTION AND PHASE HISTORY IN EVERY RANGE
DOPPLER CELL
&IGURE SHOWS THE SIGNAL PROCESSING THAT MIGHT BE FOUND IN $"3 MODE )T
CONSISTS OF MULTIPLE TIME AROUND ECHO -4!% SUPPRESSION AMPLITUDE WEIGHTING TO
IMPROVE SIDELOBES PRESUMMATION AN &&4 FILTER BANK MAGNITUDE DETECTION IN EACH
USABLE FILTER OUTPUT PLACEMENT OF EACH FILTER OUTPUT IN THE CORRECT GROUND STABILIZED
LOCATION FOLLOWED BY POST DETECTION INTEGRATION AND SCALING FOR THE DISPLAY FOR CON
STANT BRIGHTNESS AND DYNAMIC RANGE $EPENDING ON GRAZING ANGLE AMBIGUOUS RETURNS
MAY COMPETE WITH THE REGION TO BE IMAGED /FTEN A COMBINATION OF SENSITIVITY TIME
CONTROL 34# AND PULSE TO PULSE PHASE CODING IS USED TO REJECT MULTIPLE TIME AROUND
ECHOES -4!% 4HE AMOUNT OF PRESUMMATION 02%35- AND POST DETECTION
INTEGRATION 0$) AS A FUNCTION OF BEAM POSITION OFF THE VELOCITY VECTOR IS SHOWN IN THE
LOWER RIGHT OF &IGURE &OR EACH DIFFERENT ANGLE THERE IS A DIFFERENT DOPPLER SPREAD
ACROSS THE BEAM 4HEREFORE IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN A CONSTANT BEAM
SHARPENING RATIO
DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF PRESUMMING MUST BE USED FOR EACH BEAM POSITION 0RESUMMING
IS THE FORMATION OF AN UNFOCUSSED SYNTHETIC BEAM IE THERE IS LITTLE OR NO ATTEMPT TO
MATCH THE EXACT PHASE HISTORY OF SURFACE POINTS INSIDE THE REAL ANTENNA BEAM BY WHAT
IS ESSENTIALLY A LOWPASS FILTER 4HIS WOULD RESULT IN DIFFERENT TARGET BRIGHTNESS AND CON
TRAST IF IT WERE NOT COMPENSATED BY APPLYING A CORRESPONDING POST DETECTION INTEGRATION
0$) FOR EACH ANGLE AS SHOWN IN &IGURE
-ULTIPLE FREQUENCY LOOKS ARE USED TO REDUCE SPECKLE IN THE IMAGE AND SO SEVERAL
DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES ARE 0$)ED 4HE #0) IS THE PRESUM RATIO TIMES THE NUMBER OF FILTER
SAMPLES n IS TYPICAL %ACH #0) MAY HAVE MINOR CHANGES IN THE 02& TO SIM
PLIFY PROCESSING AND COMPENSATE FOR AIRCRAFT MANEUVERS 4HE AIRCRAFT MAY TRAVEL FT
DURING THE GATHERING TIME 4HERE IS CONSIDERABLE TRANSPORT DELAY IN MOST 3!2 AND
$"3 PROCESSING AS A RESULT PROCESSED RETURNS MUST BE RECTIFIED IE COMPENSATED FOR
GEOMETRIC DISTORTION MOTION COMPENSATED AND MAPPED INTO THE PROPER SPACE ANGLE
AND RANGE POSITION 3INCE $"3 USUALLY MAPS A LARGE AREA TO PROVIDE OVERALL GROUND
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS THE TOTAL RANGE COVERAGE IS OFTEN COVERED IN MULTIPLE ELEVATION
BEAMS AND RANGE SWATHS 4HIS IS TRANSPARENT TO THE OPERATOR BUT REQUIRES DIFFERENT
02&S PULSEWIDTHS FILTER SHAPES AND DWELL TIMES
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!LTHOUGH AN -&!2 CONTAINS A VERY STABLE TIME REFERENCE UNCERTAINTIES IN THE RATE
OF CHANGE OF TERRAIN HEIGHT REFRACTION WINDS ALOFT AND VERY LONG COHERENT INTEGRATION
TIMES FORCE THE MEASUREMENT OF THE CLUTTER DOPPLER ERROR VERSUS PREDICTED FREQUENCY TO
MAINTAIN PROPER FOCUS AND BIN REGISTRATION AS SHOWN IN THE UPPER RIGHT IN &IGURE
! SIMILAR FUNCTION IS PERFORMED IN 3!2 AS WELL
3YNTHETIC !PERTURE 2ADAR !S IS THE CASE FOR $"3 3!2 IS A MULTIRATE
FILTERING
PROBLEM IE A CASCADE OF FILTERS IN WHICH THE INPUT SAMPLING RATE IS HIGHER THAN THE
OUTPUT SAMPLING RATE AS SHOWN IN &IGURE WHICH REQUIRES VERY CAREFUL ATTENTION TO
RANGE AND AZIMUTH FILTER SIDELOBES 4YPICALLY THE SPACING OF INDIVIDUAL PULSES ON THE
GROUND IS CHOSEN TO BE MUCH CLOSER THAN THE DESIRED ULTIMATE RESOLUTION 4HIS ALLOWS
LINEAR RANGE CLOSURE AND PHASE CORRECTION SINCE EACH POINT ON THE SURFACE MOVES A
SIGNIFICANT FRACTION OF A RANGE CELL PULSE TO PULSE n 4HE INPUT SIGNAL POINT
! IN &IGURE IS SHOWN AS A SPECTRUM AT ! FOLDED ABOUT THE 02& ON THE LEFT IN
&IGURE
3UBSEQUENTLY PRESUMMATION IS APPLIED WHICH FORMS AN UNFOCUSSED SYNTHETIC BEAM
OR FILTER INSIDE THE MAIN
BEAM GROUND RETURN POINT " IN &IGURE WHICH IMPROVES
AZIMUTH SIDELOBES AND NARROWS THE SPECTRUM AS SUGGESTED IN THE CENTER GRAPH SHOWN
IN &IGURE 4HE PRESUMMER OUTPUT IS RESAMPLED AT A LOWER RATE F3 CONSISTENT WITH
ACCEPTABLE FILTER ALIASING 4HEN RANGE PULSE COMPRESSION IS PERFORMED ASSUMING THE
TRANSMITTED PULSE IS VERY LONG COMPARED TO THE RANGE SWATH )F CHIRP LINEAR &- IS USED
PART OF THE hSTRETCHv PULSE COMPRESSION PROCESSING IS PERFORMED IN THE RANGE COMPRES
SION FUNCTION WITH THE REMAINDER PERFORMED IN POLAR FORMAT PROCESSING 4HE DECHIRPED
AND PARTIALLY FILTERED OR COMPRESSED OUTPUT SHOWN AT POINT # IN &IGURE MAY BE
RESAMPLED AGAIN AT A NEW F3 AS INDICATED IN THE RIGHT GRAPH SHOWN IN &IGURE POINT
# )N ANY CASE AZIMUTH VARIABLE PHASE ADJUSTMENT AND BIN MAPPING WHICH COMPEN
SATES FOR CHANGES IN MEASUREMENT SPACE ANGLES AND RANGE CLOSURE SINCE SIGNIFICANT
MOTION OCCURS DURING THE DATA GATHERING TIME MUST BE PERFORMED BEFORE AZIMUTH FILTER
ING SOMETIMES CALLED COMPRESSION BECAUSE IT IS SIMILAR TO PHASE MATCHED PULSE COM
PRESSION 4HE OUTPUT OF AZIMUTH COMPRESSION IS SHOWN AT POINT # 4HE COMPLEX 3!2
OUTPUT MAP MUST BE CHECKED FOR DEPTH OF FOCUS AND USUALLY REQUIRES AUTOFOCUS SINCE
BOTH ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS AND LOCALLY RISING OR FALLING TERRAIN MAY CAUSE DEFOCUSING
3UBSEQUENT TO REFOCUSING THE MAP IS MAGNITUDE DETECTED AND HISTOGRAM AVERAGED TO
MAINTAIN UNIFORM BRIGHTNESS 4HE MAP IS INTEGRATED WITH OTHER LOOKS WHICH REQUIRES
&)'52% 3!2 PROCESSING ADAPTED COURTESY 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING
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&)'52% 3!2 -ULTIRATE &ILTERING ADAPTED COURTESY 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING
GEOMETRICAL CORRECTION AND MOTION COMPENSATION 4HE TOTAL MAP DYNAMIC RANGE CAN
EASILY BE GREATER THAN D" 4HE TYPICAL COCKPIT DISPLAY IS LIMITED TO n D" AND
DYNAMIC
RANGE COMPRESSION SUCH AS CONVERTING MAP AMPLITUDES INTO THEIR LOGARITHMS
IS OFTEN PERFORMED
$"3 OR 3!2 02& 0ULSE ,ENGTH AND #OMPRESSION 3ELECTION &OR EACH 3!2
OR $"3 GEOMETRY THE TRANSMITTED PULSE WIDTH PULSE REPETITION INTERVAL AND PULSE
COMPRESSION RATIO MUST BE CALCULATED /NE POSSIBLE SET OF SELECTION CRITERIA IS GIVEN
IN %Q
5SUALLY THE LAST RANGE AMBIGUITY BEFORE THE RANGE SWATH IS CHOSEN TO BE OUTSIDE
THE MAIN BEAM FAR ENOUGH TO BE AT LEAST D" DOWN INCLUDING 2 EFFECTS /FTEN IN
3!2 THE TRANSMITTED PULSE IS MUCH LARGER THAN THE RANGE SWATH 2SWATH #LEARLY IN
EACH OF THE CASES THE NEAREST INTEGRAL CLOCK INTERVAL AND NEAREST CONVENIENT PULSE
COMPRESSION RATIO IS SELECTED BECAUSE THE VALUES IN %Q WILL BE CLOCK INTEGERS ONLY
BY COINCIDENCE
0ULSE 2EPETITION )NTERVAL 02)
r 2
2MIN 2SWATH 2P
L
q 02) q
r 6A r 5 r "AZ r SINQ
C
0ULSE 7IDTH 2P a $UTYMAX r 02) r C
-INIMUM !LLOWABLE !MBIGUOUS 2ANGE
2MIN y H r CSC D 5 r "EL
2ANGE 3WATH IS 'EOMETRY AND )NSTRUMENTATION $EPENDENT
2SWATH a H r ;CSC D
"EL
CSCD "EL =
AND 2SWATH a 2MAXSWATH
WHERE K IS TRANSMITTED WAVELENGTH H IS THE AIRCRAFT ALTITUDE
"AZ "EL ARE THE AZIMUTH ELEVATION HALF POWER BEAMWIDTHS
P D ARE THE ANGLES BETWEEN THE VELOCITY VECTOR AND ANTENNA BEAM CENTER
2 IS THE DISTANCE TO THE FIRST RANGE BIN 6A IS THE AIRCRAFT VELOCITY
2SWATH IS THE RANGE SWATH LENGTH 2MAXSWATH IS MAXIMUM INSTRUMENTED RANGE SWATH
2MIN IS THE RANGE TO THE CLOSEST ALLOWABLE AMBIGUITY $UTYMAX IS ALLOWABLE DUTY RATIO
2P IS THE TRANSMITTED PULSE LENGTH IN DISTANCE UNITS C IS THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT
5 5 ARE BEAMWIDTH MULTIPLIERS AT PREDEFINED POWER ROLLOFF
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&OR EXAMPLE ASSUME 6A MS K M H M P D "AZ
"EL 5 5 2SWATH KM 2MIN KM DESIRED MAPPING RANGE 2 KM
$UTYMAX SELECTING A FIRST GUESS FOR 2P M THEN 02) MSEC
2MIN IS THE EQUIVALENT OF MSEC AND THE NEXT ALLOWABLE AMBIGUITY WOULD BE PAST THE
SWATH AT MSEC THEREFORE A 02) OF OR MSEC COULD BE USED WITH A TRANSMITTED
PULSE OF APPROXIMATELY OR MSEC RESPECTIVELY
'ROUND -OVING 4ARGET )NDICATION '-4) AND 4RACK '-44 '-4) IS
THE DETECTION AND ACQUISITION OF GROUND MOVING TARGETS '-4) AND '-44 RADAR
MODES HAVE A DIFFERENT SET OF CHALLENGES &IRST TARGET DETECTION IS USUALLY THE EASY
PART THE 2#3 OF MOST ANTHROPOGENIC OBJECTS AND MANY NATURAL MOVING TARGETS IS
LARGE n M 5NFORTUNATELY THERE ARE MANY STATIONARY OBJECTS WITH MOVING
PARTS SUCH AS VENTILATORS FANS WATER COURSES AND POWER LINES THAT LEAD TO APPARENT
FALSE ALARMS /FTEN SLOW MOVING VEHICLES HAVE FAST MOVING PARTS EG HELICOP
TERS AND AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATORS
-OST AREAS HAVE LARGE NUMBERS OF VEHICLES AND SCATTERERS THAT COULD BE VEHICLES )T IS
TYPICAL TO HAVE UP TO BONA FIDE '-4S IN THE FIELD OF VIEW 0ROCESSING CAPACITY
MUST BE ADEQUATE TO HANDLE AND DISCRIMINATE THOUSANDS OF HIGH 3.2 THRESHOLD CROSSINGS
AND HUNDREDS OF MOVING TARGETS OF INTEREST 5SUALLY MULTI HYPOTHESIS TRACKING FILTERS
WILL BE FOLLOWING SEVERAL HUNDRED '-4S OF INTEREST SIMULTANEOUSLY )N MOST CASES ALL
TARGETS MUST BE TRACKED AND THEN RECOGNIZED ON THE BASIS OF DOPPLER SPECTRUM HELICOPTERS
VS WHEELED VEHICLES VS TRACKED VEHICLES VS SCANNING ANTENNAS RATE OF MEASURED LOCA
TION CHANGE VENTILATOR LOCATIONS DONT CHANGE AND CONSISTENT TRAJECTORY EG MPH
WHERE THERE ARE NO ROADS IS IMPROBABLE FOR A SURFACE VEHICLE )N ADDITION VEHICLES OF
INTEREST MAY HAVE RELATIVELY LOW RADIAL VELOCITIES REQUIRING ENDOCLUTTER PROCESSING IE
FAR ENOUGH INSIDE MAIN BEAM CLUTTER THAT DETECTION IS LIMITED FOR DOPPLER ONLY FILTERING
! PROCESSING BLOCK DIAGRAM FOR '-4) IS SHOWN IN &IGURE !LTHOUGH THERE
ARE ALTERNATE WAYS TO PERFORM ENDOCLUTTER PROCESSING A MULTIPLE PHASE CENTERnBASED
&)'52% 'ROUND MOVING TARGET DETECTION PROCESSING ADAPTED COURTESY 3CI4ECH
0UBLISHING
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PROCESSING SCHEME IS GIVEN IN &IGURE -ULTIPLE CHANNELS OR PHASE CENTERS ARE
DIGITIZED AND PULSE COMPRESSED 0ERIODIC CALIBRATION SIGNALS ARE USED TO CREATE A GAIN
PHASE AND BEAM STEERING CORRECTION TABLE FOR ALL FREQUENCIES ANTENNA BEAM STEERING
AND CHANNELS WHICH ARE THEN APPLIED TO THE DIGITIZED MEASUREMENTS IN EACH CHANNEL
-OTION COMPENSATION TO A FRACTION OF A WAVELENGTH FOR PLATFORM MANEUVERS OR DEVIA
TIONS IS APPLIED TO THE DATA ! COARSE TWO
DIMENSIONAL &&4 IS PERFORMED FOLLOWED BY
SPACE
TIME ADAPTIVE CALCULATIONS AND FILTER WEIGHTING IS APPLIED TO REJECT SOME CLUT
TER AND JAMMING (IGH RESOLUTION DOPPLER FILTERING IS PERFORMED IN A CONVENTIONAL
&&4 PERHAPS WITH $0#! CLUTTER CANCELLATION $OPPLER FILTER OUTPUTS ARE USED
TO FORM MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER ERROR DISCRIMINANTS FOR PRECISELY MEASURING DOPPLER CENTER
FREQUENCY TO PROVIDE FRACTION OF WAVELENGTH MOTION COMPENSATION -AIN
BEAM CLUTTER
IS NOT IN THE SAME FREQUENCY LOCATION FOR EACH RANGE BIN AND SO FILTER OUTPUT ORDER MUST
BE ADJUSTED TO PRESENT A COMMON INPUT TO THE THRESHOLD DETECTOR 4HE DOPPLER FILTER
BANK OUTPUTS ALSO ARE APPLIED TO A MULTILEVEL THRESHOLD DETECTOR FOR GROUND MOVING
TARGET DETECTION SIMILAR TO THOSE DESCRIBED IN h'ROUND -OVING 4ARGET 4HRESHOLDINGv
3UM AND DIFFERENCE DISCRIMINANT FUNCTIONS ARE FORMED AND STORED IN BUFFER STORAGE FOR
EACH DETECTED MOVING TARGET TO IMPROVE TARGET TRACKING AND GEOLOCATION ACCURACY
/FTEN 02&S ARE AMBIGUOUS IN BOTH RANGE AND DOPPLER BUT UNAMBIGUOUS INSIDE
THE MAIN BEAM AND NEAR SIDELOBES IE THERE IS ONLY ONE RANGE OR DOPPLER AMBIGU
ITY INTERVAL IN THE MAIN BEAM AND NEAR SIDELOBES 02& SELECTION IS SIMILAR TO !
!
-02& 5SUALLY FEWER 02&S ARE USED FOUR OR FIVE ARE TYPICAL ! RANGE AMBIGU
ITY MAY BE IN THE MAIN BEAM AT LOW GRAZING ANGLES 4WO OUT OF FOUR OR THREE OUT
OF FIVE IS USUALLY THE FINAL DETECTION CRITERIA 02&S TYPICALLY ARE n K(Z #ODED
WAVEFORMS ARE OFTEN USED TO REJECT AMBIGUOUS RETURNS OUTSIDE THE ANTENNA MAIN
BEAM THAT COMPETE WITH THE REGION OF INTEREST ! FT RANGE CELL SIZE IS OFTEN USED
TO MATCH THE SMALLEST VEHICLE OF INTEREST AND TO REDUCE BACKGROUND CLUTTER 'ROUND
MOVING TARGET RECOGNITION MAY REQUIRE FT RESOLUTION !NTENNA ILLUMINATION
MUST BE GROUND STABILIZED SINCE THE AIRCRAFT WILL ENGAGE IN BOTH INTENTIONAL AND
UNINTENTIONAL MANEUVERS
'ROUND -OVING 4ARGET 4HRESHOLDING 4HE TYPICAL MULTILEVEL THRESHOLD HAS
SEVERAL UNIQUE FEATURES )N ADDITION TO THE OBVIOUS ALERT
CONFIRM PROPERTIES A DOUBLE
THRESHOLDING METHOD IN WHICH A LOWER FIRST THRESHOLD NOMINATES RADAR RETURNS AS POS
SIBLE TARGETS TO BE CONFIRMED BY A RETURN OBSERVATION WITH A HIGHER THRESHOLD IT ALSO
USES MULTIPLE PHASE CENTER DISCRIMINANTS AS WELL AS NEAR SIDELOBE THRESHOLD MULTIPLI
ERS %VEN WITH 34!0 THE NON
GAUSSIAN NATURE OF CLUTTER REQUIRES HIGHER THRESHOLDS IN
THE MAIN BEAM AND NEAR SIDELOBES 4HRESHOLD CROSSINGS ARE CORRELATED IN RANGE AND
DOPPLER AND BUFFERED ALONG WITH CORRESPONDING PHASE CENTER DISCRIMINANTS WHICH ARE
PRESENTED TO TRACKING FILTERS OR ACTIVITY COUNTERS
4HERE ARE THREE REGIONS OF THRESHOLDING MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER
LIMITED DETECTION NEAR
SIDELOBE CLUTTER
LIMITED DETECTION AND THERMAL
NOISE
LIMITED DETECTION .EAR SURFACE
TARGETS OF INTEREST WILL OFTEN HAVE RADIAL VELOCITIES OF A FEW MILES PER HOUR FOR LONG
PERIODS OF TIME WHICH FORCES THE DETECTION OF GROUND MOVING TARGETS WELL INTO MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER 0HASE MONOPULSE $0#! OR 34!0 PROCESSING ALLOWS THE FIRST ORDER
CANCELLATION OF CLUTTER FOR MANY SLOW
MOVING TARGETS 5NFORTUNATELY CLUTTER DOES NOT
ALWAYS HAVE WELL
BEHAVED STATISTICAL TAILS AND TO MAINTAIN A CONSTANT FALSE ALARM RATE
THE THRESHOLD MUST BE RAISED FOR ENDOCLUTTER TARGETS 4HE OUTPUT OF THE DOPPLER FILTER
BANK MIGHT BE THOUGHT OF AS A TWO DIMENSIONAL RANGE
DOPPLER IMAGE 4HERE WILL STILL BE
PARTS OF MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER THAT ARE COMPLETELY DISCARDED EXCEPT FOR MOTION COMPENSA
TION BECAUSE CLUTTER CANCELLATION IS INADEQUATE
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2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% -ULTIREGION '-4 THRESHOLDING #OURTESY 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING
!N EXAMPLE THRESHOLDING SCHEME BASED ON THESE CONCEPTS IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HE RANGE
DOPPLER SPACE IS BROKEN UP INTO A GRID OF RANGE BINS AND DOPPLER FILTERS AS
SHOWN IN THE FIGURE %ACH CELL IN THE GRID MIGHT BE RANGE
DOPPLER BINS WITH
GRID CELLS TOTAL 3OME GRID LOCATIONS CLOSE TO MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER -,# IN FIGURE ARE
USED FOR FORMING MAIN
BEAM CLUTTER DISCRIMINANTS ONLY AND ARE OTHERWISE DISCARDED
4HE BINS IN THE EXAMPLE IN EACH GRID CELL ARE ENSEMBLE AVERAGED %! IN SUM AND
DIFFERENCE CHANNELS 4HE POWER IN EACH BIN IN A GRID CELL IN THE CLEAR THERMAL NOISE
LIMITED REGION IS COMPARED TO A THRESHOLD 04(%! WHICH IS A FUNCTION OF THE %!
IN THAT GRID CELL )N THE ENDOCLUTTER NEAR SIDELOBE REGION A DISCRIMINANT #S IS FORMED
AND USED TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL CLUTTER CANCELLATION PRIOR TO THRESHOLDING !GAIN THE
THRESHOLD 04(%! IS A FUNCTION OF THE %! IN THAT GRID CELL AND A PRIORI KNOWLEDGE OF
THE CLUTTER STATISTICS !LTHOUGH ONLY ONE THRESHOLD IS DESCRIBED TWO ARE ACTUALLY USED
BEFORE HITS AND THEIR CORRESPONDING DISCRIMINANTS ARE PASSED TO THE TRACK FILES !LL LOW
THRESHOLD HITS ARE PASSED TO ACTIVITY COUNTERS !S COMPLEX AS THIS THRESHOLDING SCHEME
SEEMS TO BE IT IS VERY DETECTION POWER EFFICIENT
4YPICAL '-4 7EAPON $ELIVERY !S MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY MISSILE GUIDANCE
REQUIRES TRACKING OF BOTH TARGETS AND MISSILES ALSO BULLETS IN GUN LAYING RADAR GUN LAY
ING IS A TERM INVENTED BY THE 5+ DURING 77)) FOR RADAR POINTING OF ANTIAIRCRAFT GUNS
2ANGE ACCURACY IS AT LEAST AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE BETTER THAN ANGLE ACCURACY 3OME
METHOD MUST BE USED TO IMPROVE ANGLE ACCURACY FOR WEAPON DELIVERY !N EXAMPLE PRO
CESSING DIAGRAM FOR '-4 WEAPON DELIVERY IS SHOWN IN &IGURE )N THIS CASE THREE
DIFFERENT CLASSES OF TARGET OR MISSILE ARE TRACKED ! SINGLE WAVEFORM MAY BE USED TO TRACK
STATIONARY ENDO
AND EXOCLUTTER MOVING TARGETS AND MISSILES OR BULLETS %ACH CLASS OF
RETURN BASED ON ITS RANGE AND DOPPLER LOCATION IS SEPARATELY TRACKED AND GEOLOCATED
4HERE ARE SEVERAL COMMON TYPES OF GEOLOCATION MANY OF THEM ARE BASED ON USING
EITHER $4%$ OR CARTOGRAPHIC DATA /NE METHOD USING CARTOGRAPHIC DATA IS SHOWN
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&)'52% 4YPICAL '-4 WEAPON GUIDANCE ADAPTED COURTESY 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING
IN &IGURE !N ERROR ELLIPSE AND ITS CORRESPONDING ECCENTRICITY ARE CALCULATED FOR
EACH TARGET )F THE ECCENTRICITY IS LESS THAN SOME ARBITRARY THRESHOLD EG RELA
TIVE THE MINIMUM PERPENDICULAR DISTANCE IS CALCULATED FOR ROAD SEGMENTS INSIDE THE
SIGMA ELLIPSE !S SHOWN IN THE FIGURE THE PERPENDICULAR INTERCEPT MAY NOT LIE INSIDE
THE ROAD SEGMENT AND WILL BE DISCARDED 4HE MINIMUM DISTANCE FOR VALID ROAD SEGMENT
DISTANCES WILL BE SELECTED AS THE '-4 LOCATION )F THE ECCENTRICITY IS GREATER THAN THE
THRESHOLD THE ROAD SEGMENTS THAT HAVE A MAJOR ELLIPSE AXIS INTERCEPT INSIDE SIGMA
ARE COMPARED AND THE MINIMUM DISTANCE IS SELECTED /BVIOUSLY SOME OTHER SCREENING
MUST ALSO BE APPLIED &OR EXAMPLE SOME ROADS CANNOT SUPPORT HIGH SPEEDS AND TANKS
DO NOT HAVE TO BE ON ROADS
! COMMON 3!2
-4) DISPLAY MAY BE PRESENTED TO THE OPERATOR )N ADDITION GUID
ANCE COMMANDS OR ERRORS ARE DERIVED FROM THE MEASUREMENTS AND PROVIDED TO DOWN
LINKS TO EITHER MISSILES ON THE FLY OR GUN DIRECTING COMPUTERS FOR THE NEXT ROUNDS
3HORT
TERM COHERENT CHANGE DETECTION MAY BE USED TO SEPARATE STATIONARY TARGETS FROM
SLOW
MOVING ENDOCLUTTER TARGETS 3HORT
TERM COHERENT CHANGE DETECTION IS A METHOD IN
WHICH TWO COHERENT 3!2 MAPS TAKEN WITHIN A FEW HOURS OF ONE ANOTHER AT THE SAME
FREQUENCY ARE REGISTERED AND CROSS
CORRELATED PIXEL BY PIXEL 4HE FAST
MOVING TARGET
CATEGORY USUALLY INCLUDES BOTH TARGETS AND BULLETS OR MISSILES
&)'52% #ARTOGRAPHIC ASSISTED '-4 GEOLOCATION
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2!$!2 (!.$"//+
-ISSILE 0ERFORMANCE !SSESSMENT 4RACK AND 5PDATE -ISSILE MIDCOURSE GUID
ANCE USUALLY CONSISTS OF ASSESSING THE MISSILE PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT OF THE TARGET
AND MISSILE LOCATION PREDICTION OF THE PATH OF EACH AND UPDATING THE RESULTING DATA TO
THE MISSILE FOR THE BEST FUTURE INTERCEPT OF THE TARGET )T MAY ALSO INCLUDE THE MOST CURRENT
ESTIMATE OF THE TARGET TYPE AND ATTITUDE FOR BEST FUZING 4HE MISSILE USUALLY SENDS DATA
ABOUT ITS STATE OF HEALTH OWNSHIP MEASUREMENTS REMAINING FUEL AMOUNTS AND TARGET
ACQUISITION IF ANY 7HEN THE MISSILE IS CLOSE TO THE DATA LINK AIRCRAFT WHICH MAY OR MAY
NOT BE THE LAUNCHING PLATFORM COMMUNICATION IS OFTEN THROUGH AN APERTURE OTHER THAN IN
THE MAIN -&!2 !S THE DISTANCE GETS GREATER THE PRIMARY -&!2 APERTURE IS USED !S THE
DATA LINK AIRCRAFT MANEUVERS THE APERTURE THAT HAS THE LARGEST PROJECTED AREA IN THE DIREC
TION OF THE MISSILE IS USED 4HE BANDWIDTH TO THE MISSILE IS VERY LOW AND CAN BE REDUNDANT
AND HIGHLY ENCRYPTED TO PROVIDE GOOD ANTIJAM !* PROTECTION )F IT CONTAINS IMAGERY
THE UPLINK BANDWIDTH FROM THE MISSILE IS RELATIVELY LARGE AND WILL HAVE COMPARATIVELY
LOWER !* PERFORMANCE !N ADAPTIVE -&!2 PRIMARY APERTURE CAN IMPROVE A WIDER BAND
MISSILE UPLINK !* IF THE JAMMER IS OFFSET FROM THE TARGET !T THE MISSILE END THE MISSILE
ANTENNA CAN HAVE JAMMER NULLING TO IMPROVE DOWNLINK !*
!'# #ALIBRATE AND 3ELF 4EST 5SUALLY AT THE BEGINNING OF A NEW MODE THE
END OF EACH SCAN BAR OR ONCE PER SECOND THE CALIBRATE AND SELF TEST SUBPROGRAM IS
INVOKED BY THE OPERATIONAL FLIGHT PROGRAM /&0 EXECUTIVE ! SEQUENCE OF SUBROUTINES
IS EXECUTED THAT MEASURES PHASE AND GAIN UNBALANCE BETWEEN CHANNELS USING A SIGNAL
INJECTED ON THE ANTENNA 4HIS IS USUALLY DONE OVER A RANGE OF INPUT AMPLITUDES FREQUEN
CIES AND !'# SETTINGS BECAUSE OF THE NONLINEAR CHARACTERISTICS OF MOST 2& FRONT ENDS
!LSO FOR MODES LIKE 4&4! A FULL SET OF OFF ANGLE DIAGNOSTICS IS PERFORMED WHICH
TESTS THE INTEGRITY OF THE ENTIRE MEASUREMENT PROCESSING AND FLIGHT CONTROL CHAIN OFTEN
ENOUGH TO KEEP THE PROBABILITY OF A FAILURE INDUCED CRASH PER FLIGHT BELOW n IN THE
PRESENCE OF JAMMING OR COMPONENT FAILURES
)N ADDITION THERE ARE INITIATED BUILT IN TESTS AT TWO LEVELS AN OPERATIONAL READINESS
TEST PERFORMED AS PART OF MISSION INITIATION AND A FAULT ISOLATION TEST PERFORMED BY THE
MAINTENANCE CREW IN RESPONSE TO AN OPERATOR DEFICIENCY REPORT "OTH TESTS TAKE LONGER
AND ARE MORE EXHAUSTIVE )N THE BEST CASE THE SPECIFIC FLIGHT LINE OR A FIRST LEVEL MAIN
TENANCE REPLACEABLE ASSEMBLY IS IDENTIFIED WITH HIGH PROBABILITY 3UCH ASSEMBLIES ARE
THEN SENT TO A DEPOT FOR REPLACEMENT REPAIR FAILURE TRACKING ANDOR RECLAMATION &OR
ASSEMBLIES THAT HAVE A VERY LOW FAILURE RATE IT IS USUALLY CHEAPER TO REPLACE AND RECLAIM
RATHER THAN REPAIR EVEN WHEN THE ASSEMBLY IS VERY EXPENSIVE
,
,
3HORT COURSE NOTES AND OTHER PAPERS CAN USUALLY BE OBTAINED FROM THE AUTHORS OR THE COURSE SPONSOR FOR
A SMALL FEE !LL OF THE AUTHORS PAPERS REFERENCED ARE AVAILABLE IN !DOBE !CROBAT FORMAT SUBJECT ONLY
TO COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS BY E
MAIL REQUEST DAVIDLYNCHJR IEEEORG AND CARLOKOPP IINETNETAU
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3EQUENCE #ONTROL 3YSTEM v 53 0ATENT
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#HAPTER
,>`>,iVii
V>i
9i>
2AYTHEON #OMPANY
/
" 1,/"
", ,,
6
,
4HE FUNCTION OF A RADAR RECEIVER IS TO AMPLIFY FILTER DOWNCONVERT AND DIGITIZE THE
ECHOES OF THE RADAR TRANSMISSION IN A MANNER THAT WILL PROVIDE THE MAXIMUM DISCRIMI
NATION BETWEEN DESIRED ECHO SIGNALS AND UNDESIRED INTERFERENCE 4HE INTERFERENCE COM
PRISES NOT ONLY THE SELF NOISE GENERATED IN THE RADAR RECEIVER BUT ALSO THE ENERGY RECEIVED
FROM GALACTIC SOURCES NEIGHBORING RADARS AND COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT AND POSSIBLY
JAMMERS 4HE PORTION OF THE RADARS OWN RADIATED ENERGY THAT IS SCATTERED BY UNDESIRED
TARGETS SUCH AS RAIN SNOW BIRDS INSECTS ATMOSPHERIC PERTURBATIONS AND CHAFF MAY
ALSO BE CLASSIFIED AS INTERFERENCE AND IS COMMONLY CATEGORIZED AS CLUTTER 7HERE AIR
BORNE RADARS ARE USED FOR ALTIMETERS OR MAPPING OTHER AIRCRAFT ARE UNDESIRED TARGETS AND
THE GROUND IS THE DESIRED TARGET )N THE CASE OF WEATHER RADARS GROUND BUILDINGS AND
AIRCRAFT ARE CLUTTER AND RAIN OR SNOW IS THE DESIRED TARGET -ORE COMMONLY RADARS ARE
INTENDED FOR DETECTION OF AIRCRAFT MISSILES SHIPS SURFACE VEHICLES OR PERSONNEL AND THE
REFLECTION FROM WEATHER SEA OR GROUND IS CLASSIFIED AS CLUTTER INTERFERENCE
!LTHOUGH THE BOUNDARIES OF THE RADAR RECEIVER ARE SOMEWHAT ARBITRARY THIS CHAPTER
WILL CONSIDER THOSE ELEMENTS IDENTIFIED IN &IGURE AS THE RECEIVER 4HE RADAR EXCITER
GENERATES THE TRANSMIT WAVEFORMS AS WELL AS LOCAL OSCILLATOR ,/ CLOCK AND TIMING
SIGNALS 3INCE THIS FUNCTION IS USUALLY TIGHTLY COUPLED TO A RADAR RECEIVER IT IS ALSO
SHOWN IN &IGURE AND WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THIS CHAPTER 4HE PURPOSE OF &IGURE IS
TO ILLUSTRATE THE FUNCTIONS TYPICAL OF A MODERN RADAR RECEIVER AND EXCITER
6IRTUALLY ALL RADAR RECEIVERS OPERATE ON THE SUPERHETERODYNE PRINCIPLE SHOWN
IN &IGURE 4HROUGH THIS ARCHITECTURE THE RECEIVER FILTERS THE SIGNAL TO SEPARATE
DESIRED TARGET SIGNALS FROM UNWANTED INTERFERENCE !FTER MODEST 2& AMPLIFICA
TION THE SIGNAL IS SHIFTED TO AN INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY )& BY MIXING WITH A LOCAL
OSCILLATOR ,/ FREQUENCY -ORE THAN ONE CONVERSION STAGE MAY BE NECESSARY TO
REACH THE FINAL )& WITHOUT ENCOUNTERING SERIOUS IMAGE
OR SPURIOUS
FREQUENCY PROB
LEMS IN THE MIXING PROCESS 4HE SUPERHETERODYNE RECEIVER VARIES THE ,/ FREQUENCY TO
FOLLOW ANY DESIRED TUNING VARIATION OF THE TRANSMITTER WITHOUT DISTURBING THE FILTERING
AT )& 4HIS SIMPLIFIES THE FILTERING OPERATION AS THE SIGNALS OCCUPY A WIDER PERCENTAGE
4HIS CHAPTER INCORPORATES MATERIAL WRITTEN BY *OHN 7 4AYLOR *R FOR THE FIRST AND SECOND EDITIONS AND UPDATED
BY -ICHAEL 9EOMANS FOR THIS EDITION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
BANDWIDTH AT THE )& FREQUENCY 4HESE ADVANTAGES HAVE PROVEN TO BE SO SIGNIFICANT
THAT COMPETITIVE FORMS OF RECEIVERS HAVE VIRTUALLY DISAPPEARED
)N CONVENTIONAL ANTENNA SYSTEMS THE RECEIVER INPUT SIGNAL IS DERIVED FROM THE
DUPLEXER WHICH PERMITS A SINGLE ANTENNA TO BE SHARED BETWEEN TRANSMITTER AND
RECEIVER )N ACTIVE ARRAY SYSTEMS THE RECEIVER INPUT IS DERIVED FROM THE RECEIVE BEAM
FORMING NETWORK !CTIVE ARRAY ANTENNAS INCLUDE LOW
NOISE AMPLIFIERS PRIOR TO FORMING
THE RECEIVE BEAMS ALTHOUGH THESE ARE GENERALLY CONSIDERED TO BE ANTENNA RATHER THAN
RECEIVER COMPONENTS THEY WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THIS CHAPTER
($
!#'&
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&&!'&"$
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#")%& #"
"' &"$
&&" & ! $"%%"$
&)'52% 'ENERAL CONFIGURATION OF A RADAR RECEIVER
# &
# &
"& ' ) '+ !#"'%#
('#!' "#"'%#
' # & '#%
# %"'# & '#%
" # '# ' #")%'%
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
4HE BLOCK DIAGRAM SHOWN IN &IGURE INCLUDES SENSITIVITY TIME CONTROL 34#
ATTENUATION AT THE 2& INPUT !LTERNATIVELY ADJUSTABLE 2& ATTENUATION MAY BE USED
%ITHER FORM PROVIDES INCREASED DYNAMIC RANGE ABOVE THAT PROVIDED BY THE ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL !$ CONVERTERS 2& ATTENUATION IS DESCRIBED IN MORE DETAIL IN 3ECTION
4HE 34# ATTENUATOR IS FOLLOWED BY AN 2& AMPLIFIER OFTEN REFERRED TO AS A LOW
NOISE
AMPLIFIER ,.! 4HIS AMPLIFIER PROVIDES SUFFICIENT GAIN WITH A LOW NOISE FIGURE TO
MINIMIZE THE SUBSEQUENT DEGRADATION OF THE OVERALL RADAR NOISE FIGURE BY SUBSEQUENT
COMPONENTS )F SUFFICIENT GAIN IS PROVIDED IN THE ANTENNA PRIOR TO THE RECEIVER IT MAY
BE POSSIBLE TO ELIMINATE THIS GAIN STAGE 4HE 2& FILTER PROVIDES REJECTION OF OUT
OF
BAND
INTERFERENCE INCLUDING REJECTION AT THE 2& IMAGE FREQUENCY !FTER DOWNCONVERSION TO
)& A BANDPASS FILTER PROVIDES REJECTION OF UNWANTED SIGNALS AND SETS THE RECEIVER ANA
LOG
PROCESSING BANDWIDTH !DDITIONAL GAIN IS PROVIDED AT )& TO OVERCOME LOSSES AND
RAISE THE SIGNAL LEVEL REQUIRED FOR SUBSEQUENT PROCESSING AND TO SET THE CORRECT SIGNAL
LEVEL INTO THE !$ CONVERTERS !N )& LIMITER PROVIDES GRACEFUL LIMITING OF LARGE SIGNALS
THAT WOULD OTHERWISE OVERLOAD THE !$ CONVERTERS
4HE TWO DOMINANT METHODS OF DIGITIZATION )& SAMPLING AND ANALOG )1 DEMODULA
TION WITH BASEBAND !$ CONVERSION ARE INCLUDED FOR ILLUSTRATION IN &IGURE THOUGH
IN GENERAL RECEIVERS WILL NOT INCLUDE BOTH TECHNIQUES 0RIOR TO THE AVAILABILITY OF AFFORD
ABLE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING A NUMBER OF FUNCTIONS SUCH AS MONOPULSE COMPARISON
CURRENTLY PERFORMED IN THE DIGITAL DOMAIN WERE PERFORMED USING ANALOG PROCESSING
WITHIN THE RECEIVER 2EADERS INTERESTED IN THE DETAILS OF THESE ANALOG PROCESSING TECH
NIQUES WILL FIND DETAILS IN THE FIRST AND SECOND EDITIONS OF THIS HANDBOOK
!LL BUT THE SIMPLEST OF RADARS REQUIRE MORE THAN ONE RECEIVER CHANNEL &IGURE
SHOWS A SINGLE RECEIVER CHANNEL THAT MAY BE REPLICATED ANY NUMBER OF TIMES DEPENDING
ON THE RADAR SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS -ONOPULSE RADARS TYPICALLY INCLUDE THREE RECEIVER
CHANNELS SUM DELTA AZIMUTH AND DELTA ELEVATION CHANNELS USED TO PROVIDE IMPROVED
ANGLE ACCURACY !DDITIONALLY MANY MILITARY RADAR SYSTEMS INCLUDE A SIDELOBE BLANKER
OR SEVERAL SIDELOBE CANCELER CHANNELS TO COMBAT JAMMING 3INCE THE ADVENT OF DIGITAL
BEAMFORMING RADAR SYSTEMS THE NUMBER OF RECEIVER CHANNELS REQUIRED HAS INCREASED
DRAMATICALLY WITH SOME SYSTEMS NOW REQUIRING HUNDREDS OF RECEIVER CHANNELS )N
THESE MULTICHANNEL RECEIVER SYSTEMS CLOSE MATCHING AND TRACKING OF GAIN AND PHASE IS
REQUIRED 2ECEIVER CHANNEL TRACKING AND EQUALIZATION ARE DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION
4HE STABLE LOCAL OSCILLATOR 34!,/ BLOCK PROVIDES THE LOCAL OSCILLATOR FREQUENCIES
FOR DOWNCONVERSION IN THE RECEIVER AND UPCONVERSION IN THE EXCITER &OR TRUE COHERENT
OPERATION THE 34!,/ IS LOCKED TO A LOW FREQUENCY REFERENCE SHOWN BY THE REFERENCE
OSCILLATOR IN &IGURE THAT IS USED AS THE BASIS FOR ALL CLOCKS AND OSCILLATORS SUCH AS THE
COHERENT LOCAL OSCILLATOR #/(/ WITHIN THE RECEIVER AND EXCITER 4HE CLOCK GENERATOR
PROVIDES CLOCKS TO THE !$ CONVERTERS AND THE DIRECT DIGITAL SYNTHESIZER AND PROVIDES
THE BASIS FOR THE SIGNALS THAT DEFINE THE RADAR TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE INTERVALS
4HE DIRECT DIGITAL SYNTHESIZER IN &IGURE IS USED TO GENERATE THE TRANSMIT WAVE
FORMS AT AN )& FREQUENCY PRIOR TO UPCONVERSION TO THE 2& OUTPUT FREQUENCY &ILTERING
IN THE EXCITER IS REQUIRED TO REJECT ALIASED SIGNALS FROM THE DIRECT DIGITAL SYNTHESIZER AND
UNWANTED MIXER PRODUCTS 2& GAIN IS TYPICALLY REQUIRED TO PROVIDE A SUFFICIENT DRIVE
LEVEL TO THE TRANSMITTER OR PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA
!LMOST ALL MODERN RADAR SYSTEMS USE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING TO PERFORM A VARIETY
OF FUNCTIONS INCLUDING PULSE COMPRESSION AND THE DISCRIMINATION OF DESIRED TARGETS FROM
INTERFERENCE ON THE BASIS OF VELOCITY OR THE CHANGE IN PHASE FROM ONE PULSE TO THE NEXT
0REVIOUSLY PULSE COMPRESSION WAS PERFORMED USING ANALOG PROCESSING WITH DISPERSIVE
DELAY LINES TYPICALLY SURFACE ACOUSTIC
WAVE 3!7 DEVICES !NALOG PULSE COMPRES
SION HAS LARGELY BEEN REPLACED BY PULSE COMPRESSION USING DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)N THE CASE OF VERY WIDEBAND WAVEFORMS ANALOG STRETCH PROCESSING SEE 3ECTION MAY
BE USED TO REDUCE THE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH BEFORE SUBSEQUENT DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING
4HE RECEIVER DISCUSSED HEREIN FOCUSES ON THOSE FUNCTIONS THAT PROVIDE ANALOG PRO
CESSING AND DIGITIZATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL PULSE SIGNALS WITH THE MINIMUM OF DISTORTION
ENABLING SUBSEQUENT DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING TO MAXIMIZE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE
RADAR 4HE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING FUNCTION IS NOT NORMALLY CONSIDERED TO BE PART OF
THE RECEIVER
"-
9
,
" - ,/" 2ECEIVERS GENERATE INTERNAL NOISE THAT MASKS WEAK SIGNALS BEING RECEIVED FROM THE RADAR
TRANSMISSIONS 4HIS NOISE CONTRIBUTION WHICH CAN BE EXPRESSED AS EITHER A NOISE TEM
PERATURE OR A NOISE FIGURE IS ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL LIMITATIONS ON THE RADAR RANGE
4HE NOISE TEMPERATURE OR NOISE FIGURE OF THE RADAR RECEIVER HAS BEEN REDUCED
TO THE POINT THAT IT NO LONGER REPRESENTS A DOMINANT INFLUENCE IN CHOOSING BETWEEN
AVAILABLE ALTERNATIVES )T IS A PARADOX THAT A NOISE PARAMETER IS USUALLY THE FIRST CHAR
ACTERISTIC SPECIFIED FOR A RADAR RECEIVER YET FEW RADARS EMPLOY THE LOWEST NOISE
RECEIVER AVAILABLE BECAUSE SUCH A CHOICE REPRESENTS TOO GREAT A SACRIFICE IN OTHER
PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS
#OST IS RARELY A CONSIDERATION IN REJECTING A LOWER NOISE ALTERNATIVE ! REDUCTION IN
REQUIREMENTS FOR ANTENNA GAIN OR TRANSMITTER POWER INVARIABLY PRODUCES COST SAVINGS
FAR IN EXCESS OF ANY ADDED COST OF A LOWER NOISE RECEIVER /THER VITAL PERFORMANCE
CHARACTERISTICS THAT GENERALLY DICTATE THE CHOICE OF RECEIVER FRONT END INCLUDE
L
$YNAMIC RANGE AND SUSCEPTIBILITY TO OVERLOAD
)NSTANTANEOUS BANDWIDTH AND TUNING RANGE
0HASE AND AMPLITUDE STABILITY
! DIRECT COMPROMISE MUST BE MADE BETWEEN THE NOISE FIGURE AND THE DYNAMIC RANGE
OF A RECEIVER 4HE INTRODUCTION OF AN 2& AMPLIFIER IN FRONT OF THE MIXER NECESSARILY
INVOLVES RAISING THE SYSTEM NOISE LEVEL AT THE MIXER TO MAKE THE NOISE CONTRIBUTION OF
THE MIXER ITSELF INSIGNIFICANT %VEN IF THE 2& AMPLIFIER ITSELF HAS MORE THAN ADEQUATE
DYNAMIC RANGE THE MIXER DYNAMIC RANGE HAS BEEN COMPROMISED AS INDICATED BELOW
2ATIO OF FRONT
END NOISE TO MIXER NOISE
3ACRIFICE IN MIXER DYNAMIC RANGE
$EGRADATION OF SYSTEM NOISE TEMPERATURE DUE
TO MIXER NOISE
%XAMPLE
%XAMPLE
%XAMPLE
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
4HE SAME CONSIDERATIONS APPLY TO THE SETTING OF THE NOISE LEVEL AT THE INPUT TO THE
!$ CONVERTERS 4RADITIONALLY THE NOISE CONTRIBUTION OF THE !$ CONVERTER WAS CON
SIDERED BY THE SYSTEM ENGINEERS AS A SEPARATE CONTRIBUTION TO THE OVERALL RADAR SYSTEM
NOISE DISTINCT FROM RECEIVER NOISE AND WAS ACCOUNTED FOR AT THE SYSTEM LEVEL 4ODAY IT
HAS BECOME COMMON TO INCLUDE THE !$ CONVERTER NOISE AS PART OF THE OVERALL RECEIVER
NOISE #ONSEQUENTLY IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND WHETHER OR NOT THE CONTRIBUTION OF
THE !$ CONVERTER IS INCLUDED IN THE SPECIFICATION FOR THE NOISE FIGURE OF A RECEIVER
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
)N ACTIVE ARRAY ANTENNAS AND MANY CONVENTIONAL ANTENNAS LOW
NOISE AMPLIFIERS
,.!S ESTABLISH THE SYSTEM NOISE FLOOR PRIOR TO THE RECEIVER INPUT 4HE NOISE FROM THE
ANTENNA IS USUALLY SET WELL ABOVE THE RECEIVER NOISE FLOOR SUCH THAT THE RECEIVER HAS
ONLY A SMALL IMPACT ON OVERALL SYSTEM NOISE !GAIN THE TRADE
OFF MUST BE PERFORMED
BETWEEN SYSTEM DYNAMIC RANGE AND NOISE FIGURE
$EFINITIONS $YNAMIC 2ANGE REPRESENTS THE RANGE OF SIGNAL STRENGTH OVER
WHICH THE RECEIVER WILL PERFORM AS EXPECTED )T REQUIRES THE SPECIFICATION OF A
MINIMUM LEVEL TYPICALLY THE NOISE FLOOR THE MAXIMUM LEVEL THAT CAN BE HANDLED
WITH SOME ALLOWABLE DEVIATION FROM THE IDEAL RESPONSE AND THE TYPE OF SIGNAL TO
BE HANDLED 4HESE PARAMETERS ARE DEFINED THROUGH A VARIETY OF CHARACTERISTICS AS
DESCRIBED BELOW
-ODERN RADARS SYSTEMS INCREASINGLY RELY SOLELY ON LINEAR RECEIVER CHANNELS FOL
LOWED BY DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING PROVIDING BOTH INCREASED FLEXIBILITY AND NEAR
IDEAL SIGNAL
DETECTION CHARACTERISTICS 0REVIOUSLY A VARIETY OF LIMITING OR LOGARITHMIC
RECEIVER APPROACHES WERE USED TO PERFORM VARIOUS SIGNAL
PROCESSING FUNCTIONS 4HESE
RECEIVERS MUST DEFINE AN ALLOWABLE ERROR IN THEIR OUTPUTS RELATIVE TO THEIR IDEAL NONLIN
EAR RESPONSE
2ECEIVERS THAT INCLUDE SOME FORM OF GAIN CONTROL MUST DISTINGUISH BETWEEN INSTAN
TANEOUS DYNAMIC RANGE AND THE TOTAL DYNAMIC RANGE THAT IS ACHIEVED AS A RESULT OF
PROGRAMMED GAIN VARIATION
2ECEIVER )NPUT .OISE ,EVEL "ECAUSE MANY RADAR SYSTEMS INCLUDE LOW
NOISE
AMPLIFIERS PRIOR TO THE INPUT OF THE RECEIVER IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND AND SPECIFY
THE NOISE LEVEL AT THE RECEIVER INPUT 4HIS NOISE LEVEL IS SET BY THE ANTENNA NOISE TEM
PERATURE AND ITS TOTAL EFFECTIVE NOISE GAIN OR LOSS 4HE NOISE LEVEL CAN BE SPECIFIED EITHER
AS AN RMS POWER IN A SPECIFIED BANDWIDTH OR AS A NOISE POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY
3YSTEM .OISE 4HE SYSTEM NOISE LEVEL IS THE COMBINED ANTENNA AND RECEIVER NOISE
4YPICALLY THE RECEIVER INPUT NOISE WILL EXCEED THAT OF THE NOISE DUE TO THE RECEIVER
ITSELF SO THAT THE RECEIVER HAS ONLY A SMALL IMPACT ON THE SYSTEM NOISE TEMPERATURE OR
NOISE FIGURE 4HUS WHEN DEFINING DYNAMIC
RANGE PARAMETERS SUCH AS SIGNAL
TO
NOISE
RATIO IT IS IMPORTANT TO SPECIFY WHETHER THE NOISE LEVEL BEING REFERENCED IS THE RECEIVER
NOISE OR TOTAL SYSTEM NOISE
-INIMUM 3IGNAL OF )NTEREST -INIMUM SIGNAL DEFINITIONS SUCH AS MINIMUM
DETECTABLE
SIGNAL OR MINIMUM
DISCERNABLE
SIGNAL HAVE BEEN USED IN THE PAST HOW
EVER THESE DEFINITIONS HAVE BECOME LESS COMMON DUE TO THE EXTENSIVE USE OF DIGITAL
SIGNAL
PROCESSING TECHNIQUES $IGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING OF THE RECEIVER OUTPUT ALLOWS
THE DETECTION OF SIGNALS WELL BELOW THE RECEIVER NOISE FLOOR AND THE MINIMUM DETECT
ABLE LEVEL DEPENDS ON THE NATURE OF THE PROCESSING PERFORMED
3IGNAL
TO
.OISE 2ATIO 3.2 3.2 IS THE RATIO OF THE SIGNAL LEVEL TO THAT OF THE
NOISE 3.2 IS TYPICALLY EXPRESSED IN DECIBELS D" 4HE MAXIMUM RECEIVER 3.2 IS
SET BY THE NOISE CONTRIBUTION AND MAXIMUM SIGNAL CAPABILITY OF EVERY COMPONENT
IN THE CHAIN HOWEVER SINCE THE LIMITING TECHNOLOGY IS OFTEN THE !NALOG
TO
$IGITAL
!$ CONVERTER THE PRECEDING COMPONENTS AND GAIN STRUCTURE ARE OFTEN CHOSEN SUCH
THAT THE MAXIMUM 3.2 IS DRIVEN BY THE PERFORMANCE OF THE !$ CONVERTER -ORE
DETAILS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN !$ CONVERTER AND RECEIVER 3.2 ARE INCLUDED IN
3ECTIONS AND
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3PURIOUS &REE $YNAMIC 2ANGE 3&$2 3&$2 IS THE RATIO OF THE MAXIMUM SIG
NAL LEVEL TO THAT OF LARGEST SPURIOUS SIGNAL CREATED WITHIN THE RECEIVER 3&$2 IS TYPI
CALLY EXPRESSED IN DECIBELS D" 4HIS PARAMETER IS DETERMINED BY A VARIETY OF FACTORS
INCLUDING THE MIXER INTERMODULATION SPURIOUS DESCRIBED IN MORE DETAIL IN 3ECTION
THE SPURIOUS CONTENT OF THE RECEIVER LOCAL OSCILLATORS THE PERFORMANCE OF THE !$
CONVERTER AND THE MANY SNEAK PATHS THAT MAY RESULT IN UNWANTED SIGNALS COUPLING ONTO
THE RECEIVER SIGNAL PATH
)NTERMODULATION $ISTORTION )-$ )NTERMODULATION DISTORTION IS A NONLINEAR PRO
CESS THAT RESULTS IN GENERATION OF FREQUENCIES THAT ARE LINEAR COMBINATIONS OF THE FUN
DAMENTAL FREQUENCIES OF THE INPUT SIGNALS 3ECOND AND THIRD ORDER INTERMODULATION ARE
THE MOST COMMONLY SPECIFIED AND THE PERFORMANCE OF THE RECEIVER IS USUALLY SPECIFIED
IN TERMS OF TWO
TONE SECOND AND THIRD ORDER INPUT INTERCEPT POINTS 4HE INTERCEPT POINT
IS THE EXTRAPOLATED LEVEL AT WHICH THE POWER IN THE INTERMODULATION PRODUCT EQUALS THAT
OF THE TWO FUNDAMENTAL SIGNALS
&OR INPUT SIGNALS AT FREQUENCIES F AND F SECOND ORDER INTERMODULATION DISTORTION
PRODUCES SIGNALS AT FREQUENCIES F n F F F F AND F 4HIRD ORDER INTERMODU
LATION DISTORTION PRODUCES SIGNALS AT FREQUENCIES F n F F n F F F F F F
AND F &OR NARROW BAND SIGNALS ONLY THE THIRD ORDER PRODUCTS F n F AND F n F FALL
IN BAND AND CONSEQUENTLY THIRD ORDER DISTORTION IS TYPICALLY THE PRIMARY CONCERN 4HE
POWER LEVELS OF THESE THIRD ORDER INTERMODULATION PRODUCTS ARE GIVEN BY
0 F F D"M 0F D"M 0F D"M 0)0 D"M
0 F F D"M 0F D"M 0F D"M 0)0 D"M
WHERE 0F D"M POWER OF INPUT SIGNAL AT FREQUENCY F IN D"M
0F D"M POWER OF INPUT SIGNAL AT FREQUENCY F IN D"M
0)0D"M THIRD ORDER INTERCEPT POINT IN D"M
)NTERMODULATION CAN RESULT IN A VARIETY OF UNDESIRABLE EFFECTS SUCH AS
L
)NTERMODULATION OF CLUTTER RETURNS CAUSING BROADENING OF CLUTTER DOPPLER WIDTH
RESULTING IN THE MASKING OF TARGETS
5NWANTED IN
BAND SIGNALS DUE TO OUT
OF
BAND INTERFERING SIGNALS RESULTING IN
FALSE TARGETS
)NTERMODULATION PRODUCTS FROM IN
BAND SIGNALS THAT CANNOT BE READILY CANCELLED
THROUGH LINEAR CANCELLATION TECHNIQUES RESULTING IN SUSCEPTIBILITY TO JAMMERS
)NTERMODULATION DISTORTION OCCURS THROUGHOUT THE RECEIVER CHAIN #ONSEQUENTLY THE
RECEIVER WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT INPUT INTERCEPT POINT DEPENDING ON THE
SIGNAL FREQUENCY RELATIVE TO THE RADIO FREQUENCY 2& )& AND VIDEO FILTER BANDWIDTHS
)T IS THEREFORE IMPORTANT TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE REQUIREMENTS FOR IN
BAND AND
OUT
OF
BAND INTERMODULATION DISTORTION AS DIFFERENT SIGNALS HAVE DIFFERENT EFFECTS ON
THE RECEIVER
#ROSS
-ODULATION $ISTORTION #ROSS
MODULATION OCCURS AS A RESULT OF THIRD ORDER
INTERMODULATION WHEREBY THE AMPLITUDE MODULATION !- OF ONE SIGNAL TYPICALLY AN
UNWANTED INTERFERENCE SIGNAL IN THE OPERATING 2& BAND BUT USUALLY OUTSIDE THE TUNED
SIGNAL BANDWIDTH IS TRANSFERRED ONTO THE DESIRED SIGNAL
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
4HE RESULTANT PERCENT !- MODULATION D ON THE DESIRED SIGNAL IS GIVEN BY
D U
05
0)0 05
WHERE U PERCENT !- MODULATION OF THE UNWANTED SIGNAL
05 POWER OF UNWANTED SIGNAL
0)0 THIRD ORDER INTERCEPT POINT
#ROSS MODULATION CAN RESULT IN THE MODULATION OF CLUTTER AND TARGET RETURNS DUE TO
LARGE AMPLITUDE MODULATED OUT OF BAND INTERFERENCES RESULTING IN POOR CLUTTER CANCEL
LATION AND POOR RANGE SIDELOBE PERFORMANCE
D" #OMPRESSION 0OINT 4HE INPUT D" COMPRESSION POINT OF A RECEIVER
IS A MEASURE OF THE MAXIMUM LINEAR SIGNAL CAPABILITY AND IS DEFINED AS THE INPUT
POWER LEVEL AT WHICH THE RECEIVER GAIN IS D" LESS THAN THE SMALL SIGNAL LINEAR GAIN
2ECEIVER GAIN COMPRESSION CAN RESULT FROM COMPRESSION IN AMPLIFIERS MIXERS AND
OTHER COMPONENTS THROUGHOUT THE RECEIVER CHAIN 4YPICALLY THE RECEIVER IS DESIGNED
TO PROVIDE CONTROLLED GAIN COMPRESSION THROUGH A LIMITING STAGE AT THE FINAL )& AS
DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
!NALOG TO $IGITAL #ONVERTER &ULL 3CALE 4HE !$ CONVERTER FULL SCALE LEVEL DETER
MINES THE MAXIMUM LEVEL THAT CAN BE DIGITIZED 2ECEIVERS TYPICALLY PROVIDE CONTROLLED
LIMITING 3ECTION TO PREVENT THE SIGNAL LEVEL FROM EXCEEDING THE FULL SCALE LEVEL
OF THE !$ CONVERTER 0RACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS MEAN THAT THE HARD LIMIT LEVEL IS TYPI
CALLY SET D" BELOW FULL SCALE TO PREVENT OVERLOAD AS A RESULT OF COMPONENT TOLERANCE
VARIATIONS
4YPES OF 3IGNALS 6ARIOUS TYPES OF SIGNALS ARE OF INTEREST IN DETERMINING
DYNAMIC RANGE REQUIREMENTS DISTRIBUTED TARGETS POINT TARGETS WIDEBAND NOISE JAM
MING AND NARROW BAND INTERFERENCE )F THE RADAR EMPLOYS A PHASE CODED SIGNAL THE
ELEMENTS OF THE RECEIVER PRECEDING THE DECODER WILL NOT RESTRICT THE DYNAMIC RANGE
OF A POINT TARGET AS SEVERELY AS THEY WILL FOR DISTRIBUTED CLUTTER THE TIME BANDWIDTH
PRODUCT OF THE CODED PULSE INDICATES THE ADDED DYNAMIC RANGE THAT THE DECODER WILL
EXTRACT FROM THE POINT TARGETS #ONVERSELY IF THE RADAR INCORPORATES AN EXCESSIVELY
WIDE BANDWIDTH 2& AMPLIFIER ITS DYNAMIC RANGE MAY BE SEVERELY RESTRICTED DUE TO
WIDEBAND NOISE INTERFERENCE
7HEN LOW NOISE AMPLIFIERS ,.!S ARE INCLUDED IN THE ANTENNA PRIOR TO FORMING
THE RECEIVE BEAMS THE ANTENNA SIDELOBE LEVELS ACHIEVED ARE DEPENDENT UPON THE DEGREE
TO WHICH GAIN AND PHASE CHARACTERISTICS ARE SIMILAR IN ALL ,.!S $YNAMIC RANGE HAS
AN EXAGGERATED IMPORTANCE IN SUCH CONFIGURATIONS BECAUSE MATCHING NONLINEAR CHAR
ACTERISTICS IS IMPRACTICAL 4HE EFFECT OF STRONG INTERFERENCEMOUNTAIN CLUTTER OTHER
RADAR PULSES OR ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES %#- ENTERING THROUGH THE SIDELOBES
WILL BE EXAGGERATED IF IT EXCEEDS THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE ,.!S BECAUSE SIDELOBES
WILL BE DEGRADED 4HE ,.!S ARE WIDEBAND DEVICES VULNERABLE TO INTERFERENCE OVER
THE ENTIRE RADAR OPERATING BAND AND OFTEN OUTSIDE THIS BAND ALTHOUGH OFF FREQUENCY
INTERFERENCE IS FILTERED IN SUBSEQUENT STAGES OF THE RECEIVER STRONG INTERFERENCE SIGNALS
CAN CAUSE CLUTTER RETURNS IN THE ,.! TO BE DISTORTED DEGRADING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF
DOPPLER FILTERING AND CREATING FALSE ALARMS 4HIS PHENOMENON IS DIFFICULT TO ISOLATE AS
THE CAUSE OF FALSE ALARMS IN SUCH RADARS OWING TO THE NONREPETITIVE CHARACTER OF MANY
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SOURCES OF INTERFERENCE )N MODERN RADAR ARCHITECTURES THAT EMPLOY DIGITAL BEAMFORM
ING NONLINEARITY AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECEIVER CHANNEL WILL CREATE SIMILAR PROBLEMS
3YSTEM CALIBRATION TECHNIQUES AND ADAPTIVE BEAMFORMING TECHNIQUES CAN COM
PENSATE FOR LINEAR GAIN AND PHASE DEVIATIONS HOWEVER AS FOR THE CASE OF THE ,.!
NONLINEARITIES DESCRIBED ABOVE COMPENSATION FOR NONLINEAR CHARACTERISTICS IS EITHER
IMPRACTICAL OR IMPOSSIBLE WHEN THE CAUSE OF THE NONLINEAR DISTORTION IS OUTSIDE THE
DIGITIZED BANDWIDTH
%VALUATION ! THOROUGH EVALUATION OF ALL ELEMENTS OF THE RECEIVER IS NEC
ESSARY TO PREVENT UNANTICIPATED DEGRADATION OF NOISE FIGURE OR DYNAMIC RANGE
)NADEQUATE DYNAMIC RANGE MAKES THE RADAR RECEIVER VULNERABLE TO INTERFERENCE
WHICH CAN CAUSE SATURATION OR OVERLOAD MASKING OR HIDING THE DESIRED SIGNALS
! TABULAR FORMAT FOR SUCH A COMPUTATION A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF WHICH IS SHOWN IN
4ABLE WILL PERMIT THOSE COMPONENTS THAT CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANT NOISE OR RESTRICT
THE DYNAMIC RANGE TO BE QUICKLY IDENTIFIED h4YPICALv VALUES ARE INCLUDED IN THE
TABLE FOR PURPOSES OF ILLUSTRATION
#OMPONENT
.OISE &IGURE
#OMPONENT 'AIN
#OMPONENT /UTPUT
RD /RDER )NTERCEPT
#OMPONENT /UTPUT D"
#OMPRESSION 0OINT
#UMULATIVE 'AIN
#UMULATIVE
.OISE &IGURE
#UMULATIVE /UTPUT
RD /RDER )NTERCEPT
#UMULATIVE /UTPUT D"
#OMPRESSION 0OINT
2ECEIVER .OISE ,EVEL
3YSTEM .OISE ,EVEL
"ANDWIDTH
!$ 3.2 IN
.YQUIST "7
!$ #ONVERTER
3AMPLE 2ATE
!$ &ULL 3CALE ,EVEL
!$ .OISE ,EVEL
3YSTEM .OISE 2ELATIVE
TO !$ .OISE
-AXIMUM 0OINT #LUTTER
OR 4ARGET ,EVEL
D"
D"
D"M
D"M
D"
D"
D"M
D"M
D"M(Z
D"M(Z
-(Z
D"
-(Z
D"M
D"M(Z
D"
D"M
!$ #ONVERTER
,IMITER
!'# !TTENUATOR
!MPLIFIER
"ANDPASS &ILTER
-IXER
"ANDPASS &ILTER
)NPUT
!MPLIFIER
5NITS
34# !TTENUATOR
4!",% .OISE AND $YNAMIC 2ANGE #HARACTERISTICS
+
%
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
7 /
" -
,/" $EFINITIONS 4HE INSTANTANEOUS BANDWIDTH OF A COMPONENT IS THE FREQUENCY BAND
OVER WHICH THE COMPONENT CAN SIMULTANEOUSLY PROCESS TWO OR MORE SIGNALS TO WITHIN A
SPECIFIED ACCURACY 7HEN THE TERM INSTANTANEOUS BANDWIDTH IS USED AS A RADAR RECEIVER
PARAMETER IT REFERS TO THE RESULTING BANDWIDTH SET BY THE COMBINATION OF 2& )& VIDEO
AND DIGITAL FILTERING THAT OCCURS WITHIN THE RECEIVER
7HEN THE RADAR RECEIVER EMPLOYS STRETCH PROCESSING DEFINED LATER IN THIS SEC
TION THE 2& PROCESSING BANDWIDTH IS SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER THAN THE )& BANDWIDTH
#ONSEQUENTLY THE TERM INSTANTANEOUS BANDWIDTH CAN BE CONFUSING #ONFUSION CAN BE
AVOIDED BY USING THE TERMS 2& WAVEFORM BANDWIDTH ,/ LINEAR &- CHIRP BANDWIDTH
AND )& PROCESSING BANDWIDTH 4HE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 2& ,/ AND )& BANDWIDTHS
USED IN STRETCH PROCESSING IS EXPLAINED IN MORE DETAIL LATER
4HE TUNING RANGE IS THE FREQUENCY BAND OVER WHICH THE COMPONENT MAY OPERATE
WITHOUT DEGRADING THE SPECIFIED PERFORMANCE 4UNING IS TYPICALLY ACCOMPLISHED BY
ADJUSTING THE LOCAL OSCILLATOR FREQUENCY AND ADJUSTING THE 2& FILTERING CHARACTERIS
TICS 4HE FREQUENCY RANGE OVER WHICH THE RADAR OPERATES IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE
OPERATING BANDWIDTH
)MPORTANT #HARACTERISTICS 4HE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH A RADAR MUST OPERATE
INCLUDES MANY SOURCES OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION WHICH CAN MASK THE RELATIVELY
WEAK RETURNS FROM ITS OWN TRANSMISSION 4HE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO SUCH INTERFERENCE IS
DETERMINED BY THE ABILITY OF THE RECEIVER TO SUPPRESS THE INTERFERING FREQUENCIES IF THE
SOURCES HAVE NARROW BANDWIDTH OR TO RECOVER QUICKLY IF THEY ARE MORE LIKE IMPULSES IN
CHARACTER /NE MUST BE CONCERNED WITH THE RESPONSE OF THE RECEIVER IN BOTH FREQUENCY
AND TIME DOMAINS
'ENERALLY THE CRITICAL RESPONSE IS DETERMINED IN THE )& PORTION OF THE RECEIVER THIS
WILL BE DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION (OWEVER ONE CANNOT IGNORE THE 2& PORTION OF THE
RECEIVER MERELY BY MAKING IT HAVE WIDE BANDWIDTH 3ECTION DISCUSSED HOW EXCES
SIVELY WIDE BANDWIDTH CAN PENALIZE DYNAMIC RANGE IF THE INTERFERENCE IS WIDEBAND
NOISE %VEN MORE LIKELY IS AN OUT
OF
BAND SOURCE OF STRONG INTERFERENCE EG OTHER
RADARS 46 STATIONS OR MICROWAVE COMMUNICATION LINKS THAT IF ALLOWED TO REACH THIS
POINT CAN EITHER OVERLOAD THE MIXER OR BE CONVERTED TO )& BY ONE OF THE SPURIOUS
RESPONSES OF THE MIXER
)DEAL MIXERS IN A SUPERHETERODYNE RECEIVER ACT AS MULTIPLIERS PRODUCING AN OUTPUT
PROPORTIONAL TO THE PRODUCT OF THE TWO INPUT SIGNALS %XCEPT FOR THE EFFECT OF NONLINEARI
TIES AND UNBALANCE THESE MIXERS PRODUCE ONLY TWO OUTPUT FREQUENCIES EQUAL TO THE SUM
AND THE DIFFERENCE OF THE TWO INPUT FREQUENCIES 4HE NONLINEARITIES AND IMBALANCE OF
MIXERS IS DESCRIBED IN MORE DETAIL IN 3ECTION
4HE BEST RADAR RECEIVER IS ONE WITH THE NARROWEST 2& INSTANTANEOUS BANDWIDTH COM
MENSURATE WITH THE RADIATED SPECTRUM AND HARDWARE LIMITATIONS AND WITH GOOD FREQUENCY
AND IMPULSE RESPONSES ! WIDE TUNING RANGE PROVIDES FLEXIBILITY TO ESCAPE INTERFERENCE
BUT IF THE INTERFERENCE IS INTENTIONAL AS IN THE CASE OF JAMMING A CHANGE IN 2& FRE
QUENCY ON A PULSE
TO
PULSE BASIS MAY BE REQUIRED USING SWITCHABLE OR ELECTRONICALLY
TUNED FILTERS )F THE 2& FILTERING IS LOCATED PRIOR TO 2& AMPLIFICATION THE FILTER INSERTION
LOSS WILL HAVE A D" FOR D" IMPACT ON THE RECEIVER NOISE FIGURE ANOTHER SACRIFICE IN NOISE
TEMPERATURE TO ACHIEVE MORE VITAL OBJECTIVES 9TTRIUM IRON GARNET 9)' FILTERS AND PIN
DIODE SWITCHED FILTERS HAVE BEEN USED TO PROVIDE THE NECESSARY FREQUENCY AGILITY
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3TRETCH 0ROCESSING 3TRETCH PROCESSING IS A TECHNIQUE FREQUENTLY USED TO PRO
CESS WIDE BANDWIDTH LINEAR &- WAVEFORMS 4HE ADVANTAGE OF THIS TECHNIQUE IS THAT IT
ALLOWS THE EFFECTIVE )& SIGNAL BANDWIDTH TO BE SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCED ALLOWING DIGITIZA
TION AND SUBSEQUENT DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING AT MORE READILY ACHIEVABLE SAMPLE RATES
"Y APPLYING A SUITABLY MATCHED CHIRP WAVEFORM TO THE RECEIVER FIRST ,/ COINCIDENT
WITH THE EXPECTED TIME OF ARRIVAL OF THE RADAR RETURN THE RESULTANT )& WAVEFORM HAS
A SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED BANDWIDTH FOR TARGETS OVER A LIMITED RANGE
WINDOW OF INTER
EST 0ROVIDED THAT THE LIMITED
RANGE WINDOW CAN BE TOLERATED A SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCED
PROCESSING BANDWIDTH ALLOWS MORE ECONOMICAL !$ CONVERSION AND SUBSEQUENT DIGITAL
SIGNAL PROCESSING )T ALSO ALLOWS A GREATER DYNAMIC RANGE TO BE ACHIEVED WITH LOWER
RATE !$ CONVERTERS THAN WOULD BE ACHIEVABLE IF DIGITIZATION OF THE ENTIRE 2& SIGNAL
BANDWIDTH WERE PERFORMED
)F THE ,/ CHIRP RATE IS SET EQUAL TO THE RECEIVED SIGNAL CHIRP RATE OF A POINT TARGET
THE RESULTANT OUTPUT IS A CONSTANT FREQUENCY TONE AT THE OUTPUT OF THE STRETCH PROCESSOR
RECEIVER WITH FREQUENCY $T"4 WHERE $T IS THE DIFFERENCE IN TIME BETWEEN THE RECEIVED
SIGNAL AND THE ,/ CHIRP SIGNAL AND "4 IS THE WAVEFORM CHIRP SLOPE CHIRP BANDWIDTH
PULSE WIDTH 4ARGET DOPPLER IS MAINTAINED THROUGH THE STRETCH PROCESSING PRODUCING
AN OUTPUT FREQUENCY OFFSET EQUAL TO THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY THOUGH THE WIDE PERCENTAGE
BANDWIDTH OFTEN USED MEANS THAT THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY CAN CHANGE SIGNIFICANTLY OVER
THE DURATION OF THE PULSE
)GNORING THE EFFECT OF TARGET DOPPLER THE REQUIRED 2& SIGNAL BANDWIDTH IS EQUAL TO
THE TRANSMITTED WAVEFORM BANDWIDTH 'IVEN THE 2& SIGNAL BANDWIDTH "2 THE RECEIVED
PULSE WIDTH 42 AND THE RANGE INTERVAL $4 THE REQUIRED ,/ REFERENCE WAVEFORM DURA
TION IS GIVEN BY
4, 42 $4
THE ,/ REFERENCE CHIRP WAVEFORM BANDWIDTH IS GIVEN BY
",
42 $4
"2
42
AND THE )& PROCESSING BANDWIDTH IS GIVEN BY
")
$4
"
42 2
{ ,
6
,," /
#ONFIGURATION 4HE RADAR FRONT END CONSISTS OF A LOW
NOISE AMPLIFIER ,.! AND
BANDPASS FILTER FOLLOWED BY A DOWNCONVERTER 4HE RADAR FREQUENCY IS DOWNCONVERTED
TO AN )& WHERE FILTERS WITH SUITABLE BANDPASS CHARACTERISTICS ARE PHYSICALLY REALIZ
ABLE 4HE MIXER ITSELF AND THE PRECEDING CIRCUITS ARE GENERALLY RELATIVELY BROADBAND
4UNING OF THE RECEIVER BETWEEN THE LIMITS SET BY THE PRESELECTOR OR MIXER BANDWIDTH
IS ACCOMPLISHED BY CHANGING THE ,/ FREQUENCY /CCASIONALLY RECEIVERS WILL INCLUDE
FILTERING BEFORE THE ,.! IN ORDER TO LIMIT THE EFFECTS OF INTERMODULATION DISTORTION THAT
CAN OCCUR IN THE ,.! %VEN WHEN FILTERING IS INCLUDED BEFORE THE ,.! A SECOND FILTER
IS OFTEN STILL REQUIRED BETWEEN THE ,.! AND THE MIXER IN ORDER TO REJECT THE AMPLIFIER
NOISE AT THE IMAGE FREQUENCY 7ITHOUT THIS FILTER THE NOISE CONTRIBUTION OF A BROADBAND
,.! WOULD BE DOUBLED
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
4HE RECEIVER FRONT END MAY ALSO INCLUDE A LIMITER USED TO PROTECT THE RECEIVER CIR
CUITRY FROM DAMAGE DUE TO HIGH POWER THAT MAY OCCUR EITHER FROM LEAKAGE DURING
TRANSMIT MODE OR AS A RESULT OF INTERFERENCE FROM ANOTHER SYSTEM SUCH AS A RADAR AT CLOSE
RANGE &RONT
END LIMITERS ARE DISCUSSED IN MORE DETAIL IN 3ECTION
4HE RADAR OR RECEIVER FRONT END OFTEN INCLUDES SOME FORM OF GAIN OR ATTENUATION CON
TROL AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 'AIN CONTROL IS DESCRIBED IN MORE DETAIL IN 3ECTION
%FFECT OF #HARACTERISTICS ON 0ERFORMANCE .ONCOHERENT PULSE RADAR PERFOR
MANCE IS AFFECTED BY FRONT
END CHARACTERISTICS IN THREE WAYS .OISE INTRODUCED BY THE
FRONT END INCREASES THE RADAR NOISE TEMPERATURE DEGRADING SENSITIVITY AND LIMITS THE
MAXIMUM RANGE AT WHICH TARGETS ARE DETECTABLE &RONT
END SATURATION ON STRONG SIGNALS
MAY LIMIT THE MINIMUM RANGE OF THE SYSTEM OR ITS ABILITY TO HANDLE STRONG INTERFERENCE
&INALLY THE FRONT
END SPURIOUS PERFORMANCE AFFECTS THE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO OFF
FREQUENCY
INTERFERENCE
#OHERENT RADAR PERFORMANCE IS EVEN MORE AFFECTED BY SPURIOUS MIXER CHARACTERIS
TICS 2ANGE AND VELOCITY ACCURACY IS DEGRADED IN PULSE DOPPLER RADARS STATIONARY TARGET
CANCELLATION IS IMPAIRED IN -4) MOVING
TARGET INDICATION RADARS AND RANGE SIDELOBES
ARE RAISED IN HIGH
RESOLUTION PULSE COMPRESSION SYSTEMS
3PURIOUS $ISTORTION OF 2ADIATED 3PECTRUM )T IS A SURPRISE TO MANY RADAR ENGI
NEERS THAT COMPONENTS OF THE RADAR RECEIVER CAN CAUSE DEGRADATION OF THE RADIATED
TRANSMITTER SPECTRUM GENERATING HARMONICS OF THE CARRIER FREQUENCY OR SPURIOUS DOP
PLER SPECTRA BOTH OF WHICH ARE OFTEN REQUIRED TO BE D" OR MORE BELOW THE CARRIER
(ARMONICS CAN CREATE INTERFERENCE IN OTHER ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT 3PURIOUS DOPPLER
SPECTRA LEVELS ARE DICTATED BY REQUIREMENTS TO SUPPRESS CLUTTER INTERFERENCE THROUGH
DOPPLER FILTERING
(ARMONICS ARE GENERATED BY ANY COMPONENT THAT BECOMES NONLINEAR WHEN SUB
JECTED TO THE POWER LEVEL CREATED BY THE TRANSMITTER AND THAT PASSES THOSE HARMONICS TO
THE ANTENNA 'ASEOUS OR DIODE RECEIVER
PROTECTORS ARE DESIGNED TO BE NONLINEAR DURING
THE TRANSMITTED PULSE AND REFLECT THE INCIDENT ENERGY BACK TOWARD THE ANTENNA )SOLATORS
OR CIRCULATORS ARE OFTEN EMPLOYED TO ABSORB MOST OF THE REFLECTED FUNDAMENTAL BUT THEY
ARE GENERALLY MUCH LESS EFFECTIVE AT THE HARMONICS -OREOVER THESE FERRITE DEVICES ARE
NONLINEAR DEVICES AND CAN GENERATE HARMONICS
3PURIOUS DOPPLER SPECTRA ARE CREATED BY ANY PROCESS THAT DOES NOT REOCCUR IDENTI
CALLY ON EACH TRANSMITTED PULSE 'ASEOUS RECEIVER
PROTECTORS IONIZE UNDER TRANSMITTER
POWER LEVELS BUT THERE IS SOME SMALL STATISTICAL VARIATION IN THE INITIATION OF IONIZA
TION ON THE LEADING EDGE OF THE PULSE AND IN ITS SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT )N RADARS
DEMANDING HIGH CLUTTER SUPPRESSION IN EXCESS OF D" IT HAS SOMETIMES BEEN FOUND
NECESSARY TO PREVENT THIS VARIABLE REFLECTED POWER FROM BEING RADIATED BY USE OF BOTH
A CIRCULATOR AND AN ISOLATOR IN THE RECEIVE PATH
3PURIOUS 2ESPONSE OF -IXERS 4HE IDEAL MIXER ACTS AS A MULTIPLIER PRODUCING AN
OUTPUT PROPORTIONAL TO THE PRODUCT OF THE TWO INPUT SIGNALS 4HE INPUT 2& SIGNAL AT FRE
QUENCY F2 IS FREQUENCY SHIFTED OR MODULATED BY THE ,/ SIGNAL AT FREQUENCY F, "ALANCED
MIXERS ARE USED TO MINIMIZE CONVERSION LOSS AND UNWANTED SPURIOUS RESPONSES )N
ACTIVE MIXERS MODULATION IS PERFORMED USING TRANSISTORS AND IN PASSIVE MIXERS THE
MODULATION IS PERFORMED USING 3CHOTTKY
BARRIER DIODES OR OTHER SOLID
STATE DEVICES
EG -%3&%4 WHERE INCREASED DYNAMIC RANGE IS REQUIRED
4HE RESULTING OUTPUT SIGNAL FREQUENCIES F, F2 AND F, n F2 ARE THE SUM AND DIFFERENCE
OF THE TWO INPUT FREQUENCIES )N PRACTICE ALL MIXERS PRODUCE UNWANTED INTERMODULATION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SPURIOUS RESPONSES WITH FREQUENCIES NF, MF2 WHERE M AND N ARE INTEGERS AND THE
DEGREE TO WHICH THESE SPURIOUS PRODUCTS IMPACT THE RADAR PERFORMANCE DEPENDS UPON THE
TYPE OF MIXER AND THE OVERALL RADAR PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS !NALYSIS OF MIXER SPURI
OUS LEVELS IS NONTRIVIAL AND THE RECEIVER DESIGNER TYPICALLY REQUIRES TABULATED DATA GENER
ATED THROUGH MIXER CHARACTERIZATION MEASUREMENTS TO PREDICT MIXER SPURIOUS LEVELS
!DVANCES IN MIXER TECHNOLOGY HAVE RESULTED IN A WIDE VARIETY OF COMMERCIALLY
AVAILABLE DEVICES EMPLOYING BALANCED DOUBLE BALANCED AND DOUBLE DOUBLE BALANCED
TOPOLOGIES COVERING A WIDE RANGE OF 2& ,/ AND )& FREQUENCIES AND A RANGE OF PER
FORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS
-IXER 3PURIOUS %FFECTS #HART ! GRAPHICAL DISPLAY OF MIXER SPURIOUS COMPO
NENTS UP TO THE SIXTH ORDER IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HIS CHART ALLOWS IDENTIFICATION OF
THOSE COMBINATIONS OF INPUT FREQUENCIES AND BANDWIDTHS THAT ARE FREE OF STRONG LOW
ORDER SPURIOUS COMPONENTS 3UCH CHARTS ARE MOST USEFUL IN DETERMINING OPTIMUM )& AND
,/ FREQUENCIES DURING THE INITIAL DESIGN PHASE /NCE THE FREQUENCY PLAN HAS BEEN DETER
MINED COMPUTER ANALYSIS OF SPURIOUS RESPONSES IS TYPICALLY USED TO ENSURE SPURIOUS FREE
PERFORMANCE OVER THE ENTIRE RANGE OF ,/ FREQUENCIES AND 2& AND )& BANDWIDTHS
4HE HEAVY LINE IN &IGURE REPRESENTS THE DESIRED SIGNAL AND SHOWS THE VARIATION
OF NORMALIZED OUTPUT FREQUENCY ( n , ( WITH NORMALIZED INPUT FREQUENCY ,(
!LL OTHER LINES ON THE CHART REPRESENT THE UNWANTED SPURIOUS SIGNALS 4O SIMPLIFY
USE OF THE CHART THE HIGHER INPUT FREQUENCY IS DESIGNATED BY ( AND THE LOWER INPUT
FREQUENCY BY ,
&)'52% $OWNCONVERTER SPURIOUS EFFECTS CHART ( HIGH INPUT FREQUENCY , LOW
INPUT FREQUENCY
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
3EVEN PARTICULARLY USEFUL REGIONS HAVE BEEN OUTLINED ON THE CHART 5SE OF THE CHART
IS ILLUSTRATED BY MEANS OF THE REGION MARKED ! WHICH REPRESENTS THE WIDEST AVAILABLE
SPURIOUS
FREE BANDWIDTH CENTERED AT ,( 4HE AVAILABLE 2& PASSBAND IS FROM
TO AND THE CORRESPONDING )& PASSBAND IS FROM TO (OWEVER SPURI
OUS )& FREQUENCIES OF ( n , AND ( n , ARE GENERATED AT THE EXTREMES
OF THE 2& PASSBAND !NY EXTENSION OF THE INSTANTANEOUS 2& BANDWIDTH WILL PRODUCE
OVERLAPPING )& FREQUENCIES A CONDITION THAT CANNOT BE CORRECTED BY )& FILTERING 4HE
( n , AND ( n , SPURIOUS FREQUENCIES LIKE ALL SPURIOUS )& FREQUENCIES ARISE FROM
CUBIC OR HIGHER
ORDER INTERMODULATION
4HE AVAILABLE SPURIOUS
FREE BANDWIDTH IN ANY OF THE DESIGNATED REGIONS IS ROUGHLY
OF THE CENTER FREQUENCY OR ( n , ( 4HUS RECEIVERS REQUIRING A WIDE BAND
WIDTH SHOULD USE A HIGH )& FREQUENCY CENTERED IN ONE OF THESE REGIONS &OR )& FREQUEN
CIES BELOW ( n , ( THE SPURIOUS FREQUENCIES ORIGINATE FROM HIGH
ORDER TERMS
IN THE POWER
SERIES MODEL AND ARE CONSEQUENTLY LOW ENOUGH IN AMPLITUDE THAT THEY
CAN OFTEN BE IGNORED &OR THIS REASON A LOW )& GENERALLY PROVIDES BETTER SUPPRESSION
OF SPURIOUS RESPONSES
4HE SPURIOUS
EFFECTS CHART ALSO DEMONSTRATES SPURIOUS INPUT RESPONSES /NE OF THE
STRONGER OF THESE OCCURS AT POINT " WHERE THE ( n , PRODUCT CAUSES A MIXER OUTPUT IN
THE )& PASSBAND WITH AN INPUT FREQUENCY AT !LL THE PRODUCTS OF THE FORM .( n ,
PRODUCE POTENTIALLY TROUBLESOME SPURIOUS RESPONSES 4HESE FREQUENCIES MUST BE FIL
TERED AT 2& TO PREVENT THEIR REACHING THE MIXER )F SUFFICIENT FILTERING CANNOT BE APPLIED
PRIOR TO THE MIXING PROCESS SPURIOUS PRODUCTS THAT FALL WITHIN THE OPERATING BAND WILL
NO LONGER BE FILTERABLE WHICH WILL SERIOUSLY DEGRADE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
3PURIOUS RESPONSES NOT PREDICTED BY THE CHART OCCUR WHEN TWO OR MORE 2& INPUT SIG
NALS PRODUCE OTHER FREQUENCIES BY INTERMODULATION THAT LIE WITHIN THE 2& PASSBAND
)MAGE
2EJECT -IXER ! CONVENTIONAL MIXER HAS TWO INPUT RESPONSES AT POINTS
ABOVE AND BELOW THE ,/ FREQUENCY WHERE THE FREQUENCY SEPARATION EQUALS THE )& 4HE
UNUSED RESPONSE KNOWN AS THE IMAGE IS SUPPRESSED BY THE IMAGE
REJECT OR SINGLE
SIDEBAND MIXER SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE 2& HYBRID PRODUCES A n PHASE DIFFERENTIAL
BETWEEN THE ,/ INPUTS TO THE TWO MIXERS 4HE EFFECT OF THIS PHASE DIFFERENTIAL ON THE
)& OUTPUTS OF THE MIXERS IS A n SHIFT IN ONE SIDEBAND AND A
n SHIFT IN THE OTHER
4HE )& HYBRID ADDING OR SUBTRACTING ANOTHER n DIFFERENTIAL CAUSES THE HIGH
SIDEBAND
SIGNALS TO ADD AT ONE OUTPUT PORT AND TO SUBTRACT AT THE OTHER 7HERE WIDE BANDWIDTHS
ARE INVOLVED THE )& HYBRID IS OF THE ALL
PASS TYPE )N PRACTICE IMAGE REJECT MIXERS OFTEN
DO NOT PROVIDE SUFFICIENT REJECTION OF THE IMAGE RESPONSE ALONE WITHOUT FILTERING )N
THIS CASE THEY CAN BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH AN IMAGE REJECTION FILTER REDUCING THE
MAGNITUDE OF REJECTION REQUIRED BY THE FILTER
"
!
&)'52% )MAGE REJECT MIXER
#
#
#
#
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
#HARACTERISTICS OF !MPLIFIERS AND -IXERS .OISE FIGURE AMPLIFIER GAIN MIXER
CONVERSION LOSS D" COMPRESSION POINT AND THIRD ORDER INTERCEPT POINT ARE THE MOST
COMMON PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS SPECIFIED FOR AMPLIFIERS AND MIXERS /CCASIONALLY A
SECOND ORDER INTERCEPT POINT SPECIFICATION IS ALSO REQUIRED FOR VERY WIDE BANDWIDTH SIG
NALS )T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT FOR AMPLIFIERS COMPRESSION POINT AND THIRD ORDER INTERCEPT
ARE USUALLY SPECIFIED AT THEIR OUTPUT WHEREAS FOR MIXERS THESE PARAMETERS ARE USUALLY
SPECIFIED AT THEIR INPUT
!DDITIONAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR MIXERS INCLUDE ,/ DRIVE POWER PORT TO PORT ISOLATION
AND SINGLE TONE INTERMODULATION LEVELS 4HE ,/ DRIVE POWER SPECIFICATION DEFINES HOW
MUCH ,/ POWER IS REQUIRED BY THE MIXER TO MEET ITS SPECIFIED PERFORMANCE LEVELS
4YPICALLY THE HIGHER THE ,/ POWER THE HIGHER THE D" COMPRESSION POINT AND THIRD
ORDER INTERCEPT POINT 2ADAR RECEIVERS OFTEN REQUIRE HIGH ,/ DRIVE LEVEL MIXERS IN
ORDER TO MEET THE CHALLENGING DYNAMIC RANGE REQUIREMENTS 4HE PORT TO PORT ISOLATION
IS USED TO DETERMINE THE POWER LEVEL COUPLED DIRECTLY BETWEEN THE MIXER PORTS WITHOUT
FREQUENCY TRANSLATION 4HE SINGLE TONE INTERMODULATION LEVELS SPECIFY THE LEVELS OF
THE NF, MF2 SPURIOUS SIGNALS AS DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY
x "
"-
/",&UNCTIONS OF THE ,OCAL /SCILLATOR 4HE SUPERHETERODYNE RECEIVER UTILIZES ONE
OR MORE LOCAL OSCILLATORS AND MIXERS TO CONVERT THE SIGNAL TO AN INTERMEDIATE FRE
QUENCY THAT IS CONVENIENT FOR FILTERING AND PROCESSING OPERATIONS 4HE RECEIVER CAN
BE TUNED BY CHANGING THE FIRST ,/ FREQUENCY WITHOUT DISTURBING THE )& SECTION OF THE
RECEIVER 3UBSEQUENT SHIFTS IN INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY ARE OFTEN ACCOMPLISHED WITHIN
THE RECEIVER BY ADDITIONAL ,/S GENERALLY OF FIXED FREQUENCY 4HESE ,/S ARE GENER
ALLY ALSO USED IN THE EXCITER TO UPCONVERT MODULATED WAVEFORMS TO 2& FOR OUTPUT TO
THE TRANSMITTER
)N MANY EARLY RADARS THE ONLY FUNCTION OF THE LOCAL OSCILLATORS WAS CONVERSION OF
THE INPUT SIGNAL FREQUENCY TO THE CORRECT INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY -ANY MODERN RADAR
SYSTEMS HOWEVER COHERENTLY PROCESS A SERIES OF RETURNS FROM A TARGET 4HE LOCAL OSCIL
LATORS ACT ESSENTIALLY AS A TIMING STANDARD BY WHICH THE SIGNAL DELAY IS MEASURED TO
EXTRACT RANGE INFORMATION ACCURATE TO WITHIN A SMALL FRACTION OF A WAVELENGTH 4HE
PROCESSING DEMANDS A HIGH DEGREE OF PHASE STABILITY THROUGHOUT THE RADAR
34!,/ )NSTABILITY 4HE FIRST LOCAL OSCILLATOR GENERALLY REFERRED TO AS A STABLE
LOCAL OSCILLATOR 34!,/ TYPICALLY HAS THE GREATEST EFFECT ON RECEIVER
EXCITER STABILITY
HOWEVER WHEN EVALUATING THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS SHOULD NOT BE
NEGLECTED !DVANCES IN STATE
OF
THE
ART 34!,/ OSCILLATOR PERFORMANCE AND THE STRIN
GENT CLUTTER CANCELLATION REQUIREMENTS OF MODERN RADARS MEANS THAT THE PHASE NOISE OF
ALL OSCILLATORS AND TIMING JITTER OF !$ CONVERTER AND $! CONVERTER CLOCKS AND 42
STROBES MAY BE SIGNIFICANT
4HE SHORT
TERM STABILITY REQUIREMENTS OF THE 34!,/ ARE GENERALLY CHARACTERIZED
BY DEVICE NOISE RELATIVE TO CARRIER D"C SPECIFIED IN TERMS OF A PHASE NOISE SPECTRUM
AND MEASURED IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN ,ONG
TERM STABILITY IS TYPICALLY CHARACTER
IZED BY AGING AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS SPECIFIED IN TERMS OF FREQUENCY DRIFT AND
MEASURED USING AN !LLAN 6ARIANCE TECHNIQUE 2EQUIREMENTS ARE TYPICALLY SPECIFIED
IN TERMS OF AN ABSOLUTE FREQUENCY TOLERANCE OR A MAXIMUM FREQUENCY DEVIATION OVER
SOME TIME INTERVAL
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
)T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT MEASUREMENTS OF PHASE NOISE ARE TYPICALLY PERFORMED BY
MEASUREMENT OF DOUBLE
SIDEBAND NOISE THE SUM OF THE POWER IN BOTH THE UPPER AND
LOWER SIDEBANDS BUT MORE TYPICALLY REPORTED AND SPECIFIED AS SINGLE SIDEBAND 33"
VALUES $OUBLE
SIDEBAND NOISE CAN BE TRANSLATED TO A SINGLE
SIDEBAND VALUE BY SUB
TRACTING D" 5NEQUAL SIDEBAND POWER CAN ONLY RESULT FROM ADDITIVE SIGNALS OR NOISE
OR CORRELATED AMPLITUDE AND PHASE NOISE COMPONENTS
!MPLITUDE MODULATION !- OF THE 34!,/ IS TYPICALLY NOT A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR AS
IT IS USUALLY AT A LOWER LEVEL THAN THE PHASE NOISE AT SMALL OFFSET FREQUENCIES FROM CAR
RIER AND CAN BE FURTHER REDUCED THROUGH LIMITING -ODERN MIXERS TYPICALLY PROVIDE A
SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THE EFFECT OF 34!,/ AMPLITUDE MODULATION AS THEIR CONVERSION
GAIN IS RELATIVELY INSENSITIVE TO ,/ POWER VARIATION WHEN OPERATED AT THEIR SPECIFIED
DRIVE LEVEL
&OR SYSTEMS REQUIRING HIGH SENSITIVITY !- NOISE CAN BECOME DISRUPTIVE IF UNIN
TENTIONAL CONVERSION OF !- TO 0- NOISE OCCURS IN THE RECEIVER CHAIN 4HIS PROCESS
CAN OCCUR VIA SUBOPTIMUM COMPONENT BIAS TECHNIQUES WHERE HIGH AMPLITUDE SIGNALS
OR NOISE CREATE A PHASE SHIFT RESULTING IN ANOTHER PHASE NOISE CONTRIBUTION TO THE
RECEIVER CHAIN
6IBRATION 3ENSITIVITY )N ADDITION TO THE PHASE NOISE GENERATED BY THE 34!,/ IN
A BENIGN ENVIRONMENT SOURCES OF UNWANTED PHASE MODULATION INCLUDE THE EFFECTS OF
POWER SUPPLY RIPPLE AND SPURIOUS SIGNALS AS WELL AS MECHANICAL OR ACOUSTIC VIBRATION
FROM FANS MOTORS AND OTHER SOURCES 4HE EFFECTS OF VIBRATION CAN BE SEVERE ESPE
CIALLY IN AIRBORNE ENVIRONMENTS WHERE HIGH VIBRATION LEVELS ARE PRESENT 4HE VIBRATION
SENSITIVITY OF AN OSCILLATOR IS SPECIFIED BY THE FACTIONAL FREQUENCY VIBRATION SENSITIVITY
COMMONLY KNOW AS THE G
SENSITIVITY 4YPICALLY A SINGLE CONSTANT VALUE IS SPECIFIED )N
PRACTICE THE SENSITIVITY VARIES SIGNIFICANTLY WITH VIBRATION FREQUENCY AND IS DIFFERENT
FOR EACH AXIS %QUATION CAN BE USED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT ON OSCILLATOR PHASE NOISE
DUE TO RANDOM VIBRATION IN EACH AXIS
' F G F
, FV LOG I I V D"C 33" IN A (Z BANDWIDTH
FV
WHERE FV
F
'I
FI FV
VIBRATION FREQUENCY (Z
OSCILLATOR FREQUENCY (Z
OSCILLATOR FRACTIONAL FREQUENCY VIBRATION SENSITIVITY G
IN AXIS I
VIBRATION POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY G(Z IN AXIS I AT THE VIBRATION
FREQUENCY FV
4HE COMPOSITE 34!,/ VIBRATION SENSITIVITY ' IS DEFINED BY THE ROOT SUM SQUARE
OF THE SENSITIVITY IN EACH OF THE THREE PRIME AXES AS SHOWN IN %Q
\' \ ' X ' Y ' Z
2ANGE $EPENDENCE -OST MODERN RADARS USE THE 34!,/ IN BOTH THE RECEIVER
FOR DOWNCONVERSION AND THE EXCITER FOR UPCONVERSION 4HIS DOUBLE USE OF THE 34!,/
INTRODUCES A DEPENDENCE ON RANGE OF THE CLUTTER AND EXAGGERATES THE EFFECT OF CERTAIN
UNINTENTIONAL PHASE
MODULATION COMPONENTS BY D" THE CRITICAL FREQUENCIES BEING
THOSE WHICH CHANGE PHASE BY ODD MULTIPLES OF DURING THE TIME PERIOD BETWEEN
TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION OF THE CLUTTER RETURN FROM A SPECIFIED RANGE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HIS RANGE
DEPENDENT FILTER CHARACTERISTIC IS GIVEN BY
\ &2 FM \ SIN P FM 2 C SIN P FM4
WHERE FM MODULATION FREQUENCY (Z
2 RANGE M
C PROPAGATION VELOCITY r MS
4 TIME DELAY 2C S
! SHORT TIME DELAY CAN TOLERATE MUCH HIGHER DISTURBANCES AT LOW MODULATION FRE
QUENCIES AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE TWO CASES IN &IGURE #ONSEQUENTLY THE EFFECTS OF
34!,/ STABILITY NEED TO BE COMPUTED FOR SEVERAL TIME DELAYS OR RANGES TO ENSURE SUF
FICIENT STABILITY EXISTS FOR THE INTENDED APPLICATION
#LOSE TO CARRIER PHASE MODULATION IS TYPICALLY DOMINATED BY THAT OF THE OSCILLATORS
DUE TO THE INHERENT FEEDBACK PROCESS WITHIN THE OSCILLATOR CIRCUITRY .OISE CONTRIBU
TORS WITHIN THE OSCILLATOR LOOP THAT EXHIBIT A F CHARACTERISTIC D"DECADE NOISE
SLOPE ARE ENHANCED BY D" VIA THE FEEDBACK MECHANISM WITH A RESULTING NET F
CHARACTERISTIC D"DECADE NOISE SIGNATURE CLOSE TO CARRIER WITHIN THE OSCILLATOR LOOP
BANDWIDTH /UTSIDE THIS LOOP BANDWIDTH THE OSCILLATOR NOISE SIGNATURE RESUMES A F
SLOPE UNTIL REACHING A FLAT THERMAL NOISE FLOOR !T LARGER FREQUENCY OFFSETS SIGNIFICANT
NOISE CONTRIBUTIONS CAN RESULT FROM OTHER COMPONENTS SUCH AS AMPLIFIERS IN THE 34!,/
SIGNAL PATH $EPENDING ON THE LOCATION OF THESE AMPLIFIERS THEY MAY EITHER CREATE
PHASE MODULATION THAT IS COMMON TO BOTH THE RECEIVER AND EXCITER CORRELATED NOISE
OR ADD PHASE NOISE TO ONLY THE RECEIVER OR EXCITER UNCORRELATED NOISE 5NCORRELATED
OR UNCOMMON NOISE IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE RANGE DEPENDENT FACTOR DESCRIBED ABOVE SO IT
MUST BE ACCOUNTED FOR SEPARATELY /THER SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS OF UNCOMMON NOISE
ARE THE NOISE ON THE EXCITER WAVEFORM BEFORE UPCONVERSION ALONG WITH AMPLIFIERS IN
THE RECEIVER AND EXCITER SIGNAL PATHS
4HE UNDESIRED 33" PHASE NOISE AFTER DOWNCONVERSION BY THE 34!,/ IS THE SUM OF
THE UNCOMMON PHASE NOISE AND THE COMMON PHASE NOISE REDUCED BY THE RANGE FACTOR
&)'52% %FFECT OF RANGE DELAY ON CLUTTER CANCELLATION
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
$("& $ ( # , )$, 2
)'')(# , )$, !
# , )$, !- +)0( )(/ +,$)( !
2
( )'')(# , )$, !
%2
%2
%2
2
+ *. ( 1
&)'52% 0HASE NOISE COMPONENTS
&IGURE ILLUSTRATES TYPICAL COMMON AND UNCOMMON PHASE NOISE COMPONENTS AND THE
RESULTING MIXER OUTPUT PHASE NOISE AS CALCULATED USING
, g F ,# F \ &2 F \ ,5 F
WHERE
,# F 34!,/ 33" PHASE NOISE SPECTRUM COMMON TO THE RECEIVER AND EXCITER
,5 F TOTAL RECEIVER
EXCITER UNCORRELATED 34!,/ 33" PHASE NOISE
&2 F RANGE DEPENDENCE FACTOR
2ESIDUE 0OWER AND -4) )MPROVEMENT &ACTOR 3UBSEQUENT STAGES OF THE RECEIVER
AND SIGNAL PROCESSOR HAVE RESPONSES THAT ARE FUNCTIONS OF THE DOPPLER MODULATION FRE
QUENCY SO THE OUTPUT SPECTRUM CAN BE OBTAINED BY COMBINING THE RESPONSES OF THESE
FILTERS WITH THE SPECTRUM PRESENT AT THE MIXER INPUT )N -4) SYSTEMS IT IS COMMON TO
DESCRIBE THE ABILITY TO SUPPRESS CLUTTER IN TERMS OF AN -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR 4HE
-4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR ) IS DEFINED AS THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO AT THE OUTPUT OF
THE CLUTTER FILTER DIVIDED BY THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO AT THE INPUT OF THE CLUTTER FILTER
AVERAGED UNIFORMLY OVER ALL TARGET RADIAL VELOCITIES OF INTEREST 4HE -4) IMPROVEMENT
FACTOR LIMITATION DUE TO THE 34!,/ MAY BE EXPRESSED AS THE RATIO OF THE 34!,/ POWER
TO THE TOTAL INTEGRATED POWER OF THE RETURN MODULATION SPECTRUM IT CREATES AT THE OUTPUT
OF THE -4) FILTERS &IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE EFFECT OF THE OVERALL FILTERING CONSISTING OF
-4) FILTERING AND RECEIVER FILTERING ON THE RESIDUE POWER SPECTRUM
4HE INTEGRATED RESIDUE POWER DUE TO THE 34!-/ PHASE NOISE IS GIVEN BY
0RESIDUE \ ( F \ , ` F DF
c
WHERE
( F COMBINED RESPONSE OF RECEIVER AND DOPPLER FILTERS NORMALIZED TO D"
NOISE GAIN
,g F PHASE NOISE AFTER DOWNCONVERSION AS DEFINED IN %Q
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
( $ ( ) '
$,#$#+ '( $#
$ ( + !.
!*)) ' ( *
.
!) ' (%$#(
$" # $%%! ' !) '
# + ' !) '
(%$#(
.
.
.
.
' &* #&)'52% #LUTTER RESIDUE DUE TO ,/ PHASE NOISE
AND THE LIMIT ON THE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR DUE TO THE 34!,/ PHASE NOISE IS
GIVEN BY
)
LOG 0RESIDUE
)F THE RADAR UTILIZES MORE THAN ONE DOPPLER FILTER THE EFFECT OF 34!,/ INSTABILITY
SHOULD BE CALCULATED FOR EACH INDIVIDUALLY
0ULSE $OPPLER 0ROCESSING )N PULSE DOPPLER SYSTEMS A SERIES OF PULSES ARE TRANS
MITTED AT A FIXED PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY 02& AND DOPPLER PROCESSING IS PER
FORMED WITHIN THE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR USING SAMPLES SEPARATED AT THE 02& RATE
4HE RESULTING SAMPLING OF THE RECEIVER OUTPUT AT THE 02& PRODUCES ALIASING OF THE PHASE
NOISE SPECTRUM PERIODICALLY AT THE 02& INTERVAL AS SHOWN IN &IGURE WHERE EACH
CURVE REPRESENTS THE PHASE NOISE AT THE OUTPUT OF THE RECEIVER INCLUDING THE EFFECTS
OF RECEIVER FILTERING AND OFFSET BY A MULTIPLE OF THE 02& FREQUENCY 4HE COMBINED
PHASE NOISE DUE TO EACH ALIASED COMPONENT IS CALCULATED USING %Q WITH THE RESULT
ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE 4HIS SAMPLED PHASE NOISE SPECTRUM PROVIDES A METHOD FOR
COMPARING DIFFERENT ,/ PHASE NOISE PROFILES AND THEIR RELATIVE IMPACT ON THE OVERALL
PERFORMANCE OF THE SYSTEM
,} F
, ` F KF02& \ ( F KF02& \
K c
3INUSOIDAL -ODULATIONS 2ADAR PERFORMANCE IS AFFECTED BY BOTH RANDOM AND SINU
SOIDAL MODULATIONS 3INUSOIDAL MODULATIONS CAN HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON RADAR
PERFORMANCE THOUGH THE DEGREE TO WHICH THEY CAUSE DEGRADATION OFTEN DEPENDS ON
THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE RADAR 02& AND THEIR MAGNITUDE RELATIVE TO THE RANDOM MODU
LATIONS %XAMPLES OF SUCH UNDESIRED SINUSOIDAL MODULATIONS ARE IN
BAND UNFILTERABLE
MIXER PRODUCTS OR LEAKAGE DUE TO INSUFFICIENT ISOLATION BETWEEN SIGNAL SOURCES WITHIN
A RECEIVER OR EXCITER )N ADDITION TO EXTERNAL SOURCES OF INTERFERENCE THE RADAR DESIGNER
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
&)'52% 0HASE NOISE ALIASING IN A PULSE DOPPLER SYSTEM
&)'52% 3AMPLED PHASE NOISE SPECTRUM DUE TO PHASE NOISE ALIASING
MUST BE CONCERNED WITH INTERNAL SIGNAL SOURCES -4) AND PULSE DOPPLER RADARS ARE
PARTICULARLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO ANY SUCH INTERNAL OSCILLATORS THAT ARE NOT COHERENT IE THAT
DO NOT HAVE THE SAME PHASE FOR EACH PULSE TRANSMISSION 4HE EFFECT OF THE SPURIOUS
SIGNAL IS THEN DIFFERENT FOR EACH RETURN AND THE ABILITY TO REJECT CLUTTER IS DEGRADED
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
! TRULY COHERENT RADAR GENERATES ALL FREQUENCIES INCLUDING ITS INTER PULSE PERIODS FROM
A SINGLE FREQUENCY REFERENCE 4HIS FULLY COHERENT ARCHITECTURE INSURES THAT BOTH THE
DESIRED FREQUENCIES AND ALL THE INTERNALLY GENERATED SPURIOUS SIGNALS ARE COHERENT
ELIMINATING THE DEGRADATION OF CLUTTER REJECTION
-ANY RADAR SYSTEMS ARE PSEUDO COHERENT 4HE SAME OSCILLATORS ARE USED IN BOTH
TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE BUT NOT NECESSARILY COHERENT WITH EACH OTHER 4HE RESULT IS THAT
THE PHASE OF THE TARGET REMAINS CONSTANT BUT THE PHASE OF MANY OF THE SPURIOUS SIGNALS
VARIES FROM PULSE TO PULSE )N THIS TYPE OF CONFIGURATION SIGNAL ISOLATION AND FREQUENCY
ARCHITECTURE IS CRITICAL TO MINIMIZE THE OCCURRENCE OF SPURIOUS SIGNALS THAT COULD ERRO
NEOUSLY BE INTERPRETED AS FALSE TARGETS
#/(/ AND 4IMING )NSTABILITY 4HE MAJORITY OF THIS DISCUSSION HAS FOCUSED
ON THE 34!,/ AS THE MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO RECEIVER STABILITY /THER CONTRIBUTORS
SUCH AS THE SECOND ,/ THE COHERENT OSCILLATOR #/(/ IF USED !$ AND $!
CONVERTER CLOCKS CAN ALL BECOME SIGNIFICANT !$ AND $! CONVERTER CLOCK JITTER
BECOMES INCREASINGLY SIGNIFICANT AS SAMPLE RATES AND )& FREQUENCIES ARE INCREASED
4HE EFFECTS OF !$ AND $! CONVERTER CLOCK PHASE NOISE AND JITTER IS DESCRIBED IN
3ECTIONS AND 4HE JITTER ON TIMING STROBES USED TO PERFORM TRANSMITRECEIVE
42 SWITCHING IS TYPICALLY LESS STRINGENT THAN THAT OF !$ CLOCKS AS IT DOES NOT HAVE
A DIRECT IMPACT ON THE SIGNAL PHASE (OWEVER IF COMPONENTS SUCH AS TRANSMITRECEIVE
SWITCHES OR POWER AMPLIFIERS HAVE A TRANSIENT PHASE RESPONSE OF SIGNIFICANT DURATION
TIME JITTER ON THE SWITCHING TIME CAN BE TRANSLATED INTO A PHASE MODULATION OF THE
TRANSMITTER OR RECEIVER SIGNAL
4OTAL 2ADAR )NSTABILITY 4HE PRIMARY SOURCES OF RADAR INSTABILITY ARE USUALLY THE
RECEIVER EXCITER COMMON PHASE NOISE RECEIVER AND EXCITER UNCOMMON PHASE NOISE
AND THE TRANSMITTER PHASE NOISE )F THE SPECTRA OF THESE COMPONENTS ARE AVAILABLE EITHER
THROUGH MEASUREMENTS OR THROUGH PREDICTIONS BASED ON SIMILAR DEVICES THE CONVOLU
TION OF RECEIVER EXCITER COMMON PHASE NOISE MODIFIED BY THE RANGE DEPENDENT EFFECT
WITH THE OTHER COMPONENTS PROVIDES AN ESTIMATE OF THE SPECTRUM OF RETURNS FROM STABLE
CLUTTER WHICH IS THEN MODIFIED BY THE RECEIVER FILTERS AND INTEGRATED TO OBTAIN THE RESI
DUE POWER CAUSED BY THESE CONTRIBUTORS 4HESE PROCEDURES ARE EMPLOYED TO DIAGNOSE
THE SOURCE OF RADAR INSTABILITY IN AN EXISTING RADAR OR TO PREDICT THE PERFORMANCE OF A
RADAR IN THE DESIGN STAGE AND TO ALLOW THE ALLOCATION OF STABILITY REQUIREMENTS TO CRITICAL
COMPONENTS OR SUBSYSTEMS WITHIN THE RADAR
-EASUREMENT OF TOTAL RADAR INSTABILITY CAN BE CONDUCTED WITH THE RADAR ANTENNA
SEARCH LIGHTING A STABLE POINT CLUTTER REFLECTOR THAT PRODUCES A SIGNAL RETURN CLOSE TO
BUT BELOW THE DYNAMIC RANGE LIMIT OF THE RECEIVER 3UITABLE CLUTTER SOURCES ARE DIF
FICULT TO FIND AT MANY RADAR SITES AND INTERRUPTION OF ROTATION OF THE ANTENNA TO CON
DUCT SUCH A TEST MAY BE UNACCEPTABLE AT OTHERS IN THIS CASE A MICROWAVE DELAY LINE
CAN BE EMPLOYED TO FEED A DELAYED SAMPLE OF THE TRANSMITTER PULSE INTO THE RECEIVER
!LL SOURCES OF INSTABILITY ARE INCLUDED IN THIS SINGLE MEASUREMENT EXCEPT FOR ANY
CONTRIBUTORS OUTSIDE THE DELAY LINE LOOP )T IS IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT TIMING JIT
TER DOES NOT PRODUCE EQUAL IMPACT ON ALL PARTS OF THE RETURN PULSE AND GENERALLY HAS
MINIMAL EFFECT ON THE CENTER OF THE PULSE SO IT IS ESSENTIAL TO COLLECT DATA SAMPLES AT
A MULTIPLICITY OF POINTS ACROSS THE RETURN INCLUDING LEADING AND TRAILING EDGES 4HE
TOTAL RADAR INSTABILITY IS THE RATIO OF THE SUM OF THE MULTIPLICITY OF RESIDUE POWERS AT
THE OUTPUT OF THE DOPPLER FILTER TO THE SUM OF THE POWERS AT ITS INPUT DIVIDED BY THE
RATIO OF RECEIVER NOISE AT THESE LOCATIONS 3TABILITY IS THE INVERSE OF THIS RATIO BOTH ARE
GENERALLY EXPRESSED IN DECIBELS
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
)N RADARS WITH PHASE CODED TRANSMISSION AND PULSE COMPRESSION RECEIVERS RESIDUE
MAY BE SIGNIFICANT IN THE RANGE SIDELOBE REGION AS WELL AS IN THE COMPRESSED PULSE
CAUSED BY PHASE MODULATION DURING THE LONG TRANSMITTED PULSE RATHER THAN SOLELY FROM
PULSE TO PULSE -EASUREMENT OF STABILITY OF SUCH RADARS MUST EMPLOY A VERY LARGE NUM
BER OF DATA POINTS TO OBTAIN AN ANSWER VALID FOR CLUTTER DISTRIBUTED IN RANGE
)N ADDITION TO THE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE NOISE OF THE RECEIVER EXCITER AND THE TRANS
MITTER MECHANICALLY SCANNING ANTENNAS PRODUCE A MODULATION THAT IS PREDOMINANTLY
!- 4HE COMBINED EFFECT IS THE SUM OF THE RESIDUE POWERS PRODUCED BY EACH COMPO
NENT INDIVIDUALLY
,OW .OISE &REQUENCY 3OURCES -ANY RADAR SYSTEMS OPERATE OVER A RANGE OF
2& FREQUENCIES REQUIRING A NUMBER OF ,/ FREQUENCIES THAT ARE TYPICALLY GENERATED
USING FREQUENCY SYNTHESIS &REQUENCY SYNTHESIS IS THE PROCESS OF CREATING ONE OR MORE
FREQUENCIES FROM A SINGLE REFERENCE FREQUENCY USING FREQUENCY MULTIPLICATION DIVI
SION ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION TO SYNTHESIZE THE REQUIRED FREQUENCIES 4HE FUNDAMENTAL
BUILDING BLOCK OF ANY FREQUENCY SYNTHESIS APPROACH IS THE OSCILLATOR #RYSTAL OSCILLATORS
HAVE HISTORICALLY BEEN THE MOST COMMON SOURCE TECHNOLOGY 6(& CRYSTAL OSCILLATORS
EMPLOYING DOUBLY ROTATED 3# )4 ETC CRYSTAL RESONATORS ARE ABLE TO SUPPORT HIGHER
POWER LEVELS THAN SINGLE AXIS CRYSTALS 4HIS ENABLES THEM TO ACHIEVE LOWER PHASE NOISE
AND IMPROVED VIBRATION IMMUNITY DUE TO PROPERTIES UNIQUE TO THE PARTICULAR AXIS OF
ROTATION &REQUENCY MULTIPLICATION OF THESE 6(& SOURCES IS OFTEN USED TO GENERATE THE
RADAR 2& FREQUENCIES REQUIRED HOWEVER THIS MULTIPLICATION PROCESS RESULTS IN INCREASE
IN PHASE NOISE PERFORMANCE BY LOG- D" WHERE - IS THE MULTIPLICATION FACTOR !
VARIETY OF OTHER SOURCE TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS 3URFACE !COUSTIC 7AVE 3!7 OSCILLA
TORS HAVE BEEN EXPLOITED TO ACHIEVE IMPROVED PHASE NOISE PERFORMANCE 3!7 OSCIL
LATORS ENABLE LOWER FAR FROM CARRIER PHASE NOISE LARGELY DUE TO THEIR HIGHER FREQUENCY
OPERATION AND THE RESULTING LOWER FREQUENCY MULTIPLICATION FACTOR REQUIRED TO GENERATE
THE EQUIVALENT RADAR 2& OUTPUT FREQUENCIES
6ERY ACCURATE FREQUENCY TIMING IS OFTEN REQUIRED IN RADARS WHERE COORDINATION OR
HAND OFF FROM ONE RADAR TO ANOTHER OR COMMUNICATION TO A MISSILE IN FLIGHT IS REQUIRED
4HIS IS TYPICALLY THE CASE WHERE A SEARCH RADAR ACQUIRES A TARGET AND QUEUES A PRECI
SION TRACKING RADAR !CCURATE TIMING FOR THESE APPLICATIONS MAY BE ACHIEVED BY PHASE
LOCKING THE LOW PHASE NOISE RADAR OSCILLATORS TO A LOW FREQUENCY REFERENCE GENERATED
FROM EITHER A RUBIDIUM OSCILLATOR OR A '03 RECEIVER )N THIS CONFIGURATION THE LONG TERM
STABILITY OF THE REFERENCE OSCILLATOR IS SUPERIOR TO THAT OF THE RADAR OSCILLATOR AND THE
SHORT TERM STABILITY OF THE RADAR OSCILLATOR IS SUPERIOR TO THAT OF THE REFERENCE OSCILLATOR
4HE PHASE LOCK LOOP 0,, ARCHITECTURE IS ESTABLISHED TO EXPLOIT THE STRENGTHS OF BOTH
TECHNOLOGIES BY SELECTING A 0,, BANDWIDTH AT THE OFFSET FREQUENCY WHERE THE SOURCE
STABILITIES CROSS OVER &OR TYPICAL RADAR AND REFERENCE OSCILLATOR TECHNOLOGIES THIS USU
ALLY OCCURS IN THE (Z TO K(Z OFFSET REGION
&REQUENCY 3YNTHESIS 4ECHNIQUES 4HE MOST COMMON TECHNIQUES ARE DIRECT
SYNTHESIS DIRECT DIGITAL SYNTHESIS AND FREQUENCY MULTIPLICATION $IRECT SYNTHESIS IS
THE PROCESS OF GENERATING FREQUENCIES THROUGH THE MULTIPLICATION AND MIXING OF A
NUMBER OF SIGNALS AT DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES TO PRODUCE THE REQUIRED OUTPUT FREQUENCY
&REQUENCY MULTIPLICATION AND DIRECT DIGITAL SYNTHESIS ARE DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
#ONVENTIONAL PHASE LOCKED LOOP SYNTHESIZERS ARE OCCASIONALLY USED BUT THEIR FRE
QUENCY SWITCHING TIMES AND PHASE SETTLING RESPONSES ARE GENERALLY INADEQUATE TO MEET
THE STRINGENT RADAR RECEIVER EXCITER REQUIREMENTS 0HASE LOCKED LOOPS ARE MORE LIKELY
USED TO LOCK FIXED HIGH FREQUENCY OSCILLATORS TO STABLE LOW FREQUENCY REFERENCES TO
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
ENSURE COHERENCE OF ALL OSCILLATORS WITHIN THE RECEIVER
EXCITER AND OBTAIN AN OPTIMUM
BALANCE OF LONG
AND SHORT
TERM STABILITY
#OHERENCE !FTER &REQUENCY 3WITCHING ,ONG RANGE RADARS OFTEN TRANSMIT A SERIES
OF PULSES BEFORE RECEIVING RETURNS FROM THE FIRST IN THE SEQUENCE 0ULSES MAY BE TRANSMITTED
AT A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT OPERATING FREQUENCIES REQUIRING SWITCHING OF THE ,/ FREQUENCY
BETWEEN PULSES )F TARGET RETURNS ARE PROCESSED COHERENTLY THE PHASE OF THE ,/ SIGNAL
MUST BE CONTROLLED SUCH THAT EACH TIME IT SWITCHES TO A PARTICULAR FREQUENCY THE PHASE OF
THE ,/ IS THE SAME PHASE THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN HAD NO FREQUENCY SWITCHING OCCURRED
4HIS REQUIREMENT DRIVES THE ARCHITECTURE USED TO GENERATE ,/ FREQUENCIES 'ENERATING
ALL THE FREQUENCIES FROM A SINGLE REFERENCE FREQUENCY DOES NOT GUARANTEE PHASE COHER
ENCE WHEN FREQUENCY SWITCHING OCCURS 4HREE SOURCES OF PHASE AMBIGUITY ARE COMMON
FREQUENCY DIVIDERS DIRECT DIGITAL SYNTHESIZERS AND VOLTAGE CONTROLLED OSCILLATORS 6#/
&REQUENCY DIVIDERS PRODUCE AN OUTPUT SIGNAL THAT CAN HAVE ANY ONE OF . PHASES WHERE .
IS THE DIVIDE RATIO SWITCHING DIVIDERS CAN RESULT IN PHASE AMBIGUITY OF O . )F FREQUENCY
DIVIDERS ARE USED IN THE FREQUENCY SYNTHESIS PROCESS THEY MUST BE OPERATED CONSTANTLY
WITHOUT SWITCHING THE INPUT FREQUENCY OR DIVIDE RATIO TO AVOID THIS PHASE AMBIGUITY
$IRECT DIGITAL SYNTHESIZERS $$3S CAN BE USED EITHER TO GENERATE ,/ FREQUENCIES DIRECTLY
OR TO GENERATE MODULATED WAVEFORMS PRIOR TO UPCONVERSION 7HEN PULSE
TO
PULSE PHASE
COHERENCE IS REQUIRED THE STARTING PHASE IS RESET TO ZERO AT THE START OF EACH PULSE )F ALL THE
,/ FREQUENCIES USED ARE MULTIPLES OF THE PULSE REPLETION FREQUENCY THE RESULTING PHASE
WILL BE THE SAME FOR EACH PULSE 6#/S CAN BE USED TO CREATE A TUNABLE ,/ BUT ARE USUALLY
PHASE LOCKED TO ANOTHER STABLE SOURCE FOR IMPROVED STABILITY 4HE TUNING VOLTAGE DESIGN
AND FILTER CAPACITOR TECHNOLOGY USED TO ACHIEVE PHASE LOCK MUST BE CAREFULLY DESIGNED
TO ENSURE RAPID VOLTAGE AND STORED CHARGE TRANSITIONS /THERWISE THE 6#/ MAY PROPERLY
ACQUIRE AND ACHIEVE PHASE LOCK BUT THE RESIDUAL VOLTAGE DECAY FROM THE TRANSITION WILL
MANIFEST ITSELF IN AN INSIDIOUS PHASE AMBIGUITY CALLED POST
TUNING DRIFT
3TRETCH 0ROCESSING )N STRETCH PROCESSING THE ,/ SIGNAL FREQUENCY IS MODULATED
WITH A CHIRP WAVEFORM SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL TO REDUCE THE BANDWIDTH
OF THE )& SIGNAL AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION 4HE WIDEBAND CHIRP WAVEFORM IS TYPICALLY
GENERATED BY PASSING A NARROWER BANDWIDTH LINEAR FREQUENCY MODULATION ,&- WAVE
FORM THROUGH A FREQUENCY MULTIPLIER THAT INCREASES BOTH THE OPERATING FREQUENCY AND
BANDWIDTH OF THE CHIRP WAVEFORM &REQUENCY MULTIPLIERS MULTIPLY THE PHASE DISTORTION
OF THE INPUT SIGNAL AND OFTEN HAVE SIGNIFICANT PHASE DISTORTION THEMSELVES $ISTORTION OF
THE ,/ CHIRP SIGNAL PHASE CAN HAVE A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE COMPRESSED PULSE PERFOR
MANCE EITHER DISTORTING THE COMPRESSED PULSE SHAPE OR DEGRADING SIDELOBE PERFORMANCE
3ECTION 0HASE ERRORS CAN BE MEASURED USING A TEST TARGET INJECTED INTO THE RECEIVER
AND MEASURING THE PHASE RIPPLE AT THE RECEIVER OUTPUT "Y PERFORMING THIS MEASUREMENT
WITH TARGETS INJECTED AT DIFFERENT SIMULATED RANGES THE ERRORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RECEIVER
,/ AND TEST SIGNAL CAN BE SEPARATED #ORRECTION OF RECEIVER ,/ PHASE DISTORTION CAN BE
READILY CORRECTED WHEN USING A DIRECT DIGITAL SYNTHESIZER AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
" /,"
3ENSITIVITY 4IME #ONTROL 34# 4HE SEARCH RADAR DETECTS RETURNS OF WIDELY DIF
FERING AMPLITUDES OFTEN SO GREAT THAT THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF A FIXED
GAIN RECEIVER WILL
BE EXCEEDED $IFFERENCES IN RETURN STRENGTH ARE CAUSED BY DIFFERENCES IN RADAR CROSS
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
SECTIONS IN METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS AND IN RANGE 4HE EFFECT OF RANGE ON RADAR RETURN
STRENGTH OVERSHADOWS THE OTHER CAUSES AND CAN BE MITIGATED BY A TECHNIQUE KNOWN AS
SENSITIVITY TIME CONTROL WHICH CAUSES THE RADAR RECEIVER SENSITIVITY TO VARY WITH TIME IN
SUCH A WAY THAT THE AMPLIFIED RADAR RETURN STRENGTH IS INDEPENDENT OF RANGE
4IME SIDELOBES OF COMPRESSED PULSES IN RADARS THAT TRANSMIT CODED WAVEFORMS CAN
BE DEGRADED BY 34# 'RADUAL CHANGES CAN USUALLY BE TOLERATED BUT AT CLOSE RANGE THE
RATE OF CHANGE OF ATTENUATION CAN BE VERY LARGE -OST MODERN RADARS THAT INCLUDE 34#
USE DIGITAL 34# CONTROL WHICH CAN LEAD TO LARGE STEP SIZES AT CLOSE RANGE UNLESS HIGH
DIGITIZATION RATES ARE USED 4HE PHASE STABILITY OF THE 34# ATTENUATOR IS ALSO AN IMPOR
TANT CONSIDERATION AS EXCESSIVE PHASE VARIATION AS A FUNCTION OF ATTENUATION CAN HAVE A
DRAMATIC IMPACT ON RANGE SIDELOBES
#LUTTER -AP !UTOMATIC 'AIN #ONTROL )N SOME RADARS MOUNTAIN OR URBAN CLUT
TER CAN CREATE RETURNS THAT WOULD EXCEED THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE RECEIVER 4HE SPATIAL
AREA OCCUPIED BY SUCH CLUTTER IS TYPICALLY A VERY SMALL FRACTION OF THE RADAR COVERAGE
SO CLUTTER MAP !'# HAS BEEN USED AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO BOOSTING THE 34# CURVE 4HIS
TECHNIQUE USES A DIGITAL MAP TO RECORD THE MEAN AMPLITUDE OF THE CLUTTER IN EACH MAP
CELL OVER MANY SCANS AND ADDS RECEIVER ATTENUATION WHERE NECESSARY TO KEEP THE CLUTTER
RETURNS BELOW THE SATURATION LEVEL OF THE RECEIVER
0ROGRAMMABLE 'AIN #ONTROL 2EDUCED GAIN MAY BE DESIRABLE IN A VARIETY OF
SITUATIONS SUCH AS HIGH CLUTTER OR HIGH INTERFERENCE ENVIRONMENTS OR IN SHORT RANGE
MODES &IXED ATTENUATION IS OFTEN PREFERABLE TO 34# OR CLUTTER MAP CONTROL (IGH 02&
PULSE DOPPLER RADARS FOR EXAMPLE CANNOT TOLERATE 34# DUE TO THE RANGE AMBIGUITY
OF TARGETS !DDITIONAL ATTENUATION MAY BE PROGRAMMED EITHER MANUALLY VIA OPERATOR
CONTROL OR AUTOMATICALLY TO INCREASE THE RECEIVERS LARGE SIGNAL HANDLING CAPABILITY OR
TO REDUCE ITS SENSITIVITY
'AIN .ORMALIZATION 2ECEIVER GAIN CAN VARY DUE TO COMPONENT TOLERANCES FRE
QUENCY RESPONSE VARIATION WITH TEMPERATURE AND AGING !CCURATE RECEIVER GAIN CONTROL
IS REQUIRED FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS THAT INCLUDE TARGET RADAR CROSS SECTION MEASURE
MENT MONOPULSE ANGLE ACCURACY MAXIMIZING THE RECEIVER DYNAMIC RANGE AND NOISE
LEVEL CONTROL $IGITAL GAIN CONTROL PERMITS THE CALIBRATION OF RECEIVER GAIN BY INJECT
ING TEST SIGNALS DURING RADAR DEAD TIME OR DURING SOME SCHEDULED CALIBRATION INTERVAL
#ALIBRATION COEFFICIENTS CAN BE STORED AS A FUNCTION OF COMMANDED ATTENUATION OPERAT
ING FREQUENCY AND TEMPERATURE AS NEEDED -EASUREMENTS OVER TIME CAN ALSO BE USED
TO ASSESS COMPONENT AGING AND POTENTIALLY PREDICT RECEIVER FAILURE PRIOR TO DEGRADATION
BEYOND ACCEPTABLE LIMITS !CCURATE GAIN CONTROL IS ESSENTIAL FOR RECEIVER CHANNELS USED
TO PERFORM MONOPULSE ANGLE MEASUREMENTS WHERE AMPLITUDES RECEIVED IN TWO OR MORE
BEAMS SIMULTANEOUSLY ARE COMPARED TO ACCURATELY DETERMINE THE TARGETS POSITION IN
AZIMUTH OR ELEVATION 2ECEIVER DYNAMIC RANGE IS MAXIMIZED WITH ACCURATE GAIN CONTROL
AS TOO LITTLE GAIN CAN RESULT IN NOISE FIGURE DEGRADATION AND TOO MUCH GAIN RESULTS IN
LARGE SIGNALS EXCEEDING THE !$ CONVERTER FULL SCALE OR CREATING UNWANTED GAIN COM
PRESSION INTERMODULATION OR CROSS MODULATION DISTORTION
!UTOMATIC .OISE ,EVEL #ONTROL !NOTHER WIDELY EMPLOYED USE FOR !'# IS TO
MAINTAIN A DESIRED LEVEL OF RECEIVER NOISE AT THE !$ CONVERTER !S WILL BE DESCRIBED
IN 3ECTION TOO LITTLE NOISE RELATIVE TO THE QUANTIZATION INCREMENT OF THE !$ CON
VERTER CAUSES A LOSS IN SENSITIVITY 3AMPLES OF NOISE ARE TAKEN AT LONG RANGE OFTEN BEYOND
THE INSTRUMENTED RANGE OF THE RADAR OR DURING SOME SCHEDULED PERIOD )F THE RADAR HAS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
2& 34# PRIOR TO ANY AMPLIFICATION IT CAN BE SET TO FULL ATTENUATION TO MINIMIZE EXTER
NAL INTERFERENCE WITH MINIMAL AND PREDICTABLE EFFECT ON SYSTEM NOISE TEMPERATURE -OST
RADARS EMPLOY AMPLIFIERS PRIOR TO 34# SO THEY CANNOT ATTENUATE EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE WITH
OUT AFFECTING THE NOISE LEVEL 4HE NOISE LEVEL CALIBRATION ALGORITHM MUST BE DESIGNED TO
TOLERATE EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE AND RETURNS FROM RAINSTORMS OR MOUNTAINS AT EXTREME RANGE
!NOTHER CONCERN WITH AMPLIFICATION PRIOR TO 34# IS THAT THE NOISE LEVEL AT THE OUTPUT
OF THE 34# ATTENUATOR VARIES WITH RANGE !T CLOSE RANGE THE NOISE LEVEL INTO THE !$
CONVERTER MAY FALL BELOW THE QUANTIZATION INTERVAL !LSO A CONSTANT NOISE LEVEL AS A
FUNCTION OF RANGE AT THE RECEIVER OUTPUT IS DESIRABLE IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN A CONSTANT FALSE
ALARM RATE .OISE INJECTION AFTER THE 34# ATTENUATOR IS USED TO OVERCOME THIS PROBLEM
! NOISE SOURCE AND ATTENUATOR ARE OFTEN EMPLOYED AT )& TO INJECT ADDITIONAL NOISE TO
COMPENSATE FOR THE REDUCED NOISE AFTER THE 34# ATTENUATOR $IGITAL CONTROL OF THE NOISE
INJECTION IS SYNCHRONIZED WITH THE 34# ATTENUATION TO PROVIDE AN EFFECTIVE CONSTANT
NOISE LEVEL AT THE !$ CONVERTER INPUT
'AIN #ONTROL #OMPONENTS -OST MODERN RADARS PERFORM GAIN CONTROL DIGITALLY
$IGITAL CONTROL PERMITS CALIBRATION OF EACH ATTENUATION VALUE TO DETERMINE THE DIFFER
ENCE BETWEEN THE ACTUAL ATTENUATION AND THAT COMMANDED BY INJECTING TEST SIGNALS
DURING DEAD TIME
)N THE PAST GAIN CONTROLLED AMPLIFIERS WERE USED EXTENSIVELY TO CONTROL AND ADJUST
RECEIVER GAIN 2ECENTLY THIS APPROACH HAS LARGELY BEEN REPLACED USING DIGITAL SWITCHED
OR ANALOG VOLTAGE OR CURRENT CONTROLLED ATTENUATORS DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE RECEIVER
CHAIN 6ARIABLE ATTENUATORS HAVE A NUMBER OF ADVANTAGES OVER VARIABLE GAIN AMPLIFI
ERS THEY TYPICALLY PROVIDE BROADER BANDWIDTHS GREATER GAIN CONTROL ACCURACY GREATER
PHASE STABILITY IMPROVED DYNAMIC RANGE AND FASTER SWITCHING SPEED
4HE CHOICE BETWEEN VOLTAGE CONTROLLED AND SWITCHED ATTENUATION DEPENDS ON TRADE
OFFS BETWEEN PERFORMANCE OF A VARIETY OF PARAMETERS 3WITCHED ATTENUATORS GENERALLY
PROVIDE MAXIMUM ATTENUATION ACCURACY FASTER SWITCHING SPEED IMPROVED AMPLITUDE
AND PHASE STABILITY GREATER BANDWIDTH HIGHER DYNAMIC RANGE AND HIGHER POWER HAN
DLING CAPABILITY 6OLTAGE OR CURRENT CONTROLLED ATTENUATORS CONTROLLED VIA A $! CON
VERTER TYPICALLY PROVIDE IMPROVED RESOLUTION AND LOWER INSERTION LOSS
'AIN CONTROL ATTENUATORS ARE OFTEN INCORPORATED WITHIN THE RECEIVER AT BOTH 2& AND
)& 2& ATTENUATION IS USED TO PROVIDE INCREASED DYNAMIC RANGE IN THE PRESENCE OF LARGE
TARGET RETURNS "Y PLACING THE ATTENUATION AS CLOSE TO THE FRONT END AS POSSIBLE LARGE
SIGNALS CAN BE HANDLED BY MINIMIZING GAIN COMPRESSION INTERMODULATION OR CROSS
MODULATION DISTORTION IN THE MAJORITY OF RECEIVER COMPONENTS 4HE DISADVANTAGE OF
USING FRONT
END ATTENUATION IS THAT IT WILL TYPICALLY HAVE A LARGER IMPACT ON RECEIVER
NOISE FIGURE THAN ATTENUATION PLACED LATER IN THE RECEIVER 4HIS IS NOT USUALLY AN ISSUE
WHEN THE INTENT OF ADDING ATTENUATION IS TO DESENSITIZE THE RECEIVER AS IS THE CASE FOR
34# "ACK
END OR )& ATTENUATION IS OFTEN USED TO ADJUST THE GAIN OF THE RECEIVER TO
COMPENSATE FOR RECEIVER GAIN VARIATIONS DUE TO COMPONENT VARIATIONS WHERE RECEIVER
NOISE FIGURE DEGRADATION CANNOT BE TOLERATED
/
,
&ILTERING OF THE %NTIRE 2ADAR 3YSTEM &ILTERING PROVIDES THE PRINCIPAL MEANS
BY WHICH THE RADAR DISCRIMINATES BETWEEN TARGET RETURNS AND INTERFERENCE OF MANY
TYPES 4HE FILTERING IS PERFORMED BY A VARIETY OF FILTERS THROUGHOUT THE RECEIVER AND
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
IN THE SUBSEQUENT DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING -OST RADARS TRANSMIT MULTIPLE PULSES AT
A TARGET BEFORE THE ANTENNA BEAM IS MOVED TO A DIFFERENT DIRECTION AND THE MULTIPLE
RETURNS ARE COMBINED IN SOME FASHION 4HE RETURNS MAY BE COMBINED USING COHERENT
INTEGRATION OR VARIOUS DOPPLER PROCESSING TECHNIQUES INCLUDING -4) TO SEPARATE
DESIRED TARGETS FROM CLUTTER &ROM THE RADAR SYSTEM STANDPOINT THESE ARE ALL FILTER
ING FUNCTIONS AND IN MODERN RADAR SYSTEMS THESE FUNCTIONS ARE PERFORMED USING
DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING ON THE RECEIVER OUTPUT ) AND 1 DATA 4HESE FUNCTIONS ARE
DISCUSSED IN OTHER CHAPTERS OF THIS HANDBOOK 4HE PURPOSE OF THE FILTERING WITHIN
THE RECEIVER IS TO REJECT OUT
OF
BAND INTERFERENCE AND DIGITIZE THE RECEIVED SIGNAL
WITH THE MINIMUM OF ERROR SO THAT OPTIMUM FILTERING CAN BE PERFORMED USING DIGITAL
SIGNAL PROCESSING
-ATCHED &ILTERING !LTHOUGH MATCHED FILTERING IS TYPICALLY NOW PERFORMED
WITHIN THE DIGITAL SIGNAL
PROCESSING FUNCTION THE CONCEPT IS EXPLAINED HERE FOR COM
PLETENESS 4HE OVERALL FILTER RESPONSE OF THE SYSTEM IS CHOSEN TO MAXIMIZE THE RADAR
PERFORMANCE )F THE SIGNAL SPECTRUM 8V IN THE PRESENCE OF WHITE NOISE WITH POWER
SPECTRAL DENSITY . IS PROCESSED WITH A FILTER WITH FREQUENCY RESPONSE (V THE
RESULTING SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO 3.2 AT TIME 4 IS GIVEN BY
C
P
8 V ( V E JW4 DV
.
\ ( V \ DV
P
4HE IDEAL FILTER RESPONSE FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MAXIMIZING 3.2 IS THE MATCHED FILTER
THAT MAXIMIZES THE 3.2 AT TIME 4- WHEN
( - V 8
V E
JV4-
$EVIATIONS FROM THE IDEAL MATCHED FILTER RESPONSE (-V PRODUCE A REDUCTION IN
3.2 TERMED MISMATCH LOSS 4HIS LOSS CAN OCCUR FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS SUCH AS TARGET
DOPPLER OR BECAUSE A FILTER RESPONSE IS CHOSEN THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE MATCHED FILTER
RESPONSE IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE ANOTHER PARAMETER SUCH AS RANGE SIDELOBES
2ECEIVER FILTERING IS OFTEN MODIFIED FOR DIFFERENT WAVEFORMS USED 7HEN RADAR SYS
TEMS USE WAVEFORMS OF WIDELY VARYING BANDWIDTHS DIFFERENT )1 DATA RATES MAY BE
USED TO MINIMIZE THE DIGITAL SIGNAL
PROCESSING THROUGHPUT REQUIREMENTS 7ITH DIFFER
ENT DATA RATES COMES THE NEED TO ADJUST THE RECEIVER FILTERING IN ORDER TO AVOID ALIASING
SIGNALS BEYOND THE .YQUIST RATE !LTHOUGH THESE RADARS ADJUST THEIR FILTERING TO THE
WAVEFORM BANDWIDTH THEY DO NOT TYPICALLY IMPLEMENT THE MATCHED FILTERING WITHIN THE
RECEIVER 4HIS FUNCTION IS USUALLY IMPLEMENTED IN DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING
2ECEIVER &ILTERING &ILTERING IS REQUIRED AT VARIOUS POINTS THROUGHOUT THE RECEIVER
CHAIN INCLUDING 2& )& BASEBAND IF USED DIGITAL FILTERING PRIOR TO DECIMATION REDUC
TION OF THE SAMPLE RATE AND AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF )1 GENERATION
3ECTION DESCRIBED HOW SPURIOUS RESPONSES ARE GENERATED IN THE MIXING PROCESS
5NWANTED INTERFERENCE SIGNALS CAN BE TRANSLATED TO THE DESIRED INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY
EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE WELL SEPARATED FROM THE SIGNAL FREQUENCY AT THE INPUT TO THE MIXER
4HE ABILITY OF THE RADAR TO SUPPRESS SUCH UNWANTED INTERFERENCE IS DEPENDENT UPON THE
FILTERING PRECEDING THE MIXER AS WELL AS ON THE QUALITY OF THE MIXER ITSELF
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE PRIMARY FUNCTION OF 2& FILTERING IS THE REJECTION OF THE IMAGE RESPONSE DUE TO
THE FIRST DOWNCONVERSION )MAGE REJECTION FILTERING CAN BE ALLEVIATED USING AN IMAGE
REJECT MIXER HOWEVER THE MAXIMUM REJECTION ACHIEVABLE BY IMAGE REJECT MIXERS IS
TYPICALLY INADEQUATE WITHOUT THE USE OF ADDITIONAL REJECTION THROUGH FILTERING 4HIS
IMAGE
SUPPRESSION PROBLEM IS THE REASON WHY SOME RECEIVERS DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM THE
RECEIVED SIGNAL FREQUENCY DIRECTLY TO THE FINAL INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY IN A SINGLE STEP
4HE OTHER SPURIOUS PRODUCTS OF A MIXER GENERALLY BECOME MORE SERIOUS IF THE RATIO
OF INPUT TO OUTPUT FREQUENCIES OF THE DOWNCONVERTER IS LESS THAN 4HE SPURIOUS
EFFECTS CHART &IGURE SHOWS THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN CHOICES OF FREQUENCY RATIO THAT
PROVIDE SPURIOUS
FREE FREQUENCY BANDS APPROXIMATELY OF THE INTERMEDIATE FRE
QUENCY IN WIDTH "Y THE USE OF A HIGH FIRST )& ONE CAN ELIMINATE THE IMAGE PROBLEM
AND PROVIDE A WIDE TUNING BAND FREE OF SPURIOUS EFFECTS &ILTERING PRIOR TO THE MIXER
REMAINS IMPORTANT HOWEVER BECAUSE THE NEIGHBORING SPURIOUS RESPONSES ARE OF RELA
TIVELY LOW ORDER AND MAY PRODUCE STRONG OUTPUTS FROM THE MIXER 2& FILTERING IS ALSO
IMPORTANT AS IT REDUCES OUT
OF
BAND INTERFERENCE BEFORE IT CAN CAUSE INTERMODULATION OR
CROSS
MODULATION DISTORTION WITHIN THE RECEIVER
)F THE RECEIVER OPERATING BANDWIDTH IS A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE 2& FREQUENCY SOME
FORM OF SWITCHED OR TUNABLE 2& FILTERING MAY BE REQUIRED SO THAT THE IMAGE RESPONSE IS
REJECTED AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE OPERATING BANDWIDTH 4HE CHOICE BETWEEN USING SWITCHED
OR TUNABLE FILTERING DEPENDS ON THE SWITCHING SPEED LINEARITY AND STABILITY REQUIREMENTS OF
THE RECEIVER 3WITCHED FILTERS PROVIDE THE FASTEST RESPONSE TIME WITH EXCELLENT LINEARITY AND
STABILITY BUT CAN BE BULKY AND SUFFER FROM THE ADDITIONAL LOSS OF THE SWITCH COMPONENTS
!N ALTERNATE APPROACH THAT IS SOMETIMES USED WITH LARGE OPERATING BANDWIDTHS IS
TO FIRST UPCONVERT THE INPUT 2& SIGNAL TO AN )& FREQUENCY HIGHER THAN THE 2& OPERATING
BAND 4HIS PROCESS VIRTUALLY ELIMINATES THE IMAGE RESPONSE PROBLEM ALLOWING THE USE
OF A SINGLE 2& FILTER SPANNING THE ENTIRE OPERATING BANDWIDTH .ARROW BANDWIDTH FILTER
ING CAN BE USED ON THE HIGH )& AS DEFINED BY THE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH BEFORE DOWNCONVER
SION TO A LOWER )& FOR DIGITIZATION OR BASEBAND CONVERSION
)& FILTERING IS THE PRIMARY FILTERING USED TO DEFINE THE RECEIVER BANDWIDTH PRIOR TO !$
CONVERSION IN RECEIVERS USING EITHER )& SAMPLING OR BASEBAND CONVERSION )N )& SAMPLING
RECEIVERS THE )& FILTER ACTS AS THE ANTI
ALIASING FILTER AND LIMITS THE BANDWIDTH OF SIGNALS
ENTERING THE !$ CONVERTER )N RECEIVERS USING BASEBAND CONVERSION THE )& FILTER SETS THE
RECEIVER BANDWIDTH 3UBSEQUENT VIDEO FILTERING SHOULD BE OF GREATER BANDWIDTH TO PREVENT
THE INTRODUCTION OF )1 IMBALANCE DUE TO FILTER DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ) AND 1 CHANNELS
)N )& SAMPLING RECEIVERS DIGITAL FILTERING IS USUALLY THE PRIMARY MEANS OF SETTING THE
FINAL RECEIVER BANDWIDTH AND PROVIDES ANTI
ALIAS REJECTION REQUIRED TO PREVENT ALIASING
IN THE DECIMATION OF THE )1 DATA RATE $IGITAL FILTERING CAN BE PRECISELY CONTROLLED
TAILORED TO ALMOST ANY DESIRED PASSBAND AND STOP BAND REJECTION REQUIREMENTS 4HE
DIGITAL FILTERS USED ARE TYPICALLY LINEAR PHASE &)2 FILTERS BUT THEY CAN ALSO BE TAILORED TO
COMPENSATE FOR VARIATIONS IN THE PASSBAND PHASE AND AMPLITUDE RESPONSES OF 2& AND
)& ANALOG FILTERS
&ILTER #HARACTERISTICS &ILTER RESPONSES ARE CHARACTERIZED FULLY BY EITHER THEIR
FREQUENCY RESPONSE (V OR THEIR IMPULSE RESPONSE HT HOWEVER THEY ARE USUALLY
SPECIFIED BY A VARIETY OF PARAMETERS AS DESCRIBED BELOW $IGITAL FILTERS MAY BE SPECI
FIED USING THE SAME MEASURES OR BECAUSE THEY CAN BE SPECIFIED EXACTLY THEY ARE FRE
QUENTLY SPECIFIED BY THEIR TRANSFER FUNCTION (Z OR IMPULSE RESPONSE HN
+EY PASSBAND CHARACTERISTICS ARE INSERTION LOSS BANDWIDTH PASSBAND AMPLITUDE
AND PHASE RIPPLE AND GROUP DELAY "ANDWIDTHS ARE FREQUENTLY SPECIFIED IN TERMS OF
A D" BANDWIDTH HOWEVER IF A LOW PASSBAND VARIATION IS REQUIRED THE SPECIFIED
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
BANDWIDTH MAY BE FOR EXAMPLE SPECIFIED AS A D" OR D" BANDWIDTH 0ASSBAND
AMPLITUDE VARIATION RELATIVE TO THE INSERTION LOSS IS A KEY PARAMETER THAT HAS POTENTIAL
IMPACT ON RANGE SIDELOBES AND CHANNEL TO CHANNEL TRACKING 0HASE RIPPLE IF SPECIFIED
IS RELATIVE TO A BEST FIT LINEAR PHASE AND HAS SIMILAR EFFECTS AS AMPLITUDE RIPPLE 'ROUP
DELAY THE RATE OF CHANGE OF PHASE VS FREQUENCY IS IDEALLY CONSTANT FOR LINEAR PHASE
FILTERS 4HE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF GROUP DELAY DOES NOT IMPACT THE RANGE SIDELOBE PERFOR
MANCE HOWEVER THE RELATIVE GROUP DELAY BETWEEN CHANNELS MUST BE TIGHTLY CONTROLLED
OR COMPENSATED IN MONOPULSE SIDELOBE CANCELER AND DIGITAL BEAMFORMING SYSTEMS
!LTHOUGH STOPBAND REJECTION IS CLEARLY A KEY PARAMETER FILTERS WITH FAST ROLL OFF
MAY NOT PROVIDE THE REQUIRED PHASE AND IMPULSE RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS &IGURE
SHOWS THE MAGNITUDE RESPONSE OF SIX DIFFERENT FIFTH ORDER LOW PASS FILTERS WITH EQUAL
D" BANDWIDTH 4HE #HEBSHEV FILTERS AND D" RIPPLE HAVE FLAT PASSBAND
RESPONSE AND IMPROVED STOPBAND REJECTION RELATIVE TO THE REMAINING FILTERS HOWEVER
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE AND &IGURE THEY HAVE INFERIOR PHASE GROUP DELAY AND
IMPULSE RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS
$IGITAL FILTERS CAN BE EITHER &INITE )MPULSE 2ESPONSE &)2 OR )NFINITE )MPULSE
2ESPONSE ))2 &)2 FILTERS ARE TYPICALLY PREFERRED AS THEIR FINITE RESPONSE IS DESIRABLE
ALONG WITH THEIR LINEAR PHASE CHARACTERISTIC 0HASE LINEARITY IS ACHIEVED WITH THE SYM
METRIC IMPULSE RESPONSE CONDITION DEFINED BY %Q OR THE ANTI SYMMETRIC IMPULSE
RESPONSE CONDITIONS DEFINED BY %Q
HN H- N N x -
WHERE - IS THE LENGTH OF THE &)2 FILTER IMPULSE RESPONSE
HN H- N N x -
&)'52% -AGNITUDE RESPONSE OF LOWPASS FILTERS
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 'ROUP DELAY RESPONSE OF LOWPASS FILTERS
&)'52% .ORMALIZED IMPULSE RESPONSE OF LOWPASS FILTERS
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
2ANGE 3IDELOBES %RRORS IN FILTER RESPONSES CAN PRODUCE DEGRADATION IN PULSE
COMPRESSION RANGE SIDELOBES 4HE EFFECT OF A FILTER RESPONSE ON RANGE OR TIME SIDELOBES
CAN BE SEEN BY TAKING THE FILTER IMPULSE RESPONSE HT AND ADDING TO THIS A DELAYED
IMPULSE RESPONSE LOG@ D" BELOW THE MAIN RESPONSE TO PRODUCE THE MODIFIED
RESPONSE HgT WHICH IS GIVEN BY
HgT HT @ HT 4
5SING THE PROPERTY OF TIME SHIFTING OF THE &OURIER TRANSFORM THE RESULTANT FREQUENCY
RESPONSE IS GIVEN BY
( `V ( V @ E JV4 ( V
4HUS FOR SMALL VALUES OF @ THE RESULTING MAGNITUDE AND PHASE RESPONSE IS THAT OF THE
ORIGINAL FILTER MODIFIED BY A SINUSOIDAL PHASE AND AMPLITUDE MODULATION AS GIVEN HERE
\ ( `V \ \ ( V \ A COSV4
( `V ( V @ SINV 4
4HEREFORE IF THERE ARE N RIPPLES ACROSS THE FILTER BANDWIDTH " THE RANGE SIDELOBE
OCCURS AT TIME 4 GIVEN BY
4 N"
!SSUMING A COMPRESSED PULSE WIDTH OF " VALUES OF N WILL PUT THE RANGE
SIDELOBE WITHIN THE MAIN LOBE OF THE TARGET RETURN RESULTING IN A DISTORTION OF THE
MAINLOBE RESPONSE
#HANNEL -ATCHING 2EQUIREMENTS 2ADAR RECEIVERS WITH MORE THAN ONE
RECEIVER CHANNEL TYPICALLY REQUIRE SOME DEGREE OF PHASE AND AMPLITUDE MATCHING
OR TRACKING BETWEEN CHANNELS )N ORDER TO OPERATE EFFECTIVELY SIDELOBE CANCELER
CHANNELS MUST TRACK VERY CLOSELY #ONSTANT OFFSETS IN GAIN OR PHASE DO NOT DEGRADE
SIDELOBE CANCELER PERFORMANCE BUT SMALL VARIATIONS IN PHASE AND AMPLITUDE ACROSS
THE BANDWIDTH CAUSE SIGNIFICANT DEGRADATION &OR EXAMPLE ACHIEVING A CANCELLATION
RATIO OF D" REQUIRES A GAIN TRACKING OF LESS THAN D" ACROSS THE RECEIVER BAND
WIDTH &ILTERS ARE THE MAIN SOURCE OF AMPLITUDE AND PHASE RIPPLE ACROSS THE SIGNAL
BANDWIDTH AS OTHER COMPONENTS SUCH AS AMPLIFIERS AND MIXERS ARE TYPICALLY RELA
TIVELY BROADBAND 4HE DEGREE OF TRACKING REQUIRED FOR SIDELOBE CANCELER OPERATION
WAS PREVIOUSLY ACHIEVED BY PROVIDING MATCHED SETS OF FILTERS WITH TIGHTLY TRACKING
AMPLITUDE AND PHASE RESPONSES -ODERN DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING ALLOWS THE CORREC
TION OF THESE CHANNEL
TO
CHANNEL VARIATIONS USING &)2 EQUALIZATION 3ECTION OR
CORRECTION IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN IN THE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR ALLOWING THE USE
OF LESS TIGHTLY CONTROLLED FILTERS
n / ,!PPLICATIONS ,IMITERS ARE USED TO PROTECT THE RECEIVER FROM DAMAGE AND TO CON
TROL SATURATION THAT MAY OCCUR WITHIN THE RECEIVER 7HEN RECEIVED SIGNALS SATURATE
SOME STAGE OF THE RADAR RECEIVER THAT IS NOT EXPRESSLY DESIGNED TO COPE WITH SUCH A
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SITUATION THE DISTORTIONS CAN RESULT IN SEVERELY DEGRADED RADAR PERFORMANCE AND THE
DISTORTION OF OPERATING CONDITIONS CAN PERSIST FOR SOME TIME AFTER THE SIGNAL DISAP
PEARS 6IDEO STAGES ARE MOST VULNERABLE AND TAKE LONGER TO RECOVER THAN )& STAGES
SO IT IS CUSTOMARY TO INCLUDE A LIMITER IN THE LAST )& STAGE DESIGNED TO QUICKLY REGAIN
NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE DISAPPEARANCE OF A LIMITING
SIGNAL ,IMITING PRIOR TO THE !$ CONVERTER ALSO PREVENTS THE DISTORTION THAT OCCURS
WHEN SIGNALS EXCEED FULL SCALE !LTHOUGH !$ CONVERTERS CAN OFTEN HANDLE MODEST
OVERLOAD WITH FAST RECOVERY THE DISTORTION THAT OCCURS DEGRADES SIGNAL PROCESSING SUCH
AS DIGITAL PULSE COMPRESSION AND CLUTTER REJECTION 7ITH )& LIMITING THESE HARMONICS
ARE FILTERED OUT USING BANDPASS FILTERING AFTER LIMITING PRIOR TO !$ CONVERSION MINI
MIZING THE DEGRADATION DUE TO LIMITING
!LL RADAR SYSTEMS CONTAIN SOME FORM OF 4RANSMIT2ECEIVE 42 DEVICE TO PROTECT
THE RECEIVE ELECTRONICS FROM THE HIGH POWER TRANSMIT SIGNAL )N MANY SYSTEMS AN 2&
FRONT END LIMITER IS ALSO REQUIRED IN ORDER TO PREVENT THE RECEIVER FROM BEING DAMAGED
BY HIGH INPUT POWER LEVELS FROM THE ANTENNA THAT MAY OCCUR AS A RESULT OF LEAKAGE FROM
THE 42 DEVICE DURING TRANSMIT MODE OR FROM INTERFERENCE DUE TO JAMMERS OR OTHER
RADAR SYSTEMS 4HESE LIMITERS ARE TYPICALLY DESIGNED TO LIMIT WELL ABOVE THE MAXIMUM
SIGNALS TO BE PROCESSED BY THE RECEIVER
)N THE PAST LIMITERS WERE USED TO PERFORM A VARIETY OF ANALOG SIGNAL PROCESSING
FUNCTIONS (ARD LIMITERS WITH AS MUCH AS D" OF LIMITING RANGE WERE USED WITH SOME
DESIGNED TO LIMIT ON RECEIVER NOISE !PPLICATIONS THAT UTILIZE HARD LIMITING INCLUDING
PHASE DETECTORS AND PHASE MONOPULSE RECEIVERS ARE DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION OF THE
SECOND EDITION OF THIS HANDBOOK -ODERN RADAR SYSTEMS ARE MOSTLY DESIGNED TO MAXI
MIZE THE LINEAR OPERATING REGION WITH LIMITERS USED ONLY TO HANDLE EXCESSIVELY LARGE
SIGNALS THAT INEVITABLY EXIST UNDER WORST CASE CONDITIONS
#HARACTERISTICS 4HE IDEAL LIMITER IS PERFECTLY LINEAR UP TO THE POWER LEVEL AT
WHICH LIMITING BEGINS FOLLOWED BY A TRANSITION REGION BEYOND WHICH THE OUTPUT POWER
REMAINS CONSTANT )N ADDITION THE INSERTION PHASE IS CONSTANT FOR ALL INPUT POWER LEV
ELS AND RECOVERY FROM LIMITING IS INSTANTANEOUS 4HE OUTPUT WAVEFORM FROM A BAND
PASS LIMITER IS SINUSOIDAL WHEREAS THE OUTPUT WAVEFORM FROM A BROADBAND LIMITER
APPROACHES A SQUARE WAVE $EVIATIONS FROM THE IDEAL CHARACTERISTICS CAN DEGRADE RADAR
PERFORMANCE IN A VARIETY OF WAYS
,INEARITY "ELOW ,IMITING /NE MAJOR DRAWBACK OF ADDING A LIMITER STAGE TO A
RECEIVER CHANNEL IS THAT IT IS INHERENTLY NONLINEAR 3INCE ANY PRACTICAL LIMITER HAS A
GRADUAL TRANSITION INTO LIMITING THE LIMITER IS OFTEN THE LARGEST CONTRIBUTOR TO RECEIVER
CHANNEL NONLINEARITY IN THE LINEAR OPERATING REGION AND CAN CAUSE SIGNIFICANT INTER
MODULATION DISTORTION OF IN BAND SIGNALS &OR THIS REASON THE PRIMARY LIMITING STAGE IS
USUALLY LOCATED AT THE FINAL )& STAGE WHERE MAXIMUM FILTERING OF OUT OF BAND INTERFER
ENCE HAS BEEN ACHIEVED 4HE LOWER OPERATING FREQUENCY ALSO ALLOWS IMPLEMENTATION OF
A LIMITER THAT MORE CLOSELY MATCHES THE IDEAL CHARACTERISTICS
,IMITING !MPLITUDE 5NIFORMITY .O SINGLE STAGE LIMITER WILL EXHIBIT A CONSTANT
OUTPUT OVER A WIDE RANGE OF INPUT SIGNAL AMPLITUDES /NE CAUSE IS APPARENT IF ONE
CONSIDERS THE EFFECT OF A SINGLE STAGE LIMITER HAVING A PERFECTLY SYMMETRICAL CLIPPING AT
VOLTAGES o% &OR A SINUSOIDAL INPUT THE OUTPUT SIGNAL AT THE THRESHOLD OF LIMITING IS
V %SINV T
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
AND WHEN THE LIMITER IS FULLY SATURATED AND THE OUTPUT WAVEFORM IS RECTANGULAR IT IS
GIVEN BY THE &OURIER SERIES
VO`
% c
SIN NVT
P N
N
WHICH IS AN INCREASE OF LOG O D" IN THE POWER OF THE FUNDAMENTAL
)N PRACTICE THE AMPLITUDE PERFORMANCE IS ALSO DEGRADED BY CAPACITIVE COUPLING
BETWEEN INPUT AND OUTPUT OF EACH LIMITING STAGE CHARGE STORAGE IN TRANSISTORS AND
DIODES AND 2# TIME CONSTANTS THAT PERMIT CHANGES IN BIAS WITH SIGNAL LEVEL &OR THESE
REASONS TWO OR MORE LIMITER STAGES MAY BE CASCADED WHEN GOOD AMPLITUDE UNIFORMITY
IS REQUIRED OVER A WIDE DYNAMIC RANGE
0HASE 5NIFORMITY 4HE CHANGE OF INSERTION PHASE OF THE LIMITER WITH AMPLITUDE IS
LESS OF A CONCERN FOR MODERN RADAR SYSTEMS THAT OPERATE PRIMARILY IN THE LINEAR OPERAT
ING REGION (OWEVER MAINTAINING CONSTANT INSERTION PHASE DURING LIMITING PRESERVES
THE PHASE OF TARGET RETURNS IN THE PRESENCE OF LIMITING CLUTTER OR INTERFERENCE 4HE
CHANGE OF INSERTION PHASE WITH SIGNAL AMPLITUDE IS GENERALLY DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO
THE FREQUENCY AT WHICH IT IS OPERATED
2ECOVERY 4IME 4HE RECOVERY TIME OF A LIMITER IS A MEASURE OF HOW QUICKLY THE
LIMITER RETURNS TO LINEAR OPERATION AFTER THE LIMITING SIGNAL IS REMOVED &AST RECOVERY IS
PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT WHEN THE RADAR IS EXPOSED TO IMPULSIVE INTERFERENCE
+
" 1 /",!PPLICATIONS 4HE )1 DEMODULATOR ALSO REFERRED TO AS A QUADRATURE CHANNEL
RECEIVER QUADRATURE DETECTOR SYNCHRONOUS DETECTOR OR COHERENT DETECTOR PERFORMS FRE
QUENCY CONVERSION OF SIGNALS AT THE )& FREQUENCY TO A COMPLEX REPRESENTATION ) J1
CENTERED AT ZERO FREQUENCY 4HE BASEBAND IN
PHASE ) AND QUADRATURE
PHASE 1 SIGNALS
ARE DIGITIZED USING A PAIR OF !$ CONVERTERS PROVIDING A REPRESENTATION OF THE )& SIGNAL
INCLUDING PHASE AND AMPLITUDE WITHOUT LOSS OF INFORMATION 4HE RESULTING DIGITAL DATA CAN
THEN BE PROCESSED USING A WIDE VARIETY OF DIGITAL SIGNAL
PROCESSING ALGORITHMS DEPEND
ING ON THE TYPE OF RADAR AND MODE OF OPERATION 0ROCESSING SUCH AS PULSE COMPRESSION
DOPPLER PROCESSING AND MONOPULSE COMPARISON ALL REQUIRE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE INFOR
MATION 4HE PREDOMINANCE OF DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING IN MODERN RADAR SYSTEMS HAS LED
TO ALMOST UNIVERSAL NEED FOR .YQUIST RATE SAMPLED DATA )N MANY MODERN RADAR SYSTEMS
DIGITAL ) AND 1 DATA IS NOW GENERATED USING )& SAMPLING FOLLOWED BY DIGITAL SIGNAL PRO
CESSING USED TO PERFORM THE BASEBAND CONVERSION AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTIONS AND
)1 DEMODULATORS ARE STILL USED THOUGH THEIR USE IS INCREASINGLY LIMITED TO WIDER BAND
WIDTH SYSTEMS WHERE !$ CONVERTERS ARE NOT YET AVAILABLE WITH THE REQUIRED COMBINATION
OF BANDWIDTH AND DYNAMIC RANGE TO PERFORM )& SAMPLING
)MPLEMENTATION &IGURE SHOWS THE BASIC BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A )1 DEMODUAL
TOR 4HE )& SIGNAL DESCRIBED BY %Q IS SPLIT AND FED TO A PAIR OF MIXERS OR ANALOG
MULTIPLIERS 4HE MIXER ,/ PORTS ARE FED WITH A PAIR OF SIGNALS IN QUADRATURE GENERATED
FROM THE REFERENCE FREQUENCY SIGNAL OR COHERENT OSCILLATOR #/(/ AND REPRESENTED
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!("$$
%#
$
$
!$
$
" $
!& %!#
*
"!(# #
)#
' #
!$
!("$$
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&)'52% )1 DEMODULATOR
IN COMPLEX FORM IN %Q )GNORING ANY MIXER INSERTION LOSS OR LOSS ASSOCIATED WITH
THE )& SPLIT THE COMPLEX REPRESENTATION OF THE MIXER OUTPUT IS GIVEN BY %Q )DEAL
LOW
PASS FILTERING REJECTS THE SECOND SUM FREQUENCY TERM OF %Q PRODUCING THE
)1 DEMODULATOR OUTPUT AS REPRESENTED BY %Q
!3 J V T P
E
E
J V T P
J
!2 SINV T J COSV T J!2 E
JV T
6)& !3 SINV T P
6#/(/
6)&6#/(/
6) J61
!3 J V T P
!!
!!
E
E
J V T P !2 E
JV T 3 2 E J;V
V T P =
3 2 E
J;V V T P =
!3 !2
! !
! !
COS;V
V T P = J 3 2 SIN;V
V T P = 3 2 E J V
V T P
)N IMPLEMENTING AN )1 DEMODULATOR IT IS IMPORTANT TO PROVIDE WELL
BALANCED
) AND 1 CHANNELS IN ORDER TO MAXIMIZE IMAGE REJECTION AS EXPLAINED BELOW 4HE MIXERS
MUST HAVE $# COUPLED )& OUTPUT PORTS AND BE PRESENTED WITH A GOOD MATCH AT BOTH THE
WANTED LOW FREQUENCY OUTPUT AND THE UNWANTED SUM FREQUENCY ! MATCH AT THE SUM
FREQUENCY CAN BE PROVIDED USING A DIPLEXER FILTER 6IDEO FILTERING IS REQUIRED TO REJECT
THE SUM FREQUENCY MIXER OUTPUTS AND ALSO PROVIDES REJECTION OF WIDEBAND NOISE FROM
THE VIDEO AMPLIFIERS WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE ALIAS TO BASEBAND THROUGH THE !$ CON
VERTER SAMPLING PROCESS PRODUCING AN UNWANTED DEGRADATION OF RECEIVER NOISE FIGURE
6IDEO AMPLIFICATION IS OFTEN REQUIRED TO INCREASE THE SIGNAL LEVEL TO THE FULL
SCALE SIGNAL
LEVEL OF THE !$ CONVERTER AND ALSO ALLOWS FOR IMPEDANCE MATCHING OF THE MIXER AND
!$ CONVERTER
4HE CONVENTION FOR THE ) AND 1 RELATIONSHIP IS THAT THE ) SIGNAL PHASE LEADS THE 1 SIG
NAL PHASE FOR RADAR SIGNALS WITH POSITIVE DOPPLER APPROACHING TARGETS &REQUENCY CON
VERSIONS WITHIN THE RECEIVER USING ,/ FREQUENCIES GREATER THAN THE 2& FREQUENCY WILL
CAUSE A DOPPLER FREQUENCY INVERSION SO EACH CONVERSION MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ORDER
TO ACHIEVE THE CORRECT SENSE OF ) AND 1 AT THE RECEIVER OUTPUT &ORTUNATELY AN INCORRECT
) AND 1 RELATIONSHIP CAN EASILY BE FIXED EITHER IN THE RECEIVER OR THE SIGNAL PROCESSOR
BY SWITCHING THE ) AND 1 DIGITAL DATA OR BY CHANGING THE SIGN OF EITHER ) OR 1
'AIN OR 0HASE )MBALANCE )F THE GAINS OF THE ) AND 1 CHANNELS ARE NOT EXACTLY
EQUAL OR IF THEIR #/(/ PHASE REFERENCES ARE NOT EXACTLY DEGREES APART AN INPUT
SIGNAL AT FREQUENCY V WILL CREATE AN OUTPUT AT BOTH THE DESIRED FREQUENCY V
V AND
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
AT THE IMAGE FREQUENCY
V
V 4HE IMAGE SIGNALS GENERATED BY GAIN AND PHASE
IMBALANCE ARE GIVEN BY %Q AND %Q &OR SMALL ERRORS IF THE RATIO OF VOLTAGE
GAINS IS o $ OR IF THE PHASE REFERENCES DIFFER BY O o $ RADIANS THE RATIO OF THE
SPURIOUS IMAGE AT
VD TO THE DESIRED OUTPUT OF VD IS $ IN VOLTAGE $ IN POWER OR
LOG $
IN DECIBELS
6) J61 % COSV D T J $ % SINV D T $ %E JV D T
$ %E
JV D T
$ JV D T
$
JV D T
6) J61 % COSV D T J% SINV D T $ COS %E
SIN %E
$ P
(ISTORICALLY ) AND 1 PHASE AND GAIN CORRECTIONS HAVE BEEN PERFORMED USING
ADJUSTMENTS IN THE ANALOG SIGNAL PATHS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 'AIN ERRORS MAY
BE CORRECTED BY A CHANGE IN GAIN IN THE )& OR VIDEO STAGES OF EITHER OR BOTH ) AND 1
CHANNELS 6IDEO GAIN CONTROL MUST BE IMPLEMENTED WITH CARE AS IT CAN EXAGGERATE
THE NONLINEARITY OF THOSE STAGES 4HESE CORRECTIONS CAN NOW BE IMPLEMENTED MORE
PRECISELY IN THE DIGITAL DOMAIN
! MEASUREMENT OF THE SIGNAL SPECTRUM AT THE CENTER OF THE )& BANDWIDTH INDICATES
THE DEGREE OF GAIN AND PHASE IMBALANCE COMPENSATION (OWEVER AS THE FOLLOWING
DISCUSSION WILL EXPLAIN THE SUPPRESSION OF IMAGE ENERGY ACROSS THE )& BANDWIDTH MAY
BE SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN INDICATED BY THIS MEASUREMENT AT )& CENTER
4IME $ELAY AND &REQUENCY 2ESPONSE )MBALANCE )F THE RESPONSES OF THE
) AND 1 CHANNELS ARE NOT IDENTICAL ACROSS THE ENTIRE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH UNWANTED IMAGE
RESPONSES WILL OCCUR THAT ARE FREQUENCY DEPENDENT /PTIMUM BANDPASS FILTERING SHOULD
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BE AT )& WHERE IT AFFECTS ) AND 1 CHANNELS IDENTICALLY NOT AT BASEBAND 6IDEO FILTER
BANDWIDTH SHOULD BE MORE THAN HALF THE )& BANDWIDTH AND CONTROLLED BY PRECISION
COMPONENTS IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE THE CREATION OF IMAGE SIGNALS 3UBSTITUTING $V FOR $
IN %Q AND %Q GIVES THE IMAGE COMPONENTS FOR FREQUENCY DEPENDENT GAIN AND
PHASE ERRORS 3IMILARLY SUBSTITUTING V $4 FOR $ IN %Q GIVES THE IMAGE COMPONENT
DUE TO TIME DELAY IMBALANCE IN THE ) AND 1 PATHS 3MALL TIME DELAY IMBALANCES CAN
BE CORRECTED BY ADDING TIME DELAY TO THE !$ SAMPLE CLOCK AS SHOWN IN &IGURE
,ARGE TIME DELAY CORRECTIONS SHOULD BE AVOIDED AS THEY CAN CAUSE PROBLEMS ALIGNING
THE ) AND 1 DIGITAL DATA 7HEN ADDING TIME DELAY TO THE SAMPLE CLOCK CARE MUST BE
TAKEN TO AVOID ADDING JITTER WHICH COULD DEGRADE THE !$ CONVERTER 3.2 PERFORMANCE
4IME DELAY CORRECTION CAN ALSO BE IMPLEMENTED EFFECTIVELY IN THE DIGITAL DOMAIN AND
IF FREQUENCY DEPENDENT PHASE AND AMPLITUDE IMBALANCE CORRECTION IS REQUIRED THIS IS
MOST EASILY AND EFFECTIVELY PERFORMED IN THE DIGITAL DOMAIN USING &)2 FILTERING OF THE
) AND 1 DATA OR BY PERFORMING CORRECTIONS IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN DATA AS PART OF THE
RADAR SIGNAL PROCESSING
.ONLINEARITY IN ) AND 1 #HANNELS #OMPONENT TOLERANCES OFTEN LEAD TO SOME
WHAT DIFFERENT NONLINEARITIES IN ) AND 1 WHICH CAN GENERATE THE VARIETY OF SPURIOUS
DOPPLER COMPONENTS
4HE IDEAL INPUT SIGNAL IS
6 !E JV D T ) J1
%ACH VIDEO CHANNEL RESPONSE CAN BE EXPRESSED AS A POWER SERIES &OR SIMPLICITY
ONLY SYMMETRICAL DISTORTION WILL BE CONSIDERED 4HE !$ OUTPUT INCLUDING A RESIDUAL
GAIN IMBALANCE OF $ IS
6g)1 6g) J6g1
6g) 6) A6 ) C6 )
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6g1 $ 61
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3UBSTITUTION OF %QS AND INTO %Q YIELDS THE AMPLITUDES OF THE SPECTRAL
COMPONENTS LISTED IN 4ABLE .OTE THAT IF THE NONLINEARITIES IN ) AND 1 WERE IDENTI
CAL A B C D SPURIOUS COMPONENTS AT
V AND V WOULD NOT BE PRESENT AND THE
IMAGE
V WOULD BE PROPORTIONAL TO INPUT SIGNAL AMPLITUDE 3PURIOUS AT ZERO DOPPLER
IS NOT DUE TO DC OFFSET IT IS THE RESULT OF EVEN
ORDER NONLINEARITIES THAT WERE OMITTED
FROM THE ABOVE EQUATIONS 4HE NEGATIVE THIRD HARMONIC IS THE DOMINANT COMPONENT
PRODUCED BY NONLINEARITY
4!",% 3PURIOUS 3IGNAL #OMPONENTS 'ENERATED BY )1 .ONLINEARITY
3IGNAL &REQUENCY
!MPLITUDE OF 3PECTRAL #OMPONENT
V
V
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2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
$# /FFSET 3MALL SIGNALS AND RECEIVER NOISE CAN BE DISTORTED BY AN OFFSET IN
THE MEAN VALUE OF THE !$ CONVERTER OUTPUT UNLESS THE DOPPLER FILTER SUPPRESSES THIS
COMPONENT
&ALSE
ALARM CONTROL IN RECEIVERS WITHOUT DOPPLER FILTERS IS SOMETIMES DEGRADED BY
ERRORS OF A SMALL FRACTION OF THE LEAST SIGNIFICANT BIT ,3" SO CORRECTION IS PREFERABLY
APPLIED AT THE ANALOG INPUT TO THE !$ $# OFFSETS CAN BE MEASURED USING DIGITAL PRO
CESSING OF THE !$ CONVERTER OUTPUTS AND A CORRECTION APPLIED USING $! CONVERTERS
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE $# OFFSET CORRECTION CAN ALSO BE PERFORMED EFFECTIVELY IN THE
DIGITAL DOMAIN PROVIDED THAT THE $# OFFSET AT THE INPUT OF THE !$ CONVERTER IS NOT SO
LARGE THAT IT RESULTS IN A SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF AVAILABLE DYNAMIC RANGE
-ANY OF THE )1 DEMODULATOR ERRORS DESCRIBED ABOVE ARE EITHER REDUCED DRAMATI
CALLY OR ELIMINATED USING )& SAMPLING 4HIS ALONG WITH THE REDUCTION OF HARDWARE
REQUIRED ARE THE REASONS THAT )& SAMPLING DESCRIBED IN 3ECTIONS AND IS
BECOMING THE DOMINANT APPROACH
"/" /
" 6
,/
,4HE HIGH
SPEED !$ CONVERTER IS A KEY COMPONENT IN RECEIVERS OF MODERN RADAR SYS
TEMS 4HE EXTENSIVE USE OF DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING OF RADAR DATA HAS RESULTED IN A
DEMAND FOR CONVERTERS WITH BOTH STATE
OF
THE
ART SAMPLING RATES AND DYNAMIC RANGE
!NALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTERS TRANSFORM CONTINUOUS TIME ANALOG SIGNALS INTO DISCRETE
TIME DIGITAL SIGNALS 4HE PROCESS INCLUDES BOTH SAMPLING IN THE TIME DOMAIN CONVERT
ING FROM CONTINUOUS TIME TO DISCRETE TIME SIGNALS AND QUANTIZATION CONVERTING FROM
CONTINUOUS ANALOG VOLTAGES TO DISCRETE FIXED
LENGTH DIGITAL WORDS "OTH THE SAMPLING
AND QUANTIZATION PROCESS PRODUCE ERRORS THAT MUST BE MINIMIZED IN ORDER TO LIMIT THE
RADAR PERFORMANCE DEGRADATION )N ADDITION A VARIETY OF OTHER ERRORS SUCH AS ADDITIVE
NOISE SAMPLING JITTER AND DEVIATION FROM THE IDEAL QUANTIZATION RESULT IN NON
IDEAL
!$ CONVERSION
!PPLICATIONS 4HE CONVENTIONAL APPROACH OF USING A PAIR OF CONVERTERS TO DIGI
TIZE THE ) AND 1 OUTPUTS OF AN )1 DEMODULATOR IS IN MANY CASES BEING REPLACED BY
DIGITAL RECEIVER ARCHITECTURES WHERE A SINGLE !$ CONVERTER IS FOLLOWED BY DIGITAL
SIGNAL PROCESSING TO GENERATE ) AND 1 DATA $IGITAL RECEIVER TECHNIQUES ARE DESCRIBED
IN 3ECTION
!LTHOUGH THE DIVIDING LINE IS ARBITRARY AND ADVANCING WITH THE STATE
OF
THE
ART RADAR
RECEIVERS ARE OFTEN CLASSIFIED AS EITHER WIDEBAND OR HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE $IFFERENT
RADAR FUNCTIONS PUT A GREATER EMPHASIS ON ONE OR THE OTHER OF THESE PARAMETERS &OR
EXAMPLE IMAGING RADARS PUT A PREMIUM ON WIDE BANDWIDTH WHEREAS PULSE DOPPLER
RADARS REQUIRE HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE "ECAUSE RADARS ARE OFTEN REQUIRED TO OPERATE IN A
VARIETY OF MODES WITH DIFFERING BANDWIDTH AND DYNAMIC RANGE REQUIREMENTS IT IS NOT
UNCOMMON TO USE DIFFERENT TYPES OF !$ CONVERTER SAMPLING AT DIFFERENT RATES FOR THESE
DIFFERENT MODES
$ATA &ORMATS 4HE MOST FREQUENTLY USED DIGITAL FORMATS FOR !$ CONVERTERS ARE
S COMPLEMENT AND OFFSET BINARY
4HE S COMPLEMENT IS THE MOST POPULAR METHOD OF DIGITAL REPRESENTATION OF SIGNED
INTEGERS AND IS CALCULATED BY COMPLEMENTING EVERY BIT OF A GIVEN NUMBER AND ADDING ONE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE MOST SIGNIFICANT BIT IS REFERRED TO AS THE SIGN BIT )F THE SIGN BIT IS THE VALUE IS POSI
TIVE IF IT IS THE VALUE IS NEGATIVE 4HE REPRESENTATION OF VOLTAGE IN S COMPLEMENT FORM
IS GIVEN BY
% K B.. B. . B. . B
WHERE % ANALOG VOLTAGE
. NUMBER OF BINARY DIGITS
BI STATE OF ITH BINARY DIGIT
K QUANTIZATION VOLTAGE
/FFSET BINARY IS AN ALTERNATE CODING SCHEME IN WHICH THE MOST NEGATIVE VALUE IS
REPRESENTED BY ALL ZEROS AND THE MOST POSITIVE VALUE IS REPRESENTED BY ALL ONES :ERO IS
REPRESENTED BY A MOST SIGNIFICANT BIT -3" OF ONE FOLLOWED BY ALL ZEROS 4HE REPRE
SENTATION OF VOLTAGE IN OFFSET BINARY IS GIVEN BY
% K;B. . B. . B. . B=
4HE 'RAY CODE IS ALSO USED IN CERTAIN HIGH
SPEED !$ CONVERTERS IN ORDER TO
REDUCE THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL OUTPUT TRANSITIONS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE !$ CON
VERTER 4HE 'RAY CODE ALLOWS ALL ADJACENT TRANSITIONS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED BY THE CHANGE
OF A SINGLE DIGIT ONLY
$ELTA
3IGMA #ONVERTERS $ELTA
SIGMA CONVERTERS DIFFER FROM CONVENTIONAL
.YQUIST RATE CONVERTERS BY COMBINING OVERSAMPLING WITH NOISE
SHAPING TECHNIQUES TO
ACHIEVE IMPROVED 3.2 IN THE BANDWIDTH OF INTEREST .OISE SHAPING MAY BE EITHER LOW
PASS OR BANDPASS DEPENDING ON THE APPLICATION $ELTA
SIGMA ARCHITECTURES PROVIDE POTEN
TIAL IMPROVEMENTS IN SPURIOUS
FREE DYNAMIC RANGE 3&$2 AND 3.2 OVER CONVENTIONAL
.YQUIST CONVERTERS WHERE TIGHT TOLERANCES ARE REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE VERY LOW SPURIOUS
PERFORMANCE $IGITAL FILTERING AND DECIMATION IS REQUIRED TO PRODUCE DATA RATES THAT CAN
BE HANDLED BY CONVENTIONAL PROCESSORS 4HIS FUNCTION IS EITHER PERFORMED AS AN INTEGRAL
PART OF THE !$ CONVERTER FUNCTION OR CAN BE INTEGRATED INTO THE DIGITAL DOWNCONVERSION
FUNCTION USED TO GENERATE DIGITAL ) AND 1 DATA AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
0ERFORMANCE #HARACTERISTICS 4HE PRIMARY PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF !$
CONVERTERS ARE THE SAMPLE RATE OR USABLE BANDWIDTH AND RESOLUTION THE RANGE OVER
WHICH THE SIGNALS CAN BE ACCURATELY DIGITIZED 4HE RESOLUTION IS LIMITED BY BOTH NOISE
AND DISTORTION AND CAN BE DESCRIBED BY A VARIETY OF PARAMETERS
3AMPLE 2ATE 3AMPLING OF BAND
LIMITED
SIGNALS IS PERFORMED WITHOUT ALIASING DISTORTION
PROVIDED THAT THE SAMPLE RATE FS IS GREATER THAN
TWICE THE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH AND PROVIDED THE SIG
NAL BANDWIDTH DOES NOT STRADDLE THE .YQUIST FRE
QUENCY FS OR ANY INTEGER MULTIPLE .FS
)N CONVENTIONAL BASEBAND APPROACHES SAM
PLING IS USUALLY PERFORMED AT THE MINIMUM RATE TO
MEET THE .YQUIST CRITERIA 3INCE THE BASEBAND ) AND
1 SIGNALS HAVE BANDWIDTHS " EQUAL TO HALF THE
)& SIGNAL BANDWIDTH A SAMPLE RATE JUST GREATER THAN
&)'52% "ASEBAND SAMPLING
THE )& BANDWIDTH IS REQUIRED SEE &IGURE
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
&)'52% )& SAMPLING IN SECOND .YQUIST REGION
&OR )& SAMPLING A FREQUENCY AT LEAST TWICE THE )& BANDWIDTH IS REQUIRED HOWEVER
OVERSAMPLING IS TYPICALLY EMPLOYED TO EASE ALIAS REJECTION FILTERING AND TO REDUCE THE
EFFECT OF !$ CONVERTER QUANTIZATION NOISE )& SAMPLING IS OFTEN PERFORMED WITH THE
SIGNAL LOCATED IN THE SECOND .YQUIST REGION AS SHOWN IN &IGURE OR IN HIGHER
.YQUIST REGIONS
3TATED 2ESOLUTION 4HE STATED RESOLUTION OF AN !$ CONVERTER IS THE NUMBER OF
OUTPUT DATA BITS PER SAMPLE 4HE FULL
SCALE VOLTAGE RANGE OF A .YQUIST RATE CONVERTER
IS GIVEN BY 6&3 .1 WHERE . IS THE STATED RESOLUTION AND 1 IS THE LEAST SIGNIFICANT
BIT ,3" SIZE
3IGNAL
TO
.OISE
2ATIO 3.2 3.2 IS THE RATIO OF RMS SIGNAL AMPLITUDE TO RMS
!$ CONVERTER NOISE POWER &OR AN IDEAL !$ CONVERTER THE ONLY ERROR IS DUE TO QUAN
TIZATION 0ROVIDED THAT THE INPUT SIGNAL IS SUFFICIENTLY LARGE RELATIVE TO THE QUANTIZATION
SIZE AND UNCORRELATED TO THE SAMPLING SIGNAL THE QUANTIZATION ERROR IS ESSENTIALLY RAN
DOM AND IS ASSUMED TO BE WHITE 4HE RMS QUANTIZATION NOISE IS 1 AND SIGNAL
TO
QUANTIZATION
NOISE RATIO 31.2 OF AN IDEAL !$ CONVERTER IS GIVEN BY
31.2D" .
0RACTICAL !$ CONVERTERS HAVE ADDITIONAL SAMPLING ERRORS OTHER THAN QUANTIZATION
INCLUDING THERMAL NOISE AND APERTURE JITTER 0ROVIDED THAT THESE ADDITIONAL ERRORS CAN
BE CHARACTERIZED AS WHITE THEY CAN BE COMBINED WITH THE QUANTIZATION NOISE WITH A
RESULTING 3.2 LESS THAN THE THEORETICAL 3.2 OF THE IDEAL CONVERTER "ECAUSE VARIOUS
!$ CONVERTER ERROR MECHANISMS ARE DEPENDENT ON INPUT SIGNAL LEVEL AND FREQUENCY
IT IS IMPORTANT TO CHARACTERIZE DEVICES OVER THE FULL RANGE OF INPUT CONDITIONS TO BE
EXPECTED 4HE AVAILABLE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO OF STATE
OF
THE
ART HIGH
SPEED !$ CON
VERTERS HAS BEEN SHOWN TO FALL OFF BY ONE
BIT D" FOR EVERY DOUBLING OF THE SAMPLE
RATE /VER
SAMPLING OF THE SIGNAL FOLLOWED BY FILTERING AND DECIMATION PROVIDES AN
IMPROVEMENT OF ONE HALF
BIT D" IN THE ACHIEVABLE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE
RATIO FOR EACH
DOUBLING OF THE SAMPLE RATE 4HUS FOR HIGH DYNAMIC
RANGE APPLICATIONS THE BEST PER
FORMANCE IS ACHIEVED USING A STATE
OF
THE
ART !$ CONVERTER THAT HAS A MAXIMUM
SAMPLE RATE JUST SUFFICIENT FOR THE APPLICATION
3PURIOUS &REE $YNAMIC 2ANGE 3&$2 3&$2 IS THE RATIO OF THE SINGLE
TONE SIG
NAL AMPLITUDE TO THE LARGEST SPURIOUS SIGNAL AMPLITUDE AND IS USUALLY STATED IN D"
3IMILAR TO 3.2 THE SPURIOUS PERFORMANCE OF AN !$ CONVERTER IS DEPENDENT ON THE
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
INPUT SIGNAL FREQUENCY AND AMPLITUDE 4HE FREQUENCY OF SPURIOUS SIGNALS IS ALSO DEPEN
DENT ON THE INPUT SIGNAL FREQUENCY WITH THE HIGHEST VALUES TYPICALLY DUE TO LOW ORDER
HARMONICS OR THEIR ALIASES 7HEN USING )& SAMPLING WITH A SIGNIFICANT OVER
SAMPLING
RATIO FS " THE WORST SPURIOUS SIGNALS MAY BE AVOIDED BY CHOOSING THE SAMPLE
FREQUENCY RELATIVE TO SIGNAL FREQUENCY SUCH THAT THE UNWANTED SPURIOUS SIGNALS FALL
OUTSIDE THE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH OF INTEREST )F THE WORST CASE SPURIOUS CAN BE AVOIDED THE
SPECIFIED 3&$2 IS LESS IMPORTANT THAN THE LEVELS OF THE SPECIFIC SPURIOUS COMPONENTS
THAT FALL WITHIN THE BANDWIDTH OF INTEREST !GAIN IT IS IMPORTANT TO CHARACTERIZE DEVICES
OVER THE RANGE OF EXPECTED OPERATING CONDITIONS
4HE IMPACT OF !$ CONVERTER SPURIOUS SIGNALS ON RADAR PERFORMANCE DEPENDS ON THE
TYPE OF WAVEFORMS BEING PROCESSED AND THE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING BEING PERFORMED
)N APPLICATIONS USING CHIRP WAVEFORMS WITH LARGE TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCTS SPURIOUS
SIGNALS ARE LESS CRITICAL AS THEY ARE EFFECTIVELY REJECTED IN THE PULSE COMPRESSION PRO
CESS BECAUSE THEIR CODING DOES NOT MATCH THAT OF THE WANTED SIGNAL )N PULSE DOPPLER
APPLICATIONS SPURIOUS SIGNALS ARE OF MUCH GREATER CONCERN BECAUSE THEY CAN CREATE
COMPONENTS WITH DOPPLER AT A VARIETY OF FREQUENCIES THAT MAY NOT BE REJECTED BY THE
CLUTTER FILTERING
3IGNAL
TO
.OISE
AND
$ISTORTION 2ATIO 3).!$ 3).!$ IS THE RMS SIGNAL AMPLI
TUDE TO THE RMS VALUE OF THE !$ CONVERTER NOISE PLUS DISTORTION 4HE NOISE PLUS DIS
TORTION INCLUDES ALL SPECTRAL COMPONENTS EXCLUDING $# AND THE FUNDAMENTAL UP TO
THE .YQUIST FREQUENCY 3).!$ IS A USEFUL FIGURE OF MERIT FOR !$ CONVERTERS BUT IN
DIGITAL RECEIVER APPLICATIONS WHERE THE WORST SPURIOUS COMPONENTS MAY FALL OUTSIDE OF
THE BANDWIDTH OF INTEREST IT IS NOT NECESSARILY A KEY DISCRIMINATOR BETWEEN COMPETING
CONVERTERS FOR A SPECIFIC APPLICATION
%FFECTIVE .UMBER OF "ITS %./" 4HE TERM EFFECTIVE NUMBER OF BITS IS OFTEN USED
TO STATE THE TRUE PERFORMANCE OF AN !$ CONVERTER AND HAS BEEN STATED IN THE LITERATURE
IN TERMS OF 3).!$ AND 3.2 AS GIVEN BELOW #ONSEQUENTLY IT IS IMPORTANT TO DIFFER
ENTIATE BETWEEN DEFINITIONS WHEN USING THIS TERM
.EFF ;3).!$D" =
.EFF ;3.2D" =
4WO 4ONE )NTERMODULATION $ISTORTION )-$ 4WO TONE INTERMODULATION DISTORTION
IS ALSO IMPORTANT IN RECEIVER APPLICATIONS 4ESTING IS PERFORMED WITH TWO SINUSOIDAL INPUT
SIGNALS OF UNEQUAL FREQUENCY AND LEVELS SET SUCH THAT THE SUM OF THE TWO INPUTS DOES
NOT EXCEED THE !$ CONVERTER FULL
SCALE LEVEL 3IMILAR TO )-$ FOR AMPLIFIERS THE MOST
SIGNIFICANT DISTORTION IS USUALLY SECOND ORDER OR THIRD ORDER )-$ PRODUCTS (OWEVER
DUE TO THE COMPLEX NATURE OF THE DISTORTION MECHANISM IN !$ CONVERTERS THE AMPLITUDE
OF )-$ PRODUCTS IS NOT EASILY CHARACTERIZED AND PREDICTED BY THE MEASUREMENT OF AN
INPUT INTERCEPT POINT
)NPUT .OISE ,EVEL AND $YNAMIC 2ANGE !CCURATE SETTING OF THE !$ CON
VERTER INPUT NOISE LEVEL RELATIVE TO THE !$ CONVERTER NOISE IS CRITICAL TO ACHIEVING THE
OPTIMUM TRADE
OFF BETWEEN DYNAMIC RANGE AND SYSTEM NOISE FLOOR 4OO HIGH A LEVEL
OF NOISE INTO THE !$ CONVERTER WILL DEGRADE THE AVAILABLE DYNAMIC RANGE TOO LOW
A LEVEL WILL DEGRADE THE OVERALL SYSTEM NOISE FLOOR 3UFFICIENT TOTAL NOISE SHOULD BE
APPLIED TO THE !$ CONVERTER INPUT TO RANDOMIZE OR hWHITENv THE QUANTIZATION NOISE
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
!
!
"
!
"
! $
!#
&)'52% )& SAMPLING NOISE SPECTRUMS
4HIS CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH RMS INPUT NOISE R EQUAL TO THE ,3" STEP SIZE 1 )N
ADDITION THE INPUT NOISE POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO MINIMIZE THE
IMPACT ON SYSTEM NOISE DUE TO THE !$ CONVERTER NOISE 4HE IMPACT ON OVERALL NOISE
DUE TO QUANTIZATION NOISE IS GIVEN BY
R
1
R q1
R
R
4YPICAL OPERATING POINTS ARE IN THE RANGE OF R 1 TO R 1 WITH CORRESPONDING
NOISE POWER DEGRADATION DUE TO QUANTIZATION OF D" AND D" RESPECTIVELY
)N PRACTICE THE 3.2 OF HIGH SPEED CONVERTERS IS OFTEN SUCH THAT THE NOISE OF THE
!$ CONVERTER IS SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER THAN THE THEORETICAL QUANTIZATION NOISE )N ADDI
TION THE !$ CONVERTER INPUT SIGNAL NOISE BANDWIDTH MAY BE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS THAN THE
.YQUIST BANDWIDTH 4HIS IS A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN )& SAMPLING APPLICATIONS WHERE THE
)& NOISE BANDWIDTH IS OFTEN LESS THAN OF THE .YQUIST BANDWIDTH )N THIS CASE THE TOTAL
INPUT AND !$ CONVERTER NOISE MUST BE SUFFICIENT TO WHITEN THE QUANTIZATION NOISE AND
THE POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY OF THE INPUT NOISE SHOULD BE SUFFICIENTLY GREATER THAN THAT OF
THE !$ CONVERTER AS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE )N SOME CASES OUT OF BAND NOISE MAY
BE ADDED TO WHITEN THE !$ CONVERTER QUANTIZATION NOISE AND SPURIOUS SIGNALS 4HE OUT
OF BAND NOISE IS THEN REJECTED THROUGH SUBSEQUENT DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING
4HE RESULTING 3.2 OF THE SYSTEM AFTER DIGITAL FILTERING WITH RECEIVER BANDWIDTH "2
AND SAMPLE RATE FS IS GIVEN BY
F
3.2393 D" 3.2!$# D" LOG 3
LOG 3)& 3!$#
"2
WHERE 3)&3!$# IS THE RATIO OF NOISE POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY OF THE !$ CONVERTER INPUT
SIGNAL TO THE POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY OF THE !$ CONVERTER 4HE DEGRADATION OF OVERALL
SENSITIVITY DUE TO THE !$ CONVERTER NOISE IS GIVEN BY
,D" LOG 3!$#3)&
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!$ #ONVERTER 3AMPLE #LOCK 3TABILITY 4HE STABILITY OF THE SAMPLE CLOCK IS
CRITICAL TO ACHIEVING THE FULL CAPABILITY OF AN !$ CONVERTER 3AMPLE
TO
SAMPLE VARIA
TION IN THE SAMPLING INTERVAL CALLED APERTURE UNCERTAINTY OR APERTURE JITTER PRODUCES
A SAMPLING ERROR PROPORTIONAL TO THE RATE OF CHANGE OF INPUT VOLTAGE &OR A SINUSOIDAL
INPUT SIGNAL THE 3.2 DUE TO APERTURE UNCERTAINTY ALONE IS GIVEN BY
3.2D" LOGO FR J
WHERE F INPUT SIGNAL FREQUENCY
RJ RMS APERTURE JITTER
3IMILARLY CLOSE
TO
CARRIER NOISE SIDEBANDS PRESENT ON THE SAMPLE CLOCK SIGNAL ARE
TRANSFERRED TO SIDEBANDS ON THE SAMPLED INPUT SIGNAL REDUCED BY LOG F F3 D"
&OR EXAMPLE IN AN )& SAMPLING APPLICATION WITH THE INPUT SIGNAL OF THE SAMPLE
FREQUENCY THE CLOSE
TO
CARRIER PHASE NOISE OF THE SAMPLE CLOCK WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO
THE OUTPUT OF THE !$ CONVERTER OUTPUT DATA SIGNAL REDUCED BY D"
/ ,
6
,4HE AVAILABILITY OF HIGH
SPEED ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL CONVERTERS CAPABLE OF DIRECT SAM
PLING OF RADAR RECEIVER )& SIGNALS HAS RESULTED IN THE ALMOST UNIVERSAL ADOPTION OF
DIGITAL RECEIVER ARCHITECTURES OVER CONVENTIONAL ANALOG )1 DEMODULATION )N A DIGITAL
RECEIVER A SINGLE !$ CONVERTER IS USED TO DIGITIZE THE RECEIVED SIGNAL AND DIGITAL
SIGNAL PROCESSING IS USED TO PERFORM THE DOWNCONVERSION TO ) AND 1 BASEBAND SIG
NALS #ONTINUING ADVANCES IN SAMPLING SPEEDS ARE LEADING TO SAMPLING AT INCREASING
FREQUENCIES SOMETIMES ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR A SECOND DOWNCONVERSION WITH THE
POSSIBILITY APPROACHING OF SAMPLING DIRECTLY AT THE RADAR 2& FREQUENCY 4HE BENEFITS
OF )& SAMPLING OVER CONVENTIONAL ANALOG )1 DEMODULATION ARE
L
6IRTUAL ELIMINATION OF ) AND 1 IMBALANCE
6IRTUAL ELIMINATION OF $# OFFSET ERRORS
2EDUCED CHANNEL
TO
CHANNEL VARIATION
)MPROVED LINEARITY
&LEXIBILITY OF BANDWIDTH AND SAMPLE RATE
4IGHT FILTER TOLERANCE PHASE LINEARITY AND IMPROVED ANTI
ALIAS FILTERING
2EDUCED COMPONENT COST SIZE WEIGHT AND POWER DISSIPATION
4HE USE OF A HIGH )& FREQUENCY IS DESIRABLE AS IT EASES THE DOWNCONVERSION AND
FILTERING PROCESS HOWEVER THE USE OF HIGHER FREQUENCIES PLACES GREATER DEMANDS ON
THE PERFORMANCE OF THE !$ CONVERTER $IRECT 2& SAMPLING IS CONSIDERED THE ULTI
MATE GOAL OF DIGITAL RECEIVERS WITH ALL THE TUNING AND FILTERING PERFORMED THROUGH
DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING 4HE ADVANTAGE BEING THE ALMOST COMPLETE ELIMINATION OF
ANALOG HARDWARE (OWEVER NOT ONLY DOES THE !$ CONVERTER HAVE TO SAMPLE THE
2& DIRECTLY BUT UNLESS IT IS PRECEDED BY TUNABLE 2& PRESELECTOR FILTERS THE !$
CONVERTER INPUT MUST HAVE THE DYNAMIC RANGE TO HANDLE ALL OF THE SIGNALS PRES
ENT IN THE RADAR BAND SIMULTANEOUSLY 'ENERALLY THE INTERFERENCE POWER ENTERING
THE !$ CONVERTER IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE BANDWIDTH OF COMPONENTS IN FRONT OF THE
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
!$ CONVERTER 4HE REQUIRED !$ CONVERTER 3.2 TO AVOID SATURATION ON THE INTERFER
ING SIGNALS IS GIVEN BY
0 #
3.2!$# D" LOG )
. !$#
WHERE
0) INTERFERENCE POWER AT !$ CONVERTER INPUT
# CREST FACTOR
.!$# !$ CONVERTER NOISE
4HE CREST FACTOR IS THE PEAK LEVEL THAT CAN BE HANDLED WITHIN THE FULL
SCALE RANGE
OF THE !$ CONVERTER RELATIVE TO THE RMS INTERFERENCE LEVEL )T IS SET TO ACHIEVE A
SUFFICIENTLY HIGH PROBABILITY THAT FULL
SCALE WILL NOT BE EXCEEDED &OR EXAMPLE WITH
GAUSSIAN NOISE A CREST FACTOR OF SETS THE PEAK LEVEL AT THE R LEVEL D" ABOVE
THE RMS LEVEL WITH A PROBABILITY OF THAT THE FULL
SCALE IS NOT EXCEEDED ON
EACH !$ CONVERTER SAMPLE
3ETTING THE SYSTEM NOISE LEVEL POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY INTO THE !$ CONVERTER 2D"
ABOVE THE !$ CONVERTER NOISE GIVES
F.
2 D" LOG S 393
"
.
)& !$#
WHERE
.393 SYSTEM NOISE AT !$ CONVERTER INPUT IN BANDWIDTH ")&
#OMBINING %Q AND GIVES THE REQUIRED 3.2 AS
0 # ")&
3.2!$# D" LOG )
2 D"
F3 . 393
4HE GENERATION OF BASEBAND ) AND 1 SIGNALS FROM THE )& SAMPLED !$ CONVERTER DATA
IS PERFORMED USING DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING AND CAN BE IMPLEMENTED THROUGH A VARIETY
OF APPROACHES 4WO APPROACHES ARE DESCRIBED NEXT
$IGITAL $OWNCONVERSION 4HE DIGITAL DOWNCONVERSION APPROACH IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE 4HE SIGNAL IS SAMPLED BY THE !$ CONVERTER FREQUENCY SHIFTED TO BASE
BAND LOW
PASS FILTERED AND DECIMATED TO PRODUCE )1 DIGITAL DATA 4HE SIGNAL SPECTRUM
AT EACH STAGE OF THE PROCESS IS SHOWN IN &IGURE )N CONTINUOUS
TIME &IG A
FREQUENCY IS IN HERTZ AND IS REPRESENTED BY & )N DISCRETE
TIME &IG BnE FRE
QUENCY IS IN RADIANS PER SAMPLE AND IS REPRESENTED BY V 4HE SPECTRUM OF THE ANA
LOG INPUT SIGNAL XT IS SHOWN IN &IGURE A WITH THE SIGNAL SPECTRUM CENTERED AT
& HERTZ 4HE SIGNAL IS SAMPLED BY THE !$ CONVERTER AT FREQUENCY &S PRODUCING THE
W CENTERED AT FREQUENCY V WITH THE
TIME SEQUENCE X N AND FREQUENCY SPECTRUM 8
IMAGE CENTERED AT
V 4HE !$ CONVERTER OUTPUT SIGNAL IS THEN FREQUENCY SHIFTED BY
COMPLEX MULTIPLICATION WITH THE REFERENCE SIGNAL E
JV N CORRESPONDING TO A REFERENCE
SIGNAL ROTATING AT V RADIANS PER SAMPLE CENTERING THE SIGNAL SPECTRUM 8V ABOUT
ZERO 4HE UNWANTED IMAGE IS RE
CENTERED AT
V IF V O OR
V O IF V a O
4HE UNWANTED IMAGE IS THEN REJECTED USING THE &)2 FILTER WITH IMPULSE RESPONSE HN
PRODUCING OUTPUT X} N WITH SPECTRUM 8} V &INALLY THE SAMPLE RATE IS REDUCED BY
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% $IGITAL DOWNCONVERSION ARCHITECTURE
SELECTING EVERY $TH SAMPLE 0ROVIDED THE FILTER RESPONSE (V HAS SUFFICIENT REJECTION
FOR FREQUENCIES \V \ q P $ THERE WILL BE NEGLIGIBLE ALIASING AND LOSS OF INFORMATION IN
THE DECIMATION PROCESS
&)'52% $IGITAL DOWNCONVERSION SPECTRA
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
&)'52% (ILBERT TRANSFORMER ARCHITECTURE
(ILBERT 4RANSFORMER !N ALTERNATIVE DIGITAL RECEIVER ARCHITECTURE IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE WITH THE RELEVANT SIGNAL SPECTRA SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE !$ CONVERTER
OUTPUT SIGNAL X N IS PROCESSED USING A (ILBERT TRANSFORMER COMPRISING &)2 FILTERS
HN AND HN WHERE THE FREQUENCY RESPONSES ARE GIVEN BY
\( V \ y \( V \ y \V V \ a "
( V
J \ V V \ a "
y
' V J \ V V \ a "
AND
4HE FILTER OUTPUTS FORM THE DESIRED COMPLEX VALUED SIGNAL X N CENTERED AT FREQUENCY
V WHILE REJECTING THE IMAGE CENTERED AT
V 4HE FINAL STAGE IS TO PERFORM A FREQUENCY
SHIFT AND SAMPLE RATE REDUCTION BY DECIMATING THE SIGNAL BY SELECTING EVERY $TH SAMPLE
&)'52% 3PECTRA OF (ILBERT TRANSFORMER RECEIVER
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)F THE SPECTRUM OF 8V IS CENTERED AT FREQUENCY V O K $ K THE DECIMATION
WILL CENTER THE SPECTRUM 9V ABOUT ZERO 0ROVIDED THE FILTER RESPONSES HAVE SUFFICIENT
REJECTION FOR FREQUENCIES \V o V \ q O $ THERE WILL BE NEGLIGIBLE ALIASING AND LOSS OF
INFORMATION IN THE DECIMATION PROCESS
)1 %RRORS $IGITAL ) AND 1 GENERATION DOES NOT PRODUCE SIGNALS WITHOUT ERROR
AS IS OFTEN STATED BUT INSTEAD ALLOWS THE GENERATION OF THESE SIGNALS WITH ERRORS
THAT ARE SUFFICIENTLY SMALL TO BE CONSIDERED NEGLIGIBLE 4HE PRIMARY CAUSE OF THE
IMBALANCE IS THE NON IDEAL FILTER RESPONSES !N INFINITE NUMBER OF TAPS WOULD BE
REQUIRED TO SET THE PASSBAND GAIN TO UNITY AND THE STOPBAND GAIN TO ZERO HOWEVER
FOR MOST APPLICATIONS SUFFICIENT PROCESSING RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE TO REDUCE THE
ERRORS TO INSIGNIFICANT LEVELS &INITE LENGTH WORDS FOR FILTER COEFFICIENTS PRODUCE NON
IDEAL FILTER RESPONSES 4HE EFFECT ON PASSBAND RESPONSE IS TYPICALLY NEGLIGIBLE BUT
SIGNIFICANT DISTORTION OF THE FILTER STOPBAND REJECTION CAN OCCUR POTENTIALLY EFFECTING
)1 BALANCE
$IGITAL $OWNCONVERSION 5SING -ULTIRATE 0ROCESSING AND 0OLYPHASE
FILTERS 4HERE ARE MANY VARIATIONS TO THESE BASIC APPROACHES AND SPECIFIC IMPLE
MENTATIONS OFTEN UTILIZE EFFICIENT APPROACHES THAT MINIMIZE THE NUMBER OF CALCULA
TIONS REQUIRED WITH EMPHASIS ON REDUCING THE NUMBER OF MULTIPLICATIONS AS THESE
REQUIRE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE RESOURCES THAN ADDITIONS 4WO TECHNIQUES USED TO REDUCE
THE &)2 FILTER PROCESSING BURDEN ARE MULTIRATE PROCESSING AND POLYPHASE FILTERING
4HE DIGITAL DOWNCONVERSION APPROACH IS SHOWN IN &IGURE USING MULTIRATE PRO
CESSING 4HE FIRST &)2 FILTER HN PROVIDES SUFFICIENT REDUCTION TO PREVENT ALIASING
IN THE FIRST DECIMATION BY FACTOR $ THE SECOND FILTER HN PROVIDES ALIAS REDUCTION
FOR THE SECOND DECIMATION AND CAN ALSO BE USED TO CORRECT PASSBAND RIPPLE OR DROOP
DUE TO FILTER HN &OR LARGE DECIMATION FACTORS MORE THAN TWO DECIMATION STAGES
MAY BE USED
! POPULAR FILTER FOR THE FIRST STAGE IS THE #ASCADED )NTEGRATOR #OMB #)# DECIMA
TOR FILTER THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WITHOUT MULTIPLIERS 4HESE FILTERS PROVIDE REJECTION IN
THE STOPBAND AT FREQUENCIES THAT ALIAS TO THE PASSBAND AS A RESULT OF DECIMATION 3INCE
THEY PROVIDE RELATIVELY LARGE PASSBAND DROOP AND SLOW STOPBAND REJECTION THEY ARE
GENERALLY FOLLOWED BY A &)2 FILTER THAT CAN BOTH CORRECT FOR #)# PASSBAND DROOP AND
&)'52% $IGITAL DOWNCONVERSION ARCHITECTURE
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
{x
PROVIDE THE DESIRED STOPBAND REJECTION RESPONSE 4HE KTH ORDER #)# FILTER FOR DECIMA
TION FACTOR $ HAS TRANSFER FUNCTION
$
( + Z Z
M
M
Z
$
Z
! POLYPHASE FILTER IS A FILTER BANK THAT SPLITS AN INPUT SIGNAL INTO $ SUB
BAND FILTERS
OPERATING AT A SAMPLE RATE REDUCED BY A FACTOR $ PROVIDING A COMPUTATIONALLY EFFICIENT
APPROACH TO PERFORMING THE &)2 FILTERING FOLLOWED BY DECIMATION IN A DIGITAL RECEIVER
2ATHER THAN COMPUTING ALL THE FILTER OUTPUT SAMPLES AND ONLY USING EVERY $TH SAMPLE
THE POLYPHASE APPROACH CALCULATES ONLY THOSE THAT ARE ACTUALLY USED &IGURE AND
%Q DEFINE HOW THE FILTER WITH IMPULSE RESPONSE HN FOLLOWED WITH DECIMATION
BY FACTOR $ IS IMPLEMENTED IN A POLYPHASE STRUCTURE 4HE INPUT SIGNAL XN IS DIVIDED
INTO $ PARALLEL PATHS BY THE hCOMMUTATOR v WHICH OUTPUTS SAMPLES IN TURN ROTATING IN A
COUNTERCLOCKWISE DIRECTION TO EACH OF THE &)2 FILTERS OPERATING AT THE REDUCED SAMPLE
RATE 4HE OUTPUTS OF THE &)2 FILTERS ARE SUMMED TO PRODUCE THE OUTPUT SIGNAL YM 4HIS
ARCHITECTURE IS BENEFICIAL AS IT PROVIDES AN APPROACH THAT CAN BE EASILY PARALLELIZED AT
RATE &8 $
PKN HK N$ K x $
N x +
-ULTI #HANNEL 2ECEIVER #ONSIDERATIONS -ODERN RADAR SYSTEMS RARELY CON
TAIN ONLY ONE RECEIVER CHANNEL -ONOPULSE PROCESSING FOR EXAMPLE REQUIRES TWO
OR MORE CHANNELS TO PROCESS SUM AND DELTA SIGNALS !DDITIONALLY THE CHANNELS
MUST BE COHERENT SYNCHRONIZED IN TIME AND WELL MATCHED IN PHASE AND AMPLITUDE
$IGITAL BEAMFORMING SYSTEMS REQUIRE A LARGE NUMBER OF CHANNELS WITH SIMILAR
COHERENCE AND SYNCHRONIZATION REQUIREMENTS AND TIGHT PHASE AND AMPLITUDE TRACK
ING 4HE COHERENCE REQUIREMENT DICTATES THE RELATIVE PHASE STABILITY OF ,/ AND
!$ CONVERTER CLOCK SIGNALS USED FOR EACH RECEIVE CHANNEL 4HE TIME SYNCHRONIZA
TION REQUIREMENT MEANS THAT !$ CONVERTER CLOCK SIGNALS FOR EACH CHANNEL MUST
BE ALIGNED IN TIME AND DECIMATION MUST BE PERFORMED IN PHASE FOR EACH CHANNEL
0HASE AND AMPLITUDE IMBALANCE BETWEEN CHANNELS IS A RESULT OF VARIATION IN THE
&)'52% $ECIMATION USING POLYPHASE FILTERS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
ANALOG CIRCUITRY PRIOR TO AND WITHIN THE !$ CONVERTER )F THE )& FILTER BANDWIDTH IS
WIDE RELATIVE TO THE DIGITAL RECEIVER BANDWIDTH THE MAJORITY OF THE ERROR BETWEEN
CHANNELS WILL BE A CONSTANT GAIN AND PHASE OFFSET ACROSS THE RECEIVER BANDWIDTH
! SINGLE CORRECTION APPLIED AS A COMPLEX MULTIPLICATION OF )1 DATA WILL COR
RECT FOR GAIN AND PHASE OFFSETS AND IS USUALLY ADEQUATE TO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED
CHANNEL TRACKING FOR MONOPULSE APPLICATIONS 7HEN TIGHTER CHANNEL TRACKING IS
REQUIRED SUCH AS FOR SIDELOBE CANCELER OR DIGITAL BEAMFORMING APPLICATIONS &)2
FILTER EQUALIZATION CAN BE USED TO CORRECT FOR FREQUENCY DEPENDENT VARIATIONS ACROSS
THE RECEIVER BANDWIDTH &)2 FILTER EQUALIZATION CAN BE PERFORMED EITHER SUBSE
QUENT TO THE &)2 FILTERING USED TO GENERATE )1 DATA OR COMBINED WITH THESE FILTERS
)T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT TO CORRECT FOR FREQUENCY AND PHASE VARIATION ACROSS THE
RECEIVER BANDWIDTH REQUIRES &)2 FILTERS WITH COMPLEX COEFFICIENTS APPLIED EQUALLY
TO ) AND 1 DATA 2EAL VALUE COEFFICIENTS TYPICALLY USED IN )1 GENERATION PROVIDE FIL
TER RESPONSES SYMMETRICAL ABOUT ZERO FREQUENCY #ORRECTION OF )& FILTER FREQUENCY
RESPONSE ERRORS WILL IN GENERAL REQUIRE ASYMMETRIC FREQUENCY CORRECTION THAT CAN
ONLY BE PROVIDED AT BASEBAND USING COMPLEX COEFFICIENTS
4HE DEGREE TO WHICH THESE MULTIPLE RECEIVER CHANNELS MUST TRACK DEPENDS ON THE
SPECIFIC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS !LTHOUGH MODERN SYSTEMS TYPICALLY INCLUDE SOME
DEGREE OF CHANNEL EQUALIZATION FUNCTION A REASONABLE DEGREE OF TRACKING BETWEEN GAIN
PHASE AND TIMING MUST BE MAINTAINED IN ORDER TO ALLOW THE CHANNEL EQUALIZATION TO
BE PERFORMED USING DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING WITHOUT CONSUMING EXCESSIVE PROCESSING
RESOURCES !LSO THE RELATIVE STABILITY OF THE RADAR CHANNELS AS A FUNCTION OF TIME AND
TEMPERATURE MUST BE SUCH THAT THE CORRECTIONS CAN MAINTAIN ADEQUATE TRACKING DURING
THE TIME BETWEEN CALIBRATION INTERVALS
$IGITAL BEAMFORMING SYSTEMS REQUIRE A LARGE NUMBER OF RECEIVER CHANNELS )N THESE
APPLICATIONS SIZE WEIGHT POWER DISSIPATION AND COST ARE CRITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
* 8"* ,/"
$IPLEX "ENEFITS $IPLEX OPERATION CONSISTS OF TWO RECEIVERS THAT SIMULTANEOUSLY
PROCESS RETURNS FROM TRANSMISSIONS ON DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES 4RANSMISSIONS ARE USU
ALLY NON OVERLAPPING IN TIME TO AVOID A D" INCREASE IN PEAK POWER AND BECAUSE MOST
RADAR TRANSMITTERS ARE OPERATED IN SATURATION AND SIMULTANEOUS TRANSMISSION AT MULTIPLE
FREQUENCIES WOULD PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT TRANSMITTED INTERMODULATION DISTORTION
4HE SENSITIVITY BENEFIT OF DIPLEX OPERATION FOR DETECTING 3WERLING TARGETS IS SHOWN
IN &IGURE INCREASING WITH PROBABILITY OF DETECTION 0$ &OR EXAMPLE DIPLEX OPER
ATION ACHIEVES 0$ WITH D" LESS TOTAL SIGNAL POWER THAN SIMPLEX !SSUMPTIONS
MADE IN DERIVING &IGURE ARE
2ETURNS ON THE TWO FREQUENCIES ARE ADDED IN VOLTAGE OR POWER PRIOR TO THE DETECTION
DECISION RATHER THAN BEING SUBJECTED TO INDIVIDUAL DETECTION DECISIONS
3EPARATION OF THE TWO FREQUENCIES IS SUFFICIENT TO MAKE THEIR 3WERLING FLUCTUA
TIONS INDEPENDENT 4HIS DEPENDS ON THE PHYSICAL LENGTH OF THE TARGET IN THE RANGE
DIMENSION K2 4HE MINIMUM FREQUENCY SEPARATION IS -(ZK2 M -(Z
WILL MAINTAIN THE DIPLEX BENEFIT FOR AIRCRAFT LONGER THAN M FT
%QUAL ENERGY IS TRANSMITTED IN BOTH PULSES ! IMBALANCE SACRIFICES ONLY D"
OF THE BENEFIT AT 0$
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
&)'52% $IPLEX OPERATION IMPROVES THE SENSITIVITY OF THE RECEIVER
"OTH LINEAR AND ASYMMETRICAL NONLINEAR &- PRODUCE A RANGE ERROR AS A FUNCTION
OF DOPPLER DUE TO RANGE
DOPPLER COUPLING 4HESE RANGE DISPLACEMENTS MUST MATCH IN
THE TWO RECEIVERS TO WITHIN A SMALL FRACTION OF THE COMPRESSED PULSE WIDTH OTHERWISE
THE SENSITIVITY BENEFITS OF DIPLEX OPERATION ARE NOT FULLY ACHIEVED AND RANGE ACCURACY
MAY BE DEGRADED
)MPLEMENTATION $IPLEX OPERATION CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WITH A VARIETY OF
APPROACHES #OMPLETE REPLICATION OF THE RECEIVER CHANNELS IS TYPICALLY THE MOST EXPEN
SIVE APPROACH AND MAY BE REQUIRED IF THE FREQUENCY SEPARATION IS VERY LARGE ! MORE
COMMON APPROACH IS SEPARATION OF THE FREQUENCIES AT THE FIRST )& AS THIS DOES NOT
REQUIRE COMPLETE DUPLICATION OF THE 2& FRONT END OR THE FIRST ,/ SIGNAL 3EPARATE SEC
OND LOCAL OSCILLATOR OR )1 DEMODULATOR REFERENCE FREQUENCIES CAN BE USED TO PROCESS
THE DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES 7ITH THE USE OF HIGH
SPEED )& SAMPLING IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE
TO DIGITIZE BOTH SIGNALS SIMULTANEOUSLY USING A SINGLE !$ CONVERTER AND PERFORM THE
FREQUENCY SEPARATION USING DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING 7HICHEVER APPROACH IS USED CARE
MUST BE TAKEN TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE DYNAMIC RANGE AND LINEARITY TO PREVENT INTERMODULA
TION DISTORTION FROM DEGRADING RADAR PERFORMANCE
76 ", ,/"
1*
" 6 ,-"
4HE EXCITER FUNCTION OF WAVEFORM GENERATION AND UPCONVERSION IS OFTEN TIGHTLY COUPLED
WITH THE RECEIVER FUNCTION 4HE REQUIREMENT FOR COHERENCE BETWEEN THE RECEIVER AND
EXCITER IS A MAJOR FACTOR FOR THIS TIGHT COUPLING AND THE USE OF THE SAME ,/ FREQUEN
CIES WITHIN THE RECEIVER AND EXCITER USUALLY RESULTS IN HARDWARE SAVINGS 3IMILAR TO
THE MIGRATION TO DIGITAL RECEIVER ARCHITECTURES THE EXCITER FUNCTIONALITY IS INCREASINGLY
BEING IMPLEMENTED USING DIGITAL APPROACHES
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
$IRECT $IGITAL 3YNTHESIZER 4HE $IRECT $IGITAL 3YNTHESIZER $$3 PRODUCES
WAVEFORMS USING DIGITAL TECHNIQUES AND PROVIDES SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN STABIL
ITY PRECISION AGILITY AND VERSATILITY OVER ANALOG TECHNIQUES 4HE MAIN LIMITATIONS ARE
THE NOISE AND SPURIOUS SIGNALS AS DESCRIBED BELOW 4HE GENERAL $$3 ARCHITECTURE IS
SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE DOUBLE ACCUMULATOR ARCHITECTURE COMPRISING THE FREQUENCY
AND PHASE ACCUMULATORS ENABLES THE GENERATION OF #7 LINEAR &- CHIRP NONLINEAR
PIECE WISE LINEAR &- FREQUENCY MODULATED AND PHASE MODULATED WAVEFORMS #7
WAVEFORMS ARE GENERATED BY APPLYING A CONSTANT FREQUENCY WORD DIGITIZED FREQUENCY
REPRESENTATION INPUT TO THE PHASE ACCUMULATOR CREATING A LINEAR PHASE SEQUENCE THAT IS
FIRST TRUNCATED THEN INPUT TO A COSINE OR SINE LOOKUP TABLE THAT OUTPUTS THE CORRESPOND
ING SINUSOIDAL SIGNAL VALUE TO THE DIGITAL TO ANALOG $! CONVERTER 4HE FREQUENCY
RESOLUTION IS DEPENDENT ON THE NUMBER OF BITS AND THE CLOCK FREQUENCY OF THE PHASE
ACCUMULATOR 4HE OUTPUT FREQUENCY IS GIVEN BY
FOUT
- F FCLK
.F
WHERE
-F FREQUENCY WORD INPUT TO THE PHASE ACCUMULATOR
FCLK PHASE ACCUMULATOR CLOCK FREQUENCY
.E NUMBER OF BITS OF PHASE ACCUMULATOR
,INEAR &- OR CHIRP WAVEFORMS ARE GENERATED BY APPLYING A CONSTANT CHIRP SLOPE
WORD DIGITIZED CHIRP SLOPE REPRESENTATION TO THE INPUT OF THE FREQUENCY ACCUMULATOR
CREATING A QUADRATIC PHASE SEQUENCE AT THE OUTPUT OF THE PHASE REGISTER 0IECEWISE
LINEAR
OR NONLINEAR &- WAVEFORMS CAN BE GENERATED BY APPLYING A TIME
VARYING SLOPE INPUT
TO THE FREQUENCY REGISTER 4HE FREQUENCY ACCUMULATOR MAY BE CLOCKED EITHER AT THE SAME
RATE AS THE PHASE ACCUMULATOR OR AT A SUB
MULTIPLE TO PROVIDE FINER CHIRP SLOPE RESOLU
TION )F BOTH ACCUMULATORS ARE CLOCKED AT THE SAME RATE THE CHIRP SLOPE IS GIVEN BY
$FOUT - 3 FCLK
.F
$T
WHERE
-3 CHIRP SLOPE WORD INPUT TO THE FREQUENCY ACCUMULATOR
.F NUMBER OF BITS OF FREQUENCY ACCUMULATOR
&REQUENCY MODULATED AND PHASE MODULATED WAVEFORMS CAN BE CREATED APPLYING TIME
VARYING INPUTS TO THE FREQUENCY MODULATION &- AND PHASE MODULATION 0- PORTS
&)'52% $IRECT $IGITAL 3YNTHESIZER BLOCK DIAGRAM
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
%RRORS SUCH AS PHASE TRUNCATION AND $! CONVERTER QUANTIZATION AND NONLINEARITY
PRODUCE SPURIOUS SIGNALS DUE TO THEIR DETERMINISTIC NATURE 4HE SPURIOUS SIGNAL FRE
QUENCIES GENERATED BY A $$3 CAN BE READILY PREDICTED AS THEY ARE A FUNCTION OF THE
DIGITAL ARCHITECTURE AND PROGRAMMED FREQUENCY 4HE SPURIOUS SIGNAL MAGNITUDES ARE
LESS PREDICTABLE AS THE MAGNITUDES OF THE DOMINANT SPURIOUS SIGNALS ARE A FUNCTION OF
THE $! CONVERTER NONLINEARITY
7HEN GENERATING #7 WAVEFORMS THE $! CONVERTER SEQUENCE REPEATS AFTER +
SAMPLES WHERE + EQUALS THE GREATEST COMMON DIVISOR OF .E AND -F 4HUS SPURIOUS
SIGNALS OCCUR ONLY AT FREQUENCIES
FSPUR
NFCLK
N
+
)N THE EXTREME CASE WHERE -F DOES NOT CONTAIN THE FACTOR THIS CREATES A SPURIOUS FRE
QUENCY SPACING OF FCLK .E &OR EXAMPLE WITH A '(Z CLOCK AND
BIT FREQUENCY ACCU
MULATOR THE SPURIOUS FREQUENCY SPACING CAN BE AS CLOSE AS (Z )N MOST CASES SUCH
CLOSELY SPACED SPURIOUS SIGNALS CANNOT BE DIFFERENTIATED FROM NOISE #ONVERSELY CHOOS
ING VALUES OF -F THAT CONTAIN LARGE FACTORS OF . CREATES RELATIVELY LARGE SPURIOUS SPACING
&OR EXAMPLE USING A -(Z CLOCK ALLOWS THE GENERATION OF FREQUENCIES AT MULTIPLES OF
-(Z WITH ALL THE SPURIOUS COMPONENTS OCCURRING AT MULTIPLES OF -(Z
4HE IMPACT OF $$3 SPURIOUS SIGNALS ON RADAR PERFORMANCE DEPENDS ON THE NATURE
OF THE SPURIOUS SIGNALS AND THE TYPE OF RADAR PROCESSING INVOLVED !PPLICATIONS USING
CHIRP WAVEFORMS WITH LARGE TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCTS ARE TYPICALLY LESS SENSITIVE TO
$$3 SPURIOUS SIGNALS SINCE THE $$3 SPURIOUS SIGNALS CHIRP AT A DIFFERENT RATE TO THAT
OF THE WANTED SIGNAL 4HE SPURIOUS SIGNALS ARE THUS REJECTED DURING PULSE COMPRESSION
)N PULSE DOPPLER APPLICATIONS SPURIOUS SIGNALS ARE OF MUCH GREATER CONCERN HOWEVER
THEIR EFFECTS CAN BE MITIGATED BY ENSURING THAT THE $$3 GENERATES EACH WAVEFORM FROM
THE SAME INITIAL CONDITIONS 2ESTARTING THE $$3 FOR EVERY PULSE GUARANTEES THAT THE
SAME DIGITAL SEQUENCE WILL BE INPUT TO THE $! CONVERTER FOR EACH PULSE 4HE RESULT IS A
$$3 OUTPUT THAT ONLY CONTAINS SPECTRAL COMPONENTS AT MULTIPLES OF THE 02&
4ECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN PROPOSED OR INCORPORATED INTO $$3 DEVICES THAT REDUCE SPU
RIOUS LEVELS BY ADDING DITHERING TO REDUCE THE EFFECTS OF LIMITED WORD LENGTHS 4HE
EFFECT OF THESE TECHNIQUES AND THE SPURIOUS SIGNALS THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED TO MITIGATE
SHOULD BE CONSIDERED CAREFULLY AS THEY MAY BE DETRIMENTAL TO RADAR PERFORMANCE 4HE
USE OF DITHERING WILL RANDOMIZE THE SPURIOUS SIGNAL RESULTING IN PULSE
TO
PULSE VARIA
TIONS IN THE DIGITAL SEQUENCE OUTPUT TO THE $! CONVERTER A RESULT THAT IS UNDESIRABLE IN
PULSE DOPPLER APPLICATIONS
4RULY RANDOM ERRORS ARE NOT GENERATED BY THE DIGITAL PORTION OF THE $$3 4HE ONLY
NONDETERMINISTIC ERRORS ARE A RESULT OF THE $! CONVERTER PERFORMANCE IN THE FORM OF
INTERNAL CLOCK JITTER OR ADDITIVE THERMAL NOISE AND THE EFFECT OF THE PHASE NOISE ON THE
INPUT CLOCK SIGNAL
)NTERNAL $! CONVERTER CLOCK JITTER PRODUCES PHASE MODULATION OF THE OUTPUT SIGNAL
PROPORTIONAL TO THE OUTPUT FREQUENCY 3IMILARLY PHASE NOISE PRESENT ON THE CLOCK INPUT
SIGNAL IS TRANSFERRED TO THE OUTPUT SIGNAL REDUCED BY LOG FOUT FCLK D" $! CON
VERTER ADDITIVE THERMAL NOISE IS INDEPENDENT OF OUTPUT SIGNAL FREQUENCY AND PRODUCES
BOTH PHASE AND AMPLITUDE NOISE COMPONENTS
&REQUENCY -ULTIPLIERS &REQUENCY MULTIPLICATION ALLOWS SIGNALS TO BE INCREASED
IN BOTH FREQUENCY AND BANDWIDTH &REQUENCY MULTIPLICATION IS FREQUENTLY USED IN GEN
ERATING LOCAL OSCILLATOR #7 FREQUENCIES WHERE ALL FREQUENCIES ARE TYPICALLY BASED ON A
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% &REQUENCY MULTIPLIER OPERATION
LOW FREQUENCY REFERENCE 4HEY ALSO PROVIDE THE CAPABILITY FOR WIDE
BANDWIDTH CHIRP
WAVEFORMS THAT CANNOT BE GENERATED DIRECTLY USING AVAILABLE $$3 DEVICES &REQUENCY
MULTIPLIERS OPERATE AS SHOWN IN &IGURE BY MULTIPLYING THE PHASE OF THE INPUT
SIGNAL BY THE INTEGER MULTIPLICATION FACTOR - 3INCE IN PRACTICE THE PROCESS TYPICALLY
INCLUDES SOME FORM OF LIMITING THE OUTPUT AMPLITUDE !T GENERALLY HAS A LOWER AMPLI
TUDE VARIATION THAN THE INPUT SIGNAL AMPLITUDE !T
"ECAUSE THE MULTIPLICATION PROCESS MULTIPLIES UP THE VARIATIONS IN THE SIGNAL PHASE
BY FACTOR - INPUT PHASE NOISE AND SPURIOUS PHASE MODULATIONS ARE INCREASED BY
LOG- D" 3IMILARLY VARIATIONS IN THE PHASE OF THE SIGNAL AS A FUNCTION OF FRE
QUENCY ARE MULTIPLIED UP 4HESE VARIATIONS ARE PRODUCED DURING SIGNAL FILTERING AND
MAY BE PRESENT ON THE INPUT SIGNAL &OR CHIRP WAVEFORMS THIS CAN RESULT IN A SIGNIFICANT
DEGRADATION IN THE RANGE SIDELOBE PERFORMANCE !LSO PRACTICAL MULTIPLIERS MAY HAVE A
SIGNIFICANT PHASE VARIATION AS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY )F THE INPUT SIGNAL PHASE DISTOR
TION IS GIVEN BY
P NF
E F A SIN
"
WHERE
A PEAK PHASE RIPPLE
" WAVEFORM INPUT BANDWIDTH
N NUMBER OF CYCLES OF PHASE RIPPLE
THE RESULTING OUTPUT DISTORTION PRODUCES RANGE SIDELOBES AT TIMES oN -" AND MAGNITUDE
LOG-A RELATIVE TO THE MAIN BEAM OF THE TARGET RETURN !S AN EXAMPLE GENERAT
ING A CHIRP WAVEFORM THAT HAS RANGE SIDELOBES BETTER THAN D" USING AN r MULTIPLIER
REQUIRES THAT THE INPUT SIGNAL HAS LESS THAN DEGREES PEAK
PEAK PHASE RIPPLE
&REQUENCY MULTIPLIERS CAN BE IMPLEMENTED USING A VARIETY OF TECHNIQUES SUCH AS
USING STEP RECOVERY DIODE MULTIPLIERS OR USING PHASE LOCKED LOOPS 7HERE WIDE PERCENT
AGE BANDWIDTH AND FAST SETTLING IS REQUIRED THE MOST COMMON TECHNIQUE IS TO CASCADE A
SERIES OF FREQUENCY DOUBLERS OR LOW ORDER MULTIPLIERS 4HIS TYPE OF MULTIPLIER CAN ALSO
PROVIDE NEAR IDEAL PHASE NOISE PERFORMANCE BUT HAS SIGNIFICANT PHASE MODULATION AS A
FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY AS IT CONTAINS FILTERS BETWEEN EACH STAGE OF MULTIPLICATION
0REDISTORTION OF THE MULTIPLIER INPUT WAVEFORM IS OFTEN USED IN ORDER TO PRODUCE
WIDEBAND CHIRP WAVEFORMS WITH LOW RANGE SIDELOBE PERFORMANCE )F THE MULTIPLIER
IS CHARACTERIZED BY AN OUTPUT PHASE DISTORTION AS A FUNCTION OF INPUT FREQUENCY GIVEN
BY E V THEN A PREDISTORTION OF THE INPUT SIGNAL BY PHASE
E V - WILL EQUALIZE THE
MULTIPLIER RESPONSE 0REDISTORTION CAN BE PERFORMED VERY PRECISELY BY ADDING THE PHASE
MODULATION VIA THE $$3 THAT IS USED TO GENERATE THE CHIRP WAVEFORM
7AVEFORM 5PCONVERSION 5PCONVERSION OF EXCITER WAVEFORMS IS SIMILAR TO
DOWNCONVERSION WITHIN THE RECEIVER !LSO SIMILAR PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF MIXER
SPURIOUS AND IMAGE REJECTION APPLY 4HE ONE SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL CHALLENGE IS THE
REJECTION OF THE ,/ LEAKAGE ,/ REJECTION TYPICALLY IMPOSES TIGHT FILTER REJECTION
REQUIREMENTS ON THE 2& FILTERS AND FOR WIDE
TUNABLE RANGES SWITCHED FILTERS ARE
OFTEN REQUIRED
2!$!2 2%#%)6%23
,
,
- ) 3KOLNIK 2ADAR (ANDBOOK ND %D .EW 9ORK -C'RAW (ILL
- ) 3KOLNIK 2ADAR (ANDBOOK ST %D .EW 9ORK -C'RAW (ILL
2 % 7ATSON h2ECEIVER DYNAMIC RANGE 0ART v 7ATKINS *OHNSON #OMPANY 4ECHNICAL .OTE
VOL NO *ANUARY&EBRUARY
" # (ENDERSON h-IXERS IN MICROWAVE SYSTEMS 0ART v 7ATKINS *OHNSON #OMPANY 4ECHNICAL
.OTE VOL NO *ANUARY&EBRUARY
$7 !LLAN ( (ELLWIG 0 +ARTASCHOFF * 6ANIER * 6IG ' - 2 7INKLER AND . & 9ANNONI
h3TANDARD TERMINOLOGY FOR FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY AND TIME METROLOGY v IN 0ROCEEDINGS OF THE
ND !NNUAL &REQUENCY #ONTROL 3YMPOSIUM "ALTIMORE -$ *UNE n PP n
0 2ENOULT % 'IRARDET AND , "IDART h-ECHANICAL AND ACOUSTIC EFFECTS IN LOW PHASE NOISE PIEZO
ELECTRIC OSCILLATORS v PRESENTED AT )%%% RD !NNUAL 3YMPOSIUM ON &REQUENCY #ONTROL
- ! 2ICHARDS &UNDAMENTAL OF 2ADAR 3IGNAL 0ROCESSING .EW 9ORK -C'RAW
(ILL
! ) :VEREV (ANDBOOK OF &ILTER 3YNTHESIS .EW 9ORK *OHN 7ILEY AND 3ONS )NC
! 6 /PPENHEIM AND 2 7 3CHAFER $ISCRETE
4IME 3IGNAL 0ROCESSING .EW 9ORK 0RENTICE (ALL
)NC
7 +ESTER 4HE $ATA #ONVERSION (ANDBOOK ,ONDON %LSEVIER.EWNES
2 ( 7ALDEN h!NALOG
TO
DIGITAL CONVERTER SURVEY AND ANALYSIS v )%%% *OURNAL ON 3ELECTED !REAS
IN #OMMUNICATIONS VOL NO PP n !PRIL
" "RANNON h3AMPLED SYSTEMS AND THE EFFECTS OF CLOCK PHASE NOISE AND JITTER v !NALOG $EVICES
)NC !PPLICATION .OTE !.
* ' 0ROAKIS AND $ ' -ANOLAKIS $IGITAL 3IGNAL 0ROCESSING ND %D .EW 9ORK -ACMILLAN
% " (OGENAUER h!N ECONOMICAL CLASS OF DIGITAL &ILTERS FOR DECIMATION AND INTERPOLATION v )%%%
4RANSACTIONS ON !COUSTICS 3PEECH AND 3IGNAL 0ROCESSING VOL !330
NO !PRIL
* 4IERNEY # - 2ADAR AND " 'OLD h! DIGITAL FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER v )%%% 4RANS !5
PPn -ARCH
( 4 .ICHOLAS ))) AND ( 3AMUELI h!N ANALYSIS OF THE OUTPUT SPECTRUM OF DIRECT DIGITAL FREQUENCY
SYNTHESIZERS IN THE PRESENCE OF PHASE
ACCUMULATOR TRUNCATION v 0ROCEEDINGS ST ANNUAL &REQUENCY
#ONTROL 3YMPOSIUM 53%2!#/- &T -ONMOUTH .* -AY PP n
#HAPTER
>V iiV]
/>V}]>`-i
i}>
7 >>`6/
4HE *OHNS (OPKINS 5NIVERSITY !PPLIED 0HYSICS ,ABORATORY
/," 1
/"
!S DIGITAL PROCESSING HAS INCREASED IN SPEED AND DIGITAL HARDWARE HAS DECREASED IN COST
AND SIZE RADARS HAVE BECOME MORE AND MORE AUTOMATED SO THAT AUTOMATIC DETECTION
AND TRACKING !$4 SYSTEMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ALMOST ALL BUT THE SIMPLEST OF RADARS
)N THIS CHAPTER AUTOMATIC DETECTION AUTOMATIC TRACKING AND SENSOR INTEGRATION
TECHNIQUES FOR SURVEILLANCE RADARS ARE DISCUSSED )NCLUDED IN THE DISCUSSION ARE VARI
OUS NONCOHERENT INTEGRATORS THAT PROVIDE TARGET ENHANCEMENT THRESHOLDING TECHNIQUES
FOR FALSE ALARMS AND TARGET SUPPRESSION AND ALGORITHMS FOR ESTIMATING TARGET POSITION
AND RESOLVING TARGETS 4HEN AN OVERVIEW OF THE ENTIRE TRACKING SYSTEM IS GIVEN FOL
LOWED BY A DISCUSSION OF ITS VARIOUS COMPONENTS SUCH AS TRACK INITIATION CORRELATION
LOGIC TRACKING FILTER AND MANEUVER
FOLLOWING LOGIC &INALLY THE CHAPTER CONCLUDES
WITH A DISCUSSION OF SENSOR INTEGRATION AND RADAR NETTING INCLUDING BOTH COLOCATED AND
MULTISITE SYSTEMS
1/" /
/
/"
)N THE S -ARCUM APPLIED STATISTICAL DECISION THEORY TO RADAR AND LATER 3WERLING
EXTENDED THE WORK TO FLUCTUATING TARGETS 4HEY INVESTIGATED MANY OF THE STATISTICAL
PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE NONCOHERENT DETECTION OF TARGETS IN GAUSSIAN NOISE
.OTE )F THE INPHASE AND QUADRATURE COMPONENTS ARE GAUSSIAN DISTRIBUTED THE ENVE
LOPE IS 2AYLEIGH DISTRIBUTED AND THE POWER IS EXPONENTIALLY DISTRIBUTED -ARCUMS
MOST IMPORTANT RESULT WAS THE GENERATION OF CURVES OF PROBABILITY OF DETECTION 0$ VER
SUS SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO 3. FOR A DETECTOR THAT SUMS . ENVELOPE
DETECTED SAMPLES
EITHER LINEAR OR SQUARE
LAW UNDER THE ASSUMPTION OF EQUAL SIGNAL AMPLITUDES 7HEREAS
FOR A PHASED ARRAY THE EQUAL AMPLITUDE ASSUMPTION IS VALID FOR A ROTATING RADAR THE
RETURNED SIGNAL AMPLITUDE IS MODULATED BY THE ANTENNA PATTERN AS THE BEAM SWEEPS OVER
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
THE TARGET -ANY AUTHORS HAVE INVESTIGATED VARIOUS DETECTORS COMPARING DETECTION PER
FORMANCE AND ANGULAR ESTIMATION RESULTS WITH OPTIMAL VALUES AND MANY OF THESE RESULTS
ARE PRESENTED LATER IN THIS SECTION
)N THE ORIGINAL WORK ON DETECTORS THE ENVIRONMENT WAS ASSUMED KNOWN AND HOMO
GENEOUS SO THAT FIXED THRESHOLDS COULD BE USED (OWEVER A REALISTIC RADAR ENVIRON
MENT EG CONTAINING LAND SEA AND RAIN WILL CAUSE AN EXORBITANT NUMBER OF FALSE
ALARMS FOR A FIXED
THRESHOLD SYSTEM THAT DOES NOT UTILIZE EXCELLENT COHERENT PROCESSING
4HREE MAIN APPROACHESADAPTIVE THRESHOLDING NONPARAMETRIC DETECTORS AND CLUTTER
MAPSHAVE BEEN USED TO SOLVE THE NONCOHERENT FALSE
ALARM PROBLEM "OTH ADAPTIVE
THRESHOLDING AND NONPARAMETRIC DETECTORS ARE BASED ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT HOMO
GENEITY EXISTS IN A SMALL REGION ABOUT THE RANGE CELL THAT IS BEING TESTED 4HE ADAP
TIVE THRESHOLDING METHOD ASSUMES THAT THE NOISE DENSITY IS KNOWN EXCEPT FOR A FEW
UNKNOWN PARAMETERS EG THE MEAN AND THE VARIANCE 4HE SURROUNDING REFERENCE
CELLS ARE THEN USED TO ESTIMATE THE UNKNOWN PARAMETERS AND A THRESHOLD BASED ON THE
ESTIMATED DENSITY IS OBTAINED .ONPARAMETRIC DETECTORS OBTAIN A CONSTANT FALSE
ALARM
RATE #&!2 BY RANKING ORDERING THE SAMPLES FROM SMALLEST TO LARGEST THE TEST SAMPLE
WITH THE REFERENCE CELLS 5NDER THE HYPOTHESIS THAT ALL THE SAMPLES TEST AND REFER
ENCE ARE INDEPENDENT SAMPLES FROM AN UNKNOWN DENSITY FUNCTION THE RANK OF THE TEST
SAMPLE IS UNIFORM AND CONSEQUENTLY A THRESHOLD THAT YIELDS #&!2 CAN BE SET #LUTTER
MAPS STORE AN AVERAGE BACKGROUND LEVEL FOR EACH RANGE
AZIMUTH CELL ! TARGET IS THEN
DECLARED IN A RANGE
AZIMUTH CELL IF THE NEW VALUE EXCEEDS THE AVERAGE BACKGROUND LEVEL
BY A SPECIFIED AMOUNT
/PTIMAL $ETECTOR 4HE RADAR DETECTION PROBLEM IS A BINARY HYPOTHESIS
TESTING PROBLEM IN WHICH ( DENOTES THE HYPOTHESIS THAT NO TARGET IS PRESENT AND (
IS THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE TARGET IS PRESENT 7HILE SEVERAL CRITERIA IE DEFINITIONS OF
OPTIMALITY CAN BE USED TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM THE MOST APPROPRIATE FOR RADAR IS THE
.EYMAN
0EARSON 4HIS CRITERION MAXIMIZES THE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION 0$ FOR A GIVEN
PROBABILITY OF FALSE ALARM 0FA BY COMPARING THE LIKELIHOOD RATIO , DEFINED BY %Q
TO AN APPROPRIATE THRESHOLD 4 THAT DETERMINES THE 0FA ! TARGET IS DECLARED PRESENT IF
, X XN
P X XN\ (
q4
P X XN\ (
WHERE PX x XN\( AND PX x XN\( ARE THE JOINT PROBABILITY DENSITY FUNCTIONS OF
THE N OBSERVATIONS XI UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF TARGET PRESENCE AND TARGET ABSENCE RESPEC
TIVELY &OR A LINEAR ENVELOPE DETECTOR THE SAMPLES HAVE A 2AYLEIGH DENSITY UNDER (
AND A 2ICEAN DENSITY UNDER ( AND THE LIKELIHOOD RATIO DETECTOR REDUCES TO
N
I
!X
) I I q 4
S
WHERE ) IS THE MODIFIED "ESSEL FUNCTION OF ZERO ORDER R IS THE NOISE POWER AND !I IS
THE TARGET AMPLITUDE OF THE ITH PULSE AND IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE ANTENNA POWER PATTERN
&OR SMALL SIGNALS !I R THE DETECTOR REDUCES TO THE SQUARE LAW DETECTOR
N
!I XI q 4
I
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
AND FOR LARGE SIGNALS !I R IT REDUCES TO THE LINEAR DETECTOR
N
!I XI 4
I
&OR CONSTANT SIGNAL AMPLITUDE IE !I ! THESE DETECTORS WERE FIRST STUDIED BY
-ARCUM AND WERE STUDIED IN SUCCEEDING YEARS BY NUMEROUS OTHER PEOPLE 4HE MOST
IMPORTANT FACTS CONCERNING THESE DETECTORS ARE THE FOLLOWING
4HE DETECTION PERFORMANCES OF THE LINEAR AND SQUARE LAW DETECTORS ARE SIMILAR DIF
FERING ONLY BY LESS THAN D" OVER WIDE RANGES OF 0$ 0FA AND N
"ECAUSE THE SIGNAL RETURN OF A SCANNING RADAR IS MODULATED BY THE ANTENNA PATTERN TO
MAXIMIZE THE 3. WHEN INTEGRATING A LARGE NUMBER OF PULSES WITH NO WEIGHTING IE
!I ONLY OF THE PULSES BETWEEN THE HALF POWER POINTS SHOULD BE INTEGRATED
AND THE ANTENNA BEAM SHAPE FACTOR !"3& IS D" 4HE !"3& IS THE NUMBER BY
WHICH THE MIDBEAM 3. MUST BE REDUCED SO THAT THE DETECTION CURVES GENERATED FOR
EQUAL SIGNAL AMPLITUDES CAN BE USED FOR THE SCANNING RADAR
4HE COLLAPSING LOSS FOR THE LINEAR DETECTOR CAN BE SEVERAL DECIBELS GREATER THAN THE
LOSS FOR A SQUARE LAW DETECTOR SEE &IGURE 4HE COLLAPSING LOSS IS THE ADDITIONAL
SIGNAL REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN THE SAME 0$ AND 0FA WHEN UNWANTED NOISE SAMPLES ALONG
WITH THE DESIRED SIGNAL PLUS NOISE SAMPLES ARE INTEGRATED 4HE NUMBER OF SIGNAL SAM
PLES INTEGRATED IS . THE NUMBER OF EXTRANEOUS NOISE SAMPLES INTEGRATED IS - AND THE
COLLAPSING RATIO Q . - .
-OST AUTOMATIC DETECTORS ARE REQUIRED NOT ONLY TO DETECT TARGETS BUT ALSO TO MAKE ANGU
LAR ESTIMATES OF THE AZIMUTH POSITION OF THE TARGET 3WERLING CALCULATED THE STANDARD
DEVIATION OF THE OPTIMAL ESTIMATE BY USING THE #RAMER 2AO LOWER BOUND 4HE RESULTS
&)'52% #OLLAPSING LOSS VERSUS COLLAPSING RATIO FOR A PROBABILITY OF FALSE ALARM OF AND A PROB
ABILITY OF DETECTION OF AFTER ' 6 4RUNK )%%%
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #RAMER
2AO BOUND FOR ANGULAR ESTIMATES FOR FLUCTUATING AND NONFLUCTUATING TARGETS R
IS THE STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE ESTIMATION ERROR AND . IS THE NUMBER OF PULSES WITHIN THE
D" BEAM
WIDTH WHICH IS P 4HE 3. IS THE VALUE AT THE CENTER OF THE BEAM AFTER 0 3WERLING )%%%
ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE WHERE A NORMALIZED STANDARD DEVIATION IS PLOTTED AGAINST THE
MIDBEAM 3. 4HIS RESULT HOLDS FOR A MODERATE OR LARGE NUMBER OF PULSES INTEGRATED
AND THE OPTIMAL ESTIMATE INVOLVES FINDING THE LOCATION WHERE THE CORRELATION OF THE
RETURNED SIGNAL AND THE DERIVATIVE OF THE ANTENNA PATTERN IS ZERO !LTHOUGH THIS ESTI
MATE IS RARELY IMPLEMENTED ITS PERFORMANCE IS APPROACHED BY SIMPLE ESTIMATES
0RACTICAL $ETECTORS -ANY DIFFERENT DETECTORS OFTEN CALLED INTEGRATORS ARE USED
TO ACCUMULATE THE RADAR RETURNS AS THE RADAR SWEEPS BY A TARGET ! FEW OF THE MOST
COMMON DETECTORS ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE FEEDBACK INTEGRATOR AND TWO
POLE
FILTER ARE DETECTORS THAT MINIMIZE THE DATA STORAGE REQUIREMENTS 7HILE THESE DETEC
TORS MAY STILL BE FOUND IN OLDER RADARS THEY PROBABLY WOULD NOT BE IMPLEMENTED IN
NEW RADARS AND WILL NOT BE DISCUSSED IN THIS EDITION 4HOUGH ALL THE DETECTORS ARE
SHOWN IN &IGURE AS BEING CONSTRUCTED WITH SHIFT REGISTERS THEY WOULD NORMALLY BE
IMPLEMENTED WITH RANDOM
ACCESS MEMORY 4HE INPUT TO THESE DETECTORS CAN BE LINEAR
VIDEO SQUARE
LAW VIDEO OR LOG VIDEO "ECAUSE LINEAR VIDEO IS PROBABLY THE MOST COM
MONLY USED THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE VARIOUS DETECTORS WILL BE STATED
FOR THIS VIDEO
-OVING 7INDOW 4HE MOVING WINDOW IN &IGURE A PERFORMS A RUNNING SUM OF
N PULSES IN EACH RANGE CELL
3I 3I XI XI N
WHERE 3I IS THE SUM AT THE ITH PULSE OF THE LAST N PULSES AND XI IS THE ITH PULSE 4HE PER
FORMANCE OF THIS DETECTOR FOR N y IS ONLY D" WORSE THAN THE OPTIMAL DETECTOR
GIVEN BY %Q 4HE DETECTION PERFORMANCE CAN BE OBTAINED BY USING AN !"3& OF
D" AND STANDARD DETECTION CURVES FOR EQUAL AMPLITUDE PULSES 4HE ANGULAR ESTIMATE
THAT IS OBTAINED BY EITHER TAKING THE MAXIMUM VALUE OF THE RUNNING SUM OR TAKING THE
MIDPOINT BETWEEN THE FIRST AND LAST CROSSINGS OF THE DETECTION THRESHOLD HAS A BIAS OF
N PULSES WHICH IS EASILY CORRECTED 4HE STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE ESTIMATION ERROR OF
BOTH THESE ESTIMATORS IS ABOUT PERCENT HIGHER THAN THE OPTIMAL ESTIMATE SPECIFIED
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&)'52% "LOCK DIAGRAMS OF VARIOUS DETECTORS 4HE LETTER # INDICATES
A COMPARISON S IS A DELAY AND LOOPS INDICATE FEEDBACK FROM ' 6 4RUNK
BY THE #RAMER
2AO BOUND ! DISADVANTAGE OF THIS DETECTOR IS THAT IT IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO
INTERFERENCE THAT IS ONE LARGE SAMPLE FROM INTERFERENCE CAN CAUSE A DETECTION 4HIS
PROBLEM CAN BE MINIMIZED BY USING SOFT LIMITING
4HE DETECTION PERFORMANCE DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY IS BASED ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT THE
TARGET IS CENTERED IN THE MOVING WINDOW )N THE REAL SITUATION THE RADAR SCANS OVER THE
TARGET AND DECISIONS THAT ARE HIGHLY CORRELATED ARE MADE AT EVERY PULSE (ANSEN ANA
LYZED THIS SITUATION FOR . AND PULSES AND CALCULATED THE DETECTION THRESH
OLDS SHOWN IN &IGURE THE DETECTION PERFORMANCE SHOWN IN &IGURE AND THE
ANGULAR ACCURACY SHOWN IN &IGURE #OMPARING (ANSENS SCANNING CALCULATION WITH
THE SINGLE
POINT CALCULATION ONE CONCLUDES THAT ABOUT D" OF IMPROVEMENT IS OBTAINED
BY MAKING A DECISION AT EVERY PULSE 4HE ANGULAR ERROR OF THE BEAM
SPLITTING PROCEDURE
IS ABOUT PERCENT GREATER THAN THE OPTIMAL ESTIMATE &OR LARGE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIOS
THE ACCURACY RMS ERROR OF THE BEAM
SPLITTING AND MAXIMUM
RETURN PROCEDURES WILL BE
LIMITED BY THE PULSE SPACING AND WILL APPROACH
S Q} $Q
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 3INGLE SWEEP FALSE ALARM PROBABILITY 0FA VERSUS THRESHOLD FOR MOVING WINDOW
4HE NOISE IS 2AYLEIGH DISTRIBUTED WITH R AFTER 6 ' (ANSEN )%%%
WHERE $P IS THE ANGULAR ROTATION BETWEEN TRANSMITTED PULSES #ONSEQUENTLY IF THE NUM
BER OF PULSES PER BEAMWIDTH IS SMALL THE ANGULAR ACCURACY WILL BE POOR &OR INSTANCE
IF PULSES ARE SEPARATED BY BEAMWIDTH S Q} IS BOUNDED BY BEAMWIDTHS
(OWEVER IMPROVED ACCURACY CAN BE OBTAINED BY USING THE AMPLITUDES OF THE RADAR
RETURNS !N ACCURATE ESTIMATE OF THE TARGET ANGLE IS GIVEN BY
$Q
N ! !
Q} Q
A$Q
&)'52% $ETECTION PERFORMANCE OF THE ANALOG MOVING WINDOW DETECTOR FOR THE NO
FADING CASE AFTER 6 ' (ANSEN )%%%
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&)'52% !NGULAR ACCURACY OBTAINED WITH BEAM SPLITTING ESTIMATION PROCEDURE
FOR THE NO FADING CASE "ROKEN LINE CURVES ARE LOWER BOUNDS DERIVED BY 3WERLING AND
POINTS SHOWN ARE SIMULATION RESULTS AFTER 6 ' (ANSEN )%%%
WHERE
A BEAMWIDTH
AND ! AND ! ARE THE TWO LARGEST AMPLITUDES OF THE RETURNED SAMPLES AND OCCUR AT
ANGLES P AND P P $P RESPECTIVELY "ECAUSE THE ESTIMATE SHOULD LIE BETWEEN P
AND P AND %Q WILL NOT ALWAYS YIELD SUCH AN ESTIMATE Q} SHOULD BE SET EQUAL TO P
IF Q} P AND Q} SHOULD BE EQUAL TO P IF Q} P 4HE ACCURACY OF THIS ESTIMATOR IS GIVEN
IN &IGURE FOR THE CASE OF N PULSES PER BEAMWIDTH 4HIS ESTIMATION PROCEDURE
CAN ALSO BE USED TO ESTIMATE THE ELEVATION ANGLE OF A TARGET IN MULTIBEAM SYSTEMS WHERE
P AND P ARE THE ELEVATION
POINTING ANGLES OF ADJACENT BEAMS AND ! AND ! ARE THE
CORRESPONDING AMPLITUDES
"INARY )NTEGRATOR 4HE BINARY INTEGRATOR IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE DUAL
THRESHOLD DETEC
TOR -
OUT
OF
. DETECTOR OR RANK DETECTOR SEE h.ONPARAMETRIC $ETECTORS v LATER IN THIS
SECTION AND NUMEROUS INDIVIDUALS HAVE STUDIED ITn !S SHOWN IN &IGURE D THE
INPUT SAMPLES ARE QUANTIZED TO OR DEPENDING ON WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE LESS THAN
A THRESHOLD 4 4HE LAST . ZEROS AND ONES ARE SUMMED WITH A MOVING WINDOW AND
COMPARED WITH A SECOND THRESHOLD 4 - &OR LARGE . THE DETECTION PERFORMANCE OF
THIS DETECTOR IS APPROXIMATELY D" LESS THAN THE MOVING
WINDOW INTEGRATOR BECAUSE
OF THE HARD LIMITING OF THE DATA AND THE ANGULAR ESTIMATION ERROR IS ABOUT PERCENT
GREATER THAN THE #RAMER
2AO LOWER BOUND 3CHWARTZ SHOWED THAT WITHIN D" THE
OPTIMAL VALUE OF - FOR MAXIMUM 0$ IS GIVEN BY
- .
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !NGULAR ACCURACY FOR TWO PULSES SEPARATED BY BEAMWIDTHS
WHEN 0FA AND 0$ 4HE OPTIMAL VALUE OF 0N THE PROBABILITY OF
EXCEEDING 4 WHEN ONLY NOISE IS PRESENT WAS CALCULATED BY $ILLARD AND IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE 4HE CORRESPONDING THRESHOLD 4 IS
4 R LN 0.
! COMPARISON OF THE OPTIMAL BEST VALUE OF - BINARY INTEGRATOR WITH VARIOUS OTHER
PROCEDURES IS GIVEN IN &IGURES AND FOR 0$ AND RESPECTIVELY
4HE BINARY INTEGRATOR IS USED IN MANY RADARS BECAUSE IT IS EASILY IMPLEMENTED
IT IGNORES INTERFERENCE SPIKES THAT CAUSE TROUBLE WITH INTEGRATORS THAT DIRECTLY USE
SIGNAL AMPLITUDE AND IT WORKS EXTREMELY WELL WHEN THE NOISE HAS A NON
2AYLEIGH
DENSITY &OR . COMPARISON OF THE OPTIMAL BINARY INTEGRATOR OUT OF ANOTHER
BINARY INTEGRATOR OUT OF AND THE MOVING
WINDOW DETECTOR IN LOG
NORMAL INTERFER
ENCE AN EXAMPLE OF A NON
2AYLEIGH DENSITY WHERE THE LOG OF THE RETURN HAS A GAUSSIAN
DENSITY IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE OPTIMAL BINARY INTEGRATOR IS MUCH BETTER THAN
THE MOVING
WINDOW INTEGRATOR 4HE OPTIMAL VALUES FOR LOG
NORMAL INTERFERENCE WERE
CALCULATED BY 3CHLEHER AND ARE - AND FOR . AND RESPECTIVELY
"ATCH 0ROCESSOR 4HE BATCH PROCESSOR &IGURE E IS VERY USEFUL WHEN A LARGE
NUMBER OF PULSES ARE WITHIN THE
D" BEAMWIDTH )F +. PULSES ARE IN THE
D" BEAM
WIDTH + PULSES ARE SUMMED BATCHED AND EITHER A OR A IS DECLARED DEPENDING
ON WHETHER OR NOT THE BATCH IS LESS THAN A THRESHOLD 4 4HE LAST . ZEROS AND ONES ARE
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&)'52% /PTIMUM VALUES OF 0. AS A FUNCTION OF THE SAMPLE SIZE N AND THE PROBABILITY OF FALSE
ALARM @ 2ICEAN DISTRIBUTION WITH 3. D" PER PULSE AFTER ' - $ILLARD )%%%
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF BINARY INTEGRATOR - OUT OF . WITH OTHER
INTEGRATION METHODS 0FA 0$ AFTER - 3CHWARTZ )%%%
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF BINARY INTEGRATOR - OUT OF . WITH
OTHER INTEGRATION METHODS 0FA 0$ AFTER - 3CHWARTZ
)%%%
SUMMED AND COMPARED WITH A SECOND THRESHOLD - !N ALTERNATIVE VERSION OF THIS DETEC
TOR IS TO PUT THE BATCH AMPLITUDES THROUGH A MOVING
WINDOW DETECTOR
4HE BATCH PROCESSOR LIKE THE BINARY INTEGRATOR IS EASILY IMPLEMENTED IGNORES INTER
FERENCE SPIKES AND WORKS EXTREMELY WELL WHEN THE NOISE HAS A NON
2AYLEIGH DENSITY
&URTHERMORE THE BATCH PROCESSOR REQUIRES LESS STORAGE DETECTS BETTER AND ESTIMATES
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF VARIOUS DETECTORS IN LOG NORMAL R D"
INTERFERENCE . 0FA AFTER $ # 3CHLEHER )%%%
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
ANGLES MORE ACCURATELY THAN THE BINARY INTEGRATOR &OR INSTANCE IF THERE WERE PULSES
ON TARGET ONE COULD BATCH PULSES QUANTIZE THIS RESULT TO A OR A AND DECLARE A TARGET
WITH A
OUT
OF
OR
OUT
OF
BINARY INTEGRATOR 4HE DETECTION PERFORMANCE OF THE
BATCH PROCESSOR FOR A LARGE NUMBER OF PULSES INTEGRATED IS APPROXIMATELY D" WORSE
THAN THE MOVING WINDOW 4HE BATCH PROCESSOR HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTED BY
THE !PPLIED 0HYSICS ,ABORATORY OF 4HE *OHNS (OPKINS 5NIVERSITY 4O OBTAIN AN ACCU
RATE AZIMUTH ESTIMATE Q} APPROXIMATELY PERCENT GREATER THAN THE LOWER BOUND
"IQI
Q}
"I
IS USED WHERE "I IS THE BATCH AMPLITUDE AND PI IS THE AZIMUTH ANGLE CORRESPONDING TO
THE CENTER OF THE BATCH
&ALSE
!LARM #ONTROL )N THE PRESENCE OF CLUTTER IF FIXED THRESHOLDS ARE USED WITH
THE PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED INTEGRATORS AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF DETECTIONS WILL OCCUR AND
WILL SATURATE AND DISRUPT THE TRACKING COMPUTER ASSOCIATED WITH THE RADAR SYSTEM &OUR
IMPORTANT FACTS SHOULD BE NOTED
L
! TRACKING SYSTEM SHOULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE AUTOMATIC DETECTION SYSTEM THE
ONLY EXCEPTION IS WHEN ONE DISPLAYS MULTIPLE SCANS OF DETECTIONS
4HE 0FA OF THE DETECTOR SHOULD BE MATCHED TO THE TRACKING SYSTEM TO PRODUCE THE
OVERALL LOWEST 3. REQUIRED TO FORM A TRACK WITHOUT INITIATING TOO MANY FALSE TRACKS
SEE &IGURE LATER IN THIS CHAPTER
2ANDOM FALSE ALARMS AND UNWANTED TARGETS EG STATIONARY TARGETS ARE NOT A PROB
LEM IF THEY ARE REMOVED BY THE TRACKING SYSTEM
3CAN
TO
SCAN PROCESSING CAN BE USED TO REMOVE STATIONARY POINT CLUTTER OR MOVING
TARGET INDICATION -4) CLUTTER RESIDUES
/NE CAN LIMIT THE NUMBER OF FALSE ALARMS WITH A FIXED
THRESHOLD SYSTEM BY SETTING
A VERY HIGH THRESHOLD 5NFORTUNATELY THIS WOULD REDUCE TARGET SENSITIVITY IN REGIONS OF
LOW NOISE CLUTTER RETURN 4HREE MAIN APPROACHESADAPTIVE THRESHOLD NONPARAMET
RIC DETECTORS AND CLUTTER MAPSHAVE BEEN USED TO REDUCE THE FALSE
ALARM PROBLEM
!DAPTIVE THRESHOLDING AND NONPARAMETRIC DETECTORS ASSUME THAT THE SAMPLES IN THE
RANGE CELLS SURROUNDING THE TEST CELL CALLED REFERENCE CELLS ARE INDEPENDENT AND IDENTI
CALLY DISTRIBUTED &URTHERMORE IT IS USUALLY ASSUMED THAT THE TIME SAMPLES ARE INDEPEN
DENT "OTH KINDS OF DETECTORS TEST WHETHER THE TEST CELL HAS A RETURN SUFFICIENTLY LARGER
THAN THE REFERENCE CELLS #LUTTER MAPS ALLOW VARIATION IN SPACE BUT THE CLUTTER MUST BE
STATIONARY OVER SEVERAL TYPICALLY TO SCANS #LUTTER MAPS STORE AN AVERAGE BACK
GROUND LEVEL FOR EACH RANGE
AZIMUTH CELL ! TARGET IS THEN DECLARED IN A RANGE
AZIMUTH
CELL IF THE NEW VALUE EXCEEDS THE AVERAGE BACKGROUND LEVEL BY A SPECIFIED AMOUNT
!DAPTIVE 4HRESHOLDING 4HE BASIC ASSUMPTION OF THE ADAPTIVE THRESHOLDING TECH
NIQUE IS THAT THE PROBABILITY DENSITY OF THE NOISE IS KNOWN EXCEPT FOR A FEW UNKNOWN
PARAMETERS 4HE SURROUNDING REFERENCE CELLS ARE THEN USED TO ESTIMATE THE UNKNOWN
PARAMETERS AND A THRESHOLD BASED ON THE ESTIMATED PARAMETERS IS OBTAINED 4HE SIM
PLEST ADAPTIVE DETECTOR SHOWN IN &IGURE IS THE CELL
AVERAGE #&!2 CONSTANT
FALSE
ALARM RATE INVESTIGATED BY &INN AND *OHNSON )F THE NOISE HAS A 2AYLEIGH DEN
SITY PX X EXP
XR R ONLY THE PARAMETER R R IS THE NOISE POWER NEEDS TO
BE ESTIMATED AND THE THRESHOLD IS OF THE FORM 4 +3XI +N P S} WHERE S} IS THE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #ELL AVERAGING #&!2 4HE LETTER # INDICATES A COMPARISON FROM ' 6 4RUNK
ESTIMATE OF R (OWEVER SINCE 4 IS SET BY AN ESTIMATE S} IT HAS SOME ERROR AND MUST BE
SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN THE THRESHOLD THAT ONE WOULD USE IF R WERE KNOWN EXACTLY A PRIORI
4HE RAISED THRESHOLD CAUSES A LOSS IN TARGET SENSITIVITY AND IS REFERRED TO AS A #&!2
LOSS 4HIS LOSS HAS BEEN CALCULATED AND IS SUMMARIZED IN 4ABLE !S CAN BE SEEN
FOR A SMALL NUMBER OF REFERENCE CELLS THE LOSS IS LARGE BECAUSE OF THE POOR ESTIMATE OF
R #ONSEQUENTLY ONE WOULD PREFER TO USE A LARGE NUMBER OF REFERENCE CELLS (OWEVER
IF ONE DOES THIS THE HOMOGENEITY ASSUMPTION IE ALL THE REFERENCE CELLS ARE STATISTI
CALLY SIMILAR MIGHT BE VIOLATED ! GOOD RULE OF THUMB IS TO USE ENOUGH REFERENCE CELLS
SO THAT THE #&!2 LOSS IS BELOW D" AND AT THE SAME TIME NOT LET THE REFERENCE CELLS
EXTEND OVER A RANGE INTERVAL THAT VIOLATES THE HOMOGENOUS BACKGROUND ASSUMPTION
5NFORTUNATELY FOR A SPECIFIC RADAR THIS MIGHT NOT BE FEASIBLE
)F THERE IS UNCERTAINTY ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THE NOISE IS 2AYLEIGH DISTRIBUTED IT IS
BETTER TO THRESHOLD INDIVIDUAL PULSES AND USE A BINARY INTEGRATOR AS SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HIS DETECTOR IS TOLERANT OF VARIATIONS IN THE NOISE DENSITY BECAUSE BY SETTING + TO YIELD
A WITH PROBABILITY A 0FA y CAN BE OBTAINED BY USING A OUT OF DETECTOR
7HILE NOISE MAY BE NON 2AYLEIGH IT WILL PROBABLY BE VERY 2AYLEIGH LIKE OUT TO THE
4!",% #&!2 ,OSS FOR 0FA AND 0$
.UMBER OF 0ULSES
)NTEGRATED
,OSS FOR 6ARIOUS .UMBERS OF 2EFERENCE #ELLS IN D"
AFTER 2 , -ITCHELL AND * & 7ALKER )%%%
c
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&)'52% )MPLEMENTATION OF A BINARY INTEGRATOR 4HE LETTER # INDICATES A COMPARISON
FROM ' 6 4RUNK
TENTH PERCENTILE &URTHERMORE ONE CAN USE FEEDBACK BASED ON SEVERAL SCANS OF DATA
TO CONTROL + IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN A DESIRED 0FA ON EITHER A SCAN OR A SECTOR BASIS 4HIS
DEMONSTRATES A GENERAL RULE TO MAINTAIN A LOW 0FA IN VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTS ADAPTIVE
THRESHOLDING SHOULD BE PLACED IN FRONT OF THE INTEGRATOR
)F THE NOISE POWER VARIES FROM PULSE TO PULSE AS IT WOULD IN JAMMING WHEN FRE
QUENCY AGILITY IS EMPLOYED ONE MUST #&!2 EACH PULSE AND THEN INTEGRATE 7HILE THE
BINARY INTEGRATOR PERFORMS THIS TYPE OF #&!2 ACTION ANALYSIS HAS VERIFIED THAT THE
RATIO DETECTOR SHOWN IN &IGURE IS A BETTER DETECTOR 4HE RATIO DETECTOR SUMS SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIOS AND IS SPECIFIED BY
N
I
XI J
M
XI J K XI J
K
M
K
WHERE XIJ IS THE ITH ENVELOPE DETECTED PULSE IN THE JTH RANGE CELL AND M IS THE NUMBER
OF REFERENCE CELLS 4HE DENOMINATOR IS THE MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATE OF S I THE
NOISE POWER PER PULSE 4HE RATIO DETECTOR WILL DETECT TARGETS EVEN THOUGH ONLY A FEW
RETURNED PULSES HAVE A HIGH SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO 5NFORTUNATELY THIS WILL ALSO CAUSE
THE RATIO DETECTOR TO DECLARE FALSE ALARMS IN THE PRESENCE OF NARROW PULSE INTERFERENCE
4O REDUCE THE NUMBER OF FALSE ALARMS WHEN NARROW PULSE INTERFERENCE IS PRESENT THE
INDIVIDUAL POWER RATIOS CAN BE SOFT LIMITED TO A SMALL ENOUGH VALUE SO THAT INTERFER
ENCE WILL CAUSE ONLY A FEW FALSE ALARMS ! COMPARISON OF THE RATIO DETECTOR WITH OTHER
COMMONLY USED DETECTORS IS SHOWN IN &IGURES AND FOR NONFLUCTUATING AND
FLUCTUATING TARGETS ! TYPICAL PERFORMANCE IN SIDELOBE JAMMING WHEN THE JAMMING
LEVEL VARIES BY D" PER PULSE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE "Y EMPLOYING A SECOND TEST TO
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 2ATIO DETECTOR FROM ' 6 4RUNK
IDENTIFY THE PRESENCE OF NARROW PULSE INTERFERENCE A DETECTION PERFORMANCE APPROXI
MATELY HALFWAY BETWEEN THE LIMITING AND NONLIMITING RATIO DETECTORS CAN BE OBTAINED
)F THE NOISE SAMPLES HAVE A NON 2AYLEIGH DENSITY SUCH AS THE CHI SQUARE DENSITY OR
LOG NORMAL DENSITY IT IS NECESSARY TO ESTIMATE MORE THAN ONE PARAMETER AND THE ADAP
TIVE DETECTOR IS MORE COMPLICATED 5SUALLY TWO PARAMETERS ARE ESTIMATED THE MEAN
AND THE VARIANCE AND A THRESHOLD OF THE FORM 4 M} +S} IS USED 4HE SAMPLED MEAN
IS EASILY OBTAINED (OWEVER THE USUAL ESTIMATE OF THE STANDARD DEVIATION
S} XI
M}
.
WHERE
M} XI
.
&)'52% #URVES OF PROBABILITY OF DETECTION VERSUS SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO PER PULSE FOR THE
CELL AVERAGING #&!2 RATIO DETECTORS LOG INTEGRATOR AND BINARY INTEGRATOR NONFLUCTUATING TARGET
. M REFERENCE CELLS AND 0FA FROM ' 6 4RUNK AND 0 + (UGHES
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&)'52% #URVES OF PROBABILITY OF DETECTION VERSUS SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO FOR THE CELL
AVERAGING #&!2 RATIO DETECTORS LOG INTEGRATOR AND BINARY INTEGRATOR 2AYLEIGH PULSE
TO
PULSE
FLUCTUATING TARGET . M REFERENCE CELLS AND 0FA
FROM ' 6 4RUNK AND 0 +
(UGHES
IS SOMEWHAT MORE DIFFICULT TO IMPLEMENT CONSEQUENTLY THE MEAN DEVIATE DEFINED BY
S ! \ XI M} \
IS SOMETIMES USED BECAUSE OF ITS EASE OF IMPLEMENTATION AND BECAUSE IT IS MORE ROBUST
)T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE #&!2 LOSS ASSOCIATED WITH A TWO
PARAMETER THRESHOLD IS
LARGER THAN THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH A ONE
PARAMETER THRESHOLD SEE 4ABLE AND FOR
THAT REASON A TWO
PARAMETER THRESHOLD IS RARELY USED
&)'52% #URVES OF PROBABILITY OF DETECTION VERSUS SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO FOR THE CELL
AVERAGING #&!2 RATIO DETECTORS LOG INTEGRATOR AND BINARY INTEGRATOR 2AYLEIGH PULSE
TO
PULSE
FLUCTUATIONS M REFERENCE CELLS 0FA
AND MAXIMUM JAMMING
TO
NOISE RATIO D"
FROM ' 6 4RUNK AND 0 + (UGHES
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)F THE NOISE SAMPLES ARE CORRELATED NOTHING CAN BE DONE TO THE BINARY INTEGRATOR TO
YIELD A LOW 0FA 4HUS IT SHOULD NOT BE USED IN THIS SITUATION (OWEVER IF THE CORRELATION
TIME IS LESS THAN A BATCHING INTERVAL THE BATCH PROCESSOR WILL YIELD A LOW 0FA WITHOUT
MODIFICATIONS
4ARGET 3UPPRESSION 4ARGET SUPPRESSION IS THE LOSS IN DETECTABILITY CAUSED BY OTHER
TARGETS OR CLUTTER RESIDUES IN THE REFERENCE CELLS "ASICALLY THERE ARE TWO APPROACHES TO
SOLVING THIS PROBLEM REMOVE LARGE RETURN FROM THE CALCULATION OF THE THRESHOLDn OR
DIMINISH THE EFFECTS OF LARGE RETURNS BY EITHER LIMITING OR USING LOG VIDEO 4HE TECHNIQUE
THAT SHOULD BE USED IS A FUNCTION OF THE PARTICULAR RADAR SYSTEM AND ITS ENVIRONMENT
2ICKARD AND $ILLARD PROPOSED A CLASS OF DETECTORS $+ WHERE THE + LARGEST SAMPLES
ARE CENSORED REMOVED FROM THE REFERENCE CELLS ! COMPARISON OF $ NO CENSORING
WITH $ AND $ FOR A 3WERLING TARGET AND A SINGLE SQUARE
LAW DETECTED PULSE IS SHOWN
IN &IGURE WHERE . IS THE NUMBER OF REFERENCE CELLS A IS THE RATIO OF THE POWER OF
THE INTERFERING TARGET TO THE TARGET IN THE TEST CELL AND THE BRACKETED PAIR M N INDICATES
THE 3WERLING MODELS OF THE TARGET AND THE INTERFERING TARGET RESPECTIVELY !S SHOWN
IN &IGURE WHEN ONE HAS AN INTERFERING TARGET THE 0$ DOES NOT APPROACH AS 3.
INCREASES !NOTHER APPROACH THAT CENSORS SAMPLES IN THE REFERENCE CELL IF THEY EXCEED
A THRESHOLD IS BRIEFLY DISCUSSED IN THE h.ONPARAMETRIC $ETECTORv SUBSECTION
&INN INVESTIGATED THE PROBLEM OF THE REFERENCE CELLS SPANNING TWO CONTINUOUS DIF
FERENT hNOISEv FIELDS EG THERMAL NOISE SEA CLUTTER ETC /N THE BASIS OF THE SAMPLES
HE ESTIMATED THE STATISTICAL PARAMETERS OF THE TWO NOISE FIELDS AND THE SEPARATION POINT
BETWEEN THEM 4HEN ONLY THOSE REFERENCE CELLS THAT ARE IN THE NOISE FIELD CONTAINING
THE TEST CELL ARE USED TO CALCULATE THE ADAPTIVE THRESHOLD
!N ALTERNATIVE APPROACH FOR INTERFERING TARGETS IS TO USE LOG VIDEO "Y TAKING THE
LOG LARGE SAMPLES IN THE REFERENCE CELLS WILL HAVE LESS EFFECT THAN LINEAR VIDEO ON THE
THRESHOLD 4HE LOSS ASSOCIATED WITH USING LOG VIDEO RATHER THAN LINEAR VIDEO IS D"
&)'52% $ETECTION PROBABILITY VERSUS 3.2 FOR A 3WERLING #ASE PRIMARY TARGET
AFTER * 4 2ICKARD AND ' - $ILLARD )%%%
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&)'52% "LOCK DIAGRAM OF CELL AVERAGING LOG #&!2 RECEIVER AFTER 6 ' (ANSEN
AND * 2 7ARD )%%%
FOR PULSES INTEGRATED AND D" FOR PULSES INTEGRATED !N IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE LOG #&!2 IS SHOWN IN &IGURE )N MANY SYSTEMS THE ANTILOG SHOWN IN
&IGURE IS NOT TAKEN 4O MAINTAIN THE SAME #&!2 LOSS AS FOR LINEAR VIDEO THE
NUMBER OF REFERENCE CELLS -LOG FOR THE LOG #&!2 SHOULD EQUAL
-LOG -LIN
WHERE -LIN IS THE NUMBER OF REFERENCE CELLS FOR LINEAR VIDEO 4HE EFFECT OF TARGET SUPPRES
SION WITH LOG VIDEO IS DISCUSSED LATER IN THIS SECTION SEE 4ABLE LATER IN THE CHAPTER
.ONPARAMETRIC $ETECTORS 5SUALLY NONPARAMETRIC DETECTORS OBTAIN #&!2 BY RANK
ING THE TEST SAMPLE WITH THE REFERENCE CELLS 2ANKING MEANS THAT ONE ORDERS THE
SAMPLES FROM THE SMALLEST TO THE LARGEST AND REPLACES THE SMALLEST WITH RANK THE NEXT
SMALLEST WITH RANK AND THE LARGEST WITH RANK N
5NDER THE HYPOTHESIS THAT
ALL THE SAMPLES ARE INDEPENDENT SAMPLES FROM AN UNKNOWN DENSITY FUNCTION THE TEST
SAMPLE HAS EQUAL PROBABILITY OF TAKING ON ANY OF THE N VALUES &OR INSTANCE REFERRING TO
THE RANKER IN &IGURE THE TEST CELL IS COMPARED WITH OF ITS NEIGHBORS 3INCE IN THE
SET OF SAMPLES THE TEST SAMPLE HAS EQUAL PROBABILITY OF BEING THE SMALLEST SAMPLE OR
EQUIVALENTLY ANY OTHER RANK THE PROBABILITY THAT THE TEST SAMPLE TAKES ON VALUES
IS ! SIMPLE RANK DETECTOR IS CONSTRUCTED BY COMPARING THE RANK WITH A THRESHOLD
+ AND GENERATING A IF THE RANK IS LARGER A OTHERWISE 4HE S AND S ARE SUMMED IN A
MOVING WINDOW 4HIS DETECTOR INCURS A #&!2 LOSS OF ABOUT D" BUT ACHIEVES A FIXED
0FA FOR ANY UNKNOWN NOISE DENSITY AS LONG AS THE TIME SAMPLES ARE INDEPENDENT 4HIS
DETECTOR WAS INCORPORATED INTO THE !243
! POSTPROCESSOR USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE
&EDERAL !VIATION !DMINISTRATION AIRPORT SURVEILLANCE RADAR !32 4HE MAJOR SHORTCOM
ING OF THIS DETECTOR IS THAT IT IS FAIRLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO TARGET SUPPRESSION EG IF A LARGE
TARGET IS IN THE REFERENCE CELLS THE TEST CELL CANNOT RECEIVE THE HIGHEST RANKS
)F THE TIME SAMPLES ARE CORRELATED THE RANK DETECTOR WILL NOT YIELD #&!2 ! MOD
IFIED RANK DETECTOR CALLED THE MODIFIED GENERALIZED SIGN TEST -'34 MAINTAINS
A LOW 0FA AND IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HIS DETECTOR CAN BE DIVIDED INTO THREE PARTS
A RANKER AN INTEGRATOR IN THIS CASE A TWO
POLE FILTER AND A THRESHOLD DECISION
PROCESS ! TARGET IS DECLARED WHEN THE INTEGRATED OUTPUT EXCEEDS TWO THRESHOLDS
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 2ANK DETECTOR OUTPUT OF A COMPARATOR # IS EITHER A ZERO OR A
ONE FROM ' 6 4RUNK
4HE FIRST THRESHOLD IS FIXED EQUALS L 4+ IN &IGURE AND YIELDS 0FA
WHEN THE REFERENCE CELLS ARE INDEPENDENT AND IDENTICALLY DISTRIBUTED 4HE SECOND
THRESHOLD IS ADAPTIVE AND MAINTAINS A LOW 0FA WHEN THE REFERENCE SAMPLES ARE COR
RELATED 4HE DEVICE ESTIMATES THE STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE CORRELATED SAMPLES WITH
THE MEAN DEVIATE ESTIMATOR WHERE EXTRANEOUS TARGETS IN THE REFERENCE CELLS HAVE
BEEN EXCLUDED FROM THE ESTIMATE BY USE OF A PRELIMINARY THRESHOLD 4
4HE BASIC DISADVANTAGES OF ALL NONPARAMETRIC DETECTORS ARE THAT THEY HAVE
RELATIVELY LARGE #&!2 LOSSES THEY HAVE PROBLEMS WITH CORRELATED SAMPLES AND
ONE LOSES AMPLITUDE INFORMATION WHICH CAN BE A VERY IMPORTANT DISCRIMINANT
BETWEEN TARGET AND CLUTTER &OR EXAMPLE A LARGE RETURN CROSS SECTION q M IN
A CLUTTER AREA IS PROBABLY JUST CLUTTER BREAKTHROUGH 3EE h2ADAR $ETECTION !CCEPTANCEv
IN 3ECTION
#LUTTER -APPING ! CLUTTER MAP USES ADAPTIVE THRESHOLDING WHERE THE THRESHOLD
IS CALCULATED FROM THE RETURN IN THE TEST CELL ON PREVIOUS SCANS RATHER THAN FROM THE SUR
ROUNDING REFERENCE CELLS ON THE SAME SCAN 4HIS TECHNIQUE HAS THE ADVANTAGE IN THAT
FOR ESSENTIALLY STATIONARY ENVIRONMENTS EG LAND BASED RADAR AGAINST GROUND CLUTTER
THE RADAR HAS INTERCLUTTER VISIBILITYIT CAN SEE BETWEEN LARGE CLUTTER RETURNS ,INCOLN
,ABORATORY IN ITS MOVING TARGET DETECTOR -4$ USED A CLUTTER MAP FOR THE ZERO DOP
PLER FILTER VERY EFFECTIVELY 4HE DECISION THRESHOLD 4 FOR THE ITH CELL IS
4 ! 3I
WHERE THE CLUTTER IS ESTIMATED USING A SIMPLE FEEDBACK INTEGRATOR
3I + 3I 8I
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&)'52% -ODIFIED GENERALIZED SIGN TEST PROCESSOR AFTER ' 6 4RUNK ET AL
WHERE 3I IS THE AVERAGE BACKGROUND LEVEL 8I IS THE RETURN IN THE ITH CELL + IS THE FEED
BACK VALUE THAT DETERMINES THE MAP TIME CONSTANT AND ! IS THE CONSTANT THAT DETERMINES
THE 0FA )N THE -4$ USED FOR THE !32 APPLICATION + IS WHICH EFFECTIVELY AVERAGES
THE LAST EIGHT SCANS 4HE PURPOSE OF THE CLUTTER MAP IS TO DETECT IN CLUTTER FREE AREAS
CROSSING TARGETS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN REMOVED BY THE DOPPLER PROCESSING 4HE MAIN
UTILITY OF CLUTTER MAPS IS WITH FIXED FREQUENCY LAND BASED RADARS 7HILE CLUTTER MAPS
CAN BE USED WITH FREQUENCY AGILE RADARS AND ON MOVING PLATFORMS EG RADARS ON
SHIPS THEY ARE NOT NEARLY AS EFFECTIVE IN THESE ENVIRONMENTS
4ARGET 2ESOLUTION )N AUTOMATIC DETECTION SYSTEMS A SINGLE LARGE TARGET WILL PROB
ABLY BE DETECTED IE CROSS A DETECTION THRESHOLD MANY TIMES EG IN ADJACENT RANGE
CELLS AZIMUTH BEAMS AND ELEVATION BEAMS 4HEREFORE AUTOMATIC DETECTION SYSTEMS
HAVE ALGORITHMS FOR MERGING THE INDIVIDUAL DETECTIONS INTO A SINGLE CENTROIDED DETEC
TION -OST ALGORITHMS HAVE BEEN DESIGNED SO THAT THEY WILL RARELY SPLIT A SINGLE TARGET
INTO TWO TARGETS 4HIS PROCEDURE RESULTS IN POOR RANGE RESOLUTION CAPABILITY ! MERG
ING ALGORITHM OFTEN USED IS THE ADJACENT DETECTION MERGING ALGORITHM WHICH DECIDES
WHETHER A NEW DETECTION IS ADJACENT TO ANY OF THE PREVIOUSLY DETERMINED SETS OF ADJACENT
DETECTIONS )F THE NEW DETECTION IS ADJACENT TO ANY DETECTION IN THE SET OF ADJACENT DETEC
TIONS IT IS ADDED TO THE SET 4WO DETECTIONS ARE ADJACENT IF TWO OF THEIR THREE PARAMETERS
RANGE AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION ARE THE SAME AND THE OTHER PARAMETER DIFFERS BY THE
RESOLUTION ELEMENT RANGE CELL $2 AZIMUTH BEAMWIDTH P OR ELEVATION BEAMWIDTH F
! STUDY COMPARED THE RESOLVING CAPABILITY OF THREE COMMON DETECTION PROCE
DURES LINEAR DETECTOR WITH 4 M} !S} LINEAR DETECTOR WITH 4 "M} AND LOG DETECTOR
WITH 4 # M} WHERE THE CONSTANTS ! " AND # ARE USED TO OBTAIN THE SAME 0FA FOR
ALL DETECTORS 4HE ESTIMATES M} AND S} OF L AND R WERE OBTAINED FROM EITHER ALL THE
REFERENCE CELLS OR THE LEADING OR LAGGING HALF OF THE REFERENCE CELLS CHOOSING THE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% 0ROBABILITY OF $ETECTING "OTH 4ARGETS WITH ,OG 6IDEO 7HEN THE 4WO 4ARGETS !RE
3EPARATED BY OR 2ANGE #ELLS 3. OF TARGET IS D" AND 3. OF TARGET IS
OR D"
4HRESHOLDING
4ECHNIQUE
!LL REFERENCE CELLS
2EFERENCE CELLS WITH
MINIMUM MEAN VALUE
4ARGET
3EPARATION
3. OF 4ARGET NO
AFTER ' 6 4RUNK )%%%
HALF WITH THE LOWER MEAN VALUE 4HE FIRST SIMULATION INVOLVED TWO TARGETS SEPARATED BY
OR RANGE CELLS AND A THIRD TARGET RANGE CELLS FROM THE FIRST TARGET
7HEN THE TWO CLOSELY SPACED TARGETS WERE WELL SEPARATED EITHER OR RANGE CELLS
APART THE PROBABILITY OF DETECTING BOTH TARGETS 0$ WAS FOR THE LINEAR DETECTOR
WITH 4 M} !S} 0$ FOR THE LINEAR DETECTOR WITH 4 "M} AND 0$
FOR THE LOG DETECTOR ! SECOND SIMULATION INVOLVING ONLY TWO TARGETS INVESTIGATED THE
EFFECT OF TARGET SUPPRESSION ON LOG VIDEO AND THE RESULTS ARE SUMMARIZED IN 4ABLE
4HE MAXIMUM VALUE OF 0$ IS OBTAINED WHEN BOTH TARGETS HAVE AN 3. OF D" )F ONE
OF THE TARGETS HAS A LARGER 3. THAN THE OTHER TARGET SUPPRESSION OCCURSEITHER TARGET
SUPPRESSES TARGET OR VICE VERSA !LSO ONE NOTES AN IMPROVED PERFORMANCE FOR A SMALL
3. TO D" WHEN CALCULATING THE THRESHOLD USING ONLY THE HALF OF THE REFERENCE
CELLS WITH THE LOWER MEAN VALUE 4HE RESOLUTION CAPABILITY OF THE LOG DETECTOR THAT USES
ONLY THE HALF OF THE REFERENCE CELLS WITH THE LOWER MEAN IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE
PROBABILITY OF RESOLVING TWO EQUAL
AMPLITUDE TARGETS DOES NOT RISE ABOVE UNTIL THEY
ARE SEPARATED IN RANGE BY PULSE WIDTHS
"Y ASSUMING THAT THE TARGET IS SMALL WITH RESPECT TO THE PULSE WIDTH AND THAT THE PULSE
SHAPE IS KNOWN THE RESOLUTION CAPABILITY CAN BE IMPROVED BY FITTING THE KNOWN PULSE
SHAPE TO THE RECEIVED DATA AND COMPARING THE RESIDUE SQUARE ERROR WITH A THRESHOLD
)F ONLY ONE TARGET IS PRESENT THE RESIDUE SHOULD BE ONLY NOISE AND HENCE SHOULD BE
SMALL )F TWO OR MORE TARGETS ARE PRESENT THE RESIDUE WILL CONTAIN SIGNAL FROM THE
REMAINING TARGETS AND SHOULD BE LARGE 4HE RESULTS OF RESOLVING TWO TARGETS WITH
3. D" ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HESE TARGETS CAN BE RESOLVED AT A RESOLU
TION PROBABILITY OF WITH A FALSE ALARM PROBABILITY OF AT SEPARATIONS VARYING
BETWEEN ONE
FOURTH AND THREE
FOURTHS OF A PULSE WIDTH DEPENDING ON THE RELATIVE PHASE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO TARGETS -OREOVER THIS RESULT CAN BE IMPROVED FURTHER BY
PROCESSING MULTIPLE PULSES
!UTOMATIC $ETECTION 3UMMARY 7HEN ONLY TO SAMPLES PULSES ARE AVAIL
ABLE A BINARY INTEGRATOR SHOULD BE USED TO AVOID FALSE ALARMS DUE TO INTERFERENCE 7HEN
A MODERATE NUMBER OF PULSES TO ARE AVAILABLE A BINARY INTEGRATOR OR A MOV
ING
WINDOW INTEGRATOR SHOULD BE USED )F THE NUMBER OF PULSES IS LARGE GREATER THAN
A BATCH PROCESSOR SHOULD BE USED )F THE SAMPLES ARE INDEPENDENT A ONE
PARAM
ETER MEAN THRESHOLD CAN BE USED )F THE SAMPLES ARE DEPENDENT ONE CAN EITHER USE
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&)'52% 2ESOLUTION CAPABILITY OF A LOG DETECTOR THAT USED HALF OF THE REFERENCES CELLS WITH
LOWER MEAN AFTER ' 6 4RUNK )%%%
A TWO PARAMETER MEAN AND VARIANCE THRESHOLD OR ADAPT A ONE PARAMETER THRESHOLD
ON A SECTOR BASIS (OWEVER THESE RULES SHOULD SERVE ONLY AS A GENERAL GUIDELINE )T IS
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT BEFORE A DETECTOR IS CHOSEN THE RADAR VIDEO FROM THE ENVI
RONMENT OF INTEREST BE COLLECTED AND ANALYZED AND THAT VARIOUS DETECTION PROCESSES BE
SIMULATED ON A COMPUTER AND TESTED AGAINST THE RECORDED DATA
&)'52% 0ROBABILITY OF RESOLUTION AS A FUNCTION OF RANGE SEPARATION PROBABILITY OF FALSE ALARM
IS SAMPLING RATE $2 SAMPLES PER PULSE WIDTH TARGET STRENGTHS NONFLUCTUATING ! !
D" PHASE DIFFERENCES AND AFTER ' 6 4RUNK )%%%
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
-ANY MODERN RADARS USE COHERENT PROCESSING TO REMOVE CLUTTER &OR THE PURPOSE OF
APPLYING THE PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS ON NONCOHERENT PROCESSING TO COHERENT PROCESSING
THE INTEGRATED OUTPUT IN A RANGE
DOPPLER CELL OF THE DOPPLER PROCESSOR FOR A SINGLE COHER
ENT PROCESSING INTERVAL #0) CAN BE TREATED AS A SINGLE NONCOHERENT PULSE "ECAUSE
THREE AMBIGUOUS MEASUREMENTS IE DETECTIONS ARE USUALLY REQUIRED TO REMOVE THE
RANGE AND DOPPLER AMBIGUITIES TO #0)S MAY BE TRANSMITTED AND HENCE THERE
ARE USUALLY TO NONCOHERENT PULSES AVAILABLE FOR PROCESSING
1/" /
/,
! TRACK REPRESENTS THE BELIEF THAT A PHYSICAL OBJECT OR hTARGETv IS PRESENT AND HAS ACTU
ALLY BEEN DETECTED BY THE RADAR !N AUTOMATIC RADAR TRACKING SYSTEM FORMS A TRACK WHEN
ENOUGH RADAR DETECTIONS ARE MADE IN A BELIEVABLE ENOUGH PATTERN TO INDICATE A TARGET IS
ACTUALLY PRESENT AS OPPOSED TO A SUCCESSION OF FALSE ALARMS AND WHEN ENOUGH TIME HAS
PASSED TO ALLOW ACCURATE CALCULATION OF THE TARGETS KINEMATIC STATEUSUALLY POSITION
AND VELOCITY 4HUS THE GOAL OF TRACKING IS TO TRANSFORM A TIME
LAPSE DETECTION PICTURE
SHOWN IN &IGURE A CONSISTING OF TARGET DETECTIONS FALSE ALARMS AND CLUTTER INTO
A TRACK PICTURE SHOWN IN &IGURE B CONSISTING OF TRACKS ON REAL TARGETS OCCASIONAL
FALSE TRACKS AND OCCASIONAL DEVIATIONS OF TRACK POSITION FROM TRUE TARGET POSITIONS
&IGURES A AND B ALSO ILLUSTRATE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES OF AUTOMATIC TRACK
ING $ETECTIONS ARE MADE ON TARGETS BUT SOME DETECTIONS ARE MISSING BECAUSE OF TARGET
FADES OR MULTIPLE TARGETS IN THE SAME RESOLUTION CELL WHEREAS ADDITIONAL DETECTIONS ARE
PRESENT DUE TO CLUTTER OR NOISE
&)'52% A 4HIRTY MINUTE TIME LAPSE OF !.&0. , BAND AIR TRAFFIC
CONTROL RADAR DETECTIONS OVER A KM SQUARE AREA AFTER ( ,EUNG ET AL
)%%%
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&)'52% B 4HIRTY
MINUTE TIME LAPSE OF TRACKS FORMED FROM DATA
IN &IGURE A USING 'LOBAL .EAREST
.EIGHBOR '.. 4ECHNIQUE AFTER
( ,EUNG ET AL )%%%
!UTOMATIC TRACKING CAN GENERALLY BE DIVIDED INTO THE FIVE STEPS SHOWN IN &IGURE
AND DETAILED HERE
2ADAR DETECTION ACCEPTANCE ACCEPTING OR REJECTING DETECTIONS FOR INSERTION INTO THE
TRACKING PROCESS 4HE PURPOSE OF THIS STEP IS TO CONTROL FALSE TRACK RATES
!SSOCIATION OF ACCEPTED DETECTIONS WITH EXISTING TRACKS
5PDATING EXISTING TRACKS WITH ASSOCIATED DETECTIONS
.EW TRACK FORMATION USING UNASSOCIATED DETECTIONS
2ADAR SCHEDULING AND CONTROL
4HE RESULT OF THE AUTOMATIC TRACKING PROCESS IS A TRACK FILE THAT CONTAINS A TRACK STATE
FOR EACH TARGET DETECTED BY THE RADAR
!S SHOWN IN &IGURE THERE IS A FEEDBACK LOOP BETWEEN ALL THESE FUNCTIONS SO THE
ABILITY TO UPDATE EXISTING TRACKS ACCURATELY NATURALLY AFFECTS THE ABILITY TO ASSOCIATE DETEC
TIONS WITH EXISTING TRACKS !LSO THE ABILITY TO CORRECTLY ASSOCIATE DETECTIONS WITH EXISTING
TRACKS AFFECTS THE TRACKS ACCURACY AND THE ABILITY TO CORRECTLY DISTINGUISH BETWEEN AN EXIST
ING TRACK AND A NEW ONE 4HE DETECTION ACCEPTREJECT STEP MAKES USE OF FEEDBACK FROM THE
ASSOCIATION FUNCTION THAT MEASURES THE DETECTION ACTIVITY IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE RADAR
COVERAGE -ORE STRINGENT ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA ARE APPLIED IN MORE ACTIVE REGIONS
4RACK &ILE 7HEN A TRACK IS ESTABLISHED IN THE COMPUTER IT IS ASSIGNED A TRACK NUM
BER !LL PARAMETERS ASSOCIATED WITH A GIVEN TRACK ARE REFERRED TO BY THIS TRACK NUMBER
4YPICAL TRACK PARAMETERS ARE THE FILTERED AND PREDICTED POSITION VELOCITY ACCELERATION
WHEN APPLICABLE TIME OF LAST UPDATE TRACK QUALITY SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO COVARIANCE
MATRICES THE COVARIANCE CONTAINS THE ACCURACY OF ALL THE TRACK COORDINATES AND ALL THE
STATISTICAL CROSS
CORRELATIONS BETWEEN THEM IF A +ALMAN
TYPE FILTER IS BEING USED AND
&)'52% 3TRUCTURE OF AUTOMATIC TRACKING PROCESS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
TRACK HISTORY IE THE LAST N DETECTIONS 4RACKS AND DETECTIONS CAN BE ACCESSED IN VARI
OUS SECTORED LINKED LIST AND OTHER DATA STRUCTURES SO THAT THE ASSOCIATION PROCESS CAN
BE PERFORMED EFFICIENTLY )N ADDITION TO THE TRACK FILE A CLUTTER FILE IS MAINTAINED !
CLUTTER NUMBER IS ASSIGNED TO EACH STATIONARY OR VERY SLOWLY MOVING ECHO !LL PARAM
ETERS ASSOCIATED WITH A CLUTTER POINT ARE REFERRED TO BY THIS CLUTTER NUMBER !GAIN EACH
CLUTTER NUMBER IS ASSIGNED TO A SECTOR IN AZIMUTH FOR EFFICIENT ASSOCIATION
2ADAR $ETECTION !CCEPTANCE 7HEN THE RADAR SYSTEM HAS EITHER NO OR LIMITED
COHERENT PROCESSING NOT ALL THE DETECTIONS DECLARED BY THE AUTOMATIC DETECTOR ARE USED
IN THE TRACKING PROCESS 2ATHER MANY OF THE DETECTIONS CONTACTS ARE FILTERED OUT IN
SOFTWARE USING A PROCESS CALLED ACTIVITY CONTROL 4HE BASIC IDEA IS TO USE DETECTION
SIGNAL CHARACTERISTICS IN CONNECTION WITH A MAP OF THE DETECTION ACTIVITY TO REDUCE THE
RATE OF DETECTIONS TO ONE THAT IS ACCEPTABLE FOR FORMING TRACKS 4HE MAP IS CONSTRUCTED
BY COUNTING THE UNASSOCIATED DETECTIONS THOSE THAT DO NOT ASSOCIATE WITH EXISTING
TRACKS AT THE POINT IN THE TRACK PROCESSING SHOWN IN &IGURE
#OUNTS ARE AVERAGED OVER MANY REVISITS OF THE RADAR TO ACHIEVE STATISTICAL SIGNIFI
CANCE 4HE DETECTION SIGNAL CHARACTERISTICS SUCH AS AMPLITUDE OR SIGNAL TO NOISE ARE
THEN RE THRESHOLDED TO REDUCE SENSITIVITY IN REGIONS OF UNACCEPTABLY HIGH ACTIVITY )N
NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE DETECTIONS ELIMINATED IF THEY FALL WITHIN A TRACK GATE IE A GATE
CENTERED ON THE PREDICTED POSITION OF A FIRM TRACK &IGURE ILLUSTRATES AN EXAMPLE
&)'52% (ISTOGRAM OF DETECTION SIGNAL
TO NOISE RATIO DETECTION
ILLUSTRATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE ACTIVITY CONTROL USING THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE
TEST IN RAIN CLUTTER 5NGATED CONTACTS GENERALLY REPRESENT CLUTTER 'ATED CON
TACTS GENERALLY REPRESENT TARGETS 2E
THRESHOLDING IN THIS CASE SUCCESSFULLY
ELIMINATES LARGE NUMBERS OF CLUTTER DETECTIONS WHILE PRESERVING MOST TARGET
DETECTIONS AFTER 7 ' "ATH ET AL
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
OF THIS PROCESS WHEN LARGE NUMBERS OF RAIN CLUTTER DETECTIONS ARE POTENTIALLY OVERLOAD
ING THE TRACKING PROCESS )N THIS CASE ACTIVITY CONTROL EFFECTIVELY ELIMINATES MOST OF THE
CLUTTER DETECTIONS WITHOUT ELIMINATING MANY OF THE ACTUAL TARGET DETECTIONS (OWEVER
BECAUSE THIS PROCESS ESSENTIALLY CONSTITUTES CONTROLLED DESENSITIZATION OF THE RADAR IT
MUST BE USED WITH CARE 4HE MAPPING OF THE DETECTION ACTIVITY MUST BE PRECISE SO THAT
DESENSITIZATION OCCURS ONLY IN THOSE REGIONS REQUIRING IT
5PDATING %XISTING 4RACKS WITH !SSOCIATED $ETECTIONS 4HE SIMPLEST METHOD
OF UPDATING A TRACK STATE IS THE @
A FILTER DESCRIBED BY
XSK XP K @ ;XMK XPK =
VSK VSK A ;XMK XPK =4
XPK XSK VSK 4
WHERE XSK IS THE FILTERED POSITION VSK IS THE FILTERED VELOCITY XPK IS THE PREDICTED
POSITION XMK IS THE MEASURED POSITION 4 IS THE TIME BETWEEN DETECTIONS AND @ A
ARE THE POSITION AND VELOCITY GAINS RESPECTIVELY 4HE SELECTION OF @ A IS A DESIGN
TRADEOFF 3MALL GAINS MAKE A SMALL CORRECTION IN THE DIRECTION OF EACH DETECTION !S A
RESULT THE TRACKING FILTER IS LESS SENSITIVE TO NOISE BUT IS MORE SLUGGISH TO RESPOND TO
MANEUVERSDEVIATION FROM THE ASSUMED TARGET MODEL #ONVERSELY LARGE GAINS PRO
DUCE MORE TRACKING NOISE BUT QUICKER RESPONSE TO MANEUVERS 4HESE ERRORS ARE READILY
CALCULATED AS A FUNCTION OF @ AND A USING THE FORMULAS SHOWN IN 4ABLE
4O TUNE THE @ A FILTER FOR RADAR TRACKING ONE USES THE RADAR PARAMETERS TO CALCULATE
THE TRACKING ERRORS LISTED IN 4ABLE AS A FUNCTION OF THE TRACKING GAINS @ AND A
4HEN ONE SELECTS THE GAINS THAT BEST MEET THE NEEDS OF THE APPLICATION &OR EXAMPLE
CONSIDER A RADAR THAT HAS METER RANGE MEASUREMENT ACCURACY AND A TWO SECOND
CONSTANT UPDATE INTERVAL 4HE APPLICATION OF THIS RADAR SYSTEM IS TO TRACK A TARGET THAT
MOVES LINEARLY BUT WITH OCCASIONAL UNPREDICTABLE MANEUVERS OF UP TO G MS
4!",% #HARACTERIZATION OF 4RACKING %RRORS AS A &UNCTION OF 4RACKING 'AINS @ AND A
3TEADY
STATE
4RACK %RROR
3TANDARD
DEVIATION OF
FILTERED TRACKING
STATE
2ADAR DETECTION 3TANDARD
NOISE STANDARD DEVIATION
OF PREDICTED
DEVIATION
R
TRACKING STATE
,AG BIAS IN
#ONSTANT
FILTERED TRACK
MANEUVERA
STATE
UNITS OF GS
,AG BIAS IN
#ONSTANT
PREDICTED TRACK
MANEUVERA
STATE
UNITS OF GS
%RROR 3OURCE
2ADAR DETECTION
NOISE STANDARD
DEVIATION
R
)N 0OSITION
)N 6ELOCITY
A B
A
S
A ;
A
B =
A AB B
S
A ;
A
B =
A4
A4
B
A
B
B
S
r
4 A ;
A
B =
B
S
r
4 A ;
A
B =
A
A4
B
A
A4
B
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&OR SIMPLICITY ASSUME THE "ENEDICT "ORDNER CONSTANT RELATIONSHIP ;A @ @ =
BETWEEN @ AND A
4HE POSITION ACCURACY OF THE FILTER CAN THEN BE CALCULATED USING THE FORMULAS IN
4ABLE AND IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 7HEN THE TARGET IS NONMANEUVERING ACCURACY
AS MEASURED BY THE STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE PREDICTED TRACKING STATE IMPROVES MONO
TONICALLY AS THE TRACKING GAIN @ DECREASES TO #ONVERSELY WHEN THE TARGET IS PER
FORMING THE G MANEUVER ACCURACY AS MEASURED BY THE LAG OR BIAS IN THE PREDICTED
TRACKING STATE IMPROVES MONOTONICALLY AS THE TRACKING GAIN INCREASES TO 4HE TOTAL
TRACKING ERROR CAN BE DEFINED AS THE ERROR THAT IS EXCEEDED ONLY OF THE TIME DUE TO
THE SUM OF RANDOM ERRORS AND BIAS 4HE TOTAL RANGE TRACKING ERROR IS BEST IN THE REGION
@ WITH A MINIMUM AROUND )F ACCURACY FOR MANEUVERS IS THE DOMINANT
CONCERN THEN ONE WOULD PROBABLY TUNE THIS FILTER TO TO ACHIEVE THE LOWEST TOTAL
ERROR FOR A G ACCELERATION 4HIS SAME TECHNIQUE CAN BE APPLIED TO MANY DIFFERENT
RADAR TRACKING PROBLEMS USING THE EQUATIONS IN 4ABLE TO CALCULATE A GRAPH SUCH AS
THE ONE SHOWN IN &IGURE
&OR SIMPLE TRACKING PROBLEMS THE @ A FILTER WITH CONSTANT GAINS SELECTED FOR THE APPLI
CATION WILL OFTEN BE ADEQUATE (OWEVER MORE COMPLEX TRACKING PROBLEMS REQUIRE VARI
ABLE TRACKING GAINS EG LARGER GAINS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TRACK AND LARGER GAINS AFTER
MISSED DETECTIONS OR WHEN THE RANGE TO THE TRACK DECREASES MAKING ANGLE NOISE LESS OF
AN ISSUE ! SYSTEMATIC METHOD FOR CALCULATING THE GAINS DEPENDING ON THE SITUATION IS THE
&)'52% %XAMPLE OF THE TUNING OF AN @ A RADAR RANGE TRACKING FILTER BY SELECTING THE GAIN THAT MINI
MIZES TOTAL ERROR RADAR PARAMETERS RANGE ACCURACY METERS UPDATE INTERVAL SECONDS TARGET PARAMETER
G UNKNOWN ACCELERATION GAIN RELATION ;A @ @ =
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
+ALMAN FILTER 4HE +ALMAN FILTER MINIMIZES THE MEAN SQUARE PREDICTION ERROR WHEN
THE RANDOM PROCESSES ARE GAUSSIAN 4HE +ALMAN FILTER CAN BE FORMULATED FOR TARGET MOTION
IN ONE TWO OR THREE DIMENSIONS IN POLAR #ARTESIAN OR %ARTH CENTERED COORDINATES AND
FOR THREE DIMENSIONAL TWO DIMENSIONAL OR ONE DIMENSIONAL RADAR MEASUREMENTS &OR
SIMPLICITY A THREE DIMENSIONAL TRACKING PROBLEM IN #ARTESIAN SPACE WITH THREE MEASURED
RADAR DIMENSIONS IS CONSIDERED HERE 4ARGET MOTION IS DESCRIBED BY
8TK ETK 8TK !TK !PTK
WHERE 8TK IS THE TARGET STATE AT TIME TK CONSISTING OF POSITION AND VELOCITY COMPONENTS
ETK IS A TRANSITION MATRIX THAT MOVES THE TARGET LINEARLY OVER AN ELAPSED TIME 4K TK TK
FROM TIME TK TO TIME TK !TK IS THE TARGET STATE CHANGE DUE TO AN UNKNOWN ACCELERATION
CAUSED BY A MANEUVER OR ATMOSPHERIC DRAG AND !PTK IS TARGET STATE CHANGE DUE TO A KNOWN
ACCELERATION THAT CAN BE CORRECTED SUCH AS GRAVITY FOR A FALLING OBJECT OR #ORIOLLIS ACCELERA
TION 4HE COMPONENTS OF THE STATE VECTOR AND TRANSITION MATRIX FOR THIS PROBLEM ARE
X T K
u
8 T K
X T K
Y T K
u
Y T K
Z T K
u
Z T K
F T K
4K
4K
4K
4HE UNKNOWN ACCELERATION !TK IS ZERO MEAN AND IS CHARACTERIZED BY ITS COVARIANCE
MATRIX 1TK )F ONE VIEWS THE UNKNOWN MANEUVER AS A WHITE NOISE PROCESS WITH SPEC
TRAL DENSITY Q G(Z THEN THE ACCELERATION IS SAMPLED BY EACH RADAR DETECTION PRODUCING
A DISCRETE COVARIANCE MATRIX
4K 4K
4K
4K
4K 4K
1 T K Q
4K
4K
4K 4K
4K
4K
4HE OBSERVATION EQUATION RELATES THE ACTUAL RADAR MEASUREMENTS 9K AT TIME TK TO THE
TARGET STATE
9K H8TK NK
WHERE NK IS THE RADAR MEASUREMENT NOISE HAVING A COVARIANCE MATRIX
S R
S Q
K
S J
S $
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
COMPOSED OF THE RADAR MEASUREMENT ACCURACIES IN RANGE AZIMUTH ELEVATION AND DOP
PLER 4HE FUNCTION H IS THE COORDINATE TRANSFORM THAT RELATES THE MEASUREMENTS TO THE
STATE AT TIME TK ACCORDING TO THE COORDINATE FRAME DESIGN CHOICES SEE 4ABLE LATER IN
THE CHAPTER )N ORDER TO USE THE +ALMAN FILTER H IS APPROXIMATED AS A LINEAR FUNCTION
IN THE VICINITY OF THE PREDICTED TRACK STATE
H 8 H 8 TK \ TK ( ; 8 8 TK \ TK = r 8 8 TK \ TK
WHERE ( IS THE GRADIENT OF H %ACH COORDINATE FRAME HAS ITS OWN APPROXIMATION FOR ( &OR
EXAMPLE IF THE STATE COORDINATE SYSTEM IS COMPOSED OF THREE
DIMENSIONAL #ARTESIAN COOR
DINATES CENTERED AT THE RADAR THEN MULTIPLICATION BY ( TRANSFORMS #ARTESIAN COORDINATES
X Y Z INTO POLAR MEASUREMENT COORDINATES RANGE AZIMUTH ELEVATION DOPPLER AND
Y
X
Y
(
XZ
R X Y
XR
XR
R
Y
R
X
X Y
YZ
R X Y
YR
YR
R
Z
R
X
R
Y
R
X Y
R
ZR
ZR
R
R
WHERE R X Y Z IS RANGE
4HE +ALMAN FILTER EQUATIONS FOR RADAR TRACKING ARE THEN SIMPLY GENERALIZATIONS
OF THE @
A FILTER EQUATIONS WHERE @ AND A VARY WITH TIME 4HE +ALMAN FILTER UPDATE
PROCEDURE CONTINUES AS FOLLOWS
&IRST PREDICT A NEW TARGET STATE ESTIMATE 8 TK \ TK OF THE STATE 8TK AT TIME TK
GIVEN ALL MEASUREMENTS UP TO TIME TK
8 TK \ TK F TK 8 TK !P TK
ALONG WITH ITS COVARIANCE
0K \ K E
TK 0K \ K E
TK 4 1TK
4HEN UPDATE THE TARGET STATE USING THE K ST RADAR MEASUREMENT
8 TK \ TK 8 TK \ TK + K ;9K ( TK 8 TK \ TK =
AND ITS COVARIANCE
0K \ K ;( *K (TK =0K \ K
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
USING THE +ALMAN GAINS
*K 0K \ K (4TK ;(TK 0K \ K (4TK K=
"ECAUSE THE GAINS ARE CALCULATED USING THE HISTORY OF ALL PAST UPDATE TIMES AND
ACCURACIES THE GAINS AUTOMATICALLY INCREASE AFTER MISSED DETECTIONS AND AUTOMATICALLY
INCREASE TO GIVE GREATER WEIGHT TO A DETECTION WHEN IT IS KNOWN TO BE MORE ACCURATE
AND THEY AUTOMATICALLY DECREASE AS THE TRACK AGES REFLECTING THE VALUE OF THE DETECTIONS
ALREADY FILTERED &OR EXAMPLE FOR A ZERO RANDOM ACCELERATION 1K AND A CONSTANT
DETECTION COVARIANCE MATRIX K THE @ n A FILTER CAN BE MADE EQUIVALENT TO THE +ALMAN
FILTER BY SETTING
A
K
K K
K K
AND
B
ON THE KTH SCAN 4HUS AS TIME PASSES @ AND A APPROACH ZERO APPLYING HEAVY FILTERING
TO THE NEW SAMPLES )N PRACTICAL RADAR APPLICATIONS 1K AND SO THE TRACKING GAINS
EVENTUALLY SETTLE TO A NON ZERO VALUE TERMED THE STEADY STATE TRACKING GAINS
4HE TRADEOFFS FOR EMPLOYING A +ALMAN FILTER FOR RADAR TRACKING GENERALLY ARE TUNING
THE FILTER FOR THE DESIRED DEGREE OF FILTERING SELECTING THE TRACKING COORDINATES AND
ADAPTING THE FILTER TO DEAL WITH CHANGES IN THE TARGET MOTION EG MANEUVERS DIFFERENT
PHASES OF BALLISTIC FLIGHT AND SO ON
4UNING THE +ALMAN &ILTER 4HE GREATEST ADVANTAGE OF THE +ALMAN FILTER FOR RADAR
TRACKING IS THAT IT PROVIDES A SYSTEMATIC WAY OF CALCULATING GAINS (OWEVER A DISADVAN
TAGE IS THAT THIS GAIN CALCULATION ASSUMES LINEAR TARGET MOTION WITH RANDOM PERTURBA
TIONS %Q -OST PRACTICAL RADAR TRACKING PROBLEMS INVOLVE TARGETS THAT DEVIATE
FROM LINEAR MOTION IN MORE COMPLEX WAYS EG COURSE CORRECTIONS TERRAIN FOLLOWING
EVASIVE MANEUVERS AND ATMOSPHERIC DRAG 4HE +ALMAN FILTER IS TUNED TO A PRACTICAL
RADAR TRACKING PROBLEM THROUGH THE SELECTION OF THE COVARIANCE MATRIX 1TK OF THE
UNKNOWN RANDOM MANEUVER 4HE GOAL OF THIS SELECTION IS TO OBTAIN THE BEST POSSIBLE
TRACKING PERFORMANCE FOR THE MORE COMPLEX CASES OF INTEREST WHILE STILL USING THE SIM
PLE +ALMAN RANDOM PERTURBATION MODEL &OR EXAMPLE IN THE SIMPLIFIED CASE OF A SINGLE
DIMENSION AND CONSTANT TRACKING CONDITIONS THE MEASUREMENT COVARIANCE MATRIX IS
SIMPLY A SINGLE CONSTANT MEASUREMENT VARIANCE K R
M AND THE TIME BETWEEN DETEC
TIONS IS A CONSTANT 2K 4 )N THIS CASE THE +ALMAN FILTER DESCRIBED IN %QS TO
HAS GAINS THAT ARE A FUNCTION OF THE DIMENSIONLESS TRACK FILTERING PARAMETER FTRACK
G TRACK
Q4
S M
"ECAUSE THE RADAR MEASUREMENT ACCURACY AS REPRESENTED BY THE COVARIANCE MATRIX
AND THE TIME BETWEEN DETECTION OPPORTUNITIES 4 ARE PARAMETERS OF THE RADAR DESIGN
ITSELF THE SELECTION OF 1TK IS THE DEGREE OF FREEDOM AVAILABLE TO THE TRACKING FILTER
DESIGN 4ABLE SUMMARIZES THE METHODS FOR TUNING THE +ALMAN FILTER
-ODEL NO 2ANDOM
CHANGE IN VELOCITY AT EACH
MEASUREMENT INTERVAL
-ODEL NO 2ANDOM
CHANGE IN ACCELERATION AT
EACH MEASUREMENT INTERVAL
3TANDARD DEVIATION OF
ACCELERATION CHANGE IS RA
-ODEL NO 7HITE NOISE
SPECTRAL DENSITY Q G(Z
ACCELERATION SAMPLED BY RADAR
MEASUREMENT
-ANEUVER -ODEL
S V
4K
4K
4K
4K
4K 4K
4K
4K
S A
1 SUBMATRIX
Q4
S M
S A4
S M
S V4
S M
A
A
G TRACK
AND
B
G TRACK
B A A
G TRACK
AND
A A A AND
B
3TEADY
STATE 'AIN 2ELATION AND
4RACKING )NDEX
4!",% #OMPARISON OF -ETHODS OF 4UNING +ALMAN &ILTER FOR 0RACTICAL 2ADAR 4RACKING 0ROBLEMS
6ARY RV TO INCREASE
DECREASE GAINS
AND OBTAIN DESIRED
PERFORMANCE USING
EQUATIONS IN 4ABLE
6ARY RA TO INCREASE
DECREASE GAINS
AND OBTAIN DESIRED
PERFORMANCE USING
EQUATIONS IN 4ABLE
6ARY Q TO INCREASE
DECREASE GAINS
AND OBTAIN DESIRED
PERFORMANCE USING
EQUATIONS IN 4ABLE
4UNING -ETHOD
2ESPONDS VERY WELL TO
MANEUVERS BUT OPERATES AT
THE EDGE OF FILTER STABILITY
(IGHER RADAR MEASUREMENT
RATE CAN ACTUALLY RESULT IN LESS
ACCURATE TRACK
6ERY CONSERVATIVE WITH
RESPECT TO FILTER STABILITY
!CCOMMODATES VARIABLE
MEASUREMENT RATES WELL
2ESPONDS TO MANEUVERS
BUT NOT AT THE EDGE OF FILTER
STABILITY
#HARACTERISTICS
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
-ODEL NO #ONSTANT
DETERMINISTIC ACCELERATION
A G &ILTER OBJECTIVE IS TO
MINIMIZE LAG PLUS C STANDARD
DEVIATIONS
-ODEL NO #ONSTANTLY
ACCELERATING TARGET WITH
A WHITE NOISE JERK
J ;GS (Z= SAMPLED BY RADAR
MEASUREMENT *ERK IS THE RATE
OF CHANGE OF ACCELERATION
-ANEUVER -ODEL
4K
4K
4K
4K
4K
4K
1 SUBMATRIX NOT
APPLICABLE )NSTEAD
ASSUME CONSTANT
PARABOLIC MOTION AT
4K
4K
J
4K
1 SUBMATRIX
J4
S M
G TRACK
AND
A 4
C S M
B A A
G TRACK
AND
3TEADY
STATE GAIN CALCULATIONS
DESCRIBED IN &ITZGERALD
3TEADY
STATE 'AIN 2ELATION AND
4RACKING )NDEX
6ARY A TO INCREASE
DECREASE GAINS
AND OBTAIN DESIRED
PERFORMANCE USING
EQUATIONS IN 4ABLE
3ELECT THIS MODEL WHEN
TARGET IS KNOWN
EXPECTED TO BE
ACCELERATING
4UNING -ETHOD
4!",% #OMPARISON OF -ETHODS OF 4UNING +ALMAN &ILTER FOR 0RACTICAL 2ADAR 4RACKING 0ROBLEMS #ONTINUED
&ILTER MINIMIZES ERROR FOR
A WORST
CASE DETERMINISTIC
MANEUVER VICE A RANDOM ONE
:ERO LAGS TO CONSTANT
ACCELERATION HOWEVER NOISE
ERRORS ARE MUCH GREATER
#HARACTERISTICS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
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!S SEEN IN &IGURE THE SELECTION OF 1TK AND THUS FTRACK ALLOWS ONE TO UNIQUELY
DETERMINE THE STEADY STATE TRACKING GAINS AS A FUNCTION OF FTRACK /NE CAN SEE THAT
LARGE ASSUMED MANEUVERS LARGE Q @A OR A LARGER TIME BETWEEN UPDATES 4 OR VERY
ACCURATE RADAR MEASUREMENTS SMALL WILL RESULT IN LARGE TRACKING GAINS 4HE POSI
TION GAIN @ IS NEARLY IDENTICAL FOR THE 1TK MODELS NO AND IN 4ABLE
(OWEVER THE VELOCITY GAIN A DIFFERS CONSIDERABLY &OR RANDOM CHANGES IN ACCEL
ERATION AT EACH MEASUREMENT INTERVAL MODEL NO THE GAINS INCREASE TO @ A
WHICH IS THE LIMIT OF FILTER STABILITY 4HUS THIS MODEL PRODUCES FILTER GAINS THAT
ARE THE MOST AGGRESSIVE AT MINIMIZING LAGS TO MANEUVERSAT THE EXPENSE OF LARGER
% "(%
'! $ $(
% "%
% "(%
% "%
'! $ $ -
$*') ' (*' # $) *') ' (*' # $)
%,$ *+ '' )
$ *+ '' )
%')& ) $) '+"
%$ & ) $) '+"
&)'52% 4HE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STEADY STATE TRACKING GAINS @ AND A IS SHOWN FOR DIFFERENT
1TK S CORRESPONDING TO DIFFERENT ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE UNKNOWN TARGET MANEUVER -ODEL NO WHITE
NOISE ACCELERATION SAMPLED AT EACH MEASUREMENT INTERVAL MODEL NO RANDOM CHANGE IN ACCELERATION AT
EACH MEASUREMENT INTERVAL MODEL NO RANDOM CHANGE IN VELOCITY AT EACH MEASUREMENT INTERVAL AND
MODEL NO CONSTANT DETERMINISTIC ACCELERATION -ODEL NO NOT SHOWN AS IT IS A GAIN MODEL
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
TRACKING ERRORS DUE TO RADAR MEASUREMENT NOISE &OR RANDOM CHANGES IN VELOCITY AT
EACH MEASUREMENT INTERVAL MODEL NO THE GAINS INCREASE TO @ A WHICH
IS VERY CONSERVATIVE FROM A FILTER STABILITY POINT OF VIEW &OR WHITE NOISE ACCELERATION
SAMPLED BY RADAR MEASUREMENTS MODEL NO THE GAINS ARE A COMPROMISE INCREASING
TO A B
"ECAUSE THIS MODEL IS A SAMPLED CONTINUOUS TIME ACCELERATION
IT IS PREFERRED WHEN UPDATE TIMES ARE VARIABLE BECAUSE THE TARGET DOES NOT MANEUVER
MORE OR LESS WHEN THE UPDATE INTERVAL CHANGES
4HE EQUATIONS IN 4ABLE CAN THEN BE USED TO CALCULATE THE FILTER PERFORMANCE IN
TERMS OF VARIANCE REDUCTION RATIOS AND TRACKING LAGS !DJUSTMENTS TO PARAMETERS OF FTRACK
CAN BE MADE TO OBTAIN THE DESIRED NOISE AND LAG TRADEOFF
3ELECTION OF 4RACKING #OORDINATES 4HE +ALMAN FILTER ASSUMES LINEAR TARGET
MOTION AND A LINEAR RELATION BETWEEN THE RADAR DETECTIONS AND THE TARGET COORDINATES
(OWEVER RADARS MAKE DETECTIONS IN POLAR COORDINATES RANGE ANGLE DOPPLER WHILE
TARGET MOTION IS MOST LIKELY LINEAR IN #ARTESIAN COORDINATES X Y Z 4HEREFORE SOME
COMPROMISES MUST GENERALLY BE MADE IN SELECTING A COORDINATE SYSTEM FOR FILTERING
4ABLE DESCRIBES THE DESIGN TRADEOFFS FOR DIFFERENT SELECTIONS
4HE POLAR +ALMAN FILTER IS RARELY USED BECAUSE OF THE PSEUDO
ACCELERATIONS INTRO
DUCED BY PROPAGATING THE STATE IN POLAR COORDINATES 4HE #ARTESIAN%ARTH
CENTERED
+ALMAN FILTER CAN WORK WELL BUT MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY ACCOMMODATING RADAR MEASURE
MENTS OF LESS THAN THREE DIMENSIONS 4HE EXTENDEDDUAL COORDINATE SYSTEM +ALMAN
FILTER PREVENTS PSEUDO
ACCELERATIONS AND ACCOMMODATES MEASUREMENTS OF ANY DIMEN
SIONALITY "OTH THE #ARTESIAN%ARTH
CENTERED +ALMAN FILTERS INVOLVE NONLINEAR TRANSFOR
MATIONS RESULTING IN AN IMPERFECT CALCULATION OF THE TRACKING ACCURACY 7HEN PREDICTION
TIMES ARE LONG ANDOR WHEN VERY ACCURATE RESULTS ARE NEEDED THESE IMPERFECTIONS IN
THE +ALMAN FILTER COVARIANCE CALCULATION CAN BE SIGNIFICANT AND THE TRACKING ERRORS CAN
BE QUITE NON
GAUSSIAN 0ARTICLE FILTERS TYPICALLY PROPAGATE A LARGE NUMBER OF RANDOM
SAMPLES PARTICLES FROM A STATE TRANSITION PRIOR DISTRIBUTION TO ESTIMATE POSTERIOR DIS
TRIBUTIONS THAT ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BE GAUSSIAN IN FORM 4HUS IN A PARTICLE FILTER EVEN
MULTI
MODAL DISTRIBUTIONS CAN BE USED AS PRIOR AND REALIZED AS POSTERIOR DISTRIBUTIONS
(OWEVER PARTICLE FILTERS REQUIRE QUITE A BIT OF COMPUTATION
4HE UNSCENTED +ALMAN FILTER MORE EFFICIENTLY CALCULATES THE TRACKING ACCURACY BY
PROPAGATING SELECTED CARDINAL POINTS THROUGH THE FILTER 4HE UNSCENTED +ALMAN &ILTER
APPROXIMATES THE COVARIANCE MATRIX WITH A SET OF , SAMPLE POINTS WHERE , IS THE
NUMBER OF STATE DIMENSIONS 4HE SAMPLE POINTS ARE PROPAGATED THROUGH AN ARBITRARY
TRANSFORM FUNCTION AND THEN USED TO RECONSTRUCT A GAUSSIAN COVARIANCE MATRIX 4HIS
TECHNIQUE HAS THE ADVANTAGE OF REPRESENTING THE COVARIANCE ACCURATELY TO THE THIRD
ORDER OF A 4AYLOR SERIES EXPANSION !S A RESULT THE CALCULATED TRACKING ACCURACY IS AT
LEAST TO THIRD ORDER UNCONTAMINATED OR hUNSCENTEDv BY THE NONLINEARITY
!DAPTING &ILTER TO $EAL WITH #HANGES IN 4ARGET -OTION 4HE +ALMAN FILTER
ASSUMES LINEAR TARGET MOTION PERTURBED BY A RANDOM MANEUVER MODEL AS A MATHEMATI
CAL CONVENIENCE IN CALCULATING TRACKING GAINS (OWEVER MOST RADAR TARGETS DO NOT
MOVE IN A RANDOM MANEUVER BUT INSTEAD MOVE LINEARLY AT TIMES AND THEN MANEUVER
UNPREDICTABLY AT TIMES 4HE CHALLENGE IN ADAPTING THE FILTER TO DEAL WITH CHANGES IN THE
TARGET MOTION EG MANEUVERS BALLISTIC RE
ENTRY IS TO ADAPT THE TARGET MOTION MODEL
FOR THE +ALMAN FILTER OVER TIME SO THAT MORE ACCURATE TRACKING OCCURS THAN WITH A SINGLE
MODEL 4HE SIMPLEST FORM OF ADAPTATION IS A MANEUVER DETECTOR TO MONITOR THE TRACKING
FILTER RESIDUALS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEASURED AND PREDICTED POSITION ,ARGE CORRELATED
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
4!",% !DVANTAGES AND $ISADVANTAGES OF %MPLOYING THE +ALMAN &ILTER IN $IFFERENT
#OORDINATE &RAMES
#OORDINATES FOR
3TATE 0REDICTION
%QS
-ETHOD OF
#OVARIANCE
0ROPAGATION
!DVANTAGES
$ISADVANTAGES
0OLAR +ALMAN 0OLAR
FILTER
0OLAR
%QS TO
IN POLAR
COORDINATES
&ILTER COVARIANCES
ARE CALCULATED
EXACTLY AND STATE
ERRORS GAUSSIAN
DISTRIBUTED 2ADAR
DETECTIONS OF
LESS THAN THREE
DIMENSIONS CAN
BE USED
0SEUDO
ACCELERATIONS
INTRODUCED
IN STATE
PROPAGATION
#ARTESIAN
%ARTH
#ENTERED
+ALMAN
FILTER
#ARTESIAN
%ARTH
CENTERED
#ARTESIAN
%ARTH
CENTERED
%QS TO
IN #ARTESIAN
%ARTH
CENTERED
COORDINATES
3TATE PROPAGATION
IS LINEAR
NO PSEUDO
ACCELERATIONS
&ILTER
COVARIANCES ARE
NOT EXACT DUE
TO NONLINEAR
TRANSFORMATION
%XTENDED
DUAL
COORDINATE
+ALMAN
FILTER
0OLAR
#ARTESIAN
%ARTH
CENTERED
%QS TO
IN POLAR
COORDINATES
2EQUIRES
FREQUENT
COORDINATE
TRANSFORMS
5NSCENTED
+ALMAN
FILTER
0OLAR OR
#ARTESIAN
%ARTH
CENTERED
#ARTESIAN
%ARTH
CENTERED
#OVARIANCE
INFERRED BY
PROPAGATING
MULTIPLE STATES
3TATE PROPAGATION
IS LINEAR
NO PSEUDO
ACCELERATIONS
2ADAR DETECTIONS
OF LESS THAN THREE
DIMENSIONS
CAN BE EASILY
ACCOMMODATED
3TATE PROPAGATION
IS LINEAR
NO PSEUDO
ACCELERATIONS
&ILTER COVARIANCE
MORE EXACT
THAN TRADITIONAL
METHODS
PARTICULARLY FOR
LONG EXTRAPOLATION
TIMES
+ALMAN &ILTER
#OORDINATE
&RAME
6ARIANTS
#OORDINATES FOR
'AIN #ALCULATION
%QS
AND STATE UPDATE
%Q
-ORE COMPLEX
BUT NOT
NECESSARILY
MORE
COMPUTATION
RESIDUALS GENERALLY INDICATE A MANEUVER A DEVIATION FROM THE FILTER MODEL 5PON
MANEUVER DETECTION THE MANEUVER SPECTRAL DENSITY Q IS INCREASED IN THE +ALMAN FILTER
MODEL RESULTING IN HIGHER TRACKING GAINS AND BETTER FOLLOWING OF THE MANEUVER
! MORE COMPLEX APPROACH IS TO USE MULTIPLE +ALMAN FILTERS RUNNING SIMULTANEOUSLY
WITH DIFFERENT TARGET MOTION MODELSGENERALLY DIFFERENT Q VALUES OR DIFFERENT EQUA
TIONS FOR TARGET MOTION EG CONSTANT ACCELERATION OR CONSTANT VELOCITY &IGURE
SHOWS A BANK OF MULTIPLE PARALLEL FILTERS ALL FED BY THE SAME STREAM OF ASSOCIATED MEA
SUREMENTS !T EACH DETECTION TIME TK ONE OF THE SEVERAL FILTER OUTPUTS MUST BE SELECTED
TO BE THE TRACK STATE USED FOR DETECTION TO TRACK ASSOCIATION
! SYSTEMATIC WAY OF EMPLOYING MULTIPLE TARGET MOTION MODELS IS THE )NTERACTING
-ULTIPLE -ODEL )-- APPROACH DIAGRAMMED IN &IGURE -ULTIPLE MODELS RUN
SIMULTANEOUSLY HOWEVER THEY DO NOT RUN INDEPENDENTLY )NSTEAD THERE IS MIXING OF
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% "ANK OF PARALLEL RADAR
TRACKING FILTERS EACH EMPLOYING A DIFFERENT TARGET MOTION MODEL
AFTER 3 "LACKMAN AND 2 0OPOLI !RTECH (OUSE
&)'52% &LOWCHART OF INTERACTING MULTIPLE MODELS AFTER 3 "LACKMAN AND 2 0OPOLI
!RTECH (OUSE
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
"$ !"
THE MODEL STATES 4HE UPDATE EQUATION FOR THE ITH MODEL DEPENDS NOT ONLY ON THE ITH
MODEL STATE BUT ALSO ON THE STATES OF ALL OTHER MODELS 4HESE STATES ARE MIXED USING
INFERRED PROBABILITIES OF THE TARGET TRANSITIONING FROM ONE MOTION MODEL TO ANOTHER
!S AN EXAMPLE CONSIDER RADAR TRACKING OF A BALLISTIC MISSILE THAT UNDERGOES DISTINCT
PHASES OF FLIGHT BOOST EXO
ATMOSPHERIC FLIGHT AND ENDO
ATMOSPHERIC RE
ENTRY %ACH OF
THESE PHASES OF FLIGHT HAS A DISTINCT TARGET MODEL $URING BOOST THE TARGET IS CONTINUALLY
ACCELERATING AND INCREASING SPEED 4HIS ACCELERATION IS UNKNOWN AND MUST BE ESTIMATED
$URING EXO
ATMOSPHERIC FLIGHT THE OBJECT IS FALLING WITH THE KNOWN ACCELERATION OF
GRAVITY $URING ENDO
ATMOSPHERIC RE
ENTRY THE TARGET CONTINUES TO FALL BUT EXPERIENCES A
DRAG ACCELERATION DUE TO ITS BALLISTIC COEFFICIENT AN UNKNOWN TARGET PARAMETER RELATED TO
THE SHAPE AND MASS OF THE TARGET !N )-- FILTER CAN BE USED TO SYSTEMATICALLY TRANSITION
BETWEEN THESE DIFFERENT PHASES OF FLIGHT PROVIDING A SINGLE FILTER OUTPUT &IGURE
SHOWS THE MODEL PROBABILITIES FOR SUCH AN )-- FILTER APPLICATION
"$
# "
"$
" $
"
" !
!
&)'52% -ODEL PROBABILITIES RESULTING FROM THE APPLICATION OF AN )-- FILTER TO A BALLISTIC
MISSILE TRACKING PROBLEM A PROBABILITY THAT TARGET MOTION IS hBOOST PHASE v B PROBABILITY THAT TARGET
MOTION IS hEXO
ATMOSPHERICv FLIGHT C PROBABILITY THAT TARGET MOTION IS hENDO
ATMOSPHERICv RE
ENTRY
AFTER 2 #OOPERMANR &IFTH )NTERNATIONAL #ONFERENCE ON )NFORMATION &USION VOL
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!SSOCIATION OF !CCEPTED $ETECTION WITH %XISTING 4RACKS 4HE GOAL OF DETECTION
TO
TRACK ASSOCIATION IS TO CORRECTLY ASSIGN RADAR DETECTIONS TO EXISTING TRACKS SO THE TRACK
STATES IN THE TRACK FILE CAN BE CORRECTLY UPDATED 4HE BASIS FOR ASSIGNMENT IS A MEASURE OF
HOW CLOSE TOGETHER THE DETECTION AND TRACK ARE IN TERMS OF MEASURABLE PARAMETERS SUCH
AS RANGE ANGLE DOPPLER AND WHEN AVAILABLE TARGET SIGNATURE 4HE STATISTICAL DISTANCE
IS CALCULATED AS A WEIGHTED COMBINATION OF THE AVAILABLE DETECTION
TO
TRACK COORDINATE
DIFFERENCES )N THE MOST GENERAL CASE THIS IS A COMPLEX QUADRATIC FORM
$ 9K H 8 TK \ TK ; ( TK 0 K \ K ( 4 TK 2K = 9K H 8 TK \ TK 4
&OR MOST SINGLE RADAR TRACKING PROBLEMS IT REDUCES TO A SIMPLE WEIGHTED SUM
$
RM
RP Q M
Q P J M
J P $M
$ P
S R S PR S Q S PQ
S J S PJ
S $ S P$
WHERE RM PM IM $M ARE THE MEASURED RANGE AZIMUTH ELEVATION AND DOPPLER WITH
ACCURACIES RR RP RI R$ RP PP IP $P ARE THE RANGE AZIMUTH ELEVATION AND DOP
PLER PREDICTED BY THE AUTOMATIC TRACKER WITH ACCURACIES RPR RPP RPI RP$ 4HE PRE
DICTED ACCURACIES ARE A BYPRODUCT OF THE RADAR TRACKING FILTER 3TATISTICAL DISTANCE RATHER
THAN %UCLIDEAN DISTANCE MUST BE USED BECAUSE THE RANGE ACCURACY IS USUALLY MUCH
BETTER THAN THE AZIMUTH ACCURACY
7HEN TARGETS ARE WIDELY SPACED AND IN A CLEAR ENVIRONMENT ONLY ONE TARGET DETECTION
PAIR HAS A SMALL $ MAKING THESE ASSIGNMENTS OBVIOUS 4HUS THE DESIGN OF DETECTION TO
TRACK ASSOCIATION IS USUALLY DOMINATED BY THE MORE DIFFICULT CONDITIONS OF CLOSELY SPACED
TARGETS OR CLOSELY SPACED TARGETS AND CLUTTER &IGURE SHOWS A COMMON SITUATION FOR
CLOSELY SPACED TARGETS ANDOR CLUTTER 4HREE ASSOCIATION GATES ARE CONSTRUCTED AROUND THE
PREDICTED POSITIONS OF THREE EXISTING TRACKS 4HREE DETECTIONS ARE MADE BUT ASSIGNMENT OF
THE DETECTIONS TO THE TRACKS IS NOT OBVIOUS TWO DETECTIONS ARE WITHIN GATE THREE DETEC
TIONS ARE WITHIN GATE AND ONE DETECTION IS WITHIN GATE 4ABLE LISTS ALL DETECTIONS
&)'52% %XAMPLES OF THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY MULTIPLE DETECTIONS AND
TRACKS IN CLOSE VICINITY FROM ' 6 4RUNK
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4!",% !SSOCIATION 4ABLE FOR %XAMPLE 3HOWN IN &IGURE
4RACK .O
$ETECTION .O
$ETECTION .O
c
$ETECTION .O
c
c
FROM ' 6 4RUNK
WITHIN THE TRACKING GATES AND THE STATISTICAL DISTANCE BETWEEN THE DETECTION AND TRACK )F
THE DETECTION IS OUTSIDE THE TRACK GATE THE STATISTICAL DISTANCE IS SET TO INFINITY
.EAREST
NEIGHBOR ASSIGNMENT IS THE MOST COMMON SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM 4HE
SIMPLEST FORM OF NEAREST NEIGHBOR WORKS SEQUENTIALLY ON INCOMING DATA !S EACH NEW
DETECTION IS MADE IT IS ASSIGNED TO THE TRACK WITH WHICH IT HAS THE SMALLEST STATISTICAL
DISTANCE (ENCE IF DETECTION NO WAS RECEIVED FIRST IT WOULD BE ASSIGNED TO TRACK NO
(OWEVER IT IS BETTER TO DELAY THE ASSOCIATION PROCESS SLIGHTLY SO THAT ALL DETECTIONS IN
A LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD ARE RECEIVED AND STORED AND AN ASSOCIATION TABLE SUCH AS 4ABLE
GENERATED 4HIS HAS IMPLICATIONS ABOUT HOW SECTORS ARE SCANNED WITH A PHASED ARRAY
.EAREST
NEIGHBOR ASSIGNMENT CAN NOW BE APPLIED TO THE ASSOCIATION TABLE BY FINDING
THE SMALLEST STATISTICAL DISTANCE BETWEEN A DETECTION AND A TRACK MAKING THAT ASSOCIA
TION AND ELIMINATING THAT DETECTION AND TRACK ROW AND COLUMN FROM THE TABLE 4HIS
PROCESS IS REPEATED UNTIL THERE ARE EITHER NO TRACKS OR NO DETECTIONS LEFT !PPLYING THIS
ALGORITHM TO 4ABLE RESULTS IN DETECTION NO UPDATING TRACK NO DETECTION NO
UPDATING TRACK NO AND TRACK NO NOT BEING UPDATED "ETTER ASSIGNMENTS ARE POSSIBLE
WITH MORE SOPHISTICATED PROCESSING ALGORITHMS 4HE THREE TYPES OF MORE SOPHISTICATED
ALGORITHMS MOST FREQUENTLY USED ARE
'LOBAL .EAREST .EIGHBOR '.. #ONSIDER THE WHOLE MATRIX OF STATISTICAL DIS
TANCES SIMULTANEOUSLY AND MINIMIZE A METRIC SUCH AS THE SUM OF ALL STATISTICAL
DISTANCES FOR A COMPLETE ASSIGNMENT SOLUTION 0ERFORMING THIS OPTIMIZATION CAN
BE DONE USING -UNKRES ALGORITHM -UNKRES ALGORITHM IS AN EXACT SOLUTION OF
THE MINIMIZATION PROBLEM BUT IS RARELY USED BECAUSE IT IS COMPUTATIONALLY SLOW !
MORE COMPUTATIONALLY EFFICIENT EXACT SOLUTION IS THE *ONKER 6OLGENANT #ASTANON
*6# ALGORITHM 4HE *6# IS MUCH MORE EFFICIENT FOR SPARSE ASSIGNMENT MATRICES
WHICH ARE LIKELY FOR PRACTICAL RADAR
TRACKING PROBLEMS 3PEED IMPROVEMENTS OF
TO TIMES HAVE BEEN REPORTED !N EFFECTIVE SUBOPTIMAL SOLUTION IS THE !UCTION
ALGORITHM WHICH VIEWS THE TRACKS AS BEING hAUCTIONED OFFv TO THE DETECTIONS
ITERATIVELY ASSIGNING HIGHER COSTS TO TRACKS COMPETED FOR BY MORE DETECTIONS
&IGURE PROVIDES A COMPARISON OF THE -UNKRES *6# AND !UCTION ALGORITHMS
OPTIMIZED FOR SPARSE DATA 4HE *6# AND !UCTION ALGORITHMS PROVIDE A SIGNIFICANT
INCREASE IN COMPUTATIONAL SPEED !LTHOUGH THE !UCTION ALGORITHM IS SIMPLER REQUIR
ING LESS LINES OF CODE THE *6# ALGORITHM GENERALLY REQUIRES LESS COMPUTATION TIME
0ROBABILISTIC $ATA !SSOCIATION 0$! !NOTHER ALTERNATIVE IS THE PROBABILISTIC
DATA ASSOCIATION 0$! ALGORITHM WHERE NO ATTEMPT IS MADE TO ASSIGN TRACKS
TO DETECTIONS BUT INSTEAD TRACKS ARE UPDATED WITH ALL THE NEARBY DETECTIONS
WEIGHTED BY THE PERCEIVED PROBABILITY OF THE TRACK BEING THE CORRECT ASSOCIATION
"ECAUSE 0$! RELIES ON ERRONEOUS ASSOCIATIONS ESSENTIALLY hAVERAGING OUT v IT IS
MOST EFFECTIVE WHEN TRACKS ARE FAR ENOUGH APART THAT NEARBY DETECTIONS ORIGINATE
FROM SPATIALLY RANDOM NOISE OR CLUTTER EXCLUSIVELY AND WHEN THE TRACKING GAINS
ARE SMALL IE WHEN THE TRACKING INDEX FTRACK IS SMALL 4HE *OINT 0ROBABILISTIC $ATA
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% ! COMPARISON OF THE EXECUTION TIME FOR
THE -UNKRES OPTIMUM *6# OPTIMUM AND !UCTION
SUBOPTIMUM ALGORITHMS SHOWS THE RAPID INCREASE IN
COMPUTATION REQUIRED FOR -UNKRES AS THE NUMBER OF
ROWS IN THE ASSIGNMENT MATRIX INCREASES 4HE *6# AND
AUCTION ALGORITHMS SHOW MUCH MORE GRADUAL GROWTH
AFTER ) +ADAR ET AL 30)%
!SSOCIATION *0$! IS AN EXTENSION OF 0$! THAT HANDLES MORE CLOSELY SPACED
TARGETS )N *0$! DETECTIONS ARE WEIGHTED LESS WHEN THEY ARE NEAR ANOTHER TRACK
-ULTIPLE (YPOTHESIS !LGORITHMS 4HE MOST SOPHISTICATED ALGORITHMS ARE MULTIPLE
HYPOTHESIS ALGORITHMS IN WHICH ALL OR MANY POSSIBLE TRACKS ARE FORMED AND UPDATED
WITH EACH POSSIBLE DETECTION )N 4ABLE TRACK NO WOULD BECOME THREE
TRACKS OR HYPOTHESES CORRESPONDING TO UPDATING WITH DETECTION NO DETECTION
NO AND NO DETECTION %ACH OF THESE TRACKS WOULD UNDERGO A +ALMAN FILTER UPDATE
AND BE ELIGIBLE FOR ASSOCIATION WITH THE NEXT SET OF DETECTIONS 4RACKS ARE PRUNED
AWAY IN A SYSTEMATIC MANNER LEAVING ONLY THE MOST PROBABLE &IGURE ILLUS
TRATES THE TRACKING OF A SINGLE TARGET USING MULTIPLE HYPOTHESIS TECHNIQUES )N THIS
EXAMPLE MANY HYPOTHESES ARE FORMED AND OVER SUCCESSIVE MEASUREMENT INTERVALS
SUCCESSFULLY PRUNED AWAY LEAVING ONLY ONE CORRECT TRACK
4HE REGION OF APPLICABILITY FOR THE MORE SOPHISTICATED ALGORITHMS IS DETERMINED BY TWO
PARAMETERS THE DENSITY OF EXTRANEOUS DETECTIONS K DETECTIONS PER UNIT AREA OR VOLUME
&)'52% %XAMPLE OF THE USE OF MULTIPLE HYPOTHESIS TRACKING ON SCANS OF SIMULATED RADAR DATA
CONTAINING A SINGLE TARGET AND MANY FALSE ALARMS A SHOWS ALL HYPOTHESES FORMS AND B SHOWS THE SINGLE
HYPOTHESIS SELECTED 0RUNED HYPOTHESES ARE GRAYED OUT AFTER 7 +OCH )%%%
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&)'52% 4HE APPLICABILITY OF DIFFERENT DETECTION TO TRACK ASSOCIATION ALGORITHMS
IS DETERMINED BY THE DENSITY OF FALSE ALARMS AND THE DIMENSIONLESS TRACKING PARAMETER
FTRACK AFTER $ * 3ALMOND 30)%
AND THE DIMENSIONLESS TRACK FILTERING PARAMETER FTRACK &IGURE BOUNDS THIS REGION
OF APPLICABILITY 7HEN K AND FTRACK ARE SMALL THEN THERE IS NO NEED FOR ANY MORE THAN
SIMPLE NEAREST NEIGHBOR TRACKING AND INDEED MOST TRACKING SYSTEMS STILL USE THIS
APPROACH !S K INCREASES THERE IS GREATER RISK OF FALSE ASSOCIATION DECISIONS HOWEVER
THE EFFECT OF THIS IS REDUCED IF FTRACK IS SMALL !T THE OTHER EXTREME WHEN K AND FTRACK ARE
LARGE THE TRACKING PROBLEM IS ESSENTIALLY UNSOLVABLE WITHOUT BASIC CHANGES TO THE RADAR
DESIGN PARAMETERS TO REDUCE THEM 4HERE IS AN INTERMEDIATE REGION WHERE SOPHISTICATED
ASSOCIATION HAS VALUE 4HE WIDTH OF THIS REGION IS VERY SPECIFIC TO THE PARTICULAR PROB
LEM 7HEN FTRACK IS LARGE AND VERY LITTLE DELAY IN THE OUTPUT CAN BE TOLERATED THEN THE
REGION OF APPLICABILITY IS FAIRLY SMALL AND VERY SIMPLE MULTIPLE HYPOTHESIS APPROACHES
SPLITTING TRACKS INTO AT MOST ONE OR TWO HYPOTHESES ARE THEN THE BEST ANSWER
7HEN FTRACK IS SMALL THEN 0$!*0$! CAN BE USED TO OPERATE AT SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER
FALSE ALARM DENSITIES 7HEN SIGNIFICANT DELAY CAN BE TOLERATED IN THE OUTPUT THEN MANY
HYPOTHESES CAN BE FORMED AS IN &IGURE AND ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE MORE DETECTIONS
HANDLED "LACKMAN AND 0OPOLI PROVIDE A GOOD SURVEY OF COMPARATIVE STUDIES IN THIS
AREA /NE STUDY USING DATA RECORDED FROM FLIGHTS OF CLOSELY SPACED AIRCRAFT SHOWED
VERY LITTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN '.. *0$! AND -(4 (OWEVER THEORETICAL PREDIC
TIONS CAN SHOW DIFFERENCES OF ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE IN THE DENSITY OF CLUTTER DETECTIONS
THAT CAN BE HANDLED
.EW 4RACK &ORMATION 4HERE ARE TWO CLASSES OF TRACK FORMATION ALGORITHMS
&ORWARD
TRACKING ALGORITHMS BASICALLY PROPAGATE ONE HYPOTHESIS FORWARD IN TIME
RECURSIVELY CHECKING FOR hTARGET
LIKEv MOTION $ETECTIONS THAT DO NOT CORRELATE WITH
CLUTTER POINTS OR TRACKS ARE USED TO INITIATE NEW TRACKS )F THE DETECTION DOES NOT
CONTAIN DOPPLER INFORMATION THE NEW DETECTION IS USUALLY USED AS THE PREDICTED
POSITION IN SOME MILITARY SYSTEMS ONE ASSUMES A RADIALLY INBOUND VELOCITY AND
A LARGE CORRELATION REGION MUST BE USED FOR THE NEXT OBSERVATION 4HE CORRELATION
REGION MUST BE LARGE ENOUGH TO CAPTURE THE NEXT DETECTION OF THE TARGET ASSUMING
THAT IT COULD HAVE THE MAXIMUM VELOCITY OF INTEREST ! COMMON TRACK INITIATION
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
CRITERION IS FOUR OUT OF FIVE ALTHOUGH ONE MAY REQUIRE ONLY THREE DETECTIONS OUT OF
FIVE OPPORTUNITIES IN REGIONS WITH A LOW FALSE
ALARM RATE AND A LOW TARGET DENSITY
(OWEVER ONE MAY REQUIRE A MUCH LARGER NUMBER OF DETECTIONS WHEN THE RADAR HAS
THE FLEXIBILITY OF AN ELECTRONIC SCAN THAT CAN PLACE MANY DETECTION OPPORTUNITIES IN
A SHORT TIME INTERVAL
"ACKWARD
TRACKING OR hBATCHv ALGORITHMS CONSIDER ALL THE DETECTIONS SIMULTANE
OUSLY ATTEMPTING TO MATCH THE DETECTIONS TO A hTARGET
LIKEv PATTERN 4HIS CAN BE DONE
BY ACTUALLY CONSTRUCTING A LARGE NUMBER OF MATCHED FILTERS AS IN RETROSPECTIVE PRO
CESSING SEE &IGURE OR BY USING A FORWARD
TRACKING PROCESS WITH MULTIPLE
HYPOTHESIS FORMED AND PROPAGATED
*UST AS AUTOMATIC RADAR DETECTION IS A TRADEOFF BETWEEN PROBABILITY OF DETECTION
AND PROBABILITY OF FALSE ALARM NEW TRACK FORMATION IS A TRADEOFF BETWEEN THE SPEED AT
WHICH A TRACK IS FORMED AND THE PROBABILITY OF ERRONEOUSLY FORMING A FALSE TRACK THAT
DOES NOT REPRESENT A PHYSICAL OBJECT OF INTEREST 4HERE ARE TWO TYPES OF FALSE TRACKS
4RACKS ON REAL OBJECTS THAT ARE SIMPLY NOT OF INTEREST &OR EXAMPLE IF THE TARGETS OF
INTEREST ARE AIRPLANES THEN A FALSE TRACK COULD BE A TRACK ON A BIRD 4RACKS COMPOSED
OF UNRELATED DETECTIONS FROM DIFFERENT OBJECTS THAT THE AUTOMATIC TRACKING PROCESS HAS
MISTAKENLY ASSOCIATED TOGETHER &OR EXAMPLE A FALSE TRACK COULD BE COMPOSED OF DETEC
TIONS FROM SEVERAL DIFFERENT STATIONARY CLUTTER POINTS THAT HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED TOGETHER
OVER TIME TO CREATE A FALSE MOVING TRACK
4HE APPROACH FOR PREVENTING FALSE TRACKS ON OBJECTS NOT OF INTEREST IS TO ACTUALLY
DEVELOP TRACKS ON ALL OF THEM BUT THEN OBSERVE THEM LONG ENOUGH TO CLASSIFY THEM AS
UNWANTED )N THE CASE OF THE BIRD ONE WOULD GATHER ENOUGH DETECTIONS TO IMPROVE THE
VELOCITY ACCURACY OF THE TRACK SO THAT IT IS CLEAR WHETHER THE TRACK IS OF INTEREST OR NOT
4HUS ONE DESIRES TO DELAY THE DISCLOSURE OF A TRACK UNTIL ENOUGH TIME HAS PASSED TO
CLASSIFY IT ACCURATELY 4HIS ACCURACY CAN BE DETERMINED BY 4OBS THE AMOUNT OF TIME OVER
WHICH THE OBJECT IS OBSERVED AND BY BASIC PARAMETERS OF THE RADAR
4 THE TIME BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE DETECTIONS
R THE ACCURACY IN A PARTICULAR DIMENSION OF INTEREST
- THE NUMBER OF DETECTIONS USED IN FORMING THE TRACK
. 4OBS 4 WHICH IS THE NUMBER OF DETECTION OPPORTUNITIES
4HE VELOCITY ACCURACY IS GIVEN BY THE FOLLOWING EQUATION
SV
S
.
r
4OBS . .
4HE DOMINANT DESIGN PARAMETERS IN THE EQUATION ARE THE ACCURACY OF THE RADAR AND
THE OBSERVATION TIME "ETTER ACCURACY OR LONGER OBSERVATION TIME ALLOWS MORE ACCURATE
MEASUREMENT OF VELOCITY -AKING MORE DETECTIONS IN THE OBSERVATION TIME IMPROVES
THE ACCURACY BUT ONLY IN A SQUARE
ROOT SENSE
4HE APPROACH TO PREVENTING FALSELY COMPOSED TRACKS FROM DIFFERENT OBJECTS IN A
CLUTTER REGION ' IS TO REQUIRE ENOUGH DETECTIONS IN A TIGHT ENOUGH PATTERN TO MAKE
%;.&4= THE EXPECTED NUMBER OF FALSE TRACKS SMALL 7HEN THERE IS AN AVERAGE OF .#
DETECTIONS IN A $
DIMENSIONAL REGION ' THEN
-
%;.&4= K& r K
$ . -
P r . # r F
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&)'52% 4HE RETROSPECTIVE PROCESS A A SINGLE SCAN OF DATA B EIGHT SCANS OF DATA AND C EIGHT
SCANS OF DATA WITH TRAJECTORY FILTERS APPLIED AFTER 0RENGAMAN ET AL )%%%
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WHERE K& IS THE RATIO OF THE SIZE OF THE POSSIBLE SPACE A TARGET CAN TRAVEL IN ONE DETECTION
INTERVAL TO THE SIZE OF ENTIRE CLUTTER REGION '
L&
6-!8 $
'
AND K0 IS THE RATIO OF THE SIZE OF A RADAR RESOLUTION CELL TO THE SIZE OF THE ENTIRE CLUTTER
REGION '
L0
T T $
'
$ . - BEING THE COM
SI BEING THE RESOLUTION hDISTANCEv IN THE ITH DIMENSION AND F
BINATORIAL TERM
.
$ -
G $ . - .
$
-
&IGURE GIVES AN EXAMPLE OF THE APPLICATION OF %QS TO TO A RADAR
WITH K0
AND K0
)NCREASING THE NUMBER OF DETECTIONS REQUIRED TO FORM
&)'52% 6ARIATION OF THE EXPECTED NUMBER OF FALSE TRACKS WITH THE TRACK FORMATION - OUT OF . CRITE
RION AFTER 7 ' "ATH ET AL
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
{x
A TRACK FROM THREE OUT OF FIVE TO FIVE OUT OF EIGHT INCREASES THE DENSITY OF FALSE
ALARMS THAT CAN BE TOLERATED BY MORE THAN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE &ORWARD AND
BACKWARD TRACKING ALGORITHMS PRODUCE SIMILAR NUMBERS OF FALSE TRACKS (OWEVER
THE BACKWARD TRACKING ALGORITHMS CAN OPERATE IN MORE AMBIGUOUS SITUATIONS WHERE
THE DENSITY OF FALSE ALARMS K IS COMPARABLE TO OR GREATER THAN K& OR K0 5NDER THESE
AMBIGUOUS CIRCUMSTANCES THE FORWARD TRACKER WILL HAVE MULTIPLE DETECTIONS IN A
TRACK FORMATION OR PROMOTION GATE AND WILL REQUIRE MULTIPLE HYPOTHESIS TO RELIABLY
FORM TRACKS
4HE DESIGN OF THE TRACK FORMATION PROCESS AND THE AUTOMATIC DETECTION PROCESS
SHOULD BE CONSIDERED TOGETHER ! LONGER TIME ALLOWED FOR TRACK FORMATION HIGHER
-. ALLOWS THE RADAR DETECTION PROCESS TO USE LOWER DETECTION THRESHOLDS RESULT
ING IN BETTER RADAR SENSITIVITY &OR ANY GIVEN SET OF RADAR PARAMETERS -. TRACK
FORMATION CRITERION AND PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION OF CLUTTER AMPLITUDES THERE EXISTS
AN OPTIMUM FALSE ALARM RATE THAT MINIMIZES THE SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO REQUIRED TO
DETECT TARGETS &IGURE ILLUSTRATES THIS OPTIMIZATION FOR AN EIGHT SCAN TRACK FOR
MATION PROCESS
&)'52% /VERALL SENSITIVITY OF AN AUTOMATIC DETECTION AND AUTOMATIC
TRACKING PROCESS WORKING TOGETHER 4HE SINGLE
SCAN FALSE
ALARM PROBABILITY
CAN BE OPTIMIZED TO PROVIDE THE LOWEST REQUIRED SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO FOR VARI
OUS PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS OF CLUTTER AMPLITUDE AFTER 0RENGAMAN ET AL
)%%%
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
6ERY LOW SINGLE SCAN FALSE ALARM PROBABILITIES ALLOW TRACKS TO BE FORMED QUICKLY
(OWEVER IF A LONGER DELAY IS TOLERABLE THEN DETECTION THRESHOLDS CAN BE LOWER RESULT
ING IN BETTER SENSITIVITY IN NON GAUSSIAN CLUTTER
2ADAR 3CHEDULING AND #ONTROL 4HE INTERACTION OF THE RADAR TRACKING SYSTEM
WITH THE SCHEDULING AND CONTROL FUNCTION OF THE RADAR IS MINOR FOR MECHANICAL ROTATING
RADARS BUT MAJOR FOR PHASED ARRAY RADARS &OR MECHANICALLY ROTATING RADARS ALL THAT IS
USUALLY DONE IS THAT THE TRACKING GATES ARE FED BACK TO THE SIGNAL PROCESSOR 4HE TRACKING
GATES ARE ALWAYS USED TO FACILITATE THE ASSOCIATION PROCESS AND MAY BE USED TO LOWER
THE DETECTION THRESHOLD WITHIN THE GATE ANDOR MODIFY THE CONTACT ENTRY LOGIC WITHIN THE
GATE EG MODIFY RULES GOVERNING CLUTTER MAPS
4HE INTERACTION OF THE TRACKING SYSTEM WITH A PHASED ARRAY RADAR IS MUCH MORE SIG
NIFICANT 4HE MAJOR BENEFIT OF A PHASED ARRAY WITH RESPECT TO TRACKING IS IN THE AREA OF
TRACK INITIATION 0HASED ARRAYS USE A CONFIRMATION STRATEGY TO INITIATE TRACKS RAPIDLY
4HAT IS AFTER THE ASSOCIATION PROCESS ALL UNASSOCIATED DETECTIONS GENERATE CONFIRMATION
DWELLS TO CONFIRM THE EXISTENCE OF A NEW TRACK 4HE INITIAL CONFIRMATION DWELL USES THE
SAME WAVEFORM FREQUENCY AND 02& IF A PULSE DOPPLER WAVEFORM BUT MAY INCREASE THE
ENERGY !NALYSIS HAS SHOWN THAT A D" INCREASE IN THE TRANSMITTED CONFIRMATION ENERGY
ADDITIONAL ENERGY IS ALSO AVAILABLE BY PLACING THE TARGET IN THE CENTER OF THE CONFIRMA
TION BEAM CAN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE PROBABILITY OF CONFIRMATION &URTHERMORE
THE CONFIRMATION DWELL SHOULD BE TRANSMITTED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO MAINTAIN A 3WERLING
) FLUCTUATION MODEL 4HAT IS IF THE TARGET WAS ORIGINALLY DETECTED WHEN THE TARGET FLUC
TUATION PRODUCED A LARGE RETURN THE CONFIRMATION DWELL WILL SEE THIS SAME LARGE RETURN
!FTER CONFIRMATION A SERIES OF INITIAL TRACK MAINTENANCE DWELLS OVER SEVERAL SECONDS IS
USED TO DEVELOP AN ACCURATE STATE VECTOR ! COMPLETE DISCUSSION OF PRIORITY ASSOCIATED
WITH TRACKING WITHIN THE SCHEDULER OF A PHASED ARRAY IS BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS BRIEF
DISCUSSION (OWEVER IT IS WORTHWHILE NOTING THESE GENERAL RULES #ONFIRMATION DWELLS
SHOULD HAVE A PRIORITY HIGHER THAN ALL OTHER FUNCTIONS EXCEPT THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH WEAPON
CONTROL LOW PRIORITY TRACKS EG TRACKS AT LONG RANGE CAN BE UPDATED USING SEARCH
DETECTIONS AND HIGH PRIORITY TRACKS SHOULD HAVE A PRIORITY HIGHER THAN VOLUME SURVEIL
LANCE 4HE UPDATE RATE FOR HIGH PRIORITY TRACKS SHOULD BE SUCH THAT A SINGLE TRACKING DWELL IS
SUFFICIENT TO UPDATE THE TRACK 4HE ACTUAL UPDATE RATE WILL DEPEND ON MANY FACTORS INCLUD
ING A MAXIMUM TARGET SPEED AND MANEUVER CAPABILITY B RADAR BEAMWIDTH BEAM COULD
BE SPOILED C RANGE OF THE RADAR TRACK AND D ACCURACY OF PREDICTED POSITION )F A PULSE
DOPPLER DWELL IS REQUIRED TO UPDATE THE TRACK IN CLUTTER THE WAVEFORM SHOULD BE SELECTED TO
PLACE THE TARGET NEAR THE CENTER OF THE AMBIGUOUS RANGE DOPPLER DETECTION SPACE &INALLY
THE TRACK CAN BE UPDATED WITH THE AMBIGUOUS RANGE DOPPLER DETECTION BECAUSE THE TRACK
STATE VECTOR CAN BE USED TO REMOVE THE AMBIGUITY
/7", , ,-
)DEALLY A SINGLE RADAR CAN RELIABLY DETECT AND TRACK ALL TARGETS OF INTEREST (OWEVER THE
ENVIRONMENT AND THE LAWS OF PHYSICS OFTEN WILL NOT PERMIT THIS )N GENERAL NO SINGLE
RADAR CAN PROVIDE A COMPLETE SURVEILLANCE AND TRACKING PICTURE 2ADAR NETWORKING CAN
BE A GOOD SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM AND IN SOME CASES MAY BE MORE COST EFFECTIVE THAN
SOLVING THE PROBLEM THROUGH ONE VERY HIGH PERFORMANCE RADAR 2ADAR NETWORKING SYSTEMS
ARE GENERALLY CHARACTERIZED BY WHAT RADAR DATA ARE SHARED AND HOW THEY ARE CORRELATED
AND FUSED 4HE TWO MOST COMMON WAYS OF COMBINING RADAR DATA ARE AS FOLLOWS
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
$ETECTION TO TRACK FUSION SEE &IGURE UPPER HALF ASSOCIATES EACH DETECTION TO
THE NETWORKED TRACK CALCULATED POTENTIALLY USING DETECTIONS FROM ALL RADARS 4HUS
THE ENTIRE STREAM OF DETECTIONS UP TO THE PRESENT IS POTENTIALLY AVAILABLE TO CALCU
LATE THE TRACK STATE USED FOR THE ASSOCIATION DECISION ON THE MOST RECENT DETECTION
4RACK TO TRACK FUSION SEE &IGURE LOWER HALF ASSOCIATES EACH DETECTION TO A
SINGLE RADAR TRACK STATE CALCULATED USING ONLY DETECTIONS FROM THAT RADAR 4HE SINGLE
RADAR TRACK STATES ARE THEN GROUPED WITH EACH OTHER TO PRODUCE A NETTED TRACK STATE
4HE DESIGN DECISION AS TO WHICH APPROACH IS BETTER FOR GROUPING DATA DEPENDS ON THE
RADARS AND TARGETS INVOLVED /NE CASE WHERE DETECTION TO TRACK ASSOCIATION IS CLEARLY BET
TER IS WHEN THE RADARS HAVE A REDUCED PROBABILITY OF DETECTION SO THERE ARE POTENTIAL GAPS
IN THE DATA STREAM OR PERIODS WHERE THE DATA STREAM IS SPARSE )N THESE CASES A MUCH MORE
ACCURATE TRACK STATE CAN BE CALCULATED USING MULTIPLE DATA STREAMS THAN USING ONLY ONE
BECAUSE MULTIPLE STREAMS WILL TEND TO FILL IN THE GAPS IN DETECTION AND RESTORE A HIGH CON
SISTENT DATA RATE DURING PERIODS OF REDUCED PROBABILITY OF DETECTION &IGURE ILLUSTRATES
THE SENSITIVITY TO TARGET FADES BY PLOTTING THE TRACK REGION OF UNCERTAINTY 2/5 VERSUS THE
PROBABILITY OF DETECTION FOR SINGLE RADAR TRACKING AND MULTIPLE RADAR TRACKING 4HE 2/5 IS
DEFINED AS THE DISTANCE THAT CONTAINS THE ERROR WITH PERCENT PROBABILITY AND IS
2/5 TRACKING ERROR DUE TO DETECTION NOISE TRACKING ERROR DUE TO MANEUVER
4HIS CAN BE CALCULATED FOR ANY CASE OF INTEREST USING THE FORMULAS IN 4ABLE
&)'52% 4HERE ARE TWO COMMON METHODS OF FUSION DATA IN RADAR NETWORKING DETECTION TO TRACK AND
TRACK TO TRACK AFTER 7 "ATH )%%
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF DETECTION TO TRACK AND TRACK TO TRACK ASSOCIATION &OR FAD
ING TARGETS 0D DETECTION TO TRACK IS PREFERRED &OR LARGE SENSOR BIASES AND NON FADING
TARGETS TRACK TO TRACK IS PREFERRED AFTER 7"ATH )%%
7HEN THE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION IS MUCH LESS THAN UNITY THE MEASUREMENT TO TRACK
FUSION IS CONSIDERABLY MORE ACCURATE 4HIS IS EASILY EXPLAINED BY THE FACT THAT THE PROB
ABILITY OF A SIGNIFICANT OUTAGE OF DATA IS MUCH REDUCED IF TWO SOURCES ARE AVAILABLE 7ITH
A MORE ACCURATE TRACK TIGHTER ASSOCIATION CRITERIA CAN BE USED FOR DETECTIONS
)F THE BIASES CANNOT BE EFFECTIVELY REMOVED THEN THERE MAY BE AN ADVANTAGE TO ASSO
CIATING TO A SINGLE RADAR TRACKWHICH BY DEFINITION IS UNBIASED WITH RESPECT TO ITSELF
)F BIASES CANNOT BE KEPT SMALLER THAN THE 2/5 THEN AT HIGH PROBABILITIES OF DETECTION
ONE PREFERS SINGLE RADAR ASSOCIATION FOLLOWED BY TRACK TO TRACK ASSOCIATION
)T IS POSSIBLE TO MAKE SIMPLE COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE ACCURACY OF DETECTION FUSION
AS OPPOSED TO TRACK FUSION FOR EQUIVALENT USE OF DATA BANDWIDTH TO EXCHANGE RADAR DATA
7HEN 2/5 IS PLOTTED AS A FUNCTION OF THE POSITION GAIN @ IT HAS THE hBATHTUBv SHAPE
SHOWN BY THE SINGLE RADAR CURVE IN &IGURE 4HE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE hBATHTUBv IS
DOMINATED BY THE LAG COMPONENT WHILE THE RIGHT HAND SIDE IS DOMINATED BY THE RADAR
MEASUREMENT NOISE COMPONENT "ECAUSE THE GAINS HORIZONTAL AXIS ARE THE DESIGNERS
CHOICE THE SINGLE RADAR 2/5 IS THE MINIMUM OF THE hBATHTUBv CURVE
.OW CONSIDER THE FUSION OF TWO RADARS IN A PARTICULAR DIMENSION )F ONE RADAR HAS ONE
TENTH THE 2/5 OF THE OTHER IN THIS DIMENSION THEN THE MORE ACCURATE RADAR IN THIS DIMENSION
WILL DOMINATE AND ESSENTIALLY DETERMINE THE RESULT !T LEAST IN STEADY STATE IT IS RELATIVELY
EASY TO PRODUCE THIS DOMINANCE BY ANY OF THE FUSION METHODS /F MORE INTEREST IS THE CASE
WHERE THE RADARS ARE COMPARABLE IN TERMS OF ACCURACY AND UPDATE RATE PRODUCING COMPA
RABLE 2/5S 4HIS CASE MORE CLEARLY SHOWS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE FUSION METHODS
&OR EXAMPLE WHEN TWO IDENTICAL RADARS ARE COMBINED BY DETECTION FUSION THEN
THE UPDATE RATE IS ESSENTIALLY DOUBLED 4HIS REDUCES THE LAG BY A FACTOR OF ALLOWING A
SMALLER GAIN TO BE SELECTED OPTIMIZATION MORE TO THE LEFT OF THE hBATHTUBv REDUCING
THE TRACKING ERRORS DUE TO MEASUREMENT NOISE 4HE NET RESULT IS THE MOVEMENT FROM THE
SINGLE RADAR CURVE TO THE DETECTION FUSION CURVE IN &IGURE
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF DETECTION FUSION AND TRACK FUSION APPROACHES &OR AIR BREATHING TARGETS
DETECTION FUSION PRODUCES THE MOST ACCURATE TRACK SMALLEST 2/5 AFTER 7"ATH )%%
7HEN TWO IDENTICAL RADARS ARE COMBINED BY TRACK FUSION THE UPDATE RATE FOR EACH
TRACKING PROCESS DOES NOT CHANGE AND SO THE LAG DOES NOT CHANGE (OWEVER THE STAN
DARD DEVIATION OF THE TRACKING ERRORS DUE TO MEASUREMENT NOISE IS REDUCED BY THE SQUARE
ROOT OF ALLOWING A LARGER GAIN TO BE SELECTED OPTIMIZATION MORE TO THE RIGHT OF THE
BATHTUB REDUCING THE LAG 4HE NET RESULT IS THE MOVEMENT FROM THE SINGLE RADAR CURVE
TO THE TRACK FUSION CURVE IN &IGURE
)F THERE IS ANY SIGNIFICANT MANEUVER POSSIBLE THE FACTOR OF IN LAG WILL HAVE A MORE
SIGNIFICANT EFFECT THAN THE FACTOR OF THE SQUARE ROOT OF IN THE SQUARE ROOT OF THE TRACKING
ERRORS DUE TO MEASUREMENT NOISE 4HUS ONE CAN SEE THE DETECTION FUSION CURVE ACHIEVES
A SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER MINIMUM THAN THE TRACK FUSION CURVE
4O COMBINE DATA FROM MULTIPLE RADARS THE DATA MUST BE PLACED IN A COMMON COOR
DINATE SYSTEM 4HIS PROCESS IS CALLED GRID LOCKING AND INVOLVES SPECIFYING THE LOCATION
OF THE RADARS AND ESTIMATING RADAR BIASES IN RANGE AND ANGLE 4HE PREVIOUS DIFFICULT
PROBLEM OF RADAR LOCATION IS SOLVED TRIVIALLY BY THE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM !N ESTI
MATE OF RADAR BIASES BETWEEN TWO RADARS CAN BE OBTAINED FROM A LONG
TERM AVERAGE OF
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PREDICTED AND MEASURED COORDINATES ON ALL TRACKS THAT HAVE A
SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF DETECTIONS FROM BOTH RADARS
x 1 - -", / ,/"
! NUMBER OF SENSORS CAN BE INTEGRATED RADAR IDENTIFICATION FRIEND OR FOE )&& THE
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL RADAR BEACON SYSTEM !4#2"3 INFRARED OPTICAL AND ACOUSTIC 4HE
SENSORS THAT ARE MOST EASILY INTEGRATED ARE THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SENSORS IE RADAR )&&
AND STROBE EXTRACTORS OF NOISE SOURCES OR EMITTERS
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)&& )NTEGRATION 4HE PROBLEM OF INTEGRATING RADAR AND MILITARY )&& DATA IS LESS
DIFFICULT THAN THAT OF INTEGRATING TWO RADARS 4HE QUESTION OF WHETHER DETECTIONS OR
TRACKS SHOULD BE INTEGRATED IS A FUNCTION OF THE APPLICATION )N A MILITARY SITUATION BY
INTEGRATING DETECTIONS ONE COULD INTERROGATE THE TARGET ONLY A FEW TIMES IDENTIFY IT
AND THEN ASSOCIATE IT WITH A RADAR TRACK &ROM THEN ON THERE WOULD BE LITTLE NEED FOR
RE
INTERROGATING THE TARGET (OWEVER IN AN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SITUATION USING !4#2"3
TARGETS WOULD BE INTERROGATED AT EVERY SCAN AND CONSEQUENTLY EITHER DETECTIONS OR
TRACKS COULD BE INTEGRATED
2ADARn$& "EARING 3TROBE )NTEGRATION #ORRELATING RADAR TRACKS WITH $&
DIRECTION FINDING BEARING STROBES ON EMITTERS HAS BEEN CONSIDERED BY #OLEMAN AND
LATER BY 4RUNK AND 7ILSON 4RUNK AND 7ILSON CONSIDERED THE PROBLEM OF ASSOCI
ATING EACH $& TRACK WITH EITHER NO RADAR TRACK OR ONE OF M RADAR TRACKS )N THEIR FOR
MULATION THERE WERE + $& ANGLE TRACKS EACH SPECIFIED BY A DIFFERENT NUMBER OF $&
DETECTIONS AND SIMILARLY M RADAR TRACKS EACH SPECIFIED BY A DIFFERENT NUMBER OF RADAR
DETECTIONS "ECAUSE EACH TARGET CAN CARRY MULTIPLE EMITTERS IE MULTIPLE $& TRACKS
CAN BE ASSOCIATED WITH EACH RADAR TRACK EACH $& TRACK ASSOCIATION CAN BE CONSIDERED
BY ITSELF RESULTING IN + DISJOINT ASSOCIATION PROBLEMS #ONSEQUENTLY AN EQUIVALENT
PROBLEM IS GIVEN A $& TRACK SPECIFIED BY N $& BEARING DETECTIONS ONE CAN ASSOCIATE
THE $& TRACK WITH NO RADAR TRACK OR WITH ONE OF M RADAR TRACKS THE JTH RADAR TRACK BEING
SPECIFIED BY MJ RADAR DETECTIONS 5SING A COMBINATION OF "AYES AND .EYMAN
0EARSON
PROCEDURES AND ASSUMING THAT THE $& DETECTION ERRORS ARE USUALLY INDEPENDENT AND
GAUSSIAN
DISTRIBUTED WITH ZERO MEAN AND CONSTANT VARIANCE R BUT WITH OCCASIONAL OUT
LIERS IE LARGE ERRORS NOT DESCRIBED BY THE GAUSSIAN DENSITY 4RUNK AND 7ILSON ARGUED
THAT THE DECISION SHOULD BE BASED ON THE PROBABILITY
0J PROBABILITY : q DJ
WHERE : HAS A CHI
SQUARE DENSITY WITH NJ DEGREES OF FREEDOM AND DJ IS GIVEN BY
NJ
D J MIN[ ;Q E TI Q J TI = S ]
I
J M
WHERE NJ IS THE NUMBER OF $& DETECTIONS OVERLAPPING THE TIME INTERVAL FOR WHICH THE
JTH RADAR TRACK EXISTS PETI IS THE $& DETECTION AT TIME TI PJTI IS THE PREDICTED AZIMUTH
OF RADAR TRACK J FOR TIME TI AND THE FACTOR LIMITS THE SQUARE ERROR TO R TO ACCOUNT FOR
$& OUTLIERS "Y USING THE TWO LARGEST 0JS DESIGNATED 0MAX AND 0NEXT AND THRESHOLDS
4, 4( 4- AND 2 THE FOLLOWING DECISIONS AND DECISION RULES WERE GENERATED
&IRM CORRELATION $& SIGNAL GOES WITH RADAR TRACK HAVING LARGEST 0J IE 0MAX
WHEN 0MAX q 4( AND 0MAX q 0NEXT 2
4ENTATIVE CORRELATION $& SIGNAL PROBABLY GOES WITH RADAR TRACK HAVING LARGEST 0J
IE 0MAX WHEN 4( 0MAX q 4- AND 0MAX q 0NEXT 2
4ENTATIVE CORRELATION WITH SOME TRACK $& SIGNAL PROBABLY GOES WITH SOME RADAR
TRACK BUT CANNOT DETERMINE WHICH WHEN 0MAX q 4- BUT 0MAX 0NEXT 2
4ENTATIVELY UNCORRELATED $& SIGNAL PROBABLY DOES NOT GO WITH ANY RADAR TRACK
WHEN 4- 0MAX 4,
&IRMLY UNCORRELATED $& SIGNAL DOES NOT GO WITH ANY RADAR TRACK WHEN 4, q 0MAX
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
4HE LOWER THRESHOLD 4, DETERMINES THE PROBABILITY THAT THE CORRECT RADAR TRACK IE
THE ONE ASSOCIATED WITH THE $& SIGNAL WILL BE INCORRECTLY REJECTED FROM FURTHER CONSID
ERATION )F THE DESIRED REJECTION RATE FOR THE CORRECT TRACK IS 02 ONE CAN OBTAIN THIS BY
SETTING 4, 02 4HE THRESHOLD 4( IS SET EQUAL TO 0FA DEFINED AS THE PROBABILITY OF FALSELY
ASSOCIATING A RADAR TRACK WITH A $& SIGNAL WHEN THE $& SIGNAL DOES NOT BELONG WITH
THE RADAR TRACK 4HE THRESHOLD 4( IS A FUNCTION OF THE AZIMUTH DIFFERENCE L BETWEEN THE
TRUE $& POSITION AND THE RADAR TRACK UNDER CONSIDERATION 4HE THRESHOLD 4( WAS FOUND
FOR L R AND L R BY SIMULATION TECHNIQUES AND THE RESULTS FOR 0FA ARE
SHOWN IN &IGURE "ETWEEN THE HIGH AND LOW THRESHOLDS THERE IS A TENTATIVE REGION
4HE MIDDLE THRESHOLD DIVIDES THE hTENTATIVEv REGION INTO A TENTATIVELY CORRELATED REGION
AND A TENTATIVELY UNCORRELATED REGION 4HE RATIONALE IN SETTING THE THRESHOLD IS TO SET THE
TWO ASSOCIATED ERROR PROBABILITIES EQUAL FOR A PARTICULAR SEPARATION 4HE THRESHOLD 4-
WAS FOUND BY USING SIMULATION TECHNIQUES AND IS ALSO SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HE PROBABILITY MARGIN 2 ENSURES THE SELECTION OF THE PROPER $& RADAR ASSOCIATION
AVOIDING RAPIDLY CHANGING DECISIONS WHEN THERE ARE TWO OR MORE RADAR TRACKS CLOSE
TO ONE ANOTHER 4HE CORRECT SELECTION IS REACHED BY POSTPONING A DECISION UNTIL THE TWO
HIGHEST ASSOCIATION PROBABILITIES DIFFER BY 2 4HE VALUE FOR 2 IS FOUND BY SPECIFYING A
PROBABILITY OF AN ASSOCIATION ERROR 0E ACCORDING TO 0E 0 0MAX q 0NEXT 2 WHERE
0MAX CORRESPONDS TO AN INCORRECT ASSOCIATION AND 0NEXT CORRESPONDS TO THE CORRECT
ASSOCIATION 4HE PROBABILITY MARGIN 2 IS A FUNCTION OF 0E AND THE SEPARATION L OF THE
RADAR TRACKS 4HE PROBABILITY MARGIN 2 WAS FOUND FOR L R R AND R BY
USING SIMULATION TECHNIQUES AND THE RESULTS FOR 0E ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE
&)'52% (IGH THRESHOLD SOLID LINES AND MIDDLE THRESHOLD DASHED LINES
VERSUS NUMBER OF SAMPLES FOR TWO DIFFERENT SEPARATIONS AFTER '6 4RUNK AND *$
7ILSON )%%%
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0ROBABILITY MARGIN VERSUS NUMBER OF $& DETECTIONS FOR
THREE DIFFERENT TARGET SEPARATIONS 4HE OS XS AND $S ARE THE SIMULATION
RESULTS FOR L L AND L RESPECTIVELY AFTER '6 4RUNK AND
*$ 7ILSON )%%%
"ECAUSE THE CURVES CROSS ONE ANOTHER ONE CAN ENSURE THAT 0E a FOR ANY L BY SETTING
2 EQUAL TO THE MAXIMUM VALUE OF ANY CURVE FOR EACH VALUE OF N
4HE ALGORITHM WAS EVALUATED BY USING SIMULATIONS AND RECORDED DATA 7HEN THE
RADAR TRACKS ARE SEPARATED BY SEVERAL STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF THE DETECTION ERROR COR
RECT DECISIONS ARE MADE RAPIDLY (OWEVER IF THE RADAR TRACKS ARE CLOSE TO ONE ANOTHER
ERRORS ARE AVOIDED BY POSTPONING THE DECISION UNTIL SUFFICIENT DATA ARE ACCUMULATED !N
INTERESTING EXAMPLE WITH RECORDED DATA IS SHOWN IN &IGURES AND &IGURE
SHOWS THE RADAR AZIMUTH DETECTIONS OF THE CONTROL AIRCRAFT THE RADAR DETECTIONS OF FOUR
AIRCRAFT OF OPPORTUNITY IN THE VICINITY OF THE CONTROL AIRCRAFT AND THE $& DETECTIONS ON
THE RADAR ON THE CONTROL AIRCRAFT 4HE ASSOCIATION PROBABILITIES WITH AND WITHOUT LIMIT
ING IN %Q ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE )NITIALLY AN AIRCRAFT OF OPPORTUNITY HAS THE
HIGHEST ASSOCIATION PROBABILITY HOWEVER A FIRM DECISION IS NOT MADE BECAUSE 0MAX
DOES NOT EXCEED 0NEXT BY THE PROBABILITY MARGIN !FTER THE TH $& DETECTION THE
EMITTER IS FIRMLY CORRELATED WITH THE CONTROL AIRCRAFT (OWEVER AT THE TH $& DETEC
TION A VERY BAD DETECTION OUTLIER IS MADE AND THE FIRM CORRELATION IS DOWNGRADED
TO A TENTATIVE CORRELATION IF LIMITING IS NOT USED )F LIMITING IS EMPLOYED HOWEVER THE
CORRECT DECISION REMAINS FIRM
)N A COMPLEX ENVIRONMENT WHERE THERE ARE MANY RADAR TRACKS AND $& SIGNAL SOURCES
IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE THAT MANY $& SIGNALS WILL BE ASSIGNED THE CATEGORY THAT THE $&
SIGNAL PROBABLY GOES WITH SOME RADAR TRACK 4O REMOVE MANY OF THESE AMBIGUITIES
MULTISITE $& OPERATION CAN BE CONSIDERED 4HE EXTENSION OF THE PREVIOUS PROCEDURES
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
&)'52% 2ADAR DETECTIONS O AND $& DETECTIONS COLLECTED ON THE CONTROL AIRCRAFT 4HE OS
$S S AND XS ARE RADAR DETECTIONS ON FOUR AIRCRAFT OF OPPORTUNITY IN THE VICINITY OF THE CONTROL
AIRCRAFT AFTER '6 4RUNK AND *$ 7ILSON )%%%
&)'52% !SSOCIATION PROBABILITIES FOR EXPERIMENTAL DATA 4HE BOLD LINES ARE PROBABILITIES FOR
THE CONTROL AIRCRAFT THE SOLID LINE FOR LIMITING THE DASHED LINE FOR NO LIMITING THE THIN LINE THE ASSO
CIATION PROBABILITY FOR THE AIRCRAFT OF OPPORTUNITY AND THE THIN DASHED LINES THE THRESHOLDS 4- AND 4(
AFTER '6 4RUNK AND *$ 7ILSON )%%%
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
TO MULTISITE OPERATION IS STRAIGHTFORWARD 3PECIFICALLY IF PETI AND PETK ARE THE $&
ANGLE DETECTIONS WITH RESPECT TO SITES AND AND IF PJTI AND PJTK ARE THE ESTI
MATED ANGULAR POSITIONS OF RADAR TRACK J WITH RESPECT TO SITES AND THEN THE MULTISITE
SQUARED ERROR IS SIMPLY
N J
N J
D J MIN ;Q E TI Q J TI = S MIN ;Q E TK Q J TK = S
I
K
4HE PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED PROCEDURE CAN THEN BE USED WITH DJ BEING DEFINED BY
%Q INSTEAD OF %Q
,
,
* ) -ARCUM h! STATISTICAL THEORY OF TARGET DETECTION BY PULSED RADAR v )2% 4RANS VOL )4
PP n !PRIL
0 3WERLING h0ROBABILITY OF DETECTION FOR FLUCTUATING TARGETS v )2% 4RANS VOL )4
PP n
!PRIL
* .EYMAN AND % 3 0EARSON h/N THE PROBLEMS OF THE MOST EFFICIENT TESTS OF STATISTICAL HYPOTH
ESES v 0HILOS 4RANS 2 3OC ,ONDON VOL SER ! P
, 6 "LAKE h4HE EFFECTIVE NUMBER OF PULSES PER BEAMWIDTH FOR A SCANNING RADAR v 0ROC )2%
VOL PP n *UNE
' 6 4RUNK h#OMPARISON OF THE COLLAPSING LOSSES IN LINEAR AND SQUARE
LAW DETECTORS v 0ROC
)%%% VOL PP n *UNE
0 3WERLING h-AXIMUM ANGULAR ACCURACY OF A PULSED SEARCH RADAR v 0ROC )2% VOL PP n
3EPTEMBER
' 6 4RUNK h3URVEY OF RADAR !$4 v .AVAL 2ES ,AB 2EPT *UNE
' 6 4RUNK h#OMPARISON OF TWO SCANNING RADAR DETECTORS 4HE MOVING WINDOW AND THE FEEDBACK
INTEGRATOR v )%%% 4RANS VOL !%3
PP n -ARCH
' 6 4RUNK h$ETECTION RESULTS FOR SCANNING RADARS EMPLOYING FEEDBACK INTEGRATION v )%%% 4RANS
VOL !%3
PP n *ULY
' 6 4RUNK AND " ( #ANTRELL h!NGULAR ACCURACY OF A SCANNING RADAR EMPLOYING A
POLE INTEGRA
TOR v )%%% 4RANS VOL !%3
PP n 3EPTEMBER
" ( #ANTRELL AND ' 6 4RUNK h#ORRECTIONS TO @ANGULAR ACCURACY OF A SCANNING RADAR EMPLOYING
A TWO
POLE FILTER v )%%% 4RANS VOL !%3
PP n .OVEMBER
$ # #OOPER AND * 7 2 'RIFFITHS h6IDEO INTEGRATION IN RADAR AND SONAR SYSTEMS v * "RIT )2%
VOL PP n -AY
6 ' (ANSEN h0ERFORMANCE OF THE ANALOG MOVING WINDOW DETECTION v )%%% 4RANS VOL !%3
PP n -ARCH
0 3WERLING h4HE @DOUBLE THRESHOLD METHOD OF DETECTION v 0ROJECT 2AND 2ES -EM 2-
$ECEMBER
* 6 (ARRINGTON h!N ANALYSIS OF THE DETECTION OF REPEATED SIGNALS IN NOISE BY BINARY INTEGRATION v
)2% 4RANS VOL )4
PP n -ARCH
- 3CHWARTZ h! COINCIDENCE PROCEDURE FOR SIGNAL DETECTION v )2% 4RANS VOL )T
PP n
$ECEMBER
$ ( #OOPER h"INARY QUANTIZATION OF SIGNAL AMPLITUDES EFFECT FOR RADAR ANGULAR ACCURACY v )%%%
4RANS VOL !NE
PP n -ARCH
' - $ILLARD h! MOVING
WINDOW DETECTOR FOR BINARY INTEGRATION v )%%% 4RANS VOL )4
PP n *ANUARY
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
xx
$ # 3CHLEHER h2ADAR DETECTION IN LOG NORMAL CLUTTER v IN )%%% )NT 2ADAR #ONF 7ASHINGTON
$# PP n
h2ADAR PROCESSING SUBSYSTEM EVALUATION v VOL *OHNS (OPKINS 5NIVERSITY !PPL 0HYS ,AB
2EPT &0 4 .OVEMBER
( - &INN AND 2 3 *OHNSON h!DAPTIVE DETECTION MODE WITH THRESHOLD CONTROL AS A FUNCTION OF
SPACIALLY SAMPLED CLUTTER LEVEL ESTIMATES v 2#! 2EV VOL PP n 3EPTEMBER
2 , -ITCHELL AND * & 7ALKER h2ECURSIVE METHODS FOR COMPUTING DETECTION PROBABILITIES v )%%%
4RANS VOL !%3 PP n *ULY
' 6 4RUNK AND * $ 7ILSON h!UTOMATIC DETECTOR FOR SUPPRESSION OF SIDELOBE INTERFERENCE v IN
)%%% #ONF $ECISION #ONTROL $ECEMBER n PP n
' 6 4RUNK AND 0 + (UGHES )) h!UTOMATIC DETECTORS FOR FREQUENCY AGILE RADAR v IN )%% )NT
2ADAR #ONF ,ONDON PP n
' 6 4RUNK " ( #ANTRELL AND & $ 1UEEN h-ODIFIED GENERALIZED SIGN TEST PROCESSOR FOR $
RADAR v )%%% 4RANS VOL !%3 PP 3EPTEMBER
* 4 2ICKARD AND ' - $ILLARD h!DAPTIVE DETECTION ALGORITHMS FOR MULTIPLE TARGET SITUATIONS v
)%%% 4RANS VOL !%3 PP n *ULY
( - &INN h! #&!2 DESIGN FOR A WINDOW SPANNING TWO CLUTTER FIELDS v )%%% 4RANS VOL !%3
PP n -ARCH
" ! 'REEN h2ADAR DETECTION PROBABILITY WITH LOGARITHMIC DETECTORS v )2% 4RANS VOL )4
-ARCH
6 ' (ANSEN AND * 2 7ARD h$ETECTION PERFORMANCE OF THE CELL AVERAGE LOG#&!2 RECEIVER v
)%%% 4RANS VOL !%3 PP n 3EPTEMBER
' - $ILLARD AND # % !NTONIAK h! PRACTICAL DISTRIBUTION FREE DETECTION PROCEDURE FOR MULTIPLE
RANGE BIN RADARS v )%%% 4RANS VOL !%3 PP n 3EPTEMBER
6 ' (ANSEN AND " ! /LSEN h.ONPARAMETRIC RADAR EXTRACTION USING A GENERALIZED SIGN TEST v
)%%% 4RANS VOL !%3 3EPTEMBER
7 ' "ATH , ! "IDDISON 3 & (AASE AND % # 7ETZLAR h&ALSE ALARM CONTROL IN AUTOMATED
RADAR SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS v IN )%% )NT 2ADAR #ONF ,ONDON PP n
# % -UEHE , #ARTLEDGE 7 ( $RURY % - (OFSTETTER - ,ABITT 0 " -C#ORISON AND 6 *
3FERRINO h.EW TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL RADARS v 0ROC )%%% VOL PP n
*UNE
' 6 4RUNK h2ANGE RESOLUTION OF TARGETS USING AUTOMATIC DETECTORS v )%%% 4RANS VOL !%3
PP n 3EPTEMBER
' 6 4RUNK h2ANGE RESOLUTION OF TARGETS v )%%% 4RANS VOL !%3 PP n .OVEMBER
'6 4RUNK AND 3 - "ROCKETT h2ANGE AND VELOCITY AMBIGUITY RESOLUTION v IN )%%% .ATIONAL
2ADAR #ONF "OSTON PP n
'6 4RUNK AND - +IM h!MBIGUITY RESOLUTION OF MULTIPLE TARGETS USING PULSE DOPPLER WAVE
FORMS v )%%% 4RANS VOL !%3 PP /CTOBER
( ,EUNG : (U AND - "LANCHETTE h%VALUATION OF MULTIPLE RADAR TARGET TRACKERS IN STRESSFUL
ENVIRONMENTS v )%%% 4RANS !EROSPACE AND %LECTRONIC 3YSTEMS VOL NO PP n
" ( #ANTRELL ' 6 4RUNK AND * $ 7ILSON h4RACKING SYSTEM FOR TWO ASYNCHRONOUSLY SCANNING
RADARS v .AVAL 2ES ,AB 2EPT
7 $ 3TUCKEY h!CTIVITY CONTROL PRINCIPLES FOR AUTOMATIC TRACKING ALGORITHMS v IN )%%% 2ADAR
#ONFERENCE PP n
4 2 "ENEDICT AND ' 7 "ORDNER h3YNTHESIS OF AN OPTIMAL SET OF RADAR TRACK WHILE SCAN FILTERING
EQUATIONS v )2% 4RANS VOL !# PP n
2 % +ALMAN h! NEW APPROACH TO LINEAR FILTERING AND PREDICTION PROBLEMS v * "ASIC %NG !3-%
4RANS SER $ VOL PP n
2 % +ALMAN AND 2 3 "UCY h.EW RESULTS IN LINEAR FILTERING AND PREDICTION THEORY v * "ASIC %NG
!3-% 4RANS SER $ VOL PP n
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3 "LACKMAN AND 2 0OPOLI $ESIGN AND !NALYSIS OF -ODERN 4RACKING 3YSTEMS "OSTON !RTECH
2 ! 3INGER h%STIMATING OPTIMAL TRACKING FILTER PERFORMANCE FOR MANNED MANEUVERING TARGETS v
)%%% 4RANS VOL !%3 PP n
" &RIEDLAND h/PTIMUM STEADY STATE POSITION AND VELOCITY ESTIMATION USING NOISY SAMPLED POSI
TION DATA v )%%% 4RANS VOL !%3 P
0 +ALATA h4HE TRACKING INDEX ! GENERALIZED PARAMETER FOR @ A AND @ A F TARGET TRACKERS v
)%%% 4RANS !EROSPACE AND %LECTRONIC 3YSTEMS !%3 PP n
7 $ "LAIR AND 9 "AR 3HALOM h4RACKING MANEUVERING TARGETS WITH MULTIPLE SENSORS $OES MORE
DATA ALWAYS MEAN BETTER ESTIMATES v )%%% 4RANS !EROSPACE AND %LECTRONIC 3YSTEMS VOL
PP
& 2#ASTELLA h!NALYTICAL RESULTS FOR THE X Y +ALMAN TRACKING FILTER v )%%% 4RANS !EROSPACE AND
%LECTRONIC 3YSTEMS .OVEMBER VOL PP
2 & &ITZGERALD h3IMPLE TRACKING FILTERS 3TEADY STATE FILTERING AND SMOOTHING PERFORMANCE v
)%%% 4RANS !EROSPACE AND %LECTRONIC 3YSTEMS VOL !%3 PP n
' * 0ORTMANN * -OORE AND 7 ' "ATH h3EPARATED COVARIANCE FILTERING v IN 2EC )%%%
)NTERNATIONAL 2ADAR #ONFERENCE PP n
0 -OOKERJEE AND & 2EIFLER h2EDUCED STATE ESTIMATOR FOR SYSTEMS WITH PARAMETRIC INPUTS v )%%%
4RANS !EROSPACE AND %LECTRONIC 3YSTEMS VOL NO PP n
! 3 'ELB !PPLIED /PTIMAL %STIMATION #AMBRIDGE -! -)4 0RESS
& 2 #ASTELLA h-ULTISENSOR MULTISITE TRACKING FILTER v )%% 0ROC 2ADAR 3ONAR .AVIGATION
VOL ISSUE PP n
% ! 7AN 2 VAN DER -ERWE AND ! 4 .ELSON h$UAL ESTIMATION AND THE UNSCENTED TRANSFORMA
TION v IN !DVANCES IN .EURAL )NFORMATION 0ROCESSING 3YSTEMS #AMBRIDGE -)4 0RESS
PP n
' ! 7ATSON AND 7 $ "LAIR h)-- ALGORITHM FOR TRACKING TARGETS THAT MANEUVER THROUGH COORDI
NATED TURNS v 30)% 3IGNAL AND $ATA 0ROCESSING OF 3MALL 4ARGETS VOL PP n
2 #OOPERMAN h4ACTICAL BALLISTIC MISSILE TRACKING USING THE INTERACTING MULTIPLE MODEL
ALGORITHM v IN 0ROC &IFTH )NTERNATIONAL #ONFERENCE ON )NFORMATION &USION VOL
PP n
# , -OREFIELD h!PPLICATION OF n INTEGER PROGRAMMING TO MULTI TARGET TRACKING PROBLEMS v
)%%% 4RANS VOL !# PP n
2 *ONKER AND ! 6OLGENANT h! SHORTEST AUGMENTING PATH ALGORITHM FOR DENSE AND SPARSE LINEAR
ASSIGNMENT PROBLEMS v #OMPUTING VOL NO PP n
$ "ERTSEKAS h4HE AUCTION ALGORITHM FOR ASSIGNMENT AND OTHER NETWORK FLOW PROBLEMS ! TUTO
RIAL v )NTERFACES VOL PP n
) +ADAR % %ADAN AND 2 'ASSNER h#OMPARISON OF ROBUSTIZED ASSIGNMENT ALGORITHMS v 30)%
VOL PP n
9 "AR 3HALOM AND % 4SE h4RACKING IN A CLUTTERED ENVIRONMENT WITH PROBABILISTIC DATA ASSOCIA
TION v !UTOMATICA VOL PP n
3 " #OLEGROVE AND * + !YLIFFE h!N EXTENSION OF PROBABILISTIC DATA ASSOCIATION TO INCLUDE
TRACK INITIATION AND TERMINATION v IN TH )2%% )NT #ONV $IG -ELBOURNE !USTRAILIA
PP n
3 " #OLEGROVE ! 7 $AVIS AND * + !YLIFFE h4RACK INITIATION AND NEAREST NEIGHBORS INCORPO
RATED INTO PROBABILISTIC DATA ASSOCIATION v * %LEC %LECTRON %NG !USTRALIA )% !UST AND )2%%
!UST VOL PP n
9 "AR 3HALOM AND 4 &ORTMANN 4RACKING AND $ATA !SSOCIATION /RLANDO &, !CADEMIC 0RESS
2 7 3ITTLER h!N OPTIMAL ASSOCIATION PROBLEM IN SURVEILLANCE THEORY v )%%% 4RANS VOL -),
PP n
* * 3TEIN AND 3 3 "LACKMAN h'ENERALIZED CORRELATION OF MULTI TARGET TRACK DATA v )%%% 4RANS
VOL !%3 PP n
!54/-!4)# $%4%#4)/. 42!#+).' !.$ 3%.3/2 ).4%'2!4)/.
' 6 4RUNK AND * $ 7ILSON h4RACK INITIATION OF OCCASIONALLY UNRESOLVED RADAR TARGETS v )%%%
4RANS VOL !%3 PP n
7 +OCH h/N "AYESIAN -(4 FOR WELL SEPARATED TARGETS IN DENSELY CLUTTERED ENVIRONMENT v IN
0ROC )%%% )NTERNATIONAL 2ADAR #ONFERENCE PP n
$ * 3ALMOND h-IXTURE REDUCTION ALGORITHMS FOR TARGET TRACKING IN CLUTTER v 30)% 3IGNAL AND
$ATA 0ROCESSING OF 3MALL 4ARGETS VOL PP n
2 * 0RENGAMAN 2 % 4HURBER AND 7 ' "ATH h! RETROSPECTIVE DETECTION ALGORITHM FOR EXTRAC
TION OF WEAK TARGETS IN CLUTTER AND INTERFERENCE ENVIRONMENTS v IN )%%% )NT 2ADAR #ONF ,ONDON
PP n
. ,EVINE h! NEW TECHNIQUE FOR INCREASING THE FLEXIBILITY OF RECURSIVE LEAST SQUARES SMOOTHING v
"ELL 3YSTEM 4ECHNICAL *OURNAL PP n
7 ' "ATH - % "ALDWIN AND 7 $ 3TUCKEY h#ASCADED SPATIAL CORRELATION PROCESSES FOR DENSE
CONTACT ENVIRONMENTS v IN 0ROC 2!$!2 PP n
2 * 0RENGAMAN 2 % 4HURBER AND 7 ' "ATH h! RETROSPECTIVE DETECTION ALGORITHM FOR EXTRAC
TION OF WEAK TARGETS IN CLUTTER AND INTERFERENCE ENVIRONMENTS v IN )%%% )NT 2ADAR #ONF ,ONDON
PP n
% 2 "ILLAM h0ARAMETER OPTIMISATION IN PHASED ARRAY RADAR v IN 2ADAR "RIGHTON 5+ n
/CTOBER PP n
' 6 4RUNK * $ 7ILSON AND 0 + (UGHES )) h0HASED ARRAY PARAMETER OPTIMIZATION FOR LOW
ALTITUDE TARGETS v IN )%%% )NTERNATIONAL 2ADAR #ONFERENCE -AY PP n
7 "ATH h4RADEOFFS IN RADAR NETWORKING v IN 0ROC )%% 2!$!2 PP n
* 2 -OORE AND 7 $ "LAIR h0RACTICAL ASPECTS OF MULTISENSOR TRACKING v IN -ULTITARGET -ULTISENSOR
4RACKING !PPLICATIONS AND !DVANCES 6OL ))) "OSTON !RTECH (OUSE
* / #OLEMAN h$ISCRIMINANTS FOR ASSIGNING PASSIVE BEARING OBSERVATIONS TO RADAR TARGETS v IN
)%%% )NT 2ADAR #ONF 7ASHINGTON $# PP n
' 6 4RUNK AND * $ 7ILSON h!SSOCIATION OF $& BEARING MEASUREMENTS WITH RADAR TRACKS v )%%%
4RANS VOL !%3 PP n
' 6 4RUNK AND * $ 7ILSON h#ORRELATION OF $& BEARING MEASUREMENTS WITH RADAR TRACKS v IN
)%%% )NT 2ADAR #ONF ,ONDON PP n
#HAPTER
*i
i,>`>
V>i, Vvv
7/ii
,OCKHEED -ARTIN -3
n /," 1
/"
! PULSE COMPRESSION RADAR TRANSMITS A LONG PULSE WITH PULSEWIDTH 4 AND PEAK POWER
0T WHICH IS CODED USING FREQUENCY OR PHASE MODULATION TO ACHIEVE A BANDWIDTH
" THAT IS LARGE COMPARED TO THAT OF AN UNCODED PULSE WITH THE SAME DURATION 4HE
TRANSMIT PULSEWIDTH IS CHOSEN TO ACHIEVE THE SINGLE
PULSE TRANSMIT ENERGY GIVEN
BY %T 0T4 THAT IS REQUIRED FOR TARGET DETECTION OR TRACKING 4HE RECEIVED ECHO
IS PROCESSED USING A PULSE COMPRESSION FILTER TO YIELD A NARROW COMPRESSED PULSE
RESPONSE WITH A MAINLOBE WIDTH OF APPROXIMATELY " THAT DOES NOT DEPEND ON THE
DURATION OF THE TRANSMITTED PULSE
&IGURE SHOWS A BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A BASIC PULSE COMPRESSION RADAR 4HE CODED
PULSE IS GENERATED AT A LOW POWER LEVEL IN THE WAVEFORM GENERATOR AND AMPLIFIED TO THE
REQUIRED PEAK TRANSMIT POWER USING A POWER AMPLIFIER TRANSMITTER 4HE RECEIVED SIGNAL
IS MIXED TO AN INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY )& AND AMPLIFIED BY THE )& AMPLIFIER 4HE SIG
NAL IS THEN PROCESSED USING A PULSE COMPRESSION FILTER THAT CONSISTS OF A MATCHED FILTER
TO ACHIEVE MAXIMUM SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO 3.2 !S DISCUSSED BELOW THE MATCHED
FILTER IS FOLLOWED BY A WEIGHTING FILTER IF REQUIRED FOR REDUCTION OF TIME SIDELOBES 4HE
OUTPUT OF THE PULSE COMPRESSION FILTER IS APPLIED TO AN ENVELOPE DETECTOR AMPLIFIED BY
THE VIDEO AMPLIFIER AND DISPLAYED TO AN OPERATOR
4HE RATIO OF THE TRANSMIT PULSEWIDTH TO THE COMPRESSED PULSE MAINLOBE WIDTH IS
DEFINED AS THE PULSE COMPRESSION RATIO 4HE PULSE COMPRESSION RATIO IS APPROXIMATELY
4" OR 4" WHERE 4" IS DEFINED AS THE TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCT OF THE WAVEFORM
4YPICALLY THE PULSE COMPRESSION RATIO AND TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCT ARE LARGE COMPARED
TO UNITY
4HE USE OF PULSE COMPRESSION PROVIDES SEVERAL PERFORMANCE ADVANTAGES 4HE
INCREASED DETECTION RANGE CAPABILITY OF A LONG
PULSE RADAR SYSTEM IS ACHIEVED WITH
PULSE COMPRESSION WHILE RETAINING THE RANGE RESOLUTION CAPABILITY OF A RADAR THAT
USES A NARROW UNCODED PULSE 4HE REQUIRED TRANSMITTED ENERGY CAN BE ESTABLISHED BY
4HE AUTHORS WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE USE OF MATERIAL PREVIOUSLY PREPARED BY %DWARD # &ARNETT AND
'EORGE ( 3TEVENS FOR THE h0ULSE #OMPRESSION 2ADARv CHAPTER IN THE SECOND EDITION OF THE 2ADAR (ANDBOOK
EDITED BY -ERRILL ) 3KOLNIK
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!
"#
!
"
&)'52% "LOCK DIAGRAM OF A BASIC PULSE COMPRESSION RADAR
INCREASING THE WAVEFORM PULSEWIDTH WITHOUT EXCEEDING CONSTRAINTS ON TRANSMITTER PEAK
POWER 4HE AVERAGE POWER OF THE RADAR MAY BE INCREASED WITHOUT INCREASING THE PULSE
REPETITION FREQUENCY 02& AND HENCE DECREASING THE RADARS UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE )N
ADDITION THE RADAR IS LESS VULNERABLE TO INTERFERING SIGNALS THAT DIFFER FROM THE CODED
TRANSMITTED SIGNAL
4HE MAINLOBE OF THE COMPRESSED PULSE AT THE OUTPUT OF THE MATCHED FILTER HAS TIME
OR RANGE SIDELOBES THAT OCCUR WITHIN TIME INTERVALS OF DURATION 4 BEFORE AND AFTER THE
PEAK OF THE PEAK OF THE COMPRESSED PULSE 4HE TIME SIDELOBES CAN CONCEAL TARGETS
WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE BE RESOLVED USING A NARROW UNCODED PULSE )N SOME CASES SUCH
AS PHASE
CODED WAVEFORMS OR NONLINEAR FREQUENCY MODULATION WAVEFORMS MATCHED
FILTER PROCESSING ALONE ACHIEVES ACCEPTABLE TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS (OWEVER FOR THE CASE
OF A LINEAR FREQUENCY MODULATION WAVEFORM THE MATCHED FILTER IS GENERALLY FOLLOWED
BY A WEIGHTING FILTER TO PROVIDE A REDUCTION IN TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS )N THIS CASE THE
WEIGHTING FILTER RESULTS IN A SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO LOSS COMPARED TO THAT OF MATCHED FILTER
PROCESSING ALONE
n *1 -
" *,
--" 76
", /9*
4HE FOLLOWING SECTIONS DESCRIBE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LINEAR AND NONLINEAR FRE
QUENCY MODULATION WAVEFORMS PHASE
CODED WAVEFORMS AND TIME
FREQUENCY CODED
WAVEFORMS 4HE APPLICATION OF SURFACE ACOUSTIC WAVE 3!7 DEVICES FOR LINEAR FRE
QUENCY MODULATION ,&- WAVEFORM PULSE COMPRESSION IS DISCUSSED 7AVEFORM
SIGNAL ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES MATCHED FILTER PROPERTIES AND THE WAVEFORM AUTOCOR
RELATION AND AMBIGUITY FUNCTION DEFINITIONS USED ARE SUMMARIZED IN THE !PPENDIX
AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
,INEAR &REQUENCY -ODULATION 4HE LINEAR FREQUENCY MODULATION OR CHIRP
WAVEFORM HAS A RECTANGULAR AMPLITUDE MODULATION WITH PULSEWIDTH 4 AND A LINEAR
FREQUENCY MODULATION WITH A SWEPT BANDWIDTH " APPLIED OVER THE PULSE 4HE TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCT OF THE ,&- WAVEFORM IS EQUAL TO 4" WHERE 4" IS THE PRODUCT OF
PULSEWIDTH AND SWEPT BANDWIDTH 4HE D" WIDTH OF THE COMPRESSED PULSE AT THE OUT
PUT OF THE MATCHED FILTER IS S " FOR LARGE VALUES OF TIME BANDWIDTH PRODUCT
4HE PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL OF THE COMPRESSED PULSE IS n D"
!S DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION A FREQUENCY DOMAIN WEIGHTING FILTER IS GENERALLY
REQUIRED FOLLOWING THE MATCHED FILTER TO PROVIDE REDUCED TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS AT THE
COST OF REDUCED 3.2 AND AN INCREASE IN THE WIDTH OF THE COMPRESSED PULSE !S AN
EXAMPLE THE USE OF D" 4AYLOR WEIGHTING REDUCES THE PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL FROM
n D" TO n D" AND INTRODUCES A D" LOSS IN 3.2 4HE D" WIDTH OF THE COM
PRESSED PULSE WITH WEIGHTING INCREASES FROM S " TO S "
4HE ,&- WAVEFORM HAS A KNIFE EDGE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION WITH CONTOURS THAT ARE
APPROXIMATELY ELLIPTICAL WITH A MAJOR AXIS DEFINED BY THE LINE V @S WHERE @ o "4
IS THE ,&- SLOPE 4HIS PROPERTY INTRODUCES RANGE DOPPLER COUPLING AT THE MATCHED FILTER
OUTPUT CAUSING THE MATCHED FILTER OUTPUT PEAK TO OCCUR EARLIER IN TIME FOR A TARGET WITH A
POSITIVE DOPPLER FREQUENCY COMPARED TO A STATIONARY TARGET AT THE SAME RANGE ASSUMING
A POSITIVE LINEAR FREQUENCY MODULATION SLOPE AND LATER IN TIME FOR A NEGATIVE SLOPE
4HE COMPRESSED PULSE SHAPE AND 3.2 ARE TOLERANT TO DOPPLER SHIFT FOR THE ,&-
WAVEFORM !S A RESULT IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO IMPLEMENT MULTIPLE MATCHED FILTERS TO
COVER THE RANGE OF EXPECTED TARGET DOPPLER SHIFTS
,&- 7AVEFORM $EFINITION 4HE ,&- WAVEFORM IS A SINGLE PULSE BANDPASS SIGNAL
DEFINED AS
XT ! RECT T4 COS ;O F T O@ T=
WHERE 4 IS THE PULSEWIDTH F IS THE CARRIER FREQUENCY @ IS THE ,&- SLOPE AND THE RECT
FUNCTION IS DEFINED AS
\ X \
RECTX
\ X \
4HE ,&- SLOPE IS GIVEN BY @ o "4 WHERE THE PLUS SIGN APPLIES FOR A POSITIVE
,&- SLOPE TERMED AN UP
CHIRP AND THE MINUS SIGN FOR A NEGATIVE ,&- SLOPE A DOWN
CHIRP 4HE AMPLITUDE MODULATION IS AT ! RECT T4 AND THE PHASE MODULATION IS A
QUADRATIC FUNCTION OF TIME
E T O@ T
4HE FREQUENCY MODULATION DEFINED AS THE INSTANTANEOUS FREQUENCY DEVIATION FROM
THE CARRIER FREQUENCY F IS EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE PHASE MODULATION BY
FI T
DF
P DT
4HE FREQUENCY MODULATION FOR AN ,&- WAVEFORM IS LINEAR WITH SLOPE EQUAL TO @
FI T A T o " 4 T \ T \ a 4
n{
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WHERE THE PLUS SIGN APPLIES FOR A POSITIVE ,&- SLOPE AND THE MINUS SIGN FOR A NEGATIVE
SLOPE 4HE COMPLEX ENVELOPE OF THE ,&- WAVEFORM IS EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE
AMPLITUDE AND PHASE MODULATION FUNCTIONS AS
UT ! RECTT4 EJO @ T
&IGURE SHOWS AN EXAMPLE OF AN ,&- BANDPASS SIGNAL WITH A PULSEWIDTH 4 S
SWEPT BANDWIDTH " -(Z AND TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCT EQUAL TO 4" 4HE ,&-
SLOPE IS "4 -(ZS 4HE INSTANTANEOUS FREQUENCY OF THE ,&- WAVEFORM VARIES
BETWEEN AND -(Z OVER THE PULSE DURATION AS INDICATED BY THE REDUCTION IN THE
SPACING OF SUCCESSIVE POSITIVE
GOING ZERO CROSSINGS OF THE SIGNALo
,&- 7AVEFORM 3PECTRUM 4HE SPECTRUM OF THE ,&- WAVEFORM HAS A SIGNIFI
CANT AMPLITUDE VARIATION VERSUS FREQUENCY FOR SMALL TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCTS &OR LARGE
VALUES OF TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCT THE MAGNITUDE OF THE SPECTRUM APPROACHES RECT F"
UT
RECTT 4 E JPA T
4
\ 5 F \ y RECT F " FOR 4"
4HE ,&- SPECTRUM IS EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE COMPLEX &RESNEL INTEGRAL AND THE
AMPLITUDE VARIATION PRESENT FOR LOW VALUES OF 4" IS TERMED THE &RESNEL RIPPLE
,&- 7AVEFORM !MBIGUITY &UNCTION 4HE WAVEFORM AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION AND
AMBIGUITY FUNCTION FOR AN ,&- WAVEFORM ARE GIVEN BY
C U T FD ; \ T 4 \= SINC; FD AT 4 \ T 4 \ = REECT T 4 E JP FDT
9U T FD ; \ T 4 \= SINC ; FD AT 4 \ T 4 \ = RECTT 4
WHERE THE SINC FUNCTION IS DEFINED AS
SINCX SINOX OX
4HE MATCHED FILTER TIME RESPONSE FOR A TARGET WITH DOPPLER SHIFT FD IS OBTAINED BY THE
SUBSTITUTION T nT IN THE AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION
YT C U T FD ; \ T 4 \= SINC; FD A T 4 \ T 4 \ = RECTT 4 E JP FD T
,&- 2ANGE DOPPLER #OUPLING 4HE ,&- WAVEFORM EXHIBITS RANGE DOPPLER COU
PLING WHICH CAUSES THE PEAK OF THE COMPRESSED PULSE TO SHIFT IN TIME BY AN AMOUNT
PROPORTIONAL TO THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY 4HE PEAK OCCURS EARLIER IN TIME AT T nFD4" FOR
A POSITIVE ,&- SLOPE COMPARED TO PEAK RESPONSE FOR A STATIONARY TARGET 4HE PEAK OF
THE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION IS SHIFTED TO S FD4" FOR A POSITIVE ,&- SLOPE
4IME $ELAY AND 2ANGE 2ESOLUTION 7IDTHS 4HE TIME DELAY RESOLUTION WIDTH IS EQUAL
TO THE WIDTH OF THE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION AT A SPECIFIED LEVEL RELATIVE TO THE PEAK VALUE
o ,OW VALUES OF CARRIER FREQUENCY AND TIME BANDWIDTH PRODUCT HAVE BEEN USED TO ILLUSTRATE THE VARIATION OF INSTANTA
NEOUS FREQUENCY OVER THE PULSE IN &IGURE
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
nx
&)'52% ,&- BANDPASS SIGNAL EXAMPLE SHOWN FOR 4 S " -(Z
F -(Z
&OR THE CASE OF A LARGE TIME BANDWIDTH THE MAGNITUDE OF THE AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION
MEASURED ALONG THE RELATIVE TIME DELAY AXIS IS GIVEN BY
\ C U T \ y \SINC"T \ \T \ 4
4HE X
D" TIME DELAY RESOLUTION IS MEASURED BETWEEN THE VALUES OF T FOR WHICH
LOG \ SINC"S \ X D"
4HE RANGE RESOLUTION IS EQUAL TO C TIMES THE CORRESPONDING TIME DELAY RESOLUTION
WHERE C IS THE SPEED OF LIGHT 4ABLE CONTAINS A SUMMARY OF THE RESOLUTION WIDTHS
FOR THE ,&- WAVEFORM
,&- 7AVEFORM %XAMPLES &IGURE SHOWS THE MAGNITUDE OF THE AUTOCORRELA
TION FUNCTION AS A FUNCTION OF RELATIVE TIME DELAY T FOR DOPPLER SHIFTSp OF n -(Z
AND -(Z PULSEWIDTH 4 S SWEPT BANDWIDTH " -(Z AND ,&- SLOPE
@ "4 -(ZS ! DOPPLER SHIFT OF FD " -(Z CAUSES THE PEAK OF THE
CORRELATION FUNCTION TO MOVE TO S FD4" S &IGURE SHOWS THE RESULT WHEN
THE PULSEWIDTH IS INCREASED TO S TO YIELD A WAVEFORM WITH AN ,&- SLOPE EQUAL
4!",% ,&- 7AVEFORM 4IME $ELAY AND 2ANGE 2ESOLUTION 7IDTHS
-AINLOBE 7IDTH
D"
D"
D"
D"
4IME $ELAY 2ESOLUTION S
S "
S "
S "
S "
2ANGE 2ESOLUTION M
$2 C"
$2 C"
$2 C"
$2 C"
p 4HESE VALUES OF DOPPLER SHIFT ARE LARGE FOR MICROWAVE RADARS AND WERE SELECTED TO SHOW THE EFFECT OF RANGE
DOPPLER
COUPLING
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% ,&- WAVEFORM AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION 4 S " -(Z
4"
TO -(ZS )N THIS CASE A DOPPLER SHIFT OF -(Z SHIFTS THE PEAK OF AUTOCOR
RELATION FUNCTION TO S S AN INCREASE OF A FACTOR OF TEN COMPARED TO THE RESULT
FOR A
S PULSEWIDTH
&)'52% ,&- WAVEFORM AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION 4 S " -(Z
4"
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
&REQUENCY $OMAIN 7EIGHTING FOR ,&- 4IME 3IDELOBE 2EDUCTION ! FREQUENCY
DOMAIN WEIGHTING FILTER IS USED FOLLOWING THE MATCHED FILTER FOR TIME SIDELOBE REDUCTION
4AYLOR WEIGHTING PROVIDES A REALIZABLE APPROXIMATION TO THE IDEAL $OLPH #HEBYSHEV
WEIGHTING WHICH ACHIEVES THE MINIMUM MAINLOBE WIDTH FOR A GIVEN VALUE OF PEAK
TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL 4HE FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF THE EQUIVALENT LOW PASS FILTER FOR THE
4AYLOR WEIGHING FILTER IS
N
MF
7 F &M COS P
"
M
WHERE &M IS THE 4AYLOR COEFFICIENT AND N IS THE NUMBER OF TERMS IN THE WEIGHTING FUNC
TION 4HE COMPRESSED PULSE RESPONSE AT THE OUTPUT OF THE WEIGHTING FILTER IS GIVEN BY
N
YO T SINC"T &M ;SINC"T M SINC"T M =
M
!S DISCUSSED BELOW THE COMPRESSED PULSE RESPONSE %Q IS BASED ON THE ASSUMP
TION THAT THE TIME BANDWIDTH PRODUCT OF THE ,&- WAVEFORM IS MUCH GREATER THAN UNITY
4" 4HE FILTER MATCHING LOSS FOR 4AYLOR WEIGHTING IS GIVEN BY +LAUDER ET AL AS
N
,M &M
M
&IGURE SHOWS A COMPARISON OF THE COMPRESSED PULSE RESPONSE FOR THREE FRE
QUENCY DOMAIN WEIGHTING TYPES #URVE ! IS FOR UNIFORM WEIGHTING WHERE 7 F
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF COMPRESSED
PULSE SHAPES FOR THREE FREQUENCY
DOMAIN
WEIGHTING FUNCTIONS
nn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
MATCHED FILTER PROCESSING #URVE # IS FOR 4AYLOR WEIGHTING WITH n D" PEAK TIME
SIDELOBE LEVEL N AND #URVE " IS FOR (AMMING WEIGHTING WHERE
MF
7 F & COS P
"
&
4HE 4AYLOR COEFFICIENTS FOR n D" 4AYLOR WEIGHTING N ARE LISTED HERE
&
&
&
&
&
4ABLE SHOWS THE PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL
D" AND
D" COMPRESSED
PULSE
WIDTHS AND FILTER MATCHING LOSS FOR THE THREE WEIGHTING FUNCTION TYPES 4HE APPLICATION
OF n
D" 4AYLOR WEIGHTING REDUCES THE PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL FROM n D" TO
n D" AND INCREASES THE FILTER MATCHING LOSS FROM D" TO D" 4HE
D" COM
PRESSED
PULSE MAINLOBE WIDTH INCREASES FROM " TO " WHEN n
D" 4AYLOR
WEIGHTING IS USED 4HE
D" AND
D" MAINLOBE WIDTHS AND FILTER MATCHING LOSS FOR
(AMMING WEIGHTING ARE APPROXIMATELY THE SAME AS FOR n
D" 4AYLOR WEIGHTING
4HESE RESULTS ASSUME THAT THE TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCT OF THE ,&- WAVEFORM IS
MUCH GREATER THAN UNITY SO THAT THE TIME SIDELOBE PERFORMANCE IS NOT LIMITED BY THE
&RESNEL AMPLITUDE RIPPLE IN THE SPECTRUM OF THE ,&- WAVEFORM #OOK AND 0AOLILLO
AND #OOK AND "ERNFELD HAVE ANALYZED THE EFFECT OF THE &RESNEL AMPLITUDE RIPPLE AND
PULSE RISE
TIME AND FALL
TIME ON TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS ! PHASE PREDISTORTION TECHNIQUE
IS DESCRIBED BY #OOK AND 0AOLILLO WHICH REDUCES THE &RESNEL AMPLITUDE RIPPLE TO
ALLOW LOW TIME SIDELOBES TO BE ACHIEVED FOR ,&- WAVEFORMS WITH RELATIVELY SMALL
TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCTS
2ADAR EQUIPMENT DISTORTION SOURCES ALSO ESTABLISH LIMITATIONS ON ACHIEVABLE TIME
SIDELOBE LEVELS AND ARE DISCUSSED BY +LAUDER ET AL AND #OOK AND "ERNFELD 4HE
METHOD OF PAIRED
ECHO ANALYSIS IS USED TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF AMPLITUDE AND PHASE
DISTORTION ON THE TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS &REQUENCY DOMAIN AMPLITUDE AND PHASE DIS
TORTION IS TYPICALLY CAUSED BY FILTERS AND TRANSMISSION LINE REFLECTIONS 4IME DOMAIN
AMPLITUDE AND PHASE DISTORTION TERMED MODULATION DISTORTION BY #OOK AND "ERNFELD
CAN RESULT FROM POWER SUPPLY RIPPLE IN HIGH
POWER TRANSMITTER AMPLIFIERS
4!",% #OMPARISON OF ,&- 7EIGHTING &ILTERS
7EIGHTING
&UNCTION
0EAK 4IME 3IDELOBE
,EVEL D"
D" -AINLOBE
7IDTH S
D" -AINLOBE
7IDTH S
&ILTER -ATCHING
,OSS D"
5NIFORM
4AYLOR
D" N
(AMMING
"
"
"
"
"
"
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
4AYLOR 6ERSUS #OSINE
3QUARED
0LUS
0EDESTAL 7EIGHTING &IGURE A PLOTS THE
TAPER COEFFICIENT & AND PEDESTAL HEIGHT ( VERSUS THE PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL FOR
COSINE
SQUARED
PLUS
PEDESTAL WEIGHTING &OR A GIVEN PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL 4AYLOR
WEIGHTING OFFERS THEORETICAL ADVANTAGES IN RANGE RESOLUTION AND 3.2 PERFORMANCE AS
ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE B AND &IGURE C
&)'52% A 4APER COEFFICIENT AND PEDESTAL HEIGHT VERSUS PEAK TIME SIDELOBE
LEVEL B #OMPRESSED
PULSE WIDTH VERSUS PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL C 3.2 LOSS
VERSUS PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3!7 $EVICES FOR ,&- 0ULSE #OMPRESSION ! 3URFACE !COUSTIC 7AVE 3!7
DEVICE CONSISTS OF AN INPUT TRANSDUCER AND AN OUTPUT TRANSDUCER MOUNTED ON A PIEZO
ELECTRIC SUBSTRATE 4HESE TRANSDUCERS ARE USUALLY IMPLEMENTED AS INTERDIGITAL DEVICES
THAT CONSIST OF A METAL FILM DEPOSITED ON THE SURFACE OF THE ACOUSTIC MEDIUM 4HIS METAL
FILM IS MADE OF FINGERS SEE &IGURE THAT DICTATE THE FREQUENCY CHARACTERISTIC OF THE
UNIT 4HE INPUT TRANSDUCER CONVERTS AN ELECTRICAL SIGNAL INTO A SOUND WAVE WITH OVER
OF THE ENERGY TRAVELING ALONG THE SURFACE OF THE MEDIUM 4HE OUTPUT TRANSDUCER
TAPS A PORTION OF THIS SURFACE SOUND WAVE AND CONVERTS IT BACK INTO AN ELECTRIC SIGNAL
4HE 3!7 DEVICE
HAS UNIQUE FEATURES THAT DICTATE ITS USEFULNESS FOR A GIVEN RADAR
APPLICATION )T REPRESENTS ONE OF THE FEW ANALOG PROCESSING DEVICES USED IN MODERN
RADAR 4HE ADVANTAGES OF THE 3!7 DEVICE ARE ITS COMPACT SIZE THE WIDE BANDWIDTHS
THAT CAN BE ATTAINED THE ABILITY TO TAILOR THE TRANSDUCERS TO A PARTICULAR WAVEFORM THE
ALL
RANGE COVERAGE OF THE DEVICE AND THE LOW COST OF REPRODUCING A GIVEN DESIGN 4HE
MAJOR SHORTCOMINGS OF THE 3!7 APPROACH ARE THAT THE WAVEFORM LENGTH IS RESTRICTED
3INCE SOUND TRAVELS ABOUT TO MMS ON THE SURFACE OF A 3!7 DEVICE A MM
QUARTZ DEVICE ABOUT THE LARGEST AVAILABLE HAS A USABLE DELAY OF ABOUT S FOR A
SINGLE PASS !LSO BECAUSE EACH 3!7 DEVICE IS WAVEFORM SPECIFIC EACH WAVEFORM
REQUIRES A DIFFERENT DESIGN
3!7 PULSE COMPRESSION DEVICES DEPEND ON THE INTERDIGITAL TRANSDUCER FINGER LOCA
TIONS OR THE SURFACE
ETCHED GRATING TO DETERMINE ITS BANDPASS CHARACTERISTICS &IGURE
SHOWS THREE TYPES OF FILTER DETERMINATION APPROACHES ! WIDEBAND INPUT TRANSDUCER AND
A FREQUENCY
SELECTIVE DISPERSIVE OUTPUT TRANSDUCER ARE USED IN &IGURE A 7HEN AN
IMPULSE IS APPLIED TO THE INPUT THE OUTPUT SIGNAL IS INITIALLY A LOW FREQUENCY THAT INCREASES
BASED ON THE OUTPUT TRANSDUCER FINGER SPACINGS AT LATER PORTIONS OF THE PULSE 4HIS RESULTS
&)'52% 3!7 TRANSDUCER TYPES A DISPERSIVE OUTPUT B BOTH INPUT AND OUTPUT DISPERSIVE AND
C DISPERSIVE REFLECTIONS
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
IN AN UP CHIRP WAVEFORM THAT WOULD BE A MATCHED FILTER FOR A DOWN CHIRP TRANSMITTED
WAVEFORM )N &IGURE B BOTH THE INPUT TRANSDUCER AND THE OUTPUT TRANSDUCER ARE DIS
PERSIVE WHICH WOULD RESULT IN THE SAME IMPULSE RESPONSE AS THAT SHOWN IN &IGURE A
&OR A GIVEN CRYSTAL LENGTH AND MATERIAL THE WAVEFORM DURATION FOR THE APPROACHES IN
&IGURE A AND &IGURE B WOULD BE THE SAME AND IS LIMITED TO THE TIME THAT IT TAKES
AN ACOUSTIC WAVE TO TRAVERSE THE CRYSTAL LENGTH &IGURE C SHOWS A REFLECTION ARRAY
COMPRESSION 2!# APPROACH THAT ESSENTIALLY DOUBLES THE ACHIEVABLE PULSE LENGTH FOR
THE SAME CRYSTAL LENGTH )N AN 2!# THE INPUT AND OUTPUT TRANSDUCERS HAVE A BROAD BAND
WIDTH ! FREQUENCY SENSITIVE GRATING IS ETCHED ON THE CRYSTAL SURFACE TO REFLECT A PORTION
OF THE SURFACE WAVE SIGNAL TO THE OUTPUT TRANSDUCER 4HIS GRATING COUPLING DOES NOT HAVE A
SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE SURFACE WAVE ENERGY %XCEPT FOR A INCREASE IN THE WAVEFORM
DURATION THE IMPULSE RESPONSE OF THE 2!# IS THE SAME AS FOR THE APPROACHES SHOWN IN
&IGURE A AND B 4HUS THESE THREE APPROACHES YIELD A SIMILAR IMPULSE RESPONSE
&IGURE SHOWS A SKETCH OF A 3!7 PULSE COMPRESSION DEVICE WITH DISPERSIVE
INPUT AND OUTPUT TRANSDUCERS !S THE ENERGY IN A 3!7 DEVICE IS CONCENTRATED IN ITS SUR
FACE WAVE THE 3!7 APPROACH IS MUCH MORE EFFICIENT THAN BULK WAVE DEVICES WHERE
THE WAVE TRAVELS THROUGH THE CRYSTAL 4HE PROPAGATION VELOCITY OF THE SURFACE WAVE IS
IN THE RANGE OF TO MS DEPENDING ON THE CRYSTAL MATERIAL AND ALLOWS A LARGE
DELAY IN A COMPACT DEVICE !COUSTIC ABSORBER MATERIAL IS REQUIRED AT THE CRYSTAL EDGES
TO REDUCE THE REFLECTIONS AND HENCE THE SPURIOUS RESPONSES 4HE UPPER FREQUENCY
LIMIT DEPENDS ON THE ACCURACY THAT CAN BE ACHIEVED IN THE FABRICATION OF THE INTERDIGITAL
TRANSDUCER 4HE 3!7 DEVICE MUST PROVIDE A RESPONSE THAT IS CENTERED ON A CARRIER
AS THE LOWEST FREQUENCY OF OPERATION IS ABOUT -(Z AND IS LIMITED BY THE CRYSTAL
! MATCHED FILTER 3!7 PULSE COMPRESSION DEVICE CAN USE VARIABLE FINGER LENGTHS TO
ACHIEVE FREQUENCY WEIGHTING AND THIS INTERNAL WEIGHTING CAN CORRECT FOR THE &RESNEL
AMPLITUDE RIPPLES IN THE &- SPECTRUM 7ITH THIS CORRECTION n D" TIME SIDELOBE
LEVELS CAN BE ACHIEVED FOR A LINEAR &- WAVEFORM WITH 4" AS LOW AS 4HE LEVEL OF
SIDELOBE SUPPRESSION DEPENDS UPON THE TIME BANDWIDTH PRODUCT THE WEIGHTING FUNC
TION APPLIED AND FABRICATION ERRORS IN THE 3!7 DEVICE 4IME SIDELOBE LEVELS OF n D"
HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED FOR 4" BETWEEN AND 4" PRODUCTS OF UP TO HAVE BEEN
ACHIEVED WITH TIME SIDELOBES BETTER THAN n D" $YNAMIC RANGE IS LIMITED BY NON
LINEARITIES IN THE CRYSTAL MATERIAL BUT DYNAMIC RANGES OVER D" HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED
4HE MOST COMMON 3!7 MATERIALS ARE QUARTZ LITHIUM NIOBATE AND LITHIUM TANTALITE
&)'52% 3URFACE WAVE DELAY LINE
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
.ONLINEAR &REQUENCY -ODULATION 7AVEFORMS 4HE NONLINEAR &- WAVE
FORM HAS SEVERAL DISTINCT ADVANTAGES OVER ,&- )T REQUIRES NO FREQUENCY DOMAIN
WEIGHTING FOR TIME SIDELOBE REDUCTION BECAUSE THE &- MODULATION OF THE WAVEFORM IS
DESIGNED TO PROVIDE THE DESIRED SPECTRUM SHAPE THAT YIELDS THE REQUIRED TIME SIDELOBE
LEVEL 4HIS SHAPING IS ACCOMPLISHED BY INCREASING THE RATE OF CHANGE OF FREQUENCY
MODULATION NEAR THE ENDS OF THE PULSE AND DECREASING IT NEAR THE CENTER 4HIS SERVES
TO TAPER THE WAVEFORM SPECTRUM SO THAT THE MATCHED FILTER RESPONSE HAS REDUCED TIME
SIDELOBES 4HUS THE LOSS IN SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO ASSOCIATED WITH FREQUENCY DOMAIN
WEIGHTING AS FOR THE ,&- WAVEFORM IS ELIMINATED
)F A SYMMETRICAL &- MODULATION IS USED &IGURE A WITH TIME DOMAIN AMPLITUDE
WEIGHTING TO REDUCE THE FREQUENCY SIDELOBES THE NONLINEAR &- WAVEFORM WILL HAVE A
THUMBTACK LIKE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION &IGURE ! SYMMETRICAL WAVEFORM TYPICALLY
HAS A FREQUENCY THAT INCREASES OR DECREASES WITH TIME DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE
PULSE AND DECREASES OR INCREASES DURING THE LAST HALF OF THE PULSE ! NONSYMMETRICAL
WAVEFORM IS OBTAINED BY USING ONE HALF OF A SYMMETRICAL WAVEFORM &IGURE B
(OWEVER THE NONSYMMETRICAL WAVEFORM RETAINS SOME OF THE RANGE DOPPLER COUPLING
OF THE LINEAR &- WAVEFORM
/NE OF THE PRIMARY DISADVANTAGES OF THE NONLINEAR &- WAVEFORM IS THAT IT IS LESS
DOPPLER TOLERANT THAN THE ,&- )N THE PRESENCE OF DOPPLER SHIFT THE TIME SIDELOBES
OF THE PULSE COMPRESSED .,&- TEND TO INCREASE COMPARED TO THOSE OF THE ,&-
&IGURE SHOWN LATER IN THIS SECTION AND 4ABLE ILLUSTRATE THIS BEHAVIOR FOR A TYPICAL
.,&- PULSE
4HIS CHARACTERISTIC OF THE .,&- WAVEFORM SOMETIMES NECESSITATES PROCESSING USING
MULTIPLE MATCHED FILTERS OFFSET IN DOPPLER SHIFT TO ACHIEVE THE REQUIRED TIME SIDELOBE
LEVEL "ECAUSE OF THE DOPPLER SENSITIVITY OF THE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION THE NONLINEAR FRE
QUENCY MODULATION WAVEFORM IS USEFUL IN A TRACKING SYSTEM WHERE RANGE AND DOPPLER
FREQUENCY ARE APPROXIMATELY KNOWN AND THE TARGET DOPPLER SHIFT CAN BE COMPENSATED IN
THE MATCHED FILTER 4HE NONSYMMETRICAL .,&- WAVEFORM IS USED IN THE --2 SYSTEM
FOR EXAMPLE WHICH DETECTS AND TRACKS ORDNANCE SUCH AS MORTARS ARTILLERY AND ROCKETS
4O ACHIEVE A n D" 4AYLOR COMPRESSED PULSE RESPONSE FOR EXAMPLE THE FRE
QUENCY VERSUS TIME FREQUENCY MODULATION FUNCTION OF A NONSYMMETRICAL .,&-
WAVEFORM OF BANDWIDTH " IS
T
P NT
F T " + N SIN
4
4
N
&)'52% 3YMMETRICAL AND NONSYMMETRICAL NONLINEAR &- WAVEFORMS
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
&)'52% !MBIGUITY FUNCTION OF AN ,&- WAVEFORM COMPARED TO A SYMMETRICAL .,&- WAVEFORM
WHERE THE COEFFICIENTS ARE
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
/THER .,&- WAVEFORMS THAT HAVE BEEN UTILIZED IN RADAR INCLUDE THE NONSYM
METRICAL SINE
BASED AND TANGENT
BASED WAVEFORMSe &OR THE SINE
BASED WAVEFORM THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TIME AND FREQUENCY MODULATION IS GIVEN AS
T
F
K
SIN P F "
4 " P
FOR " a F a "
WHERE 4 IS THE PULSEWIDTH " IS THE SWEPT BANDWIDTH AND K IS A TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL
CONTROL FACTOR
4YPICAL K VALUES ARE AND WHICH YIELD TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS OF n D" AND
n D" RESPECTIVELY &IGURE IS A PLOT OF PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL AS A FUNCTION OF THE
TIME SIDELOBE CONTROL FACTOR K FOR VARIOUS 4" PRODUCTS FOR THIS .,&- WAVEFORM
e #OURTESY OF %DWIN - 7ATERSCHOOT ,OCKHEED -ARTIN -ARITIME AND 3ENSOR 3YSTEMS 3YRACUSE .9
n{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0EAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL FOR A SINE BASED .,&- WAVEFORM AS
A FUNCTION OF K FACTOR #OURTESY OF $R 0ETER ( 3TOCKMANN ,OCKHEED -ARTIN
-ARITIME AND 3ENSOR 3YSTEMS 3YRACUSE .9
4HE FREQUENCY MODULATION VERSUS TIME FUNCTION FOR A TANGENT BASED WAVEFORM IS
GIVEN AS
F T " TAN B T 4 TAN B FOR 4 a T a 4
WHERE 4 IS THE PULSEWIDTH " IS THE SWEPT BANDWIDTH AND A IS DEFINED AS
B TAN A a A c
WHERE @ IS A TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL CONTROL FACTOR
7HEN @ IS ZERO THE TANGENT
BASED .,&- WAVEFORM REDUCES TO AN ,&- WAVE
FORM (OWEVER @ CANNOT BE MADE ARBITRARILY LARGE BECAUSE THE COMPRESSED PULSE
TENDS TO DISTORT #OLLINS AND !TKINS DISCUSS AN EXTENSION OF THE TANGENT
BASED .,&-
FOR WHICH THE FREQUENCY MODULATION FUNCTION IS A WEIGHTED SUM OF TANGENT
BASED AND
LINEAR FREQUENCY MODULATION TERMS
&IGURE SHOWS THE FREQUENCY MODULATION
VERSUS
TIME FUNCTIONS FOR A SINE
BASED .,&- WAVEFORM WITH K A TANGENT
BASED .,&- WAVEFORM WITH @
AND AN ,&- WAVEFORM
4HE SENSITIVITY OF A .,&- WAVEFORM TO DOPPLER SHIFT CAN BE SEEN IN &IGURE
WHICH SHOWS THE MATCHED FILTER OUTPUT FOR A SINE
BASED .,&- WAVEFORM IN THE PRES
ENCE OF DOPPLER SHIFT
4HE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION OF A .,&- SINE
BASED WAVEFORM IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
)T CAN BE NOTED THAT THIS AMBIGUITY FUNCTION IS MORE THUMBTACK
LIKE IN NATURE THAN FOR
AN ,&- WAVEFORM INDICATING THAT THIS WAVEFORM IS MORE DOPPLER SENSITIVE THAN THE
,&- WAVEFORM
4ABLE PROVIDES A COMPARISON OF .,&- WAVEFORMS WITH WEIGHTED AND
UNWEIGHTED ,&- FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF THE TARGET RADIAL VELOCITY IN TERMS OF PEAK
AND AVERAGE TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS AND 3.2 LOSS 4HE .,&- WAVEFORM SHOWS BETTER
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
nx
&)'52% &REQUENCY MODULATION
VERSUS
TIME FOR SINE
BASED .,&- TANGENT
BASED
.,&- AND ,&- WAVEFORMS
PERFORMANCE IN TERMS OF 3.2 LOSS AND PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL 43, THAN THE ,&-
WAVEFORM 4HE 43, LEVEL DOES NOT DEGRADE APPRECIABLY FOR THE ,&- WAVEFORM FOR
HIGHER RADIAL VELOCITIES DEMONSTRATING THE HIGHER DOPPLER TOLERANCE OF ,&-
&)'52% -ATCHED FILTER OUTPUT OF 3 BAND
S PULSEWIDTH
-(Z BAND
WIDTH .,&- SINE
BASED WAVEFORM WITH MS RADIAL VELOCITY #OURTESY OF %DWIN -
7ATERSCHOOT ,OCKHEED -ARTIN -ARITIME AND 3ENSOR 3YSTEMS 3YRACUSE .9
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !MBIGUITY FUNCTION OF A SINE BASED SYMMETRICAL .,&- WAVEFORM
0HASE #ODED 7AVEFORMS )N PHASE CODED WAVEFORMS THE PULSE IS SUBDIVIDED
INTO A NUMBER OF SUBPULSES EACH OF DURATION C 4. WHERE 4 IS THE PULSEWIDTH AND .
IS THE NUMBER OF SUBPULSES 0HASE CODED WAVEFORMS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY THE PHASE
MODULATION APPLIED TO EACH SUBPULSE
"INARY 0HASE #ODES ! PHASE CODED WAVEFORM THAT EMPLOYS TWO PHASES IS
CALLED BINARY OR BIPHASE CODING ! BINARY PHASE CODED WAVEFORM IS CONSTANT
IN MAGNITUDE WITH TWO PHASE VALUES n OR n 4HE BINARY CODE CONSISTS OF A
SEQUENCE OF EITHER S AND S OR S AND S 4HE PHASE OF THE SIGNAL ALTERNATES
4!",% #OMPARISON OF ,INEAR &- AND .ONLINEAR &- 7AVEFORM 0ERFORMANCE
7EIGHTING
,&- UNWEIGHTED
,&- UNWEIGHTED
,&- WITH n D"
4AYLOR WEIGHTING
,&- WITH n D"
4AYLOR WEIGHTING
3INE
BASED .,&-
WITH K
3INE
BASED .,&-
WITH K
4ARGET 2ADIAL
6ELOCITY MS
0EAK 43, D"
!VERAGE
43, D"
&ILTER -ATCHING
,OSS D"
o
o
o
!N 3 BAND RADAR WITH S TRANSMIT PULSEWIDTH AND -(Z BANDWIDTH WAS USED IN THIS COMPARISON
4HE DOPPLER SHIFT EXPRESSED IN (Z IS FD K 6R 6R WHERE 6R IS THE RADIAL VELOCITY EXPRESSED IN
MS 6R FOR AN OUT BOUND TARGET
!VERAGE OF 43, POWER RATIO
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
BETWEEN n AND n IN ACCORDANCE
WITH THE SEQUENCE OF ELEMENTS S AND
S OR S AND S IN THE PHASE CODE
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE "ECAUSE THE
FREQUENCY IS NOT USUALLY A MULTIPLE OF
THE RECIPROCAL OF THE SUBPULSE WIDTH
THE CODED SIGNAL IS GENERALLY DISCON
TINUOUS AT THE PHASE REVERSAL POINTS
4HIS DOES NOT IMPACT ITS TIME SIDE
LOBES BUT DOES CAUSE SOME INCREASE &)'52% "INARY PHASE CODED SIGNAL
IN THE SPECTRUM SIDELOBE LEVELS
5PON RECEPTION THE COMPRESSED PULSE IS OBTAINED BY MATCHED FILTER PROCESSING
4HE WIDTH OF THE COMPRESSED PULSE AT THE HALF AMPLITUDE POINT IS NOMINALLY EQUAL TO
THE SUBPULSE WIDTH 4HE RANGE RESOLUTION IS HENCE PROPORTIONAL TO THE TIME DURATION OF
ONE ELEMENT OF THE CODE ONE SUBPULSE 4HE TIME BANDWIDTH PRODUCT AND PULSE COM
PRESSION RATIO ARE EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF SUBPULSES IN THE WAVEFORM IE THE NUMBER
OF ELEMENTS IN THE CODE
/PTIMAL "INARY #ODES /PTIMAL BINARY CODES ARE BINARY SEQUENCES WHOSE PEAK
SIDELOBE OF THE APERIODIC AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION IS THE MINIMUM POSSIBLE FOR A GIVEN
CODE LENGTH #ODES WHOSE AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION OR ZERO DOPPLER RESPONSE EXHIBIT
LOW SIDELOBES ARE DESIRABLE FOR PULSE COMPRESSION RADARS 2ESPONSES DUE TO MOVING
TARGETS WILL DIFFER FROM THE ZERO DOPPLER RESPONSE )F THE MATCHED FILTER IS BASED ONLY
ON THE ZERO DOPPLER RESPONSE AN INCREASE IN THE TIME SIDELOBES WILL RESULT 5LTIMATELY
IF THE DOPPLER SHIFT BECOMES VERY LARGE THE MATCHED FILTER RESPONSE WILL DEGRADE 4HIS
CAN BE ALLEVIATED BY UTILIZING A BANK OF MATCHED FILTERS COVERING THE EXPECTED RANGE OF
DOPPLER SHIFTS "ECAUSE THIS IS MORE COMPUTATIONALLY INTENSIVE THAN A SINGLE MATCHED
FILTER OLDER RADAR SYSTEMS TEND NOT TO EMPLOY BANKS OF FILTERS 4HE INCREASE IN COMPU
TATIONAL CAPACITY OF MODERN RADAR SYSTEMS HOWEVER CAN MAKE THIS MORE ATTRACTIVE
"ARKER #ODES ! SPECIAL CLASS OF BINARY CODES IS THE "ARKER CODES "ARKER CODES
ARE BINARY CODES WITH PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS EQUAL TO nLOG. WHERE . IS THE
LENGTH OF THE CODE 4HE ENERGY IN THE SIDELOBE REGION IS MINIMUM AND UNIFORMLY DIS
TRIBUTED 4HE "ARKER CODE IS THE ONLY UNIFORM PHASE CODE THAT REACHES THIS LEVEL
!LL THE KNOWN BINARY "ARKER CODES ARE LISTED IN 4ABLE /NLY BINARY "ARKER CODES
OF LENGTHS AND HAVE BEEN FOUNDn
! PULSE COMPRESSION RADAR USING "ARKER CODES WOULD BE LIMITED TO A MAXIMUM
TIME BANDWIDTH PRODUCT OF &IGURE SHOWS THE AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION OF
4!",% +NOWN "INARY "ARKER #ODES
,ENGTH
#ODE
nn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 3UPERPOSITION OF THE AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTIONS FOR ALL
POSSIBLE
BIT CODE SEQUENCES WITH THE "ARKER #ODE HIGHLIGHTED DARK
SHOWN FOR ZERO DOPPLER SHIFT
A LENGTH "ARKER CODE FOR ZERO DOPPLER SHIFT SUPERIMPOSED UPON ALL POSSIBLE AUTO
CORRELATION FUNCTIONS OF
BIT BINARY SEQUENCES )T CAN BE SEEN THAT THE "ARKER CODE
PROVIDES THE LOWEST TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS OF ALL POSSIBLE CODES
!LLOMORPHIC &ORMS ! BINARY CODE MAY BE REPRESENTED IN ANY ONE OF FOUR ALLO
MORPHIC FORMS ALL OF WHICH HAVE THE SAME CORRELATION CHARACTERISTICS 4HESE FORMS ARE
THE CODE ITSELF THE INVERTED CODE THE CODE WRITTEN IN REVERSE ORDER THE COMPLEMENTED
CODE S CHANGED TO S AND S TO S AND THE INVERTED COMPLEMENTED CODE &OR SYM
METRICAL CODES THE CODE AND ITS INVERSE ARE IDENTICAL
-AXIMAL
,ENGTH 3EQUENCES -AXIMAL
LENGTH SEQUENCES HAVE A STRUCTURE SIMI
LAR TO RANDOM SEQUENCES AND THEREFORE POSSESS DESIRABLE AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTIONS
4HEY ARE OFTEN CALLED PSEUDORANDOM NOISE 02. SEQUENCES (ISTORICALLY THESE
SEQUENCES WERE GENERATED USING N STAGES OF SHIFT REGISTERS WITH SELECTED OUTPUT TAPS
USED FOR FEEDBACK SEE &IGURE 7HEN THE FEEDBACK CONNECTIONS ARE PROPERLY
CHOSEN THE OUTPUT IS A SEQUENCE OF MAXIMAL LENGTH WHICH IS THE MAXIMUM LENGTH
OF A SEQUENCE OF S AND S THAT CAN BE FORMED BEFORE THE SEQUENCE IS REPEATED 4HE
LENGTH OF THE MAXIMAL SEQUENCE IS . N
WHERE N IS THE NUMBER OF STAGES IN THE
SHIFT
REGISTER GENERATOR
4HE FEEDBACK CONNECTIONS THAT PROVIDE THE MAXIMAL
LENGTH SEQUENCES MAY BE
DETERMINED FROM A STUDY OF PRIMITIVE AND IRREDUCIBLE POLYNOMIALS !N EXTENSIVE LIST OF
THESE POLYNOMIALS IS GIVEN BY 0ETERSON AND 7ELDON
!LTHOUGH MAXIMAL
LENGTH SEQUENCES HAVE SOME DESIRABLE AUTOCORRELATION CHAR
ACTERISTICS A MAXIMUM LENGTH SEQUENCE DOES NOT GUARANTEE LOWEST TIME SIDELOBES
WHEN COMPARED TO OTHER BINARY CODES !N EXAMPLE OF THIS IS PROVIDED FOR A
BIT
SEQUENCE &IGURE A IS A HISTOGRAM OF THE PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL FOR THE AUTO
CORRELATION OF EVERY POSSIBLE COMBINATION OF A
BIT CODE &IGURE B IS THE SAME
BUT FOR ONLY MAXIMAL LENGTH SEQUENCES OF
LENGTH CODE A SUBSET OF &IGURE A
&IGURE A SHOWS A LOWEST TIME SIDELOBE
LEVEL OF n D" 4HE LOWEST SIDELOBE FOR
THE MAXIMAL LENGTH SEQUENCE IS SEEN FROM
&IGURE B TO BE ONLY n D"
&)'52% 3HIFT
REGISTER GENERATOR
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
,$ )& (, % *
#+!- ) (, %/
"!$ ! #& - #*
"!$ ! #& - #*
##'&**!#
!+* (, % *
!+.!$# % + (, % *
&)'52% (ISTOGRAM OF PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS FOR
BIT SEQUENCES A ALL POSSIBLE
BIT
SEQUENCES AND B
BIT MAXIMAL LENGTH SEQUENCES
-INIMUM 0EAK 3IDELOBE #ODES "INARY CODES THAT PROVIDE MINIMUM PEAK TIME SIDE
LOBE LEVELS BUT EXCEED THE TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS ACHIEVED BY "ARKER CODES n LOG . ARE
TERMED MINIMUM PEAK SIDELOBE CODES 4HESE CODES ARE USUALLY FOUND USING COMPUTER
SEARCH TECHNIQUES 3KOLNIK AND ,EVANON AND -OZESON PROVIDE THESE CODES FOR VARIOUS
SEQUENCE LENGTHS ALONG WITH THE RESULTING TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS
#OMPLEMENTARY 3EQUENCES #OMPLEMENTARY SEQUENCES CONSIST OF TWO SEQUENCES
OF THE SAME LENGTH . WHOSE APERIODIC AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTIONS HAVE SIDELOBES EQUAL
IN MAGNITUDE BUT OPPOSITE IN SIGN 4HE SUM OF THE TWO AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTIONS HAS
A PEAK OF . AND A SIDELOBE LEVEL OF )N A PRACTICAL APPLICATION THE TWO SEQUENCES
MUST BE SEPARATED IN TIME FREQUENCY OR POLARIZATION WHICH RESULTS IN DECORRELATION OF
RADAR RETURNS SO THAT COMPLETE SIDELOBE CANCELLATION MAY NOT OCCUR (ENCE THEY HAVE
NOT BEEN WIDELY USED IN PULSE COMPRESSION RADARS
0OLYPHASE #ODES 7AVEFORMS CONSISTING OF MORE THAN TWO PHASES MAY ALSO BE
USED 0OLYPHASE CODES CAN BE CONSIDERED AS COMPLEX SEQUENCES WHOSE ELEMENTS HAVE
A MAGNITUDE OF ONE BUT WITH VARIABLE PHASE 4HE PHASES OF THE SUBPULSES ALTERNATE
AMONG MULTIPLE VALUES RATHER THAN JUST THE n AND n OF BINARY PHASE CODES 4HESE
CODES TEND TO BE DISCRETE APPROXIMATIONS TO ,&- WAVEFORMS AND HENCE POSSESS SIMI
LAR AMBIGUITY FUNCTIONS AND DOPPLER SHIFT CHARACTERISTICS 4HE AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTIONS
ARE SIMILAR WITH A PEAK TO SIDELOBE RATIO OF ABOUT .
&RANK #ODES 4HE &RANK CODE CORRESPONDS TO A STEPPED
PHASE APPROXIMATION OF
AN ,&- WAVEFORM (ERE THE PULSE IS BROKEN UP INTO - GROUPS EACH OF WHICH IS
FURTHER BROKEN UP INTO - SUBPULSES (ENCE THE TOTAL LENGTH OF THE &RANK CODE IS -
WITH A CORRESPONDING COMPRESSION RATIO OF - 4HE &RANK POLYPHASE CODES DERIVE THE
SEQUENCE OF PHASES FOR THE SUBPULSES BY USING A MATRIX TECHNIQUE AS FOLLOWS
"
"
"
-
-
!
! -
! -
"
"
! -
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE MATRIX ELEMENTS REPRESENT THE MULTIPLYING COEFFICIENTS OF A BASIC PHASE SHIFT
O - WHERE - IS AN INTEGER 4HE PHASE SHIFT CORRESPONDING TO THE ELEMENT M N OF THE
MATRIX CAN BE WRITTEN AS
FM N
P
M
N
M - N -
-
!N EXAMPLE OF A &RANK #ODE MATRIX FOR - IS GIVEN HERE
P
P
C
C
C
C
C
C C C
#ONCATENATING THE ROWS OF THIS MATRIX YIELDS THE PHASE FOR EACH OF THE SUBPULSES
&IGURE SHOWS THE PHASE MODULATION CHARACTERISTIC OF THE &RANK #ODE FOR THE ABOVE
EXAMPLE .OTE HOW THE PHASE STEP BETWEEN SUBPULSES INCREASES BETWEEN SUBPULSE
GROUPS WITH A LENGTH EQUAL TO FOUR 4HIS CHARACTERISTIC CAN BE REGARDED AS A STEPPED
PHASE APPROXIMATION TO QUADRATIC PHASE MODULATION
!S - INCREASES THE PEAK
SIDELOBEnVOLTAGE RATIO APPROACHES O -
4HIS COR
RESPONDS TO APPROXIMATELY A
D" IMPROVEMENT OVER PSEUDORANDOM SEQUENCES
OF SIMILAR LENGTH 4HE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION GROSSLY RESEMBLES THE KNIFE
EDGE RIDGE
CHARACTERISTIC ASSOCIATED WITH ,&- WAVEFORMS AS CONTRASTED WITH THE THUMBTACK
CHARACTERISTIC OF PSEUDORANDOM SEQUENCES &IGURE (OWEVER FOR SMALL RATIOS OF
DOPPLER SHIFT TO WAVEFORM BANDWIDTH A GOOD DOPPLER RESPONSE CAN BE OBTAINED FOR
REASONABLE TARGET VELOCITIES
,EWIS AND +RETSCHMER #ODES 0 0 0 0 ,EWIS AND +RETSCHMER HAVE STUD
IED THE 0 0 0 AND 0 POLYPHASE CODES 4HESE CODES ARE STEP APPROXIMATIONS
TO THE ,&- PULSE COMPRESSION WAVEFORMS HAVE LOW
RANGE SIDELOBES AND HAVE THE
&)'52% 0HASE VERSUS TIME RELATIONSHIP FOR &RANK CODE OF
LENGTH -
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
&)'52% !MBIGUITY FUNCTION OF A &RANK CODE OF LENGTH -
DOPPLER TOLERANCE OF THE ,&- CODES 4HE 0 AND 0 CODES ARE MODIFIED VERSIONS OF
THE &RANK CODE WITH THE $# FREQUENCY TERM AT THE CENTER OF THE PULSE INSTEAD OF AT THE
BEGINNING 4HEY ARE MORE TOLERANT OF RECEIVER BAND
LIMITING PRIOR TO PULSE COMPRESSION
ENCOUNTERED IN DIGITAL RADAR SYSTEMS 4HE 0 CODES CONTAINS - ELEMENTS AS DOES THE
&RANK CODE BUT THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE ITH ELEMENT TO THE JTH GROUP IS EXPRESSED AS
FI J P - ; - J =; J - I =
WHERE I AND J ARE INTEGERS RANGING FROM TO -
0 CODES ARE SIMILAR BUT THE PHASE IS SYMMETRIC WITH THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTIC
FI J [P ; - - = P - I J ]; - J=
4HE 0 AND 0 CODES ARE DERIVED BY ESSENTIALLY CONVERTING AN ,&- WAVEFORM TO
BASEBAND 4HESE TEND TO BE MORE DOPPLER TOLERANT THAN THE &RANK 0 OR 0 CODES
AND ARE ALSO MORE TOLERANT OF PRECOMPRESSION BANDWIDTH LIMITATIONS THAT APPEAR IN
RADAR SYSTEMS 4HE PHASE OF THE 0 CODE IS GIVEN AS
JN
P N x . n
N
.
4HE 0 CODE PHASE RELATIONSHIP IS SIMILAR
FN
P N
P K a N a .
.
4ABLE SUMMARIZES THE PHASE AND AUTOCORRELATION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE &RANK
CODE AND THE ,EWIS AND +RETSCHMER 0 THROUGH 0 POLYPHASE CODES
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% 3UMMARY OF 0HASE AND !UTOCORRELATION #HARACTERISTICS OF &RANK AND ,EWIS AND
+RETSCHMER 0OLYPHASE #ODES
0OLYPHASE
#ODE
0HASE
&RANK
P
I
J
.
I x.
J x.
P
0
0
0
0HASE VS 4IME #HARACTERISTIC !UTOCORRELATION D"
. %XAMPLE
. %XAMPLE
; - J =
s ;J - I =
FOR ITH ELEMENT IN
THE JTH GROUP
[P ; -
- =
P - I
J ]
; ; -
J=
FOR ITH ELEMENT IN
THE JTH GROUP
P
N
.
N x . n
0
P N
PK
.
a N a .
0N K 0OLYPHASE #ODES 7HEREAS THE PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED POLYPHASE CODES ARE
DERIVED FROM ,&- WAVEFORMS 0N K CODES ARE DERIVED FROM STEP APPROXIMATIONS OF
THE PHASE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE WEIGHTING FUNCTION OF .,&- WAVEFORMS 4HE WEIGHT
ING FUNCTION IS GIVEN BY
P F
7 F K
K COSN
"
WHERE K AND N ARE PARAMETERS OF THE WEIGHTING FUNCTION " IS THE SWEPT BANDWIDTH OF
THE WAVEFORM AND n" a F a " 4HIS IS A COSN WEIGHTING ON A PEDESTAL OF HEIGHT K
&IGURE (AMMING WEIGHTING IS ACHIEVED FOR N AND K
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
&)'52% COS ON PEDESTAL WEIGHTING FUNCTION SHOWN FOR N
&OR THE CASE WHERE N THE WEIGHTING FUNCTION CAN BE INTEGRATED TO OBTAIN THE FOLLOWING
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TIME AND FREQUENCY
T
F
A SIN P F " WHERE A n K K
4 "
WHICH IS SIMILAR TO THE SINE
BASED .,&- DISCUSSED EARLIER 4HIS PARTICULAR CODE IS
CALLED 0HASE FROM .ONLINEAR &REQUENCY 0., AND ITS AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION IS
SHOWN IN &IGURE FOR A
S PULSEWIDTH
-(Z BANDWIDTH WAVEFORM WITH
A AND FD 4HE TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS ARE SEEN TO BE BELOW n D"
4HE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION IS SIMILAR TO THAT PROVIDED IN THE DISCUSSION OF .,&-
WHICH IS EXPANDED IN &IGURE TO SHOW IN MORE DETAIL THE IMPACT OF DOPPLER SHIFT ON
THE PULSE COMPRESSED WAVEFORM FOR PRACTICAL VALUES OF DOPPLER SHIFTS
&)'52% S 0., PULSE AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION FOR 4" A AND FD
n{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% %XPANDED VIEW OF 0., AMBIGUITY DIAGRAM FOR S PULSE A AND
" -(Z
!S THE DOPPLER SHIFT MOVES AWAY FROM ZERO THE PEAK DECREASES AND THE CLOSE IN
TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS ON ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER BEGIN TO INCREASE .OTE THAT AN F" RATIO
OF CORRESPONDS TO A DOPPLER SHIFT ASSOCIATED WITH APPROXIMATELY A -ACH TARGET
AT A 3 BAND CARRIER FREQUENCY
)N GENERAL FOR 0N K WAVEFORMS THE INTEGRAL OF THE WEIGHTING FUNCTION PROVIDES
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TIME AND FREQUENCY MODULATION AS SHOWN IN %Q
PF
T
"
;K
K COSN X = DX
4 P
P
3INCE FREQUENCY MODULATION IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE TIME DERIVATIVE OF PHASE PHASE
IS OBTAINED BY INTEGRATING THE FREQUENCY WITH RESPECT TO TIME 4HE EXPRESSION FOR FRE
QUENCY HOWEVER IS NOT STRAIGHTFORWARD AND IS USUALLY OBTAINED THROUGH NUMERICAL
EVALUATION
1UADRIPHASE #ODES 1UADRIPHASE CODES ARE AN EXAMPLE OF A PHASE
CODED WAVE
FORM WITHOUT PHASE DISCONTINUITIES 1UADRIPHASE CODES ARE BASED ON THE USE OF
SUBPULSES WITH A HALF
COSINE SHAPE AND PHASE CHANGES BETWEEN ADJACENT SUBPULSES
OF MULTIPLES OF on 4HE COSINE WEIGHTING PROVIDES FASTER SPECTRUM ROLL
OFF LOWER
FILTER MATCHING LOSS AND SMALLER RANGE SAMPLING LOSS WHEN COMPARED TO RECTANGULAR
SUBPULSE PHASE
CODED WAVEFORMS 4ABLE
4!",% 1UADRIPHASE 7AVEFORM 0ERFORMANCE 3UMMARY
2ADIATED 3PECTRUM
D" 7IDTH
&ALLOFF C SUBPULSE DURATION
2ANGE 3AMPLING ,OSS
&ILTER -ATCHING ,OSS
1UADRIPHASE #ODE
2ECTANGULAR
3UBPULSE #ODE
C
D" /CTAVE
D"
D"
C
D" /CTAVE
D"
D"
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
nx
&)'52% 4IME FREQUENCY CODED WAVEFORM
4IME &REQUENCY #ODED 7AVEFORMS ! TIME FREQUENCY CODED WAVEFORM
&IGURE CONSISTS OF A TRAIN OF . PULSES WITH EACH PULSE AT A DIFFERENT FREQUENCY
'ENERALLY THE FREQUENCIES ARE EQUALLY SPACED AND THE PULSES ARE OF THE SAME AMPLI
TUDE 4HE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION FOR A PERIODIC WAVEFORM OF THIS TYPE CONSISTS OF A CENTRAL
SPIKE PLUS MULTIPLE SPIKES OR RIDGES DISPLACED IN TIME AND FREQUENCY !LTHOUGH IT IS
UNACHIEVABLE IN PRACTICE THE OBJECTIVE IS TO CREATE A HIGH RESOLUTION THUMBTACK LIKE
CENTRAL SPIKE WITH A CLEAR AREA AROUND IT -EASUREMENT IS THEN PERFORMED ON THE HIGH
RESOLUTION CENTRAL SPIKE 4HE RANGE RESOLUTION OR COMPRESSED PULSE WIDTH IS DETERMINED
BY THE TOTAL BANDWIDTH OF ALL THE PULSES AND THE DOPPLER RESOLUTION IS DETERMINED BY THE
RECIPROCAL OF THE WAVEFORM DURATION 4 &OR EXAMPLE A TYPICAL WAVEFORM IN THIS CLASS
HAS . CONTIGUOUS PULSES OF WIDTH T WHOSE SPECTRA OF WIDTH S ARE PLACED SIDE BY SIDE
IN FREQUENCY TO ELIMINATE GAPS IN THE COMPOSITE SPECTRUM 3INCE THE WAVEFORM BAND
WIDTH IS NOW .S THE NOMINAL COMPRESSED PULSE WIDTH IS S . 4HESE RELATIONSHIPS ARE
SUMMARIZED IN 4ABLE
3HAPING OF THE HIGH RESOLUTION CENTRAL SPIKE AREA AS WELL AS THE GROSS STRUCTURE OF THE
AMBIGUITY SURFACE CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY VARIATIONS OF THE BASIC WAVEFORM PARAM
ETERS SUCH AS AMPLITUDE WEIGHTING OF THE PULSE TRAIN STAGGERING OF THE PULSE REPETITION
INTERVAL AND FREQUENCY OR PHASE CODING OF THE INDIVIDUAL PULSES
#OSTAS #ODES #OSTAS CODES ARE A CLASS OF FREQUENCY CODED WAVEFORMS THAT
HAVE NEAR IDEAL RANGE AND DOPPLER SIDELOBE BEHAVIOR )N OTHER WORDS THEIR AMBI
GUITY FUNCTION APPROACHES THE IDEAL THUMBTACK PROVIDING BOTH DOPPLER AND RANGE
INFORMATION &IGURE !LL SIDELOBES EXCEPT FOR A FEW NEAR THE ORIGIN HAVE
AN AMPLITUDE OF - ! FEW SIDELOBES CLOSE TO THE ORIGIN ARE ABOUT TWICE AS LARGE
OR ABOUT - WHICH IS CHARACTERISTIC OF #OSTAS CODES 4HE COMPRESSION RATIO OF A
#OSTAS CODE IS ABOUT -
4HE #OSTAS CODE IS A BURST OF - CONTIGUOUS UNCODED PULSE WAVEFORMS EACH WITH A
DIFFERENT FREQUENCY SELECTED FROM A FINITE SET OF - EQUALLY SPACED FREQUENCIES THAT ARE
4!",% . 0ULSES #ONTIGUOUS IN 4IME AND &REQUENCY
7AVEFORM DURATION 4
7AVEFORM BANDWIDTH "
4IME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCT 4"
#OMPRESSED PULSE WIDTH "
$OPPLER RESOLUTION 4
.S
.S
.
S . S .
.S
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF AMBIGUITY FUNCTIONS FOR . STEPPED LINEAR AND #OSTAS SEQUENCE SHOWING
THE IMPACT OF FREQUENCY ORDER
PROCESSED COHERENTLY 4HE ORDER IN WHICH THE FREQUENCIES ARE GENERATED GREATLY INFLU
ENCES THE NATURE OF THE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION OF THE BURST )F THE FREQUENCIES ARE MONOTONI
CALLY INCREASING OR DECREASING THE WAVEFORM IS SIMPLY A STEPPED APPROXIMATION TO AN
,&- WHICH HAS A RIDGE IN ITS AMBIGUITY FUNCTION &IGURE )N ORDER TO APPROACH A
THUMBTACK
LIKE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION THE ORDER OF THE FREQUENCIES NEEDS TO BE MORE RAN
DOM IN NATURE 4HE ORDER OF FREQUENCIES IS THE CODE AND IT IS GENERATED VIA A SPECIAL CLASS
OF - - #OSTAS ARRAYS #OSTAS SUGGESTED A TECHNIQUE FOR SELECTING THE ORDER OF THESE
FREQUENCIES TO PROVIDE MORE CONTROLLED RANGE AND DOPPLER SIDELOBES !N EXAMPLE OF A
#OSTAS CODE OF LENGTH IS SHOWN IN &IGURE AS IT COMPARES TO THE STEPPED ,&-
4ABLES SHOWING THE SEQUENCE ORDER FOR EACH WAVEFORM ARE ALSO PROVIDED
n
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/
"
"
*1 -
" *,
--" -9-/
4HE CHOICE OF A PULSE COMPRESSION SYSTEM INVOLVES THE SELECTION OF THE TYPE OF WAVE
FORM AND THE METHOD OF GENERATION AND PROCESSING -ETHODS OF GENERATING AND PROCESS
ING PULSE COMPRESSION WAVEFORMS ARE DISCUSSED IN THE SECTION ON PULSE COMPRESSION
IMPLEMENTATION IN THIS CHAPTER $ISCUSSIONS HERE WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE WAVEFORM
ITSELF 4HE PRIMARY FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SELECTION OF A PARTICULAR WAVEFORM ARE USU
ALLY THE RADAR REQUIREMENTS OF DOPPLER TOLERANCE AND TIME SIDELOBE LEVELS
4ABLE SUMMARIZES THESE FACTORS FOR THREE &- TYPES ,&- .,&- AND PHASE
CODED
WAVEFORMS 4HE SYSTEMS ARE COMPARED ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT INFORMATION IS EXTRACTED BY
PROCESSING A SINGLE WAVEFORM AS OPPOSED TO MULTIPLE
PULSE PROCESSING 4HE SYMBOLS "
AND 4 DENOTE THE BANDWIDTH AND THE PULSEWIDTH OF THE WAVEFORM RESPECTIVELY
)N CASES WHERE AN INSUFFICIENT DOPPLER SHIFT OCCURS SUCH AS WITH A STATIONARY OR
TANGENTIAL TARGET RANGE RESOLUTION IS THE CHIEF MEANS FOR SEEING A TARGET IN CLUTTER
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
4!",% #OMPARISONS OF 0ERFORMANCE #HARACTERISTICS FOR ,&- .,&- AND 0HASE #ODED
7AVEFORMS
&ACTOR
,INEAR &-
$OPPLER
TOLERANCE
3UPPORTS DOPPLER !DEQUATE INSENSITIVITY (IGHER SENSITIVITY TO (IGHEST SENSITIVITY
SHIFTS UP TO o " TO DOPPLER TO ALLOW USE DOPPLER SHIFT 4IME TO DOPPLER SHIFT
4IME SHIFT OF FD4" GENERALLY UP TO -ACH SIDELOBES INCREASE 4IME SIDELOBES
INCREASE WHILE
IS INTRODUCED BY 4IME SHIFT OF FD4" IS WHILE MAINLOBE
RESPONSE DECREASES MAINLOBE RESPONSE
RANGE DOPPLER
INTRODUCED BY RANGE
COUPLING
DOPPLER COUPLING FOR A FOR HIGHER DOPPLER DECREASES FOR
HIGHER DOPPLER
4IME SIDELOBE
NONSYMMETRICAL .,&- CHARACTERISTIC
CHARACTERISTIC OF
PERFORMANCE
WAVEFORM #OMMON OF A THUMBTACK
A THUMBTACK LIKE
LIKE AMBIGUITY
REMAINS EXCELLENT THEREFORE IN !4#
AMBIGUITY FUNCTION
FOR LARGE DOPPLER RADARS -ULTIPLE TUNED FUNCTION 5SED
5SED THEREFORE FOR
THEREFORE FOR
SHIFTS
PULSE COMPRESSORS
LOW SPEED TARGET
REQUIRED FOR HIGH SPEED LOW SPEED TARGET
APPLICATIONS AND
APPLICATIONS AND
TARGETS
WITH SMALL 4"
WITH SMALL 4"
PRODUCTS ,ONGER
PRODUCTS
PHASE CODED
WAVEFORMS ARE MORE
SENSITIVE TO DOPPLER
SHIFTS THAN THE
SHORTER ONES
"ETTER TIME SIDELOBES
'OOD TIME
&OR NONSYMMETRICAL
!DEQUATE
SIDELOBES THAT ARE THAN BINARY PHASE
.,&- EXCELLENT
WEIGHTING HIGH
CODED WAVEFORMS
DETERMINED BY
4" PRODUCT AND TIME SIDELOBES IF
CODING
THERE IS ADEQUATE
LOW AMPLITUDE
AND PHASE ERRORS .,&- PHASE CODING
ARE NECESSARY TO A HIGH 4" PRODUCT
ACHIEVE GOOD TIME AND SUFFICIENTLY LOW
AMPLITUDE AND PHASE
SIDELOBES
ERRORS )NCREASING
.,&- PHASE CODE
WEIGHTING INTRODUCES
INCREASED RADIAL
VELOCITY SENSITIVITY
4IME
SIDELOBE
LEVEL
'ENERAL
/FTEN USED FOR
HIGH
SPEED
TARGET CAPABILITY
-ACH
%XTREMELY WIDE
BANDWIDTHS
ACHIEVABLE
.ONLINEAR &-
"INARY 0HASE #ODED 0OLYPHASE #ODED
'ENERALLY FOUND IN 'ENERALLY FOUND IN
5SE IS GENERALLY
RESTRICTED TO APPLICATIONS LOW DOPPLER SHIFT LOW DOPPLER SHIFT
APPLICATIONS
APPLICATIONS
WHERE PRIMARY
TARGET RADIAL VELOCITIES
-ACH -ULTIPLE
TUNED MATCHED FILTERS
ARE GENERALLY NOT
COMPUTATIONALLY
PRACTICAL
#LUTTER REJECTION WITH PULSE COMPRESSION WAVEFORMS IS DUE TO THE GREATER RANGE RESO
LUTION ACHIEVABLE OVER UNCODED WAVEFORMS "ECAUSE THE RANGE RESOLUTION IS PRO
PORTIONAL TO THE RECIPROCAL OF THE BANDWIDTH WIDER
BANDWIDTH PULSE COMPRESSION
WAVEFORMS CAN OFFER GREATER CLUTTER REJECTION
nn
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n{ *1 -
" *,
--" *
//"
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8 *
4HIS SECTION DESCRIBES THE GENERATION AND PROCESSING OF PULSE COMPRESSION WAVEFORMS
AND PROVIDES EXAMPLES OF RADAR SYSTEMS THAT UTILIZE THESE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES -AJOR
ADVANCES ARE CONTINUALLY BEING MADE IN THE DEVICES AND TECHNIQUES USED IN PULSE COM
PRESSION RADARS 3IGNIFICANT ADVANCES ARE EVIDENT IN THE DIGITAL AND 3!7 TECHNIQUES
THAT ALLOW THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A VARIETY OF PULSE COMPRESSION WAVEFORM TYPES 4HE
DIGITAL APPROACH HAS BLOSSOMED BECAUSE OF THE MANIFOLD INCREASE IN COMPUTATIONAL
SPEED AND ALSO BECAUSE OF THE SIZE REDUCTION AND THE SPEED INCREASE OF THE MEMORY
UNITS 3!7 TECHNOLOGY HAS EXPANDED BECAUSE OF THE INVENTION OF THE INTERDIGITAL TRANS
DUCER WHICH PROVIDES EFFICIENT TRANSFORMATION OF AN ELECTRICAL SIGNAL INTO ACOUSTIC
ENERGY AND VICE VERSA
$IGITAL 7AVEFORM 'ENERATION &IGURE SHOWS A DIGITAL APPROACH FOR GEN
ERATING THE RADAR WAVEFORM 4HE PHASE CONTROL ELEMENT SUPPLIES DIGITAL SAMPLES OF THE
IN
PHASE COMPONENT ) AND THE QUADRATURE COMPONENT 1 WHICH ARE CONVERTED TO THEIR
ANALOG EQUIVALENTS 4HESE PHASE SAMPLES MAY DEFINE THE BASEBAND COMPONENTS OF THE
DESIRED WAVEFORM OR THEY MAY DEFINE THE WAVEFORM COMPONENTS ON A LOW
FREQUENCY
CARRIER )F THE WAVEFORM IS ON A CARRIER THE BALANCED MODULATOR IS NOT REQUIRED AND THE
FILTERED COMPONENTS WOULD BE ADDED DIRECTLY 4HE SAMPLE
AND
HOLD CIRCUIT REMOVES
THE TRANSIENTS DUE TO THE NONZERO TRANSITION TIME OF THE DIGITAL
TO
ANALOG $! CON
VERTER 4HE LOW
PASS FILTER SMOOTHES OR INTERPOLATES THE ANALOG SIGNAL COMPONENTS
BETWEEN WAVEFORM SAMPLES TO PROVIDE THE EQUIVALENT OF A MUCH HIGHER WAVEFORM
SAMPLING RATE 4HE )T COMPONENT MODULATES A n CARRIER SIGNAL AND THE 1T COMPO
NENT MODULATES A n PHASE
SHIFTED CARRIER SIGNAL 4HE DESIRED WAVEFORM IS THE SUM OF
THE n
MODULATED CARRIER AND THE n
MODULATED CARRIER !S MENTIONED EARLIER WHEN
THE DIGITAL PHASE SAMPLES INCLUDE THE CARRIER COMPONENTS THE ) AND 1 COMPONENTS ARE
CENTERED ON THIS CARRIER FREQUENCY AND THE LOW
PASS FILTER CAN BE REPLACED WITH A BAND
PASS FILTER CENTERED ON THE )& CARRIER
7HEN A LINEAR
&- WAVEFORM IS DESIRED THE PHASE SAMPLES FOLLOW A QUADRATIC PAT
TERN AND CAN BE GENERATED BY TWO CASCADED DIGITAL INTEGRATORS 4HE INPUT DIGITAL COM
MAND TO THE FIRST INTEGRATOR DEFINES THIS QUADRATIC PHASE FUNCTION 4HE DIGITAL COMMAND
TO THE SECOND INTEGRATOR IS THE OUTPUT OF THE FIRST INTEGRATOR PLUS THE DESIRED CARRIER
FREQUENCY 4HIS CARRIER MAY BE DEFINED BY THE INITIAL VALUE OF THE FIRST INTEGRATOR 4HE
DESIRED INITIAL PHASE OF THE WAVEFORM IS THE INITIAL VALUE OF THE SECOND INTEGRATOR OR ELSE
MAY BE ADDED TO THE SECOND
INTEGRATOR OUTPUT
7ITH ADVANCES IN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IT HAS BECOME POSSIBLE AND PRACTICAL TO GENERATE
WAVEFORMS DIRECTLY AT )& OR 2& CARRIER FREQUENCIES ON A SINGLE INTEGRATED CIRCUIT CHIP 4HIS
TECHNIQUE IS CALLED $IRECT $IGITAL 3YNTHESIS OR $$3 AND INVOLVES GENERATING WAVEFORMS AT
&)'52% $IGITAL WAVEFORM GENERATION BLOCK DIAGRAM
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
HIGH SAMPLING RATES AND FILTERING THE OUTPUT 4HESE DEVICES GENERATE THE WAVEFORM BY ACCU
MULATING PHASE INFORMATION WHICH IS THEN USED TO LOOK UP VALUES OF THE WAVEFORM USUALLY
A SINE WAVE 4HIS IS CONVERTED TO AN ANALOG SIGNAL WITH A DIGITAL
TO
ANALOG CONVERTER $!#
OR $! CONVERTER AND FILTERED ! VARIETY OF WAVEFORM TYPES EG ,&- .,&- AND #7
WAVEFORMS CAN BE GENERATED IN THIS WAY BY USING THE APPROPRIATE PHASE MODULATION CHAR
ACTERISTIC !S AN EXAMPLE THE !NALOG $EVICES !$ $IRECT $IGITAL 3YNTHESIZER USES A
BIT $!# OPERATING AT UP TO A
'(Z INTERNAL CLOCK SPEED $!# UPDATE RATE
$IGITAL 0ULSE #OMPRESSION n $IGITAL PULSE COMPRESSION TECHNIQUES ARE
ROUTINELY USED FOR MATCHED FILTERING OF RADAR WAVEFORMS 4HE MATCHED FILTER MAY BE
IMPLEMENTED BY USING A DIGITAL CONVOLUTION FOR ANY WAVEFORM OR ELSE BY USE OF STRETCH
PROCESSING FOR A LINEAR
&- WAVEFORM
$IGITAL PULSE COMPRESSION HAS DISTINCT FEATURES THAT DETERMINE ITS ACCEPTABILITY
FOR A PARTICULAR RADAR APPLICATION $IGITAL MATCHED FILTERING USUALLY REQUIRES MULTIPLE
OVERLAPPED PROCESSING UNITS FOR EXTENDED RANGE COVERAGE 4HE ADVANTAGES OF THE DIGI
TAL APPROACH ARE THAT LONG
DURATION WAVEFORMS PRESENT NO PROBLEM THE RESULTS ARE
EXTREMELY STABLE UNDER A WIDE VARIETY OF OPERATING CONDITIONS AND THE SAME IMPLEMEN
TATION COULD BE USED TO HANDLE MULTIPLE WAVEFORM TYPES
!NALOG PRODUCT DETECTORS USED TO EXTRACT ) AND 1 BASEBAND COMPONENTS HAVE BEEN
REPLACED IN MANY SYSTEMS BY DIGITAL DOWN
CONVERSION TECHNIQUES )N THIS APPROACH THE
COMPLEX ENVELOPE SEQUENCE IS EVALUATED BY DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING OF !$ CONVERTER
SAMPLES AT THE FINAL )& OUTPUT OF THE RECEIVER RATHER THAN BY SEPARATE !$ CONVERSION OF
BASEBAND ANALOG ) AND 1 COMPONENTSn $IGITAL DOWN
CONVERSION IS ADVANTAGEOUS
BECAUSE PERFORMANCE IS NOT LIMITED BY AMPLITUDE AND PHASE IMBALANCES THAT EXIST IN
ANALOG PRODUCT
DETECTION HARDWARE
&IGURE ILLUSTRATES TWO DIGITAL SIGNAL
PROCESSING APPROACHES TO PROVIDING THE
MATCHED FILTER FOR A PULSE COMPRESSION WAVEFORM )N BOTH CASES THE INPUT SIGNAL IS THE
COMPLEX ENVELOPE SEQUENCE AS FORMED USING EITHER DIGITAL DOWN
CONVERSION OR ANALOG
#!
!
!
$
#!
!
!
"
%
&)'52% A 4IME
DOMAIN DIGITAL PULSE COMPRESSION PROCESSOR AND B FREQUENCY
DOMAIN DIGITAL
PULSE COMPRESSION PROCESSOR
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
PRODUCT DETECTION FOLLOWED BY !$ CONVERSION IN EACH BASEBAND CHANNEL &IGURE A
SHOWS A DIGITAL IMPLEMENTATION OF A TIME
DOMAIN CONVOLUTION PROCESSOR THAT WILL PRO
VIDE MATCHED
FILTER PERFORMANCE FOR ANY RADAR WAVEFORM )N THIS CASE DISCRETE
TIME
CONVOLUTION IS DONE IN THE TIME DOMAIN BY CONVOLUTION OF THE COMPLEX ENVELOPE INPUT
SEQUENCE FOLLOWING DIGITAL DOWN
CONVERSION WITH THE MATCHED FILTER IMPULSE RESPONSE
SEQUENCE "ECAUSE TIME
DOMAIN CONVOLUTION CAN BE COMPUTATIONALLY INTENSIVE A MORE
ECONOMICAL APPROACH FROM A COMPUTATIONAL STANDPOINT IS SHOWN IN &IGURE B IN
WHICH FREQUENCY
DOMAIN PROCESSING IS USED TO IMPLEMENT THE CONVOLUTION
4HE FREQUENCY
DOMAIN DIGITAL PULSE COMPRESSION PROCESSOR OPERATES ON THE PRINCI
PLE THAT THE DISCRETE &OURIER TRANSFORM $&4 OF THE TIME CONVOLUTION OF TWO SEQUENCES
IS EQUAL TO THE PRODUCT OF THE DISCRETE &OURIER TRANSFORMS OF EACH OF THE SEQUENCES )F
- RANGE SAMPLES ARE TO BE PROVIDED BY ONE PROCESSOR THE LENGTH OF THE $&4 MUST
EXCEED - PLUS THE NUMBER OF SAMPLES IN THE REFERENCE WAVEFORM MINUS ONE TO ACHIEVE
AN APERIODIC CONVOLUTION 4HESE ADDED - SAMPLES ARE FILLED WITH ZEROS IN THE REFER
ENCE WAVEFORM $&4 &OR EXTENDED RANGE COVERAGE REPEATED PROCESSING OPERATIONS ARE
REQUIRED WITH RANGE DELAYS OF - SAMPLES BETWEEN ADJACENT OPERATIONS USING THE OVER
LAP
SAVE CONVOLUTION TECHNIQUE 4HIS PROCESSOR CAN BE USED WITH ANY WAVEFORM
AND THE REFERENCE WAVEFORM CAN BE OFFSET IN DOPPLER FREQUENCY TO ACHIEVE A MATCHED
FILTER AT THIS DOPPLER FREQUENCY
0ULSE #OMPRESSION 2ADAR %XAMPLES 4HERE ARE MANY RADARS UNDER DEVELOP
MENT OR DEPLOYED THAT UTILIZE SOME OF THE PULSE COMPRESSION WAVEFORMS PREVIOUSLY DIS
CUSSED !DVANCES IN DIGITAL SIGNAL
PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY HAVE ENABLED A WIDER VARIETY
OF WAVEFORM IMPLEMENTATIONS &OR EXAMPLE RADAR SYSTEMS ARE NO LONGER LIMITED TO THE
,&- WAVEFORM INSTEAD RADAR SYSTEM CAPABILITIES CAN BE EXTENDED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE
OF THE MORE COMPLEX PROCESSING ASSOCIATED WITH THE NONLINEAR &- WAVEFORM
!.403
AND !.&03
3URVEILLANCE 2ADARS 4HE !.403
AND !.
&03
ARE A FAMILY OF , BAND LONG
RANGE SURVEILLANCE RADARS THAT EMPLOY ,&-
WAVEFORMS 4HE ANTENNA IS MECHANICALLY ROTATED IN AZIMUTH AND ELECTRONIC PENCIL
BEAM SCANNING IS PERFORMED IN ELEVATION 4HE TRANSMISSION UTILIZES TWO TIME
SEQUENCED
,&- PULSES OF DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES IN ORDER TO CREATE 3WERLING #ASE TARGET STATISTICS
"OTH RADARS EMPLOY FREQUENCY
DOMAIN DIGITAL PULSE COMPRESSION PROCESSING
!IR 3URVEILLANCE AND 0RECISION !PPROACH 2ADAR 3YSTEM 4HE !IR 3URVEILLANCE
AND 0RECISION !PPROACH 2ADAR 3YSTEM !30!2#3 IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE THE NEXT
GENERATION AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL !4# RADAR AS PART OF THE -ULTI
-ISSION 3URVEILLANCE
2ADAR --32 FAMILY OF !4# RADARS BUILT BY ,OCKHEED -ARTIN #O .ONLINEAR &-
WAVEFORMS ARE USED BECAUSE THE TARGETS OF INTEREST HAVE RELATIVELY LOW DOPPLER SHIFTS
LESS THAN -ACH ,IKE THE !.&03
RADAR THIS SYSTEM IMPLEMENTS FREQUENCY
DOMAIN DIGITAL PULSE COMPRESSION PROCESSING
-ULTI
-ISSION 2ADAR 4HE -ULTI
-ISSION 2ADAR --2 IS DESIGNED TO DETECT AND
TRACK MORTARS ARTILLERY AND ROCKETS 4HIS RADAR USES A NONLINEAR &- SINE
BASED WAVE
FORM $IGITAL FREQUENCY
DOMAIN PULSE COMPRESSION PROCESSING IS PERFORMED
!32
.EXT
'ENERATION 3OLID
3TATE !IR 4RAFFIC #ONTROL 2ADAR 4HE !32
TER
MINAL AIRPORT SURVEILLANCE RADAR TRANSMITS A
S PULSE WITH PEAK POWER OF K7 TO
PROVIDE A SINGLE
PULSE TRANSMIT ENERGY OF * .ONLINEAR FREQUENCY MODULATION IS
USED WITH A PULSE COMPRESSION RATIO OF TO ACHIEVE RANGE
RESOLUTION EQUIVALENT TO
AN UNCODED
S PULSE 4HE FILTER MATCHING LOSS IS LESS THAN D" AND TYPICAL TIME
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
SIDELOBE LEVELS MEASURED ON PRODUCTION HARDWARE ARE n D" $IGITAL PULSE COMPRES
SION IS USED !N UNCODED
S PULSE IS USED TO PROVIDE COVERAGE FOR TARGETS WITHIN
THE RANGE INTERVAL FROM TO NMI
3TRETCH 0ULSE #OMPRESSIONn 3TRETCH PULSE COMPRESSION IS A TECHNIQUE FOR
PERFORMING ,&- PULSE COMPRESSION OF WIDEBAND WAVEFORMS USING A SIGNAL PROCESSOR
WITH BANDWIDTH THAT IS MUCH SMALLER THAN THE WAVEFORM BANDWIDTH WITHOUT LOSS OF
SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO OR RANGE RESOLUTION 3TRETCH PULSE COMPRESSION IS USED FOR A SINGLE
TARGET OR FOR MULTIPLE TARGETS THAT ARE LOCATED WITHIN A RELATIVELY SMALL RANGE WINDOW
CENTERED AT A SELECTED RANGE
&IGURE SHOWS A BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A STRETCH PULSE COMPRESSION SYSTEM 4HE
,&- WAVEFORM HAS A SWEPT BANDWIDTH " PULSEWIDTH 4 AND ,&- SLOPE A 4HE REFER
ENCE WAVEFORM IS GENERATED WITH TIME DELAY S2 SWEPT BANDWIDTH "2 PULSEWIDTH 42
AND ,&- SLOPE @2 4HE REFERENCE WAVEFORM TIME DELAY IS TYPICALLY DERIVED BY RANGE
TRACKING OF A SELECTED TARGET WITHIN THE RANGE WINDOW 4HE CORRELATION MIXER #-
IN &IGURE PERFORMS A BANDPASS MULTIPLICATION OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL BY THE OUTPUT
OF THE REFERENCE WAVEFORM GENERATOR 4HE LOWER SIDEBAND AT THE #- OUTPUT IS SELECTED
BY A BANDPASS FILTER "0&
3PECTRUM ANALYSIS IS PERFORMED WHEN THE ,&- SLOPES OF THE TRANSMIT AND REFERENCE
WAVEFORMS ARE EQUAL @ @2 2EDUCED
BANDWIDTH PULSE COMPRESSION PROCESSING IS
PERFORMED IF THE REFERENCE WAVEFORM ,&- SLOPE IS LESS THAN THE TRANSMIT WAVEFORM
,&- SLOPE @2 @ )N BOTH CASES THE REQUIRED PROCESSING BANDWIDTH "P IS MUCH
SMALLER THAN THE WAVEFORM BANDWIDTH
&IGURE SHOWS THE PRINCIPLE OF STRETCH PULSE COMPRESSION FOR THE CASE WHERE THE
,&- SLOPES OF THE TRANSMIT AND REFERENCE WAVEFORMS ARE EQUAL 4HE INSTANTANEOUS FRE
QUENCY IS PLOTTED AS A FUNCTION OF TIME AT THREE POINTS IN THE STRETCH PULSE COMPRESSION
SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM CORRELATION MIXER INPUT CORRELATION MIXER ,/ REFERENCE
WAVEFORM GENERATOR OUTPUT AND CORRELATION MIXER OUTPUT OUTPUT OF BANDPASS
FILTER 4HREE ,&- TARGET SIGNALS ARE SHOWN AT THE CORRELATION MIXER INPUT TARGET IS AT
ZERO TIME OFFSET RELATIVE TO THE REFERENCE WAVEFORM TARGET IS EARLIER IN TIME THAN THE
REFERENCE WAVEFORM AND TARGET IS LATER IN TIME )N EACH CASE THE ,&- SLOPE FOR THE
TARGET SIGNALS IS "4 4HE REFERENCE WAVEFORM APPLIED TO THE ,/ PORT OF THE #- HAS
,&- SLOPE EQUAL TO "242 "4
4HE INSTANTANEOUS FREQUENCY AT THE CORRELATION MIXER OUTPUT IS THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE INSTANTANEOUS FREQUENCIES AT THE #- INPUT AND ,/ PORTS !S A RESULT THE
#- OUTPUT SIGNALS FOR THE THREE TARGET SIGNALS ARE UNCODED PULSES PULSED #7 SIGNALS
WITH FREQUENCY OFFSET FROM THE MIXER )& OUTPUT F)& GIVEN BY
"
D F
TD
4
!
$
$
$
$
!%
!#
!
"
&)'52% 3TRETCH PULSE COMPRESSION SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM
!
! !
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
"#
$#
!
% !
! $ &
#
#
"#
$# $#
&)'52% #ORRELATION MIXER SIGNALS IN STRETCH PULSE COMPRESSION AFTER 2OTH ET AL
WHERE TD IS THE TIME DELAY OF THE MIDPOINT OF THE SIGNAL MEASURED RELATIVE TO THE MID
POINT OF THE REFERENCE WAVEFORM &OR THE CASE SHOWN WHERE THE 2& CARRIER FREQUENCY
IS ABOVE THE CARRIER FREQUENCY OF THE REFERENCE WAVEFORM A POSITIVE TIME DELAY RESULTS
IN A NEGATIVE FREQUENCY OFFSET 4HE SIGNALS AT THE CORRELATION MIXER OUTPUT ARE THEN
RESOLVED IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN BY SPECTRAL ANALYSIS PROCESSING
! TYPICAL IMPLEMENTATION FOR THE SPECTRAL ANALYSIS PROCESSING INCLUDES A SECOND
FREQUENCY CONVERSION FOLLOWING THE #- TO A FINAL INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY )& ANTI
ALIASING FILTERING DIRECT SAMPLING AT THE FINAL )& USING AN ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL CONVERTER
!$# DIGITAL DOWN CONVERSION $$# TO A COMPLEX ENVELOPE SEQUENCE TIME
DOMAIN
WEIGHTING AND SPECTRAL ANALYSIS USING AN &&4 PADDED WITH ZEROS 0REVIOUS IMPLE
MENTATIONS USED ANALOG PRODUCT DETECTORS TO EXTRACT ) AND 1 BASEBAND SIGNALS WITH
SEPARATE !$#S IN THE ) AND 1 BASEBAND CHANNELS
#ORRELATION -IXER /UTPUT 3IGNAL !NALYSIS 4HE RECEIVED SIGNAL AT THE #- INPUT
PORT FROM A POINT TARGET IS
T
T
XIN T ! RECT
COS;P F FD T
T PA T
T =
4
WHERE ! IS THE AMPLITUDE 4 IS THE TRANSMIT PULSEWIDTH F IS THE CARRIER FREQUENCY FD
IS THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY S IS THE SIGNAL TIME DELAY AND @ IS THE ,&- SLOPE FOR THE
TRANSMIT WAVEFORM 4HE REFERENCE WAVEFORM APPLIED TO THE ,/ PORT IS
T
T2
X 2 T RECT
COS;P F2 T
T 2 PA 2 T
T 2 =
42
WHERE 42 IS THE PULSEWIDTH F2 IS THE CARRIER FREQUENCY S2 IS THE REFERENCE WAVEFORM
TIME DELAY AND @2 IS THE ,&- SLOPE FOR THE REFERENCE WAVEFORM @2 a @
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
4HE CORRELATION MIXER ACTS AS A BANDPASS MULTIPLIER WITH OUTPUT XINT X2T 4HE )&
OUTPUT OF THE CORRELATION MIXER IS EVALUATED USING THE IDENTITY
COS X COS Y COSX Y COS X Y
WHERE THE FIRST TERM ON THE RIGHT
HAND SIDE OF THE EQUATION CORRESPONDS TO THE UPPER
SIDEBAND AND THE SECOND TO THE LOWER SIDEBAND AT THE MIXER OUTPUT 4HE UPPER SIDEBAND
IS REJECTED BY THE BANDPASS FILTER TO YIELD
T
T2
T
T
X)& T ! RECT
RECT
4
42
COS;P F)& T
T P FD T
T PA 2 T 2
T T
T P A
A 2 T
T F =
WHERE F)& F F2 IS THE )& CARRIER FREQUENCY F F2 IS ASSUMED AND THE CARRIER PHASE
SHIFT IS
F P F2 T T 2 PA 2 T T 2
4HE )& SIGNAL IS AN ,&- WAVEFORM WITH REDUCED SLOPE @
@2 THE FACTOR THAT MULTI
PLIES THE QUADRATIC TERM IN THE ARGUMENT OF THE COSINE AND A FREQUENCY OFFSET RELATIVE
TO THE )& CARRIER FREQUENCY F)& GIVEN BY
D F FD A 2 T 2 T
4HE DURATION OF THE REFERENCE WAVEFORM IS REQUIRED TO EXCEED THE TRANSMIT PULSE
WIDTH TO AVOID A LOSS IN 3.2 CAUSED BY TARGET ECHOES THAT ARE NOT CONTAINED WITHIN THE
REFERENCE WAVEFORM
%QUAL 4RANSMIT AND 2EFERENCE 7AVEFORM ,&- 3LOPES &OR THE CASE WHERE THE
TRANSMIT AND REFERENCE WAVEFORM ,&- SLOPES ARE EQUAL @ @ 2 THE )& SIGNAL IS AN
UNCODED PULSE WITH FREQUENCY OFFSET GIVEN BY
D F FD A T 2 T
4HE FREQUENCY OFFSET IS MEASURED USING SPECTRUM ANALYSIS AND CONVERTED TO TARGET
TIME DELAY AND RANGE RELATIVE TO THE REFERENCE WAVEFORM BY
$T T
T 2
DF
A
$R 2 2
C
$T
WHERE 2 CS2 IS THE RANGE CORRESPONDING TO THE TIME DELAY OF THE REFERENCE WAVEFORM
+ELLOG DESCRIBES ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR APPLICATION OF TIME
DOMAIN
WEIGHTING IN STRETCH PROCESSING AND PROVIDES DETAILS ON COMPENSATION TECHNIQUES FOR
HARDWARE ERRORS 4HE EFFECT OF TIME MISMATCH BETWEEN THE SIGNAL AND THE WEIGHTING
FUNCTION IS ANALYZED BY 4EMES
n{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
5NEQUAL 4RANSMIT AND 2EFERENCE 7AVEFORM 3LOPES ! STRETCH PROCESSOR WITH
UNEQUAL FREQUENCY SLOPE WAVEFORMS REQUIRES PULSE COMPRESSION OF THE RESIDUAL LINEAR
&- AT THE OUTPUT OF THE CORRELATION MIXER ! LINEAR &- SIGNAL WITH A SLOPE OF @ IN @ 2
OCCURS AT THE TARGET RANGE WHICH IS OFFSET IN FREQUENCY FROM THE )& CARRIER FREQUENCY
BY @ 2S2 S 7ITH THE RANGE DOPPLER COUPLING OF THE ,&- WAVEFORM THE APPARENT
TIME DELAY OF THIS TARGET WILL BE
SAPP @2 S2 S @ @2
4HIS RESULT CAN BE INTERPRETED AS YIELDING A TIME
EXPANSION FACTOR OF @ 2@ @ 2
FOR THE COMPRESSED PULSE !S FOR THE CASE OF EQUAL ,&- SLOPES THE RANGE WINDOW
WIDTH DEPENDS ON THE ACHIEVABLE PROCESSING BANDWIDTH
3TRETCH 0ROCESSING 2ANGE 2ESOLUTION 7IDTH 4HE
D" FREQUENCY RESOLUTION WIDTH
FOR SPECTRAL ANALYSIS USING A RECTANGULAR WINDOW OF TIME DURATION EQUAL TO THE TRANSMIT
PULSEWIDTH IS
$F
4
4HE
D" TIME DELAY RESOLUTION WIDTH OBTAINED BY STRETCH PROCESSING IS OBTAINED BY
DIVIDING $F BY \@ \ TO CONVERT TO UNITS OF TIME DELAY
T
$F
" 4
"
#ONSEQUENTLY THE D" RESOLUTION WIDTH ACHIEVED BY STRETCH PROCESSING IS THE SAME
AS THAT ACHIEVED BY THE MATCHED FILTER FOR THE ,&- WAVEFORM 4HE D" RANGE RESOLU
TION WIDTH IS
$2
C
"
4IME
DOMAIN WEIGHTING IS UTILIZED IN THE SPECTRAL ANALYSIS PROCESSING TO REDUCE
THE TIME SIDELOBES OF THE COMPRESSED PULSE AND IMPROVE THE RESOLUTION PERFORMANCE
WHEN MULTIPLE TARGETS ARE PRESENT WITHIN THE RANGE WINDOW !S AN EXAMPLE THE USE OF
(AMMING TIME
DOMAIN WEIGHTING REDUCES THE PEAK TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL FROM n D"
TO n D" WITH AN INCREASE IN THE
D" FREQUENCY RESOLUTION WIDTH TO $F 4
4HE
D" RANGE RESOLUTION WIDTH FOR (AMMING WEIGHTING IS
$2
C
(AMMING 7EIGHTING
"
2ANGE 7INDOW 7IDTH 4HE WIDTH OF THE RANGE WINDOW IS ESTABLISHED BY THE BAND
WIDTH OF THE SPECTRAL ANALYSIS AND THE ,&- SLOPE OF THE TRANSMIT WAVEFORM !SSUME A TIME
WINDOW OF WIDTH $T AND A STRETCH PROCESSING BANDWIDTH "P ! TARGET AT THE EDGE OF THE TIME
WINDOW YIELDS A FREQUENCY OFFSET EQUAL TO ONE
HALF OF THE PROCESSING BANDWIDTH
OR
" $T " P
4
$T 4
"P
"P
" " 4
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
nx
4HE RANGE WINDOW WIDTH IS
$R
C4 " P C "P
" " 4
3TRETCH 0ULSE #OMPRESSION 2ADAR %XAMPLES 4HIS SECTION DESCRIBES THREE
EXAMPLES OF RADARS THAT EMPLOY STRETCH PULSE COMPRESSION SYSTEMS
,ONG 2ANGE )MAGING 2ADAR 4HE ,ONG 2ANGE )MAGING 2ADAR ,2)2 IS AN
8 BAND RADAR WITH STRETCH PROCESSING BANDWIDTHS OF -(Z AND -(Z 4HE
WIDEBAND WAVEFORM HAS A SWEPT BANDWIDTH OF -(Z TO A PULSEWIDTH OF APPROXI
MATELY S AND A ,&- SLOPE "4 y -(Z S -(ZS 4HE RANGE
WINDOW WIDTH FOR THE -(Z PROCESSING BANDWIDTH IS
$R
M MS r -(Z
C "P
M
" 4
-(Z MS
-ILLIMETER 7AVE 2ADAR 4HE STRETCH PROCESSING IMPLEMENTATION FOR THE -ILLIMETER
7AVE RADAR --7 LOCATED AT +WAJALEIN !TOLL IS DESCRIBED BY !BOUZAHARA AND
!VENT 4HE --7 RADAR OPERATES AT A CARRIER FREQUENCY OF '(Z USING WAVEFORMS
WITH A MAXIMUM SWEPT BANDWIDTH OF -(Z AND PULSEWIDTH OF S 4HE ,&-
SLOPE FOR THE TRANSMIT WAVEFORM IS
A
" -(Z
-(ZMS
4
MS
4HE STRETCH PROCESSING BANDWIDTH IS "P -(Z 4HE WIDTH OF THE STRETCH PROCESSING
TIME WINDOW IS
$T
-(Z
MS
-(Z MS
4HE REFERENCE WAVEFORM PULSEWIDTH IS 42 S TO AVOID A LOSS IN 3.2
FOR TARGETS AT THE EDGES OF THE RANGE WINDOW 4HE SWEPT BANDWIDTH OF THE REFERENCE
WAVEFORM AND THE RANGE WINDOW WIDTH ARE
"2 -(ZMS r MS -(Z
C
$R $T M MS r MS M
4HE
D" RANGE RESOLUTION WIDTH WITH (AMMING WEIGHTING APPLIED OVER THE
S
PULSEWIDTH IN THE SPECTRAL ANALYSIS PROCESSING IS
$2
C
M MS
M
"
-(Z
#OBRA $ANE 7IDEBAND 0ULSE #OMPRESSION 3YSTEM 4HE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
WIDEBAND PULSE COMPRESSION SYSTEM DEVELOPED FOR THE #OBRA $ANE RADAR ARE SUM
MARIZED IN 4ABLE
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% #OBRA $ANE 7IDEBAND 0ULSE #OMPRESSION 3YSTEM #HARACTERISTICS ADAPTED FROM &ILER
AND (ARTT )%%%
#HARACTERISTIC
6ALUE
4RANSMIT ,&- BANDWIDTH
2EFERENCE ,&- BANDWIDTH
4RANSMIT WAVEFORM SWEPT BANDWIDTH "
2EFERENCE WAVEFORM SWEPT BANDWIDTH "REF
4RANSMIT PULSEWIDTH 4
2EFERENCE PULSEWIDTH 4REF
4RANSMIT WAVEFORM ,&- SLOPE
#OMPRESSED PULSEWIDTH n D" S
4IME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCT 4"
4IME SIDELOBE LEVEL
4ARGET RANGE WINDOW
.UMBER OF RANGE SAMPLES
2ANGE SAMPLE SPACING
&IRST )& AT OUTPUT OF CORRELATION MIXER
3ECOND )&
3TRETCH PROCESSING BANDWIDTH "P
!$ CONVERTER SAMPLING FREQUENCY
TO -(Z
TO -(Z
-(Z
-(Z
S
S
-(ZS UP
CHIRP
FT
n D"
FT
FT
-(Z
-(Z
K(Z
-(Z IN ) AND 1 BASEBAND CHANNELS
%XCLUDES PULSEWIDTH AND SWEPT BANDWIDTH EXTENSION DUE TO FT RANGE WINDOW
**
8
3IGNAL !NALYSIS 3UMMARYn 4ABLE IS A SUMMARY OF SIGNAL ANALYSIS DEFI
NITIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS 4ABLE SHOWS 7OODWARDS &OURIER TRANSFORM RULES AND
PAIRS 4HESE RELATIONSHIPS SIMPLIFY THE APPLICATION OF SIGNAL ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES )N
MOST CASES IT WILL NOT BE NECESSARY TO EXPLICITLY PERFORM AN INTEGRATION TO EVALUATE THE
&OURIER TRANSFORM OR INVERSE &OURIER TRANSFORM
4!",% 3IGNAL !NALYSIS $EFINITIONS AND 2ELATIONSHIPS
&OURIER TRANSFORM SPECTRUM OF
SIGNAL XT
8 F
XT E J P FT DT
)NVERSE &OURIER TRANSFORM OF
SPECTRUM 8 F
X T
8 F E J P FT DF
#ONVOLUTION OF SIGNALS XT AND YT
Y T X T
H T
c
&ILTER FREQUENCY RESPONSE
%ULERS IDENTITY
( F 9 F 8 F
XT HT T DT XT T HT DT
E JQ COS Q J SIN Q
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
4!",% 3IGNAL !NALYSIS $EFINITIONS AND 2ELATIONSHIPS #ONTINUED
#OSINE AND SINE FUNCTIONS EXPRESSED
IN TERMS OF COMPLEX EXPONENTIALS
COS Q E JQ E
JQ
SIN Q E JQ
E
JQ J
0ARSEVALS THEOREM
SUPERSCRIPT ASTERISK INDICATES
COMPLEX CONJUGATE
XT Y
T DT
8 F 9
F DF
c
c
\ XT \ DT \ 8 F \ DF
RECT FUNCTION
\ T \
RECTT
\ T \
SINC FUNCTION
SINC F SINP F P F
2EPETITION OPERATOR
REP4 ; XT =
XT N4
N c
#OMB OPERATOR
COMB & ; 8 F =
8 N& D F N&
N c
3AMPLING PROPERTY OF DELTA FUNCTION
XT D T T DT XT
#AUCHY 3CHWARZ INEQUALITY
F X G X DX
a \ F X \ DX \ G X \ DX
c
WITH EQUALITY IF AND ONLY IF F X KG
X
2ADAR 4RANSMIT 7AVEFORMS n 4HE TRANSMITTED WAVEFORMS USED IN RADAR
ARE BANDPASS SIGNALS THAT CAN BE EXPRESSED IN THE FORM
XT AT COS;P FT F T =
WHERE AT IS THE AMPLITUDE MODULATION 6 ET IS THE PHASE MODULATION RAD AND
F IS THE CARRIER FREQUENCY (Z 4HE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE MODULATION FUNCTIONS VARY
SLOWLY COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF THE CARRIER F #ONSEQUENTLY XT IS A NARROWBAND
WAVEFORM WITH A BANDWIDTH THAT IS SMALL COMPARED TO THE CARRIER FREQUENCY
#OMPLEX %NVELOPE 4HE COMPLEX ENVELOPE OF XT IS GIVEN BY
UT AT E JF T
A
nn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% &OURIER 4RANSFORM 2ULES AND 0AIRS
XT YT
REP4 ; XT =
#OMMENTS
&OURIER TRANSFORM PAIR
,INEARITY
3IGNAL TIME REVERSAL
#ONJUGATE OF SIGNAL
4IME DOMAIN DIFFERENTIATION
&REQUENCY DOMAIN DIFFERENTIATION
3IGNAL TIME SHIFT
3IGNAL FREQUENCY SHIFT
4IME SCALING
4IME DOMAIN CONVOLUTION
4IME DOMAIN MULTIPLICATION
8 F
9 F
\ 4 \ COMB 4 ; 8 F = 7OODWARDS REPETITION OPERATOR
COMB4 ; XT =
\ 4 \ REP 4 ; 8 F =
7OODWARDS COMB OPERATOR
8T
C T
RECTT
SINCT
EXPnPT
XnF
C F
SINC F
RECT F
EXPnP F
4IME
FREQUENCY INTERCHANGE DUALITY
$ELTA FUNCTION IN TIME
$ELTA FUNCTION IN FREQUENCY
RECT FUNCTION IN TIME
RECT FUNCTION IN FREQUENCY
'AUSSIAN TIME FUNCTION
3IGNAL
XT
!XT "UT
X
T
X
T
DXDT
JPTXT
XT
S
XT EXPJPFT
XT4
X T
Y T
3PECTRUM
8 F
!8 F "5 F
8
F
8
F
JPF8 F
D8DF
8 F EXP
JPFS
8 F
F
\4\8 F4
8 F 9 F
4HE BANDPASS SIGNAL IS EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE COMPLEX ENVELOPE BY
UT 2E; XT E J P FT =
B
#OMPLEX %NVELOPE 2EPRESENTATION OF 2ADAR %CHOES 4HE RADAR ECHO SIGNAL
FROM A POINT TARGET IS
SR T !R AT TD COS;P F FD T TD F T TD =
WHERE !R IS A DIMENSIONLESS AMPLITUDE SCALE FACTOR TD IS THE TARGET TIME DELAY S FD IS
THE TARGET DOPPLER SHIFT (Z AT IS THE AMPLITUDE MODULATION 6 E T IS THE PHASE
MODULATION RAD AND F IS THE TRANSMIT CARRIER FREQUENCY (Z 4HE COMPLEX ENVELOPE
OF SRT IS
UR T !R E J P FTD UT TD E J P FD T TD
4HE TERM UT n TD IS THE COMPLEX ENVELOPE OF THE TRANSMIT WAVEFORM DELAYED IN TIME
BY TD 4HE COMPLEX EXPONENTIAL EXP;JO FDT n TD = REPRESENTS A LINEAR PHASE MODULATION
VERSUS TIME THAT IS IMPRESSED ON THE RECEIVED ECHO SIGNAL BY THE DOPPLER SHIFT FD 4HE
CARRIER PHASE SHIFT IS PC nO FTD
4HE TIME DELAY AND DOPPLER SHIFT ARE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF TARGET RANGE AND RANGE
RATE BY TD 2C S AND FD nK 6R (Z WHERE 2 IS THE TARGET RANGE M 6R D2DT
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
IS THE RANGE RATE NEGATIVE FOR AN INCOMING TARGET C IS THE SPEED OF LIGHT AND K CF
M IS THE CARRIER WAVELENGTH
-ATCHED &ILTERS ! MATCHED FILTER ACHIEVES MAXIMUM OUTPUT SIGNAL TO NOISE
RATIO FOR A SIGNAL RECEIVED IN WHITE NOISE 4HE MATCHED FILTER FREQUENCY RESPONSE FOR
A SIGNAL UT IS
( MF F K5
F E
J P FT
WHERE K IS AN ARBITRARY COMPLEX CONSTANT AND 5 F IS THE SPECTRUM OF UT 4HE TIME
DELAY T IS REQUIRED TO EXCEED THE DURATION OF UT TO ACHIEVE A CAUSAL IMPULSE RESPONSE
THAT IS ZERO FOR NEGATIVE TIME 4HE MATCHED FILTER IMPULSE RESPONSE IS
HMF T KU
T
T
4HE PEAK SIGNAL TO NOISE TO MEAN NOISE POWER RATIO AT THE OUTPUT OF A FILTER WITH
FREQUENCY RESPONSE ( F IS DEFINED AS
3 . O
!
S NO
WHERE !O IS THE MATCHED FILTER OUTPUT SIGNAL AMPLITUDE AT THE PEAK OF THE SIGNAL AND R NO
IS THE MATCHED FILTER OUTPUT NOISE POWER 4HE MATCHED FILTER OUTPUT 3.2 IS GIVEN BY
3 . MF
%
.
WHERE % IS THE ENERGY OF THE RECEIVED BANDPASS SIGNAL AT THE MATCHED FILTER INPUT *
AND . IS THE ONE
SIDED NOISE POWER SPECTRUM AT THE MATCHED FILTER INPUT 7(Z
&ILTER -ATCHING ,OSS &ILTER MATCHING LOSS ,M IS THE LOSS IN 3.2 THAT RESULTS WHEN
A SIGNAL IS NOT PROCESSED USING A MATCHED FILTER 4HE FILTER MATCHING LOSS IS DEFINED AS
,M
3 . MF
3 . O
WHERE 3. O IS THE 3.2 AT THE OUTPUT OF A FILTER WITH FREQUENCY RESPONSE ( F AND
3. MF IS THE MATCHED FILTER 3.2 4HE FILTER MATCHING LOSS CAN ALSO BE EXPRESSED AS
,M
% .
3 . O
WHERE THE MATCHED FILTER 3.2 IS GIVEN BY 3. MF %. 4HE FILTER MATCHING LOSS IS
q WHERE ,M FOR THE MATCHED FILTER 4HE FILTER MATCHING LOSS EXPRESSED IN DECIBELS
IS ,MD" LOG,M AND EQUALS D" FOR THE MATCHED FILTER
!N ALTERNATE DEFINITION OF SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO IS ALSO USED IN THE LITERATURE IN WHICH THE SIGNAL POWER AT THE PEAK OF
THE WAVEFORM IS AVERAGED OVER ONE CYCLE OF THE CARRIER )N THIS CASE THE AVERAGE SIGNAL POWER IS ONE
HALF OF THE
PEAK SIGNAL POWER AND THE MATCHED
FILTER OUTPUT 3.2 IS %.
n{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!MBIGUITY &UNCTIONS n 4HE AUTOCORRELATIONo FUNCTION FOR A TRANSMIT
WAVEFORM WITH COMPLEX ENVELOPE UT IS DEFINED AS
C U T FD UT U
T T E J P FD T DT
WHERE S IS THE RELATIVE TIME DELAY AND FD IS DOPPLER SHIFT 4HE RELATIVE TIME DELAY IS
POSITIVE FOR A TARGET FURTHER IN RANGE THAN A REFERENCE TARGET AND DOPPLER FREQUENCY IS
POSITIVE FOR AN INCOMING TARGET NEGATIVE RANGE
RATE 4HE COMPLEX ENVELOPE UT
IS NORMALIZED TO UNIT ENERGY
c
\ UT \ DT
4HE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION OF UT IS DEFINED AS THE SQUARE MAGNITUDE OF THE AUTOCORRELATION
FUNCTION
9U T FD \ C U T FD \
4HE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION IS INTERPRETED AS A SURFACE ABOVE THE DELAY
DOPPLER S n FD
PLANE 4HE MAXIMUM VALUE OF THE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION IS UNITY AT THE ORIGIN S FD
9 U T FD a 9 U
4HE VOLUME UNDER THE AMBIGUITY SURFACE IS UNITY FOR ANY WAVEFORM UT
c
9 U T FD DT DFD
c c
)N THE GENERAL CASE WHERE THE ENERGY OF THE COMPLEX ENVELOPE IS NOT NORMALIZED
TO UNITY THE VALUE OF THE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION AT THE ORIGIN IS EQUAL TO % WHERE %
IS THE ENERGY OF THE BANDPASS SIGNAL CORRESPONDING TO UT AND THE VOLUME UNDER THE
AMBIGUITY FUNCTION IS ALSO EQUAL TO % 4HE NORMALIZATION CONDITION IS EQUIVALENT TO
THE ASSUMPTION THAT THE ENERGY OF THE BANDPASS TRANSMIT WAVEFORM EQUALS *
-ATCHED &ILTER 4IME 2ESPONSE 4HE MATCHED FILTER TIME RESPONSE TO A TARGET
WITH DOPPLER SHIFT FD CAN BE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION 4HE
MATCHED FILTER IMPULSE RESPONSE WITH K AND T IS
HMF T U
T
4HE MATCHED FILTER INPUT SIGNAL IS ASSUMED TO HAVE ZERO TIME DELAY AND A DOPPLER
SHIFT FD
ST UT E J P FD T
o 4HE TERMINOLOGY FOR THIS FUNCTION IS NOT STANDARDIZED IN THE LITERATURE 7OODWARD USES THE TERM CORRELATION FUNC
TION 4HE TERM TIME
FREQUENCY AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION IS USED BY 3PAFFORD 4HE SIGNS ASSOCIATED WITH S AND FD
WITHIN THE INTEGRAND ALSO DIFFER IN THE LITERATURE 4HE STANDARDIZED DEFINITION PROPOSED BY 3INSKY AND 7ANG IS
USED IN THIS CHAPTER
05,3% #/-02%33)/. 2!$!2
n{
4HE MATCHED FILTER OUTPUT SIGNAL YT IS FOUND BY CONVOLUTION OF ST WITH THE
MATCHED FILTER IMPULSE RESPONSE HMFT
c
YT
UT ` U
T `
T E J P F T ` DT `
D
#OMPARISON OF THIS RESULT WITH THE DEFINITION OF THE AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION SHOWS
THAT THE MATCHED FILTER RESPONSE CAN BE EXPRESSED AS
YT 8U T FD
!S A RESULT THE MATCHED FILTER TIME RESPONSE FOR A TARGET WITH DOPPLER FREQUENCY FD
IS A TIME
REVERSED VERSION OF THE AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION
#ONDITIONS FOR 4ARGET 2ESOLUTION IN 4IME $ELAY AND $OPPLER &REQUENCY
!SSUME THAT TWO TARGETS WITH EQUAL RADAR CROSS SECTIONS ARE PRESENT AT THE SAME ANGULAR
POSITION 4HE FIRST TARGET TERMED THE REFERENCE TARGET IS LOCATED AT THE ORIGIN OF THE
DELAY
DOPPLER PLANE WITH ZERO RELATIVE TIME DELAY AND ZERO DOPPLER FREQUENCY AND THE
SECOND TARGET IS AT RELATIVE TIME DELAY S AND DOPPLER FREQUENCY FD 4HE RELATIVE TIME DELAY
IS POSITIVE WHEN THE SECOND TARGET IS FARTHER IN RANGE THAN THE REFERENCE TARGET AND THE
DOPPLER FREQUENCY IS POSITIVE FOR AN INCOMING TARGET 4HE MATCHED
FILTER OUTPUT POWER
FOR THE REFERENCE TARGET IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION AND IS GIVEN BY
0REF 9U
4HE MATCHED FILTER OUTPUT POWER FOR THE SECOND TARGET EVALUATED AT THE PEAK OF THE
REFERENCE TARGET IS
0 9U S FD
4HE SECOND TARGET IS UNRESOLVED FROM THE REFERENCE TARGET AT LOCATIONS IN THE DELAY
DOPPLER PLANE WHERE 9US FD y
,
,
* 2 +LAUDER ! # 0RICE 3 $ARLINGTON AND 7 * !LBERSHEIM h4HE THEORY AND DESIGN OF CHIRP
RADARS v "ELL 3YST 4ECH * VOL PP n *ULY
# % #OOK AND - "ERNFIELD 2ADAR SIGNALS !N )NTRODUCTION TO 4HEORY AND !PPLICATION
.EW 9ORK !CADEMIC 0RESS
# % #OOK AND * 0AOLILLO h! PULSE COMPRESSION PREDISTORTION FUNCTION FOR EFFICIENT SIDELOBE
REDUCTION IN A HIGH
POWER RADAR v 0ROC )%%% PP n !PRIL
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SOURCE ANTENNAS FOR NARROW BEAMWIDTH AND LOW SIDELOBES v )2%
4RANS VOL !0
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2 # (ANSEN h!PERTURE THEORY v IN -ICROWAVE 3CANNING !NTENNAS VOL ) 2 # (ANSEN ED
.EW 9ORK !CADEMIC 0RESS CHAP
( 'AUTIER AND 0 4OURNOIS h3IGNAL PROCESSING USING SURFACE
ACOUSTIC
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DEVICE APPLICATIONS v -ICROWAVE * VOL PP n
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* 7 !RTHUR h-ODERN 3!7 BASED PULSE COMPRESSION SYSTEMS FOR RADAR APPLICATIONS v %LECTRONICS
#OMMUNICATIONS %NGINEERING *OURNAL $ECEMBER
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FOR /FFICE OF .AVAL 2ESEARCH #ONTRACT .ONR X !$ &EBRUARY
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7 *ACKSON ED .EW 9ORK !CADEMIC 0RESS PP n
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" , ,EWIS h2ANGE TIME SIDELOBE REDUCTION TECHNIQUE FOR &- DERIVED POLYPHASE 0# CODES v
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PP n
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! 7 2IHACZEK 0RINCIPLES OF (IGH 2ESOLUTION 2ADAR .EW 9ORK -C'RAW (ILL "OOK #OMPANY
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* 0 $ONOHUE AND & - )NGELS h!MBIGUITY FUNCTION PROPERTIES OF FREQUENCY HOPPED RADARSONAR
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#HAPTER
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i> >`
#ONSULTANT TO )44 )NDUSTRIES )NC
/," 1
/"
4YPICAL TRACKING RADARS HAVE A PENCIL BEAM TO RECEIVE ECHOES FROM A SINGLE TARGET AND
TRACK THE TARGET IN ANGLE RANGE ANDOR DOPPLER )TS RESOLUTION CELLDEFINED BY ITS
ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH TRANSMITTER PULSE LENGTH EFFECTIVE PULSE LENGTH MAY BE SHORTER
WITH PULSE COMPRESSION ANDOR DOPPLER BANDWIDTHIS USUALLY SMALL COMPARED WITH
THAT OF A SEARCH RADAR AND IS USED TO EXCLUDE UNDESIRED ECHOES OR SIGNALS FROM OTHER
TARGETS CLUTTER AND COUNTERMEASURES %LECTRONIC BEAM
SCANNING PHASED ARRAY RADARS
MAY TRACK MULTIPLE TARGETS BY SEQUENTIALLY DWELLING UPON AND MEASURING EACH TARGET
WHILE EXCLUDING OTHER ECHO OR SIGNAL SOURCES
"ECAUSE OF ITS NARROW BEAMWIDTH TYPICALLY FROM A FRACTION OF n TO OR n TRACKING
RADARS USUALLY DEPEND UPON INFORMATION FROM A SURVEILLANCE RADAR OR OTHER SOURCE OF
TARGET LOCATION TO ACQUIRE THE TARGET IE TO PLACE ITS BEAM ON OR IN THE VICINITY OF THE
TARGET BEFORE INITIATING A TRACK 3CANNING OF THE BEAM WITHIN A LIMITED ANGLE SECTOR MAY
BE NEEDED TO ACQUIRE THE TARGET WITHIN ITS BEAM AND CENTER THE RANGE
TRACKING GATES ON
THE ECHO PULSE PRIOR TO LOCKING ON THE TARGET OR CLOSING THE TRACKING LOOPS 4HE GATE ACTS
LIKE A FAST
ACTING ON
OFF SWITCH THAT TURNS THE RECEIVER hONv AT THE LEADING EDGE OF THE
TARGET ECHO PULSE AND hOFFv AT THE END OF THE TARGET ECHO PULSE TO ELIMINATE UNDESIRED
ECHOES 4HE RANGE
TRACKING SYSTEM PERFORMS THE TASK OF KEEPING THE GATE CENTERED ON
THE TARGET ECHO AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
4HE PRIMARY OUTPUT OF TRACKING RADAR IS THE TARGET LOCATION DETERMINED FROM THE
POINTING ANGLES OF THE BEAM AND POSITION OF ITS RANGE
TRACKING GATES 4HE ANGLE LOCA
TION IS THE DATA OBTAINED FROM SYNCHROS AND ENCODERS ON THE ANTENNA TRACKING AXES
OR DATA FROM A BEAM
POSITIONING COMPUTER ON AN ELECTRONIC
SCAN PHASED ARRAY RADAR
)N SOME CASES TRACKING LAG IS MEASURED BY CONVERTING TRACKING
LAG
ERROR VOLTAGES FROM
THE TRACKING LOOPS TO UNITS OF ANGLE 4HIS DATA IS USED TO ADD TO OR SUBTRACT FROM THE
ANGLE SHAFT POSITION DATA FOR REAL
TIME CORRECTION OF TRACKING LAG
4HERE ARE A LARGE VARIETY OF TRACKING
RADAR SYSTEMS INCLUDING SOME THAT ACHIEVE
SIMULTANEOUSLY BOTH SURVEILLANCE AND TRACKING FUNCTIONS ! WIDELY USED TYPE OF
TRACKING RADAR AND THE ONE DISCUSSED IN DETAIL IN THIS CHAPTER IS A GROUND
BASED SYS
TEM CONSISTING OF A PENCIL
BEAM ANTENNA MOUNTED ON A ROTATABLE PLATFORM WITH SERVO
MOTOR DRIVE OF ITS AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION POSITION TO FOLLOW A TARGET &IGURE A
%RRORS IN POINTING DIRECTION ARE DETERMINED BY SENSING THE ANGLE OF ARRIVAL OF THE
ECHO WAVEFRONT AND CORRECTED BY POSITIONING THE ANTENNA TO KEEP THE TARGET CENTERED
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
IN THE BEAM -ODERN REQUIREMENTS FOR SIMULTANEOUS PRECISION TRACKING OF MULTIPLE
TARGETS HAS DRIVEN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ELECTRONIC SCAN ARRAY MONOPULSE RADAR
WITH THE CAPABILITY TO SWITCH ITS BEAM PULSE
TO
PULSE AMONG MULTIPLE TARGETS 4HE
!.-03
SHOWN IN &IGURE B IS AN EXAMPLE OF A HIGHLY VERSATILE ELECTRONIC SCAN
MONOPULSE MISSILE
RANGE INSTRUMENTATION RADAR
4HE PRINCIPAL APPLICATIONS OF PRECISION TRACKING RADAR ARE WEAPON CONTROL AND
MISSILE
RANGE INSTRUMENTATION )N BOTH APPLICATIONS A HIGH DEGREE OF PRECISION AND AN
ACCURATE PREDICTION OF FUTURE POSITION OF THE TARGET ARE GENERALLY REQUIRED 4HE EARLIEST
USE OF TRACKING RADAR WAS GUNFIRE CONTROL 4HE AZIMUTH ANGLE ELEVATION ANGLE AND THE
RANGE TO THE TARGET WERE MEASURED AND FROM THE RATE OF CHANGE OF THESE PARAMETERS THE
VELOCITY VECTOR OF THE TARGET SPEED AND DIRECTION WAS COMPUTED AND ITS FUTURE POSITION
PREDICTED 4HIS INFORMATION WAS USED TO MOVE THE GUN TO LEAD THE TARGET AND SET THE FUZE
DELAY 4HE TRACKING RADAR PERFORMS A SIMILAR ROLE IN PROVIDING GUIDANCE INFORMATION
AND STEERING COMMANDS FOR MISSILE CONTROL
)N MISSILE
RANGE INSTRUMENTATION THE TRACKING
RADAR OUTPUT IS USED TO MEASURE THE
TRAJECTORY OF THE MISSILE AND TO PREDICT FUTURE POSITION 4RACKING RADARS ARE USED TO COM
PUTE THE IMPACT POINT OF A LAUNCHED MISSILE CONTINUOUSLY DURING THE LAUNCH PHASE IN CASE
OF MISSILE FAILURE FOR RANGE SAFETY )F THE IMPACT POINT APPROACHES A POPULATED OR OTHER
CRITICAL AREA THE MISSILE IS DESTROYED -ISSILE
RANGE INSTRUMENTATION RADARS ARE NORMALLY
USED WITH A BEACON PULSE REPEATER TO PROVIDE A POINT
SOURCE ECHOUSUALLY ITS PULSE
IS DELAYED TO SEPARATE IT FROM THE TARGET ECHOAND WITH HIGH SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO TO
ACHIEVE PRECISION TRACKING ON THE ORDER OF MIL IN ANGLE AND M IN RANGE
A
B
&)'52% A !.&01
#
BAND MONOPULSE PRECISION TRACKING RADAR INSTALLATION AT THE .!3!
7ALLOPS )SLAND 3TATION 6! )T HAS A
FT
DIAMETER DISH AND A SPECIFIED TRACKING PRECISION OF MRAD RMS
B !.-03
#
BAND ELECTRONIC SCAN PHASED
ARRAY -ULTI /BJECT 4RACKING 2ADAR -/42 INSTALLED AT
THE 7HITE 3ANDS -ISSILE 2ANGE 0HOTO OF THE !.-03
COURTESY OF THE 7HITE 3ANDS -ISSILE 2ANGE AND
,OCKHEED -ARTIN
42!#+).' 2!$!2
4HIS CHAPTER DESCRIBES THE MONOPULSE SIMULTANEOUS LOBING WITH EITHER PHASE COM
PARISON OR AMPLITUDE COMPARISON CONICAL
SCAN AND SEQUENTIAL LOBING TRACKING
RADAR
TECHNIQUES WITH THE MAIN EMPHASIS ON THE AMPLITUDE
COMPARISON MONOPULSE SIMUL
TANEOUS LOBING RADAR
" "*1 - - 1 / "1- "
4HE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF CONICAL SCANNING AND SEQUENTIAL LOBING TRACKING TECHNIQUES TO
ECHO AMPLITUDE FLUCTUATIONS AND AMPLITUDE JAMMING AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
WAS THE MAJOR REASON FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRACKING RADAR THAT PROVIDES SIMULTANE
OUSLY ALL THE NECESSARY LOBES FOR ANGLE ERROR SENSING 4HIS REQUIRED THAT THE OUTPUT
FROM THE LOBES BE COMPARED SIMULTANEOUSLY ON A SINGLE PULSE ELIMINATING THE EFFECTS
OF ECHO AMPLITUDE CHANGE WITH TIME 4HE TECHNIQUE TO ACCOMPLISH THIS WAS INITIALLY
CALLED SIMULTANEOUS LOBING WHICH WAS DESCRIPTIVE OF THE TECHNIQUE ,ATER THE TERM
MONOPULSE WAS COINED REFERRING TO THE ABILITY TO OBTAIN ANGLE ERROR INFORMATION ON
A SINGLE PULSE )T HAS BECOME THE COMMONLY USED NAME FOR THIS TRACKING TECHNIQUE
EVEN THOUGH THE LOBES ARE GENERATED SIMULTANEOUSLY AND MONOPULSE TRACKING CAN BE
PERFORMED WITH #7 RADAR
4HE ORIGINAL MONOPULSE TRACKING RADARS SUFFERED IN ANTENNA EFFICIENCY AND COM
PLEXITY OF MICROWAVE CIRCUITRY BECAUSE WAVEGUIDE SIGNAL COMBINING CIRCUITRY WAS A
RELATIVELY NEW ART 4HESE PROBLEMS WERE OVERCOME AND MONOPULSE RADAR WITH MOD
ERN COMPACT OFF THE SHELF PROCESSING CIRCUITRY CAN READILY OUTPERFORM SCANNING AND
LOBING SYSTEMS 4HE MONOPULSE TECHNIQUE ALSO HAS AN INHERENT CAPABILITY FOR HIGH
PRECISION ANGLE MEASUREMENT BECAUSE ITS FEED STRUCTURE IS COMPACT WITH SHORT SIGNAL
PATHS AND RIGIDLY MOUNTED WITH NO MOVING PARTS 4HIS HAS MADE POSSIBLE THE DEVEL
OPMENT OF PENCIL BEAM TRACKING RADARS THAT MEET MISSILE RANGE INSTRUMENTATION RADAR
REQUIREMENTS OF n ANGLE TRACKING PRECISION
4HIS CHAPTER IS DEVOTED TO TRACKING RADAR BUT MONOPULSE TECHNIQUES ARE USED IN
OTHER SYSTEMS INCLUDING HOMING DEVICES DIRECTION FINDERS AND SOME SEARCH RADARS
(OWEVER MOST OF THE BASIC PRINCIPLES AND LIMITATIONS OF MONOPULSE APPLY FOR ALL APPLI
CATIONS -ORE GENERAL COVERAGE IS FOUND IN 3HERMAN AND ,EONOV AND &ORMICHEV
!MPLITUDE #OMPARISON -ONOPULSE ! METHOD FOR VISUALIZING THE OPERATION OF
AN AMPLITUDE COMPARISON RECEIVER IS TO CONSIDER THE ECHO SIGNAL AT THE FOCAL PLANE OF
AN ANTENNA 4HE ECHO IS FOCUSED TO A FINITE SIZE hSPOTv 4HE hSPOTv IS CENTERED ON THE
FOCAL PLANE WHEN THE TARGET IS ON THE ANTENNA AXIS AND MOVES OFF CENTER WHEN THE TAR
GET MOVES OFF AXIS 4HE ANTENNA FEED IS LOCATED AT THE FOCAL POINT TO RECEIVE MAXIMUM
ENERGY FROM A TARGET ON AXIS
4HE AMPLITUDE COMPARISON FEED IS DESIGNED TO SENSE ANY FEED PLANE DISPLACEMENT
OF THE SPOT FROM THE CENTER OF THE FOCAL PLANE ! MONOPULSE FEED USING THE FOUR HORN
SQUARE FOR EXAMPLE WOULD BE CENTERED AT THE FOCAL PLANE )T PROVIDES SYMMETRY
SO THAT WHEN THE SPOT IS CENTERED EQUAL ENERGY FALLS ON EACH OF THE FOUR HORNS 4HE
RADAR SENSES TARGET DISPLACEMENT FROM THE ANTENNA AXIS THAT SHIFTS THE SPOT OFF OF THE
CENTER OF THE FOCAL PLANE BY MEASURING THE RESULTANT UNBALANCE OF ENERGY RECEIVED
IN THE FOUR HORNS 4HIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY USE OF MICROWAVE WAVEGUIDE HYBRIDS TO
SUBTRACT OUTPUTS OF PAIRS OF HORNS PROVIDING A SENSITIVE DEVICE THAT GIVES SIGNAL OUT
PUT WHEN THERE IS AN UNBALANCE CAUSED BY THE TARGET BEING OFF AXIS 4HE 2& CIRCUITRY
FOR A CONVENTIONAL FOUR HORN SQUARE FEED SEE &IGURE SUBTRACTS THE OUTPUT OF
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% -ICROWAVE COMPARATOR CIRCUITRY USED WITH A FOUR HORN
MONOPULSE FEED
THE LEFT PAIR FROM THE OUTPUT OF THE RIGHT PAIR TO SENSE ANY UNBALANCE IN THE AZIMUTH
DIRECTION )T ALSO SUBTRACTS THE OUTPUT OF THE TOP PAIR FROM THE OUTPUT OF THE BOTTOM
PAIR TO SENSE ANY UNBALANCE IN THE ELEVATION DIRECTION )N ADDITION THE CIRCUITRY ADDS
THE OUTPUT OF ALL FOUR HORNS FOR A SUM SIGNAL FOR DETECTION MONOPULSE PROCESSING
AND RANGE TRACKING
4HE COMPARATOR SHOWN IN &IGURE IS THE CIRCUITRY THAT PERFORMS THE ADDITION AND
SUBTRACTION OF THE FEED HORN OUTPUTS TO OBTAIN MONOPULSE SUM AND DIFFERENCE SIGNALS )T
IS ILLUSTRATED WITH HYBRID
4 OR MAGIC
4 WAVEGUIDE COMPONENTS 4HESE ARE FOUR
PORT
DEVICES THAT IN BASIC FORM HAVE THE INPUTS AND OUTPUTS LOCATED AT RIGHT ANGLES TO EACH
OTHER (OWEVER THE MAGIC 4S HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED IN CONVENIENT hFOLDEDv CONFIGU
RATIONS FOR A VERY COMPACT COMPARATOR 4HE PERFORMANCE OF THESE AND OTHER SIMILAR
FOUR
PORT DEVICES IS DESCRIBED IN #HAPTER OF 3HERMAN
4HE SUBTRACTOR OUTPUTS ARE CALLED DIFFERENCE SIGNALS WHICH ARE ZERO WHEN THE TARGET
IS ON AXIS INCREASING IN AMPLITUDE WITH INCREASING DISPLACEMENT OF THE TARGET FROM THE
ANTENNA AXIS 4HE DIFFERENCE SIGNALS ALSO CHANGE n IN PHASE FROM ONE SIDE OF CENTER
TO THE OTHER 4HE SUM OF ALL FOUR
HORN OUTPUTS PROVIDES A REFERENCE SIGNAL TO CONTROL
ANGLE
TRACKING SENSITIVITY VOLTS PER DEGREE OF ERROR TO REMAIN CONSTANT EVEN THOUGH
THE TARGET ECHO SIGNAL MAY VARY OVER A LARGE DYNAMIC RANGE 4HIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY
AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL !'# TO KEEP THE SUM SIGNAL OUTPUT AND ANGLE
TRACKING LOOP
GAINS CONSTANT FOR STABLE AUTOMATIC ANGLE TRACKING
&IGURE IS A BLOCK DIAGRAM OF TYPICAL MONOPULSE RADARS 4HE SUM SIGNAL ELEVA
TION DIFFERENCE SIGNAL AND AZIMUTH DIFFERENCE SIGNAL ARE EACH CONVERTED TO INTERMEDI
ATE FREQUENCY )& USING A COMMON LOCAL OSCILLATOR TO MAINTAIN RELATIVE PHASE AT )&
4HE )& SUM
SIGNAL OUTPUT IS DETECTED AND PROVIDES THE VIDEO INPUT TO THE RANGE TRACKER
4HE RANGE TRACKER MEASURES AND TRACKS THE TIME OF ARRIVAL OF THE DESIRED TARGET ECHO
AND PROVIDES GATE PULSES THAT TURN ON THE RADAR RECEIVER CHANNELS ONLY DURING THE BRIEF
PERIOD WHEN THE DESIRED ECHO IS EXPECTED 4HE GATED VIDEO IS USED TO GENERATE THE DC
42!#+).' 2!$!2
&)'52% "LOCK DIAGRAM OF A CONVENTIONAL MONOPULSE TRACKING RADAR
VOLTAGE PROPORTIONAL TO THE MAGNITUDE OF THE 3 SIGNAL OR 3 FOR THE !'# OF ALL THREE )&
AMPLIFIER CHANNELS 4HE !'# MAINTAINS CONSTANT ANGLE
TRACKING SENSITIVITY VOLTS PER
DEGREE ERROR EVEN THOUGH THE TARGET ECHO SIGNAL VARIES OVER A LARGE DYNAMIC RANGE BY
CONTROLLING GAIN OR DIVIDING BY 3 !'# IS NECESSARY TO KEEP THE GAIN OF THE ANGLE
TRACKING LOOPS CONSTANT FOR STABLE AUTOMATIC ANGLE TRACKING 3OME MONOPULSE SYSTEMS
SUCH AS THE TWO
CHANNEL MONOPULSE CAN PROVIDE INSTANTANEOUS !'# OR NORMALIZING
BY USE OF LOG DETECTORS AS DESCRIBED LATER IN THIS SECTION
4HE SUM SIGNAL AT THE )& OUTPUT ALSO PROVIDES A REFERENCE SIGNAL TO PHASE DETECTORS
THAT DERIVE ANGLE
TRACKING
ERROR VOLTAGES FROM THE DIFFERENCE SIGNALS 4HE PHASE DETEC
TORS ARE ESSENTIALLY DOT
PRODUCT DEVICES PRODUCING THE OUTPUT VOLTAGE
E
\3\ \$\
COS Q
\ 3 \ \ $\
OR
E
$
COS Q
\3\
WHERE E ANGLE ERROR DETECTOR OUTPUT VOLTAGE
3 MAGNITUDE OF SUM SIGNAL
$ MAGNITUDE OF DIFFERENCE SIGNAL
P PHASE ANGLE BETWEEN SUM AND DIFFERENCE SIGNALS
4HE DOT PRODUCT ERROR DETECTOR IS ONLY ONE OF A WIDE VARIETY OF MONOPULSE ANGLE ERROR
DETECTORS DESCRIBED IN #HAPTER OF 3HERMAN
.ORMALLY P IS EITHER n OR n WHEN THE RADAR IS PROPERLY ADJUSTED AND THE ONLY
PURPOSE OF THE PHASE SENSITIVE CHARACTERISTIC IS TO PROVIDE A PLUS OR MINUS POLARITY COR
RESPONDING TO P n AND P n RESPECTIVELY GIVING A OR n POLARITY TO THE ANGLE
ERROR DETECTOR OUTPUT TO INDICATE TO THE SERVO WHICH DIRECTION TO DRIVE THE PEDESTAL
)N A PULSED TRACKING RADAR THE ANGLE ERROR DETECTOR OUTPUT IS BIPOLAR VIDEO THAT
IS IT IS A VIDEO PULSE WITH AN AMPLITUDE PROPORTIONAL TO THE ANGLE ERROR AND WHOSE
POLARITY POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE CORRESPONDS TO THE DIRECTION OF THE ERROR 4HIS VIDEO
IS TYPICALLY PROCESSED BY A SAMPLE AND HOLD CIRCUIT THAT CHARGES A CAPACITOR TO THE
PEAK VIDEO PULSE VOLTAGE AND HOLDS THE CHARGE UNTIL THE NEXT PULSE AT WHICH TIME THE
CAPACITOR IS DISCHARGED AND RECHARGED TO THE NEW PULSE LEVEL 7ITH MODERATE LOW PASS
FILTERING THIS GIVES THE DC ERROR VOLTAGE OUTPUT TO THE SERVO AMPLIFIER TO CORRECT THE
ANTENNA POSITION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE THREE
CHANNEL AMPLITUDE
COMPARISON MONOPULSE TRACKING RADAR IS THE MOST
COMMONLY USED MONOPULSE SYSTEM (OWEVER THE THREE SIGNALS MAY SOMETIMES BE
COMBINED IN OTHER WAYS TO PERFORM WITH A TWO
CHANNEL RECEIVER SYSTEM AS DESCRIBED
LATER IN THIS SECTION USED IN SOME CURRENT SURFACE
TO
AIR MISSILE 3!- SYSTEMS
-ONOPULSE
!NTENNA &EED 4ECHNIQUES -ONOPULSE
RADAR FEEDS MAY HAVE ANY OF
A VARIETY OF CONFIGURATIONS 3INGLE APERTURES ARE ALSO EMPLOYED BY USE OF HIGHER
ORDER
WAVEGUIDE MODES TO EXTRACT ANGLE
ERROR
SENSING DIFFERENCE SIGNALS 4HERE ARE MANY
TRADEOFFS IN FEED DESIGN BECAUSE OPTIMUM SUM AND DIFFERENCE SIGNALS LOW SIDELOBE
LEVELS SELECTABLE POLARIZATION CAPABILITY AND SIMPLICITY CANNOT ALL BE FULLY SATISFIED
SIMULTANEOUSLY 4HE TERM SIMPLICITY REFERS NOT ONLY TO COST SAVINGS BUT ALSO TO THE USE
OF NONCOMPLEX CIRCUITRY WHICH IS NECESSARY TO PROVIDE A BROADBAND SYSTEM WITH GOOD
BORESIGHT STABILITY TO MEET PRECISION
TRACKING REQUIREMENTS "ORESIGHT IS THE ELECTRICAL
AXIS OF THE ANTENNA OR THE ANGULAR LOCATION OF A SIGNAL SOURCE WITHIN THE ANTENNA BEAM
AT WHICH THE ANGLE
ERROR
DETECTOR OUTPUTS GO TO ZERO
3OME OF THE TYPICAL MONOPULSE FEEDS ARE DESCRIBED TO SHOW THE BASIC RELATIONS AND
TRADEOFFS INVOLVED IN THE VARIOUS PERFORMANCE FACTORS AND HOW THE MORE IMPORTANT
FACTORS CAN BE OPTIMIZED BY A FEED CONFIGURATION BUT AT THE PRICE OF LOWER PERFORMANCE
IN OTHER AREAS -ANY NEW TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN ADDED SINCE THE ORIGINAL FOUR
HORN
SQUARE FEED IN ORDER TO PROVIDE GOOD OR EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE IN ALL DESIRED FEED CHAR
ACTERISTICS IN A WELL
DESIGNED MONOPULSE RADAR
4HE ORIGINAL FOUR
HORN SQUARE MONOPULSE FEED IS INEFFICIENT BECAUSE THE OPTIMUM
FEED SIZE APERTURE FOR THE DIFFERENCE SIGNALS IS APPROXIMATELY TWICE THE OPTIMUM SIZE
FOR THE SUM SIGNAL #ONSEQUENTLY AN INTERMEDIATE SIZE IS TYPICALLY USED WITH A SIGNIFI
CANT COMPROMISE FOR BOTH SUM AND DIFFERENCE SIGNALS 4HE OPTIMUM FOUR
HORN SQUARE
FEED WHICH IS SUBJECT TO THIS COMPROMISE DESCRIBED IN 3HERMAN IS BASED ON MINI
MIZING THE ANGLE ERROR CAUSED BY RECEIVER THERMAL NOISE (OWEVER IF SIDELOBES ARE A
PRIME CONSIDERATION A SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT FEED SIZE MAY BE DESIRED
4HE LIMITATION OF THE FOUR
HORN SQUARED FEED IS THAT THE SUM
AND DIFFERENCE
SIGNAL
% FIELDS CANNOT BE CONTROLLED INDEPENDENTLY )F INDEPENDENT CONTROL COULD BE PROVIDED
THE IDEAL WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY AS DESCRIBED IN &IGURE WITH TWICE THE DIMENSION
FOR THE DIFFERENCE SIGNALS IN THE PLANE OF ERROR SENSING THAN FOR THE SUM SIGNAL
! TECHNIQUE USED BY THE -)4 ,INCOLN ,ABORATORY TO APPROACH THE IDEAL IS A
HORN
FEED &IGURE 4HE OVERALL FEED AS ILLUSTRATED IS DIVIDED INTO SMALL PARTS AND THE
MICROWAVE CIRCUITRY SELECTS THE PORTIONS NECESSARY FOR THE SUM AND DIFFERENCE SIGNALS TO
APPROACH THE IDEAL /NE DISADVANTAGE IS THAT THIS FEED REQUIRES A VERY COMPLEX MICROWAVE
CIRCUIT !LSO THE DIVIDED FOUR
HORN PORTIONS OF THE FEED ARE EACH FOUR ELEMENT ARRAYS THAT
GENERATE LARGE FEED SIDELOBES IN THE (
PLANE
BECAUSE OF THE DOUBLE
PEAK % FIELD !NOTHER
CONSIDERATION IS THAT THE
HORN FEED IS NOT
PRACTICAL FOR FOCAL
POINT
FED PARABOLAS OR
REFLECTARRAYS BECAUSE OF ITS SIZE ! FOCAL
POINT FEED IS USUALLY SMALL TO PRODUCE A
BROAD PATTERN AND MUST BE COMPACT TO AVOID
BLOCKAGE OF THE ANTENNA APERTURE )N SOME
CASES THE SMALL OPTIMUM SIZE REQUIRED IS
BELOW WAVEGUIDE CUTOFF AND DIELECTRIC
LOADING OF THE HORN APERTURES BECOMES NEC
&)'52% !PPROXIMATELY IDEAL FEED
APERTURE
ESSARY TO AVOID CUTOFF
%
FIELD DISTRIBUTION FOR SUM AND DIFFERENCE SIGNALS
42!#+).' 2!$!2
&)'52% 4WELVE HORN FEED
! PRACTICAL APPROACH TO MONOPULSE FEED DESIGN USES HIGHER
ORDER WAVEGUIDE MODES
RATHER THAN MULTIPLE HORNS FOR INDEPENDENT CONTROL OF SUM
AND DIFFERENCE
SIGNAL
% FIELDS 4HIS ALLOWS MUCH GREATER SIMPLICITY AND FLEXIBILITY ! TRIPLE
MODE TWO
HORN
FEED USED BY 2#! RETRACTS THE %
PLANE SEPTA TO ALLOW BOTH THE 4% AND 4% MODES
TO BE EXCITED AND PROPAGATE IN THE DOUBLE
WIDTH SEPTUMLESS REGION AS ILLUSTRATED IN
&IGURE !T THE SEPTUM THE DOUBLE
HUMPED % FIELD IS REPRESENTED BY THE COMBINED
4% AND 4% MODES SUBTRACTING AT THE CENTER AND ADDING AT THE 4%
MODE OUTER
PEAKS (OWEVER BECAUSE THE TWO MODES PROPAGATE AT DIFFERENT VELOCITIES A POINT IS
REACHED FARTHER DOWN THE DOUBLE
WIDTH GUIDE WHERE THE TWO MODES ADD IN THE CENTER
AND SUBTRACT AT THE OUTER HUMPS OF THE 4% MODE 4HE RESULT IS A SUM
SIGNAL % FIELD
CONCENTRATED AS DESIRED TOWARD THE CENTER OF THE FEED APERTURE
4HIS SHAPING OF THE SUM
SIGNAL % FIELD IS ACCOMPLISHED INDEPENDENTLY OF THE
DIFFERENCE
SIGNAL % FIELD 4HE DIFFERENCE SIGNAL IS TWO 4%
MODE SIGNALS SIDE BY SIDE
ARRIVING AT THE SEPTUM OF &IGURE OUT OF PHASE !T THE SEPTUM IT BECOMES THE 4%
MODE WHICH PROPAGATES TO THE HORN APERTURE AND USES THE FULL WIDTH OF THE HORN AS
DESIRED 4HE 4% MODE HAS ZERO % FIELD IN THE CENTER OF THE WAVEGUIDE WHERE THE
SEPTUM IS LOCATED AND IS UNAFFECTED BY THE SEPTUM
! FURTHER STEP IN FEED DEVELOPMENT IS THE FOUR
HORN TRIPLE
MODE FEED ILLUSTRATED IN
&IGURE 4HIS FEED USES THE SAME APPROACH AS DESCRIBED ABOVE BUT WITH THE ADDI
TION OF A TOP AND BOTTOM HORN 4HIS ALLOWS THE %
PLANE DIFFERENCE SIGNAL TO COUPLE TO
ALL FOUR HORNS AND USES THE FULL HEIGHT OF THE FEED 4HE SUM SIGNAL USES ONLY THE CENTER
TWO HORNS TO LIMIT ITS % FIELD IN THE %
PLANE AS DESIRED FOR THE IDEAL FIELD SHAPING
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 5SE OF RETRACTED SEPTUM TO SHAPE THE SUM SIGNAL % FIELD
4HE USE OF SMALLER TOP AND BOTTOM HORNS IS A SIMPLER METHOD OF CONCENTRATING THE
%
FIELD TOWARD THE CENTER OF THE FEED WHERE THE FULL HORN WIDTH IS NOT NEEDED
4HE FEEDS DESCRIBED THUS FAR ARE FOR LINEAR
POLARIZATION OPERATION 7HEN CIRCULAR
POLARIZATION IS NEEDED IN A PARABOLOID
TYPE ANTENNA SQUARE OR CIRCULAR CROSS
SECTION
HORN THROATS ARE USED 4HE VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL COMPONENTS FROM EACH HORN ARE
&)'52% &OUR HORN TRIPLE MODE FEED AFTER 0 7 (ANNAN )%%%
42!#+).' 2!$!2
SEPARATED AND COMPARATORS PROVIDED FOR EACH POLARIZATION 4HE SUM AND DIFFERENCE
SIGNALS FROM THE COMPARATORS ARE COMBINED WITH RELATIVE PHASE TO OBTAIN CIRCULAR
POLARIZATION 5SE OF THE PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED FEEDS FOR CIRCULAR POLARIZATION WOULD
REQUIRE THE WAVEGUIDE CIRCUITRY TO BE PROHIBITIVELY COMPLEX #ONSEQUENTLY A FIVE
HORN
FEED HAS BEEN USED AS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE
4HE FIVE
HORN FEED IS SELECTED BECAUSE OF THE SIMPLICITY OF THE COMPARATOR THAT
REQUIRES ONLY TWO MAGIC OR HYBRID 4S FOR EACH POLARIZATION 4HE SUM AND DIFFER
ENCE SIGNALS ARE PROVIDED FOR THE TWO LINEAR
POLARIZATION COMPONENTS AND IN AN
!.&01
RADAR ARE COMBINED IN A WAVEGUIDE SWITCH FOR SELECTING POLARIZATION
4HE SWITCH SELECTS EITHER THE VERTICAL OR THE HORIZONTAL INPUT COMPONENT OR COMBINES
THEM WITH A RELATIVE PHASE FOR CIRCULAR POLARIZATION 4HIS FEED DOES NOT PROVIDE
OPTIMUM SUM
AND DIFFERENCE
SIGNAL % FIELDS BECAUSE THE SUM HORN OCCUPIES SPACE
DESIRED FOR THE DIFFERENCE SIGNALS 'ENERALLY AN UNDERSIZED SUM
SIGNAL HORN IS USED
AS A COMPROMISE (OWEVER THE FIVE
HORN FEED IS A PRACTICAL CHOICE BETWEEN COM
PLEXITY AND EFFICIENCY )T HAS BEEN USED IN SEVERAL INSTRUMENTATION RADARS INCLUDING
THE !.&01
!.&01
!.401
AND!.-03
AND IN THE !.401
TACTICAL PRECISION
TRACKING RADAR
4HE MULTIMODE FEED TECHNIQUE CAN BE EXPANDED TO OTHER HIGHER
ORDER MODES FOR
ERROR SENSING AND %
FIELD SHAPING 4HE DIFFERENCE SIGNALS ARE CONTAINED IN UNSYM
METRICAL MODES SUCH AS THE 4% MODE FOR (
PLANE ERROR SENSING AND COMBINED 4%
AND 4- MODES FOR %
PLANE ERROR SENSING 4HESE MODES PROVIDE THE DIFFERENCE SIG
NALS AND NO COMPARATORS ARE USED 'ENERALLY MODE COUPLING DEVICES CAN GIVE GOOD
PERFORMANCE IN SEPARATING THE SYMMETRICAL AND UNSYMMETRICAL MODES WITHOUT SIGNIFI
CANT CROSS
COUPLING PROBLEMS
&)'52% &IVE HORN FEED WITH COUPLING TO BOTH LINEAR POLARIZATION COMPONENTS WHICH ARE
COMBINED BY THE SWITCH MATRIX TO SELECT HORIZONTAL VERTICAL OR CIRCULAR POLARIZATION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
-ULTIBAND MONOPULSE FEED CONFIGURATIONS ARE PRACTICAL AND IN USE IN SEVERAL SYS
TEMS ! SIMPLE EXAMPLE IS A COMBINED 8
BAND AND +A
BAND MONOPULSE PARABOLOID
ANTENNA RADAR 3EPARATE CONVENTIONAL FEEDS ARE USED FOR EACH BAND WITH THE +A
BAND
FEED AS A #ASSEGRAIN FEED AND THE 8
BAND FEED AT THE FOCAL POINT 4HE #ASSEGRAIN SUB
DISH IS A HYPERBOLIC
SHAPED HIGHLY EFFICIENT GRID OF WIRES REFLECTIVE TO PARALLEL POLARIZA
TION AND TRANSPARENT TO ORTHOGONAL POLARIZATION )T IS ORIENTED TO BE TRANSPARENT TO THE
8
BAND FOCAL
POINT FEED BEHIND IT AND REFLECTIVE TO THE ORTHOGONALLY POLARIZED +A
BAND
FEED EXTENDING FROM THE VERTEX OF THE PARABOLOID
-ONOPULSE FEED HORNS AT DIFFERENT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES CAN ALSO BE COMBINED
WITH CONCENTRIC FEED HORNS 4HE MULTIBAND FEED CLUSTERS WILL SACRIFICE EFFICIENCY BUT
CAN SATISFY MULTIBAND REQUIREMENTS IN A SINGLE ANTENNA
!'# !UTOMATIC 'AIN #ONTROL 4O MAINTAIN A STABLE CLOSED
LOOP SERVOSYSTEM FOR
ANGLE TRACKING THE RADAR MUST MAINTAIN ESSENTIALLY CONSTANT LOOP GAIN INDEPENDENT OF
TARGET ECHO SIZE AND RANGE 4HE PROBLEM IS THAT MONOPULSE DIFFERENCE SIGNALS FROM THE
ANTENNA ARE PROPORTIONAL TO BOTH THE ANGLE DISPLACEMENT OF THE TARGET FROM THE ANTENNA AXIS
AND THE ECHO SIGNAL AMPLITUDE &OR A GIVEN TRACKING ERROR THE ERROR VOLTAGE WOULD CHANGE
WITH ECHO AMPLITUDE AND TARGET RANGE CAUSING A CORRESPONDING CHANGE IN LOOP GAIN
!'# IS USED TO REMOVE THE ANGLE
ERROR
DETECTOR
OUTPUT DEPENDENCE ON ECHO AMPLI
TUDE AND RETAIN CONSTANT TRACKING LOOP GAIN ! TYPICAL !'# TECHNIQUE IS ILLUSTRATED IN
&IGURE FOR A ONE
ANGLE COORDINATE TRACKING SYSTEM 4HE !'# SYSTEM DETECTS THE
PEAK VOLTAGE OF THE SUM SIGNAL AND PROVIDES A NEGATIVE DC VOLTAGE PROPORTIONAL TO THE
PEAK SIGNAL VOLTAGE 4HE NEGATIVE VOLTAGE IS FED TO THE )& AMPLIFIER STAGE WHERE IT IS
USED TO DECREASE GAIN AS THE SIGNAL INCREASES ! HIGH GAIN IN THE !'# LOOP IS EQUIVALENT
TO DIVIDING THE )& OUTPUT BY A FACTOR PROPORTIONAL TO ITS AMPLITUDE
)N A THREE
CHANNEL MONOPULSE RADAR ALL THREE CHANNELS ARE CONTROLLED BY THE !'#
VOLTAGE WHICH EFFECTIVELY PERFORMS A DIVISION BY THE MAGNITUDE OF THE SUM SIGNAL OR
ECHO AMPLITUDE #ONVENTIONAL !'# ESSENTIALLY HOLDS CONSTANT GAIN DURING THE PULSE
REPETITION INTERVAL !LSO THE !'# OF THE SUM CHANNEL NORMALIZES THE SUM ECHO PULSE
AMPLITUDE TO SIMILARLY MAINTAIN A STABLE RANGE
TRACKING SERVO LOOP
4HE ANGLE
ERROR DETECTOR ASSUMED TO BE A PRODUCE DETECTOR HAS AN OUTPUT
\E\ K
$3
COS Q
\3 \ \ 3\
WHERE \ E \ IS THE MAGNITUDE OF THE ANGLE
ERROR VOLTAGE 0HASES ARE ADJUSTED TO PROVIDE
OR ON A POINT
SOURCE TARGET 4HE RESULTANT IS
\E\ o K
$
\3\
&)'52% !'# IN MONOPULSE TRACKING
42!#+).' 2!$!2
#OMPLEX TARGETS CAN CAUSE OTHER PHASE RELATIONS AS A PART OF THE ANGLE SCINTILLATION
PHENOMENON 4HE ABOVE ERROR VOLTAGE PROPORTIONAL TO THE RATIO OF THE DIFFERENCE
SIGNAL DIVIDED BY THE SUM SIGNAL IS THE DESIRED ANGLE
ERROR
DETECTOR OUTPUT GIVING A
CONSTANT ANGLE ERROR SENSITIVITY
7ITH LIMITED !'# BANDWIDTH SOME RAPID SIGNAL FLUCTUATIONS MODULATE E BUT THE
LONG
TIME
AVERAGE ANGLE SENSITIVITY IS CONSTANT 4HESE FLUCTUATIONS ARE LARGELY FROM
RAPID CHANGES IN TARGET REFLECTIVITY R T THAT ARE FROM TARGET AMPLITUDE SCINTILLATION
4HE RANDOM MODULATION OF E CAUSES AN ADDITIONAL ANGLE NOISE COMPONENT THAT AFFECTS
THE CHOICE OF !'# BANDWIDTH
4HE !'# PERFORMANCE IN CONICAL
SCAN RADARS PROVIDES SIMILAR CONSTANT ANGLE ERROR
SENSITIVITY /NE MAJOR LIMITATION IN CONICAL
SCAN RADARS IS THAT THE !'# BANDWIDTH
MUST BE SUFFICIENTLY LOWER THAN THE SCAN FREQUENCY TO PREVENT THE !'# FROM REMOVING
THE MODULATION CONTAINING THE ANGLE ERROR INFORMATION
0HASE
#OMPARISON -ONOPULSE ! SECOND MONOPULSE TECHNIQUE IS THE USE OF MUL
TIPLE ANTENNAS WITH OVERLAPPING NONSQUINTED BEAMS POINTED AT THE TARGET )NTERPOLATING
TARGET ANGLES WITHIN THE BEAM IS ACCOMPLISHED AS SHOWN IN &IGURE BY COMPARING
THE PHASE OF THE SIGNALS FROM THE ANTENNAS FOR SIMPLICITY A SINGLE
COORDINATE TRACKER
IS DESCRIBED )F THE TARGET WERE ON THE ANTENNA BORESIGHT AXIS THE OUTPUTS OF EACH
&)'52% A 7AVEFRONT PHASE RELATIONSHIPS IN A PHASE COMPARISON MONOPULSE RADAR AND B BLOCK
DIAGRAM OF A PHASE COMPARISON MONOPULSE RADAR ONE ANGLE COORDINATE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
INDIVIDUAL APERTURE WOULD BE IN PHASE !S
THE TARGET MOVES OFF AXIS IN EITHER DIREC
TION THERE IS A CHANGE IN RELATIVE PHASE
4HE AMPLITUDES OF THE SIGNALS IN EACH APER
TURE ARE THE SAME SO THAT THE OUTPUT OF THE
ANGLE
ERROR PHASE DETECTOR IS DETERMINED
BY THE RELATIVE PHASE SEE &IGURE 4HE
PHASE
DETECTOR CIRCUIT IS ADJUSTED WITH A
PHASE SHIFT ON ONE CHANNEL TO GIVE ZERO
OUTPUT WHEN THE TARGET IS ON AXIS AND AN
OUTPUT INCREASING WITH INCREASING ANGULAR
DISPLACEMENT OF THE TARGET WITH A POLARITY
CORRESPONDING TO THE DIRECTION OF ERROR
4YPICAL FLAT
FACE CORPORATE
FED PHASED
ARRAYS COMPARE THE OUTPUT OF HALVES OF THE
APERTURE AND FALL INTO THE CLASS OF PHASE
&)'52% A 2& PHASE
COMPARISON MONO
COMPARISON MONOPULSE (OWEVER THE PULSE SYSTEM WITH SUM AND DIFFERENCE OUTPUTS AND
BASIC SIGNAL PROCESSING OF AMPLITUDE
AND B VECTOR DIAGRAM OF THE SUM AND DIFFERENCE SIGNALS
PHASE
COMPARISON MONOPULSE IS SIMILAR
BUT THE CONTROL OF AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION ACROSS AN ARRAY APERTURE FOR THE SUM AND
DIFFERENCE SIGNALS MAINTAINS EFFICIENCY AND LOWER SIDELOBES
&IGURE SHOWS THE ANTENNA AND RECEIVER FOR ONE ANGULAR
COORDINATE TRACKING BY
PHASE COMPARISON MONOPULSE !NY PHASE SHIFTS OCCURRING IN THE MIXER AND )& AMPLI
FIER STAGES CAUSES A SHIFT IN THE BORESIGHT OF THE SYSTEM 4HE DISADVANTAGES OF PHASE
COMPARISON MONOPULSE WITH SEPARATE APERTURES COMPARED WITH AMPLITUDE
COMPARISON
MONOPULSE ARE THE RELATIVE DIFFICULTY IN MAINTAINING A HIGHLY STABLE BORESIGHT AND THE
DIFFICULTY IN PROVIDING THE DESIRED ANTENNA ILLUMINATION TAPER FOR BOTH SUM AND DIF
FERENCE SIGNALS 4HE LONGER PATHS FROM THE ANTENNA OUTPUTS TO THE COMPARATOR CIR
CUITRY MAKE THE PHASE
COMPARISON SYSTEM MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO BORESIGHT CHANGE DUE
TO MECHANICAL LOADING SAG DIFFERENTIAL HEATING ETC
! TECHNIQUE GIVING GREATER BORESIGHT STABILITY COMBINES THE TWO ANTENNA OUT
PUTS AT 2& WITH PASSIVE CIRCUITRY TO YIELD SUM AND DIFFERENCE SIGNALS AS SHOWN IN
&IGURE 4HESE SIGNALS MAY THEN BE PROCESSED LIKE A CONVENTIONAL AMPLITUDE
COMPARISON MONOPULSE RECEIVER 4HE SYSTEM SHOWN IN &IGURE WOULD PROVIDE
A RELATIVELY GOOD DIFFERENCE
CHANNEL TAPER HAVING SMOOTHLY TAPERED %
FIELDS ON
EACH ANTENNA (OWEVER A SUM
SIGNAL EXCITATION WITH THE TWO ANTENNAS PROVIDES A
TWO
HUMPED IN
PHASE %
FIELD DISTRIBUTION THAT CAUSES HIGH SIDELOBES SINCE IT LOOKS
LIKE A TWO
ELEMENT ARRAY 4HIS PROBLEM MAY BE REDUCED BY ALLOWING SOME APERTURE
OVERLAP BUT AT THE PRICE OF LOSS OF ANGLE SENSITIVITY AND ANTENNA GAIN
%LECTRONIC 3CAN 0HASED !RRAY -ONOPULSE 4RACKING RADARS DEDICATED TO SINGLE
TARGET TRACKING CAN PROVIDE VERY HIGH PRECISION LONG RANGE PERFORMANCE SUCH AS THE
!.&01
&IGURE A WITH A SPECIFIED PRECISION OF MILLIRADIAN 7ITH
HIGH POWER AND A HIGH GAIN ANTENNA D" AND SPECIAL TRACKING TECHNIQUES THEY ARE
THE WORKHORSE FOR PRECISION TRACKING OF SATELLITES AND SIMILAR TASKS (OWEVER MOST
MODERN TASKS REQUIRE PRECISION SIMULTANEOUS TRACKING OF MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS TARGETS
WHERE USE OF MULTIPLE SINGLE TARGET TRACKING RADARS ARE NOT COST EFFECTIVE 4HE DEVELOP
MENT OF ELECTRONIC SCAN PHASED ARRAY TECHNOLOGY HAS RESULTED IN VERSATILE HIGH PRECI
SION MONOPULSE TRACKING WITH THE CAPABILITY OF SIMULTANEOUS MULTITARGET TRACKING BY
SWITCHING ITS BEAM TO EACH OF SEVERAL TARGETS ON A PULSE
TO
PULSE BASIS OR BY GROUPS
42!#+).' 2!$!2
OF PULSES -ONOPULSE TRACKING IS NECESSARY TO OBTAIN ANGLE DATA ON EACH PULSE TO
MAINTAIN ADEQUATE DATA RATES WHEN SHARING PULSES AND POWER AMONG SEVERAL TARGETS !
DETAILED DISCUSSION OF ELECTRONIC SCAN PHASED ARRAYS IS GIVEN IN #HAPTER HOWEVER
SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ARRAYS REQUIRE SPECIAL CONSIDERATION FOR THE ANGLE TRACKING
PERFORMANCE OF TRACKING RADARS USING MONOPULSE PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS
/PTICAL
FEED -ONOPULSE %LECTRONIC 3CAN !RRAYS /PTICAL
FEED MONOPULSE ARRAYS
INCLUDE THE LENS ARRAY AND REFLECTARRAY #HAPTER THAT ARE OPTICALLY FED BY A CONVEN
TIONAL MONOPULSE FEED 4HE !.-01
&IGURE B IS AN EXAMPLE OF AN OPTICALLY
FED ARRAY LENS WITH THE ANTENNA MOUNTED ON A TWO
AXIS PEDESTAL 4YPICAL INSTANTANEOUS
ELECTRONIC ANGLE COVERAGE IS o TO AN ALMOST o CONE FIELD
OF
VIEW THAT MAY BE
MOVED BY PEDESTAL DRIVE TO CENTER ON A MULTITARGET EVENT OR FOLLOW AN EVENT PROGRESS
ING TO A DIFFERENT AREA 3OME MILITARY SYSTEMS SUCH AS THE 0ATRIOT WITH THE o CONE
OF INSTANTANEOUS VIEW IS FIXED ON ITS VEHICLE WITHOUT A PEDESTAL AND IS DEPENDENT ON
MOVEMENT OF ITS VEHICLE TO CHANGE THE REGION OF ANGULAR COVERAGE AS NEEDED 4HE
ADVANTAGES OF SPACE FED ARRAYS ARE
#ONVENTIONAL MONOPULSE MICROWAVE HORN FEEDS ARE USED
!RRAY ELEMENTS ARE AVAILABLE WITH SELECTABLE POLARIZATION OF THE RADIATED ENERGY WHEN
FED BY AN OPTIMIZED LINEAR POLARIZED MONOPULSE FEED SUCH AS IN &IGURE AND SELECT
ABLE RECEIVE
POLARIZATION AS WELL 4HIS AVOIDS THE TYPICAL COMPROMISE AND GREATER COM
PLEXITY OF A POLARIZATION
CONTROLLED MONOPULSE FEED AS DESCRIBED IN &IGURE
%LECTRONIC SCAN ARRAY LENSES CAN ALSO REFOCUS FROM A TRANSMIT FEED HORN TO AN ADJACENT
RECEIVE FEED HORN ON RECEPTION TO ALLOW HIGH POWER TRANSMISSION THROUGH A SIMPLE
SINGLE HORN FEED TO SIMPLIFY ISOLATION OF THE RECEIVER FROM THE TRANSMIT POWER
!RRAYS ALLOW GREATER FLEXIBILITY TO OPTIMIZE AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION OF THE RADIATED
ENERGY ACROSS THE ARRAY TO REDUCE SIDELOBES
-OST OF THE ELECTRONIC SCAN PHASED ARRAY DISADVANTAGES ARE DESCRIBED IN #HAPTER
AND INCLUDE LOSSES IN THE ARRAY PHASE SHIFTING ELEMENTS LIMITATION OF INSTANTANEOUS
BANDWIDTH WITH CONVENTIONAL PHASE CONTROL ELEMENTS IMPROVED WITH SPECIAL TRUE
TIME
DELAY PHASE SHIFTING PHASE QUANTIZATION ERRORS #HAPTER RESULTING FROM
PHASE SHIFTING IN STEPS RESTRICTION TO A SINGLE RF BAND MULTIBAND ARRAYS REQUIRE SPECIAL
TECHNIQUES WITH MAJOR COMPROMISES AND GRADUAL DEGRADATION OF PERFORMANCE AS THE
BEAM IS SCANNED FROM THE NORMAL TO THE ARRAY 4HE QUANTIZATION ERRORS FROM PHASE
SHIFTING IN STEPS ARE OF CONCERN TO MONOPULSE RADAR BECAUSE IT RESULTS IN CORRESPONDING
RANDOM ERROR STEPS IN THE ELECTRONIC AXIS OF THE ARRAY !S DESCRIBED IN #HAPTER THE
QUANTIZATION ERRORS ARE INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE NUMBER OF PHASE SHIFTING ELEMENTS
AND 0 WHERE 0 IS THE NUMBER OF BITS OF PHASE CONTROL IN EACH ELEMENT #ONSEQUENTLY
THE HIGH PRECISION TRACKING RADARS WITH TYPICALLY TO PHASE SHIFTERS AND FOUR
OR MORE PHASE SHIFT BITS HAVE SMALL RESULTANT ELECTRICAL AXIS ERROR STEPS ON THE ORDER OF
MILLIRADIANS OR LESS 4HE ELECTRICAL AXIS ERRORS ARE ESSENTIALLY RANDOM AND CAN BE
FURTHER REDUCED BY AVERAGING )NTENTIONAL DITHER OF PHASE STEPS MAY BE INTRODUCED TO
AID IN AVERAGING
4HE OPTICALLY FED TECHNIQUE RESULTS IN FEED ENERGY SPILLOVER AROUND THE APERTURE
HOWEVER THESE RESULTANT SPILLOVER SIDELOBES CAN BE ELIMINATED BY AN ABSORBING CONE
BETWEEN THE FEED AND THE ARRAY APERTURE 4HE ABSORBING CONE IS OBSERVED IN THE !.
-01
&IGURE B (OWEVER COOLING IS ALSO NECESSARY AND PROVIDED AS OBSERVED
BY THE COOLING COILS AROUND THE ABSORBING CONE
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
/F FURTHER CONCERN TO HIGH PRECISION MONOPULSE APPLICATIONS IS DRIFT OF THE ELEC
TRONIC AXIS THAT CAUSES VARIATIONS IN PHASE AND TEMPERATURE VARIATION ACROSS THE ARRAY
SURFACE THAT CAUSES DISTORTION OF THE LENS 3IGNIFICANT VARIATION OF HEAT DISTRIBUTION
ACROSS THE ARRAY FACE CAN RESULT FROM HIGH POWER TRANSMITTED THROUGH THE PHASE SHIFTING
ELEMENTS AS WELL AS THE ELECTRONIC PHASE CONTROL #ONSEQUENTLY WHERE HIGH PRECISION
TRACKING IS REQUIRED SPECIAL COOLING TECHNIQUES MAY BE NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN CONSTANT
TEMPERATURE ACROSS THE APERTURE
#ORPORATE &EED -ONOPULSE %LECTRONIC 3CAN 0HASED !RRAY 4HE CORPORATE FEED
ARRAY IS FED BY DIVIDING AND SUBDIVIDING THE TRANSMIT SIGNAL THROUGH TRANSMISSION LINES
TYPICALLY TO SUBARRAYS OF MULTIPLE ARRAY RADIATING ELEMENTS 4HIS TECHNIQUE ALTHOUGH
TYPICALLY RESULTING IN HEAVIER AND HIGHER COST IMPLEMENTATION OFFERS THE ADVANTAGE
OF FLEXIBILITY OF CONTROL OF THE SIGNAL PATHS THROUGH THE ARRAY STRUCTURE AS DESCRIBED
IN #HAPTER !NOTHER ADVANTAGE IS THE CAPABILITY TO TRANSMIT VERY HIGH PEAK POWER
WITHOUT THE LIMITATIONS OF FULL PEAK POWER PROPAGATING THROUGH A SINGLE TRANSMISSION
LINE 4HIS IS ACCOMPLISHED IN THE CORPORATE FEED ARRAY BY PLACING HIGH POWER AMPLIFIERS
WHERE THE POWER DIVIDES TO THE SUBARRAYS ALLOWING THE SUM OF THE HIGH PEAK POWER
AMPLIFIER OUTPUTS TO ADD IN SPACE TO MEET REQUIREMENTS FOR LONG
RANGE TRACKING AND
POWER SHARING BETWEEN MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS TARGETS
4HE PARALLEL POWER AMPLIFIER CONFIGURATION ALSO PROVIDES A PRACTICAL MEANS FOR
OVERCOMING THE NARROW INSTANTANEOUS BANDWIDTH OF TYPICAL PHASED ARRAYS AT WIDE
SCAN ANGLES &ULL ARRAY INSTANTANEOUS BANDWIDTH REQUIRES EQUAL PATH LENGTHS BETWEEN
EACH ARRAY ELEMENT AND THE TARGET REQUIRING MANY WAVELENGTHS OF PHASE CONTROL OR THE
EQUIVALENT TIME DELAY IN ARRAY ELEMENTS AT WIDE ANGLE SCANS (OWEVER THIS CONTROL HAS
PROHIBITIVELY HIGH LOSS FOR TYPICAL PHASED ARRAY RADIATING ELEMENTS CONSEQUENTLY TYPI
CAL PHASED ARRAY ELEMENTS PROVIDE ONLY SUFFICIENT PHASE CONTROL OF UP TO OR TO ONE
WAVELENGTH LIMITED TO TOLERABLE LOSS TO CAUSE THE SIGNAL FROM EACH ELEMENT TO ARRIVE
APPROXIMATELY IN PHASE AT THE TARGET 5NFORTUNATELY THIS SHORTCUT IS ADEQUATE FOR ONLY
A NARROW INSTANTANEOUS BANDWIDTH 4HE PARALLEL POWER AMPLIFIERS AS DESCRIBED ABOVE
PROVIDE A LOW POWER AMPLIFIER DRIVE STAGE WHERE THE HIGH LOSS OF THE DESIRED TIME
DELAY CONTROL CAN BE TOLERATED TO GAIN WIDE INSTANTANEOUS BANDWIDTH AS DESCRIBED IN
#HAPTER 4HE TIME DELAY MAY BE CONTROLLED SIMILAR TO THE DIODE PHASE SHIFTERS USED
IN RADIATING ELEMENTS THAT SWITCH BETWEEN DIFFERENT LINE LENGTHS TO ADJUST PHASE ,ONGER
TIME DELAY TRANSMISSION LINE COULD BE SIMILARLY CONTROLLED BY DIODE SWITCHING TO PRO
VIDE THE WIDE INSTANTANEOUS BANDWIDTH TO ALLOW FOR EXAMPLE USE OF WIDEBAND NARROW
PULSES TO PROVIDE THE RANGE RESOLUTION REQUIREMENTS FOR TRACKING RADAR APPLICATIONS
4WO
#HANNEL -ONOPULSE -ONOPULSE RADARS MAY BE DESIGNED WITH FEWER THAN THE
CONVENTIONAL THREE )& CHANNELS 4HIS IS ACCOMPLISHED FOR EXAMPLE BY COMBINING THE SUM
AND DIFFERENCE SIGNALS IN TWO )& CHANNELS AND THE SUM AND TWO DIFFERENCE SIGNAL OUTPUTS
ARE THEN INDIVIDUALLY RETRIEVED AT THE OUTPUT 4HESE TECHNIQUES PROVIDE SOME ADVANTAGES
IN !'# OR OTHER PROCESSING TECHNIQUES BUT AT THE COST OF REDUCED 3.2 REDUCED ANGLE
DATA RATE AND POTENTIAL FOR CROSS COUPLING BETWEEN AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION INFORMATION
! TWO
CHANNEL MONOPULSE RECEIVER COMBINES THE SUM AND DIFFERENCE SIGNALS
AT 2& AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE MICROWAVE RESOLVER IS A MECHANICALLY ROTATED
2& COUPLING LOOP IN CYLINDRICAL WAVEGUIDE 4HE AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION DIFFERENCE
SIGNALS ARE EXCITED IN THIS GUIDE WITH %
FIELD POLARIZATION ORIENTED AT O 4HE
ENERGY IN THE COUPLER CONTAINS BOTH DIFFERENCE SIGNALS COUPLED AS THE COSINE
AND SINE OF THE ANGULAR POSITION OF THE COUPLER VST WHERE VS IS THE ANGULAR RATE
OF ROTATION 4HE HYBRID ADDS THE COMBINED DIFFERENCE SIGNALS $ AT THE ANGULAR
42!#+).' 2!$!2
&)'52% "LOCK DIAGRAM OF A TWO CHANNEL MONOPULSE RADAR SYSTEM FROM 2 3 .OBLIT
RATE OF ROTATION 4HE 3 $ AND 3 n $ OUTPUTS EACH LOOK LIKE THE OUTPUT OF A CONICAL
SCAN TRACKER EXCEPT THAT THEIR MODULATION FUNCTION DIFFERS BY )N CASE ONE
CHANNEL FAILS THE RADAR CAN BE OPERATED AS A SCAN
ON
RECEIVE
ONLY CONICAL
SCAN RADAR
WITH ESSENTIALLY THE SAME PERFORMANCE AS A CONICAL
SCAN RADAR 4HE ADVANTAGE OF TWO
CHANNELS WITH OPPOSITE
SENSE ANGLE
ERROR INFORMATION ON ONE CHANNEL WITH RESPECT TO
THE OTHER IS THAT SIGNAL AMPLITUDE FLUCTUATIONS IN THE RECEIVED SIGNAL ARE CANCELED IN THE
POST
DETECTION SUBTRACTION AT THE )& OUTPUT THAT RETRIEVES THE ANGLE
ERROR INFORMATION
4HE LOG )& PERFORMS ESSENTIALLY AS AN INSTANTANEOUS !'# GIVING THE DESIRED CONSTANT
ANGLE
ERROR SENSITIVITY OF THE DIFFERENCE SIGNALS NORMALIZED BY THE SUM SIGNAL 4HE
DETECTED $ INFORMATION IS A BIPOLAR VIDEO WHERE THE ERROR INFORMATION IS CONTAINED IN
THE SINUSOIDAL ENVELOPE 4HIS SIGNAL IS SEPARATED INTO ITS TWO COMPONENTS AZIMUTH
AND ELEVATION
ERROR INFORMATION BY AN ANGLE DEMODULATION 4HE DEMODULATOR USING
A REFERENCE FROM THE DRIVE ON THE ROTATING COUPLER EXTRACTS THE SINE AND COSINE
COMPONENTS FROM $ TO GIVE THE AZIMUTH
AND ELEVATION
ERROR SIGNALS 4HE MODULATION
CAUSED BY THE MICROWAVE RESOLVER IS OF CONCERN IN INSTRUMENTATION RADAR APPLICATIONS
BECAUSE IT ADDS SPECTRAL COMPONENTS IN THE SIGNAL COMPLICATING THE POSSIBLE ADDITION
OF PULSE DOPPLER TRACKING CAPABILITY TO THE RADAR
4HIS SYSTEM PROVIDES INSTANTANEOUS !'# OPERATION WITH ONLY TWO )& CHANNELS AND
OPERATION WITH REDUCED PERFORMANCE IN CASE OF FAILURE OF EITHER CHANNEL (OWEVER
THERE IS A LOSS OF
D" 3.2 AT THE RECEIVER INPUTS ALTHOUGH THIS LOSS IS PARTLY REGAINED
BY COHERENT ADDITION OF THE 3
SIGNAL INFORMATION 4HE DESIGN OF THE MICROWAVE RESOLVER
MUST MINIMIZE LOSS THROUGH THE DEVICE AND PRECISELY MATCHED )& CHANNELS ARE REQUIRED
TO MINIMIZE CROSS COUPLING BETWEEN THE AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION CHANNELS )N SOME MOD
ERN SYSTEMS THE RESOLVER PERFORMANCE IS IMPROVED BY USE OF FERRITE SWITCHING DEVICES
TO REPLACE THE MECHANICAL ROTATING COUPLER
#ONOPULSE #ONOPULSE ALSO CALLED SCAN WITH COMPENSATION IS A RADAR TRACKING
TECHNIQUE THAT IS A COMBINATION OF MONOPULSE AND CONICAL SCAN ! PAIR OF ANTENNA
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
BEAMS IS SQUINTED IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS FROM THE ANTENNA AXIS AND ROTATED LIKE A PAIR
OF CONICAL
SCAN
RADAR BEAMS 3INCE THEY EXIST SIMULTANEOUSLY MONOPULSE INFORMATION
CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE PAIR OF BEAMS 4HE PLANE IN WHICH MONOPULSE INFORMATION
IS MEASURED ROTATES #ONSEQUENTLY ELEVATION AND AZIMUTH INFORMATION IS SEQUENTIAL
AND MUST BE SEPARATED FOR USE IN EACH TRACKING COORDINATE #ONOPULSE PROVIDES THE
MONOPULSE ADVANTAGE OF AVOIDING ERRORS CAUSED BY AMPLITUDE SCINTILLATION AND IT
REQUIRES ONLY TWO RECEIVERS (OWEVER IT HAS THE DISADVANTAGE OF LOWER ANGLE DATA
RATES AND THE MECHANICAL COMPLEXITY OF PROVIDING AND COUPLING TO A PAIR OF ROTATING
ANTENNA FEEDHORNS
-
"
4HE FIRST TECHNIQUE USED FOR RADAR ANGLE TRACKING WAS TO DISPLACE THE ANTENNA BEAM
ABOVE AND BELOW THE TARGET IN ELEVATION AND SIDE TO SIDE OF THE TARGET IN AZIMUTH TO
COMPARE BEAM AMPLITUDES SIMILAR TO MONOPULSE RADAR SIMULTANEOUS LOBING BUT DIFFER
ING BY BEING IN A TIME SEQUENCE 4HIS WAS PERFORMED BY A CONTINUOUS CONICAL BEAM
SCAN AS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE OR BY SEQUENTIALLY LOBING UPDOWN AND RIGHTLEFT
AND OBSERVING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AMPLITUDES AS A MEASURE OF DISPLACEMENT OF THE
ANTENNA AXIS FROM THE TARGET 4HE SIGNAL OUTPUT FOR A CONICAL
SCAN RADAR ILLUSTRATED IN
&IGURE IS TYPICALLY A SINUSOID AMPLITUDE MODULATION OF THE RECEIVED TARGET ECHO
PULSES 4HE AMPLITUDE OF THE MODULATION IS A MEASURE OF THE MAGNITUDE OF THE ANGLE
ERROR AND THE PHASE RELATIVE TO THE SCANNING
BEAM ROTATION ANGLE INDICATES THE PORTION
OF THE ERROR CAUSED BY EACH TRACKING AXIS
4HE PERFORMANCE OF SCANNING AND LOBING RADAR RELATIVE TO THE BEAM OFFSET ANGLE IS
DESCRIBED IN "ARTON !N OPTIMUM BEAM OFFSET IS DESCRIBED AS A COMPROMISE BETWEEN
THE LOSS OF ANTENNA GAIN AND THE INCREASE IN SENSITIVITY TO TARGET ANGLE DISPLACEMENT
FROM THE ANTENNA AXIS AS BEAM OFFSET IS INCREASED 4HE OPTIMUM OFFSET IS TYPICALLY
CHOSEN TO PROVIDE THE MINIMUM RMS ANGLE
TRACKING ERROR AS AFFECTED BY THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO AND TRACKING SENSITIVITY 3PECIAL TRACKING RADAR APPLICATIONS WITH NONTYPICAL
REQUIREMENTS COULD ARRIVE AT A DIFFERENT OPTIMUM BEAM OFFSET
! MAJOR LIMITATION OF SCANNING AND LOBING RADAR IS THE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO TARGET AMPLI
TUDE FLUCTUATIONS THAT OCCUR DURING THE TIME THE BEAM IS MOVED FROM SIDE TO SIDE OR UP
AND DOWN )T IS ALSO SUSCEPTIBLE TO FALSE MODULATION ON SIGNALS FROM COUNTERMEASURES
4HE ECHO FLUCTUATIONS NOT RELATED TO ANTENNA BEAM POSITION CAUSE FALSE TARGET ANGLE
TRACKING ERRORS
&)'52% #ONICAL SCAN TRACKING
42!#+).' 2!$!2
&)'52% A !NGLE ERROR INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ENVELOPE
OF THE RECEIVED PULSES IN A CONICAL
SCAN RADAR AND B REFERENCE SIGNAL
DERIVED FROM THE DRIVE OF THE CONICAL
SCAN FEED
-ONOPULSE RADAR WAS DEVELOPED TO PROVIDE SIMULTANEOUS OFFSET ANTENNA BEAMS FOR
COMPARISON OF TARGET ECHO AMPLITUDES ON A SINGLE PULSE INDEPENDENT OF ECHO SIGNAL
AMPLITUDE FLUCTUATIONS (OWEVER FEW MICROWAVE DEVICES AND COMPONENTS WERE INI
TIALLY AVAILABLE AND THE FIRST MONOPULSE SYSTEMS WERE COMPLEX AND RESULTED IN CUM
BERSOME AND INEFFICIENT ANTENNAS !T PRESENT MODERN MONOPULSE RADARS AS DESCRIBED
IN 3ECTION PROVIDE HIGHLY STABLE AND EFFICIENT ANTENNAS WITH HIGH PRECISION PERFOR
MANCE AND HAVE GENERALLY DISPLACED SCANNING AND LOBING TRACKING RADARS FOR MEETING
THE INCREASING DEMANDS FOR HIGH PRECISION AND HIGH DATA RATE OF ANGLE INFORMATION ON
EACH PULSE (OWEVER SPECIAL RADAR TRACKING REQUIREMENTS MAY EXIST WHERE A PRACTICAL
IMPLEMENTATION OF CONICAL SCAN OR LOBING TRACKING RADAR MAY MORE EFFECTIVELY PROVIDE
ADEQUATE PERFORMANCE
{ -
,6"-9-/
-",/,
, ,
4HE SERVOSYSTEM OF A TRACKING RADAR IS THE SUBSYSTEM OF THE RADAR THAT RECEIVES AS ITS
INPUT THE TRACKING
ERROR VOLTAGE AND PERFORMS THE TASK OF MOVING THE ANTENNA BEAM IN A
DIRECTION THAT WILL REDUCE TO ZERO THE ALIGNMENT ERROR BETWEEN THE ANTENNA AXIS AND THE
TARGET &OR TWO
AXIS TRACKING WITH A MECHANICAL
TYPE ANTENNA PEDESTAL THERE ARE TYPI
CALLY SEPARATE AXES OF ROTATION FOR AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION AND SEPARATE SERVOSYSTEMS TO
MOVE THE ANTENNA ABOUT EACH AXIS ! CONVENTIONAL SERVOSYSTEM IS COMPOSED OF AMPLI
FIERS FILTERS AND A MOTOR THAT MOVES THE ANTENNA IN A DIRECTION TO MAINTAIN THE ANTENNA
AXIS ON THE TARGET 2ANGE TRACKING IS ACCOMPLISHED BY A SIMILAR SYSTEM TO MAINTAIN
RANGE GATES CENTERED ON THE RECEIVED ECHO PULSES 4HIS MAY BE ACCOMPLISHED BY ANALOG
TECHNIQUES OR BY DIGITAL
COUNTER REGISTERS THAT RETAIN NUMBERS CORRESPONDING TO TARGET
RANGE TO PROVIDE A CLOSED RANGE
TRACKING LOOP DIGITALLY
3ERVOSYSTEMS MAY USE HYDRAULIC
DRIVE MOTORS CONVENTIONAL ELECTRIC MOTORS
GEARED DOWN TO DRIVE THE ANTENNA OR DIRECT
DRIVE ELECTRIC MOTORS WHERE THE ANTENNA
MECHANICAL AXIS SHAFT IS PART OF THE ARMATURE AND THE MOTOR FIELD IS BUILT INTO
THE SUPPORT CASE 4HE DIRECT DRIVE IS HEAVIER FOR A GIVEN HORSEPOWER BUT ELIMINATES
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
GEAR BACKLASH "ACKLASH MAY ALSO BE REDUCED WITH CONVENTIONAL MOTORS BY DUPLICATE
PARALLEL DRIVES WITH A SMALL RESIDUAL OPPOSING TORQUE WHEN NEAR ZERO ANGLE RATE
!MPLIFIER GAIN AND FILTER CHARACTERISTICS AS WELL AS MOTOR TORQUE AND INERTIA DETER
MINE THE VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION CAPABILITY OR THE ABILITY TO FOLLOW THE HIGHER
ORDER
MOTION OF THE TARGET
)T IS DESIRED THAT THE ANTENNA BEAM FOLLOW THE CENTER OF THE TARGET AS CLOSELY AS POS
SIBLE WHICH IMPLIES THAT THE SERVOSYSTEM SHOULD BE CAPABLE OF MOVING THE ANTENNA
QUICKLY 4HE COMBINED VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION CHARACTERISTICS OF A SERVOSYSTEM CAN
BE DESCRIBED BY THE FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF THE TRACKING LOOP WHICH ACTS ESSENTIALLY LIKE
A LOW
PASS FILTER )NCREASING THE BANDWIDTH INCREASES THE QUICKNESS OF THE SERVOSYS
TEM AND ITS ABILITY TO FOLLOW A STRONG STEADY SIGNAL CLOSELY (OWEVER A TYPICAL TARGET
CAUSES SCINTILLATION OF THE ECHO SIGNAL GIVING ERRONEOUS ERROR
DETECTOR OUTPUTS AND AT
LONG RANGE THE ECHO IS WEAK ALLOWING RECEIVER NOISE TO CAUSE ADDITIONAL RANDOM FLUC
TUATIONS ON THE ERROR DETECTOR OUTPUT #ONSEQUENTLY A WIDE SERVO BANDWIDTH WHICH
REDUCES LAG ERRORS ALLOWS THE NOISE TO CAUSE GREATER ERRONEOUS MOTIONS OF THE TRACKING
SYSTEM 4HEREFORE FOR BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE IT IS NECESSARY TO LIMIT THE SERVO BAND
WIDTH TO THE MINIMUM NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN A REASONABLY SMALL TRACKING
LAG ERROR
4HERE IS AN OPTIMUM BANDWIDTH THAT MAY BE CHOSEN TO MINIMIZE THE AMPLITUDE OF
THE TOTAL ERRONEOUS OUTPUTS INCLUDING BOTH TRACKING LAG AND RANDOM NOISE DEPENDING
UPON THE TARGET ITS TRAJECTORY AND OTHER RADAR PARAMETERS
4HE OPTIMUM BANDWIDTH FOR ANGLE TRACKING IS RANGE
DEPENDENT ! TARGET WITH TYPICAL
VELOCITY AT LONG RANGE HAS LOW ANGLE RATES AND A LOW 3.2 AND A NARROWER SERVO PASSBAND
WILL FOLLOW THE TARGET WITH REASONABLY SMALL TRACKING LAG WHILE MINIMIZING THE RESPONSE
TO RECEIVER THERMAL NOISE !T CLOSE RANGE THE SIGNAL IS STRONG OVERRIDING RECEIVER NOISE
BUT TARGET ANGLE SCINTILLATION ERRORS PROPORTIONAL TO THE ANGULAR SPAN OF THE TARGET ARE LARGE
! WIDER SERVO BANDWIDTH IS NEEDED AT CLOSE RANGE TO KEEP TRACKING LAG WITHIN REASONABLE
VALUES BUT IT MUST NOT BE WIDER THAN NECESSARY OR THE TARGET ANGLE SCINTILLATION ERRORS
WHICH INCREASE INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO TARGET RANGE MAY BECOME EXCESSIVE
4HE LOW
PASS CLOSED
LOOP CHARACTERISTIC OF A SERVOSYSTEM IS UNITY AT ZERO FREQUENCY
TYPICALLY REMAINING NEAR THIS VALUE UP TO A FREQUENCY NEAR THE LOW
PASS CUTOFF WHERE
IT MAY PEAK UP TO HIGHER GAIN AS SHOWN IN &IGURE A 4HE PEAKING IS AN INDICATION
OF SYSTEM INSTABILITY BUT IS ALLOWED TO BE AS HIGH AS TOLERABLE TYPICALLY TO ABOUT D"
ABOVE UNITY GAIN TO OBTAIN MAXIMUM BANDWIDTH FOR A GIVEN SERVOMOTOR DRIVE SYSTEM
3YSTEM ! IN &IGURE A IS A CASE OF EXCESSIVE PEAKING OF ABOUT D" 4HE EFFECT OF
THE PEAKING IS OBSERVED BY APPLYING A STEP ERROR INPUT TO THE SERVOSYSTEM 4HE PEAKING
OF THE LOW
PASS CHARACTERISTIC RESULTS IN AN OVERSHOOT WHEN THE ANTENNA AXIS MOVES TO
ALIGN WITH THE TARGET (IGH PEAKING CAUSES A LARGE OVERSHOOT AND A RETURN TO THE TARGET
WITH ADDITIONAL OVERSHOOT )N THE EXTREME AS IN SYSTEM ! SHOWN IN &IGURE B
THE ANTENNA ZEROS IN ON THE TARGET WITH A DAMPED OSCILLATION !N OPTIMUM SYSTEM
COMPROMISE BETWEEN SPEED OF RESPONSE AND OVERSHOOT AS IN SYSTEM " ALLOWS THE
ANTENNA TO MAKE A SMALL OVERSHOOT WITH REASONABLY RAPID EXPONENTIAL MOVEMENT BACK
TO THE TARGET 4HIS CORRESPONDS TO ABOUT D" PEAKING OF THE CLOSED
LOOP LOW
PASS
CHARACTERISTIC
4HE RESONANT FREQUENCY OF THE ANTENNA AND SERVOSYSTEM STRUCTURE INCLUDING THE
STRUCTURE FOUNDATION WHICH IS A CRITICAL ITEM MUST BE KEPT WELL ABOVE THE BANDWIDTH
OF THE SERVOSYSTEM OTHERWISE THE SYSTEM CAN OSCILLATE AT THE RESONANT FREQUENCY
! FACTOR OF AT LEAST IS DESIRABLE FOR THE RATIO OF SYSTEM RESONANCE FREQUENCY TO SERVO
BANDWIDTH (IGH RESONANT FREQUENCY IS DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN WITH A LARGE ANTENNA SUCH
AS THE !.&01
RADAR WITH A
FT DISH BECAUSE OF THE LARGE MASS OF THE SYSTEM
42!#+).' 2!$!2
&)'52% A #LOSED LOOP FREQUENCY RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS OF TWO
SERVOSYSTEMS AND B THEIR CORRESPONDING TIME RESPONSE TO A STEP INPUT
4HE RATIO WAS PUSHED TO A VERY MINIMUM OF ABOUT TO OBTAIN SERVOSYSTEM BANDWIDTH
OF THE SPECIFIED (Z ! SMALLER RADAR WITH A
FT DISH FOR EXAMPLE CAN PROVIDE A
SERVOSYSTEM BANDWIDTH UP TO OR (Z WITH CONVENTIONAL DESIGN
,OCKE DESCRIBES METHODS FOR CALCULATING ANGLE TRACKING LAG FOR A GIVEN TARGET
TRAJECTORY VERSUS TIME AND SET OF SERVOSYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS 2ANGE TRACKING LAGS
MAY BE SIMILARLY CALCULATED BUT WITH TYPICAL INERTIALESS ELECTRONIC TRACKING SYSTEMS
TRACKING LAGS ARE USUALLY NEGLIGIBLE
%LECTRONICALLY STEERABLE ARRAYS PROVIDE A MEANS FOR INERTIALESS ANGLE TRACKING
(OWEVER BECAUSE OF THIS CAPABILITY THE SYSTEM CAN TRACK MULTIPLE TARGETS BY RAPIDLY
SWITCHING FROM ONE TO ANOTHER RATHER THAN CONTINUOUSLY TRACKING A SINGLE TARGET
4HE TRACKER SIMPLY PLACES ITS BEAM AT THE LOCATION WHERE THE TARGET IS EXPECTED
CORRECTS FOR THE POINTING ERROR BY CONVERTING ERROR VOLTAGES WITH KNOWN ANGLE
ERROR
SENSITIVITY TO UNITS OF ANGLE AND MOVES TO THE NEXT TARGET 4HE SYSTEM DETERMINES
WHERE THE TARGET WAS AND FROM CALCULATIONS OF TARGET VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION PRE
DICTS WHERE IT SHOULD BE THE NEXT TIME THE BEAM LOOKS AT THE TARGET 4HE LAG ERROR IN
THIS CASE IS DEPENDENT ON MANY FACTORS INCLUDING THE ACCURACY OF THE VALUE OF ANGLE
SENSITIVITY USED TO CONVERT ERROR VOLTAGES TO ANGULAR ERROR THE SIZE OF THE PREVIOUS
TRACKING ERROR AND THE TIME INTERVAL BETWEEN LOOKS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
x /,
/
+1-/" ,
/,
2ANGE TRACKING IS ACCOMPLISHED BY CONTINUOUSLY MEASURING THE TIME DELAY BETWEEN
THE TRANSMISSION OF AN 2& PULSE AND THE ECHO SIGNAL RETURNED FROM THE TARGET AND CON
VERTING THE ROUNDTRIP DELAY TO UNITS OF DISTANCE 4HE RANGE MEASUREMENT IS THE MOST
PRECISE POSITION
COORDINATE MEASUREMENT OF THE RADAR TYPICALLY WITH HIGH 3.2 IT CAN
BE WITHIN A FEW METERS AT HUNDREDS
OF
MILES RANGE 2ANGE TRACKING USUALLY PROVIDES
THE MAJOR MEANS FOR DISCRIMINATING THE DESIRED TARGET FROM OTHER TARGETS ALTHOUGH
DOPPLER FREQUENCY AND ANGLE DISCRIMINATION ARE ALSO USED BY PERFORMING RANGE GAT
ING TIME GATING TO ELIMINATE THE ECHO OF OTHER TARGETS AT DIFFERENT RANGES FROM THE
ERROR
DETECTOR OUTPUTS 4HE RANGE
TRACKING CIRCUITRY IS ALSO USED FOR ACQUIRING A DESIRED
TARGET 2ANGE TRACKING REQUIRES NOT ONLY THAT THE TIME OF TRAVEL OF THE PULSE TO AND FROM
THE TARGET BE MEASURED BUT ALSO THAT THE RETURN IS IDENTIFIED AS A TARGET RATHER THAN NOISE
AND A RANGE
TIME HISTORY OF THE TARGET BE MAINTAINED
!LTHOUGH THIS DISCUSSION IS FOR TYPICAL PULSE
TYPE TRACKING RADARS RANGE MEASURE
MENT MAY ALSO BE PERFORMED WITH #7 RADARS USING &-
#7 A FREQUENCY
MODULATED
#7 THAT IS TYPICALLY A LINEAR
RAMP &- 4HE TARGET RANGE IS DETERMINED BY THE RANGE
RELATED FREQUENCY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ECHO
FREQUENCY RAMP AND THE FREQUENCY OF
THE RAMP BEING TRANSMITTED 4HE PERFORMANCE OF &-
#7 SYSTEMS WITH CONSIDERATION
OF THE DOPPLER EFFECT IS DESCRIBED IN 3HERMAN
!CQUISITION 4HE FIRST FUNCTION OF THE RANGE TRACKER IS ACQUISITION OF A DESIRED
TARGET !LTHOUGH THIS IS NOT A TRACKING OPERATION IT IS A NECESSARY FIRST STEP BEFORE RANGE
TRACKING OR ANGLE TRACKING MAY TAKE PLACE IN A TYPICAL RADAR 3OME KNOWLEDGE OF TARGET
ANGULAR LOCATION IS NECESSARY FOR PENCIL
BEAM TRACKING RADARS TO POINT THEIR TYPICALLY
NARROW ANTENNA BEAMS IN THE DIRECTION OF THE TARGET 4HIS INFORMATION CALLED DESIGNA
TION DATA MAY BE PROVIDED BY SURVEILLANCE RADAR OR SOME OTHER SOURCE )T MAY BE SUF
FICIENTLY ACCURATE TO PLACE THE PENCIL BEAM ON THE TARGET OR IT MAY REQUIRE THE TRACKER
TO SCAN A LARGER REGION OF UNCERTAINTY 4HE RANGE
TRACKING PORTION OF THE RADAR HAS THE
ADVANTAGE OF SEEING ALL TARGETS WITHIN THE BEAM FROM CLOSE RANGE OUT TO THE MAXIMUM
RANGE OF THE RADAR )T TYPICALLY BREAKS THIS RANGE INTO SMALL INCREMENTS EACH OF WHICH
MAY BE SIMULTANEOUSLY EXAMINED FOR THE PRESENCE OF A TARGET 7HEN BEAM SCANNING IS
NECESSARY THE RANGE TRACKER EXAMINES THE INCREMENTS SIMULTANEOUSLY FOR SHORT PERIODS
SUCH AS S MAKES ITS DECISION ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF A TARGET AND ALLOWS THE BEAM TO
MOVE TO A NEW LOCATION IF NO TARGET IS PRESENT 4HIS PROCESS IS TYPICALLY CONTINUOUS FOR
MECHANICAL
TYPE TRACKERS THAT MOVE THE BEAM SLOWLY ENOUGH THAT A TARGET WILL REMAIN
WELL WITHIN THE BEAM FOR THE SHORT EXAMINATION PERIOD OF THE RANGE INCREMENTS
4ARGET ACQUISITION INVOLVES CONSIDERATION OF THE 3. THRESHOLD AND INTEGRATION TIME
NEEDED TO ACCOMPLISH A GIVEN PROBABILITY OF DETECTION WITH A GIVEN FALSE
ALARM RATE
SIMILAR TO SURVEILLANCE RADAR (OWEVER HIGH FALSE
ALARM RATES AS COMPARED WITH VALUES
USED FOR SURVEILLANCE RADARS ARE USED BECAUSE THE OPERATOR KNOWS THAT THE TARGET IS PRES
ENT AND OPERATOR FATIGUE FROM FALSE ALARMS WHEN WAITING FOR A TARGET IS NOT INVOLVED
/PTIMUM FALSE
ALARM RATES ARE SELECTED ON THE BASIS OF PERFORMANCE OF ELECTRONIC CIR
CUITS THAT OBSERVE EACH RANGE INTERVAL TO DETERMINE WHICH INTERVAL HAS THE TARGET ECHO
! TYPICAL TECHNIQUE IS TO SET A VOLTAGE THRESHOLD SUFFICIENTLY HIGH TO PREVENT MOST
NOISE PEAKS FROM CROSSING THE THRESHOLD BUT SUFFICIENTLY LOW THAT A WEAK SIGNAL MAY
CROSS !N OBSERVATION IS MADE AFTER EACH TRANSMITTER PULSE AS TO WHETHER IN THE RANGE
INTERVAL BEING EXAMINED THE THRESHOLD HAS BEEN CROSSED 4HE INTEGRATION TIME ALLOWS THE
RADAR TO MAKE THIS OBSERVATION SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE DECIDING IF THERE IS A TARGET PRESENT
42!#+).' 2!$!2
4HE MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NOISE AND A TARGET ECHO IS THAT NOISE SPIKES EXCEEDING THE
THRESHOLD ARE RANDOM BUT IF A TARGET IS PRESENT THE THRESHOLD CROSSINGS ARE MORE REGULAR
/NE TYPICAL SYSTEM SIMPLY COUNTS THE NUMBER OF THRESHOLD CROSSINGS OVER THE INTEGRATION
PERIOD AND IF CROSSINGS OCCUR FOR MORE THAN HALF THE NUMBER OF TIMES THAT THE RADAR HAS
TRANSMITTED A TARGET IS INDICATED AS BEING PRESENT )F THE RADAR PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY
IS (Z AND THE INTEGRATION TIME IS S THE RADAR WILL OBSERVE THRESHOLD CROSSINGS
IF THERE IS A STRONG AND STEADY TARGET (OWEVER BECAUSE THE ECHO FROM A WEAK TARGET
COMBINED WITH NOISE MAY NOT ALWAYS CROSS THE THRESHOLD A LIMIT MAY BE SET SUCH AS
CROSSINGS THAT MUST OCCUR DURING THE INTEGRATION PERIOD FOR A DECISION THAT A TARGET IS
PRESENT &OR EXAMPLE PERFORMANCE ON A NON
SCINTILLATING TARGET HAS A PROBABILITY
OF DETECTION AT A D"
PER
PULSE 3.2 AND A FALSE ALARM PROBABILITY OF n 4HE !.
&03
AND !.&01
INSTRUMENTATION RADARS USE THESE DETECTION PARAMETERS WITH
CONTIGUOUS RANGE GATES OF YD EACH FOR ACQUISITION 4HE GATES GIVE COVERAGE OF A
NMI RANGE INTERVAL AT THE RANGE WHERE THE TARGET IS EXPECTED POSSIBLY FROM COARSE RANGE
DESIGNATION FROM SEARCH RADAR
2ANGE 4RACKING /NCE A TARGET IS ACQUIRED IN RANGE IT IS DESIRABLE TO FOLLOW THE
TARGET IN THE RANGE COORDINATE TO PROVIDE DISTANCE INFORMATION OR SLANT RANGE TO THE TAR
GET !PPROPRIATE TIMING PULSES PROVIDE RANGE GATING SO THE ANGLE
TRACKING CIRCUITS AND
!'# CIRCUITS LOOK AT ONLY THE SHORT RANGE INTERVAL OR TIME INTERVAL WHEN THE DESIRED
ECHO PULSE IS EXPECTED 4HE RANGE TRACKING OPERATION IS PERFORMED BY CLOSED
LOOP
TRACKING SIMILAR TO THE ANGLE TRACKER %RROR IN CENTERING THE RANGE GATE ON THE TARGET
ECHO PULSE IS SENSED ERROR VOLTAGES ARE GENERATED AND CIRCUITRY IS PROVIDED TO RESPOND
TO THE ERROR VOLTAGE BY CAUSING THE GATE TO MOVE IN A DIRECTION TO RECENTER ON THE TARGET
ECHO PULSE
4HE RANGE
TRACKING ERROR MAY BE SENSED IN MANY WAYS 4HE MOST COMMONLY USED
METHOD IS THE EARLY
AND LATE
GATE TECHNIQUE SEE &IGURE 4HESE GATES ARE TIMED
SO THAT THE EARLY GATE OPENS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MAIN RANGE GATE AND CLOSES AT THE
CENTER OF THE MAIN GATE 4HE LATE GATE OPENS AT THE CENTER AND CLOSES AT THE END OF
THE MAIN RANGE GATE 4HE EARLY AND LATE GATES EACH ALLOW THE TARGET VIDEO TO CHARGE
CAPACITORS DURING THE TIME WHEN THE GATES ARE OPEN 4HE CAPACITORS ACT AS INTEGRATORS
4HE EARLY
GATE CAPACITOR CHARGES TO A VOLTAGE PROPORTIONAL TO THE AREA OF THE FIRST HALF
OF THE TARGET VIDEO PULSE AND THE LATE
GATE CAPACITOR CHARGES NEGATIVELY PROPORTION
ALLY TO THE LATE HALF OF THE TARGET VIDEO 7HEN THE GATES ARE PROPERLY CENTERED ABOUT A
SYMMETRICAL VIDEO PULSE THE CAPACITORS ARE EQUALLY CHARGED 3UMMING THEIR CHARGE
VOLTAGES YIELDS A ZERO OUTPUT
7HEN THE GATES ARE NOT CENTERED ABOUT THE TARGET VIDEO SO THAT THE EARLY GATE
EXTENDS PAST THE CENTER OF THE TARGET VIDEO THE EARLY
GATE CAPACITOR CHARGED POSI
TIVELY RECEIVES A GREATER CHARGE 4HE LATE GATE SEES ONLY A SMALL PORTION OF THE PULSE
RESULTING IN A SMALLER NEGATIVE CHARGE 3UMMING THE CAPACITOR VOLTAGES RESULTS IN A
NEGATIVE OUTPUT /VER A RANGE OF ERRORS OF APPROXIMATELY o OF THE TARGET
VIDEO
PULSE WIDTH THE VOLTAGE OUTPUT IS ESSENTIALLY A LINEAR FUNCTION OF TIMING ERROR AND
OF A POLARITY CORRESPONDING TO THE DIRECTION OF ERROR $URING ACQUISITION THE TARGET
IS CENTERED IN THE YD ACQUISITION GATE BY RANGE
TRACKING TECHNIQUES DESCRIBED
AS FOLLOWS AND THE GATE IS REDUCED TO APPROXIMATELY THE WIDTH OF THE RADAR TRANSMIT
PULSE FOR NORMAL TRACKING
-ANY RADAR RANGE
TRACKING SYSTEMS USE HIGH SPEED SAMPLING CIRCUITRY TO TAKE THREE
TO FIVE SAMPLES IN THE VICINITY OF THE ECHO VIDEO PULSE 4HE AMPLITUDES OF THE SAMPLES
ON THE LEADING AND LAGGING HALVES OF THE PULSE ARE COMPARED FOR RANGE
ERROR SENSING
SIMILAR TO THE COMPARISON OF AMPLITUDES IN THE EARLY
LATE
GATES RANGE TRACKER
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% %ARLY AND LATE GATE RANGE ERROR SENSING CIRCUIT
)N SOME CASES LEADING OR LAGGING EDGE RANGE TRACKING IS DESIRED 4HIS HAS BEEN
ACCOMPLISHED IN SOME APPLICATIONS BY SIMPLY ADDING A BIAS TO MOVE THE ERROR SENSING
GATES EITHER TO LEAD OR LAG THE CENTER OF THE TARGET 4HIS PROVIDES SOME REJECTION BY THE
GATES OF UNDESIRED RETURNS THAT MIGHT OCCUR NEAR THE TARGET SUCH AS THE ECHOES FROM
OTHER NEARBY TARGETS 4HRESHOLD DEVICES ARE ALSO USED AS LEADING OR LAGGING EDGE
TRACKERS BY OBSERVING WHEN THE TARGET VIDEO EXCEEDS A GIVEN THRESHOLD LEVEL 4HE
POINT OF CROSSING THE THRESHOLD IS USED TO TRIGGER GATING CIRCUITS TO READ OUT A TARGET
RANGE FROM TIMING DEVICES OR TO GENERATE A SYNTHETIC TARGET PULSE
4HE RANGE TRACKING LOOP IS CLOSED BY USING THE RANGE ERROR DETECTOR OUTPUT TO REPO
SITION RANGE GATES AND CORRECT RANGE READOUT /NE TECHNIQUE USES A HIGH SPEED DIGITAL
COUNTER DRIVEN BY A STABLE OSCILLATOR 4HE COUNTER IS RESET TO ZERO AT THE TIME OF THE
TRANSMIT PULSE 4ARGET RANGE IS REPRESENTED BY A NUMBER STORED IN A DIGITAL REGISTER AS
SHOWN IN &IGURE ! COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT SENSES WHEN THE DIGITAL COUNTER REACHES THE
NUMBER IN THE RANGE REGISTER AND GENERATES THE RANGE GATE AS INDICATED IN THE BLOCK DIA
GRAM SHOWN IN &IGURE ! RANGE ERROR SENSED BY THE RANGE ERROR DETECTOR RESULTS IN AN
ERROR VOLTAGE THAT DRIVES A VOLTAGE CONTROLLED VARIABLE FREQUENCY OSCILLATOR TO INCREASE
OR DECREASE THE COUNT IN THE RANGE REGISTER DEPENDING ON THE POLARITY OF THE ERROR VOLT
AGE 4HIS CHANGES THE NUMBER IN THE RANGE REGISTER TOWARD THE VALUE CORRESPONDING TO
THE RANGE OF THE TARGET 2ANGE READOUT IS ACCOMPLISHED BY READING THE NUMBER IN THE
REGISTER WHERE FOR EXAMPLE EACH BIT MAY CORRESPOND TO A YD RANGE STEP
42!#+).' 2!$!2
&)'52% $IGITAL RANGE TRACKER OPERATION
!NOTHER TECHNIQUE IS TO USE A PAIR OF OSCILLATORSONE CONTROLLING THE TRANSMITTER
TRIGGER AND THE OTHER CONTROLLING THE RANGE GATE 4HE RANGE RATE IS CONTROLLED BY THE
BEAT FREQUENCY BETWEEN THE OSCILLATORS WHERE ONE IS FREQUENCY
CONTROLLED BY THE RANGE
&)'52% "LOCK DIAGRAM OF A DIGITAL RANGE TRACKER
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
ERROR DETECTOR OUTPUT VOLTAGE 4HE BEAT FREQUENCY IS A SMALL FRACTION OF ONE (Z AND IS
BETTER VISUALIZED AS A PHASE RATE BETWEEN THE TRANSMIT PULSE CYCLE AND CYCLE OF THE RANGE
GATE 4HE CHANGING PHASE CAUSES THE RANGE GATE TO FOLLOW A MOVING TARGET
4HE ELECTRONIC RANGE TRACKER IS INERTIALESS ALLOWING ANY DESIRED SLEW SPEED AND PRO
VIDES FLEXIBILITY FOR CONVENIENTLY GENERATING ACQUISITION GATES FOR AUTOMATIC DETECTION
CIRCUITRY AS WELL AS TRANSMITTER TRIGGER AND PRE TRIGGER PULSES 4RACKING BANDWIDTH IS USU
ALLY LIMITED TO THAT NECESSARY FOR TRACKING TO MINIMIZE LOSS OF TRACK TO FALSE TARGETS AND
COUNTERMEASURES -ANY OTHER ELECTRONIC RANGE TRACKING TECHNIQUES ALSO OFFERING MOST OF
THESE ADVANTAGES ARE USED
NTH 4IME !ROUND 4RACKING 4O EXTEND UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE BY REDUCING THE
02& INCREASES THE ACQUISITION TIME AND REDUCES THE DATA RATE ! SOLUTION TO THIS PROB
LEM IS CALLED NTH TIME AROUND TRACKING WHICH AVOIDS TRANSMITTING AT THE TIME THAT AN
ECHO IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE AND CAN RESOLVE THE RANGE AMBIGUITY 4HIS ALLOWS THE RADAR
TO OPERATE AT HIGH 02& AND TRACK UNAMBIGUOUSLY TO LONG RANGES WHERE SEVERAL PULSES
MAY BE PROPAGATING IN SPACE TO AND FROM THE TARGET 4HE TECHNIQUE IS USEFUL ONLY WHEN
A TARGET IS BEING TRACKED $URING ACQUISITION THE RADAR MUST LOOK AT THE REGION BETWEEN
TRANSMITTER PULSES AND UPON INITIAL ACQUISITION IT CLOSES THE RANGE AND ANGLE TRACK
ING LOOPS WITHOUT RESOLVING THE RANGE AMBIGUITY 4HE NEXT STEP IS TO FIND WHICH RANGE
INTERVAL OR BETWEEN WHICH PAIR OF TRANSMIT PULSES THE TARGET IS LOCATED 4HE ZONE N IS
DETERMINED BY CODING A TRANSMIT PULSE AND COUNTING HOW MANY PULSES RETURN BEFORE
THE CODED PULSE RETURNS
)NSTRUMENTATION RADARS PROVIDE NTH TIME AROUND TRACKING CAPABILITY BECAUSE BEA
CONS ARE USED ON ROCKETS AND SPACE VEHICLES TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT SIGNAL LEVEL AT VERY
LONG RANGES
4O PREVENT THE TARGET ECHO FROM BEING BLANKED BY A TRANSMIT PULSE IT IS NECESSARY
TO SENSE WHEN THE TARGET IS APPROACHING AN INTERFERENCE REGION AND SHIFT THE REGION
4HIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY CHANGING THE 02& OR ALTERNATELY DELAYING GROUPS OF PULSES
EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF PULSES IN PROPAGATION 4HIS CAN BE PERFORMED AUTOMATICALLY
TO PROVIDE AN OPTIMUM 02& SHIFT OR TO ALTERNATELY DELAY PULSE GROUPS OF THE CORRECT
NUMBER OF PULSES
-*
" "*1 -
/
+1
$UAL
"AND -ONOPULSE $UAL
BAND MONOPULSE CAN BE EFFICIENTLY ACCOMMO
DATED ON A SINGLE ANTENNA TO COMBINE THE COMPLEMENTARY FEATURES OF TWO 2& BANDS
! USEFUL COMBINATION OF BANDS IS 8 BAND '(Z AND +A BAND '(Z 4HE
8
BAND OPERATION PROVIDES THE EXPECTED MICROWAVE PERFORMANCE OF GOOD RADAR RANGE
AND PRECISE TRACKING )TS WEAKNESS IS THE LOW
ANGLE MULTIPATH REGION AND THE AVAILABIL
ITY OF ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES IN THE BAND 4HE +A BAND ALTHOUGH ATMOSPHERIC
AND
RAIN
ATTENUATION
LIMITED PROVIDES MUCH GREATER TRACKING PRECISION IN THE LOW
ANGLE
MULTIPATH REGION AND A SECOND AND MORE DIFFICULT BAND THAT THE ELECTRONIC
COUNTERMEA
SURES TECHNIQUES MUST COVER
! .AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY SYSTEM CALLED 42!+8 4RACKING 2ADAR !T +A AND
8 BANDS WAS DESIGNED FOR INSTRUMENTATION RADAR APPLICATIONS FOR MISSILE AND TRAINING
RANGES )TS PURPOSE WAS TO ADD PRECISION TRACKING ON TARGETS ESSENTIALLY TO hSPLASHv
AND PROVIDE PRECISION TRACKING AT +A BAND IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF 8
BAND COUNTERMEA
SURE EXPERIMENTS
42!#+).' 2!$!2
! SIMILAR 8 AND +A BAND SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED BY (OLLANDSE 3IGNAALAPPARATEN OF
THE .ETHERLANDS FOR TACTICAL APPLICATION 4HE LAND BASED VERSION CALLED &,9 #!4#(%2
IS PART OF A MOBILE ANTI AIR WARFARE SYSTEM !NOTHER VERSION '/!, +%%0%2 IS FOR
A SHIPBOARD ANTI AIR WARFARE APPLICATION FOR THE FIRE CONTROL OF 'ATLING GUNS "OTH
SYSTEMS TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE TWO BANDS TO PROVIDE PRECISION TRACKING IN MULTIPATH
AND ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES ENVIRONMENTS
-IRROR 3CANNED !NTENNA )NVERSE #ASSEGRAIN !N ANTENNA TECHNIQUE THAT
USES A MOVABLE 2& MIRROR FOR SCANNING THE BEAM CALLED A MIRROR SCANNED ANTENNA OR
INVERSE #ASSEGRAIN PROVIDES USEFUL APPLICATIONS TO MONOPULSE RADAR 4HE TECHNIQUE
USES A RADOME SUPPORTED WIRE GRID PARABOLOID THAT REFLECTS PARALLEL POLARIZED FEED
ENERGY 4HE BEAM POLARIZED PARALLEL TO THE GRID IS COLLIMATED BY THE PARABOLOID AND
IS REFLECTED BY A FLAT MOVEABLE POLARIZATION ROTATING MIRROR 4HE BASIC POLARIZATION
ROTATING MIRROR IS A FLAT METAL SURFACE WITH A GRID OF WIRES LOCATED A QUARTER WAVE
LENGTH ABOVE THE METAL SURFACE AND ORIENTED AT RELATIVE TO THE 2& ENERGY REFLECTED
FROM THE PARABOLOID 4HE 2& ENERGY MAY BE VISUALIZED AS BEING COMPOSED OF A
COMPONENT PARALLEL TO AND REFLECTING FROM THE GRID AND A COMPONENT PERPENDICULAR
TO AND PASSING THROUGH THE GRID TO REFLECT FROM THE METAL MIRROR SURFACE BELOW "Y
TRAVELING THE QUARTER WAVESPACE TWICE THIS COMPONENT IS SHIFTED BY IN PHASE
7HEN ADDED TO THE REFLECTION FROM THE GRID IT RESULTS IN A CHANGE IN POLARIZA
TION 4HE TOTAL REFLECTED ENERGY FROM THE MIRROR ROTATED BY WILL EFFICIENTLY PASS
THROUGH THE WIRE GRID PARABOLOID 4HE ADVANTAGES ARE AS FOLLOWS 4HE MIRROR AND
ITS DRIVE MECHANISM ARE THE ONLY MOVING PARTS FOR BEAM MOVEMENT 4HE FEED AND
RADOME SUPPORTED PARABOLOID REMAIN FIXED 4HE BEAM MOVEMENT IS BY SPECULAR
REFLECTION TWICE THE ANGLE OF THE MIRROR TILT 4HIS PROVIDES A COMPACT STRUCTURE FOR
A GIVEN ANGLE COVERAGE REQUIREMENT 4HE NORMALLY LIGHTWEIGHT MIRROR AND THE
BEAM DISPLACEMENT VERSUS MIRROR TILT ALLOW REDUCED SIZE AND VERY RAPID BEAM
SCAN WITH LOW SERVO DRIVE POWER
4HE COMPACTNESS AND LIGHTNESS ARE PARTICULARLY ATTRACTIVE FOR AIRBORNE APPLICATIONS
SUCH AS THE 4HOMPSON #3& !GAVE RADAR IN THE 3UPER %NTENDARDS WHICH DETERMINES
TARGET RANGE AND DESIGNATION DATA FOR THE %XOCET MISSILE )T IS A COMPACT MONOPULSE
ROLL AND PITCH STABILIZED RADAR WITH AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION SCAN 4HE )SRAELI
%LTA SUBSIDIARY OF )SRAELI !IRCRAFT )NDUSTRIES ALSO DEVELOPED AN AIRBORNE TRACKING RADAR
USING THIS ANTENNA TECHNOLOGY FOR AIR TO AIR COMBAT AND GROUND WEAPON DELIVERY
! GROUND OR SHIPBOARD BASED EXPERIMENTAL MIRROR ANTENNA SYSTEM CONCEPT WAS
DEVELOPED WITH DUAL BAND MONOPULSE CAPABILITY '(Z AND '(Z BANDS 4HE
OBJECTIVE INCLUDED HIGH SPEED BEAM MOVEMENT FOR HIGH DATA RATE $ SURVEILLANCE
AND MULTITARGET PRECISION TRACKING $UAL BAND POLARIZATION TWIST MIRROR DESIGN WAS
ACCOMPLISHED WITH A TWO LAYER MIRROR GRID CONFIGURATION
/N !XIS 4RACKING 4HE BEST RADAR TRACKING PERFORMANCE IS USUALLY ACCOMPLISHED
WHEN THE TARGET IS ESSENTIALLY ON THE RADAR ANTENNA AXIS 4HEREFORE FOR MAXIMUM
PRECISION TRACKING IT IS DESIRABLE TO MINIMIZE LAG AND OTHER ERROR SOURCES AFFECTING
THE BEAM POINTING ! TECHNIQUE CALLED ON AXIS TRACKING WAS DEVELOPED TO MINIMIZE
RADAR AXIS DEVIATION FROM THE TARGET BY PREDICTION AND OPTIMUM FILTERING WITHIN THE
TRACKING LOOP 4HE TECHNIQUE IS PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE WHEN THE TARGET TRAJECTORY IS
KNOWN APPROXIMATELY SUCH AS WHEN TRACKING SATELLITES IN ORBIT OR A BALLISTIC TARGET !
COMPUTER IN THE TRACKING LOOP CAN CAUSE THE RADAR TO FOLLOW AN ESTIMATED SET OF ORBITAL
PARAMETERS FOR EXAMPLE )T ALSO PERFORMS OPTIMUM FILTERING OF RADAR ANGLE ERROR
DETECTOR OUTPUT TO GENERATE AN ERROR TREND FROM WHICH IT CAN UPDATE THE ASSUMED SET
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
OF ORBITAL PARAMETERS TO CORRECT THE RADAR BEAM MOVEMENT TO UPDATE THE ORIGINAL
SET OF ORBITAL PARAMETERS AND BY THIS MEANS THE RADAR ANTENNA AXIS CAN BE HELD ON
TARGET WITH MINIMUM ERROR
)MPROVED TRACKING CAN ALSO BE PROVIDED ON OTHER TARGETS WHERE THE APPROXIMATE
TRAJECTORY CAN BE ANTICIPATED (OWEVER PERFORMANCE OF ON
AXIS TRACKING IS LIMITED
WHEN TRACKING TARGETS WITH UNANTICIPATED MANEUVERS
-"1,
-"
,,",
4HERE ARE MANY SOURCES OF ERROR IN RADAR
TRACKING PERFORMANCE &ORTUNATELY MOST ARE
INSIGNIFICANT EXCEPT FOR VERY HIGH
PRECISION TRACKING
RADAR APPLICATIONS SUCH AS RANGE
INSTRUMENTATION WHERE THE ANGLE PRECISION REQUIRED MAY BE OF THE ORDER OF MRAD
MRAD OR MILLIRADIAN IS ONE THOUSANDTH OF A RADIAL OR THE ANGLE SUBTENDED BY
M
CROSS
RANGE AT
M RANGE -ANY SOURCES OF ERROR CAN BE AVOIDED OR REDUCED BY
RADAR DESIGN OR MODIFICATION OF THE TRACKING GEOMETRY #OST IS A MAJOR FACTOR IN PROVID
ING HIGH
PRECISION
TRACKING CAPABILITY 4HEREFORE IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW HOW MUCH
ERROR CAN BE TOLERATED WHICH SOURCES OF ERROR AFFECT THE APPLICATION AND WHAT IS THE
MOST COST
EFFECTIVE MEANS TO SATISFY THE ACCURACY REQUIREMENTS
"ECAUSE TRACKING RADARS TRACK TARGETS NOT ONLY IN ANGLE BUT ALSO IN RANGE AND SOME
TIMES IN DOPPLER THE ERRORS IN EACH OF THESE TARGET PARAMETERS MUST BE CONSIDERED ON
MOST ERROR BUDGETS 4HE REST OF THIS CHAPTER WILL PROVIDE A GUIDE FOR DETERMINING THE
SIGNIFICANT ERROR SOURCES AND THEIR MAGNITUDES
)T IS IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE WHAT THE ACTUAL RADAR INFORMATION OUTPUT IS &OR A
MECHANICALLY MOVED ANTENNA THE ANGLE
TRACKING OUTPUT IS USUALLY OBTAINED FROM THE
SHAFT POSITION OF THE ELEVATION AND AZIMUTH ANTENNA AXES !BSOLUTE TARGET LOCATION
RELATIVE TO EARTH COORDINATES WILL INCLUDE THE ACCURACY OF THE SURVEY OF THE ANTENNA
PEDESTAL SITE
0HASED ARRAY INSTRUMENTATION RADAR SUCH AS THE -ULTI
OBJECT 4RACKING 2ADAR
-/42 PROVIDE ELECTRONIC BEAM MOVEMENT OVER A LIMITED SECTOR OF ABOUT o O TO
APPROXIMATELY o O PLUS MECHANICAL MOVEMENT OF THE ANTENNA TO MOVE THE COVERAGE
SECTORn 4HE OUTPUT WILL BE MECHANICAL SHAFT POSITIONS LOCATING THE NORMAL TO THE
ARRAY PLUS DIGITAL ANGLE INFORMATION FROM THE ELECTRONIC BEAM SCAN FOR EACH TARGET
n /,
/
1-
,,",-/,
/ "-
2ADAR TRACKING OF TARGETS IS PERFORMED BY USE OF THE ECHO SIGNAL REFLECTED FROM A TARGET
ILLUMINATED BY THE RADAR TRANSMIT PULSE 4HIS IS CALLED SKIN TRACKING TO DIFFERENTIATE
IT FROM BEACON TRACKING WHERE A BEACON OR A TRANSPONDER TRANSMITS ITS SIGNAL TO THE
RADAR AND USUALLY PROVIDES A STRONGER POINT
SOURCE SIGNAL "ECAUSE MOST TARGETS SUCH
AS AIRCRAFT ARE COMPLEX IN SHAPE THE TOTAL ECHO SIGNAL IS COMPOSED OF THE VECTOR SUM
OF A GROUP OF SUPERIMPOSED ECHO SIGNALS FROM THE INDIVIDUAL PARTS OF THE TARGET SUCH AS
THE ENGINES PROPELLERS FUSELAGE AND WING EDGES 4HE MOTIONS OF A TARGET WITH RESPECT
TO THE RADAR CAUSES THE TOTAL ECHO SIGNAL TO CHANGE WITH TIME RESULTING IN RANDOM
FLUCTUATIONS IN THE RADAR MEASUREMENTS OF THE PARAMETERS OF THE TARGET 4HESE FLUCTUA
TIONS CAUSED BY THE TARGET ONLY EXCLUDING ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS AND RADAR RECEIVER NOISE
CONTRIBUTIONS ARE CALLED TARGET NOISE
42!#+).' 2!$!2
4HIS DISCUSSION OF TARGET NOISE IS BASED LARGELY ON AIRCRAFT BUT IT IS GENERALLY APPLI
CABLE TO ANY TARGET INCLUDING LAND TARGETS OF COMPLEX SHAPE THAT ARE LARGE WITH RESPECT
TO A WAVELENGTH 4HE MAJOR DIFFERENCE IS IN THE TARGET MOTION BUT THE DISCUSSIONS ARE
SUFFICIENTLY GENERAL TO APPLY TO ANY TARGET SITUATION
4HE ECHO RETURN FROM A COMPLEX TARGET DIFFERS FROM THAT OF A POINT SOURCE BY THE
MODULATIONS THAT ARE PRODUCED BY THE CHANGE IN AMPLITUDE AND RELATIVE PHASE OF THE
RETURNS FROM THE INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS 4HE WORD MODULATIONS IS USED IN PLURAL FORM
BECAUSE FIVE TYPES OF MODULATION OF THE ECHO SIGNAL THAT ARE CAUSED BY A COMPLEX TARGET
AFFECT RADARS 4HESE ARE AMPLITUDE MODULATION PHASE FRONT MODULATION GLINT POLAR
IZATION MODULATION DOPPLER MODULATION AND PULSE TIME MODULATION RANGE GLINT 4HE
BASIC MECHANISM BY WHICH THE MODULATIONS ARE PRODUCED IS THE MOTION OF THE TARGET
INCLUDING YAW PITCH AND ROLL WHICH CAUSES THE CHANGE IN RELATIVE RANGE OF THE VARIOUS
INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS WITH RESPECT TO THE RADAR
!LTHOUGH THE TARGET MOTIONS MAY APPEAR SMALL A CHANGE IN RELATIVE RANGE OF THE
PARTS OF A TARGET OF ONLY ONE
HALF WAVELENGTH BECAUSE OF THE TWO
WAY RADAR SIGNAL
PATH CAUSES A FULL CHANGE IN RELATIVE PHASE !T 8 BAND THIS IS ABOUT CM WHICH
IS SMALL EVEN COMPARED WITH THE FLEXURE BETWEEN PARTS OF AN AIRCRAFT
4HE FIVE TYPES OF MODULATION CAUSED BY A COMPLEX TARGET ARE DISCUSSED NEXT
!MPLITUDE .OISE !MPLITUDE NOISE IS THE CHANGE IN ECHO SIGNAL AMPLITUDE CAUSED
BY A COMPLEX
SHAPED TARGET EXCLUDING THE EFFECTS OF CHANGING TARGET RANGE )T IS THE
MOST OBVIOUS OF THE VARIOUS TYPES OF ECHO SIGNAL MODULATION BY A COMPLEX
SHAPED
TARGET AND IS READILY VISUALIZED AS THE FLUCTUATING SUM OF MANY SMALL VECTORS CHANGING
RANDOMLY IN RELATIVE PHASE !LTHOUGH IT IS CALLED NOISE IT MAY INCLUDE PERIODIC COMPO
NENTS !MPLITUDE NOISE TYPICALLY FALLS INTO A LOW FREQUENCY AND HIGH FREQUENCY REGION
OF INTEREST 4HESE CATEGORIES OVERLAP IN SOME RESPECTS BUT IT IS CONVENIENT TO SEPARATE
THE NOISE IN THESE TWO FREQUENCY RANGES BECAUSE THEY ARE GENERATED BY DIFFERENT PHE
NOMENA AND THEY ARE EACH SIGNIFICANT TO DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS OF THE RADAR
,OW
&REQUENCY !MPLITUDE .OISE 4HE LOW
FREQUENCY AMPLITUDE NOISE IS THE TIME
VARIATION OF THE VECTOR SUM OF THE ECHOES FROM ALL THE REFLECTING SURFACES OF THE TARGET
4HE TIME VARIATION IS VISUALIZED BY CONSIDERING THE TARGET AS A RELATIVELY RIGID BODY
WITH NORMAL YAW PITCH AND ROLL MOTIONS 4HE SMALL CHANGES IN RELATIVE RANGE OF THE
REFLECTORS CAUSED BY THIS MOTION RESULT IN CORRESPONDING hRANDOMv CHANGE IN THE RELA
TIVE PHASES #ONSEQUENTLY THE VECTOR SUM FLUCTUATES RANDOMLY 4YPICALLY TARGET RAN
DOM MOTION IS LIMITED TO SMALL ASPECT CHANGES SUCH THAT THE AMPLITUDES OF THE ECHOES
FROM THE INDIVIDUAL REFLECTORS VARY LITTLE OVER A PERIOD OF A FEW SECONDS AND CHANGE IN
RELATIVE PHASE IS THE MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR %XCEPTIONS ARE LARGE FLAT SURFACES WITH NARROW
REFLECTION PATTERNS
!N EXAMPLE OF A TARGET CONFIGURATION IS A DISTRIBUTION OF REFLECTING SURFACES THAT
CHANGE IN RELATIVE RANGE WITH TARGET MOTION ! TYPICAL PULSE AMPLITUDE TIME FUNCTION IS
A SLOWLY VARYING ECHO AMPLITUDE 4HE LOW
FREQUENCY AMPLITUDE NOISE CONTRIBUTES THE
LARGEST PORTION OF THE NOISE MODULATION DENSITY AND IS CONCENTRATED MAINLY BELOW ABOUT
(Z AT 8 BAND 4HE AMPLITUDE
NOISE SPECTRUM IS SIMILAR FOR BOTH LARGE AND SMALL
TARGETS 4HIS IS BECAUSE THE RATE OF RELATIVE RANGE CHANGE IS A FUNCTION OF BOTH ANGULAR
YAW AND DISTANCE FROM THE CENTER OF GRAVITY OF THE AIRCRAFT 4HUS A LARGER AIRCRAFT WITH
SLOW YAW RATES BUT GREATER WINGSPAN GENERATES A LOW
FREQUENCY NOISE SPECTRUM SIMI
LAR TO THAT OF A SMALL AIRCRAFT WITH HIGH YAW RATES BUT SMALLER WINGSPAN (OWEVER THE
LARGER AIRCRAFT TYPICALLY HAS THE BROADER NOISE SPECTRUM BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCE IN
DISTRIBUTION OF DOMINANT REFLECTORS
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE RADAR FREQUENCY AFFECTS THE LOW
FREQUENCY AMPLITUDE
NOISE SPECTRUM SHAPE
WHERE THE SPECTRUM WIDTH IS CLOSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE RADAR FREQUENCY IF THE TARGET
SPAN IS ASSUMED TO BE AT LEAST SEVERAL WAVELENGTHS 4HE REASON FOR THIS DEPENDENCE
IS THAT THE RELATIVE PHASE OF THE INDIVIDUAL ECHO SIGNALS IS A FUNCTION OF THE NUMBER OF
WAVELENGTHS OF CHANGE IN RELATIVE RANGE CAUSED BY THE TARGETS RANDOM MOTION 4HUS
WITH SHORTER WAVELENGTHS A GIVEN RELATIVE RANGE CHANGE WILL SUBTEND MORE WAVE
LENGTHS CAUSING HIGHER PHASE RATE RESULTING IN HIGHER
FREQUENCY NOISE COMPONENTS
4HE RATE OF AMPLITUDE FLUCTUATIONS OF THE ENVELOPE OF THE ECHO PULSES IS APPROXIMATELY
PROPORTIONAL TO THE RADAR FREQUENCY
! MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF LOW
FREQUENCY AMPLITUDE NOISE OF A TYPICAL AIRCRAFT IS
GIVEN BY
! F
"
" F
WHERE ! F FRACTIONAL MODULATION (Z
" HALF POWER BANDWIDTH (Z
F FREQUENCY (Z
4HE VALUE OF " FALLS TYPICALLY BETWEEN (Z AND (Z AT 8 BAND WITH THE LARGER
AIRCRAFT AT THE HIGHER VALUES BECAUSE OF THE LARGER REFLECTORS SUCH AS ENGINES SPREAD
OUT ALONG THE WINGS 4HESE REFLECTORS WITH THE GREATER SEPARATION CONTRIBUTE TO THE
HIGHER FREQUENCIES BECAUSE THEIR RELATIVE RANGE CHANGE IS LARGE FOR A GIVEN ANGULAR
MOVEMENT OF THE TARGET ! F IS THE MODULATION POWER DENSITY SUCH THAT THE SPECTRUM
MAY BE INTEGRATED OVER ANY FREQUENCY RANGE TO FIND THE TOTAL NOISE POWER WITHIN A
FREQUENCY BAND OF INTEREST 4AKING THE SQUARE ROOT OF THE VALUE OF THE INTEGRAL GIVES
THE RMS MODULATION
(IGH &REQUENCY !MPLITUDE .OISE (IGH FREQUENCY AMPLITUDE NOISE CONSISTS OF
BOTH RANDOM NOISE AND PERIODIC MODULATION 4HE RANDOM NOISE IS LARGELY A RESULT OF
THE VIBRATION AND MOVING PARTS OF THE AIRCRAFT PRODUCING A RELATIVELY FLAT NOISE SPEC
TRUM SPREAD OUT TO A FEW HUNDRED (Z DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF AIRCRAFT 4HE RMS NOISE
DENSITY IS TYPICALLY A FEW PERCENT OF MODULATION PER (Z
4HE PERIODIC MODULATION APPEARING AS SPIKES IN THE &IGURE SPECTRUM ARE
CAUSED BY RAPIDLY ROTATING PARTS OF AN AIRCRAFT SUCH AS THE PROPELLERS !S THE ECHO
FROM A PROPELLER BLADE CHANGES WITH ASPECT WHEN IT ROTATES A PERIODIC MODULATION
&)'52% 4YPICAL AMPLITUDE SPECTRAL VOLTAGE DISTRIBUTION SHOWING THE PROPELLER MODULATION MEASURED
ON A PROPELLER
DRIVEN AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT &IGURE FROM $UNN (OWARD AND +ING )2%
42!#+).' 2!$!2
IS PRODUCED 4HE BACKGROUND NOISE FROM THE AIRFRAME IS ALSO OBSERVED 4HE SPIKES
IN THE SPECTRUM RESULT FROM A FUNDAMENTAL MODULATION FREQUENCY RELATED TO THE PRO
PELLER REVMIN AND NUMBER OF BLADES 3INCE IT IS NOT USUALLY SINUSOIDAL THERE ARE
HARMONIC FREQUENCIES SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE SPECTRUM AS SHOWN IN &IGURE FOR
THE 3." A SMALL AIRCRAFT WITH TWO PROPELLER ENGINES 4HE LOCATION OF THESE SPIKES
IS NOT DEPENDENT ON 2& FREQUENCY AS IN THE CASE OF LOW
FREQUENCY AMPLITUDE NOISE
BECAUSE THE TARGET CONTROLS THE PERIODICITY OF THE MODULATION WHICH IS DEPENDENT
ONLY ON THE AIRCRAFT PROPELLER ROTATION RATE AND NUMBER OF BLADES *ET AIRCRAFT MAY ALSO
CAUSE ECHO AMPLITUDE MODULATION OF RADAR SIGNALS REFLECTED FROM ROTATING FAN BLADES
FROM WITHIN THE JET ENGINES 4HE JET ENGINE CAUSED MODULATION IS CALLED *ET %NGINE
-ODULATION *%- SPECTRAL MODULATION LINES 4HE HIGH
FREQUENCY
NOISE MODULATION
AFFECTS SCAN
TYPE TRACKING RADARS AS DESCRIBED LATER AND GIVES SOME INFORMATION AS
TO THE TYPE OF AIRCRAFT
%FFECTS OF !MPLITUDE 3CINTILLATION ON 2ADAR 0ERFORMANCE !MPLITUDE NOISE TO
SOME EXTENT AFFECTS ALL TYPES OF RADARS IN PROBABILITY OF DETECTION AND TRACKING RADAR
ACCURACYn /NE EFFECT ON ALL TYPES OF TRACKING RADARS IS THE INTERRELATION BETWEEN THE
LOW
FREQUENCY SPECTRUM OF AMPLITUDE NOISE THE !'# CHARACTERISTICS WHICH DETERMINE
TO WHAT EXTENT THE SLOW FLUCTUATIONS ARE SMOOTHED AND THE ANGLE NOISE 4HE EFFECTS ON
ANGLE NOISE ARE DESCRIBED LATER IN THIS SECTION WHERE IT IS DESCRIBED WHY A FAST
ACTING
!'# IS GENERALLY THE PREFERRED CHOICE FOR MAXIMIZING OVERALL TRACKING ACCURACY
(IGH
FREQUENCY AMPLITUDE NOISE CAUSES ERRORS ONLY IN CONICAL
SCAN OR SEQUENTIAL LOB
ING TRACKING RADARS BECAUSE THE EFFECTS ARE ELIMINATED BY THE MONOPULSE TECHNIQUES
#ONICAL SCAN OR SEQUENTIAL LOBING TO SENSE TARGET DIRECTION DEPEND UPON MEASURING THE
AMPLITUDE OF THE SIGNAL FOR AT LEAST TWO DIFFERENT ANTENNA BEAM POSITIONS FOR EACH TRACKING
AXIS )N AZIMUTH TRACKING FOR EXAMPLE THE ANTENNA BEAM IS DISPLACED TO THE LEFT OF THE
TARGET AND THEN TO THE RIGHT )F THE TARGET WERE ON THE ANTENNA AXIS THE SIGNAL WOULD DROP
THE SAME AMOUNT WHEN THE BEAM ASSUMED TO BE SYMMETRICAL IS MOVED AN EQUAL AMOUNT
IN EITHER DIRECTION 4HE AMPLITUDES FOR EACH BEAM POSITION ARE SUBTRACTED IN AN ANGLE ERROR
DETECTOR HENCE THE OUTPUT IS ZERO IF THE TARGET IS ON THE ANTENNA AXIS AND BECOMES FINITE
INCREASING POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY AS THE TARGET MOVES OFF AXIS TO THE RIGHT OR LEFT
(IGH
FREQUENCY NOISE CAN CAUSE THE AMPLITUDE TO CHANGE DURING THE TIME TAKEN TO
MOVE THE ANTENNA BEAM FROM ONE POSITION TO THE NEXT %VEN IF THE TARGET IS ON AXIS
HIGH
FREQUENCY NOISE CAN CAUSE THE AMPLITUDE AT THE TWO BEAM POSITIONS TO DIFFER
THUS CAUSING AN ERRONEOUS INDICATION THAT THE TARGET IS OFF AXIS 4HIS EFFECT IS AVERAGED
OUT EXCEPT FOR THE NOISE SPECTRAL ENERGY NEAR THE SCAN RATE &OR EXAMPLE A PERIODIC
MODULATION SPIKE NEAR THE SCAN RATE WILL CAUSE THE TRACKING RADAR TO DRIVE ITS ANTENNA
IN A CIRCULAR MOTION AROUND THE TARGET AT A RATE EQUAL TO THE DIFFERENCE IN FREQUENCY
BETWEEN THE SCAN RATE AND THE FREQUENCY OF THE SPECTRAL LINE 4HE DIRECTION CLOCKWISE
OR COUNTERCLOCKWISE DEPENDS UPON WHETHER THE SPECTRAL LINE IS ABOVE OR BELOW THE
SCAN RATE AND WHETHER THE SCAN IS CLOCKWISE OR COUNTERCLOCKWISE 4HE SERVOSYSTEM
FILTERS OUT ALL FREQUENCIES OUTSIDE THE FREQUENCY RANGE BETWEEN THE SCAN RATE PLUS THE
SERVO BANDWIDTH AND THE SCAN RATE MINUS THE SERVO BANDWIDTH AND AN ANGLE SENSITIVITY
CONSTANT THAT CONVERTS RMS MODULATION TO RMS ANGLE ERROR
!N EQUATION USING THIS RELATION TO CALCULATE RMS NOISE IN SCANNING AND LOBING
TYPE
TRACKING RADARS CAUSED BY HIGH
FREQUENCY AMPLITUDE NOISE IS
SS
Q"
KS
! FS B
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WHERE RS RMS ANGLE ERROR IN SAME ANGULAR UNITS AS P"
! FS RMS FRACTIONAL MODULATION NOISE DENSITY IN VICINITY OF SCAN RATE
KS CONICAL SCAN ERROR SLOPE KS FOR SYSTEM OPTIMUM
P" ONE WAY ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH
A SERVO BANDWIDTH (Z
! SAMPLE CALCULATION FOR AN FS OF (Z WHERE !FS FROM MEASURED DATA TAKEN ON A
LARGE JET AIRCRAFT IS APPROXIMATELY (Z P" IS MILS AND A IS (Z GIVES A RS
OF MIL RMS
)N THE CASE OF A PERIODIC MODULATION WHERE A SPECTRAL LINE FALLS WITHIN THE BAND
FS o A THE RMS NOISE IS RS P" ! FS WHERE ! FS IS THE RMS FRACTIONAL MODULATION
CAUSED BY THE SPECTRAL LINE 4HE RESULTANT RMS TRACKING ERROR RS WILL BE PERIODIC AT THE
FREQUENCY FS FT WHERE FT IS THE FREQUENCY OF THE SPECTRAL LINE
4HE EFFECTS OF AMPLITUDE NOISE ON TARGET DETECTION AND ACQUISITION ARE OF CONCERN IN
ALL TYPES OF RADARS PARTICULARLY AT LONG RANGES WHERE THE SIGNAL IS WEAK 4HE AMPLITUDE
FLUCTUATIONS CAN CAUSE THE SIGNAL TO DROP BELOW THE NOISE LEVEL FOR SHORT PERIODS OF TIME
THUS AFFECTING THE CHOICE OF THRESHOLDS ACQUISITION SCAN RATE AND DETECTION LOGICn
!NGLE .OISE 'LINT !NGLE NOISE CAUSES A CHANGE WITH TIME IN THE APPARENT
LOCATION OF THE TARGET WITH RESPECT TO A REFERENCE POINT ON THE TARGET 4HIS REFERENCE
POINT IS USUALLY CHOSEN AS THE CENTER OF hGRAVITYv OF THE REFLECTIVITY DISTRIBUTION ALONG
THE TARGET COORDINATE OF INTEREST 4HE CENTER OF GRAVITY IS THE LONG TIME AVERAGED TRACK
ING ANGLE ON A TARGET 4HE TERM GLINT IS SOMETIMES USED FOR ANGLE NOISE BUT IT GIVES
THE FALSE IMPRESSION THAT THE WANDER IN THE APPARENT POSITION OF A TARGET ALWAYS FALLS
WITHIN THE TARGET SPAN )T WAS ORIGINALLY EXPECTED THAT ANGLE FLUCTUATIONS CAUSED IN A
MONOPULSE RADAR BY A TARGET WOULD BE SIMPLE VARIATIONS IN THE CENTER OF GRAVITY OF
THE REFLECTING AREAS HOWEVER MUCH LARGER ANGLE ERRORS WERE OBSERVED 4HE APPARENT
ANGULAR LOCATION OF A TARGET CAN FALL AT A POINT COMPLETELY OUTSIDE THE EXTREMITIES OF
THE TARGET 4HIS CAN BE DEMONSTRATED BOTH EXPERIMENTALLY AND THEORETICALLY ! PAIR
OF SCATTERERS CAN BE APPROPRIATELY SPACED TO CAUSE A TRACKING RADAR WITH CLOSED LOOP
TRACKING TO ALIGN ITS ANTENNA AXIS AT A POINT MANY TIMES THE SCATTERER SPACING AWAY
FROM THE SCATTERERS )F THE SCATTERERS ARE STATIONARY THE RADAR ANTENNA WILL STAY POINTING
IN THE ERRONEOUS DIRECTION &IGURE SHOWS EXPERIMENTAL DATA DEMONSTRATING THIS
PHENOMENON WITH A TWO REFLECTOR TARGET
4HE ANGLE NOISE PHENOMENON AFFECTS ALL TYPES OF TRACKING RADARS BUT IS MAINLY OF
CONCERN FOR TRACKING RADARS WHERE PRECISION TARGET LOCATION IS NEEDED 4O AID IN VISU
ALIZING WHY ANGLE NOISE AFFECTS ANY RADAR TYPE ANGULAR DIRECTION SENSING DEVICE THE
ECHO SIGNAL PROPAGATING IN SPACE WAS ANALYZED SHOWING THAT THE ANGLE NOISE IS PRES
ENT IN THIS PROPAGATING ENERGY AS A DISTORTION OF THE PHASE FRONT 4HEORETICAL PLOTS OF
A DISTORTED PHASE FRONT FROM DUAL SOURCES COMPARE VERY CLOSELY WITH PHOTOGRAPHS OF
THE PHASE FRONT OF THE RADIATING SURFACE RIPPLES IN THE RIPPLE TANK EXPERIMENT WITH DUAL
VIBRATING PROBES !LL RADAR ANGLE SENSING DEVICES SENSE BY ONE MEANS OR ANOTHER THE
PHASE FRONT OF THE SIGNAL AND INDICATE THE TARGET TO BE IN A DIRECTION NORMAL TO THE PHASE
FRONT 4HUS THE PHASE FRONT DISTORTIONS AFFECT ALL TYPES OF ANGLE SENSING RADARS
-ANY MEASUREMENTS OF ANGLE NOISE HAVE BEEN MADE ON A VARIETY OF AIRCRAFT AND
THE RESULTS OF THEORETICAL STUDIES HAVE BEEN VERIFIED 4HE THEORY AND MEASUREMENTS
SHOW THAT ANGLE NOISE EXPRESSED IN LINEAR UNITS OF DISPLACEMENT SUCH AS METERS OF THE
APPARENT POSITION OF THE TARGET FROM THE CENTER OF GRAVITY OF THE TARGET IS INDEPENDENT
OF RANGE EXCEPT FOR VERY SHORT RANGES 4HEREFORE RMS ANGLE NOISE RANG IS EXPRESSED IN
42!#+).' 2!$!2
%
%
%
!"#!!$
&)'52% !PPARENT LOCATION OF A DUAL SOURCE TARGET AS A FUNCTION OF RELATIVE PHASE E FOR DIFFERENT
VALUES OF RELATIVE AMPLITUDE A MEASURED WITH A TRACKING RADAR &IGURE FROM (OWARD
UNITS OF METERS OF ERROR MEASURED AT THE TARGET LOCATION 4HE RESULTS SHOW THAT THE RMS
VALUE OF ANGLE NOISE RANG IS EQUAL TO 2O WHERE 2O IS THE RADIUS
OF
GYRATION
TAKEN
ALONG THE ANGULAR COORDINATE OF INTEREST OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE REFLECTING AREAS OF THE
TARGET &OR EXAMPLE IF A TARGETS REFLECTING AREAS HAVE A COS O@,
SHAPED DISTRIBU
TION WHERE @ IS A VARIABLE AND THE TARGET SPAN IS FROM , TO n, CALCULATION OF THE
RADIUS OF GYRATION DIVIDED BY GIVES A VALUE OF RANG OF , 4YPICAL VALUES OF RANG
ON ACTUAL AIRCRAFT FALL BETWEEN , AND , DEPENDING UPON THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE
MAJOR REFLECTING AREAS SUCH AS ENGINES WING TANKS AND SO ON ! SMALL AIRCRAFT NOSE
ON VIEW WITH A SINGLE ENGINE AND NO SIGNIFICANT REFLECTORS ATTACHED TO THE WINGS WILL
HAVE A RANG OF APPROXIMATELY , WHEREAS LARGER AIRCRAFT WITH AN OUTBOARD ENGINE AND
POSSIBLY WING TANKS WILL HAVE A RANG APPROACHING THE VALUE OF , 4HE AIRCRAFT SIDE
VIEW ALSO TENDS TOWARD THE VALUE OF , BECAUSE OF A MORE CONTINUOUS DISTRIBUTION
OF REFLECTING AREAS %STIMATION OF ANGLE SCINTILLATION RMS ERROR IN UNITS OF TARGET SPAN
CAN BE MADE BY RELATING THE APPROXIMATE TARGET DISTRIBUTION IN &IGURE WITH ACTUAL
AIRCRAFT CONFIGURATIONS
4HE VALUE OF RANG FOR A COMPLEX TARGET IS ESSENTIALLY A FIXED VALUE REGARDLESS OF 2&
FREQUENCY IF A TARGET SPAN OF AT LEAST SEVERAL WAVELENGTHS IS ASSUMED AND IS INDEPENDENT
OF THE RATE OF RANDOM MOTION OF THE TARGET (OWEVER AS DESCRIBED LATER THE SPECTRAL
DISTRIBUTION OF ANGLE
NOISE POWER IS DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY RADAR FREQUENCY ATMOSPHERIC
TURBULENCE AND OTHER PARAMETERS
2ADIUS OF GYRATION IS CALCULATED ASSUMING THE hWEIGHTv OF THE SCATTERERS IS THEIR EFFECTIVE RADAR SCATTERING CROSS SECTION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!
" !
!
$!
"
% !
!!
!#
!
!#
!
!
&)'52% 2-3 ANGLE SCINTILLATION BASED ON THE THEORETICAL RELATION TO THE RADIUS OF GYRATION OF THE
DISTRIBUTION OF REFLECTING AREAS OF THE TARGET
4ARGET ANGLE NOISE IS TYPICALLY GAUSSIAN
DISTRIBUTED !N EXAMPLE OF THE MEASURED
DISTRIBUTION OF THE APPARENT TARGET ANGLE OF A SMALL TWO
ENGINE AIRCRAFT IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE ! RELATIVELY LONG TIME SAMPLE IS NEEDED SINCE SHORT TIME SAMPLES OF DATA
CAN DEPART FROM THE GAUSSIAN SHAPE 5NUSUAL TARGETS MAY ALSO DEPART FROM GAUSSIAN
DISTRIBUTED ANGLE NOISE $ELANO GIVES DATA FROM TWO AIRCRAFT IN FORMATION THAT ARE
GAUSSIAN
DISTRIBUTED WHEN COMPLETELY UNRESOLVED BUT CHANGE SHAPE AT CLOSE RANGE
WHERE THE ANTENNA BEGINS TO RESOLVE THE TWO AIRCRAFT AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
&)'52% !MPLITUDE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION OF ANGLE SCINTILLATION MEASURED ON A SMALL
TWO
ENGINE AIRCRAFT
42!#+).' 2!$!2
!LTHOUGH THE RMS VALUE OF ANGLE NOISE IS ESSENTIALLY A CONSTANT FOR A GIVEN TARGET AND
ASPECT THE SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION OF THIS ENERGY IS DEPENDENT ON RADAR FREQUENCY AND THE
RANDOM TARGET MOTION ! TYPICAL SPECTRUM SHAPE IS
. F S ANG
"
P " F
WHERE . F SPECTRAL NOISE POWER DENSITY POWER(Z
" NOISE BANDWIDTH (Z
F FREQUENCY (Z
4HE VALUES OF " ARE PROPORTIONAL TO RADAR FREQUENCY AND DEPENDENT UPON AIR TUR
BULENCE EFFECTS ON TARGET MOTION AND TARGET ASPECT !N EXAMPLE OF A MEASURED ANGLE
SCINTILLATION SPECTRUM IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4YPICAL VALUES OF " AT 8 BAND IN RELA
TIVELY TURBULENT AIR RANGE FROM ABOUT (Z FOR SMALL AIRCRAFT TO ABOUT (Z FOR LARGER
AIRCRAFT " CHANGES IN PROPORTION TO RADAR FREQUENCY PROVIDED THAT THE TARGET SPAN IS AT
LEAST A FEW WAVELENGTHS !GAIN LONG TIME SAMPLES ARE NECESSARY TO OBTAIN A RELATIVELY
SMOOTH SPECTRUM FROM MEASURED DATA &OR THE ABOVE VALUES OF " ABOUT MINUTES OF
DATA WAS NECESSARY TO REACH ESSENTIALLY THE LONG TIME AVERAGED CHARACTERISTIC 4HIS IS
A REFERENCE POINT ABOUT WHICH THERE WILL BE CONSIDERABLE VARIATION FOR A TYPICAL TIME
PERIOD OF INTEREST &OR EXAMPLE WITH ONLY MINUTE OF DATA THE NOISE POWER RANG WOULD
VARY OVER TO TIMES THE LONG TIME AVERAGED RANG !T LOWER RADAR FREQUENCIES
AND IN LESS TURBULENT ATMOSPHERE " MAY BE SMALLER AND PROPORTIONATELY LONGER TIME
SAMPLES ARE NECESSARY THUS FOR SHORT TIME SAMPLES OF RADAR PERFORMANCE SIGNIFICANT
STATISTICAL VARIATIONS MUST BE EXPECTED
4O CONVERT RANG EXPRESSED IN LINEAR UNITS MEASURED AT THE TARGET TO ANGULAR UNITS FOR
A RADAR AT RANGE R THE FOLLOWING RELATION MAY BE USED
RANG ANGULAR MILS RANG M RKM
"ECAUSE THE ANGULAR ERRORS CAUSED BY ANGLE NOISE ARE INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO
RANGE ANGLE NOISE IS OF CONCERN MAINLY AT MEDIUM AND CLOSE RANGES 4HE RESULTANT
TRACKING NOISE CAN BE REDUCED BY LOWERING THE SERVO BANDWIDTH TO REDUCE THE RADARS
ABILITY TO FOLLOW THE HIGHER FREQUENCY COMPONENTS OF THE NOISE 4HE AMOUNT OF NOISE
REDUCTION MAY BE ESTIMATED BY COMPARING THE AREA UNDER A SPECTRAL POWER DENSITY PLOT
OF ANGLE NOISE BELOW THE FREQUENCY CORRESPONDING TO THE RADAR SERVO BANDWIDTH WITH
THE TOTAL AREA UNDER THE POWER DENSITY PLOT 4HE SPECTRAL POWER DENSITY PLOT MAY BE
OBTAINED BY SQUARING THE ORDINATE VALUES OF A SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION PLOT SUCH AS SHOWN
IN &IGURE
4HE CHOICE OF !'# CHARACTERISTICS ALSO AFFECTS THE AMOUNT OF ANGLE NOISE FOLLOWED
BY A TRACKING ANTENNA 4HE !'# VOLTAGE IS GENERATED FROM THE SUM SIGNAL AND FOL
LOWS THE ECHO SIGNAL AMPLITUDE FLUCTUATION 4HERE IS A DEGREE OF CORRELATION BETWEEN
THE ANGLE NOISE MAGNITUDE AND ECHO SIGNAL MAGNITUDE SUCH THAT ANGLE NOISE PEAKS
ARE GENERALLY ACCOMPANIED BY A DIP OR FADE IN AMPLITUDE ! SLOW !'# SYSTEM THAT
DOES NOT MAINTAIN CONSTANT SIGNAL LEVEL DURING RAPID CHANGES ALLOWS THE SIGNAL LEVEL
TO DROP DURING A RAPID FADE REDUCING SENSITIVITY VOLTS PER DEGREE ANGLE ERROR DURING
THE LARGE ANGLE NOISE PEAKS 4HIS RESULTS IN A SMALLER RMS TRACKING NOISE WITH A SLOW
!'# SYSTEM
(OWEVER THIS REASONING NEGLECTS AN ADDITIONAL NOISE TERM CAUSED BY THE LACK OF
FULL !'# ACTION WHICH IS PROPORTIONAL TO TRACKING LAG ! TRACKING LAG CAUSES A DC ERROR
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 3PECTRAL
ENERGY DISTRIBUTION OF ANGLE SCINTILLATION MEASURED ON THE NOSE
ASPECT OF A SMALL TWO
ENGINE AIRCRAFT
VOLTAGE IN THE ANGLE
ERROR
DETECTOR OUTPUT EQUAL TO ANGLE ERROR TIMES THE ANGLE SEN
SITIVITY ! SLOW !'# ALLOWS THE AMPLITUDE NOISE TO MODULATE THE TRUE TRACKING
ERROR
VOLTAGE CAUSING ADDITIONAL NOISE IN ANGLE TRACKING 4HUS THERE WILL BE AN ADDITIONAL
RMS ANGLE ERROR PROPORTIONAL TO TRACKING LAG AND DEPENDENT ON THE !'# TIME CON
STANT AS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE
)N GENERAL A FAST !'# IS RECOMMENDED BECAUSE IT REDUCES THE ADDITIONAL NOISE
TERM ALLOWED BY SLOW !'# AND THE POSSIBILITY OF LARGER RMS TRACKING ERRORS WHICH
CAN BE CONSIDERABLY GREATER THAN THE ANGLE NOISE WITH A FAST !'# !S PREVIOUSLY
DISCUSSED ANGLE NOISE IS SIGNIFICANT MAINLY AT MEDIUM AND CLOSE RANGE WHERE TARGET
ANGLE RATES ARE GREATEST !S SEEN IN &IGURE A TRACKING LAG OF ONLY ONE
HALF THE
42!#+).' 2!$!2
&)'52% !NGLE SCINTILLATION NOISE POWER AS A FUNCTION OF TRACKING
ERROR FOR THREE DIFFERENT !'# BANDWIDTHS FROM $UNN (OWARD AND +ING
)2%
TARGET SPAN WILL RESULT IN GREATER TRACKING NOISE IN A SLOW !'# SYSTEM WITH THE DANGER
OF MUCH HIGHER NOISE WITH GREATER LAG 4HEREFORE FOR OVERALL PERFORMANCE A FAST !'#
IS RECOMMENDED
2ANGE .OISE 2ANGE 'LINT 2ANGE NOISE OR RANDOM TRACKING ERRORS IN THE RANGE
COORDINATE CAUSED BY COMPLEX TARGETS IS A SIGNIFICANT BASIC LIMITATION IN RANGE TRACKING
!CQUISITION OF A DESIRED SPECTRAL LINE BY A DOPPLER FREQUENCY TRACKING SYSTEM IS ALSO
LIMITED BY RANGE NOISE #OARSE VELOCITY INFORMATION IS OBTAINED BY DIFFERENTIATION OF
RANGE TO DETERMINE THE DESIRED SPECTRAL LINE 2ANGE NOISE IS A MAJOR LIMITATION TO THE
ACCURACY OF VELOCITY OBTAINED FROM RANGE RATE AND CAN PREVENT SELECTION OF THE DESIRED
SPECTRAL LINE
4HE RANGE
TRACKING ERRORS CAUSED BY A FINITE
SIZE TARGET AND BY MULTIPATH ALSO CAUSE
SIGNIFICANT ANGLE
TRACKING ERRORS IN MULTILATERATION TRACKING SYSTEMS THAT TRIANGULATE
USING HIGH
PRECISION RANGE MEASUREMENTS FROM MULTIPLE LOCATIONS TO CALCULATE TARGET
ANGLE LOCATION -ULTILATERATION SYSTEMS SUCH AS THE 0ACIFIC -ISSILE 2ANGE %XTENDED
!REA 4RACKING 3YSTEM %!43 DEPEND UPON VERY PRECISE RANGE MEASUREMENTS 3MALL
RANGE
TRACKING ERRORS CAUSE SIGNIFICANT ERRORS IN CALCULATED TARGET ANGLE BASED ON THE
RANGE MEASUREMENTS 4HESE ERRORS MUST BE FULLY UNDERSTOOD TO ASSESS THE PERFORMANCE
OF MULTILATERATION SYSTEMS
4ARGET
CAUSED RANGE
TRACKING ERRORS SIMILAR TO TARGET
CAUSED ANGLE ERRORS ARE
GREATER THAN THE WANDER OF THE TARGET CENTER OF GRAVITY AND CAN FALL OUTSIDE THE TARGET
SPAN &IGURE SHOWS TYPICAL SAMPLES OF SPECTRAL
ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS AND PROB
ABILITY DENSITY FUNCTIONS FOR DIFFERENT TARGET CONFIGURATIONS 4HE RANGE NOISE MEASURE
MENTS WERE MADE ON SMALL AND LARGE AIRCRAFT AND MULTIPLE AIRCRAFT USING THE SPLIT VIDEO
RANGE ERROR DETECTOR 4HE CHARACTERISTICS FOLLOW VERY CLOSELY TO THE RELATIONS OF TARGET
ANGLE NOISE TO THE TARGET CONFIGURATION RADIUS
OF
GYRATION ALONG THE ANGLE COORDINATE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4YPICAL SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS FOR THE THREE VIEWS OF THE 3." AIRCRAFT A NOSE VIEW
B SIDE VIEW C TAIL VIEW AND D SIDE VIEW OF TWO SMALL TWO ENGINE AIRCRAFT FLYING IN FORMATION
&OR RANGE TRACKING IT IS NECESSARY TO RELATE RANGE NOISE TO THE TARGET REFLECTIVITY DISTRI
BUTION ALONG THE RANGE COORDINATE )N GENERAL THE LONG
TIME
AVERAGE VALUE OF THE RMS
RANGE ERROR MAY BE CLOSELY ESTIMATED BY TAKING TIMES THE RADIUS
OF
GYRATION OF THE
DISTRIBUTION OF THE REFLECTING AREAS IN THE RANGE DIMENSION BASED ON MANY MEASURE
MENTS OF SMALL LARGE AND MULTIPLE AIRCRAFT 4YPICALLY IN TERMS OF TARGET SPAN ALONG
THE RANGE COORDINATE THE RMS VALUE WILL FALL BETWEEN AND TIMES THE TARGET
SPANBEING CLOSE TO THE MULTIPLIER FOR THE TAIL VIEW AND NOSE VIEW AND FOR
THE SIDE VIEW 4HE SPECTRAL SHAPE MAY BE CLOSELY ESTIMATED BY USING THE SAME FUNCTION
OF FREQUENCY AS DESCRIBED FOR ANGLE NOISE AND THE SAME VALUE OF BANDWIDTH 4HE ERROR
AS A FUNCTION OF RELATIVE PHASE AND AMPLITUDE OF THE TARGET REFLECTORS IS SIMILAR TO THE
ANGLE NOISE PHENOMENON
! BEACON ON A COOPERATIVE TARGET CAN PROVIDE A POINT SOURCE SINGLE
PULSE RESPONSE
TO ELIMINATE RANGE ERROR CAUSED BY THE TARGET (OWEVER VERY STABLE CIRCUITRY IS REQUIRED
TO AVOID PULSE JITTER AND DRIFT
$OPPLER 3CINTILLATION AND 3PECTRAL ,INES $OPPLER SCINTILLATION AND SPECTRAL
LINES CAUSED BY A COMPLEX TARGET MAY BE DIVIDED INTO TWO PHENOMENA SPECTRAL
LINES CAUSED BY PARTS OF THE AIRCRAFT SUCH AS PROPELLERS AND JET TURBINE BLADES AND A
CONTINUOUS DOPPLER SPECTRUM SPREAD BY THE MOTION OF AN AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT SYMMETRICALLY
42!#+).' 2!$!2
ABOVE AND BELOW THE AVERAGE DOPPLER OF THE TARGET ! TARGET TYPICALLY HAS A SIGNIFICANT
RANDOM YAW PITCH AND ROLL MOTION EVEN ON A hFIXEDv HEADING 4IME PLOTS OF TYPICAL
AIRCRAFT HEADING FOR AN AIRCRAFT FLYING A hSTRAIGHT COURSEv ARE OBSERVED TO HAVE TYPICAL
RANDOM YAW MOTION THAT CAUSES SMALL CHANGES IN THE DOPPLER FROM EACH OF THE SCATTERING
SURFACES OF THE AIRCRAFTS RIGID STRUCTURE 2ELATIVE TO THE AVERAGE DOPPLER OF THE AIRCRAFT
THE SCATTERING SURFACES LOCATED AWAY FROM THE AIRCRAFT CENTER WILL HAVE A SMALL INCREASING
AND DECREASING RELATIVE DOPPLER FREQUENCY AS THE AIRCRAFT YAWS RIGHT AND LEFT 4HIS CAUSES
A SPECTRAL SPREAD OF THE DOPPLER OF THE ECHO FROM THE RIGID BODY OF THE AIRCRAFT AND
IS ACCOMPANIED BY SPECTRAL LINES CAUSED BY MOVING PARTS ON THE AIRCRAFT
#OMPONENTS OF THE TARGET ECHO FROM ROTATING OR MOVING PARTS OF THE TARGET CAUSE
DOPPLER LINES AT FREQUENCIES DISPLACED FROM THE AIRFRAME DOPPLER SPECTRUM 4HE PERIODIC
AMPLITUDE MODULATION CAUSES PAIRS OF DOPPLER LINES SYMMETRICAL ABOUT THE DOPPLER OF
THE AIRFRAME VELOCITY -OVING PARTS CAN ALSO CAUSE PURE FREQUENCY MODULATION THAT WILL
RESULT IN A SINGLE SET OF DOPPLER LINES ON ONE SIDE OF THE AIRFRAME DOPPLER SPECTRUM
! MAJOR SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DOPPLER MODULATION IS ITS EFFECT ON DOPPLER
MEASURING
RADARS ! DOPPLER TRACKING SYSTEM THAT AUTOMATICALLY TRACKS THE FREQUENCY OF A SPECTRAL
LINE OF THE ECHO IS SUBJECTED TO TWO PROBLEMS THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF LOCKING ON
A FALSE LINE CAUSED BY MOVING PARTS OF THE TARGET AND WHEN PROPERLY LOCKED ONTO
THE AIRFRAME DOPPLER SPECTRUM THE DOPPLER READING WILL BE NOISY AS DEFINED BY THE
RANDOM FLUCTUATION IN INSTANTANEOUS FREQUENCY AS OBSERVED BY THE SPREAD OF THE DOP
PLER SPECTRUM #OHERENT BEACONS WHICH RECEIVE AMPLIFY AND TRANSMIT RECEIVED RADAR
PULSES CAN PROVIDE A DOPPLER
SHIFTED RESPONSE FREE OF TARGET
CAUSED SPECTRAL SPREAD
AND PERIODIC MODULATIONS ! DELAY TIME IS PROVIDED TO SEPARATE THE BEACON RESPONSE
FROM THE TARGET ECHO
4ARGET DOPPLER SCINTILLATION ALSO OFFERS USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT THE TARGET CONFIGURA
TION .ORMAL TARGET MOTION WILL RESULT IN DIFFERENT DOPPLER SHIFTS FOR EACH MAJOR SCAT
TERER OF A RIGID
BODY TARGET AND THE SHIFTS WILL BE A FUNCTION OF THE DISPLACEMENT OF THE
SCATTERER FROM A REFERENCE POINT SUCH AS THE CENTER OF ROTATION OF THE TARGETS RANDOM
MOTIONS 4HEREFORE A HIGH
RESOLUTION DOPPLER SYSTEM CAN RESOLVE MAJOR REFLECTORS AND
LOCATE THEM IN CROSS RANGE AS A FUNCTION OF THE DOPPLER DIFFERENCE FROM THE REFERENCE
REFLECTOR 4HIS TECHNIQUE CALLED INVERSE SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR )3!2 USES THE TARGET
MOTION FOR THE NEEDED ASPECT CHANGE INSTEAD OF RADAR MOTION AS USED IN CONVENTIONAL
SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR TO OBTAIN DETAILED CROSS
RANGE TARGET IMAGE INFORMATION
"/
,
8/
,
1-
-"
,,",
-ULTIPATH -ULTIPATH ANGLE ERRORS RESULT FROM REFLECTIONS OF THE TARGET ECHO
FROM OBJECTS OR SURFACES CAUSING ECHO PULSES TO ARRIVE BY OTHER THAN THE DIRECT
PATH TO THE RADAR BEAM IN ADDITION TO THE
DIRECT PATH 4HESE ERRORS ARE SOMETIMES
CALLED LOW
ANGLE TRACKING ERRORS WHEN
APPLIED TO TRACKING OF TARGETS AT SMALL
ELEVATION ANGLES OVER THE %ARTH OR
OCEAN SURFACEn -ULTIPATH ERRORS ARE
TYPICALLY A SPECIAL DUAL
SOURCE CASE OF
'EOMETRY OF THE RADAR MULTIPATH
ANGLE NOISE RESULTING FROM THE GEOMETRY &)'52%
TRACKING CONDITION WHERE THE REFLECTION FROM A
AS DESCRIBED IN &IGURE WHERE THE SURFACE APPEARS TO THE RADAR AS AN IMAGE BELOW
TARGET AND ITS IMAGE REFLECTED FROM A THE SURFACE
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SURFACE TO THE RADAR BEAM ARE THE TWO SOURCES /VER A SMOOTH OCEAN SURFACE THEY
ARE SEPARATED ONLY IN THE ELEVATION COORDINATE SO THAT MOST OF THE ERROR APPEARS
IN THE ELEVATION
TRACKING CHANNEL 3EVERE ELEVATION ERRORS MAY CAUSE SOME CROSS
COUPLING OF THE ERROR TO THE AZIMUTH CHANNEL 2OUGH SURFACES CAUSE DIFFUSE
SCATTERING WHICH CAN CONTRIBUTE ERRORS TO BOTH AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION TRACKING
$IFFERENT PATH GEOMETRIES SUCH AS NON
FLAT LAND OR A BUILDING MAY ALSO CAUSE A
SIGNIFICANT ERROR TO APPEAR IN THE AZIMUTH
TRACKING CHANNEL
4HE MAJOR DIFFICULTY WITH LOW
ANGLE TRACKING IS THAT THE TARGET AND ITS IMAGE ARE
ESSENTIALLY COHERENT AND THEIR RELATIVE PHASE CHANGES SLOWLY AND THE ANGULAR ERROR IT
CAUSES IS READILY FOLLOWED BY AN ANGLE
TRACKING SYSTEM &URTHERMORE THE PATHS ARE
ALMOST EQUAL AND IN MOST CASES THEY CANNOT BE RESOLVED BY HIGH
RANGE
RESOLUTION
TECHNIQUES ,ONG TIME AVERAGES OF THE DATA DO NOT IN PRACTICE GIVE TARGET ELEVATION
THUS THE MULTIPATH ANGLE ERROR HAS NO SIMPLE SOLUTION AND IS GENERALLY MINIMIZED BY
USING NARROW
BEAM ANTENNAS
7HEN THE TARGET IS AT LOW ALTITUDE THE MULTIPATH ERRORS ARE SEVERE AS OBSERVED IN
THE MEASURED DATA SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HIS DATA IS THE MULTIPATH ERROR OF A
BEAMWIDTH 3 BAND
'(Z TRACKING RADAR THAT IS TRACKING AN AIRCRAFT TARGET WITH A
BEACON AT
FT ALTITUDE !N !.&03
TRACKING RADAR WITH A BEAMWIDTH AT
# BAND '(Z WAS USED TO SIMULTANEOUSLY TRACK WITH ITS NARROW BEAM WHICH
REMAINED ABOVE THE SEA SURFACE WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT MULTIPATH ERROR TO PROVIDE A TRUE
TARGET ALTITUDE REFERENCE FOR THE DATA IN &IGURE 4HERE IS A MEASUREMENT BIAS ERROR
OBSERVED IN &IGURE OF ABOUT
4HE TRACKING DATA FROM A RADAR TRACKING A TARGET WITH A BEACON IS PLOTTED IN
&IGURE SHOWING A TYPICAL MULTIPATH ERROR ILLUSTRATING THE PHENOMENON FROM THE
REGION WHERE THE IMAGE ENTERS THE SIDELOBES TO THE REGION WHERE IT ENTERS THE MAIN
BEAM 4HERE ARE THREE METHODS USED FOR PREDICTING MULTIPATH ERRORS DEPENDING
UPON WHERE THE REFLECTED TARGET IMAGE ENTERS THE ANTENNA PATTERN !T THE FAR RANGE
&)'52% -EASURED ELEVATION TRACKING ERROR OF AN 3 BAND RADAR USING AN !.&03 RADAR FOR A TARGET
ELEVATION REFERENCE
42!#+).' 2!$!2
THE IMAGE ENTERS THE ANTENNA MAIN BEAM AND THE ERROR IS ESSENTIALLY THAT OF A TWO
REFLECTOR TARGET GLINT ERROR FOLLOWING APPROXIMATELY THE EQUATION
WHERE E
Q
H
E
E H
R R COS F
R R COS F
ERROR SAME UNITS AS H MEASURED AT THE TARGET RANGE RELATIVE TO THE TARGET
MAGNITUDE OF SURFACE REFLECTION COEFFICIENT
HEIGHT OF TARGET
RELATIVE PHASE DETERMINED BY GEOMETRY OF DIRECT AND SURFACE REFLECTED
SIGNAL PATHS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE
!LTHOUGH THE FLUCTUATIONS IN Q AND E ALTER THE ACTUAL TRACKING FROM THE THEORETICAL THE
EQUATION GIVES A GOOD INDICATION OF THE ERRORS TO BE EXPECTED WHEN TRACKING A POINT
SOURCE SUCH AS A BEACON (OWEVER SKIN TRACKING OF AN AIRCRAFT AT LOW ELEVATION MAY
RESULT IN A DEPARTURE FROM THE CLASSIC PERIODIC ERROR VERSUS ELEVATION AS ILLUSTRATED IN
&IGURE BECAUSE OF AN INTERACTION BETWEEN TARGET ANGLE SCINTILLATION AND MULTIPATH
ERROR THAT CAN CHANGE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MULTIPATH ERROR
7HEN TRACKING A POINT SOURCE TARGET AT CLOSE RANGE THE RADAR MAIN BEAM IS
ABOVE THE IMAGE BUT THE IMAGE IS SEEN BY THE DIFFERENCE
PATTERN SIDELOBES 4HE
MULTIPATH ERRORS THAT RESULT ARE CYCLIC ALMOST SINUSOIDAL WITH AN RMS VALUE PRE
DICTED BY THE EQUATION
S%
RQ "
'SE PEAK
WHERE R% RMS ELEVATION ANGLE MULTIPATH ERROR SAME UNITS AS P"
P" ONE WAY ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH
Q REFLECTION COEFFICIENT
AND 'SE PEAK IS THE POWER RATIO OF THE TRACKING ANTENNA SUM PATTERN PEAK TO THE ERROR
PATTERN PEAK SIDELOBE LEVEL AT THE ANGLE OF ARRIVAL OF THE IMAGE SIGNAL
4HE CYCLIC RATE MAY BE APPROXIMATED BY THE EQUATION
WHERE FM
H
K
%
FM
H%
L
FREQUENCY OF CYCLIC MULTIPATH ERROR RADS
HEIGHT OF RADAR ANTENNA
WAVELENGTH SAME UNITS AS H
RATE OF TARGET ELEVATION CHANGE AS SEEN BY RADAR RADS
4HE INTERMEDIATE RANGE IS BETWEEN THE SHORT
RANGE REGION WHERE THE IMAGE
APPEARS IN THE SIDELOBES AND THE LONG
RANGE REGION WHERE THE IMAGE APPEARS WITHIN
THE HALF
POWER BEAMWIDTH 4HE ERROR IS DIFFICULT TO CALCULATE IN THIS REGION BECAUSE
IT FALLS IN THE NONLINEAR ERROR
SENSING PORTION OF THE ANTENNA PATTERNS AND THE RADAR
RESPONSE IS STRONGLY DEPENDENT UPON THE SPECIFIC FEED DESIGN AND ERROR
PROCESSING
TECHNIQUE (OWEVER &IGURE PROVIDES A PRACTICAL MEANS FOR APPROXIMATING
MULTIPATH
ERROR VALUES IN THIS REGION 4HE CURVES ARE CALCULATED MULTIPATH ERRORS
BASED ON AN ASSUMED GAUSSIAN
SHAPED SUM PATTERN AND DERIVATIVE OF THE SUM PATTERN
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #ALCULATED RMS MULTIPATH ERROR R% VERSUS TARGET ELEVATION %T BOTH NORMALIZED TO RADAR
BEAMWIDTH P"
AS THE MONOPULSE DIFFERENCE PATTERN &IGURE SHOWS TYPICAL SIDELOBE MULTIPATH
ERRORS FOR HIGHER
ELEVATION TARGETS AND THE LINEARLY DECREASING ERROR VERSUS TARGET
ELEVATION PREDICTED BY THE ABOVE EQUATION FOR VERY LOW
ELEVATION TARGETS 4HE GRAPH
IS NORMALIZED TO RADAR BEAMWIDTH ON BOTH AXES FOR CONVENIENT USE WITH A WIDE VARI
ETY OF RADARS 4HE DASHED PORTIONS OF THE CURVES ARE REGIONS OF UNCERTAINTY BECAUSE
OF SIGNIFICANT VARIATIONS OF REFLECTION FOR A GIVEN SEA STATE
)N THE INTERMEDIATE REGION THE ERROR INCREASES TO A PEAK AT TARGET ELEVATIONS OF
ABOUT BEAMWIDTH 4HE PEAK VALUE IS DEPENDENT ON SEVERAL FACTORS INCLUDING SURFACE
ROUGHNESS WHICH IN PART DETERMINES THE VALUE OF Q SERVO BANDWIDTH AND ANTENNA
CHARACTERISTICS IN THE REGION 4HE ERRORS ARE SEVERE AND WITH UN
SMOOTHED TRACK WIDE
SERVO BANDWIDTH THE RADAR CAN BREAK LOCK AND LOSE TRACK OF THE TARGET
7HEN THE SURFACE IS ROUGH CORRESPONDING TO A REFLECTION COEFFICIENT OF ABOUT
THE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE ERROR VERSUS ELEVATION CHANGES IS OBSERVED IN &IGURE 4HE
ROUGH SURFACE CAUSES SIGNIFICANT DIFFUSE SCATTERING RATHER THAN A MIRROR REFLECTION 4HIS
CHANGES THE SHAPE OF THE ERROR CURVE AND RESULTS IN SOME RESIDUAL ELEVATION
ANGLE ERROR
WHEN THE TARGET ELEVATION GOES TO ZERO )T ALSO CAUSES SOME SIGNIFICANT AZIMUTH ERROR
#ROSSTALK #AUSED BY #ROSS
0OLARIZED %NERGY 4ARGET ECHO ENERGY CROSS
POLAR
IZED TO THE RADAR ANTENNA CAUSES CROSSTALK CROSS COUPLING IN RADARS IE THE AZIMUTH
ERROR CAUSES OUTPUT FROM THE ELEVATION
ERROR DETECTOR AND THE ELEVATION ERROR CAUSES
OUTPUT FROM THE AZIMUTH
ERROR DETECTOR 'ENERALLY THIS EFFECT IS NEGLIGIBLE BECAUSE THE
CROSS
POLARIZED ENERGY IS USUALLY A SMALL FRACTION OF THE RECEIVED POLARIZATION FROM
TYPICAL TARGETS AND IT IS NORMALLY REDUCED BY ABOUT D" BY THE ANTENNA DESIGN
(OWEVER IN SPECIAL CASES THE RESULTANT CROSSTALK CAN BE VERY HIGH AND MAY CAUSE A
LARGE TRACKING ERROR AND POSSIBLE LOSS OF TRACK &OR EXAMPLE POLARIZATION OF A LINEARLY
POLARIZED BEACON ON A TARGET COULD ROTATE WITH TARGET ASPECT CHANGE AND IN THE WORST
CASE APPROACH A CROSS
POLARIZED CONDITION
42!#+).' 2!$!2
4HEORETICALLY THE COUPLING TO CROSS POLARIZED ENERGY IS ZERO WHEN THE SOURCE IS PRE
CISELY ON AXIS AND INCREASES WITH DISPLACEMENT FROM THE AXIS 4HE CROSS POLARIZATION
ERROR IN A TRACKING RADAR SYSTEM IS PURE CROSSTALK SO THAT A SMALL TRUE TRACKING ERROR IN
ONE TRACKING COORDINATE CAUSES THE ANTENNA TO MOVE IN THE OTHER COORDINATE 4HE ERROR
IN THE SECOND COORDINATE THEN CAUSES THE ANTENNA TO MOVE FARTHER FROM THE SOURCE IN THE
FIRST COORDINATE 7HEN THERE IS NO RETARDING EFFECT THE CROSS POLARIZED ENERGY CAUSES
THE ANTENNA TO DRIVE OFF TARGET IN ONE OF THE QUADRANTS OF THE TWO AXIS ANGLE TRACKING
COORDINATE SYSTEM DEPENDING UPON THE DIRECTION OF THE INITIAL ERROR THAT MOVED THE
SOURCE OFF THE PRECISE ON AXIS POSITION
! SOLUTION USED WITH MISSILE RANGE INSTRUMENTATION RADAR WHERE TARGET ASPECT
CHANGES CAN CAUSE A LINEARLY POLARIZED BEACON TO ROTATE TO A CROSS POLARIZED ASPECT
IS TO PROVIDE A CIRCULAR POLARIZATION TRACKING CAPABILITY #OUPLING A LINEARLY POLARIZED
SIGNAL TO A CIRCULARLY POLARIZED ANTENNA RESULTS IN A D" SIGNAL LOSS BUT IT IS INDEPEN
DENT OF THE DIRECTION OF THE LINEAR POLARIZATION WHEN ROTATED ABOUT A LINE IN THE DIRECTION
TOWARD THE RADAR
4ROPOSPHERE 0ROPAGATION 4HE TROPOSPHERE IS TYPICALLY A NONHOMOGENEOUS
MEDIUM FOR PROPAGATION AND WILL CAUSE RANDOM BEAM BENDING &IGURE ILLUSTRATES
THE APPROXIMATE RELATION OF RMS ANGLE ERROR TO VARIOUS ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS 4HE
WORST CASE IS HEAVY CUMULUS CLOUDS WHICH CAUSE COLUMNS OF AIR SHADED FROM THE
SUN BY THE CLOUDS THAT ARE COOLER THAN THE SURROUNDING AIR AND CONSEQUENTLY OF A
DIFFERENT DIELECTRIC CONSTANT 4HE RESULT IS TYPICALLY A RANDOM BEAM BENDING AS THE
RADIATED ENERGY PASSES THROUGH THESE COLUMNS &IGURE APPLIES ONLY FOR THE PORTION
&)'52% !NGLE FLUCTUATION VERSUS PATH LENGTH FOR DIFFERENT
TROPOSPHERES FROM &INAL 2EPORT )NSTRUMENTATION 2ADAR !.&03
8. BY 2#! UNDER CONTRACT "U !ER ./AS C
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
OF THE BEAM THAT IS WITHIN THE TROPOSPHERE /NCE THE BEAM GOES ABOVE THE TROPOSPHERE
TYPICALLY ABOUT TO KM THERE IS NO FURTHER BEAM BENDING
4HE TROPOSPHERE ALSO AFFECTS TARGET RANGE MEASUREMENT BUT THE ERRORS ARE SMALL
IN THE ORDER OF TO M MAXIMUM (OWEVER EVEN SMALL ERRORS OF THIS MAGNITUDE
WILL CAUSE SIGNIFICANT ERRORS IN MULTILATERATION SYSTEMS THAT DETERMINE TARGET ANGLE BY
CALCULATIONS USING PRECISE RANGE MEASUREMENTS FROM SEPARATE LOCATIONS
/
, -"1,
-"
,,",
2ECEIVER 4HERMAL .OISE 4HE ANGLE ERROR CAUSED BY RECEIVER THERMAL NOISE IN A
MONOPULSE TRACKING SYSTEM IS
ST
KM
Q"
"T 3 . FR BN
WHERE KM IS THE ANGLE
ERROR
DETECTOR SLOPE 4HE VALUE OF KM IS DETERMINED BY THE
STEEPNESS OF THE ANTENNA DIFFERENCE PATTERNS AND A VARIETY OF VALUES CAN BE OBTAINED
DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF FEED USED 4HE VALUES VARY FROM FOR THE ORIGINAL
FOUR
HORN SQUARE FEED TO A MAXIMUM OF FOR THE -)4
HORN FEED (OWEVER
AS DESCRIBED IN THE DISCUSSION ON FEEDS THE
HORN FEED GIVES A LOWER ANTENNA
EFFICIENCY THAN AN OPTIMUM MULTIMODE MONOPULSE FEED WHICH CAN APPROACH
AN EFFICIENCY OF ALTHOUGH ITS ANGLE SENSITIVITY IS LESS TYPICALLY HAVING A VALUE
OF 4HEREFORE THERE IS A TRADEOFF BETWEEN SLOPE AND EFFICIENCY ! SLOPE FOR MONO
PULSE RADARS IS DEPENDENT UPON FEED DESIGN AND IS TYPICALLY FOR A GOOD MODERN
FOUR
HORN MULTIMODE FEED DESIGN
7HEN THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT TRACKING LAG OR DELIBERATE BEAM OFFSET FROM THE TARGET
THE ERROR RTO DUE TO RECEIVER NOISE FOR A GIVEN 3.2 IS GIVEN BY THE EQUATION
S T S T ,; K Q , Q " =
WHERE P, LAG ANGLE SAME UNITS AS P"
, ANTENNA SUM PATTERN LOSS AT ANGLE P,
! SIMILAR RANGE TRACKING ERROR RRT RESULTS FROM RECEIVER NOISE 4HE EQUATION RELATING
THE ERROR TO THE 3.2 AND SYSTEM PARAMETERS IS
S RT
T
KR 3 . FR BN
FT RMS
WHERE S PULSE LENGTH IN FT
KR R ANGE
ERROR
DETECTOR SENSITIVITY MAXIMUM VALUE OF FOR A RECEIVER
WHERE "
3. SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO
AN SERVO BANDWIDTH
/THER )NTERNAL 3OURCES OF %RROR 4HERE ARE MANY OTHER SOURCES OF INTERNAL ERRORS
THAT ARE SMALL IN WELL
DESIGNED TRACKING RADARS 4HESE INCLUDE CHANGES IN RELATIVE PHASE
AND AMPLITUDE BETWEEN MONOPULSE RECEIVER CHANNELS AS A FUNCTION OF SIGNAL STRENGTH
42!#+).' 2!$!2
4!",% )NVENTORY OF 2ANGE %RROR #OMPONENTS
#OMPONENT
"IAS
.OISE
2ADAR
DEPENDENT
TRACKING ERRORS
:ERO RANGE SETTING
2ANGE DISCRIMINATOR SHIFT
SERVO UNBALANCE
2ECEIVER DELAY
2ECEIVER THERMAL NOISE
-ULTIPATH
3ERVO ELECTRICAL NOISE
3ERVO MECHANICAL NOISE
6ARIATION IN RECEIVER DELAY
2ANGE RESOLVER ERROR
)NTERNAL JITTER
$ATA GEAR NONLINEARITY AND BACKLASH
$ATA TAKEOFF NONLINEARITY AND GRANULARITY
2ANGE OSCILLATOR INSTABILITY
$YNAMIC LAG
'LINT
3CINTILLATION
"EACON JITTER
)RREGULARITIES IN TROPOSPHERIC REFRACTION
)RREGULARITIES IN IONOSPHERIC REFRACTION
2ADAR
DEPENDENT
2ANGE OSCILLATOR FREQUENCY
TRANSLATION ERRORS $ATA TAKEOFF ZERO SETTING
4ARGET
DEPENDENT
TRACKING ERRORS
$YNAMIC LAG
"EACON DELAY
0ROPAGATION ERROR
!VERAGE TROPOSPHERIC REFRACTION
!VERAGE IONOSPHERIC REFRACTION
&ROM $ + "ARTON IN h-ODERN 2ADAR v 2 3 "ERKOWITZ ED .EW 9ORK *OHN 7ILEY 3ONS CHAP P
2& FREQUENCY DETUNING AND TEMPERATURE !LSO PEDESTAL BENDING FROM SOLAR HEATING
NONORTHOGONALITY OF PEDESTAL AXES GEARING BACKLASH BEARING WOBBLE GRANULARITY OF
DATA READOUT AND MANY OTHER FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO ERRORS 4ABLE LISTS THE MAGNITUDE
OF THESE ERRORS FOR THE PRECISION INSTRUMENTATION RADAR !.&03
#ALIBRATION IS IMPORTANT TO MINIMIZE ERRORS 7HEN MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE IS
REQUIRED TIMELY ACCURATE CALIBRATION MUST BE PERFORMED 4HE PROCEDURE MAY REQUIRE
UP TO FOUR HOURS TO FULLY STABILIZE THE RADAR SYSTEM &OR INSTRUMENTATION RADAR WHERE
THE TIME OF A TRACKING EVENT IS KNOWN FINAL CALIBRATION IS PERFORMED JUST PRECEDING THE
EVENT TO MINIMIZE DRIFT ERRORS
-1 ,9"-"1,
-"
,,",
!NGLE -EASUREMENT %RRORS !N INVENTORY OF ANGLE MEASUREMENT ERRORS IS
GIVEN IN 4ABLE 4HIS INCLUDES SEVERAL SOURCES OF ERROR THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN
ADDITION TO THE RADAR
RELATED SOURCES
&IGURE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE MEASURED TRACKING PERFORMANCE OF AN !.&03
RADAR TRACKING A
IN METAL SPHERE THAT PROVIDES A POINT SOURCE TARGET TO ELIMINATE
TARGET
CAUSED ERRORS 4HE DATA ILLUSTRATES WHICH ERROR SOURCES DOMINATE AT DIFFERENT
REGIONS OF THE RADAR RANGE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS VERSUS RANGE
4HE TARGET
CAUSED ERRORS DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION INCLUDE THE USUAL TRACKING
EVENTS WHERE THE TARGET EXTENT IS WITHIN THE
D" BEAMWIDTH OF THE RADAR (OWEVER
A LARGE TARGET SUCH AS AN AIRCRAFT FORMATION MAY EXTEND BEYOND THE LINEAR ANGLE
ERROR
REGION OF THE ANTENNA PATTERNS AND EVENTUALLY REACH THE POINT OF RESOLUTION OF ONE
OF THE AIRCRAFT 4HE RESULTANT ANGLE
TRACKING ERROR FOR LARGE TARGETS IS ILLUSTRATED BY
THE EXAMPLE IN &IGURE )N &IGURE A THE TYPICAL GAUSSIAN
LIKE GLINT ERROR
DISTRIBUTION IS OBSERVED 7ITH THE WIDER SEPARATION OF THE AIRCRAFT THE TRACKING
ERROR
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% )NVENTORY OF !NGLE %RROR #OMPONENTS
#OMPONENT
"IAS
.OISE
2ADAR
DEPENDENT
TRACKING ERRORS
DEVIATION OF ANTENNA
FROM TARGET
"ORESIGHT AXIS COLLIMATION
!XIS SHIFT WITH
2& AND )& TUNING
2ECEIVER PHASE SHIFT
4ARGET AMPLITUDE
4EMPERATURE
7IND FORCE
!NTENNA UNBALANCE
3ERVO UNBALANCE
,EVELING OF PEDESTAL .ORTH
ALIGNMENT
3TATIC FLEXURE OF PEDESTAL
AND ANTENNA
/RTHOGONALITY OF AXES SOLAR
HEATING
2ECEIVER THERMAL NOISE
-ULTIPATH ELEVATION ONLY
7IND GUSTS
3ERVO ELECTRICAL NOISE
3ERVO MECHANICAL NOISE
2ADAR
DEPENDENT
TRANSLATION ERRORS
ERRORS IN CONVERTING
ANTENNA POSITION TO
ANGULAR COORDINATES
4ARGET
DEPENDENT
TRACKING ERRORS
0ROPAGATION ERRORS
$YNAMIC LAG
!VERAGE REFRACTION OF
TROPOSPHERE
!VERAGE REFRACTION OF
IONOSPHERE
4ELESCOPE OR REFERENCE
!PPARENT OR
INSTRUMENTATION ERRORS INSTRUMENT STABILITY
FOR OPTICAL REFERENCE &ILM EMULSION AND BASE
STABILITY
/PTICAL PARALLAX
$YNAMIC DEFLECTION OF PEDESTAL
AND ANTENNA
"EARING WOBBLE
$ATA GEAR NONLINEARITY
AND BACKLASH
$ATA TAKEOFF NONLINEARITY
AND GRANULARITY
'LINT
$YNAMIC LAG VARIATION
3CINTILLATION
"EACON MODULATION
)RREGULARITIES IN TROPOSPHERIC
REFRACTION
)RREGULARITIES IN IONOSPHERIC
REFRACTION
4ELESCOPE CAMERA OR REFERENCE
INSTRUMENT VIBRATION
&ILM
TRANSPORT JITTER
2EADING ERROR
'RANULARITY ERROR
6ARIATION IN OPTICAL PARALLAX
&ROM $ + "ARTON IN h-ODERN 2ADAR v 2 3 "ERKOWITZ ED .EW 9ORK *OHN 7ILEY 3ONS CHAP P
DISTRIBUTION CHANGES SHAPE BECOMING SOMEWHAT RECTANGULAR WITH A SEPARATION OF
AIRCRAFT AS IN &IGURE B !T THE WIDEST SEPARATION WHERE THE AIRCRAFT ARE ALMOST
RESOLVED AS IN &IGURE C THE RADAR WILL TRACK ONE AIRCRAFT UNTIL IT FADES AND THE
OTHER AIRCRAFT BLOSSOMS IN AMPLITUDE 4HEN THE RADAR
TRACKING POINT WILL MOVE TO
THE OTHER AIRCRAFT 4HE DWELL ON EACH TARGET WITH RANDOM SWITCHING BETWEEN THE TWO
AIRCRAFT CAUSES THE DOUBLE
HUMPED DISTRIBUTION OF ERROR
2ANGE -EASUREMENT %RRORS 4HE MAJOR SOURCES OF TARGET RANGE
ERROR
MEASUREMENT ERRORS ARE GIVEN IN 4ABLE 4YPICAL BIAS AND NOISE OF TARGET RANGE
MEASUREMENT ERRORS IN A PRECISION
RANGING RADAR ARE EQUAL TO A TOTAL RMS VALUE OF
M RMS &URTHER DETAILS OF RANGE
ERROR SOURCES AND THEIR MAGNITUDE ARE GIVE IN
3ECTION OF "ARTON
,IMITATIONS OF 0ERFORMANCE -ITCHELL ET AL DESCRIBE BASIC PERFORMANCE
LIMITATIONS OF THE !.&01
HIGH PRECISION TRACKING RADAR MEASURED UNDER IDEAL
42!#+).' 2!$!2
{x
&)'52% !ZIMUTH
TRACKING NOISE VERSUS RANGE USING A
IN METAL
SPHERE TARGET SUPPORTED INSIDE A BALLOON TO MINIMIZE TARGET MOTION ESTIMATED
AT IN RMS AN SERVO BANDWIDTH
CONDITIONS WITH A CAREFULLY DESIGNED BORESIGHTING FACILITY 4HIS TASK PROVIDED MEA
SURED DATA VERIFYING THE ANTICIPATED PERFORMANCE OF THE HIGHEST PRECISION TRACKING
RADAR AT THAT TIME
4!",% )NVENTORY OF 2ANGE
%RROR #OMPONENTS
#OMPONENT
"IAS
.OISE
2ADAR
DEPENDENT
TRACKING ERRORS
:ERO RANGE SETTING
2ANGE DISCRIMINATOR SHIFT
SERVO UNBALANCE
2ECEIVER DELAY
2ADAR
DEPENDENT
TRANSLATION ERRORS
2ANGE OSCILLATOR FREQUENCY
$ATA TAKEOFF ZERO SETTING
4ARGET
DEPENDENT
TRACKING ERRORS
$YNAMIC LAG
"EACON DELAY
0ROPAGATION ERROR
!VERAGE TROPOSPHERIC REFRACTION
!VERAGE IONOSPHERIC REFRACTION
2ECEIVER THERMAL NOISE
-ULTIPATH
3ERVO ELECTRICAL NOISE
3ERVO MECHANICAL NOISE
6ARIATION IN RECEIVER DELAY
2ANGE RESOLVER ERROR
)NTERNAL JITTER
$ATA GEAR NONLINEARITY AND BACKLASH
$ATA TAKEOFF NONLINEARITY AND GRANULARITY
2ANGE OSCILLATOR INSTABILITY
$YNAMIC LAG
'LINT
3CINTILLATION
"EACON JITTER
)RREGULARITIES IN TROPOSPHERIC REFRACTION
)RREGULARITIES IN IONOSPHERIC REFRACTION
&ROM $ + "ARTON IN h-ODERN 2ADAR v 2 3 "ERKOWITZ ED .EW 9ORK *OHN 7ILEY 3ONS CHAP P
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0ROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION OF RADAR POINTING WHEN TRACKING
TWO TARGETS WHERE THE LEFT TARGET IS APPROXIMATELY D" LARGER THAN THE
RIGHT TARGET 4HREE DIFFERENT ANGULAR SEPARATIONS OF THE TARGETS ARE A
ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH B ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH AND C ANTENNA
BEAMWIDTH
,,",,
1
/" /
+1
-ULTIPATH
%RROR 2EDUCTION 6ERY
LOW
ALTITUDE TARGETS CAUSE SEVERE ELEVATION
ANGLE TRACKING ERRORS AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION WHICH MAY RESULT IN USELESS ELEVATION
TRACKING DATA AND POSSIBLE LOSS OF TRACKING OF THE TARGET ! VARIETY OF TECHNIQUES
HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO REDUCE THESE ERRORS OR THEIR EFFECTS ON RADAR TRACKINGn
/NE SIMPLE APPROACH TO AVOID LOSS OF TRACKING IN ELEVATION IS TO OPEN THE ELEVATION
TRACKING SERVO LOOP AND PLACE THE ANTENNA BEAM AT ABOUT A HALF BEAMWIDTH ABOVE
THE HORIZON !ZIMUTH CLOSED
LOOP TRACKING MAY CONTINUE !LTHOUGH THE ELEVATION
ANGLE
ERROR
DETECTOR OUTPUT HAS LARGE INDICATED ANGLE ERRORS IT IS MONITORED TO OBSERVE
WHETHER OR NOT THE TARGET IS MANEUVERING UPWARD THROUGH THE BEAM ! TARGET RISING
THROUGH THE BEAM WILL CAUSE A POSITIVE ANGLE
TRACKING ERROR INDICATION AND THE CLOSED
LOOP ELEVATION TRACKING RESUMES
! VERY EFFECTIVE AND DIRECT APPROACH TO MULTIPATH
ERROR REDUCTION IS TO USE A VERY
NARROW BEAM USUALLY ACCOMPLISHED BY OPERATING AT SHORT WAVELENGTHS SUCH AS AN
MM
'(Z OR +A BAND REGION WITH THE USUAL MICROWAVE
TRACKING APERTURE SIZE
42!#+).' 2!$!2
4HIS APPROACH CAN REDUCE ERRORS BY TWO EFFECTS &IRST AS OBSERVED IN &IGURE THE
MAGNITUDE OF THE ELEVATION MULTIPATH ERROR REDUCES IN DIRECT PROPORTION TO THE BEAM
WIDTH 4HE SECOND ADVANTAGE OF SHORTER WAVELENGTHS IS THAT EVEN A RELATIVELY SMOOTH
SEA SUCH AS SEA STATE HAS WAVE HEIGHTS OF MANY WAVELENGTHS AND APPEARS ROUGH
RESULTING IN A SMALLER REFLECTION COEFFICIENT 4HIS IS OBSERVED IN &IGURE TO GIVE
SMALL MULTIPATH ERRORS 4HE MM WAVELENGTH MONOPULSE CAPABILITY MAY BE EFFEC
TIVELY COMBINED WITH A LOWER MICROWAVE BAND AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION TO TAKE
ADVANTAGE OF THE COMPLEMENTARY FEATURES OF BOTH BANDS
4ARGET !NGLE AND 2ANGE 3CINTILLATION 'LINT 2EDUCTION 4ARGET CAUSED ERRORS
IN ANGLE AND RANGE TRACKING MAY BE REDUCED BY FILTERING SUCH AS REDUCING TRACKING
SERVO BANDWIDTH (OWEVER SUFFICIENT SERVO BANDWIDTH MUST BE RETAINED TO FOLLOW
TARGET TRAJECTORIES 5NFORTUNATELY TARGET ANGLE AND RANGE SCINTILLATION POWER DENSITY IS
NORMALLY CONCENTRATED BELOW ABOUT TO (Z WHEN OPERATING AT MICROWAVE BANDS AND
FALLS WITHIN NORMALLY REQUIRED BANDWIDTHS
4ARGET SCINTILLATION TOTAL NOISE POWER IS RELATIVELY INDEPENDENT OF FREQUENCY BUT
THE SPECTRAL ENERGY TENDS TO SPREAD UPWARD IN FREQUENCY AS WAVELENGTH IS REDUCED
RESULTING IN LOWER NOISE POWER DENSITY IN THE SERVO PASSBAND 4HEREFORE OPERATING AT A
SHORTER WAVELENGTH WILL RESULT IN LOWER TARGET NOISE EFFECTS ON CLOSED LOOP TRACKING
$IVERSITY TECHNIQUES WHICH CAN PROVIDE STATISTICALLY INDEPENDENT SAMPLES OF TARGET
SCINTILLATION OFFER A MEANS FOR REDUCING TARGET SCINTILLATION EFFECTS 4HE MOST PRACTICAL
TECHNIQUE IS FREQUENCY DIVERSITY USING PULSE TO PULSE RADAR FREQUENCY CHANGE WHICH
WILL ALTER THE PHASE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE ECHOES FROM DOMINANT REFLECTING SURFACES
OF THE TARGETn 4HE FREQUENCY CHANGE MUST BE SUFFICIENT TO CAUSE ENOUGH CHANGE IN
RELATIVE PHASES OF THE REFLECTORS TO RESULT IN STATISTICALLY INDEPENDENT SAMPLES OF TARGET
SCINTILLATION AT EACH NEW FREQUENCY !N APPROXIMATE RULE IS A MINIMUM FREQUENCY
CHANGE OF S WHERE S IS THE RADAR RANGE DELAY TIME BETWEEN THE LEADING AND LAGGING
EXTREMITIES OF THE TARGET 4HE REDUCTION IN RMS ANGLE AND RANGE TARGET SCINTILLATION
MAY BE APPROXIMATED BY DIVIDING BY THE SQUARE ROOT OF N WHERE N IS THE NUMBER OF
FREQUENCY STEPS PROVIDED
2EDUCTION OF )NTERNALLY #AUSED %RRORS !NGLE ERRORS CAUSED BY RECEIVER THER
MAL NOISE AS WELL AS TARGET SCINTILLATION ARE MINIMIZED BY MAINTAINING THE TARGET
AS CLOSELY AS POSSIBLE TO THE TRACKING AXES 4HE TECHNIQUE CALLED ON AXIS TRACKING
DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION IS A MEANS OF PLACING A COMPUTER IN THE TRACKING LOOP TO
MINIMIZE LAG AND PROVIDE OPTIMUM ANGLE ERROR FILTERING
!CCURATE SYSTEM CALIBRATION ALSO GREATLY REDUCES INTERNAL SOURCES OF ERROR &REQUENT
CALIBRATION CORRECTS FOR DRIFT IN COMPONENT GAIN AND PHASE AND PEDESTAL FLEXURE /THER
INTERNAL SOURCES OF ERROR WITH KNOWN CHARACTERISTICS CAN BE AUTOMATICALLY CORRECTED TO
MINIMIZE THEIR CONTAMINATION OF THE OUTPUT DATA
,
,
3 - 3HERMAN -ONOPULSE 0RINCIPLES AND 4ECHNIQUES .ORWOOD -! !RTECH (OUSE
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(OUSE
#HAPTER
/i,>`>/>i
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/," 1
/"
2OLE OF THE 4RANSMITTER IN 2ADAR )F A RADAR SYSTEMS DESIGNER COULD ASK FOR
ANYTHING HE OR SHE WANTED IN A RADAR TRANSMITTER THAT WISH MIGHT BE SOMETHING LIKE
THE FOLLOWING
0ROVIDE THE NECESSARY TRANSMITTED ENERGY WITH THE NEEDED AVERAGE AND PEAK
POWER AS WELL AS THE REQUIRED STABILITY AND LOW NOISE FOR GOOD DOPPLER PROCESS
ING OPERATE WITH HIGH EFFICIENCY HAVE WIDE BANDWIDTH AND BE EASILY TUNABLE
BE READILY MODULATED IN AMPLITUDE FREQUENCY OR PHASE AS NECESSARY HAVE HIGH
RELIABILITY AND LONG LIFE REQUIRE MINIMUM MAINTENANCE HAVE NO DANGEROUS 8
RAY
EMISSIONS REQUIRE NO PERSONNEL TO OPERATE BE OF AN AFFORDABLE PRICE AND BE OF
REASONABLE SIZE AND WEIGHT FOR THE DESIRED APPLICATION
/F COURSE NOT ALL OF THESE DESIRABLE ATTRIBUTES CAN BE ACHIEVED IN ANY GIVEN RADAR TRANS
MITTER APPLICATION #OMPROMISES NEED TO BE MADE DEPENDING ON THE APPLICATION
4HE RADAR EQUATION FOR A SURVEILLANCE RADAR ONE THAT HAS TO COVER A FIXED VOLUME
OF SPACE ON A REGULAR BASIS INDICATES THAT THE MAXIMUM RANGE OF SUCH A RADAR IS PRO
PORTIONAL TO 0AV ! WHERE 0AV IS THE AVERAGE POWER OF THE TRANSMITTER AND ! IS THE
AREA OF THE ANTENNA APERTURE ! FUNDAMENTAL MEASURE OF THE RADAR RANGE PERFORMANCE
IS THEREFORE THE POWER
APERTURE PRODUCT /NE CAN OBTAIN A LONG RANGE BY HAVING A
LARGE ANTENNA A LARGE TRANSMITTER OR A COMBINATION OF BOTH )T IS NOT USUAL UNDER MOST
CIRCUMSTANCES FOR A RADAR TO HAVE A HUGE COSTLY ANTENNA AND A SMALL INEXPENSIVE
TRANSMITTER OR VICE VERSA 4HERE HAS TO BE A REASONABLE BALANCE BETWEEN THESE TWO
MAJOR SUBSYSTEMS OF A RADAR )N A SURVEILLANCE RADAR STRAIGHTFORWARD CALCULUS WILL
SHOW THAT UNDER SIMPLE ASSUMPTIONS THE MINIMUM TOTAL COST OF A RADAR OCCURS WHEN
THE COST OF THE TRANSMITTER EQUALS THE COST OF THE ANTENNA BUT THIS IS TRUE ONLY WHEN
THERE ARE NO CRITERIA OTHER THAN MINIMUM COST THAT HAVE TO BE SATISFIEDAND THERE
ARE USUALLY OTHER CRITERIA THAT NEED TO BE CONSIDERED
!S IS WELL KNOWN IN RADAR THE DOPPLER EFFECT IS EXTENSIVELY USED TO DETECT MOVING
TARGETS IN THE PRESENCE OF LARGE CLUTTER ECHOES )T IS THE BASIS FOR SEVERAL OF THE CHAPTERS
IN THIS (ANDBOOK 3OME TRANSMITTER TYPES HOWEVER ARE FAR BETTER THAN OTHERS WHEN THE
RADAR HAS TO EMPLOY THE DOPPLER
SHIFTED SIGNAL TO DETECT MOVING TARGETS IN THE MIDST OF
HEAVY CLUTTER ECHOES
%XAMINATION OF THE BASIC RADAR EQUATION FOR DETECTION OF TARGETS AT LONG RANGE INDI
CATES THAT THE AVERAGE POWER IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE PEAK POWER AS A MEASURE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
OF THE RADARS CAPABILITY ! VACUUM TUBE
WITH A GIVEN AVERAGE POWER CAN USUALLY BE
DESIGNED TO HANDLE THE HIGH VOLTAGES ASSOCIATED WITH A LARGE PEAK POWER WITHOUT BREAK
DOWN ! SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER CANNOT )N THE PAST AVERAGE POWERS OF RADAR TRANSMIT
TERS HAVE BEEN FROM A SMALL FRACTION OF A WATT TO THE ORDER OF A MEGAWATT
4YPES OF 2ADAR 4RANSMITTERS 4HE VERY FIRST hRADARS v SUCH AS THOSE USED BY
(EINRICH (ERTZ THE FIRST RADAR SCIENTIST IN THE LATE S AND THE SHIPBOARD RADAR
INVENTED BY #HRISTIAN (ULSMEYER THE FIRST RADAR ENGINEER IN THE EARLY S USED THE
SPARK GAP AS THE TRANSMITTER )T WAS A VERY POOR TRANSMITTER BUT THAT IS NOT UNUSUAL IN THE
EARLY DAYS OF A NEW AND DIFFERENT DEVELOPMENT 4HE $E&OREST GRID
CONTROLLED VACUUM
TUBE TRIODE WAS INVENTED SHORTLY THEREAFTER AND BY THE EARLY S IT HAD BEEN WELL
DEVELOPED TO WHERE IT WAS SUCCESSFULLY AND EXTENSIVELY USED IN THOSE COUNTRIES THAT
BUILT THE FIRST 6(& AND 5(& RADARS USED FOR AIR DEFENSE EARLY IN 7ORLD 7AR )) 3OME
5(& RADARS EFFECTIVELY USED THE GRID
CONTROLLED VACUUM TUBE WELL INTO THE EARLY PART OF
THE CURRENT CENTURY )T HAS BEEN A VERY COMPETITIVE POWER SOURCE FOR 5(& RADAR APPLI
CATIONS 4HE DRAWBACK OF THE GRID
CONTROLLED VACUUM TUBE IS THAT TRANSIT
TIME EFFECTS
LIMIT ITS APPLICATION AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES BUT VARIANTS OF GRID
CONTROLLED VACUUM
TUBES HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFULLY USED UP TO ABOUT -(Z
4HE BARRIER OF TRANSIT TIME EFFECTS WAS OVERCOME WITH THE INVENTION OF THE MICRO
WAVE CAVITY MAGNETRON EARLY IN 7ORLD 7AR )) IN BY THE 5NITED +INGDOM 5+
4HE INTRODUCTION OF THE MAGNETRON ALLOWED HIGH
POWER RADAR TO BE SUCCESSFULLY
DEVELOPED FOR USE AT THE HIGHER FREQUENCIES WHERE SMALLER SIZE ANTENNAS COULD BE
USED )T IS OF INTEREST TO NOTE THAT THE *APANESE INVENTED THE MAGNETRON BEFORE THE
5+ DID AND 3OVIET 5NION ENGINEERS PUBLISHED A PAPER DESCRIBING THEIR MAGNETRON
IN THE -ARCH ISSUE OF 0ROCEEDINGS OF THE )NSTITUTE OF 2ADIO %NGINEERS NOW THE
0ROCEEDINGS OF THE )%%% BUT THE WARTIME CHAOS IN THE MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS OF BOTH
THE 3OVIET 5NION AND *APAN WAS SUCH THAT THESE INVENTIONS WERE NOT FULLY EXPLOITED
BY THESE TWO COUNTRIES DURING 77)) 4HE INVENTION OF THE MAGNETRON WAS IMPORTANT
BECAUSE IT ALLOWED RADAR TO BE DEVELOPED FOR USE AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES RATHER THAN
BE LIMITED TO 6(& AND 5(& FREQUENCIES )T CAUGHT THE 'ERMAN ELECTRONIC COUNTER
MEASURES EFFORT OFF GUARD BECAUSE THEY HAD NO IDEA THAT THE 5NITED +INGDOM AND THE
5NITED 3TATES COULD PRODUCE MICROWAVE RADAR 4HE SUCCESS OF THE MAGNETRON WAS A
LARGE FACTOR IN THE EFFECTIVE APPLICATION OF MILITARY RADAR BY THE 5NITED 3TATES AND THE
5NITED +INGDOM DURING 7ORLD 7AR ))
4HE MAGNETRON IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT IS CALLED A CROSSED
FIELD TUBE IN THAT IT EMPLOYS
A MAGNETIC FIELD AND AN ELECTRIC FIELD THAT ARE ORTHOGONAL TO ONE ANOTHER 4HE MAGNETRON
IS AN OSCILLATOR BUT THE GRID
CONTROLLED VACUUM TUBE COULD BE OPERATED AS EITHER AN OSCIL
LATOR OR AN AMPLIFIER 4HE OTHER ELECTRONIC TUBES MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER ARE USUALLY
OPERATED AS AMPLIFIERS !MPLIFIERS AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES HAVE GENERALLY PRODUCED
HIGHER POWERS THAN OSCILLATORS BUT PROBABLY MORE IMPORTANT THEY ALLOW THE USE OF
STABLE MODULATED WAVEFORMS NEEDED FOR WAVEFORMS IN RADARS THAT DEPEND ON THE USE OF
PULSE COMPRESSION AND FOR THE DOPPLER EFFECT TO DETECT MOVING TARGETS IN CLUTTER
4HE MICROWAVE KLYSTRON AMPLIFIER WAS INVENTED BEFORE THE MAGNETRON AND WAS
DESCRIBED IN A PAPER IN THE -AY ISSUE OF THE *OURNAL OF !PPLIED 0HYSICS
&OR THE MOST PART THE KLYSTRON AMPLIFIER WAS IGNORED DURING 77)) AND DIDNT ATTRACT
)N THE 5NITED 3TATES THE DEVICE THAT GENERATES THE 2& POWER IS CALLED A TUBE BUT IN THE 5NITED +INGDOM IT IS CALLED
A VALVE ! BOOK ON MICROWAVE POWER SOURCES SUGGESTS THAT THESE DEVICES BE CALLED MICROWAVE VACUUM ELECTRONIC
DEVICES -6%$ )N THIS CHAPTER HOWEVER THE NAME TUBE WILL BE RETAINED
4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
THE ATTENTION OF RADAR ENGINEERS UNTIL THE ANNOUNCEMENT IN A PAPER IN THE .OVEMBER
0ROCEEDINGS OF THE )%%% BY 3TANFORD 5NIVERSITY ENGINEERS OF THE DEVELOPMENT
OF AN 3
BAND MULTICAVITY KLYSTRON CAPABLE OF -7 PEAK POWER AND K7 AVERAGE
POWER FOR USE IN A LINEAR ACCELERATOR 4HIS WAS A GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT IN ITS TIME 4HE
HIGH POWER HIGH EFFICIENCY GOOD STABILITY AND WIDE BANDWIDTH AT HIGH POWER OF THE
MICROWAVE KLYSTRON AMPLIFIER HAVE CAUSED SOME RADAR DESIGN ENGINEERS TO SAY THAT THE
KLYSTRON SHOULD BE THE FIRST MICROWAVE POWER SOURCE TO CONSIDER WHEN DESIGNING A NEW
HIGH
PERFORMANCE RADAR 4HERE WAS AT ONE TIME A SINGLE
CAVITY KLYSTRON OSCILLATOR
CALLED THE REFLEX KLYSTRON THAT WAS OF LOW POWER AND MAINLY USED AS A RECEIVER LOCAL
OSCILLATOR BUT IT HAS GENERALLY BEEN REPLACED BY SOLID
STATE DEVICES AND IS NOT DISCUSSED
FURTHER IN THIS CHAPTER
4HE KLYSTRON IS AN EXAMPLE OF A LINEAR
BEAM TUBE BECAUSE THE DIRECTION OF THE DC
ELECTRIC FIELD THAT ACCELERATES THE ELECTRON BEAM COINCIDES WITH THE AXIS OF THE MAGNETIC
FIELD THAT FOCUSES AND CONFINES THE BEAM )T GENERATES A HIGHLY CONCENTRATED HIGH
ENERGY
LINEAR BEAM OF ELECTRONS THAT INTERACTS WITH THE MICROWAVE STRUCTURE TWO OR MORE MICRO
WAVE CAVITIES TO ACHIEVE AMPLIFICATION !NOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE LINEAR
BEAM TUBE IS THE
TRAVELING WAVE TUBE 474 AMPLIFIER )T GENERALLY CAN DO ALMOST WHAT A KLYSTRON CAN
DO BUT IT IS CAPABLE OF VERY WIDE BANDWIDTH AT LOW POWERS WHICH THE KLYSTRON IS NOT
4HE 474 USUALLY HAS SLIGHTLY LESS GAIN THAN A KLYSTRON AND LESS STABILITY )T SHOULD BE
NOTED HOWEVER THAT AS THE POWER OF A 474 INCREASES ITS BANDWIDTH DECREASES AND AS
THE POWER OF A KLYSTRON AMPLIFIER INCREASES ITS BANDWIDTH INCREASES 4HUS AT THE HIGH
POWERS NEEDED FOR MANY RADAR APPLICATIONS THE BANDWIDTHS OF THESE TWO TYPES OF LINEAR
BEAM TUBES ARE APPROXIMATELY COMPARABLE
4HERE ALSO HAVE BEEN HYBRIDS OF THE KLYSTRON AND THE 474 THAT HAVE BEEN OF INTEREST
FOR RADAR APPLICATIONS AND WHICH HAVE INTERESTING CHARACTERISTICS
4HE CROSSED
FIELD AMPLIFIER LIKE THE MAGNETRON IS A CROSSED
FIELD TUBE THAT EMPLOYS
A MAGNETIC FIELD ORTHOGONAL TO THE ELECTRIC FIELD )T IS CAPABLE OF WIDE BANDWIDTH AND
GENERALLY IS OF SMALLER SIZE AND DOES NOT REQUIRE THE VERY HIGH VOLTAGES OF THE LINEAR
BEAM TUBE !LTHOUGH IT HAS SOME ADVANTAGES NOT FOUND IN OTHER TUBES IT HAS LOWER
GAIN THAN LINEAR
BEAM AMPLIFIERS SO MULTIPLE STAGES OF AMPLIFICATION ARE REQUIRED
AND ITS NOISE LEVEL IS HIGHER THAN THE LINEAR
BEAM TUBE WHICH MAKES IT LESS CAPABLE
FOR DETECTING MOVING TARGETS IN CLUTTER
4HE GYROTRON WHICH CAN BE EITHER AN OSCILLATOR OR AN AMPLIFIER IS AN 2&
POWER
SOURCE THAT CAN PRODUCE VERY HIGH POWER AT MILLIMETER WAVELENGTHS #ONVENTIONAL
MICROWAVE POWER SOURCES UTILIZE RESONANT STRUCTURES IN WHICH THE PHASE VELOCITY OF THE
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD PROPAGATING ALONG THE 2& STRUCTURE IS SLOWED SO AS TO BE CLOSE TO
THE ELECTRON BEAM VELOCITY 4HUS THEY ARE KNOWN AS SLOW
WAVE TUBES 4HE CHARACTERISTIC
SIZE OF THE INCREMENTS OF THE 2& STRUCTURE OF SLOW
WAVE TUBES IS TYPICALLY A FRACTION
OF A WAVELENGTH 4HEY BECOME SMALLER AS THE FREQUENCY IS INCREASED WAVELENGTH IS
DECREASED 3MALLER SIZE MEANS THAT A TUBE CANNOT DISSIPATE HEAT AS WELL AS A LARGER
TUBE SO THAT THE POWER CAPABILITY OF MICROWAVE POWER TUBES DECREASES APPROXIMATELY
INVERSELY AS THE SQUARE OF THE FREQUENCY 4HE GYROTRON ON THE OTHER HAND DOES NOT HAVE
THIS TYPE OF FREQUENCY DEPENDENCE SINCE IT USES WHAT IS CALLED A FAST
WAVE STRUCTURE
4HIS IS USUALLY A SMOOTH WAVEGUIDE OR A LARGE RESONATOR .O ATTEMPT IS MADE TO REDUCE
THE PROPAGATION VELOCITY OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE WITHIN THIS STRUCTURE 4HE ELECTRON
BEAM IS NOT CLOSE TO THE 2& STRUCTURE SO IT IS NOT AS LIMITED IN SIZE AS ARE THE STRUCTURES OF
)N ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 2& STANDS FOR RADIO FREQUENCY BUT IN RADAR IT IS OFTEN USED TO MEAN THE RADAR FREQUENCY
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SLOW WAVE TUBES 4HE LARGER SIZE OF THE FAST WAVE TUBE MEANS THAT IT CAN HANDLE LARGER
POWER AT THE HIGHER FREQUENCIES 4HE GYROTRON HAS MAINLY BEEN OF SIGNIFICANCE FOR HIGH
POWER APPLICATIONS AT MILLIMETER WAVE FREQUENCIES
4HE SOLID STATE TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIER HAS BEEN OF INTEREST FOR RADAR APPLICATIONS 3UCH
INTEREST IN SOLID STATE HAS ALSO BEEN DUE IN PART TO ITS COMPLETELY REPLACING VACUUM
TUBES IN RECEIVER AND COMPUTER APPLICATIONS 4HE SOLID STATE TRANSMITTER IS DISCUSSED IN
#HAPTER AND A BRIEF COMPARISON OF IT WITH THE VACUUM TUBE TRANSMITTER IS GIVEN AT
THE END OF THIS CHAPTER 4HE CHIEF ADVANTAGES OF A SOLID STATE RADAR TRANSMITTER ARE THAT
IT CAN OPERATE WITH WIDE BANDWIDTHS IT HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR LONG LIFE AND IT IS FAVORED
BY SOME BUYERS OF RADAR )T CANNOT HOWEVER EMPLOY HIGH PEAK POWER WAVEFORMS 4HE
LIMITATION ON PEAK POWER IN A SOLID STATE TRANSMITTER RESULTS IN COMPROMISES THAT HAVE
TO BE MADE IN THE DESIGN OF THE OVERALL RADAR SYSTEM
/SCILLATOR 6ERSUS !MPLIFIER 4HE POWER AMPLIFIER IS OFTEN PREFERRED OVER THE
POWER OSCILLATOR AS THE TRANSMITTER POWER SOURCE IN HIGH POWER HIGH PERFORMANCE
RADAR SYSTEMS )N AN AMPLIFIER THE SIGNAL TO BE TRANSMITTED IS PRECISELY GENERATED AT
A LOW POWER LEVEL AND IS THEN AMPLIFIED TO ACHIEVE THE REQUIRED POWER TO BE RADI
ATED FROM THE ANTENNA !MPLIFIERS HAVE THE ADVANTAGE OF BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE STABLE
WAVEFORMS CODED OR FREQUENCY MODULATED PULSE COMPRESSION WAVEFORMS FREQUENCY
AGILITY AS WELL AS COMBINING AND ARRAYING
4HE MAGNETRON IS AN OSCILLATOR THAT HAS LESS FLEXIBILITY AND IS USUALLY NOISIER THAN
A LINEAR BEAM AMPLIFIER %ACH TIME A PULSE IS TRANSMITTED ITS PHASE IS DIFFERENT FROM
THE PHASE OF PREVIOUS PULSES 4HAT IS ITS PHASE IS RANDOM FROM PULSE TO PULSE 4O
DETECT THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY SHIFT FOR -4) PROCESSING THE PHASE CANNOT CHANGE IN A
RANDOM MANNER AT THE RECEIVER FROM PULSE TO PULSE 4HIS LIMITATION IS OVERCOME BY
TAKING A SAMPLE OF THE RANDOM PHASE OF EACH TRANSMITTED PULSE AND USING IT TO RESET
THE PHASE OF THE LOCAL OSCILLATOR IN THE RECEIVER TO MATCH THE PHASE OF THE TRANSMITTED
SIGNAL 4HIS IS SOMETIMES CALLED COHERENT ON RECEIVE 'ENERALLY THE -4) IMPROVE
MENT FACTOR THAT CAN BE OBTAINED WITH A MAGNETRON IS NOT AS GOOD AS CAN BE OBTAINED
WITH A LINEAR BEAM AMPLIFIER
)N THE PAST THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN DEBATE AS TO WHETHER TO USE AN OSCILLATOR OR AN
AMPLIFIER FOR A HIGH PERFORMANCE RADAR TRANSMITTER 4HERE IS USUALLY NO QUESTION THAT
THE AMPLIFIER IS USUALLY THE PREFERRED CHOICE EXCEPT IN SITUATIONS WHERE THE LOW COST OF
A MAGNETRON TRANSMITTER IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE LOWER -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR IT
PROVIDES COMPARED TO A LINEAR BEAM TRANSMITTER 4HE MAGNETRON OSCILLATOR HOWEVER
HAS BEEN USED IN SOME SHORT OR MEDIUM RANGE RADARS AND IN THE WIDELY POPULAR CIVIL
MARINE RADAR #HAPTER WHICH REQUIRES ONLY A SMALL POWER TRANSMITTER AND HAS NO
NEED FOR -4) CAPABILITY
,
*
,-
4HE KLYSTRON 474 AND HYBRIDS OF THE TWO HAVE BEEN IMPORTANT SOURCES OF 2& POWER FOR
MANY SUCCESSFUL RADAR SYSTEMS 4HE ELECTRONS EMITTED FROM THE CATHODE ARE FORMED INTO
A LONG CYLINDRICAL BEAM THAT RECEIVES THE FULL POTENTIAL ENERGY OF THE ELECTRIC FIELD BEFORE
THE BEAM ENTERS THE MICROWAVE INTERACTION REGION 4HE ELECTRON BEAM GENERATED BY AN
hELECTRON GUN v ESSENTIALLY FLOWS IN A STRAIGHT LINE IN LINEAR
BEAM TUBES TO INTERACT WITH
A MICROWAVE CIRCUIT TO PRODUCE AMPLIFICATION OF AN INPUT SIGNAL 4HE MAJOR DIFFERENCE
AMONG THE SEVERAL TYPES OF LINEAR
BEAM TUBES IS THE TYPE OF MICROWAVE CIRCUIT EMPLOYED
4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
AND THE NATURE OF THE INTERACTION THAT PRODUCES AMPLIFICATION 4RANSIT TIME EFFECTS WHICH
LIMIT THE HIGH FREQUENCY PERFORMANCE OF GRID CONTROLLED TUBES ARE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF IN
LINEAR BEAM TUBES TO VELOCITY MODULATE THE UNIFORM ELECTRON BEAM TO CREATE BUNCHES OF
ELECTRONS FROM WHICH 2& ENERGY CAN BE EXTRACTED AT THE OUTPUT OF THE TUBE ,INEAR BEAM
TUBES AS AMPLIFIERS CAN PRODUCE HIGH POWER WITH GOOD EFFICIENCY AND HIGH GAIN AND WITH
WIDE BANDWIDTH 4HEY HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF PRODUCING AVERAGE POWERS OF A MEGAWATT
AS WELL AS AVERAGE POWERS OF MANY KILOWATTS IN A SIZE SUITABLE FOR USE IN A MILITARY
FIGHTERATTACK AIRCRAFT
+LYSTRON 4HE KLYSTRON AMPLIFIER HAS BEEN AN IMPORTANT 2& POWER SOURCE FOR
MANY RADAR APPLICATIONS !S MENTIONED IT IS CAPABLE OF HIGH AVERAGE AND HIGH PEAK
POWER HIGH GAIN GOOD EFFICIENCY STABLE OPERATION LOW INTERPULSE NOISE LARGE BAND
WIDTH AT HIGH POWER AND BEING AN AMPLIFIER IT CAN WORK WELL WITH THE FREQUENCY
AND PHASE MODULATED WAVEFORMS NEEDED FOR PULSE COMPRESSION +LYSTRONS HAVE OPER
ATED AT FREQUENCIES FROM 5(& TO MILLIMETER WAVELENGTHS AND HAVE FOUND USE IN SUCH
DIVERSE APPLICATIONS AS AIRPORT SURVEILLANCE RADARS WHERE THE AVERAGE POWERS MIGHT BE
MORE THAN ONE KILOWATT IN AIRBORNE MILITARY AIRCRAFT WHERE THE AVERAGE POWER MIGHT BE
OF THE ORDER OF K7 OR MORE AND IN LONG RANGE DETECTION OF INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC
MISSILES WHERE THE AVERAGE POWER PER TUBE CAN BE GREATER THAN K7
&IGURE DEPICTS THE PRINCIPAL PARTS OF A THREE CAVITY KLYSTRON !T THE LEFT IS THE
HEATER THAT HEATS THE CATHODE AND THE CATHODE THAT EMITS A STREAM OF ELECTRONS THAT ARE
COLLIMATED INTO A NARROW CYLINDRICAL BEAM OF HIGH ELECTRON DENSITY 4HE ELECTRON GUN
THAT GENERATES THE BEAM CONSISTS OF THE CATHODE THE MODULATING ANODE ALSO CALLED
THE BEAM CONTROL GRID AND THE ANODE 4HE MODULATING ANODE PROVIDES THE MEANS TO
PULSE THE ELECTRON BEAM ON AND OFF 4HE 2& CAVITIES ARE THE MICROWAVE EQUIVALENT OF
A RESONANT CIRCUIT %LECTRONS ARE NOT INTENTIONALLY COLLECTED AT THE ANODE AS THEY ARE
IN GRID CONTROLLED TUBES AND CROSSED FIELD TUBES BUT IN THE COLLECTOR SHOWN AT THE
RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE ILLUSTRATION AFTER THE ELECTRON BEAM HAS GIVEN UP ITS 2& ENERGY
AT THE OUTPUT CAVITY ! LOW POWER SIGNAL IS APPLIED TO THE INPUT OF THE FIRST CAVITY AND
APPEARS AT THE INTERACTION GAP 4HOSE ELECTRONS IN THE BEAM THAT ARRIVE AT THE FIRST
INTERACTION GAP WHEN THE INPUT SIGNAL VOLTAGE IS AT A MAXIMUM THE POSITIVE PEAK
OF THE SINE WAVE ARE SPEEDED UP COMPARED TO THOSE ELECTRONS THAT ARRIVE AT THE GAP
WHEN THE INPUT SIGNAL VOLTAGE IS A MINIMUM THE NEGATIVE TROUGH OF THE SINE WAVE
&)'52% 2EPRESENTATION OF THE PRINCIPAL PARTS OF A THREE CAVITY KLYSTRON AMPLIFIER
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)N THE FIRST DRIFT SPACE THOSE ELECTRONS SPEEDED UP DURING THE PEAK OF ONE CYCLE CATCH
UP TO THOSE THAT WERE SLOWED DOWN DURING THE MINIMUM OF THE PREVIOUS 2& CYCLE
4HE RESULT IS THAT THE ELECTRONS BECOME hBUNCHEDv PERIODICALLY 4HIS BUNCHING CAN
BE THOUGHT OF AS PRODUCING A MODULATION OF THE DENSITY OF ELECTRONS 4HE BUNCHES
PASS THROUGH THE INTERACTION SPACE OF THE SECOND CAVITY WHICH REINFORCES THE DENSITY
MODULATION TO ENHANCE THE BUNCHING 4HIS PROCESS OF IMPRESSING A TIME VARIATION
IN VELOCITY THAT RESULTS IN BUNCHING OF THE ELECTRONS OF AN INITIALLY UNIFORM ELECTRON
BEAM IS CALLED VELOCITY MODULATION 4HREE OR MORE 2& CAVITIES MIGHT BE USED 4HE
INTERACTION GAP OF THE OUTPUT CAVITY IS PLACED AT THE POINT OF MAXIMUM BUNCHING SO
THAT THE 2& POWER CAN BE EXTRACTED FROM THE DENSITY MODULATED ELECTRON BEAM BY A
COUPLING LOOP IN A LOWER POWER TUBE OR BY A WAVEGUIDE NOT SHOWN IN A HIGH POWER
TUBE )N ESSENCE THE DC ENERGY OF THE ELECTRON BEAM AT THE FIRST CAVITY IS CONVERTED
TO 2& ENERGY AT THE OUTPUT CAVITY BY THE VELOCITY MODULATION PROCESS 4HE LARGER THE
NUMBER OF CAVITIES THE GREATER CAN BE THE GAIN OF THE KLYSTRON 4HE GAIN OF A FOUR
CAV
ITY KLYSTRON CAN BE MORE THAN D" DEPENDING ON THE BANDWIDTH !FTER THE BUNCHED
ELECTRONS DELIVER THEIR 2& POWER TO THE OUTPUT THE SPENT ELECTRONS ARE REMOVED BY THE
COLLECTOR ELECTRODE
!N AXIAL MAGNETIC FIELD IS EMPLOYED TO COUNTERACT THE MUTUAL REPULSION OF THE
ELECTRONS THAT FORM THE ELECTRON BEAM 4HE MAGNETIC FIELD CONFINES THE ELECTRONS
TO A RELATIVELY LONG THIN BEAM AND PREVENTS THEM FROM DISPERSING )T CAN BE GENER
ATED BY A LONG SOLENOID THAT HAS IRON SHIELDING AROUND ITS OUTSIDE DIAMETER OR BY A
LIGHTER WEIGHT PERIODIC
PERMANENT
MAGNETIC 00- SYSTEM THAT CONSISTS OF A SERIES
OF MAGNETIC LENSES
! MULTICAVITY KLYSTRON CAN HAVE ITS BANDWIDTH INCREASED BY STAGGER TUNING THE
CAVITIES SIMILAR TO THE MANNER IN WHICH STAGGER TUNING IS DONE IN AN )& AMPLIFIER
OF A SUPERHETERODYNE RECEIVER TO OBTAIN BROADER BANDWIDTH )T IS MORE COMPLICATED
HOWEVER TO DO THIS IN THE KLYSTRON SINCE THE VELOCITY MODULATION THAT APPEARS AT EACH
INTERACTION GAP CONTRIBUTES A COMPONENT TO THE EXCITING CURRENT AT THE SUCCEEDING GAPS
SOMETHING THAT DOES NOT OCCUR IN AN )& AMPLIFIER 4HE EARLY 6!
FOUR
CAVITY 3
BAND
KLYSTRON HAD A -(Z BANDWIDTH AND A GAIN OF D" WHEN ITS FOUR CAVITIES WERE
SYNCHRONOUSLY TUNED BUT WHEN STAGGER
TUNED ITS BANDWIDTH WAS -(Z AND
A GAIN OF D"
4HEORY SHOWS THAT THE BANDWIDTH OF A KLYSTRON CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED BY
INCREASING ITS CURRENT AND THUS ITS POWER ! -7 PEAK POWER KLYSTRON FOR EXAMPLE
CAN HAVE AN BANDWIDTH AS COMPARED TO A K7 TUBE WHICH MIGHT HAVE A
BANDWIDTH AND A K7 TUBE HAVING ONLY A BANDWIDTH (IGH
POWER MULTICAV
ITY KLYSTRONS CAN BE DESIGNED WITH BANDWIDTHS AS LARGE AS TO 4HE KLYSTRON IS
SOMETIMES THOUGHT OF AS HAVING A NARROW BANDWIDTH AND THE TRAVELING WAVE TUBE IS
THOUGHT OF AS HAVING WIDE BANDWIDTH BUT AT THE HIGH POWER LEVELS NEEDED FOR LONG
RANGE RADARS THEIR BANDWIDTHS ARE COMPARABLE )T IS SOMETIMES UNFORTUNATE THAT THIS
FACT IS NOT ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD
4HE KLYSTRON AS AN EXAMPLE OF A LINEAR
BEAM TUBE IS CAPABLE OF HIGH POWER
BECAUSE THE GENERATION OF THE ELECTRON BEAM ITS INTERACTION WITH THE ELECTROMAGNETIC
FIELD AND THE COLLECTION OF THE SPENT ELECTRONS ARE PERFORMED IN SEPARATE PARTS OF THE
TUBE WHERE THE GENERATED HEAT CAN BE DISSIPATED EFFECTIVELY
4HE KLYSTRON AND OTHER LINEAR
BEAM TUBES CAN HAVE LONG LIFE 'ILMOUR REPORTS
THAT THE MEAN TIME BETWEEN FAILURES -4"& OF DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS OF KLYS
TRONS IN RADAR SYSTEMS VARIED FROM HOURS TO HOURS WITH AN AVERAGE OF
HOURS FOR ALL APPLICATIONS 4HERE ARE HOURS IN A YEAR 4HE 6!
4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
HIGH
POWER KLYSTRON TUBE USED IN THE ORIGINAL "ALLISTIC -ISSILE %ARLY 7ARNING 3YSTEM
HAD A DEMONSTRATED LIFE IN EXCESS OF HOURS 3YMONS REPORTS THAT ONE OF THE
"-%73 TUBES THAT HE DESIGNED WAS STILL OPERATING AFTER HOURS WHEN THE
RADAR IN 'REENLAND WAS REPLACED BY THE SOLID
STATE 0AVE 0AWS RADAR 4HE 6!
%
WAS ALSO A HIGH
POWER 5(& KLYSTRON THAT HAD A -7 PEAK POWER -(Z D"
BANDWIDTH D" GAIN AND AN AVERAGE POWER OF K7 AT A DUTY CYCLE OF AND
A S PULSE WIDTH
4HE 6!
% ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED BY 6ARIAN !SSOCIATES )NC IS A
CAVITY 3
BAND
PULSE KLYSTRON THAT OPERATES FROM TO '(Z PRODUCES A PEAK POWER OF FROM
TO -7 AN AVERAGE POWER UP TO K7 HAS A GAIN OF ABOUT D" AN EFFICIENCY
BETWEEN AND AND A D" BANDWIDTH OF -(Z )T HAS DEMONSTRATED A MEAN
TIME
BETWEEN
FAILURES OF HOURS )T WAS USED IN THE !32
AIRPORT SURVEILLANCE
RADAR AND IN THE 732
$ .EXRAD DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR WHERE ITS OPERATING BAND IS
FROM TO '(Z AS WELL AS IN OTHER RADARS
6ERY HIGH
POWER KLYSTRONS ARE EMPLOYED IN LINEAR ACCELERATORS SUCH AS FOUND AT THE
3TANFORD ,INEAR !CCELERATOR #ENTER +LYSTRONS FOR THIS APPLICATION FOR EXAMPLE MIGHT
HAVE -7 PEAK POWER WITH EFFICIENCY USING SOLENOID MAGNETS OR n -7
PEAK POWER WITH EFFICIENCY USING PERIODIC PERMANENT MAGNETS
)MPROVEMENTS TO THE KLYSTRON AS A RADAR POWER SOURCE ARE DISCUSSED LATER IN THE
SUBSECTION ON HYBRIDS OF WHICH THE CLUSTERED
CAVITY KLYSTRON IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF
WHAT CAN BE PROVIDED IN THE WAY OF HIGH POWER AND WIDE BANDWIDTH
-ULTIPLE
"EAM +LYSTRON -"+ 4HE KLYSTRON AMPLIFIER IS AN IMPORTANT TUBE
FOR HIGH
POWER HIGH
PERFORMANCE RADAR APPLICATIONS (OWEVER IT REQUIRES A LARGE
VOLTAGE WHEN HIGH POWER IS NEEDED (IGH VOLTAGE RESULTS IN GREATER SIZE AND THE NEED
FOR SHIELDING FROM THE 8
RAYS THAT ARE GENERATED )N A KLYSTRON THE POWER AVAILABLE FOR
CONVERSION OF THE DC POWER OF THE ELECTRON BEAM TO 2& POWER OF AN ELECTROMAGNETIC
WAVE IS GIVEN BY THE PRODUCT OF THE BEAM CURRENT AND THE BEAM VOLTAGE !LTHOUGH
KLYSTRONS HAVE BEEN OPERATED AT VERY HIGH VOLTAGES IT IS USUALLY PREFERRED TO OPERATE IT
AT A LOWER VOLTAGE IF POSSIBLE BECAUSE LOWER VOLTAGES GENERALLY MAKE THE POWER SUP
PLIES SIMPLER LIGHTER AND MORE RELIABLE ! REDUCTION OF BEAM VOLTAGE IN A CONVENTIONAL
KLYSTRON MEANS AN INCREASE OF THE BEAM CURRENT IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE SAME POWER
!N INCREASE IN BEAM CURRENT HOWEVER RESULTS IN AN INCREASE IN THE CURRENT DENSITY
WHERE SPACE CHARGE EFFECTS MAY NOT BE NEGLIGIBLE AND THE REPULSIVE FORCES THAT OCCUR
AMONG THE ELECTRONS ARE INCREASED AND CAN CAUSE THE ELECTRON DENSITY BUNCHES TO LOSE
COHERENCE 4HE RESULT IS A DECREASE IN EFFICIENCY (IGHER CURRENT DENSITIES ALSO REQUIRE
STRONGER MAGNETS TO KEEP THE ELECTRON BEAM CONFINED LEADING TO LARGER VOLUME AND
WEIGHT 4HUS SIMPLY LOWERING THE BEAM VOLTAGE AND INCREASING THE CURRENT DENSITY
DOES NOT USUALLY PROVIDE A NET ADVANTAGE
4HE LIMITATIONS OF LOWER BEAM VOLTAGE HOWEVER CAN BE OVERCOME BY SEPARATING
THE SINGLE ELECTRON BEAM INTO A NUMBER OF SMALLER BEAMS CALLED BEAMLETS SO THAT EACH
OF THE BEAMLETS HAS A LOW ENOUGH CURRENT DENSITY TO AVOID THE UNDESIRABLE REPULSIVE
EFFECTS OF A HIGH CURRENT
DENSITY BEAM !CCORDING TO .USINOVICH ET AL EACH BEAMLET
IS TRANSPORTED DOWN ITS OWN INDIVIDUAL DRIFT CHANNEL A METALLIC
WALLED TUBE PARALLEL
TO BUT ISOLATED FROM THE OTHER BEAMLETS 4HEY ARE ALLOWED TO INTERACT ONLY OVER THE
SMALL AXIAL EXTENT OF THE CAVITY GAP !FTER PASSING BY THE CAVITY GAP THE BEAMLETS
REENTER THEIR INDIVIDUAL DRIFT CHANNELS AND PROPAGATE IN ISOLATION FROM ONE ANOTHER
3UCH KLYSTRONS ARE CALLED MULTIPLE
BEAM KLYSTRONS OR -"+ )T HAS BEEN SAID THAT THE
NUMBER OF BEAMLETS IN AN -"+ MIGHT BE FROM TO
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE CHIEF MOTIVATION FOR THE MULTIPLE
BEAM KLYSTRON IS THE EFFICIENT GENERATION OF
HIGH 2& POWER AT A LOWER VOLTAGE THAN IN A CONVENTIONAL KLYSTRON "ECAUSE OF ITS LOWER
VOLTAGE TWO OR THREE TIMES LOWER AN -"+ CAN BE MORE COMPACT HAVE A LOWER MAGNET
WEIGHT UP TO TEN TIMES LESS BE OF LOWER WEIGHT AND VOLUME GENERATE LESS 8
RAYS HAVE
HIGH ELECTRONIC EFFICIENCY UP TO PERCENT AND HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR A HIGHER INSTAN
TANEOUS BANDWIDTH THAN DOES A CONVENTIONAL KLYSTRON 4HE LOWER VOLTAGES AT WHICH
THEY OPERATE RESULT IN POWER SUPPLIES THAT CAN BE SIMPLER LIGHTER CHEAPER AND MORE
RELIABLE 4HE -"+ CAN HAVE A HIGH OUTPUT
POWER
TO
WEIGHT RATIO THAT MIGHT BE TWO
TO THREE TIMES GREATER THAN THAT OF AN EQUIVALENT SINGLE
BEAM KLYSTRON 4HEY CAN ALSO
HAVE REDUCED NOISE AND LESS PHASE SENSITIVITY TO DEVIATIONS IN VOLTAGE WHICH AIDS IN THE
DETECTION OF LOW CROSS
SECTION MOVING TARGETS IN CLUTTER #OMPARED TO A CROSSED
FIELD
AMPLIFIER THEY HAVE A LARGER DYNAMIC RANGE #OMPARED TO A 474 THEY ARE CAPABLE OF
HIGHER PEAK AND AVERAGE POWERS AND THEY ARE LESS SENSITIVE TO VIBRATIONS
4HE 2USSIAN COMPANY KNOWN AS &EDERAL 3TATE 5NITARY %NTERPRISE 20# )STOK
USUALLY SHORTENED TO )STOK HAS BEEN PRODUCTIVE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF -"+S FOR
RADAR !T 8 BAND THEY REPORT AN -"+ WITH BEAMLETS PRODUCING K7 PEAK
POWER K7 AVERAGE POWER BANDWIDTH AN ANODE VOLTAGE OF K6 WITH A MAG
NET WEIGHING KG !T 3 BAND ONE OF THEIR TUBES WITH BEAMS HAD A PEAK POWER
OF K7 K7 AVERAGE POWER OPERATED WITH K6 ANODE VOLTAGE HAD A
BANDWIDTH AND A WEIGHT WITHOUT MAGNET OF KG
!N APPARENT EXTENSION OF THE MULTIPLE BEAM CONCEPT IS TO EMPLOY A SHEET ELECTRON
BEAM WHICH IS AS THIN AND AS WIDE AND HAS AS MUCH CURRENT AS CAN BE ACHIEVED CON
SISTENT WITH OTHER CONSTRAINTS )T HAS BEEN CONSIDERED FOR VERY HIGH
POWER KLYSTRONS
-7 PEAK POWER AND PERIODIC PERMANENT MAGNETIC OR 00- FOCUSING DESIGNED
FOR A VERY LARGE LINEAR ACCELERATOR )T IS CLAIMED THAT THE BEAM CURRENT DENSITY AND THE
FOCUSING MAGNETIC FIELD CAN BE REDUCED BE MADE WITH FEWER PARTS MIGHT BE MORE RELI
ABLE AND CAN HAVE LOWER ACQUISITION AND OPERATING COSTS /NE POSSIBLE DISADVANTAGE
IS THAT SHEET
BEAM KLYSTRONS MIGHT NOT BE WIDEBAND
4HE PRINCIPLE OF THE MULTIPLE
BEAM LINEAR
BEAM TUBE HAS ALSO BEEN CONSIDERED FOR
THE TRAVELING WAVE TUBE BUT IT IS NOT OBVIOUS WHETHER IT HAS ANY SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES
OVER THE -"+
4RAVELING 7AVE 4UBE 474 4HE 474 LINEAR
BEAM TUBE IS SIMILAR TO THE
KLYSTRON IN THAT THE CATHODE 2& CIRCUIT AND COLLECTOR ARE ALL SEPARATE FROM ONE ANOTHER
4HERE IS HOWEVER CONTINUOUS INTERACTION OF THE ELECTRON BEAM AND THE 2& FIELD OVER
THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE MICROWAVE PROPAGATING STRUCTURE OF THE 474 AS COMPARED
TO THE KLYSTRON WHERE THE INTERACTION OCCURS ONLY AT THE GAPS OF A RELATIVELY FEW RESO
NANT CAVITIES 4HE 474 WAS ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED WITH A HELIX AS THE SLOW
WAVE 2&
STRUCTURE AS IN THE ILLUSTRATION SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE ELECTRON BEAM IS SIMILAR TO
&)'52% 2EPRESENTATION OF THE PRINCIPLE PARTS OF A TRAVELING WAVE TUBE
SHOWING A HELIX SLOW
WAVE CIRCUIT SHOWN FOR SIMPLICITY
4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
THAT OF THE KLYSTRON AND THEY BOTH USE THE PROCESS OF VELOCITY MODULATION TO CAUSE THE
ELECTRON BEAM TO BE PERIODICALLY BUNCHED DENSITY MODULATION 4HE ELECTRON BEAM
PASSES THROUGH THE 2& INTERACTION CIRCUIT )N THE EXAMPLE SHOWN IN &IGURE WHERE
A HELIX IS SHOWN AS THE SLOW
WAVE STRUCTURE THE 2& SIGNAL IS SLOWED DOWN BY THE
HELIX SO THAT ITS FORWARD VELOCITY IS VERY NEARLY EQUAL TO THAT OF THE VELOCITY OF THE
ELECTRON BEAM 4HIS NEAR MATCH OF VELOCITIES IS WHAT CAUSES THE CUMULATIVE INTERAC
TION THAT TRANSFERS DC ENERGY FROM THE ELECTRON BEAM TO AMPLIFY THE ELECTROMAGNETIC
WAVE PROPAGATING ON THE HELIX !FTER DELIVERING ITS ENERGY TO THE 2& FIELD THE SPENT
ELECTRONS ARE REMOVED BY THE COLLECTOR USUALLY A MULTISTAGE DEPRESSED COLLECTOR !N
AXIAL MAGNETIC FIELD KEEPS THE ELECTRON BEAM FROM DISPERSING AS IT TRAVELS DOWN THE
TUBE JUST AS IN THE KLYSTRON
4HE HELIX 474 IS CAPABLE OF BANDWIDTH IN EXCESS OF AN OCTAVE TO WHICH IS
MUCH HIGHER THAN OTHER RADAR TUBES 4HE 474 IS OFTEN THOUGHT OF AS A VERY BROADBAND
TUBE BUT THE BROAD BANDWIDTH OF A HELIX 474 IS NOT OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE IN RADAR
APPLICATIONS SINCE THE HELIX 474 IS LIMITED IN ITS PEAK POWER TO A FEW K7 4HIS MEANS
THAT THE HELIX 474 IS BEST USED IN #7 OR HIGH DUTY CYCLE RADAR APPLICATIONS IF AT ALL
!LSO SUCH BROAD BANDWIDTHS ARE SELDOM AVAILABLE FOR RADAR APPLICATIONS BECAUSE OF
REGULATORY RESTRICTIONS IN THE USE OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM 4O ACHIEVE HIGH
POWER IN A 474 OTHER TYPES OF SLOW
WAVE STRUCTURES HAVE TO BE EMPLOYED AND
THESE USUALLY PROVIDE LESS BANDWIDTH THAN THE HELIX 3UCH STRUCTURES ARE THE COUPLED
CAVITY OF WHICH THE CLOVERLEAF IS AN EXAMPLE RING
BAR AND THE SO
CALLED LADDER
NETWORK 4HE BANDWIDTH OF A COUPLED
CAVITY 474 CAN BE TO 4HE RING
BAR
HAS BROADER BANDWIDTH AND HIGHER EFFICIENCY THAN THE COUPLED
CAVITY CIRCUIT BUT
IT IS NOT CAPABLE OF AS HIGH A POWER AS THE COUPLED CAVITY 4HUS THE BANDWIDTH OF A
474 DECREASES AS ITS POWER INCREASES /N THE OTHER HAND AS MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY
THE BANDWIDTH OF A KLYSTRON INCREASES WITH INCREASING POWER SO THAT THE BANDWIDTHS
OF THE 474 AND THE KLYSTRON ARE GENERALLY COMPARABLE FOR MANY HIGH
POWER
RADAR APPLICATIONS
"OTH FORWARD AND BACKWARD WAVES MAY PROPAGATE ALONG THE MICROWAVE STRUCTURE
OF A 474 LEADING TO A POSSIBILITY OF BACKWARD
WAVE OSCILLATIONS )N &IGURE
ATTENUATION IS SHOWN ALONG THE HELIX SO AS TO PREVENT OSCILLATION DUE TO REFLECTIONS
AT THE OUTPUT AND THE INPUT OF THE STRUCTURE 4HE ATTENUATION MAY BE DISTRIBUTED OR
LUMPED BUT IT IS USUALLY FOUND IN THE MIDDLE THIRD OF THE TUBE !LTHOUGH OSCILLATION
CAN BE PREVENTED BY DISTRIBUTING LOSS ALONG THE STRUCTURE IT RESULTS IN LOWER EFFI
CIENCYSOMETHING UNATTRACTIVE IN HIGH
POWER TUBES )NSTEAD OSCILLATIONS MAY BE
PREVENTED BY THE USE OF DISCONTINUITIES CALLED SEVERS WITH ONE SEVER FOR EVERY TO
D" OF TUBE GAIN !T EACH SEVER THE POWER TRAVELING IN THE REVERSE DIRECTION IS
DISSIPATED IN THE SEVER LOADS WITHOUT SERIOUSLY AFFECTING THE POWER TRAVELING IN THE
FORWARD DIRECTION 4HE SEVER LOADS MAY BE PLACED EXTERNAL TO THE TUBE TO REDUCE DIS
SIPATION WITHIN THE 2& STRUCTURE ITSELF 4HE EFFICIENCY OF A 474 IS USUALLY LESS THAN
THAT OF A KLYSTRON BECAUSE OF THE LOSS DUE TO THE ATTENUATION OF THE SEVERS AS WELL AS
BY THE PRESENCE OF RELATIVELY HIGH 2& POWER OVER AN APPRECIABLE PART OF THE ENTIRE
STRUCTURE ! TECHNIQUE FOR IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF HIGH
POWER 474S IS CALLED
VELOCITY TAPERING 4HIS TECHNIQUE CONSISTS OF TAPERING THE LENGTH OF THE LAST FEW SEC
TIONS OF THE SLOW
WAVE CIRCUIT TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE SLOWING DOWN OF THE BEAM
AS THE ENERGY IS EXTRACTED FROM IT 6ELOCITY TAPERING PERMITS EXTRACTING MORE OF THE
ENERGY FROM THE BEAM AND SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVES THE POWER
BANDWIDTH PERFORMANCE
OF THE TUBE .EVERTHELESS HIGH
POWER 474S GENERALLY SHOW AN APPRECIABLE FALLOFF OF
POWER OUTPUT TOWARD THE BAND EDGES SO THAT THE RATED BANDWIDTH DEPENDS VERY MUCH
ON HOW MUCH POWER FALLOFF CAN BE TOLERATED BY THE SYSTEM
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)F A 474 USING A COUPLED CAVITY CIRCUIT IS CATHODE PULSED 3ECTION THERE IS
AN INSTANT DURING THE RISE AND FALL OF VOLTAGE WHEN THE BEAM VELOCITY BECOMES SYNCHRO
NOUS WITH THE CUTOFF FREQUENCY THE SO CALLED O MODE OF THE MICROWAVE CIRCUIT AND
THE TUBE CAN GENERATE OSCILLATIONS 4HESE OSCILLATIONS AT THE LEADING AND TRAILING EDGES
OF THE 2& OUTPUT PULSE HAVE A CHARACTERISTIC APPEARANCE ON A POWER TIME PRESENTATION
THAT HAS GIVEN THEM THE NAME RABBIT EARS /NLY IN RARE CASES HAS IT BEEN POSSIBLE TO SUP
PRESS THESE OSCILLATIONS COMPLETELY (OWEVER SINCE THIS PARTICULAR OSCILLATION DEPENDS
ON ELECTRON VELOCITY WHICH IN TURN DEPENDS ON BEAM VOLTAGE THE PROBLEM IS AVOIDED BY
THE USE OF MOD ANODE OR GRID PULSING 3ECTION )N THIS CASE IT IS ONLY NECESSARY
TO BE SURE NOT TO LET THE MODULATOR BEGIN PULSING THE BEAM CURRENT DURING TURN ON OF THE
HIGH VOLTAGE POWER SUPPLY UNTIL THE VOLTAGE IS SAFELY ABOVE THE OSCILLATION RANGE WHICH
IS TYPICALLY SOMEWHERE BETWEEN AND OF FULL OPERATING VOLTAGE
! MODIFICATION OF THE HELIX SLOW WAVE STRUCTURE IS THE RING BAR CIRCUIT WHICH CAN BE
USED IF THE PEAK POWER IS LESS THAN TO K7 4HE 2AYTHEON 1+7 ! IS AN
EXAMPLE WITH A PEAK POWER OF K7 DUTY CYCLE AND D" GAIN )T OPERATES AT
, BAND FROM TO -(Z 4HE 53 !IR &ORCE #OBRA $ANE OPERATING FROM TO
-(Z IS A LONG RANGE RADAR LOCATED IN THE !LEUTIAN )SLANDS THAT USES RING BAR 474S
1+7 EACH WITH A PEAK POWER OF K7 AND AVERAGE POWER OF K7
4HE 3 BAND 6! ! 474 AMPLIFIER EMPLOYS A CLOVERLEAF COUPLED CAVITY MICRO
WAVE SLOW WAVE STRUCTURE 7ITH THE USE OF LIQUID COOLING IT IS CAPABLE OF -7 PEAK
POWER OVER A -(Z BANDWIDTH )TS DUTY CYCLE IS WITH A GAIN OF D" AND A
S PULSE WIDTH 4HIS 474 WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED TO BE USED INTERCHANGEABLY WITH
THE POPULAR 6! KLYSTRON EXCEPT THAT THE 6! ! 474 HAS A WIDER BANDWIDTH THAN
THE 6! KLYSTRON )T ALSO REQUIRES A GREATER POWER INPUT SIGNAL BECAUSE OF ITS LOWER
GAIN THAN THE KLYSTRON 7HEN HIGH POWER IS REQUIRED THE KLYSTRON TENDS TO BE PREFERRED
OVER THE 474 SINCE IT DOESNT EXPERIENCE THE STABILITY PROBLEMS OF THE 474
'ILMOUR GIVES THE MEAN TIME BETWEEN FAILURES -4"& FOR NINE DIFFERENT TYPES
OF COUPLED CAVITY 474S AS VARYING FROM HOURS TO HOURS WITH AN AVER
AGE OF HOURS FOR ALL NINE CLASSES OF TUBES (E ALSO SAYS THAT 474S FOR SPACE
APPLICATION WHICH ARE OF LOWER POWER THAN RADAR 474S HAVE -4"&S OF THE ORDER OF
ONE MILLION HOURS
$EPRESSED #OLLECTOR 4HE EFFICIENCY OF A 474 OR A KLYSTRON CAN BE IMPROVED
BY THE USE OF A SO CALLED DEPRESSED COLLECTOR 7ITH A SINGLE COLLECTOR A SIGNIFICANT
FRACTION OF THE POWER INPUT TO THE TUBE IS DISSIPATED AS HEAT IN THE COLLECTOR )F THE VOLT
AGE ON THE COLLECTOR IS REDUCED DEPRESSED BELOW THE BODY VOLTAGE THE VELOCITY OF THE
ELECTRONS STRIKING THE COLLECTOR IS REDUCED AND SO IS THE HEAT GENERATED IN THE COLLECTOR
4HUS THE COLLECTOR RECOVERS SOME OF THE POWER IN THE SPENT ELECTRON BEAM 4HE USE OF
MULTIPLE DEPRESSED COLLECTORS AT INTERMEDIATE VOLTAGES RATHER THAN A SINGLE COLLECTOR
ALLOWS CATCHING EACH SPENT ELECTRON AT A VOLTAGE NEAR OPTIMUM 5P TO TEN COLLECTOR SEC
TIONS HAVE BEEN USED IN SOME COMMUNICATION TUBES BUT THREE SECTIONS ARE MORE TYPICAL
FOR HIGH POWER 474S FOR RADAR SYSTEMS 4HE SEVERAL DIFFERENT VOLTAGES NEEDED FOR
THE DEPRESSED COLLECTORS ADD COMPLEXITY TO THE HIGH POWER VOLTAGE SUPPLY BUT THESE
VOLTAGES NEED NOT BE AS WELL REGULATED AS THE MAIN BEAM VOLTAGE )T IS USUALLY EASIER
TO DESIGN A DEPRESSED COLLECTOR FOR A 474 THAN FOR A KLYSTRON SINCE THE SPENT ELECTRON
BEAM OF A 474 MIGHT HAVE A SPREAD IN VELOCITY BUT THE KLYSTRON MIGHT HAVE A
VELOCITY SPREAD OF ALMOST "ECAUSE THE EFFICIENCY IN A CONVENTIONAL 474 IS
USUALLY LOWER THAN THAT OF A KLYSTRON THE INCREASE IN EFFICIENCY IN THE 474 PROVIDED
BY A DEPRESSED COLLECTOR HAS A GREATER RELATIVE EFFECT THAN WITH A KLYSTRON
4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
6ARIANTS OF THE +LYSTRON AND THE 474 )T WAS MENTIONED THAT THE BANDWIDTH OF
A KLYSTRON INCREASES AS ITS POWER IS INCREASED 4HE BANDWIDTH CAN ALSO BE INCREASED BY
COMBINING THE BEST FEATURES OF THE KLYSTRON AND THE TRAVELING WAVE TUBE TO OBTAIN BETTER
BANDWIDTH EFFICIENCY AND GAIN FLATNESS THAN EITHER THE CONVENTIONAL KLYSTRON OR THE
474 )N THESE TUBES THE BASIC STRUCTURE IS THAT OF A KLYSTRON BUT INSTEAD OF A NUMBER
OF SINGLE CAVITIES BEING USED THE SINGLE CAVITY IS REPLACED BY A MORE COMPLEX MULTIPLE
CAVITY 4HREE SUCH VARIANTS ARE THE 4WYSTRON EXTENDED INTERACTION KLYSTRON AND THE
CLUSTERED CAVITY KLYSTRON -OST HIGH
PERFORMANCE RADAR KLYSTRONS TEND TO EMPLOY THE
MORE INTRICATE CAVITY STRUCTURE BECAUSE OF THE BETTER PERFORMANCE IT PROVIDES
#OMPARISON OF 6ARIOUS ,INEAR
"EAM 4UBE 3TRUCTURES &IGURE ILLUSTRATES
THE BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE 2& CIRCUITS THAT CHARACTERIZE THE VARIOUS TYPES OF LINEAR
BEAM TUBES
4WYSTRON 4HE BANDWIDTH OF A CONVENTIONAL KLYSTRON IS LIMITED PRIMARILY BY
THE BANDWIDTH OF THE OUTPUT RESONANT CAVITY )F A COUPLED CAVITY SLOW
WAVE CIRCUIT
AS IS USED IN THE 474 IS SUBSTITUTED FOR THE OUTPUT RESONANT CAVITY OF A KLYSTRON
&IGURE D THE BANDWIDTH OF THE KLYSTRON CAN BE INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY AND THERE
IS A SLIGHT INCREASE IN EFFICIENCY 4HIS REQUIRES THAT THE INTERMEDIATE CAVITIES AND THE
INPUT CAVITY OF SUCH A TUBE BE STAGGER
TUNED TO ACCOMMODATE THE INCREASED BANDWIDTH
OFFERED BY THE OUTPUT CIRCUIT "ECAUSE THIS TYPE OF TUBE IS PART KLYSTRON AND PART 474
IT WAS NAMED 4WYSTRON 4HE 6!
3
BAND 4WYSTRON HAS A BANDWIDTH OF WITH
A EFFICIENCY D" GAIN AT MIDBAND PEAK POWER OF -7 AND AVERAGE POWER
OF K7
%XTENDED )NTERACTION +LYSTRON %)+ )N THE %)+ THE SINGLE
GAP RESONANT CAVITIES
OF THE KLYSTRON ARE REPLACED BY A RESONATED SLOW
WAVE 474
LIKE CIRCUIT THAT CONTAINS TWO
OR MORE INTERACTION GAPS &IGURE C 3UCH CAVITIES CAN BE USED FOR THE PRIOR CAVITIES
AS WELL AS THE OUTPUT CAVITY 4HIS ALLOWS WIDER BANDWIDTH AND GREATER POWER THAN THE
CONVENTIONAL KLYSTRON AMPLIFIER 3TAPRANS ET AL STATE THAT THE HIGH
POWER 6!
#
%)+ OPERATED OVER A FREQUENCY RANGE FROM TO -(Z BANDWIDTH WITH A
PEAK POWER OF -7 AND AN AVERAGE POWER OF K7 AND AN EFFICIENCY OF
%)+ DEVICES HAVE BEEN OF INTEREST FOR MILLIMETER
WAVE APPLICATIONS !CCORDING TO
THE #OMMUNICATIONS 0OWER )NDUSTRIES #0) BROCHURE ITS 6+" MILLIMETER
WAVE %)+ WHEN OPERATING AT A CENTER FREQUENCY OF '(Z WITH A '(Z BANDWIDTH
HAS A PEAK POWER OF K7 AVERAGE POWER OF 7 ABOUT DUTY CYCLE GAIN
OF D" PULSE WIDTH OF S AND IS LIQUID COOLED )T HAS MUCH LOWER POWER THAN A
GYROKLYSTRON DISCUSSED LATER AT THIS FREQUENCY BUT ITS CM BY CM DIAMETER SIZE
IS CONSIDERABLY SMALLER AND IT COSTS CONSIDERABLY LESS THAN A GYROKLYSTRON
! SIMILAR %)+ ALSO BUILT BY #0) HAS BEEN USED IN THE .!3! #LOUD3AT SPACEBORNE
RADAR THAT PROVIDES THE VERTICAL PROFILE OF CLOUDS FOR UNDERSTANDING CLOUD EFFECTS ON
BOTH THE WEATHER AND CLIMATE )T OPERATES AT A CENTER FREQUENCY OF '(Z WITH A
-(Z BANDWIDTH K7 PEAK POWER S PULSE DURATION (Z PRF AND AN
EFFICIENCY OF )T IS CONDUCTION COOLED %ACH CAVITY IS A SHORT PIECE OF RESONANT
SLOW
WAVE STRUCTURE BASED ON LADDER GEOMETRY 4HE TUBE WEIGHS KG AND CAN OPER
ATE OVER A TEMPERATURE RANGE FROM
TO O# )T WAS PREDICTED THAT THIS %)+ WOULD
BE CAPABLE OF TWO YEARS OF CONTINUOUS OPERATION WITH A CONFIDENCE LEVEL 4WO
%)+S WERE EMPLOYED IN #LOUD3AT ONE PRIME ONE REDUNDANT SO AS TO ACHIEVE A
CONFIDENCE OF MEETING THE TWO
YEAR LIFE REQUIREMENT
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
0 ).
'UN
)NTERACTION
STRUCTURE
0 /UT
#OLLECTOR
)NTERACTION
)MPEDANCE
$ISTANCE
A
:
)MPEDANCE
B
)MPEDANCE
C
)NPUT
/UTPUT
LOAD
)MPEDANCE
D
&)'52% "ASIC STRUCTURE OF SEVERAL TYPES OF LINEAR
BEAM TUBES A KLYSTRON B COUPLED
CAVITY 474 C EXTENDED
INTERACTION KLYSTRON AND D 4WYSTRON AFTER ! 3TAPRANS ET AL
)%%%
#LUSTERED #AVITY +LYSTRONS 4HIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE TECHNIQUE OF GROUPING
CAVITIES TO IMPROVE THE OPERATION OF A KLYSTRON 4HE INDIVIDUAL INTERMEDIATE CAVITIES OF
A MULTICAVITY KLYSTRON ARE EACH REPLACED BY A CLUSTER OF TWO OR THREE ARTIFICIALLY LOADED
LOW 1 CAVITIES WITH 1S OF ONE HALF TO ONE THIRD OF THE SINGLE CAVITY THEY REPLACE
&IGURE COMPARES SCHEMATICALLY THE BASIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CONVENTIONAL
STAGGER TUNED KLYSTRON AND THE CLUSTERED CAVITY KLYSTRON )T HAS BEEN SAID FOR A GIVEN
4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF THE STRUCTURES OF A CONVENTIONAL STAGGER
TUNED KLYSTRON
TOP AND CLUSTERED
CAVITY KLYSTRON BOTTOM #OURTESY OF THE )%%%
GAIN BANDWIDTH PRODUCT THIS FORM OF STRUCTURE CAN PRODUCE A TUBE OF MUCH SHORTER
LENGTH SO THAT THERE CAN BE SUBSTANTIAL SAVINGS IN MAGNET WEIGHT AND POWER 3YMONS
THE INVENTOR OF THE CLUSTERED CAVITY KLYSTRON STATES THAT ONE OF THESE WIDE BANDWIDTH
TUBES CAN BE USED TO REPLACE THE TWO NARROWER BAND KLYSTRONS IN THE !7!#3 RADAR
7HEN EACH OF THE TWO NARROW BAND TUBES IS REPLACED BY A WIDEBAND CLUSTERED CAVITY
TUBE REDUNDANT OPERATION CAN BE PROVIDED WITH HIGHER RELIABILITY AND WITHOUT A LARGE
WEIGHT PENALTY BECAUSE EITHER OF THESE CLUSTERED CAVITY KLYSTRONS PROVIDE FULL OPERA
TIONAL CAPABILITY SIMILAR TO THE REDUNDANCY COMMONLY EMPLOYED IN &!! AIR TRAFFIC
CONTROL RADARS
-ICROWAVE 0OWER -ODULE -0- ! NOVEL VARIANT OF THE LINEAR BEAM TUBE IS
THE MICROWAVE POWER MODULE WHICH IS AN AMPLIFIER THAT EMPLOYS A SOLID STATE MICRO
WAVE INTEGRATED CIRCUIT AMPLIFIER TO DRIVE A MODERATE POWER HELIX TRAVELING WAVE TUBE
ALONG WITH AN INTEGRATED CIRCUIT POWER CONDITIONER ALL IN A LIGHTWEIGHT PACKAGE )T CAN
PROVIDE HIGH EFFICIENCY WIDE INSTANTANEOUS BANDWIDTH LOW NOISE AND AVERAGE POWER
LEVELS FROM SEVERAL TENS TO SEVERAL HUNDREDS OF WATTS )T IS SAID TO BE SMALLER AND LIGHTER
THAN COMPARABLE 474 AND SOLID STATE POWER SOURCES AND IS CAPABLE OF OPERATING AT
HIGH AMBIENT TEMPERATURES 4HE GAIN OF AN -0- MIGHT BE NOMINALLY D" AND IS
DIVIDED BETWEEN THE SOLID STATE DRIVER AND THE 474 POWER BOOSTER IN THE RATIOS FROM
TO 4HE -0- SEEMS BEST SUITED FOR THE HIGHER MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES
PERHAPS FROM TO '(Z
! SERIOUS CONSTRAINT OF THE -0- FOR RADAR APPLICATIONS IS THAT THE HELIX 474 LIMITS
ITS USE TO #7 OR HIGH DUTY CYCLE TRANSMISSIONS PREFERABLY GREATER THAN )T ALSO
IS OF RELATIVELY MODEST POWER FOR MANY RADAR APPLICATIONS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
/,"
5NLIKE LINEAR
BEAM TUBES THAT ARE NORMALLY OPERATED AS AMPLIFIERS THE MAGNETRON
IS AN OSCILLATOR !S EXAMPLE OF A COMMONLY USED EARLY MAGNETRON WAS THE * AN
,
BAND TUBE THAT WAS MECHANICALLY TUNABLE FROM TO -(Z )T COULD OPERATE
WITH A PEAK POWER OF K7 A S PULSE WIDTH AND A PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY OF
(Z THAT PROVIDED AN AVERAGE POWER OF 7 )TS EFFICIENCY WAS TYPICAL FOR
MAGNETRONS AT THAT TIME 4HE COMPACT SIZE AND EFFICIENT OPERATION OF THE MAGNETRON
AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES ALLOWED RADARS IN 7ORLD 7AR )) TO BE SMALL ENOUGH TO FLY IN
MILITARY AIRCRAFT AND TO BE MOBILE FOR GROUND WARFARE -AGNETRONS HOWEVER SEEM TO
BE LIMITED TO ABOUT A FEW KILOWATTS OF AVERAGE POWER WHICH CAN RESTRICT THEIR UTILITY
4HEY ALSO HAVE LIMITATIONS IN STABILITY AND THEREFORE IN THE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR
THEY CAN ACHIEVE AND THEY OFTEN HAVE A SHORTER LIFE THAN LINEAR
BEAM TUBES
"ECAUSE THE MAGNETRON IS AN OSCILLATOR RATHER THAN AN AMPLIFIER THE STARTING PHASE
OF EACH PULSE IS RANDOM FROM PULSE TO PULSE 4HIS RANDOM CHANGE OF PHASE CAN BE
ACCOMMODATED IN A -4) RADAR RECEIVER BY USE OF A COHERENT OSCILLATOR COHO AS THE
REFERENCE SIGNAL IN THE PHASE
DETECTOR STAGE OF THE RECEIVER /N EACH PULSE THE PHASE
OF THE MAGNETRON PULSE SETS THE PHASE OF THE COHO )N THIS MANNER THE RECEIVED SIGNAL
APPEARS TO BE COHERENT PULSE TO PULSE 4HIS IS SOMETIMES CALLED COHERENT ON RECEIVE
4HE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR OBTAINED WITH A MAGNETRON AND A COHERENT
ON
RECEIVE
OPERATION USUALLY IS NOT AS GOOD AS CAN BE OBTAINED WITH AN -4) SYSTEM THAT USES A
POWER AMPLIFIER AS THE TRANSMITTER
!UTOMATIC FREQUENCY CONTROL !&# IS OFTEN EMPLOYED TO KEEP THE RECEIVER TUNED
TO THE FREQUENCY OF THE TRANSMITTER SINCE THE MAGNETRON FREQUENCY CAN SLOWLY DRIFT
WITH CHANGES IN AMBIENT TEMPERATURE AND SELF
HEATING 4HE !&# CAN BE APPLIED TO THE
MAGNETRON ITSELF TO KEEP IT OPERATING ON ITS ASSIGNED FREQUENCY WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE
ACCURACY OF THE TUNING MECHANISM
! MAGNETRON CAN BE MECHANICALLY CHANGED IN FREQUENCY OVER A TO FREQUENCY
RANGE AND IN SOME CASES AS MUCH AS 2APID MECHANICAL TUNING CAN BE ACHIEVED
WITH A SLOTTED DISK SUSPENDED ABOVE THE ANODE CAVITIES 7HEN ROTATED IT ALTERNATELY
PROVIDES INDUCTIVE AND CAPACITIVE LOADING OF THE CAVITIES TO RAISE AND LOWER THE FRE
QUENCY 3UCH A ROTARY
TUNED MAGNETRON CAN PROVIDE VERY FAST TUNING RATES &OR EXAM
PLE AT A ROTATION RATE OF RPM A MAGNETRON WITH CAVITIES CAN TUNE ACROSS A BAND
TIMES PER SECOND
#OAXIAL -AGNETRON ! SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE POWER EFFICIENCY STA
BILITY AND LIFE OF THE ORIGINAL FORM OF THE MAGNETRON OCCURRED WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF
THE COAXIAL MAGNETRON 4HE KEY DIFFERENCE IS THE INCORPORATION OF A STABILIZING CAVITY
SURROUNDING THE CONVENTIONAL MAGNETRON CAVITIES WITH THE STABILIZING CAVITY COUPLED
TO THE MAGNETRON CAVITIES SO AS TO PROVIDE BETTER STABILIZATION 4HE FREQUENCY OF A
COAXIAL MAGNETRON CAN BE CHANGED BY MECHANICALLY MOVING ONE OF THE END PLATES
CALLED A TUNING PISTON OF THE STABILIZING CAVITY 4HE TUNING PISTON CAN BE POSITIONED
MECHANICALLY FROM THE OUTSIDE OF THE VACUUM BY MEANS OF A VACUUM BELLOWS
)N THE COAXIAL MAGNETRON THE OUTPUT OF EVERY OTHER RESONANT CAVITY IS COUPLED TO THE
STABILIZING CAVITY THAT SURROUNDS THE ANODE STRUCTURE 4HE OUTPUT POWER IS THEN COUPLED
FROM THE STABILIZING CAVITY
O -ODE OF /PERATION ! MAGNETRON WHETHER CONVENTIONAL OR COAXIAL CAN OSCIL
LATE AT A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT CLOSELY SPACED FREQUENCIES DUE TO VARIOUS POSSIBLE CON
FIGURATIONS OF THE 2& FIELD THAT CAN EXIST BETWEEN THE CATHODE AND THE RESONANT CAVITIES
4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
4HESE DIFFERENT 2& FIELD CONFIGURATIONS ALONG WITH COUPLING AMONG THE CAVITY RESO
NATORS OF THE MAGNETRON RESULT IN DIFFERENT MODES OF OSCILLATION 4HE MAGNETRON CAN
SHIFT ALMOST UNPREDICTABLY FROM ONE MODE TO ANOTHER WHICH MEANS THE FREQUENCY
SHIFTS UNPREDICTABLY AS THE VOLTAGE CHANGES OR AS THE INPUT IMPEDANCE THAT THE MAG
NETRON EXPERIENCES CHANGES 4HE SHIFT FROM ONE MODE TO ANOTHER OFTEN CALLED MODING
IS ESPECIALLY BAD SINCE IT CAN OCCUR WHEN THE RADAR ANTENNA SCANS AND VIEWS DIFFERENT
ENVIRONMENTS )T IS IMPORTANT TO AVOID MODING
4HE PREFERRED MAGNETRON MODE OF OPERATION IS THE SO
CALLED O MODE THAT OCCURS
WHEN THE 2& FIELD CONFIGURATION IS SUCH THAT THE 2& PHASE ALTERNATES O O RADIANS
BETWEEN ADJACENT CAVITIES 4HE ADVANTAGE OF THE O MODE IS THAT ITS FREQUENCY CAN BE
MORE READILY SEPARATED FROM THE FREQUENCIES OF THE OTHER POSSIBLE MODES !N .
CAVITY
MAGNETRON CAN HAVE . POSSIBLE MODES 4HE O MODE OSCILLATES AT A SINGLE FREQUENCY
BUT THE OTHER MODES CAN OSCILLATE AT TWO DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES SO THAT THE MAGNETRON
CAN OSCILLATE AT . DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES
#OAXIAL -AGNETRON ,IFE 4HE POWER THAT CAN BE PRODUCED BY A MAGNETRON DEPENDS
ON ITS SIZE ! LARGER SIZE MEANS MORE RESONATORS WHICH MAKES IT MORE DIFFICULT TO
SEPARATE THE VARIOUS MODES OF OSCILLATION IN A CONVENTIONAL MAGNETRON 4HE COAXIAL
MAGNETRON HOWEVER WITH STABILIZATION CONTROLLED BY THE OUTER CAVITY PERMITS STABLE
OPERATION WITH A LARGER NUMBER OF CAVITIES AND THUS WITH GREATER POWER 4HE ANODE
AND CATHODE STRUCTURES OF A COAXIAL MAGNETRON CAN ALSO BE BIGGER WHICH FURTHER ALLOWS
OPERATION AT HIGHER POWER 4HE LARGER STRUCTURES PERMIT MORE CONSERVATIVE DESIGN WITH
THE RESULT THAT IT HAS LONGER LIFE AND BETTER RELIABILITY THAN CONVENTIONAL MAGNETRONS
AS WELL AS MORE STABLE OPERATION 4HE OPERATING LIFE OF A COAXIAL MAGNETRON HAS BEEN
SAID TO BE BETWEEN AND HOURS WHICH IS A FIVE
TO TWENTYFOLD INCREASE
COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL HIGH
POWER MAGNETRONS
,IMITATIONS OF -AGNETRONS 7HEN THE MAGNETRON WAS FIRST INTRODUCED IT PRO
VIDED A CAPABILITY NOT AVAILABLE WITH THE GRID
CONTROLLED TUBES USED FOR EARLY RADARS
!S TIME PASSED THE DEMANDS FOR IMPROVED RADAR PERFORMANCE OUTRAN THE CAPABILITIES
AVAILABLE FROM THE MAGNETRON &ORTUNATELY OTHER TUBE TYPES WERE INVENTED THAT OVER
CAME THE LIMITATIONS OF THE MAGNETRON
!LTHOUGH THE MAGNETRON HAS HAD IMPORTANT APPLICATIONS IN THE PAST IT HAS ALSO HAD
SERIOUS LIMITATIONS THAT CONSTRAIN ITS USEFULNESS FOR RADAR )TS MAJOR LIMITATIONS ARE ITS
POOR STABILITY WHICH LIMITS THE ABILITY TO DETECT MOVING TARGETS IN CLUTTER ITS RELATIVELY
MODEST AVERAGE POWER AND ITS SIGNAL CANNOT BE READILY MODULATED FOR PULSE COMPRES
SION 4HESE AND OTHERS ARE DISCUSSED NEXT
4HE USE OF THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY SHIFT TO DETECT MOVING TARGETS IN THE MIDST OF
LARGE CLUTTER ECHOES REQUIRES THAT THE TRANSMITTER PRODUCE A STABLE SIGNAL WITH LITTLE
EXTRANEOUS NOISE "ECAUSE OF THEIR POOR STABILITY AND NOISY TRANSMISSIONS MAGNETRONS
ARE LIMITED IN THE AMOUNT OF -4) )MPROVEMENT &ACTOR THEY CAN ACHIEVE TO ABOUT OR
PERHAPS D" -ANY RADAR APPLICATIONS REQUIRE GREATER -4) )MPROVEMENT &ACTORS
3OME RADARS ALSO REQUIRE THE USE OF PULSE
COMPRESSION WAVEFORMS TO OBTAIN THE RESO
LUTION OF A SHORT PULSE WITH THE ENERGY OF A LONG PULSE )T IS DIFFICULT TO PHASE OR FRE
QUENCY MODULATE THE WAVEFORM OF A MAGNETRON AS IS NEEDED FOR PULSE COMPRESSION
4HUS POWER AMPLIFIERS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS USED FOR PULSE COMPRESSION APPLICATIONS
-AGNETRONS ARE NOT STABLE ENOUGH TO BE SUITABLE FOR VERY LONG PULSES EG S AND
STARTING JITTER LIMITS THEIR USE AT VERY SHORT PULSE WIDTHS EG S ESPECIALLY AT HIGH
POWER AND AT THE LOWER FREQUENCY BANDS )TS MAXIMUM AVERAGE POWER IS OF THE ORDER
OF SEVERAL KILOWATTS WHICH IS LESS THAN THAT REQUIRED FOR SOME MILITARY APPLICATIONS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3INCE THE MAGNETRON IS AN OSCILLATOR WITH A RANDOM STARTING PHASE ON EACH PULSE IT CAN
NOT BE USED TO ELIMINATE SECOND
TIME
AROUND CLUTTER ECHOESAS CAN AN AMPLIFIER TRANS
MITTER 3IMILARLY COMBINING THE POWER OUTPUTS OF MULTIPLE MAGNETRONS HAS NOT BEEN
ATTRACTIVE -AGNETRONS CAN PRODUCE CONSIDERABLE ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE ACROSS
A BANDWIDTH MUCH WIDER THAN THE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH COAXIAL MAGNETRONS ARE SOMEWHAT
BETTER IN THIS RESPECT !LSO MAGNETRONS DO NOT HAVE PRECISE FREQUENCY CONTROL NOR ARE
THEY ABLE TO PERFORM PRECISE FREQUENCY JUMPING
)N SPITE OF ITS MANY UNFAVORABLE CHARACTERISTICS THE MAGNETRON IS A TUBE THAT CAN BE
CONSIDERED FOR LESS DEMANDING RADAR TASKS &OR A LONG TIME IT WAS THE TRANSMITTER OF
CHOICE FOR USE IN THE CIVIL MARINE RADAR ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY USED RADARS AS BRIEFLY
DISCUSSED NEXT
#IVIL -ARINE 2ADAR -AGNETRONS 4HE MAGNETRON HAS BEEN WELL
SUITED FOR
APPLICATION IN CIVIL MARINE RADARS USED ON SMALL PLEASURE BOATS OR LARGE COMMERCIAL
SHIPS )TS SUCCESS HAS BEEN DUE IN PART TO THE RADAR NEEDING ONLY SMALL TRANSMITTER
POWER AND THE RADAR DOES NOT REQUIRE DOPPLER PROCESSING TO SEPARATE MOVING TARGETS
FROM LARGE FIXED CLUTTER ECHOES 4HUS MANY OF THE PROBLEMS THAT OCCUR WITH MAGNE
TRONS WHEN USED IN OTHER APPLICATIONS ARE NOT FOUND IS THIS APPLICATION !LSO IMPORTANT
IS THAT THE CIVIL MARINE RADAR BUSINESS IS VERY COMPETITIVE BECAUSE OF THE LARGE WORLD
WIDE NEED FOR SUCH RADARS 4HIS HAS RESULTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOW
COST HIGHLY
RELIABLE MAGNETRONS FOR THIS IMPORTANT RADAR APPLICATION
4HESE MAGNETRONS GENERATE PEAK POWERS FROM TO K7 AND HAVE RELATIVELY LOW
AVERAGE POWERS OF A FEW WATTS TO A FEW TENS OF WATTS !N EXAMPLE OF A MAGNETRON FOR
A CIVIL MARINE RADAR IS THE -' MANUFACTURED BY %%9 OF #HELMSFORD %NGLAND
)T IS AN CAVITY 8
BAND MAGNETRON THAT OPERATES AT A FIXED FREQUENCY WITHIN THE
BAND FROM TO -(Z WITH A PEAK POWER OF K7 AND AN EFFICIENCY OF
)T OPERATES WITH AN ANODE VOLTAGE OF K6 AND AN ANODE CURRENT OF AMPS
4YPICALLY ITS PULSE WIDTH MIGHT BE S WITH A DUTY CYCLE OF 4HE MANUFAC
TURER CLAIMS AN EXPECTED TYPICAL LIFE OF OVER HOURS AND GUARANTEES A MINIMUM
LIFE OF HOURS
)T MIGHT ALSO BE MENTIONED THAT THE MAGNETRON HAS HAD OUTSTANDING SUCCESS AS THE
POWER SOURCE FOR THE MICROWAVE OVEN /VER THE YEARS IT HAS DEVELOPED INTO A VERY
LOW COST AND HIGHLY RELIABLE GENERATOR OF MICROWAVE POWER THAT IS WELL
SUITED FOR THIS
APPLICATION
{
,"--
*
,- n
4HE CROSSED
FIELD AMPLIFIER OR #&! LIKE THE MAGNETRON HAS A MAGNETIC FIELD THAT IS
ORTHOGONAL TO THE ELECTRIC FIELD BUT IT IS AN AMPLIFIER RATHER THAN AN OSCILLATOR )T IS
SIMILAR IN APPEARANCE TO A MAGNETRON EXCEPT THAT THE 2& CIRCUIT IS INTERRUPTED TO PRO
VIDE THE INPUT AND OUTPUT CONNECTIONS AS NEEDED FOR AN AMPLIFIER #&!S MIGHT HAVE
AN EFFICIENCY FROM TO USE A LOWER VOLTAGE THAN LINEAR
BEAM TUBES ARE LIGHTER
IN WEIGHT AND SMALLER IN SIZE AND HAVE BEEN FOUND FROM 5(& TO + BAND (OWEVER
THEY HAVE RELATIVELY LOW GAIN AND THEIR STABILITY AND NOISE ARE NOT AS GOOD AS FOUND IN
LINEAR
BEAM TUBES SO THEIR APPLICATION FOR -4) RADAR HAS BEEN LIMITED "ECAUSE OF THE
#&!S LOW GAIN THE CROSSED
FIELD AMPLIFIER TRANSMITTER NEEDS MORE THAN ONE STAGE OF
2& AMPLIFICATION EACH WITH ITS OWN POWER SUPPLY MODULATOR AND CONTROLS !LL THESE
STAGES MUST BE STABLE TO ACHIEVE GOOD -4) PERFORMANCE
4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
"ECAUSE THE #&! HAS RELATIVELY LOW GAIN IT IS SOMETIMES USED ONLY IN ONE OR TWO
OF THE HIGHEST
POWER STAGES OF AN AMPLIFIER CHAIN WHERE IT MAY OFFER AN ADVANTAGE IN
EFFICIENCY OPERATING VOLTAGE SIZE ANDOR WEIGHT COMPARED TO OTHER TUBES 4HE OUTPUT
STAGE #&! MIGHT BE PRECEDED BY A MEDIUM
POWER 474 THAT PROVIDES MOST OF THE GAIN
OF THE TOTAL AMPLIFIER CHAIN 7HEN COMPARING THE #&! WITH THE LINEAR
BEAM TUBE THE
ENTIRE TRANSMITTER SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE COMPARED AND NOT JUST THE TUBE ITSELF 4HE #&!
HAS ALSO BEEN CONSIDERED AS A MEANS TO BOOST THE POWER OUTPUT OF PREVIOUSLY EXISTING
RADAR SYSTEMS THAT EMPLOYED MAGNETRONS 4HERE HAVE BEEN BOTH BACKWARD
WAVE AND
FORWARD WAVE #&!S 4HE BACKWARD
WAVE #&! IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE !MPLITRON
)T IS POSSIBLE TO PULSE SOME #&!S WHICH HAVE COLD CATHODES TO EMPLOY WHAT IS
CALLED $# OPERATION WHERE THE TRANSMITTER IS TURNED ON AND OFF TO GENERATE A PULSE
WAVEFORM WITHOUT THE NEED FOR A HIGH
POWER MODULATOR )N DC OPERATION THE HIGH VOLT
AGE IS CONTINUOUSLY PRESENT BETWEEN ANODE AND CATHODE AND THE CURRENT IS TURNED ON
BY APPLYING THE 2& DRIVE AND TURNED OFF BY PULSING THE CONTROL ELECTRODE 4HE CONTROL
ELECTRODE CONSISTS OF A SEGMENT OF THE CATHODE STRUCTURE IN THE DRIFT REGION 4O PREVENT
THE TUBE FROM STARTING WITHOUT 2& DRIVE THE CATHODE MUST BE KEPT COOL ENOUGH TO PRE
VENT THERMIONIC EMISSION 4HE CONTROL ELECTRODE NEEDS ONLY A SHORT MEDIUM
POWER
PULSE TYPICALLY ONE
THIRD OF THE ANODE VOLTAGE AND ONE
THIRD OF THE ANODE PEAK CURRENT
3INCE THE CONTROL ELECTRODE IS INSULATED AND SINCE SOME ENERGY IS DISSIPATED ON THE
CONTROL ELECTRODE IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO COOL 4HIS CAN LIMIT THE MAXIMUM PULSE REPETI
TION FREQUENCY THAT CAN BE USED )N SPITE OF IT REQUIRING NO MODULATOR DC OPERATION HAS
SELDOM BEEN USED BECAUSE OF ITS MANY LIMITATIONS
#ROSSED
FIELD AMPLIFIERS HAVE BEEN USED IN RADARS IN THE PAST BUT THEY HAVE SIGNIFI
CANT DISADVANTAGES AS WAS DESCRIBED IN THE SECOND EDITION OF THIS 2ADAR (ANDBOOK
THAT MAKE IT LESS LIKELY THEY WILL BE WIDELY USED IN THE FUTURE
x 9,"/," - ]]
)T HAS BEEN NOTED PREVIOUSLY THAT THE POWER HANDLING CAPABILITY OF THE MICROWAVE
POWER TUBES DISCUSSED THUS FAR IN THIS CHAPTER DECREASES AS THE FREQUENCY IS INCREASED
4HIS RESULTS BECAUSE THE RESONANT STRUCTURES OF THE SLOW
WAVE MICROWAVE CIRCUITRY OF
THESE TUBES BECOME SMALLER WITH INCREASING FREQUENCY 4HE SMALLER THE DEVICE THE MORE
DIFFICULT IT IS TO DISSIPATE THE HEAT THAT IS GENERATED 4HUS THE POWER OUTPUT DECREASES
APPROXIMATELY INVERSELY AS THE SQUARE OF THE RADAR FREQUENCY
4HE GYROTRON 2& POWER GENERATOR HOWEVER DOES NOT HAVE THIS LIMITATION BECAUSE
IT DOES NOT EMPLOY SLOW
WAVE RESONANT MICROWAVE STRUCTURES 4HESE DEVICES EMPLOY A
FAST
WAVE STRUCTURE SUCH AS A SMOOTH CIRCULAR TUBE
ONE WHERE THE PHASE VELOCITY OF THE
ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE IS GREATER THAN THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT 7ITH A SLOW
WAVE DEVICE
THE PHASE VELOCITY IS LESS THAN THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT 4HE DIAMETER OF THE GYROTRON CIRCUIT
CAN BE MANY WAVELENGTHS AND THE ELECTRON BEAM NEED NOT BE PLACED CLOSE TO DELICATE
2& STRUCTURES "ECAUSE A FAST
WAVE STRUCTURE RATHER THAN A SLOW
WAVE STRUCTURE IS USED
THEY DO NOT HAVE THE SIZE LIMITATIONS OF OTHER MICROWAVE POWER SOURCES AS THE FREQUENCY
IS INCREASED 4HUS THEY CAN GENERATE GREATER POWER AT THE HIGHER FREQUENCIES THAN CAN
OTHER 2& POWER SOURCES SOMETHING ESPECIALLY ATTRACTIVE AT MILLIMETER WAVELENGTHS
4UBE IS USED HERE AS BEING A hHOLLOW ELONGATED CYLINDERv
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE MAGNETIC FIELD IN A GYROTRON SERVES A DIFFERENT FUNCTION FROM THE MAGNETIC FIELD
IN A SLOW
WAVE DEVICE )N THE SLOW
WAVE DEVICE THE MAGNETIC FIELD KEEPS THE ELECTRONIC
BEAM COLLIMATED )N THE FAST
WAVE DEVICE HOWEVER THE MAGNETIC FIELD DETERMINES THE
FREQUENCY BUT THE FREQUENCY OF A CONVENTIONAL SLOW
WAVE DEVICE IS DETERMINED BY
THE CIRCUIT DIMENSIONS !N ELECTRON IN AN APPLIED AXIAL MAGNETIC FIELD "O WILL ROTATE AT
WHAT IS CALLED THE ELECTRON CYCLOTRON FREQUENCY WHICH IS GIVEN BY VC E"OMG WHERE
E ELECTRON CHARGE M ELECTRON REST MASS AND G IS THE RELATIVISTIC FACTOR WHICH IS
; EMC 6O= WHERE C VELOCITY OF LIGHT AND 6O BEAM VOLTAGE 4HE BEAM VOLTAGE
AND THE CORRESPONDING ELECTRON VELOCITY IN A GYROTRON ARE HIGH ENOUGH TO CAUSE RELATIV
ISTIC EFFECTS 4HE ELECTRONS FOLLOW HELICAL PATHS AROUND THE MAGNETIC FIELD LINES WHEN IN
THE PRESENCE OF AN ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE WITH A TRANSVERSE COMPONENT OF ELECTRIC FIELD
%LECTRONS THAT LOSE ENERGY TO THE ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE BECOME LIGHTER AND ACCUMULATE
PHASE LEAD AND THEN CATCH UP WITH THE ELECTRONS THAT GAIN ENERGY AND BECOME HEAVIER
AND ACCUMULATE PHASE LAG 4HUS ELECTRONS BECOME PHASE
BUNCHED IN THEIR CYCLOTRON
ORBITS AS A RESULT OF THE RELATIVISTIC MASS CHANGE OF THE ELECTRONS 4HE GYROTRON BUNCHING
OPERATION ALSO CAN BE OBTAINED AT HARMONICS OF THE CYCLOTRON FREQUENCY BUT THERE CAN
BE PROBLEMS WITH HIGHER CIRCUIT LOSSES AND COMPETITION WITH MODES OPERATING AT LOWER
HARMONICS SO THAT MOST HIGH
POWER GYROTRONS OPERATE AT THE FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY OR
ITS SECOND HARMONIC
"ECAUSE THE FREQUENCY OF A GYROTRON IS DETERMINED BY THE MAGNETIC FIELD AND
NOT BY THE SIZE OF THE FAST
WAVE STRUCTURE THE STRUCTURE CAN BE LARGE AND IT IS THEN
POSSIBLE TO GENERATE QUITE HIGH POWER AT MILLIMETER
WAVE FREQUENCIES 4HE LARGE
MAGNETIC FIELDS NEEDED FOR MILLIMETER
WAVE GYROTRONS OFTEN HAVE TO BE GENERATED BY
SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETS
4HE GYROTRON WITH A SINGLE CAVITY OPERATES AS AN OSCILLATOR )T IS SOMETIMES CALLED
A GYRO
OSCILLATOR TO DIFFERENTIATE IT FROM A GYRO
AMPLIFIER THAT UTILIZES SEVERAL RESONANT
CAVITIES OR A TRAVELING WAVE CIRCUIT TO OPERATE AS AN AMPLIFIER 4HE GYRO
AMPLIFIER THAT
EMPLOYS SEVERAL RESONANT CAVITIES IS CALLED A GYROKLYSTRON AND WHEN A TRAVELING
WAVE
CIRCUIT IS USED IT IS CALLED A GYRO
TRAVELING
WAVE
TUBE OR MORE COMMONLY GYRO
474
4HERE IS ALSO A GYROTWYSTRON WITH THE RESONANT OUTPUT CAVITY REPLACED BY A 474 CIR
CUIT SO AS TO ACHIEVE GREATER BANDWIDTH THAN CAN BE OBTAINED WITH A RESONANT CAVITY
!LTHOUGH GYRO
OSCILLATORS HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF GREATER POWER THAN GYRO
AMPLIFIERS
THE GYRO
AMPLIFIER HAS USUALLY BEEN PREFERRED FOR RADAR APPLICATIONS FOR THE SAME REA
SON THE AMPLIFIER HAS BEEN PREFERRED AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES ESPECIALLY WHEN DOP
PLER PROCESSING IS IMPORTANT
!N EXAMPLE OF A HIGH POWER GYROKLYSTRON FOR RADAR APPLICATIONS IS THE 6'"
THAT WAS USED IN THE EXPERIMENTAL 7
BAND RADAR KNOWN AS 7ARLOC AT THE 53
.AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY )T HAD FIVE CAVITIES OPERATED OVER A -(Z BANDWIDTH
CENTERED AT '(Z WITH AN AVERAGE POWER OF K7 A PEAK POWER OF K7
DUTY CYCLE AND EFFICIENCY WITH A K6 ! ELECTRON BEAM )T USED A SUPER
CONDUCTING MAGNET WITH A CLOSED
CYCLE COOLING SYSTEM SO THAT NO LIQUID CRYOGENS
WERE REQUIRED )T PROVIDED A MAGNETIC FIELD OF K' 4HE FIVE
CAVITY GYROKLYSTRON
COULD ACHIEVE A BANDWIDTH OF -(Z AT AN AVERAGE POWER OF K7 4HE RADAR USED
A FT DIAMETER ANTENNA THAT PROVIDED A BEAMWIDTH OF 4HIS 7
BAND 7ARLOC WAS
INSTALLED IN A VAN AND WAS USED FOR VARIOUS EXPERIMENTS 4HE 7ARLOC RADAR WAS ABOUT
THREE ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE MORE CAPABLE THAN MOST PREVIOUS RADARS USED FOR MILLIME
TER
WAVE RADAR 4HIS EXPERIMENTAL 7ARLOC RADAR WAS EMPLOYED TO DEMONSTRATE AT 7
BAND THE )3!2 IMAGING OF MOVING TARGETS CLOUD STRUCTURE LOW
ANGLE OPERATION AND
UNUSUAL ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH INCLUDING WHAT HAVE BEEN CALLED hAIR SPIKESv
4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
4HE ABOVE DISCUSSION WAS MAINLY ABOUT THE GYROTRON AMPLIFIER 4HE GYROTRON HAS
ALSO BEEN OPERATED AS AN OSCILLATOR TO PRODUCE VERY HIGH POWER BUT THE OSCILLATOR VER
SION HAS NOT BEEN AS POPULAR AS THE AMPLIFIER FOR RADAR APPLICATIONS 4HIS MIGHT BE DUE
TO THE AMPLIFIER BEING BETTER ABLE TO PRODUCE THE DESIRED RADAR WAVEFORMS
/, - // ,-*
/,1
" /,"
4HE INCREASING DEMAND FOR ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM FOR BOTH CIVILIAN AND MILITARY
APPLICATIONS HAS ACCENTUATED THE NEED TO CONTROL THE SPECTRUM OF RADAR TRANSMITTERS
TO AVOID INTERFERENCE WITH USERS OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM OPERATING AT OTHER
FREQUENCIES 4HE ASPECTS OF CONCERN HERE ARE THOSE THAT AFFECT 2& TUBE SELECTION AND
ACHIEVEMENT OF MINIMUM SPECTRUM OCCUPANCY BY THE TRANSMITTERS DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY
IN THIS CHAPTER
2EDUCTION OF 3PURIOUS /UTPUTS 2& TUBE SPURIOUS OUTPUTS MAY BE GROUPED INTO
THREE KINDS HARMONICS ADJACENT BAND AND IN BAND
!LL 2& TUBES PRODUCE SOME HARMONIC OUTPUT )N GENERAL LITTLE CAN BE DONE IN TUBE
DESIGN TO REDUCE HARMONIC OUTPUTS BUT IT IS FEASIBLE TO FILTER OUT HARMONICS TO
D" REDUCTION WITH HIGH POWER FILTERS
!DJACENT BAND SPURIOUS OUTPUT CAN ALSO OCCUR IN SOME CATHODE PULSED 474S AND
#&!S !DJACENT BAND SPURIOUS OUTPUT IS AFFECTED BY TUBE AND MODULATOR SELECTION BUT
IT CAN BE FILTERED BY A HIGH POWER MICROWAVE FILTER IF NECESSARY
!LL 2& TUBES PRODUCE SOME IN BAND BACKGROUND NOISE LEVEL )N A -(Z BANDWIDTH
THIS NOISE MIGHT BE TO D" DOWN IN CONVENTIONAL #&!S TO D" DOWN IN THE
LOW NOISE HIGH GAIN #&! AND D" DOWN OR BETTER IN LINEAR BEAM TUBES )N BAND
SPURIOUS CANNOT NORMALLY BE IMPROVED WITH FILTERS BECAUSE IT OCCURS WITHIN THE SAME
FREQUENCY RANGE AS THE DESIRED SIGNAL SPECTRUM !TTEMPTS TO USE NOISE DEGENERATION TO
REDUCE THE INHERENT 2& TUBE NOISE LEVELS ARE SUBJECT TO LIMITATIONS )N BAND SPURIOUS
SIGNALS CAN ALSO RESULT FROM POWER SUPPLY AND MODULATOR INSTABILITIES
2EDUCTION OF 3PECTRUM !MPLITUDE %XCEEDING SIN X X 4HE SPECTRUM OF A
PERFECTLY RECTANGULAR PULSE HAS THE FAMILIAR SIN X X FORM WHERE X IS O FO F S FO IS
THE RADAR CARRIER FREQUENCY AND S IS THE PULSE WIDTH )F S IS CALLED THE NOMINAL BAND
WIDTH OF THE SIGNAL THE ENVELOPE OF THE SPECTRUM PEAKS FALLS OFF AT THE RATE OF D"
PER OCTAVE OF BANDWIDTH AND THIS REDUCTION WILL CONTINUE UNTIL THE ENVELOPE REACHES
THE INHERENT NOISE OUTPUT LEVEL OF THE TRANSMITTER 4HIS RATE OF SPECTRUM FALLOFF IS TOO
SLOW TO MEET MOST SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS .EVERTHELESS WITHOUT SPECIAL CARE THE ACTUAL
SPECTRUM ENVELOPE MIGHT BE EVEN WORSE THAN THIS DEPENDING ON TUBE CHARACTERISTICS
AS A RESULT OF PHASE MODULATION DURING THE FINITE RISE AND FALL OF PRACTICAL MODULATOR
AND 2& DRIVE PULSE SHAPES )N THESE CASES EITHER THE LEADING AND TRAILING EDGES MUST
BE APPROPRIATELY TAILORED OR ELSE IN LINEAR BEAM TUBES THE 2& DRIVE MAY BE WITHHELD
DURING THE RISE AND FALL TIME !LTHOUGH THIS MAY SLIGHTLY REDUCE APPARENT EFFICIENCY IT
SHOULD BE NOTED THAT ENERGY OUTSIDE THE APPROXIMATELY S GENERATED DURING RISE AND
FALL WITH THE 2& DRIVE PRESENT IS NOT UTILIZED BY THE RECEIVER ANYWAY
)MPROVEMENT BY -EANS OF 3HAPED 0ULSES 3INCE THE ENERGY IN THE SPECTRUM
BEYOND PLUS OR MINUS S FROM FO IS NOT USED BY THE RECEIVER IT IS DESIRABLE FOR
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY PURPOSES TO AVOID TRANSMITTING ENERGY BEYOND THOSE
LIMITS 4HIS OBJECTIVE MAY BE APPROACHED BY USING A PULSE SHAPE DIFFERENT FROM THE
CONVENIENT AND CONVENTIONAL RECTANGULAR PULSE (IGHLY SHAPED PULSES HAVE NOT
BEEN USED OFTEN IN RADAR SYSTEMS BECAUSE OF THE LOSS OF EFFICIENCY THAT RESULTS 4HESE
LIMITATIONS HOWEVER DO NOT APPLY WHEN USING THE GRID CONTROLLED TUBES KNOWN AS
THE #ONSTANT %FFICIENCY !MPLIFIER OR THE )NDUCTIVE /UTPUT 4UBE AS DISCUSSED LATER IN
3ECTION
!NOTHER APPROACH TO SPECTRUM IMPROVEMENT IS TO SHAPE THE RISE AND FALL OF A RECT
ANGULAR PULSE 4HIS ATTENUATES THE SPECTRUM OF FREQUENCIES FAR FROM FO WHILE THE FLAT
TOPPED PORTION OF THE PULSE RETAINS THE HIGH TRANSMITTER EFFICIENCY FOR MOST OF THE PULSE
DURATION 3INCE A RECTANGULAR PULSE HAS THE BEST TRANSMITTER EFFICIENCY BUT HAS HIGH
SPECTRAL ENERGY AT FREQUENCIES FAR FROM THE CENTER FREQUENCY WHEREAS A HIGHLY SHAPED
PULSE HAS LESS FAR OUT SPECTRAL ENERGY BUT POOR TRANSMITTER EFFICIENCY THE FRACTION OF
THE PULSE LENGTH TO BE USED FOR THE SHAPED RISE AND FALL IS A CRUCIAL DECISION
!LTHOUGH THE IMPROVEMENT ATTAINABLE IN PRACTICE IS LIMITED BY PHASE MODULATION IN
THE TRANSMITTER DURING THE RISE AND FALL SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS CAN BE OBTAINED
)N A LINEAR BEAM TUBE TRANSMITTER WITH PROPERLY SHAPED 2& DRIVE FOR EXAMPLE THE
SPECTRUM WIDTH AT D" DOWN CAN USUALLY BE NARROWED BY ABOUT AN ORDER OF MAGNI
TUDE AT A COST OF ABOUT D" IN TRANSMITTER EFFICIENCY
!MPLIFIER CHAIN RADAR SYSTEMS WHETHER TUBE OR SOLID STATE OFTEN USE SOME SHAPING
OF THE EDGES OF THE TRANSMITTED 2& PULSE TO REDUCE THE 2& SPECTRUM WIDTH 4HIS CAN BE
DONE BY SIMPLY SLOWING THE RISE AND FALL TIMES OF THE EXCITER SIGNAL TO THE TRANSMITTER
AND THIS APPROACH GENERALLY HAS BEEN ADEQUATE TO SATISFY -ILITARY 3TANDARDS AND RELATED
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
3PECTRAL .OISE IN $OPPLER 2ADARS 4HE DOPPLER FREQUENCY SHIFT IS WIDELY USED
TO DETECT MOVING TARGET ECHO SIGNALS IN THE PRESENCE OF LARGE CLUTTER ECHOES (OWEVER
IF THE RADAR TRANSMITTER GENERATES NOISE OR ITS PULSE WAVEFORM HAS SIGNIFICANT SPEC
TRAL ENERGY AT THE DOPPLER FREQUENCIES EXPECTED FROM MOVING TARGETS THIS UNWANTED
NOISE OR SPECTRA WILL DEGRADE THE DETECTION OF DESIRED TARGETS 4HE TRANSMITTER NOISE
IS REFLECTED BACK FROM THE CLUTTER AND ENTERS THE RECEIVER AND IS SOMETIMES CALLED
hTRANSMITTED CLUTTERv 3OME TYPES OF MICROWAVE TUBES ARE MORE OF A PROBLEM THAN
OTHERS %XTRANEOUS NOISE IN A MICROWAVE AMPLIFIER TUBE AT THE FREQUENCIES EXPECTED
FROM DOPPLER SHIFTED TARGET ECHOES CAN BE PRODUCED BY ION OSCILLATIONS !CCORDING
TO ! ! !CKER hTHESE ARE PERIODIC INSTABILITIES THAT CAN OCCUR IN THE ELECTRON BEAM
AT VIDEO FREQUENCIES RESULTING IN SIGNALS OTHER THAN THE CARRIER FREQUENCY CAUSING
SEVERE PROBLEMS TO DOPPLER RADAR PERFORMANCEv !CKER ALSO STATES THAT ION OSCILLATIONS
REQUIRE A FINITE TIME TO DEVELOP SO THAT IF A TUBE IS OPERATED WITH LESS THAN A S PULSE
WIDTH ION NOISE IS USUALLY NOT OF CONCERN
!DVANCES IN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY HAVE ALLOWED A METHOD TO REDUCE INTRA PULSE TRANS
MITTER NOISE AND POWER SUPPLY INSTABILITIES THAT AFFECT RADAR PERFORMANCE BY THE PRESENCE
OF STRONG CLUTTER ECHOES 4HE TECHNIQUE KNOWN AS 4RANSMITTER .OISE #OMPENSATION
4.# CAPTURES AND PROCESSES AN ACCURATE REPLICA OF EACH TRANSMITTED PULSE "Y MEANS
OF PULSE TO PULSE COMPARISONS THE MEASURED TRANSMITTER ERRORS ARE USED TO DERIVE A
DIGITAL FILTER THAT COMPENSATES FOR THE TRANSMITTER NOISE THAT ARRIVES IN THE RECEIVER
DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR 4.# COMPENSATES FOR INTRA PULSE TRANSMITTER NOISE AS WELL
AS POWER SUPPLY INSTABILITIES !LTHOUGH 4.# WORKS ONLY IN A SINGLE UNAMBIGUOUS
RANGE INTERVAL IT IS SAID THAT IT SHOULD BE ABLE TO OPERATE WITH SOME MEDIUM 02&
RADARS IF SIGNIFICANT CLUTTER IS NOT LIKELY TO EXTEND OVER MORE THAN ONE 02& INTERVAL
4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
!N EXPERIMENTAL IMPLEMENTATION USING DATA COLLECTED ON AN OPERATIONAL RADAR WITH
A #&! TRANSMITTER SHOWED THAT hTHE 4.# TECHNIQUE CAN IMPROVE RADAR DETECTION OF
TARGETS IN CLUTTER BY D" OR MOREv
,
" /,"
/1
4HE GRID
CONTROLLED TUBE IS A MODERN VERSION OF THE CLASSICAL TRIODE OR TETRODE VACUUM
TUBE THAT DATES BACK TO THE EARLY YEARS OF THE TH CENTURY 4HESE DEVICES EMPLOY A
CATHODE TO GENERATE ELECTRONS ONE FOR A TRIODE OR TWO FOR A TETRODE CONTROL GRIDS
AND AN ANODE TO COLLECT THE ELECTRONS ! SMALL VOLTAGE APPLIED TO THE CONTROL GRID ACTS TO
CONTROL THE NUMBER OF ELECTRONS TRAVELING FROM CATHODE TO ANODE 4HE PROCESS BY WHICH
THE ELECTRON DENSITY OF THE ELECTRON STREAM IS MODULATED BY THE SIGNAL ON THE CONTROL
GRID TO PRODUCE AMPLIFICATION IS CALLED DENSITY MODULATION )N THE LATTER HALF OF THE TH
CENTURY GRID
CONTROLLED TUBES WERE SUCCESSFULLY EMPLOYED IN SUCH IMPORTANT RADAR
APPLICATIONS AS (& OVER
THE
HORIZON RADAR 6(& AND 5(& AIRCRAFT SURVEILLANCE RADARS
AND SATELLITE SURVEILLANCE RADARS 'RID
CONTROLLED TUBES ARE CAPABLE OF HIGH POWER WIDE
BANDWIDTH GOOD EFFICIENCY AND INHERENT LONG LIFE BUT THEY ARE OF LOW OR MODERATE
GAIN 4HEIR CHIEF LIMITATION IS THAT THEY ARE NOT CAPABLE OF OPERATING AT HIGHER FREQUEN
CIES BUT THEY ARE CAPABLE UP TO FREQUENCIES APPROACHING '(Z 'RID
CONTROLLED TUBES
HAVE BEEN OPERATED AT 5(& AND HIGHER FREQUENCIES BY USING MICROWAVE TECHNIQUES IN
THEIR CONSTRUCTION AS WAS DONE IN THE #OAXITRON 4HEY CAN ALSO BE MADE TO OPERATE WITH
CONSTANT EFFICIENCY WHEN SHAPING OF THE PULSE AMPLITUDE IS USED TO REDUCE INTERFERENCE
CAUSED BY ITS FAR
OUT SPECTRUM SOMETHING NOT AS PRACTICAL TO DO WITH OTHER TYPES OF
MICROWAVE TUBES
#OAXITRON 4HE PERFORMANCE OF CONVENTIONAL GRID
CONTROL TUBES AT THE HIGHER FRE
QUENCIES IS LIMITED BY THE TIME IT TAKES FOR THE ELECTRONS TO TRANSIT FROM THE CATHODE TO
THE ANODE OF THE TUBE 4HIS TRANSIT TIME MUST BE SMALL COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF THE 2&
SIGNAL TO BE AMPLIFIED 4O MINIMIZE THE UNDESIRED TRANSIT
TIME EFFECTS THE COMPLETE 2&
INPUT AND OUTPUT CIRCUIT AND THE ELECTRICAL INTERACTION SYSTEM CAN BE PLACED WITHIN THE
VACUUM ENVELOPE 3UCH A GRID
CONTROLLED TUBE IS CALLED A #OAXITRON )N ONE EMBODI
MENT OF THE #OAXITRON THE ELECTRON
INTERACTION STRUCTURE CONSISTED OF A CYLINDRICAL
ARRAY OF ESSENTIALLY INDEPENDENT GROUNDED
GRID UNIT TRIODES
4HE SO
CALLED !& #OAXITRON DESCRIBED IN 6INGST ET AL OPERATED OVER A
FREQUENCY RANGE FROM TO -(Z WITH A PEAK POWER OF -7 A PULSE WIDTH
OF S A DUTY CYCLE OF AN AVERAGE POWER OF JUST UNDER K7 AND A PLATE
EFFICIENCY OF 4HE #OAXITRON HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY EMPLOYED FOR 5(& RADARS
INCLUDING AIRBORNE
#ONSTANT %FFICIENCY !MPLIFIER #%! )T HAS BEEN SAID THAT hA CONSTANT
EFFICIENCY AMPLIFIER HAS BEEN A GOAL FOR TRANSMITTER ENGINEERS EVER SINCE ,EE
$E&OREST AND !MBROSE &LEMING INVENTED THE FIRST ELECTRONIC AMPLIFIERSv 4HIS GOAL
SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED BY THE #%! GRID
CONTROLLED TUBE
)T IS CUSTOMARY TO THINK OF THE SHAPE OF A CONVENTIONAL RADAR PULSE AS BEING
RECTANGULAR )T IS SELDOM HOWEVER PERFECTLY RECTANGULAR WITH VERY SHORT RISE AND
FALL TIMES BECAUSE SUCH A WAVEFORM HAS A VERY LARGE BANDWIDTH AS ONE CAN OBSERVE
FROM ITS &OURIER TRANSFORM %VEN IF A LARGE BANDWIDTH WERE AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT A
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
RECTANGULAR PULSE A LARGE BANDWIDTH WOULD LIKELY CAUSE INTERFERENCE TO OTHER RADARS
AND OTHER ELECTROMAGNETIC SYSTEMS &OR THIS REASON GOVERNMENT FREQUENCY ALLOCATION
AGENCIES USUALLY REQUIRE THAT THE FREQUENCY SPECTRUM FROM A RADAR NOT CONTAIN LARGE
ENERGY AT OTHER FREQUENCIES 4HIS IS BECOMING MORE IMPORTANT AS THE OCCUPANCY OF THE
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM IS INCREASINGLY CROWDED WITH TRANSMITTERS 4HE CLASSICAL
WAY TO REDUCE THE FAR
OUT SPECTRUM FROM A RADAR TRANSMITTER IS TO SHAPE OR TAPER
ITS WAVEFORM SUCH AS BY USING A TRAPEZOIDAL SHAPE A GAUSSIAN
LIKE PULSE SHAPE A
TRUNCATED GAUSSIAN PERHAPS A COSINE ON A PEDESTAL OR OTHER TYPE OF NONRECTANGULAR
SHAPE 4HE PROBLEM WITH USING CONVENTIONAL TRANSMITTERS SUCH AS DISCUSSED IN THIS
CHAPTER IS THAT WHEN USING A SHAPED WAVEFORM SOME LOSS IN EFFICIENCY RESULTS 4HUS
IT IS SELDOM THAT A RADAR DESIGNER WOULD WANT TO USE A HIGHLY SHAPED PULSE WAVEFORM
IN ORDER TO REDUCE THE SPECTRUM RADIATED OUTSIDE OF THE RADARS NORMAL OPERATING
SIGNAL BANDWIDTH 4HE #%! HOWEVER IS AN 2& POWER SOURCE THAT DOES NOT HAVE ITS
EFFICIENCY DECREASED WHEN A NONRECTANGULAR OR SHAPED WAVEFORM IS USED 4HE #%!
HAS BEEN WIDELY USED FOR COMMERCIAL 46 TRANSMITTERS THAT HAVE HIGHLY MODULATED
NONCONSTANT AMPLITUDE WAVEFORMS
4HE #%! IS BASED ON A GRID
CONTROLLED TUBE KNOWN AS AN )NDUCTIVE /UTPUT 4UBE
OR )/4 4HE #%! IS SIMILAR TO SOMETHING CALLED A +LYSTRODE EXCEPT THAT THE #%!
EMPLOYS THE )/4 WITH A MULTISTAGE DEPRESSED COLLECTOR SIMILAR TO THAT USED IN KLYS
TRONS AND 474S )N THE )/4 THE WIRE GRID OF A GRID
CONTROLLED TUBE IS REPLACED
WITH AN APERTURE THAT DOES NOT INTERCEPT THE ELECTRONS AND IT HAS A COAXIAL MAGNETIC
FIELD THAT CONFINES THE ELECTRON STREAM AS IN A KLYSTRON OR A 474 !LTHOUGH AN 2&
CAVITY IS USED IN AN )/4 THE BEAM IS DENSITY MODULATED OR BUNCHED WITH A GRID
SIMILAR TO HOW IT IS MODULATED IN A TRIODE OR TETRODE GRID
CONTROLLED TUBE 4HIS MAKES
IT SMALLER AND LIGHTER THAN A COMPARABLE KLYSTRON 4HE DENSITY MODULATED ELECTRONS
THUS FORM BUNCHES AND 2& ENERGY IS EXTRACTED BY PASSING THE BEAM THROUGH THE
RESONANT CAVITY 4HE #%! HAS BEEN WIDELY USED FOR 5(&
46 TRANSMITTERS A HIGHLY
COMPETITIVE INDUSTRY CONCERNED WITH COST )T HAS BEEN SAID THAT IN 5(&
46 THE USE
OF A #%! REDUCES THE REQUIRED PRIME POWER BY ONE
HALF COMPARED TO A CONVENTIONAL
TUBE TRANSMITTER AND BY ONE
THIRD OF THE PRIME POWER OF A SILICON
CARBIDE SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER 4HE #%! ACHIEVES THESE EFFICIENCIES SINCE THERE IS NO LOSS OF EFFI
CIENCY WHEN USING SHAPED PULSE WAVEFORMS AS THERE IS WITH OTHER MICROWAVE TUBES
4HIS IS AN IMPORTANT REASON FOR ITS USE FOR 5(&
46 WITH ITS TIME
VARYING
AMPLITUDE
WAVEFORM )T ALSO SHOULD BE AN ADVANTAGE FOR RADAR APPLICATIONS THAT REQUIRE SHAPED
WAVEFORMS AT FREQUENCIES UP TO -(Z WHEN IT IS REQUIRED TO REDUCE THE FAR
OUT
SPECTRAL ENERGY
! #%! SUCH AS MANUFACTURED BY ,
#OMMUNICATIONS CAN OPERATE WITHIN THE
5(&
46 BAND FROM TO -(Z WITH AN -(Z BANDWIDTH THE SPECTRAL WIDTH
OF A 46 CHANNEL K7 PEAK POWER AT EFFICIENCY AND AN AVERAGE POWER OF
K7 OR GREATER 4HE SINGLE INPUT CAVITY CAN BE MADE TO TUNE OVER THE ENTIRE BAND
WITH LOW 6372
4HUS THE CONSTANT EFFICIENCY AMPLIFIER IS A GRID
CONTROLLED TUBE OPERATING AS CLASS
!" THAT CONSISTS OF AN INDUCTIVE
OUTPUT TUBE WITH A MULTISTAGE DEPRESSED COLLECTOR )T
IS A LINEAR AMPLIFIER WHOSE PRIME POWER CAN BE PROPORTIONAL TO THE OUTPUT POWER PRO
VIDING CONSTANT EFFICIENCY OVER A WIDE RANGE OF OUTPUT POWERS 4HE #%! SEEMS TO BE
THE PREFERRED TUBE FOR 5(&
46 TRANSMITTERS RATHER THAN OTHER TYPES OF GRID
CONTROLLED
TUBES SOLID
STATE OR KLYSTRONS )T WOULD SEEM THAT THE #%! OUGHT TO BE OF INTEREST FOR
RADAR APPLICATIONS AT FREQUENCIES AS HIGH AS -(Z WHEN HIGHLY SHAPED PULSES
NEED TO BE USED
4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
!PPLICATION OF 'RID #ONTROLLED 4UBES 4HERE HAS BEEN IMPORTANT APPLICATION OF
THE GRID CONTROLLED TUBE FOR RADARS IN THE PAST AT (& 6(& AND 5(& )T IS STILL OF VALUE FOR
APPLICATIONS IN THESE FREQUENCY REGIONS AND SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS A CANDIDATE WHEN
DESIGNING A RADAR TO OPERATE AT THE LOWER FREQUENCIES 4HE CONSTANT EFFICIENCY AMPLI
FIER SHOULD BE OF INTEREST BECAUSE OF ITS HIGHER EFFICIENCY WHEN SHAPED WAVEFORMS ARE
NEEDED FOR CONTROL OF THE RADIATED SPECTRUM
n " 1 /",4HIS SECTION BRIEFLY REVIEWS THE MODULATOR SOMETIMES CALLED THE PULSER WHICH IS THE
DEVICE THAT TURNS THE TRANSMITTER TUBE ON AND OFF TO GENERATE THE DESIRED PULSE WAVE
FORM 4HOSE DESIRING MORE INFORMATION MIGHT EXAMINE #HAPTER IN , 3IVANS BOOK
ON TRANSMITTERS THE CHAPTER BY 4 ! 7EIL IN THE SECOND EDITION OF 2ADAR (ANDBOOK
THE #ONFERENCE 2ECORDS OF THE )NTERNATIONAL 0OWER -ODULATOR 3YMPOSIA AND THE
#ONFERENCE 0ROCEEDINGS OF THE )%%% 0ULSE 0OWER #ONFERENCES
4HE TYPE OF TUBE DETERMINES TO SOME EXTENT THE TYPE OF MODULATOR ! MODULA
TOR BASICALLY CONSISTS OF AN ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE WHICH MAY BE A CAPACITANCE OR A
PULSE FORMING NETWORK AND A SWITCH FOR TRIGGERING THE DC PULSE 4HE SWITCH IN THE
PAST MIGHT HAVE BEEN A VACUUM TUBE THYRATRON IGNITRON SILICON CONTROLLED RECTIFIER
3#2 REVERSE SWITCHING RECTIFIER SPARK GAP OR MAGNETIC (OWEVER THE SOLID STATE
SWITCH SEEMS TO BE THE SWITCHING MECHANISM THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED INITIALLY WHEN
DESIGNING A TRANSMITTER MODULATOR -ODULATORS CAN BE CLASSED AS EITHER LOW POWER OR
HIGH POWER DEPENDING ON HOW THE TUBE IS MODULATED
)F THE TUBE HAS A GRID A SMALL AND RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE TYPE OF MODULATOR CAN BE
USED BUT GRIDS USUALLY ARE NOT FEASIBLE WITH HIGH POWER TUBES ! WIDELY USED SWITCHING
ELEMENT FOR LOW POWER MODULATORS IS THE -/3&%4 TRANSISTOR
,OW POWER MODULATORS CAN BE USED WITH TUBES THAT EMPLOY A MODULATING ANODE
AS DOES THE LINEAR BEAM AMPLIFIER 4HE MODULATING ANODE IN A LINEAR BEAM TUBE IS PART
OF THE ELECTRON GUN AND IS SEPARATED FROM THE BODY OF THE TUBE 4HE VOLTAGE OF THE
MODULATING ANODE IS VARIED OVER A LARGE RANGE IN ORDER TO VARY THE ELECTRON BEAM CUR
RENT BUT THE POWER NEEDED TO DRIVE THE MODULATING ANODE IS SMALL BECAUSE THE CURRENT
INTERCEPTED BY THE MODULATING ANODE IS VERY SMALL
6ERY HIGH POWER TUBES CANNOT USE A MODULATING ANODE BECAUSE THE CONTROL ELECTRODE
MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE POWER 7HEN THIS OCCURS A HIGH POWER MODULATOR
CALLED A CATHODE PULSER MIGHT HAVE TO BE USED TO SWITCH THE TUBE ON AND OFF #ATHODE
PULSERS MUST SWITCH THE FULL BEAM VOLTAGE AND CURRENT SIMULTANEOUSLY WHICH INVOLVES
HIGH INSTANTANEOUS POWERS 4HEY MUST CONTROL THE FULL BEAM POWER OF THE 2& TUBE EITHER
DIRECTLY OR THROUGH A COUPLING CIRCUIT 4HE ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE MIGHT BE MADE UP OF
CAPACITORS INDUCTORS OR SOME COMBINATION OF THE TWO AS IN PULSE FORMING NETWORKS
4HE ENERGY IN THE ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE IS DISCHARGED BY A VERY CAPABLE SWITCH
4HE LINE TYPE MODULATOR USES A DELAY LINE OR A PULSE FORMING NETWORK 0&. AS THE
ENERGY STORAGE ELEMENT ! SWITCH INITIATES THE DISCHARGE OF THE ENERGY STORED IN THE
0&. 4HE SHAPE AND DURATION OF THE PULSE ARE DETERMINED BY THE PASSIVE ELEMENTS OF
THE 0&. 4HE SWITCH HAS NO CONTROL OVER THE PULSE SHAPE OTHER THAN TO INITIATE IT 4HE
PULSE ENDS WHEN THE 0&. HAS DISCHARGED SUFFICIENTLY ! DISADVANTAGE OF THIS ACTION IS
THAT THE TRAILING EDGE OF THE PULSE IS USUALLY NOT SHARP SINCE IT DEPENDS ON THE DISCHARGE
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 0&. )T HAS BEEN WIDELY USED IN THE PAST FOR MAGNETRON PULSING
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)N AN ACTIVE SWITCH MODULATOR THE SWITCH HAS TO BE TURNED OFF AS WELL AS TURNED ON
/RIGINALLY THE SWITCH WAS A VACUUM TUBE AND THE MODULATOR WAS CALLED A HARD TUBE
MODULATOR TO DISTINGUISH IT FROM THE GAS TUBE SWITCH OFTEN USED IN A LINE TYPE MODULATOR
3INCE OTHER THAN VACUUM TUBES CAN BE USED AS THE SWITCH IN AN ACTIVE SWITCH MODULATOR
THE hHARD TUBEv DESIGNATION MEANING A VACUUM TUBE MIGHT NOT ALWAYS APPLY 5NLIKE
THE LINE TYPE MODULATOR THE SWITCH IN THE ACTIVE SWITCH MODULATOR CONTROLS BOTH THE
BEGINNING AND END OF THE PULSE 3INCE THE ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE IS A CAPACITOR THE
PULSE CAN DROOP SOMETHING THAT CAN BE PREVENTED BY EXTRACTING ONLY A SMALL FRACTION
OF THE STORED ENERGY FROM THE CAPACITOR 4HIS REQUIRES A LARGE CAPACITANCE WHICH MAY
BE OBTAINED WITH A COLLECTION OF CAPACITORS CALLED A CAPACITOR BANK 4HE ACTIVE SWITCH
MODULATOR PERMITS GREATER FLEXIBILITY AND PRECISION THAN THE LINE TYPE MODULATOR )T CAN
PROVIDE EXCELLENT PULSE SHAPE VARYING PULSE DURATIONS AND PULSE REPETITION FREQUEN
CIES INCLUDING MIXED PULSE LENGTHS AND BURSTS OF PULSES WITH CLOSE PULSE SPACINGS
-ICROWAVE TUBES AND THEIR HIGH VOLTAGE SWITCHES CAN SOMETIMES PRODUCE AN
UNWANTED ARC DISCHARGE THAT EFFECTIVELY PLACES A SHORT CIRCUIT ACROSS THE POWER SUP
PLY ANDOR MODULATOR DELIVERING POWER TO THE TUBE 3INCE * OF ENERGY CAN USUALLY
CAUSE DAMAGE TO AN 2& TUBE OR THE SWITCHING DEVICE AND SINCE THE CAPACITOR BANK
FOR AN ACTIVE SWITCH MODULATOR MUST OFTEN STORE FAR MORE THAN * TO PREVENT EXCES
SIVE DROOP SOME MEANS MUST BE PROVIDED TO DIVERT THE STORED ENERGY WHEN AN ARC
DISCHARGE OCCURS 3UCH A DEVICE IS THE CROWBAR SO CALLED BECAUSE IT IS EQUIVALENT TO
PLACING A HEAVY CONDUCTOR LIKE A CROWBAR DIRECTLY ACROSS THE POWER SUPPLY TO DIVERT
THE ENERGY AND THUS PREVENT THE ENERGY FROM DISCHARGING THROUGH THE TUBE AND CAUS
ING SERIOUS DAMAGE ! CROWBAR IS THEREFORE NEEDED FOR A HIGH POWER ACTIVE SWITCH
MODULATOR BECAUSE OF THE LARGE AMOUNT OF ENERGY STORED IN ITS CAPACITOR BANK /N THE
OTHER HAND CROWBARS ARE NOT USUALLY NEEDED WITH LINE TYPE MODULATORS WHICH STORE
LESS ENERGY IN THEIR PULSE FORMING NETWORK
#ERTAIN CROSSED FIELD AMPLIFIERS CAN BE PULSED BY MEANS OF A CONTROL ELECTRODE
LOCATED IN THE TUBES DRIFT REGION WITHOUT A SEPARATE FULL POWER PULSE MODULATOR
4HIS IS CALLED DC OPERATION %VEN THOUGH DC OPERATION AVOIDS A HIGH POWER MODULA
TOR IT HAS SELDOM BEEN USED BECAUSE IT REQUIRES A MUCH LARGER CAPACITOR BANK TO LIMIT
DROOP AN ARC IN THE TUBE REQUIRES A CROWBAR THAT INTERRUPTS OPERATION FOR A FEW SECONDS
INSTEAD OF ONLY FOR A SINGLE PULSE AND THE ADJACENT RADARS MIGHT INJECT ENOUGH 2&
POWER INTO THE RADAR ANTENNA AND BACK TO THE TRANSMITTER TO TURN ON A DC OPERATED #&!
AT THE WRONG TIMES 4HERE HAS BEEN AT LEAST ONE EXAMPLE IN THE PAST WHERE A MAJOR
RADAR SYSTEM ORIGINALLY DESIGNED WITH #&!S BASED ON DC OPERATION HAD TO HAVE ITS DC
OPERATED #&!S REPLACED DURING THE MIDDLE OF ITS DEVELOPMENT WITH #&!S THAT USED
CONVENTIONAL PULSE MODULATORS
!T THE BEGINNING OF THE TH CENTURY THE SOLID STATE MODULATOR WAS DEVELOPED AND
BEGAN TO BE USED FOR RADAR TRANSMITTERS AS EITHER CATHODE PULSED OR MODULATING ANODE
PULSED MODULATORS AS WELL AS GRID PULSED 3OLID STATE MODULATORS OFFER IMPROVED TRANS
MITTER PERFORMANCE BY ALLOWING A WIDE VARIATION IN PARAMETERS PULSE WIDTH PULSE
REPETITION FREQUENCY PULSE AGILITY AND PULSE TO PULSE CONSISTENCY 4HEY ALSO PROVIDE
COST SAVINGS THAT RESULT FROM THE INHERENT RELIABILITY OF THESE SWITCH MODULES COMPARED
TO CONVENTIONAL SWITCH TUBES AND THE ELIMINATION OF NUMEROUS AUXILIARY COMPONENTS
NEEDED FOR THE OPERATION OF SWITCH TUBES ,OWER OPERATING COSTS AND SMALLER COOL
ING REQUIREMENTS OCCUR BECAUSE OF THEIR HIGHER CONVERSION EFFICIENCY 4HEY ARE ALSO
SAID TO HAVE HIGHER RELIABILITY WITH LONGER COMPONENT LIFE 4HE ABILITY OF THE SOLID STATE
SWITCH TO OPEN QUICKLY LESS THAN ONE MICROSECOND WHEN A FAULT IS DETECTED ELIMINATES
THE NEED FOR A CROWBAR 4HE ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE DOES NOT DISCHARGE DURING AN ARC
SO WHEN THE FAULT HAS CLEARED THE TRANSMITTER CAN RESUME OPERATION IN MICROSECONDS
4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
! SOLID
STATE CATHODE MODULATOR CAN PROVIDE PULSE WIDTHS VARYING FROM NS TO hDCv
ON A PULSE
TO
PULSE BASIS AND CAN SUPPORT PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCIES UP TO K(Z
4HE HIGH VOLTAGE SOLID
STATE SWITCHES ARE BUILT FROM MODULES THAT MIGHT CONTAIN FROM
TO INDIVIDUAL TRANSISTORS CONNECTED IN SERIES TO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED TRANSMITTER
CATHODE VOLTAGE 2ISE TIMES CAN BE AS LOW AS NS
7
,*"7
,-"1,
/"1-
4HERE IS NO GOOD SIMPLE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION BUT IN THIS SECTION WE SHALL ATTEMPT
TO DISCUSS SOME OF THE VARIOUS ISSUES THAT MIGHT BE INVOLVED
4HIS CHAPTER HAS BRIEFLY DESCRIBED THE VARIOUS VACUUM TUBES THAT HAVE BEEN USED OR
CONSIDERED FOR RADAR APPLICATIONS AND THE NEXT CHAPTER DISCUSSES THE SOLID
STATE TRANSMIT
TER WHICH HAS ALSO BEEN WIDELY USED IN RADAR ! QUESTION THAT NATURALLY ARISES IS WHICH
2& POWER SOURCE SHOULD BE USED FOR SOME PARTICULAR RADAR APPLICATION 2ADAR SYSTEM
DESIGN USUALLY INVOLVES MAKING CHOICES AMONG THE VARIOUS POSSIBILITIES AVAILABLE 7HEN
TRYING TO DETERMINE WHICH 2& POWER SOURCE TO USE A CHOICE CAN BE MADE BY DOING A
SEPARATE SYSTEM DESIGN WITH EACH 2& POWER SOURCE THAT SEEMS PROMISING 4HE DECISION
AS TO WHICH TO USE CAN BE BASED ON HOW WELL EACH SYSTEM DESIGN PERFORMS THE DESIRED
TASK ACCORDING TO SOME PRE
ESTABLISHED CRITERIA 4HIS UNFORTUNATELY IS SELDOM DONE )T
IS SUSPECTED THAT SOMETIMES THE DECISION AS TO WHICH 2& POWER SOURCE TO USE IS DETER
MINED BY WHAT THE RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNER THINKS THE BUYER OR CUSTOMER OF THE RADAR
DESIRES 3OMETIMES THE BUYER WILL ACTUALLY SPECIFY THE TYPE OF TRANSMITTER TO BE DELIVERED
-ANUFACTURING A PRODUCT BASED ON WHAT THE BUYER THINKS HE OR SHE WANTS MAY BE A GOOD
MARKETING STRATEGY FOR MANY PRODUCTS BUT IN SOMETHING LIKE A RADAR IT MIGHT BE BETTER
FOR A CUSTOMER TO CLEARLY SPECIFY WHAT PERFORMANCE IS WANTED AND THEN LEAVE THE DECISION
AS TO WHAT 2& POWER SOURCE SHOULD BE USED TO THE RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNER )T IS USUALLY
BETTER IF THE RADAR DESIGN CAN BE DETERMINED BY THE RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNER AND NOT BY THE
MANUFACTURERS MARKETING DEPARTMENT 4HE GOALS OF THE RADAR DESIGNER AND THE MARKET
ING DEPARTMENT ARE NOT ALWAYS THE SAME )T IS APPRECIATED HOWEVER THAT SOMETIMES THE
MARKETING MANAGERS OPINION HAS TO PREVAIL IF THE COMPANY IS TO REMAIN IN BUSINESS
! NUMBER OF DIFFERENT 2& POWER SOURCES HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED THAT AT ONE TIME OR
OTHER HAVE BEEN EMPLOYED IN RADAR .OT ALL MIGHT BE POPULAR OR DESIRED AT SOME PARTIC
ULAR TIME BUT MOST SHOULD BE CONSIDERED EVEN IF BRIEFLY BY THE RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNER
WHEN TRYING TO DETERMINE A NEW RADAR SYSTEM DESIGN OR AN UPGRADE OF SOME EXISTING
SYSTEM /PINIONS ABOUT THE UTILITY OF THE VARIOUS VACUUM TUBE TRANSMITTERS MENTIONED
HERE WILL BE BRIEFLY GIVEN NEXT WITH THE SUGGESTION TO THE READER TO KEEP IN MIND THAT
CIRCUMSTANCES CAN CHANGE AND THESE OPINIONS CAN CHANGE AS WELL 4HESE OPINIONS ARE
NOT hWRITTEN IN STONE v AND ARE NOT LIKELY TO BE UNIVERSALLY AGREED TO BY ALL THOSE WHO
WORK IN RADAR "UT THAT IS THE NATURE OF ANY ENGINEERING ENDEAVOR
"RIEF /PINIONS !BOUT THE 5TILITY OF 6ARIOUS 2ADAR 6ACUUM 4UBES 4HE TYPES
OF 2& POWER SOURCES ARE MENTIONED BELOW IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
'RID
#ONTROLLED 4UBE !LTHOUGH SOME MIGHT THINK THESE SHOULD HAVE DISAPPEARED
ALONG WITH THE OLD RADIO VACUUM TUBE THERE HAVE BEEN MANY (& 6(& AND 5(& RADARS
THAT SUCCESSFULLY OPERATED WITH GRID
CONTROL TUBES /FTEN WITH SUCH RADARS IT WOULD COST
MORE TO REPLACE THEM WITH SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTERS AND THERE MIGHT BE LITTLE GAINED BY
DOING SO 4HE GRID
CONTROLLED TUBE KNOWN AS THE CONSTANT EFFICIENCY AMPLIFIER #%!
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
AND ITS PREDECESSORS THE )/4 AND THE +LYSTRODE ARE THE ONLY 2& POWER SOURCES THAT
CAN OPERATE EFFICIENTLY WHEN AMPLITUDE SHAPED WAVEFORMS ARE DESIRED FOR MINIMIZING
OUT
OF
BAND INTERFERENCE TO OTHER RADARS 4HUS THE #%! PROBABLY SHOULD BE A CANDIDATE
WHEN CONSIDERING ANY NEW 5(& RADAR SYSTEM AS WELL AS RADARS AT LOWER FREQUENCIES
ESPECIALLY IF MUTUAL INTERFERENCE IS A POTENTIAL PROBLEM
-AGNETRON )T WAS MENTIONED THAT THE MAGNETRON WAS WHAT MADE MICROWAVE
RADAR POSSIBLE IN THE S 4HE MAGNETRON IS STILL A VALID CANDIDATE FOR SMALL NON
DOPPLER RADARS SUCH AS CIVIL MARINE RADARS ALTHOUGH SUCH RADARS ALSO HAVE BEEN MANU
FACTURED WITH SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTERS )T IS NOT LIKELY THAT MAGNETRONS WILL BE USED IN
HIGH PERFORMANCE RADARS ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT REQUIRE AVERAGE POWERS MORE THAN ONE
OR TWO KILOWATTS OR WHERE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTORS HAVE TO BE GREATER THAN TO
D" &OR EXAMPLE DURING THE PROCUREMENT OF THE .EXRAD DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR IN
THE MID
S THE MAGNETRON WAS CONSIDERED BUT IT COULD NOT MEET THE CLUTTER CAN
CELLATION SPECIFICATIONS WHICH IS WHY .EXRAD EMPLOYS A KLYSTRON )N THE PAST SOME
LONG
RANGE !IR 4RAFFIC #ONTROL !IR 2OUTE 3URVEILLANCE 2ADARS USED A MAGNETRON BUT
THE KLYSTRON SEEMS TO BE THE PREFERRED CHOICE FOR THIS APPLICATION
#ROSSED
&IELD !MPLIFIER !LTHOUGH THESE TUBES WERE EMPLOYED FOR SOME MAJOR
RADAR APPLICATIONS BECAUSE THEY HAVE GOOD EFFICIENCY REQUIRE RELATIVELY LOW VOLTAGE
AND HAVE WIDE BANDWIDTH ABOUT THEY ARE LESS LIKELY TO BE USED BECAUSE THEY ARE
NOISY WHICH AFFECTS THEIR DOPPLER
PROCESSING PERFORMANCE THEY ARE OF RELATIVELY LOW
GAIN WHICH REQUIRES THE TRANSMITTER TO HAVE MULTIPLE STAGES AND BECAUSE THE KLYSTRON
IS USUALLY A BETTER OVERALL CHOICE
+LYSTRON 4HE ORIGINAL KLYSTRONS EMPLOYED RESONANT CAVITIES THAT RESTRICTED THEIR
BANDWIDTH 4HE BANDWIDTH OF A KLYSTRON HOWEVER INCREASES AS ITS POWER INCREASES
2ESONANT CAVITIES WERE LATER REPLACED BY WIDER
BAND CIRCUITS WHICH WERE RELATED TO
THE TYPE OF CIRCUITS USED IN 474S 3UCH KLYSTRONS ARE KNOWN AS THE #LUSTERED #AVITY
+LYSTRON %XTENDED )NTERACTION +LYSTRON AND THE 4WYSTRON 7HEN CONSIDERING A TRANS
MITTER FOR HIGH
PERFORMANCE RADAR THESE VARIANTS OF THE KLYSTRON ARE LIKELY TO BE HIGHLY
FAVORED FOR MANY APPLICATIONS 4HE KLYSTRON HAS GOOD STABILITY AND LOW NOISE SO AS TO
ENABLE LARGER -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTORS TO BE OBTAINED WHEN USING THE DOPPLER SHIFT
TO DETECT MOVING TARGETS IN CLUTTER !T HIGH POWER HIGH VOLTAGES HAVE TO BE USED AND
PROTECTION FROM 8
RAYS GENERATED BY THE HIGH VOLTAGE MUST BE EMPLOYED (OWEVER
THE -"+ MULTIPLE
BEAM KLYSTRON VERSION OF THE KLYSTRON CAN BE USED TO ACHIEVE HIGH
POWER WITH LOWER VOLTAGE
4RAVELING 7AVE 4UBE !S MENTIONED THE 474 AND THE KLYSTRON CAN HAVE COMPA
RABLE BANDWIDTHS WHEN THE TUBE PRODUCES HIGH POWER 4HE PERFORMANCE OF A 474 IS
SIMILAR TO THAT OF A WIDEBAND KLYSTRON EXCEPT THAT IT MIGHT NOT BE AS STABLE AS THE KLYSTRON
AND HAVE SLIGHTLY LESS GAIN 4HE MICROWAVE POWER MODULE -0- WHICH IS A COMBINA
TION OF HELICAL 474 AND SOLID
STATE DEVICE HAS NOT HAD SIGNIFICANT APPLICATION IN RADAR
'YROTRONS )F VERY HIGH POWER IS NEEDED AT MILLIMETER
WAVE FREQUENCIES THE
GYROTRON AMPLIFIER OR OSCILLATOR IS THE ONLY 2& POWER SOURCE AVAILABLE &OR LOW
POWER
RADAR APPLICATIONS AT MILLIMETER WAVES THE %)+ CAN BE USED
3OLID
3TATE !MPLIFIERS FOR 2ADAR 4RANSMITTERS 3OLID
STATE TRANSMITTERS AND
VACUUM TUBE TRANSMITTERS HAVE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES YET THEY ARE BOTH EMPLOYED
4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
IN RADAR 3OME OF THESE DIFFERENCES ARE MENTIONED IN 3ECTION OF #HAPTER h3OLID
3TATE 4RANSMITTERSv "RIEFLY PROPONENTS OF SOLID STATE MIGHT SAY THAT THEY DO NOT NEED
A HOT CATHODE AS DOES A VACUUM TUBE DO NOT REQUIRE HIGH VOLTAGES OR MAGNETS DO NOT
PRODUCE 8
RAY RADIATIONS AS SOME VACUUM TUBES DO HAVE hGRACEFUL DEGRADATION v AND
THAT MAINTAINABILITY IS ITS KEY ASSET /N THE OTHER HAND PROPONENTS OF VACUUM TUBES
MIGHT SAY THAT RADARS USING SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTERS HAVE LIMITED PEAK POWER AND THUS
NEED TO OPERATE WITH A LONG PULSE AND A HIGH DUTY CYCLE WHICH REQUIRE THE USE OF
PULSE COMPRESSION 4HE LONG PULSE CAN MASK OR ECLIPSE TARGET ECHOES AT SHORT RANGE SO
THAT AN ADDITIONAL SHORT PULSE TRANSMISSION IS NEEDED TO UNMASK THE ECLIPSED ECHOES
AT SHORT RANGES 7HEN 3ENSITIVITY 4IME #ONTROL WHICH HAS A VARYING RECEIVER GAIN
WITH RANGE IS USED WITH A LONG PULSE AND PULSE COMPRESSION DISTORTION CAN RESULT IN
THE COMPRESSED PULSE )T HAS ALSO BEEN SAID THAT SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTERS ARE OFTEN LESS
EFFICIENT THEY MIGHT BE HEAVIER AND THEIR COST MIGHT BE GREATER THAN AN EQUIVALENT
VACUUM TUBE RADAR SYSTEM 4HE ABOVE HAVE ALL BEEN SAID AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER BUT
THERE IS NOT UNIVERSAL AGREEMENT ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE CHARACTERISTICS FOR ALL
RADAR APPLICATIONS
4HE RADAR ENGINEER SHOULD NOT SIMPLY COMPARE THE PARTICULAR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
A SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER AND A VACUUM TUBE TRANSMITTER WHEN DETERMINING WHAT TYPE
OF 2& POWER SOURCE TO USE IN ANY PARTICULAR APPLICATION 4HE CHOICE BETWEEN THE TWO
SHOULD BE MADE BY COMPARING A RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNED TO EFFECTIVELY USE SOLID STATE
AND A RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNED TO EFFECTIVELY USE VACUUM TUBES !SSUMING THE SOLID STATE
AND VACUUM TUBE RADARS ARE DESIGNED TO PROVIDE IDENTICAL PERFORMANCE FOR THE DESIRED
APPLICATION THEN THE CHOICE SHOULD BE BASED ON COMPARING COST SIZE WEIGHT RELIABIL
ITY MAINTAINABILITY AND ANY OTHER SYSTEM REQUIREMENT THAT IS IMPORTANT FOR DECISION
MAKING 5NFORTUNATELY THIS IS NOT ALWAYS DONE "UYERS OF RADARS SHOULD BE ENCOUR
AGED NOT TO INSIST THAT THE RADAR DESIGNER USE SOME PARTICULAR TECHNOLOGY BECAUSE IT IS
CONSIDERED THE FASHIONABLE THING TO DO AT THE TIME 4HEY MIGHT NOT ALWAYS BE GETTING
THE BEST RADAR FOR THE PARTICULAR APPLICATION
4HERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST THREE WAYS TO APPLY SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTERS TO HIGH
PERFOR
MANCE RADARS AS A REPLACEMENT FOR A VACUUM TUBE TRANSMITTER IN AN ALREADY EXIST
ING RADAR AS THE TRANSMITTER FOR A NEW RADAR DESIGN AND AS AN ACTIVE APERTURE
PHASED ARRAY RADAR
!N EXAMPLE OF REPLACING AN EXISTING VACUUM TUBE TRANSMITTER WITH A SOLID
STATE
TRANSMITTER IS THE 53 .AVYS !.303
A RELATIVELY MODEST CAPABILITY 5(& RADAR
FOR AIR SURVEILLANCE 4HIS RADAR WAS CHOSEN FOR HAVING ITS VACUUM TUBE TRANSMITTER
REPLACED WITH A SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER USING TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIERS BECAUSE IT ALREADY
USED A LONG PULSE WAVEFORM WITH A HIGH DUTY CYCLE AND PULSE COMPRESSION WHICH IS
WHAT SOLID
STATE RADARS USUALLY REQUIRE 4HE SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER WAS PUT INTO PRODUC
TION AND INSTALLED IN EXISTING RADARS )T DID THE JOB IT WAS SUPPOSED TO DO BUT IT IS NOT
OBVIOUS THAT THE SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER HAD A NET ADVANTAGE OVER THE TUBE TRANSMITTER
4HE SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER WAS SUPPOSED TO OCCUPY THE SAME FLOOR SPACE AS THE VACUUM
TUBE TRANSMITTER BUT IT OCCUPIED ABOUT THE SAME FLOOR SPACE AS THE ENTIRE !.303
RADAR WHICH USED A VACUUM TUBE !LSO THE SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER COST MORE THAN THE
TUBE VERSION /NE HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGE OF THE SOLID
STATE VERSION OF THE 303
HOWEVER WAS THAT IT COULD INCLUDE SPARE SOLID
STATE MODULES AS PART OF THE TRANSMITTER
ITSELF SO THAT TIME TO REPAIR WAS REDUCED
!N EXAMPLE OF THE SECOND APPROACH TO ACHIEVING A SOLID
STATE RADAR TRANSMITTER IS
THE !32
AIRPORT SURVEILLANCE RADAR )N THE MID
S THE !32
AIR SURVEILLANCE
RADAR AT 3 BAND WAS DEVELOPED BY .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN THEN 7ESTINGHOUSE FOR USE
AT MAJOR AIRPORTS TO CONTROL LOCAL AIR TRAFFIC )T WAS AN EXCELLENT RADAR THAT USED A
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WELL TESTED KLYSTRON AMPLIFIER VACUUM TUBE AND IT WAS INSTALLED THROUGHOUT THE 5NITED
3TATES 4HE SAME TUBE IS USED IN THE .EXRAD DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR (OWEVER IN THE
LATE S SOLID STATE TECHNOLOGY HAD ADVANCED SUFFICIENTLY SO THAT .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN
DEVELOPED THE !32 ALSO AT 3 BAND USING A SOLID STATE TRANSMITTER )TS OVERALL RADAR
PERFORMANCE WAS SIMILAR TO THE !32 BUT IT WAS NOT JUST A REPLACEMENT OF THE TRANSMIT
TER BUT A NEW DESIGN TO USE SOLID STATE TRANSMITTERS EFFECTIVELY )T ALSO TOOK IMPORTANT
ADVANTAGE OF ADVANCES IN DIGITAL RECEIVERS AND DIGITAL PROCESSING THAT OCCURRED SINCE THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE !32 TO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE WHAT COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH
THIS RADAR !S MENTIONED SOLID STATE TRANSMITTERS REQUIRE THE USE OF LONG PULSES 4HE
!32 EMPLOYED A S PULSE DURATION AT A PEAK POWER OF K7 4HIS MEANS THAT
TARGETS OUT TO A RANGE OF ABOUT NMI WOULD BE MASKED OR ECLIPSED BY THE LONG PULSE
AND MIGHT NOT BE DETECTED 4O DETECT TARGETS AT RANGES MASKED BY THE LONG PULSE A SEC
OND SHORT PULSE S IN DURATION AND AT A DIFFERENT FREQUENCY FROM THE LONG PULSE WAS
TRANSMITTED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LONG PULSE )T DETECTS TARGETS WITHIN THE RANGE
FROM NMI OR LESS TO A RANGE OF ABOUT NMI 4HE LONG PULSE EMPLOYS NONLINEAR &-
PULSE COMPRESSION WITH A PULSE COMPRESSION RATIO TO ACHIEVE A RANGE RESOLUTION OF
LESS THAN NMI AS REQUIRED FOR AN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL RADAR 4YPICAL TIME SIDELOBES WITH
THE NONLINEAR &- WAVEFORM WERE D" BELOW THE PEAK RESPONSE )T MIGHT BE NOTED THAT
#OLE ET AL STATE THAT IN ORDER hTO ENSURE CONTINUED AVAILABILITY OF THE POWER TRANSISTORS
REQUIRED TO PRODUCE THE POWER AMPLIFIER PANELS .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN HAS DEVELOPED AN
IN HOUSE MANUFACTURING CAPABILITY FOR HIGH POWER 3 BAND TRANSISTORSv
4HE THIRD APPROACH TO EMPLOYING SOLID STATE TRANSMITTERS IS THE ACTIVE APERTURE PHASED
ARRAY RADAR !T EACH ELEMENT OF A PHASED ARRAY RADAR ANTENNA IS A SOLID STATE MODULE
KNOWN AS A 42 MODULE THAT CONTAINS A TRANSMITTER RECEIVER AND DUPLEXER 4HE VACUUM
TUBE IS NOT USUALLY COMPETITIVE FOR THIS APPLICATION )N #HAPTER h-ULTIFUNCTIONAL 2ADAR
3YSTEMS FOR &IGHTER !IRCRAFT v THE ACTIVE APERTURE RADAR IS CALLED AN !CTIVE %LECTRONICALLY
3CANNED !NTENNA !%3! 4HE SUBSECTION ENTITLED h!CTIVE %LECTRONIC 3CANNED !RRAY
!%3! v IN 3ECTION DESCRIBES QUITE WELL THE MILITARY AIRBORNE APPLICATION OF SOLID
STATE RADAR AND ENUMERATES ITS ADVANTAGES AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT 4HERE IT IS STATED
THAT hONE OF THE PRINCIPAL ADVANTAGES OF AN !%3! IS THE ABILITY TO MANAGE BOTH POWER
AND SPATIAL COVERAGE ON A SHORT TERM BASIS S OF MS v )T IS ALSO SAID THAT hBANDWIDTH
OF SEVERAL '(Z ON TRANSMITv IS REQUIRED AND THIS IS WITHIN THE CAPABILITY OF SOLID STATE
TRANSMITTERS 4HE READER IS REFERRED TO 3ECTION #HAPTER AND 3ECTION FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THIS IMPORTANT APPLICATION OF SOLID STATE
!LTHOUGH ANY OF THE 2& POWER SOURCES MENTIONED HERE COULD BE USED IN FUTURE
RADAR SYSTEMS IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT THE LINEAR BEAM AMPLIFIER PARTICULARLY ONE OF THE
VARIANTS OF THE KLYSTRON MIGHT BE THE FIRST 2& POWER SOURCE TO CONSIDER FOR A HIGH
PERFORMANCE MICROWAVE RADAR THAT EMPLOYS A MECHANICALLY STEERED ANTENNA OR A CON
VENTIONAL PHASED ARRAY RADAR THAT DOES NOT EMPLOY THE ACTIVE APERTURE &OR ACTIVE
APERTURE PHASED ARRAY RADARS IT IS LIKELY THAT THE SOLID STATE TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIER WILL
BE THE CHOICE
,
,
- ) 3KOLNIK )NTRODUCTION TO 2ADAR 3YSTEMS .EW 9ORK -C'RAW
(ILL P
! 3 'ILMOUR *R -ICROWAVE 4UBES .ORWOOD -! !RTECH (OUSE
7 * $ODDS 4 -ORENO AND 7 * -C"RIDE *R h-ETHODS FOR INCREASING THE BANDWIDTH OF HIGH
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4(% 2!$!2 42!.3-)44%2
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2 3 3YMONS h4UBES 3TILL VITAL AFTER ALL THESES YEARS v )%%% 3PECTRUM VOL PP n
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2 - 0HILLIPS AND $ 7 3PREHN h(IGH POWER KLYSTRONS FOR THE NEXT LINEAR COLLIDER v 0ROC )%%%
VOL PP n -AY
2 ( !BRAMS " ,EVUSH ! ! -ONDELLI AND 2 + 0ARKER h6ACUUM ELECTRONICS FOR THE ST
CENTURY v )%%% -ICROWAVE -AGAZINE PP n 3EPTEMBER
' 3 .USINOVICH " ,EVUSH AND $ !BE h! REVIEW OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIPLE BEAM
KLYSTRONS AND 474S v .AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY 7ASHINGTON $# -2
-ARCH
2 ( !BRAMS " ,EVUSH ! ! -ONDELLI AND 2 + 0ARKER h6ACUUM ELECTRONICS FOR THE ST
CENTURY v )%%% -ICROWAVE -AGAZINE PP n 3EPTEMBER
! . +OROLYOV % ! 'ELVICH 9 6 :HARY ! $ :AKURDAYEV AND 6 ) 0OOGNIN h-ULTIPLE BEAM
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PP n *UNE
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7 ( 9OCOM h(IGH POWER TRAVELING WAVE TUBES 4HEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND SOME APPLICATIONS v
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PP n .OVEMBER
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! % 3TAPRANS 7 -C#UNE AND * ! 2UETZ h(IGH POWER LINEAR BEAM TUBES v 0ROC )%%%
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! 3 'ILMOUR *R -ICROWAVE 4UBES .ORWOOD -! !RTECH (OUSE 3EC
! 2OITMAN $ "ERRY AND " 3TEER h3TATE OF THE ART 7 BAND EXTENDED INTERACTION KLYSTRON FOR
THE #LOUD3AT PROGRAM v )%%% 4RANS VOL %$ PP n -AY
2 3 3YMONS AND * 2 - 6AUGHAN h4HE LINEAR THEORY OF THE CLUSTERED CAVITY KLYSTRON v )%%%
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2 ( !BRAMS *R h4HE MICROWAVE POWER MODULE ! @SUPERCOMPONENTv FOR RADAR TRANSMITTERS v
2ECORD OF THE )%%% .ATIONAL 2ADAR #ONF !TLANTA '! PP n
# 2 3MITH # - !RMSTRONG AND * $UTHIE h4HE MICROWAVE POWER MODULE ! VERSATILE BUILDING
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- ) 3KOLNIK )NTRODUCTION TO 2ADAR 3YSTEMS RD %D .EW 9ORK -C'RAW (ILL 3EC
. "UTLER h4HE MICROWAVE TUBE RELIABILITY PROBLEM v -ICROWAVE * VOL PP n
-ARCH
0 $ , 7ILLIAMS #IVIL MARINE RADAR ,ONDON )NSTITUTION OF %LECTRICAL %NGINEERS
3EC
- ) 3KOLNIK )NTRODUCTION TO 2ADAR 3YSTEMS RD %D .EW 9ORK -C'RAW (ILL #OMPANIES
3EC
! 3 'ILMOUR *R -ICROWAVE 4UBES .ORWOOD -! !RTECH (OUSE 3EC
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! 3 'ILMOUR *R -ICROWAVE 4UBES .ORWOOD -! !RTECH (OUSE #HAP
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' * ,INDE ET AL PRIVATE COMMUNICATION h7ARLOC ! HIGH POWER COHERENT '(Z RADARv
* 0 -URRAY h%LECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY v #HAP IN 2ADAR (ANDBOOK ST %D
PP TO
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n !PRIL PP n
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#HAPTER
-`->i/>i
V>i/
2AYTHEON #OMPANY
/," 1
/"
&OR COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS THE TRANSISTOR HAS ALL BUT REPLACED VACUUM TUBE TECHNOL
OGY IN TRANSMITTERS OPERATING AT 6(& AND BELOW 3INCE THE S THE POWER OUTPUT
CAPABILITY AMONG VARIOUS SOLID
STATE TECHNOLOGIES HAS INCREASED TO THE POINT WHERE THEY
ARE ACTIVELY PURSUED AS REPLACEMENTS FOR SOME VACUUM ELECTRONICS IN RADAR TRANSMITTERS
THIS IS NOT HOWEVER A UNIVERSALLY ATTRACTIVE SOLUTION 4HE TRANSITION FROM HIGH
POWER
KLYSTRONS TRAVELING WAVE TUBES 474S CROSSED
FIELD AMPLIFIERS #&!S AND MAGNE
TRONS TO SOLID
STATE ELECTRONICS HAS ACTUALLY BEEN VERY GRADUAL BECAUSE THE POWER OUTPUT
OF INDIVIDUAL SOLID
STATE DEVICES IS QUITE LIMITED COMPARED TO TYPICAL RADAR REQUIREMENTS
.EVERTHELESS TRANSMITTER DESIGNERS HAVE LEARNED THAT THE REQUIRED HIGHER POWER LEVELS
FOR RADAR TRANSMITTERS CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH A SOLID
STATE TECHNOLOGY BECAUSE TRANSIS
TORS AND TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIER MODULES CAN BE READILY COMBINED IN PARALLEL TO ACHIEVE
A COMPOSITE HIGHER EQUIVALENT POWER OUTPUT !S DEPICTED IN &IGURE THIS DESIGN
ATTRIBUTE HELPS TO EXTEND THE SOLID
STATE PERFORMANCE ENVELOPE WELL INTO THE REGION THAT
HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN DOMINATED BY ONLY VACUUM ELECTRONICS )T IS NOT THE INTENT OF THIS
CHAPTER TO DELINEATE THE RELATIVE MERITS OF THESE SOMETIMES COMPETING TECHNOLOGIES
BUT RATHER TO DESCRIBE THE LIMITS DESIGN PRACTICES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOLID
STATE
TECHNOLOGY FOR USE IN THE COMMON RADAR FREQUENCY RANGES 4HE ADVANTAGES OF SOLID
STATE TECHNOLOGIES WILL BE DESCRIBED SOME OF THE KEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES AND
DEVICES WILL BE DISCUSSED AND SOME EXAMPLES OF SOLID
STATE COMPONENT AND TRANSMITTER
DESIGN WILL BE PRESENTED
6 / -"-" -//
!LTHOUGH THE GAP IN PERFORMANCE CAPABILITIES BETWEEN THE SOLID STATE AND VACUUM
ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGIES CAN BE WIDE THERE STILL EXIST RELEVANT TRADES INVOLVING COST
MAINTAINABILITY AND RELIABILITY AND THIS DESIGN TRADESPACE CAN BE VERY COMPLICATED
3OME POINT TO THE CONTINUED MATURATION OF VACUUM ELECTRONICS AND SUGGEST THAT BOTH
VACUUM TUBES AND SOLID STATE DEVICES WILL BE APPEALING IN HIGH PERFORMANCE RADARS FOR
MANY YEARS TO COME /THERS NOTE STILL THAT THE BEST VALUE IN ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT IS PRO
VIDED WHEN THE hAPPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGYv IS APPLIED TO AFFORDABLE MILITARY ELECTRONICS
RECOGNIZING THAT TUBES AND SOLID STATE MAY REMAIN AS COMPLEMENTARY DESIGN SOLUTIONS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% "Y COMBINING THE OUTPUTS OF THOUSANDS OF TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIERS
THE CUMULATIVE AVERAGE POWER OUTPUT OF SOLID
STATE TECHNOLOGIES CAN EFFECTIVELY
COMPETE WITH THE PERFORMANCE CAPABILITIES OF VACUUM TUBE TECHNOLOGY AS SHOWN
IN THE CENTER OVERLAP REGION WHERE COMPETING AMPLIFIER SOLUTIONS COEXIST
FOR FUTURE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS &OR EXAMPLE MICROWAVE POWER TUBES CONTINUE TO PRO
VIDE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER POWER OUTPUT AND EFFICIENCIES THAN SOLID
STATE POWER AMPLI
FIERS FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE MILLIMETER
WAVE RADARS #OMPARED WITH TUBES SOLID
STATE
DEVICES OFFER THE FOLLOWING ADVANTAGES
.O HOT CATHODES ARE REQUIRED THEREFORE THERE IS NO WARMUP DELAY NO WASTED HEATER
POWER AND VIRTUALLY NO LIMIT ON TRANSISTOR OPERATING LIFE 5NDER CERTAIN OPERATING
CONDITIONS THE PREDICTION OF THE MEDIAN TIME TO FAILURE -44& FOR SOME 2& TRANSIS
TORS CAN EXCEED YEARS
4RANSISTOR AMPLIFIERS OPERATE AT MUCH LOWER VOLTAGES THEREFORE POWER SUPPLY VOLT
AGES ARE ON THE ORDER OF VOLTS RATHER THAN KILOVOLTS TO AVOID THE NEED FOR LARGE SPAC
INGS OIL FILLING OR ENCAPSULATION #OMPARED WITH A HIGH
VOLTAGE POWER SUPPLY A
LOW
VOLTAGE SUPPLY USES FEWER NONSTANDARD PARTS AND IS GENERALLY LESS EXPENSIVE
4RANSMITTERS DESIGNED WITH SOLID
STATE DEVICES EXHIBIT IMPROVED MEANTIME BETWEEN
FAILURES -4"& IN COMPARISON WITH TUBE
TYPE TRANSMITTERS !MPLIFIER MODULE
-4"&S GREATER THAN HOURS HAVE BEEN EXTRAPOLATED FROM ACCELERATED LIFE
TESTING ! FACTOR OF IMPROVEMENT IN TRANSMITTER SYSTEM -4"& HAS BEEN REPORTED
FOR AN 3 BAND SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER REPLACING A KLYSTRON TRANSMITTER
'RACEFUL DEGRADATION OF SYSTEM PERFORMANCE OCCURS WHEN INDIVIDUAL MODULES FAIL
0OWER OUTPUT DEGRADES BY
LOG nA AS DEVICES FAIL WHERE A IS THE FRACTION OF
FAILED DEVICES 4HIS RESULTS BECAUSE A LARGE NUMBER OF SOLID
STATE DEVICES MUST BE
COMBINED TO PROVIDE THE POWER FOR A RADAR TRANSMITTER AND THEY ARE EASILY COMBINED
IN WAYS THAT DEGRADE GRACEFULLY WHEN INDIVIDUAL UNITS FAIL
4HE ABILITY TO DEMONSTRATE WIDE BANDWIDTH IS A SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERISTIC OF SOLID
STATE DEVICES 7HILE HIGH
POWER MICROWAVE RADAR TUBES CAN ACHIEVE TO BAND
WIDTH SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER MODULES CAN ACHIEVE UP TO BANDWIDTH OR MORE
WITH ACCEPTABLE EFFICIENCY
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
&LEXIBILITY CAN BE REALIZED ! MODULE WITH BOTH TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE PATH AMPLIFIERS
42 MODULE CAN BE ASSOCIATED WITH EVERY ANTENNA ELEMENT IN PHASED ARRAY SYS
TEMS 2& DISTRIBUTION LOSSES THAT NORMALLY OCCUR IN A TUBE
POWERED SYSTEM BETWEEN
A POINT
SOURCE TUBE AMPLIFIER AND THE FACE OF THE ARRAY ARE THUS ELIMINATED )N ADDI
TION PHASE SHIFTING FOR BEAM STEERING CAN BE IMPLEMENTED AT LOW POWER LEVELS ON THE
INPUT FEED SIDE OF AN ACTIVE ARRAY MODULE THIS AVOIDS THE HIGH
POWER LOSSES OF THE
PHASE SHIFTERS AT THE RADIATING ELEMENTS AND RAISES OVERALL EFFICIENCY !LSO PEAK 2&
POWER LEVELS AT ANY POINT ARE RELATIVELY LOW BECAUSE THE OUTPUTS ARE COMBINED ONLY
IN SPACE &URTHERMORE AMPLITUDE TAPERING CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY TURNING OFF OR
ATTENUATING INDIVIDUAL ACTIVE ARRAY AMPLIFIERS &OR PHASED ARRAY SYSTEMS WITH MODEST
POWER LEVELS THE SOLID
STATE SOLUTION OFFERS ADVANTAGES THAT MAKE IT ATTRACTIVE AS THE
BASIS FOR A RADAR TRANSMITTER
4HE GENERAL REPLACEMENT OF HIGH POWER MICROWAVE TUBES BY SOLID STATE DEVICES HAS
NOT BEEN STRAIGHTFORWARD !TTEMPTS TO REPLACE EXISTING TUBE TYPE TRANSMITTERS WITH A SOLID
STATE RETROFIT HAVE BEEN HINDERED BY THE REQUIREMENT TO BE A FORM FIT FUNCTIONAL REPLACE
MENT FOR THE INCUMBENT HARDWARE 2ADAR TRANSMIT WAVEFORMS THAT PREVIOUSLY HAD BEEN
ARCHITECTED TO MAKE OPTIMUM USE OF THE HIGH PEAK POWER AND LOW DUTY CYCLE CAPABILITY
OF THE TUBE NO LONGER FAVOR THE SOLID STATE TRANSMITTER ! LOW DUTY CYCLE ENVIRONMENT IS
NOT THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE SOLUTION FOR SOLID STATE DEVICES BECAUSE TRANSISTORS EXHIBIT
MUCH SHORTER THERMAL TIME CONSTANTS THAN THE REPLACEMENT TUBE AND ARE MORE EFFICIENTLY
OPERATED USING A LOWER COMPOSITE PEAK POWER AT A HIGHER DUTY CYCLE !S AN EXAMPLE OF
THE DILEMMA AN , BAND MICROWAVE TRANSISTOR THAT IS CAPABLE OF PERHAPS WATTS 7
AVERAGE POWER CANNOT PROVIDE MUCH MORE THAN WATTS OF PEAK POWER WITHOUT OVER
HEATING DURING THE PULSE 4HE SHORT PULSE LENGTHS AND LOW DUTY CYCLES TYPICAL OF OLDER
TUBE TYPE RADARS THUS MAKE VERY INEFFICIENT USE OF THE AVERAGE POWER CAPABILITIES OF
MICROWAVE TRANSISTORS 4O REPLACE THE OLD WELL PROVEN * , BAND MAGNETRON THAT
DEVELOPS 7 OF AVERAGE 2& POWER AT TYPICAL DUTY CYCLE WOULD REQUIRE
TO OF THE WATT TRANSISTORS JUST DESCRIBED (OWEVER WITH A DUTY CYCLE THE
WATT AVERAGE POWER REQUIREMENT COULD BE PROVIDED BY ONLY TO OF THE WATT
TRANSISTORS )N OTHER WORDS MICROWAVE TRANSISTORS ARE MUCH MORE COST EFFECTIVE WHEN
THE REQUIRED RADAR SYSTEM AVERAGE POWER CAN BE PROVIDED BY A LOWER PEAK POWER AT A
HIGHER DUTY CYCLE !S A RESULT THERE HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY FEW DIRECT REPLACEMENTS OF
OLDER LOW DUTY CYCLE TRANSMITTERS BY SOLID STATE TRANSMITTERS 3OME INITIATIVES SUCH AS
THE SOLID STATE !.303 REPLACEMENT THAT WAS MOTIVATED BY THE ATTRACTIVE RELIABILITY
MAINTAINABILITY AND AVAILABILITY CHARACTERISTICS OF A MODULAR SOLID STATE SYSTEM HAVE
NOT SEEN THE SUCCESS ONCE ENVISIONED DUE TO THE ACQUISITION COST OF SOLID STATE REPLACE
MENT TRANSMITTERS &OR NEW RADAR SYSTEMS SYSTEM DESIGNERS HAVE BEEN MOTIVATED BY
THESE CONSIDERATIONS TO CHOOSE AS HIGH A DUTY CYCLE AS POSSIBLE BOTH TO REDUCE THE PEAK
POWER REQUIRED AND TO PERMIT USING SOLID STATE DEVICES AT A REASONABLE COST
4HE DECISION TO USE A HIGH TRANSMITTER DUTY CYCLE HOWEVER HAS SIGNIFICANT IMPACT
ON THE REST OF THE RADAR SYSTEM /PERATION AT A HIGH DUTY CYCLE GENERALLY REQUIRES THE
USE OF PULSE COMPRESSION TO PROVIDE THE DESIRED UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE COVERAGE TOGETHER
WITH REASONABLY SMALL RANGE RESOLUTION /THER CONSEQUENCES FOLLOW IN TURN THE WIDE
TRANSMITTED PULSE USED WITH PULSE COMPRESSION BLINDS THE RADAR AT SHORT RANGES SO A
hFILL INv PULSE MUST ALSO BE TRANSMITTED AND PROCESSED 4O PREVENT POINTS OF STRONG CLUT
TER FROM MASKING SMALL MOVING TARGETS THE SIGNAL PROCESSOR MUST ACHIEVE LOW PULSE
COMPRESSION TIME SIDELOBES AND HIGH CLUTTER CANCELLATION RATIO !S A RESULT IT IS MUCH
EASIER TO DESIGN A SOLID STATE TRANSMITTER AS PART OF A NEW SYSTEM THAN IT IS TO RETROFIT ONE
INTO AN OLD SYSTEM THAT USUALLY DOES NOT HAVE ALL THESE FEATURES
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE USE OF SOLID STATE DOES NOT ELIMINATE ALL THE PROBLEMS OF TRANSMITTER DESIGN
4HE 2& COMBINING NETWORKS MUST BE DESIGNED WITH GREAT CARE AND SKILL TO MINIMIZE
COMBINING LOSSES IN ORDER TO KEEP TRANSMITTER EFFICIENCY HIGH 3UITABLE ISOLATION FROM
EXCESSIVE VOLTAGE STANDING WAVE RATIO 6372 MUST BE PROVIDED TO PROTECT THE MICRO
WAVE TRANSISTORS FROM UNDESIRED OPERATIONAL STRESSES AND THEIR HARMONIC POWER OUTPUT
MUST BE PROPERLY FILTERED TO MEET -), 34$ AND OTHER SPECIFICATIONS ON 2& SPEC
TRUM QUALITY !LSO JUST AS IN TUBE TYPE TRANSMITTERS ENERGY MANAGEMENT IS STILL CRUCIAL
%ACH DC POWER SUPPLY MUST HAVE A CAPACITOR BANK LARGE ENOUGH TO SUPPLY THE ENERGY
DRAWN BY ITS SOLID STATE MODULES DURING AN ENTIRE PULSE AND EACH POWER SUPPLY MUST
RECHARGE ITS CAPACITOR BANK SMOOTHLY BETWEEN PULSES WITHOUT DRAWING AN EXCESSIVE
CURRENT SURGE FROM THE POWER LINE
!S A RESULT OF UNAVOIDABLE LOSSES IN COMBINING THE OUTPUTS OF MANY SOLID STATE
DEVICES IT IS ESPECIALLY TEMPTING TO AVOID COMBINING BEFORE RADIATING SINCE COMBINING
IN SPACE IS ESSENTIALLY LOSSLESS &OR THIS REASON MANY SOLID STATE TRANSMITTERS CONSIST
OF AMPLIFIER MODULES THAT FEED EITHER ROWS COLUMNS OR SINGLE ELEMENTS OF AN ARRAY
ANTENNA %SPECIALLY IN THE LAST NAMED CASE IT IS NECESSARY TO BUILD THE MODULES AND
USUALLY THEIR POWER SUPPLIES INTO THE ARRAY STRUCTURE 'ENERALLY SOLID STATE DEVICES
OR MODULES ARE COMBINED IN ONE OF THREE FUNDAMENTAL CONFIGURATIONS TO GENERATE THE
REQUIRED TRANSMITTER POWER LEVELS &IGURE SHOWS THAT THIS MAY INVOLVE EITHER
THE COMBINATION OF AMPLIFIER OUTPUTS TO A SINGLE PORT TO FEED A MECHANICALLY ROTATING
ANTENNA OR SOME COMBINATION OF ELECTRONIC PHASE STEERING AND AMPLIFICATION DISTRIB
UTED AMONG MANY FIXED ELEMENTS OF A PLANAR TWO DIMENSIONAL ARRAY
"ECAUSE OF THE LARGE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL MODULES IN A TYPICAL SOLID STATE TRANS
MITTER FAILURE OF AN INDIVIDUAL OR A FEW MODULES HAS LITTLE EFFECT ON OVERALL TRANSMITTER
PERFORMANCE 4HE MODULE OUTPUTS ADD AS VOLTAGE VECTORS SO THE LOSS OF OF THE
MODULES FOR EXAMPLE RESULTS IN A REDUCTION TO OF VOLTAGE OUTPUT WHICH IS
OF POWER OUTPUT %VEN THIS IS ONLY A D" REDUCTION THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AND
OF THE POWER ENDS UP IN THE COMBINER LOADS OR IN SIDELOBES IF THE COMBINING IS
IN SPACE !S A RESULT OF THIS hGRACEFUL DEGRADATION v OVERALL RELIABILITY OF SOLID STATE
TRANSMITTERS IS VERY HIGH EVEN IF MAINTENANCE IS DELAYED UNTIL CONVENIENT SCHEDULED
PERIODS HOWEVER THIS ADVANTAGE SHOULD NOT BE ABUSED #ONSIDER A CASE WHERE
OF MODULES ARE ALLOWED TO FAIL BEFORE OUTPUT POWER FALLS BELOW REQUIREMENTS
AND ASSUME THAT MAINTENANCE OCCURS AT SCHEDULED THREE MONTH INTERVALS )N THIS CASE
MODULE -4"& NEED ONLY BE H TO PROVIDE CONFIDENCE THAT THE TRANSMITTER
&)'52% #OMMON SOLID STATE TRANSMITTER CONFIGURATIONS MAY COMBINE MANY AMPLIFIERS IN PARALLEL
TO A SINGLE ANTENNA PORT A OR MAY USE PHASE SHIFT ELEMENTS TO ELECTRONICALLY STEER A BEAM B OR MAY UTILIZE
TRANSMITRECEIVE MODULES WITH PHASE SHIFT CAPABILITY AT EVERY ELEMENT TO STEER A BEAM C
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
WILL NOT hFAILv IN LESS THAN THREE MONTHS HOWEVER THE COST OF REPLACEMENT MODULES AND
LABOR WOULD BE VERY UNATTRACTIVE BECAUSE NEARLY OF THE TRANSMITTER WOULD HAVE TO
BE REPLACED EVERY YEAR (IGHER -4"&S ARE THUS ESSENTIAL TO ENSURE THAT THE TRANSMITTER
IS NOT ONLY AVAILABLE BUT ALSO AFFORDABLE &ORTUNATELY SOLID
STATE MODULE RELIABILITY HAS
PROVEN TO BE EVEN BETTER THAN THE -),
($"+
PREDICTIONS !.&03
0!6%
0!73 FOR EXAMPLE HAS GROWN TO HOURS WHICH IS TIMES THE PREDICTED
VALUE 4HIS INCLUDES THE ACTUAL 42 MODULE -4"& ALONG WITH THE RECEIVER TRANSMIT
RECEIVER 42 SWITCHES AND PHASE SHIFTERS AS WELL AS THE POWER AMPLIFIERS )N FACT
-4"& FOR THE OUTPUT POWER TRANSISTORS MEASURES BETTER THAN MILLION HOURS
-" -//
6
!LTHOUGH THE 2& POWER
GENERATING CAPABILITY OF SINGLE TRANSISTORS IS SMALL WITH
RESPECT TO THE OVERALL PEAK AND AVERAGE POWER REQUIREMENTS OF A RADAR TRANSMITTER
TRANSISTORS ARE USED QUITE EFFECTIVELY BY COMBINING THE OUTPUTS OF MANY IDENTICAL
SOLID
STATE AMPLIFIERS 4HE POWER OUTPUT LEVEL FROM A PARTICULAR DEVICE IS A FUNCTION
OF NOT ONLY THE CHOSEN TECHNOLOGY BUT ALSO THE FREQUENCY AND OTHER CONDITIONS SUCH
AS PULSE WIDTH DUTY CYCLE AMBIENT TEMPERATURE OPERATING VOLTAGE AND THE PRESENTED
LOAD IMPEDANCE
4ECHNOLOGIES AND #ONSTRUCTION 3EMICONDUCTING MATERIALS USED IN THE FABRI
CATION OF TRANSISTORS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE THOSE MATERIALS THAT ARE TYPICALLY NEITHER
CONDUCTORS NOR INSULATORS 4HE CHARGE CARRYING PROPERTIES OF THESE SEMICONDUCTING
MATERIALS CAN BE MODIFIED DRAMATICALLY THROUGH THE SUBSTITUTION OF MINUTE AMOUNTS
OF IMPURITY IONS OR THROUGH CRYSTAL LATTICE DEFECTS EITHER OF WHICH ACT TO MODULATE THE
FLOW OF ELECTRONS 3EMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS FROM WHICH TRANSISTORS ARE FABRICATED FOR
USE IN SOLID
STATE RADAR TRANSMITTERS HAVE GENERALLY BEEN EITHER SILICON OR ONE OF THE
SO
CALLED COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTORS SUCH AS GALLIUM ARSENIDE 'A!S INDIUM PHOS
PHIDE )N0 SILICON CARBIDE 3I# GALLIUM NITRIDE 'A. OR SILICON GERMANIUM 3I'E
3EMICONDUCTORS LIKE SILICON OR GALLIUM ARSENIDE HAVE FOUND EARLY WIDE ACCEPTANCE
BECAUSE IT HAS PROVEN PRACTICAL TO CONTROL THEIR CRYSTAL LATTICE DEFECTS ACCURATELY AND
REPEATABLY DURING TRANSISTOR MANUFACTURING 3OME SEMICONDUCTORS SUCH AS GALLIUM
NITRIDE 'A. OR SILICON CARBIDE 3I# ARE REFERRED TO AS WIDE BANDGAP SEMICONDUC
TORS 3EMICONDUCTORS THAT EXHIBIT LARGE BANDGAP VALUES ARE ESPECIALLY CAPABLE OF PRO
DUCING VERY HIGH OUTPUT POWER LEVELS WITH ACCEPTABLE GAIN AT THE FREQUENCIES USED IN
MOST RADAR APPLICATIONS
4RANSISTORS ARE THREE
TERMINAL DEVICES AND ARE CLASSIFIED AS EITHER BIPOLAR OR UNIPOLAR
&IGURE HELPS TO PORTRAY THE CONSTRUCTION DIFFERENCES AMONG COMMON MICROWAVE
THREE
TERMINAL DEVICES AND THIS FIGURE IS REFERENCED MULTIPLE TIMES IN SUCCEEDING SEC
TIONS 4HE BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR "*4 IS SO NAMED BECAUSE THE CONDUCTION PATH
THROUGH THE TRANSISTOR MAKES USE OF BOTH MAJORITY AND MINORITY CHARGE CARRIERS TO ESTAB
LISH CURRENT FLOW IN THE SEMICONDUCTOR )T IS A CURRENT
CONTROLLED DEVICE WITH THE COLLEC
TOR CURRENT MODULATED BY THE CURRENT FLOWING BETWEEN THE BASE
EMITTER JUNCTION 4HIS
COMPARES TO THE OPERATION OF A FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR &%4 OR A UNIPOLAR DEVICE WHERE
CHARGE IS CARRIED WITH ONLY ONE TYPE OF CHARGE CARRIER 4HE REMAINING TRANSISTOR CONSTRUC
TIONS IN &IGURE ARE ALL VARIANTS OF A &%4 !N EXTERNAL VOLTAGE APPLIED TO THE GATE
TERMINAL OF A &%4 CONTROLS THE WIDTH OF THE DEPLETION REGION BELOW THE GATE TERMINAL !S
THE WIDTH OF THE DEPLETION REGION IS VARIED SO TOO IS THE EQUIVALENT RESISTANCE BETWEEN
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4RANSISTORS ARE THREE
TERMINAL SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES THAT ALLOW A SMALL VOLTAGE OR
CURRENT TO CONTROL A LARGER VOLTAGE OR CURRENT 3OME CROSS SECTIONS OF COMMON TRANSISTOR TYPES USED IN
THE DESIGN OF RADAR TRANSMITTERS ARE THE A 'A!S -%3&%4 B 'A!S 0(%-4 C 3ILICON -/3&%4
D 3ILICON ,$-/3 &%4 E 3ILICON "*4 AND F 'A. (%-4 ON 3I# 3UBSTRATE
THE DRAIN AND SOURCE CONTACTS ALLOWING THE CURRENT FLOWING BETWEEN THE DRAIN AND SOURCE
TO BE MODULATED ACCORDINGLY HENCE &%4S ARE REFERRED TO AS VOLTAGE CONTROLLED DEVICES
4HERE EXIST NUMEROUS &%4 VARIANTS DUE TO SOMETIMES SUBTLE CONSTRUCTION OR MATE
RIAL DIFFERENCES !MONG THESE ARE THE -/3&%4 -ETAL
/XIDE
3EMICONDUCTOR &%4
-%3&%4 -ETAL 3EMICONDUCTOR &%4 AND (&%4 (ETEROSTRUCTURE &%4 4HE COMMON
(&%4 DEVICES ARE REFERRED TO AS THE (%-4 (IGH %LECTRON -OBILITY 4RANSISTOR AND
0(%-4 0SEUDOMORPHIC (IGH %LECTRON -OBILITY 4RANSISTOR
4O BE USEFUL IN A RADAR TRANSMITTER AMPLIFIER THE TRANSISTOR MUST BE CAPABLE OF OPER
ATING AT THE APPROPRIATE HIGH FREQUENCY WITH GOOD EFFICIENCY WHILE DEMONSTRATING
USEFUL POWER GAIN WITH ADEQUATE THERMAL MANAGEMENT PROPERTIES TO ENSURE HIGH RELI
ABILITY 4HERE IS NOT ONE TRANSISTOR TYPE OR ONE SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIAL THAT IS UNIVER
SALLY USEFUL ACROSS ALL THE COMMON RADAR BANDS FROM 5(& THROUGH 7 BAND )N FACT
AMONG THE RADAR BANDS THERE IS OFTEN A DIFFERENT DOMINANT DEVICE TYPE ALONG WITH ITS
ATTENDANT DESIGN AND FABRICATION METHODOLOGIES THAT OFFERS THE OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE
FOR THAT BAND
! FIRST ORDER APPROXIMATION OF THE POWER OUTPUT FROM A SINGLE
STAGE SOLID
STATE
AMPLIFIER USING A &%4 AS THE SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE IS GIVEN BY THE RELATIONSHIP
02&-!8 )-!8
6$'"
\60\
6+
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
)N THIS RELATIONSHIP )-!8 IS THE MAXIMUM OPEN CHANNEL CURRENT 6$'" IS THE GATE
DRAIN BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE 60 IS THE PINCHOFF VOLTAGE AND 6+ IS THE KNEE VOLTAGE 4HESE
TRANSISTOR PARAMETERS DEFINE THE TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS IN THE ) 6 CURRENT VOLTAGE
PLANE AND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE ) 6 PLANE DEFINE THE PEAK POWER PERFORMANCE ENVE
LOPE OF THE TRANSISTOR !LSO THERE IS AN OPTIMUM LOAD IMPEDANCE THAT WILL MAXIMIZE THE
POWER OUTPUT THAT CAN BE DELIVERED FROM AN AMPLIFIER AND TO A FIRST ORDER ESTIMATE THAT
LOAD IMPEDANCE IS REPRESENTED BY THE LINE THAT TRANSVERSELY CUTS ACROSS THE ) 6 PLANE
FROM THE REGION OF THE BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE TO THE REGION OF THE KNEE VOLTAGE AS SHOWN
IN &IGURE 4HE ABILITY OF A TRANSISTOR TO DEMONSTRATE GAIN AT HIGH FREQUENCIES IS
IMPACTED BY THE MOBILITY AND SATURATED VELOCITY OF CHARGE CARRIERS IN THE SEMICONDUC
TOR 4HE ABILITY OF A TRANSISTOR TO DEMONSTRATE HIGH POWER OUTPUT IS IMPACTED BY THE
BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE THE CURRENT CAPABILITY AND THE KNEE VOLTAGE OF THE TRANSISTOR
3ILICON DEVICE TYPES COST EFFECTIVELY SATISFY THE REQUIREMENTS OF RELIABILITY ELEC
TRICAL PERFORMANCE PACKAGING COOLING AVAILABILITY AND MAINTAINABILITY AT LOWER
RADAR BAND FREQUENCIES TYPICALLY 5(& , BAND AND INTO 3 BAND 4HESE DEVICES
ARE USUALLY MANUFACTURED AS DISCRETELY PACKAGED TRANSISTORS AND REQUIRE EXTERNAL
IMPEDANCE MATCHING CIRCUITRY IN ORDER TO FUNCTION APPROPRIATELY IN AN AMPLIFIER (IGH
PERFORMANCE TRANSISTORS AT HIGHER FREQUENCIES THAN 3 BAND ARE USUALLY BUILT USING
COMPOUND SEMICONDCTORS 3UCH TRANSISTORS CAN RESULT IN HIGH CUTOFF FREQUENCIES AND
DEMONSTRATE GAIN AT FREQUENCIES MUCH HIGHER THAN SILICON &OR EXAMPLE ELECTRONS IN
GALLIUM ARSENIDE 'A!S TRAVEL APPROXIMATELY TWICE AS FAST AS THEY DO IN SILICON )T HAS
A HIGHER SATURATED ELECTRON VELOCITY AND HIGHER ELECTRON MOBILITY ALLOWING IT TO FUNC
TION AT FREQUENCIES INTO THE 7 BAND 'A!S TRANSISTORS GENERATE LESS NOISE THAN SILICON
DEVICES WHEN OPERATED AT HIGH FREQUENCY SO THEY ALSO MAKE SUPERIOR LOW NOISE AMPLI
FIERS ! KEY ATTRIBUTE THAT MAKES 'A!S AN ATTRACTIVE TECHNOLOGY IS THAT THE 'A!S &%4
CAN BE FULLY INTEGRATED WITH THE PASSIVE CIRCUITRY THAT IS NECESSARY TO PROVIDE THE BIAS
ING LOADING FILTERING AND SWITCHING FUNCTIONS THAT ARE NECESSARY FOR MULTISTAGE 42
MODULE DESIGNS 5NLIKE THE SILICON POWER TRANSISTORS THE 'A!S &%4 AND ITS ASSOCIATED
&)'52% 4YPICAL TRANSISTOR CURRENT VOLTAGE CONTINUUM ) 6 PLANE
SHOWING KEY &%4 DC PERFORMANCE LIMITS WITH OPTIMUM LOAD LINE FOR
POWER OUTPUT SHOWN (IGHER POWER OUTPUT IS ACHIEVED WHEN THE MAXI
MUM CHANNEL CURRENT )-!8 AND THE BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE 6$'" ARE BOTH
INCREASED /PTIMUM AMPLIFIER DESIGN PLACES THE LOAD LINE AS INDICATED
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% +EY 3EMICONDUCTOR #HARACTERISTICS OF THE 0RIMARY 3EMICONDUCTORS 5SED FOR 0OWER
'ENERATION IN 3OLID STATE 4RANSMITTERS 4HE HIGH SATURATED VELOCITY BREAKDOWN FIELD AND THERMAL
CONDUCTIVITY OF 3I# AND 'A. MAKE THEM ATTRACTIVE FOR HIGH POWER AMPLIFIER APPLICATIONS
"ANDGAP %NERGY
2& 0OWER $ENSITY
$IELECTRIC #ONSTANT
"REAKDOWN &IELD
4HERMAL #ONDUCTIVITY
%LECTRON -OBILITY
3ATURATED 6ELOCITY
5NITS
3ILICON
'A!S
)N0
3I#
'A.
E6
7MM
6CM
7M#
CM 6SEC
CMSEC
n
n
n
n
n
BATCH PROCESSED MONOLITHIC MICROWAVE INTEGRATED CIRCUITRY --)# FABRICATION TECH
NOLOGY ALLOW FOR CIRCUIT FUNCTIONS TO BE PROCESSED INTO VERY VERY SMALL CONVENIENTLY
PACKAGED CHIPS 4HE WIDE BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTORS SUCH AS 3I# AND 'A. ARE ALSO
COMPATIBLE WITH --)# PROCESSING BUT ARE ALSO CAPABLE OF VERY HIGH POWER OUTPUT
LEVELS 4HESE SEMICONDUCTORS HAVE MATERIAL PROPERTIES THAT LEAD TO HIGH BREAKDOWN
VOLTAGE WITH COMMENSURATELY HIGH CHANNEL CURRENTSAN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE HIGHER
POWER OUTPUT THAN 'A!S 4ABLE
&OR THE UPPER END OF THE SOLID STATE MICROWAVE SPECTRUM IE THE MILLIMETER
WAVE RANGE THE SINGLE PORT MICROWAVE DIODE CAN BE USED AS A LOW POWER OSCILLATOR
5NFORTUNATELY THE POWER OUTPUT AND EFFICIENCY OF THESE DEVICES ARE IN GENERAL VERY
LOW IN FACT THE EFFICIENCY IS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THAT OF THEIR TUBE COUNTERPARTS
(OWEVER #7 AND PULSED POWER OUTPUT ARE ATTAINABLE UP TO '(Z
0EAK AND !VERAGE 0OWER ,IMITATIONS ! FIRST ORDER LIMIT ON THE 2& POWER OUT
PUT CAPABILITY OF A TRANSISTOR IS ITS BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE AND MAXIMUM CURRENT HANDLING
CAPABILITY 7ITHIN THAT LIMIT THE MAXIMUM PRACTICAL LEVEL OF POWER OUTPUT THAT CAN BE
OBTAINED FROM A SINGLE TRANSISTOR OVER A GIVEN BANDWIDTH IS GOVERNED BY THE THERMAL
DISSIPATION LIMIT OF THE DEVICE !S DEVICES BECOME LARGER AND THE DISSIPATIVE HEAT FLUX
FROM THE TOP SURFACE OF THE TRANSISTOR CHIP TO THE BOTTOM LAYER OF THE TRANSISTOR CHIP
INCREASES THE JUNCTION TEMPERATURE INCREASES TO THE POINT WHERE THE TRANSISTOR BECOMES
THERMALLY LIMITED 2EGARDLESS OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR USED THE ELECTRICAL PERFORMANCE
AND OPERATING LIFETIME DEGRADE AT INCREASINGLY HIGHER TEMPERATURES
4HERE IS A COMPOSITE THERMAL TIME CONSTANT ASSOCIATED WITH THE NUMEROUS THERMALLY
RESISTIVE LAYERS BETWEEN THE TRANSISTOR JUNCTION AND THE HEAT SINK OR COLD PLATE TO WHICH
THE DEVICE IS ATTACHED 4HIS OCCURS BECAUSE EACH LAYER SEMICONDUCTOR CERAMIC SUB
STRATE METAL BASE ETC EXHIBITS BOTH A THERMAL RESISTANCE AND A THERMAL CAPACITANCE
4HEN THERE EXISTS AN EQUIVALENT THERMAL TIME CONSTANT S FOR EACH PACKAGING MATERIAL
LAYER 4HIS THERMAL TIME CONSTANT HAS BEEN APPROXIMATEDED AS
S
&Q#+4(
WHERE & IS THICKNESS CM Q IS DENSITY GMCC # IS SPECIFIC HEAT 7SECGMn# AND
+4( IS THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY 7CMn# &OR EXAMPLE &IGURE SHOWS THAT WHEN THE
PULSE WIDTH AND DUTY CYCLE FOR A GIVEN 'A!S TRANSISTOR IS INCREASED FROM S AND
TO S AND RESPECTIVELY THERE IS A n# INCREASE IN THE OVERALL JUNCTION TEM
PERATURE !LTHOUGH THE TRANSISTOR MAY OPERATE RELIABLY AT A DESIRED OUTPUT POWER LEVEL
FOR THE SHORTER PULSE WIDTH IT WOULD SUFFER FROM A DECREASE IN LONG TERM RELIABILITY
IF OPERATED AT THE SAME POWER LEVEL FOR THE LONGER PULSE WIDTH 4HUS IF REQUIRED TO
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
+$"
,#%
-( )*" !"*
,#%
-( +"
,#%
+
+"
-( +"
-( +"
+(."*&) * '+$"', "&)"* ,-*"
"+)('+" +"
!-,/
+(."*&) * '+$"', "&)"* ,-*"
"+)('+" +" !-,/
"&)"* ,-*"
"&)"* ,-*"
$&"+"
$&"+"
&)'52% /NE LIMIT OF TRANSISTOR CAPABILITY IS DETERMINED BY THE MAXIMUM JUNCTION TEMPERATURE
WHICH IN TURN IS DETERMINED BY THE THERMAL TIME CONSTANT AND THIS RESULTS IN VERY DIFFERENT CAPABILITIES AS A
FUNCTION OF OPERATING PULSE WIDTH AND DUTY CYCLE
MAINTAIN LONG TERM RELIABILITY AT THE LONGER PULSE WIDTH THE DISSIPATION IN THE TRANSIS
TOR WOULD HAVE TO BE REDUCED TO BRING THE JUNCTION TEMPERATURE DOWN TO AN ACCEPTABLE
LEVEL $E RATING THE INHERENT SHORT PULSE CAPABILITY BY LOWERING THE DISSIPATED POWER
IN THE TRANSISTOR PERHAPS BY REDUCING THE OPERATING VOLTAGE AND POWER OUTPUT IS ONE
METHOD OF ACHIEVING THE DESIRED RELIABILITY !NOTHER METHOD MAY INVOLVE THE REDUCTION
IN AMBIENT TEMPERATURE WITH THE USE OF CHILLED FLUID IN THE AMPLIFIER HEAT SINK 4HESE
ARE NOT ALWAYS PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS AND ONE FINDS THAT THE LAYOUT OF THE TRANSISTOR ITSELF
IS OFTEN OPTIMIZED FOR A PARTICULAR PULSE WIDTH AND DUTY CYCLE IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE
OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE AND RELIABILITY AT THE LOWEST OPERATING TEMPERATURE
4HE ACTIVE TRANSISTOR AREA ON THE SURFACE OF THE CHIP THE CHIP IS SOMETIMES CALLED
THE DIE IS TYPICALLY DIVIDED INTO MANAGEABLE UNITS CELLS WHERE THE CELL SIZE IS OFTEN
OPTIMIZED FOR A PARTICULAR APPLICATION OR RANGE OF APPLICATIONS )N ADDITION TO FREQUENCY
CONSIDERATIONS PULSE WIDTH AND DUTY CYCLE OR AS A RESULT THE PEAK AND AVERAGE DIS
SIPATED POWER ARE THE PARAMETERS THAT DETERMINE THE CELL SIZE AND ARRANGEMENT OF
CELLS ON A CHIP 4HE ULTIMATE OPERATING JUNCTION TEMPERATURE OF THE TRANSISTOR IS LARGELY
DEPENDENT ON THE TRANSIENT HEATING THAT WILL BE ENCOUNTERED AND THE LAYOUT AND AREA OF
THE INDIVIDUAL CELLS &OR DEVICES THAT ARE DESIGNED TO OPERATE FOR LONG PULSES OR #7 AN
INCREASE IN THE AVERAGE POWER CAPABILITY OF THE TRANSISTOR CAN BE ACHIEVED BY DIVIDING
THE ACTIVE AREA OF A TRANSISTOR INTO SMALL THERMALLY ISOLATED CELL AREAS
3INCE THE OVERALL THERMAL TIME CONSTANT FOR A TYPICAL POWER TRANSISTOR DIE ITSELF MAY
BE ON THE ORDER OF n S THE TRADEOFF BETWEEN PEAK AND AVERAGE POWER VERSUS
DEVICE SIZE CAN BE SIGNIFICANT FOR SOLID STATE RADARS USING PULSE COMPRESSION WITH PULSE
WIDTHS IN THE TO S RANGE !S AN EXAMPLE THE THERMAL TIME CONSTANT OF A SILICON
DIE WITH A THICKNESS OF MILS IS APPROXIMATELY S WHEREAS A GALLIUM ARSENIDE DIE
WITH A THICKNESS OF MILS IS APPROXIMATELY S 4HUS FOR AN OPERATING PULSE WIDTH
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
REPRESENTATIVE OF A SOLID STATE RADAR WITH PULSE COMPRESSION ^ S THE TEMPERA
TURE RISE ACROSS THE SILICON DIE HAS REACHED OF ITS STEADY STATE VALUE BUT FOR AN
OPERATING PULSE WIDTH REPRESENTATIVE OF A SHORTER RANGE FIRE CONTROL RADAR ^ S THE
TEMPERATURE RISE ACROSS THE SILICON DIE HAS ONLY REACHED OF ITS STEADY STATE VALUE
)F THE VOLTAGE AND CURRENT THRESHOLD OF THE TRANSISTOR HAS NOT BEEN REACHED THE SHORTER
PULSE WIDTH OPERATION COULD ALLOW FOR SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER POWER CAPABILITY TO BE DEM
ONSTRATED 5SUALLY A VERY DETAILED THERMAL ANALYSIS USING THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD IS
REQUIRED TO QUANTIFY THESE RELATIONSHIPS DURING TRANSISTOR AND AMPLIFIER DESIGN
"ACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE COMMON THREE TERMINAL DEVICE TYPES AND THEIR
ASSOCIATED TECHNOLOGIES AS UTILIZED FOR THE COMMON RADAR BANDS ARE DESCRIBED IN THE
FOLLOWING SECTIONS
3ILICON "IPOLAR *UNCTION 4RANSISTOR 4HE SILICON BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR
"*4 WAS THE EARLIEST OF THE MICROWAVE POWER DEVICES AND FOUND ITS WAY INTO TUBE
REPLACEMENT TRANSMITTERS AND PHASED ARRAY APPLICATIONS STARTING IN THE LATE S !T
LOWER FREQUENCIES ESPECIALLY BELOW '(Z THE 3I "*4 HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE CAPABLE
OF VERY HIGH POWER LEVELS FOR TRANSISTORS !MPLIFIER DESIGN IS REALIZABLE FOR FREQUENCIES
UP THROUGH 3 BAND WHERE THE TRADEOFF BETWEEN DEVICE PERFORMANCE AND OVERALL SYS
TEM COST BEGINS TO REACH A POINT OF DIMINISHING RETURNS 4HE SILICON BIPOLAR TRANSISTOR
TECHNOLOGY IS NOW VERY MATURE BUT THE DEMAND FOR THESE HIGH PERFORMANCE DEVICES
IS LOW BECAUSE THE PRODUCTION QUANTITIES REQUIRED FOR RADAR SYSTEMS IS SMALL RELATIVE
TO COMMERCIAL SILICON ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS 4HUS THERE TENDS TO BE A SMALL NUMBER OF
MANUFACTURERS WHO PROVIDE QUALITY DEVICES FOR USE IN AMPLIFIER DESIGNS
3ILICON BASED MICROWAVE POWER TRANSISTORS CAN ACTUALLY BE CONSIDERED HYBRID
MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS AND ARE GENERALLY SINGLE CHIP OR MULTICHIP TRANSISTORS COM
BINED IN PARALLEL WITHIN A FLANGED HERMETIC PACKAGE 3OME FORM OF INTERNAL IMPEDANCE
PREMATCHING CIRCUITRY IS OFTEN INCLUDED IN ORDER TO PRESERVE THE INTRINSIC BANDWIDTH OF
THE SEMICONDUCTOR CHIP AND TO MAKE THE TASK OF EXTERNAL IMPEDANCE MATCHING EASIER
4HE INTERNAL MATCHING ALSO INCREASES THE TERMINAL IMPEDANCES OF THE PACKAGED DEVICE
TO A LEVEL WHERE THE COMPONENT LOSSES OF THE CIRCUITRY EXTERNAL TO THE TRANSISTOR BECOME
LESS CRITICAL &IGURE IS AN EXAMPLE OF A WATT INTERNALLY MATCHED POWER TRAN
SISTOR HYBRID USING THE 3I "*4 SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY )T SHOWS THE TRANSISTOR DIE
ALONG WITH THE CAPACITORS AND WIRES THAT ARE USED AS LOW PASS AND HIGH PASS IMPEDANCE
MATCHING COMPONENTS TO ACHIEVE AN ACCEPTABLE LEVEL OF IMPEDANCE PREMATCHING
4HE MICROWAVE POWER 3I "*4 IS INVARIABLY AN .0. STRUCTURE &IGURE E WITH
A VERTICAL DIFFUSION PROFILE IE THE COLLECTOR CONTACT FORMS THE BOTTOM LAYER OF THE
CHIP 4HE 0 TYPE BASE REGION HAS BEEN DIFFUSED OR IMPLANTED INTO THE COLLECTOR THE
. TYPE EMITTER HAS BEEN DIFFUSED OR IMPLANTED INTO THE BASE AND BOTH BASE AND EMITTER
REGIONS ARE ACCESSIBLE FROM THE TOP SURFACE OF THE CHIP 4HE COLLECTOR REGION CONSISTS
OF AN . DOPED LOW RESISTIVITY EPITAXIAL LAYER THAT IS GROWN ON A VERY LOW RESISTIVITY
SILICON SUBSTRATE 4HE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EPITAXIAL LAYER IE THICKNESS AND RESISTIV
ITY CAN DETERMINE THE UPPER LIMIT OF PERFORMANCE OF THE DEVICE IN TERMS OF RUGGEDNESS
EFFICIENCY AND SATURATED POWER OUTPUT
4HE FUNDAMENTAL LIMITATION ON HIGH FREQUENCY 3I "*4 PERFORMANCE IS THE OVERALL
COLLECTOR TO EMITTER DELAY TIME )F A SIGNAL IS INTRODUCED TO EITHER THE BASE OR THE EMIT
TER FOUR SEPARATE REGIONS OF ATTENUATION OR TIME DELAY ARE ENCOUNTERED THE EMITTER BASE
JUNCTION CAPACITY CHARGING TIME THE BASE TRANSIT TIME THE COLLECTOR DEPLETION LAYER
TRANSMIT TIME AND THE COLLECTOR CAPACITANCE RESISTANCE CHARGING TIME (IGH FREQUENCY
TRANSISTOR DESIGN IS CONCERNED WITH OPTIMIZING THE PHYSICAL PARAMETERS THAT CONTRIBUTE
TO THE TIME DELAY COMPONENTS
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
&)'52% ! WATT , BAND LONG PULSE AND HIGH DUTY
CYCLE SILICON BIPOLAR POWER TRANSISTOR IN A CUSTOM HERMETIC
DUAL LEADED LOW INDUCTANCE PACKAGE HAS AN OVERALL FOOTPRINT OF
r 0HOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF 2AYTHEON #OMPANY
4HE DESIGN CHALLENGE FOR HIGH
POWER 3I "*4S IS TO MAINTAIN A UNIFORM HIGH CURRENT
DENSITY OVER A LARGE EMITTER AREA WITH A MINIMUM TEMPERATURE RISE (IGH
FREQUENCY
DEVICES REQUIRE SHALLOW NARROW HIGH
RESISTANCE BASE REGIONS UNDER THE EMITTER
REGION CAUSING MOST OF THE CURRENT CARRIED IN THE DEVICE TO BE CROWDED ALONG THE
PERIPHERY OF THE EMITTER 4HUS IN ORDER TO MAXIMIZE THE CURRENT
HANDLING CAPABILITY OF
THE DEVICE AND HENCE THE POWER OUTPUT CAPABILITY OF THE DEVICE THE EMITTER PERIPHERY
IS MAXIMIZED "ECAUSE THE CAPACITANCE OF THE COLLECTOR
BASE JUNCTION APPEARS AS A
DELETERIOUS PARASITIC ELECTRICAL COMPONENT THE EMITTER
PERIPHERY TO BASE
AREA RATIO
OR %P"A IS MAXIMIZED WHERE POSSIBLE 'ENERALLY HIGHER
FREQUENCY DEVICES EXHIBIT
HIGHER %P"A RATIOS AND TO OBTAIN A HIGH %P"A RATIO VERY FINE LINE GEOMETRIES ARE
REQUIRED WHERE THE TERM GEOMETRY REFERS TO THE SURFACE CONSTRUCTION DETAILS OF THE
TRANSISTOR DICE
3ILICON ,$-/3 &%4 4HE SILICON ,ATERALLY $IFFUSED -ETAL
/XIDE 3EMI
CONDUCTOR ,$-/3 TRANSISTOR IS BEGINNING TO SUPERSEDE THE SILICON POWER "*4 AS
A REPLACEMENT DEVICE ESPECIALLY AT THE 6(& 5(& AND ,
BAND FREQUENCIES )N PAR
TICULAR THE COMMERCIAL COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY HAS FOUND THAT THE 3I ,$-/3 &%4
DOMINATES AS A CELL PHONE BASE
STATION POWER AMPLIFIER BECAUSE OF THE HIGHER GAIN
LINEARITY AND EFFICIENCY THAT IT DEMONSTRATES COMPARED TO THE SILICON "*4 !LTHOUGH IT
IS A &%4 ITS CONSTRUCTION CHARACTERISTICS PACKAGING AND DESIGN CHALLENGES ARE VERY
SIMILAR TO THE DESIGN CHALLENGES OF THE 3I "*4
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE SILICON ,$-/3 &%4 &IGURE D IS PROCESSED ON P MATERIAL WITH A LIGHTLY
DOPED P TYPE EPITAXIAL LAYER AND JUST LIKE THE SILICON "*4 MULTIPLE IMPURITY IMPLANTS
FORM THE VARIOUS JUNCTIONS )T IS STILL CONSIDERED A SLOWER DEVICE THAN OTHER SEMICONDUC
TORS SUCH AS 'A!S BECAUSE THE MOBILITY IN SILICON -/3&%4 CHANNELS IS RELATIVELY LOW
!LTHOUGH THE BULK MOBILITY OF SILICON IS LOWER THAN 'A!S IT DOES NOT PRECLUDE THE SILI
CON ,$-/3 &%4 AS A HIGH FREQUENCY POWER TRANSISTOR 4HE CONTINUOUS PROCESS FABRICA
TION IMPROVEMENT IN THE SILICON #-/3 INDUSTRY HAS RESULTED IN SUB MICRON PRODUCTION
TRANSISTOR FEATURE SIZES AND THE SMALLER FEATURE SIZES ALLOW FOR A COMPENSATED INCREASE
IN HIGHER FREQUENCY OPERATION THAT IS IT CAN EXHIBIT USABLE GAIN INTO 3 BAND )N PARTICU
LAR THE ,$-/3 STRUCTURE ENABLES A SHORT CHANNEL AS A RESULT OF THE LATERAL DIFFUSION OF
THE P TYPE IMPLANT 4HE RESULTING SHORT CHANNEL CONTRIBUTES TO IMPROVED HIGH FREQUENCY
RESPONSE IN SPITE OF THE LOWER MOBILITY OF SILICON 4HE MEASURED BREAKDOWN VOLTAGES
CAN BE IN EXCESS OF 6 SO OPERATION AT HIGHER VOLTAGES IS POSSIBLE OR CONVERSELY A
HIGHER LEVEL OF MARGIN IN RUGGEDNESS CAN BE ACHIEVED FOR A GIVEN OPERATING VOLTAGE THE
LATTER IS A KEY ADVANTAGE FOR HIGH RELIABILITY POWER AMPLIFIER APPLICATIONS
4HE UNDERSIDE OF THE ,$-/3 TRANSISTOR DICE IS THE SOURCE CONNECTION THUS THE CHIP
CAN BE MOUNTED DIRECTLY TO A METAL PACKAGE BASE 4HIS IS UNLIKE THE 3I "*4 WHERE THE
HIGH VOLTAGE COLLECTOR CONTACT IS THE UNDERSIDE OF THE CHIP !S A RESULT OF NOT HAVING TO
ELECTRICALLY ISOLATE THE UNDERSIDE OF THE ,$-/3 CHIP THERE IS NO NEED TO USE THE POTEN
TIALLY TOXIC BERYLLIUM OXIDE BASED PACKAGES THAT PERMEATE THE 3I "*4 PRODUCT LINES
4HE LOWER SOURCE INDUCTANCE ACHIEVED WITH DIRECT ATTACHMENT TO THE METAL FLANGE OF A
PACKAGE BASE ENABLES HIGHER GAINS TO BE DEMONSTRATED FOR COMPARABLE 3I "*4 POWER
LEVELS AT FREQUENCIES BELOW '(Z BUT THESE DEVICES ARE PRESENTLY NOT ATTRACTIVE AT
FREQUENCIES ABOVE 3 BAND
! PRIMARY ADVANTAGE OF THE ,$-/3 DEVICE IS THERMAL STABILITY 4HE DRAIN CURRENT
HAS A NEGATIVE TEMPERATURE COEFFICIENT THEREFORE THE ,$-/3 &%4 IS NOT SUSCEP
TIBLE TO THERMAL RUNAWAY AND DOES NOT REQUIRE THE AMOUNT OF GAIN DEGRADING RESISTIVE
EMITTER BALLASTING THAT IS COMMONLY REQUIRED IN A 3I "*4 TO HELP NORMALIZE JUNCTION
TEMPERATURES ! MORE THERMALLY STABLE DEVICE ALLOWS FOR THE MORE EFFICIENT POWER COM
BINING OF TRANSISTOR CELLS WITHIN A PACKAGE 4HIS CONTRIBUTES TO A LOWER PERFORMANCE
SENSITIVITY TO LOAD MISMATCHA PROBLEM THAT HAS COMPLICATED THE DESIGN PROCESS FOR
THE 3I "*4 &IGURE AND &IGURE SUMMARIZE THE PERFORMANCE ENVELOPE FOR COM
MERCIALLY AVAILABLE SILICON BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTORS AND SILICON ,$-/3 &%4S FOR
GIVEN TRANSMIT WAVEFORMSn
'A!S 0(%-4 4HE 'A!S 0SEUDOMORPHIC (IGH %LECTRON -OBILITY 4RANSISTOR
0(%-4 IS ACTUALLY A HETEROSTRUCTURE MATERIAL &IGURE B CONSISTING OF SLIGHTLY
STRAIN MISMATCHED CRYSTAL LAYERS ! VERY SIMPLIFIED DESCRIPTION PORTRAYS AN !L'A!S
LAYER OVER AN )N'A!S CHANNEL ON A 'A!S SUBSTRATE FORMING A HIGH QUALITY TWO
DIMENSIONAL ELECTRON GAS LAYER OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE $%' 4HIS $%' EXHIBITS
SUPERIOR ELECTRON TRANSPORT PROPERTIES RESULTING IN A VERY CONFINED CHANNEL WITH
FEWER OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHARGE CARRIER COLLISIONS 4HIS ALLOWS FOR A VERY HIGH QUALITY
TRANSISTOR THAT CAN BE MADE WITH USEFUL GAIN BEYOND 7 BAND (IGHER MOBILITY AND
ELECTRON VELOCITY CAN BE ENGINEERED BY INCREASING THE PERCENTAGE CONTENT OF INDIUM
IN THE CHANNEL OF THE &%4 4HIS CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED UP TO A POINT WHERE BEYOND
APPROXIMATELY INDIUM CONTENT THE LATTICE STRAIN DIFFERENTIAL RESULTS IN DEGRADING
PERFORMANCE AND RELIABILITY 4HESE TECHNIQUES CAN RESULT IN TRANSISTORS WITH BIGGER
BANDGAP DIFFERENCES THAN OTHERWISE POSSIBLE FOR THE CHOSEN MATERIALS 4HE FABRICATION
OF THESE TRANSISTORS EMPLOYS THE USE OF ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING SUCH AS
-OLECULAR "EAM %PITAXY -"% OR -OLECULAR /RGANIC #HEMICAL 6APOR $EPOSITION
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
&)'52% 0ERFORMANCE SPACE OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE SILICON POWER TRANSISTORS
-/#6$ FABRICATION TECHNIQUES TO ACHIEVE THE HIGH PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS
4HESE ARE CAPITAL
INTENSIVE SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING STEPS THAT ARE REQUIRED IN
ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE HIGH QUALITY CHANNEL CHARACTERISTICS THAT DEFINE A MICROWAVE OR
MILLIMETER
WAVE POWER TRANSISTOR /PTIMIZING THE MOLECULAR CONTENT OF THE &%4
CHANNEL FOR BEST PERFORMANCE IS SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS BANDGAP ENGINEERING 4HE
CHALLENGE FOR THE DEVICE ENGINEER IS TO DEVELOP A TRANSISTOR THAT SUPPORTS THE HIGHEST
VOLTAGECURRENT OPERATION WHILE DEMONSTRATING THE BEST HIGH FREQUENCY GAIN
&)'52% 0ERFORMANCE SPACE OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE SILICON POWER TRANSISTORS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE COMPLICATION IN POWER TRANSISTOR DESIGN EXTENDS BEYOND THE EXOTIC MATERIAL
FABRICATION TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE USED TO DEFINE THE BASIC &%4 4AILORED CONSTRUCTION
TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO CONTROL THE ELECTRIC FIELD INTENSITY AND IMPROVE THE BREAKDOWN
VOLTAGE ENHANCEMENTS SUCH AS THE FIELD PLATE DOUBLE GATE RECESS OR AUTOMATIC
ETCH STOP LAYERS ARE FABRICATION AND DESIGN TECHNIQUES THAT ARE USED TO OPTIMIZE THE
0(%-4 PERFORMANCE FOR A GIVEN OPERATING FREQUENCY RANGE TO BRING HIGHER VALUE
PERFORMANCE OR RELIABILITY TO THE SEMICONDUCTOR FABRICATION PROCESS
4HE FUNDAMENTAL THREE
FINGERED &%4 STRUCTURE DRAIN
GATE
SOURCE SHOWN AS A 'A!S
0(%-4 &%4 IN CROSS
SECTION IN &IGURE HAS POWER PERFORMANCE LIMITATIONS THAT
ARE MITIGATED BY EMPLOYING A STRUCTURED DESIGN APPROACH FOR ACHIEVING HIGH POWER
OUTPUT LEVELS !S SHOWN IN &IGURE THE SMALLEST PHYSICAL CONSTRUCTION DIMENSION
OF THE GATE ELECTRODE IS CALLED THE GATE LENGTH THE LONGER OF THE DIMENSIONS IS CALLED
THE GATE WIDTH 4HE CURRENT CARRYING CAPABILITY AND HENCE THE POWER CAPABILITY OF THE
&%4 IS INCREASED AS THE GATE WIDTH IS INCREASED 4HERE IS A LIMIT AS TO HOW LONG THE GATE
WIDTH CAN BE INCREASED BEFORE PHASE DIFFERENTIAL AND SIGNAL ATTENUATION ALONG THE LONGER
DIMENSION OF THE GATE WIDTH BEGIN TO HAVE A DELETERIOUS IMPACT ON AMPLIFIER PERFOR
MANCE )N PRACTICE THE MAXIMUM GATE WIDTH CAN BE FOUND TO APPROACH APPROXIMATELY
M M OR M FOR 3 BAND 8 BAND OR +A BAND FREQUENCIES RESPECTIVELY
7ITH A LIMITATION ON MAXIMUM GATE WIDTH ADDITIONAL CURRENT AND HENCE POWER
CAPABILITY CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED BY COMBINING MULTIPLE GATE ELECTRODES IN PARALLEL 'ATE
ELECTRODES OR FINGERS AS THEY ARE OFTEN REFERRED TO ARE GENERALLY GROUPED IN LOGICALLY
CONVENIENT SUBSTRUCTURES CELLS THAT ARE STEPPED AND REPEATED TO FORM A SYMMETRIC COR
PORATE HIERARCHY OF COMBINED TRANSISTORS 4HE OUTPUTS OF ALL FINGERS ARE REQUIRED TO BE
COMBINED IN PHASE AND THEN IMPEDANCE
MATCHED TO THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL !N INDUSTRY
WIDE FIGURE
OF
MERIT FOR CAPABILITY OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR AND THE UNIT &%4 IS THE POWER
OUTPUT DENSITY AND THIS IS GIVEN IN UNITS OF WATTSMM OF TOTAL &%4 GATE WIDTH OR GATE
PERIPHERY &OR OPERATING VOLTAGES OF n VOLTS A NORMALIZED POWER OUTPUT DENSITY OF
n 7MM SHOULD BE EXPECTED FOR MORE ADVANCED 'A!S 0(%-4 STRUCTURES OPER
ATING AT n VOLTS ONE CAN EXPECT TO DELIVER n 7MM OF NORMALIZED POWER
OUTPUT DENSITY 4HUS TO ACHIEVE A POWER LEVEL OF WATTS AT '(Z WHEN OPERATING
FROM VOLTS APPROXIMATELY GATE FINGERS MUST SOMEHOW BE COMBINED IN PARALLEL TO
&)'52% #ROSS SECTION OF A M DOUBLE GATEnRECESSED 'A!S
0(%-4 TRANSISTOR SHOWING GATE DRAIN AND SOURCE METALS 0HOTOGRAPH
COURTESY OF 2AYTHEON #OMPANY
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
&)'52% 4YPICAL TWO STAGE 'A!S --)# POWER AMPLIFIER WITH INSERT
SHOWING MULTIPLE PARALLELED GATE FINGERS IN FINAL STAGE UNIT CELL 0HOTOGRAPH
COURTESY OF 2AYTHEON #OMPANY
DELIVER THE POWER (IGHER NUMBERS OF PARALLELED FINGERS NECESSARILY LEAD TO DECREASING
INPUT AND OUTPUT IMPEDANCES FURTHER COMPLICATING THE ABILITY TO PROVIDE THE DESIRED
IMPEDANCE MATCH OVER THE DESIRED BANDWIDTH (IGHER IMPEDANCE TRANSFORMATION
RATIOS AND WIDER BANDWIDTHS INVARIABLY CONTRIBUTE TO ADDITIONAL LOSS IN THE MATCH
ING NETWORKS WHETHER THESE NETWORKS ARE HYBRID CONSTRUCTION OR --)# CONSTRUCTION
!DDITIONAL LOSSES DEGRADE THE INHERENT POWER GAIN AND EFFICIENCY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
INTRINSIC &%4 4HE MOST APPROPRIATE AMPLIFIER DESIGN FOR A GIVEN APPLICATION REQUIRES
OPTIMIZATION OF THE TRANSISTOR AND THE VARIABLES THAT AFFECT THAT OPTIMIZATION SUCH AS
UNIT GATE LENGTH GATE WIDTH NUMBER OF GATE FINGERS CELL CONSTRUCTION IMPEDANCE
MATCHING CIRCUITS AND BIAS NETWORKS ALL REQUIRE DETAILED ATTENTION DURING THE DESIGN
OF THE AMPLIFIER %XCELLENT COMPILATIONS OF INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED
FOR FURTHER INSIGHT 4HESE REFERENCES OUTLINE STATE
OF
THE
ART POWER OUTPUT DENSITY
AND EFFICIENCIES OF COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTORS FROM THROUGH '(Z
7IDE "ANDGAP 3EMICONDUCTORS 3INCE THE INCEPTION OF SOLID
STATE :OLPER
DRAWS HISTORICAL REFERENCE TO THE FIRST SECOND AND THIRD GENERATION OF SEMICONDUC
TOR MATERIALS AS SILICON GALLIUM ARSENIDE OR INDIUM PHOSPHIDE AND THE
SO
CALLED WIDE BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTORS 7"'3 4HE LATTER ARE DOMINATED BY THE
SILICON CARBIDE 3I# -%3&%4 AND THE GALLIUM NITRIDE !L'A.'A. HETEROJUNCTION
FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR (&%4 4HE ADVENT OF THE THIRD SEMICONDUCTOR GENERATION OPENS
ENORMOUS NEW POSSIBILITIES IN THE AREA OF HIGH POWER AMPLIFIERS FOR USE IN SOLID
STATE
4HE 7"'3 MATERIALS ARE ABLE TO PRODUCE VERY HIGH POWER
OUTPUT LEVELS n WMM
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
FROM HIGH BUS VOLTAGES n VOLTS WHILE MAINTAINING TRANSISTOR LIKE PROPERTIES AT
HIGHER OPERATING TEMPERATURES THAN 3I OR 'A!S 4HEY ARE FINDING APPLICATION IN THE
3 BAND # BAND OR 8 BAND FREQUENCY RANGES 4HE INTEREST IN DEVELOPMENT IS BEING
FUELED BY BOTH THE MILITARY FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE SENSORS AND ALSO BY COMMERCIAL
INTERESTS FOR HIGH POWER WIRELESS BASE STATION AMPLIFIERS )N PARTICULAR THE 'A. (&%4
DEVICE DEMONSTRATES PHYSICAL PROPERTIES THAT MAKE IT USEFUL AS A HIGH GAIN DEVICE WITH
VERY HIGH POWER OUTPUT CAPABILITY INTO THE 7 BAND 4HE 3I# -%3&%4 WILL LIKELY BE
COMPETITIVE AT THE LOWER FREQUENCY RANGES OF , BAND THROUGH # BAND
4HE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF THE 3I# SUBSTRATE IS SUPERIOR TO 'A!S BY NEARLY AN
ORDER OF MAGNITUDE AND THE NORMALIZED POWER OUTPUTS ARE MUCH MUCH HIGHER IN THE
WIDE BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTORS THAN CURRENTLY BEING ACHIEVED USING 'A!S AT ANY VOLT
AGE 4HE HIGHER THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF 3I# ENABLES MORE EFFICIENT THERMAL MANAGE
MENT #OUPLED WITH THE HIGH BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE AND CHANNEL CURRENT CAPABILITY OF THE
3I# -%3&%4 MEASURED RESULTS OF WATTS OF #7 POWER OUTPUT WITH AN D" ASSOCI
ATED LEVEL OF LARGE SIGNAL GAIN AT '(Z FROM A 6 DRAIN SUPPLY VOLTAGE HAVE BEEN
REPORTED FROM A SINGLE TRANSISTOR CELL
%LECTRON MOBILITY IN THE 'A. (%-4 AT SATURATED DRIFT VELOCITIES IS HIGH ENOUGH THAT
HIGH GAIN WITH SIMULTANEOUS HIGH POWER OUTPUT AND HIGH EFFICIENCIES CAN BE ACHIEVED
WITH VOLTAGES AS LOW AS TO VOLTS 7ITH A 'A. EPITAXIAL LAYER PROCESSED ON A 3I#
SUBSTRATE THE CURRENT STATE OF THE ART FOR TRANSISTOR PERFORMANCE IS DEFINED ON SEVERAL
FRONTS IN THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY BY THE FOLLOWING PERFORMANCES PULSED POWER
ADDED EFFICIENCY 0!% OF AT 6 AND '(Z ON A MM &%4 AND #7
POWER OF 7 AT 6 AND '(Z ON A SINGLE MM TRANSISTOR POWER DENSITY
OF 7MM AT '(Z LESS THAN D" POWER DEGRADATION AFTER HOURS
2& OPERATION AT 6 WITH CHANNEL TEMPERATURES OF n# 0OWER ADDED EFFICIENCY
IS A CIRCUIT DESIGNERS TERM AND IS DEFINED BY
0!% 0/ 0) 0$#
WHERE 0/ IS THE 2& POWER OUTPUT 0) IS THE 2& POWER INPUT AND 0$# IS THE TOTAL
DC POWER INPUT
&IGURE AND &IGURE ILLUSTRATE THE ADVANTAGES OF 'A. AT '(Z WHEN
COMPARED WITH THE PHYSICAL GEOMETRY OF AN IDENTICALLY SIZED 'A!S 0(%-4 TRANSISTOR
*#) ,#+ " -#') $' $
0%%
''. ),+(,+
!!# # & /
& #&
#&
' %
)#- %
&)'52% 4YPICAL '(Z PERFORMANCE CURVES FOR A MM
PERIPHERY 'A!S 0(%-4 &%4 OPERATING AT 6 USING A #7
DUTY WAVEFORM
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
$* ,$+ !# -$(* %( !%
0&&
((.!*,+),+
""$ $!' /
' $'
*$-! &
$'
( &
&)'52% 4YPICAL '(Z PERFORMANCE CURVES FOR A MM
PERIPHERY 'A. (%-4 &%4 OPERATING AT 6 USING A #7
DUTY WAVEFORM
)N THIS EXAMPLE A 'A!S 0(%-4 WITH MM OF TOTAL GATE PERIPHERY &IGURE IS
COMPARED WITH AN IDENTICAL MM 'A. (%-4 &IGURE 4HESE FIGURES PORTRAY
THE POWER OUTPUT 0O POWER ADDED EFFICIENCY 0!% AND GAIN 'N 0ERFORMANCE FOR
EACH IS REFERENCED TO '(Z FOR #7 OPERATION 4HE 'A!S 0(%-4 OPERATES AT 6
THE 'A. (%-4 OPERATES AT 6 &ROM THESE PERFORMANCE CURVES ONE SEES THAT THE
SMALL SIGNAL GAINS ARE NEARLY IDENTICAL IN THE n D" RANGE AS ARE THE LARGE SIGNAL
EFFICIENCIES BUT THE POWER OUTPUT CAPABILITY OF THE 'A. (%-4 IS D" GREATER THAN
FOR THE 'A!S 0(%-4 OF THE SAME SIZE
{ - ",/ -" -//
"// /, - // ,
2ADAR TRANSMITTER DESIGN INVARIABLY REQUIRES SIGNIFICANT RADIATED POWER FROM THE
ANTENNA IN ORDER TO PROJECT TO THE MINIMUM RANGE REQUIREMENT WHILE MAINTAINING SOME
MINIMUM SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO ON RECEIVE 4HE IMPACT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR HIGH RADI
ATED POWER IS FUNDAMENTAL TO THE DESIGN OF SOLID STATE TRANSMITTERSHIGH POWER MUST
BE ACHIEVED BY COMBINING THE OUTPUTS OF LOWER POWER AMPLIFIERS IN ORDER TO DEVELOP
THE REQUIRED RADIATED LEVELS 4RANSISTOR FINGERS ARE COMBINED INTO --)# AMPLIFI
ERS AMPLIFIERS ARE COMBINED INTO MODULES AND MODULES ARE COMBINED INTO SYSTEMS
'ENERALLY THE COMBINING TAKES ON ONE OF TWO DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS USING EITHER
SPACE COMBINED OR CORPORATE COMBINED ARCHITECTURES 4HE PHASED ARRAY IS A COMMON
EXAMPLE OF THE SPACE COMBINED CONFIGURATION WHEREIN EACH RADIATING ANTENNA ELE
MENT IS FED BY AN AMPLIFIER MODULE AND THE WAVEFRONT IS FORMED IN SPACE 4HE COM
MON EXAMPLE OF THE CORPORATE COMBINED DESIGN IS THE hSOLID STATE BOTTLE v WHEREIN A
MECHANICALLY ROTATING ANTENNA IS FED FROM A SINGLE PORT AND THE POWER AT THE PORT IS
THE SUMMATION OF THE OUTPUTS OF MANY AMPLIFIER MODULES 4HOSE MODULES MIGHT BE
PHYSICALLY LOCATED FOR EXAMPLE BELOW DECK ON A SHIP AWAY FROM THE ANTENNA 3OLID
STATE TRANSMITTER DESIGNS HAVE BEEN BUILT AROUND EACH OF THESE GENERIC FORMS AND THE
COMPONENTS THAT ARE REQUIRED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EACH SHARE SIMILAR CHARACTER
ISTICS AND DEVICES
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)N THE CORPORATE COMBINED SOLID STATE BOTTLE HIGH POWER LEVELS ARE GENERATED AT A
SINGLE POINT BY COMBINING THE OUTPUTS OF MANY POWER AMPLIFIER MODULES )N GENERAL
A POWER AMPLIFIER MODULE AS SHOWN IN &IGURE CONSISTS OF A NUMBER OF IDENTICAL
AMPLIFIERS THAT ARE PARALLEL COMBINED AND ISOLATED FROM ONE ANOTHER THROUGH THE USE
OF MICROWAVE COMBINING AND ISOLATING TECHNIQUES $RIVE POWER FOR THIS PARALLEL GROUP
IS OBTAINED FROM DRIVER OR PREDRIVER STAGES USING PHASE AND AMPLITUDE MATCHED MIR
ROR IMAGED MICROWAVE POWER DIVIDERS ! CIRCULATOR AT THE MODULE OUTPUT PORT IS COM
MONLY USED TO PROTECT THE AMPLIFIER FROM THE DAMAGING EFFECTS OF HIGH LOAD 6372
MOST NOTABLY FROM THE ANTENNA !LSO ANCILLARY CIRCUITRY SUCH AS ENERGY STORAGE CAPACI
TANCE FOR PULSED OPERATION BUILT IN TEST ")4 SENSORS OR ADAPTIVE CONTROL COMPONENTS
MAY BE INCLUDED
!MPLIFIER -ODULE $ESIGN 3OLID STATE AMPLIFIERS FOR USE IN TRANSMITTER
DESIGN ARE OFTEN REFERENCED BY THEIR CLASS OF OPERATION !MPLIFIERS ARE DESIGNATED
AS OPERATING EITHER #LASS ! " !" # $ % & OR ' #LASS ! !" " AND
# GENERALLY REFER TO ANALOG AMPLIFIERS WHEREAS #LASS $ % & AND ' GENERALLY
REFER TO SWITCHING MODE AMPLIFIERS %ACH CLASS OF OPERATION FOR THE ANALOG MODES
IS DEFINED BY THE MANNER IN WHICH THE TRANSISTOR IS BIASED EACH CLASS OF OPERATION
&)'52% 3OLID STATE POWER AMPLIFIER MODULE COMBINES MANY SINGLE STAGE AMPLIFIERS TOGETHER WITH
MATCHED PHASE AND AMPLITUDE USING RESISTIVELY ISOLATING COMBINING TECHNIQUES
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
FOR THE SWITCHING MODES IS DEFINED BY THE MANNER IN WHICH THE TRANSISTOR IS BIASED
AND HOW THE WAVESHAPE OF CURRENT AND VOLTAGE IS MANIPULATED &OR EXAMPLE CURRENT
SWING IN AN AMPLIFIER THAT IS BIASED #LASS
! REPLICATES EXACTLY THE INPUT SIGNAL UP
TO THE POINT WHERE THE TRANSISTOR VOLTAGE AND CURRENT LIMITS ARE REACHED )N PRACTICE
#LASS
! AMPLIFIERS ARE THE MOST LINEAR AS WELL AS THE LEAST EFFICIENT (IGH DYNAMIC
RANGE LINEAR RECEIVE AMPLIFIERS ARE BIASED #LASS
! AND AUDIO AMPLIFIERS MAY BE ALSO
BE BIASED #LASS
! TO PRESERVE THE LINEARITY OF THE INPUT SIGNAL #LASS
" AMPLIFIERS
ARE BIASED SUCH THAT CONDUCTING CURRENT IN THE TRANSISTOR FLOWS FOR EXACTLY ONE HALF
OF THE INPUT SIGNAL VOLTAGE SWING 0USH
PULL AMPLIFIERS MAY BE BIASED IN THIS FASHION
SUCH THAT ONE TRANSISTOR OPERATES OVER THE POSITIVE INPUT SIGNAL SWING AND THE SEC
OND TRANSISTOR OPERATES OVER THE NEGATIVE INPUT SIGNAL SWING (IGHER EFFICIENCY BUT
HIGHER DISTORTION IS EXPERIENCED WHEN COMPARED WITH A #LASS
! DESIGN 4HE #LASS
!" OPERATED AMPLIFIER IS BIASED JUST ABOVE CONDUCTION USING A TRICKLE QUIESCENT
CURRENT AND IS ALSO COMMONLY USED AS A PUSH
PULL AMPLIFIER #LASS
# AMPLIFIERS ARE
BIASED SUCH THAT CONDUCTING CURRENT IN THE TRANSISTOR FLOWS FOR LESS THAN OF THE
INCIDENT INPUT VOLTAGE SIGNAL 4HIS ALLOWS FOR THE HIGHEST EFFICIENCY AT THE EXPENSE
OF POWER GAIN AND WITH THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF NONLINEAR OPERATION #LASS
# BIASED
TRANSISTORS ARE ACTUALLY hOFFv WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF AN 2& SIGNAL ON THE INPUT &OR
USE IN RADAR TRANSMITTER AMPLIFIERS THE #LASS
# AMPLIFIER OFFERS HIGHER EFFICIENCY
OVER #LASS
!
" OR
!" )N PRACTICE THEY CAN BE MADE TO BE hSELF
BIASINGv AND
HAVE BEEN THE PREFERRED CLASS OF OPERATION FOR THE SILICON BIPOLAR TRANSISTORS USED AT
5(& , BAND AND 3 BAND "ECAUSE THIS CLASS OF OPERATION IS INHERENTLY NONLINEAR AS
THE TRANSISTOR MODULATES BETWEEN BEING OFF AND SATURATED THROUGH EACH 2& CYCLE THE
HARMONIC CONTENT IS HIGH AND APPROPRIATE FILTERING OF UNDESIRED HIGHER ORDER SPEC
TRAL CONTENT MUST BE APPLIED AT THE OUTPUT OF THE TRANSMITTER 4HE AMPLIFIER #LASS
$
%
& AND
' ARE HIGH EFFICIENCY SWITCHING AMPLIFIER CONFIGURATIONS THAT REQUIRE
SPECIALIZED TERMINATION OF THE SIGNAL HARMONICS FILTERING IN ORDER TO MAXIMIZE THE
AMPLIFIER EFFICIENCY 4HESE CAN BE COMPLICATED HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATIONS BUT MAY
BE WARRANTED WHERE INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENT IN EFFICIENCY BRINGS BENEFIT TO THE
TRANSMITTER SYSTEM
3ILICON "*4S THAT OPERATE IN THE (& THROUGH 3
BAND FREQUENCY RANGES ARE COMMONLY
BIASED EITHER #LASS
" OR #LASS
# #LASS
# OPERATION IS THE PREFERRED MODE BECAUSE
THE 2& OUTPUT POWER OF THE AMPLIFIER IS MAXIMIZED FOR A GIVEN PRIME POWER INPUT )N
GENERAL THE BASE
EMITTER JUNCTION IS REVERSE
BIASED AND COLLECTOR CURRENT IS DRAWN FOR
LESS THAN HALF OF AN 2& CYCLE #OLLECTOR CURRENT IS DRAWN ONLY WHEN THE INPUT VOLTAGE
EXCEEDS THE REVERSE BIAS ACROSS THE INPUT AND THE OUTPUT VOLTAGE IS DEVELOPED ACROSS A
RESONANT
TUNED LOAD 4HE NET RESULT IS HIGH AMPLIFIER EFFICIENCY 4HE PRACTICAL IMPLICA
TIONS OF A #LASS
#
BIASED AMPLIFIER STAGE ARE AS FOLLOWS
.O QUIESCENT DC CURRENT IS DRAWN WHILE THE DEVICE IS NOT BEING DRIVEN SUCH AS IN
THE RADAR RECEIVE MODE (ENCE THERE IS NO POWER DISSIPATION IN THE AMPLIFIER WHILE
THE TRANSMITTER IS OPERATING IN THIS MODE
/NLY ONE POWER SUPPLY VOLTAGE IS NECESSARY FOR THE COLLECTOR TERMINAL OF THE TRANSIS
TOR 4HE #LASS
# OPERATION IS A SELF
BIAS WHEREIN THE TRANSISTOR DRAWS COLLECTOR CUR
RENT ONLY WHEN THE 2& VOLTAGE SWING ON THE INPUT EXCEEDS THE BUILT
IN POTENTIAL OF
THE EMITTER
BASE JUNCTION !DDITIONAL REVERSE BIASING MAY BE INTRODUCED AS A RESULT
OF THE VOLTAGE DROP INDUCED BY CURRENT FLOW ACROSS PARASITIC RESISTANCE OF THE BASE
OR EMITTER
BIAS RETURN AND IN COMMON BASE OPERATION THIS WILL RESULT IN DEGRADED
POWER GAIN
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
#LASS
#
BIASED AMPLIFIERS ARE VERY SENSITIVE TO ANY DEVIATIONS FROM THE NOMINAL
OPERATING POINT #LASS
#
BIASED AMPLIFIERS EXHIBIT SENSITIVITY TO 2& DRIVE LEVEL AND
LOAD IMPEDANCE THAT MAY DEGRADE THE OUTPUT PULSE CHARACTERISTICS ! SINGLE
STAGE
#LASS
# BIASED "*4 AMPLIFIER WILL TYPICALLY EXHIBIT A VERY NARROW hLINEARv TRANSFER
CHARACTERISTIC THE LINEAR REGION MAY EXIST OVER ONLY A NARROW
TO
D" WINDOW OF
2& INPUT DRIVE 4HIS BECOMES STRIKINGLY CRITICAL WHEN SEVERAL #LASS
#
BIASED STAGES
ARE CASCADED IN SERIES AS IS COMMON IN MOST AMPLIFIER CONFIGURATIONS 4HE FINAL TIER
OF OUTPUT TRANSISTORS IN A SERIAL AMPLIFIER CHAIN MUST BE DRIVEN INTO SATURATION BY THE
PRECEDING STAGES AND THE DRIVE LEVEL MUST BE HELD RELATIVELY CONSTANT AS A FUNCTION
OF TIME AND TEMPERATURE 3INCE THESE DEVICES EXHIBIT THIS NARROW OPERATING RANGE
SMALL DECREASES IN THE INPUT 2& DRIVE LEVEL TO A MULTISTAGE AMPLIFIER MAY BRING THE
FINAL TIER OF DEVICES OUT OF SATURATION &AILURE TO CONTROL THESE CONDITIONS ACCURATELY
CAN RESULT IN UNACCEPTABLY DEGRADED OUTPUT PULSE FIDELITY
)N A VERY SIMPLE SENSE THE DESIGN OF AN AMPLIFIER MODULE CONSISTS OF MATCHING THE
POWER TRANSISTORS TO THE PROPER IMPEDANCE LEVEL AND THEN COMBINING THE POWER LEVELS
AT THESE IMPEDANCES ! TYPICAL PACKAGED POWER TRANSISTOR HAS LOW INPUT AND OUTPUT
IMPEDANCES THAT MUST BE TRANSFORMED UP TO HIGHER LEVEL USUALLY OHMS 4HUS THE
TYPICAL AMPLIFIER DESIGN TASK MUST ADDRESS BOTH LOW
LOSS AND INEXPENSIVE REACTIVE
IMPEDANCE
TRANSFORMING NETWORKS THAT CAN PROVIDE THE PROPER SOURCE AND LOAD IMPED
ANCES TO THE TRANSISTOR 4HE COMMON MEDIUM FOR PROVIDING THIS FUNCTION IS A MICROSTRIP
TRANSMISSION LINE -ICROSTRIP IS A QUASI
4%- MODE TRANSMISSION
LINE MEDIUM THAT
REQUIRES PHOTOLITHOGRAPHICALLY DEFINED LINES ON A LOW
LOSS HIGH
QUALITY DIELECTRIC SUB
STRATE 2EACTIVE COMPONENTS THAT ARE NECESSARY AS IMPEDANCE
MATCHING ELEMENTS CAN
BE APPROXIMATED IN THE MICROSTRIP FORMAT !N INEXPENSIVE REACTIVE MATCHING NETWORK
CAN BE FORMED BY USING AN INTERCONNECTED PATTERN OF MICROSTRIP ELEMENTS 3HUNT
AND
SERIES
CONNECTED INDUCTIVE REACTANCES AS WELL AS SHUNT CAPACITIVE REACTANCES ARE THE
MOST EASILY FABRICATED AND MOST FREQUENTLY USED MATCHING ELEMENTS
0OWER #OMBINING ! POWER COMBINER COHERENTLY ADDS TOGETHER THE 2& OUTPUT
VOLTAGES OF INDIVIDUAL AMPLIFIERS AND DELIVERS THE SUM TOTAL OF THE MODULES OUTPUT
POWER MINUS THE LOSSES OF THE COMBINER TO A SINGLE PORT 4HE OUTPUTS OF IDENTICAL
SINGLE
STAGE POWER AMPLIFIERS ARE COMMONLY SUMMED BY USING WELL
DOCUMENTED
SPLITTING AND COMBINING TECHNIQUES &IGURE 4HESE TECHNIQUES ALSO ADDRESS
ISOLATION BETWEEN PARALLELED AMPLIFIERS (AVING ISOLATION BETWEEN ADJACENT PORTS
MEANS THAT IF ONE DEVICE FAILS THE POWER COMBINER PROVIDES A FIXED LOAD IMPEDANCE
TO THE REMAINING DEVICE HOWEVER HALF THE POWER OF THE REMAINING ACTIVE DEVICE WILL
BE DISSIPATED IN THE ISOLATION RESISTOR OF THE COMBINER )N ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE MOST
EFFICIENT COMBINING OF PARALLEL AMPLIFIER STAGES THE PHASE AND AMPLITUDE BALANCE
OF INDIVIDUAL STAGES SHOULD BE AS SIMILAR AS POSSIBLE !NY DEVIATIONS FROM IDENTICAL
PHASE AND AMPLITUDE BALANCE RESULT IN POWER OUTPUT LOST TO THE RESISTIVE TERMINATING
PORT OF THE COMBINER 4HE POWER LOST TO SIMILARITY DIFFERENCES FROM EITHER PHASE OR
AMPLITUDE IS DICTATED BY VECTOR ADDITION AND IS GIVEN BY
0,/34
LOG 31240 0
0
0
#/3P 0 0
WHERE P IS THE PHASE DIFFERENCE IN DEGREES BETWEEN TWO AMPLIFIERS THAT ARE SUMMED
TOGETHER 3124 INDICATES THE hSQUARE ROOT OF v AND 0 AND 0 ARE THE POWER LEVELS OF
EACH AMPLIFIER IN WATTS &IGURE QUANTIFIES THE IMPACT OF LOST PERFORMANCE DUE TO
PHASE OR AMPLITUDE IMBALANCE
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
&)'52% #OMMON MICROWAVE POWER COMBINING CIRCUIT TOPOLOGIES THAT ARE USED TO PROVIDE
ISOLATION AMONG ADJACENT PARALLEL AMPLIFIERS IN A CORPORATE COMBINING STRUCTURE
#ONTOURS OF 6ECTORAL 0OWER ,OST
0HASE )MBALANCE DEG
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
D"
!MPLITUDE )MBALANCE D"
&)'52% #ONTOURS OF POWER LOST TO THE ISOLATION LOAD RESISTOR OF AN ISOLATED POWER COM
BINER FOR A RANGE OF AMPLITUDE AND PHASE IMBALANCES BETWEEN TWO COMBINED AMPLIFIERS 7ITH AN
AMPLITUDE IMBALANCE OF D" AND A PHASE IMBALANCE OF n APPROXIMATELY D" OF POWER WILL
BE LOST TO THE ISOLATING TERMINATION OF THE POWER COMBINER
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)N GENERAL THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A POWER COMBINER ARE
4HE COMBINER SHOULD HAVE LOW INSERTION LOSS TO MAXIMIZE TRANSMITTER EFFICIENCY
4HE COMBINER SHOULD HAVE 2& ISOLATION AMONG PORTS SUCH THAT FAILED MODULES DO NOT
AFFECT THE LOAD IMPEDANCES OR COMBINING EFFICIENCY FOR THE REMAINING FUNCTIONING
MODULES
4HE COMBINER SHOULD PROVIDE A CONTROLLED 2& IMPEDANCE TO THE AMPLIFIER MODULES
SUCH THAT THE AMPLIFIER CHARACTERISTICS ARE NOT DEGRADED
4HE DISSIPATED POWER CAPABILITY OF THE POWER COMBINER TERMINATIONS SHOULD BE SUF
FICIENT TO ACCOMMODATE ANY COMBINATION OF POWER AMPLIFIER FAILURES
4HE MECHANICAL PACKAGING OF THE POWER COMBINER SHOULD ALLOW MODULES TO BE
REPAIRED EASILY 4HE PACKAGING SHOULD ALSO PROVIDE SHORT EQUAL PHASE AND LOW
LOSS
INTERCONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE AMPLIFIER MODULES AND THE COMBINER
0OWER COMBINERS MAY BE EITHER ISOLATIVE OR REACTIVE DESIGNS )N ISOLATIVE DESIGNS
ANY IMBALANCE OR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PHASE AND AMPLITUDE OF THE VOLTAGES THAT
ARE BEING COMBINED IS DIRECTED TO A RESISTIVE TERMINATION 4HE NET RESULT IS THAT A CON
STANT LOAD IMPEDANCE IS PRESENTED TO THE AMPLIFIER UNDER ALL CONDITIONS EVEN WHEN AN
ADJACENT AMPLIFIER IN A COMBINING TIER HAS FAILED )N A REACTIVE COMBINER DESIGN ANY
IMBALANCE IN POWER OR PHASE BETWEEN TWO INPUT SIGNALS RESULTS IN REFLECTED POWER AND
INCREASED 6372 TO THE MODULE DRIVING IT (IGHER THAN DESIRED FREQUENCY
DEPENDENT
PHASE AND AMPLITUDE RIPPLE MAY RESULT FROM IMPROPER USE OF THIS CONFIGURATION
! SPLITTER AND COMBINER NETWORK MAY ALSO PROVIDE SERIAL ISOLATION AMONG CAS
CADED AMPLIFIER STAGES AS WELL AS PARALLEL ISOLATION &OR EXAMPLE WHEN A #LASS
#
BIASED TRANSISTOR IS PULSED IT PASSES THROUGH ITS CUTOFF LINEAR AND SATURATION REGIONS
#ONSEQUENTLY THE INPUT AND OUTPUT IMPEDANCES ARE DYNAMICALLY VARYING AND THE
INPUT IMPEDANCE CHANGES VERY DRAMATICALLY 4HE DRAMATICALLY CHANGING INPUT IMPED
ANCE WILL PRESENT AN UNDESIRABLE LOAD TO THE PRECEDING AMPLIFIER STAGE SUPPLYING THE
2& DRIVE POWER 4HIS MAY VERY WELL SEND THE PREVIOUS STAGE INTO UNWANTED OSCIL
LATION (OWEVER A QUADRATURE SPLITTER NETWORK IE A POWER DIVIDER THAT PROVIDES A
D" SPLIT AS WELL AS A n PHASE OFFSET CAN BE USED TO PROVIDE A CONSTANT IMPEDANCE
AT THE INPUT TO THE SPLITTER REGARDLESS OF THE INDIVIDUAL AMPLIFIER INPUT IMPEDANCES
&IGURE 4HIS ENSURES THAT A DRIVER AMPLIFIER STAGE IS PRESENTED WITH A WELL
MATCHED LOAD
4YPICAL 2& TRANSMISSION MEDIA THAT ARE USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HIGH
POWER
COMBINERS INCLUDE COAXIAL TRANSMISSION LINES MICROSTRIP OR STRIPLINE TRANSMISSION
LINES OR WAVEGUIDE 4HE CHOICE OF TRANSMISSION MEDIUM IS GENERALLY A FUNCTION OF
MANY PARAMETERS INCLUDING PEAK AND AVERAGE POWER
HANDLING CAPABILITY OPERAT
ING FREQUENCY AND BANDWIDTH MECHANICAL PACKAGING CONSTRAINTS AND OF COURSE THE
OVERALL LOSS THAT CAN BE TOLERATED -ORE OFTEN THAN NOT A COMBINER DESIGN UTILIZES A
HIERARCHY OF CASCADED DESIGNS TO SUM THE OUTPUTS OF MANY MODULES HOWEVER UNIQUE
CONFIGURATIONS THAT SUM MANY PORTS TO A SINGLE PORT HAVE BEEN BUILT
!MPLITUDE AND 0HASE 3ENSITIVITIES 4HE PHASE AND AMPLITUDE SENSITIVITY OF
TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIERS TO POWER SUPPLY RIPPLE MAY IMPACT THE -4) IMPROVEMENT FACTOR
THAT CAN BE ATTAINED )N A MULTISTAGE AMPLIFIER THE PHASE ERRORS DUE TO POWER SUPPLY
SENSITIVITY OF SERIALLY CASCADED STAGES WILL ADD )N ADDITION CAREFUL DESIGN MUST TAKE
INTO ACCOUNT INTERACTIONS THAT CAN OCCUR AS A RESULT OF THE MANY CASCADED STAGES OF
SOLID
STATE AMPLIFICATION 4HESE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
&)'52% 0OWER AMPLIFIER COMBINING CONFIGURATIONS THAT PROVIDE MINIMUM INPUT PORT
REFLECTED POWER A QUADRATURE
COUPLED AMPLIFIER PAIR AND B SPLIT
4 AMPLIFIER PAIR WITH A n OFFSET
4HE AMPLIFIER INPUT VOLTAGE REFLECTION COEFFICIENT IS GIVEN AS ' AND THE AMPLIFIER VOLTAGE GAIN AS
! 2EPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM % $ /STROFF ET AL 3OLID
3TATE 4RANSMITTERS .ORWOOD -! !RTECH
(OUSE
0HASE ERRORS IN CASCADED STAGES SIMPLY ADD (OWEVER IT MAY ALSO BE POSSIBLE TO
ARRANGE THEM TO CANCEL BY PROPER PHASING OF POWER SUPPLY RIPPLES FOR DIFFERENT
STAGES 3IMILARLY IN A STAGE WITH . MODULES IN PARALLEL EACH WITH ITS OWN HIGH
FREQUENCY POWER
CONDITIONED POWER SUPPLY THE OVERALL PHASE RIPPLE CAN USUALLY BE
ASSUMED TO BE REDUCED BY A FACTOR EQUAL TO THE SQUARE ROOT OF . IF THE POWER SUPPLY
CLOCKS ARE PURPOSELY NOT SYNCHRONIZED
"ECAUSE OF SATURATION EFFECTS AMPLITUDE ERRORS IN CASCADED STAGES DO NOT SIMPLY ADD
(OWEVER AMPLITUDE ERRORS IN DRIVING STAGES WILL CAUSE DRIVE
INDUCED PHASE VARIA
TIONS IN THE FOLLOWING STAGES AS NOTED ABOVE ALL OF WHICH MUST BE COUNTED
4IME JITTER IN CASCADED STAGES SIMPLY ADDS UNLESS THE STAGES ARE ARRANGED TO CANCEL OR
TO BE ROOT
SUM
SQUARED )N ADDITION AMPLITUDE FLUCTUATIONS IN THE 2& DRIVE WILL ALSO
CAUSE DRIVE
INDUCED JITTER WHICH MAY EVEN EXCEED POWER
SUPPLY
RIPPLE
INDUCED JITTER
SO THIS FACTOR MUST BE CAREFULLY MEASURED
3PECTRAL %MISSIONS 7HEN A RECTANGULAR 2& DRIVE PULSE IS APPLIED TO A SINGLE
MODULE THE AMPLIFIER WILL TYPICALLY SHOW RISE AND FALL TIMES THAT ARE ON THE ORDER
OF NANOSECONDS 4HE OUTPUT SIGNAL SPECTRUM OF THIS PULSE SHAPE MAY NOT MEET SPEC
TRAL EMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS AND IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO SLOW THE RISE AND FALL TIMES
(OWEVER THE AMPLIFIER OPERATING REGION OF OPTIMUM EFFICIENCY OCCURS AS THE TRAN
SISTOR IS DRIVEN INTO SATURATION AND FOR A LARGE TRANSMITTER THERE MAY BE NUMEROUS
TIERS OF CASCADED SATURATED AMPLIFIERS 7ITH SO MANY CASCADED SATURATING AMPLIFIERS IT
BECOMES VERY DIFFICULT TO CONTROL THE RISE AND FALL TIMES AS A RESULT OF THE NONLINEARITY
THAT IS INTRODUCED INTO THE POWER TRANSFER FUNCTION FOR THE TRANSMITTER #ONSEQUENTLY
AN INPUT PULSE SHAPE WITH VERY EXAGGERATED SLOW RISE AND FALL TIMES MAY BE NECESSARY
TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED OUTPUT
PULSE SPECTRAL COMPOSITION
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
x - ",/ -" -//
*- ,,9/, - // ,
)N CONTRAST TO THE DESIGN OF THE SOLID STATE BOTTLE TRANSMITTER WHERE SIGNIFICANT LOSSES CAN
ACCRUE IN THE COMBINING CIRCUITRY THE SOLID STATE PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA USES INDIVIDUAL
TRANSMITRECEIVE 42 MODULES WITH INTERNAL PHASE SHIFT CAPABILITY %ACH 42 MODULE
IS LOCATED BEHIND AN ASSOCIATED RADIATING ELEMENT IN A TWO DIMENSIONAL ARRAY )N THIS
FASHION THE BEAM IS MORE EFFICIENTLY FORMED IN SPACE AND ONE AVOIDS THE LOSSES THAN
CAN ACCUMULATE IN CORPORATE COMBINING 4HE TRANSMITRECEIVE 42 MODULE REGARD
LESS OF COMPLEXITY HAS FIVE FUNDAMENTAL FUNCTIONS TO PROVIDE GAIN AND POWER
OUTPUT IN THE TRANSMIT MODE TO PROVIDE GAIN AND LOW NOISE FIGURE IN THE RECEIVE
MODE TO SWITCH BETWEEN TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE STATES TO PROVIDE PHASE SHIFT FOR
BEAM STEERING FOR BOTH TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE PATHS AND TO PROVIDE SELF PROTECTION
FOR THE LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER
4HE FIRST 42 MODULE WAS DEVELOPED BY 4EXAS )NSTRUMENTS IN THE MID S AS
PART OF THE -OLECULAR %LECTRONICS FOR 2ADAR !PPLICATIONS -%2! PROGRAM INITI
ATED BY THE 53 !IR &ORCE TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING 8 BAND 42 MODULES
IN A SOLID STATE PHASED ARRAY RADAR !S A RESULT OF CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT PHASED
ARRAYS ARE USED IN MULTIPLE MILITARY AND COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS 4HE ADVANTAGES
OF A PHASED ARRAY TRANSMITTER INCLUDE THE ABILITY TO HAVE MULTIPLE INDEPENDENTLY
STEERED BEAMS FROM A SINGLE APERTURE THE SPEED OF ELECTRONIC VERSUS MECHANI
CAL BEAM LOCATIONS AND THE EFFICIENCY OF UTILIZING SPACE COMBINING INSTEAD OF
PERFORMING THE POWER COMBINING BEFORE THE ANTENNA "LOCK DIAGRAMS OF REPRESEN
TATIVE 42 MODULE FUNCTIONS ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE &UNCTIONALLY THESE ARE ALL
EQUIVALENT BUT THE PARTITIONING OF CIRCUIT FUNCTIONS IS DEPENDENT ON THE CAPABILITY
OF THE --)#S USED AND DIFFERENT IMPLEMENTATIONS MAY BE REQUIRED TO ADDRESS A
KEY RELIABILITY REQUIREMENT OR A KEY PERFORMANCE PARAMETER &OR EXAMPLE THE USE
OF A SINGLE HIGH PERFORMANCE POWER AMPLIFIER MAY OBVIATE THE NEED FOR COMBIN
ING TWO LESSER POWER AMPLIFIERS TOGETHER TO ACHIEVE THE SAME PERFORMANCE 4HESE
REPRESENT COST CAPABILITY AND AVAILABILITY TRADES THAT MIGHT BE EXERCISED BY THE
42 MODULE ARCHITECT
-ICROWAVE -ONOLITHIC )NTEGRATED #IRCUITS --)#S $URING THE S IT
WAS THE REDUCTION TO PRACTICE OF THE MICROWAVE MONOLITHIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT --)#
THAT ENABLED MOST HIGH FREQUENCY PHASED ARRAYS TO BE REALIZED --)# USE IN 42
MODULE DESIGN HAS ENABLED BOLD NEW MODULE CONFIGURATIONS AND HENCE PHASED ARRAY
SYSTEMS TO BE ENVISIONED "ECAUSE SOME OF THE MORE COMPLEX FUNCTIONS IN THE GENERIC
42 MODULE BLOCK DIAGRAM CAN BE FABRICATED BY USING --)# TECHNOLOGY THE COM
PONENTS THAT CAN BE REALIZED THROUGH THE USE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY CAN BE EMPLOYED TO
CREATE SYSTEM ARCHITECTURES THAT ARE DIFFICULT IF NOT IMPRACTICAL TO DESIGN WITH OTHER
LESS INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES 4HE --)# DESIGN APPROACH UTILIZES ACTIVE AND PASSIVE
DEVICES THAT HAVE BEEN MANUFACTURED BY USING A SINGLE PROCESS !CTIVE AND PASSIVE CIR
CUIT ELEMENTS ARE FORMED ON A SEMI INSULATING SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATE THROUGH VARI
OUS DEPOSITION SCHEMES 4HE MONOLITHIC APPROACH TO CIRCUIT DESIGN INHERENTLY OFFERS
SEVERAL ADVANTAGES
,OW COST CIRCUITRY #OMPONENT ASSEMBLY IS ELIMINATED BECAUSE COMPLEX CIRCUIT
CONFIGURATIONS USING BOTH ACTIVE AND PASSIVE COMPONENTS ARE BATCH PROCESSED ON THE
SAME SUBSTRATE
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
&)'52% #OMMON 42 MODULE CONFIGURATIONS MAKE USE OF POWER
AMPLIFIERS LOW
NOISE AMPLIFIERS DUPLEXERS SWITCHES AND CONTROLS TO ENABLE ON
FACE BEAM STEERING IN A PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA !RCHITECTURE VARIATIONS MAY RESULT
FROM COMPONENT CAPABILITY DIFFERENCES AS WELL AS PERFORMANCE AND PACKAGING
CONSTRAINTS
)NCREASED RELIABILITY "ATCH PROCESSED COMPONENTS LEAD TO A REDUCED NUMBER OF
PARTS FROM THE RELIABILITY STANDPOINT AND HENCE TO INCREASED OPERATING LIFETIMES
)NCREASED REPRODUCIBILITY #IRCUITRY THAT IS BATCH PROCESSED OR CIRCUITS THAT ORIGI
NATE FROM THE SAME WAFER EXHIBIT CONSISTENT ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS FROM COMPONENT
TO COMPONENT
3MALL SIZE AND WEIGHT )NTEGRATION OF ACTIVE AND PASSIVE COMPONENTS ONTO A
SINGLE CHIP RESULTS IN HIGH DENSITY CIRCUITRY WITH MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS ON A SINGLE
CHIP /VERALL THE 42 MODULE CAN BE MADE MUCH SMALLER THAN WITH DISCRETE
COMPONENTS
4HE PARTITIONING OF 42 MODULE CIRCUIT FUNCTIONS ONTO MONOLITHIC CHIPS USUALLY REP
RESENTS A TRADEOFF AMONG SEVERAL DESIGN ISSUES AND THE RESULTANT CIRCUIT CONFIGURATIONS
REPRESENT A COMPROMISE AMONG THE GOALS OF OPTIMUM 2& PERFORMANCE HIGH LEVELS OF
INTEGRATION AND FABRICATION YIELDS THAT ARE CONSISTENT WITH PROCESSING CAPABILITIES OF
'A!S --)#S !MONG THE SINGLE
CHIP CIRCUIT DESIGNS THAT HAVE BEEN REPORTED FROM
5(& THROUGH MILLIMETER
WAVE FREQUENCIES ARE POWER AMPLIFIERS LOW
NOISE AMPLIFI
ERS WIDEBAND AMPLIFIERS PHASE SHIFTERS ATTENUATORS 42 SWITCHES AND OTHER SPECIAL
FUNCTION DESIGNS .OTEWORTHY DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR THESE --)# FUNCTIONS ARE
DESCRIBED NEXT
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
0OWER !MPLIFIERS 4HE AREA CONSUMED BY COMBINING IN PARALLEL THE TOTAL NUM
BER OF GATE FINGERS IE TOTAL GATE PERIPHERY IS USUALLY AT A PREMIUM &OR HIGH
POWER
DESIGN THE LOAD IMPEDANCE PRESENTED TO THE FINAL DEVICE MUST BE CAREFULLY CHOSEN
SUCH THAT POWER OUTPUT AND EFFICIENCY ARE MAXIMIZED !LSO TOO MUCH GATE PERIPHERY
MAY INCREASE THE CHIP AREA SUCH THAT COST OF THE COMPONENT BECOMES UNATTRACTIVE
,OSSES IN THE OUTPUT CIRCUIT OF THE FINAL STAGE CAN SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE POWER OUTPUT
AND EFFICIENCY /FF
CHIP MATCHING MAY BE NECESSARY TO MAXIMIZE POWER OUTPUT FOR A
GIVEN DESIGN 'A!S IS A POOR THERMAL CONDUCTOR 0OWER &%4 DESIGN THAT ADDRESSES
THERMAL MANAGEMENT IS REQUIRED !DEQUATE HEAT SINKING OF THE CHIP IS MANDATORY AND
MAY BECOME A LIMITING FACTOR IN HIGH PERFORMANCE DESIGNS #AREFUL ATTENTION MUST
BE PAID TO UNPLANNED VOLTAGE STRESSES ON THE POWER AMPLIFIER EITHER FROM TRANSIENT
INDUCED EFFECTS OR LOAD IMPEDANCE VARIATIONS IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE DESIRED RELI
ABILITY &OR EFFICIENT MULTIPLE
STAGE DESIGNS IT IS NECESSARY THAT THE FINAL STAGE OF
THE AMPLIFIER REACH SATURATION BEFORE THE PRECEDING STAGES 4HIS MUST BE ADDRESSED IN
THE CIRCUIT DESIGN
,OW
.OISE !MPLFIIERS -ULTIPLE STAGE LINEAR DESIGNS REQUIRE PROPER DEVICE
SIZING OF SUCCESSIVE STAGES IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN LOW INTERMODULATION DISTORTION
PRODUCTS #IRCUIT LOSSES ON THE INPUT BEFORE THE FIRST STAGE DEGRADE THE NOISE
FIGURE OF THE DESIGN THEREFORE SOME DESIGNS UTILIZE OFF
CHIP MATCHING 4HE BEST
NOISE
FIGURE USUALLY REQUIRES A
BIAS CONDITION THAT IS CLOSER TO THE
PINCH
OFF VOLTAGE OF THE &%4 THAN
FOR A POWER AMPLIFIER 4HE PINCH
OFF VOLTAGE IS THE VOLTAGE THAT
WHEN APPLIED TO THE GATE TERMINAL
CAUSES THE CURRENT IN THE TRAN
SISTOR CHANNEL TO STOP FLOWING
4HUS THE TRANSISTOR IS hPINCHED
OFFv AND VARIABILITY AROUND THIS
OPERATING POINT CAN CAUSE LARGE
CIRCUIT PERFORMANCE VARIABILITY IF
DESIGNED POORLY "OTH GAIN AND
NOISE FIGURES ARE HIGHLY DEPEN
DENT ON THE PINCH
OFF VOLTAGE
WHEN THE &%4 IS BIASED CLOSE TO
PINCH
OFF "ECAUSE THE PINCH
OFF
VOLTAGE CAN VARY AMONG DEVICES
FROM THE SAME WAFER THE BIAS
CONDITION MUST BE CHOSEN CARE
FULLY 'AIN AND NOISE FIGURES ARE
USUALLY TRADED OFF AGAINST REPEAT
ABLE PERFORMANCE %XAMPLES OF
AN , BAND TWO
STAGE LOW
NOISE
AMPLIFIER 'A!S --)# AND AN
,
BAND LOW
NOISE AMPLIFIER --)# 3HOWN
8 BAND POWER AMPLIFIER 'A!S &)'52%
HERE ARE THE SPIRAL INDUCTORS METAL
NITRIDE
METAL CAPACITORS
--)# ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE AND VIA
HOLE CONNECTIONS TO GROUND 0HOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF
AND &IGURE RESPECTIVELY
2AYTHEON #OMPANY
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
&)'52% 8 BAND TWO STAGE POWER AMPLIFIER --)# SHOWING PARAL
LEL COMBINATION OF &%4 CELLS IN THE OUTPUT STAGE 4HIS EXAMPLE WAS FABRI
CATED ON M THICK 'A!S SUBSTRATE 4HE 2& LINES ARE MICROSTRIP FORMAT
4%- MODE TRANSMISSION LINES 0HOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF 2AYTHEON #OMPANY
4RANSMIT2ECEIVE 3WITCHING &OR SWITCHING APPLICATIONS THE &%4 DESIGN
SHOULD BE CHOSEN SUCH THAT THE RATIO OF /&& /. RESISTANCE OF THE &%4 IS KEPT AS HIGH AS
POSSIBLE 4HE CHANNEL LENGTH LARGELY DETERMINES THE /. RESISTANCE AND HENCE THE INSER
TION LOSS OF THE DEVICE 4HE TRADEOFF BETWEEN SHORT GATE LENGTH THUS LOWER PROCESSING
YIELD AND INSERTION LOSS MUST BE EXAMINED 4HE VALUE OF THE PARASITIC DRAIN SOURCE
CAPACITANCE WILL AFFECT THE /&& STATE ISOLATION OF THE DEVICE 4HIS CAPACITANCE DEPENDS
LARGELY ON THE SOURCE DRAIN SPACING OF THE &%4 GEOMETRY #RITICAL APPLICATIONS ARE
USUALLY ONLY THE FRONT END SWITCHING CONFIGURATIONS IN A 42 MODULE IE BEFORE THE
RECEIVE LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER OR AFTER THE TRANSMIT AMPLIFIER
0HASE 3HIFTERS $IGITALLY CONTROLLED PHASE SHIFTER DESIGNS GENERALLY UTI
LIZE EITHER A SWITCHED LINE OR A LOADED LINE CIRCUIT CONFIGURATION USING EITHER
DISTRIBUTED TRANSMISSION LINE COMPONENTS OR LUMPED ELEMENT EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS
TO ACHIEVE MULTIPLE BIT PHASE SHIFTING 3WITCHED LINE CONFIGURATIONS RELY ON &%4
SWITCHES TO SWITCH LENGTHS OF TRANSMISSION LINE IN AND OUT OF THE CIRCUIT AND ARE
TYPICALLY USED FOR HIGHER FREQUENCIES WHERE LESS CHIP AREA IS NEEDED ,OADED LINE
CONFIGURATIONS USE THE SWITCHED &%4 PARASITICS AS CIRCUIT ELEMENTS TO INTRODUCE THE
NECESSARY PHASE CHANGES
4HE TYPICAL PROCESSING AND CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE FOR A --)# CHIP IS FAIRLY SIMILAR
AMONG THE 'A!S FOUNDRIES &IGURE )N THIS FIGURE THE ACTIVE CHANNEL REGION
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
%0)4!8)!, ,!9%23
-%3! %4#( !.$ /89'%.
)-0,!.4 &/2 )3/,!4)/.
/(-)# -%4!, 0!44%2.).'
$%0/3)4)/. !.$ !,,/9
%
"%!- /2 /04)#!,,9
$%&).% '!4% 0!44%2.
'!4% 2%#%33 !.$ '!4%
-%4!, $%0/3)4)/.
0(%-4 %0)4!8)!, ,!9%23
'A!S 35"342!4%
/(-)# -%4!,
$%&).% #!0!#)4/2
"/44/- 0,!4% -%4!,
$%0/3)4 3I. 0!33)6!4)/.
&/,,/7%$ "9 4A. 4(). &),2%3)34/23
.)42)$%
#APACITOR
0,!3-! %4#(
4!.4!,5- .)42)$%
0,!3-! %4#(
3),)#/. .)42)$%
'A!S
'!4% -%4!,
2ESISTOR
4!.4!,5-
&%4
4()#+ -%4!,
.)42)$%
4!.4!,5 MM
#!0 "/44/-
$%&).% !)2"2)$'% 0),,/73
0!44%2. !.$ $%0/3)4
4()#+ -%4!, 2%-/6% !)2
"2)$'% 0),,/73 !.$ $/
&).!, &2/.4 3)$% $# 4%34
#!0 "/44/ MM
-/5.4 7!&%2 /. #!22)%2
'2).$%4#( 4/ MM
-!3+ !.$ %4#( 6)!3
0,!4% 50 6)!3
$%&).% '2)$ $)#%
!.$ $)3-/5.4
$%&).% !)2"2)$'%3
4()#+ -%4!,
%,%#42)#!, 4%34
7!8
3!00()2%
&)'52% 'A!S --)# PROCESSING MAKES USE OF DEPOSITION AND ETCHING TECHNIQUES
TO FIRST DEFINE THE ACTIVE CHANNEL REGION OF THE TRANSISTOR n FOLLOWED BY THE DEPOSITION OF
METALS DIELECTRIC LAYERS AND RESISTIVE LAYERS FORMING THE PASSIVE COMPONENTS n 4HEN
THICK METAL INTERCONNECTS ARE INTRODUCED FOLLOWED BY BACKSIDE PROCESSING TO CONNECT 2&
GROUND TO THE TOPSIDE COMPONENTS n
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
OF A &%4 IS DELINEATED BY ANY OF SEVERAL PATTERNING TECHNIQUES ON A SEMI
INSULATING
'A!S SUBSTRATE SUCH AS ION IMPLANTATION OR MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY /NCE THE &%4
HAS BEEN DEFINED A COMBINATION OF DEPOSITED DIELECTRIC FILMS AND METAL LAYERS IS USED
TO FORM THE PASSIVE COMPONENTS SUCH AS METAL
INSULATOR
METAL CAPACITORS AND ALSO
TO INTERCONNECT ALL THE ELEMENTS OF THE CIRCUIT 3TANDARD LIBRARIES OF CIRCUIT ELEMENTS
MAY INCLUDE &%4S USED AS LINEAR AMPLIFIERS LOW
NOISE AMPLIFIERS SATURATING POWER
AMPLIFIERS OR SWITCHES RESISTORS CAPACITORS INDUCTORS DIODES TRANSMISSION LINES
INTERCONNECTS AND PLATED GROUND VIAS
4RANSMIT2ECEIVE -ODULE #HARACTERISTICS 4HE IMPACT OF ANTENNA ARRAY ELEC
TRICAL REQUIREMENTS ON THE PACKAGING OF --)# COMPONENTS INTO A 42 MODULE IS FUN
DAMENTAL 4HE PERIODIC NATURE OF DIGITAL PHASE SHIFTING AT EACH RADIATING ELEMENT CAN
CREATE MULTIPLE DISTINCT LOCATIONS IN SPACE WHERE PARASITIC BEAMS GRATING LOBES CAN
OCCUR )N ARRAY DESIGN THIS IS AVOIDED IF THE RADIATING ELEMENT SPACING D IS LESS THAN
THAT DESCRIBED BY
D K
SINP
"
7HERE D IS THE SPACING BETWEEN ADJACENT RADIATING ELEMENTS K IS THE WAVELENGTH OF
THE HIGHEST OPERATING FREQUENCY AND P IS THE MAXIMUM SCAN ANGLE OF THE ARRAY &OR
HEMISPHERICAL PHASED ARRAY COVERAGE THE MAXIMUM SCAN ANGLE CAN BE UPWARDS OF
o n DEPENDING ON THE NUMBER OF ARRAY FACES USED IN THE SYSTEM CONFIGURATION 4HUS
FOR AN 8
BAND ARRAY THAT REQUIRES SCANNING TO LARGE ANGLES THE SPACING BETWEEN RADIAT
ING ELEMENTS AND BY IMPLICATION THE MAXIMUM SPACING AVAILABLE FOR 42 MODULES
WHEN THEY ARE ALIGNED BEHIND THE RADIATING ELEMENTS MUST BE ON THE ORDER OF INCHES
OR LESS !LLEVIATIONS IN PACKAGING MAY BE ALLOWABLE IF THE SCAN VOLUME IS NOT REQUIRED
TO EXTEND TO A FULL FIELD OF VIEW 6ALUES OF ELEMENT SPACING THAT SATISFY %Q ARE
SHOWN AS A FUNCTION OF SCAN ANGLE FOR SOME OF THE COMMON RADAR FREQUENCY BANDS
THROUGH MM
WAVE FREQUENCIES IN &IGURE 4HE IMPLICATION OF THIS GRAPH IS THAT
FULL 42 MODULE FUNCTIONALITY MUST BE PACKAGED INTO THE SPACE AND VOLUME BEHIND THE
PLANAR ARRAY AND THIS REQUIREMENT CAN POSE VERY DIFFICULT CHALLENGES TO THE 42 MODULE
" $!%
# &'
&)'52% -AXIMUM OPERATING FREQUENCY AND WORST CASE SCAN
ANGLE DEFINE THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE DISTANCE AMONG ADJACENT RADIAT
ING ELEMENTS 42 MODULES FITTING BEHIND EACH ELEMENT ARE CONSTRAINED
BY THESE SPACINGS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
DESIGNER IN ORDER TO SATISFY THE 2& ELECTRICAL DC ELECTRICAL THERMAL AND RELIABILITY
REQUIREMENTS 0ACKAGING OF --)# COMPONENTS INTO THE 42 MODULE MUST TAKE INTO
CONSIDERATION MULTIPLE ELEMENTS AS THEY IMPACT THE ELECTRICAL PERFORMANCE
0OWER #ONDITIONING #ONSIDERATIONS 0ULSED TRANSMIT AMPLIFIERS CAN CONSUME
VERY HIGH DC CURRENTS AND SPECIAL DESIGN ATTENTION MUST BE PAID TO PARASITIC INDUC
TANCE THAT CAN GENERATE VERY HIGH VOLTAGE SPIKES AND CAUSE DAMAGE TO --)# POWER
AMPLIFIERS )N ADDITION THE DC POWER SOURCE MUST INCLUDE APPROPRIATE ENERGY STORAGE
SOMETIMES LOCALLY IN THE MODULE IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THE MINIMUM VOLTAGE PULSE DROOP
AS A FUNCTION OF TIME
%NVIRONMENTAL 0ROTECTION #ONSIDERATIONS --)# COMPONENTS UTILIZE THIN
FILM
METAL DEPOSITION TECHNIQUES TO DELINEATE THE VERY FINE FEATURES THAT MAKE UP THE MICRO
WAVE CIRCUITRY 4HESE FEATURES ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO POTENTIAL SHORT
TERM FAILURE DUE TO
CORROSION METAL MIGRATION AND DENDRITIC GROWTH IF THERE ARE VOLTAGES ON THE CIRCUITRY
WHEN EXPOSED TO AN ATMOSPHERE THAT CAUSES MOISTURE TO CONDENSE ON THE CIRCUITRY
4HUS A HERMETIC PACKAGE WITH A DRY NITROGEN
FILLED INTERIOR IS USUALLY EMPLOYED TO
ENSURE LONG
TERM RELIABILITY (ERMETIC PACKAGING ALSO BRINGS WITH IT THE UNDESIRABLE
EFFECT OF TRAPPING INSIDE THE HOUSING ANY MOLECULAR CONTENT THAT OUTGASES INTO THE
INTERIOR CAVITY )N PARTICULAR HYDROGEN CAN BE PRESENT IN THE INTERIOR METAL PLATING AND
HAS BEEN KNOWN TO CAUSE LONG
TERM RELIABILITY CONCERNS IN SOME 'A!S AMPLIFIERS
/NE SOLUTION INVOLVES THE USE OF AN INTERNAL HYDROGEN GETTER TO COUNTERBALANCE THE
RELIABILITY IMPACT ! GETTER IS A MATERIAL INCLUDED IN THE MODULE HOUSING TO ABSORB
RESIDUAL HYDROGEN
-ECHANICAL 0ACKAGING #ONSIDERATIONS 4HE 42 MODULE HOUSING MUST BE MADE
OF MATERIALS THAT PROVIDE FOR ADEQUATE THERMAL MANAGEMENT AND LONG
TERM RELIABIL
ITY -ATERIALS THAT SIMULTANEOUSLY SUPPORT EXPOSURE TO SHOCK VIBRATION TEMPERATURE
CYCLING AND ADEQUATE THERMAL MANAGEMENT MUST BE USED -ATERIALS THAT MATCH VERY
CLOSELY THE COEFFICIENT OF THERMAL EXPANSION #4% OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIAL MUST
BE USED IN THE DESIGN OF THE HOUSING SUCH THAT CRACKING OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
DOES NOT OCCUR DURING THERMAL CYCLING THAT HAPPENS DURING NORMAL OPERATION OR DURING
TEMPERATURE CHANGES DURING ASSEMBLY AND TEST
%LECTRICAL )NTERCONNECTION #ONSIDERATIONS 4HE INTERCONNECTION OF --)# CHIPS
WITHIN THE 42 MODULE MUST UTILIZE CONTROLLED IMPEDANCE TRANSMISSION LINES WITH LOW
INSERTION LOSS 4HUS SOME COMBINATION OF HIGH
QUALITY MICROWAVE DIELECTRIC MATERIAL
MUST BE INTEGRAL TO THE MICROWAVE ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL DESIGN OF THE MODULE
!TTENTION TO THE COEFFICIENT OF THERMAL EXPANSION AND MANUFACTURABILITY ISSUES WILL
IMPACT THE CHOICE OF USABLE MATERIALS 42 MODULES ALSO GENERALLY REQUIRE AS MANY AS
n CONTROL OR BIAS CONNECTIONS IN ORDER TO INTERFACE WITH AMPLIFIERS CONTROL CIRCUITRY
AND PHASE SHIFTERS 4HE INTERCONNECTION DENSITY ESPECIALLY AT HIGHER FREQUENCIES CAN
BECOME A PACKAGING DESIGN CHALLENGE !T FREQUENCIES ABOVE '(Z THE USE OF CON
VENTIONAL CONNECTORS IS USUALLY PROHIBITIVE DUE TO THE SMALL WIDTH AVAILABLE IN FULL
FIELD
OF
VIEW ARRAYS
-ANUFACTURABILITY #ONSIDERATIONS "Y DEFINITION THE USE OF --)# COMPONENTS
INVOKES A MICROELECTRONIC ASSEMBLY TEST AND HANDLING MANUFACTURING INFRASTRUCTURE
4HE MANUFACTURING OF LOW
COST 42 MODULES IS PARAMOUNT TO BEING ABLE TO EFFECTIVELY
PRODUCE AFFORDABLE ARRAYS $ESIGN METHODOLOGIES SUCH AS STATISTICAL PERFORMANCE
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
REPRESENTATION ARE OFTEN EXPLOITED TO MAXIMIZE FUNCTIONAL YIELD 4HE INTEGRATION OF
DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES IS A KEY COMPONENT TO SUCCESSFUL EXECUTION OF
PRODUCT MANUFACTURING
-" -// -9-/ 8 * 0!6% 0!73 5(& %ARLY 7ARNING 2ADAR 4HE 0!6% 0!73 !.&03
SYSTEM IS A 5(& SOLID STATE ACTIVE APERTURE PHASED ARRAY RADAR THAT WAS BUILT FOR THE
%LECTRONIC 3YSTEMS $IVISION OF THE 53 !IR &ORCE BY THE %QUIPMENT $IVISION OF THE
2AYTHEON #OMPANY DURING THE LATE S 4HE RADAR IS A LONG RANGE SYSTEM WITH A
PRIMARY MISSION TO DETECT AND TRACK SEA LAUNCHED BALLISTIC MISSILES 4HE TWO FACED
RADAR USES ACTIVE 42 MODULES PER FACE AND EACH MODULE INTERFACES WITH A DIPOLE
ANTENNA ELEMENT %XTRA ELEMENTS AND A NARROW BEAM ARE USED ON RECEIVE AND UPGRADE
CAPABILITY HAS BEEN INCLUDED FOR THE FUTURE INSTALLATION OF UP TO 42 MODULES PER
ARRAY FACE 4HE PEAK POWER OUTPUT FROM EACH FACE WHEN POPULATED WITH MODULES
IS K7 AND THE AVERAGE POWER OUTPUT IS K7
!MONG THE MODULES PER FACE GROUPS OF 42 MODULES ARE OPERATED AS A
SUBARRAY )N TRANSMIT A HIGH POWER ARRAY PREDRIVER IS USED TO DRIVE SUBARRAY DRIVER
AMPLIFIERS %ACH OF THESE POWER AMPLIFIERS PROVIDES ENOUGH 2& DRIVE FOR ALL MOD
ULES IN ONE SUBARRAY )N RECEIVE THE SIGNAL FROM EACH OF THE SUBARRAYS IS FED INTO A
RECEIVE BEAMFORMING NETWORK
4HE 42 MODULE CONTAINS PREDRIVER DRIVER AND FINAL TRANSMIT AMPLIFIERS TRANSMIT
RECEIVE SWITCHING LOW NOISE AMPLIFIERS LIMITER PHASE SHIFTERS AND LOGIC CONTROL 4HE
42 MODULE BLOCK DIAGRAM IS SHOWN IN &IGURE AND A PHOTOGRAPH IS SHOWN IN
&)'52% "LOCK DIAGRAM OF THE 0!6% 0!73 TRANSMITRECEIVE MODULE SHOWS A TRANSISTOR
DRIVING CONFIGURATION FOR THE TRANSMIT AMPLIFIER AND A QUADRATURE SPLITTER ON THE OUTPUT TO GENERATE A POLAR
IZED FEED TO THE RADIATING ELEMENT
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0!6% 0!735(& 42 MODULE CONSISTS OF TRANSMIT MODULE AND RECEIVE
MODULE IN A NESTED CONFIGURATION OF CAST ALUMINUM HOUSINGS 0HOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF
2AYTHEON #OMPANY
&IGURE 4HE TRANSMITTER PORTION OF THE 42 MODULE CONTAINS SEVEN SILICON BIPO
LAR POWER TRANSISTORS OPERATED #LASS
# FROM A 6 DC POWER SUPPLY 4HE TRANSMIT
AMPLIFIER CHAIN CONSISTS OF A PREDRIVER TRANSISTOR FEEDING TWO DRIVER TRANSISTORS IN TURN
FEEDING FOUR FINAL TRANSISTORS IE A
CONFIGURATION %ACH OF THE FOUR FINAL STAGES
DELIVERS 7 PEAK FOR
MS PULSE WIDTHS AT DUTY CYCLES UP TO -ORE THAN
TRANSISTORS HAVE BEEN BUILT INTO MORE THAN MODULES &UTURE UPGRADES OF
THIS DESIGN IN THE "-%73 ARRAYS WILL USE THE MORE POWERFUL AND EFFICIENT 3I ,$-/3
&%4 TECHNOLOGY FOR ENHANCED PERFORMANCE CAPABILITIES
!.303
3HIPBOARD 3EARCH 2ADAR 4HE !.303
WAS AN EXISTING 5(&
TUBE
TYPE LONG
RANGE $ SHIPBOARD SEARCH RADAR SYSTEM FOR WHICH A NEW SOLID
STATE
TRANSMITTER WAS BUILT DURING THE S TO REPLACE THE TUBE 4HE SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER
WAS BUILT FOR THE .AVAL 3EA 3YSTEMS #OMMAND BY THE THEN 7ESTINGHOUSE %LECTRIC
#ORPORATION 4HE EXISTING WAVEFORM FROM THE ORIGINAL TRANSMITTER WAS NOT CHANGED
AND THE SOLID
STATE UNIT WAS INSTALLED AS A DIRECT RETROFIT 4HIS WAS NOT QUITE AS DIFFICULT
AS USUAL BECAUSE THE TUBE
TYPE SYSTEM ALREADY USED LONG PULSES AND PULSE COMPRES
SION WITH A DUTY CYCLE OF NEARLY WHICH IS MUCH HIGHER THAN OLDER DUTY CYCLE
SYSTEMS !LTHOUGH IT MAY HAVE BEEN DESIRABLE TO GO TO A HIGHER DUTY CYCLE AND LOWER
PEAK POWER TO MAKE THE SOLID
STATE RETROFIT EASIER THE .AVY PREFERRED NOT TO HAVE TO
MODIFY THE REST OF THE SYSTEM
4HE
K7 PEAK POWER TRANSMITTER USED A TOTAL OF HIGH
POWER AMPLIFIER MOD
ULES WHICH ALONG WITH POWER COMBINING PREDRIVERS DRIVERS AND CONTROL CIRCUITRY
WERE HOUSED IN THREE SEPARATE CABINETS 4HERE WERE FINAL POWER OUTPUT MODULES
ARRANGED IN TWO GROUPS OF %ACH MODULE &IGURE PRODUCED 7 PEAK AND
7 AVERAGE FOR A
S PULSE WIDTH AT A DUTY CYCLE $RIVE POWER FOR THE TWO
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
&)'52% !.303
TRANSMITTER AMPLIFIER MODULE 0HOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF
7ESTINGHOUSE %LECTRIC #ORPORATION
BANKS OF FINAL OUTPUT MODULES K7 WAS PROVIDED FROM THE COMBINED OUTPUTS OF
MORE IDENTICAL MODULES IN THE DRIVER GROUP 0REDRIVERS AND A REDUNDANT PREAMPLIFIER
WERE USED AS PRECEDING DRIVE STAGES
4HE POWER AMPLIFIER MODULE CONSISTED OF TEN IDENTICAL SILICON BIPOLAR POWER TRAN
SISTORS ARRANGED IN A DRIVING AMPLIFIER CONFIGURATION TO DEVELOP MORE THAN 7
PEAK POWER OUTPUT OVER THE TO -(Z FREQUENCY BANDWIDTH %ACH TRANSISTOR WAS
A 7 PEAK POWER DEVICE THAT WAS OPERATED IN A BALANCED PUSH PULL CIRCUIT DESIGN
"Y USING A PUSH PULL CONFIGURATION THE CIRCUIT DESIGNERS ALLEVIATED SOME OF THE LOW
IMPEDANCE MATCHING PROBLEMS NORMALLY ASSOCIATED WITH VERY HIGH POWER TRANSISTORS
4HE 2& INPUT DRIVE TO THE MODULE WAS 7 PEAK AND WAS USED TO DRIVE TWO DEVICES
! COMBINED POWER LEVEL OF GREATER THAN 7 WAS SPLIT EIGHT WAYS TO DRIVE THE EIGHT
IDENTICAL OUTPUT STAGES ,OSSES IN THE OUTPUT CIRCULATOR FINAL POWER COMBINING AND THE
FAULT DETECTION CIRCUITRY REDUCED THE COMBINED POWER LEVEL TO 7 /UTPUT MODULES
WERE LIQUID COOLED FOR NORMAL OPERATION BUT AN EMERGENCY BACKUP FORCED AIR COOLING
WAS PROVIDED IN THE EVENT OF A PRIMARY COOLING SYSTEM FAILURE 4HE DISSIPATED HEAT
COULD BE TOLERATED BECAUSE THE SYSTEM OPERATED AT A LOW DUTY CYCLE
4HE POWER COMBINING FOR EACH OUTPUT CABINET CONSISTED OF COMBINERS 4HE
REACTIVE POWER COMBINER CONSISTED OF SEVEN GROUPS OF COMBINERS FABRICATED IN
AIR STRIPLINE USING IN GROUND PLANE SPACING 4HE SEVEN OUTPUTS WERE COMBINED
BY USING A SINGLE AIR STRIPLINE COMBINER WITH IN GROUND PLANE SPACING 4HE
K7 OUTPUTS OF THE TWO COMBINERS WERE COMBINED IN A SINGLE ISOLATED
HYBRID THAT WAS MANUFACTURED BY USING A COAXIAL TRANSMISSION LINE 4HE ADVERTISED
LOSSES OF THE AND COMBINERS WERE D" AND D" RESPECTIVELY
2!-0 , "AND !IR 4RAFFIC #ONTROL 4RANSMITTER 4HE 2ADAR -ODERNIZATION
0ROJECT 2!-0 RADAR SYSTEM IS AN , BAND SYSTEM BUILT BY THE 2AYTHEON #OMPANY DUR
ING THE LATE S TO REPLACE THE EARLIER PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SURVEILLANCE RADARS USED
FOR AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL BY #ANADAS -INISTRY OF 4RANSPORT 4HE PRIMARY SURVEILLANCE
RADAR CONSISTS OF A ROTATING REFLECTOR HORN FED BY A SOLID STATE TRANSMITTER AND INTERFAC
ING WITH REDUNDANT RECEIVE CHANNELS WITH RECEIVER EXCITERS AND SIGNAL PROCESSORS 4HE
PRIMARY SURVEILLANCE RADAR OPERATES BETWEEN AND -(Z WITH A K7 PEAK
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 2!-0 TRANSMITTER AMPLIFIER MODULE 0HOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF 2AYTHEON
#OMPANY
POWER OUTPUT AND PROVIDES RADAR COVERAGE TO NMI AND TO AN ALTITUDE OF FT WITH
AN PROBABILITY OF DETECTION FOR A M TARGET WITH AZIMUTH AND RANGE RESOLUTION TO
n AND NMI RESPECTIVELY 4HE RECEIVER
EXCITER EFFICIENTLY UTILIZES THE TRANSMIT
TER SOLID
STATE DEVICES WITH A HIGH DUTY
CYCLE WAVEFORM ! PAIR OF PULSES IS USED IN THE
FREQUENCY
AGILE SYSTEM AND TARGET RETURNS ARE PROCESSED BY A MOVING
TARGET DETECTOR
4HE PULSE PAIR CONSISTS OF A
S SINGLE
TONE PULSE THAT PROVIDES COVERAGE TO NMI AND
A
S NONLINEAR CHIRP PULSE THAT PROVIDES COVERAGE TO NMI 4HE
S PULSE IS
COMPRESSED TO S SUCH THAT HIGH DUTY CYCLE IS ACHIEVED WITHOUT COMPROMISING RANGE
RESOLUTION 4HE TRANSMITTER CONSISTS OF MODULES EACH CAPABLE OF 7 POWER OUT
PUT &IGURE THAT ARE COMBINED TO PRODUCE THE GREATER THAN K7 PEAK POWER
LEVEL 4WO MODULES AND A 6 DC POWER SUPPLY MAKE UP A SINGLE TRANSMITTING GROUP
4HE MODULE CONSISTS OF A
DRIVING
DRIVING
TRANSISTOR
AMPLIFIER CONFIGURA
TION OF SILICON BIPOLAR POWER DEVICES 4HE TWO FINAL OUTPUT DEVICES AND THE EIGHT DRIVER
DEVICES ARE 7 TRANSISTORS CAPABLE OF OPERATING UP TO A DUTY CYCLE OVER THE
-(Z BANDWIDTH AT COLLECTOR EFFICIENCIES GREATER THAN %ACH MODULE IS AIR
COOLED AND THE MEASURED EFFICIENCY IS GREATER THAN WHEN THE MODULE IS OPERATING
AT AN AVERAGE DUTY CYCLE -ODULE POWER GAIN IS GREATER THAN D" ! CIRCULATOR IS
USED ON THE OUTPUT PORT TO PROTECT THE 7 DEVICES FROM ANTENNA
GENERATED REFLECTIONS
AND CONTROL CIRCUITRY HAS BEEN INCLUDED TO SWITCH OFF MODULES IN THE EVENT OF COOLING
SYSTEM FAILURE ! HIGH
POWER REPLICATED COMBINER BUILT BY USING A COMBINATION OF
REACTIVE AND RESISTIVE POWER
COMBINING TECHNIQUES IN AIR
DIELECTRIC STRIPLINE IS EMPLOYED
TO SUM THE MODULE OUTPUTS TO THE K7 LEVEL
,
,
- -ETH h)NDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT OF THE MICROWAVE POWER TUBE INDUSTRY v $EPARTMENT OF $EFENSE
2EPORT !PRIL P
6 'RANATSTEIN 2 0ARKER AND # !RMSTRON h3CANNING THE TECHNOLOGY 6ACUUM ELECTRONICS AT THE
DAWN OF THE ST CENTURY v 0ROCEEDINGS OF THE )%%% VOL NO PP n -AY
3/,)$ 34!4% 42!.3-)44%23
6 'REGERS
(ANSEN h2ADAR SYSTEMS TRADE
OFFS VACUUM ELECTRONICS VS SOLID
STATE v IN TH
)NTERNATIONAL 6ACUUM %LECTRONICS #ONFERENCE !PRIL n PP n
2 3YMONS h-ODERN MICROWAVE POWER SOURCES v )%%% !%33 3YSTEMS -AGAZINE PP n
*ANUARY
4 3ERTIC h)DIOSYNCRASIES OF 474 AMPLIFIERS v PRESENTED AT 4HE &UTURE OF %LECTRONIC $EVICES
#ONFERENCE )NSTITUTE OF 0HYSICS -ARCH
- (ANCZOR AND - +UMAR h
K7 3
BAND SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER FOR MODERN RADAR 3934%-3 v
)%%% 4RANSACTIONS ON -ICROWAVE 4HEORY AND 4ECHNIQUES VOL NO PP n
$ECEMBER
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2ADAR #ONFERENCE ,ONDON /CTOBER
#HAPTER
,iviVi>
V>i
i>` >i >
%LECTRONIC 3YSTEMS
.ORTHROP 'RUMMAN #ORPORATION
/," 1
/"
2OLE OF THE 2ADAR 2EFLECTOR !NTENNA 2ADAR REFLECTOR ANTENNAS PROVIDE THE
MEANS BY WHICH THE TRANSMIT RECEIVE ENERGY AND ITS ASSOCIATED WAVEFORM IS RADIATED
INTO COUPLED FROM FREE SPACE )N TRANSMIT MODE THE ANTENNA LAUNCHES A GUIDED WAVE
FROM THE TRANSMITTER INTO FREE SPACE AND TYPICALLY FOCUSES THIS RADIATED ENERGY OVER A
LIMITED ANGULAR RANGE OR BEAMWIDTH )N RECEIVE MODE THE REFLECTOR ANTENNA OPERATES IN
A RECIPROCAL MANNER RECEIVING REFLECTED RADAR TARGET ENERGY IE ECHOES FROM A LIMITED
ANGULAR RANGE 4HESE RECEIVED ECHOES ARE THEN CONVERTED INTO GUIDED WAVES THAT ARE
AMPLIFIED AND SUBSEQUENTLY PROCESSED IN THE RADAR RECEIVER
4YPICALLY THE RADAR REFLECTOR ANTENNA MUST BE DESIGNED TO ENABLE BEAM SCANNING
OVER THE FIELD
OF
VIEW &/6 VIA EITHER MECHANICAL OR ELECTRONIC MEANS OR SOME COM
BINATION OF BOTH )N 3ECTION METHODS OF ELECTRONIC BEAM SCANNING LIMITED &/6
USING ARRAY FEEDS ARE DISCUSSED 4HUS THE RADAR REFLECTOR ANTENNA PERFORMS SEVERAL
IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS )T CONVERTS THE GUIDED WAVE FROM THE TRANSMITTER TO A RADIATED
WAVE OR VICE VERSA ON RECEIVE )T CONCENTRATES OR COLLIMATES THE RADIATED ENERGY
INTO A DIRECTIVE BEAM OF SPECIFIED GAIN AND BEAMWIDTH )T COLLECTS THE REFLECTED
ENERGY SCATTERED FROM THE RADAR TARGET AND )T SUPPORTS BEAM SCANNING VIA EITHER
ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL MEANS OR BOTH
!NTENNA "EAM 3CANNING &OR MOST RADAR APPLICATIONS THE TRADE OR CHOICE
BETWEEN A REFLECTOR ANTENNA AND A DIRECT RADIATING PHASED ARRAY IS TYPICALLY DRIVEN BY
FACTORS RELATING TO SCAN RATE SCAN VOLUME AND COST 2EFLECTOR ANTENNAS ARE TYPICALLY
EMPLOYED IN A RADAR WHEN SLOWER SCAN RATES ARE SUFFICIENT AND MECHANICAL SCAN
NING SUFFICES ANDOR A VERY HIGH GAIN ELECTRICALLY LARGE APERTURE IS REQUIRED AND A
PHASED ARRAY IE AN ELECTRONIC SCANNING ARRAY %3! IS COST PROHIBITIVE ANDOR THE
REQUIRED SCAN VOLUME IS LIMITED AND CAN BE SATISFIED VIA USE OF AN ARRAY
FED REFLECTOR
$URING THE S AND S PHASE SHIFTER AND 42 MODULE TECHNOLOGY GREATLY MATURED
AND %3! COSTS DROPPED DRAMATICALLY 4HESE ADVANCES HAVE RESULTED IN INCREASED INTER
EST AND UTILIZATION OF %3!S FOR WIDE SCAN RADAR APPLICATIONS AND ARRAY
FED REFLECTORS
WHERE LIMITED ELECTRONIC SCAN SUFFICES
!DVANTAGES AND !PPLICATIONS OF THE 2ADAR 2EFLECTOR !NTENNA )N THE PREVIOUS
PARAGRAPH THE PROLIFERATION OF %3! ANTENNAS IN MODERN RADAR SYSTEMS IS LINKED TO THE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
DRAMATIC 42 MODULE COST REDUCTIONS AND TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS 4HE IMPROVED PER
FORMANCE OF %3! RADARS IS CITED AS A REASON FOR DECREASED UTILIZATION OF REFLECTOR ANTENNAS
IN MANY OF TODAYS RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNS
(OWEVER THERE ARE STILL APPLICATIONS WHERE THE REFLECTOR ANTENNA IS WELL SUITED TO RADAR
APPLICATIONS AND WILL CONTINUE TO FIND APPLICATIONS IN THE FUTURE 4HREE RELEVANT EXAMPLES OF
RADAR APPLICATIONS WELL SUITED TO THE USE OF REFLECTOR ANTENNAS ARE BRIEFLY DESCRIBED BELOW
,OW #OST 2ADAR &OR VERY COST
CONSTRAINED APPLICATIONS WHERE MECHANICAL SCAN
RATES SUFFICE REFLECTOR ANTENNAS ARE STILL THE DOMINANT CHOICE /NE SUCH NICHE IS COM
MERCIAL WEATHER RADAR EG .%82!$ AND 4$72
6ERY (IGH
'AIN ,ONG
2ANGE 2ADAR &OR VERY HIGH
GAIN RADAR APPLICATIONS THE COST
OF AN %3! IS TYPICALLY STILL PROHIBITIVE AND THE REFLECTOR PROVIDES AN ECONOMICAL MEANS OF
REALIZING SUCH HIGH GAINS 4WO EXAMPLES OF LONG
RANGE RADAR APPLICATIONS GENERALLY REQUIR
ING VERY HIGH ANTENNA GAINS ARE MISSILE DEFENSE RADAR AND SPACE
BASED RADAR
,IMITED 3CAN 2ADARS 3OME RADARS OPERATE OVER A LIMITED FIELD
OF
VIEW ANDOR THE
REQUIREMENTS DICTATE FAST ELECTRONIC SCANNING OVER A SMALL &/6 AND SLOWER MECHANICAL
SCANNING OVER A LARGER FIELD OF VIEW %3!
FED REFLECTOR ARCHITECTURES ARE WELL SUITED FOR
SUCH APPLICATIONS AND ARE DESCRIBED IN GREATER DETAIL IN 3ECTION 4HREE RELEVANT EXAM
PLES ARE MISSILE DEFENSE RADAR SPACE
BASED RADAR AND GROUND
BASED SEARCH AND
TRACK RADAR $ AZIMUTH ELECTRONIC SCANNING SUFFICES FOR SOME OF THESE APPLICATIONS
#LASSIFICATION OF 2EFLECTOR !NTENNAS 2ADAR REFLECTOR ANTENNAS CAN BE CLASSIFIED IN
VARIOUS WAYS /NE USEFUL CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA IS ELECTRICAL DESIGN IE THE REFLECTOR OPTICS
CONFIGURATION 4ABLE PROVIDES A SUMMARY LEVEL COMPARISON OF SOME COMMON RADAR
4!",% #OMPARISON OF +EY &EATURES OF 2EFLECTOR !RCHITECTURES
3INGLE 2EFLECTOR
0ARABOLIC
%LECTRONIC s ,IMITED IN BOTH
!ZIMUTH AND
3CANNING
%LEVATION
%SCAN
s !CHIEVED VIA
&EED SWITCHING
#YLINDRICAL
2EFLECTOR
$UAL 2EFLECTOR
#ASSEGRAIN OR
'REGORIAN
#ONFOCAL
0ARABOLOIDS
3PHERICAL AND
4ORUS
s ,IMITED IN BOTH s 5SES PLANAR s 0OTENTIAL FOR
s 7IDE $
VERY WIDE $
%3! SOURCE
!ZIMUTH AND
SCANNING
SCANNING TORUS
s 4YPICALLY
%LEVATION
s 5SES %3!
OR $ 3CANNING
LIMITED BUT
LINE SOURCE s !CHIEVED VIA
SPHERICAL
TRADABLE
FEED SWITCHING
FOR WIDE $
s !CHIEVED VIA
BY VARYING
SCANNING
MAGNIFICATION FEED SWITCHING
s -ODEST TO LOW
s (IGH
!PERTURE s -EDIUM TO HIGH s -EDIUM TO s (IGH
s 3
WITCHED
s $ %3!
s .
O ESCAN
O ESCAN 3INGLE HIGH
%FFICIENCY s .
BEAM ARRAY ON
PLANAR SOURCE
s $ %3! LINE 3INGLE HORN
HORN
&EED
CIRCULAR ARC
s %SCAN !RRAY
SOURCE
s %SCAN !RRAY
4YPES
TORUS REFLECTOR
SWITCHED FEEDS
SWITCHED FEEDS
OR SPHERICAL
ARC SPHERICAL
REFLECTOR
"LOCKAGE
#ONCERNS
s -ITIGATE FEED
BLOCKAGE VIA
OFFSET GEOMETRY
s -ITIGATE FEED s -ITIGATE FEED s -ITIGATE FEED s 3ERIOUS
CONCERN FOR
BLOCKAGE
BLOCKAGE VIA
BLOCKAGE
VERY WIDE SCAN
VIA OFFSET
OFFSET GEOMETRY
VIA OFFSET
CONFIGURATIONS
GEOMETRY
s #AN MOVE FEED
GEOMETRY
BEHIND REFLECTOR
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
REFLECTOR ARCHITECTURES FROM THIS PERSPECTIVE -ORE DETAILED DISCUSSIONS OF THE CHARACTERIS
TICS OF THESE ARCHITECTURES ARE INCLUDED IN 3ECTION WHEREIN EACH OF THESE ARCHITECTURES
IS AFFORDED A DEDICATED SUBSECTION !NOTHER MEANS OF CLASSIFICATION IS VIA PLATFORM VEHI
CLE OR SITE GROUND
BASED SHIP
BASED AIRBORNE OR SPACE
BORNE 4HE PLATFORM FREQUENTLY
DRIVES MECHANICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS AND OFTEN EITHER ENABLES OR CONSTRAINS
THE REFLECTOR SIZE )N 3ECTION REFLECTOR ARCHITECTURES ARE DISCUSSED AND COMPARED AND
IN 3ECTION MECHANICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS ARE ADDRESSED
#HAPTER 3YNOPSIS 4HE BALANCE OF THIS CHAPTER IS DIVIDED INTO FIVE SECTIONS
3ECTION SUMMARIZES THE BASIC DESIGN PRINCIPLES AND PARAMETERS GOVERNING REFLEC
TOR ANTENNA DESIGN 3ECTION PROVIDES A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF CONIC SECTIONS AND CLASSES
OF REFLECTOR SYSTEMS AND ASSOCIATED OPTICS 3ECTION DISCUSSES VARIOUS TYPES OF
REFLECTOR FEEDS AND RELATED DESIGN PRINCIPLES 3ECTION DESCRIBES REFLECTOR ANALYSIS
AND SYNTHESIS METHODS AND ASSOCIATED DESIGN SOFTWARE PACKAGES &INALLY 3ECTION
BRIEFLY REVIEWS MECHANICAL DESIGN ISSUES AND CONSIDERATIONS
-
*,
*
- *,
/
,&UNDAMENTALLY REFLECTORS ARE ANTENNAS THAT WORK ON OPTICAL PRINCIPLES ON RECEIVE
FOCUSING ENERGY TO A FOCAL POINT AS A LENS DOES FOR LIGHT /N TRANSMIT POWER EMANAT
ING SPHERICALLY FROM A LOW GAIN BROAD
PATTERNED FEED IS REFLECTED AND ENERGY IS COL
LIMATED TO FORM A PLANE WAVE THEREBY PROVIDING INCREASED ANTENNA GAIN AND A NARROWER
BEAMWIDTH )N DISCUSSING ANTENNAS ONE CAN USE EITHER TRANSMIT OR RECEIVE ARGUMENTS
BECAUSE ANTENNAS ARE RECIPROCAL DEVICES 4HIS MEANS THAT BOTH THE TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE
PERFORMANCE OF A PASSIVE ANTENNA EG PATTERNS GAIN LOSSES ETC CAN BE PREDICTED
USING BASIC APERTURE ANTENNA PRINCIPLES )N THIS SECTION THESE BASIC REFLECTOR DESIGN
PRINCIPLES ARE REVIEWED VIA USE OF A CANONICAL EXAMPLE
#ONSIDER A PARABOLIC
SHAPED REFLECTOR FORMING A CIRCULAR APERTURE FED BY A HORN AT
A CENTRAL FOCAL POINT 4HIS SIMPLE REFLECTOR CONFIGURATION HAS A SURFACE SHAPE DEFINED
BY THE EQUATION
Z
X Y
F
F
WHERE F IS THE FOCAL LENGTH AND THE VERTEX IS LOCATED AT Z
F 4HE RESULTANT ANTENNA
BEAM PATTERN POINTS IN THE POSITIVE Z
DIRECTION &OR A ROUND REFLECTOR OF DIAMETER $ THE
EDGE OR RIM IS A CIRCLE AND THE EDGE DIMENSIONS ARE ON THIS CIRCLE DEFINED BY
XEDGE
YEDGE
$
4HIS REFLECTOR IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
/NE FREQUENTLY IS INTERESTED IN THE ANGLE @ FROM THE Z
AXIS TO POINTS ON THE REFLECTOR
SURFACE
X Y
A ARCTAN
F
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0ARABOLIC REFLECTOR IN X
Z PLANE
4HUS THE EDGE ANGLE FOR A ROUND REFLECTOR IS
$
A EDGE ARCTAN
F
!NOTHER USEFUL PARAMETER IS THE DISTANCE R FROM THE FOCAL POINT TO A POINT ON THE REFLECTOR
R F
X Y
F
!PERTURE 'AIN AND ,OSSES 4HE GAIN OF THE REFLECTOR ANTENNA IS ONE OF ITS MOST
IMPORTANT PARAMETERS )T IS CONVENIENT TO DESCRIBE THE REFLECTOR ANTENNA GAIN WITH REF
ERENCE TO THE FUNDAMENTAL GAIN LIMIT AN APERTURE OF AREA ! 4HIS LIMIT APPLICABLE TO
APERTURE ANTENNAS OF SUFFICIENT ELECTRICAL SIZE APPROXIMATELY SQUARE WAVELENGTHS
OR GREATER IS THE SO
CALLED APERTURE GAIN 'AP
'AP
P !
L
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
WHERE K IS THE WAVELENGTH &OR A ROUND REFLECTOR OF DIAMETER $ THIS APERTURE GAIN
LIMIT IS
P $
'AP
L
)N PRACTICE IT IS SOMETIMES USEFUL TO DESCRIBE REFLECTOR GAIN BY DECREMENTING THE
APERTURE GAIN BY SUBTRACTING VARIOUS APERTURE RADIATION LOSSES SUCH AS SPILLOVER TAPER
EFFICIENCY FEED BLOCKAGE REFLECTOR LEAKAGE SURFACE DISTORTION STRUT BLOCKAGE FEED ALIGN
MENT ETC FROM 'AP 4HESE LOSS FACTORS ARE DESCRIBED IN DETAIL LATER WITHIN THIS SECTION
$IRECTIVE 'AIN AND &EED ,OSSES $IRECTIVE GAIN OR DIRECTIVITY IS A MEASURE OF
THE PEAK POWER RELATIVE TO THE AVERAGE POWER RADIATED BY AN ISOTROPIC RADIATOR IE A
RADIATOR THAT RADIATES ENERGY EQUALLY IN ALL DIRECTIONS $IRECTIVE GAIN CONSIDERS ONLY THE
RADIATED POWER THUS ANTENNA LOSSES SUCH AS FEED MISMATCH FEED LOSS AND WAVEGUIDE
ANDOR CABLE LOSSES MUST ALSO BE CONSIDERED (OWEVER THE RADAR ENGINEER TYPICALLY
TABULATES THESE LOSSES SEPARATELY FOR USE IN OTHER RADAR CALCULATIONS !NTENNA DIRECTIV
ITY IS AN IMPOSING CALCULATION REQUIRING VOLUME INTEGRALS BUT TYPICAL REFLECTOR PATTERN
COMPUTATION CODES EXPRESS THE PATTERN IN TERMS OF DIRECTIVITY AND THE ANTENNA LOSSES
ARE GENERALLY ACCOUNTED FOR SEPARATELY )N THE TEXT THAT FOLLOWS REFLECTOR DIRECTIVITY IS
DESCRIBED BASED UPON AVAILABLE hAPERTURE GAINv AND ASSOCIATED RADIATION LOSSES 4HIS
APPROACH SHOULD BE INTUITIVE TO THE RADAR ENGINEER
!PERTURE
&IELD -ETHOD OF !NALYSIS 4HE APERTURE
FIELD REFLECTOR ANALYSIS
METHOD IS BASED UPON RAY
TRACING PRINCIPLES AND WORKS WELL FOR SYMMETRIC CENTER
FED
PARABOLIC REFLECTORS 7ITH THIS METHOD THE APERTURE FIELD DISTRIBUTION IS CALCULATED IN AN
X
Y PLANE AT Z &IGURE BY ASSUMING COHERENT REFLECTION OF SPHERICAL RADIATION
FROM A FEED AT THE FOCAL POINT 4HE FIELD DISTRIBUTION IS THEN USED TO COMPUTE THE FAR
FIELD RADIATION PATTERN &OR MORE COMPLEX GEOMETRIES EG OFFSET
FED REFLECTORS THIS
METHOD DOES NOT WORK AS WELL AS THE MORE RIGOROUS PHYSICAL OPTICS 0/ METHOD THAT
IS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
&OR THE SIMPLE CENTER
FED FOCAL FEED EXAMPLE SHOWN IN &IGURE THE SIMPLER
APERTURE
FIELD METHOD OF ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE AND ITS APPLICATION IS SIMPLE AND STRAIGHT
FORWARD AND MAKES THE DISCUSSION OF THE RADIATION LOSSES EASIER TO FOLLOW 5SING THIS
METHOD OF ANALYSIS THE FIELD AMPLITUDE ON AN X
Y GRID &GRID IN THE APERTURE PLANE IS
EASILY DETERMINED FROM THE FEED AND SPACE TAPERING
&GRID X Y &FEED X Y Z
F &FEED X Y Z
R
X Y
F
WHERE &FEED IS THE FEED RADIATION PATTERN &OR THIS CASE WITH THE FEED AT THE FOCAL POINT
THE TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELED FROM THE FEED TO THE REFLECTOR AND BACK TO THE APERTURE
PLANE
IS EQUAL 4HIS EXPRESSION IS DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE AND ACCURATELY ACCOUNTS FOR THE FEED
REFLECTOR TRANSFORMATIONS AND AREA PROJECTIONS
4HE RESULTANT APERTURE FIELD & V} IS THEN TRANSFORMED TO THE FAR FIELD USING THE
SPATIAL TRANSFORMATION
& V} &GRID X Y E
X Y
P
L
X I} Y I}
X
u V}
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WHERE V} IS A UNIT VECTOR IN THE DIRECTION OF INTEREST .OTE THAT %Q IS A SIMPLE $
SPATIAL SUMMATION ANALOGOUS TO THAT USED FOR ARRAY ANTENNA PATTERN CALCULATIONS
4APER %FFICIENCY )N ANTENNA DESIGN APERTURE TAPER IS USED TO LOWER SIDELOBES
4HE MODEST RESULTANT LOSS AND INCREASED BEAMWIDTH IS THE PRICE AND ONE IS USUALLY
WILLING TO PAY TO OBTAIN THE DESIRED SIDELOBE LEVEL 4HE LOSS ASSOCIATED WITH APERTURE
TAPER IS ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE TAPER EFFICIENCY (OWEVER THE TAPER EFFICIENCY IS NOT AN
OHMIC LOSS WHERE ENERGY IS DISSIPATED BUT IS A REDISTRIBUTION OF ENERGY )N THE CASE OF
A REFLECTOR FED BY A HORN THE TAPER DISTRIBUTION IS DETERMINED BY THE FEED HORN PATTERN
THE DISTANCE TO THE REFLECTOR AND THE PROJECTED AREA IN THE DIRECTION OF PEAK RADIATION
&OR A RADIALLY SYMMETRIC FEED AND REFLECTOR WHERE THE FIELD IS RADIALLY SYMMETRIC AND
&GRIDX Y GR THE EFFICIENCY G IS COMPUTED AS
GR P R DR
H
G R P R DR P R DR
3PILLOVER ,OSS 3PILLOVER LOSS REFERS TO FEED POWER THAT MISSES OR SPILLS OVER THE
EDGES OF THE REFLECTOR )N THE RADAR REFLECTOR DESIGN PROCESS ONE TYPICALLY ADJUSTS THE
EDGE ILLUMINATION TO ACHIEVE A DESIRED TAPER AND SIDELOBE LEVEL RESULTING IN MODEST
SPILLOVER LOSS 3PILLOVER LOSS IS THE FEED POWER THAT IS LOST VIA RADIATION BEYOND THE
EDGES OF THE REFLECTOR 4HIS LOSS CAN BE COMPUTED AS
&EED 0OWER )NCIDENT ON 2EFLECTOR
3PILLOVER ,OSS 4OTAL &EED 0OWER
4OTAL &EED 0OWER
&OR A RADIALLY SYMMETRIC FEED AND REFLECTOR THIS CALCULATION IS STRAIGHTFORWARD
%DGE DIFFRACTION AND RESULTANT ANTENNA BACKLOBES ARE A RELATED CONSEQUENCE OF
FEED SPILLOVER AND EDGE TAPER &OR ANY GIVEN REFLECTOR DESIGN EDGE ILLUMINATION OF THE
REFLECTOR WILL PRODUCE RADIATION BEHIND THE REFLECTOR DUE TO DIFFRACTION 4HIS DIFFRACTION
MAY BE THOUGHT OF AS RE
RADIATION FROM THE EDGE OF THE REFLECTOR THAT CAUSES RADIATION
LOBES BEHIND THE REFLECTOR &OR A CENTER
FED REFLECTOR SUCH AS THAT SHOWN IN &IGURE
A PRIMARY BACKLOBE WILL ARISE DIRECTLY BEHIND THE REFLECTOR DUE TO COHERENT ADDITION OF
THE EDGE DIFFRACTION CURRENTS /NE COMMON MEANS OF SPECIFYING THIS BACKLOBE LEVEL IS
VIA THE FRONT
TO
BACK &" RATIO IE THE RATIO OF THE MAIN BEAM AND BACKLOBE GAINS 4HE
ANALYSIS OF THESE REFLECTOR EDGE DIFFRACTION EFFECTS AND ASSOCIATED &" RATIOS FOR SOME
COMMON REFLECTOR GEOMETRIES ARE DESCRIBED BY +NOP
&EED "LOCKAGE -ANY REFLECTOR SYSTEMS SUFFER FEED ANDOR FEED
SUPPORT
BLOCKAGE TO SOME DEGREE &OR CENTER
FED GEOMETRIES THERE WILL DEFINITELY BE BLOCK
AGE BECAUSE THE FEED IS WITHIN THE &/6 OF THE REFLECTOR ! CONSEQUENCE OF BLOCKAGE
IS HIGHER SIDELOBES THE LEVELS OF WHICH DEPEND UPON THE BLOCKAGE AREA !NOTHER CON
SEQUENCE IS LOSS DUE TO BLOCKAGE AND DEPENDS UPON THE BLOCKED ELECTRIC FIELD TO MAIN
ELECTRIC FIELD RATIO %B%M WHICH IN TURN IS DETERMINED FROM THE RATIO OF BLOCKED POWER
TO TOTAL POWER ON THE MAIN REFLECTOR 0B0M AND RATIO OF THE GAIN OF THE BLOCKING OBJECT
TO THE GAIN OF THE MAIN REFLECTOR 'B'M
0B
%B
% 0
M
M
'B
'M
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% 'RAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF SPILL
OVER LOSS
2EFLECTOR TAPER IS OFTEN APPROXIMATED BY A RADIAL AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION
GR R
WHERE R IS THE RADIAL DISTANCE NORMALIZED TO THE REFLECTOR RADIUS AND GR DROPS TO ZERO
AT THE EDGE 4HE USE OF THIS TAPER FUNCTION LEADS TO A SIMPLE BLOCKAGE LOSS EQUATION
0B G P R DR $B
0M
$
G R P R DR M
$B
'B
'M H $M
WHERE G IS THE EFFICIENCY AS GIVEN IN %Q 5SING %Q AND %Q LEADS
TO THE SIMPLE EXPRESSION FOR BLOCKAGE LOSS TYPICALLY FOUND IN THE LITERATURE
%B
$
B
%M
$M
%
$
"LOCKAGE ,OSS
B
B
$M
%M
WHERE $B AND $M ARE THE DIAMETER OF THE BLOCKAGE AND REFLECTOR RESPECTIVELY
4HE EFFECTIVE FEED HORN DIMENSIONS CAUSING BLOCKAGE MAY BE DIFFERENT FROM THE
PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS )F THE WALLS ARE NOT TAPERED SUCH AS SHOWN IN &IGURE THE
EFFECTIVE SIZE OF THE BLOCKAGE HOLE CAN BE LARGER THAN THE PROJECTED OBSTACLE AREA
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #APACITIVE LOADING TO REDUCE FEED HORN BLOCKAGE
&OR FEEDS WITH CONDUCTING WALLS THE EFFECTIVE ( PLANE WIDTH Wg IS AT LEAST K AND
INCREASES WITH DEPTH $
W ` W MAX L L $
]
WHERE MAX INDICATES TAKING THE LARGER OF THE TWO VALUES 4HE INCREASE IN EFFECTIVE WIDTH
CAN SOMETIMES BE REDUCED BY ADDING CAPACITIVE LOADING WHICH CAN CONSTRAIN THE EFFEC
TIVE WIDTH TO ABOUT A QUARTER WAVELENGTH WIDER THAN THE PHYSICAL WIDTH 4HE EFFECTIVE
%
PLANE DIMENSION IS THE SAME AS THE ACTUAL DIMENSION
'AIN /PTIMIZATION 4HREE OF THE PRINCIPAL REFLECTOR ANTENNA LOSSES TAPER EFFI
CIENCY LOSS SPILLOVER AND BLOCKAGE HAVE BEEN EXPLAINED IN DETAIL ABOVE 4HESE
DESIGN PARAMETERS LOSS FACTORS AFFECT ONE ANOTHER AND ARE OFTEN TRADED TO OPTIMIZE
ANTENNA PERFORMANCE EG GAIN SIDELOBES ETC /THER TYPICAL REFLECTOR LOSSES DESCRIBED
LATER IN THIS SECTION ARE RESISTIVE LOSS FACTORS THAT SIMPLY REDUCE THE ANTENNA GAIN
4HE DESIGN TRADES ASSOCIATED WITH TAPER EFFICIENCY SPILLOVER AND BLOCKAGE ARE
ILLUSTRATED BY USE OF AN EXAMPLE #OMPUTED LOSSES ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE FOR A
WAVELENGTH DIAMETER CENTER
FED CIRCULAR REFLECTOR WITH A
WAVELENGTH FOCAL
LENGTH AND A GAUSSIAN FEED HORN A HORN WITH A RADIATION PATTERN DESCRIBED BY A GAUSS
IAN FUNCTION 4HE GAUSSIAN FEED USED IN THIS SAMPLE ANALYSIS IS A HYPOTHETICAL FEED
WITH A RADIALLY SYMMETRIC PATTERN AND VERY LOW SPILLOVER AND MOST TYPICAL FEED HORN
PATTERNS ARE WELL APPROXIMATED BY A GAUSSIAN FEED MODEL 4HE FEED SIZE DETERMINES THE
EDGE TAPER IE THE LARGER THE FEED THE GREATER THE EDGE TAPER 4HE PLOT IN &IGURE
SHOWS HOW THE THREE LOSS TERMS AND THE TOTAL LOSS VARY AS A FUNCTION OF FEED PATTERN
EDGE TAPER THAT IS THE FEED POWER DIRECTED AT THE EDGE OF THE REFLECTOR RELATIVE TO THE
FEED PATTERN PEAK 4HIS IS USED HERE BECAUSE THE FEED PATTERN IS MEASURED INDEPENDENT
OF THE REFLECTOR 7HEN THE EDGE TAPER IS LOW VIRTUALLY ALL THE POWER STRIKES THE REFLECTOR
AND THE LOSS IS INSIGNIFICANT !S TAPER DECREASES THERE IS MORE SPILLOVER AND FEED POWER
MISSES THE REFLECTOR INCREASING THE LOSS /N THE OTHER HAND WITH TOO MUCH TAPER THE
TAPER EFFICIENCY IS POOR BECAUSE THE REFLECTOR IS UNDER ILLUMINATED
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
!
"
&)'52% 4APER EFFICIENCY SPILLOVER BLOCKAGE AND TOTAL LOSS VS FEED PATTERN EDGE TAPER
&IGURE DEMONSTRATES THE GAIN OPTIMIZATION PROCESS WITH A HYPOTHETICAL FEED
PATTERN BLOCKAGE ETC AND THE TOTAL LOSS IS D" EFFICIENCY WHEN A
D"
EDGE TAPER IS IMPLEMENTED !LTHOUGH THE PLOT OF &IGURE INCLUDES TAPER BLOCKAGE
AND SPILLOVER LOSSES THERE ARE ADDITIONAL LOSSES THAT MUST BE INCLUDED WHEN ASSESSING
THE OVERALL APERTURE EFFICIENCY 4HESE LOSSES EG FEED BLOCKAGE SURFACE REFLECTION
FEED MISMATCH AND RESISTIVE LOSSES ETC VARY FROM SYSTEM TO SYSTEM BUT D" IS
TYPICAL 7ITH THESE ADDITIONAL LOSSES THE OVERALL LOSS BECOMES D" OR APERTURE
EFFICIENCY TYPICAL FOR A SINGLE REFLECTOR SYSTEM
3IDELOBE REQUIREMENTS MUST ALSO BE CONSIDERED !S SHOWN IN &IGURE FOR THE
SAME CENTER
FED REFLECTOR SYSTEM THE SIDELOBE LEVEL CAN BE REDUCED BY INCREASING THE
FEED PATTERN EDGE TAPER
!
!
&)'52% 3IDELOBE LEVELS WITH AND WITHOUT BLOCKAGE VS FEED PATTERN
EDGE TAPER
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 5NPERTURBED FIELD AND FIELD INCLUDING FEED BLOCKAGE
&IGURE ALSO SHOWS THAT FEED BLOCKAGE INCREASES THE SIDELOBE LEVEL FOR EXAMPLE
WITH A n D" EDGE TAPER ONE OBTAINS n D" SIDELOBES RATHER THAN
D" SIDE
LOBES &IGURES AND FURTHER ILLUSTRATE THIS IMPACT 4HIS BLOCKAGE EFFECT CAN BE
MODELED AS A hHOLEv IN THE APERTURE THAT CAN BE REPRESENTED BY A BROAD PATTERN WITH
LESS GAIN 4HIS BLOCKAGE PATTERN IS SUBTRACTED FROM UNPERTURBED UNBLOCKED APERTURE
FIELDS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HE ASSOCIATED PATTERNS WITH AND WITHOUT BLOCKAGE ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE
ALTERNATING LARGE SMALL LARGE AND SO ON SIDELOBE PROGRESSION IS CHARACTERISTIC OF A
BLOCKED APERTURE
3URFACE ,EAKAGE ,OSS -ANY REFLECTOR SURFACES ARE DESIGNED WITH A GRID A WIRE
MESH OR METALIZED FABRIC SURFACE IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE WIND RESISTANCE REDUCE WEIGHT
ANDOR ENABLE STOWAGEDEPLOYMENT 3OME COMMON REFLECTOR MESH SURFACE PATTERNS ARE
&)'52% 5NPERTURBED PATTERN AND PATTERN INCLUDING BLOCKAGE
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% #OMMON REFLECTOR SURFACE MATERIALS FOR REDUCED WIND RESISTANCE A TUBING B EXPANDED
METAL C RECTANGULAR D DOUBLE LAYER AND E SCREEN
SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE MESH OPENING SIZE IS GENERALLY CHOSEN TO BE AS LARGE AS POS
SIBLE BUT THE GAP S BETWEEN CONDUCTORS MUST BE SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN K TO CUTOFF
AND PREVENT SIGNIFICANT TRANSMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY THROUGH THE SURFACE
4HE ATTENUATION IN DECIBELS THROUGH THE PASSAGE DEPTH T IS APPROXIMATELY TS PLUS
FRINGING LOSSES WHICH ARE APPROXIMATELY K S
4HE POWER PASSING THROUGH THE REFLECTOR OR TRANSMISSION LOSS CAN BE DETERMINED
USING A HANDY NOMOGRAPH /NE SELECTS THE GRID SPACING AND THREAD RADIUS TO ACHIEVE
THE TRANSMISSION LOSS REQUIRED 4HE RESULTING LOSS IN ANTENNA GAIN IS TERMED LEAKAGE
LOSS AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEAKAGE LOSS AND TRANSMISSION LOSS IS PLOTTED IN
&IGURE FOR A CONDUCTIVE REFLECTOR NO OHMIC LOSSES 4HE LEAKAGE LOSS VS SPACING
RELATIONSHIP FOR &IGURE A CAN ALSO BE COMPUTED USING AN EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT WITH
SHUNT SUSCEPTANCE B DEVELOPED BY -UMFORD THE SOURCE OF THE NOMOGRAPH
B
L
S LN
E
P D S
,EAKAGE ,OSS
B
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 2EFLECTOR LEAKAGE LOSS VS TRANSMISSION LOSS
4HIS NOMOGRAPH IS FREQUENTLY USED FOR THE SIMPLE CONFIGURATIONS IN &IGURE A &OR
OTHER CONFIGURATIONS AND THREAD FORMS THE SAME EQUATION CAN BE USED BY COMPUTING
AN EQUIVALENT RADIUS BY MATCHING THE CROSS SECTIONAL AREAS
/NE SIGNIFICANT SOURCE OF RADIATION IN THE BACK HEMISPHERE IS LEAKAGE THROUGH
THE REFLECTOR 4HIS RADIATION LEVEL IS DETERMINED FROM THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRIMARY
FEED HORN AND SECONDARY REFLECTOR GAINS AND THE LEAKAGE LOSS RADIATION THROUGH
THE MESH
4HERE ARE TWO CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE REFLECTOR SURFACE LEAKAGE 4HE LEAKAGE
LOSS AFFECTS THE REFLECTOR GAIN DIRECTLY 4HE RADIATION LEVEL IN THE BACK HEMISPHERE IS A
FUNCTION OF THE FEED GAIN REDUCED BY THE TRANSMISSION LOSS THROUGH THE REFLECTOR 4HUS
THE REFLECTOR DESIGNER MUST CONSIDER BOTH THE LEAKAGE LOSS AND THE TRANSMISSION LOSS
&IGURE
4HERE ARE HOWEVER ADDITIONAL BACKLOBES THAT ARE DISTINCT FROM THE BACK RADIATION DUE
TO SURFACE LEAKAGE 4HESE ADDITIONAL LOBES ARE DUE TO REFLECTOR EDGE DIFFRACTION THAT ADDS
COHERENTLY AND TYPICALLY CAUSES A RELATIVELY STRONG MAIN BACKLOBE BEHIND THE REFLECTOR
#ENTER
FED GEOMETRIES IE THOSE WITH REFLECTOR EDGES EQUIDISTANT FROM THE FEED ENABLE
COHERENT ADDITION OF THE DIFFRACTED ENERGY DIRECTLY TO THE REAR OF THE REFLECTOR &OR THESE
GEOMETRIES THE BACKLOBE LEVEL IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE EDGE ILLUMINATION LEVEL
3URFACE 2OUGHNESS ,OSS !LL RADAR REFLECTOR ANTENNAS ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT ARE
MECHANICALLY SCANNED OR DEPLOYED REQUIRE CAREFUL CONSIDERATION OF MECHANICAL DESIGN
DETAILS &IRST THE REFLECTING SURFACE MUST BE DESIGNED AND BUILT SO THAT IT REMAINS WITHIN
CLOSE TOLERANCES TYPICALLY o K EVEN UNDER DYNAMIC OPERATING AND ENVIRONMENTAL
CONDITIONS !LSO THE FEED MUST BE ACCURATELY ALIGNED WITH RESPECT TO THE REFLECTOR 4HE
FEED
SUPPORT STRUCTURE AND THE REFLECTOR STIFFENING STRUCTURE MUST MAINTAIN THE FEED
LOCATION AND SURFACE DIMENSIONS WHILE THE ANTENNA IS BEING ROTATED 4HIS DIMENSIONAL
STABILITY MUST BE MAINTAINED THROUGH WIND LOADING TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS OR OTHER
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS TO ENSURE THAT PATTERN PERFORMANCE IS MAINTAINED
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% 3URFACE ROUGHNESS DK VS LOSS
2EFLECTOR ANTENNA GAIN LOSS DUE TO SURFACE ROUGHNESS HAS BEEN DISCUSSED BY *OHN
2UZE USING A STATISTICAL POINT OF VIEW 4HE LOSS OF GAIN DUE TO SMALL ROUGHNESS ERRORS
IS APPROXIMATELY
'
P E
y
D
'
L
WHERE D IS THE MEAN SQUARE PHASE ERROR D IS THE EFFECTIVE RMS SURFACE ERROR K IS THE
WAVELENGTH ' IS THE GAIN WITHOUT PHASE ERROR AND ' IS THE GAIN WITH PHASE ERROR
4HE ROUGHNESS LOSS EFFECTS EMBODIED IN %Q ARE CAPTURED IN &IGURE
WHERE GAIN LOSS VS SURFACE ROUGHNESS IN LIEU OF PHASE
ERROR IS PLOTTED 4HE PLOT SHOWS THAT FOR D" GAIN
LOSS THE RMS SURFACE ERROR MUST BE LESS THAN K 4O
MAINTAIN MODEST LOSSES SURFACE ERRORS MUST BE TIGHTLY
CONTROLLED
!NOTHER CONSIDERATION IN MESH REFLECTORS IS SYSTEM
ATIC SURFACE DEFORMATION &OR MANY REFLECTORS A MESH
IS ATTACHED TO A METAL OR COMPOSITE BACKING STRUCTURE
&OR SPACEBORNE DEPLOYABLE REFLECTORS THE MESH IS TYPI
CALLY A VERY SHEER FABRIC LIKE MEMBRANE THAT IS STRETCHED
ACROSS THE SURFACE AND ATTACHED AT A FINITE NUMBER OF
POINTS TO FORM THE REFLECTING SURFACE )N EITHER CASE
THERE ARE SURFACE DISTORTIONS BETWEEN THE PRECISELY CON
TROLLED MOUNTING POINTS 4HIS SETS UP A SYSTEMATIC ERROR
IN THE FORM OF PERIODIC CUSPS SEE &IGURE 4HESE
ERRORS TYPICALLY CAUSE PATTERN GRATING LOBES BECAUSE THESE &)'52% 3YSTEMATIC DIS
ERROR CUSPS ARE NORMALLY SEVERAL WAVELENGTHS APART PLACEMENT BETWEEN SUPPORTS WITH
4HE GRATING LOBES ARE EASILY RECOGNIZABLE BASED ON THEIR A CUSP BETWEEN SUPPORTS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WELL DEFINED ANGULAR SPACING &OR A GRID WITH SUPPORTS AND ASSOCIATED ERRORS A DISTANCE
S APART THE GRATING LOBE APPEARS AT
P ARCSINSK
4HE GRATING LOBE AMPLITUDE DEPENDS ON THE DEPTH OF THE DISTORTION &IGURE
AND IS TYPICALLY
P E
'RATING ,OBE
L
WHERE D IS THE DEPTH OF THE CUSP
&EED $ISPLACEMENT 4HE PERMISSIBLE TOTAL ERROR IN THE OVERALL FEED
REFLECTOR
SYSTEM ALIGNMENTn IS GENERALLY RESTRICTED TO K OR oK /N THE BASIS OF THIS
CRITERION THE RESULTANT MAXIMUM DEVIATION FROM THE PARABOLIC CONDITION FEED AT
FOCUS WOULD BE oK $ISPLACEMENT OF THE FEED ALONG THE FOCAL AXIS THE Z
AXIS IN
&IGURE PRODUCES AN EVEN
ORDER PHASE ERROR ON THE APERTURE ILLUMINATION 4HIS
RESULTS IN MODEST BEAM BROADENING AND SOME FILLING OF THE FIRST NULL BUT IS NORMALLY
NOT TOO DETRIMENTAL
$ISPLACEMENT OF THE FEED NORMAL TO THE Z
AXIS PRODUCES AN ODD
ORDER PHASE ERROR IN
THE APERTURE AND CAUSES HIGHER SIDELOBES ON ONE SIDE OF THE BEAM &URTHERMORE SUCH
DISPLACEMENT WILL CAUSE THE BEAM TO MISPOINT )F THE DISPLACEMENT IS SMALL FIXED
AND KNOWN ONE CAN TYPICALLY CALIBRATE OUT THE FIXED MISPOINTING BIAS (OWEVER IF
THE DISPLACEMENT IS RANDOM SAY CAUSED BY VIBRATION THE BEAM POINTING ERROR CAN BE
A PROBLEM 4HE REFLECTOR BEAM WILL BE STEERED BY P RADIANS IF THE FEED IS DISPLACED OFF
AXIS BY AN AMOUNT D
P ARCTANDF RADIANS
WHERE F IS THE FOCAL LENGTH 3O IF THE LATERAL FEED DISPLACEMENT ERROR IS D THE BEAM
POINTING ERROR $P IS
$Q
E F
RADIANS
E F
3TRUT "LOCKAGE 3TRUTS ARE USED TO SUPPORT THE FEED AND FOR CENTER FED REFLEC
TORS TYPICALLY FORM A TRIPOD AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 3TRUT SCATTERING IS A COMPLEX
PHENOMENA THAT DEPENDS ON STRUT SIZE STRUT GEOMETRY FIELD POLARIZATION AND OTHER FAC
TORS (OWEVER IN GENERAL STRUT INTERFERENCE SCATTERING WILL LIE WITHIN A CONICAL REGION
ABOUT THE STRUT AXIS 4HE STRUT IS ILLUMINATED BY A PLANAR WAVEFRONT AND ONE EDGE OF THE
SCATTERING CONE LIES ON THE REFLECTOR AXIS SEE &IGURE )F THE STRUT TILTS AT TO
THE AXIS THE SCATTERING CONE MAXIMUM ANGLE IS TWICE THE TILT ANGLE OR 4HUS THE
SCATTERING FROM THREE STRUTS FORMS INTERSECTING RINGS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HIS
CAUSES THE MOST BLOCKAGE AT THE PATTERN PEAK WHERE THE THREE RINGS INTERSECT
0OLARIZATION PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN STRUT SCATTERING &OR THE EXAMPLE SHOWN IN
&IGURE STRUT IS PARALLEL TO THE % FIELD AND ITS BLOCKAGE AREA IS LARGER THAN ITS
ACTUAL PHYSICAL CROSS SECTION (OWEVER THE LOWER STRUTS AND ARE TILTED WITH
RESPECT TO THE % FIELD AND THEREFORE APPEAR SMALLER THAN THEIR PHYSICAL CROSS SECTION
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% #ENTER FED REFLECTOR WITH TRIPOD STRUTS SIDE VIEW AND AXIAL VIEW
&)'52% 3TRUT AND MAXIMUM SCATTERING CONE
&)'52% !XIAL VIEW OF TRIPOD STRUT BLOCKAGE INTERFERENCE
PATTERNS
,
/", /
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
,
/
/1,
-
2EFLECTOR ANTENNAS ARE BUILT IN A WIDE VARIETY OF SHAPES AND SIZES WITH A CORRESPONDING
VARIETY OF FEED SYSTEMS TO ILLUMINATE THE SURFACES EACH SUITED TO ITS PARTICULAR APPLI
CATION &IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE MOST COMMON OF THESE REFLECTORS EACH OF WHICH IS
DESCRIBED IN SOME DETAIL IN THE FOLLOWING SUBSECTIONS 4HE PARABOLOID IN &IGURE A
COLLIMATES RADIATION FROM A FEED AT THE FOCUS INTO A PENCIL BEAM PROVIDING HIGH GAIN AND
MINIMUM BEAMWIDTH 4HE PARABOLIC CYLINDER IN &IGURE B PERFORMS THIS COLLIMA
TION IN ONE PLANE BUT ALLOWS THE USE OF A LINEAR ARRAY IN THE OTHER PLANE THEREBY ALLOWING
FLEXIBILITY IN EITHER STEERING OR SHAPING OF THE BEAM IN THAT PLANE )F BEAM SHAPING NOT
SCANNING IS THE GOAL AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD USING A SINGLE FEED IN LIEU OF A LINEAR ARRAY
IS SHOWN IN &IGURE C 3HAPING OF THE SURFACE ALONG THE VERTICAL AXIS IS USED TO SPOIL
THE BEAM SHAPE IN THIS PLANE BUT BECAUSE ONLY THE PHASE OF THE WAVE ACROSS THE APERTURE
IS CHANGED THERE IS LESS CONTROL OVER THE BEAM SHAPE THAN IN THE PARABOLIC ANDOR PHASE
CYLINDER SHOWN IN &IGURE B WHEREIN THE LINEAR ARRAY MAY BE ADJUSTED IN AMPLITUDE
6ERY OFTEN THE RADAR DESIGNER NEEDS MULTIPLE BEAMS TO PROVIDE INCREASED COVERAGE
OR TO DETERMINE ANGLE &IGURE D SHOWS HOW MULTIPLE DISCRETE FEED LOCATIONS PRO
DUCE A SET OF SECONDARY BEAMS AT DISTINCT ANGLES 4HE ADDITIONAL FEEDS MUST BE OFFSET
FROM THE FOCUS AND THE RESULTANT SECONDARY BEAMS WILL SUFFER SOME GAIN LOSS AND DIS
TORTION COMMENSURATE WITH THE ASSOCIATED FEED DISPLACEMENT )F AN %3! FEED IS USED
THE REFLECTOR SYSTEM CAN BE DESIGNED TO ENABLE ELECTRONIC BEAM SCANNING ALBEIT OVER
A LIMITED &/6 4HE USE OF MODERN %3! AND %3!
LIKE REFLECTOR FEEDS TO ACHIEVE ELEC
TRONIC SCANNING IS DISCUSSED FURTHER IN 3ECTION !N ESPECIALLY COMMON MULTIPLE
BEAM DESIGN IS THE MONOPULSE ANTENNA IN &IGURE E USED FOR ANGLE DETERMINATION
ON A SINGLE PULSE AS THE NAME IMPLIES )N THIS INSTANCE THE SECOND BEAM IS NORMALLY A
DIFFERENCE BEAM WITH ITS NULL AT THE PEAK OF THE FIRST BEAM
&)'52% #OMMON REFLECTOR ANTENNA TYPES A PARABOLOID B PARABOLIC CYLINDER C SHAPED
D STACKED BEAM E MONOPULSE AND F #ASSEGRAIN
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
-ULTIPLE REFLECTOR SYSTEMS TYPIFIED BY THE #ASSEGRAIN ANTENNA SHOWN IN
&IGURE F OFFER ONE MORE DEGREE OF FLEXIBILITY BY SHAPING THE PRIMARY BEAM AND
OR ALLOWING THE FEED SYSTEM TO BE CONVENIENTLY LOCATED BEHIND THE MAIN REFLECTOR
4HE SYMMETRICAL ARRANGEMENT SHOWN HAS SIGNIFICANT BLOCKAGE BUT OFFSET GEOMETRIES
MITIGATE FEED BLOCKAGE
)N MODERN REFLECTOR ANTENNA DESIGN COMBINATIONS AND VARIATIONS OF THESE BASIC
TYPES ARE WIDESPREAD HOWEVER DESIGN GOALS GENERALLY STRESS BEAM GAINS SHAPES
LOCATIONS ETC WHILE STIPULATING MINIMAL LOSSES AND LOW SIDELOBE LEVELS
0ARABOLOIDAL 2EFLECTOR !NTENNAS 4HE THEORY AND DESIGN OF PARABOLOIDAL REFLEC
TOR ANTENNAS ARE EXTENSIVELY DISCUSSED IN THE LITERATUREn ! BASIC GEOMETRY IS SHOWN
IN &IGURE A WHICH ASSUMES A PARABOLIC REFLECTOR SURFACE OF FOCAL LENGTH F WITH
A FEED AT THE FOCAL POINT )T CAN BE SHOWN FROM GEOMETRICAL OPTICS CONSIDERATIONS THAT
A SPHERICAL WAVE EMERGING FROM THE FOCAL POINT & AND INCIDENT ON THE REFLECTOR IS
TRANSFORMED AFTER REFLECTION INTO A PLANE WAVE TRAVELING IN THE POSITIVE Z DIRECTION
&IGURE B
!LTHOUGH REFLECTORS ARE COMMONLY ILLUSTRATED WITH A ROUND OUTLINE OR RIM AND A CEN
TRAL FEED POINT A VARIETY OF REFLECTOR APERTURE SHAPES ARE USED IN PRACTICE AS SHOWN IN
&IGURE /FTEN THE AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION BEAMWIDTH REQUIREMENTS DIFFER REQUIR
ING AN OBLONG APERTURE AS SHOWN IN &IGURE B
E
)F LOW SIDELOBE LEVELS ARE REQUIRED FEED BLOCKAGE MAY BECOME INTOLERABLE REQUIR
ING THE USE OF AN OFFSET FEED &IGURE C 4HE FEED IS STILL GENERALLY LOCATED AT THE
FOCAL POINT BUT THE REFLECTOR IS REALIZED VIA USE OF A DIFFERENT PORTION OF THE PARABOLA
&OR OFFSET
FED REFLECTOR CONFIGURATIONS THE FOCAL AXIS GENERALLY DOES NOT INTERSECT THE
REFLECTOR SURFACE &EEDS FOR OFFSET
FED REFLECTORS ARE GENERALLY AIMED CLOSE TO BUT
SLIGHTLY BEYOND THE CENTER OF THE REFLECTOR AREA TO ACCOUNT FOR THE LARGER SPACE TAPER
SPREADING LOSS ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE REFLECTOR 4HIS GENERALLY RESULTS IN A SLIGHTLY
UNSYMMETRICAL APERTURE ILLUMINATION
4HE CORNERS OF MOST PARABOLOIDAL REFLECTORS ARE FREQUENTLY ROUNDED NOT SHOWN
OR MITERED &IGURE D TO REDUCE EXTRANEOUS SURFACE AREA ANDOR MINIMIZE THE
TORQUE REQUIRED TO TURN THE ANTENNA "ECAUSE THESE CORNER REGIONS ARE GENERALLY WEAKLY
&)'52% 'EOMETRICAL REPRESENTATION OF A PARABOLOIDAL REFLECTOR A GEOMETRY AND B OPERATION
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0ARABOLOIDAL REFLECTOR APERTURE SHAPES OR RIMS A ROUND OUTLINERIM B OBLONG
C OFFSET FEED D MITERED CORNER E SQUARE CORNER AND F STEPPED CORNER
ILLUMINATED BY THE FEED THEIR REMOVAL GENERALLY HAS LITTLE IMPACT ON THE GAIN (OWEVER
CIRCULAR AND ELLIPTICAL OUTLINESRIMS WILL PRODUCE MODEST SIDELOBES IN BOTH PRINCIPAL AND
NONPRINCIPAL PLANES )F VERY LOW SIDELOBES ARE SPECIFIED IN NONPRINCIPAL PLANES IT MAY BE
NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN SQUARE CORNERS AS SHOWN IN THE UPPER PART OF &IGURE E
0ARABOLIC
#YLINDER !NTENNA )T
IS QUITE COMMON THAT EITHER THE BEAM MUST
BE STEERABLE OR SHAPED IN ONLY ONE PLANE
EITHER AZIMUTH OR ELEVATION ! PARABOLIC
CYLINDRICAL REFLECTOR FED BY A LINEAR ARRAY
FEED CAN ACCOMPLISH THIS AT MODERATELY
HIGHER COST
4HE PARABOLIC CYLINDER ANTENNA CAN BE
APPLIED TO ACHIEVE A PRECISELY SHAPED BEAM
FROM A COMMON APERTURE 4HE !.403
&IGURE USES A VERTICAL ARRAY TO PRO
VIDE FINE CONTROL OF THE ELEVATION PATTERN
WITH A SINGLE ELEVATION COLUMN FEED ARRAY
AND SO IS VERY COST EFFECTIVE 4HE ELEVA
TION BEAM
SHAPING INCORPORATES A STEEP
BEAM SLOPE AT THE HORIZON TO ALLOW RADAR
OPERATION AT LOW ELEVATION ANGLES WITHOUT
DEGRADATION FROM GROUND REFLECTIONS 4HE
403
PRODUCES A MUCH SHARPER SLOPE AT
THE HORIZON THAN A SHAPED REFLECTOR OF EQUAL
HEIGHT 4HE ARRAY FEED ENABLES SUPERPOSI
TION OF BEAMS CLOSE TO THE APERTURE NORMAL
THEREBY ENABLING VERY HIGH TAPER EFFICIENCY
NEAR FULL APERTURE GAIN
&)'52% !.403 PARABOLIC CYLINDER
ANTENNA #OURTESY .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN #ORPORATION
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
4HE BASIC PARABOLIC CYLINDER GEOMETRY IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE REFLECTOR
SURFACE IS DEFINED AS
Z
Y
F
F
WHERE Z IS THE DISTANCE FROM THE FOCAL PLANE F IS THE FOCAL LENGTH OF THE CYLINDRICAL
REFLECTOR AND Y IS THE HORIZONTAL DIMENSION &OR THE PARABOLIC CYLINDER THE SURFACE DOES
NOT VARY WITH X THE HEIGHT 4HE FEED IS GENERALLY ON THE FOCAL LINE AND IN MANY WAYS
THE DESIGN OF PARABOLIC CYLINDER REFLECTORS IS SIMILAR TO THAT OF PARABOLOIDAL REFLECTORS
/NE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE FEED ENERGY DIVERGES CYLINDRICALLY RATHER THAN
SPHERICALLY AND SO THE FEED POWER DENSITY FALLS OFF AS Q RATHER THAN Q
4HE HEIGHT OF THE PARABOLIC CYLINDER &IGURE A MUST ALLOW FOR BEAMWIDTH
SHAPING AND STEERING OF THE LINEAR FEED ARRAY 7HEN THE LINE SOURCE STEERS AT ANGLE P
FROM BROADSIDE THE PRIMARY BEAM FROM THE SOURCE LIES ON A CONIC AND THE INTERCEPTS
AT THE UPPER RIGHT AND LEFT CORNERS OF THE REFLECTOR ARE FARTHER UP THAN IN THE CENTER AS
SHOWN IN &IGURE B 4HEREFORE THE CORNERS OF PARABOLIC CYLINDER REFLECTORS ARE
SELDOM ROUNDED IN PRACTICE
3HAPED 2EFLECTORS &AN BEAMS WITH A SPECIFIED SHAPE ARE REQUIRED FOR A VARIETY OF
REASONS ! COMMON ELEVATION SHAPED BEAM REQUIREMENT IS TO PROVIDE EQUAL ECHO SIGNAL
POWER ON TARGETS AT CONSTANT ALTITUDE )F THE TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE BEAMS ARE IDENTICAL
AND IF SECONDARY EFFECTS ARE IGNORED THIS CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH A POWER RADIATION PAT
TERN PROPORTIONAL TO CSCP WHERE P IS THE ELEVATION ANGLE )N PRACTICE THE WELL
KNOWN
COSECANT
SQUARED PATTERN IS TYPICALLY MODIFIED TO ACCOUNT FOR THE CURVATURE OF THE EARTH
AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SENSITIVITY TIME CONTROL 34#
&)'52% 0ARABOLIC CYLINDER A GEOMETRY AND B SURFACE EXTENSION ENABLES LINE
SOURCE STEERING
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 2EFLECTOR SHAPING
! RELATIVELY SIMPLE WAY TO SHAPE THE BEAM IS TO SHAPE THE REFLECTOR AS &IGURE
ILLUSTRATES %ACH PORTION OF THE REFLECTOR IS DESIGNED TO REFLECT A PORTION OF THE INCI
DENT ENERGY IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION AND TO THE EXTENT THAT GEOMETRIC OPTICS IS VALID
THE POWER DENSITY AT THAT ANGLE IS THE INTEGRATED SUM OF THE POWER DENSITY FROM THE
FEED ACROSS THAT PORTION OF THE REFLECTOR 3ILVER GRAPHICALLY DESCRIBES A PROCEDURE FOR
DETERMINING THE REFLECTOR CONTOUR FOR A COSECANT
SQUARED BEAM (OWEVER COMPUTER
SOFTWARE PACKAGES NOW EXIST THAT ENABLE SYNTHESIS OF ARBITRARY BEAM SHAPES VIA APPLI
CATION OF ITERATIVE OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES IN CONJUNCTION WITH PHYSICAL OPTICSnBASED
PATTERN COMPUTATIONS 4HESE ANALYSIS METHODS AND SOFTWARE PACKAGES ARE SUMMARIZED
IN 3ECTION
/FFSET
FED PARABOLIC REFLECTORS ARE OFTEN USED TO MITIGATE FEED BLOCKAGE (OWEVER
REFLECTOR SHAPING CAN ALSO BE USED TO MITIGATE BLOCKAGE AND IS SOMETIMES APPLIED TO
REDIRECT THE REFLECTED ENERGY AWAY FROM THE FEED AS SHOWN IN &IGURE &IGURE
ILLUSTRATES HOW SHAPING CAN BE APPLIED TO VIRTUALLY ELIMINATE BLOCKAGE EVEN THOUGH THE
FEED APPEARS TO BE WITHIN THE &/6 OF THE REFLECTOR
4HE !32
ANTENNA &IGURE FOUND AT MAJOR AIRPORTS TYPIFIES SHAPED REFLEC
TOR ANTENNA DESIGN 4HE ELEVATION BEAM SHAPE IS TAILORED USING A COMPUTER
AIDED
DESIGN PROCESS AND AZIMUTH SIDELOBES ARE LOWERED BY OFFSETTING THE FEED SO THERE IS NO
BLOCKAGE 4WO LINEAR OR CIRCULARLY POLARIZED ELEVATION BEAMS ARE PRODUCED BY USING
TWO FEEDHORNS /NE BEAM IS CLOSE TO THE HORIZON FOR CLOSE IN TARGETS AND THE SECOND IS
HIGHER IN ELEVATION SO IT RECEIVES LESS GROUND CLUTTER FOR LONG RANGE TARGETS
/NE TYPICAL CHARACTERISTIC OF SHAPED REFLECTORS IS LOWER APERTURE EFFICIENCY
'ENERALLY THE SURFACE SHAPING PROCESS SPOILS THE APERTURE PHASE AND BROADENS THE
BEAM THEREBY INHERENTLY REDUCING THE APER
TURE EFFICIENCY (OWEVER THIS SACRIFICE IN
APERTURE EFFICIENCY IS GENERALLY ACCEPTED BY
THE RADAR DESIGNER WHEN BEAM SHAPING IS
DESIRED OR REQUIRED
4HE SECOND ANTENNA ATOP THE !32
REFLECTOR &IGURE PROVIDES AN INDE
PENDENT TRACKING SYSTEM )T IS AN !IR 4RAFFIC
#ONTROL 2ADAR "EACON 3YSTEM ARRAY ANTENNA
THAT TRANSMITS AND RECEIVES NARROW AZIMUTH
SUM DIFFERENCE AND GUARD BEAMS ALL SHAPED
IN ELEVATION )T REQUIRES A TRANSPONDER ABOARD
&)'52% %LIMINATION OF BLOCKAGE
THE AIRCRAFTS TARGETED AS IT HAS LOW GAIN
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% !32
SHAPED REFLECTOR WITH OFFSET FEED !IR 4RAFFIC #ONTROL 2ADAR
"EACON 3YSTEM !4#2"3 ARRAY IS MOUNTED ON TOP #OURTESY .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN
#ORPORATION
-ULTIPLE 2EFLECTOR !NTENNASn 4HERE ARE BOTH DIFFICULTIES AND ADVANTAGES
ASSOCIATED WITH ADDING A SECONDARY OR SUBREFLECTOR TO A PARABOLOIDAL REFLECTOR SYSTEM
4HE SHAPE OF THE SUBREFLECTOR DETERMINES HOW THE POWER WILL BE DISTRIBUTED ACROSS THE
PRIMARY REFLECTOR AND THEREBY PROVIDES SOME CONTROL OVER AMPLITUDE IN ADDITION TO
PHASE IN THE APERTURE MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO PRODUCE VERY LOW SPILLOVER OR TO PRODUCE
A SPECIFIC LOW SIDELOBE DISTRIBUTION "Y SUITABLE CHOICE OF SHAPE THE APPARENT FOCAL
LENGTH CAN BE ENLARGED SO THAT THE FEED SIZE IS PRACTICAL OR EVEN FEASIBLE 4HIS IS SOME
TIMES NECESSARY FOR MONOPULSE OPERATION
4HE #ASSEGRAIN DUAL REFLECTOR ANTENNA &IGURE DERIVED FROM OPTICAL TELE
SCOPE DESIGNS IS THE MOST PREVALENT DUAL REFLECTOR CONFIGURATION &IGURE A SHOWS
A SMALL SUBREFLECTOR BETWEEN THE FEED AND PARABOLIC MAIN REFLECTOR 4HE FEED ILLUMI
NATES THE HYPERBOLOIDAL SUBREFLECTOR WHICH IN TURN ILLUMINATES THE PARABOLOIDAL MAIN
REFLECTOR 4HE FEED IS PLACED AT ONE FOCUS OF THE HYPERBOLOID AND THE PARABOLOID FOCUS
IS COINCIDENT WITH THE SECOND FOCUS OF THE HYPERBOLOID 4HE USE OF A SUBREFLECTOR ALSO
ALLOWS THE FEED TO BE LOCATED BEHIND THE MAIN REFLECTOR AND CLOSER TO THE TRANSMITTER
AND RECEIVER IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE TRANSMISSION LINE LOSSES &URTHERMORE IF THE FEED IS
LOCATED BEHIND THE MAIN REFLECTOR THE CENTER OF GRAVITY WILL BE BIASED CLOSER TO THE MAIN
REFLECTOR VERTEX THEREBY SIMPLIFYING THE DESIGN OF BOTH THE STRUCTURE AND THE GIMBAL
PRECISION MECHANICAL POSITIONING SYSTEM
4HE 'REGORIAN DUAL REFLECTOR ANTENNA SYSTEM NOT SHOWN IN &IGURE IS SIMILAR
TO THE #ASSEGRAIN BUT IT USES AN ELLIPSOIDAL SUBREFLECTOR IN LIEU OF A HYPERBOLOID RESULT
ING IN A LENGTHENING OF THE REFLECTOR SYSTEM ALONG THE FOCAL AXIS
4HE PARAMETERS OF THE #ASSEGRAIN REFLECTOR ARE RELATED BY THE FOLLOWING EXPRESSIONS
TAN XV $M FM
TAN XV TAN XR FC $S
E ,V FC
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #ASSEGRAIN DUAL REFLECTOR ANTENNA SYSTEMS THE LARGER SURFACE IS THE MAIN REFLECTOR
AND THE SMALLER SURFACE IS THE SUBREFLECTOR A RAY OPTICS B TYPICAL AXIAL CONFIGURATION AND C
OFFSET CONFIGURATION
WHERE THE ECCENTRICITY E OF THE HYPERBOLOID IS GIVEN BY
E SIN;XV XR = SIN;XV XR =
4HE EQUIVALENT
PARABOLOID CONCEPT IS A CONVENIENT METHOD OF ANALYZING THE RADIA
TION CHARACTERISTICS USING A SINGLE REFLECTOR hEQUIVALENTv MODEL 4HIS METHOD UTILIZES
A PARABOLOID OF EQUAL DIAMETER BUT A LARGER FOCAL LENGTH TO MODEL THE DUAL
REFLECTOR
#ASSEGRAIN SYSTEM 4HE EQUATION
FC $M TANXR
DEFINES THE EQUIVALENT FOCAL LENGTH AND THE FOCAL LENGTH RATIO OR MAGNIFICATION M IS
GIVEN BY
M FC FM E E
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
4HE MAGNIFICATION M IS A USEFUL METRIC IN THAT IT PROVIDES A MEASURE OF THE REDUCTION IN
SIZELENGTH ALONG THE FOCAL AXIS THAT IS ENABLED BY USE OF THE #ASSEGRAIN REFLECTOR SYSTEM
IN LIEU OF A SINGLE PARABOLIC REFLECTOR SYSTEM 4HE FEED IS DESIGNED TO PRODUCE SUITABLE
ILLUMINATION WITHIN SUBTENDED ANGLES oXR ASSOCIATED WITH THE LONGER FOCAL LENGTH FC
!PERTURE BLOCKING CAN BE LARGE FOR CENTER
FED #ASSEGRAIN ANTENNAS 4HE BLOCKAGE
CAN BE MINIMIZED BY CHOOSING THE DIAMETER OF THE SUBREFLECTOR TO BE EQUAL TO THAT OF
THE FEED 4HIS OCCURS WHEN
$3 FM L K
WHERE K IS THE RATIO OF THE FEED
APERTURE DIAMETER TO ITS EFFECTIVE BLOCKING DIAMETER
/RDINARILY K IS SLIGHTLY LESS THAN &OR LINEARLY POLARIZED RADAR APPLICATIONS APERTURE
BLOCKING CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED BY USING A POLARIZATION
TWIST REFLECTOR AND A
SUBREFLECTOR MADE OF PARALLEL WIRES 4HIS TWIST REFLECTOR DESIGN ENABLES A ROTATION
OF THE POLARIZATION SUCH THAT THE POLARIZATION OF THE BEAM UPON REFLECTION FROM THE MAIN
REFLECTOR IS ORTHOGONAL AND TRANSPARENT TO THE GRIDDED SUBREFLECTOR
"LOCKAGE CAN ALSO BE ELIMINATED BY OFFSETTING BOTH THE FEED AND THE SUBREFLECTOR
&IGURE C 7ITH BLOCKAGE AND SUPPORTING STRUTS AND SPILLOVER VIRTUALLY ELIMI
NATED THIS GEOMETRY IS USEFUL FOR VERY LOW SIDELOBE APPLICATIONS
!S DESCRIBED EARLIER THE APERTURE EFFICIENCY OF SINGLE REFLECTOR SYSTEMS IS MAXI
MIZED BY BALANCING THE FEED TAPER AND THE FEED SPILLOVER AND MINIMIZING OTHER LOSSES
BUT IS TYPICALLY n (OWEVER DUAL REFLECTOR SYSTEMS EG #ASSEGRAIN HAVE AN
ADDITIONAL DEGREE OF FREEDOM AND SURFACE SHAPING CAN BE APPLIED TO DECREASE THE TAPER
LOSS AND ENABLE APERTURE EFFICIENCIES IN EXCESS OF
! DIFFERENT TYPE OF DUAL REFLECTOR SYSTEM THAT IS PARTICULARLY WELL
SUITED TO APPLICA
TIONS WHERE LIMITED ELECTRONIC SCANNING IS REQUIRED IS THE SO
CALLED CONFOCAL REFLECTOR
SYSTEMn SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HIS SYSTEM EMPLOYS TWO PARABOLIC REFLECTORS A
MAIN AND A SUB THAT SHARE A COMMON FOCAL POINT 4HE OPTICS OF THIS SYSTEM IS DESIGNED
SUCH THAT A PLANE WAVE SOURCE SAY FROM AN ARRAY IS FIRST CONVERTED TO A SPHERICAL
WAVE AT THE SUBREFLECTOR 4HEN UPON REFLECTION FROM THE SUBREFLECTOR THE FEED ENERGY
CONVERGES AT THE COMMON FOCUS AND DIVERGES AGAIN AS A SPHERICAL WAVE BEFORE FINALLY
REFLECTING FROM THE MAIN REFLECTOR
4HE CONFOCAL SYSTEM HAS SEVERAL INTERESTING PROPERTIES TIED TO THE MAGNIFICATION
FACTOR -
- F- F3
WHERE F- AND F3 ARE THE FOCAL LENGTHS OF MAIN AND SUBREFLECTORS RESPECTIVELY 4HE FIRST
PROPERTY SHOWS THAT THE SYSTEM IS ESSENTIALLY A FEED SOURCE MAGNIFIER 4HE REFLECTOR
GAIN 'R IS DESCRIBED BY
'R y 'F r - r COSPR
WHERE 'F IS THE GAIN OF THE FEED ARRAY AND PR IS THE SCAN ANGLE OF THE REFLECTOR SECOND
ARY BEAM 4HE SECOND PROPERTY DEFINES THE SCANNING 4HE REFLECTOR SCAN ANGLE PR IS
DEFINED BY THE FOLLOWING EQUATION
PR y PF -
WHERE PF IS THE FEED SCAN ANGLE &OR EXAMPLE IF THE MAGNIFICATION FACTOR IS AND THE
%3! FEED ARRAY IS SCANNED THE REFLECTOR BEAM WILL SCAN APPROXIMATELY
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
0ARABOLIC
-AIN 2EFLECTOR
A2EF A!%3! -AG
$MAIN
#OMMON
&OCUS
FMAIN
FSUB
0HASED
!RRAY &EED
-AG
$SUB
FMAIN
FSUB
A!%3!
0ARABOLIC
3UBREFLECTOR
&)'52% #ONFOCAL DUAL REFLECTOR ANTENNA
3CAN ABERRATIONS LEAD TO MODERATELY HIGHER SCAN LOSSES AND SLIGHT BEAM SCAN ANGLE
DEVIATIONS FROM THOSE PREDICTED BY %QS AND WHEN IDEAL %3! PLANE WAVE
EXCITATIONS IE LINEAR PHASE SLOPE ARE APPLIED (OWEVER THE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE
CONTROLS IN THE %3! ALLOW FOR SCAN ABERRATION COMPENSATION VIA CONJUGATE MATCHING
OF THE APERTURE FIELDS 4HUS THE USE OF AN %3! FEED ENABLES RECOVERY OF SCAN LOSSES
RESULTING FROM ABERRATIONS IN THE SYSTEM
#ONFOCAL REFLECTOR ARCHITECTURES HAVE BEEN THE SUBJECT OF STUDY AND ANALYSIS FOR
MANY YEARS AND NUMEROUS DEMONSTRATION SYSTEMS HAVE ALSO BEEN DEVELOPEDn
!LTHOUGH CONFOCAL REFLECTORS HAVE NOT BEEN ADOPTED FOR SIGNIFICANT USAGE IN OPERA
TIONAL SYSTEMS THESE REFLECTOR SYSTEMS ARE LIKELY TO BE PART OF SOME NEXT
GENERATION
RADARS DUE TO THE RELATIVELY RECENT MATURATION OF ENABLING %3! TECHNOLOGY
3PHERICAL 2EFLECTORS n 4HE SPHERICAL REFLECTOR IS SOMETIMES USED FOR APPLI
CATIONS REQUIRING SCANNING OR MULTIPLE BEAMS OVER VERY WIDE ANGLES )TS DESIGN IS BASED
UPON THE FACT THAT OVER LIMITED ANGULAR REGIONS A SPHERICAL SURFACE VIEWED FROM ANY
POINT HALFWAY BETWEEN THE CENTER OF A SPHERE AND ITS SURFACE IS NEARLY PARABOLIC 4HIS
MEANS THAT IF A FEED IS MOVED ALONG AN INNER SPHERICAL SURFACE OF CONSTANT RADIUS 2
WHERE 2 IS THE RADIUS OF THE SPHERICAL REFLECTOR THE SECONDARY BEAM CAN BE STEERED 4HE
RANGE OF BEAM STEERING IS LIMITED BY THE SIZE OF THE SPHERICAL REFLECTOR IE THE PORTION
OF A FULL SPHERE REALIZED BY THE REFLECTOR 4HE SCANNING CAPABILITY CAN BE IMPLEMENTED
VIA USE OF EITHER A SINGLE MOVABLE FEED OR AN ARRAY WITH SWITCHABLE FEEDS
3ELF
BLOCKAGE REFLECTOR BLOCKING ITSELF IS ANOTHER POTENTIAL LIMITING FACTOR IN SPHER
ICAL REFLECTOR SYSTEMS (OWEVER OF AZIMUTH STEERING CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED VIA
A POLARIZATION DESIGN SCHEME SIMILAR TO THE POLARIZATION TWIST SUBREFLECTOR DESCRIBED
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
ABOVE FOR THE #ASSEGRAIN SYSTEM )N THIS DESIGN THE FEED POLARIZATION IS TILTED AND
THE REFLECTOR IS FORMED OF CONDUCTING STRIPS PARALLEL TO THE POLARIZATION (OWEVER THE
CONDUCTING STRIPS ON OPPOSING SIDES OF THE REFLECTOR ARE TWISTED THEREBY ENABLING
TRANSMISSION OF THE REFLECTED ENERGY 4HIS TYPE OF ANTENNA IS KNOWN AS A HELISPHERE
)F WIDE ANGLE SCANNING IN ONLY ONE PLANE IE AZIMUTH OR ELEVATION IS REQUIRED A SIM
ILAR DESIGN CALLED THE PARABOLIC TORUS IS MORE APPLICABLE 4HE PARABOLIC TORUS REFLECTOR IS
A SURFACE THAT IS SPHERICAL IN ONE PLANE AZIMUTH OR ELEVATION AND PARABOLIC IN THE OTHER
PLANE 4HIS DESIGN TAKES ADVANTAGE OF BOTH THE WIDE SCANNING ENABLED BY THE SPHERICAL
SHAPING AND THE HIGH APERTURE EFFICIENCY ENABLED BY THE PARABOLIC SHAPING 4HE HEIGHT
ELEVATION DIMENSION OF THE REFLECTOR IS SET BY THE REQUIRED ELEVATION BEAMWIDTH
4HE PARABOLIC TORUS HAS SEEN APPLICATION IN VARIOUS RADARS INCLUDING THE ORIGINAL
"-%73 SYSTEM AND THE 303
AND 301
" SYSTEMS
{ ,
/",
7HEREAS PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS ARE FREQUENTLY CHOSEN FOR RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNS REFLEC
TOR ANTENNAS WERE ONCE THE DOMINANT ANTENNA DESIGN CHOICE FOR MEDIUM
TO HIGH
GAIN
RADAR APERTURES /BVIOUSLY THE COST OF A SINGLE FEED HORN AND METAL REFLECTOR IS MUCH LESS
THAN THE SAME SIZE ARRAY WITH MANY INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS AND ASSOCIATED PHASE SHIFTERS
AMPLIFIERS RECEIVERS ETC #ONSEQUENTLY MANY RADARS CURRENTLY IN THE FIELD USE REFLEC
TOR ANTENNAS &URTHERMORE REFLECTOR ANTENNA DESIGNS ARE USED IN MODERN RADAR DESIGNS
WHERE MODERATE SCAN RATES AND SCAN VOLUMES ARE REQUIRED OR LOW COST IS ESSENTIAL
-ANY LEGACY RADARS EMPLOY REFLECTOR ANTENNAS WITH SINGLE FEED ELEMENTS OR A CLUSTER
OF FEEDS IE AN ARRAY WITH A FIXED BEAM 2& COMBINER OR DIVIDER NETWORK &IGURE
SHOWS SOME TYPICAL SINGLE
FEED REFLECTOR CONFIGURATIONS UTILIZING HORN WAVEGUIDE
AND DIPOLE FEEDS &IGURE SHOWS A FEW COMMON TYPES OF FLARED HORN FEEDS
&)'52% 3OME TYPICAL REFLECTOR ANTENNA CONFIGURATIONS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 6ARIOUS TYPES OF HORN FEEDS FOR REFLECTOR ANTENNAS
/THER TYPES OF FEEDS SUCH AS DIPOLES MICROSTRIP PATCHES NOTCHES ETC ARE SOMETIMES
USED BUT FOR SINGLE FEED REFLECTOR IMPLEMENTATIONS FLARED WAVEGUIDE HORNS ARE THE
MOST COMMON 4HE FEED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE REFLECTOR MUST ALSO SATISFY THE ANTENNA
POLARIZATION REQUIREMENTS AND HANDLE REQUIRED PEAK AND AVERAGE POWER LEVELS UNDER
ALL OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS /THER FEED DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS INCLUDE THE OPERATING
BANDWIDTH AND THE POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION OF ANY ADDITIONAL MODESPATTERNS EG
DIFFERENCE OR SQUINTED BEAMS
&OR SINGLE FEED RADAR REFLECTOR ANTENNAS SUCH AS THOSE DEPICTED IN &IGURES
MECHANICAL SCANNING IS GENERALLY ACHIEVED VIA A GIMBAL A PRECISION MECHANICAL POINT
ING SYSTEM 2ADAR ANTENNA GIMBAL DESIGNS VARY GREATLY DEPENDING UPON SCAN RATE
&/6 TRACKING REQUIREMENTS ANTENNA SIZE MASS ETC
"ASIC &EEDS &OR RADARS REQUIRING A SIMPLE PENCIL BEAM BASIC SINGLE MODE
WAVEGUIDE HORN FEEDS SUCH AS PYRAMIDAL 4% MODE AND CONICAL 4% MODE HORNS ARE
WIDELY USED 3INGLE MODE FLARED HORNS WILL PROVIDE LINEARLY POLARIZED PENCIL BEAMS AND
WILL GENERALLY HANDLE HIGH POWER &OR MORE DEMAND
ING APPLICATIONS REQUIRING TRACKING MODES POLARIZATION
DIVERSITY HIGH BEAM EFFICIENCY OR ULTRA LOW SIDELOBES
FEED DESIGNS BECOME CORRESPONDINGLY MORE COMPLEX
&OR SUCH APPLICATIONS SEGMENTED FINNED MULTIMODE
ANDOR CORRUGATED HORNS AS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE
ARE OFTEN USED -ULTIMODE FEEDS ENABLE REALIZATION OF
DIFFERENCE MODE PATTERNS WITH A COMPACT SINGLE FEED
HORN AND AS SUCH ARE ESPECIALLY USEFUL FOR TRACKING
APPLICATIONS
-ONOPULSE &EEDS n -ONOPULSE IS FREQUENTLY
USED IN RADAR TRACKING AND SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS TO
EITHER KEEP THE BEAM POINTED ON THE TARGET TRACKING
OR TO ACCURATELY MEASURE THE ANGLE TO THE TARGET SUR
VEILLANCE n
!MPLITUDE COMPARISON MONOPULSE SYSTEMS ILLUS
TRATED IN &IGURE USE THE SUM OF THE TWO FEED
&)'52% !MPLITUDE COM
PARISON MONOPULSE ANTENNA SHOWING
SUM AND DIFFERENCE BEAMS
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
OUTPUTS TO FORM A HIGH GAIN LOW SIDELOBE BEAM AND THE DIFFERENCE OF THE TWO SQUINTED
BEAMS TO FORM A PRECISE DEEP NULL AT BORESIGHT 4HE SUM BEAM IS USED ON BOTH TRANS
MIT AND RECEIVE TO DETECT THE TARGET 4HE DIFFERENCE BEAM IS RECEIVE ONLY AND PROVIDES
ANGLE DETERMINATION )N MOST APPLICATIONS BOTH AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION DIFFERENCE BEAM
PORTS ARE IMPLEMENTED &IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE CONCEPT OF AMPLITUDE COMPARI
SON MONOPULSE ! FEEDBACK LOOP MINIMIZES THE RECEIVED DIFFERENCE BEAM SIGNAL BY
MECHANICALLY STEERING THE ANTENNA TO KEEP THE NULL AND THE CORRESPONDING SUM BEAM
PEAK ON TARGET
4HERE ARE NUMEROUS WAYS TO REALIZE AMPLITUDE MONOPULSE BEAMS IN A REFLECTOR
ANTENNA DESIGN BUT MOST DESIGNS GENERALLY FALL INTO TWO CLASSES MULTIFEED AND
MULTIMODE -ULTIFEED DESIGNS USE COMBINING NETWORKS TO GENERATE DIFFERENTIAL
FEED DISTRIBUTIONS )N ITS SIMPLEST FORM AN AZEL MULTIFEED MONOPULSE FEED ARRAY
CAN BE REALIZED AS A FOUR ELEMENT FEED AS SHOWN IN &IGURE (OWEVER SOME
APPLICATIONS USE MORE FEED ELEMENTS TO FURTHER TAILOR THE DISTRIBUTION TO IMPROVE
EFFICIENCY ANDOR DIFFERENCE BEAM SLOPE
)F THE REFLECTOR IS ILLUMINATED WITH A SIMPLE FOUR ELEMENT FEED A CONFLICT GENERALLY
ARISES BETWEEN THE GOALS OF HIGH SUM BEAM EFFICIENCY AND HIGH DIFFERENCE BEAM SLOPE
FROM THE MONOPULSE COMPARATOR 4HE FORMER REQUIRES A SMALL OVERALL FEED SIZE WHEREAS
THE LATTER REQUIRES LARGE INDIVIDUAL FEEDS &IGURE .UMEROUS DESIGN METHODS
HAVE BEEN DEVISED TO OVERCOME THIS PROBLEM AS WELL AS THE ASSOCIATED HIGH DIFFERENCE
PATTERN SIDELOBES 4HESE METHODS EITHER USE DIFFERENT SETS OF FEED ELEMENTS FOR THE SUM
AND DIFFERENCE BEAMS OR APPLY DIFFERENT ARRAY AMPLITUDEPHASE WEIGHTINGS FOR EACH OF
THE BEAMS )F HORN FEED ELEMENTS ARE USED ONE APPROACH IS TO OVERSIZE THE FEEDS TO
ENABLE MULTIMODE EXCITATION FOR THE SUM BEAM AS DESCRIBED BY (ANNAN ! COMPARISON
OF SOME COMMON MONOPULSE FEED CONFIGURATIONS IS INCLUDED IN 4ABLE
, "))"&%( &'
$& (*$ #)#
% #)
.#*( (% "%*( ( %&)
#)"+ !( (% /" '- ' (
&)'52% &OUR ELEMENT MONOPULSE FEED WITH DUM DELTA AZ AND DELTA EL PORTS
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0LOTS OF SUM BEAM EFFICIENCY AND DIFFERENCE BEAM SLOPE
AS A FUNCTION OF ASSOCIATED EDGE TAPERS ( PLANE SHOWN
!RRAY &EEDS ! SINGLE FEED AT THE FOCAL POINT OF A PARABOLA FORMS A BEAM PARALLEL
TO THE FOCAL AXIS !DDITIONAL FEEDS DISPLACED FROM THE FOCAL POINT FORM ADDITIONAL BEAMS
AT ANGLES FROM THE AXIS SEE %Q 4HUS ONE CAN EMPLOY A MULTIPLE FEED ARRAY WITH
APPROPRIATE ELECTRONICS TO FEED A REFLECTOR AND PROVIDE EITHER MULTIPLE DISPLACED BEAMS
OR ELECTRONIC BEAM SWITCHING IE BEAM SCANNING TO DISCRETE ANGLES ! REFLECTOR SYSTEM
SUCH AS THIS CAN EFFECTIVELY PROVIDE ELECTRONIC SCANNING OVER A NARROW &/6 (OWEVER
THIS TYPE OF ARRAY
FED REFLECTOR ARCHITECTURE DOES SUFFER FROM ONE DRAWBACK ! PARABOLA
CONVERTS A SPHERICAL WAVE INTO A PURE PLANE WAVE ONLY WHEN THE SOURCE FEED IS AT THE
FOCUS )F THE SOURCE FEED IS DISPLACED FROM THE FOCUS THE REFLECTED WAVE IS SOMEWHAT
DISTORTED AND THIS RESULTS IN GAIN LOSS AND BEAM SHAPE DISTORTION &IGURE SHOWS
THE EFFECT OF THIS DISTORTION ON THE PATTERN OF A TYPICAL CENTER
FED REFLECTOR AS THE FEED IS
MOVED OFF
AXIS
4!",% -ONOPULSE &EEDHORN 0ERFORMANCE
( PLANE
3IDELOBES D"
% PLANE
4YPE OF (ORN
%FFICIENCY
3LOPE
3LOPE
3UM
$IFFERENCE
3IMPLE FOUR HORN
4WO HORN DUAL MODE
4WO HORN TRIPLE MODE
4WELVE HORN
&OUR HORN TRIPLE MODE
&EED SHAPE
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% 0ATTERNS FOR OFF AXIS FEEDS
! PHASED ARRAY %3! TYPE FEED COVERING THE FOCAL REGION PLANAR OR CURVED IN
SHAPE SUCH AS THAT SHOWN IN &IGURE B CAN PROVIDE IMPROVED CAPABILITY )T OFFERS
TWO ENHANCEMENTS THAT EXTEND THE CAPABILITY ABOVE AND BEYOND THAT OF A MULTIPLE FEED
ARRAY WITH SWITCHED BEAMS 4HE PHASED ARRAY FED REFLECTOR CAN TRANSMIT OR RECEIVE
BEAMS OVER CONTINUOUS ANGLES WITHIN THE &/6 WHEREAS THE MULTIPLE FEED ARRAY IS
LIMITED TO DISCRETE BEAM POSITIONS )T ALSO PROVIDES GREATER APERTURE EFFICIENCY BECAUSE
IT ALLOWS FOR ADJUSTMENT OF THE ELEMENT AMPLITUDES AND PHASES TO REDUCE SCAN LOSSES
DUE TO ABERRATIONS )F WE VIEW THE REFLECTOR AS A COLLECTOR OF PARALLEL RAYS FROM A RANGE
OF ANGLES COVERING THE &/6 AND EXAMINE THE CONVERGING RAY PATHS &IGURE A IT
IS EVIDENT THAT AN APPROPRIATELY SIZED FEED REGION CAN BE FOUND THAT INTERCEPTS MOST OF
THE ENERGY )F THE PHASED
ARRAY FEED ARRAY IS APPROPRIATELY DESIGNED BEAM DISTORTION
AND SCAN LOSSES SUCH AS THOSE SHOWN IN &IGURE CAN BE EFFECTIVELY ELIMINATED
4HIS SORT OF DESIGN APPROACH WHEREIN THE FEED ARRAY AMPLITUDEPHASE DISTRIBUTION IS
hMATCHEDv TO THE FOCAL PLANE FIELDS IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS CONJUGATE FIELD MATCHING
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% %XTENDED FEED REGION IMPROVES SIDELOBES OF OFFSET FEED USED ON
!232
A RAY GEOMETRY AND B CURVED FEED
&EED ARRAYS SUCH AS THAT ILLUSTRATED IN THE !232
REFLECTOR ANTENNA SHOWN IN
&IGURES AND HAVE ALSO BEEN USED TO ENABLE SHAPED BEAMS AND LOW SIDE
LOBE PATTERNS 0ASSIVE COMBINER NETWORKS ARE USED TO GENERATE MULTIPLE RECEIVE BEAMS
STACKED IN ELEVATION AND A SINGLE TRANSMIT BEAM 4HE RECEIVE BEAMS REQUIRE LOW AZI
MUTH SIDELOBES ! CONVENTIONAL BEAMFORMING APPROACH WOULD INCORPORATE AN ARRAY
AT THE FOCAL PLANE WITH A SINGLE BEAM
PER FEED HOWEVER THE ASSOCIATED PHASE
DISTORTION DUE TO DISPLACEMENT CAUSES
POOR AZIMUTH SIDELOBES 4O CORRECT
THIS PROBLEM THE FEED ARRAY IS PLACED
FORWARD OF THE AZIMUTH FOCAL POINT
ENABLING COMPENSATION AND SIDELOBE
IMPROVEMENTS VIA USE OF MULTIPLE FEEDS
PER BEAM WITH APPROPRIATE FEED PHASING
&IGURE A 4WO DIFFERENT FOCAL
LENGTHS ARE USED IN THE REFLECTOR ONE FOR
ELEVATION AND A LONGER ONE FOR AZIMUTH
4HE FEED IS ON A CURVED SURFACE OPTI
MIZED VIA RAY TRACING AND IS FORWARD OF
THE AZIMUTH FOCAL POINT &OR EACH ROW
THE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE IS OPTIMIZED FOR
A BEAM WITH LOW AZIMUTH SIDELOBES 4HE
ELEVATION PATTERNS FOR EACH SINGLE ROW
HAVE POOR SIDELOBES BUT SEVERAL ROWS
ARE USED FOR EACH RECEIVE BEAM THEREBY
IMPROVING THE ELEVATION SIDELOBES &OR
TRANSMIT ALL ROWS THE WHOLE ARRAY &)'52% !232
LOW
SIDELOBE REFLECTOR
ARE USED /N RECEIVE GROUPS OF ROWS WITH OFFSET ARRAY FEED #OURTESY .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN
ARE USED TO FORM RECEIVE BEAMS
#ORPORATION
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
x ,
/", /
9--
2EFLECTOR ANTENNA ANALYSIS METHODS CAN GENERALLY BE LUMPED INTO THREE CLASSES OR CATEGO
RIES 0HYSICAL /PTICS 0/ OR INDUCED CURRENT METHODS 'EOMETRICAL /PTICS '/
METHODS WITH AND WITHOUT DIFFRACTION TERMS AND RIGOROUS OR FULL
WAVE METHODS
0HYSICAL /PTICS 0/ 2EFLECTOR !NALYSIS 4HE 0HYSICAL /PTICS 0/ METHOD
IS COMMONLY EMPLOYED FOR THE MOST RIGOROUS REFLECTOR ANALYSIS DUE TO ITS ACCURACY
)T INCORPORATES THE FIELD PROPERTIES OF THE FEED AND MODELS THE RESULTANT FIELDS FROM
THE REFLECTOR THUS ENABLING THE COMPUTATION OF THE CROSS POLARIZATION PROPERTIES
&URTHERMORE THE METHOD IS MORE ACCURATE FOR FEEDS THAT ARE NOT AT THE FOCAL POINT AND
REFLECTORS THAT ARE NOT PARABOLIC 4HERE ARE MANY GOOD REFERENCES THAT DESCRIBE THE THE
ORY BEHIND THE METHOD AND HOW IT IS APPLIED TO THE ANALYSIS OF REFLECTOR ANTENNASn
0/ IS A VERY GENERAL hHIGH FREQUENCYv ANALYSIS METHOD THAT GENERALLY PROVIDES HIGH
FIDELITY PATTERN PREDICTIONS FOR MOST REFLECTOR SYSTEMS AS LONG AS THE REFLECTOR DIMEN
SIONS ARE LARGE SAY GREATER THAN ABOUT FIVE WAVELENGTHS IN BOTH DIMENSIONS !N OVER
VIEW OF 0/ IS PROVIDED HERE TO ENABLE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE
METHOD 4HE 0/ METHOD CAN BE BROKEN INTO TWO STEPS THE CALCULATION OF INDUCED
REFLECTOR SURFACE CURRENTS AND THE INTEGRATION OF THESE CURRENTS WITH AN APPROPRIATE
FREE SPACE VECTOR 'REENS FUNCTION KERNEL TO DETERMINE THE FAR
FIELD PATTERNS
&IRST CONSIDER THE CALCULATION OF THE REFLECTOR SURFACE CURRENTS )T IS ASSUMED THAT
THE FIELD FROM THE FEED THAT IS INCIDENT ON THE REFLECTOR HAS A SPHERICAL WAVEFRONT
WITH AMPLITUDE TAPERING DEFINED BY THE FEED PATTERN 3O AS A FIRST STEP THE FEED IS
MATHEMATICALLY MODELED TO DETERMINE THE INCIDENT FIELD AMPLITUDE AND PHASE AT THE
REFLECTOR SURFACE $IFFERENT MODELS ARE APPLIED DEPENDING ON THE CHOICE OF FEED USED
IN THE DESIGN EXAMPLES INCLUDE WAVEGUIDE FEED HORNS MICROSTRIP PATCHES DIPOLES
ETC 3OMETIMES THE FEED MODEL WILL INSTEAD EMPLOY MEASURED FEED PATTERNS IF SUCH
DATA IS AVAILABLE !LL MODELS MUST BE NORMALIZED TO SOME PRESCRIBED RADIATED POWER
LEVEL EG WATT &IGURE SHOWS A TYPICAL WAVEGUIDE FEED HORN MODEL AND ITS
ASSOCIATED LOCAL COORDINATE SYSTEM
"ASED ON AN APPROPRIATE APPLICATION OF EQUIVALENCE PRINCIPLE AND THE INDUCTION
THEOREM n THE CURRENTS INDUCED ON THE REFLECTOR CAN BE DETERMINED FROM THE FEED
&)'52% 7AVEGUIDE FEED HORN MODEL
AND COORDINATE SYSTEM
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
(
FIELD INCIDENT AT THE SURFACE OF THE REFLECTOR 4HE KEY PREMISE OF THE EQUIVALENCE
PRINCIPLE IS THAT FIELDS FROM A SCATTERER EG A REFLECTOR CAN BE REPRESENTED BY AN
hEQUIVALENTv ELECTRIC CURRENT * AND MAGNETIC CURRENT - THAT ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE
INCIDENT % AND ( FIELDS VIA
* N} r (
-
N} r %
WHERE N} IS THE NORMAL TO THE REFLECTOR SURFACE 4HE APPLICATION OF THE EQUIVALENCE
PRINCIPLE TO 0/
BASED REFLECTOR ANALYSES AS SHOWN HERE IS A SPECIALIZED CASE WHEREIN
THE REFLECTOR IS AN ELECTRIC CONDUCTOR AND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM SURFACE CURRENTS ON THE
BACKSIDE OF THE REFLECTOR ARE DEEMED NEGLIGIBLE !N APPROPRIATE APPLICATION OF IMAGE
THEORYn IMPOSES A ZERO TANGENTIAL %
FIELD %Q AND DOUBLES THE ELECTRIC CUR
RENT * %Q RESULTING IN AN EQUIVALENT SURFACE CURRENT REPRESENTED BY
* N} r (
.OW CONSIDER A GENERALIZED REFLECTOR SURFACE AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE SUR
FACE IS DIVIDED INTO RECTANGULAR GRID REGIONS OF AREA D! THAT INTERCEPT THE INCIDENT FEED
FIELD )F THE FEED FAR
FIELD (
FIELD PATTERN IS ( V} POLARIZED IN THE DIRECTION V} THEN THE
INCIDENT (
FIELD AT THE REFLECTOR IS
( ( V} V} N} E JKR D! P R
#OMBINING %QS AND YIELDS THE EQUIVALENT SURFACE CURRENT * AT AREA D!
* N} r ( V} V} N} E JKR D! P R
WHERE N} IS THE NORMAL TO THE SURFACE S} IS THE OBSERVATION DIRECTION &IGURE R IS
THE DISTANCE FROM THE FEED TO THE REFLECTING SURFACE K O K IE THE WAVENUMBER
R TERM ACCOUNTS FOR THE PROPAGATION PHASE AND SPACE LOSS FROM THE FEED
AND THE E JKRO
TO THE REFLECTOR SURFACE
&)'52% 'ENERALIZED REFLECTOR GEOMETRY
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
4HE FINAL STEP IN THE 0/
BASED PATTERN SOLUTION IS TO CALCULATE THE REFLECTOR FAR FIELDS
VIA A VECTOR INTEGRATION OF THE PRODUCT OF THE SURFACE CURRENT AND THE FREE SPACE 'REENS
FUNCTION 4HE MAGNETIC VECTOR POTENTIAL ! IS DEFINED BY THE EQUATION
!
* E
JK\R
R ` \ DR `
P \ R
R ` \
4HE VECTOR %
AND (
FIELDS ARE RELATED TO ! VIA SIMPLE DERIVATIVES ANDOR VECTOR
MULTIPLICATIONS )N PRACTICE %Q IS COMPUTED AS A SUMMATION OF NUMERICAL INTE
GRATIONS 0ROPER CONVERGENCE OF THE FIELD SOLUTION AND RESULTING PATTERNS IS A FUNCTION OF
THE GRID SIZE AND THIS IS GENERALLY ACHIEVED AND VERIFIED BY INCREMENTALLY DECREASING THE
GRID SIZE UNTIL THE SOLUTION STABILIZES !CHIEVING SUFFICIENT CONVERGENCE IN REFLECTOR 0/
COMPUTATIONS WITHIN REASONABLE COMPUTER RUN TIMES A FEW MINUTES OR LESS IS RARELY A
PROBLEM WITH MODERN COMPUTERS
'EOMETRICAL /PTICS '/ 2EFLECTOR !NALYSIS )NCLUDING '4$54$ 4HERE ARE
A VARIETY OF '/
BASED PATTERN REFLECTOR ANALYSIS METHODS ALL OF WHICH ARE ROOTED IN RAY
TRACING AND SOME OF WHICH ARE AUGMENTED WITH DIFFRACTION TERMS FOR IMPROVED ACCURACY
!LTHOUGH THE SIMPLE '/ METHOD NO DIFFRACTION TERMS WORKS REASONABLY WELL IT IS NOT
GENERALLY AS ACCURATE AS 0/ (OWEVER TWO OF THE MORE COMMON ENHANCED METHODS
'EOMETRICAL 4HEORY OF $IFFRACTION '4$ AND 5NIFORM 4HEORY OF $IFFRACTION 54$
INCLUDE EDGE DIFFRACTION AND ARE MUCH MORE ACCURATE 54$ IS ESSENTIALLY AN ENHANCE
MENT OF '4$ WHEREIN LOCALIZED '4$ SINGULARITIES ARE CORRECTED 4HE DIFFRACTION TERMS IN
54$ INCREASE THE ACCURACY OF THE BASIC '/ SOLUTION AND WILL PROPERLY PREDICT THE PATTERN
ASYMMETRIES OF MORE GENERALIZED REFLECTOR GEOMETRIES ,IKE 0/ '4$54$ METHODS
WILL GENERALLY PROVIDE HIGH
FIDELITY PATTERN PREDICTIONS FOR MOST REFLECTOR SYSTEMS
CENTER
FED OFFSET SINGLE DUAL ETC AS LONG AS THE REFLECTOR SIZE IS APPROXIMATELY K OR
LARGER -ORE DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF '4$54$ CAN BE FOUND IN VARIOUS REFERENCES
&ULL
7AVE 2EFLECTOR !NALYSIS -ETHODS 2IGOROUS OR FULL
WAVE METHODS INCLUDE
FOR EXAMPLE THE METHOD OF MOMENTS -/- THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD &%- AND
THE FINITE DIFFERENCE TIME DOMAIN &$4$ METHOD !LTHOUGH THESE METHODS ARE VERY
RIGOROUS AND HIGHLY ACCURATE THEY ARE NOT GENERALLY EMPLOYED FOR REFLECTOR DESIGN
ANALYSIS BECAUSE THEY TEND TO BE TOO COMPUTATIONALLY INTENSIVE 4HESE METHODS ARE
MORE TYPICALLY APPLIED FOR PRECISION ANALYSIS OF MICROWAVE DEVICES OR ELECTRICALLY
hSMALLERv ANTENNAS EG RADIATORS AND FEEDS THAT ARE NO MORE THAN A FEW WAVELENGTHS
IN SIZE )N RECENT YEARS HYBRID METHODS INCORPORATING 0/ OR '/'4$ ALONG WITH
-/- &%- OR &$4$ HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED 4HESE METHODS ENABLE ENHANCED REFLEC
TOR FEED MODELING IE INTEGRATED WITH REFLECTOR ANALYSIS AND RIGOROUS MODELING OF
ELECTRICALLY SMALL SCATTERERS EG SMALL SUBREFLECTORS OR FEED SUPPORT STRUTS
#OMPUTER #ODES FOR 2EFLECTOR $ESIGN AND !NALYSIS ! NUMBER OF COMMER
CIAL AND UNIVERSITY CODES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED FOR THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF REFLEC
TOR SYSTEMS 4WO OF THE MORE WELL
KNOWN AND COMMONLY USED CODES ARE '2!30
AND THE 3!4#/- 7ORKBENCH WITH ITS .%#
2%& MODULE '2!30 IS A COMMERCIALLY
AVAILABLE 0/
BASED REFLECTOR DESIGN AND SCATTERING ANALYSIS CODE DEVELOPED BY 4)#2!
#OPENHAGEN $ENMARK 4HE 3!4#/- 7ORKBENCH WAS DEVELOPED BY 4HE /HIO 3TATE
5NIVERSITY %LECTRO3CIENCE ,ABORATORY /35
%3, AND IS A USER
FRIENDLY CODE THAT
INCORPORATES A WIDE VARIETY OF SOFTWARE MODULES SOME OF WHICH ARE BASED UPON LEGACY
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
/35 CODES SUCH AS .%# 2%& /35 2EFLECTOR #ODE 4HE 3!4#/- 7ORKBENCH IS
AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS OF THE 53! 3ATELLITE )NDUSTRY #ODE #ONSORTIUM
4)#2! '2!30 IS A GENERALIZED 0/ BASED CODE INTENDED FOR BOTH REFLECTOR SYSTEM
DESIGNANALYSIS AND SCATTERING ANALYSES '2!30 HAS POPULAR '5) VERSIONS THAT RUN
ON -ICROSOFT 0# BASED 7INDOWS OPERATING SYSTEMS .4 80 AS WELL AS
,).58 !LTHOUGH THE '2!30 CODE IS 0/ BASED IT ALSO INCLUDES A 0HYSICAL 4HEORY OF
$IFFRACTION 04$ OPTION AS WELL AS A 'EOMETRICAL /PTICS '/ 5NIFORM 'EOMETRICAL
4HEORY OF $IFFRACTION 5'4$ OPTION THAT CAN BE TURNED ON WHEN NEEDED 4HE CODE
IS VERY GENERAL IN THAT IT CAN MODEL STANDARD CONIC SECTION BASED REFLECTORS AS WELL AS
ARBITRARILY SHAPED SURFACES OR SCATTERERS IF DESIRED )T ALSO HAS A SUITE OF FEED MODELS TO
DRAW UPON AND HAS TOOLS TO ENABLE FEED ARRAY MODELING &IGURE SHOWS A SNAPSHOT
OF THE '2!30 '5) WINDOW INCLUDING A RENDERING OF AN ARRAY FED REFLECTOR AND ITS
ASSOCIATED BEAM ROSETTA IE AN OVERLAY OF BEAMS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OF THE INDI
VIDUAL ARRAY FEEDS 3OME OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES OF THE '2!30 CODE INCLUDE SCATTERING
MODELS FOR MESH FREQUENCY SELECTIVE OR LOSSY REFLECTOR SURFACES AND A SPHERICAL WAVE
EXPANSION 37% FEATURE FOR MODELING OF SYSTEMS WHEREIN THE REFLECTOR OR SCATTERER IS
IN THE NEAR FIELD OF THE FEED SOURCE &INALLY THERE ARE VARIOUS OTHER ANTENNA SOFTWARE
MODULES AVAILABLE FROM 4)#2! THAT CAN BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH '2!30 /NE
NOTABLE EXAMPLE IS 0HYSICAL /PTICS 3HAPER 0/3 AN OPTIMIZER MODULE FOR SHAPED
REFLECTOR SYNTHESIS ANDOR FEED ARRAY AMPLITUDEPHASE WEIGHT SYNTHESIS -ORE INFORMA
TION IS AVAILABLE AT WWWTICRACOM
4HE /35 %3, 3!4#/- 7ORKBENCH IS A -ICROSOFT 7INDOWSnBASED MODULAR
SOFTWARE PACKAGE FOR 0# PLATFORMS RUNNING 7INDOWS 80 )T CONTAINS
A VARIETY OF MODULES OR SO CALLED WIZARDS IN ADDITION TO THE GENERALIZED '/'4$
BASED REFLECTORSCATTERING CODE BACKBONE 4HE CORE '/'4$ REFLECTORSCATTERING
&)'52% 4)#2! '2!30 '5) MULTIBEAM ARRAY FED REFLECTOR MODEL AND PATTERNS
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
-AXIMUM
-AGNITUDE D"
X
4HETA
&)'52% /35 %3, 3!4#/- 7ORKBENCH '5) OFFSET 'REGORIAN REFLECTOR MODEL AND PATTERN
CODE PORTION OF THE 3!4#/- 7ORKBENCH IS BASED UPON THE LEGACY .%#
2%& AND
.%#
"3# CODES 4HE %- 7ORKBENCH LIKE '2!30 IS VERY GENERAL IN ITS CAPABILI
TIES IE IT CAN HANDLE A DIVERSITY OF REFLECTORSCATTERER SHAPES AND COMBINATIONS AND
ALSO HAS VARIOUS FEED MODELS TO DRAW UPON )T ALSO HAS FEED AND ARRAY WIZARDS THAT
EMPLOY FULL
WAVE %- MODELS THAT CAN BE USED AS SOURCES FOR REFLECTOR AND SCATTER
ING DESIGNANALYSES &IGURE SHOWS A SNAPSHOT OF THE 7ORKBENCH '5) WINDOW
INCLUDING A RENDERING OF AN OFFSET
FED REFLECTOR AND ITS ASSOCIATED BEAM PATTERN -ORE
INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT ESLENGOHIO
STATEEDU
-
" -
,/" 2EFLECTOR MECHANICAL DESIGN IS A DETAILED DISCIPLINE UNTO ITSELF WITH A MULTITUDE OF
FACTORS TO CONSIDER &URTHERMORE DESIGNS VARY SIGNIFICANTLY DEPENDING UPON MANY
FACTORS INCLUDING PLATFORM REFLECTOR SIZE ENVIRONMENT FREQUENCY OF OPERATION SCAN
&/6 AND COST CONSTRAINTS !LTHOUGH IT IS NOT WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER TO ADDRESS
MECHANICAL DESIGN IN DETAIL A BRIEF SURVEY OF DESIGN FACTORS AND CONSIDERATIONS PRO
VIDES SOME USEFUL INSIGHTS
4HE PLATFORM IE VEHICLE OR INSTALLATION SITE IS A SIGNIFICANT DRIVER FOR RADAR SEN
SORS IN GENERAL INCLUDING THE ANTENNA 0LATFORM IS A GENERIC TERM REFERRING TO THE
VEHICLE WHERE THE RADAR AND ANTENNA ARE INSTALLED 4YPICAL RADAR PLATFORMS INCLUDE
PEDESTAL FIXED SITE GROUND VEHICLES SHIPS AIRPLANES 5!6S AND SPACECRAFTSATELLITES
4HE FOLLOWING SHORT SECTION IS DEVOTED TO PLATFORM IMPACTS AND SOME KEY ASSOCIATED
DESIGN DRIVERS 4HESE INCLUDE MASS VOLUME STOWAGEDEPLOYMENT GIMBALS PRECISION
MECHANICAL POSITIONING SYSTEMS MATERIALS AND MECHANICAL TOLERANCES &INALLY THERE
IS A BRIEF DISCUSSION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS AND RADOMES
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)NSTALLATION )S A 3IGNIFICANT -ECHANICAL $ESIGN $RIVER 4HE PLATFORM IS GEN
ERALLY A DOMINANT MECHANICAL DESIGN DRIVER BECAUSE IT DETERMINES THE ENVIRONMENT
THERMAL VIBRATION ETC AND IT TYPICALLY DRIVES THE AVAILABLE SIZE WEIGHT AND POWER
37!0 FOR THE RADAR AND THE REFLECTOR ANTENNA 4ABLE PROVIDES A QUALITATIVE COM
PARISON OF TYPICAL DESIGN REQUIREMENTS AND FEATURES FOR RADAR REFLECTOR ANTENNAS ON
GROUND
BASED SHIP
BASED AIRBORNE AND SPACEBORNE PLATFORMS
-ASS 6OLUME 3TOWAGE $EPLOYMENT AND 'IMBALING 4HE DEGREE TO WHICH
THESE FIVE FACTORS MASS VOLUME STOWAGE DEPLOYMENT AND GIMBALING DRIVE THE REFLEC
TOR DESIGN VARY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REFLECTOR SYSTEM AND THE PLATFORM (OWEVER
4!",% -ECHANICAL $ESIGN $RIVERS FOR 2EFLECTOR !NTENNA 3YSTEMS AS A &UNCTION OF 0LATFORM
0,!4&/2- $2)6%3 2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..! -%#(!.)#!, $%3)'.
'ROUND
BASED
-ASS
6OLUME
4HERMAL
6IBRATION
3HIP BASED
!IRBORNE
3PACEBORNE
s ! MAJOR DRIVER LAUNCH
s 4YPICALLY NOT A MAJOR s 4YPICALLY NOT A s 4YPICALLY A
COSTS ARE VERY HIGH AND
MAJOR DRIVER
SIGNIFICANT DRIVER
DRIVER
ARE DRIVEN BY AVAILABLE
s #OULD BE A MAJOR
s -AY BE A DRIVER IF
VOLUME AND MASS FOR
DRIVER DEPENDING
FIELD DEPLOYMENT IS
ON SIZE OF ANTENNA RADAR PAYLOAD
REQUIRED
s 5SE OF LIGHT WEIGHT
AND PLATFORM
MATERIALS IS IMPORTANT
s ! MAJOR DRIVER LAUNCH
s 4YPICALLY A
s 4YPICALLY NOT A MAJOR s $EPENDS A
COSTS ARE VERY HIGH AND
SIGNIFICANT DRIVER
DRIVER IN SOME
DRIVER
ARE DRIVEN BY AVAILABLE
s #OULD BE A MAJOR
CASES
s -AY BE A DRIVER IF
VOLUME AND MASS FOR
DRIVER DEPENDING
FIELD DEPLOYMENT IS
ON SIZE OF ANTENNA RADAR PAYLOAD
REQUIRED
s /NCE IN SPACE
AND PLATFORM
ANTENNA DEPLOYMENTS
ARE TYPICALLY NEEDED
EG UNFOLDING ETC
s ! MAJOR DRIVER NEED
s #AN BE A MAJOR s #AN BE A MAJOR
s #AN BE A MAJOR
SOPHISTICATED MODELING
DRIVER
DRIVER
DRIVER
TO PREDICT SOLAR HEATING
s 2ADARS ARE
s 2ADARS ARE TYPICALLY s 2ADARS ARE
THROUGHOUT ORBIT
TYPICALLY HIGH
TYPICALLY HIGH
HIGH POWER
s 0ASSIVE COOLING SYSTEMS
POWER
s (IGH POWER DENSITIES POWER
ARE GENERALLY EMPLOYED
s (IGH POWER
AT FEED OR FEED ARRAY s (IGH POWER
EG HEAT PIPES
DENSITIES AT FEED
DENSITIES AT
ARE COMMON
OR FEED ARRAY ARE
FEED OR FEED
s #OOLING SYSTEM
COMMON
ARRAY ARE
DESIGN TO MAINTAIN
s #OOLING SYSTEM
COMMON
FEED TEMP CAN BE A
s #OOLING SYSTEM DESIGN TO MAINTAIN
CHALLENGE
FEED TEMP CAN BE A
DESIGN TO
CHALLENGE
MAINTAIN FEED
TEMP CAN BE A
CHALLENGE
s 4YPICALLY NOT A MAJOR s 4YPICALLY NOT A s 4YPICALLY A MAJOR s 4YPICALLY A MAJOR
MAJOR DRIVER
DRIVER
DRIVER DRIVEN BY LAUNCH
DRIVER
VEHICLE ROCKET
s (OWEVER MUST
CONSIDER VIBRATION
DURING TRANSPORT
TRUCK AIRPLANE
OTHER
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
4!",% -ECHANICAL $ESIGN $RIVERS FOR 2EFLECTOR !NTENNA 3YSTEMS AS A &UNCTION OF 0LATFORM
#ONTINUED
0,!4&/2- $2)6%3 2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..! -%#(!.)#!, $%3)'.
'ROUND
BASED
3TOWAGE
$EPLOYMENT
s #AN BE A DRIVER
IF SYSTEM IS
TRANSPORTABLE
/THER
s )S TRANSPORTABILITY
A REQUIREMENT
!RE THERE MULTIPLE
ENVIRONMENTS TO
WHICH THE RADAR
ANTENNA WILL BE
EXPOSED
3HIP BASED
!IRBORNE
3PACEBORNE
s 4YPICALLY REQUIRED
GENERALLY A MAJOR
DESIGN DRIVER
s 2ELIABILITY OF
DEPLOYMENT IS A MAJOR
CONCERN MISSION
DEPENDS ON IT
s 7HERE ON THE s 6OLUME IS A MAJOR s 3PECIALIZED
ENVIRONMENTS
SHIP IS THE RADAR CONSTRAINT NOT
s ,AUNCH DRIVES
MUCH ROOM FOR
ANTENNA )S IT
VIBRATION AND
COVERED WITH A ANTENNA APERTURES
ACOUSTIC LOADS
RADOME 7ILL IT
s 2ADIATION A DRIVER AT
BE EXPOSED TO
SOME ORBITS
WATER OR WAVE
s 4HERMAL EXTREMES
SLAP
INCLUDING GRADIENTS
ARE A CONCERN
s 4YPICALLY NOT A s 4YPICALLY NOT
REQUIREMENT
A REQUIREMENT
BUT THERE ARE
EXCEPTIONS
MASS AND VOLUME CONSTRAINTS GENERALLY HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE REFLECTOR SYSTEM
DESIGN &URTHERMORE SOME SORT OF STOWAGE AND DEPLOYMENT OF THE REFLECTOR IS SOME
TIMES REQUIRED ESPECIALLY FOR LARGER REFLECTORS 4HESE CONSIDERATIONS AND CONSTRAINTS
DRIVE THE CHOICES OF MATERIALS STRUCTURAL DESIGNS PASSIVE AND ACTIVE MECHANISMS ETC
)T IS BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER TO ADDRESS THIS TOPIC IN DETAIL (OWEVER ITS USEFUL
TO SHOW A COUPLE EXAMPLES FOR ILLUSTRATION
#ONSIDER FIRST A GROUND
BASED DUAL
REFLECTOR DESIGN WITH A
METER MAIN REFLECTOR
APERTURE 4HIS REFLECTOR SHOWN IN &IGURE IS USED FOR AN 3
BAND METEOROLOGICAL
RADAR APPLICATION 4HE PANELIZED ALUMINUM REFLECTOR IS MECHANICALLY SCANNED VIA USE
OF A GIMBAL NOT SHOWN 4HE FEED A DUAL
POLARIZED WAVEGUIDE HORN IS ALSO SHOWN IN
&IGURE 4HE STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF THIS LARGE REFLECTOR WAS A SIGNIFICANT TASK DRIVEN
BY THE NEED TO MAINTAIN LOW REFLECTOR SURFACE DISTORTION LESS THAN MILS WITH SEVERE
WIND AND GRAVITY
LOADING FORCES AND THERMAL GRADIENTS
4HE SECOND EXAMPLE IS A SPACE
BASED DEPLOYABLE REFLECTOR 4HE MESH REFLECTOR
SHOWN IN BOTH STOWED AND DEPLOYED CONFIGURATIONS IN &IGURE IS AN OFFSET REFLEC
TOR WITH A METER CIRCULAR PROJECTED APERTURE 4HIS ,
BAND DESIGN DEVELOPED BY
.ORTHROP
'RUMMAN 3PACE 4ECHNOLOGIES !STRO !EROSPACE GROUP HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY
LAUNCHED AND DEPLOYED AND IS CURRENTLY IN USE ON SEVERAL COMMUNICATION SATELLITES
! TOTAL OF FIVE REFLECTORS OF APERTURE DIAMETERS METERS METERS AND METERS
HAVE BEEN FLOWN 3TUDIES HAVE ADDRESSED THE POTENTIAL USAGE OF THIS REFLECTOR TECHNOL
OGY FOR VARIOUS SPACE
BASED RADAR APPLICATIONS INCLUDING WEATHER SENSINGMONITORING
.%82!$ AND PLANETARY 3!2 MAPPING MISSIONS LUNAR AND -ARS 3IGNIFICANT FEA
TURES OF THIS REFLECTOR INCLUDE ITS PRECISE SURFACE ACCURACY HIGH STIFFNESS AND STABILITY LOW
MASS AND RELIABLE DEPLOYMENT &OR EXAMPLE FOR THE REFLECTOR SHOWN IN &IGURE AN
2-3 SURFACE ACCURACY OF LESS THAN MILS FROM ALL ERROR SOURCES INCLUDING IN
ORBIT THER
MAL GRADIENTS WAS ACHIEVED VIA PRUDENT MATERIAL CHOICES AND MATCHING OF THE ASSOCIATED
MATERIAL COEFFICIENTS OF THERMAL EXPANSION #4%S 0OINTING PRECISION DUE TO ECLIPSE
THERMAL SNAP HAS BEEN MEASURED IN ORBIT AT LESS THAN DEGREES
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 'ROUND
BASED 3
BAND
METER DUAL REFLECTOR AND DUAL
POL FEED A PHOTO OF SYSTEM B
MECHANICAL #!$ RENDERING SHOWING PANELIZED REFLECTOR SURFACE AND SUPPORT STRUCTURE AND C DUAL
POLARIZED
WAVEGUIDE FEEDHORN #OURTESY 'ENERAL $YNAMICS # 3YSTEMS
&)'52% 3PACE BASED DEPLOYABLE , BAND !342/-ESH REFLECTOR WITH METER
CIRCULAR PROJECTED APERTURE #OURTESY .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN #ORPORATION
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
$EPLOYABLE SPACE
BASED REFLECTORS HAVE ALSO BEEN DEVELOPED BY THE (ARRIS #ORPO
RATION FOR VARIOUS SPACE
BASED COMMUNICATIONS APPLICATIONS 3EE WWWHARRISCOM FOR
MORE DETAILS
"ECAUSE MOST REFLECTOR DESIGNS HAVE AT BEST LIMITED ELECTRONIC SCAN CAPABILITY A
GIMBAL IS TYPICALLY NEEDED TO EXTEND THE MECHANICAL &/6 FOR THE RADAR 4HE KEY
FACTORS OR SPECIFICATIONS THAT TYPICALLY DRIVE THE DESIGN OR PROCUREMENT OF THE GIMBAL
ARE SCAN RATE SLEW REQUIREMENTS ACCELERATIONDECELERATION REQUIREMENTS TORQUE AND
LOAD REFLECTOR MASS REQUIREMENTS POWER REQUIREMENTS ETC )T IS IMPORTANT FOR THE
RADAR SYSTEM ENGINEER TO UNDERSTAND THESE FACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PRACTICAL GIMBAL
DESIGN LIMITS
%NVIRONMENTAL &ACTORS AND #ONSIDERATIONS 4HE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL FAC
TORS VARIES WIDELY BUT SOME OF THE FACTORS THAT ARE TYPICALLY SIGNIFICANT INCLUDE THERMAL
VIBRATION AND EXPOSURE EG SALT SAND WATER RADIATION ETC 4HERMAL EFFECTS IE
SPATIAL OR TEMPORAL TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS ARE OF PARTICULAR CONCERN FOR SPACEBORNE
SENSORS THAT OFTEN SEE VERY SIGNIFICANT TEMPERATURE CHANGES GREATER THAN # TEM
PORAL OR SPATIAL VARIATION IS NOT UNCOMMON 6IBRATION IS ANOTHER CONCERN ESPECIALLY
FOR AIRBORNE AND SPACEBORNE REFLECTORS 2EFLECTORS ON THESE PLATFORMS GENERALLY SEE
PARTICULARLY STRESSING VIBRATION LEVELS DRIVEN BY AIRPLANE OR LAUNCH VEHICLE ROCKET
ENVIRONMENTS 0OTENTIAL EXPOSURE TO SALT SAND WATER ETC IS HIGHLY DEPENDENT UPON
PLATFORM USE OF RADOME OR NOT ETC BUT MUST BE CONSIDERED IN THE DESIGN
2ADOMES 2ADOMES ARE USED WHEN IT IS NECESSARY TO PROTECT ANTENNAS FROM
ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS )DEALLY A RADOME SHOULD BE PERFECTLY TRANSPARENT TO THE
2& RADIATION FROM OR TO THE ANTENNA AND YET BE ABLE TO WITHSTAND SUCH ENVIRONMENTAL
EFFECTS AS WIND RAIN HAIL SNOW ICE SAND SALT SPRAY LIGHTNING AND IN THE CASE OF
HIGH
SPEED AIRBORNE APPLICATIONS THERMAL EROSION AND OTHER AERODYNAMIC EFFECTS )N
PRACTICE THESE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS DETERMINE THE MECHANICAL DESIGN OF THE RADOME
AND THE DESIRE FOR IDEAL 2& TRANSPARENCY MUST BE COMPROMISED BECAUSE MECHANICAL
AND ELECTRICAL REQUIREMENTS ARE OFTEN IN CONFLICT
2ADOMES CAUSE FOUR MAJOR ELECTRICAL EFFECTS ON ANTENNA PERFORMANCE "EAM DEFLEC
TION IS THE SHIFT OF THE ELECTRICAL AXIS WHICH IS CRITICAL FOR TRACKING RADAR 4RANSMISSION
LOSS IS THE MEASURE OF ENERGY LOST BY REFLECTION AND ABSORPTION 4HE REFLECTED POWER
CAUSES ANTENNA MISMATCH IN SMALL RADOMES AND SIDELOBES IN LARGER RADOMES
2ADOME DESIGN IS A SPECIALIZED ART AND MANY BOOKS ARE DEVOTED TO ITS INTRICATE
DETAILS 4HIS SECTION MAKES NO ATTEMPT TO PROVIDE RADOME DESIGN INFORMATION AS SUCH
BUT INSTEAD IS AIMED AT MAKING THE RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNER AWARE OF THE BASIC CONCEPTS
BEHIND THE TYPES OF RADOMES AVAILABLE FOR VARIOUS APPLICATIONS
4HREE GENERAL CLASSES OF RADOME ARE OF INTEREST FOR REFLECTOR ANTENNA APPLICA
TIONS FEED COVERS WHICH OFTEN HAVE TO ENDURE PRESSURE HIGH VOLTAGE AND HEATING
COVERS ATTACHED TO THE REFLECTOR WHICH ALTER THE PATTERN IN A FIXED MANNER AND
EXTERNAL RADOMES WITHIN WHICH THE ANTENNA MOVES %XTERNAL RADOMES ARE THE MOST
COMMON AND WILL THEREFORE BE EMPHASIZED 7ITHIN EACH CLASS A VARIETY OF SKIN
AND SKIN
SUPPORTING DESIGNS IS AVAILABLE TO MINIMIZE THE ELECTRICAL EFFECTS UNDER
THE CONSTRAINTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT 4HE RADOME SKIN MAY BE RIGID SUPPORTED BY A
FRAMEWORK OR AIR
SUPPORTED
4HE MOST COMMON RIGID RADOME
WALL STRUCTURES ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE AND ARE
KNOWN AS HOMOGENEOUS SINGLE LAYER !
SANDWICH "
SANDWICH #
SANDWICH MULTIPLE
LAYER SANDWICH AND DIELECTRICS WITH METAL INCLUSIONS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #OMMON RADOME WALL CROSS
SECTIONS A SINGLE LAYER B ! SANDWICH C "
SANDWICH D # SANDWICH E MULTIPLE LAYER SAND
WICH AND F DIELECTRICS WITH METAL INCLUSIONS
3INGLE ,AYER 4HE HOMOGENEOUS SINGLE
LAYER RADOME HAS BEEN USED IN MANY
RADOME APPLICATIONS -ATERIALS FOR THIS TYPE HAVE INCLUDED FIBERGLASS
REINFORCED PLAS
TICS CERAMICS ELASTOMERS AND MONOLITHIC FOAM 4HE OPTIMUM THICKNESS FOR A SINGLE
LAYER IS A MULTIPLE OF A HALF WAVELENGTH IN THE DIELECTRIC MATERIAL AT THE APPROPRIATE
INCIDENCE ANGLE BUT MANY SINGLE
LAYER RADOMES ARE SIMPLY THIN
WALL APPROXIMATIONS
TO THE ZERO
THICKNESS CASE
!
3ANDWICH ! COMMONLY USED RADOME
WALL CROSS SECTION IS THE !
SANDWICH
WHICH CONSISTS OF TWO RELATIVELY DENSE THIN SKINS AND A THICKER LOW
DENSITY CORE 4HIS
CONFIGURATION EXHIBITS HIGH STRENGTH
TO
WEIGHT RATIOS 4HE SKINS ARE GENERALLY FIBERGLASS
REINFORCED PLASTICS AND THE CORE IS A FOAM OR HONEYCOMB )NORGANIC SKIN AND CORE SAND
WICHES ALSO HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED FOR HIGH
TEMPERATURE APPLICATIONS !S A RULE THE SKINS
OF THE SANDWICH ARE MADE SYMMETRICAL OR OF EQUAL THICKNESS TO ALLOW MIDBAND CANCEL
LATION OF REFLECTIONS
"
3ANDWICH )N CONTRAST TO THE !
SANDWICH THE "
SANDWICH IS A THREE
LAYER CON
FIGURATION WHOSE SKINS HAVE A DIELECTRIC CONSTANT LOWER THAN THAT OF THE CORE MATERIAL
4HIS WALL CROSS SECTION IS HEAVIER THAN THAT OF THE !
SANDWICH BECAUSE OF THE RELATIVELY
DENSE CORE 4HE "
SANDWICH IS NOT COMMONLY USED BECAUSE THE CORE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT
IS QUITE HIGH FOR A PROPER MATCH
#
3ANDWICH 4HE #
SANDWICH IS A FIVE
LAYER DESIGN CONSISTING OF OUTER SKINS A
CENTER SKIN AND TWO INTERMEDIATE CORES 4HE SYMMETRICAL #
SANDWICH CAN BE THOUGHT
OF AS TWO BACK
TO
BACK !
SANDWICHES 4HIS CONFIGURATION IS USED WHEN THE ORDINARY
!
SANDWICH WILL NOT PROVIDE SUFFICIENT STRENGTH OR FOR CERTAIN ELECTRICAL PERFORMANCE
CHARACTERISTICS OR WHEN ONE LAYER IS TO SERVE AS A WARM
AIR DUCT FOR DEICING
-ULTIPLE
,AYER 3ANDWICH -ULTIPLE
LAYER SANDWICHES OF OR MORE LAYERS
ARE SOMETIMES CONSIDERED WHEN GREAT STRENGTH GOOD ELECTRICAL PERFORMANCE AND
LIGHTWEIGHT ARE REQUIRED 3OME OF THESE DESIGNS HAVE USED THIN LAYERS OF FIBERGLASS
2%&,%#4/2 !.4%..!3
LAMINATES AND LOW
DENSITY CORES TO ATTAIN HIGH TRANSMISSION PERFORMANCE OVER LARGE
FREQUENCY BANDS
$IELECTRIC ,AYERS WITH -ETAL )NCLUSIONS -ETAL INCLUSIONS HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED
FOR USE WITH DIELECTRIC LAYERS TO ACHIEVE FREQUENCY FILTERING BROAD
FREQUENCY
BAND
PERFORMANCE OR REDUCED
THICKNESS RADOMES 4HIN LAYERS OF METAL INCLUSIONS EXHIBIT
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF LUMPED CIRCUIT ELEMENTS SHUNTED ACROSS A TRANSMISSION LINE &OR
EXAMPLE A GRID OF PARALLEL METAL WIRES EXHIBITS THE PROPERTIES OF A SHUNT
INDUCTIVE
SUSCEPTANCE
4HERE ARE MANY ADDITIONAL RADOME DESIGN ISSUES AND APPLICATION SPECIFIC CONSIDER
ATIONS AND DESIGN DRIVERS BUT THESE ARE BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER
"7
/4HE AUTHORS WISH TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND THANK (ELMUT 3CHRANK 'ARY %VANS AND $ANIEL
$AVIS ALSO CO
AUTHOR OF THIS CHAPTER FOR #HAPTER h2EFLECTOR !NTENNAS v IN THE SECOND
EDITION OF THIS HANDBOOK 7E ARE GRATEFUL FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS AND PORTIONS OF
THE SECOND EDITION CHAPTER HAVE BEEN RETAINED
0ORTIONS OF THE MATERIAL IN THE h2ADOMEv SUBSECTION WERE ADAPTED FROM
#HAPTER h2ADOMES v IN THE FIRST EDITION OF THIS HANDBOOK WHICH WAS
AUTHORED BY 6INCENT * $I#AUDO
,
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- 3KOLNIK )NTRODUCTION TO 2ADAR 3YSTEMS RD %D .EW 9ORK -C'RAW (ILL PP
# ! "ALANIS !NTENNA 4HEORY !NALYSIS AND $ESIGN #HAPTERS AND .EW 9ORK *OHN 7ILEY
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/"
0HASED !RRAY 2ADARS %ARLY RADAR SYSTEMS USED ANTENNA ARRAYS FORMED BY THE
COMBINATION OF INDIVIDUAL RADIATORS 3UCH ANTENNAS DATE BACK TO THE TURN OF THE TWEN
TIETH CENTURY !NTENNA CHARACTERISTICS ARE DETERMINED BY THE GEOMETRIC POSITION OF
THE RADIATORS AND THE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE OF THEIR EXCITATION !S RADARS PROGRESSED
TO SHORTER WAVELENGTHS ARRAYS WERE DISPLACED BY SIMPLER ANTENNAS SUCH AS PARABOLIC
REFLECTORS &OR MODERN RADAR APPLICATIONS THE ADVENT OF ELECTRONICALLY CONTROLLED PHASE
SHIFTERS SWITCHES AND TRANSMITRECEIVE MODULES HAS ONCE MORE DIRECTED ATTENTION TO
ARRAY ANTENNAS 4HE APERTURE EXCITATION MAY NOW BE MODULATED BY CONTROLLING THE
PHASE OF THE INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS TO GIVE BEAMS THAT ARE SCANNED ELECTRONICALLY 4HE
DRAMATIC ADVANTAGE OF ELECTRONICALLY STEERED PHASED ARRAYS AS COMPARED TO REFLECTORS
IS PROVIDED BY THE TIME REQUIRED TO STEER BEAMS AND THE FLEXIBILITY IN STEERING 7HILE
PRIOR RADARS TOOK SECONDS TO STEER TO A NEW LOCATION PHASED ARRAYS TAKE MICROSECONDS
)N ADDITION THE NEW LOCATION CAN BE ANYWHERE IN A HEMISPHERE 4HIS CHAPTER WILL BE
DEVOTED TO ARRAYS OF THIS TYPE
-ULTIFUNCTION 2ADAR 4HE CAPABILITY OF RAPIDLY AND ACCURATELY SWITCHING BEAMS
PERMITS MULTIPLE RADAR FUNCTIONS TO BE PERFORMED INTERLACED IN TIME !N ELECTRONICALLY
STEERED ARRAY RADAR MAY TRACK A GREAT MULTIPLICITY OF TARGETS ILLUMINATE A NUMBER OF
TARGETS WITH 2& ENERGY AND GUIDE MISSILES TOWARD THEM AND PERFORM COMPLETE HEMI
SPHERICAL SEARCH WITH AUTOMATIC TARGET SELECTION AND HANDOVER TO TRACKING )T MAY EVEN
ACT AS A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM DIRECTING HIGH
GAIN BEAMS TOWARD DISTANT RECEIVERS AND
TRANSMITTERS #OMPLETE FLEXIBILITY IS POSSIBLE SEARCH AND TRACK RATES MAY BE ADJUSTED
TO BEST MEET PARTICULAR SITUATIONS ALL WITHIN THE LIMITATIONS SET BY THE TOTAL USE OF TIME
0ORTIONS OF THIS CHAPTER THAT APPEARED IN EARLIER EDITIONS OF THE 2ADAR (ANDBOOK WERE WRITTEN BY THE LATE
4HEODORE # #HESTON A PIONEER IN PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH MAY BE CHANGED TO SEARCH SOME AREAS MORE RAPIDLY WITH LESS
GAIN &REQUENCY AGILITY IS POSSIBLE WITH THE FREQUENCY OF TRANSMISSION CHANGING AT WILL
FROM PULSE TO PULSE OR WITH CODING WITHIN A PULSE 6ERY HIGH POWERS MAY BE GENER
ATED FROM A MULTIPLICITY OF AMPLIFIERS DISTRIBUTED ACROSS THE APERTURE %LECTRONICALLY
CONTROLLED ARRAY ANTENNAS CAN GIVE RADARS THE FLEXIBILITY NEEDED TO PERFORM ALL THE VARI
OUS FUNCTIONS IN A WAY BEST SUITED FOR THE SPECIFIC TASK AT HAND 4HE FUNCTIONS MAY BE
PROGRAMMED ADAPTIVELY TO THE LIMIT OF ONES CAPABILITY TO EXERCISE EFFECTIVE AUTOMATIC
MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL
0HASED ARRAY THEORY WAS STUDIED INTENSIVELY IN THE S 4ECHNOLOGY ADVANCED
AND LED TO A SERIES OF OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS IN THE S MANY PUBLICATIONS BECAME
AVAILABLEn )N TERMS OF PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT ULTRALOW SIDELOBES LESS THAN
D" WERE DEMONSTRATED FIRST IN THE S BY 7ESTINGHOUSE %LECTRIC #ORPORATIONS
!7!#3 !IRBORNE 7ARNING AND #ONTROL 3YSTEM AND BROUGHT ABOUT TIGHT TOLERANCES IN
CONSTRUCTION AND PHASE SETTINGS 4HE ADVENT OF MORE AND BETTER COMPUTER MODELING AND
SOPHISTICATED TEST EQUIPMENT SUCH AS NETWORK ANALYZERS HAS LED TO IMPROVED METHODS
OF DESIGNING WELL
MATCHED APERTURES "ETTER COMPONENTS SUCH AS RADIATING ELEMENTS
PHASE SHIFTERS AND POWER DIVIDERS ARE NOW AVAILABLE -ORE ECONOMICAL SOLID
STATE
DEVICES AND MEMORY CHIPS HAVE LED TO PRECISION APERTURE PHASE CONTROL WITH CORREC
TIONS FOR FREQUENCY AND TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS 3OLID
STATE MICROWAVE DEVICES HOLD
GREAT PROMISE FOR FUTURE SYSTEMS WHERE A SOLID
STATE MODULE IS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH
RADIATING ELEMENT IMPROVEMENTS IN TERMS OF APERTURE CONTROL RELIABILITY AND EFFI
CIENCY CONTINUE 0HASED ARRAYS CAN BE CONTROLLED ADAPTIVELY PARTICULARLY FOR SIDELOBE
CANCELLATION 4HIS IS AN AREA WHERE THEORY AND UNDERSTANDING HAVE ADVANCED MUCH
!LSO GREAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE WITH INDOOR NEAR
FIELD ANTENNA RANGES WHERE
COMPUTER
CONTROLLED PRECISION TWO
DIMENSIONAL RADIATION PATTERNS ARE DERIVED AT MUL
TIPLE FREQUENCIES AND WITH SCANNING
0HASED ARRAYS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE !S TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES COSTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE
REDUCED !T THE SAME TIME THE QUEST FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE WITH LOWER SIDELOBES AND
WIDER BANDWIDTH KEEPS THE COSTS HIGH
0HASED !RRAY !NTENNAS 4HE PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA HAS AN APERTURE THAT IS ASSEM
BLED FROM A GREAT MANY SIMILAR RADIATING ELEMENTS SUCH AS SLOTS DIPOLES OR PATCHES
EACH ELEMENT BEING INDIVIDUALLY CONTROLLED IN PHASE AND AMPLITUDE !CCURATELY PRE
DICTABLE RADIATION PATTERNS AND BEAM
POINTING DIRECTIONS CAN BE ACHIEVED
4HE GENERAL PLANAR ARRAY CHARACTERISTICS ARE READILY OBTAINED FROM A FEW SIMPLE
EQUATIONS THAT ARE GIVEN HERE BUT DISCUSSED LATER IN GREATER DETAIL 7ITH THE ELEMENTS
SPACED BY K K WAVELENGTH TO AVOID THE GENERATION OF MULTIPLE BEAMS GRATING
LOBES THE NUMBER OF RADIATING ELEMENTS . FOR A PENCIL BEAM IS APPROXIMATELY RELATED
TO THE BEAMWIDTH BY
.y
P "
.
WHERE P" IS THE
D" BEAMWIDTH IN DEGREES 4HE CORRESPONDING ANTENNA GAIN WHEN THE
BEAM POINTS BROADSIDE TO THE APERTURE IS
P" y
' y O .G y O .G,GA
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
WHERE G ACCOUNTS FOR ANTENNA LOSSES G, AND REDUCTION IN GAIN DUE TO UNEQUAL WEIGHT
ING OF THE ELEMENTS WITH A NONUNIFORM AMPLITUDE GA 7HEN SCANNING TO AN ANGLE IS
P THE GAIN OF A PLANAR ARRAY IS REDUCED TO THAT OF THE PROJECTED APERTURE
'P y O .G COS P
3IMILARLY THE SCANNED BEAMWIDTH IS INCREASED FROM THE BROADSIDE BEAMWIDTH
EXCEPT IN THE VICINITY OF ENDFIRE P n
P " SCANNED y
P " BROADSIDE
COS P
4HE TOTAL NUMBER OF BEAMS - WITH BROADSIDE BEAMWIDTH AND SQUARE STACKING
THAT FIT INTO A SPHERE IS APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE GAIN AND WITH G y IS THUS SIMPLY
RELATED TO . BY
- y O .
!N ARRAY WHERE THE ELEMENTS ARE FED IN PARALLEL SEE 3ECTION AND SCANNED BY
PHASE SHIFT MODULO O HAS LIMITED BANDWIDTH FOR WIDEBAND OPERATION CONSTANT PATH
LENGTHS RATHER THAN CONSTANT PHASES ARE REQUIRED 4HE LIMIT IS GIVEN BY
"ANDWIDTH y BEAMWIDTH n
4HIS IS EQUIVALENT TO LIMITATIONS GIVEN BY
0ULSE LENGTH r APERTURE SIZE
7ITH THESE CRITERIA THE SCANNED RADIATION PATTERN AT n IS STEERED BY o ONE FOURTH
OF THE BEAMWIDTH AT THE ANGLE OF SCAN AS THE FREQUENCY IS CHANGED OVER THE BAND )F ALL
THE FREQUENCIES IN THE BAND ARE USED WITH EQUAL WEIGHTING THEN TWICE THE BANDWIDTH
HALF THE PULSE LENGTH BECOMES ACCEPTABLE !T A SCAN ANGLE P THE BEAM STEERS WITH
FREQUENCY THROUGH AN ANGLE CP SO THAT
DP y
DF
TAN P
F
RAD
&OR WIDER BANDWIDTHS TIME DELAY NETWORKS HAVE TO BE INTRODUCED TO SUPPLEMENT
THE PHASE SHIFTERS
#ONFORMAL !RRAYS 0HASED ARRAYS MAY CONFORM TO CURVED SURFACES AS
REQUIRED FOR EXAMPLE FOR FLUSH MOUNTING ON AIRCRAFT OR MISSILES )F THE SURFACE HAS A
LARGE RADIUS OF CURVATURE SO THAT ALL THE RADIATING ELEMENTS POINT IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE
SAME DIRECTION THEN THE CHARACTERISTICS ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE OF A PLANAR ARRAY EVEN
THOUGH THE EXACT $ POSITION OF THE ELEMENT HAS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT TO CALCULATE
THE REQUIRED PHASE ! SMALL RADIUS OF CURVATURE IS FOUND WITH CYLINDRICAL OR SPHERICAL
ARRAYS USED FOR n COVERAGE %LEMENTS ARE SWITCHED TO AVOID SECTIONS OF THE ANTENNA
WHERE THEY POINT AWAY FROM THE DESIRED BEAM DIRECTION $IFFICULTIES MAY BE ENCOUN
TERED IN MATCHING THE RADIATING ELEMENTS AND IN MAINTAINING POLARIZATION PURITY 4HE
DISCUSSION IN THIS CHAPTER WILL CONCENTRATE ON PLANAR PHASED ARRAYS RATHER THAN CON
FORMAL ARRAYS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
$ 6OLUMETRIC 3EARCH 4HREE DIMENSIONAL $ VOLUMETRIC RADAR SEARCH IS POS
SIBLE WITH ELECTRONIC SCANNING IN BOTH AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION IMPORTANT REGIONS EG
THE HORIZON MAY BE EMPHASIZED AT WILL AND SEARCHED MORE FREQUENTLY 4HE RADAR MAY
OPERATE WITH A HIGHER THAN NORMAL FALSE ALARM RATE SINCE TARGETS CAN EASILY BE CON
FIRMED BY ADDITIONAL DWELLS 0HASE CONTROL ALLOWS BEAMS TO BE WIDENED FOR EXAMPLE
TO REDUCE SEARCH TIME FOR THE MORE ELEVATED REGIONS WHERE REDUCED RANGES NEED LESS
ANTENNA GAIN ! SEPARATE ROTATING SURVEILLANCE RADAR SYSTEM MAY BE ADDED FOR EXTRA
COVERAGE AT A SECOND FREQUENCY AND TO ALLOW THE $ RADAR MORE TIME FOR TRACKING
-ONOPULSE 4RACK 0HASED ARRAY RADARS ARE WELL SUITED FOR MONOPULSE TRACKING
4HE RADIATING ELEMENTS OF THE ARRAY CAN BE COMBINED IN THREE DIFFERENT WAYS TO GIVE THE
SUM PATTERN AND THE AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION DIFFERENCE PATTERNS #ONTRADICTORY REQUIRE
MENTS IN OPTIMUM AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION FOR SUM AND DIFFERENCE PATTERNS EXIST BUT
AS WITH OTHER ANTENNA SYSTEMS THEY MAY BE INDEPENDENTLY SATISFIED 4HE SUM AND DIF
FERENCE PATTERNS ARE SCANNED SIMULTANEOUSLY
4HE DIFFERENCE PATTERN NULL IN A PHASED ARRAY SYSTEM GIVES GOOD BEAM POINTING
ACCURACY !BSOLUTE BEAM POINTING ACCURACIES TO WITHIN LESS THAN ONE FIFTIETH OF A
SCANNED BEAMWIDTH HAVE BEEN MEASURED WITH SCANS UP TO n 4HE ACCURACY IS
LIMITED BY PHASE AND AMPLITUDE ERRORS 3INCE PHASE SHIFT RATHER THAN TIME DELAY IS
USED AS THE FREQUENCY IS CHANGED THE DIRECTION OF THE NULL OF THE SCANNED BEAM IS ALSO
CHANGED AND THE BEAM MOVES TOWARD BROADSIDE WITH AN INCREASE IN FREQUENCY
3HAPED "EAMS 4HE RADIATION PATTERN OF AN ARRAY MAY BE SHAPED BY MODIFYING
THE APERTURE DISTRIBUTION 'OOD PATTERN APPROXIMATIONS CAN BE OBTAINED BY USING PHASE
ONLY )N PARTICULAR THE BEAM MAY BE BROADENED BY APPLYING A SPHERICAL PHASE DISTRIBU
TION TO THE APERTURE OR BY APPROXIMATING IT WITH A GABLE TRIANGULAR PHASE DISTRIBUTION
"EAMS OF THIS TYPE ARE OF PARTICULAR INTEREST BECAUSE THEY ARE EASILY GENERATED 4HEY
MAY BE USED FOR TRANSMISSION IN A SYSTEM WHERE THE RECEIVING ANTENNA HAS A CLUSTER OF
SIMULTANEOUS BEAMS OR AS PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED THEY MAY BE USED IN A SEARCH SYSTEM
TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF ANGULAR CELLS IN REGIONS OF SHORTER RANGE
-ONITORING %LECTRONICALLY SCANNED ARRAYS ARE COMPOSED OF VERY MANY PARTS AND
INCLUDE ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY TO DRIVE THE PHASE SHIFTERS OR SWITCHES THAT STEER THE BEAM
4HE OVERALL RELIABILITY OF SUCH ARRAYS CAN BE GREAT GRACEFUL DEGRADATION HAS BEEN
CLAIMED BECAUSE THE FAILURE OF AS MUCH AS OF THE COMPONENTS LEADS TO A LOSS IN
GAIN OF ONLY D" 4HERE IS HOWEVER A DEGRADATION OF LOW SIDELOBES .EVERTHELESS
THE FUNCTIONING OF THE ANTENNA IS COMPLEX AND THERE IS NEED FOR PROVIDING TEST OR MON
ITORING CIRCUITRY 4HE DECISION TO POINT A BEAM IN A CERTAIN DIRECTION IS MADE SOME
WHERE IN THE RADAR CONTROL SYSTEM AND IS NORMALLY DEFINED BY TWO DIRECTION COSINES
! TEST OR MONITORING CIRCUIT SHOULD ESTABLISH THE CORRECT FUNCTIONING OF ALL COMPO
NENTS INCLUDING ALL BEAM POINTING COMPUTATIONS ELECTRONIC DRIVERS AND PHASE SHIFTERS
OR SWITCHES AND ALL THEIR INTERCONNECTIONS &REQUENT INDICATIONS THAT THE ANTENNA SYS
TEM IS FUNCTIONING OR IS CAPABLE OF FUNCTIONING SHOULD BE AVAILABLE )N ONE POSSIBLE
METHOD THE PHASE SHIFTERS ARE PROGRAMMED TO FOCUS ON A NEARBY MONITOR PROBE AND
SCAN PAST IT 4HIS WILL YIELD A CLOSE APPROXIMATION OF THE COMPLETE RADIATION PATTERN
WHERE GAIN AND SIDELOBES CAN BE MEASURED AND COMPARED WITH PREVIOUS RESULTS 4HE
COMBINATION OF INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS AND THEIR PHASE SHIFTERS AND DRIVERS CAN ALSO BE
CHECKED WITH THIS CONFIGURATION 4HE PHASE AT EACH ELEMENT IS SEQUENTIALLY ROTATED AT
SOME LOW FREQUENCY THE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE OF THIS MODULATION AS RECEIVED BY THE
PROBE RELATE DIRECTLY TO BOTH THE RELATIVE AMPLITUDE EXCITATION OF THE ELEMENT AND ITS
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
RELATIVE PHASE SETTING /THER METHODS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED WHERE MEASUREMENTS
ARE COMPARED WITH PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ONES
$EPLOYMENT OF !PERTURES 7ITH PLANAR ARRAYS SCANNING IS LIMITED BY THE LOSS IN
GAIN AND THE INCREASE IN BEAMWIDTH CORRESPONDING TO THE REDUCTION OF THE APERTURE TO
ITS PROJECTED AREA 0RACTICAL EXTREME VALUES OF SCANNING ARE THEREFORE IN THE REGION OF
TO n ! MINIMUM OF THREE PLANAR ARRAY APERTURES IS THEN NECESSARY FOR HEMISPHERICAL
COVERAGE 4HE ANTENNAS MAY BE POSITIONED AS SHOWN IN &IGURE PERMITTING A VIEW
THAT IS UNIMPEDED BY THE CENTRAL SUPERSTRUCTURE 4HE APERTURES WOULD NORMALLY BE TILTED
BACK FROM THE VERTICAL TO BALANCE THE SCAN ANGLES
2ADIATING %LEMENTS 4HE MOST COMMONLY USED RADIATORS FOR PHASED ARRAYS ARE
DIPOLES SLOTS OPEN
ENDED WAVEGUIDES OR SMALL HORNS AND PRINTED
CIRCUIT hPATCHESv
ORIGINALLY CALLED #OLLINGS RADIATOR AFTER THEIR INVENTOR 4HE ELEMENT HAS TO BE SMALL
ENOUGH TO FIT IN THE ARRAY GEOMETRY THEREBY LIMITING THE ELEMENT TO AN AREA OF A LITTLE
MORE THAN K )N ADDITION MANY RADIATORS ARE REQUIRED AND THE RADIATING ELEMENT
SHOULD BE INEXPENSIVE AND RELIABLE AND HAVE IDENTICAL CHARACTERISTICS FROM UNIT TO UNIT
"ECAUSE THE IMPEDANCE AND PATTERN OF A RADIATOR IN AN ARRAY ARE DETERMINED PRE
DOMINANTLY BY THE ARRAY GEOMETRY 3ECTION THE RADIATING ELEMENT MAY BE CHOSEN
TO SUIT THE FEED SYSTEM AND THE PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE ANTENNA &OR EXAMPLE IF
THE RADIATOR IS FED FROM A STRIPLINE PHASE SHIFTER A STRIPLINE DIPOLE WOULD BE A LOGICAL
CHOICE )F A WAVEGUIDE PHASE SHIFTER IS USED AN OPEN
ENDED WAVEGUIDE OR A SLOT MIGHT
BE CONVENIENT !T THE LOWER FREQUENCIES WHERE COAXIAL COMPONENTS ARE PREVALENT
DIPOLES HAVE BEEN FAVORED ! GROUND PLANE IS USUALLY PLACED ABOUT K BEHIND AN ARRAY
OF PARALLEL DIPOLES SO THAT THE ANTENNA FORMS A BEAM IN ONLY ONE HEMISPHERE
&OR LIMITED SCANNING SAY LESS THAN n IT IS POSSIBLE TO USE DIRECTIVE RADIATORS
HAVING DIMENSIONS OF HEIGHT AND WIDTH OF SEVERAL WAVELENGTHS 7ITH SUCH SEPARATION
THE MUTUAL COUPLING EFFECTS SEE 3ECTION CAN BE SMALL AND THE PATTERN AND IMPED
ANCE OF AN ELEMENT IN THE ARRAY APPROACH THOSE OF THE ISOLATED ELEMENT
&)'52% 'UIDED MISSILE CRUISER SHOWING TWO OUT OF FOUR PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS
#OURTESY OF )NGALLS 3HIPBUILDING $IVISION OF ,ITTON
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE ELEMENT MUST BE CHOSEN TO GIVE THE DESIRED POLARIZATION USUALLY VERTICAL OR
HORIZONTAL 4HE SPECIAL CASE OF CIRCULAR POLARIZATION IS DISCUSSED BELOW
)F POLARIZATION DIVERSITY IS REQUIRED OR IF AN ARRAY IS REQUIRED TO TRANSMIT ONE POLAR
IZATION AND RECEIVE THE ORTHOGONAL OR BOTH POLARIZATIONS EITHER CROSSED DIPOLES OR
CIRCULAR OR SQUARE RADIATORS SEEM SUITABLE 7ITH APPROPRIATE FEED SYSTEMS BOTH ARE
CAPABLE OF PROVIDING VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL POLARIZATION INDEPENDENTLY AND MAY BE
COMBINED TO PROVIDE ANY DESIRED POLARIZATION INCLUDING CIRCULAR 3UCH POLARIZATION
DIVERSITY ADDS CONSIDERABLE COMPLEXITY REQUIRING TWO FEED SYSTEMS OR SWITCHES AT THE
RADIATING ELEMENT LEVEL
#IRCULAR 0OLARIZATION &ROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE ANTENNA DESIGNER CIRCULAR
POLARIZATION IS POSSIBLE THOUGH DIFFICULTIES MAY BE ENCOUNTERED IN MATCHING FOR LARGE
SCAN ANGLES /N SCANNING A COMPONENT OF THE UNDESIRED ORTHOGONAL POLARIZATION WILL
BE GENERATED AND SOME PROVISION SHOULD BE MADE TO ABSORB THAT ENERGY 7ITH A
CONVENTIONAL CIRCULARLY POLARIZED ANTENNA SUCH AS A PARABOLIC DISH WITH A CIRCULARLY
POLARIZED FEED GOOD CIRCULARITY MAY BE OBTAINED OVER PART OF THE MAIN BEAM WITH
RAPID DETERIORATION OVER THE REST OF THE PATTERN 7ITH A PLANAR ARRAY THE RELEVANT BEAM
WIDTH IS THE BEAMWIDTH OF THE ELEMENT IN THE ARRAY RATHER THAN THE ARRAY BEAMWIDTH
7ITH CIRCULAR POLARIZATION THE SIGNAL RETURNED FROM A SINGLE
BOUNCE TARGET IE A
SPHERE OR FLAT PLATE WILL REQUIRE AN ANTENNA MATCHED TO THE OPPOSITE SENSE OF CIRCULAR
POLARIZATION FROM THAT TRANSMITTED )F THE SAME ANTENNA IS USED THEN SINGLE
BOUNCE
TARGETS ARE REJECTED 3UCH A SYSTEM CAN THEREFORE GIVE A MEASURE OF SUPPRESSION OF
RAIN ECHOES IDEALLY AMOUNTING TO
LOG E E D"
WHERE E IS THE VOLTAGE
ELLIPTICITY RATIO !N EARLY MODEL OF A 2AYTHEON REFLECTARRAY GAVE
AN ELLIPTICITY RATIO OF LESS THAN D" WITH SCANS UP TO n CORRESPONDING TO A THEORETICAL
RAIN REJECTION OF AT LEAST D" !T THE SAME TIME AN AIRCRAFT TARGET WOULD TYPICALLY LOSE
APPROXIMATELY D" LEAVING A RELATIVE NET IMPROVEMENT OF D" OF RAIN REJECTION
0HASED !RRAYS WITH 6ERY 7IDE "ANDWIDTH ! RADAR SYSTEM THAT HAS THE CAPABIL
ITY OF CHANGING FREQUENCY OVER A VERY WIDE BANDWIDTH CAN WITH ADVANTAGE ADAPT ITS
TRANSMISSION TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT FREQUENCY
DEPENDENT MULTIPATH CHARACTERISTICS TAR
GET RESPONSE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS INTERFERENCE AND JAMMING &URTHER WIDEBAND
PROCESSING CAN GIVE FINE RANGE RESOLUTION
0HASED ARRAYS HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF OPERATING OVER VERY WIDE BANDWIDTHS 4HE
HIGH END OF THE FREQUENCY BAND IS LIMITED BY THE PHYSICAL SIZE OF THE ELEMENTS
WHICH MUST BE SPACED CLOSE ENOUGH IN THE ARRAY TO AVOID THE GENERATION OF GRATING
LOBES SEE 3ECTION &OR WIDE INSTANTANEOUS BANDWIDTH RATHER THAN TUNABLE
BANDWIDTH TIME DELAYS HAVE TO BE ADDED TO PREVENT THE BEAM FROM BEING SCANNED
AS THE FREQUENCY IS CHANGED
4HE IMPEDANCE OF THE RADIATING ELEMENT AT THE APERTURE WITH CLOSELY SPACED
ELEMENTS IS APPROXIMATELY INDEPENDENT OF FREQUENCY BUT THE ELEMENT MUST BE
MATCHED OVER THE WIDE BANDWIDTH 4HIS IS DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE WITHOUT EXCITING
HARMFUL SURFACE WAVES WHEN SCANNING .EVERTHELESS MATCHING WITH OCTAVE BAND
WIDTH FOR SCANNING TO on HAS BEEN ACHIEVED
,IMITED 3CANNING )F SCANNING IS LIMITED TO A SMALL ANGULAR VOLUME CONSIDERABLE
SIMPLIFICATIONS BECOME POSSIBLE 4HE TOTAL NUMBER OF ACTIVE CONTROLS CAN BE REDUCED TO
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
ABOUT EQUAL THE TOTAL NUMBER OF BEAMS 3UBARRAYS SEE 3ECTION MAY BE FORMED
EACH WITH ONLY ONE PHASE CONTROL OF A SIZE SUCH THAT THE SUBARRAY BEAMWIDTH INCLUDES
ALL THE SCAN ANGLES !LTERNATIVELY A SMALL PHASED ARRAY COULD BE PLACED IN THE FOCAL
REGION OF A LARGE REFLECTOR TO SCAN THE NARROW BEAMWIDTH OF THE REFLECTOR OVER A LIMITED
SCAN ANGLE
3CANNING OF !RRAYS
0HASE 3CANNING 4HE BEAM OF AN ANTENNA POINTS IN A DIRECTION THAT IS NORMAL
TO THE RADIATED PHASE FRONT )N PHASED ARRAYS THIS PHASE FRONT IS ADJUSTED TO STEER THE
BEAM BY INDIVIDUAL CONTROL OF THE PHASE OF EXCITATION OF EACH RADIATING ELEMENT 4HIS
IS INDICATED IN &IGURE A 4HE PHASE SHIFTERS ARE ELECTRONICALLY ACTUATED TO PERMIT
RAPID SCANNING AND ARE ADJUSTED IN PHASE TO A VALUE BETWEEN AND O RAD 7ITH AN
INTERELEMENT SPACING S THE INCREMENTAL PHASE SHIFT X BETWEEN ADJACENT ELEMENTS FOR A
SCAN ANGLE P IS X O K S SIN P )F THE PHASE X IS CONSTANT WITH FREQUENCY THE SCAN
ANGLE P IS FREQUENCY
DEPENDENT
4IME
$ELAY 3CANNING 0HASE SCANNING WAS SEEN TO BE FREQUENCY
SENSITIVE HOW
EVER TIME
DELAY SCANNING IS INDEPENDENT OF FREQUENCY $ELAY LINES ARE USED INSTEAD OF
PHASE SHIFTERS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE B PROVIDING AN INCREMENTAL DELAY FROM ELEMENT
TO ELEMENT OF S SC SIN P WHERE C VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION )NDIVIDUAL TIME
DELAY
CIRCUITS 3ECTION ARE NORMALLY TOO CUMBERSOME TO BE ADDED TO EACH RADIATING ELE
MENT ! REASONABLE COMPROMISE MAY BE REACHED BY ADDING ONE TIME
DELAY NETWORK TO
A GROUP OF ELEMENTS SUBARRAY WHERE EACH ELEMENT HAS ITS OWN PHASE SHIFTER
&REQUENCY 3CANNING &REQUENCY RATHER THAN PHASE MAY BE USED AS THE ACTIVE
PARAMETER TO EXPLOIT THE FREQUENCY
SENSITIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PHASE SCANNING
&IGURE C SHOWS THE ARRANGEMENT !T ONE PARTICULAR FREQUENCY ALL RADIATORS ARE IN
PHASE !S THE FREQUENCY IS CHANGED THE PHASE ACROSS THE APERTURE TILTS LINEARLY AND THE
BEAM IS SCANNED &REQUENCY
SCANNING ARRAYS ARE RELATIVELY SIMPLE AND INEXPENSIVE
&)'52% 'ENERATION OF SCANNED BEAMS A PHASED ARRAY B TIME DELAY ARRAY C FREQUENCY SCANNED
ARRAY AND D "LASS TYPE ARRAY
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
TO IMPLEMENT 4HEY HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED AND DEPLOYED IN THE PAST TO PROVIDE ELEVATION
ANGLE SCANNING IN COMBINATION WITH MECHANICAL HORIZONTAL ROTATION FOR $ RADARS
! CHAPTER IN THE FIRST EDITION OF THIS HANDBOOK WAS DEVOTED TO THIS APPROACH WHICH
SINCE THEN HAS RECEIVED MUCH LESS ATTENTION FREQUENCY IS TOO IMPORTANT A PARAMETER
FOR ACHIEVING HIGH
RANGE RESOLUTION ELECTRONIC COUNTER
COUNTERMEASURES AND MULTIPLE
RADAR OCCUPANCY TO GIVE IT UP FOR ANTENNA SCANNING &REQUENCY SCANNING IS SELDOM
USED ANYMORE
)& 3CANNING &OR RECEIVING THE OUTPUT FROM EACH RADIATING ELEMENT MAY BE HET
ERODYNED MIXED TO AN INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY )& !LL THE VARIOUS METHODS OF SCAN
NING ARE THEN POSSIBLE INCLUDING THE BEAM
SWITCHING SYSTEM DESCRIBED BELOW AND
CAN BE CARRIED OUT AT )& WHERE AMPLIFICATION IS READILY AVAILABLE AND LUMPED CONSTANT
CIRCUITS MAY BE USED
$IGITAL "EAMFORMINGn &OR RECEIVING THE OUTPUT FROM EACH RADIATING ELEMENT
MAY BE AMPLIFIED AND DIGITIZED 4HE SIGNAL IS THEN TRANSFERRED TO A COMPUTER FOR PRO
CESSING WHICH CAN INCLUDE THE FORMATION OF MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS BEAMS FORMED
WITH APPROPRIATE APERTURE ILLUMINATION WEIGHTING AND ADAPTIVELY DERIVED NULLS IN THE
BEAM PATTERNS TO AVOID SPATIAL INTERFERENCE OR JAMMING ,IMITATIONS ARE DUE TO THE
AVAILABILITY AND COST OF ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL !$ CONVERTERS AND TO THEIR FREQUENCY AND
DYNAMIC
RANGE CHARACTERISTICS 0ARTIAL IMPLEMENTATION IS POSSIBLE BY DIGITIZING AT SUB
ARRAY LEVELS ONLY
"EAM 3WITCHING 7ITH PROPERLY DESIGNED LENSES OR REFLECTORS A NUMBER OF INDE
PENDENT BEAMS MAY BE FORMED BY FEEDS AT THE FOCAL SURFACE %ACH BEAM HAS SUBSTAN
TIALLY THE GAIN AND BEAMWIDTH OF THE WHOLE ANTENNA !LLEN HAS SHOWN THAT THERE ARE
EFFICIENT EQUIVALENT TRANSMISSION NETWORKS THAT USE DIRECTIONAL COUPLERS AND HAVE THE
SAME COLLIMATING PROPERTY ! TYPICAL FORM AFTER "LASS IS SHOWN IN &IGURE D
4HE GEOMETRY CAN BE ADJUSTED TO PROVIDE EQUAL PATH LENGTHS THUS PROVIDING FRE
QUENCY
INDEPENDENT TIME
DELAY SCANNING !NOTHER POSSIBLE CONFIGURATION PROVIDING
MULTIPLE BROADBAND BEAMS USES PARALLEL PLATES CONTAINING A WIDE
ANGLE MICROWAVE
LENS %ACH PORT CORRESPONDS TO A SEPARATE BEAM 4HE LENS PROVIDES APPROPRIATE
TIME DELAYS TO THE APERTURE GIVING FREQUENCY
INVARIANT SCANNING 4HE BEAMS MAY
BE SELECTED THROUGH A SWITCHING MATRIX REQUIRING -
SINGLE
POLEnDOUBLE
THROW
30$4 SWITCHES TO SELECT ONE OUT OF - BEAMS 4HE BEAMS ARE STATIONARY IN SPACE
AND OVERLAP AT APPROXIMATELY THE D" POINTS 4HIS IS IN CONTRAST TO THE PREVIOUSLY
DISCUSSED METHODS OF SCANNING WHERE THE BEAM CAN BE STEERED ACCURATELY TO ANY POSI
TION 4HE BEAMS ALL LIE IN ONE PLANE 4HE SYSTEM MAY BE COMBINED WITH MECHANICAL
ROTATION OF THE ANTENNA GIVING VERTICAL
SWITCHED SCANNING FOR $ COVERAGE -UCH
GREATER COMPLEXITY IS REQUIRED FOR A SYSTEM SWITCHING BEAMS IN BOTH PLANES
-ULTIPLE 3IMULTANEOUS "EAMS )NSTEAD OF SWITCHING THE BEAMS AS DESCRIBED IN
THE PRECEDING PARAGRAPH ALL THE BEAMS MAY BE CONNECTED TO SEPARATE RECEIVERS GIVING
MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVE BEAMS 4HE TRANSMITTER RADIATION PATTERN WOULD NEED TO
BE WIDE TO COVER ALL THE RECEIVE BEAMS 3UCH MULTIBEAM SYSTEMS HAVE FOUND APPLICA
TION IN COMBINATION WITH MECHANICAL ROTATION FOR $ COVERAGE
-ULTIPLE )NDEPENDENTLY 3TEERED "EAMS )NDEPENDENT MULTIPLE BEAMS MAY BE
GENERATED WITH A SINGLE BEAMFORMER BY MODIFYING BOTH AMPLITUDE AND PHASE AT THE
APERTURE 4HIS CAN BE SEEN FROM &IGURE WHERE FOR EXAMPLE TWO INDEPENDENT
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% !PERTURE DISTRIBUTION GIVING TWO BEAMS
BEAMS ARE GENERATED "OTH BEAMS HAVE THE SAME AMPLITUDE VOLTAGE DISTRIBUTION
&X BUT DIFFERENTLY INCLINED LINEAR PHASED FRONTS 4HE TOTAL APERTURE EXCITATION WITH
BOTH BEAMS IS
& X Y & X E J Y X A & X E J Y X A & X COS Y Y E J Y Y X A
A
4HAT IS THE APERTURE AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION REQUIRED FOR TWO SEPARATE BEAMS VARIES
COSINUSOIDALLY AND THE PHASE DISTRIBUTION IS LINEAR AND HAS THE AVERAGE INCLINATION
)N MOST PHASED ARRAY SYSTEMS ONLY THE PHASE CAN BE CONTROLLED )GNORING THE
REQUIRED AMPLITUDE VARIATIONS STILL LEADS TO GOOD APPROXIMATIONS FOR FORMING MULTIPLE
BEAMS BY SUPERIMPOSING THE VARIOUS REQUIRED PHASE
SHIFTER SETTINGS MODULO O )N
THE CASE OF TWO BEAMS THE APERTURE PHASE SLOPE HAS THE AVERAGE INCLINATION AND VARIES
PERIODICALLY FROM TO O
6ERTICAL 3CAN /NLY ! GREATLY SIMPLIFIED PHASED ARRAY SYSTEM BECOMES POSSIBLE
IF THERE IS NO NEED FOR MULTIFUNCTION CAPABILITIES INCLUDING FIRE CONTROL WHERE A BEAM
MAY HAVE TO BE POINTED IN ANY GIVEN DIRECTION AT ANY TIME 4HE ARRAY IS SCANNED IN THE
VERTICAL PLANE ONLY AND MECHANICALLY ROTATED TO GIVE AZIMUTH COVERAGE 4HE NUMBER
OF PHASE CONTROL POINTS IS THEN REDUCED TO THE NUMBER OF HORIZONTAL ROWS )N THE CASE
OF A SHIPS SURVEILLANCE RADAR THE ANTENNA SHOULD BE POSITIONED AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE TO
AVOID SHADOWING BY THE SUPERSTRUCTURE BUT THE PEDESTAL NEED NOT BE STABILIZED SINCE
STABILIZATION CAN BE ACHIEVED BY ELECTRONIC BEAM STEERING 3CANNING CAN BE IN THE FORM
OF PHASE SCANNING OR MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS BEAMS MAY BE USED ON RECEIVE WITH A WIDE
ANTENNA PATTERN ON TRANSMIT
,,9/
",9
!RRAY WITH 4WO %LEMENTS &IGURE SHOWS TWO ISOTROPIC RADIATORS THAT ARE
SPACED BY A DISTANCE S AND EXCITED WITH EQUAL AMPLITUDE AND PHASE 7ITH UNITY INPUT
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 2ADIATION PATTERN OF TWO ISOTROPIC RADIATORS
POWER THE VECTOR SUM OF THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS ADDED AT A GREAT DISTANCE AS A FUNCTION OF
P IS THE RADIATION PATTERN
%A P
J P L S SINP
;E
E
J P L S SINP =
WHERE P IS MEASURED FROM THE BROADSIDE DIRECTION .ORMALIZING TO GET UNITY AMPLI
TUDE WHEN P AND SIMPLIFYING GIVE
S
%A P COS P SIN P
L
4HE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF %A P IS PLOTTED IN &IGURE AS A FUNCTION OF O SK SIN P
)F THE PLOT HAD BEEN IN TERMS OF THE ANGLE P THE LOBES WOULD HAVE BEEN FOUND TO
INCREASE IN WIDTH AS \P \ INCREASED 4HE MAIN BEAM OCCURS WHEN SIN P 4HE OTHER
LOBES HAVE THE SAME AMPLITUDE AS THE MAIN BEAM AND ARE REFERRED TO AS GRATING LOBES
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
4HEY OCCUR AT ANGLES GIVEN BY SIN P o ;MSK = WHERE M IS AN INTEGER &OR THE HALF
SPACE GIVEN BY
n P n THERE ARE M` GRATING LOBES WHERE M` IS THE LARGEST
INTEGER SMALLER THAN SK )F S K GRATING
LOBE MAXIMA DO NOT OCCUR AND THE VALUE AT
on IS COS O SK 4HIS VALUE IS FOR ISOTROPIC RADIATORS AND IS REDUCED IF THE RADIATORS
HAVE DIRECTIVITY
,INEAR !RRAY 7ITH A LINEAR ARRAY OF . ISOTROPIC RADIATORS EXCITED WITH EQUAL
AMPLITUDES AND PHASE AND SEPARATED BY DISTANCES S AS SHOWN IN &IGURE THE CON
DITION FOR THE OCCURRENCE OF GRATING LOBES IS UNCHANGED FROM THE SIMPLER CASE JUST
CONSIDERED 4HEY OCCUR FOR THE SAME VALUES OF O SK SIN P BUT THE WIDTH OF THE LOBES
IS REDUCED AND THEY ARE SEPARATED BY MINOR LOBES 3UMMING THE VECTOR CONTRIBUTIONS
FROM ALL ELEMENTS WITH ELEMENT AS PHASE REFERENCE GIVES
N .
J P L NS SIN P
E
. N
4HE FACTOR . SHOWS THAT EACH ELEMENT IS ENERGIZED WITH . OF THE UNITY INPUT
POWER .ORMALIZING THE GAIN TO UNITY AT BROADSIDE P GIVES THE PATTERN
%A P
%A P
SIN; .P S L SIN P =
. SIN ;P S L SIN P =
%AP GIVES THE RADIATION PATTERN FOR ISOTROPIC RADIATORS AND IS KNOWN AS THE ARRAY
FACTOR )T IS SHOWN IN &IGURE FOR . 4HIS PATTERN IS REPETITIVE AND THE
LOCATIONS OF THE ADJACENT GRATING LOBES AT ANGLES P AND P ARE SEPARATED BY O SK
SIN P
SIN P O
&)'52% ,INEAR ARRAY WITH . RADIATORS UNIFORMLY SPACED BY A DISTANCE S
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !RRAY FACTOR WITH . ELEMENTS
4HE RADIATING ELEMENTS ARE NOT ISOTROPIC BUT HAVE A RADIATION PATTERN %EP KNOWN
AS THE ELEMENT FACTOR OR ELEMENT PATTERN THEN THE COMPLETE RADIATION PATTERN %P IS
THE PRODUCT OF THE ARRAY FACTOR AND THE ELEMENT PATTERN
% P %E Q %A P %E P
SIN ; .P S L SINP =
. SIN;P S L SINP =
!N APPROXIMATION TO THE PATTERN OF %Q IS IN THE FORM
% P
SIN ;P A L SIN P =
P A L SIN P
WHERE THE EFFECTIVE APERTURE IS A .S WHICH EXTENDS BY S BEYOND THE CENTERS OF
THE END ELEMENTS )N CONTRAST TO THE ARRAY FACTOR THIS PATTERN HAS ONLY ONE MAXIMUM
AND IS NONREPETITIVE )T IS THE WELL
KNOWN &OURIER TRANSFORM OF A CONTINUOUS CONSTANT
AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION &OR UNIFORM ILLUMINATION THE BEAMWIDTH IS
P"
RAD
n
AL
AL
4HE FIRST SIDELOBE IS D" DOWN FROM THE PEAK OF THE MAIN BEAM
&OR LARGER VALUES OF P THE PATTERN OF A CONTINUOUS APERTURE IS MODIFIED FROM
%Q BY THE OBLIQUITY FACTOR COS P 4HIS GIVES
% P
COSP
SIN;P A L SIN P =
P A L SINP
&OR CLOSELY SPACED ELEMENTS THE OBLIQUITY FACTOR IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE AMPLITUDE
PATTERN OF A WELL
DESIGNED MATCHED RADIATING ELEMENT COSP FOR VALUES UP TO
SOME OR n !T GREATER ANGLES THE ELEMENT PATTERN HAS VALUES THAT ARE GREATER THAN
THOSE GIVEN BY COSP AND THAT ARE A FUNCTION OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ELEMENTS
3CANNED ,INEAR !RRAYS 4HE PATTERN OF THE ARRAY MAY BE STEERED TO AN ANGLE P
BY APPLYING LINEARLY PROGRESSIVE PHASE INCREMENTS FROM ELEMENT TO ELEMENT SO THAT
THE PHASE BETWEEN ADJACENT ELEMENTS DIFFERS BY O SK SIN P %QUATION IS THEN
MODIFIED GIVING THE NORMALIZED ARRAY FACTOR OF A UNIFORMLY ILLUMINATED ARRAYS AS
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
SIN .P S L SINP SINP
. SIN P S L SINP SINP
%A P
AND THE PATTERN IS
% P %E P
SIN .P S L SINP SINP
. SIN;P S L SINP SINP =
%QUATION DESCRIBES THE FUNDAMENTAL RESPONSE OF A SCANNED ARRAY SYSTEM 4HE
ARRAY WILL HAVE ONLY ONE SINGLE MAJOR LOBE AND GRATING
LOBE MAXIMA WILL NOT OCCUR
FOR
n P n AS LONG AS
S
\ SIN P
SIN P \ P
L
OR
S
L \ SINP \
WHICH IS ALWAYS TRUE IF SK 7HEN SCANNING IS LIMITED THE VALUE OF SK MAY BE
INCREASED FOR EXAMPLE TO SK FOR SCANNING TO A MAXIMUM OF n OR SK
FOR SCANNING TO A MAXIMUM OF on
&OR LARGER VALUES OF SK GRATING LOBES OCCUR AT ANGLES P GIVEN BY
SIN Q SIN Q o
N
SL
WHEN N IS AN INTEGER
)N THE LIMIT THE INEQUALITY %Q DOES ALLOW A GRATING
LOBE PEAK TO OCCUR AT
n WHEN SCANNING TO P %VEN THOUGH THE GRATING LOBE IS REDUCED WHEN MULTIPLIED
BY THE ELEMENT PATTERN IT MAY BE PRUDENT TO SPACE THE ELEMENTS SUCH THAT THE FIRST NULL
OF THE GRATING LOBE RATHER THAN THE PEAK OCCURS AT n 7ITH . ELEMENTS THIS MORE
RESTRICTIVE CONDITION IS GIVEN BY
S .
r
L
.
\ SIN P \
%QUATION MAY AGAIN BE APPROXIMATED BY THE &OURIER TRANSFORM OF THE ILLUMINA
TION ACROSS THE CONTINUOUS APERTURE
% P
COS P
SIN P A L SIN P SINP
P A L SIN P SIN P
4HE &OURIER
TRANSFORM SOLUTIONS FOR CONTINUOUS APERTURES MAY BE USED TO
APPROXIMATE PATTERNS FOR PRACTICAL AMPLITUDE AND PHASE DISTRIBUTIONS AS LONG AS THE
ELEMENT
TO
ELEMENT SPACING IS SMALL ENOUGH TO SUPPRESS GRATING LOBES -ONOPULSE
DIFFERENCE PATTERNS MAY BE APPROXIMATED IN THE SAME WAY FROM THE &OURIER TRANSFORMS
OF THE CORRESPONDING CONTINUOUS ODD APERTURE DISTRIBUTIONS
%LEMENT &ACTOR AND 'AIN OF 0LANAR !RRAYS 4HE MAXIMUM GAIN OF A UNIFORMLY
ILLUMINATED AND LOSSLESS APERTURE OF AREA ! WITH A BROADSIDE BEAM IS 'MAX P ! L
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
7ITH A NONUNIFORM APERTURE DISTRIBUTION AND WITH LOSSES PRESENT THE GAIN IS REDUCED
BY THE EFFICIENCY TERM G TO
!
H
L
)F THE APERTURE IS CONSIDERED AS A MATCHED RECEIVER THEN THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY ARRIV
ING FROM A DIRECTION P IS PROPORTIONAL TO ITS PROJECTED AREA 4HE GAIN WITH SCANNING
THEREFORE IS
'MAX P
' P P
! COS P
H
L
)F THE APERTURE IS MADE UP OF . EQUAL RADIATING ELEMENTS AND IS MATCHED TO ACCEPT
THE INCIDENT POWER THEN THE CONTRIBUTION TO THE OVERALL GAIN IS THE SAME FROM ALL
ELEMENTS HENCE
'P .'EP G
WHERE 'E IS THE GAIN PER ELEMENT )T FOLLOWS FROM %Q THAT THE MATCHED ELEMENT
POWER PATTERN IS
!
COS P
.L
AND THE NORMALIZED RADIATION AMPLITUDE PATTERN OF THE MATCHED ELEMENT OR MATCHED
ELEMENT PATTERN IS
'E P P
%E P COS P
&OR A GIVEN ELEMENT SPACING S THE TOTAL NUMBER OF RADIATORS . IN THE AREA ! IS .
!S AND %Q GIVES
S
'E P P COS P
L
7HEN THE ELEMENT SPACING IS S K THEN THE POWER PATTERN OF AN ELEMENT THAT IS
PERFECTLY MATCHED AT ALL SCAN ANGLES IS
'EP O COS P
!ND THE PEAK ANTENNA GAIN IN THE DIRECTION OF SCAN P IS
'P O .G COS P
WHERE THE EFFICIENCY TERM G ACCOUNTS FOR LOSSES AND FOR A NONUNIFORM APERTURE DISTRI
BUTION &OR A BROADSIDE BEAM P AND
' O .G
AND THE ELEMENT GAIN IS 'E O
&IGURE SHOWS A THEORETICAL EXAMPLE OF THE ARRAY AND ELEMENT FACTORS AND THE
RESULTING PATTERN FOR A
ELEMENT ARRAY WITH ELEMENT SPACING S K SCANNED TO n
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% 4EN ELEMENT LINEAR ARRAY SCANNED TO n ELEMENT SPACING S K
4HE PATTERN MAXIMUM IS NOTED TO OCCUR AT LESS THAN n BECAUSE THE GAIN OF THE ELEMENT
PATTERN INCREASES TOWARD BROADSIDE 4HE ELEMENT PATTERN VALUE AT n IS COS n
IN POWER OR IN AMPLITUDE RELATIVE TO THE MAXIMUM AT BROADSIDE AS EXPECTED
4HE SIDELOBES IN THE GENERAL REGION OF BROADSIDE ARE NOT REDUCED BECAUSE IN THAT REGION
THE ELEMENT PATTERN IS APPROXIMATELY UNITY 2ELATIVE TO THE BEAM MAXIMUM THEREFORE THE
SIDELOBES NEAR BROADSIDE ARE INCREASED BY APPROXIMATELY D"
* ,,,9- -/ ,
0LANAR !RRAYS ! PLANAR ARRAY IS CAPABLE OF STEERING THE BEAM IN TWO DIMEN
SIONS )N A SPHERICAL COORDINATE SYSTEM THE TWO COORDINATES P AND E DEFINE POINTS
ON THE SURFACE OF A UNIT HEMISPHERE !S SHOWN IN &IGURE P IS THE ANGLE OF SCAN
MEASURED FROM BROADSIDE AND E IS THE PLANE OF SCAN MEASURED FROM THE X AXIS 6ON
!ULOCK HAS PRESENTED A SIMPLIFIED METHOD FOR VISUALIZING THE PATTERNS AND THE EFFECT
OF SCANNING (E CONSIDERS THE PROJECTION OF THE POINTS ON A HEMISPHERE ONTO A PLANE
&IGURE THE AXES OF THE PLANE ARE THE DIRECTION COSINES COS @X COS @Y &OR ANY
DIRECTION ON THE HEMISPHERE THE DIRECTION COSINES ARE
COS A X SIN P COS F
COS A Y SIN P SIN F
4HE DIRECTION OF SCAN IS INDICATED BY THE DIRECTION COSINES COS @XS COS @YS (ERE
THE PLANE OF SCAN IS DEFINED BY THE ANGLE E MEASURED COUNTERCLOCKWISE FROM THE COS
@X AXIS AND IS GIVEN BY
F TAN
COS A YS
COS A XS
4HE ANGLE OF SCAN P IS DETERMINED BY THE DISTANCE OF THE POINT COS @XS COS @YS FROM
THE ORIGIN 4HIS DISTANCE IS EQUAL TO SIN P &OR THIS REASON A REPRESENTATION OF THIS SORT IS
CALLED SIN P SPACE ! FEATURE OF SIN P SPACE IS THAT THE ANTENNA PATTERN SHAPE IS INVARIANT
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0LANAR ARRAY ELEMENT GEOMETRY AND PHASING
TO THE DIRECTION OF SCAN !S THE BEAM IS SCANNED EVERY POINT ON THE PLOT IS TRANSLATED IN
THE SAME DIRECTION AND BY THE SAME DISTANCE AS IS THE BEAM MAXIMUM
4HE REGION INSIDE THE UNIT CIRCLE WHERE
COS A X COS A Y a
&)'52% 0ROJECTION OF POINTS ON A HEMISPHERE ONTO THE PLANE
OF THE ARRAY
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
IS DEFINED AS REAL SPACE THE HEMISPHERE INTO WHICH ENERGY IS RADIATED 4HE INFINITE
REGION OUTSIDE THE UNIT CIRCLE IS REFERRED TO AS IMAGINARY SPACE !LTHOUGH NO POWER IS
RADIATED INTO IMAGINARY SPACE THE CONCEPT IS USEFUL FOR OBSERVING THE MOTION OF GRAT
ING LOBES AS THE ARRAY IS SCANNED )N ADDITION THE PATTERN IN IMAGINARY SPACE REPRESENTS
STORED ENERGY AND CONTRIBUTES TO THE ELEMENT IMPEDANCE IN THE ARRAY
4HE MOST COMMON ELEMENT LATTICES HAVE EITHER A RECTANGULAR OR A TRIANGULAR GRID
!S SHOWN IN &IGURE THE MNTH ELEMENT IS LOCATED AT MDX NDY 4HE TRIANGULAR GRID
MAY BE THOUGHT OF AS A RECTANGULAR GRID WHERE EVERY OTHER ELEMENT HAS BEEN OMITTED
4HE ELEMENT LOCATIONS CAN BE DEFINED BY REQUIRING THAT M N BE EVEN
#ALCULATIONS FOR THE ELEMENT
STEERING PHASES ARE GREATLY SIMPLIFIED BY THE ADOP
TION OF THE DIRECTION COSINE COORDINATE SYSTEM )N THIS SYSTEM THE LINEAR
PHASE TAPERS
DEFINED BY THE BEAM
STEERING DIRECTION COS @XS COS @YS MAY BE SUMMED AT EACH ELE
MENT SO THAT THE PHASING AT THE MNTH ELEMENT IS GIVEN BY
Y MN M4XS N4YS
WHERE 4XS O K DX COS @XS ELEMENT TO ELEMENT PHASE SHIFT IN THE X DIRECTION
4YS O K DY COS @YS ELEMENT TO ELEMENT PHASE SHIFT IN THE Y DIRECTION
4HE ARRAY FACTOR OF A TWO DIMENSIONAL ARRAY MAY BE CALCULATED BY SUMMING THE
VECTOR CONTRIBUTION OF EACH ELEMENT IN THE ARRAY AT EACH POINT IN SPACE &OR AN ARRAY
SCANNED TO A DIRECTION GIVEN BY THE DIRECTION COSINES COS @XS AND COS @YS THE ARRAY FAC
TOR OF AN - r . RECTANGULAR ARRAY OF RADIATORS MAY BE WRITTEN
- .
%A COS A XS COS A YS
\ !MN \ E J; M 4X 4XS N4Y 4YS =
M N
WHERE 4X OK DX COS @X
4Y O K DY COS @Y
!MN AMPLITUDE OF MNTH ELEMENT
!N ARRAY MAY BE VISUALIZED AS HAVING AN INFINITE NUMBER OF GRATING LOBES ONLY ONE
OF WHICH NAMELY THE MAIN BEAM IS DESIRED IN REAL SPACE )T IS CONVENIENT TO PLOT THE
POSITION OF THE GRATING LOBES WHEN THE BEAM IS PHASED FOR BROADSIDE AND OBSERVE THE
MOTION OF THESE LOBES AS THE BEAM IS SCANNED &IGURE SHOWS THE GRATING LOBE
LOCATIONS FOR BOTH RECTANGULAR AND TRIANGULAR SPACING &OR A RECTANGULAR ARRAY THE GRAT
ING LOBES ARE LOCATED AT
COS A XS COS A X o
L
P
DX
L
Q
DY
P Q
COS A YS
COS A Y o
4HE LOBE AT P Q IS THE MAIN BEAM ! TRIANGULAR GRID IS MORE EFFICIENT FOR
SUPPRESSING GRATING LOBES THAN A RECTANGULAR GRID SO THAT FOR A GIVEN APERTURE SIZE
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 'RATING LOBE POSITIONS FOR A RECTANGULAR AND B TRIANGULAR
GRIDS SHOWING THE MOTION OF THE LOBES AS THE BEAM IS SCANNED AT ANGLE P
FEWER ELEMENTS ARE REQUIRED )F THE TRIANGULAR LATTICE CONTAINS ELEMENTS AT MDX NDY
WHERE M N IS EVEN THE GRATING LOBES ARE LOCATED AT
COS A XS
COS A X o
L
P
DX
COS A YS COS A Y o
L
Q
DY
WHERE P Q IS EVEN
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
"ECAUSE ONLY ONE MAIN BEAM IS NORMALLY DESIRED IN REAL SPACE AN APPROPRIATE
DESIGN WILL PLACE ALL BUT ONE MAXIMUM IN IMAGINARY SPACE FOR ALL ANGLES OF SCAN 7ITH
SCANNING LOBES THAT WERE ORIGINALLY IN IMAGINARY SPACE MAY MOVE INTO REAL SPACE IF
THE ELEMENT SPACING IS GREATER THAN K !S THE ARRAY IS SCANNED AWAY FROM BROADSIDE
EACH GRATING LOBE IN SIN P SPACE WILL MOVE A DISTANCE EQUAL TO THE SINE OF THE ANGLE OF
SCAN AND IN A DIRECTION DETERMINED BY THE PLANE OF SCAN 4O ENSURE THAT NO GRATING LOBES
ENTER REAL SPACE THE ELEMENT SPACING MUST BE CHOSEN SO THAT FOR THE MAXIMUM SCAN
ANGLE PM THE MOVEMENT OF A GRATING LOBE BY SIN PM DOES NOT BRING THE GRATING LOBE INTO
REAL SPACE )F A SCAN ANGLE OF n FROM BROADSIDE IS REQUIRED FOR EVERY PLANE OF SCAN
NO GRATING LOBES MAY EXIST WITHIN A CIRCLE OF RADIUS SIN PM 4HE SQUARE GRID
THAT MEETS THIS REQUIREMENT HAS
L
L
OR D X D Y L
DX DY
(ERE THE AREA PER ELEMENT IS
D X D Y L L
&OR AN EQUILATERAL TRIANGULAR ARRAY THE REQUIREMENT IS SATISFIED BY
L
DY
L
OR D Y L D X L
DX
"ECAUSE ELEMENTS ARE LOCATED ONLY AT EVERY OTHER VALUE OF MN THE AREA PER ELEMENT IS
D X D Y L L L
&OR THE SAME AMOUNT OF GRATING
LOBE SUPPRESSION THE SQUARE GEOMETRY REQUIRES
APPROXIMATELY MORE ELEMENTS
%LEMENT
0HASING #ALCULATIONS ! COMPUTER IS USUALLY REQUIRED TO PERFORM THE
STEERING COMPUTATIONS FOR A PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA )T CAN COMPENSATE FOR MANY OF THE
KNOWN PHASE ERRORS CAUSED BY THE MICROWAVE COMPONENTS THE OPERATING ENVIRON
MENT AND THE PHYSICAL PLACEMENT OF THE ELEMENTS &OR EXAMPLE IF THE INSERTION AND
DIFFERENTIAL PHASE VARIATIONS WHICH MAY OCCUR FROM PHASE SHIFTER TO PHASE SHIFTER
ARE KNOWN THEY MAY BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN THE COMPUTATIONS +NOWN TEMPERATURE
VARIATIONS ACROSS THE ARRAY THAT WOULD INDUCE PHASE ERRORS MAY BE COMPENSATED FOR
&INALLY MANY FEEDS EG OPTICAL AND SERIES FEEDS DO NOT PROVIDE EQUAL PHASE EXCITA
TION AT THE INPUT TO EACH PHASE SHIFTER 4HE RELATIVE PHASE EXCITATION CAUSED BY THESE
FEEDS IS A KNOWN FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY )N THESE CASES THE COMPUTER MUST PROVIDE
A CORRECTION BASED ON THE LOCATION OF THE ELEMENT IN THE ARRAY AND ON THE FREQUENCY
OF OPERATION
&OR A LARGE ARRAY WITH THOUSANDS OF ELEMENTS MANY CALCULATIONS ARE REQUIRED TO
DETERMINE THE PHASING OF THE ELEMENTS 4HESE CALCULATIONS MUST BE PERFORMED IN A
SHORT PERIOD OF TIME 4HE USE OF THE ORTHOGONAL PHASE COMMANDS M4XS N4YS HELPS TO
MINIMIZE THESE CALCULATIONS /NCE THE ELEMENT
TO
ELEMENT PHASE INCREMENTS 4XS 4YS
HAVE BEEN COMPUTED FOR A GIVEN BEAM
POINTING DIRECTION THE INTEGRAL MULTIPLES OF 4YS
MAY BE USED TO STEER THE COLUMNS &IGURE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
{ *
,/1,
/
1/1
"1* {x
3IGNIFICANCE OF !PERTURE -ATCHING !N ANTENNA IS A DEVICE THAT ACTS AS A TRANS
FORMER TO PROVIDE A GOOD MATCH BETWEEN A SOURCE OF POWER AND FREE SPACE )F THE
ANTENNA IS NOT MATCHED TO FREE SPACE POWER WILL BE REFLECTED BACK TOWARD THE GENERA
TOR RESULTING IN A LOSS IN RADIATED POWER )N ADDITION A MISMATCH PRODUCES STANDING
WAVES ON THE FEED LINE TO THE ANTENNA 4HE VOLTAGE AT THE PEAKS OF THESE STANDING WAVES
IS \ ' \ TIMES GREATER THAN THE VOLTAGE OF A MATCHED LINE WHERE ' IS THE VOLTAGE
REFLECTION COEFFICIENT 4HIS CORRESPONDS TO AN INCREASED POWER LEVEL THAT IS \ ' \
TIMES AS GREAT AS THE ACTUAL INCIDENT POWER 4HEREFORE WHILE THE ANTENNA IS RADIATING
LESS POWER INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS MUST BE DESIGNED TO HANDLE MORE PEAK POWER 7ITH
ANTENNAS THAT DO NOT SCAN THE MISMATCH MAY OFTEN BE TUNED OUT BY CONVENTIONAL TECH
NIQUES PREFERABLY AT A POINT AS CLOSE TO THE SOURCE OF THE MISMATCH AS POSSIBLE
)N A SCANNING ARRAY THE IMPEDANCE OF A RADIATING ELEMENT VARIES AS THE ARRAY IS
SCANNED AND THE MATCHING PROBLEM IS CONSIDERABLY MORE COMPLICATED 5NLIKE A CONVEN
TIONAL ANTENNA WHERE MISMATCH AFFECTS ONLY THE LEVEL OF THE POWER RADIATED AND NOT THE
SHAPE OF THE PATTERN SPURIOUS LOBES IN THE SCANNING ARRAY MAY APPEAR AS A CONSEQUENCE
OF THE MISMATCH &URTHER THERE ARE CONDITIONS WHERE AN ANTENNA THAT IS WELL MATCHED AT
BROADSIDE MAY HAVE SOME ANGLE OF SCAN AT WHICH MOST OF THE POWER IS REFLECTED
4HE VARIATION IN ELEMENT IMPEDANCE AND ELEMENT PATTERN IS A MANIFESTATION OF THE
MUTUAL COUPLING BETWEEN RADIATING ELEMENTS THAT ARE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO ONE ANOTHER
&OR A PRACTICAL DESIGN TWO EMPIRICAL TECHNIQUES ARE OF GREAT VALUE
7AVEGUIDE SIMULATORS PROVIDE A MEANS FOR DETERMINING THE ELEMENT IMPEDANCE
IN AN INFINITE ARRAY WITH THE USE OF ONLY A FEW ELEMENTS 4HE EFFECTIVENESS OF A
MATCHING STRUCTURE BASED ON THESE MEASUREMENTS MAY ALSO BE DETERMINED IN THE
SIMULATOR
! SMALL ARRAY IS THE BEST TECHNIQUE FOR DETERMINING THE ACTIVE ELEMENT PATTERN 4HE
ACTIVE ELEMENT PATTERN OBTAINED BY EXCITING ONE ELEMENT AND TERMINATING ITS NEIGH
BORS IS THE BEST OVERALL MEASURE OF ARRAY PERFORMANCE OTHER THAN THE FULL ARRAY ITSELF
)F A LARGE REFLECTION OCCURS AT SOME ANGLE OF SCAN IT CAN BE RECOGNIZED BY A NULL IN
THE ELEMENT PATTERN 4HE SMALL ARRAY CAN ALSO PROVIDE DATA ON THE COUPLING BETWEEN
ELEMENTS 4HIS DATA CAN BE USED TO CALCULATE THE VARIATION IN IMPEDANCE AS THE ARRAY
IS SCANNED
"OTH THESE TECHNIQUES WILL BE DISCUSSED LATER IN THIS SECTION
%FFECTS OF -UTUAL #OUPLING 7HEN TWO ANTENNAS OR ELEMENTS ARE WIDELY SEPA
RATED THE ENERGY COUPLED BETWEEN THEM IS SMALL AND THE INFLUENCE OF ONE ANTENNA ON
THE CURRENT EXCITATION AND PATTERN OF THE OTHER ANTENNA IS NEGLIGIBLE !S THE ANTENNAS
ARE BROUGHT CLOSER TOGETHER THE COUPLING BETWEEN THEM INCREASES )N GENERAL THE MAG
NITUDE OF THE COUPLING IS INFLUENCED BY THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE ELEMENTS THE PATTERN
OF THE ELEMENTS AND THE STRUCTURE IN THE VICINITY OF THE ELEMENTS &OR EXAMPLE THE
RADIATION PATTERN OF A DIPOLE HAS A NULL IN THE P on DIRECTION AND IS OMNIDIRECTIONAL
IN THE P n PLANE 4HEREFORE IT CAN BE EXPECTED THAT DIPOLES IN LINE WILL BE LOOSELY
COUPLED AND PARALLEL DIPOLES WILL BE TIGHTLY COUPLED 7HEN AN ELEMENT IS PLACED IN AN
ARRAY OF MANY ELEMENTS THE EFFECTS OF COUPLING ARE SUFFICIENTLY STRONG THAT THE PATTERN
AND IMPEDANCE OF THE ELEMENTS IN THE ARRAY ARE DRASTICALLY ALTERED
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
4HE TERMS ACTIVE ELEMENT PATTERN AND ELEMENT IMPEDANCE REFER TO AN ELEMENT IN
ITS OPERATING ENVIRONMENT IE IN AN ARRAY WITH ITS NEIGHBORING ELEMENTS EXCITED )N
THE ARRAY EACH EXCITED ELEMENT COUPLES TO EVERY OTHER ELEMENT 4HE COUPLING FROM
SEVERAL ELEMENTS TO A TYPICAL CENTRAL ELEMENT ELEMENT IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HE #MN PQ ARE MUTUAL
COUPLING COEFFICIENTS RELATING THE VOLTAGE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE
INDUCED IN THE MNTH ELEMENT TO THE VOLTAGE EXCITATION AT THE PQTH ELEMENT 4HE COUPLED
SIGNALS ADD VECTORIALLY TO PRODUCE A WAVE TRAVELING TOWARD THE GENERATOR OF ELEMENT
THAT APPEARS TO BE A REFLECTION FROM THE RADIATOR OF ELEMENT !S THE PHASES OF
THE NEIGHBORING ELEMENTS ARE VARIED TO SCAN THE BEAM THE VECTOR SUM OF THE COUPLED
SIGNALS CHANGES AND CAUSES AN APPARENT CHANGE IN THE IMPEDANCE OF ELEMENT &OR
SOME SCAN ANGLES THE COUPLED VOLTAGES TEND TO ADD IN PHASE CAUSING A LARGE REFLECTION
AND POSSIBLY THE LOSS OF THE MAIN BEAM ,ARGE REFLECTIONS OFTEN OCCUR AT SCAN ANGLES
JUST PRIOR TO THE EMERGENCE OF A GRATING LOBE INTO REAL SPACE BUT IN SOME INSTANCES SUCH
REFLECTIONS MAY OCCUR AT SMALLER SCAN ANGLES
4HE DESCRIPTION OF THE IMPEDANCE VARIATION GIVEN ABOVE MADE NO REFERENCE TO THE
FEED NETWORK OR THE PHASE SHIFTERS AND ASSUMED THAT THE ONLY COUPLING BETWEEN ELE
MENTS IS VIA THE RADIATING APERTURE 4HE COUPLING COEFFICIENTS WOULD BE MEASURED AND
BY SUPERPOSITION THE PHASED
VOLTAGE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM EVERY ELEMENT IN THE ARRAY
OR AT LEAST THOSE IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY WOULD BE ADDED VECTORIALLY TO PRODUCE
THE VOLTAGE REFLECTED BACK TOWARD THE GENERATOR )N A PRACTICAL ARRAY THE IMPEDANCE
VARIATION DEPENDS UPON THE FEED SYSTEM AND THE PHASE SHIFTER )F THESE ARE TAKEN INTO
ACCOUNT THE IMPEDANCE VARIATION MAY BE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT THE ABOVE MODEL MIGHT
PREDICT )N MOST ANALYSES ONLY THE COUPLING AT THE APERTURE IS CONSIDERED 4HIS DESCRIP
TION PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO THE INTRINSIC IMPEDANCE VARIATION OF THE APERTURE WHEN IT IS
ISOLATED FROM OTHER EFFECTS AS IN THE CASE WHERE EACH ELEMENT HAS AN INDEPENDENT FEED
EG ITS OWN GENERATOR AND ISOLATOR )N THIS CASE IT IS A SIMPLE MATTER TO MEASURE THE
VOLTAGE
STANDING
WAVE RATIO 6372 IN ANY LINE AND DETERMINE EXACTLY THE EXTENT OF
THE IMPEDANCE AND MISMATCH VARIATION &OR MANY FEED SYSTEMS THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE
AND A MEASUREMENT OF THE REFLECTED ENERGY WILL PROVIDE ERRONEOUS INFORMATION AND A
&)'52% #OUPLED SIGNALS TO A CENTRAL ELEMENT FROM NEIGHBORING ELEMENTS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY 5NLESS ALL THE REFLECTIONS ARE COLLIMATED BACK AT SOME CENTRAL
POINT OR INDEPENDENT FEEDS ARE USED SOME OF THE REFLECTED ENERGY WILL GENERALLY BE
RE
REFLECTED AND CONTRIBUTE TO UNDESIRABLE SIDELOBES
&OR LARGE ARRAYS THE IMPEDANCE OF AN ELEMENT LOCATED NEAR THE CENTER OF THE ARRAY
IS OFTEN TAKEN AS TYPICAL OF THE IMPEDANCE OF EVERY ELEMENT IN THE ARRAY !S MIGHT
BE EXPECTED THIS ELEMENT IS MOST STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY ELEMENTS IN ITS IMMEDIATE
VICINITY 7HEN THE ARRAY IS SCANNED THE INFLUENCE OF ELEMENTS SEVERAL WAVELENGTHS
DISTANT IS ALSO SIGNIFICANT &OR DIPOLES ABOVE A GROUND PLANE THE MAGNITUDE OF THE
COUPLING BETWEEN ELEMENTS DECAYS RAPIDLY WITH DISTANCE &OR A REASONABLE INDICATION
OF ARRAY PERFORMANCE AN ELEMENT IN THE CENTER OF A
BY
ARRAY MAY BE TAKEN AS
TYPICAL OF AN ELEMENT IN A LARGE ARRAY &OR DIPOLES WITH NO GROUND PLANE THE COUPLING
BETWEEN ELEMENTS DOES NOT DECAY SO RAPIDLY AND A
BY
ARRAY APPEARS REASONABLE
&OR AN ARRAY OF OPEN
ENDED WAVEGUIDES A
BY
ARRAY SHOULD SUFFICE )F ACCURATE
PREDICTION OF THE ARRAY PERFORMANCE IS REQUIRED MANY MORE ELEMENTS ARE NEEDED
THAN ARE INDICATED ABOVE
)T IS OFTEN CONVENIENT TO ASSUME THAT THE ARRAY IS INFINITE IN EXTENT AND HAS A UNIFORM
AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION AND A LINEAR
PHASE TAPER FROM ELEMENT TO ELEMENT )N THIS MAN
NER EVERY ELEMENT IN THE ARRAY SEES EXACTLY THE SAME ENVIRONMENT AND THE CALCULATIONS
FOR ANY ELEMENT APPLY EQUALLY TO ALL 4HESE ASSUMPTIONS PROVIDE A SIGNIFICANT SIMPLIFI
CATION IN THE CALCULATION OF THE ELEMENT IMPEDANCE VARIATIONS )N ADDITION IMPEDANCE
MEASUREMENTS MADE IN SIMULATORS CORRESPOND TO THE ELEMENT IMPEDANCE IN AN INFINITE
ARRAY )N SPITE OF THE ASSUMPTIONS THE INFINITE
ARRAY MODEL HAS PREDICTED WITH GOOD
ACCURACY THE ARRAY IMPEDANCE AND THE IMPEDANCE VARIATIONS %VEN ARRAYS OF MOD
EST PROPORTIONS LESS THAN ELEMENTS HAVE BEEN IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT WITH THE
RESULTS PREDICTED FOR AN INFINITE ARRAY
%LEMENT 0ATTERN &ROM ENERGY CONSIDERATIONS THE DIRECTIONAL GAIN OF A PERFECTLY
MATCHED ARRAY WITH CONSTANT AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION G WILL VARY AS THE PROJECTED
APERTURE AREA FROM %Q
' P
P !
COS P
L
)F IT IS ASSUMED THAT EACH OF THE . ELEMENTS IN THE ARRAY SHARES THE GAIN EQUALLY THE
GAIN OF A SINGLE ELEMENT IS FROM %Q
'E P
P !
COS P
.L
)F THE ELEMENT IS MISMATCHED HAVING A REFLECTION COEFFICIENT 'P E THAT VARIES AS
A FUNCTION OF SCAN ANGLE THE ELEMENT GAIN PATTERN IS REDUCED TO
'E P
P !
COS P ;
\ ' Q F \ =
.L
4HE ELEMENT PATTERN IS SEEN TO CONTAIN INFORMATION PERTAINING TO THE ELEMENT
IMPEDANCEn 4HE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TOTAL POWER RADIATED IN THE ELEMENT PAT
TERN AND THE POWER DELIVERED TO THE ANTENNA TERMINALS MUST EQUAL THE REFLECTED POWER
)N TERMS OF THE RADIATION PATTERN OF THE SCANNING ARRAY THIS MEANS THAT SINCE THE
SCANNED ANTENNA PATTERNS TRACE OUT THE ELEMENT PATTERN IT FOLLOWS THAT THE AVERAGE
POWER LOST FROM THE SCANNED PATTERN IS EQUAL TO THE POWER LOST FROM THE ELEMENT
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
PATTERN BECAUSE OF REFLECTIONS )T IS NOT ENOUGH TO MATCH ONE ELEMENT IN THE PRES
ENCE OF ALL ITS TERMINATED NEIGHBORS 4HE ELEMENT WILL DELIVER POWER TO ITS NEIGHBORS
AND THIS LOSS IN POWER CORRESPONDS TO THE AVERAGE POWER LOST WHEN SCANNING !N
IDEAL ALTHOUGH NOT NECESSARILY REALIZABLE ELEMENT PATTERN WOULD PLACE ALL THE RADIATED
POWER INTO THE SCAN REGION GIVING A PATTERN LIKE A COSINE ON A PEDESTAL AND THEREBY
PROVIDING MAXIMUM ANTENNA GAIN FOR THE NUMBER OF ELEMENTS USED
4HINNED !RRAYS 4HE NUMBER OF RADIATING ELEMENTS IN AN ARRAY MAY BE REDUCED
TO A FRACTION OF THOSE NEEDED COMPLETELY TO FILL THE APERTURE WITHOUT SUFFERING SERIOUS
DEGRADATION IN THE SHAPE OF THE MAIN BEAM (OWEVER AVERAGE SIDELOBES ARE DEGRADED
IN PROPORTION TO THE NUMBER OF ELEMENTS REMOVED 4HE ELEMENT DENSITY MAY BE THINNED
SO AS TO TAPER THE AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION EFFECTIVELY AND THE SPACING IS SUCH THAT NO
COHERENT ADDITION CAN OCCUR TO FORM GRATING LOBES ! THINNED APERTURE WHERE ELEMENTS
HAVE BEEN REMOVED RANDOMLY FROM A REGULAR GRID IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE
GAIN IS THAT DUE TO THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF ELEMENTS .'EP BUT THE BEAMWIDTH IS THAT
&)'52% A 4HINNED ARRAY WITH A
ELEMENT GRID CONTAINING
ELEMENTS B 0ATTERN FOR A THINNED ARRAY 3! IS THE AVERAGE SIDELOBE LEVEL AFTER
2 % 7ILLEY )2% #OURTESY OF "ENDIX 2ADIO
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
OF THE FULL APERTURE &OR EXAMPLE IF THE ARRAY HAS BEEN THINNED SO THAT ONLY OF
THE ELEMENTS ARE USED THE GAIN OF THE ARRAY WILL DROP BY D" (OWEVER BECAUSE THE
MAIN BEAM IS VIRTUALLY UNCHANGED ABOUT OF THE POWER IS DELIVERED TO THE SIDELOBE
REGION 4HINNED ARRAYS ARE SELDOM USED
)F THE REMOVED ELEMENTS IN A REGULAR THINNED ARRAY ARE REPLACED WITH ELEMENTS
WITH MATCHED LOADS THE ELEMENT PATTERN IS IDENTICAL TO THAT OF ONE IN THE REGULAR ARRAY
WITH ALL ELEMENTS EXCITED 4HE ELEMENT PATTERN IS INDEPENDENT OF THE ARRAY EXCITATION
AND THE SAME FRACTIONAL AMOUNT OF POWER WILL BE LOST BECAUSE OF MISMATCH WHETHER
THE ARRAY IS THINNED TAPERED OR UNIFORMLY ILLUMINATED )T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE
CONCEPT OF AN ELEMENT PATTERN THAT APPLIES EQUALLY TO EVERY ELEMENT IS VALID ONLY WHEN
ISOLATING FEEDS ARE USED AND EDGE EFFECTS ARE IGNORED
! THINNED ARRAY MAY ALSO BE IMPLEMENTED WITH AN IRREGULAR ELEMENT SPACING
ALTHOUGH THIS IS NOT COMMON )N THIS CASE THE ELEMENT GAIN AND IMPEDANCE WILL VARY
FROM ELEMENT DEPENDING UPON THE ENVIRONMENT OF A GIVEN ELEMENT 4O OBTAIN THE GAIN
OF THE ARRAY IT IS NECESSARY TO SUM ALL THE DIFFERENT ELEMENT GAINS 'ENP 4HUS
' P 'EN P
N
)MPEDANCE 6ARIATION OF &REE 3PACE )T IS OF INTEREST TO EXAMINE THE CASE OF A
LARGE CONTINUOUS APERTURE THAT MAY BE CONSIDERED TO BE THE LIMITING CASE OF AN ARRAY
OF MANY VERY SMALL ELEMENTS 4HE FREE
SPACE IMPEDANCE %( VARIES AS COS P FOR
SCANNING IN THE % PLANE AND AS SEC P FOR SCANNING IN THE ( PLANE 4HE IMPEDANCE OF
A MEDIUM IS THUS DEPENDENT UPON THE DIRECTION OF PROPAGATION AND THE IMPEDANCE
VARIATION OF A SCANNING APERTURE IS A NATURAL CONSEQUENCE OF THIS DEPENDENCE 4HE
CONTINUOUS APERTURE APPEARS TO REPRESENT A LOWER LIMIT TO THE IMPEDANCE VARIATION WITH
SCANNING 4HIS IS INDICATED BY !LLENS RESULTS WHERE IMPEDANCE VARIATION WITH SCAN
NING WAS CALCULATED FOR DIPOLES ABOVE A GROUND PLANE )N SPITE OF INCREASED MUTUAL COU
PLING OR PERHAPS BECAUSE OF IT THE MORE CLOSELY THE DIPOLES WERE SPACED THE SMALLER
THE IMPEDANCE VARIATION WITH SCANNING !LTHOUGH THE IMPEDANCE VARIATION DECREASED
THE ABSOLUTE IMPEDANCE OF THE DIPOLES ALSO DECREASED MAKING THEM MORE DIFFICULT TO
MATCH AT BROADSIDE )T IS EXPECTED THAT TO OBTAIN AN IMPEDANCE VARIATION SMALLER THAN
THAT OF FREE SPACE SOME IMPEDANCE COMPENSATION MUST BE EMPLOYED
-UTUAL #OUPLING AND 3URFACE 7AVES 4HE MUTUAL COUPLING BETWEEN TWO SMALL
ISOLATED DIPOLES SHOULD DECREASE AS R IN THE ( PLANE AND R IN THE % PLANE % AND
( PLANES ARE INTERCHANGED FOR SLOTS #OUPLING MEASUREMENTS HAVE SHOWN THAT IN THE
ARRAY ENVIRONMENT THE RATE OF DECAY IS SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN PREDICTED ABOVE INDICATING
THAT SOME OF THE ENERGY IS DELIVERED TO OTHER ELEMENTS IN THE ARRAY AND MAY BE DIS
SIPATED AND RERADIATED FROM THESE ELEMENTS 4HE SAME MEASUREMENTS HAVE SHOWN THAT
THE PHASE DIFFERENCE OF THE ENERGY COUPLED TO ELEMENTS IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THEIR
DISTANCE FROM THE EXCITED ELEMENTS INDICATIVE OF A SURFACE WAVE TRAVELING ALONG THE
ARRAY LEAKING ENERGY TO EACH OF THE ELEMENTS &OR BEST PERFORMANCE THE VELOCITY OF
THE SURFACE WAVE SHOULD BE VERY CLOSE TO THAT OF FREE SPACE )F THE ARRAY CONTAINS WAVE
GUIDES OR HORNS LOADED WITH DIELECTRIC THE VELOCITY WILL DECREASE SLIGHTLY &URTHER IF
THE DIELECTRIC PROTRUDES FROM THE RADIATORS OR IF A DIELECTRIC SHEET IS USED IN FRONT OF THE
ARRAY THE VELOCITY OF THE SURFACE WAVE MAY DECREASE DRAMATICALLY 4HIS SURFACE WAVE
IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT CAN CAUSE A LARGE REFLECTION AND AN ACCOMPANYING LOSS OF THE
BEAM FOR SOME ANGLES OF SCAN 4HIS CAN BEST BE SEEN BY EXAMINING THE CONDITION OF
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
PHASING FOR WHICH THE COUPLINGS FROM MANY ELEMENTS WILL ADD IN
PHASE TO CAUSE A LARGE
REFLECTION IN A TYPICAL ELEMENT
#ONSIDER AN ARRAY IN WHICH THE VELOCITY OF THE SURFACE WAVE IS THAT OF FREE SPACE
4HE DIFFERENCE IN THE PHASE OF THE VOLTAGES COUPLED FROM AN ADJACENT PAIR OF ELEMENTS
TO ELEMENT E IN &IGURE IS RELATED TO THE SCAN ANGLE BY
P S P S
P S
SIN P
SIN P
L
L
L
4HE COUPLINGS WILL BE IN PHASE WHEN $X O OR WHEN
S
L SIN P
4HIS IS SEEN TO BE EXACTLY THE SAME CONDITIONS AS PREVIOUSLY DETERMINED FOR THE EMER
GENCE OF A GRATING LOBE INTO REAL SPACE 4HEREFORE IT MAY BE EXPECTED THAT WHEN A GRAT
ING LOBE IS ABOUT TO EMERGE INTO REAL SPACE THE COUPLED VOLTAGES TEND TO ADD IN PHASE
AND CAUSE A LARGE MISMATCH
!RRAY 3IMULATORS ! GOOD DEAL OF EFFORT HAS GONE INTO MATCHING A RADIATOR IN
THE PRESENCE OF AN ARRAY OF RADIATORS 4HE USE OF WAVEGUIDE SIMULATORS AS DEVELOPED
BY 7HEELER ,ABORATORIES HAS MADE IT POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE THE MATCHING STRUCTURE
EXPERIMENTALLY WITHOUT NEEDING TO BUILD AN ARRAY ! WAVEGUIDE OPERATING IN A 4%
MODE MAY BE CONSIDERED TO CONTAIN TWO INCLINEDnPLANE WAVES PROPAGATING DOWN THE
GUIDE 4HE ANGLE THAT EACH OF THE PLANE WAVES MAKES WITH THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION
&IGURE IS DETERMINED BY THE ( DIMENSION OF THE WAVEGUIDE AND SIMULATES THE
ANGLE OF SCAN OF AN INFINITE ARRAY
SIN Q
L
LC
WHERE P SCAN ANGLE
K FREE
SPACE WAVELENGTH
KC CUTOFF WAVELENGTH OF GUIDE
&)'52% 4WO ADJACENT ELEMENTS COUPLING TO
ANOTHER ELEMENT IN THE SAME ROW
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !RRAY SIMULATOR TERMINATED WITH TWO DUMMY ELEMENTS
!DDITIONAL SCAN ANGLES MAY BE SIMULATED BY EXCITING OTHER MODES 4HE WAVEGUIDE
DIMENSIONS ARE CHOSEN SO THAT A RADIATING ELEMENT OR ELEMENT PLACED IN THE WAVEGUIDE
SEES MIRROR IMAGES IN THE WALLS OF THE WAVEGUIDE THAT APPEAR TO BE AT THE SAME SPACING
AS THE ARRAY TO BE SIMULATED "OTH RECTANGULAR AND TRIANGULAR ARRAYS MAY BE SIMULATED
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE IMPEDANCE MEASUREMENTS ARE MADE BY LOOKING INTO
A WAVEGUIDE SIMULATOR THAT IS TERMINATED WITH DUMMY ELEMENTS 4HIS IS EQUIVALENT
TO LOOKING AT AN INFINITE ARRAY FROM FREE SPACE AT A SCAN ANGLE GIVEN BY %Q !
MATCHING STRUCTURE DESIGNED FROM THE SIMULATOR IMPEDANCE DATA MAY BE PLACED INTO
THE SIMULATOR TO MEASURE ITS EFFECTIVENESS 3EVERAL SIMULATOR DESIGNS RESULTS AND A
COMPLETE DISCUSSION OF THE TOPIC HAVE BEEN PRESENTED BY (ANNAN AND "ALFOUR 4HE
TECHNIQUE IS LIMITED IN THAT ONLY DISCRETE SCAN ANGLES CAN BE SIMULATED 3EVERAL SCAN
ANGLES IN BOTH PLANES OF SCAN GIVE A GENERAL IDEA OF THE ARRAY IMPEDANCE
&)'52% 2ECTANGULAR AND TRIANGULAR ARRAY GEOMETRIES
WITH SIMULATOR BOUNDARIES SUPERIMPOSED A SQUARE ARRAY WITH
SIMULATOR SUPERIMPOSED AND B TRIANGULAR ARRAY WITH SIMULATOR
SUPERIMPOSED
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
#OMPENSATION FOR 3CANNED )MPEDANCE 6ARIATION 4HE IMPEDANCE OF AN ELE
MENT IN AN ARRAY HAS BEEN DISCUSSED AND HAS BEEN SHOWN TO VARY AS THE ARRAY IS SCANNED
!N ARRAY THAT IS MATCHED AT BROADSIDE CAN BE EXPECTED TO HAVE AT LEAST A 6372 AT
A n ANGLE OF SCAN 4O COMPENSATE FOR THE IMPEDANCE VARIATION IT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE
A COMPENSATION NETWORK THAT IS ALSO DEPENDENT ON SCANNING
3MALL !RRAYS 4HE ELEMENT PATTERN IS THE BEST SINGLE INDICATOR OF IMPEDANCE
MATCHING IN A SCANNING ARRAY /NE WAY OF DETERMINING THE ELEMENT PATTERN IS TO BUILD
A SMALL ARRAY ! CENTRAL ELEMENT IS EXCITED AND ALL OTHER ELEMENTS ARE TERMINATED 4HE
PATTERN OF THIS CENTRAL ELEMENT IS THE ACTIVE ELEMENT PATTERN $IAMOND HAS EXAMINED
THE NUMBER OF ELEMENTS REQUIRED IN A SMALL ARRAY TO PROVIDE A REASONABLE APPROXIMA
TION TO AN ELEMENT IN AN INFINITE ARRAY (E CONCLUDES THAT TO ELEMENTS ARE REQUIRED
TO PROVIDE A GOOD INDICATION &IGURE SHOWS THE CHANGE IN THE MEASURED ACTIVE
ELEMENT PATTERN AS THE NUMBER OF ELEMENTS IS INCREASED &OR A
ELEMENT ARRAY THE
NULL IS VERY PRONOUNCED %VEN FOR THE
ELEMENT ARRAY IT IS CLEAR THAT THE GAIN VARIA
TION WITH SCANNING IS DRAMATICALLY GREATER THAN COS P
4HE SMALL ARRAY CAN ALSO BE USED TO MEASURE COUPLING COEFFICIENTS AS DEMONSTRATED
BY &IGURE 4HESE COUPLING COEFFICIENTS CAN BE USED TO CALCULATE THE IMPEDANCE
VARIATION AS THE ARRAY IS SCANNED 'ROVE -ARTIN AND 0EPE HAVE NOTED THAT FOR THE ELE
MENT TO BE MATCHED IN ITS OPERATING ENVIRONMENT THE SELF
COUPLING MUST EXACTLY CANCEL
THE COUPLING FROM ALL OTHER ELEMENTS 4HEY HAVE USED THIS TECHNIQUE TO PROVIDE A GOOD
MATCH ON AN ULTRALOW
SIDELOBE WIDEBAND PHASED ARRAY
4HE COMBINATION OF WAVEGUIDE SIMULATORS AND SMALL ARRAYS PROVIDES POWERFUL
EMPIRICAL TOOLS TO SUPPLEMENT THE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES %XPERIENCE HAS DEMONSTRATED
THAT A LARGE ANTENNA SHOULD NOT BE BUILT UNTIL THE ELEMENT PATTERN HAS BEEN VERIFIED WITH
A SMALL ARRAY
&)'52% %XPERIMENTAL (
PLANE PATTERNS OF THE CENTER ELEMENTS OF WAVEGUIDES ARRAYS
AFTER " , $IAMOND !RTECH (OUSE
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
x "7- " *- ,,9,OW SIDELOBES HAVE LONG BEEN OF INTEREST TO ANTENNA DESIGNERS 4HIS INTEREST HAS BEEN
HEIGHTENED BY THE JAMMING THAT THREATENS MOST MILITARY RADARS 4HE REQUIREMENT FOR
LOW SIDELOBES FOR CLUTTER REJECTION IN THE !7!#3 RADAR RESULTED IN TECHNOLOGY THAT NOW
SUPPORTS SIDELOBE LEVELS OF MORE THAN D" BELOW THE MAIN BEAM PEAK 4HE PRICE
THAT MUST BE PAID TO ACHIEVE THESE LOW SIDELOBES INCLUDES A REDUCTION IN GAIN AN
INCREASE IN BEAMWIDTH INCREASED TOLERANCE CONTROL INCREASED COST AND THE
NEED TO OPERATE IN AN ENVIRONMENT FREE FROM OBSTRUCTIONS THAT CAN READILY INCREASE THE
SIDELOBES )N SPITE OF THESE DRAWBACKS THE TREND TO LOW SIDELOBE ANTENNAS HAS ACCEL
ERATED SINCE LOW SIDELOBES PROVIDE A COUNTER TO ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES %#-
!NTENNA SIDELOBES CAN BE CONTROLLED BY THE APERTURE AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION &OR
PHASED ARRAYS THE AMPLITUDE OF EACH ELEMENT MAY BE CONTROLLED INDIVIDUALLY AND
THEREFORE GOOD SIDELOBE CONTROL CAN BE ACHIEVED 4HE PROCESS OF DESIGNING A LOW
SIDELOBE ANTENNA CAN BE CONSIDERED IN TWO PARTS
#HOOSE THE CORRECT ILLUMINATION FUNCTION TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED DESIGN ERROR FREE
SIDELOBES
#ONTROL THE PHASE AND AMPLITUDE ERRORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE RANDOM SIDELOBES
/F THE TWO CONTROLLING ERRORS FUNDAMENTALLY LIMITS SIDELOBE PERFORMANCE 4HE
EFFECTS OF ILLUMINATION FUNCTION AND ERRORS ARE DISCUSSED BELOW
)LLUMINATION &UNCTIONS 4HE RELATION BETWEEN APERTURE ILLUMINATION AND THE
FAR FIELD PATTERN HAS BEEN STUDIED EXTENSIVELY AND IS WELL DOCUMENTED IN THE LITERA
TUREn &OR A CONTINUOUS APERTURE THE FAR FIELD PATTERN IS THE &OURIER TRANSFORM OF
THE DISTRIBUTION ACROSS THE APERTURE &OR AN ARRAY SAMPLES ARE TAKEN OF THE CONTINUOUS
DISTRIBUTION AT EACH OF THE DISCRETE LOCATIONS 3OME TYPICAL ILLUMINATION FUNCTIONS ARE
GIVEN IN 4ABLE )T IS SEEN THAT UNIFORM ILLUMINATION CONSTANT AMPLITUDE RESULTS
IN THE HIGHEST GAIN AND THE NARROWEST BEAMWIDTH BUT AT THE COST OF HIGH SIDELOBES !S
THE AMPLITUDE IS TAPERED THE GAIN DROPS THE BEAM BROADENS AND THE SIDELOBES MAY
BE REDUCED )T IS IMPORTANT FOR THE ANTENNA DESIGNER TO CHOOSE AN EFFICIENT AND REALIZ
ABLE ILLUMINATION FUNCTION THAT PROVIDES LOW SIDELOBES AT A MINIMUM LOSS IN GAIN &OR
LOW SIDELOBE RADARS THE 4AYLOR ILLUMINATION FOR THE SUM PATTERNS AND THE "AYLISS
ILLUMINATION FOR THE DIFFERENCE PATTERNS HAVE ALMOST BECOME AN INDUSTRY STANDARD
4HE 4AYLOR ILLUMINATION IS SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO A COSINE SQUARED ON A PEDESTAL AND
IS READILY IMPLEMENTED 4HE "AYLISS ILLUMINATION IS A DERIVATIVE FORM OF THE 4AYLOR
ILLUMINATION AND IS ALSO READILY IMPLEMENTED )T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT IN MANY PHASED
ARRAYS THE SIDELOBE PERFORMANCE FOR THE DIFFERENCE PATTERN IS COMPARABLE TO THAT OF THE
SUM PATTERN &OR BOTH SUM AND DIFFERENCE PATTERNS THE SIDELOBES ARE REFERENCED TO THE
PEAK OF THE SUM PATTERN 4HE BEAMWIDTH FACTOR PROVIDES THE BEAMWIDTH IN DEGREES OF
AN APERTURE WITH LENGTH A
&IGURE GIVES THE APPROXIMATE LOSS IN GAIN AND THE BEAMWIDTH FACTOR FOR THE
4AYLOR ILLUMINATION AS THE SIDELOBES CHANGE &OR A MORE COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT
SEE "ARTON AND 7ARD 4HE SIDELOBES PREDICTED BY 4ABLE ARE FOR ANTENNAS THAT
HAVE PERFECT PHASE AND AMPLITUDE ACROSS THE APERTURE 4O ALLOW FOR ERRORS APERTURE
ILLUMINATIONS ARE OFTEN CHOSEN TO PROVIDE PEAK SIDELOBES BELOW THOSE REQUIRED &OR
EXAMPLE IF THE ANTENNA SPECIFICATION CALLS FOR D" SIDELOBES A 4AYLOR ILLUMINATION
THAT PROVIDES D" DESIGN SIDELOBES MIGHT BE CHOSEN 4HE TERMINOLOGY N INDICATES
THAT THE FIRST N SIDELOBES ARE HELD TO THE SPECIFIED LEVEL
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
4!",% )LLUMINATION &UNCTIONS
)LLUMINATION &UNCTION
%FFICIENCY G
0EAK 3IDELOBE D"
"EAMWIDTH
&ACTOR K
,INEAR ILLUMINATION FUNCTIONS BEAMWIDTH KK A DEGREES A LENGTH OF ANTENNA
5NIFORM
#OSINE
#OSINE SQUARE (ANNING
#OSINE SQUARED ON D" PEDESTAL
#OSINE SQUARE ON D" PEDESTAL
(AMMING
4AYLOR N
4AYLOR N
4AYLOR N
#IRCULAR ILLUMINATION FUNCTIONS BEAMWIDTH KK $ DEGREES $ DIAMETER OF ANTENNA
5NIFORM
4AYLOR N
4AYLOR N
4AYLOR N
)T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT FOR A RECTANGULAR ARRAY A DIFFERENT ILLUMINATION MAY BE
CHOSEN FOR EACH PLANE 4HIS IS APPROPRIATE IF THE SIDELOBE REQUIREMENTS IN EACH OF
THE PLANES ARE DIFFERENT 4HE RESULTANT LOSS IN GAIN IS THEN THE SUM IN DECIBELS OF THE
LOSSES IN EACH PLANE
&)'52% 4AYLOR ILLUMINATION LOSS AND BEAMWIDTH FACTOR
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
%FFECT OF %RRORS 7HEN ERRORS OCCUR IN PHASE OR AMPLITUDE ENERGY IS REMOVED
FROM THE MAIN BEAM AND DISTRIBUTED TO THE SIDELOBES )F THE ERRORS ARE PURELY RANDOM
THEY CREATE RANDOM SIDELOBES THAT ARE CONSIDERED TO BE RADIATED WITH THE GAIN AND
PATTERN OF THE ELEMENT 7HEN THE ERRORS ARE CORRELATED THE SIDELOBE ENERGY WILL BE
LUMPED AT DISCRETE LOCATIONS IN THE FAR FIELD 4HE CORRELATED ERRORS WILL THEREFORE PRO
VIDE HIGHER SIDELOBES BUT ONLY AT A LIMITED NUMBER OF LOCATIONS "OTH CORRELATED AND
RANDOM SIDELOBES ARE OF CONCERN TO ANTENNA DESIGNERS #ORRELATED ERRORS ARE DISCUSSED
IN 3ECTION
!NALYSES OF THE FAR FIELD EFFECT OF ERRORS ARE BASED ON THE FACT THAT ANTENNAS ARE
LINEAR DEVICES 4HAT IS THE FAR FIELD PATTERN IS THE SUM OF THE VOLTAGE AMPLITUDE AND
PHASE OF EACH RADIATING ELEMENT IN THE ANTENNA &OR THIS REASON THE FAR FIELD VOLTAGE
PATTERN CAN BE CONSIDERED TO BE THE SUM OF THE DESIGN PATTERN PLUS THE PATTERN CREATED
SOLELY BY THE ERRORS
%4 P F %DESIGN P F %ERROR P F
)N GENERAL THREE REGIONS WILL BE RECOGNIZED IN THE TOTAL RESULTANT PATTERN A LOW
NOISE FLOOR GENERATED BY RANDOM ERRORS THAT FOLLOW THE ELEMENT PATTERN A FEW PEAK
SIDELOBES DUE TO CORRELATED ERRORS AND THE MAIN BEAM WITH ITS SIDELOBES DUE TO THE
DESIGN DISTRIBUTION
2ANDOM %RRORS !LLEN AND 2UZE HAVE MADE DETAILED ANALYSES OF THE EFFECTS
OF RANDOM ERRORS ON ANTENNAS 4HIS DISCUSSION WILL FOLLOW THE ANALYSIS PERFORMED BY
!LLEN !S PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED AMPLITUDE AND PHASE ERRORS TAKE A FRACTION OF THE
ENERGY FROM THE MAIN BEAM AND DISTRIBUTE THIS ENERGY TO THE SIDELOBES 4HIS FRACTION
IS FOR SMALL INDEPENDENT RANDOM ERRORS
S 4 S F S !
WHERE RE RMS PHASE ERROR RAD
R! RMS AMPLITUDE ERROR VOLTSVOLT 66
4HIS ENERGY IS RADIATED INTO THE FAR FIELD WITH THE GAIN OF THE ELEMENT PATTERN
4O DETERMINE THE MEAN SQUARED SIDELOBE LEVEL -33, IT IS NECESSARY TO COMPARE
THIS ENERGY WITH THE PEAK OF THE PATTERN OF AN ARRAY OF . ELEMENTS SO THAT THE MEAN
SQUARED SIDELOBE LEVEL IS
-33,
S 4
HA .
S 4
.OTE THAT IN THE DENOMINATOR OF THIS EXPRESSION THE GAIN DUE TO THE ARRAY FACTOR
. IS REDUCED BY THE APERTURE EFFICIENCY GA AND BY THE ERROR POWER LOST FROM THE MAIN
BEAM
S 4 !S AN EXAMPLE CONSIDER AN ARRAY OF ELEMENTS WITH AN APERTURE
EFFICIENCY OF RA VV AND RE RAD 4HEN S 4
-33,
S 4
r
D"
H .
S 4
4HE RESULT IS THAT THIS ARRAY HAS A MEAN FLOOR OF RANDOM SIDELOBES THAT ON THE AVERAGE
IS D" BELOW THE PEAK OF THE BEAM )T ALSO ILLUSTRATES THAT TO ACHIEVE LOW SIDELOBES
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
VERY TIGHT TOLERANCES ARE REQUIRED 4HE AMPLITUDE OF VV IS EQUIVALENT TO A TOTAL
AMPLITUDE STANDARD DEVIATION OF D" RMS 4HE TOTAL RMS PHASE ERROR IS n )T
SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THERE ARE NUMEROUS SOURCES OF PHASE AND AMPLITUDE ERRORS THAT
ARE INDUCED BY THE PHASE SHIFTERS THE FEED NETWORK THE RADIATING ELEMENTS AND THE
MECHANICAL STRUCTURE 4HE TASK OF BUILDING A LOW
SIDELOBE ANTENNA IS ONE OF REDUCING
EACH OF THE AMPLITUDE ERRORS TO A FEW TENTHS OF A DECIBEL AND THE PHASE ERRORS TO A FEW
DEGREES 4HE FEWER THE NUMBER OF ELEMENTS USED THE TIGHTER THE TOLERANCE BECOMES
4HE INDIVIDUAL EFFECTS OF PHASE AND AMPLITUDE ERRORS AND FAILED ELEMENTS ARE SUM
MARIZED IN &IGURE 4HE RESULTANT RMS SIDELOBES ARE REFERENCED TO THE GAIN OF A
SINGLE ELEMENT SO THAT THE CURVE CAN BE USED FOR ANY NUMBER OF ELEMENTS WITH INDEPEN
DENT ERRORS &OR EXAMPLE A n RMS PHASE ERROR WILL PRODUCE AN RMS SIDELOBE LEVEL THAT
IS APPROXIMATELY D" BELOW THE GAIN OF AN ELEMENT )F ELEMENTS D" ARE
USED THE RMS SIDELOBE LEVEL IS D" BELOW THE GAIN OF THE ARRAY 4HIS IS THE EFFECT OF
ONLY THE RANDOM PHASE ERRORS 4HE EFFECTS DUE TO AMPLITUDE ERRORS AND FAILED ELEMENTS
MUST ALSO BE INCLUDED
4HE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION APPLIES TO THE RMS SIDELOBE LEVEL 4HIS ANALYSIS HAS BEEN
EXTENDED BY !LLEN TO APPLY THE PROBABILITY OF KEEPING A SINGLE SIDELOBE BELOW A GIVEN
&)'52% 2ANDOM ERRORS AND RMS SIDELOBES
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
LEVEL AND THEN THE PROBABILITY OF KEEPING A NUMBER OF SIDELOBES BELOW A GIVEN LEVEL "Y
IGNORING THE ELEMENT PATTERN THE -33, INCLUDING FAILED ELEMENTS IS GIVEN BY
-33,
0 S ! 0S F
HA 0.
WHERE
0 PROBABILITY OF A FAILED ELEMENT .OTE THAT IF 0 NO FAILED ELEMENTS
THIS EQUATION BECOMES
-33,
S ! S F
S
4
HA .
HA .
4HIS IS THE SAME AS %Q EXCEPT FOR S 4 IN THE DENOMINATOR WHICH IS NOT
SIGNIFICANT FOR LOW SIDELOBE ANTENNAS &OR THE CASE IN WHICH THE DESIGN SIDELOBES ARE
WELL BELOW THE SIDELOBES CAUSED BY ERRORS !LLEN HAS DEVELOPED THE SET OF CURVES SHOWN
IN &IGURE !N EXAMPLE WILL ILLUSTRATE THE USE OF THESE CURVES )F YOU DESIRE TO HOLD
THE SIDELOBE AT A GIVEN POINT IN SPACE TO LESS THAN D" BELOW THE PEAK OF THE BEAM
WITH A PROBABILITY OF DRAW A VERTICAL LINE FROM D" ON THE ABSCISSA UNTIL IT
INTERSECTS THE CURVE &ROM THIS INTERSECTION DRAW A HORIZONTAL LINE AND READ THE
VALUE OF -33, IN THIS CASE D" 4HEN
-33, D"
OR
-33, r
0 S ! 0S F
HA 0.
&)'52% 3IDELOBE LEVEL TO BE HELD WITH PROBABILITY 0 AFTER * , !LLEN
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
&OR A ELEMENT ARRAY
0 S ! 0S F
HA 0
&OR GA THIS ARRAY CAN TOLERATE 0 OR R! D" OR RE n .ATURALLY
EACH TYPE OF ERROR MUST BE ANTICIPATED AND ONE MUST ALLOW A BUDGET FOR FAILED ELE
MENTS AMPLITUDE ERRORS AND PHASE ERRORS
&OR A NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SIDELOBES THE PROBABILITY THAT N SIDELOBES CAN BE KEPT
BELOW A GIVEN LEVEL 24 IS EQUAL TO THE PRODUCT OF THE PROBABILITIES THAT EACH SIDELOBE
CAN BE HELD BELOW THIS LEVEL
N
0 ;N SIDELOBES 24 = 0 ; 2P I 24 =
2P I SIDELOBE LEVEL AT P I
I
!SSUMING THE SAME SIDELOBE REQUIREMENT AT EACH PI
0 ;N SIDELOBES 24= [ 0 ;ONE SIDELOBE 24=]N
AND FOR 0 ;ONE SIDELOBE 24=
0 ;N SIDELOBES 24= N 0 ;ONE SIDELOBE 24=
! SIMPLE EXAMPLE WILL ILLUSTRATE THE PROCESS )F IT IS NECESSARY TO KEEP ALL SIDELOBES
IN A SECTOR BELOW
D" WITH A PROBABILITY OF DETERMINE THE REQUIRED PROBABILITY ON
ANY ONE GIVEN SIDELOBE
0 ; SIDELOBES D"=
4HEN
0 ;ONE GIVEN SIDELOBE D"=
0 ;ONE GIVEN SIDELOBE D"=
0 ;ONE GIVEN SIDELOBE D"=
4HAT IS TO KEEP ALL SIDELOBES BELOW D" WITH A PROBABILITY OF IT IS NECESSARY
TO KEEP ANY GIVEN SIDELOBE BELOW D" WITH A PROBABILITY OF 4HE PROCESS OF
CONTROLLING EACH AND EVERY SIDELOBE IS THUS SEEN AS FORMIDABLE SINCE THE TOTAL NUM
BER OF SIDELOBES IS APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF ELEMENTS IN A PHASED ARRAY
&OR A ELEMENT ARRAY AND A PROBABILITY OF THAT A SINGLE SIDELOBE WILL NOT
EXCEED 24 AT ANY SINGLE LOCATION IT WILL STILL BE EXPECTED THAT SIDELOBES WILL EXCEED
24 WHEN ALL SIDELOBE LOCATIONS ARE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT
&OR VERY LOW SIDELOBE ARRAYS IT IS REASONABLE TO ALLOW A FEW SIDELOBES TO EXCEED
THE -33, VALUE BY AS MUCH AS TO D" TO ACCOUNT FOR RANDOM VARIATIONS 4HIS
CAN BE SEEN FROM &IGURE AS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 0 AND 0
OR 0 )F THIS ALLOWANCE IS NOT GRANTED THE ANTENNA WILL BE OVERDESIGNED
)T IS WORTHWHILE TO DO SOME PROBABILITY CALCULATIONS BEFORE SPECIFYING THE EXACT
SIDELOBE REQUIREMENTS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
+1 /</"
//F CONCERN HERE ARE ERRORS PECULIAR TO PHASED ARRAYS WHICH ARE DUE TO THE QUANTIZATION
OF AMPLITUDE AND PHASE AND TO THE LOBES THAT OCCUR WHEN THESE ERRORS ARE REPEATED PERI
ODICALLY 4HE EFFECT ON THE GAIN AND RADIATION PATTERN OF RANDOM ERRORS IN THE ANTENNA
EXCITATION FUNCTION IS DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION
0HASE 1UANTIZATION 0HASE SHIFTERS SUITABLE FOR STEERING PHASED ARRAYS ARE
DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION -OST OF THESE PHASE SHIFTERS ARE DIGITALLY CONTROLLED AND CAN
BE SET WITH AN ACCURACY THAT IS A FUNCTION OF THE NUMBER OF BITS ! SMALL NUMBER OF BITS
IS DESIRED FOR SIMPLICITY OF PHASE
SHIFT COMPUTATION AND OPERATION FOR MINIMAL INSER
TION LOSS IN THE CASE OF DIODE PHASE SHIFTERS AND FOR MINIMAL COST /N THE OTHER HAND A
LARGE NUMBER OF BITS IS REQUIRED FOR BEST PERFORMANCE IN TERMS OF GAIN SIDELOBES AND
BEAM
POINTING ACCURACY
0HASE %RRORS 4HE PHASE OF A PHASE SHIFTER HAVING 0 BITS CAN BE SET TO THE DESIRED
VALUE WITH A RESIDUAL ERROR
P
0
P
2-3 PHASE ERROR S F 0
0EAK PHASE ERROR A o
,OSS IN 'AIN !S DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION THE LOSS IN GAIN IS S F WHICH WITH
%Q GIVES
$' y S F
P
0
7ITH MANY ARRAY ELEMENTS THIS RESULT IS STATISTICALLY INDEPENDENT OF THE AMPLITUDE
DISTRIBUTION !N ENUMERATION OF %Q GIVES
.UMBER OF PHASE SHIFTER BITS 0
,OSS IN GAIN $' D"
&ROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF GAIN THEREFORE OR BITS WOULD APPEAR AMPLE
2-3 3IDELOBES 0HASE QUANTIZATION DECREASES THE GAIN OF THE MAIN BEAM AS
SHOWN ABOVE 4HE ENERGY THAT HAS BEEN LOST IS DISTRIBUTED TO THE SIDELOBES 4HE RESULT
ING RMS SIDELOBES ARE THEREFORE S F RELATIVE TO THE GAIN OF A SINGLE ELEMENT AS SHOWN
IN &IGURE
"EAM 0OINTING !CCURACY 4HE ACCURATE DETERMINATION OF THE DIRECTION OF TARGETS IS
MADE WITH THE MONOPULSE DIFFERENCE PATTERN 4HE ACCURACY OF THE NULL POSITION OF THE
DIFFERENCE PATTERN IS THEREFORE OF INTEREST 7ITH QUANTIZED PHASE SHIFTERS THE POSITION
OF THIS NULL CAN BE MOVED WITH A GRANULARITY THAT IS A FUNCTION OF THE BIT SIZE
&OLLOWING THE ANALYSIS OF &RANK AND 2UZE &IGURE SHOWS AN APERTURE WITH
AN EVEN NUMBER OF ELEMENTS . SEPARATED BY DISTANCES S !LL ELEMENTS ARE EXCITED WITH
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% !NTISYMMETRICALLY PHASED ARRAY
EQUAL AMPLITUDE AND ANTISYMMETRIC PHASE TO GIVE A DIFFERENCE PATTERN 4HE STEERING
INCREMENT IS SHOWN TO BE
DP
Q SCANNED
. 0 "
0ERIODIC %RRORS
0ERIODIC !MPLITUDE AND 0HASE -ODULATION "OTH AMPLITUDE AND PHASE QUANTIZA
TION LEAD TO DISCONTINUITIES THAT MAY BE PERIODIC AND GIVE RISE TO QUANTIZATION LOBES THAT
ARE SIMILAR TO GRATING LOBES
!MPLITUDE OR PHASE ERRORS THAT VARY COSINUSOIDALLY MAY BE ANALYZED SIMPLY AFTER
"ROWN &IGURE A SHOWS AN ORIGINAL AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION &X DISTURBED BY A
COSINUSOIDAL RIPPLE Q COS O XS GIVING A NEW DISTRIBUTION & ` X SUCH THAT
& ` X & X Q& X COS
& X
P X
S
Q
& X E J P X S & X E
J P X S
7HEN THE BEAM IS SCANNED TO P THE QUANTIZATION LOBES OCCUR AT AN ANGLE P
WHERE
SL
4HE GAIN OF THE APERTURE VARIES AS COS P AND THE RELATIVE AMPLITUDE OF THE QUANTI
ZATION LOBE IS MODIFIED BY THE FACTOR COS P COS P &IGURE BnG SHOWS THE
EFFECTS OF VARIOUS OTHER PERIODIC APERTURE MODULATIONS
SIN P SIN P o
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% %FFECTS OF PERIODIC AMPLITUDE AND PHASE MODULATION SIN P SIN P o K S
0HASE 3HIFTER 1UANTIZATION ,OBES 0EAK QUANTIZATION SIDELOBE VALUES ARE DERIVED
BY -ILLER CONSIDERING THE ACTUAL APERTURE PHASE DISTRIBUTION &IGURE SHOWS THIS
DISTRIBUTION FOR SOME SCAN ANGLE P AND THE RESULTING ERRORS DUE TO PHASE QUANTIZATION
!LTHOUGH A CONTINUOUS CURVE HAS BEEN DRAWN ONLY POINTS CORRESPONDING TO INTEGRAL
VALUES OF - ARE MEANINGFUL
4HE GREATEST PHASE QUANTIZATION LOBES SEEM TO OCCUR WITH A PHASE SLOPE SUCH
THAT THE ELEMENTS ARE SPACED BY A DISTANCE EXACTLY ONE HALF OF THE PERIOD OR AN EXACT
ODD MULTIPLE THEREOF 4HE PHASE ERROR UNDER THIS CONDITION HAS ELEMENT TO ELEMENT
PHASE RIPPLES WITH A PEAK TO PEAK VALUE OF A P P 4HE VALUE OF THE PEAK PHASE
QUANTIZATION LOBES FOR THE CASE SHOWN IN &IGURES F AND ARE GIVEN IN
&IGURE !N EXAMINATION OF &IGURE SHOWS THAT PEAK PHASE QUANTIZATION
LOBES ARE SIGNIFICANT AND ATTEMPTS SHOULD BE MADE TO REDUCE THEM
2EDUCTION OF 0EAK 0HASE 1UANTIZATION ,OBES -ILLER POINTS OUT THAT PEAK QUAN
TIZATION LOBES CAN BE REDUCED BY DECORRELATING THE PHASE QUANTIZATION ERRORS 4HIS MAY
BE DONE BY ADDING A CONSTANT PHASE SHIFT IN THE PATH TO EACH RADIATOR WITH A VALUE
THAT DIFFERS FROM RADIATOR TO RADIATOR BY AMOUNTS THAT ARE UNRELATED TO THE BIT SIZE
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% !PERTURE PHASE ERROR DUE TO PHASE QUANTIZATION FROM -ILLER
&)'52% 0EAK SIDELOBES DUE TO PHASE QUANTIZATION
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE VARIABLE PHASE SHIFTER IS THEN PROGRAMMED TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS ADDITIONAL INSER
TION PHASE 7ITH A SPHERICAL OR QUADRATIC LAW OF INSERTION PHASE VARIATION AS OBTAINED
WITH OPTICAL
FEED SYSTEMS 3ECTION THE REDUCTIONS IN PEAK QUANTIZATION LOBES
ARE EQUIVALENT TO ADDING BIT TO THE PHASE SHIFTERS IN A
ELEMENT ARRAY BITS IN A
ELEMENT ARRAY AND BITS IN A
ELEMENT ARRAY
!MPLITUDE 1UANTIZATION 7HEN THE APERTURE OF A PHASED ARRAY IS DIVIDED INTO
EQUAL SUBARRAYS THEN THE AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION ACROSS EACH SUBARRAY IS CONSTANT
!PERTURE TAPER FOR THE ANTENNA IS APPROXIMATED BY CHANGING THE AMPLITUDE FROM SUBAR
RAY TO SUBARRAY AND QUANTIZATION LOBES ARISE FROM THESE DISCONTINUITIES 4HE VALUE OF
THESE LOBES MAY BE ESTIMATED FROM THE VARIOUS RESULTS SHOWN IN &IGURE OR ACTU
ALLY COMPUTED BY SUMMING ALL CONTRIBUTIONS AT THE KNOWN QUANTIZATION GRATING LOBE
ANGLES 4HE DISTRIBUTION BECOMES SMOOTHER AS THE NUMBER OF SUBARRAYS IS INCREASED OR
AS THEY ARE INTERLACED
7 /"*-
,,94HE PHENOMENON OF FOCUSING AN ARRAY IS THE RESULT OF THE ENERGY FROM EACH ELEMENT
ADDING IN
PHASE AT SOME DESIRED POINT WITHIN THE ANTENNA 7HEN ENERGY IS INCIDENT
NORMAL TO THE ARRAY EACH ELEMENT RECEIVES THE SAME PHASE INDEPENDENT OF FREQUENCY
7HEN ENERGY IS INCIDENT FROM SOME ANGLE OTHER THAN NORMAL THE PHASE DIFFERENCE FROM
THE PLANAR PHASE FRONT TO EACH ELEMENT IS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY AND MOST PHASED
ARRAYS WITH PHASE SHIFTERS BECOME FREQUENCY
DEPENDENT 4HIS SAME PHENOMENON CAN
BE VIEWED IN THE TIME DOMAIN !S SHOWN IN &IGURE WHEN A PULSE OF ENERGY IS
INCIDENT AT AN ANGLE OTHER THAN NORMAL THE ENERGY IS RECEIVED EARLIER AT ONE EDGE OF THE
ARRAY THAN AT THE OTHER EDGE AND A PERIOD OF TIME MUST ELAPSE BEFORE ENERGY APPEARS
IN ALL ELEMENTS 4HE CONCEPT OF APERTURE FILL TIME 4 ,C SIN P IS JUST ANOTHER WAY OF
EXPLAINING THE BANDWIDTH OF A PHASED ARRAY
4HE BANDWIDTH OF PHASED ARRAYS IS DESCRIBED BY &RANK AS BEING COMPOSED OF TWO
EFFECTS THE APERTURE EFFECT AND THE FEED EFFECT )N BOTH EFFECTS IT IS THE PATH
LENGTH DIFFER
ENCES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE BANDWIDTH SENSITIVITY OF A PHASED ARRAY &OR A PARALLEL
FED
&)'52% !PERTURE FILL TIME PARALLEL FED ARRAY AFTER * &RANK !RTECH
(OUSE
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
ARRAY EQUAL LINE LENGTH THE FEED NETWORK DOES NOT CONTRIBUTE TO A CHANGE IN PHASE WITH
FREQUENCY AND SO ONLY THE APERTURE EFFECT REMAINS 4HIS WILL BE DISCUSSED FIRST AND THE
EFFECT OF THE FEED WILL FOLLOW
!PERTURE %FFECTS 7HEN ENERGY IS INCIDENT ON AN ARRAY AT AN ANGLE OTHER THAN
BROADSIDE &IGURE THE PHASE REQUIRED ON THE EDGE ELEMENT IS X O , K SIN P
.OTE THE K IN THE DENOMINATOR 4HIS INDICATES THAT THE REQUIRED PHASE IS FREQUENCY
DEPENDENT )F FREQUENCY IS CHANGED AND THE PHASE SHIFTERS ARE NOT CHANGED THE BEAM
WILL MOVE &OR AN EQUAL
LINE
LENGTH FEED THE BEAM SHAPE WILL BE UNDISTORTED IN SINE
SPACE AND THE BEAM WILL MOVE TOWARD BROADSIDE AS THE FREQUENCY IS INCREASED )F THE
PHASE SHIFTERS ARE REPLACED BY TIME
DELAY NETWORKS THEN THE PHASE THROUGH THE TIME
DELAY NETWORKS WILL CHANGE WITH FREQUENCY AND THE BEAM WILL REMAIN STATIONARY
7HEN PHASE SHIFT INDEPENDENT OF FREQUENCY IS USED TO STEER THE BEAM THE BEAM IS
STEERED TO A DIRECTION P WITH A PHASE OF
Y
P X
P X
SIN P
F SIN P
C
L
ON THE ELEMENT LOCATED A DISTANCE X FROM THE ARRAY CENTER !T FREQUENCY F THIS SAME
PHASE SETTING STEERS THE BEAM TO A NEW DIRECTION P $P WHICH IS SHOWN IN &RANK
TO BE
$P
$F
TAN P
F
RAD
!S THE FREQUENCY IS INCREASED THE BEAM SCANS TOWARD BROADSIDE BY AN ANGLE
THAT IS INDEPENDENT OF THE APERTURE SIZE OR BEAMWIDTH (OWEVER THE PERMISSIBLE
AMOUNT THAT THE BEAM MAY SCAN WITH FREQUENCY IS RELATED TO THE BEAMWIDTH BECAUSE
PATTERN AND GAIN DETERIORATIONS ARE A FUNCTION OF THE FRACTIONAL BEAMWIDTH SCANNED
4HE ANGLE THAT THE BEAM ACTUALLY SCANS ON THE OTHER HAND IS RELATED TO THE PER
CENTAGE BANDWIDTH ! BANDWIDTH FACTOR MAY THEREFORE BE DEFINED IN TERMS OF THE
BROADSIDE BEAMWIDTH
"ANDWIDTH FACTOR +
BANDWIDTH
BEAMWIDTH n
! REASONABLE CRITERION IS TO LIMIT THE BANDWIDTH SO THAT THE BEAM NEVER SCANS BY
MORE THAN o ONE
FOURTH OF A LOCAL BEAMWIDTH FREQUENCY IE
#RITERION
$P
a
P " SCANNED
7ITH A SCAN OF n THIS GIVES + AND IN TERMS OF BROADSIDE BEAMWIDTH THE LIMIT IS
"ANDWIDTH BEAMWIDTH n #7
&OR EXAMPLE IF THE ARRAY HAS A BEAMWIDTH OF n THIS CRITERION PERMITS A CHANGE
IN FREQUENCY PRIOR TO RESETTING THE PHASE SHIFTERS 4HIS ALLOWS THE BEAM TO MOVE FROM
ONE
FOURTH BEAMWIDTH ON ONE SIDE OF THE DESIRED DIRECTION TO ONE
FOURTH BEAMWIDTH
ON THE OTHER SIDE AS THE FREQUENCY CHANGES BY !T SMALLER SCAN ANGLES THE EFFECT IS
REDUCED AS GIVEN BY %Q AND BROADER
BAND OPERATION IS POSSIBLE
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE EXPLANATION GIVEN ABOVE APPLIES TO AN ANTENNA OPERATING AT A SINGLE #7 FRE
QUENCY AND DESCRIBES HOW THE BEAM MOVES AS THIS FREQUENCY IS CHANGED
(OWEVER MOST RADARS ARE PULSED AND RADIATE OVER A BAND OF FREQUENCIES &OR A BEAM
SCANNED FROM BROADSIDE EACH SPECTRAL COMPONENT IS STEERED TO A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT DIREC
TION 4O DETERMINE THE COMPOSITE EFFECT OF THE COMPONENTS IT IS NECESSARY TO ADD THE
FAR
FIELD PATTERNS OF ALL SPECTRAL COMPONENTS 4HIS ANALYSIS HAS BEEN PERFORMED AND
IT IS APPARENT THAT THE OVERALL ANTENNA GAIN OF THE PULSE WILL BE LESS THAN THAT OF A SINGLE
SPECTRAL COMPONENT THAT HAS MAXIMUM GAIN IN THE DESIRED DIRECTION !S WITH THE #7
SITUATION THE GREATEST LOSS OCCURS AT THE MAXIMUM SCAN ANGLE WHICH IS ASSUMED TO BE
n &OR THIS SITUATION THE CRITERION CHOSEN IS TO ALLOW A SPECTRUM THAT LOSES D" OF
ENERGY ON TARGET DUE TO FREQUENCY
SCANNED SPECTRAL COMPONENTS &OR A BEAM SCANNED
TO n THIS BECOMES
"ANDWIDTH BEAMWIDTH n PULSE
.OTE THAT THIS IS TWICE THE BANDWIDTH PERMITTED FOR THE #7 SITUATION !NOTHER WAY OF
ANALYZING THIS PHENOMENON IS IN TERMS OF APERTURE FILL TIME !S SHOWN IN &IGURE
THE TIME IT TAKES TO FILL THE APERTURE WITH ENERGY IS
T
,
SIN P
C
)F THE BANDWIDTH IS CHOSEN TO BE EQUAL TO THE APERTURE FILL TIME S , C SIN P THIS
IS EQUIVALENT TO BANDWIDTH BEAMWIDTH n (ENCE A LOSS OF D" CAN BE
EXPECTED IF THE PULSE WIDTH IS EQUAL TO THE APERTURE FILL TIME ,ONGER PULSES WILL HAVE
LESS LOSS 4HE EXACT AMOUNT OF THE LOSS WILL DEPEND ON THE SPECIFIC SPECTRUM TRANSMIT
TED BUT THE VARIATION WILL AMOUNT TO LESS THAN D" FOR MOST WAVEFORMS 2OTHENBERG
AND 3CHWARTZMAN PROVIDE DETAILS AND ALSO TREAT THE PROBLEM AS A MATCHED FILTER
4HE PRECEDING DISCUSSION ASSUMES AN EQUAL
PATH
LENGTH FEED (OWEVER IT IS
UNLIKELY THAT A FEED WILL PROVIDE EXACTLY EQUAL PATH LENGTHS )T WILL SUFFICE TO HAVE THE
PATH LENGTHS KEPT WITHIN ONE WAVELENGTH OF EACH ANOTHER 4HE PHASE ERRORS INTRODUCED
CAN THEN BE CORRECTED BY PROGRAMMING THE PHASE SHIFTERS 4HIS WILL HAVE THE BENEFICIAL
EFFECT OF BREAKING UP THE QUANTIZATION ERRORS AND THEREBY REDUCING QUANTIZATION LOBES
&EED %FFECT 7HEN AN EQUAL
PATH
LENGTH FEED IS NOT IN USE THE FEED NETWORK WILL
PRODUCE A CHANGE IN PHASE WITH FREQUENCY )N SOME CASES SUCH AS 2OTMAN LENS OR
EQUAL
LENGTH "LASS MATRIX THE FEED CAN ACTUALLY COMPENSATE FOR THE APERTURE EFFECT
AND PRODUCE A BEAM DIRECTION THAT IS INDEPENDENT OF FREQUENCY (OWEVER THE MORE
CONVENTIONAL FEEDS TEND TO REDUCE THE BANDWIDTH OF THE ARRAY
%ND
&ED 3ERIES &EED !N END
FED SERIES ARRAY IS SHOWN IN &IGURE A LATER
IN THIS CHAPTER 4HE RADIATING ELEMENTS ARE IN SERIES AND PROGRESSIVELY FARTHER AND FAR
THER REMOVED FROM THE FEED POINT 7HEN THE FREQUENCY IS CHANGED THE PHASE AT THE
RADIATING ELEMENTS CHANGES PROPORTIONATELY TO THE LENGTH OF FEED LINE SO THAT THE PHASE
AT THE APERTURE TILTS IN A LINEAR MANNER AND THE BEAM IS SCANNED 4HIS EFFECT IS USEFUL
FOR FREQUENCY
SCANNING TECHNIQUES BUT IN THE CASE OF PHASED ARRAYS IT IS UNDESIRABLE
AND REDUCES THE BANDWIDTH )T HAS BEEN SHOWN PREVIOUSLY THAT WITH PHASED ARRAYS THE
POINTING DIRECTION OF A SCANNED BEAM ALSO CHANGES WITH FREQUENCY %Q BECAUSE
PHASE RATHER THAN TIME DELAY IS ADJUSTED 4HESE TWO CHANGES IN BEAM
POINTING DIRECTION
MAY ADD OR SUBTRACT DEPENDING ON THE DIRECTION IN WHICH THE BEAM HAS BEEN SCANNED
4HE WORST CASE WILL BE CONSIDERED HERE
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
7ITH A CHANGE IN FREQUENCY A NONDISPERSIVE TRANSMISSION LINE HAVING FREE SPACE
PROPAGATION CHARACTERISTICS AND A LENGTH , EQUAL TO THE SIZE OF THE APERTURE THAT IT FEEDS
WILL PRODUCE A LINEAR PHASE VARIATION ACROSS THE APERTURE WITH A MAXIMUM VALUE AT THE
EDGES OF
$Y MAX
$ F P ,
F L
RAD
WHERE $F F IS THE FRACTIONAL CHANGE IN FREQUENCY 4HIS LINEAR
PHASE PROGRESSION ACROSS
THE APERTURE WILL SCAN THE BEAM BY
$P
$F
F COS P
RAD
&OR ONE DIRECTION OF SCANNING THIS EFFECT WILL ADD TO THE APERTURE EFFECT FOR THE
OPPOSITE DIRECTION IT WILL TEND TO CANCEL THE APERTURE EFFECT )N A WAVEGUIDE WITH THE
GUIDE WAVELENGTH DENOTED K G THE EFFECT IS MORE PRONOUNCED AND THE RESULTANT CHANGE
IN BEAM POSITION IS
$P
LG $ F
L F COS P
RAD
7HEN ANALYZING AN END FED SERIES FEED IT IS NECESSARY TO CONSIDER BOTH THE FEED
EFFECT AND THE APERTURE EFFECT 4HE TOTAL FREQUENCY SCAN OF THIS FEED WILL BE
$P
LG $ F
$F
TAN P o
L F COSP
F
RAD
#7
#ENTER &ED 3ERIES &EED ! CENTER FED ARRAY &IGURE CAN BE CONSIDERED
AS TWO END FEEDS %ACH FEED CONTROLS AN APERTURE THAT IS HALF THE TOTAL AND THEREFORE
HAS TWICE THE BEAMWIDTH !S THE FREQUENCY IS CHANGED EACH HALF OF THE APERTURE SCANS
IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION 4HIS INITIALLY CREATES A BROADER BEAM WITH REDUCED GAIN !S
FREQUENCY CONTINUES TO CHANGE THE TWO BEAMS WILL EVENTUALLY SPLIT APART !T BROAD
SIDE THE CENTER FED ANTENNA HAS POORER PERFORMANCE THAN A PARALLEL FEED SINCE EACH
HALF SCANS (OWEVER AT n SCAN THE COMPENSATION ON ONE HALF OF THE ARRAY ASSISTS
IN KEEPING THE GAIN COMPARABLE TO THAT OF A PARALLEL FEED &ROM THE VIEWPOINT OF GAIN
REDUCTION THE CRITERION FOR A CENTER FED ARRAY IS
"ANDWIDTH
L
BEAMWIDTH n #7
LG
WHERE KG IS THE WAVEGUIDE WAVELENGTH
(OWEVER FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF SIDELOBES THIS CRITERION MAY BE UNACCEPTABLE &OR
A LOW
SIDELOBE DESIGN EITHER #7 OR PULSED THE SIDELOBES FOR THIS FEED SHOULD BE CAL
CULATED BECAUSE A CHANGE IN FREQUENCY NO LONGER PRODUCES A TRANSLATED BEAM BUT RATHER
A BROADER BEAM COMPOSED OF TWO TRANSLATED BEAMS
3PACE &EED 4HE SPACE OPTICAL FEED CAN BE CONSIDERED TO BE SOMEWHAT BETWEEN
A PARALLEL FEED AND A CENTER
FED SERIES FEED 7ITH A VERY LONG FOCAL LENGTH THE SPACE
FEED APPROXIMATES A PARALLEL FEED 7ITH A VERY SHORT FOCAL LENGTH IT APPROXIMATES A
{
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&)'52% #ENTER
FED SERIES ARRAY AFTER * &RANK !RTECH (OUSE
A CENTER
FED SERIES FEED AND B GABLED PHASE DUE TO FEED
CENTER FED SERIES FEED "ECAUSE THE BANDWIDTH PERFORMANCE OF EACH IS COMPARABLE THE
OPTICAL FEED CRITERION IS
"ANDWIDTH BANDWIDTH n #7
4ABLE SUMMARIZES THE BANDWIDTH CRITERIA FOR THE VARIOUS FEED NETWORKS "OTH
THE #7 CRITERION AND THE COMPARABLE PULSE CRITERION ARE GIVEN
"ROAD )NSTANTANEOUS "ANDWIDTH &OR A STATIONARY BEAM IN SPACE INDEPENDENT
OF FREQUENCY IT IS NECESSARY TO USE TIME DELAY RATHER THAN PHASE STEERING )T IS NOT
PRACTICAL TO PROVIDE A TIME
DELAY NETWORK AT EACH ELEMENT IN A PHASED ARRAY BECAUSE
4!",% "ANDWIDTH #RITERIA FOR 3EVERAL &EED .ETWORKS
&EED
#7 "ANDWIDTH
0ULSE "ANDWIDTH
%QUAL LINE LENGTH
%ND
FED SERIES
"EAMWIDTH
r BEAMWIDTH
LG
BEAMWIDTH
r BEAMWIDTH
LG
#ENTER FED SERIES
3PACE FED OPTICAL
L
r BEAMWIDTH
LG
"EAMWIDTH
L
r BEAMWIDTH
LG
BEAMWIDTH
!FTER &RANK
./4% !LL BEAMWIDTHS ARE IN DEGREES AND REFER TO THE BROADSIDE BEAMWIDTH KG GUIDE WAVELENGTH AND K FREE
SPACE WAVELENGTH
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
THESE NETWORKS ARE EXPENSIVE AND LOSSY AND CONTAIN ERRORS !N ALTERNATIVE IS TO USE A
BROADBAND BEAM
SWITCHING TECHNIQUE SUCH AS THE EQUAL
LINE
LENGTH "LASS MATRIX OR A
2OTMAN LENS &OR $ SCANNING THESE TECHNIQUES BECOME QUITE COMPLEX
!NOTHER TECHNIQUE FOR IMPROVING THE BANDWIDTH BY A CONSIDERABLE FACTOR IS TO USE AN
ARRAY OF SUBARRAYS 4HE RADIATING ELEMENTS OF A PHASED ARRAY MAY BE GROUPED INTO SUBAR
RAYS WHERE TIME
DELAY ELEMENTS ARE ADDED 4HIS IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE ANTENNA
MAY BE REGARDED AS AN ARRAY OF SUBARRAYS 4HE SUBARRAY PATTERN FORMS THE ELEMENT FAC
TOR IT IS STEERED BY PHASE SHIFTERS IN THE DESIRED DIRECTION BUT IT SCANS WITH FREQUENCY
AS INDICATED BY %Q 4HE ARRAY FACTOR IS SCANNED BY ADJUSTING THE FREQUENCY
INDEPENDENT TIME
DELAY ELEMENTS !LL SUBARRAYS ARE STEERED IN THE SAME MANNER 4HE
TOTAL RADIATION PATTERN IS THE PRODUCT OF THE ARRAY FACTOR AND THE ELEMENT FACTOR ! CHANGE
IN FREQUENCY GIVES RISE TO GRATING LOBES RATHER THAN SHIFTS OF THE BEAM POSITION 4HIS CAN
BE SEEN FROM &IGURE 4HE SUBARRAY PATTERN IS SHOWN AT THE DESIGN FREQUENCY F AND
IS SEEN TO HAVE A NULL AT THE POSITION OF THE GRATING LOBE !S FREQUENCY IS CHANGED BY C F
THE PATTERN IS SCANNED )T IS SHOWN DASHED IN A POSITION WHERE IT HAS BEEN SCANNED BY A
LITTLE MORE THAN HALF OF ITS BEAMWIDTH 4HIS IS CLEARLY TOO MUCH FOR THE PRODUCT OF ARRAY
AND ELEMENT FACTORS GIVES TWO BEAMS OF EQUAL AMPLITUDE
4HE LOSS IN GAIN AND THE MAGNITUDE OF THE GRATING LOBE ARE FUNCTIONS OF THE FRACTIONAL
SUBARRAY BEAMWIDTH THAT HAS BEEN SCANNED AS A RESULT OF THE CHANGE IN FREQUENCY 4HE
RESULTS MAY BE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE BANDWIDTH FACTOR + REFERRED TO AS THE SUBARRAY
BROADSIDE BEAMWIDTH
&IGURE SHOWS THESE VALUES AS FUNCTIONS OF + FOR A SCAN OF n
4HE VALUE PREVIOUSLY USED FOR SCANNING n WAS + AND THIS VALUE APPEARS
ACCEPTABLE HERE WHERE THE RELEVANT BEAMWIDTH IS THE BROADSIDE BEAMWIDTH OF THE
SUBARRAY 4HUS IF THE APERTURE IS SPLIT INTO . SUBARRAYS IN ONE PLANE WITH TIME
DELAY
NETWORKS AT EACH SUBARRAY LEVEL THE BANDWIDTH IS INCREASED BY A FACTOR OF . 4HIS SAME
BANDWIDTH CRITERION LEADS TO A REDUCTION IN GAIN OF ABOUT D" AND A GRATING LOBE OF
ABOUT
D" AT THE EDGES OF THE BAND WITH n OF SCAN )NTERLACING OF SUBARRAYS CAN
REDUCE THE GRATING LOBES
&)'52% 0HASED ARRAY USING SUBARRAYS WITH TIME DELAY
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 'ENERATION OF GRATING LOBES BY A CHANGE OF FREQUENCY
4HE MONOPULSE NULL POSITION IS UNAFFECTED BY THE BEHAVIOR OF THE SUBARRAYS AS LONG
AS THEY ALL RESPOND IN THE SAME WAY 4HE NULL POSITION IS DETERMINED ONLY BY THE TIME
DELAY NETWORKS BEHIND THE SUBARRAY AND CORRESPONDS TO THE ARRAY
FACTOR NULL WHICH IS
UNAFFECTED WHEN MULTIPLIED BY THE SUBARRAY PATTERN
4IME
$ELAY .ETWORKS &IGURE A SHOWS A TIME
DELAY NETWORK THAT IS DIGI
TALLY CONTROLLED BY SWITCHES 4HE TOTAL DELAY PATH LENGTH THAT HAS TO BE PROVIDED NON
DISPERSIVELY AMOUNTS TO , SIN PMAX WHERE PMAX IS THE MAXIMUM SCAN ANGLE FOR THE
APERTURE , 4HE SMALLEST BIT SIZE IS ABOUT K OR K WITH THE PRECISE SETTING ADJUSTED BY
&)'52% ,OSS OF GAIN AND GRATING
LOBE AMPLITUDE AS FUNCTIONS OF BANDWIDTH PHASED
SUBARRAYS WITH TIME DELAY SCANNED n 4HE VALUE OF THE GRATING LOBE WILL BE MODIFIED BY THE
ELEMENT PATTERN
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
{x
AN ADDITIONAL VARIABLE PHASE SHIFTER ! n BEAM SCANNED n FOR EXAMPLE REQUIRES A
TIME DELAY OF BITS THE LARGEST BEING WAVELENGTHS AS WELL AS AN ADDITIONAL PHASE
SHIFTER 4HE TOLERANCES ARE TIGHT AMOUNTING IN THIS CASE TO A FEW DEGREES OUT OF ABOUT
AND ARE DIFFICULT TO MEET 0ROBLEMS MAY BE DUE TO LEAKAGE PAST THE SWITCH TO
A DIFFERENCE IN INSERTION LOSS BETWEEN THE ALTERNATE PATHS TO SMALL MISMATCHES AT THE
VARIOUS JUNCTIONS TO VARIATIONS IN TEMPERATURE OR TO THE DISPERSIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF
SOME OF THE COMPONENTS 0AINSTAKING DESIGN IS NECESSARY 4HE SWITCHES MAY BE DIODES
OR CIRCULATORS ,EAKAGE PAST THE SWITCHES MAY BE REDUCED BY ADDING ANOTHER SWITCH
IN SERIES IN EACH LINE 4HE DIFFERENCE IN INSERTION LOSS BETWEEN THE TWO PATHS MAY BE
EQUALIZED BY PADDING THE SHORTER ARM 4HE VARIOUS PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN COMPREHEN
SIVELY ASSESSED AND ANALYZED BY ,INCOLN ,ABORATORY
/N TRANSMITTING THE TOLERANCES ARE LESS SEVERE BECAUSE THE REQUIREMENTS ARE USUALLY
FOR POWER ON TARGET RATHER THAN FOR ACCURATE ANGLE DETERMINATION OR LOW SIDELOBES
&IGURE B SHOWS ANOTHER CONFIGURATION THAT HAS THE ADVANTAGE OF SIMPLICITY
%ACH OF THE SWITCHABLE CIRCULATORS CONNECTS EITHER DIRECTLY ACROSS COUNTERCLOCKWISE
OR VIA THE SHORT CIRCUITED LENGTH )SOLATION IN EXCESS OF D" IS REQUIRED )T IS CLEAR
THAT THE INSERTION LOSS OF TIME DELAY CIRCUITS IS VERY HIGH FOR MOST PRACTICAL SYSTEMS
4HEY WOULD THEREFORE PRECEDE A FINAL POWER AMPLIFIER FOR TRANSMITTING AND FOLLOW A
PREAMPLIFIER FOR RECEIVING
! FURTHER METHOD OF PROVIDING DELAY IS POSSIBLE BY TRANSLATING THE PROBLEM FROM THE
MICROWAVE DOMAIN AND DELAYING AT )&
&)'52% 4IME DELAY CONFIGURATIONS A TIME DELAY BY CHOOSING UPPER OR LOWER PATHS AND B TIME
DELAY BY USING SWITCHED CIRCULATORS
{
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n
/7", -
",
,-
/PTICAL
&EED 3YSTEMS 0HASED ARRAYS MAY BE IN THE FORM OF LENS ARRAYS OR REFLEC
TARRAYS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE WHERE AN OPTICAL
FEED SYSTEM PROVIDES THE PROPER
APERTURE ILLUMINATION 4HE LENS HAS INPUT AND OUTPUT RADIATORS COUPLED BY PHASE SHIFT
ERS "OTH SURFACES OF THE LENS REQUIRE MATCHING 4HE PRIMARY FEED SHOULD BE DESIGNED
WITH CARE AND CAN BE COMPLEX TO GIVE THE DESIRED APERTURE AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION WITH
LOW SPILLOVER LOSSES 4HE TRANSMITTER FEED CAN BE SEPARATED FROM THE RECEIVER FEED BY
AN ANGLE @ AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE PHASE SHIFTERS ARE THEN RESET BETWEEN TRANS
MITTING AND RECEIVING SO THAT IN BOTH CASES THE BEAM POINTS IN THE SAME DIRECTION 4HIS
METHOD ALLOWS FLEXIBILITY IN OPTIMIZING THE TRANSMITTER APERTURE DISTRIBUTION PERHAPS
FOR MAXIMUM POWER ON THE TARGET AND SEPARATELY OPTIMIZING THE RECEIVER SUM AND
DIFFERENCE PATTERNS FOR LOW SIDELOBES 3INCE A CHANGE IN FEED POSITION CORRESPONDS
TO SCANNING WITH TIME DELAY ADDITIONAL FEEDS MAY BE ADDED TO PROVIDE SEVERAL TIME
DELAY
COMPENSATED DIRECTIONS OF SCAN FOR A CORRESPONDING INCREASE IN BANDWIDTH
4HE PHASING OF THE ANTENNA HAS TO INCLUDE A CORRECTION FOR THE SPHERICAL PHASE FRONT
4HIS CAN BE SEEN &IGURE A TO AMOUNT TO
P
L
F R F
P R
L F
R
F
7ITH A SUFFICIENTLY LARGE FOCAL LENGTH THE SPHERICAL PHASE FRONT MAY BE APPROXI
MATED BY THAT OF TWO CROSSED CYLINDERS PERMITTING THE CORRECTION TO BE APPLIED SIMPLY
WITH ROW
AND
COLUMN STEERING COMMANDS
#ORRECTION OF A SPHERICAL PHASE FRONT WITH THE PHASE SHIFTERS REDUCES PEAK PHASE
QUANTIZATION LOBES 3ECTION 3PACE PROBLEMS MAY BE ENCOUNTERED IN ASSEMBLING
AN ACTUAL SYSTEM ESPECIALLY AT HIGHER FREQUENCIES BECAUSE ALL CONTROL CIRCUITS HAVE TO
BE BROUGHT OUT AT THE SIDE OF THE APERTURE OF THE LENS ARRAY
-ULTIPLE BEAMS MAY BE GENERATED BY ADDING FURTHER PRIMARY FEEDS !LL THE BEAMS
WILL BE SCANNED SIMULTANEOUSLY BY EQUAL AMOUNTS IN SIN P
4HE REFLECTARRAY SHOWN IN &IGURE B HAS GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS SIMILAR TO THOSE
OF THE LENS (OWEVER THE SAME RADIATING ELEMENT COLLECTS AND RADIATES AFTER REFLECTION
!MPLE SPACE FOR PHASE
SHIFTER CONTROL CIRCUITS EXISTS BEHIND THE REFLECTOR 4O AVOID
APERTURE BLOCKING THE PRIMARY FEED MAY BE OFFSET AS SHOWN !S BEFORE TRANSMITTING
AND RECEIVING FEEDS MAY BE SEPARATED -ULTIPLE BEAMS ARE AGAIN POSSIBLE WITH ADDI
TIONAL FEEDS
4HE PHASE SHIFTER MUST BE RECIPROCAL SO THAT THERE IS A NET CONTROLLABLE PHASE SHIFT
AFTER PASSING THROUGH THE DEVICE IN BOTH DIRECTIONS 4HIS RULES OUT FREQUENTLY USED
NONRECIPROCAL FERRITE OR GARNET PHASE SHIFTERS
#ONSTRAINED &EEDS 4HE OPTICAL
FEED SYSTEM DIVIDES POWER VERY SIMPLY IN ONE
STEP FROM THE FEED TO THE MANY ELEMENTS ON THE APERTURE )N CONTRAST THE CONSTRAINED
FEED SYSTEM USES MANY STEPS &OR A HIGH
PERFORMANCE LOW
SIDELOBE SYSTEM EACH
OF THESE POWER
DIVIDING STEPS HAS TO BE WELL MATCHED OVER THE BAND )F MISMATCHES
ARE PRESENT THEY WILL BE SEPARATED BY MANY WAVELENGTHS AND WILL ADD UP TO GIVE
FREQUENCY
SENSITIVE PHASE AND AMPLITUDE PERTURBATIONS AT THE APERTURE )N GENERAL
THESE PERTURBATIONS WILL BE DIFFERENT FOR THE MONOPULSE SUM AND DIFFERENCE PATTERNS
SO THAT ONLY A COMMON AVERAGE CAN BE COMPENSATED BY CALIBRATION
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% /PTICAL FEED SYSTEMS A LENS ARRAY AND B REFLECTARRAY
3ERIES &EEDS &IGURE SHOWS SEVERAL TYPES OF SERIES FEEDS )N ALL CASES EXCEPT D
THE ELECTRICAL PATH LENGTH TO EACH RADIATING ELEMENT HAS TO BE COMPUTED AS A FUNCTION
OF FREQUENCY AND TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WHEN SETTING THE PHASE SHIFTERS 4YPE A IS AN END
FED ARRAY )T IS FREQUENCY
SENSITIVE AND LEADS TO MORE SEVERE BANDWIDTH RESTRICTIONS
THAN MOST OTHER FEEDS 4YPE B IS CENTER
FED AND HAS ALMOST THE SAME BANDWIDTHS AS A
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 3ERIES FEED NETWORKS
PARALLEL FEED NETWORK 3UM AND DIFFERENCE PATTERN OUTPUTS ARE AVAILABLE BUT THEY HAVE
CONTRADICTORY REQUIREMENTS FOR OPTIMUM AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS THAT CANNOT BOTH BE
SATISFIED !S A RESULT EITHER GOOD SUM OR GOOD DIFFERENCE PATTERNS CAN BE OBTAINED !T
THE COST OF SOME ADDITIONAL COMPLEXITY THE DIFFICULTLY CAN BE OVERCOME BY THE METHOD
SHOWN IN &IGURE C 4WO SEPARATE CENTER FED FEED LINES ARE USED AND COMBINED IN A
NETWORK TO GIVE SUM AND DIFFERENCE PATTERN OUTPUTS )NDEPENDENT CONTROL OF THE TWO
AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS IS POSSIBLE &OR EFFICIENT OPERATION THE TWO FEED LINES REQUIRE
DISTRIBUTIONS THAT ARE ORTHOGONAL THAT IS THAT GIVE RISE TO PATTERNS WHERE THE PEAK VALUE
OF ONE COINCIDES WITH A NULL FROM THE OTHER AND APERTURE DISTRIBUTIONS ARE RESPECTIVELY
EVEN AND ODD
! VERY WIDEBAND SERIES FEED WITH EQUAL PATH LENGTHS IS SHOWN IN &IGURE D
)F THE BANDWIDTH IS ALREADY RESTRICTED BY PHASE SCANNING THEN VERY LITTLE ADVAN
TAGE IS OBTAINED AT THE COST OF A CONSIDERABLE INCREASE IN SIZE AND WEIGHT 4HE
NETWORK IN &IGURE E GIVES SIMPLICITY IN PROGRAMMING BECAUSE EACH PHASE
SHIFTER REQUIRES THE SAME SETTING 4HE INSERTION LOSS INCREASES FOR SUCCESSIVE RADIA
TORS AND THE TOLERANCES REQUIRED FOR SETTING THE PHASES ARE HIGH 4HIS TYPE IS NOT
COMMONLY USED
0ARALLEL &EEDS &IGURE SHOWS A NUMBER OF PARALLEL FEED SYSTEMS 4HEY
FREQUENTLY COMBINE A NUMBER OF RADIATORS INTO SUBARRAYS AND THE SUBARRAYS ARE THEN
COMBINED IN SERIES OR IN PARALLEL TO FORM SUM AND DIFFERENCE PATTERNS
&IGURE A SHOWS A MATCHED CORPORATE FEED WHICH IS ASSEMBLED FROM MATCHED
HYBRIDS 4HE OUT OF PHASE COMPONENTS OF MISMATCH REFLECTIONS FROM THE APERTURE AND
OF OTHER UNBALANCED REFLECTIONS ARE ABSORBED IN THE TERMINATIONS 4HE IN PHASE AND
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% 0ARALLEL FEED NETWORKS
BALANCED COMPONENTS ARE RETURNED TO THE INPUT 4O BREAK UP PERIODICITY AND REDUCE
PEAK QUANTIZATION LOBES 3ECTION SMALL ADDITIONAL FIXED PHASE SHIFTS MAY BE
INTRODUCED IN THE INDIVIDUAL LINES AND COMPENSATED BY CORRESPONDING READJUSTMENTS
OF THE PHASE SHIFTERS
4HE REACTIVE FEED NETWORK SHOWN IN &IGURE B IS SIMPLER THAN THE MATCHED
CONFIGURATION )T HAS THE DISADVANTAGE OF NOT TERMINATING UNBALANCED REFLECTIONS THAT
ARE LIKELY TO BE AT LEAST PARTLY RERADIATED AND THUS CONTRIBUTE TO THE SIDELOBES ! STRIPLINE
POWER DIVIDER IS SHOWN IN &IGURE C AND A CONSTRAINED OPTICAL POWER DIVIDER USING
AN ELECTROMAGNETIC LENS IS SHOWN IN &IGURE D 4HE LENS MAY BE OMITTED AND THE
CORRECTION APPLIED AT THE PHASE SHIFTERS 7ITH NONRECIPROCAL PHASE SHIFTERS A FRACTION
OF THE POWER REFLECTED FROM THE APERTURE WILL THEN BE RERADIATED AS SIDELOBES RATHER
THAN RETURNED TO THE INPUT 4HE AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION ACROSS THE HORN IS GIVEN BY THE
WAVEGUIDE MODE )T IS CONSTANT WITH AN %
PLANE HORN AS SHOWN
3UBARRAYS 4HE PHASED
ARRAY APERTURE MAY BE DIVIDED INTO SUBARRAYS ALL
SIMILAR TO SIMPLIFY MANUFACTURING AND ASSEMBLY "EAMFORMING NOW REQUIRES COM
BINING THE SUBARRAYS FOR SUITABLE SUM AND DIFFERENCE PATTERNS &IGURE A SHOWS
A METHOD OF COMBINING OPPOSITE SUBARRAYS INTO THEIR SUMS AND DIFFERENCES !LL
SUM CHANNELS ARE THEN ADDED WITH PROPER WEIGHTING TO OBTAIN THE DESIRED AMPLI
TUDE DISTRIBUTION 4HE DIFFERENCE CHANNELS ARE TREATED SIMILARLY WITH INDEPENDENT
AMPLITUDE WEIGHTING 4HIS METHOD MAY BE EXTENDED TO INCLUDE COMBINATIONS IN
THE OTHER PLANE
!MPLIFICATION ON RECEIVING OR ON BOTH RECEIVING AND TRANSMITTING MAY BE CON
VENIENT AT THE SUBARRAY LEVEL /N RECEIVING THE NOISE FIGURE IS ESTABLISHED BY THE
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #OMBINATION OF SUBARRAYS TO FORM SUM AND DIFFERENCE CHANNELS A COMBINING OPPOSITE
SUBARRAYS AND B COMBINING SUBARRAYS AFTER AMPLIFICATION
PREAMPLIFIER SO THAT FURTHER PROCESSING MAY INCLUDE LOSSY CIRCUITS 4HE RECEIVING
CHANNEL MAY BE SPLIT THREE WAYS AS INDICATED IN &IGURE B INTO THE SUM AND THE
ELEVATION AND AZIMUTH DIFFERENCE CHANNELS 4HESE ARE THEN WEIGHTED AND SUMMED
WITH CORRESPONDING OUTPUTS FROM THE OTHER SUBARRAYS /N TRANSMITTING ALL SEPARATE
POWER AMPLIFIERS MAY BE ENERGIZED EQUALLY TO GIVE MAXIMUM POWER ON THE TARGET
4HE ADDITION OF PHASE SHIFTERS SHOWN AT THE SUBARRAY LEVEL SIMPLIFIES THE BEAM
STEERING COMPUTATION PERMITTING ALL SUBARRAYS TO RECEIVE IDENTICAL STEERING COM
MANDS 4HEY MAY BE REPLACED BY TIME
DELAY CIRCUITS GIVING A WIDE INSTANTANEOUS
BANDWIDTH 3ECTION
4HE SIMPLE METHOD OF PROVIDING 42 TRANSMIT
RECEIVE SWITCHING CAN BE OBTAINED
BY COMBINING TWO HALVES OF A SUBARRAY WITH A FOUR
PORT HYBRID JUNCTION 4HE TRANSMIT
TER INPUT INTO ONE PORT ENERGIZES BOTH HALVES OF THE APERTURE FOR EXAMPLE IN PHASE
4HE RECEIVER CONNECTED TO THE REMAINING PORT THEN REQUIRES THAT THE PHASE SHIFTERS OF
HALF THE APERTURE GIVE AN ADDITIONAL PHASE SHIFT OF O DURING THE RECEIVING PERIOD 4HIS
IS EASILY PROGRAMMED
-ULTIPLE RECEIVE BEAMS MAY BE FORMED BY COMBINING THE SUBARRAYS AFTER AMPLIFICA
TION IN AS MANY DIFFERENT WAYS AS SEPARATE BEAMS ARE REQUIRED 4HE LIMITATION IS THAT
THE BEAMS HAVE TO LIE WITHIN THE BEAMWIDTH OF THE SUBARRAY IN ORDER TO AVOID EXCESSIVE
GRATING LOBES ! CLUSTER OF SUCH SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVER BEAMS REQUIRES A WIDER TRANS
MITTER BEAM 4HIS MAY BE OBTAINED EFFICIENTLY FROM THE SAME ANTENNA WITH A GABLED OR
SPHERICAL PHASE DISTRIBUTION
7ITH IDENTICAL SUBARRAYS A DESIRED APERTURE AMPLITUDE TAPER FOR LOW SIDELOBES IS
APPLIED WITH A GRANULARITY THAT DEPENDS ON THEIR SIZE AND SHAPE 4HE RESULTING AMPLI
TUDE STEPS WILL CAUSE QUANTIZATION LOBES 3ECTION
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
*- -/ ,4HE THREE BASIC TECHNIQUES FOR ELECTRONIC BEAM STEERING ARE FREQUENCY SCANNING
BEAM SWITCHING AND PHASE SCANNING WITH PHASE SHIFTERS /F THE THREE TECH
NIQUES THE USE OF PHASE SHIFTERS IS BY FAR THE MOST POPULAR AND CONSIDERABLE EFFORT HAS
GONE INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A VARIETY OF PHASE SHIFTERS 0HASE SHIFTERS CAN BE SEPA
RATED INTO TWO CATEGORIES RECIPROCAL AND NONRECIPROCAL 4HE RECIPROCAL PHASE SHIFTER
IS NOT DIRECTIONALLY SENSITIVE 4HAT IS THE PHASE SHIFT IN ONE DIRECTION EG TRANSMIT
IS THE SAME AS THE PHASE SHIFT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION EG RECEIVE 4HEREFORE IF
RECIPROCAL PHASE SHIFTERS ARE USED IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO SWITCH PHASE STATES BETWEEN
TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE 7ITH A NONRECIPROCAL PHASE SHIFTER IT IS NECESSARY TO SWITCH THE
PHASE SHIFTER IE CHANGE PHASE STATE BETWEEN TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE 4YPICALLY IT TAKES
A FEW MICROSECONDS TO SWITCH NONRECIPROCAL FERRITE PHASE SHIFTERS $URING THIS TIME THE
RADAR IS UNABLE TO DETECT TARGETS &OR LOW PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY 02& RADARS ;EG
TO PULSES PER SECOND PPS = THIS MAY NOT CAUSE A PROBLEM &OR EXAMPLE IF THE
02& IS PPS OR (Z THE TIME BETWEEN PULSES IS MS )F THE SWITCHING TIME FOR
THE PHASE SHIFTER IS MS ONLY OF THE TIME IS WASTED AND LESS THAN NMI OF MINI
MUM RANGE IS LOST /N THE OTHER HAND IF THE 02& K(Z THE TIME BETWEEN PULSES
IS MS AND IT WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE TO TOLERATE MS OF DEAD TIME FOR THE SWITCHING
OF PHASE SHIFTERS
!LL DIODE PHASE SHIFTERS ARE RECIPROCAL ALONG WITH CERTAIN TYPES OF FERRITE PHASE
SHIFTERS )T IS WORTH NOTING THAT OWING TO LOSSES ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR MAGNETIC PROPER
TIES FERRITE PHASE SHIFTERS ARE ALMOST NEVER USED AT FREQUENCIES BELOW '(Z $IODE
PHASE SHIFTERS IN CONTRAST IMPROVE AS THE FREQUENCY GETS LOWER
4HERE ARE THREE BASIC TYPES OF PHASE SHIFTERS THAT TYPICALLY COMPETE FOR USE IN A
PHASED ARRAY 4HEY ARE THE DIODE PHASE SHIFTER THE NONRECIPROCAL FERRITE PHASE
SHIFTER AND THE RECIPROCAL DUAL MODE FERRITE PHASE SHIFTER %ACH HAS ITS STRENGTHS
AND THE CHOICE OF WHICH TO USE IS HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON THE RADAR REQUIREMENTS %ACH
WILL BE DISCUSSED IN TURN &OR SOLID STATE SYSTEMS DIODES ARE USED AND CAN BE SWITCHED
IN A FRACTION OF A MICROSECOND
$IODE 0HASE 3HIFTERS n $IODE PHASE SHIFTERS ARE TYPICALLY DESIGNED BY USING
ONE OF THREE TECHNIQUES SWITCHED LINE HYBRID COUPLED AND LOADED LINE
4HESE ARE SHOWN DIAGRAMMATICALLY IN &IGURE 4HE SWITCHED LINE TECHNIQUE SIM
PLY SWITCHES IN LENGTHS OF LINE IN BINARY INCREMENTS EG n n AND n AND
REQUIRES A SET OF DIODES FOR EACH BIT 4HE DIODES ARE USED AS SWITCHES TO CONTROL WHICH
BITS ARE ACTIVATED TO ACHIEVE A PARTICULAR PHASE STATE
4HE HYBRID COUPLED TECHNIQUE USES A MICROWAVE HYBRID AND EFFECTIVELY CHANGES THE
DISTANCE AT WHICH THE REFLECTION TAKES PLACE 4HIS TECHNIQUE IS USUALLY USED IN BINARY
INCREMENTS AND AN ADDITIONAL SET OF DIODES IS REQUIRED FOR EACH PHASE STATE
4HE DIODE PHASE SHIFTERS DESCRIBED ABOVE ARE LIMITED IN THEIR ABILITY TO HANDLE HIGH
PEAK POWER $EPENDING ON THEIR SIZE AND FREQUENCY THEY ARE NORMALLY RESTRICTED TO
POWER LEVELS OF LESS THAN K7 &OR HIGHER POWER LEVELS THE LOADED LINE TECHNIQUE
IS USED 4HE DIODES ARE USED TO SWITCH IN INCREMENTS OF CAPACITANCE AND INDUCTANCE
THAT PROVIDE SMALL CHANGES IN PHASE "ECAUSE THE DIODES ARE DECOUPLED FROM THE MAIN
TRANSMISSION LINE THEY NEED TO HANDLE ONLY MODEST AMOUNTS OF POWER IN EACH DIODE
6ERY HIGH POWER IE KILOWATT CONFIGURATIONS ARE POSSIBLE 4HE TECHNIQUE DOES REQUIRE
MANY DIODES AND THE PHASE SHIFTERS ARE TYPICALLY LARGE AND BULKY AS COMPARED WITH THE
SWITCHED LINE AND HYBRID COUPLED TECHNIQUES
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% $IODE PHASE
SHIFTER CONFIGURATIONS AFTER , 3TARK ET AL A SWITCHED
LINE PHASE BIT
B HYBRID
COUPLED PHASE BIT AND C LOADED
LINE PHASE BIT
$IODE PHASE SHIFTERS HAVE THE ADVANTAGE OF BEING SMALL AND LIGHT IN WEIGHT EXCEPT
FOR HIGH
POWER DEVICES 4HEY ARE SUITABLE FOR STRIPLINE MICROSTRIP AND MONOLITHIC
CONFIGURATIONS 4HE MAIN DISADVANTAGE OF THE DIODE PHASE SHIFTER IS THAT AN ADDITIONAL
SET OF DIODES IS NORMALLY REQUIRED FOR EACH ADDITIONAL BIT !S LOWER
SIDELOBE ANTENNAS
ARE REQUIRED THE NUMBER OF BITS INCREASES &OR LOW SIDELOBE ANTENNAS OR BITS
MAY BE REQUIRED !S THE NUMBER OF BITS INCREASES BOTH COST AND LOSS OF THE DIODE
PHASE SHIFTERS ARE ALSO INCREASED &OR ACTIVE ARRAYS THE PHASE SHIFTER LOSSES ARE NOT OF
SIGNIFICANCE BECAUSE THEY OCCUR PRIOR TO THE POWER AMPLIFIER ON TRANSMIT AND AFTER THE
LOW
NOISE AMPLIFIER ON RECEIVE 4HIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH MOST FERRITE DEVICES
&ERRITE 0HASE 3HIFTERS -OST FERRITE PHASE SHIFTERS ARE NONRECIPROCAL n
AND THEIR EARLY VERSIONS USED DISCRETE LENGTHS OF FERRITE AS SHOWN IN &IGURE
TO IMPLEMENT EACH OF THE BITS n n n ETC )N THIS CONFIGURATION A CUR
RENT PULSE IS PASSED THROUGH EACH BIT AND THE FERRITE TOROID IS SATURATED 7HEN THE
CURRENT IS REMOVED THE FERRITE TOROID IS SAID
TO BE LATCHED AND RETAINS ITS MAGNETIZATION
OWING TO ITS HYSTERESIS PROPERTIES )F THE
CURRENT IS IN A FORWARD DIRECTION THE FER
RITE IS LATCHED WITH A PARTICULAR PHASE EG
n 4HE FERRITE MAINTAINS THE PHASE
UNTIL A CURRENT PULSE IN THE OPPOSITE DIREC
TION IS APPLIED 4HE FERRITE PHASE SHIFTER IS
THEN LATCHED TO THE REFERENCE PHASE n
4HIS CHANGE IN PHASE WITH A CHANGE IN CUR
RENT DIRECTION IS DUE TO THE NONRECIPROCAL
NATURE OF THE DEVICE !S MENTIONED EARLY
DEVICES SATURATED EACH BIT SO THAT A FERRITE &)'52% $IGITAL FERRITE PHASE SHIFTER USING
TOROID AND ELECTRONIC DRIVER WERE REQUIRED TOROIDS AFTER , 3TARK
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
TO CONTROL EACH BIT INDIVIDUALLY /THER PHASE SHIFTERS USE A SINGLE TOROID AND A SINGLE
DRIVER )N THIS CONFIGURATION THE PHASE SHIFTER IS LATCHED ON A MINOR HYSTERESIS LOOP
BY ONLY PARTIALLY MAGNETIZING THE FERRITE 4HE DISTINCT ADVANTAGE OF THIS TECHNIQUE IS
THAT ANY NUMBER OF BITS MAY BE IMPLEMENTED WHILE USING ONLY A SINGLE TOROID 4HEY
HAVE THE ADVANTAGE OF LOW LOSS AND RELATIVELY HIGH POWER OPERATION $EVICES THAT HAN
DLE UP TO K7 OF PEAK POWER HAVE BEEN BUILT 4HEY ARE AMENABLE TO WAVEGUIDE
CONSTRUCTION AND ARE HEAVIER AND BULKIER THAN COMPARABLE DIODE DEVICES
)N SUMMARY DIODES AND NONRECIPROCAL FERRITE PHASE SHIFTERS ARE VIABLE COMPETITORS
!T , BAND AND LOWER DIODE PHASE SHIFTERS ARE AN OBVIOUS CHOICE !T 3 BAND AND HIGHER
FERRITES SHOULD CONTINUE TO HOLD AN EDGE IN HIGHER
POWER SYSTEMS AND WHERE ADDITIONAL
BITS ARE NEEDED FOR THE LOW PHASE ERRORS REQUIRED FOR LOW
SIDELOBE ANTENNAS 4HESE COM
MENTS DO NOT APPLY FOR THE SOLID
STATE SYSTEMS DESCRIBED BELOW &ERRITE PHASE SHIFTERS
ARE MORE TEMPERATURE
SENSITIVE THAN DIODES AND THE PHASE WILL CHANGE WITH A CHANGE IN
TEMPERATURE 4HIS CAN BE CONTROLLED BY KEEPING THE TEMPERATURE CONSTANT WITHIN A FEW
DEGREES ACROSS THE ARRAY ! MORE COMMON TECHNIQUE IS TO SENSE THE TEMPERATURE AT SEV
ERAL LOCATIONS IN THE ARRAY AND THEN CORRECT THE PHASE COMMANDS TO THE PHASE SHIFTERS
-" -// " 1 -qn
! SOLID STATE MODULE MAY BE CONNECTED TO EVERY RADIATING ELEMENT OR TO EVERY SUBAR
RAY OF A PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA FORMING WHAT IS SOMETIMES CALLED AN ACTIVE APERTURE
!PPLICATIONS RANGE FROM ULTRAHIGH FREQUENCY
5(& FOR SURVEILLANCE TO 8 BAND AND ABOVE FOR
AIRBORNE SYSTEMS
! TYPICAL MODULE IS SHOWN IN SIMPLE SCHE
MATIC IN &IGURE )T CONSISTS OF A TRANSMITTER
AMPLIFIER CHAIN A PREAMPLIFIER FOR RECEIVING A
SHARED PHASE SHIFTER WITH DRIVER AND CIRCULATORS
ANDOR SWITCHES TO SEPARATE THE TRANSMIT AND
RECEIVE PATHS THE GAIN AROUND THE LOOP MUST
BE LESS THAN UNITY TO AVOID OSCILLATIONS
0OWER AMPLIFIERS FOR TRANSMITTING AT THE
ELEMENT LEVEL WOULD TYPICALLY HAVE A GAIN OF
D" OR MORE TO COMPENSATE FOR THE LOSS OF
POWER DIVIDING IN THE BEAMFORMER 4RANSISTORS
ARE CAPABLE OF GENERATING HIGH AVERAGE POWER
BUT ONLY RELATIVELY LOW PEAK POWER (IGH
DUTY CYCLE WAVEFORMS TO ARE THERE
FORE REQUIRED TO TRANSMIT ENOUGH ENERGY EFFI
CIENTLY 4HIS LACK IN HIGH PEAK POWER IS THE
MAIN DISADVANTAGE OF THE SOLID STATE MODULES
IN PHASED ARRAY RADARS 4O A GREAT EXTENT IT CAN
BE COMPENSATED FOR BY USING MORE PULSE COM
PRESSION IN THE RECEIVER AND EXTRA WIDE BAND
WIDTH TO COUNTERACT JAMMING BUT AT THE COST
OF INCREASED SIGNAL PROCESSING !N IMPORTANT
ADVANTAGE OF TRANSISTORS IS THEIR POTENTIAL FOR
WIDE BANDWIDTH
&)'52% 4YPICAL SOLID STATE MODULE
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE RECEIVER REQUIRES AN EARLY GAIN OF TYPICALLY TO D" TO ADEQUATELY ESTABLISH
A LOW NOISE FIGURE AND ALLOW FOR PHASE SHIFTING AND BEAMFORMING LOSSES 4HE MODULE
ALSO RECEIVES INTERFERING SIGNALS FROM ALL DIRECTIONS WITHIN THE ELEMENT PATTERN NOT
SIMPLY THE ANTENNA PATTERN AT ALL FREQUENCIES IN THE BAND 4IGHT TOLERANCES BETWEEN
MODULES ARE NEEDED TO PROVIDE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE TRACKING OVER THE BAND FOR LOW
SIDELOBE PERFORMANCE !N ELECTRONICALLY PROGRAMMABLE GAIN ADJUSTMENT MAY BE HELP
FUL TO CORRECT MODULE
TO
MODULE VARIATIONS ALLOWING LESS DEMANDING SPECIFICATIONS
4HE TRIMMER WOULD ALSO PROVIDE A DEGREE OF FREEDOM IN APERTURE CONTROL FOR SPECIAL
SITUATIONS "ECAUSE THE NOISE FIGURE HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED THE FEED NETWORK MAY BE
SPLIT TO GIVE SEPARATE OPTIMUM APERTURE AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS FOR TRANSMITTING AS
WELL AS FOR RECEIVING ON SUM AND DIFFERENCE CHANNELS )N AN ALTERNATIVE CONFIGURATION
THE FEED NETWORK COULD BE DESIGNED FOR A CONSTANT AMPLITUDE APERTURE DISTRIBUTION TO
GIVE HIGHEST TRANSMIT POWER ON THE TARGET AND THE RECEIVER GAIN CONTROL COULD BE USED
TO PROVIDE AN AMPLITUDE TAPER FOR THE SUM CHANNEL 0ERHAPS A SECONDARY FEED SYSTEM
COULD BE ADDED FOR THE DIFFERENCE CHANNELS 0OIRIER HAS ANALYZED THIS CASE THE EFFECT
ON NOISE AND THE DEGRADATION DUE TO AMPLITUDE QUANTIZATION STEPS
4HE MODULE PHASE SHIFTER OPERATES AT LOW
SIGNAL POWER LEVELS )TS INSERTION LOSS MAY
BE HIGH BECAUSE IT IS FOLLOWED BY AMPLIFICATION ON TRANSMIT AND PRECEDED BY AMPLI
FICATION ON RECEIVE $IODE PHASE SHIFTERS ARE THEREFORE QUITE PERMISSIBLE EVEN WITH
MANY BITS EG OR BITS FOR LOW SIDELOBES 6ARIATIONS IN INSERTION LOSS MAY BE
COMPENSATED FOR DYNAMICALLY WITH THE GAIN ADJUSTMENT
4HE CIRCULATOR AT THE HIGH
POWER SIDE PROVIDES AN IMPEDANCE MATCH TO THE POWER
AMPLIFIER AND MAY BE ADEQUATE BY ITSELF FOR PROTECTING THE RECEIVER )N &IGURE
THE MODULE IS SHOWN AUGMENTED BY A SWITCH THAT CAUSES ABSORPTION OF POWER REFLECTED
FROM ANTENNA MISMATCHES AND ALSO GIVES ADDED PROTECTION TO THE RECEIVER DURING TRANS
MISSION )F WEIGHT IS AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION AS IT WOULD BE IN A SPACE
BASED SYS
TEM THEN THE CIRCULATOR COULD BE REPLACED BY DIODE SWITCHES REQUIRING ADDITIONAL LOGIC
AND DRIVING CIRCUITRY
1 /* - 1 / "1-
,
6 7ITH THE PROLIFERATION OF BALLISTIC MISSILES FUTURE SHIPBOARD RADAR SYSTEMS WILL PROB
ABLY NEED MULTI MISSION CAPABILITY WHICH INCLUDES BOTH ANTInAIR WARFARE !!7 AND
BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE "-$ 4HE "-$ REQUIREMENT TO DISCRIMINATE SMALL RADAR
CROSS SECTION 2#3 RE ENTRY VEHICLES 26S AT LONG RANGES REQUIRES THAT ACTIVE ARRAY
RADARS HAVE A LARGE POWER APERTURE GAINLOSS NOISE TEMPERATURE 0!',4 WHICH IS A
MEASURE OF THE SENSITIVITY OF THE RADAR )NCREASING THE OUTPUT POWER OF A 42 MODULE
ONLY INCREASES THE TRANSMIT POWER COMPONENT OF THE 0!' PRODUCT (OWEVER ADDING
AN ADDITIONAL 42 MODULE TO THE ARRAY INCREASES EACH OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE 0!'
THE TRANSMIT POWER THE RECEIVE APERTURE AND THE TRANSMIT GAIN 4HEREFORE RADARS WITH
A "-$ FUNCTION TYPICALLY HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF ELEMENTS WHICH RESULTS IN A LARGE
APERTURE "ECAUSE A LARGE ANTENNA APERTURE PRODUCES A NARROW ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH THE
VOLUME SEARCH FUNCTION WILL REQUIRE SCANNING A LARGE NUMBER OF BEAM POSITIONS
.AVAL SHIPS NEED TO OPERATE IN LITTORAL CLOSE TO LAND ENVIRONMENTS AS WELL AS IN
THE OPEN OCEAN 4HE DESIRE TO OPERATE CLOSER TO LAND REQUIRES SHIPBOARD RADARS TO HAVE
THE CAPABILITY TO REJECT HIGH CLUTTER RETURNS (IGH CLUTTER REJECTION IS USUALLY ACHIEVED
THROUGH THE USE OF PULSE DOPPLER WAVEFORMS IN THE FIRST FEW ELEVATION BEAM POSITIONS
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
xx
)N ADDITION MANY OF THE RADAR WAVEFORMS MAY BE DESIGNED TO PROPAGATE OUT TO THE
INSTRUMENTED RANGE OF THE RADAR !S A RESULT A MAJOR COMPONENT OF THE DWELL TIME AT
EACH BEAM POSITION IS THE TIME REQUIRED FOR THE PULSE TO PROPAGATE TO THE INSTRUMENTED
RANGE AND BACK 4HIS LONG PROPAGATION TIME COMBINED WITH THE LARGE NUMBER OF BEAM
POSITIONS DUE TO A NARROW ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH AND A PULSE DOPPLER WAVEFORM WITH A
LARGE NUMBER OF PULSES RESULTS IN UNSATISFACTORY LONG SEARCH FRAME TIMES WHEN USING
A SINGLE BEAM RADAR
)F THE ACTIVE ARRAY RADAR IS SIZED FOR LONG
RANGE DETECTION OF BALLISTIC MISSILES THE RADAR
WILL MOST LIKELY HAVE SUFFICIENT POWER TO DETECT OTHER TARGETS ! CLUSTER OF MULTIPLE SIMUL
TANEOUS RECEIVE BEAMS CAN BE USED TO TRADE ENERGY FOR A REDUCTION IN THE VOLUME SEARCH
FRAME TIME 4HE USE OF MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVE BEAMS WILL REDUCE THE SEARCH FRAME
TIME SINCE MANY BEAM POSITIONS ARE SEARCHED AT THE SAME TIME 7HEN USING MULTIPLE
SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVE BEAMS THE TRANSMIT BEAM CAN BE BROADENED BY BEAM SPOILING SO
THAT THE
D" BEAMWIDTH IS LARGER THAN THAT OF A UNIFORMLY ILLUMINATED ARRAY WITH A LINEAR
PHASE FRONT "ROADENING THE BEAM ON TRANSMIT REDUCES THE GAIN OF THE TRANSMIT BEAM
BUT THIS LOSS IN GAIN MAY BE NECESSARY TO PRODUCE THE SEARCH FRAME TIME REQUIRED /N
RECEIVE MULTIPLE BEAMS ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY FORMED IN A CLUSTER THAT COVERS THE VOLUME
ILLUMINATED BY THE TRANSMIT BEAM %ACH RECEIVE BEAM HAS THE FULL GAIN AND BEAMWIDTH
OF A SINGLE BEAM ARRAY WITH THE SAME APERTURE DIMENSIONS )N THE CLUSTER OF RECEIVE
BEAMS EACH OF THE RECEIVE BEAMS MAY BE OFFSET IN VARIOUS DIRECTIONS FROM THE CENTER OF
THE SPOILED TRANSMIT BEAM !N EXAMPLE OF FOUR SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVE BEAMS IN A CLUSTER
IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4O SEARCH THE SAME VOLUME COVERED BY THIS FOUR BEAM CLUSTER
WITH A SINGLE BEAM RADAR WOULD TAKE APPROXIMATELY FOUR TIMES AS LONG SINCE THE TRANS
MIT AND RECEIVE BEAMS WOULD NEED TO BE SEQUENTIALLY SCANNED TO EACH BEAM POSITION
)NCREASING THE NUMBER OF BEAMS IN THE RECEIVE CLUSTER WHILE ALSO INCREASING THE TRANSMIT
BEAM SPOILING BY AN EQUIVALENT AMOUNT REDUCES THE SEARCH FRAME TIME
4HERE IS ANOTHER TECHNIQUE FOR GENERATING MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS BEAMS THAT DOES
NOT USE BEAM BROADENING ON TRANSMIT )N THIS TECHNIQUE EACH PULSE IN THE WAVEFORM IS
DIVIDED INTO AS MANY SEGMENTS AS THERE ARE BEAM POSITIONS ! PULSE SEGMENT IS TRANSMIT
TED SEQUENTIALLY IN EACH OF THE DESIRED BEAM POSITIONS ONE TRANSMIT PULSE RIGHT AFTER THE
OTHER !FTER ALL THE PULSES HAVE BEEN TRANSMITTED MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVE BEAMS
ARE FORMED WITH A RECEIVE BEAM LOCATED IN EACH OF THE TRANSMIT BEAM POSITIONS )N THIS
METHOD EACH OF THE TRANSMIT BEAMS HAS THE FULL ARRAY GAIN )N ORDER TO HAVE SIMILAR PER
FORMANCE TO THE BEAM
BROADENING TECHNIQUE THE TRANSMIT PULSE SEGMENT IN EACH BEAM
POSITION WOULD BE . TIMES AS LONG AS THE TRANSMIT PULSE IN THE BEAM
BROADENED TECH
NIQUE WHERE . IS THE NUMBER OF SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVE BEAMS )N EITHER CASE IT IS NECES
SARY TO TRADE ENERGY FOR TIME IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED SEARCH FRAME TIME
&)'52% ! SPOILED TRANSMIT BEAM AND A
CLUSTER OF FOUR SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVE BEAMS
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
! MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVE BEAM CLUSTER CAN BE FORMED IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT WAYS
)F ANALOG BEAMFORMING IS USED THE RECEIVE SIGNALS CAN BE SPLIT . WAYS INTO . SEPARATE
ANALOG BEAMFORMERS %ACH ANALOG BEAMFORMER IS DESIGNED TO PRODUCE ONE OF THE . OFFSET
BEAMS IN A BEAM CLUSTER !NOTHER WAY TO GENERATE MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVE BEAMS
IS TO USE DIGITAL BEAMFORMING $"& WHICH IS DISCUSSED IN MORE DETAIL IN THE NEXT SEC
TION $"& IS USUALLY PREFERRED WHEN A LARGE NUMBER OF BEAMS ARE TO BE FORMED
/
",
-ANY PHASED ARRAY RADARS USE ANALOG BEAMFORMING )N AN ANALOG BEAMFORMER THE
RECEIVED SIGNALS FROM EACH ELEMENT ARE COMBINED AT RADIO FREQUENCIES !T THE OUTPUT
OF THE ANALOG BEAMFORMER CENTRALIZED RECEIVERS DOWNCONVERT THE SIGNAL FROM RADIO
FREQUENCY 2& TO AN INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY )& AND AN ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL CONVERTER
!$# IS USED TO DIGITIZE THE )& SIGNAL )N DIGITAL BEAMFORMING $"& THE 2& SIGNALS
ARE DIGITIZED AT EITHER EACH INDIVIDUAL ELEMENT OR EACH SUBARRAY /NCE THE SIGNALS
HAVE BEEN DIGITIZED VARIOUS WEIGHTED COMBINATIONS OF THE DIGITIZED SIGNALS CAN
BE USED TO FORM MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVE BEAMS &IGURE SHOWS ARRAY
ARCHITECTURES FOR ANALOG BEAMFORMING AND $"& AT THE ELEMENT AND SUBARRAY LEVEL
&)'52% !RRAY ARCHITECTURES FOR ANALOG AND DIGITAL BEAMFORMING
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
4HE BENEFITS OF $"& INCLUDE IMPROVED DYNAMIC RANGE FASTER SEARCH FRAME TIMES IF
MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS BEAMS ARE USED AND BETTER CONTROL OF AMPLITUDE AND PHASE FOR
ADAPTIVE NULLING AND LOWER SIDELOBE LEVELS
3HIPBOARD RADARS HAD BEEN DESIGNED TO OPERATE PRIMARILY IN OPEN OCEAN ENVIRON
MENTS (OWEVER THE CHANGING WORLD WILL REQUIRE SHIPBOARD RADARS TO OPERATE MUCH
CLOSER TO LAND !S A RESULT .AVY RADARS MUST HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER CLUTTER REJECTION
CAPABILITIES AND LARGER DYNAMIC RANGES THAN EXISTING RADAR SYSTEMS 2ECENTLY DIGITAL
BEAMFORMING HAS BEEN PROPOSED FOR RADAR SYSTEMS THAT MUST DETECT SMALL 2#3 TARGETS
IN SEVERE CLUTTER ENVIRONMENTS
4HE DYNAMIC RANGE DETERMINES THE RANGE OF POWER LEVELS THAT CAN BE PROCESSED
IN THE LINEAR OPERATING REGION OF THE RECEIVER 4HE RADAR SYSTEM MUST BE ABLE TO PRO
CESS HIGH POWER CLUTTER RETURNS WITHOUT SATURATING THE RECEIVER /NE REASON $"& HAS
BEEN PROPOSED FOR FUTURE RADAR IS BECAUSE $"& PROVIDES THE RADAR SYSTEM WITH A
SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER DYNAMIC RANGE THAN CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH ANALOG BEAMFORMING
WHICH HAS A CENTRALIZED RECEIVER )N A $"& ARCHITECTURE THERE ARE . DIGITAL RECEIVERS
ONE AT EACH OF THE . ELEMENTS OR SUBARRAYS 4HEREFORE THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF A $"&
RADAR SYSTEM HAS LOG. HIGHER DYNAMIC RANGE THAN AN ANALOG BEAMFORMING RADAR
THAT UTILIZES THE SAME RECEIVER PROVIDED THE NOISE AND DISTORTION IN EACH RECEIVER ARE
DECORRELATED AMONG ALL RECEIVERS
$"& CAN BE IMPLEMENTED AT EITHER THE ELEMENT LEVEL OR THE SUBARRAY LEVEL
%LEMENT
LEVEL $"& REQUIRES A DIGITAL RECEIVER WHICH CONSISTS OF A DOWNCONVERTER AND
AN !$# AT EACH ELEMENT 3UBARRAY
LEVEL $"& REQUIRES A DIGITAL RECEIVER AT EACH SUB
ARRAY ! FULLY DIGITAL ARRAY WHICH HAS $"& AT THE ELEMENT LEVEL ALLOWS FOR MULTIPLE
SIMULTANEOUS INDEPENDENT BEAMS 4HESE INDEPENDENT BEAMS CAN BE STEERED IN ANY
DIRECTION $"& AT THE SUBARRAY LEVEL CAN PRODUCE A MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS BEAM CLUS
TER LOCATED WITHIN THE SUBARRAY PATTERN $"& AT THE SUBARRAY LEVEL USES PHASE SHIFTERS
AT THE ELEMENT AND AN ANALOG SUBARRAY BEAMFORMER WITH A DIGITAL RECEIVER LOCATED AT
THE OUTPUT OF EACH SUBARRAY 4IME DELAY STEERING CAN BE ACHIEVED AT THE SUBARRAY LEVEL
THROUGH THE USE OF DIGITAL TIME DELAYS 4HE MULTIPLE BEAM CLUSTER IS FORMED BY DIGITALLY
COMBINING THE SUBARRAYS TO FORM SIMULTANEOUS BEAMS THAT ARE OFFSET FROM ONE ANOTHER
)N PRACTICE $"& IS FREQUENTLY IMPLEMENTED AT THE SUBARRAY LEVEL RATHER THAN THE ELE
MENT LEVEL DUE TO THE SIZE WEIGHT AND HIGH COST OF DIGITAL RECEIVERS !NOTHER PRACTICAL
ADVANTAGE OF SUBARRAY
LEVEL $"& IS THAT LESS DIGITAL DATA WHICH MUST BE PROCESSED TO
FORM THE RECEIVE BEAMS IS PRODUCED THAN FOR ELEMENT
LEVEL $"&
$"& CAN PROVIDE MORE EFFICIENT TIME
ENERGY MANAGEMENT THAN A SINGLE
BEAM ANA
LOG BEAMFORMING ARRAY 3INCE $"& CAN PRODUCE MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS BEAMS ENERGY
CAN BE TRADED OFF FOR IMPROVED SEARCH FRAME TIMES AS WAS DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION
, /" *// , 1
0HASED ARRAY ANTENNAS CAN BE DESIGNED TO HAVE DETERMINISTIC ANTENNA PATTERNS OR ADAP
TIVE ANTENNA PATTERNS 7HEN NO INTERFERING SIGNALS ARE PRESENT A PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA
WITH A DETERMINISTIC ANTENNA PATTERN WILL TYPICALLY UTILIZE PHASE WEIGHTS THAT PROVIDE A
LINEAR PHASE FRONT OVER THE ARRAY FACE AND AMPLITUDE WEIGHTS THAT PRODUCE THE DESIRED
SIDELOBE LEVELS 4HE ANTENNA PERFORMANCE CAN BE CHARACTERIZED BY PARAMETERS SUCH
AS ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH GAIN AND PEAK AND 2-3 SIDELOBE LEVELS )NTERFERING RADIO
FREQUENCY SIGNALS THAT ARE INTENTIONAL SUCH AS THOSE PRODUCED BY JAMMERS OR UNINTEN
TIONAL SUCH AS THOSE PRODUCED BY OTHER RADARS OR CLUTTER MAY SIGNIFICANTLY DEGRADE THE
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
PERFORMANCE OF STATIC PATTERN PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS !S A RESULT METHODS FOR PLACING
NULLS IN THE DIRECTION OF THE INTERFERENCE IN THE PHASED ARRAY RADIATION PATTERNS HAVE
BEEN THE SUBJECT OF MUCH RESEARCHn %ITHER DETERMINISTIC RADIO FREQUENCY NULLING
OR ADAPTIVE NULLING CAN BE USED TO PLACE NULLS IN THE ANTENNA PATTERN IN THE DIRECTION OF
THE INTERFERING SOURCE
)F THE LOCATION OF THE INTERFERING SOURCE IS STATIONARY AND THE DIRECTION OF THE INTERFERER
IS KNOWN A DETERMINISTIC 2& NULL CAN BE PLACED IN THE ANTENNA PATTERN AT THAT SPECIFIC
DIRECTION $ETERMINISTIC ANTENNA PATTERNS WITH NULLS STEERED IN SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS CAN
BE ACHIEVED BY MODIFYING THE WEIGHTS AT EACH ELEMENT 4HESE MODIFIED WEIGHTS CAN
BE EITHER THE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE OF EACH ELEMENT OR ONLY THE PHASE OF EACH ELEMENT
2EGARDLESS OF WHETHER AMPLITUDE AND PHASE NULLING OR PHASE ONLY NULLING IS USED THE
WEIGHTS AT EACH ELEMENT ARE NOT TIME VARYING FOR DETERMINISTIC 2& NULLING !RRAY CON
FIGURATIONS FOR PERFORMING DETERMINISTIC 2& NULLING USING AMPLITUDE AND PHASE WEIGHTS
AND PHASE ONLY WEIGHTS AT EACH ELEMENT ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE
$ETERMINISTIC 2& NULLING USING AMPLITUDE AND PHASE CONTROL AT EACH ELEMENT PRO
VIDES BETTER PERFORMANCE THAN PHASE ONLY NULLING $ETERMINISTIC 2& NULLING CAN BE
ACCOMPLISHED BY USING PERTURBATION TECHNIQUES TO GENERATE THE WEIGHTS AT EACH ELEMENT
THAT WILL PRODUCE THE ANTENNA PATTERN WITH NULLS 7ITH PERTURBATION TECHNIQUES FIRST
THE WEIGHTS AT EACH ELEMENT ARE COMPUTED TO GENERATE THE ORIGINAL ANTENNA PATTERN WITH
OUT NULLS 4HEN THE ORIGINAL WEIGHTS ARE PERTURBED TO PRODUCE NULLS IN THE DESIRED DIREC
TIONS OF THE ANTENNA PATTERN 4HE INTENT OF THE PERTURBATION ALGORITHM IS TO MAXIMIZE
THE SIGNAL TO INTERFERENCE PLUS NOISE RATIO WHILE MINIMIZING THE DEVIATION BETWEEN
THE ORIGINAL ELEMENT WEIGHTS AND THE PERTURBED ELEMENT WEIGHTS &ULL AMPLITUDE AND
PHASE CONTROL AT EACH ELEMENT ENSURES THAT THE PERTURBED ANTENNA PATTERN HAS NULLS IN THE
DESIRED DIRECTIONS WITH MINIMALLY PERTURBED WEIGHTS (OWEVER PHASE ONLY CONTROL
&)'52% !RRAY CONFIGURATIONS FOR PERFORM
ING DETERMINISTIC 2& NULLING A AMPLITUDE AND PHASE
CONTROL AT EACH ELEMENT AND B PHASE ONLY CONTROL AT
EACH ELEMENT
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
AT EACH ELEMENT MAY RESULT IN SITUATIONS WHERE A SOLUTION DOES NOT EXIST !N EXAMPLE
OF A DETERMINISTIC ANTENNA PATTERN WITH AND WITHOUT NULLING IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HE SOLID LINE IN &IGURE SHOWS A DETERMINISTIC ANTENNA PATTERN AT BROADSIDE FOR
A
ELEMENT LINEAR ARRAY WITH K ELEMENT SPACING WHEN NO INTERFERENCE IS PRESENT
5NIFORM ILLUMINATION AND NO AMPLITUDE AND PHASE ERRORS WERE ASSUMED 4HE DASHED
LINE IN &IGURE SHOWS THE ANTENNA PATTERN FOR THE SAME ARRAY WHEN AN INTERFERING
SOURCE IS PRESENT AT n AND AMPLITUDE AND PHASE WEIGHTING IS USED TO STEER A NULL IN
THE PATTERN IN THE DIRECTION OF THE INTERFERING SOURCE
2ADAR SYSTEMS CAN UTILIZE DETERMINISTIC 2& NULLING TO PLACE NULLS IN BOTH THE TRANS
MIT AND THE RECEIVE ANTENNA PATTERNS /N TRANSMIT NULLS CAN BE PLACED IN THE DIRECTION
OF HIGH GROUND CLUTTER TO REDUCE THE CLUTTER POWER REFLECTED BACK TOWARD THE ANTENNA
!CTIVE ARRAYS TYPICALLY HAVE BOTH AMPLITUDE AND PHASE CONTROL AT EACH ELEMENT WHICH
ALLOWS EITHER FULL AMPLITUDE AND PHASE NULLING OR PHASE
ONLY NULLING TO BE USED
(OWEVER WHEN TRANSMITTING IT IS DESIRABLE TO HAVE UNIFORM ILLUMINATION ACROSS THE
APERTURE TO PRODUCE THE HIGHEST APERTURE EFFICIENCY POSSIBLE !LSO FOR ACTIVE ARRAYS
IT IS DESIRABLE TO KEEP THE HIGH
POWER TRANSMIT AMPLIFIERS IN SATURATION (ENCE WHEN
NULLING ON TRANSMIT IT IS DESIRABLE TO USE PHASE
ONLY NULLING TO MAINTAIN THE APERTURE
EFFICIENCY /N RECEIVE AMPLITUDE WEIGHTING ACROSS THE ARRAY IS TYPICALLY USED TO PRO
DUCE THE DESIRED SIDELOBE LEVELS "ECAUSE THIS AMPLITUDE WEIGHTING PRODUCES A TAPER
LOSS ON RECEIVE USING FULL AMPLITUDE AND PHASE CONTROL FOR NULLING THE RADIATION PATTERN
IS LESS OF A CONCERN THAN ON TRANSMIT
4HE INCORPORATION OF ADAPTIVE NULLING INTO PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS ALLOWS PHASED
ARRAYS TO HAVE ADAPTIVE ANTENNA PATTERNS ON RECEIVE !DAPTIVE TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO
SENSE AND AUTOMATICALLY RESPOND TO A TIME
VARYING INTERFERENCE ENVIRONMENT 4HE GOAL
IS TO PRESERVE THE DESIRED SIGNAL WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY REDUCING UNWANTED INTERFERENCE
4HIS REAL
TIME ANTENNA PATTERN CONTROL IS ACCOMPLISHED BY ADJUSTING THE WEIGHTS AT EACH
RECEIVER TO MAXIMIZE SIGNAL
TO
INTERFERENCE
PLUS
NOISE RATIO 4HE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE
WEIGHT FOR THE SIGNAL AT EACH RECEIVER IS ADAPTIVELY COMPUTED AND IMPLEMENTED SO THAT THE
DESIRED SIGNAL COMBINES COHERENTLY WHEREAS THE INTERFERENCE COMBINES INCOHERENTLY
&)'52% $ETERMINISTIC ANTENNA PATTERN WITH AND WITHOUT
NULLING FOR A ELEMENT LINEAR ARRAY )NTERFERING SOURCE IS LOCATED AT
DEGREES
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!DAPTIVE BEAMFORMING CAN BE IMPLEMENTED BY USING AUXILIARY RECEIVERS IN A SIDE
LOBE CANCELLATION SYSTEM OR BY USING DIGITAL BEAMFORMING )N A $"& SYSTEM ADAPTIVE
BEAMFORMING IS ACCOMPLISHED EITHER WITH THE USE OF SUBARRAY RECEIVERS OR WITH AUX
ILIARY RECEIVERS )F SUBARRAY RECEIVERS ARE USED THE NUMBER OF NULLS THAT CAN BE PLACED
IN THE ANTENNA PATTERN DEPENDS UPON THE NUMBER OF DEGREES OF FREEDOM $/& &OR
ADAPTIVE BEAMFORMING THE NUMBER OF DEGREES OF FREEDOM IS .
WHERE . IS THE NUM
BER OF RECEIVERS IN THE $"& ARRAY )F ADAPTIVE BEAMFORMING IS IMPLEMENTED USING
DIGITAL BEAMFORMING ELEMENT
LEVEL $"& WILL HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER PERFORMANCE
THAN SUBARRAY
LEVEL $"& BECAUSE SUBARRAY
LEVEL $"& HAS FAR FEWER DEGREES OF FREE
DOM (OWEVER ELEMENT
LEVEL $"& IS USUALLY COST PROHIBITIVE EXCEPT FOR ARRAYS WITH A
SMALL NUMBER OF ELEMENTS (ENCE SUBARRAY
LEVEL $"& IS FREQUENTLY PURSUED BECAUSE IT
REQUIRES FAR FEWER DIGITAL RECEIVERS (OWEVER SUBARRAYS ARE NOT THE BEST CHOICE OF ARRAY
ARCHITECTURES FOR A GIVEN NUMBER OF $/& IN AN ADAPTIVE ARRAY )N SUBARRAY $"& THE
MAIN BEAM OF EACH SUBARRAY MUST BE ALIGNED WITH THE MAIN
BEAM DIRECTION OF THE ARRAY
7HEN AN INTERFERING SOURCE IS PRESENT IN THE SIDELOBE REGION THE SUBARRAY
LEVEL $"&
ARCHITECTURE DOES A POOR JOB OF SENSING THIS INTERFERING SIGNAL BECAUSE THE SUBARRAY GAIN
IS LOW IN THE SIDELOBE REGION
{
,/" "
/6
*-
,,9 /
!CTIVE PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS MUST BE CALIBRATED IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT THE RADIA
TION PATTERN OF THE ANTENNA MEETS THE ANTENNA PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS !NTENNA
CHARACTERISTICS SUCH AS SIDELOBE LEVEL AND MAIN
BEAM GAIN ARE TYPICALLY SPECIFIED
BUT THESE SPECIFICATIONS CAN BE TRANSLATED INTO ALLOWABLE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE ERRORS
AT EACH ELEMENT
#ALIBRATION CAN BE DIVIDED INTO TWO CATEGORIES FACTORY CALIBRATION AND IN
THE
FIELD
CALIBRATION &ACTORY CALIBRATION IS ONLY PERFORMED ONCE USUALLY AT THE ANTENNA TEST
RANGE OF THE PHASED ARRAY MANUFACTURER )N
THE
FIELD CALIBRATION IS PERFORMED AT REGU
LAR INTERVALS THROUGHOUT THE LIFE OF THE ARRAY AFTER IT HAS BEEN DEPLOYED 4HE ANTENNA
MEASUREMENTS REQUIRED FOR FACTORY CALIBRATION CAN BE MADE IN THREE DIFFERENT TYPES
OF ANTENNA RANGES NEAR FIELD COMPACT OR FAR FIELD &OR LARGE GROUND
BASED OR SHIP
BOARD PHASED ARRAYS FACTORY CALIBRATION IS USUALLY PERFORMED USING A PLANAR NEAR
FIELD
ANTENNA MEASUREMENT FACILITY !N ATTRACTIVE FEATURE OF THE NEAR
FIELD RANGE IS THAT
THE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE OF EACH ELEMENT CAN BE MEASURED AND A FULL HEMISPHERIC
ANTENNA PATTERN CAN BE GENERATED .EAR
FIELD RANGES ARE SUITABLE FOR MEASURING LOW
SIDELOBE HIGH
GAIN ANTENNAS
0LANAR NEAR
FIELD ANTENNA MEASUREMENTS ARE MADE BY SCANNING A PROBE IN A PLANE
PARALLEL TO THE ANTENNA UNDER TEST AND MEASURING THE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE AT EACH PROBE
LOCATION )N RECTANGULAR COORDINATES THE PROBE POSITION IS GIVEN BY X Y Z $URING
THE SCANNING THE X AND Y COORDINATES OF THE PROBE ARE VARIED AND THE DISTANCE OF THE
SCANNING PLANE FROM THE ANTENNA UNDER TEST IS KEPT CONSTANT AT ZO 4HE VALUE OF ZO IS
TYPICALLY A LITTLE MORE THAN THREE WAVELENGTHS 4HE PHASE FRONT SHOULD BE SAMPLED WITH
PROBE POSITIONS THAT SATISFY THE .YQUIST SAMPLING THEOREM WHICH YIELDS A MAXIMUM
SAMPLING DISTANCE BETWEEN POINTS IN THE X
Y PLANE OF $X $Y K )N PRACTICE THE
ACTIVE ARRAY ELEMENTS ARE TURNED ON ONE AT A TIME IN COORDINATION WITH THE PROBE POSI
TION 3OME EXAMPLES OF EXISTING SYSTEMS THAT USE NEAR
FIELD RANGES TO PERFORM FACTORY
CALIBRATION ARE 4(!!$ AND 3!-03/.
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
&OR AN ACTIVE ARRAY BOTH THE PHASE AND AMPLITUDE OF EACH ELEMENT MUST BE MEASURED
IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE CORRECTION CONSTANTS FOR EACH ARRAY ELEMENT IN BOTH TRANSMIT
AND RECEIVE MODE &ULL CALIBRATION OF AN ACTIVE ARRAY IS MEASUREMENT INTENSIVE )T IS COM
MON FOR PHASE SHIFTERS AND ATTENUATORS TO EACH HAVE AS MANY AS BITS OR DIFFERENT
STATES )N ADDITION ACTIVE COMPONENTS SHOULD BE CHARACTERIZED AT SEVERAL FREQUENCIES IN
THE OPERATING FREQUENCY BAND AND OVER SEVERAL TEMPERATURES !S A RESULT THOUSANDS OF
MEASUREMENTS ARE REQUIRED TO FULLY CHARACTERIZE THE PERFORMANCE OF EACH ELEMENT .OT
ALL STATES NEED TO BE MEASURED FOR EACH ELEMENT BUT ELIMINATING MEASUREMENTS AT SOME
OF THE STATES WILL CAUSE THE CALIBRATED AMPLITUDE AND PHASE ERRORS TO INCREASE
0HASE SHIFTERS USUALLY EXHIBIT SMALL VARIATIONS IN AMPLITUDE OVER PHASE STATES
WHEREAS ATTENUATORS EXHIBIT LARGE VARIATIONS IN
PHASE OVER GAIN STATES 4HEREFORE IT IS
DESIRABLE TO CALIBRATE THE ATTENUATOR FIRST 4HE PHASE SHIFTER CAN THEN BE CALIBRATED WITH
OUT CHANGING THE ATTENUATOR SETTING /NCE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH 42 CHANNEL ARE
MEASURED CORRECTION FACTORS ARE CALCULATED AND STORED FOR FUTURE USE 4HE APPROPRIATE
CORRECTION FACTORS ARE APPLIED TO BRING THE ANTENNA INTO CALIBRATION FOR A GIVEN MODE OF
RADAR OPERATION
/NCE THE ACTIVE PHASED ARRAY IS FIELDED IN
THE
FIELD CALIBRATION MUST BE PERFORMED TO KEEP
THE ANTENNA WITHIN SPECIFICATIONS !CTIVE COM
PONENTS DRIFT OVER TIME AND THESE AGING EFFECTS
REQUIRE CALIBRATION TO BE PERFORMED IN THE FIELD
! NUMBER OF DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN
PROPOSED FOR IN
THE
FIELD CALIBRATION INCLUDING
MUTUAL COUPLING NEAR
FIELD ANTENNAS AND
2& SAMPLING
-UTUAL
COUPLING TECHNIQUES UTILIZE THE
MUTUAL COUPLING PATHS BETWEEN ADJACENT ARRAY
ELEMENTS FOR TRANSMISSION OF CALIBRATION SIGNALS
SEE &IGURE A )N THIS TECHNIQUE A SIGNAL
IS TRANSMITTED FROM AN ARRAY ELEMENT AND THE
NEAREST ELEMENTS SURROUNDING THE TRANSMIT ELE
MENT ARE USED TO RECEIVE THE TRANSMITTED CALIBRA
TION SIGNAL 4HE SIGNAL RECEIVED IS COMPARED
TO A STORED REFERENCE OBTAINED DURING FACTORY
TESTS /NLY ONE ELEMENT TRANSMITS AT A GIVEN
TIME AND THIS PROCEDURE IS REPEATED UNTIL ALL
THE ELEMENTS ARE MEASURED #ALIBRATION USING
MUTUAL COUPLING CAN BE INTERSPERSED WITH NOR
MAL RADAR OPERATING MODES AND REQUIRES ONLY A
SMALL FRACTION OF THE AVAILABLE RADAR RESOURCES
!NOTHER TECHNIQUE TO PERFORM IN
THE
FIELD CALIBRATION USES RADIATORS PLACED IN THE
NEAR FIELD AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF THE ARRAY
SEE &IGURE B 4HESE ADDITIONAL RADIA
TORS ARE DEDICATED TO THE CALIBRATION OF THE
ACTIVE ARRAY 4O CALIBRATE THE ARRAY IN RECEIVE
MODE TEST SIGNALS ARE ROUTED TO EACH OF THE
RADIATORS USED FOR CALIBRATION 4HE SIGNAL &)'52% !CTIVE ARRAY CALIBRATION
RECEIVED FROM A 42 MODULE IS COMPARED TO A TECHNIQUES A MUTUAL COUPLING B NEAR
FIELD
STORED REFERENCE OBTAINED DURING FACTORY TEST ANTENNAS AND C 2& SAMPLING
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE CALIBRATION CONSTANTS ARE THEN MODIFIED IN ORDER TO RESTORE THE ANTENNA SO ITS
CALIBRATION IS AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO THE ORIGINAL FACTORY CALIBRATION 4HIS TECHNIQUE
REQUIRES SEVERAL ADDITIONAL TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE HARDWARE CHANNELS TO BE DEDICATED
FOR IN
THE
FIELD CALIBRATION
2& SAMPLING CAN ALSO BE USED TO CALIBRATE AN ACTIVE PHASED ARRAY SEE &IGURE C
4HE 2& SAMPLING TECHNIQUE USES BUILT
IN CALIBRATION CIRCUITRY IN THE ARRAY TO INJECT A
CALIBRATION SIGNAL BETWEEN THE 42 MODULE AND THE RADIATOR 4HIS TECHNIQUE CAN BE USED
TO MEASURE 2& OUTPUT POWER RECEIVE GAIN AND PHASE AND ATTENUATION BIT ACCURACY
4HESE MEASURED VALUES ARE THEN COMPARED WITH REFERENCE VALUES ! MAJOR DISADVANTAGE
OF THIS TECHNIQUE IS THAT IT REQUIRES SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL HARDWARE INCLUDING A SEPARATE
BUILT
IN TEST ")4 MANIFOLD !LSO THE CALIBRATION PATH DOES NOT INCLUDE THE RADIATOR
x *- ,,9-9-/ ! NUMBER OF PHASED ARRAY RADAR SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN BUILT AND A REPRESENTATIVE SELEC
TION IS BRIEFLY REVIEWED BELOW
,OCKHEED -ARTIN #ORPORATION 0HASED !RRAY 2ADARS #OURTESY OF ,OCKHEED
-ARTIN #ORPORATION
!.309 4HIS 3 BAND PHASED ARRAY RADAR IS PART OF THE .AVY !EGIS WEAPON
SYSTEM AND WAS DEVELOPED BY 2#! NOW ,OCKHEED -ARTIN )T HAS FOUR PHASED ARRAY
APERTURES TO GIVE UNOBSTRUCTED HEMISPHERICAL COVERAGE &IGURE )N ITS EARLY CON
FIGURATION IT USED A SIMPLE FEED SYSTEM WITH ON RECEIVE SUBARRAYS EACH CONTAIN
ING WAVEGUIDE TYPE RADIATORS FOR A TOTAL OF ELEMENTS /N TRANSMIT SUBARRAYS
WERE COMBINED IN PAIRS AND SUCH PAIRS GAVE A TRANSMIT APERTURE OF RADIATORS
4HE PHASE SHIFTERS FED DIRECTLY INTO WAVEGUIDE RADIATORS HAD BITS AND WERE OF THE
NONRECIPROCAL LATCHING GARNET CONFIGURATION ! LATER VERSION WAS DESIGNED FOR LOW
SIDELOBES 4HE SUBARRAY SIZE HAD TO BE REDUCED TO ELEMENTS TO AVOID QUANTIZATION
LOBES AND SIMILARLY THE PHASE SHIFTER HAD TO BE REFINED BY DRIVING IT WITH BIT ACCU
RACY 4HE RESULTING PHASED ARRAY HAS AN APERTURE WITH A CONSTRAINED FEED STRUCTURE AND
WAVEGUIDE TYPE RADIATORS -ONOPULSE SUM AND DIFFERENCE RECEIVE PATTERNS AND
THE TRANSMIT PATTERN ARE SEPARATELY OPTIMIZED
#/"2! 4HE #/UNTER "ATTERY 2!DAR #/"2! # "AND SOLID STATE PHASED
ARRAY RADAR SEE &IGURE LOCATES ROCKET LAUNCHERS ARTILLERY BATTERIES MORTARS
SHELL IMPACT POINTS AND JAMMING DIRECTIONS 4HE ANTENNA WHICH IS MECHANICALLY
TRAINED HAS RADIATING ELEMENTS EACH FED BY A SOLID STATE 42 MODULE TO PROVIDE
WIDE ELECTRONIC SCAN COVERAGE )T IS PRODUCED BY %URO !RT 'MB( A CONSORTIUM OF
,OCKHEED -ARTIN -3 -OORESTOWN .* %!$3 $EUTSCHLAND 5NTERSCHLEISSHEIM
'ERMANY 4HALES !IR $EFENCE "AGNEUX &RANCE AND 4HALES 5+ ,IMITED #RAWLEY
7EST 3USSEX %NGLAND FOR THE -INISTRIES OF $EFENCE OF &RANCE 'ERMANY AND THE
5NITED +INGDOM
6OLUME 3EARCH 2ADAR 4HE 3 BAND 6OLUME 3EARCH 2ADAR 632 PHASED ARRAY SEE
&IGURE PROVIDES SEARCH AND !!7 CAPABILITY TO THE $UAL "AND 2ADAR 3YSTEM
FOR $$8 )T HAS RADIATING ELEMENTS WITH A 42 MODULE PER ELEMENT !LTHOUGH
THE ACTIVE RADIATING APERTURE IS APPROXIMATELY CIRCULAR THE CORNERS HAVE BEEN FILLED IN
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% #/"2! PHASED ARRAY MOUNTED ON RADAR SYSTEM
VEHICLE #OURTESY OF ,OCKHEED -ARTIN #ORPORATION
WITH TERMINATED ELEMENTS TO FORM A RECTANGULAR APERTURE FOR PURPOSES OF MINIMIZING
ANTENNA RADAR CROSS SECTION !LL ACTIVE COMPONENTS ARE ACCESSIBLE FROM THE REAR FOR EASE
OF MAINTENANCE ABOARD SHIP
'ROUND
"ASED 2ADARS !.403
!.&03
AND !.403
,OCK
HEED -ARTINS LONG
RANGE SOLID
STATE $ RADAR SYSTEMS SEE &IGURE OPERATE
AT , BAND BETWEEN n '(Z 4HESE SYSTEMS PROVIDE POSITION DATA FOR EN
ROUTE
TRACKING OF COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT AIR SURVEILLANCEAIR DEFENSE NAVIGATIONAL ASSISTANCE
TACTICAL CONTROL AND TACTICAL BALLISTIC MISSILE 4"- DEFENSE 4HE !.403
WAS THE
WORLDS FIRST TOTALLY SOLID
STATE ANTENNAARRAY 4HE !.&03
WAS DEVELOPED SHORTLY
THEREAFTER AND IS TYPICALLY INSTALLED AND OPERATED AT A FIXED SITE BUT IT CAN ALSO BE CON
FIGURED ON A TRAILER FOR DEPLOYMENT 4HE !.403
IS A MOBILETRANSPORTABLE SERIES
OF SOLID
STATE RADAR SYSTEMS %ACH SYSTEM INCORPORATES PRIMARY SURVEILLANCE RADAR SEC
ONDARY SURVEILLANCE RADAR )&& COMMAND AND CONTROL DISPLAY CONSOLES COMMUNICA
TIONS EQUIPMENT VARIOUS OPTIONS AND TRANSPORT CONFIGURATIONS CUSTOMIZED FOR EACH
CUSTOMERS SPECIFIC MISSION
&)'52% &RONT LEFT AND REAR VIEWS OF 6OLUME 3EARCH 2ADAR 3
"AND ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT
MODEL ACTIVE PHASED ARRAY MOUNTED IN NEAR
FIELD TEST FACILITY DURING ASSEMBLY 2EAR VIEW SHOWS DETAIL OF
EASILY REPLACEABLE LOWEST REPLACEABLE UNITS #OURTESY OF ,OCKHEED -ARTIN #ORPORATION
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!.403
!.&03
!.403
&)'52% 'ROUND BASED RADAR SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS #OURTESY OF ,OCKHEED -ARTIN #ORPORATION
4HE MAIN FEATURE OF THESE SYSTEMS IS THE PLANAR PHASED ARRAY WHICH HAS MODULAR
CONSTRUCTION WITH DISTRIBUTED ALL
SOLID
STATE ELECTRONICS INCLUDING 2& POWER GENERA
TION AND ELECTRONIC STEERING IN THE ELEVATION AXIS !NTENNA ROTATION FOR THE SYSTEM
IS AT OR REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE RPM PROVIDING n AZIMUTH COVERAGE
WHILE ELECTRONICALLY STEP
SCANNING IN ELEVATION )T PROVIDES FULL PERFORMANCE OVER
A NOMINAL n IN THE ELEVATION PLANE TO AN ALTITUDE OF FEET AND UP TO n
IN ELEVATION DURING 4"- TRACKING 4HE ANTENNAARRAY INCORPORATES MONOPULSE RADAR
TECHNIQUES 4HESE TECHNIQUES ALLOW ACCURATE TARGET ANGULAR POSITION USING THREE DATA
CHANNELSSUM DELTA AZIMUTH !: AND DELTA ELEVATION %, WITHIN THE ARRAY AND
THE DATA
PROCESSING GROUP
4HE DATA
PROCESSING GROUP APPLIES MOVING TARGET INDICATOR -4) AND DOPPLER
PROCESSING TO THE RECEIVE SIGNAL TO PRODUCE SUBCLUTTER VISIBILITY FOR TARGET DETECTION
3ELECTION OF THE OPERATING FREQUENCY IS DEPENDENT UPON THE RADARS MODE OF OPERA
TION AND THE FREQUENCY OPTIONS SELECTED BY THE OPERATOR 4HE ANTENNAARRAY SHOWN
IN &IGURE IS CONSTRUCTED OF EITHER !.403
!.&03
OR
!.403
IDENTICAL HORIZONTAL PASSIVE ROW
FEED NETWORKS ONE ABOVE ANOTHER ON
INCH CENTERS -OUNTED DIRECTLY BEHIND EACH ROW FEED IS A DEDICATED ROW TRANSMIT
TER AND RECEIVER 4HE ROW TRANSMITTERS AND RECEIVERS ARE SIMILAR FOR EACH ROW 4HEY
PERFORM ALL THE 2& FUNCTIONS INCLUDING 2& POWER GENERATION PHASE SHIFTING TO STEER
THE ANTENNA BEAM IN ELEVATION AND RECEIVE PREAMPLIFICATION TO PROVIDE A LOW
NOISE
FIGURE 4HE 2& POWER IS GENERATED BY DIRECT AMPLIFICATION THROUGH MODULAR SOLID
STATE POWER AMPLIFIERS IN THE ROW TRANSMITTERS 4HE ENERGY FROM THESE POWER MODULES
IS COMBINED WITHIN THE ROW TRANSMITTER WHICH DRIVES THE ROW FEED 4HE 2& ENERGY
FROM THE ROW FEEDS IS COMBINED IN SPACE TO FORM THE RADIATED BEAM 5NLIKE A TUBE
TRANSMITTER WHICH OPERATES AT HIGH PEAK POWER AND LOW DUTY FACTOR THE POWER MOD
ULES OPERATE AT LOW PEAK POWER AND HIGH DUTY FACTORS TO ,ONG
DURATION
PULSES ARE TRANSMITTED AND THEN COMPRESSED DURING RECEIVE TO OBTAIN THE REQUIRED
RANGE RESOLUTION ! PERFORMANCE MARGIN IS BUILT IN TO THE RADAR SYSTEM TO ALLOW FOR
FIELD DEGRADATION OF THE DISTRIBUTED ARRAY COMPONENTS BETWEEN SCHEDULED MAINTE
NANCE PERIODS 3INCE ARRAY COMPONENT FAILURES INDUCE ONLY A GRADUAL DEGRADATION
MAINTENANCE CAN BE PERFORMED ON A PLANNED BASIS /NLINE SYSTEM SENSITIVITY AND
PERFORMANCE LEVEL IS CHECKED AND DISPLAYED BY THE PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND FAULT
ISOLATION -&) FUNCTION
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
4HESE LONG
RANGE THREE
DIMENSIONAL AIR
SURVEILLANCE RADARS PROVIDE AN OFF
THE
SHELF SOLUTION TO PRIMARY AIR
SURVEILLANCE NEEDS 4HEY HAVE BEEN DESIGNED FOR REMOTE
OPERATION IN HARSH ENVIRONMENTS AND WITH THEIR ESTABLISHED LOGISTICS SUPPORT BUILT
IN
PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND FAULT ISOLATION HIGH RELIABILITY AND WORLDWIDE INVEST
MENT THESE SYSTEMS HAVE AN INHERENT LOW COST OF OWNERSHIP
.ORTHROP 'RUMMAN #ORPORATION 0HASED !RRAY 2ADARS #OURTESY OF
.ORTHROP 'RUMMAN #ORPORATION
!7!#3 !IRBORNE 7ARNING AND #ONTROL 3YSTEM 4HE !IRBORNE 7ARNING
AND #ONTROL 3YSTEM !7!#3 PROVIDES ALL
WEATHER LONG
RANGE SURVEILLANCE COM
MAND CONTROL AND COMMUNICATIONS 4HE PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA IS A FT BY FT
ELLIPTICALLY SHAPED ULTRA
LOW SIDELOBE ARRAY CONSISTING OF SLOTTED WAVEGUIDES WITH
OVER SLOTS SEE &IGURE -OUNTED ATOP THE AIRCRAFT FUSELAGE IN A ROTATING
DOME THE 3
BAND ANTENNA SCANS MECHANICALLY OVER n IN AZIMUTH AND SCANS ELEC
TRONICALLY IN ELEVATION THROUGH RECIPROCAL BEAM
STEERING PHASE SHIFTERS )N ADDITION
NONRECIPROCAL BEAM OFFSET PHASE SHIFTERS PROVIDE OFFSET OF THE RECEIVE BEAM FROM
THE TRANSMIT BEAM DURING ELEVATION SCANNING TO COMPENSATE FOR TIME DELAY BETWEEN
TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE OF LONG
RANGE AIRCRAFT RETURNS 4HE 2ADAR 3YSTEM )MPROVEMENT
0ROGRAM 23)0 PROVIDES THE MOST SIGNIFICANT UPGRADE TO THE !7!#3 RADAR SINCE ITS
DEVELOPMENT IN THE EARLY S 23)0 INTRODUCES NEW WAVEFORMS AND PROCESSING
PROVIDING IMPROVEMENTS IN DETECTION RANGE ANGULAR ACCURACY AS WELL AS RANGE AND
ANGULAR RESOLUTION
!.403
4HE !.403
IS AN UPDATE TO THE !.403
3
BAND THREE
DIMENSIONAL TACTICAL RADAR FAMILY DEVELOPED BY THE .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN #ORPORATION
&IGURE 4HE !.403
PLANAR ARRAY SHOWN IN &IGURE EXHIBITS VERY LOW
&)'52% !7!#3 ANTENNA #OURTESY OF .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN #ORPORATION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !.403 ANTENNA #OURTESY OF .ORTHROP
'RUMMAN #ORPORATION
AZIMUTH SIDELOBES 4HE ARRAY IS A SLOTTED WAVEGUIDE DESIGN OF STICKS AND HORIZON
TALLY POLARIZED SLOTS PER STICK 4HE ARRAY IS FED FROM A SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER AND TRANS
MITS A SINGLE FAN BEAM IN ELEVATION OPTIMIZED FOR MAXIMUM GAIN AT LOW ALTITUDES /N
RECEIVE THE ARRAY OUTPUT IS COMBINED INTO SIX SIMULTANEOUS NARROW ELEVATION BEAMS
THAT COVER FROM TO n %ACH RECEIVE BEAM IS PROCESSED IN A DIGITAL RECEIVER !CCURATE
HEIGHT INFORMATION IS EXTRACTED USING AMPLITUDE MONOPULSE TECHNIQUES BY COMPAR
ING RECEIVE ENERGY IN ADJACENT BEAMS ! NARROW AZIMUTH BEAMWIDTH ON TRANSMIT AND
RECEIVE AND STACKED RECEIVE BEAMS PROVIDE GOOD RADAR ANGLE RESOLUTION !ZIMUTH COV
ERAGE OF n IS ACHIEVED BY ROTATING THE ARRAY AT A NOMINAL SURVEILLANCE RATE
! UNIQUE FEATURE OF THE !.403
ARRAY IS THAT THE ARRAY HAS AN INTEGRAL LOW SIDE
LOBE )&& ARRAY EMBEDDED IN THE ARRAY FACE 4HIS NOT ONLY PROVIDES EXCELLENT REGISTRA
TION BETWEEN RADAR AND )&& RETURNS BUT ALSO SUPPORTS FAST SETUP AND TEARDOWN TIME FOR
TRANSPORTING THE RADAR IN ITS MOBILE CONFIGURATION
*OINT 34!23 !NTENNA 4HE *OINT 3URVEILLANCE 4ARGET !TTACK 2ADAR 3YSTEM
*OINT 34!23 PROVIDES LONG
RANGE AIRBORNE SURVEILLANCE AND TRACKING OF STA
TIONARY AND MOVING GROUND TARGETS SEE &IGURE 4HE PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA
FOR THIS SYSTEM IS A
FT WIDE BY
FT HIGH PLANAR 8
BAND SLOTTED ARRAY )T IS
MOUNTED INSIDE A RADOME UNDERNEATH THE FUSELAGE OF AN %
! AIRCRAFT AND CAN BE
MECHANICALLY ROTATED on IN ELEVATION FOR OPERATION LOOKING OUT EITHER SIDE OF
THE AIRCRAFT 4HE SYSTEM OPERATES IN A SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR 3!2 MAPPING
MODE AS WELL AS IN A THREE
PORT AZIMUTH INTERFEROMETER GROUND MOVING TARGET
INDICATION '-4) TARGET DETECTION AND TRACKING MODE 5SE OF THE THREE
PORT
APERTURE ON RECEIVE ENABLES A CLUTTER SUPPRESSION INTERFEROMETRY TECHNIQUE THAT
ALLOWS THE OPERATOR TO DETECT ACCURATELY LOCATE AND TRACK SLOW MOVING GROUND
TARGETS IN THE PRESENCE OF COMPETING GROUND CLUTTER
2AYTHEON #OMPANY 0HASED !RRAY 2ADARS #OURTESY OF 2AYTHEON #OMPANY
0!42)/4 4HE 0!42)/4 IS A MULTIFUNCTION PHASED ARRAY RADAR SYSTEM DEVEL
OPED BY 2AYTHEON FOR THE !RMY IN THE FORM OF A LENS USING AN OPTICAL FEED AS SHOWN
PREVIOUSLY IN &IGURE 3UM AND DIFFERENCE PATTERNS ARE SEPARATELY OPTIMIZED WITH
A MONOPULSE FEED 4HE APERTURE IS ROUND AND CONTAINS APPROXIMATELY ELEMENTS
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% *OINT 34!23 ANTENNA AND AIRCRAFT #OURTESY OF .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN #ORPORATION
)T USES BIT FLUX DRIVEN NONRECIPROCAL FERRITE PHASE SHIFTERS AND WAVEGUIDE TYPE RADIA
TORS AT BOTH APERTURES 4HE ANTENNA IS SHOWN IN &IGURE )T IS MOUNTED ON A VEHICLE
AND FOLDS FLAT FOR TRANSPORTATION
&)'52% 0!42)/4 MULTIFUNCTION PHASED ARRAY #OURTESY
OF 2AYTHEON #OMPANY
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4ERMINAL (IGH !LTITUDE !REA $EFENSE 4(!!$ 4(!!$ IS A GROUND BASED SYS
TEM DESIGNED TO DESTROY THE THEATER BALLISTIC MISSILE THREATS TO TROOPS MILITARY ASSETS
AND ALLIED TERRITORIES 4(!!$ CONSISTS OF A HIT TO KILL MISSILE RADAR LAUNCHER AND
"ATTLE -ANAGEMENT#OMMAND #ONTROL AND #OMMUNICATIONS "-# SYSTEM
4HE 4(!!$ RADAR SEE &IGURE IS AN 8 BAND PHASED ARRAY SOLID STATE RADAR
CAPABLE OF SEARCH THREAT DETECTION CLASSIFICATION AND PRECISION TRACKING AT LONG RANGES
4HE RADAR DESIGN DELIVERS HIGH POWER OUTPUT AND BEAMWAVEFORM AGILITY IN ORDER TO
SUPPORT THE LONG RANGE FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE 4(!!$ MISSION 4HE 4(!!$
ELEMENT COMPONENTS WORK IN CONCERT TO DETECT ASSIGN AND DESTROY INCOMING SHORT TO
MEDIUM RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILES BY PROVIDING THE FIRING BATTERY WITH TARGET ACQUISI
TION INTERCEPTOR SUPPORT AND INTERCEPT ASSESSMENT FUNCTIONS 4HESE FUNCTIONS INCLUDE
SURVEILLANCE 4(!!$ MISSILE TRACK IN FLIGHT DATA UPLINKDOWNLINK TARGET CLASSIFICA
TIONTYPINGIDENTIFICATION AND INTERCEPT ASSESSMENT
4HE SINGLE FACE PHASED ARRAY RADAR IS M LONG MOUNTED ON A (EAVY %XPANDED
-OBILE 4ACTICAL 4RUCK AND CAPABLE OF BEING TRANSPORTED IN A # (ERCULES AIRCRAFT
4HE RADAR IS NONROTATING AND HAS A FIELD OF VIEW 4HE RADAR USES ITS M FULL
FIELD OF VIEW PHASED ARRAY APERTURE TO ACQUIRE THEATER MISSILE THREATS AT A RANGE OF UP
TO KM 4HIS RADAR USES 8 BAND SOLID STATE TRANSMITRECEIVE MODULES IN
THE PHASED ARRAY
8 "AND 2ADAR 8"2 4HE NINE STORY HIGH 8"2 IS THE WORLDS LARGEST 8 BAND
RADAR WEIGHING FOUR MILLION POUNDS SEE &IGURE 4HE 3"8 PLATFORM THAT IT SITS ON
STANDS MORE THAN FT TALL AND DISPLACES MORE THAN TONS )T CONSISTS OF A SEMI
SUBMERSIBLE OIL PRODUCTION PLATFORM TOPPED WITH THE 8"2 8"2 IS THE PRIMARY PAYLOAD
ON THE SEMI SUBMERSIBLE PLATFORM SUPPORTING THE 'ROUND "ASED -IDCOURSE $EFENSE
'-$ PHASE OF THE -ISSILE $EFENSE !GENCY -$! "ALLISTIC -ISSILE $EFENSE 3YSTEM
"-$3 3"8S FLOATING PLATFORM A MODIFIED OIL DRILLING VESSEL WAS DESIGNED FOR
&)'52% 4(!!$ RADAR #OURTESY OF 2AYTHEON #OMPANY
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
&)'52% 3"8OVER FT TALL AND DISPLACING MORE THAN TONS
#OURTESY OF 2AYTHEON #OMPANY
EXCEPTIONAL STABILITY IN HIGH WINDS AND STORMS -EASURING FT WIDE AND FT LONG
THE VESSEL INCLUDES A POWER PLANT BRIDGE AND CONTROL ROOMS LIVING QUARTERS STORAGE
AREAS AND ENOUGH FLOOR SPACE AND INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT THE 8
BAND RADAR
4HE 8
BAND RADAR ITSELF WHICH SITS ON TOP OF THE FLOATING PLATFORM IS THE LARG
EST MOST SOPHISTICATED PHASED ARRAY ELECTRO
MECHANICALLY STEERED 8
BAND RADAR IN THE
WORLD )T CONSISTS OF THOUSANDS OF ELEMENTS DRIVEN BY TRANSMITRECEIVE 42 MODULES
)N THE 8
BAND RADAR THEY WILL PROVIDE THE FULL FIRE CONTROL SENSOR FUNCTIONS FOR THE
'ROUND
"ASED -IDCOURSE $EFENSE SYSTEM INCLUDING SEARCH ACQUISITION TRACKING
DISCRIMINATION AND KILL ASSESSMENT
309
4HE !.309
-ULTI
&UNCTION 2ADAR -&2 IS THE 53 .AVYS FIRST SHIP
BOARD ACTIVE PHASED ARRAY MULTIFUNCTION RADAR )T IS AN 8
BAND ACTIVE PHASED ARRAY
RADAR DESIGNED TO MEET ALL HORIZON SEARCH AND FIRE CONTROL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE .AVY
-&2 IS DESIGNED TO DETECT LOW
OBSERVABLE ANTI
SHIP CRUISE MISSILE !3#- THREATS AND
SUPPORT FIRE
CONTROL ILLUMINATION REQUIREMENTS FOR MULTIPLE MISSILES -&2 COMBINES
THE FUNCTIONS PROVIDED BY SEVERAL SEPARATE RADARS ABOARD .AVY COMBATANT SHIPS AND
ALSO SUPPORTS NEW SHIP
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS FOR REDUCED RADAR CROSS SECTION AND SIG
NIFICANTLY REDUCED MANNING NO OPERATORS
4HE RADAR PERFORMS SUCH FUNCTIONS AS HORIZON SEARCH LIMITED ABOVE
THE
HORIZON
SEARCH AND FIRE CONTROL TRACK AND ILLUMINATION /NE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DESIGN
FEATURES OF THE RADAR IS TO PROVIDE AUTOMATIC DETECTION TRACKING AND ILLUMINATION OF
LOW
ALTITUDE THREAT MISSILES IN THE ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ROUTINELY FOUND
IN COASTAL WATERS
309
USES THREE FIXED
FACE ARRAYS EACH CONTAINING AROUND TRANSMIT
RECEIVE 42 ELEMENTS SEE &IGURE 4HESE ELEMENTS ARE CONNECTED TO
42 INTEGRATED MULTI
CHANNEL MODULES EACH OF WHICH DRIVES EIGHT ELEMENTS
)NDIVIDUAL MODULES ARE DESIGNED TO SLIDE INTO THE ARRAY STRUCTURE AND PROVIDE A
HIGH
CONDUCTIVITY THERMAL PATH TO THE COOLING
ARRAY MANIFOLD WITHOUT HAVING ANY
CONNECTION TO THE 42 MODULE ITSELF
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !.309 -ULTI &UNCTION 2ADAR #OURTESY OF 2AYTHEON
#OMPANY
,
,
! "LONDEL h)MPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO RADIATOR SYSTEMS FOR WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY v "ELGIAN
0ATENT "RITISH 0ATENT
3 ' "ROWN h)MPROVEMENTS IN WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY v "RITISH 0ATENT
2 - &OSTER h$IRECTIVE DIAGRAMS OF ANTENNA ARRAYS v "ELL 3YSTEM 4ECH * VOL PP n
!PRIL
2 # (ANSEN -ICROWAVE 3CANNING !NTENNAS 6OLS ) )) AND ))) .EW 9ORK !CADEMIC 0RESS
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3YST -ONOG &EBRUARY
! ! /LINER AND ' ( +NITTEL 0HASED !RRAY !NTENNAS .ORWOOD -! !RTECH (OUSE
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2 * -AILLOUX h0HASED ARRAY THEORY AND TECHNOLOGY v 0ROC )%%% VOL -ARCH
! 7 2UDGE + -ILNE ! $ /LVER AND 0 +NIGHT 4HE (ANDBOOK OF !NTENNA $ESIGN 6OL
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2 # *OHNSON AND ( *ASIK EDS !NTENNA %NGINEERING (ANDBOOK ND %D .EW 9ORK
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( 0 3TEYSKAL h0HASED ARRAYS SYMPOSIUM v IN 2!$# 2EPT 42
2OME !IR
$EVELOPMENT #ENTER "EDFORD -! !UGUST
% "ROOKNER h! REVIEW OF ARRAY RADARS v -ICROWAVE * VOL PP n /CTOBER
% "ROOKNER h2ADAR OF THE S AND BEYOND v )%%% %LECTRO -AY
0(!3%$ !22!9 2!$!2 !.4%..!3
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PT )) PP n -ARCH
7 ! (ARMENING h! LASER BASED NEAR FIELD PROBE POSITION MEASUREMENT SYSTEM v -ICROWAVE *
PP n /CTOBER
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.ORWOOD -! !RTECH (OUSE PP n
$ + !LEXANDER AND 2 0 'RAY *R h#OMPUTER AIDED FAULT DETERMINATION FOR AN ADVANCED PHASED
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* 2ONEN AND 2 ( #LARKE h-ONITORING TECHNIQUES FOR PHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS v )%%% 4RANS
VOL !0 PP n $ECEMBER
2 ( #OLLINGS h#URRENT SHEET ANTENNA v 53 0ATENT
! ! /LINER AND 2 ' -ALECH #HAPTERS n IN -ICROWAVE 3CANNING !NTENNAS 2 # (ANSEN
VOL ))) .EW 9ORK !CADEMIC 0RESS
, ) 0ARAD AND 2 7 +REUTEL h-UTUAL EFFECTS BETWEEN CIRCULARLY POLARIZED ELEMENTS v IN 3YMP
53!& !NTENNA 2ES $EVELOP !NTENNA !RRAYS 3EC !BSTR 5NIVERSITY OF )LLINOIS 5RBANA
- ) 3KOLNIK )NTRODUCTION TO 2ADAR 3YSTEMS ND %D .EW 9ORK -C'RAW (ILL "OOK #OMPANY
PP n
* - (OWELL h,IMITED SCAN ANTENNAS v PRESENTED AT )%%% !0 )NT 3YMP
* 3 !JIOKA h&REQUENCY SCAN ANTENNAS v !NTENNA %NGINEERING (ANDBOOK #HAP 2 # *OHNSON
AND ( *ASIK EDS ND %D .EW 9ORK -C'RAW (ILL "OOK #OMPANY
7 & 'ABRIEL 'UEST EDITOR SPECIAL ISSUE ON ADAPTIVE ANTENNAS )%%% 4RANS VOL !0
3EPTEMBER
* 2 &ORREST 'UEST EDITOR SPECIAL ISSUE ON PHASED ARRAYS 0ROC )%% ,ONDON VOL PT &
!UGUST
( 3TEYSKAL h$IGITAL BEAMFORMING ANTENNASAN INTRODUCTION v -ICROWAVE * VOL PP n
*ANUARY
* , !LLEN h! THEORETICAL LIMITATION ON THE FORMATION OF LOSSLESS MULTIPLE BEAMS IN LINEAR ARRAYS v
)2% 4RANS VOL !0 PP n *ULY
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2EC VOL PT PP n
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7 2OTMAN AND 2 & 4URNER h7IDE ANGLE MICROWAVE LENS FOR LINE SOURCE APPLICATION v )%%%
4RANS VOL !0 PP n .OVEMBER
3 ! 3CHELKUNOFF h! MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF LINEAR ARRAYS v "ELL 3YST 4ECH * VOL
PP n *ANUARY
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)2% )NT #ONV 3ESSION !NTENNAS )
0 - 7OODWARD ! METHOD OF CALCULATING THE FIELD OVER A PLANAR APERTURE REQUIRED TO PRODUCE A
GIVEN POLAR DIAGRAM * )%% ,ONDON VOL PT ! PP n
2 # (ANSEN h!PERTURE THEORY v IN -ICROWAVE 3CANNING !NTENNAS VOL ) .EW 9ORK !CADEMIC
0RESS PP n
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*UNE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
! +SIENSKI h%QUIVALENCE BETWEEN CONTINUOUS AND DISCRETE RADIATING ARRAYS v #AN * 0HYS
VOL PP n
7 ( 6ON !ULOCK h0ROPERTIES OF PHASED ARRAY v )2% 4RANS 6OL !0
PP n
/CTOBER
% $ 3HARP v 4RIANGULAR ARRANGEMENT OF PLANAR
ARRAY ELEMENTS THAT REDUCES NUMBER NEEDED v
)2% 4RANS VOL !0
PP n -ARCH
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-ARCH
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4RANS VOL !0
3EPTEMBER
7 + +AHN h)MPEDANCE
MATCH AND ELEMENT
PATTERN CONSTRAINTS FOR FINITE ARRAYS v )%%% 4RANS
VOL !0
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2 % 7ILLEY h3PACE TAPERING OF LINEAR AND PLANAR ARRAYS v )2% 4RANS VOL !0
PP n
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0 7 (ANNAN h4HE ULTIMATE DECAY OF MUTUAL COUPLING IN A PLANAR ARRAY ANTENNA v )%%% 4RANS
VOL !0
PP n -ARCH
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h$EVELOPMENT OF A DIGITAL ARRAY RADAR v )%%% !%%3 3YSTEMS -AGAZINE PP n -ARCH
( 3TEYSKAL h$IGITAL BEAMFORMING ANTENNAS AN INTRODUCTION v -ICROWAVE * PP n
*ANUARY
2 # (ANSEN 0HASED !RRAY !NTENNAS .EW 9ORK *OHN 7ILEY 3ONS
( 3TEYSKAL 2 ! 3HORE AND 2 , (AUPT h-ETHODS FOR NULL CONTROL AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE
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7 & 'ABRIEL h!DAPTIVE PROCESSING ARRAY SYSTEMS v 0ROC OF THE )%%% VOL NO PP n
*ANUARY
3 0 !PPLEBAUM h!DAPTIVE ARRAYS v )%%% 4RANS !NTENNAS AND 0ROPAGATION VOL !0 NO
PP n 3EPTEMBER
2 * -AILLOUX 0HASED !RRAY !NTENNA (ANDBOOK .ORWOOD -! !RTECH (OUSE
- :ATMAN h$IGITIZATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DIGITAL RADAR ARRAYS v IN 0ROCEEDINGS OF THE
)%%% 2ADAR #ONFERENCE -AY n PP n
' ( # VAN 7ERKHOVEN AND ! + 'OLSHAYAN h#ALIBRATION ASPECTS OF THE !0!2 ANTENNA UNIT v
IN )%%% )NTERNATIONAL #ONFERENCE ON 0HASED !RRAY 3YSTEMS AND 4ECHNOLOGY -AY n
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PHASED ARRAY IN A PLANAR NEARFIELD FACILITY v )%%% )NTERNATIONAL 3YMPOSIUM ON 0HASED !RRAY
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- 3COTT h3AMPSON -&2 ACTIVE PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA v IN )%%% )NTERNATIONAL 3YMPOSIUM ON
0HASED !RRAY 3YSTEMS AND 4ECHNOLOGY /CTOBER n PP n
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( - !UMANN ! * &ENN AND & ' 7ILLWERTH h0HASED ARRAY ANTENNA CALIBRATION AND PATTERN
PREDICTION USING MUTUAL COUPLING MEASUREMENTS v )%%% 4RANS !NTENNAS AND 0ROP VOL
NO PP n *ULY
% "ROOKNER h0HASED ARRAYS AND RADARS n PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE v -ICROWAVE * VOL
PP n *ANUARY
2 - 3CUDDER AND 7 ( 3HEPPARD h!.309 PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA v -ICROWAVE * VOL
PP n -AY
2 , "RITTON 4 7 +IMBRELL # % #ALDWELL AND ' # 2OSE h!.309 PLANNED IMPROVE
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#HAPTER
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-iV
}ii
4OMORROWS 2ESEARCH
{ /," 1
/"
! RADAR DETECTS OR TRACKS A TARGET AND SOMETIMES CAN CLASSIFY IT ONLY BECAUSE THERE
IS AN ECHO SIGNAL )T IS THEREFORE CRITICAL IN THE DESIGN AND OPERATION OF RADARS TO BE
ABLE TO QUANTIFY OR OTHERWISE DESCRIBE THE ECHO ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF SUCH TARGET
CHARACTERISTICS AS SIZE SHAPE AND ORIENTATION &OR THAT PURPOSE THE TARGET IS ASCRIBED
AN EFFECTIVE AREA CALLED THE RADAR CROSS SECTION OR 2#3 4HE 2#3 IS THE PROJECTED AREA
OF A METAL SPHERE THAT WOULD RETURN THE SAME ECHO SIGNAL AS THE TARGET HAD THE SPHERE
BEEN SUBSTITUTED FOR IT
5NLIKE THE ECHO OF THE SPHERE HOWEVER WHICH IS INDEPENDENT OF THE VIEWING ANGLE
THE ECHOES OF ALL BUT THE SIMPLEST TARGETS VARY SIGNIFICANTLY WITH ORIENTATION !S WILL BE
SHOWN LATER THIS VARIATION CAN BE QUITE RAPID ESPECIALLY FOR TARGETS MANY WAVELENGTHS
IN SIZE
4HE ECHO CHARACTERISTICS DEPEND IN STRONG MEASURE ON THE SIZE AND NATURE OF THE
TARGET SURFACES EXPOSED TO THE RADAR BEAM 4HE VARIATION IS SMALL FOR ELECTRICALLY SMALL
TARGETS TARGETS LESS THAN A WAVELENGTH OR SO IN SIZE BECAUSE THE INCIDENT WAVELENGTH IS
TOO LONG TO RESOLVE TARGET DETAILS /N THE OTHER HAND THE FLAT SINGLY CURVED AND DOUBLY
CURVED SURFACES OF ELECTRICALLY LARGE TARGETS ALL GIVE RISE TO DIFFERENT ECHO CHARACTERISTICS
2EENTRANT STRUCTURES SUCH AS JET ENGINE INTAKES AND EXHAUSTS GENERALLY HAVE LARGE
ECHOES AND EVEN THE TRAILING EDGES OF AIRFOILS CAN BE SIGNIFICANT ECHO SOURCES
4HE RADAR CROSS SECTIONS OF SIMPLE BODIES CAN BE COMPUTED EXACTLY BY A SOLUTION OF
THE WAVE EQUATION IN A COORDINATE SYSTEM FOR WHICH A CONSTANT COORDINATE COINCIDES
WITH THE SURFACE OF THE BODY 4HE EXACT SOLUTION REQUIRES THAT THE ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC
FIELDS JUST INSIDE AND JUST OUTSIDE THE SURFACE SATISFY CERTAIN CONDITIONS THAT DEPEND ON
THE ELECTROMAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF THE MATERIAL OF WHICH THE BODY IS MADE
7HILE THESE SOLUTIONS CONSTITUTE INTERESTING ACADEMIC EXERCISES AND CAN WITH SOME
STUDY REVEAL THE NATURE OF THE SCATTERING MECHANISMS THAT COME INTO PLAY THERE ARE NO
KNOWN TACTICAL TARGETS THAT FIT THE SOLUTIONS 4HUS EXACT SOLUTIONS OF THE WAVE EQUA
TION ARE AT BEST GUIDELINES FOR GAUGING OTHER APPROXIMATE METHODS OF COMPUTING
SCATTERED FIELDS
!N ALTERNATIVE APPROACH IS THE SOLUTION OF THE INTEGRAL EQUATIONS GOVERNING THE DIS
TRIBUTION OF INDUCED FIELDS ON TARGET SURFACES 4HE MOST USEFUL APPROACH TO A SOLUTION
IS KNOWN AS THE METHOD OF MOMENTS IN WHICH THE INTEGRAL EQUATIONS ARE REDUCED TO
A SYSTEM OF LINEAR HOMOGENEOUS EQUATIONS 4HE ATTRACTION OF THIS METHOD IS THAT THE
SURFACE PROFILE OF THE BODY IS UNRESTRICTED ALLOWING THE COMPUTATION OF THE SCATTERING
{
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
FROM TRULY TACTICAL OBJECTS !NOTHER IS THAT ORDINARY METHODS OF SOLUTION MATRIX INVER
SION AND GAUSSIAN ELIMINATION FOR EXAMPLE MAY BE EMPLOYED TO EFFECT A SOLUTION 4HIS
METHOD IS LIMITED BY COMPUTER MEMORY AND EXECUTION TIME HOWEVER TO OBJECTS A FEW
DOZEN WAVELENGTHS IN SIZE AT BEST
!LTERNATIVES TO THESE EXACT SOLUTIONS ARE SEVERAL APPROXIMATE METHODS THAT MAY BE
APPLIED WITH REASONABLE ACCURACY TO ELECTRICALLY LARGE TARGET FEATURES 4HEY INCLUDE
THE THEORIES OF GEOMETRICAL AND PHYSICAL OPTICS THE GEOMETRICAL AND PHYSICAL THEORIES
OF DIFFRACTION AND THE METHOD OF EQUIVALENT CURRENTS 4HESE APPROXIMATIONS ARE DIS
CUSSED IN 3ECTION /THER APPROXIMATE METHODS NOT DISCUSSED HERE ARE EXPLORED IN
DETAIL IN SOME OF THE REFERENCES LISTED AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER
4HE PRACTICAL ENGINEER CANNOT RELY ENTIRELY ON PREDICTIONS AND COMPUTATIONS AND
MUST EVENTUALLY MEASURE THE ECHO CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME TARGETS 4HIS MAY BE DONE BY
USING FULL
SCALE TEST OBJECTS OR SCALE MODELS THEREOF 3MALL TARGETS OFTEN MAY BE MEASURED
INDOORS BUT LARGE TARGETS MUST USUALLY BE MEASURED ON AN OUTDOOR TEST RANGE 4HE CHAR
ACTERISTICS OF TYPICAL INDOOR AND OUTDOOR TEST FACILITIES ARE DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
#ONTROL OF THE ECHO CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME TARGETS IS OF VITAL TACTICAL IMPORTANCE
NAMELY STEALTH 4HERE ARE ONLY TWO PRACTICAL WAYS OF REDUCING THE ECHO THROUGH SHAP
ING AND RADAR ABSORBERS 3HAPING IS THE SELECTION OR DESIGN OF SURFACE PROFILES SO THAT
LITTLE OR NO ENERGY IS REFLECTED BACK TOWARD THE RADAR "ECAUSE TARGET CONTOURS ARE DIF
FICULT TO CHANGE ONCE THE TARGET HAS BECOME A PRODUCTION ITEM SHAPING IS BEST IMPLE
MENTED IN THE CONCEPT DEFINITION STAGE BEFORE PRODUCTION DECISIONS HAVE BEEN MADE
2ADAR
ABSORBING MATERIALS ACTUALLY SOAK UP RADAR ENERGY ALSO REDUCING THE ENERGY
REFLECTED BACK TO THE RADAR (OWEVER THE APPLICATION OF ABSORBERS IS ALWAYS EXPENSIVE
WHETHER GAUGED IN TERMS OF NONRECURRING ENGINEERING COSTS LIFETIME MAINTENANCE
OR REDUCED MISSION CAPABILITIES 4HE TWO METHODS OF ECHO CONTROL ARE DISCUSSED IN
3ECTION AND A COLLECTION OF FOUR STEALTHY PLATFORMS IS SURVEYED THERE
3EVEN "ASIC %CHO -ECHANISMS &IGURE ILLUSTRATES SEVEN BASIC ECHO SOURCES
THAT MIGHT BE FOUND ON A TYPICAL AIRBORNE TARGET !LL DEPEND IN VARYING DEGREE ON THE
&)'52% %XAMPLES OF SEVEN BASIC ECHO SOURCE MECHANISMS AFTER % & +NOTT !MERICAN
)NSTITUTE OF !ERONAUTICS AND !STRONAUTICS
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
TARGET ASPECT ANGLE AS SEEN FROM THE RADAR 3OME ARE DOMINANT SCATTERING MECHANISMS
WHEREAS OTHERS ARE WEAK .OT ALL ARE SIGNIFICANT ON OTHER KINDS OF PLATFORMS SUCH AS
WARSHIPS OR MILITARY GROUND VEHICLES 7E BRIEFLY DISCUSS THE SEVEN IN DESCENDING ORDER
OF SIGNIFICANCE
2EENTRANT 3TRUCTURES 4HE ONLY REENTRANT STRUCTURE APPEARING ON THE HYPOTHETI
CAL MISSILE IN &IGURE IS ITS EXHAUST DUCT AT THE REAR BUT JET INTAKE DUCTS BEHAVE
MUCH THE SAME WAY 4HE ECHOES FROM CAVITIES SUCH AS INTAKE DUCTS EXHAUST DUCTS AND
COCKPITS ARE LARGE AND TEND TO PERSIST OVER ASPECT ANGLES AS WIDE AS n OR n 4HIS IS
BECAUSE MOST OF THE INTERNAL DUCT SURFACES IE COMPRESSOR STAGES AND TURBINE FACES
ARE METALLIC AND ANY RADAR WAVE THAT FINDS ITS WAY INTO THE STRUCTURE WILL LIKELY FIND
ITS WAY BACK OUT TOWARD THE RADAR 4HIS IS ALSO TRUE OF INTERNAL REFLECTIONS FROM WITHIN
COCKPIT CANOPIES
3PECULAR 3CATTERERS ! SPECULAR SCATTERER IS ANY TARGET SURFACE THAT IS ORIENTED PER
PENDICULAR TO THE LINE OF SIGHT TO THE RADAR &LAT SURFACES OFFER PARTICULARLY LARGE ECHOES
IN THE SPECULAR DIRECTION BUT THE ECHOES DROP OFF SHARPLY AWAY FROM THAT DIRECTION 4HE
SPECULAR ECHOES FROM SINGLY AND DOUBLY CURVED SURFACES CYLINDRICAL AND SPHEROIDAL
SURFACES ARE SOMEWHAT LOWER THAN THOSE FROM FLAT SURFACES BUT ARE MORE PERSISTENT
WITH CHANGES IN ASPECT ANGLE
4RAVELING
WAVE %CHOES 7HEN THE ANGLE OF INCIDENCE IS A SMALL GRAZING ANGLE OFF
THE SURFACE A SURFACE TRAVELING WAVE CAN BE INDUCED 4HE SURFACE WAVE TENDS TO BUILD
UP TOWARD THE REAR OF THE BODY AND IS USUALLY REFLECTED BACK TOWARD THE FRONT BY ANY
DISCONTINUITY AT THE REAR 4RAVELING
WAVE ECHOES AT LOW GRAZING ANGLES ARE NEARLY AS
SIGNIFICANT AS SPECULAR ECHOES AT NORMAL INCIDENCE
4IP %DGE AND #ORNER $IFFRACTION 3CATTERING FROM TIPS EDGES AND CORNERS IS LESS
SIGNIFICANT THAN SPECULAR ECHOES AND THUS ARE WORRISOME TO THE DESIGNER ONLY WHEN
MOST OTHER SOURCES OF ECHO HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED 4HE ECHOES FROM TIPS AND CORNERS
ARE LOCALIZED AND TEND TO INCREASE WITH THE SQUARE OF THE WAVELENGTH NOT THE SIZE OF
ANY SURFACE FEATURE 4HUS THEY BECOME PROGRESSIVELY LESS IMPORTANT AS THE RADAR FRE
QUENCY RISES
3URFACE $ISCONTINUITIES -OST AIRFRAMES HAVE SLOTS OR GAPS WHERE CONTROL SURFACES
MEET THE STATIONARY AIRFRAME 3LOTS GAPS AND EVEN RIVET HEADS CAN REFLECT ENERGY BACK
TO THE RADAR "ECAUSE THESE TEND TO BE SMALL EFFECTS IT IS NOT EASY TO ISOLATE AND CHAR
ACTERIZE THEM
#REEPING 7AVES ! CREEPING WAVE IS ONE THAT GETS BOUND TO A SMOOTH SHADED SUR
FACE IS GUIDED AROUND THE REAR OF A SMOOTH BODY AND IS THEN LAUNCHED BACK TO THE RADAR
WHEN IT REAPPEARS AT THE SHADOW BOUNDARY ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE !S SHOWN IN THE NEXT
SECTION THE CREEPING WAVE CAUSES THE ECHOES FROM SMALL SPHERES TO VARY WITH SPHERE
SIZE 4HE MECHANISM CAN ALSO BE PRESENT FOR OTHER SMOOTH BODIES SUCH AS THE GENERIC
MISSILE DEPICTED IN &IGURE 4HE CREEPING WAVE MECHANISM IS NEVER A SIGNIFICANT
ONE FOR MILITARY AND CIVILIAN TARGETS
)NTERACTIONS 2ELATIVELY STRONG ECHOES CAN OCCUR WHEN A PAIR OF TARGET SURFACES ARE
ORIENTED FOR A FAVORABLE BOUNCE FROM ONE SURFACE TO ANOTHER AND THEN BACK TO THE RADAR
AS IN THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE FUSELAGE AND THE TRAILING EDGE OF THE RIGHT WING SHOWN
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
IN &IGURE 3IMILAR INTERACTIONS OCCUR FOR SHIP TARGETS WHEN BULKHEADS RAILINGS
MASTS AND OTHER TOPSIDE FEATURES BECOME MIRRORED IN THE MEAN SEA SURFACE
.OT ALL OF THESE MECHANISMS ARE REVEALED IN THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SELECTION OF
SIMPLE AND COMPLEX TARGETS AS SHOWN IN THE NEXT SECTION
{ /
"
*/"
"*"7
,
$EFINITION OF 2#3 !N OBJECT EXPOSED TO AN ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE DISPERSES
INCIDENT ENERGY IN ALL DIRECTIONS 4HIS SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF ENERGY IS CALLED SCATTER
ING AND THE OBJECT ITSELF IS OFTEN CALLED A SCATTERER 4HE ENERGY SCATTERED BACK TO THE
SOURCE OF THE WAVE CALLED BACKSCATTERING CONSTITUTES THE RADAR ECHO OF THE OBJECT 4HE
INTENSITY OF THE ECHO IS DESCRIBED EXPLICITLY BY THE RADAR CROSS SECTION OF THE OBJECT FOR
WHICH THE ACRONYM 2#3 HAS BEEN GENERALLY RECOGNIZED %ARLY PAPERS ON THE SUBJECT
CALLED IT THE ECHO AREA OR THE EFFECTIVE AREA TERMS STILL FOUND OCCASIONALLY IN CONTEM
PORARY TECHNICAL LITERATURE
4HE FORMAL DEFINITION OF RADAR CROSS SECTION IS
\ % \
R LIM P 2 S
\ % \
2lc
WHERE % IS THE ELECTRIC
FIELD STRENGTH OF THE INCIDENT WAVE IMPINGING ON THE TARGET AND
%S IS THE ELECTRIC
FIELD STRENGTH OF THE SCATTERED WAVE AT THE RADAR 4HE DERIVATION OF THE
EXPRESSION ASSUMES THAT A TARGET EXTRACTS POWER FROM AN INCIDENT WAVE AND THEN RADI
ATES THAT POWER UNIFORMLY IN ALL DIRECTIONS !LTHOUGH THE VAST MAJORITY OF TARGETS DO
NOT SCATTER ENERGY UNIFORMLY IN ALL DIRECTIONS THE DEFINITION ASSUMES THAT THEY DO 4HIS
PERMITS ONE TO CALCULATE THE SCATTERED POWER DENSITY ON THE SURFACE OF A LARGE SPHERE
OF RADIUS 2 CENTERED ON THE SCATTERING OBJECT 2 IS TYPICALLY TAKEN TO BE THE RANGE FROM
THE RADAR TO THE TARGET
4HE SYMBOL R HAS BEEN WIDELY ACCEPTED AS THE DESIGNATION FOR THE 2#3 OF AN OBJECT
ALTHOUGH THIS WAS NOT SO AT FIRST 4HE 2#3 IS THE PROJECTED AREA OF A METAL SPHERE THAT
IS LARGE COMPARED WITH THE WAVELENGTH AND THAT IF SUBSTITUTED FOR THE OBJECT WOULD
SCATTER IDENTICALLY THE SAME POWER BACK TO THE RADAR (OWEVER THE 2#3 OF ALL BUT THE
SIMPLEST SCATTERERS FLUCTUATES GREATLY WITH THE ORIENTATION OF THE OBJECT SO THE NOTION
OF AN EQUIVALENT SPHERE IS NOT VERY USEFUL
4HE LIMITING PROCESS IN %Q IS NOT ALWAYS AN ABSOLUTE REQUIREMENT )N BOTH MEA
SUREMENT AND ANALYSIS THE RADAR RECEIVER AND TRANSMITTER ARE USUALLY TAKEN TO BE IN THE
FAR FIELD OF THE TARGET DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION AND AT THAT DISTANCE THE SCATTERED FIELD
%S DECAYS INVERSELY WITH THE DISTANCE 2 4HUS THE 2 TERM IN THE NUMERATOR OF %Q
IS CANCELED BY AN IDENTICAL BUT IMPLICIT 2 TERM IN THE DENOMINATOR #ONSEQUENTLY THE
DEPENDENCE OF THE 2#3 ON 2 AND THE NEED TO FORM THE LIMIT USUALLY DISAPPEARS
4HE RADAR CROSS SECTION IS THEREFORE A COMPARISON OF THE SCATTERED POWER DENSITY AT
THE RECEIVER WITH THE INCIDENT POWER DENSITY AT THE TARGET !N EQUALLY VALID DEFINITION OF
THE 2#3 RESULTS WHEN THE ELECTRIC
FIELD STRENGTHS IN %Q ARE REPLACED WITH THE INCI
DENT AND SCATTERED MAGNETIC
FIELD STRENGTHS )T IS OFTEN NECESSARY TO MEASURE OR CALCU
LATE THE POWER SCATTERED IN SOME OTHER DIRECTION THAN BACK TO THE TRANSMITTER A BISTATIC
SITUATION ! BISTATIC 2#3 MAY BE DEFINED FOR THIS CASE AS WELL AS FOR BACKSCATTERING
PROVIDED IT IS UNDERSTOOD THAT THE DISTANCE 2 IS MEASURED FROM THE TARGET TO THE RECEIVER
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
{x
&ORWARD SCATTERING IS A SPECIAL CASE OF BISTATIC SCATTERING IN WHICH THE BISTATIC ANGLE IS
n WHENCE THE DIRECTION OF INTEREST IS ALONG THE SHADOW ZONE BEHIND THE TARGET
4HE SHADOW ITSELF CAN BE REGARDED AS THE SUM OF TWO FIELDS OF NEARLY EQUAL STRENGTH
BUT n OUT OF PHASE /NE IS THE INCIDENT FIELD AND THE OTHER IS THE SCATTERED FIELD
4HE FORMATION OF THE SHADOW IMPLIES THAT THE FORWARD SCATTERING IS LARGE WHICH IS
INDEED THE CASE 4HE FIELDS BEHIND THE TARGET ARE HARDLY EVER PRECISELY ZERO HOWEVER
BECAUSE SOME ENERGY USUALLY LEAKS INTO THE SHADOW ZONE VIA DIFFRACTION FROM THE
SIDES OF THE TARGET
%XAMPLES OF 2#3 #HARACTERISTICS 4HE DISCUSSION OF RADAR CROSS SECTION CHAR
ACTERISTICS WILL FIRST CONSIDER SIMPLE TARGETS OF WHICH THE SPHERE IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE
4HIS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY COMPLEX OBJECTS OF WHICH AN AIRCRAFT IS A GOOD EXAMPLE
3IMPLE /BJECTS "ECAUSE OF ITS PURE RADIAL SYMMETRY THE PERFECTLY CONDUCTING
SPHERE IS THE SIMPLEST OF ALL THREE
DIMENSIONAL SCATTERERS $ESPITE THE SIMPLICITY OF ITS
GEOMETRICAL SURFACE HOWEVER AND THE INVARIANCE OF ITS ECHO WITH ORIENTATION THE 2#3
OF THE SPHERE VARIES CONSIDERABLY WITH ELECTRICAL SIZE 4HE EXACT SOLUTION FOR THE SCATTER
ING BY A CONDUCTING SPHERE IS KNOWN AS THE -IE SERIES AND IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
.OTE THAT THE CHART IS SPLIT ROUGHLY INTO THREE REGIONS )N THE 2AYLEIGH REGION BELOW
KA THE 2#3 RISES WITH THE FOURTH POWER OF THE SPHERE RADIUS AN ECHO DEPENDENCE
CHARACTERISTIC OF ELECTRICALLY SMALL BODIES WHETHER SPHERICAL OR NOT )N THIS REGION
THE INCIDENT WAVE CANNOT ACCURATELY RESOLVE BODY LENGTH
TO
WIDTH VARIATIONS )N THE
OPTICS REGION ABOVE KA OPTICS FORMULAS FOR PREDICTING THE 2#3 OF THE METAL BODY
GENERALLY WORK REASONABLY WELL 3ANDWICHED BETWEEN THE 2ALEIGH REGION BELOW AND
THE OPTICS REGION ABOVE IS THE RESONANCE REGION WHERE TWO OR MORE MECHANISMS MAY
COMBINE IN AND OUT OF PHASE WITH EACH OTHER TO PRODUCE THE UNDULATIONS IN THE 2#3
)N THE CASE OF THE SPHERE THE UNDULATIONS IN THE RESONANCE REGION ARE DUE TO TWO
DISTINCT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ECHO ONE A SPECULAR REFLECTION FROM THE FRONT OF THE SPHERE
AND THE OTHER A CREEPING WAVE THAT CIRCLES AROUND ITS SHADOWED SIDE 4HE TWO GO IN AND
OUT OF PHASE AS THE SPHERE GROWS LARGER BECAUSE THE DIFFERENCE IN THE LENGTHS OF THEIR
ELECTRICAL PATH FROM SOURCE TO RECEIVER INCREASES CONTINUOUSLY WITH INCREASING KA 4HE
UNDULATIONS BECOME WEAKER WITH INCREASING KA BECAUSE THE CREEPING WAVE LOSES MORE
ENERGY THE LONGER THE ELECTRICAL PATH AROUND THE SHADOWED SIDE
&)'52% 2ADAR CROSS SECTION OF A PERFECTLY CONDUCTING SPHERE
NORMALIZED TO THE OPTICS VALUE OA 4HE PARAMETER KA OAK IS THE
CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE SPHERE EXPRESSED IN WAVELENGTHS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)F ONLY THE SPECULAR REFLECTION IS SIGNIFICANT THE OPTICS REGION 2#3 OF THE PERFECTLY
CONDUCTING SPHERE IS SIMPLY
R OA
WHERE A IS THE RADIUS OF THE SPHERE "UT THE 2#3 OF PERMEABLE DIELECTRIC BODIES IS
MORE COMPLICATED THAN THIS BECAUSE ENERGY CAN ENTER THE BODY AND RATTLE AROUND INSIDE
BEFORE COMING BACK OUT !N EXAMPLE IS THE DIELECTRIC SPHERE WHOSE 2#3 IS PLOTTED IN
&IGURE "ECAUSE THE DIELECTRIC MATERIAL IS SLIGHTLY LOSSY AS INDICATED BY THE NON
ZERO IMAGINARY COMPONENT OF THE INDEX OF REFRACTION THE 2#3 OF THE SPHERE DECAYS
GRADUALLY WITH INCREASING ELECTRICAL SIZE !TLAS ET AL WENT EVEN FURTHER BY COMPARING
THE MEASURED AND THEORETICAL 2#3 OF 0LEXIGLAS SPHERES IN THEIR ATTEMPTS TO UNDERSTAND
THE SCATTERING BY HAILSTONES
4HE 2#3 OF VERY SLENDER DIELECTRIC BODIES DOES NOT EXHIBIT THIS COMPLEXITY HOW
EVER BECAUSE THE SOURCES OF REFLECTION FRONT AND BACK SIDES OF A DIELECTRIC CYLINDER FOR
EXAMPLE ARE TOO CLOSE TO EACH OTHER TO BE RESOLVABLE BY THE INCIDENT WAVE !N EXAMPLE
IS THE BROADSIDE 2#3 OF A THIN STRING SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE STRING WAS ANGLED n
ACROSS THE TEST ZONE OF A LARGE INDOOR TEST CHAMBER AND THE 2#3 WAS MEASURED AS A
FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY FOR FOUR TRANSMIT
RECEIVE POLARIZATION COMBINATIONS /NLY THE
COPOLARIZED 66 AND CROSS
POLARIZED 6( TRACES ARE SHOWN BECAUSE THE (( AND (6
MEASUREMENTS CLOSELY TRACK THE 66 AND 6( DATA 4HE MEASURED DATA ARE THE RAPIDLY
VARYING TRACES AND WERE FITTED STATISTICALLY TO THE SMOOTHLY VARYING TRACES REPRESENTING
THE EXACT SOLUTION OF THE TWO
DIMENSIONAL WAVE EQUATION FOR DIELECTRIC CYLINDERS
4HE STRING DIAMETER WAS INCH AND ITS ILLUMINATED LENGTH WAS ESTIMATED TO BE
ABOUT FT "ASED ON A MEAN SEPARATION BETWEEN THE MEASURED 66 AND 6( DATA OF
D" THE EFFECTIVE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT OF THE STRING WAS ESTIMATED TO BE DR
4HIS MAY BE THE FIRST TIME THAT 2#3 MEASUREMENTS WERE EVER USED TO ESTIMATE THE
DIELECTRIC CONSTANT OF A STRING 3TRINGS ARE OF INTEREST AT 2#3 TEST FACILITIES BECAUSE THEY
SOMETIMES ARE USED AS hINVISIBLEv TARGET SUPPORTS
&)'52% 2#3 OF A LOSSY DIELECTRIC SPHERE WITH N I AFTER * 2HEINSTEIN
)%%%
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
&)'52% -EASURED AND PREDICTED BROADSIDE 2#3 OF A STRING STRETCHED
ACROSS THE TEST ZONE OF AN INDOOR TEST CHAMBER AT n ANGLE (ORIZON
(OUSE 2EPRINTED WITH PERMISSION
4HE BEHAVIOR OF SHORT WIRE DIPOLES IS MARKEDLY DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF LONG DIELECTRIC
STRINGS !S SHOWN IN &IGURE THE BROADSIDE ECHO OF A METAL WIRE EXHIBITS RESO
NANCES AT ODD MULTIPLES OF A HALF WAVELENGTH WITH PLATEAUS OF NEARLY CONSTANT RETURN
BETWEEN THE RESONANT PEAKS 4HESE PLATEAUS RISE WITH INCREASING DIPOLE LENGTH AND
BECOME LESS DISTINCT AS THE DIPOLE BECOMES THICKER AND LONGER 4HEY EVENTUALLY DISAP
PEAR WHEN THE DIPOLE BECOMES FAT ENOUGH AND LONG ENOUGH
4HE 2#3 CAN RISE TO SIGNIFICANT LEVELS AT END
ON ASPECTS AS WELL AS IN THE BROADSIDE
REGIONS OF BODIES BOTH FAT AND THIN 4HESE NEAR
END
ON ECHOES ARE ATTRIBUTABLE TO SUR
FACE TRAVELING WAVES THAT RADIATE POWER IN THE BACKWARD DIRECTION !N EXAMPLE IS THE
OGIVE A SPINDLE
SHAPED OBJECT FORMED BY ROTATING AN ARC OF A CIRCLE ABOUT ITS CHORD
&)'52% -EASURED BROADSIDE RETURNS OF A THIN DIPOLE #OURTESY OF
5NIVERSITY OF -ICHIGAN 2ADIATION ,ABORATORY
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&IGURE IS THE 2#3 PATTERN OF A K LONG n HALF ANGLE OGIVE RECORDED FOR HORI
ZONTAL POLARIZATION INCIDENT ELECTRIC FIELD IN THE PLANE OF THE OGIVE AXIS AND THE LINE OF
SIGHT 4HE LARGE LOBE AT THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE PATTERN IS A SPECULAR ECHO IN THE BROADSIDE
SECTOR AND THE SEQUENCE OF PEAKS AT THE LEFT SIDE IS THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE SURFACE TRAV
ELING WAVE NEAR END ON INCIDENCE .OTE THAT THE 2#3 IS EXTREMELY SMALL NOT MEASUR
ABLE IN THIS CASE AT PRECISELY END ON INCIDENCE 4HEORETICAL PREDICTIONS IN THE END ON
REGION CLOSELY MATCH THE MEASURED PATTERN FOR THIS PARTICULAR BODY
! METAL PLATE IS A MORE ELEMENTARY STRUCTURE THAN THE OGIVE SHOWN IN &IGURE
BUT ITS 2#3 PATTERN IS NO LESS COMPLEX 3AMPLE PATTERNS ARE REPRODUCED IN &IGURE
FOR FOUR DIFFERENT INCIDENT AND RECEIVED POLARIZATION COMBINATIONS 4HE TRACES FOR ((
DOTS AND (6 SHORT DASHES ARE EACH SHIFTED DOWN BY D" FOR CLARITY WHEREAS THOSE
FOR THE 66 LONG DASHES AND 6( SOLID ARE hAS ISv NOT SHIFTED 4HE PLATE WAS ROTATED
ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS PARALLEL TO ONE EDGE OF THE PLATE AND THE INCIDENT OR RECEIVED
POLARIZATION WAS EITHER PARALLEL TO 6 OR PERPENDICULAR TO ( THAT AXIS RESPECTIVELY
&)'52% -EASURED 2#3 PATTERN OF A K n HALF ANGLE METAL OGIVE AFTER , 0ETERS
)%%%
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
&#'$ !&
(
%"
( "'&
&)'52% 2#3 OF A SQUARE FLAT PLATE IN ALONG A SIDE MEASURED AT -(Z 4HE ((
AND (6 PATTERNS HAVE BEEN ARTIFICIALLY LOWERED D" FOR CLARITY #OURTESY OF 3 0 7EI ET AL
THE "OEING #OMPANY /RIGINAL DATA COURTESY OF THE "OEING #OMPANY 3EATTLE 7ASHINGTON
4HE PLATE IS PRESENTED BROADSIDE TO THE INCIDENT WAVE AT THE CENTER OF THE CHART n
AND IS SEEN EDGE
ON AT THE LEFT AND RIGHT SIDES n 4HE LARGE SPECULAR RETURN FROM THE
PLATE AT THE CENTER OF THE CHART IS PREDICTED WITH QUITE GOOD ACCURACY BY THE FLAT
PLATE
FORMULA GIVEN IN 4ABLE LATER IN THIS SECTION 4HE EDGE
ON RETURN FOR 66 POLARIZA
TION IS WELL PREDICTED BY THE STRAIGHT
EDGE FORMULA ALSO GIVEN IN 4ABLE
4HESE UNDULATING PLATE PATTERNS FOLLOW A SIN XX VARIATION QUITE CLOSELY FOR ASPECT
ANGLES OUT TO ABOUT n "EYOND THAT ANGLE THE TWO PATTERNS DIFFER BY PROGRESSIVELY
WIDER MARGINS 4HE SIN XX BEHAVIOR IS CHARACTERISTIC OF A UNIFORMLY ILLUMINATED APER
TURE BUT UNLIKE THE ONE
WAY ILLUMINATION FUNCTION ENCOUNTERED IN ANTENNA WORK THE
ARGUMENT X FOR THE FLAT PLATE INCLUDES A TWO
WAY ROUND
TRIP ILLUMINATION FUNCTION
4HUS THE BEAMWIDTH OF THE ECHO RESPONSE OF A FLAT PLATE IS HALF THE BEAMWIDTH OF AN
ANTENNA APERTURE OF THE SAME SIZE 4HE PROMINENT LOBE IN THE HORIZONTAL PATTERN IN THE
REGION BETWEEN n AND n IS DUE TO A SURFACE TRAVELING WAVE
)N CONTRAST TO THE PATTERN OF A FLAT PLATE THE 2#3 PATTERN OF A CORNER REFLECTOR IS QUITE
BROAD 4HIS IS BECAUSE THE CORNER REFLECTOR IS A REENTRANT STRUCTURE AND NO MATTER WHAT
ITS ORIENTATION WITHIN LIMITS OF COURSE INTERNALLY REFLECTED WAVES ARE DIRECTED BACK
TOWARD THE SOURCE OF THE INCIDENT WAVE ! CORNER REFLECTOR IS FORMED BY TWO OR THREE FLAT
PLATES INTERSECTING AT RIGHT ANGLES AND WAVES IMPINGING ON THE FIRST FACE ARE REFLECTED
ONTO THE SECOND IF THERE IS A THIRD FACE IT RECEIVES WAVES REFLECTED BY THE FIRST TWO
FACES 4HE MUTUAL ORTHOGONALITY OF THE FACES ENSURES THAT THE DIRECTION TAKEN BY WAVES
UPON FINAL REFLECTION IS BACK TOWARD THE SOURCE
4HE INDIVIDUAL FACES OF THE CORNER REFLECTOR MAY BE OF ARBITRARY SHAPE BUT THE MOST
COMMON IS AN ISOSCELES TRIANGLE FOR THE TRIHEDRAL CORNER DIHEDRAL CORNERS TYPICALLY
HAVE RECTANGULAR FACES 4HE 2#3 OF A CORNER REFLECTOR SEEN ALONG ITS AXIS OF SYMMETRY
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% 2#3 !PPROXIMATIONS FOR 3IMPLE 3CATTERING &EATURES
3CATTERING &EATURE
#ORNER REFLECTOR
&LAT PLATE
3INGLY CURVED SURFACE
$OUBLY CURVED SURFACE
3TRAIGHT PLATE EDGE
#URVED EDGE
#ONE TIP
!CUTE FLAT METAL CORNER
!CUTE FLAT METAL CORNER
/RIENTATION
!PPROXIMATE 2#3
.OTES
!XIS OF SYMMETRY ALONG ,/3
3URFACE PERPENDICULAR TO ,/3
3URFACE PERPENDICULAR TO ,/3
3URFACE PERPENDICULAR TO ,/3
,/3 PERPENDICULAR TO FRONT EDGE
AND % IN PLANE OF PLATE
%DGE ELEMENT PERPENDICULAR TO ,/3
!XIAL INCIDENCE
,/3 PERPENDICULAR TO REAR EDGE AND
% IN PLANE OF PLATE
,/3 ALONG CORNER BISECTOR AND %
IN PLANE OF PLATE
O !EFF K
O ! K
O A,K
O AA
,O
AK
K SIN@
K
K
./4%3
,/3 LINE OF SIGHT
!EFF EFFECTIVE AREA CONTRIBUTING TO MULTIPLE INTERNAL REFLECTIONS
! ACTUAL AREA OF THE PLATE
A MEAN RADIUS OF CURVATURE , LENGTH OF SLANTED SURFACE
A A PRINCIPAL RADII OF SURFACE CURVATURE IN ORTHOGONAL PLANES
, EDGE LENGTH
A RADIUS OF EDGE CONTOUR
@ HALF ANGLE OF THE CONE
%MPIRICAL VALUES REPORTED BY +NOTT 3HAEFFER AND 4ULEY
IS IDENTICAL TO THAT OF A FLAT PLATE WHOSE PHYSICAL AREA MATCHES THE EFFECTIVE AREA OF THE
CORNER REFLECTOR 4HE MAGNITUDE OF THE ECHO MAY BE DETERMINED BY FINDING THE POLYGO
NAL AREAS ON EACH FACE OF THE CORNER RECEIVING WAVES REFLECTED BY THE OTHER FACES AND
FROM WHICH THE FINAL REFLECTION IS BACK TOWARD THE SOURCE 4HE EFFECTIVE AREA IS DETER
MINED BY SUMMING THE PROJECTIONS OF THE AREAS OF THOSE POLYGONS ON THE LINE OF SIGHT
THE 2#3 IS THEN FOUND BY SQUARING THAT AREA MULTIPLYING BY O AND DIVIDING BY K
&IGURE IS A COLLECTION OF 2#3 PATTERNS OF A TRIHEDRAL CORNER REFLECTOR WITH
TRIANGULAR FACES 4HE REFLECTOR WAS FABRICATED OF THREE TRIANGULAR PLYWOOD PANELS
METALLIZED TO ENHANCE THEIR SURFACE REFLECTIVITIES 4HE APERTURE EXPOSED TO THE RADAR
WAS THEREFORE AN EQUILATERAL TRIANGLE AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE EIGHT PATTERNS IN
&IGURE WERE MEASURED WITH THE PLANE OF THE APERTURE TILTED ABOVE OR BELOW THE
LINE OF SIGHT BY THE ANGLE E
4HE BROAD CENTRAL PART OF THESE PATTERNS IS DUE TO A TRIPLE
BOUNCE MECHANISM
BETWEEN THE THREE PARTICIPATING FACES WHILE THE hEARSv AT THE SIDES OF THE PATTERNS
ARE DUE TO THE SINGLE
BOUNCE FLAT
PLATE SCATTERING FROM THE INDIVIDUAL FACES !LONG
THE AXIS OF SYMMETRY OF THE TRIHEDRAL REFLECTOR IN &IGURE P n E n THE
2#3 IS O,K WHERE , IS THE LENGTH OF ONE OF THE EDGES OF THE APERTURE .OT
SHOWN ARE THE ECHO REDUCTIONS OBTAINED WHEN THE TRIHEDRAL FACES ARE NOT PERPEN
DICULAR TO EACH OTHER 4HOSE REDUCTIONS DEPEND ON THE SIZE OF THE FACES EXPRESSED
IN WAVELENGTHS
4HE 2#3 OF MOST OF THE SIMPLE SCATTERING FEATURES DISCUSSED IN THIS SECTION MAY BE
ESTIMATED BY USING THE SIMPLE FORMULAS LISTED IN 4ABLE 4HE 2#3 OF SOME COM
PLICATED TARGETS MAY BE ESTIMATED BY REPRESENTING THE TARGET AS A COLLECTION OF FEATURES
LIKE THOSE LISTED IN 4ABLE CALCULATING THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND THEN SUM
MING THE CONTRIBUTIONS COHERENTLY OR NONCOHERENTLY AS GOVERNED BY THE OBJECTIVE OF
THE CALCULATIONS
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
&)'52% 2#3 PATTERNS OF A TRIHEDRAL CORNER REFLECTOR %DGE
OF APERTURE IN K CM 3 3 2OBERTSON !44
2EPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM !44 4ECHNICAL *OURNAL
#OMPLEX /BJECTS /BJECTS SUCH AS INSECTS BIRDS AIRPLANES SHIPS AND ANTENNAS
CAN BE MUCH MORE COMPLEX THAN THOSE JUST DISCUSSED EITHER BECAUSE OF THE MULTIPLIC
ITY OF SCATTERERS ON THEM OR BECAUSE OF THE COMPLEXITY OF THEIR SURFACE PROFILES AND
DIELECTRIC CONSTANTS )NSECTS ARE EXAMPLES OF THE LATTER
-EASURED VALUES FOR A DOZEN SPECIES OF INSECTS ARE LISTED IN 4ABLE 4HE
BUGS WERE ALIVE FOR THE MEASUREMENTS BUT HAD TO BE DRUGGED TO IMMOBILIZE THEM
&IGURE SHOWS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE 2#3 AND THE MASS OF AN INSECT
WITH THE VARIATION OF A WATER DROPLET SHOWN FOR COMPARISON 4ABLE LISTS THE
2#3 OF A MAN AS REPORTED BY 3CHULTZ ET AL /THER COMPARISONS HAVE BEEN MADE
FOR BOTH BIRDS AND INSECTS
&)'52% #OORDINATE SYSTEM FOR THE 2#3 PATTERNS IN
&IGURE 3 3 2OBERTSON !44 2EPRINTED WITH
PERMISSION FROM !44 4ECHNICAL *OURNAL
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% -EASURED )NSECT 2#3 AT '(Z
)NSECT
,ENGTH MM
7IDTH MM
"ROADSIDE
2#3 D"SM
%ND
ON
2#3 D"SM
"LUE
WINGED LOCUST
!RMYWORM MOTH
!LFALFA CATERPILLAR BUTTERFLY
(ONEYBEE WORKER
#ALIFORNIA HARVESTER ANT
2ANGE CRANE FLY
'REEN BOTTLE FLY
4WELVE
SPOTTED CUCUMBER BEETLE
#ONVERGENT LADY BEETLE
3PIDER UNIDENTIFIED
./4% /RIGINAL VALUES REPORTED IN SQUARE CENTIMETERS HAVE BEEN CONVERTED HERE TO D"SM WHICH IS DECIBELS
RELATIVE TO A SQUARE METER
4!",% -EASURED 2#3 OF A -AN
&REQUENCY '(Z
2#3 M
n
n
n
n
n
&)'52% 3AMPLE OF MEASURED 2#3 OF INSECTS
AS A FUNCTION OF INSECT MASS AT '(Z BASED ON 2ILEYS
SUMMARY 4HE DASHED LINE IS THE CALCULATED 2#3 OF WATER
DROPLETS FOR COMPARISON AFTER * 2 2ILEY )%%%
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
&)'52% -EASURED 2#3 PATTERN OF A " BOMBER AT A FREQUENCY OF '(Z
%XAMPLES OF 2#3 PATTERNS FOR AIRCRAFT ARE SHOWN IN &IGURES AND 4HE
"
PATTERN IN &IGURE WAS MEASURED AT A FREQUENCY OF '(Z 4HE POLAR FORMAT
IS USEFUL FOR DISPLAY PURPOSES BUT IS NOT AS CONVENIENT FOR DETAILED COMPARISONS AS IS
A RECTANGULAR FORMAT LIKE THE ONE USED IN &IGURE 4HAT RECTANGULAR PATTERN IS OF
A ONE
THIRD SCALE MODEL #
AIRCRAFT AND WAS DISPLAYED IN THE EARLY S ON A 53
!IR &ORCE WEB SITE 4HE #
IS A MILITARY VERSION OF THE 2AYTHEON (AWKER 80
MID
SIZE BUSINESS JET
4HE !IR &ORCE WEB SITE REVEALS VERY LITTLE TECHNICAL DETAIL ABOUT THE TEST CONDITIONS
ATTENDING THE DATA COLLECTION SUCH AS THE FREQUENCY AND POLARIZATION OF THE MEASURE
MENTS NOT EVEN THE UNITS IN WHICH THE 2#3 DATA ARE DISPLAYED (OWEVER EVEN IF WE DO
NOT KNOW THE TEST FREQUENCY OR POLARIZATION WE DO KNOW THAT THE FULL
SCALE 2#3 WILL
BE LOG r D" HIGHER THAN THOSE CHARTED IN THE FIGURE IE HIGHER BY THE
SQUARE OF THE INVERSE SCALE FACTOR 7E SUSPECT THAT NOSE
ON INCIDENCE IS AT THE CENTER
OF THE PATTERN AND THAT THE CHARTED 2#3 DATA ARE IN DECIBELS ABOVE A SQUARE METER AT
THE TEST FREQUENCY
&IGURE CHARTS THE 2#3 OF A SHIP MEASURED AT AND '(Z AT HORIZONTAL
POLARIZATION 4HE DATA WERE COLLECTED BY A SHORE
BASED RADAR INSTRUMENTATION COMPLEX
AS THE SHIP STEAMED IN A LARGE CIRCLE ON #HESAPEAKE "AY 4HE THREE TRACES IN THESE CHARTS
ARE THE AND PERCENTILE LEVELS OF THE SIGNALS COLLECTED OVER ASPECT ANGLE hWIN
DOWSv n WIDE 4HE PATTERNS ARE NOT SYMMETRICAL ESPECIALLY AT THE HIGHER FREQUENCY
.OTE THAT THE 2#3 CAN EXCEED MI D"SM
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% -EASURED 2#3 OF A ONE THIRD SCALE MODEL # MILITARY AIRCRAFT
!N EMPIRICAL FORMULA FOR THE 2#3 OF A NAVAL SHIP IS
R F
$
WHERE d IS THE RADAR FREQUENCY IN MEGAHERTZ AND $ IS THE FULL
LOAD DISPLACEMENT OF
THE VESSEL IN KILOTONS 4HE RELATIONSHIP IS BASED ON MEASUREMENTS OF SEVERAL SHIPS
AT LOW GRAZING ANGLES AND REPRESENTS THE AVERAGE OF THE MEDIAN 2#3 IN THE PORT AND
STARBOARD BOW AND QUARTER ASPECTS BUT EXCLUDING THE BROADSIDE PEAKS 4HE STATISTICS
INCLUDE DATA COLLECTED AT NOMINAL WAVELENGTHS OF AND CM FOR SHIP DIS
PLACEMENTS RANGING FROM TO KILOTONS
&IGURE SUMMARIZES THE GENERAL 2#3 LEVELS OF THE WIDE VARIETY OF TARGETS
DISCUSSED IN THIS SECTION WITH THE 2#3 OF A METALLIC SPHERE SHOWN AS A FUNCTION OF ITS
VOLUME FOR COMPARISON 4HE ORDINATE IS THE 2#3 IN SQUARE METERS AND THE ABSCISSA IS
THE VOLUME OF THE TARGET IN CUBIC FEET "ECAUSE THE CHART IS INTENDED ONLY TO DISPLAY THE
WIDE RANGE IN 2#3 THAT MAY BE ENCOUNTERED IN PRACTICE THE LOCATIONS OF TARGETS ON THE
CHART ARE APPROXIMATE AT BEST 7ITHIN GIVEN TARGET CLASSES THE 2#3 MAY BE EXPECTED
TO VARY BY AS MUCH AS OR D" DEPENDING ON FREQUENCY ASPECT ANGLE AND SPECIFIC
TARGET CHARACTERISTICS 2EADERS SEEKING MORE EXPLICIT DETAIL THAN THIS SHOULD CONSULT
REFERENCED MATERIAL AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
{x
&)'52% -EASURED 2#3 OF A LARGE NAVAL AUXILIARY SHIP FOR HORIZONTAL INCIDENT POLARIZATION 4HE
UPPER PATTERN A IS FOR '(Z AND THE LOWER PATTERN B IS FOR '(Z 3HOWN ARE THE AND
PERCENTILE LEVELS BASED ON THE STATISTICS OF THE DATA OVER n ASPECT ANGLE WINDOWS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 3UMMARY OF 2#3 LEVELS OF TARGETS DISCUSSED
IN THIS SECTION 4HE LOCATIONS OF TARGETS ON THE CHART ARE GENERAL
INDICATIONS ONLY
{ ,
-*,
/" /
+1
!S SHOWN IN &IGURE SCATTERING OBSTACLES ARE GENERALLY SORTED INTO THREE DIFFERENT
REGIMES BASED ON THEIR BODY SIZE IN WAVELENGTHS 6ERY LOOSELY THESE THREE REGIONS ARE
L
2AYLEIGH REGION TYPICAL BODY SIZE K
2ESONANCE REGION K TYPICAL BODY SIZE K
/PTICS REGION K TYPICAL BODY SIZE
4HE BOUNDARIES SEPARATING THE THREE REGIMES ARE DIFFUSE AT BEST 4HE UTILITY OF OUR
2#3 ESTIMATION AND COMPUTATION METHODS DEPENDS IN LARGE MEASURE ON WHERE IN THIS
SIZE SCHEME WE FIND OUR TARGET
!LTHOUGH THE COMPLEXITY AND SIZE OF MOST SCATTERING OBJECTS PRECLUDE THE APPLICA
TION OF EXACT METHODS OF RADAR CROSS
SECTION PREDICTION EXACT SOLUTIONS FOR SIMPLE
BODIES PROVIDE VALUABLE CHECKS FOR APPROXIMATE METHODS 4HE EXACT METHODS ARE
RESTRICTED TO RELATIVELY SIMPLE OR RELATIVELY SMALL OBJECTS IN THE 2AYLEIGH AND RESONANT
REGIONS WHEREAS MOST OF THE APPROXIMATE METHODS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED FOR THE OPTICS
REGION ALSO CALLED THE HIGH
FREQUENCY REGION 4HERE ARE EXCEPTIONS TO THESE GENERAL
LIMITATIONS OF COURSE 4HE EXACT SOLUTIONS FOR MANY OBJECTS CAN BE USED FOR LARGE BOD
IES WELL INTO THE OPTICS REGION IF ONE USES ARITHMETIC OF SUFFICIENT PRECISION AND MANY
OPTICS APPROXIMATIONS CAN BE EXTENDED TO BODIES OF MODEST ELECTRICAL SIZE INTO THE
RESONANCE REGION ,OW
FREQUENCY APPROXIMATIONS DEVELOPED FOR THE 2AYLEIGH REGION
CAN EXTEND UPWARD INTO THE RESONANCE REGION
%XACT -ETHODS 4HE EXACT METHODS ARE BASED ON EITHER THE INTEGRAL OR DIFFEREN
TIAL FORM OF -AXWELLS EQUATIONS
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
$IFFERENTIAL %QUATIONS -AXWELLS FOUR DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS CONSTITUTE A SUC
CINCT STATEMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS PRODUCED BY
CURRENTS AND CHARGES AND BY EACH OTHER 4HE FOUR EQUATIONS MAY BE MANIPULATED FOR
ISOTROPIC SOURCE FREE REGIONS TO GENERATE THE WAVE EQUATION
& K &
WHERE & REPRESENTS EITHER THE VECTOR ELECTRIC FIELD OR THE VECTOR MAGNETIC FIELD
%QUATION IS A SECOND
ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION THAT MAY BE SOLVED AS A BOUNDARY
VALUE PROBLEM WHEN THE FIELDS ON THE SURFACE OF THE SCATTERING OBSTACLE ARE SPECIFIED
4HE FIELDS ARE TYPICALLY REPRESENTED AS THE SUM OF KNOWN AND UNKNOWN COMPONENTS
INCIDENT AND SCATTERED FIELDS AND THE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS ARE THE KNOWN RELATION
SHIPS THAT MUST BE SATISFIED BETWEEN THE FIELDS BOTH ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC JUST INSIDE
AND JUST OUTSIDE THE SURFACE OF THE OBSTACLE 4HOSE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS ARE PARTICULARLY
SIMPLE FOR SOLID CONDUCTING OR DIELECTRIC OBJECTS
4HE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS INVOLVE ALL THREE COMPONENTS OF THE VECTOR FIELDS AND
THE SURFACE OF THE BODY MUST COINCIDE WITH A COORDINATE OF THE GEOMETRICAL SYSTEM IN
WHICH THE BODY IS DESCRIBED &OR EXAMPLE THE COORDINATE R CONSTANT COULD REPRESENT
A SPHERICAL SURFACE 4HE SOLUTION OF THE WAVE EQUATION IS MOST USEFUL FOR THOSE SYSTEMS
IN WHICH THE EQUATION IS SEPARABLE INTO ORDINARY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS IN EACH OF THE
VARIABLES 4HE SCATTERED FIELDS ARE TYPICALLY EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF INFINITE SERIES THE
COEFFICIENTS OF WHICH ARE TO BE DETERMINED IN THE ACTUAL SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM /NCE
OBTAINED THE SOLUTION ALLOWS THE FIELDS TO BE CALCULATED AT ANY POINT IN SPACE WHICH
IN 2#3 PROBLEMS IS THE LIMIT AS THE DISTANCE FROM THE OBSTACLE BECOMES INFINITE 4HE
SOLUTION OF THE WAVE EQUATION MAY THEN BE USED IN %Q TO DETERMINE THE SCATTERING
CROSS SECTION
!SIDE FROM A FEW VERY SIMPLE OBJECTS SUCH AS THE SPHERE AND THE INFINITE CIRCULAR
CYLINDER THE SOLUTION FOR %Q IS MORE ACADEMIC THAN PRACTICAL 4HE SOLUTION FOR
OTHER STRUCTURES SUCH AS INFINITE PARABOLIC AND ELLIPTIC CYLINDERS ARE DIFFICULT AT BEST
AND FOR MANY STRUCTURES WHOSE SURFACES MAY COINCIDE WITH A COORDINATE SYSTEM THERE
IS NO CONVENIENT METHOD OF SOLUTION
4HE MOST USEFUL AND PRACTICAL OF THE EXACT SOLUTIONS AVAILABLE IS THAT OF THE PER
FECTLY CONDUCTING SPHERE SHOWN EARLIER IN &IGURE -ETAL SPHERES ARE USED ROU
TINELY AS CALIBRATION TARGETS FOR 2#3 MEASUREMENTS BECAUSE AN EXACT SOLUTION IS
AVAILABLE METAL SPHERES ARE NOT VERY HARD TO BUILD AND EFFICIENT COMPUTER CODES ARE
AVAILABLE FOR OBTAINING THE EXACT SOLUTION .O OTHER SCATTERING BODY AFFORDS ALL THESE
CONVENIENCES
)NTEGRAL %QUATIONS -AXWELLS EQUATIONS MAY ALSO BE MANIPULATED TO GENERATE A
PAIR OF INTEGRAL EQUATIONS KNOWN AS THE 3TRATTON
#HU EQUATIONS
%S u
[IK: N r ( 9 N r % r 9 N ; % 9] D3
(S u
[
IK9 N r % 9 N r ( r 9 N ; % 9] D3
WHERE N IS THE UNIT SURFACE NORMAL ERECTED AT THE SURFACE PATCH D3 AND Y IS THE 'REENS
FUNCTION
9 EIKR P R
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE DISTANCE R IN %Q IS MEASURED FROM THE SURFACE PATCH D3 TO THE POINT AT
WHICH THE SCATTERED FIELDS ARE DESIRED WHICH COULD BE ANOTHER SURFACE PATCH 4HESE
EXPRESSIONS STATE THAT IF THE TOTAL ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELD DISTRIBUTIONS ARE KNOWN
OVER A COMPLETELY CLOSED SURFACE 3 AS INDICATED BY THE LITTLE CIRCLE ON THE INTEGRAL
SIGN THE FIELDS ANYWHERE IN SPACE MAY BE COMPUTED BY SUMMING INTEGRATING THOSE
SURFACE FIELD DISTRIBUTIONS OVER THE ENTIRE SURFACE 4HIS SCATTERING PROBLEM RELIES ON
THE SAME TWO EQUATIONS BUT INSTEAD OF MEASURING THE TOTAL FIELDS OVER A CLOSED SURFACE
SURROUNDING THE BODY ONE DETERMINES THE FIELDS INDUCED ON THE BODY SURFACES THEM
SELVES BY THE INCIDENT WAVE AND THEN SOLVES A SYSTEM OF LINEAR EQUATIONS 4HESE SURFACE
FIELDS BECOME UNKNOWNS TO BE DETERMINED 4HE TWO EQUATIONS ARE COUPLED BECAUSE THE
UNKNOWNS APPEAR ON BOTH SIDES OF BOTH EQUATIONS 4HE METHOD OF SOLUTION IS KNOWN AS
THE METHOD OF MOMENTS -/- WHICH REDUCES THE INTEGRAL EQUATIONS TO A COLLECTION
OF HOMOGENEOUS LINEAR EQUATIONS THAT MAY BE SOLVED BY MATRIX TECHNIQUES
/NCE THE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN SPECIFIED THE SURFACE 3 IS SPLIT INTO A COL
LECTION OF DISCRETE PATCHES AS SUGGESTED IN &IGURE 4HE PATCHES MUST BE SMALL
ENOUGH TYPICALLY LESS THAN K THAT THE UNKNOWN CURRENTS AND CHARGES OVER EACH PATCH
ARE CONSTANT OR AT LEAST CAN BE DESCRIBED BY SIMPLE FUNCTIONS ! WEIGHTING FUNCTION MAY
BE ASSIGNED TO EACH PATCH AND THE PROBLEM IS ESSENTIALLY SOLVED WHEN THE AMPLITUDE
AND PHASE OF THOSE FUNCTIONS HAVE BEEN DETERMINED
)F THE POINT OF OBSERVATION IS FORCED DOWN TO A GENERAL SURFACE PATCH THE FIELDS ON
THE LEFT SIDES OF %QS AND ARE THOSE DUE TO THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE FIELDS ON ALL
OTHER PATCHES PLUS THE INCIDENT FIELDS AND A hSELF
FIELDv 4HE SELF
FIELD OR SELF
CURRENT OR
SELF
CHARGE IS MOVED TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE EQUATIONS LEAVING ONLY THE KNOWN INCIDENT
FIELD ON THE LEFT SIDE 7HEN THE PROCESS IS REPEATED FOR EACH PATCH ON THE SURFACE A SYS
TEM OF N LINEAR HOMOGENEOUS EQUATIONS IN N UNKNOWNS IS GENERATED )F THE BOUNDARY
CONDITIONS PERMIT THE DECOUPLING OF THE EQUATIONS THE NUMBER OF UNKNOWNS MAY BE
HALVED TO N EQUATIONS IN N UNKNOWNS
4HE COEFFICIENTS OF THE RESULTING MATRIX INVOLVE ONLY THE ELECTRICAL DISTANCES
IN WAVELENGTHS BETWEEN ALL PATCHES TAKEN BY PAIRS AND THE ORIENTATION OF PATCH
SURFACE NORMALS 4HE UNKNOWN FIELDS MAY BE FOUND BY INVERTING THE RESULTING
MATRIX AND MULTIPLYING THE INVERTED MATRIX BY A COLUMN MATRIX REPRESENTING THE
INCIDENT FIELD AT EACH PATCH 4HE SURFACE FIELDS ARE THEN SUMMED IN INTEGRALS SIMILAR
TO %QS AND TO OBTAIN THE SCATTERED FIELD WHICH THEN MAY BE INSERTED IN
%Q TO COMPUTE THE 2#3
&)'52% 4HE METHOD OF MOMENTS DIVIDES THE BODY SURFACE INTO A COLLECTION OF DISCRETE PATCHES 4HIS
PLANFORM OF THE 53 !IR &ORCE "
3PIRIT STEALTH BOMBER USES TRIANGULAR PATCHES
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
&)'52% !ZIMUTH PLANE -/- PREDICTED EDGE ON
2#3 OF A FLAT PLATE HAVING THE PLANFORM SHOWN IN &IGURE
FOR WING LEADING EDGES K IN LENGTH 4HE INCIDENT ELECTRIC FIELD
WAS IN THE PLANE OF THE PLATE
4HE METHOD OF MOMENTS HAS BECOME A POWERFUL TOOL IN THE PREDICTION AND ANALYSIS
OF ELECTROMAGNETIC SCATTERING WITH APPLICATIONS FOR ANTENNA DESIGN AS WELL AS 2#3
PREDICTION 4HIS METHOD HAS THREE LIMITATIONS HOWEVER
&IRST BECAUSE COMPUTER MEMORY AND PROCESSING TIME BOTH INCREASE RAPIDLY WITH
THE ELECTRICAL SIZE OF THE OBJECT THERE MIGHT BE AN ECONOMIC LIMIT FOR THE MAXIMUM
TARGET ELECTRICAL SIZE IN WAVELENGTHS FOR WHICH -/- CAN BE USED 3ECOND -/-
YIELDS NUMBERS NOT FORMULAS AND IS THEREFORE A NUMERICAL EXPERIMENTAL TOOL (OWEVER
TRENDS MAY BE ESTABLISHED BY RUNNING THESE NUMERICAL EXPERIMENTS REPEATEDLY FOR PARA
METRIC CHANGES IN THE GEOMETRY OR CONFIGURATION OF AN OBJECT OR IN THE ANGLE OF ARRIVAL
OR OF THE FREQUENCY OF THE INCIDENT WAVE 4HIRD THE SOLUTIONS FOR SOME OBJECTS MAY
CONTAIN SPURIOUS RESONANCES THAT DO NOT ACTUALLY EXIST THEREBY REDUCING THE CONFIDENCE
ONE MAY HAVE IN APPLYING THE METHOD TO ARBITRARY STRUCTURES
&IGURE SHOWS A -/-
CODE PREDICTION OF THE EDGE
ON 2#3 PATTERN OF A
LARGE FLAT METAL PLATE OF ZERO THICKNESS HAVING THE PLANFORM OF &IGURE &OR
THE PURPOSE OF ILLUSTRATION WE CHOSE A SIMULATION FREQUENCY SUCH THAT THE LEADING
EDGES OF THE WINGS WERE K LONG 4HE INCIDENT POLARIZATION AND THE DIRECTION OF THE
INCIDENT WAVE WERE BOTH IN THE PLANE OF THE PLATE .OSE
ON INCIDENCE LIES AT ZERO
DEGREE ASPECT AT THE CENTER OF THE CHART AND THE TAIL
ON ASPECT LIES AT n AT BOTH
SIDES OF THE CHART
!S SHOWN IN 4ABLE THE APPROXIMATE 2#3 OF A STRAIGHT EDGE OF LENGTH , PRE
SENTED PERPENDICULAR TO THE INCIDENT WAVE IS R ,O (OWEVER THIS ESTIMATE IS SOME
D" LOWER THAN THE PEAK AMPLITUDE ATTAINED IN &IGURE BY THE LEADING
EDGE
ECHOES EITHER SIDE OF NOSE
ON INCIDENCE %VIDENTLY THERE ARE OTHER MORE SUBTLE
ECHO SOURCES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE 2#3 AT THESE ASPECTS POSSIBLY SURFACE TRAVELING
WAVE CONTRIBUTIONS
!PPROXIMATE -ETHODS !PPROXIMATE METHODS FOR COMPUTING SCATTERED FIELDS
ARE AVAILABLE IN BOTH THE 2AYLEIGH AND THE OPTICS REGIONS 2AYLEIGH
REGION APPROXIMA
TIONS MAY BE DERIVED BY EXPANDING THE WAVE EQUATION %Q IN A POWER SERIES OF
THE WAVENUMBER K (IGHER
ORDER TERMS OF THE EXPANSION BECOME PROGRESSIVELY MORE
DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN 4HE 2#3 PATTERN OF A 2AYLEIGH SCATTERER IS VERY BROAD ESPECIALLY IF
THE OBJECT HAS SIMILAR TRANSVERSE AND LONGITUDINAL DIMENSIONS 4HE MAGNITUDE OF THE
ECHO IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE SQUARE OF THE VOLUME OF THE OBJECT AND VARIES AS THE FOURTH
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
POWER OF THE FREQUENCY OF THE INCIDENT WAVE "ECAUSE THE METHOD OF MOMENTS IS
QUITE WELL SUITED TO THE SOLUTION OF 2AYLEIGH
REGION PROBLEMS ANALYTICAL 2AYLEIGH
REGION EXPANSIONS FOR PREDICTING THE 2#3 OF ELECTRICALLY SMALL OBJECTS HAVE LAPSED
INTO DISUSE
3EVERAL APPROXIMATE METHODS HAVE BEEN DEVISED FOR THE OPTICS REGION EACH WITH ITS
PARTICULAR ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS 4HE MOST MATURE OF THE METHODS ARE GEOMETRIC
OPTICS AND PHYSICAL OPTICS WITH LATER METHODS ATTACKING THE PROBLEM OF DIFFRACTION
FROM EDGES AND FROM SHADOW BOUNDARY FIELD DISCONTINUITIES 7HILE THE GENERAL ACCU
RACY OF THE OPTICS REGION APPROXIMATIONS IMPROVES AS THE SCATTERING OBSTACLE BECOMES
ELECTRICALLY LARGER SOME OF THEM GIVE REASONABLY ACCURATE RESULTS WITHIN OR D"
FOR OBJECTS AS SMALL AS A WAVELENGTH OR SO
'EOMETRIC /PTICS 4HE THEORY OF GEOMETRIC OPTICS '/ IS BASED ON THE CONSERVA
TION OF ENERGY WITHIN A SLENDER FICTITIOUS TUBE CALLED A RAY 4HE DIRECTION OF PROPAGATION
IS ALONG THE TUBE AND CONTOURS OF EQUAL PHASE ARE PERPENDICULAR TO IT )N A LOSSLESS
MEDIUM ALL THE ENERGY ENTERING THE TUBE AT ONE END MUST COME OUT THE OTHER END BUT
ENERGY LOSSES WITHIN THE MEDIUM MAY ALSO BE ACCOUNTED FOR !N INCIDENT WAVE MAY BE
REPRESENTED AS A COLLECTION OF A LARGE NUMBER OF RAYS AND WHEN A RAY STRIKES A SURFACE
PART OF THE ENERGY IS REFLECTED AND PART IS TRANSMITTED ACROSS THE SURFACE 4HE AMPLITUDE
AND PHASE OF THE REFLECTED AND TRANSMITTED RAYS DEPEND ON THE PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA
ON EITHER SIDE OF THE SURFACE 4HE REFLECTION IS PERFECT IF THE SURFACE IS PERFECTLY CON
DUCTING AND NO ENERGY IS TRANSMITTED ACROSS THE BOUNDARY INTO THE BODY 7HEN ENERGY
CAN PASS THROUGH THE SURFACE TRANSMITTED RAYS ARE BENT TOWARD THE SURFACE NORMAL IN
CROSSING A SURFACE INTO AN ELECTRICALLY DENSER MEDIUM HIGHER INDEX OF REFRACTION AND
AWAY FROM THE SURFACE NORMAL INTO A LESS DENSE MEDIUM 4HIS BENDING OF RAYS IS KNOWN
AS REFRACTION
$EPENDING ON SURFACE CURVATURE AND BODY MATERIAL REFLECTED AND TRANSMITTED
RAYS MAY DIVERGE FROM ONE ANOTHER OR THEY MAY CONVERGE TOWARD EACH OTHER 4HIS
DEPENDENCE IS THE BASIS FOR THE DESIGN OF LENSES AND REFLECTORS AT RADAR WAVELENGTHS
AS WELL AS AT OPTICAL WAVELENGTHS 4HE REDUCTION IN INTENSITY AS THE RAYS DIVERGE
SPREAD AWAY FROM THE POINT OF REFLECTION CAN BE CALCULATED FROM THE CURVATURES
OF THE REFLECTING SURFACE AND THE INCIDENT WAVE AT THE SPECULAR POINT WHICH IS THAT
POINT ON THE SURFACE WHERE THE ANGLE OF REFLECTION EQUALS THE ANGLE OF INCIDENCE
4HE PRINCIPAL RADII OF CURVATURE OF THE SURFACE ARE MEASURED IN TWO ORTHOGONAL
PLANES AT THE SPECULAR POINT AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 7HEN THE INCIDENT WAVE IS
PLANAR AND THE DIRECTION OF INTEREST IS BACK TOWARD THE SOURCE THE GEOMETRIC OPTICS
2#3 IS SIMPLY
R P AA
WHERE A AND A ARE THE RADII OF CURVATURE OF THE BODY SURFACE AT THE SPECULAR POINT
4HIS FORMULA BECOMES EXACT IN THE OPTICAL LIMIT OF VANISHING WAVELENGTHS AND IS
PROBABLY ACCURATE TO OR PERCENT FOR RADII OF CURVATURE AS SMALL AS K OR K )T
ASSUMES THAT THE SPECULAR POINT IS NOT CLOSE TO AN EDGE 7HEN APPLIED TO DIELECTRIC
OBJECTS THE EXPRESSION SHOULD BE MULTIPLIED BY THE SQUARE OF THE VOLTAGE REFLECTION
COEFFICIENT ASSOCIATED WITH THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF THE OBJECT )NTERNAL REFLECTIONS
MAY ALSO BE ACCOUNTED FOR AND THE PHASE OF INTERNALLY REFLECTED RAYS SHOULD BE ADJUSTED
ACCORDING TO THE ELECTRICAL PATH LENGTHS TRAVERSED WITHIN THE BODY MATERIAL 4HE NET
2#3 SHOULD THEN BE COMPUTED AS THE COHERENT SUM OF THE SURFACE REFLECTION PLUS ALL
SIGNIFICANT INTERNAL REFLECTIONS %QUATION FAILS WHEN ONE OR BOTH SURFACE RADII OF
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
&)'52% 4HE GEOMETRIC OPTICS 2#3 OF A DOUBLY CURVED SURFACE DEPENDS
ON THE PRINCIPAL RADII OF CURVATURE AT THE SPECULAR POINT 4HE SPECULAR POINT IS WHERE
THE SURFACE NORMAL POINTS TOWARD THE RADAR
CURVATURE AT THE SPECULAR POINT BECOME INFINITE YIELDING INFINITE 2#3 WHICH IS OBVI
OUSLY WRONG 4HIS OCCURS FOR FLAT AND SINGLY CURVED SURFACES
0HYSICAL /PTICS 4HE THEORY OF PHYSICAL OPTICS 0/ IS A SUITABLE ALTERNATIVE
FOR BODIES WITH FLAT AND SINGLY CURVED SURFACE FEATURES 4HE THEORY IS BASED ON TWO
APPROXIMATIONS IN THE APPLICATION OF %QS AND BOTH OF WHICH ARE REASONABLY
EFFECTIVE IN A HOST OF PRACTICAL CASES 4HE FIRST IS THE FAR FIELD APPROXIMATION WHICH
ASSUMES THAT THE DISTANCE FROM THE SCATTERING OBSTACLE TO THE POINT OF OBSERVATION IS
LARGE COMPARED WITH ANY DIMENSION OF THE OBSTACLE ITSELF 4HIS ALLOWS US TO REPLACE THE
GRADIENT OF 'REENS FUNCTION WITH
Y IKY OS
Y O E IKR r S E IK2O P 2O
WHERE R IS THE POSITION VECTOR OF INTEGRATION PATCH D3 AND S IS A UNIT VECTOR POINTING
FROM AN ORIGIN IN OR NEAR THE OBJECT TO THE FAR
FIELD OBSERVATION POINT USUALLY BACK
TOWARD THE RADAR 2O IS THE DISTANCE FROM THE ORIGIN OF THE OBJECT TO THE FAR
FIELD OBSER
VATION POINT
4HE SECOND IS THE TANGENT PLANE APPROXIMATION IN WHICH THE TANGENTIAL FIELD COM
PONENTS N r % AND N r ( ARE APPROXIMATED BY THEIR GEOMETRIC OPTICS VALUES 4HAT IS
A TANGENT PLANE IS PASSED THROUGH THE SURFACE COORDINATE AT THE PATCH D3 AND THE TOTAL
SURFACE FIELDS ARE TAKEN TO BE PRECISELY THOSE THAT WOULD HAVE EXISTED HAD THE SURFACE
AT D3 BEEN INFINITE AND PERFECTLY FLAT )N ESSENCE WE DO NOT KNOW THESE FIELDS BUT WE
TAKE OUR BEST GUESS AS TO WHAT THEY ARE AND INSERT THAT ESTIMATE INTO EITHER OF THE TWO
INTEGRALS 4HAT DONE THE ESTIMATE OF THE UNKNOWN FIELDS IN THE INTEGRALS OF %QS
AND MAY BE EXPRESSED ENTIRELY IN TERMS OF THE KNOWN INCIDENT FIELD VALUES 4HE
PROBLEM THEN BECOMES ONE OF EVALUATING THE CHOSEN INTEGRAL AND SUBSTITUTING THE RESULT
INTO %Q TO OBTAIN THE 2#3
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)F THE SURFACE IS A GOOD CONDUCTOR THE TOTAL TANGENTIAL ELECTRIC FIELD IS VIRTUALLY ZERO
AND THE TOTAL TANGENTIAL MAGNETIC FIELD IS TWICE THE AMPLITUDE OF THE INCIDENT TANGENTIAL
MAGNETIC FIELD
N r%
N r (I
Nr(
N
ILLUMINATED SURFACES
SHADED SURFACEES
.OTE THAT THE TANGENTIAL COMPONENTS OF BOTH THE ELECTRIC AND THE MAGNETIC FIELDS
ARE SET TO ZERO OVER THOSE PARTS OF THE SURFACE SHADED FROM THE INCIDENT FIELD BY OTHER
BODY SURFACES /THER APPROXIMATIONS MAY BE DEVISED FOR NONCONDUCTING SURFACES )F
THE INCIDENT WAVELENGTH IS LONG ENOUGH FOR EXAMPLE THE SURFACE OF A SOAP BUBBLE OR
THE LEAF OF A TREE MAY BE MODELED AS A THIN MEMBRANE OVER WHICH NEITHER THE ELECTRIC
NOR MAGNETIC FIELDS ARE ZERO
4HE PHYSICAL
OPTICS INTEGRAL IS EASY TO EVALUATE FOR FLAT METALLIC PLATES BECAUSE THE
PHASE IS THE ONLY QUANTITY WITHIN THE INTEGRAL THAT VARIES AND IT VARIES LINEARLY ACROSS
THE SURFACE 7HEN APPLIED TO A RECTANGULAR METAL PLATE THE INTEGRAL EVALUATION LEADS
TO THE 2#3
R P
! COSP
K
SIN K@ SINP COSE
SIN KW SINP SIN E
;
K@ SINP COSE
KW SINP SIN E
WHERE ! @W IS THE PHYSICAL AREA OF THE PLATE P IS THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE SURFACE
NORMAL OF THE PLATE AND THE DIRECTION TO THE RADAR E IS THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE PLANE
CONTAINING THE LINE OF SIGHT AND THE EDGE WHOSE LENGTH IS @ AND W IS THE WIDTH OF THE
PLATE ! MORE GENERAL PHYSICAL OPTICS FORMULA IS AVAILABLE FOR THE BISTATIC SCATTERING
FROM ANY POLYGONAL PLATE
)F WE SET E n OR n WE OBTAIN A PRINCIPAL PLANE 2#3 PATTERN INCIDENCE IN A
PLANE PERPENDICULAR TO A PAIR OF EDGES 7HEN E n %Q BECOMES
R P
! COSP
K
SIN K@ SINP
K@ SINP
)F WE SET E n INSTEAD OF E n WE GET NEARLY THE SAME ANSWER EXCEPT THAT K@
IN %Q BECOMES KW 4HE PHYSICAL OPTICS INTEGRAL IS NOT DEPENDENT ON THE POLAR
IZATION OF THE INCIDENT WAVE AND IS UNRELIABLE FOR ANGLES MUCH GREATER THAN n FROM
BROADSIDE INCIDENCE
"Y WAY OF COMPARISON THE PHYSICAL OPTICS FORMULA FOR THE 2#3 OF A CIRCULAR METAL
DISK IS
R P
! COSP
K
* KD SINP
KD SINP
WHERE ! IS THE PHYSICAL AREA OF THE DISK D IS ITS DIAMETER AND *X IS THE "ESSEL FUNC
TION OF THE FIRST KIND OF ORDER %QUATIONS THROUGH ALL REDUCE TO THE VALUE
LISTED IN 4ABLE FOR NORMAL INCIDENCE &OR FURTHER COMPARISON THE 0/ PATTERNS OF
TWO SQUARE PLATES AND A CIRCULAR DISK ARE PLOTTED IN &IGURE
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
&)'52% 0/ PATTERNS OF THE 2#3 OF A SQUARE PLATE
A DISK AND SECOND SQUARE PLATE
4HE THREE PATTERNS EACH COVER A n SECTOR FROM BROADSIDE TO EDGE
ON AND ARE PLACED
SIDE
BY
SIDE FOR CLARITY 4HE AREAS OF ALL THREE PLATES WERE FIXED AT K HENCE ALL THREE
PATTERNS RISE TO THE SAME AMPLITUDE AT BROADSIDE INCIDENCE ZERO ASPECT 4HE CENTER
PATTERN IS FOR THE DISK WHILE THE FIRST AND THIRD ARE BOTH FOR A SQUARE PLATE (OWEVER
THE SQUARE PLATE WAS ORIENTED FOR A PRINCIPAL
PLANE PATTERN IN THE LEFTMOST CHART AND LIKE
A DIAMOND E n IN THE RIGHTMOST CHART 4HE AMOUNT OF SURFACE DISTRIBUTED TOWARD
THE SIDES OF THE PLATES INFLUENCES THE SIDELOBE LEVELS
4HE 0/ INTEGRAL IS SOMEWHAT MORE COMPLICATED TO EVALUATE WHEN THE SURFACE IS
SINGLY OR DOUBLY CURVED !N EXACT EVALUATION CAN BE PERFORMED FOR A CIRCULAR CYLINDER
AND A SPHERICAL CAP VIEWED ALONG THE AXIS OF SYMMETRY BUT NOT FOR A TRUNCATED CONE OR
A SPHERICAL CAP SEEN ALONG OTHER THAN THE AXIS OF SYMMETRY %VEN SO THE EXACT EVALU
ATION FOR THE CYLINDER INCLUDES FICTITIOUS CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE SHADOW BOUNDARIES AT
THE SIDES OF THE CYLINDER THAT DO NOT APPEAR IN A STATIONARY PHASE APPROXIMATION
4HE AMPLITUDE OF THE ELEMENTAL SURFACE CONTRIBUTIONS CHANGES SLOWLY OVER THE SURFACE
OF INTEGRATION WHEREAS THE PHASE CHANGES MUCH MORE RAPIDLY !S SUCH THE NET CONTRIBU
TION IN REGIONS OF RAPID PHASE CHANGE IS ESSENTIALLY ZERO AND MAY BE IGNORED !S THE SPEC
ULAR REGIONS ARE APPROACHED ON THE OTHER HAND THE PHASE VARIATION SLOWS DOWN AND THEN
REVERSES AS THE SPECULAR POINT IS CROSSED 4HIS RESULTS IN A NONZERO SPECULAR CONTRIBUTION
TO THE INTEGRAL 4HE PHASE VARIATION NEAR THE SHADOW BOUNDARIES IS RAPID HENCE SURFACE
CONTRIBUTIONS THERE ARE IGNORED IN A STATIONARY PHASE EVALUATION BUT AN EXACT EVALUATION
INCLUDES THEM BECAUSE THE SHADOW BOUNDARIES ARE THE LIMITS OF INTEGRATION "ECAUSE THE
ACTUAL SURFACE FIELD DISTRIBUTIONS DO NOT SUDDENLY DROP TO ZERO AS THE SHADOW BOUNDARY IS
CROSSED AS ASSUMED BY THE THEORY THE SHADOW BOUNDARY CONTRIBUTIONS ARE SPURIOUS
4HUS A STATIONARY PHASE APPROXIMATION OF THE PHYSICAL OPTICS INTEGRAL OVER CLOSED CURVED
SURFACES TENDS TO BE MORE RELIABLE THAN AN EXACT EVALUATION OF THE INTEGRAL
7ITH THIS IN MIND THE STATIONARY PHASE RESULT FOR A CIRCULAR CYLINDER IS
R KA@
SIN K@ SINP
K@ SINP
WHERE A IS THE RADIUS OF THE CYLINDER @ IS ITS LENGTH AND P IS THE ANGLE OFF BROADSIDE
INCIDENCE %QUATION INCLUDES ONLY THE CONTRIBUTION FROM THE CURVED SIDE OF THE
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
CYLINDER AND NOT ITS FLAT ENDS WHICH MAY BE INCLUDED BY USING THE PRESCRIPTION OF
%Q %QUATION MAY ALSO BE USED TO ESTIMATE THE 2#3 OF A TRUNCATED RIGHT
CIRCULAR CONE IF THE RADIUS A IS REPLACED BY THE MEAN RADIUS OF THE CONE AND @ IS REPLACED
BY THE LENGTH OF THE SLANTED SURFACE
!LTHOUGH THE THEORY OF PHYSICAL OPTICS OFFERS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT OVER GEO
METRIC OPTICS FOR FLAT AND SINGLY CURVED SURFACES IT SUFFERS OTHER DRAWBACKS %VEN
THOUGH WE OBTAIN THE PROPER RESULT FOR MOST OF THE ILLUMINATED SURFACE THE PHYSI
CAL OPTICS INTEGRAL YIELDS FALSE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE SHADOW BOUNDARIES AS ALREADY
NOTED -OREOVER PHYSICAL OPTICS SHOWS NO DEPENDENCE ON THE POLARIZATION OF THE
INCIDENT WAVE AND YIELDS DIFFERENT RESULTS WHEN THE RECEIVER AND THE TRANSMITTER ARE
INTERCHANGED 4HESE EFFECTS CONTRADICT OBSERVED BEHAVIOR &INALLY IT ERRS BY WIDER MAR
GINS AS THE DIRECTION OF OBSERVATION MOVES FARTHER AWAY FROM THE SPECULAR DIRECTION
+ELLERS GEOMETRICAL THEORY OF DIFFRACTION '4$ OFFERS AN IMPROVEMENT IN BOTH THE
POLARIZATION DEPENDENCE AND THE PREDICTED VALUES IN THE WIDE
ANGLE REGIONS
'EOMETRIC 4HEORY OF $IFFRACTION '4$ IS A RAY
TRACING METHOD THAT ASSIGNS AN
AMPLITUDE AND PHASE TO FIELDS DIFFRACTED AT SMOOTH SHADOW BOUNDARIES AND AT SURFACE
DISCONTINUITIES "ECAUSE THE LATTER ARE MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT IN BACKSCATTERING COM
PUTATIONS THAN THE FORMER WE FOCUS HERE ON EDGE DIFFRACTION 4HE THEORY ASSUMES THAT
A RAY STRIKING AN EDGE EXCITES A CONE OF DIFFRACTED RAYS AS IN &IGURE 4HE HALF
ANGLE OF THIS DIFFRACTION CONE IS EQUAL TO THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE INCIDENT RAY AND THE
EDGE 5NLESS THE POINT OF OBSERVATION LIES ON THE DIFFRACTION CONE NO VALUE IS ASSIGNED
THE DIFFRACTED FIELD 4HE SCATTERING DIRECTION IN BACKSCATTERING PROBLEMS IS THE REVERSE
OF THE DIRECTION OF INCIDENCE WHENCE THE DIFFRACTION CONE BECOMES A DISK AND THE SCAT
TERING EDGE ELEMENT IS PERPENDICULAR TO THE LINE OF SIGHT
4HE AMPLITUDE OF THE DIFFRACTED FIELD IS GIVEN BY THE PRODUCT OF A DIFFRACTION COEFFI
CIENT AND A DIVERGENCE FACTOR AND THE PHASE DEPENDS ON THE PHASE OF THE EDGE EXCITATION
AND ON THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE OBSERVATION POINT AND THE DIFFRACTING EDGE ELEMENT
4WO CASES ARE RECOGNIZED DEPENDING ON WHETHER THE INCIDENT FIELD IS POLARIZED PARALLEL
OR PERPENDICULAR TO THE EDGE
4HE DIFFRACTED FIELD IS GIVEN BY THE FORMULA
%D
'E IKS EIP
8 A 9
P KS SIN A
WHERE ' IS A DIVERGENCE FACTOR 8 AND 9 ARE DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENTS A IS THE ANGLE
BETWEEN THE INCIDENT RAY AND THE EDGE AND S IS THE DISTANCE TO THE OBSERVATION POINT
FROM THE POINT OF DIFFRACTION 4HE DIFFERENCE OF THE TWO DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENTS IS
&)'52% 4HE +ELLER CONE OF DIFFRACTED RAYS
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
{x
USED WHEN THE INCIDENT ELECTRIC FIELD IS PARALLEL TO THE EDGE 4- POLARIZATION AND THE
SUM WHEN THE INCIDENT MAGNETIC FIELD IS PARALLEL TO THE EDGE 4% POLARIZATION
4HE DIVERGENCE FACTOR ACCOUNTS FOR THE DECAY IN AMPLITUDE AS THE RAYS SPREAD AWAY
FROM THE EDGE ELEMENT AND INCLUDES THE EFFECTS OF THE RADIUS OF THE EDGE IF IT IS CURVED
AS AT THE END OF A TRUNCATED CYLINDER AND THE RADIUS OF CURVATURE OF THE INCIDENT PHASE
FRONT 4HE DIVERGENCE FACTOR FOR A TWO
DIMENSIONAL EDGE OF INFINITE LENGTH ILLUMI
NATED BY A PLANE WAVE IS ' S 4HE DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENTS ARE
8
SINP N N
COSP N
COS;EI
ES N=
9
SINP N N
COSP N
COS;EI ES N=
WHERE EI AND ES ARE THE ANGLES OF THE PLANES OF INCIDENCE AND SCATTERING AS MEASURED
FROM ONE FACE OF THE WEDGE SAY THE ILLUMINATED ONE AND N IS THE EXTERIOR WEDGE ANGLE
NORMALIZED WITH RESPECT TO O 7HEN THESE EXPRESSIONS ARE EVALUATED FOR THE CASE OF A
FLAT METAL EDGE VIEWED EDGE
ON WITH THE INCIDENT POLARIZATION IN THE PLANE OF THE PLATE
THEY YIELD THE EDGE
ON FORMULA R ,O LISTED IN 4ABLE
+ELLERS DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENTS ARE BASED ON AN APPROXIMATION OF THE EXACT SOLUTION
FOR AN INFINITE TWO
DIMENSIONAL METAL WEDGE AS APPLIED TO A THREE
DIMENSIONAL PROB
LEM !LTHOUGH THIS ADAPTATION OF A TWO
DIMENSIONAL SOLUTION TO THE THREE
DIMENSIONAL
WORLD IS REASONABLY EFFECTIVE MOST OF THE TIME THE DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENTS INCONVE
NIENTLY BLOW UP JUST WHEN NEEDED MOST ! CURSORY EXAMINATION OF %QS AND
WILL SHOW WHY
4HE DENOMINATORS OF BOTH EXPRESSIONS CONTAIN THE DIFFERENCE OF TWO COSINE TERMS
THAT BECOME EQUAL IN TWO DIFFERENT CASES 7HEN THE SCATTERING DIRECTION ES IS ALIGNED
ALONG THE SHADOW BOUNDARY WHERE EI
ES O THE DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENT 8 IN %Q
BECOMES SINGULAR A MEANINGLESS RESULT 7HEN THE SCATTERING DIRECTION ES IS ALIGNED
ALONG THE SPECULAR DIRECTION WHERE THE LOCAL ANGLE OF REFLECTION IS EQUAL TO THE LOCAL
ANGLE OF INCIDENCE THEN EI ES O )N THIS CASE IT IS THE DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENT 9 IN
%Q THAT BECOMES SINGULAR A SIMILARLY MEANINGLESS RESULT .OTE THAT THESE TWO
SINGULARITIES DO NOT DEPEND ON BODY GEOMETRY BUT ONLY ON THE RELATIVE DISPOSITIONS OF
THE INCIDENCE AND SCATTERING DIRECTIONS
0HYSICAL 4HEORY OF $IFFRACTION 4HE SINGULARITIES IN '4$ ARE OVERCOME IN THE
PHYSICAL THEORY OF DIFFRACTION 04$ FORMULATED BY 0 )A 5FIMTSEV !LTHOUGH
THESE PUBLICATIONS MAY BE DIFFICULT TO FIND WE CITE THEM HERE FOR COMPLETENESS .OTE
FROM THE EDITOR 4HE READER INTERESTED IN THIS SUBJECT MIGHT ALSO SEE THE 5FIMTSEV PAPER
h#OMMENTS ON $IFFRACTION 0RINCIPLES AND ,IMITATIONS OF 2#3 2EDUCTION 4ECHNIQUES v
0ROC )%%% VOL PP n $ECEMBER ,IKE +ELLER 5FIMTSEV RELIED
ON THE APPROXIMATE WIDE
ANGLE SOLUTION OF THE TWO
DIMENSIONAL WEDGE PROBLEM BUT
HE DISTINGUISHED BETWEEN hUNIFORMv AND hNONUNIFORMv INDUCED SURFACE CURRENTS 4HE
UNIFORM CURRENTS WERE NONE OTHER THAN THE SURFACE CURRENTS OF PHYSICAL OPTICS WHEREAS
THE NONUNIFORM CURRENTS WERE TAKEN TO BE UNDEFINED FILAMENTARY CURRENTS ALONG THE
EDGE ITSELF 5FIMTSEV NEVER ATTEMPTED TO WORK OUT HIS FILAMENTARY FRINGE CURRENTS BUT
INSTEAD TRACED THEIR EFFECT DIRECTLY TO THE FAR SCATTERED FIELD
2ECOGNIZING THAT THE FAR
FIELD 0/ CONTRIBUTION TO THE FAR FIELD WAS THE PART OF THE
'4$ PRESCRIPTION GIVING RISE TO SINGULARITIES IN THE 8 AND 9 OF %QS AND
5FIMTSEV DEVISED A MODIFIED SET OF DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENTS BY SIMPLY SUBTRACTING AWAY
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
THE OFFENSIVE 0/ DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENTS FROM THE TIME
HONORED WIDE
ANGLE WEDGE
SOLUTION 4HIS GENERATED A NEW SET OF DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENTS THAT RETAINED ONLY THE
EDGE TERMS THEREFORE EXCLUDING ANY SURFACE TERMS 5FIMTSEVS 04$ COEFFICIENTS WERE
WELL BEHAVED IN ALMOST ALL DIRECTIONS IN SPACE BUT SUFFERED ONE DISADVANTAGE IN ORDER
TO CALCULATE THE 2#3 OF AN ARBITRARY EDGED BODY ONE HAD TO SUM ALL THE 04$ EDGE
CONTRIBUTIONS PLUS ALL THE 0/ AND '/ SURFACE CONTRIBUTIONS (OWEVER THE PROCEDURE
IS VIABLE AND HAS BEEN WELL DOCUMENTED
)NCREMENTAL ,ENGTH $IFFRACTION #OEFFICIENT '4$ AND 04$ ARE BOTH BASED ON
THE EXACT SOLUTION OF THE TWO
DIMENSIONAL WEDGE PROBLEM FOR WHICH THE DIRECTIONS
OF INCIDENCE AND SCATTERING ARE PERPENDICULAR TO THE EDGE 7HEN EXTENDED TO THE CASE
OF OBLIQUE INCIDENCE THE DIRECTION OF OBSERVATION MUST LIE ALONG A GENERATOR OF THE
+ELLER CONE DEPICTED IN &IGURE )F THE EDGE IS STRAIGHT AND OF FINITE LENGTH AS
IN THE THREE
DIMENSIONAL WORLD %Q OF +NOTT PROVIDES AN APPROXIMATION OF THE
2#3 )F THE EDGE IS CURVED IT MAY BE REGARDED AS A COLLECTION OF INFINITESIMALLY SHORT
SEGMENTS BUTTED TOGETHER AND THE SCATTERED FIELDS MAY BE COMPUTED VIA AN INTEGRATION
OF INCREMENTAL FIELDS DIFFRACTED BY EACH ELEMENT OF THE EDGE 4HIS IS THE CONCEPT INTRO
DUCED BY -ITZNER AND THE SUMMATION OF THE FIELDS DIFFRACTED BY THE EDGE ELEMENTS
IMPLIES AN INTEGRAL AROUND THE EDGE CONTOUR
-ITZNER HOWEVER SOUGHT THE FIELDS SCATTERED IN ARBITRARY DIRECTIONS NOT JUST THOSE
ALONG THE LOCAL +ELLER CONES AND FOR THIS PURPOSE HE DEVELOPED HIS INCREMENTAL LENGTH
DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENT ),$# %XTENDING THE EXAMPLE PROVIDED BY 5FIMTSEV HE
DEVISED A SET OF DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENTS FOR ARBITRARY DIRECTIONS OF INCIDENCE AND SCAT
TERING .OT UNEXPECTEDLY THOSE COEFFICIENTS ARE MORE COMPLICATED THAN THE 8S AND 9S
APPEARING IN %QS AND
-ITZNER EXPRESSED HIS RESULT AS THE DIFFRACTED ELECTRIC
FIELD COMPONENTS PARALLEL
AND PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OF SCATTERING IN TERMS OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE INCI
DENT ELECTRIC FIELD PARALLEL AND PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OF INCIDENCE !S SUCH THE
DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENTS MAY BE EXPRESSED AS THREE SEPARATE PAIRS REPRESENTING PARAL
LEL
PARALLEL PERPENDICULAR
PERPENDICULAR AND PARALLEL
PERPENDICULAR OR PERPENDICU
LAR
PARALLEL COMBINATIONS /NE MEMBER OF EACH PAIR IS DUE TO THE TOTAL SURFACE CURRENT
ON THE DIFFRACTING EDGE INCLUDING THE ASSUMED FILAMENTARY EDGE CURRENTS AND THE
OTHER IS DUE TO THE UNIFORM PHYSICAL OPTICS CURRENTS -ITZNER SUBTRACTED ONE MEMBER
OF EACH PAIR FROM THE OTHER THEREBY RETAINING THE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE FILAMENTARY
EDGE CURRENTS ALONE
4HE RESULTS HAVE THE IDENTICAL FORM OF 5FIMTSEVS EXPRESSIONS IN WHICH THE 0/
COEFFICIENTS ARE SUBTRACTED FROM THE NON
0/ COEFFICIENTS 4HUS -ITZNERS EXPRES
SION FOR THE SCATTERED FIELD CONTAINS ONLY THE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE FILAMENTARY EDGE
CURRENTS )N APPLYING HIS THEORY TO SCATTERING OBJECTS THEREFORE THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF
NONFILAMENTARY
INDUCED SURFACE CURRENTS MUST BE ACCOUNTED FOR SEPARATELY JUST AS IN
5FIMTSEVS 04$ 7HEN THE DIRECTIONS OF INCIDENCE AND SCATTERING BECOME PERPENDICU
LAR TO AN EDGE THE PERPENDICULAR
PARALLEL TERMS DISAPPEAR AND -ITZNERS DIFFRACTION
COEFFICIENTS THEN REDUCE IDENTICALLY TO 5FIMTSEVS
-ETHOD OF %QUIVALENT #URRENTS 5NDERTAKING WHAT HE CALLED A MORE RIGOROUS
EVALUATION OF THE FIELDS INDUCED ON A WEDGE -ICHAELI DUPLICATED -ITZNERS RESULT
FOR THE TOTAL SURFACE CURRENTS CONFIRMING -ITZNERS PRIOR DEVELOPMENT BUT HE DID NOT
EXPLICITLY REMOVE THE 0/ SURFACE
CURRENT CONTRIBUTIONS 4HUS LIKE +ELLERS 8 AND
9 -ICHAELIS DIFFRACTION COEFFICIENTS BECOME SINGULAR IN THE TRANSITION REGIONS ALONG
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
THE REFLECTION AND SHADOW BOUNDARY DIRECTIONS -ICHAELI LATER INVESTIGATED THE REMOVAL
OF THE SINGULARITIES THE CLEVEREST OF WHICH WAS THE USE OF A SKEWED COORDINATE SYSTEM
ALONG THE WEDGE SURFACES
7HILE THESE METHODS OF EVALUATING THE FIELDS SCATTERED BY EDGE ELEMENTS MAY BE
APPLICABLE TO SMOOTH UNBOUNDED EDGES THEY DO NOT ACCOUNT FOR THE DISCONTINUITIES
AT CORNERS WHERE THE EDGES TURN ABRUPTLY IN OTHER DIRECTIONS !N ATTACK ON THE CORNER
PROBLEM HAS BEEN SUGGESTED BY 3IKTA ET AL
{{ ,
-
-1,
//
+1
2#3 MEASUREMENTS MAY BE REQUIRED FOR ANY OF SEVERAL REASONS RANGING FROM SCIENTIFIC
INQUIRY TO VERIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS 4HERE ARE NO FORMAL
STANDARDS GOVERNING INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT METHODS BUT INFORMAL STAN
DARDS OF GOOD MEASUREMENT PRACTICE HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED FOR DECADES $EPENDING
ON THE SIZE OF THE TEST OBJECT THE FREQUENCIES TO BE USED AND OTHER TEST REQUIREMENTS
MEASUREMENTS MAY BE MADE IN INDOOR TEST FACILITIES OR ON OUTDOOR RANGES "ECAUSE ONE
IS SELDOM INTERESTED IN THE 2#3 OF AN OBJECT FOR ONLY ONE ASPECT ANGLE ALL STATIC TEST
RANGES USE TURNTABLES OR ROTATORS TO VARY THE TARGET ASPECT ANGLE !LTHOUGH THE PURPOSE
OF TESTING OFTEN GOVERNS HOW THE MEASUREMENTS WILL BE MADE -ACK AND $YBDAL PRO
VIDE GOOD OVERALL GUIDES FOR ROUTINE 2#3 TESTING
'ENERAL 2EQUIREMENTS 4HE MOST IMPORTANT REQUIREMENT FOR 2#3 MEASURE
MENTS IS THAT THE TEST OBJECT BE ILLUMINATED BY A RADAR WAVE OF ACCEPTABLY UNIFORM
AMPLITUDE AND PHASE 'OOD PRACTICE DICTATES THAT THE AMPLITUDE OF THE INCIDENT WAVE
DEVIATE BY NO MORE THAN D" OVER THE TRANSVERSE AND LONGITUDINAL EXTENT OF THE TAR
GET AND THAT THE PHASE DEVIATION BE LESS THAN )T IS STANDARD PRACTICE AT SOME TEST
RANGES TO PHYSICALLY PROBE THE INCIDENT FIELD AT THE ONSET OF A TEST PROGRAM TO VERIFY THE
AMPLITUDE UNIFORMITY OF THE INCIDENT WAVE
4HE PHASE REQUIREMENT IS THE BASIS OF THE FAR
FIELD RANGE CRITERION
2 $K
WHERE 2 IS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE INSTRUMENTATION RADAR AND THE TEST OBJECT AND $ IS
THE MAXIMUM TARGET DIMENSION TRANSVERSE TO THE LINE OF SIGHT !LL OTHER ERROR SOURCES
BEING FIXED COMPLIANCE WITH THE FAR
FIELD REQUIREMENT IS GENERALLY FELT TO YIELD DATA
WITH AN ACCURACY OF D" OR BETTER &IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE FAR
FIELD REQUIREMENT
FOR A VARIETY OF FREQUENCIES AND TARGET SIZES
%RRORS ATTRIBUTABLE TO RADAR INSTRUMENTATION SHOULD BE HELD TO D" OR LESS WHICH
REQUIRES CAREFUL DESIGN AND SELECTION OF COMPONENTS 4HE DRIFT IN SYSTEM SENSITIVITY
SHOULD NOT EXCEED THIS VALUE FOR THE TIME IT TAKES TO RECORD A SINGLE 2#3 PATTERN WHICH
SOMETIMES MAY APPROACH AN HOUR 4HE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE SYSTEM SHOULD BE AT LEAST
D" WITH D" PREFERRED ,INEARITY OVER THIS RANGE SHOULD BE D" OR BETTER AND
IF NOT STEPS SHOULD BE TAKEN TO CORRECT MEASURED DATA VIA CALIBRATION OF THE RECEIVER
TRANSFER FUNCTION GAIN CHARACTERISTICS
2#3 MEASUREMENTS SHOULD BE CALIBRATED BY THE SUBSTITUTION METHOD IN WHICH AN
OBJECT OF KNOWN SCATTERING CHARACTERISTICS IS SUBSTITUTED FOR THE TARGET UNDER TEST 'IVEN
THE KNOWN MEASURED OR CALIBRATED RECEIVER GAIN CHARACTERISTICS THIS ESTABLISHES THE CON
STANT BY WHICH A RECEIVER OUTPUT INDICATION MAY BE CONVERTED TO AN ABSOLUTE 2#3 VALUE
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4HE FAR
FIELD DISTANCE 2EPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF
3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING )NC
#OMMON CALIBRATION TARGETS INCLUDE METAL SPHERES RIGHT CIRCULAR CYLINDERS FLAT PLATES AND
CORNER REFLECTORS 4HE RADAR CROSS SECTIONS OF THESE OBJECTS MAY BE CALCULATED BY USING THE
EXPRESSIONS GIVEN IN 3ECTION
"ECAUSE RESIDUAL BACKGROUND REFLEC
TIONS CONTAMINATE THE DESIRED TARGET ECHO
SIGNAL THEY SHOULD BE MINIMIZED BY CAREFUL
RANGE DESIGN AND OPERATION )NTERIOR WALLS IN
INDOOR TEST CHAMBERS MUST BE COVERED WITH
HIGH QUALITY RADAR ABSORBING MATERIAL AND
THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND ON OUTDOOR RANGES
SHOULD BE SMOOTH AND FREE OF VEGETATION
4ARGET SUPPORT STRUCTURES SHOULD BE DESIGNED
SPECIFICALLY FOR LOW ECHO CHARACTERISTICS
4HE EFFECTS OF UNDESIRED BACKGROUND SIG
NALS ARE ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE "ECAUSE
THE RELATIVE PHASE BETWEEN THE BACKGROUND
SIGNAL AND THE TARGET SIGNAL IS UNKNOWN TWO
CURVES ARE SHOWN THEY CORRESPOND TO PERFECT
IN PHASE AND OUT OF PHASE CONDITIONS )F THE
BACKGROUND SIGNAL IS EQUAL TO THE TARGET SIGNAL
RATIO OF D" AND THE TWO ARE IN PHASE THE
TOTAL RECEIVED POWER IS FOUR TIMES THE POWER
DUE TO EITHER ONE 4HIS IS THE VALUE SHOWN AT
THE UPPER LEFT OF THE CHART D" )F THE TWO
ARE OUT OF PHASE THEY CANCEL EACH OTHER AND &)'52% -EASUREMENT ERROR AS A FUNC
THERE IS NO SIGNAL AT ALL OFF THE LOWER LEFT OF TION OF THE RELATIVE BACKGROUND POWER LEVEL
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
THE CHART 4HE CHART SHOWS THAT IF THE ERROR DUE TO BACKGROUND SIGNALS IS TO BE D" OR
LESS THE BACKGROUND MUST BE AT LEAST D" BELOW THE SIGNAL BEING MEASURED
4HREE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SUPPORT STRUCTURES HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED TO BE USEFUL IN
2#3 MEASUREMENTS 4HEY ARE THE LOW
DENSITY PLASTIC FOAM COLUMN THE STRING SUSPEN
SION HARNESS AND THE SLENDER METAL PYLON 4HE ECHO FROM A PLASTIC FOAM COLUMN ARISES
FROM TWO MECHANISMS /NE IS A COHERENT SURFACE REFLECTION AND THE OTHER IS A NONCO
HERENT VOLUME CONTRIBUTION FROM THE THOUSANDS OF INTERNAL CELLS COMPRISING THE FOAM
MATERIAL 4HE COLUMN SHOULD BE DESIGNED SO THAT ITS SURFACES ARE NEVER CLOSER THAN
TO TO THE LINE OF SIGHT TO THE RADAR DEPENDING ON FREQUENCY THEREBY MINIMIZ
ING THE EFFECT OF THE SURFACE REFLECTION 4HE NONCOHERENT VOLUME RETURN IS IRREDUCIBLE
HOWEVER AND IS NOT INFLUENCED BY THE ORIENTATION OF THE COLUMN 4HE VOLUME RETURN
OF SUITABLE FOAM COLUMN SUPPORT MATERIALS IS OF THE ORDER OF r
M PER FT OF
EXPOSED COLUMN AT '(Z
3TRING SUSPENSION METHODS ARE BEST IMPLEMENTED INDOORS WHERE AN OVERHEAD SUP
PORT POINT IS NORMALLY AVAILABLE ALTHOUGH ONE DOCUMENTED DESIGN WAS SERIOUSLY CON
SIDERED FOR OUTDOOR USE /NE OF THREE CONFIGURATIONS MAY BE SELECTED ALL REQUIRING
A CUSTOM
MADE SLING OR HARNESS TO SUPPORT THE TARGET 4HE FIRST USES A SINGLE OVERHEAD
SUPPORT POINT AND GUY LINES TO A FLOOR
MOUNTED TURNTABLE TO ROTATE THE TARGET 4HE SEC
OND CONFIGURATION SUSPENDS THE TARGET FROM AN OVERHEAD TURNTABLE REDUCING THE GUY
LINES AND STRING LOADS AT THE EXPENSE OF A MORE COSTLY INSTALLATION 4HE THIRD CONFIGURA
TION IS THE MOST COSTLY USING A PAIR OF TURNTABLES SLAVED TOGETHER ONE IN THE CEILING AND
ONE ON THE FLOOR
4HE ECHO SIGNAL FROM A STRING DEPENDS ON THE LENGTH AND DIAMETER OF THE STRING
ITS TILT ANGLE WITH RESPECT TO THE INCIDENT WAVE AND ITS DIELECTRIC CONSTANT .O MATTER
WHAT THE TILT OF THE STRING IT WILL BE PRESENTED NORMAL TO THE LINE OF SIGHT TWICE IN A
COMPLETE ROTATION OF THE TARGET AND MAY CAUSE A SPIKE IN THE 2#3 PATTERN THAT COULD BE
ERRONEOUSLY ATTRIBUTED TO THE TARGET UNLESS OTHERWISE ACCOUNTED FOR 4HE 2#3 OF A STRING
RISES WITH THE FOURTH POWER OF ITS DIAMETER IN THE 2AYLEIGH REGION SEE &IGURE
AND FOR A GIVEN TENSILE STRENGTH THE DIAMETER RISES ONLY AS THE SQUARE ROOT OF THE LOAD
TO BE SUPPORTED 4HUS BECAUSE THE ECHO SIGNAL INCREASES WITH THE SQUARE OF THE LOAD
CARRYING CAPACITY STRING SUSPENSION TECHNIQUES ARE BEST SUITED FOR MEASUREMENTS OF
LIGHT OBJECTS AT LOW FREQUENCIES
4HE METAL TARGET SUPPORT PYLON WAS FIRST SUGGESTED IN BUT A PRACTICAL IMPLE
MENTATION OF THE CONCEPT DID NOT APPEAR UNTIL 4HE CONFIGURATION OF THE PYLON IS
SHOWN IN &IGURE AND IT OWES ITS ELECTROMAGNETIC PERFORMANCE TO THE SHARPNESS OF
ITS LEADING EDGE AND ITS TILT TOWARD THE RADAR TO THE LEFT IN THE DIAGRAM 0YLONS AS TALL
AS FT HAVE BEEN BUILT AND IT IS CUSTOMARY TO TREAT THEM WITH RADAR
ABSORBING MATERIAL
TO SUPPRESS THE ECHOES FROM THE LEADING AND TRAILING EDGES
4HE OBVIOUS ADVANTAGE OF THE METAL PYLON IS ITS SUPERIOR WEIGHT
CARRYING CAPABIL
ITY COMPARED WITH THAT OF STRINGS AND PLASTIC FOAM COLUMNS (OWEVER BECAUSE THE
TOP OF THE PYLON IS SMALL THE ROTATION MECHANISM NEEDED TO VARY THE ASPECT ANGLE OF
THE TARGET MUST BE EMBEDDED IN THE TARGET ITSELF 4HIS USUALLY DESTROYS THE OPERATIONAL
VALUE OF THE TARGET -OST OF THE ROTATORS FOR THESE PYLONS ARE DUAL
AXIS AZIMUTH
OVER
ELEVATION DESIGNS 7HEN MEASUREMENTS ARE MADE WITH THE AZIMUTH ROTATION ANGLE TILTED
BACK AWAY FROM THE RADAR PARTS OF THE TARGET MAY SWEEP THROUGH THE SHADOW CAST
BY THE TOP OF THE PYLON POSSIBLY DEGRADING THE MEASUREMENTS /NE WAY TO AVOID THIS
IS TO INVERT THE TARGET AND TILT THE ROTATION AXIS TOWARD THE RADAR INSTEAD OF AWAY FROM
IT 4HIS REQUIRES THE INSTALLATION OF THE ROTATOR IN THE TOP OF THE TARGET AS WELL AS IN THE
BOTTOM 4HE UNUSED INTERNAL CAVITIES CREATED FOR SUCH INSTALLATIONS MUST BE CONCEALED
BY COVERS OR SHIELDS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4HE METAL SUPPORT PYLON 4HE DESIGN
IS FOR AN INCIDENT WAVE ARRIVING FROM THE LEFT 2EPRINTED
WITH PERMISSION OF 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING )NC
)T IS OFTEN NECESSARY TO MEASURE SCALE MODELS WHICH REQUIRES THE APPLICATION OF
SCALING LAWS "ECAUSE NONCONDUCTING MATERIALS MUST BE SCALED DIFFERENTLY THAN GOOD
CONDUCTORS IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SATISFY ALL THE SCALING REQUIREMENTS FOR ARBITRARY TARGETS
COMPOSED OF CONDUCTING AND NONCONDUCTING MATERIALS -OST TARGETS REQUIRING SCALE
MODEL TESTING HOWEVER ARE DOMINANTLY METALLIC FOR WHICH THE PERFECTLY CONDUCTING
SCALING LAW IS GENERALLY REGARDED AS ADEQUATE
7HEN NORMALIZED WITH RESPECT TO THE SQUARE OF THE WAVELENGTH THE 2#3 PATTERNS
OF TWO PERFECTLY CONDUCTING OBJECTS OF IDENTICAL SHAPE BUT DIFFERENT SIZE WILL BE IDENTI
CAL IF THE OBJECTS ARE THE SAME NUMBER OF WAVELENGTHS IN SIZE )F A MODEL IS ONE
TENTH
OF FULL SCALE FOR EXAMPLE IT SHOULD BE MEASURED AT ONE
TENTH OF THE FULL
SCALE WAVE
LENGTH TEN TIMES THE FULL
SCALE FREQUENCY 4HE 2#3 OF THE FULL
SCALE TARGET MAY BE
OBTAINED FROM THE SCALE
MODEL MEASUREMENTS BY MULTIPLYING THE SCALE
MODEL 2#3
BY THE SQUARE OF THE RATIO OF THE TWO FREQUENCIES )N THIS EXAMPLE THAT FACTOR IS
OR D"
/UTDOOR 4EST 2ANGES /UTDOOR TEST RANGES ARE REQUIRED WHEN TEST TARGETS ARE TOO
LARGE TO BE MEASURED INDOORS 4HE FAR
FIELD CRITERION OFTEN REQUIRES THAT THE RANGE TO
THE TARGET BE SEVERAL THOUSAND FEET SEE &IGURE "ECAUSE THE TYPICAL TARGET HEIGHT
ABOVE THE GROUND IS A FEW DOZEN FEET AT BEST THE ELEVATION ANGLE TO THE TARGET AS SEEN
FROM THE RADAR IS AT MOST AND OFTEN LESS !T SUCH LOW GRAZING ANGLES THE GROUND IS
STRONGLY ILLUMINATED BY THE ANTENNAS AND UNLESS THE GROUND BOUNCE CAN BE SUPPRESSED
THE TARGET WILL BE ILLUMINATED BY A MULTIPATH FIELD )N THE DESIGN OF AN OUTDOOR TEST
RANGE THEREFORE A DECISION MUST BE MADE WHETHER TO EXPLOIT THE GROUND BOUNCE OR TO
ATTEMPT TO DEFEAT IT )T IS GENERALLY EASIER TO EXPLOIT IT THAN TO ELIMINATE IT
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
4EST RANGES DESIGNED TO EXPLOIT THE MULTIPATH EFFECT MAY BE ASPHALTED TO IMPROVE
THE GROUND REFLECTION ALTHOUGH MANY RANGES ARE OPERATED OVER NATURAL SOIL 0AVING THE
RANGE ENSURES UNIFORMITY IN THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GROUND PLANE FROM DAY TO DAY AND
EXTENDS ITS OPERATIONAL USEFULNESS TO HIGHER FREQUENCIES THAN MIGHT OTHERWISE BE POS
SIBLE ! CONDUCTING SCREEN EMBEDDED IN THE ASPHALT MAY IMPROVE THE REFLECTION 0AVING
ALSO REDUCES MAINTENANCE OF THE GROUND PLANE SUCH AS MIGHT BE REQUIRED BY PERIODI
CALLY REMOVING VEGETATION AND SMOOTHING OUT WINDBLOWN RIDGES IN UNSTABLE SOIL
4HE ANGLE OF INCIDENCE AND THE DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF ASPHALT AND NATURAL SOIL ARE
SUCH THAT THE PHASE OF THE VOLTAGE REFLECTION COEFFICIENT IS WITHIN A FEW DEGREES OF
4HIS BEING THE CASE ONE CAN USUALLY CHOOSE A COMBINATION OF TARGET AND ANTENNA
HEIGHTS SUCH THAT THE WAVE REFLECTED BY THE GROUND ARRIVES AT THE TARGET IN PHASE WITH
THE WAVE PROPAGATED DIRECTLY FROM THE ANTENNAS 4HE RESULT IS THE FOLLOWING RULE FOR
SELECTING THE ANTENNA AND TARGET HEIGHTS
HA HT L 2
WHERE HA AND HT ARE THE ANTENNA AND TARGETS HEIGHTS RESPECTIVELY AND 2 IS THE RANGE TO
THE TARGET
"ECAUSE MOST TEST RANGES HAVE TURNTABLES OR TARGET PYLONS INSTALLED AT A FEW FIXED
LOCATIONS RELATIVE TO A PERMANENT RADAR COMPLEX THE RANGE 2 IS USUALLY RESTRICTED TO A
FEW PRESET VALUES 4HE TARGET IS INSTALLED AT A HEIGHT HT HIGH ENOUGH TO MINIMIZE SPURI
OUS INTERACTIONS WITH THE GROUND YET LOW ENOUGH TO MINIMIZE THE SIZE AND COMPLEX
ITY OF THE TARGET SUPPORT STRUCTURE 4HEREFORE IT IS THE ANTENNA HEIGHT HA THAT IS MOST
READILY CONTROLLED AND ADJUSTED TO OPTIMIZE THE LOCATION OF THE FIRST LOBE IN THE VERTI
CAL MULTIPATH INTERFERENCE PATTERN 4HIS IS EASILY ACCOMPLISHED BY MOUNTING THE RADAR
ANTENNAS ON CARRIAGES THAT CAN BE RAISED OR LOWERED ALONG RAILS INSTALLED ON THE SIDE OF
A BUILDING OR A TOWER
4HE IDEAL GROUND PLANE OFFERS A THEORETICAL SENSITIVITY ENHANCEMENT OF D" OVER
IDENTICAL MEASUREMENTS MADE IN FREE SPACE 4HE ACTUAL ENHANCEMENT IS USUALLY LESS
THAN THIS PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF THE DIRECTIVITY OF THE ANTENNAS AND IMPERFECTIONS IN THE
GROUND PLANE !NTENNA DIRECTIVITY PRECLUDES THE TARGET EVER BEING SQUARELY ALIGNED ON
THE BORESIGHTS OF BOTH THE REAL ANTENNA AND ITS IMAGE IN THE GROUND PLANE AT THE SAME
TIME AND THE REFLECTION COEFFICIENT OF TYPICAL GROUND PLANES VARIES FROM TO AS LOW
AS OR LESS &OR ALL EXCEPT VERY HIGH AND VERY LOW FREQUENCIES MILLIMETER WAVE
LENGTHS AND 6(& TYPICAL SENSITIVITIES ARE OF THE ORDER OF TO D" ABOVE FREE SPACE
INSTEAD OF THE IDEAL D"
7HEN THE RANGE TO THE TARGET IS RELATIVELY SHORT AND TESTS MUST BE PERFORMED OVER
A WIDE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES IT IS SOMETIMES ADVANTAGEOUS TO ATTEMPT TO DEFEAT THE
GROUND PLANE EFFECT /NE OPTION IS TO INSTALL A BERM SHAPED LIKE AN INVERTED 6 RUNNING
BETWEEN THE RADAR AND THE TARGET 4HE PURPOSE OF THE BERMS SLANTED TOP IS TO DEFLECT
THE GROUND REFLECTED WAVE OUT OF THE TARGET ZONE !NOTHER OPTION IS TO INSTALL A SERIES
OF LOW RADAR FENCES ACROSS THE RANGE 4HE DESIGN OBJECTIVE IS TO BLOCK GROUND REFLECTED
RAYS FROM REACHING THE TARGET FROM THE RADAR AND VICE VERSA BY SHIELDING THE SPECULAR
ZONE ON THE GROUND FROM BOTH 4HE NEAR SIDES OF THE FENCES SHOULD BE SLANTED TO DEFLECT
ENERGY UPWARD OUT OF THE TARGET TEST ZONE AND MAY BE COVERED WITH ABSORBING MATE
RIAL )T IS DIFFICULT HOWEVER TO PREVENT DIFFRACTION OF RADAR ENERGY FROM THE TOP OF THE
FENCES FROM REACHING THE TARGET OR TO PREVENT TARGET DIFFRACTED SIGNALS FROM REACHING
THE RADAR RECEIVER VIA THE SAME KIND OF MECHANISM
"ECAUSE OF THE LARGE DISTANCES FROM THE RADAR TO THE TARGET ON OUTDOOR RANGES INSTRU
MENTATION RADARS AT ONE TIME DEVELOPED PEAK SIGNAL POWERS RANGING FROM TO K7
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE HIGH
POWER INSTRUMENTATION OF YESTERYEAR HAS BEEN LARGELY REPLACED ON STATIC TEST
RANGES WITH COHERENT STEPPED
FREQUENCY RADARS THAT ARE FAR MORE VERSATILE BUT HIGH
POWER SYSTEMS REMAIN USEFUL FOR DYNAMIC TESTING OF TARGETS FLYING OR SAILING PAST THEM
ON DYNAMIC TEST RANGES 3TEPPED
AND SWEPT
FREQUENCY INSTRUMENTATION SYSTEMS ON
STATIC RANGES CAN COLLECT 2#3 PATTERNS AT HUNDREDS OF FREQUENCIES FOR A SINGLE ROTATION
OF THE TEST TARGET 4HE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO CAN BE IMPROVED WHEN NECESSARY BY MEANS
OF MULTISWEEP OR MULTISTEP SIGNAL INTEGRATION SCHEMES 4HE PRICE PAID FOR MUCH OF
THIS VERSATILITY IS THE REQUIREMENT FOR MORE ACTIVE TEST TIME PER TARGET ROTATION THEREBY
INCREASING MEASUREMENT COSTS
)NDOOR 4EST 2ANGES )NDOOR TEST RANGES OFFER PROTECTION FROM WEATHER AND THERE
FORE MORE PRODUCTIVE TESTING BUT UNLESS A VERY LARGE FACILITY IS AVAILABLE MAXIMUM
TARGET SIZES ARE LIMITED TO ONE OR TWO DOZEN FEET "ECAUSE OF THEIR PROXIMITY THE WALLS
FLOOR AND CEILING MUST BE COVERED WITH HIGH
QUALITY ABSORBING MATERIAL 4HE LOWER THE
INTENDED FREQUENCY OF OPERATION THE MORE EXPENSIVE THE ABSORBER BECOMES !BSORBER
REFLECTIVITY RATINGS OF
D" ARE COMMON AMONG THE MATERIALS USED 4HIS PERFOR
MANCE IS USUALLY ACHIEVABLE ONLY WITH THE PYRAMIDAL DESIGN
%ARLY INDOOR CHAMBERS WERE RECTANGULAR IN SHAPE AND DESPITE THE INSTALLATION OF
GOOD ABSORBENT MATERIALS ON THE WALLS 2#3 MEASUREMENTS COULD BE CONTAMINATED
BY WALL REFLECTIONS 4HE MOST SENSITIVE PART OF THE ANECHOIC CHAMBER IS THE REAR WALL
WHICH RECEIVES TO PERCENT OF THE POWER RADIATED BY THE RADAR HENCE THE BEST
ABSORBER SHOULD BE RESERVED FOR THE REAR WALL 4HE FLOOR CEILING AND SIDEWALLS ALSO
CONTRIBUTE ERRORS VIA A QUADRUPLET OF REFLECTIONS NOT UNLIKE THOSE DUE TO THE GROUND
PLANE OF OUTDOOR RANGES ! REMEDY IS THE TAPERED ANECHOIC CHAMBER WHICH ELIMINATES
MOST OF THE SIDEWALL REFLECTIONS PURELY BY TILTING PORTIONS OF THE WALLS FLOOR AND CEIL
ING AWAY FROM THE CHAMBER CENTERLINE
%VEN TARGETS OF MODEST SIZE CANNOT BE MEASURED AT THE FAR
FIELD DISTANCE IN INDOOR
FACILITIES BECAUSE MOST CHAMBERS ARE NOT MUCH MORE THAN FT OR SO IN LENGTH )T IS
POSSIBLE HOWEVER TO PROVIDE THE NECESSARY UNIFORMITY OF ILLUMINATION BY COLLIMATING
THE RADIATED BEAM 4HIS CAN BE DONE BY INSERTING A LENS BETWEEN THE RADAR AND THE TAR
GET OR BY REFLECTING THE RADAR BEAM OFF A COLLIMATING REFLECTOR 4HIS LATTER CONCEPT
IS KNOWN AS THE COMPACT RANGE BECAUSE A BEAM OF PARALLEL RAYS CAN BE GENERATED IN A
MUCH SHORTER DISTANCE THAN WOULD BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE COLLIMATING DEVICE
4HE REFLECTOR OFFERS A DIFFERENT WAY TO COLLIMATE A BEAM )N CONTRAST TO THE LENS
WHICH IS PLACED BETWEEN THE RADAR AND THE TEST OBJECT THE RADAR AND THE TEST OBJECT
REMAIN ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE REFLECTOR AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE REFLECTOR IS
TYPICALLY AN OFFSET PARABOLOID MEANING THE PARABOLOIDAL SURFACE DOES NOT INCLUDE THE
VERTEX OF THE GENERATING PARABOLA 4HIS PERMITS THE FEED THAT EXCITES THE REFLECTOR TO BE
PLACED OUT OF THE BEAM REFLECTED TOWARD THE TARGET )F THE TEST OBJECT IS HELD WITHIN ONE
OR TWO FOCAL LENGTHS OF THE REFLECTOR AND IF THE REFLECTOR IS EXCITED BY A SUITABLY DESIGNED
FEED THE REFLECTED WAVE IS SENSIBLY PLANAR
(OWEVER UNLESS THE EDGES OF THE REFLECTOR ARE CAREFULLY DESIGNED THE INCIDENT FIELD
IN THE TARGET ZONE WILL BE CONTAMINATED BY UNDESIRED FIELDS DIFFRACTED FROM THE EDGES
OF THE REFLECTOR 4HE DIFFRACTION CAUSES RIPPLES IN BOTH THE AMPLITUDE AND THE PHASE OF
THE FIELD DISTRIBUTION IN THE TARGET ZONE )N SOME CASES THE EFFECT IS SMALL ENOUGH TO
BE IGNORED BUT IN HIGH
QUALITY INSTALLATIONS THE RIPPLE MAY BE OBJECTIONABLY LARGE
2OLLED
EDGE CONFIGURATIONS SUCH AS THE ONE ON THE UPPER EDGE OF THE MAIN REFLECTOR
IN &IGURE CAN BE DESIGNED TO MINIMIZE EDGE DIFFRACTION (OWEVER THE PRICE
PAID FOR THIS IMPROVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE IS A MUCH LARGER AND MORE COMPLICATED
REFLECTOR STRUCTURE
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
&)'52% ! COMPACT RANGE USING AN OFFSET PARABOLOIDAL REFLECTOR
4HE SINGLE
REFLECTOR DESIGN SHOWN IN &IGURE WORKED TOLERABLY WELL FOR SMALL
TEST TARGETS BUT IT SOON BECAME APPARENT THAT THE REFLECTOR HAD TO BE CONSIDERABLY LARGER
FOR MANY TARGETS OF VITAL MILITARY INTEREST 4HIS COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED BY DOUBLING OR
TRIPLING THE SIZE OF THE REFLECTOR BUT THAT BROUGHT ON A ROUND OF OTHER PROBLEMS MAINLY
THE INCREASED FOCAL LENGTH OF THE REFLECTOR 7HILE THE FOCAL DISTANCE COULD BE SHORTENED
TO COMFORTABLY FIT AXIAL SPACE LIMITATIONS ALONG THE BORESIGHT OF THE REFLECTOR IT WAS
THEN HARDER TO CONTROL THE FIELD AMPLITUDE TAPER ACROSS THE REFLECTOR DUE TO THE PROXIM
ITY OF THE FEEDHORN 4HE SOLUTION WAS TO ADD A SMALLER SUBREFLECTOR IN A SUBTERRANEAN
GALLERY BUILT ESPECIALLY FOR IT AS SUGGESTED IN &IGURE
4HE SUBREFLECTOR HAD THE EFFECT OF GREATLY INCREASING THE FOCAL LENGTH OF THE MAIN
REFLECTOR MAKING IT EASIER TO OPTIMIZE ITS ILLUMINATION 4HIS PARTICULAR CONFIGURATION
IS KNOWN AS A 'REGORIAN SYSTEM CHARACTERIZED BY A FOCUS BETWEEN THE TWO REFLECTORS
&)'52% 'ENERIC DUAL REFLECTOR COMPACT RANGE CONFIGURATION
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WHERE MOST OF THE RAYS BETWEEN THE TWO REFLECTORS CONVERGE )N A SECOND CONFIGURA
TION KNOWN AS THE #ASSEGRAIN THE FOCUS IS A VIRTUAL ONE LYING BEHIND THE SUBREFLECTOR
4HE 'REGORIAN CONFIGURATION PERMITS THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SMALLER APERTURE BETWEEN THE
MAIN CHAMBER AND THE SUBREFLECTOR GALLERY THAN DOES THE #ASSEGRAIN CONFIGURATION
,ARGE COMPACT RANGES SUCH AS THE ONE SHOWN IN &IGURE ARE VERY COSTLY AND
CAN BE AFFORDED BY ONLY THE LARGEST OF COMPANIES OR THE GOVERNMENT THUS RANGE TIME
IS PREMIUM 3OME COMPANIES KEEP THEIR COMPACT RANGES BUSY HOURS PER DAY
4ARGETS MEASURED INDOORS ARE PLACED MUCH CLOSER TO THE RADAR THAN THOSE MEASURED
OUTDOORS AND USEFUL MEASUREMENTS MAY BE MADE BY USING MUCH LESS RADIATED POWER
%ARLY INDOOR INSTRUMENTATION RADARS RELIED ON SIMPLE #7 SOURCES AND UNDESIRED CHAM
BER REFLECTIONS WERE SUPPRESSED BY A CANCELLATION PROCESS 4HE PROCEDURE IS TO PREPARE
THE CHAMBER FOR A MEASUREMENT IN EVERY RESPECT EXCEPT FOR THE INSTALLATION OF THE TARGET
ON ITS SUPPORT FIXTURE ! SMALL SAMPLE OF THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL IS PASSED THROUGH A VARI
ABLE ATTENUATOR AND A VARIABLE PHASE SHIFTER AND COMBINED WITH THE RECEIVED SIGNAL 4HE
AMPLITUDE AND PHASE OF THE SIGNAL SAMPLE ARE THEN ADJUSTED SO AS TO CANCEL THE SIGNAL
RECEIVED IN THE ABSENCE OF THE TARGET
4HE AVAILABILITY OF LOW
COST PHASE
LOCKED FREQUENCY
SYNTHESIZED SOURCES NOW
MAKES IT ATTRACTIVE TO COLLECT WIDEBAND 2#3 DATA WHICH CONTAIN FAR MORE TARGET
SCATTERING INFORMATION THAN #7 MEASUREMENTS MADE AT SINGLE FREQUENCIES 7HEN
COHERENT 2#3 SCATTERING DATA ARE SUITABLY PROCESSED IT IS POSSIBLE TO GENERATE )3!2
IMAGERY OR TWO
DIMENSIONAL MAPS OF THE ECHO SOURCES OF TEST OBJECTS
&IGURE IS AN EXAMPLE OF SUCH AN IMAGE )N THIS CASE THE PROCESSING REQUIRED
TO GENERATE THIS IMAGE IS A DOUBLE &OURIER TRANSFORMATION ONE FROM THE FREQUENCY
DOMAIN TO THE TIME DOMAIN AND THE OTHER FROM THE ANGLE DOMAIN TO THE CROSS
RANGE
DOMAIN 4HE FREQUENCY
TIME DOMAIN PROCESSING MAY BE PERFORMED VIRTUALLY IN REAL
TIME A SECOND OR TWO FOR PROCESSING AND DISPLAY ON A VIDEO SCREEN BUT THE CONVERSION
&)'52% 2ADAR IMAGE OF A SMALL DRONE AIRCRAFT 0LANFORM
OUTLINE HAS BEEN ADDED FOR CLARITY #OURTESY $ , -ENSA 53
.AVY 0ACIFIC -ISSILE 4EST #ENTER
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
{x
FROM THE ANGLE DOMAIN TO THE CROSS
RANGE DOMAIN MUST BE PERFORMED OFFLINE IN
THIS EXAMPLE 4HE FAST &OURIER TRANSFORM &&4 IS INVARIABLY EXPLOITED TO EXPEDITE
THE PROCESSING
4HE IMAGE DATA PRESENTED IN &IGURE WERE COLLECTED FOR A STEPPED
FREQUENCY
SIGNAL WITH A BANDWIDTH OF '(Z CENTERED AT '(Z 4HE ASPECT ANGLE WAS VARIED
OVER A SECTOR n WIDE CENTERED ON THE NOSE
ON ASPECT 4HE CHARTED IMAGE CONTOURS ARE
D" APART AND THE TOTAL AMPLITUDE VARIATION IS D"
4HE RESOLUTION OF THE PROCESSED IMAGE IN THE TIME RANGE DOMAIN IS INVERSELY
PROPORTIONAL TO THE BANDWIDTH OF THE EMITTED WAVEFORM 4HE RESOLUTION IN THE CROSS
RANGE DOMAIN IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE ASPECT ANGLE WINDOW OVER WHICH THE
DATA ARE COLLECTED 4HUS THE OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INSTRUMENTATION SYSTEM
AND THE AZIMUTHAL DATA SAMPLING RATE MUST BE DECIDED BEFORE THE DATA ARE COLLECTED
"ECAUSE THE CROSS
RANGE COORDINATE OF THE RESULTING IMAGE IS PERPENDICULAR TO THE AXIS
OF ROTATION OF THE TARGET IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO MULTIPLY THAT COORDINATE BY A SCALE FACTOR
THAT EFFECTIVELY REGISTERS THE GENERATED IMAGE WITH SAY A PLAN VIEW OF THE TARGET
4HE RESULTING DATA MAY BE PRESENTED IN THE FORM OF A CONTOUR MAP AS IN &IGURE
OR IN A COLOR
CODED OR GRAYSCALE PIXEL FORMAT (ERE THE TARGET OUTLINE HAS BEEN SUPER
POSED ON THE IMAGE DATA FOR DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS AND THE PARTICULAR ATTITUDE SHOWN IS
FOR NOSE
ON INCIDENCE 3IMILAR IMAGES CAN BE GENERATED FOR OTHER ANGLES OF INCIDENCE
PROVIDED THE TARGET IS ROTATED THROUGH A SECTOR WIDE ENOUGH TO YIELD THE DESIRED CROSS
RANGE RESOLUTION AND SAMPLED AT A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF ANGLES OVER THAT SECTOR )N
PRACTICE THE TARGET IS ROTATED CONTINUOUSLY WHILE THE SWEPT
OR STEPPED
FREQUENCY DATA
ARE COLLECTED ! RULE OF THUMB IS THAT THE ANGULAR SPEED BE SLOW ENOUGH THAT THE PHASE
OF THE RETURN AT THE END OF A FREQUENCY SWEEP DUE TO TARGET MOTION NOT BE MORE THAN
FROM WHAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN HAD THE TARGET NOT MOVED
.OTE THAT THE NOSE SECTION OF THE DRONE IS SPECKLED WITH HEAVY CONCENTRATIONS OF
SCATTERING CENTERS POSSIBLY DUE TO CONTRIBUTIONS FROM INTERNAL STRUCTURAL FEATURES 4HE
REAR EDGES OF THE FORWARD CANARDS SEEM TO BE STRONGER SCATTERERS THAN THE LEADING EDGES
!T THE NOSE
ON ASPECT ANGLE FOR WHICH THE IMAGE DATA WERE COLLECTED THE LEADING EDGES
OF THE WINGS ARE VIRTUALLY INVISIBLE (OWEVER NOTE A FEW ECHO SOURCES ALONG A LINE
PARALLEL TO AND SLIGHTLY FORWARD OF THE WING TRAILING EDGES )F THE TARGET ROTATION HAD
BEEN CENTERED ON AN ASPECT ANGLE PERPENDICULAR TO ONE OF THE WINGS THE LEADING EDGE
OF THAT ONE WING WOULD HAVE hLIT UPv
)N THE REGION OF THE MAIN WING ROOTS WE SEE HEAVY CONCENTRATIONS OF ECHO SOURCES
3OME OF THEM LIE FORWARD OF ANY WING SURFACE !LTHOUGH WE MAY CONCEIVE OF APPARENT
SOURCES BEING STRUNG OUT BEHIND ANY PHYSICAL SCATTERING OBSTACLE DUE TO TIME DELAYS OF
MULTIPLE REFLECTIONS IT IS HARD TO RECONCILE THEM BEING STRUNG OUT IN FRONT OF THE BODY
7E DO SEE SEVERAL CLUSTERS OF APPARENT SCATTERING CENTERS POSITIONED AFT OF THE TAIL OF
THE AIRCRAFT BUT LACKING ANY DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE TEST OBJECT WE CANNOT INTERPRET
THEIR MEANING
4HESE hGHOSTv SCATTERERS OWE THEIR EXISTENCE TO THE WAY IN WHICH THE DATA
PROCESSING
SYSTEM SORTS THE RANGE AND CROSS
RANGE LOCATIONS OF SCATTERERS $OWN
RANGE LOCATIONS
ARE SORTED ACCORDING TO THEIR PROCESSED TIME DELAYS AND CROSS
RANGE LOCATIONS ACCORD
ING TO THEIR TIME
DELAY RATES WHETHER DUE TO REAL SCATTERERS OR TO INTERACTIONS BETWEEN
SCATTERERS %VEN THOUGH THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF SOME SCATTERING CENTERS MAY INVOLVE
PROPAGATION IN DIRECTIONS OTHER THAN ALONG THE LINE OF SIGHT FROM THE RADAR THE SYSTEM
HAS NO WAY OF DISCERNING THAT FACT 4HEREFORE DESPITE THE POWERFUL DIAGNOSTIC VALUE OF
IMAGES LIKE THESE ONE MUST ALWAYS BE AWARE THAT MULTIPLE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN TARGET
ELEMENTS CAN CREATE SCATTERING SOURCES THAT ARE NOT WHERE THEY APPEAR TO BE
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
{x , ,
"-1**,
--"
4HE PROBABILITY OF BEING DETECTED BY HOSTILE RADARS CAN BE REDUCED BY DECREASING THE
TARGETS RADAR CROSS SECTION 4HE MAJOR METHODS TO REDUCE THE 2#3 ARE BY SHAPING OF
THE TARGET AND THE USE OF ABSORBERS "Y SHAPING WE MEAN THE INTENTIONAL SELECTION OF
TARGET SURFACES AND FEATURES SO AS TO MINIMIZE THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY SCATTERED BACK TO
THE RADAR 3HAPING INCLUDES SPECIFIC DESIGN CONFIGURATIONS SUCH AS THE PLACEMENT OF
ENGINE INTAKES WHICH CAN HAVE LARGE RADAR ECHOES WHERE THEY MAY BE SHIELDED FROM
THE INCIDENT WAVE BY OTHER PARTS OF THE TARGET 4HE PURPOSE OF RADAR
ABSORBING MATERIALS
2!- IS TO ABSORB THE INCIDENT RADAR ENERGY SO AS TO MINIMIZE THE ENERGY SCATTERED
BACK TO THE RADAR "OTH METHODS HAVE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
2ADAR !BSORBERS 4HE PURPOSE OF THE RADAR ABSORBER IS TO ATTENUATE INCIDENT
ENERGY AND THEREBY REDUCE THE ENERGY SCATTERED OR REFLECTED BACK TO THE RADAR -OST
ABSORBERS ARE DESIGNED TO REDUCE SPECULAR REFLECTIONS FROM METALLIC SURFACES BUT STEALTH
TECHNOLOGY HAS SPAWNED THE DEVELOPMENT OF NONSPECULAR ABSORBERS INTENDED PRIMARILY
TO SUPPRESS ECHOES DUE TO SURFACE TRAVELING WAVES
4HE SIMPLEST SPECULAR ABSORBER IS THE 3ALISBURY SCREEN WHICH IS A THIN RESISTIVE
SHEET MOUNTED A QUARTER WAVELENGTH ABOVE THE METAL SURFACE TO BE HIDDEN FROM A
RADAR 4HE DESIGN WORKS BEST FOR INCIDENCE NORMAL TO THE SHEET AND IF IT CAN BE MANU
FACTURED WITH A RESISTIVITY OF OHMS PER SQUARE THE IMPEDANCE OF FREE SPACE ALL THE
POWER IN THE INCIDENT WAVE IS TRANSFERRED TO THE SHEET AND NONE IS REFLECTED (OWEVER
THE SINGLE
SHEET 3ALISBURY SCREEN SUFFERS SEVERAL LIMITATIONS )TS THIN SHEETS AND LOW
LOSS SPACERS ARE FRAGILE ITS
D" BANDWIDTH IS BARELY AND ITS PERFORMANCE DETE
RIORATES PROGRESSIVELY AS THE ANGLE OF INCIDENCE MOVES AWAY FROM NORMAL INCIDENCE
)T IS DIFFICULT TO OVERCOME THE FRAGILITY PROBLEM WITH ROBUST MATERIALS BUT THE BAND
WIDTH CAN BE IMPROVED BY CASCADING SEVERAL SHEETS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HIS
CREATES WHAT IS KNOWN AS A *AUMANN ABSORBER 4HE BANDWIDTH RISES WITH THE NUMBER
OF LAYERS AND CAN ATTAIN A RESPECTABLE FOR A FOUR
SHEET DESIGN AS SUGGESTED IN
&IGURE 4HE PRICE PAID FOR THIS BANDWIDTH EXPANSION IS A MUCH THICKER BULKIER
MATERIAL THAT TENDS TO BE IMPRACTICAL FOR TACTICAL MILITARY TARGETS
,IKE THE 3ALISBURY SCREEN THE $LLENBACH LAYER IS ALSO A SIMPLE ABSORBER 4HE MATE
RIAL IS UNIFORM THROUGHOUT ITS VOLUME AND IS A MIXTURE OF COMPOUNDS DESIGNED TO HAVE
A SPECIFIED INDEX OF REFRACTION 4HAT DESIGN MAY INCLUDE MATERIALS WITH MAGNETIC LOSSES
AS WELL AS CARBON PARTICLES RESPONSIBLE FOR ELECTRIC LOSSES 4HEREFORE THE ELECTRIC AND
MAGNETIC SUSCEPTANCES RELATIVE PERMITTIVITY AND RELATIVE PERMEABILITY HAVE IMAGI
NARY COMPONENTS RESULTING IN AN INDEX OF REFRACTION WITH AN IMAGINARY COMPONENT
&)'52% 4HE *AUMANN ABSORBER IS A CASCADED COLLECTION OF
THIN RESISTIVE SHEETS STACKED IN FRONT OF A METAL BULKHEAD SPACED K
APART WHERE + SPACER DIELECTRIC CONSTANT 4HE CLASSIC 3ALISBURY
SCREEN IS THE DEGENERATIVE CASE OF A SINGLE SHEET
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
&)'52% 0ERFORMANCE OF *AUMANN ABSORBERS
WITH AS MANY AS FOUR SHEETS !LL FOUR OF THESE TRACES WERE
OPTIMIZED FOR MAXIMUM BANDWIDTH AT THE n D" LEVEL
4HE SHEET RESISTIVITIES MUST INCREASE FROM A LOW VALUE AT
THE INNER SHEET TO A HIGH VALUE AT THE OUTER SHEET
4HE RESULTING IMAGINARY PART OF THE PROPAGATION CONSTANT ATTENUATES WAVES TRAVELING
THROUGH THE MATERIAL
-OST OF THE COMMERCIAL VERSIONS OF $LLENBACH ABSORBERS ARE FLEXIBLE AND CAN BE
APPLIED TO MODESTLY CURVED SURFACES 4HE DIELECTRIC ABSORBERS ARE TYPICALLY MADE OF A
RUBBERY FOAM SOMETIMES URETHANE IMPREGNATED WITH CARBON PARTICLES )MPREGNATION
MAY BE PERFORMED BY DIPPING A COMPRESSED SLAB OF MATERIAL IN A GRAPHITE SUSPENSION
BATH THEN WRINGING IT OUT AND DRYING IT -AGNETIC $LLENBACH LAYERS CAN BE ROLLED FROM
A MIXTURE OF NATURAL OR SYNTHETIC RUBBER LOADED WITH CARBONYL IRON OR FERRITE POWDERS
4HE LOWER THE POWDER CONTENT THE MORE FLEXIBLE THE SHEET BUT THE LESS EFFECTIVE ITS ELEC
TROMAGNETIC PERFORMANCE $IELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC $LLENBACH LAYERS TYPICALLY RANGE
FROM ABOUT MM TO CM IN THICKNESS 4HE MAGNETIC VERSIONS ARE AS HEAVY LBFT
MAKING THEM IMPRACTICAL FOR MOST TACTICAL APPLICATIONS
4HE FRONT FACE AND THE METAL BACKING OF THE $LLENBACH LAYER ARE ITS ONLY SOURCES
OF REFLECTION 4HE USE OF PHYSICALLY REALIZABLE MATERIALS MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO FORCE
EITHER REFLECTION TO ZERO 4HE DESIGN OBJECTIVE THEREFORE IS TO CHOOSE THE ELECTRICAL
PROPERTIES OF THE LAYER SO THAT THE FRONT
FACE AND METAL
BACK REFLECTIONS TEND TO CANCEL
EACH OTHER )F THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES ARE DOMINATED BY ELECTRIC EFFECTS THE OPTIMUM
LAYER THICKNESS IS CLOSE TO K AS MEASURED IN THE MATERIAL )F THEY ARE DOMINANTLY
MAGNETIC THE LAYER CAN BE MUCH THINNER
!S WITH THE SIMPLE 3ALISBURY SCREEN $LLENBACH LAYERS CAN BE CASCADED IN ATTEMPTS
TO EXPAND BANDWIDTH PRODUCING WHAT IS KNOWN AS GRADED ABSORBERS &OR OPTIMUM
PERFORMANCE THE INTRINSIC IMPEDANCE OF EACH LAYER TYPICALLY GETS SMALLER THE CLOSER
THE LAYER IS TO THE METAL BULKHEAD OR BACKING LAYER &IVE OR MORE LAYERS HAVE BEEN USED
IN THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF GRADED DIELECTRIC ABSORBERS BUT COMMERCIAL
GRADED
MAGNETIC ABSORBERS APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN LIMITED TO THREE LAYERS )T IS IMPORTANT IN THE
DESIGN PROCESS TO ACCOUNT FOR THE ACTUAL THICKNESS AND ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF THE ADHE
SIVE FILMS USED TO BOND THE LAYERS TO EACH OTHER 4HESE MATERIALS ARE TOO FLIMSY OR TOO
HEAVY FOR MOST MILITARY APPLICATIONS
4HE PYRAMIDAL ABSORBER USED TO SUPPRESS WALL REFLECTIONS IN INDOOR CHAMBERS
REPRESENTS A PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE METHOD OF VARYING THE EFFECTIVE IMPEDANCE hSEENv
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
BY AN INCIDENT WAVE 4HE ABSORBER IS MADE OF FLEXIBLE CARBON IMPREGNATED PLASTIC
FOAM CUT IN THE FORM OF PYRAMIDS )T EXHIBITS OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE WHEN THE PYRA
MIDS ARE POINTED TOWARD THE DIRECTION OF THE INCIDENT WAVE AND THE PYRAMIDS SHOULD
BE OF THE ORDER OF TO WAVELENGTHS DEEP &IRE RETARDANT PAINT IS USUALLY APPLIED TO
PYRAMIDAL ABSORBERS TO SATISFY SAFETY REQUIREMENTS BUT AT HIGH FREQUENCIES THE PAINT
TENDS TO DEGRADE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE MATERIAL .EVERTHELESS PYRAMIDAL ABSORBERS
OF SUFFICIENT DEPTH CONSISTENTLY TURN IN PERFORMANCES BETTER THAN LESS THAN D"
"ECAUSE THESE ABSORBERS DO NOT RELY ON THE CANCELLATION OF A FRONT FACE REFLECTION BY
A REAR FACE REFLECTION THEY EXHIBIT GREAT BANDWIDTH )N GENERAL A PYRAMIDAL ABSORBER
WITH SHARP TIPS AND UNIFORM BULK LOSS CHARACTERISTICS CAN HAVE A BANDWIDTH THAT
EXCEEDS
.ONSPECULAR ABSORBERS NEED NOT HAVE THE GREAT THICKNESS CHARACTERIZED BY SPECU
LAR ABSORBERS )NTENDED PRIMARILY FOR SUPPRESSION OF SURFACE TRAVELING WAVE ECHOES
NONSPECULAR MATERIALS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO REDUCE THE BUILDUP OF SURFACE CUR
RENTS OVER SEVERAL WAVELENGTHS ALONG THE SURFACE 4HEY ARE ABLE TO REGISTER QUITE
RESPECTABLE PERFORMANCES THEREFORE SIMPLY BECAUSE A THIN LAYER ATTACHED TO A
METALLIC SURFACE NEED NOT BE VERY HEAVY )N THIS RESPECT THE SURFACE TRAVELING WAVE
CONTRIBUTION DUE TO LONG SMOOTH SURFACES IS ONE OF THE EASIEST TO SUPPRESS %VEN
SO THE THICKNESS AND GEOMETRIC DISTRIBUTION OF SURFACE WAVE ABSORBERS SHOULD BE
VARIED FOR OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE
"Y THIS POINT IT SHOULD BE APPARENT THAT THE APPLICATION OF RADAR ABSORBING MATERI
ALS TO VULNERABLE TARGETS IS NOT A VERY EFFECTIVE WAY TO ENHANCE THEIR SURVIVABILITY
4HESE MATERIALS ARE HEAVY DEMAND UNDUE SURFACE CARE AND MAINTENANCE SUFFER LIMITED
BANDWIDTH AND NOT LEAST ARE COSTLY ! FAR MORE VIABLE OPTION TARGET SHAPING IS USUALLY
AVAILABLE IF ONE IS WILLING TO CONSIDER IT AT THE ONSET OF SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
3HAPING 3HAPING IS THE RESULT OF JUDICIOUSLY ORIENTING TARGET SURFACES AND
EDGES IN A WAY THAT MINIMIZES THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE TOTAL RADAR ECHO 4HIS OFTEN
MEANS SELECTING AIRFRAME SHAPES AND NAVAL HULL PROFILES THAT INITIALLY OUTRAGE AIR
FRAME DESIGNERS AND NAVAL ARCHITECTS "UT THERE IS NO POINT IN CONSIDERING SHAPE
CONTROL UNLESS A SPECIFIC THREAT DIRECTION CAN BE IDENTIFIED IN AZIMUTH OR ELEVATION
OR BOTH )F ALL DIRECTIONS ARE EQUALLY LIKELY THEN THE ADVANTAGE OF CHOOSING FAVOR
ABLE SURFACE ORIENTATIONS FOR ONE THREAT DIRECTION IS CANCELED BY AN ACCOMPANYING
ENHANCEMENT IN ANOTHER )N MANY SITUATIONS HOWEVER THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF THE
THREAT CAN BE FORECAST
&IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE 2#3 REDUCTION AVAILABLE THROUGH SHAPING 4HE PLOTTED
CURVES ARE BASED ON THEORY AND MEASUREMENTS AND SHOW HOW THE NOSE ON AXIAL 2#3
VARIES WITH THE ELECTRICAL SIZE OF EACH OF THE SIX ROTATIONALLY SYMMETRICAL METALLIC BOD
IES SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE DIAMETERS AND PROJECTED AREAS OF THE OBJECTS ARE IDENTI
CAL AND THEIR VOLUMES DIFFER AT MOST BY A FACTOR OF %XCEPT FOR THE SPHERE WHOSE
GEOMETRIC OPTICS 2#3 IS SHOWN BY THE UPPERMOST TRACE ALL THE OBJECTS HAVE THE SAME
NOSE ANGLE AND OF THE SIX SHAPES THE OGIVE EXHIBITS THE LOWEST 2#3 4HUS AT
LEAST ALONG THE AXES OF THESE PARTICULAR BODIES THE 2#3 CAN BE MINIMIZED BY SELECTING
THE APPROPRIATE SURFACE PROFILE
(OWEVER THE ATTAINMENT OF LOW ECHOES OVER A RANGE OF ASPECT ANGLES IS USUALLY
ACCOMPANIED BY HIGHER ECHO LEVELS AT OTHER ANGLES 4HUS THE SELECTION OF AN OPTIMUM
SHAPE SHOULD ALWAYS INCLUDE AN EVALUATION OF THE VARIATION OF THE 2#3 OVER A RANGE OF
ASPECTS WIDE ENOUGH TO COVER THE ANTICIPATED THREAT DIRECTIONS 4HIS IMPLIES THE CAPA
BILITY TO MEASURE THE 2#3 PATTERNS OF A COLLECTION OF OBJECTS WITH CANDIDATE SURFACE
PROFILES OR THE CAPABILITY TO PREDICT THOSE PATTERNS OR BOTH
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
&)'52% 2#3 OF A COLLECTION OF BODIES OF REVOLUTION OF SIMILAR SIZE AND
PROJECTED AREA AFTER 7 % "LORE )%%%
4WO APPROACHES MAY BE TAKEN IN THE APPLICATION OF SHAPING /NE IS TO REPLACE
FLAT SURFACES WITH CURVED SURFACES AND THEREBY ELIMINATE NARROW BUT INTENSE SPECULAR
LOBES 4HIS IS NOT VERY EFFECTIVE BECAUSE IT INCREASES THE GENERAL ECHO LEVELS AT NEARBY
ASPECT ANGLES 4HE SECOND APPROACH IS TO EXTEND FLAT AND SINGLY CURVED SURFACES SO
AS TO FURTHER NARROW THE SPECULAR LOBE EVEN IF THIS INCREASES ITS INTENSITY 4HE LOGIC OF
THIS APPROACH IS THAT THE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE AVERAGE 2#3
OVER A RANGE OF SOLID ANGLES OF OBSERVATION AND IF THE WIDTH OF THE LOBE IS NARROW
ENOUGH ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE AVERAGE 2#3 MAY BE LESS THAN IF IT WERE A WIDER BUT
LESS INTENSE LOBE 4HE REQUIRED 2#3 PATTERN LEVELS OF SPECIFIC VEHICLE CONCEPTS SHOULD
BE ESTABLISHED BY MEANS OF MISSION ANALYSES BEFORE DECIDING WHICH SHAPING CRITERION
IS APPLICABLE
3HAPING IS USUALLY DIFFICULT TO EXPLOIT OR EXPENSIVE TO IMPLEMENT FOR VEHICLES OR
OBJECTS ALREADY IN PRODUCTION BECAUSE THE VEHICLE CONFIGURATION AND PROFILE HAVE BEEN
SELECTED AND OPTIMIZED FOR SPECIFIC MISSION OBJECTIVES #HANGES IN THE CONFIGURATION
AFTER PRODUCTION THEREFORE ARE LIKELY TO IMPAIR THE MISSION CAPABILITIES OF THE VEHICLE
)F CONSIDERED AN OPTION IN THE CONTROL OF 2#3 SHAPING MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE CONCEP
TUAL DESIGN OF THE VEHICLE WELL BEFORE ANY PRODUCTION DECISIONS ARE MADE &URTHERMORE
SHAPING IS NOT VERY EFFECTIVE FOR BODIES THAT ARE NOT ELECTRICALLY LARGE
,OW 2ADAR #ROSS 3ECTION 6EHICLES 4HE FOLLOWING ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF LOW
CROSS SECTION VEHICLES FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF LOW CROSS
SECTION VEHICLE DEIGN
4HE 32
4HE DESIGN OF LOW CROSS
SECTION VEHICLES PROBABLY BEGAN WHEN
#LARENCE h+ELLYv *OHNSON ,OCKHEEDS FAMOUS DESIGNER UNDERTOOK DEVELOPMENT
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4HE OBJECTS WHOSE RADAR CROSS SECTIONS
ARE PLOTTED IN &IGURE
OF THE ! AN EARLY PROTOTYPE OF THE 32 "LACKBIRD RECONNAISSANCE PLATFORM !T
,OCKHEEDS FABLED 3KUNK 7ORKS HE RECOGNIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF BRINGING THE 2#3
DESIGN ENGINEER INTO THE INNER CIRCLE DESIGN TEAM 4HE ! DEVELOPMENT CONTRACT WAS
AWARDED IN AND BY EARLY THE ! WAS FLYING MISSIONS AROUND THE WORLD
4HE INFLUENCE OF *OHNSONS RADAR SIGNATURE SPECIALISTS IS EVIDENT IN &IGURE
4HE MOST REMARKABLE FEATURE OF THE 32 IS THE CHINE THAT RUNS FROM THE NOSE TO THE
ROOT OF THE DELTA WING )N THE NOSE ON SECTOR THE RADAR ECHO WILL BE DOMINATED BY
RETURNS FROM THE ENGINE INLETS WHERE THE CHINE CONTRIBUTION IS NO DOUBT NEGLIGIBLE
7HEN SEEN FROM THE BROADSIDE ASPECTS THE CHINE REDUCES THE SPECULAR ECHO THAT WOULD
HAVE COME FROM THE OTHERWISE ROUNDED SIDES OF THE FORWARD FUSELAGE .OTE THAT THE TAIL
FINS ARE CANTED INWARD THEREBY DEFLECTING INCIDENT RADAR WAVES UPWARD AWAY FROM
THE RADAR WHEN SEEN FROM THE SIDE 4HIS DESIGN GREATLY REDUCES THE 32 S ECHO IN A
NARROW BROADSIDE SECTOR OF ANGLES
4HE & 4HE LARGEST ECHO SOURCE IN THE 32 NOSE ON REGION IS PROBABLY THE
ENGINE INTAKES BECAUSE THEY ARE THRUST WELL FORWARD OF THE WING LEADING EDGES 4HE
INTAKES OF THE & .IGHTHAWK BY CONTRAST ARE INSTALLED ABOVE THE WING AND WELL AFT
OF THE LEADING EDGE THEY ARE THE LITTLE BLACK DIAMONDS SEEN IN THE NOSE ON VIEW OF THE
& SHOWN IN &IGURE !S SUCH THE INTAKES ARE SHIELDED FROM GROUND BASED
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
{{
&)'52% ,OCKHEEDS 32 "LACKBIRD
RADARS WHEN THE & IS IN LEVEL FLIGHT %VEN SO THE & DEVELOPERS CONTRIVED AN
EGG CRATE COVERING FOR THE INTAKES THAT IN THEORY PREVENTS APPROACHING RADAR WAVES
FROM ENTERING THE INLET DUCTS WHERE THEY RATTLE AROUND AND EVENTUALLY COME BACK OUT
AGAIN HEADING DIRECTLY BACK TO THE RADAR
"ECAUSE THE EGG CRATE GRILLWORK REDUCED AIRFLOW THE INTAKE HAD TO BE ENLARGED TO
RESTORE NORMAL FLOW !ND THE DESIGNERS LATER DISCOVERED THAT THE GRILLWORK TENDED TO
ICE UP WHICH THEY OVERCAME WITH AN ELECTRICAL HEATING SYSTEM 4HE MOST REMARKABLE
FEATURES OF THE & ARE ITS FACETTED AERODYNAMICALLY POOR SURFACE PROFILE AND ITS
&)'52% ,OCKHEEDS & .IGHTHAWK FIGHTER
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SHARPLY SWEPT TAIL FINS 4HE TAIL FINS ARE CANTED OUT AS WELL AS BEING SWEPT AFT AND THE
WINGS ARE ALSO SHARPLY SWEPT !LTHOUGH ,OCKHEED MANAGED TO PRODUCE A SUPERSONIC
32
AIRFRAME USING EXOTIC MATERIALS THE LOW 2#3 DEMANDED OF THE &
REQUIRED
A SUBSONIC AIRFRAME 4HE AIRFRAME IS COVERED WITH THIN ABSORBING MATERIAL WHOSE EDGES
ARE SERRATED TO REDUCE REFLECTIONS WHERE HATCHES AND COVERS FIT INTO THE FUSELAGE
"
3PIRIT "OMBER .ORTHROP THE PRIME CONTRACTOR FOR THE "
3PIRIT FACED THE
SAME PROBLEM WITH ENGINE PLACEMENT THAT ,OCKHEED DID WITH THE &
.IGHTHAWK
4HE SOLUTION WAS THE SAME EMBED THE ENGINES INTAKES IN THE TOP SIDE OF THE AIRFRAME
0OSSIBLY BECAUSE THE "
HAD A DIFFERENT MISSION THAN THE &
DID .ORTHROP DID
NOT INSTALL EGG
CRATE GRILLWORK OVER THE ENGINE INTAKES )NDEED .ORTHROP DESIGNERS
DEVISED HINGED COWLINGS THAT OPEN UP AT LANDING AND TAKEOFF SPEEDS TO INCREASE AIR
FLOW INTO THE ENGINES 4HE COWLINGS ARE THEN RETRACTED AT CRUISING SPEED FOR OPTIMUM
THRUST AND EFFICIENCY
)N THE INTEREST OF LOWERING THE AIRFRAMES RADAR ECHO .ORTHROPS DESIGN TEAM DELIB
ERATELY BUILT THE "
WITHOUT A TAILFIN !SIDE FROM THIS IT IS INTERESTING THAT THE &
AND "
SHARE SOME COMMON FEATURES /NE IS THE ROUNDED WINGTIPS WHICH TEND TO
REDUCE TIP
SPAWNED REFLECTIONS OF SURFACE TRAVELING WAVES THAT MIGHT BUILD UP ALONG
THE WINGS LEADING EDGES !NOTHER IS THE USE OF THIN ABSORBER COATINGS THAT ARE SERRATED
AROUND THE EDGES OF HATCHES COVERS AND CANOPIES TO SUPPRESS REFLECTIONS FROM EDGE
DISCONTINUITIES 9ET ANOTHER IS THE FACT THAT THE "
LIKE THE &
HAS A SUBSONIC
AIRFRAME 4HIS SUGGESTS THAT ALTHOUGH THE CHINE CONCEPT MAY HAVE WORKED FOR THE FUSE
LAGE OF THE FABLED -ACH
32
IT IS BY NO MEANS A VIABLE APPROACH FOR REDUCING THE
ECHOES FROM WING LEADING EDGES
)NDEED THE DESIGNERS OF THE "
AIRFRAME APPARENTLY RECOGNIZED EARLY IN THE DESIGN
WORK THAT IT WOULD BE NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO REDUCE THE LEADING EDGE 2#3 OF THEIR SUB
SONIC AIRFRAME TO ACCEPTABLE LEVELS 4HAT BEING THE CASE THEY DECIDED TO ANGLE ALL
LEADING AND TRAILING EDGES AT A COMMON SWEEP ANGLE n 4HEIR PHILOSOPHY WAS THAT
IF THEY COULDNT SUPPRESS THE EDGE RETURNS THE NEXT BEST OPTION WOULD BE TO ANGLE THEM
ALL INTO FOUR COMMON DIRECTIONS IN SPACE 4HUS ALL TRAILING EDGES IN THE "
ARE PARALLEL
TO LEADING EDGES
8
# 5NMANNED #OMBAT 6EHICLE 4HE "OEING #OMPANY UNVEILED A MOCKUP
OF THE h#v VERSION OF ITS UNMANNED COMBAT VEHICLE IN THE MID
S LESS THAN A
DECADE AFTER THE PROJECT WAS FUNDED BY THE $EFENSE !DVANCED 2ESEARCH 0ROJECTS
!DMINISTRATION $!20! !N !SSOCIATED 0RESS PHOTO OF THE AIRCRAFT MOCKUP IS SHOWN
IN &IGURE 4HE AIRFRAME IS FT WIDE AND FT LONG
4HE NOSE ANGLE OF THE PLANFORM IS NEARLY DOUBLE THAT OF THE &
YET BARELY HALF
THAT OF THE "
SO THE PLANFORM NOSE ANGLE SEEMS TO BE A COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE TWO
.OTE THAT THE ABSENCE OF A COCKPIT IMPROVES THE STEALTHINESS OF THE AIRFRAME )NDEED
THE ENGINE INLET COWLING REPLACES THE COCKPIT AND EVEN THE LIPS OF THE INLET ARE BROADLY
SERRATED TO REDUCE THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE RADAR ECHO 4HE LACK OF ANY TAILFIN AND THE
CONTOUR OF THE TRAILING EDGES OF THE PLANFORM REVEAL STRONG INFLUENCES FROM THE "
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
,OW #ROSS 3ECTION 3HIPS #ONVENTIONAL SHIPS USUALLY HAVE VERY LARGE STRUCTURES
WITH MANY HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL REFLECTING SURFACES THAT MEET AT RIGHT ANGLES FORM
ING CORNER REFLECTORS WITH STRONG ECHOES 4HEY ALSO CAN HAVE MANY INDIVIDUAL SCAT
TERERS THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE TO A LARGE RADAR CROSS SECTION 4O ACHIEVE LOW RADAR CROSS
SECTION THE HORIZONTALVERTICAL DESIGN PLAN IS CHANGED SO AS TO EMPLOY TILTED SURFACES
2!$!2 #2/33 3%#4)/.
{{
&)'52% "OEINGS MOCKUP OF ITS 8
# UNMANNED COMBAT VEHICLE
#OURTESY OF THE !SSOCIATED 0RESS
THAT SPOIL THE CORNER
REFLECTOR EFFECT 3URFACE TILTING ALSO MOVES THE RADAR ANGLE OF
INCIDENCE WELL INTO THE FAR SIDELOBES OF MOST SURFACES ON THE VESSEL 4HUS VERTICAL
BULKHEADS OFTEN ARE TILTED INBOARD
,
,
% & +NOTT h2ADAR OBSERVABLES v IN 4ACTICAL -ISSILE !ERODYNAMICS 'ENERAL 4OPICS 6OL
- * (EMSCH ED 7ASHINGTON $# !MERICAN )NSTITUTE OF !ERONAUTICS AND !STRONAUTICS
#HAP
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#HAPTER
-i>
i
i 7ii
.AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY RETIRED
x /," 1
/"
&OR AN OPERATIONAL RADAR BACKSCATTER OF THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL BY ELEMENTS OF THE
SEA SURFACE OFTEN PLACES SEVERE LIMITS ON THE DETECTABILITY OF RETURNS FROM SHIPS AIR
CRAFT AND MISSILES NAVIGATION BUOYS AND OTHER TARGETS SHARING THE RADAR RESOLUTION
CELL WITH THE SEA SURFACE 4HESE INTERFERING SIGNALS ARE COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS SEA
CLUTTER OR SEA ECHO 4HE SEARCH FOR A USEFUL UNDERSTANDING OF THIS IMPORTANT RADAR
CONTAMINANT BEGAN WITH THE COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS OF CLUTTER DATA FROM OPERATING
RADARS WITH THE GOAL OF ESTABLISHING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLUTTER SIGNALS AND THE
PARAMETERS OF BOTH THE RADAR AND THE SEA ENVIRONMENT -UCH OF THE EARLIEST WORK
TOOK PLACE DURING 77)) AND CAN BE FOUND IN ONE OF THE COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF
2!$,!" VOLUMES DOCUMENTING THE RADAR RESEARCH THAT WAS DONE AT THAT TIME "UT
MOST OF THE CLUTTER DATA FROM THIS PERIOD AND EVEN INTO THE S WAS COLLECTED IN
BITS AND PIECES FROM ISOLATED EXPERIMENTS OFTEN WITH POOR INCOMPLETE OR MISLEAD
ING DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SEA SURFACE
)T WOULD SEEM A SIMPLE MATTER TO REFINE THESE RESULTS BY USING INSTRUMENTATION
RADARS OPERATING OVER THE WIDE VARIETY OF RADAR AND ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS ENCOUN
TERED IN PRACTICE "UT WHILE THE PARAMETERS RELATING TO THE RADAR SYSTEM AND ITS CONFIGU
RATION SUCH AS FREQUENCY CELL SIZE POLARIZATION GRAZING ANGLE AT THE SURFACE ETC CAN
BE SPECIFIED SELECTING AND QUANTIFYING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS IS QUITE ANOTHER
MATTER &IRST IT HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN CLEAR WHICH ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS ARE IMPOR
TANT &OR EXAMPLE WIND SPEED CERTAINLY SEEMS TO AFFECT CLUTTER LEVELS BUT THE COR
RELATION OF CLUTTER WITH SAY A SHIPS ANEMOMETER READINGS IS OFTEN INCONSISTENT !ND
ALTHOUGH THE STATE OF AGITATION OF THE SEA SURFACE SEA STATE APPEARS TO HAVE A STRONG
EFFECT IT IS A SUBJECTIVE MEASURE AND ITS RELATION TO PREVAILING LOCAL WINDS IS OFTEN
UNCERTAIN -OREOVER IT HAS BEEN FOUND THAT THE TEMPERATURES OF THE AIR AND THE SEA
SURFACE CAN AFFECT THE WAY IN WHICH MEASURED WIND SPEED IS RELATED TO THE GENERATION
OF CLUTTER
PRODUCING WAVES YET THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE EFFECTS WERE UNAPPRECIATED
OVER MOST OF THE HISTORY OF SEA CLUTTER MEASUREMENTS SO AIR AND SEA TEMPERATURES WERE
SELDOM RECORDED &INALLY EVEN IF THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETER HAS
BEEN RECOGNIZED IT IS OFTEN DIFFICULT OR TOO EXPENSIVE TO MEASURE IT ACCURATELY IN THE
FIELD UNDER REAL SEA CONDITIONS
7HILE MANY ASPECTS OF SEA CLUTTER THUS REMAINED FRUSTRATINGLY ILL
DEFINED THE
EARLIER WORK DID DISCLOSE SOME GENERAL TRENDS SUCH AS THE TENDENCY OF AVERAGE
CLUTTER SIGNAL STRENGTHS AT LOW TO INTERMEDIATE GRAZING ANGLES TO INCREASE WITH THE
x
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
GRAZING ANGLE AND THE WIND SPEED OR SEA STATE AND GENERALLY TO BE GREATER FOR
VERTICAL POLARIZATION AND IN UPWINDDOWNWIND DIRECTIONS &OR OTHER REVIEWS OF
SEA CLUTTER AND ITS HISTORY SEE 3KOLNIK .ATHANSON AND ,ONG 3EA CLUTTER IS
HOWEVER A COMPLEX PHENOMENON PRESENTING VARIOUS FACES DEPENDING ON THE WAY
THE RADAR VIEWS THE SCENE &OR EXAMPLE IT IS COMMONLY NOTED THAT WHEN VIEWED ON
AN ! SCOPE SIGNAL AMPLITUDE VERSUS RANGE THE APPEARANCE OF SEA CLUTTER DEPENDS
STRONGLY ON THE SIZE OF THE RESOLUTION CELL OR RADAR FOOTPRINT &OR LARGE CELLS IT
APPEARS DISTRIBUTED IN RANGE AND MAY BE CHARACTERIZED BY A SURFACE
AVERAGED CROSS
SECTION WITH RELATIVELY MODEST FLUCTUATIONS ABOUT A MEAN VALUE !S THE SIZE OF THE
RESOLUTION CELL IS REDUCED CLUTTER INCREASINGLY APPEARS TO CONTAIN SEQUENCES OF ISO
LATED TARGET
LIKE OR DISCRETE RETURNS THAT VARY IN TIME !T THE HIGHER RESOLUTIONS
THE DISCRETE RETURNS TEND TO STAND WELL OUT OF THE BACKGROUND OCCURRING FOR BOTH
POLARIZATIONS BUT MOST CLEARLY EVIDENT WITH HORIZONTAL POLARIZATION AT SMALL GRAZING
ANGLES 4HESE ISOLATED RETURNS ARE CALLED SEA SPIKES AND ARE A COMMON CLUTTER COM
PONENT IN THIS RADAR OPERATING REGIME 1UITE CLEARLY AN UNDERSTANDING OF SEA CLUTTER
IN ALL ITS ASPECTS WILL BE A CONSIDERABLE UNDERTAKING &ORTUNATELY A CLOSE RELATION
SHIP BETWEEN RADAR AND OCEANOGRAPHY HAS GROWN UP IN THE FIELDS OF REMOTE SENSING
LEADING TO THE ACCUMULATION OF A LARGE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION BOTH EXPERIMENTAL
AND THEORETICAL ABOUT HOW SCATTERING AT RADAR FREQUENCIES RELATES TO OCEANOGRAPHIC
VARIABLES )N MANY WAYS THIS INFORMATION SERVES AS THE BASIS OF MUCH OF OUR CURRENT
UNDERSTANDING OF SEA CLUTTER
)N MODELING SEA CLUTTER THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A THEORY WHICH RELATES THE
PHYSICAL SCATTERING PROPERTIES OF THE SEA SURFACE TO THE RECEIVED SIGNAL AND A CHARAC
TERIZATION WHICH PROVIDES A DESCRIPTION OF THE SEA CLUTTER DATA IN TERMS OF A STATISTICAL
MODEL EG 2AYLEIGH LOGNORMAL 7EIBULL AND +
DISTRIBUTION THAT ALTHOUGH SOME
TIMES SUGGESTIVE OF PHYSICAL PROCESSES IN THE UNDERLYING SCATTERING IS OF GREATER DIRECT
INTEREST TO THE RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNER IN PROVIDING DETECTION PROBABILITIES AND FALSE
ALARM RATES
(ISTORICALLY ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE A THEORETICAL EXPLANATION OF THE OBSERVED BEHAV
IOR OF CLUTTER SIGNALS TRACE ESSENTIALLY FROM THE WORK PURSUED DURING 7ORLD 7AR ))
AND DESCRIBED IN THE WELL
KNOWN -)4 2ADIATION ,ABORATORY BOOK MENTIONED ABOVE
5NFORTUNATELY THE SCATTERING MODELS DEVELOPED DURING THIS PERIOD ALONG WITH MOST
OF THOSE PUBLISHED OVER THE FOLLOWING DECADE FAILED TO ACCOUNT IN ANY CONVINCING
WAY FOR THE BEHAVIOR OF SEA BACKSCATTER )N HOWEVER #ROMBIE OBSERVED THAT AT
HIGH
FREQUENCY (& WAVELENGTHS TENS OF METERS SCATTERING APPEARED TO ARISE FROM
A RESONANT INTERACTION WITH SEA WAVES OF ONE
HALF OF THE INCIDENT WAVELENGTH IE TO
BE OF THE "RAGG TYPE 2EINFORCED BY THE THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS OF VARIOUS SMALL
WAVEHEIGHT APPROXIMATIONS AND WAVE
TANK MEASUREMENTS UNDER IDEALIZED CONDI
TIONS THE "RAGG MODEL WAS INTRODUCED INTO THE MICROWAVE REGIME BY MANY WORKERS
IN THE MID
Sn 4HIS PRODUCED A REVOLUTION IN THINKING ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF
SEA CLUTTER BECAUSE IT INVOLVED THE SEA WAVE SPECTRUM THUS FORGING A LINK BETWEEN
CLUTTER PHYSICS AND OCEANOGRAPHY IN WHAT BECAME THE FIELD OF RADIO OCEANOGRAPHY
(OWEVER FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS IN APPLYING THE "RAGG HYPOTHESIS IN
MICROWAVE SCATTERING ALONG WITH ITS INABILITY TO ADDRESS SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS OF MEA
SURED SEA CLUTTER HAVE LED THROUGH THE YEARS TO CONTINUING INQUIRY INTO THE PHYSICAL
ORIGINS OF SEA SCATTER AND HOW BEST TO MODEL ITn 4HIS BEING THE CASE SPECULATION
ABOUT PHYSICAL MODELS WILL BE KEPT TO A MINIMUM IN THE SECTIONS ON THE EMPIRICAL
BEHAVIOR OF SEA CLUTTER 4HE PROBLEM OF MODELING SEA SCATTER WILL BE DISCUSSED SEPA
RATELY IN A LATER SECTION
3%! #,544%2
x /
-
-1,
#LOSE OBSERVATION OF THE SEA SURFACE DISCLOSES A VARIETY OF FEATURES DESCRIBABLE AS
WEDGES CUSPS WAVES FOAM TURBULENCE AND SPRAY AS WELL AS BREAKING EVENTS OF ALL
SIZES AND MASSES OF FALLING WATER !NY OR ALL OF THESE MIGHT CONTRIBUTE TO THE SCATTER
ING OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES RESPONSIBLE FOR SEA CLUTTER 4HE BASIC OCEANOGRAPHIC
DESCRIPTOR OF THE SEA SURFACE HOWEVER IS THE WAVE SPECTRUM WHICH SAYS LITTLE ABOUT
THE DETAILS OF THESE FEATURES BUT CONTAINS A GREAT DEAL OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE SEA
SURFACE IN GENERAL AND IS CENTRAL TO THE APPLICATION OF THE "RAGG SCATTERING HYPOTHESIS
!CCORDINGLY SOME TUTORIAL MATERIAL DESCRIBING THE SPECTRAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SEA
SURFACE IS INCLUDED IN THIS SECTION ALONG WITH A BRIEF DISCUSSION OF SURFACE EVENTS SUCH
AS WAVE BREAKING AND OTHER SURFACE EFFECTS THOUGHT TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE PRODUCTION OF
SEA SPIKES
4HERE ARE BASICALLY TWO TYPES OF SURFACE WAVES CAPILLARY AND GRAVITY DEPENDING
ON WHETHER SURFACE TENSION OR GRAVITY IS THE DOMINANT RESTORING FORCE 4HE TRANSITION
BETWEEN ONE AND THE OTHER TAKES PLACE AT A WAVELENGTH OF ABOUT CM SO THE SMALLER
CAPILLARY WAVES SUPPLY THE SURFACE FINE STRUCTURE WHILE GRAVITY WAVES MAKE UP THE
LARGER AND MOST VISIBLE SURFACE STRUCTURES 3EA WAVES HAVE THEIR ORIGIN PRIMARILY IN THE
WIND BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE hLOCALv WIND IS A PARTICULARLY GOOD INDICATOR OF
WHAT THE WAVE STRUCTURE BENEATH IT WILL BE )N ORDER TO AROUSE THE SURFACE TO ITS FULLY
DEVELOPED OR EQUILIBRIUM STATE THE WIND MUST BLOW FOR A SUFFICIENT TIME DURATION
OVER A SUFFICIENT DISTANCE FETCH 4HAT PART OF THE WAVE STRUCTURE DIRECTLY PRODUCED
BY THESE WINDS IS CALLED SEA "UT WAVES PROPAGATE SO EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF LOCAL
WIND THERE CAN BE SIGNIFICANT LOCAL WAVE MOTION DUE TO WAVES ARRIVING FROM FAR AWAY
PERHAPS FROM A DISTANT STORM 7AVES OF THIS TYPE ARE CALLED SWELL AND SINCE THE SURFACE
OVER WHICH THE WAVES TRAVEL ACTS AS A LOW
PASS FILTER SWELL COMPONENTS OFTEN TAKE THE
FORM OF LONG
CRESTED LOW
FREQUENCY SINUSOIDS
4HE 7AVE 3PECTRUM 4HE OCEAN WAVE SPECTRUM DESCRIBING THE SEA SURFACE
APPEARS IN SEVERAL FORMS )F THE TIME HISTORY OF THE SURFACE ELEVATION IS MONITORED AT A
FIXED POINT THE RESULTING TIME SERIES MAY BE PROCESSED TO PROVIDE A FREQUENCY SPECTRUM
3 F OF THE SURFACE ELEVATION WHERE 3 F DF IS A MEASURE OF THE ENERGY IE SQUARE
OF THE WAVEHEIGHT OF THE WAVES IN THE FREQUENCY INTERVAL BETWEEN F AND F DF 7AVE
SPECTRA HAVE BEEN MEASURED IN THE OPEN OCEAN PRIMARILY FOR GRAVITY WAVES DOWN TO
WAVELENGTHS OF ABOUT M /PEN
OCEAN MEASUREMENTS OF CAPILLARY WAVE SPECTRA ARE
ESPECIALLY DIFFICULT TO PERFORM
&OR A GRAVITY WAVE THE FREQUENCY F AND THE WAVENUMBER + ARE RELATED BY THE DIS
PERSION RELATION
F O G+
WHERE G IS THE ACCELERATION OF GRAVITY AND + O , WITH , BEING THE WAVELENGTH
!LTHOUGH EACH INDIVIDUAL GRAVITY WAVE OBEYS THIS RELATION THE WAVES AT A POINT ON
THE SEA SURFACE COULD COME FROM ANY DIRECTION SO THEY ARE CHARACTERIZED BY A TWO
DIMENSIONAL PROPAGATION VECTOR WITH ORTHOGONAL COMPONENTS +X AND +Y WHERE THE +
TO BE USED IN %Q IS THE MAGNITUDE + +X +Y 4HE WAVENUMBER SPECTRUM
ASSOCIATED WITH 3 F IS A FUNCTION OF THE TWO COMPONENTS OF + AND IS COMMONLY WRIT
TEN AS 7+X +Y 4HIS IS CALLED THE DIRECTIONAL WAVE SPECTRUM AND EXPRESSES THE ASYM
METRIES ASSOCIATED WITH WINDS CURRENTS REFRACTION ISOLATED SWELL COMPONENTS ETC
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&OR A GIVEN SOURCE OF ASYMMETRY SUCH AS THE WIND VARIOUS PARTS OF THE SPECTRUM
WILL DISPLAY DIFFERENT DIRECTIONAL BEHAVIORS &OR EXAMPLE IN A FULLY DEVELOPED SEA
THE LARGER WAVES WILL TEND TO MOVE IN THE DIRECTION OF THE WIND WHILE THE SMALLER
WAVES WILL BE MORE ISOTROPIC $IRECTIONAL SPECTRA ARE MORE DIFFICULT TO MEASURE AND
ARE OBTAINED BY A VARIETY OF EXPERIMENTAL METHODS SUCH AS AN ARRAY OF WAVE STAFFS
TO MEASURE SURFACE HEIGHTS OVER A MATRIX OF POINTS A MULTIAXIS ACCELEROMETER BUOY
STEREO PHOTOGRAPHY AND EVEN BY PROCESSING RADAR BACKSCATTER SIGNALS (OWEVER A
FREQUENCY SPECTRUM MEASURED AT A POINT CAN CONTAIN NO KNOWLEDGE OF WAVE DIRECTION
SO A WAVENUMBER SPECTRUM 7+ IS OFTEN DEFINED IN TERMS OF THE FREQUENCY SPECTRUM
3 F BY THE RELATION
7+ 3 F + DF D+
WITH THE RELATION BETWEEN F AND + GIVEN BY %Q 4O ACCOUNT FOR THE WIND DIRECTION
7+ IS SOMETIMES MULTIPLIED BY AN EMPIRICAL FUNCTION OF + AND DIRECTION E RELATIVE
TO THE UP WIND DIRECTION
/CEANOGRAPHERS HAVE NOT ALWAYS BEEN IN COMPLETE AGREEMENT ABOUT THE FORM OF
THE FREQUENCY SPECTRUM .ONEQUILIBRIUM WAVE CONDITIONS INADEQUATE SAMPLING TIMES
POOR GROUND TRUTH ETC CAN CONTAMINATE THE DATA SET FROM WHICH EMPIRICAL SPECTRA
ARE DERIVED (OWEVER BY CAREFUL SELECTION OF DATA FROM MANY SOURCES ENSURING THAT
ONLY EQUILIBRIUM FULLY DEVELOPED SEA CONDITIONS WERE REPRESENTED AND THE WIND WAS
ALWAYS MEASURED AT THE SAME REFERENCE HEIGHT USUALLY TAKEN AS METERS 0IERSON
AND -OSKOWITZ ESTABLISHED A SIMPLE EMPIRICAL SPECTRUM THAT HAS PROVEN POPULAR AND
USEFUL )T HAS THE FORM
3 F !F E " F M F
WHERE G IS THE ACCELERATION OF GRAVITY AND FM GO 5 CORRESPONDING TO THE FREQUENCY
OF A WAVE MOVING WITH A VELOCITY EQUAL TO THE WIND SPEED 5 ! AND " ARE EMPIRICAL
CONSTANTS 4HIS SPECTRUM IS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE FOR SEVERAL WIND SPEEDS 4HE
EFFECT OF INCREASING WIND SPEED IS SIMPLY TO MOVE THE LOW FREQUENCY CUTOFF TO LOWER
FREQUENCIES ALONG THE HIGH FREQUENCY F ASYMPTOTE )T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT MOST OF
THE OCEANOGRAPHERS SPECTRA ARE BASED ON MEASUREMENTS AT RELATIVELY LOW FREQUENCIES
AND SO CANNOT BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY AT FREQUENCIES ABOVE ABOUT (Z .EVERTHELESS THESE
SPECTRAL FORMS ARE OFTEN USED UP TO (Z OR GREATER IN PREDICTING RADAR CLUTTER UNDER
THE "RAGG HYPOTHESIS
#ONVERTING THIS FREQUENCY SPECTRUM INTO AN ISOTROPIC WAVENUMBER SPECTRUM
THROUGH %Q RESULTS IN A SPECTRUM OF SIMILAR FORM ONLY WITH A + ASYMPTOTE
0HILLIPS DERIVED THIS ASYMPTOTIC BEHAVIOR ON DIMENSIONAL GROUNDS AND A WIDELY USED
SIMPLIFICATION OBTAINED BY REPLACING THE SMOOTH PEAK IN &IGURE BY A SHARP CUTOFF
IS GENERALLY REFERRED TO AS THE 0HILLIPS 3PECTRUM
7+ + + G5
+ G5
WHERE THE CUTOFF WAVENUMBER CORRESPONDS TO THE FREQUENCY FM OF THE PEAK IN %Q
/PPOSED TO THIS HIGHLY SIMPLIFIED FORM ARE INCREASINGLY COMPLEX SPECTRA BASED ON MORE
CAREFUL EMPIRICAL STUDIES AS WELL AS MORE SOPHISTICATED THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
)N DISCUSSING THE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SEA SURFACE BY ITS SPECTRUM IT MUST BE KEPT
IN MIND THAT THE SPECTRUM IS A HIGHLY AVERAGED DESCRIPTION OF HOW THE ENERGY OF THE SUR
FACE IS DISTRIBUTED AMONG THE WAVENUMBERS OR FREQUENCIES OF THE WAVES PRESENT ON IT
3%! #,544%2
xx
&)'52% 3EA WAVE FREQUENCY SPECTRA OF THE 0IERSON -OSKOWITZ
TYPE REPRESENTING FULLY DEVELOPED SEAS AFTER 7 * 0IERSON AND
, -OSKOWITZ !MERICAN 'EOPHYSICAL 5NION
3INCE THE PHASES OF THESE WAVES ARE LOST THE SPECTRUM GIVES NO INFORMATION ABOUT THE
DETAILED MORPHOLOGY OF THE SURFACE ITSELF IE ABOUT THE COMPLEX SURFACE FEATURES THAT
ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SCATTERED FIELD 4HIS POINT WILL BE RAISED AGAIN AS WE GO ALONG
'ENERAL 3EA $ESCRIPTORS 4HE SHAPE OF THE CURVES IN &IGURE INDICATES THAT
THE SEA WAVE SYSTEM IS SHARPLY PEAKED SO IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE TO GET A ROUGH IDEA OF
THE BEHAVIOR OF THE MAJOR WAVES ON THE SURFACE BY TAKING THE VALUES OF PERIOD F
AND WAVELENGTH O + DEFINED AT THE SPECTRAL PEAK 4HESE VALUES ARE ASSIGNED TO A
WAVE SATISFYING THE DISPERSION RELATION %Q AND HAVING A PHASE VELOCITY # O F +
EQUAL TO THE WIND SPEED 5 "Y USING %Q THE PERIOD 4 ` AND WAVELENGTH ,` THEREBY
DEFINED TAKE THE FORM
4 ` 5 ,` 5
WHERE 5 IS IN METERS PER SECOND &OR EXAMPLE THE LARGEST WAVES IN A FULLY DEVELOPED
SEA FOR A KT MS WIND WILL HAVE A WAVELENGTH OF ABOUT FT M WITH A
PERIOD OF S
4HE STATISTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF WAVEHEIGHTS ON THE OCEAN SURFACE IS QUITE CLOSE TO
GAUSSIAN WITH A MEAN SQUARE HEIGHT THAT CAN BE OBTAINED BY INTEGRATING THE WAVE
HEIGHT SPECTRUM OVER ALL FREQUENCIES OR WAVENUMBERS &OR SPECTRA RESEMBLING THOSE
IN &IGURE THE RMS WAVEHEIGHT IS GIVEN APPROXIMATELY BY
HRMS 5 M
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE RMS WAVEHEIGHT CONTAINS CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ALL THE WAVES ON THE SURFACE BUT
VERY OFTEN IT IS THE PEAK
TO
TROUGH HEIGHT FOR THE HIGHER WAVES THAT IS OF MAJOR INTEREST
4HIS IS CERTAINLY THE CASE FOR A SHIP IN A SEAWAY OR IN THE SHADOWING OF THE SURFACE AT LOW
RADAR GRAZING ANGLES 4HE SIGNIFICANT HEIGHT OR PEAK
TO
TROUGH HEIGHT OF THE ONE
THIRD
HIGHEST WAVES PROVIDES SUCH A MEASURE )T IS DENOTED BY ( AND IS TAKEN TO BE ABOUT
SIX TIMES THE SPECTRAL RMS AMPLITUDE SEE EG +INSMAN &IG
&OR A
KT WIND
THIS IS ONLY ABOUT FT BUT FOR GALE
FORCE WINDS OF KT IT RISES TO ALMOST FT WHICH
IS A RATHER FORMIDABLE SEA
,OOKING AT THE SEA AN OBSERVER MIGHT DESCRIBE WHAT IS SEEN IN TERMS OF A SUBJECTIVE
STATE OF THE SEA EG hSMOOTH v hROUGH v OR hTERRIFYINGv )F THESE DESCRIPTIONS ARE LISTED
IN ORDER OF SEVERITY AND ASSIGNED NUMBERS THESE NUMBERS DEFINE A SEA STATE ! SIMILAR
NUMERICAL SCALE EXISTS FOR WIND SPEEDS THE "EAUFORT WIND SCALE WITH NUMBERS ABOUT
AN INTEGER HIGHER THAN THE CORRESPONDING SEA STATE "UT IT IS SELDOM USED IN REFERENCE
TO SEA CLUTTER
4HERE ARE THEN TWO NUMBERS COMMONLY USED TO INDICATE THE ACTIVITY OF THE SEA
SURFACE A SUBJECTIVE SEA STATE AND A MEASURED WIND SPEED /NLY WHEN THE WIND HAS
SUFFICIENT FETCH AND DURATION TO EXCITE A FULLY DEVELOPED SEA CAN A WAVEHEIGHT BE UNAM
BIGUOUSLY ASSOCIATED WITH IT 4HE SURFACE DESCRIPTORS GENERALLY USED IN CONNECTION WITH
SEA CLUTTERSEA STATE WIND SPEED AND ITS ASSOCIATED EQUILIBRIUM WAVEHEIGHTARE
GIVEN IN 4ABLE WITH THE WIND SPEED IN KNOTS THE SIGNIFICANT WAVEHEIGHT IN FEET
AND THE DURATIONFETCH REQUIRED FOR A FULLY DEVELOPED SEA IN HOURSNAUTICAL MILE )T IS
OF INTEREST TO NOTE THAT THE MEDIAN WIND SPEED OVER THE WORLDS OCEANS IS ABOUT KT
CORRESPONDING TO SEA STATE
"REAKING 7AVES AND /THER 3URFACE $ISTURBANCES 4HE OBSERVABLE FEATURES OF
THE SEA SURFACE THAT BEST SUGGEST AN ORIGIN FOR THE SHARP LOCALIZED RADAR RETURNS CALLED SEA
SPIKES ARE SURFACE EVENTS THAT ARE THEMSELVES SHARPLY LOCALIZED EVENTS INCLUDING BREAK
ING WAVES OF ALL SIZES INDUCED EITHER BY THE WIND OR BY NONLINEAR INTERACTIONS AMONG
WAVE SYSTEMS ,ARGE
SCALE BREAKING WAVES DISPLAY TWO CHARACTERISTIC BEHAVIORS
SPILLING IN WHICH AN UNSTABLE WAVE PEAK UNRAVELS AND PLUNGING WHERE THE PEAK CURLS
OVER ON ITSELF AND CRASHES ONTO THE FRONT FACE AS A CASCADE OF WATER MASSES ENDING IN A
CHAOTIC JUMBLE !NOTHER DIFFERENT EVENT IS THE MICROBREAKER A SMALL TRANSIENT SHOCK
FRONT INDUCED BY A PUFF OF WIND OR ANOTHER WAVE !S NOTED EARLIER HIGHLY AVERAGED WAVE
SPECTRA CANNOT DISCLOSE THE MORPHOLOGY OF SUCH SURFACE FEATURES AND UNFORTUNATELY
PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY IS STILL UNABLE TO PROVIDE A GENERALLY SATISFACTORY DESCRIPTION OR
CHARACTERIZATION OF WAVE BREAKING .EVERTHELESS THERE ARE TWO USEFUL HEURISTIC PARAM
ETERS RELATING ELEMENTS OF A BREAKING WAVE SCENE TO WIND SPEED 7HITECAP DENSITY IS A
VISIBLE TRACER OF BREAKING WAVE ACTIVITY AND HAS A POWER
LAW DEPENDENCE ON WIND SPEED
4!",% 3EA
3URFACE $ESCRIPTORS
3EA 3TATE
SMOOTH
SLIGHT
MODERATE
ROUGH
VERY ROUGH
HIGH
VERY HIGH
7IND 3PEED KT
7AVEHEIGHT ( FT
$URATIONFETCH HNMI
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
3%! #,544%2
GIVEN BY Q WB ^ 5 4HE AVERAGE LENGTH OF A BREAKING WAVEFRONT MOVING AT SPEED C ALSO
DEPENDS ON WIND SPEED AND IS GIVEN BY A PARAMETER ,C 4HESE PARAMETERS WILL APPEAR
AGAIN LATER WHEN WE DISCUSS SOME OF THE MORE RECENT MODELS FOR SEA CLUTTER !N ADDITIONAL
FEATURE OF SMALL
SCALE BREAKING OR OTHER STRONGLY NONLINEAR EVENTS IS THE APPEARANCE OF
hPARASITICv OR hBOUNDv CAPILLARIES ATTACHED TO THE EVENT AND MOVING WITH IT 4HEY TEND
TO BE SMALL
AMPLITUDE FEATURES LOCALIZED AND NARROW
BAND
x
*,
6","-
1//
,
3EA CLUTTER IS A FUNCTION OF MANY PARAMETERS SOME OF THEM SHOWING A COMPLICATED
INTERDEPENDENCE SO WE EMPHASIZE AGAIN THAT IT IS NOT AN EASY TASK TO ESTABLISH ITS
DETAILED BEHAVIOR WITH A GREAT DEAL OF CONFIDENCE OR PRECISION &OR EXAMPLE IN A
PROPER SEA CLUTTER MEASUREMENT THE POLARIZATION RADAR FREQUENCY GRAZING ANGLE AND
RESOLUTION CELL SIZE WILL HAVE BEEN SPECIFIED 4HEN THE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION MUST
BE MEASURED AT A REFERENCE ALTITUDE AND IF THE RESULTS ARE TO BE COMPARED WITH THOSE
OF OTHER EXPERIMENTERS THE PROPER DURATION AND FETCH SHOULD BE AVAILABLE TO ENSURE
STANDARDIZATION TO EQUILIBRIUM SEA CONDITIONS 3INCE THESE MEASURED WINDS ARE RELATED
TO THE WIND STRUCTURE AT THE SURFACE THROUGH THE ATMOSPHERIC BOUNDARY LAYER THE SHAPE
OF THIS LAYER MUST BE DETERMINED BY MEASURING THE AIR AND SEA TEMPERATURES 4O COM
PLICATE THE PICTURE STILL FURTHER IT HAS BEEN FOUND THAT SEA CLUTTER CAN BE DEPENDENT ON
THE DIRECTION OF THE LONG WAVES WHICH INCLUDES SWELL IN THE MEASUREMENT AREA SO
IDEALLY THE DIRECTIONAL WAVE SPECTRUM SHOULD BE MEASURED AS WELL /BVIOUSLY IT IS
UNLIKELY THAT ALL OF THESE ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS WILL BE RECORDED WITH PRECISION IN
EVERY OR EVEN ANY SEA CLUTTER MEASUREMENT SO CONSIDERABLE VARIABILITY IN THE BASIC
CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH SEA CLUTTER DATA ARE COLLECTED BY DIFFERENT EXPERIMENTERS CAN
BE EXPECTED )T IS OF INTEREST TO NOTE THAT IN MANY OF THE REPORTED MEASUREMENTS OF SEA
CLUTTER PARTICULARLY IN THE OLDER LITERATURE WIDE INCONSISTENCIES BETWEEN WIND SPEED
AND WAVEHEIGHT MAY BE FOUND &OR EXAMPLE A WIND SPEED OF KT MIGHT BE REPORTED
WITH WAVEHEIGHTS OF FT OR
KT WINDS WITH
FT WAVES 4HESE PAIRINGS ARE NOT
CONSISTENT WITH THE VALUES FOR AN EQUILIBRIUM SEA DESCRIBED IN 4ABLE AND INDICATE
THE UNNOTICED OR UNRECORDED PRESENCE OF HEAVY SWELL OR HIGHLY NONEQUILIBRIUM WIND
CONDITIONS OR BOTH %VEN WITH ALL THE VARIABLES PROPERLY SPECIFIED RECORDED CLUTTER
DATA CAN BE SPREAD OVER A WIDE DYNAMIC RANGE ESPECIALLY AT LOW GRAZING ANGLES
3INCE SEA CLUTTER IS GENERALLY VIEWED AS A SURFACE
DISTRIBUTED PROCESS THE BASIC CLUTTER
PARAMETER IS TAKEN TO BE THE NORMALIZED RADAR CROSS SECTION .2#3 R OF THE SURFACE
COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS SIGMA ZERO AND EXPRESSED IN DECIBELS RELATIVE TO MM )T IS
OBTAINED EXPERIMENTALLY BY DIVIDING THE MEASURED RADAR CROSS SECTION OF AN ILLUMINATED
PATCH OF THE SURFACE BY A NORMALIZING AREA SO DIFFERENCES IN THE DEFINITION OF THIS AREA
CAN LEAD TO INCONSISTENCIES AMONG VARIOUS REPORTS OF .2#3 MEASUREMENTS 3CATTERING
FROM ANY DISTRIBUTED TARGET INVOLVES THE PRODUCT OF THE TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING SYS
TEM FOOTPRINTS INTEGRATED OVER THE TARGET 4HESE FOOTPRINTS COVER EXACTLY THE SAME AREA
FOR A MONOSTATIC RADAR AND WILL DEPEND ON THE PULSE
AND BEAMWIDTHS THE RANGE AND
THE GRAZING ANGLE )F THE FOOTPRINTS ARE ASSUMED TO BE OF THE COOKIE
CUTTER TYPE CONSTANT
AMPLITUDE FALLING SHARPLY TO ZERO AT THE HALF
POWER POINTS THEN THE RELATION BETWEEN THE
ACTUAL RADAR CLUTTER CROSS SECTION R C AS INFERRED FROM THE RECEIVED POWER VIA THE RADAR
EQUATION AND THE .2#3 R IS GIVEN BY
R R C !F
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WHERE FOR A RADAR WITH AN ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH " AND RECTANGULAR PULSE OF LENGTH S
VIEWING THE SURFACE AT RANGE 2 AND GRAZING ANGLE X THE AREA !F IS EITHER
!F O "2 SINX
FOR BEAM LIMITED CONDITIONS EG CONTINUOUS WAVE #7 OR LONG PULSE RADAR AT HIGH
GRAZING ANGLES OR
!F CS "2COSX
FOR PULSE WIDTH LIMITED CONDITIONS EG SHORT PULSE RADAR AT LOW GRAZING ANGLES
2EAL RADARS DO NOT PRODUCE COOKIE CUTTER FOOTPRINTS HOWEVER SINCE THE ANTENNA
BEAM WILL HAVE A COMPLEX PROFILE AND THE PULSE MIGHT BE SHAPED &OR THIS REASON
AN EFFECTIVE ! MUST BE OBTAINED FROM A SURFACE INTEGRATION OF THE ACTUAL AMPLITUDE
PROFILE OF THE FOOTPRINT WHICH WILL TEND TO RESULT IN A SMALLER VALUE OF ! THAN THAT
DEFINED BY %Q OR %Q 4HIS WILL PRODUCE LARGER VALUES OF R AS DERIVED
FROM MEASURED VALUES OF RC BY %Q -OST EXPERIMENTERS USE THE HALF POWER
BEAMWIDTH IN %Q OR %Q WITH AN ERROR THAT IS USUALLY ONLY OR D"
#LUTTER 3TATISTICS 3UMMARIES OF CLUTTER MEASUREMENTS MADE BEFORE ABOUT
MAY BE FOUND IN SEVERAL OF THE STANDARD REFERENCE BOOKS ON RADAR AND RADAR CLUTTER
!MONG THE PROGRAMS OF THIS PERIOD THE MOST AMBITIOUS WAS THAT PURSUED IN THE
LATE S AT THE .AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY .2, IN WHICH AN AIRBORNE FOUR
FREQUENCY RADAR &2 OPERATING WITH BOTH HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL POLARIZATIONS AT
5(& -(Z , BAND -(Z # BAND -(Z AND 8 BAND -(Z
MADE CLUTTER MEASUREMENTS UPWIND DOWNWIND AND CROSSWIND IN WINDS FROM TO
KT FOR GRAZING ANGLES BETWEEN AND 4HE SYSTEM WAS CALIBRATED AGAINST STAN
DARD METAL SPHERES DROPPED FROM AIRCRAFT AND WIND SPEEDS AND WAVEHEIGHTS WERE
RECORDED IN THE MEASUREMENT AREAS FROM SHIP INSTRUMENTS
4YPICALLY SAMPLES OF R FOR A GIVEN SET OF RADAR AND ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS ARE
SCATTERED OVER A WIDE RANGE OF VALUES AND IN THE .2, MEASUREMENTS WERE ORGANIZED
INTO PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS OF THE TYPE SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE DATA REPRESENTED
BY THE SOLID LINE ARE PLOTTED ON NORMAL PROBABILITY PAPER WITH 2AYLEIGH AND LOG NORMAL
DISTRIBUTIONS SHOWN FOR COMPARISON DASHED LINES 4HE ORDINATE IS THE PERCENT OF TIME
FOR WHICH THE ABSCISSA IS EXCEEDED AND THE ABSCISSA IS THE VALUE OF R AS DEFINED BY
%Q WITH ! TAKEN FROM %Q OR %Q AS APPROPRIATE 4HIS PARTICULAR DISTRI
BUTION IS REPRESENTATIVE OF CLUTTER FROM A RELATIVELY LARGE RADAR FOOTPRINT PULSE LENGTH
ABOUT L SEC OR METERS MEASURED AT INTERMEDIATE GRAZING ANGLES TO FOR
MODERATE WIND SPEEDS ABOUT KT )T IS 2AYLEIGH LIKE BUT SHOWS A TENDENCY TOWARD
LOG NORMAL BEHAVIOR FOR THE LARGER CROSS SECTIONS &ROM A DETAILED STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
OF THE .2, &2 DATA 6ALENZUELA AND ,AING CONCLUDED THAT FOR THIS DATA AT LEAST THE
DISTRIBUTIONS OF SEA CLUTTER CROSS SECTIONS WERE INTERMEDIATE BETWEEN THE 2AYLEIGH AND
LOG NORMAL DISTRIBUTIONS
/RGANIZING THE DATA SAMPLES INTO PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS MAKES THE MEDIAN
VALUE A CONVENIENT STATISTICAL MEASURE OF THE CLUTTER CROSS SECTION "UT MANY INVES
TIGATORS PROCESS THEIR DATA TO PROVIDE THE MEAN VALUE AND BECAUSE THE CONVERSION
OF A MEDIAN TO A MEAN REQUIRES KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION
CARE MUST BE TAKEN TO AVOID AMBIGUITY IN COMPARING THE MEASUREMENTS OF DIFFERENT
EXPERIMENTERS 4HE ORIGINAL ANALYSIS OF THE .2, &2 DATA WAS BASED ON MEDIAN
CROSS SECTIONS AND THE ASSUMPTIONS OF THE COOKIE CUTTER ANTENNA BEAM EMBODIED IN
%QS AND n )N LATER PRESENTATIONS OF THIS DATA THE MEDIAN VALUES OF R
3%! #,544%2
&)'52% !N EXAMPLE OF THE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION OF SEA
CLUTTER DATA FROM * # $ALEY ET AL
WERE REPLACED BY MEANS RAISING THEM BY ABOUT D" AND THE AREA ! IN %Q
WAS REDEFINED IN TERMS OF A MORE REALISTIC TAPERED FOOTPRINT ADDING ANOTHER TO D"
4HIS MEANS THAT THERE CAN BE A DIFFERENCE OF TO D" BETWEEN THE EARLIER AND LATER
PRESENTATIONS OF THE SAME DATA AND SINCE THESE RESULTS HAVE BEEN WIDELY USED AND
QUOTED IT IS IMPORTANT TO ENSURE THAT THE PROPER DEFINITION OF R IS BEING USED WHEN
COMPARING THEM WITH CLUTTER DATA THAT HAS BEEN TAKEN BY OTHER EXPERIMENTERS OR IN
USING THESE RESULTS IN CLUTTER PREDICTIONS
&IGURE SHOWS THAT EVEN FOR INTERMEDIATE GRAZING ANGLES IN THE RANGE n
THE SEA CLUTTER DISTRIBUTION DEPARTS FROM STRICTLY 2AYLEIGH !T LOWER GRAZING ANGLES AND
PARTICULARLY FOR NARROW PULSE WIDTHS THE PRESENCE OF SEA SPIKES OR OTHER NON GAUSSIAN
BEHAVIOR MAY BE ACCOMMODATED BY ONE OF THE MULTIPARAMETER OR COMPOUND DISTRIBU
TIONS THAT EXPRESS AN EXCESS OF HIGHER RETURNS SUCH AS THE 7EIBULL AND + DISTRIBUTIONS
4HE LATTER WAS INTRODUCED TO CHARACTERIZE THE PARTICULAR BEHAVIOR OF LOW GRAZING ANGLE
CLUTTER SEEN IN A MARINE ENVIRONMENT )TS SUCCESS IS VERY LIKELY DUE TO ITS RELATION TO
THE 2ICE DISTRIBUTION WHICH DESCRIBES THE STATISTICS OF STEADY SIGNALS IN NOISE THUS
REFLECTING THE STATISTICS OF hTARGET LIKEv SEA SPIKE RETURNS IN A 2AYLEIGH BACKGROUND
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
'ENERAL 4RENDS "EING THE FIRST REALLY COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTION OF CLUTTER DATA
OVER A WIDE RANGE OF RADAR FREQUENCIES THE &2 PROGRAM PRODUCED MANY PLOTS SHOW
ING THE DEPENDENCE OF SEA CLUTTER ON GRAZING ANGLE FREQUENCY POLARIZATION WIND
DIRECTION AND WIND SPEED (OWEVER COMPARISON OF THESE PLOTS WITH OTHERS MADE BOTH
EARLIER AND LATER SHOWS THE EXTENT OF THE VARIATIONS TO BE FOUND IN SEA CLUTTER MEASURE
MENTS REPORTED BY DIFFERENT INVESTIGATORS FOR EXACTLY THE SAME SET OF PARAMETERS 4HIS
IS SEEN CLEARLY IN &IGURE A AND B WHICH COMPARES THE GRAZING
ANGLE DEPENDENCE
OF 8
BAND CLUTTER DATA FOR WIND SPEEDS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF KT OBTAINED FROM
FOUR SOURCES .2, &2 THESE ARE MEAN RESULTS FOR UPWIND DIRECTIONS AND INCLUDE
THE ANTENNA CORRECTIONS MENTIONED ABOVE AIRCRAFT MEASUREMENTS BY -ASUKO ET AL
ALSO IN THE UPWIND DIRECTION AND SUMMARIES OF DATA TAKEN FROM BOOKS ON RADAR
SYSTEMS BY 3KOLNIK AND .ATHANSON 4HE DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT DATA
SETS CAN BE ACCOUNTED FOR AT LEAST IN PART AS FOLLOWS 4HE OLDER DATA SUMMARIES WERE
BASED ON PUBLISHED MEASUREMENTS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES IN WHICH THERE IS NO SPECI
FICATION OF WIND DIRECTION )T MAY THEREFORE BE ASSUMED THAT THESE DATA REPRESENT
SOME KIND OF AVERAGE OF UPWIND DOWNWIND AND CROSSWIND DIRECTIONS !S WILL BE
SEEN THIS AVERAGE IS ABOUT TO D" SMALLER THAN THE UPWIND RETURNS -OREOVER THE
EARLY .2, &2 DATA WAS USED LIBERALLY IN THE OLDER DATA SUMMARIES AND IT WAS NOTED
ABOVE THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE OF TO D" BETWEEN THE EARLY AND LATER PRESENTATIONS
OF THE SAME .2, &2 DATA THE LATTER BEING USED IN &IGURE A AND B 7ITH THESE
CORRECTIONS THE CURVES MIGHT SHOW CLOSER AGREEMENT .EVERTHELESS IT IS CLEAR THAT
UNCRITICAL USE OF PUBLISHED CLUTTER DATA COULD LEAD RADAR SYSTEMS DESIGNERS TO CHOOSE
SEA CLUTTER ESTIMATES MANY D" APART FOR THE SAME CONDITIONS
4HE .2, &2 DATA SET IS UNIQUE IN THAT NO OTHER PROGRAM HAS REPORTED MEASURE
MENTS MADE OVER SO WIDE A RANGE OF FREQUENCIES GRAZING ANGLES AND WIND SPEEDS AT THE
SAME TIME &IGURE SHOWS THE TRENDS FOR BOTH VERTICALLY AND HORIZONTALLY POLARIZED
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF 8 BAND CLUTTER DATA FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES FOR A NOMINAL WIND SPEED OF
KN A VERTICAL POLARIZATION AND B HORIZONTAL POLARIZATION BASED ON DATA FROM ( -ASUKO ET AL
.2, &2 - ) 3KOLNIK AND & % .ATHANSON
3%! #,544%2
SEA CLUTTER OVER A RANGE OF GRAZING ANGLES DOWN TO n 4HE CURVES REPRESENT THE CENTERS
OF o D" BANDS THAT CONTAIN THE MAJOR RETURNS FOR THE THREE HIGHER FREQUENCIES , #
AND 8 BANDSTHE 5(& RETURNS WERE A FEW DECIBELS LOWER AND WIND SPEEDS ABOVE
ABOUT KT 4HE MAJOR DIFFERENCES IN SEA CLUTTER FOR THE TWO POLARIZATIONS ARE SEEN TO
LIE IN THE RANGE OF GRAZING ANGLES BETWEEN ABOUT n AND n WHERE THE HORIZONTALLY
POLARIZED RETURNS ARE SMALLER 4HIS DIFFERENCE IS FOUND TO BE EMPHASIZED AT BOTH LOWER
WIND SPEEDS AND LOWER FREQUENCIES 4HE CROSS SECTIONS APPROACH EACH OTHER AT HIGH
ANGLES n AND FOR THE HIGHER MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES AT LOW ANGLES n AS WELL
)N FACT FOR GRAZING ANGLES LESS THAN A FEW DEGREES AND MODERATE TO STRONG WIND SPEEDS
OBSERVERS HAVE REPORTED THAT AT 8 BAND AND AT THE HIGHER SEA STATES THE HORIZONTALLY
POLARIZED RETURNS CAN EXCEED THE VERTICALLY POLARIZED RETURNS
4HE .2, &2 SYSTEM PERMITTED TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION ON ORTHOGONAL POLAR
IZATIONS SO THAT DATA COULD BE COLLECTED FOR CROSS
POLARIZED SEA CLUTTER 4HESE RETURNS
TENDED TO HAVE A WEAK DEPENDENCE ON GRAZING ANGLE AND WERE ALWAYS SMALLER THAN
EITHER OF THE LIKE
POLARIZED RETURNS LYING IN THE CROSS
HATCHED REGION SHOWN ON
&IGURE
)T IS INFORMATIVE TO COMPARE MEASUREMENTS AT DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES BY DIFFERENT
INVESTIGATORS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD UNDER SIMILAR WIND CONDITIONS &IGURE
DISPLAYS MEASUREMENTS OF VERTICALLY POLARIZED SEA CLUTTER DOWN TO A GRAZING ANGLE OF
FOR WIND SPEEDS OF ABOUT KT FROM THREE INDEPENDENT EXPERIMENTS USING AIRBORNE
RADARS AT #
8
AND +
BAND FREQUENCIES !LTHOUGH THERE IS NO ASSURANCE THAT
&)'52% 'ENERAL TRENDS IN CLUTTER BEHAVIOR FOR AVERAGE
WIND SPEEDS ABOUT KT BASED ON .2, &2 DATA 0LOTS REPRESENT
, # AND 8 BAND DATA WITHIN o D"
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% &REQUENCY DEPENDENCE OF SEA CLUTTER FOR WIND
SPEEDS OF ABOUT KT '(Z &EINDT '(Z 3CHROEDER
AND '(Z -ASUKO
ALL THESE MEASUREMENTS WERE MADE OVER FULLY DEVELOPED SEAS IT IS CLEAR THAT THERE IS
A RATHER STRONG CONSISTENCY AMONG THEM WHICH REINFORCES THE OBSERVATION MADE IN
REFERENCE TO &IGURE THAT THE FREQUENCY DEPENDENCE OF SEA CLUTTER AT INTERMEDIATE
GRAZING ANGLES IS WEAK AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES FROM , TO + BAND
$EPENDENCE ON 7IND 3PEED AND $IRECTION %XPERIMENTALLY THE RELATION
BETWEEN SEA CLUTTER AND WIND SPEED IS COMPLEX AND UNCERTAIN IT HAVING BEEN FOUND
TO DEPEND ON ALMOST ALL OF THE PARAMETERS THAT CHARACTERIZE SEA CLUTTER FREQUENCY
GRAZING ANGLE POLARIZATION THE STATE OF THE SEA SURFACE THE DIRECTION AND SPEED OF
THE WIND ITSELF AND EVEN ON WHETHER THE MEASUREMENTS ARE MADE FROM AN AIRCRAFT OR
A TOWER PLATFORM
! COMMON WAY TO ORGANIZE CLUTTER DATA IS TO SEEK THE BEST STRAIGHT
LINE FIT LINEAR
REGRESSION BETWEEN CLUTTER CROSS SECTIONS IN DECIBELS AND THE LOG OF THE WIND SPEED
OR SOME OTHER PARAMETER 4HIS OF COURSE IMPOSES A POWER
LAW RELATION BETWEEN
THE VARIABLES R ^ 5N WHERE N IS DETERMINED BY THE SLOPE OF THE LINE !N EXAMPLE IS
SHOWN IN &IGURE /N THE OTHER HAND WHILE THE TOTALITY OF THE .2, &2 RESULTS
APPEARED TO SHOW SATURATION FOR WIND SPEEDS ABOVE ABOUT KT THE HIGH AND LOW
TO
MODERATE WIND
SPEED DATA WERE COLLECTED AT DIFFERENT TIMES IN DIFFERENT PLACES UNDER
DIFFERENT CONDITIONS OF SEA
SURFACE DEVELOPMENT AND DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN THE TWO
DATA SETS FOR COMMON WIND SPEEDS HAVE WEAKENED THE EVIDENCE FOR SATURATION
/THER INVESTIGATORS DENY THAT IT IS EVEN POSSIBLE TO EXPRESS WIND DEPENDENCE IN THE
FORM OF A POWER LAW PROPOSING THE EXISTENCE OF A KIND OF THRESHOLD WIND SPEED
BELOW WHICH CLUTTER VIRTUALLY VANISHES AND ABOVE WHICH THE CLUTTER LEVEL RISES RAPIDLY
TOWARD A SATURATION VALUE 4HIS IS INDICATED BY THE CURVES IN &IGURE WHERE
THE STRAIGHT LINES CORRESPOND TO VARIOUS POWER LAWS AND THE CURVED LINES DERIVE FROM
3%! #,544%2
&)'52% 3EA CLUTTER FROM A TOWER PLATFORM WITH POWER
LAW WIND
SPEED DEPENDENCE DEFINED BY LINEAR REGRESSION ANGLE OF INCIDENCE
GRAZING ANGLE AFTER ! ( #HAUDHRY AND 2 + -OORE )%%%
WAVE SPECTRUM CONSIDERATIONS )T IS POSSIBLE TO FIND EXAMPLES OF DATA THAT APPEAR
TO FOLLOW SUCH BEHAVIOR WHILE AT THE SAME TIME BEING EXPRESSED AS A POWER LAW BY
BRUTE LINEAR REGRESSION AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE TOWER DATA SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HIS
BEHAVIOR IS NOT UNCOMMON
&)'52% ! HYPOTHETICAL WIND SPEED DEPENDENCE OF SEA
CLUTTER CURVED TRACES COMPARED WITH VARIOUS POWER LAWS STRAIGHT
LINES DERIVED FROM 7 * 0IERSON AND - ! $ONELAN !MERICAN
'EOPHYSICAL 5NION
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% %XAMPLE OF FORCING A POWER LAW FIT COMPARE DATA POINTS WITH
THOSE IN &IGURE AFTER ! ( #HAUDHRY AND 2 + -OORE )%%%
.EVERTHELESS THE IMPOSITION OF A POWER LAW RELATION PROVIDES A CONVENIENT WAY
TO VISUALIZE TRENDS IN THE BEHAVIOR OF SEA CLUTTER WITH WIND SPEED 4HE VARIOUS AIR
CRAFT MEASUREMENTS REFERRED TO ABOVE AUGMENTED BY DATA FROM A TOWER IN THE
.ORTH 3EA WERE USED AS THE BASIS OF THE POWER LAW PLOTS OF R AS FUNCTIONS OF
WIND SPEED AND GRAZING ANGLE SHOWN IN &IGURE A B 4HESE PLOTS SUGGEST HOW SEA
CLUTTER FOR A GIVEN FREQUENCY 8 BAND WIND DIRECTION UPWIND AND POLARIZATION
BEHAVES WITH WIND SPEED AND GRAZING ANGLE (OWEVER EXAMINATION OF THE ACTUAL DATA
POINTS UNDERLYING THESE LINEAR REGRESSIONS SHOW POINT SCATTER THAT SOMETIMES RESEM
BLES &IGURE SOMETIMES &IGURE AND SOMETIMES NEITHER SO THESE STRAIGHT
LINES COVER UP CONSIDERABLE UNCERTAINTY )N FACT IT APPEARS THAT THERE IS NO SIMPLE
FUNCTIONAL DEPENDENCE OF SEA CLUTTER ON WIND SPEED THAT CAN BE ESTABLISHED WITH ANY
CONFIDENCE FROM EXISTING DATA ALTHOUGH MOST INVESTIGATORS WOULD PROBABLY AGREE
THAT THE BEHAVIOR OF MICROWAVE SEA CLUTTER WITH WIND SPEED AT INTERMEDIATE GRAZING
ANGLES CAN BE ROUGHLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS FOR LIGHT WINDS LESS THAN TO KT SEA
CLUTTER IS WEAK VARIABLE AND ILL DEFINED FOR INTERMEDIATE WINDS ABOUT TO KT
IT CAN BE DESCRIBED ROUGHLY BY A POWER LAW OF THE TYPE FOUND IN &IGURE AND FOR
STRONG WINDS ABOVE ABOUT KT THERE IS A TENDENCY FOR IT TO LEVEL OFF )N FACT THE
CONVERGENCE OF THE LINES IN &IGURE A B WITH INCREASING WIND SPEED SUGGESTS THAT
THE REFLECTIVITY OF THE SEA SURFACE IS TENDING TOWARD ,AMBERTS LAW FOR WHICH THERE
IS NO DEPENDENCE ON GRAZING ANGLE FREQUENCY OR POLARIZATION BUT ONLY ON SURFACE
ALBEDO OR AVERAGE REFLECTIVITY
)N SEVERAL OF THE EXPERIMENTS REFERENCED ABOVE THE DEPENDENCE OF SEA BACKSCATTER
ON ANGLE RELATIVE TO THE WIND DIRECTION WAS FOUND BY RECORDING THE RADAR RETURN FROM A
SPOT ON THE SURFACE WHILE FLYING AROUND IT IN A CIRCLE &IGURE A B GIVES AN EXAMPLE
OF THIS BEHAVIOR FOR GRAZING ANGLES OF ABOUT AND WIND SPEEDS CLOSE TO KT 4HE
FIGURES CONTAIN RESULTS OBTAINED INDEPENDENTLY BY THREE DIFFERENT GROUPS 4HE BEHAVIOR
SHOWN HERE IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THAT FOUND GENERALLY SEA CLUTTER IS STRONGEST VIEWED
UPWIND WEAKEST VIEWED CROSSWIND AND OF INTERMEDIATE STRENGTH VIEWED DOWNWIND
THE TOTAL VARIATION BEING ABOUT D" /THER STUDIES CORROBORATE THIS BEHAVIOR
3%! #,544%2
xx
&)'52% ! REPRESENTATION OF 8 BAND UPWIND CLUTTER BEHAVIOR WITH WIND SPEED AND GRAZING ANGLE
A VERTICAL POLARIZATION AND B HORIZONTAL POLARIZATION
&)'52% $EPENDENCE OF CLUTTER ON WIND DIRECTION NOMINAL WIND SPEED KT GRAZING ANGLE
ABOUT UPWIND AND DOWNWIND AFTER ( -ASUKO ET AL !MERICAN 'EOPHYSICAL
5NION
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3EA #LUTTER AT (IGH 'RAZING !NGLES 4HE TOP LINES IN &IGURE A B CORRE
SPOND TO CLUTTER AT A GRAZING ANGLE OF THAT IS FOR A RADAR LOOKING STRAIGHT DOWN
/N A STRICTLY EMPIRICAL BASIS THE CLUTTER CROSS SECTION AT THIS ANGLE IS ONLY WEAKLY
DEPENDENT ON FREQUENCY HAS A MAXIMUM OF ABOUT D" AT ZERO WIND SPEED AT
LEAST FOR THE ANTENNA BEAMWIDTHS AND EXPERIMENTAL CONFIGURATIONS REPORTED AND FALLS
OFF GRADUALLY AS THE WIND PICKS UP 3CATTERING AT HIGH GRAZING ANGLES IS COMMONLY
REGARDED AS A FORM OF SPECULAR SCATTERING FROM TILTED FACETS OF THE SURFACE SO IT IS OF
INTEREST TO NOTE THAT THERE APPEARS TO BE A SMALL RANGE OF ANGLES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
OF FOR WHICH THE CROSS SECTION IS ALMOST COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT OF WIND SPEED
3INCE THESE ANGLES CORRESPOND TO COMPLEMENTS OF THE COMMON RMS SEA SLOPE ANGLES
OF ABOUT IT MIGHT BE ARGUED THAT AS THE WIND INCREASES THE CLUTTER DECREASE DUE
TO INCREASING SURFACE ROUGHNESS IS BALANCED BY A CLUTTER INCREASE DUE TO AN INCREASING
POPULATION OF SCATTERING FACETS 4HIS LINE COULD THEREFORE BE REGARDED AS THE BOUND
ARY SEPARATING THE SPECULAR REGIME WHERE THE CROSS SECTION IS DECREASED BY SURFACE
ROUGHNESS FROM THE ROUGH SURFACE REGIME WHERE THE CROSS SECTION INCREASES WITH
SURFACE ROUGHNESS )T SHOULD FURTHER BE NOTED THAT CLUTTER MEASUREMENTS AT THESE HIGH
GRAZING ANGLES WILL BE RELATIVELY SENSITIVE TO THE AVERAGING EFFECTS OF WIDE ANTENNA
BEAMWIDTHS WHICH COULD BECOME A SOURCE OF AMBIGUITY IN AIRCRAFT MEASUREMENTS AT
THE LOWER RADAR FREQUENCIES
!T ,OW 'RAZING !NGLES !T LOW GRAZING ANGLES BELOW MEAN SEA SLOPE ANGLES
OF ABOUT SEA CLUTTER TAKES ON A DIFFERENT CHARACTER 4HE SHARP TARGET LIKE CLUTTER
PEAKS KNOWN AS SEA SPIKES BEGIN TO APPEAR ON ! SCOPE PRESENTATIONS AND
THE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS ASSUME A DIFFERENT FORM &IGURE A AND B SHOW
THE PRESENCE OF SEA SPIKES IN SECOND TIME HISTORIES OF RETURNS FROM A FIXED SPOT
MEASURED OFF THE COAST OF &LORIDA WITH A VARIABLE RESOLUTION 8 BAND RADAR LOOKING
INTO MODERATE A AND CALM B SEAS AT A GRAZING ANGLE .OTICE THAT THE APPEAR
ANCE OF THE SEA SPIKES IS VERY SIMILAR FOR BOTH MODERATE AND WEAK WIND CONDITIONS
ALTHOUGH THE AMPLITUDES DIFFER BY ALMOST D" AND THE VERTICALLY POLARIZED RETURNS
APPEAR TO BE SOMEWHAT BROADER WHILE THE HORIZONTALLY POLARIZED RETURNS ARE MORE
SPIKY PARTICULARLY FOR SHORT PULSES IN CALM SEAS 4HESE ARE ALL CHARACTERISTICS OF SEA
CLUTTER AT LOW GRAZING ANGLES
4HE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS OF LOW GRAZING ANGLE SEA CLUTTER CHANGE WITH WIND
SPEED %XAMPLES MAY BE FOUND IN THE MEASUREMENTS BY 4RIZNA OF LOW ANGLE SEA CLUT
TER USING HIGH RESOLUTION NS SHIPBOARD RADAR IN BOTH THE !TLANTIC AND THE 0ACIFIC
OCEANS 4HE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS OF THE CLUTTER CROSS SECTIONS WERE PLOTTED IN THE
MANNER SHOWN IN &IGURE WHICH SHOWS THE DISTRIBUTIONS OF HORIZONTALLY POLAR
IZED 8 BAND DATA AT A GRAZING ANGLE FOR LOW MEDIUM AND HIGH WIND SPEEDS IN ORDER
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT 4HE LOW WIND TRACE CORRESPONDS TO A 2AYLEIGH DISTRIBUTION THE
OTHER SEGMENTED TRACES ARE TWO PARAMETER 7EIBULL DISTRIBUTIONS DEFINED BY DIFFERENT
PARAMETER PAIRS )T IS CLEAR THAT THE BEHAVIOR IS DIFFERENT AND CONSIDERABLY MORE COM
PLEX THAN THAT SHOWN IN &IGURE FOR HIGHER GRAZING ANGLES AND WIDER PULSES &ROM
THE CHARACTER OF THE DATA 4RIZNA INTERPRETS THESE THREE SEGMENT TRACES AS SHOWING PRI
MARILY RECEIVER NOISE IN THE LOWEST BRANCH DISTRIBUTED SPATIALLY HOMOGENEOUS CLUTTER
IN THE MIDDLE BRANCH AND GENUINE SEA SPIKES IN THE BRANCH CONTAINING THE HIGHEST
CROSS SECTIONS SOME OF WHICH EXCEED M &OR THE HIGHER WIND SPEEDS AND FULLY
DEVELOPED SEAS ENCOUNTERED IN THE .ORTH !TLANTIC THE PERCENTAGE OF SEA SPIKES IN THIS
POPULATION WAS FOUND TO GROW AS THE TH POWER OF THE WIND SPEED WHICH INTEREST
INGLY IS THE SAME WIND SPEED DEPENDENCE SHOWN BY THE PERCENTAGE OF WHITECAPS SEEN
ON THE SURFACE WHICH AS NOTED IN 3ECTION ARE TRACERS FOR BREAKING WAVES
3%! #,544%2
&)'52% 3EA SPIKES AT 8 BAND GRAZING ANGLE AND VARIOUS PULSE WIDTHS A SEA STATE AND
B SEA STATE .OTE EQUAL AMPLITUDES AT THE TWO POLARIZATIONS AND A D" DIFFERENCE IN CLUTTER STRENGTH
BETWEEN MODERATE AND WEAK WINDS FROM *0 (ANSEN AND 6 & #AVALERI
&)'52% %XAMPLES OF CLUTTER PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS
AT LOW GRAZING ANGLES AFTER $ 4RIZNA
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)N COMPARING STATISTICAL RESULTS IT SHOULD BE KEPT IN MIND THAT TO THE EXTENT THAT
THE SEA SURFACE MAY BE VIEWED AS A STATIONARY HOMOGENEOUS PROCESS AS IT GENERALLY
IS OVER THE DURATION AND SPATIAL EXTENT OF ANY PARTICULAR EXPERIMENTAL EVENT THE SCAT
TERING CROSS SECTION MAY BE SAID TO BE ERGODIC WHICH MEANS THAT THE STATISTICAL RESULTS
OBTAINED BY TIME AVERAGING FROM A SMALL CELL ARE EQUIVALENT TO AN ENSEMBLE AVERAGE
FROM A LARGER CELL PROVIDED THAT THE NUMBER OF hSAMPLESv IS THE SAME IN THE TWO
CASES &OR THIS REASON THE STATISTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF EXPERIMENTAL DATA CAN BE PROP
ERLY COMPARED ONLY IF THE DETAILS OF THE SAMPLING PROCEDURE ARE SPECIFIED (OWEVER
THE NUMBER OF SAMPLES IN MOST OF THE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS SHOWN THUS FAR HAVE BEEN
SUFFICIENTLY LARGE THAT THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FOR EXAMPLE &IGURES AND
MAY BE CONSIDERED REAL AND RELATED TO DIFFERENCES IN GRAZING ANGLE RATHER THAN IN RESO
LUTION CELL SIZE )N FACT DISTRIBUTIONS CLOSELY RESEMBLING THOSE IN &IGURE WERE
OBTAINED MUCH EARLIER FROM SIMILAR MEASUREMENTS WITH CONSIDERABLY BROADER PULSE
WIDTHS /THER MEASUREMENTS HAVE CONTINUED TO CONFIRM THE DIFFERENCES THAT EMERGE
IN !
SCOPE APPEARANCE AND STATISTICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE CLUTTER IN THIS REGIME OF LOW
GRAZING ANGLES 3OME ATTEMPTS TO DESCRIBE THE PHYSICAL ORIGIN OF THESE PHENOMENA
WILL BE DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION BELOW
!T 6ERY ,OW 'RAZING !NGLES 4HERE IS SOME EVIDENCE THAT SEA CLUTTER MIGHT
DROP OFF MORE SHARPLY BELOW A CRITICAL ANGLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF A DEGREE OR SO
4HIS CRITICAL ANGLE OR CRITICAL RANGE FOR A RADAR AT A FIXED HEIGHT HAS BEEN OBSERVED
FROM TIME TO TIME SINCE FIRST NOTED IN EARLY OBSERVATIONS OF SEA CLUTTER 4HE CRITICAL
ANGLE HAS BEEN ASCRIBED TO INTERFERENCE BETWEEN DIRECT AND PERFECTLY REFLECTED RAYS AT
THE SCATTERING TARGETS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CLUTTER SIGNAL ALTHOUGH THESE TARGETS REMAIN
UNSPECIFIED !LTHOUGH THIS SIMPLE PICTURE COULD PRODUCE THE 2n DECAY THAT IS SOME
TIMES OBSERVED A CRITICAL ANGLE OFTEN FAILS TO MATERIALIZE AND WHEN IT DOES IT NEED
NOT SHOW AN 2n DECREASE WITH RANGE EQUIVALENT TO A FOURTH
POWER DEPENDENCE ON
GRAZING ANGLE !N ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATION FOR THIS BEHAVIOR APPLICABLE AT THE HIGHER
MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES HAS BEEN SUGGESTED BASED ON A THRESHOLD
SHADOWING MODEL
FOR UPWIND AND DOWNWIND DIRECTIONS 4HIS MODEL IMPLIES A SHARP DECREASE IN THE
AVERAGE CROSS SECTION FOR GRAZING ANGLES BELOW A FEW DEGREES )N CROSSWIND DIRECTIONS
WITH THE RADAR LOOKING ALONG THE TROUGHS OF THE MAJOR WAVES A MUCH MILDER SHADOW
ING FUNCTION WILL APPLY SO THERE SHOULD BE A CLEAR DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE UPWIND
DOWNWIND AND CROSSWIND BEHAVIOR OF SEA CLUTTER AT VERY LOW GRAZING ANGLES
%XAMPLES OF CLUTTER BEHAVIOR AT THESE VERY LOW ANGLES MAY BE FOUND IN INDEPENDENT
MEASUREMENTS AT RELATIVELY HIGH WIND SPEEDS BY (UNTER AND 3ENIOR OFF THE SOUTH COAST
OF %NGLAND AND BY 3ITTROP OFF THE WEST COAST OF .ORWAY 4HEIR RESULTS FOR ORTHOGONAL
DIRECTIONS RELATIVE TO THE WIND ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE ALONG WITH THE PREDICTIONS OF
A CONVENTIONAL SHADOWING FUNCTION AND THE THRESHOLD
SHADOWING FUNCTION )T WOULD
APPEAR THAT A COMBINATION OF CONVENTIONAL SHADOWING WHICH GOES AS THE FIRST POWER
OF THE GRAZING ANGLE ACROSS THE WIND AND THRESHOLD SHADOWING IN UPWIND AND DOWN
WIND DIRECTIONS CAN ACCOUNT FOR THE OBSERVED BEHAVIOR OF THIS VERY LOW
ANGLE CLUTTER
QUITE WELL 4HE DECAY LAW FOR VERY LOW
ANGLE CLUTTER SHOULD THEREFORE DEPEND ON THE
VIEWING ANGLE RELATIVE TO THE WIND DIRECTION SO IT MIGHT OCCUR WITH POWERS BETWEEN
THE FIRST AND THE FOURTH 4HIS IS JUST WHAT HAS BEEN OBSERVED )T SHOULD BE REMARKED
HOWEVER THAT SHADOWING AT LOW GRAZING ANGLES IS A COMPLEX PHENOMENON SEE BELOW
AND THE PHYSICAL ORIGIN OR EVEN THE EXISTENCE OF A CRITICAL ANGLE IS STILL OPEN TO QUES
TION -OREOVER THERE IS RELATIVELY LITTLE GOOD DATA ON VERY LOW
ANGLE CLUTTER FOR OTHER
THAN 8
BAND FREQUENCIES SO THE GENERAL BEHAVIOR OF SEA CLUTTER IN THIS ANGULAR REGIME
REMAINS UNCERTAIN
3%! #,544%2
&)'52% $IFFERENTIAL BEHAVIOR OF VERY LOW ANGLE CLUTTER FOR ORTHOGONAL WIND DIRECTIONS
3C IS A CONVENTIONAL SHADOWING FUNCTION 34 IS A THRESHOLD SHADOWING FUNCTION AFTER DATA FROM
) - (UNTER AND 3ENIOR )%%% AND ( 3ITTROP
!T (& AND -ILLIMETER 7AVE &REQUENCIES !LL THE MEASUREMENTS DESCRIBED
ABOVE WERE MADE AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES BETWEEN 5(& -(Z AND +A BAND
'(Z (IGH FREQUENCY (& RADARS USUALLY OPERATE IN THE FREQUENCY RANGE
BETWEEN ABOUT AND -(Z CORRESPONDING TO WAVELENGTHS BETWEEN AND M
RESPECTIVELY 3INCE THE OPERATION OF SUCH RADARS TAKES PLACE EITHER BY THE GROUND
WAVE OR OVER IONOSPHERIC SKY WAVE PATHS SPANNING GREAT RANGES THE GRAZING ANGLES
TEND TO BE SMALL BETWEEN AND &OR THESE WAVELENGTHS AND GRAZING ANGLES
MEASUREMENTS BY #ROMBIE INDICATE THAT THE SCATTERING FROM THE SEA SURFACE WAS THE
RESULT OF SCATTERING FROM SEA WAVES OF ONE HALF THE RADAR WAVELENGTH IE h"RAGGv
SCATTER )N THE YEARS SINCE THESE EARLY MEASUREMENTS THERE HAS BEEN CONSIDERABLE
ACTIVITY IN THE FIELD OF (& RADAR AND (& CLUTTER AND THE RESULTS CAN BE SUM
MARIZED AS FOLLOWS &OR VERTICAL POLARIZATION THE MAJOR ENERGY OF THE (& CLUTTER
SIGNAL APPEARS IN SPECTRAL LINES DISPLACED TO EITHER SIDE OF THE CARRIER FREQUENCY BY
THE FREQUENCY OF SEA WAVES HAVING A WAVELENGTH EQUAL TO HALF THE (& WAVELENGTH K
IN METERS 4HE RELATIVE STRENGTHS OF THE PLUS AND MINUS LINES ARE DETERMINED BY THE
PROPORTION OF ADVANCING AND RECEDING "RAGG RESONANT WAVE COMPONENTS IN THE CLUT
TER CELL 0ROVIDED THE WIND SPEED IS GREATER THAN ABOUT L KT WITH K IN METERS AND
THE SEA IS FULLY DEVELOPED THE CLUTTER CROSS SECTION R IS ABOUT n D" AND IS RELA
TIVELY INDEPENDENT OF WIND SPEED AND FREQUENCY 4HE DEFINITION OF R IN (& RADAR
IS COMPLICATED BY PROBLEMS IN PROPERLY DEFINING ANTENNA GAINS FOR GROUND WAVE
AND SKY WAVE PATHS AND BY PROPAGATION EFFECTS DUE TO THE IONOSPHERE 4HE CLUTTER
SPECTRUM TENDS TO FILL IN AROUND AND BETWEEN THE LINES AS THE WIND PICKS UP &OR
HORIZONTAL POLARIZATION WHICH IS POSSIBLE ONLY FOR SKY WAVE PATHS OVER WHICH THE
PLANE OF POLARIZATION CAN BE ROTATED BY THE %ARTHS MAGNETIC FIELD THE CROSS SECTION
IS MUCH SMALLER AND SHOWS THE CHARACTERISTIC FOURTH POWER DECAY WITH A DECREASING
GRAZING ANGLE &OR THESE (& WAVELENGTHS OF TENS OF METERS THE SEA IS RELATIVELY FLAT
AND THE SCATTERING LAWS ARE SIMPLE ! DETAILED DISCUSSION OF (& RADAR MAY BE FOUND
IN #HAPTER
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!T THE OTHER END OF THE POTENTIALLY USEFUL RADAR SPECTRUM IN THE MILLIMETER WAVE
BAND THE FEW PUBLISHED MEASUREMENTS OF RADAR CLUTTER LEAD TO THE CONCLUSION THAT
MILLIMETER WAVE BACKSCATTER BEHAVES IN MUCH THE SAME MANNER AS BACKSCATTER AT THE
LOWER MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES 4HIS WAS SUGGESTED BY THE + BAND CURVES SHOWN IN
&IGURE FOR MODERATE WIND SPEEDS AND FURTHER SUPPORTED BY SOME OLDER SHIPBOARD
DATA AT FREQUENCIES BETWEEN AND '(Z )T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT FOR MARITIME
RADARS CLUTTER SIGNAL PATHS LIE CLOSE TO THE SEA SURFACE WHERE THE ATMOSPHERIC AND
WATER VAPOR DENSITIES ARE HIGHEST 4HIS MEANS THAT AT THESE HIGHER FREQUENCIES THE
CLUTTER SIGNAL WILL BE STRONGLY AFFECTED BY ATMOSPHERIC ABSORPTION EFFECTS AND CONSE
QUENTLY THE SURFACE RELATED CROSS SECTION INFERRED FROM THE RECEIVED SIGNAL STRENGTH IN
ANY GIVEN MEASUREMENT WILL DEPEND UPON THE PATH LENGTH -OREOVER THE ROLE OF SEA
SPRAY IN BOTH SCATTERING AND ABSORPTION WILL CERTAINLY BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN AT THE
LOWER MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES
)T IS DIFFICULT TO FIND CLUTTER DATA AT FREQUENCIES ABOVE +A BAND ALTHOUGH ( AND
6 POLARIZED RETURNS AT '(Z AT A GRAZING ANGLE OF WERE REPORTED BOTH WITH
VALUES CLOSE TO n D"
4HE 3PECTRUM OF 3EA #LUTTER 4HE SCATTERING FEATURES PRODUCING SEA CLUTTER ARE
ASSOCIATED WITH A SURFACE SUBJECT TO SEVERAL TYPES OF MOTION 4HE FEATURES THEMSELVES
MAY BE MOVING WITH SMALL GROUP OR PHASE VELOCITIES OVER THIS SURFACE WHILE THE SURFACE
ITSELF IS MOVED IN TURN BY THE ORBITAL VELOCITIES OF THE LARGER WAVES PASSING ACROSS IT
OR THE FEATURE MAY BE ADVECTED AT THE VELOCITY OF THE WAVE SYSTEM SUPPORTING IT 4HE
SCATTERERS MIGHT EVEN BE DETACHED FROM THE UNDERLYING SURFACE AS IN THE PLUMES EMIT
TED AT THE CRESTS OF BREAKING WAVES AND MOVE AT SPEEDS GREATER THAN THE WAVE SYSTEM
ITSELF !T HIGHER RADAR FREQUENCIES AND IN STRONG WINDS THE POSSIBILITY OF SCATTERING
FROM SPRAY CARRIED BY THE WIND FIELD ABOVE THE SURFACE MUST BE CONSIDERED !LL OF THIS
COMPLEX MOTION SHOWS UP IN A DOPPLER SHIFT IMPARTED TO THE SCATTERED ELECTROMAGNETIC
WAVE 5NFORTUNATELY THERE IS AS YET LITTLE DETAILED PHYSICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE COM
PLICATED PHENOMENOLOGY OF SEA CLUTTER SPECTRA
-EASUREMENTS OF MICROWAVE CLUTTER SPECTRA FOR REAL SEAS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN THE
LITERATURE FOR AIRCRAFT MEASUREMENTS OF THE SPECTRAL SHAPE ALONE FIXED SITE SHORE
MEASUREMENTS SHOWING A SHIFT IN THE SPECTRAL PEAK AND MEASUREMENTS FROM SHIPS
AT INTERMEDIATE GRAZING ANGLES /THER MEASUREMENTS OF SEA CLUTTER SPECTRA INCLUDE
THOSE MADE AT MUCH LOWER FREQUENCIES IN THE (& BAND AS DESCRIBED IN THE LAST SECTION
THOSE MADE UNDER ARTIFICIAL CONDITIONS IN WAVE TANKS WHOSE APPLICATION TO REAL SEA
CONDITIONS IS UNCERTAIN AND THOSE FROM OTHER FIXED SITES AT HIGH RESOLUTION AND SHORT
AVERAGING TIMES TO BE DISCUSSED LATER
!S IT TURNS OUT MICROWAVE SEA CLUTTER SPECTRA HAVE A RATHER SIMPLE FORM AT THE LOWER
GRAZING ANGLES &IGURE ILLUSTRATES TYPICAL SPECTRAL BEHAVIOR AT THE TWO POLARIZA
TIONS BASED ON DATA COLLECTED BY 0IDGEON FOR # BAND CLUTTER LOOKING UPWIND AT A FEW
DEGREES GRAZING
4HE PEAK FREQUENCY OF THE UPWIND SPECTRUM APPEARS TO BE DETERMINED BY THE PEAK
ORBITAL VELOCITY OF THE LARGEST SEA WAVES PLUS A WIND DEPENDENT VELOCITY INCREMENT
CONTAINING BUT NOT ENTIRELY EXPLAINED BY WIND INDUCED SURFACE CURRENTS 4HIS PEAK
ORBITAL VELOCITY IS TAKEN TO BE THAT OF THE MAJOR WAVES AND MAY BE OBTAINED IN TERMS OF
THE SIGNIFICANT HEIGHT ( AND PEAK PERIOD 4 ` 3ECTION FROM THE EXPRESSION
6ORB O ( 4 ` 5 MS
4HE APPROXIMATE DEPENDENCE ON WIND SPEED 5 WAS FOUND BY SUBSTITUTING ( HRMS
FROM %Q ASSUMING A FULLY DEVELOPED SEA AND 4 ` FROM %Q 4O THIS THERE MUST
3%! #,544%2
&)'52% 1UALITATIVE BEHAVIOR OF DOPPLER
SPECTRA OF SEA CLUTTER LOOKING UPWIND AT LOW GRAZING
ANGLES AFTER # BAND MEASUREMENTS BY 6 7 0IDGEON
!MERICAN 'EOPHYSICAL 5NION
BE ADDED A WIND
DRIFT VELOCITY OF ABOUT OF 5 AND A FIXED SCATTERER VELOCITY WHICH
APPEARS TO BE ABOUT MS IN THE 8
AND #
BAND MEASUREMENTS 3UMMING THESE
COMPONENTS YIELDS THE VIRTUAL DOPPLER VELOCITY AT THE PEAK OF THE CLUTTER SPECTRUM FOR
THE PARTICULAR CASE OF A VERTICALLY POLARIZED 8
OR #
BAND RADAR LOOKING UPWIND AT LOW
GRAZING ANGLES
6VIR 5 MS
!S NOTED EARLIER CARE MUST BE TAKEN WHENEVER WIND SPEED IS USED TO PARAMETERIZE
A PROCESS THAT DEPENDS ON WAVEHEIGHT 4HERE IS AN UNAMBIGUOUS RELATION ONLY FOR A
FULLY DEVELOPED SEA IN THE ABSENCE OF SWELL 4HE REMAINING PROPERTIES OF THE CLUTTER
SPECTRUM CAN NOW BE DISCUSSED IN TERMS OF 6ORB AND 6VIR &OR EXAMPLE THE SPECTRAL
PEAK FOR HORIZONTAL POLARIZATION FOLLOWS A SIMILAR LINEAR DEPENDENCE ON 5 ONLY WITH
A COEFFICIENT LYING SOMEWHERE BETWEEN AND AS MAY BE NOTED IN THE SKETCH
SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE REASONS FOR THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SPECTRA FOR THE TWO
POLARIZATIONS ARE NOT AS YET CLEAR ALTHOUGH THE TENDENCY OF THE (
POLARIZATION SPECTRA
TO LIE AT A HIGHER FREQUENCY IS LIKELY DUE TO THE PREFERENTIAL SOURCE OF (
POLARIZATION
RETURNS IN FASTER
MOVING WAVE STRUCTURES
4HE HALF
POWER WIDTH $ OF THE CLUTTER VELOCITY SPECTRUM IS QUITE VARIABLE
DEPENDING ON SUCH THINGS AS RADAR POLARIZATION AND SEA CONDITIONS )T SEEMS MOST
CLOSELY RELATED TO THE PEAK ORBITAL VELOCITY GIVEN BY %Q .ATHANSON SHOWS
A PLOT CONTAINING SPECTRAL WIDTHS AT BOTH POLARIZATIONS FROM SEVERAL INVESTIGATORS
OVER A WIDE ASSORTMENT OF UNSPECIFIED SEA CONDITIONS 4HE POINTS ARE WIDELY
SCATTERED BUT THE DEPENDENCE ON WIND SPEED IS GIVEN ROUGHLY WITH A RATHER LARGE
VARIANCE BY THE EXPRESSION $ ^ 5 MS WHICH IS JUST THE ORBITAL VELOCITY IN
%Q WITH A COEFFICIENT ABOUT HALFWAY BETWEEN THE VALUES FOR VERTICAL ^
AND HORIZONTAL ^ POLARIZATION &OR LOOK DIRECTIONS AWAY FROM UPWIND THE
PEAK DOPPLER FOLLOWS A COSINE DEPENDENCE QUITE CLOSELY GOING TO ZERO AT CROSSWIND
ASPECTS AND TURNING NEGATIVE DOWNWIND 4HE WIDTH OF THE SPECTRUM APPEARS TO
REMAIN RELATIVELY CONSTANT
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE DETAILS OF THE CLUTTER SPECTRUM SHOW LITTLE DEPENDENCE ON EITHER THE RADAR FRE
QUENCY OR THE GRAZING ANGLE AT LEAST FOR ANGLES LESS THAN ABOUT )N REVIEWING THE
RESULTS OF MEASUREMENTS AT FOUR FREQUENCIES5(& , # AND 8 BANDS6ALENZUELA
AND ,AING NOTED A RELATIVELY WEAK TENDENCY OF CLUTTER BANDWIDTH TO DECREASE WITH
INCREASES IN FREQUENCY BETWEEN THE 5(& AND 8 BANDS AND GRAZING ANGLES BETWEEN
AND 3INCE BOTH OF THESE VARIATIONS CAN LIKELY BE ACCOMPANIED BY A CHANGE IN THE
SIZE OF THE RADAR FOOTPRINT ON THE SURFACE THEY MIGHT BE DUE TO A DEPENDENCE ON RESOLU
TION CELL DIMENSIONS ALTHOUGH THE OTHER WORKERS FOUND THAT THE PULSE LENGTH HAD LITTLE
EFFECT ON CLUTTER BANDWIDTH FOR VALUES BETWEEN ABOUT AND SEC
3PECTRA OBTAINED WITH SHORT AVERAGING TIMES DISCLOSE SOMETHING OF THE ORIGINS
OF THE CLUTTER SPECTRUM &IGURE IS A SEQUENCE OF SECOND SPECTRA OBTAINED
BY +ELLER ET AL WITH A COHERENT VERTICALLY POLARIZED 8
BAND RADAR OPERATING AT A
GRAZING ANGLE OF AND A RESOLUTION CELL SIZE OF ABOUT M 4HE ZERO
DOPPLER REF
ERENCE IN THIS FIGURE WAS LOCATED ARBITRARILY AT n (Z 4HE SPREAD ALONG EACH LINE
&)'52% 3HORT TIME AVERAGED DOPPLER SPECTRA AT 8 BAND FOR AN
INTERMEDIATE GRAZING ANGLE OF SPECTRA COMPUTED AT SEC INTERVALS
SHALLOW WATER DATA IS FROM A FIXED SITE ON A PIER FROM 7 # +ELLER
ET AL
3%! #,544%2
IS DUE TO THE SMALL SCALE WAVE MOTIONS ON THE SURFACE WHILE THE LARGER MEANDERS ARE
INDUCED BY THE VELOCITIES OF LARGE WAVES MOVING THROUGH THE MEASUREMENT CELL 4HE
WIND SPEED WAS ABOUT MS AND A DOPPLER SHIFT OF (Z CORRESPONDS TO A RADIAL
VELOCITY OF MS 4HE AVERAGE CLUTTER SPECTRUM EXPECTED FOR THIS WIND SPEED AND
GRAZING ANGLE WITH BANDWIDTH ESTIMATED FROM %Q IS INCLUDED IN THE SKETCH
SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE LARGE SPECTRAL SPIKE APPEARING IN THE CENTER OF THE DISPLAY
IS NO DOUBT DUE TO A WAVE BREAKING IN OR CLOSE TO THE MEASUREMENT CELL 4HE DOPPLER
VELOCITY FOR THIS SPIKE SUGGESTS A PEAK SCATTERER VELOCITY ABOUT EQUAL TO THE WIND
SPEED WHICH WOULD CORRESPOND TO THE VELOCITY OF THE LONGEST WAVES ON THE SURFACE
!LTHOUGH SUCH EVENTS ARE RELATIVELY RARE IN A FIXED AREA OF M THEY SHOULD OCCUR
QUITE FREQUENTLY WITHIN A LARGE SURVEILLANCE CELL AND MIGHT OFTEN HAVE LARGE SCATTER
ING CROSS SECTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THEM 3IMILAR RECORDS MAY BE FOUND IN REFERENCE
7ARD ET AL
/THER %NVIRONMENTAL %FFECTS
2AIN %ARLY EVIDENCE OF THE EFFECT OF RAIN ON SEA CLUTTER WAS MAINLY ANECDOTAL FOR
EXAMPLE RADAR OPERATORS WOULD REPORT THAT SEA CLUTTER TENDS TO DECREASE WHEN IT STARTS
TO RAIN (OWEVER THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE IN THE WAY OF RELIABLE QUANTITATIVE EXPERIMENTAL
INFORMATION ABOUT THE INTERACTION BETWEEN RAIN AND WIND DRIVEN SEA CLUTTER IN THE OPEN
OCEAN ,ABORATORY MEASUREMENTS BY -OORE ET AL WITH ARTIFICIAL hRAINv SUGGESTED THAT
FOR LIGHT WINDS THE BACKSCATTER LEVEL INCREASED WITH THE RAIN RATE WHILE FOR HEAVY WINDS
RAIN MADE LITTLE DIFFERENCE %XTENSIVE MEASUREMENTS AT +U BAND IN THE OPEN OCEAN
TENDED TO CONFIRM THIS BEHAVIOR
)N MEASUREMENTS IN NATURAL RAIN OVER #HESAPEAKE "AY (ANSEN FOUND THAT EVEN
A LIGHT RAIN MMH CHANGES THE SPECTRAL CHARACTER OF SEA CLUTTER AT MODERATE WIND
SPEEDS MS BY INTRODUCING A SIGNIFICANT HIGH FREQUENCY COMPONENT (E ALSO
FOUND SOME EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF THE RADAR OPERATORS AT LEAST FOR THE LOW GRAZ
ING ANGLES AND HORIZONTAL POLARIZATIONS WITH WHICH MOST SHIPBOARD RADARS OPERATE
&IGURE COMPARES THE CORRELATION FUNCTION OF SEA CLUTTER 8 BAND LOW GRAZING
ANGLE ( POLARIZATION WITH AND WITHOUT RAIN FOR A KT WIND SPEED AND A RAIN RATE
OF MMH 4HE SHARP DECREASE IN CORRELATION TIME IN THE PRESENCE OF RAIN REFLECTS
THE BROADENING OF THE CLUTTER SPECTRUM ALTHOUGH GENERALLY THERE APPEARS TO BE LITTLE
QUANTITATIVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EFFECT OF RAIN ON THE SPECTRUM OF SEA CLUTTER
&)'52% %FFECT OF RAIN ON THE CORRELATION FUNCTION OF WIND DRIVEN SEA
CLUTTER 8 BAND HORIZONTAL POLARIZATION WIND SPEED KT RAIN RATE MMH
FROM * 0 (ANSEN
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE PRODUCTION OF SEA CLUTTER BY RAIN FALLING ON A hCALMv SURFACE IN THE ABSENCE
OF WIND WAS ALSO INVESTIGATED BY (ANSEN WITH THE RESULTS SHOWN IN &IGURE
! HIGH
RESOLUTION 8
BAND RADAR
NS PULSE BEAMWIDTH OPERATING AT A GRAZING
ANGLE OF ABOUT VIEWED THE BACKSCATTER FROM A FIXED SPOT ON THE WINDLESS SURFACE OF
#HESAPEAKE "AY AS THE RAIN STEADILY INCREASED FROM TO MMH 4HE CROSS SECTIONS FOR
VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL POLARIZATIONS WERE QUITE DIFFERENT FOR LOW RAIN RATES BUT TENDED
TO MERGE AT A RAIN RATE OF ABOUT MMH 4HE MAGNITUDE OF THIS SPLASH CROSS SECTION ROSE
TO A R OF ABOUT n D" CORRESPONDING TO HIGHLY AVERAGED WIND
INDUCED CROSS SEC
TIONS AT THIS GRAZING ANGLE FOR WINDS OF ABOUT KT &URTHER LABORATORY AND THEORETI
CAL STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT THE MAJOR SCATTERING FEATURE UNDER THESE CONDITIONS IS THE
VERTICAL STALK THAT EMERGES SHORTLY AFTER DROP IMPACT -OREOVER THESE STUDIES SUGGEST
THAT THE 6
POLARIZED RETURNS FROM RAINDROP SPLASHES SHOULD BE ONLY MILDLY SENSITIVE TO
THE RAIN RATE WHILE THE (
POLARIZED RETURNS SHOULD SHOW A STRONG DEPENDENCE ON BOTH
THE RAIN RATE AND THE DROP
SIZE DISTRIBUTION 3OMETHING OF THIS BEHAVIOR MAY BE SEEN
IN THE DATA IN &IGURE /PEN OCEAN MEASUREMENTS AT +U BAND AND AT MUCH HIGHER
GRAZING ANGLES SHOW SUFFICIENT VARIABILITY WITH WIND SPEED RAIN RATE AND GRAZING
ANGLE TO LEAVE THE UNCERTAINTIES THAT OPENED THIS SECTION LARGELY UNRESOLVED
)N ADDITION TO SCATTERING FROM THE RAINDROP IMPACTS THE DISTRIBUTION OF RAINDROPS
IN THE VOLUME OF THE ATMOSPHERE ABOVE THE SURFACE CAN HAVE TWO ADDITIONAL EFFECTS
ON SEA CLUTTERAS AN ABSORBERSCATTERER OVER THE RADAR PROPAGATION PATH WHICH IS
WELL
UNDERSTOOD AND AS A MASS
ADDITIVE TO THE WIND AFFECTING MOMENTUM TRANSFER
TO THE SURFACE AND THUS THE EXCITATION OF WIND WAVES THEMSELVES WHICH IS LESS
WELL
UNDERSTOOD
!TMOSPHERIC $UCTING !NOTHER TOPIC IN SEA CLUTTER THAT HAS BEEN LITTLE EXPLORED
IS THE ROLE PLAYED BY PROPAGATION EFFECTS WITHIN THE ATMOSPHERIC BOUNDARY LAYER
LYING OVER THE SEA SURFACE 4HE EFFECTS OF ATMOSPHERIC ABSORPTION HAVE BEEN NOTED
ABOVE IN CONNECTION WITH MILLIMETER
WAVE CLUTTER BUT AT VERY LOW GRAZING ANGLES
THE RAY PATHS JOINING THE RADAR TO THE SURFACE BECOME VERY SENSITIVE TO REFRACTIVE
INHOMOGENEITIES IN THE ATMOSPHERIC BOUNDARY LAYER /VER DISTANCES APPROACHING AND
&)'52% 3EA CLUTTER PRODUCED BY RAIN SPLASHES ALONE ON A CALM SURFACE
D" CORRESPONDS TO ABOUT R
D" FROM (ANSEN
3%! #,544%2
xx
BEYOND THE CONVENTIONAL OPTICAL HORIZON SUCH PERTURBATIONS COULD PRODUCE STRONG
FOCUS
DEFOCUS VARIATIONS ALONG THE SURFACE ILLUMINATION PROFILE OR A GENERAL RISE
IN THE LOCAL GRAZING ANGLE &IGURE GIVES AN EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE OF THE EFFECT
OF DUCTING ON VERY LOW
ANGLE SEA CLUTTER 4HE GRAZING ANGLE GIVEN AS THE ABSCISSA
IS ACTUALLY A PLOT OF INVERSE RANGE SO THE LIFTING OF THE CROSS SECTION BY DUCTING OVER
AN ORDER
OF
MAGNITUDE SPAN OF RANGES IS VERY LIKELY DUE TO A RISE IN THE LOCAL GRAZING
ANGLE PRODUCED BY REFRACTION IN THE EVAPORATIVE LAYER FIRST METERS OR SO ABOVE
THE SURFACE 3UCH EFFECTS SHOULD BE SUSPECTED WHENEVER THE RADAR PROPAGATION PATH
EXTENDS BEYOND THE OPTICAL HORIZON
3HADOWING 4HE POSSIBILITY OF SHADOWING MUST BE CONSIDERED SERIOUSLY WHENEVER
THE SEA IS VIEWED AT GRAZING ANGLES SMALLER THAN THE RMS SLOPE ANGLE OF THE SEA SURFACE
3OME EXAMPLES WERE DISCUSSED EARLIER IN CONNECTION WITH THE BEHAVIOR OF SEA CLUTTER AT
LOW GRAZING ANGLES IN &IGURE )N FACT THE SHARP FALLOFF OF THE NONDUCTING DATA IN
&IGURE MIGHT BE FURTHER EVIDENCE OF THE THRESHOLD SHADOWING MENTIONED EARLIER
(OWEVER THE COMMON IDEA OF SHADOWING DERIVES FROM THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS CONCEPT
OF A SHARP TRANSITION BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARKNESS "Y CONSIDERING THE IMPLICATIONS OF
DIFFRACTION AT THE WAVE PEAKS IT IS POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE THE DOMAIN OF RADAR FREQUEN
CIES AND WIND SPEEDS OVER WHICH THE CONCEPTS OF GEOMETRICAL OPTICS MAY BE APPLIED
4HIS WAS DONE IN 7ETZEL WHERE IT IS SHOWN HOW DIFFRACTION RATHER THAN GEOMETRICAL
SHADOWING CONTROLS PROPAGATION INTO AND OUT OF THE TROUGHS OF THE WAVES UNDER MANY
OF THE USUAL FREQUENCIES AND WIND SPEEDS ENCOUNTERED IN PRACTICAL RADAR OPERATIONS AT
LOW GRAZING ANGLES &OR EXAMPLE SHADOWING WILL TAKE PLACE AT +A BAND FOR ANY WINDS
ABOVE KT YET WILL HARDLY EVER OCCUR AT ,
BAND FREQUENCIES ,ATER ANALYTICAL SOLU
TIONS BASED ON NUMERICAL METHODS EXPLORED AND EXPANDED THE IDEA OF SHADOWING OVER
THE SEA SURFACE UNDER HIGHLY IDEALIZED AND MORE GENERAL CONDITIONS
3URFACE #URRENTS 4HE MOST OBVIOUS EFFECT OF A CURRENT ON SEA CLUTTER WOULD BE
A SHIFT IN THE PEAK OF THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM ANALOGOUS TO THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE
WIND
DRIFT CURRENT MENTIONED IN CONNECTION WITH %Q !NOTHER EFFECT IS RELATED TO
&)'52% %FFECT OF DUCTING ON LOW ANGLE CLUTTER WIND SPEED
ABOUT KT AFTER & " $YER AND . # #URRIE )%%%
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
THE FACT THAT THE EXCITATION OF THE SURFACE
WAVE SYSTEM DEPENDS ON THE LOCAL APPARENT
WIND AT THE SURFACE SO THERE CAN BE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN WAVEHEIGHT ACCORDING
TO WHETHER THE WIND IS BLOWING WITH OR AGAINST THE CURRENT !CCORDING TO %Q
WAVEHEIGHT IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE SQUARE OF THE WIND SPEED SO IN THE 'ULF 3TREAM
FOR EXAMPLE WITH A CURRENT OF KT FLOWING NORTH A
KT NORTHERLY BLOWING AGAINST
THE CURRENT WILL RAISE A SEA THREE TIMES AS HIGH AS A
KT SOUTHERLY BLOWING WITH THE
CURRENT %VEN WITH NO WIND THE PRESENCE OF STRONG CURRENT SHEARS CAN PRODUCE HIGHLY
AGITATED SURFACES 3HIPBOARD OBSERVERS HAVE REPORTED BANDS OF ROARING BREAKERS PASS
ING BY ON AN OTHERWISE
SMOOTH SURFACE PRESUMABLY PRODUCED BY POWERFUL SURFACE
CURRENT SHEARS ASSOCIATED WITH LARGE
AMPLITUDE INTERNAL WAVES )N A MORE SUBTLE WAY
MODULATED CURRENTS ARE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR 3!2 IMAGES
THAT CONTAIN THE EXPRESSION OF BOTTOM TOPOGRAPHY PRODUCED BY THE "ERNOULLI %FFECT IN
SHALLOW WATERS )N EACH OF THE EXAMPLES CITED ABOVE THE CURRENT PRODUCES A CHANGE
IN THE SURFACE ROUGHNESS WHICH CAN BE EXPECTED TO GIVE RISE TO A CHANGE IN SEA CLUTTER
CROSS SECTION
#ONTAMINANTS 4HE IDEA OF POURING OIL ON TROUBLED WATERS IS A FAMILIAR ONE THE
ANGRY SURFACE WILL SMOOTH AND SUBSIDE )N ANOTHER AGE THE SURVIVAL
GEAR LOCKER OF
EVERY SAILING SHIP WOULD CONTAIN A BOTTLE OF OIL TO QUIET THE SEA IN A STORM !LTHOUGH
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS PROCEDURE HAS ALWAYS BEEN SOMEWHAT CONTROVERSIAL THERE
IS NO QUESTION THAT OIL CAN PRODUCE A SLICK OF SMOOTH WATER AT RELATIVELY LOW WIND
SPEEDS )N FACT BIOLOGICAL OILS PRODUCED BY BACTERIA ALGAE AND PLANKTON CAN BE
FOUND EVERYWHERE ON THE WORLDS OCEANS AND FORM NATURAL SLICKS IN THOSE REGIONS
THAT COMBINE THE GREATEST OIL CONCENTRATION WITH THE LOWEST WIND SPEEDS EG CLOSE
TO CONTINENTAL SHORELINES -AN
MADE CONTAMINANTS CAN OF COURSE HAVE THE SAME
EFFECT ! LAYER OF OIL ONLY ONE MOLECULE THICK WILL SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE ABILITY OF
THE SURFACE TO SUPPORT WAVE MOTIONS BUT THIS LAYER MUST BE CONTINUOUS 4HE ADJA
CENT MOLECULES THEN SENSE EACH OTHER AND FORM A FILM THAT IS RESISTANT TO HORIZONTAL
COMPRESSION 4HE SURFACE ELASTICITY IS CHANGED A TYPE OF LONGITUDINAL VISCOSITY IS
INTRODUCED AND THE SURFACE BECOMES STABILIZED AGAINST THE GROWTH OF SHORT WAVES UP
TO SEVERAL INCHES IN LENGTH
4O THE EXTENT THAT RADAR SEA CLUTTER IS PRODUCED BY SMALL
SCALE SURFACE ROUGHNESS AT
GRAZING ANGLES LESS THAN ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF OIL ON THE SURFACE SHOULD LEAD TO
A MEASURABLE DECREASE IN CLUTTER CROSS SECTION "UT AS NOTED ABOVE THE REDUCTION OF
SMALL WAVE MOTIONS REQUIRES THE EXISTENCE OF A CONTINUOUS MONOLAYER SLICK FORMATION
IS A GOnNO
GO PROCESS AND SO SLICKS WILL TEND TO HAVE RELATIVELY SHARP BOUNDARIES )N
OPERATING THE .2, &2 SYSTEM AS A SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR TO OBTAIN IMAGES OF THE
SLICKS PRODUCED BY OIL SPILLS 'UINARD FOUND THAT THE SLICKS WERE WELL DEFINED THAT IT
TOOK VERY LITTLE OIL TO MAINTAIN A VISIBLE SLICK THAT VERTICAL POLARIZATION PROVIDED MUCH
GREATER CONTRAST THAN DID HORIZONTAL AND THAT THE SLICKS WERE QUENCHED BY WINDS AND
CURRENTS !LTHOUGH SIGNAL STRENGTH WAS NOT RECORDED IN THIS IMAGING EXPERIMENT LATER
MEASUREMENTS AT 8 AND , BANDS BY OTHERS INDICATED THAT AT THE HIGHER GRAZING ANGLES
ABOUT THE CLUTTER REDUCTION PRODUCED BY THE TYPES OF OIL OCCURRING IN NATURAL
SLICKS WAS RATHER SMALL ON THE ORDER OF A PERCENT 3INCE SLICKS ARE DISPERSED BY THE
WIND AND ASSOCIATED WAVE ACTION AT WIND SPEEDS GREATER THAN ABOUT KT THE EFFECT OF
NATURAL SLICKS ON CLUTTER MAY NOT BE CLEAR BECAUSE THEY TEND TO OCCUR IN THE REGIME OF
LOW WIND SPEEDS WHERE THE SEA SURFACE IS ALREADY ILL DEFINED
4HE CELEBRATED SUN GLITTER MEASUREMENTS BY #OX AND -UNK GAVE A QUANTITATIVE
MEASURE OF THE EFFECT OF CONTAMINANTS ON THE SURFACE SLOPES IN OPEN WATER SHOWING
THAT THE WIND
GENERATED COMPONENT OF THE RMS SLOPE OF hOILEDv WATERS IS SIGNIFICANTLY
3%! #,544%2
SMALLER THAN THAT OF hCLEANv WATER 4HE HEAVY COMMERCIAL OILS USED IN THEIR EXPERIMENT
WERE EFFECTIVE IN SUPPRESSING SMALL
SCALE WAVES OVER A RANGE OF WIND SPEEDS WELL
BEYOND THOSE WHICH WOULD NORMALLY DISPERSE THE LIGHTER NATURAL OILS SO THE EFFECT OF OIL
SPILLS ON SEA CLUTTER SHOULD BE EXPECTED TO EXTEND TO THE HIGHER WIND SPEEDS )N FACT AT
THESE HIGHER WIND SPEEDS THE DEPRESSION OF RADAR BACKSCATTER BY SUCH OILS AT 8 AND +A
BANDS CAN REACH TO D" AT INTERMEDIATE GRAZING ANGLES BETWEEN AND
x{ / ", - " -"-
1// ,
)N ADDITION TO PROVIDING AN INTELLECTUAL BASIS FOR hUNDERSTANDINGv SEA CLUTTER PHENOM
ENA A COMPLETE THEORY OF SEA CLUTTER SHOULD IDEALLY PROVIDE ACCURATE A PRIORI PREDIC
TIONS OF ALL ASPECTS OF CLUTTER BEHAVIOR UNDER ALL POSSIBLE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS )N
SPITE OF OVER YEARS OF EFFORT THE THEORY OF SEA CLUTTER DOES NEITHER OF THESE TASKS VERY
WELL AS WE WILL SEE IN THIS SECTION
)N THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODELS OF SEA SCATTER BASED ON PHYSICAL THEORY THERE ARE
ESSENTIALLY TWO BASIC AND DISTINCT APPROACHES (ISTORICALLY THE FIRST APPROACH ASSUMED
SEA SCATTER TO HAVE ITS ORIGIN IN SCATTERING FEATURES OR OBSTACLES ACTUALLY PRESENT ON OR
NEAR THE SEA SURFACE %ARLY SCATTERING MODELS INCLUDED RAIN TO MODEL SPRAY SMOOTH
CIRCULAR METALLIC DISKS ARRAYS OF SEMI INFINITE PLANES AND FIELDS OF HEMISPHERI
CAL BOSSES TO NAME A FEW /BVIOUSLY THE CHOICE OF THESE SCATTERING OBSTACLES RELATED
MORE TO THE PREEXISTENCE OF CONVENIENT SCATTERING SOLUTIONS FOR THESE SHAPES THAN TO
INSIGHTS GAINED FROM OBSERVING THE SEA 3INCE THEN FEATURE MODELS HAVE SOUGHT GREATER
REALITY BY CONSIDERING WEDGE SHAPES AS SUGGESTED BY THE SHARP CRESTS OF 3TOKES WAVES
OBSERVED ON MOST NATURAL WATER SURFACES AND THE SHOCKS AND PLUMES SUGGESTED
BY THE PROPERTIES OF WAVE GROUPS AND THE HYDRODYNAMICS OF BREAKING WAVES
4HE OTHER APPROACH TO THEORETICAL MODELING DERIVES THE SCATTERED FIELD FROM A
GLOBAL BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEM '"60 IN WHICH THE SEA AS A WHOLE IS CONSIDERED A
BOUNDARY SURFACE WHOSE CORRUGATIONS ARE DESCRIBED BY SOME KIND OF STATISTICAL PRO
CESS !N ENORMOUS LITERATURE IS DEVOTED TO THE THEORY OF SURFACE SCATTER FROM THIS
POINT OF VIEW STEMMING FROM THE IMPORTANCE NOT ONLY OF RADAR SEA SCATTER BUT ALSO
RADAR GROUND SCATTER AND SONAR REVERBERATION THE ACOUSTIC EQUIVALENT OF RADAR CLUTTER
FROM BOTH THE SURFACE AND THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA "ECAUSE THE '"60 APPROACH LEADS
TO THE ANALYTICAL EXPRESSION OF THE "RAGG SCATTERING HYPOTHESIS THAT HAS DOMINATED THE
THEORY OF SEA SCATTER SINCE THE LATE S A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF SOME OF THE CENTRAL
IDEAS IS INCLUDED BELOW
4HEORIES "ASED ON 'LOBAL "OUNDARY 6ALUE 0ROBLEMS 'ENERAL FORMULATIONS
OF THE '"60 THOUGH ELEGANT ARE OF LITTLE PRACTICAL VALUE AND SOME KIND OF APPROXI
MATION IS NECESSARY TO OBTAIN USEFUL QUANTITATIVE RESULTS FROM THEM 4HE METHODS OF
APPROXIMATION RELATE TO THE TWO METHODS OF FORMULATING THE '"60
3MALL AMPLITUDE APPROXIMATIONS SEA WAVEHEIGHTS MUCH SMALLER THAN THE RADAR
WAVELENGTH ARE USED AB INITIO WITH 2AYLEIGHS HYPOTHESIS IN WHICH THE SURFACE
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS ARE EMPLOYED TO MATCH AN ANGULAR SPECTRUM OF OUTGOING PLANE
WAVES TO THE INCIDENT FIELDn
! GENERAL INTEGRAL FORMULATION BASED ON 'REENS THEOREM IS PURSUED EITHER IN A
SMALL AMPLITUDE APPROXIMATION OR UNDER THE ASSUMPTIONS OF PHYSICAL OPTICS
SURFACE CURVATURES MUCH GREATER THAN THE RADAR WAVELENGTH n
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)N FORMULATION SOMETIMES CALLED THE SMALL PERTURBATION METHOD 30- AND ASSO
CIATED MOST OFTEN WITH THE WORK OF 2ICE THE SURFACE DISPLACEMENTS ARE ASSUMED
EVERYWHERE TO BE MUCH SMALLER THAN THE RADAR WAVELENGTH SO THE METHOD IS DIRECTLY
APPLICABLE ONLY TO SUCH CASES AS (& SCATTERING WITH WAVELENGTHS OF TENS OF METERS
AT LOW TO INTERMEDIATE WIND SPEEDS AND WITH WAVEHEIGHTS OF A FEW METERS AT MOST
4HE SOLUTION IS IN THE FORM OF A POWER SERIES IN THE RATIO OF SEA WAVEHEIGHT TO RADAR
WAVELENGTH AND IT PREDICTS THE FIRST ORDER "RAGG LINES AND SECOND ORDER SPECTRAL FILLING
AROUND THE LINES THAT WERE MENTIONED IN THE EARLIER SECTION ON (& SEA CLUTTER
/N THE OTHER HAND THE VARIOUS INTEGRAL FORMULATIONS REFERENCED ABOVE USUALLY BEGIN
WITH A VERY GENERAL EXPRESSION FOR THE FIELDS SCATTERED FROM THE SEA SURFACE WHICH ARE
SQUARED AND ENSEMBLE AVERAGED OVER REALIZATIONS OF THE SEA SURFACE TO PROVIDE THE
AVERAGE POWER RETURNED TO THE RADAR ANTENNA AND THEN NORMALIZED TO THE ILLUMINATED
AREA AS IN %Q $ESPITE THE GENERALITY OF THE INITIAL FORMULATIONS MOST OF THE FINAL
EXPRESSIONS FOR R EITHER APPEAR IN OR CAN BE PUT INTO A FORM REPRESENTED SCHEMATI
CALLY BY THE FOLLOWING SIMPLIFIED ONE DIMENSIONAL EXPRESSION SEE (OLIDAY ET AL
"ECHMANN AND 3PIZZICHINO &UNG AND 0AN AND 6ALENZUELA FOR EXAMPLE
c
; # Y =
S Y !K &P Y DY EI KY ;E K H
E K H =
WHERE ! IS A CONSTANT K K COSX AND K K SINX WHERE K IS THE RADAR WAVE
NUMBER O K &P X IS A FUNCTION OF POLARIZATION P GRAZING ANGLE X AND THE
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF SEAWATER H IS THE RMS SEA WAVEHEIGHT AND #Y IS THE SURFACE
CORRELATION COEFFICIENT /F COURSE THE REDUCTION OF A COMPLICATED BOUNDARY
VALUE
PROBLEM TO SO SIMPLE A FORM REQUIRES ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT BOTH THE SURFACE FIELDS AND
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SEA HEIGHTS WHICH IS GAUSSIAN TO A GOOD APPROXIMATION "UT
WHILE THE 30- APPROACH MENTIONED ABOVE REQUIRES THE RATIOS HK TO BE SMALL RIGHT AT
THE START '"60 THEORIES DERIVED FROM EXPRESSIONS RESEMBLING %Q HAVE NO A
PRIORI RESTRICTIONS ON SURFACE HEIGHTS
4HE STATISTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE SEA SURFACE ENTER THROUGH THE CORRELATION COEFFI
CIENT #Y APPEARING UNDER THE INTEGRAL SIGN IN THE EXPONENTIAL IN THE BRACKETS AND BY
EXPANDING THIS EXPONENTIAL IN %Q IT MAY BE WRITTEN
S Y !K &P Y E
K H
N
K N 7 N K
N
WHERE
c
7 N K DT EI KT ;H # T =N
3MALL AMPLITUDE !PPROXIMATION )N THE LIMIT OF SMALL RATIOS OF RMS WAVEHEIGHT TO
RADAR WAVELENGTH OR MORE SPECIFICALLY
KH
ONLY THE FIRST TERM IN THE SERIES IN %Q SURVIVES AND THE CROSS SECTION ASSUMES
THE VERY SIMPLE FORM
S Y P K &P` Y 7 K COSY
3%! #,544%2
WHERE THE CONSTANT ! HAS BEEN MADE EXPLICIT AND &P HAS ABSORBED A SIN TERM FROM THE
SERIES 7 IS THE &OURIER TRANSFORM OF THE SURFACE CORRELATION FUNCTION WHICH MAKES
IT THE SEA WAVENUMBER SPECTRUM DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION EVALUATED AT TWICE THE
SURFACE
PROJECTED RADAR WAVENUMBER WHICH DEFINES A "RAGG OR HALF
WAVELENGTH
RESONANCE %XCEPT POSSIBLY FOR THE DETAILS OF THE ANGLE FACTOR &P %Q IS EQUIVA
LENT TO THE RESULT OBTAINED BY THE 30- DISCUSSED ABOVE AND ALTHOUGH IT IS SOMETIMES
FELT THAT ITS DERIVATION FROM A SURFACE INTEGRAL PROVIDES SOME POTENTIAL FOR GREATER
GENERALIZATION IT CARRIES WITH IT ALL OF THE SAME RESTRICTIONS
"EFORE PROCEEDING FURTHER IT IS INSTRUCTIVE TO LOOK A LITTLE MORE CLOSELY AT THE IMPLI
CATIONS OF THE MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSIONS IN THESE FORMULATIONS .OTE THAT IN %Q
THE EXPRESSION IN THE BRACKETS UNDER THE INTEGRAL IS THE ONLY PLACE AT WHICH THE SURFACE
WAVE PROPERTIES OF THE SEA APPEAR 4HAT IS THE CROSS SECTION IS SIMPLY PROPORTIONAL TO
THE &OURIER TRANSFORM OF A SEA
SURFACE FUNCTIONAL SO THE RADAR ACTS AS A FILTER TUNED TO
THE hSPATIAL FREQUENCYv K COSX EXTRACTING THAT LINE FROM THE SPECTRUM OF WHATEVER
ASSORTMENT OF SCATTERERS THE SEA SURFACE FUNCTIONAL EXPRESSES WHETHER THEY BE LONG
SWELL COMPONENTS SHORT
WAVELENGTH NOISE LOCALIZED SCATTERING FEATURES OR A CHAOTIC
TUMBLE OF WATER BALLS /NLY UNDER QUITE SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES WILL THERE ACTUALLY BE
AN IDENTIFIABLE SURFACE
WAVE AT THAT hFREQUENCYv THAT WOULD JUSTIFY THE TERM "RAGG
RESONANCE IN ITS ORIGINAL SENSE WHICH AFTER ALL WAS A RESONANCE IN AN ORDERED CRYSTAL
LATTICE OF DISCRETE SCATTERERS !LTHOUGH AUTHORS OFTEN REFER TO hFREE "RAGG WAVES v SUCH
OBJECTS ARE FOUND PRIMARILY AMONG THE PARASITIC CAPILLARIES REFERRED TO IN 3ECTION
OR AMONG THE RING WAVES PROPAGATING OUT FROM THE IMPACT OF A FALLING DROP 4HIS RAISES
A QUESTION ABOUT THE MEANING OF SUCH OFTEN
USED TERMS AS "RAGG WAVELETS "RAGG
PATCHES AND SO ON AS IF SUCH THINGS HAD A REAL EXISTENCE OUTSIDE OF THEIR EMERGENCE
AS AN ARTIFACT OF A FILTER OPERATION 4HIS CONFUSION OF CONCEPTS MIGHT BE AVOIDED BY
VISUALIZING THE RADAR AS EXTRACTING THE h"RAGG LINEv FROM THE SPECTRAL COMPOSITIONS OF
THOSE SURFACE FEATURES THAT CONTAIN A WAVE OF LENGTH K COSX IN THEIR &OURIER REPRE
SENTATION INDEPENDENT OF THE EXISTENCE OF SUCH A WAVE AS A REAL OBJECT
.EVERTHELESS THIS DIRECT LINEAR RELATION BETWEEN RADAR CROSS SECTION AND THE OCEAN
OGRAPHERS DESCRIPTOR OF THE SEA SURFACE HAS HAD A POWERFUL INFLUENCE ON THINKING ABOUT
THE PHYSICAL ORIGINS OF SEA CLUTTER )T IS APPEALING IN ITS SIMPLICITY AND IT SUGGESTS A
DIRECT WAY BOTH TO PREDICT RADAR CLUTTER FROM MEASUREMENTS OR FORECASTS OF THE SEA SPEC
TRUM AND INVERSELY TO USE RADAR BACKSCATTER MEASUREMENTS TO PROVIDE REMOTE SENSING
OF THE SEA SURFACE FOR OCEANOGRAPHIC AND METEOROLOGICAL APPLICATIONSPROVIDED OF
COURSE THAT IT CORRECTLY DESCRIBES THIS RELATIONSHIP
!LTHOUGH %Q SUCCESSFULLY PREDICTS TO ST
ORDER THE CLUTTER RETURNS AT (&
FREQUENCIES AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES THE SMALL
WAVEHEIGHT ASSUMPTION ON WHICH
THIS MODEL RESTS IS VIOLATED ON ANY REAL SEA SURFACE 4HE SMALL
WAVEHEIGHT CONDITION
EXPRESSED BY %Q MEANS THAT AT 8 BAND FOR EXAMPLE THE MAXIMUM DEPARTURE OF
THE SEA SURFACE FROM A FLAT PLANE MUST BE MUCH SMALLER THAN MM
/THER #ALCULATIONAL 3TRATEGIES )NSTEAD OF EXPANDING THE EXPONENTIAL IN THE INTE
GRAND OF %Q IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE AT LEAST IN PRINCIPLE TO REPLACE #Y DIRECTLY
BY THE &OURIER TRANSFORM OF 7+ THE INVERSE OF %Q FOR N THUS PROVIDING
A DIRECT FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE RADAR CROSS SECTION AND THE SEA WAVE SPEC
TRUM WITHOUT THE RESTRICTIONS OF A SMALL
AMPLITUDE APPROXIMATION 4HIS CUMBERSOME
APPROACH INVOLVES EXTENSIVE COMPUTATIONS EVEN TO OBTAIN LIMITED RESULTS IN INDIVIDUAL
CASES AS SHOWN IN WORK BY (OLLIDAY ET AL
)N ANOTHER LIMITING CASE THE BASIC INTEGRAL FORMULATION OF THE '"60 IS SOLVED IN
THE OPTICAL APPROXIMATION LARGE K RESULTING IN AN EXPRESSION COMMONLY CALLED THE
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SPECULAR RETURN BECAUSE ITS ORIGIN MAY BE TRACED TO PIECES OF THE SURFACE THAT PROVIDE
A REFLECTION POINT FOR THE INCIDENT WAVE 4HIS EXPRESSION IS WRITTEN FOR A GAUSSIAN
SEA SURFACE IN THE FORM
S Y \ 2 \ S CSC Y EXP; COT Y S =
WHERE S IS THE RMS SURFACE SLOPE AND 2 IS THE FLAT
SURFACE REFLECTION COEFFICIENT FOR NOR
MAL INCIDENCE 4HIS IS THE TYPE OF SCATTERING ALLUDED TO IN CONNECTION WITH THE HIGH GRAZ
ING ANGLE RETURNS DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION THE TENDENCY OF R TO LEVEL OFF FOR GRAZING
ANGLES CLOSE TO SEE &IGURES AND MAY BE ASCRIBED TO THIS MECHANISM
&ROM WHAT HAS BEEN SAID THUS FAR IT CAN BE SEEN THAT STRICT ANALYTICAL SOLUTIONS VIA
THE '"60 APPROACH APPEAR TO RUN INTO DEAD ENDS INTRACTABLE FORMAL EXPRESSIONS IN THE
FORM OF %Q SMALL
AMPLITUDE APPROXIMATIONS IN THE FORM OF %Q THAT MAKE
LITTLE SENSE FOR MICROWAVE SCATTERING FROM REAL SEA SURFACES OR OPTICAL LIMITS SUCH AS
%Q THAT RELATE TO THE PROBABILITY DENSITIES OF SPECULARLY REFLECTING SURFACE SLOPES
)T APPEARS THEREFORE THAT THE USE OF INTEGRAL FORMULATIONS IN THE PRACTICAL SOLUTION OF
THE SEA CLUTTER PROBLEM AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES WILL REQUIRE SOMETHING MORE
#OMPOSITE
3URFACE (YPOTHESES 3INCE IT IS NOT CLEAR HOW TO EXTEND STRAIGHTFOR
WARD '"60 SOLUTIONS BEYOND THE LIMITING APPROXIMATIONS DESCRIBED ABOVE A HEURISTIC
MODEL WAS DEVELOPED THAT VIEWED THE SEA AS A CARPET OF "RAGG SCATTERING hWAVELETSv
MODULATED BY THE MOTIONS OF THE LARGER WAVES ON THE SURFACEn 4HIS COMPOSITE
SURFACE MODEL IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE TWO
SCALE MODEL IN WHICH IT IS IMAGINED THAT
THE SURFACE
WAVE SPECTRUM CAN SOMEHOW BE SEPARATED INTO TWO PARTS ONE CONTAINING
LOW
AMPLITUDE h"RAGG SCATTERING WAVELETSv WHOSE INTEGRATED RMS WAVEHEIGHT SATISFIES
THE CONDITIONS OF %Q AND ANOTHER THAT CONTAINS ONLY THE LONGER WAVES THAT TILT
AND STRETCH AND OTHERWISE MODULATE THE "RAGG WAVES AFFECTING THE "RAGG SCATTERERS
THROUGH A MODULATION TRANSFER FUNCTION AS WELL AS PROVIDING A SPECULAR COMPONENT
RESEMBLING %Q /THER ASSUMPTIONS INCLUDE THAT THE CORRELATION LENGTHS OF
THE SHORT "RAGG WAVES BE LONG ENOUGH THAT A RESONANT INTERACTION IS POSSIBLE BUT SHORT
ENOUGH THAT ADJACENT AREAS ON THE SURFACE CONTRIBUTE TO THE TOTAL SIGNAL IN RANDOM PHASE
NOTE HOW h"RAGG WAVESv ARE VIEWED HERE AS PHYSICAL OBJECTS AND THE LONG WAVES
THAT TILT AND MODULATE THE SHORT WAVES HAVE RADII OF CURVATURE SUFFICIENTLY LARGE THAT THE
CURVATURE OVER THE CORRELATION LENGTH OF THE h"RAGG PATCHESv IS SMALL IN SOME SENSE )N
ITS SIMPLEST AND MOST COMMONLY USED hTILTv FORM IT INTERPRETS R X IN %Q AS
THE CROSS SECTION OF A PATCH WITH LOCAL GRAZING ANGLE X R @ WHERE @ IS THE LOCAL
WAVE SLOPE AND X IS THE MEAN GRAZING ANGLE &OR THE SIMPLE ONE
DIMENSIONAL CASE
THIS QUANTITY IS AVERAGED OVER THE SEA SLOPE ANGLE DISTRIBUTION P@ YIELDING
c
S Y S Y A PA DA
&OR A MORE GENERAL TWO DIMENSIONAL SEA THE LOCAL GRAZING ANGLE IS A FUNCTION OF THE
SLOPES IN AND NORMAL TO THE PLANE OF INCIDENCE SO FOR EACH POLARIZATION P THE ANGLE
FUNCTION &PX IN R X BECOMES A COMPLEX MIXTURE OF THE ANGLE FUNCTIONS OF BOTH
POLARIZATIONS 0LANT PROVIDES A COMPREHENSIVE DISCUSSION OF THIS MODEL %XTENSIONS
OF THIS MODEL INTO WHAT MIGHT BE CALLED A THREE SCALE MODEL ARE GUIDED BY THE SAME
IDEAS THAT LED TO THE TWO SCALE MODEL !N ADDITIONAL AD HOC SPECTRAL PARTITION IS
INTRODUCED BETWEEN THE LONGEST AND SHORTEST WAVE COMPONENTS OF THE SEA SPECTRUM BUT
THIS PRODUCED ONLY MODEST IMPROVEMENT
3%! #,544%2
!LTHOUGH SUCH COMPOSITE
SURFACE MODELS MAY LEAVE THE IMPRESSION THAT THEY HAVE
EMERGED AS A RIGOROUS PRODUCT OF AN INTEGRAL FORMULATION OF THE '"60 IT IS CLEAR THAT
THEY ARE NOT REALLY SCATTERING THEORIES BUT INSTEAD SCATTERING PICTURES ASSEMBLED FROM
A GROUP OF MORE OR LESS PLAUSIBLE ASSUMPTIONS "UT WITH THE FAILURE OF THE MORE FORMAL
'"60 THEORIES TO PROVIDE A GENERAL FRAMEWORK FOR PREDICTING AND UNDERSTANDING SEA
CLUTTER THESE MODELS HAVE BECOME THE BASIS FOR MOST ANALYTICAL APPROACHES TO MICRO
WAVE SCATTERING FROM THE SEA
&IGURE COMPARES A SAMPLE OF .2, &2 DATA TAKEN AT HIGH WIND SPEEDS
KN WITH THE PREDICTIONS OF THE PURE 30- "RAGG MODEL IN THE FORM OF %Q
FOR 6
POLARIZATION AND THE TWO
SCALE MODEL IN THE FORM OF %Q FOR (
POLARIZATION
4HE WAVE SPECTRUM USED WAS THE 0HILLIPS SPECTRUM GIVEN IN %Q (ISTORICALLY
COMPARISONS OF THIS TYPE HAVE BEEN USED OFTEN TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE "RAGG SCAT
TERING HYPOTHESIS AND THE AGREEMENT OFTEN LOOKS GOOD ESPECIALLY FOR VERTICAL
POLARIZATION AT THE HIGHER WIND SPEEDS 9ET WHY THIS IS SO REMAINS A PUZZLING CURIOSITY
)N THIS EXAMPLE THE WIND SPEEDS ARE HIGH SO THE SEA WILL BE ROUGH BUT IT WAS NOTED
ABOVE THAT THE 30- APPROXIMATION USED IN &IGURE REQUIRES WAVEHEIGHTS MUCH
LESS THAN A CENTIMETER SO THIS APPROXIMATION IS TOTALLY INVALID FOR THESE DATA -OREOVER
THE 0HILLIPS SPECTRUM WAS USED AS THE SEA SURFACE SPECTRUM BUT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE
THAT THIS SPECTRUM HOLDS DOWN TO THE REQUIRED CAPILLARY WAVELENGTH OF ABOUT CM
)N FACT THE NATURE OF THE SEA SPECTRUM IN THIS RANGE REMAINS UNCERTAIN AND HAS BEEN
REFERRED TO AS hONE OF THE MOST EXCITING UNSOLVED PROBLEMS OF THE SEA SURFACEv 4HE
PRIMARY EFFECT OF THE TWO
SCALE MODEL IS SIMPLY TO RAISE THE INAPPLICABLE 30- VALUES
FOR (
POLARIZATION WHICH ARE DROPPING SHARPLY WITH GRAZING ANGLE BY INCLUDING HIGHER
LOCAL ANGLES VIA %Q 4HERE WOULD BE LITTLE SENSIBLE EFFECT ON THE MORE CONSTANT
VERTICAL RETURNS &INALLY THE POLARIZATION DIFFERENCES THEMSELVES HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO
DERIVE ENTIRELY FROM THE BEHAVIOR OF THE REFLECTION COEFFICIENTS AT THE UNDERLYING SURFACE
SEE FOR EXAMPLE 7RIGHT AND 7ETZEL AND SO ARE NOT AN INTRINSIC PART OF THE "RAGG
HYPOTHESIS AND WOULD APPLY TO ANY SMALL PERTURBATION ON THE SURFACE .EVERTHELESS
AGREEMENT BETWEEN MEASUREMENT AND PREDICTION OF THE TYPE ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF THE PREDICTIONS OF THE "RAGG HYPOTHESIS WITH .2,
&2 DATA HEAVY LINES FOR HIGHER WIND SPEEDS KT DASH
DOTTED LINES 30-
"RAGG DASHED LINE TWO
SCALE MODEL FOR (
POLARIZATION ONLY ASSUMING MEAN
SEA SLOPES AFTER 6ALENZUELA
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
HAS KEPT ALIVE CREDIBILITY IN THE "RAGG SCATTERING HYPOTHESIS IN SPITE OF THE CLEAR VIOLA
TIONS OF CONDITIONS AND NONSEQUITURS NOTED ABOVE AS WELL AS THE LACK OF A PROPER THEORY
ARGUED FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES
4HE FAILURE OF THIS MODEL TO ACCOUNT FOR SEA SPIKES AND OTHER NON
2AYLEIGH RETURNS
NOTED IN 3ECTION HAS LED TO AN AUGMENTATION OF THE TWO
SCALE COMPOSITE SURFACE TO
INCLUDE BREAKING WAVES A PRESUMED SOURCE OF THESE RETURNS /NE OF THE LATEST OF THESE
TWO
SCALE
PLUS MODELS MAY BE FOUND IN +UDRYAVTSEV ET AL WHERE BREAKING
WAVE EFFECTS ARE INCORPORATED ANALYTICALLY THROUGH THE 0HILLIPS EXPRESSION FOR THE
DENSITY OF BREAKING FRONTS AS A FUNCTION OF WIND SPEED THE PARAMETER ,C NOTED
IN 3ECTION WITH THE SCATTERING BEHAVIOR BASED ON 7ETZELS PLUME MODEL SEE
h3CATTERING BY 3URFACE &EATURESv 4HE RESULT IS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN SEA
SCATTER PREDICTIONS EMPHASIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF BREAKING IN THE SCATTERING SCENE
!N EXAMPLE OF THIS IMPROVEMENT IS SHOWN IN &IGURE WHERE EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FOR THE POLARIZATION RATIO RELATIVE TO WIND DIRECTION WAS OBTAINED FROM THE 0OLRAD
PROGRAM /NE OF THE MAJOR CLAIMS FOR "RAGG MODELS HAS BEEN THEIR APPARENT ABIL
ITY TO AGREE LOOSELY WITH THE OBSERVED POLARIZATION RATIOS OF SEA CLUTTER RETURNS AND
IN &IGURE AS IN &IGURE THE DATA WERE COMPARED TO THE PREDICTIONS OF THE
30- PURE "RAGG MODEL AND THE TWO
SCALE MODEL WHILE ADDING THE TWO
SCALE
PLUS
MODEL WHICH INCORPORATES THE EFFECTS OF BREAKING WAVES )N THIS CASE THE "RAGG
MODEL AND THE TWO
SCALE MODEL DERIVED FROM IT CLEARLY FAIL TO DESCRIBE THE OBSERVED
BEHAVIOR OF THE POLARIZATION RATIO WHILE THE INCLUSION OF BREAKING WAVES FULL MODEL
PROVIDES A SURPRISINGLY FAITHFUL REPRODUCTION OF THE DATA EVEN AT THE HIGH GRAZING
ANGLE OF 4HE 8
BAND DATA ILLUSTRATED PREVIOUSLY IN &IGURE A B CAN ALSO
BE SHOWN TO CORROBORATE THE PREDICTIONS OF THIS MODEL FOR A SIMILAR WIND SPEED AND
GRAZING ANGLE THUS FURTHER SUPPORTING THE SUSPICION THAT BREAKING
WAVE EVENTS WILL
CONTRIBUTE IMPORTANTLY TO SEA CLUTTER OVER MOST OF THE hROUGH SURFACEv REGIME OF GRAZ
ING ANGLES AT THESE WIND SPEEDS
&)'52% 0OLARIZATION RATIO VERSUS WIND DIRECTION FOR 8
BAND RADAR
AT GRAZING ANGLE AND WIND ABOUT KT 0OINTS EXPERIMENTAL DATA FROM
0OLRAD EXPERIMENT DASHED LINE PURE 30- "RAGG DASHED
DOTTED LINE TWO
SCALE "RAGG SOLID LINE TWO
SCALE
PLUS MODEL INCLUDING BREAKING WAVES AFTER
+UDRYATSEV ET AL 4HE !MERICAN 'EOPHYSICAL 5NION
3%! #,544%2
3CATTERING BY 3URFACE &EATURES ! BREAKING WAVE WITH PLUMES OF WATER CAS
CADING DOWN ITS FACE AND PERHAPS A HALO OF SPRAY ABOVE IS ONLY ONE OF THE RICH ASSORT
MENT OF SCATTERING ELEMENTS APPEARING ON THE SEA SURFACEINCLUDING WEDGES CUSPS
MICROBREAKERS HYDRAULIC SHOCKS PATCHES OF TURBULENCE AND GRAVITY CAPILLARY WAVES
BOTH WIND DRIVEN AND PARASITIC ANY OR ALL OF WHICH COULD CONTRIBUTE TO THE SCATTERED
CLUTTER SIGNAL
&OR EXAMPLE THE COMMON 3TOKES WAVE HAS A QUASI TROCHOIDAL STRUCTURE THAT RESEM
BLES A WEDGE ON THE SURFACE SO WEDGE SCATTER MIGHT DESCRIBE AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF SEA
CLUTTER 4HE SCATTERING MODEL IS USUALLY SOME VARIANT OF THE FAMILIAR GEOMETRICAL
THEORY OF DIFFRACTION '4$ WHICH IS STRICTLY APPLICABLE TO THE BACKSCATTER PROBLEM
ONLY WHEN THE EDGE OF THE WEDGE IS NORMAL TO THE PLANE OF INCIDENCE .EVERTHELESS THE
CROSS SECTION PREDICTIONS AT THE LOWER GRAZING ANGLES FOR BOTH POLARIZATIONS SHOW TRENDS
SIMILAR TO THE PREDICTIONS OF THE "RAGG OR COMPOSITE SURFACE MODELS
/NE MAJOR PROBLEM WITH ALL MODELS BASED ON SCATTERING FEATURE SIMULATIONS IS THE
LACK OF RELIABLE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SHAPES SIZES ORIENTATIONS SPEEDS LIFETIMES
AND STATISTICS OF THE FEATURES THEMSELVES 4HUS ALTHOUGH THERE IS OFTEN GUIDANCE
FROM EITHER OBSERVATION OR THEORY THE PREDICTIONS OF SUCH MODELS WILL BE BASED ON
UNCERTAIN ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THESE CRUCIAL PARAMETERS !S AN EXAMPLE WATER SURFACE
STABILITY ARGUMENTS PREVENT THE INTERIOR ANGLE OF A SHARPENING WAVE CREST FROM FALL
ING BELOW WHICH THEN BECOMES A CONVENIENT MEASURE OF THE WEDGE ANGLE IN
WEDGE SCATTERING MODELS )N &IGURE THE OVERALL SCALE OF WEDGE SCATTERING AS
CALCULATED BY THE '4$ WAS ADJUSTED TO LOCATE THE CLUSTER OF CROSS SECTIONS AT THE LEVEL
OF THE EXPERIMENTAL VALUES 7EDGES APPEAR TO MODEL THE QUALITATIVE BEHAVIOR WITH
BOTH POLARIZATIONS FAIRLY WELL AT THE LOWER GRAZING ANGLES
&IGURE ALSO INCLUDES TWO ADDITIONAL SIMPLE SCATTERING MODELS FOR COMPARISON
,AMBERTS LAW MENTIONED IN CONNECTION WITH &IGURE A B EXPRESSES THE CROSS SEC
TION IN THE FORM R ! SINX WHERE ! IS THE SURFACE ALBEDO #HOOSING ! D"
A REASONABLE VALUE FOR MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES GIVES A FAIRLY GOOD MATCH TO THE VERTI
CALLY POLARIZED RETURNS OVER A WIDE RANGE OF GRAZING ANGLES 4HE FACET MODEL EXPRESSED
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF SEVERAL AD HOC FEATURE MODELS WITH .2, &2 DATA
DATA THE SAME AS SHOWN IN &IGURE
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
BY %Q AND THOUGHT TO DESCRIBE CLUTTER AT THE HIGHER GRAZING ANGLES IS SHOWN
FOR KT SEAS 4HE GENERAL BEHAVIOR DESCRIBED BY THESE TWO MODELS SEEMS TO AGREE
ABOUT AS WELL AS ANY OTHER ALTHOUGH THEY TOO MUST EMPLOY ARBITRARY ASSUMPTIONS TO
OBTAIN REASONABLE FITS TO THE DATA SO THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS AGREEMENT IS DIFFICULT TO
ASSESS (OWEVER ONE MIGHT DEDUCE FROM &IGURE THAT SHARP THINGS LIKE WEDGES
DOMINATE THE CLUTTER AT SMALL GRAZING ANGLES FLAT THINGS LIKE FACETS AT LARGE ANGLES
AND GENERALLY ROUGH THINGS AT THE INTERMEDIATE ANGLES
4HE THEORY OF SCATTERING FROM BREAKING WAVES REFERENCED IN CONNECTION WITH
&IGURE WAS ORIGINALLY MOTIVATED BY AN ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE COMPLEX
BEHAVIOR OF SEA SPIKES AT LOW GRAZING ANGLES OBSERVED BY ,EWIS AND /LIN 4HIS
THEORY WAS BASED ON THE PLUME MODEL OF THE MOST COMMON SPILLING BREAKER IN
WHICH A WATER PLUME IS EMITTED AT THE SPILLING CREST AND MOVES DOWN THE FRONT
FACE THE SCATTERING BEHAVIOR WAS SUPPLIED BY MULTIPATH ILLUMINATION INVOLVING
REFLECTIONS FROM THE FACE OF THE WAVE 4HE ELABORATION OF THIS MODEL EXPLAINED
MUCH OF THE COMPLEX BEHAVIOR OF THE OBSERVED SEA SPIKES HOWEVER LIKE ALL OTHER
MODELS BASED ON SCATTERING FEATURES IT WAS NECESSARY TO MAKE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT
THE SIZES SHAPES AND LIFETIMES OF THE SCATTERING PLUMES 4HESE PARAMETERS WERE ALL
INFERRED FROM OBSERVATION OF REAL SEA SURFACES AND THE RESULTING PREDICTIONS WERE
SURPRISINGLY GOOD !DDITIONALLY ITS SUCCESS IN THE TWO
SCALE
PLUS MODEL MENTIONED
ABOVE PROVIDES FURTHER CREDIBILITY
!LTHOUGH SCATTERING FEATURES HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED MAINLY IN CONNECTION WITH
LOW
GRAZING
ANGLE SEA CLUTTER SEE 7ETZEL FOR A DETAILED DISCUSSION THERE IS EVI
DENCE AS NOTED ABOVE TO BELIEVE THAT FEATURE SCATTERING OPERATES AT ALL GRAZING ANGLES
#ONSIDERING THE FAILURE OF SCATTERING THEORIES FORMULATED AS A '"60 TO PROVIDE ANY
PREDICTIONS BEYOND THOSE IN CERTAIN LIMITING
CASE APPROXIMATIONS AND THE PRECARIOUS
NATURE OF THE LOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE "RAGG HYPOTHESIS IN MICROWAVE SCATTERING
FROM A NATURAL SEA IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE THAT FURTHER CAREFUL CONSIDERATION OF THE ACTUAL
SCATTERING FEATURES PRESENT ON THE SEA SURFACE WILL IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF SEA
CLUTTER IN THE FUTURE
)MPLICATIONS OF 3URFACE 'EOMETRY 4HE APPROXIMATIONS TO THE '"60 DIS
CUSSED ABOVE WERE ALL FORMULATED IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN BUT A TIME
DOMAIN MODEL
FOR SEA SCATTER POINTS TO A POSSIBLE GENERAL SURFACE
GEOMETRIC ORIGIN FOR THE SURFACE
RETURNS 4HE MODEL INTRODUCES THE IDEA THAT THE BASIC SCATTERING ELEMENTS OF A
SURFACE ARE LOCALIZED AT POINTS OF HIGH SURFACE CURVATURE AS AT THE SHARP TIPS OF SMALL
3TOKES WAVES OR AT THE CORNER OF A PLUME INTERSECTING THE FRONT FACE OF A BREAKING
WAVE 5SING A C
FUNCTION AS A PROBING PULSE AN APPROXIMATE EXPRESSION FOR THE SCAT
TERING CROSS SECTION WAS FOUND AS A FUNCTION OF SURFACE CURVATURE # RTO WHERE TO IS
THE ROUND
TRIP TIME FROM THE RADAR TO A POINT RTO ON THE SURFACE
R TO "X S TO # CTO COSX
WITH " A COMPLICATED TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTION OF GRAZING ANGLE X SURFACE SLOPE S
AND TO 4HE FACTOR " PEAKS AT POINTS OF SPECULAR REFLECTION SO %Q EXPRESSES THE
EFFECTS OF SPECULAR GLINTS AS WELL AS SHARP CURVATURES !LTHOUGH THE ORIGINAL THEORY
IS BASED ON A PHYSICAL OPTICS FORMULATION FOR A SCALAR FIELD SEE 3ANGSTON FOR THE
VECTOR FORM SOME SUPPORT FOR ITS IMPLICATIONS CAN BE GAINED FROM A PLOT OF THE SQUARE
OF SURFACE CURVATURE OVER A REAL SEA SURFACE &IGURE A SHOWS THE SURFACE SLOPE
MEASURED OVER A SHORT SEGMENT OF SURFACE IN THE 'ULF 3TREAM WITH THE CORRESPOND
ING CURVATURE
SQUARED PROFILE BELOW 4HE CLUTTER CROSS
SECTION DEFINED FOR THIS PROFILE
3%! #,544%2
xx
#%# ! #$
!#!& #"
$!%#$!
!
$!
-ETERS
4IMES
A
B
&)'52% A -EASURED SLOPE TOP CURVE OVER A SAMPLED SURFACE IN THE 'ULF 3TREAM WITH THE COR
RESPONDING SQUARE OF THE SURFACE CURVATURE BELOW B 7AVE TANK MEASUREMENT OF RADAR SCATTERING FROM AN
EVOLVING BREAKING WAVE CORRELATED WITH WAVE SURFACE HEIGHT VARIATIONS FROM - ! 3LETTEN AND * # 7EST
4HE !MERICAN 'EOPHYSICAL 5NION
BY %Q CLEARLY BEARS A RESEMBLANCE TO SOME OF THE HIGH RESOLUTION RETURNS SHOWN
IN &IGURE -OREOVER THESE SPIKY RETURNS ARE CORRELATED WITH JUST THE KIND OF
SURFACE BUMPS AND WRINKLES AND SLOPE DISCONTINUITIES THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS
SOURCES OF SEA SPIKES IN LABORATORY TANK MEASUREMENTS !N EXAMPLE IS SHOWN
IN &IGURE B WHERE AN ULTRA
HIGH
RESOLUTION RADAR LOOKS AT THE RETURN FROM A
BREAKING WAVE WHOSE SURFACE IS EVOLVING AS PLOTTED ABOVE THE RADAR SIGNAL 7E SEE
THAT THE SPIKES APPEAR AT THE POINTS OF MAXIMUM SURFACE CURVATURE ALTHOUGH THE LARGE
SIGNAL PEAK IS PROBABLY A SPECULAR REFLECTION FROM THE INITIAL BREAKING FRONT
)T IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED THAT THE PRESUMED ORIGIN OF SEA SCATTER IS SUGGESTED BY THE
KIND OF MEASURING INSTRUMENT BEING USED WHICH IN TURN DETERMINES THE MOST APPRO
PRIATE THEORETICAL BASISIE THE hTHEORY OF THE EXPERIMENTv )F YOU GO TO SEA WITH
A #7 RADARAN hAVERAGING WAVE SPECTROMETERvYOU WILL BE SELECTING A SPECTRAL
LINE BY LONG INTEGRATION TIMES AND INTERPRET THE ORIGIN AS A WAVE EFFECT NAMELY
A h"RAGG RESONANCEv /N THE OTHER HAND IF YOU USE A HIGH RESOLUTION PROBEA
RADAR MICROSCOPETHE CLUTTER SCENE WILL BE POPULATED BY HIGHLY LOCALIZED SCATTER
ING EVENTS OR SEA SPIKES ISOLATED BY A SHORT
PULSE WIDE
BANDWIDTH SIGNAL )N THIS
CASE THE MOST APPROPRIATE hTHEORY OF THE EXPERIMENTv IS THE TIME
DOMAIN FORMALISM
DESCRIBED ABOVE
/THER WAYS OF VIEWING SEA CLUTTER IN TERMS OF SURFACE GEOMETRY CHARACTERIZE THE SEA
AND THE CLUTTER AS FRACTAL PROCESSES OR SEEK PARAMETERS DESCRIBING ITS COMPLEXITY BY
DEFINING A hSTRANGE ATTRACTORv 5NFORTUNATELY THESE STUDIES DO NOT SEEM TO CONTAIN
ANY USEFUL INSIGHTS INTO THE PHYSICAL SCATTERING PROCESSES AT THE SURFACE EXCEPT PER
HAPS TO CONCLUDE THAT SEA CLUTTER ARISES FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES WHICH WE ALREADY KNOW
/N THE OTHER HAND THE IDENTIFICATION OF CHANGES IN THE CHARACTERISTIC MEASURES OF THESE
PROCESSES EG FRACTAL DIMENSION AND EMBEDDING DIMENSION HAVE BEEN PROPOSED AS A
WAY TO IDENTIFY THE PRESENCE OF TARGETS IN CLUTTER
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
.UMERICAL -ETHODS 7ITH RAPID INCREASES IN COMPUTER SPEED IT HAS BECOME
PRACTICAL TO SOLVE CERTAIN SCATTERING PROBLEMS BY NUMERICAL METHODS THEREBY SIDE
STEPPING THE INTRODUCTION OF THE APPROXIMATIONS REQUIRED BY THE ANALYTICAL SOLUTIONS
DESCRIBED ABOVE )N SURFACE SCATTERING PARTICULARLY FOR THE CONTINUOUS SEA SURFACE THE
METHOD OF CHOICE APPEARS TO BE SOME VARIANT OF THE -ETHOD OF -OMENTS !N EXACT
INTEGRAL EQUATION FOR THE SURFACE CURRENTS EXCITED BY AN ILLUMINATING FIELD IS SOLVED
NUMERICALLY OVER A GRID OF POINTS WHERE THE FLEXIBILITY AND ACCURACY OF THE SOLUTION
DEPENDS ESSENTIALLY ON THE GRID SPACING THE SIZE OF THE SURFACE FEATURES COMPARED TO
THE ILLUMINATING WAVELENGTH THE EXTENT OF THE SURFACE OVER WHICH THE GRID IS LAID AND
THE EFFICIENCY OF THE COMPUTING ALGORITHMS USED IN WHAT ARE EXTENSIVE CALCULATIONS
/NCE FOUND FOR AN ENSEMBLE OF SURFACE REALIZATIONS THESE CURRENTS CAN BE USED IN A
SCATTERING INTEGRAL OVER EACH OF THE SURFACES TO GENERATE AN ENSEMBLE OF SCATTERED FIELDS
WHICH ARE FINALLY AVERAGED INTO A SURFACE SCATTERING CROSS SECTION !LTHOUGH THESE
METHODS ARE OFTEN VIEWED AS THE hGOLD STANDARDv FOR DOING SCATTERING CALCULATIONS THEIR
COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY GENERALLY RESTRICT THEIR APPLICATION TO IDEALIZED OR LABORATORY
SURFACE STRUCTURES WHERE THEY SIMPLY CONFIRM THAT -AXWELLS EQUATIONS CONTINUE TO
BE VERIFIED IN SCATTERING EXPERIMENTS .EVERTHELESS SUCH NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS CAN BE
INFORMATIVE IN IDENTIFYING THE SOURCE OF PARTICULAR SCATTERING EVENTS SUCH AS SEA SPIKES
ALONG WITH THEIR DEPENDENCE ON SUCH RADAR PARAMETERS AS GRAZING ANGLE POLARIZATION
AND FREQUENCY
2OLE OF ,ABORATORY 3TUDIES 4HE SEA SURFACE IS A NATURAL SYSTEM CONTROLLED BY
THE LAWS OF HYDRODYNAMICS "UT SO IS A BOWL OF SOUP OR A TANK OF WATER OR A RUSHING
STREAMALL OF WHICH MIGHT SHARE CERTAIN BEHAVIORS WITH A SEA SURFACE WHILE PRE
SENTING A VENUE MUCH MORE AMENABLE TO THE COMFORTABLE INVESTIGATION OF SCATTERING
PHENOMENOLOGY 7HILE THERE IS THE OBVIOUS MATTER OF SCALE ONE MIGHT ENTERTAIN THE
NOTION THAT WHAT IS FOUND TO HOLD IN THE SMALL COMPASS OF A LABORATORY WAVE TANK MIGHT
TRANSFER WITH LITTLE ALTERATION TO THE OPEN OCEAN "UT THIS CERTAINLY CANNOT BE TRUE THE
SEA SURFACE IS STRUCTURED BY LARGE
SCALE WIND SYSTEMS IMPOSSIBLE TO DUPLICATE UNDER
LABORATORY CONDITIONS 4HEREFORE THE LABORATORY IS USED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY TO STUDY IN
DETAIL HOW AN ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE INTERACTS WITH SOME RESTRICTED AND WELL
CONTROLLED
ASPECT OF SURFACE PHENOMENOLOGY THAT IS THOUGHT TO BE INVOLVED IN THE OPEN SEA
4HERE IS A VAST LITERATURE EXTENDING OVER ALMOST YEARS REPORTING A WIDE VARIETY OF
LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS ON MICROWAVE SCATTERING FROM A DISTURBED WATER SURFACE 4HE
EARLIEST APPEAR TO BE CAREFUL SMALL
SCALE EXPERIMENTS IN THE MID
S TO CONFIRM THE
EXISTENCE OF "RAGG SCATTER AT CENTIMETER WAVELENGTHS WHILE AT THE OTHER END OF THE
EXPERIMENTAL SCALE THE CHAOS OF A FULL
SCALE BREAKER WAS SIMULATED BY SUBMERGING A
HYDROFOIL ACROSS A METER WIDE CIRCULATING WATER CHANNEL DRIVEN BY MEGAWATTS OF
TURBINE POWER "UT MOST LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS ARE MORE MODEST INVOLVING A LONG
WAVE TANK PERHAPS A METER OR TWO ACROSS WITH THE WAVE SYSTEM PRODUCED BY EITHER A
CONTROLLED WIND OR A PROGRAMMED WAVEMAKER
4O ILLUSTRATE A FEW OF THE EXPERIMENTS AND THEIR RESULTS +WOH AND ,AKE MEASURED
8
BAND RETURNS FROM GENTLE BREAKING WAVES IN A WAVE TANK AND FOUND THAT SPECULAR
AND CURVATURE SCATTERING APPEARED TO DOMINATE OVER "RAGG SCATTERING FOR SUCH SUR
FACES +ELLER ET AL MEASURED 8
BAND RETURNS AND SURFACE SPECTRUM SIMULTANEOUSLY
IN A WAVE TANK AND FOUND "RAGG
BASED THEORIES MIGHT HAVE CREDENCE AT INTERMEDIATE
GRAZING ANGLES AND STRONG WINDS BUT WERE UNABLE TO ACCOUNT FOR SCATTERING BEHAVIOR
UNDER OTHER CONDITIONS 3LETTEN AND 7EST MADE A TWO
PRONGED APPROACH TO BREAK
ING WAVE SCATTER CONSTRUCTING A METALLIC MODEL OF A BREAKING WAVE COMPARING ITS
3%! #,544%2
SCATTERING PROPERTIES WITH NUMERICAL CALCULATIONS AND THEN GOING TO THE WAVE TANK
TO VERIFY THE SCATTERING BEHAVIOR FOR REAL WATER WAVES %RICSON ET AL GENERATED A
STATIONARY BREAKER IN A SMALL FLOW TUNNEL AND COMPARED ITS SCATTERING PROPERTIES WITH
A SPECULAR POINT CALCULATION #OAKLEY ET AL SET UP A HYDROFOIL IN A POWERFUL WATER
CHANNEL GENERATING A LARGE BREAKING WAVE FRONT THAT PRODUCED RADAR RETURNS CONSISTENT
WITH ,AMBERTS ,AW ALONG WITH THE POLARIZATION RATIOS IMPLIED BY MULTIPATH REFLEC
TIONS FROM THE UNDISTURBED FRONT FACE 4HESE INVESTIGATORS ALONG WITH MANY OTHERS
HAVE BEEN EXPLORING RADAR SCATTERING FROM WATER SURFACES IN WAYS THAT CAN BE EXPECTED
TO CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY TO OUR GROWING UNDERSTANDING OF SEA CLUTTER
xx -1 ,9
"
1-" )N THE EARLY DAYS OF RADAR THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING THE SEA CLUTTER ENVIRONMENT LED
TO MANY EXPERIMENTS UNDER A VARIETY OF CONDITIONS 6ARIATIONS IN QUALITY AND COMPLETE
NESS OF GROUND TRUTH CALIBRATION OF THE EQUIPMENT AND THE EXPERIMENTERS EXPERI
ENCE LED TO RESULTS THAT OFTEN SHOWED CONSIDERABLE INCONSISTENCY AND SUGGESTED CLUTTER
BEHAVIOR THAT WAS SOMETIMES MORE A FUNCTION OF THE VAGARIES OF THE EXPERIMENT THAN OF
THE PHYSICS OF THE CLUTTER !S DATA OF INCREASINGLY BETTER QUALITY ACCUMULATED IT MIGHT
HAVE BEEN EXPECTED THAT THE BEHAVIOR OF SEA CLUTTER WOULD BE ESTABLISHED WITH INCREAS
ING CONFIDENCE 4HIS HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN SO LEAVING OUR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT
SEA CLUTTER TO BE SUMMARIZED ROUGHLY AS FOLLOWS &OR THE HIGHER OF WIND SPEEDS
ENCOUNTERED OVER THE WORLDS OCEANS GREATER THAN ABOUT KT MICROWAVE SEA CLUT
TER AT INTERMEDIATE TO HIGH GRAZING ANGLES HAS LITTLE DEPENDENCE ON FREQUENCY AND THE
EFFECTS OF WIND SPEED ARE UNCERTAIN SEEMING TO DEPEND ON POLARIZATION WIND DIRECTION
AND GRAZING ANGLE IN OFTEN CONFUSING WAYS 9ET VARIOUS EMPIRICAL DESCRIPTIONS AND STA
TISTICAL CHARACTERIZATIONS ARE AVAILABLE THAT ALLOW MUCH OF THE USEFUL SEA CLUTTER REGIME
TO BE DESCRIBED IN WAYS THAT CAN BE OF PRACTICAL VALUE TO THE RADAR COMMUNITY PROVIDED
THAT SOME CARE IS TAKEN IN DEFINING AND OBSERVING THE PERTINENT PARAMETERS (OWEVER
THERE ARE MAJOR AREAS OF UNCERTAINTY PRESENT AT ANY WIND SPEED WHENEVER THE GRAZING
ANGLE GOES BELOW A FEW DEGREES AND THE SURFACE ILLUMINATION BEGINS TO FEEL THE EFFECTS
OF REFRACTION AND DIFFRACTION AND AT ANY GRAZING ANGLE WHENEVER THE WIND SPEED IS
LESS THAN ABOUT KT WHERE PECULIARITIES AND UNCERTAINTIES IN THE GENERATION OF SURFACE
ROUGHNESS BEGIN TO EMERGE MOST STRONGLY !T THE LOW GRAZING ANGLES ENCOUNTERED IN
MARITIME RADAR OPERATIONS SEA CLUTTER BECOMES SPIKY AND INTERMITTENT REQUIRING SPE
CIAL ATTENTION TO SIGNAL PROCESSING AND THE INTERPRETATION OF THE RADAR SIGNAL -OREOVER
FEATURES OF THE SEA ENVIRONMENT SUCH AS RAIN CURRENTS SLICKS AND REFRACTIVE ANOMALIES
CAN CONFUSE THE RELIABLE SEPARATION OF TARGET RETURNS FROM CLUTTER ARTIFACTS
4HE QUESTION OF MICROWAVE SEA CLUTTER THEORY REMAINS UNSETTLED 4HE MOST POP
ULAR MODEL THE TWO
SCALE "RAGG MODEL IS ACTUALLY AN ASSEMBLAGE OF ASSUMPTIONS
SUPPORTED BY CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE THERE IS STILL NO CLEAR REASON WHY IT SHOULD
WORK WHEN IT DOES )N FACT THERE IS INCREASING EVIDENCE FROM BOTH THE TANK AND THE
OPEN OCEAN THAT THIS MODEL FAILS TO ACCOUNT FOR MANY ASPECTS OF MEASURED SEA SCATTER
BEHAVIOR !UGMENTING IT WITH A TERM EXPRESSING THE EFFECT OF BREAKING WAVES IN ACTIVE
SEAS HAS IMPROVED PREDICTIONS BUT STILL PERPETUATES THE AD HOC CHARACTER OF COM
POSITE
SURFACE MODELS 4HEORIES BASED ON SCATTERING BY SURFACE FEATURES HAVE BEGUN
TO SHOW PROMISE AND AT LEAST ONE OF THESE FEATURESTHE BREAKING WAVE AT VARIOUS
SCALES MACRO TO MICROIS INCREASINGLY RECOGNIZED AS AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTOR TO
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SEA CLUTTER FOR LOW GRAZING ANGLES AND SHORT PULSES IN PARTICULAR 4HE MAJOR PROBLEM
OF CHARACTERIZING THESE FEATURES IN A MANNER USEFUL TO QUANTITATIVE PREDICTIONS IS STILL
BEING ADDRESSED 0ERHAPS THE EXPRESSION OF THE SCATTERING PROPERTIES OF THE SURFACE IN
TERMS OF AN INTRINSIC SURFACE PROPERTY LIKE ITS FINE
SCALE CURVATURE MIGHT INTRODUCE AN
ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE FOR THE MANY BITS AND PIECES THAT PRESENTLY MAKE UP THE THEORY
OF SEA SCATTER
)N THE LAST EDITION OF THIS (ANDBOOK THE FINAL STATEMENT IN THIS CHAPTER WAS
h)T WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT PROGRESS WILL HAVE BEEN MADE IN THE THEORY OF SEA
CLUTTER BY THE PUBLICATION OF THE NEXT EDITION OF THIS HANDBOOKv )T APPEARS THAT THE
ANSWER ISNOT MUCH "UT THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE THAT THE THEORY OF SEA SCATTER IS
GRADUALLY BEING FREED FROM THE PARALYZING MONOTHEISM OF "RAGG SCATTER SO THERE IS
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
,
,
$ % +ERR 0ROPAGATION OF 3HORT 2ADIO 7AVES .EW 9ORK -C'RAW
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FICIENT INDEPENDENT OF THESE PARAMETERS
5SE OF A DIFFERENTIAL SCATTERING CROSS SECTION IMPLIES THAT THE RETURN FROM THE GROUND
IS CONTRIBUTED BY A LARGE NUMBER OF SCATTERING ELEMENTS WHOSE PHASES ARE INDEPENDENT
4HIS IS PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF DIFFERENCES IN DISTANCE THAT ALTHOUGH SMALL FRACTIONS OF
TOTAL DISTANCE ARE MANY WAVELENGTHS 3UPERPOSITION OF POWER IS POSSIBLE FOR THE COM
PUTATION OF AVERAGE RETURNS )F THIS CONDITION IS NOT APPLICABLE TO A PARTICULAR GROUND
TARGET THE DIFFERENTIAL
SCATTERING CROSS
SECTION CONCEPT HAS NO MEANING FOR THAT TARGET
&OR EXAMPLE A VERY FINE
RESOLUTION RADAR MIGHT BE ABLE TO RESOLVE A PART OF A CAR THE
SMOOTH SURFACES ON THE CAR WOULD NOT BE PROPERLY REPRESENTED BY R /N THE OTHER
HAND A COARSER RADAR MIGHT LOOK AT MANY CARS IN A LARGE PARKING LOT AND A VALID R FOR
THE PARKING LOT COULD BE DETERMINED
)F A REGION ILLUMINATED AT ONE TIME BY A RADAR CONTAINS N SCATTERING ELEMENTS AND THE
ABOVE CRITERION IS SATISFIED SO THAT POWER MAY BE ADDED THE RADAR EQUATION FOR AVERAGE
POWER BECOMES
N
0R
I
N
0TI'TI !RIS I
0TI'TI !RI S I $!I $!I
P 2I
P 2I
I
(ERE $!I IS AN ELEMENT OF SURFACE AREA AND 0TI POWER TRANSMITTED TOWARD POINT I
'TI GAIN IN DIRECTION OF POINT I AND !RI RECEIVING EQUIVALENT APERTURE IN DIRECTION OF
POINT I ARE VALUES OF 0T 'T AND !R APPROPRIATE FOR AN ELEMENT AT THE LOCATION OF $ !I
4HE FACTOR IN PARENTHESES IN THE NUMERATOR OF THE RIGHT HAND EXPRESSION IS THE INCRE
MENTAL SCATTERING CROSS SECTION FOR ELEMENT I BUT THIS CONCEPT IS MEANINGFUL ONLY IN AN
AVERAGE 4HUS THE AVERAGE POWER RETURNED IS GIVEN BY
N
0R
I
0TI'TI !RIS $ !I
P 2I
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
(ERE R HAS BEEN USED TO DENOTE THE AVERAGE VALUE OF RI $ !I )N THIS FORMULATION
WE MAY PASS IN THE LIMIT FROM THE FINITE SUM TO THE INTEGRAL GIVEN BY
0R
P
0'
T T !RS D!
)LLUMINATED AREA 2
4HIS INTEGRAL IS NOT REALLY CORRECT FOR THERE IS A MINIMUM SIZE FOR REAL INDEPENDENT
SCATTERING CENTERS .EVERTHELESS THE CONCEPT IS WIDELY USED AND IS APPLICABLE AS LONG
AS THE ILLUMINATED AREA IS LARGE ENOUGH TO CONTAIN MANY SUCH CENTERS
&IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE GEOMETRY ASSOCIATED WITH %Q .OTE THAT FOR A RECTAN
GULAR PULSE 0T IS EITHER ZERO OR THE PEAK TRANSMITTER POWER BUT FOR OTHER PULSE SHAPES
THE VARIATION WITH T OR 2 IS SIGNIFICANT !CTUAL PULSES ARE OFTEN APPROXIMATED BY
RECTANGULAR PULSES WITH WIDTHS EQUAL TO THEIR HALF POWER WIDTHS 2EAL PULSES CANNOT BE
RECTANGULAR AFTER PASSING THROUGH REAL TRANSMITTER ANTENNA AND RECEIVER BANDWIDTHS
4HE TRANSMITTING ANTENNA GAIN AND RECEIVING ANTENNA APERTURE ARE FUNCTIONS OF THE
ELEVATION AND AZIMUTH ANGLES
'T 'TP E !R !RP E
A
4HE DIFFERENTIAL SCATTERING CROSS SECTION ITSELF IS A FUNCTION OF BOTH LOOK ANGLE P E
AND GROUND LOCATION
R R P E LOCATION
B
4HE INTEGRAL OF %Q MUST BE INVERTED WHEN R IS MEASURED 7ITH NARROW BEAMS
AND SHORT PULSES THE INVERSION IS RELATIVELY EASY BUT WITH THE WIDER BEAMS AND LON
GER PULSES USED IN MANY MEASUREMENTS THE VALUES OBTAINED ARE SOMETIMES POORLY
DEFINED
3OME AUTHORS USE A SCATTERING CROSS SECTION PER UNIT PROJECTED AREA RATHER THAN
PER UNIT GROUND AREA &IGURE ILLUSTRATES BY USING A SIDE VIEW THE DIFFERENCE
&)'52% 'EOMETRY OF THE RADAR EQUATION
'2/5.$ %#(/
&)'52% 'ROUND AREA AND PROJECTED AREA
BETWEEN GROUND AREA AND PROJECTED AREA 4HE GROUND AREA IS PROPORTIONAL TO $Q AND
THE PROJECTED AREA IS SMALLER 4HUS
S ! G D PROJECTED AREA G COSQ D!
OR
S G COSQ
3INCE BOTH F AND R ARE CALLED SCATTERING COEFFICIENTS READERS OF THE LITERATURE MUST BE
ESPECIALLY CAREFUL TO DETERMINE WHICH IS BEING USED BY A PARTICULAR AUTHOR
2ADAR ASTRONOMERS USE A DIFFERENT R
TOTAL RETURN POWER FROM ENTIRE SURFACE
POWER RETURNNED FROM PERFECT ISOTROPICSPHERE OF SAME RADIUS
4HE RESULTING VALUE FOR R IS USUALLY MUCH SMALLER THAN R FOR THE PLANET AT VERTICAL
INCIDENCE AND IS LARGER THAN THE VALUES OF R NEAR GRAZING INCIDENCE RETURN FROM THE
LIMB OF THE PLANET
2ELATIVE )MPORTANCE OF 4HEORY AND %MPIRICISM 4HE THEORY OF RADAR GROUND
RETURN HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF MANY PUBLICATIONS 4HE VARIOUS THEORIES INSOFAR AS
THEY CAN BE CONFIRMED BY EXPERIMENT PROVIDE BASES FOR JUDGING THE EFFECTS OF VARIA
TIONS IN THE DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF THE GROUND OF THE ROUGHNESS OF THE GROUND AND
NATURE OF VEGETATIVE OR SNOW COVER OF RADAR WAVELENGTH AND OF ANGLE OF INCIDENCE
6IEWED AS AIDS TO INSIGHT RADAR GROUND
RETURN THEORIES CAN BE EXTREMELY USEFUL
4HE VALIDITY OF ANY GROUND
RETURN THEORY MUST DEPEND ON THE MATHEMATICAL MODEL
USED TO DESCRIBE THE SURFACE AS WELL AS ON THE APPROXIMATIONS REQUIRED TO OBTAIN
ANSWERS %VEN THE SIMPLEST GROUND SURFACE THE SEA IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO DESCRIBE
ACCURATELY IT IS HOMOGENEOUS TO BEYOND THE SKIN DEPTH CONTAINS RELATIVELY MODEST
SLOPES AND EXCEPT FOR SPRAY HAS NO PART ABOVE ANOTHER PART OF THE SURFACE !T GRAZING
ANGLES SHADOWING OF ONE WAVE BY ANOTHER MIGHT OCCUR ,AND SURFACES ARE MUCH MORE
DIFFICULT TO DESCRIBE )MAGINE AN ADEQUATE MATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE SHAPE OF A
FOREST WHEN EVERY LEAF AND PINE NEEDLE MUST BE DESCRIBED &URTHERMORE LAND SURFACES
ARE SELDOM HOMOGENEOUS EITHER HORIZONTALLY OR WITH DEPTH
3INCE A TRUE MATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUND SURFACE APPEARS OUT OF THE QUES
TION EMPIRICAL MEASUREMENTS ARE NECESSARY TO DESCRIBE THE RADAR RETURN FROM NATURAL
SURFACES 4HE ROLE OF THEORY IS TO AID IN INTERPRETING THESE MEASUREMENTS AND TO SUGGEST
HOW THEY MAY BE EXTRAPOLATED
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!VAILABLE 3CATTERING )NFORMATION 0RIOR TO THE LACK OF COORDINATED
RESEARCH PROGRAMS OVER THE NECESSARY LONG PERIOD RESULTED IN ONLY ONE REALLY USABLE
SET OF MEASUREMENTS DEVELOPED AT /HIO 3TATE 5NIVERSITY 3INCE THAT TIME EXTEN
SIVE MEASUREMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE FROM TRUCKS AND HELICOPTERS BY THE 5NIVERSITY OF
+ANSAS GROUPS IN THE .ETHERLANDS AND SEVERAL GROUPS IN &RANCE 4HESE
MEASUREMENTS CONCENTRATED ESPECIALLY ON VEGETATION WITH THE +ANSAS MEASUREMENTS
ALSO INCLUDING SOME WORK ON SNOW AND EXTENSIVE WORK ON SEA ICE -OST OF THESE MEA
SUREMENTS WERE IN THE TO RANGE OF INCIDENCE ANGLES -EASUREMENTS NEAR VERTI
CAL ARE SCARCER 7ELL
CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTS NEAR GRAZING ARE ALSO SCARCE EXCEPT FOR
A MAJOR ,INCOLN ,ABORATORY PROGRAM
!IRBORNE MEASUREMENTS ARE NECESSARY TO MAKE LARGER SCATTERING AREAS ACCESSIBLE
!LTHOUGH AIRBORNE PROGRAMS FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES HAVE BEEN LEGION CURVES OF SCATTER
ING COEFFICIENT VERSUS ANGLE FOR A KNOWN HOMOGENEOUS AREA ARE SCARCE 4HE WORK AT
THE -)4 2ADIATION ,ABORATORY WAS EARLY 7ORK BY 0HILCO #ORPORATION 'OODYEAR
!EROSPACE #ORPORATION 'ENERAL 0RECISION ,ABORATORY AND THE 53 .AVAL 2ESEARCH
,ABORATORY .2, n PROGRAMS WERE IMPORTANT EARLY ON 4HE #ANADA #ENTRE FOR
2EMOTE 3ENSING ##23 HAS MADE NUMEROUS AIRBORNE AND GROUND
BASED SCATTEROM
ETER MEASUREMENTS ESPECIALLY OVER SEA ICE 4HE %NVIRONMENTAL 2ESEARCH )NSTITUTE
OF -ICHIGAN %2)- ##23 THE %UROPEAN 3PACE !GENCY %3! AND THE
*ET 0ROPULSION ,ABORATORY *0, USED IMAGING SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADARS 3!2S FOR
SOME SCATTERING MEASUREMENTS BUT MOST WERE NOT WELL CALIBRATED 3INCE THE ADVENT
OF SPACEBORNE 3!2S 3)2 ! " AND # %23 AND 2ADARSAT %NVISAT *%23
AND
OTHERS HUNDREDS OF PAPERS HAVE APPEARED DEALING WITH MEASUREMENTS OF SCATTERING
AND RADAR APPLICATIONS -OREOVER THE *0, !)23!2 HAS FLOWN AROUND THE WORLD
AND SEVERAL OTHER AIRBORNE 3!2S FOR REMOTE SENSING HAVE APPEARED IN VARIOUS COUN
TRIES WITH HUNDREDS OF RESULTING PAPERS 4HE READER SHOULD SEARCH THE LITERATURE FOR
THESE RESULTS WHICH ARE FAR TOO NUMEROUS TO REFERENCE HERE -ANY OF THE MORE RECENT
3!2Sn ALSO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON POLARIMETRIC RESPONSES
2ESULTS OF MOST OF THESE MEASUREMENTS ARE SUMMARIZED IN 5LABY -OORE AND
&UNG AND 5LABY AND $OBSON -ORE COMPLETE SUMMARIES OF THE EARLIER WORK AND
NEAR
GRAZING STUDIES ARE IN ,ONG AND IN THE WORK OF "ILLINGSLEY -ANY APPLICA
TION SUMMARIES ARE ALSO IN THE -ANUAL OF 2EMOTE 3ENSING 2EADERS REQUIRING MORE
DETAILED INFORMATION SHOULD CONSULT THESE BOOKS
*,
/
,-
/
,"1 ,
/1,
2ADAR RETURN DEPENDS UPON A COMBINATION OF SYSTEM PARAMETERS AND GROUND PARAMETERS
2ADAR SYSTEM PARAMETERS %QS AND A AND B
7AVELENGTH
0OWER
)LLUMINATED AREA
$IRECTION OF ILLUMINATION BOTH AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION
0OLARIZATION INCLUDING THE FULL POLARIZATION MATRIX WHEN AVAILABLE
'ROUND PARAMETERS
#OMPLEX PERMITTIVITY CONDUCTIVITY AND PERMITTIVITY
2OUGHNESS OF SURFACE
)NHOMOGENEITY OF SUBSURFACE OR COVER TO DEPTH WHERE ATTENUATION REDUCES
WAVES TO NEGLIGIBLE AMPLITUDE
'2/5.$ %#(/
$IFFERENT WAVELENGTHS ARE SENSITIVE TO DIFFERENT ELEMENTS ON THE SURFACE /NE OF THE
EARLIEST KNOWN AND MOST STRIKING DIRECTIONAL EFFECTS IS THE CARDINAL
POINT EFFECT IN RETURNS
FROM CITIES 2ADARS LOOKING IN DIRECTIONS ALIGNED WITH PRIMARY STREET GRIDS OBSERVE STRON
GER REGULAR RETURNS THAN RADARS AT OTHER ANGLES (ORIZONTALLY POLARIZED WAVES ARE REFLECTED
BETTER BY HORIZONTAL WIRES RAILS ETC THAN ARE VERTICALLY POLARIZED WAVES 6ERTICALLY
POLARIZED WAVES ARE REFLECTED BETTER FROM VERTICAL STRUCTURES SUCH AS TREE TRUNKS AT LEAST
WHEN THE WAVELENGTH IS COMPARABLE OR LARGER THAN THE TRUNK DIAMETER
)F THE GEOMETRY OF TWO RADAR TARGETS WERE THE SAME THE RETURNS WOULD BE STRONGER
FROM THE TARGET WITH HIGHER COMPLEX PERMITTIVITY BECAUSE LARGER CURRENTS DISPLACEMENT OR
CONDUCTION WOULD BE INDUCED IN IT "ECAUSE IDENTICAL GEOMETRIES WITH DIFFERING PERMIT
TIVITIES DO NOT OCCUR IN NATURE THIS DISTINCTION IS NOT EASY TO MEASURE %FFECTIVE PERMITTIV
ITY FOR GROUND TARGETS IS VERY STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY MOISTURE CONTENT SINCE THE RELATIVE
PERMITTIVITY OF LIQUID WATER IS FROM ABOUT AT 8 BAND TO ABOUT AT 3 BAND AND LONGER
WAVELENGTHS WHEREAS MOST DRY SOLIDS HAVE PERMITTIVITIES LESS THAN !TTENUATION IS ALSO
STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY MOISTURE SINCE WET MATERIALS USUALLY HAVE HIGHER CONDUCTIVITY
THAN THE SAME MATERIALS DRY &IGURES AND SHOW THE EFFECT OF MOISTURE CONTENT ON
PROPERTIES OF PLANTS AND OF SOIL 4HE HIGH PERMITTIVITY OF PLANTS WITH MUCH MOISTURE MEANS
THAT RADAR RETURN FROM CROPS VARIES AS THE PLANTS MATURE EVEN WHEN GROWTH IS NEGLECTED
&)'52% -EASURED MOISTURE DEPENDENCE OF THE DIELECTRIC
CONSTANT OF CORN LEAVES AT AND '(Z 3 IS THE SALINITY OF WATER
CONTENT IN PARTS PER THOUSAND DV DV JDVp IS THE COMPLEX DIELECTRIC
CONSTANT IN &M AND MV IS THE VOLUMETRIC MOISTURE CONTENT IN KGM
AFTER & 4 5LABY 2 + -OORE AND ! + &UNG
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !PPARENT RELATIVE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT VERSUS
MOISTURE CONTENT 2ICHFIELD SLIT LOAM AFTER * 2 ,UNDIEN
4HE ROUGHNESS OF SURFACES ESPECIALLY NATURAL ONES IS DIFFICULT TO DESCRIBE MATH
EMATICALLY BUT EASY TO UNDERSTAND QUALITATIVELY 4HUS IT IS EASY TO SEE THAT A FRESHLY
PLOWED FIELD IS ROUGHER THAN THE SAME FIELD AFTER RAIN AND WIND HAVE BEEN AT WORK
ON IT ! FOREST IS INHERENTLY ROUGHER THAN EITHER A FIELD OR A CITY )T IS HARDER TO SEE THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ROUGHNESS OF NATURAL AREAS AND THE ROUGHNESS OF A CITY THAT HAS
FLAT WALLS INTERSPERSED WITH WINDOW SILLS AND WITH CURBS CARS AND SIDEWALKS
3URFACES THAT ARE RELATIVELY SMOOTH TEND TO REFLECT RADIO WAVES IN ACCORDANCE WITH
THE &RESNEL
REFLECTION DIRECTION
SO THEY GIVE STRONG BACKSCATTER ONLY WHEN THE LOOK
ANGLE IS NEARLY NORMAL TO THE SURFACES 2OUGH SURFACES ON THE OTHER HAND TEND TO
RERADIATE NEARLY UNIFORMLY IN ALL DIRECTIONS AND SO THEY GIVE RELATIVELY STRONG RADAR
RETURNS IN ANY DIRECTION
4HE PROBLEM OF RADAR SCATTER IS COMPLICATED BECAUSE WAVES PENETRATE SIGNIFICANT
DISTANCES INTO MANY SURFACES AND VEGETATION CANOPIES AND INTERNAL REFLECTION AND SCATTER
CONTRIBUTE TO THE RETURN -EASUREMENTS OF ATTENUATION FOR FIELD CROPS AND GRASSES
SHOW THAT MOST OF THE RETURN IS FROM THE UPPER LAYERS WITH SOME CONTRIBUTION BY THE SOIL
AND LOWER LAYERS IF THE VEGETATION IS NOT VERY DENSE !T # BAND AND HIGHER FREQUENCIES
MOST OF THE SIGNAL RETURNED FROM TREES IS USUALLY FROM THE UPPER AND MIDDLE BRANCHES
WHEN THE TREES ARE IN LEAF n ALTHOUGH IN WINTER THE SURFACE IS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO
THE SIGNAL !T , BAND AND ESPECIALLY AT 6(& THE SIGNAL PENETRATES FARTHER SO TRUNKS AND
THE GROUND CAN BE MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS EVEN WHEN THE TREES ARE LEAFED OUT
!DDITIONAL PROBLEMS OCCUR NEAR GRAZING INCIDENCE "ECAUSE OF THE LOW ANGLE
WITH THE SURFACE SHADOWING FREQUENTLY OCCURSSOME PARTS OF THE TARGET ARE OBSCURED
BY INTERVENING PROJECTIONS SUCH AS HILLS AND BUILDINGS 0ARTS OF THE AREA THAT ARE SOME
WHAT ELEVATED HAVE THE SIGNAL MODIFIED BY THE EFFECT OF MULTIPATH INTERFERENCE BETWEEN
!NGLE OF REFLECTION EQUALS ANGLE OF INCIDENCE
'2/5.$ %#(/
THE DIRECT RAY AND ONE REFLECTED OFF THE GROUND 3INCE THE SCATTERING FROM RELATIVELY
LEVEL SURFACES IS VERY SMALL ANY PROJECTION MAY GIVE A RETURN MUCH STRONGER THAN THE
BACKGROUND THEREBY SKEWING THE STATISTICS SO A 2AYLEIGH DISTRIBUTION NO LONGER APPLIES
TO THE AVERAGE SIGNAL /BJECTS SUCH AS TREES BUILDINGS FENCE POSTS AND POWER LINES
GIVE LOCALIZED ECHOES STRONG RELATIVE TO THEIR SURROUNDINGS
-OREOVER THE SIGNAL FROM SURFACES WITHOUT PROJECTIONS FALLS OFF VERY RAPIDLY
FOR DEPRESSION ANGLES WITHIN A FEW DEGREES OF GRAZING 4HIS MEANS THAT THE EFFECT
OF SMALL LOCAL SLOPES CAN BE VERY SIGNIFICANT IN MODULATING THE RETURN SIGNAL NOT
JUST IN SHADOWING
/
",
/
"
-
/
, //" $ESCRIPTIONS OF A 3URFACE -ANY THEORETICAL MODELS FOR RADAR RETURN FROM THE
GROUND ASSUME A ROUGH BOUNDARY SURFACE BETWEEN AIR AND AN INFINITE HOMOGENEOUS
HALF SPACE 3OME INCLUDE EITHER VERTICAL OR HORIZONTAL HOMOGENEITIES IN THE GROUND
PROPERTIES AND IN VEGETATIVE OR SNOW COVERS
3URFACE DESCRIPTIONS SUITABLE FOR USE IN MATHEMATICAL MODELS ARE NECESSARILY GREATLY
IDEALIZED &EW NATURAL GROUNDS ARE TRULY HOMOGENEOUS IN COMPOSITION OVER VERY WIDE
AREAS $ESCRIPTIONS OF THEIR DETAILED SHAPE MUST BE SIMPLIFIED IF THEY ARE TO BE HANDLED
ANALYTICALLY ALTHOUGH COMPUTERS PERMIT THE USE OF TRUE DESCRIPTIONS 6ERY FEW SUR
FACES HAVE EVER BEEN MEASURED TO THE PRECISION APPROPRIATE FOR CENTIMETER
WAVELENGTH
RADARS EVEN FOR THESE THERE IS NO ASSURANCE THAT SCATTERING BOUNDARIES DO NOT EXIST
WITHIN A SKIN DEPTH BENEATH THE SURFACE 3URFACES CONTAINING VEGETATION AND CONGLOM
ERATE ROCKS ALMOST COMPLETELY DEFY DESCRIPTION
3TATISTICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF SURFACES ARE USED FOR MOST THEORIES SINCE A THEORY SHOULD
BE REPRESENTATIVE OF SOME KIND OF SURFACE CLASS RATHER THAN OF A PARTICULAR SURFACE
AND SINCE EXACT DESCRIPTION IS SO DIFFICULT 4HE STATISTICAL DESCRIPTIONS THEMSELVES MUST
BE OVERSIMPLIFIED HOWEVER -ANY THEORIES ASSUME ISOTROPIC STATISTICS CERTAINLY NOT
APPROPRIATE FOR PLOWED FIELDS OR GRIDDED CITIES -OST THEORIES ASSUME SOME KIND OF
MODEL INVOLVING ONLY TWO OR THREE PARAMETERS STANDARD DEVIATION MEAN SLOPE CORRELA
TION DISTANCE ETC WHEREAS NATURAL OR HUMAN
MADE SURFACES SELDOM ARE SO SIMPLY
DESCRIBED 4HE THEORIES FOR VEGETATION AND OTHER VOLUME SCATTERS HAVE MORE PARAMETERS
&OR NEAR
GRAZING CONDITIONS THE MODELS MUST ACCOUNT FOR SHADOWING
3IMPLIFIED -ODELS %ARLY RADAR THEORIES FOR GROUND RETURN ASSUMED AS IN OPTICS
THAT MANY TARGETS COULD BE DESCRIBED BY A ,AMBERT
LAW VARIATION OF INTENSITY THAT IS
THE DIFFERENTIAL SCATTERING COEFFICIENT VARIES AS COSP WITH P BEING THE ANGLE OF INCI
DENCE 4HIS hPERFECTLY ROUGHv ASSUMPTION WAS SOON FOUND WANTING ALTHOUGH IT IS A
FAIR APPROXIMATION FOR THE RETURN FROM MANY VEGETATED SURFACES OVER THE MIDRANGE OF
ANGLES OF INCIDENCE
#LAPP DESCRIBED THREE MODELS INVOLVING ASSEMBLIES OF SPHERES WITH DIFFERENT
SPACINGS AND EITHER WITH OR WITHOUT A REFLECTING GROUND PLANE 4HESE MODELS YIELD
VARIATIONS FROM R INDEPENDENT OF ANGLE THROUGH R s COS P TO R s COS P 3INCE
THE SPHERE MODELS ARE HIGHLY ARTIFICIAL ONLY THE RESULTING SCATTER LAWS NEED BE CONSID
ERED -OST TARGETS GIVE RETURNS THAT VARY MORE RAPIDLY OVER PART OF THE INCIDENCE
ANGLE
REGIME THAN THESE MODELS ALTHOUGH FORESTS AND SIMILAR ROUGH TARGETS OF SOME DEPTH
SOMETIMES GIVE SUCH SLOWLY VARYING RETURNS
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3INCE THESE ROUGH
SURFACE MODELS USUALLY FAIL TO EXPLAIN THE RISE IN RETURN NEAR
VERTICAL INCIDENCE OTHER SIMPLIFIED MODELS COMBINE ,AMBERTS LAW AND OTHER ROUGH
SURFACE SCATTERING MODELS WITH SPECULAR REFLECTION AT VERTICAL INCIDENCE AND A SMOOTH
CURVE IS DRAWN BETWEEN THE SPECULAR VALUE AND THE ROUGH
SURFACE PREDICTION
3PECULAR REFLECTION IS DEFINED AS REFLECTION FROM A SMOOTH PLANE AND OBEYS THE
&RESNEL REFLECTION LAWS !T NORMAL INCIDENCE THE SPECULAR
REFLECTION COEFFICIENT IS
THEREFORE
'2
HG
H
HG H
WHERE G AND GG ARE THE INTRINSIC IMPEDANCES OF AIR AND EARTH RESPECTIVELY 4HE FRACTION
OF TOTAL INCIDENT POWER SPECULARLY REFLECTED FROM A ROUGH SURFACE IS
E
PS H L
WHERE RH STANDARD DEVIATION OF SURFACE HEIGHT VARIATIONS AND
K WAVELENGTH
3INCE THIS PROPORTION IS DOWN TO WHEN RH K O AND TO WHEN
S H L P SIGNIFICANT SPECULAR REFLECTION IS SELDOM FOUND FOR THE CENTIMETER
WAVELENGTHS GENERALLY USED FOR RADAR .EVERTHELESS A SIMPLIFIED MODEL LIKE THIS IS
CONVENIENT FOR SOME PURPOSES
/BSERVATION OF REFLECTED SUNLIGHT FROM RIPPLED WATER FROM ROADS AND FROM OTHER
SMOOTH SURFACES LEADS TO THE POSTULATION OF A FACET THEORY 4HE ONLY SUNLIGHT REACH
ING THE OBSERVER FROM SMOOTH SURFACES SUCH AS WATER IS THAT FROM FACETS FOR WHICH ANGLE
OF INCIDENCE EQUALS ANGLE OF REFLECTION 4HUS THE OBSERVED LIGHT MAY BE DESCRIBED BY
METHODS OF GEOMETRIC OPTICS
7HEN GEOMETRIC OPTICS IS USED TO DESCRIBE RADAR SCATTER THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND
IS REPRESENTED BY SMALL FLAT PLANE SEGMENTS 2ADAR RETURN IS ASSUMED TO OCCUR ONLY FOR
FACETS ORIENTED NORMAL TO THE RADAR NORMAL ORIENTATION IS REQUIRED FOR BACKSCATTER SO THAT
THE REFLECTED WAVE RETURNS TO THE SOURCE 4HUS IF THE SLOPE DISTRIBUTION OF SUCH FACETS IS
KNOWN THE FRACTION NORMAL TO A GIVEN DIVERGING BEAM CAN BE ESTABLISHED AND FROM THIS
THE RETURN CAN BE OBTAINED 'EOMETRIC OPTICS ASSUMES ZERO WAVELENGTH AND SO THE RESULTS
OF SUCH A THEORY ARE WAVELENGTH INDEPENDENT CLEARLY NOT IN ACCORD WITH OBSERVATION
4HE FACET MODEL FOR RADAR RETURN IS EXTREMELY USEFUL FOR QUALITATIVE DISCUSSIONS
AND SO MODIFICATION TO MAKE IT FIT BETTER WITH OBSERVATION IS APPROPRIATE 4WO KINDS
OF MODIFICATION MAY BE USED SEPARATELY OR JOINTLY CONSIDERING THE ACTUAL RERADIATION
PATTERN OF FINITE SIZE FACETS AT FINITE WAVELENGTHS AND CONSIDERING THE EFFECT OF WAVE
LENGTH ON ESTABLISHING THE EFFECTIVE NUMBER OF FACETS 4HUS THE SCATTER FROM A FACET
MAY ACTUALLY OCCUR IN DIRECTIONS OTHER THAN THAT REQUIRING THAT ANGLE OF INCIDENCE EQUAL
ANGLE OF REFLECTION &IGURE ILLUSTRATES THIS &OR LARGE FACETS COMPARED WITH WAVE
LENGTH MOST OF THE RETURN OCCURS ALMOST AT NORMAL INCIDENCE WHEREAS FOR SMALL FACETS
THE ORIENTATION MAY BE OFF NORMAL BY A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT WITHOUT GREAT REDUCTION
IN SCATTER !S THE WAVELENGTH IS INCREASED THE CATEGORY OF A GIVEN FACET CHANGES FROM
LARGE TO SMALL EVENTUALLY THE FACET IS SMALLER THAN A WAVELENGTH AND ITS RERADIATION
PATTERN SHAPE REMAINS ALMOST ISOTROPIC FROM THAT POINT -ANY FACETS THAT WOULD BE
SEPARATE AT SAY A CM WAVELENGTH ARE COMBINED AT A M WAVELENGTH THE RESULT MAY
BE A TRANSITION FROM ROUGH TO SMOOTH SURFACE BEHAVIOR &IGURE A SHOWS A NUMBER
OF FACETS OF DIFFERENT SIZES CONTRIBUTING TO A RADAR RETURN
'2/5.$ %#(/
&)'52% .ORMAL INCIDENCE RERADIATION PATTERNS OF FACETS
0HYSICAL /PTICS -ODELS 4HEORIES BASED ON APPLICATIONS OF THE +IRCHHOFF
(UYGENS PRINCIPLE HAVE BEEN THOROUGHLY DEVELOPED n 4HE +IRCHHOFF APPROXI
MATION IS THAT THE CURRENT FLOWING AT EACH POINT IN A LOCALLY CURVED OR ROUGH SURFACE
IS THE SAME AS WOULD FLOW IN THE SAME SURFACE IF IT WERE FLAT AND ORIENTED TANGENT TO THE
ACTUAL SURFACE 4HIS ASSUMPTION PERMITS CONSTRUCTION OF SCATTERED FIELDS BY ASSUMING
THAT THE CURRENT OVER A ROUGH PLANE SURFACE HAS THE SAME MAGNITUDE AS IF THE SURFACE
WERE SMOOTH BUT WITH PHASE PERTURBATIONS SET BY THE DIFFERING DISTANCES OF INDIVIDUAL
&)'52% A &ACET MODEL OF A RADAR RETURN
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
POINTS FROM THE MEAN PLANE &OR SURFACES ASSUMED TO BE AZIMUTHALLY ISOTROPIC THE
USUAL APPROACH YIELDS INTEGRALS OF THE FORM
E
KS H COSQ ;
R X =* KX COSQ X DX
COS Q
WHERE QX
P
RH
K
*
SPATIAL AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION OF SURFACE HEIGHTS
ANGLE WITH VERTICAL
STANDARD DEVIATION OF SURFACE HEIGHTS
O K
FIRST
ORDER FIRST
KIND "ESSEL FUNCTION
4HE AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION OF HEIGHT WITH DISTANCE IS SELDOM KNOWN FOR TERRAIN
ALTHOUGH IT CAN BE DETERMINED ON A LARGE SCALE BY ANALYSIS OF CONTOUR MAPS AND IT
HAS BEEN FOUND FOR SOME AREAS BY CAREFUL CONTOURING AT CLOSE INTERVALS AND SUBSEQUENT
ANALYSIS "ECAUSE OF LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF ACTUAL AUTOCORRELATIONS MOST THEORY HAS
BEEN DEVELOPED WITH ARTIFICIAL FUNCTIONS THAT ARE CHOSEN MORE FOR THEIR INTEGRABILITY
THAN FOR THEIR FIT WITH NATURE SELECTION AMONG THEM HAS BEEN ON THE BASIS OF WHICH ONES
YIELD THE BEST FIT BETWEEN THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL SCATTER CURVES
4HE CORRELATION FUNCTION FIRST USED WAS GAUSSIAN
QX E X ,
WHERE , IS THE CORRELATION LENGTH .OT ONLY IS THIS A FUNCTION THAT MAKES THE INTEGRAL
ANALYTICALLY TRACTABLE BUT IT ALSO GIVES EXACTLY THE SAME RESULTS AS GEOMETRIC OPTICS
3INCE IT FAILS LIKE GEOMETRIC OPTICS TO EXPLAIN FREQUENCY VARIATION IT CANNOT BE A TRULY
REPRESENTATIVE CORRELATION FUNCTION ALTHOUGH IT GIVES A SCATTERING CURVE THAT FITS SEVERAL
EXPERIMENTAL CURVES NEAR THE VERTICAL 4HE NEXT MOST FREQUENTLY USED FUNCTION IS THE
EXPONENTIAL
RX E \X\ ,
4HIS HAS SOME BASIS IN CONTOUR
MAP ANALYSIS THE RESULTS FIT BOTH %ARTH AND LUNAR
RADAR RETURN OVER A WIDER RANGE OF ANGLES THAN THE GAUSSIAN BUT SOMETIMES NOT
AS WELL NEAR VERTICAL &URTHERMORE IT HAS THE MERIT THAT IT EXHIBITS FREQUENCY DEPEN
DENCE 2ESULTING EXPRESSIONS FOR POWER SCATTERING COEFFICIENT VARIATIONS APPEAR IN
4ABLE
4!",% 3CATTERING #OEFFICIENT 6ARIATION
#ORRELATION COEFFICIENT
E X
,
E \X\ ,
0OWER %XPRESSION
2EFERENCE
+
, S H TAN Q
E
SIN Q
$AVIES
+Q
SIN Q
!
COS Q
COS Q SIN Q
6ORONOVICH
'2/5.$ %#(/
3MALL 0ERTURBATION AND 4WO 3CALE -ODELS 2ECOGNITION THAT EXISTING MODELS
WERE INADEQUATE FOR DESCRIBING OCEAN SCATTER LED TO RECOGNITION THAT RESONANCE OF THE
SIGNAL WITH SMALL STRUCTURES ON THE SURFACE HAS A POWERFUL INFLUENCE ON THE STRENGTH
OF THE SIGNAL RECEIVED 4HUS A SMALL PERTURBATION METHOD ORIGINALLY PROPOSED BY
2ICE BECAME THE MOST POPULAR WAY TO DESCRIBE OCEAN SCATTER )TS APPLICATION TO LAND
SCATTER WAS NOT FAR BEHIND
4HE TERM "RAGG SCATTER IS OFTEN USED TO DESCRIBE THE MECHANISM FOR THE SMALL
PERTURBATION MODEL 4HE IDEA COMES FROM THE CONCEPT ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE B
! SINGLE SINUSOIDAL COMPONENT OF A COMPLEX SURFACE IS SHOWN WITH AN INCOMING
RADAR WAVE AT ANGLE OF INCIDENCE P 4HE RADAR WAVELENGTH IS K AND THE SURFACE
COMPONENT WAVELENGTH IS , 7HEN THE SIGNAL TRAVELS AN EXTRA DISTANCE K $2
BETWEEN THE SOURCE AND TWO SUCCESSIVE WAVE CRESTS THE PHASE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THE ECHOES FROM SUCCESSIVE CRESTS IS SO THE ECHO SIGNALS ALL ADD IN PHASE )F
THIS CONDITION IS SATISFIED FOR A PARTICULAR , AND P IT FAILS TO BE SATISFIED FOR OTHERS
4HUS THIS IS A RESONANT SELECTION FOR A GIVEN P OF A PARTICULAR COMPONENT OF THE
SURFACE , 4HE STRENGTH OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE HEIGHT OF THIS
COMPONENT AND TO THE NUMBER OF CRESTS ILLUMINATED BY THE RADAR )F THE SURFACE HAS
AN UNDERLYING CURVATURE THE NUMBER OF ILLUMINATED CRESTS SATISFYING THE RESONANCE
CRITERION MAY BE LIMITED BY THE LENGTH OF THE ESSENTIALLY FLAT REGION OTHERWISE IT IS
LIMITED BY THE RADAR RESOLUTION
4HE THEORETICAL EXPRESSION FOR THE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT IS
S PQ
K S COS Q \ A PQ \ 7 K SIN Q
WHERE P Q POLARIZATION INDICES ( OR 6
K O K THE RADAR WAVENUMBER
@(( 2 &RESNEL REFLECTION COEFFICIENT FOR HORIZONTAL POLARIZATION
A 66 E R
SIN Q
E R SIN Q
;E R COSQ E R
SIN Q =
WHERE DR IS THE RELATIVE PERMITTIVITY D ` JD p AND @6( @(6 7K SIN P IS THE
NORMALIZED ROUGHNESS SPECTRUM THE &OURIER TRANSFORM OF THE SURFACE AUTOCORRELATION
FUNCTION )T MAY BE WRITTEN AS 7+ WHERE + IS THE WAVENUMBER FOR THE SURFACE
)N TERMS OF THE WAVELENGTH ON THE SURFACE ,
+ O,
&)'52% B )N PHASE ADDITION FOR "RAGG SCATTERING $2 NK
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HUS THE COMPONENT OF THE SURFACE THAT SATISFIES THE "RAGG RESONANCE CONDITION IS
, K SIN P
4HIS MEANS THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTOR TO A SURFACE RETURN IS THE COMPONENT OF
SURFACE ROUGHNESS WITH WAVELENGTH , %VEN THOUGH OTHER COMPONENTS MAY BE MUCH
LARGER THE "RAGG RESONANCE MAKES THIS COMPONENT MORE IMPORTANT /N THE OCEAN THIS
MEANS THAT TINY RIPPLES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN WAVES THAT ARE METERS HIGH THE SAME
APPLIES FOR LAND
SURFACE SCATTER
!S ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED THIS THEORY WAS FOR PERTURBATIONS TO HORIZONTAL FLAT SUR
FACES BUT IT WAS SOON MODIFIED TO HANDLE SURFACES WITH LARGE
SCALE ROUGHNESS 4HE
LARGE
SCALE ROUGHNESS WAS ASSUMED TO CAUSE A TILTING OF THE FLAT SURFACE TO WHICH THE
SMALL
PERTURBATION THEORY COULD BE APPLIED 4HE PRINCIPAL PROBLEM WITH THIS APPROACH
IS DECIDING WHERE IN THE SURFACE SPECTRUM LIES THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN THE LARGER COMPO
NENTS THAT DO THE TILTING AND SMALLER COMPONENTS THAT ARE "RAGG
RESONANT -ANY PAPERS
HAVE BEEN WRITTEN TO DESCRIBE THE EVOLUTION OF THIS THEORY FOR A COMPLETE SUMMARY THE
READER IS REFERRED TO &UNGS DEVELOPMENT
/THER -ODELS 4HE THEORY FOR VOLUME SCATTER HAS LED TO MANY PAPERS AND CON
TINUES TO EVOLVE &OR A REVIEW OF SOME OF THE APPROACHES THE READER SHOULD CONSULT
&UNGS SUMMARY AND PAPERS BY +ONG ,ANG &UNG AND 4SANG 4HESE MODELS HAVE
BEEN USED REASONABLY SUCCESSFULLY TO DESCRIBE SCATTER FROM VEGETATION SNOW AND
SEA ICE -ODELS OF STRAIGHT VEGETATION SUCH AS WHEAT IN TERMS OF CYLINDERS HAVE HAD
SOME SUCCESS #ORNER
REFLECTOR EFFECTS HAVE BEEN USED TO DESCRIBE STRONG RETURNS
FROM BUILDINGS AT NON
NORMAL INCIDENCE ANGLES /THER SPECIALIZED MODELS HAVE
BEEN USED FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSES
,ATER THEORETICAL WORK FOR SURFACES INVOLVES SOLVING INTEGRAL EQUATIONS FOR THE SCAT
TERED FIELDS 4HIS HAS BEEN USED BOTH TO VALIDATE OTHER MODELS AND TO BETTER DESCRIBE
THE TRUE SCATTERING FROM A KNOWN ROUGH SURFACE 4HIS METHOD TENDS TO BE COMPUTATION
ALLY EXTENSIVE .UMERICAL SCATTERING COMPUTATIONS ARE ALSO IN VOGUE
2EGARDLESS OF THE MODEL USED AND THE APPROACH APPLIED TO DETERMINING THE FIELD
STRENGTH THEORETICAL WORK ONLY GUIDES UNDERSTANDING !CTUAL %ARTH SURFACES ARE TOO COM
PLEX TO BE DESCRIBED ADEQUATELY IN ANY OF THE MODELS AND THE EFFECTS OF SIGNALS THAT PEN
ETRATE THE GROUND AND ARE SCATTERED THEREIN ARE TOO LITTLE KNOWN TO PERMIT ITS EVALUATION
{ ","1
"
4HE AMPLITUDE OF GROUND ECHOES RECEIVED BY RADARS ON MOVING VEHICLES FLUCTUATES
WIDELY BECAUSE OF VARIATIONS IN PHASE SHIFT FOR RETURN FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE ILLUMI
NATED AREA )N FACT EVEN FIXED RADARS FREQUENTLY OBSERVE FLUCTUATIONS IN GROUND ECHOES
BECAUSE OF MOTIONS OF VEGETATION WIRES BLOWING IN THE WIND ETC 4HIS FLUCTUATION IS
REFERRED TO AS FADING
&ADING IS SIGNIFICANT FOR THE RADAR ENGINEER BECAUSE ONE MUST ACCOUNT FOR THE FACT
THAT A SINGLE SAMPLE OF THE RADAR RETURN MAY VARY WIDELY FROM THE MEAN DESCRIBED BY
R 4HUS THE SYSTEM MUST BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF FADING WHICH MAY
EXCEED D"
2EGARDLESS OF THE MODEL USED TO DESCRIBE A GROUND SURFACE SIGNALS ARE IN FACT
RETURNED FROM DIFFERENT POSITIONS NOT ON A PLANE !S A RADAR MOVES PAST A PATCH OF GROUND
'2/5.$ %#(/
WHILE ILLUMINATING IT THE LOOK ANGLE CHANGES AND THIS CHANGES THE RELATIVE DISTANCES TO
DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE SURFACE THE RESULT IS THAT RELATIVE PHASE SHIFT IS CHANGED 4HIS IS THE
SAME KIND OF RELATIVE PHASE SHIFT CHANGE WITH DIRECTION THAT IS PRESENT FOR AN ANTENNA
ARRAY AND RESULTS IN THE ANTENNA PATTERN &OR GROUND ECHO THE DISTANCE IS DOUBLED SO THE
PATTERN OF AN ECHOING PATCH OF LENGTH , HAS LOBES OF WIDTH K, 4HIS COMPARES WITH K,
FOR AN ANTENNA OF THE SAME CROSS RANGE LENGTH "ECAUSE THE EXCITATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF
THE SCATTERING ARRAY IS RANDOM THE SCATTERING PATTERN IN SPACE IS ALSO RANDOM
4HIS FADING PHENOMENON IS USUALLY DESCRIBED IN TERMS OF THE DOPPLER SHIFT OF THE
SIGNAL 3INCE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE TARGET ARE AT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ANGLES THE SIGNALS
FROM THEM EXPERIENCE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT DOPPLER SHIFTS 4HE DOPPLER SHIFT OF COURSE
IS SIMPLY THE RATE OF CHANGE OF PHASE DUE TO MOTION 4HUS THE TOTAL RATE OF CHANGE OF
PHASE FOR A GIVEN TARGET IS
W W C W DI
DFI D
W CT
K2I
DT
DT
WHERE VC CARRIER ANGULAR FREQUENCY
VDI DOPPLER ANGULAR FREQUENCY FOR ITH TARGET
EI PHASE FOR ITH TARGET
2I RANGE FROM RADAR TO ITH TARGET
4HE DOPPLER SHIFT CAN BE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE VELOCITY VECTOR V AS
W DI K
D2I
2
KV I
KV COS V 2 I
DT
2I
WHERE BOLD FACED LETTERS ARE VECTORS (ENCE THE TOTAL FIELD IS GIVEN BY
T
2
% !I EXP J W C T
K V I DT
K2I
2I
I
WHERE !I IS THE FIELD AMPLITUDE OF THE ITH SCATTERER AND 2I IS THE RANGE AT TIME ZERO
4HE ONLY REASON THE SCALAR PRODUCT VARIES FOR DIFFERENT SCATTERERS IS THE DIFFERENT
ANGLE BETWEEN THE VELOCITY VECTOR AND THE DIRECTION TO THE SCATTERER 4HIS RESULTS IN A
SEPARATE DOPPLER FREQUENCY FOR EACH SCATTERER )F WE ASSUME THE LOCATIONS TO BE RANDOM
AS MOST THEORIES DO THE RECEIVED SIGNAL IS THE SAME AS ONE COMING FROM A SET OF OSCIL
LATORS WITH RANDOM PHASES AND UNRELATED FREQUENCIES 4HIS SAME MODEL OF A GROUP OF
RANDOMLY PHASED DIFFERENT
FREQUENCY OSCILLATORS IS USED TO DESCRIBE NOISE THUS THE
STATISTICS OF THE FADING SIGNAL AND THE STATISTICS OF RANDOM NOISE ARE THE SAME
4HIS MEANS THAT THE ENVELOPE OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL IS A RANDOM VARIABLE WITH ITS
AMPLITUDE DESCRIBED BY A 2AYLEIGH DISTRIBUTION 3UCH DISTRIBUTIONS HAVE BEEN MEA
SURED FOR MANY GROUND
TARGET ECHOES !LTHOUGH THE ACTUAL DISTRIBUTIONS VARY WIDELY
NO BETTER DESCRIPTION CAN BE GIVEN FOR RELATIVELY HOMOGENEOUS TARGETS 7ITH A 2AYLEIGH
DISTRIBUTION THE RANGE OF FADING IS ABOUT D" SO AN INDIVIDUAL PULSE RETURN MAY
BE ANYWHERE IN THIS RANGE
7HEN A TARGET IS DOMINATED BY ONE LARGE ECHO SUCH AS A METAL ROOF ORIENTED TO GIVE
A STRONG RETURN THE DISTRIBUTION IS BETTER DESCRIBED BY THAT FOR A SINE WAVE IN NOISE
)F THE LARGE ECHO IS CONSIDERABLY STRONGER THAN THE MEAN OF THE REMAINING CONTRIBUTORS
TO THE RETURN THIS APPROACHES A NORMAL DISTRIBUTION ABOUT THE VALUE FOR THE LARGE ECHO
4HIS SITUATION IS PARTICULARLY COMMON FOR NEAR
GRAZING CONDITIONS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&OR REFERENCE THE TWO DISTRIBUTIONS ARE GIVEN
P V DV
V
V Y
E
DV
Y
2AYLEIGH
P V DV
V
V A Y AV
E
)
Y
Y
SINE WAVE 2AYLEIGH
WHERE V ENVELOPE VOLTAGE
X MEAN SQUARE VOLTAGE
! SINE
WAVE PEAK VOLTAGE
)X "ESSEL FUNCTION FIRST KIND ZERO ORDER IMAGINARY ARGUMENT
)N PRACTICE THE DISTRIBUTION FROM LARGE TARGETS MAY BE MORE COMPLICATED THAN EITHER
OF THE SIMPLE MODELS DESCRIBED )NDEED PARTICULARLY NEAR GRAZING INCIDENCE THE SIGNAL
IS OFTEN DESCRIBED BY A + A 7EIBULL OR A LOG
NORMAL DISTRIBUTIONn 4HESE DISTRIBU
TIONS ARE MORE OFTEN USED TO DESCRIBE THE VARIATIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT RETURNS FROM AN
AREA RATHER THAN FADING 4HEY MAY BE THOUGHT OF AS DESCRIBING WHAT HAPPENS WHEN
THE AREA CONTAINS DIFFERENT R S AND THE DISTRIBUTION FOR EACH IS 2AYLEIGH "ECAUSE
OF THIS THE RANGE OF VARIABILITY MAY BE EVEN GREATER THAN THE D" FOR A 2AYLEIGH
DISTRIBUTION
&ADING
2ATE #OMPUTATIONS $OPPLER FREQUENCY CALCULATION IS THE EASIEST WAY
TO FIND FADING RATES 4O COMPUTE THE SIGNAL AMPLITUDE RETURNED WITH A PARTICULAR RANGE
OF DOPPLER SHIFTS ALL SIGNALS HAVING SUCH SHIFTS MUST BE SUMMED 4HIS REQUIRES KNOW
ING THE CONTOURS OF CONSTANT DOPPLER SHIFT ISODOPS ON THE SCATTERING SURFACE 4HESE
CONTOURS MUST BE ESTABLISHED FOR EACH PARTICULAR GEOMETRIC ARRANGEMENT ! SIMPLE
EXAMPLE IS PRESENTED HERE HORIZONTAL MOTION OVER A PLANE EARTH 4HIS IS TYPICAL OF AN
AIRCRAFT IN ORDINARY CRUISING FLIGHT
#ONSIDER TRAVEL IN THE Y DIRECTION WITH Z VERTICAL AND THE ALTITUDE FIXED Z H
4HEN
V Y V
2 X X Y Y
Z H
WHERE X Y Z ARE UNIT VECTORS (ENCE
VR V
2
2
VY
X Y H
WHERE VR IS THE RELATIVE SPEED #URVES OF CONSTANT RELATIVE SPEED ARE ALSO CURVES OF
CONSTANT DOPPLER SHIFT 4HE EQUATION OF SUCH A CURVE IS
X Y
V
VR
H
VR
4HIS IS A HYPERBOLA 4HE LIMITING CURVE FOR ZERO RELATIVE SPEED IS A STRAIGHT LINE
PERPENDICULAR TO THE VELOCITY VECTOR &IGURE SHOWS SUCH A SET OF CONSTANT
DOPPLER
SHIFT CONTOURS
'2/5.$ %#(/
&)'52% #ONTOURS OF CONSTANT DOPPLER
FREQUENCY SHIFT ON A PLANE EARTH DUE TO HORIZONTAL
MOTION
4HE SPECTRUM OF FADING CAN BE CALCULATED BY A SLIGHT REARRANGEMENT OF THE RADAR
EQUATION %Q 4HUS IF 7R FD IS THE POWER RECEIVED BETWEEN FREQUENCIES FD AND
FD DFD THE RADAR EQUATION BECOMES
7R FD DFD
P
AREAA
)LLUMINATED
BETWEEN F AND F DF
D
DFD
0'
T T !R S D!
2
P
0'
T T !R S
2
D!
DF
D
4HIS IS AN INTEGRAL IN WHICH THE AREA ELEMENT BETWEEN FD AND FD DFD IS EXPRESSED
IN TERMS OF COORDINATES ALONG AND NORMAL TO THE ISODOPS 3UCH COORDINATES MUST BE
ESTABLISHED FOR EACH PARTICULAR CASE
&IGURE SHOWS THE GEOMETRY FOR HORIZONTAL TRAVEL 4HE COORDINATE W IS ALONG THE
ISODOP AND G IS NORMAL TO IT 7E CAN EXPRESS %Q IN TERMS OF THESE COORDINATES AS
7R FD
DH L
DFD P
0'
S DX
T
2
STRIPP
.OTE THAT 0T THE TRANSMITTED POWER IS NON
ZERO IN THE INTEGRAL ONLY FOR THE TIME IT ILLU
MINATES THE GROUND )N PULSE RADARS ONLY THAT
PART OF THE GROUND AREA PROVIDING SIGNALS BACK
TO THE RADAR AT A PARTICULAR TIME CAN BE CON
SIDERED TO HAVE FINITE 0T AND SO THE RANGE OF
FREQUENCIES THAT CAN BE PRESENT IS LIMITED BY
THE PULSE AS WELL AS BY THE ANTENNAS AND THE
MAXIMUM VELOCITY
!NOTHER EXAMPLE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HIS IS THE SMALL ILLUMINATED AREA FOR A NARROW
BEAM SHORT PULSE SYSTEM WITH THE ANTENNA
POINTED STRAIGHT AHEAD (ERE WE CAN MAKE
LINEAR APPROXIMATIONS WITHOUT TOO MUCH ERROR
&)'52% 'EOMETRY OF COMPLEX FADING
CALCULATIONS AFTER & 4 5LABY 2 + -OORE AND
! + &UNG
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 'EOMETRY OF DOPPLER SHIFT CALCULA
TIONS FOR AN AIRBORNE SEARCH RADAR
! PULSE OF LENGTH S IS TRANSMITTED FROM AN ANTENNA OF BEAMWIDTH E 7E MAY SIMPLIFY
THE PROBLEM BY ASSUMING A RECTANGULAR ILLUMINATED AREA 2E CS SIN P &URTHERMORE
THE CURVATURE OF THE ISODOPS MAY BE NEGLECTED SO THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY IS ASSUMED TO
BE THE SAME FOR ALL MAXIMUM
RANGE POINTS AND THE SAME FOR ALL MINIMUM
RANGE POINTS
7ITH THIS ASSUMPTION
FD MAX
FD MIN
V
SIN Q MAX
L
V
SIN Q MIN
L
4HUS THE TOTAL WIDTH OF THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM IS
$ FD
V
SIN Q MAX
SIN Q MIN
L
&OR SHORT PULSES AND ANGLES AWAY FROM VERTICAL THIS IS
$ FD y
V
$Q COSQ
L
)N TERMS OF PULSE LENGTH IT BECOMES
VCT COS Q
HL SIN Q
)F THE ANGULAR DIFFERENCE ACROSS THE ILLUMINATED RECTANGLE IS SMALL ENOUGH SO THAT R
IS ESSENTIALLY CONSTANT THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM IS A RECTANGLE FROM FMIN TO FMAX
$ FD
'2/5.$ %#(/
)N PRACTICE ANTENNA BEAMS ARE NOT RECTANGULAR 4HE RESULT IS THAT THE DOPPLER SPEC
TRUM FOR A SIDE
LOOKING RADAR LIKE THAT SHOWN IN THE EXAMPLE IS NOT RECTANGULAR BUT
RATHER HAS THE SHAPE OF THE ANTENNA ALONG
TRACK PATTERN 4HUS IF THE ANTENNA PATTERN IN
THE ALONG
TRACK DIRECTION IS ' ' A WITH A THE ANGLE OFF THE BEAM CENTER WE CAN
EXPRESS A IN TERMS OF THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY FD AS
A FD KV
AND THE SPECTRUM IS
7 FD
L 0TS RX L FD
'
P 2
V
WHERE RX IS THE HORIZONTAL RESOLUTION IN THE RANGE DIRECTION /F COURSE THE HALF POWER
BEAMWIDTH MAY BE USED AS AN APPROXIMATION RESULTING IN THE BANDWIDTH GIVEN BY
%Q
%FFECT OF $ETECTION 4HE EFFECT OF DETECTING NARROWBAND NOISE HAS BEEN TREATED
EXTENSIVELY IN THE LITERATURE (ERE IT IS NECESSARY ONLY TO SHOW THE POSTDETECTION
SPECTRUM OF THE PRECEDING EXAMPLE AND TO CONSIDER THE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENTLY
FADING SAMPLES PER SECOND &IGURE SHOWS THE SPECTRUM BEFORE AND AFTER
SQUARE LAW DETECTION &OR SQUARE LAW DETECTION THE POST DETECTION SPECTRUM IS THE
SELF CONVOLUTION OF THE PREDETECTION SPECTRUM /NLY THE PART THAT PASSES THE LOW PASS
FILTERS IN A DETECTOR IS SHOWN IN THE FIGURE 4HE RECTANGULAR 2& SPECTRUM HAS BECOME
A TRIANGULAR VIDEO SPECTRUM
4HIS SPECTRUM DESCRIBES THE FADING OF THE DETECTOR OUTPUT FOR A #7 RADAR &OR A
PULSE RADAR THE SPECTRUM IS SAMPLED BY THE PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY 02& )F THE
02& IS HIGH ENOUGH SO THAT THE ENTIRE SPECTRUM CAN BE REPRODUCED THE 02& IS HIGHER
THAN THE .YQUIST FREQUENCY $FD THE DIAGRAM INDICATED IS THAT OF THE SPECTRUM OF THE
SAMPLES OF A RECEIVED PULSE AT A GIVEN RANGE &IGURE SHOWS A SERIES OF ACTUAL
PULSES FROM A MOVING RADAR FOLLOWED BY A SERIES OF SAMPLES AT RANGE 2 4HE SPECTRUM
SHOWN IN &IGURE IS THE SPECTRUM OF THE ENVELOPE OF SAMPLES AT 2 AFTER LOW PASS
FILTERING 4HE SPECTRUM OF FADING AT ANOTHER RANGE OR VERTICAL ANGLE IS DIFFERENT IN
ACCORD WITH %Q
&OR MANY PURPOSES THE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLES IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE THESE
MAY BE TREATED BY USING THE ELEMENTARY STATISTICS OF UNCORRELATED SAMPLES &OR CONTINU
OUS INTEGRATION THE EFFECTIVE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLE IS
&)'52% 3PECTRUM OF FADING FROM A HOMOGENEOUS SMALL PATCH
A BEFORE AND B AFTER DETECTION
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% &ADING FOR SUCCESSIVE PULSES
OF A MOVING RADAR WITH GROUND TARGET
'2/5.$ %#(/
.
0E4
4
X
2SF X DX
4
WHERE 0E IS THE MEAN ENVELOPE POWER 4 IS THE INTEGRATION AVERAGING TIME AND 2SF T
IS THE AUTOCOVARIANCE FUNCTION FOR THE DETECTED VOLTAGE &OR MANY PRACTICAL PURPOSES
IF . IS LARGE IT MAY BE APPROXIMATED BY
. y "4
WHERE " IS THE EFFECTIVE )& BANDWIDTH &OR THE EFFECT OF SHORT INTEGRATION TIME SEE
5LABY ET AL
&ADING SAMPLES CAN OF COURSE ALSO BE INDEPENDENT BECAUSE MOTION OF THE VEHICLE
CAUSES THE BEAM TO ILLUMINATE A DIFFERENT PATCH OF GROUND 4HUS IN A PARTICULAR CASE THE
INDEPENDENT
SAMPLE RATE MAY BE DETERMINED EITHER BY THE MOTION OF THE ILLUMINATED
PATCH OVER THE GROUND OR BY THE DOPPLER EFFECT OR BY SOME COMBINATION OF THE TWO
4HE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLES DETERMINES THE WAY IN WHICH THE 2AYLEIGH
OR OTHER DISTRIBUTIONS MAY BE APPLIED 4HUS IF PULSES GIVE ONLY INDEPENDENT
SAMPLES THE VARIANCE OF THE MEAN OBTAINED BY INTEGRATING THESE PULSES IS MUCH GREATER
THAN WOULD BE TRUE IF ALL PULSES WERE INDEPENDENT
$OPPLER
BASED SYSTEMS SUCH AS DOPPLER NAVIGATORS MOVING
TARGET INDICATORS AND
SYNTHETIC
APERTURE RADAR SYSTEMS DEPEND ON THE PREDETECTION SPECTRUM FOR THEIR OPERA
TION BECAUSE THEY ARE COHERENT AND DO NOT USE AMPLITUDE OR SQUARE
LAW DETECTION
-OVING
4ARGET 3URFACES 3OMETIMES CLUTTER HAS INTERNAL MOTION 4HIS CAN OCCUR
WHEN FIXED RADARS ARE USED TO OBSERVE MOVEMENT OF THE SEA AND THE LAND /N LAND
CLUTTER MOTION IS USUALLY DUE TO MOVING VEGETATION ALTHOUGH MOVING ANIMALS AND
MACHINES CREATE SIMILAR EFFECTS 4HE RADAR RETURN FROM AN ASSEMBLY OF SCATTERERS LIKE
THOSE SHOWN IN &IGURE CAN CHANGE BECAUSE OF MOTION OF THE INDIVIDUAL SCATTERERS
JUST AS IT CHANGES BECAUSE OF MOTION OF THE RADAR 4HUS IF EACH SCATTERER IS A TREE THE
WAVING OF THE TREES AS THE WIND BLOWS CAUSES RELATIVE PHASE SHIFTS BETWEEN THE SEPARATE
SCATTERERS THE RESULT IS FADING &OR A FIXED RADAR THIS MAY BE THE ONLY FADING OBSERVED
EXCEPT FOR VERY SLOW FADING DUE TO CHANGES IN REFRACTION )F THE SURFACE ELEMENTS ARE
STIFF THEY MAY NOT MOVE ENOUGH TO GET SIGNIFICANT DOPPLER SPREADING AND THE FADING
DISTRIBUTION MAY NOT BE CLOSE TO 2AYLEIGH 3EE "ILLINGSLEY AND OTHER PAPERS BY HIM
FOR MORE DISCUSSION OF THE SITUATION FOR FIXED RADARS OBSERVING GROUND TARGETS &OR A
MOVING RADAR THIS MOTION OF THE TARGET CHANGES THE RELATIVE VELOCITIES BETWEEN TARGET
ELEMENT AND RADAR SO THAT THE SPECTRUM IS DIFFERENT FROM THAT FOR A FIXED SURFACE 4HE
WIDTH OF THE SPECTRUM DUE TO VEHICLE MOTION DETERMINES THE ABILITY OF THE RADAR TO
DETECT THIS TARGET MOTION
x
-1,
//
+1
-
",,"1 ,
/1,
3PECIAL
PURPOSE INSTRUMENTATION RADARS AND MODIFIED STANDARD RADARS MAY BE USED TO
DETERMINE THE GROUND RETURN 3INCE THE GROUND RETURN IS ALMOST INVARIABLY DUE TO SCATTER
ING THESE SYSTEMS ARE TERMED SCATTEROMETERS 3UCH SYSTEMS MAY USE #7 SIGNALS WITH
OR WITHOUT DOPPLER PROCESSING BUT THEY MAY ALSO USE BOTH PULSE AND &- TECHNIQUES
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3CATTEROMETERS CAPABLE OF MEASURING RESPONSE OVER A WIDE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES ARE
CALLED SPECTROMETERS 6ARIOUS ANTENNA PATTERNS FROM PENCIL BEAMS TO FAN BEAMS MAY
BE USED 3YSTEMS TO MEASURE THE FULL POLARIZATION MATRIX MUST USE VERY CAREFUL ANTENNA
DESIGNS SO THAT THE PHASES OF THE DIFFERENT TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED POLARIZATIONS ARE
WELL CONTROLLED AND LEAKAGE BETWEEN POLARIZATIONS IS THOROUGHLY SUPPRESSED
#7 AND &-
#7 3YSTEMS 4HE SIMPLEST SCATTEROMETER USES A STATIONARY #7
RADAR 3UCH SYSTEMS ARE NOT VERY FLEXIBLE BUT THEY ARE DISCUSSED HERE IN SOME DETAIL TO
ILLUSTRATE CALIBRATION TECHNIQUES THAT ALSO APPLY TO THE MORE COMPLEX SYSTEMS
4HE #7 SCATTEROMETER IS SHOWN IN BLOCK FORM IN &IGURE 4O EVALUATE R THE
RATIO OF TRANSMITTED TO RECEIVED POWER IS REQUIRED 4HE SYSTEM DEPICTED IN &IGURE A
MEASURES TRANSMITTER POWER AND RECEIVER SENSITIVITY SEPARATELY 4HE TRANSMITTER FEEDS AN
ANTENNA THROUGH A DIRECTIONAL COUPLER SO THAT A PORTION OF THE ENERGY MAY BE FED TO A
POWER METER 4HE RECEIVER OPERATES FROM A SEPARATE ANTENNA ELECTRICALLY ISOLATED 4HE
OUTPUT OF THE RECEIVER IS DETECTED AVERAGED AND DIGITALLY RECORDED )TS SENSITIVITY MUST
BE CHECKED BY USE OF A CALIBRATION SOURCE 4HE CALIBRATED SIGNAL MAY BE FED THROUGH THE
RECEIVER AT A TIME WHEN THE TRANSMITTER IS OFF &IGURE B SHOWS A SIMILAR ARRANGE
MENT IN WHICH THE SIGNAL FROM THE TRANSMITTER IS ATTENUATED A KNOWN AMOUNT AND USED TO
CHECK THE RECEIVER GAIN "Y COMPARING THE OUTPUT FROM THE ATTENUATED TRANSMITTER SIGNAL
WITH THAT RECEIVED FROM THE GROUND THE SCATTERING CROSS SECTION MAY BE DETERMINED
WITHOUT ACTUALLY KNOWING THE TRANSMITTED POWER AND THE RECEIVER GAIN
4HE CALIBRATIONS SHOWN IN &IGURE ARE INCOMPLETE WITHOUT KNOWING THE
ANTENNA PATTERNS AND ABSOLUTE GAINS 3INCE ACCURATE GAIN MEASUREMENTS ARE DIFFICULT
ABSOLUTE CALIBRATIONS MAY BE MADE BY COMPARING RECEIVED SIGNALS WITH PROPER RELA
TIVE CALIBRATION FROM THE TARGET BEING MEASURED AND FROM A STANDARD TARGET 3TANDARD
TARGETS MAY BE METAL SPHERES ,UNEBURG
LENS REFLECTORS METAL PLATES CORNER REFLECTORS
OR ACTIVE RADAR CALIBRATORS !2#SACTUALLY REPEATERS /F THE PASSIVE CALIBRATORS
THE ,UNEBURG
LENS REFLECTOR IS BEST BECAUSE IT HAS A LARGE CROSS SECTION FOR ITS VOLUME
AND HAS A VERY WIDE PATTERN SO THAT ALIGNMENT IS NOT CRITICAL ,UNEBURG
LENS REFLECTORS
ARE USED FOR MAKING STRONG RADAR TARGETS OF SMALL VESSELS AND THEY MAY BE OBTAINED
&)'52% #7 SCATTEROMETER SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM A SEPARATE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER
CALIBRATION AND B CALIBRATION OF THE RATIO OF RECEIVED TO TRANSMITTED POWER
'2/5.$ %#(/
FROM COMPANIES THAT SUPPLY THAT MARKET &OR
DISCUSSION OF THE RELATIVE MERITS OF DIFFERENT
PASSIVE CALIBRATION TARGETS SEE 5LABY ET AL
4HE IDEAL RECEIVER WOULD RESPOND LINEARLY
TO ITS INPUT SO THAT A SINGLE CALIBRATION AT
ONE INPUT LEVEL WOULD SUFFICE FOR ALL LEVELS
4HE USUAL RECEIVER HOWEVER HAS SOME NON
LINEARITIES DUE TO DETECTOR PROPERTIES AND TO
SATURATION OF ITS AMPLIFIERS BY LARGE SIGNALS
&IGURE SHOWS A TYPICAL INPUT
OUTPUT
CURVE FOR A RECEIVER 4WO EQUAL INCREMENTS
IN INPUT SIGNAL $I AS SHOWN PRODUCE DIF
FERENT INCREMENTS IN OUTPUT BECAUSE OF THE
&)'52% 4YPICAL RECEIVER INPUT
OUTPUT
NONLINEARITY OF THIS CURVE &OR THIS REASON CURVE )LLUSTRATED IS THE EFFECT OF NONLINEARITY
RECEIVER CALIBRATION MUST BE PERFORMED OVER
A RANGE OF INPUT LEVELS AND THE NONLINEARI
TIES MUST BE COMPENSATED FOR IN THE DATA PROCESSING
#7 SCATTEROMETERS DEPEND ON ANTENNA BEAMS TO DISCRIMINATE DIFFERENT ANGLES OF
INCIDENCE AND DIFFERENT TARGETS 5SUALLY ASSUMPTIONS ARE MADE THAT THE ANTENNA PAT
TERN HAS CONSTANT GAIN WITHIN THE ACTUAL D" POINTS AND ZERO GAIN OUTSIDE BUT THIS
CLEARLY IS NOT AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION )F LARGE TARGETS APPEAR IN THE LOCATIONS ILLUMI
NATED BY THE SIDE OF THE MAIN BEAM OR THE MINOR LOBES THEIR SIGNALS MAY CONTRIBUTE
SO MUCH TO THE RETURN THAT IT IS SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED 3INCE THIS CHANGED SIGNAL IS
CHARGED TO THE DIRECTION OF THE MAJOR LOBE BY THE DATA REDUCTION PROCESS THE RESULTING
VALUE FOR R IS IN ERROR 2ESPONSES AT VERTICAL INCIDENCE FREQUENTLY CAUSE TROUBLE FOR
VERTICAL
INCIDENCE SIGNALS ARE USUALLY FAIRLY STRONG 4HUS THE ANTENNA PATTERN MUST BE
ACCURATELY KNOWN AND TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN THE DATA ANALYSIS ! PATTERN WITH STRONG
MINOR LOBES MAY BE SIMPLY INADMISSIBLE
4HE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT IS DETERMINED BY APPLYING
0R
0T L
P
)LLUMINATED
AREA
'TS D!
2
4HE INTEGRATION IS OVER WHATEVER AREA IS ILLUMINATED SIGNIFICANTLY INCLUDING THE REGIONS
HIT BY THE MINOR LOBES 4HE USUAL ASSUMPTION IS THAT R IS CONSTANT OVER THE ILLUMINATED
AREA SO THAT
0R
0T L S
P
)LLUMINATED
AREA
'T D!
2
4HIS ASSUMPTION WOULD BE TRUE ONLY IF THE ANTENNA CONFINED THE RADIATED ENERGY TO
A VERY SMALL SPREAD OF ANGLES AND TO A FAIRLY HOMOGENEOUS REGION 4HE RESULTING
EXPRESSION IS
S
P 0R
0T L )LLUMINATED 'T 2 D!
AREA
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
.OTE THAT ONLY THE RATIO OF TRANSMITTED TO RECEIVED POWER IS REQUIRED SO THE TECH
NIQUE SHOWN IN &IGURE B IS JUSTIFIED 3OMETIMES 2 'T OR BOTH ARE ASSUMED CON
STANT OVER THE ILLUMINATED AREA BUT SUCH AN APPROXIMATION TO %Q SHOULD BE
ATTEMPTED ONLY AFTER CHECKING ITS VALIDITY FOR A PARTICULAR PROBLEM
)F THE RESULT OF APPLYING THE TECHNIQUE OF %Q TO A SET OF MEASUREMENTS INDI
CATES THAT R PROBABLY DID VARY ACROSS THE SIGNIFICANTLY ILLUMINATED AREA THIS VARIATION
MAY BE USED AS A FIRST APPROXIMATION TO DETERMINE A FUNCTION FP DESCRIBING THE P
VARIATION OF R AND A NEXT
ORDER APPROXIMATION THEN BECOMES
S
P 0R
0T L )LLUMINATED F Q 'T 2 D!
AREEA
0ROPER SCATTERING MEASUREMENTS DEMAND AN ACCURATE AND COMPLETE MEASUREMENT OF
ANTENNA GAIN 'T 4HIS CAN BE A VERY TIME
CONSUMING AND EXPENSIVE PROCESS PARTICU
LARLY WHEN THE ANTENNA IS MOUNTED ON AN AIRCRAFT OR OTHER METALLIC OBJECT .EVERTHELESS
COMPLETE PATTERNS ARE A MUST FOR GOOD SCATTER MEASUREMENTS
2ANGE
-EASURING 3YSTEMS 2ADARS ABILITY TO SEPARATE RETURNS FROM DIFFERENT
RANGES CAN BE USED ADVANTAGEOUSLY ALONG WITH DIRECTIVE ANTENNA BEAMS TO SIMPLIFY THE
SCATTERING MEASUREMENTS -OST RANGING SCATTEROMETERS USE EITHER PULSE MODULATION OR
&- ALTHOUGH MORE EXOTIC MODULATIONS COULD ALSO BE USED 4HE DISCUSSION HERE TREATS
PULSE SYSTEMS BUT SINCE ALL OTHER RANGE
MEASURING SYSTEMS CAN BE REDUCED TO EQUIVA
LENT PULSE SYSTEMS MOST RESULTS ARE GENERAL
&IGURE SHOWS THE WAY IN WHICH PULSE MEASUREMENT OF RANGE IS USED
&IGURE A SHOWS A CIRCULAR PENCIL BEAM !T ANGLES NEAR GRAZING THE ILLUMI
NATED PATCH SET BY THE CIRCULAR ANTENNA PATTERN BECOMES RATHER LONG THE PATCH IS AN
ELLIPSE AND USE OF THE PULSE LENGTH TO CONFINE ILLUMINATION TO A PART OF THE PATCH
IS HELPFUL )NDEED FOR ANGLES VERY NEAR GRAZING THIS IS THE ONLY SATISFACTORY WAY TO
RESOLVE SMALL REGIONS -ANY SYSTEMS THAT USE BEAMWIDTH TO SET THE MEASURED AREA
NEAR VERTICAL USE RANGE RESOLUTION FOR ANGLES BEYOND SAY
&)'52% 2ANGE RESOLUTION APPLIED TO SCATTEROMETRY A IMPROVING ONE DIMENSION OF A
CIRCULAR
BEAM ILLUMINATION PATTERN AND B USE WITH A FAN BEAM
'2/5.$ %#(/
&IGURE B SHOWS AN ANTENNA PATTERN THAT TAKES BETTER ADVANTAGE OF THE POSSIBILI
TIES OF RANGE MEASUREMENT ! FAN BEAM IS USED TO ILLUMINATE A NARROW STRIP ALONG THE
GROUND AND THE RANGE RESOLUTION PERMITS SEPARATING THE RETURNS FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES
BY THE TIME THEY RETURN 4HIS TECHNIQUE IS ESPECIALLY EFFECTIVE AT ANGLES AWAY FROM THE
VERTICAL FOR THE RESOLUTION NEAR THE VERTICAL IS MUCH POORER THAN NEAR GRAZING
)F WE ASSUME THAT R IS ESSENTIALLY CONSTANT THE GAIN IS CONSTANT THE PULSE IS RECTAN
GULAR AND THE DIFFERENCE IN RANGE ACROSS A RESOLUTION ELEMENT IS NEGLIGIBLE THE EXPRES
SION FOR R BECOMES
S
0R P 2 SIN Q
0T L 'FR2
WHERE R2 IS THE SHORT
RANGE RESOLUTION
*ANZA HAS REPORTED DETAILS OF CALIBRATION PROBLEMS WITH A RANGE
MEASURING PULSED
RADAR SCATTEROMETER
#7
$OPPLER 3CATTEROMETERS ! CONVENIENT WAY FOR AN AIRBORNE MEASUREMENT
IS TO MEASURE THE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT AT MANY ANGLES SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH A #7 SYS
TEM IN WHICH THE RELATIVE VELOCITIES CORRESPONDING TO DIFFERENT ANGLES ARE SEPARATED BY
SEPARATING THEIR DOPPLER FREQUENCIES 4HE USE OF A FAN BEAM WITH SUCH A SYSTEM PERMITS
THE SIMULTANEOUS MEASUREMENT OF SCATTERING COEFFICIENTS AT POINTS AHEAD OF AND BEHIND
THE AIRCRAFT CARRYING THE RADAR &IGURE SHOWS THIS 4HE PATTERN OF THE ANTENNA ILLU
MINATION ON THE GROUND IS SHOWN INTERSECTED BY TWO ISODOPS LINES OF CONSTANT DOPPLER
FREQUENCY WITH THE WIDTH OF THE SPECTRUM BETWEEN THEM SHOWN ON THE DIAGRAM 4HE
DISTANCE BETWEEN THEM CAN BE SEEN TO BE
$R 2SIN Q
SIN Q
AND
$FD
V
SIN Q
SIN Q
L
4HUS THE WIDTH OF THE ELEMENT ON THE GROUND IS RELATED TO THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY
BANDWIDTH BY
$R
2L
$FD
V
&)'52% 2ESOLUTION IN A FAN BEAM #7 DOPPLER SCATTEROMETER
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WHERE THIS TECHNIQUE IS APPLIED TO THE RADAR EQUATION AND THE FOLLOWING ARE ASSUMED
R CONSTANT IN THE ILLUMINATED AREA
!NTENNA GAIN CONSTANT OVER ITS BEAMWIDTH & AND ZERO ELSEWHERE
2ANGE VARIATION ACROSS THE SMALL ILLUMINATED AREA NEGLIGIBLE
0R
0T L ' S D! 0T L S ' &$FD
P 2
V2
0R
V2
0T L ' &$FD
AND SO
S
$OPPLER SCATTEROMETERS NEED NOT USE FORE
AND
AFT BEAMS 4HE 3EASAT AND
.3#!44 SPACEBORNE DOPPLER SCATTEROMETERS WERE DESIGNED WITH BEAMS POINTED
SQUINTED AHEAD AND BEHIND THE NORMAL TO THE GROUND TRACK
)NDEPENDENT 3AMPLES 2EQUIRED FOR -EASUREMENT !CCURACY 4HE 2AYLEIGH
DISTRIBUTION DESCRIBES THE FADING SIGNAL FAIRLY WELL )F WE ASSUME A 2AYLEIGH DISTRIBUTION
OF FADING THE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLES REQUIRED FOR A GIVEN ACCURACY IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE 4HE RANGE DEFINED IN THIS FIGURE IS THE RANGE OF MEAN VALUES LYING BETWEEN
AND OF POINTS ON THE DISTRIBUTION 4HIS ACCURACY RANGE IS INDEPENDENT OF ANY ACCU
RACY PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH CALIBRATION AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE ANTENNA PATTERN
4HE PRECISION OF THE MEASUREMENT DEPENDS UPON THE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SAM
PLES NOT ON THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SAMPLES 4HE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLES CAN BE
FOUND FROM %Q OR %Q AFTER SUITABLE ANALYSIS 4HIS ANALYSIS ASSUMES THAT
ONLY DOPPLER FADING CONTRIBUTES TO INDEPENDENCE BUT MOTION FROM ONE CELL TO ANOTHER
ALSO ADDS INDEPENDENT SAMPLES 4HUS THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SUCH SAMPLES IS APPROXI
MATELY THE PRODUCT OF THE NUMBER CALCULATED FROM %Q AND THE NUMBER OF GROUND
CELLS AVERAGED &IGURE SHOWS SOME EXAMPLES OF THE EFFECT OF THE ANGLE OF INCI
DENCE ON THE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLES FOR A HORIZONTALLY TRAVELING SCATTEROMETER
WITH A FORWARD
POINTED BEAM
3TUDY OF THE RESULTS OBTAINED IN THIS TYPE OF ANALYSIS INDICATES THAT IN REGIONS
WHERE THE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT DOES NOT CHANGE RAPIDLY WITH ANGLE THE WIDEST POS
SIBLE ANGULAR WIDTH OBTAINED BY A LONGER PULSE OR A WIDER FILTER FOR A #7
DOPPLER
SYSTEM GIVES THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLES FOR A GIVEN DISTANCE
TRAVELED ALONG THE GROUND
&)'52% !CCURACY OF AVERAGES FOR FADING
SIGNALS
'2/5.$ %#(/
&)'52% %XAMPLES OF THE VARIATION WITH ANGLE OF INCIDENCE
OF THE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLES FOR A SCATTEROMETER
.EAR 6ERTICAL 0ROBLEM -OST PUBLISHED RADAR RETURN DATA PURPORTING TO INCLUDE
VERTICAL INCIDENCE GIVE VERTICAL INCIDENCE SCATTERING COEFFICIENTS THAT ARE TOO SMALL
4HIS IS A CONSEQUENCE OF A FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM IN MEASURING NEAR THE VERTICAL WITH
A FINITE BEAMWIDTH OR PULSE LENGTH .EAR VERTICAL RADAR RETURNS FROM MOST TARGETS DROP
OFF RAPIDLY AS THE ANGLE WITH THE VERTICAL IS INCREASED 4HUS THE MEASURING BEAMWIDTH
OR PULSEWIDTH USUALLY ENCOMPASSES SIGNALS FROM REGIONS HAVING VALUES FOR R MANY
DECIBELS APART 3INCE THE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT VARIES MUCH MORE RAPIDLY NEAR THE VERTI
CAL THAN AT ANGLES BEYOND OR FROM THE VERTICAL THE PROBLEM IS MUCH MORE SEVERE
AT THE VERTICAL &URTHERMORE THE PROBLEM IS COMPLICATED AT THE VERTICAL BY THE FACT THAT
THE ANGULAR SCALE TERMINATES THERE SO THAT A BEAM CENTERED AT THE VERTICAL ILLUMINATES
WEAKER TARGETS R ON BOTH SIDES OF ITS PATTERN WHEREAS A BEAM AWAY FROM THE VERTICAL
ILLUMINATES STRONGER SIGNALS ON ONE SIDE AND WEAKER SIGNALS ON THE OTHER
&IGURE SHOWS WHAT HAPPENS FOR A STEEPLY DESCENDING CURVE OF R VERSUS P
4HE RADAR RETURN INTEGRAL FROM %Q IS A CONVOLUTION INTEGRAL THE FIGURE SHOWS THE
CONVOLUTION OF THE BEAM PATTERN WITH THE R CURVE #LEARLY THE AVERAGE AT THE VERTICAL
IS LOWER THAN IT SHOULD BE TO INDICATE PROPERLY THE VARIATION OF R NEAR THE VERTICAL
&IGURE SHOWS AN EXAMPLE BASED ON THE THEORETICAL SCATTERING COEFFICIENT FOR
THE SEA DERIVED FROM THE SPECTRA REPORTED BY THE 3TEREO 7AVE /BSERVATION 0ROJECT
4HE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT BEAMWIDTHS IS CLEARLY SHOWN
7ITH A PULSE OR OTHER RANGE MEASURING SYSTEM REPORTED VALUES ARE ALWAYS IN ERROR
BECAUSE AS INDICATED ABOVE IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO RESOLVE A NARROW RANGE OF ANGLES
NEAR THE VERTICAL &OR SHORT RANGES ONE CAN CONFIGURE THE ANTENNA SO THAT A PLANE WAVE
IMPINGES ON THE SURFACE 7HEN THIS IS DONE THE NEAR VERTICAL SCATTERING COEFFICIENT CAN
HAVE ITS ANGULAR VARIATION PROPERLY DESCRIBED
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% (OW FINITE BEAMWIDTH CAUSES A NEAR VERTICAL ERROR IN MEASURING
THE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT
'ROUND AND (ELICOPTER 3CATTEROMETERS AND 3PECTROMETERS -ANY GROUND
SCATTERING MEASUREMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE WITH SYSTEMS MOUNTED ON BOOM TRUCKS
AND HELICOPTERS -OST OF THESE ARE &- #7 SYSTEMS THAT USE WIDE BANDWIDTH TO
OBTAIN EXTRA INDEPENDENT SAMPLES RATHER THAN FOR FINE RESOLUTION 3OME USE VERY WIDE
BANDWIDTH TO OBTAIN FINE RANGE RESOLUTION TO LOCATE SOURCES OF SCATTERING -OST HAVE
MULTIPLE POLARIZATION CAPABILITY AND SOME ARE CAPABLE OF POLARIMETRY BECAUSE THE
PHASE OF TWO RECEIVED SIGNALS WITH ORTHOGONAL POLARIZATION CAN BE MEASURED
4HE BASIC ELEMENTS OF AN &- #7 SCATTEROMETER ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE
SWEPT OSCILLATOR MUST PRODUCE A LINEAR SWEEP THIS IS EASY WITH YTTRIUM IRON GARNET
9)' nTUNED OSCILLATORS BUT REQUIRES LINEARIZING CIRCUITS IF TUNING USES A VARACTOR
'2/5.$ %#(/
&)'52% %FFECT OF ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH ON
THE MEASURED SCATTERING COEFFICIENT AS A FUNCTION OF
ANGLE OF INCIDENCE
-ANY SYSTEMS USE DIGITAL WAVEFORM SYNTHESIS TO OBTAIN THE SWEPT WAVEFORM )F
DUAL ANTENNAS ARE USED AS SHOWN THE OVERLAP OF THE BEAMS MUST BE CONSIDERED
3INGLE
ANTENNA SYSTEMS ARE SOMETIMES USED WITH A CIRCULATOR ISOLATING TRANSMITTER
AND RECEIVER THEIR PERFORMANCE IS SOMEWHAT POORER THAN THAT OF DUAL
ANTENNA SYSTEMS
BECAUSE OF INTERNAL REFLECTIONS AND LEAKAGE THROUGH THE CIRCULATOR
&IGURE SHOWS THE KIND OF SYSTEM THAT MAY BE USED TO MEASURE SCATTERING FROM
WITHIN A VOLUME "Y DETERMINING THE SPECTRUM OF THE RETURN THE USER CAN ESTABLISH THE
SCATTERING FROM DIFFERENT RANGES 4HIS SYSTEM HAS BEEN USED IN DETERMINING THE SOURCES
OF SCATTER IN VEGETATIONn AND SNOW
5LTRASONIC WAVES IN WATER CAN BE USED TO SIMULATE ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IN AIRn
"ECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCE IN VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION AN ACOUSTIC FREQUENCY OF -(Z
CORRESPONDS WITH A WAVELENGTH OF MM 3UCH A WAVELENGTH IS OF A CONVENIENT SIZE
FOR MANY MODELING MEASUREMENTS AND OF COURSE EQUIPMENT IN THE
-(Z REGION IS
IN MANY WAYS EASIER TO OPERATE THAN EQUIPMENT IN THE MICROWAVE REGION CERTAINLY IT
IS MUCH EASIER TO OPERATE AND LESS EXPENSIVE THAN MICROWAVE EQUIPMENT OPERATING AT
A
MM WAVELENGTH
!COUSTIC PLANE WAVES AND ELECTROMAGNETIC PLANE WAVES SATISFY THE SAME BOUNDARY
CONDITIONS 7HEN THE SCATTERING SURFACES ARE NOT PLANE AND WHEN ANGLES OF INCIDENCE
ARE RATHER OBLIQUE THE ANALOGY BETWEEN ACOUSTIC AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IS LESS
VALID /F COURSE ACOUSTIC SYSTEMS CANNOT SIMULATE CROSS
POLARIZATION
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% "ASIC BLOCK DIAGRAM OF AN &- #7 SCATTEROMETER 2& SECTION
3CATTERING #OEFFICIENTS FROM )MAGES 2ADAR IMAGES PRODUCED BY REAL OR
SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADARS CAN BE USED FOR SCATTERING COEFFICIENT MEASUREMENT
5NFORTUNATELY MOST SUCH SYSTEMS ARE UNCALIBRATED OR POORLY CALIBRATED SO THE RESULTS
ARE SOMEWHAT DUBIOUS EVEN ON A RELATIVE BASIS WHEN IMAGES ARE PRODUCED ON DIF
FERENT DAYS 2ELATIVE CALIBRATION HAS BEEN INTRODUCED INTO SOME SYSTEMS n
!BSOLUTE CALIBRATION WHICH ALSO SERVES AS RELATIVE CALIBRATION IN SOME CASES CAN BE
ACHIEVED BY USING STRONG REFERENCE TARGETS WITH THE ACTIVE RADAR CALIBRATOR !2#
REPEATERS ESPECIALLY SUITABLE !NOTHER APPROACH THAT HAS BEEN USED IS TO MEASURE
SCATTERING FROM REFERENCE AREAS WITH A GROUND
BASED OR HELICOPTER SYSTEM THAT IS WELL
CALIBRATED AND TO COMPARE THE IMAGES TO THESE MEASURED VALUES
&)'52% "ASIC BLOCK DIAGRAM OF AN &- #7 RANGE DISCRIMINATING SCATTEROMETER CONTROL AND
DATA HANDLING SYSTEM
'2/5.$ %#(/
"ISTATIC -EASUREMENTS -EASUREMENTS OF GROUND RETURN WHEN THE RECEIVER AND
TRANSMITTER ARE SEPARATED ARE COMPARATIVELY RARE 4HESE MEASUREMENTS ARE VERY DIFFICULT
TO MAKE FROM AIRCRAFT BECAUSE IT IS NECESSARY THAT BOTH TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER ANTEN
NAS LOOK AT THE SAME GROUND POINT AT THE SAME TIME AND THAT THE SIGNAL BE CORRELATED
WITH KNOWN ANTENNA LOOK ANGLES &URTHERMORE IT IS DIFFICULT TO KNOW THE POLARIZATION
AND THE EXACT SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE COMMON AREA ILLUMINATED BY THE ANTENNA BEAMS
ARE SOMETIMES DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE &OR THIS REASON FEW BISTATIC MEASUREMENTS FROM
AIRCRAFT HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN THE LITERATURE
,ABORATORY BISTATIC MEASUREMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE BY BOTH THE 7ATERWAYS
%XPERIMENT 3TATION AND 4HE /HIO 3TATE 5NIVERSITY GROUPS USING ELECTROMAGNETIC
WAVES AND BY THE 5NIVERSITY OF +ANSAS GROUP USING ACOUSTIC WAVES "ISTATIC MEA
SUREMENTS OF LASER RADIATION HAVE BEEN MADE AT "ELL 4ELEPHONE ,ABORATORIES AND
#
BAND MEASUREMENTS OF BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN MADE AT THE 5NIVERSITY OF +ANSAS
/THER SURFACE
BASED MEASUREMENTS HAVE ALSO BEEN REPORTED
"ISTATIC MEASUREMENTS CALL FOR COMPLICATIONS WHEN MADE OUTSIDE THE LABORATORY
BECAUSE AN ABSOLUTE REFERENCE FOR BOTH TRANSMITTER POWER AND RECEIVER SENSITIVITY MUST
BE USED )N THE LABORATORY HOWEVER IT IS POSSIBLE TO USE TECHNIQUES SIMILAR TO THOSE FOR
MONOSTATIC MEASUREMENTS
, "
-",-
//
,
"
/
1//
, "
-
3CATTER MEASUREMENTS MADE DURING THE S ALLOWED THE GENERATION OF MOD
ELS FOR AVERAGE BACKSCATTER FROM LARGE AREAS )N PARTICULAR THESE INCLUDED MEA
SUREMENTS WITH THE 3KYLAB RADIOMETER
SCATTEROMETER 2!$3#!4 AND WITH
TRUCK
MOUNTED MICROWAVE ACTIVE SPECTROMETERS -!3 BY THE 5NIVERSITY
OF +ANSAS 4WO DIFFERENT MODELS WERE DEVELOPED BASED ON THE SAME DATA ONE A
LINEAR MODEL AND ONE A MORE COMPLICATED FORMULATION (ERE WE PRESENT ONLY THE
LINEAR MODEL 4HESE MODELS ARE FOR AVERAGES AND THE MODELS DO NOT INCLUDE VARIA
TIONS ABOUT THE AVERAGE (OWEVER ANALYSIS OF 3HUTTLE )MAGING 2ADAR 3)2 DATA
PERMITS SOME ESTIMATES TO BE MADE OF THE VARIABILITY TO BE EXPECTED FOR DIFFERENT
SIZES OF ILLUMINATED FOOTPRINT
4HE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RADAR BACKSCATTER OVER THE RANGE OF ANGLES OF INCI
DENCE HAVE BEEN KNOWN FOR DECADES &IGURE SHOWS THESE &OR LIKE
POLARIZED
WAVES ONE CAN BREAK SCATTER INTO THREE ANGULAR REGIMES NEAR
VERTICAL THE QUASI
SPECULAR REGION INTERMEDIATE ANGLES FROM TO ABOUT THE PLATEAU REGION AND
NEAR
GRAZING THE SHADOW REGION #ROSS
POLARIZED SCATTER DOES NOT HAVE SEPARATE
QUASI
SPECULAR AND PLATEAU REGIONS THE PLATEAU EXTENDS TO VERTICAL AND TOO LITTLE IS
KNOWN TO ESTABLISH WHETHER A SHADOW REGION EXISTS
&OR NEARLY EVERY TYPE OF TERRAIN THE MEASURED DATA FITS CLOSELY TO THE FORM
OR
S !I E Q QI
A
S D" LOG !I Q QI
B
WHERE !I AND PI ARE CONSTANTS THAT DIFFER FOR THE NEAR
VERTICAL AND MIDRANGE REGIONS
&IGURE SHOWS AN EXAMPLE OF THIS VARIATION .O THEORY GIVES EXACTLY THIS RESULT
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 'ENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SCATTERING COEFFICIENT VARIATION
WITH ANGLE OF INCIDENCE AFTER & 4 5LABY 2 + -OORE AND ! + &UNG
BUT NEARLY ALL MEASUREMENTS FIT SUCH A MODEL CLOSELY AND THE MODEL APPROXIMATES
MOST THEORETICAL CURVES WELL OVER THE RELEVANT REGIONS 4HIS SIMPLE RESULT MEANS THAT
SIMPLE CLUTTER MODELS MAY BE DEVELOPED AND USED ALTHOUGH MORE COMPLEX MODELS
MAY BE NECESSARY FOR SOME REMOTE
SENSING APPLICATIONS
&)'52% 2EGRESSION OF AVERAGE OF ALL '(Z
CROPLAND DATA FOR TWO YEARS OBTAINED WITH A MICROWAVE
ACTIVE SPECTROMETER AFTER 2 + -OORE + ! 3OOFI AND
3 - 0URDUSKI )%%%
'2/5.$ %#(/
4HE BASIS FOR THE LINEAR MODEL IS A COMBINATION OF THE 3KYLAB RESULTS OVER .ORTH
!MERICA AND THOSE FROM +ANSAS CROPLAND MEASUREMENTS OVER THREE COMPLETE SEASONS
WITH THE MICROWAVE ACTIVE SPECTROMETER -!3 4HE
'(Z 3KYLAB 2!$3#!4
HAD A GROUND FOOTPRINT OF A
KM CIRCLE AT VERTICAL TO AN ELLIPSE OF BY KM AT
4HE -!3 HAD FOOTPRINTS AT RANGING FROM BY M AT '(Z TO BY M
AT '(Z BUT MILLIONS OF MEASUREMENTS WERE AVERAGED FOR THE MODEL "ECAUSE THE
3KYLAB DATA WAS AT ONLY ONE FREQUENCY AND THE RESPONSES FOR THE TWO EXPERIMENTS WERE
ESSENTIALLY THE SAME AT THAT FREQUENCY THE FREQUENCY RESPONSE SHOWN IN THE MODEL
DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON THE -!3 MEASUREMENTS
4HE SUMMER 3KYLAB OBSERVATIONS INCLUDED DESERTS GRASSLAND CROPLAND AND FORESTS
WHEREAS THE +ANSAS MEASUREMENTS WERE ONLY OF CROPLAND (OWEVER EARLY AND LATE IN THE
GROWING SEASON THE CROPLAND WAS ESSENTIALLY BARE SIMILAR TO THE SUMMER DESERT EXCEPT
FOR SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT $URING THE HEIGHT OF THE GROWING SEASON THE CROPS WERE DENSE
ENOUGH SO THAT SCATTER WAS SIMILAR TO THAT FROM FORESTS 4HUS THE OVERALL MODEL SEEMS
REPRESENTATIVE OF SUMMER CONDITIONS AVERAGED OVER ALL OF .ORTH !MERICA
4HE MODEL TAKES THE FORM
S D"
F Q ! "Q #F $F Q
n a Q a n
A
WHERE ! " # AND $ TAKE ON DIFFERENT VALUES FOR DIFFERENT POLARIZATIONS ABOVE AND BELOW
'(Z 4HE FREQUENCY RESPONSE BELOW '(Z IS MUCH MORE RAPID THAN ABOVE '(Z
-OREOVER AT FREQUENCIES ABOVE '(Z THE FREQUENCY RESPONSE IS INDEPENDENT OF ANGLE
SO THAT $ &OR LOWER FREQUENCIES THE FREQUENCY RESPONSE IS ANGLE DEPENDENT
&OR ANGLES LESS THAN ONLY TWO POINTS WERE AVAILABLE AND SO SEPARATE
FREQUENCY REGRESSIONS WERE RUN AT EACH OF THESE ANGLES 4HE MODEL FOR THESE ANGLES IS
S D"
F Q - Q . Q F
Q n n
B
4HE FREQUENCY RESPONSES BELOW '(Z DIFFERED FOR THE TWO YEARS SO THE MOD
ELS HAVE SEPARATE VALUES OF THE CONSTANTS FOR AND 4HE YEAR WAS
VERY DRY IN +ANSAS THEREFORE THE VALUES ARE PROBABLY MORE REPRESENTATIVE
BUT BOTH ARE GIVEN HERE 6ALUES OF THE CONSTANTS ARE IN 4ABLE &IGURE
SHOWS THE CLUTTER MODEL FOR THE MIDRANGE OF ANGLES AS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY
4!",% #ONSTANTS FOR ,INEAR 3CATTERING -ODEL 3UMMER
&REQUENCY
2ANGE '(Z
!NGLE
&REQUENCY
#ONSTANT 3LOPE " 3LOPE #
! OR - D" OR . D" D"'(Z
3LOPE
#ORRECTION $
D" '(Z
%Q
0OLARIZATION
!NGULAR
2ANGE
A
6
6
6
(
(
(
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
B
6 AND (
6 AND (
6 AND (
6 AND (
6 AND (
6 AND (
n
n
n
n
n
n
!FTER 2 + -OORE + ! 3OOFI AND 3 - 0URDUSKI )%%%
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 'ENERAL LAND SCATTERING CLUTTER MODEL VERTICAL
POLARIZATION (ORIZONTAL POLARIZATION IS VERY SIMILAR AFTER 2 +
-OORE + ! 3OOFI AND 3 - 0URDUSKI )%%%
4HE FIGURE IS ONLY FOR VERTICAL POLARIZATION BECAUSE RESULTS ARE SO SIMILAR FOR
VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL
5LABY DEVELOPED A DIFFERENT MORE COMPLEX MODEL FROM THE +ANSAS VEGETATION
DATA 4HIS MODEL FITS CURVES RATHER THAN STRAIGHT LINES TO THE MEASURED DATA &OR MOST
PURPOSES THE STRAIGHT
LINE MODEL IS ADEQUATE AND IT IS MUCH EASIER TO USE
! STRAIGHT
LINE MODEL FOR SNOW
COVERED GRASSLAND SIMILAR TO THAT FOR VEGETATION
DEPENDS ON A MORE LIMITED DATA SET 4HE DATA WAS FOR ONLY ONE SEASON IN #OLORADO
WHEN THE SNOW WAS ONLY ABOUT CM DEEP 4HIS MEANS THAT THE SIGNAL PROBABLY PENE
TRATED TO THE GROUND SURFACE AT FREQUENCIES BELOW ABOUT '(Z .EVERTHELESS THE MODEL
INDICATES THE KIND OF RESULTS TO BE EXPECTED FOR THIS IMPORTANT SITUATION 4ABLE GIVES
THE RESULTING CONSTANTS TO USE IN %Q A
4!",% 2EGRESSION 2ESULTS FOR 'ROUND
"ASED -EASUREMENTS OF 3NOW
#OVERED 'ROUND
4IME OF
$AY
$AY
$AY
$AY
$AY
.IGHT
.IGHT
.IGHT
.IGHT
0OLARIZATION
&REQUENCY #ONSTANT
2ANGE '(Z ! D"
&REQUENCY
!NGLE 3LOPE 3LOPE #
" D"
D"'(Z
3LOPE #ORRECTION
$ D"
r '(Z
6
6
(
(
6
6
(
(
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
!FTER 2 + -OORE + ! 3OOFI AND 3 - 0URDUSKI )%%%
./4% P TO n 6ALUES OF COEFFICIENTS IN THIS TABLE ARE ALSO CONSIDERED THOSE OF THE MODEL
'2/5.$ %#(/
3NOW SCATTER DEPENDS STRONGLY
ON THE FREE WATER CONTENT OF THE
UPPER LAYER OF SNOW SO SCATTER IS
MUCH LOWER FROM THE WET DAYTIME
SNOW WHERE SOLAR MELTING HAS COM
MENCED THAN FOR THE DRY NIGHTTIME
SNOW (ENCE DIFFERENT MODELS MUST
BE USED FOR DAY AND NIGHT COMPARE
THE DAY AND NIGHT MEASUREMENTS
SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE DIFFER
ENCE BETWEEN DAY AND NIGHT SCATTER
FROM SNOW IS EVEN MORE PRONOUNCED
AT '(Z BUT THE MODEL DOES NOT
INCLUDE '(Z BECAUSE NO DATA
EXISTS BETWEEN AND '(Z
!LTHOUGH NO SPECIFIC CLUTTER
MODEL HAS BEEN DEVELOPED FOR FORESTS
RESULTS FROM THE 3KYLAB 2!$3#!4
AND 3EASAT SCATTEROMETER SHOW
THAT THE !MAZON RAINFOREST SCATTERS
ALMOST INDEPENDENTLY OF THE ANGLE
OF INCIDENCE EVEN NEAR VERTICAL
4HE MEAN MEASURED VALUE AT WAS
o D" AT '(Z 3IMILAR
RESULTS WERE FOUND AT # BAND
/BSERVATIONS WITH 3)2 " 3)2 #
AND *%23 INDICATED THAT THIS LACK
OF ANGULAR VARIATION OF R ALSO IS
PRESENT AT '(Z
4HE MODELS DESCRIBED ABOVE ARE
BASED ON AVERAGES OVER VERY LARGE
AREAS &OR THIS SITUATION THE VARI
ABILITY FROM PLACE TO PLACE IS SMALL
PARTICULARLY IN THE MIDRANGE OF ANGLES
&IGURE SHOWS THE MEAN AND
UPPER AND LOWER DECILE VALUES MEA
SURED BY THE 3KYLAB 2!$3#!4 OVER
.ORTH !MERICA 4HE LARGE VARIATION
NEAR VERTICAL APPARENTLY RESULTS FROM
THE EFFECT OF NEARLY SPECULAR REFLEC
TION FROM WATER BODIES 7HEN THE
FOOTPRINT IS SMALLER MORE VARIABILITY
OCCURS 4HIS IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
FROM A STUDY OF THE VARIATION OF SCAT
TER OBSERVED BY 3)2 " WITH AVERAGES
OVER DIFFERENT SIZED FOOTPRINTS &OR
SMALL FOOTPRINTS THE SCATTER VARIES
OVER A WIDE RANGE AND SYSTEM DESIGN
ERS MUST ACCOUNT FOR THIS
&)'52% 2EGRESSIONS FOR VERTICAL POLARIZATION
CLUTTER MODEL FOR SNOW A DAY AND B NIGHT .OTE THE
LARGE DIFFERENCES (ORIZONTAL POLARIZATION IS SIMILAR
AFTER 2 + -OORE + ! 3OOFI AND 3 - 0URDUSKI
)%%%
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !NGULAR PATTERNS OF THE MEAN UPPER DECILE AND LOWER DECILE OF 3KYLAB
SCATTEROMETER OBSERVATIONS OVER .ORTH !MERICA DURING THE SUMMER SEASON FROM -OORE ET AL
5NIVERSITY OF +ANSAS 2EMOTE 3ENSING ,ABORATORY 4ECHNICAL 2EPORT
&)'52% RANGE OF PIXEL AMPLITUDE VERSUS RESOLUTION
'2/5.$ %#(/
-
//
,
"
/ /
.UMEROUS PROGRAMS TO GATHER SCATTERING COEFFICIENT DATA EXISTED PRIOR TO BUT
SIZABLE DATA COLLECTIONS WITH ACCOMPANYING hGROUND TRUTHv WERE RARE 3INCE
HOWEVER SEVERAL MAJOR PROGRAMS HAVE CHANGED THE SITUATION SO THAT MUCH INFORMATION
IS NOW AVAILABLE )NDEED THIS INFORMATION IS SO WIDESPREAD THAT AN ADEQUATE SUMMARY
OF THE LITERATURE IS IMPOSSIBLE (ENCE THIS SECTION CAN ONLY GIVE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE
RESULTS AND MAJOR PROGRAMS 4HE READER SHOULD CONSULT THE THREE MAJOR COMPENDIA OF
SUCH DATA FOR MORE INFORMATION BOTH ON RESULTS AND ON BIBLIOGRAPHY NOTE THAT
INFORMATION IS SPREAD THROUGH MANY CHAPTERS OF THESE VOLUMES
3OME EARLY SCATTERING
COEFFICIENT
MEASUREMENT PROGRAMS WORTH MENTIONING INCLUDE
THOSE OF THE .AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY 'OODYEAR !EROSPACE #ORPORATION 3ANDIA
#ORPORATION NEAR
VERTICAL DATA AND PARTICULARLY 4HE /HIO 3TATE 5NIVERSITY
&ROM TO THE LARGEST PROGRAM WAS AT THE 5NIVERSITY OF +ANSAS
%XTENSIVE PROGRAMS WERE ALSO IN &RANCE #ENTRE .ATIONAL D%TUDES 3PATIALES
#ENTRE .ATIONAL D%TUDES DES 4LCOMMUNICATIONS 5NIVERSIT 0AUL 3ABATIER THE
.ETHERLANDS #ANADA #ENTRE FOR 2EMOTE 3ENSING ##23 ESPECIALLY SEA ICE
AND 3WITZERLAND AND !USTRIA SNOW -ANY OF THE RESULTS FROM THESE PROGRAMS
APPEAR IN DIGESTS OF THE )NTERNATIONAL 'EOSCIENCE AND 2EMOTE 3ENSING 3YMPOSIA
)'!233 )%%% 'EOSCIENCE AND 2EMOTE 3ENSING 3OCIETY AND JOURNALS SUCH AS
)%%% 4RANSACTIONS ON 'EOSCIENCE AND 2EMOTE 3ENSING AND ON /CEAN %NGINEERING
)NTERNATIONAL *OURNAL OF 2EMOTE 3ENSING 2EMOTE 3ENSING OF %NVIRONMENT AND
0HOTOGRAMMETRIC %NGINEERING AND 2EMOTE 3ENSING
!LTHOUGH CALIBRATIONS FOR SOME OF THE OLDER DATA WERE DOUBTFUL SUMMARY PRESEN
TATIONS ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR NEWER DATA !CCORDINGLY &IGURE SHOWS AN EARLIER
SUMMARY BASED MOSTLY ON 8
BAND DATA /NE SHOULD BE CAUTIOUS IN USING THIS DATA BUT
THE FIGURE GIVES A FEEL FOR THE OVERALL VARIATIONS &IGURE IS A SIMILAR PRESENTATION
FOR NEAR
VERTICAL DATA #ALIBRATION OF THE SYSTEMS WAS GOOD BUT THE ANTENNA EFFECT
DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION MAKES THE VALUES FROM TO LOW
%FFECTS OF 2OUGHNESS -OISTURE #ONTENT AND 6EGETATION #OVER 3CATTERING
FALLS OFF MORE RAPIDLY WITH ANGLES FOR SMOOTH SURFACES THAN FOR ROUGH SURFACES 3INCE
THE ROUGHNESS THAT AFFECTS RADAR MUST BE MEASURED IN WAVELENGTH UNITS A SURFACE SMOOTH
AT LONG WAVELENGTHS MAY BE ROUGH AT SHORTER ONES 4HIS IS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE
WHICH SHOWS THESE EFFECTS WITH MEASUREMENTS FROM PLOWED FIELDS !T '(Z THE
SIGNAL CHANGED D" BETWEEN AND FOR THE SMOOTHEST FIELD AND ONLY D" FOR THE
ROUGHEST !T '(Z THE SMOOTHEST FIELD WAS ROUGH ENOUGH TO REDUCE THE VARIATION
TO D"
&OR MOST SURFACES CROSS
POLARIZED SCATTER IS LOWER THAN LIKE
POLARIZED SCATTER OFTEN
BY ABOUT D" #ROSS
POLARIZED SCATTER FROM SMOOTH SURFACES IS MUCH LESS NEAR VERTI
CAL THAN ELSEWHERE &IGURE SHOWS THIS EFFECT #ROSS
POLARIZED RETURNS FROM
VOLUME SCATTERERS WITH ELEMENTS THAT ARE LARGE COMPARED WITH A WAVELENGTH ARE STRON
GER THAN FOR SURFACES SOMETIMES BEING ONLY D" DOWN
3CATTER DEPENDS ON THE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT WHICH DEPENDS ON MOISTURE CONTENT 4HUS
SCATTER FROM WET SOILS AT ANGLES OFF VERTICAL IS USUALLY MUCH HIGHER THAN FROM DRY SOILS
&IGURE SHOWS THIS 4HE EFFECT CAN BE MANY DECIBELS D" IN THE FIGURE
6EGETATION CANOPIES OVER SOIL CAN CONTRIBUTE TO SCATTER IN THE VARIOUS WAYS SHOWN
IN &IGURE &IGURE SHOWS AN EXAMPLE -OST OF THE SCATTER FROM
THE ENTIRE PLANT CAME FROM THE TOP LEAVES WITH ENOUGH ATTENUATION THERE TO REDUCE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% "OUNDARIES OF MEASURED RADAR DATA A HORIZONTAL POLAR
IZATION AND B VERTICAL POLARIZATION #OURTESY OF ) +ATZ
THE SCATTER FROM STEM BOTTOM LEAVES AND SOIL TO MEASURABLE BUT NEGLIGIBLE SIZE
7HEN THOSE LEAVES WERE ABSENT THE SIGNALS SCATTERED FROM THE SOIL AND LOWER PARTS
OF THE PLANT WERE ABOUT EQUAL TO EACH OTHER AND WERE MUCH LARGER THAN WHEN LEAVES
WERE PRESENT
'2/5.$ %#(/
&)'52% "OUNDARIES OF MEASURED RADAR RETURN NEAR VERTICAL INCIDENCE
BASED ON 3ANDIA #ORPORATION DATA FROM & * *ANZA 2 + -OORE AND " $
7ARNER
&)'52% !NGULAR RESPONSE OF THE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT FOR FIVE MOIST FIELDS WITH DIFFERENT ROUGHNESS AT
A '(Z B '(Z AND C '(Z AFTER & 4 5LABY 2 + -OORE AND ! + &UNG
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !NGULAR DEPENDENCE OF THE DEPOLARIZATION RATIO OF A
SMOOTH SURFACE AFTER & 4 5LABY 2 + -OORE AND ! + &UNG
&)'52% -EASURED SCATTERING COEFFICIENT R LEFT SCALE AS A FUNCTION
OF SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT FOR THREE SURFACE ROUGHNESSES 4HE SOLID CURVE IS THE
REFLECTIVITY ' RIGHT SCALE CALCULATED ON THE BASIS OF DIELECTRIC MEASUREMENTS
AFTER 4 ,E4OAN )%%%
'2/5.$ %#(/
&)'52% #ONTRIBUTIONS TO BACKSCATTER FROM A VEGETATION CANOPY
OVER A SOIL SURFACE DIRECT BACKSCATTERING FROM PLANTS DIRECT BACKSCAT
TERING FROM SOIL INCLUDES TWO WAY ATTENUATION BY CANOPY AND PLANT SOIL
MULTIPLE SCATTERING AFTER & 4 5LABY 2 + -OORE AND ! + &UNG
&)'52% &- #7 PROBING SCATTEROMETER MEASUREMENTS OF A
CORN PLANT AT 4HE SOLID CURVE IS THE FULL PLANT THE DOT DASH CURVE
LEAF REMOVED THE DOTTED CURVE LEAF REMOVED AFTER , + 7U
ET AL
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
"ECAUSE VOLUME SCATTER DOMINATES FOR DENSE VEGETATION ESPECIALLY TREES R IS
NEARLY INDEPENDENT OF THE ANGLE OF INCIDENCE &IGURE SHOWS THIS WITH RESULTS
FROM 8
BAND IMAGING OF A FOREST 4HE FIGURE IS A PLOT OF F RATHER THAN R F R COS P
!T LOW FREQUENCIES SUCH AS 6(& THIS CONDITION CHANGES BECAUSE THE ATTENUATION THROUGH
THE LEAVES AND BRANCHES IS LESS
3OIL -OISTURE &IGURE SHOWS THE SIZE OF THE EFFECT OF SOIL MOISTURE ON R
3OIL MOISTURE EFFECTS DIFFER FOR DIFFERENT SOILS $OBSON AND 5LABY SHOWED THAT THIS
USE OF MOISTURE EXPRESSED IN PERCENT OF FIELD CAPACITY IMPROVED THE FIT BETWEEN R AND
MOISTURE CONTENT &IELD CAPACITY IS A MEASURE OF HOW TIGHTLY THE SOIL PARTICLES BIND THE
WATER THE UNBOUND WATER AFFECTS D MORE !N EMPIRICAL EXPRESSION FOR FIELD CAPACITY
&# IS
&# 3 # PERCENT BY WEIGHT
WHERE 3 AND # ARE THE PERCENTAGES BY WEIGHT OF SAND AND CLAY IN THE SOIL 4HE SOIL
MOISTURE CONTENT IN TERMS OF FIELD CAPACITY IS
MF MG &# PERCENT
WITH MG THE PERCENT MOISTURE IN THE SOIL BY WEIGHT 7HEN WE USE THIS MEASURE THE RELA
TION BETWEEN R IN D" AND MF IS LINEAR EVEN IN THE PRESENCE OF MODERATE VEGETATION COVER
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE SLOPE OF THIS CURVE IS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT WITH VEGETA
TION COVER THAN IT IS WITHOUT HOWEVER !LTHOUGH MF IS APPARENTLY AT LEAST AS GOOD AS THE
VOLUMETRIC MOISTURE CONTENT FOR RELATING TO R ITS USE HAS BEEN QUESTIONED
3OIL MOISTURE CAN AFFECT A RADAR IMAGE AS HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED IN IMAGERY
OBTAINED FROM THE 3EASAT ,
BAND 3!2 ! SIMULATION EXPERIMENT SHOWED THAT ONE
CAN ESTIMATE SOIL MOISTURE WITHIN FOR OF THE PIXELS IN AN IMAGE -OREOVER
IT SHOWED THAT RESOLUTIONS BETWEEN AND M WERE SUPERIOR TO FINER RESOLUTIONS
&)'52% -EASURED SCATTERING VARIATION OF A FOREST PARCEL OF OLD BEECH
TREES .OTE USE OF F WITH AN ARBITRARY REFERENCE INSTEAD OF R FOR THE ORDINATE
AFTER $ ( (OEKMAN
'2/5.$ %#(/
&)'52% '(Z SCATTERING COEFFICIENT VERSUS SOIL MOISTURE PERCENT OF FIELD CAPACITY FOR
VEGETATION COVERED SOIL AFTER & 4 5LABY ET AL
FOR THIS PURPOSE -OST OF THE SPACEBORNE 3!2S THAT FOLLOWED 3EASAT HAVE BEEN USED IN
SOIL
MOISTURE STUDIES
6EGETATION "ACKSCATTER FROM VEGETATION DEPENDS ON MANY PARAMETERS AND VAR
IES WIDELY 4HUS ALTHOUGH WE CAN DEVELOP AVERAGE MODELS LIKE THOSE DESCRIBED IN
3ECTION DETAILS ARE MUCH MORE COMPLEX 4HE R VARIES WITH SEASON MOISTURE
CONTENT STATE OF GROWTH AND TIME OF DAY
&IGURE SHOWS THE SEASONAL VARIATION FOR CORN COMPARED WITH A MODEL
PRESENTED IN THE REFERENCE 4HE MUCH LARGER VARIATION AT R APPARENTLY RESULTS FROM
THE LARGER EFFECT AT VERTICAL OF THE SOIL AND CONSEQUENTLY ITS MOISTURE CONTENT 4HE
RAPID D" SWING BETWEEN -AY AND *UNE RESULTS FROM DRYING OF THE SOIL %VEN
AT WHERE ATTENUATION THROUGH THE CANOPY MASKS THE SOIL EFFECT THE SEASONAL
VARIATION EXCEEDS D" $IURNAL VARIATIONS ARE RELATIVELY SMALL BUT FINITE 4HEY
RESULT BOTH FROM PLANT MOISTURE CHANGES AND FROM MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES A CORN
PLANT ACTUALLY LIFTS ITS LEAVES hTO MEET THE SUNv MORNING GLORIES CLOSE THEIR FLOWERS
AT NIGHT
-OST CROPS ARE PLANTED IN ROWS 4HIS CAUSES AN AZIMUTHAL VARIATION OF R AS SHOWN
IN &IGURE 4HE MODULATION SHOWN IS THE RATIO OF R LOOKING PARALLEL TO THE ROWS
MORE VEGETATION TO THAT LOOKING NORMAL 4HIS PHENOMENON IS MUCH MORE PRONOUNCED
AT THE LOWER FREQUENCIES
3OME GENERAL PROPERTIES OF VEGETATION SCATTER ARE VISIBLE IN &IGURE !T LOW
FREQUENCIES THE DECAY WITH P IS RAPID OUT TO ABOUT AND THEN MORE GRADUAL MOST
OF THE STEEP PART RESULTS FROM SURFACE ECHO !T HIGHER FREQUENCIES THE PLANT ATTENU
ATION PREVENTS A SIGNIFICANT SURFACE ECHO SO THE ANGULAR VARIATION IS MORE UNIFORM
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4IME VARIATION OF SCATTER FROM A CORN AND B ALFALFA AT INCIDENCE ANGLES OF VERTICAL
AND AFTER % !TTEMA AND & 4 5LABY
#ROSS
POLARIZED SIGNALS AT VERTICAL ARE NEGLIGIBLE SO EVEN AT LOW FREQUENCIES THE
CROSS
POLARIZED R VARIES UNIFORMLY !T BOTH HIGH AND LOW FREQUENCIES IT IS ABOUT
D" BELOW THE LIKE
POLARIZED R
3NOW 7HEN SNOW COVERS THE GROUND MUCH OF THE SCATTER IS FROM THE SNOW
RATHER THAN THE UNDERLYING GROUND 3NOW IS BOTH A VOLUME
SCATTERING AND AN ATTENUAT
ING MEDIUM 7HEN THE SNOW IS DRY SCATTER COMES FROM A LARGE VOLUME WHEN IT IS
WET THE SCATTERING VOLUME IS MUCH LESS BECAUSE OF HIGHER ATTENUATION !S A RESULT
'2/5.$ %#(/
&)'52% &REQUENCY RESPONSE OF THE LOOK DIRECTION MODULATION
RATIO FOR A SOYBEAN FIELD WITH HORIZONTAL POLARIZATION AT INCIDENCE ANGLES
OF AND AFTER & 4 5LABY 2 + -OORE AND ! + &UNG
R DECREASES RAPIDLY AS THE SUN MELTS THE TOP LAYER &IGURE ILLUSTRATES HOW FAST
THIS CAN BE AND ALSO SHOWS THAT THE EFFECT IS MUCH GREATER AT THE HIGHER FREQUENCIES
WHERE ATTENUATION IS GREATER &IGURE SHOWS THE ANGULAR VARIATION SEEN FOR
SNOW
COVERED GROUND /FF
VERTICAL SCATTERING IS MUCH GREATER AT HIGHER FREQUENCIES
&OR THE
CM DEPTH SHOWN MUCH OF THE SCATTER AT AND '(Z IS PROBABLY FROM
THE UNDERLYING SURFACE
3OME REPORTS STATE THAT THERE ARE RADAR HOT SPOTS IN SNOW COVER PARTICULARLY AT
'(Z 4HESE REPORTS RESULT FROM IMPROPER INTERPRETATION OF VARIATIONS THAT ARE DUE
TO NORMAL 2AYLEIGH FADING OF THE SIGNAL 3CATTER FROM SNOW COMES FROM MANY CEN
TERS WITHIN THE ILLUMINATED VOLUME SO THE CONDITIONS FOR 2AYLEIGH FADING ARE MET
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF MODEL CALCULATIONS WITH MEASUREMENTS AT A '(Z AND
B '(Z AFTER ( %OM AND ! + &UNG
-EASUREMENTS WITH SUITABLE AVERAGING IN FREQUENCY OR ILLUMINATION ANGLE DEMONSTRATE
THAT SNOW
COVERED SURFACES SCATTER ESSENTIALLY UNIFORMLY EXCEPT FOR THE EFFECTS OF THE
MULTIPATH FADING
3EA )CE 3EA ICE IS A VERY COMPLEX MEDIUM )CE OBSERVERS CHARACTERIZE IT IN
MANY DIFFERENT CATEGORIES THAT DEPEND ON THICKNESS AGE AND HISTORY OF FORMATION
(ENCE ONE CANNOT CHARACTERIZE ITS RADAR RETURN IN ANY SIMPLE WAY IN THIS SENSE IT IS
LIKE VEGETATION 4HE MOST IMPORTANT ICE TYPES FROM A RADAR POINT OF VIEW ARE FIRST
YEAR
&9 TO M THICK MULTIYEAR -9 M THICK AND A CONGLOMERATION OF THINNER
TYPES M THICK
,IKE SNOW SEA ICE INFLUENCED BY SOLAR MELTING AND ABOVE FREEZING TEMPERATURES
SCATTERS MICROWAVES VERY DIFFERENTLY FROM THE MORE NORMAL COLD
SURFACE ICE )N WIN
TER THE COLD -9 ICE SCATTERS MUCH MORE THAN COLD &9 ICE )N SUMMER R FOR -9 ICE
DECREASES TO ABOUT THE SAME LEVEL AS THAT OF &9 ICE &IGURE SHOWS THIS AND TYPI
CAL ANGULAR RESPONSES 4HESE CURVES ARE FOR '(Z BUT THE RESULTS WOULD BE SIMILAR
AT ANY FREQUENCY DOWN TO 3 BAND &IGURE SHOWS THE FREQUENCY VARIATION OF R
FOR VARIOUS KINDS OF ICE 3HORE
FAST ICE IS GROUNDED TO THE BOTTOM AT THE SHORELINE IN
THIS CASE IT IS PROBABLY -9 'RAY ICE IS ONE OF THE TYPES THINNER THAN &9
+IM DEVELOPED A THEORY THAT EXPLAINS A WIDE RANGE OF SEA
ICE R MEASUREMENTS
&ROM THIS AND EXTENSIVE DATA FROM THE LITERATURE ON ICE PROPERTIES &IGURE
SHOWS THE RANGES OF &9 AND -9 SCATTERING UNDER WINTER CONDITIONS #LEARLY
HIGHER FREQUENCIES ARE BETTER FOR IDENTIFYING ICE TYPES THAN LOWER FREQUENCIES AND
'2/5.$ %#(/
{x
&)'52% $IURNAL PATTERNS OF R AND LIQUID WATER CONTENT
FOR SNOW AT SEVERAL FREQUENCIES .OTE THE EXTREME VARIATION OF THE
+A BAND AS THE SUN STARTS TO MELT THE SURFACE AFTER 7 ( 3TILES AND
& 4 5LABY
DISCRIMINATION IS NOT POSSIBLE BELOW ABOUT '(Z !T , BAND AND BELOW THE DIFFER
ENCES BETWEEN -9 AND &9 ICE ARE SMALL EVEN IN WINTER 4HIS MEANS THAT IMAGING
RADARS CAN EASILY DISTINGUISH ICE TYPES BY INTENSITY ALONE AT THE HIGHER FREQUENCIES
IN WINTER BUT NOT IN SUMMER 4HIS FACT IS THE BASIS FOR OPERATIONAL ICE
MONITORING
SYSTEMS BY THE 3OVIET 5NION ;USING THE 4OROS +U
BAND SIDE
LOOKING AIRBORNE RADAR
3,!2 = AND #ANADA USING A MODIFIED 8
BAND !03
3,!2 AND THE 34!2
8
BAND 3!2 ! PRIME MOTIVATION FOR THE #ANADIAN 2ADARSAT 3!2 WAS MONITOR
ING OF SEA ICE WHICH THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN DOING SUCCESSFULLY SINCE 4HE
2USSIAN 8
BAND REAL
APERTURE RADARS IN THE /KEAN SERIES HAVE BEEN USED FOR SIMILAR
PURPOSESn
3NOW COVER ON ICE CAN MASK ICE SCATTER ITSELF AS WITH SNOW ON LAND 3INCE THE ARCTIC
IS RELATIVELY DRY MOST AREAS HAVE LITTLE SNOW BUT SNOW DOES MAKE DISTINGUISHING ICE
TYPES DIFFICULT AT TIMES 4HIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE IN THE !NTARCTIC WHERE SNOW IS MORE
PREVALENT ON THE SEA ICE
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% !NGULAR RESPONSE OF R OF DRY SNOW AT DIFFERENT
FREQUENCIES 2APID FALLOFF AT LOWER FREQUENCIES APPARENTLY RESULTS FROM
PENETRATION TO THE SMOOTH GROUND SURFACE AFTER 7 ( 3TILES ET AL
0ROGRAMS TO LEARN MICROWAVE PROPERTIES OF SEA ICE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS BECAUSE
OF THE IMPORTANCE OF ARCTIC OPERATIONS AND METEOROLOGY -ICROWAVE REMOTE SENSING
IS NECESSARY TO MONITOR ICE PROPERTIES IN THE ARCTIC OWING TO THE LONG WINTER NIGHT
FREQUENT CLOUD COVER AND INACCESSIBILITY
n *" ,
/,9
3EVERAL SYNTHETIC
APERTURE IMAGING RADARS ARE CAPABLE OF MEASURING THE FULL COM
PLEX POLARIZATION MATRIX 0ROBABLY THE FIRST OF THESE WAS AN AIRBORNE SYSTEM BUILT BY
.!3!S *ET 0ROPULSION ,ABORATORY 4HE FIRST ONE IN SPACE WAS THE 3HUTTLE )MAGING
2ADARn# 3)2
# !LTHOUGH USE OF MULTIPLE POLARIZATIONS DATES FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF
IMAGING RADARS THE MEASUREMENT OF PHASE BETWEEN THE RECEIVED SIGNAL WITH DIFFERENT
POLARIZATIONS IS MORE RECENT DATING FROM THE LATE S &EW IF ANY FULL
POLARIMETRIC
DATA SETS EXIST OF THE TYPE DESCRIBED ABOVE FOR SINGLE POLARIZATIONS &OR MORE COMPLETE
DISCUSSIONS OF RADAR POLARIMETRY CONSULT REFERENCES 5LABY AND %LACHI 3LETTEN AND
-C,AUGHLIN AND VAN :YL AND +IM
3INCE POLARIMETRIC RADARS USE DEFINED PHASES FOR BOTH TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE THE
SIGNALS MUST BE DESCRIBED IN THE FORM USED FOR ELLIPTICAL POLARIZATION 4HIS IS ILLUSTRATED
IN &IGURE
'2/5.$ %#(/
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF SEA ICE SCATTERING AT
'(Z IN SUMMER AND WINTER AFTER ! , 'RAY ET AL
)%%%
7HEN B THE POLARIZATION IS LINEAR WITH THE % VECTOR IN THE DIRECTION GIVEN
BY X 7HEN B on THE POLARIZATION IS CIRCULAR WITH n FOR LEFT
HAND AND
n
FOR RIGHT
HAND 7HEN \ B \ n THE POLARIZATION IS ELLIPTICAL
!NALYTICALLY THE ELECTRIC FIELD MAY BE DESCRIBED AS
% %HH %VV
WHERE H AND V ARE UNIT VECTORS IN THE H AND V DIRECTIONS 4HE INSTANTANEOUS FIELDS ARE
GIVEN BY %Q WHERE THE DS SHOW THE DIFFERENT PHASES FOR THE COMPONENTS OF %
AND K IS THE WAVENUMBER
EH T 2E %H E J WT KX D H
A
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% %XAMPLE OF FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF R FOR DIFFERENT KINDS OF SEA ICE FROM 9 3 +IM
AND
EV T 2E %V J WT
KZ D V
B
)N COMPLEX FORMAT
%H %H E JD H AND %V %V E JD V
)F WE TAKE C CV n CH AND SET CV AS A REFERENCE WE CAN WRITE
% %H E JD %V V
4HUS FOR A SINGLE WAVE WE NEED ONLY HAVE THREE INDEPENDENT PARAMETERS )N RADAR WE
MUST CONSIDER BOTH TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED POLARIMETRIC SIGNALS SO THE NEED FOR FOUR
MAGNITUDES AND TWO PHASES
!NOTHER WAY TO DESCRIBE POLARIMETRIC SIGNALS IS TO USE THE MATRIX OF 3TOKES
PARAMETERS
) %H %V
1
& %H
%V
5
2E %H %V
6 )M % %
H V
4HE INDIVIDUAL 3TOKES PARAMETERS ) 1 5 AND 6 ARE DEFINED AS SHOWN IN %Q
'2/5.$ %#(/
&)'52% -EASUREMENT BASED THEORETICAL R VARIATIONS FOR FIRST YEAR AND
MULTIYEAR SEA ICE 2ANGES ARE DETERMINED BY USING KNOWN VARIATIONS OF ICE CHARAC
TERISTICS AFTER 9 3 +IM ET AL
3OME OF THE RETURN SIGNALS FROM A RESOLUTION CELL MAINTAIN THEIR POLARIZATION CHARAC
TERISTICS OVER TIME AND SPACE WHEREAS OTHERS HAVE A RANDOM POLARIZATION 4HIS OCCURS AS
FOR SUNLIGHT WHEN THE POLARIZATION ELLIPSE CHANGES ITS PROPERTIES RANDOMLY AND RAPIDLY
WITH TIME OR WITH SMALL DIFFERENCES IN ANGLE 7HEN BOTH THE PERSISTENT AND RANDOM PARTS
&)'52% 0OLARIMETRIC ELLIPSE B IS
THE ELLIPTICITY ANGLE AND X IS THE ORIENTATION
ANGLE 4HE ELLIPSE IS THE LOCUS OF THE END OF
THE % VECTOR THROUGHOUT A CYCLE
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
ARE PRESENT THE TARGET IS SAID TO BE PARTIALLY POLARIZED WHEN NO RANDOM COMPONENT IS
PRESENT THE TARGET IS FULLY POLARIZED 2ADAR SIGNALS ARE FREQUENTLY ONLY PARTIALLY POLARIZED
ESPECIALLY WHERE MULTIPLE BOUNCES OCCUR WITHIN THE TARGET AREA
&OR THE NONRANDOM PART WE MUST DEFINE A 3TOKES VECTOR USING AN ENSEMBLE AVERAGE
OF EACH COMPONENT THE AVERAGING MAY BE OVER TIME OR LOOK ANGLE 4HUS WE HAVE
&
%H %V
%H
%V
2E%H %V
)M%H %V
WHEN THE WAVE IS COMPLETELY POLARIZED
) 1 5 6
) 1 5 6
BUT WHEN IT IS PARTIALLY POLARIZED
)N FACT WHEN THE WAVE IS COMPLETELY UNPOLARIZED SUNLIGHT FOR EXAMPLE %V AND %H
ARE UNCORRELATED SO 5 AND 6 ARE BOTH ZERO
7AVES OF THIS TYPE ARE USED IN POLARIMETRIC RADAR HOWEVER TO SEE HOW THE SCATTER
ING COEFFICIENT WORKS WE NEED TO CONSIDER BOTH THE INCIDENT AND SCATTERED WAVE
!T THIS POINT WE MUST INTRODUCE THE SCATTERING MATRIX 3 4HE RECEIVED FIELD MAY
BE REPRESENTED BY
JK2
%R E
3 %T
2
WHERE
% T
% R
% R VR AND %T VT
%H
%H
AND
3
3 VV
3HV
3VH
3HH
)N THE USUAL RECIPROCAL MEDIA 3VH 3HV 3INCE THE CHOICE OF A PHASE REFERENCE IS
ARBITRARY THERE ARE THEN THREE INDEPENDENT MAGNITUDES \3VV\ \3HH\ \3HV\ BUT ONLY TWO
INDEPENDENT PHASES 3HH 3HV 4HESE QUANTITIES CAN BE USED TO DESCRIBE THE PROPER
TIES OF THE POLARIZED PART OF THE ECHO FROM A TARGET
7E CAN ALSO DESCRIBE THE SCATTERING USING THE -UELLER MATRIX THAT IS RELATED TO THE
3TOKES MATRIX 4HE READER IS REFERRED TO THE LITERATURE FOR FURTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF THE
-UELLER MATRIX
'2/5.$ %#(/
4HE USUAL WAY TO OBTAIN POLARIZED RESPONSES IS TO TRANSMIT ALTERNATE VERTICALLY AND
HORIZONTALLY POLARIZED PULSES 0RESUMING THERE IS ALMOST NO CHANGE IN THE TARGET DUR
ING THE INTERPULSE INTERVAL THE RESPONSES MAY BE COMBINED TO PRODUCE THE SCATTERING
MATRIX OR -UELLER MATRIX "Y COMBINING THE SIGNALS IN PROCESSING THIS METHOD PERMITS
SYNTHESIZING EQUIVALENT TRANSMITTED POLARIZATIONS WITH ANY ELLIPTICITY AND ORIENTATION
! COMMONLY USED WAY TO DESCRIBE THE POLARIZATION CHARACTERISTICS OF A TARGET IS THE
POLARIZATION SIGNATURE 4HIS CONSISTS OF TWO THREE
DIMENSIONAL GRAPHS &OR THE FIRST
GRAPH CALLED COPOLARIZED ONE USES THE COMPONENTS OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL THAT ARE THE
SAME AS THE TRANSMITTED
SIGNAL POLARIZATION 4HE SECOND GRAPH USES COMPONENTS OF THE
RECEIVED SIGNAL THAT ARE ORTHOGONAL TO THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL
&IGURE GIVES A WIDELY QUOTED EXAMPLE OF THIS TYPE OF DISPLAY FOR IMAGES OF
3AN &RANCISCO 4HE AXES IN THE HORIZONTAL PLANE ARE THE ORIENTATION ANGLE FOR THE
SYNTHESIZED TRANSMITTED SIGNAL XT AND ITS ELLIPTICITY ANGLE BT 4HE VERTICAL AXIS IS RELATIVE
POWER 6ALUES OF XT n AND n ARE HORIZONTAL POLARIZATION WHEREAS XT n IS VER
TICAL POLARIZATION ,INEAR POLARIZATION OCCURS WHEN BT n AND RIGHT AND LEFT CIRCULAR
POLARIZATIONS OCCUR WHEN BT on 7HEN THE MINIMUM IS ABOVE ZERO THE PEDESTAL
BENEATH IT CORRESPONDS TO THE UNPOLARIZED SIGNAL
4HE OCEAN IMAGE IN &IGURE A SHOWS THAT THE POLARIZATION IS ESSENTIALLY LIN
EAR WITH THE 66 SIGNAL STRONGER THAN THE (( 4HE CROSS
POLARIZED RESPONSE SHOWS
ESSENTIALLY NO CROSS
POLARIZED SIGNAL FOR LINEAR TRANSMISSION BUT SOME FOR CIRCULARLY
POLARIZED TRANSMISSION
&OR THE PARK SHOWN IN &IGURE B THE VERTICALLY POLARIZED LINEAR SIGNAL IS SLIGHTLY
HIGHER THAN THE HORIZONTALLY POLARIZED ONE 4HERE IS SOME CROSS
POLARIZED RESPONSE FOR
THE LINEAR SIGNAL AND SOME UNPOLARIZED SIGNAL &OR THE URBAN AREA SHOWN THE STRONGEST
RESPONSES ARE TILTED IN ORIENTATION IN BOTH THE COPOLARIZED AND CROSS
POLARIZED CASES
!# )"+!
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3AN &RANCISCO A AN OCEAN AREA B A LARGE PARK AND C ONE OF SEVERAL
URBAN AREAS AFTER $ , %VANS )%%%
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4HE ACTUAL NUMBERS FOR THE COPOLARIZED RESPONSE FOR THIS CASE ARE B n 66 AND
X n 4HE REFERENCE PRESENTS SIMILAR PLOTS SHOWING SEPARATELY THE POLARIZED AND
UNPOLARIZED RESPONSES
"ECAUSE OF THE COMPLEXITY OF THIS REPRESENTATION AND OTHERS FOR POLARIMETRIC SIGNALS
ONE CANNOT AS READILY PROVIDE CURVES OF RESPONSE AS FOR SINGLE
POLARIZATION IMAGES
(ENCE WE DO NOT FIND MANY CATALOGS OF POLARIMETRIC SCATTERING RESPONSES
.EVERTHELESS MANY AUTHORS HAVE DESCRIBED THE USE OF POLARIMETRIC IMAGES 3OME OF
THE PAPERS USING THE TERM POLARIMETRIC REALLY REFER TO THE USE OF JUST (( 66 AND (6
POLARIZATIONS WITHOUT REGARD FOR THE PHASE )N THIS SENSE THEY ARE USING THESE IMAGES IN
THE WAY THAT LIKE
AND CROSS
POLARIZED IMAGES HAVE BEEN USED SINCE THE START OF IMAGING
RADARS /THERS HOWEVER TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE FULL POLARIZATION MATRIX
/NE WAY TO USE THE FULL MATRIX IS TO SYNTHESIZE POLARIZATIONS THAT EITHER EMPHASIZE
OR SUPPRESS PARTICULAR CLASSES OF TARGETS &OR EXAMPLE IN &IGURE C ONE COULD SYN
THESIZE A n ORIENTATION ANGLE FOR A LINEAR POLARIZATION TO EMPHASIZE THIS CLASS OR USE
VERTICAL POLARIZATION TO SUPPRESS THE DOMINANT CLASS IN THE IMAGE 6ARIOUS AUTHORS
HAVE SHOWN THAT ONE CAN SYNTHESIZE AN ELLIPTICAL POLARIZATION THAT INCREASES THE TARGET
TO
CLUTTER RATIO WHERE THE TARGET IS FOR EXAMPLE A MANMADE OBJECT 3WARTZ ET AL
FOUND A POLARIZATION THAT GAVE A D" TARGET
TO
CLUTTER RATIO WHERE THE TARGET WAS AN
URBAN AREA AND THE CLUTTER WAS REPRESENTED BY A PARK IN THE 3AN &RANCISCO IMAGE USED
TO PRODUCE &IGURE (E FOUND THIS WAS OBTAINED WITH TRANSMITTER POLARIZATION
HAVING XE BT n n AND RECEIVER POLARIZATION OF XE BT
4HIS COMPARES WITH THE BEST RESULT USING LIKE
AND CROSS
POLARIZATIONS WITHOUT PHASE
COHERENCE OF D"
/THERS USE THE THREE INDEPENDENT MAGNITUDES OF THE SCATTERING MATRIX AND THE PHASE
ANGLE D BETWEEN THE (( AND 66 RESPONSES 2ESEARCH HAS SHOWN THERE IS LITTLE USEFUL
INFORMATION IN THE PHASE ANGLE RELATING (( TO CROSS POLARIZATION ! COMMON USE OF
THESE DATA IS IN PRODUCING STATE VECTORS TO EMPLOY IN DISCRIMINATION OF TARGET AREAS
WITH THE COMPONENTS OF THE VECTORS BEING THE THREE MAGNITUDES AND THE PHASE ANGLES
FOR EACH FREQUENCY USED 4HESE VECTORS ARE THEN USED IN VARIOUS STATISTICAL ALGORITHMS
TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENT TARGET CLASSES 4HIS APPROACH HAS ALSO BEEN USED IN OTHER
FORESTS AGRICULTURAL AREAS SEA ICE AND SNOW AND TO IDENTIFY SURFACE
CLASSES OF GEOLOGIC SIGNIFICANCE
!N EXAMPLE OF THE USE OF PHASE DIFFERENCE IN DISCRIMINATING SURFACE CLASSES IN
THE !MAZON BASIN IS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE .OTE THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN # AND 8 BAND FOR -ACROPHYTE AND &LOODED FOREST 4HESE DIFFERENCES COULD
BE USED AS DISCRIMINATORS TO IDENTIFY THESE CLASSES BUT NORMALLY THEY WOULD SIMPLY BE
ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS IN THE STATE VECTORS USED IN STATISTICAL ALGORITHMS
-
//
,
"
/
/
,,<
#ONDITIONS FOR BACKSCATTER NEAR GRAZING INCIDENCE ARE SUFFICIENTLY DIFFERENT FROM THOSE AT
STEEPER INCIDENCE THAT THEY MUST BE DESCRIBED SEPARATELY (ERE WE DRAW UPON THE WORK
OF "ILLINGSLEY 4HEY COLLECTED DATA OVER A WIDE RANGE OF TERRAIN AND UNLIKE MOST PRE
VIOUS NEAR
GRAZING MEASUREMENTS ALSO COLLECTED EXTENSIVE hGROUND
TRUTHv INFORMATION
AND ACCURATELY CALIBRATED THEIR RADARS -OREOVER THESE DATA WERE OVER A WIDE RANGE OF
FREQUENCIES 6(& -(Z 5(& -(Z , BAND '(Z 3 BAND '(Z
AND 8 BAND '(Z 4HEY HAD DIFFERENT TARGET AREAS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE 53
AND WESTERN #ANADA
'2/5.$ %#(/
&)'52% 0HASE DIFFERENCES FOR DIFFERENT SURFACE CLASSES IN THE !MAZON BASIN AT # BAND AND , BAND
4HE RESULTS WERE DESCRIBED IN TERMS OF R & WHICH WAS CALLED CLUTTER STRENGTH
& IS A PROPAGATION FACTOR THAT ACCOUNTS FOR MULTIPATH ATTENUATION ETC BUT COULD NOT
BE MEASURED SEPARATELY
7HEREAS ANGLE OF INCIDENCE IS USED TO DESCRIBE RESULTS IN STUDIES WHERE POINTING
IS NEARER VERTICAL DEPRESSION OR GRAZING ANGLE IS A MORE APPROPRIATE DESCRIPTION WHEN
DEALING WITH ANGLES WHERE INCIDENCE IS CLOSER TO HORIZONTAL 'RAZING ANGLE IS THE COM
PLEMENT OF INCIDENCE ANGLE 4HE MEASUREMENTS WERE ALL AT LOW DEPRESSION ANGLES WITH
THIS TERM USED IN LIEU OF GRAZING ANGLE BECAUSE IT CAN BE DEFINED IN TERMS OF ANTENNA
POINTING WHEREAS GRAZING ANGLE ALSO DEPENDS ON LOCAL SLOPE WHICH IS BOTH VARIABLE AND
IN GENERAL UNKNOWN
)MAGES TAKEN AT NEAR
GRAZING ANGLES TEND TO BE EXTREMELY hPATCHYv BECAUSE ANY
PROJECTIONS ABOVE THE SURFACE TREES HILLS BUILDINGS FENCES POWER LINES MACHINERY
AND VEHICLES PRESENT SURFACES MORE NEARLY NORMAL TO THE BEAM 4HUS NEARBY PIXELS
MAY HAVE CLUTTER STRENGTH DIFFERING BY TENS OF D" -OREOVER SMALL SLOPES FACING THE
RADAR INCREASE THE GRAZING ANGLE RESULTING IN STRONGER ECHOES WHEREAS SLOPES AWAY
FROM THE RADAR DECREASE THE SIGNAL OR MAY OBLITERATE IT BY SHADOWING
"ECAUSE OF THIS EFFECT THE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS OF NEAR
GRAZING ECHOES ARE VERY DIF
FERENT FROM THOSE AT MORE MODERATE INCIDENCE ANGLES !LTHOUGH SOME SMALL REGIONS WITHOUT
SIGNIFICANT PROJECTIONS OR FORWARD SLOPES MAY HAVE 2AYLEIGH DISTRIBUTIONS OR IF ONLY ONE
LARGE SCATTERER IS PRESENT 2ICEAN DISTRIBUTIONS MOST AREAS HAVE OTHER DISTRIBUTIONSOFTEN
7EIBULL OR EVEN LOG
NORMAL 4HE RESULT IS THAT THE MEAN ESTIMATED R & IS OFTEN MUCH
HIGHER THAN THE MEDIAN A FEW TARGETS OR D" HIGHER CAN RAISE THE MEAN A LOT EVEN
THOUGH THE TARGETS OCCUPY ONLY A TINY FRACTION OF THE AREA 4HUS ONE SHOULD BE CAREFUL IN
USING MEAN VALUES FOR RADAR DESIGN THE MEDIAN VALUES ARE MORE REPRESENTATIVE
"ILLINGSLEY PRESENTED HIS RESULTS BOTH IN TERMS OF MEAN VALUES AND MEDIAN VALUES
(ERE WE REPORT ONLY THE MEDIAN VALUES BECAUSE THEY TEND TO BE MORE MEANINGFUL FOR
RADAR DESIGN THAN THE VALUES DISTORTED BY OCCASIONAL STRONG TARGETS &OR MOST AREAS LITTLE
DIFFERENCE WAS FOUND BETWEEN VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL POLARIZATIONS SO THE RESULTS WERE
REPORTED FOR DATA GROUPS INCLUDING BOTH POLARIZATIONS &IGURE SHOWS THE RESULTS
GROUPED BY TARGET CLASS
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&OR &IGURE A AND B THE DEPRESSION ANGLE AND TYPE ARE THE PARAMETERS WHEREAS
FOR &IGURE C THE TERRAIN SLOPE IS THE PARAMETER 4HE LINES ARE BASED ON LINEAR
REGRESSION ON THE LOGARITHMIC FREQUENCY SCALE WITH THE EXCEPTION OF DESERT AND GRASS
AT VERY LOW DEPRESSION ANGLES WHERE A QUADRATIC REGRESSION WAS USED .OTE THAT URBAN
MOUNTAIN AND FOREST TEND TO HAVE RELATIVELY HIGH VALUES COMPARED WITH AGRICULTURE AND
UNCULTIVATED LAND WITH MODERATE SLOPES
, , / ,*, //"
3IDE LOOKING FINE RESOLUTION IMAGING RADARS WITH REAL OR SYNTHETIC APERTURES PRO
DUCE IMAGES THAT CLOSELY RESEMBLE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS "OTH SHADOWS AND DIFFER
ENCES IN R FOR DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE GROUND PRODUCE IMAGE INTENSITY VARIATIONS LIKE
THOSE IN PHOTOGRAPHS &OR THIS REASON PHOTOINTERPRETERS CAN EASILY LEARN TO INTERPRET
RADAR IMAGES (OWEVER SINCE THE RADAR IMAGES ARE DUE TO MICROWAVE REFLECTIVITY
NOT OPTICAL REFLECTIVITY THE INTERPRETERS MUST UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCES AND THAT
THE IMAGES AT THE DIFFERENT WAVELENGTHS ARE IN FACT COMPLEMENTARY -OREOVER THE
GEOMETRICAL DISTORTIONS FOR RADAR IMAGES ARE THOSE OF A SIDE LOOKING RANGE MEASURE
MENT SYSTEM WHEREAS THOSE OF AERIAL PHOTOS ARE THOSE OF A DOWN LOOKING ANGLE
MEASUREMENT SYSTEMA DIFFERENCE THAT THE INTERPRETER MUST UNDERSTAND !T LOW
GRAZING ANGLES THE DISTORTIONS ARE SMALL FOR RADAR BUT AT LOW INCIDENCE ANGLES THEY
ARE LARGE -OREOVER THE SPECKLE IN RADAR IMAGES IS NOT PRESENT IN PHOTOGRAPHS
-ODERN IMAGING RADARS USE DIGITAL RECORDING AND PROCESSING AND THE IMAGES ARE
PRODUCED ON FILM OR MANIPULATED DIGITALLY "ECAUSE THE SIDE LOOKING CONFIGURATION
PRODUCES A STRIP IMAGE THE OUTPUT FILMS ARE USUALLY IN THE FORM OF LONG STRIPS -OST
CAMERAS PRODUCE SEPARATE IMAGES THAT ARE APPROXIMATELY SQUARE 3TRIP FILM CAMERAS
AND OPTICAL INFRARED SCANNERS PRODUCE STRIP IMAGES LIKE THOSE OF RADARS BUT WITH DIFFER
ENT DISTORTIONS BECAUSE THEY ARE ANGLE NOT RANGE MEASURING DEVICES
%VERY PURE AND APPLIED SCIENCE THAT USES AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY CAN ALSO USE RADAR
IMAGES 4HIS IS PARTICULARLY USEFUL IN CLOUDY ENVIRONMENTS BUT RADAR IS ALSO USEFUL
EVEN IN CLEAR WEATHER BECAUSE PERFORMANCE IS INDEPENDENT OF TIME OF DAY SO SUN ANGLE
DOES NOT MATTER -OREOVER RADAR GROUND SIGNATURES DIFFER FROM THOSE IN THE VISIBLE AND
INFRARED 2ADAR HAS BEEN APPLIED TO AGRICULTURE FORESTRY GEOLOGY HYDROLOGY URBAN
GEOGRAPHY REGIONAL STUDIES OCEANOGRAPHY AND ICE MAPPING
&ADING COMPLICATES THE INTERPRETATION OF IMAGES BY PRODUCING SPECKLE 4HIS MEANS
THAT AVERAGING OF THE SPECKLED IMAGE USUALLY IS NECESSARY 3OMETIMES THE PROCESSOR
DOES THE AVERAGING AND SOMETIMES THE INTERPRETER DOES IT MENTALLY IT MUST BE DONE TO
INTERPRET AN IMAGE 4HE IMAGE INTENSITY FOR INDIVIDUAL PIXELS WITH A SINGLE LOOK 3!2
FOLLOWS THE 2AYLEIGH DISTRIBUTION ACTUALLY THE EXPONENTIAL DISTRIBUTION IF SQUARE LAW
DETECTION IS USED -OST 3!2 PROCESSORS SACRIFICE SOME SPATIAL RESOLUTION BY AVER
AGING SAY FOUR PIXELS TOGETHER AFTER DETECTION 4RANSMITTING MORE BANDWIDTH THAN
NEEDED FOR RANGE RESOLUTION ACCOMPLISHES THIS PURPOSE WITHOUT LOSS OF NEEDED SPA
TIAL RESOLUTION BUT IT TAKES MORE TRANSMITTER POWER 3UITABLE FREQUENCY AGILITY CAN
ACCOMPLISH THE SAME RESULT
4RADEOFFS EXIST BETWEEN SPATIAL RESOLUTION AND MEASUREMENT PRECISION 4HE LATTER
CAN BE USED TO DEFINE A GRAY LEVEL RESOLUTION /NE CAN THEN THINK OF IMAGE RESOLUTION
IN TERMS OF A VOLUME
6 RARYRG
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WHERE RA IS THE ALONG TRACK RESOLUTION RY IS THE GROUND RANGE RESOLUTION AND RG IS THE
GRAY LEVEL RESOLUTION 4HE REFERENCED STUDY SHOWED THAT INTERPRETABILITY DEPENDS ON
6 SO TRADEOFFS BETWEEN THE THREE ELEMENTS OF 6 ARE POSSIBLE "EST RESULTS FOR A HUMAN
INTERPRETER OCCUR WHEN THREE INDEPENDENT SAMPLES OF THE FADING ARE AVERAGED )GNORING
THIS FADING SPECKLE CAN LEAD TO ERRONEOUS CONCLUSIONS ON THE SPATIAL RESOLUTION NEEDED
FOR A GIVEN APPLICATION
3INGLE FREQUENCY SINGLE POLARIZATION RADAR IMAGES ARE USEFUL (OWEVER USE OF
MULTIPLE POLARIZATIONS PARTICULARLY INCLUDING CROSS POLARIZATION AND MULTIPLE FREQUEN
CIES CLEARLY INCREASES THEIR VALUE $IFFERENT ANGLES OF INCIDENCE ARE MOST SUITABLE FOR
DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS &OR EXAMPLE SOIL MOISTURE MONITORING IS BEST WITHIN OF VER
TICAL AT FREQUENCIES NEAR '(Z 6EGETATION DISCRIMINATION IS BETTER HOWEVER AT HIGHER
FREQUENCIES AND ANGLES OF INCIDENCE &OR SOME APPLICATIONS USE OF THE FULL POLARIZATION
MATRIX INCLUDING THE PHASE IS USEFUL 4HE PHASE INFORMATION IS PARTICULARLY HELPFUL IN
ASSESSING SCATTERING MECHANISMS AS IN FORESTS
"ECAUSE THE LITERATURE IN THIS FIELD IS SO MASSIVE THE RADAR ENGINEER WISHING TO LEARN
MORE ABOUT THE SUBJECT SHOULD CONSULT THE -ANUAL OF 2EMOTE 3ENSING -ICROWAVE
2EMOTE 3ENSING ESPECIALLY 6OL ))) AND #HAPTER OF 6OL )) AND THE JOURNALS OUTLINED
EARLY IN 3ECTION
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$ + "ARTON h,AND CLUTTER MODELS FOR RADAR DESIGN AND ANALYSIS v 0ROC )%%% VOL
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PP n
0 "ECKMANN AND ! 3PIZZICHINO 4HE 3CATTERING OF %LECTROMAGNETIC 7AVES FROM 2OUGH 3URFACES
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0 "ECKMANN h3CATTERING BY COMPOSITE ROUGH SURFACES v 0ROC )%%% VOL PP n
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'2/5.$ %#(/
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2EF VOL )) P
2EF VOL )) CHAP
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TION 5NIVERSITY OF +ANSAS ,AWRENCE
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PP n
3 / 2ICE h-ATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS OF RANDOM NOISE v PT "ELL 3YST 4ECH * VOL PP n
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2EF VOL )) PP n
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2 7 ,ARSON ET AL h"ISTATIC CLUTTER MEASUREMENTS v )%%% 4RANS VOL !0 PP n
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'2/5.$ %#(/
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2EF 3EE SUMMARIES IN VOL )) CHAP AND VOL ))) CHAP
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7 ( 3TILES AND & 4 5LABY h4HE ACTIVE AND PASSIVE MICROWAVE RESPONSE TO SNOW PARAMETERS
PART ) WETNESS v * 'EOPHYS 2ES VOL PP n
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PART )) WATER EQUIVALENT OF DRY SNOW v * 'EOPHYS 2ES VOL PP n
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! 2 %DISON 2 + -OORE AND " $ 7ARNER h2ADAR RETURN MEASURED AT NEAR VERTICAL INCI
DENCE v )%%% 4RANS VOL !0 PP n
# ( "IDWELL $ - 'RAGG AND # 3 7ILLIAMS h2ADAR RETURN FROM THE VERTICAL FOR GROUND AND
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9 3 +IM 2 + -OORE 2 ' /NSTOTT AND 3 0 'OGINENI h4OWARDS IDENTIFICATION OF OPTIMUM
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4 ,E4OAN ET AL h-ULTITEMPORAL AND DUAL POLARIZATION OBSERVATIONS OF AGRICULTURAL VEGETA
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PP n
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)'!233 VOL PP n
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& * *ANZA 2 + -OORE AND " $ 7ARNER h2ADAR CROSS SECTIONS OF TERRAIN NEAR VERTICAL INCI
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%NG %XP 3TA 42 %% !LBUQUERQUE
2EF VOL ))) &IG P
2EF VOL ))) &IG P
2EF VOL ))) &IG P
$ ( (OEKMAN h2ADAR BACKSCATTERING OF FOREST STANDS v )NT * 2EMOTE 3ENSING VOL
PP n
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- # $OBSON AND & 4 5LABY h-ICROWAVE BACKSCATTER DEPENDENCE ON SURFACE ROUGHNESS SOIL
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2!$!2 (!.$"//+
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VOL )) PP n
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PP n
2EF VOL ))) P
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0ART ) 7ETNESS v * 'EOPHYS 2ES VOL PP n
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! 6 "USHUYEV . ! 6OLKOV AND 6 3 ,OSHCHILOV !TLAS OF )CE &ORMATIONS ,ENINGRAD
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! , 'RAY 2 + (AWKINS # % ,IVINGSTONE , $ !RSENAULT AND 7 - *OHNSTONE
h3IMULTANEOUS SCATTEROMETER AND RADIOMETER MEASUREMENTS OF SEA ICE MICROWAVE SIGNATURES v
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- .AZIROV ! 0 0ICHUGIN AND 9 ' 3PIRIDONOV 2ADIOLOKATSIA 0OVERCHNOSTI :EMLI
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)N 2USSIAN
-ITNIK ET AL h3TRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF THE 3EA OF /KHOTSK MARGINAL ICE ZONE FROM @OCEAN
SATELLITE RADAR SENSING DATA v * 'EOPHYS 2ES VOL PP n
- 2 $RINKWATER 2 (OSSEINMOSTAFA AND 3 0 'OGINENI h# BAND BACKSCATTER MEASUREMENTS
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VOL PP
& 4 5LABY AND # %LACHI 2ADAR 0OLARIMETRY FOR 'EOSCIENCE !PPLICATIONS "OSTON !RTECH
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* VAN :YL AND 9 +IM h2EMOTE SENSING BY RADAR v IN 7ILEY %NCYCLOPEDIA OF %LECTRICAL AND
%LECTRONICS %NGINEERING /NLINE * 7EBSTER ED .EW 9ORK *OHN 7ILEY 3ONS )NC
7 - "OERNER ET AL h/N THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF RADAR POLARIMETRY THE TARGET CHARACTERISTIC
POLARIZATION STATE THEORY OF +ENNAUGH (UYNENS POLARIZATION FORK CONCEPT AND ITS EXTENSION TO
THE PARTIALLY POLARIZED CASE v 0ROC )%%% VOL PP n
* * VAN :YL ( :EBKER AND $ . (ELD h)MAGING RADAR POLARIZATION SIGNATURES 4HEORY AND
OBSERVATION v 2ADIO 3CI VOL PP n
3 ! -ORAIN AND $ 3 3IMONETT h+ BAND RADAR IN VEGETATION MAPPING v 0HOTOG %NG AND 2EM
3ENS VOL PP n
0 # $UBOIS AND * VAN :YL h0OLARIZATION FILTERING OF 3!2 DATA v $IGEST )'!233 VOL
PP n
! ! 3WARTZ ET AL h/PTIMAL POLARIZATION FOR ACHIEVING MAXIMUM CONTRAST IN RADAR IMAGES v
* 'EOPHYS 2ES VOL PP n
3 2 #LOUDE AND % 0OTTIER h!N ENTROPY BASED CLASSIFICATION SCHEME FOR LAND APPLICATIONS OF
POLARIMETRIC 3!2 v )%%% 4RANS ON 'EOSC AND 2EMOTE 3ENSING VOL PP n
* VAN :YL h5NSUPERVISED CLASSIFICATION OF SCATTERING BEHAVIOR USING RADAR POLARIMETRY DATA v
)%%% 4RANS 'EOSC 2EM 3ENS VOL PP n
4OUZI ET AL h0OLARIMETRIC DISCRIMINATORS FOR 3!2 IMAGES v )%%% 4RANS ON 'EOSC AND 2EMOTE
3ENSING VOL PP n
3 , $URDEN * $ +LEIN AND ( ! :EBKER h0OLARIMETRIC RADAR MEASUREMENTS OF A FORESTED AREA
NEAR -T 3HASTA v )%%% 4RANS ON 'EOSC AND 2EMOTE 3ENSING VOL PP n
(OEKMAN ET AL h"IOPHYSICAL FOREST TYPE CHARACTERIZATION IN THE #OLUMBIAN !MAZON BY AIRBORNE
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0 &ERRAZZOLI ET AL h4HE POTENTIAL OF MULTIFREQUENCY POLARIMETRIC 3!2 IN ASSESSING AGRICULTURAL
AND ARBOREOUS BIOMASS v )%%% 4RANS ON 'EOSC AND 2EMOTE 3ENSING VOL PP n
)NOUE ET AL h3EASON LONG DAILY MEASUREMENTS OF MULTIFREQUENCY +A +U 8 # AND , AND FULL
POLARIZATION BACKSCATTER SIGNATURES OVER PADDY RICE FIELD AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH BIOLOGICAL
VARIABLES v 2EMOTE 3ENSING OF %NVIR VOL PP n
3 6 .GHIEM ET AL h0OLARIMETRIC SIGNATURES OF SEA ICE EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS v
* 'EOPHYS 2ES VOL PP n
! -ARTINI , &ERRO &AMIL AND % 0OTTIER h-ULTI FREQUENCY POLARIMETRIC SNOW DISCRIMINATION
IN ALPINE AREAS v 0ROC )'!233 VOL 6) PP n
, , (ESS ET AL h$ELINEATION OF INUNDATED AREA AND VEGETATION ALONG THE !MAZON FLOODPLAIN
WITH THE 3)2 # SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR v )%%% 4RANS ON 'EOSC AND 2EMOTE 3ENSING VOL
PP n
2 + -OORE 7 0 7AITE AND * 7 2OUSE h0ANCHROMATIC AND POLYPANCHROMATIC RADAR v 0ROC
)%%% VOL PP n
2 + -OORE h4RADEOFF BETWEEN PICTURE ELEMENT DIMENSIONS AND NONCOHERENT AVERAGING IN SIDE
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#HAPTER
-iVii,>`>
,}i->
)NSTITUTE FOR $EFENSE !NALYSES
-OST OF THE DISCUSSION IN THIS (ANDBOOK CONCERNS REAL APERTURE RADAR 2!2
WHERE THE ANTENNA IS A PHYSICAL OBJECT THAT FIRST EMITS AND THEN COLLECTS THE RADIA
TION 7E TURN OUR ATTENTION TO THE CASE WHERE THE ANTENNA MOVES TO COVER A SYN
THETIC APERTURE THUS PRODUCING SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR 3!2 4HIS OVERVIEW IS
BASED ON 3ULLIVAN AND #UTRONAo MORE DETAILED TREATMENTS ARE ALSO PROVIDED IN
THE LITERATUREn
-
*,
*
"-,
&OR AIRBORNE OR SPACEBORNE GROUND
MAPPING RADAR THERE HAS BEEN CONTINUOUS DESIRE
TO ACHIEVE FINER RESOLUTION 7E SHALL USE THE TERM RANGE RESOLUTION TO MEAN THE RESOLU
TION ALONG THE LINE
OF
SIGHT ,/3 FROM THE RADAR TO THE TARGET REGION AND CROSSRANGE
RESOLUTION TO MEAN THE RESOLUTION ALONG THE DIRECTION PERPENDICULAR TO THE ,/3 AND
PARALLEL TO THE GROUND 4HE FORMER IS ALSO FREQUENTLY TERMED DOWNRANGE RESOLUTION TO
EMPHASIZE THAT IT IS ALONG THE ,/3 #ROSSRANGE RESOLUTION IS ALSO FREQUENTLY CALLED AZI
MUTH RESOLUTION SINCE IT IS MEASURED ALONG A LINE OBTAINED BY HOLDING RANGE CONSTANT
AND VARYING THE AZIMUTH AS MEASURED FROM THE PHYSICAL ANTENNA OF THE ,/3 )F AND
ONLY IF THE ,/3 REMAINS PERPENDICULAR TO THE DIRECTION OF FLIGHT RANGE RESOLUTION IS
SOMETIMES CALLED CROSS
TRACK RESOLUTION AND CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION IS SOMETIMES CALLED
ALONG
TRACK RESOLUTION
7ITH RESPECT TO 3!2 RESOLUTION THE PREFERRED TERMS ARE FINE AND COARSE "ETTER
RESOLUTION IS FINER NOT GREATER POORER RESOLUTION IS COARSER NOT LESS )N THIS WAY
AMBIGUITY IN TERMINOLOGY CAN BE AVOIDED /F COURSE IN PRACTICE THE TERMS HIGH
RESOLUTION FINE RESOLUTION AND LOW
RESOLUTION COARSE RESOLUTION ARE OFTEN USED
WITHOUT AMBIGUITY
#ROSSRANGE RESOLUTION WAS INITIALLY ACHIEVED BY USE OF A NARROW BEAM 4HE BEAM
WIDTH IN RADIANS P" OF AN APERTURE ANTENNA IS GIVEN APPROXIMATELY BY THE WAVELENGTH
4HE PRESENT CHAPTER DRAWS SIGNIFICANTLY FROM $R 3ULLIVANS BOOK 2ADAR &OUNDATIONS FOR )MAGING AND !DVANCED
#ONCEPTS 2ALEIGH .# 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING $R 3ULLIVAN IS GRATEFUL TO 3CI4ECH FOR PERMISSION TO QUOTE
CONSIDERABLE MATERIAL FROM THE CHAPTERS ON 3!2 (E IS ALSO GRATEFUL TO -R -ICHAEL 4ULEY )NSTITUTE FOR $EFENSE
!NALYSES FOR REVIEWING THE MANUSCRIPT PRIOR TO PUBLICATION AND SUGGESTING MANY IMPROVEMENTS
o )N THE FIRST TWO EDITIONS OF THIS (ANDBOOK THE CHAPTER ON 3!2 WAS WRITTEN BY $R ,OUIS * #UTRONA WHO IS NOW
DECEASED )N $R 3ULLIVAN HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF WORKING WITH $R #UTRONA AT THE %NVIRONMENTAL 2ESEARCH
)NSTITUTE OF -ICHIGAN !NN !RBOR NOW 'ENERAL $YNAMICS 9PSILANTI AND IS GRATEFUL FOR HAVING LEARNED MUCH FROM
HIM CONCERNING 3!2
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
K DIVIDED BY THE APERTURE DIAMETER P" y K $ 4HE CORRESPONDING LINEAR CROSSRANGE
RESOLUTION AT RANGE 2 IS THEN
D CR y
2L REAL APERTURE
$
&OR EXAMPLE IF K CM 8 BAND AND $ M P" y RADIANS !T A RANGE OF 2
KM THE CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION WOULD BE 2 P" y KM HARDLY FINE ENOUGH TO RESOLVE
SUCH TARGETS AS BUILDINGS AND VEHICLES (OWEVER BY USING APPROPRIATE COHERENT PROCESS
ING AN APERTURE OF MODEST SIZE MAY BE MOVED EG BY AN AIRCRAFT OR SPACECRAFTREFERRED
TO AS THE PLATFORM ALONG A PATH IN SPACEA SYNTHETIC APERTUREAND MAY ACHIEVE CROSS
RANGE RESOLUTION COMPARABLE TO WHAT WOULD IN PRINCIPLE BE ACHIEVED BY A REAL APERTURE
WITH A LENGTH EQUAL TO THE PATH LENGTH SYNTHETIC APERTURE ,3!
D CR y
2L
L
y
SYNTHETIC APERTURE
,3! $P
WHERE $P IS THE SYNTHETIC APERTURE ANGLE IE THE ANGLE SUBTENDED BY THE SYNTHETIC
APERTURE AS SEEN FROM THE TARGET AREA 4HE ADDITIONAL FACTOR OF TWO IN THE DENOMINATOR
COMPARED WITH %Q OCCURS BECAUSE OF THE 3!2 PROCESSING AND WILL BE DISCUSSED
&OR EXAMPLE FOR A PATH LENGTH OF KM THE CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION FOR THE CASE DISCUSSED
ABOVE WOULD BE y CM CLEARLY A SUPERB IMPROVEMENT OVER THE REAL
APERTURE CASE
, 9-/",9"-,
4HE ORIGINAL CONCEPT OF 3!2 WAS FIRST DESCRIBED BY #ARL 7ILEY OF 'OODYEAR IN
(E CALLED IT DOPPLER BEAM SHARPENING $"3 ,ATER THE DOPPLER BEAM SHARPENING MODE
OF 3!2 WAS INTRODUCED AS THE NAME FOR A VARIABLE SQUINT ANGLE MODE THAT PRODUCED A
PARTIAL PLAN
POSITION INDICATOR 00) DISPLAY 4HUS $"3 REALLY HAS TWO MEANINGS IN
3!2 THE NAME FOR 3!2 INVENTED BY 7ILEY BEFORE IT WAS CALLED 3!2 AND THE
NAME FOR A 00)
LIKE MODE BASED ON SQUINTED 3!2
)N THE 5NIVERSITY OF )LLINOIS DEMONSTRATED THE 3!2 CONCEPT )N DURING
A SUMMER STUDY THAT LAUNCHED A PROGRAM KNOWN AS 0ROJECT -ICHIGAN IDEAS RELATED
TO SYNTHETIC APERTURES WERE DISCUSSED BY , * #UTRONA OF THE 5NIVERSITY OF -ICHIGAN
7ILLOW 2UN ,ABORATORIES # 7 3HERWIN OF THE 5NIVERSITY OF )LLINOIS 7 (AUSZ OF
'ENERAL %LECTRIC AND * +OEHLER OF 0HILCO #ORPORATION 4HIS RESULTED IN A SUCCESSFUL
3!2 PROGRAM BY THE -ICHIGAN GROUP 4HE )LLINOIS GROUP ALSO DEMONSTRATED SUCCESS
FUL 3!2 IMAGING 4HE WORK OF #UTRONA ET AL AND 3HERWIN ET AL PLUS MANY OTHER
EARLY 3!2 PAPERS ARE COMPILED IN A VERY USEFUL BOOK BY +OVALY -ORE DETAILED
HISTORIES OF 3!2 DEVELOPMENT ARE GIVEN BY #URLANDER AND -C#ONOUGH *ACKSON AND
!PEL AND !USHERMAN ET AL
/9*
-"-,
7HEN WE REFER TO 3!2 WE USUALLY MEAN FOCUSED 3!2 THE TERM INDICATES THAT THE
PHASE INFORMATION HAS BEEN OPTIMALLY PROCESSED TO PRODUCE RESOLUTION COMPARABLE
TO THE THEORETICAL LIMIT )N THE DEVELOPMENT OF 3!2 SEVERAL INTERESTING TECHNIQUES
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
PRECEDED THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOCUSED 3!2 4HESE TECHNIQUES ARE DISCUSSED IN ORDER OF
PROGRESSIVELY FINER RESOLUTION
0RECURSORS TO &OCUSED 3!2
3IDE
,OOKING !IRBORNE 2ADAR 3,!2 3,!2 CONSISTED OF AN AIRCRAFT
MOUNTED
2!2 POINTED PERPENDICULAR TO THE DIRECTION OF FLIGHT HENCE hSIDE
LOOKINGv WITH
CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION ^ 2K$
$OPPLER "EAM 3HARPENING $"3 !S PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED WHEN 7ILEY FIRST
CONCEIVED OF THE CONCEPT THAT WE NOW CALL 3!2 HE TERMED IT DOPPLER BEAM SHARP
ENING 7ILEY EXPLAINED IT AS FOLLOWS h) HAD THE LUCK TO CONCEIVE OF THE BASIC IDEA
WHICH ) CALLED $OPPLER "EAM 3HARPENING $"3 RATHER THAN 3YNTHETIC !PERTURE
2ADAR 3!2 ,IKE ALL SIGNAL PROCESSING THERE IS A DUAL THEORY /NE IS A FREQUENCY
DOMAIN EXPLANATION 4HIS IS $OPPLER "EAM 3HARPENING )F ONE PREFERS ONE CAN ANA
LYZE THE SYSTEM IN THE TIME DOMAIN INSTEAD 4HIS IS 3!2 4HE EQUIPMENT REMAINS THE
SAMEnJUST THE EXPLANATION CHANGES #ONCEPTION WAS REPORTED IN A 'OODYEAR !IRCRAFT
REPORT IN v
3UBSEQUENTLY AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION OF 3CHLEHER $"3 CAME TO REFER TO AN
AIRBORNE SCANNING MODE IN WHICH THE ECHOES FROM THE SCANNING REAL BEAM ARE DOPPLER
PROCESSED TO PRODUCE CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION FINER THAN THAT PROVIDED BY THE REAL BEAM
ALONE BROADSIDE CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION IS y 2K ,$"3 WHERE ,$"3 IS THE SYNTHETIC APER
TURE LENGTH GENERATED DURING A TARGET DWELL 3TIMSON EXPLAINS h4YPICALLY THE ANTENNA
CONTINUOUSLY SCANS THE REGION OF INTEREST"ECAUSE THE INTEGRATION TIME IS LIMITED TO
THE LENGTH OF TIME A GROUND PATCH IS IN THE ANTENNA BEAMOR IF YOU PREFER THE LENGTH
OF THE ARRAY THAT CAN BE SYNTHESIZED IS SO LIMITEDTHE RESOLUTION IS COARSER THAN CAN BE
ACHIEVED WITH A NON
SCANNING ANTENNAv P
5NFOCUSED 3!2 4HIS TYPE OF EARLY 3!2 IS DESCRIBED BY #UTRONA AS FOLLOWS h4HE
COHERENT SIGNALS RECEIVED AT THE SYNTHETIC ARRAY POINTS ARE INTEGRATED WITH NO ATTEMPT
MADE TO SHIFT THE PHASES OF THE SIGNALS BEFORE INTEGRATION 4HIS LACK OF PHASE ADJUST
MENT IMPOSES A MAXIMUM UPON THE SYNTHETIC ANTENNA LENGTH THAT CAN BE GENERATED
4HIS MAXIMUM SYNTHETIC ANTENNA LENGTH OCCURS AT A GIVEN RANGE WHEN THE ROUND
TRIP
DISTANCE FROM A RADAR TARGET TO THE CENTER OF THE SYNTHETIC ARRAY DIFFERS BY K FROM THE
ROUND
TRIP DISTANCE BETWEEN THE RADAR TARGET AND THE EXTREMITIES OF THE ARRAYv #UTRONA
SHOWS THAT THE CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION IS APPROXIMATELY K 2
5NFOCUSED 3!2 IS TYPICALLY NOT USED TODAY AND IS INCLUDED HERE ONLY FOR HISTORICAL
REASONS )T WAS USED IN THE EARLY DAYS OF 3!2 SINCE THE TECHNOLOGY OF THAT TIME DID NOT
SUPPORT FOCUSED 3!2
4YPES OF &OCUSED 3!2 )N FOCUSED 3!2 A PHASE CORRECTION IS MADE FOR EACH
RETURNING PULSE ECHO 4HIS ESSENTIALLY RESULTS IN THE THEORETICAL CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION
OF %Q
3TRIPMAP 3!2 3TRIPMAP 3!2 OR hSTRIPv 3!2 IS ALSO SOMETIMES CALLED hSEARCHv
3!2 SINCE IT IS USEFUL FOR IMAGING LARGE AREAS AT RELATIVELY COARSE RESOLUTION )N STRIP
MAP 3!2 THE BEAM REMAINS NORMAL TO THE FLIGHT PATH THE LATTER IS ASSUMED TO BE A
STRAIGHT LINE AT CONSTANT ALTITUDE AND CONTINUOUSLY OBSERVES A SWATH OR STRIP OF TERRAIN
PARALLEL TO THE FLIGHT PATH EXTENDING FROM SOME MINIMUM RANGE 2MIN TO SOME MAXIMUM
RANGE 2MAX FROM THE FLIGHT PATH
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&OR STRIPMAP 3!2 THE SYNTHETIC APERTURE ANGLE $P IS ESSENTIALLY EQUAL TO THE REAL
APERTURE BEAMWIDTH P"
$P y P " y
L
$
4HUS
D CR y
L
$
y
$P
5NDER IDEAL CONDITIONS AS LONG AS $ K AND SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO 3.2
THEN THE SMALLER THE PHYSICAL ANTENNA THE FINER THE CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION INDEPENDENT
OF RANGE
!S THE PHYSICAL ANTENNA MOVES ALONG THE SYNTHETIC APERTURE THE RETURN FROM A
POINT TARGET AT A PARTICULAR RANGE WILL EXHIBIT A QUADRATIC PHASE BEHAVIOR IE PHASE
VARIES AS THE SQUARE OF THE TIME REFERENCED TO THE CLOSEST APPROACH THAT IS UNIQUE TO
THE TARGETS LOCATION ON THE GROUND 3OME STRIPMAP 3!2S USE A FILTERING APPROACH
TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS PHENOMENON )N FACT FOR THE ECHO FROM A POINT TARGET IN
THE SCENE A CLOSE ANALOGY EXISTS BETWEEN ITS QUADRATIC PHASE VARIATION DURING A SINGLE
PULSE FROM A LINEAR &- ;,&-= PULSE ECHO AND ITS QUADRATIC PHASE VARIATION OVER
MANY PULSES DUE TO PLATFORM MOTION 3TIMSON P /THER STRIPMAP 3!2S DIVIDE
THE STRIP INTO SUBPATCHES AND USE SPOTLIGHT 3!2 PROCESSING NEXT SECTION FOR EACH
SUBPATCH SEE ALSO 3ECTION OF !USHERMAN ET AL
4HE NEWER 2ANGE -IGRATION !LGORITHM 2-! SEE #HAPTER OF #ARRARA ET AL
ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED FOR SEISMIC APPLICATIONS PROVIDES THE MOST THEORETICALLY CORRECT
SOLUTION TO THE STRIPMAP IMAGE PROBLEM )T DOES NOT MAKE A FAR FIELD APPROXIMATION BUT
TREATS THE WAVEFRONTS AS SPHERICAL )T IS PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO 3!2 WITH VERY WIDE
FRACTIONAL BANDWIDTH ANDOR WIDE SYNTHETIC APERTURE ANGLE 2-! INVOLVES SUBSTAN
TIAL COMPUTATIONAL COMPLEXITY HOWEVER AS PROCESSORS BECOME MORE SOPHISTICATED
THIS LIMITATION IS DISAPPEARING ! SIMPLER FASTER VERSION OF 2-! IS THE #HIRP 3CALING
!LGORITHM #3! SEE #HAPTER OF #ARRARA ET AL
3QUINTED 3TRIPMAP 3!2 )N THIS CASE THE ANTENNA BORESIGHT IS NOT NORMAL TO
THE FLIGHT PATH !S SEEN FROM A TOP VIEW THE SQUINT ANGLE PSQ IS THE ANGLE BETWEEN
THE ANTENNA BORESIGHT AND THE NORMAL TO THE FLIGHT PATH THUS FOR A BROADSIDE BEAM
PSQ AND CCR $ -ORE GENERALLY
$P
D CR
P!
L
$P
L
$ COSP SQ
$ COSP SQ
)T IS ASSUMED HERE THAT THE SYNTHETIC APERTURE LENGTH ,3! 2 AND PSQ IS ESSENTIALLY
CONSTANT DURING A DATA COLLECTION $EPENDING ON DETAILS THIS CONDITION IS VALID ONLY FOR
PSQ LESS THAN ABOUT SINCE FOR A GIVEN CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION AS PSQ INCREASES ,3!
INCREASES AND THE CONDITION BECOMES NO LONGER VALID
3POTLIGHT 3!2 3POTLIGHT 3!2 SOMETIMES CALLED hSPOT 3!2v IS USED TO OBTAIN
A RELATIVELY FINE
RESOLUTION IMAGE OF A KNOWN LOCATION OR TARGET OF INTEREST !S THE
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
PLATFORM PASSES BY THE TARGET THE BEAM DIRECTION MOVES TO KEEP POINTING AT THE TARGET
)N THIS WAY $P MAY BE MADE CONSIDERABLY GREATER THAN P" AND CCR SPOTLIGHT CCR
STRIPMAP 7E MAY WISH TO MAKE A CORRECTION FOR THE VARIATION IN RECEIVED POWER
^2 AS THE RANGE TO THE TARGET VARIES SLIGHTLY OVER THE SYNTHETIC APERTURE 4HIS IS
USUALLY NEGLIGIBLE FOR MOST SPOTLIGHT 3!2 APPLICATIONS BUT MIGHT NOT BE NEGLIGIBLE
WHEN COLLECTION ANGLES ARE LARGE SUCH AS FOR THE CASE OF FOLIAGE
PENETRATION 3!2
3ECTION
4HE SYNTHETIC APERTURE TIME T! REQUIRED TO COLLECT THE DATA FOR A SPOTLIGHT 3!2 IMAGE
IS FOUND AS FOLLOWS
D CR y
L
L2
L2
y
$P ,3! COSP SQ 6T ! COSP SQ
T! y
L2
6D CR COSP SQ
WHERE 6 IS THE PLATFORM SPEED
)NTERFEROMETRIC 3!2 )NTERFEROMETRIC 3!2 )N3!2 SOMETIMES ALSO CALLED
h)&3!2v REFERS TO THE USE OF TWO ANTENNAS WHOSE SIGNALS ARE COMBINED COHERENTLY
)N3!2 WAS ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED BY THE *ET 0ROPULSION ,ABORATORY *0, TO DETECT
OCEAN CURRENTS OR MOVING TARGETS 4HE TWO ANTENNAS WERE DISPLACED HORIZONTALLY
ON THE PLATFORM ALONG A LINE PARALLEL TO THE GROUND SO THAT THE RECEIVED ECHOES FROM
A MOVING TARGET WOULD BE DIFFERENT FROM THE CORRESPONDING ECHOES FROM FIXED TAR
GETS AND THUS MOVERS COULD BE DETECTED AND ANALYZED ,ATER RESEARCHERS EG !DAMS
ET AL USED TWO ANTENNAS DISPLACED VERTICALLY ON THE PLATFORM SO THAT THE RECEIVED
ECHOES FROM A TARGET ABOVE THE SURFACE ASSUMED FLAT WOULD BE DIFFERENT FROM THE
CORRESPONDING ECHOES FROM A TARGET ON THE SURFACE AND THUS TARGET HEIGHT COULD BE ESTI
MATED "OTH TYPES OF )N3!2 ARE DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION 4HE FORMER IS DISCUSSED IN
h)NTERFEROMETRIC 3!2 FOR -OVING 4ARGET )NDICATION -4) v AND THE LATTER IS DISCUSSED
IN h)NTERFEROMETRIC 3!2 FOR 4ARGET (EIGHT -EASUREMENTv
)NVERSE 3!2 3KOLNIK PRESENTS A DISCUSSION OF )NVERSE 3!2 )3!2 (E STATES
h)N 3!2 THE TARGET IS ASSUMED STATIONARY AND THE RADAR IS IN MOTION )N )3!2 THE
TARGET MOTION PROVIDES THE CHANGES IN RELATIVE VELOCITY THAT CAUSE DIFFERENT DOPPLER
SHIFTS TO OCCUR ACROSS THE TARGETv PP n 3KOLNIK ALSO INCLUDES A DISCUSSION
OF )3!2 IMAGES OF SHIPS OBTAINED BY THE 5 3 .AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY .2,
-USMAN ET AL !N AIRBORNE RADAR OBTAINS A SERIES OF IMAGES OF A SHIP THAT IS EXPE
RIENCING PITCHROLLYAW IN THE WAVES AND THE USER IS ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE SHIP TYPE AND
CHARACTERISTICS -USMAN ET AL DISCUSS FEATURE EXTRACTION MULTIFRAME PROCESSING AND
A CAPABILITY FOR AUTOMATIC TARGET RECOGNITION !42 OF SHIPS )3!2 IS ALSO WIDELY USED
FOR DIAGNOSTIC MEASUREMENTS ON INDOOR AND OUTDOOR RADAR CROSS SECTION 2#3 RANGES
+NOTT ET AL P
)MPROVEMENTS IN 3!2 2ESOLUTION 4HE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE ILLUSTRATES HOW 3!2
CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION HAS IMPROVED AS THE PRECEDING TYPES OF AIRBORNE MAPPING RADAR
WERE DEVELOPED ,ET US ASSUME THAT K M 8 BAND $ APERTURE DIAMETER
M 2 KM PSQ 6 MSEC ,$"3 M CORRESPONDING TO AN ANGULAR
SCAN RATE OF SEC AND SPOTLIGHT SYNTHETIC APERTURE LENGTH KM $P y DEG
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HEN CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION IS APPROXIMATELY AS FOLLOWS FOR THE DIFFERENT MODES DIS
CUSSED PREVIOUSLY
3,!2 M
$"3 M
5NFOCUSED STRIPMAP 3!2 M
3TRIPMAP 3!2 M
3POTLIGHT 3!2 M
{ -,,
-" 1/"
)N THIS SECTION WE DISCUSS 3!2 RESOLUTION IN MORE DETAIL "Y hRESOLUTION v IN KEEPING WITH
COMMON USAGE WE MEAN THE PRECISION TO WHICH WE CAN MEASURE THE LOCATION OF A POINT
TARGET AND NOT NECESSARILY THE ABILITY TO RESOLVE TWO POINT TARGETS &OR A DISCUSSION OF THIS
ISSUE SEE 7OLFE AND :ISSIS (OW WE DO THIS WILL BE DISCUSSED IN MORE DETAIL BELOW
3INCE FINE RANGE RESOLUTION IS TYPICALLY ACHIEVED WITH A SINGLE PULSE THE CORRE
SPONDING PROCESSING IS OFTEN TERMED FAST
TIME PROCESSING /N THE OTHER HAND FINE
CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION REQUIRES MULTIPLE PULSES AND THE CORRESPONDING PROCESSING IS
THEREFORE OFTEN TERMED SLOW
TIME PROCESSING #ARRARA 2ICHARDS AND +LEMM
2ANGE 2ESOLUTION 3TRICTLY SPEAKING 3!2 REFERS TO A METHOD FOR IMPROVING
CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION NOT RANGE RESOLUTION (OWEVER BECAUSE FINE RANGE RESOLUTION IS
SO NECESSARY TO A SUCCESSFUL 3!2 AND ALSO BECAUSE OF AN ANALOGY BETWEEN RANGE AND
CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION WE DISCUSS RANGE RESOLUTION BRIEFLY HERE
&INE RANGE RESOLUTION IS ACHIEVED BY TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING RADAR WAVES CHAR
ACTERIZED BY A FAIRLY WIDE BANDWIDTH " !S AN EXAMPLE CONSIDER A CARRIER FREQUENCY
F '(Z AND A BANDWIDTH " '(Z /NE WAY TO ACHIEVE THIS BANDWIDTH NOT
THE BEST WAY IN GENERAL BUT A WAY THAT IS EASY TO DESCRIBE IS TO USE A STEP
FREQUENCY
WAVEFORM CONSISTING OF A SERIES OF hSINGLE
FREQUENCYv PULSES EACH WITH A FREQUENCY
SOMEWHAT GREATER THAN THAT OF THE PREVIOUS PULSE "Y A hSINGLE
FREQUENCYv PULSE
WE MEAN A PULSE CONSISTING OF A PURE SINUSOIDAL TONE MULTIPLIED BY A RECTANGULAR
FUNCTION OF DURATION hWIDTHv S MUCH LONGER THAN THE PERIOD OF THE TONE 3UCH A
PULSE IS NOT TRULY SINGLE
FREQUENCY BUT HAS A BANDWIDTH OF y S &OR EXAMPLE IF S
MICROSECOND "PULSE -(Z 4HIS IS FAR LESS THAN THE BANDWIDTH OF THE OVERALL
STEP
FREQUENCY WAVEFORM EQUAL TO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FREQUENCIES OF THE LAST
AND FIRST PULSES IN THE SEQUENCE WHICH IS TYPICALLY HUNDREDS OF -(Z
3TEP
FREQUENCY PULSE COMPRESSION HAS NOT PROVEN SUCCESSFUL IN AIRBORNE OR SPACE
BORNE APPLICATIONS AS COMPARED TO THE LINEAR
&- ,&- WAVEFORM SEE 3ECTION
OF #ARRARA AND IS SELDOM USED ,INEAR
&- ,&- IS A COMMON WAVEFORM USED IN
OPERATIONAL HIGH
POWER RADARS BECAUSE EACH PULSE CONTAINS THE FULL BANDWIDTH
THEREBY ENABLING THE FULL BANDWIDTH TO BE TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED MUCH MORE
QUICKLY THAN WITH STEP
FREQUENCYA GREAT ADVANTAGE WHEN THE RADAR IS MOVING
SUCH AS FOR 3!2AND THE HARDWARE IS RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE AND MATURE ,&-
HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY EMPLOYED OPERATIONALLY EG IN THE 5 3 .AVY !.!03
AND !.!03
SINCE THE S 4HE ONLY APPARENTLY SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION OF
STEP
FREQUENCY HAS BEEN IN GROUND
BASED INSTRUMENTATION RADARS WHERE IT IS LESS
EXPENSIVE TO IMPLEMENT AND MORE TIME IS AVAILABLE FOR DATA COLLECTION +NOTT ET AL
PP
.EVERTHELESS FOR THE MOMENT WE ASSUME THE STEP
FREQUENCY WAVEFORM BECAUSE
IT PROVIDES A MUCH SIMPLER EXAMPLE FOR EXPLAINING THE PRINCIPLE OF RANGE RESOLUTION
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
,ET US ASSUME THAT THE RADAR TRANSMITS A STEP
FREQUENCY WAVEFORM CONSISTING OF IDEN
TICAL GROUPS OF PULSES EACH GROUP CONSISTING OF . hSINGLE
FREQUENCYv PULSES
OF WIDTH S 7ITHIN A PULSE GROUP THE FREQUENCY OF A PULSE IS $F GREATER THAN THAT OF
THE PREVIOUS PULSE AND THE RADAR TRANSMITS 02& . GROUPS PER SECOND WHERE 02&
IS THE PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY 4HE WAVEFORM BANDWIDTH IS .
$F S 4HE
PHASE AND AMPLITUDE OF EACH PULSE ECHO IS DIGITALLY RECORDED BY THE RADAR !S SHOWN
IN &IGURE A A DISCRETE &OURIER TRANSFORM $&4 TYPICALLY A FAST
&OURIER TRANS
FORM &&4 IS APPLIED TO THIS SET OF . COMPLEX SAMPLES OF FREQUENCY
DOMAIN DATA
RESULTING IN A SET OF . COMPLEX NUMBERS IN THE TIME
DOMAIN CORRESPONDING TO ECHOES
MAGNITUDE AND PHASE THAT WOULD BE RETURNED FROM A VERY SHORT PULSE OF WIDTH y "
SAMPLED AT TIME INTERVALS $T " 4HIS IS A SIMPLE EXAMPLE OF PULSE COMPRESSION
3INCE AN INCREMENTAL DELAY $T CORRESPONDS TO AN INCREMENTAL DOWNRANGE DISTANCE
$R C$T WE MULTIPLY THE $&4 OUTPUT BY C AND OBTAIN THE ECHOES CORRESPONDING
TO A SET OF DOWNRANGE DISTANCES SEPARATED BY A PIXEL WIDTH OF C$T C" 4HUS THE
RANGE RESOLUTION STRICTLY SPEAKING PIXEL SEPARATION OF A STEP
FREQUENCY WAVEFORM
OF BANDWIDTH " IS
D R C "
!LTHOUGH IT IS BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER IT CAN BE SHOWN THAT SUCH A RANGE
RESOLUTION OF y C" MAY BE OBTAINED USING A WIDE VARIETY OF WAVEFORM TYPES AS LONG
AS THE OVERALL TRANSMITTED BANDWIDTH IS " &OR EXAMPLE 3ECTION OF 3ULLIVAN SHOWS
THAT THIS IS TRUE FOR THE ,&- WAVEFORM
#ROSSRANGE 2ESOLUTION ,ET US NOW ASSUME THAT THE AIRBORNE OR SPACEBORNE 3!2
IS OBSERVING A SCENE ON THE %ARTHS SURFACE CONSISTING OF A FEW POINT TARGETS AND THAT IT
TRANSMITS AND RECEIVES . IDENTICAL PULSES EACH OF BANDWIDTH " PRESUMABLY THOUGH NOT
NECESSARILY VIA THE ,&- WAVEFORM AND DETERMINES THE DOWNRANGE POSITION OF EACH
"
!#
!
$
$
!
"
!#
$ $
#
$
$
&)'52% 2ANGE AND CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION 3IMILAR DISCRETE &OURIER TRANSFORM $&4 PROCESSES MAY
BE USED TO OBTAIN RANGE AND CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
TARGET WITH A RANGE RESOLUTION OF C" ,ET US ALSO ASSUME THAT THE 3!2 IS MOVING IN A
STRAIGHT LINE AT A CONSTANT ALTITUDE ( AND CONSTANT SPEED 6 FOR A TIME 4 ALONG A DIRECTION
NORMAL TO THE ,/3 4HE SYNTHETIC APERTURE ,3! 64 IS ASSUMED SMALL COMPARED WITH
THE RANGE 2 TO THE CENTER OF THE TARGET REGION !S VIEWED FROM THE TARGET REGION ALSO
ASSUMED SMALL COMPARED TO 2 THE SYNTHETIC APERTURE SUBTENDS THE SYNTHETIC APERTURE
ANGLE y ,3!2 642 !S THE RADAR MOVES THROUGH ITS SYNTHETIC APERTURE IT VIEWS THE
SCENE FROM SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ANGLES &OR SIMPLICITY LET US ASSUME THAT DURING THIS TIME
THE TARGETS DO NOT LEAVE THEIR hRANGE BINSv OF WIDTH C" 4HIS ASSUMPTION WILL BE DIS
CUSSED IN 3ECTION h2ANGE -IGRATIONv
&ROM THE VIEWPOINT OF THE 3!2 THE SCENE APPEARS TO BE ROTATING WITH ANGULAR
VELOCITY 7 62 $URING THE DATA COLLECTION THE TOTAL ANGLE THROUGH WHICH THE SCENE
APPEARS TO ROTATE IS $P 74 642 ! SPECIFIC POINT TARGET APPEARS TO HAVE A ,/3
VELOCITY OF 7R RELATIVE TO THE 3!2 WHERE R IS THE CROSSRANGE DISTANCE OF THE TARGET
FROM THE ,/3 4HESE APPARENT ,/3 VELOCITIES WILL RESULT IN DOPPLER FREQUENCIES IN
ABSOLUTE VALUE OF VAPPARENT K 7RK WHERE K IS THE WAVELENGTH CORRESPONDING
TO THE CARRIER FREQUENCY
&OR EACH RANGE BIN WE NOW HAVE . COMPLEX NUMBERS CORRESPONDING TO DIFFERENT
RADAR ECHOES IN THE TIME DOMAIN !S SHOWN IN &IGURE B THESE . TIME
DOMAIN
ECHOES MAY BE PROCESSED USING A $&4 TO PRODUCE A SET OF . FREQUENCY
DOMAIN RETURNS
4HE FREQUENCY INTERVAL BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE RETURNS IS $F 4 AND THE OVERALL FRE
QUENCY INTERVAL IS .
4 y .4 02& F2 7E ASSUME OPERATION AT BASEBAND AND
THUS THE FREQUENCY IN QUESTION IS THE APPARENT DOPPLER FREQUENCY OF THE TARGETS 7E
CONVERT THIS TO CROSSRANGE BY MULTIPLYING BY K7 K26
D CR y
L
L
L2
L2
y
74 $P ,3! 64
.OTE THAT OUR ASSUMPTION THAT 2 64 PERMITS THE USE OF SMALL
ANGLE APPROXIMA
TIONS FOR SMALL $P 7HEN $P IS NOT SMALL %Q MUST BE APPROPRIATELY MODIFIED
3UMMARY OF 3!2 2ESOLUTION 7E HAVE THEREFORE NOW DERIVED THE TWO BASIC
FORMULAS FOR 3!2 RESOLUTION
D R C "
D CR
L
L2
y
P ,3!
$P
2ANGE 2ESOLUTION
#ROSSRANGE 2ESOLUTION
4HE PROCESSING DESCRIBED PRODUCES A TWO
DIMENSIONAL ARRAY OF COMPLEX NUMBERS
IE EACH CONSISTS OF A MAGNITUDE AND A PHASE 4HIS ORDERED ARRAY OF COMPLEX NUMBERS
AS A FUNCTION OF DOWNRANGE AND CROSSRANGE PRODUCES A COMPLEX RADAR IMAGE IE EACH
PIXEL CONSISTS OF A MAGNITUDE AND A PHASE 4YPICALLY THE MAGNITUDE SQUARED REPRESENT
ING PIXEL ENERGY IS DISPLAYED
!S SHOWN IN #HAPTER OF 3ULLIVAN A POINT TARGET IN THE SCENE TRANSFORMS TO A TWO
DIMENSIONAL POINT
SPREAD FUNCTION 03& IN THE RADAR IMAGE SO
CALLED BECAUSE A POINT
TARGET IS DISPLAYED IN THE IMAGE AS SOMEWHAT hSPREAD OUTv 4HIS 03& IS CHARACTERIZED BY
A MAINLOBE AND SIDELOBES IN BOTH RANGE AND CROSSRANGE 5SUALLY WEIGHTING ALSO CALLED
TAPERING OR APODIZATION IS APPLIED IN THE PROCESSING RESULTING IN CONSIDERABLY LOWER SIDE
LOBES BUT AT THE EXPENSE OF A SOMEWHAT BROADER MAINLOBE A PRICE THAT THE USER IS TYPICALLY
WILLING TO PAY -ANY TYPES OF WEIGHTING EXIST )F NO WEIGHTING IS APPLIED THE 03& IS A
SINC FUNCTION OF THE FORM SINX X )N THAT CASE THE FORMULAS ABOVE FOR 3!2 RESOLUTION
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
REPRESENT THE DISTANCE FROM THE MAINLOBE PEAK TO THE FIRST NULL .OTE THAT THIS DEFINITION OF
3!2 RESOLUTION IS DIFFERENT FROM THE MORE COMMON DEFINITION OF THE HALF
POWER WIDTH OF
THE MAINLOBE 7ITH NO WEIGHTING THE LATTER IS TIMES THE VALUES GIVEN ABOVE THUS
THE TWO DEFINITIONS ARE NOT VERY DIFFERENT 7E PREFER THE FORMER DEFINITION BECAUSE FOR NO
WEIGHTING IT RESULTS IN A SIMPLER FORMULA WITHOUT THE INTRODUCTION OF THE FACTOR OF
-ORE DETAILS CONCERNING WEIGHTING ARE GIVEN IN 3ECTION
4HERE ARE AT LEAST TWO MATHEMATICALLY EQUIVALENT WAYS OF CONSIDERING 3!2 !S WE HAVE
DEVELOPED THE CONCEPT SO FAR THE CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION MAY BE CONSIDERED TO RESULT FROM THE
DOPPLER SHIFTS RESULTING FROM THE DIFFERENT APPARENT LINE
OF
SIGHT VELOCITIES OF DIFFERENT PARTS
OF THE SCENE (OWEVER THE CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION MAY ALSO BE CONSIDERED TO RESULT FROM THE
LARGE SYNTHETIC APERTURE MUCH AS FINE CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION WOULD ALSO RESULT FROM A LARGE
REAL APERTURE 0ER %Q THE CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION PEAK
TO
FIRST NULL OF A 3!2 IS FINER
BY A FACTOR OF TWO THAN THE RESOLUTION FOR A 2!2 OF EQUAL APERTURE !N INTUITIVE EXPLANATION
FOR THIS INTERESTING RESULT IS THAT FOR 2!2 THE ECHO RECEIVED AT A PARTICULAR APERTURE LOCATION
RESULTS FROM ENERGY TRANSMITTED FROM ALL LOCATIONS IN THE APERTURE WHEREAS FOR 3!2 THE
ECHO RECEIVED AT A PARTICULAR APERTURE LOCATION RESULTS FROM ENERGY TRANSMITTED FROM THAT
KNOWN LOCATION IN THE APERTURE IE MORE INFORMATION IS RECEIVED #ARRARA ET AL P
3TIMSON PROVIDES A DETAILED EXPLANATION FOR THIS RESULT PP n
&IGURE PRESENTS A COMPARISON OF 2!2 AND 3!2
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF 2!2 AND 3!2 4HE CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION PEAK
TO
FIRST
NULL OF ANTENNA PATTERN OF A 3!2 IS ONE
HALF THAT OF A REAL APERTURE RADAR
2!2 OF THE SAME APERTURE DIAMETER #OURTESY OF 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING )NC
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE SIDELOBES ARE ALSO DIFFERENT FOR 2!2 AND 3!2 &OR A 2!2 WITH AN UNWEIGHTED
APERTURE FUNCTION THE TRANSMITTED INTENSITY AT THE PEAK OF THE FIRST ANGULAR SIDELOBE
IS REDUCED BY n D" AND THE RECEIVED INTENSITY FROM A TARGET IN THAT DIRECTION IS
THUS REDUCED BY n D" &OR A 3!2 TYPICALLY THE ENTIRE REGION OF THE IMAGE IS IN THE
MAIN BEAM DURING THE DATA COLLECTION AND THERE ARE NO EFFECTS FROM THE SIDELOBES OF
THE PHYSICAL ANTENNA 4HE SIDELOBES RESULT SOLELY FROM THE PROCESSING AND WITH NO
WEIGHTING THE FIRST SIDELOBE IS REDUCED BY n D" RELATIVE TO THE MAIN BEAM
x
9-*
/-"-,
2ANGE AND 6ELOCITY #ONTOURS 5SING FINE RANGE RESOLUTION A RADAR CAN DISTIN
GUISH BETWEEN TARGETS AT DIFFERENT RANGES ! PARTICULAR TARGET MAY BE DETERMINED TO
BE LOCATED ON A CONSTANT
RANGE
CONTOUR )N $ SPACE THESE CONTOURS ARE CONCENTRIC
SPHERES WITH THE RADAR AT THE CENTER &IGURE A
3IMILARLY USING DOPPLER PROCESSING THE RADAR CAN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN TARGETS OF
DIFFERENT APPARENT VELOCITIES )F 6 IS THE PLATFORM VELOCITY AND P IS THE ANGLE BETWEEN 6
AND THE ,/3 TO A STATIONARY TARGET THEN THE APPARENT ,/3 SPEED OF THE TARGET IS 6,/3
6 COS P &IGURE B )N $ SPACE SURFACES OF CONSTANT 6,/3 ARE CIRCULAR CONES WITH
AXIS 6 AND GENERATING ANGLE P WITH THE RADAR AT THE VERTEX 4HE NEGATIVE SIGN OCCURS
&)'52% 2ANGE AND VELOCITY CONTOURS IN $ SPACE A #ONSTANT
RANGE CON
TOURS ARE CONCENTRIC SPHERES WITH THE RADAR AT THE CENTER B #ONSTANT
APPARENT
VELOCITY
CONTOURS ARE CIRCULAR CONES WITH THE RADAR AT THE VERTEX AND THE AXIS ALONG THE PLATFORM
VELOCITY VECTOR #OURTESY OF 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING )NC
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
BECAUSE WE DEFINE ,/3 VELOCITY AS D2DT WHERE 2 IS THE RANGE TO THE TARGET 4HUS A
POSITIVE D2DT CORRESPONDS TO A RECEDING TARGET AND RESULTS IN A NEGATIVE DOPPLER FRE
QUENCY SHIFT AND A NEGATIVE D2DT CORRESPONDS TO AN INCOMING TARGET AND RESULTS IN A
POSITIVE DOPPLER FREQUENCY SHIFT
#ONSIDER AN AIRBORNE RADAR WITH AN ISOTROPIC ANTENNA PATTERN WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY
ALONG A STRAIGHT LINE PARALLEL TO A FLAT GROUND &IGURE A /N THE GROUND THE CON
STANT RANGE CONTOURS ARE THE INTERSECTIONS OF CONCENTRIC SPHERES WITH THE GROUNDA SET
OF CONCENTRIC CIRCLES WITH THE SUBRADAR POINT AT THE CENTER &IGURE B 4HE CONTOURS
OF CONSTANT ,/3 VELOCITY CALLED ISODOPS CORRESPOND TO THE INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN THE
SET OF CONES AND THE FLAT GROUNDA SET OF NESTED HYPERBOLAS &IGURE C &IGURE D
SHOWS THE COMBINATION OF CONSTANT RANGE CIRCLES AND THE ISODOPS 4HE hNADIR LINEv SHOWN
IN &IGURE IS THE LOCUS OF SUBRADAR POINTS AS THE PLATFORM FLIES ALONG ITS PATH
&)'52% 2ANGE AND VELOCITY CONTOURS ON THE %ARTHS SURFACE A #OLLECTION GEOMETRY B #ONSTANT
RANGE CONTOURS ARE CONCENTRIC CIRCLES WITH THE SUBRADAR POINT AT THE CENTER hNADIR LINEv REFERS TO THE LOCUS OF
SUBRADAR POINTS C #ONSTANT APPARENT VELOCITY CONTOURS hISODOPSv ARE CONFOCAL HYPERBOLAS WITH THE AXIS
PARALLEL TO THE PLATFORM VELOCITY VECTOR D 3ET OF INTERSECTING CONCENTRIC CIRCLES AND CONFOCAL HYPERBOLAS
#OURTESY OF 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING )NC
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HROUGH APPROPRIATE RANGE DOPPLER PROCESSING RETURNS FROM EACH INTERSECTION
CELL MAY BE DISTINGUISHED /VER A SMALL ANGLE ABOUT THE BROADSIDE DIRECTION THE
RANGE CONTOURS AND THE ISODOPS ARE ESSENTIALLY ORTHOGONAL TO EACH OTHER 4HE RESULT
ING RADAR RETURNS MAY BE DISPLAYED TO YIELD AN IMAGE OF THE GROUND !T A NONZERO
SQUINT ANGLE THE ISODOPS ARE NOT ORTHOGONAL TO THE RANGE CONTOURS HOWEVER ADDI
TIONAL PROCESSING CORRECTIONS CAN STILL USUALLY RESULT IN AN ESSENTIALLY UNDISTORTED
GROUND IMAGE
-OTION #OMPENSATION 4HE BASIC THEORY OF 3!2 RELIES ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT
THE PLATFORM AND THEREFORE THE 3!2 ANTENNA IS TRAVELING ALONG A STRAIGHT LINE FLIGHT
PATH AT CONSTANT VELOCITY PARALLEL TO THE GROUND AT CONSTANT ALTITUDE 4HIS IS NOT EXACTLY
TRUE AND FOR SUCCESSFUL 3!2 IMAGING IT IS NECESSARY THAT THE DEVIATIONS OF THE ANTENNA
FROM THIS NOMINAL FLIGHT PATH BE MEASURED RECORDED AND COMPENSATED FOR IN THE PRO
CESSING 4HIS PROCEDURE IS KNOWN AS MOTION COMPENSATION SOMETIMES ABBREVIATED
MOCOMP &OR EXAMPLE AT A PARTICULAR MOMENT AS A PARTICULAR FREQUENCY IS TRANSMIT
TED IF THE ANTENNA IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE DEVIATED A DISTANCE D AWAY FROM THE NOMINAL
FLIGHT PATH ALONG THE ,/3 THE PHASE CORRECTION
$F
P D P DF
L
C
WITH APPROPRIATE SIGN IS ADDED TO THE MEASURED PHASE AT THE FREQUENCY F TO PRODUCE
THE BEST ESTIMATE OF WHAT THE RECORDED PHASE WOULD HAVE BEEN IF THE PLATFORM HAD NOT
DEVIATED FROM THE NOMINAL FLIGHT PATH 3IMILARLY IF THE PLATFORM SPEED IS NOT CONSTANT
THE RECEIVED DATA ARE INTERPOLATED TO PRODUCE THE BEST ESTIMATE OF WHAT THEY WOULD HAVE
BEEN IF THE SPEED HAD BEEN CONSTANT
7HEN THE PLATFORM IS AN AIRCRAFT AN ON
BOARD )NERTIAL .AVIGATION 3YSTEM ).3
USES ACCELEROMETERS AND GYROSCOPES TO MEASURE THE DEVIATIONS 3OMETIMES A SMALLER
)NERTIAL -EASUREMENT 5NIT )-5 RELYING ON THE SAME GENERAL PRINCIPLES IS hSTRAPPED
DOWNv VERY NEAR THE ANTENNA 7ITHOUT AN ABSOLUTE REFERENCE FRAME THE OUTPUTS OF ANY
).3 OR )-5 WILL DRIFT WITH TIME AS ERRORS ACCUMULATE !N ABSOLUTE FRAME FOR POSITION
AND VELOCITY MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM '03 A CONSTELLA
TION OF AT LEAST SATELLITES IN POLAR %ARTH ORBIT PROVIDING CONTINUOUS REFERENCE SIGNALS
FOR DETERMINATION OF PRECISE POSITION AND VELOCITY
3LANT AND 'ROUND 0LANES 7HEN A 3!2 IMAGE IS INITIALLY PRODUCED THE RANGE
PIXEL SIZE CR IS USUALLY A CONSTANT )T IS GENERALLY CHOSEN TO BE SOMEWHAT LESS THAN C"
EG C" TO ENSURE ADEQUATE SAMPLING !S ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE THE ACTUAL
GROUND LOCATIONS THAT CORRESPOND TO THESE RANGE SAMPLES ARE NOT SPACED AT CONSTANT
INTERVALS IN GROUND RANGE .EAR THE SCENE CENTER THEY ARE SPACED AT
CG CR COS X
WHERE X IS THE GRAZING ANGLE !T GROUND RANGES CLOSER TO THE RADAR THEY ARE SPACED STILL
FARTHER APART BECAUSE OF THE SPHERICAL RANGE CONTOURS .EAR THE SCENE CENTER THE IMAGE
CORRESPONDS TO THE PROJECTION OF THE GROUND ONTO A SLANT PLANE THIS PLANE IS DETERMINED
BY THE ,/3 AND ITS PERPENDICULAR IN THE GROUND PLANE 7E OFTEN REFER TO THIS TYPE OF
IMAGE AS A SLANT
PLANE IMAGE "Y APPROPRIATE INTERPOLATION AND RESAMPLING A GROUND
PLANE IMAGE WITH CG CONSTANT CCR MAY BE PRODUCED 'ROUND
PLANE IMAGERY WITH
MINIMAL DISTORTION IS NECESSARY IF COMPARISON IS TO BE MADE WITH MAPS OR WITH IMAGING
TAKEN FROM OTHER SENSORS SUCH AS OPTICAL SENSORS OR OTHER 3!2S
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
&)'52% 3LANT AND GROUND PLANES 4HE SLANT PLANE IS DETERMINED
BY THE RADAR LINE
OF
SIGHT AND ITS PERPENDICULAR IN THE GROUND PLANE
'ROUND
PLANE RANGE RESOLUTION IS COARSER THAN SLANT
PLANE RANGE RESOLU
TION #OURTESY OF 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING )NC
0ULSE 2EPETITION &REQUENCY 02& 2EQUIREMENTS FOR 3!2 &OR BROADSIDE
OPERATION THE APPARENT ANGULAR VELOCITY OF THE SCENE ROTATION IS
7
6
2
7ITH RESPECT TO THE RADAR THE RELATIVE VELOCITY OF POINT ! SEE &IGURE AT THE
FIRST NULL OF THE MAIN BEAM IS
L6
6 L 2
V!
7R
$
2 $
&)'52% -INIMUM 02& FOR 3!2 4HE APPARENT LINE
OF
SIGHT VELOCITY OF POINT !
IS TOWARD THE RADAR WHEREAS THE APPARENT LINE
OF
SIGHT VELOCITY OF POINT " IS AWAY FROM
THE RADAR 4HESE DETERMINE THE MINIMUM 02& OF 6$ WHERE 6 PLATFORM SPEED AND $
ANTENNA PHYSICAL DIAMETER #OURTESY OF 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING )NC
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3IMILARLY THE RELATIVE VELOCITY OF POINT " ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE BEAM IS
6 L 2 L6
V" 7R
2 $ $
4HUS THE RANGE OF RELATIVE VELOCITIES IN THE SCENE IS
$V 7R 7R 7R
L6
$
4HE RANGE OF DOPPLER FREQUENCIES RECEIVED FROM THE SCENE IS
$FD
L6 6
L $
$
4HUS TO AVOID VELOCITY AMBIGUITY THE 02& MUST BE AT LEAST 6$ 7RITING
F2 MIN
6
$ T 2 MAX
$
WE HAVE
6T 2 MAX
4HUS THE DISTANCE TRAVELED BY THE PLATFORM DURING THE TIME BETWEEN PULSES T2 MUST
BE NO MORE THAN $ AND THE 3!2 MUST TRANSMIT AT LEAST TWO PULSES AS ITS PHYSICAL
ANTENNA PASSES A STATIONARY POINT IN SPACE
7E ALSO FREQUENTLY WANT RANGE UNAMBIGUOUS OPERATION WHICH IMPLIES
6
C
a F2
$
2
&OR EXAMPLE IF 6 MS y KTS $ M AND 2 KM THEN (Z
F2 (Z
%Q IS REALLY TWO EQUATIONS 7E USE FOR THE SECOND EQUATION INSTEAD OF a
BECAUSE WHEN THE EQUALITY IS USED A PULSE IS BEING TRANSMITTED JUST AS THE ECHO FROM
THE PREVIOUS PULSE IS BEING RECEIVED RESULTING IN ECLIPSING AND CONSEQUENT LOSS OF THE
RECEIVED INFORMATION
3KOLNIKPP n POINTS OUT THAT SINCE FOR STRIPMAP 3!2 THE CROSSRANGE
RESOLUTION CCR $ %Q %Q BECOMES
6
C
a F2
D CR
2
4HIS LEADS TO THE CONDITION
2
C
a
D CR 6
4HUS THE UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE 2U AND THE RESOLUTION OF A STRIPMAP 3!2 CANNOT BE
SELECTED INDEPENDENTLY OF ONE ANOTHER 3KOLNIK FURTHER POINTS OUT QUOTING "AYMA AND
-C)NNES THAT MORE SOPHISTICATED REASONING LEADS TO THE CONDITION
2U
C
a
D CR 6
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
3KOLNIK CONTINUES h7HEN A 3!2 IMAGES THE GROUND FROM AN ELEVATED PLATFORM
THE UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE CAN CORRESPOND TO THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE FORWARD EDGE AND
THE FAR EDGE OF THE REGION TO BE MAPPED 4HIS REQUIRES THAT THE ELEVATION BEAMWIDTH BE
TAILORED TO ILLUMINATE ONLY THE SWATH 3 THAT IS TO BE IMAGED BY THE RADAR 4HE SWATH 3 IS
OFTEN MUCH SMALLER THAN THE MAXIMUM RANGE SO THAT THE 02& CAN BE INCREASED TO ALLOW
THE UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE 2U TO ENCOMPASS THE DISTANCE 3 COS X WHERE X IS THE GRAZING
ANGLEv P &OR A STRIPMAP 3!2 %Q THEN BECOMES
3
C
a
D CR 6 COSY
2ANGE -IGRATION !S WE HAVE SEEN A 3!2 MAY OBTAIN RANGE RESOLUTION OF CR
C" WHERE " SIGNAL BANDWIDTH AND OBTAIN CROSS RANGE RESOLUTION THROUGH DOPPLER
PROCESSING WITH CCR K$P )F WE WISH TO PREVENT RANGE MIGRATION MOVEMENT OF A
POINT TARGET FROM ONE RANGE BIN TO THE NEXT DURING THE TIME REQUIRED TO COLLECT THE DATA
FOR IMAGE FORMATION WE WOULD REQUIRE THAT $2 THE VARIATION OF RANGE DURING THE DATA
COLLECTION OVER THE SYNTHETIC APERTURE BE LESS THAN CR
7E CONSIDER THE FORMATION OF A 3!2 IMAGE AFTER COLLECTING DATA OVER AN APERTURE
TIME T! 4HE 3!2 FLIGHT PATH IS A STRAIGHT LINE AT CONSTANT SPEED AND ALTITUDE OVER A FLAT
GROUND &ROM ,EVANON WE HAVE
2MAX
2
6 T !
2
2MIN 2
WHERE 2 DISTANCE FROM THE RADAR TO THE SCENE CENTER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DATA COLLEC
TION INTERVAL AND 2MAX DISTANCE FROM THE RADAR TO THE SCENE CENTER AT THE BEGINNING
AND END OF THE DATA COLLECTION INTERVAL 4HEN
$2 2MAX 2MIN
6T ! ,3! 2 $Q 2 L
DR
2
2
D CR
4HE LAST INEQUALITY IS NECESSARY FOR THE CONDITION OF NO RANGE MIGRATION &OR EXAM
PLE PARAMETERS FOR A 3!2 MIGHT BE 2 KM K M AND CR CCR M THEN
$2 M CR AND THE CONDITION IS NOT SATISFIED 4HUS THE PROCESSOR MUST USUALLY
CORRECT FOR RANGE MIGRATION (OWEVER THIS IS TYPICALLY ACCOMPLISHED BY MODERN 3!2
PROCESSING METHODS &OR SPOTLIGHT 3!2 THE POLAR FORMAT ALGORITHM IS OFTEN USED
TO ACCOMPLISH THIS CORRECTION
/THER 0ROCESSING &UNCTIONS #URLANDER ET AL PROVIDE A DETAILED DISCUSSION OF
SEVERAL KEY OPTIONS FOR 3!2 PROCESSING BEYOND SIMPLE IMAGE FORMATION
L
#LUTTERLOCK #URLANDER ET AL #HAPTER REFERS TO THE USE OF INFORMATION IN THE
RECEIVED SIGNALS TO ASCERTAIN THE CENTER FREQUENCY OF THE ECHOES FROM THE GROUND
CLUTTER AND COMPENSATE FOR SIDEWAYS DRIFT OF THE PLATFORM
!UTOFOCUS #URLANDER ET AL #HAPTER DESCRIBES THE USE OF INFORMATION IN THE
COMPLEX IMAGE ITSELF TO ESTIMATE AND CORRECT PHASE ERRORS AND THEN REPROCESS AND
SHARPEN THE IMAGE SEE ALSO #ARRARA ET AL
#ALIBRATION #URLANDER ET AL #HAPTER REFERS TO THE USE OF TARGETS OF KNOWN RADAR
CROSS SECTION 2#3 IN THE SCENE TO OBTAIN THE ABSOLUTE LEVEL OF 2#3 PER PIXEL AND
THUS R THE GROUND 2#3 PER UNIT AREA
'EOLOCATION #URLANDER ET AL #HAPTER IS THE PROCESS OF DETERMINING THE ABSOLUTE
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE OF PIXELS IN THE 3!2 IMAGE TYPICALLY USING INFORMATION FROM
THE '03
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
-,
+1 /9
)T IS CLEARLY IMPORTANT FOR A 3!2 TO PRODUCE HIGH
QUALITY IMAGERY )MAGE QUALITY IS
TYPICALLY MEASURED USING SEVERAL IMAGE
QUALITY METRICS )1-S DESCRIBED IN THE FOL
LOWING SECTIONS -ORE DETAILED DISCUSSION OF 3!2 IMAGERY IS GIVEN BY (ENDERSON AND
,EWIS AND /LIVER AND 1UEGAN
0OINT
3PREAD &UNCTION 03& ! POINT TARGET MAY BE CONSIDERED AN IMPULSE INPUT
TO A 3!2 PROCESSOR AND THE 03& IN THE IMAGE MAY BE REGARDED AS AN IMPULSE RESPONSE
)02 4HE PRIMARY )1- FOR MOST 3!2S IS THE WIDTH METERS OF THE 03& MAINLOBE AT
ITS hHALF
POWER POINTS v OR POINTS WHERE THE INTENSITY POWER PROPORTIONAL TO VOLTAGE
SQUARED IS ONE HALF OR
D" RELATIVE TO THE MAINLOBE PEAK 4HIS )1- IS TYPICALLY
REFERRED TO AS THE h
D" WIDTHv
4O OBTAIN FINE RESOLUTION IN EITHER RANGE OR CROSSRANGE A &OURIER TRANSFORM &4 IS
PERFORMED ON A SET OF COLLECTED DATA 3INCE ALL DATA SAMPLES HAVE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME
MAGNITUDE FOR EITHER RANGE OR CROSSRANGE WE ESSENTIALLY PERFORM A &4 ON A RECT
ANGULAR FUNCTION WHICH PRODUCES A SINC FUNCTION SINX X WITH A
D" WIDTH
OF CPN WHERE CPN PEAK
TO
FIRST
NULL INTERVAL AND A FIRST SIDELOBE n D"
BELOW THE PEAK
!S MENTIONED IN 3ECTION WHEN A TAPERING OR WEIGHTING FUNCTION MULTI
PLIES THE RECTANGULAR INPUT THE RESULT IS TYPICALLY A FUNCTION WITH BROADER MAINLOBE
AND LOWER SIDELOBES THAN THE SINC SEE 3ECTION OF 3ULLIVAN ! TYPICAL
WEIGHTING FUNCTION USED IN 3!2 PROCESSING IS 4AYLOR WEIGHTING WITH THE FIRST
SIDELOBE CONSTRAINED TO BE n D" BELOW THE PEAK AND hNBAR v SEE 3ECTION
$ OF #ARRARA ET AL WHICH PRODUCES A WIDENED MAIN BEAM OF
D" )02 VALUE
L CPN !NOTHER CHOICE IS (ANN OR h(ANNINGv WEIGHTING WHICH RESULTS IN AN
EVEN WIDER MAIN BEAM OF CPN THE FIRST SIDELOBE IS n D" BELOW THE PEAK
AND THE FAR SIDELOBES ARE VERY LOW COMPARED WITH UNIFORM OR 4AYLOR WEIGHTING
!N EXCELLENT DISCUSSION OF OVER WEIGHTING FUNCTIONS NOT INCLUDING 4AYLOR IS
GIVEN BY (ARRIS
3IGNAL
4O
.OISE 2ATIO 3.2 &OR A REAL RADAR FOR WHICH THE EXACT PHASE OF THE
TARGET ECHO CAN NEVER BE KNOWN IN ADVANCE THE GREATEST ACHIEVABLE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE
RATIO 3.2 IS 3ULLIVAN 3ECTION
3.2
%
K4 &
% 02X AVGT !
WHERE % COLLECTED ENERGY K "OLTZMANNS CONSTANT n JOULE+ELVIN
4 STANDARD TEMPERATURE + & hNOISE FIGURE v WHICH IS TYPICALLY ABOUT
02X
AVG AVERAGE RECEIVED POWER AND T! TIME TO FORM THE SYNTHETIC APERTURE
4HE DENOMINATOR OF %Q IS CORRECT ONLY IF THE TEMPERATURE OF THE RADAR IS
THE SAME AS THAT OF THE SCENE WHICH WE ASSUME SEE #HAPTER AND 3ECTION
OF 3ULLIVAN
%
04X
AVG' L S
04X
AVG !H S
T!
T!
P 2 ,OSS
P 2 L ,OSS
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
WHERE 04X AVG AVERAGE TRANSMITTED POWER ' ANTENNA GAIN R TARGET RADAR CROSS
SECTION 2#3 ! ANTENNA APERTURE AREA G ANTENNA EFFICIENCY AND THE RADAR LOSSES
ARE REPRESENTED BY ,OSS
&OR 3!2 AT PSQ FROM %Q
T!
L2
6D CR
4HUS
3.2
04X
AVG' L S
04X
AVG !H S
P 2K4 & ,OSS 6D CR P 2L K4 & ,OSS 6D CR
)F A FLAT GROUND IS BEING OBSERVED THEN
S S D CRD R COSY
WHERE R CHARACTERIZES THE GROUND 2#3 PER UNIT AREA AND CR PIXEL WIDTH IN SLANT
RANGE 4HEN THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO 3.2 IS
3.2
04X AVG !H S D R
04X AVG' L S D R
P 2K4 & ,OSS 6 COSY P 2L K4 & ,OSS 6 COSY
4HIS AGREES WITH 3KOLNIK %Q AND #URLANDER ET AL %Q
)T IS VERY USEFUL TO CONSIDER THE NOISE EQUIVALENT SIGMA ZERO .%R DEFINED AS THE
LEVEL OF R THAT PRODUCES A RECEIVED POWER EQUAL TO THE THERMAL NOISE POWER IE AN
3.2 OF UNITY 7E SET 3.2 AND HAVE
.%S
P 2K4 & ,OSS 6 COSY P 2L K4 & ,OSS 6 COSY
04X AVG' L D R
04X AVG !H D R
&OR EXAMPLE IF 2 KM 4 + & ,OSS 6 MS X O 0AVG
7 ' D" K M 8 BAND AND CR M THEN .%R D"
! CLEAR 3!2 IMAGE MUST HAVE AN 3.2 GREATER THAN ABOUT D" &ROM "ARTON AND
SUMMARIZED IN 3ECTION OF 3ULLIVAN WE SEE THAT THIS EXAMPLE 3!2 COULD IMAGE
hWOODED HILLS v IE R y D" WITH 3.2 y D" BUT COULD NOT IMAGE hFLATLANDv
PERHAPS DESERT AT R y D" SINCE 3.2 y D"
)NTEGRATED 3IDELOBE 2ATIO )3,2 !N ACTUAL 03& TYPICALLY RESEMBLES THE THEO
RETICAL 03& BUT IS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT FROM IT ESPECIALLY IN THE SIDELOBES DUE TO PHASE
NOISE MOTION COMPENSATION IMPERFECTIONS AND OTHER hREAL WORLDv EFFECTS ! USEFUL
FIGURE OF MERIT IS THE INTEGRATED SIDELOBE RATIO )3,2 DEFINED AS
)3,2
)NTEGRAL OVER 03& 3IDELOBES
)NTEGRAL OVEER 03& -AINLOBE
)3,2 IS USUALLY MEASURED IN D" A TYPICAL VALUE MIGHT BE
D" ,OW )3,2 IS
CLEARLY DESIRED
-ULTIPLICATIVE .OISE 2ATIO -.2 4HERMAL NOISE GENERALLY INTERNAL WHEN THE
RADAR IS A 3!2 IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS ADDITIVE NOISE SINCE IT ADDS TO THE SCENE INDE
PENDENT OF THE SCENE CONTENT !NOTHER TYPE OF UNWANTED BACKGROUND IN A 3!2 IMAGE
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
IS OFTEN CALLED MULTIPLICATIVE NOISE NOT REALLY NOISE IN THE STRICT SENSE WHICH IS PRO
PORTIONAL TO THE AVERAGE SCENE INTENSITY
#ARRARA ET AL DEFINE MULTIPLICATIVE NOISE AS FOLLOWS h4HE PRINCIPAL CONTRIBUTORS TO
MULTIPLICATIVE NOISE ARE THE INTEGRATED SIDELOBES OF THE SYSTEM IMPULSE RESPONSE THE
ENERGY PRESENT IN THE SCENE AS A RESULT OF RANGE AND AZIMUTH AMBIGUITIES AND DIGITAL
;IE FROM QUANTIZATION IN THE ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL CONVERTER= NOISEv P
4HE MULTIPLICATIVE NOISE RATIO -.2 OF A 3!2 IMAGE IS DEFINED AS THE RATIO OF THE
IMAGE INTENSITY IN NO
RETURN AREA .2! NOT INCLUDING THERMAL NOISE DIVIDED BY THE
AVERAGE IMAGE INTENSITY IN A RELATIVELY BRIGHT SURROUNDING AREA IN PRINCIPLE NOT INCLUD
ING THERMAL NOISE !N .2! IS AN AREA WITH ESSENTIALLY ZERO RETURNFOR EXAMPLE A
SHADOW AREA A VERY SMOOTH AREA SUCH AS A CALM LAKE OR A SPECIALLY CONSTRUCTED LARGE
SHEET OF ALUMINUM
!NOTHER SIMILAR 3!2 IMAGE QUALITY METRIC )1- IS THE CONTRAST RATIO #2
DEFINED AS THE RATIO OF THE AVERAGE INTENSITY OF A TYPICAL BRIGHT REGION IN A 3!2 IMAGE
TO THE INTENSITY OF AN .2! )F THERMAL NOISE IS NEGLIGIBLE THEN #2 -.2
#OMPARISON OF 3!2 )MAGERY AND /PTICAL )MAGERY 4HE HUMAN EYE IS OF
COURSE A SYSTEM FOR PRODUCING IMAGES USING VISIBLE LIGHT 4HE LIGHT HITS THE LENS AND IS
FOCUSED UPON THE RETINA AND THE RESULTING IMAGE IS TRANSMITTED TO THE BRAIN /VER MANY
MILLENNIA HUMANS HAVE BECOME FULLY ACCUSTOMED TO SEEING AND PROCESSING THIS VIS
IBLE IMAGERY 4HEREFORE UPON SEEING A 3!2 IMAGE WE MAY INSTINCTIVELY ASSUME THAT
IT HAS CERTAIN PROPERTIES OF A VISIBLE IMAGE WHICH IN FACT IT DOES NOT POSSESS /PTICAL
IMAGERY IS BASED ON AN hANGLE
ANGLEv PRINCIPLE WHEREAS 3!2 IMAGERY IS BASED ON A
VERY DIFFERENT hRANGE
CROSSRANGEv PRINCIPLE
4HE TOP ILLUSTRATION IN &IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE APPEARANCE OF A FLAT LANDSCAPE TO
THE HUMAN EYE OR A CAMERA 4HE TERRAIN IS ILLUMINATED BY SUNLIGHT AT LEAST PARTIALLY
DIFFUSED THROUGH THE ATMOSPHERE !T THE EYE EACH PIXEL SUBTENDS THE SAME AZIMUTH AND
ELEVATION ANGLES 4HUS PIXELS FARTHER FROM THE EYE ARE LARGER COARSER RESOLUTION IN
BOTH DOWNRANGE AND CROSSRANGE THAN PIXELS CLOSER TO THE EYE
4HE BOTTOM ILLUSTRATION IN &IGURE SHOWS THAT FOR A 3!2 IMAGE THE SITUATION IS
QUITE DIFFERENT ASSUMING ADEQUATE 3.2 4HE RANGE PIXEL SIZE CR IS
DR
C
"
COS Y
0IXELS FARTHER FROM THE 3!2 ARE SMALLER IN RANGE SMALLER GRAZING ANGLE AND FINER
DOWNRANGE RESOLUTION THAN PIXELS CLOSER TO THE 3!2 AND CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION IS
INDEPENDENT OF RANGE
7HEN WE DISPLAY A 3!2 IMAGE ESPECIALLY OF A LARGE LANDSCAPE IT IS USUALLY MOST
SATISFYING TO DISPLAY IT WITH THE 3!2 DIRECTION AT THE TOP 4HE FINER RESOLUTION PIXELS ARE
AT THE BOTTOM JUST AS THEY ARE WITH A NATURALLY ORIENTED OPTICAL IMAGE 4HIS ORIENTATION
TENDS TO LOOK MOST NATURAL TO A HUMAN OBSERVER
"ECAUSE 3!2 IMAGERY AND OPTICAL IMAGERY ARE COLLECTED USING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT
PHYSICAL PRINCIPLES WE SHOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF THEY LOOK DIFFERENT ! GOOD EXAMPLE
OF THIS IS PROVIDED IN A 3!2 IMAGE OF THE 7ASHINGTON -ONUMENT COURTESY OF THE
%NVIRONMENTAL 2ESEARCH )NSTITUTE OF -ICHIGAN NOW 'ENERAL $YNAMICS 9PSILANTI -)
4HE TOP ILLUSTRATION IN &IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE COLLECTION GEOMETRY AND THE SCHE
MATIC RESULT OF OPTICAL IMAGERY OF THE 7ASHINGTON -ONUMENT WITH THE -ONUMENTS
SHADOW POINTED TOWARD THE OBSERVER 7E ASSUME THAT THE SUN IS TO THE SOUTH OF THE
-ONUMENT AND THE OBSERVER IS TO THE NORTH 4HE IMAGE SHOWS A SHADOW ON THE NORTH
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF 3!2 AND OPTICAL IMAGERY /PTICAL IMAGERY IS BASED ON
AN hANGLE
ANGLEv PRINCIPLE 3!2 IMAGERY IS BASED ON A hRANGE
CROSSRANGEv PRINCIPLE
/FTEN OPTICAL AND 3!2 IMAGES OF THE SAME TARGET REGION DO NOT LOOK THE SAME TO A HUMAN
OBSERVER #OURTESY OF 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING )NC
SIDE CAST BY THE SUN 4HE PORTION OF THE -ONUMENT VISIBLE IN THE IMAGE IS THE NORTH
SIDE ILLUMINATED BY DIFFUSELY SCATTERED SUNLIGHT )N COMPARISON THE BOTTOM ILLUSTRATION
IN &IGURE SHOWS THE GEOMETRY AND RESULT OF 3!2 IMAGERY AGAIN WITH THE SHADOW
ON THE NORTH SIDE 4HIS TIME THE SHADOW IS CAST BY THE 3!2 ITSELF 4HE PORTION OF THE
MONUMENT VISIBLE IN THE IMAGE IS THE SOUTH SIDE &IGURE SHOWS THE 3!2 IMAGE )T
DOES NOT LOOK ENTIRELY LIKE AN OPTICAL IMAGE NOR SHOULD IT
!NOTHER DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 3!2 AND OPTICAL IMAGES IS THE PRESENCE OF SPECKLE
SEE 3ECTION
IN (ENDERSON AND ,EWIS IN THE FORMER ,ET US CONSIDER A PARTICU
LAR PIXEL OF A COMPLEX IMAGE OF COMPLICATED TERRAIN SUCH AS VEGETATION "Y hPIXELv
WE MEAN THE COMPLEX NUMBERMAGNITUDE AND PHASETHAT AFTER 3!2 PROCESSING
CORRESPONDS TO A PARTICULAR LOCATION ON THE GROUND )F ONLY ONE SCATTERER WERE IN THE
REGION OF GROUND REPRESENTED BY THE PIXEL THEN THE PIXEL MAGNITUDE AND PHASE WOULD
BE A FUNCTION OF THE SCATTERERS EXACT POSITION 3INCE THE REGION REPRESENTED BY THE
PIXEL TYPICALLY CONTAINS MANY SCATTERERS THE COMPLEX PIXEL VALUE IS THE SUM OF THE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0RINCIPLES OF IMAGING THE 7ASHINGTON -ONUMENT &OR THE GEOMETRY
SHOWN THE OPTICAL IMAGE SHOWS THE SIDE OF THE -ONUMENT ON THE SAME SIDE AS THE SHADOW
WHEREAS THE 3!2 IMAGE SHOWS THE SIDE OF THE -ONUMENT ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE
SHADOW #OURTESY OF 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING )NC
COMPLEX NUMBERS THAT EACH RESULTS FROM ONE OF THE SCATTERERS 4HUS WHEN TERRAIN
ESPECIALLY VEGETATION IS IMAGED THE AMPLITUDE VOLTAGE OF A PARTICULAR PIXEL IS THE
MAGNITUDE OF THE COMPLEX SUM OF THE COHERENT RETURNS FROM MANY SCATTERERS WITHIN
THE PIXEL )N ANOTHER NEARBY PIXEL EVEN IF THE TERRAIN IS NOMINALLY THE SAME AS IN THE
FIRST PIXEL THE COHERENT RETURNS WILL ADD DIFFERENTLY AND THE PIXEL MAGNITUDE WILL BE
SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT 4HIS PHENOMENON CHARACTERISTIC OF COHERENT IMAGERY CAUSES
3!2 IMAGERY OF TERRAIN TO EXHIBIT MORE PIXEL
TO
PIXEL FLUCTUATION SPECKLE THAN COR
RESPONDING OPTICAL IMAGERY
3TIMSON POINTS OUT h3OMETIMES THE BEAM OF THE REAL ANTENNA MAY BE WIDE ENOUGH
TO ENABLE THE SAME AREA TO BE MAPPED SEVERAL TIMES WITHOUT CHANGING THE ANTENNAS
LOOK ANGLE 4HIS IS CALLED MULTILOOK MAPPING 7HEN THE MAPS ARE SUPERIMPOSED IE
WHEN ;THE MAGNITUDES OF= SUCCESSIVE RETURNS FROM EACH RESOLUTION CELL ARE AVERAGED
THE EFFECTS OF SCINTILLATION ;IE SPECKLE= ARE REDUCEDv P
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
&)'52% 3!2 IMAGE OF THE 7ASHINGTON -ONUMENT 4HE 3!2 IMAGE SHOWS THE SIDE OF THE -ONUMENT
THAT IS ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE SHADOW WHICH MAY APPEAR COUNTERINTUITIVE TO A HUMAN OBSERVER #OURTESY
OF 'ENERAL $YNAMICS 9PSILANTI -ICHIGAN
-1 ,9" 9-, +1/" ! REVIEW OF THE BASIC EQUATIONS OF 3!2 FOLLOWS
2ANGE RESOLUTION CR C" C SPEED OF LIGHT " PULSE BANDWIDTH
#ROSSRANGE RESOLUTION CCR K $P
K WAVELENGTH $P ANGLE SUBTENDED BY SYNTHETIC APERTURE
0HYSICAL BEAMWIDTH K $ $ ANTENNA DIAMETER
L
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
#ROSSRANGE RESOLUTION FOR STRIPMAP 3!2
L
D CR y
6
C
a F2
$
2
)MAGE #OLLECTION 4IME T! K26CCRCOSPSQ
02& F2 02& q 6$ 6 PLATFORM VELOCITY
02& LIMITS FOR UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE F2 C2
$
L
L
y
$Q L $
&OR STRIPMAP 3!2
3
C
a
D CR 6 COSY
3IGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO
3.2
04X AVG !H S D R
04X AVG' L S D R
P 2 K4 & ,OSS 6 COSY P 2 L K4 & ,OSS 6 COSY
n -*
-,**
/" )N THIS SECTION WE BRIEFLY DISCUSS SEVERAL SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF 3!2 SPECIFICALLY POLARI
METRIC 3!2 MOVING TARGETS VIBRATING TARGETS MEASUREMENT OF OBJECT HEIGHT AND FOLI
AGE
PENETRATION 3!2
0OLARIMETRIC 3!2 5SUALLY WHEN A RADAR TRANSMITS A PULSE AT A PARTICULAR POLARIZA
TION EG HORIZONTAL( IT RECEIVES THE ECHOES AT THE SAME POLARIZATION 3OME RADARS
ARE CAPABLE OF TRANSMITTING AT ONE POLARIZATION AND RECEIVING AT TWO ORTHOGONAL POLAR
IZATIONS EG HORIZONTAL ;(= AND VERTICAL ;6= OR RIGHT
CIRCULAR ;2= AND LEFT
CIRCULAR ;,=
&URTHERMORE SOME RADARS CAN TRANSMIT AT EITHER OF TWO ORTHOGONAL POLARIZATIONS AND RECEIVE
AT EITHER OF THE TRANSMITTED POLARIZATIONS AND THE CHOICE OF TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED POLAR
IZATIONS CAN BE VARIED FROM PULSE TO PULSE )F THE PHASES AS WELL AS THE MAGNITUDES OF THE
ECHOES ARE OBTAINED THEN SUCH A RADAR IS FULLY POLARIMETRIC 7E MAY DESIGNATE THE CHOICE
OF POLARIZATIONS AS FOLLOWS (6 IS hTRANSMIT ( RECEIVE 6 v AND SO FORTH
&ULLY POLARIMETRIC 3!2S HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED 3ULLIVAN ET AL AND (ELD ET AL
&OR EXAMPLE 3ULLIVAN ET AL INCLUDES (( AND (6 8
BAND 3!2 IMAGES TAKEN OF THE
SAME SCENE AT THE SAME TIME USING (( AND (6 MODES INTERLEAVED ON A PULSE
TO
PULSE
BASIS 4HE 3!2 DESCRIBED COULD USING PULSE
TO
PULSE INTERLEAVING TRANSMITRECEIVE FIRST
(( THEN (6 THEN 6( AND THEN 66 DATA AND PRODUCE FOUR CORRESPONDING SIMULTANE
OUSLY COLLECTED COMPLEX IMAGES SUCH THAT THE PHASES OF THE CORRESPONDING PIXELS IN THE
FOUR IMAGES BEAR A SPECIFIC RELATIONSHIP TO EACH OTHER DEPENDING ON THE TARGET TYPE
.OVAK ET AL DEVELOPED AN OPTIMAL POLARIMETRIC WHITENING FILTER FOR ENHANCED TAR
GET DETECTION IN SUCH SETS OF FULLY
POLARIMETRIC 3!2 IMAGES 5SING FULLY POLARIMETRIC
DATA FROM A
'(Z 3!2 THEY SHOWED THAT DIHEDRAL REFLECTORS LOOK QUITE DIFFERENT
FROM TRIHEDRAL REFLECTORS IN FULLY
POLARIMETRIC 3!2 IMAGERY &EW DIHEDRALS EXIST IN
+A
BAND NATURAL CLUTTER THUS IF A PORTION OF A 3!2 IMAGE CORRESPONDS CLOSELY TO A
DIHEDRAL THEN THE REGION IS LIKELY TO CONTAIN CULTURAL HUMAN
MADE OBJECTS
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
-OVING 4ARGETS IN A 3!2 )MAGE
$ISPLACEMENT OF A -OVING 4ARGET 4HE BASIC THEORY OF 3!2 ASSUMES THAT THE
GROUND SCENE IS STATIONARY ! MOVING TARGET IN THE SCENE WILL HAVE A hWRONGv RELA
TIONSHIP BETWEEN ITS LOCATION AND ITS LINE
OF
SIGHT VELOCITY )F THE TARGET MOTION IS IN A
STRAIGHT LINE AT CONSTANT SPEED THE TARGET IMAGE WILL BE DISPLACED IN CROSSRANGE BY
RDISPL
6,/3 6,/3 2
6
7
WHERE 7 IS THE APPARENT ROTATION RATE OF THE SCENE RELATIVE TO THE RADAR AND 6,/3 IS THE TARGET
VELOCITY COMPONENT ALONG THE RADAR LINE
OF
SIGHT )N GENERAL COMPLICATED MOTION OF A TAR
GET DURING A 3!2 DATA COLLECTION PREVENTS FORMATION OF A CLEAR 3!2 IMAGE OF THE TARGET
$ETECTION OF -OVING 4ARGETS IN 3!2 )MAGES 6ARIOUS PROCESSING METHODS HAVE
BEEN DEVELOPED TO DETECT AND REPOSITION MOVING TARGETS
3INGLE
!PERTURE -OVING
4ARGET )NDICATION -4) 3!2 7ITH RESPECT TO CON
VENTIONAL SINGLE
APERTURE 3!2 KEY RESULTS HAVE BEEN OBTAINED BY SEVERAL AUTHORS
INCLUDING 2ANEY &REEMAN &REEMAN AND #URRIE AND 7ERNESS ET AL )F THE
02& IS GREATER THAN THE MINIMUM NECESSARY TO PRODUCE A 3!2 IMAGE THEN FURTHER
DOPPLER BANDS ARE AVAILABLE 4HESE BANDS CAN BE USED FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
AND PROCESSING RESULTS FOR MOVING TARGETS WILL BE DIFFERENT FROM THOSE FOR FIXED
TARGETS &REEMAN PRESENTS A SUMMARY OF POTENTIAL RESULTS FOR MOVING TARGETS COV
ERING SUCH ISSUES AS AZIMUTH SHIFT RANGE WALK AND AZIMUTH DEFOCUS h0ROBABLY
THE WORST DEFECTWILL BE DISPLACEMENT OF MOVING TARGETS IN THE AZIMUTH DIRECTION
AWAY FROM THEIR TRUE POSITION ON THE GROUND 4HE PREFILTER WE HAVE DESCRIBED IS
OPTIMISED FOR TARGETS TRAVELING RADIALLY3UCH TARGETS WILL APPEAR AT THEIR CORRECT
POSITION IN THE -4) IMAGEv
)NTERFEROMETRIC 3!2 )N3!2 FOR -OVING 4ARGET )NDICATION -4) !S
MENTIONED IN 3ECTION )NTERFEROMETRIC 3!2 )N3!2 SOMETIMES ALSO CALLED
)&3!2 REFERS TO THE USE OF TWO ANTENNAS WHOSE SIGNALS ARE COMBINED COHERENTLY
4HE TWO ANTENNAS ARE DISPLACED HORIZONTALLY ALONG A LINE PARALLEL TO THE GROUND
TO DETECT AND ANALYZE MOVING TARGETS AND ARE DISPLACED VERTICALLY TO ESTIMATE
TERRAIN HEIGHT "OTH TYPES OF )N3!2 ARE DISCUSSED HEREIN 4HE FORMER IS DISCUSSED
IN THIS SECTION AND THE LATTER IS DISCUSSED LATER IN h)NTERFEROMETRIC 3!2 )N3!2 FOR
4ARGET (EIGHT -EASUREMENTv
)N3!2 TO DETECT MOVING TARGETS WAS ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED BY THE *ET 0ROPULSION
,ABORATORY *0, TO DETECT OCEAN CURRENTS AND HAS BEEN IMPROVED BY SEVERAL
AUTHORS /NE OF THE MOST SOPHISTICATED TECHNIQUES HAS BEEN DEVELOPED FOR THE
*OINT 34!23 AIRCRAFT AND USES AN INTERESTING COMBINATION OF 3!2 AND -4) TECH
NIQUES TO DETECT AND EVALUATE MOVING TARGETS
4HE *OINT 34!23 3!2 MODE INVOLVES A CLASSICAL SINGLE
RECEIVER
CHANNEL SPOTLIGHT
3!2 THAT DWELLS ON A DESIGNATED GROUND
REFERENCED COORDINATE FOR A DURATION THAT
RESULTS IN A NOMINALLY SQUARE POINT
SPREAD FUNCTION IE DOWNRANGE RESOLUTION
CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION 4HE -4) MODE IS CAPABLE OF DETECTING AND ACCURATELY GEO
LOCATING BOTH EXOCLUTTER IE TARGET MOVING FASTER THAN APPARENT TERRAIN MOTION AND
ENDOCLUTTER IE TARGET MOVING MORE SLOWLY THAN APPARENT TERRAIN MOTION RETURNS
FROM MOVING TARGETS THAT IN GENERAL HAVE RADAR CROSS SECTIONS THAT ARE SMALLER THAN
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
THE CORRESPONDING MAIN BEAM CLUTTER ONLY CELLS )T ACCOMPLISHES THIS BY TRANSMITTING
A COHERENT BURST OF PULSES THAT ARE SUBSEQUENTLY RECEIVED BY EACH OF THREE LINEARLY DIS
PLACED SUBARRAYS OR INTERFEROMETER PORTS )N EACH CHANNEL THE PULSES ARE FAST TIME
AND SLOW TIME PROCESSED INTO A SET OF RANGE AND DOPPLER CELLS WHOSE INTENSITIES MAY
BE CONSIDERED AS A 3!2 IMAGE OF THE SCENE ALTHOUGH NOT AS FINE IN RANGE OR DOPPLER
RESOLUTION AS IN THE 3!2 MODE AND GENERALLY NOT WITH A NOMINALLY SQUARE 03& %ACH
OF THE INTERFEROMETER PORTS PRODUCES A COMPLEX VALUED RANGE DOPPLER hIMAGEv THAT
COULD BE CALLED A h3!2v IMAGE SINCE IT WAS FORMED FROM A COHERENT SEQUENCE OF
PULSES AND THE SUBSEQUENT COMPLEX PAIR WISE COMBINING OF THESE IMAGES WITH THE
PROPER RELATIVE COMPLEX WEIGHTING TO NULL THE CLUTTER CAN BE CONSIDERED AS AN )N3!2
PROCESS /N THE OTHER HAND TO AVOID CONFUSION WITH THE TYPE OF INTERFEROMETRIC 3!2
THAT IS USED FOR TARGET HEIGHT MEASUREMENT THE *OINT 34!23 TEAM TYPICALLY REFERS TO
THEIR PROCESS AS h#LUTTER 3UPPRESSION )NTERFEROMETRYv OR SIMPLY h#3)vp
"ARBAROSSA AND &ARINA SHOW THAT BY USING MULTIPLE SUBAPERTURES DETECTION AND
REPOSITIONING OF MOVING TARGETS CAN BE CONSIDERABLY IMPROVED IN AN EXTENSION OF THE
REAL BEAM $ISPLACED 0HASE #ENTER !NTENNA $0#! TECHNIQUE 3TAUDAHER 4HEY
DEVELOPED A PROCEDURE FOR 3!2 PROCESSING USING AN ARBITRARY NUMBER OF SUBAPER
TURES SEPARATED HORIZONTALLY TO CANCEL GROUND CLUTTER AND IMAGE A MOVING TARGET
4HEIR APPROACH IS A COMBINATION OF SPACE TIME PROCESSING SEE THE LITERATURE
FOR A DISCUSSION OF 3PACE 4IME !DAPTIVE 0ROCESSING OR 34!0 AND TIME FREQUENCY
PROCESSING &IGURE A SHOWS A SIMULATED POINT SPREAD FUNCTION 03& OF A
MOVING POINT TARGET AFTER CLUTTER CANCELLATION AND &IGURE B SHOWS THE FINAL SIMU
LATED 03& AFTER RANGE MIGRATION COMPENSATION
4HE AUTHORS STATE h4HE ;POINT= TARGET IS SUPPOSED MOVING ON THE TERRAIN SHADOW
ING EFFECTS HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED AT A CONSTANT VELOCITY IN A DIRECTION OBLIQUE WITH
RESPECT TO THE RADAR MOTION 4HE VELOCITY PARAMETERS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN IN ORDER TO
MAKE EVIDENT THE PRESENCE OF RANGE MIGRATION AND OF CROSS RANGE SMEARING OF THE TAR
GET IMAGE 4HE GROUND REFLECTIVITY HAS BEEN ASSUMED EQUAL TO THE TARGET REFLECTIVITY
THIS IS QUITE A PESSIMISTIC ASSUMPTION BECAUSE IN MANY CASES OF PRACTICAL INTEREST
THE TARGET REFLECTIVITY IS HIGHER ! RECEIVER THERMAL NOISE D" BELOW THE TARGET
RETURN HAS ALSO BEEN SUMMED TO THE RECEIVED SIGNAL 4HE GROUND ECHO IS FIRST CAN
CELED BY USING A TWO ELEMENT ANTENNA AND TWO TIME SAMPLES 4HE TWO ANTENNAS ARE
SEPARATED BY D V4 ;V PLATFORM SPEED 4 PULSE REPETITION INTERVAL= ! 3!2 IMAGE
IS THEN FORMED BY CONVENTIONAL TECHNIQUES 4HE RESULT IS SHOWN IN &IGURE ;A=
4HE SMEARING OF THE MOVING POINTLIKE TARGET IS EVIDENT 'IVEN THE MOTION PARAM
ETERS THE TARGET HAS MIGRATED OVER SIX RANGE CELLS 4HIS IS THE CAUSE FOR THE BROADEN
ING OF THE TARGET IMAGE EVEN IN RANGE AS WELL AS IN CROSS RANGE 4HE TARGET ECHO
CAUSES A DETECTION AND INITIALIZES THE MOTION ESTIMATION CHANNEL 4HE HIGH ;FINE=
RESOLUTION DATA ARE INITIALLY SMOOTHED IN RANGE TO DECREASE ;COARSEN= THE RANGE RESO
LUTION 4HEN THE PROCESSOR LOOKS FOR THE RANGE CELL WITH THE MAXIMUM ENERGY CONTENT
AND COMPUTES THE 76$ ;7IGNER 6ILLE $ISTRIBUTION= OF THAT CELL ONLY 4HE PHASE
HISTORY IS THEN USED FOR COMPENSATING THE RANGE MIGRATION AND THE PHASE SHIFT ON
THE HIGH ;FINE= RESOLUTION RANGE DATA 4HE FINAL IMAGE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE ;B=
4HE SHARPENING OF THE TARGET IMAGE IS QUITE EVIDENTv "ARBAROSSA AND &ARINA ASSUMED
A POINT TARGET IN THEIR SIMULATION 4HEY OBTAIN A PRECISE LOCATION OF A SIMULATED MOV
ING POINT TARGET BUT DO NOT CLAIM TO HAVE PRODUCED A SIMULATED IMAGE OF AN EXTENDED
MOVING TARGET SUCH AS A VEHICLE
p 0ARAGRAPH COURTESY OF $R -ARSHALL 'REENSPAN .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN #ORPORATION
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
&)'52% 3!2 IMAGE OF A MOVING TARGET USING MULTIPLE SUBAPERTURES FOR CLUTTER
CANCELLATION SIMULATED DATA A ADAPTIVE PROCESSING AND B ADAPTIVE PROCESSING PLUS 3!2
AFTER 3 "ARBAROSSA AND ! &ARINA )%%%
'UARINO AND )BSEN DESCRIBE AN EXPERIMENT USING THE !.!0'
RADAR h4HE
RADAR PROVIDES A UNIQUE SIMULTANEOUS 3!2'-4) ;'ROUND -OVING 4ARGET
)NDICATIONSCANNING REAL APERTURE RADAR= MODE IN WHICH DETECTED TARGETS ARE DIS
PLAYED ON THE 3!2 MAP AS MOVING TARGET SYMBOLS 4HE SYMBOLS ARE ACCURATELY
LOCATED AT THEIR TRUE AZIMUTH POSITION RELATIVE TO THE MAP CENTER4HE ;3!2= MAP
ON WHICH THE MOVING TARGET SYMBOL IS DISPLAYED IS COLLECTED AND PROCESSED SIMUL
TANEOUSLY WITH THE '-4)v 4HE AUTHORS ALSO MAKE CLEAR THAT 'LOBAL 0OSITIONING
3YSTEM '03 INPUTS WERE ESSENTIAL TO THEIR ACCURATE LOCATION OF TARGETS FIXED TAR
GETS WERE GEOLOCATED TO AN ABSOLUTE ACCURACY OF BETTER THAN METERS AND MOVING
TARGET VEHICLES TO AN ABSOLUTE ACCURACY OF ABOUT METERS 3TIMSON ALSO DISCUSSES
THESE !.!0'
RESULTS PP
)MAGING OF -OVING 4ARGETS IN 3!2 )MAGES 0ERRY ET AL HAVE DEVELOPED A METHOD
FOR 3!2 IMAGING OF GROUND
MOVING TARGETS THAT HAVE UNKNOWN STRAIGHT
LINE CONSTANT
SPEED MOTION 4HEY PROCESS THE RECEIVED PHASE HISTORY WITH A hKEYSTONE FORMATTINGv
PROCEDURE THAT ELIMINATES THE EFFECTS OF LINEAR RANGE MIGRATION FOR ALL GROUND
MOVING
TARGETS REGARDLESS OF THEIR UNKNOWN VELOCITY 4HE PROCESSING PROCEDURE THEN AUTOMATI
CALLY FOCUSES THE MOVING TARGETS &IGURE A SHOWS A CONVENTIONALLY PROCESSED 3!2
IMAGE CONTAINING THREE MOVING TARGETSA MILITARY TRUCK TYPE - A TRACTOR
TRAILER
TRUCK AND A SURROGATE IE A FULL
SIZE REPLICA OF A MISSILE TRANSPORTER
ERECTOR
LAUNCHER
4%, &IGURE B SHOWS THE FOCUSED IMAGE OF THE TRACTOR
TRAILER RESULTING FROM THE
PROCESSING 4HE TWO
FOOT RESOLUTION CLEARLY SHOWS THE OUTLINE OF THE CAB AND TRAILER OF
THE TRUCK
6IBRATING 4ARGETS IN A 3!2 )MAGE #ONSIDER A 3!2 OBSERVING A SCENE THAT CON
TAINS A POINT TARGET WHOSE POSITION IS OSCILLATING SINUSOIDALLY VIBRATING SEE 3ECTION
OF #ARRARA ET AL 4HE COMPONENT OF THE VIBRATION AMPLITUDE THAT IS PARALLEL TO THE LINE
OF
SIGHT ,/3 IS D 4HE VARIABLE COMPONENT OF THE RADAR
TARGET DISTANCE IS THEN
$2TGTT D SIN O FVIBT
WHERE FVIB IS THE VIBRATION FREQUENCY
,ET THE NORMALIZED COMPLEX ECHO CORRESPONDING TO A STATIONARY PIXEL BE E J P FD T
WHERE FD IS THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY CHARACTERISTIC OF THE PIXEL 7E ASSUME LOW FRACTIONAL
BANDWIDTH IN WHICH CASE THIS IS EQUIVALENT TO THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY CORRESPONDING
TO THE CENTER FREQUENCY OF THE TRANSMITTED BANDWIDTH SEE 3ECTION OF 3ULLIVAN
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!
&)'52% )MAGING A MOVING TARGET IN A 3!2 IMAGE A #ONVENTIONAL 3!2 IMAGE REAL DATA SHOWING
BLURRED MOVING VEHICLES AN - MILITARY TRUCK A TRACTOR TRAILER TRUCK AND A SURROGATE MOCKUP OF A MISSILE
TRANSPORTER ERECTOR LAUNCHER B )MAGE OF TRACTOR TRAILER TRUCK USING hKEYSTONEv PROCESSING THE TRUCKS CAB IS
AT THE BOTTOM AND THE TRAILER IS ABOVE IT AFTER 2 0 0ERRY ET AL )%%%
)N ADDITION TO THIS ECHO THE PIXEL CONTAINING THE TARGET WILL PRODUCE AN ADDITIONAL ECHO
WITH A PERIODIC PHASE ERROR
FE
P D
SIN P FVIBT FO SIN P FVIBT
L
7E ASSUME O D K THUS EO 4HE NORMALIZED COMPLEX ECHO CORRESPONDING
TO THE PHASE ERROR IS
E JFE E JF SIN P FVIBT
y JF SIN P FVIBT
F E J P FVIBT
E
J P FVIBT
4HE NORMALIZED COMPLEX ECHO CORRESPONDING TO THE VIBRATING TARGET IS THEN THE
COMPLEX PRODUCT OF THE ECHO CORRESPONDING TO THE STATIONARY PIXEL AND THE ECHO COR
RESPONDING TO THE PHASE ERROR
E JFDOP E J P FD T E JFE
AND
E JFDOP E J P FD T
FO J P T FD FVIB
E
E J P T FD
FVIB
)N THE 3!2 IMAGE THE VIBRATING POINT TARGET WILL APPEAR IN THREE CROSSRANGE LOCATIONS
-OST OF THE TARGET ENERGY STILL APPEARS AT THE CORRECT LOCATION WHEREAS A SMALL FRACTION
OF THE ENERGY WILL APPEAR IN EACH OF TWO PIXELS SEPARATED IN CROSSRANGE BY FVIB IN DOPPLER
FREQUENCY 4HUS A VIBRATING TARGET CAN GIVE RISE TO A PAIR OF DISTINCTIVE ECHOES
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
4HE CORRESPONDING VELOCITY SEPARATION IS $V o FVIB K AND THE CROSSRANGE
DISPLACEMENT IS THEN
$R
FVIBLAVG 2
$V $V
2 o
6
6
7
WHERE K AVG AVERAGE WAVELENGTH ASSUMING LOW FRACTIONAL BANDWIDTH 4HE RELATIVE
AMPLITUDE OF EACH OF THE PAIRED ECHOES IS
6OLTAGE
FO P D
LAVG
P D
F
0OWER O
LAVG
4HUS THE AMPLITUDE OF THE PAIRED ECHOES IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE SQUARE OF THE VIBRA
TION AMPLITUDE AND CROSSRANGE DISPLACEMENT IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE VIBRATION FREQUENCY
SEE 3ECTION OF 3ULLIVAN
&OR BRIGHT POINT
LIKE TARGETS OR FOR TARGETS SUCH THAT O D IS NOT SMALL COMPARED
TO K ADDITIONAL TERMS SHOULD BE RETAINED IN %Q DESCRIBING THE FACT THAT A SERIES
OF PAIRED ECHOES OF DECREASING AMPLITUDE MAY APPEAR IN CROSSRANGE
&IGURE SHOWS A 3!2 IMAGE OF A SCENE INCLUDING A VIBRATING TARGETA TRUCK
WITH ITS ENGINE RUNNING 4HE IMAGE CONTAINS TWO SETS OF PAIRED ECHOES CORRESPONDING TO
TWO VIBRATION FREQUENCIES CHARACTERISTIC OF THE PARTICULAR TRUCK USED FOR THE OBSERVATION
-EASUREMENT OF /BJECT (EIGHT 4HE BASIC THEORY OF 3!2 ASSUMES THAT THE
SCENE IS FLAT 4O THE EXTENT THAT THE SCENE IS NOT FLAT DISTORTIONS IN THE 3!2 IMAGE WILL
RESULT )N SOME CASES THEY CAN BE USED TO MEASURE THE HEIGHT OF ELEVATED OBJECTS ABOVE
A FLAT TERRAIN
&)'52% 3!2 SCENE CONTAINING VIBRATING TARGET #ROSSRANGE IS HORI
ZONTAL RANGE IS VERTICAL 4HE PAIRED ECHOES IN CROSSRANGE ARE CHARACTERISTIC OF A
VIBRATING TARGET TRUCK WITH ENGINE RUNNING IN A 3!2 IMAGE 4HE FREQUENCIES
(Z AND (Z ARE PECULIAR TO THE SPECIFIC TRUCK THAT WAS IMAGED #OURTESY
OF .ORTHROP
'RUMMAN #ORPORATION
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3HADOWS 4HE SIMPLEST METHOD OF MEASURING OBJECT HEIGHT IS TO OBSERVE THE LENGTH
,SHADOW OF THE SHADOW OF THE OBJECT CAST BY THE 3!2 AND CALCULATE THE OBJECT HEIGHT H
FROM THE KNOWN 3!2 ALTITUDE ( AND GROUND RANGE 2G
H ,SHADOW
(
2G
4HIS EXPRESSION ASSUMES FLAT EARTH AND MAY BE GENERALIZED TO CURVED EARTH IF 2G IS
RELATIVELY LARGE SEE 3ECTION OF 3ULLIVAN (OWEVER THE SHADOW METHOD WORKS ONLY
FOR AN ISOLATED RELATIVELY HIGH OBJECT ON ESSENTIALLY FLAT TERRAIN EG &IGURE
,AYOVER 3!2 PROCESSING SORTS TARGET RETURNS INTO BINS PIXELS DEPENDING ON THE
RANGE 2 AND VELOCITY V OF THE TARGET RELATIVE TO THE PLATFORM )F TWO OR MORE TARGETS HAVE
THE SAME 2 AND V THEN THEY WILL BE PLACED AT THE SAME LOCATION IN THE 3!2 IMAGE
7E SHALL DEFINE A LAYOVER CONTOUR AS THE LOCUS OF POINTS IN $ SPACE SUCH THAT AN
OBJECT AT ANY OF THE POINTS WILL BE ASSIGNED TO THE SAME LOCATION IN A 3!2 IMAGE
!S SHOWN IN &IGURE A LAYOVER CONTOUR IS THE INTERSECTION OF A CONSTANT RANGE
SPHERE OF RANGE 2 AND A CONSTANT VELOCITY CONE OF GENERATING ANGLE A COSn V6
WITH AXIS ALONG THE PLATFORM DIRECTION IE A CIRCLE OF RADIUS 2 SINA AHEAD OF THE
PLATFORM A n CORRESPONDS TO TARGETS BEHIND THE PLATFORM 7E SHALL THERE
FORE CALL THE CONTOUR THE LAYOVER CIRCLE )F THE TOP OF AN ELEVATED OBJECT SUCH AS A
TOWER IS ON THE LAYOVER CIRCLE AND IF THE GROUND IS FLAT THEN THE TOP OF THE TOWER
WILL APPEAR IN THE 3!2 IMAGE AT THE SAME POSITION AS A POINT ON THE GROUND WHERE
THE LAYOVER CIRCLE INTERSECTS THE GROUND 4HE TOWER WILL BE hLAID OVER v HENCE THE
NOMENCLATURE
!S SHOWN IN &IGURE LET US CONSIDER A PLATFORM IN STRAIGHT LINE CONSTANT SPEED
MOTION AT ALTITUDE ( OVER A FLAT EARTH FORMING A 3!2 IMAGE THE CENTER OF WHICH IS AT
SLANT RANGE 2S ( AND SQUINT ANGLE PSQ 3UPPOSE THAT A TOWER OF HEIGHT H H (
IS IN THE AREA THAT IS IMAGED 7E DESCRIBE LOCATIONS WITHIN THE IMAGE BY A COORDINATE
SYSTEM X Y )F THE BASE OF THE TOWER IS AT X Y WE WISH TO ASCERTAIN THE IMAGE
COORDINATES OF THE TOP OF THE TOWER
&IGURE A ILLUSTRATES A PERSPECTIVE VIEW "ECAUSE 2G ( THE ISODOP Y n AXIS
MAKES AN ANGLE PSQ WITH THE Y AXIS 4HE IMAGE CENTER IS A DISTANCE 3 2G COS PSQ FROM
THE X AXIS WHERE 2G GROUND RANGE &IGURE B SHOWS A VIEW FROM THE X AXIS
INDICATING THE LAYOVER CIRCLE NORMAL TO THE X AXIS AND SHOWING THAT THE IMAGE LOCATION
OF THE TOWER TOP IS LOCATED A DISTANCE THE LAYOVER DISTANCE D H(2G COS PSQ FROM
THE IMAGE LOCATION OF THE TOWER BASE &IGURE C THEN DEPICTS THE VIEW IN IMAGE
COORDINATES X Y 4HE IMAGE COORDINATES OF THE TOWER TOP ARE
X X D SIN PSQ Y Y D COS PSQ
&OR EXAMPLE IF 2G KM ( KM H M AND PSQ THEN D M
X X AND Y Y n M 4HE TOWER TOP APPEARS IN THE IMAGE M CLOSER TO THE RADAR
THAN THE TOWER BASE 4HIS PRINCIPLE MAY SOMETIMES BE USED TO ESTIMATE THE HEIGHT OF
ISOLATED TOWER LIKE STRUCTURES ON RELATIVELY LEVEL GROUND
D2G COSQSQ
(
4HE INTERSECTION OF THE CONSTANT
VELOCITY CONE AND THE GROUND IS A HYPERBOLA )F
( IS NOT 2 THE ISODOP DIRECTION WILL NOT BE PARALLEL TO THE DOWN
RANGE DIRECTION
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
&)'52% ,AYOVER A 0ERSPECTIVE VIEW B VIEW ALONG PLATFORM FLIGHT PATH AND C VIEW
IN COORDINATE SYSTEM OF 3!2 IMAGE #OURTESY OF 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING )NC
4HE GEOMETRY IS MORE COMPLICATED BUT LAYOVER DISTANCE AND OBJECT HEIGHT MAY STILL
BE ESTIMATED
3TEREO 3!2 4WO 3!2 IMAGES OF THE SAME SCENE MAY BE OBTAINED FROM SOMEWHAT
DIFFERENT LOCATIONS SEE 3ECTION IN #ARRARA ET AL .ONCOHERENT COMPARISON
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
OF THE TWOTHE STEREO TECHNIQUEMAY ENABLE ESTIMATION OF OBJECT HEIGHT 4HE TECH
NIQUE IS ANALOGOUS TO THE METHOD BY WHICH WE HUMANS USE OUR TWO EYES TO HELP
ESTIMATE THE DISTANCE OF THE OBJECTS THAT WE SEE )N FACT THE TWO 3!2 IMAGES MAY BE
PRINTED ON THE SAME PAGE USING TWO DIFFERENT COLORS WITH THE VIEWER USING SPECIAL
GLASSES SO THAT THE LEFT EYE SEES ONLY ONE IMAGE AND THE RIGHT EYE ONLY THE OTHER AND THE
BRAIN PROCESSING THE TWO TOGETHER SO THAT THE SCENE IS PERCEIVED IN $
)NTERFEROMETRIC 3!2 )N3!2 FOR 4ARGET (EIGHT -EASUREMENT )NTERFEROMETRIC 3!2
)N3!2 ALSO CALLED )&3!2 SEE 3ECTION OF #ARRARA ET AL AND !DAMS ET AL
WHEN USED FOR TERRAIN HEIGHT MEASUREMENT INVOLVES TWO 3!2 IMAGES TAKEN FROM ANTEN
NAS AT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ALTITUDES AND COMPARED COHERENTLY TO OBTAIN FINE
RESOLUTION INFOR
MATION REGARDING THE HEIGHT OF TERRAIN OR TARGETS IN THE IMAGE )N THIS CASE IT IS SOMETIMES
CALLED )&3!2% WHERE % EMPHASIZES ELEVATION MEASUREMENT )N3!2 MAY BE PERFORMED
USING A SINGLE PLATFORM WITH TWO ANTENNAS SINGLE
PASS )N3!2 OR BY THE SAME PLATFORM
MAKING TWO PASSES OVER THE SAME TERRAIN TWO
PASS )N3!2 !LLEN GIVES SEVERAL EXAM
PLES OF FIELDED SYSTEMS USING EACH TYPE )T IS ESSENTIAL THAT THE RELATIVE LOCATIONS OF THE TWO
ANTENNAS BE RATHER PRECISELY KNOWN !DVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE TWO TYPES OF
)N3!2 ARE AS FOLLOWS
4WO
PASS )N3!2
L
.O SPECIAL HARDWARE IS REQUIRED A CONVENTIONAL 3!2 MAY BE FLOWN TWICE OVER THE
DESIGNATED TERRAIN
-OTION COMPENSATION IS CHALLENGING THE POSITION OF THE ANTENNA VERSUS TIME IN EACH
PASS MUST BE KNOWN WITH GREAT PRECISION
! LONG BASELINE VERTICAL DISTANCE BETWEEN ANTENNA PATHS PROVIDES FINE VERTICAL
RESOLUTION BUT CHALLENGING AMBIGUITIES
4HE SCENE MAY CHANGE BETWEEN PASSES DUE TO WIND ETC
%XAMPLE RESULTS ARE GIVEN BY 3CHULER ET AL WHO PERFORM hTERRAIN TOPOGRAPHY
MEASUREMENT USING MULTIPASS POLARIMETRIC 3!2v
3INGLE
PASS )N3!2
"ASELINE IS RELATIVELY WELL KNOWN PROVIDING CONSISTENCY THROUGHOUT SYNTHETIC APERTURE
3CENE IS SAME FOR BOTH IMAGES SINCE DATA FOR EACH ARE COLLECTED SIMULTANEOUSLY
/N
BOARD REAL
TIME PROCESSING IS A POSSIBILITY
-ORE SOPHISTICATED EXPENSIVE HARDWARE IS REQUIRED TWO ANTENNAS TWO RECEIVER
CHANNELS AND TWO SETS OF ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL !$ CONVERTERS
%XAMPLE RESULTS ARE GIVEN BY !DAMS ET AL WHO INCLUDE AN )N3!2 IMAGE OF
THE STADIUM AT THE 5NIVERSITY OF -ICHIGAN IN !NN !RBOR VIEWABLE WITH TWO
COLOR GLASSES
4O UNDERSTAND THE THEORY OF )N3!2 WE FIRST CONSIDER TWO ANTENNAS ! AND " SEPARATED
VERTICALLY BY A BASELINE , OBSERVING A POINT TARGET A THAT IS ON A FLAT GROUND AT RANGE 2
THE RADAR LINE OF SIGHT ,/3 INTERSECTS THE FLAT GROUND AT GRAZING ANGLE X &IGURE
7E CONSIDER TWO POSSIBILITIES ONE ANTENNA TRANSMITS AND EACH RECEIVES N AND
ANTENNA ! TRANSMITS AND THEN RECEIVES THEN ANTENNA " TRANSMITS AND THEN RECEIVES N
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
&)'52% )N3!2 VERTICAL ANTENNA SEPARATION 6ERTICAL ANTENNA SEPARATION ENABLES ESTIMATION OF THE
HEIGHT OF A TARGET ABOVE THE AVERAGE GROUND HEIGHT OR MORE GENERALLY TERRAIN HEIGHT VERSUS LOCATION #OURTESY
OF 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING )NC
&OR A hSINGLE FREQUENCYv PULSE OF WAVELENGTH K THE DIFFERENCE IN THE PHASES OF THE ECHOES
RECEIVED FROM THE POINT TARGET OBSERVED BY THE TWO ANTENNAS IS FROM &IGURE
$F
P NS P N, SIN Y
L
L
7E NOW CONSIDER THE SAME ANTENNAS ! AND " OBSERVING A SECOND POINT TARGET B THAT
IS A DISTANCE H ABOVE THE FLAT GROUND ALSO AT RANGE 2 THE RADAR LINE
OF
SIGHT ,/3 INTER
SECTS THE PARALLEL TO THE FLAT GROUND AT GRAZING ANGLE X 4HE DIFFERENCE IN THE PHASES OF
THE ECHOES RECEIVED FROM THE POINT TARGET OBSERVED BY THE TWO ANTENNAS IS NOW
$F
P N, SIN Y
L
7E CONSIDER THE QUANTITY
$F x \ $F $F \
P N,
\SIN Y
SIN Y \
L
7E ASSUME THAT H 2 AND THUS X y X y X X X 4HEN WHERE $X
\X X\ FROM &IGURE
$F y
P N,
P N,
H
P N,H
COSY$Y
COSY
L
L
2 COSY
L2
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
7E NOW CONSIDER \C $E \ THE CHANGE IN $E DUE TO A CHANGE IN H GIVEN BY \C H\
\D $F \
P N,
\D H\
L2
!NTENNAS ! AND " MAY BE CONSIDERED AS SEPARATED IN VERTICAL DISTANCE ON AN AIRCRAFT
4HE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN C $E AND A VARIATION IN TERRAIN ALTITUDE C H IS
\D H\
L 2 \D $F \ ANTENNAS SEPARATED VERTICALLY
P N,
)N3!2 FOR TERRAIN ELEVATION MEASUREMENT CAN ALSO BE PERFORMED BY AN AIRCRAFT WITH
TWO ANTENNAS SEPARATED HORIZONTALLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE FLIGHT PATH BY , 4HE AIRCRAFT
IS BANKING AT ANGLE F AND COLLECTING DATA FROM THE FLAT GROUND AT GRAZING ANGLE X
&IGURE 4HEN THE EFFECTIVE APERTURE PERPENDICULAR TO THE ,/3 IS , SIN X F
INSTEAD OF ,COS X &ROM &IGURE WE HAVE
\D H\
L 2 \D $F \ COSY
ANTENNAS SEPARATED HORIZONTALLY
P N, SINY G
)N EITHER GEOMETRY SINCE BOTH CHANNELS ARE NOISY THE EXPECTED ACCURACY IN THE
PHASE DIFFERENCE
SIGMA IS GIVEN BY ,EVANON
D $F
3.2
WHERE 3.2 SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO SEE 3ECTION 4HUS THE THEORETICAL ACCURACY
FOR TERRAIN ALTITUDE MEASUREMENT IS
6ERTICAL ANTENNA SEPARATION NO BANKING
DH
L2
P N, 3.2
&)'52% )N3!2
HORIZONTAL ANTENNA SEPARATION !S LONG AS THE TWO
APERTURES DO NOT BOTH LIE ON THE SAME LINE OF SIGHT TO THE TARGET AREA AN ESTIMATE OF
TERRAIN HEIGHT MAY BE MADE BY COMPARING THE PHASES OF ECHOES RECEIVED BY THE TWO
APERTURES #OURTESY OF 3CI4ECH 0UBLISHING )NC
39.4(%4)# !0%2452% 2!$!2
(ORIZONTAL ANTENNA SEPARATION
DH
L 2 COSY
P N, SINY G 3.2
&URTHERMORE WHEN THE PHASE MOVES THROUGH AN INTERVAL OF O AN AMBIGUITY OCCURS
IN TERRAIN ALTITUDE MEASUREMENT 4HE CORRESPONDING ALTITUDE DIFFERENCE IS COMPUTED BY
REPLACING C $E BY O IN %QS AND
6ERTICAL ANTENNA SEPARATION NO BANKING
L2
N,
L 2 COSY
N, SINY G
$H AMBIG
(ORIZONTAL ANTENNA SEPARATION
$H AMBIG
!LTHOUGH WE HAVE DERIVED THESE RELATIONSHIPS FOR A SINGLE MONOCHROMATIC PULSE THEY
CAN BE SHOWN SEE 3ECTION OF 3ULLIVAN AND 3ECTIONS AND OF #ARRARA ET AL
TO BE TRUE FOR 3!2 PIXELS ALSO WITH K REPLACED BY CFAVG
4HE .ATIONAL !ERONAUTICS AND 3PACE !DMINISTRATION .!3! PERFORMED SUCCESSFUL
8#
BAND SINGLE
PASS POLARIMETRIC )N3!2 SINGLE
PASS FOR THE 3PACE 3HUTTLE 2ADAR
4OPOGRAPHY -ISSION 324- USING ANTENNAS ON THE SHUTTLE ITSELF AND ON THE SHUTTLES
MANEUVERABLE ARM TO PRODUCE A COMPLETE $ MAP OF THE %ARTHS SURFACE BETWEEN n
. LATITUDE AND n 3 LATITUDENEARLY OF THE SURFACE WITH BEST VERTICAL ACCURACY
OF METERS ON A
METER HORIZONTAL GRID
&OLIAGE
0ENETRATION &/0%. 3!2 !LTHOUGH HIGHER FREQUENCY GREATER THAN
APPROXIMATELY '(Z MICROWAVES DO NOT PENETRATE FOLIAGE WELL LOWER FREQUENCY MICRO
WAVES DO &LEISCHMAN ET AL SEE ALSO 3ECTION
OF 5LABY ET AL &OR EXAMPLE
FOR # BAND THE ATTENUATION OF A TYPICAL FOREST CANOPY VARIES FROM y D" TO y D"
THE PROBABILITY THAT THE ATTENUATION IS LESS THAN D" IS ABOUT /N THE OTHER HAND FOR
5(& RADIATION ATTENUATION VARIES FROM TO y D" HALF THE TIME IT IS LESS THAN y D"
4HUS FOR &/0%. 5(& RADIATION IS NECESSARY SHORTER WAVES WILL NOT PENETRATE THE
FOLIAGE WHEREAS FOR AIRBORNE APPLICATIONS LONGER WAVES WOULD REQUIRE PROHIBITIVELY
LARGE ANTENNAS 3PECIFIC VALUES OF ATTENUATION ;D"METER= VARY WITH GRAZING ANGLE TREE
TYPE LEAF DENSITY AND MOISTURE CONTENT HOWEVER THE PREVIOUS STATEMENT IS A GENERAL
SUMMARY OF THESE RESULTS FURTHER DETAILS ARE GIVEN IN &LEISHMAN ET AL
4HE APERTURE TIME T! REQUIRED TO COLLECT SUFFICIENT DATA FOR A 3!2 IMAGE IS FOUND FROM
%Q &OR EXAMPLE LET US ASSUME 2 KM 6 MSEC KTS PSQ AND CCR
M &OR F '(Z 8 BAND K M T! SEC AND THE FRACTIONAL BANDWIDTH "FO
/N THE OTHER HAND FOR FO '(Z 5(& K M T! SEC MIN AND
"FO 3UCH A HIGH FRACTIONAL BANDWIDTH AN ULTRA
WIDEBAND 3!2 PRESENTS CHALLENGES
IN DESIGNING HARDWARE COMPONENTS SUCH AS ANTENNAS THAT ARE REASONABLY LINEAR OVER THE
FULL FREQUENCY RANGE &URTHERMORE THE LONG APERTURE TIME PRESENTS MOTION
COMPENSA
TION CHALLENGES AND THE WIDE REAL
BEAM ANGLE ADDS TO PROCESSING DIFFICULTIES VERY LIKELY
REQUIRING 2ANGE
-IGRATION !LGORITHM 2-! PROCESSING 3ECTION )N ADDITION FOR
CALCULATING CROSSRANGE RESOLUTION THE SMALL
ANGLE APPROXIMATION NO LONGER HOLDS
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!
!
!
&)'52% #ONVENTIONAL AND &/0%. 3!2 IMAGES )N THE CONVENTIONAL IMAGE TARGET VEHICLES
CANNOT READILY BE SEEN WHEREAS IN THE &/0%. IMAGE THEY ARE QUITE PROMINENT 3OURCE HTTPWWWDARPA
MIL$!20!4ECH0RESENTATIONSSPO?PDF-OYER##4"7PDF
! NUMBER OF AUTHORS REPORT SUCCESSFUL RESULTS WITH &/0%. 3!2 USING SUCH
3!2S AS THE %NVIRONMENTAL 2ESEARCH )NSTITUTE OF -ICHIGAN 0
3!2 THE
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7IDEBAND 3!2 &URTHERMORE -OYER PRESENTS IMAGES FROM
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SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER WITH &/0%. 3!2 THAN WITH CONVENTIONAL 3!2 EXAMPLE IMAGERY
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-OTIVATION 7ORLDWIDE THE RATE OF INVESTMENT IN SPACE
BASED RADAR 3"2 DUR
ING THE TIME THE RADARS IN THIS CHAPTER WERE OPERATING WAS ON THE ORDER OF ONE BILLION
DOLLARS PER YEAR 3PACE
BASED SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR 3!2 SYSTEMS CAPABLE OF
M
RESOLUTION HAVE BECOME THE NORM WITH SYSTEMS UNDER DEVELOPMENT OR ALREADY LAUNCHED
BY AT LEAST SEVEN COUNTRIES !S EXPANDED IN THE APPROPRIATE SECTIONS OF THIS CHAPTER
THE RANGE MEASUREMENT PRECISION OF SURFACE HEIGHT CHANGE IS NOW ON THE ORDER OF
MILLIMETER PER YEAR AS ESTABLISHED BY TWO DIFFERENT CLASSES OF %ARTH
OBSERVING 3"2S
3!2S AND RADAR ALTIMETERS 3EVERAL NATIONS ARE SPONSORING RADARS FOR EXPLORATION AT
THE -OON AND BEYOND 3"2
RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS CONTINUE APACE )N SHORT 3"2
IS AN EXCITING EXACTING EXTENSIVE AND EXPANDING TOPIC
3PACE
BASED RADAR SYSTEMS FACE FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGES 4HE PERMISSIBLE OPTIONS
FOR THE VALUE OF SEVERAL PARAMETERS SUCH AS PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY ARE MORE
RESTRICTED FOR 3"2 THAN FOR AIRBORNE SYSTEMS ,IKEWISE THE HARDWARE ENVIRONMENT
IMPOSES MORE RIGOROUS CONSTRAINTS ON IMPLEMENTATION AND 3"2 SYSTEMS DO NOT ENJOY
THE LUXURIES OF HANDS
ON MAINTENANCE NOR IN
FIELD PARTS REPLACEMENT (OWEVER THE
PAYOFF FROM RADARS IN SPACE MORE THAN COMPENSATES FOR THESE CHALLENGES SINCE SPACE
OFFERS A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE FOR %ARTH OBSERVATION AND IS AN ESSENTIAL VIEWPOINT FOR
LUNAR OR PLANETARY EXPLORATION
#OVERED AND /MITTED 4OPICS 4HIS CHAPTER INTRODUCES SPACE
BASED REMOTE
SENSING RADARS 4HE FOCUS IS ON 4YPE )) 3"2S AS OUTLINED IN THE PREVIOUS EDITION OF
THIS (ANDBOOK INCLUDING BOTH %ARTH
ORBITING AND PLANETARY SYSTEMS 4HE MATERIAL IN
THIS CHAPTER IS DESIGNED TO BE REASONABLY COMPLETE AT A SURVEY LEVEL THE DISCUSSION
ZOOMS IN ON SELECTED CASE EXAMPLES TO ILLUSTRATE APPLICATION
SPECIFIC IMPLEMENTA
TIONS OR TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS !N OUTSTANDING EARLY EXAMPLE IS THE 3EASAT SATEL
LITE LAUNCHED IN &IGURE WHICH AS ITS NAME SUGGESTS WAS DESIGNED FOR
OCEANIC OBSERVATIONS 4HREE OF ITS SENSORS WERE 3"2SA SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR AN
ALTIMETER AND A SCATTEROMETER !S THE READER WILL DISCOVER IN THIS CHAPTER THESE THREE
3EASAT INSTRUMENTS ESTABLISHED THE INITIAL PARADIGM FOR VIRTUALLY ALL SUBSEQUENT RADARS
OF THEIR RESPECTIVE CLASSES
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
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ING THE ANTENNAS OF ITS THREE RADARS #OURTESY
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4HIS CHAPTER DOES NOT COVER THE 4YPE ) SHORT
RANGE SPECIALIZED 3"2 SYSTEMS
REVIEWED IN EARLIER EDITIONS SUCH AS TERMINAL GUIDANCE OR RENDEZVOUS RADARS !LSO NOT
COVERED ARE 4YPE ))) 3"2S SUCH AS MULTI
SPACECRAFT SYSTEMS FOR SPACE
BASED RADAR
SURVEILLANCE OF THE %ARTHS SURFACE OR AIRSPACE !LTHOUGH THESE LARGE 3"2 CONCEPTS ARE
INTERESTING IN PRINCIPLE THEIR IMPLIED COSTS REMAIN A DISINCENTIVE PARTICULARLY IF THEIR
ERSTWHILE SPONSORS EXPECT THEIR PERFORMANCE TO APPROACH THE CURRENT STATE
OF
THE
ART IN
AIRBORNE SEARCH OR SURVEILLANCE RADARS %XCEPT FOR THE MENTION OF A FEW BASIC CONCEPTS
THIS CHAPTER DOES NOT DELVE INTO THE EXTENSIVE SUBJECTS OF ORBITOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION
OF SPACE
QUALIFIED HARDWARE NOR SYSTEM INTEGRATION AND TEST FOR WHICH THE INTERESTED
READER IS DIRECTED TO STANDARD REFERENCES
"ASIC /RBIT #HARACTERISTICS 5NLIKE AN AIRBORNE PLATFORM THAT CAN GO ANYWHERE
AT ANY TIME SUBJECT TO FUEL AND AIR
SPACE LIMITATIONS A SATELLITES POSITION AND VELOC
ITY WHEN IN ORBIT ABOUT A PLANETARY BODY ARE RIGIDLY GOVERNED BY ORBITAL DYNAMICS
SUMMARIZED COMPACTLY BY +EPLERS LAWS &URTHER ACCESS BY AN 3"2 TO A GIVEN AREA
OF INTEREST DEPENDS ON THE ROTATION RATE OF THE PLANET AS WELL AS THE SATELLITES POSITION
ALONG ITS ORBIT AND THE RADARS VIEWING GEOMETRY 4HUS THE PRIMARY PARAMETERS TO BE
INCLUDED IN 3"2 MISSION DESIGN INCLUDE ORBITAL ALTITUDE SPACECRAFT ON
ORBIT VELOCITY
AND HENCE PERIOD ORBIT INCLINATION AND THE ROTATION RATE OF THE PLANET
%ARTH
OBSERVING 3"2S SUCH AS 3!2S TEND TO OPERATE FROM SPACECRAFT IN NEAR
CIRCULAR LOW
%ARTH ORBITS ,%/ 4YPICAL ,%/ ALTITUDES SPAN KM TO KM ,OWER
ALTITUDES INCUR LARGER ATMOSPHERIC DRAG WHEREAS HIGHER ALTITUDES IMPLY HIGHER RADIA
TION LEVELS AND LONGER RADAR RANGES NEITHER OF WHICH ARE DESIRABLE IN MOST SITUATIONS
3PACECRAFT VELOCITIES AT THESE ,%/ ALTITUDES ARE ON THE ORDER OF KMS THEIR COR
RESPONDING PERIODS ARE ABOUT MINUTES %ARTH ROTATION AT A RATE OF ^ DEGREE
MIN SHIFTS THE SUB
SATELLITE POINT AT THE EQUATOR BY ^ KM ORBIT
TO
ORBIT 4HE ORBIT
ALTITUDE NORMALLY MAY BE CHOSEN TO TUNE THE PERIOD AND %ARTH ROTATION RATE SO THAT AN
EXACT
REPEAT PATTERN DEVELOPS THAT HAS A STIPULATED NUMBER OF DAYS 4HE REPEAT PERIOD
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
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DAY REPEAT OF 2!$!23!4 ALTHOUGH A
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DAY REPEAT OF THE 4/0%8
0OSEIDON RADAR ALTIMETER /RBIT PARAMETERS SUCH AS REPEAT PERIOD MUST BE MAINTAINED
REQUIRING SMALL BOOSTS FROM SPACECRAFT THRUSTER MANEUVERS TYPICALLY APPLIED EVERY
SEVERAL WEEKS FOR ,%/ MISSIONS 4HE REVISIT TIME OF A GIVEN 3"2 ASSET DEPENDS ON THE
RANGE SWATH WIDTH COVERED BY THE RADAR IN QUESTION AS WELL AS THE ORBITS EXACT
REPEAT
PERIOD AND THE LATITUDE OF THE SITE OF INTEREST 4HE OFF
NADIR
LOOK ANGLE OF CERTAIN 3"2S
CAN BE ADJUSTED TO INCREASE THE EFFECTIVE REVISIT RATE .OTE THAT ORBIT MANEUVERS ARE NOT
A PRACTICAL MEANS TO IMPROVE THE FREQUENCY OF SITE COVERAGE SINCE A LARGE CHANGE IN
ALTITUDE HENCE VELOCITY OR ESPECIALLY ANY CHANGE OF ORBIT INCLINATION THE ANGLE OF
THE INERTIAL ORBIT PLANE WITH RESPECT TO THE %ARTHS EQUATOR WOULD REQUIRE A SUBSTANTIAL
EXPENDITURE OF PRECIOUS ONBOARD FUEL RESOURCES
4HE %ARTH IS FLATTENED AT THE POLES DUE PRIMARILY TO ITS RELATIVELY RAPID ROTATION 4HE
RESULTING LACK OF SPHERICAL SYMMETRY IN THE GRAVITY FIELD AT ORBITAL ALTITUDE IMPOSES
SMALL LATERAL FORCES ON AN INCLINED ORBIT PLANE WHICH CONSEQUENTLY PRECESSES IN INERTIAL
SPACE 4HE AMOUNT DIRECTION AND RATE OF ORBIT PRECESSION CAN BE CONTROLLED BY CHOICE
OF THE INCLINATION AND THE MEAN ALTITUDE OF THE ORBIT -ANY SATELLITE PLATFORMS USE THIS
DEGREE OF FREEDOM TO GENERATE A SUN
SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT WHICH IS ONE THAT MAINTAINS A
CONSTANT ANGLE OF ITS ORBIT PLANE RELATIVE TO SOLAR ILLUMINATION OVER THE ENTIRE YEAR 4HE
%UROPEAN 3PACE !GENCYS %NVISAT SPACECRAFT IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A SUN
SYNCHRONOUS
,%/ HAVING ^n INCLINATIONo AND KM ALTITUDE 3UN
SYNCHRONOUS SPACECRAFT
THAT HOST OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS *APANS !,/3 CHOOSE THE PHASE OF THE SUN ANGLE
TO FAVOR ILLUMINATION OF THE SURFACE WHICH USUALLY LEADS TO A MIDDAY ORBIT FROM WHICH
MOST OF THE %ARTHS SURFACE IS VIEWED AT ABOUT THE SAME LOCAL TIME NEAR MIDDAY 3UCH
ORBITS IMPLY THAT THE SPACECRAFT MUST PASS THROUGH THE %ARTHS SHADOW ABOUT HALF THE
TIME WHICH HAS CONSEQUENCES ON THE DESIGN OF THE THERMAL AND POWER SUBSYSTEMS IN
PARTICULAR )N CONTRAST SPACECRAFT THAT CARRY ONLY RADARS SUCH AS 2!$!23!4 TEND
TOWARD FAVORABLE ILLUMINATION OF THE SPACECRAFT 4HE NATURAL RESULT IN THIS CASE IS THE SO
CALLED DAWN
DUSK ORBIT IN WHICH THE SATELLITEAND ITS SOLAR
PANEL
DEPENDENT POWER
SYSTEMAVOIDS THE SHADOW OF THE %ARTH ALMOST ALWAYS FOR ALMOST ALL SEASONS
#ERTAIN APPLICATIONS ARE PARTICULARLY WELL
SERVED BY EXACT
REPEAT ORBITS &OR EXAM
PLE IF A GROUP OF ORBITAL TRAJECTORIES FALLS WITHIN A SMALL RADIUS OF EACH OTHER WHEN OVER
AN AREA OF INTEREST THEN RADAR MEASUREMENTS FROM SEVERAL ORBITS MAY BE COMPARED
COHERENTLY THUS POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AT THE ORDER OF A WAVELENGTH TO CHANGES IN THE
SCENE BETWEEN OBSERVATIONS 3UCH COHERENT CHANGE DETECTION IS A STANDARD TECHNIQUE IN
THE FIELD OF SPACE
BASED 3!2 INTERFEROMETRY REVIEWED IN THE FOLLOWING SECTION %XACT
REPEAT ORBITS ARE STANDARD FOR MOST RADAR ALTIMETERS BUT FOR GEOPHYSICAL REASONS NOT
FOR MUTUAL COHERENCY 3UN
SYNCHRONICITY PRESENTS ITS OWN PROBLEMS FOR OCEAN
SENSING
ALTIMETERS 4HESE COMMENTS ARE ELABORATED IN 3ECTION
!S DISCUSSED IN SEVERAL CHAPTERS OF THIS BOOK THE PERFORMANCE OF DOPPLER
SENSITIVE
RADARS IS CONDITIONAL UPON THE VELOCITY OF THEIR HOST PLATFORM 4HE VELOCITY OF A SPACE
CRAFT IN ORBIT AT ALTITUDE H ABOVE A PLANET OF RADIUS 20 AND MASS -0 IS GIVEN BY
63# - 0 ' 20 H
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THE SPACECRAFT
o )NCLINATIONS GREATER THAN n ARE RETROGRADE BECAUSE THEIR %
7 VELOCITY COMPONENT IN THE ASCENDING PASS IS CONTRARY
TO THE DIRECTION OF THE %ARTHS ROTATION IN CONTRAST TO PROGRADE ORBITS WHOSE INCLINATIONS ARE LESS THAN n
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LISTS THE ALTITUDE
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FOLD SPREAD IN THE
VALUE OF THIS PARAMETER FROM THE %ARTH TO *UPITERS MOON %UROPA )T FOLLOWS THAT RADAR
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ENT PLANETARY BODY
)T IS OFTEN SAID THAT RADAR IS hALL
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UNIVERSALLY TRUE ESPECIALLY FOR 3"2S &ROM SPACE THE IONOSPHERE ANDOR ATMOSPHERE
MAY CORRUPT OR EVEN PREVENT RADAR PROPAGATION 4HE IONOSPHERE MAY INDUCE &ARADAY
ROTATION e THUS DEGRADING OR DESTROYING THE POLARIZATION PROPERTIES OF THE TRANSMIT
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POLARIZED %
VECTOR IS
PROPORTIONAL TO 2- K WHERE THE ROTATION MEASURE 2- IS A FUNCTION OF IONOSPHERIC
ELECTRON DENSITY 4HE IONOSPHERE ALSO INTRODUCES DISPERSION AND UNDER CERTAIN UNFA
VORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES EFFECTIVELY CUTS OFF PROPAGATION 4HUS FOR EXAMPLE IT WAS
NOT POSSIBLE FOR THE
-(Z -!23)3 RADAR SOUNDER TO PROBE THE -ARTIAN SURFACE DUR
ING DAYLIGHT HOURS BECAUSE THE CUTOFF FREQUENCY UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS INCREASED TO
ABOUT -(Z 4HUS -!23)3 WORKED AS A SURFACE SOUNDER DURING DARK HOURS AND
AS AN IONOSPHERIC SOUNDER DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS -ORE ON THE -!23)3 RADAR MAY BE
FOUND IN 3ECTION 4HE
CM WAVELENGTH OF THE -AGELLAN 6ENUS RADAR REVIEWED
IN 3ECTION WAS CHOSEN IN RESPONSE TO THE TRADE
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SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR SYSTEM CONSIDERATIONS FOR WHICH SHORTER WAVELENGTHS WOULD
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SIDERATIONS ON HARDWARE THAT ARE CHARACTERISTIC OF AND ESSENTIALLY UNIQUE TO THE SPACE
ENVIRONMENT INCLUDE RADIATION AND ENERGETIC PARTICLES VIBRATION ESPECIALLY DURING
THE LAUNCH PHASE HARSH AND CONTRASTING THERMAL ENVIRONMENTS OFTEN CHALLENGING
MASS LIMITATIONS AND A PREMIUM ON PAYLOAD POWER )N %ARTH ORBIT AND PERHAPS SUR
PRISINGLY ALSO AT THE -OON A SPACE
BASED RADAR MUST COMPLY WITH INTERNATIONALLY
AGREED SPECTRAL ALLOCATIONS 4HESE LIMIT BOTH THE AVAILABLE BANDS AND THE BANDWIDTHS
WHICH IMPACT SYSTEM DESIGN AND MAY CONSTRAIN CERTAIN PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES SUCH
AS RESOLUTION
3INCE IT IS EXPENSIVE TO GET TO ORBIT 3"2S LIKE OTHER SPACE
BASED SYSTEMS MUST BE
DESIGNED TO MINIMIZE MASS AND TO MAXIMIZE EFFICIENCY AND LONGEVITY -ASS POWER
AND LIFETIME EMERGE AS DRIVING THEMES THAT DICTATE CONSERVATIVE DESIGN GENEROUS
MARGINS DURING SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION AND REDUNDANCY OFTEN REALIZED BY DUAL
STRING
HARDWARE IN MOST IF NOT ALL SUBSYSTEMS OTHER THAN THE ANTENNA
/RGANIZATION OF THE #HAPTER 4HE CHAPTER SECTIONS ARE ORGANIZED BY MEASURE
MENT THEME TAKEN IN A BROAD SENSE 4HESE THEMES ARE %ARTH
ORBITING SYNTHETIC APERTURE
RADAR 3!2 RADAR ALTIMETRY WHICH IN THE 3"2 CONTEXT ALMOST ALWAYS IMPLIES OBSER
VATION OF THE %ARTHS OCEANS AND LARGER SURFACE WATER BODIES PLANETARY RADARS WHERE
hPLANETv INCLUDES PLANETOIDS SUCH AS LARGE MOONS SCATTEROMETERS WHOSE DATA ASSOCI
ATE A GEOPHYSICAL PARAMETER SUCH AS OCEANIC WIND SPEED TO THE OBSERVED CALIBRATED
RADAR BACKSCATTER PROPERTIES OF THE ILLUMINATED SURFACE AND SOUNDERS WHICH INCLUDES
BOTH ATMOSPHERIC AND SUBSURFACE RADAR SYSTEMS %ACH SECTION INCLUDES AN OVERVIEW OF
ALL RELEVANT 3"2S NOTING KEY TURNING POINTS OR WATERSHED INNOVATIONS IN THE THEMES
HISTORY 3ELECTED EXAMPLES HAVE BEEN CHOSEN FOR MORE IN
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DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THIS BOOK
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IN RANGE AND AZIMUTH 3PACE
BASED MICROWAVE IMAGERS ARE SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADARS
WITH THE EXCEPTION OF CERTAIN EARLY 3OVIET OCEAN
OBSERVING REAL
APERTURE SYSTEMS
!S WITH ALL IMAGING SYSTEMS 3!2 IMAGE PRODUCTS ARE RATED ACCORDING TO THEIR RESOLU
TION WHERE hHIGHERv IS hBETTERv (IGHER RESOLUTION ALWAYS IMPLIES WIDER BANDWIDTH IN
BOTH RANGE AND AZIMUTH !ZIMUTH BANDWIDTH DERIVES FROM THE DOPPLER SIGNATURES SET
UP BY THE MOTION OF THE RADAR WITH RESPECT TO THE ILLUMINATED FIELD 2ESOLUTION BY ITSELF
IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO DETERMINE THE IMAGE QUALITY OF IMPORTANCE TO MOST APPLICATIONS
4HE FIELD OF SPACE
BASED REMOTE SENSING RADARS IS SUBJECT TO RAPID CHANGE 4HIS CHAPTER PROVIDES THE VIEW FROM
THE EARLY ST CENTURY 2EADERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SEEK CURRENTLY TOPICAL INFORMATION THROUGH ONLINE RESOURCES
+EYWORDS SUCH AS THE NAMES OF THE MISSION NATIONALITY AND RADAR ARE USUALLY SUFFICIENT TO LOCATE SEVERAL REFER
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TO FORM THE SYNTHETIC APERTURE AND THE RESULTING ENHANCED RESOLUTION 3PECKLE CAN
BE REDUCED ONLY THROUGH SUPPLEMENTAL INCOHERENT PROCESSING MULTI LOOKING IN 3!2
JARGON !DDITIONAL LOOKS REQUIRE PROPORTIONALLY MORE BANDWIDTH )T FOLLOWS THAT LARGE
TWO DIMENSIONAL BANDWIDTH RANGE AND AZIMUTH IS THE DRIVING REQUIREMENT FOR THIS
CLASS OF RADAR
3PACE BASED 3!2 SYSTEMS HAVE MOTIVATED FRUITFUL SPECIALIZATIONS IN QUANTITATIVE
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3EASAT 4HE GENERALLY ACKNOWLEDGED SPACE BASED SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR PIO
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ITS SWATH WIDTH KM AND USE OF A LINEAR &- CHIRP MODULATED PULSE WAVEFORM
COMPRESSION RATIO 3EASAT 3!2S AVERAGE RADIATED POWER WAS RELATIVELY SMALL
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CONSISTING OF EIGHT FLAT MICROSTRIP PANELS RADIATING AND RECEIVING (( POLARIZATION
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ANALOG -(Z OFFSET VIDEO TO BE CONVERTED ON THE GROUND TO EITHER OPTICAL MEDIA
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NOT IMMEDIATELYo BY EITHER OPTICAL OR DIGITAL PROCESSING METHODS 4HE 3EASAT SATEL
LITE SUFFERED A MASSIVE SHORT CIRCUIT IN ITS PRIMARY POWER SYSTEM IN THE SOLAR PANEL
SLIP RING ASSEMBLY WHICH ENDED ITS MISSION IN /CTOBER AFTER ONLY THREE MONTHS
OF OPERATION
3)2 3!2 3ERIES 4HE 3HUTTLE IMAGING RADARS 3)2 ! WHICH FLEW ON THE FIRST
3HUTTLE THAT CARRIED A SCIENCE PAYLOAD 3)2 " AND 3)2 #8 3!2 WERE ESSENTIALLY
TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE DEMONSTRATIONS MISSIONS EACH LASTING ABOUT ONE WEEK OR
LESS )N SEQUENCE THESE RADARS HAD INCREASINGLY MORE CAPABILITY IN TERMS OF INCIDENCE
FREQUENCY AND POLARIZATION 3)2 #8 3!2 OPERATED AT THREE BANDS # AND , 53!
AND 8 CONTRIBUTED THROUGH AN INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP WITH 'ERMANY AND )TALY $ATA
FROM 3)2 # CONTINUES IN DEMAND THANKS TO ITS FULLY POLARIMETRIC MULTIBAND COVERAGE
OF A WIDE VARIETY OF SCENES 4HE 3HUTTLE 2ADAR 4ERRAIN -APPER 324- WAS AN
OUTGROWTH OF 3)2 # USING A SMALL RECEIVING ANTENNA AT 8 AND # BAND MOUNTED ON
A M LONG EXTENDABLE STRUT TO COLLECT SIMULTANEOUS BACKSCATTER SUBSEQUENTLY PRO
CESSED INTO TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS 4HIS WAS THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION OF SINGLE PASS SPACE
BASED INTERFEROMETRIC 3!2 CAPABILITY )N3!2 $ATA WERE COLLECTED OVER A VERY LARGE
FRACTION OF THE GLOBAL LANDMASS
+OSMOS !LTHOUGH NOT CLASSIFIED IN THE STRICT SENSE +OSMOS CAME TO VIEW LARGELY
AFTER THE LAUNCH OF ITS TECHNICAL SUCCESSOR !LMAZ 2USSIAN AND !RABIC FOR DIAMOND IN
THE ROUGH 0RECEDING THESE 3OVIET 3!2S WERE A SERIES OF REAL APERTURE RADARS KNOWN
AS /KEAN AND BY OTHER NAMES !LMAZ WAS A VERY INTERESTING RADAR IN THAT IT PROVIDED
UNIQUE 3 BAND 3"2 IMAGERY OF THE %ARTHS SURFACE 4HE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND THIS AND
RELATED 2USSIAN SYSTEMS CONTINUED TO BE DEVELOPED CULMINATING IN THE +ONDOR % RADAR
AND THROUGH A BILATERAL TECHNOLOGY EXCHANGE PROGRAM THE (* # 3!2 OF #HINA
"OTH OF THESE RADARS USE THE M PARABOLIC REFLECTOR DEVELOPED ORIGINALLY FOR 0RIRODA
THE FINAL MODULE FOR THE 2USSIAN -)2 COMPLEX 4RAVERS THE RADAR ABOARD 0RIRODA
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8 BAND NATIONAL ASSET 3!2 FLEET INCLUDING 4EC3!2 )SRAEL AND THE )'3 2 SERIES
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%23 AND %23 4HE # BAND 3!2S FROM THE %UROPEAN 3PACE !GENCY %3!
INTRODUCED OPERATIONAL SPACE BASED 3!2 CAPABILITY 3INCE THE LAUNCH OF THE FIRST
%UROPEAN 2ADAR 3ATELLITE %23 %3! 3!2S HAVE MAINTAINED A CONTINUOUS RECORD
OF OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE %23 AND ITS FOLLOWERS HAVE HAD ONBOARD DATA RECORDING
CAPABILITY %23 AND %23 HAD IN COMMON ^ M RESOLUTION AT LOOKS KM SWATH
WIDTH AND ^n INCIDENCE ALL IN THE PATTERN OF THE 3EASAT 3!2 4HE TWO %23 3!2S WERE
VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL %23 AND %23 ENJOYED ABOUT ONE YEAR OF SIMULTANEOUS OPERA
TION ORGANIZED BY %3! TO CHASE EACH OTHER SO THAT THEIR JOINT REPEAT VISIT WAS ONLY ONE
DAY 4HIS LEAD TO THE ACCUMULATION OF A UNIQUE DATA SET ESPECIALLY VALUABLE FOR COHERENT
CHANGE DETECTION MEASUREMENTS TWO PASS )N3!2 4HE %23 3!2 INSTRUMENT WAS
A SUBSET OF A COMBINED RADAR GROUP THE !CTIVE -ICROWAVE )NSTRUMENT !-) COM
PRISED OF A SCATTEROMETER AND A WINDWAVE MINI 3!2 MODE AS WELL AS THE 3!2 ITSELF
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WHICH COULD BE PROCESSED ONBOARD OR LATER IN A GROUND FACILITY TO ESTIMATE WIND SPEED
AND DIRECTION FROM THE RADAR BRIGHTNESS AND WAVE PATTERN IN THE DATA 4HIS MODE WAS
MOTIVATED BY A REQUIREMENT TO GATHER 3!2 QUALITY DATA OVER A LARGE AREA WITHIN TIGHT
DATA VOLUME LIMITS /NE CONSEQUENCE OF THE OCEAN VIEWING REQUIREMENTS WAS THAT 66p
EMERGED AS THE FAVORED POLARIZATION SINCE VERTICALLY POLARIZED OCEANIC BACKSCATTER
TENDS TO BE LARGER AT # BAND AT STEEP INCIDENCEe THAN HORIZONTALLY POLARIZED OCEANIC
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OF SATELLITES USE MIDDAY SUN SYNCHRONOUS ORBITS BECAUSE THEIR PAYLOADS INCLUDE OPTICAL
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LIMIT OF TEN MINUTES
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ALTITUDE AND LARGER ANTENNA APERTURE )TS K7 PEAK POWER WAS COMPARABLE TO THAT OF
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TOR PROBLEMS SO THAT ITS SENSITIVITY NOISE EQUIVALENT SIGMA ZERO .%QR WAS ONLY
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NOISIER THAN THOSE OF 3EASAT WHOSE SENSITIVITY WAS n D" )N SPITE OF THAT HANDICAP
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OF THE TROPICAL FORESTS OF "RAZIL AND NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES 4HESE DATA ESTABLISHED AN
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QUALITY FACTORS 3ECTION * %23 OPERATED FOR EIGHT YEARS CONSIDERABLY LONGER
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IN SPACE BASED 3!2 )T WAS THE FIRST SYSTEM TO OFFER THE USER A CHOICE OF RESOLUTIONS
INCIDENT ANGLES AND SWATH WIDTHS 4HE EVOLUTION OF THESE CHARACTERISTICS MERITS A
BRIEF REVIEW 4HE #ANADIAN REQUIREMENTS SPANNED A VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS FROM OCE
ANIC SURVEILLANCE VESSELS AND OIL PLATFORMS AS WELL AS SEA STATE LAND AND SEA ICE
AGRICULTURE AND FORESTS AMONG MANY OTHERS 4HE SEA ICE APPLICATION HAD HIGH PRI
ORITY WHICH DROVE THE CHOICE OF POLARIZATION (ORIZONTAL WAS CHOSEN BECAUSE THAT
p )T IS COMMON IN RADAR REMOTE SENSING THAT THEIR POLARIZATIONS ARE ABBREVIATED AS AN ALPHABETIC PAIR IN THIS CASE
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BASED 3!2S TEND TO LOOK TOWARD THE SURFACE AT ANGLES THAT ARE MUCH CLOSER TO VERTICAL THAN DO AIRBORNE 3!2S
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NOMENCLATURE FOR AIRBORNE RADARS )NCIDENCE DIFFERS FROM ELEVATION THE ANGLE AT THE SPACECRAFT BETWEEN VERTICAL AND
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OFFERED AN ADVANTAGE WHEN ATTEMPTING TO DISTINGUISH NEW ICE FROM CALM SEA AT # BAND
AND MODERATE INCIDENCE 4HE APPLICATIONS DIVERSITY IMPLIED A SPAN OF PREFERRED INCI
DENCE FROM ^n TO MORE THAN n )N RESPONSE THE ANTENNA WAS REQUIRED TO STEER ITS
BEAM IN ELEVATION WHICH EVOLVED INTO SEVEN DIFFERENT STANDARD ELEVATION BEAM PAT
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WOULD ACCEPT DEGRADED RESOLUTION 4O SATISFY THAT DEMAND THE RADAR DESIGN ADOPTED
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REPETITION FREQUENCY IS NOT INCREASED 3UCH A hDUAL POLARIZEDv PAIR BY DEFINITION
CANNOT BE MUTUALLY COHERENT SINCE IT CORRESPONDS TO INTERLEAVED SAMPLES OF THE BACK
SCATTER TIME MULTIPLEXED AT LESS THAN THE .YQUIST RATE !S A CONSEQUENCE THE PHASE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMPLEX SAMPLES AT EACH PIXEL IS NOT AVAILABLE 4HE !3!2 ALTER
NATING POLARIZATION MODE PROVIDES DUAL POLARIZED IMAGES THAT ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE THAT
HAVE BEEN AVAILABLE FROM MANY AIRBORNE SYSTEMS FOR DECADES ALTHOUGH NOT AVAILABLE
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0!,3!2 )N CONTRAST TO THE INCOHERENT POLARIMETRIC OPTIONS OF !3!2 THE 0HASED
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IN *ANUARY INCLUDES FULL QUADRATUREe POLARIMETRY 4HE 0!,3!2 MODES
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DUAL AND QUADRATURE POLARIZED MODES AND EXPERIMENTAL MODES INCLUDING 3POT3!2
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LAUNCHED INTO A SUN SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT AT ^ KM ALTITUDE -ISSION OBJECTIVES INCLUDE
POLARIMETRIC DIVERSITY AND INTERFEROMETRY 4HE TWO BASELINE MULTI LOOK RESOLUTIONS ARE
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ANTENNA IS AN ACTIVE PHASED ARRAY
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ORBIT AS A CLOSELY COORDINATED PAIR TO SUPPORT A VARIETY OF BISTATIC AND INTERFEROMETRIC
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ERABLE EXPANSION ON AN INTERNATIONAL FRONT 4HIS SECTION PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF
PROGRAMS KNOWN AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION OF THIS (ANDBOOK TO HAVE PROGRESSED
THROUGH 0HASE ! WHICH IS EVIDENCE OF FUNDING THAT IS SUFFICIENTLY SERIOUS THAT MOST
ARE LIKELY TO CULMINATE IN THE LAUNCH AND OPERATION OF A FLIGHT SYSTEM 4HE ARCHI
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ACTIVE TWO DIMENSIONAL PHASED ARRAYS OR REFLECTORS -OST MISSIONS ARE MULTIMODE IN
RESOLUTION HENCE SWATH AND COVERAGE AND POLARIMETRY RANGING FROM INCOHERENT
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IMPLY SEVERAL SATELLITES EITHER IN CONSTELLATION OR IN SERIES !LL TOGETHER SOMETHING
IN EXCESS OF NEW 3!2S ARE BEING LAUNCHED IN THE FIRST DECADE OF THE ST CENTURY
FROM AT LEAST EIGHT DIFFERENT COUNTRIES (IGHLIGHTS OF SEVERAL OF THESE SYSTEMS ARE
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#/3-/ 3KY-ED )TALY HAS A SERIES OF FOUR #/3-/ 3KY-ED 8 BAND 3!2
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4EC3!2S NOMINAL STRIP MAP MODE IS MULTI LOOK M RESOLUTION AT 8 BAND -AJOR
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CONSTRAINS THE DESIGN ONE CONSEQUENCE OF WHICH IS THE SYMMETRICAL BODY MOUNTED
M DIAMETER UMBRELLA STYLE MESH REFLECTOR KG DRIVEN BY ONE OF TEN FEED HORNS
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COMPRISED OF TEN CHANNELED 474!S
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(* # (* # IS THE FIRST OF FIVE 3!2 SATELLITES IN #HINAS SMALL SATELLITE
PROGRAM ANNOUNCED IN FOR ENVIRONMENT AND DISASTER MONITORING 4HE ARCHI
TECTURE OF THESE SYSTEMS IS CLOSELY PARALLEL TO 2USSIAS +ONDOR % SERIES SINCE THEY
ARE BOTH OUTGROWTHS OF A BILATERAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM BASED ON THE ARCHITECTURE
OF THE 0RIRODA 3 BAND RADAR 4HE (* #S ANTENNA IS A REFLECTOR THAT HAS AN EFFEC
TIVE APERTURE OF M BY M FOLLOWING DEPLOYMENT )N STRIP MAP MODE THE (*
# HAS A MULTI LOOK M RESOLUTION OVER A KM SWATH AND M RESOLUTION IN
3CAN3!2 MODE AT KM SWATH WIDTH 3POT3!2 MODE IS SUPPORTED BY CONTROLLED
YAW MANEUVERS OF THE SPACECRAFT !LL OF THE SPACECRAFT IN THE SERIES FIVE RADARS AND
SIX OPTICAL SYSTEMS USE SUN SYNCHRONOUS ORBITS AT ^ KM ALTITUDE 4HE RADARS
MASS IS ^ KG
3!2 ,UPE 'ERMANY HAS FIVE IDENTICAL 8 BAND SATELLITES DISTRIBUTED IN THREE
KM HIGH ORBITS INCLINED AT ABOUT n 4HE ASPECT RATIO OF THEIR M BY M
4RAVELING WAVE TUBE AMPLIFIER 3EE #HAPTER FOR MORE DISCUSSION
n{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
ANTENNAS SUGGESTS THAT THE DOMINANT OBJECTIVE IS FINE RESOLUTION WHICH NECESSITATES A
RELATIVELY NARROW RANGE SWATH 0UBLISHED SPECIFICATIONS NOTE THAT THE INTENDED RESO
LUTION IN THE SLIP
3!2o MODE IS M OVER A KM BY KM IMAGE FRAME 4HESE
INNOVATIVE 3"2S ARE RELATIVELY SMALL AT LEAST BY %ARTH
OBSERVING SATELLITE 3!2 STAN
DARDS 4HEIR KG MASS TOTAL DRY MASS OF THE SPACECRAFT AND THE RADAR IS LESS THAN
THE MASS OF 2!$!23!4
S ANTENNA 4HE 3!2
,UPE DESIGN ALSO IS COST
CONSCIOUS
BASED ON RIGID NONDEPLOYED REFLECTOR ANTENNAS hBORROWEDv FROM A COMMERCIAL
COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE PRODUCTION LINE THAT ARE INHERENTLY MORE EFFICIENT AND LESS
MASSIVE THAN AN ACTIVE ARRAY 4HE RADAR ELECTRONICS ARE DIRECTLY DESCENDED FROM A
COMMERCIAL PRODUCT LINE
2)3!4 4HE 2ADAR )MAGING 3ATELLITE OR 2)3!4 IS )NDIAS FIRST SPACE
BASED
3!2 FOLLOWING EXTENSIVE PROGRAMS IN OPTICAL REMOTE SENSING SATELLITES AND AIRBORNE
IMAGING RADAR DEVELOPMENT 2)3!4S DEPLOYABLE ANTENNA M BY M IS AN ACTIVE
PHASED ARRAY COMPRISED OF #
BAND 'HZ 42 MODULES EACH CAPABLE OF 7
PEAK POWER 4HE AVERAGE OUTPUT POWER 7 REQUIRES AN AVERAGE INPUT DC POWER
OF K7 %ACH 42 MODULE IS CONNECTED TO SEPARATE DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS FEEDING
(
AND 6
POLARIZED ELEMENTS WHICH SUPPORT POLARIZATION DIVERSITY AS WELL AS ELEVA
TION BEAM STEERING 4HERE ARE TWO PARALLEL RECEIVE CHANNELS DEDICATED TO THE (
AND
6
POLARIZED ANTENNA ELEMENTS 2)3!4 HAS FIVE MODES EACH OF WHICH MAY OPERATE AT
A VARIETY OF INCIDENT ANGLES 4HE MODES ARE FINE
RESOLUTION STRIP
MAP
M RESOLU
TION
KM SWATH DUAL
POLARIZATION FINE
RESOLUTION STRIP
MAP
M AT KM
QUADRATURE
POLARIZATION MEDIUM RESOLUTION 3CAN3!2 M AT KM DUAL
POLAR
IZATION COARSE RESOLUTION 3CAN3!2 M AT KM DUAL
POLARIZATION AND HIGH
RESOLUTION 3POT3!2 BETTER THAN M
KM SQUARE IMAGE FRAME DUAL
POLARIZATION
4HE 3POT3!2 MODE REQUIRES YAWPITCH STEERING OF THE SPACECRAFT TO on #OVERAGE
TO EITHER SIDE OF THE GROUND TRACK REQUIRES A ROLL MANEUVER OF THE SPACECRAFT TO DIRECT
THE ANTENNA PATTERN TO THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF NADIR AN APPROACH THAT IS SIMILAR TO THAT OF
2!$!23!4
4HE VARIETY OF RESOLUTIONS IS SUPPORTED BY FOUR BANDWIDTHS -(Z
-(Z -(Z AND -(Z THROUGH A PROGRAMMABLE DIGITAL CHIRP GENERATOR
4HE RECEIVED DATA ARE DOWNCONVERTED TO BASEBAND DIGITIZED TO BITS ) AND 1 AND
QUANTIZED BY BLOCK
FLOATING POINT MEANS TO FEWER BITS TO AT THE USERS OPTION
WITHIN MODE
DEPENDENT LIMITS !LL SUBSYSTEMS SAVE FOR THE ANTENNA ARE DUAL
REDUN
DANT .OMINAL 02& IS (Z o (Z $ATA RATES SPAN -BITSS TO -BITSS
DEPENDING ON MODE 4HE ON
ORBIT MASS OF THE SPACECRAFT WILL BE ^ KG OF WHICH
THE 3!2 PAYLOAD INCLUDING THE ANTENNA CLAIMS ^ KG /NBOARD DATA STORAGE CAPAC
ITY IS 'BITS DOWNLINK MAXIMUM DATA RATE IS -BITSS 8 BAND DUAL CIRCULARLY
POLARIZED 4HE 2)3!4 ORBIT IS SUN
SYNCHRONOUS DAWN
DUSK AT ^ KM ALTITUDE AND
DAY REVISIT PERIOD
-!03!2 4HE -ULTI
!PPLICATION 0URPOSE 3!2 IS A JOINT "RAZILIAN
'ERMAN
ENTERPRISE AIMED PRIMARILY AT ASSESSING AND MONITORING "RAZILS NATURAL RESOURCES
!FTER SEVERAL YEARS OF TRADE STUDIES , BAND WAS SELECTED 'HZ 4HE RADAR IS BUILT
AROUND A NEAR
SYMMETRICAL REFLECTOR M BY M WITH TEN FEEDS OFFSET FROM THE
FOCAL POINT SO THAT THE BEAM CAN BE ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED IN ELEVATION 3PATIAL RESOLU
TION AND SWATH SPAN M TO M AND KM TO KM RESPECTIVELY MODE
DEPENDENT
o 3LIP
3!2 IS A MODIFIED 3CAN3!2 MODE IN WHICH THE ANTENNA PATTERN IS DRAGGED ALONG THE SURFACE AT A SLOWER RATE
THAN IN THE CONVENTIONAL STRIP
MAP MODE 4HE RESULT IS LARGER DOPPLER BANDWIDTH HENCE ENHANCED AZIMUTH RESOLU
TION AND ALSO A WIDER IMAGED AREA THAN A PURE 3POT3!2 CAN SUPPORT
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
nx
4HE HIGH RESOLUTION SPECIFICATION RESULTS FROM AN EXTERNAL CONSTRAINT THE MAXIMUM
-(Z BANDWIDTH STIPULATED BY INTERNATIONAL SPECTRAL ALLOCATION AGREEMENTS 4HERE
IS PROVISION FOR ALL POLARIMETRIC CONFIGURATIONS 4HE SUN SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT WILL BE CON
TROLLED TO ASSURE RELIABLE DAY REVISIT BASELINES TO SUPPORT INTERFEROMETRY .OMINAL
INSTRUMENT MASS IS KG
0!,3!2 !LTHOUGH BASED ON * %23 HERITAGE 0!,3!2 IS AN EXCELLENT EARLY
EXAMPLE OF MULTIMODE SPACE BASED 3!2S 0!,3!2S MODES &IGURE INCLUDE
STANDARD SINGLE POLARIZATION MAPPING 3CAN3!2 A VARIETY OF DUAL AND QUADRATURE
POLARIZED MODES p AND EXPERIMENTAL OR DEMONSTRATION MODES INCLUDING 3POT3!2
4HE , BAND CM BASELINE FREQUENCY -(Z HAS TWO BANDWIDTHS -(Z
FINE BEAM SINGLE POLARIZATION MODE AND -(Z DUAL QUAD POL AND 3CAN3!2
MODES 4HE SPAN OF MID SWATH INCIDENT ANGLES IS n nn .OTE THAT THE *APANESE
USUALLY CITE THESE ANGLES AS hOFF NADIRv nnn WHICH REFERS TO THEIR ELEVATION
WITH RESPECT TO VERTICAL IN SPACECRAFT COORDINATES RATHER THAN THEIR INTERSECTION RELA
TIVE TO A LOCAL VERTICAL AT THE %ARTHS MEAN OBLATE SPHEROIDAL SURFACE
"
(' !! '
%
"
"
#$
# &$!(' $#$ )
$!% " '% $ )
&)'52% /VERVIEW OF 0!,3!2S VIEWING GEOMETRIES %ACH OF THESE BEAM POSITIONS SUPPORTS A
VARIETY OF POLARIZATION COMBINATIONS LEADING TO A VERY LARGE NUMBER OF AVAILABLE MODES 4HE SOLAR PANEL
IS ORTHOGONAL TO THE ORBIT PLANE INDICATIVE OF A MIDDAY SUN
SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT $IAGRAM COURTESY OF
*!8! *APAN
p 4HE SEVERAL FORMS OF POLARIMETRIC DIVERSITY COMMON IN REMOTE SENSING SYSTEMS ARE REVIEWED LATER IN
THIS SECTION
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
-ODERN SPACE
BASED 3!2S OWE THEIR LARGE MODE VARIETY TO ACTIVE ELECTRONIC
STEERED ANTENNA ARRAYS 0!,3!2S ANTENNA CONSISTS OF SOLID
STATE 42 MODULES
DISTRIBUTED ON FOUR PANELS WHOSE DEPLOYED DIMENSIONS ARE M BY M VERTICAL
AND HORIZONTAL RESPECTIVELY 3PACECRAFT VELOCITY AND ANTENNA LENGTH DICTATE A LOWER
BOUND ON PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY WHICH FOR 0!,3!2 SPANS K(Zn K(Z
DEPENDING ON MODE 0EAK TRANSMITTED POWER IS ^ K7 TWICE THAT OF THE 3EASAT 3!2
4HE RESULTING SENSITIVITY NOISE
EQUIVALENT SIGMA
ZERO IS VERY GOOD n D" OR BETTER
FOR MOST MODES 0!,3!2S HOST !,/3 SPACECRAFT IS YAW
STEERED TO MAINTAIN AZIMUTH
ANTENNA BORESIGHT POINTING AT ZERO DOPPLER WHICH INCREASES THE LIKELIHOOD OF PASS
TO
PASS INTERFEROMETRIC COHERENCE AND SIMPLIFIES SOMEWHAT 3!2 IMAGE FORMATION
PROCESSING 4HE NOMINAL DATA RATE IN MOST MODES IS -BITS WHICH IS DOWNLINKED
VIA *APANS $ATA 2ELAY 4EST 3ATELLITE $243 4HE 3CAN3!2 MODE REQUIRES ONLY HALF
THAT RATE -BITS WHICH CAN BE DOWNLINKED DIRECTLY TO GROUND STATIONS !,/3 HAS
AN ONBOARD 'BYTE SOLID
STATE RECORDER TO BUFFER DATA OUTPUT FROM THE RADAR AS WELL
AS FROM THE REST OF THE PAYLOAD
0!,3!2S VOLUMINOUS VARIETY OF MODES IS A CURSE AS WELL AS A BLESSING -ISSION
MANAGEMENT MUST COPE WITH DATA COLLECTION IN EACH OF THESE MODES AS WELL AS PHAS
ING THE RESULTING DATA BURDEN TO SHARE THE COMMUNICATIONS LINK WITH THE TWO OTHER HIGH
DATA
RATE INSTRUMENTS IN THE !,/3 PAYLOAD 4HE STANDARD POLICY FOR THE EARLY YEARS OF
0!,3!2S ON
ORBIT SCHEDULING IS TO FOCUS ON SIX hDEFAULTv MODESFOUR hOPERATIONALv
AND TWO hSEMI
OPERATIONALv 4HE RESULTING TERMS ARE FIXED hSTANDARDv OFF
NADIR
ANGLE OF n FOR A GREAT MAJORITY OF THE DATA TAKES POLARIZATION OPTIONS TO BE
SINGLE
POL (( AND DUAL
POL (( (6 QUAD
POL AT n OFF
NADIR FOR 2$ DEM
ONSTRATIONS OVER PRESELECTED hSUPERSITESv AND FIVE
BEAM 3CAN3!2 IN (( POLARIZA
TION )N ADDITION THE FOLLOWING CONSTRAINTS APPLY ONLY ONE MODE IS EXERCISED DURING
ONE
DAY REPEAT CYCLE PREFERRED OPERATIONS ARE DURING THE HOURS OF DARKNESS IN THE
ASCENDING PASSES FOR MOST MODES EXCEPTING LOWER DATA
RATE 3CAN3!2 DATA TAKES DUR
ING DESCENDING PASSES IN COORDINATION WITH THE OPTICAL SENSORS AND ALSO EXCEPTING
EXTRAORDINARY )N3!2 AND MARINE APPLICATIONS AT NONSTANDARD INCIDENCE AND RECURRENT
REPEAT
PASS COVERAGE OF SELECTED SITES IN GROUPS OF EIGHT OR MORE
DAY CYCLES IN SUP
PORT OF )N3!2 OBJECTIVES
3PACE
BASED 3!2 $ESIGN )SSUES 4HE OPTIONS FOR SPACE
BASED 3!2 DESIGN
ARE MORE LIMITED THAN FOR AIRBORNE SYSTEMS DUE PRIMARILY TO THE CONSTRAINTS IMPOSED
BY VIABLE ORBITS INCLUDING ESPECIALLY SENSOR VELOCITY RADAR RANGE 2 AND SYSTEM COST
4HE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS REVIEW THE MAJOR THEMES
02& #ONSTRAINTS 4HE RULES THAT GOVERN THE PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY 02& OF
A SPACE
BASED 3!2 ARE THE SAME AS THOSE APPLICABLE TO AIRBORNE SYSTEMS ALTHOUGH
THEY PLAY OUT RATHER DIFFERENTLY 4HE FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENT IS THAT THE 02& FP
BE SUFFICIENTLY HIGH TO SAMPLE UNAMBIGUOUSLY THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM OF WIDTH "$OP
AND ALSO SUFFICIENTLY LOW SO THAT THERE IS TIME BETWEEN TRANSMISSIONS TO RECEIVE
THE DATA BACKSCATTERED FROM THE INTENDED SWATH OF SLANT RANGE TIME
DOMAIN WIDTH
42 4HUS
"$OP F0 42
)N PRACTICE SUFFICIENT MARGIN MUST BE INCLUDED IN BOTH THE UPPER AND LOWER LIMITS TO
ACCOUNT FOR THE LENGTH OF THE TRANSMITTED PULSE AND FOR THE FACT THAT NEITHER THE DOPPLER
SPECTRUM NOR THE ANTENNAS ELEVATION PATTERN HAVE SHARP CUTOFFS
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
4HE LOWER BOUND OFTEN IS RECAST AS
"$OP
B63# 63#
F0
$!Z
L
WHICH STATES THAT THE 02& MUST BE SUFFICIENTLY HIGH SUCH THAT THERE ARE TWO TRANSMIS
SIONS PER ANTENNA APERTURE LENGTH $!Z AS THE RADAR MOVES ALONG ITS TRAJECTORY (ERE
63# IS SPACECRAFT VELOCITY ALONG ITS ORBIT A IS THE WIDTHe OF THE AZIMUTH ANTENNA
PATTERN AND K IS THE RADAR WAVELENGTH 4HIS FORM IS INTUITIVELY SATISFYING SINCE THE
SINGLE
LOOK AZIMUTH RESOLUTION IS APPROXIMATELY ONE
HALF OF THE ANTENNAS ALONG
TRACK
WIDTH HENCE THIS INEQUALITY REQUIRES THAT EACH RESOLVED ALONG
TRACK RANGE LINE MUST
BE SAMPLED AT LEAST ONCE 5SUALLY THE 02& LOWER BOUND IS SET SO THAT THERE IS A MARGIN
OF OR MORE WITH RESPECT TO THIS CONSTRAINT
)N AN AIRBORNE 3!2 THE 02& CONSTRAINT IS DERIVED TO SATISFY THE DOPPLER BANDWIDTH
FROM WHICH FOLLOWS THE MAXIMUM RANGE THAT THE RADAR CAN OPERATE WITHOUT INTRODUC
ING AMBIGUITIES (OWEVER BY DEFAULT THE MINIMUM RANGE FOR A SPACE
BASED 3!2 IS
ITS ORBITAL ALTITUDE USUALLY KM OR HIGHER 4HE TYPICAL SLANT RANGE TO THE INTENDED
SCENE MAY BE KM AND MORE 4HUS THE UPPER BOUND ON THE 02& SHOULD NOT BE SET
BY THE RANGE TO THE SCENE BUT RATHER BY THE RANGE WIDTH OF THE AREA TO BE IMAGED !S A
CONSEQUENCE THE RESULTING HIGH 02& WILL GENERATE A SEQUENCE OF PULSES AT ANY MOMENT
THAT ARE DISTRIBUTED BETWEEN THE RADAR AND THE SCENE 4HE SPACE BETWEEN PULSES MUST BE
LARGER THAN THE INTENDED SWATH WIDTH &OR EXAMPLE IN CERTAIN MODES 2!$!23!4
GENERATES SEVEN PULSES hIN FLIGHTv SIMULTANEOUSLY !T THE BEGINNING OF SUCH A DATA COL
LECTION BACKSCATTER FROM THE INTENDED SCENE WOULD ARRIVE ONLY AFTER THE SEVENTH PULSE
HAD BEEN TRANSMITTED
)N MANY AIRBORNE SYSTEMS THE 02& IS CHOSEN TO BE RATHER HIGHER THAN THE LIMIT
IMPOSED BY THE RANGE TO THE INTENDED TARGET SPACE )N SUCH CASES THE EXTRA 02& CON
TRIBUTES TO IMPROVED 3.2 BUT AT THE COST OF INCREASED AVERAGE DATA RATE $ATA RATE
CAN BE DECREASED BY hPRE
SUMMINGvCOHERENTLY ADDING N ADJACENT RETURNS 4HE CON
SEQUENCE OF COURSE IS THAT THE EFFECTIVE 02& IS REDUCED BY THE SAME FACTOR N 4HIS
PRACTICE IS SELDOM ACCEPTABLE FOR SPACE
BORNE 3!2S BECAUSE IT LEADS TO AZIMUTH AMBI
GUITIES UNLESS THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM IS LIMITED PRIOR TO 02& REDUCTION
!MBIGUITIES 4HE 02& GENERATES A TWO
DIMENSIONALLY SAMPLED SPACE WHEN THE
DATA ARE DECOMPOSED INTO hSLOW TIMEv IN THE AZIMUTH DIRECTION AND hFAST TIMEv IN THE
RANGE DIRECTION )N AZIMUTH THE 02& CREATES ALIASED VERSIONS OF THE DATA ILLUMINATED
BY THE MAIN BEAM OF THE ANTENNA 4HE SPECTRA OF THESE ALIASES ARE LOCATED AT MULTIPLES
OF THE 02& TO EITHER SIDE OF THE DOPPLER CENTROID OF THE MAIN BEAM /F COURSE WHEN
SAMPLED THEY ARE FOLDED BACK INTO THE .YQUIST PASSBAND 4HESE ALIASES ARE AZIMUTH
AMBIGUITIES WHICH ARE SUPPRESSEDHENCE NOT VISIBLEIN A WELL
DESIGNED SYSTEM
SUPPORTED BY A WELL
TUNED PROCESSOR 7HEN THEY DO APPEAR AZIMUTH AMBIGUITIES ARE
RELATIVELY EASY TO IDENTIFY &IGURE BECAUSE THEY ARE WEAKER GHOST DUPLICATES OF
IMAGE FEATURES THAT WERE COLLECTED THROUGH THE MAIN BEAM AND THEREFORE AT EARLIER OR
LATER POSITIONS ALONG THE IMAGE STRIP 4HE AZIMUTH SHIFT OF THE AMBIGUITIES RELATIVE TO
THE CENTRAL IMAGE IS AN INTEGRAL MULTIPLE OF $8 2L F0 63# WHICH IS THE SPATIAL
e &OR A UNIFORMLY ILLUMINATED APERTURE THE D" BEAMWIDTH IS A K $ )T IS CUSTOMARY FOR ANALYSIS OF 3!2
!Z
SYSTEMS TO APPROXIMATE THIS EXPRESSION BY A ^ K $!Z AND TO INTERPRET A AS THE WIDTH OF THE RECTANGLE THAT HAS THE
SAME PEAK VALUE AND AREA AS THE ANTENNA PATTERN
nn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
OFFSET CORRESPONDING TO THE 02& !ZIMUTH AMBIGUITIES ESPECIALLY FROM POINT TARGETS
HAVE THE SAME DOPPLER &- RATE AS SCATTERERS WITHIN THE MAIN BEAM AND SO THEIR FOCUS
IS PRESERVED THROUGH THE PROCESSOR
)N THE RANGE DIRECTION ONE OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF HAVING MANY PULSES IN FLIGHT AT
ONCE IS THAT THERE ARE ECHOES FROM SEVERAL DIFFERENT RANGES THAT ARRIVE BACK AT THE RADAR AT
THE SAME RELATIVE DELAY WITHIN THE RANGE GATE AS THE REFLECTIONS FROM THE INTENDED SWATH
)F THESE EXTRA ECHOES ARE SUFFICIENTLY STRONG THE RESULTING IMAGE ARTIFACTS ARE RANGE AMBI
GUITIES 2ANGE AMBIGUITIES ARE NOT AS EASY TO IDENTIFY AS AZIMUTH AMBIGUITIES BECAUSE
THEY ARISE FROM RANGES OUTSIDE OF THE NOMINAL SWATH HENCE NOT OTHERWISE IMAGED 2ANGE
AMBIGUITIES BY DEFINITION ARISE FROM RANGES THAT ARE DIFFERENT FROM THOSE FOR WHICH THE
PROCESSOR IS SET SO THAT RANGE
AMBIGUOUS POINT TARGETS TEND TO BE DEFOCUSED
4HE PRINCIPAL MEANS OF SUPPRESSING AMBIGUITIES IS TO CONFINE THE MAIN BEAM OF
THE ANTENNA SO THAT THE POTENTIAL SOURCES OF AZIMUTH OR RANGE AMBIGUITIES ARE NOT ILLU
MINATED OR AT LEAST ARE ILLUMINATED ONLY VERY WEAKLY 4HIS REQUIREMENT IMPOSES A
MINIMUM AREA CONSTRAINT ON THE 3!2S ANTENNA 4HE LOWER AND UPPER BOUND 02&
CONSTRAINTS OF "$OP AND 42 LEAD TO
$%L $!Z 263# L C TANP )NC
WHERE THE ANTENNA AREA IS THE PRODUCT OF ITS LENGTH $!Z AND HEIGHT $%L AND P )NC IS THE
MEAN INCIDENT ANGLE IN THE IMAGED SWATH 4HE RANGE
VELOCITY PRODUCT IN THIS EXPRES
SION IS DETERMINED BY THE PARAMETERS PECULIAR TO THE PARTICULAR PLANET OR MOON ABOUT
WHICH THE 3!2 IS TO OPERATE 4ABLE !S A CONSEQUENCE AN ANTENNA OF AREA M
AT THE -OON WOULD HAVE BE M FOR THE SAME RADAR AT -ARS AND NEARLY M FOR
OPERATION IN %ARTH ORBIT
)T ALWAYS IS TEMPTING TO PUSH THIS CONSTRAINT SINCE MOST SPACE
BASED 3!2S USE AS
MUCH OF THE AMBIGUITY
FREE SPACE AS CAN BE TOLERATED )N PRACTICE THE ANTENNA AREA
USUALLY IS CHOSEN TO BE AT LEAST A FACTOR OF TWO LARGER THAN THIS MINIMUM WOULD SUG
GEST !MBIGUITIES ARE PROPORTIONAL TO THE STRENGTH OF THE OFFENDING BACKSCATTER AND AS
SUCH THEY CONTRIBUTE TO THE MULTIPLICATIVE NOISE
RATIO -.2 OF THE SYSTEM !NTENNA
SIDELOBES AND AMBIGUITIES ARE FURTHER SUPPRESSED BY APPROPRIATE WEIGHTING IN THE
PROCESSOR 4HE TRADE
OFF IS LOWER -.2 AT THE EXPENSE OF BROADER IMPULSE RESPONSE
WIDTH )27 4YPICAL DESIGNS PROVIDE ^ EXCESS RANGE AND DOPPLER BANDWIDTH
RELATIVE TO THOSE IMPLIED BY THE REQUIRED RANGE AND AZIMUTH RESOLUTIONS TO ACCOM
MODATE SUCH WEIGHTING
.ADIR 2ETURN ! POTENTIALLY TROUBLESOME RANGE AMBIGUITY ARISES FROM THE SURFACE
DIRECTLY BELOW THE SPACECRAFT 4HIS NADIR RETURN IS ALWAYS RELATIVELY STRONG PARTICULARLY
IF THERE ARE SPECULAR BACKSCATTERING COMPONENTS 3INCE ANY REALISTIC ANTENNA PATTERN
HAS A NON
ZERO SIDELOBE DIRECTED TOWARD NADIR THE RESULTING REFLECTION COULD APPEAR IN
THE IMAGE 4HE MAIN STRATEGY IS TO AVOID THE AMBIGUITY BY CHOOSING THE 02& SO THAT THE
NADIR RETURN ARRIVES AT THE SAME TIME THAT THE RADAR IS TRANSMITTING 4HIS TIMING PLACES
A FURTHER CONSTRAINT ON THE PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY )T TURNS OUT THAT THE NADIR RETURN
MAY NOT BE AVOIDABLE IF OTHER CONSTRAINTS OVERRIDE THE AVAILABLE 02& OPTIONS 4HIS
OCCURS FOR EXAMPLE IF THE DRIVING REQUIREMENT IS 3CAN3!2 WHICH HAS ITS OWN SET OF
CONSTRAINTS ON 02&
-ULTIPLICATIVE NOISE A STANDARD SPECIFICATION IN SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR INCLUDES UNWANTED CONTRIBUTIONS SUCH AS
AMBIGUITIES AND QUANTIZATION NOISE THAT ARE PROPORTIONAL TO THE STRENGTH OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
&)'52% %XAMPLE OF ARTIFACTS AS THEY APPEARED IN EARLY 2!$!23!4 FOUR
SUB SWATH 3CAN3!2 IMAGERY 4HE DIRECTION OF FLIGHT IS VERTICAL IN THIS PRESENTATION
NEAR EDGE RANGE AT THE LEFT OF THE FRAME #OURTESY OF THE #ANADIAN 3PACE !GENCY
AND THE #ANADA #ENTRE FOR 2EMOTE 3ENSING
!NTENNAS AND 4RANSMITTERS !NTENNAS FOR THE PIONEERING SPACE BASED 3!2 SYS
TEMS WERE EXCLUSIVELY PASSIVE SUCH AS THE , BAND PATCH ARRAY ON 3EASAT OR THE SLOT
TED WAVEGUIDE ARRAYS USED ON %23 AND !LMAZ 4HE FIRST EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE
WAS 2!$!23!4 DESIGNED AROUND AN ARRAY OF HORIZONTAL SLOTTED WAVEGUIDES
EACH OF WHICH WAS CENTER FED THROUGH A PHASE SHIFTER SO THAT THE ELEVATION BEAM PAT
TERN COULD BE SELECTED AND SHAPED ELECTRONICALLY -ORE AMBITIOUS READ hMASSIVE AND
EXPENSIVEv SYSTEMS TEND TO USE TWO DIMENSIONALLY ACTIVE ELECTRONIC SCANNED ARRAYS
%3!S 4HESE ARE POPULATED BY TRANSMITRECEIVE 42 MODULES OFTEN INCORPORATING
TWO POLARIZATIONS ( AND 6 %XAMPLES INCLUDE 2!$!23!4 %.6)3!4S !3!2
0!,3!2 #/3-/ 4ERRA3!2 8 AND 2)3!4 )T IS ARGUED THAT ACTIVE ARRAYS SET THE
STAGE FOR hGRACEFUL FAILUREv SINCE THE LOSS OF A FEW 42 ELEMENTS WOULD HAVE LITTLE EFFECT
ON THE NET PERFORMANCE OF THE SYSTEM )N PARALLEL AN ALTERNATIVE 3!2 ANTENNA PARADIGM
STRESSES SIMPLICITY AND LOWER MASS AND LOWER COST OVER TWO DIMENSIONAL ELECTRONIC
BEAM STEERING 4HESE ARE REFLECTORS OF WHICH #HINAS (* # 'ERMANYS 3!2 ,UPE
)SRAELS 4EC3!2 AND "RAZILS -AP3!2 ARE GOOD EXAMPLES )F A REFLECTOR IS DRIVEN BY
MULTIPLE FEEDS THEN ONE MAY STILL EFFECT BEAM STEERING ALTHOUGH WITH RATHER LESS BEAM
SHAPE VARIETY AND CONTROL THAN THROUGH AN %3!
3PACE BASED RADAR TRANSMITTERS NATURALLY FALL INTO TWO CLASSES INTIMATELY COUPLED WITH
THE ANTENNAS ARCHITECTURE )F THE ANTENNA IS ACTIVE THEN THE TRANSMITTER AS WELL AS THE FRONT
END OF THE RECEIVER IS DISTRIBUTED OVER THE ARRAY )N THIS CASE SEVERAL HUNDRED 42 ELE
MENTS OF A FEW WATTS PEAK POWER EACH ADD UP TO MANY HUNDREDS OF PEAK RADIATED POWER
0HASE CONTROL OF THE ELEMENTS IS A CRITICAL PARAMETER USUALLY REQUIRING ADAPTIVE TEMPERA
TURE COMPENSATION TO ASSURE COHERENCY OF THE RADIATED WAVEFRONT 4HE ALTERNATIVE IS ALMOST
ALWAYS LIMITED TO TRAVELING WAVE TUBE AMPLIFIERS 474!S ALTHOUGH RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
IN HIGH POWER SOLID STATE DEVICES IS INFLUENCING 3"2 3!2 DESIGN 2ADARS BUILT AROUND
474!S HAVE ESTABLISHED IMPRESSIVE LONGEVITY RECORDS WITNESS 2!$!23!4 AND
%23 BOTH OF WHICH REMAINED IN OPERATION FOR MORE THAN TEN YEARS
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
$ATA 2ATE $ATA RATE IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE PRODUCT OF PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY
F0 THE NUMBER OF RANGE SAMPLES .2 WHICH IS PROPORTIONAL TO SLANT
RANGE SWATH PLUS
THE UNCOMPRESSED PULSE LENGTH AND INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO RANGE RESOLUTION THE
NUMBER OF QUANTIZATION BITS .3 RETAINED IN EACH SAMPLE OF THE DATA AND A FACTOR OF THAT
ACCOUNTS FOR THE IN
PHASE ) AND QUADRATURE 1 COMPONENTS SINCE BOTH THE AMPLITUDE
AND THE PHASE OF THE SIGNAL STREAM ARE REQUIRED /NCE RESOLUTION AND SWATH ARE ESTAB
LISHED THE NUMBER OF BITS PER SAMPLE IS THE ONLY PARAMETER OPEN TO CHOICE %XCELLENT
RESULTS MAY BE OBTAINED FOR .3 AS SMALL AS BITS PER ) AND PER 1 BY ADAPTING THE
QUANTIZATION THRESHOLDS TO THE MEAN SIGNAL LEVEL 2EFER TO 3ECTION FOR MORE ON
THIS TOPIC 1UANTIZATION NOISE WHICH IS LARGER FOR FEWER BITS IS PROPORTIONAL TO SIGNAL
STRENGTH HENCE IT IS A FACTOR IN THE -.2 BUDGET %XACTING APPLICATIONS SUCH AS INTERFER
OMETRY ARE BETTER SERVED BY MORE BITS PER SAMPLE SUBJECT TO THE RATE AND VOLUME LIMITS
OF THE DATA HANDLING SUBSYSTEMS
0ROCESSING !LTHOUGH SIMILAR IN PRINCIPLE TO AIRBORNE SYSTEMS PROCESSING FOR
SPACE
BASED 3!2S DIFFERS IN SEVERAL KEY REGARDS 4HE HIGHLIGHTS ARE REVIEWED HERE
&OR MORE COMPLETE COVERAGE SEE THE STANDARD REFERENCES ! SIMPLIFIED INTRODUC
TION TO THE KEY PARAMETERS MAY BE HELPFUL
4HE NATURAL STARTING POINT IS THE RANGE EQUATION FROM WHICH SEVERAL PROPERTIES
EMERGE THAT ARE UNIQUE TO THE SPHERICAL GEOMETRY OF RADARS IN ORBIT )N THE NARROW
BEAM
SIDE
LOOKING CASE AND NEGLECTING THE EFFECTS OF %ARTH ROTATION THE RADAR
TO
TARGET RANGE
VARIATION GENERATES A PHASE TIME
HISTORY OVER A SYNTHETIC APERTURE LENGTH OF 4 SECONDS
FROM A POINT REFLECTOR AT MINIMUM SLANT RANGE 2
1T
P
T
2
6
6
3#
"EAM
L
2
WHERE 6"EAM IS THE VELOCITY ON THE SURFACE OF THE ILLUMINATING FOOTPRINT OF THE AZIMUTH
ANTENNA PATTERN 4HE TIME DERIVATIVE OF THE PHASE YIELDS THE SCATTERERS DOPPLER HISTORY
F$ T
63#6"EAM
T
L
2
IN WHICH THE &- RATE IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE EFFECTIVE VELOCITY 6%FF 63# 6"EAM
4HIS IS IN CONTRAST TO THE AIRBORNE CASE FOR WHICH THE &- RATE OF THE AZIMUTH DOPPLER
MODULATION IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE SQUARE OF THE AIRCRAFT VELOCITY 7HY THE DIFFERENCE
2ATHER THAN A STRAIGHT LINE WHICH IS THE BASELINE SITUATION FOR AN AIRBORNE SYSTEM THE
SYNTHETIC APERTURE OF A SPACE
BORNE 3!2 IS FORMED ALONG AN ARC 4HIS IMPOSES A SMALL
BUT SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE EFFECTIVE LENGTH OF THE SYNTHETIC APERTURE AND ALSO MODI
FIES THE &- RATE !S A CONSEQUENCE THE NOMINAL SINGLE
LOOK AZIMUTH RESOLUTION FROM
A SPACE
BASED 3!2 IS R!Z 6"EAM 63# $!Z RATHER THAN THE FAMOUS hONE HALF OF THE
APERTURE LENGTHv OF AIRBORNE 3!2S .OTE THAT 6"EAM IS ALWAYS SMALLER THAN THE SPACE
CRAFT VELOCITY AND DECREASES WITH INCREASING SPACECRAFT ALTITUDE AND INCIDENT ANGLE
!LERT )N CERTAIN 3!2 PROCESSING LITERATURE THE EFFECTIVE VELOCITY FOR THE ORBITAL CASE IS
DENOTED hRADAR VELOCITY v A RATHER MISLEADING AND INAPPROPRIATE TERM
4HE AVERAGE DATA RATE FROM SPACE
BASED 3!2S IN %ARTH ORBIT IS ON THE ORDER OF
-BS MEGABITS PER SECOND WITH HIGHER RESOLUTION AND POLARIZATION DIVERSITY SYS
TEMS GENERATING SEVERAL TIMES THAT 4HE DRIVERS ARE THE SPACECRAFT VELOCITY ^ KMS
RANGE RESOLUTION AND SWATH WIDTH -ANY USERS WOULD LIKE TO HAVE IMMEDIATE ACCESS
TO PROCESSED DATA WHICH LEADS TO THE QUESTION OF ONBOARD PROCESSING 3PACE
BASED
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
3!2 SYSTEMS AS A RULE DO NOT IMPLEMENT IMAGE FORMATION ONBOARD FOR SEVERAL REASONS
INCLUDING HIGH DATA RATES 0ROCESSING FROM RAW 3!2 DATA TO IMAGERY INCREASES DATA
VOLUME SUBSTANTIALLY THUS INCREASING THE DOWNLINK DATA TRANSFER BURDEN 0ERHAPS MORE
PERSUASIVE ONCE PROCESSED INTO DETECTED IMAGES THE OPTIONS ARE LIMITED FOR SPECIAL
IZED APPLICATION
SPECIFIC POST PROCESSING
)N CONTRAST TO AIRBORNE SYSTEMS THE DYNAMICS OF MOST SPACECRAFT ARE SUCH THAT NO
MOTION COMPENSATION IS REQUIRED FOR SPACE
BASED 3!2S UNLESS EXTREMELY FINE RESOLU
TION IS TO BE GENERATED (OWEVER DETERMINING THE DOPPLER CENTROID OF THE AZIMUTH
SPECTRUM WITH RESPECT TO ZERO DOPPLER EMERGES AS A DOMINANT ISSUE )F THE AZIMUTH
ANTENNA BORESIGHT IS PERFECTLY ORTHOGONAL TO THE INERTIAL ORBIT PLANE THE %ARTHS ROTA
TION IMPOSES A DOPPLER SHIFT ONTO THE RECEIVED DATA &ROM LOW %ARTH ORBIT ,%/ THE
MAGNITUDE OF THIS SHIFT IS ON THE ORDER OF n AND TO FIRST ORDER VARIES SINUSOIDALLY
WITH LATITUDE WITH MAXIMUM MAGNITUDE AT THE EQUATOR AND WITH ZERO AT THE EXTREME
. AND 3 LATITUDES 4HE EFFECT CAN BE OFFSET BY YAW
STEERING THE SPACECRAFT SO THAT THE
ANTENNAS BORESIGHT IS ALWAYS DIRECTED TOWARD ZERO DOPPLER 4HIS ORIENTS THE VERTICAL
PLANE OF THE AZIMUTH BORESIGHT TO BE ORTHOGONAL TO THE NADIR TRACK ON THE SURFACE RATHER
THAN TO THE ORBIT PLANE 7HEREAS 3!2 DATA FROM BOTH ARRANGEMENTS CAN BE PROCESSED
INTO SATISFACTORY IMAGERY MORE DEMANDING APPLICATIONS SUCH AS RADAR INTERFEROMETRY
ARE BETTER SERVED BY YAW
STEERED SYSTEMS 9AW STEERING IMPOSES NEGLIGIBLE ADDITIONAL
DEMANDS ON THE SPACECRAFT ATTITUDE CONTROL SYSTEM SINCE IT REQUIRES MANEUVERS OF ONLY
on OVER EACH ORBITAL PERIOD .OTE THAT A 3!2 LOOKS DOWN AS WELL AS TO THE SIDE SO
THAT VERTICAL VELOCITY COMPONENTS IN THE SATELLITES ORBIT ALSO LEAD TO DOPPLER SHIFTS IN
THE DATA )N PRINCIPLE A DOPPLER SHIFT FROM A VERTICAL VELOCITY COMPONENT ALSO COULD BE
OFFSET BY ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENTS OF THE SPACECRAFT ALTHOUGH THIS STRATEGY IS NOT IN GENERAL
PRACTICE $OPPLER CENTROID ESTIMATION IS A CENTRAL FUNCTION IMPLEMENTED IN ALL PROCESS
ING ALGORITHMS FOR 3"2 3!2 DATA
$ATA 0RODUCTS 4HE NOTIONAL DATA PRODUCT FROM A SPACE
BASED 3!2 IS IMAG
ERY USUALLY VISUALIZED AS A BLACK
AND
WHITE MAPPING OF THE SCENE ILLUMINATED BY
THE RADAR "Y DEFINITION THE DIGITAL NUMBERS AT EACH PIXEL IN SUCH AN IMAGE ARRAY
ARE REAL AND NON
NEGATIVE )N THEORY THESE NUMBERS CORRESPOND TO THE MAGNITUDE
SQUARED OF THE FOCUSED AND DETECTED BACKSCATTERED FIELD )N PRACTICE MOST IMAGE
PRODUCTS SUCH AS THOSE FROM THE %UROPEAN 3PACE !GENCYS 3!2S USE MAGNITUDE
BECAUSE THE RESULTING IMAGERY HAS AN ACCEPTABLE APPEARANCE AND THE SIZE OF THE DATA
FILE IS SMALLER THAN IF IN \MAGNITUDE\ )F SEVERAL DATA SETS OVER THE SAME SCENE ARE
COMBINED OFTEN THESE ARE INDIVIDUALLY COLOR CODED LEADING TO MULTICOLOR IMAGE
PRODUCTS %ACH CONSTITUENT DATA SET MIGHT BE FROM A DIFFERENT POLARIZATION WAVE
LENGTH OR OBSERVATION TIME
)T IS COMMON PARLANCE TO REFER TO IMAGERY AS MAPPINGS OF THE NORMALIZED BACKSCAT
TER POWER R X Y !LERT )N FACT THIS IS SELDOM IF EVER TRUE "ACKSCATTERED POWER IS
PROPORTIONAL TO \MAGNITUDE\ NOT MAGNITUDE (ENCE THE USER MUST ASSURE THAT THE DATA
ARE INDEED MAGNITUDE
SQUARED BEFORE APPLYING TOOLS SUCH AS SPECKLE FILTERS THAT ARE
DESIGNED FOR R DIMENSIONALITY 3ECOND R IMPLIES THAT THE DATA ARE CALIBRATED NOT
ONLY WITH RESPECT TO THE RADIOMETRIC PARAMETERS OF THE RADAR AND PROCESSOR BUT ALSO
WITH RESPECT TO THE LOCAL INCIDENT ANGLE AT THE PIXEL LOCATION X Y !LTHOUGH DATA FROM
%23
ARE CORRECTED TO ACCOUNT FOR THE MEAN INCIDENCE WITHIN THE IMAGED SWATH
THERE IS NO ATTEMPT TO CORRECT FOR SLOPES LOCALLY WITHIN THE SWATH TO THE PIXEL LEVEL !N
ALTERNATIVE IS TO DENOTE THE MAGNITUDE
SQUARED DIGITAL NUMBERS AS A WHICH INDICATES
SIMPLY RADAR POWER PER PIXEL 4HIS HAS BECOME STANDARD PRACTICE WITH 2!$!23!4
DATA FOR EXAMPLE
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3TANDARD IMAGE PRODUCTS USUALLY ARE hMULTI
LOOKv )N JARGON COMMON IN THE SPACE
BASED 3!2 FIELD hLOOKSv REFER TO STATISTICALLY INDEPENDENT VERSIONS OF THE SAME SCENE
7HEN THESE ARE ADDED TOGETHER THE NET RESULT IS TO REDUCE THE SPECKLE NOISE WHILE
REINFORCING THE IMAGED FEATURES %ACH SUCH LOOK IS FORMED FROM A SPECTRAL BAND THAT
DOES NOT OVERLAP SPECTRA CORRESPONDING TO THE OTHER LOOKS 4HUS FOR A GIVEN BAND
WIDTH INCREASING THE NUMBER OF LOOKS REDUCES SPECKLE BUT AT THE COST OF COMPROMISING
RESOLUTION -ORE ON THIS TRADE
OFF MAY BE FOUND IN 3ECTION
)N CONTRAST TO CONVENTIONAL POST
DETECTION IMAGERY FOCUSED 3!2 DATA MAY BE PRE
SENTED AS SINGLE
LOOK COMPLEX 3,# PRODUCTS 4HESE DATA RETAIN THE FULL RESOLUTION OF
THE RADAR AND MOST IMPORTANT RETAIN THE RELATIVE PHASE OF THE BACKSCATTERED FIELD "Y
DEFINITION 3,# FILES ARE IN AMPLITUDE AND PHASE OFTEN REPRESENTED AS AN ARRAY OF IN
PHASE ) AND QUADRATURE 1 SIGNED NUMBER PAIRS AT EACH PIXEL 3,# DATA ARE REQUIRED
FOR 3!2 INTERFEROMETRY POLARIMETRY AND COHERENT CHANGE DETECTION
0USHING !MBIGUITY ,IMITS 4HE BASELINE SINGLE
LOOK 3!2 AZIMUTH RESOLUTION
IS PROPORTIONAL TO ONE OVER THE DOPPLER BANDWIDTH GENERATED BY THE AZIMUTH BEAM
WIDTH OF THE SIDE
LOOKING ANTENNA 4HE CORRESPONDING LENGTH OF THE SYNTHETIC APERTURE
IS EQUIVALENT TO THE ALONG
TRACK SPREAD OF THE ANTENNA PATTERN WHICH OF COURSE IS
PROPORTIONAL TO RANGE ,ET THIS BE THE CANONICAL CASE !ZIMUTH RESOLUTION MAY BE
SHARPENED ONLY BY INCREASING DOPPLER BANDWIDTH WHICH CAN BE DONE IN ONE OF TWO
WAYS INCREASING THE ANTENNAS BEAMWIDTH OR INCREASING THE SPREAD OF ASPECT ANGLES
WITHIN WHICH THE ANTENNA ILLUMINATES A GIVEN PORTION OF THE SCENE 4HE LATTER IS THE
BASIS FOR 3POTLIGHT 3!2 o IN WHICH THE ANTENNA IS STEERED TO DWELL ON THE INTENDED AREA
AS THE RADAR PASSES THUS CREATING A WIDER TOTAL DOPPLER BANDWIDTH AND A LONGER SYN
THETIC APERTURE 4HE TRADE
OFF IS THAT ADJACENT AREAS ALONG
TRACK MAY NOT BE IMAGED
AT ALL )NCREASING AZIMUTH RESOLUTION BY BROADENING THE ANTENNA PATTERN EITHER BY
REDUCING THE APERTURE LENGTH OR SPOILING THE BEAM HAS THE DISADVANTAGE OF REDUCING
THE ANTENNAS GAIN WHICH USUALLY IS NOT DESIRABLE FOR SPACE
BASED 3!2S )N ADDITION
THE 02& MUST BE LARGER THAN THE INSTANTANEOUS DOPPLER BANDWIDTH THUS REDUCING THE
ALLOWABLE UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE SWATH
'OING THE OTHER DIRECTIONSMALLER DOPPLER BANDWIDTHLEADS TO MORE COARSE AZI
MUTH RESOLUTION 4HE DOPPLER BANDWIDTH OF THE ORIGINAL SIGNAL HISTORY FROM A GIVEN
BACKSCATTERER MAY BE REDUCED BY THE SIMPLE EXPEDIENT OF GENERATING A SHORTER SYN
THETIC APERTURE THAN THE CANONICAL CASE 4HIS LOGIC LEADS TO THE hBURST MODE v WHICH
FIGURES PROMINENTLY IN TWO FORMS IN SPACE
BASED 3!2S "URST MODE ALONG A SINGLE
IMAGED SWATH IMPLIES A REDUCED DATA RATE WHICH MAY BE NECESSARY TO MEET THE STRIN
GENT DATA
RATE REQUIREMENTS CONFRONTING PLANETARY OR LUNAR MISSIONS !LTERNATIVELY THE
INTERVALS BETWEEN BURSTS MAY BE USED TO ILLUMINATE SEVERAL DIFFERENT RANGE SWATHS THUS
EXPANDING THE AREA THAT MAY BE IMAGED UNAMBIGUOUSLY 4HIS IS THE PRINCIPLE BEHIND
THE 3CAN3!2 MODE
!MBIGUITY 3PACE 4RADE
OFFS )T IS EASY TO SHOW THAT THESE RESOLUTION AND COVERAGE
OPTIONS ARE CONSISTENT WITH THE PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN RANGE AND AZIMUTH AMBIGUITIES
4HE FUNDAMENTAL RULE IS THAT THE IMAGE SPACE ILLUMINATED BY THE ANTENNA MUST BE
hUNDERSPREADv IF AMBIGUITIES ARE TO BE AVOIDED 4HE UNDERSPREAD CONDITION IS THAT
o !LTERNATIVELY KNOWN AS 3POT3!2
42 "$OP
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
WHERE 42 IS THE SLANT RANGE SWATH DEPTH OF THE ANTENNA PATTERN AND "$OP IS THE COR
RESPONDING DOPPLER BANDWIDTH 4O FIRST ORDER THE AZIMUTH RESOLUTION IS GIVEN BY
R!Z
A 2. ,
3 !Z "$OP
WHERE A IS THE AZIMUTH BEAMWIDTH 2 IS SLANT RANGE ., IS THE NUMBER OF LOOKS HERE
ASSUMED TO BE TAKEN IN THE AZIMUTH DOMAIN AND 4!Z "$OP IS THE AZIMUTH TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCT COMPRISED OF THE ILLUMINATION TIME OF THE TARGET AND ITS DOPPLER
BANDWIDTH 3UBSTITUTING FOR DOPPLER BANDWIDTH IN THE UNDERSPREAD CONDITION LEADS TO
THE CONSTRAINT
42 A 2. ,
3 !Z R!Z
WHICH SHOWS HOW RESOLUTION AND TARGET ILLUMINATION TIME MAY BE TRADED AGAINST EACH
OTHER WHILE STILL RESPECTING THE FUNDAMENTAL AMBIGUITY CONSTRAINT 4HE FOLLOWING FOUR
CASES ARE IMPORTANT IN PRACTICE
3TRIP -AP 4HE STANDARD APPROACH IS STRIP MAPPING IN WHICH THE AMBIGUITY
FREE
SPACE IS NEARLY FILLED WITH THE ALLOWABLE SWATH RESOLUTION AND NUMBER OF LOOKS /F
COURSE AZIMUTH RESOLUTION CAN BE INCREASED WITHIN THE ALLOWED SPACE AT NO LOSS OF
SWATH WIDTH IF THE NUMBER OF LOOKS IS DECREASED IN PROPORTION
3POT3!2 )F AZIMUTH RESOLUTION IS THE DRIVING OBJECTIVE THEN R!Z MAY BE
REDUCED AS LONG AS THE INTEGRATION TIME 4!Z IS INCREASED IN PROPORTION 'IVEN THAT THE
BEAMWIDTH OF THE ANTENNA IS FIXED THE INTEGRATION TIME CAN BE INCREASED ONLY IF THE
BEAM IS POINTED TO MAINTAIN ILLUMINATION OF THE DESIRED TARGET MUCH AS A SPOTLIGHT
FROM A MOVING VEHICLE DWELLS ON AN AREA OF INTEREST 4HE USUAL CONSEQUENCE OF FINE
RESOLUTION IN 3POT3!2 MODE IS SMALLER RANGE SWATH AND AN AZIMUTH SIZE THAT IS LIMITED
ABOVE BY THE WIDTH OF THE ANTENNAS FOOTPRINT 4HE REQUIRED STEERING RATE IS RELATIVELY
SLOW TYPICALLY A FEW DEGREES OVER A FEW SECONDS IMPLEMENTED EITHER BY MOVING THE
ANTENNA BEAM OR BY YAW
STEERING THE SPACECRAFT .OTE THAT THE RADARS 02& NEEDS TO
BE ONLY ABOVE THE .YQUIST LIMIT SET BY THE ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH NOT BY THE TOTAL SPAN
OF DOPPLER FREQUENCIES COLLECTED 2ANGE RESOLUTION IS IMPROVED IN THE USUAL WAY BY
INCREASING THE RADARS BANDWIDTH FOR WHICH THE 3TRETCH TECHNIQUE IS OFTEN HELPFUL !
VARIATION OF THIS MODE 3LIP3!2 IS TO DRAG THE ANTENNA FOOTPRINT RATHER THAN TO STARE AT
ONE AREA THUS TRADING POORER AZIMUTH RESOLUTION THAN A PURE 3POT3!2 WOULD DELIVER
TO GAIN INCREASED AZIMUTHAL COVERAGE
(OW FAR CAN THIS BE PUSHED 5NDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT A TARGETS SCATTERING IS
COHERENT OVER A FULL n SECTOR IT CAN BE SHOWN THAT THE ULTIMATE AZIMUTH RESOLU
TION IS K "Y THE WAY SUCH PHENOMENAL RESULTS HAVE BEEN APPROACHED IN THE FIELD
OF SEISMOLOGY
"URST -ODE )F AVERAGE DATA RATE IS THE DRIVING CONSIDERATION THEN THE INTEGRA
TION TIME 4!Z MAY BE REDUCED BELOW THE CANONICAL LIMIT SET BY THE AZIMUTH ANTENNA
BEAMWIDTH 4HIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY TURNING OFF THE TRANSMITTER AFTER ENOUGH PULSES
HAVE BEEN COLLECTED TO SATISFY THE AZIMUTH RESOLUTION REQUIREMENT %ACH SUCH BURST HAS
AN INSTANTANEOUS DOPPLER CORRESPONDING TO THE ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH WHICH DETERMINES
THE .YQUIST 02& LIMIT BUT A SHORTER SYNTHETIC APERTURE LENGTH "URST MODE IS STANDARD
n{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR PLANETARY OR LUNAR RADARS FOR WHICH HIGH IMAGE RESOLUTION IS
NOT REQUIRED AND THE SPACECRAFT
TO
%ARTH DATA LINK IS SEVERELY LIMITED 7HILE IN BURST
MODE IT IS CUSTOMARY TO USE EACH BURST AS A SINGLE
LOOK DATA TAKE SETTING THE BURST REP
ETITION FREQUENCY SO THAT THE DESIRED NUMBER OF LOOKS IS COLLECTED DURING THE SYNTHETIC
APERTURE LENGTH OF THE AZIMUTH BEAM PATTERN 4HE CHALLENGE IS TO CALIBRATE THE ANTENNA
PATTERN SUCH THAT THE FRAMELETS FROM ALL BURSTS MAY BE COMBINED TO ASSEMBLE A CONTINU
OUS IMAGE ALONG TRACK -ISMATCHES APPEAR AS hSCALLOPINGvSYSTEMATIC BRIGHTNESS
MODULATIONS AT BOUNDARIES BETWEEN EACH OF THE FRAMELETS
3CAN3!2n )F SWATH WIDTH IS THE DRIVING REQUIREMENT THEN AZIMUTH RESOLUTION
CAN BE TRADED FOR RANGE COVERAGE 4HE TRICK IS TO MULTIPLEX SEVERAL BURST
MODE DATA
SETS WHERE EACH SET OF BURSTS CORRESPONDS TO A DIFFERENT RANGE SUB
SWATH )N THIS FORM
OF BURST MODE THE TRANSMITTER IS ALWAYS hONv THE BURST RANGE SUB
SWATH ALLOCATION
BURDEN FALLS ONTO THE ANTENNA 3CAN3!2 REQUIRES RAPID ELEVATION BEAM STEERING SUCH
AS THROUGH A PHASED ARRAY EG 4ERRA3!2
8 OR SELECTION OF ONE AMONG SEVERAL RANGE
OFFSET FEEDS FACING A REFLECTOR EG (*
# )N ADDITION TO SUPPRESSING SCALLOPING
GOOD 3CAN3!2 IMAGERY REQUIRES THAT THE SEVERAL RANGE SUB
SWATHS BE KNITTED TOGETHER
SUCH THAT THE CROSSOVERS BETWEEN ANTENNA PATTERNS ARE NOT EVIDENT 2!$!23!4
WAS THE FIRST MISSION TO IMPLEMENT THEN TO PERFECT OPERATIONAL 3CAN3!2 WHICH HAS
BEEN ADOPTED AS A STANDARD MODE ON MANY SPACE
BASED 3!2S 3WATH WIDTHS ACHIEVED
ARE AS MUCH AS FIVE TIMES THE NOMINAL STRIP
MAP WIDTH WHICH IS CONSIDERABLY LARGER
THAN THE CONVENTIONAL AMBIGUITY CONSTRAINT WOULD ALLOW .ORMALLY THE TRADE
OFF IN
AZIMUTH RESOLUTION IS BALANCED WITH A CORRESPONDING COMPROMISE IN RANGE RESOLUTION
LEAVING EXCESS RANGE BANDWIDTH THAT MAY BE CONVERTED INTO LOOKS 3TARTING FROM A
KM SWATH
M r
M
LOOK SYSTEM A REASONABLE 3CAN3!2 MODE COULD BE
KM SWATH
M r
M r
LOOKS WITH NO INCREASE IN AVERAGE DATA RATE OR
TRANSMITTED POWER
.OTE THAT ALL OF THESE AMBIGUITY
SPACE TRADES START WITH THE CANONICAL CASE 4HE
TRADE
OFFS ARE RELATIVE TO THAT STARTING POSITION ! RADAR HAVING AN INHERENTLY SMALL
RANGE SWATH FOR EXAMPLE WOULD REQUIRE 3CAN3!2 TO EXPAND THE RANGE SWATH TO A FEW
TENS OF KM WHICH MAY STILL BE MUCH LARGER THAN THE SAME RADAR COULD COVER WITHOUT
AMBIGUITIES IN A STRIP
MAP MODE
-ULTIPLE #HANNELS )NTERFEROMETRY AND 0OLARIZATION 0HASE COMPARISON
BETWEEN TWO OR MORE MUTUALLY COHERENT DATA SETS LEADS TO RICH NEW POSSIBILITIES ESPE
CIALLY INCLUDING INTERFEROMETRY AND POLARIMETRY 4HIS IS PARTICULARLY RELEVANT TO
SPACE
BASED 3!2S WHICH HAVE BEEN AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE RICH SOURCES OF QUANTITA
TIVE MICROWAVE MEASUREMENTS OF A WIDE VARIETY OF SURFACE FEATURES ENABLED BY THESE
MULTICHANNEL CAPABILITIES 4HE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS PROVIDE ONLY A GLIMPSE INTO THESE
TOPICS THE DISCUSSION IS MEANT TO WHET THE APPETITE OF THE READER AND TO PROVIDE LEADS
TO THE VOLUMINOUS LITERATURE
)NTERFEROMETRY )NTERFEROMETRY BY RADAR &IGURE IMPLIES MEASUREMENTS THAT
ARE BASED ON PHASE DIFFERENCES SENSED THROUGH TWO DIFFERENT OBSERVATIONS OF THE SAME
PHENOMENAn 0HASE DIFFERENCES ARISE FROM MICROWAVE
SCALE CHANGES THAT ARE DUE
EITHER TO DIFFERENTIAL VIEWING ASPECT OR TO ELEMENTS OF MOTION IN THE SCENE )N GENERAL
TERMS THE SENSITIVITY OF PHASE MEASUREMENTS DEPENDS TO FIRST ORDER ON THE RADARS
WAVELENGTH THE SPATIAL OR TEMPORAL BASELINE OF THE CONTRIBUTING DATA SETS AND
THE SCALE OF SPATIAL OR TEMPORAL DIFFERENTIAL SIGNALS 4HE INTERFEROMETRIC BASELINE
INCREASES WITH RANGE AND WITH PLATFORM VELOCITY )T FOLLOWS THAT FOR SPACE
BASED RADARS
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
nx
&)'52% 2ADAR INTERFEROMETRY EXPRESSES THE INTERFERENCE CREATED BETWEEN TWO MUTUALLY
COHERENT BACKSCATTERED FIELDS 4HE PHASE DIFFERENCE INTERFEROGRAM MODULO O CORRESPONDS TO
THE RELATIVE ELEVATION OF THE ILLUMINATED TERRAIN AFTER REMOVAL OF THE SYSTEMATIC SLANT
RANGE AND
%ARTH
CURVATURE SIGNATURES
CONVENTIONAL INTERFEROMETRIC 3!2 MEASUREMENTS FROM ONE SPACECRAFT PLATFORM USUALLY
ARE NOT PRACTICAL SINCE THE IMPLIED SPATIAL OR TEMPORAL SEPARATIONS OF THE MEASUREMENTS
ARE MUCH LARGER THAN ONE SATELLITE COULD SUPPORT !N ALERT READER MAY NOTE THE OBVIOUS
EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE 324- DESCRIBED PREVIOUSLY WHICH MOUNTED ITS SECOND INTER
FEROMETRIC ANTENNA ON A
M EXTENDABLE STRUT
3ATELLITE ORBITS TEND TO BE WELL
KNOWN AND FOLLOW VERY SIMILAR TRAJECTORIES OVER
SUBSEQUENT REPEAT PERIODS )T FOLLOWS THAT THE SPACE
BASED ENVIRONMENT OFFERS AN
ATTRACTIVE ALTERNATIVE REPEAT
PASS INTERFEROMETRY ORIGINALLY SUGGESTED BY 'OLDSTEIN
)F THE PASS
TO
PASS OBSERVATIONS ARE SEPARATED IN THE VERTICAL PLANE THEN INTERFEROM
ETRY LEADS TO RELATIVE TERRAIN HEIGHT ESTIMATION )F TWO OBSERVATIONS HAVE A TIME
DELAY CORRESPONDING TO THE REPEAT PERIOD OF THE ORBIT TYPICALLY TO DAYS THEN
SUB
WAVELENGTH MOVEMENTS IN THE LINE
OF
SIGHT DIRECTION OF THE RADAR MAY BE MEA
SURED 4HE TECHNIQUE CAN BE EXTENDED TO MULTIPLE PASSES WITH PROPORTIONATE INCREASE
IN THE TEMPORAL BASELINE LEADING TO QUITE REMARKABLE RESULTS 2EPEAT
PASS TECHNIQUES
ARE WELL SUITED TO MAPPING TOPOGRAPHIC RELIEF AND TO LONG
TERM COHERENT CHANGE DETEC
TION FOR MAPPING GLACIER MOVEMENT OR TERRESTRIAL SUBSIDENCE )F SHORTER TIME SCALES
ARE OF INTEREST TO DETECT MOVING VEHICLES FOR EXAMPLE '-4) THEN A SHORTER INTER
FEROMETRIC BASELINE IS REQUIRED WHICH IMPLIES TWO OR MORE 3"2S IN RELATIVELY TIGHT
CO
ORBITING FORMATION
4HE BASIC 3!2 INTERFEROMETRIC ENVIRONMENT IS ONE IN WHICH THERE IS A PAIR OF
MUTUALLY COHERENT IMAGES THAT HAVE EMBEDDED PHASES THAT DEPEND ON THE DETAILS OF
VIEWING GEOMETRY AND SCENE STRUCTURE 4HE COHERENTLY COMBINED IMAGES ARE KNOWN
AS AN INTERFEROGRAM WHICH TYPICALLY CONTAINS FRINGES THAT EXPRESS THE INTERACTIONS
BETWEEN THE PHASE STRUCTURE OF THE TWO DATA SETS 3IGNAL PROCESSING IS DESIGNED TO
ESTIMATE THESE PHASE DIFFERENCES AND TO DEDUCE GEOPHYSICAL PARAMETERS OF INTEREST
FROM THE RESULTING MEASUREMENT
4HE INTERFEROMETRIC SIGNAL MODEL IS SIMPLE IN CONCEPT &OR ANY NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE
SCENE THE INPUT SIGNAL PAIR MAY BE DESCRIBED BY
S T ' A EXP; JJ =
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
AND
S T ' A EXP; JJ J$J R T T =
WHERE THE SUBSCRIPTS ON THE REFLECTIVITY ' SUGGEST THAT THE TWO SIGNALS MAY BE OBTAINED
AT TWO DIFFERENT POINTS IN TIME AS WELL AS FROM TWO DIFFERENT SPATIAL PERSPECTIVES 4HE
OBJECTIVE IS TO ESTIMATE THE RELATIVE PHASE DIFFERENCE $I USUALLY FOUND THROUGH THE
CROSS
CORRELATION
%;S T S T = 2 T T A EXP; J$J R T T =
WHICH IS PRESENTED AS IT WOULD BE CALCULATED USING COMPLEX IMAGE DATA (ERE %;= IS
THE EXPECTATION AVERAGING OPERATOR 4HE PHASE DIFFERENCE $I MAY BE DUE EITHER TO
GEOMETRIC OR TO TEMPORAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO OBSERVATIONS 3UCCESSFUL INTER
FEROMETRY DEPENDS ON THE CROSS CORRELATION 2T T OF THE SCATTERING FUNCTIONS 'T AND
'T 4HE NORMALIZED CROSS
CORRELATION FUNCTION IS THE MUTUAL COHERENCE FUNCTION
G T T
2 T T
%;\S \ = %;\S \ =
IN PARALLEL TO THAT ENCOUNTERED IN PHYSICAL OPTICS 'AMMA IS A QUANTITATIVE MAPPING
OF THE COHERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO OBSERVATIONS )N GENERAL SCENE COHERENCE DECREASES
WITH SHORTER WAVELENGTH AND LONGER TIME BETWEEN OBSERVATIONS
-UTUAL COHERENCE IS AN ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT FOR RADAR INTERFEROMETRY #OHERENCE
IMPLIES TWO CONSTRAINTS SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL 4HE SPATIAL CONSTRAINT APPLIES TO THE SPAC
ING BETWEEN THE ORBITAL PASSES )DEALLY THE RADAR WAVELENGTH PROJECTED ONTO EACH AREA
OF THE SURFACE MUST BE THE SAME FROM BOTH ORBITS 3INCE THE TWO ORBITS ARE SEPARATED
EACH AREA IS OBSERVED AT A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT INCIDENT ANGLE 4HIS IMPLIES THAT THE EFFEC
TIVE WAVELENGTH PROJECTED ONTO THE GROUND PLANE IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FOR THE TWO CASES
)NTERFERENCE IS SUPPORTED ONLY IF THE RANGE BANDWIDTH OF THE RADAR SIGNAL IS SUFFICIENT TO
SPAN THE PROJECTED WAVELENGTHS WHICH BECOMES MORE DEMANDING AS THE ORBIT SEPARA
TION INCREASES &ORTUNATELY THE RANGE PULSE HAS SUFFICIENT BANDWIDTH USUALLY MORE
THAN -(Z SO THAT MUTUALLY COHERENT RANGE BANDWIDTHS CAN BE CHOSEN FROM THE DATA
AT THE TIME OF PROCESSING ,OSS OF MUTUAL COHERENCE THROUGH INCREASING ORBIT SPACING
IS KNOWN AS BASELINE DECORRELATION /NE MAY SHOW FOR REASONABLY LEVEL TERRAIN THAT
THE UPPER BOUND CONSTRAINT ON THE DIFFERENCE $P 2AD IN ELEVATION ANGLE BETWEEN THE TWO
ORBITS IS $P 2AD L TANP 2AD R2 WHERE R2 IS SLANT RANGE RESOLUTION WHICH IS INVERSELY
PROPORTIONAL TO RANGE BANDWIDTH !LERT )N THE 3!2 INTERFEROMETRIC LITERATURE IT IS
CUSTOMARY TO USE ELEVATION ANGLE DEFINED AS THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE RADAR LINE OF SIGHT
AND THE %ARTH RADIUS VECTOR AS SEEN FROM THE RADAR &OR TYPICAL LARGE TIME
BANDWIDTH
PRODUCT SIGNALS THE ELEVATION ANGLE CONSTRAINT IMPLIES THAT CORRELATION OF THE PAIR OF
RETURN SIGNALS IS MAINTAINED FOR ORBITAL SEPARATIONS ON THE ORDER OF A KILOMETER &OR
ABSOLUTE ELEVATION MAPS TO BE DERIVED HOWEVER PRECISE KNOWLEDGE TO THE LEVEL OF ONE
METER IS REQUIRED OF THE SPATIAL SEPARATION BETWEEN OBSERVATION TRACKS
4EMPORAL COHERENCE APPLIES PRIMARILY TO THE SCENE )N ORDER FOR THE TWO SIGNALS TO
ACT AS AN INTERFEROMETRIC PAIR THEIR RESPECTIVE PHASE STRUCTURES MUST BE RELATIVELY STABLE
OVER THE TIME INTERVAL BETWEEN SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS )N SHORT THERE MUST EXIST MUTUAL
COHERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO SCATTERING SIGNALS EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE OBSERVED AT DIFFER
ENT TIMES 4HIS REQUIREMENT IS READILY SATISFIED FOR SHORT INTEROPPORTUNITY INTERVALS SUCH
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
AS FROM THE THREE
DAY REPEAT ORBIT FIRST USED WITH 3EASAT DATA TO PROVE THE CONCEPT AND
FOR STABLE TERRAIN FEATURES SUCH AS UNVEGETATED ROCKY MOUNTAIN SLOPES )T IS NOT NECES
SARILY SATISFIED FOR SCENES SUCH AS ICE OR VEGETATION THAT MAY UNDERGO CHANGES IN THE
DETAILS OF REFLECTION AND SCATTERING BETWEEN OBSERVATIONS
)N CERTAIN NATURAL AND MOST URBAN SCENES THERE WILL BE MANY CORNER
REFLECTOR
SHAPED
FEATURES WHOSE PHASE REMAINS STABLE OVER VERY LONG TIME SCALES 4HESE SO
CALLED PER
MANENT OR PERSISTENT SCATTERERS SUPPORT DIFFERENTIAL INTERFEROMETRIC MEASUREMENTS
THAT MAY SPAN MANY REPEAT VISITS OF THE RADAR LEADING TO REMARKABLE SENSITIVITY TO SLOW
MOTION PHENOMENA &OR EXAMPLE MULTIFRAME $)N3!2p ANALYSIS OF 2!$!23!4
DATA HAS LED TO MAPS OF .EW /RLEANS SUBSIDENCE RATES WHICH VARY FROM ^ MMY TO
MORE THAN MMY WITH A SENSITIVITY ON THE ORDER OF MMY
!NY APPROACH TO PHASE DIFFERENCE MEASUREMENT IS SUBJECT TO THE FUNDAMENTAL O
AMBIGUITY CHARACTERISTIC OF PHASE ESTIMATION ALGORITHMS )N MANY RADAR SITUATIONS
KNOWLEDGE OF THE PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS OF THE SITUATION COUPLED WITH PHASE UNWRAPPING
ALGORITHMS IS SUFFICIENT FOR THE PURPOSE
0OLARIMETRY &OR ANY GIVEN POLARIZATION OF THE TRANSMITTED WAVE THE REFLECTIVITY
PROCESS IN GENERAL WILL GIVE RISE TO A DIVERSITY OF POLARIZATIONS IN THE BACKSCATTERED
WAVE 4O OBSERVE THESE THE RADAR MUST BE DUAL
POLARIZED 3IMILARLY THE REFLECTIVITY
IS A FUNCTION OF THE POLARIZATION OF THE TRANSMITTED WAVE 4HUS IF THE SCATTERING FUNC
TION ITSELF IS TO BE FULLY CHARACTERIZED TWO ORTHOGONAL POLARIZATIONS MUST BE TRANSMIT
TED AS WELL )NCREASINGLY POLARIMETRIC DIVERSITY IS BEING IMPLEMENTED IN SPACE
BASED
3!2S )MPLEMENTATION OF A FULLY POLARIMETRIC RADAR ALWAYS IMPLIES GREATER DATA
CHANNEL CAPACITY MORE TRANSMITTED POWER AND LESS RANGE SWATH COVERAGE /F COURSE
THE ANTENNATHE RADARS hPOLARIZATION GATEWAYvMUST BE ABLE TO RECEIVE AND POS
SIBLY ALSO TO TRANSMIT ON MORE THAN ONE POLARIZATION
)N GENERAL TERMS THERE ARE FOUR OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR POLARIMETRIC DIVERSITY IN A
SPACE
BASED 3!2 4HESE ARE
3INGLE MONOSTATIC POLARIZATION 4YPICAL OF ALL DEDICATED SPACECRAFT 3!2S
UNTIL THE LAUNCH OF %.6)3!4 WITH EITHER (( OR 66 POLARIZATIONS 4HIS CUSTOM
ARY NOTATION INDICATES HORIZONTAL OR VERTICAL LINEAR POLARIZATIONS ON BOTH TRANS
MISSION AND RECEPTION FOR THESE SINGLE
POLARIZED RADARS
$UAL POLARIZATION 4HE TRADITIONAL DEFINITION IS TRANSMISSION ON ONE POLARIZATION
USUALLY LINEAR SUCH AS ( AND RECEPTION ON THE LIKE
POLARIZED AND THE CROSS
POLARIZED COMPONENTS SUCH AS ( AND 6 )N A TRADITIONAL DUAL
POLARIZED RADAR THE
RELATIVE PHASE BETWEEN THE TWO POLARIZED DATA SETS IS DISCARDED )N %ARTH
ORIENTED
REMOTE SENSING RADARS TYPICAL COMBINATIONS INCLUDE (( AND (6 FOR EXAMPLE
OR (( AND 66 WHICH REQUIRES TWO SEPARATE TRANSMIT POLARIZATIONS 4HE !3!2
ABOARD %.6)3!4 IS THE FIRST SPACE
BASED EXAMPLE OF THIS TYPE OF POLARIZATION
DIVERSITY )F THE FOUR LINEAR POLARIZATION POSSIBILITIES ARE EXPLOITED NONCOHER
ENTLY THEN THE BACKSCATTERING FUNCTION OF THE SCENE MAY BE CHARACTERIZED BY THE
THREE BACKSCATTER COEFFICIENTS R (( R 6( R 66 WHICH OF COURSE ARE DEVOID OF
PHASE .OTE THAT RECIPROCITY IMPLIES THAT R (6 R 6(
#OHERENT DUAL POLARIZATION ! DUAL
POLARIZED RADAR THAT RETAINS THE RELATIVE
PHASE BETWEEN THE TWO RECEIVED POLARIZATIONS IS A SIGNIFICANT DEPARTURE FROM
TRADITIONAL DUAL
POLARIZED SYSTEMS 4HE MODIFIER hCOHERENTv HELPS TO DISTINGUISH
p $IFFERENTIAL INTERFEROMETRIC SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR
nn
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SUCH RADARS FROM THEIR MORE COMMON COUNTERPARTS DESCRIBED IN THE PRECEDING
PARAGRAPH #OHERENT DUAL POLARIZATION HAS NOT BEEN EXPLOITED IN ORBITAL 3!2S
ALTHOUGH IT IS STANDARD PRACTICE IN %ARTH
BASED RADAR ASTRONOMY THROUGH FACILI
TIES SUCH AS THE !RECIBO RADAR TELESCOPE %XPERIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT THERE IS
RELATIVELY LITTLE ADDED VALUE IN THE PHASE BETWEEN THE LIKE
POLARIZED AND CROSS
POLARIZED RETURNS UNDER THE CONDITION OF ( OR 6 TRANSMIT POLARIZATION (OWEVER
AN INNOVATIVE ALTERNATIVE IS TO TRANSMIT CIRCULAR POLARIZATION AND RECEIVE COHER
ENTLY TWO ORTHOGONAL LINEARLY POLARIZED COMPONENTS 3EE 3ECTION FOR FUR
THER DISCUSSION
&ULL OR QUADRATURE POLARIZATION 4HIS IS THE RICHEST OPTION BECAUSE IT ALLOWS FULL
CHARACTERIZATION OF THE COMPLEX MATRIX OF THE BACKSCATTER AT ALL RESOLVED POINTS IN
THE SCENE )T HAS BEEN DEVELOPED EXTENSIVELY IN THEORY AND IN PRACTICE WITH DATA
FROM AIRBORNE SYSTEMS AND 3)2
# *APANS 0!,3!2 IS THE FIRST OPERATIONAL SPACE
BASED SYSTEM TO INCORPORATE A QUAD
POL MODE
0RIMARY INTEREST IN FULLY POLARIMETRIC RADARS DERIVES FROM THE ENRICHED SCATTERING
OBSERVATION POSSIBILITIES REVEALED THROUGH REPLACEMENT OF THE SCALAR FORM OF REFLECTIV
ITY BY ITS COMPLEX VECTOR COUNTERPART 4HUS WHEN EITHER ( OR 6 POLARIZATIONS ARE
INCIDENT ON A SCATTERING ELEMENT BOTH POLARIZATIONS ARE BACKSCATTERED ACCORDING TO
%(" 3((
% " 3
6 6(
3(6 %(4
366 %64
WHERE THE SUPERSCRIPT " DENOTES THE FIELD COMPONENTS REFLECTED BACK TOWARD THE RADAR
4HE NEW TERMS OF INTEREST REPRESENT THE SCENES r SCATTERING MATRIX AN ARRAY OF FOUR
COMPLEX NUMBERS %ACH ELEMENT IN THIS BACKSCATTERING MATRIX EXPRESSES THE MAGNI
TUDE AND PHASE IMPOSED ONTO THE BACKSCATTERED FIELD SUPERSCRIPT " IN RESPONSE TO THE
ILLUMINATION FROM THE TRANSMITTED FIELD SUPERSCRIPT 4 ACCORDING TO THEIR RESPECTIVE
POLARIZATIONS 4HUS THE SCATTERING MATRIX IS A QUANTITATIVE DESCRIPTION OF THE TRANSFOR
MATION OF POLARIZATION STATE UPON REFLECTION AS WELL AS THE MAGNITUDE AND PHASE OF
EACH REFLECTION COEFFICIENT )T IS OFTEN TRUE THAT THE FIELD POLARIZATIONS ARE NOT CHANGED
DURING PROPAGATION THE IRROTATIONAL ASSUMPTION )N THIS CASE THE POLARIZATIONS OF THE
BACKSCATTERED WAVES ARE EQUIVALENT TO THOSE THAT ARRIVE AT THE RADAR 4HIS PROPERTY
CHARACTERIZES MOST OF THE POLARIMETRY LITERATURE AT LEAST IN REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS
AND IS REFLECTED IN THESE PARAGRAPHS 4HE PRINCIPAL EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE IS &ARADAY
ROTATION WHICH MAY BE A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR FOR LONGER WAVELENGTH SYSTEMS SUCH AS 0
BAND AND TO A LESSER EXTENT , BAND
&OR IRROTATIONAL PROPAGATION THE PORTION OF THE BACKSCATTERED FIELD CAPTURED BY THE
RADAR IS DETERMINED BY THE POLARIZATION VECTOR OF THE RECEIVING ANTENNA ;% 2= 4HE SIG
NAL VOLTAGE VREC ENTERING THE SYSTEM MAY BE WRITTEN IN VECTOR
MATRIX FORM AS
VREC %(2
% "
%62 ("
%6
4HIS IS THE STARTING POINT FOR 3!2 QUADRATURE POLARIMETRY %SSENTIALLY A QUAD POL
3!2 IS MANAGED SO THAT THE TRANSMITTER GENERATES BOTH ORTHOGONAL POLARIZATIONS 4HE
RESULTING QUAD POL DATA SET CAN BE TRANSFORMED TO REPRESENT ALL POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS
OF TRANSMIT ANDOR RECEIVE POLARIZATIONS 0ITFALLS AWAIT THE UNWARY HOWEVER INCLUDING
TRICKY COORDINATE CONVENTIONS AN INITIALLY CONFUSING VARIETY OF hSTANDARDv FORMS FOR
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
REPRESENTING THE DATA AND SEVERAL ALTERNATIVE METHODS FOR DATA ANALYSIS /NCE MAS
TERED HOWEVER QUAD
POL 3!2 DATA IS THE UNDOUBTED GOLD STANDARD FOR QUANTITATIVE
SCENE CHARACTERIZATION BY AN IMAGING RADAR
! SPACE
BASED QUAD
POL CAPABILITY IMPLIES A SIGNIFICANT COST 4HE DRIVING REQUIRE
MENT IS THAT THE DATA MUST BE MUTUALLY COHERENT 4HAT IS RELATIVELY EASY FOR THE RECEIVER
WHICH ONLY NEEDS TO HAVE TWO CHANNELS THAT CAPTURE SIMULTANEOUSLY THE PHASE AND
AMPLITUDE OF TWO ORTHOGONAL POLARIZATIONS OF THE BACKSCATTERED FIELD /N THE OTHER
HAND ONLY ONE POLARIZATION CAN BE TRANSMITTED AT A TIME )LLUMINATING THE SCENE WITH
TWO POLARIZATIONS REQUIRES THE TRANSMITTER TO BE TOGGLED BETWEEN ORTHOGONAL POLARIZA
TION STATES 4HIS MULTIPLEXED TRANSMISSION SCHEME IMPLIES THAT THE RADARS 02& MUST BE
DOUBLED TO SATISFY THE MINIMUM .YQUIST SAMPLING RATE SIMULTANEOUSLY FOR EACH PAIR OF
TRANSMISSIONS $OUBLED 02& IMPLIES THAT THE AVERAGE RADIATED POWER MUST BE DOUBLED
AND THE UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE SWATH IS HALVED BOTH IN COMPARISON TO THE STANDARD CASE
OF TRANSMITTING ONLY ONE POLARIZATION .OTE THAT THE AVERAGE DATA RATE IS THE SAME AS THE
DUAL
POLARIZED CASE SINCE TWICE AS MUCH DATA ARE COLLECTED BY A QUAD
POL MODE FOR
EACH RESOLVED POINT IN THE SCENE BUT THE SWATH WIDTH IS SMALLER BY A FACTOR OF TWO
#ONSIDERABLE PROGRESS CONTINUES TO BE MADE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS FOR QUANTI
TATIVE ANALYSIS OF POLARIMETRIC 3!2 DATA 7HEN IN COMBINATION WITH INTERFEROMETRIC
DATA THE FIELD IS KNOWN AS 0OL)N3!2 FOR WHICH DEDICATED SPECIALIST MEETINGS ARE
CONVENED FREQUENTLY !N IMPORTANT METHODOLOGY IS TARGET DECOMPOSITION THROUGH
WHICH SPECIFIC BACKSCATTER CLASSES SUCH AS DOUBLE
BOUNCE "RAGG OR VOLUME OF A
SCENE MAY BE SEPARATED FROM OTHER TYPES THENCE SUBJECTED TO INTERFEROMETRIC ANALYSIS
5SING SUCH TECHNIQUES IT IS POSSIBLE TO ESTIMATE THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE SURFACE BENEATH
A VEGETATED CANOPY FOR EXAMPLE
!PPLICATIONS 3!2S ARE THE LARGEST CLASS OF SPACE
BASED REMOTE
SENSING RADARS
PRIMARILY AS A RESULT OF THEIR PRACTICAL UTILITY -ANY APPLICATIONS ARE ENERGIZED BY
RADARS NATURAL ABILITY TO OPERATE AT NIGHT OR THROUGH CLOUD FOG SMOKE AND HAZE AND
ITS INHERENT SENSITIVITY TO CHANGES WITHIN THE SCENE AT WAVELENGTH SCALES 2ADAR IMAG
ERY HAS PROVEN TO BE VALUABLE FOR A WIDE VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS FROM OCEANOGRAPHIC
OBSERVATIONS THE THEME THAT MOTIVATED 3EASAT TO MEASUREMENT OF MILLIMETER
SCALE
DISPLACEMENT SUCH AS THE SUBSIDENCE OF URBAN AREAS OR THE SWELLING OF VOLCANOES PRIOR
TO THEIR ERUPTION #ANADAS REQUIREMENT TO MAINTAIN NEAR
CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF ITS
NORTHERN AND COASTAL ICE IS MET PRIMARILY BY THOUSANDS OF FRAMES OF 2!$!23!4 DATA
PER YEAR )NDIA IS THE SECOND LARGEST CONSUMER OF SPACE
BASED IMAGING RADAR DATA USED
FOR AGRICULTURE AND FOREST MANAGEMENT AND FOR MEASURING CHANGES IN ITS ALPINE GLA
CIERS #OUNTRIES SUCH AS "RAZIL GRACED WITH TROPICAL FORESTS RELY ON SPACE
BASED RADAR
IMAGERY TO MAINTAIN SURVEILLANCE AND TO COMPILE ANNUAL STATISTICS OF DEFORESTATION
3INCE RADAR IMAGERY IS A RELIABLE METHOD OF MAPPING SLICKS ON THE OCEANS SURFACE IT
IS THE PRINCIPAL MEANS OF MONITORING OIL SPILLS THAT MAY RESULT FROM A GROUNDED TANKER
OR A VESSEL ILLEGALLY PUMPING ITS BILGES IN A COASTAL AREA 4HE IMAGING RADAR REFERENCE
CITED EARLIER PROVIDES AN EXCELLENT REVIEW OF MANY OF THESE APPLICATIONS
n / / ,)N ITS MOST GENERAL FORM AN ALTIMETER IS A RADAR DEVICE DESIGNED TO MEASURE THE VERTI
CAL DISTANCE BETWEEN THE RADAR AND THE SURFACE BELOW )N AIRBORNE APPLICATIONS THE
RESULTING hALTITUDEv IS A MEASURE OF THE CLEARANCE BENEATH THE AIRCRAFT 7HEREAS THE
n
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MAIN OBJECTIVE OF A SPACE
BASED ALTIMETER IS ALSO TO MEASURE THE DISTANCE BETWEEN
THE RADAR AND THE SURFACE THE MOST COMMON APPLICATION IS DETERMINATION OF THE LOCAL
SEA LEVEL RELATIVE TO THE %ARTHS GEOID e RATHER THAN THE HEIGHT OF THE SPACECRAFT 4HE
REFERENCE FOR THIS MEASUREMENTTHE ORBITAL HEIGHT OF THE SPACECRAFTMUST BE KNOWN
BY OTHER MEANS TO WITHIN A FEW CENTIMETERS 3EA
SURFACE HEIGHT IS A FUNCTION OF MANY
GEOPHYSICAL PARAMETERS SUCH AS CURRENT FLOW AN %L .IO EVENT AND VARIATIONS IN THE
OCEANS DEPTH 2ELATIVELY SMALL CHANGES ON THE ORDER OF CM IN MEAN SEA
SURFACE
HEIGHT MAY CORRESPOND TO SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCES IN THE CORRESPONDING GEOPHYSICAL
PARAMETERS )T FOLLOWS THAT RANGE MEASUREMENT ACCURACY AND PRECISION ARE THE DRIVING
REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS CLASS OF RADAR 4HE ACCURACY OF AN ALTIMETERS HEIGHT MEASUREMENT
DEPENDS TO FIRST ORDER ON KNOWLEDGE OF THE SPACECRAFTS HEIGHT ALONG ITS ORBIT AND ON
CORRECTION OF THE PROPAGATION DELAYS SUFFERED BY THE RADARS ROUND
TRIP WAVEFORM 4HE
PRECISION OF AN OCEAN
VIEWING ALTIMETER IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE RADARS RANGE RESOLUTION
AND INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE SQUARE ROOT OF THE NUMBER OF STATISTICALLY INDEPENDENT
MEASUREMENTS LOOKS COMBINED FOR EACH DATA POINT /CEAN
VIEWING ALTIMETERS IN
GENERAL HAVE LARGE 3.2 4HUS BANDWIDTH AND LOOKS BECOME THE DRIVING REQUIREMENTS
ON SYSTEM DESIGN 4HE EMPHASIS IN THIS SECTION IS ON ALTIMETER PRECISION
3EA
SURFACE HEIGHT MEASUREMENTS HAVE BECOME ESSENTIAL FOR A WIDE VARIETY OF APPLI
CATIONS IN OCEANOGRAPHY GEODESY GEOPHYSICS AND CLIMATOLOGY 7ITH THE EXCEPTION
OF NEAR
POLAR ICE %ARTH
ORBITING OCEANOGRAPHIC ALTIMETERS HAVE SEEN RELATIVELY LITTLE
APPLICATION OVER NONAQUATIC SURFACES
! SATELLITE
BASED ALTIMETER SYSTEMATICALLY CIRCLES THE %ARTH GENERATING SURFACE
HEIGHT MEASUREMENTS ALONG ITS NADIR TRACK 4HESE MEASUREMENTS ACCUMULATE PROVID
ING UNIQUE SYNOPTIC DATA THAT HAVE REVOLUTIONIZED OUR KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
OF BOTH GLOBAL AND LOCAL PHENOMENA FROM %L .IO TO BATHYMETRY 3"2 ALTIMETER DATA
ALSO PROVIDE MEASUREMENTS OF SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT AND WIND SPEED !LTHOUGH ONE
MIGHT CONSIDER ALTIMETERS TO BE RELATIVELY SIMPLE ONE
DIMENSIONAL RANGE MEASURE
MENT INSTRUMENTS THEIR PHENOMENAL ACCURACY AND PRECISION REQUIRES ELEGANT MICRO
WAVE IMPLEMENTATION AND INNOVATIVE SIGNAL PROCESSING
/VERVIEW 4HE SURFACE
HEIGHT MEASUREMENT OBJECTIVES OF SPACE
BASED ALTIMETERS
CAN BE GROUPED INTO FOUR BROAD CATEGORIES LARGE
SCALE DYNAMIC SEA
SURFACE TOPOGRA
PHY DYNAMIC MESOSCALE
OCEANIC FEATURES STATIC MESOSCALE SEA
SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY
AND ICESEA ICE AS WELL AS CONTINENTAL ICE SHEETS %ACH OF THESE MEASUREMENT THEMES
IMPLIES NARROWED CONSTRAINTS ON CHOICE OF ORBIT AND ON THE TOP
LEVEL INSTRUMENT AND
MISSION DESIGN 3ATELLITE ALTIMETERS DEDICATED TO DETERMINING THE OCEANS LARGE
SCALE
DYNAMIC SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY ARE CHARACTERIZED BY ABSOLUTE SEA
SURFACE HEIGHT 33(
SEC
AVERAGED MEASUREMENT ACCURACY ON THE ORDER OF CENTIMETERS ALONG TRACKS OF
MORE THAN KM AND ORBITS THAT RETRACE THEIR SURFACE TRACKS EVERY TO DAYS
)N CONTRAST MESOSCALE MISSIONS FOCUS ON SEA
SURFACE HEIGHT SIGNALS OF LESS THAN ^
KM IN LENGTH 2ATHER THAN ABSOLUTE 33( ACCURACY THESE SHORTER
SCALE APPLICATIONS
REQUIRE PRECISION SUFFICIENT TO SUSTAIN SURFACE SLOPE MEASUREMENT ACCURACY ON THE
ORDER OF MICRORADIAN ONE MM SEA
LEVEL CHANGE OVER A
KM DISTANCE &OR GEODETIC
SIGNALS THAT ARE EXPRESSED THROUGH STATIC SEA
SURFACE TOPOGRAPHIC VARIATIONS ORBITS
ARE REQUIRED THAT GENERATE DENSE TRACK
TO
TRACK SPACING /BSERVATION OF OCEANIC AND
e 4HE AVERAGE SEA LEVEL IN THE ABSENCE OF DYNAMIC PERTURBATIONS OF THE SURFACE ELEVATION DUE TO TIDES AND CURRENTS
)N THE FIELD OF OCEANOGRAPHY MESOSCALE FEATURES HAVE SCALES OF SEVERAL HUNDRED KILOMETERS AS OPPOSED TO THE MUCH
LARGER BASIN SCALE THE .ORTH !TLANTIC OCEAN FOR EXAMPLE
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
POLAR ICE SHEETS REQUIRES THAT THE ALTIMETER HAVE ROBUST RANGE AND SPATIAL RESOLUTION
ACCURACY AND PRECISION REGARDLESS OF THE NON
ZERO AVERAGE SURFACE SLOPE IN BOTH THE
ALONG
TRACK AND CROSS
TRACK DIRECTION OF THE CONTINENTAL GLACIERS 3UITABLE ORBITS FOR
ICE SHEET MISSIONS MUST HAVE NEAR
POLAR INCLINATION AND MULTIYEAR RELATIVE ACCURACY
OF A FEW CENTIMETERS
7HEREAS THE METHODOLOGY OF THESE INSTRUMENTS IS TO DETERMINE THE DISTANCE BETWEEN
THE RADAR AND THE SURFACE LIKE ANY RADAR AN ALTIMETER ACTUALLY MEASURES ROUND
TRIP
DELAY NOT DISTANCE !T THE ACCURACY REQUIRED OF A SPACE
BASED OCEANOGRAPHIC ALTIMETER
THE DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE PROPORTIONALITY OF RANGE TO DELAY
TIME MUST TAKE INTO ACCOUNT
THE SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT RETARDATION OF THE RADARS MICROWAVES AS THEY PROPAGATE 4HE
CM
LEVEL 33( ACCURACY REQUIRED OF THESE INSTRUMENTS IS MUCH SMALLER THAN THE RANGING
ERRORS INTRODUCED BY DELAYS THROUGH THE IONOSPHERE AND THE ATMOSPHERE 4HE DELAYS
IMPOSED BY THE IONOSPHERE ARE A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY )N PRACTICE THESE CAN BE ESTI
MATED AND THEN CORRECTED IF THE ALTIMETER MEASURES ROUND
TRIP RANGE AT TWO DIFFERENT
FREQUENCIES 4HE DELAYS IMPOSED BY THE ATMOSPHERE ARE COMPRISED OF TWO COMPONENTS
THE DRY ATMOSPHERE AND WATER
VAPOR 4HE DRY ATMOSPHERE COMPONENT IS WELL
KNOWN
AND STABLE AT LONG SPATIAL SCALES IN PRACTICE THE RESULTING DELAY IS COMPENSATED BY
RECOURSE TO MODEL PREDICTIONS $ELAYS DUE TO WATER
VAPOR IN THE ATMOSPHERE ARE VARI
ABLE DOWN TO SCALES OF SEVERAL HUNDRED KILOMETERS AND MUCH SMALLER WHEN TRAVERSING
A STORM FRONT 3TANDARD PRACTICE IS TO MEASURE THE INTEGRATED WATER VAPOR CONTRIBUTION
IN THE VERTICAL COLUMN BELOW THE ALTIMETER BY A MICROWAVE RADIOMETER FOR WHICH TWO
OR THREE FREQUENCIES ARE REQUIRED
-EASUREMENT ERRORS ARE DOMINATED BY THE ACCURACY OF ORBIT HEIGHT DETERMINATION
AND BY THE INTRINSIC PRECISION OF THE INSTRUMENT &IGURE SHOWS A SUMMARY HISTORY
OF THESE FACTORS 4HE DATA SHOW THAT
CM INSTRUMENT ACCURACY IS THE STATE
OF
THE
ART
FOR CONVENTIONAL ALTIMETERS 4HE DELAY
DOPPLER INSTRUMENT SEE BELOW WOULD FURTHER
IMPROVE INSTRUMENT PRECISION TO CM
!
&)'52% (ISTORY OF PRECISION ORBIT DETERMINATION 0/$ AND INTRIN
SIC INSTRUMENT PRECISION OF THE LEADING RADAR ALTIMETERS OF THE PAST YEARS
6ERTICAL AXIS IN CM -ODERN 0/$ ACCURACY RELIES ON '03 AND THE &RENCH
$/2)3 SYSTEM 0RECISION IS LIMITED BY THE ALTIMETERS DEGREES OF FREEDOM
INCOHERENT WAVEFORM AVERAGING AFTER $UDLEY #HELTON /REGON 3TATE
5NIVERSITY PERSONAL COMMUNICATION
n
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#ENTIMETER
SCALE RANGE ACCURACY IS SUPPORTED IN THE OCEANOGRAPHIC APPLICATION
BY AVERAGING OVER THE RANGE RESPONSE OF MANY RETURNS 4HE RANGE RESOLUTION OF EACH
RETURN WAVEFORM IS TYPICALLY ON THE ORDER OF METERS 4HESE WAVEFORMS ARE ACCU
MULATED AND AVERAGED PULSE
TO
PULSE WHOSE SHAPE CONVERGES ON THE FLAT
SURFACE
IMPULSE RESPONSE &IGURE 3EA
SURFACE HEIGHT 33( IS DERIVED FROM THE
TIME DELAY TO THE MIDPOINT OF THE WAVEFORMS LEADING EDGE RISE /NE THOUSAND OR
MORE SUCH WAVEFORMS AVERAGED OVER ONE SECOND CORRESPOND TO A MEAN RANGE ESTI
MATE WHOSE STANDARD DEVIATION IS ON THE ORDER OF CENTIMETERS WHICH IN PRACTICE
DEGRADES WITH INCREASING SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT /NE
SECOND AVERAGES ARE STANDARD
FOR OPERATIONAL ALTIMETERS WHICH IMPLIES AN ALONG
TRACK RESOLUTION ON THE ORDER OF
KILOMETERS DETERMINED PRIMARILY BY SATELLITE VELOCITY !VERAGING IS hTHE NAME OF
THE GAMEv IN RADAR ALTIMETRY &OR EXAMPLE GLOBAL DATA SETS FROM INSTRUMENTS SUCH
AS 4/0%8 AND *ASON
HAVE BEEN ANALYZED TO ESTIMATE THE RATE OF MEAN SEA
LEVEL RISE
TO AN ACCURACY OF MILLIMETER PER YEAR
)N ADDITION TO SEA
SURFACE HEIGHT THE SATELLITE RADAR ALTIMETERS WAVEFORM SUPPORTS
TWO OTHER OCEANOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENTS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT 37( AND SURFACE
WIND SPEED 73 /VER A QUASI
FLAT SEA A PULSE
LIMITED ALTIMETERS IDEALIZED MEAN
"
!
"
"
!!
&)'52% A 4HE ALTIMETERS PULSE TYPICALLY M LONG AFTER
COMPRESSION SEQUENTIALLY ENCOUNTERS OCEANIC SURFACE WAVES OF HEIGHT
UP TO M OR MORE B 3EA
SURFACE HEIGHT 33( CORRESPONDS TO THE
MIDPOINT OF THE WAVEFORMS LEADING EDGE SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT
37( TO THE SLOPE OF THE LEADING EDGE AND WIND SPEED 73 TO THE
INVERSE BACKSCATTERED POWER 4HE WAVEFORMS DEPICTED HERE ARE IDEAL
IZED USEFUL hSMOOTHNESSv REQUIRES OR MORE INCOHERENTLY AVER
AGED RADAR RETURNS
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
WAVEFORM IS A STEP FUNCTION WHOSE RISE TIME IS EQUAL TO THE COMPRESSED PULSE LENGTH
AND WHOSE POSITION ON THE TIME
DELAY AXIS IS DETERMINED BY THE ALTIMETERS HEIGHT )F
THE SEA SURFACE IS MODULATED BY WAVES THE ALTIMETRIC DEPTH OF THE SURFACE INCREASES
WHICH REDUCES THE SLOPE OF THE WAVEFORMS LEADING EDGE (ENCE 37( IS PROPORTIONAL
TO THE WAVEFORM RISE TIME )F THE SEA SURFACE IS DISTURBED BY THE WIND THE RESULTING
FINE
SCALE ROUGHNESS DECREASES THE POWER OF THE PULSE REFLECTED BACK TO THE ALTIMETER
(ENCE FOR WIND SPEEDS OF MORE THAN ABOUT TWO KNOTS 73 IS INVERSELY RELATED TO MEAN
WAVEFORM POWER )N PRACTICE THE INFLECTIONS OF THE IDEALIZED FLAT
SURFACE RESPONSE
FUNCTION WAVEFORM ARE SOFTENED BY THE PULSE WEIGHTING AND THE WAVEFORM IS ATTENU
ATED OVER TIME BY THE WEIGHTING OF THE ANTENNA PATTERN
4O EXTRACT 37( AND 73 FROM WAVEFORM DATA FINELY TUNED ALGORITHMS HAVE BEEN
DEVELOPED AND VALIDATED AGAINST IN SITU BUOY MEASUREMENTS &OR EXAMPLE THE
4/0%8 +U BAND ALTIMETER MEASURES 37( TO WITHIN o M UP TO MORE THAN M AND
73 WITHIN o MS UP TO MORE THAN MS 4HESE FIGURES CORRESPOND TO AVERAGES OVER
SECOND OR ABOUT KM ALONG THE SUB
SATELLITE PATH OF THE ALTIMETERS FOOTPRINT WHICH
TYPICALLY IS KMn KM WIDE DETERMINED BY MEAN SEA STATE
&LIGHT 3YSTEMS +EY ATTRIBUTES OF SATELLITE RADAR ALTIMETERS ARE SUMMARIZED IN
4ABLE 3INCE OCEANIC HEIGHT MEASUREMENT ACCURACY HAS IMPROVED DUE
PRIMARILY TO MORE EFFECTIVE MEANS OF ESTIMATING AND CORRECTING SYSTEMATIC ERRORS
0ERFORMANCE ALSO HAS BENEFITED FROM INNOVATIVE ONBOARD HARDWARE AND ALGORITHMS
AND MORE PRECISE DETERMINATION OF THE RADIAL COMPONENT OF THE ORBIT 4HE *ASON
ALTIMETER REPRESENTS THE STATE
OF
THE
ART IN ABSOLUTE SEA
SURFACE HEIGHT MEASUREMENT
ACCURACY AS OF THE YEAR
3
AND '%/3
4HE FIRST SATELLITE RADAR ALTIMETER WAS THE PROOF
OF
CONCEPT
3
INSTRUMENT THAT FLEW ON THREE 3KYLAB MISSIONS )TS OBJECTIVES WERE TO VERIFY
PREDICTED WAVEFORM RESPONSE TO WIND AND WAVES TO MEASURE THE RADAR CROSS SECTION
OF THE SEA AT VERTICAL INCIDENCE TO MEASURE INTER
PULSE CORRELATION PROPERTIES AND TO
OBSERVE THE EFFECT OF OFF
NADIR ANTENNA ORIENTATION A SCATTEROMETER EXPERIMENT 'EOS
PROVIDED THE FIRST GEODETIC AND GEOPHYSICAL RESULTS OF SIGNIFICANCE WITHIN THE .ATIONAL
'EODETIC 3ATELLITE 0ROGRAM INCLUDING THE FIRST MAPS OF SEA
LEVEL VARIABILITY AND THE
4!",% !LTIMETERS
3PACECRAFT #OUNTRY
3KYLAB
'%/3
3EASAT
'EOSAT
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)NCLINATION !LTITUDE 3PACING
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^
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+U
+U
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2!$!2 (!.$"//+
MARINE GEOID 'EOS AND THE 3 ALTIMETERS USED CONVENTIONAL PULSE COMPRESSION
TECHNIQUES !S SUGGESTED IN THE TABLE NEITHER OF THESE TWO EARLY ALTIMETERS INCLUDED A
WATER VAPOR RADIOMETER AND EACH USED ONLY ONE FREQUENCY SO THAT THEY HAD NO IN BUILT
MEANS TO CORRECT FOR IONOSPHERIC OR ATMOSPHERIC PROPAGATION DELAYS
3EASATS !LTIMETER 3EASATS WAS THE FIRST TO USE FULL DERAMPo PULSE COMPRESSION
WHICH OPENED THE WAY FOR THE VERY SMALL RANGE RESOLUTION REQUIRED FOR MANY OCEANOGRAPHIC
APPLICATIONS 4HE DERAMP TECHNIQUE DESCRIBED BELOW HAS BEEN ADOPTED BY ALL RADAR ALTIM
ETERS SINCE THEN 3EASAT WAS DESIGNED TO MEASURE GLOBAL OCEAN DYNAMIC TOPOGRAPHY AS WELL
AS WAVE HEIGHT AND SURFACE WIND SPEED
'EOSAT 4HIS ALTIMETERS DESIGN WAS PATTERNED CLOSELY AFTER THAT OF THE 3EASAT
ALTIMETER 'EOSAT WAS A 53 .AVY MILITARY SATELLITE WHOSE PRIMARY MISSION WAS
TO MAP THE %ARTHS MARINE GEOID TO THEN UNPRECEDENTED ACCURACY FOR WHICH A NON
REPEAT ORBIT WAS REQUIRED 3INCE ITS PUBLIC RELEASE IN THE DATA SET FROM THE FIRST
MONTH GEODETIC MISSION HAS BECOME THE BACKBONE OF THE GLOBAL BATHYMETRIC
CHART THAT IS THE INDUSTRY STANDARD
'EOSATS SECONDARY MISSION WAS TO
OBSERVE DYNAMIC MESOSCALE OCEANO
GRAPHIC PHENOMENA FOR WHICH IT WAS
MANEUVERED INTO AN EXACT REPEAT ORBIT
PERIOD DAYS 'EOSATS GEO
DETIC MISSION AND EXACT REPEAT MIS
SION ARE KNOWN AS '- AND %2-
RESPECTIVELY !S A SPACECRAFT 'EOSAT
WAS ONE OF THE FEW %ARTH OBSERVING
MISSIONS TO RELY ON THE PURELY PASSIVE
GRAVITY GRADIENT MEANS OF ATTITUDE CON
TROL AS EVIDENCED BY THE EXTENDED
VERTICAL BOOM IN &IGURE 4HE
ATTITUDE WAS STABLE TO LESS THAN n TO
WHICH THE ALTIMETERS PULSE LIMITED
RANGE MEASUREMENT WAS ROBUST
'EOSAT &OLLOW /N '&/ '&/
WAS DESIGNED TO REPLICATE AS MUCH
AS POSSIBLE THE 'EOSAT EXACT REPEAT
MISSION IN SUPPORT OF OPERATIONAL
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE 53 .AVY '&/
REPRESENTS THE CURRENT STATE OF THE
ART IN SMALL DEDICATED RADAR ALTIMETER
MISSIONS )T INCLUDES A DUAL FREQUENCY
WATER VAPOR RADIOMETER 762 AT
AND '(Z DATA FROM WHICH ARE
USED TO REDUCE THE CORRESPONDING
PROPAGATION UNCERTAINTY TO CM
&)'52% 4HE 'EOSAT RADAR ALTIMETER 4HE NADIR
DIRECTED ANTENNA A REFLECTOR IS HIDDEN INSIDE OF THE
SOLAR ARRAYS 4HIS SPACECRAFT MAINTAINED VERTICALITY BY
GRAVITY
GRADIENT HENCE THE LONG BOOM AND COUNTER
WEIGHT 4HE DATA WERE IMPERVIOUS TO RANDOMLY ORIENTED
YAW ANGLES ABOUT THE VERTICAL AXIS )MAGE COURTESY OF
*OHNS (OPKINS 5NIVERSITY !PPLIED 0HYSICS ,ABORATORY
o &ULL DERAMP OR SIMPLY DERAMP IS STANDARD TERMINOLOGY IN SPACE BASED RADAR ALTIMETRY )T IS KNOWN MORE COMMONLY
TO MOST RADAR ENGINEERS AS THE 3TRETCH TECHNIQUE
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
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4HE RADARS MASS IS KG INCLUDING FULL REDUNDANCY AND THE 762 ITS PRIME POWER
CONSUMPTION IS LESS THAN 7 4OTAL SPACECRAFT DRY MASSp IS ABOUT KG
4/0%80OSEIDON )N THE LATE S PROGRAM PLANNING FOR SATELLITE RADAR ALTIM
ETER MISSIONS SPLIT INTO TWO THEMES DETERMINED BY THE RELATIVE PRIORITY OF THEIR MEA
SUREMENTS )F THE ALTIMETER WERE THE PRIME PAYLOAD INSTRUMENT THEN THE ORBIT AND
MISSION DESIGN COULD BE OPTIMIZED ACCORDINGLY 4HIS THEME WAS FOLLOWED BY 4/0%8
0OSEIDON 40 A JOINT 5NITED 3TATES .!3! AND &RENCH #.%3 MISSION 4/0%8
WAS DESIGNED TO MEASURE AND MAP THE DYNAMIC OCEAN TOPOGRAPHY WITH SUFFICIENT ACCU
RACY TO DETERMINE LARGE
SCALE CIRCULATION PATTERNS 4/0%8 MOST FAMOUS CONTRIBUTION
IS EARLY OBSERVATION AND NEAR
REAL
TIME MONITORING OF %L .IO EVENTS WHOSE HEIGHT
SIGNATURE OVER THE EQUATORIAL EASTERN 0ACIFIC OCEAN TYPICALLY IS AN INCREASE ON THE ORDER
OF n CM WITH RESPECT TO THE MEAN 0OSEIDON CONTRIBUTED BY &RANCE WAS A SMALL
PROOF
OF
CONCEPT INSTRUMENT THAT HAD A SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER 0OSEIDON WAS THE PRE
CURSOR OF THE *ASON ALTIMETERS AND THE 3)2!, INSTRUMENT ABOARD #RYO3AT
4HE 40 ORBIT REPEAT PERIOD WAS CHOSEN CAREFULLY TO SATISFY ADEQUATE OBSERVATION OF
THE DOMINANT ALIASED TIDAL CONSTITUENTS !LL SOLAR TIDAL CONSTITUENTS WOULD BE AMBIGU
OUS WITH OTHER HEIGHT SIGNALS IF THE REPEAT PERIOD WERE AN INTEGRAL NUMBER OF DAYS &OR
40 THE TIME OF DAY FOR EACH SUBSEQUENT OBSERVATION SLIPS BY ABOUT TWO HOURS 4HE
40 REPEAT PASS FOOTPRINT LOCATION ACCURACY IS BETTER THAN o KM A REQUIREMENT THAT IS
BOUNDED BY THE CROSS
TRACK GRADIENT OF THE OCEANIC GEOID 4HE 40 INSTRUMENT PACK
AGE INCLUDED A THREE
FREQUENCY RADIOMETER 4/0%8 WAS THE FIRST ALTIMETER TO USE TWO
FREQUENCIES TIME
MULTIPLEXED TO ESTIMATE AND COMPENSATE FOR PROPAGATION DELAYS
IMPOSED BY IONOSPHERIC ELECTRONS $ESIGNED FOR AN INITIAL THREE
YEAR MISSION SUBSE
QUENTLY STRETCHED TO FIVE YEARS 40 PROVIDED VALUABLE DATA FOR AN IMPRESSIVE THIRTEEN
YEARS 40 WAS FORMALLY DECOMMISSIONED IN $ECEMBER
!S IS TRUE FOR MOST RADARS THE RECEIVED WAVEFORM PRODUCED BY AN INDIVIDUAL PULSE
FROM 4/0%8 WAS CORRUPTED BY COHERENT SELF
NOISE KNOWN AS SPECKLE 4HE STANDARD
DEVIATION OF SPECKLE IS REDUCED BY SUMMING AVERAGING MANY STATISTICALLY INDEPENDENT
WAVEFORMS TOGETHER 3TATISTICAL INDEPENDENCE BETWEEN SEQUENTIAL RETURNS OBSERVED BY
A RADAR ALTIMETER DEPENDS PRIMARILY ON THE RADAR PULSE REPETITION RATE THE ANTENNA SIZE
THE SPACECRAFT VELOCITY AND ON THE SEA SURFACE CONDITIONS 4HE ANTENNA WAS A
M
REFLECTOR THAT SERVED BOTH ALTIMETER BANDS AND ALSO THE RADIOMETER 3ELECTED PARAM
ETERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ALTIMETERS DESIGN ARE LISTED IN 4ABLE 4HE PULSE
TO
PULSE
4!",% 4/0%8 0ARAMETERS
0ARAMETER
6ALUE
5NITS
,&- RATE
0ULSE DURATION
0ULSE "7 RADIATED
4IME r BANDWIDTH
0ULSE RESOLUTION
#ARRIER +U BAND
#ARRIER # BAND
)& FREQUENCY
3TRETCH BANDWIDTH
2ANGE TIME SPAN
-(ZS
S
-(Z
DIMENSIONLESS
M
'(Z
'(Z
-(Z
-(Z
NS
p 4OTAL MASS NOT INCLUDING CONSUMABLES SUCH AS FUEL FOR PROPULSION OR ATTITUDE CONTROL
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
STATISTICAL INDEPENDENCE REQUIREMENT EVALUATED FOR THE 4/0%8 INDICATES THAT THE MAXI
MUM 02& SHOULD BE K(Z YET IT WAS K(Z IN PRACTICE 4HE PULSE RATE ABOVE THE
THRESHOLD IMPROVED THE ADDITIVE 3.2 BUT DID NOT CONTRIBUTE TO SPECKLE REDUCTION 4HE
02& STATISTICAL INDEPENDENCE LIMIT DECREASES WITH INCREASING SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT
*ASON
*ASON
FOLLOWED IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF 4/0%8 FIGURATIVELY AND LITERALLY
!FTER THE LAUNCH OF *ASON
INTO THE 40 ORBIT 4/0%8 WAS MANEUVERED INTO A hTAN
DEMv PHASING SO THAT THE MEASUREMENTS OF THE TWO ALTIMETERS COULD BE CROSS
CALIBRATED
*ASON
IS ESSENTIALLY IDENTICAL TO *ASON
%23
%23
AND %.6)3!4 )F THE ALTIMETER IS NOT THE PRIMARY PAYLOAD THEN
THE RESULTING MISSION AND ORBIT ARE LIKELY TO BE DETERMINED BY OTHER REQUIREMENTS
WHICH MAY COMPROMISE ALTIMETRY 4HE %UROPEAN 3PACE !GENCYS SATELLITE ALTIMETERS
ON %23
AND %23
AS WELL AS THE ADVANCED RADAR ALTIMETER 2!
ON %3!S
%.6)3!4 ARE OF SECOND PRIORITY WITH RESPECT TO THE OTHER INSTRUMENTS ON THEIR
RESPECTIVE SPACECRAFT 4HEIR SUN
SYNCHRONOUS ORBITS ARE LESS THAN OPTIMUM FOR MOST
ALTIMETRIC APPLICATIONS DUE PRIMARILY TO THE FACT THAT FOUR OF THE EIGHT DOMINANT
TIDAL CONSTITUENTS ARE SUN
SYNCHRONOUS 4HESE ORBITS ARE ALSO AT LOWER ALTITUDES
THAN THE 40 ORBIT WHICH IMPLIES THAT ORBIT MAINTENANCE MANEUVERS MUST BE MORE
FREQUENT THUS COMPROMISING PRECISION ORBIT DETERMINATION $URING A PORTION OF ITS
MISSION THE ORBIT OF %23
WAS REPHASED TO A LONG REPEAT PERIOD DAYS 4HAT
LONG REPEAT PERIOD GENERATED A RELATIVELY DENSE SURFACE SAMPLING GRID USEFUL FOR
ESTIMATING SEA ICE COVER GEODESY AND BATHYMETRY 4HE %23
MISSION DID NOT VARY
ITS REPEAT PERIOD 4HE CONSEQUENCE OF THESE ORBIT PROPERTIES IS THAT THE RESULTING DATA
ARE NOT WELL SUITED TO MEASURING THE ANNUAL RATE OF SEA
LEVEL RISE WHICH IS A KEY
CLIMATE
RELATED VARIABLE
#RYO3AT 4HIS WAS THE FIRST %ARTH %XPLORER /PPORTUNITY -ISSIONS WHICH WAS PART
OF THE %UROPEAN 3PACE !GENCYS ,IVING 0LANET 0ROGRAMME 4HE MISSION CONCEPT
WAS SELECTED IN AND SUBSEQUENTLY LAUNCHED IN /CTOBER 5NFORTUNATELY THE
LAUNCH VEHICLE MALFUNCTIONED %3! AND ITS MEMBER STATES AUTHORIZED A REPLACEMENT
4HE #RYO3AT ORBIT HAS A HIGH
INCLINATION n AND A LONG
REPEAT PERIOD DAYS WITH
A
DAY SUBCYCLE DESIGNED TO PROVIDE DENSE INTERLOCKING COVERAGE OVER THE POLAR
REGIONS )TS AIM IS TO STUDY POSSIBLE CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND TRENDS BY DETERMINING THE
VARIATIONS IN THICKNESS OF THE %ARTHS CONTINENTAL ICE SHEETS AND MARINE SEA ICE COVER
#RYO3AT IS DESCRIBED IN MORE DETAIL IN A SUBSEQUENT SECTION
!LTI+A !LTI+A DIFFERS FROM OTHER OCEAN
VIEWING ALTIMETERS IN THIS SECTION DUE
PRIMARILY TO ITS USE OF +A BAND '(Z RATHER THAN +U BAND 4HE FIRST INSTRUMENT
FROM &RANCE IS PART OF THE PAYLOAD ON )NDIAS /CEANSAT
!LTI+A IS SINGLE
FREQUENCY
SINCE AT +A BAND THE RETARDATION DUE TO THE IONOSPHERE IS SUFFICIENTLY SMALL THAT IT DOES
NOT HAVE TO BE MEASURED AND COMPENSATED (OWEVER THE ^ CM WAVELENGTH IS
VULNERABLE TO ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE IT IS PREDICTED THAT AS MUCH AS OF THE DATA
WILL BE COMPROMISED BY RAIN 4HE KG INSTRUMENT REQUIRES AN INPUT POWER OF 7
4HE OFFSET
FED REFLECTOR ANTENNA IS M IN DIAMETER RESULTING IN A BEAMWIDTH LESS THAN
HALF THAT OF ITS +U BAND COUNTERPARTS 3EVERAL ADVANTAGES ARE CLAIMED FOR THE SMALLER
BEAMWIDTH INCLUDING OPERATION CLOSER TO LAND /N THE OTHER HAND THE NARROWER BEAM
IMPLIES THAT THE WAVEFORM IS MORE SENSITIVE TO SPACECRAFT ATTITUDE ERRORS !LTI+AS
-(Z BANDWIDTH LEADS TO A PULSE
LIMITED FOOTPRINT ABOUT SMALLER THAN USUAL
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
4HE 02& IS K(Z APPROXIMATELY TWICE THAT OF MOST CONVENTIONAL ALTIMETERS SLIGHTLY
LARGER THAN THE PULSE TO PULSE STATISTICAL INDEPENDENCE CONDITION OF K(Z
/RBIT #ONSIDERATIONS 'IVEN AN ARBITRARILY GOOD RADAR ALTIMETER ITS ORBIT
BECOMES THE DOMINANT FACTOR THAT MAY LIMIT SEA SURFACE HEIGHT MEASUREMENT ACCU
RACY /RBIT SELECTION FOR AN OCEAN ALTIMETER REQUIRES CONSIDERATION OF THE IMPACT OF AN
ORBITS INCLINATION REPEAT PERIOD AND ALTITUDE &OR EXAMPLE IF THE OBJECTIVE IS ABSOLUTE
SEA SURFACE HEIGHT ACCURACY OVER LARGER SPATIAL SCALES AND LONG TIME SCALES THEN A
HIGHER ALTITUDE ORBIT HAVING A RELATIVELY MODERATE PROGRADE INCLINATION AND RELATIVELY
SHORT NON SUN SYNCHRONOUS REPEAT PERIOD IS THE ONLY SENSIBLE STARTING POINT
!N ALTIMETERS REVISIT PERIOD IS TEN DAYS OR MORE IN CONTRAST TO TIDES WITH APPROXI
MATELY OR CYCLES PER DAY DRIVEN PRIMARILY BY LUNAR AND SOLAR GRAVITY !S A RESULT
ALL TIDAL SIGNALS SENSED BY AN ALTIMETER ARE UNDERSAMPLED !LTIMETRIC DATA RETAIN THE
RESULTING ALIASES WHICH OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR OR SO CAN BE IDENTIFIED QUANTIFIED
AND CALIBRATED OUT !N ALTIMETERS ORBIT MUST BE CHOSEN SO THAT THE TIDAL ALIASES DO NOT
GET CONFUSED WITH SIGNALS OF GEOPHYSICAL INTEREST
4HE 40 /RBIT 4HE STATE OF THE ART AT LEAST IN ACCURACY AND LARGE SCALE CIRCULATION
STUDIES IS *ASON OPERATING IN THE ORBIT ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR 4/0%80OSEIDON
4HE ORBIT PARAMETERS INCLUDE REPEAT PERIOD CALENDAR DAYS UNFORTUNATELY OFTEN
STATED AS DAYS INCLINATION n REPEAT TRACK SEPARATION AT THE EQUATOR KM AND
ALTITUDE KM 4HE RADIAL COMPONENT OF PRECISION ORBIT DETERMINATION 0/$ IS ON
THE ORDER OF CM FOR 40 AND *ASON RESULTS SHOW 0/$ TO A LEVEL OF CM !LTHOUGH
THESE PARAMETERS REFLECT THE FRUITS OF MULTIPLE YEARS OF TRADE STUDIES BY MANY INDIVIDU
ALS AT LEAST ONE UNWANTED CHARACTERISTIC REMAINS 4HE + TIDAL ALIAS IS VERY NEARLY TWO
CYCLES PER YEAR THUS APPEARING CLOSE TO GEOPHYSICAL SIGNALS ASSOCIATED WITH SEASONAL
EFFECTS + CANNOT BE IGNORED AS IT IS THE LARGEST DIURNAL CONSTITUENT AND IS SECOND IN
MAGNITUDE ONLY TO THE DOMINANT LUNAR CONSTITUENT
4HE CONSTRAINT ON THE EXACTNESS OF AN ORBITS REPEATING GROUND TRACK IS DETERMINED TO
FIRST ORDER BY THE FINE STRUCTURE IN THE LOCAL GEOID EXPRESSED AT THE OCEANS SURFACE &OR
EXAMPLE CROSS TRACK SURFACE SLOPES GRADIENTS IN THE GEOID MAY BE AS LARGE AS r n
NEAR THE DEEPER OCEANIC TRENCHES )N SUCH AN EXTREME CASE A CROSS TRACK DRIFT OF ONLY
KM WOULD GIVE RISE TO A CM CHANGE IN SEA SURFACE HEIGHT 33( )N RESPONSE ALGO
RITHMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED THAT CORRECT 33( DATA FOR THE EFFECTS OF THE LARGER CROSS
TRACK GEOID GRADIENTS )T ALSO IS STANDARD PRACTICE TO CONSTRAIN AN ALTIMETERS CROSS TRACK
DRIFT TO LESS THAN KM 2EPEAT TOLERANCE USUALLY IS THE CONDITION THAT MOTIVATES ACTIVE
ORBIT MAINTENANCE MANEUVERS
.ON 2EPEAT /RBIT 4HE PRECEDENT FOR THIS IS 'EOSAT ITS FIRST MONTHS WERE
DEVOTED TO GEODESY FOR WHICH A NON REPEAT ORBIT IS OPTIMAL 'EODETIC MISSIONS MAP
GRAVITY ANOMALIES REFLECTED IN SUBTLE LOCAL TILTS OF THE MEAN OCEAN SURFACE 4HESE ARE
STATIC MESOSCALE FEATURES OF SPATIAL SCALES LESS THAN ABOUT KM DETERMINED BY THE
TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES COMPOSITION OF THE SEA BOTTOM AND STATIONARY OCEANIC CURRENTS
$ATA FROM 'EOSAT HAVE BEEN USED TO DERIVE THE STANDARD BATHYMETRIC CHARTS AVAILABLE
FOR THE GLOBAL OCEANS
'EOSAT %2- /RBIT 4HE ONLY OTHER FAMILY OF DEDICATED MISSIONS IS THAT IN THE
'EOSAT n %XACT 2EPEAT -ISSION %2- ORBIT THE SAME ORBIT USED BY
'&/ 4HIS ORBIT HAS A PERIOD OF CALENDAR DAYS SOMETIMES INAPPROPRIATELY
nn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
ABBREVIATED TO DAYS n INCLINATION CONSEQUENTLY KM TRACK TO TRACK SPAC
ING AT THE EQUATOR AND KM ALTITUDEe &ROM THE 'EOSAT ORBIT HALF OF THE PRINCI
PAL TIDAL CONSTITUENTS ALIAS INTO UNWANTED FREQUENCIES NEAR ZERO ONE OR TWO CYCLES
PER YEAR )N PARTICULAR THE DOMINANT TIDAL CONSTITUENT THE COMMON TWICE DAILY LUNAR
TIDE IS ALIASED TO DAYS WHICH IS CLOSE TO THE ANNUAL CYCLE 0RECISION ORBIT
DETERMINATION IS GOOD TO ONLY ABOUT CM WHICH IS RELATIVELY LARGE DUE IN NO SMALL
MEASURE TO FAILURE OF THE PRIMARY ONBOARD '03 NAVIGATION SUBSYSTEM
3UN 3YNCHRONOUS /RBITS 3UN SYNCHRONOUS SATELLITES HOST %UROPEAN 3PACE
!GENCY %3! ALTIMETERS ON %23 %23 AND 2! ON %.6)3!4 !LL SHARE THE
SAME ORBIT CALENDAR DAYS REPEAT PERIOD n INCLINATION AND KM MEAN
EQUATORIAL ALTITUDE 2ADIAL KNOWLEDGE OF THESE SUN SYNCHRONOUS ORBITS IS GOOD TO ABOUT
CM BASED ON THE $ELFT MODEL !S SUN SYNCHRONOUS ALTIMETERS THE LARGEST SOLAR
CONSTITUENT TWICE DAILY ALIASES TO ZERO AND ALL TIDAL CONSTITUENTS THAT ARE PRIMARILY
DEPENDENT ON SOLAR FORCES ALIAS TO FREQUENCIES CLOSE TO ZERO
4HEORETICAL &OUNDATIONS 4HE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS PROVIDE A SUMMARY OF THE
KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF A SPACE BASED RADAR ALTIMETER %XAMPLES ARE DRAWN FROM THE
DESIGN OF 4/0%8
0ULSE LIMITED !LTIMETERS &IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE PULSE LIMITED CONDITION
4HE RADIUS R0 OF THE AREA DELIMITED ON A QUASI FLAT SURFACE BY A PULSE OF LENGTH S SEC
ONDS ON THE %ARTH OF MEAN RADIUS 2% SEEN FROM A RELATIVE ALTITUDE OF H KILOMETERS IS
R0 CT H A 2
WHERE @ 2 2% H 2% IS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE SPHERICAL OBSERVATION GEOMETRY &OR
TYPICAL SATELLITE RADAR ALTIMETERS THE PULSE
LIMITED FOOTPRINT OVER A QUASI
FLAT SURFACE IS
ON THE ORDER OF TWO KILOMETERS IN DIAMETER 4HE PULSE
LIMITED AREA !P IS
!0 P R0 P CT H A 2
!S THE PULSE CONTINUES TO IMPINGE AND SPREAD OVER THE SURFACE THE RESULTING PULSE
LIMITED ANNULI ALL HAVE AREAS EQUAL TO THAT OF THE INITIAL PULSE
LIMITED FOOTPRINT (ENCE
THE RECEIVED POWER TENDS TO MAINTAIN THE LEVEL CORRESPONDING TO THE PEAK OF THE INITIAL
RESPONSE &IGURE 4HE PULSE
LIMITED AREAS EXPAND IN RESPONSE TO INCREASING
LARGE
SCALE SURFACE ROUGHNESS WHICH IN THE OCEANOGRAPHIC CONTEXT IS EXPRESSED AS
SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT 37( 4HE HEIGHT ACCURACY OF A PULSE
LIMITED ALTIMETER IS
MUCH LESS SENSITIVE TO SMALL ANGULAR POINTING ERRORS THAN IS THE CASE FOR A BEAM
LIMITED ALTIMETER
!DAPTIVE 4RACKING ! SATELLITE
BASED RADAR ALTIMETER NEEDS TO MEASURE THE DIS
TANCE ACCURATELY BUT ONLY FOR AN ESSENTIALLY PLANAR SURFACE ORIENTED ORTHOGONALLY TO
THE RADARS LINE
OF
SIGHT #ONSERVATIVE DESIGN SUGGESTS THAT THE MEASUREMENT SHOULD
BE CONCENTRATED NEAR THE REFLECTION FROM THAT SURFACE (ENCE OCEAN
VIEWING ALTIM
ETERS HAVE A SMALL RANGE WINDOW WHOSE POSITION TRACKS THE DELAY AND STRENGTH OF THE
e 4HE 'EOSAT %2- ORBIT WAS CHOSEN FOR POLITICAL AS MUCH AS FOR TECHNICAL REASONS )T FOLLOWED THE 3EASAT ORBIT
THAT HAD ESTABLISHED A WELL
KNOWN PRECEDENT
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
!
!
!
!
!
! !
" #
&)'52% 4HE PULSE LIMITED CONDITION /VER A NOMINALLY LEVEL FLAT
SURFACE THE ALTIMETERS SHORT PULSE A REFLECTS FIRST FROM AN AREA THAT MAY BE
MUCH SMALLER THAN THE FOOTPRINT ILLUMINATED BY THE ANTENNA PATTERN B
SURFACE REFLECTION 4HE OCEANS SURFACE HAS A SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT OF LESS THAN
M OR SO 2ADAR BACKSCATTER IS PRIMARILY SPECULAR TYPICALLY SPANNING D" TO D"
TO CITE PARAMETERS USED IN THE TESTING OF THE 4/0%8 ALTIMETER )N PRACTICE RANGE
GATE DELAY AND BACKSCATTER TRACKING ARE MET WITH TWO SERVO
REGULATOR FEEDBACK LOOPS
&IGURE 4HE FIRST LOOP IS A SECOND
ORDER HEIGHT TRACKER CONSISTING OF RANGE
POSITION ALPHA TRACKER AND RANGE RATE BETA TRACKER 4HE SECOND LOOP IS THE RECEIVER
GAIN CONTROL !'# !LTIMETER HEIGHT MEASUREMENT IS GIVEN BY THE SETTING OF THE
n{
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&)'52% ! GENERIC SIGNAL FLOW DIAGRAM FOR AN OCEAN VIEWING
RADAR ALTIMETER 0RINCIPAL FEEDBACK LOOPS INCLUDE RANGE GATE TRACKING
BOTH COARSE THE ALPHA LOOP AND FINE RANGE RATE TRACKING THE BETA LOOP
AND MEAN SIGNAL POWER THE !'# LOOP
RANGE DELAY COARSE AND FINE VALUES CORRECTED BY THE REMAINING HEIGHT ERROR MEASURED
FROM THE WAVEFORMS POSITION IN THE TRACKER 3URFACE WIND SPEED AND SIGNIFICANT WAVE
HEIGHT ARE DERIVED FROM THE !'# VALUES AND THE WAVEFORMS SHAPE RESPECTIVELY
4HE PRECISION OF AN INDIVIDUAL HEIGHT MEASUREMENT IS DETERMINED BY THE COMBINATION
OF RANGE RESOLUTION AND INCOHERENT WAVEFORM AVERAGING )F A SINGLE SIMPLE SHORT PULSE
WERE TRANSMITTED THEN THE HEIGHT RESOLUTION WOULD EQUAL THE PULSE LENGTH 4HE PRINCIPAL
DISADVANTAGE OF A SHORT PULSE IS THAT IT CONTAINS LITTLE ENERGY 4HE INHERENT RESOLUTION OF A
PULSE IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO ITS BANDWIDTH 3PACE
BASED RADAR ALTIMETERS USE SOME
FORM OF MODULATION ON THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL TO MAINTAIN A LARGE BANDWIDTH WITHIN A
LONGER PULSE THUS INCREASING THE TRANSMITTED ENERGY AT NO LOSS OF RESOLUTION
$ERAMP ON 2ECEIVE 3ATELLITE
BASED RADAR ALTIMETERS PRESENT AN ELEGANT EMBODI
MENT OF THE 3TRETCH TECHNIQUE WHICH IS KNOWN AS FULL DERAMP IN THE FIELD OF SPACE
BASED RADAR ALTIMETRY 4HIS METHOD WAS FIRST EMPLOYED BY -AC!RTHUR IN THE 3EASAT
ALTIMETER AND HAS BEEN ADOPTED AS THE STANDARD TECHNIQUE SINCE THEN FOR THIS TYPE OF
RADAR 4HE DISTINGUISHING FEATURE OF THIS TECHNIQUE IS A CLEVER TRADE BETWEEN THE TWO KEY
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
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PARAMETERS IN A LARGE TIME BANDWIDTH PRODUCT 4"0 SIGNAL !FTER RECEPTION DEMODU
LATION IS APPLIED THAT TRANSFORMS THE hSHORT TIME LARGE BANDWIDTHv NATURE OF THE ORIGI
NAL PULSE TO hLONG TIME SMALL BANDWIDTHv SIGNALS 3INCE THE SAME 4"0 IS MAINTAINED
THE ORIGINAL RESOLUTION IS PRESERVED 4HE METHOD IS IDEAL FOR ALTIMETRY SINCE THE RANGE
DEPTH OF THE OCEANS SURFACE IS VERY MUCH SMALLER THAN THE TIME AVAILABLE IN THE PULSE
REPETITION PERIOD #LEARLY THE FULL DERAMP TECHNIQUE OFFERS A CONSIDERABLE SAVINGS IN
SYSTEM BANDWIDTH AT ALL SUBSEQUENT STAGES AND AT NO COST IN RANGE RESOLUTION 4HE FIG
URES CITED IN 4ABLE SHOW THAT THE RATIO OF WAVEFORM BANDWIDTH TO 2& BANDWIDTH
FOR 4/0%8 IS ON THE ORDER OF 4HE 4/0%8 ALTIMETER DESIGN IS DESCRIBED MORE
COMPLETELY IN THE OPEN LITERATURE
'EOSAT 'EODETIC -ISSION 2ADAR ALTIMETRIC DATA ARE THE BASIS FOR STATE OF
THE ART GRAVIMETRIC VARIATIONS EXPRESSED AT THE OCEANS SURFACE AND CONSEQUENTLY
OCEANIC BATHYMETRY
4HE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVE OF A GEODETIC SATELLITE RADAR ALTIMETER
IS TO MEASURE THE ALONG TRACK SLOPE OF THE SEA SURFACE CAUSED BY GRAVITY DEFLECTIONS
OVER SPATIAL SCALES LESS THAN A FEW HUNDREDS OF KILOMETERS &IGURE 4HESE
SLOPES ARE DERIVED FROM THE 33( MEASUREMENTS SUMMARIZED ABOVE BUT THIS APPLICA
TION HAS ITS OWN UNIQUE IMPLICATIONS FOR SYSTEM DESIGN 4HE HIGHLIGHTS ARE REVIEWED
IN THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS
3EA SURFACE SLOPE IS DERIVED BY TAKING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO NEIGHBORING
HEIGHT MEASUREMENTS WHERE THE SLOPE TANGENT EQUALS hRISE OVER RUNv 4HE KEY WORD
FOR THESE MEASUREMENTS IS PRECISION THE STANDARD DEVIATION NOISE OF THE SEA SURFACE
HEIGHT MEASUREMENT ABOUT ITS MEAN VALUE (EIGHT MEASUREMENT PRECISION IS DETER
MINED BY THE RADAR ALTIMETERS POST PROCESSING RANGE RESOLUTION AND BY THE AMOUNT
OF AVERAGING AVAILABLE FOR EACH ESTIMATE .OTE THAT A PRECISION MEASUREMENT MAY STILL
HAVE POOR ACCURACY IF ITS MEAN VALUE IS BIASED AWAY FROM THE CORRECT VALUE 7HEN
COMPARING TWO NEIGHBORING HEIGHT MEASUREMENTS ANY CONSTANT BIAS IS CANCELLED BY
SUBTRACTION AS LONG AS THE ERROR IS THE SAME FOR BOTH MEASUREMENTS 4HE SEA SURFACE
SLOPE MEASUREMENT PROBLEM IS CHALLENGING BECAUSE THE DESIRED SLOPE SIGNALS ARE AS
SMALL AS ONE MICRORADIAN EQUIVALENT TO A MM HEIGHT DIFFERENTIAL RISE FOR EACH KM
ALONG TRACK SEPARATION RUN
)N ADDITION TO HEIGHT PRECISION GEODETIC ALTIMETRY REQUIRES SMALLER ALONG TRACK
RESOLUTION THAN A CONVENTIONAL ALTIMETER AND AN ORBIT THAT ACCUMULATES DENSE CROSS
TRACK COVERAGE 4HE ALTIMETERS FOOTPRINT RESOLUTION SHOULD BE SMALLER THAN ABOUT KM
&)'52% 7HEN AVERAGED AND STRIPPED OF
DYNAMIC CURRENT
DRIVEN FEATURES THE MEAN OCEAN
SURFACE IS A DIRECT EXPRESSION OF THE LOCAL GRAVITY GRA
DIENT 3TATE
OF
THE
ART RADAR ALTIMETERS CAN MEASURE
THE RESULTING SLOPES TO A
MICRORADIAN PRECISION
,ITERALLY MEASUREMENT OF THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE MEAN OCEAN SURFACE AND THE LOCAL SEA FLOOR
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WHICH CORRESPONDS TO THE MINIMUM HALF
WAVELENGTH SCALE OF THE OBSERVABLE PERTUR
BATIONS IN THE OCEANS MEAN SURFACE DUE TO SPATIAL VARIATIONS IN THE %ARTHS GRAVITY
4HE ORBIT SHOULD NOT REPEAT FOR ^ YEARS TO YIELD AN AVERAGE GROUND TRACK SPAC
ING OF KM AGAIN IN RESPECT OF THE GRAVITY SIGNAL AT THE OCEANS SURFACE 4HE ORBITS
INCLINATION SHOULD BE NEAR nnn TO RESOLVE NORTH AND EAST SLOPES NEARLY EQUALLY
AND TO COVER THE LOWER LATITUDES WHERE EXISTING DATA ARE INADEQUATE .OTE THAT OCEANO
GRAPHIC RADAR ALTIMETER MISSIONS 4/0%80OSEIDON *ASON
%23 %.6)3!4 AND
'EOSAT %2-'&/ ARE NORMALLY PLACED INTO EXACT
REPEAT ORBITS TO DAYS AND
AS A CONSEQUENCE HAVE WIDELY SPACED KM TO KM GROUND TRACKS 3UCH ORBITS
CANNOT RESOLVE THE SHORT
WAVELENGTH TWO
DIMENSIONAL SURFACE SLOPES REQUIRED FOR USE
FUL GEODESY
3INCE ABSOLUTE HEIGHT ACCURACY IS NOT REQUIRED GEODETIC RADAR ALTIMETERS CAN BE
RELATIVELY BASIC INSTRUMENTS 4HEY DO NOT NEED TO COMPENSATE FOR PROPAGATION DELAYS
HENCE THEY NEED ONLY ONE FREQUENCY AND THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY NEED A WATER VAPOR
RADIOMETER 762 )NDEED A SIMPLE INSTRUMENT IS PREFERRED IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT
EFFORTS TO CORRECT FOR PATH DELAYS USUALLY ADD NOISE TO SLOPE ESTIMATES 'EODETIC MEA
SUREMENTS PROVIDED BY THE 'EOSAT AND %23
BOTH SINGLE
FREQUENCY ALTIMETERS WITH
NO 762 FURNISHED THE BEST RESOLUTION OCEANIC GEODESY AND BATHYMETRY AVAILABLE UP
THROUGH AT LEAST FOR THE OPEN OCEAN 4HEIR RESULTING BATHYMETRIC RESOLUTION IS LIM
ITED TO ABOUT KM NORTH
SOUTH AND POORER RESOLUTION OF EAST
WEST SLOPE COMPONENTS
4HESE RESULTS REFLECT THE LESS
THAN
OPTIMUM RESOLUTION WAVEFORM PRECISION AND ORBIT
INCLINATION OF THOSE TWO ALTIMETERS 'EODETIC RESOLUTION AT THE OCEANS SURFACE CAN BE
NO FINER THAN ABOUT KM HALF A WAVELENGTH A LIMIT THAT IS DETERMINED BY THE AVERAGE
DEPTH OF THE OCEAN
#RYO3AT )CE 3HEET -ISSION 0ULSE
LIMITED SPACE
BASED RADAR ALTIMETERS WORK
BEST OVER RELATIVELY MILD TOPOGRAPHIC RELIEF OF MEAN SLOPE ZERO SUCH AS THE OCEANS
SURFACE /VER ICE SHEETS OR TERRESTRIAL SURFACES PERFORMANCE IS DEGRADED 5NWANTED
CHARACTERISTICS INCLUDE FOOTPRINT DILATION OVER ROUGHER TERRAIN HEIGHT ERRORS IN PROPOR
TION TO SURFACE MEAN SLOPE AND THE TENDENCY OF THE MINIMUM RANGE MEASUREMENT TO
HOP FROM ONE ELEVATED REGION TO ANOTHER WITHOUT THE CONTROL OR KNOWLEDGE OF THE DATA
ANALYST "EAM
LIMITED TECHNIQUES OF WHICH LASER ALTIMETERS ARE EXTREME EXAMPLES
CIRCUMVENT THESE PROBLEMS BUT MAY IMPLY THEIR OWN SET OF DISADVANTAGES
! MAJOR POTENTIAL APPLICATION OF RADAR ALTIMETRY IS TO MONITOR THE HEIGHT OF EXTENSIVE
ICE SHEETS AS FOUND IN 'REENLAND OR !NTARCTICA !PPROXIMATELY OF THESE LAND
ICE
SURFACES HAVE SLOPES LESS THAN ^n WHICH ALTHOUGH SMALL IS SUFFICIENT TO TRICK A CON
VENTIONAL ALTIMETER INTO VERY LARGE HEIGHT ERRORS &OR EXAMPLE AN UNKNOWN n SLOPE
WOULD LEAD TO A
M SURFACE HEIGHT ERROR WHICH IS UNACCEPTABLE IF CM
LEVEL INTER
ANNUAL CHANGES ARE THE OBJECTIVE
4HE #RYO3AT ALTIMETER IS THE FIRST SPACE
BASED RADAR ALTIMETER DESIGNED TO OPER
ATE OVER ICE &IGURE )TS PAYLOAD INSTRUMENT IS THE 3!2)NTERFEROMETRIC 2ADAR
!,TIMETER 3)2!, WHICH HAS THREE MODES #ONVENTIONAL 3!2 AND )NTERFEROMETRIC
4HE #ONVENTIONAL MODE PULSE
LIMITED DESCRIBED IN THE FORGOING PARAGRAPHS REFLECTS
ITS 0OSEIDON HERITAGE 4HE 3!2 MODE IS BASED ON THE DELAY
DOPPLER ARCHITECTURE
WHICH OFFERS ADVANTAGES IN PRECISION RESOLUTION AND ALONG
TRACK SURFACE SLOPE TOLER
ANCE 4HE )NTERFEROMETRIC MODE IS DESIGNED TO MEASURE THE CROSS
TRACK SURFACE SLOPE
COMPONENT "OTH OF THESE ADVANCED ALTIMETER MODES HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED WITH THE
$0 AIRBORNE ALTIMETER
5NLIKE PREVIOUS RADAR ALTIMETER MISSIONS #RYO3AT WILL DOWNLINK ALL ALTIMETRIC
DATA WITH ESSENTIALLY NO ONBOARD PROCESSING $ATA FROM EACH OF THE THREE MODES ARE
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
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&)'52% 4HE #RYO3AT SATELLITE AND ITS 3)2!, ALTIMETER 4HE
TWO ANTENNAS )NTERFEROMETRIC MODE ARE ATHWART THE VELOCITY VECTOR
SO THAT THE DIFFERENTIAL PHASE MODULO O OF THE FIRST RETURN INDICATES
THE CROSS
TRACK POSITION OF THE MINIMUM
RANGE REFLECTING SURFACE
WHICH IN EFFECT IS A MEASURE OF THE CROSS
TRACK COMPONENT OF THE
MEAN SURFACE GRADIENT #OURTESY OF %UROPEAN 3PACE !GENCY
PROCESSED IN GROUND BASED FACILITIES SINCE THE MORE COMPLICATED WAVEFORMS FROM ICY
SURFACES REQUIRE ITERATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF SUITABLE PROCESSING ALGORITHMS BY INVESTIGA
TORS PRIOR TO RETRIEVING THE DESIRED INFORMATION 4HE CONVENTIONAL MODE IS USED FOR THE
OPEN OCEAN FOR CALIBRATION AND SEA SURFACE HEIGHT REFERENCE PURPOSES AND THE CENTRAL
CONTINENTAL ICE SHEETS THAT ARE RELATIVELY LEVEL 4HE INTERFEROMETRIC MODE IS RESERVED
FOR THE MORE STEEPLY SLOPING MARGINS OF THE ICE SHEETS 4HE SYNTHETIC APERTURE MODE
IS USED PRIMARILY OVER SEA ICE WHERE ITS SHARPER SPATIAL RESOLUTION AND PRECISION SUP
PORT MEASURING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SEA LEVEL AND THE TOP SURFACE OF FLOATING
ICE FREEBOARD "ECAUSE THE DENSITY OF ICE IS RELATIVELY WELL KNOWN SUCH FREEBOARD
MEASUREMENTS CAN BE INVERTED TO ESTIMATE ICE THICKNESS
n{ * /,9, ,4HE HISTORY OF PLANETARY IMAGING RADARS IS SUMMARIZED IN 4ABLE 6ENUS HAS BEEN
THE MOST POPULAR DESTINATION LARGELY BECAUSE IT IS CLOUD COVERED HENCE ITS SURFACE IS
NOT OBSERVABLE BY OPTICAL MEANS ITS MASS AND SIZE ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE OF %ARTH AND
SPECTRAL OBSERVATIONS HAVE SHOWN THAT ITS ATMOSPHERE IS ^ #/ SUGGESTING THAT A
GREENHOUSE EFFECT COULD HAVE OVERWHELMED WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A MORE HOSPITABLE
PLANET ! POPULAR THEME FOR PLANETARY EXPLORATION BY RADAR IS THE SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE
OF WATER ESPECIALLY WATER ICE $ATA FROM RADAR MISSIONS ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH
.!3!S 0LANETARY $ATA 3YSTEM
&LIGHT 3YSTEMS 6ENERA PERFORMED THE FIRST SIMPLE RADAR MEASUREMENTS OF
6ENUS FROM A SPACECRAFT 6ENERA CARRIED A PULSE MODULATED RADAR ALTIMETER WHICH
RETURNED READINGS DURING ITS DESCENT FROM ORBIT TO ITS DEMISE ON THE SURFACE OF 6ENUS
n{{
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4!",% 0LANETARY 2ADARS
-ISSION
52, 0LANET
9EAR
6ENERA
5332
0IONEER 6ENUS /RBITER
06/ 53!
6ENERA 5332
-AGELLAN 53!
6ENUS
6ENUS
n
6ENUS
6ENUS
n
n
#LEMENTINE 53!
#ASSINI 53!
-OON
4ITAN
#HANDRAYAAN )NDIA
-OON
,UNAR 2ECONNAISSANCE
/RBITER ,2/ 53!
-OON
2ADAR
2ADAR ALTIMETRY
/2!$ !LTIMETER ALSO COARSE IMAGERY
CM
3!2 AND ALTIMETER
CM WAVELENGTH
3!2 CM M M PIXELS
COVERAGE
"ISTATIC SCATTEROMETER EXPERIMENT CM
42- CM 3!2 RESOLUTION n KM
AND ALTIMETER
&ORERUNNER -INI
2& 53!
CM 3!2
SCATTEROMETER
-INI
2& 3!2 CM AND CM IMAGER
AND INTERFEROMETER
HTTPWWWMENTALLANDSCAPECOM6?2ADAR-APPINGHTM
HTTPHEASARCNASAGOVDOCSHEASARCMISSIONSPVOHTMLINSTRUMENTATION
HTTPENWIKIPEDIAORGWIKI6ENERA?
HTTPWWWJPLNASAGOVMAGELLAN
HTTPFILERCASEEDU^SJRADVANCEDTH?CLOSE?CLEMENTINEHTML
HTTPSATURNJPLNASAGOVSPACECRAFTINSTRUMENTS
CASSINI
RADARCFM
HTTPWWWLPIUSRAEDUMEETINGSLPSCPDFPDFSEARCH CHANDRAYAAN
RADAR
HTTPLUNARGSFCNASAGOVMISSIONSSCANDINSTHTML
4HE CAPSULES TRAJECTORY WAS ESTIMATED BY DOPPLER RADIO READINGS AND AERODYNAMIC
CALCULATIONS AND BY SUBTRACTING THIS FROM THE ABSOLUTE RADAR ALTITUDE READINGS A
GROUND PROFILE COULD BE MEASURED 2EADINGS SPAN A VERTICAL RANGE OF KM DOWN
TO KM DURING WHICH TIME THE CAPSULE DRIFTED HORIZONTALLY FOR A DISTANCE OF ABOUT
KM !NALYSIS OF THE RETURN PULSES YIELDED ESTIMATES OF ELEVATION VARIATIONS OF THE
OVER
FLOWN SURFACE 6ENERA
DEMONSTRATED THE FIRST BISTATIC PLANETARY RADAR
OBSERVATIONS 4HE 6ENERA
ORBITERS MAPPED STRIPS OF THE SURFACE OF 6ENUS RANG
ING FROM n KM LONG AND n KM WIDE !
CM WAVELENGTH RADIO WAVE
WAS BEAMED AT THE SURFACE BY THE TELEMETRY ANTENNA AND BOTH THE DIRECT AND REFLECTED
SIGNALS WERE RECORDED BY %ARTH
BASED RECEIVERS 4HE FIRST ANALYSIS OF THESE DATA GAVE
ONE
DIMENSIONAL MEASUREMENTS OF TERRAIN SHAPE WITH A RESOLUTION OF n KM
0IONEER 6ENUS WAS HOST TO EXPERIMENTS WITH A TOTAL MASS OF KG INCLUDING A
RADAR ALTIMETER /2!$ WHICH ALSO PRODUCED RUDIMENTARY SURFACE MAPS AS THE RADAR
BEAM WAS SCANNED IN THE PLANE ORTHOGONAL TO THE ORBIT BY THE SPACECRAFTS 20- SPIN
STABILIZATION 4HE RADAR PACKAGE REQUIRED AN AVERAGE 7 INPUT POWER AND HAD A MASS
OF KG 0EAK TRANSMITTED POWER WAS 7 4HE 8 BAND AND 3 BAND COMMUNICATIONS
SYSTEM USED A DESPUN ANTENNA ^ M DIAMETER DISH 4HE RADAR ALTIMETER PROVIDED MANY
YEARS OF DATA WITH A HEIGHT ACCURACY OF M WHICH WAS THE BEST AVAILABLE INFORMATION
ON 6ENUS SURFACE FIGURE UNTIL -AGELLAN 4HE ALTIMETERS WAVEFORM STRENGTH AND SHAPE
WERE ANALYZED TO ESTIMATE SURFACE ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY AND METER
SCALE ROUGHNESS
PROPERTIES 4HE SPACECRAFTS
HOUR ORBIT WAS HIGHLY ELLIPTICAL ^ KM PERIAPSIS
AND ^ KM APOAPSISo FOR MOST OF THE MISSION 2ADAR DATA WERE COLLECTED ONLY
BELOW KM ALTITUDES WITH A RESOLVED FOOTPRINT ON THE SURFACE OF KM ALONG TRACK
AND KM ACROSS TRACK
o 0ERIAPSIS AND APOAPSIS ARE RESPECTIVELY THE POINTS ALONG AN ELLIPTICAL ORBIT THAT ARE CLOSEST TO AND FARTHEST FROM THE
GRAVITATIONAL CENTER OF THE SYSTEM
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
n{x
6ENERA SIMULTANEOUS hTWINv MISSIONS WERE THE FIRST SPACE BASED 3!2 MAP
PERS OF ANOTHER PLANET 4HEY IMAGED THE AREA FROM THE NORTH POLE DOWN TO ABOUT n.
LATITUDE OVER MONTHS OF OPERATIONS 4HEIR RADARS HAD TWO MODES IMAGING AND ALTIM
ETRY OPERATING AT CM WAVELENGTHS )MAGING RESOLUTION WAS ^ KM %ACH KG
SPACECRAFT WAS A CYLINDER M IN LENGTH 4HE SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR ANTENNA WAS A
r METER PARABOLIC CYLINDER REFLECTOR POWERED BY AN WATT TRAVELING WAVE TUBE
AMPLIFIER 2ATHER THAN PULSE OR CHIRP MODULATION 6ENERA USED A CONTINUOUS TRANSMISSION
MODULATED BY A CODED SEQUENCE OF n PHASE SHIFTS 4HE RECEIVED SIGNAL WAS DIGITIZED
INTO COMPLEX NUMBERS BITS ) BITS 1 ! RADAR LOOK WAS TAKEN EVERY SECONDS
AND STORED IN A 2!- MEMORY BUFFER 4O KEEP UP WITH THIS DATA RATE RECORDING ALTERNATED
BETWEEN TWO ONBOARD TAPE RECORDERS $ATA WERE DOWNLINKED EACH ORBIT ^ -"YTES
AND THEN PROCESSED IN GROUND BASED FACILITIES %ACH IMAGING PASS GENERATED RADAR
IMAGES THAT WERE COMBINED INTO A SURVEY STRIP OF KM WIDE BY KM LONG 4HESE
WERE SUBSEQUENTLY COMBINED INTO MOSAICS 4HE SPACECRAFT INCLUDED A M DIAMETER PARA
BOLIC DISH ANTENNA FOR THE RADAR ALTIMETER !FTER THE ORBITS WERE ACCURATELY DETERMINED
THE ALTIMETERS WERE SWITCHED TO HIGH RESOLUTION MODE ! ELEMENT PHASE MODULATION
WAS USED WITH A HEIGHT AMBIGUITY OF KM )N LATER PHASES OF PROCESSING DOPPLER
FREQUENCY ANALYSIS NARROWED THE EFFECTIVE FOOTPRINT TO KM BY KM 4HE ALTIMETER
OPERATIONS INTERLEAVED WITH THOSE OF THE IMAGER RESULTED IN THE FIRST RADAR ALTIMETRIC MAP
OF THE NORTHERN OF 6ENUS COMPRISED OF MORE THAN INDIVIDUAL MEASUREMENTS
4HE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM USED A DEDICATED M RADIO DISH ANTENNA 4HE 6ENERA
SPACECRAFT WERE IN APPROXIMATELY ^ HOUR POLAR ORBITS WITH A PERIAPSIS ^ KM
AT n. LATITUDE AND APOAPSIS ^ KM
-AGELLAN MAPPED OVER OF THE SURFACE OF 6ENUS &IGURE WITH IMAG
ING RESOLUTION AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE BETTER THAN THE EARLIER 6ENERA MISSIONS
&)'52% 4HE IMPACT CRATER 'OLUBKINA ON THE SURFACE OF 6ENUS IMAGED
BY -AGELLAN 3 BAND ((
POLARIZED 4HE KM MILE DIAMETER CRATER IS
CHARACTERIZED BY TERRACED INNER WALLS AND A CENTRAL PEAK TYPICAL OF LARGE IMPACT
CRATERS ON %ARTH THE -OON AND -ARS 2OUGH EJECTA GIVE RISE TO STRONG RADAR
RETURN A BLESSING FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PLANETARY GEOLOGY #OURTESY OF .!3!
n{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!LTIMETRY AND RADIOMETRY DATA ALSO MEASURED THE SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY AND ELECTRI
CAL CHARACTERISTICS -AGELLANS ELLIPTICAL ORBIT WAS INCLINED AT n WHICH ALLOWED
VIRTUALLY FULL ACCESS TO THE SURFACE BY THE SIDE
LOOKING 3!2 "Y THE END OF THE MIS
SION -AGELLAN HAD RETURNED MORE DATA THAN ALL PRIOR PLANETARY MISSIONS COMBINED
4HE RADAR OPERATED IN THREE MODESIMAGER ALTIMETER AND RADIOMETERINTERLEAVED
DURING EACH PASS 4HE 8 BAND DATA DOWNLINK SUPPORTED DATA RATES OF KBITS OR
KBITS 4HE
M DIAMETER HIGH
GAIN ANTENNA WAS USED FOR BOTH THE RADAR AND
FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS 3PACECRAFT MASS WAS KG THE RADAR MASS WAS KG
)NPUT POWER WAS 7 AT 6$# -AGELLAN OPERATED AT 3 BAND 'HZ
RADIATING A PEAK POWER OF 7 .OMINAL PULSE LENGTH WAS SEC WITH 02&
(Zn (Z SELECTABLE TO ACCOMMODATE THE WIDE VARIATIONS IN RANGE AND
INCIDENCE NECESSITATED BY THE ELLIPTICAL ORBIT )T ACHIEVED
M RESOLUTION IN 3!2
MAPPING MODE
M HEIGHT RESOLUTION IN ALTIMETER MODE AND n# IN RADIOMETER
MODE !LL -AGELLAN DATA ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE 0LANETARY $ATA 3YSTEM
#ASSINI A MULTIMODE RADAR MAPPER LEVERAGED FROM -AGELLANS HERITAGE WAS
INCLUDED IN THE
INSTRUMENT PAYLOAD OF THE #ASSINI
(UYGENS -ISSION WHICH WAS
LAUNCHED IN /CTOBER AND STARTED ITS FOUR
YEAR TOUR OF 3ATURN AND ITS MOONS IN
*ULY 4HE MOTIVATION FOR THE #ASSINI MAPPER WAS THE SAME AS THAT FOR -AGELLAN
NAMELY TO MAKE MEASUREMENTS OF THE SURFACE OF 4ITAN THROUGH ITS DENSE CLOUD COVER
$URING ITS EXTENSIVE TOUR OF THE 3ATURNIAN SYSTEM THE #ASSINI
(UYGENS MISSION WAS
TO COMPLETE FLYBYS OF 4ITAN OF WHICH WILL BE AT THE CLOSEST APPROACH OF LESS THAN
KM OF WHICH WILL HAVE MINIMUM ALTITUDES OF ^ KM 4HE FIRST CLOSE FLYBY
WAS IN .OVEMBER FROM WHICH THE FIRST RADAR IMAGES OF THE SURFACE WERE COL
LECTED 4HE RADAR ANTENNA USES THE M (
POLARIZED HIGH
GAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS
ANTENNA A STRATEGY SIMILAR TO THAT PIONEERED ON -AGELLAN 3EVEN BEAMS EACH AT DIF
FERENT FREQUENCY WIDTH AND BORESIGHT ORIENTATION ARE REQUIRED TO SUPPORT MULTIPLEXED
ALTIMETRY AND SCATTEROMETRY AS WELL AS IMAGING AND RADIOMETRY 4HE RADARS MASS IS
^ KG AND ITS INPUT POWER REQUIREMENT IS ^ 7 0EAK DATA RATES ARE ON THE ORDER
OF KBITS !LL MODES OPERATE AT +U BAND '(Z )N ITS MOST FAVORABLE LOWER
ALTITUDE IMAGING GEOMETRY GROUND RANGE AND AZIMUTH RESOLUTIONS ARE ON THE ORDER OF
KM AT LOOKS !T HIGHER ALTITUDES MORE LOOKS ARE GATHERED TO PARTIALLY OFFSET THE
DEGRADED RESOLUTION 4HE RADARS NOISE
EQUIVALENT R RANGES FROM ^
D" AT LOW
ALTITUDE TO ^
D" AT KM ALTITUDE )N CONTRAST TO THE SCHEME USED ON -AGELLAN
SMALLER ANGLES OF INCIDENCE AND LOWER BANDWIDTH ARE USED FOR THE HIGHER ALTITUDES 4HE
LOWER BANDWIDTH HELPS TO REDUCE THE MEAN NOISE LEVEL WHEREAS THE SHALLOWER INCIDENT
ANGLE HELPS TO MAINTAIN RANGE RESOLUTION WITH SMALLER RADIATED PULSE BANDWIDTH
#LEMENTINE ONE OF THE FIRST hFASTER BETTER CHEAPERv MISSIONS HAD PRIMARY OBJECTIVES
INCLUDING LASER ALTIMETRY AND OPTICAL SURFACE MAPPING OF THE -OON AS WELL AS TECHNOL
OGY DEMONSTRATION 4HE MAIN PAYLOAD INSTRUMENTATION WAS COMPRISED OF FOUR OPTICAL
CAMERAS INCLUDING ONE WITH A LASER ALTIMETER -AJOR NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE -OON
WAS PROVIDED FROM #LEMENTINES DATA COLLECTED DURING ITS DAYS IN LUNAR ORBIT
#LEMENTINE IS RELEVANT TO THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE OF A UNIQUE BISTATIC RADAR EXPERIMENT
CONDUCTED WITH THE 3 BAND CM 2& DATA SYSTEM 4HE LUNAR SOUTH POLE WAS ILLU
MINATED BY #LEMENTINES COMMUNICATIONS ANTENNA WATTS CIRCULARLY POLARIZED AND
THE REFLECTIONS FROM THE SPECULAR POINT WERE TRACKED BY AN ANTENNA OF THE $EEP 3PACE
.ETWORK $3. OVER FOUR PASSES 4HE OBSERVED REFLECTED SIGNAL CHARACTERISTICS WERE
CONSISTENT WITH NORMAL LUNAR REGOLITHp ON THREE PASSES BUT DATA FROM THE FOURTH PASS
p &OUND VIRTUALLY EVERYWHERE ON THE -OONS SURFACE REGOLITH IS A LAYER OF GRANULAR ROCKY MATERIAL COVERING
SOLID ROCK
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
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SEEMED TO SHOW AN ENHANCED STRENGTH THAT CORRESPONDED TO THE SPECULAR POINT PASS
ING ACROSS THE FLOOR OF THE CRATER 3HACKELTON 3UCH ENHANCED REFLECTIONS ESPECIALLY
IN THE hUNEXPECTEDv SENSE OF CIRCULAR POLARIZATION ARE INDICATIVE OF VOLUMETRIC RADAR
RESPONSE FROM VERY COLD FROZEN VOLATILES SUCH AS WATER
ICE BEST ILLUSTRATED BY %ARTH
BASED RADAR OBSERVATIONS OF *UPITERS ICY MOONS 4HE SUBSEQUENT CLAIM THAT WATER
ICE
HAD BEEN DISCOVERED AT THE -OON PRECIPITATED WIDE INTEREST 7HEN INDEPENDENT ANALY
SES OF THE #LEMENTINE DATA FAILED TO REPRODUCE THE ORIGINAL RESULT CONSIDERABLE
CONTROVERSY WAS GENERATED AS WELL $ISCOVERY ANDOR VERIFICATION OF POLAR ICE DEPOSITS
ON THE -OON EMERGED AS A MAJOR OBJECTIVE OF .!3!S EXPLORATION PROGRAM AND IF
PROVEN WOULD BE AN ESSENTIAL RESOURCE FOR HABITABLE OUTPOSTS AT THE -OON
2ADAR %XPLORATION FOR 0LANETARY )CE 6OLUMETRIC ICE GIVES RISE TO TWO UNUSUAL
RADAR RESPONSES 7HEN ILLUMINATED BY A CIRCULARLY POLARIZED FIELD THE PREDOMINANT
BACKSCATTER FROM MOST NATURAL SURFACES HAS THE OPPOSITE SENSE OF CIRCULAR POLARIZATION
)N THE CASE OF VOLUMETRIC ICE HOWEVER THE BACKSCATTER HAS THE SAME SENSE OF CIRCU
LAR POLARIZATION 4HE CLASSICAL MEASURE OF THIS EFFECT IS THE CIRCULAR
POLARIZATION RATIO
#02 R3# R/# OR hSAME SENSE OVER OPPOSITE SENSEv CIRCULARLY POLARIZED BACKSCATTER
STRENGTHS 4HE TOTAL REFLECTED POWER FROM VOLUMETRIC ICE IS RELATIVELY STRONG AT LEAST
FOR hCLEANv DEPOSITS "OTH THE POLARIZATION AND RADAR BRIGHTNESS EFFECTS ARE EXPLAINED
BY THE COHERENT OPPOSITION BACKSCATTER EFFECT #/"%
7ATER
ICE WAS PREDICTED MANY YEARS AGO TO HAVE ACCUMULATED OVER SOME TWO BILLION
YEARS IN THE FLOOR OF LUNAR CRATERS OR OTHER FEATURES WHOSE DEPTH AND LATITUDE KEPT THEM
IN PERMANENT SOLAR SHADOW 4HE ONLY SOURCE OF HEAT FOR THOSE REGIONS WOULD BE BACK
GROUND STARLIGHT AND ENERGY FROM THE -OONS INTERIOR SO THAT THE AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
WOULD BE NO MORE THAN ^ + !S WATER
ICE ENTERS SUCH A COLD SPACE FROM COMETS IT
ACCUMULATES 4HIS PROCESS GENERALLY IS ACCEPTED AS AN EXPLANATION OF THE RADAR
BRIGHT
RESPONSE FROM -ERCURYS POLAR CRATERS FOR EXAMPLE AS OBSERVED BY %ARTH
BASED RADAR
TELESCOPES $UE TO THE SMALL AXIAL TILT OF THE -OON HOWEVER RADAR TELESCOPES SUCH AS
!RECIBO HAVE NO SIMILAR OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE THE FLOORS OF THE LUNAR POLAR CRATERS
4HE PROBLEM IS THAT RELATIVELY LARGE #02 IS NOT UNIQUE TO VOLUMETRIC ICE DEPOSITS
$IHEDRAL TWO
DIMENSIONAL CORNERS ALSO REFLECT MOST STRONGLY IN THE SAME SENSE AS THE
INCIDENT CIRCULAR POLARIZATION .ATURALLY OCCURRING DIHEDRALS SUCH AS ROUGH ROCK FOR
MATIONS CREATED BY A LARGE IMPACT COULD GENERATE FALSE WATER
ICE SIGNATURES 4O REDUCE
THE POTENTIAL AMBIGUITY OF #02 AND BRIGHTNESS MEASUREMENTS THE RADAR OBSERVATIONS
MUST BE REPEATABLE AND SHOULD BE CORRELATED WITH OTHER INDICATORS
#HANDRAYAAN
AND THE ,UNAR 2ECONNAISSANCE /RBITER ,2/ INCLUDE IN EACH OF
THEIR PAYLOADS A h-INI
2&v RADAR 4HE VERSION FOR #HANDRAYAAN
IS AT 3
BAND
CM
WAVELENGTH WITH
M RESOLUTION AT LOOKS 4HE -INI
2& FOR ,2/ HAS TWO FREQUEN
CIES 3 BAND CM AND 8 BAND CM AND TWO RESOLUTIONS M AT LOOKS AND
M AT LOOKS 4HE ,2/ RADAR ALSO INCLUDES AN INTERFEROMETRIC MODE WHICH REQUIRES
A CONTINUOUS 02& IN CONTRAST TO THE BURST PLAN USED FOR THE OTHER MODES "OTH HAVE
MODERATE INCIDENT ANGLES ^ DEGREES MODERATE SWATH WIDTHS KM TO KM AND
OPERATE FROM LOW ALTITUDES KM AND KM RESPECTIVELY 'IVEN THE APPLICABLE SMALL
RANGE
VELOCITY PRODUCT 4ABLE THE ANTENNA AREA NEEDS TO BE ONLY ^ M TO SATISFY
THE MINIMUM AREA CONSTRAINT %Q 4HESE RADARS ARE INDEED LOW MASS AT ABOUT KG
AND KG RESPECTIVELY INCLUDING IN EACH CASE THEIR ANTENNA
! MAJOR OBJECTIVE FOR BOTH OF THESE RADARS IS TO LOOK FOR EVIDENCE OF ICE DEPOSITS
IN THE PERMANENTLY SHADOWED AREAS OF THE -OONS POLAR REGIONS 4HIS REQUIRES THAT
THEY MUST MEASURE THE CIRCULAR POLARIZATION RATIO #02 (ENCE THEY TRANSMIT CIRCULAR
POLARIZATION AND THEY ARE DUAL
POLARIZED ON RECEIVE 4HEIR ANTENNAS ARE COMPRISED
OF PASSIVE ARRAYS OF (
AND 6
POLARIZED ELEMENTS DRIVEN SIMULTANEOUSLY n OUT OF
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PHASE SO THAT THE RADIATED POLARIZATION IS CIRCULAR EITHER LEFT OR RIGHT 4HE RECEIVED
LINEAR POLARIZATIONS ARE MAINTAINED THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE SYSTEM TO THE IMAGE
PROCESSOR OUTPUT PRODUCTS 4HIS RESULTS IN THE HYBRID
POLARITY ARCHITECTURE THAT IS
OUTLINED BELOW
-AGELLAN )NNOVATIVE 6ENUS -APPER -AGELLAN &IGURE HAD TO FACE UP
TO TWO DRIVING MISSION RESTRAINTS COST AND DATA RATE 4HE FIRST WAS SET BY .!3! AND THE
53 GOVERNMENT BUDGET AUTHORITIES 4HE SECOND WAS SET BY PHYSICS CONDITIONAL UPON
THE DATA
RATE CAPABILITIES OF THE $EEP 3PACE .ETWORK 4HE LESSON OF COURSE IS THAT
IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO DO GOOD READ hBIG BUDGET 3"2
BASEDv SCIENCE IT MUST BE DONE
EFFICIENTLY AND RELATIVELY PATIENTLY )N THE CASE OF -AGELLAN HOWEVER THESE TOP
LEVEL
RESTRAINTS MOTIVATED A SUPERB INNOVATIVE RADAR DESIGN
#OST 4HERE WERE SEVERAL CONSEQUENCES TO THE SEVERE REDUCTION IN APPROVED
FUNDS RELATIVE TO FUNDS REQUESTED FOR THE ORIGINAL 6ENUS /RBITING )MAGING 2ADAR
6/)2 MISSION 2ATHER THAN A CONVENTIONAL CIRCULAR ORBIT -AGELLAN WAS REDESIGNED
FOR AN ELLIPTICAL ORBIT &IGURE WHICH HAD CONSIDERABLY LESS ASSOCIATED COSTS
AND RISK !LSO RATHER THAN THE ORIGINAL LARGE HIGH
ASPECT
RATIO ANTENNA TYPICAL OF
SPACE
BASED 3!2S -AGELLAN WAS OBLIGED TO USE A SPARE CIRCULAR COMMUNICATIONS
ANTENNA LEFT OVER FROM A PREVIOUS MISSION 7HEREAS THESE MAY SOUND LIKE BENIGN
IF NOT TRIVIAL MODIFICATIONS THEY NECESSITATED PARADIGM
SHIFTING INNOVATIONS BY THE
3!2 DESIGN TEAM
!NTENNA 4HE KEY ELEMENT IN ANY SPACE
BASED 3!2 DESIGN IS THE ANTENNA )T
DETERMINES RANGE SWATH COVERAGE AND REQUIRED MINIMUM TRANSMITTER POWER AND HAS A
MAJOR INFLUENCE ON RESOLUTION AND DATA RATE 4HE -AGELLAN ANTENNA A
M DIAMETER
DISH WAS A SIGNIFICANT DEPARTURE FROM THE CONVENTIONAL HIGHLY ASYMMETRIC RECTANGULAR
ANTENNAS THAT WERE THEN IN FAVOR FOR 3!2S
&)'52% !RTISTS IMPRESSION OF -AGELLAN OBSERVING THE SURFACE
OF 6ENUS BACKLIT BY THE SUN FEATURING THE RADAR AND HIGH
GAIN COMMUNI
CATIONS ANTENNA AND THE SMALLER HORN ANTENNA FOR THE ALTIMETER #OURTESY
OF .!3!
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
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&)'52% $ETAILS OF -AGELLANS ELLIPTICAL ORBIT DOMINATED BY ^ MINUTES OF
DATA TAKE AND HOURS OF DATA DOWNLINK DURING EACH HOUR ORBIT PERIOD 'RAPHIC
COURTESY OF .!3!
4HE VERTICAL DIMENSION OF THE ANTENNA TOGETHER WITH RANGE INCIDENCE AND WAVE
LENGTH DETERMINED THE WIDTH OF THE ILLUMINATED SWATH ON THE SURFACE 4HIS PROVIDED AN
UPPER BOUND ON THE IMAGED SWATH WIDTH WHICH IN THE CASE OF -AGELLAN WAS LESS THAN
THE SWATH ACTUALLY ILLUMINATED 4HE IMAGED SWATH WIDTH WAS CHOSEN TO BE SOMEWHAT
WIDER THAN THE ORBIT TO ORBIT TRANSLATION OF 6ENUS SURFACE DUE TO PLANET ROTATION 4HE
PERIOD OF THE ELLIPTICAL ORBIT WAS SELECTED TO BE ABOUT THREE HOURS SO THAT IN SUCCESSION
EACH IMAGING PASS OVERLAPPED AND EXTENDED THE SURFACE IMAGED ON PREVIOUS PASSES
)N THE ALONG TRACK DIRECTION THE ANTENNA SIZE HAD FAR REACHING CONSEQUENCES 4HE
THEORETICAL SINGLE LOOK AZIMUTH RESOLUTION AVAILABLE FROM THE -AGELLAN ANTENNA COULD
BE ABOUT METERS 3ECTION 4HIS IS ON THE ORDER OF TIMES SMALLER THAN THE SCI
ENCE REQUIREMENT OF METERS AZIMUTH RESOLUTION )T FOLLOWED THAT SINGLE LOOK M
DATA COULD BE COLLECTED BY OPERATING THE RADAR ONLY OF THE TIME )F ., LOOKS WERE
REQUIRED THEN THE IMPLIED OPERATING DUTY FACTOR WOULD BE ., LARGER BY A FACTOR OF
., 4HE RESULT IS THE BURST MODE 3ECTION IN WHICH THE RADAR OPERATES AT MUCH LESS
THAN OF THE TIME "URST MODE IS A STANDARD STRATEGY FOR 3!2S DESIGNED TO EXPLORE
THE -OON OR OTHER PLANETARY BODIES USING ANTENNAS WHOSE ALONG TRACK DIMENSION IS
MUCH SMALLER THAN THE AZIMUTH RESOLUTION REQUIRED OF THE DATA 4HE LOOKS PARAMETER .,
DESERVES SPECIAL COMMENT IN THE 3"2 CONTEXT SUMMARIZED BELOW
4HE -AGELLAN ANTENNA WAS USED AS THE HIGH GAIN ANTENNA FOR DATA DOWNLINK AS
WELL AS FOR THE 3!2 $URING THE HIGH ALTITUDE SEGMENT OF EACH ORBIT THE SPACECRAFT
WAS ORIENTED TO POINT THE ANTENNA TOWARD %ARTH 4HE ANTENNA HAD TWO FEEDS ONE AT 3
BAND (( POLARIZATION FOR THE RADAR AND 8 BAND CIRCULAR POLARIZATION FOR TELEMETRY
!FTER EACH POLE TO POLE DATA COLLECTION THE TELEMETRY TRANSFERRED THE ACCUMULATED DATA
TO ONE OF THE THREE $EEP 3PACE .ETWORK $3. RECEIVING STATIONS SO THAT IN CONSE
QUENCE THE DATA DUMP KEPT PACE WITH THE DATA TAKE PER ORBIT
/RBIT &OR REASONS DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTABLE TO PRINCIPLES OF ORBITAL MECHANICS IT WAS
MUCH LESS COSTLY TO GO INTO AN ELLIPTICAL ORBIT AT 6ENUS RATHER THAN A CIRCULAR ONE 4HE
FACT THAT IT WOULD BE CONSIDERABLY MORE DIFFICULT TO GET DECENT IMAGERY SUCCESSFULLY
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FROM AN ELLIPTICAL ORBIT WAS OF LITTLE CONCERN TO THE BUDGET MASTERS ALTHOUGH THE ELLIP
TICAL ORBIT CONSTRAINT ATTRACTED MORE THAN A LITTLE ATTENTION FROM THE 3!2 DESIGN TEAM
4HE -AGELLAN RADAR HAD TO ADAPT TO VARIATIONS IN RELATIVE ALTITUDE FROM APPROXIMATELY
KM NEAR THE EQUATOR TO MORE THAN KM OVER THE POLES 1UITE REASONABLY
ONE MIGHT EXPECT THAT THE RESULTING IMAGERYLET ALONE THE IMPLIED TIMING AND SCAL
ING ISSUESWOULD SUFFER AS A CONSEQUENCE 4HANKS TO THE MISSION DESIGN HOWEVER
-AGELLAN IMAGE QUALITY IS SURPRISINGLY CONSISTENT POLE TO POLE 4HE REASONS PROVIDE
AN IMPORTANT OBJECT LESSON
3INCE THE -AGELLAN RADAR WAS OPERATED IN BURST MODE IT WAS CONVENIENT AS WELL
AS NECESSARY PRIOR TO EACH BURST TO SET THE MODE PARAMETERS WHICH IN GENERAL VARIED
FROM BURST TO BURST #RITICAL PARAMETERS INCLUDED 02& RANGE GATE BURST LENGTH BURST
PERIOD AND SPACECRAFT ROLL 4HE PARAMETER FILES WERE PREPARED IN ADVANCE BASED ON THE
DATA COLLECTION GEOMETRY AND TURNED INTO COMMANDS TO BE GENERATED BY THE RADAR MAP
PING SEQUENCING SOFTWARE 4HE RESULT WAS A SET OF ABOUT UNIQUE CONFIGURATIONS
EACH TIED TO SPECIFIC SEGMENTS OF THE ORBIT )N OPERATION SUITABLE COMMANDS WERE PRE
LOADED INTO THE ONBOARD 3!2 CONTROL PROCESSOR FOR EACH THREE DAY MAPPING INTERVAL
)N ORDER TO OFFSET THE TENFOLD ALTITUDE CHANGE ON 3!2 IMAGE QUALITY THE 3!2 OPER
ATING PROFILE WAS DESIGNED TO EXPLOIT A VARIETY OF INCIDENT ANGLES !T THE START OF EACH
IMAGING PASS AT HIGH ALTITUDE THE INCIDENCE WAS SLEWED FROM STEEP NEAR THE POLE
TO SHALLOW IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE EQUATOR BACK TO STEEP WHEN APPROACHING THE
OPPOSITE POLE 4HIS INCIDENCE VARIATION HELPED TO OFFSET THE LARGE CHANGE IN RADAR RANGE
TO THE IMAGED SWATH BUT IT MEANT ALSO THAT THE RANGE RESOLUTION AS EXPRESSED ON THE
SURFACE VARIED AS A FUNCTION OF LATITUDE &OR A CONSTANT RADAR BANDWIDTH THE EFFEC
TIVE SURFACE RANGE RESOLUTION AT SHALLOWER INCIDENCE IS IMPROVED OVER THAT ACHIEVED AT
STEEPER INCIDENCE &ORTUNATELY AT STEEPER INCIDENCE AND HENCE AT LONGER RANGES THERE
WAS MORE TIME AVAILABLE TO GATHER MORE LOOKS
)MAGE 1UALITY ,OOKS AND RESOLUTION WORK TOGETHER TO DETERMINE THE IMAGE QUAL
ITY READ hGEOPHYSICAL INFORMATION POTENTIALv OF 3!2 IMAGERY OVER NATURAL TERRAIN
COMPOSED OF DISTRIBUTED SCATTERERS 4HE GOVERNING EXPRESSION IS THE 3!2 IMAGE QUAL
ITY PARAMETER
13!2
.,
R2GR!Z
WHERE ., IS THE NUMBER OF STATISTICALLY INDEPENDENT LOOKS AND R2G AND R!Z ARE THE
RANGE AND AZIMUTH RESOLUTION RESPECTIVELY ON THE SURFACE (ERE THE IMPORTANT GENERAL
IZABLE LESSON IS THAT AN INCREASE IN NUMBER OF LOOKS CAN BE APPLIED TO OFFSET A DECREASE
IN RANGE RESOLUTION WITHIN REASON AND IN THIS KIND OF EXPLORATORY SPACE BASED 3!2
DATA .OTE THAT BOTH LOOKS AND RESOLUTION REQUIRE SUPPORT IN BANDWIDTH )T FOLLOWS
THAT 13!2 IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE PRODUCT OF THE RANGE AND AZIMUTH BANDWIDTHS HENCE
PROPORTIONAL TO THE TWO DIMENSIONAL INFORMATION CAPACITY OF THE RADAR IN THE 3HANNON
SENSE 4HIS PRINCIPLE WAS APPLIED WITH GREAT PROFIT TO THE -AGELLAN 3!2 DESIGN
AS ILLUSTRATED BY 4ABLE &ROM THAT TABLE ONE CAN VERIFY THAT THE IMAGE QUALITY OF
-AGELLAN DATA VARIED BY NO MORE THAN ^o POLE TO POLE IN SPITE OF LARGE VARIATIONS
IN RADAR RANGE INCIDENT ANGLE AND GROUND RANGE RESOLUTION
$ATA 2ATE -AGELLAN 3!2 DATA WERE RELAYED FROM 6ENUS TO %ARTH VIA THE $3.
4HIS MAJOR COMMUNICATION SYSTEM IMPOSED A WORKING LIMIT OF ABOUT KBITS ON
THE 3!2 DATA TELEMETRY 7HEREAS THIS MAY SEEM RATHER LARGE IT IS MINUSCULE BY
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4!",% )MAGE 1UALITY -AGELLAN 2ESOLUTION AND ,OOKS
!LTITUDE KM
)NCIDENCE
DEGREES
R2 M
R! M
,OOKS .,
13!2 .,R2 R!
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SPACE BASED 3!2 STANDARDS &OR EXAMPLE THE DIGITAL DATA RATE FOR THE %23 AND
2!$!23!4 %ARTH OBSERVING 3!2S IS ON THE ORDER OF -BITS .EWER DESIGNS
CLAIM UP TO -BITS 3INCE THE -AGELLAN OBJECTIVE WAS TO IMAGE A SUBSTANTIAL POR
TION OF THE SURFACE OF THE ENTIRE PLANET AT M RESOLUTION WITHIN THE LENGTH OF THE
PRIMARY MISSION THE $3. DATA RATE CAPABILITY EMERGED AS THE TOUGHEST REQUIREMENT
ON THE ENTIRE SYSTEM
2AW 3!2 DATA RATE IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE IMAGE QUALITY FACTOR SWATH WIDTH SPACE
CRAFT VELOCITY AND THE NUMBER OF DIGITAL BITS PER DATA SAMPLE /F COURSE MEAN DATA
RATE CAN BE RELAXED IF THE DATA FROM ANY GIVEN PASS CAN BE COLLECTED AND THEN PLAYED
BACK AT A SLOWER RATE !LTHOUGH THIS STRATEGY WAS EXPLOITED BY THE -AGELLAN DESIGN
TOLERANCE FOR WHICH WAS SET UP BY THE ELLIPTICAL ORBIT IT WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TO SOLVE THE
LIMITED DATA RATE PROBLEM
4HE ONLY DEGREE OF FREEDOM REMAINING IN THE DATA RATE BUDGET WAS THE NUMBER OF
BITS RETAINED FOR EACH SAMPLE IN THE RAW 3!2 DATASTREAM 7ORKING BACK THROUGH THE
$3. CONSTRAINT IT TURNED OUT THAT THERE WERE ONLY TWO BITS AVAILABLE FOR -AGELLANS
RAW 3!2 DATA
9ESA BIT 3!2 !ND AGAIN THE UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ORBITAL 3!2 MADE
THIS AN ACCEPTABLE SOLUTION FOR THE -AGELLAN DESIGN 4HE KEY REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS
PARADIGM ARE TWO AN EFFECTIVE SIGNAL ENCODING THAT IS VERY LARGE AND AN IMAG
ING ENVIRONMENT THAT IS DENSE AND DOMINATED BY DISTRIBUTED RANDOM BACKSCATTER
0LANETARY 3!2S AND MANY %ARTH OBSERVING SPACE BASED RADARS EASILY SATISFY THESE
REQUIREMENTS /NE MEASURE OF AN IMAGING RADARS EXTENSIVE SIGNAL ENCODING IS THE
PRODUCT OF ITS RANGE AND AZIMUTH TIME BANDWIDTH PRODUCTS OR EQUIVALENTLY ITS POTEN
TIAL TWO DIMENSIONAL COMPRESSION RATIO )N THE CASE OF 3!2 DATA THIS RATIO IS GIVEN
BY THE AREA OF THE INSTANTANEOUS PULSE FOOTPRINT ANTENNA WIDTH BY PROJECTED PULSE
LENGTH DIVIDED BY THE RESOLVED CELL AREA THE PRODUCT OF AZIMUTH AND RANGE RESOLU
TION 4HIS RATIO VARIED BY MODE FOR -AGELLAN BUT IN GENERAL WAS WELL IN EXCESS OF
WHICH TURNS INTO A GAIN IN DYNAMIC RANGE FROM THE SIGNAL DOMAIN TO THE IMAGE
DOMAIN OF D"
4HE h BIT METHODv WAS BASED ON A "LOCK !DAPTIVE 1UANTIZER "!1 4HIS IN
EFFECT IMPLEMENTED AN AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL !'# THAT SELECTED THE MOST INFLUENTIAL
DIGITAL SAMPLES BITS FROM THE RAW 3!2 DATASTREAM !S DESIGNED FOR -AGELLAN THE
DATA WERE DIGITIZED INTO BITS IN PHASE AND QUADRATURE )1 4HE ANALOG TO DIGITAL
STAGE WAS FOLLOWED BY THE "!1 OPERATION WHICH SELECTED THE TWO MOST SIGNIFICANT BITS
IN EACH )1 DATA PAIR RELATIVE TO A MEAN SIGNAL LEVEL THAT HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED FROM
THE PREVIOUS BURST OF RECEIVED DATA 4HE MEAN SIGNAL LEVEL VARIED VERY SLOWLY BURST
TO BURST SINCE ADJACENT BURSTS COVERED ESSENTIALLY THE SAME SCENE ELEMENTS 4HE MEAN
SIGNAL LEVEL !'# SETTING WAS INCLUDED IN THE HEADER FOR EACH BURSTS DATA RECORD TO
BE USED IN SUBSEQUENT 3!2 IMAGE FORMATION
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!LTHOUGH THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE RAW 3!2 DATA OUT OF A "!1 OPERATOR IS SEVERELY
LIMITED THE POTENTIAL DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE RESULTING IMAGE DATA IS MUCH LARGER IT IS
BOUNDED ABOVE BY THE PRODUCT OF THE INPUT DYNAMIC RANGE AND THE TWO
DIMENSIONAL
COMPRESSION RATIO OF THE 3!2 DATA 4HUS THE DYNAMIC RANGE CAPACITY AFTER PROCESSING
FOR -AGELLAN IMAGERY WAS IN EXCESS OF D" 4HIS WAS WELL ILLUSTRATED IN THE MANY
THOUSANDS OF IMAGE FRAMES FORMED FROM -AGELLANS 3!2 DATA
(YBRID
POLARITY !RCHITECTURE ! LEADING HIGH
LEVEL OBJECTIVE OF A RADAR DES
TINED FOR THE -OON -ARS OR ANY OTHER PLANETARY BODY IS TO MAXIMIZE ITS MEASUREMENT
POTENTIAL WHILE ALSO MINIMIZING ITS RESOURCE DEMANDS PRINCIPALLY POWER AND MASS )F
SENSITIVITY TO FROZEN VOLATILES IS A REQUIREMENT LEVIED ON A PLANETARY EXPLORATORY RADAR
THEN THE SYSTEM SHOULD BE DUAL
POLARIZED AND MUST TRANSMIT CIRCULAR POLARIZATION !S
REVIEWED IN 3ECTION A DUAL
POLARIZED RADAR MAXIMIZES ITS MEASUREMENT CAPABILI
TIES ONLY IF IT RETAINS THE RELATIVE PHASE AS WELL AS THE MAGNITUDES OF THE TWO RECEIVED
AMPLITUDES SUCH AS %( AND %6 IN THE LINEAR POLARIZATION BASIS )T HAS BEEN KNOWN SINCE
THAT A QUASI
MONOCHROMATIC %- FIELD CAN BE FULLY CHARACTERIZED BY THE FOUR 3TOKES
PARAMETERS )N TERMS OF LINEARLY POLARIZED RECEIVED DATA THE 3TOKES PARAMETERS ARE
3 \ %( \ \ %6 \
3 \ %( \ \ %6 \
3 2E %( %6
3 )M %( %6
WHERE
DENOTES COMPLEX CONJUGATE AND THE CARATS INDICATE AN AVERAGE TAKEN OVER
SEVERAL SAMPLES #LEARLY THE RELATIVE PHASE BETWEEN THE TWO POLARIZATIONS IS AN ESSENTIAL
FACTOR FOR TWO OF THE FOUR 3TOKES PARAMETERS $ATA EXPRESSED THROUGH THE 3TOKES PARAM
ETERS ARE WELL
SUITED TO BEING EXPLOITED BY MATRIX DECOMPOSITION METHODOLOGY
&OR A GIVEN TRANSMITTED POLARIZATION THE VALUES OF THESE 3TOKES PARAMETERS ARE
INVARIANT WITH RESPECT TO THE POLARIZATION BASIS OF THE RECEIVER )T FOLLOWS THAT THE OPTI
MUM ARCHITECTURE IS HYBRID
POLARITY CIRCULARLY POLARIZED ON TRANSMIT AND LINEARLY
DUAL
POLARIZED ON RECEIVE &IGURE 4HIS ARCHITECTURE REQUIRES LESS MASS AND
OFFERS GREATER EFFICIENCY THAN ALTERNATIVES WHILE CAPTURING ALL OF THE POTENTIAL INFORMA
TION IN THE BACKSCATTERED FIELD
!N ANTENNA COMPRISED OF TWO LINEAR ARRAYS SUCH AS ( AND 6 WILL RADIATE A CIRCULARLY
POLARIZED FIELD IF THE SETS OF ELEMENTS ARE DRIVEN SIMULTANEOUSLY AND n OUT OF PHASE
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE )N PRACTICE THE AMPLITUDE WEIGHTING AND RELATIVE PHASING
OF THE ARRAYS WILL SELDOM BE PERFECT !S A RESULT THE RADIATED FIELD WILL BE SOMEWHAT
ELLIPTICAL RATHER THAN PURELY CIRCULAR 4HE HYBRID
POLARITY ARCHITECTURE IS SELF
CALIBRATING
AND THEREFORE RELATIVELY ROBUST IN RESPONSE TO SUCH IMPERFECTIONS )N BRIEF UNDER THE
CONDITION THAT R (( R 66 THE MEAN SIGNAL LEVEL IN THE TWO RECEIVE CHANNELS SHOULD BE
EQUAL )N TERMS OF THE 3TOKES PARAMETERS 3 4HE ( AND 6 BACKSCATTER COEFFICIENTS
WILL ALWAYS BE EQUIVALENT WHEN THE RADARS ILLUMINATION IS PERPENDICULAR TO THE SURFACE
(ENCE ANY HYBRID
POLARITY RADAR CAN SET UP THIS CONDITION BY THE SIMPLE EXPEDIENT OF
LOOKING DOWN ON A HORIZONTAL SURFACE DURING A CALIBRATION EXERCISE $ISCREPANCIES IN
EITHER AMPLITUDE OR PHASE WILL BE EVIDENT FROM SUCH DATA COLLECTED OVER A RANDOM DIS
TRIBUTED SCENE 4HERE IS NO NEED FOR A KNOWN POINT
TARGET REFERENCE IN THE FIELD OF VIEW
4HE 3TOKES PARAMETERS THAT CORRESPOND TO SUCH MEASUREMENTS ARE SUFFICIENT TO CHARAC
TERIZE THE RELATIVE (6 PHASE OF THE TRANSMITTED FIELD AS WELL AS THAT OF THE RECEIVERS
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&)'52% 4HE HYBRID
POLARITY 3!2 ARCHITECTURE FIRST USED BY THE -INI
2& LUNAR RADARS ON
#HANDRAYAAN
AND ,2/
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,3PACE
BASED REMOTE SENSING SCATTEROMETERS MEASURE THE NORMALIZED BACKSCATTER WITH
SUFFICIENT PRECISION AND ACCURACY TO DEDUCE THE VALUE OF ONE OR MORE PARAMETERS OF
GEOPHYSICAL SIGNIFICANCE &OR EXAMPLE THE POWER REFLECTED FROM THE OCEAN BACK TO A
RADAR IS A FUNCTION OF SURFACE ROUGHNESS AT THE SCALE OF THE RADARS WAVELENGTH WHICH
IN TURN IS A FUNCTION OF THE LOCAL WIND %STIMATION OF WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION OVER
THE OPEN OCEAN IS THE MOST COMMON APPLICATION FOR THESE INSTRUMENTS ! WIND SCAT
TEROMETER WAS ADOPTED BY %5-%43!4 IN THE EARLY S AS A REQUIRED OPERATIONAL
CAPABILITY WITH OPERATIONAL ACCURACIES OF o MS IN WIND SPEED AND on IN DIRECTION
)N ADDITION TO OPEN OCEAN OBSERVATIONS CALIBRATED DATA FROM THIS CLASS OF 3"2 HAVE
BEEN APPLIED TO A VARIETY OF LARGE
AREA SURFACE FEATURES SUCH AS DETERMINATION OF SEA
ICE COVERAGE MAPPING THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN THE PRINCIPAL ICE ZONES OF 'REENLAND
OR GLOBAL ESTIMATION OF TROPICAL DEFORESTATION )N ALL SUCH APPLICATIONS THE EMPHASIS IS
ON MEASUREMENT OF MEAN REFLECTIVITY OVER LARGE AREAS RATHER THAN MAPPING FINE SPATIAL
DETAIL 4HESE RADARS TYPICALLY HAVE RESOLUTIONS ON THE SCALE OF S OF KILOMETERS SUP
PORTED OVER SWATHS OF KILOMETERS OR MORE
)N THE OCEAN APPLICATION RELATIVELY SMALL CHANGES IN RADAR BACKSCATTER MAY COR
RESPOND TO SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCES IN THE RETRIEVED WIND INFORMATIONe )T FOLLOWS
THAT THE DOMINANT REQUIREMENT FOR THIS CLASS OF RADAR IS THE ACCURACY AND PRECISION
OF THE RECEIVED POWER MEASUREMENT
(OWEVER THE NEXT STEP VECTOR WIND RETRIEVALS
TRANSFORMING THE RADAR BACKSCATTERED POWER INTO ACCURATE ESTIMATES OF WIND SPEED
AND DIRECTIONIS FAR FROM TRIVIAL )NDEED THE TECHNIQUE FAILS FOR THE VERY LOW
WIND SPEEDS THAT DO NOT GENERATE WAVELENGTH
SCALE SURFACE ROUGHNESS )N THE LIMIT
e HTTPWWWEUMETSATINTGROUPSOPSDOCUMENTSDOCUMENTPDF?TM?REV SCATTEROMETER WPDF
.OTE THAT BOTH ACCURACY AND PRECISION ARE REQUIRED 2ADAR BACKSCATTER BY ITS VERY NATURE IS A QUANTITY HAVING A LARGE
STANDARD DEVIATION THAT CAN BE REDUCED ONLY BY EXTENSIVE AVERAGING "ECAUSE THE GEOPHYSICAL INTERPRETATION OF SCAT
TEROMETRIC DATA OFTEN DEPENDS ON DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN TWO SIMILAR VALUES OF R THE RESULTS DEPEND CRITICALLY ON
REDUCING THE UNCERTAINTY IN THE ESTIMATED VALUE AS WELL AS GETTING THE AVERAGE VALUE RIGHT
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AN OBLIQUE
VIEWING RADAR SUCH AS A SCATTEROMETER WILL GENERATE VIRTUALLY NO BACK
SCATTER FROM THE SEA SURFACE IN THE ABSENCE OF WIND
DRIVEN WAVES EVEN IF THERE IS A
SUBSTANTIAL SWELL IN THE REGION
6ECTOR 7IND 2ETRIEVAL 4HE NORMALIZED BACKSCATTER COEFFICIENT R FROM A WIND
ROUGHENED OCEANIC SURFACE DEPENDS FOREMOST ON THE RADARS WAVELENGTH THE LOCAL ANGLE
OF INCIDENCE AND THE POLARIZATION RESPECTIVELY 4HE WIND PARAMETERS TO BE ESTIMATED
ARE ITS SPEED THE RELATIVE ANGLE IN THE HORIZONTAL PLANE BETWEEN THE WIND DIRECTION
AND THE RADAR LINE
OF
SIGHT 4HE OCEANS REFLECTIVITY IS ALSO A FUNCTION OF OTHER FACTORS
INCLUDING SURFACTANTS SUCH AS OIL SLICKS EITHER NATURAL OR ANTHROPOGENIC THE AIR
SEA
TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE OR THE PRESENCE OF LARGE WAVES SUCH AS OCEANIC SWELL BUT THESE
ARE OF LESS SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE PRESENT DISCUSSION
4HE REFLECTION COEFFICIENT R IS NONLINEAR WITH RESPECT TO THE WIND PARAMETERS
&IGURE ILLUSTRATES THE RESPONSE FOR ONE POLARIZATION WHERE THE HORIZONTAL AXIS
IS THE RELATIVE WIND DIRECTION AND THE VERTICAL AXIS IS THE NORMALIZED RADAR CROSS SEC
TION 4HE SEVERAL CURVES EACH CORRESPOND TO A SPECIFIC WIND SPEED )N GENERAL UPWIND
AND DOWNWIND ASPECTS PROVIDE STRONGER BACKSCATTER THAN CROSS
WIND AND THE UPWIND
ASPECT USUALLY IS A BIT STRONGER THAN DOWNWIND 7IND VECTOR DATA HAVE BEEN COLLECTED
BY AIRBORNE SCATTEROMETERS FLYING IN CIRCLES LITERALLY OVER INSTRUMENTED TEST SITES
4HERE HAVE BEEN MANY ATTEMPTS OVER THE YEARS TO CONVERGE ON A SUITABLE MATHEMATI
CAL MODEL FOR THIS BEHAVIOR WITH REASONABLE SUCCESS 4HERE ARE SEVERAL VECTOR WIND
RETRIEVAL METHODS IN CURRENT USE INCLUDING #-/$
AND A NEURAL NETWORK MODEL
4HE DATA CLEARLY SHOW THAT MEASUREMENT OF RADAR BACKSCATTER AT ONLY ONE ASPECT
ANGLE IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO DETERMINE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION 4HE 3EASAT SCATTEROMETER
USED TWO LOOK ANGLES SEPARATED BY n BUT THE RESULTING RETRIEVALS HAD AS MANY AS
&)'52% 4YPICAL BACKSCATTER STRENGTH VERTICAL AXIS FROM A
WIND DRIVEN SEA SURFACE AS A FUNCTION OF WIND SPEED MODELED DATA AND
THE WIND DIRECTION RELATIVE TO THE RADARS LOOK DIRECTION HORIZONTAL AXIS
3IMILAR FAMILIES OF CURVES CORRESPOND TO THE RADARS POLARIZATION USUALLY
(( OR 66 AND ANGLE OF INCIDENCE #URVES SUCH AS THESE ARE DERIVED FROM
A MODEL SUCH AS #-/$ SUBSEQUENTLY VERIFIED BY EXTENSIVE AIRBORNE
MEASUREMENTS
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FOUR POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS WHICH PRESENTED AS DIRECTIONAL AMBIGUITIES 3PACE BASED
WIND SCATTEROMETERS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY DIFFERING VIEWING GEOMETRIES EACH MOTI
VATED BY THE NEED TO SUPPRESS DIRECTIONAL AMBIGUITIES WITHIN THE CONSTRAINT OF A PHYSI
CALLY OR FINANCIALLY FEASIBLE IMPLEMENTATION
-EASUREMENT 0RECISION #LEARLY R MUST BE MEASURED WITH AN ACCURACY AND
PRECISION OF LESS THAN D" IF USEFUL WIND RETRIEVALS ARE TO BE DERIVED !CCURACY DEPENDS
ON THE RADARS STABILITY AND ITS CALIBRATION 4HE CHALLENGE FOR SPACE BORNE SCATTEROMETRY
IS TO DESIGN THE RADAR SUCH THAT THE PRECISIONTHE NORMALIZED STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE
R MEASUREMENTSIS SUFFICIENTLY SMALL )N THE STANDARD TERMINOLOGY OF SCATTEROMETRY
THE CLASSICAL PARAMETER IS +0 THE NORMALIZED STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE MEASUREMENT
)N THE CASE OF A FAN BEAM SCATTEROMETER THAT EMPLOYS DOPPLER FILTERING THE GOVERNING
EXPRESSION IS
+0
3.2 3.2
.4"
WHERE . IS THE NUMBER OF STATISTICALLY INDEPENDENT PULSES SUMMED INTO EACH R MEA
SUREMENT 4 IS THE TRANSMITTED PULSE LENGTH " IS THE DOPPLER BANDWIDTH OF THE MEA
SUREMENT CELL AND 3.2 IS THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO +0 USUALLY IS CITED AS A PERCENT
WHERE VALUES OF OR BETTER ARE THE OBJECTIVE .OTE FOR HIGH 3.2 THAT +0 CONVERGES
TO .4" !T LOWER WIND SPEEDS +0 DEPENDS ON 3.2 AS WELL AS ON THE NUMBER OF
STATISTICALLY INDEPENDENT LOOKS 4HE DETAILS OF ANY EXPRESSION SUCH AS THIS DEPEND ON
THE UNDERLYING STATISTICAL MODEL WHICH IS GAUSSIAN IN THIS CLASSIC EXPRESSION (OWEVER
THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE IS THAT THE SCATTEROMETER MUST PROVIDE MANY INDEPENDENT LOOKS
TO REDUCE THE STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE R MEASUREMENT REGARDLESS OF THE STATISTICAL
DISTRIBUTION OF THE OCEANS BACKSCATTER
4RENDS 6ECTOR WIND DATA HAVE BEEN ADOPTED BY OPERATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL
AGENCIES SUCH AS %5-%43!4 )T IS LIKELY THAT SPACE
BASED MICROWAVE ASSETS WILL
CONTINUE TO BE USED FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE TO PROVIDE THESE DATA 4HE SUCCESS OF
3EA7INDS DISCUSSED LATER IN THIS SECTION SUGGESTS THAT THE CONICAL SCAN PARADIGM WILL
BE THE BASIS FOR FUTURE VECTOR WIND SCATTEROMETER DESIGN
4HAT SAID THERE ARE TWO SPACE
BASED ALTERNATIVES FOR MEASURING VECTOR WINDS BY
MICROWAVE MEANS ACTIVE AND PASSIVE 2ADARS OFTEN ARE UNPOPULAR ON SPACECRAFT THAT
HOST OTHER INSTRUMENTS OF WHICH SOME MAY BE COMPROMISED BY RADIO FREQUENCY INTER
FERENCE 2&) GENERATED BY A NEARBY MICROWAVE TRANSMITTER 2ADARS ALSO REQUIRE MORE
POWER FROM THEIR HOST SPACECRAFT THAN PASSIVE SYSTEMS 4HESE AND RELATED CONSIDER
ATIONS MOTIVATED THE DEVELOPMENT OF 7IND3AT A PASSIVE INSTRUMENT THAT ESTIMATES
NEAR
SURFACE VECTOR WINDS BY 3TOKES PARAMETER ANALYSIS OF THE MICROWAVE EMISSIVITY
FROM THE OCEAN SURFACE 7IND3AT IS ONE OF TWO INSTRUMENTS ABOARD THE #ORIOLIS SATEL
LITE LAUNCHED IN 4HE OPERATIONAL RELIABILITY OF PASSIVE
VECTOR WIND DATA RELATIVE
TO SCATTEROMETRIC MEASUREMENTS REMAINS AN OPEN ISSUE
3CATTEROMETRIC DATA ARE BEING EXPLOITED FOR MANY PURPOSES OTHER THAN OCEANIC VEC
TOR WINDS !LTHOUGH THE hIMAGESv GENERATED BY A SPACE
BASED SCATTEROMETER MAY HAVE
ONLY
KM RESOLUTION THEIR WIDE SWATH AND FREQUENT REVISIT INTERVALS ARE WELL SUITED TO
SYNOPTIC COVERAGE OF GLOBAL
SCALE PHENOMENA 4HE MULTI
YEAR HISTORY OF SCATTEROMET
RIC RADARS PROVIDES AN IMPORTANT DATA SET FOR CLIMATE CHANGE STUDIES AS WELL AS MONI
TORING SEASONAL VARIATIONS 3UITABLE APPLICATIONS INCLUDE SEA ICE COVER LARGE ICEBERGS
CONTINENTAL ICE SHEETS VEGETATION AND SOIL MOISTUREn
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2!$!2 (!.$"//+
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SCATTEROMETER PORTION OF THE 3 +U BAND INSTRUMENT ABOARD 3KYLAB 4HE TOP LEVEL
OBJECTIVES OF THIS EXPERIMENT WERE TO PROVIDE THE NEAR SIMULTANEOUS MEASUREMENT
OF MICROWAVE BACKSCATTER AND EMISSIVITY OF LAND AND OCEAN ON A GLOBAL SCALE AND
TO PROVIDE ENGINEERING DATA FOR USE IN DESIGNING SPACE RADAR ALTIMETERS 4HE EQUIP
MENT SHARED A COMMON GIMBALED ANTENNA 4HE SCATTEROMETER MEASURED THE NORMALIZED
BACKSCATTER COEFFICIENT OF OCEAN AND TERRAIN AS A FUNCTION OF INCIDENCE RANGING FROM
n TO n !LTHOUGH ONLY SPARSE COVERAGE OF SELECTED SITES WAS POSSIBLE THE DATA WERE
SUFFICIENT TO DEMONSTRATE THE POTENTIAL OF SPACE BASED RADAR MEASUREMENT OF SURFACE
WIND VECTORS OVER THE OCEAN 4HE 3 ZONE OF ACCESS WAS FORWARD AND TO
EITHER SIDE OF THE SPACECRAFT GROUND TRACK &OR SELECTED MEASUREMENTS THE BEAM WAS
POINTED IN THE ALONG TRACK DIRECTION TO FIXED ANGLES OF AND
WITH SUFFICIENT DWELL TIME AT EACH ANGLE TO PERMIT AVERAGING TO ACHIEVE APPROXIMATELY
PRECISION 2AD3CAT DATA COLLECTED OVER THE !MAZON RAIN FOREST SUGGESTED THAT THE
UNIFORMITY OF THE OBSERVED BACKSCATTER WOULD BE A STABLE CALIBRATION REFERENCE FOR
SPACE BASED RADARS WHICH HAS SINCE BEEN VALIDATED AS A STANDARD TECHNIQUE
3!33 THE 3EASAT ! 3ATELLITE 3CATTEROMETER WAS THE FIRST SPACE BASED RADAR
DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY TO MEASURE OCEANIC WINDS )T WAS A MULTI FAN BEAM INSTRUMENT
COMPRISED OF TWO SETS OF TWO DUAL POLARIZED ANTENNAS (( AND 66 EACH ^ M IN
LENGTH WHOSE FAN SHAPED BEAMS POINTED TO n AND n TO EITHER SIDE OF THE ORBIT
PLANE )NCIDENCE SPANNED n TO n COVERING A KM WIDE SWATH ON EACH SIDE
#ALIBRATION DATA TAKEN OVER THE RAIN FOREST WERE USED TO REDUCE ANTENNA GAIN UNCER
TAINTY TO LESS THAN D" 3INCE 3EASAT WAS NOT YAW STEERED THE FORE AND AFT FOOTPRINTS
WERE MISREGISTERED DUE TO %ARTH ROTATION WHICH REDUCED THE USEFUL SWATH AT LOWER
LATITUDES TO ABOUT KM 4HE VALUE OF +P VARIED FROM TO OVER THE OCEAN UNDER
MODERATE TO HIGH SEA STATES BUT DEGRADED TO FOR LOWER WIND SPEEDS AND TO
FOR VERY LOW BACKSCATTER FROM NON OCEANIC SURFACES 4HE ACCURACIES OF WIND SPEED
AND DIRECTION OVER n MS WERE o MS AND o O RESPECTIVELY 4HE DATA WERE NOT
SUFFICIENT TO AVOID DIRECTIONAL AMBIGUITIES HOWEVER .OMINAL RESOLUTION WAS KM
DETERMINED BY THE INTERSECTION OF THE ANTENNA PATTERN AND ISO DOPPLER CONTOURS 4HE
RADAR OPERATED AT '(Z RADIATING A PEAK POWER OF 7 AT DUTY FACTOR FROM
A TRAVELING WAVE TUBE AMPLIFIER 474! 4HE WAVEFORM WAS MODULATED #7 4HE
RECEIVER FRONT END WAS A TUNNEL DIODE AMPLIFIER WHICH MAINTAINED THE NOISE FIGURE TO
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73 ABOARD THE %23 AND %23 SPACECRAFT OF %3! DENOTES THE SCATTEROMETER MODE
EMBEDDED IN THEIR # BAND !-) RADAR INSTRUMENTATION 4HESE SCATTEROMETERS USED THREE
FAN BEAM ANTENNAS WHOSE FOOTPRINTS WERE ORIENTED AT n n AND n WITH RESPECT TO
THE SATELLITE TRACK 4HE TWO OUTER ANTENNAS ARE M LONG .OTE THAT THE SPACECRAFT HAD TO
BE YAW STEERED TO MAINTAIN THIS FOOTPRINT GEOMETRY OVER THE ROTATING %ARTH 4HE # BAND
OPERATING FREQUENCY ALTHOUGH A DEPARTURE FROM SPACE BASED PRECEDENT RESULTED FROM
USE OF THE SAME 2& HARDWARE AS THE 3!2 MODE !S A CONSEQUENCE SIMULTANEOUS 3!2
AND SCATTEROMETER OPERATIONS WERE NOT POSSIBLE )N CONTRAST TO +U BAND THE # BAND DATA
WERE LESS DEGRADED BY RAIN AND PROVED TO BE MORE RELIABLE FOR HIGHER WIND SPEEDS
4HE ANTENNA SWATHS SPANNED KM FROM WHICH THE AVERAGED DATA FROM THE THREE LOOK
DIRECTIONS WERE COLOCATED INTO KM RESOLUTION CELLS POSTED ON A KM GRID
!3#!4 THE !DVANCED 3CATTEROMETER ABOARD -ET/P IS ESSENTIALLY AN IMPROVED
VERSION OF THE %23 INSTRUMENTS )T IS A STAND ALONE RADAR DESIGNED FOR OPERATIONAL
USE IT DOES NOT HAVE TO TIME SHARE ONBOARD ELECTRONICS AS WAS THE CASE WITH THE SCAT
TEROMETER IN THE !-) SUITE )T COVERS SWATHS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE SATELLITE GROUND TRACK
4HE NEAR EDGE OF THESE KM SWATHS ARE OFFSET KM FROM NADIR SPANNING nnn
n INCIDENCE 4HE D" RADIOMETRICALLY ACCURATE DATA ARE AVERAGED TO ACHIEVE +P
FROM HIGH UP WIND SPEED TO LOW SPEED CROSS WIND ASPECT 4HE RESULT
ING VECTORS FOR NEAR SURFACE WINDS COVER n MS WITH ACCURACY o MS AND o n
4HE RADAR OPERATES AT '(Z RADIATING MS LINEAR FREQUENCY MODULATED ,&-
PULSES AT 7 PEAK POWER FROM COMBINED 'A!S &%4 DEVICES /NLY ONE ANTENNA IS
ACTIVE FOR S AT A TIME THE OPERATION CYCLES AROUND THE SIX ANTENNAS IN SEQUENCE
4HE INSTRUMENT MASS IS KG INPUT POWER REQUIRED IS 7 4HANKS TO ONBOARD
PROCESSING THE INHERENT DATA RATE IS REDUCED FROM -BITS TO AN AVERAGE OF KBITS
TO THE -ET/P PAYLOAD DATA HANDLING SYSTEM
.3#!4 THE .!3! 3CATTEROMETER PROVIDED TO *APAN AS PART OF THE !DVANCED %ARTH
/BSERVING 3ATELLITE !$%/3 PAYLOAD WAS AN UPGRADED VERSION OF 3!33 .3#!4
USED SIX DUAL POLARIZED STICK ANTENNAS M LONG FOUR OF WHICH WERE AIMED AT o n
( POLARIZED AND on 6POLARIZED
FROM THE SURFACE TRACK AND THE TWO MIDBEAM
ANTENNA PATTERNS WERE ALIGNED AT n AND n EACH ( AND 6 POLARIZED 4HE THIRD BEAM
ON EACH SIDE HELPED TO REMOVE THE FOURFOLD DIRECTIONAL AMBIGUITIES THAT PLAGUED 3!33
WIND RETRIEVALS 4WO KM WIDE SWATHS WERE COVERED AT KM RESOLUTION )N ORDER
TO SUPPORT KM ALONG TRACK RESOLUTION THE RADARS SEQUENCER HAD TO CYCLE THROUGH ALL
ANTENNA PATTERNS WITHIN S RESULTING IN A MAXIMUM DWELL TIME OF MS WITHIN
EACH OF THE EIGHT FOOTPRINTS #ROSS BEAM RESOLUTION WAS DETERMINED BY DOPPLER ANALYSIS
(OWEVER SINCE THE MEAN DOPPLER OFFSET WAS A FUNCTION OF ANTENNA ORIENTATION AS WELL
AS INCIDENCE THE RETURN FROM EACH DIRECTION NEEDED ITS OWN ,/ OFFSET 4HE ANTENNAS
PEAK GAIN WAS D" DIRECTED TOWARD MAXIMUM RANGE .3#!4S MASS WAS KG
REQUIRED INPUT POWER WAS 7 4HE 2& SYSTEM WAS BUILT AROUND REDUNDANT 474!S
TRANSMITTING MODULATED MS PULSES AT A 02& OF (Z PEAK POWER 7
3EA7INDS MARKS A SIGNIFICANT DEPARTURE FROM THE hSTICK ANTENNASv OF PRIOR WIND
SCATTEROMETERS RELYING INSTEAD ON A DISH ANTENNA ROTATING AT 20- TO SWEEP ITS TWO
BEAMS OVER A NADIR CENTERED SWATH KM WIDE &IGURE 4HE FIRST 3EA7INDS
MISSION WAS ABOARD 1UIK3#!4 MOBILIZED BY .!3! AND LAUNCHED IN *UNE AS A
RAPID RESPONSE TO THE PREMATURE LOSS OF !$%/3 IN *UNE 4HE SECOND 3EA7INDS
WAS EMBARKED ON *APANS !$%/3 )) "OTH INSTRUMENTS OPERATE AT +U BAND K(Z
RADIATING 7 MS PULSES AT (Z 02& SPLIT EQUALLY BETWEEN THE TWO ANTENNA
BEAMS 4HE TRANSMITTER IS A 474! BASED ON .3#!4 HERITAGE 4HE MODULATED PULSE
BANDWIDTH IS K(Z WHICH IS MAINTAINED WITHIN AN K(Z FILTER IN THE RECEIVER
4HE RECEIVED DATA MUST BE COMPENSATED TO OFFSET THE DOPPLER SHIFT WHICH VARIES
nxn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4HE 3EAWINDS SCATTEROMETER
AS EMBARKED ON *APANS !$%/3 )) SPACECRAFT
4HE RADAR DRIVES THE CONICALLY SCANNED REFLECTOR
ANTENNA WHICH TAKES UP MOST OF THE REAL ESTATE ON
THE %ARTH VIEWING FACE OF THE SATELLITE
SINUSOIDALLY OVER -(Z DURING EACH ANTENNA ROTATION )NSTRUMENT MASS IS KG
REQUIRED INPUT POWER IS 7 4HESE NUMBERS ILLUSTRATE THE PRINCIPAL ADVANTAGES OF
THE ARCHITECTURE PROVIDING GREATER COVERAGE WITH LESS MASS AND POWER IN CONTRAST TO
THE STICK
ANTENNA ARCHITECTURE 3YSTEM SENSITIVITY ACCOMMODATES R IN THE RANGE
n D" TO n D" 4HE ANTENNA IS A
M REFLECTOR GAIN ^ D" WITH TWO FEEDS RESULT
ING IN A PAIR OF PENCIL BEAMS AT n ( POLARIZATION AND n INCIDENCE 6 POLARIZATION
4HE ILLUMINATION GEOMETRY ALSO IS ADVANTAGEOUS BECAUSE THE INCIDENCE IS THE SAME FOR
ALL ASPECT ANGLES 4HE BEAM
LIMITED FOOTPRINTS ARE APPROXIMATELY KM BY KM
&OLLOWING ONBOARD PROCESSING THE AVERAGE DATA RATE IS KBITSS 3EA7INDS PERFOR
MANCE IS AT LEAST COMPARABLE TO OTHER WIND SCATS WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION ACCURACY
BEING MS TO MS AT MS AND n RESPECTIVELY .OMINAL SURFACE RESOLUTION IS
KM ADVANCED PROCESSING REDUCES THIS TO ^ KM !LTHOUGH THE SWATH IS KM
WIDE THE VARIETY OF ASPECT AND POLARIZATION COVERAGE LIMITS THE SCIENCE
COMPLIANT WIND
VECTOR RETRIEVALS TO STRIPS FROM KM TO KM EITHER SIDE OF THE GROUND TRACK
!QUARIUS 4HE !QUARIUS MISSION IS DESIGNED TO MAP SEA SURFACE SALINITY FOR
WHICH , BAND RADIOMETRIC SENSING OF THE OCEANS EMISSIVITY IS THE PRIMARY MEASURE
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ITS TEMPERATURE AND DIELECTRIC CONSTANT WHICH IS THE VARIABLE OF INTEREST 4HE !QUARIUS
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ORBIT 4HE SCATTEROMETER IS FULLY POLARIZED (( (6 6( AND 66 0EAK TRANSMITTED
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SOUNDER PASSES OVER AN ILLUMINATED REGION THE SEQUENCE OF RANGING WAVEFORMS GENER
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VOLUME 0ENETRATION DEPTH IN GENERAL INCREASES WITH WAVELENGTH AND ALSO WITH RADIATED
POWER /N THE OTHER HAND REFLECTIVITY DEPENDS ON THE DIELECTRIC CONTRASTS BETWEEN
INTERNAL LAYERS A MATERIALS DIELECTRIC CONSTANT IS ALSO A FUNCTION OF WAVELENGTH )T
FOLLOWS THAT SPACE BASED RADAR SOUNDERS MUST CHOOSE A FREQUENCY AND BANDWIDTH THAT
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4HE SPACE BASED RADAR SOUNDERS HIGHLIGHTED IN 4ABLE FALL NATURALLY INTO TWO
GROUPS SUBSURFACE AND ATMOSPHERICIONOSPHERIC )T IS EVIDENT THAT THE SUBSURFACE
SOUNDERS ALL ARE AT RELATIVELY LOW FREQUENCY IN CONTRAST TO THE ATMOSPHERIC SOUNDERS AT
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THE SURFACE THE USUAL VOLUMETRIC ATTENUATIONS AND REFLECTIONS OCCUR !S WITH ANY '02
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o 4HE TERM SOUNDER USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH ACOUSTIC ECHO SOUNDING DERIVES FROM MANY CENTURIES OF OCEANIC DEPTH
MEASUREMENTS USING LEAD LINES AND THE LIKE 4HE LOGICAL EXTENSION FROM ACOUSTIC TO ELECTROMAGNETIC METHODOLOGY
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OF WHICH CAN BE SOLVED BY THE USUAL EXPEDIENT OF INCREASING THE RADARS TRANSMITTED
POWER 4HE FIRST PROBLEM IS CLUTTER &ROM ORBITAL ALTITUDE SCATTERERS ON THE SURFACE FAR
FROM NADIR MAY GENERATE STRONG BACKSCATTER THAT APPEARS AT THE SAME RADAR RANGE AS
THE SIGNALS REFLECTED FROM DEPTH AS SUGGESTED IN &IGURE 4HE PROBLEM IS COM
POUNDED WITH INCREASING ALTITUDE AND BY THE FACT THAT AT THE LONG WAVELENGTHS REQUIRED
FOR DEEPER PENETRATION THE SIZE CONSTRAINTS ON A SPACECRAFT MOUNTED ANTENNA DICTATE
THAT THE ILLUMINATION PATTERN WILL HAVE LITTLE OR NO DIRECTIVITY 0ROCESSING OVER GROUPS
OF RETURNS TO REDUCE THE EFFECTIVE WIDTH OF THE BEAM CAN BE HELPFUL $OPPLER BASED
TECHNIQUES ARE APPLICABLE TO THE ALONG TRACK DIRECTION (OWEVER THE ORBITS ALTI
TUDE VELOCITY PARAMETER 4ABLE MAY BE SO LARGE THAT THE AVAILABLE AMBIGUITY FREE
RANGE DOPPLER WINDOW IS TOO SMALL TO BE USEFUL .ARROWING THE EFFECTIVE ANTENNA PAT
TERN IN THE CROSS TRACK DIRECTION PRESENTS EVEN MORE OF A CHALLENGE
4HE SECOND PROBLEM IS RANGE SIDELOBES &ROM ORBITAL ALTITUDES AND FROM A REALISTIC
SPACECRAFT IT IS NOT FEASIBLE TO TRANSMIT A SIMPLE SHORT PULSE THAT HAS SUFFICIENT ENERGY
TO GENERATE USEFUL REFLECTIONS FROM DEPTH ,ONG MODULATED PULSES ARE THE ONLY PRACTICAL
METHOD 5NFORTUNATELY THE SPECULAR COMPONENT OF SURFACE REFLECTION USUALLY IS VERY
STRONG AT THE LONG WAVELENGTHS REQUIRED FOR SUBSURFACE SOUNDING 0ULSE COMPRESSION
OF THE SURFACE RETURN GENERATES RANGE SIDELOBES WHICH APPEAR AT DEPTHS THAT COULD EASILY
OVERWHELM THE WEAKER REFLECTIONS FROM THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE 4HE STANDARD STRATEGY
TO MITIGATE THIS PROBLEM IS RIGOROUS SIDELOBE CONTROL REQUIRING SEVERE PULSE AMPLITUDE
WEIGHTING AND STRICT CONTROL OF PHASE AND AMPLITUDE LINEARITY
$UE TO THE LARGE FOOTPRINT OF A SPACE BASED SOUNDER AND THE NEED TO SALVAGE ALL
POSSIBLE CONTRIBUTIONS OF SIGNALS FROM DEPTH IT IS STANDARD PRACTICE TO ASSUME THAT THE
DOMINANT IN SITU RETURNS ARISE FROM SPECULAR SCATTERING HENCE FROM EXTENDED HORIZONTAL
LAYERS 4HE CONTRIBUTING AREA IS DETERMINED BY THE RADIUS R& OF THE FIRST &RESNEL ZONE
R& HL IN FREE SPACE WHERE H IS THE ALTITUDE OF THE RADAR ABOVE THE SURFACE 4HE
RADIUS IS SOMEWHAT LARGER WITHIN THE MEDIUM SINCE THE SPHERICAL WAVEFRONT IS FLAT
TENED DUE TO THE SLOWER SPEED OF IN SITU PROPAGATION
!,3% 4HE !POLLO ,UNAR 3OUNDER %XPERIMENT WAS A COMBINATION IMAGER
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ON SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR 3!2 PRINCIPLES 4HE DATA WERE RECORDED DIRECTLY ONTO
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SIDELOBES WERE AT LEAST D" BELOW THE MAIN
BEAM PEAK FOR ALL RESPONSES BEYOND THREE
IMPULSE WIDTHS OF THE COMPRESSED SIGNAL !MPLITUDE AND PHASE LINEARITY WERE CON
STRAINED TO BE BETTER THAN AND RADIAN RESPECTIVELY 4HE TRANSMITTED PULSES
WERE LINEAR &- AT BANDWIDTH IN ALL THREE BANDS .OMINAL FREE
SPACE RESOLUTIONS
WERE M M AND M !NTENNA GAINS WERE
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IN 4ABLE -ARS %XPRESS IS IN AN ELLIPTICAL ORBIT SUBSURFACE SOUNDING OPERATIONS
ARE RESTRICTED TO THE LOWER KM TO KM ALTITUDES 3OUNDING IS FURTHER LIMITED
BY THE IONOSPHERE WHICH PREVENTS EFFECTIVE RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION TO THE SURFACE AT
FREQUENCIES BELOW THE PLASMA FREQUENCY F WHICH AT -ARS IS ^ -(Z ON THE SUNLIT SIDE
AND ^ -(Z ON THE DARK SIDE 4HE IONOSPHERE INDUCES A FREQUENCY
DEPENDENT TIME
DELAY ON THE SIGNAL ACCORDING TO THE INDEX OF REFRACTION N WHERE N ;
F F =
4HE RESULTING DISPERSION DISTORTS THE RADAR MODULATION WHICH MUST BE COMPENSATED
BEFORE PULSE COMPRESSION 4HE
M DIPOLE ANTENNA ORIENTED ORTHOGONAL TO THE ORBIT
PLANE IS ONLY WEAKLY DIRECTIVE WITH A D" GAIN 4HE TWO
M LONG ELEMENTS WERE
NOT UNFURLED UNTIL TWO YEARS INTO THE MISSION DUE TO CONCERNS ABOUT THEIR POTENTIAL
FOR DAMAGING THE SPACECRAFT DURING DEPLOYMENT 4HE EFFECTIVE CROSS
TRACK FOOTPRINT
IS ON THE ORDER OF KM 4HE ALONG
TRACK FOOTPRINT IS ABOUT KM WHICH IS THE RESULT
OF ONBOARD COHERENT DOPPLER PROCESSING 4HIS STRATEGY REDUCES THE IMPACT OF OFF
NADIR
CLUTTER ARISING FROM SOURCES IN THE ALONG
TRACK DIRECTION 4HE TECHNIQUE IMPROVES THE
SUBCLUTTER VISIBILITY BY D" OR MORE 4HE RADARS MASS AND INPUT POWER ARE KG AND
7 0EAK RADIATED POWER IS 7 4HE SYSTEM NOISE FLOOR IS ABOUT D" BELOW THE
MEAN SURFACE RETURN WHICH ESTABLISHES THE DYNAMIC RANGE THAT LIMITS DEPTH OF PENETRA
TION -!23)3 HAS PERFORMED AS INTENDED WITH EARLY RESULTS FROM THE POLAR LAYERED
DEPOSITS FOR EXAMPLE
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)N GENERAL TERMS IT HAS HIGHER RESOLUTION AT A HIGHER FREQUENCY DESIGNED TO PROVIDE
SHARPER DIFFERENTIATION OF THE UPPER SEVERAL HUNDRED METERS OF THE SURFACE OF -ARS
3(!2!$ TRANSMITS A
-(Z LINEAR &- SIGNAL CENTERED AT -(Z 4HEORETICAL VERTI
CAL RESOLUTION IS M IN MATERIAL HAVING A PERMITTIVITY OF 4HE
M DIPOLE ANTENNA
HAS A FREQUENCY
DEPENDENT TWO
WAY GAIN OF
D" TO D" 4HE EFFECTIVE BEAM
FOOTPRINT AFTER DOPPLER PROCESSING IS ^ KM ALONG TRACK AND ^ KM ACROSS TRACK
.OMINAL 3.2 WITH RESPECT TO THE SURFACE RETURN IS IN EXCESS OF D" )NSTRUMENT MASS
IS ^ KG INPUT POWER IS ^ 7 3(!2!$ MEASUREMENTS STARTED LATE ONLY WHEN
THE -2/ ORBIT WAS CIRCULARIZED AFTER SIX MONTHS OF AEROBRAKING
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
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AT
KM ALTITUDE 4HE RADAR TRANSMITS SEC LINEAR &- SIGNALS THAT ARE DEMODU
LATED USING THE STRETCH TECHNIQUE SIMILAR TO RADAR ALTIMETERS %ACH PULSE IS AMPLITUDE
WEIGHTED BY A SINE FUNCTION O TO SUPPRESS SIDELOBES BY ^ D" FROM THE SURFACE
RETURN THAT OTHERWISE WOULD MASK THE DESIRED RETURNS FROM DEPTH 4HE IN SITU RESOLUTION
IS NOMINALLY ^ M WITHIN A MEDIUM OF PERMITTIVITY ^ 4HE RADAR DYNAMIC RANGE IS
^ D" TO PERMIT OBSERVATION OF SUBSURFACE PROFILES TO A DEPTH OF SEVERAL KM 4HE
ANTENNA IS COMPRISED OF TWO SETS OF DIPOLES M TIP
TO
TIP WITH AN EFFECTIVE FOOTPRINT
OF SEVERAL TENS OF KM 0EAK OUTPUT POWER IS 7 )NSTRUMENT MASS IS KG AND INPUT
POWER 7
!TMOSPHERIC )ONOSPHERIC 3OUNDINGn&LIGHT 3YSTEMS 4HE OBJECTIVE OF THIS
CLASS OF RADAR SOUNDERS IS TO GENERATE A CROSS
SECTION PROFILE OF THE WATER OR ELEC
TRON DENSITY IN THE ORBIT PLANE BENEATH THE SPACECRAFT !TMOSPHERIC SOUNDING BY RADAR
REQUIRES SENSITIVITY TO RELATIVELY WEAK BACKSCATTER EFFECTIVE SUPPRESSION OR AVOID
ANCE OF THE STRONG RETURN FROM NADIR MODEST RANGE RESOLUTION AND RELATIVELY NARROW
FIELDS OF VIEW 4HESE REQUIREMENTS LEAD TO HIGH POWER RADARS AT +U BAND OR ABOVE A
SIMPLE PULSE WAVEFORM AND SUBSTANTIAL ANTENNA AREA
2ADAR SOUNDERS SHOULD NOT BE CONFUSED WITH PASSIVE MICROWAVE RADIOMETERS
ALSO CALLED SOUNDERS UNFORTUNATELYTHAT ARE USED BY OPERATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL
SATELLITES TO ESTIMATE ATMOSPHERIC WATER DISTRIBUTION ! MULTIFREQUENCY RADIOMETER
GENERATES COARSE WATER VAPOR DENSITY PROFILES FOR WHICH ALTITUDE IS A FUNCTION OF FRE
QUENCY 0ASSIVE MICROWAVE SOUNDING UNITS HAVE MASS AND POWER REQUIREMENTS ON THE
ORDER OF KG AND 7 MUCH LESS THAN THEIR ACTIVE RADAR COUNTERPARTS
42-- 4HE 4ROPICAL 2AINFALL -EASURING -ISSION WAS A JOINT UNDERTAKING
BETWEEN .!3! AND THE *APANESE !EROSPACE %XPLORATION !GENCY *!8! 4HE FIVE
INSTRUMENT PAYLOAD INCLUDES THE 0RECIPITATION 2ADAR 02 WHICH WAS DESIGNED AND
BUILT BY *!8! THEN .!3$! AND WAS THE FIRST OF ITS KIND ON A SPACE
BASED PLATFORM
)TS PRECESSING
KM ORBIT INCLINED AT n SUPPORTS TEMPORALLY AND SPATIALLY SPARSE
ATMOSPHERIC COVERAGE OVER TROPICAL LAND AND SEA 4HE RADAR PROVIDES A THREE
DIMEN
SIONAL STRUCTURE OF RAINFALL FROM THE SURFACE TO AN ALTITUDE OF KM 7HEN COMBINED
WITH DATA FROM THE PASSIVE MICROWAVE RADIOMETER 4-) 02 DATA SUPPORT IMPROVED
ACCURACY OF RAINFALL RETRIEVALS 4HE RADARS +U BAND ^ CM FREQUENCY IS ABOUT THREE
TIMES HIGHER THAN MOST SURFACE
BASED METEOROLOGICAL RADARS BUT WAS SELECTED TO
ACHIEVE A REASONABLY NARROW n BEAMWIDTH FROM AN ANTENNA AREA CONSTRAINED BY
SPACECRAFT ACCOMMODATION TO BE NO MORE THAN M BY M (ORIZONTAL RESOLUTION
AT NADIR IS ABOUT KM 4HE ANTENNA A
ELEMENT SLOTTED WAVEGUIDE PHASED ARRAY
WITH D" GAIN IS ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED OVER on ACROSS TRACK COVERING A SWATH
KM WIDE CENTERED AT NADIR 0EAK TRANSMITTED POWER IS 7 GENERATED FROM
SOLID
STATE POWER AMPLIFIERS 330!S ONE FOR EACH WAVEGUIDE 4HE
M RANGE
RESOLUTION IS SET BY THE UNITY TIME
BANDWIDTH
PRODUCT SEC PULSE 4HE RADAR HAS
SUFFICIENT SENSITIVITY TO RESPOND TO RAIN RATES AS SMALL AS MMHR )NSTRUMENT MASS IS
KG REQUIRED INPUT POWER IS 7
4HE IONOSPHERIC SOUNDING MODE ON -!23)3 DESCRIBED ABOVE IS AIMED PRIMAR
ILY AT CHARACTERIZATION OF THE -ARTIAN IONOSPHERE DURING DAYLIGHT CONDITIONS FROM
ALTITUDES BELOW KM 4HE RADAR IS OPERATED AS A STEPPED
FREQUENCY INSTRUMENT
SWEEPING K(Z TO -(Z IN K(Z INTERVALS OVER SECONDS &ROM
KM THE NOMINAL 3.2 IS D" INCREASING TO D" AT -(Z
30!#% "!3%$ 2%-/4% 3%.3).' 2!$!23
#LOUD3AT ,AUNCHED IN !PRIL #LOUD3AT INCLUDES AS ITS PRIMARY PAYLOAD
THE #LOUD 0ROFILING 2ADAR #02 #LOUD3AT FLIES IN A SUN
SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT IN
CLOSE FORMATION WITH #!,)03/ WHICH CARRIES A CLOUD
PROFILING LIDAR AND IN SOME
WHAT LOOSER FORMATION WITH !QUA !URA 4ERRA AND 0!2!3/, 4AKEN TOGETHER THESE
SIX ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITES CONSTITUTE THE SO
CALLED !
4RAIN 4HE AVERAGE SEPARATION
BETWEEN #LOUD3AT AND #!,)03/ IS ABOUT KM WHICH CORRESPONDS TO A ONE
MINUTE
DELAY BETWEEN THE RADAR AND LIDAR CLOUD PROFILING MEASUREMENTS 4HE #02 WAS DEVEL
OPED JOINTLY BY .!3! AND THE #ANADIAN 3PACE !GENCY )T IS A '(Z NADIR
VIEWING
REAL APERTURE RADAR TRANSMITTING SEC PULSES AT A 02& OF K(Z TO FILL A WINDOW
FROM THE SURFACE TO KM ALTITUDE WITH
M VERTICAL RESOLUTION SOUNDING DATA 4HE
ANTENNA DIAMETER LIMITED BY THE LAUNCH VEHICLE SHROUD IS M WHICH SUPPORTS
ACROSS
TRACK AND ALONG
TRACK RESOLUTIONS OF KM AND KM RESPECTIVELY 4HE LARGER
ALONG
TRACK RESOLUTION REFLECTS THE
SEC INTEGRATION TIME OF THE RETURNS !NTENNA GAIN
IS D" !VERAGE DATA RATE IS KBITSS $YNAMIC RANGE IS D" MINIMUM DETECTABLE
VOLUMETRIC RETURN IS n D": 4HE 02 MASS IS KG INPUT POWER REQUIRED IS 7
0EAK POWER TRANSMITTED IS K7
4HE #02S HIGH
POWER AMPLIFIER (0! IS THE FIRST OF ITS KIND FOR A SPACE
BASED
RADAR AN EXTENDED INTERACTION KLYSTRON 4HE KLYSTRON IS DRIVEN BY M7 SIGNALS
FROM A SOLID
STATE PREAMPLIFIER 4HE KLYSTRON REQUIRES K6 PROVIDED BY A HIGH
VOLTAGE
POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM THAT ALSO IS A SPACE FIRST 4HE (0! IS FULLY REDUNDANT
$02 4HE DUAL
FREQUENCY PRECIPITATION RADAR IS THE ACTIVE MICROWAVE INSTRU
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BASED ON A +U BAND INSTRUMENT +U02 SIMILAR TO ITS PREDECESSOR ON 42-- AUGMENTED
BY A +A BAND '(Z RADAR +A02 4HEIR TWO PHASED ARRAY SLOTTED WAVEGUIDE
ANTENNAS ARE SIZED AND ORIENTED SO THAT THEIR FOOTPRINTS ARE THE SAME 4HEIR RESPECTIVE
STEERED BEAMS ARE SYNCHRONIZED SO THAT FOR THE CENTRAL
KM SWATH WITHIN WHICH THEY
BOTH HAVE COVERAGE THEIR VERTICAL PROFILES ARE NEAR
SIMULTANEOUS 4HE +U02 AND +A02
ANTENNAS ARE SIZED AT M r M AND M r M RESPECTIVELY EACH COMPRISED
OF SLOTTED WAVEGUIDES DRIVEN BY INDIVIDUAL SOLID
STATE POWER AMPLIFIERS 0EAK
TRANSMITTED POWERS ARE 7 AND 7 -ASS AND INPUT POWER OF THE TWO RADARS ARE
KG AND KG AND 7 AND 7 4HE ONLY OTHER INSTRUMENT IN THE PAYLOAD
IS A MICROWAVE RADIOMETER 4O PROVIDE COVERAGE AT MORE LATITUDES THE SPACECRAFT HAS
A HIGHER INCLINATION ORBIT THAN 42--S n 4HE MAIN ADVANTAGES OF THE SECOND FRE
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,
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.ATIONAL #ENTER FOR !TMOSPHERIC 2ESEARCH
/," 1
/"
3TANDARD OPERATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL DOPPLER RADARS HAVE BECOME FAMILIAR OBSERVA
TIONAL TOOLS TO RADAR ENGINEERS AS WELL AS THE GENERAL PUBLIC SINCE THEIR INTRODUCTION BY
THE 5NITED 3TATES .ATIONAL 7EATHER 3ERVICE .73 IN THE S AND ARE WIDELY USED
BY WEATHER FORECASTERS IN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS -AJOR TECHNICAL IMPROVEMENTS
WERE INTRODUCED IN THE S WHEN THE .73 THE &EDERAL !VIATION !GENCY &!! AND
THE 53 !IR &ORCE JOINED TOGETHER TO INSTALL THE NEXT GENERATION NATIONAL NETWORK OF
732
$ DOPPLER RADARS COMMONLY CALLED .EXRAD RADARS !LSO IN THE S THE &!!
INSTALLED THE 4ERMINAL $OPPLER 7EATHER 2ADAR 4$72 SYSTEM AT MAJOR AIRPORTS IN THE
53 4HE FEDERAL AGENCIES HAVE SUBSEQUENTLY IMPLEMENTED MANY TECHNICAL UPGRADES
TO THE .EXRAD AND 4$72 NETWORKS TO IMPROVE THEIR PERFORMANCE FOR PUBLIC WARNINGS
AND AVIATION SAFETY )N CONTRAST TO THE 732
AND 732
# RADARS THEY REPLACED
THE 732
$ SYSTEMS PROVIDE QUANTITATIVE AND AUTOMATED REAL
TIME INFORMATION ON
STORMS PRECIPITATION HURRICANES TORNADOES AND A HOST OF OTHER IMPORTANT WEATHER PHE
NOMENA WITH HIGHER SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL RESOLUTION THAN EVER BEFORE )N THE AVIATION
COMMUNITY 4$72 RADARS PROVIDE CRUCIAL INFORMATION FOR PROVIDING SAFE DEPARTURES
AND LANDINGS AT THE MAJOR AIRPORTS BY DETECTING HAZARDOUS WIND SHEAR EVENTS SUCH AS
MICROBURSTS STRONG GUST FRONTS AND OTHER PERFORMANCE REDUCING WIND HAZARDS
6ARIOUS OTHER TYPES OF METEOROLOGICAL RADARS EXIST 4HE .EXRAD LONG
RANGE WEATHER SUR
VEILLANCE RADARS ARE FREQUENTLY SUPPLEMENTED BY TYPICALLY SMALLER MEDIUM
RANGE WEATHER
RADARS OPERATED BY 46 STATIONS FOR LOCAL OBSERVATIONS )N ADDITION TO THE FAMILIAR COM
MERCIAL AIRBORNE WEATHER AVOIDANCE AND OBSERVATION RADARS AIRBORNE HURRICANE MONITORING
PROVIDES DETAILED FORECASTS AND WARNINGS FOR APPROACHING COASTAL HURRICANES !ND VERTI
CAL POINTING WIND PROFILING FIXED
BEAM SYSTEMS ARE ROUTINELY USED TO OBTAIN CONTINUOUS
PROFILES OF HORIZONTAL WINDS WHEREAS SPACED
BASED METEOROLOGICAL RADARS ARE MEASURING
WIDESPREAD EQUATORIAL PRECIPITATION FIELDS AND CLOUD PROPERTIES -ETEOROLOGICAL RESEARCH
RESULTS ARE REGULARLY TRANSFERRED TO THE OPERATIONAL WEATHER RADAR COMMUNITY FOR ACHIEV
ING HIGHER SPACE AND TIME RESOLUTION FOR IMPROVED DATA QUALITY AND FOR THE PRODUCTION OF
NEW WEATHER RADAR PRODUCTS ALL OF WHICH HAVE LED TO DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENTS IN WEATHER
FORECASTING $OPPLER WEATHER RADARS MEASURE DETAILED VECTOR WIND FIELDS AS WELL AS PRECIPI
TATION FIELDS 3MALL HIGHLY MOBILE RESEARCH RADARS PROVIDE MANY OF THE SAME CAPABILITIES
AS THE FIXED RADARS $UAL POLARIZATION TECHNIQUES ARE USED FOR IMPROVED QUANTITATIVE
4HE .ATIONAL #ENTER FOR !TMOSPHERIC 2ESEARCH IS SPONSORED BY THE .ATIONAL 3CIENCE &OUNDATION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
PRECIPITATION MEASUREMENT FOR DETECTING HAIL AND FOR DISCRIMINATING ICE PARTICLES SNOW
FROM WATER RAIN &URTHERMORE GROUND BASED RESEARCH RADARS CAN NOW MEASURE ATMO
SPHERIC MOISTURE IN THE SURFACE BOUNDARY LAYER !IRBORNE RESEARCH RADARS PROVIDE MANY
OF THESE SAME CAPABILITIES WITH INCREASED COVERAGE AND GREATER MOBILITY 4HIS VARIETY OF
APPLICATIONS IN BOTH RESEARCH AND OPERATIONS ILLUSTRATES THE VITALITY OF METEOROLOGICAL RADAR
TECHNOLOGY AND ITS EVOLUTION
4HIS CHAPTER IS INTENDED TO INTRODUCE THE READER TO METEOROLOGICAL RADAR PARTICULARLY
THOSE SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE UNIQUE TO METEOROLOGICAL APPLICATIONS )N THIS
REGARD IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT MOST METEOROLOGICAL RADARS APPEAR SIMILAR TO RADARS USED
FOR OTHER PURPOSES 0ULSED DOPPLER SYSTEMS ARE FAR MORE PREVALENT THAN #7 RADARS
0RIMARILY CENTER FED PARABOLIC DISH ANTENNAS WITH FOCAL POINT FEED AND LOW NOISE
SOLID STATE DIGITAL RECEIVERS ARE USED -AGNETRONS KLYSTRONS TRAVELING WAVE TUBES AND
OTHER FORMS OF TRANSMITTER FORMS ARE ROUTINELY USED
4HE DISTINGUISHING FACTOR BETWEEN METEOROLOGICAL RADAR AND OTHER KINDS OF AVIATION
OR MILITARY RADARS LIES IN THE NATURE OF WEATHER TARGETS THE RESULTING CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE RADAR SIGNAL AND THE MEANS BY WHICH THESE WEATHER ECHOES ARE PROCESSED TO SUP
PRESS ARTIFACTS AND GENERATE ONLY THE SIGNIFICANT AND ESSENTIAL WEATHER INFORMATION
)MPORTANT METEOROLOGICAL TARGETS OCCUPY A WIDE RANGE OF SCATTERING ECHO INTENSITIES
TO D": THAT ARE DISTRIBUTED IN SPACE FROM SHORT RANGE KM TO LONG RANGE
KM CLOSE TO THE SURFACE M TO THE TOP OF THE ATMOSPHERE WHERE WEATHER
IS IMPORTANT KM AND TYPICALLY OCCUPY A LARGE FRACTION OF THE SEVERAL MILLIONS
OF SPATIAL RESOLUTION CELLS OBSERVED BY THE RADAR -OREOVER IT IS NECESSARY TO MAKE
QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL CHARACTERISTICS IN EACH OF THESE CELLS
OR hWEATHER TARGETS v TO ESTIMATE SUCH PARAMETERS AS PRECIPITATION RATE PRECIPITATION
TYPE AIR MOTION TURBULENCE AND WIND SHEAR )N ADDITION BECAUSE A HIGH PERCENTAGE
OF RADAR RESOLUTION CELLS CONTAIN USEFUL INFORMATION METEOROLOGICAL RADARS REQUIRE FAST
DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSORS EFFECTIVE MEANS FOR SUPPRESSING ARTIFACTS CAUSED BY THE DATA
DENSITY HIGH DATA RATE RECORDING SYSTEMS AND INFORMATIVE DISPLAYS OF THIS INFORMA
TION 4HUS WHEREAS MANY NON WEATHER RADAR APPLICATIONS CALL FOR DETECTION TRACKING
AND DETAILED CHARACTERIZATION OF RELATIVELY FEWER NUMBER OF DESIRED TARGETS IN A FIELD
OF WIDESPREAD WEATHER GROUND SEA DECOY AND BIRD CLUTTER THE METEOROLOGICAL RADARS
FOCUS ON MAKING ACCURATE ESTIMATES OF THE NATURE OF THE hWEATHER CLUTTERv ITSELF "OTH
AVIATIONMILITARY AND WEATHER RADARS REQUIRE HEAVY PROCESSING ACTIVITY BUT THE VOLUME
OF DATA FOR ASSIMILATION RECORDING AND DISPLAY OF WEATHER RADARS IS OFTEN MUCH LARGER
SINCE DIFFERENT ESSENTIAL INFORMATION MUST BE EXTRACTED FOR A LARGE NUMBER OF ANTICI
PATED USERS WHEN MEASURING WIDESPREAD WEATHER SYSTEMS
4HE DISCUSSION HEREIN REFERS TO A NUMBER OF USEFUL TEXTS AND REFERENCES FOR THE READER
(OWEVER THE CLASSIC 2ADAR /BSERVATION OF THE !TMOSPHERE BY ,OU "ATTAN DESERVES
SPECIAL MENTION FOR ITS CLARITY AND COMPLETENESS AND REMAINS A STANDARD FOR COURSES IN
RADAR METEOROLOGY 4HE "ATTAN -EMORIAL AND TH !NNIVERSARY 2ADAR -ETEOROLOGY
#ONFERENCE PRODUCED A COLLECTION OF REVIEW PAPERS 2ADAR IN -ETEOROLOGY COVERING
THE FIRST FOUR DECADES OF RADAR METEOROLOGY FROM THE HISTORICAL TECHNOLOGICAL SCIENTIFIC
AND OPERATIONAL PERSPECTIVES "EAN ET AL IN 3KOLNIKS FIRST 2ADAR (ANDBOOK ADDRESSED
THE PROBLEM OF WEATHER EFFECTS ON RADAR $OVIAK AND :RNIC| PLACE SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON
DOPPLER ASPECTS OF METEOROLOGICAL RADAR WHEREAS "RINGI AND #HANDRA EMPHASIZE ALL
ASPECTS OF POLARIMETRIC RADARS AND ,HERMITTE FOCUSES ON MILLIMETER WAVE CLOUD RADARS
2INEHARTS 2ADAR FOR -ETEOROLOGISTS GIVES A BROAD AND EASILY COMPREHENDIBLE OVER
VIEW OF ALL ASPECTS OF WEATHER RADAR 4HE )%%% 'EOSCIENCE AND %LECTRONICS 3PECIAL )SSUE
ON 2ADAR -ETEOROLOGY !TLASS 2ADAR IN -ETEOROLOGY 7AKIMOTO AND 3RIVASTIVAS
2ADAR AND !TMOSPHERIC 3CIENCE ! #OLLECTION OF %SSAYS IN (ONOR OF $AVID !TLAS AND
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
-EISCHNERS 7EATHER 2ADAR PROVIDE AN EVOLVING PERSPECTIVE ON MANY ASPECTS OF METEO
ROLOGICAL RADARS BY TECHNOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC LEADERS &INALLY PERHAPS THE BROADEST AND
MOST COMPLETE SET OF REFERENCES ON PROGRESS IN THE FIELD CAN BE FOUND IN THE SERIES OF
0ROCEEDINGS AND 0REPRINTS OF THE )NTERNATIONAL #ONFERENCES ON 2ADAR -ETEOROLOGY
SPONSORED BY THE !MERICAN -ETEOROLOGICAL 3OCIETY !-3 4HESE DOCUMENTS CAN
BE FOUND IN MANY TECHNICAL LIBRARIES AND ALSO CAN BE OBTAINED ONLINE )N ADDITION THE
0ROCEEDINGS OF THE %UROPEAN #ONFERENCES ON 2ADAR -ETEOROLOGY PROVIDES EXCELLENT
REFERENCE MATERIAL
/
, ,
+1/" ",
/
"," "
/,
/4HE RECEIVED POWER 0R FROM A RADAR POINT TARGET CAN BE DERIVED FROM ANY OF A VARIETY
OF EXPRESSIONS THAT ARE APPLICABLE TO RADAR IN GENERAL &OR A SINGLE POINT TARGET A
SIMPLE FORM THAT IS READILY DERIVED IS
0R
BS
R
WHERE A IS A CONSTANT DEPENDENT UPON RADAR SYSTEM PARAMETERS TRANSMITTED POWER 0T
ANTENNA SYSTEM GAIN ' AND WAVELENGTH K R IS THE RANGE TO THE POINT TARGET AND R IS
THE RADAR CROSS SECTION 2#3
)T IS IN THE CALCULATION OF R FOR DISTRIBUTED METEOROLOGICAL TARGETS THAT THE RADAR
EQUATION DIFFERS FROM THAT FOR POINT TARGETS &OR DISTRIBUTED TARGETS LIKE RAINFALL THE 2#3
MAY BE WRITTEN
R G6
WHERE G IS THE RADAR REFLECTIVITY IN UNITS OF CROSS
SECTIONAL AREA PER UNIT VOLUME AND 6
IS THE VOLUME SAMPLED BY THE RADAR G CAN ITSELF BE WRITTEN AS
.
H S I
I
WHERE . IS THE NUMBER OF SCATTERERS PER UNIT VOLUME AND R I IS THE BACKSCATTERING CROSS
SECTION OF THE ITH POINT SCATTERER )N GENERAL THE METEOROLOGICAL SCATTERERS CAN TAKE ON
A VARIETY OF FORMS WHICH INCLUDE WATER DROPLETS ICE CRYSTALS HAIL SNOW AND MIXTURES
OF THE ABOVE
-IE DEVELOPED A GENERAL THEORY FOR THE ENERGY BACKSCATTERED BY AN OPTICAL PLANE
WAVE IMPINGING ON CONDUCTING SPHERES IN COLLOIDAL SUSPENSION 4HE SAME THEORY APPLIES
TO SPHERICAL RAINDROPS FALLING THROUGH THE ATMOSPHERE FOR WHICH THE BACKSCATTERED ENERGY
IS A FUNCTION OF THE WAVELENGTH K OF THE INCIDENT ENERGY AND THE RADIUS A AND COMPLEX
INDEX OF REFRACTION M OF THE PARTICLE 4HE RATIO O AK DETERMINES THE DOMINANT SCATTER
ING PROPERTIES OF THE PARTICLE 3PHERICAL WATER DROPLETS IN AIR THAT ARE LARGE RELATIVE TO THE
WAVELENGTH SCATTER IN THE SO CALLED OPTICAL REGION DROPLETS ON THE ORDER OF THE SAME SIZE
AS THE WAVELENGTH SCATTER IN THE SO CALLED RESONANT SCATTERING REGION AND DROPLETS SMALL
RELATIVE TO THE WAVELENGTH SCATTER IN THE SO
CALLED 2AYLEIGH REGION
"Y CONVENTION IN THIS CHAPTER WE SHALL USE R FOR RANGE AND 2 FOR RAINFALL RATE
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
7HEN THE RATIO PAL THE 2AYLEIGH APPROXIMATION MAY BE APPLIED AND RI
BECOMES
P
\ + \ $I
L
SI
WHERE $I IS THE DIAMETER OF THE ITH DROP AND
\ + \
M
M
WHERE M IS THE COMPLEX INDEX OF REFRACTION !T TEMPERATURES BETWEEN AND n# AND
CENTIMETER WAVELENGTHS \+\ y FOR THE WATER PHASE AND \+\ y FOR THE ICE
PHASE
%QUATION CAN NOW BE WRITTEN AS
H
P
\ + \
L
$I
I
AND WE DEFINE THE RADAR REFLECTIVITY FACTOR : AS
.
: $I
I
)N RADAR METEOROLOGY IT IS COMMON TO USE THE DIMENSIONS OF MILLIMETERS FOR DROP
DIAMETER $I AND TO CONSIDER THE SUMMATION TO TAKE PLACE OVER A UNIT VOLUME OF SIZE
M TO YIELD A VOLUME DENSITY EXPRESSION 4HEREFORE THE CONVENTIONAL UNIT OF : IS
IN MMM &OR ICE PARTICLES $I IS SOMETIMES EXPRESSED AS THE DIAMETER OF THE WATER
DROPLET THAT WOULD RESULT IF THE ICE PARTICLE WERE TO MELT COMPLETELY (OWEVER THE RADAR
SCATTERING PROCESS FOR THE MANY SHAPES AND TEMPERATURES OF ICE PARTICLES IS EXTREMELY
COMPLICATED AND A DEFINITIVE GENERALIZED EXPRESSION CANNOT BE GIVEN
)T IS OFTEN CONVENIENT TO TREAT THE DROP OR PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION AS A CONTINUOUS
FUNCTION WITH A NUMBER DENSITY .$ WHERE .$ IS THE NUMBER OF DROPS PER UNIT
VOLUME HAVING DIAMETERS BETWEEN $ AND $ D$ )N THIS CASE : IS GIVEN BY THE SIXTH
MOMENT OF THE PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION
: N $ $ D$
)F THE RADAR BEAM IS FILLED WITH SCATTERERS THE SAMPLE VOLUME OF 6 IS GIVEN
APPROXIMATELY BY
6y
P QF R CT
WHERE P AND E ARE THE AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION BEAMWIDTHS C IS THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT AND
S IS THE RADAR PULSE WIDTH 3UBSTITUTING %QS AND INTO %Q WE SEE THAT THE
2#3 FOR THE DISTRIBUTED WEATHER SCATTERER IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE PULSE VOLUME
AS DETERMINED BY THE PULSE LENGTH AND ANTENNA BEAM AT THE TARGET RANGE
4HEN COMBINING %QS AND AND SUBSTITUTING INTO %Q GIVES
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
0R
B P QF R CT P
\ + \
L
R
BP QF C T \ + \
:
L R
B `:
R
$I
I
4HIS EXPRESSION ILLUSTRATES THAT FOR THE DISTRIBUTED WEATHER TARGET THE RECEIVED POWER
IS A FUNCTION ONLY OF A ` A CONSTANT DEPENDENT UPON ALL THE RADAR SYSTEM AND PHYSI
CAL PARAMETERS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE RADAR REFLECTIVITY FACTOR : AND MOST
SIGNIFICANT INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO R NOT R AS IN THE CASE OF POINT TARGETS
4HE RADAR SYSTEM PARAMETERS INCLUDED IN A IN %Q INCLUDE THE PEAK TRANSMIT
POWER 0T THE ANTENNA SYSTEM GAIN ' TWICE ONCE FOR TRANSMITTING AND ONCE FOR RECEIV
ING AND THE WAVELENGTH K 7E INCLUDE ALL ANTENNA SYSTEM LOSSES IN THIS ANTENNA SYS
TEM GAIN FACTOR RADOME WAVEGUIDE ROTARY JOINTS ETC SINCE ALL THE MEASUREMENTS
MUST BE REFERENCED TO THE SAME POINT IN THE RADAR SYSTEMUSUALLY AT A COUPLER NEAR
THE CIRCULATOR "ECAUSE THE ANTENNA GAIN IS NOT UNIFORM OVER THE BEAMWIDTH ASSUMING
A UNIFORM GAIN CAN LEAD TO ERRORS IN THE CALCULATION OF : 5SING A SIMILAR DERIVATION
0ROBERT
*ONES TOOK THIS INTO ACCOUNT ASSUMED A GAUSSIAN SHAPE FOR THE ANTENNA BEAM
AND DERIVED THE FOLLOWING EQUATION FOR THE RECEIVED POWER
0R
0'
L QF CT .
T
SI
LN P R
I
WHERE LN IS THE CORRECTION FOR THE GAUSSIAN
SHAPED BEAM "Y SUBSTITUTING %QS
AND INTO %Q THE RECEIVED POWER CAN BE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE
REFLECTIVITY FACTOR : AND RANGE R AS
0R
0'
QF CTP \ + \ :
T
LN L R
"ECAUSE THE RECEIVING FILTER SUPPRESSES SOME OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL POWER 0R MUST
BE REDUCED BY ,R WHICH DEPENDS ON THE DETAILS OF THE TRANSMITTED SPECTRUM AND THE
RECEIVER FILTER BUT IS USUALLY A FACTOR OF ABOUT D" FOR A TYPICAL WAVEFORM AND
hMATCHED FILTERv 3OLVING FOR THE RADAR REFLECTIVITY FACTOR : GIVES
: ; LN K ,R 0T ' P E C S O \+\= 0R R
WHERE THE REFLECTIVITY FACTOR IS EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE RECEIVED POWER AND RANGE
/NE MUST BE CAREFUL TO USE CONSISTENT UNITS IN %Q )F METER
KILOGRAM
SECONDS
MKS UNITS ARE USED THE CALCULATION OF : WILL HAVE DIMENSIONS OF MM #ONVERSION
TO THE MORE CONVENIENT UNITS OF MMM REQUIRES THAT : BE MULTIPLIED BY THE FACTOR
&URTHERMORE EXPRESSING 0R AND R IN COMMON UNITS OF D"M D" RELATIVE TO MILLIWATT
AND KM REQUIRES THAT : ALSO BE MULTIPLIED BY "ECAUSE : VALUES OF INTEREST CAN RANGE
OVER SEVERAL ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE A LOGARITHMIC SCALE IS OFTEN USED 4HUS
D": # 0R D"M LOG R KM
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WHERE # ISOLATED IN BRACKETS IN %Q IS THE SO CALLED 7EATHER 2ADAR #ONSTANT
WITH 0R EXPRESSED IN D"M AND R IN KM 4YPICAL VALUES OF # ARE TO D" FOR THE
OPERATIONAL WEATHER RADARS )T IS CLEAR THAT FOR FIXED RANGE AND RECEIVED POWER A LOWER
VALUE OF THE RADAR CONSTANT # ALLOWS A SMALLER REFLECTIVITY VALUE IN D": TO BE OBSERVED
4HUS SMALLER VALUES OF # CORRESPOND TO MORE SENSITIVE RADARS
4HIS EQUATION CAN BE USED TO MEASURE THE REFLECTIVITY FACTOR : WHEN THE ANTENNA
BEAM IS FILLED WHEN THE SMALL SCATTERING PARTICLE 2AYLEIGH APPROXIMATION IS VALID AND
WHEN THE SCATTERERS ARE IN EITHER THE ICE OR THE WATER PHASE "ECAUSE ALL THESE CONDI
TIONS ARE NOT ALWAYS SATISFIED IT IS COMMON TO USE THE TERM :E THE EFFECTIVE REFLECTIVITY
FACTOR IN PLACE OF : 7HEN :E IS USED IT IS GENERALLY UNDERSTOOD THAT THE ABOVE CONDI
TIONS ARE ASSUMED 0RACTITIONERS IN THE FIELD OF RADAR METEOROLOGY OFTEN USE :E AND :
INTERCHANGEABLY ALBEIT INCORRECTLY
!NOTHER FACTOR WE HAVE IGNORED IN THE DERIVATION OF THE RADAR EQUATION IS ATTENUA
TION BY PRECIPITATION AND ATMOSPHERIC GASSES !T CM WAVELENGTHS THE ATTENUATION IS
USUALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT HOWEVER AT AND CM AND ESPECIALLY THE YET SHORTER MM
WAVELENGTHS ATMOSPHERIC ATTENUATION MUST BE ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE RADAR EQUATION BY
ADDING AN ADDITIONAL RANGE DEPENDENT TERM ,A 4HE FOLLOWING SECTION GIVES DETAILS ON
ESTIMATING THIS ATTENUATION IN COMMONLY ENCOUNTERED CONDITIONS
&INALLY IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THE : VALUES ARE OF METEOROLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE
BECAUSE THEY ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO CLOUD PROPERTIES AND ACTUAL RAINFALL RATES 2 AS
DESCRIBED LATER IN THIS CHAPTER : VALUES IN NONPRECIPITATING CLOUDS AS SMALL AS
n D": ARE OF INTEREST FOR CLOUD PHYSICS STUDIES )N THE OPTICALLY CLEAR LOWER ATMO
SPHERIC BOUNDARY LAYER hCLEAR AIRv : VALUES OF THE ORDER n D": TO D": ARE TYPICAL
AND FREQUENTLY ORIGINATE FROM INSECTS AND BIRDS )N RAIN : MAY RANGE FROM ABOUT
n D": TO AS MUCH AS D": WITH A TO D": RAIN BEING OF THE TYPE THAT CAN
CAUSE SEVERE FLOODING 3EVERE HAILSTORMS MAY PRODUCE : VALUES HIGHER THAN D":
-ANY OPERATIONAL RADAR TYPES ARE DESIGNED TO DETECT THOSE : VALUES THAT PRODUCE MEA
SURABLE PRECIPITATION TO D": AND hCLEAR AIRv ECHOES TO KM WHERE THE %ARTHS
CURVATURE PREVENTS SURFACE
BASED MEASUREMENTS 4HUS BEING ABLE TO MEASURE STRONG
PRECIPITATION ECHOES AT SHORT RANGE AND ALSO WEAK PRECIPITATION ECHOES AT LONG RANGE
REQUIRES RADAR RECEIVERS HAVING A TOTAL DYNAMIC RANGE OF n D" WHEREAS MEASURING
WEAK ECHOES IN THE PRESENCE OF STRONG GROUND CLUTTER REQUIRES AS LARGE AN INSTANTA
NEOUS DYNAMIC RANGE D" AS POSSIBLE -ORE RECENT OPERATIONAL RADARS AND MOST
RESEARCH RADARS ATTEMPT TO ACHIEVE THE MOST SENSITIVITY POSSIBLE AND CAN DETECT MINI
MUM REFLECTIVITY VALUES OF n D": OR LESS AT SHORT RANGES EG KM
/PERATIONAL RADARS IN THE PAST HAVE EMPLOYED SENSITIVITY TIME CONTROL 34# TO
REDUCE GAIN AT SHORT RANGE AND COMPENSATE FOR STRONG NEARBY ECHOES HOWEVER RECENT
RADARS TEND NOT TO USE 34# TECHNIQUES SINCE RECEIVER DYNAMIC RANGES ARE ADEQUATE TO
COVER IMPORTANT WEATHER ECHO INTENSITIES AT THE NECESSARY RANGES 2ESEARCH RADARS HAVE
RARELY USED 34# OWING TO THE ATTENDANT LOSS OF SENSITIVITY AT SHORT RANGES
-
" -
,/" &OUR OF THE MORE SIGNIFICANT FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE DESIGN OF METEOROLOGICAL RADARS ARE
ATTENUATION RANGE AMBIGUITIES VELOCITY AMBIGUITIES AND GROUND OR SEA CLUTTER 4HE
COMBINATION OF THESE FACTORS ALONG WITH THE NEED TO OBTAIN ADEQUATE SPATIAL RESOLU
TION LEADS TO A WAVELENGTH SELECTION IN THE RANGE OF TO CM FOR MOST PRECIPITATION
BASED APPLICATIONS
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
!TTENUATION %FFECTS !TTENUATION HAS AT LEAST TWO NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON METEORO
LOGICAL RADAR SIGNALS &IRST MAKING ACCURATE QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS OF THE BACK
SCATTERED ENERGY FROM PRECIPITATION AT RANGES FARTHER THAN ANY INTERVENING PRECIPITATION
BECOMES VERY DIFFICULT 4HIS INABILITY TO PRECISELY MEASURE THE TRUE BACKSCATTERING CROSS
SECTION REQUIRES THAT QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS OF PRECIPITATION RATES BE CORRECTED FOR
ATTENUATION WHEN POSSIBLE
3ECOND IF THE ATTENUATION DUE TO PRECIPITATION OR THE INTERVENING MEDIUM IS SUF
FICIENTLY GREAT THE SIGNAL FROM A PRECIPITATION CELL BEHIND A REGION OF STRONG ABSORP
TION MAY BE TOTALLY SUPPRESSED /NE EXAMPLE OF THE POTENTIALLY SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES
OF VERY STRONG ABSORPTION IS THE IMPACT IT MIGHT HAVE ON AVIATION STORM AVOIDANCE
RADARS MOST OF WHICH ARE IN THE
CM BAND )T IS COMMON FOR SHORT WAVELENGTH ON
BOARD AVIATION WEATHER RADARS TO NOT DETECT INTENSE CONVECTIVE CELLS BEHIND CLOSER HIGH
ATTENUATION THUNDERSTORMS 3EVERE STORMS WITH HIGH PRECIPITATION RATES ALSO CAUSE HIGH
ATTENUATION EVEN AT
CM WAVELENGTHS AS NOTED BY (ILDEBRAND AND !LLEN ET AL
)N SOME METEOROLOGICAL RADAR APPLICATIONS IT IS DESIRABLE TO ATTEMPT TO MEASURE
ATTENUATION ALONG SELECTED PROPAGATION PATHS 4HIS IS DONE BECAUSE ABSORPTION IS
RELATED TO LIQUID
WATER CONTENT AND CAN PROVIDE USEFUL INFORMATION FOR THE DETECTION OF
SUCH PHENOMENA AS HAIL IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DUAL
WAVELENGTH TECHNIQUE DESCRIBED
BY %CCLES AND !TLAS AND 6IVEK ET AL
)N THE FOLLOWING SUBSECTIONS QUANTITATIVE EXPRESSIONS RELATING ATTENUATION TO
PRECIPITATION ARE GIVEN -UCH OF THIS IS TAKEN FROM "EAN $UTTON AND 7ARNER AND
,HERMITTE "ATTAN AND /GUCHI ARE ALSO EXCELLENT SOURCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMA
TION ON THE ABSORBING PROPERTIES OF PRECIPITATION
!TTENUATION BY 7ATER 6APOR !TMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR MAY TAKE ON VALUES UP TO
GM AND GIVE VARIABLE ATTENUATION DEPENDING ON THE WATER VAPOR CONTENT (OWEVER
AT TYPICAL WEATHER RADAR WAVELENGTHS LONGER THAN CM THE ATTENUATION IS LESS THAN A
FEW HUNDREDTHS D"KM AND IS USUALLY IGNORED 'ASEOUS OXYGEN CONTRIBUTES ONLY A
MINOR ABSORPTION EFFECT AT THESE CENTIMETER WAVELENGTHS AND IS ALSO USUALLY IGNORED
!TTENUATION IN #LOUDS #LOUD DROPLETS ARE REGARDED HERE AS THOSE WATER OR ICE
PARTICLES HAVING RADII SMALLER THAN MM CM &OR WAVELENGTHS OF INCIDENT
RADIATION WELL IN EXCESS OF CM THE ATTENUATION DEPENDS PRIMARILY ON THE LIQUID
WATER CONTENT AND IS INDEPENDENT OF THE DROP
SIZE DISTRIBUTION 4HE GENERALLY ACCEPTED
EQUATIONS FOR ATTENUATION BY CLOUDS USUALLY SHOW THE MOISTURE COMPONENT OF THE EQUA
TIONS IN THE FORM OF THE LIQUID
WATER CONTENT GRAMS PER CUBIC METER /BSERVATIONS
INDICATE THAT THE LIQUID
WATER CONCENTRATION IN CLOUDS GENERALLY RANGES FROM TO
GM ALTHOUGH 7EICKMANN AND +AMPE HAVE REPORTED ISOLATED INSTANCES OF CUMU
LUS CONGESTUS CLOUDS HIGH TOWERING CONVECTIVE CLOUDS THAT FREQUENTLY PRODUCE HEAVY
PRECIPITATION WITH WATER CONTENTS OF GM IN THE UPPER LEVELS )N ICE CLOUDS THE
WATER CONTENT RARELY EXCEEDS AND IS OFTEN LESS THAN GM 4HE ATTENUATION DUE
TO CLOUD DROPLETS MAY BE WRITTEN
+ +-
WHERE + ATTENUATION D"KM
+ ATTENUATION COEFFICIENT D"KM GM
- LIQUID WATER CONTENT GM
-
PR .
AI
I
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
+
P M
)M
L
M
WHERE THE AI ARE DROPLET RADII Q IS THE DENSITY OF WATER AND )M IS THE IMAGINARY PART
6ALUES OF + FOR ICE AND WATER CLOUDS ARE GIVEN FOR VARIOUS WAVELENGTHS AND TEMPERA
TURES BY 'UNN AND %AST IN 4ABLE
3EVERAL IMPORTANT FACTS ARE DEMONSTRATED BY 4ABLE 4HE DECREASE IN ATTENUA
TION WITH INCREASING WAVELENGTH IS CLEARLY SHOWN 4HE VALUES CHANGE BY ABOUT AN ORDER
OF MAGNITUDE FOR A CHANGE OF K FROM TO CM 4HE DATA PRESENTED HERE ALSO SHOWS
THAT ATTENUATION IN WATER CLOUDS INCREASES WITH DECREASING TEMPERATURE )CE CLOUDS
GIVE ATTENUATIONS ABOUT TWO ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE SMALLER THAN WATER CLOUDS OF THE
SAME WATER CONTENT 4HE ATTENUATION OF MICROWAVES BY ICE CLOUDS CAN BE NEGLECTED FOR
PRACTICAL PURPOSES
!TTENUATION BY 2AIN 2YDE AND 2YDE CALCULATED THE EFFECTS OF RAIN ON MICROWAVE
PROPAGATION AND SHOWED THAT ABSORPTION AND SCATTERING EFFECTS OF RAINDROPS BECOME
MORE PRONOUNCED AT THE HIGHER MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES WHERE THE WAVELENGTHS AND
THE RAINDROP DIAMETERS ARE MORE NEARLY COMPARABLE )N THE CM BAND AND AT SHORTER
WAVELENGTHS THE EFFECTS ARE APPRECIABLE BUT AT WAVELENGTHS IN EXCESS OF CM THE
EFFECTS ARE GREATLY DECREASED )T IS ALSO CLEAR THAT SUSPENDED WATER CLOUD DROPLETS AND
RAIN HAVE AN ABSORPTION RATE IN EXCESS OF THAT OF THE COMBINED OXYGEN AND WATER VAPOR
ABSORPTION
)N PRACTICE IT HAS BEEN CONVENIENT TO EXPRESS RAIN ATTENUATION AS A FUNCTION OF THE
PRECIPITATION RATE 2 WHICH DEPENDS ON THE LIQUID WATER CONTENT AND THE FALL VELOCITY OF
THE DROPS THE LATTER IN TURN DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE DROPS 2YDE STUDIED THE ATTENU
ATION OF MICROWAVES BY RAIN AND DEDUCED BY USING ,AWS AND 0ARSONSS DROP SIZE
DISTRIBUTIONS THAT THIS ATTENUATION IN DECIBELS PER KILOMETER CAN BE APPROXIMATED BY
R
+ 2 + ; 2R =A DR
WHERE +2 TOTAL ATTENUATION D"
2R RAINFALL RATE ALONG PATH R
R LENGTH OF PROPAGATION PATH KM
+ CONSTANT DEPENDENT ON FREQUENCY AND TEMPERATURE
A CONSTANT DEPENDENT ON FREQUENCY
4!",% /NE WAY !TTENUATION #OEFFICIENT + IN #LOUDS IN D"KM PER GM ,IQUID 7ATER
7AVELENGTH CM
4EMPERATURE n#
7ATER CLOUD
)CE CLOUD
EXTRAPOLATED VALUE
n
n
n
r n
r n
r n
r n
r n
r n
r n
r n
r n
r n
r n
r n
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
-EDHURST SHOWS THAT A IS A GOOD ASSUMPTION IN MANY CASES 4HE PATH LOSS
PER MILE FOR THE THREE FREQUENCY BANDS OF AND '(Z IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
,HERMITTE EXTENDS THIS EARLY WORK TO HIGHER FREQUENCIES CONFIRMING THE RELATIONSHIP
AND DESCRIBING THE EFFECT OF THE DROP
SIZE DISTRIBUTION ON THE ATTENUATION RATE (E ALSO
REVIEWS MORE RECENT EMPIRICAL DATA
4HE GREATEST UNCERTAINTY IN PREDICTION OF ATTENUATION RATES CAUSED BY RAINFALL
WHEN THEORETICAL FORMULAS ARE USED AS A BASIS FOR CALCULATION IS THE EXTREMELY LIM
ITED KNOWLEDGE OF DROP
SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS IN RAIN OF VARYING FALL RATES UNDER DIFFER
ING CLIMATIC AND WEATHER CONDITIONS ,HERMITTE AND 5IJLENHOET ET AL THOROUGHLY
REVIEW THE EVOLUTION OF ANALYTIC EXPRESSIONS FOR DROP
SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS DESCRIBING
THE -ARSHALL
0ALMER EXPERIMENT AND THEIR RESULTING EXPONENTIAL DISTRIBUTION AND THE
MORE GENERAL THREE
PARAMETER 'AMMA DISTRIBUTION 4HEY ALSO REVIEW THE DEPEN
DENCE OF THE PARAMETERS DEFINING THE DISTRIBUTION TO THE RAIN RATE AND TO THE TYPE
OF RAINFALL 4HERE IS LITTLE EVIDENCE THAT RAIN WITH A KNOWN RATE OF FALL HAS A UNIQUE
DROP
SIZE DISTRIBUTION ALTHOUGH "URROWS AND !TTWOODS STUDIES SEEM TO INDICATE THAT
A CERTAIN MOST PROBABLE DROP
SIZE DISTRIBUTION CAN BE ATTACHED TO RAIN OF A GIVEN RATE
OF FALL 2ESULTS OF THIS STUDY ARE SHOWN IN 4ABLE WHICH GIVES THE PERCENTAGE
OF TOTAL VOLUME OF RAINFALL OCCUPIED BY RAINDROPS OF DIFFERENT DIAMETERS AND VARYING
RAINFALL RATES MILLIMETERS PER HOUR )N THE BASIS OF THESE RESULTS THE ABSORPTION CROSS
SECTION OF DIFFERENT RAIN RATES IS SHOWN IN 4ABLE 4HIS TABLE GIVES THE DECIBEL
ATTENUATION PER KILOMETER FOR DIFFERENT RAINFALL RATES FOR RADAR WAVELENGTHS BETWEEN
AND CM
&)'52% 4HEORETICAL RAIN ATTENUATION IN D"MILE STATUTE
VERSUS RAINFALL RATE AFTER * 7 2YDE AND $ 2YDE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% $ROP 3IZE $ISTRIBUTIONS AT $IFFERENT 0RECIPITATION 2ATES
0RECIPITATION 2ATE 2 MMH
$ROP $IAMETER $ CM
0ERCENTAGE OF A 'IVEN 6OLUME #ONTAINING $ROPS OF $IAMETER $
3INCE THE TOTAL
ATTENUATION CROSS SECTION DEPENDS ON THE TEMPERATURE BECAUSE OF
ITS EFFECTS ON THE DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF WATER IT IS IMPORTANT TO EVALUATE THE ATTENU
ATION OF RAINS WHOSE DROPS ARE AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES FROM THOSE IN THE PRECEDING
TABLES 4ABLE CONTAINS THE NECESSARY DATA RELATIVE TO THE CHANGE OF ATTENUATION WITH
TEMPERATURE AND CAN BE USED WITH 4ABLE
4O DETERMINE TOTAL ATTENUATION CAUSED BY RAINFALL THROUGH A PARTICULAR PRECIPITATION
PATH SOMETHING MUST BE KNOWN OR ASSUMED ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE PRECIPITATION ITSELF
AND CONSEQUENTLY ABOUT HOW ITS RAINFALL RATES AND DROP SIZES ARE DISTRIBUTED IN THREE
DIMENSIONS
! SYSTEMATIC VERTICAL VARIATION OF 2 DECAYING WITH HEIGHT ABOVE A MEASURED SUR
FACE VALUE SEEMS TO BE APPROPRIATE IN STRATIFORM RAINFALL WHICH IS RAIN HAVING A
WIDESPREAD AND CONTINUOUS NATURE 3UCH WIDESPREAD RAINFALL IS USUALLY TRIGGERED BY
4!",% !TTENUATION IN $ECIBELS PER +ILOMETER FOR $IFFERENT 2ATES OF 2AIN 0RECIPITATION AT A
4EMPERATURE OF n# 5SING THE $ROP
SIZE $ISTRIBUTIONS IN 4ABLE
7AVELENGTH K CM
0RECIPITATION
2ATE 2 MMH K K K K K K K
K K
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
4!",% #ORRECTION &ACTOR -ULTIPLICATIVE FOR 2AINFALL !TTENUATION
0RECIPITATION
2ATE 2 MMH
K CM
n#
n#
n#
n#
n#
A RELATIVELY LARGE SCALE MECHANISM SUCH AS A FRONTAL OR MONSOON SITUATION ! VERTICAL
VARIATION OF 2 OF THE FORM
2 2 E
DH
CAN BE ASSUMED TO BE APPROPRIATE UNDER CONTINUOUS RAINFALL CONDITIONS 2 IS THE SUR
FACE RAINFALL RATE H IS THE HEIGHT ABOVE THE %ARTHS SURFACE AND D IS A CONSTANT EQUAL
TO ABOUT #ONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION HOWEVER SHOWS A QUITE DIFFERENT NATURE &OR
EXAMPLE THE PRESENCE OF VIRGA PRECIPITATION ALOFT BUT EVAPORATING BEFORE REACHING
THE SURFACE ASSOCIATED WITH SO MANY SHOWER
TYPE CLOUDS IN DRY CLIMATES INDICATES THAT
CONVECTIVE SHOWER RAINFALL PROFILES ARE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO MODEL
!TTENUATION BY (AIL 2YDE CONCLUDED THAT THE ATTENUATION CAUSED BY HAIL IS
ONE
HUNDREDTH OF THAT CAUSED BY RAIN AND THAT ICE
CRYSTAL CLOUDS CAUSE NO SENSIBLE
ATTENUATION AND SHOW VERY SMALL ATTENUATION EVEN AT THE EXCESSIVE RATE OF FALL OF INH
(OWEVER THE SCATTERING BY ICE SPHERES SURROUNDED BY A CONCENTRIC FILM OF LIQUID WATER
HAVING A DIFFERENT DIELECTRIC CONSTANT DOES NOT GIVE THE SAME EFFECT THAT 2YDES RESULTS
FOR DRY PARTICLES WOULD INDICATE &OR EXAMPLE WHEN ONE
TENTH OF THE RADIUS OF AN ICE
SPHERE OF RADIUS CM MELTS SCATTERING OF
CM RADIATION IS APPROXIMATELY OF
THE VALUE THAT WOULD BE SCATTERED BY AN ALL
WATER DROP
!T WAVELENGTHS OF AND CM WITH A A RADIUS OF DROP +ERKER ,ANGLEBEN
AND 'UNN FOUND THAT PARTICLES ATTAINED TOTAL ATTENUATION CROSS SECTIONS CORRESPONDING TO
ALL MELTED PARTICLES WHEN LESS THAN OF THE ICE PARTICLES WAS MELTED 7HEN THE MELTED
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
MASS REACHED ABOUT TO THE ATTENUATION WAS ABOUT TWICE THAT OF A COMPLETELY
MELTED PARTICLE 4HESE CALCULATIONS SHOW THAT THE ATTENUATION IN THE MELTING OF ICE IMME
DIATELY UNDER THE n# ISOTHERM CAN BE SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN IN THE SNOW REGION JUST
ABOVE AND UNDER SOME CIRCUMSTANCES GREATER THAN IN THE RAIN BELOW THE MELTING LEVEL
&URTHER MELTING CANNOT LEAD TO MUCH FURTHER ENHANCEMENT APPARENTLY AND MAY LEAD TO A
LESSENING OF THE REFLECTIVITY OF THE PARTICLE BY BRINGING IT TO SPHERICITY OR BY BREAKING UP
THE PARTICLE -ELTING OF ICE PARTICLES PRODUCES ENHANCED BACKSCATTER AND THIS EFFECT GIVES
RISE TO THE OBSERVED ELEVATED BRIGHT BAND NEAR THE n# ISOTHERM
,HERMITTE DISCUSSES HAIL ATTENUATION FOR SHORTER WAVELENGTH RADARS WHEN RESONANT
REGION -IE SCATTERING IS THE DOMINANT SCATTERING MECHANISM 5SING ACCEPTED SIZE
DISTRIBUTIONS OF DRY HAIL HE SHOWS ATTENUATION RATES OVER THE FREQUENCY INTERVAL OF
n '(Z THAT ARE NEGLIGIBLE AT THE LOWER FREQUENCIES BUT RISE ASYMPTOTICALLY TO ABOUT
D"KM AT FREQUENCIES ABOVE '(Z
!TTENUATION BY &OG 4HE CHARACTERISTIC FEATURE OF A FOG IS THE REDUCTION IN VISIBIL
ITY 6ISIBILITY IS DEFINED AS hTHE GREATEST DISTANCE IN A GIVEN DIRECTION AT WHICH IT IS JUST
POSSIBLE TO SEE AND IDENTIFY WITH THE UNAIDED EYE IN THE DAYTIME A PROMINENT DARK
OBJECT AGAINST THE SKY AT THE HORIZON AND AT NIGHT A KNOWN PREFERABLY UNFOCUSED
MODERATELY INTENSE LIGHT SOURCEv !LTHOUGH THE VISIBILITY DEPENDS UPON BOTH DROP SIZE
AND NUMBER OF DROPS AND NOT ENTIRELY UPON THE LIQUID
WATER CONTENT IN PRACTICE THE
VISIBILITY IS AN APPROXIMATION OF THE LIQUID
WATER CONTENT AND THEREFORE MAY BE USED
TO ESTIMATE RADIO
WAVE ATTENUATION
/N THE BASIS OF 2YDES WORK 3AXTON AND (OPKINS GIVE THE FIGURES IN 4ABLE
FOR THE ATTENUATION IN A FOG OR CLOUDS AT n# TEMPERATURE 4HE ATTENUATION VARIES WITH
THE TEMPERATURE BECAUSE THE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT OF WATER VARIES WITH TEMPERATURE
THEREFORE AT n# AND n# THE FIGURES IN 4ABLE SHOULD BE MULTIPLIED BY AND
RESPECTIVELY )T IS IMMEDIATELY NOTED THAT CLOUD OR FOG ATTENUATION IS AN ORDER OF
MAGNITUDE GREATER AT CM THAN AT CM AND THAT NEARLY ANOTHER ORDER OF MAGNITUDE
INCREASE OCCURS BETWEEN AND CM
2ANGE AND 6ELOCITY !MBIGUITIES 7EATHER RADARS UTILIZE A SEQUENCE OF PULSES
TO MEASURE THE RADAR REFLECTIVITY AND DOPPLER CHARACTERISTICS "ECAUSE THE PULSING RATE
TYPICALLY DETERMINES THE SAMPLING FREQUENCY FOR DOPPLER QUANTITIES ON A CONSTANT PULS
ING RATE RADAR THE UNAMBIGUOUS DOPPLER FREQUENCY .YQUIST FREQUENCY FOR A FIXED
PULSE
REPETITION
FREQUENCY 02& RADAR IS GIVEN BY
&.YQ o 02&
WHERE 02& IS THE PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY 3IMULTANEOUSLY THE UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE
INTERVAL IS GIVEN BY
2A
C
02&
4!",% !TTENUATION #AUSED BY #LOUDS OR &OG 4EMPERATURE n#
!TTENUATION D"KM
6ISIBILITY M
K CM
K CM
K CM
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
AND THE PRODUCT &.YQ 2A IS SIMPLY
C
3INCE THE DOPPLER SHIFT F AND THE TARGET RADIAL VELOCITY V ARE LINEARLY RELATED THE
UNAMBIGUOUS VELOCITY IS RELATED TO THE .YQUIST FREQUENCY BY
&.YQ 2A
6A
L
&
.YQ
)T FOLLOWS THAT THE PRODUCT OF UNAMBIGUOUS VELOCITY AND UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE IS
6A 2A
LC
&OR CONSTANT 02& RADARS THIS PRODUCT IS MAXIMIZED BY MAXIMIZING K THE TRANSMIT
TED WAVELENGTH 4HUS USING LONGER WAVELENGTHS ALLOWS OPTIMIZING THE 02& BY TRAD
ING UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE FOR UNAMBIGUOUS VELOCITY &OR STANDARD CONSTANT 02& RADARS
CM WAVELENGTHS HAVE BEEN WIDELY CHOSEN FOR MOST PRECIPITATION MEASUREMENTS
OF INTEREST IN WHICH DESIGN PARAMETERS SUCH AS RADAR BEAMWIDTH SIZE OF ANTENNA AND
ATTENUATION EFFECTS MAY BE MADE ACCEPTABLE
'ROUND #LUTTER %FFECTS -ANY METEOROLOGICAL RADAR APPLICATIONS CALL FOR THE
DETECTION OF PRECIPITATION ECHOES IN THE PRESENCE OF GROUND CLUTTER 3PECIFICALLY PRE
CIPITATION MEASUREMENTS NEAR THE GROUND ARE OF EXTREME INTEREST IN AGRICULTURAL AND
HYDROLOGICAL APPLICATIONS AS WELL AS INFORMATION FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC !PPLICATIONS
IN WHICH GROUND CLUTTER IS SERIOUS RELATES TO THE GROUND BASED RADAR DETECTION OF LOW
LEVEL WIND SHEAR AT AIRPORTS AND MEASURING PRECIPITATION NEAR THE GROUND IN MOUNTAIN
OUS TERRAIN FOR FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS "OTH THE .EXRAD AND 4ERMINAL $OPPLER 7EATHER
2ADAR 4$72 NETWORK RADARS HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO ASSURE CLUTTER SUPPRESSION IN
EXCESS OF D"
!LTHOUGH GROUND CLUTTER CANNOT BE ELIMINATED ITS EFFECT CAN BE MITIGATED THROUGH
CAREFUL DESIGN 4HE PRIMARY APPROACH IS TO USE AN ANTENNA WITH LOW SIDELOBES PAR
TICULARLY IN ELEVATION WHICH WILL SUPPRESS THE CLUTTER COMPONENT OF THE INPUT ECHO
WHEN THE MAIN BEAM IS SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE HORIZON ! SECOND APPROACH IS USING SHORTER
WAVELENGTHS 3HORTER WAVELENGTHS RESULT IN IMPROVED SIGNAL TO CLUTTER RATIOS OWING
TO THE FACT THAT THE 2AYLEIGH SCATTERED WEATHER SIGNAL POWER IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL
TO K WHEREAS THE GROUND CLUTTER RETURN IS ONLY WEAKLY DEPENDENT ON WAVELENGTH )F
ONE ASSUMES THAT THE CLUTTER SIGNAL IS WAVELENGTH INDEPENDENT AND THE ANTENNA BEAM
WIDTH IS FIXED IT CAN BE SHOWN THAT THE WEATHER SIGNAL POWER TO CLUTTER POWER RATIO IS
INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO K
7EATHER RADARS TYPICALLY USE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES TO IMPLEMENT
CLUTTER FILTERS THAT SUPPRESS NEAR ZERO VELOCITY CLUTTER ECHOES 4HESE FILTERS MAY BE
IMPLEMENTED USING EITHER A TIME DOMAIN CLUTTER FILTER APPLIED TO THE ) AND 1 RADAR
VIDEO DATA ONE FORM OF WHICH IS SOMETIMES CALLED A DELAY LINE CANCELER FROM ITS EARLY
ANALOG IMPLEMENTATION TO SUPPRESS THE ZERO VELOCITY GROUND CLUTTER COMPONENTS OR A
FREQUENCY DOMAIN DOPPLER POWER SPECTRUM A DIGITAL hFILTER BANKv TO ACHIEVE THE SAME
EFFECT 4HE TIME DOMAIN FILTERS FOR MECHANICALLY SCANNED WEATHER RADARS ARE USUALLY
INFINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE ))2 FILTERS WITH NARROW BUT ADJUSTABLE WIDTHS UP TO A FEW
MS AND HAVING SUPPRESSION LEVELS OF n D" AND VERY STEEP TRANSITION REGIONS
4HESE TIME DOMAIN FILTERS WITH A FREQUENCY NOTCH CENTERED AT ZERO VELOCITY FREQUENCY
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WILL ALSO SUPPRESS WEATHER ECHO POWER THAT MAY EXIST IN THE SAME VELOCITY REGION AND
BIAS ALL THE ESTIMATES OF REFLECTIVITY VELOCITY AND WIDTH
3PECTRAL DOMAIN CLUTTER FILTERS IMPLEMENTED BY A DISCRETE &OURIER TRANSFORM $&4
ON THE OTHER HAND SUPPRESS THE NEAR ZERO CLUTTER COMPONENTS IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN
AND MAY INTERPOLATE THE REMAINING SPECTRUM ACROSS THIS REGION TO RETAIN MOST OF THE
UNDERLYING SIGNAL OR NOISE SPECTRAL INFORMATION !N ALTERNATIVE FREQUENCY DOMAIN
TECHNIQUE FOR THE .EXRAD RADAR SEPARATELY MODELS THE CLUTTER AND WEATHER SIGNAL AS
GAUSSIAN
SHAPED SPECTRA AND SEPARATES THESE TWO COMPONENTS OF THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM
USING DIGITAL SEARCH ALGORITHMS AND THEN REMOVES THESE CLUTTER COMPONENTS WHILE LEAV
ING THE UNDERLYING WEATHER SIGNAL UNPERTURBED 4HUS WHEN THE GAUSSIAN ASSUMPTIONS
APPLY THE REMAINING WEATHER SIGNAL SPECTRUM PROVIDES AN UNBIASED ESTIMATOR FOR ALL
THE WEATHER PARAMETER SPECTRUM MOMENT ESTIMATES
4YPICAL 7EATHER 2ADAR $ESIGNS 4HERE IS NO UNIVERSAL WEATHER RADAR SYSTEM
DESIGN THAT CAN SERVE ALL PURPOSES !IRBORNE WEATHER RADARS ARE CONSTRAINED BY SIZE
AND WEIGHT LIMITATIONS 'ROUND
BASED RADARS MAY BE CONSTRAINED BY COST AND SITING
CONSIDERATIONS 3EVERE STORM WARNING RADARS REQUIRE LONG RANGE AND HIGH UNAMBIGU
OUS VELOCITY AND THEN MUST PENETRATE VERY HEAVY RAIN THUS DICTATING LONG WAVELENGTHS
2ADARS DESIGNED FOR STUDIES OF NONPRECIPITATING CLOUDS TYPICALLY USE SHORT WAVE
LENGTHS MM AND MM IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE SUFFICIENT SENSITIVITY TO DETECT SMALL
CLOUD PARTICLES OF THE ORDER OF n MM AT SUFFICIENTLY SMALL RESOLUTION VOLUMES
3ENSITIVE SHORT
RANGE &-
#7 RADARS HAVING HIGH AVERAGE POWER CAN BE USED TO
OBTAIN VERY HIGH RANGE RESOLUTION FOR DETECTING VERY THIN SCATTERING LAYERS IN THE CLEAR
AIR BOUNDARY LAYER
-OST METEOROLOGICAL RADARS ARE PULSED RADARS HAVING DOPPLER CAPABILITY 'ROUND
BASED RADARS USED FOR SEVERE STORM RESEARCH AND WARNINGS NORMALLY USE 3
BAND
^ '(Z OR #
BAND ^ '(Z TRANSMITTERS !IRBORNE WEATHER AVOIDANCE AND PRECIP
ITATION RADARS PRIMARILY USE 8 BAND ^ '(Z DUE TO SIZE LIMITATIONS AND OCCASIONALLY
#
BAND TRANSMITTERS TO MINIMIZE ATTENUATION !IRBORNE AND GROUND CLOUD RADARS AND
SPACEBORNE RADARS ENCOMPASS THE MM
WAVELENGTHS AT +U BAND ^ '(Z +A BAND
^ '(Z AND 7 BAND ^ '(Z
"EAMWIDTHS OF a n ARE COMMONLY USED FOR LONGER
RANGE RADARS !DMITTEDLY THIS
IS SOMEWHAT ARBITRARY BUT THE CHOICE OF n IS BASED UPON SEVERAL DECADES OF EXPERI
ENCE ! n BEAM WILL PROVIDE A CROSS
RANGE RESOLUTION OF KM AT A RANGE OF KM
"ECAUSE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN IMPORTANT SPATIAL FEATURES SUCH AS HEAVY PRECIPITA
TION SHAFTS AND UPDRAFT CORES WITH HORIZONTAL DIMENSIONS OF THE ORDER TO KM A n
BEAM IS REASONABLY WELL MATCHED TO THESE ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA BEING OBSERVED OUT
TO RANGES OF A FEW HUNDRED KM 3HORTER
RANGE AIRBORNE WEATHER RADARS OFTEN EMPLOY
BEAMWIDTHS OF nn AS A COMPROMISE BETWEEN WAVELENGTH REQUIREMENTS AND ANTENNA
SIZE CONSTRAINTS WHEREAS SPACEBORNE RADARS MAY USE A FRACTION OF A DEGREE BEAMWIDTH
TO RETAIN USABLE HORIZONTAL RESOLUTION AT TYPICAL LONG RANGES n KM
/PERATIONAL WEATHER RADARS NORMALLY ARE CAPABLE OF SHORT AND LONG PULSE OPERATION
IN THE RANGE OF MS TO ABOUT MS AND 02&S BETWEEN AND (Z FOR LONG
RANGE PRECIPITATION RADARS 4HROUGH PULSE
WIDTH DIVERSITY HIGH RESOLUTION IS OBTAINED
USUALLY AT SHORT RANGE WHEREAS FOR LONG
RANGE DETECTION LONGER PULSES PROVIDE
INCREASED SENSITIVITY AND TEND TO EQUALIZE THE ALONG
BEAM AND CROSS
BEAM RESOLUTIONS
4HE SHORTER WAVELENGTH +U
+A
AND 7
BAND RADARS TYPICALLY USE PULSE LENGTHS LESS
THAN MS TO ACHIEVE IMPROVED RANGE RESOLUTION AND 02&S BETWEEN AND
(Z BECAUSE OF THE SHORT
RANGE CLOUD MEASUREMENTS THAT ARE LIMITED BY ATTENUATION
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
AT THESE WAVELENGTHS 3PACE
BORNE RADARS ALSO USE THESE HIGHER 02&S BUT KEEP TRACK
OF MULTIPLE PULSES EN
ROUTE TO THEIR WEATHER REGIONS FAR BELOW THE ORBITAL ALTITUDES
%QUATION SHOWS THAT THE RECEIVED POWER IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE PULSE
LENGTH S 4HE NOISE POWER 0N IS CONVENTIONALLY GIVEN BY
0N J 4"
WHERE J "OLTZMANNS CONSTANT r n 7(Z +
4 RECEIVER NOISE TEMPERATURE +
" RECEIVER NOISE BANDWIDTH (Z
&OR A RECEIVER FILTER MATCHED TO THE PULSE LENGTH
T
3OMETIMES WEATHER RADARS WILL USE A SHORT PULSE FOR HIGH 02& DOPPLER PROCESSING
AT SHORT RANGES AND A LONGER PULSE AT LOW 02& FOR GREATER SENSITIVITY WHEN PERFORM
ING LONG RANGE SURVEILLANCE SCANS TO MONITOR DISTANT WEATHER 3INCE THE TRANSMITTED
PEAK POWER IS TYPICALLY CONSTRAINED TO BE FIXED THEN THE TRANSMITTED AVERAGE POWER
INCREASES LINEARLY WITH S !LSO THE MATCHED FILTER BANDWIDTH AND ASSOCIATED NOISE
POWER DECREASES INVERSELY WITH S )F THE RADAR PULSE VOLUME IS FILLED WITH DISTRIB
UTED METEOROLOGICAL SCATTERERS THEN THE RADAR CROSS SECTION OF THE WEATHER TARGET ALSO
INCREASES WITH S AS DETERMINED BY %QUATIONS AND AND THE SIGNAL TO NOISE
RATIO 3.2 OF RECEIVED POWER IS PROPORTIONAL TO S
"y
0R
T
T
s
y
0N K 4" K 4
4HUS UNDER THESE COMMON CONDITIONS INCREASING THE PULSE LENGTH WILL INCREASE THE
3.2 AND THE EFFECTIVE RADAR RANGE )T IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE DISTRIBUTED TARGET
RADAR DEPENDENCE OF 3.2 ON S IS DIFFERENT FROM THE POINT TARGET RADAR IN WHICH THE
MATCHED FILTER 3.2 EQUALS THE RATIO OF PULSE ENERGY TO NOISE SPECTRAL DENSITY %.
0T S . A LINEAR DEPENDENCE ON S 4HE SQUARED DEPENDENCE FOR DISTRIBUTED SCATTER
ERS IS BECAUSE THE TRANSMIT PULSE SCATTERS POWER FROM ALL SCATTERERS IN THE CS PULSE
VOLUME NOT JUST A SINGLE POINT TARGET THEREBY INCREASING THE RADAR CROSS SECTION OF THE
WEATHER SCATTERER
02&S FOR METEOROLOGICAL RADARS RANGE FROM AS LOW AS SEVERAL HUNDRED Sn FOR LONG
RANGE DETECTION TO SEVERAL THOUSAND Sn FOR SHORTER
WAVELENGTH SYSTEMS ATTEMPTING TO
ACHIEVE HIGH UNAMBIGUOUS VELOCITIES 'ENERALLY SPEAKING MOST METEOROLOGICAL DOP
PLER RADARS ARE OPERATED IN A SINGLE 02& MODE COMPROMISING THE RADARS ABILITY TO
UNAMBIGUOUSLY RESOLVE EITHER RANGE OR VELOCITY (OWEVER THE PULSING SEQUENCE MAY
USE A hDUAL 02&v MODE IN WHICH GROUPS OF CONSTANT 02& PULSES ARE TRANSMITTED OR
A hDUAL STAGGERED 024v PULSE REPETITION TIME TO RESOLVE BOTH RANGE AND VELOCITY
AMBIGUITIES !NOTHER APPROACH IS TO EMPLOY A TRANSMITTED PULSE SEQUENCE WITH RAN
DOM OR DETERMINISTIC PHASES FROM PULSE TO PULSE WHICH ALLOWS OVERLAID ECHOES TO
BE SEPARATED -ULTIPLE 024 TECHNIQUES HAVE ALSO BEEN EXPLORED BUT ARE NOT IN COMMON
USE 2ANGE AMBIGUITIES CANNOT BE TOTALLY ELIMINATED BUT THEIR EFFECTS CAN BE SIGNIFI
CANTLY MITIGATED THROUGH THESE APPROACHES
4O DISCUSS DESIGN DETAILS OF THE COMMON TYPES OF METEOROLOGICAL RADARS IS BEYOND
THE SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER 2INEHART GIVES A DETAILED TABLE OF SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS OF
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% 2ELEVANT .EXRAD 3YSTEM #HARACTERISTICS
4RANSMITTED 0EAK!VERAGE 0OWER KLYSTRON
0ULSE LENGTH
0OLARIZATION
7AVELENGTH
2ECEIVER NOISE TEMPERATURE
$YNAMIC RANGE
!NTENNA GAIN
"EAMWIDTH
3IDELOBE LEVELS
-AXIMUM RANGE REFLECTIVITY DATA
-AXIMUM RANGE DOPPLER DATA
5NAMBIGUOUS VELOCITY
#LUTTER SUPPRESSION MAXIMUM
3YSTEM SENSITIVITY
2OTATION RATE
K7 7
M MS
,INEAR HORIZONTAL
CM
+
D"
D"
n
n D"
KM
KM
o MS
D"
n D": AT KM
n DEGSEC
A VARIETY OF WEATHER RADARS (OWEVER IT WILL BE USEFUL HEREIN TO INCLUDE SOME OF THE
IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE .EXRAD 732
$ RADAR WHICH ILLUSTRATE THE PERFOR
MANCE OF MODERN OPERATIONAL WEATHER RADARS 4ABLE CONTAINS SOME OF THE MORE
RELEVANT ORIGINAL .EXRAD DESIGN FEATURES
&IGURE SHOWS A TYPICAL .EXRAD INSTALLATION AT -ISSOULA -ONTANA 4HE ANTENNA IS
MOUNTED ON A TOWER TO CLEAR SURROUNDING OBSTACLES SUCH AS BUILDINGS AND TREES 4HE ELEC
TRONIC EQUIPMENT IS HOUSED IN ONE SHELTER AND THE STANDBY GENERATOR IS HOUSED IN ANOTHER
&)'52% .EXRAD 732 $ RADAR AT
-ISSOULA -ONTANA MOUNTED ON M TOWER WITH
TWO EQUIPMENT SHELTERSONE CONTAINING THE TRANS
MITTER RECEIVER PROCESSOR AND COMMUNICATIONS
EQUIPMENT AND THE OTHER CONTAINING A STANDBY GEN
ERATOR 0HOTO COURTESY OF ./!!.73
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
&)'52% .EXRAD REFLECTIVITY DATA FROM &REDERICK
/KLAHOMA RADAR ON !PRIL SHOWING LINE OF INTENSE CON
VECTIVE CELLS AND SURROUNDING PRECIPITATION 0HOTO COURTESY OF
./!!.73
&IGURE SHOWS AN EXAMPLE OF RADAR REFLECTIVITY DATA FROM THE &REDERIC /KLAHOMA
RADAR AS A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS AND ASSOCIATED RAINFALL PASS THROUGH THE COVER
AGE AREA 4HE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES USED TO GENERATE THE VARIOUS WEATHER IMAGES AND
PRODUCTS ARE DISCUSSED LATER IN THIS CHAPTER
&IGURE SHOWS THE 3
BAND CM AND +A
BAND CM DUAL
POLARIZATION
DOPPLER RESEARCH RADAR OPERATED BY THE .ATIONAL #ENTER FOR !TMOSPHERIC 2ESEARCH
.#!2 4HE SYSTEM PERMITS SIMULTANEOUS MEASUREMENTS OF THE REFLECTIVITY FACTOR ON
TWO WAVELENGTHS DOPPLER PARAMETERS ON THE 3
BAND WAVELENGTH AND EXTENSIVE POLARI
METRIC MEASUREMENTS AT BOTH WAVELENGTHS 4HE TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS ARE SIMILAR
TO THE .EXRAD SPECIFICATIONS 4HE ANTENNA BEAMS ARE MATCHED WITH APPROXIMATELY n
BEAMWIDTH AND THE LARGE 3
BAND DISH IS M IN DIAMETER 4HE PEAK TRANSMITTED POWER
&)'52% 3 0OL 4HE MULTI PARAMETER 3 BAND AND +A
BAND POLARIMETRIC RESEARCH RADAR POINTING AT THE SUN FOR A SOLAR
CALIBRATION AT THE .ATIONAL #ENTER FOR !TMOSPHERIC 2ESEARCH
"OULDER #OLORADO #OURTESY OF 5NIVERSITY #ORPORATION FOR
!TMOSPHERIC 2ESEARCH "OULDER #/
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
IS -7 AT 3 BAND AND +7 AT +A BAND 4HE PULSE WIDTHS ARE APPROXIMATELY MS
4HE 02& IS TYPICALLY Sn AT 3 BAND AND A FEW TIMES LARGER AT +A BAND 4HIS
RADAR SYSTEM IS CHARACTERISTIC OF THE TECHNOLOGIES CURRENTLY IN PLACE IN THE RESEARCH
COMMUNITY
0OLARIMETRIC 2ADAR -ETEOROLOGICAL RADARS USING DUAL POLARIZATION TRANSMIT AND
RECEIVE BOTH HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL POLARIZATIONS TO ESTIMATE ADDITIONAL CHARACTERIS
TICS OF THE WEATHER TARGETS 4RANSMITTING THE TWO ORTHOGONAL POLARIZATIONS EITHER
SIMULTANEOUSLY 3(6 OR TRANSMITTING THEM SEPARATELY IN A PREDETERMINED SEQUENCE
AND USING DUAL PARALLEL DIGITAL RECEIVERS ONE ON EACH POLARIZATION CHANNEL ALLOW ESTI
MATION OF THE DIFFERENTIAL QUANTITIES BETWEEN ECHOES FROM THE TWO POLARIZATIONS /NE
CAN DERIVE IMPROVED RAINFALL RATES AS WELL AS OTHER PHYSICAL INFORMATION ON THE TYPE OF
PRECIPITATION AS FUNCTIONS OF POLARIMETRIC MEASUREMENTS THAT RELATE THE DIFFERENCES IN
THE HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICALLY POLARIZED SIGNALS "Y FAR THE MOST COMMON POLARIMET
RIC PARAMETERS ARE THE hDIFFERENTIAL REFLECTIVITYv :DR AND hDIFFERENTIAL PHASEv &DP
WHICH GIVE BULK SCATTERING AND PROPAGATION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE METEOROLOGICAL TAR
GETS ,ETTING %H AND %V DENOTE THE COMPLEX RECEIVED SIGNAL VOLTAGES THAT ALSO REPRE
SENT THE RECEIVED ELECTRIC FIELDS AT HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL POLARIZATIONS THE IMPORTANT
POLARIMETRIC PARAMETERS TO BE ESTIMATED ARE GIVEN BELOW
$IFFERENTIAL REFLECTIVITY :DR :H :V
$IFFERENTIAL PHASE &DP &V &H
3PECIFIC DIFFERENTIAL PHASE +DP D &DP DR
#O
POLAR CORRELATION RATIO QHV \ %H
%V \ %
H%H %
V%V
,INEAR DEPOLARIZATION RATIO ,$2 :CX V :CO H
:H AND :V ARE THE MEASURED REFLECTIVITIES OF THE HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL CO POLAR
IZED RECEIVED SIGNALS AND :DR IS EXPRESSED IN D" WHEREAS &H AND &V ARE THE MEASURED
PHASES OF THE SAME POLARIZED RECEIVED SIGNALS +DP IS THE SUITABLY SMOOTHED RANGE
DERIVATIVE OF THE MEASURED DIFFERENTIAL PHASE &DP AND IS USUALLY EXPRESSED IN DEGKM
QHV IS THE CO POLAR CORRELATION COEFFICIENT OF %H AND %V WHERE THE PHASE MEASUREMENTS
ARE ASSUMED TO BE TIME COINCIDENT WHICH IS THE CASE WITH 3(6 TRANSMISSION AND RECEP
TION ,$2 IS A RATIO OF THE CROSS POLAR VERTICAL REFLECTIVITY :CX V NORMALIZED BY THE
CO POLAR HORIZONTAL REFLECTIVITY :CO H "ECAUSE POLARIMETRIC MEASUREMENTS ADD NEW
DIMENSIONS OF RADAR INFORMATION AND BECAUSE THESE MEASUREMENTS ARE RELATED TO THE
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCATTERERS SUITABLE COMBINATIONS OF THESE DATA GIVE A
STRONG INDICATION OF PRECIPITATION TYPE RAIN SNOW ICE PARTICLES SLEET HAIL ETC AS
WELL AS RADAR ECHO CLASSIFICATION INTO VARIOUS CATEGORIES PRECIPITATION GROUND OR SEA
CLUTTER BIRDS AND INSECTS CHAFF ETC
2ADAR #ALIBRATION 4O EFFECTIVELY USE RADARS FOR ACCURATE PRECIPITATION ESTI
MATES THE CONVERSION OF MEASURED REFLECTIVITY FACTOR TO RECEIVED ECHO POWER MUST
BE WELL KNOWN 4HE GAINS OR CONVERSION CONSTANTS OF THE VARIOUS RADAR COMPONENTS
CAN BE MEASURED USING ENGINEERING TEST EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER SPECIFICATIONS AND
FIELD MEASUREMENTS #ALIBRATING WEATHER RADAR USUALLY MEANS TO ACCURATELY SPECIFY
THE RADAR CONSTANT IN THE RADAR EQUATION AND TO ACCURATELY ESTIMATE THE RECEIVED POWER
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
MEASURED BY THE RADAR SYSTEM )T ALSO ENCOMPASSES ITEMS SUCH AS KNOWING WHERE THE
SCATTERING VOLUME IS IN $ SPACE BY KNOWING ANTENNA POINTING ANGLES AND ACCURATELY
DETERMINING RANGE
!LTHOUGH FLOATING SPHERES TETRAHEDRAL REFLECTORS AND OTHER TARGETS OF KNOWN RADAR
CROSS SECTION MAY BE USED THE IMPORTANT hSOLAR CALIBRATIONv TECHNIQUE USES THE
SOLAR POSITION TO ADJUST ANTENNA POINTING AND THE RADIATED SOLAR FLUX TO DETERMINE
ANTENNA GAIN !LONG WITH OTHER RADAR PARAMETER MEASUREMENTS ONE CAN READ
ILY DETERMINE THE RADAR CONSTANT "Y INJECTING TEST SIGNALS OF KNOWN POWER ONE CAN
DETERMINE THE RECEIVER GAIN TRANSFER FUNCTION &OR POLARIMETRIC RADARS SPECIAL CARE
IS REQUIRED )T HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED THAT BY MEASURING THE CROSS
POLAR POWERS IN
ADDITION TO THE SOLAR FLUX AN ACCURATE ESTIMATE OF THE DIFFERENTIAL CHANNEL CALIBRA
TION CAN BE OBTAINED 4HE !-3 HELD A VERY SUCCESSFUL 7EATHER 2ADAR #ALIBRATION
3YMPOSIUM DOCUMENTING ALL ASPECTS OF METEOROLOGICAL RADAR CALIBRATION
{ - *,"
--
4O COMPUTE THE VARIOUS WEATHER PRODUCTS NECESSARY FOR FORECASTING WARNING AND OTHER
OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES THE FIRST THREE SPECTRUM MOMENTS CORRESPONDING TO RECEIVED
POWER MEAN RADIAL VELOCITY AND DOPPLER SPECTRUM OR VELOCITY WIDTH MUST BE ESTIMATED
+EELER AND 0ASSARELLI REVIEW STANDARD ESTIMATION TECHNIQUES AND ERRORS FOR SPECTRUM
MOMENT ESTIMATION &OR THE HIGHEST RESOLUTION MEASUREMENTS THESE SPECTRAL MOMENTS
MUST BE COMPUTED AT EACH RANGE GATE SENSED BY THE RADAR AND CONVERTED INTO MEANINGFUL
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION 4HE NATURE OF THE DISTRIBUTED METEOROLOGICAL TARGET WHICH
SHALL BE DISCUSSED NEXT IMPOSES SOME SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS NOT GENERALLY CONSIDERED FOR
HARD NONFLUCTUATING TARGETS ON THE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES TO ESTIMATE THESE MOMENTS
)T CAN BE SHOWN THAT THE RECEIVED SIGNAL FROM METEOROLOGICAL TARGETS IS WELL REPRE
SENTED BY A NARROWBAND GAUSSIAN PROCESS 4HIS IS A DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF THE FACT
THAT THE NUMBER OF SCATTERERS IN THE PULSE VOLUME IS LARGE THE PULSE
VOLUME IS LARGE COMPARED WITH THE TRANSMITTED WAVELENGTH THE PULSE VOLUME
CONTAINS MULTIPLE POINT SCATTERING SOURCES CAUSING ALL PHASES ON THE RANGE FROM TO
O TO BE COMBINED AND RETURNED AND THE PARTICLES ARE IN RELATIVE MOTION DUE TO
TURBULENCE WIND SHEAR AND THEIR VARYING FALL SPEEDS
4HE SUPERPOSITION OF THE SCATTERED ELECTRIC FIELDS FROM SUCH A LARGE NUMBER OF PAR
TICLES EACH WITH DIFFERENT AMPLITUDE AND RANDOM PHASE GIVES RISE THROUGH THE CENTRAL
LIMIT THEOREM TO A SIGNAL WITH BIVARIATE OR A TWO DIMENSIONAL GAUSSIAN PROBABILITY
DENSITY FUNCTION 4HUS THE FLUCTUATING AMPLITUDE OF THE RETURN SIGNAL HAS A 2ALEIGH STA
TISTICAL DISTRIBUTION AND ITS PHASE IS UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED BETWEEN nO &URTHERMORE
ITS INTENSITY POWER IS EXPONENTIALLY DISTRIBUTED "ECAUSE ALL THE PARTICLES WITHIN
THE SAMPLE VOLUME ARE MOVING WITH SOME MEAN OR AVERAGE RADIAL VELOCITY THERE IS
A MEAN FREQUENCY OF THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM THAT IS SHIFTED FROM THE TRANSMITTED FRE
QUENCY &INALLY SINCE THE PARTICLES ARE IN MOTION WITH RESPECT TO ONE ANOTHER THERE IS
ALSO A DOPPLER SPREAD OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE WIDTH OF THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM :RNIC
DESCRIBES A STRAIGHTFORWARD TECHNIQUE OF SYNTHESIZING DIGITAL WEATHER RADAR SIGNALS
FROM A PARAMETERIZED DOPPLER SPECTRUM CHARACTERIZING A SPECIFIC PULSE VOLUME
$OVIAK AND :RNIC AS WELL AS "RINGI AND #HANDRASEKAR GIVE DETAILED DERIVATIONS OF
THESE RELATIONSHIPS WHEREAS +EELER AND 0ASSARELLI SUMMARIZE DISTRIBUTED TARGET DATA
CHARACTERISTICS AND RELATE THEM TO THE SAMPLED DATA SETS REPRESENTATIVE OF WEATHER RADAR
AND OTHER ATMOSPHERIC SOUNDING SYSTEMS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3PECTRUM -OMENT %STIMATION ! COMMON 'AUSSIAN MODEL OF THE MEAN
RECEIVED POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY OF A METEOROLOGICAL SIGNAL IS DEPICTED IN &IGURE
AND CAN BE INTERPRETED AS FOLLOWS 4HE RECEIVED POWER IS SIMPLY THE INTEGRAL UNDER THE
CURVE THE ZEROTH MOMENT AND IS GIVEN BY
0R 3 F DF 3 V DV
WHERE F AND V ARE RELATED BY F K V
4HE MEAN VELOCITY V IS GIVEN BY THE FIRST MOMENT OF THE SPECTRUM
V
V3V DV
3V DV
4HE SPECTRUM VELOCITY WIDTH R V IS GIVEN BY TAKING THE SQUARE ROOT OF THE SECOND
CENTRAL MOMENT
S V
V
V 3V DV
3V DV
2ADAR METEOROLOGISTS SOMETIMES REFER TO S V AS THE SPECTRUM VARIANCE BECAUSE OF
ITS COMPUTATIONAL EQUIVALENCE TO THE VARIANCE OF A CONTINUOUSLY DISTRIBUTED RANDOM
VARIABLE )N SHORT 3V IS ANALOGOUS TO A PROBABILITY DENSITY FUNCTION FOR V SINCE IT IS
ACTUALLY A REFLECTIVITY WEIGHTED DISTRIBUTION OF PARTICLE VELOCITIES WITHIN THE SCATTERING
VOLUME 4HE TERM SPECTRUM WIDTH WILL BE USED TO REFER TO RV )T IS CLEAR THEREFORE THAT
THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM CONTAINS THE INFORMATION NECESSARY TO MEASURE METEOROLOGICALLY
IMPORTANT SIGNAL PARAMETERS 4HESE FIRST THREE MOMENTS ARE USUALLY REFERRED TO AS BASE
DATA AND OFTEN LABELED : 6 AND 7 WITH THE APPROPRIATE CONVERSIONS AND UNITS
)N THE MOST GENERAL CASE QUADRATURE PHASE DETECTION IS USED TO OBTAIN THE REAL AND
IMAGINARY PARTS OF THE COMPLEX SIGNAL 4HESE ARE USUALLY DIGITIZED IN A LARGE NUMBER
OF RANGE GATES y AT THE RADARS PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY 4HE RESULTANT COMPLEX
TIME SERIES IN EACH GATE CAN THEN BE PROCESSED BY USING A FAST &OURIER TRANSFORM &&4
TO OBTAIN AN ESTIMATE OF THE DOPPLER POWER SPECTRUM FROM WHICH THE ECHO POWER
MEAN VELOCITY AND SPECTRUM WIDTH CAN BE OBTAINED
&)'52% 'AUSSIAN MODEL OF THE MEAN DOPPLER POWER
SPECTRUM 4HE THREE SPECTRAL MOMENTS RECEIVED POWER
RADIAL VELOCITY AND SPECTRUM WIDTH CAN BE ESTIMATED FROM
THE SPECTRUM AND ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE METEOROLOGICAL
VARIABLES OF INTEREST
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
!N EFFICIENT MOMENT ESTIMATION TECHNIQUE WAS ORIGINALLY DESCRIBED BY 2UMMLER
AND REINTERPRETED BY $OVIAK AND :RNIC 4HIS ESTIMATOR MAKES USE OF THE FACT THAT THE
COMPLEX AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL HAS THE GENERAL FORM
P V
2 N4 0R R N4 EXP J
N4
L
WHERE QN4 IS THE CORRELATION COEFFICIENT OF THE TIME SERIES DATA AND N4 IS THE
TIME LAG
)T CAN BE SHOWN THAT V THE MEAN VELOCITY IS A FUNCTION OF THE FIRST LAG 24
V
L
ARG; 24 =
P 4
)T CAN ALSO BE SHOWN THAT
S V y
L
P 4
24
2 0N
WHERE 0N IS THE NOISE POWER
4HIS ESTIMATOR HAS BEEN WIDELY USED IN THE PAST FOR MEAN
FREQUENCY ESTIMATION WITH
DOPPLER METEOROLOGICAL RADARS 4HE ESTIMATES ARE UNBIASED IN THE PRESENCE OF NOISE
WHEN THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM IS SYMMETRICAL )TS GREATEST APPEAL HOWEVER IS DUE TO ITS
COMPUTATIONAL SIMPLICITY &OR A PULSED RADAR WITH A PULSE REPETITION PERIOD 4 24 IS
OBTAINED FROM ADJACENT PAIRS OF PULSES USING THE SIMPLE EXPRESSION
24
.
.
SK SK
K
WHERE THE SK ARE THE COMPLEX IN PHASE ) AND QUADRATURE 1 SIGNAL SAMPLES SAMPLED
AT THE RADAR 024 AT A GIVEN RANGE AND SK
IS ITS COMPLEX CONJUGATE )T IS CLEAR THAT THIS
ALGORITHM REQUIRES . COMPLEX MULTIPLICATIONS FOR A TIME SERIES OF . SAMPLES WHEREAS
THE &&4 REQUIRES . LOG . 4HIS SO CALLED PULSE PAIR ALGORITHM THEREFORE IS AN EFFI
CIENT SPECTRAL MOMENT ESTIMATION TECHNIQUE (OWEVER IT SHOULD BE APPLIED ONLY WHEN
ONE IS CERTAIN TO HAVE A PURE WEATHER SIGNAL IN WHITE NOISE OTHERWISE OTHER SPECTRAL
COMPONENTS OR NON WHITE NOISE WILL BIAS THE SPECTRAL MOMENT ESTIMATES
&OR MANY PAST OPERATIONAL RADARS THE PULSE PAIR PROCESSOR WAS THE TECHNIQUE OF
CHOICE (OWEVER IN MANY RESEARCH APPLICATIONS IT REMAINS ADVANTAGEOUS FOR IMPROVED
DATA QUALITY CONTROL PURPOSES TO ACCESS THE FULL DOPPLER SPECTRUM AND REMOVE ARTIFACTS
PRIOR TO COMPUTING THE SPECTRAL MOMENTS CORRESPONDING TO THE METEOROLOGICAL DATA
OF INTEREST 4HE WIND PROFILING RADAR COMMUNITY HAS MADE EXTENSIVE USE OF SPEC
TRAL PROCESSING FOR ARTIFACT REMOVAL AND SENSITIVITY IMPROVEMENT /NE OF THE MORE
IMPORTANT TASKS IS ESTIMATING THE NOISE FLOOR SO AS TO REMOVE ITS EFFECT ON THE SPECTRAL
MOMENT ESTIMATES 4WO OBJECTIVE TECHNIQUES ARE COMMON #ONSTANTLY IMPROVING
PROGRAMMABLE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING CHIPS AND SIGNAL PROCESSING COMPUTERS MAKE
IT POSSIBLE FOR RADAR METEOROLOGISTS TO IMPLEMENT VARIOUS TYPES OF SPECTRUM PROCESS
ING TECHNIQUES THAT VASTLY IMPROVE DATA QUALITY OVER THE SIMPLE PULSE PAIR PROCESSING
ALGORITHM &URTHERMORE PROCESSORS THAT ADAPT THEMSELVES TO A VARIABLE ENVIRONMENT IN
WHICH THEY USUALLY OPERATE ARE FEASIBLE &LEXIBLE PROGRAMMING OF DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCES
SORS PERMITS TAILORING OF THE PROCESSORS CHARACTERISTICS TO THE APPLICATION FROM DAY TO
DAY OR EVEN BEAM TO BEAM AND GATE TO GATE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
-EASUREMENT !CCURACY "ECAUSE THE RECEIVED SIGNALS ARE SAMPLE FUNCTIONS
FROM GAUSSIAN RANDOM PROCESSES THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM AND ITS MOMENTS CANNOT BE
MEASURED EXACTLY IN ANY FINITE PERIOD OF TIME #ONSEQUENTLY ALL MEASUREMENTS WILL BE
SOMEWHAT IN ERROR WITH THE ERROR BEING A FUNCTION OF THE PROPERTIES OF THE ATMOSPHERE
THE RADAR WAVELENGTH AND THE TIME ALLOCATED TO THE MEASUREMENT
4HE THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SIGNAL ESTIMATOR STATISTICS IS FOUND IN $ENENBERG
3ERAFIN AND 0EACH FOR THE &&4 TECHNIQUE $OVIAK AND :RNIC` COVER THE SUBJECT QUITE
COMPLETELY WHILE +EELER AND 0ASSARELLI PROVIDE A GOOD SUMMARY OF ALL THESE ESTIMATION
TECHNIQUES AND THE RESPECTIVE MEASUREMENT ERROR EXPRESSIONS &OLLOWING ARE SOME USE
FUL EXPRESSIONS FOR THE MEAN SQUARE ERROR OF MEAN POWER AND MEAN VELOCITY ESTIMATES
0OWER %STIMATION )T IS WELL KNOWN THAT FOR A GAUSSIAN RANDOM PROCESS USING
SQUARE LAW SIGNAL DETECTION SAMPLES OF THE MEAN POWER 0R OF THE PROCESS ARE EXPO
NENTIALLY DISTRIBUTED WITH VARIANCE 0R 4HE VARIATION IS DUE TO THE PROCESS ITSELF NOT ANY
NOISE ASSOCIATED WITH THE MEASUREMENT 'IVEN A TIME 4 SEC ALLOCATED TO THE MEASURE
MENT AND A SIGNAL BANDWIDTH R F (Z THERE WILL BE APPROXIMATELY R F4 INDEPENDENT
SAMPLES OF THE SQUARE OF THE SIGNAL ENVELOPE )T FOLLOWS THEREFORE THAT FOR THE HIGH
3.2 CASE AN ESTIMATE OF THE MEAN POWER FOR THIS PROCESS 0}R WILL HAVE A VARIANCE OR
MEAN SQUARE ERROR GIVEN BY
VAR 0}R y
0R
S F 4
3UBSTITUTING FOR R F FROM THE EXPRESSION R F R V K WHERE R V IS THE WIDTH OF THE
DOPPLER SPECTRUM %Q BECOMES
VAR 0}R y
L 0R
S V4
4HIS EXPRESSION IS VALID FOR HIGH SIGNAL
TO
NOISE CASES
6ELOCITY %STIMATION 4HE VARIANCE OF THE MEAN FREQUENCY ESTIMATE OF THE DOPPLER
SPECTRUM IS
VAR F}
0R4
F 3 F F DF
}
4HIS IS AN INTERESTING RESULT SHOWING THAT THE VARIANCE OF THE ESTIMATE F IS A FUNC
TION ONLY OF THE SHAPE OF THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM PRIMARILY ITS SPECTRUM WIDTH AND THE
INTEGRATION TIME 4 ALLOCATED FOR PROCESSING )F THE SPECTRUM CAN BE ACCURATELY MODELED
BY A GAUSSIAN SHAPE WITH VARIANCE S F %Q REDUCES TO
VAR F}
SF
LS V
P 4
P 4
.OTING THAT VAR V} L VAR F} WE CAN WRITE
VAR V}
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
)F WE MULTIPLY THE NUMERATOR AND DENOMINATOR BY R V %Q BECOMES
VAR V
LS V
S V
P S V4 P S F 4
4HUS IT IS SEEN THAT THE VARIANCE OF THE MEAN VELOCITY ESTIMATE V} IS DIRECTLY PROPOR
TIONAL TO THE VARIANCE OF THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM AND INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE NUMBER
OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLES R F 4 .OTE ALSO THAT VAR V} IS PROPORTIONAL TO K INDICATING
THAT FOR THE SAME PROCESSING TIME 4 AND FOR THE SAME R V THE VARIANCE OF THE ESTIMATE
CAN BE REDUCED BY REDUCING THE WAVELENGTH WHICH INCREASES THE NUMBER OF INDEPEN
DENT SAMPLES
%QUATIONS n ARE APPLICABLE IN HIGH SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO CASES
5NCERTAINTIES IN THE SPECTRAL MOMENT ESTIMATES RESULT FROM THE LIMITED OBSERVATION
TIME OF THE NARROW BAND RANDOM PROCESS CHARACTERIZING THE METEOROLOGICAL ECHO !NY
NOISE IN THE MEASUREMENT FURTHER INCREASES THE UNCERTAINTY :RNIC` GIVES THE MORE
GENERAL FOLLOWING EXPRESSION FOR THE VARIANCE OF THE MEAN FREQUENCY ESTIMATE F FOR THE
PULSE PAIR ESTIMATION TECHNIQUE AND A GAUSSIAN SHAPED SPECTRUM
.
.
P S F 4 3 ;
R 4 =
3
WHERE Q IS THE CORRELATION COEFFICIENT AND .3 IS THE NOISE
TO
SIGNAL RATIO %QUATION
APPLIES A SINGLE 02& WITH INTERPULSE PERIOD 4 AND ASSUMES THAT ALL PULSES IN THE
INTERVAL 4 ARE USED IN THE ESTIMATION ALGORITHM )T REDUCES EXACTLY TO %Q FOR A
LARGE 3.2 AND FOR NARROW SPECTRA IE Q4 y 4HE READER IS REFERRED TO :RNIC` FOR
FURTHER DETAILS REGARDING THE ESTIMATION OF OTHER MOMENTS OF THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM
VAR F}
P 4 R 4 4
0ULSE #OMPRESSION 0ULSE COMPRESSION HAS BEEN INFREQUENTLY USED FOR METEO
ROLOGICAL APPLICATIONS BECAUSE SHORT PULSE PEAK POWER HAS NOT BEEN A LIMITATION ON
WEATHER RADAR SYSTEM PERFORMANCE +EELER AND &RUSH HOWEVER DESCRIBED HOW ATMO
SPHERIC DISTRIBUTED TARGETS MAY BE TREATED AS FROZEN FIXED hSLABSv OF SCATTERING CENTERS
SUCH THAT THEY APPROXIMATE LAYERS OF NONFLUCTUATING SCATTERERS AS THE CODED RADAR PULSE
PROPAGATES THROUGH THEM 4HUS EACH SCATTERING SLAB PRODUCES A RETURN SIGNAL THAT CAN
BE COMPRESSED BY THE COMPRESSION FILTER IN THE SAME WAY AS FOR INDIVIDUAL POINT TARGETS
4HEY POINTED OUT THAT PULSE COMPRESSION CAN BENEFIT RAPID
SCANNING RADAR APPLICATIONS
IN WHICH THE DESIRED DWELL TIME OF EACH SCATTERING VOLUME IS MUCH SHORTER THAN THE
DECORRELATION TIME OF THE WEATHER ECHOES )N THESE CASES AVERAGING PULSE COMPRESSED
RANGE MEASUREMENTS INSTEAD OF INTEGRATING OVER A LONGER DWELL TIME PROVIDES THE
LARGE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLES NEEDED FOR ACCURATE MEASUREMENT IN A VERY SHORT
BEAM OBSERVATION TIME 3IMILARLY THE EFFECTIVE RANGE RESOLUTION OVER WHICH AVERAG
ING IS PERFORMED CAN BE FLEXIBLE TO MEET CHANGING OBSERVATIONAL REQUIREMENTSSHORT
RANGE INTERVALS FOR HIGHLY STRUCTURED HEAVY RAINFALL STORMS TYPICALLY CONVECTIVE AND
LONGER RANGE INTERVALS FOR MORE UNIFORM BUT WEAKER RAINFALL TYPICALLY STRATIFORM )N
OTHER SITUATIONS WHERE SIGNALS ARE VERY WEAK SUCH AS FOR WIND PROFILER APPLICATIONS
AND CLEAR AIR BOUNDARY LAYER OBSERVATIONS PULSE COMPRESSION MAY BE USED TO INCREASE
SYSTEM SENSITIVITY BY INCREASING THE AVERAGE POWER OF THE SYSTEM USING LONG PULSES
WHILE PROCESSING FOR ANY DESIRED RANGE RESOLUTION 2ANGE RESOLUTION AND 3.2 ARE INDE
PENDENTLY DETERMINED BY THE PULSE COMPRESSION WAVEFORM DESIGN PARAMETERS
! NOTE OF CAUTION IS IN ORDER WHEN CONSIDERING PULSE COMPRESSION FOR METEORO
LOGICAL RADARS RELATING TO THE MATTER OF RANGE SIDELOBES #AREFUL DESIGN IS NECESSARY
TO MINIMIZE THESE SIDELOBES JUST AS ANTENNA SIDELOBES SHOULD BE MINIMIZED IN ORDER
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
TO MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF INTERPRETIVE ERRORS CAUSED BY WIDE DYNAMIC RANGE DISTRIBUTED
WEATHER TARGETS !MPLITUDE FREQUENCY AND PHASE SHAPING OF THE TRANSMITTED PULSE
ALONG WITH SPECIAL SIDELOBE SUPPRESSIONCOMPRESSION FILTERS IN THE RECEIVER PROCESSOR
ALLOW RANGE SIDELOBES TO BE SUPPRESSED BY MORE THAN D" OVER A SIGNIFICANT DOPPLER
INTERVALTENS OF METERS PER SECOND 4HESE COMPRESSION FILTERS ARE NOT MATCHED TO THE
TRANSMIT WAVEFORM THEREFORE THE 3.2 DEGRADES SOMEWHAT AND POSSIBLE LOSS OF RANGE
RESOLUTION IN THE MAIN BEAM MAY OCCUR (OWEVER THESE LOSSES ARE TOLERABLE FOR MANY
METEOROLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS OF INTEREST
7HITENING 0ULSE COMPRESSION INVOLVES INCREASED TRANSMIT BANDWIDTH THAT IS
FREQUENTLY DIFFICULT TO HAVE ALLOCATED AND MAY LIMIT ITS USE AT 3 BAND AND # BAND FOR
OPERATIONAL APPLICATIONS ! FIXED BANDWIDTH TECHNIQUE FOR INCREASING RANGE RESOLUTION
AND THE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLES IS THE PROCESS OF SAMPLING THE TRANSMIT PULSE AT
AN INTERVAL SEVERAL TIMES SHORTER THAN ITS DURATION AND USING A LINEAR PREDICTIVE WHITENING
FILTER TO REMOVE THE CORRELATED INFORMATION FROM THE OVERSAMPLED DATA 4HIS WHIT
ENING PROCESS INCREASES THE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLES FOR RANGE AVERAGING THAT
ALLOWS IMPROVED PARAMETER ESTIMATION ACCURACY BUT AT A COST OF SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED
3.2 4HE HIGHER NOISE BANDWIDTH IN THE RECEIVER REQUIRED BY THE HIGHER RATE SAMPLING
AND THE WHITENING FILTER NOISE ENHANCEMENT CAUSE THE 3.2 TO BE REDUCED BY A FACTOR OF
APPROXIMATELY , WHERE , IS THE INCREASED SAMPLING FACTOR 3TATED ANOTHER WAY THE
WHITENING FILTER EFFECTIVELY SHORTENS THE TRANSMIT PULSE BY , WHILE PASSING THE INCREASED
RECEIVER NOISE POWER BY , THEREBY TRADING RANGE RESOLUTION FOR 3.2 &ORTUNATELY FOR
PRECIPITATION ECHOES AND TYPICAL WEATHER RADARS THE 3.2 IS QUITE HIGH AND EVEN AFTER
THE WHITENING PROCESS IT REMAINS HIGH ENOUGH TO EFFECTIVELY UTILIZE THE LARGER NUMBER
OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLES FOR IMPROVED BASE DATA ESTIMATES OR IMPROVED RANGE RESOLU
TION MEASUREMENTS /N THE OTHER HAND IF THE SIGNAL IS WEAK NOISE ENHANCEMENT WILL
DOMINATE THE WHITENING PROCESS AND ANY ADVANTAGE IS LOST (IGHLY IMPORTANT IS THE FACT
THAT THE TRANSMIT PULSE AND ITS BANDWIDTH ARE NOT CHANGED CONSEQUENTLY INCREASED FRE
QUENCY ALLOCATION TO MAKE USE OF THE HIGHER RANGE RESOLUTION IS NOT AN ISSUE
3HORT $WELL 4IME 3PECTRA -AXIMUM %NTROPY 3PECTRAL PROCESSING OF
WEATHER ECHOES ADDS ANOTHER DEGREE OF FREEDOM THE FREQUENCY DIMENSION TO THE ABIL
ITY TO DISCRIMINATE SIGNAL FROM GROUND CLUTTER OTHER ARTIFACTS AND NOISE AND TO ESTIMATE
METEOROLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF INTEREST -OST FREQUENCY DOMAIN PROCESSING REQUIRES
RELATIVELY LONG )1 DATA SAMPLE SETS FOR DISCRETE &OURIER TRANSFORM ANALYSES WINDOW
FUNCTIONS AND POSSIBLE SPECTRAL AVERAGING TO OBTAIN SPECTRA SUITABLE FOR QUANTITA
TIVE PROCESSING &ASTER SCANNING RADARS USED FOR SAMPLING RAPIDLY EVOLVING STORMS
REQUIRES SPECTRUM ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES THAT USE SHORT DWELL TIME DATA SETS OF MANY FEWER
)1 DATA SAMPLES -ODERN SPECTRUM ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES SUCH AS THE "URG MAXIMUM
ENTROPY AND THE #APON MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATORS ALLOW USING SHORT DWELL
SAMPLED DATA TO OBTAIN STABLE SPECTRUM ESTIMATORS 4HESE TECHNIQUES BELONG TO THE
GENERAL CLASS OF AUTOREGRESSIVE !2 ESTIMATORS WHEREBY THE OBSERVED DATA ARE MOD
ELED AS ALL
POLE FILTERED WHITE NOISE RATHER THAN A WEIGHTED SUM OF SINUSOIDS ACCORDING
TO THE &OURIER MODEL -ULTIPLE SIGNALS AND GROUND CLUTTER MAY BE RESOLVED THE SAME
AS USING &OURIER ESTIMATORS 4HESE SHORT DWELL TIME !2 SPECTRA MAY THEN BE USED TO
ESTIMATE WEATHER SPECTRAL MOMENTS THE SAME AS THE &OURIER DATA MODEL SPECTRUM ESTI
MATORS FROM WHICH THE WEATHER PARAMETERS ARE DERIVED
0ROCESSOR )MPLEMENTATIONS -ODERN METEOROLOGICAL RADARS USE DIGITAL SIGNAL
PROCESSING TECHNIQUES ON PROGRAMMABLE PLATFORMS AND INTERACTIVE COLOR DISPLAYS
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
FOR QUANTITATIVE PRECISION IN INTERPRETING THE WEATHER ECHOES -ODERN WEATHER RADARS
REQUIRE LARGE DYNAMIC RANGE TO SENSE STRONG ECHO AT SHORT RANGE AND WEAK ECHO AT
LONG RANGE 4HUS THE RECEIVER AND PROCESSOR DESIGNS ATTEMPT TO MAINTAIN AMPLITUDE
AND PHASE LINEARITY THROUGHOUT THAT RANGE BY USING A DYNAMIC AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL
!'# WHEREBY THE RECEIVER GAIN AND PHASE ARE ADJUSTED ALONG THE RANGE INTERVAL
THROUGH THE USE OF RAPIDLY SWITCHED ATTENUATORS OR MORE OFTEN DIGITAL COMPENSATION
#LEARLY SUCH RAPID SWITCHING IN THE RECEIVER REQUIRES CAREFUL DESIGN IN ORDER TO AVOID
THE AFFECTS OF SWITCHING TRANSIENTS !N APPROACH THAT AVOIDS TRANSIENT EFFECTS IS TO USE
TWO PARALLEL )& RECEIVER CHANNELS EACH WITH MODERATE DYNAMIC RANGE AND FIXED GAINS
AND TO SAMPLE THE SIGNAL IN THE CHANNEL THAT IS BEST MATCHED TO THE SIGNAL STRENGTH
)N ALL THOSE APPROACHES IT IS POSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE LINEAR DYNAMIC RANGE OF GREATER THAN
D" AND TO USE FLOATING
POINT DIGITAL PROCESSING 4HE REFLECTIVITY MEAN DOPPLER VELOCITY
AND SPECTRUM WIDTH CAN ALL BE ESTIMATED DIGITALLY FROM THE FLOATING
POINT SAMPLES 4HE
PROCESSING CAN BE PERFORMED WITH A DEDICATED DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING COMPUTER OR BY FAST
GENERAL
PURPOSE COMPUTERS COMBINED WITH SPECIAL SIGNAL PROCESSING COMPONENTS USING
$IGITAL 3IGNAL 0ROCESSING $30 CHIPS OR FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY &0'! DEVICES
#ONTINUED TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES WILL PERMIT ADVANCED BUT MATURE SIGNAL PROCESSING ALGO
RITHMS SUCH AS MODERN SPECTRAL PROCESSING AND ADAPTIVE FILTERING TO BE IMPLEMENTED
x "* ,/" **
/" !S HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED METEOROLOGICAL RADARS MEASURE BACKSCATTERED POWER AND
RADIAL VELOCITY PARAMETERS 4HE CHALLENGE TO THE RADAR METEOROLOGIST IS TO TRANSLATE THESE
MEASUREMENTS THEIR SPATIAL DISTRIBUTIONS AND THEIR TEMPORAL EVOLUTION INTO QUANTITATIVE
ASSESSMENTS OF THE WEATHER 3ERAFIN AND 7ILSON AMONG OTHERS SHOW HOW MODERN
METEOROLOGICAL RADARS ARE USED FOR FORECASTING THE WEATHER 4HE LEVEL OF SOPHISTICATION
USED IN INTERPRETATION VARIES BROADLY RANGING FROM HUMAN INTERPRETATION OF RUDIMEN
TARY DISPLAYS TO AUTOMATIC ALGORITHMS AND MODERN MULTIDIMENSIONAL DISPLAYS TO ASSIST
HUMAN INTERPRETATION %XPERT SYSTEM APPROACHES THAT ATTEMPT TO REPRODUCE HUMAN
INTERPRETIVE LOGICAL PROCESSES HAVE BEEN EMPLOYED EFFECTIVELY 4HE DEGREE TO WHICH
AUTOMATION CAN BE APPLIED IS EVIDENT IN THE .EXRAD RADAR SYSTEM DESIGN THAT PRODUCES
THE AUTOMATED METEOROLOGICAL PRODUCTS SHOWN IN 4ABLE
4!",% 0ARTIAL ,IST OF .EXRAD !UTOMATED 0RODUCTS
"ASE RADAR REFLECTIVITY ALL RANGES EACH SCAN
"ASE RADIAL VELOCITY
"ASE SPECTRUM WIDTH
#OMPOSITE MAXIMUM AT ALL HEIGHTS REFLECTIVITY
0RECIPITATION ECHO TOPS
3EVERE WEATHER PROBABILITY
6ELOCITY !ZIMUTH $ISPLAY 6!$ 7IND 0ROFILE
3TORM RELATIVE MEAN RADIAL VELOCITY
6ERTICAL INTEGRATED LIQUID
3TORM TRACKING INFORMATION
(AIL POTENTIAL
-ESOCYCLONE AND 4ORNADO 6ORTEX 3IGNATURE
3URFACE RAINFALL ACCUMULATION HR HR TOTAL STORM
2ADAR %CHO #LASSIFIER
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
0RECIPITATION -EASUREMENT !MONG THE MORE IMPORTANT PARAMETERS TO BE
MEASURED IS RAINFALL HAVING SIGNIFICANCE TO A NUMBER OF WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
PROBLEMS RELATED TO AGRICULTURE FRESH WATER SUPPLIES STORM DRAINAGE AND WARNING OF
POTENTIAL FLOODING 4HE RAINFALL RATE CAN BE EMPIRICALLY RELATED TO THE REFLECTIVITY FACTOR
BY AN EXPRESSION OF THE FORM
: A2B
WHERE A AND B ARE CONSTANT AND 2 IS THE RAINFALL RATE USUALLY IN MILLIMETERS PER HOUR
"ATTAN DEVOTES THREE FULL PAGES OF HIS BOOK TO THE LISTING OF DOZENS OF :
2 RELATION
SHIPS DERIVED BY INVESTIGATORS AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD FOR VARIOUS
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND IN ALL SEASONS OF THE YEAR 4HE FACT THAT NO UNIVERSAL EXPRESSION
CAN BE APPLIED TO ALL WEATHER SITUATIONS IS NOT SURPRISING WHEN ONE NOTES THAT RAINFALL
DROP
SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS ARE HIGHLY VARIABLE &OR MANY CONDITIONS THE DROP
SIZE DISTRI
BUTION CAN BE REPRESENTED BY AN EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION
.$ . E n,$
WHERE . AND , ARE CONSTANTS AND ,$ WHERE $ IS THE MEDIAN DROP DIAMETER
)F .$ IS KNOWN THE REFLECTIVITY FACTOR CAN BE CALCULATED FROM %Q "Y USING THE
TERMINAL
FALL SPEED DATA OF 'UNN AND +INZER THE RAINFALL RATE CAN ALSO BE OBTAINED
AND : RELATED TO 2 AS SHOWN IN %Q 4HE EXPONENTIAL FORM OF THE DROP
SIZE DISTRI
BUTION GENERALLY FITS THE AVERAGE OF SEVERAL DROP
SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS THAT OCCUR OVER DIF
FERENT PHASES OF CONVECTIVE AND TROPICAL RAINFALL AND ARE AVERAGED OVER SPACE OR TIME
(OWEVER THE hGAMMAv DROP
SIZE DISTRIBUTION REPRESENTS A BETTER FIT TO INSTANTANEOUS
NATURAL VARIATIONS OF THE DROP
SIZE DISTRIBUTION UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS 4HE GAMMA
DROP
SIZE DISTRIBUTION IS GIVEN AS
.$ . $L E n,$
WITH L n AND ,$ L 4HE L PARAMETER CONTROLS THE SHAPE OF THE DISTRIBUTION
AND WHEN L THE DISTRIBUTION IS EXPONENTIAL
#LEARLY A SINGLE
WAVELENGTH SINGLE
POLARIZATION RADAR CAN MEASURE ONLY A SINGLE
PARAMETER : AND MUST ASSUME 2AYLEIGH SCATTERING 3INCE THE RAINFALL RATE DEPENDS UPON
TWO PARAMETERS . AND , IT IS NOT SURPRISING THAT %Q IS NOT UNIVERSAL $ESPITE
THIS FACT "ATTAN LISTS FOUR EXPRESSIONS AS BEING hFAIRLY TYPICALv FOR THE FOLLOWING FOUR
TYPES OF RAIN
3TRATIFORM RAIN : 2
/ROGRAPHIC RAIN : 2
4HUNDERSTORM RAIN : 2
3NOW : 2
3TRATIFORM REFERS TO WIDESPREAD RELATIVELY UNIFORM RAIN AND USES THE WELL KNOWN
-ARSHALL 0ALMER DROP SIZE DISTRIBUTION /ROGRAPHIC RAIN IS PRECIPITATION THAT IS
INDUCED OR INFLUENCED BY HILLS OR MOUNTAINS WHEREAS 4HUNDERSTORM RAIN IS TYPICAL OF
CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION SYSTEMS )N EACH OF THE ABOVE EXPRESSIONS : IS IN MMM AND
2 IS IN MMH )N %Q 2 IS THE PRECIPITATION RATE OF THE WATER EQUIVALENT MELTED
SNOW "ATTAN GIVES A MORE COMPLETE TREATMENT OF THIS IMPORTANT TOPIC
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
7ILSON AND "RANDES GIVE A COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT OF HOW RADAR AND RAIN
GAUGE DATA CAN BE USED TO COMPLEMENT ONE ANOTHER IN MEASUREMENTS OF PRECIPITATION
OVER LARGE AREAS 4HEY STATE THAT THE RADAR DETERMINED STORM CUMULATIVE PRECIPITATION
MEASUREMENTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE ACCURATE WITHIN A FACTOR OF FOR OF THE TIME
!CCURACIES OVER LARGE AREAS CAN BE IMPROVED TO ABOUT WITH THE ADDITION OF A
SURFACE RAIN
GAUGE NETWORK !LTHOUGH RADAR MEASURES REFLECTIVITY ALOFT THE PRIMARY
CONCERN IS RAINFALL ESTIMATION AT THE SURFACE 2AIN GAUGE MEASUREMENTS ARE FREQUENTLY
USED TO ADJUST THE RADAR REFLECTIVITY VALUES :AWADZKI DESCRIBES MANY FACTORS THAT
INFLUENCE RAINFALL MEASUREMENT BY RADAR *OSS AND ,EEAND OTHERS USE THE
6ERTICAL 0ROFILE OF 2EFLECTIVITY 602 TO ESTIMATE THE SURFACE RAINFALL RATE WITH SOME
SUCCESS "RIDGES AND &ELDMAN DISCUSS HOW TWO INDEPENDENT MEASUREMENTS REFLEC
TIVITY FACTOR AND ATTENUATION CAN BE USED TO OBTAIN BOTH PARAMETERS OF THE DROP
SIZE
DISTRIBUTION AND MORE PRECISELY DETERMINE THE RAINFALL RATE
0OLARIMETRIC %STIMATES $UAL POLARIZATION RADAR HAS BEEN PROVEN TO YIELD IMPROVED
RAINFALL ESTIMATES AS WELL AS OTHER ADVANTAGES FOR WEATHER RADAR 0OLARIMETRIC RADAR
MEASUREMENTS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FLATTENED RAINDROP SHAPE APPROXIMATED BY AN
OBLATE SPHEROID A FLATTENED SPHERE HAVING A HORIZONTAL DIMENSION GREATER THAN ITS VERTI
CAL DIMENSION AND ITS PROPAGATION AND SCATTERING CHARACTERISTICS TO OBTAIN ACCURATE
RAIN
RATE ESTIMATORS 3ELIGA AND "RINGI AND 3ACHIDANANDA AND :RNIC SHOW HOW THE
CO
POLAR MEASUREMENTS OF : AT HORIZONTAL :H AND VERTICAL :V POLARIZATIONS CAN PRO
DUCE TWO INDEPENDENT MEASUREMENTS AND THEREFORE PROVIDE MORE ACCURATE RAINFALL
RATE
MEASUREMENTS THAN THOSE RELATED TO SIMPLE REFLECTIVITY "RINGI AND #HANDRA GIVE THE
FOLLOWING RAIN
RATE ESTIMATORS FOR MEASUREMENTS AT CM 3 BAND /THER WAVELENGTHS
HAVE DIFFERENT CONSTANTS BECAUSE OF -IE FACTORS ENTERING INTO THE CALCULATIONS AND THE
WAVELENGTH DEPENDENCE OF PHASE MEASUREMENTS
2:H :DR :H :DRn
2+DP +DP
2+DP :DR +DP :DRn
4HE REFLECTIVITY BASED RAIN RATE ESTIMATORS CORRESPONDING TO THE -ARSHALL 0ALMER
: 2 AND THE COMMON .EXRAD 732 $ : 2 RELATIONS ARE
2-0 : : FOR -ARSHALL 0ALMER
2$ : : FOR .EXRAD 732 $
4HE POLARIMETRIC PRECIPITATION MEASUREMENTS BRING UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS THAT
ADDRESS NOT ONLY IMPROVED PRECIPITATION MEASUREMENTS BUT ALSO IMPROVED DATA QUAL
ITY CHARACTERISTICS 4HE DIFFERENTIAL REFLECTIVITY BETWEEN THE HORIZONTAL AND VERTI
CAL POLARIZATIONS :DR ALLOWS ESTIMATING THE EFFECTIVE DROP SIZE WHEREAS DIFFERENTIAL
PHASE +DP GIVES ADDITIONAL SOMEWHAT INDEPENDENT INFORMATION ON ESTIMATION OF
RAINFALL RATES +DP IS AN ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT PARAMETER WHEN THE RADAR IS CONFRONTED
WITH TYPICAL CONTAMINANTS AS BEAM BLOCKAGE GROUND CLUTTER DOMINATION AND CALIBRA
TION ERRORS &URTHERMORE 2YZHKOV AND :RNIC HAVE SHOWN THAT +DP BASED RAINFALL
MEASUREMENTS ARE LESS DEPENDENT ON THE UNKNOWN AND VARIABLE DROP SIZE DISTRIBU
TION $3$ THAN POWER BASED MEASUREMENTS &URTHERMORE OTHER INFERENCES FROM THE
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
POLARIMETRIC MEASUREMENTS ALLOW ONE TO ESTIMATE THE PARAMETERS OF THE GAMMA FUNC
TION FORM OF THE $3$ WHICH MAY FURTHER IMPROVE RAINFALL ESTIMATION !ND SELF
CONSISTENCY CONSTRAINTS OF THE POLARIMETRIC PRECIPITATION COVARIANCE MATRIX IMPOSE
RELATIVELY STRICT BOUNDS ON THE ABSOLUTE REFLECTIVITY MEASUREMENTS ALLOWING ONE TO
CALIBRATE THE REFLECTIVITY MEASUREMENT AND MAKE IMPROVED RAINFALL RATE ESTIMATES
&OR SHORT WAVELENGTH RADARS ONE MUST CONSIDER -IE SCATTERING EFFECTS WHEN MEASUR
ING RAINFALL RATE BY REFLECTIVITY MEASUREMENT ,HERMITTE AND +OLLIAS ET AL GIVE AN
ANALYSIS OF -IE SCATTERING AND SHOW THAT IF THE SCATTERING IS PROPERLY ACCOUNTED THE
RAINFALL MEASUREMENTS ARE ACCURATE
0OLARIMETRIC RADARS MAY BE CONFIGURED IN DIFFERENT WAYS FOR DIFFERENT MEASURE
MENTS 2ESEARCH RADARS EXPLORE THE DEPOLARIZATION RATIOS BY ALTERNATING HORIZONTALLY
AND VERTICALLY POLARIZED PULSES (OWEVER THE PREFERRED CONFIGURATION FOR OPERA
TIONAL RADARS IS TO TRANSMIT BOTH HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL POLARIZATIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY
WHILE INDEPENDENTLY RECEIVING BOTH ORTHOGONAL SIGNALS FOR POLARIMETRIC PROCESSING
ALLOWING RECEPTION OF THE IMPORTANT CO
POLAR QUANTITIES 4HE RELATIVE PHASE OF EACH
TRANSMITTED POLARIZATION IS ARBITRARY BUT THE DIFFERENTIAL MAGNITUDE AND PHASE OF
THE CO
POLAR RECEIVED SIGNALS IN EACH POLARIZATION ARE SUFFICIENT FOR THE POLARIMETRIC
MEASUREMENTS
)T IS OUR OPINION THAT NO SINGLE TOPIC IN RADAR METEOROLOGY HAS RECEIVED MORE
ATTENTION THAN RAINFALL RATE MEASUREMENT !LTHOUGH USEFUL EMPIRICAL EXPRESSIONS HAVE
EVOLVED AND DUAL
POLARIZATION TECHNIQUES SHOW SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN ACCU
RACY A COMPLETELY SATISFACTORY APPROACH REMAINS TO BE DEVELOPED
0OLARIMETRIC MEASUREMENTS BY THE 732
$ RADARS WILL ALLOW MORE ACCURATE
PRECIPITATION MEASUREMENTS AND ICE
WATER PHASE KNOWLEDGE THAT IS IMPORTANT FOR
MAKING IMPROVED FORECASTS SEPARATING WINTER PRECIPITATION INTO REGIONS OF RAIN AND
SNOW AND DETECTING HAZARDOUS AIRCRAFT ICING CONDITIONS )MPLEMENTATION OF PHASE
CODING ALGORITHMS ALLOW THESE RADARS TO SEPARATE MULTIPLE TIME AROUND OR MULTI
PLE TRIP ECHOES AND TO COMPUTE DEALIASED VELOCITIES IN THE RANGE DEALIASED
ECHOES TO CLASSIFY AND SEPARATE PRECIPITATION ECHOES FROM ARTIFACTS AS GROUND CLUT
TER SEA CLUTTER AND INSECTS ECHOES TO ACCOMMODATE FLEXIBLE SCAN STRATEGIES AND
TO INCORPORATE IMPROVED DATA RESOLUTION IN RANGE AND AZIMUTH 4HESE PERFORMANCE
ENHANCEMENTS ARE READILY ACHIEVED BY INSTALLING GREATER AND MORE FLEXIBLE SIGNAL AND
DATA PROCESSING POWER
3EVERE 3TORM 7ARNING /NE OF THE PRIMARY PURPOSES OF WEATHER RADARS IS TO
PROVIDE TIMELY WARNINGS OF SEVERE WEATHER PHENOMENA SUCH AS TORNADOES DAMAGING
WINDS FLASH FLOODS AND LANDFALLING HURRICANES !CCURATE LONG
TERM FORECASTING OF THE
PRECISE LOCATION AND LEVEL OF SEVERITY OF THESE PHENOMENA THROUGH DATA ASSIMILATION
AND NUMERICAL WEATHER PREDICTION TECHNIQUES IS BEYOND THE PRESENT STATE OF THE ART
/PERATIONAL RADARS HOWEVER CAN DETECT THESE PHENOMENA AND PROVIDE LOCAL WARN
INGS OF APPROACHING SEVERE EVENTS THEY CAN ALSO DETECT THE ROTATING MESOCYCLONES
IN SEVERE STORMS THAT ARE PRECURSORS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF TORNADOES AT THE %ARTHS
SURFACE 'ROUND
BASED COASTAL AND AIRBORNE RADARS CAN ALSO MEASURE THE SEVERITY
OF APPROACHING HURRICANES AND DEFINE THEIR MOST INTENSE LANDFALL POSITIONS FOR EVACU
ATION WARNINGS
4ORNADO $ETECTION ! SINGLE DOPPLER RADAR CAN MEASURE ONLY THE RADIAL COMPO
NENT OF THE VECTOR WIND FIELD (ENCE EXACT MEASUREMENTS OF VECTOR WINDS AT A POINT
ARE GENERALLY NOT POSSIBLE (OWEVER ROTATING WINDS OR VORTICES CAN BE DETECTED AND
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
THEIR INTENSITIES MEASURED BY SIMPLY MEASURING THE CHANGE IN RADIAL VELOCITY WITH
AZIMUTH ANGLE AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE RADAR SCANS IN AZIMUTH AND DETECTS A
COUPLET IN RADIAL VELOCITY AT CONSTANT RANGE 4HE AZIMUTH SHEAR IS GIVEN SIMPLY BY THE
EXPRESSION
DVR VR
y
DX
RA
WHERE X IS IN THE DIRECTION ORTHOGONAL TO THE RADIUS OF THE CIRCULATION AND @ IS THE ANGLE
SUBTENDED BY THE CIRCULATION AT RANGE R
"ECAUSE MESOCYCLONES MAY SPAWN TORNADOES AND CAN BE MANY KILOMETERS IN DIAM
ETER RADARS WITH ABOUT n BEAMWIDTH HAVE THE SPATIAL RESOLUTION TO DETECT MESOCY
CLONES AT RANGES IN EXCESS OF KM )T SHOULD BE CLEAR THAT ANY MEAN TRANSLATIONAL
MOTION WOULD CHANGE THE ABSOLUTE VALUES OF THE MEASURED RADIAL VELOCITIES BUT WOULD
NOT AFFECT THE SHEAR MEASUREMENT !ZIMUTHAL SHEAR VALUES OF THE ORDER OF n Sn
OR GREATER AND WITH VERTICAL EXTENT GREATER THAN THE DIAMETER OF THE MESOCYCLONE ARE
DEEMED NECESSARY FOR A TORNADO TO OCCUR
$ETECTION OF THE TORNADO VORTEX ITSELF IS NOT GENERALLY POSSIBLE BEYOND ABOUT KM
USING TYPICAL WEATHER RADAR BEAMWIDTHS SINCE ITS HORIZONTAL EXTENT MAY BE ONLY A FEW
HUNDRED METERS $ETECTION OF THE RADIAL SHEAR THEREFORE IS NOT POSSIBLE UNLESS THE TOR
NADO IS CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE RADAR TO BE RESOLVED BY THE BEAMWIDTH (OWEVER IN CASES
WHERE THE TORNADO FALLS ENTIRELY WITHIN THE BEAM THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM WIDTH MAY BE
USED TO ESTIMATE TORNADIC INTENSITY )N SOME CASES BOTH A MESOCYCLONE AND ITS INCIPIENT
TORNADO CAN BE DETECTED 7ILSON AND 2OESLI SHOW AN EXCELLENT EARLY EXAMPLE OF A
TORNADO VORTEX SIGNATURE 463 EMBEDDED WITHIN A LARGER MESOCYCLONE
-ICROBURSTS &UJITA AND #ARACENA FIRST IDENTIFIED THE MICROBURST PHENOMENON
AS THE CAUSE OF AN AIRLINER CRASH THAT TOOK PLACE IN 4HE MICROBURST AND ITS EFFECTS
ON AN AIRCRAFT DURING TAKEOFF OR LANDING ARE DEPICTED IN &IGURE 4HE MICROBURST IS
SIMPLY A SMALL
SCALE SHORT
DURATION DOWNDRAFT EMANATING FROM A CONVECTIVE STORM
4HIS hBURSTv OF AIR SPREADS OUT RADIALLY AS IT STRIKES THE GROUND FORMING A RING OF
DIVERGINGAIR ABOUT TO KM DEEP AND OF THE ORDER OF TO KM IN DIAMETER WITH
DIVERGENT WINDS GREATER THAN MS AND LASTING LESS THAN MINUTES !IRCRAFT PEN
ETRATING A MICROBURST FIRST EXPERIENCE AN INCREASE IN HEAD WIND AND THEN A CONTINU
OUS PERFORMANCE
ROBBING DECREASE IN HEAD WIND WHICH CAN CAUSE THE PLANE TO CRASH
IF ENCOUNTERED SHORTLY BEFORE TOUCHDOWN OR JUST AS THE AIRCRAFT IS TAKING OFF -ORE
COMPLETE DESCRIPTIONS OF MICROBURSTS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON AVIATION SAFETY ARE GIVEN BY
&UJITA AND -C#ARTHY AND 3ERAFIN
&)'52% -EASUREMENT OF ROTATION OR AZIMUTHAL WIND SHEAR IN A MESOCYCLONE
A ROTATING WIND PARCEL 4HE AZIMUTHAL SHEAR IS GIVEN BY #V#X VR R@ #OURTESY OF
5NIVERSITY #ORPORATION FOR !TMOSPHERIC 2ESEARCH "OULDER #/
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% $EPICTION OF A MICROBURST AND ITS EFFECT
ON AN AIRCRAFT DURING TAKEOFF 4HE LOSS OF AIRSPEED IN THE
DIVERGENT WIND FIELD NEAR TO THE GROUND IS EXTREMELY HAZ
ARDOUS ! SIMILAR LOSS OF AIRSPEED NEAR THE GROUND OCCURS
DURING LANDING #OURTESY OF 5NIVERSITY #ORPORATION FOR
!TMOSPHERIC 2ESEARCH "OULDER #/
-ICROBURST DETECTION LIKE TORNADO DETECTION IS ACCOMPLISHED BY ESTIMATING SHEAR
(OWEVER IN THE CASE OF THE MICROBURST IT IS THE RADIAL SHEAR OF THE RADIAL VELOCITY THAT IS
TYPICALLY MEASURED (UMAN INTERPRETATION OF MICROBURST SIGNATURES IN COLOR ENHANCED
RADIAL VELOCITY DISPLAYS IS EASILY ACCOMPLISHED WITH TRAINED OBSERVERS AND AUTOMATIC
DETECTION HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED ON THE 4$72 RADAR SYSTEM 2ADIAL VELOCITY DIFFER
ENCES OF TO MS ARE OBSERVED IN MICROBURSTS ! RADIAL VELOCITY DIFFERENCE OF MORE
THAN MS OVER THE LENGTH OF A JET RUNWAY y KM IS A SERIOUS CONCERN
/NE PRINCIPAL PROBLEM CONCERNING MICROBURSTS IS THEIR SHORT LIFETIMES WHICH ARE
ON THE ORDER OF n MINUTES BUT THE DURATION OF PEAK INTENSITY IS ONLY OR MIN
UTES &IELD RESEARCH HAS CLEARLY DEMONSTRATED THAT A FEW MINUTES ADVANCE WARNING
USING DOPPLER RADAR CAN BE ACHIEVED /PERATIONAL MICROBURST DETECTION RADARS USE THIS
AUTOMATED DETECTION ALGORITHM WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE GROUND CLUTTER MITIGATION TECH
NIQUES SINCE THE PHENOMENON OCCURS NEAR THE GROUND AND OFTENTIMES IN VERY LIGHT OR
NO PRECIPITATION
# BAND IS THE PREFERRED OPERATIONAL FREQUENCY FOR SEVERAL REASONS &IRST A # BAND
ANTENNA WILL HAVE A SMALLER BEAMWIDTH THAN AN 3 BAND ANTENNA OF THE SAME SIZE
AND ALLOW IMPROVED AIR FLOW MEASUREMENTS WITH STRONG CLUTTER SUPPRESSION NEAR THE
AIRPORT SURFACE 3ECOND SINCE SHORT RANGE DETECTION IS IMPORTANT RADAR ATTENUATION
EFFECTS ARE NOT A PRIMARY CONCERN 4HIRD # BAND OFFERS IMPROVED SIGNAL TO CLUTTER
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
PERFORMANCE SINCE THE LARGE CLUTTER TARGETS ARE LIMITED IN RADAR CROSS SECTION BY -IE
SCATTERING WHEREAS THE ATMOSPHERE
BORNE WIND TRACING SCATTERERS ARE SMALL AND OBEY
2AYLEIGH SCATTERING CROSS SECTION PHYSICS 8
BAND RADARS HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED TO
SOME DEGREE BUT THE MORE SEVERE ATTENUATION THAT CAN OCCUR IN VERY HEAVY RAIN WILL
LIMIT PERFORMANCE UNLESS THE RADAR IS LOCATED VERY NEAR TO THE AIRPORT RUNWAYS )N
THE MID
S THE #
BAND 4ERMINAL $OPPLER 7EATHER 2ADAR 4$72 SYSTEM WAS
INSTALLED AT MAJOR AIRPORTS TO DETECT AND WARN AIRCRAFT OF HAZARDOUS WIND SHEAR
CONDITIONS APPROACHING GUST FRONTS THAT MAY AFFECT THE AIRPORT APPROACH AND DEPARTURE
CONFIGURATION AND MICROBURSTS 4HIS NETWORK OF RADARS ALONG WITH MUCH IMPROVED
PILOT TRAINING AND AWARENESS HAS ALL BUT ELIMINATED AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY MICRO
BURSTS AND STRONG WIND SHEAR
(AIL 4HE .EXRAD RADAR MAKES USE OF A HAIL
DETECTION ALGORITHM THAT COMBINES
A HIGH REFLECTIVITY FACTOR WITH ECHO HEIGHT AND UPPER
LEVEL DIVERGENT RADIAL VELOCITY
WINDS TO DETECT THE OCCURRENCE OF HAIL 0OLARIMETRIC RADAR TECHNIQUES IMPROVE QUANTITA
TIVE HAIL DETECTION "RINGI ET AL !YDIN ET AL AND )LLINGWORTH ET AL PROPOSED A
HAIL DETECTION TECHNIQUE USING DIFFERENTIAL REFLECTIVITY MEASUREMENTS 4HIS TECHNIQUE
DEPENDS UPON THE FACT THAT FOR TUMBLING HAIL THE DIFFERENTIAL REFLECTIVITY THE RATIO OF
HORIZONTAL TO VERTICAL REFLECTIVITY IS NEAR UNITY y D" 4HIS DIFFERS SHARPLY FROM
HEAVY RAIN WHERE THIS RATIO CAN BE AS LARGE AS D" BECAUSE LARGE WATER DROPLETS ARE
HORIZONTALLY ORIENTED 4HE COMBINATION OF ABSOLUTE REFLECTIVITY FACTOR AND THE DUAL
POLARIZATION DIFFERENTIAL REFLECTIVITY GIVES UNIQUE SIGNATURES FOR HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN
EACH OF WHICH IS CHARACTERIZED BY A HIGH REFLECTIVITY FACTOR 4HE DIFFERENCE IN THE DIFFER
ENTIAL REFLECTIVITY SIGNATURES IS EASILY EXPLAINED ,ARGE RAINDROPS ASSUME FLATTER SHAPES
APPROXIMATED BY OBLATE SPHEROIDS AS THEY FALL AND THUS SCATTER BACK THE HORIZON
TALLY POLARIZED ELECTRIC FIELD MORE STRONGLY THAN THE VERTICALLY POLARIZED ELECTRIC FIELD
(AILSTONES HAVING AN IRREGULAR SHAPE PHYSICALLY TUMBLE WHILE THEY FALL AND THEREFORE
EXHIBIT NO PREFERRED ORIENTATION ON AVERAGE 4HUS THE HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL SCATTERED
FIELDS HAVE NEARLY THE SAME AVERAGE VALUE
7IND -EASUREMENT ,HERMITTE AND !TLAS WERE THE FIRST TO SHOW HOW A SINGLE
DOPPLER RADAR CAN BE USED TO MEASURE VERTICAL PROFILES OF THE HORIZONTAL WIND FIELD WHEN
PRECIPITATION IS PRESENT 4HIS TECHNIQUE IS MOST ACCURATE IF THE WIND FIELD IS UNIFORM IN
THE REGION SCANNED BY THE RADAR 4HE METHOD DEPENDS UPON AN ANALYSIS OF THE RADIAL
VELOCITY MEASURED DURING A COMPLETE SCAN IN AZIMUTH WITH A SINGLE FIXED ELEVATION
ANGLE !T ANY SLANT RANGE R THE HEIGHT OF THE MEASUREMENT IS R SIN @ AND THE RADIUS OF
THE REGION SCANNED IS R COS @ WHERE @ IS THE ELEVATION ANGLE AS DEPICTED IN &IGURE
)F A IS THE AZIMUTH ANGLE 6H IS THE HORIZONTAL WIND SPEED AND 6F IS THE FALL SPEED OF THE
PARTICLES THEN THE RADIAL VELOCITY AT RANGE R IS GIVEN BY
6R A 6H COS A COS @ 6F SIN @
! HARMONIC ANALYSIS LEAST SQUARE FITTING THE AMPLITUDE PHASE AND OFFSET OF A SINU
SOID CAN BE USED TO OBTAIN 6H THE HORIZONTAL WIND SPEED THE WIND DIRECTION WHERE COS
A IS MAXIMUM AND 6F THE MEAN PARTICLE FALL SPEED ALL PLOTTED AS A FUNCTION OF HEIGHT
4HIS TECHNIQUE IS REFERRED TO AS THE 6ELOCITY !ZIMUTH $ISPLAY 6!$ "ROWNING AND
7EXLER LATER SHOWED HOW THE 6!$ TECHNIQUE COULD BE EXTENDED TO MEASURE OTHER
PARAMETERS OF THE WIND FIELD INCLUDING WIND FIELD DIVERGENCE AND WIND FIELD DEFORMA
TION BY EMPLOYING AN EXTENDED HARMONIC OR &OURIER SERIES ANALYSIS 4HE 6!$ HAS BEEN
IMPLEMENTED ON THE .EXRAD AS A STANDARD PRODUCT THAT CAN BE USED IN PRECIPITATION AND
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 6ELOCITY !ZIMUTH $ISPLAY GEOMETRY FOR
MEASURING HORIZONTAL WIND WITH A SINGLE DOPPLER RADAR
-EASUREMENT OF THE RADIAL VELOCITY FOR A COMPLETE AZIMUTHAL
SCAN A AT ELEVATION ANGLE @ PERMITS AN ESTIMATE OF THE
VERTICAL PROFILE OF HORIZONTAL WINDS #OURTESY OF 5NIVERSITY
#ORPORATION FOR !TMOSPHERIC 2ESEARCH "OULDER #/
FREQUENTLY IN CLEAR AIR 4HE 6!$ TECHNIQUE IS MOST OFTEN APPLIED TO WIND PROFILER RADARS
THAT POINT VERTICALLY AND STEP SCAN AT RELATIVELY LARGE ELEVATION ANGLES !N ALTERNATIVE
DETERMINATION OF BOUNDARY LAYER WIND FIELDS USING A SINGLE WEATHER RADAR HAS FOUND
SUCCESS USING AN ECHO TRACKING TECHNIQUE
4HUNDERSTORM 0REDICTION 7ILSON AND 3CHREIBER ILLUSTRATE HOW METEOROLOGI
CAL DOPPLER RADAR CAN BE USED TO DETECT LOCATIONS WHERE NEW THUNDERSTORM DEVELOP
MENT IS LIKELY TO OCCUR -ANY WEATHER RADARS HAVE SUFFICIENT SENSITIVITY TO DETECT
DISCONTINUITIES OF CLEAR AIR ECHOES IN THE LOWER TO KM OF THE ATMOSPHERE OUT TO
OR KM 4HIS DETECTION OCCURS PRINCIPALLY IN THE SUMMER MONTHS WHEN THE
BACKSCATTERING MECHANISM IS CAUSED BY INSECTS IN THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERIC
BOUNDARY LAYER AND SOMETIMES MAY ALSO BE DUE TO "RAGG
SCATTERED REFRACTIVE INDEX
INHOMOGENEITIES 7ILSON AND 3CHREIBER HAVE FOUND THAT ABOUT OF THE THUNDER
STORMS THAT OCCUR IN THE &RONT 2ANGE OF THE 2OCKIES IN THE SUMMERTIME DEVELOP
OVER SUCH hBOUNDARIESv BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT AIR MASSES 3INCE THESE BOUNDARIES
CAN BE DETECTED BEFORE ANY CLOUDS ARE PRESENT AND IT IS POSSIBLE TO INFER THE AIR MASS
CONVERGENCE OR COMING TOGETHER OF TWO AIR MASSES WHERE INSECTS ARE FORCED TO
ACCUMULATE ALONG THESE BOUNDARIES BY DOPPLER RADAR MEASUREMENTS MORE PRECISE
PREDICTION OF THUNDERSTORM OCCURRENCE IS POSSIBLE &ROM THE RADAR DESIGNERS STAND
POINT SUCH APPLICATIONS DICTATE THE USE OF ANTENNAS WITH VERY LOW SIDELOBES ALONG
WITH LOW
PHASE NOISE TRANSMITTERS AND RECEIVER COMPONENTS AND SIGNAL PROCESSORS
HAVING SIGNIFICANT GROUND CLUTTER REJECTION CAPABILITY 4HE .EXRAD RADAR SYSTEM WITH
ITS HIGH QUALITY ANTENNA AND D" OF CLUTTER REJECTION IS WELL SUITED TO THIS IMPORTANT
OPERATIONAL TASK
2EFRACTIVITY AND 7ATER 6APOR -EASUREMENTS #ONVENTIONAL WEATHER RADAR PRO
CESSING IS GENERALLY DESIGNED TO EMPHASIZE PRECIPITATION AND WIND
FIELD MEASUREMENTS
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
AND TO SUPPRESS GROUND CLUTTER (OWEVER IT IS KNOWN THAT RADAR BEAM BENDING CAUSED
BY ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTION AND THE RESULTING ANOMALOUSLY PROPAGATED GROUND CLUTTER
ECHO GIVES AN INDICATION OF THE VERTICAL PROFILES OF TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE IN THE
INTERVENING LOWER ATMOSPHERE -OREOVER MEASURING THE PROPAGATION SPEED OF THE
RADAR PULSE BETWEEN NORMALLY PROPAGATED CLUTTER TARGETS THOSE DIRECTLY VIEWED BY
THE RADAR GIVES AN ESTIMATE OF THE REFRACTIVE INDEX OF AIR ALONG THIS PROPAGATION PATH
"Y MEASURING THE ABSOLUTE PHASE OF THE RADAR SIGNAL RECEIVED FROM STATIONARY GROUND
CLUTTER TARGETS AND COMPARING THEM WITH REFERENCE ABSOLUTE PHASE MEASUREMENTS UNDER
KNOWN REFRACTIVE CONDITIONS ONE CAN MEASURE THE NEAR SURFACE PROPAGATION SPEEDS
OF THE RADAR PULSE ALONG THESE PATHS 4HEN THE REFRACTIVE INDEX OR REFRACTIVITY OF THE
ATMOSPHERE OF THESE ATMOSPHERIC PATHS MAY BE DETERMINED 2EFRACTIVITY IS A FUNC
TION OF TEMPERATURE PRESSURE AND MOISTURE CONTENT #ONSEQUENTLY IF SURFACE TEM
PERATURE AND PRESSURE ARE INDEPENDENTLY AVAILABLE AS THEY FREQUENTLY ARE THEN THE
REFRACTIVE INDEX MEASUREMENTS MAY BE CONVERTED TO SPATIAL FIELDS OF WATER VAPOR IN THE
SURFACE BOUNDARY LAYER 3UCH WATER VAPOR MEASUREMENTS ARE CRITICAL FOR OBTAINING
ACCURATE FORECASTS USING NUMERICAL MODELS AND SIMULATIONS OF THE ATMOSPHERE 4HIS
EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE CAN BE USED TO RANGES OF ABOUT KM WHERE THE
%ARTHS CURVATURE PREVENTS ROUTINE OBSERVATION OF GROUND CLUTTER TARGETS AND IS BEING
CONSIDERED FOR OPERATIONAL USE IN .EXRAD
,
-
,
**
/" /PERATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL RADARS ARE DESIGNED FOR RELIABILITY AND SIMPLICITY OF OPERA
TION WHILE PROVIDING THE PERFORMANCE NEEDED FOR OPERATIONAL APPLICATIONS 2ESEARCH
RADARS ARE CONSIDERABLY MORE COMPLEX SINCE CUTTING
EDGE RESEARCH REQUIRES MORE
DETAILED AND MORE SENSITIVE MEASUREMENTS OF A MULTIPLICITY OF VARIABLES SIMULTANE
OUSLY )N THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY MULTIPLE
PARAMETER POLARIZATION AND WAVELENGTH
RADAR STUDIES MULTIPLE DOPPLER RADAR NETWORK STUDIES AND A NEW GENERATION OF AIRBORNE
AND SPACEBORNE RADARS ARE RECEIVING CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION
$UAL 0OLARIZATION7AVELENGTH 2ADAR )T IS CLEAR THAT POLARIMETRIC DOPPLER
RADARS PROVIDE A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE USEFUL INFORMATION THAT CAN BE OBTAINED
FROM METEOROLOGICAL TARGETS 4HE DETECTION OF HAIL AND MORE ACCURATE RAINFALL ESTI
MATES HAS PRIMARY SIGNIFICANCE $UAL POLARIZATION MEASUREMENTS AT MULTIPLE WAVE
LENGTHS PROVIDE EVEN MORE INFORMATION RELATED TO THE EVENTUAL INTERPRETATION OF THE
SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS WATER
PHASE STATES AND HYDROMETEOR WATER OR ICE PARTICLES TYPES
IN DIFFERENT CLASSES OF PRECIPITATION AND CLOUDS 4HE CAPABILITIES OF MULTIPLE
PARAMETER
METEOROLOGICAL RADARS ARE PRESENTED IN "RINGI AND (ENDRY "RINGI AND #HANDRA AND
IN THE COLLECTION OF PAPERS EDITED BY (ALL 7HEREAS LONGER
WAVELENGTH RADARS ARE
NECESSARY FOR THE STUDY OF SEVERE STORMS SHORTER WAVELENGTH MILLIMETER
WAVE RADARS
ARE USEFUL FOR SENSING AND PROBING NEWLY DEVELOPING CLOUDS 2ESEARCHERS OFTEN NEED
A WIDE RANGE OF THESE CAPABILITIES SIMULTANEOUSLY &ROM THE RADAR ENGINEERING STAND
POINT THE CHALLENGE IS CONSIDERABLE REQUIRING RADAR DESIGNERS TO DEVELOP COHERENT
WAVEFORM POLARIZATION
DIVERSE AND WAVELENGTH
DIVERSE RADARS !S NOTED THERE EXIST
SEVERAL POLARIMETRIC RESEARCH RADARS AND OPERATIONAL RADARS IN THE WORLD
-ULTIPLE 2ADARS ! SINGLE DOPPLER RADAR MEASURES ONLY A SINGLE RADIAL COMPO
NENT OF VELOCITY ,HERMITTE WAS AMONG THE FIRST TO DESCRIBE HOW TWO OR MORE DOPPLER
RADARS COULD BE USED SCANNING TOGETHER TO OBTAIN THE FULL THREE
DIMENSIONAL AIR MOTION
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
FIELDS IN PRECIPITATION 4HIS PIONEERING WORK LED THE WAY TOWARD THE USE OF NETWORKS
OF DOPPLER RADARS FOR STUDIES OF INDIVIDUAL CLOUDS TO EXAMINE THE THREE
DIMENSIONAL
STRUCTURE OF VECTOR AIR MOTION IN PRECIPITATION ! POINT SHOULD BE MADE HERE REGARDING
THE USE OF TWO DOPPLER RADARS FOR MEASUREMENTS OF THREE
DIMENSIONAL WINDS 3INCE
IN PRINCIPLE TWO INDEPENDENT LOOKS CAN MEASURE ONLY TWO COMPONENTS OF VECTOR AIR
MOTION THE ASSUMPTION OF ATMOSPHERIC MASS CONTINUITY IS INVOKED 4HIS EQUATION OF
MASS CONTINUITY 6 IS USED TO OBTAIN THE THIRD
DIMENSIONAL COMPONENT WHERE
6 IS THE VECTOR AIR MOTION AND IS CONSTRAINED TO BE ZERO AT THE SURFACE 4HE VERTICAL AIR
MOTION IS CALCULATED FROM VERTICAL INTEGRATION OF THE MASS CONTINUITY EQUATION
&IGURE ILLUSTRATES AN AIR MOTION FIELD OBTAINED BY TWO DOPPLER RADAR OBSERVA
TIONS IN AN INDIVIDUAL CONVECTIVE STORM CELL 3HOWN ARE THE HORIZONTAL VECTOR FIELDS IN
A PLANE APPROXIMATELY M ABOVE THE SURFACE 4HE PHENOMENON BEING MEASURED IS
A LOW
LEVEL DIVERGENT OUTFLOW OR MICROBURST JUST TO RIGHT OF THE CENTER &IGURE
SHOWS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF PRECIPITATION INTENSITY AND AIR MOTION FIELDS SUPERPOSED ON
A PHOTOGRAPH OF A CONVECTIVE THUNDERSTORM CELL 4HE DATA ARE TAKEN FROM THREE DOPPLER
RADARS SPACED ABOUT KM APART
! DEVELOPING NETWORK OF SHORT RANGE DOPPLER RADARS NOT RANGE LIMITED BY THE %ARTHS
CURVATURE WILL PROVIDE MORE DETAILED OBSERVATIONS CLOSE TO THE SURFACE THAN THE RELA
TIVELY WIDELY SPACED 732
$ NETWORK 4HE #OLLABORATIVE !DAPTIVE 3ENSING OF THE
!TMOSPHERE #!3! RADAR NETWORK WILL INCLUDE MANY INEXPENSIVE LOW POWER SCAN
NING SHORT WAVELENGTH RADARS MOUNTED ON TOWERS OF OPPORTUNITY PRIMARILY CELL PHONE
TOWERS THAT BLANKET MUCH OF THE 53 %XISTING EQUIPMENT ON THESE TOWERS WILL
&)'52% 6ECTOR WIND FIELDS IN A HORIZONTAL
PLANE DERIVED FROM DUAL DOPPLER RADAR OBSERVATIONS OF A
SUMMERTIME CONVECTIVE STORM NEAR $ENVER #OLORADO
4HE DARK SOLID LINE IS SHOWN TO INDICATE THE LENGTH OF A
TYPICAL JET AIRCRAFT RUNWAY 4HE DIVERGENT OUTFLOW FROM
A MICROBURST SHOWS A STRONG MS HEADWIND CHANG
ING TO A SIMILARLY STRONG TAILWIND OVER THE LENGTH OF THE
RUNWAY #0 IS THE FORMER RESEARCH RADAR OPERATED
BY .#!2 #OURTESY OF 5NIVERSITY #ORPORATION FOR
!TMOSPHERIC 2ESEARCH "OULDER #/
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
&)'52% 2ADAR REFLECTIVITY CONTOURS AND
AIR FLOW VECTORS SUPERPOSED ON PHOTOGRAPH OF A RAP
IDLY GROWING !LABAMA THUNDERSTORM CELL 4HE DATA
DEPICTS A MS UPDRAFT ORIGINATING IN AN EXTREMELY
STRONG D": RAIN OR HAIL CORE 4HE WIND VECTORS ARE
TAKEN FROM COMBINING DATA FROM THREE NEARBY DOP
PLER RADARS #OURTESY OF !MERICAN -ETEOROLOGICAL
3OCIETY &ROM $% +INGSMILL AND 2 - 7AKIMOTO
h+INEMATIC $YNAMIC AND 4HERMODYNAMIC !NALYSIS
OF A 7EAKLY 3HEARED 3EVERE 4HUNDERSTORM OVER
.ORTHERN !LABAMA v -ONTHLY 7EATHER 2EVIEW
VOL P
PROVIDE A SHARED INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE #!3! RADARS 4HIS RADAR SYSTEM WILL INCLUDE
INTELLIGENT DECISION MAKING FOR SCANNING AND TRACKING IMPORTANT LOW
LEVEL ATMOSPHERIC
FEATURES THAT ARE DEEMED CRITICAL FOR THE AVIATION WEATHER FORECASTING TRANSPORTATION
AND LOCAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE USERS 4HE #!3! RADARS CAN COMMUNICATE WITH EACH
OTHER FOR COLLABORATIVE USE OF THE DATA AND ADAPTIVELY CHANGE THEIR OPERATING PARAM
ETERS TO BEST MEET THE PRESCRIBED NEEDS AT A GIVEN TIME $EPENDING ON THE FINAL COSTS
OF DEPLOYMENT AND OPERATION #!3! NETWORKS MAY BE DEVELOPED ONLY AROUND CRITICAL
AREAS SUCH AS URBAN AREAS AIRPORTS ETC
2APID 3CAN 0HASED !RRAY 2ADAR $OPPLER WEATHER RADARS THAT USE PHASED ARRAY
ANTENNAS AND COMPLEX WAVEFORM DESIGN MAY BE APPLIED TO SOME OF THE MORE DIFFICULT
RADAR METEOROLOGY OBSERVATIONS 4HE USE OF MULTIPLE DOPPLER RADARS HAS PROVIDED DRA
MATIC NEW INFORMATION ON THE INTERNAL WINDS IN LARGE PRECIPITATING SYSTEMSINFORMATION
THAT CAN BE OBTAINED IN NO OTHER WAY $ESPITE THE POWER OF THIS TECHNIQUE THE SPATIAL
RESOLUTION IN THE DERIVED THREE
DIMENSIONAL MOTION FIELDS IS GENERALLY NOT BETTER THAN
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
OF THE ORDER OF KM 4HERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS FOR THIS 4HE FINITE BEAMWIDTH LIMITS THE
RESOLUTION AVAILABLE AT LONGER RANGES !T SHORTER RANGES THE LARGE SOLID ANGLE THAT MUST
BE SCANNED IN ORDER TO COVER ALL REGIONS OF A STORM REQUIRES TOTAL SCANNING TIMES OF THE
ORDER OF TO MIN EVEN FOR WELL
SITUATED STORMS 4HIS IS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE ON
TARGET
DWELL TIME NECESSARY FOR ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS &INALLY THE STORM ITSELF IS EVOLVING AND
MOVING DURING THIS MEASUREMENT TIME THUS COMPLICATING THE DATA REGISTRATION IN SPACE
AND TIME
3OME OPERATIONAL AND MANY RESEARCH APPLICATIONS REQUIRE FASTER SCANNING THAN
CONVENTIONAL MECHANICALLY SCANNED RADARS CAN PROVIDE 4HESE APPLICATIONS INCLUDE
LONGER LEAD TIMES FOR TORNADO WARNINGS THE STUDY OF FINER SCALE STORM FEATURES INTERAC
TIONS BETWEEN THE INTERNAL MOTIONS AND HYDROMETEOR GROWTH PROCESSES IN THE STORMS
AND STUDIES OF ELECTRIC CHARGE SEPARATION IN CLOUDS "ROOK AND +REHBIEL WERE AMONG
THE FIRST TO DISCUSS A VERY RAPID
SCANNING RADAR ALTHOUGH NONDOPPLER FOR EFFECTIVELY
OBTAINING SNAPSHOTS OF CONVECTIVE STORMS +EELER AND &RUSH DISCUSS DESIGN CONSID
ERATIONS FOR A MORE CAPABLE RAPID
SCANNING DOPPLER RADAR
!NY RAPID
SCANNING APPROACH GENERALLY MUST ENCOMPASS TWO FEATURES THE TRANS
MIT WAVEFORM MUST HAVE A RELATIVELY LARGE BANDWIDTH TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF INDE
PENDENT SAMPLES AVAILABLE IN THE DESIRED SPATIAL RESOLUTION CELL AND THE ANTENNA MUST
BE RAPIDLY SCANNED THROUGHOUT THE DESIRED ATMOSPHERIC VOLUME EITHER MECHANICALLY OR
ELECTRONICALLY -ECHANICALLY SCANNED SINGLE FREQUENCY STANDARD WEATHER RADARS USE A
LONG DWELL TIME TO ACQUIRE AN ADEQUATE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SAMPLES TO ACCURATELY
ESTIMATE THE SPECTRAL MOMENT DATA USED FOR METEOROLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS ! LARGE
BANDWIDTH SYSTEM EG PULSE COMPRESSION RADAR CAN ACQUIRE INDEPENDENT SAMPLES IN
RANGE IN A SHORT DWELL TIME THAT CAN BE AVERAGED THUS REDUCING THE DWELL TIME FOR EACH
BEAM AND REDUCING THE TOTAL VOLUME COVERAGE SCAN TIME &AST MECHANICAL SCANNING
DEGSEC PRODUCES DELETERIOUS SPECTRUM BROADENING EFFECTS THAT ELECTRONIC STEP
SCANNING EASILY AVOIDS SINCE THE BEAM IS FIXED IN SPACE DURING THE DWELL TIME ! FAVORED
APPROACH IS TO UTILIZE A ONE
DIMENSIONAL PHASED ARRAY THAT IS ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED IN
ELEVATION WHILE SLOWLY ROTATING IN AZIMUTH )N THIS WAY A FULL HEMISPHERIC VOLUME
CAN BE COVERED IN n MINUTES AND SMALLER SECTOR VOLUMES MAY BE COVERED IN LESS THAN
MINUTE 3EVERAL MILITARY RADARS AND AVIATION RADARS UTILIZE ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED
BEAMS BUT THE EXPENSE OF A FULLY CAPABLE SYSTEM HAS PREVENTED MORE THAN ONLY A FEW
METEOROLOGICAL RADAR SYSTEMS FROM BEING DESIGNED AND BUILT 2APID
SCANNING
PHASED ARRAY RADARS HAVE ALSO BEEN STUDIED EXTENSIVELY IN %UROPE
!N ALTERNATIVE APPROACH IS TO EMPLOY DIGITAL BEAMFORMING OR FREQUENCY
STEERING
TECHNIQUES TO TRANSMIT AND SIMULTANEOUSLY RECEIVE MULTIPLE BEAMS USING PARALLEL
RECEIVERS 3UCH MILITARY RADARS HAVE BEEN OPERATED FOR SEVERAL DECADES BUT NONE OF
THESE SYSTEMS WERE EVER DESIGNED OR USED FOR WEATHER MEASUREMENTS ! MECHANICALLY
SCANNED MULTIPLE BEAM WEATHER RADAR SYSTEM USING SIMULTANEOUS FREQUENCY SCANNED
BEAMS HAS BEEN DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED ON A SMALL TRUCK 4HE 2APID $OPPLER ON
7HEELS 2APID
$/7 8
BAND RADAR SHOWN IN &IGURE USES SIX SIMULTANEOUS
FREQUENCY
STEERED BEAMS SEPARATED BY A FEW DEGREES EMANATING FROM A SLOTTED WAVE
GUIDE PHASED ARRAY AND INDEPENDENT RECEIVERS TO ACQUIRE A VOLUMETRIC COVERAGE OF
CONVECTIVE STORMS IN n MINUTES 0ULSE COMPRESSION IS NOT USED 4HE RAPID DATA
ACQUISITION SPEED OF THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO GIVE NEW INSIGHTS INTO THUNDER
STORM EVOLUTION HURRICANES AT LANDFALL HAIL FORMATION PLUS MICROBURST GUST FRONT AND
TORNADO GENESIS MECHANISMS THAT MAY LIKELY EVOLVE INTO AN OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY
)N THE EARLY S THE &!! LED AN EFFORT TO DEVELOP DUAL
USE WEATHER AND AIRCRAFT
SURVEILLANCE RADAR BASED ON ELECTRONIC SCANNING AND PULSE COMPRESSION TECHNIQUES
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
&)'52% 2APID $/7 $OPPLER ON 7HEELS IS A MOBILE 8 BAND RADAR
THAT USES SIX SIMULTANEOUS BEAMS TO COVER A VOLUME OF ATMOSPHERE IN A MUCH
SHORTER VOLUME COVERAGE TIME THAN A MECHANICALLY SCANNED SINGLE BEAM RADAR
4HIS RAPID UPDATE SCAN IS IMPORTANT FOR MEASURING VIOLENT CONVECTIVE STORMS ESPE
CIALLY TORNADOES AS SHOWN IN PHOTO 0HOTO COURTESY OF 5NIVERSITY #ORPORATION
FOR !TMOSPHERIC 2ESEARCH "OULDER #/
AND AN EFFORT BEGINNING A DECADE LATER CONTINUED THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHASED ARRAY
RADARS FOR CIVIL APPLICATIONS 2ADARS INITIALLY DESIGNED FOR MILITARY APPLICATIONS
WERE MODIFIED FOR WEATHER DETECTION AND SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATED THE CONCEPT )N
THE EARLY S A JOINT EFFORT BETWEEN THE 53 .AVY THE .ATIONAL 7EATHER 3ERVICE
THE .ATIONAL 3EVERE 3TORMS ,ABORATORY AND THE 5NIVERSITY OF /KLAHOMA LED TO THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SO
CALLED .ATIONAL 7EATHER 2ADAR 4ESTBED FACILITY IN .ORMAN
/KLAHOMA BY COMBINING A SINGLE PANEL 309
PHASED ARRAY RADAR ON A ROTATING PEDES
TAL WITH A 732
$ TRANSMITTER AND CUSTOM RECEIVER !LTHOUGH THIS PARTICULAR RADAR
IS NOT LIKELY TO BE THE PREFERRED DESIGN FOR A FUTURE WEATHER RADAR THE /KLAHOMA 0HASED
!RRAY 2ADAR TESTBED CAN BE USED TO EXPLORE ELECTRONIC SCANNING STRATEGIES TOGETHER WITH
NEW PULSING AND PROCESSING CONCEPTS THAT MAY LEAD TO FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF A PHASED
ARRAY WEATHER RADAR SYSTEM
!IRBORNE 2ADARS 7HEREAS COMMERCIAL AVIATION WEATHER RADARS ARE NOSE
MOUNTED 8
BAND RADARS FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND TURBULENCE DETECTION AND AVOIDANCE
AIRBORNE RESEARCH RADARS MUST HAVE RELATIVELY MORE COMPLEX ARCHITECTURES IN ORDER TO
MAKE MORE SENSITIVE HIGH
RESOLUTION MEASUREMENTS 4HIS POWERFUL TECHNIQUE PERMITS
THE USE OF A MOBILE PLATFORM WHICH THEREFORE ALLOWS MEASUREMENTS OVER REGIONS NOT
ACCESSIBLE BY GROUND
BASED SYSTEMS -OREOVER THE MOBILITY OF THE AIRCRAFT PERMITS
LONGER TERM OBSERVATIONS OF RAPIDLY MOVING BUT LONG
LIVED STORMS AND CLOUD SYSTEMS
THEREBY ALLOWING MORE COMPLETE STUDIES OF EVOLUTION DURING VARIOUS PHASES OF THE
SYSTEM
.#!2S %LDORA AIRBORNE DOPPLER RADAR SYSTEM SHOWN IN &IGURE CONSISTS
OF TWO SLOTTED WAVEGUIDE FIXED
BEAM ANTENNAS MOUNTED IN THE TAIL OF THE 0
AIR
CRAFT WHICH IS OPERATED BY THE .AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY AND COVERED BY A ROTATING
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4AIL MOUNTED %,$/2! DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR
OPERATED BY THE .ATIONAL #ENTER FOR !TMOSPHERIC 2ESEARCH ON
THE .AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY 0 RESEARCH AIRCRAFT #OURTESY
OF 5NIVERSITY #ORPORATION FOR !TMOSPHERIC 2ESEARCH
"OULDER #/
RADOMEA ROTO
DOME /NE BEAM POINTS FORWARD ABOUT n AND THE OTHER AFT BY THE
SAME ANGLE THEREBY OBTAINING TWO RADIAL COMPONENTS OF COMMON TARGET VOLUMES 7ITH
SUCH A SYSTEM EACH ANTENNA SCANS IN A CONICAL SURFACEONE CONE POINTING FORWARD
THE OTHER ONE REARWARDTHUS PERMITTING SYNTHESIS OF A DUAL
DOPPLER RADAR SYSTEM
ALONG THE AIRCRAFT TRACK 4HE AIRCRAFT IS FLOWN ALONGSIDE STORMS TO SYNTHESIZE DUAL
DOP
PLER OBSERVATIONS AND THEREFORE TO OBTAIN VECTOR WINDS "ECAUSE THE AIRCRAFT NEED NOT
FLY ORTHOGONAL TRACKS THE TIME REQUIRED FOR MEASUREMENTS OF CLOUD SYSTEMS IS DRAMATI
CALLY REDUCED AS ARE THE ERRORS IN THESE MEASUREMENTS -OREOVER SEVERE STORMS WHICH
COULD OTHERWISE NOT BE PENETRATED ALONG AN ORTHOGONAL TRACK AND HURRICANES WHICH
CAN BE PENETRATED BY SUCH AIRCRAFT CAN BE OBSERVED FULLY BY AN AIRCRAFT OUTSIDE THE
REGIONS OF SEVERE WEATHER
6ARIOUS AIRBORNE RADARS EXIST IN THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY FOR DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS
AND USER GROUPS .!3! HAS DEVELOPED THE DUAL WAVELENGTH CM AND MM %$/0
RADAR FOR THE HIGH ALTITUDE %2
AIRCRAFT AND A 7
BAND
'(Z AIRBORNE CLOUD RADAR
FOR THE $#
RESEARCH AIRCRAFT ./!! HAS OPERATED TWO 8
BAND RADARS SIMILAR TO
THE %,$/2! RADAR FOR HURRICANE TRACKING AND RESEARCH *0, DEVELOPED THE !2-!2
RADAR TO TEST SPACE RADAR CONCEPTS FOR THE 4ROPICAL 2AINFALL -EASUREMENTS -ISSION
42-- 4HE 5NIVERSITY OF 7YOMING USES A
MM CLOUD RADAR MOUNTED ON A +ING
!IR AIRCRAFT )N THE MID
S .#!2 ACQUIRED THE (IGH
PERFORMANCE )NSTRUMENTED
!IRBORNE 0LATFORM FOR %NVIRONMENTAL 2ESEARCH (!)0%2 A 'ULF 3TREAM '
MEDIUM
SIZE JET AIRCRAFT AND DESIGNED A DUAL WAVELENGTH AND MM REMOVABLE POD
MOUNTED
RADAR FOR CLOUD STUDIES 4HE #ANADIAN .ATIONAL 2ESEARCH #OUNCIL HAS DEVELOPED A
SIMILAR AIRBORNE RADAR SYSTEM
3PACEBORNE 2ADARS !MONG THE MORE SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES FACING RESEARCHERS
TODAY IS THE NEED TO MAKE GLOBAL MEASUREMENTS OF PRECIPITATION 5NDERSTANDING GLOBAL
CLIMATE REQUIRES THAT QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS OF PRECIPITATION BE MADE THROUGHOUT
THE WORLD PARTICULARLY IN THE TROPICS AND OVER THE OCEANS 3ATELLITE OBSERVATIONS APPEAR
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
TO OFFER THE ONLY PRACTICAL MECHANISM FOR OBTAINING THESE MEASUREMENTS 4HE 42--
SATELLITE WAS LAUNCHED IN CARRYING THE +U
BAND SINGLE FREQUENCY 0RECIPITATION
2ADAR 02 AND A M SINGLE BEAM ARRAY ANTENNA THAT IS STEERED n ON EITHER SIDE
OF THE SPACECRAFT TRACK )TS RELATIVELY LOW INCLINATION ORBIT AT KM ALTITUDE PROVIDES
TROPICAL PRECIPITATION MEASUREMENTS WITH M RANGE RESOLUTION AND A KM FOOT
PRINT OVER A KM SWATH ! 42-- FOLLOW
ON PROGRAM THE 'LOBAL 0RECIPITATION
-EASUREMENT '0- PROGRAM ENVISIONS EXTENDING PRECIPITATION COVERAGE TO THE
MID
LATITUDE n . AND 3 LATITUDE FLYING IN A KM ALTITUDE ORBIT AND USING DUAL
WAVELENGTH PRECIPITATION RADAR $02 AT +U AND +A BANDS FOR MORE ACCURATE RAINFALL
ESTIMATES USING ATTENUATION TECHNIQUES 4HE TWO RADARS WILL HAVE MATCHED BEAMS
FROM TWO SLOTTED WAVEGUIDE ARRAY ANTENNAS AND PROVIDE COVERAGE UNDER THE SPACECRAFT
TRACK SIMILAR TO 42--
#LOUD3AT IS A SATELLITE LAUNCHED IN FLYING A 7 BAND MM CLOUD PROFILING
RADAR #02 ORBITING THE %ARTH IN A SUN SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT AT AN ALTITUDE OF ABOUT
KM 4HE TRANSMITTER IS AN %XTENDED )NTERACTION +LYSTRON %)+ HIGH
POWER
AMPLIFIER GENERATING A LSEC MONOCHROMATIC PULSE HAVING PEAK POWER OF K7
4HE ANTENNA IS A M DIAMETER REFLECTOR OFFSET FED BY A QUASI
OPTICAL TRANSMISSION
LINE AND PRODUCES A n BEAM WITH EXTREMELY LOW SIDELOBES 4HESE RADAR DESIGN
PARAMETERS ALLOW AN EXCEPTIONAL SENSITIVITY OF n D": AT THE %ARTH SURFACE #LOUD3AT
ORBITS IN FORMATION WITH FOUR OTHER SATELLITES AS PART OF THE SO
CALLED !
TRAIN CONSTEL
LATION OF SATELLITES THAT PROVIDE COMBINED RADAR LIDAR AND RADIOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS
FOR %ARTH STUDIES 4HE #02 ON
BOARD #LOUD3AT HAS M VERTICAL RESOLUTION WITH A
KM FOOTPRINT AND IS SIMILAR TO THE .!3! !IRBORNE #LOUD 2ADAR THAT HAS FLOWN FOR
SEVERAL YEARS ON BOARD THE .!3! $#
AIRCRAFT #OMBINING THESE HIGH
RESOLUTION
CLOUD MEASUREMENTS WITH HIGH SENSITIVITY IS ONE OF THE TECHNICAL GOALS FOR ACQUIRING
NEW INFORMATION REGARDING CLOUD EFFECT ON THE %ARTHS CLIMATE
#LEAR
!IR 7IND 0ROFILING 2ADARS !NOTHER FORM OF DOPPLER RADAR THAT HAS
BECOME WIDELY USED ESPECIALLY IN THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY IS THE SO
CALLED WIND PRO
FILING RADAR OR hWIND PROFILERv 7IND PROFILERS USUALLY TAKE THE FORM OF 6(& AND
5(& MULTIPLE FIXED
BEAM SYSTEMS POINTING VERTICALLY AND AT ANGLES APPROXIMATELY
n FROM THE ZENITH TO INFER PROFILES OF THE HORIZONTAL WIND AVERAGED OVER THE AREA OF
MEASUREMENT 3UCH RADARS CAN MAKE DOPPLER MEASUREMENTS THROUGHOUT THE RANGE OF
ALTITUDES FROM A FEW HUNDRED METERS TO KM OR MORE ABOVE THE SURFACE DEPENDING
UPON THE WAVELENGTH SELECTED AND THE POWER
APERTURE PRODUCT AVAILABLE 4HESE RADARS
HAVE THE ABILITY TO MEASURE HIGH RESOLUTION WINDS CONTINUOUSLY WHICH PERMITS THE
OBSERVATION OF SMALLER SCALE TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL WIND
FIELD FEATURES THAT CANNOT BE
OBTAINED FROM THE GLOBAL
HOUR RAWINSONDE BALLOON LAUNCH NETWORK 4HESE SMALLER
SCALE MEASUREMENTS ARE IMPORTANT FOR UNDERSTANDING LOCAL AND REGIONAL WEATHER AND
FOR EFFECTIVE FORECASTING ON THESE SCALES
6ERY POWERFUL RADARS OF THIS TYPE ARE REFERRED TO AS -ESOSPHERE 3TRATOSPHERE
4ROPOSPHERE -34 RADARS BECAUSE OF THEIR ABILITY TO MAKE MEASUREMENTS THROUGHOUT
MOST OF THESE ATMOSPHERIC REGIONS UP TO n KM IN ALTITUDE 3EVERAL MAJOR -34
RADAR FACILITIES LOCATED AT FACILITIES AROUND THE WORLD OPERATE AT 6(& FREQUENCIES AROUND
-(Z AND OBSERVE UPPER ATMOSPHERIC TROPOSPHERIC AND LOWER STRATOSPHERIC WINDS
OR THE HIGHER LEVEL STRATOSPHERIC AND MESOSPHERIC WINDS 3HORTER WAVELENGTH 5(& WIND
PROFILERS OPERATING AT n -(Z SENSE ATMOSPHERIC WINDS UP TO n KM AND THESE
hTROPOSPHERIC WIND PROFILERSv ARE THE MOST WIDELY USED FOR OPERATIONAL WEATHER OBSER
VATIONS 5(& WIND PROFILERS OPERATING AT -(Z IN THE 53 AND n -(Z
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
IN %UROPE COVER THE LOWER ATMOSPHERIC WINDS UP TO n KM OR A FEW KM HIGHER WITH
LARGER ANTENNAS WHERE THE STRONG MOISTURE FLUCTUATIONS PRESENT IN THE ATMOSPHERIC
BOUNDARY LAYER PROVIDE STRONG SCATTERING SIGNATURES AT THESE SHORTER WAVELENGTHS
4HESE 5(& BOUNDARY
LAYER WIND PROFILERS ARE TYPICALLY USED FOR AIR POLLUTION MONI
TORING AND WARNINGS AS WELL AS VARIOUS RESEARCH APPLICATIONS
4HESE CLEAR
AIR RADARS RECEIVE ENERGY BACKSCATTERED FROM REFRACTIVE INDEX INHO
MOGENEITIES CAUSED BY NATURALLY OCCURRING ATMOSPHERIC TURBULENCE 4HE ANTENNA
SYSTEMS USUALLY TAKE THE FORM OF PHASED ARRAYS THAT FORM BEAMS SEVERAL DEGREES
WIDE THAT ARE SWITCHED TO OR NEARLY VERTICAL BEAMS FOR n MINUTES EACH AND
MEASURE VERTICAL PROFILES OF WIND EVERY n MINUTES 4HE ANTENNAS ARE FREQUENTLY
OF THE COAXIAL COLLINEAR CO
CO STYLE FOR THOSE RADARS AND 9AGI ARRAY ELEMENTS FOR
THOSE AT THE HIGHER FREQUENCIES 4HE HIGHER FREQUENCY 5(& PROFILERS TYPICALLY USE
EITHER 9AGI OR MICROSTRIP PATCH ARRAY ANTENNAS 4RANSMITTERS ARE GENERALLY IN THE
FORM OF HIGH
POWERED COHERENT TRANSMITTING TUBES OR SOLID
STATE AMPLIFIERS !T THE
5NIVERSITY OF +YOTO *APAN THE ANTENNA
TRANSMITTER SYSTEM CONSISTS OF CROSSED
9AGI RADIATING ELEMENTS EACH WITH ITS OWN SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER 4HIS APPROACH
ALLOWS FOR VERY FLEXIBLE ELECTRONIC SCANNING OF THE BEAM ./!! OPERATES A NET
WORK OF OVER THIRTY AND -(Z WIND PROFILERS IN THE CENTRAL 5NITED 3TATES
USING SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTERS THAT SUPPLY CONTINUOUS WIND PROFILES UP TO KM FOR
IMPROVED WEATHER FORECASTS AND CURRENT UPPER AIR WIND INFORMATION FOR AVIATION
APPLICATIONS
)T IS IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT THREE
BEAM DOPPLER SYSTEMS CAN ACCURATELY
MEASURE HORIZONTAL WINDS IN ALL THREE VELOCITY COMPONENTS IF THE WIND IS UNIFORM
&OUR
AND FIVE
BEAM SYSTEMS ALLOW ONE TO DETERMINE THE QUALITY OF THE MEASURE
MENTS BY DETECTING THE PRESENCE OF A NONUNIFORM WIND FLOW #ARBONE 3TRAUCH AND
(EYMSFIELD AND 3TRAUCH ET AL ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF WIND MEASUREMENT ERROR
IN DETAIL 4HE READER IS REFERRED TO THE REVIEW PAPER BY 2TTGER AND ,ARSEN FOR A
THOROUGH TREATMENT OF WIND
PROFILER TECHNOLOGY AND TO THE SEQUENCE OF 4ROPOSPHERIC
0ROFILING 3YMPOSIA FOR TROPOSPHERIC PROFILING APPLICATIONS OF WINDS AND OTHER METE
OROLOGICAL PARAMETERS
3PACED !NTENNA 4ECHNIQUES !N ADDITIONAL ADVANTAGE OF THESE LONG WAVELENGTH
RADARS IS THEIR ABILITY TO MEASURE NOT ONLY THE RADIAL VERTICAL WIND COMPONENTS DIRECTLY
BUT ALSO THE MEAN HORIZONTAL WIND THAT IS TRANSVERSE TO THE VERTICAL BEAM WITHOUT
SCANNING THAT BEAM OFF ZENITH 4HESE PROFILERS USE THE SO
CALLED SPACED ANTENNA TECH
NIQUES WITH MULTIPLE RECEIVERS TO PROCESS THE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE DIFFERENCES OF
THE ECHO STRUCTURES AS THEY TRANSLATE OVER TWO ADJACENT ANTENNAS USUALLY SUBARRAYS
OF THE SAME ARRAY ANTENNA TO MEASURE COMPONENTS OF THE HORIZONTAL OR TRANSVERSE
WIND )N THIS MANNER TWO ORTHOGONAL SUBARRAYS CAN MEASURE COMPONENTS OF THE
HORIZONTAL WIND USING CROSS
SPECTRAL OR CORRELATION PROCESSING TECHNIQUES 3INCE
THE MEASUREMENT IS MADE IN PAIRS OF OVERLAPPING BEAMS DIRECTLY ABOVE THE RADAR IT IS
NO LONGER NECESSARY TO ASSUME OR REQUIRE HORIZONTAL HOMOGENEITY OF THE WIND FIELD IN
THE LARGER AREA ABOVE THE RADAR ANDOR THE LONG INTEGRATION TIMES NECESSARY TO ASSURE
THIS HOMOGENEITY 4HESE SPACED ANTENNA TECHNIQUES ARE MOST FREQUENTLY USED WHEN
HIGH SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL RESOLUTION MEASUREMENTS ARE REQUIRED SUCH AS ESTIMATING
DETAILED BOUNDARY LAYER TURBULENCE FIELDS :HANG AND $OVIAK HAVE INVESTIGATED USING
THE DUAL BEAMnSPACED ANTENNA TECHNIQUE IMPLEMENTED WITH AN ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED
PHASED ARRAY RADAR TO ESTIMATE THE TRANSVERSE AS WELL AS THE RADIAL WIND COMPONENTS
AT ARBITRARY SCAN ANGLES
-%4%/2/,/')#!, 2!$!2
,
,
2 * 3ERAFIN AND * 7 7ILSON h/PERATIONAL WEATHER RADAR IN THE 5NITED 3TATES 0ROGRESS AND
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4 &UJITA AND & #ARACENA h!N ANALYSIS OF THREE WEATHER RELATED AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS v "ULL !M
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4 &UJITA h4HE DOWNBURST v 3ATELLITE AND -ESOMETEOROLOGY 2ESEARCH 0ROJECT $EPARTMENT OF THE
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4 &UJITA h4HE $&7 MICROBURST v 3ATELLITE AND -ETEOROLOGY 2ESEARCH 0ROJECT $EPARTMENT OF
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% % 'OSSARD AND 2 ' 3TRAUCH 2ADAR /BSERVATIONS OF #LEAR !IR AND #LOUDS !MSTERDAM
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53 WEATHER FORECASTING v "ULL !MER -ETEOR 3OC VOL PP n
2 % #ARBONE 2 3TRAUCH AND ' - (EYMSFIELD h3IMULATION OF WIND PROFILERS IN DISTRIBUTED
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2 ' 3TRAUCH " , 7EBER ! 3 &RISCH # ' ,ITTLE $ ! -ERRITT + 0 -ORAN AND $ # 7ELSH
h4HE PRECISION AND RELATIVE ACCURACY OF PROFILER WIND MEASUREMENTS v * !TMOS /CEAN 4ECHNOL
VOL PP n
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ANTENNA WIND PROFILERS v 2ADIO 3CI VOL PP n
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MEASUREMENT THEORY v 2ADIO 3CI VOL PP n
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#HAPTER
"ii,>`>
>i i>`V
.AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY RETIRED
->`i
!USTRALIAN $EFENCE 3CIENCE AND 4ECHNOLOGY /RGANISATION
/," 1
/"
"EYOND
THE
HORIZON DETECTION OF TERRESTRIAL TARGETS AT RANGES OF THOUSANDS OF KILOMETERS
CAN BE ACHIEVED BY RADARS OPERATING IN THE HIGH
FREQUENCY (& BAND TO -(Z 4HIS
VERY LONG RANGE COVERAGE IS OBTAINED BY USING SKYWAVE PROPAGATION THAT IS REFLECTING
THE RADAR SIGNALS FROM THE IONOSPHERE (& GROUND WAVE SURFACE WAVE PROPAGATION
OVER THE SEA HAS BEEN USED FOR INTERMEDIATE BUT STILL OVER
THE
HORIZON DISTANCES UP TO
SEVERAL HUNDRED KILOMETERS /CCASIONALLY (& RADAR SYSTEMS ALSO FIND APPLICATIONS IN
LINE
OF
SIGHT APPLICATIONS AT SHORT RANGE 4HIS CHAPTER FOCUSES PREDOMINANTLY ON SKYWAVE
RADAR THOUGH MUCH OF THE DISCUSSION APPLIES EQUALLY TO SURFACE WAVE RADAR 2ATHER THAN
AMALGAMATE DISCUSSION OF THE TWO RADAR CONFIGURATIONS THROUGHOUT THE CHAPTER THE
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF (& SURFACE WAVE RADAR ARE TREATED SEPARATELY IN AN APPENDIX AT
THE END OF THE CHAPTER
)N ONE SENSE THE DEVELOPMENT OF (& SKYWAVE RADAR CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE S
WHEN SKYWAVE ECHOES WERE IDENTIFIED BUT THE FIRST (& RADAR SYSTEMS WERE NOT DEPLOYED
UNTIL THE S 3INCE THEN SKYWAVE RADAR HAS EVOLVED TO ADDRESS APPLICATIONS SUCH
AS THE DETECTION AND TRACKING OF AIRCRAFT BALLISTIC AND CRUISE MISSILES AND SHIPSn )N
ADDITION TO DETECTING hSKINv ECHOES FROM TARGETS OF INTEREST (& RADAR IS USEFUL FOR OBSERV
ING VARIOUS FORMS OF HIGH
ALTITUDE ATMOSPHERIC IONIZATION BOTH NATURAL INCLUDING THOSE
ASSOCIATED WITH AURORAE AND METEORS AND ARTIFICIAL INCLUDING THE INTERACTION OF SPACE
CRAFT AND BALLISTIC MISSILES WITH THE IONOSPHERIC PLASMAn &URTHER THE WAVELENGTHS
USED ARE OF THE SAME ORDER AS OCEAN SURFACE GRAVITY WAVES AND THIS CORRESPONDENCE CAN
BE EXPLOITED TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE WAVE DIRECTIONAL SPECTRUM OCEAN CURRENTS
AND BY INFERENCE SURFACE WINDS )NDEED SCATTERING FROM THE SEA CAN OFTEN BE EMPLOYED
AS A RADAR CROSS SECTION 2#3 AMPLITUDE REFERENCE AND IS A WIDELY USED DIAGNOSTIC TOOL
4HE NARROW
BAND WAVEFORMS EMPLOYED THE LOW FREQUENCIES AND THE NATURE OF THE TRANS
MISSION PATH MAKE THE SPATIAL RESOLUTION COARSE WHEN COMPARED WITH HIGHER
FREQUENCY
RADARS BUT THE DOPPLER RESOLUTION CAN BE EXCEEDINGLY FINE 4HE MAGNITUDE AND DOPPLER
DISTRIBUTION OF THE ECHOES FROM THE DISTANT %ARTHS SURFACE OFTEN TERMED BACKSCATTER
THOUGH THAT TERM SHOULD BE RESERVED FOR MONOSTATIC RADARS ARE MAJOR FACTORS IN SETTING
SYSTEM DYNAMIC RANGE SPECTRAL PURITY AND SIGNAL PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 2AY TRACING THROUGH A MODEL IONOSPHERE SHOWING THE VARIATION OF THE RADAR FOOTPRINT
WITH CARRIER FREQUENCY 4HE CONTOURS MAP THE PLASMA FREQUENCY OR ELECTRON DENSITY
&OR EFFECTIVE RADAR OPERATION ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS THAT AFFECT RADAR PERFORMANCE
NEED TO BE DETERMINED IN REAL TIME DEFINED AS THAT INTERVAL IN WHICH THERE ARE NO LARGE
SCALE
CHANGES IN THE IONOSPHERE 4YPICALLY THIS IS OF THE ORDER OF n MINUTES 4RANSMISSION
PATH INFORMATION IS GENERALLY DERIVED FROM ADJUNCT VERTICAL AND OBLIQUE SOUNDERS AS WELL
AS BY USING THE RADAR ITSELF AS A SOUNDER !N IONOSPHERIC ELECTRON DENSITY MODEL COMPLEX
ENOUGH TO ENABLE ADEQUATE SOUNDING INTERPRETATION IS REQUIRED )ONOSPHERIC OR TRANSMIS
SION PATH STATISTICAL CLIMATOLOGIES AND FORECASTS ARE NECESSARY FOR RADAR DESIGN AND FOR
DEVELOPMENT OF SITE
SPECIFIC MODELS )N ADDITION OTHER USERS IN THE (& SPECTRUM MUST BE
OBSERVED CONTINUOUSLY AND OPERATING FREQUENCIES SELECTED TO AVOID INTERFERENCE
4HE ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF SKYWAVE PROPAGATION CAN BE SEEN IN &IGURE 4HE
IONOSPHERE BEING AN IONIZED GAS WITH FREE ELECTRONS WILL REFLECT ALL RADAR SIGNALS WHEN
THE RADAR FREQUENCY IS LESS THAN THE PLASMA FREQUENCY GIVEN BY
F0
r . E
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
&)'52% .UMERICALLY COMPUTED RAYS ILLUSTRATING MULTIPLE HOP PROPAGATION ACROSS THE EQUATORIAL ZONE
4HE ELEVATED PEAK ELECTRON DENSITY NEAR THE EQUATOR AT ^ KM IS THE !PPLETON ANOMALY
WHERE F0 IS IN -(Z AND .E IS IN ELECTRONS PER CUBIC METER &OR A GIVEN ELEVATION ANGLE @ IF
THE RADAR FREQUENCY EXCEEDS F P SIN A AT THE HEIGHT OF MAXIMUM IONIZATION RAYS LAUNCHED
AT HIGHER ELEVATION ANGLES WILL ESCAPE RESULTING IN A SO
CALLED SKIP OR DEAD ZONE WITHIN
WHICH THE %ARTHS SURFACE IS NOT ILLUMINATED "EYOND THIS SKIP ZONE ENERGY IS RETURNED TO
THE %ARTH REACHING A MAXIMUM RANGE WHEN THE RAYS LEAVING THE ANTENNA ARE HORIZONTAL
5SEFUL RANGE COVERAGE WILL LIE BETWEEN THESE LIMITS WHICH DEFINE THE ONE
HOP ZONE
!S SHOWN IN &IGURE A MULTIPLICITY OF HOPS MAY EXIST AND ENERGY MAY EVEN
CIRCLE THE EARTH CLUTTER ECHOES FROM THESE LONG RANGES CAN SERIOUSLY DEGRADE RADAR
PERFORMANCE ! COMPARISON OF &IGURES A B AND C REVEALS THAT DIFFERENT
RANGE EXTENTS ARE ILLUMINATED BY USING DIFFERENT OPERATING FREQUENCIES WITH LONGER
STARTING RANGES REQUIRING HIGHER FREQUENCIES )N THE EXAMPLES SHOWN -(Z ILLUMI
NATES RANGES FROM TO KM WHEREAS -(Z ILLUMINATES RANGES FROM TO
KM WHEREAS -(Z ILLUMINATES FROM TO KM (ENCE THE FARTHEST EDGE
OF THE FOOTPRINT NEED NOT INCREASE WITH FREQUENCY DEPENDING ON THE PREVAILING IONO
SPHERIC CONDITIONS )N THIS EXAMPLE A SINGLE IONOSPHERIC LAYER IS CONSIDERED .ORMALLY
THERE ARE TWO OR THREE DISTINCT LAYERS SUCH THAT SIGNALS MAY PARTIALLY PENETRATE THE LOWER
LAYERS TO BE REFLECTED BY A HIGHER LAYER !S A CONSEQUENCE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
THE RANGE TO A TARGET AND THE MEASURED ECHO TIME DELAY BECOMES MULTIVALUED WITH
UNKNOWN PARAMETERS SUCH AS LAYER HEIGHTS THAT MUST BE ESTIMATED BY VARIOUS TECH
NIQUES AS DESCRIBED LATER IN THIS CHAPTER
4O ILLUSTRATE THE OPERATING PRINCIPLES OF A SKYWAVE RADAR &IGURE PRESENTS A
MAP SHOWING MULTIPLE SURVEILLANCE TASKS ASSIGNED TO A HYPOTHETICAL RADAR WITH n
AZIMUTHAL COVERAGE &IVE SECTORS OF CURRENT SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITY ARE SHOWN EACH
ADDRESSING A PARTICULAR MISSION AS INDICATED EACH MISSION CONSISTING OF A NUMBER OF
DWELL INTERROGATION REGIONS $)2S 4HE ELECTRONICALLY STEERED RADAR TRANSMIT BEAM
STEPS THROUGH THESE $)2S IN SOME ASSIGNED SEQUENCE ILLUMINATING EACH $)2 WITH AN
APPROPRIATE WAVEFORM FOR A CORRESPONDING INTERVAL DURING WHICH THE RECEIVING SYSTEM
ACQUIRES A COHERENT TIME SERIES OF ECHO SAMPLES 4HE COHERENT INTEGRATION TIME #)4
DEPENDS ON THE TYPE OF OBSERVATION BUT IS ALMOST ALWAYS IN THE RANGE OF n SECONDS
%ACH TRANSMITTER FOOTPRINT IS ANALYZED BY FORMING SIMULTANEOUS CONTIGUOUS RECEIVE
BEAMS ON THE ORDER OF n WIDE AT -(Z IN THE CASE OF THE 53 .AVY 2/4(2 AND
THE !USTRALIAN *INDALEE AND */2. RADARS WHICH EQUATES TO A KM CROSS
RANGE RESOLU
TION AT A KM RANGE 4HE TASK
SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS ON $)2 REVISIT RATES DETERMINE
THE SEQUENCING OF THE $)2 INTERROGATIONS AND OF COURSE SET THE LIMIT ON HOW MANY
TASKS CAN BE ADDRESSED
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
n.
n.
2ADAR
n.
n
n7
n7
n7
n7
n
n7
n7
&)'52% 3OME COVERAGE AND TASKING OPTIONS FOR HYPOTHETICAL (& RADARS ON A FICTITIOUS MID
!TLANTIC ISLAND 4HE COVERAGE REGIONS NUMBERED n CORRESPOND TO SKYWAVE RADAR MISSIONS AS FOLLOWS
AIR ROUTE MONITORING BARRIER SURVEILLANCE STRATEGIC WATERWAY MONITORING BALLISTIC MISSILE LAUNCH
DETECTION AND REMOTE SENSING AND HURRICANE TRACKING 4HE SECTOR DESIGNATED IS REPRESENTATIVE OF (&
SURFACE WAVE RADAR COVERAGE
#ONSIDER THE SET OF TASKS AND $)2S SHOWN IN &IGURE 4ASK WOULD REQUIRE ONLY
SHORT #)4S n S SAY IF THE AIRCRAFT IS ASSUMED TO BE LARGE AND WOULD NEED REVISITS
PERHAPS EVERY MINUTE AS THE FLIGHT IS NOT EXPECTED TO MANEUVER SO THE TRACK WILL BE
WELL
BEHAVED AND OBSERVED POSITION ERRORS WOULD BE DUE TO IONOSPHERIC FLUCTUATIONS
/NLY THE SINGLE $)2 CONTAINING THE AIRCRAFT NEED BE INTERROGATED 4ASK BARRIER SUR
VEILLANCE IF CONCERNED WITH SHIP TRAFFIC CAN AFFORD TO RELAX THE REVISIT TIME TO TENS
OF MINUTES AS SHIPS MOVE SO SLOWLY BUT IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE DETECTION LONG #)4S OF
n S ARE REQUIRED TO SEPARATE THE SHIP ECHOES FROM THE SEA CLUTTER IN THE DOPPLER
SPECTRUM %VEN SO THE RADAR CAN STEP ACROSS THE BARRIER ARC WITH PLENTY OF TIME TO
INTERLEAVE A 4ASK DWELL BETWEEN ADDRESSING SUCCESSIVE $)2S IN 4ASK )F THE BARRIER
4ASK WERE CONCERNED WITH AIRCRAFT WITH A #)4 OF n S THE REVISITS WOULD NEED TO
BE FREQUENT ENOUGH TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED PROBABILITY OF DETECTION BEFORE THE AIRCRAFT
HAD TIME TO CROSS THE BARRIER /NE APPROACH IS TO WIDEN THE BARRIER BY PROCESSING MORE
RANGE CELLS OR BY REDUCING THE WAVEFORM BANDWIDTH AND ALLOWING THE RANGE CELLS TO
GROW WIDER BUT THIS MAY FAIL IF THE IONOSPHERE DOES NOT SUPPORT PROPAGATION OVER THE
INCREASED RANGE DEPTH !NOTHER POSSIBILITY IS TO INCREASE THE REVISIT INTERVAL OVER A
SUBSET OF THE $)2S 4HE RELATIVE PRIORITY OF 4ASKS AND WOULD ALSO NEED TO BE TAKEN
INTO ACCOUNT
4ASK BALLISTIC MISSILE LAUNCH DETECTION WOULD REQUIRE MUCH MORE FREQUENT SUR
VEILLANCE IF A LAUNCH WERE BELIEVED TO BE IMMINENT OR ELSE THE MISSILE MIGHT ESCAPE
FROM THE RADAR FOOTPRINT WITHOUT BEING DETECTED !SSUME A #)4 OF SECONDS AND A
TOLERABLE REVISIT INTERVAL OF S 4ASKS AND COULD BE INTERLEAVED FOR EXAMPLE BY
CARRYING OUT FIVE DWELLS OF 4ASK AND THEN ONE OF 4ASK AND THEN REPEATING THIS PAT
TERN 4ASK IS CONCERNED WITH SLOW
MOVING SHIPS SO THE REVISIT INTERVAL COULD BE TENS
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
OF MINUTES BUT A LONG #)4 OF PERHAPS n S IS REQUIRED IN ORDER TO SEPARATE THE SHIP
ECHOES FROM THE SEA CLUTTER IN THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM $URING THIS TIME 4ASK S REQUIRE
MENTS WOULD BE VIOLATED 4ASKS AND AS DEFINED ARE INCOMPATIBLE
4ASK REMOTE SENSING OF OCEAN CONDITIONS WOULD HAVE A MUCH LOWER PRIORITY AS
IT DEALS WITH SLOWLY VARYING PHENOMENA SO IT WOULD NEED ONLY OCCASIONAL REVISITING
4HE SMALLER SECTOR SHOWN AS 4ASK EXTENDING TO A RANGE OF KM IS REPRESENTATIVE
OF THE COVERAGE OF AN (& SURFACE WAVE RADAR AS USED FOR PROTECTING THE APPROACHES TO
A PORT FOR EXAMPLE
4HIS EXAMPLE IS TYPICAL OF THE SCHEDULING AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION PROBLEM THAT IS
CENTRAL TO (& SKYWAVE RADAR OPERATIONS #OMPROMISES ARE OFTEN UNAVOIDABLE 4HE
SITUATION IS FURTHER COMPLICATED BY THE CONTINUOUS VARIATION OF IONOSPHERIC PROPAGA
TION CONDITIONS WHICH MUST BE MONITORED AND USED TO GUIDE TASKING AS WHEN BAD
IONOSPHERIC hWEATHERv IS LIKELY TO PRECLUDE CERTAIN MISSIONS
!LMOST INVARIABLY THE SECTORS AND INDEED THE INDIVIDUAL $)2S WITHIN A SECTOR WILL
REQUIRE DIFFERENT CARRIER FREQUENCIES EVEN FOR A GIVEN RANGE AS THE IONOSPHERE MAY
VARY SUBSTANTIALLY ACROSS THE FULL RANGE AND AZIMUTH EXTENT OF THE ACTIVE COVERAGE
4HE DEFINING CHARACTERISTIC OF (& SKYWAVE RADAR IS THAT THE RADAR OPERATOR MUST SELECT
FREQUENCIES THAT ARE OPTIMUM FOR THE VARIOUS TASKS AND ADAPT THESE FREQUENCIES TO THE
EVER
CHANGING IONOSPHERE
4HIS CHAPTER SETS OUT TO EXPLAIN THE PRINCIPAL FEATURES OF (& SKYWAVE RADAR AS IT IS
PRESENTLY IMPLEMENTED EMPHASIZING THE PHYSICAL CONSIDERATIONS THAT GOVERN SYSTEM
DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE
/
, ,
+1/"
! FORM OF THE RADAR EQUATION %Q CAN BE USED TO POINT TO ASPECTS OF (& RADAR
THAT ARE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM RADARS THAT USE HIGHER FREQUENCIES 4HESE DIFFER
ENCES INCLUDE ADAPTATION TO ENVIRONMENT FREQUENCY AND WAVEFORM SELECTION RADAR
CROSS SECTION PATH LOSSES MULTIPATH EFFECTS NOISE INTERFERENCE ANTENNA GAIN SPATIAL
RESOLUTION AND CLUTTER &OR THE CASE OF NOISE
LIMITED DETECTION THE RADAR EQUATION
TAKES THE FORM
3 0AV 'T 'R 4K S &P
. P , P ,S . 2
WHERE
3. OUTPUT SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO
0AV AVERAGE TRANSMITTED POWER
'T TRANSMITTER ANTENNA GAIN
'R RECEIVER ANTENNA GAIN
4 COHERENT PROCESSING TIME
K WAVELENGTH
R TARGET RADAR CROSS SECTION
&P PROPAGATION PATH FACTOR
. NOISE POWER PER UNIT BANDWIDTH
,P ,S TRANSMISSION PATH AND SYSTEM LOSSES
2 DISTANCE BETWEEN RADAR AND TARGET
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HESE PARAMETERS ARE EXPLAINED BRIEFLY AS FOLLOWS
!NTENNAS 'T AND 'R ! COMMON CONVENTION FOR (&
BAND RADARS IS TO INCLUDE THE
EFFECT OF THE GROUND IN THE ANTENNA PERFORMANCE CHARACTERIZATION AND THAT CON
VENTION WILL BE USED HERE &OR EXAMPLE A HALF
WAVE DIPOLE IN FREE SPACE HAS A
MAXIMUM GAIN OVER AN ISOTROPE OF D" )F THAT ANTENNA IS ORIENTED VERTICALLY
JUST ABOVE BUT NOT TOUCHING A PERFECTLY CONDUCTING EARTH ITS MAXIMUM GAIN WILL
BE INCREASED BY A FACTOR OF OR D" TO D" AT n ELEVATION ANGLE "ECAUSE
THE %ARTH IS NEVER PERFECT ITS CONDUCTIVITY AND DIELECTRIC CONSTANT ARE FACTORS IN
DETERMINING ANTENNA PERFORMANCE 4HE ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF THE %ARTH ARE A MUCH
STRONGER FACTOR FOR VERTICAL POLARIZATION THAN FOR HORIZONTAL HOWEVER TERRAIN FEA
TURES AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS ARE IMPORTANT FOR BOTH POLARIZATIONS
#OHERENT PROCESSING TIME 4 &OR RANGES BEYOND THE SKIP DISTANCE (& RADAR RETURNS
ALMOST INVARIABLY CONTAIN %ARTH BACKSCATTER AT THE SAME RANGES AS TARGETS $OPPLER
PROCESSING IS USED TO SEPARATE TARGETS FROM %ARTH BACKSCATTER HENCE COHERENT SAM
PLES ARE ACQUIRED OVER AN INTERVAL 4 WHICH MAY EXCEED S THOUGH IT IS USUALLY
IN THE RANGE OF n S
7AVELENGTH K 4HE WAVELENGTH OR OPERATING FREQUENCY MUST BE SELECTED SO THAT
THE TRANSMITTED ENERGY IS REFLECTED BY THE IONOSPHERE TO ILLUMINATE THE DESIRED AREA
OF THE %ARTH 4HE SPECTRUM OF THE EMISSIONS MUST BE CONSTRAINED NOT TO INTERFERE
WITH OTHER USERS "ECAUSE BOTH THE IONOSPHERE AND THE (&
BAND OCCUPANCY DISTRIBU
TIONS ARE TIME
VARYING PARAMETERS ADAPTIVE RADAR MANAGEMENT IS REQUIRED
2ADAR CROSS SECTION 2#3 R 4HE RADAR CROSS SECTION OF CONVENTIONAL TARGETS WILL
GENERALLY BE A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY POLARIZATION AND ASPECT ANGLE BUT AT (& THE
TARGET DIMENSIONS ARE TYPICALLY OF THE SAME ORDER AS THE WAVELENGTH SO SCATTER
ING BEHAVIOR IS DIFFERENT FROM THAT OBSERVED AT HIGHER FREQUENCIES 3CATTERING ALSO
OCCURS FROM THE ENVIRONMENTCLUTTERSO MODELS OF THE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT PER
UNIT AREA OF LAND AND OCEAN SURFACES OR PER UNIT VOLUME OF THE TURBULENT IONOSPHERE
ARE USED TO PROVIDE EFFECTIVE 2#3 VALUES FOR %Q WHEN THOSE NATURAL SCATTER
ERS ARE THE hTARGETSv OF INTEREST 4HUS FOR THE 2#3 OF %ARTH CLUTTER THE NORMALIZED
SURFACE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT R n IS MULTIPLIED BY THE RESOLUTION CELL SIZE ! 4HE
IMPORTANT RESOLUTION CELL SIZE FACTORS VIZ RECEIVER ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH AND SPECTRAL
BANDWIDTH ARE NOT EXPLICITLY CONTAINED IN %Q #LUTTER FREQUENTLY SETS THE LIMIT
TO TARGET DETECTABILITY IN WHICH CASE IT IS THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO RATHER THAN THE
SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO THAT IS OF INTEREST !CCORDINGLY A DIFFERENT FORM OF THE RADAR
EQUATION MUST THEN BE EMPLOYED
0ROPAGATION FACTORS &P 3EVERAL PROPAGATION PHENOMENA INCLUDING &ARADAY
POLARIZATION ROTATION GROUND
REFLECTION MULTIPATH MULTIPLE HOP PROPAGATION AND
IONOSPHERIC FOCUSING MAY NEED TO BE INCLUDED IN THE EQUATION DEPENDING ON THE
SCENARIO OF INTEREST &ARADAY ROTATION REFERS TO THE VARIATION OF THE POLARIZATION OF
THE SIGNAL INCIDENT ON THE TARGET AS A FUNCTION OF TIME AND DISTANCE ARISING FROM ITS
PROPAGATION THROUGH THE MAGNETIZED IONOSPHERIC PLASMA LINEARLY POLARIZED TRANS
MITTED SIGNALS OFTEN ARRIVE IN THE TARGET ZONE WITH A ROTATED AXIS OF POLARIZATION BUT
STILL ESSENTIALLY LINEARLY POLARIZED 3INCE MANY TARGETS HAVE 2#3 THAT VARY WITH
POLARIZATION AN IMPORTANT RESULT IS THAT THE MOST FAVORABLE POLARIZATION WILL ILLU
MINATE THE TARGET RECURRENTLY 4HE SPATIAL SCALE OF THE POLARIZATION hFRINGESv IN THE
RADAR FOOTPRINT IS TYPICALLY IN THE RANGE n KM AND THE CHANGE OF FREQUENCY
NEEDED TO ROTATE THE PLANE OF POLARIZATION BY n AT A GIVEN LOCATION IN THE RADAR
FOOTPRINT THE POLARIZATION BANDWIDTH IS OF THE ORDER OF K(Z SO DIFFERENTIAL
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
EFFECTS MAY BE SIGNIFICANT /F COURSE POLARIZATION WILL ALSO FLUCTUATE AT THE RECEIV
ING ANTENNA AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE TIME
VARYING RETURN PATH
.OISE .O &OR RADARS OPERATING IN THE (& BAND THE RECEIVER INTERNAL NOISE IS ALMOST
ALWAYS LESS THAN THE EXTERNAL NOISE
,OSSES ,P ,S 4HE LOSS TERM ,P CONTAINS THE TWO
WAY LOSSES ALONG THE PATH
TRAVERSED INCLUDING IONOSPHERIC ABSORPTION AND GROUND
REFLECTION LOSSES ,S REPRE
SENTS ANY RADAR SYSTEM LOSSES )ONOSPHERIC LOSSES WHILE PREDICTED ON A STATISTICAL
BASIS CAN CONSTITUTE A MAJOR UNKNOWN IN REAL
TIME RADAR OPERATION
2ANGE 2 4HE RANGE IN %Q IS THE hSLANT RANGE v THAT IS THE LENGTH OF THE SKY
WAVE PATH BETWEEN TARGET AND RADAR NOT THE DISTANCE AS MEASURED ALONG THE %ARTHS
SURFACE 4HE IONOSPHERIC REFLECTION HEIGHT NEEDS TO BE USED TO CONVERT THIS SLANT
RANGE TO GREAT
CIRCLE GROUND DISTANCE 4HE APPARENT RANGE TO A PARTICULAR TARGET MAY
TAKE ON MORE THAN ONE VALUE SINCE MULTIPLE PATHS MAY EXIST
7ITH THESE INTERPRETATIONS THE RADAR EQUATION %Q CAN BE USED TO MODEL
THE PERFORMANCE OF SKYWAVE RADARS WHEN NOISE NOT CLUTTER IS SETTING THE LIMIT TO
TARGET DETECTABILITY NOTING THAT THE COMPLEXITY AND STATISTICAL NATURE OF IONOSPHERIC
PROPAGATION AND THE EXTERNAL NOISE ENVIRONMENT MEANS THAT IT IS OFTEN NECESSARY
TO APPLY THE EQUATION TO PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS NOT SCALAR VALUES OF THE PARAM
ETERS 7HEN THE TARGETS VELOCITY PLACES ITS DOPPLER SHIFT BEYOND THOSE OF ANY CLUT
TER RETURNS THE NOISE
LIMITED MODEL IS APPROPRIATE BUT THERE ARE TWO IMPORTANT
SITUATIONS WHERE THIS IS NOT THE CASE 4HE FIRST IS SHIP DETECTION WHERE THE INTRINSIC
DOPPLER SPREAD OF SEA CLUTTER ROUTINELY EXTENDS BEYOND THE TYPICAL DOPPLER SHIFTS OF
MOST SHIP ECHOES 4HE SECOND CASE IS THE PHENOMENON OF SPREAD DOPPLER CLUTTER
WHICH ARISES FROM PLASMA INSTABILITIES AND TURBULENCE ESPECIALLY POST
SUNSET AND
AT HIGH AND LOW LATITUDES 4HE EQUIVALENT VELOCITY OF THIS TYPE OF CLUTTER CAN EXTEND
TO HUNDREDS OF METERS PER SECOND MASKING EVEN FAST AIRCRAFT RETURNS 4HESE TOPICS
ARE ADDRESSED IN 3ECTION $EALING WITH CLUTTER
LIMITED SITUATIONS IS A VITAL PART
OF THE RADAR DESIGNERS TASK REQUIRING A DETAILED UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHENOMENA
AND THEIR DISTRIBUTIONS
/",- 1
- 976
, ,
-
0RINCIPAL $IFFERENCES "ETWEEN (& AND -ICROWAVE 2ADAR "EFORE ANALYZING
(& SKYWAVE RADAR SYSTEMS IN DETAIL IN THE SECTIONS THAT FOLLOW AND DESCRIBING THOSE
PROPERTIES OF THE ENVIRONMENT THAT IMPACT THEIR DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE IT IS INSTRUC
TIVE TO SUMMARIZE THE PRINCIPLE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SKYWAVE RADAR AND CONVENTIONAL
MICROWAVE RADAR 4HIS PROVIDES A CAUTIONARY REMINDER NOT TO EXTRAPOLATE TOO READILY
FROM THE FAMILIAR CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MICROWAVE DOMAIN TO THE (& BAND
(& SKYWAVE RADARS OPERATE AT RANGES ABOUT AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE GREATER THAN
MICROWAVE LONG
RANGE AIR SURVEILLANCE RADARS 4HE (& RADAR WAVELENGTH IS HUNDREDS
OF TIMES GREATER SO THE ANTENNAS ARE PROPORTIONATELY LARGER AS MUCH AS TWO OR THREE
KILOMETERS IN LENGTH IF THEY ARE TO SEE SHIPS BUT CONSIDERABLY LESS IF ONLY AIRCRAFT ARE
TO BE DETECTED 4RANSMITTER AVERAGE POWER MIGHT BE ON THE ORDER OF SEVERAL HUNDRED
KILOWATTS FOR A SKYWAVE RADAR BUT ON THE ORDER OF A FEW KILOWATTS FOR A MICROWAVE
!4# RADAR 4HE OBSERVATION TIME #)4 FOR SKYWAVE SYSTEMS CAN RANGE FROM ONE TO
MANY TENS OF SECONDS BUT IS ON THE ORDER OF TENS OF MILLISECONDS FOR MICROWAVE RADAR
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE LONG OBSERVATION TIME FOR A SKYWAVE RADAR IS NEEDED TO OBTAIN THE NECESSARY ECHO
SIGNAL ENERGY TO ENSURE RELIABLE TARGET DETECTION AS WELL AS TO OBTAIN THE LONG INTEGRA
TION TIMES NEEDED FOR EFFECTIVE DOPPLER PROCESSING 4HE IONOSPHERE HAS A DOMINATING
INFLUENCE ON SKYWAVE RADAR WHEREAS THE NORMAL ATMOSPHERE HAS VERY LITTLE EFFECT ON
MICROWAVE RADAR 4HE SKYWAVE RADARS FREQUENCY AND OTHER PARAMETERS ARE DRIVEN
PRIMARILY BY THE NEED TO PROPAGATE VIA THE IONOSPHERE #ONSTRAINTS IMPOSED BY PROPA
GATION AND THE AVAILABILITY OF UNOCCUPIED FREQUENCY CHANNELS DICTATE THAT THE RANGE
RESOLUTION OF (& RADARS IS NOT NEARLY AS GOOD AS THAT OF MICROWAVE SYSTEMS 4HE (&
TRANSMITTER HAS TO MAINTAIN STRINGENT CONTROL OF ITS RADIATED SIGNAL SPECTRUM SO AS TO
AVOID INTERFERENCE TO OTHER USERS OF THE (& SPECTRUM ! SIMILAR CONSIDERATION APPLIES
TO MICROWAVE RADARS BUT NOT TO THE EXTENT THAT IT DOES AT (& -ILITARY MICROWAVE RADARS
LIKE TO HAVE AVAILABLE A WIDE SPECTRAL WIDTH FOR PURPOSES OF ELECTRONIC PROTECTION AND TO
EXTRACT MORE DETAILED TARGET INFORMATION BUT THE INCREASING DEMANDS OF CIVILIAN WIRE
LESS SERVICES HAVE REDUCED THE AVAILABLE SPECTRUM AVAILABLE TO MICROWAVE RADARS TO THE
POINT WHERE IT IS LIMITING PERFORMANCE
4HE SENSITIVITY OF MICROWAVE RADARS IS LIMITED BY RECEIVER NOISE BUT THE SENSITIVITY OF
(& RADARS IS LIMITED BY EXTERNAL NOISE THAT ENTERS THE RECEIVER THROUGH THE ANTENNA 4HIS
EXTERNAL NOISE IS DUE NOT ONLY TO NATURAL MECHANISMS SUCH AS THUNDERSTORMS BUT TO THE SIG
NALS FROM THE MANY (& TRANSMITTERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD "OTH MICROWAVE AND (& RADARS
CAN BE LIMITED BY THE LARGE ECHO SIGNALS FROM LAND OR SEA THOUGH IN (& SKYWAVE RADARS
THE PROBLEM IS PARTICULARLY SEVERE $OPPLER PROCESSING IS ESSENTIAL UNDER SUCH CONDITIONS
&OR SOME AIRCRAFT THE RADAR CROSS SECTION AT (& IS SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER THAN THAT AT MICRO
WAVES -ANY (& /4( RADARS UTILIZE AN &-
#7 WAVEFORM SO WIDELY SEPARATED SITES ARE
NEEDED TO MINIMIZE THE LEAKAGE OF THE TRANSMITTER INTO THE RECEIVER -ICROWAVE RADARS
HAVE USED &-
#7 WAVEFORMS IN THE PAST BUT IN MOST CASES THESE HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY
WAVEFORMS THAT DONT REQUIRE SEPARATE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER SITES
4ABLE PRESENTS A COMPARISON OF SOME KEY RADAR PARAMETERS FOR REPRESENTATIVE
RADAR SYSTEMS OF EACH TYPE AND CONTRASTS THE WAYS IN WHICH THE RESPECTIVE MODES OF
PROPAGATION SCATTERING NOISE AND DEPLOYMENT CONSTRAIN THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF
RADAR SYSTEMS
)MPLICATIONS FOR 3KYWAVE 2ADAR $ESIGN &ROM AN EXAMINATION OF 4ABLE
IT IS CLEAR THAT A SKYWAVE RADAR IS NOT SIMPLY A MICROWAVE RADAR SCALED UP IN SIZE BY
A FACTOR OF ^ THAT IS IN PROPORTION TO THE WAVELENGTH 2EFERRING TO THE RADAR
EQUATION THE 2n LOSS TERM MEANS THAT FOR A REPRESENTATIVE TENFOLD INCREASE IN DETEC
TION RANGE OF (& OVER MICROWAVE D" EXTRA RANGE LOSS ACCUMULATES 4HIS CANNOT
ALL BE RECOVERED BY RADIATING MORE POWER AND INCREASING ANTENNA GAIN FOR PRACTICAL
ENGINEERING REASONS AND COST APART FROM CONSTRAINTS IMPOSED BY IONOSPHERIC PROPA
GATION #OHERENT DOPPLER PROCESSING PROVIDES THE NECESSARY PROCESSING GAIN BUT THE
PROCESSING TIMES REQUIREDFROM TO SMEAN THAT REVISIT RATES WHEN CONDUCTING
SURVEILLANCE OVER AN EXTENDED REGION WILL FALL BELOW ACCEPTABLE LEVELS UNLESS MULTIPLE
RECEIVE BEAMS ARE PROCESSED IN PARALLEL $ESIGNERS HAVE EXPLORED DIFFERENT TRADE
OFFS
IN MOST CASES CONVERGING ON SCHEMES IN WHICH n RECEIVE BEAMS ARE FORMED
WITHIN A BROADER TRANSMITTED BEAM FOOTPRINT 4HE REDUCED TRANSMITTING ANTENNA GAIN
MAY BE COMPENSATED BY INCREASING POWER OR COHERENT PROCESSING TIME
%VEN UNDER BENIGN CONDITIONS THE IONOSPHERE SELDOM SUPPORTS HIGHLY COHER
ENT PROPAGATION OVER BANDWIDTHS GREATER THAN ^ K(Z EVEN WHEN CLEAR CHANNELS
WIDE ENOUGH TO ACCOMMODATE SUCH WAVEFORMS ARE AVAILABLE WHICH IS INFREQUENTLY
-ORE TYPICALLY CLEAR CHANNELS RANGE FROM n K(Z SO THE WAVEFORM BANDWIDTH
IS NORMALLY CHOSEN TO LIE IN THIS RANGE 4HE CORRESPONDING RANGE RESOLUTIONS EXTEND
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
FROM n KM 4HE CROSS
RANGE RESOLUTION CELL DIMENSION ,2 AT RANGE 2 IS GIVEN
BY , y 2$K WHERE $ IS THE RECEIVING ARRAY APERTURE AND K IS THE RADAR WAVELENGTH
4!",% +EY $IFFERENCES "ETWEEN -ICROWAVE 2ADAR AND (& 3KYWAVE 2ADAR
4HE PARAMETER VALUES QUOTED HERE ARE INTENDED TO BE BROADLY REPRESENTATIVE RATHER
THAN AN ATTEMPT TO SPAN ALL KNOWN SYSTEMS
) -)#2/7!6% 2!$!2
4YPE CHOSEN FOR COMPARISON
,ONG
RANGE AIR TRAFFIC
CONTROL SUCH AS !232
)) (& 3+97!6% 2!$!2
*OINT AIRCRAFT AND SHIP DETECTION TWO
SITE RADAR SUCH AS *INDALEE */2. AND
2/4(2
-AJOR ANTENNA DIMENSION M n
n
!VERAGE TRANSMIT POWER K7
!NTENNA RADIATION PATTERN
&ULLY DEFINED BY ANTENNA 3TRONGLY INFLUENCED BY GROUND
CONSTRUCTION
PROPERTIES AROUND ANTENNA
4YPICAL OPERATING RANGE KM n
n
-INIMUM RANGE KM
2ANGE RESOLUTION M
n
u 3
TRUCTURED HORIZONTALLY AND
0ROPAGATION MEDIUM
u (OMOGENEOUS OR
VERTICALLY BOTH DETERMINISTICALLY AND
STRATIFIED
RANDOMLY ON MANY SCALES
u &REQUENCY DISPERSIVE
u .ONDISPERSIVE
u !NISOTROPIC MAGNETOIONIC
u )SOTROPIC
u (IGHLY DYNAMIC
u 3TABLE
u 7EAKLY NONLINEAR
u ,INEAR
u 6
ARIES DRAMATICALLY WITH TIME OF
u .EARLY CONSTANT
DAY SEASON ETC
u 2EFLECTED FROM IONOSPHERE
2ADAR SIGNAL PROPAGATION PATH u ,INE
OF
SIGHT
u ULTIPLE PATHS RESULTING IN MULTIPLE
u 5SUALLY UNIQUE MAY
ECHOES FROM A SINGLE TARGET AT
HAVE SIMPLE GROUND
DIFFERENT APPARENT RANGES BEARINGS
REFLECTION MULTIPATH
ELEVATION ANGLES AND DOPPLER SHIFTS
u 2ELATIVELY STABLE
u 5NSTABLE
u 0
OORLY KNOWN MUST BE INFERRED
FROM ANCILLARY SOUNDING SYSTEMS
$OMINANT PROPAGATION EFFECTS u -ULTIPATH INTERFERENCE u !TTENUATION
u &OCUSING AND DEFOCUSING
ON THE RADAR SIGNAL
BETWEEN DIRECT AND
SURFACE
REFLECTED SIGNALS u 0OLARIZATION TRANSFORMATION
u 0HASE MODULATION
u 7AVEFRONT DISTORTION
4ARGET SCATTERING REGIME
/PTICAL HIGH FREQUENCY 2AYLEIGH n RESONANCE IE TARGET SIZE
OR ^ RADAR WAVELENGTH
IE TARGET SIZE RADAR
WAVELENGTH
,OOK
DOWN VIEWING GEOMETRY
#LUTTER
u #AN BE SERIOUS
INEVITABLY RESULTS IN STRONG GROUND
ESPECIALLY AT SHORT
ECHOES AT THE SAME RANGE AS THE TARGET
RANGES
u -INIMIZED BY NARROW TYPICALLY n D" STRONGER THAN THE
BEAM SHORT PULSE AND TARGET ECHO
DOPPLER PROCESSING
$OPPLER PROCESSING
7IDELY USED FOR DETECTION %SSENTIAL TO SEPARATE MOVING TARGETS
OF MOVING TARGETS IN CLUTTER FROM STRONG CLUTTER RETURNS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% +EY $IFFERENCES "ETWEEN -ICROWAVE 2ADAR AND (& 3KYWAVE 2ADAR
4HE PARAMETER VALUES QUOTED HERE ARE INTENDED TO BE BROADLY REPRESENTATIVE RATHER
THAN AN ATTEMPT TO SPAN ALL KNOWN SYSTEMS #ONTINUED
) -)#2/7!6% 2!$!2
&REQUENCY CONSTRAINTS
.OISE FLOOR DOMINATED BY
3ITING CONSTRAINTS
)) (& 3+97!6% 2!$!2
u "OUNDED ABOVE BY THE STATISTICAL
#AN BE SERIOUS
AVAILABILITY OF SKYWAVE PROPAGATION
BECAUSE OF THE NEED FOR
TO RANGES OF INTEREST
WIDEBAND RADAR SYSTEMS
u "OUNDED BELOW BY SPECTRUM
AND BY COMPETITION
AVAILABILITY ANTENNA SIZE AND THE
FOR THE MICROWAVE
RAPID FALL
OFF IN TARGET 2#3
FREQUENCY SPECTRUM BY
COMMUNICATIONS AND OTHER u -UST NOT INTERFERE WITH OTHER USERS
IN THE CROWDED (& SPECTRUM THUS
ELECTROMAGNETIC SERVICES
LIMITING CHOICE OF FREQUENCY AND
BANDWIDTH
u -UST ADAPT CONTINUALLY TO THE
CHANGING IONOSPHERE SO AS TO
MAINTAIN ILLUMINATION OF CURRENT
TARGET REGION
)NTERNAL RECEIVER NOISE
3OURCES ATMOSPHERIC GALACTIC
THERMAL ETC
ANTHROPOGENIC ETC
u 5NOBSTRUCTED ELEVATED u 2ECEIVE ARRAY SITE MUST BE %-
SITES PREFERRED
QUIET GENERALLY RURAL TO AVOID
CITY AND INDUSTRIAL NOISE AT (&
FREQUENCIES
u (UGE ARRAYS REQUIRE FLAT OPEN
SPACES TO MINIMIZE TOPOGRAPHIC
EFFECTS ON BEAM PATTERNS
u )F A BISTATIC OR TWO
SITE QUASI
MONOSTATIC DESIGN IS ADOPTED IT
NEEDS TWO SITES WITH ADEQUATE
SEPARATION ^ KM AND THE
CORRECT GEOGRAPHICAL RELATIONSHIP
RELATIVE TO THE COVERAGE ARC
u ,OCATION ON THE %ARTH MUST BE SUCH
THAT AURORAL AND EQUATORIAL SPREAD
DOPPLER ECHOES DONT MASK TARGETS
(ENCE TO ACHIEVE , KM AT KM RANGE WHEN THE FREQUENCY IS -(Z AND
THUS A RESOLUTION CELL NOT TOO ECCENTRIC IN SHAPE REQUIRES AN ARRAY APERTURE OF ABOUT
M &EEDING ARRAYS OF THIS SIZE CAN REQUIRE HUNDREDS OF KILOMETERS OF CABLES OR IN
SOME SYSTEMS FIBER OPTICS AND RAISES CHALLENGING PROBLEMS IN ARRAY CALIBRATION 4HE
TRANSMITTING ARRAY APERTURE ASSUMING y RECEIVE BEAMS TO BE FITTED INTO THE TRANSMIT
BEAM NEED BE ONLY ^ M AT THIS FREQUENCY
)T FOLLOWS FROM THE RADAR EQUATION AND THE CONSIDERATIONS JUST DISCUSSED THAT TRANS
MIT POWER IN THE RANGE OF n K7 IS GENERALLY APPROPRIATE FOR DETECTING SMALL
AIRCRAFT TARGETS OVER A WIDE RANGE OF CONDITIONS )N ORDER TO RADIATE POWER EFFICIENTLY
THE TRANSMITTING ANTENNA ELEMENTS TEND TO BE LARGE RESONANT STRUCTURES FOR EXAMPLE
THE VERTICAL LOG PERIODIC ANTENNAS USED IN THE */2. SYSTEM ARE UP TO M TALL )N
CONTRAST THE CHOICE OF RECEIVING ANTENNA ELEMENT HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN BASED ON THE
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
PRECEPT THAT EFFICIENCY IS OF LOW IMPORTANCE FOR (& RECEPTION BECAUSE EXTERNAL NOISE
IS ALMOST ALWAYS FAR STRONGER THAN INTERNAL NOISE ! MORE EFFICIENT RECEIVING ELEMENT
ACCEPTS MORE SIGNAL POWER BUT EQUALLY MORE EXTERNAL NOISE SO PRIMA FACIE NOTHING IS
GAINED IN TERMS OF THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO #OST IS THUS REDUCED BY EMPLOYING A SMALL
RECEIVING ANTENNA ELEMENT (EIGHTS OF n M ARE COMMON
4HE LOOK
DOWN GEOMETRY OF SKYWAVE ILLUMINATION RESULTS IN STRONG CLUTTER RETURNS
IN THE SAME RANGE CELL AS THE TARGET DEMANDING A HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE ABLE TO SUPPORT
CLUTTER
TO
TARGET ENERGY RATIOS IN EXCESS OF D" 4HIS PLACES SEVERE DEMANDS ON THE
SPECTRAL PURITY AND DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE RADAR WAVEFORM GENERATOR TRANSMITTING AND
RECEIVING SYSTEMS (IGH SENSITIVITY HAS THE SIDE EFFECT OF REVEALING THE ECHOES FROM
MANY NATURAL SCATTERERS IN THE IONOSPHERE AS WELL AS THE SPECTRUM OF GROUND CLUTTER THAT
HAS BEEN SPREAD IN DOPPLER BY THE FLUCTUATIONS OF THE SIGNAL PROPAGATION PATH )N ORDER
TO RECOGNIZE AND SUPPRESS THESE UNWANTED RETURNS WHICH CAN OBSCURE TARGET ECHOES
AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNDERLYING PHYSICS IS ESSENTIAL
! DISTINCTIVE REQUIREMENT OF A SKYWAVE RADAR IS A SUITE OF AUXILIARY SYSTEMS TO MON
ITOR THE STATE OF THE IONOSPHERE AND THE AVAILABILITY OF UNOCCUPIED CHANNELS IN WHICH
TO OPERATE 4HIS RELIANCE ON CONTINUOUS ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND THE ASSOCIATED
ABILITY TO ADAPT THE RADAR PARAMETERS AND TASKING TO MAKE BEST USE OF THE PREVAILING
CONDITIONS CANNOT BE SATISFIED WITH SIMPLE LOW DYNAMIC RANGE EQUIPMENT FOR THAT
WOULD FAIL TO REVEAL MANY OF THE PHENOMENA THAT ARE SETTING THE THRESHOLD FOR TARGET
DETECTION AND TRACKING &URTHER A HIGH DEGREE OF AUTOMATION IS ESSENTIAL TO KEEP UP
WITH THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
! COMPARISON OF PRINCIPLE DESIGN PARAMETERS OF SEVERAL CURRENT AND FORMER OPERA
TIONAL (& SKYWAVE RADARS IS PRESENTED IN 4ABLE ILLUSTRATING THE DIVERSITY OF ENGI
NEERING SOLUTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED TO MEET SPECIFIC MISSION OBJECTIVES
4!",% 0RINCIPAL $ESIGN 0ARAMETERS FOR 3OME -AJOR (& 3KYWAVE 2ADAR 3YSTEMS
0AST AND 0RESENT
4HIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN COMPILED FROM SOURCES THAT IN SOME CASES ARE INCOMPLETE 7HERE ONLY
PARTIAL INFORMATION IS PROVIDED IT MAY STILL BE USEFUL FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES .OTES I 6,0!
DENOTES VERTICAL LOG
PERIODIC ANTENNA AND II
BAND N
BAND LINEAR ARRAYS ARE USUALLY CONSTRUCTED AS
CONTIGUOUS COLLINEAR ARRAYS
$EVELOPER
*/2.
,AVERTON
$34/
!USTRALIA
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'ENERAL %LECTRIC 2AYTHEON
!USTRALIA
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53!
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2USSIA
1UASI
MONOSTATIC
1UASI
MONOSTATIC
1UASI
MONOSTATIC
4RUE
MONOSTATIC
1UASI
MONOSTATIC
NA
n
D"7
D"7
D"7
9EAR OF FIRST
TARGET DETECTIONS
#ONFIGURATION
1UASI
MONOSTATIC
4X n 2X SITE
SEPARATION KM
-AX TRANSMITTER
POWER K7
4X GAIN D"
%20
D"7
!.&03
%#237#23
!.403
2/4(2
3TEEL 9ARD
+OMSOMOLSK
.OSTRADAMUS NA !MUR
*INDALEE
3TAGE "
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% 0RINCIPAL $ESIGN 0ARAMETERS FOR 3OME -AJOR (& 3KYWAVE 2ADAR 3YSTEMS
0AST AND 0RESENT
4HIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN COMPILED FROM SOURCES THAT IN SOME CASES ARE INCOMPLETE 7HERE ONLY
PARTIAL INFORMATION IS PROVIDED IT MAY STILL BE USEFUL FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES .OTES I 6,0!
DENOTES VERTICAL LOG
PERIODIC ANTENNA AND II
BAND N
BAND LINEAR ARRAYS ARE USUALLY CONSTRUCTED AS
CONTIGUOUS COLLINEAR ARRAYS #ONTINUED
*INDALEE
3TAGE "
4X ARRAY DESIGN
BAND LINEAR
ARRAY OF
LOW BAND
AND HIGH
BAND 6,0!
ANTENNAS
&REQUENCY
n
RANGE -(Z
4X APERTURES M
*/2.
,AVERTON
ADJACENT
CONTIGUOUS
BAND LINEAR
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4HE TERM QUASI
MONOSTATIC IS USED TO DENOTE CONFIGURATIONS IN WHICH THE TRANSMIT AND
RECEIVE SITES ARE SEPARATED AS IS OFTEN DONE WITH RADARS EMPLOYING &-
#7 WAVE
FORMS BUT NOT SO FAR APART THAT THE ANGLE SUBTENDED AT THE TARGET IS MORE THAN ^n SO
THE SCATTERING BEHAVIOR IS CLOSE TO WHAT IS OBSERVED FOR EXACTLY MONOSTATIC GEOMETRY
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4HE SOLAR ACTIVITY THAT DRIVES THE IONIZATION OF THE %ARTHS UPPER ATMOSPHERE IS VARIABLE
ON A DIURNAL SEASONAL AND LONG
TERM BASIS WITH A SUPERIMPOSED RANDOM COMPONENT AND
OCCASIONAL MAJOR STORMS AND OTHER DISTURBANCES &URTHER THE %ARTHS LOWER ATMOSPHERE
IS COUPLED TO THE IONOSPHERE BY A VARIETY OF UPWARD
PROPAGATING WAVE AND RADIATION
PROCESSES WHEREAS THE %ARTHS MAGNETOSPHERE THE REGION BEYOND THE IONOSPHERE WHERE
THE SOLAR WIND INTERACTS WITH THE %ARTHS MAGNETIC FIELD IS THE SOURCE OR CONDUIT FOR
CORRESPONDING PERTURBATIONS FROM ABOVE 4HE IONOSPHERIC RESPONSE TO ALL THESE EXTERNAL
FORCES IS GOVERNED NOT ONLY BY INERTIAL EFFECTS BUT ALSO BY CHEMICAL REACTIONS AND BY THE
EMBEDDED TIME
VARYING ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS THAT LINK THE IONOSPHERIC PLASMA
TO THE %ARTH AND TO THE INTERPLANETARY MEDIUM !S A CONSEQUENCE THE STRUCTURE OF THE
IONOSPHERE UNDERGOES CHANGES ON A WIDE VARIETY OF SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL SCALES WHICH
DRASTICALLY AFFECT ITS PROPERTIES AS A MEDIUM FOR RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION
4HE PRIMARY REQUIREMENT FOR RADAR SYSTEM DESIGN IS A QUANTITATIVE DESCRIPTION OF
THE PROPAGATION CHARACTERISTICS OVER THE PROPOSED COVERAGE REGION 3PECIFICALLY THE
RADAR DESIGNER NEEDS A STATISTICAL DESCRIPTION THAT WILL ENABLE MATCHING THE TRANSMITTED
SIGNAL POWER LEVEL AND ANTENNA GAIN PATTERN TO THE SUPPORTED FREQUENCY SPAN NOISE
LEVELS PROPAGATION LOSS CHARACTERISTICS AND RAY PATHS TO THE TARGET REGION )N ADDITION
THE RADAR OPERATOR NEEDS A MODEL WITH ENOUGH SOPHISTICATION TO PERMIT FULL INTERPRETA
TION OF THE REAL
TIME SOUNDINGS FOR OPERATING PARAMETER SELECTION SIGNAL PROCESSING
AND DATA ANALYSIS 7ITH THIS LATTER REQUIREMENT A STATISTICAL DESCRIPTION IS USUALLY NOT
ADEQUATE AS IMPORTANT FEATURES MAY BE LOST &OR EXAMPLE UNDER RAPIDLY CHANGING
IONOSPHERIC CONDITIONS THE RADAR ECHOES WILL EXPERIENCE A TIME
VARYING DOPPLER SHIFT
!VERAGING OVER TIME WOULD RESULT IN A DOPPLER SHIFT TENDING TO ZERO #LEARLY THIS IS OF
NO VALUE TO THE OPERATOR WISHING TO COMPENSATE FOR IONOSPHERIC MOTION AND HENCE TO
RETRIEVE A MEANINGFUL ESTIMATE OF TARGET RADIAL VELOCITY !S A SECOND EXAMPLE CONSIDER
THE SITUATION WHERE AN ATMOSPHERIC GRAVITY WAVE !'7 IS PROPAGATING THROUGH THE
IONOSPHERE IN THE VICINITY OF THE CONTROL POINT IONOSPHERIC REFLECTION POINT WHILE
A TARGET IS BEING TRACKED 4HE IONOSPHERE IS ONLY ^ IONIZED AT THE ALTITUDES OF
INTEREST TO (& RADAR BUT WAVES IN THE NEUTRAL GAS UNDER THE RESTORING FORCE OF GRAVITY
TRANSFER THEIR MOTION TO THE FREE ELECTRONS VIA COLLISIONS !S THE DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRONS
DEFINES THE hREFLECTING SURFACEv EXPERIENCED BY THE RADAR SIGNALS THE APPARENT BEARING
AND RANGE OF THE TARGET WILL FLUCTUATE AS THE IONOSPHERIC hREFLECTING SURFACEv UNDULATES
IN RESPONSE TO THE !'7 4HIS UNDULATION IS KNOWN AS A TRAVELING IONOSPHERIC DISTUR
BANCE 4)$ 4)$S MAY HAVE WAVELENGTHS OF HUNDREDS OF KILOMETERS AND SPEEDS UP TO
KILOMETERS PER HOUR 5NLESS THE RADAR MAKES APPROPRIATE REAL
TIME CORRECTIONS TO
THE TARGET COORDINATES TRACKING ACCURACY WILL BE SEVERELY IMPAIRED
4O ADDRESS THESE VARIOUS NEEDS IT IS ADVANTAGEOUS TO ADOPT CORRESPONDING DESCRIP
TIONS OR MODELS EMPHASIZING DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE IONOSPHERE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON
RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION AND HENCE (& RADAR PERFORMANCE )N MANY CASES OF PRACTICAL
INTEREST IONOSPHERIC MODELS DEVELOPED ORIGINALLY FOR (& COMMUNICATIONS PURPOSES
{
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CAN BE ADAPTED TO THE RADAR CONTEXT WHERE THE MAIN DIFFERENCE IS THE GREATER SENSITIV
ITY OF RADAR OBSERVATIONS TO DYNAMICAL PROCESSES 4HIS ARISES PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF THE
EXTREMELY HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE REQUIRED TO ACCOMMODATE AND PRESERVE TARGET ECHOES IN
THE PRESENCE OF STRONG CLUTTER AND EXTERNAL NOISE
)ONOSPHERIC 3TRUCTURE 4HE BASIC PHYSICS OF IONIZATION AND RECOMBINATION PRO
CESSES LEADS TO A NATURAL DIVISION OF THE IONOSPHERE INTO A NUMBER OF REGIONS
$ 2EGION 4HIS REGION OCCUPIES THE LOWEST ALTITUDES CONSIDERED )T EXTENDS FROM
TO KM WITH ELECTRON DENSITY INCREASING RAPIDLY WITH ALTITUDE IN THE DAYTIME
)TS PROPERTIES REFLECT THE BALANCE BETWEEN FREE ELECTRON PRODUCTION BY THE INCIDENT
SOLAR RADIATION FLUX AND FREE ELECTRON LOSS VIA VARIOUS ELECTRON
ION AND ELECTRON
NEUTRAL
RECOMBINATION PROCESSES !CCORDINGLY THE MAXIMUM IONIZATION IN THE $ REGION OCCURS
NEAR THE SUBnSOLAR POINT AND WILL BE GREATEST DURING PERIODS OF HIGHEST SOLAR ACTIVITY
SUNSPOT MAXIMUM THOUGH IT DOES NOT ACHIEVE DENSITIES SUFFICIENT TO REFLECT OR EVEN
SIGNIFICANTLY REFRACT (& RADIO WAVES 4HE KEY ROLE OF THE $ REGION IN (& RADIOWAVE
PROPAGATION IS SIGNAL ATTENUATION VIA ELECTRON
NEUTRAL COLLISIONS THAT ARE FREQUENT AT
THESE MODERATE ALTITUDES WHERE THE NEUTRAL SPECIES DENSITY IS STILL RELATIVELY HIGH )T IS
NOT REPRESENTED EXPLICITLY IN SOME IONOSPHERIC MODELS WHERE ITS EFFECTS ARE ACCOUNTED
FOR WITH AN EMPIRICALLY DERIVED PATH
LOSS CALCULATION
% 2EGION 4HIS IONIZATION REGION EXTENDS BETWEEN ABOUT AND KM IN ALTI
TUDE WITH A MAXIMUM NEAR KM WHEN SUNLIT )N ADDITION THERE MAY BE ANOMALOUS
IONIZATION REFERRED TO AS SPORADIC % 4HIS LATTER IONIZATION LAYER IS TYPICALLY ONLY A FEW
KILOMETERS THICK AND USUALLY SHORT
LIVED OFTEN LASTING LESS THAN AN HOUR IT MAY BE EITHER
SMOOTH OR PATCHY IS SEASONALLY AND DIURNALLY VARIABLE WEAKLY CORRELATED WITH SOLAR
ACTIVITY SHOWING A TENDENCY TO FAVOR LOW SUNSPOT NUMBERS AND HAS MARKED VARIATION
WITH LATITUDE &ROM THE PROPAGATION PERSPECTIVE SPORADIC % HOLDS A SPECIAL PLACE AS THE
LAYER PROVIDING THE MOST STABLE PROPAGATION OVER COHERENT INTEGRATION TIMES TYPICAL OF
SKYWAVE RADAR "ECAUSE IT IS ONLY ^ KM ABOVE THE %ARTHS SURFACE THE MAXIMUM
RANGE THAT CAN BE REACHED VIA ONE
HOP %
LAYER PROPAGATION IS ONLY ^ KM THOUGH
NORMALLY THE LAYER IS NOT TOTALLY REFLECTING SO SOME ENERGY CONTINUES UPWARD TO THE
&
LAYER WHERE IT IS REFLECTED TO REACH THE %ARTHS SURFACE AT MUCH GREATER RANGES
& 2EGION 4HIS IS THE HIGHEST
ALTITUDE REGION OF INTEREST FOR SKYWAVE PROPAGATION
AND IT IS ALSO THE REGION OF GREATEST ELECTRON DENSITY )N THE DAYLIGHT HOURS THE & REGION
SOMETIMES MANIFESTS TWO COMPONENT LAYERS ESPECIALLY IN SUMMER 4HE &L REGION LIES
BETWEEN AND KM AND LIKE THE % REGION IS DIRECTLY DEPENDENT UPON SOLAR
RADIATION IT REACHES MAXIMUM INTENSITY ABOUT H AFTER LOCAL NOON 4HE & REGION IS
VARIABLE IN BOTH TIME AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION 4HE ALTITUDE OF THE & REGION PEAK LIES
TYPICALLY BETWEEN AND KM AT MIDDLE LATITUDES 4HE &
REGION IONIZATION SHOWS
MARKED DAY
TO
DAY VARIATIONS AND IN GENERAL IS NOT THE REGULAR SUN FOLLOWER THAT THE
% AND & REGIONS ARE
4HE SIMPLE PHYSICAL PICTURE OF THE IONOSPHERE AS CONSISTING OF SEVERAL MORE OR LESS
CONCENTRIC LAYERS MUST BE MODIFIED SUBSTANTIALLY AT BOTH LOW AND HIGH LATITUDES TO
TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE EFFECTS OF THE IMPRESSED ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS 4O BEGIN
WITH THE DISPLACEMENT OF THE %ARTHS MAGNETIC AXIS FROM ITS ROTATIONAL AXIS MEANS THAT
THE IONOSPHERE DOES NOT PRESERVE A MORE OR LESS CONSTANT FORM ENVELOPING A ROTATING
EARTH .EAR THE MAGNETIC EQUATOR WHERE THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD IS CLOSE TO HORIZON
TAL ATMOSPHERIC TIDES AND ASSOCIATED WINDS DRIVE THE SO
CALLED %
REGION AND &
REGION
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
DYNAMOS RESULTING IN AN UPWARD DRIFT OF THE IONOSPHERIC PLASMA AND ITS SUBSEQUENT
DESCENT ALONG THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD LINES 4HE RESULTING ELECTRON DENSITY DEPLETION AT
THE EQUATOR AND ROUGHLY SYMMETRIC ENHANCEMENTS IN THE VICINITY OF ^ n .3 LATITUDE
IS KNOWN AS THE !PPLETON OR EQUATORIAL ANOMALY "ESIDES CAUSING ERRORS IN ESTIMATED
TARGET RANGE AND BEARING THE TILTED IONOSPHERIC hREFLECTING SURFACEv NEAR THE EQUATOR
CAN SUPPORT SCATTERING OF INCIDENT RADIOWAVES INTO LOW
LOSS ELEVATED TRANS
EQUATORIAL
MODES CHORDAL MODES THAT RETURN STRONG CLUTTER FROM THE OPPOSITE HEMISPHERE OFTEN
WITH HIGHLY UNSTABLE PHASE CHARACTERISTICS
)N THE POLAR ZONES THE NEAR
VERTICAL GEOMAGNETIC FIELD LINES PROVIDE A PATHWAY
FOR CHARGED PARTICLES AND DISTURBANCES OF SOLAR AND MAGNETOSPHERIC ORIGIN TO REACH
IONOSPHERIC HEIGHTS AND CONTRIBUTE TO IONIZATION PROCESSES AND PLASMA TRANSPORT 4HE
BEST KNOWN PHENOMENA HERE ARE THE AURORAE WHICH ARE CONCENTRATED IN OVALS POLE
WARD OF THE BOUNDARY WHERE THE %ARTHS GEOMAGNETIC FIELD LINES CHANGE FROM CLOSED
CONNECTED TO THEIR IMAGES IN THE OPPOSITE HEMISPHERE TO OPEN THAT IS CONNECTED TO
THE INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELD ! WIDE VARIETY OF PLASMA WAVES AND INSTABILITIES
POPULATE THESE REGIONS PRODUCING IRREGULARITIES THAT ACHIEVE HIGH ELECTRON DENSITIES
AND HENCE PROVIDE STRONG SOURCES OF SPREAD
DOPPLER CLUTTER 4HEY HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO
IMPACT SKYWAVE RADAR SYSTEMS SEVERELY
)ONOSPHERIC 6ARIABILITY 7HILE ALL IONOSPHERIC PROPERTIES ARE TIME
VARYING FROM
AN /4(2 PERSPECTIVE IT IS USEFUL TO SEPARATE THE hFASTv PROCESSES OR hDYNAMICSv FROM
THE hSLOWv OR hSTRUCTURALv VARIABILITY ! PHENOMENON IS TERMED DYNAMICAL RELATIVE TO
A RADAR OBSERVATION PROCESS IF IT OCCURS ON A TIMESCALE COMMENSURATE WITH THE CORRE
SPONDING PROCESS TIMESCALE SUCH AS I PULSEWAVEFORM REPETITION INTERVAL II COHERENT
INTEGRATION DWELL TIME III SCAN REVISIT TIME OR IV MISSION TRACK LIFETIME
$YNAMICAL PROCESSES IMPACT DIRECTLY ON HOW ONE SHOULD PROCESS THE RECEIVED SIGNALS
OR PERFORM TRACKING 3LOW PROCESSES SUCH AS THE
YEAR SOLAR CYCLE SEASONAL CHANGES
AND THE DIURNAL CYCLE OF THE %
AND &
LAYERS CAN GENERALLY BE TREATED AS QUASI
STATIONARY
BACKGROUND PROCESSES THAT SET UP THE IONOSPHERIC STRUCTURE AT ANY GIVEN TIME WITHIN
WHICH FAST PROCESSES MAY OCCUR !N EXCEPTION TO THIS CLASSIFICATION ARISES WITH THE
DAWN AND DUSK TERMINATORS THAT IS THE DAY
NIGHT BOUNDARIES SWEEPING AROUND THE
%ARTH AT KMHR THEY PRODUCE ABRUPT CHANGES IN THE IONOSPHERE AND TRIGGER LARGE
SCALE INSTABILITIES
3TRUCTURAL 6ARIABILITY 4HE DAY
NIGHT CYCLE PRODUCES DRASTIC CHANGES IN THE ION
IZATION DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE IONOSPHERE !T NIGHT THE $
LAYER DISAPPEARS THE % AND
& REGIONS EXPERIENCE A SUBSTANTIAL DECREASE IN IONIZATION AND THE EQUATORIAL AND POLAR
REGIONS ARE MORE PRONE TO LARGE
SCALE PERTURBATIONS 4HE EXTENT OF DIURNAL VARIATION CAN
BE SEEN BY EXAMINING &IGURE WHICH SHOWS MEASURED ELECTRON DENSITY EXPRESSED
IN TERMS OF PLASMA FREQUENCY AS DEFINED IN %Q VERSUS VIRTUAL HEIGHT AND TIME
OF
DAY AT A MID
LATITUDE LOCATION
4YPICALLY THE DIURNAL VARIATION REQUIRES A RADAR TO
VARY ITS OPERATING FREQUENCY BY MORE THAN AN OCTAVE IN FREQUENCY TO MAINTAIN
HOUR
SURVEILLANCE OVER A FIXED TARGET LOCATION
6IRTUAL HEIGHT IS THE REFLECTION HEIGHT COMPUTED FROM SIGNAL TIME DELAY BY ASSUMING THAT THE RADIOWAVE TRAVELS AT
THE SPEED OF LIGHT AS IF IN FREE SPACE IN FACT THE RADIOWAVE GROUP VELOCITY IN THE PLASMA IS LOWER SO THE TRUE HEIGHT
IS LESS &OR MOST PURPOSES IT IS MORE CONVENIENT TO DEAL WITH VIRTUAL HEIGHT BECAUSE THERE ARE TWO THEOREMS THAT
DRAMATICALLY SIMPLIFY PRACTICAL CALCULATIONS -ARTYNS THEOREM SHOWS THAT COMPLICATED OBLIQUE SKYWAVE RAY PATHS
VIA THE TRUE REFLECTION POINT CAN BE REPLACED TO GOOD APPROXIMATION WITH SIMPLE RECTILINEAR GEOMETRY VIA THE VIRTUAL
REFLECTION POINT 4HE THEOREM OF "REIT AND 4UVE DEMONSTRATES THAT TO GOOD APPROXIMATION THE TIME
OF
FLIGHT IS
UNCHANGED BY THIS SUBSTITUTION $AVIES PROVIDES A CLEAR EXPLANATION OF THESE USEFUL THEOREMS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% $IURNAL VARIATION OF THE ELECTRON DENSITY PROFILE AS MEASURED BY THE PLASMA FREQUENCY
PLOTTED FOR VARIOUS VIRTUAL HEIGHTS IN KM 4HE DATA WAS RECORDED BY A VERTICAL INCIDENCE SOUNDER AT
LATITUDE 3 LONGITUDE % ON 3EPTEMBER 33.
7HAT IS MORE SURPRISING IS THE DAY TO DAY VARIABILITY EVEN AT MID LATITUDES WHICH
IMPACTS SIGNIFICANTLY ON (& RADAR PERFORMANCE 4HE INABILITY TO PREDICT RELIABLY EVEN
A DAY IN ADVANCE IS A SERIOUS CONSIDERATION IN RADAR DESIGN AND SCHEDULING
!N ILLUSTRATION OF DAY TO DAY VARIABILITY IS PRESENTED IN &IGURE WHICH OVER
LAYS VERTICAL INCIDENCE SOUNDINGS RECORDED AT THE SAME TIME OF DAY FOR A MONTH
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF MEASURED VERTICAL INCIDENCE IONOGRAMS
FOR A FIXED TIME OF DAY OVER A MONTH WITH A MODEL
BASED PREDICTION OF THE
MEDIAN DENOTED BY THE SMALL CIRCLES
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
4HE TRACES PLOT THE VIRTUAL HEIGHT VERSUS RADIOWAVE FREQUENCY FOR THE ORDINARY RAY SEE
SUBSECTION BELOW ON RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION 3OUNDINGS OF THIS TYPEIONOGRAMS
MEASURE THE RETURN TRIP TIME DELAY FOR A SIGNAL TO TRAVEL UP TO THE HEIGHT AT WHICH THE
ELECTRON DENSITY IS SUFFICIENT TO REFLECT IT THAT IS WHERE THE PLASMA FREQUENCY FP EQUALS
THE INCIDENT RADIOWAVE FREQUENCY
!LSO SHOWN IN &IGURE IS THE CORRESPONDING MONTHLY MEDIAN TAKEN FROM THE
MODEL OF 4HOMASON ET AL #ONSIDER THE CRITICAL FREQUENCY THAT IS THE HIGHEST REFLECTED
FREQUENCY CORRESPONDING TO THE IONOSPHERES PEAK ELECTRON DENSITY 4HE UPPER AND
LOWER DECILES DEPART FROM THE MEDIAN BY TYPICALLY o /VER SUCH A RANGE OF FRE
QUENCY TERMS IN THE RADAR EQUATION SUCH AS ANTENNA GAINS TARGET 2#3 AND SLANT RANGE
MAY VARY SUBSTANTIALLY SO RADAR PERFORMANCE IS INEVITABLY STATISTICALLY DISTRIBUTED
!LTHOUGH IT MAKES SENSE TO USE MEDIAN VALUES FOR MANY RADAR PERFORMANCE MODELING
CALCULATIONS THE RADAR DESIGNER SHOULD ADOPT A CONSERVATIVE APPROACH AND ASSUME THE
LOWEST CRITICAL FREQUENCY
0ERHAPS THE MOST INTRIGUING MAJOR CAUSE OF SYSTEMATIC VARIATION IS THE
YEAR
CYCLE OF SOLAR ACTIVITY 6ARIOUS CORRELATED PARAMETERS HAVE BEEN DEFINED TO MEASURE
THIS ACTIVITY INCLUDING THE CM SOLAR FLUX SUNSPOT NUMBER AND VARIOUS MAGNETIC
INDICES &IGURE SHOWS THE SMOOTHED AVERAGE SUNSPOT NUMBER PLOTTED FROM
THE YEAR OF THE FIRST VALIDATED /4(2 DETECTIONS OF MILITARY TARGETS ACHIEVED BY THE
-53)# RADAR AT .2,
%NHANCED SOLAR ACTIVITY IMPACTS ON THE IONOSPHERE IN MANY WAYS BUT ITS MOST SIG
NIFICANT ACTION FROM A RADAR PERSPECTIVE IS TO PRODUCE SUBSTANTIALLY HIGHER IONIZATION
LEVELS THAT PERSIST AT USABLE LEVELS THROUGH THE NIGHT SO HIGHER RADAR FREQUENCIES CAN BE
EMPLOYED AND THE MINIMUM ACHIEVABLE RANGE DECREASES )N ADDITION THE HEIGHT OF THE
MAXIMUM ELECTRON DENSITY INCREASES SO ONE
HOP PROPAGATION CAN REACH GREATER RANGES
&)'52% 4HE VARIATION OF THE MONTHLY MEDIAN SUNSPOT NUMBER SINCE THE YEAR OF THE FIRST OPERA
TIONAL SKYWAVE RADAR DETECTIONS
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
$AYTIME ABSORPTION INCREASES FOR A GIVEN FREQUENCY BECAUSE OF HIGHER $
LAYER DENSI
TIES BUT THIS IS COMPENSATED BY ACCESS TO HIGHER OPERATING FREQUENCIES !N INCREASE IN
THE NUMBER AND SEVERITY OF MAGNETIC STORMS AND SUDDEN IONOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES IS
ANOTHER CONSEQUENCE OF HIGHER SOLAR ACTIVITY AS ARE INCREASED POST
SUNSET PLASMA BUB
BLE ACTIVITY AND ASSOCIATED SCINTILLATION IN EQUATORIAL REGIONS SOLAR FLARES AND CORONAL
MASS EJECTIONS ALL OF WHICH DISRUPT STABLE PROPAGATION 3OLAR FLARES ARE GIANT EXPLOSIONS
ON THE SUNS SURFACE GENERALLY OCCURRING NEAR SUNSPOTS WHICH EMIT IONIZING RADIATION
THAT PENETRATES INTO THE $ REGION AND DRAMATICALLY INCREASES ABSORPTION 4HE RESULTING
SUDDEN IONOSPHERIC DISTURBANCE 3)$ OR SHORT
WAVE FADE
OUT CAN COMPLETELY INCA
PACITATE A SKYWAVE RADAR FOR A PERIOD FROM MINUTES TO HOURS 0ERHAPS MORE IMPORTANTLY
ALTHOUGH THE FLARE ITSELF IS NOT PREDICTABLE THE ASSOCIATED BURST OF PARTICLES WILL START TO
ARRIVE A FEW HOURS LATER WITH MOST EJECTED MATERIAL REACHING %ARTH SEVERAL DAYS LATER
SERIOUSLY DISRUPTING (& PROPAGATION 4HE CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF SOLAR ACTIVITY WILL BE
DEMONSTRATED IN 3ECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF RADAR PERFORMANCE PREDICTION
)ONOSPHERIC $YNAMICS !S THE RADAR SIGNALS TRAVERSE THE IONOSPHERE MOTIONS OF THE
PLASMA MEDIUM ALONG THE PROPAGATION PATH IMPRINT THEMSELVES ON THE SIGNALS IN WAYS
THAT CAN DEGRADE OR OBLITERATE THE TARGET INFORMATION OF INTEREST 3KYWAVE RADARS CAN BE
DESIGNED TO RECOGNIZE THE SIGNATURES OF THESE PHENOMENA ADJUSTING THE RADAR FREQUENCY
CHOICE OF WAVEFORM AND PROCESSING TO MITIGATE THEIR EFFECTS WHERE NECESSARY 3OMETIMES
THE IONOSPHERIC MOTIONS ACTUALLY HELP THE RADAR FOR EXAMPLE BY ENABLING IT TO DISCRIMI
NATE BETWEEN NATURAL NOISE AND SOME FORMS OF DELIBERATE INTERFERENCE 4HUS IT IS VITALLY
IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND NOT ONLY THE STRUCTURE OF THE IONOSPHERE AND THE OPPORTUNITIES IT
PROVIDES FOR PROPAGATION BUT ALSO THE MOTIONS AND DISTURBANCES THAT INHABIT IT
4HE VARIETY OF WAVE TYPES AND IRREGULARITY OF PRODUCTION MECHANISMS IN THE ION
OSPHERE IS ENORMOUS AND INCLUDES NOT ONLY THOSE ARISING NATURALLY BUT ALSO MANY
INDUCED PHENOMENA SUCH AS THOSE RESULTING FROM GROUND
BASED IONOSPHERIC 2& HEAT
ERS OR ROCKET INTERACTIONS WITH THE AMBIENT PLASMA !MONG THE MOST IMPORTANT FROM
THE RADAR POINT OF VIEW ARE THE FOLLOWING
u 4RANSIENT PLASMA STRUCTURES ASSOCIATED WITH IONIZED METEOR TRAILS AT ANY GIVEN LOCA
TION METEORS HAVE A STRONG DIURNAL VARIATION AND DIRECTIONALITY 4HEY ARE EVER
PRES
ENT AND CONSTITUTE A MAJOR SOURCE OF CLUTTER FOR (& RADARS
u ,ARGE AND MEDIUM SCALE ATMOSPHERIC GRAVITY WAVES !'7 PRODUCED BY ENERGETIC
PHENOMENA IN THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE PROPAGATE UPWARD WITH INCREASING AMPLITUDE
UNTIL NONLINEAR PROCESSES BEGIN TO DOMINATE RESULTING IN WAVE BREAKING ,ARGE !'7S
MAY PERSIST FOR HOURS AND PROPAGATE OVER GLOBAL DISTANCES CAUSING SERIOUS DEVIATION
OF INCIDENT RADIOWAVES 4HEY ARE SOMETIMES THE MAJOR CAUSE OF TRACKING ERRORS
u -AGNETIC DISTURBANCES ORIGINATING WHERE THE SOLAR WIND IMPACTS ON THE MAGNETO
SPHERE THEY PROPAGATE EARTHWARD AND CAUSE RESONANT OSCILLATIONS OF THE GEOMAGNETIC
FIELD LINES PERMEATING THE IONOSPHERE 4HE FIELD LINES ARE hFROZEN INv TO THE IONO
SPHERIC PLASMA AND HENCE THE IONOSPHERE VIBRATES LOCALLY AT FREQUENCIES TYPICALLY
IN THE RANGE OF nn (Z IMPOSING A CORRESPONDING MODULATION ON ANY TRANSITING
RADIOWAVES 3HIP ECHOES CAN BE OBSCURED BY THIS MODULATION
u 4HE EQUATORIAL ELECTROJET PART OF THE GLOBAL SYSTEM OF FIELDS AND CURRENTS DRIVEN BY
THE DYNAMO ACTION OF WINDS AND TIDES IS HOST TO SMALL SCALE FIELD
ALIGNED IRREGULARI
TIES WITH CHARACTERISTIC VELOCITY DISTRIBUTIONS 3OME SMALL
SCALE PLASMA INSTABILITIES
MAY ENDURE FOR A FRACTION OF A SECOND OTHERS FOR TENS OF SECONDS EVIDENT TO RADARS AS
SPREAD
DOPPLER CLUTTER THAT PREVENTS THE DETECTION OF SMALL TARGETS
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
u %QUATORIAL PLASMA BUBBLES OFTEN APPEAR AFTER SUNSET AND CONVECT UPWARD THROUGH THE
& REGION WHERE THEY CONTRIBUTE TO STRONG DIFFUSE DOPPLER
SPREAD SCATTERING REFERRED
TO AS SPREAD
& $ETECTION OF ALL TARGETS IS DIFFICULT WHEN THIS EFFECT OCCURS
u 4HE AURORAE ARE DYNAMIC STRUCTURES GOVERNED BY FIELDS AND PLASMA FLOWS IN THE MAG
NETOSPHERE STRONG ELECTRIC FIELDS ALIGNED WITH THE MAGNETIC FIELD ACCELERATE ELECTRONS
DOWN INTO THE IONOSPHERE WHERE THEY PRODUCE HIGHLY IONIZED FORMATIONS THAT REFLECT
RADIO WAVES VERY EFFICIENTLY 4HE RESULTING DOPPLER
SPREAD ECHOES ARE SO STRONG THEY
CAN INCAPACITATE A RADAR THROUGH ITS SIDELOBES
u 'EOMAGNETIC STORMS AND SUB
STORMS RESULT FROM SOLAR FLARES AND CORONAL MASS EJEC
TIONS !S MENTIONED EARLIER HARD 8
RAYS AND ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION RAISE $
LAYER ION
IZATION DRAMATICALLY WITH CONSEQUENT INCREASES IN RADIOWAVE ABSORPTION 7ITHIN AN
HOUR AND FOR A DAY OR SO AFTER FLARE
GENERATED PARTICLE BURSTS START TO ARRIVE AND ARE
CHANNELED DOWN THE MAGNETIC FIELD LINES AT HIGH LATITUDES CAUSING IONOSPHERIC HEAT
ING AND ASSOCIATED DIFFUSION TO LOWER LATITUDES TOGETHER WITH A VARIETY OF MAGNETIC
FIELD PERTURBATIONS (& PROPAGATION IS OFTEN SEVERELY DISRUPTED
-ODELS AND 4HEIR 5SES +NOWLEDGE OF THE CONDITIONS TO BE EXPECTED FOR A PAR
TICULAR RADAR DEPLOYMENT IS VITAL TO RADAR DESIGN AS WELL AS PROVIDING A GUIDE TO ECHO
INTERPRETATION AND A MEANS TO SIMULATION AND PERFORMANCE PREDICTION 4HIS TYPE OF
INFORMATION BASED ON DECADES OF IONOSPHERIC OBSERVATIONS AND THEORY IS CONVENIENTLY
DISTILLED IN MODELS THAT ARE WIDELY AVAILABLE AND USED EXTENSIVELY "UT EVEN MORE
IMPORTANTLY FROM THE OPERATIONAL PERSPECTIVE (& RADARS MUST MAINTAIN A REAL
TIME
IONOSPHERIC MODEL 24)- THAT IS INTIMATELY LINKED WITH THE RADAR SUBSYSTEMS SERVING
TO GUIDE FREQUENCY SELECTION RADIATED POWER TASK SCHEDULING COORDINATE REGISTRATION
CONVERTING FROM THE RADAR COORDINATES OF TIME DELAY AND ANGLE
OF
ARRIVAL TO GEOGRAPHI
CAL COORDINATES IONOSPHERIC MODE STRUCTURE INTERPRETATION AND ASSOCIATION OF MUL
TIPLE TRACKS FROM A SINGLE TARGET 5NLIKE THE CLIMATOLOGICAL MODELS 24)-S MUST BE
UPDATED CONTINUOUSLY WITH INFORMATION FROM AN AUXILIARY NETWORK OF BEACONS /BLIQUE
AND VERTICAL INCIDENCE SOUNDERS AND TRANSPONDERS HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED FOR THIS PURPOSE
&OR INSTANCE THE */2. RADARS EXPLOIT APPROXIMATELY SOUNDERS AND RELATED FACILITIES
DISTRIBUTED AROUND THE COAST OF !USTRALIA 2ADAR PERFORMANCE IN MOST OPERATIONAL ROLES
IS GOVERNED BY THE FIDELITY OF THE ADOPTED 24)-
)T IS IMPORTANT TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN MODELS THAT DESCRIBE THE PHYSICAL OR
PHYSICO
CHEMICAL STATE OF THE IONOSPHERE AND MODELS THAT DESCRIBE RADIOWAVE PROPA
GATION CHARACTERISTICS THOUGH THE LATTER ARE OFTEN DERIVED FROM THE FORMER BY APPLY
ING RAY
TRACING METHODS AND THE FORMER ARE PREDOMINANTLY DERIVED FROM RADIOWAVE
PROPAGATION MEASUREMENTS SUCH AS POINT
TO
POINT LINK STATISTICS AND VERTICAL INCIDENCE
SOUNDINGS "OTH CLASSES ARE OF GENERAL APPLICABILITY TO (& COMMUNICATIONS AND GEO
PHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS AS WELL AS SKYWAVE RADAR
-ODELS OF THE )ONOSPHERIC -EDIUM -ODELS OF THE IONOSPHERE FALL INTO TWO
CATEGORIES
u #LIMATOLOGICAL MODELS BASED ON SOUNDER ROCKET AND SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS "EING
DERIVED FROM STATISTICS THEY PROVIDE NO EXPLICIT INFORMATION ON REAL
TIME h@WEATHERv
THAT IS IRREGULARITIES WAVES AND OTHER DYNAMIC PROCESSES THOUGH MEASURES OF VARI
ABILITY MAY BE PROVIDED -ANY EARLY MODELS HAD THEIR GENESIS IN THE LARGE DATABASE OF
RECORDED IONOSPHERIC SOUNDINGS MADE DURING THE )NTERNATIONAL 'EOPHYSICAL 9EAR OF
n AND THE )NTERNATIONAL 9EAR OF THE 1UIET 3UN OF n 4HESE MODELS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WHICH FOCUSED ON THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRON DENSITY WERE USED EXTENSIVELY
IN EARLY (& RADAR PERFORMANCE ANALYSES AND INCLUDE )43!
)43
2!$!2 #
)/.#!0 AND !-"#/-n ,UCAS PROVIDES DETAILS OF THESE MODELS AND THEIR
ORIGINS 3OME OF THE PREDICTION METHODS HAVE NOT BEEN WELL DOCUMENTED ALTHOUGH
WIDELY DISTRIBUTED ALSO USERS FREQUENTLY hIMPROVEv UPON A MODEL AND PREDICTION
METHOD TO SUIT THEIR SPECIFIC NEEDS !S AN EXAMPLE THE MODEL 2!$!2 # IS THE BASIC
BUILDING BLOCK OF 4HOMASON ET AL IN .2, 2EPORT HOWEVER THEY ADDED A $
REGION A COLLISION
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION AN %ARTHS MAGNETIC FIELD A TOPSIDE ELEC
TRON DISTRIBUTION AN AURORAL ELECTRON
DENSITY MODIFICATION AND OTHER FEATURES THAT
MAKE THE MODEL MORE GENERALLY USEFUL 4HE IONOSPHERIC MODEL AS DESCRIBED IN .2,
2EPORT HAS BEEN USED FOR SOME OF THE EXAMPLES PRESENTED IN 3ECTION
4HE )NTERNATIONAL 2EFERENCE )ONOSPHERE )2) IS PERHAPS THE FOREMOST MODERN EXAM
PLE PRESENTLY AVAILABLE AS VERSION )2)
n /THER CLIMATOLOGICAL MODELS USED
IN (& RADAR APPLICATIONS ARE 0)- 02)3- AND &!)-
u 0HYSICS
BASED OR FIRST PRINCIPLES MODELS SUCH AS 535 '!)- *0,53# '!)-
3!-) DEVELOPED BY (UBA AND *OYCE AND +HATTATOVS MODEL SOLVE THE PLASMA
DYNAMICS AND COMPOSITION EQUATIONS GOVERNING EVOLUTION OF DENSITY VELOCITY AND
TEMPERATURE FOR VARIOUS ION SPECIES ON A GLOBAL $ GRID SUBJECT TO THE %ARTHS MAG
NETIC FIELD AND PREVAILING SOLAR INDICES 4HESE MODELS REQUIRED SEEDING WITH INITIAL
CONDITIONS OFTEN A LIMITING CONSIDERATION
&OR BOTH CLASSES IMPROVED ACCURACY OF FORECASTING IS ACHIEVED BY ASSIMILATING
DATA FROM GROUND
BASED SOUNDERS TOTAL ELECTRON CONTENT 4%# DERIVED FROM '03 56
AIRGLOW DATA AND IN SITU MEASUREMENTS OF ELECTRON DENSITY FROM SATELLITES AND OTHER
SOURCES /FTEN THE ASSIMILATION IS PERFORMED WITHIN AN EXTENDED +ALMAN FILTER FRAME
WORK SO ACCURACY ESTIMATES ARE A BYPRODUCT &URTHER SITE
SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS MAY
BENEFIT FROM ADAPTATION OF THE UNDERLYING MODEL PARAMETERS AND COEFFICIENTS
4HE COMPLEX STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF THE IONOSPHERIC MEDIUM GOVERN (& SKY
WAVE PROPAGATION PRIMARILY THROUGH THE SPACE
TIME VARIATION OF THE FREE ELECTRON
DENSITY DISTRIBUTION ! USEFUL SIMPLIFICATION IS TO REGARD THE LARGE
SCALE IONOSPHERIC
STRUCTURE AS DEFINING THE PROPAGATION GEOMETRY THROUGHOUT THE ILLUMINATION VOLUME
WHEREAS THE DYNAMICAL PROCESSES IMPOSE THEIR RESPECTIVE MODULATIONS ON THE TRANSIT
ING SIGNALS
#OMPUTATIONAL !SPECTS AND 2AY
TRACING &OR MANY /4(2 PURPOSES IT SUFFICES
TO EMPLOY A RAY
THEORETIC REPRESENTATION OF THE RADIOWAVE FIELD 2AY
TRACING TECHNIQUES
FALL INTO TWO CATEGORIES ANALYTIC AND NUMERICAL !NALYTIC METHODS ARE FAST BUT RELY ON FIT
TING PARAMETRIC MODELS TO THE ELECTRON DENSITY PROFILES AND ARE HENCE OF LIMITED USE FOR
OPERATIONAL APPLICATIONS WHERE ACCURACY IS CRITICAL 4HEY ARE ALSO LIMITED BY THEIR INABILITY
TO HANDLE MAGNETOIONIC EFFECTS ON PROPAGATION .EVERTHELESS THEY PROVIDE CLOSED FORM
EXPRESSIONS FOR GROUP RANGE PHASE PATH GROUND RANGE AND OTHER PARAMETERS AND THERE
FORE CAN BE VERY USEFUL FOR COMPUTATIONALLY INTENSIVE STUDIES SUCH AS SYSTEM OPTIMIZA
TION 4HE MULTI
QUASI
PARABOLIC -10 MODEL OF (ILL BASED ON #ROFTS 10 TECHNIQUE
IS WIDELY USED WHILE QUASI
CUBIC MODELS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED BY .EWTON ET AL
.UMERICAL RAY
TRACING CODES ARE VERSATILE AND ABLE TO ACCOMMODATE ALMOST ARBI
TRARY IONOSPHERIC STRUCTURE AT THE EXPENSE OF COMPUTATIONAL BURDEN /F THE MANY
NUMERICAL RAY
TRACING CODES DEVELOPED OVER THE YEARS THE IMPLEMENTATION BY *ONES
AND 3TEPHENSON BASED ON INTEGRATION OF THE FIRST
ORDER (ASELGROVE EQUATIONS REMAINS
THE MOST WIDELY USED #OLEMAN HAS DEVELOPED AN ALTERNATIVE IMPLEMENTATION
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
-ODELS OF )ONOSPHERIC 2ADIOWAVE 0ROPAGATION &ROM THE (& SKYWAVE RADAR PER
SPECTIVE INTEREST IS USUALLY CENTERED NOT ON THE IONOSPHERE PER SE BUT ON HOW IT DETER
MINES RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION -ODELS SUCH AS 6/!#!0 AND !3!03 GENERATE
PREDICTIONS OF POINT
TO
POINT CIRCUIT PARAMETERS INCLUDING MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM
USABLE FREQUENCY ELEVATION ANGLE GROUP PATH MODE PROBABILITY PATH LOSS AND SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO FOR USER
SPECIFIED TERMINAL CHARACTERISTICS ! MORE GENERAL CAPABILITY IS
AVAILABLE WITH 0ROPLAB
!S THESE MODELS ARE BASED ON THEIR RESPECTIVE CLIMATOLOGICAL DATABASES THEY ARE OF
NO USE FOR REAL
TIME APPLICATIONS SUCH AS 24)- AND ARE INADEQUATE FOR SERIOUS RADAR
DESIGN WHICH SHOULD BE BASED ON MEASUREMENTS TAKEN AT THE PROPOSED DEPLOYMENT
SITE BUT THEY CAN BE USEFUL FOR ANSWERING CERTAIN QUESTIONS SUCH AS h#AN MY SIGNAL BE
HEARD AT 8 AND IF SO AT WHAT 3.2 v
&OR CALCULATIONS REQUIRING MODERATE ACCURACY GEOMETRICAL OPTICS OR VIRTUAL RAY
TRACING BASED ON -ARTYNS 4HEOREM CAN BE APPLIED TO STORED SEMI
EMPIRICAL ELECTRON
DENSITY PROFILES OR BETTER STORED hSNAPSHOTSv OF THE IONOSPHERE GENERATED BY AN 24)-
!LTERNATIVELY ANALYTIC RAY
TRACING CAN BE PERFORMED ON ANALYTIC PROFILES FITTED TO 24)-
DATABASES 4HE MOST ACCURATE PREDICTIONS COME FROM THE APPLICATION OF SOPHISTICATED
RAY
TRACING ROUTINES TO A DATABASE OF 24)- SNAPSHOTS 7HEN A RADIOWAVE PROPAGA
TION MODEL IS COMBINED WITH RADAR SYSTEM PARAMETERS TARGET SCATTERING CHARACTERISTICS
AND (& NOISE DISTRIBUTIONS THE RADAR EQUATION %Q CAN BE SOLVED TO PREDICT THE
RADARS PERFORMANCE AS TREATED IN 3ECTION 4HIS IS THE BASIC APPROACH EMPLOYED
WITHIN 2!$!2 # FOR INSTANCE &ROM THE OPERATIONAL (& RADAR VIEWPOINT USE
OF THESE PROPAGATION MODELS IS LIMITED TO STATISTICAL STUDIES OF RADAR PERFORMANCE NOT
REAL
TIME RADAR SUPPORT APPLICATIONS SUCH AS COORDINATE REGISTRATION BECAUSE OF THE
POOR FIDELITY OF THE ASSUMED ELECTRON DENSITY DISTRIBUTIONS AND THE SHORTCOMINGS OF
GEOMETRIC RAY
TRACING
/THER -ODELS AND 0ROPAGATION )SSUES 3TUDIES OF (& RADAR PERFORMANCE AT
LOW LATITUDES HAVE SHOWN THAT IT IS OFTEN NECESSARY TO INCORPORATE MODELS OF DYNAMICAL
PROCESSES EITHER BECAUSE THEY MANIFEST THEMSELVES DIRECTLY IN THE DOPPLER STRUCTURE
OF RADAR ECHOES OR BECAUSE THEY ARE INDICATORS OF OTHER PHENOMENA THAT DO 5SEFUL
MODELS IN THIS CATEGORY INCLUDE (7- WHICH DESCRIBES THE STRUCTURE OF THE ZONAL
AND MERIDIONAL NEUTRAL WINDS THROUGHOUT THE IONOSPHERE AND 7"-/$ WHICH
DESCRIBES SCINTILLATION ARISING FROM SMALL SCALE IRREGULARITIES SUCH AS THOSE ASSOCIATED
WITH SPREAD
& IN THE POST
SUNSET IONOSPHERE 4HESE MODELS FIND IMPORTANT APPLICATIONS
TO THE ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DOPPLER
SPREAD CLUTTER
! NUMBER OF PHENOMENA HAVE BEEN IGNORED IN THE PRECEDING DISCUSSION THOUGH
THEIR EFFECTS CAN BE OBSERVED IN SOME SKYWAVE RADAR SYSTEMS 4HEY INCLUDE I A VARIETY
OF NONLINEAR PROCESSES THAT CAN OCCUR DURING IONOSPHERIC PROPAGATION II DELAYED
ECHOES FOCUSING AT THE ANTIPODE AND III ROUND
THE
WORLD PROPAGATION 4HE MOST
SIGNIFICANT PRACTICAL EXPLOITATION OF SUCH PHENOMENA CAN BE FOUND IN EXPERIMENTS
DIRECTED AT IONOSPHERIC MODIFICATION
x 76
", -",, ,
4HE FACTORS THAT GOVERN THE CHOICE OF WAVEFORM IN (& RADAR SYSTEMS CAN BE GROUPED
INTO TWO CLASSES &IRST THERE ARE THE CONSIDERATIONS COMMON TO MICROWAVE RADAR THAT
IS RANGE AND DOPPLER RESOLUTION AS DESCRIBED BY THE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION AND OPTIMIZED
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
FOR TARGET DETECTION AND ESTIMATION REALIZABILITY IN HARDWARE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO INTERFER
ENCE EFFICIENCY AND THE ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF THE SCATTERERS OF INTEREST )N ADDITION
u (& RADAR WAVEFORMS MUST FIT WITHIN AVAILABLE CLEAR CHANNELS IN THE (& FREQUENCY
BAND COMPLYING WITH STRINGENT CONSTRAINTS ON LEAKAGE INTO CHANNELS OCCUPIED BY
OTHER USERS
u 4HEY MUST BE COMPATIBLE WITH THE FACT THAT THE RADAR IS OPERATING IN A hWAVEGUIDE v
NAMELY THE VOLUME BETWEEN THE %ARTHS SURFACE AND THE IONOSPHERE WITH UNIQUE
POSSIBILITIES FOR MULTIPLE PROPAGATION PATHS INCLUDING ROUND THE WORLD PROPAGATION
SIGNIFICANTLY MODIFYING THE EFFECTIVE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION
u 4HEY MUST BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED MEASUREMENT CAPABILITY IN THE PRESENCE OF
EXTREMELY STRONG GROUND CLUTTER
u 4HEY MUST BE DESIGNED SO AS TO MINIMIZE DISTORTION OR CORRUPTION BY THE IONOSPHERIC
MEDIUM OR AT LEAST ENABLE SUCH DISTORTION TO BE ESTIMATED AND MITIGATED BY SIGNAL
PROCESSING AFTER RECEPTION
u 4HEY MUST HEED THE CONSTRAINTS ON PEAK VERSUS AVERAGE POWER IMPOSED BY THE (&
TRANSMITTING EQUIPMENT AND ANTENNAS
4HE WAVEFORMS USED IN MOST OPERATIONAL (& SKYWAVE RADARS ARE VARIATIONS ON THE
PERIODIC LINEAR FREQUENCY MODULATED CONTINUOUS WAVE ,&- #7 SIGNAL /FTEN THERE
IS SOME PROVISION FOR AMPLITUDE SHAPING NORMALLY AT THE COMMENCEMENT AND END
OF EACH SWEEP 4HE *INDALEE RADAR WAS DESIGNED WITH THE FACILITY TO APPLY A NUM
BER OF AMPLITUDE NOTCHES WITHIN THE SWEEP THEREBY ENABLING THE RADAR TO SWEEP AT
ZERO AMPLITUDE ACROSS NARROW BAND USERS IN THE SAME FREQUENCY BAND WITHOUT CAUSING
INTERFERENCE !NOTHER CLASS OF VARIATIONS INVOLVES DEPARTING FROM A LINEAR FREQUENCY
MODULATION "Y VARYING THE FREQUENCY TIME CHARACTERISTIC OF THE WAVEFORM RANGE SIDE
LOBES CAN BE REDUCED AND SPECTRAL LEAKAGE CAN BE CONTROLLED #ONTROLLING THE PHASE
DISCONTINUITY FROM THE END OF ONE SWEEP TO THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT PROVIDES ANOTHER
DIMENSION IN WHICH THE WAVEFORM PROPERTIES CAN BE OPTIMIZED &URTHER GENERALIZATION
OF THE &- #7 WAVEFORM IS POSSIBLE BY RELAXING THE CONDITION THAT THE WAVEFORM BE
PERIODIC 4HIS IS A POWERFUL TOOL FOR CONTROLLING RANGE AMBIGUOUS ECHOES WHICH CAN BE
SHIFTED ABOUT IN THE RANGE DOPPLER PLANE TO UNCOVER PREVIOUSLY OBSCURED TARGET ECHOES
!ND PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY IN THE CONGESTED (& SPECTRUM WHERE CLEAR CHANNELS OF
ADEQUATE BANDWIDTH TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED RESOLUTION MAY BE SCARCE &- #7 WAVE
FORMS DEFINED OVER TWO OR MORE SEPARATE SUBBANDS ARE READILY SYNTHESIZED
-OST EARLY (& SKYWAVE RADARS EMPLOYED PULSE WAVEFORMS IN PART BECAUSE THE TECH
NOLOGY OF THE DAY DID NOT SUPPORT &- #7 WAVEFORMS WITH THE REQUIRED LEVEL OF SPEC
TRAL PURITY FOR THIS DEMANDING APPLICATION BUT ALSO BECAUSE PULSE WAVEFORMS ENJOY SOME
UNDENIABLE ADVANTAGES &IRST THEY CAN BE EMPLOYED FROM A SINGLE TRANSMIT RECEIVE SITE
AVOIDING THE COST AND COMPLEXITY OF ACQUIRING SUITABLE LAND DUPLICATING MANY FACILITIES
AND SYNCHRONIZING TWO WIDELY SEPARATED SITES 3ECOND THE ABILITY TO GATE THE ECHOES IN
TIME MEANS THAT THE ONLY CLUTTER POWER THAT IMPACTS ON THE RANGE FOOTPRINT SPANNED BY A
PULSE IS CLUTTER ORIGINATING IN THAT FOOTPRINT 4HIS RELAXES THE WAVEFORM GENERATOR DYNAMIC
RANGE REQUIREMENTS SOMEWHAT ESPECIALLY WHEN PHENOMENA SUCH AS AURORAL CLUTTER MAY
CAUSE PROBLEMS THOUGH TO ACHIEVE THE SAME PROBABILITY OF DETECTION PEAK POWER MUST
INCREASE TO MAINTAIN EQUIVALENT AVERAGE POWER 4HIRD AS A CONSEQUENCE OF REDUCED DYNAMIC
RANGE REQUIREMENTS AND ASSUMING FOR THE MOMENT THAT STRICT SPECTRAL EMISSION CONTROLS ARE
NOT AN ISSUE MORE EFFICIENT AMPLIFIERS CAN BE USED AS DISCUSSED IN THE FOLLOWING SECTION
&OURTH PULSE WAVEFORMS MAY BE LESS SUSCEPTIBLE TO SOME FORMS OF JAMMING
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
"UT THERE ARE DISADVANTAGES &IRST EMISSION CONTROLS ARE ALMOST INVARIABLY A SERI
OUS MATTER WHEN IT COMES TO OBTAINING A LICENSE TO RADIATE 3ECOND THERE ARE RADAR
APPLICATIONS BEYOND BASIC TARGET DETECTION WHERE EXTREMELY HIGH SPECTRAL PURITY IS
ESSENTIAL AS WITH DETECTION OF SMALL SHIPS AT LOW SPEEDS 4HIRD THE ANTENNA DESIGN
MUST BE ABLE TO HANDLE HIGHER FIELD STRENGTHS WITHOUT ARCING AND SPARKING WHICH
INTRODUCES NOISE &OURTH UNLIKE THE &-
#7 CASE IT IS NOT GENERALLY FEASIBLE TO
SYNTHESIZE SUITABLE PULSE WAVEFORMS FROM SEPARATE SUBBANDS OF THE (& SPECTRUM
WHEN WIDE CLEAR CHANNELS ARE NOT AVAILABLE &IFTH THERE ARE FEWER OPTIONS FOR RADI
ATING MULTIPLE WAVEFORMS SIMULTANEOUSLY FROM THE SAME TRANSMITTING FACILITY !ND
SIXTH FOR HIGH POWER (& RADARS THE ADDITIONAL POWER DENSITY ASSOCIATED WITH PULSE
WAVEFORMS IN THE IONOSPHERE MAY IN PRINCIPLE CAUSE SELF
MODULATION FROM NON
LINEAR EFFECTS
/ /, - // -9-/
4RANSMITTERS -OST OF THE RADAR DESIGNS AND MISSIONS REQUIRE TRANSMITTER AVER
AGE POWER LEVELS BETWEEN K7 AND -7 !NTENNAS ARE GENERALLY ARRAYS OF RADIAT
ING ELEMENTS AND THE COMMON PRACTICE WITH (& RADAR IS TO DRIVE EACH ELEMENT WITH
A SEPARATE AMPLIFIER 4HIS APPROACH PERMITS BEAM STEERING AT A LOW POWER LEVEL IN THE
AMPLIFIER CHAIN 4HE ACTIVE ELEMENT IN EACH FINAL TRANSMITTER STAGE CAN BE EITHER A TRA
DITIONAL VACUUM TUBE OR A SOLID STATE DEVICE -OST OPERATIONAL (& RADARS EMPLOY
SOLID STATE AMPLIFIERS BASED ON A HIERARCHY OF MODULES STARTING WITH ELEMENTAL AMPLI
FIERS OF PERHAPS 7 AND COMBINING THESE PROGRESSIVELY VIA PASSIVE NETWORKS UNTIL
THE FINAL OUTPUT POWER IS ATTAINED 2ELATIVE PHASE SHIFTS OR TIME DELAYS ARE INSERTED IN
THE AMPLIFIER CHAIN DRIVING EACH ANTENNA ELEMENT TO STEER THE RESULTANT BEAM 4HIS
ARCHITECTURE ENHANCES RELIABILITY AND PROVIDES GRACEFUL DEGRADATION IN THE EVENT OF
MODULE FAILURE
3OLID STATE (& RADAR TRANSMITTERS OPERATE AT POWER EFFICIENCIES LOWER THAN THOSE
BASED ON VACUUM TUBE AMPLIFIERS 6ACUUM TUBE AMPLIFIERS ARE ALSO MORE ROBUST AND
HAVE BEEN USED SUCCESSFULLY IN A NUMBER OF (& SKYWAVE RADARS INCLUDING THE !.&03
4HE ADOPTION OF SOLID STATE AMPLIFIERS IN RADARS SUCH AS 2/4(2 AND *INDALEE
*/2. IS DRIVEN BY THE NEED TO ACCOMMODATE INSTANTANEOUS FREQUENCY SWITCHING OVER
WIDE BANDWIDTHS WHILE MAINTAINING HIGH LINEARITY AND SPECTRAL PURITY 4HESE RADARS
ROUTINELY INTERLEAVE DIFFERENT SURVEILLANCE TASKS WITH WIDELY SEPARATED CARRIER FREQUEN
CIES AND -(Z FOR EXAMPLESWITCHING AS OFTEN AS EVERY ONE OR TWO SECONDS
WHILE CONFORMING TO STRICT SPECTRAL EMISSION STANDARDS 3UCH INSTANTANEOUS FREQUENCY
CHANGES WOULD PLACE UNACHIEVABLE SWITCHING DEMANDS ON THE HIGH LEVEL VACUUM TUBE
RADIO FREQUENCY CIRCUITS -EETING POWER CONTROL AND AMPLITUDE SHAPING OF WAVEFORM
REQUIREMENTS DICTATES LINEAR OPERATION OF AMPLIFIERS
!PART FROM THE REQUIREMENT TO MEET EMISSION GUIDELINES LAID DOWN BY NATIONAL
AND INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES HIGH SPECTRAL PURITY IS ESSENTIAL
BECAUSE SKYWAVE RADAR USES DOPPLER PROCESSING TO SEPARATE THE TARGETS FROM THE CLUT
TER AND HENCE THE CLUTTER RETURNED ON THE PHASE AND AMPLITUDE NOISE SIDEBANDS RADI
ATED BY THE TRANSMITTER MUST BE KEPT BELOW THE ECHO POWER OF DESIRED TARGETS 4HIS
CAN IMPOSE A STRINGENT CONDITION ON THE EMITTED SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO OF THE TRANSMIT
TER AND HENCE ON THE SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO OF THE WAVEFORM GENERATOR &OR EXAMPLE
NOISE SPECTRAL DENSITY AT (Z FROM A CARRIER MAY NEED TO BE AS LOW AS n D"C IN
ORDER TO DETECT SOME TARGETS OF INTEREST &OR DESIGNS EMPLOYING AN AMPLIFIER FOR EACH
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
ANTENNA ELEMENT THE RADIATED PHASE NOISE WILL GENERALLY ADD NONCOHERENTLY AND THUS
BE SUPPRESSED BY ^ D" RELATIVE TO BEAMFORMED NOISE POWER FOR A
ELEMENT ARRAY
"UT THAT IS NOT THE END OF THE MATTERTRANSMITTER PHASE NOISE WILL BE REFLECTED BY THE
DISTANT %ARTH SURFACE AND INTEGRATED ACROSS THE RECEIVER PASSBAND RAISING THE PHASE
NOISE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NOISE FLOOR BY A FACTOR THAT FOR AN &-
#7 WAVEFORM IS
ROUGHLY EQUAL TO THE RATIO OF THE WAVEFORM BANDWIDTH TO THE WAVEFORM REPETITION
FREQUENCY 4HE LOWER
LEVEL STAGES OF SIGNAL AMPLIFICATION CAN GENERALLY BE DESIGNED
TO ADD ESSENTIALLY ZERO NOISE BUT MECHANICAL VIBRATION IN THE HIGH
POWER AMPLIFIERS
CAN ADD APPRECIABLE AMOUNTS SO CARE MUST BE EXERCISED IN THE AIR OR LIQUID COOLANT
FLOW SYSTEM DESIGN
)F THE RADAR IS TO PERFORM WIDE
AREA SURVEILLANCE FREQUENT FREQUENCY CHANGES ARE
REQUIRED IN ORDER TO COVER THE VARIOUS RANGE EXTENTS )N ADDITION RELATIVE PHASE OR TIME
DELAY CHANGES ARE REQUIRED IN EACH AMPLIFIER CHAIN TO ACCOMPLISH AZIMUTHAL STEERING
! BROAD
BANDWIDTH PERFORMANCE AND A TOLERANCE TO A VARIABLE VOLTAGE STANDING
WAVE
RATIO LOAD ARE THEREFORE ESSENTIAL FEATURES IN AN (& RADAR TRANSMITTER 4YPICALLY ONE
MIGHT SPECIFY 6372 AT FULL POWER OVER AN OPERATING RANGE OF n -(Z SAY WITH
AN ABILITY TO TOLERATE HIGHER 6372S AT FRACTIONAL POWER OUTPUTS 3INCE THE ANTENNA ELE
MENTS WILL BE WIDEBAND HARMONIC FILTERS MAY BE REQUIRED &OR EXAMPLE ONE TRANSMIT
TER AND HARMONIC FILTER COMBINATION MIGHT HAVE A TO -(Z PASSBAND AND A STOPBAND
FOR -(Z AND HIGHER FREQUENCIES A SECOND COMBINATION MIGHT PASS UP TO -(Z
AND REJECT -(Z AND HIGHER AND THE DESIGN WOULD CONTINUE IN THIS MANNER TO THE
HIGHEST FREQUENCY OF OPERATION 3OME SKYWAVE RADAR DESIGNS CALL FOR UP TO SIX BANDS
! RELATED ISSUE IS THE OCCURRENCE OF MUTUAL COUPLING BETWEEN ANTENNA ELEMENTS IN THE
TRANSMIT ARRAY %NERGY COUPLED BACK INTO AN AMPLIFIER FROM ITS NEIGHBORS CAN REACH
LEVELS THAT RESULT IN INTERMODULATION DISTORTION AS WELL AS CAUSING LOAD RESONANCES THAT
STRESS THE AMPLIFIER CHAIN
!NTENNAS 4HE CHOICE OF ANTENNA CONFIGURATION IS INTIMATELY LINKED TO THE RADAR
MISSION GENERALLY DEFINED IN TERMS OF TARGET TYPES RADAR COVERAGE AND COVERAGE RATE
4HE .AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY MAGNETIC
DRUM RECORDING EQUIPMENT -!$2%
RADAR EMPLOYED A SINGLE ANTENNA DUPLEXED AND USED FOR BOTH TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE
4HIS
M
WIDE BY
M
HIGH APERTURE PROVIDED SUFFICIENT GAIN AND ANGULAR RESOLU
TION FOR AIRCRAFT TRACKING IN THE UPPER PART OF THE (& BAND 4HE EXPERIMENTAL &RENCH
/4( RADAR .OSTRADAMUSn LIKEWISE EMPLOYS A SINGLE ANTENNA ARRAY CONFIGURED AS
THREE HORIZONTAL ARMS OF LENGTH M RADIATING FROM A CENTRAL CONTROL CENTER THOUGH
ONLY A SUBSET OF ELEMENTS ARE USED TO TRANSMIT WHEREAS ALL OF THE ELEMENTS ARE USED
FOR RECEPTION 3UCH TRULY MONOSTATIC DESIGNS HAVE THE SPECIAL ADVANTAGE THAT THE OUT
BOUND PROPAGATION PATH TO A TARGET IS ALMOST IDENTICAL TO THE IN
BOUND PATH -ONOSTATIC
RADARS WITH SEPARATE TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE ANTENNAS EXPERIENCE DECORRELATION BETWEEN
THE PATHS AS THE SEPARATION INCREASES AND DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE IONOSPHERE BECOME
INVOLVED %ITHER FORM OF MONOSTATIC RADAR AVOIDS THE COSTS OF MULTIPLE SITES AND ASSO
CIATED COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE CHALLENGE OF FINDING SUITABLE SITES WITH
AN APPROPRIATE GEOGRAPHICAL RELATIONSHIP BUT THEY ARE CONSTRAINED IN WAVEFORM CHOICE
ANDOR RADIATED POWER BY THE NEED TO AVOID SIMULTANEOUS TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION
AS WELL AS BEING POTENTIALLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO RANGE
FOLDED CLUTTER )N PARTICULAR THE CLASS
OF &-
#7 WAVEFORMS HAS BEEN WIDELY ADOPTED DRIVEN MAINLY BY CONSTRAINTS ON SPEC
TRAL EMISSIONS OUTSIDE THE NOMINAL RADAR BANDWIDTH &OR THESE REASONS CONFIGURATIONS
EMPLOYING SEPARATE TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE ANTENNA SITES ARE EMPLOYED IN RADARS SUCH AS
*INDALEE */2. AND 2/4(2 USUALLY IN A QUASI
MONOSTATIC ARRANGEMENT WHERE THE
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
INTERSITE SEPARATION IS ABOUT n NAUTICAL MILES MUCH LESS THAN THE RANGE TO THE
TARGET ZONE BUT SUFFICIENT TO PREVENT SELF
JAMMING WHEN USING CONTINUOUS WAVEFORMS
AND TO SEPARATE THE TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE RANGE AMBIGUITY ZONES IN AZIMUTH
4RANSMIT RADIATING ELEMENT CHOICE IS DRIVEN PRIMARILY BY THE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES
TO BE RADIATED AND THE WAVEFORM BANDWIDTH BUT IT MUST ALSO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE
RANGE AND AZIMUTH COVERAGE REQUIRED THE ASSOCIATED COVERAGE RATE AND CONCERNS
ABOUT CLUTTER ESPECIALLY SPREAD
DOPPLER CLUTTER 4HE VERTICAL RADIATION PATTERN CON
TROLS THESE ISSUES 4HE POWER
HANDLING CAPABILITIES OF THE ANTENNA ELEMENTS ARE ALSO
A CONSIDERATION
! LOWER BOUND ON THE TRANSMIT ARRAY APERTURE IS SET BY THE NEED TO ACHIEVE ADEQUATE
DIRECTIVITY AND HENCE POWER DENSITY ON THE TARGET THE SENSITIVITY REQUIRED DEPENDS
ON THE SIZE OF THE TARGETS OF INTEREST 4HE UPPER BOUND IS OFTEN SET BY THE REVISIT
REQUIREMENTIN GENERAL THE RADAR WILL STEP OVER A WIDE ARC BUT IT MUST SAMPLE
EACH REGION FREQUENTLY TO MAINTAIN TRACKS ON MANEUVERING TARGETS SO THE TRANSMIT
BEAMWIDTH SHOULD NOT BE TOO NARROW 4HE NEED TO KEEP 6372 TO MODEST LEVELS IS
USUALLY ADDRESSED BY HAVING TO ARRAYS ADDRESSING SUBBANDS OF ABOUT ONE OCTAVE
OF FREQUENCY EACH
3OME OF THESE CONSIDERATIONS ARE INFLUENCED BY THE ADVANTAGES THAT ATTACH TO EMPLOY
ING MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVE BEAMS SO A BROAD BUT WELL
SHAPED TRANSMIT BEAM
THAT CAN BE FILLED BY PERHAPS TO NARROW RECEIVE BEAMS IS A POPULAR CHOICE )N THE
LIMITING CASE THE TRANSMIT ARRAY MAY FLOODLIGHT THE ENTIRE SECTOR OF COVERAGE WHICH IS
FILLED WITH RECEIVE BEAMS THAT STARE CONTINUOUSLY 4HE NONUNIFORMITY OF CLUTTER SOURCES
CAN CAUSE SERIOUS PROBLEMS WITH ANY DESIGN THAT DOES NOT HAVE CONTROL OVER THE ARRAY
PATTERN &URTHER (& ANTENNAS SELDOM ACHIEVE HIGH FRONT
TO
BACK RATIOS SO THE RISK OF
SIGNAL MASKING BY BACKLOBE CLUTTER CANNOT BE IGNORED &OR LINEAR ARRAYS OFFSETTING THE
TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE ARRAY BORESIGHTS IS A MODERATELY EFFECTIVE MEASURE THAT MUST BE
TRADED OFF AGAINST THE CONCOMITANT REDUCTION IN MAIN BEAM OVERLAP ,INEAR ARRAYS OF
VERTICALLY POLARIZED LOG
PERIODIC ANTENNAS VERTICAL PLANAR ARRAYS OF HORIZONTAL DIPOLES
STACKED 9AGI ANTENNAS ELEVATED RHOMBIC ELEMENTS LINEAR ARRAYS OF TILTED MONOPOLES
AND A TWO
DIMENSIONAL ARRAY OF BICONICAL ANTENNAS HAVE ALL BEEN USED IN SKYWAVE RADAR
TRANSMIT SYSTEMS IN SOME CASES WITH BACKSCREENS TO IMPROVE THE OTHERWISE MEDIOCRE
FRONT
TO
BACK RATIOS
)N THE ELEVATION PLANE DESIRABLE RADIATION ANGLES RUN BETWEEN n AND n FOR COM
MON VALUES OF RANGE AND REFLECTION HEIGHT 4HE VERTICAL BEAMWIDTH NEEDS TO BE SUF
FICIENT TO ILLUMINATE THE REQUIRED RANGE DEPTH IN GENERAL THIS IS AUTOMATICALLY SATISFIED
OWING TO THE COST AND COMPLEXITY OF AN ANTENNA ABLE TO FORM A BEAM NARROWER THAN
THIS IN THE VERTICAL PLANE &OR MOST SCENARIOS ANY SENSITIVITY GAINED BY DIRECTIVITY
IN ELEVATION DIRECTLY IMPROVES RADAR PERFORMANCE SINCE INSTANTANEOUS RANGE DEPTH IS
GENERALLY LIMITED BY IONOSPHERIC EFFECTS 4HIS IS IN CONTRAST WITH AZIMUTH DIRECTIVITY
FOR TRANSMITTING WHERE AN INCREASE IN DIRECTIVE GAIN IS ACCOMPANIED BY A DECREASE IN
AREA COVERAGE &OR NOISE
LIMITED DETECTION THIS CAN BE COMPENSATED BY A REDUCTION IN
DWELL TIME BUT FOR CLUTTER
LIMITED DETECTION THERE MAY BE A PENALTY FOR COVERAGE RATE
3OME RADARS USE HORIZONTAL TWO
DIMENSIONAL ARRAYS WITH UP TO ^ RECEIVE CHANNELS
TO ACHIEVE QUITE HIGH VERTICAL DIRECTIVITY ON BOTH TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE )N THE PAST
OTHERS SUCH AS -!$2% AND SOME FORMER 3OVIET 5NION SKYWAVE RADARS EMPLOYED
VERTICAL TWO
DIMENSIONAL ARRAYS UP TO M HIGH AND M WIDE IN THE CASE OF THE
3OVIET RADARS
!T LOW ELEVATION ANGLES THE ANTENNA PATTERN IS STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY THE ELECTRI
CAL AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF THE GROUND AROUND AND IN FRONT OF THE ARRAY 4O ACHIEVE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
GAIN AT LOW ANGLES IT IS STANDARD PRACTICE TO INSTALL A GROUND MESH SCREEN THIS HAS THE
SECONDARY BENEFIT OF AVOIDING PATTERN DISTORTION DUE TO INHOMOGENEITIES IN THE SOIL &OR
EXAMPLE THE *INDALEE TRANSMIT ARRAYS SIT ON ^ HECTARES ^ ACRES OF STEEL MESH
EXTENDING ^ M IN FRONT OF THE ARRAYS
.OTWITHSTANDING THE MERITS OF VERTICAL DIRECTIVITY MOST SKYWAVE RADARS DO NOT
EMPLOY STEERABLE DIRECTIVITY IN ELEVATION BUT COVER ALL NECESSARY RADIATION ANGLES WITH
ONE BROAD ELEVATION BEAM 4HIS CHOICE PERMITS THE ANTENNA TO HAVE A RELATIVELY SMALL
VERTICAL DIMENSION AND HENCE REDUCED COST THOUGH DEMANDS ON ANTENNA RADIATION
EFFICIENCY IMPOSE A LOWER LIMIT
!NOTHER ISSUE IS THE CHOICE OF TRANSMIT POLARIZATION .EARLY ALL OPERATIONAL SKYWAVE
RADARS RADIATE WITH VERTICAL POLARIZATION BASED ON THE EASE OF ACHIEVING GOOD VERTI
CAL COVERAGE AT MODERATE COST BY MEANS OF THE WIDELY USED LOG PERIODIC BROADBAND
ANTENNA 4HE LARGE CURTAIN ARRAYS OF THE FORMER 3OVIET RADARS USED HORIZONTAL DIPOLE
ELEMENTS WHEREAS THE 53!& !.!03 USED INCLINED DIPOLES TO ADAPT TO GROUND
CONDITIONS 4HE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF FULL POLARIZATION CONTROL ON TRANSMIT HAVE BEEN
ASSESSED AND A NUMBER OF EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES CARRIED OUT BUT NO OPERATIONAL SYSTEM
HAS GONE DOWN THIS PATH
4HE ANTENNAS AND POWER AMPLIFIERS USED IN (& BROADCAST STATIONS HAVE MUCH IN
COMMON WITH (& RADAR THAT IS TO MAINTAIN A SPECIFIED LEVEL OF ILLUMINATION OVER A
DESIGNATED AREA 4O ACHIEVE THIS GOAL MANY MULTIBAND AND STEERABLE BROADCAST ANTEN
NASn EMPLOY LARGE VERTICAL APERTURES !NTENNAS USED FOR (& RADAR HAVE AN ADDITIONAL
SEVERE CONSTRAINT THE NEED TO MINIMIZE MECHANICAL MOTION DUE TO THE WIND !EOLIAN
VIBRATION THAT WOULD CAUSE SIGNAL PHASE MODULATION THAT WOULD THEN BE IMPOSED ON
THE TRANSMITTED SIGNALS THIS REQUIREMENT IS EASIER TO MEET WITH LOW ANTENNA HEIGHT
DESIGNS !N UNDER EXPLOITED ADVANTAGE OF BROAD BEAMS IN ELEVATION IS THE ABILITY TO
ILLUMINATE AN EXTENDED RANGE DEPTH WHEN CONDITIONS PERMIT PROVIDING CLUTTER MAPS
OUTSIDE THE RANGE BAND OF IMMEDIATE INTEREST FOR TARGET DETECTION THESE CAN BE USED TO
SCHEDULE SUBSEQUENT SURVEILLANCE TASKS
, ,
,"---
/"
4HE RADAR SCATTERING PROPERTIES OF TARGETS DETERMINE BOTH THEIR DETECTABILITY AND THE
PROSPECTS FOR TARGET CLASSIFICATION THEREFORE MUCH EFFORT HAS GONE INTO ESTABLISHING
PRECISELY HOW TO DESCRIBE THOSE PROPERTIES FOR A GIVEN RADAR CONTEXT )N THE (& SKYWAVE
RADAR CASE THE INEVITABILITY OF &ARADAY ROTATION THAT OCCURS DURING IONOSPHERIC PROPA
GATION HAS BEEN USED TO ARGUE THAT A FULLY POLARIMETRIC TREATMENT IS UNNECESSARY SO IT
IS COMMON PRACTICE TO REPRESENT THE SCATTERING BEHAVIOR IN TERMS OF SCALAR RADAR CROSS
SECTION 2#3 &ULLY POLARIMETRIC FORMULATIONS ARE RELEVANT WHEN MODELING COMPLEX
SCATTERING PROCESSES AND FOR TARGET CLASSIFICATION STUDIES
)N GENERAL AIRCRAFT AND SHIPS HAVE DIMENSIONS THAT PUT THEM WITHIN THE RESONANT
SCATTERING REGIME THOUGH THE SMALLEST AIRCRAFT AND CRUISE MISSILES WILL LIE IN THE
2AYLEIGH SCATTERING REGIME FOR THE LOWER HALF OF THE (& BAND (ERE THE 2#3 DISPLAYS
LIMITED ASPECT SENSITIVITY AND A STRONG DEPENDENCE ON THE TARGETS GROSS DIMENSIONS
&OR AN AIRCRAFT THE SPAN OF THE WINGS THE FUSELAGE LENGTH THE TAIL AND ELEVATOR SPAN
THE VERTICAL STABILIZER AND RUDDER HEIGHT AND THEIR RELATIVE LOCATIONS ARE THE MAIN
FEATURES THAT INFLUENCE THE 2#3 4ARGET SHAPING ON A SCALE SIZE MUCH LESS THAN A
WAVELENGTH WILL HAVE LITTLE EFFECT !CCURATE MEASUREMENTS OF RADAR SCATTERING AT (&
FREQUENCIES IS CHALLENGING BUT FACILITIES FOR MAKING SCALE MODEL MEASUREMENTS ARE
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
WIDELY AVAILABLE INCLUDING ANECHOIC CHAMBERS INDOOR COMPACT RANGES AND OUTDOOR
TEST FIELDS &ULL SCALE EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS CAN BE MADE IN SOME CIRCUM
STANCES BY MEANS OF CALIBRATED REFERENCE SCATTERERS OR TRANSPONDERS DEPLOYED IN THE
TARGET ZONE AND MODULATED TO SEPARATE THEIR RETURNS FROM THE TARGET AND CLUTTER ECHOES
&OR BODIES WITH HIGHLY CONDUCTIVE SURFACES THE SCATTERING CROSS SECTION CAN BE CALCU
LATED QUITE ACCURATELY BY NUMERICAL METHODS SUCH AS THE METHOD OF MOMENTS CODE
.%# !S A RULE OF THUMB THE (& 2#3 OF AIRCRAFT CAN USUALLY BE COMPUTED TO AN
ACCURACY OF ABOUT OR D" WITH RESPECT TO MEASURED VALUES WITHOUT RESORTING TO
HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED TECHNIQUES
7HEN PRECISE 2#3 INFORMATION IS NOT ESSENTIAL ROUGH BUT USEFUL 2#3 ESTIMATES
CAN BE MADE BY EXAMINING THE SCATTERING BEHAVIOR OF A FEW hCANONICALv SHAPES
&IGURE IS A FAMILY OF PLOTS GIVING 2#3 VERSUS RADAR FREQUENCY FOR AN OBLONG
SHAPED CONDUCTING BODY 4HE STRAIGHT LINE MARKED n L DIPOLE GIVES THE 2#3 OF A
RESONANT CONDUCTING HALF WAVELENGTH ROD WHERE THE ROD IS PARALLEL WITH THE ELECTRIC
FIELD 4HIS GEOMETRY GIVES THE MAXIMUM 2#3 FOR THE ROD 4HE UPPER SCALE OF THE
ABSCISSA GIVES THE ONE HALF WAVELENGTH DIMENSION OF THE FREQUENCY GIVEN ON THE
LOWER SCALE 4HE CURVE MARKED n IS THE 2#3 OF THE OBLONG SHAPED CONDUCTING BODY
OF M LENGTH AND M THICKNESS AGAIN THE TARGET LONG DIMENSION IS ALIGNED WITH
THE ELECTRIC FIELD 4HE MAXIMUM 2#3 COINCIDES WITH THE NOMINAL HALF WAVELENGTH
DIMENSION OR WITH THE FIRST RESONANCE
&)'52% 4HE FREQUENCY DEPENDENCE OF THE 2#3 FOR AN M LONG BY M DIAMETER PERFECTLY
CONDUCTING CYLINDER PRESENTED FOR VARIOUS ILLUMINATION GEOMETRIES 4HE % VECTOR AND THE M DIMEN
SION ARE IN THE SAME PLANE n NOSE ON n AND n BROADSIDE CURVES ARE SHOWN 4HE TOP DASHED
CURVE IS FOR A RESONANT DIPOLE AT n 4HE SMALL SKETCHES AT THE FIRST SECOND AND THIRD RESONANCES SHOW
THE 2#3 ANGULAR PATTERN NEAR THESE FREQUENCIES
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 2#3 FREQUENCY DEPENDENCE OF A ROD MONOPOLE AND A HEMISPHERE ON A PERFECTLY CONDUCTING
PLANE FOR VERTICAL INCIDENT AND SCATTERED POLARIZATION
4HE CURVES MARKED AND n GIVE THE 2#3 AS THE TARGET IS ROTATED TO THESE
ANGLES IN THE PLANE THAT CONTAINS THE ELECTRIC VECTOR 4HE LITTLE SKETCHES GIVE AT THE LEFT
THE BODY SHAPE AND THEN THE 2#3 PATTERNS AT NOMINAL WAVELENGTH WAVELENGTH
AND WAVELENGTH IN ORDER TO HELP VISUALIZE HOW THE 2#3 WILL CHANGE AS THE ASPECT
ANGLE IS VARIED &OR TARGETS OF OTHER LENGTHS WITH APPROXIMATELY THE SAME SHAPE FACTOR
THE RESPONSE CAN BE DETERMINED BY SLIDING THE CURVE ALONG THE L LINE AND MAKING THE
FIRST RESONANCE COINCIDE WITH THE LINE AT THE WAVELENGTH POINT !S HAS BEEN MEN
TIONED &ARADAY ROTATION RESULTS IN VARYING INCIDENT POLARIZATION SO OVER TIME A TARGET
WILL EXPERIENCE BOTH FAVORABLE AND MISMATCHED POLARIZATION WITH RESULTANT FADING OF
THE SCATTERED SIGNAL /F COURSE ADDITIONAL FADING OF THE SCATTERED SIGNAL OCCURS DUE TO
TIME VARYING POLARIZATION MISMATCH AT THE RECEIVING ANTENNA
&IGURE GIVES THE VERTICAL POLARIZATION 2#3 OF A ROD AND A HEMISPHERE MOUNTED
ON A PERFECTLY CONDUCTING SURFACE 7ITH THESE CANONICAL SHAPES AN ESTIMATE OF 2#3
CAN BE MADE FOR SURFACE CRAFT BY MATCHING , AND 2 TO THE PRINCIPLE DIMENSIONS TO THE
TARGET &OR SMALL VESSELS THE MAST HEIGHT WILL BE OF MOST IMPORTANCE &OR SURFACE
TARGETS WHERE THE MAXIMUM 2#3 OCCURS WITH VERTICAL POLARIZATION A D" SKYWAVE
2#3 ENHANCEMENT RESULTS FROM THE IMAGE FIELD
4O ILLUSTRATE THE 2#3 BEHAVIOR OF A TYPICAL AIRCRAFT IN MORE DETAIL &IGURE
SHOWS THE 2#3 OF THE & FIGHTER AS COMPUTED HERE BY .%# APPLIED TO A WIRE
GRID REPRESENTATION OF THE AIRCRAFT DERIVED FROM A PLASTIC KIT MODEL 4HE 2#3 SHOWN
IS FOR MONOSTATIC BACKSCATTER GEOMETRY AND HORIZONTAL COPOLAR (( POLARIZATION
#ALCULATIONS ARE PRESENTED FOR FREQUENCIES OF AND -(Z
!LTHOUGH THE FIDELITY OF SUCH 2#3 CALCULATIONS OF CONVENTIONAL PLATFORMS HAS BEEN
CONFIRMED ON MANY OCCASIONS IT IS NOT CLEAR THAT STANDARD COMPUTATIONAL METHODS
ARE APPLICABLE TO THE PROBLEM OF ESTIMATING THE 2#3 OF AIRCRAFT TARGETS THAT CANNOT BE
MODELED AS SIMPLE PERFECT ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS 0%# OR TO SMALL hGO FASTv BOATS IN
DYNAMIC INTERACTION WITH THE SEA SURFACE
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
&)'52% -ONOSTATIC 2#3 OF THE & FIGHTER AIRCRAFT AT AND -(Z COMPUTED FOR (( POLAR
IZATION AT A LOOK DOWN ANGLE OF
n
1//
,\
"
-,"
/
6,"
/
%ARTH 3URFACE #LUTTER 4HE GEOMETRY OF SKYWAVE ILLUMINATION ENSURES THAT TAR
GET ECHOES WILL BE IMMERSED IN RETURNS FROM THE %ARTHS SURFACE THAT IS CLUTTER )N ORDER
TO DETECT THE TARGETS THE PROPERTIES OF THIS CLUTTER NEED TO BE UNDERSTOOD SO THAT THE
CHOICE OF FREQUENCY WAVEFORM AND SIGNAL PROCESSING ARE COMPATIBLE WITH THE NEED TO
SEPARATE TARGET ECHOES FROM CLUTTER AND ALSO SO THAT THE REQUIRED DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE
RADAR CAN BE CORRECTLY SPECIFIED
%ARLY (& RADAR EXPERIMENTS ESTABLISHED THAT THE STRONG GROUND CLUTTER OBSERVED
VIA SKYWAVE PROVIDED AN INDICATION OF THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ILLUMINATED
TERRESTRIAL SURFACE %XTENSIVE OBSERVATIONS MADE AT THE .AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY
VIEWING ALTERNATELY !TLANTIC /CEAN AREAS AND CENTRAL 5NITED 3TATES AREAS INDICATED
THAT AVERAGED OVER A WIDE AREA SEA CLUTTER POWER LEVELS WERE USUALLY ABOUT AN ORDER OF
MAGNITUDE HIGHER THAN THOSE FROM AN AREA OF SIMILAR SIZE IN THE CENTRAL 5NITED 3TATES
,ATER OBSERVERS NOTED EXTREMELY LOW BACKSCATTER FROM ICE
COVERED AREAS OF 'REENLAND
4HESE RESULTS ARE CONSISTENT WITH PREDICTED SCATTERING COEFFICIENT VARIATIONS BASED ON
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND THE ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF THE SURFACES 3UBSEQUENTLY OBSERVA
TIONS OVER THE )NDIAN /CEAN WITH THE *INDALEE RADAR EMPLOYING CAREFULLY CALIBRATED
TRANSPONDERS REVEALED ^ D" VARIATIONS IN THE OCEAN SCATTERING COEFFICIENT DEPEND
ING ON SEA STATE
,AND #LUTTER -APPING OF SKYWAVE BACKSCATTER FROM TERRESTRIAL LAND SURFACES
IS OF INTEREST FOR TWO MAIN REASONS &IRST A LOCALIZED AREA OF ENHANCED BACKSCATTER
SUCH AS A CITY IN THE CENTRAL PLAINS OF THE 53 OR A MOUNTAIN RISING FROM A TROPICAL
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
RAINFOREST PROVIDES A GEOGRAPHICAL REFERENCE THAT CAN ASSIST WITH THE EVER
PRESENT
PROBLEM OF COORDINATE REGISTRATION UNCERTAINTIES IN THE RAY PATH TRAVERSED BY THE
RADAR SIGNALS CAN LEAD TO TARGET POSITIONING ERRORS OF OVER KM UNDER SOME CIRCUM
STANCES 3ECOND SOME REGIONS EXPERIENCE STRONG SEASONAL VARIATIONS IN VEGETATION
AND SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT WHICH MAY BE REFLECTED IN MEASURABLE CHANGES TO SCATTERING
BEHAVIOR )T IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE EFFECT OF THE GROUND SCATTERING COEF
FICIENT AND THE TOPOGRAPHY WHEN INTERPRETING ECHOES FROM TARGETS ABOVE THE GROUND
3EA #LUTTER )N CONTRAST WITH THE ABRUPT CHANGES IN SCATTERING BEHAVIOR THAT
OCCUR AT COASTLINES OR OVER COMPLEX TERRAIN THE MAGNITUDE OF THE RADAR ECHO FROM
THE OPEN OCEAN THAT IS THE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT R n TENDS TO VARY SLOWLY WITH RANGE
AND AZIMUTH AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE SCALE LENGTHS OF TYPICAL OCEANIC METEOROLOGICAL
SYSTEMS AND THE RESPONSE TIME OF THE OCEAN SURFACE TO VARYING WIND STRESS -OREOVER
MUCH OF THE TIME TO A REASONABLE APPROXIMATION THE ECHO POWER IS PROPORTIONAL
TO THE RESOLUTION CELL AREA AND CAN BE USED AS AN ABSOLUTE AMPLITUDE REFERENCE
WHEN CARE IS EXERCISED 4HE REASON FOR THIS IS EXPLAINED LATER IN THE DISCUSSION OF
RADAR OCEANOGRAPHY
/F FAR GREATER INTEREST THAN THE AVERAGE MAGNITUDE OF THE SEA ECHO IS THE WEALTH
OF INFORMATION EMBEDDED IN ITS DOPPLER SPECTRUM 4HE WAVES ON THE SEA SURFACE
INTRODUCE A COMPLEX MODULATION ON THE REFLECTED RADAR SIGNAL WHICH IS MANIFESTED IN
THE SIGNALS DOPPLER SPECTRUM %STIMATION AND INTERPRETATION OF THIS MODULATION YIELDS
INFORMATION ON THE TIME
VARYING SEA SURFACE GEOMETRY WITH MAJOR IMPLICATIONS FOR SHIP
DETECTION AS DISCUSSED BELOW
)T TRANSPIRES THAT A RELATIVELY SIMPLE MODEL ACCOUNTS FOR THE OBSERVED PROPERTIES OF
SEA CLUTTER WITH REMARKABLE FIDELITY PROVIDED THE SEA IS NOT TOO ROUGH 4HIS MODEL IS
BASED ON TWO ASSUMPTIONS
4HE SEA SURFACE CAN BE REPRESENTED TO A GOOD APPROXIMATION AS A SUPERPOSITION OR
F
SPECTRUM 3J OF SURFACE GRAVITY WAVES SATISFYING THE DISPERSION RELATION
V GJ TANHJ D
WHERE V IS THE WAVE ANGULAR FREQUENCY G IS THE ACCELERATION DUE TO GRAVITY J IS
THE WAVE NUMBER OF THE WATER WAVE AND D IS THE WATER DEPTH &OR DEEP WATER THIS
REDUCES TO
V GJ
FROM WHICH THE WATER WAVE PHASE VELOCITY CAN BE WRITTEN
Vx
V G,
J P
WHERE , IS THE WAVELENGTH OF THE WATER WAVE
)N TERMS OF (& WAVELENGTHS THE SEA SURFACE CAN BE REGARDED AS ONLY SLIGHTLY ROUGH
THEREFORE ADMITTING AN APPROXIMATE SOLUTION FOR THE SCATTERED FIELD IN THE FORM OF A
PERTURBATION SERIES EXPANSION IN THE PARAMETER KA WHERE K IS THE RADIO WAVENUM
BER AND A IS A REPRESENTATIVE OCEAN WAVE AMPLITUDE 4HIS APPROACH FORMULATED BY
2ICE FOR THE CASE OF A STATIC SURFACE AND EXTENDED BY "ARRICK TO THE CASE WHERE
THE SURFACE IS EVOLVING ACCORDING TO THE DISPERSION RELATION %Q LEADS TO AN
EQUATION FOR THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM OF THE REFLECTED RADIOWAVES
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
R V P K
3 MKSCAT KINC C V V "
M o
P K
F F
C V
M GJ
M GJ DJ DJ
'MJ MJ 3MJ 3MJ
M M o
F
F
F
WHERE KINC AND KSCAT ARE THE INCIDENT AND SCATTERED RADIO WAVE VECTORS
K \ KINC \
F
V IS THE DOPPLER FREQUENCY 3J IS THE SEA DIRECTIONAL WAVE SPECTRUM C IS THE
F
F
$IRAC DELTA FUNCTION AND THE "RAGG FREQUENCY V
" IS GIVEN BY V " G K
K 4HE
F F
KERNEL ' J J IS DISCUSSED BELOW %Q REVEALS THAT THE "ARRICK
2ICE SOLU
TION HAS A SIMPLE INTERPRETATION IN TERMS OF SPATIAL RESONANCE OR "RAGG SCATTERING
!LTHOUGH THE DISORGANIZED
LOOKING OCEAN SURFACE IS REPRESENTED AS THE &OURIER SUM
OF AN INFINITE NUMBER OF SINUSOIDAL WAVE TRAINS EACH WITH ITS CHARACTERISTIC WAVE
NUMBER AND DIRECTION THE PRINCIPAL hFIRST
ORDERv CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SCATTERED FIELD
ARISE FROM ONLY TWO OCEAN WAVE TRAINS NAMELY THOSE WHOSE WAVE VECTORS SATISFY
THE RELATION
SCAT
F
F
F
J o o KSCAT
KINC
INC
&OR THE SIMPLE CASE OF BACKSCATTER AT GRAZING INCIDENCE THE GEOMETRY FOR MONO
F
F
STATIC SURFACE WAVE RADAR KSCAT
KINC SO THESE RESONANT OCEAN WAVES HAVE A WAVE
LENGTH EQUAL TO ONE
HALF OF THE RADAR WAVELENGTH WITH ONE SOLUTION CORRESPONDING
TO A WAVE DIRECTLY APPROACHING THE RADAR AND THE OTHER RECEDING FROM IT 4HE CORRE
SPONDING DOPPLER SHIFTS ARE THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH THE PHASE VELOCITY OF THE RESONANT
WAVES THAT IS
FD o
G
GF
o
y o F -(Z
PK
PC
WHERE THE DOPPLER SHIFT FD IS IN (Z G IS THE GRAVITATIONAL ACCELERATION MS
F IS THE
RADAR FREQUENCY AND C THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT
7ITH THIS INSIGHT THE SECOND
ORDER TERM IN %Q CAN BE INTERPRETED AS hDOUBLE
BOUNCEv PROCESSES INVOLVING "RAGG SCATTER FROM FIRST ONE AND THEN ANOTHER WAVE TRAIN
WITH THE TWICE
SCATTERED RADIOWAVE DIRECTED TOWARD THE RECEIVER /F COURSE THERE ARE
IN PRINCIPLE INFINITELY MANY PAIRS OF WAVE TRAINS THAT CAN SATISFY THIS CONDITION HENCE
THE INTEGRAL !ND THERE IS ANOTHER COMPLICATION 4HE INDIVIDUAL OCEAN WAVE TRAINS ARE
NOT COMPLETELY INDEPENDENTTHEY INTERACT WEAKLY AND PRODUCE EVANESCENT NONLINEAR
PRODUCT WAVES THAT WHILE NOT FREELY PROPAGATING CHANGE THE GEOMETRY OF THE SEA
SURFACE AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE SCATTERED FIELD AT SECOND ORDER ALSO VIA "RAGG SCATTERING
4HUS AS SHOWN FIRST BY "ARRICK THE SECOND
ORDER SCATTERING KERNEL IS MADE UP OF
ELECTROMAGNETIC AND HYDRODYNAMIC TERMS ' ' %- ' (9$ 4HE RESULTING PIECEWISE
CONTINUOUS SECOND
ORDER DOPPLER SPECTRUM IS USUALLY SOME n D" WEAKER THAN THE
FIRST
ORDER "RAGG PEAKS BUT BEING SPREAD IN DOPPLER HAS THE POTENTIAL TO MASK SHIP
ECHOES OVER MUCH MORE OF DOPPLER SPACE &IGURE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE NUMERICAL
EVALUATION OF %Q FOR A SPECIFIC OCEAN WAVE SPECTRUM
0OLARIZATION DEPENDENCE ARISES THROUGH ' &OR A HIGHLY CONDUCTING MEDIUM SUCH
AS SEAWATER VIEWED AT TYPICAL (& RADAR GEOMETRIES THE COPOLAR SURFACE SCATTERING
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #OMPUTED DOPPLER SPECTRA OF SEA CLUTTER FOR VARIOUS POLARIZATIONS THE RADAR FREQUENCY
HERE IS -(Z WHILE THE DIRECTIONAL WAVE SPECTRUM ADOPTED IS A 0IERSON
-OSKOWITZ WAVE
NUMBER
SPECTRUM COMBINED WITH A COS I ANGULAR SPREADING PATTERN
COEFFICIENT OR 2#3 PER UNIT SURFACE AREA IS MUCH LARGER FOR VERTICAL THAN FOR HORIZONTAL
POLARIZATION WITH THE CROSSPOLAR SCATTERING COEFFICIENTS TYPICALLY ASSUMING INTERMEDI
ATE VALUES FOR MODERATE BISTATIC SCATTERING GEOMETRIES R nVV R nHV y R nVH R nHH AS
ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE
%Q IS OF FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE TO MANY (& RADAR APPLICATIONS INCLUDING SHIP
DETECTION REMOTE SENSING SEE FOLLOWING SECTION WAVEFORM SELECTION AND OTHER RADAR
MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS &OR EXAMPLE &IGURE SHOWS A MEASURED DOPPLER SPEC
TRUM AND SUPERIMPOSED REPRESENTATIVE ESTIMATES OF THE MAGNITUDES OF THE ECHOES THAT
MIGHT BE RECEIVED FROM A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SHIP TYPES FOR THE SAME RADAR DESIGN AND
WAVEFORM PARAMETERS !LSO SHOWN AT LEFT ARE THE SPEED BANDS WITHIN WHICH THE SHIP
ECHOES WOULD BE OBSCURED BY THE CLUTTER 4HE ABILITY TO PREDICT THESE OBSCURED BANDS BY
MEANS OF %Q CAN BE EXPLOITED FOR (& RADAR DESIGN AND SITING AND FOR SCHEDULING
SHIP DETECTION OPERATIONS 4HUS COMBINING %Q WITH AN OCEAN WAVE CLIMATOLOGY
FOR ANY REGION ENABLES THE STATISTICAL PREDICTION OF RADAR SHIP DETECTION PERFORMANCE
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
&)'52% 3CHEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF BLIND SPEED BANDS IN WHICH SHIP ECHOES ARE OBSCURED
BY SEA CLUTTER
3IMILARLY CHOICE OF THE WAVEFORM FREQUENCY AND BANDWIDTH CAN BE GUIDED BY CALCULA
TION OF THE CLUTTER POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY AS A FUNCTION OF THESE PARAMETERS FOR ANY GIVEN
SEA STATE TAKING INTO ACCOUNT ANY INFORMATION ABOUT TARGET COURSE SPEED AND 2#3
! VERY IMPORTANT OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATION HERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR AN ADVERSARY
TO EXPLOIT THE SEA CLUTTER SPECTRUM BY CONTRIVING TO PLACE HIS SHIP ECHO AT THE "RAGG
FREQUENCY WHERE IT WOULD BE OBSCURED BY SEA CLUTTER 4HE ADVERSARY CAN ACHIEVE THIS
BY CHOOSING ANY COMBINATION OF COURSE AND SPEED THAT MAKES THE VELOCITY COMPONENT
TOWARD THE RADAR EQUAL TO THE EQUIVALENT PHASE VELOCITY OF THE "RAGG PEAK 4HE RADAR
OPERATOR MUST COUNTER THIS BY EXPLOITING HIS UNDERSTANDING OF THE DETAILED STRUCTURE OF
THE SPECTRUM AND ITS VARIATION WITH RADAR FREQUENCY TO UNMASK THE TARGET
2ADAR /CEANOGRAPHY 4HE EXISTENCE OF THE RELATION EXPRESSED IN F %Q
BETWEEN THE SEA SURFACE REPRESENTATION AS A DIRECTIONAL WAVE SPECTRUM 3J AND THE
DOPPLER SPECTRUM MEASURED BY AN (& RADAR PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO DETERMINE THE
DETAILED STATE OF THE SEA SURFACE BY REMOTE SENSING WITH SKYWAVE OR SURFACE WAVE
RADAR )N ORDER TO EXTRACT SEA PARAMETERS FROM RADAR DOPPLER SPECTRA AND TO OPTIMIZE
THE CHOICE OF RADAR PARAMETERS FOR THE RADARS SURVEILLANCE MISSIONS IT IS HELPFUL TO
UNDERSTAND SOME ELEMENTARY OCEANOGRAPHY
4HE OCEAN WAVES THAT CONTRIBUTE MOST TO THE (& RADAR RETURNS HAVE WAVELENGTHS IN
THE RANGE OF n M THESE WAVES ARE EXCITED BY THE SURFACE WINDS )F A WIND BLOWS AT
A CONSTANT VELOCITY LONG ENOUGH AND OVER SUFFICIENT FETCH THE DISTANCE OVER WHICH THE
WIND IS BLOWING A STEADY
STATE CONDITION WILL BE ACHIEVED WHERE THE WIND PROVIDES
JUST ENOUGH ENERGY TO THE WAVES TO BALANCE THAT LOST BY BREAKING AND OTHER DISSIPATION
MECHANISMS -OREOVER IN THIS STATE OF DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM ENERGY WILL BE TRANSFERRED
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% .ONDIRECTIONAL WAVEHEIGHT POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY AS MEASURED WITH A WAVE BUOY SHOW
ING POWER LAW BEHAVIOR 4HE STRAIGHT LINE IS THE ORIGINAL 0HILLIPS SATURATION ASYMPTOTE WHICH IS APPROACHED
AT HIGH FREQUENCIES IN THIS EXAMPLE 4HE SCALE MARKED hWIND VELOCITYv CAN BE USED TO DEDUCE THAT WINDS UP
TO KT HAVE EXCITED WAVES WITH FREQUENCIES AS LOW AS (Z BUT THAT EITHER THE DURATION OR FETCH OR BOTH
HAVE NOT BEEN SUFFICIENT FOR FULL DEVELOPMENT 4HE SCALE ACROSS THE TOP GIVES THE RADAR FREQUENCY CORRESPOND
ING TO RESONANT BACKSCATTER
PREDOMINANTLY TO WAVES WHOSE VELOCITIES ARE FAIRLY CLOSELY MATCHED TO THE WIND VELOC
ITY AND UNDERGO REDISTRIBUTION ACROSS WAVENUMBER SPACE THROUGH THE MECHANISM OF
NONLINEAR WAVE INTERACTIONS TO PRESERVE THE EQUILIBRIUM SPECTRAL FORM
4HERE ARE A NUMBER OF MODELS THAT HAVE BEEN PROPOSED TO DESCRIBE THE EQUILIBRIUM
SPECTRAL FORM AND INDEED MODELS THAT ATTEMPT THE MORE AMBITIOUS TASK OF MODELING
NONEQUILIBRIUM SPECTRA -OST OF THESE MODELS ARE BASED ON EXPERIMENTAL MEASURE
MENTS ILLUSTRATED HERE BY &IGURE WHICH SHOWS AN EXAMPLE OF THE FREQUENCY
SPECTRUM DERIVED FROM WAVE BUOY MEASUREMENTS ! COMMON FEATURE OF SUCH WAVE
SPECTRA IS THAT WAVES OF A GIVEN WAVELENGTH TEND TO REACH A LIMITING SPECTRAL DENSITY
BEYOND WHICH THE PROCESSES OF DISSIPATION AND NONLINEAR TRANSFER OF ENERGY TO OTHER
WAVENUMBERS PREVENTS FURTHER GROWTH 4HIS CONDITIONKNOWN AS SATURATION OR BEING
FULLY DEVELOPEDIS REACHED AT QUITE MODEST WIND SPEEDS FOR THOSE WAVES RESPONSIBLE
FOR FIRST
ORDER SCATTER AT (& THAT IS n KNOTS
/F THE VARIOUS NONDIRECTIONAL OCEAN WAVE MODELS REPORTED IN THE LITERATURE THAT
OF 0IERSON AND -OSKOWITZ HAS BEEN MOST WIDELY USED BY THE RADAR COMMUNITY 4HEY
DERIVED THE FOLLOWING RELATION FOR A FULLY DEVELOPED NONDIRECTIONAL SPECTRUM BASED
UPON EMPIRICAL DATA
& J
J
AE
C
EXP
N J
P J
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
OR EQUIVALENTLY IN TERMS OF WAVE FREQUENCY
G
A G
& V E EXP
N
V
V U
WHERE
U WIND SPEED
JC GU
M AND AE
4HE EXPONENTIAL TERM APPROXIMATES THE DECAY IN THE SPECTRUM FOR WAVE SPEEDS
ABOVE THE WIND MAXIMUM VELOCITY -ODELS THAT TAKE ACCOUNT OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF
FINITE FETCH AND FINITE DURATION OF THE WIND STRESS INCLUDE THE */.37!0 SPECTRUM
AND THE MODEL OF %LFOUHAILY ET AL SUCH EFFECTS CAN LEAD TO SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES IN THE
(& DOPPLER SPECTRUM AND HENCE TARGET DETECTABILITY SO THESE MODELS SHOULD BE USED
WHEN APPLICABLE
4HE DECREASE OF WAVE SPECTRAL DENSITY WITH WAVENUMBER IS OBSERVED TO LIE CLOSE
TO A Kn POWER LAW AS ADOPTED BY MOST MODELS AND BY A NATURAL COINCIDENCE THIS IS
BALANCED BY THE K FACTOR IN THE FIRST
ORDER SCATTERING COEFFICIENT IN %Q SO THE
RESULTING S IS ROUGHLY INDEPENDENT OF FREQUENCY OVER THE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES FOR
WHICH THE POWER LAW BEHAVIOR IS OBSERVED !N IMPORTANT CONSEQUENCE IS THAT WITH SUCH
A REFERENCE PROPAGATION PATH LOSSES MAY BE ESTIMATED
4O TEST THIS IDEA THE MAGNITUDE AND VARIABILITY OF RVVn WAS EXAMINED WITH THE 3AN
#LEMENTE )SLAND (& SURFACE WAVE RADAR 4HIS RADAR FACILITY HAD SEVERAL VALUABLE AND
UNIQUE FEATURES A TRANSMISSION PATH OUT OVER THE OPEN SEA MULTIPLE
FREQUENCY OPERATION
WITHIN A REPETITION PERIOD CALIBRATED ANTENNAS KNOWN TRANSMITTER POWER AND GROUND
TRUTH IN THE FORM OF OCEAN WAVEHEIGHT RECORDINGS 7HEN LOOKING INTO AN APPROXIMATELY
KNOT WIND VALUES OF RVVn WERE FOUND TO BE CONSTANT WITHIN A FEW DECIBELS FOR OPERAT
ING FREQUENCIES WHERE THE OCEAN WAVE SPECTRUM WAS APPROXIMATELY FULLY DEVELOPED
THESE OBSERVATIONS PROVIDED A CONFIRMATION OF "ARRICKS FIRST
ORDER THEORY "Y USING
THE ANTENNA GAIN CONVENTIONS STATED EARLIER AND ASSUMING A SEMI
ISOTROPIC SEA DIRECTIONAL
SPECTRUM THE VALUE OF RVVn WAS CALCULATED AS n D" THE MEASURED VALUES WERE GROUPED
BETWEEN
AND D" OF THIS VALUE OVER A TO -(Z FREQUENCY SPAN 4HIS EXPERIMENT
PROVIDED THE FIRST DIRECT MEASUREMENTS OF THE SEA SURFACE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT
/F COURSE WHEN THE "RAGG RESONANT WAVES ARE NOT FULLY DEVELOPED THE SCATTERING
COEFFICIENT WILL BE PROPORTIONATELY LESS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE COMPILED FROM DATA
SETS RECORDED LOOKING UPWIND OR DOWNWIND WITH THE *INDALEE RADAR /CCASIONS WHEN
THE WIND SPEED WAS INSUFFICIENT TO AROUSE THE "RAGG RESONANT WAVES TO SATURATION LEVELS
YIELDED SCATTERING COEFFICIENT VALUES UP TO D" BELOW THE PEAK VALUES
,OW SCATTERING COEFFICIENT VALUES CAN ALSO ARISE BECAUSE THE ANGULAR SPECTRUM OF
THE WAVE SYSTEM IS NOT BEING SAMPLED ALONG A DIRECTION THAT PRESENTS THE MAXIMUM
AMPLITUDE COMPONENT AT THE "RAGG RESONANT WAVENUMBER 4HE DIRECTIONAL WAVE SPEC
TRUM CAN BE WRITTEN AS
F
3 K x 3 K E & K ' E K
WHERE & K IS THE NONDIRECTIONAL SPECTRUM
& K
P
3 K E DE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% #ALIBRATED MEASUREMENTS OF THE RATIO OF THE MEASURED SCATTERING COEFFICIENT TO THE
SATURATED SEA SCATTERING COEFFICIENT PLOTTED AS A FUNCTION OF THE RATIO OF WIND SPEED TO THE PHASE SPEED OF
THE "RAGG
RESONANT WAVES FOR UPWINDDOWNWIND OBSERVATIONS
AND 'E K IS THE NORMALIZED ANGULAR SPREADING FUNCTION THAT DESCRIBES HOW THE WAVE
ENERGY IS DISTRIBUTED IN AZIMUTH
P
' E K DE
4HE NON
ZERO WAVE SPECTRUM IS NOT CONFINED TO DIRECTIONS HAVING A COMPONENT PAR
P
P
ALLEL TO THE WIND DIRECTION E IE 'E K FOR a E a NOR IS IT SEMI
ISOTROPIC
' E K P FOR
P a E a P )N GENERAL THE ANGULAR SPECTRUM IS NON
ZERO THROUGH n
WITH THE SPREADING FUNCTION DEPENDING ON MANY VARIABLES INCLUDING THE RECENT SURFACE
WIND HISTORY (& RADAR HAS SUFFICIENT SENSITIVITY TO MEASURE THE RELATIVE AMPLITUDE OF
THE WAVES RUNNING AGAINST THE WIND EVEN THOUGH THEY MAY HAVE A POWER SPECTRAL
DENSITY AND HENCE AN 2#3 SEVERAL ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE BELOW THOSE RUNNING WITH
THE WIND 4HESE UPWIND
PROPAGATING OCEAN WAVES ARE CAUSED PREDOMINANTLY BY THIRD
ORDER NONLINEAR WAVE
WAVE INTERACTIONS REFLECTION PROCESSES WAVE
CURRENT INTERAC
TIONS AND PROPAGATION FROM NEIGHBORING REGIONS WITH DIFFERENT WIND STRESS 4HEY ARE
VERY IMPORTANT FOR REMOTE SENSING AND IMPACT STRONGLY ON TARGET DETECTION BECAUSE THE
SECOND
ORDER SCATTERING PROCESSES ARE HEAVILY DEPENDENT ON 'E K 4HEY ALSO SERVE
AS A SENSITIVE INDICATOR OF BACKSCATTER COEFFICIENT ESTIMATION SINCE TAKING ACCOUNT OF
ONLY THE FIRST
ORDER SCATTERED FIELD
R s ;' E E7 K ' E E7 P =
WHERE E 7 IS THE WIND DIRECTION 4O QUANTIFY THIS IF THE WAVE ANGULAR SPECTRUM MODEL
OF ,ONG AND 4RIZNA IS USED THE MAXIMUM VALUE OF R n FOR A SATURATED SEA IS n D" IN
THE UPWIND OR DOWNWIND DIRECTION LONGITUDINAL SEA AND ONLY n D" IN THE CROSSWIND
DIRECTION TRANSVERSE SEA &IGURE SHOWS THE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT FOR THIS AND
SOME SIMPLE PARAMETRIC ANGULAR SPREADING FUNCTIONS VERSUS ANGLE WITH RESPECT TO WIND
DIRECTION AS COMPUTED FROM THE FIRST
ORDER CONTRIBUTIONS
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
&)'52% 6ARIATION OF THE PEAK BACKSCATTER COEFFICIENT AS A FUNCTION OF WIND DIRECTION RELATIVE TO THE
RADAR LOOK DIRECTION FOR VARIOUS SPREADING FUNCTIONS ASSUMING A SEA FULLY DEVELOPED AT THE "RAGG
RESONANT
WAVE FREQUENCY
)N SUMMARY THE SEA ECHO POWER IN A RESOLUTION CELL IS GENERALLY THE LARGEST ECHO
SIGNAL GENERALLY EXISTS IN THE OPEN OCEAN EVEN IN RELATIVE CALM VARIES AS THE
SQUARE OF RESONANT WAVEHEIGHT WHICH IS FREQUENTLY SATURATED AT THE HIGHER FREQUEN
CIES AND VARIES WITH DIRECTION BEING GREATEST FOR SEAS RUNNING TOWARD OR AWAY
FROM THE RADAR 4HE DOPPLER SPECTRUM OF THE ECHO HAS SHARP VARIATIONS THAT REQUIRE
CAREFUL PROCESSING TO PRESERVE 4HE RECEIVER AND PROCESSOR MUST BE ABLE TO HANDLE
BOTH THE HIGH LEVEL SIGNAL DUE TO THIS LARGE 2#3 AND THOSE MUCH SMALLER SIGNALS DUE
TO TARGETS ESPECIALLY WHEN THE LATTER ARE ADJACENT TO THE STRONGEST CLUTTER COMPONENTS
!N (& RADAR MUST BE DESIGNED TO ACCOMMODATE SUCH CLUTTER LEVELS EVEN THOUGH THEY
WILL NOT EXIST ALL THE TIME OR AT ANY ONE TIME OVER ALL AREAS ESPECIALLY AT THE LOWER
OPERATING FREQUENCIES
%STIMATION OF 3EA 3TATE 7AVE 3PECTRA AND 3URFACE 7INDS 4ECHNIQUES FOR
EXTRACTING OCEAN WAVE FIELD INFORMATION FROM MEASURED DOPPLER SPECTRA HAVE BEEN
REPORTED BY NUMEROUS AUTHORS WORKING IN ALMOST ALL CASES FROM THE "ARRICK SOLUTION
FOR THE SCATTERED FIELD AND DEALING ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY WITH (& SURFACE WAVE RADAR
DATA UNCORRUPTED BY IONOSPHERIC PROPAGATION )NVERSION OF THE RELATION IN %Q
F
TO OBTAIN AN ESTIMATE OF 3J IS MATHEMATICALLY NONTRIVIAL REQUIRING SOME ADDITIONAL
ASSUMPTIONS TO OBTAIN A UNIQUE STABLE SOLUTION 3OME OF THESE METHODS ADDRESS THE
PROBLEM OF FULL DIRECTIONAL WAVE SPECTRUM ESTIMATION n WHEREAS OTHERS PROPOSE
ESTIMATORS FOR INTEGRATED MEASURES OF SEA ROUGHNESS SUCH AS SIGNIFICANT WAVEHEIGHT
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
/CEAN CURRENTS CAN BE DETERMINED WHEN A ZERO DOPPLER REFERENCE SUCH AS AN ISLAND
IS IN THE RADAR FOOTPRINT 4HE ./!! 7AVEWATCH WEBSITE PROVIDES ACCESS TO
ARCHIVED MAPS OF SIGNIFICANT WAVEHEIGHT DOMINANT WAVE PERIOD AND OTHER PARAM
ETERS SUCH INFORMATION IS EXTREMELY HELPFUL WHEN DESIGNING A RADAR FOR REMOTE SENS
ING APPLICATIONS
)N ADDITION TO PROVIDING INFORMATION ABOUT THE SEA SURFACE (& RADAR CAN BE USED
TO INFER SURFACE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION 7IND DIRECTION IS COMMONLY ESTIMATED
BY TAKING THE RATIO OF THE FIRST
ORDER RESONANT "RAGG PEAKS AND EMPLOYING AN EMPIRICAL
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THIS RATIO AND THE WIND DIRECTION RELATIVE TO THE RADAR LOOK AXIS AS
PIONEERED BY ,ONG AND 4RIZNA "Y SCANNING OVER A RADARS COVERAGE AREA A MAP OF
INFERRED WIND DIRECTION CAN BE CONSTRUCTED SURFACE
WIND DIRECTION MAPS ARE A ROUTINE
BYPRODUCT OF THE *INDALEE RADAR
7HILE WAVEHEIGHT AND WAVE SPECTRUM ESTIMATES CAN IN PRINCIPLE BE EXTRACTED
FROM HIGHER
ORDER FEATURES OF SKYWAVE RADAR SEA
ECHO SPECTRA A MAJOR DIFFICULTY
ARISES DUE TO THE MYRIAD FORMS OF CONTAMINATION AND DISTORTION INTRODUCED BY THE
IONOSPHERE 4HIS HAS LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUMEROUS TECHNIQUES FOR ESTIMATING
AND REMOVING THE VARIOUS FORMS OF SIGNAL CORRUPTIONn !S AN ALTERNATIVE 4RIZNA
AND 0ILON AND (EADRICK HAVE REPORTED A METHOD FOR ESTIMATING R n FROM SIMPLE MEA
SUREMENTS MADE DIRECTLY ON THE CORRUPTED RADAR ECHO SPECTRUM 7HILE THIS APPROACH
MAY BE RELATIVELY INSENSITIVE TO SOME FORMS OF CORRUPTION IT IS NOT APPLICABLE TO SEAS
FAR FROM EQUILIBRIUM
!LL THE METHODS FOR ESTIMATING SEA STATE OR SCATTERING COEFFICIENTS REQUIRE LONG
COHERENT INTEGRATION TIMES USUALLY COMBINED WITH NONCOHERENT AVERAGING OF A NUMBER
OF #)4S IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE A DISTINCT AND STABLE SPECTRUM 4HIS TYPE OF RADAR OPERATION
WILL FREQUENTLY BE INCOMPATIBLE WITH OTHER RADAR MISSIONS "UT BECAUSE THE SEA ECHO
IS GENERALLY A VERY LARGE SIGNAL IT MAY BE OBTAINED WITH AN ADJUNCT OBLIQUE SOUNDER
OPERATING IN AN APPROPRIATE RADAR MODE
3CATTERING FROM -ETEOR 4RAILS AND /THER )RREGULARITIES IN THE
)ONOSPHERE #LUTTER FROM IONOSPHERIC IRREGULARITIES SUCH AS THOSE MENTIONED IN
3ECTION CAN SEVERELY LIMIT RADAR PERFORMANCE 5NLIKE THE TERRESTRIAL OR OCEAN
ENVIRONMENTS WHERE VELOCITIES OF NATURAL SCATTERERS TEND TO BE LOW THE IONOSPHERE IS
HOME TO PHENOMENA WITH APPARENT SPEEDS OF n MSn AND MORE OBSCURING MUCH
OF THE RELEVANT DOPPLER DOMAIN WHERE MANMADE TARGETS MIGHT BE FOUND -ANY OF THESE
SCATTERERS HAVE A TRANSIENT EXISTENCE MUCH LESS THAN THE COHERENT INTEGRATION TIME SO
CONVENTIONAL SIGNAL PROCESSING CAUSES THEIR ECHOES TO APPEAR SPREAD IN DOPPLER AS WELL
AS DOPPLER SHIFTED 4HE GENERIC TERM SPREAD
DOPPLER CLUTTER IS USED TO COVER ALL THESE
PHENOMENA WHERE THE SCATTERERS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CLUTTER DO NOT HAVE A WELL
DEFINED
DOPPLER SHIFT 4HE SAME TERM IS USED TO DESCRIBE THE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT MECHANISM
WHERE CLUTTER SMEARING IN DOPPLER OCCURS AS A CONSEQUENCE OF RAPID VARIATIONS IN THE
PROPAGATION PATH RATHER THAN IN THE MOTION OF THE SCATTERER
-ETEORS AND THEIR TRAILS ARE THE MOST UBIQUITOUS SOURCE OF TRANSIENT ECHOESn
4HEY DISPLAY A REASONABLY WELL
DEFINED DIURNAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION SPECIFIC
TO ANY GIVEN RADAR SITE BUT THEY CAN CAUSE PROBLEMS OVER A WIDE RANGE EXTENT BECAUSE
THEY CAN BE ILLUMINATED BY A VARIETY OF PROPAGATION MODES AS SHOWN SCHEMATICALLY IN
&IGURE .ORMAL INCIDENCE AS SHOWN YIELDS THE LARGEST ECHO BUT OBLIQUE INCIDENCE
ECHOES AND SCATTERING FROM THE METEOR hHEADv ARE ALSO OBSERVED &IGURE COMPARES
A SIMPLE PREDICTIVE MODEL WITH MEASUREMENTS CONFIRMING THAT THE OBSERVED BEHAVIOR IS
UNDERSTOOD AND THUS CAN BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN RADAR DESIGN AND OPERATIONS
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
&)'52% -ETEOR TRAIL SPECULAR SCATTERING GEOMETRY FOR SEVERAL PROPAGA
TION MODES
-ETEORS ARE USUALLY CLASSIFIED AS SPORADIC OCCURRING MORE OR LESS RANDOMLY AS THE
%ARTH MOVES AROUND THE SUN AND SHOWERS SUCH AS THE ,EONIDS AND THE %TA !QUARIDS
WHICH OCCUR ON PREDICTABLE DATES WHERE THEIR ORBITS INTERSECT THE %ARTHS ORBIT
#%'#$&$ $&# &%%#$%#&% $
)
%
#"& )
*
! (#
&)'52% 0REDICTED RANGE DEPENDENCE OF METEOR ECHO STRENGTH COMPARED WITH MEASUREMENTS GROUND
CLUTTER RETURNS ARE ALSO SHOWN 4HE DISTRIBUTION OF METEOR RADIANTS DETERMINES THIS VARIATION
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
/N THESE OCCASIONS THE FLUX OF METEORS CAN BE SO HIGH THAT THEY CAN CAUSE SERIOUS
OBSCURATION OF TARGET ECHOES !S RADARS BECOME MORE SENSITIVE THEY REGISTER SMALLER
AND SMALLER METEORS WHICH ARE FAR MORE ABUNDANT SO AT TIMES THE FLUX OF COUNTLESS
SMALL METEOR TRAILS SETS THE EFFECTIVE DETECTION THRESHOLD
-ETEOR ECHO SUPPRESSION CAN BE ATTEMPTED IN THE SPATIAL DOMAIN IF THE RECEIVING
ARRAY HAS VERTICAL DIRECTIVITY BUT FOR MOST RADARS THE ONLY OPTION IS REJECTION BY SIGNAL
PROCESSING EXPLOITING THE TRANSIENT NATURE OF THE ECHOES TO DETECT AND CENSOR THEM IN
THE TIME DOMAIN
%CHOES FROM THE AURORAE SIMILARLY INVOLVE TRANSIENT SCATTERING PROCESSES THAT APPEAR
IN THE RADAR DATA AS HIGHLY DOPPLER
SPREAD ECHOES WITH THE POTENTIAL TO OBSCURE TARGETS
3CATTERING FROM THE AURORAL REGION HAS BEEN STUDIED EXTENSIVELY USING THE 3UPER$!2.
(& RADAR NETWORK INITIATED BY 'REENWALD AND AN AURORAL ECHO
SCATTERING MODEL HAS
BEEN DEVELOPED BY %LKINS THIS CAN BE USED TO PREDICT TARGET OBSCURATION WHEN THE
TRANSMISSION PATH IS THROUGH THE AURORAL REGION 0ROVIDED THE RADAR IS WELL REMOVED
FROM THE AURORAL ZONE THE WAVEFORM CAN OFTEN BE CHOSEN SO AS TO MANIPULATE THE CLUT
TER ECHOES WITHIN RANGE
DOPPLER SPACE UNMASKING TARGETS HITHERTO OBSCURED /FTEN
SEVERAL WAVEFORMS WITH DIFFERENT REPETITION FREQUENCIES ARE INTERLEAVED TO ACHIEVE THIS
&OR RADARS CLOSE TO THE AURORAL ZONE THE OPTIONS ARE GENERALLY MORE LIMITED
)ONOSPHERIC IRREGULARITIES THAT SCATTER BACK TO THE RADAR RECEIVER OCCUR MUCH MORE OFTEN
AT NIGHT THAN BY DAY AT ANY LATITUDE 3ENSIBLE SITING OF THE RADAR ENSURING GOOD FRONT
TO
BACK RATIOS ON THE ANTENNAS EMPLOYING VERTICAL NULLING IF AVAILABLE AND USING ADAPTIVE
SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES OR AT LEAST MAINTAINING LOW RECEIVE ARRAY SIDELOBES ARE ALL
EFFECTIVE TOOLS FOR MITIGATING AURORAL METEOR AND OTHER IONOSPHERIC CLUTTER
"-
] /
,
,
]
-*
/,1 "
1*
9
)N THE (& BAND THE AVERAGE NOISE POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY AT MID
BAND NEAR -(Z
SAY MAY EXCEED n D"7(Z AND WILL GENERALLY EXCEED n D"7(Z COMPARED
WITH TYPICAL RECEIVER INTERNAL NOISE SPECTRAL DENSITIES OF PERHAPS n D"7(Z 4HUS
UNLIKE THE MICROWAVE RADAR CASE EXTERNAL NOISE IS ALMOST ALWAYS DOMINANT 4HIS HAS
FUNDAMENTAL IMPLICATIONS FOR RECEIVING SYSTEM DESIGN AND SIGNAL PROCESSING !NOTHER
CRITICAL ISSUE IS THE OBSERVED SYSTEMATIC VARIATION OF THE EXTERNAL NOISE LEVEL WHICH HAS
A DIRECT IMPACT ON RADAR PERFORMANCE
4HE MAJOR SOURCE OF QUASI
CONTINUUM BACKGROUND NOISE AT THE LOWER FREQUENCIES
IS LIGHTNING DISCHARGES IONOSPHERICALLY PROPAGATED FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD SFERICS
!T THE HIGH
END OF THE BAND EXTRATERRESTRIAL OR GALACTIC NOISE MAY BE GREATER THAN THAT
DUE TO SFERICS 2ECEIVE SITES IN AN AREA OF EXTENSIVE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT USE CAN FIND
ANTHROPOGENIC NOISE DOMINANT "UT MOST IMPORTANTLY THE (& BAND IS DENSELY OCCUPIED
BY OTHER USERS ESPECIALLY POWERFUL (& BROADCASTERS RELYING ON THE PREVAILING FRE
QUENCY WINDOW FOR SATISFACTORY PROPAGATION %VEN OUT
OF
BAND SIGNAL LEVELS ARE A CON
SIDERATION IN RECEIVER FRONT
END DESIGN WHERE IT IS COMMON TO HAVE BANDWIDTHS MUCH
WIDER THAN THAT OF THE RADAR SIGNAL 4HERE ARE A LARGE NUMBER OF BROADCAST STATIONS THAT
HAVE
K7 TRANSMITTERS AND ANTENNAS WITH MORE THAN
D" GAIN -EASUREMENTS
MADE ON THE MIDDLE !TLANTIC COAST OF THE 5NITED 3TATES SHOW (& BROADCAST
BAND SIG
NALS WITH STRENGTHS OF TO M6M 4HESE AMBIENT LEVELS MUST BE ACCOMMODATED
IN RECEIVER DESIGN BECAUSE A WIDEBAND FRONT END IS DESIRABLE FOR RAPID AND FREQUENT
FREQUENCY CHANGES
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
4HE PRACTICE IN ALLOCATIONS FOR (& RADAR OPERATION IS TO PERMIT USE OF BROAD BANDS
OF THE SPECTRUM WITH A REQUIREMENT TO CAUSE NO DISCERNIBLE INTERFERENCE TO AN EXISTING
SERVICE AND TO PROVIDE A LOCKOUT FEATURE FOR CHANNELS THAT NEED PROTECTION 4HUS AN
INTEGRAL PART OF AN (& RADAR IS A CHANNEL OCCUPANCY ANALYZER THAT PROVIDES A REAL
TIME
DESCRIPTION OF SPECTRUM AVAILABILITY AS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURES AND
&)'52% ! SNAPSHOT OF THE (& SPECTRUM AT NOON IN SUMMER AND AT A LOW SUNSPOT NUMBER ZOOM
ING IN PROGRESSIVELY TO SHOW A SECTION OF THE SPECTRUM WHERE A K(Z CLEAR CHANNEL IS EVIDENT CENTERED
ON -(Z 4HE DATA WAS RECORDED AT LATITUDE 3 LONGITUDE %
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!LMOST WITHOUT EXCEPTION (& RADARS HAVE OPERATED ON THIS PRINCIPLE OF NONINTER
FERENCE MAKING DO WITH hCLEARv CHANNELS BETWEEN OTHER USERS
0ATTERNS IN 3PECTRUM /CCUPANCY 7HEN THE (& BAND IS SCANNED WITH A SPEC
TRUM ANALYZER IT CAN BE SEEN THAT THE GROSS FEATURES OF OCCUPANCY AT ANY PARTICULAR HOUR
ARE REMARKABLY STATIONARY OVER THE DAYS OF A SEASON 4HIS IS DUE TO BROADCAST STATIONS
FIXED
SERVICE POINT
TO
POINT TRANSMITTERS AND MANY OTHER SPECTRUM USERS HAVING REGULAR
SCHEDULES AS IS EVIDENT FROM &IGURE WHICH PLOTS THE POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY AT
K(Z RESOLUTION FOR HIGH AND LOW SOLAR ACTIVITY SUMMER AND WINTER DAY AND NIGHT
&)'52% (& ACTIVITY OVER THE n -(Z FOR LOW AND HIGH SUNSPOT NUMBERS L H SUMMER AND
WINTER S W AND DAY AND NIGHT D N AS MEASURED AT LATITUDE 3 LONGITUDE % 4HE DATA IS
TAKEN FROM *ULIAN DAYS AND OF AND
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
!S REMARKED EARLIER THE MAXIMUM FREQUENCY THAT WILL REFLECT ENERGY BACK TO THE
%ARTH DURING THE DAY MAY BE MORE THAN TWICE THAT AT NIGHT THEREFORE THE OCCUPANCY
TENDS TO BE DENSER AT NIGHT THAN DURING THE DAYA PROBLEM COMPOUNDED BY THE LOWER
ABSORPTION AND HENCE RECEPTION OF MORE DISTANT SIGNALS
,OOKED AT OVER LONGER TIMESCALES VARIOUS PATTERNS AND TRENDS EMERGE -OST OBVI
OUSLY THE
YEAR SOLAR CYCLE FORCES CHANGES TO SPECTRUM USAGE AND THE DENSITY OF USERS
WITH A RESULTANT IMPACT ON (& RADAR CHANNEL SELECTION !NOTHER TREND THAT HAS BECOME
APPARENT IN RECENT YEARS IS THE GRADUAL REDUCTION IN (& USERS AS SERVICES MOVE TO SATEL
LITE COMMUNICATIONS MICROWAVE LINKS FIBER OPTICS AND OTHER MEDIA .EVERTHELESS THE
INCREASED NUMBER OF (& RADARS HAS LED TO A NEW CHALLENGE INTER
RADAR INTERFERENCE AND
THE NEED FOR FREQUENCY ARBITRATION
.OISE -ODELS 4HE WIDELY USED REFERENCE ON NOISE IS THE )NTERNATIONAL 2ADIO
#ONSULTATIVE #OMMITTEE ##)2 2EPORT 4HIS REPORT IS BASED UPON MEA
SUREMENTS MADE AT LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD 4HE MEASUREMENT AND DATA
ANALYSIS WERE PERFORMED TO EXCLUDE INDIVIDUAL COLLECTION SITE LOCAL THUNDERSTORM CON
TRIBUTIONS 3PAULDING AND 7ASHBURN ADDED DATA FROM THE FORMER 5332 FOR TWO
REVISED ##)2 REPORTS .OISE
LEVEL MEDIANS AS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY ARE GIVEN IN
THE FORM OF WORLDWIDE MAPS BY SEASON AND
H TIME BLOCKS ,UCAS AND (ARPER HAVE
PROVIDED A NUMERICAL REPRESENTATION OF ##)2 2EPORT
WHICH IS USEFUL FOR COM
PUTER COMPUTATIONS AND THIS HAS BEEN REVISED BY ADDING THE WORK OF 3PAULDING AND
7ASHBURN 4HE MAPS OF MEDIAN VALUES ARE ACCOMPANIED BY DECILE VALUES TO INDICATE
DISTRIBUTIONS OVER DAYS OF THE SEASON ##)2 2EPORT
HAS A SIGNIFICANT
DISCREPANCY AS POINTED OUT BY 3AILORS SO IT SHOULD BE USED WITH CAUTION 4HESE
NOISE MAPS PROVIDE THE LEVEL THAT AN OMNIDIRECTIONAL ANTENNA WOULD RECEIVE %VEN
THOUGH ASSUMING ISOTROPIC ##)2 NOISE HAS LIMITATIONS IT DOES PROVIDE A REFERENCE
LEVEL FOR INITIAL RADAR DESIGN ! NUMBER OF OPERATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL (& SYSTEMS
HAVE ACCUMULATED THEIR OWN NOISE DATABASES AND COMPARED THEM WITH ##)2 MODEL
DATA THE REPORT OF .ORTHEY AND 7HITHAM GIVES A DETAILED ANALYSIS
!N (& RADAR IS GENERALLY DESIGNED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WHAT THE ENVIRONMENT PER
MITS THAT IS THE RECEIVER NOISE FIGURE SHOULD BE GOOD ENOUGH TO MAKE ENVIRONMENTAL
NOISE THE LIMITATION
!N EXAMPLE OF THE ##)2 2EPORT DATA WILL NOW BE DISCUSSED &IGURE
WAS DRAWN FROM ,UCAS AND (ARPER .OISE POWER IN A
(Z BAND RELATIVE TO 7
D"7 IS GIVEN AS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY FOR THREE DIFFERENT SOURCES OF NOISE GALACTIC
ATMOSPHERIC AND ANTHROPOGENIC 4HE PRACTICE IN USE IS TO SELECT THE LARGEST 4HIS IS A
WINTER DAYTIME EXAMPLE AT A 5NITED 3TATES EAST COAST LOCATION 4HE THREE STRAIGHT LINES
ARE ESTIMATES OF ANTHROPOGENIC NOISE FOR THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SITES 4HE SHAPE OF THE
ANTHROPOGENIC CURVES IS DESCRIBED BY THE EQUATIONS
.O n n LN F RESIDENTIAL
.O n n LN F RURAL
.O n n LN F REMOTE
WHERE THE FREQUENCY F IS IN MEGAHERTZ AND LN INDICATES THE NATURAL LOGARITHM
4HESE FREQUENCY TRENDS APPROXIMATE MANY MEASUREMENTS OF HUMAN
MADE NOISE
BUT IDEALLY THE CURVE WOULD BE BASED ON MEASUREMENTS AT THE PARTICULAR RADAR SITE 4HE
GALACTIC
NOISE CURVE SHOULD BE SELECTED WHEN IT IS THE LARGEST AND WHEN THERE IS A PATH
THROUGH THE IONOSPHERE THE PATH WILL NOT EXIST FOR THE LOWER OPERATING FREQUENCIES IN
THE DAYTIME 4HE ATMOSPHERIC NOISE RISES FROM LOW FREQUENCIES TO ABOUT -(Z AND
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% .OISE POWER PER HERTZ IS GIVEN FOR g NORTH LATITUDE AND g WEST LONGITUDE IN WINTER
A 54# IS GIVEN AS A DAYTIME EXAMPLE AND B 54# IS GIVEN AS A NIGHTTIME EXAMPLE
THEN RAPIDLY FALLS &IGURE B IS FOR NIGHTTIME !LL THE CURVES ARE THE SAME AS IN
&IGURE A EXCEPT FOR ATMOSPHERIC NOISE !T -(Z THE NIGHT AND DAY LEVELS ARE
THE SAME BELOW -(Z THE NOISE DECREASES WITH DECREASING FREQUENCY IN DAYTIME
AND INCREASES AT NIGHT !BOVE -(Z DAYTIME LEVELS ARE GREATER THAN THOSE AT NIGHT
4HESE EFFECTS CAN BE PARTIALLY EXPLAINED BY THE VERY LOSSY LONG
RANGE PATHS IN DAY
THAT ATTENUATE THE LONG
RANGE NOISE AT THE LOWER FREQUENCIES AND BY THERE BEING FEW
OR NO SKYWAVE PATHS TO NOISE TERRESTRIAL SOURCES AT THE HIGHER FREQUENCIES AT NIGHT )N
GENERAL NIGHTTIME NOISE WILL BE GREATER THAN DAYTIME NOISE FOR SKYWAVE ILLUMINATION
OF A SELECTED RANGE 4HIS IS EVIDENT IN &IGURE RECORDED AT TIME ZONE 54
4HE GENERAL TRENDS OF ATMOSPHERIC NOISE IN OTHER SEASONS ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE IN WINTER
(OWEVER THERE CAN BE LARGE DIFFERENCES IN LEVELS AT OTHER LOCATIONS ON THE %ARTH
&OR MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS AND SYSTEM OPTIMIZATION IT IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE TO
TREAT THE NOISE AS AN ISOTROPIC FIELD 3TRONG AZIMUTH
AND ELEVATION
ANGLE DEPENDENCE
OF THE SFERICS FIELD IS INEVITABLE EXAMINATION OF MAPS PRODUCED BY SATELLITES INDI
CATES THAT TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS AND OTHER REGIONS OF CONCENTRATED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY
ARE MAJOR SOURCES OF NOISE AND THESE REGIONS ARE CONNECTED WITH A GIVEN RADAR SITE
BY THE CONSTRAINTS OF SKYWAVE PROPAGATION #OLEMAN COMBINED THE THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY MAPS OF +OTAKI WITH NUMERICAL RAY
TRACING AND MODELED ANTENNA PATTERNS
TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THE DIRECTIONAL VARIABILITY OF NOISE COUPLED WITH THE DIRECTIONAL
CHARACTERISTICS OF DIFFERENT ANTENNAS CAN LEAD TO MARKED CHANGES IN NOISE OUTCOMES
AND HENCE IN OPTIMAL RADAR DESIGN
!NOTHER IMPORTANT ISSUE IS THE BEHAVIOR OF THE EXTERNAL NOISE FIELD AS A FUNCTION OF
TIME THAT IS WITHIN THE COHERENT INTEGRATION INTERVAL SINCE THIS IMPACTS STRONGLY ON
SIGNAL PROCESSING FOR INTERFERENCE REJECTION /THER EFFECTS THAT CAN INFLUENCE RADAR
PERFORMANCE ARE SOMETIMES MISTAKEN FOR THE ADDITIVE NOISE DISCUSSED ABOVE /NE OF
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
{x
&REQUENCY -(Z
4IME OF DAY 54
&)'52% $IURNAL VARIATION OF (& NOISE MEASURED IN D"7(Z AT LATITUDE 3 LONGITUDE
% .OVEMBER
THESE IS THE SPREAD DOPPLER CLUTTER DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS
ACTIVE OR MULTIPLICATIVE NOISE 4HE OCCURRENCE OF THIS TYPE OF CLUTTER IS GREATER AT NIGHT
AND IS MUCH MORE PREVALENT IN THE AURORAL ZONES AND AROUND THE MAGNETIC EQUATOR
/
,
6 -9-/
4HE RECEIVING SYSTEM IS DEFINED HERE TO EMBRACE ONLY THE RECEIVING ANTENNA ARRAY AND
THE RECEIVERS THAT CONVERT THE ANTENNA OUTPUTS TO DISCRETE TIME SERIES USUALLY AT BASE
BAND &OR EASE OF REFERENCE THE CONVENTIONAL SIGNAL PROCESSING STAGES RESPONSIBLE
FOR TRANSFORMING THE RECEIVER OUTPUTS INTO STANDARD RADAR PRODUCTS ARE DISCUSSED IN
3ECTION TOGETHER WITH MORE SPECIALIZED TECHNIQUES
!NTENNAS &ROM THE RECEPTION VIEWPOINT IT IS DESIRABLE TO HAVE FINE AZIMUTHAL
RESOLUTION FOR SEVERAL REASONS INCLUDING I TO IMPROVE TARGET LOCATION ACCURACY AND
TRACKING PERFORMANCE II FOR DETAILED CLUTTER MAPPING AND III TO REDUCE THE CLUTTER
AMPLITUDE LEVELS TO VALUES PERMITTED BY SYSTEM DYNAMIC RANGE AND SLOW
TARGET DETEC
TION REQUIREMENTS !S MENTIONED EARLIER MOST (& SKYWAVE RADARS EMPLOY A BROAD
TRANSMIT BEAM TO ILLUMINATE A ZONE OF INTEREST AND THEN PROCESS THE ECHOES VIA A NUM
BER OF MUCH HIGHER RESOLUTION SIMULTANEOUS hFINGERv BEAMS )T IS WELL KNOWN THAT THE
CLASSICAL RESOLUTION OF AN ARRAY IMPROVES LINEARLY WITH APERTURE UP TO SOME LIMITING
VALUE DETERMINED BY THE ENVIRONMENT (ORIZONTAL APERTURES OF n KM AND EVEN GREATER
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO SUPPORT SPATIALLY COHERENT PROCESSING (ENCE THE RECEIVING
ARRAY APERTURES OF SKYWAVE RADARS MAY RANGE FROM ^ KM FOR SYSTEMS CONCERNED
ONLY WITH AIRCRAFT AND BALLISTIC MISSILES TO MORE THAN KM IN SYSTEMS DESIGNED FOR SHIP
DETECTION AND TRACKING 4AKING KM AS A RECEIVE APERTURE CONVENTIONAL BEAMWIDTH
AT -(Z IS ^ SO SIMULTANEOUS BEAMS SPAN ^ WHICH SETS THE REQUIRED
TRANSMIT APERTURE IN THIS EXAMPLE AT n M DEPENDING ON THE VARIATION IN GAIN
THAT CAN BE TOLERATED ACROSS THE SET OF RECEIVE BEAMS 4HE MOST VERSATILE BEAMFORM
ING TECHNIQUES RELY ON HAVING A RECEIVER FOR EACH ARRAY ELEMENT BUT AS THE NUMBER OF
ELEMENTS MAY APPROACH THE COST OF SUCH A SOLUTION MAY BE PROHIBITIVE )T IS THEN
ADVANTAGEOUS TO CONFIGURE THE ARRAY ELEMENTS INTO SUBARRAYS POSSIBLY OVERLAPPED OR
SHARING ELEMENTS WITH ONE RECEIVER PER SUBARRAY &OR INSTANCE THE ORIGINAL *INDALEE
RADAR GROUPED ELEMENTS SPANNING KM INTO OVERLAPPED SUBARRAYS 7HILE
THIS CONSTRAINS THE RESULTANT BEAMS TO LIE WITHIN THE SUBARRAY ANGULAR RESPONSE PATTERN
IT HAS THE ADVANTAGE OF REDUCING RECEIVER DYNAMIC RANGE REQUIREMENTS BY SUPPRESSING
INTERFERENCE FROM OTHER ANGULAR SECTORS
,INEAR ARRAYS PROVIDE THE MOST ECONOMICAL ROUTE TO HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION IN AZI
MUTH BUT THE EXISTENCE OF MULTIPLE PATHS FOR SIGNAL RECEPTION TYPICALLY VIA THE % &
AND & LAYERS HAS MOTIVATED SOME DESIGNERS TO EMPLOY TWO DIMENSIONAL ARRAYS HORI
ZONTALLY OR AT GREATER COST VERTICALLY DEPLOYED 4HE RELATIVE MERITS OF THESE DESIGNS
CAN BE MEASURED ONLY WITH RESPECT TO THE PRIORITIES ACCORDED TO THE VARIOUS MISSIONS
ASSIGNED TO A GIVEN RADAR
4HE CHOICE OF RECEIVING ANTENNA ELEMENT HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN BASED ON THE PRECEPT
THAT AT (& THE EXTERNAL NOISE ALMOST ALWAYS EXCEEDS THE INTERNAL NOISE BY A SUBSTANTIAL
MARGIN /N THIS LOGIC IMPROVING ANTENNA EFFICIENCY INCREASES THE OUTPUT EXTERNAL NOISE
AND INTERFERENCE AMPLITUDE AT THE SAME RATE THAT IT IMPROVES THE WANTED SIGNALS THEREBY
GAINING NO ADVANTAGE IN 3.2 3ELECTION OF ANTENNA ELEMENT TYPE SUCH AS MONOPOLES
DIPOLES "EVERAGE ANTENNAS PHASED ENDFIRE ROWS OF MONOPOLES OR BICONICAL ANTEN
NAS FOR INSTANCE CAN THEN BE BASED ON FREQUENCY RESPONSE OVER THE ANTICIPATED BAND
OF INTEREST AND SUITABILITY FOR THE CHOSEN ARRAY GEOMETRY AS WELL AS TERRAIN CONSTRAINTS
SUCH AS THE SOIL CONDUCTIVITY 3TUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT THIS ARGUMENT IS NOT NECES
SARILY VALID WHEN ADVANCED ADAPTIVE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES ARE
EMPLOYED BECAUSE INTERFERENCE REJECTION EFFICACY IS ENHANCED BY HIGHER INTERFERENCE
TO INTERNAL NOISE RATIOS
)T HAS BEEN WIDELY ARGUED THAT THE INEVITABILITY OF TIME VARYING POLARIZATION TRANS
FORMATION IN THE COURSE OF IONOSPHERIC PROPAGATION GREATLY REDUCES THE POSSIBLE UTILITY
OF BEING ABLE TO MEASURE THE POLARIZATION STATE OF THE SIGNALS ARRIVING AT THE RECEIVING
ARRAY 4HIS IS AN OPEN QUESTION AT THIS TIME THOUGH EXPERIMENTS AIMED AT ASSESSING
SKYWAVE RADAR POLARIMETRY ARE UNDERWAY
2ECEIVERS 4HERE ARE MANY DEMANDS ON THE RECEIVERS FOR /4( RADAR INCLUDING
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE LINEARITY WIDE BANDWIDTH AND UNIFORMITY BETWEEN RECEIVERS
WHEN USED IN MULTIRECEIVER SYSTEMS &OR MOST CIVIL AIRCRAFT AND SHIPS TARGET RADAR
CROSS SECTION 2#3 AT (& IS ROUGHLY OF THE SAME ORDER AS THE MICROWAVE 2#3 THAT IS
^n D"SM FOR AIRCRAFT AND ^n D"SM FOR SHIPS BUT THE RANGE IS n TIMES
GREATER SO THE EXTRA LOSS ASSOCIATED WITH 2n IS IN THE RANGE n D" -OREOVER EACH
TARGET ECHO IS IMMERSED IN CLUTTER FROM THE ILLUMINATED FOOTPRINT WHICH MAY HAVE
AN AREA OF MANY THOUSANDS OF SQUARE KILOMETERS &URTHER THE (& SIGNAL ENVIRONMENT
INCLUDES ONE WAY TRANSMISSIONS FROM POWERFUL RADIO STATIONS AROUND THE WORLD AS
DISCUSSED IN THE PREVIOUS SECTION )MPERFECTIONS IN THE RECEIVER RESULT IN SOME OF THIS
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
NOISE AND CLUTTER ENERGY BEING SUPERIMPOSED ON THE WANTED RADAR ECHOES EITHER ADDI
TIVELY OR MULTIPLICATIVELY (ENCE CAREFUL ATTENTION TO RECEIVER DESIGN IS IMPERATIVE IF
THE RADAR DESIGNER WISHES TO AVOID SELF
INFLICTED PERFORMANCE LIMITATIONS
!TTEMPTS TO REDUCE CONTAMINATION FROM EXTERNAL BROADCAST SIGNALS BY INSERTING NAR
ROW
BAND FILTERS AT THE RECEIVER FRONT
END SACRIFICE THE HIGH AGILITY THAT IS NEEDED WHEN
THE RADAR IS CHANGING FREQUENCY TYPICALLY BY SEVERAL -(Z SECOND BY SECOND AS IT
JUMPS BETWEEN TASKS 4HERE ARE ALSO PENALTIES FROM I FILTER SWITCHING TIME II SET
TLING TIME III DISTORTION CAUSED BY GROUP DELAY DISPERSION AND IV REDUCED RELIABILITY
WHEN THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF RECEIVERS &URTHER EACH CHANNEL WILL NEED TO ACCOUNT FOR
THE GAIN AND PHASE VARIATION FOR EACH FILTER INCREASING THE OVERHEADS ON BAND SWITCH
ING )T IS BETTER TO ZERO IN ON THE BANDWIDTH OF INTEREST BY NONSWITCHED FILTERS LATER IN THE
RECEIVER USING A VARIABLE FREQUENCY LOCAL OSCILLATOR TO POSITION THE DESIRED SUBBANDS
OVER THE SELECTIVE FILTERS /F COURSE THE SWITCHED ,/ CAN ALSO SUFFER FROM IMPERFEC
TIONS BUT ONLY ONE LOCAL OSCILLATOR IS NEEDED AS OPPOSED TO HUNDREDS OF RECEIVERS
7HICHEVER DESIGN PATH IS FOLLOWED THE DEMANDS ON RECEIVER LINEARITY AND SPURIOUS
FREE DYNAMIC RANGE ARE EXTREME
4HERE ARE FIVE DOMINANT MECHANISMS KNOWN TO DEGRADE (& RADAR RECEIVERS THE
NONLINEAR PROCESSES OF ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL CONVERSION OUT
OF
BAND INTER
MODULATION
)-$ CROSS
MODULATION AND IN
BAND INTER
MODULATION AND THE PSEUDO
LINEAR PRO
CESS OF RECIPROCAL MIXING
!NALOG
TO
DIGITAL #ONVERSION !NALOG
TO
DIGITAL CONVERSION INVOLVES TWO STAGES
SAMPLING AND QUANTIZATIONEACH WITH POTENTIAL FOR DISTORTING THE RECEIVED SIGNAL
4HE RECEIVED SIGNALS MUST BE SAMPLED WITH SUFFICIENT PRECISION AND UNIFORMITY TO
PRESERVE THE INHERENT SPECTRAL CONTENT ACROSS THE DYNAMIC RANGE SPANNED BY THE SIG
NAL COMPONENTSTARGET ECHOES CLUTTER AND EXTERNAL NOISEAFTER TAKING ACCOUNT OF
THE ARTIFACTS INTRODUCED BY QUANTIZATION AND TIMING JITTER ESPECIALLY IN MULTI
RECEIVER
SYSTEMS
/UT
OF
BAND )NTER
MODULATION /UT
OF
BAND )-$ ARISES FROM NONLINEAR MIXING
OF TWO OR MORE STRONG INTERFERERS SUCH AS BROADCAST STATIONS WHERE THE POWERFUL
SIGNALS ENTER THE FRONT END OF THE RECEIVING SYSTEM AND GENERATE )-$ PRODUCTS WITHIN
THE RADAR SIGNAL BANDWIDTH BEFORE THEY THE ORIGINAL INTERFERERS ARE REJECTED BY SELEC
TIVE FILTERING
#ROSS
MODULATION #ROSS
MODULATION INVOLVES NONLINEAR MIXING OF A STRONG
INTERFERER WITH THE RECEIVED RADAR ECHOES TRANSFERRING THE INTERFERER MODULATION ONTO
THE RADAR SIGNAL
)N
BAND )NTER
MODULATION ! SINGLE RESOLUTION CELL IN THE RADAR FOOTPRINT MAY
HAVE AN AREA OF n SQUARE KILOMETERS AND THERE MAY BE HUNDREDS OF CELLS
IN THE RADAR FOOTPRINT SO USING REPRESENTATIVE VALUES OF TARGET 2#3 &IGURE
AND SURFACE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT Sn &IGURE THE SIGNAL
TO
CLUTTER RATIO IN
AN /4( RADAR RECEIVER MAY BE AS LOW AS n D" FOR SYSTEMS EMPLOYING &-
#7
WAVEFORMS .ONLINEARITY AT ANY STAGE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO MASK TARGET ECHOES BY
MIXING THE CLUTTER ECHO WITH ITSELF GENERATING )-$ PRODUCTS THAT EXTEND BEYOND
THE INTRINSIC DOPPLER BAND OF THE CLUTTER 5NLIKE THE OUT
OF
BAND )-$ IN
BAND )-$
CAN OCCUR AT ANY STAGE THROUGH THE RECEIVER AND HENCE EVEN SECOND
ORDER PRODUCTS
MAY CAUSE PROBLEMS
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
2ECIPROCAL -IXING !NALOG RECEIVERS OF HETERODYNE DESIGN GENERALLY INVOLVE A
NUMBER OF LOCAL OSCILLATORS FOR SIGNAL MIXING AND PERHAPS A WAVEFORM GENERATOR USED
TO IMPLEMENT A MATCHED FILTER 4HESE ANCILLARY SOURCES ARE INEVITABLY OF FINITE SPECTRAL
PURITY WITH A PHASE NOISE FLOOR THAT MAY EXTEND OVER A WIDE BAND OF FREQUENCIES ALBEIT
AT A VERY LOW LEVEL !NY POWERFUL INTERFERING SIGNALS ENTERING THE FIRST MIXER STAGE OF
THE RECEIVER WILL COMBINE WITH THE PHASE NOISE FLOOR AND POTENTIALLY GENERATE PRODUCTS
IN THE RADAR SIGNAL BANDWIDTH )N THE CASE OF DIGITAL RECEIVERS SAMPLING NOISE WILL
HAVE AN EQUIVALENT EFFECT
$IGITAL 2ECEIVER 4ECHNOLOGY (& RECEIVERS CAN EMPLOY DIRECT DIGITAL CONVER
SION AT 2& AVOIDING SOME OF THE LIMITATIONS OF ANALOG DEVICES )SSUES SUCH AS RECIP
ROCAL MIXING ARE STILL PRESENT THOUGH IN SLIGHTLY MODIFIED FORM #OMPARISONS WITH
ANALOG RECEIVERS HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT LITTLE OR NO PENALTY IS INCURRED WITH SUCH
DESIGNS IF A BAND PRESELECTOR FILTER IS INSTALLED AT THE FRONT END /N THE OTHER HAND
THERE ARE MAJOR ADVANTAGES TO BE HAD SUCH AS SIMULTANEOUS RECEPTION OF SEVERAL
RADAR SIGNALS ON DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES SO A SINGLE RECEIVER CAN SERVICE MORE THAN
ONE RADAR TRANSMITTER
#ALIBRATION 4HE CONVENTIONAL BEAMFORMING PROCESS IN AN IDEAL MULTI CHANNEL
RECEIVING SYSTEM SHOULD DELIVER A SINGLE OUTPUT ASSIGNED TO THE CORRECT DIRECTION FOR A
PLANE WAVE INCIDENT ON THE ANTENNA ARRAY )NEVITABLE VARIATIONS IN GAIN AND PHASE ARIS
ING FROM SMALL ANTENNA POSITIONING ERRORS GROUND SCREEN INHOMOGENEITIES DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN PREAMPLIFIERS MUTUAL COUPLING CABLE MISMATCH THERMAL AND OTHER VARIATIONS
OF CABLE CHARACTERISTICS AND ALL THE ANALOG STAGES OF THE RECEIVER RESULT IN DISTORTION OF
THE BEAM SHAPE AND HENCE DEGRADED RADAR RESOLUTION ELEVATED SIDELOBES AND HENCE
VULNERABILITY TO CLUTTER AND INTERFERENCE POINTING ERRORS AND HENCE INCREASED TRACKING
ERRORS AND INTERFERER WAVEFRONT GEOMETRY PERTURBATIONS AND HENCE WASTED DEGREES OF
FREEDOM IN ADAPTIVE BEAMFORMING
4O MITIGATE THESE EFFECTS (& RADARS MUST EMPLOY SOPHISTICATED CALIBRATION SCHEMES
3EVERAL APPROACHES HAVE BEEN TRIED
u 5SE OF AN EXTERNAL RADIATING ELEMENT IN THE NEAR FIELD IN FRONT OF THE ARRAY 4HIS
SCHEME IS VULNERABLE TO VARIATIONS IN THE SOIL ELECTRICAL AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES SUCH
AS THOSE RESULTING FROM SEASONAL CHANGES IN SOIL MOISTURE LEVELS
u )NJECTION OF A CALIBRATION WAVEFORM AT THE ANTENNAS OR AT THE RECEIVER INPUTS BEHIND
THE ANTENNA ARRAY BY MEANS OF AN INDEPENDENT hOPEN LOOPv SIGNAL FEEDER NETWORK
4HIS SCHEME CANNOT CALIBRATE THE ANTENNAS AND INITIAL FEEDERS IT APPLIES ONLY FROM
THE POINT WHERE THE SIGNAL IS INJECTED
u 5SE OF A DISTANT RADIATING SOURCE THAT ILLUMINATES THE ARRAY VIA SKYWAVE OR EVEN
A DISCRETE TARGET ECHO 4HIS SCHEME PRESUMES THAT THE ARRIVING SIGNAL WAVEFRONTS
ARE ESSENTIALLY PLANAR OR SMOOTH AFTER IONOSPHERIC REFLECTION WHICH IS NOT ALWAYS
THE CASE
u *OINT ANALYSIS OF MULTIPLE DISCRETE METEOR ECHOES 4HIS SCHEME IS APPEALING BUT
RELIES ON HAVING ENOUGH IDENTIFIABLE DISCRETE ECHOES &OR A ELEMENT ARRAY IT MAY
BE GENERALLY VIABLE BUT LESS FREQUENTLY FOR A ELEMENT ARRAY
u 2ECEIVER AND PLANE WAVE REJECTION TESTS APPLIED TO INJECTED BROADBAND NOISE
4HIS APPROACH PROVIDES USEFUL METRICS OF CALIBRATION PERFORMANCE AND RELATIVE
PERFORMANCE BUT DOES SO ONLY DOWNSTREAM FROM THE RECEIVER INPUTS AS WITH
II ABOVE
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
%ACH OF THESE APPROACHES HAS ITS ADVANTAGES AND DRAWBACKS IN THE CONTEXT OF CON
VENTIONAL &OURIER BEAMFORMING 7HEN ADAPTIVE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES ARE BEING
EMPLOYED IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT THAT THE EFFECTIVE LOOK DIRECTION MATCHES THE ARRAY STEER
ING VECTOR OR ELSE CANCELLATION OF THE WANTED SIGNAL WILL OCCUR
- *,"
-- /,
3IGNAL !NALYSIS AND 4ARGET $ETECTION 4HE OBJECTIVE OF SIGNAL PROCESSING IS TO
DETECT AND CHARACTERIZE ECHOES FROM SCATTERERS OF INTEREST EITHER DISCRETE AIRCRAFT OR
SHIPS OR EXTENDED THE SEA SURFACE AND THIS IS CUSTOMARILY ACHIEVED BY DECOMPOS
ING THE TIME SERIES DATA FROM THE RECEIVERS INTO THE NATURAL RADAR DOMAIN DIMENSIONS
OF GROUP RANGE BASED ON TIME DELAY DIRECTION OF ARRIVAL BEAM SPACE AND DOPPLER
FREQUENCY HOPEFULLY SEPARATING THE ECHOES OF INTEREST FROM UNWANTED CLUTTER AND NOISE
4HE STANDARD TOOL FOR THIS DECOMPOSITION IS THE &&4 AT LEAST IN OPERATIONAL SKYWAVE
RADARS IN PART BECAUSE IT IS COMPUTATIONALLY QUITE FEASIBLE TO ANALYZE THE INCOMING SIG
NAL INTO TYPICALLY ^ RANGE BINS n BEAMS AND ^ DOPPLER CELLS IN PERHAPS
^ SECONDS USING GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTING HARDWARE 4HUS THE &&4 OR $&4 FOR
SHORT TRANSFORMS IS COMMONLY USED FOR THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF ANALYSIS !LTERNATIVE
ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED IN SOME SYSTEMS FOR APPLICATIONS SUCH AS
DETECTION OF ACCELERATING TARGETS n THE DETECTION OF HARMONICALLY RELATED SIGNALS
AND WHEN HIGH DOPPLER RESOLUTION IS REQUIRED BUT ONLY SHORT COHERENT INTEGRATION TIMES
CAN BE ACCOMMODATED IN THE RADAR TIMELINE
3OME IMPORTANT PROCESSOR DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS EMERGE FROM AN ANALYSIS OF
HIGH QUALITY (& RADAR DATA AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE &IGURE
SHOWS A SEQUENCE OF SEA CLUTTER DOPPLER SPECTRA FROM THE !.&03
RADAR PRE
SENTED AS RECEIVED POWER AMPLITUDE VERSUS DOPPLER FREQUENCY 4O GENERATE THIS PLOT
POWER SPECTRA FROM A SINGLE RANGE BIN WERE COMPUTED FROM NONOVERLAPPING TIME
INTERVALS AND THEN GROUPED INTO BLOCKS OF FIVE AND AVERAGED NONCOHERENTLY 4HE
WAVEFORM REPETITION FREQUENCY 72& IN THIS CASE WAS (Z WITH A COHERENT INTE
GRATION TIME OF S RESULTING IN A NOMINAL DOPPLER FILTER BANDWIDTH OF (Z
.OISE . SAMPLES WERE TAKEN FROM THE MAXIMUM DOPPLER BIN TARGET SAMPLES 4
ON THE TARGET PEAK AND "RAGG LINE AMPLITUDES ! AND 2 FROM THE CLUTTER PEAKS
CORRESPONDING TO THE APPROACHING AND RECEDING RESONANT OCEAN WAVES AS DESCRIBED
IN 3ECTION . 4 ! AND 2 ARE PLOTTED IN &IGURE A 4HE SUB
CLUTTER VIS
IBILITY 3#6 WIDELY USED IN (& RADAR AS A MEASURE OF SENSITIVITY AND DEFINED AS
2. IS D" IN THIS EXAMPLE )N MICROWAVE RADAR THE TERM SUB
CLUTTER VISIBILITY
IS SENSIBLY DEFINED AS THE RATIO BY WHICH THE TARGET ECHO POWER MAY BE WEAKER THAN
THE CLUTTER POWER AND STILL BE DETECTED )N THE (& RADAR LITERATURE HISTORICALLY THE
DETECTION THRESHOLD COMPONENT HAS NOT BEEN INCLUDED SO 3#6 IS ESSENTIALLY THE
CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIO
&OR A REPRESENTATIVE EFFECTIVE CLUTTER 2#3 OF D"SM PER RESOLUTION CELL THE TARGET
2#3 CAN BE ESTIMATED AS
2#3 2D" 4D" D"SM
AND SUPPOSING THAT THE 3.2 REQUIRED FOR REGISTERING A DETECTION IS D" THE MINIMUM
DETECTABLE 2#3 -$2#3 IN THIS EXAMPLE CAN BE COMPUTED AS
-$2#3 2 . D"SM
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% .ONCOHERENTLY AVERAGED POWER SPECTRA FROM THREE CONTIGUOUS TIME INTERVALS PLOTTED WITH
AN OFFSET FOR CLARITY 4HE TARGET LIES WELL OUTSIDE THE CLUTTER REGION WHERE THE "RAGG LINES ARE CLEARLY VISIBLE SO
THE SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO NOT THE SIGNAL TO CLUTTER RATIO DETERMINES DETECTABILITY .OTE THE ^ D" VARIATION
IN TARGET ECHO STRENGTH DUE TO CHANGES IN THE IONOSPHERE OVER SECONDS
4HIS IS A QUITE LOW 2#3 AT (& INDICATING THAT WHEN CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE VERY
SMALL TARGETS ARE POTENTIALLY DETECTABLE
4HE EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION THAT ON OCCASION THE ENVIRONMENT SUPPORTS
^ D" SUB CLUTTER VISIBILITY OBLIGES THE RADAR DESIGNER TO ENSURE THAT THE RECEIVING
SYSTEM AND SIGNAL PROCESSING OPERATIONS DO NOT UNWITTINGLY DEGRADE THE RADAR PERFOR
MANCE 3OME APPROPRIATE DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS ARE
u !N ANALOG TO DIGITAL !$ CONVERTER OF AT LEAST BIT PRECISION IS IN ORDER FOR (&
RADARS WITH HIGH POWER GAIN PRODUCTS 0AV'4 '2
u 2ECEIVING APERTURES WAVEFORM BANDWIDTHS AND COHERENT INTEGRATION TIMES SHOULD
PROVIDE ENOUGH SAMPLES AND HIGH ENOUGH SAMPLING RATES TO RESOLVE UNAMBIGUOUSLY
DISTINCT FEATURES OF THE CLUTTER SPECTRUM WHERE SUCH RESOLUTION IMPACTS ON TARGET
DETECTABILITY OR THE EXTRACTION OF IMPORTANT INFORMATION
u 4HE WINDOW FUNCTIONS USED TO CONTROL LEAKAGE DURING CONVENTIONAL SPECTRUM ANALY
SIS MUST HAVE SUFFICIENTLY LOW SIDELOBES WHEN TRANSFORMS ARE TO BE APPLIED DIRECTLY
TO HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE DATA
4HE BASIC STEPS OF RANGE AZIMUTH AND DOPPLER ANALYSIS ARE NOT THE ONLY STAGES OF
SIGNAL PROCESSING !S EXPLAINED IN 3ECTION (& SKYWAVE RADAR SIGNALS ARE SUBJECT
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
&)'52% A 4EMPORAL FADING AND B DISTRIBUTION PROPERTIES OF THE TARGET CLUTTER PEAKS AND NOISE
FEATURES IN THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM OF &IGURE COMPUTED FROM AN EXTENDED DATA SEQUENCE
TO VARIOUS FORMS OF CONTAMINATION AND DISTORTION MANY IONOSPHERICALLY INDUCED
SO METHODS TO DEAL WITH THESE HAVE LONG BEEN PART OF THE RADAR SIGNAL PROCESSING
TOOLBOX -OREOVER THE NEED TO DEAL WITH THESE DELETERIOUS EFFECTS HAS BECOME
MORE PRESSING AS THE ACHIEVABLE DYNAMIC RANGE OF RECEIVING SYSTEMS HAS INCREASED
REVEALING A GREATER VARIETY OF SIGNAL DISTORTION MECHANISMS (ENCE IN ADDITION TO PER
FORMING THE BASIC DECOMPOSITION DESCRIBED ABOVE AND CALIBRATING THE RECEIVER CHAIN
FOR THE CURRENT WAVEFORM THE SIGNAL PROCESSING STAGE MAY BE TASKED WITH A NUMBER OF
SIGNAL CONDITIONING OPERATIONS 3IGNAL CONDITIONING HERE REFERS TO FILTERING AND SCALING
PROCESSES AIMED AT REMOVING CONTAMINATION AND DISTORTION THAT IF LEFT ON THE SIGNAL
WOULD DEGRADE THE RESULTS OF THE PRIMARY PROCESSING OPERATIONS SUCH AS DOPPLER ANALY
SIS AND BE MORE DIFFICULT TO REMOVE AFTER THAT PRIMARY PROCESSING 4YPICALLY THERE ARE
OPTIONAL PROCESSING ALGORITHMS AVAILABLE TO REMOVE IMPULSIVE NOISE ORIGINATING FROM
LIGHTNING TRANSIENT ECHOES FROM METEORS AND FIELD
ALIGNED IRREGULARITIES IN THE IONO
SPHERE STRONG DIRECTIONAL INTERFERENCE AND CLUTTER ECHOES FROM BEYOND THE MAXIMUM
UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE )N ADDITION THE RADAR DESIGNER NOW HAS THE OPTION TO COMPENSATE
FOR SIGNAL PATH FLUCTUATIONS IN BOTH SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DOMAINS WITHIN LIMITS BY
EMPLOYING PROCESSING SCHEMES THAT DIAGNOSE THE NATURE OF THE SIGNAL CORRUPTION ON A
FIRST PASS AND THEN REPROCESS WITH ALGORITHMS THAT COMPENSATE FOR THE OBSERVED CORRUPT
ING MECHANISMS 4HE SIGNAL PROCESSING STAGE MAY ALSO BE TASKED WITH EXTRACTING
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION FROM THE RADAR ECHOES AS MENTIONED IN 3ECTION 4HIS
INCLUDES REMOTE SENSING OF OCEAN WINDS AND SEA STATE LAND
SEA MAPPING FOR COAST
LINE RECOGNITION TO ASSIST WITH COORDINATE REGISTRATION MEASUREMENTS OF THE IONOSPHERE
FOR ASSIMILATION INTO IONOSPHERIC MODELS EXTRACTION OF ECHOES FROM REMOTE BEACONS
DEPLOYED TO ASSIST WITH COORDINATE REGISTRATION AND CALIBRATION AND MANY OTHER BYPROD
UCTS OF THE BASIC DETECTION MISSION
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!T PRESENT THE MOST POWERFUL TOOLS FOR DEALING WITH ADDITIVE INTERFERENCE AS WELL
AS SOME CLASSES OF SPREAD DOPPLER CLUTTER ARE THE TECHNIQUES OF ADAPTIVE PROCESSING
/RIGINALLY THESE TECHNIQUES WERE DEVELOPED FOR AIRBORNE MICROWAVE RADARS BUT THEY
HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO HAVE WIDE APPLICABILITY IN (& RADARn 4HE PRIMARY DOMAIN
WHERE MAJOR PERFORMANCE GAINS ARE REALIZED IS SPATIAL ANALYSIS THAT IS BEAMFORMING
)N THIS CONTEXT A hSNAPSHOTv OF THE OUTPUTS FROM THE ALL THE RECEIVERS ACROSS THE ARRAY
IS TAKEN AND USED TO COMPUTE A SET OF COMPLEX VALUED WEIGHTS FOR EACH DESIRED BEAM
DIRECTION THESE ARE THEN APPLIED TO THE RECEIVER OUTPUTS BEFORE SUMMING TO FORM THE
ADAPTED BEAMS 4HE REASON FOR THE EFFICACY OF ADAPTIVITY HERE IS THAT AS REMARKED
PREVIOUSLY (& RADARS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS EXTERNAL NOISEnLIMITED 4HE AZIMUTHAL DIS
TRIBUTION OF NOISE FROM THUNDERSTORMS INDUSTRIAL SITES AND OTHER SOURCES IS FAR FROM
UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED &URTHERMORE EVEN SO CALLED CLEAR CHANNELS SELECTED FOR RADAR
OPERATIONS ARE CONTAMINATED WITH DIRECTIONAL NOISE OF NATURAL OR INDUSTRIAL ORIGIN ALBEIT
AT A MUCH LOWER LEVEL #ONVENTIONAL &&4 TYPE BEAMFORMING MAKES NO ALLOWANCE FOR
THIS SO A LOT OF NOISE ENERGY LEAKS INTO EACH COMPUTED BEAM THROUGH THOSE OF ITS REGU
LARLY SPACED SIDELOBES THAT ARE POINTING TOWARD STRONG NOISE SOURCES 3PATIALLY ADAP
TIVE PROCESSING 3!0 REDUCES THIS PROBLEM BY ADJUSTING THE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE OF
THE SAMPLED RECEIVER OUTPUTS IN SUCH A WAY AS TO MINIMIZE THE INTEGRATED NOISE POWER
LEAKAGE WHILE PRESERVING THE GAINSENSITIVITY OF THE BEAM BEING SYNTHESIZED
&IGURE COMPARES CONVENTIONAL PROCESSING AND 3!0 APPLIED TO THE SAME BLOCK
OF RADAR DATA ! REDUCTION OF SOME D" IS ACHIEVED IN THIS EXAMPLE WHERE NOISE
NOT CLUTTER IS THE PROBLEM 4HE PATTERN HERE HAS ADAPTED TO MINIMIZE THE TOTAL ENERGY
COLLECTED IN THE DOPPLER BANDS ;n n= (Z AND ; = (Z WHILST MAINTAINING THE ARRAY
&)'52% #OMPARISON OF DOPPLER SPECTRA ESTIMATED BY I CONVENTIONAL BEAM
FORMING #"& AND II SPATIALLY ADAPTIVE PROCESSING DESIGNED TO MINIMIZE ENERGY OUT
SIDE THE LOW DOPPLER CLUTTER 4HE NOISE AND ANY FAST CLUTTER HAS BEEN REDUCED BY ^ D"
WHICH IMPROVES DETECTABILITY OF FAST TARGETS NOTE THAT THE SEA CLUTTER SPECTRUM CHANGES
AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE NEW ARRAY PATTERN IE THE CLUTTER SPECTRUM DOES NOT NECESSARILY
REPRESENT THE CLUTTER SPECTRUM FROM THE CELL OF INTEREST
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
RESPONSE IN THE SPECIFIED DIRECTION /F COURSE DEPENDING ON THE ANGULAR DISTRIBUTION
OF THE NOISE SOURCES THE ARRAY RESPONSE PATTERN MAY HAVE VERY HIGH SIDELOBES BUT THEY
WILL LIE IN DIRECTIONS WHERE THE NOISE LEVELS ARE LOWEST 4HE SAME MAY NOT BE TRUE OF
THE CLUTTER THAT OCCUPIES THE LOW DOPPLER BAND ;n = (Z WHICH HAS NOT BEEN USED TO
GUIDE THE ADAPTATION OF THE ARRAY RESPONSE )NDEED THE RESULTANT CLUTTER SPECTRUM MAY
WELL HAVE CHARACTERISTICS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THOSE FOUND IN THE STEER DIRECTION 4HIS IS
THE CASE IN THE EXAMPLE SHOWN IN &IGURE WHERE THE "RAGG LINE RATIO HAS CHANGED
DRAMATICALLY AND EVEN REVERSED IN SIGN
)N THE EXAMPLE JUST GIVEN THE 3!0 WEIGHTS WERE KEPT FIXED FOR THE ENTIRE #)4
7HEN THE EXTERNAL NOISE FIELD IS CHANGING RAPIDLY AS HAPPENS WHEN THE IONOSPHERE
IS DISTURBED IT IS NECESSARY TO ADAPT THE WEIGHTS DURING THE #)4 TO MAINTAIN EFFECTIVE
REJECTION OF THE NOISE AS ITS AZIMUTHAL DISTRIBUTION CHANGES EVEN FOR SHORT ^ S DWELLS
AS USED FOR AIRCRAFT DETECTION 4HIS IS THE PROVINCE OF SPACE
TIME ADAPTIVE PROCESSING OR
34!0 (ERE THE DATA USED TO DETERMINE THE WEIGHTS REQUIRES NOT JUST A SINGLE SNAP
SHOT OR AVERAGE OF SNAPSHOTS BUT A NUMBER OF SNAPSHOTS OF THE ARRAY OUTPUTS THIS BLOCK
OF DATA IS THEN USED TO CONSTRUCT WEIGHTS THAT ARE APPLIED TO THE BLOCK OF DATA BEFORE
BEAMFORMING AND DOPPLER ANALYSIS 34!0 IS OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE TO SHIP DETECTION
WHERE THE EXTERNAL NOISE FIELD ALMOST INVARIABLY CHANGES SUBSTANTIALLY DURING THE LONG
#)4 4HE COMPLEXITY OF 34!0 IN THIS CONTEXT ARISES FROM THE FACT THAT EACH TIME THE
WEIGHTS ARE CHANGED ACCORDING TO THE 3!0 RULES THE MAIN BEAM EXPERIENCES A PHASE
SHIFT EVEN THOUGH ITS AMPLITUDE GAINSENSITIVITY IS PRESERVED 4HUS OVER THE ENTIRE
#)4 A SEQUENCE OF PHASE SHIFTS IS APPLIED THAT IS A MODULATION WHICH IS IMPOSED ON
THE RECEIVED SIGNAL !S A CONSEQUENCE THE STRONG CLUTTER ECHOES ARE SPREAD IN DOPPLER
MASKING TARGETS 4O OVERCOME THIS PROBLEM !BRAMOVICH ET AL DEVELOPED A TECH
NIQUE KNOWN AS THE METHOD OF STOCHASTIC CONSTRAINTS WHICH USES DIFFERENT RULES FOR
WEIGHT ADJUSTMENT PRESERVING NOT ONLY THE GAIN BUT ALSO TO A GOOD APPROXIMATION THE
PHASE OF THE CLUTTER RECEIVED VIA THE MAIN BEAM RESPONSE
!LTHOUGH THESE MODERN SPATIO
TEMPORAL ADAPTIVE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN
PROVEN TO BE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE THE COMPUTATIONAL AND DATA REQUIREMENTS ARE SO HIGH
THAT MOST OF THEM CANNOT BE IMPLEMENTED IN THEIR MOST POWERFUL FORMS FOR REAL
TIME
PROCESSING )NSTEAD SIMPLIFIED ALGORITHMS WITH IMPRESSIVE BUT NONETHELESS SUBOPTI
MUM PERFORMANCE ARE EMPLOYED
)N VIEW OF THE NUMBER OF SIMULTANEOUS SPATIAL CELLS TO BE CONSIDERED DETECTION
IS GENERALLY BASED ON A CONSTANT FALSE ALARM RATE #&!2 ALGORITHM ADAPTED TO THE
PARTICULAR CLUTTER ENVIRONMENT )N MOST IMPLEMENTATIONS THE #&!2 DETECTION THRESH
OLD IS COMPUTED FOR EACH RESOLUTION CELL AS A LINEAR COMBINATION OF ORDER STATISTICS
EXTRACTED FROM RANKED SAMPLE VALUES OVER A WINDOW SPANNING NEIGHBORING RANGE
BINS ANTENNA BEAMS AND DOPPLER CELLS WITH PROVISIONS FOR ADAPTING THE WINDOW
SHAPE NEAR STRONG VARIATIONS IN NOISE OR CLUTTER POWER /FTEN THE RESULTS ARE SIMILAR TO
THOSE PREDICTED BY THE LOG
NORMAL DISTRIBUTION AS EVIDENCED BY THE EXPERIMENTAL DATA
SHOWN IN &IGURE B WHICH GIVES THE POWER
LEVEL DISTRIBUTIONS FOR THE EXAMPLE
SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HESE APPROXIMATELY LOG
NORMAL DISTRIBUTIONS ARE TYPICAL FOR
BENIGN CONDITIONS
4RACKING 0ERHAPS THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SKYWAVE RADAR
AND OTHER RADARS IS THE EXISTENCE OF MULTIPLE PROPAGATION PATHS WITH DISTINCT TIME
DELAYS ANGLES OF INCIDENCE DOPPLER SHIFTS AND FLUCTUATION PROPERTIES 4HE TRACKING
STAGE MUST DEAL WITH THE MULTIPLICITY OF ECHOES ASSOCIATED WITH EACH INDIVIDUAL TARGET
AND BY EXTRACTING AND ASSIMILATING INFORMATION ABOUT THE PREVAILING IONOSPHERE
INFER THE NUMBER OF GENUINE TARGETS THEIR TRUE LOCATIONS AND VELOCITIES AND PERHAPS
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
OTHER INFORMATION SUCH AS TARGET ALTITUDE %STIMATES OF AIRCRAFT TARGET ALTITUDE ARE
VERY USEFUL BUT SKYWAVE RADAR HAS NOT PROVED TO BE A RELIABLE MEANS OF OBTAINING
ACCURATE ESTIMATES
4HE PROBLEM OF CONVERTING FROM RADAR COORDINATES TO GEOGRAPHICAL COORDINATES IS
REFERRED TO AS COORDINATE REGISTRATION #2 $OZENS OF #2 TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN EXPLORED
INCLUDING I INFERENCE FROM A REGIONAL IONOSPHERIC MODEL II DEPLOYING A NETWORK OF
REPEATERS OR BEACONS IN THE RADAR FOOTPRINT III CORRELATING COASTLINES WITH LAND CLUTTER
SEA CLUTTER BOUNDARIES IN THE RADAR DATA IV CORRELATING OTHER PARAMETERS SUCH AS SCATTER
ING COEFFICIENT V USING KNOWN TARGET INFORMATION SUCH AS REPORTS FROM SHIPS AND COM
MERCIAL AIRLINE FLIGHTS AND VI REGISTERING AIRPORTS WHERE TRACKS ORIGINATE OR TERMINATE
4HE KEY TO ROBUST #2 IS THE FUSION OF ALL AVAILABLE INFORMATION IN A CONSISTENT PROBABILIS
TIC FRAMEWORK -OST RADARS IMPLEMENT TARGET TRACKING AS A SEPARATE STAGE THAT OPERATES
ON THE CANDIDATE TARGETS AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN REGISTERED INITIATING UPDATING OR TERMINAT
ING TRACKS AS APPROPRIATE %XPERIENCE WITH MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRACKING SCHEMES
HAS LED A NUMBER OF OPERATIONAL RADARS TO CONVERGE ON ALGORITHMS BASED ON VARIANTS OF
PROBABILISTIC DATA ASSOCIATION 0$! SOMETIMES GENERALIZED TO MAINTAIN MULTIHYPOTH
ESIS MODELS 5NLIKE TRADITIONAL TRACKING FILTERS SUCH AS THE +ALMAN FILTER WHICH SELECTS
A SINGLE DETECTION IE PEAK OR PLOT TO ASSOCIATE WITH EACH MAINTAINED TRACK 0$! FILTERS
COMBINE THE INFLUENCE OF ALL THE CANDIDATE PEAKS WITHIN A PRESCRIBED RADIUS TO COMPUTE A
TRACK UPDATE )N THE SKYWAVE RADAR CONTEXT THIS HAS YIELDED SUPERIOR RESULTS
!N IMPORTANT DECISION RELATES TO WHERE THE COORDINATE REGISTRATION IS IMPLEMENTED
3OME SYSTEMS ESTABLISH TRACKS IN RADAR COORDINATES AND THEN PASS THE TRACKS INCLUDING
MULTIPLE TRACKS FROM A SINGLE TARGET TO THE #2 SYSTEM WHICH MUST IDENTIFY AND RECON
CILE ANY MULTIPLE TRACKS AS WELL AS PERFORM THE REGISTRATION !LTERNATIVELY THE PROBLEM
OF TARGET TRACKING CAN BE INTEGRATED WITH THE PROBLEM OF DETERMINING THE IONOSPHERIC
PROPAGATION PATHS "Y AUGMENTING THE STATE VECTOR USED FOR REPRESENTING A TARGET WITH
ADDITIONAL PARAMETERS THAT CHARACTERIZE THE PROPAGATION PATH STRUCTURE A JOINT ESTIMA
TION PROBLEM CAN BE FORMULATED AND SOLVEDn )N THIS WAY THE TARGETS CONTRIBUTE TO
REGISTERING THEIR OWN COORDINATES
, ,,
-"1,
/
4HE COMPLEXITY OF THE (& RADAR OPERATING ENVIRONMENTTHE IONOSPHERE CLUTTER
NOISE AND OTHER USERS OF THE BANDNECESSITATES A COMMENSURATE COMPLEXITY IN SYS
TEM DESIGN SO THAT THE RADAR CAN ADAPT TO PREVAILING CONDITIONS BY SELECTING THE BEST
FREQUENCY OR COMBINATION OF FREQUENCIES WAVEFORM SIGNAL PROCESSING DETECTION
THRESHOLDS AND SO ON FOR THE TASK AT HAND !CHIEVING THIS OPTIMUM CONTROL IS IMPORTANT
BECAUSE EXPERIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT (& SKYWAVE RADAR PERFORMANCE MAY DEGRADE DRA
MATICALLY WITH ONLY MODEST DEPARTURES FROM OPTIMUM SETTINGS 4HUS THERE IS A DEMAND
FOR TWO INGREDIENTS I INFORMATION ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT AND II A MECHANISM OR AT
LEAST A STRATEGY FOR USING THAT INFORMATION TO CONTROL THE RADAR PARAMETERS
!T THE VERY MINIMUM (& SKYWAVE RADARS MUST MAINTAIN A REAL
TIME AWARENESS OF
PROPAGATION CONDITIONS AS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY RANGE AND BEARING AZIMUTH AS
WELL AS A DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF SPECTRUM OCCUPANCY 4HIS IS USUALLY ACHIEVED BY PRO
VIDING AUXILIARY FACILITIES INCLUDING SOME OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING I #ONVENTIONAL ION
OSPHERIC SOUNDERS VERTICAL AND OBLIQUE INCIDENCE WHICH DETERMINE THE IONOSPHERIC
ELECTRON DENSITY PROFILE BY MEASURING THE TIME OF FLIGHT OF REFLECTED RADIOWAVES OVER
A RANGE OF FREQUENCIES THIS ELECTRON DENSITY PROFILE INFORMATION IS ASSIMILATED INTO
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
xx
LOCAL REAL TIME IONOSPHERIC MODELS II ! WIDEBAND BACKSCATTER SOUNDER THAT IS A LOW
POWER LOW RESOLUTION RADAR THAT SWEEPS ACROSS THE (& BAND MEASURING ECHO STRENGTH
VERSUS TIME DELAY GROUP RANGE TO SEE WHICH FREQUENCIES ARE ILLUMINATING ANY GIVEN
REGION III ! MINI RADAR SIMILAR TO A BACKSCATTER SOUNDER THAT EMPLOYS A NARROWBAND
WAVEFORM TO STUDY THE DOPPLER STRUCTURE OF THE ECHOES AS A FUNCTION OF GROUP RANGE
FOR SELECTED FREQUENCIES IV ! NETWORK OF REMOTE BEACONS OR TRANSPONDERS TO PROVIDE
COORDINATE REGISTRATION V 3PECTRUM MONITORING RECEIVERS TO LOCATE CLEAR CHANNELS FOR
POSSIBLE USE AND TO ASSESS THEIR PROPERTIES ! DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE SUITE OF AUXIL
IARIES FOR THE *INDALEE RADAR CAN BE FOUND IN %ARL AND 7ARD
4RADITIONALLY THE CONTROL MECHANISM HAS BEEN THE EXPERT RADAR OPERATOR &OR MANY
REASONS THIS IS NOT WHOLLY SATISFACTORY SO VARIOUS ALTERNATIVES HAVE BEEN EXPLORED
INCLUDING PACKAGED hRECIPESv THAT CAN BE INVOKED BY LESS SKILLED OPERATORS AND EXPERT
SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTED WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CONSTRUCTS
!PART FROM THE NEED TO ADAPT TO THE CHANGING IONOSPHERE AND NOISE ENVIRONMENT
(& RADARS ARE FREQUENTLY TASKED WITH A VARIETY OF MISSIONS TO BE CONDUCTED MORE OR
LESS CONCURRENTLY WITH TIME VARYING PRIORITIES 4HESE WILL GENERALLY INVOLVE DIFFERENT
WAVEFORMS TASK SPECIFIC CONSTRAINTS ON FREQUENCY IN ADDITION TO PROPAGATION CON
SIDERATIONS DIFFERING REQUIREMENTS IN TERMS OF ACCEPTABLE PROPAGATION QUALITY AND
SO ON ! COMMON EXAMPLE IS THE DESIRE TO SEARCH FOR SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT CONCURRENTLY
!CCORDINGLY OPTIMIZATION OF THE ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES BECOMES A CRITICAL ISSUE WITH
SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WAY SKYWAVE RADARS OPERATE
/NE APPROACH TO FITTING MORE TASKS INTO THE TIME AVAILABLE IS TO PARTITION THE RADAR
TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE ARRAYS TOGETHER WITH THE TRANSMITTER MODULES AND RECEIVERS SO
THAT WHEN CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE THE PARTITIONS CAN OPERATE AS INDEPENDENT RADARS
WITH REDUCED SENSITIVITY AND RESOLUTION &OR EXAMPLE THE *INDALEE AND */2. RADARS
ARE DYNAMICALLY RECONFIGURABLE AS FULL OR HALF RADARS !LTERNATIVELY IT MAY BE ACCEPT
ABLE TO EMPLOY A DUAL PURPOSE WAVEFORM ABLE TO SUPPORT TWO DISTINCT MISSIONS THOUGH
WITH SUBOPTIMAL PERFORMANCE OR FOR THE TRANSMIT SYSTEM TO RADIATE MULTIPLE ORTHOGONAL
WAVEFORMS FOR SIMULTANEOUS RECEPTION AND PROCESSING AT A PROPORTIONAL LOSS OF AVERAGE
POWER ON EACH TRANSMISSION BUT WITHOUT LOSS OF SPATIAL DIRECTIVITY "UT EVEN IF THESE
APPROACHES ARE SOMETIMES APPLICABLE IT IS ALMOST ALWAYS NECESSARY TO SCHEDULE THE
VARIOUS TASKS SUCH THAT ACCEPTABLE REVISIT TIMES ARE MAINTAINED ON IMPORTANT MISSIONS
WITH LOW PRIORITY TASKS SUCH AS WEATHER MONITORING ACTIVATED LESS FREQUENTLY AND
CHALLENGING TASKS ACTIVATED WHEN SUITABLE PROPAGATION CONDITIONS OCCUR
/NE OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUE ARISES WITH RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND THAT IS THE ABIL
ITY TO DIAGNOSE FAULTS AND FAILURES AS SOON AS THEY OCCUR .OT ONLY IS THIS NECESSARY
TO HASTEN THE REPAIR PROCEDURE BUT ALSO IT ENABLES THE RADAR TO ADAPT ITS CONFIGURATION TO
DO THE BEST IT CAN WITH IMPAIRED EQUIPMENT &OR EXAMPLE IF THE RECEIVER CONNECTED TO
THE MIDDLE ELEMENT IN AN ANTENNA ARRAY WERE TO FAIL BEAMFORMING WOULD BE MORE SERI
OUSLY DEGRADED THAN IF THE FAILURE WERE TO OCCUR IN A RECEIVER CONNECTED TO AN ELEMENT
AT THE END OF THE ARRAY !UTOMATIC DETECTION OF SUCH A FAILURE AND REALLOCATION OF AN END
ELEMENT RECEIVER TO THE MIDDLE ELEMENT OF THE ARRAY WOULD MINIMIZE THE DEGRADATION
, ,*
,",
"
-ODELING IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE RADAR DESIGN PROCESS AND ALSO AS A MEANS TO PREDICT
THE PERFORMANCE OF EXISTING OR PROPOSED RADARS TO WHICH ONE DOES NOT EXPECT ACCESS
)N THESE ROLES THE EMPHASIS IS ON FIDELITY )N (& SKYWAVE RADAR SYSTEMS MODELING HAS
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
ANOTHER ROLEAS A REAL
TIME MONITOR OF WHAT IS EXPECTED UNDER THE PREVAILING CONDI
TIONS SO AS TO ALERT THE RADAR OPERATOR IF A DISCREPANCY EMERGES WHICH MIGHT BE INDICA
TIVE OF NATURAL EQUIPMENT
RELATED OR INTENTIONAL EVENTS WARRANTING ATTENTION
!N ISSUE ONE ENCOUNTERS WHEN DISCUSSING RADAR PERFORMANCE IS THE CHOICE OF
PERFORMANCE CRITERION &ROM THE USERS PERSPECTIVE IT MAY SEEM LOGICAL TO MEASURE
PERFORMANCE IN TERMS OF TIME TAKEN TO ESTABLISH A TRACK ON A GIVEN TARGET AVERAGED
OVER TIME AND COVERAGE SINCE TRACKS ARE THE ESSENTIAL PRODUCT DELIVERED TO USERS
BY THE RADAR /F COURSE THIS PLACES THE ONUS ON THE TRACKING SYSTEM SO ONE MIGHT
STEP BACK A LITTLE AND CHOOSE INSTEAD 3.2 ACHIEVABLE ON A GIVEN TARGET AGAIN AVER
AGED OVER TIME AND COVERAGE "UT THIS IGNORES THE PRECISION OF THE MEASUREMENT
ASSOCIATED WITH BOTH RESOLUTION WHICH MAY IMPACT ON THE UTILITY OF THE DETECTIONS
AND ACCURACY IN THE SENSE OF REGISTRATION IN ABSOLUTE GEOGRAPHICAL COORDINATES
!ND WHAT OF THE SMALLEST DETECTABLE TARGET #OVERAGE AND COVERAGE RATE 3HIP
DETECTION CAPABILITY VERSUS AIRCRAFT DETECTION CAPABILITY #LEARLY THERE IS NO SINGLE
PREFERRED METRIC
4HE MEASURE ADOPTED HERE FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES IS THE ACHIEVABLE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO 3.2 AS DEFINED BY THE RADAR EQUATION %Q 4HE CONSTITUENT
VARIABLES THAT APPEAR IN THE EQUATION HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED IN 3ECTIONS n
EMPHASIZING THE UNIQUE CONSIDERATIONS THAT ARISE WITH (& SKYWAVE RADAR SO THE TOOLS
FOR PERFORMANCE MODELING AND ANALYSIS ARE AVAILABLE "Y CONSIDERING THE CASE OF
NOISE
LIMITED DETECTION AS APPLIES ESPECIALLY TO AIRCRAFT TARGETS THE ADDITIONAL COM
PLICATIONS OF CLUTTER
LIMITED DETECTION ARE AVOIDED )N THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS TWO
DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO PERFORMANCE MODELING FOR THE CASE OF NOISE
LIMITED DETECTION
ARE DESCRIBED IN SOME DETAIL
4HE .2,
)43 2ADAR 0ERFORMANCE -ODEL 4HE .2,
)43 2ADAR 0ERFORMANCE
-ODEL DEVELOPED BY ,UCAS ET AL PROVIDES A NUMBER OF TOOLS FOR RADAR PER
FORMANCE ESTIMATION )T DOES NOT EMPLOY FULL $ RAY
TRACING SUCH AS THE CODE
DESCRIBED BY *ONES AND 3TEPHENSON WHICH CAN PROVIDE PATHS IN THREE DIMENSIONS
INCLUDING DELAYS AND LOSSES FOR BOTH ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY RAYS SEE 3ECTION
!RGUING THAT SUCH COMPREHENSIVE CALCULATIONS ARE EXCESSIVE WHEN THERE ARE
SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTIES IN THE ELECTRON DENSITY DISTRIBUTION .2, -EMORANDUM
2EPORT DESCRIBES THE BASIC TECHNIQUE USED FOR PATH DETERMINATIONS ! SIMPLE
CLOSED
FORM VIRTUAL PATH TRACE 3NELLS LAW FOR A SPHERICALLY SYMMETRIC MEDIUM
IS SEQUENCED THROUGH ELEVATION RADIATION ANGLES IN n INCREMENTS 4HIS PROCESS IS
INCREMENTED IN
-(Z STEPS OVER THE RADARS OPERATING BAND )N THE PRESENT EXAM
PLE A VERTICAL SOUNDING OF THE IONOSPHERE KM DOWNRANGE HAS BEEN USED AS THE
ELECTRON DISTRIBUTION FOR ALL ONE
HOP PATHS AND A SOUNDING KM DOWNRANGE IS
USED FOR TWO
HOP PATHS &IGURE GIVES NIGHT AND DAY EXAMPLES OF IONOGRAMS
SHOWING THE IONOSPHERE KM DOWNRANGE FROM A RADAR LOCATED AT n. AND
n7 LOOKING EAST IN SUMMER AT A MEDIAN SUNSPOT NUMBER OF 4HE COR
RESPONDING WINTER CASE IS PRESENTED IN &IGURE 3UCH PLOTS CAN BE USED TO
DETERMINE THE MAXIMUM FREQUENCY THAT WILL PROPAGATE TO A GIVEN RANGE IN MOST
CASES THE OPTIMUM FREQUENCY IS JUST BELOW THE MAXIMUM FREQUENCY &OR THE LITTLE
TABLES SHOWN IN &IGURE AND &# IS THE CRITICAL FREQUENCY IN MEGAHERTZ
(# IS THE HEIGHT OF MAXIMUM IONIZATION OR THE NOSE OF THE PARABOLA IN KILOMETERS
AND 9- IS THE SEMILAYER THICKNESS IN KILOMETERS %S DESCRIBES THE STATISTICAL RANGE
OF VARIATION OF SPORADIC
% AS - MEDIAN , LOWER DECILE AND 5 UPPER DECILE
CRITICAL FREQUENCIES IN MEGAHERTZ
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
&)'52% 4HE VIRTUAL SOLID LINE AND TRUE DASHED LINE REFLECTION HEIGHTS ARE GIVEN
FOR *ULY 33. AND A MID !TLANTIC COAST REFRACTION AREA A 54 IS A DAYTIME
EXAMPLE SINGLE HOP AND B 54 IS A NIGHTTIME EXAMPLE 3EE TEXT FOR AN EXPLANATION OF
THE TABLE IN THE LOWER RIGHT OF THE FIGURE
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0REDICTED IONOGRAMS AS IN &IGURE BUT FOR *ANUARY A 54#
FOR DAY AND B 54# FOR NIGHT 3EE TEXT FOR AN EXPLANATION OF THE TABLE IN THE LOWER
RIGHT OF THE FIGURE
#ONSTANT PLASMA
FREQUENCY CONTOURS VERSUS RANGE FROM THE RADAR FOR 54#
33. *ANUARY NIGHT AND 54# DAY ARE PRESENTED IN &IGURES AND
TO ILLUSTRATE THE TILT OF THE IONOSPHERE &OR THE NIGHT CASE THE CONCENTRIC
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
&)'52% 0LASMA FREQUENCY CONTOURS ARE GIVEN IN -(Z EXTENDING FROM THE RADAR
TO A POINT EAST NMI DOWNRANGE FOR A *ANUARY NIGHT EXAMPLE
&)'52% 0LASMA FREQUENCY CONTOURS ARE GIVEN IN -(Z EXTENDING FROM THE RADAR
TO A POINT EAST NMI DOWNRANGE FOR A *ANUARY DAY EXAMPLE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SPHERICAL ASSUMPTION FROM THE
KM DOWNRANGE POSITION WILL GIVE PATHS THAT ARE
SLIGHTLY LONG FOR ONE
HOP RANGES )N THE TWO
HOP RANGES THE NO
GRADIENT ASSUMP
TION CAUSES MORE DISTORTION )N GENERAL ERRORS OF THIS NATURE HAVE LITTLE IMPACT ON
PERFORMANCE PREDICTION (OWEVER NEAR
REAL
TIME ANALYSIS FOR VIRTUAL RANGE AND
AZIMUTH CORRECTION TO GREAT
CIRCLE DISTANCE AND BEARING GRID REGISTRATION REQUIRES
THAT TILT OR GRADIENT EFFECTS BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT 4HE DAYTIME EXAMPLE HAS LITTLE
HORIZONTAL GRADIENT AND THE SIMPLIFYING ASSUMPTION MAKES LITTLE DIFFERENCE 7HEN
BETTER ACCURACY IS DESIRED THE CORRECT VERTICAL PROFILE CAN BE USED FOR EACH RADIATION
ANGLE ALSO GRADIENTS CAN BE SIMULATED BY MAKING THE IONOSPHERE NONCONCENTRIC
WITH THE %ARTH ! MORE COMPLETE PATH ANALYSIS SHOULD BE USED IN RADAR PERFORMANCE
ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT BUT THESE PLASMA DENSITY CONTOURS CAN BE USED TO
ESTIMATE THE MAGNITUDE OF THE ERRORS INTRODUCED BY THE ASSUMPTION OF A SPHERICALLY
SYMMETRIC IONOSPHERE
&IGURE SHOWS A PERFORMANCE PREDICTION FOR A HYPOTHETICAL RADAR IN THE FORM
OF AN OBLIQUE SOUNDING ! TYPICAL SKYWAVE RADAR IS SUPPORTED BY ONE OR MORE VERTI
CAL SOUNDERS AND OBLIQUE BACKSCATTER SOUNDERS FOR TRANSMISSION
PATH ANALYSIS AND TO
AID IN RADAR
FREQUENCY MANAGEMENT /F COURSE THE RADAR ITSELF IS AN OBLIQUE SOUNDER
BUT ITS SOUNDING DATA IS RESTRICTED TO THE FREQUENCY WAVEFORM AND SCAN PROGRAM OF
ITS PRIMARY SURVEILLANCE TASK !N ADJUNCT OBLIQUE SOUNDER CAN PROVIDE INFORMATION IN
&)'52% 4HE NUMBERS IN THIS FIGURE SHOW THE 3.2 IN D" AS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY AND RANGE IN
THE FORM OF A TYPICAL OBLIQUE BACKSCATTER SOUNDING *ANUARY '-4 DAY 33. LOCATION n. AND
n7 BEARING n 3EE THE TEXT FOR A DESCRIPTION OF RADAR PARAMETERS
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
THE FORM OF &IGURE ON %ARTH BACKSCATTER ECHO POWER %STIMATES FOR NOISE POWER
SPECTRAL DENSITY ARE DERIVED FROM ##)2 2EPORT
AS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
)N THIS PREDICTION 3.2 IN DECIBELS IS PLOTTED AS A FUNCTION OF OPERATING FREQUENCY AND
GREAT
CIRCLE TIME DELAY OR GROUND RANGE 4HE NUMBERS JUST ABOVE THE ABSCISSA AT
MS
DELAY ARE THE NOISE POWERS IN DECIBELS BELOW 7(Z &OR THIS PLOT THE 54# TIME IS
33. 0AV K7 'T'R D" 4 S AND R D"SM &IGURE
GIVES THE CORRESPONDING NIGHT PLOT
4HE SHAPE OF THESE DISPLAYS IS QUITE SIMILAR TO WHAT WOULD BE SEEN WITH A DIAGNOSTIC
OBLIQUE SOUNDING THE LEVELS WOULD GENERALLY BE GREATER BECAUSE THE RESOLUTION CELL AREA
TIMES THE SURFACE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT IS GENERALLY MUCH LARGER THAN D"SM 3OME
OF THE NIGHT
DAY CONTRASTS SUCH AS AVAILABLE FREQUENCIES AND DIFFERENCE IN NOISE LEVEL
FOR THE SAME RANGE ARE EVIDENT !LSO NOTE THAT AT NIGHT THE
-(Z LOWER FREQUENCY
LIMIT DOES NOT PROVIDE COVERAGE CLOSER THAN ABOUT KM )T SHOULD BE REMEMBERED
THAT THIS IS A MEDIAN 33. CALCULATION AND IF CONSISTENT PERFORMANCE FOR RANGES AS
CLOSE AS KM IS REQUIRED DURING NIGHTS A LOWER FREQUENCY LIMIT SHOULD BE SELECTED
TO DEAL WITH PERIODS OF LOWER SOLAR ACTIVITY AND THE CRITICAL FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION 4HE
PLOTS SHOW THAT OPERATION ON A SINGLE FREQUENCY MAY EXPERIENCE LESS THAN o D" VARIA
TION OVER A RANGE INTERVAL OF KM !LSO IF FREQUENCY SELECTION HAD BEEN MADE WITH
A
-(Z GRANULARITY INSTEAD OF THE -(Z USED THE 3.2 WOULD BE REDUCED BY ONLY
A DECIBEL OR SO
&)'52% 4HE NUMBERS IN THIS FIGURE SHOW THE 3.2 IN D" AS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY AND RANGE IN
THE FORM OF AN OBLIQUE SOUNDING AS IN &IGURE BUT FOR '-4 NIGHT 3EE THE TEXT FOR A DESCRIPTION
OF RADAR PARAMETERS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE PERFORMANCE ESTIMATION CHARTS THAT FOLLOW COME FROM ANALYSES AS DESCRIBED
ABOVE !FTER PERFORMING OBLIQUE SOUNDING CALCULATIONS A RANGE
INDEXED TABLE OF
PROPAGATION AND NOISE PARAMETERS IS COMPILED 0ARAMETER SELECTIONS ARE MADE ON THE
BASIS OF THE BEST 3.2 IN EACH NOMINAL
NMI INTERVAL BUT THE SELECTION IS ADJUSTED TO
COME FROM THE ADJACENT LOWER FREQUENCY TO AVOID AN OPTIMISTIC BIAS 4HEN PARAMETER
PLOTS ARE GENERATED AS A FUNCTION OF RANGE 4HE VARIABLES ADOPTED HERE AS PARAMETERS
ARE PROPAGATION LOSSES FREQUENCY NOISE AND ELEVATION RADIATION ANGLE 4HE CHOICE OF
RANGE AS THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE MAY SEEM ARTIFICIAL BUT IT IS A USEFUL APPROACH FOR
PERFORMANCE EXAMINATION 7ITH THESE CURVES THE IMPACT ON RADAR 3.2 PERFORMANCE
CAN BE ESTIMATED FOR SELECTED ANTENNA GAIN PATTERNS TRANSMITTED POWERS TARGET 2#3
AND COHERENT INTEGRATION TIMES #)4
&IGURE IS AN EXAMPLE FOR *ANUARY WITH MODERATE SOLAR ACTIVITY 33. IN
DAYTIME 4HE 2 LOSS IS THE FOURTH POWER OF RANGE TO THE TARGET IN METERS EXPRESSED IN
DECIBELS 2 , ADDS NONDEVIATIVE ABSORPTION DEVIATIVE ABSORPTION SPORADIC
% OBSCU
RATION AND GROUND
REFLECTION LOSSES IF THERE IS MORE THAN ONE HOP 4HE SHARP INCREASE IN
LOSS JUST BEFORE NMI IS CAUSED BY TRANSITION FROM ONE TO TWO HOPS FOR TWO HOPS
THE LOSSY $ REGION IS TRANSITED TWICE AS MANY TIMES GROUND
REFLECTION LOSS IS ADDED AND
REQUIRED OPERATION AT A LOWER FREQUENCY INCREASES LOSS 4HE JAGGED CURVE IN THE TRANSI
TION REGION IS DUE TO THE PARAMETER SELECTION PROCESS IN RADAR OPERATION THE FREQUENCY
WOULD BE SELECTED TO MINIMIZE TRANSITION EFFECTS 4HE FREQUENCY RADIATION ANGLE AND
NOISE POWER PER HERTZ THAT GO WITH THIS SITE AND LOOK DIRECTION ARE ALSO PLOTTED
&)'52% 2ADAR PERFORMANCE CONTROLLING VARIABLES PLOTTED AS A FUNCTION OF
RANGE FOR *ANUARY 54# 33.
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
!N EXAMPLE WILL SERVE TO ILLUSTRATE THE USE OF SUCH PLOTS 3ELECT NMI AS THE
RANGE 4HEN THE FREQUENCY IS -(Z WAVELENGTH M AND L D" NOISE
POWER n D" AND 2 , D" #HOOSE D"7 FOR 0AV D" FOR 'T D"
FOR 'R D"S FOR 4 D"SM FOR 2#3 AND D" FOR &P 3UBSTITUTING IN %Q
3.2 D"
&IGURE SHOWS THE PERFORMANCE INDICATED WITH THESE ASSUMPTIONS FOR ALL RANGES
! PATH FACTOR ENHANCEMENT OF D" HAS BEEN CHOSEN AS A REPRESENTATIVE VALUE OF CONSTRUC
TIVE MULTIPATH INTERFERENCE FOR AN AIRCRAFT TARGET 4HE BEAMWIDTH HAS BEEN TAKEN TO BE
n AND THE SURFACE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT TO BE n D" AND WITH A D" PATH ENHANCE
MENT THE CLUTTER LEVEL HAS BEEN PLOTTED 4HE CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIO #.2 AT NMI IS
ABOUT D" &OR THE CONSTANT BEAMWIDTH ASSUMED THE CLUTTER
TO
SIGNAL RATIO INCREASES
WITH RANGE AND IS D" AT NMI ,ARGE CLUTTER
TO
SIGNAL RATIOS ARE TYPICAL OF (&
RADAR SOME FORM OF DOPPLER FILTERING IS USED TO SEPARATE TARGETS FROM CLUTTER
)N &IGURES AND PERFORMANCE ESTIMATION CURVES ARE GIVEN
FOR WINTER AND SUMMER SEASONS NIGHT AND DAY AND LOW SOLAR ACTIVITY 4HE PERMIS
SIBLE FREQUENCY SELECTION IS SET BETWEEN AND -(Z AND ANTENNA RADIATION IS NOT
CONSIDERED BELOW AN ELEVATION ANGLE OF n 4HE ANALYSES WERE MADE FOR A RADAR OFF
THE MID
!TLANTIC COAST OF THE 5NITED 3TATES AND SHOULD BE A GOOD APPROXIMATION FOR
ANY LOCATION WHERE TRANSMISSION PATHS ARE THROUGH THE MIDDLE MAGNETIC LATITUDES
&)'52% ! SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OF 3.2 AND CLUTTER TO NOISE RATIO #.2
AS DETERMINED BY USING &IGURE 4HE TARGET 2#3 IS LABELED hSIZEv AND IS
TREATED AS CONSTANT
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 2ADAR PERFORMANCE ESTIMATE FOR *ANUARY 54#
33.
&)'52% 2ADAR PERFORMANCE ESTIMATE FOR *ANUARY 54#
33.
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
&)'52% 2ADAR PERFORMANCE ESTIMATE FOR *ULY 54#
33.
&)'52% 2ADAR PERFORMANCE ESTIMATE FOR *ULY 54#
33.
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HESE PERFORMANCE ESTIMATION CURVES CAN BE USED TO SHOW EXTREMES IN 3.2 VARIATION
ANTENNA ELEVATION ANGLES REQUIRED AND EXPECTED CLUTTER
TO
NOISE RATIOS 4HE EXPECTED
PERFORMANCE OF A PARTICULAR RADAR DESIGN CAN BE EXPLORED WITH THESE GRAPHS BECAUSE
SUMMER AND WINTER DO GIVE GOOD COVERAGE OF THE IMPORTANT VARIABLES 4HE PERFOR
MANCE CURVES HAVE BEEN LIMITED IN ALMOST ALL EXAMPLES TO THE CASE OF LOW SOLAR ACTIVITY
SINCE IN GENERAL THIS IS THE MOST DIFFICULT TIME 4HE HIGHER FREQUENCY AVAILABILITY AND
PERFORMANCE AFFORDED AT HIGH SOLAR ACTIVITY IS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE WHICH TREATS
THE CASE OF *ULY 54# FOR 33.
!NALYSIS OF PERFORMANCE ESTIMATION CURVES FOR ALL COMBINATIONS OF I THE FOUR
SEASONS II DAY AND NIGHT AND III HIGH AND LOW SOLAR ACTIVITY REVEALS CONSISTENT
BEHAVIOR
I 3UMMER SHOWS MUCH GREATER LOSSES THAN WINTER
II %XCEPT FOR SUMMER NIGHT LOSSES ARE ONLY SLIGHTLY LESS THAN DAY LOSSES
III .IGHT NOISE IS MUCH GREATER THAN DAY NOISE
IV &OR A SPECIFIC RANGE OPTIMUM FREQUENCIES VARY BY
4HIS /4( PERFORMANCE PRESENTATION FORMAT CAN BE USED TO DECIDE ON THE ANTENNA
PATTERNS AND POWERS REQUIRED FOR SPECIFIC TARGETS AND MISSIONS OR IT CAN BE USED TO
EXHIBIT PERIODS OF ENHANCED OR DEGRADED PERFORMANCE FOR AN EXISTING DESIGN
&)'52% 2ADAR PERFORMANCE ESTIMATE FOR *ULY 54# 33.
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
3EVERAL QUALIFIERS SHOULD BE KEPT IN MIND !T OTHER GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS THE APPRO
PRIATE ##)2 NOISE SHOULD BE SELECTED OR BETTER YET NOISE MEASUREMENTS MADE IN SITU
&OR RADARS THAT USE AURORAL ZONE PATHS SPECIFIC ANALYSES ARE REQUIRED AND TARGET OBSCURA
TION BY SPREAD
IN
DOPPLER CLUTTER MUST BE CONSIDERED 4HE PERFORMANCE ESTIMATES SHOWN
IN THE FIGURES ASSUME THAT THE RADAR DESIGN AND WAVEFORMS ARE SUCH THAT EXTERNAL NOISE IS
THE CONTROL 4HE USE OF A SINGLE DESCRIPTION FOR NIGHT AND DAY GIVES A FAIR REPRESENTATION
BUT THE TRANSITION FROM NIGHT TO DAY IS VERY ABRUPT AND REQUIRES CAREFUL FREQUENCY MAN
AGEMENT IN RADAR OPERATION 4HE IONOSPHERIC DESCRIPTION THAT HAS BEEN USED IS FOR WHAT
HAS BEEN TERMED THE QUIET IONOSPHERE CONDITIONS THAT APPLY MOST OF THE TIME 5NDER
DISTURBED CONDITIONS PERFORMANCE MAY BE MARKEDLY INFERIOR TO THAT PREDICTED
4HE *INDALEE 2ADAR 0ERFORMANCE -ODEL 4HE *INDALEE 2ADAR 0ERFORMANCE
-ODEL DRAWS ON SEVERAL UNIQUE DATABASES 3INCE OBLIQUE BACKSCATTER SOUND
INGS HAVE BEEN RECORDED ON A MINUTE CYCLE SCANNING FROM TO OR OPTIONALLY
-(Z %IGHT SIMULTANEOUS BEAMS SPANNING A n ARC ARE FORMED 0RIOR TO
THE SYSTEM USED A SINGLE RECEIVER SCANNING THE RECEIVE BEAMS SERVICING EACH RECEIVE
BEAM FOR K(Z OF EACH K(Z PORTION OF A BACKSCATTER IONOGRAM 0OST
EACH
BEAM HAS BEEN SERVICED CONTINUOUSLY WITH ITS OWN RECEIVER "ACKGROUND NOISE DATA
USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE BACKSCATTER DATA FOR THE %XCESS 0OWER ANALYSIS IS COL
LECTED USING THE SAME EIGHT DIRECTIONAL BEAMS AS THE BACKSCATTER SOUNDER
7HILE THERE ARE A FEW SIGNIFICANT GAPS IN THESE TIME SERIES THEY SPAN TWO SOLAR
CYCLES FURTHER INTEGRITY HAS BEEN MAINTAINED BY EXTENSIVE VETTING BEFORE ENTERING
NEW DATA INTO THE DATABASE 4HE UNIQUE ADVANTAGE OF THIS DATABASE IS THAT THE NOISE AND
PROPAGATION DATA ARE RECORDED UNDER IDENTICAL IONOSPHERIC CONDITIONS WHEREAS COM
BINING INDEPENDENT CLUTTER AND NOISE STATISTICAL MODELS SUCH AS )2)
WITH ##)2
PRESERVES NO CORRELATIONS HOWEVER STRONG THEY MAY BE
3EVERAL FORMS OF DATA ANALYSIS AND DISPLAY ARE ACCESSIBLE BUT PERHAPS THE MOST USE
FUL ARE THE MAPS OF I %XCESS 0OWER AND II /PTIMUM &REQUENCY 4HE %XCESS 0OWER
PARAMETER IS CONSTRUCTED AS FOLLOWS #ONSIDER A SPECIFIC TARGET WHOSE 2#3 IS KNOWN
OR ESTIMATED AS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY 3UPPOSE A PREDICTION OF MEDIAN RADAR DETEC
TION PERFORMANCE IS REQUIRED FOR A SPECIFIC MONTH OF THE YEAR AND A PARTICULAR SUNSPOT
NUMBER OR YEAR OF SOLAR CYCLE
!NALYSIS IS INITIATED BY SELECTING FROM THE DATABASE A MONTH THAT MATCHES THE
REQUIREMENTS )NDIVIDUAL BACKSCATTER IONOGRAMS ARE PAIRED WITH THE CONCURRENT BACK
GROUND NOISE DATA AND THE RATIO TAKEN TO YIELD A POPULATION OF ESTIMATES OF TRUE SUB
CLUTTER VISIBILITY 3#6 FOR EACH FREQUENCY STEP EACH BEAM AND EACH RANGE BIN .EXT
USING A SPECIFIED TIME GRANULARITYTYPICALLY ONE HOURMEDIAN VALUES OF 3#6 ARE
CALCULATED FOR EACH SPATIAL CELL AND TIME INTERVAL FROM THE STATISTICAL POPULATION OF
INDIVIDUAL 3#6 ESTIMATES .OTE AGAIN THAT THESE MEDIAN VALUES ARE THE MEDIAN VALUES
OF THE 3#6 POPULATION NOT A STATISTIC DERIVED BY COMBINING MEDIAN VALUES OF CLUTTER
WITH MEDIAN VALUES OF NOISE
4HE MEDIAN 3#6 VALUES ARE RELATED DIRECTLY TO THE BACKSCATTER SOUNDER TRANSMIT
POWER AND THE TRANSMIT ANTENNA GAIN &ROM THE RADAR EQUATION %Q THE 3#6 CAN
BE SCALED TO THAT WHICH WOULD BE EXPECTED FOR THE MAIN RADAR WITH ITS DIFFERENT RADIATED
POWER 04 APERTURE RADAR BANDWIDTH ETC #OMBINING THESE SCALED 3#6 VALUES WITH
I A MODEL OF THE SURFACE BACKSCATTERING COEFFICIENT VERSUS FREQUENCY ALMOST ALL THE
/4( RADAR COVERAGE IS OCEAN SO BASED ON REGIONAL WAVE STATISTICS THE CONSTANT VALUE
n D" IS USED II THE TARGET 2#3 VERSUS FREQUENCY MODEL AND III AN ESTIMATE OF
THE TARGET ECHO SIGNAL PROCESSING LOSS TYPICALLY ^ D" WHICH ARISES PREDOMINANTLY
FROM &&4 ANALYSIS YIELDS THE PREDICTED MEDIAN TARGET 3.2 AT EACH SPATIAL LOCATION AS
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY 4HIS CAN BE USED DIRECTLY BUT IT IS CONVENIENT TO DEFINE THE
%XCESS 0OWER AT EACH FREQUENCY AS FOLLOWS
3UPPOSE
u !N 3.2 THRESHOLD OF - D" IS REQUIRED BEFORE THE SIGNAL PROCESSING WILL REGISTER A
DETECTION AND
u 4HE 3.2 CALCULATED FOR A PARTICULAR RANGE
AZIMUTH CELL IN THE COVERAGE IS 3.2 F
D" WHICH MAY BE NEGATIVE
4HEN IN D"
%XCESS 0OWER F - 3.2 F 04 02%&
IS THE AMOUNT OF EXTRA POWER RELATIVE TO ANY CHOSEN REFERENCE POWER 02%& NEEDED TO
ACHIEVE DETECTION AS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY ! NEGATIVE VALUE INDICATES THAT THE RADAR
HAS GREATER SENSITIVITY THAN REQUIRED &IGURE SHOWS AN EXAMPLE PRESENTED AS A
CONTOUR PLOT 4HE SECOND PARAMETER OF SPECIAL INTEREST IS OPTIMUM FREQUENCY DEFINED
AS THE VALUE OF THE FREQUENCY AT EACH RANGE TIME LOCATION THAT MAXIMIZES THE 3.2 FOR
THE GIVEN TARGET TAKING ALL RADAR EQUATION FACTORS INTO ACCOUNT !GAIN A CONTOUR PLOT
FORMAT IS USED HERE IN &IGURE
/THER -ODELING !PPROACHES 4HE MODELS DESCRIBED ABOVE ARE FORMULATED IN THE
CONTEXT OF THE RADAR EQUATION %Q !N ALTERNATIVE IS TO EMPLOY A COHERENT hPRO
CESS MODEL v IN WHICH THE FIELD AMPLITUDE AND PHASE ARE TRACKED FROM TRANSMITTER TO
RECEIVER 4HIS APPROACH HAS BEEN USED TO SIMULATE THE EFFECTS OF MULTIPATH DIFFUSE SCAT
TERING POLARIZATION EFFECTS AND NONLINEARITY &OR EXAMPLE &IGURE SHOWS
&)'52% 2ANGE
TIME MAP OF POWER REQUIRED RELATIVE TO A 02%& OF K7 TO DETECT A SPECIFIC
TARGET AS A FUNCTION OF RANGE AND TIME
OF
DAY FOR A PARTICULAR MONTH AND LEVEL OF SOLAR ACTIVITY
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
&)'52% 2ANGE
TIME MAP OF OPTIMUM FREQUENCY IN -(Z TO DETECT A SPECIFIC TARGET AS A
FUNCTION OF RANGE AND TIME
OF
DAY FOR A PARTICULAR MONTH AND LEVEL OF SOLAR ACTIVITY
THE PREDICTED DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESULTANT RADAR CROSS SECTION WHEN MULTIPATH AND
&ARADAY ROTATION ARE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT 4HE RELEVANT PHYSICSROUGH SURFACE FORWARD
SCATTERING COEFFICIENT BISTATIC IN THE VERTICAL PLANE FREE
SPACE TARGET SCATTERING CROSS
! !!%
"% "
#
$
#
'&*)(
&)'52% 0REDICTED DISTRIBUTION OF EFFECTIVE 2#3 FOR THE !ERMACCHI -"( TRAINER JET
AIRCRAFT VIEWED NOSE
ON AT A HEIGHT OF FEET WHEN GROUND
REFLECTION MULTIPATH AND &ARADAY ROTA
TION ARE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SECTION FOR HYBRID MULTIPATH &ARADAY ROTATION AND DIFFERENTIAL &ARADAY ROTATIONARE
INCORPORATED VIA PARAMETRIC MODELS DERIVED FROM MEASUREMENTS OR COMPUTATIONAL
ELECTROMAGNETICS AND THE DISTRIBUTION OBTAINED BY -ONTE #ARLO SIMULATION
**
8\-1,
76
, ,
'ENERAL #HARACTERISTICS AND #APABILITIES !LTHOUGH SKYWAVE PROPAGATION
PROVIDES THE UNIQUE CAPABILITY OF LOW ALTITUDE TARGET DETECTION AT RANGES OF THOUSANDS
OF KILOMETERS OTHER FORMS OF PROPAGATION AT (& CAN BE EXPLOITED IN RADAR APPLICATIONS
"Y FAR THE MOST COMMON OF THESE IS GROUND WAVE OR SURFACE WAVE PROPAGATION WHICH
IS MOST EFFECTIVE FOR VERTICALLY POLARIZED RADIOWAVES TRAVELING OVER HIGHLY CONDUCTIVE
SURFACES SUCH AS SEAWATER )N ADDITION THERE ARE APPLICATIONS FOR WHICH LINE
OF
SIGHT
OR SPACEWAVE PROPAGATION IS APPROPRIATE SUCH AS MEASUREMENT OF THE (& 2#3 OF
AEROSPACE VEHICLES &URTHERMORE IN MANY INSTANCES BISTATIC CONFIGURATIONS CAN BE
EMPLOYED WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF USING DIFFERENT PROPAGATION MECHANISMS FOR TRANS
MITTER
TARGET AND TARGET
RECEIVER PATHS )N VIEW OF THE FAMILIARITY OF SPACE WAVE PROPA
GATION AND THE PRECEDING DISCUSSION OF SKYWAVE SYSTEMS IT SUFFICES HERE TO ADDRESS THE
MAIN FEATURES OF (& SURFACE WAVE OR GROUND WAVE RADAR (&372
(&372 SYSTEMS TEND TO FALL INTO TWO CATEGORIES I LOW
POWER RADARS INTENDED
PRIMARILY FOR OCEANOGRAPHIC REMOTE SENSING ESPECIALLY OF OCEAN CURRENTS AND
II LARGER AND MORE POWERFUL SYSTEMS WITH TARGET DETECTION AS THEIR PRIMARY MISSION
4HE FORMER ARE IN WIDESPREAD OPERATION AROUND THE WORLD ONLY A FEW OF THE LATTER ARE
OPERATIONAL IN SURVEILLANCE ROLES 4HE ABILITY OF THE LOW
POWER REMOTE SENSING RADARS
TO DETECT SHIPS AT OVER
THE
HORIZON RANGES ALTHOUGH MODEST HAS BEEN EXPLOITED IN
SOME DUAL
PURPOSE DEPLOYMENTS
4HE PRINCIPAL VIRTUE OF (&372 AS AN OCEAN SURVEILLANCE RADAR LIES IN ITS ABILITY TO
DETECT SMALL SURFACE VESSELS AND LOW
FLYING AIRCRAFT AT RANGES FAR BEYOND THE VISIBLE
HORIZON !S WITH SKYWAVE RADAR PERFORMANCE DEPENDS STRONGLY ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND
TARGET PARAMETERS AS WELL AS RADAR DESIGN THE DETECTION RANGES CITED IN 4ABLE
PROVIDE SOME INDICATION OF CAPABILITY AGAINST SURFACE VESSELS AND LOW
FLYING AIRCRAFT
AS CLAIMED OR REPORTED FOR SEVERAL ESTABLISHED (&372 SYSTEMS
4!",% .OMINAL OR #LAIMED -AXIMUM $ETECTION 2ANGES KILOMETERS OF 3OME (&372
3YSTEMS
3EA3ONDE IS A COMPACT LOW
POWER RADAR DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR REMOTE SENSING IT IS AVAILABLE WITH
AN UPGRADED PERFORMANCE OPTION 4HE OTHER RADARS SHOWN WERE DESIGNED FOR SURVEILLANCE )N ALL
CASES PERFORMANCE MAY FALL FAR SHORT OF THE CITED VALUES UNDER INCLEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
4!2'%4 490%
&RIGATE
/FFSHORE TRAWLER
3MALL FISHING BOAT
'O
FAST SPEED BOAT
2IGID INFLATABLE BOAT
,OW
FLYING FIGHTER
SIZED AIRCRAFT
3%#!2
372 (&372
2AYTHEON "!% 3YSTEMS $ARONMONT 0ODSOLNUKH
% 3EA3ONDE
!USTRALIA
.IIDAR 2USSIA
#ODAR 53
5+
#ANADA
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
-UCH OF THE DISCUSSION RELATING TO SKYWAVE RADAR CARRIES OVER DIRECTLY TO (&372
BUT THERE ARE A FEW AREAS WHERE DIFFERENCES ARE SIGNIFICANT
u 4HE ANTENNAS MUST BE DESIGNED AND POSITIONED TO ACHIEVE HIGH EFFICIENCY IN
COUPLING TO THE SURFACE WAVE MODE %XPERIMENTS HAVE SHOWN THAT HIGHER FIELD
STRENGTHS ARE GENERATED AT OVER
THE
HORIZON RANGES WHEN THE TRANSMITTING ANTENNA
IS LOCATED CLOSE TO SEA LEVEL RATHER THAN IN AN ELEVATED POSITION PLACING THE ANTENNA
EVEN JUST ONE OR TWO WAVELENGTHS ABOVE SEA LEVEL CAN INTRODUCE SEVERAL D" OF
ADDITIONAL LOSS
u -OST (&372 SYSTEMS USE A VERY BROAD hFLOODLIGHTv TRANSMIT BEAM TO ILLUMINATE THE
ENTIRE COVERAGE ARC MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVE BEAMS ARE FORMED TO FILL THE ARC
AND UPDATE ALL TRACKS SIMULTANEOUSLY 4HIS REDUCES COST AND COMPLEXITY BUT INCURS
SOME LOSS OF SENSITIVITY FOR NOISE
LIMITED TARGET DETECTION
u #OHERENT INTEGRATION TIMES MAY EXTEND TO HUNDREDS OF SECONDS AS (&372 IS NOT
RELIANT ON THE IONOSPHERE AS A MEDIUM FOR PROPAGATION
u /NLY VERTICALLY POLARIZED ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES PROPAGATE EFFECTIVELY IN THE SURFACE
WAVE MODE OVER THE SEA SO THE (&372 SIGNAL
RECEIVING ANTENNAS ARE NECESSARILY
VERTICALLY POLARIZED /N THE OTHER HAND UNWANTED SIGNALS AND INTERFERENCE ARRIVING
BY SKYWAVE MAY HAVE ANY POLARIZATION 4HIS PRESENTS A MEANS FOR REJECTION OF INTER
FERENCE BY FILTERING IN POLARIZATION SPACE ANY SIGNALS CORRELATED WITH THOSE RECEIVED
ON AN AUXILIARY HORIZONTALLY POLARIZED RECEIVE ANTENNA CAN BE CANCELLED FROM THE
OUTPUTS OF THE VERTICALLY POLARIZED ARRAY
u 4HE INCREASINGLY RAPID ATTENUATION OF PROPAGATION TO RANGES BEYOND ABOUT KM
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE MEANS THAT AT LONGER RANGES RELATIVELY LITTLE DETECTION
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT IS GAINED BY LARGE INCREASES IN TRANSMITTED POWER
u 4HE RATE OF DECAY OF THE SURFACE WAVES RISES SHARPLY WITH INCREASING FREQUENCY AS
SHOWN IN &IGURE WHEREAS THE 2#3 OF SMALL TARGETS TENDS TO INCREASE RAPIDLY
AND EXTERNAL NOISE DECREASES )T FOLLOWS THAT RADAR DESIGN IS SENSITIVE TO THE CLASSES
OF TARGETS TO BE DETECTED
u 7HILE (&372 DOES NOT RELY ON THE IONOSPHERE ECHOES FROM IRREGULARITIES IN THE
IONOSPHERE MAY APPEAR AT RANGES IN EXCESS OF ^ KM 3IMILARLY GROUND REFLEC
TIONS RECEIVED VIA OBLIQUE SKYWAVE PROPAGATION MAY APPEAR AT RANGES IN EXCESS OF
^ KM 3UCH ECHOES MAY BE SPREAD IN DOPPLER AND CAN CONSTITUTE A SERIOUS PROB
LEM FOR (&372 SYSTEMS !CCORDINGLY ANTENNAS SHOULD BE DESIGNED WITH LOW GAIN
AT HIGHER ELEVATION ANGLES
4HE MAIN DESIGN PARAMETERS OF A REPRESENTATIVE (&372 SYSTEMTHE $ARONMONT
3%#!2 RADARARE LISTED IN 4ABLE 4HE CORRESPONDING VALUES FOR SKYWAVE RADARS
CAN BE FOUND IN 4ABLE
0ROPAGATION #ONSIDERATIONS IN (&372 3YSTEMS 4O A GOOD APPROXIMATION
WHEN A TARGET OF INTEREST IS ABOVE THE OPTICAL HORIZON OF AN (&372 THE FIELD INCI
DENT ON THE TARGET CAN BE DECOMPOSED INTO TERMS THAT CORRESPOND TO I DIRECT LINE
OF
SIGHT II SEA
SURFACE REFLECTION AND III A LATERAL OR hSURFACE
ATTACHEDv WAVE "EYOND
THE HORIZON THE SURFACE WAVE IS THE DOMINANT CONTRIBUTOR BUT AT SHORTER RANGES ALL
THREE MECHANISMS MUST BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT !CCORDINGLY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
I TARGET ECHO STRENGTH AND II THE RANGE AND ALTITUDE OF THE TARGET IS NOT A SIMPLE
ONE -OREOVER THE CALCULATION OF THE FIELD DISTRIBUTION IS COMPUTATIONALLY EXPENSIVE IF
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% 3PECIFICATIONS OF 3%#!2 AN (& 3URFACE 7AVE 2ADAR $ESIGNED FOR 3URVEILLANCE OF
THE NMI %XCLUSIVE %CONOMIC :ONE
2ADAR
-ANUFACTURER
4YPE
4X
2X SITE SEPARATION KM
0OWER AVERAGE K7
0OWER PEAK K7
&REQUENCY BAND -(Z
7AVEFORM
"ANDWIDTH K(Z
7AVEFORM REPETITION FREQUENCY (Z
4X ANTENNA DESIGN
2X ANTENNA DESIGN
2X APERTURE M
"EAMWIDTH -(Z
-(Z
.O OF SIMULTANEOUS BEAMS
)NSTANTANEOUS RANGE DEPTH KM
.O OF RANGE BINS
#OHERENT INTEGRATION TIME #)4 S
.O OF DOPPLER CELLS
-AX VELOCITY RESOLUTION MSn
0RIMARY MISSION
2EVISIT TIME FOR ENTIRE COVERAGE AREA
3ECONDARY MISSIONS
.UMBER OF SIMULTANEOUS TARGETS TRACKED
3%#!2
$ARONMONT 4ECHNOLOGIES
"ISTATIC (& SURFACE WAVE RADAR
n
n
LINEAR &-
#7
n
n
3INGLE VERTICAL LOG
PERIODIC ANTENNA WITH
GROUND SCREEN
OR ENDFIRE MONOPOLE DOUBLETS WITH
GROUND SCREEN
n
n
n
OR
n
n
n
n
3HIP DETECTION
%QUAL TO #)4
!IRCRAFT DETECTION
2EMOTE SENSING
ACCURATE PREDICTIONS ARE REQUIRED 4HE DIFFICULTIES ARE COMPOUNDED WHEN MIXED PATHS
ARE INVOLVED THAT IS WHEN PART OF THE PROPAGATION PATH LIES OVER LAND AS HAPPENS
WHERE ISLANDS ARE PRESENT IN THE COVERAGE AREA
&OCUSING ATTENTION HERE ON OVER
THE
HORIZON DETECTION &IGURE SHOWS HOW THE
SURFACE WAVE DECAYS WITH RANGE PARAMETRIC IN FREQUENCY FOR THE CASE IN WHICH BOTH
THE RADAR ANTENNA AND THE TARGET ARE NEAR THE SEA SURFACE 4HESE CURVES ARE FOR A SMOOTH
SURFACE AND USE A EARTH RADIUS TO APPROXIMATE ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTION EFFECTS 4HE
PROPAGATION CODE USED HERE IS DUE TO "ERRY AND #HRISMAN AND IT IS QUITE FLEXIBLE
PERMITTING ANTENNA AND TARGET ALTITUDES SURFACE CONDUCTIVITY AND PERMITTIVITY POLARIZA
TION AND FREQUENCY TO BE SPECIFIED 4HE KEY POINTS TO BE DRAWN FROM THIS EXAMPLE ARE
I THE APPARENT ADVANTAGE TO BE GAINED BY OPERATING AT LOW FREQUENCIES WHERE PROPAGA
TION LOSSES ARE MINIMIZED THOUGH THIS BENEFIT MUST BE BALANCED AGAINST ANTENNA SIZE
THE HIGHER NOISE ENVIRONMENT AND OFTEN REDUCED TARGET 2#3 AND II THE RAPIDLY
ACCELERATING FALL
OFF IN SIGNAL STRENGTH AT RANGES BEYOND A FEW HUNDRED KILOMETERS
WHERE D" OF EXTRA TRANSMIT POWER MAY BUY ONLY ON THE ORDER OF KILOMETERS OF
ADDITIONAL DETECTION RANGE
! MORE WIDELY USED PROPAGATION CODE IS '27!6% WHICH EMPLOYS DIFFERENT
MATHEMATICAL REPRESENTATIONS FOR THE FIELD DEPENDING ON RANGE AND OTHER PARAMETERS SO
AS TO MAXIMIZE COMPUTATIONAL EFFICIENCY 3OME INDICATION OF THE ACCURACY OF THIS MODEL
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
&)'52% #URVES OF PROPAGATION LOSS VERSUS RANGE AS USED FOR ESTI
MATING SURFACE WAVE RADAR PERFORMANCE 4HE SURFACE IS ASSUMED TO BE SMOOTH
TARGET AND ANTENNA HEIGHTS ARE M CONDUCTIVITY IS TAKEN AS 3M AND THE
DIELECTRIC CONSTANT IS
CAN BE FOUND IN &IGURE WHICH COMPARES '27!6% PREDICTIONS WITH EXPERIMEN
TAL MEASUREMENTS OF THE SIGNAL STRENGTH RECEIVED AT A SHORE
BASED (&372 WHEN THE
TRANSMITTER WAS CARRIED BY A SMALL BOAT TRAVELING OUT TO A RANGE OF ^ KM 4O AVOID
PERIPHERAL ISSUES CONCERNING ANTENNAS THE '27!6% CURVES HAVE BEEN ARBITRARILY NOR
MALIZED HERE TO ALIGN WITH THE MEASUREMENTS AT A RANGE OF KM )T IS CLEAR THAT WITH
THIS NORMALIZATION THE PREDICTIONS MATCH REASONABLY WELL OVER THE WHOLE RANGE EXTENT
WITH SMALL BUT SYSTEMATIC DEPARTURES '27!6% SEEMS TO UNDERESTIMATE ATTENUATION
SLIGHTLY AT -(Z BUT OVER
ESTIMATE AT -(Z 4HE SEA ROUGHNESS IN THIS CASE
WAS LOW SEA STATE n 4HE IMPACT OF SEA ROUGHNESS ON SIGNAL AMPLITUDE CAN BE TAKEN
INTO ACCOUNT BY USING THE EXPRESSIONS FOR ROUGHNESS LOSS DERIVED BY "ARRICK
!NOTHER SURFACE WAVE PROPAGATION MODELING CODE HAS BEEN DEVELOPED BY 3EVGI
PAYING PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE CALCULATION OF PROPAGATION OVER HYBRID PATHS WITH
MULTIPLE ISLANDS
4HE EFFECT OF THE TIME
VARYING SEA ROUGHNESS ON THE SIGNAL PHASE AND WAVEFRONT
STRUCTURE MANIFESTED IN THE TIME DELAY DOPPLER SPECTRUM AND DIRECTION
OF
ARRIVAL
SPECTRUM OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL CAN BE COMPUTED USING THE MULTIPLE SCATTERING THEORY
OF !NDERSON ET AL
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
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&)'52% %XPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS OF ONE
WAY SURFACE WAVE ATTENUATION
COMPARED WITH '27!6% PREDICTIONS .OTE THE FLUCTUATIONS DUE TO SCALLOPING LOSS AS THE
SOURCE MOVED THROUGH &&4 RANGE BINS
3CATTERING 4ARGETS AND #LUTTER 4HE DISCUSSION OF (& 2#3 AND SEA CLUTTER IN
3ECTIONS AND APPLIES EQUALLY TO (&372 INDEED THE ABSENCE OF THE COR
RUPTING EFFECTS OF THE IONOSPHERE PROVIDES EVEN GREATER SCOPE FOR EXPLOITING THE SCAT
TERED SIGNALS &URTHERMORE ALTHOUGH THE INCREASED RATE OF DECAY OF THE SURFACE WAVE AT
HIGHER FREQUENCIES IMPOSES A LIMIT ON THE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES THAT MIGHT BE USED TO
DETECT A TARGET AT A GIVEN RANGE THE SITUATION IS BY NO MEANS AS RESTRICTIVE AS FOR SKY
WAVE PROPAGATION 4HIS RAISES THE POSSIBILITY OF EXPLOITING MULTIPLE FREQUENCIES MORE
EFFECTIVELY SO AS TO EXTRACT ADDITIONAL TARGET AND SEA
STATE INFORMATION AND UNMASK
TARGETS HIDDEN IN CLUTTER
! COMPELLING EXAMPLE IS PRESENTED IN &IGURE WHERE A RANGE CELL CONTAINING A
SHIP TARGET TRAVELING AT A SPEED OF KNOTS HAS BEEN INTERROGATED AT EIGHT RADAR FREQUEN
CIES AND THE RESULTING DOPPLER SPECTRA PLOTTED IN A NESTED DISPLAY
4HE TWO COLUMNS OF PLOTS SHOW RECEIVED POWER VERSUS DOPPLER FREQUENCY FOR THE
EIGHT OPERATING FREQUENCIES AS LABELED AND FOR THE TARGET APPROACHING RIGHT COL
UMN AND RECEDING LEFT COLUMN 4HE ABSCISSA UNITS ARE IN DOPPLER NORMALIZED TO
(& /6%2 4(% (/2):/. 2!$!2
&)'52% -ULTIFREQUENCY (&372 DOPPLER SPECTRA SHOWING THE
DIFFERENT FREQUENCY DEPENDENCE OF I TARGET AND II CLUTTER SPECTRUM CHARAC
TERISTICS 4HE TARGET 4 IS SHOWN WHEN APPROACHING RIGHT AND RECEDING LEFT
IN THE PRESENCE OF THE SEA ECHO WITH "RAGG PEAKS MARKED ! FOR APPROACH
ING AND 2 FOR RECEDING 4HE CURVES PLOT RECEIVED POWER VERSUS NORMAL
IZED DOPPLER IE IN UNITS OF THE "RAGG FREQUENCY FOR EIGHT RADAR OPERATING
FREQUENCIES 4HE PEAK AT ZERO FREQUENCY IS DUE TO A STATIONARY TARGET IN AN
ANTENNA SIDELOBE
THE RESONANT WAVE OR "RAGG FREQUENCY THEREFORE THE RESONANT WAVE RESPONSES PEAK
AT o 4HE AMPLITUDE RANGE FOR EACH PLOT IS D" 4HE NARROW PEAKS AT ZERO DOPPLER
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THE "RAGG LINES FOR RADAR FREQUENCIES BELOW THAT FREQUENCY AND OUTSIDE THEM FOR
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
FREQUENCIES ABOVE 4HE POSITIVE DOPPLER RESONANT WAVE PEAK IS ABOUT D" LARGER
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THE RADAR 4HE PROCESSING USED IN DEVELOPING THESE DISPLAYS WAS
S #)4 AND
MIN AVERAGING
0ERFORMANCE -ODELING %XAMPLES OF (&372 SYSTEM PERFORMANCE MODEL
ING GENERALLY FOLLOW THE PRECEPTS DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION 4HE MAIN DIFFERENCE
HERE IS THE AVAILABILITY OF PATH
LOSS DESCRIPTORS SUCH AS THOSE SHOWN IN &IGURE
&OR EXAMPLE CONSIDER A RADAR AT -(Z WITH AN AVERAGE POWER OF K7 D"7 A
TRANSMIT
RECEIVE ANTENNA GAIN PRODUCT OF D" AND A TARGET AT NMI WITH AN 2#3
OF D"SM THEN THE RECEIVED POWER IS
0R D"7
"Y USING THE *ANUARY NIGHTTIME NOISE AS GIVEN IN &IGURE B
3.2 0R . D"
AND IF S COHERENT PROCESSING TIME IS USED
3.2 D"
!S NOTED EARLIER PROPAGATION LOSS ACCELERATES RAPIDLY WITH DISTANCE ESPECIALLY AT
HIGHER FREQUENCIES WHILE ATMOSPHERIC AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS EFFECTS WILL ACCUMU
LATE AND CONTAMINATION OF THE SURFACE WAVE RETURN WITH ECHOES RECEIVED VIA SKYWAVE
PATHS WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY SEVERE SO QUANTITATIVE PERFORMANCE PREDICTIONS AT LONG
RANGES BEYOND ^ KM SHOULD BE TREATED WITH CAUTION
,
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MENT OF OCEAN SURFACE CONDITIONS v 0ROC )%%% VOL PP n *UNE
$ " 4RIZNA AND * - (EADRICK h)ONOSPHERIC EFFECTS ON (& OVER
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3 * !NDERSON AND 9) !BRAMOVICH h! UNIFIED APPROACH TO DETECTION CLASSIFICATION AND
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PPn *ULYn!UGUST
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HORIZON RADAR v .AVAL 2ES ,AB -EMO 2EPT -AY
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2ES VOL ! PP
4 * %LKINS h! MODEL FOR HIGH FREQUENCY RADAR AURORAL CLUTTER v 2!$# 2EPT 42
-ARCH
h7ORLD DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ATMOSPHERIC RADIO NOISE v ##)2 2EPT ##)2
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IONOSPHERE SATELLITE )33 B v *!TMOS 4ERR 0HYS VOL PP n
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#ONF (& 2ADIO 3YSTEMS AND 4ECHNIQUES )%% #ONFERENCE 0UBLICATION NO 'UILDFORD
5+ *ULY PP n
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3EPTEMBER
$ ( 3INNOTT AND ' 2 (AACK h4HE USE OF OVERLAPPED SUBARRAY TECHNIQUES IN SIMULTANEOUS
RECEIVE BEAM ARRAYS v 0ROC !NTENNA !PPL 3YMP 5NIVERSITY OF )LLINOIS
3 * !NDERSON 9 ) !BRAMOVICH AND 7 - "OERNER h-EASURING POLARIZATION DYNAMICS OF THE
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*APAN !UGUST
4 ( 0EARCE h2ECEIVING ARRAY DESIGN FOR OVER THE HORIZON RADAR v '%# * 4ECHNOLOGY VOL
PP n
' & %ARL AND - * 7HITINGTON h(& RADAR !$# DYNAMIC RANGE REQUIREMENTS v RD )NT #ONF ON
!DVANCED !$ AND $! #ONVERSION 4ECHNIQUES *ULY
' & %ARL h&-#7 WAVEFORM GENERATOR REQUIREMENTS FOR IONOSPHERIC OVER THE HORIZON RADAR v
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' & %ARL h2ECEIVING SYSTEM LINEARITY REQUIREMENTS FOR (& RADAR v )%%% 4RANS )NSTRUM -EAS
VOL PP n
' & %ARL 0 # +ERR AND 0 - 2OBERTS h/4( RADAR RECEIVING SYSTEM DESIGN USING SYNOPTIC
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PP n
3 * !NDERSON h3IMULATION AND MODELING FOR THE *INDALEE OVER THE HORIZON RADAR v -ATH AND
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' & %ARL h#ONSIDERATION OF RECIPROCAL MIXING IN (& /4( RADAR DESIGN v 0ROC TH )NT #ONF (&
2ADIO 3YSTEMS AND 4ECHNIQUES )%% #ONFERENCE 0UBLICATION NO *ULY PP n
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
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4 ( 0EARCE h#ALIBRATION OF A LARGE RECEIVING ARRAY FOR (& RADAR v 0ROC )NT #ONF (& 2ADIO
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' * &RAZER AND 9 ) !BRAMOVICH h1UANTIFYING MULTI CHANNEL RECEIVER CALIBRATION v $34/
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4 4HAYAPARAN AND 3 +ENNEDY h$ETECTION OF A MANEUVERING AIR TARGET IN SEA CLUTTER USING
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9 ) !BRAMOVICH 3 * !NDERSON ! 9 'OROKHOV AND . + 3PENCER h3TOCHASTICALLY CON
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%2! 4ECHNOLOGY
/," 1
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4HE TERMS GROUND PENETRATING RADAR '02 GROUND PROBING RADAR SUBSURFACE RADAR
OR SURFACE PENETRATING RADAR 302 REFER TO A RADAR
BASED ELECTROMAGNETIC TECHNIQUE
DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR THE LOCATION OF OBJECTS OR INTERFACES BURIED BENEATH THE %ARTHS
SURFACE OR LOCATED WITHIN A VISUALLY OPAQUE STRUCTURE '02 IS A SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLE OF
THE EXPLOITATION OF ULTRAWIDEBAND RADAR AND TYPICALLY A '02 WITH A RANGE OF M WOULD
OPERATE OVER THE RANGE '(Z TO '(Z
!LTHOUGH '02 HAS MANY SIMILARITIES TO RADAR SYSTEMS THERE ARE SOME KEY DIFFER
ENCES WHICH NEED TO BE APPRECIATED WHEN COMPARING THEM WITH CONVENTIONAL RADAR
SYSTEMS '02 SYSTEMS ARE A SPECIAL CLASS OF ULTRAWIDEBAND 57" RADAR SYSTEM AND
CAN RADIATE ENERGY IN THE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES FROM A FEW -(Z UP TO '(Z WITH A
BANDWIDTH OF UP TO A DECADE BUT MORE USUALLY n OCTAVES 4HE TYPICAL AVERAGE RADI
ATED POWER INTEGRATED OVER THE BAND OF INTEREST MAY BE IN THE ORDER OF A MILLIWATT BUT
THE POWER PER (Z MAY BE AS LOW AS PICOWATTS
'02 IS USUALLY OPERATED SO THAT THE TARGET WHICH IS WITHIN A LOSSY DIELECTRIC IS
ONLY A FEW WAVELENGTHS FROM THE APERTURE OF ANTENNA 4HE TOTAL PATH LOSSES WITHIN A
FEW WAVELENGTHS MAY REACH D" OR MORE DEPENDING ON THE MATERIAL -ANY '02
SYSTEMS OPERATE IN A REGION WHERE THE WAVELENGTHS RADIATED ARE GREATER OR IN THE SAME
ORDER OF MAGNITUDE AS THE TARGET DIMENSIONS 4HUS '02 OPERATES BETWEEN THE 2AYLEIGH
REGION AND -IE OR RESONANCE REGION OF THE TARGET DIMENSIONS 4HIS IS VERY DIFFERENT
FROM CONVENTIONAL RADAR SYSTEMS WHERE THE TARGET DIMENSIONS ARE MUCH LARGER THAN THE
WAVELENGTH OF THE INCIDENT RADIATION IE THE OPTICAL REGION
4HE TECHNOLOGY OF '02 IS LARGELY APPLICATIONS
ORIENTED AND THE OVERALL DESIGN PHI
LOSOPHY AS WELL AS THE HARDWARE IS USUALLY DEPENDENT ON THE TARGET TYPE AND THE MATE
RIAL OF THE TARGET AND ITS SURROUNDINGS '02 IS VULNERABLE TO EXTREMELY HIGH LEVELS OF
CLUTTER AT SHORT RANGES AND THIS RATHER THAN SIGNALNOISE RECOVERY IS ITS MAJOR TECHNICAL
CHALLENGE 4HE SYSTEM TO BE SPECIFIED SHOULD TAKE THIS INTO ACCOUNT !LL THESE ASPECTS
POSE SPECIAL DESIGN PROBLEMS FOR '02 WHICH IS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL BY $ANIELS 4HIS
CHAPTER IS A SUMMARY OF THAT MATERIAL AND IS REFERENCED BY COURTESY OF THE )%%
! TYPICAL '02 SYSTEM IS SHOWN IN &IGURE AND CONSISTS OF A PAIR OF ANTENNAS
ONE FOR TRANSMIT AND ONE FOR RECEIVE CONNECTED TO THE TRANSMITTER RECEIVER AND PROCES
SOR AND CONTAINED WITHIN A SEALED ENCLOSURE A BATTERY AND CONTROL PROCESSOR AND DIS
PLAY UNIT 4HE WHEELS DRIVE A SHAFT ENCODER THAT TRIGGERS DATA ACQUISITION AND HENCE THE
DISPLAY THAT IS SYNCHRONISED TO THE MOVEMENT OF THE SYSTEM !N EXAMPLE OF THE DISPLAY
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4YPICAL '02 SYSTEM #OURTESY 53 2ADAR
WHICH TAKES THE FORM OF A CROSS SECTION OF THE GROUND SURVEYED BY THE '02 IS SHOWN
IN &IGURE 4HE HORIZONTAL SCALE IS CM PER MARKER AND THE VERTICAL SCALE IS TIME
IN NANOSECONDS NS !N EXPLANATION OF THE IMAGE IS PROVIDED LATER IN THIS CHAPTER
'02 SYSTEM DESIGN CAN BE CLASSIFIED INTO TWO GROUPS '02 SYSTEMS THAT TRANSMIT AN
IMPULSE AND RECEIVE THE REFLECTED SIGNAL FROM THE TARGET USING A SAMPLING RECEIVER CAN
BE CONSIDERED TO OPERATE IN THE TIME DOMAIN '02 SYSTEMS THAT TRANSMIT INDIVIDUAL FRE
QUENCIES IN A SEQUENTIAL MANNER AND RECEIVE THE REFLECTED SIGNAL FROM THE TARGET USING A
FREQUENCY CONVERSION RECEIVER CAN BE CONSIDERED TO OPERATE IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN
4HE FIRST USE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC SIGNALS TO DETERMINE THE PRESENCE OF REMOTE TERRES
TRIAL METAL OBJECTS IS GENERALLY ATTRIBUTED TO (LSMEYER IN BUT THE FIRST DESCRIPTION
OF THEIR USE FOR LOCATION OF BURIED OBJECTS APPEARED SIX YEARS LATER IN A 'ERMAN PATENT
BY ,EIMBACH AND ,WY 4HE WORK OF (LSENBECK IN APPEARS TO BE THE FIRST USE
OF PULSED TECHNIQUES TO DETERMINE THE STRUCTURE OF BURIED FEATURES (E NOTED THAT ANY
&)'52% 4YPICAL DISPLAY FROM '02
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
DIELECTRIC VARIATION NOT NECESSARILY INVOLVING CONDUCTIVITY WOULD ALSO PRODUCE REFLEC
TIONS AND THAT THE TECHNIQUE THROUGH THE EASIER REALIZATION OF DIRECTIONAL SOURCES HAD
ADVANTAGES OVER SEISMIC METHODS 0ULSED TECHNIQUES WERE DEVELOPED FROM THE S
ONWARD AS A MEANS OF PROBING TO CONSIDERABLE DEPTHS IN ICE 3TEENSON AND %VANS
IN FRESH WATER AND SALT DEPOSITS 5NTERBERGER IN DESERT SAND AND ROCK FORMATIONS
+ADABA AND -OREY 0ROBING OF ROCK AND COAL WAS ALSO INVESTIGATED BY #OOK AS
WELL AS 2OE ALTHOUGH THE HIGHER ATTENUATION IN THE LATTER MATERIAL MEANT THAT DEPTHS
GREATER THAN A FEW METERS WERE IMPRACTICAL .ILSSON GIVES A MORE EXTENDED ACCOUNT
OF THE HISTORY OF '02 AND ITS GROWTH UP TO THE MID S &ROM THE S THE RANGE OF
APPLICATIONS HAS BEEN EXPANDING STEADILY AND NOW INCLUDES THOSE GIVEN IN 4ABLE
0URPOSE BUILT EQUIPMENT FOR EACH OF THESE APPLICATIONS HAS BEEN BEING DEVELOPED AND
THE USER NOW HAS A BETTER CHOICE OF EQUIPMENT AND TECHNIQUES
'02 HAS ADVANCED RAPIDLY AS A RESULT OF A VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS BUT AS THE REQUIRE
MENTS HAVE BECOME MORE DEMANDING SO THE EQUIPMENT TECHNIQUES AND DATA PROCESS
ING METHODS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED AND REFINED
! '02 TRANSMITS A REGULAR SEQUENCE OF LOW POWER PULSES OF ELECTROMAGNETIC
ENERGY INTO THE MATERIAL OR GROUND AND THEN RECEIVES AND DETECTS THE WEAK REFLECTED
SIGNAL FROM THE BURIED TARGET 4HE ENERGY IS IN THE FORM OF EITHER A VERY SHORT DURA
TION IMPULSE A SWEEP OVER A RANGE OF FREQUENCIES RADIATION OF NOISE OVER A DEFINED
BAND OR A PSEUDORANDOM CODED SEQUENCE OF PULSES -OST '02 SYSTEMS ALL OF WHICH
NEED TO COMPLY WITH THE RELEVANT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS REGARDING
RADIO TRANSMITTERS OPERATE WITHIN THE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES FROM -(Z TO '(Z
AND CAN HAVE A BANDWIDTH OF SEVERAL '(Z 4HE &## REQUIREMENT FOR 57" LIMITS
THE RADIATED POWER TO n D"M (Zn 4HE TOPIC OF RADAR SYSTEM DESIGN IS COVERED
IN MANY TEXTS AND USEFUL INFORMATION WILL BE FOUND IN THE FOLLOWING REFERENCES
$ANIELS #OOK AND "ERNFELD 3KOLNIK .ATHANSON 7EHNER 'ALATI AND
!STANIN AND +OSTYLEV
4HE BURIED TARGET CAN BE A CONDUCTOR A DIELECTRIC OR COMBINATIONS OF BOTH 4HE
SURROUNDING HOST MATERIAL CAN BE SOIL EARTH MATERIALS WOOD ROCKS ICE FRESH WATER OR
MANMADE MATERIALS SUCH AS CONCRETE OR BRICK ! TYPICAL '02 ACHIEVES A RANGE OF UP TO
A FEW METERS BUT SOME SPECIAL SYSTEMS CAN PENETRATE UP TO HUNDREDS OF METERS OR EVEN
KILOMETERS ! FEW '02 SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN OPERATED FROM AIRCRAFT AND FROM SATELLITES
TO IMAGE GEOLOGICAL FEATURES BURIED BENEATH THE 3AHARAN DESERTS AS WELL AS MEASURING
THE DEPTH OF THE -OON AND FEATURES ON -ARS OR COMETS 4HE RANGE OF THE '02 IN THE
GROUND IS LIMITED BECAUSE OF THE ABSORPTION THE SIGNAL UNDERGOES WHILE IT TRAVELS ON
ITS TWO WAY PATH THROUGH THE GROUND MATERIAL '02 WORKS WELL THROUGH MATERIALS SUCH
AS GRANITE DRY SAND SNOW ICE AND FRESH WATER BUT WILL NOT PENETRATE CERTAIN CLAYS THAT
4!",% -AIN !PPLICATIONS OF '02
!RCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS
"RIDGE DECK ANALYSIS
$ETECTION OF BURIED MINES ANTI
PERSONNEL AND ANTI
TANK
&ORENSIC INVESTIGATIONS DETECTING BURIED BODIES
'EOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS
0IPES AND CABLE DETECTION
2AIL TRACK AND BED INSPECTION
2OAD CONDITION SURVEY
3NOW ICE AND GLACIER
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
ARE HIGH IN SALT CONTENT OR SALT WATER BECAUSE OF THE HIGH ABSORPTION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC
ENERGY OF SUCH MATERIALS &OR COMPARISON THE TOTAL TWO
WAY PATH LOSS FROM %ARTH TO
THE -OON USING A '(Z RADAR WOULD BE GREATER THAN D" FOR A RANGE OF
KM AND A TARGET RADAR CROSS SECTION IN THE ORDER OF M WHEREAS A '02 RADAR OFTEN
ENCOUNTERS A PATH LOSS IN EXCESS OF D" FOR RANGES OF LESS THAN A METER
)N AIR THE '02 SIGNAL TRAVELS AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT BUT IS SLOWED DOWN IN GROUND
MATERIALS BY THEIR DIELECTRIC CONSTANT HENCE TRUE RANGE NEEDS CALIBRATING FOR EACH
MATERIAL '02 WILL NOT PENETRATE METAL BECAUSE OF THE LATTERS CONDUCTIVITY
4HERE ARE NOW A NUMBER OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE EQUIPMENTS AND THE TECHNIQUE
IS GRADUALLY DEVELOPING IN SCOPE AND CAPABILITY -ANY '02 SYSTEMS ARE MOBILE AND
MOUNTED ON WHEELS OR SKIDS TO BE MOVED BY HAND BUT SYSTEMS CAN BE USED ON VEHICLES
FOR RAPID SURVEY BY MEANS OF AN ARRAY OF ANTENNAS /THER '02 SYSTEMS ARE DESIGNED
TO BE INSERTED INTO BOREHOLES TO PROVIDE IMAGES OF THE INTERVENING ROCK 4YPICAL '02
SYSTEM ATTRIBUTES ARE GIVEN IN 4ABLE
-OST '02 SYSTEMS USE SEPARATE MAN
PORTABLE TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE ANTENNAS
WHICH ARE PLACED ON THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND AND MOVED IN A KNOWN PATTERN OVER THE
SURFACE OF THE GROUND OR MATERIAL UNDER INVESTIGATION AND AN IMAGE CAN BE GENERATED
IN REAL TIME ON A DISPLAY EITHER IN GREY SCALE OR IN COLOR "Y SYSTEMATICALLY SURVEYING
THE AREA IN A REGULAR GRID PATTERN A RADAR IMAGE OF THE GROUND CAN BE BUILT UP '02
IMAGES ARE DISPLAYED EITHER AS TWO
DIMENSIONAL REPRESENTATIONS USING HORIZONTAL
X OR Y AND DEPTH Z AXES OR A HORIZONTAL PLANE REPRESENTATION X Y AT A GIVEN DEPTH
Z OR AS A THREE
DIMENSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION '02 DATA MAY BE CLASSIFIED AS !
SCAN
"
SCAN OR #
SCAN DEPENDING ON THE PLANE OF IMAGE NOTE THESE ARE NOT THE SAME AS
CONVENTIONAL RADAR ! " AND # SCANS ! '02 !
SCAN IS A MEASUREMENT AT A SINGLE
FIXED POINT IN SPACE AND IS DISPLAYED IN AMPLITUDE Y AND RANGE X ! "
SCAN IS A
REPRESENTATION USUALLY IN GRAYSCALE OR COLOR
CODED IMAGE INTENSITY OF A PLANE X Z OR
Y Z OF SCAN WHEREAS A #
SCAN REPRESENTS A HORIZONTAL PLANE X Y AT A GIVEN DEPTH
Z !LTERNATIVELY THE '02 MAY BE DESIGNED TO PROVIDE AN AUDIBLE WARNING OF TARGET
PRESENCE WHILE THE '02 IS MOVED
4HE '02 IMAGE OF A TARGET IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM ITS OPTICAL IMAGE BECAUSE THE
WAVELENGTHS OF THE ILLUMINATING RADIATION ARE SIMILAR IN DIMENSION TO THE TARGET 4HIS
RESULTS IN A MUCH LOWER DEFINITION IN THE '02 IMAGE AND ONE THAT IS HIGHLY DEPENDENT
ON THE PROPAGATION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GROUND 4HE BEAM PATTERN OF THE ANTENNA IS
WIDELY SPREAD IN THE DIELECTRIC AND THIS DEGRADES THE SPATIAL RESOLUTION OF THE IMAGE
UNLESS CORRECTED 2EFRACTION AND ANISOTROPIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GROUND MAY ALSO
DISTORT THE IMAGE &OR SOME LONGER
RANGE SYSTEMS SYNTHETIC APERTURE PROCESSING TECH
NIQUES ARE USED TO OPTIMIZE THE RESOLUTION OF THE IMAGE AND WILL BE DISCUSSED LATER
4!",% #HARACTERISTICS OF '02 3YSTEMS IN A 3OIL OF 2ELATIVE $IELECTRIC #ONSTANT OF AND
,OSS 4ANGENT OF
0ULSE $URATION IN NS
#ENTER &REQUENCY IN -(Z
2ANGE IN -ETERS
$EPTH 2ESOLUTION
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
5NPROCESSED '02 IMAGES OFTEN SHOW hBRIGHT SPOTSv CAUSED BY MULTIPLE INTER
NAL REFLECTIONS AS WELL AS A DISTORTION OF THE ASPECT RATIO OF THE IMAGE OF THE TARGET
CAUSED BY VARIATIONS IN THE VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION 3YMMETRICAL TARGETS SUCH AS
SPHERES OR PIPES CAUSE MIGRATION OF THE REFLECTED ENERGY TO A HYPERBOLIC PATTERN '02
IMAGES CAN BE PROCESSED TO COMPENSATE FOR THESE EFFECTS AND THIS IS USUALLY CARRIED
OUT OFFLINE ! '02 CAN BE DESIGNED TO DETECT SPECIFIC TARGETS SUCH AS INTERFACES IN
ROADS PIPES AND CABLES BY MEANS OF POLARIZED RADIATION AND LOCALIZED OBJECTS SUCH
AS CUBES SPHERES AND CYLINDERS '02 IS CAPABLE OF DETECTING FEATURES MANY HUNDREDS
OF YEARS OLD HENCE A PROSPECTIVE SITE SHOULD REMAIN UNEXCAVATED PRIOR TO SURVEY SO
AS TO PRESERVE ITS INFORMATION
! SIMPLIFIED DIAGRAM OF THE VARIOUS SOURCES OF CLUTTER IN A '02 ENVIRONMENT IS
GIVEN IN &IGURE AND IT CAN BE SEEN THAT SEPARATION OF THE VARIOUS SIGNALS IS THE KEY
TO IDENTIFYING THE WANTED SIGNAL
)NEVITABLY THERE HAVE BEEN SOME CLAIMS FOR '02 CAPABILITY THAT ARE SIMPLY OUT
SIDE THE REALMS OF KNOWN PHYSICS AND THESE SEEM TO HAVE BEEN SEIZED ON BY SOME
SECTIONS OF THE MEDIA ! CLAIM WAS MADE THAT A PARTICULAR '02 AND ITS OPERATOR
COULD DETECT TARGETS THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS AT A DEPTH OF EIGHT METERS #LEARLY THE
WAVELENGTHS CAPABLE OF PROPAGATING TO EIGHT METERS IN SOIL WOULD BE SO MUCH LARGER
THAN A GOLF BALLnSIZED TARGET THAT THE RADAR CROSS
SECTIONAL AREA OF THE LATTER WOULD
FADE INTO INSIGNIFICANCE EVEN NOISE 4HE PERSUASIVENESS OF THE CLAIMANT AND THE LACK
OF UNDERSTANDING OF BASIC PHYSICS ON THE PART OF SOME POTENTIAL USERS ENABLED THIS
KIND OF CLAIM TO BE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED #LAIMS WERE MADE THAT A '02 HAD BEEN
DEVELOPED hTHAT CAN PROVIDE THREE
DIMENSIONAL IMAGES OF OBJECTS UP TO METERS
BELOW THE SURFACE OF LAND AND SEA 3UCH A DEVICE WOULD ALLOW VERIFIERS TO IDENTIFY
UNDERGROUND WEAPONS FACILITIES LIKE THOSE OF CONCERN IN ,IBYA )RAQ AND .ORTH
+OREA 4HE UNDERWATER DETECTION CAPABILITY COULD ALSO BE USED TO VERIFY TREATIES
DEALING WITH SUBMARINES AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS POSITIONED ON THE SEABEDv (OW WELL
&)'52% 'ENERAL SYSTEM OPERATION OF '02 SHOWING TARGETS AND SOURCES OF CLUTTER #OURTESY )%%
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
'02 WOULD PROPAGATE THROUGH SEAWATER IS AN INTERESTING QUESTION GIVEN THE KNOWN
ATTENUATION OF SEAWATER AT RADAR FREQUENCIES ! CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF SOME OF THE CLAIMS
ABOUT THE SAME RADAR WAS PUBLISHED BY 4ULEY AND IS INTERESTING READING
*9-
-"*,"*/" /
, )NTRODUCTION #ONVENTIONAL RADAR SYSTEMS ARE GENERALLY NOT SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTED
BY THE PROPAGATION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MEDIUM THE RADAR SIGNALS TRAVEL THROUGH APART
FROM RAIN ABSORPTION SPECTRA OF THE ATMOSPHERE OR IONIZED ATMOSPHERIC LAYERS 4HIS IS
DEFINITELY NOT THE CASE WITH '02 WHERE THE TRANSMISSION MEDIUM MAY BE NON
ISOTRO
PIC HIGH DIELECTRIC AND HIGH LOSS AND MAY BE LAYERED 4HEREFORE AN UNDERSTANDING OF
SOIL AND MATERIAL PROPAGATION CHARACTERISTICS IS IMPORTANT AND THIS SECTION DESCRIBES
THE KEY FEATURES OF THE PHYSICS OF PROPAGATION IN MATERIALS
-AXWELLS EQUATIONS ARE THE FOUNDATION FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF THE PROPAGATION OF
ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES )N FREE SPACE THE MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY AND ELECTRIC PERMITTIVITY
ARE CONSTANTS THAT IS THEY ARE INDEPENDENT OF FREQUENCY AND THE MEDIUM IS NOT DISPERSIVE
)N A DIELECTRIC WITH A ZERO LOSS TANGENT NO LOSSES DUE TO ATTENUATION ARE ENCOUNTERED AND
HENCE THERE IS NO CONSIDERATION OF THE ATTENUATION WHICH OCCURS IN REAL DIELECTRIC MEDIA
)F AN ALTERNATING ELECTRIC FIELD IS APPLIED TO A MATERIAL THE INDIVIDUAL MOLECULES WILL
BE INDUCED TO ROTATE IN AN OSCILLATORY MANNER ABOUT AN AXIS THROUGH THEIR CENTERS THE
INERTIA OF THE MOLECULES PREVENTING THEM FROM RESPONDING INSTANTANEOUSLY 3IMILAR
TRANSLATIONAL EFFECTS CAN OCCUR 4HE POLARIZATION PRODUCED BY AN APPLIED FIELD SUCH AS
A PROPAGATING RADAR WAVE IS CLOSELY RELATED TO THE THERMAL MOBILITY OF THE MOLECULES
AND IS THEREFORE STRONGLY TEMPERATURE DEPENDENT .OTE THAT POLARIZATION IN THIS CONTEXT
IS DIFFERENT FROM THE POLARIZATION OF %- WAVES )N GENERAL THE RELAXATION TIME WHICH
MAY BE EXPRESSED AS A RELAXATION FREQUENCY DEPENDS ON ACTIVATION ENERGY THE NATURAL
FREQUENCY OF OSCILLATION OF THE POLARIZED PARTICLES AND ON TEMPERATURE 2ELAXATION
FREQUENCIES VARY WIDELY BETWEEN DIFFERENT MATERIALS
&OR EXAMPLE MAXIMUM ABSORPTION OCCURS AT VERY LOW FREQUENCIES IN ICE (Z
WHEREAS IT TAKES PLACE IN THE MICROWAVE REGION IN WATER (Zn (Z THUS THE
EFFECTS OF THIS PHENOMENON CAN HAVE A DIRECT BEARING UPON THE DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
OF MATERIALS AT THE FREQUENCIES EMPLOYED BY '02S ESPECIALLY IF MOISTURE IS PRESENT
WITHIN A MATERIAL 4HERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER MECHANISMS WHICH CAUSE A SEPARA
TION OF POSITIVELY AND NEGATIVELY CHARGED IONS RESULTING IN ELECTRIC POLARIZATION 4HESE
MECHANISMS CAN BE ASSOCIATED WITH IONIC ATMOSPHERES SURROUNDING COLLOIDAL PARTICLES
PARTICULARLY CLAY MINERALS ABSORBED WATER AND PORE EFFECTS AS WELL AS INTERFACIAL
PHENOMENON BETWEEN PARTICLES
4HE GENERAL FORM OF THE MODEL THAT DESCRIBES THE FREQUENCY DEPENDENCE OF SUCH
SYSTEMS IS THE $EBYE RELAXATION EQUATION
E ` I E `` E c
E S
Ec
IWT
WHERE
D ` IS THE REAL PART OF THE DIELECTRIC PERMITTIVITY
D ` REAL PART OF THE DIELECTRIC PERMITTIVITY
D p IMAGINARY PART OF THE DIELECTRIC PERMITTIVITY
D c HIGH FREQUENCY LIMITING VALUE OF THE PERMITTIVITY
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
D S LOW FREQUENCY LIMITING VALUE OF THE PERMITTIVITY
V RADIAN FREQUENCY O F
S RELAXATION TIME CONSTANT
4HE FREQUENCY OF MAXIMUM MOVEMENT AND LOSS OCCURS AT V S
)N GENERAL SINGLE RELAXATIONS ARE RARELY OBSERVED IN NATURAL SYSTEMS )NSTEAD
THERE ARE DISTRIBUTIONS OF RELAXATIONS CORRESPONDING TO DISTRIBUTIONS OF SIZE SCALES
THAT INFLUENCE MOVEMENT OF CHARGE 4HERE ARE SEVERAL EQUATIONS DESCRIBING SUCH
DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS WITH THE MOST COMMON EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS IN AGREEMENT
WITH THE MODEL FROM #OLE AND #OLE
E ` I E `` E c
E S
Ec
IWT A
WHERE @ DESCRIBES THE BREADTH OF THE TIME CONSTANT DISTRIBUTION FROM A SINGLE RELAXATION
@ TO AN INFINITELY BROAD DISTRIBUTION @ WITH A COMMON PROCESS $IFFERENT
POLARIZATION PROCESSES MAY BE DESCRIBED BY A SERIES OF #OLE
#OLE EQUATIONS WITH DIF
FERENT VALUES OF @ AND OTHER PARAMETERS
4HE ELECTROMAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF A BURIED TARGET MUST BE DIFFERENT FROM THE SUR
ROUNDING SOIL OR MATERIAL AND THIS MEANS THAT TO A FIRST ORDER ITS RELATIVE DIELECTRIC CON
STANT SHOULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY LESSER OR GREATER THAN THE HOST SOIL 4YPICALLY MOST SOILS
EXHIBIT A RELATIVE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT WHICH RANGES BETWEEN TO &RESH WATER HAS
A RELATIVE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT OF APPROXIMATELY )T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE GROUND
AND SURFACE ARE QUITE LIKELY TO BE INHOMOGENEOUS AND CONTAIN INCLUSIONS OF OTHER ROCKS
OF VARIOUS SIZE AS WELL AS MANMADE DEBRIS 4HIS SUGGESTS THAT THE SIGNAL TO CLUTTER PER
FORMANCE OF THE SENSOR IS LIKELY TO BE AN IMPORTANT PERFORMANCE FACTOR #LUTTER MAY BE
REGARDED AS ANY RADAR RETURN THAT IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THE WANTED TARGET AND NEEDS TO
BE DEFINED WITH RESPECT TO A PARTICULAR APPLICATION
!TTENUATION %LECTROMAGNETIC WAVES PROPAGATING THROUGH NATURAL MEDIA EXPERI
ENCE LOSSES TO BOTH THE ELECTRIC % OR MAGNETIC ( FIELDS 4HIS CAUSES ATTENUATION
OF THE ORIGINAL ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE 0LANE WAVES ARE GOOD APPROXIMATIONS TO REAL
WAVES IN MANY PRACTICAL SITUATIONS -ORE COMPLICATED ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVEFRONTS
CAN BE CONSIDERED AS A SUPERIMPOSITION OF PLANE WAVES AND THIS METHOD MAY BE USED
TO GAIN AN INSIGHT INTO MORE COMPLEX SITUATIONS &OR MOST SOILS OF INTEREST IN '02 THE
MAGNETIC RESPONSE IS WEAK AND NEED NOT BE CONSIDERED AS A COMPLEX QUANTITY UNLIKE
THE PERMITTIVITY AND CONDUCTIVITY (OWEVER IN CERTAIN SOIL TYPES SUCH AS THOSE DERIVED
FROM VOLCANIC ROCKS OR OTHERWISE HIGH IN IRON CONTENT FULL CONSIDERATION OF THE MAG
NETIC PROPERTIES IS NECESSARY )N THE CASE OF LOSSY DIELECTRIC MATERIALS BOTH CONDUCTION
AND DIELECTRIC EFFECTS CAUSE ABSORPTION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
4HE ELECTROMAGNETIC MATERIAL PROPERTIES THAT DESCRIBE SUCH A SYSTEM ARE IN THE COM
PLEX PROPAGATION CONSTANT F
G IK A IA
WHERE F PROPAGATION CONSTANT
K WAVE NUMBER O K
@ ATTENUATION CONSTANT ;NEPERSM=
A PHASE CONSTANT ;RADIANSM=
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE FIELD AT A DISTANCE Z FROM THE SOURCE IS GIVEN BY
% Z T % E
A Z E J W T
A Z
4HE WAVELENGTH K IN THE MEDIUM IS IN METERS
L
P V
A
F
WHERE F IS FREQUENCY IN (ERTZ
4HE LOSSES IN SUCH SYSTEMS ARE DESCRIBED IN TERMS OF TANGENTS OF LOSS ANGLES C
BETWEEN ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS 4HE ELECTRICAL LOSS TANGENT IS GIVEN BY
E ``
S
S
TAN D E
WHICH CAN BE SIMPLIFIED TO TAN D E y
FOR LOW LOSS MATERIALS
E` WE`
WE`
REPRESENTING THE SUM OF THE CHARGE TRANSPORT AND POLARIZATION RELAXATION LOSSES AND THE
PHASE ANGLE BETWEEN ELECTRIC FIELD AND CURRENT DENSITY 4HE SKIN DEPTH OR ATTENUATION
LENGTH IS @ ;M= THE DISTANCE ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY TRAVELS WHILE BEING ATTENUATED
BY E IN AMPLITUDE 4HIS DISTANCE IS KNOWN AS THE SKIN DEPTH D AND PROVIDES AN INITIAL
GUIDE TO THE USEFUL PENETRATION DEPTH OF A '02 SYSTEM ALTHOUGH IN SOME MEDIA THE
USEFUL RANGE MAY BE GREATER
4HE INDIVIDUAL PROPAGATION CONSTANTS CAN BE WRITTEN AS
WHERE
ME `
E ``
A W
A W
E`
ME `
E ``
E`
@ ATTENUATION FACTOR
A PHASE CONSTANT
AND THE DIMENSIONLESS FACTOR D pD ` IS MORE COMMONLY TERMED THE MATERIAL LOSS TANGENT
4HIS DISCUSSION HAS NOT CONSIDERED THE ELECTROMAGNETIC AND MAGNETIC LOSS TANGENT
AND THESE MAY NEED TO BE CONSIDERED IN SPECIAL CASES
)T CAN BE SEEN FROM THE ABOVE EXPRESSIONS THAT THE ATTENUATION CONSTANT OF A MATE
RIAL IS TO A FIRST ORDER LINEARLY RELATED IN D"Mn TO FREQUENCY )T IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO
CONSIDER ONLY THE LOW FREQUENCY CONDUCTIVITY WHEN ATTEMPTING TO DETERMINE THE LOSS
TANGENT OVER THE FREQUENCY RANGE TO (Z )N THE CASE OF A MATERIAL THAT IS DRY
AND RELATIVELY LOSSLESS IT MAY BE REASONABLE TO CONSIDER THAT TAN CE IS CONSTANT OVER THAT
FREQUENCY RANGE (OWEVER FOR MATERIALS THAT ARE WET AND LOSSY SUCH AN APPROXIMATION
IS INVALID (OWEVER THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE EFFECTIVE
PENETRATION DEPTH NOTABLY THE STRENGTH OF REFLECTION FROM THE TARGET SOUGHT AND THE
DEGREE OF CLUTTER SUPPRESSION OF WHICH THE SYSTEM IS CAPABLE
! FIRST ORDER ESTIMATE OF THE VARIOUS CONTRIBUTIONS TO SIGNAL LOSS CAN BE CARRIED OUT
USING THE STANDARD RADAR RANGE EQUATION ALTHOUGH THIS IS ONLY APPLICABLE FOR FAR FIELD
CONDITIONS AND THUS HAS RESTRICTIONS
0R
0T !'S K
A 2
E
P 2
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
WHERE
0 T
0R
!
'
2
@
K
TRANSMITTED POWER IN WATTS
RECEIVED POWER IN WATTS
ANTENNA GAIN
ANTENNA EFFECTIVE APERTURE
RANGE IN METERS
TARGET RADAR CROSS SECTION
CALIBRATION COEFFICIENT
4HE CUMULATIVE LOSSES INCLUDE THE TRANSMISSION COEFFICIENTS INTO THE GROUND THE
SPREADING LOSSES DESCRIBE THE 2n LOSSES FOR A TARGET OF M AND THE ATTENUATION
LOSSES ARE FOR A SOIL WITH A DR OF AND TAN C OF &IXED LOSSES INCLUDE THE TRANS
MISSION LOSSES INTO THE SOIL AND THE EFFECTIVE RADAR CROSS SECTION OF THE TARGET WHICH
COMPRISES ITS TRUE RADAR CROSS SECTION AND REFLECTION LOSS FROM THE TARGET .OTE THAT
A CONDUCTING REFLECTOR WILL HAVE LOW RETURN LOSS WHEREAS A NONCONDUCTING REFLECTOR
WILL HAVE A HIGH RETURN LOSS )N &IGURE THE CALCULATION HAS BEEN DERIVED FROM
METER TO METERS AS THE RADAR RANGE EQUATION IS NOT AN ACCURATE MODEL IN THIS
RANGE LESS THAN METER AND THE PURPOSE OF THE EXPLANATION IS TO PROVIDE A BASIC
INTRODUCTION TO FIRST ORDER SIGNAL ESTIMATION
#
2EFLECTION )N ANY ESTIMATION OF RECEIVED SIGNAL LEVEL IT IS NECESSARY TO CONSIDER
THE COEFFICIENTS OF REFLECTION AND TRANSMISSION AS THE WAVE PASSES THROUGH THE DIELECTRIC
TO THE TARGET AND 3NELLS ,AWS DESCRIBE THE ASSOCIATED ANGLES OF INCIDENCE REFLECTION
TRANSMISSION AND REFRACTION 7HERE LOSSY MATERIALS ARE INVOLVED COMPLEX ANGLES OF
REFRACTION MAY OCCUR UNLIKE THE SIMPLE CLASSICAL CASE AND POLARIZATION AND THE 3TOKES
MATRIX MAY ALSO BE REQUIRED FOR ORIENTED HIGH ASPECT RATIO FEATURES LIKE PIPES WIRES
AND FRACTURES
$
!
!! "!
&)'52% ,OSSES FOR '02 SIGNAL VERSUS RANGE #OURTESY )%%
"!!
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE INTRINSIC IMPEDANCE G OF A MEDIUM IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ELECTRIC
FIELD % AND THE MAGNETIC FIELD ( AND IS A COMPLEX QUANTITY GIVEN BY
H
JWM
S
JWE
!T THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN TWO MEDIA SOME ENERGY WILL BE REFLECTED AND THE
REMAINDER TRANSMITTED 4HE REFLECTED FIELD STRENGTH IS DESCRIBED BY THE REFLECTION
COEFFICIENT R
R
H
H
H H
WHERE G AND G ARE THE IMPEDANCES OF MEDIUM AND RESPECTIVELY
4HE REFLECTION COEFFICIENT HAS A POSITIVE VALUE WHEN G G SUCH AS WHERE AN
AIR
FILLED VOID EXISTS IN A DIELECTRIC MATERIAL 4HE EFFECT ON A PULSE WAVEFORM IS TO
CHANGE THE PHASE OF THE REFLECTED WAVELET SO THAT TARGETS WITH DIFFERENT RELATIVE DIELEC
TRIC CONSTANTS TO THE HOST MATERIAL SHOW DIFFERENT PHASE PATTERNS OF THE REFLECTED SIGNAL
(OWEVER THE PROPAGATION PARAMETERS RELATIVE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT AND LOSS TANGENT OF
THE HOST MATERIAL THE GEOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TARGET AND ITS DIELECTRIC PARAM
ETERS AFFECT THE AMPLITUDE OF THE REFLECTED SIGNAL
#LUTTER ! MAJOR DIFFICULTY FOR OPERATION OF '02 SYSTEMS IS THE PRESENCE OF
CLUTTER WITHIN THE MATERIAL #LUTTER IS DEFINED AS SOURCES OF UNWANTED REFLECTIONS THAT
OCCUR WITHIN THE EFFECTIVE BANDWIDTH AND SEARCH WINDOW OF THE RADAR AND PRESENT
AS SPATIALLY COHERENT REFLECTORS 4HE DEFINITION OF CLUTTER VERY MUCH DEPENDS ON THE
WANTED TARGET 4HE OPERATOR OF A '02 SYSTEM SEARCHING FOR PIPES MAY CLASSIFY THE
INTERFACES BETWEEN ROAD LAYERS AS CLUTTER WHEREAS THE OPERATOR OF A SYSTEM MEASURING
ROAD LAYER THICKNESS MIGHT CONSIDER PIPES AND CABLES AS SOURCES OF CLUTTER #AREFUL
DEFINITION AND UNDERSTANDING ARE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT IN SELECTING AND OPERATING THE
BEST SYSTEM AND PROCESSING ALGORITHMS #LUTTER CAN COMPLETELY OBSCURE THE BURIED
TARGET AND A PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF ITS SOURCE AND IMPACT ON THE RADAR IS ESSENTIAL
0OLARIZATION ! COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF THE RADAR SCATTERING CROSS SECTION OF
A TARGET INCLUDES A DESCRIPTION OF ITS POLARIZATION SCATTERING CHARACTERISTICS NOT THE
SAME AS MOLECULAR POLARIZATION 4HE POLARIZING PROPERTIES OF TARGETS ARE DESCRIBED
BY THE 3TOKES PARAMETERS AND THE POLARIZATION COORDINATES CAN BE REPRESENTED ON
THE 0OINCARE 3PHERE !LL OF THESE ARE WELL DESCRIBED IN STANDARD TEXTS ON OPTICS AND
ELECTROMAGNETIC THEORY )N SUMMARY THESE DESCRIPTIONS ALLOW THE STATE OF AN ELECTRO
MAGNETIC WAVE TO BE DESCRIBED IN TERMS OF LINEAR ELLIPTICAL AND CIRCULAR POLARIZATION
LEFT
HANDED OR RIGHT
HANDED )T IS WELL KNOWN THAT LINEAR TARGETS SUCH AS WIRES ACT
AS DEPOLARIZING FEATURES AND THAT A LINEARLY POLARIZED CROSSED DIPOLE ANTENNA ROTATED
ABOUT AN AXIS NORMAL TO A LINEAR TARGET SUCH AS A WIRE OR PIPE PRODUCES A SINUSOIDAL
VARIATION IN RECEIVED SIGNAL (OWEVER THE NULL POINTS ARE A DISTINCT DISADVANTAGE
BECAUSE THE OPERATOR IS REQUIRED TO MAKE TWO SEPARATE AXIALLY ROTATED MEASUREMENTS
AT EVERY POINT TO BE SURE OF DETECTING PIPES AT UNKNOWN ORIENTATIONS !N ATTRACTIVE
TECHNIQUE IS TO RADIATE A CIRCULARLY POLARIZED WAVE WHICH AUTOMATICALLY ROTATES THE
POLARIZED VECTOR IN SPACE AND HENCE REMOVES THE DIRECTION OF SIGNAL NULLS 4HESE
TECHNIQUES CAN BE USED TO DISCRIMINATE IN FAVOR OF THE TARGET &OR EXAMPLE A RIGHT
HANDED CIRCULARLY POLARIZED 2(#0 WAVE WILL BE REFLECTED AS A LEFT
HANDED CIRCULARLY
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
POLARIZED ,(#0 WAVE FROM A PLANAR SURFACE BUT SOME PROPORTION OF 2(#0 WILL BE
REFLECTED FROM A THIN PIPE OR WIRE 4HIS ENABLES THE GROUND SURFACE REFLECTION TO BE
REDUCED WHILE ENHANCING THAT FROM THE THIN PIPE OR WIRE
6ELOCITY 4HE VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IN FREE SPACE IS
APPROXIMATELY r MSn BUT SLOWS IN A MATERIAL DEPENDING ON ITS RELATIVE PERMITTIV
ITY AND RELATIVE MAGNETIC PERMEABILITY 4HE VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC
WAVES IN A SOIL WITH A VALUE FOR DR OF WOULD BE SLOWED TO r MSn 4HE TIME TO A
TARGET AT A RANGE OF METER IS THEREFORE NS AND '02 SYSTEMS OPERATE AT TIME RANGES
BETWEEN A FEW NANOSECONDS UP TO NS ALTHOUGH SOME SYSTEMS FOR PROBING THROUGH
ICE MAY USE RANGES UP TO SEVERAL TENS OF MILLISECONDS
)N GENERAL IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO MAKE A RELIABLE ESTIMATE OF PROPAGATION VELOCITY OR RELA
TIVE PERMITTIVITY IN A MEDIUM FROM A SINGLE MEASUREMENT WITHOUT TRIAL HOLING INSERTING A
PROBE INTO A PREDRILLED HOLE OR OTHER SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION %VEN IN THE CASE WHERE
A MEASUREMENT IS CARRIED OUT AT ONE LOCATION IT IS OFTEN FOUND THAT SIGNIFICANT VARIATIONS IN
VELOCITY WILL OCCUR WITHIN COMPARATIVELY SHORT DISTANCES FROM THE ORIGINAL LOCATION 4HIS
CAN LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT ERRORS IN THE ESTIMATION OF DEPTHS OF REFLECTORS /NE PROCEDURE THAT
OVERCOMES THIS LIMITATION IS KNOWN AS COMMON DEPTH POINT SURVEYING WHICH UTILIZES TWO
ANTENNAS IN BISTATIC OPERATION AT A NUMBER OF TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE POSITIONS
4HE VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION IS GIVEN BY M LN LR DN DR n HENCE IN A MATERIAL
WITH LR THE VELOCITY BECOMES M CER
4HE PHASE VELOCITY IS GIVEN BY M V A AND AS
ME `
E ``
A W
E`
4HE PHASE VELOCITY IS ALSO DEPENDENT ON THE FACTOR D pD ` WHICH IS ALSO TAN C
)T IS ALSO POSSIBLE TO DERIVE VELOCITY FROM MULTIPLE MEASUREMENTS SCANNING OVER A
TARGET BUT THIS WORKS WELL ONLY IN RELATIVELY UNCLUTTERED SITUATIONS WHERE THE MEDIA HAS
NO ANISOTROPIC CHARACTERISTICS
$ISPERSION 4HE FREQUENCY DEPENDENT NATURE OF THE DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF THE MATE
RIAL CAUSES THE PHASE VELOCITY OF THE COMPONENT FREQUENCIES OF A WIDEBAND SIGNAL TO SUFFER
DIFFERENTIAL PROPAGATION VALUES (ENCE THERE WILL BE VARIATION IN THE VELOCITY OF PROPA
GATION WITH FREQUENCY $IELECTRICS EXHIBITING THIS PHENOMENON ARE TERMED DISPERSIVE
)N THIS SITUATION THE DIFFERENT FREQUENCY COMPONENTS WITHIN A BROADBAND RADAR PULSE WOULD
TRAVEL AT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT SPEEDS CAUSING THE PULSE SHAPE TO CHANGE WITH TIME (OWEVER
THE PROPAGATION CHARACTERISTICS OF OCTAVE BAND RADAR SIGNALS IN MOST EARTH MATERIALS REMAIN
LARGELY UNAFFECTED BY DISPERSION )N MANY INSTANCES THE POTENTIAL VARIATION IN THE VELOCITY
OF WAVE PROPAGATION OVER THE FREQUENCY RANGE OF INTEREST IS SMALL AND CAN BE IGNORED
$EPTH 2ESOLUTION &OR TRADITIONAL RADAR SYSTEMS IT IS ACCEPTED THAT TWO IDENTICAL
TARGETS CAN BE SEPARATED IN RANGE IF THEY ARE OF A PULSE WIDTH APART )N OPTICS ,ORD
2AYLEIGH PROPOSED THAT THE RESOLVING POWER OF AN INSTRUMENT IS WHEN THE PRINCIPAL
INTENSITY OF ONE COMPONENT COINCIDES WITH THE FIRST INTENSITY MINIMUM OF THE OTHER COM
PONENT -ANY '02 PULSES TAKE THE FORM OF A 2ICKER WAVELET THE SECOND DIFFERENTIAL OF
A GAUSSIAN IMPULSE AND AN EXAMPLE OF TWO PULSES FROM TARGETS IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
WHERE BOTH THE IMPULSES AND THEIR ENVELOPES ARE SHOWN 7HEN THE TARGETS ARE CLOSER AS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4WO RESOLVED 2ICKER WAVELETS
SHOWN IN &IGURE ALTHOUGH IT IS POSSIBLE TO DISTINGUISH THEIR ENVELOPES IT BECOMES
INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO RESOLVE THE ACTUAL PULSES BECAUSE THE SIGNAL MIGHT BE DUE TO A
RESONANCE GENERATED BY A SINGLE TARGET HENCE IN THE CASE OF PULSES WITH AN ENVELOPE
THAT HAS NO MINIMA THE PULSE WIDTH RESOLUTION CRITERIA MAY NOT BE OPTIMAL
%SSENTIALLY RANGE RESOLUTION IS DEFINED BY THE BANDWIDTH OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL !
RECEIVER BANDWIDTH IN EXCESS OF -(Z AND TYPICALLY '(Z IS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE
A TYPICAL RESOLUTION OF BETWEEN AND CM DEPENDING ON THE RELATIVE PERMITTIVITY OF
THE MATERIAL
7HEN A NUMBER OF FEATURES MAY BE PRESENT A SIGNAL HAVING A LARGER BANDWIDTH IS
REQUIRED TO BE ABLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE VARIOUS TARGETS AND TO SHOW THE DETAILED
STRUCTURE OF A TARGET )N THIS CONTEXT IT IS THE BANDWIDTH OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL THAT IS
IMPORTANT RATHER THAN THAT OF THE TRANSMITTED WAVELET 4HE MATERIAL ACTS AS A LOW PASS
FILTER WHICH MODIFIES THE TRANSMITTED SPECTRUM IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ELECTRICAL PROP
ERTIES OF THE PROPAGATING MEDIUM 4HERE ARE SOME APPLICATIONS OF '02 SUCH AS ROAD
LAYER THICKNESS MEASUREMENT WHERE THE FEATURE OF INTEREST IS A SINGLE INTERFACE 5NDER
SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES IT IS POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE THE DEPTH SUFFICIENTLY ACCURATELY BY
MEASURING THE ELAPSED TIME BETWEEN THE LEADING EDGE OF THE RECEIVED WAVELET PROVIDED
THE PROPAGATION VELOCITY IS ACCURATELY KNOWN
!LTHOUGH A GREATER DEPTH RESOLUTION IS ACHIEVED IN WETTER MATERIALS FOR A GIVEN
TRANSMITTED BANDWIDTH BECAUSE OF THE REDUCED WAVELENGTH IN HIGH DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
EARTH MATERIALS WITH SIGNIFICANT WATER CONTENT TEND TO HAVE HIGHER ATTENUATION PROPER
TIES 4HIS CHARACTERISTIC REDUCES THE EFFECTIVE BANDWIDTH TENDING TO BALANCE OUT THE
CHANGE SO THAT WITHIN CERTAIN BOUNDS THE RESOLUTION IS APPROXIMATELY INDEPENDENT OF
LOSS WITHIN THE PROPAGATING MATERIAL
&)'52% 4WO UNRESOLVED 2ICKER WAVELETS
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
7HERE INTERFACES ARE SPACED MORE CLOSELY THAN ONE HALF WAVELENGTH THE REFLECTED
SIGNAL FROM ONE INTERFACE WILL BECOME DIFFICULT TO RESOLVE WITH THAT FROM ANOTHER
)T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE NORMAL RADAR CRITERIA FOR RANGE RESOLUTION IS LESS APPROPRI
ATE FOR THE CASE OF A WEAK TARGET ADJACENT TO A STRONG TARGET AND THERE IS NO ACCEPTED
DEFINITION OF RESOLUTION FOR THE CASE OF UNEQUAL SIZE TARGETS
0LAN 2ESOLUTION 4HE PLAN PLAN IS DEFINED AS A PLANE NORMAL TO THE DIRECTION
OF PROPAGATION RESOLUTION OF A '02 SYSTEM IS IMPORTANT WHEN LOCALIZED TARGETS ARE
SOUGHT AND WHEN THERE IS A NEED TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN MORE THAN ONE AT THE SAME
DEPTH 7HERE THE REQUIREMENT IS FOR LOCATION ACCURACY WHICH IS PRIMARILY A TOPO
GRAPHIC SURVEYING FUNCTION THE SYSTEM REQUIREMENT IS LESS DEMANDING
4HE PLAN RESOLUTION IS DEFINED BY THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ANTENNA AND THE SIG
NAL PROCESSING EMPLOYED )N GENERAL RADAR SYSTEMS APART FROM 3!2 TO ACHIEVE AN
ACCEPTABLE PLAN RESOLUTION REQUIRES A HIGH GAIN ANTENNA 4HIS NECESSITATES A SUFFICIENTLY
LARGE APERTURE AT THE LOWEST FREQUENCY TO BE TRANSMITTED 4O ACHIEVE SMALL ANTENNA
DIMENSIONS AND HIGH GAIN THEREFORE REQUIRES THE USE OF A HIGH CARRIER FREQUENCY
WHICH MAY NOT PENETRATE THE MATERIAL TO SUFFICIENT DEPTH 7HEN SELECTING EQUIPMENT
FOR A PARTICULAR APPLICATION IT IS NECESSARY TO COMPROMISE BETWEEN PLAN RESOLUTION SIZE
OF ANTENNA THE SCOPE FOR SIGNAL PROCESSING AND THE ABILITY TO PENETRATE THE MATERIAL
0LAN RESOLUTION IMPROVES AS ATTENUATION INCREASES PROVIDED THAT THERE IS SUFFICIENT SIG
NAL TO DISCRIMINATE UNDER THE PREVAILING CLUTTER CONDITIONS )N LOW ATTENUATION MEDIA
THE RESOLUTION OBTAINED BY THE HORIZONTAL SCANNING TECHNIQUE IS DEGRADED BUT ONLY
UNDER THESE CONDITIONS DO SYNTHETIC APERTURE TECHNIQUES INCREASE THE PLAN RESOLUTION
%SSENTIALLY THE GROUND ATTENUATION HAS THE EFFECT OF PLACING A hWINDOWv ACROSS THE
3!2 APERTURE AND THE HIGHER THE ATTENUATION THE MORE SEVERE THE WINDOW (ENCE IN
HIGH ATTENUATION SOILS 3!2 TECHNIQUES MAY NOT PROVIDE ANY USEFUL IMPROVEMENT TO
'02 SYSTEMS 3!2 TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN APPLIED TO '02 BUT VERY OFTEN IN DRY SOILS
WITH LOW ATTENUATION
3!2 TECHNIQUES TYPICALLY REQUIRE MEASUREMENTS MADE USING TRANSMITTER AND
RECEIVER PAIRS AT A NUMBER OF ANTENNA POSITIONS TO GENERATE A SYNTHETIC APERTURE OR TO
FOCUS THE IMAGE 5NLIKE CONVENTIONAL RADARS WHICH GENERALLY USE A SINGLE ANTENNA
MOST '02 SYSTEMS USE SEPARATE TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE ANTENNAS TO PROVIDE RECEIVER
ISOLATION 4HE '02 COMMUNITY REFERS TO THIS AS A BISTATIC MODE ALTHOUGH ACTUALLY THE
ANTENNA SYSTEM IS CLOSELY SPACED AND MOBILE 4HIS IS DIFFERENT FROM THE TRADITIONAL
RADAR COMMUNITY THAT ASSOCIATES THE TERM BISTATIC WITH LARGE SEPARATIONS
"
-ODELS OF THE '02 SITUATION RANGE FROM A SIMPLE SINGLE FREQUENCY EVALUATION OF
PATH LOSSES TO COMPLETE $ TIME
DOMAIN DESCRIPTIONS OF THE '02 AND ITS ENVIRON
MENT -ODELING TECHNIQUES INCLUDE SINGLE FREQUENCY MODELS TIME
DOMAIN MODELS
RAY TRACING INTEGRAL TECHNIQUES METHOD OF MOMENTS -O- AND DISCRETE ELEMENT
METHODS 4HE &INITE
$IFFERENCE 4IME
$OMAIN &$4$ TECHNIQUE HAS BECOME ONE OF
THE POPULAR TECHNIQUES AND CAN BE DEVELOPED TO RUN ON MOST DESKTOP COMPUTERS WITH
RELATIVE EFFICIENCY
)T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT '02 SYSTEMS OFTEN OPERATE IN INTIMATE CONTACT WITH THE
GROUND AND VERY CLOSE TO THE TARGET 4HUS THE ANTENNA RADIATES IN THE NEAR
FIELD WHEREAS
SOME GEOPHYSICAL '02 SYSTEMS OPERATE AT LONGER RANGES M TO KM AND THEY
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
COULD BE CONSIDERED TO OPERATE IN THE &RESNEL AND EVEN &RAUNHOFER FAR FIELD REGION
7HEN THE TARGET IS SO CLOSE TO THE ANTENNA IT INTERACTS WITH THE REACTIVE FIELDS OF THE
ANTENNA AND ACCURATE MODELS WOULD REFLECT THIS MODE OF OPERATION
4HE MOST BASIC MODEL USES THE RADAR RANGE EQUATION AND ENABLES AN ESTIMATE OF
RECEIVED SIGNAL LEVEL DYNAMIC RANGE AND PROBABILITY OF DETECTION TO BE ASSESSED )T
HAS SIGNIFICANT WEAKNESSES IN THAT MOST CLOSE RANGE '02 SYSTEMS ARE OPERATING IN THE
NEAR FIELD OR EVEN THE REACTIVE FIELD OF THE ANTENNA WHEREAS THE MODEL ASSUMES A FAR
FIELD MODEL )T IS PROBABLY MORE RELEVANT TO THE LONGER RANGE GEOPHYSICAL APPLICATIONS
WHERE THE TARGET IS MANY TENS OF METERS FROM THE RADAR
-ANY '02 RECEIVERS WERE ORIGINALLY BASED ON SAMPLING OSCILLOSCOPE TECHNOL
OGY AND THE USE OF VOLTAGE BECAME EXPERIMENTALLY MORE USEFUL 4HE MOST BASIC
MODEL FOR ASSESSMENT OF VOLTAGE SIGNAL LEVEL IS DERIVED FROM THE RADAR RANGE EQUA
TION WHICH DOES HAVE THE LIMITATIONS PREVIOUSLY NOTED (OWEVER IT DOES ENABLE
A FIRST ORDER ASSESSMENT OF ANTICIPATED SIGNAL LEVELS AND AN EXAMPLE IS GIVEN IN
THIS SECTION 4HE MODEL IS BASED ON THE EQUATION FOR THE VOLTAGE AT THE RECEIVER
AS A FUNCTION OF RANGE R AND TARGET RADAR CROSS SECTION R AND GIVEN BY REFERENCE
2UTLEDGE AND -UHA
)N THE FIRST MODEL SHOWN IN &IGURE THE ANTENNA IS SET AT A HEIGHT OF CM ABOVE
THE TARGET DIELECTRIC CYLINDERS OF CM THICKNESS RANGING IN SIZE FROM M DIAMETER
TO M DIAMETER 4HE TARGET HAS A VALUE OF DR OF AND THE SOIL DR AND TANC
4HE RADIATED PULSE HAS A CENTER FREQUENCY OF '(Z AND AN OUTPUT PULSE PEAK VOLTAGE
OF VOLTS 4HE RADAR RECEIVER HAS AN EQUIVALENT BANDWIDTH OF -(Z TO '(Z AND
AN EQUIVALENT RECEIVER NOISE VOLTAGE OF n VOLTS
4HE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION 0$ IS DERIVED FROM THE ERROR FUNCTION OF THE SIGNAL TO
NOISE RATIO AS SHOWN IN &IGURE .OTE THAT THESE VALUES ONLY RELATE TO THE RECEIVER
NOISE AND DO NOT INCLUDE EXTERNAL SOURCES OF FALSE ALARMS DUE TO CLUTTER
4HE MOST BASIC MODEL IS THAT OF THE TRANSMISSION LINE EQUIVALENT AND IS USEFUL FOR
ASSESSING THE TIME DOMAIN SIGNATURE OF A PHYSICAL SITUATION ! CONCEPTUALLY SIMPLE
MODEL CAN BE USED TO GAIN AN INSIGHT INTO THE OPTIMUM CENTER FREQUENCY OF OPERATION
AND IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
%ACH LAYER IS MODELED AS EQUIVALENT IMPEDANCE AND THE TRANSMISSION AND REFLEC
TION COEFFICIENTS ARE CALCULATED FOR EACH INTERFACE 4HE VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION AND
THE MATERIAL LOSSES ARE INCLUDED ALTHOUGH NOT THE SPREADING LOSSES 4HE REASON FOR
THIS IS THAT THE RECEIVED ! SCAN WOULD NORMALLY HAVE TIME VARYING GAIN APPLIED
IN THE RECEIVER AND SIGNAL PROCESSING AND TO INTRODUCE SPREADING LOSS AND THEN COM
PENSATE IS AN INEFFICIENT MODELING EXERCISE )N THE MODEL ONLY THE FIRST REFLECTION IS
COMPUTED ALTHOUGH MULTIPLE INTERNAL REFLECTIONS WITHIN EACH LAYER WILL BE GENERATED
AND A FULL REPRESENTATION SHOULD INCLUDE THESE 4HE PARAMETERS OF THE LAYERS ARE GIVEN
IN 4ABLE
&)'52% 0HYSICAL LAYOUT OF '02 SYSTEM #OURTESY )%%
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
0$
2
r
&)'52% 'RAPH OF PROBABILITY OF DETECTION AS A FUNCTION OF TARGET RANGE IN MILLIMETERS AND
TARGET DIAMETER MM LEFT
HAND SIDE TO MM RIGHT
HAND SIDE IN INCREMENTS OF MM 'ROUND
SURFACE IS SHOWN AS A VERTICAL LINE #OURTESY )%%
&)'52% ,AYOUT OF TRANSMISSION LINE MODEL COURTESY )%%
4!",% ,AYER #HARACTERISTICS FOR 4RANSMISSION ,INE -ODEL
,AYER
2ANGE IN -ETERS
INFINITE
2ELATIVE $IELECTIC #ONSTANT ER
,OSS 4ANGENT
-ATERIAL
!IR
,OSSY LAYER
!IR VOID
3UB BASE
7ET BASE
7ET BEDROCK
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 3IMULATION OF !
SCAN USING -(Z CENTER FREQUENCY #OURTESY )%%
4HE OUTPUT FROM THE MODEL IS SHOWN IN &IGURE AND &IGURE
&INITE
$IFFERENCE 4IME
$OMAIN &$4$ METHODS CAN BE USED TO MODEL THE FIELD
PROPAGATION OF A TYPICAL '02 SYSTEM 4HE ANTENNA USED FOR THIS PURPOSE IS A RESISTIVELY
LOADED 4%- HORN AS DESCRIBED BY -ARTEL ET AL )T IS CM LONG WITH AN APERTURE OF
CM BY CM 4HE 4%- HORN HAS ULTRAWIDEBAND CAPABILITIES FROM -(Z TO '(Z
)T IS POSITIONED ABOVE A METALLIC TARGET BURIED IN THE GROUND AS SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE HORN APERTURE AND THE AIR
GROUND INTERFACE IS CM DIFFERENT
FROM THE EARLIER MODEL 4HE MODELED TARGET IS A CYLINDER WITH A RADIUS OF CM AND
A HEIGHT OF CM )T IS SHALLOWLY BURIED AT ABOUT CM BELOW THE AIR
GROUND INTERFACE
&)'52% 3IMULATION OF !
SCAN USING -(Z CENTER FREQUENCY #OURTESY )%%
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
&)'52% %LECTRIC FIELD PLOT ON A VERTICAL CUT PLANE AFTER THE MAIN GROUND
REFLECTION #OURTESY )%%
4HE GROUND IS MODELED AS A UNIFORM LOSSY MATERIAL WITH A RELATIVE PERMITTIVITY OF
AND A CONDUCTIVITY OF 3M 3IEMENSMETER 4HE AIR
GROUND INTERFACE IS ASSUMED
TO BE PERFECTLY FLAT
&ROM THE FIELD PLOT ONE CAN RECOGNIZE THE ANTENNA STRUCTURE AND THE STRONG FIELD
REGION ON AND INSIDE THE HORN PLATE 4HE BURIED OBJECT IS ALSO VISIBLE 4HE MAIN REFLEC
TION CAUSED BY THE AIR
GROUND INTERFACE CAN CLEARLY BE SEEN COMING BACK TOWARD THE
ANTENNA SYSTEM )N ADDITION A WEAKER REFLECTION COMING FROM THE BURIED OBJECT IS
STARTING TO FORM AND FOLLOWS THE AIR
GROUND INTERFACE REFLECTION IN TIME 4HIS IS A TYPICAL
TIME
DOMAIN CHARACTERISTIC OF STANDOFF '02 SYSTEM -OREOVER OTHER PHYSICAL PHE
NOMENA CAN BE OBSERVED SUCH AS THE FREE SPACE PATH LOSS AND THE REDUCTION IN VELOCITY
OF PROPAGATION IN THE GROUND
)T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE PROCESS OF PHYSICALLY SCANNING THE ANTENNA SYSTEM OVER
THE TARGET CREATES A HYPERBOLIC IMAGE OF THE TARGET AS SHOWN IN &IGURE &OR THE
TWO
DIMENSIONAL CASE X POSITION ON SURFACE AND Z DEPTH TO THE TARGET OF A MATERIAL
WITH KNOWN CONSTANT VELOCITY THE MEASURED TIME TO THE POINT REFLECTOR IS GIVEN BY T
AND THEN THE DISTANCE TO THE POINT REFLECTOR IS GIVEN BY Z VT !T ANY POSITION ALONG
THE X
AXIS THE DISTANCE Z IS ALSO GIVEN BY
ZI XI X Z
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4YPICAL HYPERBOLIC IMAGE OF '02 DATA FROM A REFLECTOR OF CIRCULAR
CROSS SECTION #OURTESY )%%
4HIS EQUATION SHOWS THAT THE MEASURED WAVEFRONT APPEARS AS A HYPERBOLIC IMAGE
OR A CURVE OF MAXIMUM CONVEXITY -IGRATION TECHNIQUE MAY BE USED TO MOVE OR
MIGRATE A SEGMENT OF AN !
SCAN TIME SAMPLE TO THE APEX OF A CURVE OF MAXIMUM
CONVEXITY 4HE HYPERBOLIC CURVE NEEDS TO BE WELL
SEPARATED FROM OTHER FEATURES AND A
GOOD SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO IS NEEDED FOR THIS TECHNIQUE TO WORK WELL
{ *,"* ,/ -" / , 4HE DETERMINATION OF THE DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF EARTH MATERIALS REMAINS LARGELY EXPER
IMENTAL 2OCKS SOILS AND CONCRETE ARE COMPLEX MATERIALS COMPOSED OF MANY DIFFERENT
MINERALS IN WIDELY VARYING PROPORTIONS AND THEIR DIELECTRIC PARAMETERS MAY DIFFER
GREATLY EVEN WITHIN MATERIALS THAT ARE NOMINALLY SIMILAR -OST EARTH MATERIALS CONTAIN
MOISTURE USUALLY WITH SOME MEASURE OF SALINITY 3INCE THE RELATIVE PERMITTIVITY OF
WATER IS IN THE ORDER OF EVEN SMALL AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE CAUSE A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE
OF THE RELATIVE PERMITTIVITY OF THE MATERIAL ! LARGE NUMBER OF WORKERS HAVE INVESTI
GATED THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL CHEMICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF
MATERIALS AND THEIR ELECTRICAL AND IN PARTICULAR MICROWAVE PROPERTIES )N GENERAL THEY
HAVE SOUGHT TO DEVELOP SUITABLE MODELS TO LINK THE PROPERTIES OF THE MATERIAL TO ITS ELEC
TROMAGNETIC PARAMETERS 3UCH MODELS PROVIDE A BASIS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE BEHAVIOR
OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES WITHIN THESE MEDIA 4HE REAL AND IMAGINARY DIELECTRIC LOSSES
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
&)'52% $IELECTRIC PROPERTIES D ` UPPER AND D p LOWER OF LOSSY SOIL AS A
FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY #OURTESY )%%
AS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY CAN BE PLOTTED OVER A WIDE FREQUENCY RANGE AND A TYPICAL
RESULT IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
)NFORMATION ON THE GEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF EARTH SOILS CAN BE FOUND IN THE $IGITAL
3OIL -AP OF THE 7ORLD AND $ERIVED 3OIL 0ROPERTIES #$ PUBLISHED BY THE &OOD AND
!GRICULTURE /RGANIZATION OF THE 5NITED .ATIONS 4HIS ENABLES THE TEN MAP SHEETS OF
THE WORLD TO BE CLASSIFIED IN TERMS OF PARAMETERS SUCH AS P( CONCENTRATION OF HYDRO
GEN IONS ORGANIC CARBON CONTENT #. CARBON
TO
NITROGEN RATIO CLAY MINERALOGY
SOIL DEPTH SOIL MOISTURE CAPACITY AND SOIL DRAINAGE CLASS 3UCH INFORMATION IS USEFUL
IN ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL OF 2& TECHNIQUES AND PARTICULARLY '02 FOR PARTICULAR GEO
GRAPHIC REGIONS
4HERE ARE TWO BENEFITS TO UNDERSTANDING SOIL PROPERTIES IN RELATION TO '02 4HE FIRST
IS TO UNDERSTAND THE APPLICABILITY OF '02 TO PARTICULAR SOILS AND HENCE THE POSSIBILITY
OF USING '02 TO DETECT BURIED TARGETS SUCH AS PIPE CABLES LANDMINES ETC 4HE SECOND
IS TO USE '02 TO CHARACTERIZE SOILS AND SOIL PROPERTIES
'02 CAN PROVIDE A DETAILED MAP OF THE SUBSURFACE WHICH WHEN COMBINED WITH
TRADITIONAL SOIL SURVEY METHODS CAN PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE TYPE OF SOIL ITS EXTENT
LATERALLY AND IN DEPTH THE WATER TABLE THE LAYERING AND FEATURES OF THE SOIL AND HENCE
ITS LOCAL GEOLOGY AND HISTORY
'02 HAS BEEN USED IN THE 53 BY THE $EPARTMENT OF !GRICULTURE
.ATURAL
2ESOURCES #ONSERVATION 3ERVICE 53$!
.2#3 AS A QUALITY CONTROL TOOL FOR SOIL
MAPPING AND INVESTIGATIONS 4HE USE OF '02 IN SOIL SURVEY ACTIVITIES HAS PROVIDED
INFORMATION ABOUT SOIL RESOURCES THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN UNOBTAINABLE BY OTHER MEANS
OR WOULD HAVE BEEN UNECONOMICAL TO OBTAIN !N EXAMPLE OF THE RESULTS OF THIS WORK
IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% '02 3OIL 3UITABILITY -AP OF THE #ONTINENTAL #ONTERMINOUS 5NITED 3TATES #OURTESY
OF 53$! .2#3
x *,-9-/ 4HE CHOICE OF SYSTEM DESIGN IS TO A LARGE EXTENT GOVERNED BY THE TYPE OF TARGET THE RES
OLUTION REQUIRED AND THE ANTICIPATED GROUND ATTENUATION AND CLUTTER 4HE DEPTH RANGE OF
THE RADAR SYSTEM IS LIKELY TO BE PRIMARILY DEFINED BY THE SOIL ATTENUATION ONCE A PARTICU
LAR RANGE OF FREQUENCIES HAS BEEN CHOSEN (OWEVER IT CAN BE SHOWN THAT CONSIDERABLE
VARIATIONS n D" IN THE SENSITIVITY OF COMPETING SYSTEM DESIGNS ACTUALLY TRANSLATE
TO RELATIVELY SMALL CHANGES IN DEPTH PERFORMANCE IN LOSSY SOILS
4HE SELECTION OF A SUITABLE WAVEFORM FOR TRANSMISSION AT LEAST IN TERMS OF RESOLU
TION CAN BE CONSIDERED A FUNCTION OF THE DURATION OF THE COMPLEX ENVELOPE OF THE SIG
NAL 4HE OUTPUT FROM MOST ULTRAWIDEBAND RADAR SYSTEMS CAN BE COMPARED IN TERMS OF A
TIME DOMAIN REPRESENTATION OF THE WAVEFORM !LMOST ALL TYPES OF RADAR CAN BE ASSESSED
NOT JUST BY THEIR SIGNAL TO NOISE AND SIGNAL TO CLUTTER RATIOS BUT ALSO BY COMPARING THEIR
INHERENT RANGE SENSITIVITY 3UCH A PROCEDURE REVEALS THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT CONTROL THE
RADAR PERFORMANCE 4HE DESIGN OF A '02 SYSTEM IS DEFINED BY THE MODULATION TECH
NIQUE AND TIME DOMAIN FREQUENCY DOMAIN AND PSEUDO RANDOM CODED DOMAIN RADAR
DESIGNS ARE MOST LIKELY TO BE ENCOUNTERED &REQUENCY DOMAIN RADARS MAY USE EITHER
STEPPED FREQUENCY OR CONTINUOUSLY SWEPT FREQUENCY MODULATION 4HEY TRANSMIT ON A
REPETITIVE BASIS A NOMINALLY CONSTANT AMPLITUDE SIGNAL WHOSE FREQUENCY INCREASES IN A
LINEAR PROGRESSION FROM THE LOWEST TO THE HIGHEST VALUE
2ECOVERY OF THE RECEIVER SIGNAL FROM NOISE MAY BE ACHIEVED BY EITHER CONVENTIONAL
BANDPASS FILTERS OR BY THE MATCHED FILTER OR 7IENER FILTER
4HE FUNDAMENTAL OPERATION OF A MATCHED FILTER IS CORRELATION 4HE AMPLITUDE OF
EACH POINT IN THE OUTPUT SIGNAL IS A MEASURE OF HOW WELL THE FILTER KERNEL MATCHES THE
CORRESPONDING SECTION OF THE INPUT SIGNAL 4HE OUTPUT OF A MATCHED FILTER DOES NOT NEC
ESSARILY LOOK LIKE THE SIGNAL BEING DETECTED BUT IF A MATCHED FILTER IS USED THE SHAPE
OF THE TARGET SIGNAL MUST ALREADY BE KNOWN 4HE MATCHED FILTER IS OPTIMAL IN THE SENSE
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
THAT THE PEAK SIGNAL OUTPUT TO MEAN NOISE RATIO IS GREATER THAN CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH ANY
OTHER LINEAR FILTER 4HIS IS NOT ALWAYS THE BEST FILTER TO USE FOR TIME
DOMAIN WAVEFORMS
WHERE THE FIDELITY OF THE OUTPUT MAY BE A REQUIREMENT
4HE 7IENER FILTER SEPARATES SIGNALS BASED ON THEIR FREQUENCY SPECTRA 4HE GAIN OF
THE 7IENER FILTER AT EACH FREQUENCY IS DETERMINED BY THE RELATIVE AMOUNT OF SIGNAL AND
NOISE AT THAT FREQUENCY 4HE 7IENER AND MATCHED FILTER MUST BE CARRIED OUT BY CONVOLU
TION MAKING THEM EXTREMELY SLOW TO EXECUTE
4HE MATCHED FILTER RADAR RECEIVER PROVIDES AN OPTIMUM LINEAR PROCESSING OF RADAR IN
THE PRESENCE OF NOISE 4HE RADAR SIGNAL IS PROCESSED BY A FILTER THAT CROSS
CORRELATES THE
RECEIVED WAVEFORM WITH A SUITABLY TIME
DELAYED VERSION OF THE TRANSMITTED WAVEFORM
4HE OUTPUT RESULTS IN AN OUTPUT IN WHICH THE AMPLITUDE OF THE LATTER AND ITS POSITION IN
DELAY TIME IS RELATED TO THE TARGET RADAR CHARACTERISTIC 4HIS TYPE OF RECEIVER IS WIDELY
USED TO PROCESS CHIRP STEP FREQUENCY AND PSEUDO
RANDOM
CODED WAVEFORMS AND THE
DESIGN OF SUCH WAVEFORMS IS EXTENSIVELY DESCRIBED IN THE LITERATURE
-ANY COMMERCIAL TIME
DOMAIN RADAR SYSTEMS USE A SAMPLING RECEIVER TO DOWN
CONVERT THE RADAR SIGNALS FROM THE NANOSECOND TIME FRAME TO A MILLISECOND TIME FRAME
THAT IS EASIER TO POST PROCESS (OWEVER A REAL DISADVANTAGE OF THE SAMPLING RECEIVER IS
ITS LIMITED DYNAMIC RANGE DUE TO THE SAMPLING DIODES AND INHERENTLY HIGH NOISE LEVEL
DUE TO ITS WIDE BANDWIDTH $ETAILS OF TYPICAL SAMPLING RECEIVERS WHICH ARE ESSENTIALLY
THE SAME AS SAMPLING OSCILLOSCOPES CAN BE FOUND IN THE LITERATURE AND ONCE ISSUES OF
SAMPLING LINEARITY IN TIME ARE ADDRESSED THE GENERIC DESIGN HAS FORMED THE BASIS FOR
THE MAJORITY OF COMMERCIAL '02 SYSTEMS
! KEY PARAMETER FOR MOST '02 SYSTEMS IS THE MEAN POWER 4HE TIME
DOMAIN RADAR
TRANSMITS ON A REPETITIVE BASIS A SHORT DURATION IMPULSE #ONSEQUENTLY ITS PEAK POWER
IS SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER THAN ITS MEAN POWER 4HIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH STEPPED FREQUENCY
WHOSE RADIATED POWER PER SPECTRAL LINE IS HIGHER THAN THE TIME
DOMAIN RADAR THAT GIVES AN
ADVANTAGE IN TERMS OF TRANSMITTER PEAK SIGNAL CAPABILITY COMPARED WITH THE IMPULSE '02
" 1 /" /
+1
4HERE ARE THREE MAIN MODULATION TECHNIQUES TIME DOMAIN FREQUENCY DOMAIN AND
PSEUDO
RANDOM
CODED RADAR '02 SYSTEMS THAT TRANSMIT AN IMPULSE AND RECEIVE THE
REFLECTED SIGNAL FROM THE TARGET USING A SAMPLING RECEIVER CAN BE CONSIDERED TO OPERATE IN
THE TIME DOMAIN '02 SYSTEMS THAT TRANSMIT INDIVIDUAL FREQUENCIES IN A SEQUENTIAL MAN
NER AND RECEIVE THE REFLECTED SIGNAL FROM THE TARGET USING A FREQUENCY CONVERSION RECEIVER
CAN BE CONSIDERED TO OPERATE IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN 4HE LATTER SYSTEMS OFTEN RECON
STRUCT THE DOWNCONVERTED FREQUENCIES TO RECOVER A TIME
DOMAIN REPLICA OF THE SIGNAL
!LL '02S MAY HAVE TO DETECT SIGNALS FROM A TARGET THAT MAY BE n TO n D"
LOWER THAN THE RADIATED SIGNAL AT RANGES IN THE ORDER OF A METER NS IN FREE SPACE )N
ADDITION THE RECEIVED SIGNAL WILL CONTAIN TEMPORAL SCATTERING INFORMATION ON THE TARGET
THAT CAN BE EXPLOITED
4HE TEMPORAL FIDELITY OF RECEIVED SIGNAL NEEDS TO BE PRESERVED AND THUS DESIGNERS OF
'02 HAVE TO ENSURE THAT THE RECEIVER IS NOT SATURATED BY THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL THE ANTEN
NAS DO NOT CAUSE TIME SIDELOBES AND THE RECEIVER DOES NOT DISTORT THE RECEIVED SIGNAL
4IME $OMAIN -OST COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE '02 SYSTEMS USE SHORT PULSES OR
IMPULSES SUCH AS THE 2ICKER WAVELET AS SHOWN PREVIOUSLY IN &IGURE 4HE HIGH
SPEED SEQUENTIAL SAMPLING APPROACH USED TO ACQUIRE 2& WAVEFORMS PRODUCES A LOW
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3.2 BECAUSE THE SPECTRUM OF THE SAMPLING PULSE IS A POOR MATCH FOR THAT OF THE
RECEIVED PULSE )N GENERAL THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE SAMPLING RECEIVER IS TYPICALLY
D" WITHOUT RANGE TIME VARYING GAIN 4HE EFFECT OF THE RANGE VARYING GAIN IS TO
ENABLE THE LOWER AMPLITUDE SIGNALS FROM TARGETS AT A GREATER RANGE TO BE AMPLIFIED SO AS
TO BE ABOVE THE MINIMUM SAMPLING THRESHOLD SIGNAL LEVEL 4HIS IS EQUIVALENT TO A LINEAR
RECEIVER WITH A D" OR MORE DYNAMIC RANGE 3IGNAL AVERAGING OR INTEGRATION OF THE
SAMPLES CAN INCREASE THE EFFECTIVE SENSITIVITY BY THE AMOUNT OF AVERAGING AND THIS CAN
BE TYPICALLY TO D" 4HE RATIO OF THE PEAK TRANSMITTED SIGNAL TO THE MEAN RECEIVER
NOISE LEVEL CAN BE UP TO D"
4HE ANTENNAS THAT CAN BE USED WITH TIME
DOMAIN '02 ARE LIMITED TO LINEAR PHASE
DESIGNS SUCH AS RESISTIVELY LOADED DIPOLES 4%- HORNS OR )MPULSE 2ADIATING !NTENNAS
)2!S )T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT ULTRAWIDEBAND ANTENNAS FALL INTO TWO CLASSES THOSE THAT
RADIATE A REASONABLY SHORT IMPULSE WITH LOW TIME SIDELOBES AND FUNDAMENTALLY POS
SESS A LINEAR PHASE
FREQUENCY CHARACTERISTIC 4HE ALTERNATIVE CLASS OF ANTENNAS SUCH AS
LOG PERIODICS HAVE WIDEBAND FREQUENCY CHARACTERISTICS BUT NONLINEAR PHASE
FREQUENCY
CHARACTERISTICS %SSENTIALLY THE LATTER CLASS WILL CAUSE THE DIFFERENT FREQUENCY COMPO
NENTS OF AN IMPULSE TO BE RADIATED AT DIFFERENT TIMES HENCE DISPERSING THE IMPULSE
)F SUCH ANTENNAS ARE USED WITH TIME
DOMAIN RADAR THE DISPERSIVE PROPERTIES OF THE
ANTENNA USED MUST BE COMPENSATED BY SUITABLE POST
PROCESSING FILTERING
4HE TIME
DOMAIN RADAR SYSTEM TRANSMITS A SEQUENCE OF PULSES TYPICALLY OF AMPLI
TUDES WITHIN THE RANGE BETWEEN 6 TO 6 AND PULSE WIDTHS WITHIN THE RANGE
BETWEEN PS TO NS AT A PULSE REPETITION INTERVAL OF BETWEEN SEVERAL HUNDRED
MICROSECONDS TO ONE MICROSECOND DEPENDING ON THE SYSTEM DESIGN 4HE IMPULSE
GENERATOR IS GENERALLY BASED ON THE TECHNIQUE OF RAPID DISCHARGE OF THE STORED ENERGY
IN A SHORT TRANSMISSION LINE 4HE MOST COMMON METHOD OF ACHIEVING THIS IS BY MEANS
OF A TRANSISTOR OPERATED IN AVALANCHE BREAKDOWN MODE USED AS THE FAST SWITCH AND A
VERY SHORT LENGTH OF TRANSMISSION LINE )T IS QUITE FEASIBLE TO GENERATE PULSES OF SEVERAL
HUNDRED K6 ALBEIT AT LONG REPETITION INTERVALS 4HE OUTPUT FROM THE RECEIVE ANTENNA
IS APPLIED TO A FLASH !$ CONVERTER OR A SEQUENTIAL SAMPLING RECEIVER 4HE LATTER NOR
MALLY CONSISTS OF AN ULTRAHIGH SPEED SAMPLE AND HOLD CIRCUIT 4HE CONTROL SIGNAL TO THE
SAMPLE AND HOLD CIRCUIT WHICH DETERMINES THE INSTANT OF SAMPLE TIME IS SEQUENTIALLY
INCREMENTED AT EACH PULSE REPETITION INTERVAL &OR EXAMPLE A SAMPLING INCREMENT OF
T PS IS ADDED TO THE PREVIOUS PULSE REPETITION SAMPLING INTERVAL TO ENABLE SAM
PLING OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL AT REGULAR INTERVALS AS INDICATED IN &IGURE
# $ %%#
%
%! %#!
% %
&%"&%
&)'52% 4YPICAL SAMPLING RECEIVER USED FOR TIME DOMAIN '02 SYSTEMS
'
%
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4HE PRINCIPLE OF THE SAMPLING RECEIVER IS THEREFORE A DOWNCONVERSION OF THE RADIO
FREQUENCY SIGNAL IN THE NANOSECOND TIME REGION TO AN EQUIVALENT VERSION IN THE MICRO
OR MILLISECOND TIME REGION 4HE INCREMENTATION OF THE SAMPLING INTERVAL IS TERMINATED
AT A STAGE WHEN FOR EXAMPLE OR SEQUENTIAL SAMPLES HAVE BEEN GATHERED
4HE PROCESS IS THEN REPEATED 4HERE ARE SEVERAL METHODS OF AVERAGING OR hSTACKINGv
THE DATA EITHER A COMPLETE SET OF SAMPLES CAN BE GATHERED AND STORED AND FURTHER SETS
ADDED TO THE STORED DATA SET OR ALTERNATIVELY THE SAMPLING INTERVAL IS HELD CONSTANT FOR A
PREDETERMINED TIME TO ACCUMULATE AND AVERAGE A GIVEN NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL SAMPLES
4HE FIRST METHOD NEEDS A DIGITAL STORE BUT HAS THE ADVANTAGE THAT EACH WAVEFORM SET
SUFFERS LITTLE DISTORTION IF THE RADAR IS MOVING OVER THE GROUND
4HE SECOND METHOD DOES NOT NEED A DIGITAL STORE AND A SIMPLE LOW PASS ANALOGUE
FILTER CAN BE USED (OWEVER DEPENDING ON THE NUMBER OF SAMPLES THAT HAVE BEEN AVER
AGED THE OVERALL WAVEFORM SET CAN RESULT IN BEING hSMEAREDv SPATIALLY IF THE RADAR IS
MOVING AT ANY SPEED 4HE STABILITY OF THE TIMING INCREMENT IS VERY IMPORTANT AND GEN
ERALLY THIS SHOULD BE OF THE SAMPLING INCREMENT HOWEVER PRACTICALLY A STABILITY
IN THE ORDER OF PS TO PS IS ACHIEVED 4HE EFFECT OF TIMING INSTABILITY IS TO CAUSE A
DISTORTION WHICH IS RELATED TO THE RATE OF CHANGE OF THE 2& WAVEFORM %VIDENTLY WHERE
THE 2& WAVEFORM IS CHANGING RAPIDLY JITTER IN THE SAMPLING CIRCUITS RESULTS IN A VERY
NOISY RECONSTRUCTED WAVEFORM 7HERE THE RATE OF CHANGE OF SIGNAL IS SLOW JITTER IS LESS
NOTICEABLE .ORMALLY CONTROL OF THE SAMPLING CONVERTER IS DERIVED FROM A SAMPLE OF
THE OUTPUT FROM THE PULSE GENERATOR TO ENSURE THAT VARIATIONS IN THE TIMING OF THE LATTER
ARE COMPENSATED AUTOMATICALLY 4HE KEY ELEMENTS OF THIS TYPE OF RADAR SYSTEM ARE THE
IMPULSE GENERATOR THE TIMING CONTROL CIRCUITS THE SAMPLING DETECTOR AND THE PEAK HOLD
AND ANALOGUE TO DIGITAL CONVERTER
&REQUENCY $OMAIN 2ADAR 4HE MAIN POTENTIAL ADVANTAGES OF THE FREQUENCY
DOMAIN RADAR ARE THE WIDER DYNAMIC RANGE LOWER NOISE FIGURE AND HIGHER MEAN POWERS
THAT CAN BE RADIATED 4HERE ARE TWO MAIN TYPES OF FREQUENCY DOMAIN RADAR &REQUENCY
-ODULATED #ARRIER 7AVE &-#7 AND 3TEPPED &REQUENCY #ARRIER 7AVE 3
&-#7 RADAR TRANSMITS A CONTINUOUSLY CHANGING FREQUENCY OVER A CHOSEN FREQUENCY
RANGE ON A REPETITIVE BASIS 4HE RECEIVED SIGNAL IS MIXED WITH A SAMPLE OF THE TRANSMIT
TED WAVEFORM AND RESULTS IN A DIFFERENCE FREQUENCY WHICH ALTHOUGH FUNDAMENTALLY
RELATED TO THE PHASE OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL IS A MEASURE OF ITS TIME DELAY AND HENCE
RANGE OF THE TARGET 4HE DIFFERENCE FREQUENCY OR INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY )& MUST BE
DERIVED FROM AN )1 MIXER PAIR IF THE INFORMATION EQUIVALENT TO A TIME DOMAIN REPRE
SENTATION IS REQUIRED IE TO RECONSTITUTE AN IMPULSE AS A SINGLE ENDED MIXER ONLY
PROVIDES THE MODULUS OF THE TIME DOMAIN WAVEFORM 4HE BASIC &-#7 RADAR SYSTEM
IS PARTICULARLY SENSITIVE TO CERTAIN PARAMETERS )N PARTICULAR IT REQUIRES A HIGH DEGREE
OF LINEARITY OF FREQUENCY SWEEP WITH TIME TO AVOID SPECTRAL WIDENING OF THE )& AND
HENCE DEGRADATION OF SYSTEM RESOLUTION $ENNIS AND 'IBBS MADE AN ASSESSMENT OF THE
SENSITIVITY OF TIME SIDELOBE LEVEL TO LINEARITY AND SHOWED THE RATIO OF SIDELOBE TO PEAK
LEVEL WAS DEPENDENT ON THE SWEEP LINEARITY 0RACTICALLY THE EFFECT OF A NONLINEARITY OF
A FEW PERCENT IS TO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT TIME SIDELOBES AS THIS NEEDS TO BE COMPENSATED IN
THE TRANSMITTER MODULATOR DESIGN
4HE 3 RADAR TRANSMITS A SERIES OF INCREMENTAL FREQUENCIES AND STORES THE
RECEIVED )& SIGNAL TO THEN CARRY OUT A &OURIER TRANSFORM RECONSTRUCTION OF THE TIME
DOMAIN EQUIVALENT WAVEFORM 4HE 3 HAS FOUND MANY APPLICATIONS IN '02
BECAUSE THE REQUIREMENTS ON SCAN RATE ARE RELATIVELY MODEST 4HE IMPACT OF MOBILE
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY HAS HAD A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON REDUCING THE COST OF RADAR
COMPONENTS FOR THIS DESIGN 4WO FORMS OF THE SYNTHESIZED RADAR CAN BE CONSIDERED
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE FIRST AND SIMPLEST SYSTEM IS STEPPED FREQUENCY CONTINUOUS WAVE RADAR 4HE SECOND
FORM IS MORE COMPLEX IN THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL FREQUENCY IS APPROPRIATELY WEIGHTED IN
AMPLITUDE AND PHASE PRIOR TO TRANSMISSION .ORMALLY THE RADAR IS CALIBRATED BOTH TO
ESTABLISH A REFERENCE PLANE FOR MEASUREMENT AS WELL AS TO REDUCE THE EFFECT OF VARIATIONS
IN THE FREQUENCY CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPONENTS AND ANTENNAS
! MUCH WIDER CLASS OF ANTENNA IS AVAILABLE FOR USE BY THE DESIGNER OF FREQUENCY
DOMAIN RADARS 4HE NOISE FLOOR OF THE RECEIVER IS MUCH LOWER THAN THE TIME
DOMAIN
EQUIVALENT SIMPLY BY VIRTUE OF ITS LOWER BANDWIDTH AND HENCE LOWER THERMAL NOISE
4YPICALLY A SENSITIVITY OF n D"M IS FOUND AND A SYSTEM PEAK TRANSMITTED SIGNAL
TO MEAN RECEIVER NOISE RANGE OF D" IS FEASIBLE )T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE )&
BANDWIDTH OF THE RECEIVER IN &-#7 AND 3 SYSTEMS CAN BE MADE RELATIVELY SMALL
WHEREAS THE SAMPLING RECEIVER IN THE TIME
DOMAIN RECEIVER HAS A BANDWIDTH OF MANY
'(Z AND HENCE A POOR NOISE PERFORMANCE
4HE MAIN POTENTIAL ADVANTAGE OF A STEPPED FREQUENCY OR &-#7 '02 IS ITS ABIL
ITY TO ADJUST THE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES OF OPERATION TO SUIT THE MATERIAL AND TARGETS AND
ELECTROMAGNETIC ENVIRONMENT UNDER INVESTIGATION IF THE ANTENNA HAS AN ADEQUATE PASS
BAND OF FREQUENCIES )T CAN RADIATE A HIGHER MEAN POWER LEVEL PER SPECTRAL LINE THAN
THE TIME
DOMAIN RADAR AND ITS ABILITY TO INTEGRATE THE RECEIVED SIGNAL LEVEL IMPROVES
THE SYSTEM SENSITIVITY 4HE CALIBRATION OF THE RADAR DOES OF COURSE DEPEND ON STABLE
SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS AND ANTENNA PARAMETERS THAT ARE INVARIANT WITH THE SPACING OF
THE FRONT SURFACE AND THE ANTENNA !LTHOUGH ON FIRST CONSIDERATION FREQUENCY DOMAIN
RADARS SHOULD OFFER A SUPERIOR SENSITIVITY TO TIME
DOMAIN RADARS BECAUSE OF THEIR LOWER
)& RECEIVER BANDWIDTH AND HENCE THERMAL NOISE BOTH THE TYPE OF RECEIVER AND THE RANGE
SIDELOBES OF THE RADIATED SPECTRUM MAY RESULT IN AN EQUIVALENT OR WORSE SENSITIVITY IN
TERMS OF RANGE RESOLUTION AS DISCUSSED ABOVE
0SEUDO
RANDOM
CODED 2ADAR 7ORK HAS BEEN CARRIED OUT ON PSEUDO
RANDOM
CODED MODULATION TECHNIQUES FOR '02 4HE MAIN ADVANTAGE OF THIS METHOD IS THAT THE
ENERGY TRANSMITTED IS SPREAD MORE EVENLY OVER THE SPECTRUM THAN WITH ANY OTHER MODU
LATION METHOD AND HENCE THE LIKELIHOOD OF INTERFERENCE TO OTHER USERS OF THE SPECTRUM
IS MINIMIZED )N ADDITION THE CHANCES OF OTHER USERS OF SAY MOBILE PHONES INTERFERING
WITH THE '02 OPERATOR ARE ALSO REDUCED 4HE MEAN POWER IS THE LOWEST OF ANY OF THE
MODULATION SCHEMES AND THIS IS HELPFUL IN MEETING REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
4HE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL HAS NOISE
LIKE CHARACTERISTICS AND THE RECEIVED SIGNAL IS
CROSS
CORRELATED WITH A SAMPLE OF THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL 4HE RANGE OF THE TARGET IS
GIVEN BY THE TIME POSITION OF THE CROSS
CORRELATED SIGNAL AND THE AMPLITUDE BY THE PEAK
OF THE CROSS
CORRELATED SIGNAL #ONTROL OF THE CROSS
CORRELATION SIDELOBES IS VITAL TO
ACHIEVE GOOD RANGE RESOLUTION AND THE SIDELOBES ARE AFFECTED BY THE ANTENNA AND SYSTEM
CHARACTERISTICS AS WELL AS THE DURATION AND RANDOMNESS OF THE TRANSMITTED WAVEFORM
&URTHER INFORMATION IS GIVEN BY .ARAYANAN AND 3ACHS ET AL
/
-
)N THE ULTRAWIDEBAND CASE THE RADAR ANTENNAS ARE CONSIDERED IN TERMS OF THEIR TRANSFER
FUNCTION RATHER THAN THEIR GAINS OR EFFECTIVE APERTURES )N MANY CASES A SEPARATE TRANSMIT
AND RECEIVE ANTENNA IS USED HENCE THEIR TRANSFER FUNCTIONS MAY NOT BE IDENTICAL 4HE TYPE
OF ANTENNA THAT IS USED WITH ULTRAWIDEBAND RADAR HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN DEFINING THE
PERFORMANCE OF THE RADAR
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
%LEMENT ANTENNAS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY LINEAR POLARIZATION LOW DIRECTIVITY AND RELA
TIVELY LIMITED BANDWIDTH UNLESS EITHER END LOADING OR DISTRIBUTED LOADING TECHNIQUES
ARE EMPLOYED IN WHICH CASE BANDWIDTH IS INCREASED AT THE EXPENSE OF RADIATION EFFI
CIENCY !N ELEMENTAL ANTENNA IS A DIPOLE IN CONTRAST TO APERTURE ANTENNAS SUCH AS HORNS
! NORMAL SHORT DIPOLE ANTENNA FED WITH A VERY SHORT CURRENT IMPULSE WILL RADIATE FROM
THE FEED POINTS AND THE END OF THE ELEMENT BECAUSE OF THE LATTERS DISCONTINUITY AS FAR
AS CURRENT FLOW IS CONCERNED 4HE CURRENT IMPULSE WILL BE REFLECTED FROM THE END OF
THE DIPOLE AND TRAVEL UP AND DOWN THE DIPOLE CAUSING A SERIES OF IMPULSES OF RADIA
TION 4HIS EXTENDS THE TIME SIGNATURE OF THE RADIATED WAVEFORM AND DEGRADES THE RANGE
RESOLUTION OF THE SYSTEM 4HIS EFFECT IS SHOWN IN &IGURE WHERE THE RADIATION PAT
TERN IS SHOWN AT A TIME SEVERAL PULSE DURATIONS AFTER APPLICATION 4HE OUTER PERIMETER
REPRESENTS THE ENERGY RADIATED AT TIME ZERO FOLLOWED AT INTERVALS BY THE RADIATION FROM
THE FEED POINTS AND THE END OF THE ELEMENT
!S IT IS REQUIRED TO RADIATE ONLY A VERY SHORT IMPULSE IT IS IMPORTANT TO ELIMINATE
THE REFLECTION DISCONTINUITIES FROM THE FEED POINTS AND ENDS OF THE ANTENNA EITHER BY
END LOADING OR BY REDUCING THE AMPLITUDE OF THE CHARGE AND CURRENT REACHING THE ENDS
4HE LATTER CAN BE ACHIEVED EITHER BY RESISTIVELY COATING THE ANTENNA OR BY CONSTRUCTING
THE ANTENNA FROM A MATERIAL SUCH AS .ICHROME WHICH HAS A DEFINED LOSS PER UNIT AREA
)N THIS CASE THE ANTENNA RADIATES IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WAY AS THE APPLIED CHARGE
BECOMES SPREAD OVER THE ENTIRE ELEMENT LENGTH AND HENCE THE CENTERS OF RADIATION ARE
DISTRIBUTED ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE ANTENNA 4YPICAL RADIATED FIELD PATTERNS FOR A RESIS
TIVELY LOADED DIPOLE ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE (OWEVER THE REDUCTION IN IMPULSE
DURATION IS ACHIEVED AT THE EXPENSE OF EFFICIENCY AND LOADED ANTENNAS MAY HAVE EFFI
CIENCIES AS LOW AS
4HE TYPES OF ANTENNAS THAT ARE USEFUL TO THE DESIGNER OF ULTRAWIDEBAND RADAR FALL
INTO TWO GROUPS DISPERSIVE ANTENNAS AND NONDISPERSIVE ANTENNAS $ISPERSIVE ANTENNAS
HAVE A NONLINEAR PHASEFREQUENCY RESPONSE WHEREAS NONDISPERSIVE ANTENNAS HAVE A
SUBSTANTIALLY LINEAR PHASEFREQUENCY RESPONSE %XAMPLES OF DISPERSIVE ANTENNAS THAT
HAVE BEEN USED IN ULTRAWIDEBAND RADAR ARE THE EXPONENTIAL SPIRAL THE !RCHIMEDEAN
&)'52% 2ADIATED FIELD PATTERN FROM A CONDUCTING DIPOLE ELEMENT DUE
TO AN APPLIED IMPULSE #OURTESY )%%
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&)'52% 2ADIATED FIELD PATTERN FROM A RESIS
TIVELY LOADED DIPOLE ELEMENT DUE TO AN APPLIED IMPULSE
#OURTESY )%%
SPIRAL THE LOGARITHMIC PLANAR ANTENNA THE 6IVALDI ANTENNA SLOT ANTENNAS AND THE EXPO
NENTIAL HORN 4HE IMPULSE RESPONSE OF THIS CLASS OF ANTENNAS GENERALLY RESULTS IN A
WAVEFORM WHOSE TIME FREQUENCY RESPONSE IS EXTENDED AND IS SIMILAR TO A CHIRP ALBEIT
WITH AN INCONSTANT AMPLITUDE IF THE INPUT IS AN IMPULSE
%XAMPLES OF NONDISPERSIVE ANTENNAS ARE THE 4%- HORN THE BICONE THE BOW
TIE THE RESISTIVE LUMPED ELEMENT LOADED ANTENNA AND THE CONTINUOUSLY RESISTIVELY
LOADED ANTENNA 4HE INPUT VOLTAGE DRIVING FUNCTION TO THE TERMINALS OF THE ANTENNA IN
IMPULSE RADAR IS TYPICALLY A NARROW GAUSSIAN PULSE OF PS AND THIS REQUIRES THE
IMPULSE RESPONSE OF THE ANTENNA TO BE EXTREMELY SHORT 4HE MAIN REASON FOR REQUIR
ING THE IMPULSE RESPONSE TO BE SHORT IS THAT IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE ANTENNA DOES NOT
DISTORT THE INPUT FUNCTION AND GENERATE TIME SIDELOBES 4HESE TIME SIDELOBES WOULD
OBSCURE TARGETS THAT ARE CLOSE IN RANGE TO THE TARGET OF INTEREST IN OTHER WORDS THE
RESOLUTION OF THE RADAR CAN BECOME DEGRADED IF THE IMPULSE RESPONSE OF THE ANTENNA
IS SIGNIFICANTLY EXTENDED
(OWEVER IN PRINCIPLE ALL ANTENNAS ARE DISPERSIVE TO SOME EXTENT BUT NONDISPERSIVE
ANTENNAS DO NOT NEED CORRECTION IN THE SIGNAL PROCESSING WHICH REDUCES THE OVERALL
COMPLEXITY OF THE RADAR PROCESSING 4HE VERY SHORT RANGE OPERATION OF MANY '02
SYSTEMS ENABLES OPERATION OF ANTENNAS IN A WAY THAT DOES NOT CONFORM TO TRADITIONAL
ANALYTIC MODELS OF ANTENNA GAIN AND APERTURE
(ORN ANTENNAS HAVE FOUND MOST USE WITH &-#7 ULTRAWIDEBAND RADARS WHERE THE
GENERALLY HIGHER FREQUENCY OF OPERATION AND RELAXATION OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR LINEAR
PHASE RESPONSE PERMIT THE CONSIDERATION OF THIS CLASS OF ANTENNA &-#7 ULTRAWIDE
BAND RADARS HAVE USED AN OFFSET PARABOLOID FED BY A RIDGED HORN 4HIS ARRANGEMENT WAS
DESIGNED TO FOCUS THE RADIATION INTO THE GROUND AT A SLANT ANGLE TO REDUCE THE LEVEL OF
THE REFLECTION FROM THE GROUND #ARE NEEDS TO BE TAKEN IN SUCH ARRANGEMENTS TO MINI
MIZE THE EFFECT OF BACK AND SIDELOBES FROM THE FEED ANTENNA WHICH CAN EASILY GENERATE
REFLECTION FROM THE GROUND SURFACE
/NE METHOD OF RADIATING CIRCULAR POLARIZATION IS TO USE AN EQUI ANGULAR SPIRAL
ANTENNA 4HE DISPERSIVE NATURE OF THIS TYPE OF ANTENNA CAUSES AN INCREASE IN THE DURA
TION OF THE TRANSMITTED WAVEFORMS AND THE RADIATED PULSE TAKES THE FORM OF A hCHIRPv
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
IN WHICH HIGH FREQUENCIES ARE RADIATED FIRST FOLLOWED BY THE LOW FREQUENCIES ! hSPIK
INGv FILTER WHICH MAY TAKE THE FORM OF A CONVENTIONAL MATCHED FILTER HOWEVER MAY
COMPENSATE FOR THIS EFFECT OR A MORE SOPHISTICATED FILTER SUCH AS 7IENER FILTER WHICH
RECOVERS THE ORIGINAL SHAPE OF THE WAVEFORM APPLIED TO THE ANTENNA
)T IS IMPORTANT TO APPRECIATE THE EFFECT OF THE MATERIAL IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE
ANTENNA )N GENERAL THIS MATERIAL WHICH IN MOST CASES WILL BE SOIL OR ROCKS OR INDEED
ICE CAN BE REGARDED AS A LOSSY DIELECTRIC AND BY ITS CONSEQUENT LOADING EFFECT CAN PLAY
A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN DETERMINING THE LOW FREQUENCY PERFORMANCE OF THE ANTENNA AND
HENCE '02 4HE BEHAVIOR OF THE ANTENNA IS INTIMATELY LINKED WITH THE MATERIAL AND
IN THE CASE OF BOREHOLE RADARS THE ANTENNA ACTUALLY RADIATES WITHIN A LOSSY DIELECTRIC
WHEREAS IN THE CASE OF THE '02 WORKING ABOVE THE SURFACE THE ANTENNA WILL RADIATE
FROM AIR INTO A VERY SMALL SECTION OF AIR AND THEN INTO A LOSSY HALF SPACE FORMED BY
THE MATERIAL 4HE BEHAVIOR OF ANTENNAS BOTH WITHIN LOSSY DIELECTRICS AND OVER LOSSY
DIELECTRICS IS WELL REPORTED 4HE PROPAGATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSES IN A HOMOGE
NEOUS CONDUCTING EARTH HAS BEEN MODELED BY 7AIT AND +ING AND THE DISPERSION OF
RECTANGULAR SOURCE PULSES SUGGESTS THAT THE TIME
DOMAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RECEIVED
PULSE COULD BE USED AS AN INDICATION OF DISTANCE
4HE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE ANTENNA AND THE LOSSY DIELECTRIC HALF SPACE IS ALSO SIG
NIFICANT AS THIS MAY CAUSE MODIFICATION OF THE ANTENNA RADIATION CHARACTERISTICS BOTH
SPATIALLY AND TEMPORALLY AND SHOULD ALSO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN THE SYSTEM DESIGN
)N THE CASE OF AN ANTENNA PLACED ON AN INTERFACE THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT PARAMETERS
ARE THE CURRENT DISTRIBUTION AND THE RADIATION PATTERN !T THE INTERFACE CURRENTS ON THE
ANTENNA PROPAGATE AT A VELOCITY WHICH IS INTERMEDIATE BETWEEN THAT IN FREE SPACE AND
THAT IN THE DIELECTRIC )N GENERAL THE VELOCITY IS RETARDED BY THE E R 4HE NET
RESULT IS THAT EVANESCENT WAVES ARE EXCITED IN AIR WHEREAS IN THE DIELECTRIC THE ENERGY
IS CONCENTRATED AND PREFERENTIALLY INDUCED BY A FACTOR OF N
4HE RESPECTIVE CALCULATED FAR
FIELD POWER DENSITY PATTERNS IN BOTH AIR AND DIELECTRIC
ARE GIVEN BY 2UTLEDGE SEE 4ABLE AND THESE ARE PLOTTED FOR A RELATIVE DIELECTRIC
CONSTANT OF IN &IGURE AND &IGURE &OR COMPARISON THE FAR
FIELD PATTERN
OF A DIPOLE RADIATING INTO FREE SPACE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HE ABOVE EXPRESSIONS IN 4ABLE ASSUME THAT THE CURRENT SOURCE CONTACTS THE
DIELECTRIC WHEREAS A MORE GENERAL CONDITION IS WHEN THE ANTENNA IS JUST ABOVE THE
DIELECTRIC ! SIGNIFICANT PRACTICAL PROBLEM FOR MANY APPLICATIONS IS THE NEED TO MAIN
TAIN SUFFICIENT SPACING TO AVOID MECHANICAL DAMAGE TO THE ANTENNA )T CAN THEREFORE BE
APPRECIATED THAT THE EFFECT OF CHANGES IN DISTANCE BETWEEN THE ANTENNA AND HALF SPACE IS
TO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT VARIATION IN THE RESULTANT RADIATION PATTERNS IN THE DIELECTRIC
! PARTICULARLY USEFUL ANTENNA CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING A FORWARD TRAVELING 4%- WAVE
IS THE 4%- HORN )N GENERAL SUCH ANTENNAS CONSIST OF A PAIR OF CONDUCTORS EITHER
4!",% 0OWER $ENSITY 0ATTERNS IN !IR AND $IELECTRIC
0LANE
(
%
0OWER
0OWER
2ADIATION PATTERN IN DIELECTRIC X DIRECTION
2ADIATION PATTERN IN DIELECTRIC Y DIRECTION
COSP A
A
COSP A H COSP D
COSP A COSP D
A
H COSP A COSP D
H COSP D
AH
COSP A H COSP D
H COSP A COSP D
AH
H COSP A COSP D
n
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&)'52% % PLANE PLOT OF FAR FIELD POWER DENSITY OF A CURRENT ELEMENT
RADIATING INTO A LOSSLESS MATERIAL OF DIELECTRIC CONSTANT OF
FLAT CYLINDRICAL OR CONICAL IN CROSS SECTION FORMING A 6 STRUCTURE IN WHICH RADIATION
PROPAGATES ALONG THE AXIS OF THE 6 STRUCTURE !LTHOUGH RESISTIVE TERMINATION IS USED
THIS TYPE OF ANTENNA HAS A DIRECTIVITY ON THE ORDER OF n D" DEPENDING ON SIZE
HENCE USEFUL GAIN CAN STILL BE OBTAINED EVEN WITH A TERMINATING LOSS ON THE ORDER OF
&)'52% ( PLANE PLOT OF FAR FIELD POWER DENSITY OF A CURRENT
ELEMENT RADIATING INTO A LOSSLESS MATERIAL OF DIELECTRIC CONSTANT OF
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
&)'52% ( PLANE PLOT OF FAR FIELD POWER DENSITY OF A CURRENT ELEMENT
RADIATING INTO FREE SPACE
D" TO D" ! FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE 4%- HORN IS GIVEN BY -ARTEL IN WHICH
THE ANTENNA IS COMPOSED OF A SET OF SPREAD hFINGERSv FORMING THE SHAPE OF A HORN AS
SHOWN IN &IGURE %ACH FINGER IS A WIRE WITH A DIAMETER OF MM AND IS RESIS
TIVELY LOADED AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE ANTENNA 4HE FEED COMPO
NENT FOR THE ANTENNA IS COMPRISED OF A /HM COAX FEEDING A TAPERED PARALLEL PLATE
WAVEGUIDE WITH A WIDTH OF MM AND A HEIGHT OF MM ! TAPER ALONG THE WIDTH OF
THE TOP PARALLEL PLATE IS USED AS A TRANSITION TO TRANSFORM A /HM UNBALANCED LINE
INTO A OHM BALANCED LINE
&)'52% !NTENNA AND FEED GEOMETRY OF LOADED 4%- HORN ,
CM #OURTESY )%%
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"
"
! #" $
" " $
"#! #"
%
"
"
&)'52% 0REDICTED AND ACTUAL PULSE RESPONSES OF LOADED 4%- HORN ANTENNA #OURTESY )%%
4HE PREDICTED AND ACTUAL TIME
DOMAIN PULSE OF THE OPTIMUM DESIGN IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE 4HE SHAPE OF THE TIME
DOMAIN ANTENNA RESPONSE IS SIMILAR TO A SECOND
DERIVATIVE GAUSSIAN SIGNAL )T CAN BE SEEN THAT MOST OF THE INTERNAL REFLECTIONS HAVE BEEN
SUPPRESSED 4HE RATE OF DECREASE FOR THE UNWANTED RINGING IS BETTER THAN D"NS 4HE
6372 WAS BETTER THAN FROM -(Z TO '(Z
4HERE ARE MANY CONFIGURATIONS OF ANTENNA THAT CAN BE USED CROSSED DIPOLES AND
PARALLEL DIPOLES ARE THE MOST POPULAR 4HE MAIN REASON FOR THE USE OF TWO ANTENNAS IS
THAT 42 SWITCHES THAT ARE FAST ENOUGH FOR '02 ARE NOT YET AVAILABLE
n - *,"
--
4HE THREE BASIC PERMUTATIONS OF '02 DATA PRESENTATION ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE
MOST BASIC '02 DATA RECORD IS AN ! SCAN !N ! SCAN PROVIDES AMPLITUDE TIME RECORD
OF A SINGLE MEASUREMENT OVER A TARGET /NLY AMPLITUDE RANGE INFORMATION IS PLOTTED
'02 IS GENERALLY USED IN SUCH A WAY AS TO GENERATE A SEQUENCE OF ! SCANS RELATED TO
THE SURVEY POSITION ON THE GROUND SURFACE 4HIS SEQUENCE CAN BE TERMED A " SCAN AND
AN EXAMPLE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HIS EFFECTIVELY REPRESENTS ONE AXIS Z DEPTH AND
THE ORTHOGONAL AXIS X OR Y LINEAR POSITION 4HE AMPLITUDE OF THE SIGNAL MAY BE SHOWN
AS A SERIES OF OVERLAPPING SIGNALS OR ALTERNATIVELY A hWIGGLE PLOTv BORROWED FROM
SEISMIC TERMINOLOGY OR A GRAYSCALE CODED INTENSITY PLOT OR A PSEUDO COLOR IMAGE )N
THE MODELED EXAMPLE SHOWN THE HYPERBOLIC SPREADING OF THE TARGET SPATIAL RESPONSE
CAN BE SEEN !S SHOWN IN &IGURE A # SCAN CONSISTS OF A PLAN VIEW X Y PLANE
OVER A DEFINED RANGE OF DEPTH Z .OTE THAT THESE TERMS ARE NOT THE SAME AS USED IN
CONVENTIONAL RADAR DISPLAY
4HE RECEIVED TIME WAVEFORM CAN BE DESCRIBED AS THE CONVOLUTION OF A NUMBER OF
TIME FUNCTIONS EACH REPRESENTING THE IMPULSE RESPONSE OF SOME COMPONENT OF THE RADAR
SYSTEM IN ADDITION TO NOISE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES .OTE THAT TWO ANTENNAS
ARE USED ONE TRANSMITS AND ONE RECEIVES
SR T SS T SAF T SC T SGF T ST T SGR T SAR T NT
WHERE
SST SIGNAL APPLIED TO THE ANTENNA
SADT ANTENNA IMPULSE RESPONSE
SCT ANTENNA CROSS COUPLING RESPONSE
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
SGDT GROUND IMPULSE RESPONSE
STT IMPULSE RESPONSE OF TARGET
NT NOISE
D DENOTES DIRECTIONF BEING FORWARD AND R REVERSE DIRECTION
%ACH CONTRIBUTION HAS ITS OWN PARTICULAR CHARACTERISTICS THAT NEED TO BE CONSID
ERED CAREFULLY BEFORE APPLICATION OF A PARTICULAR PROCESSING SCHEME )DEALLY THE SIGNAL
APPLIED TO THE ANTENNA SHOULD BE A $IRAC FUNCTION BUT PRACTICALLY IT IS MORE LIKE A
SKEWED GAUSSIAN IMPULSE OF DEFINED TIME DURATION -OST ANTENNAS USED IN SURFACE
PENETRATING APPLICATIONS HAVE A LIMITED LOW FREQUENCY RESPONSE AND TEND TO ACT AS
HIGH
PASS FILTERS EFFECTIVELY DIFFERENTIATING THE APPLIED IMPULSE AND HENCE CREATING A
TIME
LIMITED FUNCTION )N MOST CASES NEAR IDENTICAL ANTENNA ARE USED AND IF THESE ARE
SPACED SUFFICIENTLY FAR FROM THE GROUND SURFACE THEN SAFT SART )N THE CASE OF ANTEN
NAS OPERATED IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE GROUND THEN BOTH SAFT AND SART ARE VARIANT WITH
&)'52% #OORDINATE SYSTEM FOR SCAN DESCRIPTION
#OURTESY )%%
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
CHANGES IN THE GROUND SURFACE ELECTRICAL PARAMETERS %SSENTIALLY THE IMPEDANCE OF THE
ANTENNA IS CHANGED BY ITS PROXIMITY TO THE GROUND HENCE IT CANNOT BE CONSIDERED TO
HAVE A STABLE IMPULSE RESPONSE
!NY PROCESSING SCHEME THAT RELIES ON INVARIANT ANTENNA PARAMETERS SHOULD TAKE INTO
ACCOUNT THE MODE OF OPERATION OF THE ANTENNAS AND THE DEGREE OF STABILITY THAT IS PRAC
TICALLY REALIZABLE 4HE ANTENNA CROSS COUPLING RESPONSE SC T IS COMPOSED OF A FIXED
CONTRIBUTION S`CT DUE TO ANTENNA CROSS COUPLING IN AIR AND A VARIABLE CONTRIBUTION SpCT
DUE TO THE EFFECT OF THE GROUND OR NEARBY OBJECTS (ENCE SCT S`CT SpCT )T HAS BEEN
FOUND POSSIBLE TO REDUCE THE AMPLITUDE OF SCT TO VERY LOW LEVELS IN THE CASE OF CROSSED
DIPOLE ANTENNAS TO BELOW n D" SIMPLY BY ATTENTION TO THE PRECISION OF CONSTRUCTION
AND IN THE CASE OF PARALLEL DIPOLE ANTENNAS TO BELOW n D" BY THE INTERPOSING BETWEEN
THE ANTENNAS OF SUITABLE ABSORBING MATERIAL (OWEVER SpCT CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER
AND DEGRADES THE OVERALL VALUE OF SCT TO n D" 4HE VALUE OF SAT IS DETERMINED BY
ANY LOCAL INHOMOGENEITIES IN THE SOIL OR BY ANY COVERING MATERIAL WHETHER OF MINERAL OR
VEGETABLE ORIGIN 4HERE IS UNFORTUNATELY LITTLE THAT CAN BE DONE TO PREDICT VARIATIONS IN
SpCT AND IT IS NOT AMENABLE TO TREATMENT BY MANY PROCESSING ALGORITHMS 4HE VARIATION
IN SpCT IS MUCH GREATER WITH THE CROSSED DIPOLE ANTENNA THAN THE PARALLEL DIPOLE 4HE
GROUND IMPULSE RESPONSE SGT CAN BE DETERMINED FROM ITS ATTENUATION AND DIELECTRIC
CONSTANT ACROSS THE FREQUENCY RANGE OF INTEREST
4HE TARGET IMPULSE RESPONSE CAN BE COMPOSED OF THE CONVOLUTION OF THE WANTED
TARGET RESPONSE TOGETHER WITH MANY OTHER REFLECTORS WHICH MAY NOT BE WANTED BY THE
USER BUT WHICH ARE VALID REFLECTING TARGETS AS FAR AS ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES ARE CON
CERNED 4HE TIME SEPARATION OF THE TARGETS IS RELATED TO THEIR PHYSICAL SPACING AS WELL AS
THE VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION WHICH CAN VARY DEPENDING ON THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES
7HERE THE TARGETS ARE WELL SEPARATED IN RANGE IT IS RELATIVELY STRAIGHTFORWARD TO
SEPARATE THE RADAR REFLECTIONS BUT THIS BECOMES PROGRESSIVELY MORE DIFFICULT AS TARGETS
BECOME CLOSER TOGETHER AS INSTEAD OF SEPARABLE TIME
DOMAIN SIGNATURES THE REFLECTIONS
WILL MERGE TOGETHER
!S THE ANTENNAS GENERALLY USED FOR '02 HAVE POOR DIRECTIVITY THE PATTERN OF THE
REFLECTED WAVEFORM IN THE "
SCAN REPRESENTED THE SPATIAL CONVOLUTION OF THE ANTENNA
PATTERN WITH THE TARGET 4HE READER IS REFERRED TO &IGURE SHOWN PREVIOUSLY WHICH
ILLUSTRATES THIS EFFECT 4HIS SPATIAL PATTERN DOES NOT REPRESENT AN IMAGE OF THE OBJECT OF
INTEREST AND MUCH EFFORT HAS BEEN MADE TO DEVELOP METHODS TO RECONSTRUCT THE TARGET
IMAGE FROM '02 DATA
&)'52% %NVELOPE OF ! SCAN SAMPLE TIME SERIES #OURTESY )%%
'2/5.$ 0%.%42!4).' 2!$!2
&)'52% " SCAN UNPROCESSED DATA #OURTESY )%%
$ECONVOLVING THE IMAGE USING ANY OF THE FOLLOWING PROCESSES CAN DO THIS SYN
THETIC APERTURE PROCESSING CONJUGATE GRADIENT METHODS AND REVERSE TIME MIGRATION ARE
EXTENSIVELY REPORTED IN THE LITERATURE -ANY OF THESE TECHNIQUES WORK WELL ON ISOLATED
TARGETS SUCH AS PIPES WHICH HAVE WELL
DEFINED GEOMETRICAL BOUNDARIES 4HE SITUATION
IS MORE DIFFICULT WITH STRATIFIED LAYERS AND OF COURSE ANISOTROPIC MATERIALS
7HEN A RECONSTRUCTED IMAGE OF THE BURIED OBJECT IS CREATED WHETHER AS A "
SCAN
OR #
SCAN AREA AT A PARTICULAR RANGE OF DEPTHS IT IS NECESSARY TO INTERPRET THE RADAR
IMAGE AS BEING GENERATED BY A PHYSICAL STRUCTURE 4HIS IS NOT ALWAYS EASY IN THE CASE OF
A CLUTTERED IMAGE AND A GREAT DEAL STILL DEPENDS ON THE FIELD EXPERIENCE OF THE OPERATOR
%XAMPLES OF UNPROCESSED "
SCAN DATA AND THE SAME CORRECTED FOR SPREADING LOSS AND
ATTENUATION ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE AND &IGURE
!LTHOUGH A #
SCAN IS ESSENTIALLY AN X Y PLANE AT A SELECTED VALUE OF : OR RANGE OF
VALUES OF : MANY OF THE PROCESSES DESCRIBED IN THE PREVIOUS SECTION CAN BE APPLIED
&)'52% " SCAN DATA CORRECTED FOR SPREADING LOSS AND ATTENUATION #OURTESY )%%
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
2EMEMBERING THAT A '02 "
SCAN RESULTS IN A HYPERBOLIC CROSS SECTION FROM A
TARGET THEN AN AREA SCAN #
SCAN WILL RESULT IN A HYPERBOLOID OF REVOLUTION WHOSE
VERTICAL AXIS RUNS THROUGH THE TARGET ! PLANE ORTHOGONAL TO THE VERTICAL AXIS WILL GENER
ATE A CIRCULAR FEATURE WHOSE RADIUS INCREASES WITH DEPTH ! TYPICAL EXAMPLE IS GIVEN
IN &IGURE WHICH SHOWS THE #
SCANS FROM AN ANTI
TANK MINE BURIED AT DIFFERENT
DEPTHS WITH THE CENTER OF THE MINE SHOWN AS AN OVERLAY 4HESE IMAGES REPRESENT AN
UNFOCUSSED REPRESENTATION OF THE TARGET AS A RESULT OF THE $ SPATIAL CONVOLUTION OF THE
ANTENNA PATTERN WITH THE TARGET
4HE VARIABILITY OF GROUND CONDITIONS AS WELL AS THE PHYSICS OF %- WAVE PROPA
GATION AND REFLECTION MUST BE CAREFULLY TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN ATTEMPTING TO CLASSIFY
TARGETS EVEN AFTER IMAGE PROCESSING &OR EXAMPLE THE DEPTH IMAGE OF A VOID IS ALWAYS
APPARENTLY SMALLER THAN ITS PHYSICAL SIZE CORNER REFLECTORS OF ANY REASONABLE SIZE GEN
ERATE LARGE APPARENTLY DISCONTINUOUS REFLECTION IMAGES AND CONDUCTIVE TARGETS WHICH
REVERBERATE BY MEANS OF STORED ENERGY CREATE EXTENDED DEPTH IMAGES 4HE IMAGE OF
A BURIED TARGET GENERATED BY A '02 WILL NOT OF COURSE CORRESPOND TO ITS GEOMETRICAL
REPRESENTATION 4HE FUNDAMENTAL REASONS FOR THIS ARE RELATED TO THE RATIO OF THE WAVE
LENGTH OF THE RADIATION AND THE PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS OF THE TARGET )N MOST CASES FOR
'02 THE RATIO IS CLOSE TO UNITY 4HIS COMPARES VERY DIFFERENTLY WITH AN OPTICAL IMAGE
WHICH IS OBTAINED WITH WAVELENGTHS SUCH THAT THE RATIO IS CONSIDERABLY GREATER THAN
UNITY TYPICALLY )N '02 APPLICATIONS THE EFFECT OF COMBINATIONS OF SCAT
TERING PLANES FOR EXAMPLE THE CORNER REFLECTOR CAN CAUSE hBRIGHT SPOTSv IN THE IMAGE
AND VARIATIONS IN THE VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION CAN CAUSE DILATION OF THE ASPECT RATIO OF
THE IMAGE !LTHOUGH MANY IMAGES CAN BE FOCUSED TO REDUCE THE EFFECT OF ANTENNA BEAM
SPREADING REGENERATION OF A GEOMETRIC MODEL IS A MUCH MORE COMPLEX PROCEDURE AND
IS NOT USUALLY ATTEMPTED
4HE GENERAL OBJECTIVE OF SIGNAL PROCESSING AS APPLIED TO '02 IS TO PRESENT EITHER
AN IMAGE THAT CAN READILY BE INTERPRETED BY THE OPERATOR OR TO CLASSIFY THE TARGET RETURN
WITH RESPECT TO A KNOWN TEST PROCEDURE OR TEMPLATE
4HE GENERAL PROCESSING PROBLEM ENCOUNTERED IN DEALING WITH '02 DATA IS IN THE
WIDEST SENSE THE EXTRACTION OF A LOCALIZED WAVELET FUNCTION FROM A TIME SERIES WHICH
DISPLAYS VERY SIMILAR TIME
DOMAIN CHARACTERISTICS TO THE WAVELET 4HIS TIME SERIES IS
GENERATED BY SIGNALS FROM THE GROUND AND OTHER REFLECTING SURFACE AS WELL AS INTERNALLY
FROM THE RADAR SYSTEM 5NLIKE CONVENTIONAL RADAR SYSTEMS IN WHICH THE TARGET CAN GEN
ERALLY BE REGARDED AS BEING IN MOTION COMPARED WITH THE CLUTTER IN THE '02 CASE THE
TARGET AND THE CLUTTER ARE SPATIALLY FIXED AND THE RADAR ANTENNA IS MOVED WITH RESPECT
TO THE ENVIRONMENT
)T IS ASSUMED THAT DATA ARE RECORDED TO AN ADEQUATE RESOLUTION -OST ANTENNAS USED
IN SURFACE PENETRATING APPLICATIONS HAVE A LIMITED LOW
FREQUENCY RESPONSE AND TEND TO
ACT AS HIGH
PASS FILTERS EFFECTIVELY DIFFERENTIATING THE APPLIED IMPULSE !S THE GROUND
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&)'52% 3EQUENCE OF UNFOCUSSED #
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)N THE CASE OF ANTENNAS OPERATED IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE GROUND THE ANTENNA CHARAC
TERISTICS MAY VARY AS A RESULT OF CHANGES IN THE GROUND SURFACE ELECTRICAL PARAMETERS
!NY PROCESSING SCHEME THAT ASSUMES THE ANTENNA PARAMETERS REMAIN CONSTANT NEEDS
TO ACCOUNT FOR THE MODE OF OPERATION OF THE ANTENNAS AND THE DEGREE OF STABILITY THAT IS
PRACTICALLY REALIZABLE 4HIS IS A PARTICULAR ISSUE FOR '02 AND NEEDS CAREFUL ATTENTION TO
REDUCE THE EFFECT OF ANTENNA
GROUND SURFACE INTERACTION
3OME OF THE ANCILLARY REQUIREMENTS OF AN OPERATIONAL '02 SYSTEM NEED TO BE CON
SIDERED !CCURATE HIGH
RESOLUTION LOW
COST POSITION REFERENCING SYSTEMS FOR USE WITH
RADAR FOR SUBSURFACE SURVEY TECHNIQUES ARE NOW AVAILABLE )T IS IMPORTANT THAT DATA CAN
BE RELATED TO A TRUE GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCE PARTICULARLY WHEN FILED ON DIGITAL MAPPING
SYSTEMS AND USED TO DEFINE AREAS OF SAFE WORKING
!NOTHER CONSIDERATION IS THE PLANE OF POLARIZATION OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY
&OR TARGETS WITH ONE LARGE AREA DIMENSION SUCH AS A PIPE THE RADAR CROSS
SCATTERING
SECTION WILL BE LARGER WHEN THE POLARIZATION VECTOR IS IN LINE WITH THE PIPE 4HIS MEANS
THAT ANY AREA THAT IS SURVEYED WITH SAY PARALLEL DIPOLES MUST BE SURVEYED IN ORTHOGONAL
DIRECTIONS TO ENSURE THAT NO TARGETS ARE MISSED 4HE SAME REQUIREMENT ALSO RELATES TO
CROSSED DIPOLE ANTENNAS
**
/" )T IS ONLY POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE WIDE VARIETY OF THE APPLICATIONS
FOR '02 WHICH HAS IN SOME CASES BECOME AN ESTABLISHED AND ROUTINE METHOD OF SUB
SURFACE INVESTIGATION '02 IN THE HANDS OF AN EXPERT PROVIDES A SAFE AND NONINVASIVE
METHOD OF CONDUCTING SPECULATIVE SEARCHES WITHOUT THE NEED FOR UNNECESSARY DISRUPTION
AND EXCAVATION ! TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF A '02 IMAGE IS SHOWN IN &IGURE WITH THE
VARIOUS FEATURES IDENTIFIED
'02 HAS SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED THE EFFICIENCY OF THE EXPLORATORY WORK THAT IS FUN
DAMENTAL TO THE CONSTRUCTION AND CIVIL ENGINEERING INDUSTRIES THE POLICE AND FORENSIC
SECTORS SECURITYINTELLIGENCE FORCES AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYS
'02 HAS BEEN VERY SUCCESSFULLY USED IN FORENSIC INVESTIGATIONS 4HE MOST NOTORI
OUS CASE BEING IN THE 5NITED +INGDOM IN WHEN THE GRAVESITES UNDER CONCRETE
AND IN THE HOUSE OF &RED 7EST OF THE VICTIMS OF THE SERIAL MURDERER WERE PINPOINTED
)N "ELGIUM THE GRAVESITES OF THE VICTIMS OF THE PEDOPHILE $UTEOUS WERE DETECTED
IN
&)'52% 4YPICAL RADAR IMAGE OF CONCRETE FLOOR SHOWING REARS JOINTS MESH ETC NS PULSE
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IN %UROPE 4HE QUALITY OF THE RADAR IMAGE CAN BE EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD ALTHOUGH CORRECT
UNDERSTANDING NORMALLY REQUIRES JOINT INTERPRETATION BY THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS AND RADAR
SPECIALISTS 3INCE THE 3QUARE 'EOPHYSICAL 3URVEY 0ROJECT UNDER THE AUSPICES OF
THE .ATIONAL -USEUM OF 3COTLAND AND THE 'LASGOW -USEUMS HAVE BEEN CARRYING OUT
GEOPHYSICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYS AT 3QUARE IN %GYPT 3QUARE FORMS PART OF THE
NECROPOLIS OF THE ANCIENT %GYPTIAN CAPITAL CITY OF -EMPHIS 4HE BURIAL GROUNDS EXTEND
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HENCE THE WORLD /NE OF THE MAIN GOALS OF THE PROJECT HAS BEEN TO DETERMINE WHAT IF
ANYTHING LIES WITHIN THE ENCLOSURE $ESPITE MANY YEARS OF SURVEYING NOTHING HAS BEEN
FOUND APART FROM A SMALL AREA OF MUD BRICK PAVEMENT ! NUMBER OF RADAR SECTIONS HAD
BEEN MEASURED OVER THIS AREA PREVIOUSLY AND IN VIEW OF THE MAGNETOMETRY RESULTS THE
RADAR PROFILES WERE REEXAMINED 4HE SECTIONS HAVE BEEN MEASURED ON METER CENTERS
SO IT WAS PURELY BY CHANCE THAT ONE RADAR SURVEY LINE WENT STRAIGHT DOWN THE FLIGHT OF
STEPS EXCAVATED SEEN IN &IGURE WITH THE RADAR IMAGE IN &IGURE
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DRANCE TO THE RECOVERY OF MANY COUNTRIES FROM WAR 4HEIR EFFECT ON THE CIVILIAN POPU
LATION IS DISASTROUS AND MAJOR EFFORTS ARE BEING MADE BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
TO CLEAR THE PROBLEM -OST DETECTION IS DONE WITH METAL DETECTORS WHICH RESPOND TO
THE LARGE AMOUNT OF METALLIC DEBRIS IN ABANDONED BATTLEFIELD AREAS AND HENCE HAVE
DIFFICULTY IN DETECTING THE MINIMUM METAL OR PLASTIC MINE '02 TECHNOLOGY IS BEING
APPLIED TO THIS PROBLEM AS A MEANS OF REDUCING THE FALSE ALARM RATE AND PROVIDING
IMPROVED DETECTION OF LOW
METAL
CONTENT MINES 4YPICAL EXAMPLES OF RADAR IMAGES AT
VARIOUS SCALES ARE SHOWN IN &IGURE AND &IGURE
'02 HAS BEEN USED FOR SURVEYING MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF GEOLOGICAL STRATA RANG
ING FROM EXPLORATION OF THE !RCTIC AND !NTARCTIC ICECAPS AND THE PERMAFROST REGIONS
OF .ORTH !MERICA TO MAPPING OF GRANITE LIMESTONE MARBLE AND OTHER HARD ROCKS AS
WELL AS GEOPHYSICAL STRATA 4HE RADAR DATA SHOWN IN &IGURE WERE COLLECTED AT
&INSTERWALDERBREEN GLACIER 3VALBARD .ORWAY WHICH IS AN ISLAND ALMOST NORTH
OF .ORWAY 4HE GLACIER IS AN KM LONG LAND
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)N THE BEGINNING OF THE PROFILE ONLY THE BOTTOM ECHO IS SEEN !T AROUND KM HORIZONTAL
DISTANCE SOME INTERNAL SCATTERING FROM THE GLACIER IS SEEN 4HIS IS SCATTERING FROM THE
FREE WATER INSIDE THE GLACIER &ROM KM TO KM THE BOTTOM ECHO IS DIFFICULT TO SEE
DUE TO SCATTERING
4HE THICKNESS OF THE VARIOUS LAYERS OF A ROAD CAN BE MEASURED USING '02 TECHNIQUES
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE GREAT ADVANTAGE IS THAT THIS METHOD IS NONDESTRUCTIVE
AND HIGH SPEED KMHR AND CAN BE APPLIED DYNAMICALLY TO ACHIEVE A CONTINUOUS
PROFILE OR ROLLING MAP 4HE ACCURACY OF CALIBRATION TENDS TO REDUCE AS A FUNCTION OF
&)'52% %XAMPLE OF !4 MINE IMAGES TAKEN OVER A M BY M TEST SITE WITH THE -).$%2 '02
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QUITE HIGH IE A FEW MILLIMETERS FOR THE SURFACE
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#OURTESY 32) )NTERNATIONAL 53! $R 2 6ICKERS
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CM )T WAS CAPABLE OF DETECTING METAL !4 MINES OF
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!LL COUNTRIES REQUIRE THAT '02 SYSTEMS ARE PROPERLY REGULATED AND OPERATED IN ACCOR
DANCE WITH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL REQUIREMENTS 5SERS SHOULD CONSULT WITH THEIR
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7ITHIN THE %UROPEAN 5NION %5 THERE ARE TWO MAIN CONSIDERATIONS GOVERN
ING THE USE OF '02 4HESE ARE THE USE FIRST OF THE EQUIPMENT AS A DELIBERATE RADIO
FREQUENCY RADIATOR AND SECOND AS AN EQUIPMENT THAT MUST SATISFY THE %-# REQUIRE
MENTS OF THE %5 4HE %UROPEAN 4ELECOMMUNICATIONS 3TANDARDS )NSTITUTE %43)
REGULATORY BODY IS IN THE PROCESS OF DRAFTING SPECIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION CAN BE
FOUND AT HTTPWWWETSIORG THAT WILL COVER THE USE OF SUCH EQUIPMENT AS A DELIBER
ATE RADIO FREQUENCY RADIATOR ,EGISLATION AND AN %43) PRODUCT SPECIFICATION MEANS
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4ERMINAL %QUIPMENT 244% $IRECTIVE )N THE SHORT TERM UNTIL A NEW PROD
UCT SPECIFICATION IS INTRODUCED AND FORMALLY PUBLISHED IN THE /FFICIAL *OURNAL OF
THE %UROPEAN #OMMUNITIES THE %-# $IRECTIVE SHOULD BE APPLIED !LL EQUIP
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OR '(Z BANDS -ANY NAVIES ALSO USE STANDARD OR SPECIALLY MODIFIED #-2 FOR NAVI
GATIONAL PURPOSES .OT ONLY DOES IT PROVIDE A SUITABLE NAVIGATIONAL TOOL BUT ALSO ITS
TRANSMISSIONS ARE IDENTICAL TO CONVENTIONAL COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC ALLOWING SAFE NAVIGA
TION WITHOUT NECESSARILY HIGHLIGHTING A VESSELS MILITARY PURPOSE
4HE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON THE REQUIREMENTS OF SHIPBORNE #-2 COMES FROM THE
)NTERNATIONAL -ARITIME /RGANIZATION )-/ ! 5NITED .ATIONS AGENCY BASED IN
,ONDON )-/ IS CONCERNED WITH INTERNATIONAL MARITIME SAFETY AND THE PROTECTION OF
THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT )N PARTICULAR )-/ ISSUES REQUIREMENTS AND GUIDELINES ON THE
INSTALLATION AND USE OF RADAR EQUIPMENT ON COMMERCIAL SHIPS 4HESE ARE VIGOROUSLY
ENFORCED BY THE LAWS OF INDIVIDUAL MARITIME STATES 4HE PURPOSE OF SHIPBORNE RADAR AS
DEFINED BY )-/ IS TO hASSIST IN SAFE NAVIGATION AND IN AVOIDING COLLISION BY PROVIDING
AN INDICATION IN RELATION TO OWN SHIP OF THE POSITION OF OTHER SURFACE CRAFT OBSTRUC
TIONS AND HAZARDS NAVIGATION OBJECTS AND SHORELINESv 4HE )NTERNATIONAL !SSOCIATION
OF -ARINE !IDS TO .AVIGATION AND ,IGHTHOUSE !UTHORITIES )!,! RECOMMENDS OPER
ATIONAL AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR 643 RADARS
4HIS CHAPTER EXPLAINS THE SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OF #-2 BOTH FROM A PRACTICAL AND
A REGULATORY POINT OF VIEW AND LOOKS AT THE TECHNOLOGY AND SYSTEM CONCEPTS THAT ARE
BEING USED TO MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS 5NTIL THE FIRST DECADE OF THE PRESENT CENTURY
#-2 SHIPBORNE TECHNOLOGY HAD BEEN SOLELY BASED ON MAGNETRONS AS THE BASIC SOURCE
OF TRANSMITTED POWER 3INCE )-/ HAS ENCOURAGED THE USE OF COHERENT RADAR SOLU
TIONS IN AN ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE THE DETECTION OF TARGETS IN HEAVY SEA CLUTTER CONDITIONS
o ! LIST OF ALL USED MARITIME ABBREVIATIONS IS INCLUDED AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)N THE MARINE WORLD THESE HAVE BEEN CALLED .EW 4ECHNOLOGY 2ADARS 4HEY ARE PER
MITTED TO TRANSMIT ANY WAVEFORM AT '(Z PROVIDING THE SPECTRUM LIMITATIONS ON
MARINE RADAR ARE NOT EXCEEDED 4HE LIMITS HAVE BEEN AGREED WITHIN THE )NTERNATIONAL
4ELECOMMUNICATION 5NION )45 A 5NITED .ATIONS AGENCY BASED IN 'ENEVA
4HIS CHAPTER CONCENTRATES ON THE REQUIREMENTS AND DESIGN OF RADARS FOR COMMER
CIAL SHIPS NORMALLY IN EXCESS OF GT GROSS METRIC TONNAGE WHERE RADAR FITMENT
IS COMPULSORY AND HIGHLY REGULATED 7ORLDWIDE THERE ARE ABOUT OF THESE VES
SELS AND MANY ARE REQUIRED TO CARRY MORE THAN ONE RADAR 4HREE OR EVEN MORE RADARS
ARE SOMETIMES CARRIED VOLUNTARILY BY LARGE SHIPS 2ADAR FORMS AN IMPORTANT PART OF A
VESSELS TOTAL NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT FIT )NCREASINGLY THE BRIDGE OF A SHIP IS DESIGNED
AS AN INTEGRATED CONCEPT COVERING NAVIGATION COMMUNICATIONS ENGINE CONTROL AND
CARGO MONITORING FACILITIES &IGURE ILLUSTRATES A MODERN INTEGRATED BRIDGE SYSTEM
)"3 AS FITTED ON A CRUISE SHIP 4HE RADAR DISPLAYS ARE SEEN TO FORM A PROMINENT PART OF
THE SYSTEM 2ADARS FITTED ON SMALLER FISHING VESSELS AND LEISURE CRAFT SHARE MANY OF THE
FEATURES OF RADARS DESIGNED FOR SHIPS BUT ARE NECESSARILY MORE COMPACT A TYPICAL SMALL
BOAT RADAR IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 3PECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR THESE RADARS WHERE THEY
DIFFER TO ANY EXTENT FROM THE DESIGN OF SHIPBORNE RADARS ARE DISCUSSED WITHIN RELEVANT
PARTS OF THE CHAPTER 2ADAR FOR 643 IS SEPARATELY COVERED IN 3ECTION
4HE CHALLENGES FACING DESIGNERS OF SHIPBORNE RADAR ARE DETAILED WITHIN 3ECTION
4HESE RADARS HAVE TO MEET CERTAIN INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS WHICH ARE DISCUSSED IN
3ECTION 3ECTION CONCENTRATES ON THE TECHNOLOGY AND 3ECTION LOOKS AT
TARGET TRACKING 2ADAR TARGETS ARE BEING INCREASINGLY DISPLAYED WITH ELECTRONIC CHART
DATA AS AN UNDERLAY 4HIS IS OUTLINED IN 3ECTION TOGETHER WITH OTHER USER INTERFACE
ISSUES 3ECTION LOOKS AT THE LINKS BETWEEN RADAR AND THE RELATIVELY NEW !UTOMATIC
)DENTIFICATION 3YSTEM !)3 WHICH REPLICATES SOME FUNCTIONS PREVIOUSLY PROVIDED SOLELY
BY RADAR -ARINE RADAR BEACONS INCLUDING RACONS 3EARCH AND 2ESCUE 4RANSPONDERS
3!24S AND 2ADAR 4ARGET %NHANCERS 24%S ARE DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION 4HERE IS
A SHORT DISCUSSION IN 3ECTION ON SHIPBORNE RADAR PERFORMANCE VALIDATION TESTING
&)'52% 3HIPS INTEGRATED BRIDGE SYSTEM #OURTESY OF 3!- %LECTRONICS 'MB(
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
&)'52% 3MALL BOAT RADAR #OURTESY &URUNO 53! )NC
3HIPBORNE RADAR HAS HAD A REMARKABLY LONG HISTORY )TS CONCEPTION IN THE PERIOD FROM
TO WAS REMARKABLY PROPHETIC AND STILL REVERBERATES INTO THE PRESENT CENTURY
&OR THIS REASON A SHORT !PPENDIX TO THIS CHAPTER OUTLINES THE EARLY STEPS IN THE EVOLU
TION OF GLOBAL STANDARDS FOR SHIPBORNE RADAR
/
%NVIRONMENTAL #IVIL MARINE RADAR PARTICULARLY SHIPBORNE NAVIGATION RADAR IS A
SURPRISINGLY DEMANDING APPLICATION 4HE RADAR HEAD ON A #-2 COMPRISES THE ANTENNA
AND TURNING GEAR THE RECEIVER DOWN TO )& OR TO DIGITAL FORMAT AND OFTEN THE TRANSMITTER
)T HAS TO OPERATE IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS OVER AN EXTENDED TEMPERATURE
RANGE DOWN TO
# IN SOME PARTS OF THE WORLD IN HIGH LEVELS OF WIND VIBRATION
AND SHOCK AND ALSO IN HEAVY PRECIPITATION AND SALT WATER SPRAY %VEN WITHIN THE NOR
MALLY BENIGN CONDITIONS ON THE BRIDGE OF A LARGE MODERN SHIP THE DISPLAY AND RADAR
PROCESSOR CAN BE SUBJECT TO HIGH LEVELS OF SHOCK AND VIBRATION AND MUST MEET HIGH
VARIATIONS IN TEMPERATURE
# TO # /N SMALL CRAFT THE DISPLAY AND RADAR PRO
CESSOR ARE OFTEN FITTED IN MINIMALLY ENCLOSED AREAS AND ARE SUBJECT TO VERY DAMP AND
SALTY CONDITIONS )N THESE ENVIRONMENTS THE RADAR HAS TO DETECT TARGETS THAT CAN HAVE
ECHOING AREAS RANGING FROM LESS THAN ONE SQUARE METER TO MANY TENS OF THOUSANDS OF
SQUARE METERS IMPORTANT TARGETS CAN HAVE RELATIVE SPEEDS RANGING FROM STATIONARY TO
KNOTS OR MORE THE TARGETS CAN BE SITUATED IN EXTREME PRECIPITATION AND SEA CLUTTER
CONDITIONS AND THE RADAR ANTENNA IS NOT MOUNTED ON A STATIC NOR A STABLE PLATFORM 4HE
RADAR IS USED TO PREVENT COLLISIONS AND GROUNDINGS AT SEA AND IS THEREFORE AN IMPORTANT
SAFETY RELATED SYSTEM REQUIRING INTEGRITY AND RELIABILITY &OR MOST COMMERCIAL SHIPS
THE RADAR NEEDS TO MEET STRINGENT INTERNATIONALLY AGREED PERFORMANCE CRITERIA $ESPITE
THESE REQUIREMENTS SYSTEMS ARE SOLD IN A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE MARKET AND PRICES ARE
THEREFORE KEPT KEEN 0RICES RANGE FROM AROUND FOR A COMPLETE BUT BASIC '(Z
SYSTEM TO AND ABOVE FOR A FULLY FEATURED '(Z SYSTEM 2ADAR SYSTEMS SUIT
ABLE FOR THE LEISURE MARKET CAN SELL FOR LESS THAN
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% )-/ 2EQUIRED $ETECTION 0ERFORMANCE IN #LEAR #ONDITIONS #OURTESY OF )-/
4ARGET
&EATURE
4ARGET $ESCRIPTION
(EIGHT !BOVE
3EA ,EVEL
METERS
$ETECTION 2ANGE IN .FOR SPECIFIED TARGET SIZE
'(Z .-
'(Z .-
4ARGET 4YPE
3HORELINES
3HORELINES
3HORELINES
3/,!3 SHIPSo GT
3/,!3 SHIPSo GT
3MALL VESSEL WITH RADAR
REFLECTOR MEETING )-/
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
3MALL VESSEL OF LENGTH M
WITH NO RADAR REFLECTOR
4YPICAL NAVIGATION BUOY
2ISING TO
2ISING TO
2ISING TO
M
$ISTRIBUTED
#OMPLEX
M 0OINT
M
M #OMPLEX
M
.AVIGATION BUOY WITH
CORNER REFLECTOR
4YPICAL CHANNEL MARKER
M
M .OT SPECIFIED POINT
TARGET ASSUMED
M 0OINT
M
M .OT SPECIFIED POINT
TARGET ASSUMED
o 3HIPS CONFORMING TO THE )-/ 3AFETY OF ,IFE AT 3EA 3/,!3 REGULATIONS
$ETECTION 0ERFORMANCE )N THE CLEAR DETECTION REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCH RADARS ARE
NOT PARTICULARLY DEMANDING !N PROBABILITY OF DETECTION AND A PROBABILITY OF FALSE
ALARM OF n IS SPECIFIED BY )-/ AS SHOWN IN 4ABLE
4AKING INTO ACCOUNT ALL PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS TYPICAL COMPLIANT SYSTEMS FOR
COMMERCIAL VESSELS HAVE PEAK TRANSMIT POWERS OF n K7 THE LOWER POWERS BEING
CONFINED TO '(Z SYSTEMS !NTENNA GAINS FROM TO D" ARE TYPICAL WITH ASSOCI
ATED HORIZONTAL BEAMWIDTHS RANGING FROM ABOUT TO LESS THAN 0ULSE LENGTHS ARE
SWITCHABLE GENERALLY IN THE RANGE FROM NS TO S WITH 02&S RANGING FROM TO
(Z OR MORE 0LEASURE CRAFT SYSTEMS TYPICALLY HAVE PEAK POWERS OF n K7 AND
UTILIZE ANTENNAS WITH HORIZONTAL APERTURES AS SMALL AS MM AND GAINS OF ABOUT D"
4HESE ALL OPERATE AT '(Z 4HE GREATEST TECHNICAL CHALLENGE IN DESIGNING MARINE RADARS
IS TO MAINTAIN GOOD TARGET DETECTION IN HIGH LEVELS OF SEA AND PRECIPITATION CLUTTER
0RECIPITATION #LUTTER )T IS WELL KNOWN THAT CIRCULAR POLARIZATION #0 CAN BE A
COUNTER TO RAIN CLUTTER BECAUSE ITS REFLECTION IS PREDOMINATELY CROSS POLARIZED TO INCI
DENT CIRCULAR POLARIZATION (OWEVER VERY FEW SHIPBORNE NAVIGATIONAL RADARS USE #0
EVEN THOUGH n D" IMPROVEMENT IN RAIN CLUTTER REJECTION IS TYPICALLY ACHIEVED
FROM ITS APPLICATION 4WO IMPORTANT FACTORS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS &IRST IT MAKES
THE ANTENNA MORE EXPENSIVE EXACERBATED BY )-/S REQUIREMENTS THAT '(Z RADARS
MUST BE AT LEAST SWITCHABLE TO HORIZONTAL POLARIZATION WHEN SEARCHING FOR SURVIVAL CRAFT
FITTED WITH 3EARCH AND 2ESCUE 4RANSPONDERS SEE 3ECTION 3ECOND BY USE OF
SMALL RANGE CELLS AND BY IMPLEMENTING CONVENTIONAL SIGNAL DIFFERENTIATION TECHNIQUES
MODERN RADARS PARTICULARLY AT '(Z GIVE REASONABLE PERFORMANCE IN MOST COMMONLY
EXPERIENCED PRECIPITATION CLUTTER 4HEREFORE USERS AND MARITIME AUTHORITIES ARE GENER
ALLY SATISFIED WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF LINEARLY POLARIZED SYSTEMS IN PRECIPITATION
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
"ECAUSE PRECIPITATION CLUTTER IS DISTRIBUTED IN A RELATIVELY UNIFORM MANNER PASSING
THE RECEIVED WAVEFORM THROUGH A DIFFERENTIATOR GIVES PROMINENCE TO TARGETS EMBEDDED
WITHIN THE CLUTTER BY ENSURING THAT THE AVERAGE CLUTTER LEVEL IS KEPT WELL BELOW SATURA
TION 4HE DIFFERENTIATOR HAS MINIMAL EFFECT ON NORMAL TARGETS BECAUSE OF THEIR SMALL
EXTENT IN THE TIME DOMAIN 4HIS MEANS THAT TARGET VISIBILITY IS IMPROVED )T SHOULD BE
NOTED THAT THIS TECHNIQUE DOES NOT GIVE SUBCLUTTER VISIBILITY 4HIS PROCESS IS CONVENTION
ALLY NAMED &AST 4IME #ONSTANT &4# 4HE TIME CONSTANT OF THE DIFFERENTIATOR IS OPERA
TOR
ADJUSTABLE WITH A SO
CALLED RAIN CLUTTER CONTROL WHICH ALLOWS THE TARGET
TO
CLUTTER
RATIO TO BE OPTIMIZED FOR THE PARTICULAR PRECIPITATION SCENARIO
4HE VERTICAL PATTERN OF A SHIPBORNE NAVIGATIONAL RADAR ANTENNA NEEDS TO BE RELA
TIVELY WIDE TO COPE WITH THE SHIPS PITCH AND ROLL WHICH IS ASSUMED TO BE A MAXIMUM
OF o 5SE OF A STABILIZED PLATFORM WOULD NOT MEET THE MARKETS PRICE DEMANDS
4HIS LIMITS THE VERTICAL BEAM
SHAPING THAT CAN BE USED TO REDUCE BOTH PRECIPITATION
CLUTTER AND VERTICAL LOBING EFFECTS (OWEVER THE RELATIVELY SHORT RANGE OF MOST TARGETS
OF REAL INTEREST MEANS THAT THE VOLUME OF THE RADAR
ILLUMINATED PRECIPITATION IS RELA
TIVELY LOW HELPING TO MAKE THE CLUTTER REJECTION OF THE DIFFERENTIATOR ADEQUATE FOR ITS
PURPOSE 3UCH CLUTTER VARIES APPROXIMATELY WITH THE FOURTH POWER OF FREQUENCY AND
SO A '(Z SYSTEM INHERENTLY EXPERIENCES D" LESS CLUTTER THAN A '(Z SYSTEM
ASSUMING IDENTICALLY SIZED CLUTTER CELLS &OR THIS REASON ON SHIPS FITTED WITH BOTH
AND '(Z RADARS THE '(Z RADAR IS OFTEN PREFERABLE EXCEPT WHEN MANEUVERING
IN CLOSE SITUATIONS FOR EXAMPLE IN HARBORS WHEN THE NORMALLY SUPERIOR AZIMUTH
RESOLUTION OF A '(Z RADAR IS PREFERRED
3EA #LUTTER 4HE REDUCTION OF SEA CLUTTER TO LEVELS ACCEPTABLE TO THE USER IS A
FAR MORE DIFFICULT PROBLEM AND AS YET COMMERCIAL RADARS DO NOT MEET ALL THE IDEAL
DEMANDS OF USERS 3MALL CRAFT AND BUOYS CAN EASILY BE OBSCURED IN SEA CLUTTER )N
THE DAYS BEFORE PRECISE 'LOBAL .AVIGATION 3ATELLITE 3YSTEMS '.33 SUCH AS '03
THE SAFE NAVIGATION OF A SHIP IN COASTAL WATERS IN POOR VISIBILITY WAS DOMINATED
BY THE RADAR BEING ABLE TO DISCERN NAVIGATION MARKERS SUCH AS BUOYS 0ASSIVE MARKERS
INCLUDING THOSE SUPPLEMENTED BY RADAR REFLECTORS CAN BE NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT TO
DETECT IN HIGHER SEA
STATES AND THEREFORE SOME MARKERS ARE SUPPLEMENTED BY RADAR
BEACONS CALLED RACONSSEE 3ECTION 2ACONS ARE RELATIVELY EXPENSIVE AND
NEED MAINTENANCE IN OFTEN DIFFICULT TO ACCESS LOCATIONS SO THEIR USE IS RESTRICTED
7HILE '.33 ENHANCED BY THE GROWING USE OF ELECTRONIC CHARTS HAS HELPED GREATLY
IN INFORMING MARINERS OF THE PRECISE POSITION OF THEIR VESSEL RADAR IS STILL USED AS AN
IMPORTANT SECONDARY SOURCE OF POSITION 2ELIANCE ON '.33 ALONE HAS BEEN AT THE
ROOT OF MANY MARINE ACCIDENTS
4HE MAIN USE OF MARINE RADAR IS TO ASSIST COLLISION AVOIDANCE 6ISUAL OBSERVA
TION AND RADAR REMAIN THE PRIMARY METHODS FOR DETERMINING THE RISK OF COLLISION WITH
OTHER VESSELS AND ALSO WITH FLOATING DEBRIS AND ICE !UTOMATIC )DENTIFICATION 3YSTEMS
!)3SEE 3ECTION OFFER POTENTIAL TO ASSIST WITH COLLISION AVOIDANCE OF COOPERA
TIVE TARGETS BUT IT CANNOT BE ASSUMED THAT ALL VESSELS ARE FITTED WITH !)3 PARTICULARLY
SMALL CRAFT OR THAT A TARGET VESSELS !)3 IS OPERATIONAL
4HE TRADITIONAL WAY FOR MARINERS TO OPTIMIZE THEIR RADAR FOR DETECTION OF TARGETS IN SEA
CLUTTER IS BY CAREFUL ADJUSTMENT OF THE hGAINv AND hSEA
CLUTTERv CONTROLS 4HE GAIN CON
TROL EFFECTIVELY ALTERS THE DETECTION THRESHOLD /N A MODERN MARINE RADAR THE SEA
CLUTTER
CONTROL IS BEST DESCRIBED AS A METHOD FOR ADJUSTING THE SHAPE OF THE RADARS SENSITIVITY
TIME CONTROL 34# IN ORDER TO MATCH IT WITH THE PRESENT LEVEL OF CLUTTER RETURNS 34# IS
OFTEN ALSO CALLED SWEPT GAIN 4HE 34# LAW AND THE WAY IT VARIES BY USE OF THE MANUAL
CONTROL CAN BE COMPLEX )T IS ATTEMPTING TO REDUCE THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE RECEIVED
WAVEFORM AND TO PROVIDE IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE GAIN SETTINGS OPTIMIZED THRESHOLDS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
.OWADAYS IT NORMALLY INVOLVES SOPHISTICATED ADAPTIVE THRESHOLDING TECHNIQUES WHICH
ARE DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION
!LTHOUGH THIS HELPS TO SET THE THRESHOLD TO APPROPRIATE LEVELS IT DOES NOT REMOVE
THE INTRUSIVE hSPIKYv COMPONENT OF SEA CLUTTER THAT CAN MAKE WANTED TARGETS DIFFICULT TO
OBSERVE (OWEVER OVER A TYPICAL ANTENNA SCAN TIME OF A MARINE RADAR n SECONDS THE
SPIKES ARE NORMALLY DECORRELATED WHEREAS RETURNS FROM TARGETS ARE GENERALLY CORRELATED
THEREFORE THE APPLICATION OF SCAN TO SCAN CORRELATION CAN IMPROVE THE TARGET TO CLUTTER
RATIO BUT IT WILL ALSO REMOVE WEAK AND FAST MOVING TARGETS -ANY YEARS AGO #RONEY
SHOWED THAT SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN DETECTING SMALL TARGETS IN SEA CLUTTER COULD BE
OBTAINED BY ENSURING THAT INTEGRATION WAS PERFORMED AT INTERVALS LONGER THAN THE DECOR
RELATION TIME PERIOD OF THE SEA CLUTTER (E USED AN ANTENNA ROTATING AT UP TO RPM AND
A 02& OF +(Z 4HIS GAVE TWO CORRELATED PULSES PER BEAMWIDTH BUT THE PULSES FROM THE
NEXT SCAN S LATER WERE DECORRELATED FROM THE FORMER
#RONY NOTED THAT THE RAPID SCANNING OF THE ANTENNA ALLOWED THE EYEBRAIN FUNC
TIONS OF THE OPERATOR TO PERFORM SCAN TO SCAN CORRELATION !LTHOUGH IT IS EASY FOR MOD
ERN SYSTEMS TO PERFORM THIS CORRELATION DIGITALLY THE DIFFICULTIES IN HAVING AN ANTENNA
ROTATING AT THIS SPEED MAINLY NOW A COST ISSUE HAVE PREVENTED THIS FROM BECOMING
ESTABLISHED PRACTICE (OWEVER MORE RECENT WORK IN #ANADA HAS RESURRECTED THIS IDEA
FOR DETECTING FLOATING ICE HAZARDS WHERE ANTENNA ROTATION RATES OF RPM AND 02&S
OF +(Z HAVE BEEN PROPOSED 4ERMA !3 A $ANISH COMPANY INVOLVED IN SUPPLYING
HIGH PERFORMANCE MARINE RADARS MAINLY IN THE NONCOMMERCIAL MARKET PRODUCES THE
3CANTER4- RADAR WHICH HAS AN OPTION THAT SIMULTANEOUSLY TRANSMITS ON TWO FREQUEN
CIES FROM A SQUINTING SLOTTED WAVEGUIDE ARRAY 4HIS PRODUCES TWO BEAMS SEPARATED BY
A FEW DEGREES IN AZIMUTH 4HE TEMPORAL BEAM SEPARATION IS SUCH THAT SEA CLUTTER CAN BE
DECORRELATED BETWEEN THE BEAMS FURTHER ENHANCING THE DETECTION OF TARGETS IN CLUTTER
4HIS TECHNIQUE COULD POTENTIALLY BE USED BY SOLID STATE #-2S 3ECTION
/N A CONVENTIONAL SHIPBORNE RADAR AN EXPERIENCED OPERATOR CAN MANUALLY SET THE
DETECTION THRESHOLD TO GIVE THE BEST SETTING OVER ANY GIVEN AREA BUT THIS IS OFTEN ONLY
EFFECTIVE OVER A SMALL PROPORTION OF THE TOTAL RADAR IMAGE 4HE USE OF AUTOMATIC THRESH
OLDING IS ABLE TO GIVE BETTER DETECTION OVER A COMPLETE SCAN BUT OFTEN CANNOT COMPETE
WITH A SKILLED OPERATOR OPTIMIZING DETECTION OVER A RESTRICTED AREA )N SOME CONDITIONS
NO EXISTING RADAR GIVES THE PERFORMANCE THAT A USER IDEALLY NEEDS DESPITE THE USE OF
NS PULSES AND SOPHISTICATED CLUTTER PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
3UB CLUTTER VISIBILITY IS POTENTIALLY OBTAINABLE FROM COHERENT #-2S WHICH HAVE
BEEN MADE AFFORDABLE BY THE CONTINUED REDUCTION IN COST OF MICROWAVE POWER SEMICON
DUCTORS FOR INSTANCE USING 'ALLIUM .ITRIDE TECHNOLOGY PRECISION DIGITALLY CONTROLLED
SIGNAL GENERATORS AND FAST DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSORS #OHERENT #-2S ARE DISCUSSED
UNDER h3OLID STATE #-2v IN 3ECTION
6ERTICAL ,OBING #LUTTER IS NOT THE ONLY CAUSE OF DETRIMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF
MARINE RADAR $IRECT REFLECTIONS FROM A TARGET ARRIVE AT THE RADAR ANTENNA AND COMBINE
VECTORIALLY WITH TARGET REFLECTIONS THAT HAVE ALSO BEEN REFLECTED BY THE SEAS SURFACE
4HIS EFFECT PRODUCES A SUMMED SIGNAL AT THE RADAR ANTENNA THAT IS A FUNCTION OF BOTH THE
TARGET HEIGHT AND THE RADAR ANTENNA HEIGHT ABOVE THE SEA AS THESE AFFECT THE PATH LENGTH
DIFFERENCE OF THE DIRECT AND REFLECTED RADIATION /BVIOUSLY THE EFFECT IS RECIPROCAL FOR
BOTH TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE PATHS &OR A POINT TARGET AND A SEA OF DEFINED ROUGHNESS THE
CALCULATION TO DETERMINE THE RESULTANT EFFECT IS RELATIVELY STRAIGHTFORWARD AND RESULTS
IN THE CLASSIC LOBING PATTERN SEE FOR EXAMPLE "RIGGS &OR A TARGET WITH REASONABLE
VERTICAL EXTENT SUCH AS A SHIP THE LOBING STRUCTURE BECOMES VERY COMPLEX AND IS LESS
LIKELY TO PRODUCE TROUBLESOME NULLS (OWEVER THE DETECTION OF A SMALL TARGET SUCH AS
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
A BUOY OR A PLEASURE CRAFT ENHANCED BY A RADAR REFLECTOR CAN CREATE SIGNIFICANT VERTICAL
LOBING EFFECTS THAT CAN BE A PROBLEM TO THE USER )N PARTICULAR IN VERY CALM SEAS PRO
NOUNCED NULLS CAN BE EXPERIENCED AND FOR USERS IT CAN BE DISCONCERTING WHEN A TARGET
CLEARLY EVIDENT FROM THE BRIDGE WINDOW IS NOT VISIBLE ON THE RADAR DISPLAY DESPITE THE
APPARENTLY GOOD CONDITIONS
3INCE SMOOTH SEAS CAN ALSO BE ASSOCIATED WITH MIST AND FOG VERTICAL LOBING EFFECTS
CAN BECOME A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM BECAUSE THE REDUCED VISIBILITY MEANS THAT RADAR OFTEN
BECOMES THE SOLE METHOD OF DETECTING OTHER VESSELS 4HE ABSENCE OF SEA CLUTTER GIVES
THE USER A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY THAT ALL TARGETS WILL BE EASILY VISIBLE /N SHIPS FITTED
WITH BOTH AND '(Z RADARS FREQUENCY DIVERSITY BECOMES VERY USEFUL AS THE SPATIAL
FREQUENCIES OF THE VERTICAL LOBES FOR THE RADAR ARE DIFFERENT 3URPRISINGLY EVEN THOUGH
SOME RADAR COMPANIES PROVIDE THE OPTION VERY FEW SHIPS HAVE FACILITIES THAT ALLOW
THE
AND '(Z SIGNALS TO BE COMBINED INTO A SINGLE RADAR DISPLAY IN AN AUTOMATIC
PROCESS MAXIMIZING THE BENEFITS OF FREQUENCY DIVERSITY 3OME LARGE SHIPS HAVE AN
ADDITIONAL '(Z RADAR MOUNTED ON THE BOW AT DECK LEVEL 4HIS HAS TWO ADVANTAGES
&IRST THE VERTICAL LOBING WILL HAVE A DIFFERENT LOWER ANGULAR FREQUENCY TO THE MAIN
HIGH
MOUNTED '(Z RADAR 3ECOND ITS PERFORMANCE IN SEA CLUTTER WILL BE ENHANCED AS
THE GRAZING ANGLE TO THE SEA WILL BE CLOSER TO HORIZONTAL THEREBY LESSENING THE REFLECTION
COEFFICIENT OF THE CLUTTER 4HE LONG RANGE PERFORMANCE OF THE AUXILIARY SYSTEM IS OF
COURSE COMPROMISED BY ITS LOW POSITION
-OVING 0LATFORM ! PARTICULAR COMPLICATION OF SHIPBORNE RADAR ARISES BECAUSE
THE ANTENNA IS MOUNTED ON AN UNSTABLE MOVING PLATFORM 4HIS MOVEMENT HAS SIX
COMPONENTSTHREE TRANSLATIONAL AND THREE ROTATIONAL ALL OF WHICH ARE TYPICALLY VARYING
4HE MOTIONS ARE COMPLEX THE TRANSLATIONAL COMPONENTS ARE SURGE SWAY AND HEAVE AND
THE ROTATIONAL ARE ROLL PITCH AND YAW #OMPONENTS CAN BE QUASI
HARMONIC WHEN CAUSED
BY WAVE MOTION )N PRACTICE THE SHIP IS NAVIGATED ON NOTIONS BASED ON COURSE HEADING
AND SPEED IN %ARTH AND SEA
FIXED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 4HE ADDITIONAL WAVE
INDUCED
MOTIONS CAN PRODUCE UNCOMPENSATED ERRORS IN RADAR
DERIVED INFORMATION WHICH ADD
TO ANY MEASUREMENT ERRORS IN THE COURSE HEADING AND SPEED OF THE VESSEL 4HIS AFFECTS
THE PRECISION OBTAINED WHEN DISPLAYING RADAR
DERIVED DATA WHICH CAN DIFFER WHEN
SWITCHING BETWEEN THE VARIOUS RADAR STABILIZATION MODES USED ON #-2 &OR INSTANCE
IN ORDER TO FACILITATE BOTH COLLISION AVOIDANCE AND POSITION FIXING ACTIVITIES SHIPBORNE
RADAR DISPLAYS HAVE ALWAYS HAD TWO PARTICULAR STABILIZATION MODES (EAD
UP AND .ORTH
UP 4HE hUPv DIRECTION REFERS TO THE VERTICAL Y
AXIS DIRECTION OF THE RADAR DISPLAY
h(EADv REFERS TO THE SHIPS HEADING (EAD
UP MAXIMIZES THE RELATIONSHIP TO THE VISUAL
SCENE AND .ORTH
UP AIDS COMPARISON WITH PAPER CHARTS .OWADAYS #OURSE
UP IS ALSO
PROVIDED AS THIS ELIMINATES SMALL OSCILLATIONS IN THE RADAR IMAGE DUE TO THE SHIPS YAW
THAT OCCUR WHEN THE DISPLAY IS SET TO (EAD
UP %ACH OF THESE DIRECTIONAL MODES CAN BE
SET WITH TARGET TRACKING VECTORS SHOWN AS RELATIVE TO THE MOTION OF THE SHIP THE GROUND
OR THE AVERAGE SEA MOTION
/ , /" -/ , 3PECTRUM USE ASPECTS OF ALL RADARS INCLUDING FREQUENCY BAND OF USE AND 2& EMISSION
CONSTRAINTS ARE CONTROLLED BY THE )45 &OLLOWING )45 REQUIREMENTS MARINE RADARS
ARE PERMITTED TO OPERATE IN THE TO '(Z BAND 8 BAND AND IN THE TO '(Z
BAND 3 BAND
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE )-/ )NTERNATIONAL #ONVENTION FOR THE 3AFETY OF ,IFE AT 3EA 3/,!3 IS AN
ESTABLISHED AND ACCEPTED SET OF PRINCIPLES AND RULES AIMED AT ENSURING THAT SHIPS MEET
CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS TO ENHANCE BOTH SAFETY AND PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 4HE
MEMBER GOVERNMENTS FLAG 3TATES OF )-/ HAVE AGREED THAT 3/,!3 REQUIREMENTS
ARE EMBODIED WITHIN THEIR NATIONAL MARITIME LAWS AND REGULATIONS 7ITHIN #HAPTER 6
OF 3/,!3
3AFETY OF .AVIGATION THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CARRIAGE OF NAVIGATION
EQUIPMENT ARE DEFINED 4HESE VARY ACCORDING TO THE SIZE AND PURPOSE OF A SHIP !LL
PASSENGER SHIPS AND ALL SHIPS ABOVE GT NEED TO CARRY AT LEAST ONE RADAR WITH
TRACKING FACILITIES
&OOTNOTES WITHIN #HAPTER 6 OF 3/,!3 IDENTIFY THE RECOMMENDED )-/ PERFOR
MANCE STANDARDS WITH WHICH THE EQUIPMENT SHOULD CONFORM )-/ HAS HAD RECOM
MENDED RADAR PERFORMANCE STANDARDS SINCE PUBLISHED AS ANNEXES TO )-/
2ESOLUTIONS (OWEVER BY RADAR MANUFACTURERS WERE REPORTING DIFFICULTIES
BECAUSE DIFFERING INTERPRETATIONS BY NATIONAL MARITIME ADMINISTRATIONS MEANT THAT
RADARS HAD TO BE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO MEET INDIVIDUAL FLAG 3TATE REQUIREMENTS
4HE LEVEL OF TECHNICAL DETAIL REQUIRED TO REMEDY THIS WAS OUTSIDE THE REMIT OF )-/
AND IT WAS AGREED THAT A 4ECHNICAL #OMMITTEE 4# WITHIN THE )NTERNATIONAL
%LECTROTECHNICAL #OMMISSION )%# WOULD DETERMINE TECHNICALLY BASED INTERPRETA
TIONS OF )-/ RADAR PERFORMANCE STANDARDS )N ADDITION IT WAS AGREED THAT THE )%#
STANDARDS WOULD INCLUDE TEST PROCEDURES WHICH COULD BE USED BY NATIONAL MARITIME
ADMINISTRATIONS SUCH AS THE #OAST 'UARD IN THE 5NITED 3TATES OF !MERICA TO TEST FOR
CONFORMANCE OF SPECIFIC DESIGNS BY MANUFACTURERS TO )-/ AND )45 REQUIREMENTS
4ODAY VIRTUALLY ALL NATIONAL ADMINISTRATIONS USE )%# STANDARDS TO ASSESS RADAR AND
MOST OTHER )-/
DEFINED NAVIGATIONAL AND RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT
)-/ PERFORMANCE STANDARDS AND THE 3/,!3 #ONVENTION ARE REGULARLY REVISED SO IT
IS IMPORTANT TO CHECK THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE STANDARDS )%# DEFINES THE TECH
NICAL AND TEST STANDARDS BASED ON THE )-/ RADAR PERFORMANCE STANDARDS )%# STANDARDS
ALSO UNDERGO REGULAR REVISION !N AVERAGE RADAR INSTALLATION HAS A LIFE NORMALLY EXCEED
ING YEARS SO RADARS DESIGNED AND APPROVED TO PREVIOUS STANDARDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE
USED FOR SOME YEARS AFTER NEW STANDARDS HAVE BEEN PUT IN PLACE 2ETROFITTED EQUIPMENT
MUST MEET THE LATEST STANDARDS
)-/ RADAR PERFORMANCE STANDARDS PREVIOUS TO THOSE IN FORCE ON *ULY
REQUIRE COMPATIBILITY WITH EXISTING RACONS RADAR BEACONS AND AT '(Z 3EARCH
AND 2ESCUE 4RANSPONDERS 4HIS IMPLIES THE CONTINUED USE OF SHORT PULSE RADARS
(OWEVER FOR THE STANDARDS )-/ HAS ENCOURAGED IMPROVEMENTS IN SEA CLUT
TER PERFORMANCE BY DROPPING THE NEED FOR RACON COMPATIBILITY AT '(Z THEREBY
ALLOWING OTHER FORMS OF MODULATION THAT WOULD ENABLE AFFORDABLE COHERENT PRO
CESSING TECHNIQUES "ECAUSE ALL SHIPS ABOVE GT NEED TO CARRY AT LEAST A SINGLE
'(Z RADAR IT MEANS THAT RACON AND 3!24 DETECTION CAPABILITY IS MAINTAINED
4HIS APPROACH GIVES )-/ AN INDEFINITE PERIOD TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF THE NEW REGU
LATIONS ON THE DETECTION OF TARGETS IN SEA CLUTTER BEFORE DECIDING WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN
WITH RADAR RACONS AND 3!24S AT '(Z
!NOTHER MAJOR CHANGE IN THE REQUIREMENTS OF OLDER STANDARDS IS THAT ALL NEW RADARS
MUST INCLUDE PROVISION TO DISPLAY !UTOMATIC )DENTIFICATION 3YSTEM !)3 TARGETS AND
THAT THEIR RELATED INFORMATION CAN BE ACCESSED ON THE RADAR DISPLAY 4HE REQUIREMENTS
FOR TARGET TRACKING HAS ALSO HAD A MAJOR REVISION WITH AUTOMATIC TRACKING FACILITIES
BEING REQUIRED FOR ALL RADARS 4HE INTEGRATION OF ELECTRONIC CHART DATA AS A BACKGROUND
TO RADAR IMAGES IS ALSO EMBODIED WITHIN )-/ STANDARDS 2ADARS WITH THIS OPTIONAL
FACILITY ARE KNOWN AS #HART 2ADARS
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
4HE MINIMUM DETECTION PERFORMANCE REQUIRED IN CLEAR CONDITIONS IS TABULATED IN
4ABLE -EASUREMENTS OF RANGE HAVE TO BE WITHIN METERS ACCURACY OR WITHIN
OF THE MAXIMUM RANGE SCALE IN USE AND WITHIN BEARING AZIMUTH ANGLE
.AVIGATIONAL BUOYS WITH THE CHARACTERISTICS GIVEN IN 4ABLE HAVE TO BE DETECTABLE
AT A MINIMUM RANGE OF METERS 4WO hPOINTv TARGETS ON THE SAME BEARING HAVE TO
APPEAR AS TWO DISTINCT TARGETS IF THEY ARE SEPARATED BY MORE THAN METERS IN RANGE !
AZIMUTH RESOLUTION IS ALSO REQUIRED !LL THESE PERFORMANCE FIGURES ARE CONSIDERED
TO BE PEAK ERRORS WHICH CAN BE ASSUMED TO MEAN VALUES MEASURED WITH STAN
DARDIZED POINT TARGETS 4HE )-/ PERFORMANCE STANDARDS RECOGNIZE THAT THE DETECTION
PERFORMANCE OF RADARS WORKING WITHIN CONDITIONS OF CLUTTER WILL NOT NECESSARILY GIVE
THE PERFORMANCE DEFINED FOR CLEAR CONDITIONS -ANUFACTURERS ARE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE
EFFECTIVE MANUAL AND AUTOMATIC ANTI
CLUTTER FUNCTIONS AND MUST SPECIFY THE EXPECTED
DEGRADATION IN RAIN AT MM AND MM PER HOUR AND FOR SEA STATES AND INCLUDING
COMBINATIONS OF SEA AND RAIN CLUTTER
2ADARS DESIGNED FOR CONVENTIONAL VESSELS NEED TO OPERATE WITH RELATIVE SPEEDS
UP TO KT &OR HIGH
SPEED CRAFT SUCH AS MULTI
HULL FAST FERRIES THE RADARS NEED TO
OPERATE WITH RELATIVE TARGET SPEEDS UP TO KT /LDER STANDARDS REQUIRED A MINIMUM
ANTENNA ROTATION RATE OF RPM BUT THIS EXPLICIT REQUIREMENT HAS BEEN OMITTED FROM
THE NEW STANDARDS AS OTHER DEPENDENT REQUIREMENTS ARE ADEQUATELY SPECIFIED SUCH
AS THE MAXIMUM RELATIVE SPEED OF TARGETS AND TRACKING ACCURACIES 4HE )-/ PERFOR
MANCE STANDARDS SPECIFY THAT RADAR EQUIPMENT SHOULD MEET THE ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIRE
MENTS AND TEST PROCEDURES DEFINED WITHIN )%# 4HIS IS A COMPREHENSIVE SET OF
REQUIREMENTS THAT ARE APPLICABLE TO ALL SHIPS NAVIGATIONAL AND RADIO COMMUNICATIONS
EQUIPMENT 4HEY COVER SUCH ASPECTS AS TEMPERATURE SHOCK VIBRATION CORROSION AND
RESISTANCE TO WATER AND OIL INGRESS $ETAILED REQUIREMENTS ON ELECTROMAGNETIC EMIS
SIONS AND IMMUNITY TO THE ELECTROMAGNETIC ENVIRONMENT ARE MANDATED )%# ALSO
SPECIFIES GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ON ERGONOMICS SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND SAFETY !
FURTHER SET OF )%# STANDARDS CONTAINED WITHIN THE )%# SERIES DEFINE THE MES
SAGES USED FOR NAVIGATION AND RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT TO INTERCHANGE DIGITAL
DATA ! SHIPBORNE RADAR IS LIKELY TO BE RECEIVING MESSAGES FROM MANY ITEMS OF NAVIGA
TION EQUIPMENT SUCH AS !)3 '03 GYROCOMPASS LOG AND ECHO SOUNDER AND IS ALSO
LIKELY TO BE COMMUNICATING TRACK INFORMATION TO ELECTRONIC CHART SYSTEMS AND POSSIBLY
OTHER RADAR DISPLAYS
! NUMBER OF MANUFACTURERS PRODUCE RADARS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO BE USED ON
VESSELS USING THE WORLDS MAJOR INLAND WATERWAYS 4HESE ARE KNOWN AS RIVER RADARS
4HEY ARE EPITOMIZED BY THEIR SUPERIOR SHORT
RANGE PERFORMANCE AND BY HAVING A DIS
PLAY IN hPORTRAITv FORMAT IN ORDER TO GET MAXIMUM LOOK
AHEAD ALONG THE WATERWAY
4HE MAXIMUM DISPLAY RANGE ON THE SHORTEST SCALE IS TYPICALLY METERS 4HESE
RADARS ARE NORMALLY DESIGNED TO MEET REQUIREMENTS FOR RADARS ON VESSELS NAVIGATING
THE 2IVER 2HINE
2ADARS FOR THE FISHING AND LEISURE MARKETS ARE NOT COVERED BY 3/,!3 5NTIL
SUCH RADARS DID NOT HAVE AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED STANDARD FOR MANUFACTURERS TO
FOLLOW )%# IS NOW THE AGREED INTERNATIONAL RADAR STANDARD FOR hCRAFT NOT IN
COMPLIANCE WITH )-/ 3/,!3 #HAPTER 6v AND WAS INITIALLY ISSUED AT THE INSTIGATION
OF MANUFACTURERS .OW AN INCREASING NUMBER OF NATIONAL MARITIME ADMINISTRATIONS
ARE INSISTING THAT ALL NEW SMALL CRAFT RADARS SOLD IN THEIR JURISDICTION CONFORM TO THIS
STANDARD )%# RECOGNIZES THREE CLASSES OF RADAR #LASS ! IS INTENDED FOR COM
MERCIAL CRAFT UNDER GT #LASS " IS FOR RECREATIONAL CRAFT AND #LASS # IS FOR SMALL
RECREATIONAL CRAFT 4HE MAIN PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS ARE DETAILED IN 4ABLE
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% 2ADAR 0ERFORMANCE 2EQUIREMENTS FOR 3MALL #RAFT #OURTESY OF )%#
#OAST
,INE
$ETECTION 2ANGE
0OINT 4ARGET $ETECTION 2ANGE
#LASS
"EAMWIDTH
-INIMUM
$ISPLAY 3IZE
2ISING
TO M
2ISING
TO M
M
M HT
M
M HT
M
M HT
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#
a
a
a
q MM
q MM
q MM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
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!NTENNAS !NTENNA MAXIMUM SIDELOBES ARE SPECIFIED FOR 3/,!3 AND NON
3/,!3 RADARS IN )%# AND )%# RESPECTIVELY 4HESE ARE SUMMARIZED
IN 4ABLE
/N NON
3/,!3 RADARS THE ANTENNA ROTATION RATE IS SPECIFIED TO BE NOT LESS THAN RPM
BUT IS NOT DIRECTLY SPECIFIED FOR 3/,!3
APPROVED RADARS )N PRACTICE ANTENNAS FOR EXISTING
SHIPBORNE RADARS NORMALLY ROTATE AT n RPM ON HIGH
SPEED CRAFT THE ROTATION RATE IS
TYPICALLY n RPM &OR 3/,!3 VESSELS THE ANTENNA MUST BE ABLE TO START AND OPERATE IN
RELATIVE WIND SPEEDS UP TO KT OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ANTENNA SYSTEM
ARE DETAILED IN )%# WHERE THERE ARE SPECIFIC TESTS FOR hEXPOSEDv EQUIPMENT
4HERE ARE NO EXPLICIT REQUIREMENTS ON OTHER ANTENNA PARAMETERS FOR 3/,!3
APPROVED SYSTEMS SUCH AS BEAMWIDTHS AND GAIN BUT THESE OBVIOUSLY NEED TO BE COM
PATIBLE WITH THE TOTAL RADAR PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENT &OR INSTANCE AZIMUTH RESOLUTION
HAS TO BE BETTER THAN TARGET BEARING HAS TO BE DETERMINED TO WITHIN AND THE
SYSTEM MUST OPERATE IN CONDITIONS WHEN THE SHIP IS ROLLING AND PITCHING o 4YPICAL
ANTENNA GAINS AND BEAMWIDTHS HAVE BEEN OUTLINED IN 3ECTION
&ROM THE S ONWARDS THE USE OF A SLOTTED WAVEGUIDE LINEAR ARRAY MOUNTED IN
A LINEAR FLARED HORN HAS BEEN THE MOST COMMON ANTENNA SOLUTION FOR SHIPBORNE RADARS
"ECAUSE AT LEAST HORIZONTAL POLARIZATION HAS TO BE PROVIDED ON '(Z 3/,!3 RADARS
SLOTTED ARRAY SOLUTIONS GENERALLY HAVE THEIR SLOTS CUT INTO THE NARROW WALL OF THE HORIZON
TALLY MOUNTED WAVEGUIDE ! VERTICAL SLOT PERPENDICULAR TO THE WAVEGUIDE EDGE COUPLES
NO POWER BUT AS THE SLOT IS INCREASINGLY ANGLED MORE POWER IS COUPLED OUT 4HE SLOTS
ARE NORMALLY OF A RESONANT LENGTH HALF
WAVELENGTH TO COUPLE OUT SUFFICIENT POWER 4HIS
EXTENDS THE SLOT INTO THE BROAD WALL OF THE WAVEGUIDE BUT IT ALSO MAKES THEM EASIER TO
CONSTRUCTCONCEPTUALLY BY A SAWING ACTION INTO THE NARROW WALL 2ESIDUAL POWER AT THE
END OF THE ARRAY TYPICALLY LESS THAN IS DISSIPATED INTO A MATCHED LOAD #ONVENTIONALLY
THE ARRAY IS END
FED ALTHOUGH CENTER
FED ALTERNATIVES ARE SOMETIMES USED
4!",% !NTENNA 3IDELOBE 0ERFORMANCE 2EQUIREMENTS #OURTESY OF )%#
-AXIMUM 3IDELOBE ,EVEL D"
2ADAR #LASS
3/,!3
.ON
3/,!3 #LASS !
.ON
3/,!3 #LASSES " #
7ITHIN o
7ITHIN o
n
n
n
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)%# ED #OPYRIGHT )%# 'ENEVA 3WITZERLAND WWWIECCH
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
)F SLOTS WERE SPACED AT THE GUIDE WAVELENGTH IN AN ATTEMPT TO GET AN EQUI
PHASE
WAVEFRONT AT THE ANTENNA FACE THEN LARGE GRATING LOBES WOULD BE GENERATED IN THE FAR
FIELD PATTERN 4HIS WOULD OCCUR BECAUSE THEY WOULD BE SPACED AT A FREE
SPACE DISTANCE
OF MORE THAN ONE WAVELENGTH 4O OVERCOME THIS SLOTS ARE SPACED AT NOMINALLY HALF
THE GUIDE WAVELENGTH BUT ARE ANGLED ALTERNATELY TO THE VERTICAL IN ORDER TO INDUCE THE
NECESSARY PHASE REVERSALS )N PRACTICE THE SLOTS ARE PLACED SLIGHTLY AWAY FROM HALF
THE GUIDE WAVELENGTH SPACING TO AVOID SLOT
GENERATED MISMATCHES IN THE WAVEGUIDE
BECOMING RESONANT 4HIS CREATES A TILTED PHASE FRONT ACROSS THE ARRAY WHICH CAUSES THE
BEAM TO SQUINT TO AN ANGLE THAT IS FREQUENCY DEPENDENT )NDIVIDUAL MANUFACTURERS PRO
DUCE RADAR SYSTEMS OPERATING OVER A RESTRICTED BAND MUCH LESS THAN THE OVERALL RADAR
BAND WHICH REMOVES ANY NEED FOR INDIVIDUAL SQUINT COMPENSATION WHEN MAGNETRONS
ARE REPLACED 4HE REQUIRED SIDELOBE PERFORMANCE IS NOT DEMANDING 4ABLE AND
SO SIMPLE APERTURE DISTRIBUTIONS SUCH AS PEDESTAL
BASED COSINE SQUARED ARE COMMON
4HE SMALL VERTICALLY POLARIZED FIELDS PRODUCED BY EACH SLANTED SLOT NEED TO BE SUP
PRESSED AS THEY CAN OTHERWISE LEAD TO HIGH CROSS
POLARIZED SIDELOBES FROM THE ARRAY
EXACERBATED BY THE PHASE REVERSAL OF THE CROSS
POLAR COMPONENT FROM SLOT TO SLOT CAUS
ING CROSS
POLAR GRATING LOBES 4HIS CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH A PRINTED POLARIZATION FILTER IN
FRONT OF THE ARRAY OR BY EFFECTIVELY CREATING AS PART OF THE STRUCTURE A SHORT LENGTH OF
OPEN
ENDED WAVEGUIDE IN FRONT OF EACH SLOT WITH DIMENSIONS THAT MAKE IT BELOW CUTOFF
FOR VERTICAL POLARIZATION
3LOT CHARACTERIZATION IS NORMALLY PERFORMED BY MEASUREMENT RATHER THAN BY
DETAILED ELECTROMAGNETIC ANALYSIS 4HIS ALLOWS ALL CONSTRUCTION DETAILS INCLUDING THOSE
REQUIRED FOR POLARIZATION FILTERING TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE SLOT CHARACTERIZATION
SUFFICIENT ACCURACY IS DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE USING NUMERICAL ANALYSIS 0ROVIDED THE CHAR
ACTERIZATION IS DONE CAREFULLY AND GOOD MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES CAN GUARANTEE TOLER
ANCES IT IS REASONABLY STRAIGHTFORWARD TO PRODUCE AFFORDABLE ANTENNAS THAT MEET )-/
REQUIREMENTS 4HE REQUIRED VERTICAL BEAMWIDTH IS NORMALLY OBTAINED BY A LINEAR FLARE
4HE FLARE ANGLE IS CHOSEN SUCH THAT IT CREATES A REASONABLY PHASE
CONSTANT VERTICAL DIS
TRIBUTION AT ITS APERTURE 4HE VERTICAL AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION APPROXIMATES TO A COSINE
BECAUSE OF THE HORIZONTALLY POLARIZED FIELD 6ERTICAL BEAMWIDTHS ARE TYPICALLY ABOUT
WIDE AT THE D" POINTS
.OT UNNATURALLY COST FOR A GIVEN PERFORMANCE IS THE PRIME DRIVER IN THE SYSTEM
DESIGNERS CHOICE OF ANTENNA 7HILE THE CONVENTIONAL SLOTTED LINEAR ARRAY IS WIDELY
USED THERE ARE EXAMPLES WHERE DIFFERENT COST TRADEOFFS HAVE BEEN MADE &OR INSTANCE
THE USE OF A DIELECTRIC BLOCK MOUNTED DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE SLOTTED WAVEGUIDE ARRAY
IN PLACE OF THE FLARED SECTION HAS BEEN USED AS AN ALTERNATIVE 4HE LEAKING ENERGY FROM
THE TOP AND BOTTOM FACES OF THE DIELECTRIC BLOCK ADDS WITH ENERGY EMERGING FROM ITS
FRONT FACE GIVING FORWARD GAIN )T IS THE DEPTH DIMENSION OF THE DIELECTRIC BLOCK THAT
DETERMINES THE GAIN SOMEWHAT ANALOGOUS TO THE LENGTH OF A 9AGI ANTENNA 4HIS EFFECT
REDUCES THE HEIGHT OF THE ANTENNA COMPARED TO A CONVENTIONAL DESIGN BY ABOUT A FACTOR
OF THREE TYPICALLY FROM ABOUT MM TO MM AT '(Z 4HIS MEANS THAT THERE IS
CONSIDERABLY LESS WIND
LOADING 4HE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT OF THE BLOCK CAN BE QUITE LOW
WHICH WITH THE REDUCED WIND
LOADING RESULTS IN A VERY LIGHTWEIGHT STRUCTURE 4HIS
SAVES COSTS IN THE ANTENNA TURNING GEAR AND MAKES THE INSTALLATION EASIER !N EXAMPLE
OF THIS TYPE OF ANTENNA PRODUCED BY +ELVIN (UGHES IS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE
3MALL CRAFT RADARS HAVE USED PRINTED ARRAYS FOR SOME YEARS AS WELL AS SLOTTED
WAVEGUIDE ARRAYS 3MALL HORN
FED PARABOLIC REFLECTOR SYSTEMS HAVE ALSO BEEN USED
!NTENNAS FOR SMALL CRAFT ARE NORMALLY HOUSED WITHIN A RADOME WHICH PROTECTS THE
ANTENNA AND UP
MAST ELECTRONICS OF THE RADAR ENVIRONMENTALLY AND PREVENTS THE
ANTENNA FROM SNAGGING THE RIGGING )N PARTICULAR IT ASSURES THAT THERE IS NO DANGER TO
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% ,OW PROFILE METER 3 BAND SHIPBORNE RADAR ANTENNA #OURTESY OF +ELVIN (UGHES ,TD
USERS FROM ROTATING MECHANISMS SINCE THE RADAR HEAD CAN BE MOUNTED IN AREAS OPEN
TO HUMAN ACCESS !NTENNAS USING PRINTED ARRAYS USE INTEGRAL
PRINTED POWER DIVIDERS
4HE ARRAYS ARE USUALLY TWO
DIMENSIONAL DISPENSING WITH THE NEED FOR A FLARED SEC
TION AND NORMALLY CONSIST OF RADIATING PATCHES RATHER THAN PRINTED DIPOLES (ORIZONTAL
APERTURES OF AND MM ARE COMMON 0RINTED TECHNOLOGY IS NOT GENERALLY USED
FOR SHIPBORNE ANTENNAS SLOTTED WAVEGUIDE ARRAYS REMAIN THE COST
EFFECTIVE SOLUTION
FOR LARGER ARRAYS PARTICULARLY AS THE HIGHER POWER CREATES ADDITIONAL COMPLICATIONS FOR
PRINTED POWER DIVIDERS
0OOR ANTENNA SITING IS A COMMON CAUSE OF RADAR PERFORMANCE DEGRADATION ON SHIPS
AS WELL AS ON SMALLER CRAFT 0ARTICULARLY ON SHIPS IT IS SURPRISING THAT INSTALLATIONS ARE
STILL BEING IMPLEMENTED THAT CREATE SIGNIFICANT BLOCKAGE TO THE RADAR "LIND ARCS ARE
COMMON FROM FUNNELS AND OTHER SUPERSTRUCTURE AND THERE CAN BE SIGNIFICANT SIDELOBE
DEGRADATION DUE TO SMALLER STRUCTURES SUCH AS 6(& ANTENNAS CAUSING BLOCKAGE CLOSE
TO THE RADAR ANTENNA APERTURE
2& (EAD 4HE 2& HEAD NORMALLY COMPRISES THE TRANSMITTER AND THE RECEIVER
DOWN TO )& OR DIGITAL BASEBAND AS WELL AS THE ANTENNA AND TURNING GEAR )TS DESIGN
FOR BOTH MAGNETRON
BASED 3/,!3 AND NON
3/,!3 RADARS FOLLOWS CONVENTIONAL PRIN
CIPLES 4HE MAGNETRON IS CONNECTED TO THE ANTENNA VIA A DUPLEXER AND A ROTATING JOINT
4HE MAGNETRON HAS A TYPICAL OPERATIONAL LIFE OF ABOUT HOURS AND IS BY FAR THE
LOWEST LIFED COMPONENT IN THE WHOLE SYSTEM 4HE DUPLEXER IS NOWADAYS A THREE
OR
FOUR
PORT FERRITE CIRCULATOR 5SE OF A FOUR
PORT DEVICE IS PREFERRED AS IT PRESENTS A BET
TER MATCHED LOAD TO THE MAGNETRON AND THEREFORE GIVES A CLEANER 2& SPECTRUM 4HE
LOW
NOISE FRONT
END ,.&% SUBSYSTEM IS CONNECTED TO THE CIRCULATOR VIA A 0). DIODE
LIMITER WHICH PROTECTS THE ,.&% DURING PULSE TRANSMISSION
4HE MODULATOR TO THE MAGNETRON IS TYPICALLY A PULSE FORMING NETWORK 0&. BASI
CALLY COMPRISED OF CAPACITORS AND INDUCTORS /PERATOR CONTROL OF THE PULSE LENGTH EFFEC
TIVELY SWITCHES IN DIFFERENT CHOICES OF REACTIVE COMPONENTS 4HE DISCHARGE OF THE 0&.
IS CONTROLLED BY A HIGH VOLTAGE SWITCH WHICH IS OFTEN A SILICON
CONTROLLED RECTIFIER
THYRISTORS AND &%4S ARE ALSO USED &%4 MODULATORS ARE SOMETIMES DRIVEN DIRECTLY BY
A PULSE INPUT RATHER THAN A 0&. &INALLY A PULSE TRANSFORMER MATCHES THE 0&. TO THE
IMPEDANCE SEEN AT THE MAGNETRON CATHODE ! PULSE OF AROUND K6 IS REQUIRED TO FIRE
THE MAGNETRON )N ORDER TO GET GOOD PERFORMANCE OVER A WIDE RANGE OF PULSE LENGTHS
DESIGNS UTILIZE A GREAT DEAL OF EMPIRICALLY DERIVED KNOWLEDGE AND ACTUAL CIRCUITS CAN
BE SURPRISINGLY COMPLEX ! NS PULSE HARDLY ACHIEVES ANY PERIOD OF STABILITYRISE
TIMES ARE NORMALLY RESTRICTED TO ABOUT NS IN ORDER TO LIMIT OUT
OF
BAND INTERFERENCE
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
AND FALL TIMES ARE USUALLY LONGER 4HE EXTRA HIGH VOLTAGES INVOLVED CAN LEAD TO POOR
RELIABILITY IF THE DESIGN DOES NOT ADEQUATELY ADDRESS THE ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS #AREFUL
PHYSICAL LAYOUT IS ESSENTIAL AND CONSIDERATION MUST BE GIVEN TO THE EFFECTS OF OPERATING
IN A POTENTIALLY DAMP ENVIRONMENT 0ULSE TIMING CAN BE PURPOSELY JITTERED ON A PULSE
TO
PULSE BASIS 0ULSE
TO
PULSE CORRELATION IN THE RADAR PROCESSOR THEN VERY EFFECTIVELY
BLOCKS INTERFERENCE FROM OTHER RADARS ALBEIT WITH A SMALL BUT GENERALLY ACCEPTABLE
DEGRADATION IN DETECTION PERFORMANCE
!FTER THE LIMITER THE ,.&% IS PRECEDED BY A BANDPASS FILTER TO REDUCE THE EFFECTS
OF OUT
OF
BAND INTERFERING SIGNALS 4HE ,.&% CONSISTS OF AN 2& AMPLIFIER TYPICALLY
GIVING ABOUT D" GAIN AND A BALANCED MIXER LOCAL OSCILLATOR AND )& HEAD AMPLIFIER
4HESE ARE NORMALLY SUPPLIED TO THE RADAR MANUFACTURER BY SPECIALIST COMPANIES AS A
COMPLETE SUBUNIT 4HE OVERALL SYSTEM NOISE FIGURE IS TYPICALLY TO D" BUT LOWER
FIGURES ARE ACHIEVABLE 4HE FREQUENCY OF THE LOCAL OSCILLATOR IS GENERALLY DRIVEN BY A
CONTROL SIGNAL DERIVED FROM WITHIN THE )& AMPLIFIER )T INCLUDES FACILITIES FOR MANUAL
FREQUENCY CONTROL BY THE OPERATOR 4HE LATTER CAN BE USEFUL FOR INSTANCE WHEN LOOK
ING FOR 3!24S IN HEAVY SEA CLUTTER AS IT ALLOWS RETURNS FROM OWN TRANSMISSIONS TO BE
DESENSITIZED 4HE LOCAL OSCILLATOR USES A 'UNN DIODE OR AN &%4 GIVING A TYPICAL INTER
MEDIATE FREQUENCY OF -(Z
$ETECTION AND 0ROCESSING !FTER THE ,.&% A LOGARITHMIC AMPLIFIER REDUCES THE
DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL TO PREVENT LIMITING ! DYNAMIC RANGE OF AROUND
D" IS TYPICALLY ACHIEVED IN PERHAPS AN EIGHT
STAGE AMPLIFIER &ILTERING CONSIS
TENT WITH THE TRANSMITTED PULSE LENGTH IS APPLIED WITHIN THE )& AMPLIFIER 4HE OUTPUT
FROM THE LOG AMPLIFIER ENTERS A DIODE
BASED ENVELOPE DETECTOR CONVERTING THE SIGNAL
TO BASEBAND FOR SUBSEQUENT THRESHOLD PROCESSING 3ETTING THE THRESHOLD HAS BECOME
INTIMATELY CONNECTED WITH THE SENSITIVITY TIME CONTROL 34# OF THE RADAR 4HE FUN
DAMENTAL USE OF 34# IS TO TAKE OUT THE DISTANCE
RELATED DYNAMIC RANGE OF RECEIVED
SIGNALS !T CLOSE RANGE 34# CLASSICALLY FOLLOWS AN INVERSE FOURTH POWER LAW MERGING
TO AN INVERSE CUBIC LAW IN THE REGION WHERE SEA CLUTTER DOMINATES IN ACCORDANCE WITH
BASIC THEORY "ECAUSE TRANSITION RANGE IS A FUNCTION OF ANTENNA HEIGHT A SETTING FOR
THIS MAY BE NEEDED WHEN THE SYSTEM IS ORIGINALLY INSTALLED 4HE OPERATORS MANUAL
SEA
CLUTTER CONTROL IS USED TO ADJUST THE TRANSITION RANGE .OWADAYS THE FORM OF THE
34# CURVE AND THE EFFECTS OF THE MANUAL CONTROL ARE BASED ON THE PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE
OF INDIVIDUAL MANUFACTURERS WHICH CONTRIBUTES GREATLY TO THE ACTUAL EFFECTIVENESS OF
A PARTICULAR RADAR IN SEA CLUTTER %VEN UNDER MANUAL CONTROL THE DETAILED SHAPE OF THE
34# CURVE MAY HAVE A COMPLEX ADAPTIVE ELEMENT TO IT IN ORDER TO OPTIMIZE THRESHOLDS
OVER A BROADER RANGE
5NDER AUTOMATIC SETTINGS THRESHOLDING BECOMES INCREASINGLY SOPHISTICATED BUT
OFTEN STILL ALLOWS SOME MANUAL OPTIMIZATION 4HE CURVE MAY ADAPT TO INTERNAL CALCULA
TIONS MADE ON RETURNS FROM THE LAST PULSE OR FROM A SUCCESSION OF PULSES )T MAY ALSO
INCLUDE MORE COMPLEX CLUTTER
MAPPING PROCESSES !LL OF THIS IS ATTEMPTING TO CREATE
A CONSTANT FALSE ALARM RATE ACROSS THE RADAR DISPLAY 3INCE THE RADAR IS SITED ON A MOV
ING PLATFORM SUBJECT TO COMPLEX DYNAMICS DIFFICULTIES ARISE WITH CLUTTER MAPPING
(OWEVER MODERN PROCESSORS PERMIT AFFORDABLE THRESHOLDING ALGORITHMS OF CONSIDER
ABLE COMPLEXITY -ANUFACTURERS KEEP THEIR OWN PROCESSES HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL BECAUSE
OF THE EFFORT THAT HAS GONE INTO THEIR EMPIRICAL OPTIMIZATION 4HEORETICAL CLUTTER MODELS
HAVE BEEN GENERALLY FOUND UNSUITABLE TO BE USED FOR OPTIMIZATION %VEN OPTIMIZING FOR
SEA CONDITIONS FOUND IN ONE PARTICULAR AREA CAN CREATE SUBOPTIMAL SOLUTIONS IN OTHER
AREAS AND THEREFORE DATA FROM A NUMBER OF REGIONS NEED TO BE USED TO DESIGN A GLOB
ALLY EFFECTIVE PRODUCT
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
34# AND THRESHOLDING IS A PROCESS THAT IS CONTROLLED IN THE DIGITAL DOMAIN BUT OFTEN
APPLIES ANALOG GAIN PROCESSES AT 2& AND )& AT BOTH PRE
AND POST
LOG AMPLIFICATION AS
WELL AS PROCESSES IN THE DIGITAL DOMAIN )NTIMATELY CONNECTED WITH THRESHOLDING STRATE
GIES ARE SIGNAL PROCESSING SUCH AS &4# PULSE INTEGRATION AND CORRELATION PROCESSES
BOTH PULSE
TO
PULSE AND SCAN
TO
SCAN -ODERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY WITH ITS PROCESSING
SPEED AVAILABLE WORD LENGTH AND LARGE MEMORY CAPABILITY ALLOWS THE RADAR DESIGNER
TO HAVE GREAT FLEXIBILITY IN THE STRATEGY APPLIED AND WHAT ARE ENTIRELY SEPARATE PRO
CESSES IN THE ANALOG WORLD INCREASINGLY BECOME AN INTEGRATED DIGITAL PROCESS 3IMPLE
THRESHOLDING IDEAS ARE BEING REPLACED BY COMPLEX LOGICAL PROCESSES MAKING A DETAILED
EVALUATION OF WHETHER A POTENTIAL TARGET IS PRESENT OR NOT EVEN POTENTIALLY MERGING INTO
PLOT EXTRACTION AND TRACKING PROCESSES
-ORE COMPLEX PROCESSING CAN ALSO YIELD ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THAT IS USEFUL TO
MARINE OPERATORS &OR INSTANCE BY APPLYING SPECTRUM ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES IT IS POS
SIBLE TO EXTRACT ACCURATE SEA
STATE INFORMATION INCLUDING SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT AND
PERIOD DIRECTION AND SPEED 4HE -IROS !3 7AVEX4- SYSTEM DETERMINES DIRECTIONAL
WAVE SPECTRA SCALED IN M(Z AND PARAMETERS SUCH AS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT AND
AVERAGE WAVE PERIOD !N &&4 IS PERFORMED ON DATA COLLECTED ON A SCAN
BY
SCAN BASIS
SCANS OF DATA ARE TYPICALLY USED IN THE ANALYSIS 4HE RESULTANT INFORMATION CAN BE
HIGHLY USEFUL FOR LARGE HIGH
SPEED CRAFT PERHAPS TRAVELING AT UP TO KNOTS OR MORE
)T IS ALSO POTENTIALLY USEFUL FOR VULNERABLE VESSELS SUCH AS CHEMICAL CARRIERS TO ENSURE
THAT APPROPRIATE ACTION IN HEAVY WEATHER CAN BE TAKEN PARTICULARLY AT NIGHT OR IN POOR
VISIBILITY /CEAN OIL RIG OPERATIONS CAN ALSO BENEFIT FROM SUCH SYSTEMS )NFORMATION
CAN BE DISPLAYED TO THE USER IN THE FORM OF DIGITAL READOUTS OF THE PRIMARY PARAMETERS
AS WELL AS GRAPHICALLY DISPLAYED DATA )NSTALLED SYSTEMS NORMALLY EXTRACT THE RAW DATA
FROM THE EXISTING '(Z RADAR AND PERFORM WAVE PROCESSING AND DISPLAY FUNCTIONS ON
A SEPARATE PROCESSORDISPLAY SYSTEM 3PECTRUM ANALYSIS OF THIS TYPE CAN ALSO DETECT OIL
SLICKS BECAUSE THEY REDUCE THE AMPLITUDE OF SEA SURFACE CAPILLARY WAVES 3UCH SYS
TEMS CAN BE VALUABLE ON VESSELS ASSISTING WITH CLEAN
UP OPERATIONS AND ALSO FOR EARLY
DETECTION OF SPILLS FROM OIL RIG OPERATIONS
)T HAS BEEN PROPOSED THAT ADDITIONAL PROCESSING OF THE CROSS
POLAR CONTENT OF THE
RECEIVED RADAR SIGNAL MAY BE OF BENEFIT TO MARINE OPERATIONS WHERE SEA ICE IS A HAZARD
$UE TO STRUCTURAL CHANGES THAT OCCUR IN OLDER ICE THAT AFFECT THE REFLECTION OF RADAR
ENERGY IT IS POSSIBLE TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS OLD ICE INCLUDING
GLACIAL ICE ICEBERGS AND SINGLE
SEASON SEA ICE WHICH IS NORMALLY LESS DANGEROUS TO
NAVIGATION 4HIS IS BECAUSE THE CROSS
POLAR COMPONENT OF THE REFLECTION IS SIGNIFICANTLY
HIGHER FOR OLD ICE COMPARED TO NEW ICE 4HE PROBLEM IS HOW TO AFFORDABLY DETERMINE
THE CROSS
POLAR COMPONENT
)N PRACTICE IT HAS BEEN FOUND THAT EXCELLENT ICE DETECTION CAN BE MADE BY OPTIMIZED
PROCESSING OF CONVENTIONAL MARINE RADAR SIGNALS "ECAUSE OF THE SLOW
MOVING NATURE
OF THE TARGETS OF INTEREST AVERAGING THE RADAR IMAGE OVER MANY ANTENNA SCANS USING
AN OPTIMIZED INFINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE ))2 FILTER CAN GIVE A VERY DETAILED IMAGE THAT
ALLOWS THE USER TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN ICE AND WATER AREAS )N PARTICULAR SMALL ICE
FEATURES SUCH AS BERGY BITS ICEBERGS WITH DIMENSIONS ABOVE THE WATERLINE OF LESS THAN
METERS IN BREADTH AND GREATER THAN METER IN HEIGHT AND GROWLERS LESS THAN METERS
IN BREADTH AND LESS THAN METER SHOWING ABOVE THE WATER LINE ARE READILY DETECTED
BY SUCH SYSTEMS )NTEGRATION OVER SECONDS HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE SUITABLE WITH THE
ANTENNA ROTATING AT RPM 4HE INCREASED CAPABILITY OF ICE TARGET DETECTION IN SEA
CLUTTER WITH HIGHER ANTENNA ROTATION RATES HAS ALSO BEEN DEMONSTRATED $RAMATIC IMAGES
OF ICE HAZARDS CAN BE PRODUCED BY SUCH RADARS SUCH AS THAT ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
&)'52% )CE FEATURE DETECTION USING ))2 FILTERING ON 2UTTER 3IGMA RADAR PROCESSOR #OURTESY OF 4RANSPORT #ANADA
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3OLID STATE #-2 3EVERAL FACTORS HAVE COME TOGETHER TO PROMOTE THE INTRODUC
TION OF CIVIL MARINE RADARS WITH SOLID STATE TRANSMITTERS 4HE MOST IMPORTANT OF THESE
IS THAT AFFORDABLE MAGNETRON BASED RADARS DO NOT MEET USER DEMANDS WHEN OPERATING
IN HEAVY SEA AND PRECIPITATION CLUTTER 3MALL CRAFT AND BUOYS BECOME INVISIBLE ON THE
DISPLAY CREATING DANGER TO LIFE )-/ RECOGNIZED THIS PROBLEM AND IN ORDER NOT TO CON
STRAIN OPPORTUNITIES FOR INNOVATIVE RADAR DESIGN REMOVED THE REQUIREMENT THAT '(Z
RADARS BE COMPATIBLE WITH EXISTING RACONS
'ALLIUM .ITRIDE AND OTHER MICROWAVE POWER SEMICONDUCTORS DEVELOPED PRIMAR
ILY FOR BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS LINKS HAVE ENABLED #-2 MANUFACTURERS TO USE
THESE IN THE RADAR TRANSMITTER TO REPLACE MAGNETRON BASED DESIGNS 0ULSE COMPRES
SION TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO REDUCE THE REQUIRED PEAK POWER %VEN SINGLE 'ALLIUM
.ITRIDE DEVICES CAN GENERATE HUNDREDS OF WATTS OF PEAK POWER AT MEAN POWERS EASILY
SUFFICIENT FOR #-2 APPLICATIONS !LSO ADVANCES IN DIGITALLY CONTROLLED WAVEFORM
GENERATORS HAVE GIVEN DESIGNERS THE ABILITY TO CREATE PULSE COMPRESSED WAVEFORMS
WITH HIGH PRECISION AND AT LOW COST 4HESE WAVEFORMS ENABLE COHERENT PROCESSING OF
THE RECEIVED SIGNAL GIVING ADDITIONAL DOPPLER INFORMATION THAT CAN BE USED TO HELP
SEPARATE TARGETS FROM CLUTTER 4HE USE OF FREQUENCY DIVERSITY TECHNIQUES TO GIVE ADDED
TARGET DETECTION POSSIBILITIES BECOMES POTENTIALLY AFFORDABLE BECAUSE OF THE FLEXIBILITY
OF THE SIGNAL GENERATION TECHNOLOGY #OST HAS PRECLUDED THE USE OF DUAL MAGNETRON
TRANSMITTERS FOR THIS PURPOSE
$EMANDS FROM OTHER SERVICES FOR MORE BANDWIDTH PARTICULARLY FROM MOBILE COM
MUNICATIONS OPERATORS CONTINUE TO PUT PRESSURE ON THE )45 DETERMINED MARINE RADAR
SPECTRUM LIMITS SEE FOR EXAMPLE 7ILLIAMS 3INCE THE PEAK TRANSMITTED POWER FROM
SOLID STATE #-2S IS VERY LOW COMPARED TO MAGNETRON BASED RADARS FOR EXAMPLE 7
COMPARED TO K7 THE SPECTRUM INTERFERENCE LEVELS ARE MUCH REDUCED AND THEREFORE
EXTENDED USE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY COULD RESULT IN BETTER USE OF THE 2& SPECTRUM !LSO
THE HIGHLY CONTROLLED WAVEFORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CREATE LESS SPECTRAL NOISE THAN TYPICAL
MAGNETRON BASED #-2 TRANSMITTERS
!N EXAMPLE OF A SOLID STATE COHERENT RADAR IS THE +ELVIN (UGHES 3HARP%YE4-THE
FIRST INTRODUCTION OF SUCH AN )-/ COMPLIANT SYSTEM TO THE #-2 MARKET )T HAS A PEAK
OUTPUT POWER OF 7 AND A DUTY CYCLE OF &IGURE SHOWS A PHOTOGRAPH OF
THE TRANSMITTER ELECTRONICS )N ORDER TO OBTAIN THE REQUIRED SHORT RANGE PERFORMANCE
IT TRANSMITS A FRAME OF PULSES WITH DIFFERING LENGTHS %ACH PULSE WITHIN THE FRAME IS
OPTIMIZED TO COVER A SPECIFIED RANGE BRACKET /VERALL THE PULSE SEQUENCE COMPLETELY
COVERS THE INSTRUMENTED RANGE AND ENSURES THAT THE )-/ SPECIFIED MINIMUM RANGE
REQUIREMENT IS MET
)N THE RECEIVER FRAMES ARE GROUPED INTO BLOCKS CALLED BURSTS 4HE DURATION OF A
BURST IS APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE TIME TAKEN FOR THE D" POINTS OF THE ANTENNA
AZIMUTH BEAM TO SWEEP PAST A POINT TARGET CONSEQUENTLY THE NUMBER OF PULSES IN
A BURST IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE INSTRUMENTED RANGE AND THE ANTENNA ROTATION RATE
4HE ECHOES RECEIVED DURING A BURST ARE PROCESSED BY A FILTER BANK TO EXTRACT THE
RADIAL VELOCITIES OF TARGETS AND CLUTTER 7ITHIN THE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR DETECTION
THRESHOLDS FOR EACH OF THE FILTERS WITHIN THE BANK ARE CALCULATED ADAPTIVELY AIMING AT
PROVIDING OPTIMUM CONTROL OF FALSE ALARMS WHILE MAXIMIZING CLUTTER SUPPRESSION AND
TARGET DETECTION -ANUAL CONTROL OF THE THRESHOLDS IS ALSO PROVIDED TO BE COMPLIANT
WITH )-/ REQUIREMENTS
-ODERN FULLY SOLID STATE RADARS NEED LITTLE ANALOG CIRCUITRY WITHIN THEIR DESIGNS
THEY OPERATE ON LOW VOLTAGES AND HAVE NO TIME LIFED COMPONENTS SUCH AS MAGNE
TRONS 4HIS POTENTIALLY MAKES THEM EXTREMELY STABLE AND RELIABLE WITH A RESULTANT
LOW COST OF OWNERSHIP THEREFORE MEETING THE INCREASING DEMANDS OF SHIP OPERATORS
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
&)'52% +ELVIN (UGHES 3HARP%YE4- #-2 3
BAND SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER #OURTESY OF +ELVIN
(UGHES ,TD
)N PREVIOUS YEARS SHIPS WERE REQUIRED TO HAVE A RADIO OFFICER WHO COULD CARRY OUT
RADAR REPAIRS AT SEA 4HIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE 2ELIABILITY IS A PRIME CONCERN AS A NON
OPERATING RADAR CAN FORCE THE DELAY OF THE SHIP IN PORT AT GREAT COST TO THE OPERATOR
x /,
//,
4HE TARGET TRACKING FUNCTION OF A SHIPBORNE NAVIGATION RADAR HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN
CALLED AN !UTOMATIC 2ADAR 0LOTTING !ID !20! 4HIS TERM IS BECOMING OBSOLETE
)-/ NOW DEFINES THIS PROCESS AS 4ARGET 4RACKING 44 WHICH INCLUDES TARGET DATA
OBTAINED FROM !)3 4HE BASIC REQUIREMENT CALLS FOR A MINIMUM RADAR TRACKING CAPAC
ITY OF TARGETS ON SHIPS LESS THAN GT TARGETS ON SHIPS BETWEEN AND
GT AND TARGETS ON SHIPS OVER GT )N ADDITION SHIPS OVER GT
MUST HAVE AN AUTOMATIC TARGET ACQUISITION CAPABILITY !CTUAL SYSTEMS COMMONLY
EXCEED THESE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS 4ARGETS WITH A MAXIMUM RELATIVE SPEED OF
KT MUST BE TRACKABLE THIS REQUIREMENT IS INCREASED TO KT FOR RADARS ON VESSELS
CAPABLE OF MORE THAN KT /N THE BRIDGE THE NAVIGATORS REQUIREMENTS TO AID COLLI
SION AVOIDANCE INCLUDE THE NEED TO KNOW A TARGETS CLOSEST POINT OF APPROACH #0!
AND TIME TO CLOSEST POINT OF APPROACH 4#0! BOTH OF WHICH MUST BE AVAILABLE FOR
ALL TRACKED TARGETS 4HE REQUIRED TRACKED TARGET ACCURACY AT LEVELS IS GIVEN IN
4ABLE
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% 2EQUIREMENTS FOR RADAR TRACKED TARGET ACCURACY LEVELS #OURTESY OF )-/
4IME OF 3TEADY
3TATE MINUTES
2ELATIVE
#OURSE
DEGREES
MIN TRENDo
MIN MOTIONp
2ELATIVE
3PEED KN
OR
WHICHEVER
IS GREATER
OR
WHICHEVER
IS GREATER
#0! .-
4#0!
MINUTES
4RUE
#OURSE
DEGREES
4RUE 3PEED
KN
OR
WHICHEVER
IS GREATER
o 4REND IS AN EARLY INDICATION AFTER MINUTE OF THE TARGETS SPEED AND DIRECTION
p -OTION IS THE ESTABLISHED ASSESSMENT AFTER MINUTES OF THE TARGETS SPEED AND DIRECTION
4HE TRACKING PROBLEM IS COMPLICATED BY THE FACT THAT BASIC RADAR MEASUREMENTS
ARE MADE RELATIVE TO THE SHIPS MOTION BUT THE DISPLAY MAY BE SET TO RELATIVE OR TRUE
MOTION )N ADDITION TRUE MOTION CAN BE GROUND OR SEA STABILIZED 4ARGET VECTORS AND
ASSOCIATED DATA BOXES CAN BE SHOWN IN TRUE OR RELATIVE MOTION WHATEVER THE FRAME
REFERENCE OF THE RADAR DISPLAY ! SHIPS ORIENTATION TO NORTH IS GIVEN BY A GYROCOM
PASS OR hTRANSMITTINGv MAGNETIC COMPASSA COMPASS WITH A DIGITAL INTERFACE ! LOG
GIVES SPEED THROUGH THE WATER 347 4HIS CAN BE EITHER A CONVENTIONAL ROTATING
TRANSDUCER DRIVEN BY THE MOVEMENT THROUGH WATER OR ELSE AN ACOUSTIC TRANSDUCER
MEASURING THE DOPPLER OF THE REFLECTED SIGNAL 4HE LATTER CAN BE SET TO ASSESS SPEED
EITHER RELATIVE TO THE SURROUNDING WATER 347 OR RELATIVE TO THE SEABED IE SPEED
OVER GROUND 3/' -ANDATORY CARRIAGE OF A DUAL AXIS LOG WHICH MEASURES SPEED IN
THE FORWARD AND TRANSVERSE DIRECTIONS IS REQUIRED ON SHIPS ABOVE GT 4HIS IS
TYPICALLY A DOPPLER LOG /N SMALLER SHIPS '.33 IS USED TO PROVIDE 3/' AND IS OFTEN
THE USER
PREFERRED GROUND STABILIZATION SOURCE FOR RADAR EVEN FOR A SHIP FITTED WITH A
DOPPLER LOG $OPPLER LOGS DO NOT ALWAYS GIVE GOOD SPEED READINGS ON SOME TYPES OF
SEABED FOR EXAMPLE SOFT MUD &ACILITIES MUST ALSO BE PROVIDED TO ALLOW THE USE OF
STATIONARY TRACKED TARGETS SUCH AS RADAR CONSPICUOUS NAVIGATION MARKS TO PROVIDE
THE GROUND REFERENCE
!CCORDING TO THE DESIGN THE BASIC TRACKING FUNCTION CAN BE CARRIED OUT IN SHIP OR
GROUNDSEA REFERENCED FRAMES USING CONVENTIONAL ALGORITHMS 4HE TRACKING PROCESS
CAN BE INITIATED MANUALLY OR AUTOMATICALLY !UTOMATIC INITIATION IS BY A CONVENTIONAL
PLOT EXTRACTION PROCESS CONFINED WITHIN A USER
DEFINED AREA WHICH AT ITS SIMPLEST
COULD BE A CHOSEN RANGE ENCIRCLING THE VESSEL 4HE DEFINED AREA MAY ALSO HAVE USER
DEFINED EXCLUSION ZONES !LGORITHMS FOR PREVENTING PLOTS FROM BEING FORMED ON TYPI
CALLY ENCOUNTERED WAVE FEATURES PERHAPS LASTING A FEW SCANS SUCH AS A TRAVELING WAVE
CREST NEED TO BE EMPLOYED -ANUAL SELECTION IS EFFECTIVELY A PLOT EXTRACTION PROCESS
OPERATING OVER A SMALL AREA SURROUNDING THE CURSOR !N ALPHA
BETA TRACKER OR OTHER
FILTERING TECHNIQUE IS USED TO SMOOTH MEASUREMENT NOISE 4HE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS
FILTER NEED TO ADAPT TO THE QUALITY OF THE RECEIVED TARGET SIGNAL )F TRACKING IS CARRIED
OUT IN GROUND REFERENCED COORDINATES THE PROCESS AUTOMATICALLY TAKES INTO ACCOUNT
OWN
SHIP MOVEMENTS )N RELATIVE MOTION
BASED TRACKING SYSTEMS THE FILTER NEEDS TO BE
AIDED WITH OWN
SHIP DATA
$EPENDING ON THE USER
SET MODE THE DATA HAS TO BE CONVERTED TO THE CORRECT REFER
ENCE FRAME AND DISPLAYED APPROPRIATELY #0! AND 4#0! ARE CONTINUALLY CALCULATED
FOR ALL TRACKED TARGETS SUCH THAT IF LIMITS PRESET BY THE USER ARE BREACHED AN ALARM
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
CAN BE INITIATED !LL TRACKED TARGETS ARE DISPLAYED ON THE SCREEN WITH THEIR ASSOCIATED
VELOCITY VECTORS 4RACKED TARGETS MAY BE SELECTED BY THE USER SUCH THAT ALL INFORMATION
CONCERNING THAT TARGET INCLUDING #0! AND 4#0! IS DISPLAYED ON THE DATA PANEL OF THE
RADAR SCREEN ,OST TARGETS CREATE A VISUAL AND AN AUDIBLE ALARM .ORMAL TERMINATION OF
TRACKING OCCURS WHEN A TARGET LEAVES THE ACQUISITION ZONE OR WHEN MANUALLY CANCELLED
! GUARD ZONE MAY ALSO BE SET UP BY THE OPERATOR 4HIS MAY BE IDENTICAL TO THE ACQUISI
TION ZONE BUT IS THERE TO PROVIDE AN ALARM IF ANY TRACKED TARGET PASSES INTO THE ZONE
)N COMMON WITH OTHER RADAR TRACKERS STRATEGIES HAVE TO BE EVOLVED TO COPE WITH
THE TARGET BEING POTENTIALLY INVISIBLE IN SOME SCANS )-/ REQUIRES THAT THE SPECIFIED
PERFORMANCE IS MAINTAINED WHEN THE TARGET IS INVISIBLE IN UP TO OF SCANS !LSO FOR
AN EFFECTIVE SYSTEM STRATEGIES HAVE TO BE EVOLVED TO REDUCE THE POSSIBILITIES OF TARGET
IDENTITIES BEING SWAPPED WHICH CAN HAPPEN WHEN TARGETS MOVE CLOSE TOGETHER AND
SUBSEQUENTLY DIVERGE )N PARTICULAR TRACKING ALGORITHMS HAVE TO ATTEMPT TO COPE WITH
THE POTENTIALLY LARGE AND FAST CHANGE IN THE RADAR CENTROID AS A TARGET VESSEL TURNS )N THE
WORST CASE THIS CAN AMOUNT TO ALMOST THE LENGTH OF THE VESSEL METERS OR SO FOR A
LARGE SHIP )T IS AN ART TO GET A GOOD TRACKER OPTIMIZED FOR ALL SITUATIONS OVER A VARIETY OF
VESSEL SPEEDS AND TO MAINTAIN AN APPROPRIATE INDICATION OF CHANGE IN HEADING WITHOUT
EXCESS LATENCY /VER
DAMPED SYSTEMS MAY GIVE AN APPARENTLY STABLE INDICATION OF THE
TRACK OF A TARGET BUT CAN BE VERY INACCURATE WHEN A TARGET CHANGES HEADING &ROM THE
POINT OF VIEW OF SAFETY OF NAVIGATION THE CHANGE IN HEADING IS OFTEN THE MORE IMPOR
TANT PARAMETER 4ARGET TRACKERS FROM INDIVIDUAL MANUFACTURERS CAN HAVE QUITE DIFFERENT
DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION STRATEGIES AND CAN THEREFORE DIFFER IN PERFORMANCE 7ITHIN
)%# THERE ARE DEFINED TEST SCENARIOS THAT ALL 3/,!3
APPROVED TRACKING SYS
TEMS MUST MEET )-/ REQUIRES THAT THE TREND IN A TARGETS CHANGE OF DIRECTION IS SHOWN
WITHIN ONE MINUTE AND THE PREDICTION OF THE TARGETS MOTION SHOULD BE AVAILABLE WITHIN
THREE MINUTES AS GIVEN IN 4ABLE
)N PRINCIPLE TARGET TRACKING COULD BE AIDED BY DATA FROM !)3 3ECTION
(OWEVER !)3 DATA IS BEST LEFT OUT OF THE RADAR TRACKING PROCESS IN ORDER TO KEEP THEM
ENTIRELY INDEPENDENT /NCE RADAR TRACKS HAVE BEEN FORMED THEY CAN THEN BE AUTO
MATICALLY COMPARED TO !)3 DATA AND ASSOCIATED INTO A SINGLE TRACK IF DESIRED BY THE
OPERATOR 4HIS GIVES COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE TO RADAR
AND !)3
DERIVED DATA THEREFORE
ENHANCING INTEGRITY CHECKING
1-
, /
,
&ROM THE USERS POINT OF VIEW THE MOST VISIBLE AND IMPORTANT CHANGE IN MARINE RADAR
FROM ITS EARLY DAYS HAS BEEN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESSOR
BASED DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
)N PARTICULAR MODERN WELL
DESIGNED DISPLAYS ARE VIEWABLE OVER A WIDE VARIATION OF
AMBIENT LIGHTING THEY MAKE EFFECTIVE USE OF COLOR AND GIVE EASY AND CLEAR ACCESS TO THE
RADAR IMAGE AND ASSOCIATED DATA 4HE DAYS WHEN THE RADAR SCREEN WAS ONLY VIEWABLE
IN DAYLIGHT ON DIM LONG
PERSISTENCE MONOCHROME #24S THROUGH THE APERTURE OF A HOOD
ARE LONG GONE -ORE RECENTLY HIGH BRIGHTNESS COLOR #24S ARE BEING REPLACED BY ,IQUID
#RYSTAL $ISPLAY FLAT PANEL TECHNOLOGY WHICH IS HELPING TO MAKE THE DISPLAY MORE
USER ACCESSIBLELARGE STAND
ALONE RADAR CONSOLES ARE NO LONGER NECESSARY ALLOWING
IMPROVEMENTS TO THE ERGONOMIC LAYOUT OF A SHIPS BRIDGE
5SER INPUT DEVICES VARY BY MANUFACTURER 3OME SOLUTIONS RELY ON LITTLE MORE THAN
A TRACKER BALL AND THREE CONTROL BUTTONS /THERS HAVE A NUMBER OF DEDICATED SWITCHES
AND ROTARY CONTROLS AS WELL AS A CURSOR CONTROL SUCH AS A TRACKER BALL OR JOYSTICK
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4OUCHSCREEN TECHNOLOGY IS SOMETIMES EMPLOYED )NCREASINGLY SYSTEMS ALSO INCLUDE
A FULL ALPHANUMERIC KEYBOARD TO ALLOW EASY INPUT OF USER
SUPPLIED DATA ESPECIALLY FOR
CHART RADARS RADARS UTILIZING AN ELECTRONIC CHART
BASED UNDERLAY AND RADARS INTEGRATED
WITH !)3 2ADARS DESIGNED FOR SMALLER VESSELS TEND TO HAVE A COMPLETELY WATERPROOFED
USER INTERFACE AS THEY ARE OFTEN USED IN MORE EXPOSED AREAS AND BY OPERATORS WITH WET
SALTY HANDS )N GENERAL TRACKER BALLS ALTHOUGH THEY GIVE MORE PRECISE CONTROL AND ARE
COMMON ON SHIPBORNE RADARS HAVE BEEN FOUND TO BE UNSATISFACTORY IN THE ENVIRONMEN
TAL CONDITIONS FOUND ON SMALL CRAFT )NSTEAD MINI JOYSTICKS OR SIMPLE FOUR
WAY ROCKER
SWITCHES ARE TYPICALLY USED
4HE OPERATIONAL AREA OF A RADAR DISPLAY IS NORMALLY CIRCULAR ALTHOUGH THIS IS NO
LONGER A MANDATORY REQUIREMENT )T ORIGINATES FROM THE HISTORICAL USE OF CONICAL DISPLAY
TUBES BUT IS RETAINED BY MOST MANUFACTURERS AS IT GIVES ADDITIONAL SPACE OUTSIDE OF THE
OPERATIONAL AREA FOR THE DISPLAY OF DATA AND MENUS SEE &IGURE 4HE MINIMUM
OPERATIONAL DISPLAY AREA IS DEFINED AS A DIAMETER MM FOR SHIPS LESS THAN GT
MM FOR SHIPS FROM TO GT AND MM FOR SHIPS ABOVE GT 4HE
MINIMUM RECOMMENDED DISPLAY AREAS FOR SMALL CRAFT RADAR ARE GIVEN IN 4ABLE
4HE COLOR OF RADAR TARGETS AND BACKGROUND IS NOT MANDATED 4HE TARGET TRAILS THAT USED
TO BE PROVIDED BY THE DESIGNED
IN PERSISTENCE OF ORIGINAL RADAR MONOCHROME #24S
HAVE TO BE PROVIDED ELECTRONICALLY 4HE TRAIL LENGTH IS REQUIRED TO BE USER SELECTABLE IN
UNITS OF TIME 7HEN 4RUE -OTION IS SELECTED TRAILS CAN BE CHOSEN BY THE OPERATOR TO
BE SHOWN IN EITHER TRUE OR SHIP
RELATIVE REFERENCE FRAMES 4HE POSITION OF THE DISPLAY
CURSOR IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE IN A DATA BOX IN TERMS OF RANGE AND BEARING FROM OWN SHIP
ANDOR LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES )T IS THIS CURSOR THAT IS USED TO SELECT AND DE
SELECT TARGETS WITHIN THE OPERATIONAL DISPLAY AREA AND TO DRAW USER
DEFINED MAPS )T IS
ALSO COMMONLY USED TO SET RANGE AND BEARING MARKERS
! CONSISTENT COMMON REFERENCE POINT ##20 TO WHICH ALL RADAR AND OTHER NAVIGA
TIONAL DATA NEED TO BE REFERENCED IS IDENTIFIED ON THE SHIP 4HIS POINT CLEARLY BECOMES
OF MAJOR IMPORTANCE WHEN CLOSE
IN NAVIGATIONAL CALCULATIONS ARE BEING MADE (AVING
A DEFINED ##20 ALSO ALLOWS A SCALED OWN
SHIPS SYMBOL TO BE SHOWN ON THE RADAR
DISPLAY WHEN APPROPRIATELY SHORT
RANGE SCALES ARE SELECTED 4HE SYMBOLOGY OF THIS
GRAPHIC TOGETHER WITH ALL OTHER SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS ON THE DISPLAY SHOULD MEET
)-/ REQUIREMENTS 4HIS ENSURES THAT OPERATORS ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE RADAR PRESENTA
TION WHEN WORKING ON DIFFERENT SHIPS 4HE RADAR DISPLAY SHOULD ALSO COMPLY WITH
)-/S PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR NAVIGATIONAL DISPLAYS
#ERTAIN RANGE SCALES MAXIMUM DISPLAYED RANGES ARE MANDATORY COVERING TO
NM )N PRACTICE RANGE SCALES ABOVE NM ARE NORMALLY PROVIDED TYPICALLY UP TO
NM 2ANGE RINGS MAY BE OPTIONALLY SWITCHED IN BY THE OPERATOR TO HELP ESTIMATE DIS
TANCES 0RECISE RANGE MEASUREMENTS ARE MADE WITH THE USE OF A VARIABLE RANGE MARKER
62- !T LEAST TWO 62-S ARE NEEDED EACH WITH NUMERICAL READOUT IN THE DATA AREA
OF THE DISPLAY !N ACCURACY OF IS REQUIRED BUT NOT BETTER THAN METERS ! BEARING
SCALE AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF THE OPERATIONAL DISPLAY MUST BE VISIBLE 4HIS SCALE CAN
HELP USERS DETERMINE THE SHIPS DIRECTION FROM VIEWING THE HEADING LINE (, WHICH
HAS TO BE SHOWN ON THE DISPLAY ONLY TEMPORARY EXTINGUISHING OF THE (, IS PERMITTED
)N ADDITION A SHIPS HEADING IS NORMALLY AVAILABLE WITHIN A DATA BOX OUTSIDE OF THE
OPERATIONAL AREA 4HE RADAR ORIGIN CAN BE OFFSET FROM THE CENTER OF THE OPERATIONAL AREA
BY THE USER THE BEARING SCALE ADJUSTS ACCORDINGLY
4WO OR MORE ELECTRONIC BEARING LINES %",S HAVE TO BE PROVIDED WITH CONTINUOUS
NUMERICAL READOUT !LTHOUGH THESE ARE NORMALLY CENTERED ON THE SHIP AT THE ##20 THEY
CAN ALSO BE OFFSET TO ANY POSITION 2EADOUTS RELATIVE TO OWN SHIPS HEADING OR TRUE NORTH
CAN BE SET 4HE %", ORIGIN CAN ALSO BE SET SUCH THAT IT FOLLOWS OWN
SHIP MOVEMENT OR IS
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
&)'52% ! SHIPS RADAR DISPLAY #OURTESY OF .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN 3PERRY -ARINE "6
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
GEOGRAPHICALLY FIXED 4HE DISTANCE AND BEARING OF ONE POINT TO ANOTHER ON THE DISPLAY CAN
BE DETERMINED NORMALLY BY USE OF A SPECIFIC MENU ITEM AND APPROPRIATE CONTROL OF THE
DISPLAY CURSOR 4HE ACTUAL IMPLEMENTATION OF %",S 62-S AND OFFSET MEASUREMENTS IS
OFTEN EFFECTED BY A COMMON GRAPHICAL TOOL WHICH IS USED TO POSITION AND DRAG LINES AND
CIRCLES ACROSS THE DISPLAY BY MEANS OF THE CURSOR -ANY MARINERS FIND THE USE OF SHIP
REFERENCED PARALLEL INDEX 0) LINES TO BE HIGHLY USEFUL ! 0) IS A STRAIGHT LINE ON THE RADAR
DISPLAY THAT IS USER
SET TO A FIXED hCOMPASSv BEARING AND A FIXED PERPENDICULAR DISTANCE
FROM THE RADAR ORIGIN !T LEAST FOUR OF THESE HAVE TO BE PROVIDED 4HESE CAN BE INDIVIDU
ALLY SWITCHED INTO USE AND SET BY BEARING BEAM RANGE AND LENGTH 0)S ARE TYPICALLY USED
TO ENSURE THAT A SHIP IS MAINTAINING A SAFE GROUND TRACK WITH REFERENCE TO A GROUND
FIXED
CONSPICUOUS RADAR TARGET
#HART 2ADARS 4HE CAPABILITY AND RELATIVELY LOW COST OF MODERN PROCESSING AND
DISPLAY SYSTEMS ALLOW GREAT FLEXIBILITY IN THE PRESENTATION OF INFORMATION TO USERS &OR
MANY YEARS 3/,!3
COMPLIANT RADARS HAVE HAD THE CAPABILITY TO EMPLOY USER
DEFINED
MAPS AS AN UNDERLAY TO THE RADAR IMAGE -ANY MAPS CAN BE CREATED AND STORED FOR
FUTURE USE !LTHOUGH THIS FACILITY IS STILL WIDELY USED THE USE OF VECTORIZED ELECTRONIC
CHART DATA AS A RADAR UNDERLAY IS BECOMING MORE COMMON )N )-/ TERMS THEY ARE
KNOWN AS CHART RADARS !LL APPROVED CHART RADARS HAVE TO BE CAPABLE OF DISPLAYING
OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED VECTOR DATA 4HIS DATA IS KNOWN AS THE %LECTRONIC .AVIGATIONAL
#HART %.# )T IS ISSUED ON NATIONAL AUTHORITY AND COMPLIES WITH AN )NTERNATIONAL
(YDROGRAPHIC /RGANIZATION )(/ STANDARD KNOWN AS 3 %.# DATA IS NORMALLY
DISPLAYED ON APPROVED ELECTRONIC CHART SYSTEMS CALLED %LECTRONIC #HART $ISPLAY AND
)NFORMATION 3YSTEMS %#$)3 AND MAY BE USED BY SHIPS IN PLACE OF PAPER CHARTS
%.# DATA IS KEPT UP
TO
DATE BY HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICES THAT ISSUE UPDATE FILES ON A REGULAR
BASIS !N )-/
APPROVED CHART RADAR MUST ALSO BE ABLE TO ACCEPT THESE UPDATES #HARTS
AND THEIR UPDATES ARE LOADED BY #$
2/- OR VIA A SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS LINK /N
SOME SYSTEMS THE CHART RADAR MAY HAVE ACCESS TO A SERVER ON THE SHIP THAT CENTRALIZES
THE DISTRIBUTION OF SUCH DATA TO ALL EQUIPMENT NEEDING CHART INFORMATION
4HE USER HAS THE ABILITY TO CHOOSE THE %.# VECTOR LAYERS SHOWN ON THE DISPLAY
OF A CHART RADAR &OR INSTANCE THIS MAY JUST INCLUDE THE COASTLINE NAVIGATION MARKS
AND A SINGLE DEPTH CONTOUR CONSIDERED SAFE FOR THE DRAUGHT OF THE SHIP )F THE SHIP IS
NAVIGATING ON %#$)3 RATHER THAN A PAPER CHART IT IS LIKELY THAT BOTH THE RADAR AND
THE %#$)3 WILL BE COMMONLY SET TO #OURSE
UP OR (EAD
UP MODES .ORTH
UP IS NO
LONGER A PARTICULAR ADVANTAGE WHEN THE CHART IS NOT CONFINED TO SUCH A PRESENTATION
SUCH AS PAPER CHARTS -OST %#$)3 EQUIPMENT CAN OPTIONALLY SHOW RADAR
DERIVED DATA
NORMALLY AS TRACKED TARGET VECTORS BUT SOMETIMES AS THE RADAR IMAGE ITSELF 4HIS DATA
IS OBTAINED FROM THE RADAR PROCESSOR VIA A DIGITAL INTERFACE GIVING AN APPARENT CONVER
GENCE OF %#$)3 AND RADAR DISPLAYS #ERTAINLY THIS IS TRUE AT A BASIC DESIGN LEVEL BUT
)-/ IS KEEN TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE TWO !N %#$)3 IS USED TO PLAN AND MONITOR
PASSAGES A RADAR IS USED PRIMARILY AS A COLLISION AVOIDANCE TOOL BUT ALSO TO AID POSI
TION FIXING PARTICULARLY BY IDENTIFYING GROUND
FIXED RADAR CONSPICUOUS OBJECTS INCLUD
ING COASTLINES 4HIS RESULTS IN MANY DIFFERENCES IN THE DETAILED REQUIREMENTS OF RADAR
AND %#$)3 DISPLAYS (OWEVER FROM A DESIGN POINT OF VIEW THE DISPLAY PROCESSING
REQUIREMENTS ARE VERY SIMILAR AND CAN THEREFORE USE VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL HARDWARE !S
WELL AS SAVING DESIGN COSTS THIS ENABLES AN EASY TRANSITION TO MULTIFUNCTION DISPLAYS
-&$S !N -&$ CAN BE INSTANTLY SWITCHED BETWEEN RADAR AND %#$)3 AS WELL AS
OTHER FUNCTIONS ENABLING DYNAMIC RECONFIGURATION ON A SHIP TO OPTIMIZE DISPLAY USE
FOR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES #LEAR INDICATION OF THE SELECTED MODE BECOMES NECESSARY
FOR SAFETY AND STATUTORY REASONS
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
-OST SMALL CRAFT RADARS NOW BEING SOLD INCLUDE THE OPTION OF A CHART UNDERLAY FACILITY
AS A RELATIVELY LOW
COST OPTION )N GENERAL THESE USE UNOFFICIAL VECTOR CHART DATA ISSUED
BY SPECIALIST PRIVATE COMPANIES 4HIS DATA IS MORE AFFORDABLE THAN %.#S AND IS DIRECTED
TO THIS PARTICULAR MARKET "ECAUSE OF COST AND SPACE CONSTRAINTS A SINGLE DISPLAY NOR
MALLY ACTS AS BOTH RADAR AND ELECTRONIC CHART 4HESES DISPLAYS ARE ALL EFFECTIVELY -&$S
AND CAN THEREFORE ALSO BE USED AS AN ELECTRONIC CHART SYSTEM WITHOUT RADAR INPUT
/ ,/" 7/4HE MARITIME !UTOMATIC )DENTIFICATION 3YSTEM !)3 IS A TARGET INFORMATION SYSTEM
THAT PERFORMS SIMILAR FUNCTIONS TO AIRBORNE 3ECONDARY 3URVEILLANCE 2ADAR 332 SUCH
AS !IR 4RAFFIC #ONTROL "EACON 3YSTEM !4#2"3 AND )DENTIFICATION &RIEND OR &OE
)&& (OWEVER THE VAST MAJORITY OF TRANSMISSIONS ARE NOT THE RESULT OF ANY INTERROGA
TION AS IT MAINLY OPERATES AS A BROADCAST SYSTEM BASED AROUND A 3ELF /RGANIZING 4IME
$OMAIN -ULTIPLE !CCESS 3/4$-! COMMUNICATIONS PROTOCOL 4HE COMMUNICATIONS
LINK INCLUDING THE 3/4$-! DEFINITION IS DEFINED BY THE )45 3HIPS AUTOMATICALLY
TRANSMIT CURRENT NAVIGATIONAL DATA AND OTHER INFORMATION ON 6(& MARINE BAND CHAN
NELS ASSIGNED FOR !)3 USE 4HE TRANSMITTED INFORMATION IS RECEIVED BY OTHER SHIPS AND
ALSO BY SHORE STATIONS SUCH AS COASTAL AUTHORITIES AND 643 FACILITIES 3HORE STATIONS
AND SHIPS ALSO HAVE THE ABILITY TO SPECIFICALLY INTERROGATE SHIPBORNE !)3 TRANSPONDERS
TO INITIATE THE SENDING OF PARTICULAR DATA !)3 HAS THREE MAJOR USES TO ENHANCE THE
BRIDGE TEAMS SITUATIONAL AWARENESS TO AID 643 ACTIVITIES AND TO PROVIDE DATA TO ASSIST
NATIONAL SECURITY 4HE INTENTION OF )-/ IS THAT SHIPS WILL NORMALLY DISPLAY !)3 DATA ON
THE RADAR SCREEN AS IT COMPLEMENTS RADAR DERIVED DATA ADDING TO THE INTEGRITY OF THE
PRESENCE POSITION AND VELOCITY OF TARGETS AND ALSO GIVING INCREASED TARGET INFORMATION
)N PRINCIPLE A CONVENTIONAL SECONDARY RADAR SOLUTION COULD HAVE BEEN ADOPTED BUT
INTERNATIONAL CONSENSUS FAVORED THE 3/4$-! APPROACH AS IT WAS CAPABLE OF PROVID
ING HIGHER LEVELS OF DATA EXCHANGE PARTICULARLY TO AID 643 AND SECURITY ACTIVITIES !N
IMPORTANT ADVANTAGE OF THE CHOSEN !)3 SOLUTION IS ITS RADIO FREQUENCY )T IS SUFFICIENTLY
LOW SO THAT REASONABLE COMMUNICATIONS ARE MAINTAINED IN SITUATIONS WHERE THERE IS NO
VISUAL OR RADAR LINE OF SIGHT 4HIS CAN BE IMPORTANT IN HARBOR RIVER ISLAND AND ESTUARY
REGIONS WHERE SHIELDING BY THE TERRAIN OR BUILDINGS CAN AFFECT RADAR RANGE
! SHIPBORNE !)3 STATION BROADCASTS INFORMATION DIVIDED INTO A NUMBER OF SETS
4HESE COMPRISE STATIC DATA SUCH AS THE SHIPS NAME TYPE LENGTH AND BEAM DYNAMIC
DATA INCLUDING POSITION 3/' #/' AND HEADING AND VOYAGE RELATED DATA SUCH AS
DESTINATION PORT AND %4! DEPTH UNDER KEEL AND HAZARDOUS CARGO TYPE 4HE DYNAMIC
DATA IS BROADCAST AT A RATE CONSISTENT WITH THE VESSELS VELOCITY AND WHETHER IT IS CHANG
ING COURSE AS SHOWN IN 4ABLE 3TATIC AND VOYAGE RELATED DATA IS NORMALLY BROAD
CAST EVERY MINUTES 4O PROVIDE SUFFICIENT BANDWIDTH TWO SPECIFIC 6(& +(Z
CHANNELS ARE USED WITH STATIONS ALTERNATING BETWEEN CHANNELS AT EACH MESSAGE 4HERE
ARE MESSAGE SLOTS PER CHANNEL EVERY MINUTE -INUTES ARE ALIGNED TO 5NIVERSAL
4IME #OORDINATED 54# WHICH IS OBTAINED FROM AN INTEGRAL '.33 RECEIVER 4HE
3/4$-! ALGORITHM EFFECTIVELY RESERVES FUTURE SLOTS FOR STATIONS THAT ARE IN RECEPTION
RANGE OF EACH OTHER PREVENTING MUTUAL INTERFERENCE
!)3 FOR 3/,!3 USE IS KNOWN AS !)3 #LASS ! 4HERE IS A #LASS " SYSTEM THAT IS
DESIGNED FOR NON 3/,!3 USE 4HIS SYSTEM USES THE SAME 6(& CHANNELS AS #LASS !
AND THE TRANSMISSIONS ARE NECESSARILY COMPATIBLE BUT TO AVOID OVERLOADING THE 6(&
DATA LINK 6$, #LASS " USES #ARRIER 3ENSING 4$-! 4HIS IS AIMED AT CONFINING
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% !)3 0OSITION 2EPORTING )NTERVALS #OURTESY OF )-/
3HIP $YNAMICS
!T ANCHOR OR MOORED AND NOT MOVING FASTER THAN KNOTS
7ITH A SPEED OF BETWEEN n KNOTS
7ITH A SPEED OF BETWEEN n KNOTS AND CHANGING COURSE
7ITH A SPEED OF BETWEEN n KNOTS
7ITH A SPEED OF BETWEEN n KNOTS AND CHANGING COURSE
7ITH A SPEED OF GREATER THAN KNOTS
7ITH A SPEED OF GREATER THAN KNOTS AND CHANGING COURSE
2EPORTING )NTERVAL SECONDS
#LASS " SYSTEMS TO USE ONLY SLOTS UNALLOCATED TO #LASS ! USERS #LASS " SYSTEMS WILL
DELAY THEIR OWN TRANSMISSIONS IF SLOTS ARE NOT AVAILABLE 4HERE IS AN ADDITIONAL OPTION
OF AN 3/4$-!
BASED #LASS " SYSTEM )MPORTANTLY #LASS ! AND " SYSTEMS RECEIVE
EACH OTHERS TRANSMISSIONS
4HE COMBINATION OF !)3 AND RADAR
DERIVED DATA GIVES BENEFITS TO NAVIGATION BECAUSE
OF THE COMPLEMENTARY NATURE OF THE TWO SYSTEMS 4HE RELATIVE RANGE AND BEARINGS OF
A TARGET DERIVED FROM !)3 DATA ARE ENTIRELY INDEPENDENT OF THE RADAR MEASUREMENTS
OF THESE PARAMETERS #LEARLY ANY OBSERVED DIFFERENCES IN RADAR AND !)3 POSITIONS
WILL THEN INDICATE AN ERROR IN SOME PROCESS PROVIDED THE DIFFERENCES ARE OUTSIDE THE
EXPECTED NOISE IN THE MEASUREMENTS 4HIS CAN BE HIGHLIGHTED FOR THE USER ! HIGH POSI
TIONAL CORRELATION INCREASES THE INTEGRITY OF THE OBSERVATION PARTICULARLY AS SPEED AND
COURSE MEASUREMENTS CAN ALSO BE USED IN THE COMPARISON ,ACK OF ANY CORRELATION CAN
ALSO GIVE THE USER INFORMATION THAT MAY BE HELPFUL )F ONLY RADAR DATA IS RECEIVED IT MAY
BE THAT THE TARGET IS NOT FITTED WITH !)3 WHICH MEANS IT COULD BE A SMALL CRAFT FLOATING
DEBRIS OR ICE )T COULD ALSO MEAN THAT A VESSELS !)3 IS NOT OPERATING OR IS TRANSMITTING
ERRONEOUS POSITIONAL INFORMATION )F ONLY !)3 DATA IS RECEIVED THE RADAR IMAGE MAY
BE OBSCURED BY CLUTTER A HEADLAND OR EVEN A POORLY SETUP OR FAULTY RADAR INSTALLATION
.ORMALLY JUST A FEW TARGETS WILL BE UNCORRELATED HIGHLIGHTING THAT THESE FEW SHOULD
BE GIVEN ADDITIONAL CAUTION IF THEY ARE SIGNIFICANT TO OWN
SHIP NAVIGATION AT LEAST UNTIL
THEY CAN BE POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED PERHAPS VISUALLY )F NO TARGETS ARE CORRELATED IT SUG
GESTS THAT OWN SHIP HAS A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM PERHAPS WITH ITS RADAR '.33 POSITION
OR MORE COMMONLY A GYROCOMPASS OFFSET
)F THERE IS GOOD POSITIONAL TIE
UP OR EVEN AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHY RADAR INFORMA
TION MAY BE LACKING FOR EXAMPLE DUE TO HEAVY SEA CLUTTER THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
TRANSMITTED ON !)3 CAN BE EXTREMELY USEFUL &OR INSTANCE A TARGETS HEADING IS TRANS
MITTED BY !)3 4HIS INFORMATION IS NOT AVAILABLE FROM RADAR ONLY THE COURSE CAN BE
DETERMINED AND YET HEADING IS USED AS THE BASIS FOR DETERMINING COLLISION AVOIDANCE
ACTION 4HE !)3 TRANSMITTED HEADING SHOULD ALIGN WITH THE TARGETS VISUAL ASPECT AND
THEREFORE THE NAVIGATIONAL LIGHTS ON A VESSEL 6ESSEL NAMES CAN BE ADDED AUTOMATICALLY
TO TARGET TRACKS ON THE RADAR!)3 DISPLAY AND IF THERE IS A NEED TO COMMUNICATE ON 6(&
WITH A PARTICULAR TARGET THE RADIO CALL SIGN IS ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE !)3 DATA 4HE
DESTINATION PORT AND %4! CAN SOMETIMES BE USEFUL IN DETERMINING THE LIKELY INTENTIONS
OF TARGETS ALTHOUGH SUCH ASSUMPTIONS MUST BE TREATED WARILY
! SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGE OF RADAR IS THAT IT DOES NOT NEED COOPERATIVE TARGETS )T
ATTEMPTS TO DETECT ALL OBJECTS OF POTENTIAL INTEREST )TS INHERENT 2ELATIVE -OTION MODE
OF OPERATION MAKES IT IDEALLY SUITED FOR COLLISION AVOIDANCE USEPARTICULARLY AS IN THIS
MODE IT HAS NO REQUIREMENT TO NEED OWN SHIPS GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION (OWEVER RADAR
IS BASICALLY CONFINED TO LINE
OF
SIGHT OPERATION ITS PERFORMANCE CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
DEGRADED BY CLUTTER AND ITS TRACKING CAPABILITY IS COMPROMISED WHEN TARGETS ARE CHANG
ING COURSE OR PASSING CLOSE TO OTHER TARGETS !)3 HAS REASONABLY GOOD CAPABILITY IN
NON
LINE
OF
SIGHT SITUATIONS BECAUSE OF ITS LOWER FREQUENCY )T QUICKLY REPORTS A TARGETS
CHANGE IN HEADING OR COURSE INCLUDING RATE OF TURN DATA IF IT IS AVAILABLE ON THE TARGET
VESSEL !)3 IS NOT AFFECTED BY SEA CLUTTER AND CAN REPORT ABSOLUTE POSITION ACCURATELYTO
NORMALLY BETTER THAN METERS OR EVEN A METER OR TWO IF REPORTING DIFFERENTIAL '.33
DERIVED POSITIONAL DATA (OWEVER !)3 RELIES ON COOPERATIVE TARGETS IS PRONE TO GROSS
ERRORS IN DATA ACCURACY MAINLY CAUSED BY SETUP ERRORS AND TOTALLY RELIES ON REASONABLY
ACCURATE '.33 DATA BEING AVAILABLE ! '.33 BLACKOUT PERHAPS CAUSED BY INTENTIONAL
OR UNINTENTIONAL JAMMING WOULD PREVENT !)3 FROM BEING AN EFFECTIVE SYSTEM POSSIBLY
OVER A WIDE AREA AND FOR AN APPRECIABLE TIME
&UTURE SYSTEMS MIGHT INCREASINGLY EXPLOIT THE COMPLEMENTARY ASPECTS OF RADAR AND
!)3 4HIS COULD IMPROVE THE OVERALL TARGET
TRACKING CAPABILITY AVAILABLE TO SHIPS AND
WILL GIVE SUPPORT FOR DETECTING COOPERATIVE TARGETS IN CLUTTER 0OSSIBLY THE KNOWLEDGE
FROM !)3 THAT A TARGET IS LIKELY TO BE AT A PARTICULAR RANGE AND AZIMUTH COULD DIRECT
CONCENTRATED PROCESSING TECHNIQUES IN THAT AREA PERHAPS USING PATTERN
MATCHING ALGO
RITHMS AS WELL AS OPTIMIZING THE FALSE
ALARM RATE IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA OF THE !)3
REPORTED TARGET )T IS IRONIC THAT THE VERY TARGETS THAT MAY BE HIDDEN IN CLUTTER ARE SMALLER
VESSELS THAT DO NOT MANDATORILY CARRY !)3 !LSO A #LASS " SYSTEM ONLY TRANSMITS ONCE
EVERY SECONDS AT A MAXIMUM AND SO WILL BE LESS USEFUL FOR AIDING RADAR EVEN THOUGH
IT CAN USEFULLY ALERT NAVIGATORS THAT A SMALL TARGET IS PRESENT
4HE USE OF !)3 AS AN AID
TO
NAVIGATION !TO. HAS BEEN PUT FORWARD AS A POSSIBLE
REPLACEMENT FOR RACONS WHICH ARE DESCRIBED IN THE NEXT SECTION )N PRINCIPLE !)3
!TO.S COULD REPLACE RACONS BUT IN PRACTICE IT WOULD BE A RETROGRADE STEP AS THEY
CANNOT BE USED INDEPENDENTLY OF A POSITION FIX SYSTEM SUCH AS '.33 (OWEVER THEY
CAN BE USEFULLY EMPLOYED TO INDICATE THE INTEGRITY OF THE ACTUAL POSITION OF THE MARK
WHICH MAY HAVE DRAGGED OR BECOME UNATTACHED AND OTHER ADDITIONAL DATA SUCH AS
SEA CURRENTS 4HE !)3 TRANSCEIVER DOES NOT HAVE TO BE SITUATED ON THE ACTUAL MARK AND
COULD BE SHORE
BASED TO EASE MAINTENANCE 5SED IN THIS WAY THEY ARE KNOWN AS 6IRTUAL
!)3 !TO.S 5P
TO
DATE INFORMATION CONCERNING THE MARK AND ITS INTEGRITY CAN BE
AUTOMATICALLY OR MANUALLY FED
IN BY PORT AUTHORITIES 3UCH SYSTEMS CAN ALSO BE USED
FOR ALERTING MARINERS OF THE POSITION OF RECENT WRECKS AND OTHER TEMPORARY AND PERHAPS
VISUALLY UNMARKED NAVIGATION HAZARDS
n , ,
" 2ADAR BEACONS HAVE PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MARINE NAVIGATION EVER SINCE THE EARLY
DAYS OF RADAR 4HEY BASICALLY DETECT INCIDENT PULSES FROM MARINE RADARS AND INSTAN
TANEOUSLY TRANSMIT A DISTINCTIVE SIGNAL THAT IDENTIFIES THE BEACON AND ITS POSITION ON
A RADAR DISPLAY 4HERE ARE THREE MAIN USES OF SUCH BEACONS 4HE FIRST OF THESE IS FOR
ENHANCING VISUAL AIDS TO NAVIGATION SUCH AS BUOYS AND LANDMARKS TO ENABLE THEM TO
BE PROMINENTLY IDENTIFIED ON A RADAR DISPLAY 4HESE ARE NORMALLY CALLED RACONS AS A
CONTRACTION OF RADAR BEACONS 3UCH SYSTEMS FORM AN IMPORTANT NAVIGATIONAL SERVICE
THAT IS WELL LIKED BY MARINERS 4HE SECOND USE IS FOR 3EARCH AND 2ESCUE 4RANSPONDERS
3!24S WHICH ARE MAINLY DESIGNED TO BE DEPLOYED FROM LIFE RAFTS AFTER A MARINE ACCI
DENT 4HE THIRD CATEGORY OF USE IS FOR RADAR ENHANCEMENT OF SMALL TARGETS SUCH AS PLEA
SURE CRAFT 4HESE ARE CALLED RADAR TARGET ENHANCERS 24% OR ACTIVE RADAR REFLECTORS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
2ACONS 4HE )NTERNATIONAL !SSOCIATION OF -ARINE !IDS TO .AVIGATION AND
,IGHTHOUSE !UTHORITIES )!,! SETS THE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR RACONS 4HESE
INCORPORATE THE TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS SET OUT IN A SPECIFIC )45
2 2ECOMMENDATION
"ECAUSE RACONS NORMALLY FORM ONLY ONE SUBSYSTEM OF AN !TO. THEY THEREFORE NEED TO
BE SMALL IN SIZE AND POWER EFFICIENT SINCE THEY ARE RARELY CONNECTED TO A MAIN POWER
SUPPLY 4HEY OFTEN OPERATE IN AN EXTREME ENVIRONMENT SUCH AS ON A BUOY BUFFETED BY
THE SEA 2ACONS ARE SPECIFIED TO MEET AN EXTENDED OPERATIONAL TEMPERATURE RANGE OF
n TO # -ODERN RACONS OPERATE BY DETECTING AN INCIDENT PULSE AND THEN MEASUR
ING ITS FREQUENCY AND RESPONDING AT THE SAME FREQUENCY THEREBY REDUCING THE INTERFER
ENCE POTENTIAL WITH OTHER IN
BAND RADARS 4HEY ARE OFTEN DUAL
BAND AND '(Z 4HE
)45 RECOMMENDS THAT FOR PULSE LENGTHS OF S OR LONGER THE FREQUENCY ACCURACY OF
THE RESPONDING SIGNAL SHOULD BE WITHIN o -(Z AND FOR PULSES OF LESS THAN S
THE FREQUENCY SHOULD BE WITHIN o -(Z 3WEPT FREQUENCY RACONS ARE EFFECTIVELY
OBSOLESCENT BUT ARE STILL PERMITTED 4HESE WORK BY HAVING AN INTERNAL 2& SOURCE THAT IS
SLEWING IN FREQUENCY ACROSS THE ENTIRE RADAR BAND WITH A SAW
TOOTH WAVEFORM AT A RATE
BETWEEN AND SECONDS PER -(Z !LL RECEIVED PULSES ARE RESPONDED TO BUT
THE INTERROGATING RADAR WILL RECEIVE A RACON BURST ONLY ONCE EVERY ONE TO TWO MINUTES
WHEN ITS RECEIVER IS IN BAND TO THE PARTICULAR TRANSMISSION
)!,! RECOMMENDS THAT RACONS HAVE SUPPRESSION TECHNIQUES TO AVOID RESPONDING
TO RADAR SIDELOBE TRANSMISSIONS 4HIS IS NOT AN EASY TASK TO IMPLEMENT AND PROBABLY
IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE INFALLIBLE "ASICALLY THE RACON NEEDS TO BUILD A TABLE OF RADAR SIG
NATURES THAT IT IS CURRENTLY RECEIVING BASED ON FREQUENCY AND PULSE LENGTH )T THEN
IDENTIFIES WHETHER HIGH LEVEL AND LOWER LEVEL PULSES OF THE SAME SIGNATURE ARE BEING
RECEIVED AND MAKES THE ASSUMPTION THAT THESE ARE FROM THE SAME RADAR )T SETS A THRESH
OLD LEVEL FOR INDIVIDUAL RADARS SUCH THAT IT ONLY RESPONDS TO HIGH
POWER MAIN BEAM
INTERROGATIONS 4YPICALLY PEAK TRANSMIT POWERS ARE ABOUT n WATTS !NTENNAS ARE USU
ALLY OMNIDIRECTIONAL IN AZIMUTH BUT CAN HAVE A RESTRICTED ELEVATION BEAMWIDTH AND
TYPICALLY HAVE AN OVERALL GAIN OF ABOUT D" 0RIME POWER CONSUMPTION IN AVERAGE
TRAFFIC CAN BE LESS THAN WATT
4HE MODULATION ON THE RESPONSE SIGNAL OF A RACON PAINTS A -ORSE CODE IMAGE ON THE
RADAR DISPLAY 4HE CODE IDENTIFIES A PARTICULAR !TO. AND APPEARS IN THE RADIAL DIRECTION
CONVENTIONALLY COMMENCING WITH A DASH 4HIS DASH STARTS A SHORT DISTANCE BEYOND THE
ACTUAL POSITION OF THE !TO. BECAUSE OF INHERENT DELAYS IN THE RESPONSE TIME OF THE RACON
(OWEVER DELAYS GIVING AN ERROR OF LESS THAN METERS ARE READILY ACHIEVABLE )N GOOD
CONDITIONS THE !TO. PRIMARY RADAR IMAGE WILL BE DISPLAYED ON THE RADAR SCREEN HELPED IF
A PASSIVE RADAR REFLECTOR IS ALSO A PART OF THE !TO. 2ACONS HAVE TO INCLUDE MUTING PERIODS
TO ALLOW SHIP RADARS TO LOOK FOR SMALL TARGETS IN THE VICINITY OF THE RACON IDENTIFIER
4HE LONG
TERM FUTURE OF RACONS IS UNSURE ALTHOUGH MARITIME AUTHORITIES ARE ASSESS
ING THE SITUATION -ARINERS LIKE THEM AS THEY ARE USEFUL FAMILIAR AND GIVE SHIP
RELATIVE
DATA (OWEVER IT IS DIFFICULT TO SEE HOW THEY WILL SURVIVE IN THEIR ORIGINAL FORM AS MARINE
RADAR MOVES AWAY FROM UTILIZING MAGNETRON
BASED SYSTEMS !LSO COMPARED WITH EARLIER
YEARS WHEN RACONS WERE ESSENTIAL MANY MORE NAVIGATIONAL AIDS ARE BECOMING AVAILABLE
THAT ASSIST POSITIONING 4HESE INCLUDE MULTIPLE '.33 SERVICES DIFFERENTIAL '.33 !)3
AND ENHANCED 643 FACILITIES 4HERE ARE ALSO GREAT IMPROVEMENTS IN ONBOARD NAVIGA
TIONAL AIDS SUCH AS ELECTRONIC CHARTS AND INTEGRATED NAVIGATION SYSTEMS
4HE RELIANCE OF NAVIGATION ON A SINGLE SYSTEM SUCH AS '03 OR EVEN A SINGLE TECH
NOLOGY SUCH AS '.33 IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO THE MARITIME COMMUNITY AND NEITHER TO
AVIATION &OR INSTANCE IT IS EASY TO JAM ALL '.33 USERS OVER A WIDE AREA BECAUSE OF
THE SMALL AMPLITUDE OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL 4HIS MEANS THAT RADAR AND OTHER POSITION
ING SYSTEMS ARE LIKELY TO BE ALWAYS USED AS ESSENTIAL NAVIGATIONAL TOOLS 4HE OVERALL
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ELECTRONIC NAVIGATION OF SHIPS INCLUDING 643 REPORTING SYSTEMS
ARE BEING EXAMINED BY )-/ AND )!,! WITH THE INTENTION OF DETERMINING A FUTURE
E
.AVIGATION CONCEPT E FOR ELECTRONICENHANCED 4HE CONTINUED NEED FOR RACONS OR
A REPLACEMENT TECHNOLOGY WILL INEVITABLY FORM PART OF THIS PROGRAM )F THE CONTINUOUS
AVAILABILITY OF PRECISE POSITIONAL INFORMATION CANNOT BE TOTALLY RELIED UPON THEN IT IS
PROBABLY ESSENTIAL THAT SOME FORM OF SHIP
RELATIVE SYSTEM TO IDENTIFY FIXED NAVIGA
TIONAL MARKS IS AVAILABLE
3!24S 3EARCH AND 2ESCUE 4RANSPONDERS 3!24 FORM PART OF )-/S 'LOBAL
-ARITIME $ISTRESS AND 3AFETY 3YSTEM '-$33 4HESE ARE '(Z RADAR TRANSPONDERS
THAT ARE MAINLY DESIGNED TO BE USED ON SURVIVAL CRAFT SUCH AS LIFE RAFTS IN EMERGENCY
CONDITIONS 4HEY ARE RELATIVELY SMALL AND AFFORDABLE /N BEING TRIGGERED BY A RADAR
PULSE A 3!24 EMITS A
CYCLE FREQUENCY
SWEPT SAW
TOOTH WAVEFORM COVERING TO
'(Z 4HE EXTENSION DOWN TO '(Z COVERS THE BAND USED BY SEARCH AIRCRAFT 4HE
VERY FAST UPWARD FREQUENCY SCAN IS ACCOMPLISHED IN S THE DOWNWARD SCAN TAKES
S 4HIS FORMS THE POSSIBILITY OF A DISPLAYED TRACE ON THE RADAR SCREEN CONSISTING
OF RADIAL DOTS AND DASHES AS THE UPWARD AND DOWNWARD SCANS CROSS THE PASSBAND OF
THE RADAR RECEIVER WITH THE FIRST DOT AT A SLIGHTLY LONGER RANGE THAN THE 3!24 POSITION
)N PRACTICE THE UPWARD SWEEP IS SO FAST THAT THE DOTS ARE NORMALLY NOT VISIBLE ON THE
DISPLAY AND ONLY THE DASHES CAN BE SEEN %VEN THESE CAN BE QUITE DIFFICULT TO LOCATE IN
ADVERSE SEA CLUTTER CONDITIONS
4HE FIRST DASH DISPLAYED ON THE RADAR SCREEN COULD BE UP TO NM AWAY FROM THE
ACTUAL 3!24 POSITION AND SO SEARCH CRAFT HAVE TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS NOT TO RUN DOWN
THE SURVIVAL CRAFT WHEN BEARING DOWN ON THE SIGNAL !T SHORT RANGES THE SWEPT GAIN
OF THE RADAR MAY TRUNCATE THE NEARER DASHES !LSO AT SHORT RANGES BECAUSE THERE IS
NO SIDELOBE SUPPRESSION CIRCUITRY 3!24S CAN BE TRIGGERED BY RADAR SIDELOBES 4O
PREVENT ADJACENT 3!24S FROM CONTINUOUSLY TRIGGERING EACH OTHER THERE IS A SHORT
DELAY AFTER A 3!24 TRANSMISSION BEFORE IT MAY BE TRIGGERED AGAIN 4O DETECT 3!24S
IN HEAVY SEA CLUTTER IT IS OFTEN BEST TO DETUNE THE RADAR RECEIVER ELIMINATING ALL
OTHER RETURNS 3OME RADAR MANUFACTURERS PROVIDE A 3!24 SEARCH MODE THAT SETS THE
RADAR OPTIMALLY FOR THEIR DETECTION INCLUDING INHIBITING PULSE
TO
PULSE CORRELATION
AND OPTIMIZING FILTER BANDWIDTHS !)3
BASED 3!24S HAVE NOW BEEN PROPOSED 4HESE
MAY EVENTUALLY REPLACE RADAR
BASED 3!24S BECAUSE THE LATTER ARE DIFFICULT TO DETECT
IN ADVERSE CONDITIONS
2ADAR 4ARGET %NHANCERS 2ADAR TARGET ENHANCERS 24%S ARE USED INCREAS
INGLY BY SMALL CRAFT BECAUSE FOR THEIR SIZE THEY OFFER A BETTER ENHANCEMENT IN RADAR
CROSS SECTION THAN CAN BE GIVEN BY A PASSIVE REFLECTOR )N PRINCIPLE THEY ARE SIMPLE
DEVICES )N
BAND RECEIVED SIGNALS ARE AMPLIFIED AND RETRANSMITTED WITH MINIMUM
DELAY $ELAYS CAN BE KEPT TO A FEW NANOSECONDS LESS THAN THE EQUIVALENT DIMEN
SIONS OF THE CRAFT ENSURING CO
LOCATED RETURNS OF THE ENHANCED SIGNAL AND NATURAL
RADAR REFLECTION 4O PREVENT POSITIVE FEEDBACK BETWEEN RECEIVER AND TRANSMITTER
THE TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE ANTENNAS ARE NORMALLY PHYSICALLY SEPARATE ONE ABOVE THE
OTHER PROVIDING ISOLATION )SOLATION CAN ALSO BE INCREASED BY TRANSMITTING ON AN
ORTHOGONAL POLARIZATION TO THAT RECEIVED 0ROVIDING THEY ARE OPERATING WITH LINEAR
GAIN THERE ARE NO ADVERSE EFFECTS FROM RADAR SIDELOBE INTERROGATION (OWEVER AT
CLOSE RANGES THE SIGNAL FROM THE MAIN BEAM OF THE RADAR MAY SATURATE WITHIN THE
24% EFFECTIVELY ENHANCING THE LEVELS OF THE 24% RECEIVED SIGNAL THROUGH THE RADAR
SIDELOBES 4HE )45 REGULATIONS LIMIT 24%S TO AN %)20 OF WATTS WITH A MINIMUM
GAIN OF D"
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
6 /" / -/
4HE FACTORS AFFECTING THE RANGE PERFORMANCE OF A RADAR SYSTEM ARE WELL KNOWN AND
INCREASINGLY SOPHISTICATED DESIGN METHODOLOGIES HAVE GREATLY IMPROVED THE DETECTION
OF ALL FORMS OF RADAR 4HE FINAL PROOF HOWEVER IS HOW THE RADAR ACTUALLY PERFORMS AT
SEA !S STATED PREVIOUSLY SHIPBORNE RADARS ARE VALIDATED AS MEETING )-/ PERFORMANCE
STANDARDS BY BEING INDEPENDENTLY TYPE APPROVED TO TECHNICAL STANDARDS ISSUED BY THE
)%# 4HE )%# STANDARDS INCLUDE DEFINED METHODS OF TESTING &OR A GIVEN TARGET AND RADAR
ANTENNA HEIGHT IT IS RELATIVELY EASY TO DEFINE AND EXECUTE A TEST TO DETERMINE THAT A POINT
SOURCE TARGET WITH A SPECIFIC ECHOING AREA IS DETECTED AT A GIVEN RANGE IN A MINIMAL
CLUTTER FIELD )T IS VERY DIFFICULT TO EXTEND THIS TO DETERMINE IN A REPEATABLE AND QUANTI
TATIVE MANNER THE PERFORMANCE OF THE RADAR AGAINST POINT TARGETS IN PREDEFINED CLUTTER
CONDITIONS &OR THIS REASON SOME BASIC PERFORMANCE TESTS HAVE NECESSARILY BEEN LOOSELY
DEFINED TO ALLOW SCOPE FOR APPROVED TEST LABORATORIES TO MAKE THEIR OWN QUALITATIVE JUDG
MENTS ON BASIC RADAR PERFORMANCE NORMALLY BASED ON OPPORTUNISTICALLY TESTING THE RADAR
OVER THE SEA AND IN PRECIPITATION IN A VARIETY OF SITUATIONS *UDGMENTS ON PERFORMANCE
CAN THEREFORE BE QUITE SUBJECTIVE AND ARE NATURALLY AFFECTED BY THE CONDITIONS ACTUALLY
ENCOUNTERED DURING THE TESTS #OST CONSIDERATIONS CAN SEVERELY LIMIT THE LENGTH OF TEST
PROGRAMS AND THEREBY THE RANGE OF SCENARIOS USED 2ADARS UNDER TYPE APPROVAL ARE TYPI
CALLY INSTALLED ON A TRIAL VESSEL FOR SUCH TESTS OR USE A LAND SITE OVERLOOKING THE SEA
4HIS SCENARIO IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY UNSATISFACTORY AS ADVANCES IN REQUIREMENTS
FOR SAFETY AND THE PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT MEAN THAT IT IS NECESSARY TO ENSURE THAT
TYPE APPROVAL IS CONSISTENTLY APPLIED AND IS THEREFORE MEASURED IN A QUANTITATIVE MAN
NER )N AN ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE THIS SOME WORK HAS BEEN PERFORMED TO TRY TO BETTER FORMAL
IZE MARINE RADAR CLUTTER PERFORMANCE TESTS INCLUDING SOME RESEARCH PERFORMED ON BEHALF
OF THE 5+ -ARITIME AND #OASTGUARD !GENCY 4HIS APPROACH WAS AIMED TO MINIMIZE
ANY SPECIAL CONFIGURATION OF THE RADAR UNDER TEST )T IS BASED ON A SYSTEM THAT GENERATES
SIMULATED TARGET AND CLUTTER WAVEFORMS 4HESE ARE PICKED UP BY THE ANTENNA OF THE RADAR
UNDER TEST FROM A NEARBY TRANSMITTING SOURCE TYPICALLY SITUATED ABOUT METERS FROM
THE RADAR ANTENNA #O LOCATED WITH THE TRANSMITTING SOURCE IS A RECEIVER WHICH DETECTS
THE TRANSMITTED RADAR SIGNAL AND CONTINUALLY ANALYSES ITS FREQUENCY PULSE LENGTH AND
AMPLITUDE AS THE RADAR ANTENNA ROTATES &ROM THIS INFORMATION A SIGNAL WAVEFORM IS
SYNTHESIZED ON A PULSE TO PULSE BASIS REPLICATING REFLECTED SIGNALS FROM TARGETS AND CLUT
TER 4HE SYNTHESIS PROCEDURE CALCULATES APPROPRIATE FLUCTUATING TARGET AND CLUTTER RETURNS
FROM ANY DESIRED THEORETICAL MODELWHICH COULD ALSO IN PRINCIPLE INCLUDE MODELS
DERIVED FROM RECORDED DATA OF REAL TARGET AND CLUTTER REFLECTIONS "ECAUSE THE SIMULATED
SIGNAL IS PREDOMINATELY ENTERING THE RADAR THROUGH THE SIDELOBES OF THE RADAR ANTENNA
EXCEPT WHEN THE RADAR MAIN BEAM ALIGNS WITH THE SIMULATOR ANTENNATHE SYNTHESIZED
SIGNAL NEEDS TO BE AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTED IN AMPLITUDE TO COMPENSATE FOR THE ACTUAL
SIDELOBE SENSITIVITY IN THE DIRECTION OF THE SIMULATOR %FFECTIVELY THE SYNTHESIZER HAS TO
AMPLIFY THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL ACCORDING TO THE INVERSE OF THE AMPLITUDE OF EACH PULSE
RECEIVED FROM THE RADAR 4HE CHALLENGES IN DESIGNING AN AFFORDABLE SYSTEM INCLUDE THE
LARGE DYNAMIC RANGES THAT HAVE TO BE ENCOMPASSED AND THE PROCESSING SPEED NEEDED TO
DETERMINE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL
)N PRINCIPLE A NUMBER OF CLUTTER AND TARGET MODELS COULD BE ESTABLISHED BY INTER
NATIONAL AGREEMENT SUCH THAT THEY WERE CONSIDERED TO BE REPRESENTATIVE OF CONDITIONS
AROUND THE WORLD AGREED UPON TEST CRITERIA COULD THEN BE DETERMINED AND SIMULATOR
SYSTEMS COULD BE BASED AT MARINE RADARnTYPE APPROVAL LABORATORIES )T HAS BEEN FOUND
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
THAT THE SYSTEM IS ADVERSELY AFFECTED IF SET UP CLOSE TO LARGE RADAR
REFLECTING OBJECTS
SUCH AS BUILDINGS AND SO NEEDS TO BE LOCATED IDEALLY IN RELATIVELY OPEN SPACES SIMILAR
TO THAT FOUND ON AN ANTENNA FAR
FIELD TEST RANGE 4O ENABLE TESTS TO BE MORE EASILY CARRIED
OUT DIRECT INJECTION OF TEST TARGETS AND CLUTTER INTO THE 2& PATH IS FEASIBLE (OWEVER
THIS INVOLVES A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF ADAPTATION OF THE RADAR UNDER TEST WHICH MAY BE
CONSIDERED INAPPROPRIATE
4HE POTENTIAL MOVE AT '(Z TO PULSE COMPRESSED RADAR OFFERS ADDITIONAL CHAL
LENGES IN THE DESIGN OF A UNIVERSAL SIMULATOR AS THE SYSTEM DESCRIBED IS BASED ON
TESTING NONCOHERENT PULSED RADARS 3YSTEMS BASED ON DIGITAL 2& MEMORY MAY HAVE TO
BE DEVISED STORING WAVEFORMS THAT CAN BE SUBSEQUENTLY PROCESSED 4ARGET AND CLUTTER
MODELS WOULD OBVIOUSLY NEED TO APPROPRIATELY TAKE INTO ACCOUNT DOPPLER EFFECTS INTRO
DUCED BY THE MOVEMENT OF THEIR EQUIVALENT SCATTERERS
6
--
/,
-
,6
2ADAR HEADS FOR PORT CONTROL AND COASTAL SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS HAVE SOME REQUIREMENTS
IN COMMON WITH THOSE FOR SHIPBORNE RADARS 4HIS ORIGINALLY RESULTED IN MANY OF THE
WELL
KNOWN SUPPLIERS OF SHIPBORNE RADAR GETTING INVOLVED IN THIS AREA 4HEY COULD
OFFER ATTRACTIVE PRICES AS THE SUBSYSTEMS WERE DERIVATIVES OF THE RELATIVELY HIGH VOLUME
SHIPBORNE MARKET /VER TIME MUCH OF THE MARKET HAS BECOME MORE SOPHISTICATED AND
BECAUSE OF THIS SPECIALIST ORGANIZATIONS NOW DOMINATE THE SUPPLY OF SYSTEMS FOR THIS
APPLICATION 4HE LARGE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH A MAJOR VESSEL TRACKING SERVICES 643
OPERATION INCLUDING MASSIVE ANTENNA SUPPORT TOWERS OPERATIONS BUILDINGS SPECIAL
IZED SOFTWARE AND DISASTER
PROOFED BROADBAND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS MEAN THAT THE
COSTS OF A MORE OPTIMIZED RADAR HEAD OFTEN BECOME A RELATIVELY INSIGNIFICANT ADDI
TION 4HIS ALSO MEANS THAT SWITCHABLE LINEAR AND CIRCULAR POLARIZATION MODES ARE MORE
COMMON ON 643 SYSTEMS (OWEVER BASIC LOW
COST 643 SYSTEMS STILL COMMONLY USE
SUBSYSTEMS INTENDED FOR SHIPBORNE USE GIVING GOOD COST SAVINGS COMPARED TO CUSTOM
MADE SYSTEMS
4HERE ARE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES HOWEVER IN THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A 643 RADAR
COMPARED TO A SHIPBORNE SYSTEM 4HE 643 ANTENNA IS MOUNTED ON A STATIC PLATFORM
4HIS MEANS THAT THE VERTICAL PATTERN CAN BE MORE OPTIMALLY SHAPED !LSO SINCE THE
DESIGN DOES NOT HAVE TO COPE WITH THE SHOCK VIBRATION AND INSTABILITY EXPERIENCED ON
SHIPS RADAR MASTS LARGER ANTENNAS BECOME FEASIBLE 4HIS ALLOWS AZIMUTH BEAMWIDTHS
TO BE NARROWER THEREFORE REDUCING THE SIZE OF CLUTTER CELLS 4HE REQUIRED COASTAL AREA
TO BE COVERED CAN BE LARGE AND GETTING THE BEST RANGE OUT OF A FEW RADAR HEADS SITUATED
ON TALL TOWERS IS OFTEN MORE COST EFFECTIVE THAN UTILIZING MANY SMALLER INSTALLATIONS
"ECAUSE 643 OFTEN FORMS PART OF A NATIONS SECURITY NETWORK THEN A LONGER RANGE
CAPABILITY THAN THAT JUST REQUIRED FOR PORT OPERATIONS MAY BE NECESSARY 4HIS IMPLIES
THAT VERY HIGH ANTENNA TOWERS ARE OFTEN NEEDED IN SOME CASES UP TO METERS 4HIS
EXACERBATES VERTICAL LOBING EFFECTS WHICH MAY NEED TO BE REDUCED BY THE USE OF VERTI
CAL PATTERN SHAPING 4HE LONG
RANGE REQUIREMENT OFTEN MEANS THAT GREATER TRANSMITTER
POWER THAN THAT USED ON SHIPBORNE RADARS IS NEEDED EVEN THOUGH 643 ANTENNA GAINS
CAN BE HIGHER 0ULSE LENGTHS MUST BE KEPT SHORT TO GET GOOD CLUTTER IMMUNITY BUT SIMUL
TANEOUSLY LONG
RANGE PERFORMANCE IS REQUIRED AGAIN INCREASING THE REQUIRED TRANSMIT
TED POWER 643 RADAR HEADS ARE USUALLY NOT OPERATOR CONFIGURABLE BECAUSE A NUMBER
OF OPERATORS CAN TYPICALLY BE USING DATA FROM ONE HEAD
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HERE ARE MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO ENHANCE PERFORMANCE BECAUSE OF THE FIXED ANTENNA
POSITION FOR INSTANCE SEA CLUTTER MAPPING BECOMES EASIER BECAUSE THE ANTENNA IS NOT
ON A MOVING PLATFORM !LSO THE CLUTTER CONDITIONS CAN BE LESS VARIABLE BECAUSE OF THE
RESTRICTED GEOGRAPHICAL AREA OF OPERATION AND THERE ARE NO DEGRADATIONS IN THE ACCU
RACY OF THE DISPLAYED RADAR IMAGE IN HAVING TO COMPENSATE FOR A SHIPS HEADING WITH
COMPASS INPUT )N PARTICULAR TARGET TRACKING IS PERFORMED FROM A STABLE AND STATIC PLAT
FORM (OWEVER IT IS GENERALLY NECESSARY TO TRACK MANY MORE TARGETS THAN IS REQUIRED
ON A SHIPBORNE RADAR AND NORMALLY 643 HAS FULLY AUTOMATIC PLOT EXTRACTION AND TRACK
INITIATION !LSO MORE INFORMATION ON TRACKED TARGETS MAY NEED TO BE EASILY AVAILABLE
-UCH OF THIS ADDITIONAL DATA CAN BE AUTOMATICALLY SUPPLIED BY !)3 4HE RADAR DATA
OFTEN HAS TO BE RELAYED MANY MILES TO PERHAPS A NUMBER OF OPERATIONAL CENTERS )T
MAY NEED TO BE COMBINED WITH DATA FROM A NUMBER OF RADAR HEADS AND THEREFORE WILL
BE QUITE SYNTHETIC WHEN DISPLAYED ON OPERATORS SCREENS REDUCING THE POSSIBILITIES OF
INDIVIDUAL OPERATOR ADJUSTMENT %XTENSIVE DATA COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS BECOME A
CRITICAL ASPECT IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE 643 (IGH RELIABILITY OF THE SYSTEM IS REQUIRED
BECAUSE OF SAFETY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND SECURITY ASPECTS ! TOTAL SYSTEM AVAIL
ABILITY OF IS NOT UNCOMMONLY SPECIFIED IMPLYING AN AVERAGE DOWNTIME OF LESS
THAN MINUTES PER DAY
!NOTHER MAJOR DIFFERENCE COMPARED TO SHIPBORNE RADAR IS THE CUSTOM NATURE OF
THE INSTALLATION 2ADAR HEADS ARE FIXED AND THERE IS A SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN
PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS TO BE MET IN THE PARTICULAR LOCALIZED ENVIRONMENT 3EA CLUTTER
ALTHOUGH VERY VARIABLE WILL HAVE CERTAIN LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS ENABLING MORE EFFECTIVE
OPTIMIZATION OF THE PROCESSING )N PARTICULAR THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE CAN BE MORE EAS
ILY MEASURED AGAINST DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
4HE DESIGN OF HIGH
PERFORMANCE ANTENNAS FOR 643 APPLICATIONS HAS A SIMILARITY TO
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL ANTENNAS IN THAT THEY BOTH IDEALLY REQUIRE A TAILORED ELEVATION PATTERN
4HE IDEAL PATTERN SHAPING FOR A HIGH
MOUNTED 643 ANTENNA REQUIRES A SHARP CUT
OFF
ABOVE THE HORIZON AND A TAPERED PATTERN BELOW %NERGY DIRECTED ABOVE THE HORIZON
INCREASES PRECIPITATION CLUTTER AND ALSO REDUCES THE ANTENNA GAIN !T ANGLES BELOW THE
HORIZON THE GAIN SHOULD NOMINALLY FOLLOW A COSECANT SQUARED POWER LAW 4HIS IS AIMED
AT GIVING A CONSTANT SIGNAL STRENGTH FROM A TARGET OF FIXED 2#3 INDEPENDENT OF RANGE
4HESE ARE OFTEN KNOWN AS INVERTED OR INVERSE COSEC SQUARED ANTENNAS TO DIFFERENTIATE
THEM FROM AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL RADAR ANTENNAS THAT HAVE THEIR SHAPING AT ANGLES ABOVE THE
HORIZON 3UCH SHAPING OPTIMIZES THE PATTERN TO THE APPLICATION GREATLY ENHANCING OVER
ALL PERFORMANCE 4YPICALLY THE PATTERN SHAPING IS ENABLED BY A DOUBLY CURVED REFLECTOR
FED FROM A POINT
SOURCE PRIMARY FEED !N EXAMPLE FROM %ASAT !NTENNAS IS ILLUSTRATED
IN &IGURE 4HIS IS A METER REFLECTOR ANTENNA WITH A DB GAIN AT '(Z )T
HAS AN INVERSE COSECANT
SQUARED ELEVATION PATTERN AND A AZIMUTH BEAMWIDTH )T
IS REMOTELY CONTROLLED TO GIVE HORIZONTAL OR CIRCULAR POLARIZATION 4HE VERTICAL PATTERN
SHAPING INTERACTS WITH THE 34# OF THE RADAR RECEIVER AND IT IS THEREFORE NECESSARY TO
TAKE THIS INTO ACCOUNT IN THE SYSTEM DESIGN 4O IMPROVE DETECTION FREQUENCY DIVERSITY
IS OFTEN USED ON PRIME SYSTEMS
)!,! HAS ISSUED DETAILED RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE OPERATIONAL AND TECHNICAL PER
FORMANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR 643 EQUIPMENT 4HERE IS MUCH USEFUL INFORMATION IN THE
RECOMMENDATIONS AND THEY ARE ESSENTIAL FOR PROCURERS AND DESIGNERS OF 643 RADAR
EQUIPMENT 4HEY COVER BOTH COASTAL AND WATERWAY INSTALLATIONS -ANY MAJOR RIVERS
OF THE WORLD CARRY VAST AMOUNTS OF CARGO ON SHIPS THAT CAN BE SURPRISINGLY LARGE 4HE
MEANDERING NATURE OF RIVERS AND RELATIVELY ABRUPT TURNS IN CANAL SYSTEMS TOGETHER WITH
THE NATURAL AND MANMADE OBSTRUCTIONS TO RADAR MEAN THAT WATERWAY VESSEL TRAFFIC SYS
TEMS ARE GENERALLY COVERED BY MANY LOW
POWER RADAR HEADS ON RELATIVELY LOW TOWERS
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
&)'52% $UAL POLARIZED DOUBLY CURVED 643 RADAR ANTENNA #OURTESY OF %ASAT !NTENNAS ,TD
"ECAUSE OF THEIR NUMBER SUCH RADARS TEND TO BE MINIMALLY ADAPTED SHIPBORNE RADARS
AS THEY OFFER ADEQUATE PERFORMANCE AT RELATIVELY LOW COST
)NTERESTINGLY THE )!,! RECOMMENDATIONS ALLOW ##46 SOLUTIONS TO COMPETE WITH
RADAR WHEN THERE IS VERY LOW TRAFFIC DENSITY !UTOMATIC TRACKING OF A SINGLE TARGET IS
THEN REQUIRED (OWEVER ON BASIC RADAR
BASED SYSTEMS )!,! EXPECTS A TARGET TRACK
CAPABILITY AND A PLOT EXTRACTOR THAT CAN DEAL WITH MORE THAN PLOTS PER ROTATION /N
AN ADVANCED SYSTEM MORE THAT TARGETS MAY HAVE TO BE TRACKED WITH A POSSIBILITY
OF MORE THAN PLOTS PER ANTENNA REVOLUTION
** 8 / , 9 9-"
,
4HE USE OF COMMERCIAL MARINE RADAR AROSE DIRECTLY FROM THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF
RADAR TECHNOLOGY FOR MILITARY APPLICATIONS DURING 7ORLD 7AR )) %VEN AS EARLY AS
SOME ATTENTION WAS BEING GIVEN TO THE PEACETIME ROLE OF RADAR AS A NAVIGATIONAL AID
FOR COMMERCIAL SHIPPING )N AN h)NTERNATIONAL MEETING ON RADIO AIDS TO MARINE
NAVIGATIONv WAS HELD IN ,ONDON AND ATTENDED BY REPRESENTATIVES FROM COUNTRIES
4HE MEETING WAS CHAIRED BY 3IR 2OBERT 7ATSON 7ATT )T WAS SEEN THAT RADAR ON COM
MERCIAL VESSELS HAD AN IMPORTANT PART TO PLAY IN ANTI COLLISION COASTAL NAVIGATION AND
PILOTAGE DECISIONS 0ILOTAGE IS NAVIGATING IN WATERS WHERE A QUALIFIED PILOT IS REQUIRED
TO BE ONBOARD 4HE FUTURE COMPULSORY FITTING OF RADAR TO SHIPS WAS CONTEMPLATED AS
WAS THE DESIRABILITY OF AN INTERNATIONALLY AGREED UPON MINIMUM PERFORMANCE STAN
DARD WITH REQUIREMENTS FOR NATIONALLY ISSUED CERTIFICATES OF TYPE APPROVAL 4HE NEED
TO INCLUDE THE USE OF RADAR WITHIN THE )NTERNATIONAL #OLLISION 2EGULATIONS WAS CLEARLY
SEEN TOGETHER WITH THE NEED FOR CERTIFICATION OF USERS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)N THE 5+ FAVORED OPERATION AT '(Z PRESUMABLY AS IT MORE AFFORDABLY
MET THE 5+ PERCEIVED AZIMUTH REQUIREMENTS OF RESOLUTION AND ACCURACY 4HE
5NITED 3TATES IDENTIFIED OPERATIONAL PROBLEMS AT '(Z THAT COULD BE EXPERIENCED
IN THE EXTREME RAINFALL CONDITIONS FOUND ON THE 53 EASTERN SEABOARD 4HESE CAUSED
hBLACKOUTSv ON EARLY '(Z SYSTEMSDEFINED AS AN EFFECTIVE RANGE OF LESS THAN MILE
!S A CONSEQUENCE THE 53 FAVORED OPERATION AT '(Z 4HE SHORTEST PULSE LENGTHS
THEN COMMONLY AVAILABLE AROUND NS MADE THE CLUTTER CELLS LARGE RESULTING IN
'(Z RADARS BEING VERY SUSCEPTIBLE TO RAIN CLUTTER PARTICULARLY AS CLUTTER PROCESSING
TECHNIQUES WERE IN THEIR INFANCY )N THERE WAS NO QUESTION THAT A COMMERCIAL SHIP
COULD AFFORD BOTH A AND A '(Z RADAR AS THE EXPENSE OF EVEN A SINGLE RADAR SYSTEM
WAS SEEN TO BE A LIMITING ISSUE "ECAUSE OF COST IT WAS ALREADY ENVISAGED THAT FITMENT
WOULD BE CONFINED MAINLY TO CERTAIN CLASSES OF PASSENGER SHIPS THAT HAD A DEFINITE NEED
TO CARRY RADAR PARTICULARLY THOSE WORKING IN THE NORTH !TLANTIC IN CONGESTED AREAS OR
AREAS SUBJECT TO FOG OR ICE
4HE EARLY TRIALS IN THE 5+ CONCENTRATED ON A SINGLE '(Z DEMONSTRATION SYSTEM
FITTED TO A NAVAL VESSEL )T WAS BASED AROUND A K7 MAGNETRON CAPABLE OF NS
PULSES AT A 02& OF (Z )T WAS INTERESTING THAT THE SPEED OF ROTATION COULD BE VAR
IED BETWEEN AND RPM $ESPITE THE PERCEIVED MODERNITY OF TODAYS CHART RADARS
IT WAS CONNECTED TO AN OPTIONAL #HART #OMPARISON 5NIT WHICH WAS AN OPTICAL SYSTEM
ALLOWING THE RADAR IMAGE TO BE DISPLAYED IN COINCIDENCE WITH A PAPER CHART 4HE FACILITY
TO ALLOW h.ORTH
UPv OPERATION WAS ALWAYS SEEN TO BE A VITAL REQUIREMENT FOR MARINE
NAVIGATION RADAR 0ARALLEL TRIALS IN THE 5NITED 3TATES WERE CONDUCTED ON A NUMBER OF
CANDIDATE SYSTEMS USING A BROAD RANGE OF FREQUENCY BANDS 4HE INITIAL TRIALS WERE
CONDUCTED IN THE 'REAT ,AKES AND WERE OVERSEEN BY THE #OAST 'UARD
4HE RADAR STANDARDS PROPOSED IN WERE NOT ADOPTED INTERNATIONALLY ALTHOUGH
THE 5+ ISSUED NATIONAL PERFORMANCE STANDARDS BASED ON THEM IN 4HE 5+ STAN
DARD WAS ALSO ADOPTED BY A NUMBER OF OTHER COUNTRIES )T WAS NOT UNTIL THAT
INTERNATIONAL MARINE RADAR STANDARDS WERE AGREED BY THE )NTERGOVERNMENTAL -ARITIME
#ONSULTATIVE /RGANIZATION )-#/ THE ORIGINAL NAME OF )-/ (OWEVER THE USE OF
RADAR ON SHIPS WAS FIRST FORMALLY RECOGNIZED BY )-/ IN IN AN !NNEX TO THE
)NTERNATIONAL 2EGULATIONS FOR 0REVENTING #OLLISIONS AT 3EA 4HE INFLUENCE OF THE
PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL STANDARD WAS EVIDENT IN THE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS EVEN
TO THE EXTENT OF USING IDENTICAL WORDING IN A NUMBER OF PLACES
4HE SIMILARITY IN PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS IS STILL EVIDENT IN THE LATEST REVISIONS OF
THE )-/ PERFORMANCE STANDARD &OR INSTANCE THE PROPOSED PERFORMANCE SPECI
FICATION INCLUDED THE NEED TO GIVE A CLEAR INDICATION OF COASTLINES RISING TO FT AT
MILES OF A GROSS REGISTERED TON h)MPERIALv UNITS VESSEL AT MILES AND OF A
FT FISHING VESSEL AT MILES 4HE MODERN PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARIZED IN
4ABLE STILL USE THESE FIGURES BUT WITH PARAMETERS EXCEPT RANGES GIVEN IN EQUIVA
LENT METRIC UNITS
4HE TECHNICAL VISION OF THE MEETING WAS REMARKABLE &OR INSTANCE IT WAS SEEN
THAT IN THE FUTURE IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO OVERLAY RADAR DATA AUTOMATICALLY ONTO A CHART
IMAGE DISPLAYED ON A hTELEVISIONv TYPE SCREEN 4HIS WAS NOT TO BE REALIZED ON COM
MERCIAL SYSTEMS FOR YEARS !LSO IT WAS OBSERVED THAT SUCH DISPLAY SYSTEMS COULD
ACCOMPLISH MORE THAN ONE FUNCTION AND NOT JUST BE USED FOR SHOWING RADAR ON A CHART
4HIS ANTICIPATED THE CONCEPT OF MULTIFUNCTION DISPLAYS NOW IN USE ON SOME INTEGRATED
BRIDGE SYSTEMS
)T IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT +ELVIN (UGHES AND $ECCA OBTAINED THE FIRST TYPE
APPROVAL FOR COMMERCIAL MARINE RADAR IN EFFECTIVELY BOTH ARE STILL SUPPLYING
#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
MARINE RADAR TODAY +ELVIN (UGHES HAS RETAINED ITS NAME AND $ECCA IS INCORPORATED
INTO THE 3PERRY -ARINE ORGANIZATION OF .ORTHROP 'RUMMAN #ORPORATION 4HE
+ELVIN (UGHES 4YPE RADAR HAD A PEAK POWER OF K7 S PULSE WIDTH AND A
02& OF (Z 4HE FT METER CHEESE ANTENNA HAD HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL
BEAMWIDTHS OF AND RESPECTIVELY ROTATING AT RPM 4HERE WAS AN ANTENNA
HEATER TO PREVENT ICING AND THE TRANSMITTER AND THE RECEIVER TO )& WERE hUPMASTv
INTEGRATED WITHIN THE ANTENNA TURNING UNIT 4HE DISPLAY WAS A IN CM CATHODE
RAY TUBE PLAN POSITION INDICATOR 4HE SIMILARITIES WITH SYSTEMS BEING SOLD IN THE ST
CENTURY ARE PERHAPS MORE SURPRISING THAN THE OBVIOUS DIFFERENCES
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)NTERNATIONAL !SSOCIATION OF ,IGHTHOUSE !UTHORITIES
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)NTERNATIONAL %LECTROTECHNICAL #OMMISSION
)NTERNATIONAL -ARITIME /RGANIZATION
)NTERNATIONAL 4ELECOMMUNICATIONS 5NION
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)NTERNATIONAL -ARITIME /RGANIZATION )-/ WHICH DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY
FOR THE CORRECTNESS OF THE MATERIAL AS REPRODUCED IN CASE OF DOUBT )-/S AUTHENTIC
TEXT SHALL PREVAIL
4HE AUTHOR THANKS THE )NTERNATIONAL %LECTROTECHNICAL #OMMISSION )%# FOR PER
MISSION TO REPRODUCE INFORMATION FROM ITS )NTERNATIONAL 3TANDARD )%#
ED !LL SUCH EXTRACTS ARE COPYRIGHT OF )%# 'ENEVA 3WITZERLAND !LL
RIGHTS RESERVED &URTHER INFORMATION ON THE )%# IS AVAILABLE FROM WWWIECCH
)%# HAS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PLACEMENT AND CONTEXT IN WHICH THE EXTRACTS AND
CONTENTS ARE REPRODUCED BY THE AUTHOR NOR IS )%# IN ANY WAY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
OTHER CONTENT OR ACCURACY THEREIN
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h2EVISED RECOMMENDATIONS ON PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR RADAR EQUIPMENT v 2ESOLUTION
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h4ECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MARITIME RADIO
NAVIGATION RADARS v )45
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* #RONY h#IVIL MARINE RADAR v IN 4HE 2ADAR (ANDBOOK ST %D - ) 3KOLNIK ED .EW 9ORK
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* . "RIGGS h4ARGET DETECTION BY MARINE RADAR v )NSTITUTION OF %LECTRICAL %NGINEERS NOW THE
)NSTITUTION OF %NGINEERING AND 4ECHNOLOGY ,ONDON
h4HE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA 3/,!3 v )NTERNATIONAL -ARITIME
/RGANIZATION ,ONDON AS AMENDED
)NTERNATIONAL %LECTROTECHNICAL #OMMISSION WWWIECCH
h-ARITIME NAVIGATION AND RADIOCOMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEMS3HIPBORNE RADAR v )%#
)NTERNATIONAL %LECTROTECHNICAL #OMMISSION 'ENEVA
h-ARITIME NAVIGATION AND RADIOCOMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEMS'ENERAL REQUIREMENTS v
)%# )NTERNATIONAL %LECTROTECHNICAL #OMMISSION 'ENEVA
h-ARITIME NAVIGATION AND RADIOCOMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEMS$IGITAL INTERFACES v )%#
SERIES )NTERNATIONAL %LECTROTECHNICAL #OMMISSION 'ENEVA
h2EGULATIONS REGARDING THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS AND TEST CONDITIONS FOR RADAR EQUIPMENT USED
FOR 2IVER 2HINE AND INLAND WATERWAYS v #ENTRAL #OMMISSION FOR THE .AVIGATION ON THE 2IVER
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#OMMISSION 'ENEVA
2 'ANGESKAR AND 'RNLIE h7AVE HEIGHT MEASUREMENTS WITH A STANDARD NAVIGATION SHIP RADAR
RESULTS FROM FIELD TRIALS v PRESENTED AT 3IXTH )NTERNATIONAL #ONFERENCE ON 2EMOTE 3ENSING FOR
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#)6), -!2).% 2!$!2
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%LECTRONICS 3EPTEMBER
0 $ , 7ILLIAMS h#IVIL MARINE RADARA FRESH LOOK AT TRANSMITTER SPECTRAL CONTROL AND DIVERSITY
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RELATED SYMBOLS TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS v 3AFETY
OF .AVIGATION #IRCULAR )NTERNATIONAL -ARITIME /RGANIZATION ,ONDON
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RELATED INFORMATION ON SHIPBORNE
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"
*/
/" ! BISTATIC RADAR USES ANTENNAS AT SEPARATE SITES FOR TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION 4HE
TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER CAN BE AND USUALLY ARE LOCATED AT THOSE SITES TO MINIMIZE
TRANSMISSION LINE LOSSES )N NEARLY ALL CASES OF BISTATIC OPERATION ANTENNA SEPARATION
IS SELECTED TO ACHIEVE SOME OPERATIONAL TECHNICAL OR COST BENEFIT AND IS USUALLY A
SIGNIFICANT FRACTION OF THE TARGET RANGE "ISTATIC RADARS HAVE BEEN DESIGNED DEVEL
OPED TESTED AND IN SOME CASES DEPLOYED FOR MILITARY COMMERCIAL AND SCIENTIFIC
APPLICATIONS 4YPICAL MILITARY APPLICATIONS INCLUDE AIR AND SPACE SURVEILLANCE AND RANGE
INSTRUMENTATION #OMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS INCLUDE WIND FIELD MEASUREMENTS AND TRAF
FIC SURVEILLANCE 3CIENTIFIC APPLICATIONS INCLUDE MEASUREMENT OF PLANETARY SURFACES AND
ATMOSPHERES AND STUDY OF IONOSPHERIC TURBULENCE %XAMPLES ARE GIVEN IN 3ECTION
7HILE THESE EXAMPLES ARE BOTH CREDIBLE AND USEFUL THEY ARE NICHE APPLICATIONS WHEN
COMPARED TO THE UBIQUITOUS CAPABILITIES OF MONOSTATIC RADARS WHICH REMAIN THE PRIN
CIPAL METHOD FOR RADIO DETECTION AND RANGING
"ISTATIC RADARS CAN OPERATE WITH DEDICATED TRANSMITTERS WHICH ARE DESIGNED
FOR BISTATIC OPERATION AND CONTROLLED BY THE BISTATIC RADAR OR WITH TRANSMITTERS
OF
OPPORTUNITY WHICH ARE DESIGNED FOR OTHER PURPOSES BUT FOUND SUITABLE FOR BISTATIC OPER
ATION EVEN WHEN NOT CONTROLLED BY THE BISTATIC RADAR 7HEN THE TRANSMITTER OF OPPOR
TUNITY IS FROM A MONOSTATIC RADAR THE BISTATIC RADAR IS OFTEN CALLED A HITCHHIKER 7HEN
THE TRANSMITTER OF OPPORTUNITY IS FROM A BROADCAST STATION OR COMMUNICATIONS LINK
SOURCES OTHER THAN A RADAR THE BISTATIC RADAR HAS BEEN CALLED MANY THINGS INCLUDING
PASSIVE RADAR PASSIVE BISTATIC RADAR PASSIVE COHERENT LOCATION PARASITIC RADAR AND
PIGGY
BACK RADAR 4RANSMITTERS
OF
OPPORTUNITY IN MILITARY SCENARIOS CAN BE DESIGNATED
EITHER COOPERATIVE OR NONCOOPERATIVE WHERE COOPERATIVE DENOTES AN ALLIED OR FRIENDLY
TRANSMITTER AND NONCOOPERATIVE DENOTES A HOSTILE OR NEUTRAL TRANSMITTER
"ISTATIC TARGET DETECTION USES A PROCESS SIMILAR TO THAT OF A MONOSTATIC RADAR
WHERE THE TARGET IS ILLUMINATED BY A TRANSMITTER AND TARGET ECHOES ARE RECEIVED
DETECTED AND PROCESSED BY A RECEIVER 7HEN OPERATING WITH TRANSMITTERS USING #7
OR HIGH
DUTY CYCLE WAVEFORMS A BISTATIC RECEIVER MAY NEED TO AUGMENT ITS SPA
TIAL ISOLATION WITH SPATIAL ANDOR SPECTRAL CANCELLATION TO REDUCE THE TRANSMITTERS
DIRECT
PATH FEED
THROUGH TO ACCEPTABLE LEVELS 4HE BISTATIC RADAR CAN ALSO USE A
PORTION OF THE RESIDUAL OR UNCANCELLED DIRECT
PATH TRANSMIT SIGNAL AS A REFERENCE IN
A CORRELATION RECEIVER WHICH CROSS
CORRELATES THE RECEIVED AND TRANSMITTED SIGNALS
EMULATING MATCHED FILTER OPERATION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
"ISTATIC TARGET LOCATION USES A PROCESS DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF A MONOSTATIC RADAR )N A
TYPICAL IMPLEMENTATION THE BISTATIC RADAR MEASURES A THE TRANSMITTER
TO
TARGET
TO
RECEIVER
PROPAGATION TIME CONVERTED TO A TRANSMITTER
TO
TARGET PLUS TARGET
TO
RECEIVER RANGE
SUM
B THE TARGET DIRECTION
OF
ARRIVAL $/! FROM THE RECEIVER AND C THE TRANSMITTER
TO
RECEIVER DISTANCE OR BASELINE TO SOLVE THE TRANSMITTER
TARGET
RECEIVER TRIANGLE CALLED THE
BISTATIC TRIANGLE 4HIS TRIANGLE LOCATES THE TARGET USUALLY IN TERMS OF A RANGE AND ANGLE
REFERENCED TO THE RECEIVE SITE /THER LOCATION SCHEMES ARE GIVEN IN 3ECTION
7HEN SEPARATE TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE ANTENNAS ARE AT A SINGLE SITE AS IS COMMON IN
#7 RADARS THE RADAR HAS CHARACTERISTICS OF A MONOSTATIC RADAR AND THE TERM BISTATIC
IS NOT USED TO DESCRIBE SUCH A SYSTEM )N SPECIAL CASES THE ANTENNAS CAN BE AT SEPA
RATE SITES AND THE RADAR IS STILL CONSIDERED TO OPERATE MONOSTATICALLY &OR EXAMPLE
AN OVER
THE
HORIZON /4( RADAR CAN HAVE A SITE SEPARATION OF KM OR MORE TO
ACHIEVE ADEQUATE TRANSMIT SIGNAL ISOLATION "UT THAT SEPARATION IS SMALL COMPARED TO
THE TARGET RANGE OF THOUSANDS OF KILOMETERS AND THE RADAR AGAIN OPERATES WITH MONO
STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
! VARIATION OF THE BISTATIC RADAR IS THE MULTISTATIC RADAR WHICH USES MULTIPLE ANTEN
NAS AT SEPARATE LOCATIONS ONE ANTENNA FOR TRANSMISSION AND MULTIPLE ANTENNASEACH
AT A DIFFERENT LOCATIONFOR RECEPTION OR VICE VERSA !GAIN TRANSMITTERS OR RECEIVERS
ARE USUALLY SITED WITH THE ANTENNAS 4ARGET DETECTION IS DONE BISTATICALLY WITH EACH
TRANSMIT
RECEIVE PAIR PERFORMING INDEPENDENT DETECTIONS WITHIN A SURVEILLANCE REGION
COMMON TO ALL SUCH PAIRS 4ARGET LOCATION TYPICALLY MEASURES THE BASELINE AND TAKES
SIMULTANEOUS RANGE
SUM MEASUREMENTS FROM MULTIPLE TRANSMITTER
RECEIVER PAIRS WHICH
ARE PLOTTED AS ELLIPSES WITH A TRANSMITTER
RECEIVER PAIR AT EACH ELLIPSE FOCI 4HE INTERSEC
TION OF THESE ELLIPSES OR CONSTANT RANGE
SUM CONTOURS LOCATE THE TARGET )T IS SIMILAR TO
MULTILATERATION BECAUSE ONLY RANGE MEASUREMENTS ARE USED TO LOCATE THE TARGET
! MULTISTATIC RADAR CAN ALSO USE TRIANGULATION FOR TARGET LOCATION BY TAKING SIMUL
TANEOUS TARGET $/! MEASUREMENTS FROM MULTIPLE RECEIVE SITES AT KNOWN LOCATIONS
)T IS USED BY 30!352 AS A BRUTE
FORCE SATELLITE LOCATION TECHNIQUE (OWEVER
BECAUSE OF THE LARGE APERTURE SIZES OR ARRAY LENGTHS REQUIRED FOR SUFFICIENTLY ACCU
RATE $/! MEASUREMENTS AT USEFUL RANGES TRIANGULATION IS SELDOM CONSIDERED FOR
OTHER APPLICATIONS
#ONCEPTS DATA AND EXPRESSIONS DEVELOPED FOR BISTATIC RADARS OFTEN APPLY TO MULTI
STATIC RADARS FOR EXAMPLE THE RANGE EQUATION TARGET DOPPLER TARGET RADAR CROSS SECTION
AND SURFACE CLUTTER 4HUS THE REMAINDER OF THIS CHAPTER WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE BISTATIC
RADAR TOPIC DEVELOPING MULTISTATIC EXCURSIONS AND DEVIATIONS ONLY WHEN NECESSARY
0ASSIVE RECEIVING SYSTEMS OR ELECTRONIC SUPPORT MEASURE %3- SYSTEMS OFTEN
USE TWO OR MORE RECEIVING SITES 4HEIR PURPOSE IS TYPICALLY TO DETECT IDENTIFY AND
LOCATE TRANSMITTERS SUCH AS THOSE FROM MONOSTATIC RADARS 4HEY ARE ALSO CALLED EMITTER
LOCATORS 4ARGET LOCATION IS BY MEANS OF COMBINED ANGLE MEASUREMENTS FROM EACH SITE
EG TRIANGULATION OR TIME
DIFFERENCE
OF
ARRIVAL ANDOR DIFFERENTIAL DOPPLER MEASURE
MENTS BETWEEN SITES EG MULTILATERATION 4HESE SYSTEMS USUALLY ARE NOT DESIGNED TO
DETECT AND PROCESS THE ECHOES FROM TARGETS ILLUMINATED BY THE TRANSMITTER 4HEY CAN
HOWEVER BE USED BY A BISTATIC HITCHHIKER TO IDENTIFY AND LOCATE A SUITABLE TRANSMITTER
4HUS ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE MANY REQUIREMENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS COMMON TO MULTI
STATIC RADARS THEY ARE NOT RADARS AND WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED HERE
4HE FOREGOING DESCRIBES MULTISTATIC OPERATION THAT COMBINES DATA NONCOHERENTLY #OHERENT DATA COMBINING IS ALSO
POSSIBLE WHERE FOR EXAMPLE IN
PHASE AND QUADRATURE DATA FROM EACH RECEIVE SITE IS COMBINED TO FORM A LARGE RECEIVE
APERTURE %XAMPLES INCLUDE THINNED RANDOM DISTORTED AND DISTRIBUTED ARRAYS n INTERFEROMETRIC RADARS AND THE
RADIO CAMERA 4HIS SUBJECT IS TREATED FURTHER IN 7ILLIS
")34!4)# 2!$!2
4HE FOREGOING DEFINITIONS ARE BROAD AND TRADITIONALn BUT ARE BY NO MEANS UNI
FORMLY ESTABLISHED IN THE LITERATURE 4ERMS SUCH AS QUASI
BISTATIC QUASI
MONOSTATIC
PSEUDO
MONOSTATIC TRISTATIC POLYSTATIC REAL MULTISTATIC MULTI
BISTATIC AND NETTED
BISTATIC HAVE ALSO BEEN USEDn 4HEY ARE USUALLY SPECIAL CASES OF THE BROAD DEFINI
TIONS GIVEN ABOVE 4HE TERM PSEUDO
MONOSTATIC WILL BE USED TO CHARACTERIZE BISTATIC
GEOMETRIES THAT APPROXIMATE MONOSTATIC OPERATION
"", /
-9-/
! TWO
DIMENSIONAL NORTH
REFERENCED COORDINATE SYSTEM IS USED THROUGHOUT THIS CHAPTER
&IGURE SHOWS THE COORDINATE SYSTEM AND PARAMETERS DEFINING BISTATIC RADAR OPERA
TION IN THE X Y PLANE ALSO CALLED THE BISTATIC PLANE 4HE BISTATIC TRIANGLE LIES IN THE
BISTATIC PLANE 4HE DISTANCE , BETWEEN THE TRANSMITTER AND THE RECEIVER IS CALLED THE BASE
LINE RANGE OR SIMPLY THE BASELINE 24 IS THE RANGE BETWEEN TRANSMITTER AND TARGET AND 22
IS THE RANGE BETWEEN RECEIVER AND TARGET 4HE ANGLES P4 AND P2 ARE RESPECTIVELY THE TRANS
MITTER AND RECEIVER LOOK ANGLES WHICH ARE TAKEN AS POSITIVE WHEN MEASURED CLOCKWISE
FROM NORTH 4HEY ARE ALSO CALLED DIRECTION
OF
ARRIVAL $/! ANGLE
OF
ARRIVAL !/! OR
LINE
OF
SIGHT ,/3 4HE BISTATIC ANGLE A P4 P2 IS THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE TRANSMITTER
AND RECEIVER WITH THE VERTEX AT THE TARGET )T IS ALSO CALLED THE CUT ANGLE OR THE SCATTERING
ANGLE )T IS CONVENIENT TO USE A IN CALCULATIONS OF TARGET
RELATED PARAMETERS AND P4 AND P2
IN CALCULATIONS OF TRANSMITTER
AND RECEIVER
RELATED PARAMETERS
4HE TRANSMITTER
TO
TARGET
TO
RECEIVER RANGE MEASURED BY A BISTATIC RADAR IS THE RANGE
SUM 24 22 -ETHODS FOR MEASURING THIS SUM ARE GIVEN IN 3ECTION 4HE RANGE
SUM LOCATES THE TARGET SOMEWHERE ON THE SURFACE OF AN ELLIPSOID WHOSE FOCI ARE THE
TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER SITES 4HE INTERSECTION OF THE BISTATIC PLANE AND THIS ELLIPSOID
&)'52% "ISTATIC RADAR NORTH COORDINATE SYSTEM FOR TWO DIMENSIONS
ESTABLISHING THE BISTATIC PLANE 4HE BISTATIC TRIANGLE LIES IN THE BISTATIC PLANE
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
PRODUCES THE FAMILIAR ELLIPSES OF CONSTANT RANGE SUM OR ISORANGE CONTOURS ! USEFUL
RELATIONSHIP IS THAT THE BISECTOR OF THE BISTATIC ANGLE IS ORTHOGONAL TO THE TANGENT OF THAT
ELLIPSE AT THE TARGET 4HE TANGENT IS OFTEN A GOOD APPROXIMATION TO AN ISORANGE CONTOUR
WITHIN THE AREA COMMON TO THE TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE BEAMS
7HEN THE BISTATIC RADARS RECEIVING ANTENNA IS A PHASED ARRAY AND THE ARRAY NORMAL
IS ALSO NORMAL TO THE BASELINE P2 IS MEASURED DIRECTLY BY THE ANTENNA IN ANY BISTATIC
PLANE 4HIS FORTUITOUS SITUATION IS CAUSED BY CONIC DISTORTION WHICH IS INHERENT IN ANY
PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA (OWEVER WHEN THE ARRAY NORMAL IS NOT NORMAL TO THE BASELINE
OR WHEN THE RECEIVING ANTENNA IS MECHANICALLY STEERED OR SCANNED P2 IS NOT MEASURED
DIRECTLY /FTEN $/! MEASUREMENTS ARE TAKEN INOR CONVERTED TOAZIMUTH AND ELEVA
TION ANGLES REFERENCED TO AN X
Y
Z COORDINATE SYSTEM CENTERED AT THE RECEIVE SITE WHERE
Z IS CO
LINEAR WITH THE LOCAL VERTICAL #ONVERSION BETWEEN A NORTH COORDINATE SYSTEM
AND AN X
Y
Z COORDINATE SYSTEM IS GIVEN IN 3ECTION OF 7ILLIS
/THER COORDINATE SYSTEMS INCLUDING THREE
DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN USED
TO DEFINE BISTATIC RADAR OPERATION n ! POLAR COORDINATE SYSTEM IS ALSO SHOWN IN
&IGURE 4HE R P COORDINATES ARE LOCATED ON THE BISTATIC PLANE WITH ORIGIN AT THE
MIDPOINT OF THE BASELINE )T IS USEFUL FOR PLOTTING OVALS OF #ASSINI SEE 3ECTION
AND IS DETAILED IN 7ILLIS /N OCCASION THE INCLUDED ANGLES P4g AND P2g ARE USED TO
DEFINE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER LOOK ANGLES IN THE BISTATIC TRIANGLE SUCH THAT P4g P2g
A )N THIS CASE P4g n P4 AND P2g P2 CAN BE USED TO TRANSFORM NORTH
REFERENCED EQUATIONS INTO INCLUDED
ANGLE EQUATIONS 0LOTS OF BISTATIC CLUTTER DATA USE A
SEPARATE AND QUITE ARCANE COORDINATE SYSTEM WHICH IS DEFINED IN 3ECTION
'EOMETRY IS A PRINCIPAL FACTOR DISTINGUISHING BISTATIC FROM MONOSTATIC RADAR OPERA
TION )N EVALUATING BISTATIC RADAR OPERATION IT IS USEFUL TO START WITH A GEOMETRY
INVARIANT
PERFORMANCE MEASURE WHICH IS OBTAINED BY SETTING , OR 24 22 AND A 4HE
RESULT IS DEFINED AS AN EQUIVALENT MONOSTATIC RANGE OR BENCHMARK RANGE AND IS DETAILED
IN 3ECTION )T IS ALSO USEFUL AS A SANITY CHECK BECAUSE AT THESE LIMITS ALL BISTATIC
RADAR EQUATIONS MUST REDUCE TO AN EQUIVALENT MONOSTATIC EQUATION
-//
, ,
+1/"
"ENCHMARK 2ANGE #ONCEPT 5NLIKE A MONOSTATIC RADAR THE RANGE PERFORMANCE
OF A BISTATIC RADAR IS A FUNCTION OF THE GEOMETRY SPECIFICALLY THE BASELINE RANGE , AND
AN ANTENNA LOOK ANGLE EITHER P4 OR P2 7HEN FACTORS SUCH A DIFFRACTION REFRACTION
MULTIPATH AND MASKING ARE ABSENT OR CAN BE IGNORED BISTATIC RANGE AS A FUNCTION
OF THESE VARIABLES CAN BE PLOTTED ON THE BISTATIC PLANE USING AN OVAL OF #ASSINI !N
OVAL OF #ASSINI IS THE LOCUS OF THE VERTEX OF A TRIANGLE WHEN THE PRODUCT OF THE SIDES
ADJACENT TO THE VERTEX IS CONSTANT AND THE LENGTH OF THE OPPOSITE SIDE IS FIXED 7HEN
APPLIED TO THE BISTATIC TRIANGLE SHOWN IN &IGURE THE VERTEX IS AT THE TARGET 24 AND
22 ARE THE SIDES ADJACENT TO THE VERTEX AND THE BASELINE , IS THE LENGTH OF THE FIXED
OPPOSITE SIDE
4RADITIONALLY OVALS OF #ASSINI ARE DRAWN AS CONTOURS OF A CONSTANT RECEIVED SIGNAL
POWER OR A RECEIVED SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO AROUND A FIXED BASELINE RANGE , !LTHOUGH
THESE SIGNAL
DEPENDENT CONTOURS PROVIDE A SENSE OF BISTATIC RADAR PERFORMANCE THEY
DO NOT SHOW MAXIMUMMINIMUM DETECTION RANGES AND COVERAGE FOR VARIABLE BASE
LINES ALL PARAMETERS OF OPERATIONAL INTEREST 4O REMEDY THIS PROBLEM THE CONCEPT OF A
BISTATIC BENCHMARK RANGE OR MORE SIMPLY BENCHMARK IS INTRODUCED )T IS ESTABLISHED
AS FOLLOWS &IRST THE BISTATIC RADAR RANGE EQUATION IS DERIVED IN A MANNER COMPLETELY
")34!4)# 2!$!2
ANALOGOUS TO THAT FOR A MONOSTATIC RADAR 4HE EQUATION IS THEN SOLVED FOR THE BISTATIC
MAXIMUM RANGE PRODUCT 24 22 MAX .EXT AN EQUIVALENT MONOSTATIC MAXIMUM RANGE
2- MAX IS DEFINED OMITTING THE MAX SUBSCRIPT FOR CONVENIENCE AS SHOWN HERE
2- 24 22
4HIS EQUIVALENT MONOSTATIC MAXIMUM RANGE ALSO KNOWN AS THE GEOMETRIC MEAN
RANGE REPRESENTS PERFORMANCE OF THE BISTATIC RADAR WHEN TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER ARE
CO
LOCATED IE WHEN , )T IS DEFINED AS THE BISTATIC RADARS BENCHMARK RANGE
3INCE THIS BENCHMARK IS GEOMETRY
INVARIANT IT BECOMES USEFUL WHEN COMPARING
BISTATIC TO MONOSTATIC RANGE PERFORMANCE &INALLY AN OVAL OF #ASSINI IS ESTABLISHED
AS A FUNCTION OF THE BASELINE RANGE , NORMALIZED TO THE BENCHMARK RANGE 2- "ASED
ON THIS OVAL MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM DETECTION RANGES AND THE COVERAGE AREA ARE
CALCULATED ALL AS A FUNCTION OF 2- 4HIS PROCEDURE IS ALSO USED TO DEFINE BISTATIC
OPERATING REGIONS
2ANGE %QUATION 4HE RADAR RANGE EQUATION FOR #7 OR COHERENT PULSE RADARS
IS MODIFIED FOR BISTATIC OPERATION AND THEN SOLVED FOR THE BISTATIC MAXIMUM RANGE
PRODUCT 24 22 MAX
WHERE
0 T ' ' L R " &4 &2
24 22 MAX AV O 4 2
P K 4O &N % . O ,4 ,2
24 4RANSMITTER TO TARGET RANGE M
22 2ECEIVER TO TARGET RANGE M
0AV 4RANSMITTED AVERAGE POWER 7
TO 3IGNAL OBSERVATION OR INTEGRATION TIME
'4 4RANSMITTING ANTENNA POWER GAIN
'2 2ECEIVING ANTENNA POWER GAIN
K 7AVELENGTH M
R" "ISTATIC RADAR CROSS SECTION M
&4 0ATTERN PROPAGATION FACTOR FOR TRANSMITTER TO TARGET PATH
&2 0ATTERN PROPAGATION FACTOR FOR RECEIVER TO TARGET PATH
K "OLTZMANNS CONSTANT ; n *+=
4O 3TANDARD TEMPERATURE ; +=
&N 2ECEIVER NOISE FIGURE
%.O 2ECEIVED ENERGY TO RECEIVER NOISE SPECTRAL DENSITY REQUIRED FOR DETECTION
,4 4RANSMITTING SYSTEM LOSSES
,2 2ECEIVING SYSTEM LOSSES
%QUATION ASSUMES THAT A MATCHED FILTER OR AN EQUIVALENT MATCHED FILTER SUCH AS
A CROSS
CORRELATOR IS USED ON RECEPTION %QUATION IS RELATED TO THE CORRESPONDING
MONOSTATIC MAXIMUM RANGE EQUATION BY 24 22 2- AND R- R" WHERE R- IS THE
MONOSTATIC RADAR CROSS SECTION &OR PULSED RADAR OPERATION TO N FP WHERE N IS THE
NUMBER OF PULSES INTEGRATED AND FP IS THE PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY !LSO THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO REQUIRED FOR DETECTION 3. REQ %.O WHEN "S y WHERE " IS THE RECEIVER
BANDWIDTH AND S IS THE PULSE WIDTH
4HE SIGNAL PROCESSING TIME TO IS SOMETIMES SET BY THE AMOUNT OF DOPPLER SPREAD
ING OR VELOCITY
WALK $FD GENERATED BY A MOVING TARGET 3PECIFICALLY $FD TO
"N
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WHERE "N IS THE NOISE BANDWIDTH OF RECEIVERS PREDETECTION FILTER )N THE MONOSTATIC
CASE DOPPLER SPREADING IS
$FD M ;AR K=
WHERE AR IS THE RADIAL COMPONENT OF TARGET ACCELERATION %QUATION ALSO APPLIES
TO THE BISTATIC CASE AT SMALL BISTATIC ANGLES A PARTICULARLY IN AN OVER
THE
SHOULDER
OPERATION WHERE THE TARGET LIES NEAR THE BASELINE EXTENDED BEYOND EITHER THE RECEIVER
OR THE TRANSMITTER CALLED THE EXTENDED BASELINE
(OWEVER FOR LARGER ATHE GENERAL
CASETHE RADIAL COMPONENT WHICH IS ALIGNED WITH THE BISECTOR OF THE BISTATIC ANGLE
WILL BE REDUCED ! RULE OF THUMB FOR THESE LARGE A CONDITIONS IS
$FD B ;AR K=
%QUATION IS USED TO SET TO AND HENCE THE NOISE BANDWIDTH OF RECEIVERS PREDETEC
TION FILTER !N 3INCE $FD B $FD M THE CONSTRAINT ON BISTATIC SIGNAL PROCESSING TIME IS
SLIGHTLY LESS THAN THE EQUIVALENT MONOSTATIC TIME
!S IN THE MONOSTATIC EQUATION THE TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING PATTERN PROPAGATION
FACTORS &4 AND &2 EACH CONSIST OF TWO TERMS THE PROPAGATION FACTORS &g4 AND &g2
AND THE ANTENNA PATTERN FACTORS F4 AND F2 RESPECTIVELY 4HE ANTENNA PATTERN FACTORS ARE
THE RELATIVE STRENGTH OF THE FREE
SPACE FIELD RADIATED BY THE TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING
ANTENNAS AS A FUNCTION OF THEIR POINTING ANGLES 4HESE FACTORS ARE APPLIED WHENEVER THE
TARGET IS NOT AT THE PEAK OF A BEAM
0ROPAGATION FACTORS CUSTOMARILY INCLUDE THE EFFECTS OF MULTIPATH DIFFRACTION AND
REFRACTION WITH ATMOSPHERIC ABSORPTION EFFECTS INCLUDED IN THE LOSS TERMS !S WITH A
MONOSTATIC RADAR BISTATIC RADAR PROPAGATION REQUIRES A SUITABLE PATH FROM THE TRANSMIT
TER TO THE TARGET AND THE TARGET TO THE RECEIVER )N CONTRAST TO A MONOSTATIC RADAR HOWEVER
PROPAGATION EFFECTS CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT OVER THE TWO BISTATIC PATHS AND MUST
BE TREATED SEPARATELY -ULTIPATH IS THE PRIMARY EXAMPLE WHERE THE TARGET CAN BE IN A
MULTIPATH LOBE ON ONE PATH AND A MULTIPATH NULL ON THE OTHER DEPENDING ON ANTENNA
AND TARGET ALTITUDE AND TERRAIN CONDITIONS
7HEN A CORRELATION RECEIVER USES THE DEMODULATED DIRECT PATH 2& SIGNAL AS ITS REFER
ENCE THAT SIGNAL IS SUBJECTED TO INTERFERENCE MULTIPATH AND 2&) WHICH IS DIFFERENT
FROM INTERFERENCE AFFECTING THE TARGET ECHO PATH )F THE CORRELATOR OPERATES IN ITS LINEAR
REGION THE ECHO PLUS ITS INTERFERENCE CONVOLVED WITH THE REFERENCE PLUS ITS INTERFERENCE
PRODUCES THE DESIRED ECHO WITH FULL MATCHED
FILTER GAIN PLUS INTERFERENCE WITH GAIN
REDUCED BY MISMATCH 4HESE SIGNALS ADD VECTORIALLY TO MODIFY THE PATTERN
PROPAGATION
FACTOR (OWEVER IF THE CORRELATOR OPERATES IN ITS NONLINEAR REGION WHICH CAN FREQUENTLY
HAPPEN CROSS
PRODUCTS ARE GENERATED WHICH REDUCE THE ECHOS MATCHED
FILTER GAIN
4HE AMOUNT OF LOSS DEPENDS ON THE MAGNITUDE OF THE INTERFERENCE AND IS ACCOUNTED FOR
IN THE SIGNAL
PROCESSING LOSS TERM
/VALS OF #ASSINI 4HE FREE SPACE MAXIMUM DETECTION CONTOUR OF A BISTATIC
RADARS BENCHMARK RANGE IS A CIRCLE OF RADIUS 2- JUST AS IN THE MONOSTATIC CASE 3UCH
A CIRCLE ASSUMES CONSTANT RADAR CROSS
SECTION AND PATTERN PROPAGATION FACTORS WHICH
ARE SCENARIO
AND GEOMETRY
DEPENDENT &OR THE GENERAL BISTATIC CASE WHERE , THE
FREE
SPACE MAXIMUM DETECTION CONTOUR BECOMES THE FAMILIAR OVAL OF #ASSINI AGAIN
)N THE FIRST CASE THE TRANSMITTER ILLUMINATES THE TARGET OVER THE RECEIVERS SHOULDER IN THE SECOND CASE THE RECEIVER
VIEWS THE TARGET OVER THE TRANSMITTERS SHOULDER
")34!4)# 2!$!2
($)# ** (" * %+)
, (( * %+)
*
( *"/ $ %$%,"
) " $ *% )*$
'+ ," $*#%$%)** ($
$ #(!) - (
#.
. #+#*% *($
& (# ** %$%,"
# $
$ #+#*% *($
, "" %$%,"
,
+)% (" - * (
'+"*%( % %$ %," $
* *-%%,") - $
$* *" )%$* ) " $
.* $ /%$*
$* *" )%$* ) " $
.* $ /%$*
&)'52% .ORMALIZED OVALS OF #ASSINI LYING IN THE BISTATIC PLANE THE PLANE CONTAINING
TRANSMITTER RECEIVER AND TARGET #OURTESY 3CI4ECH )NC
WITH THE MONOSTATIC CAVEATS CITED ABOVE 4HUS THIS OVAL OR OVALS PROVIDES A
CONVENIENTBUT AT TIMES OVER
SIMPLIFIEDVIEW OF BISTATIC RANGE COVERAGE AND
MUST BE USED WITH CARE
!N ADDITIONAL BISTATIC CAVEAT IS NECESSARY 7HEN THE TARGET IS ON OR NEAR THE BASE
LINE IE LOCATED BETWEEN RECEIVER AND TRANSMITTER WHERE THE BISTATIC ANGLE A l
A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT IS GENERATED FORWARD SCATTER FROM BOTH TARGET AND
CLUTTER )N THIS CASE THE TARGET RADAR CROSS SECTION 2#3 AND CLUTTER SCATTERING COEF
FICIENT RO ARE GREATLY ENHANCED WHEREAS RANGE AND DOPPLER MEASUREMENTS ARE GREATLY
DEGRADED /FTEN NORMAL BISTATIC OPERATION EXCLUDES THIS REGION SO THAT A
WEDGE WITH THE APEX AT THE RECEIVER AND DIRECTED AT THE TRANSMITTER IS EXCISED FROM THE
OVAL $ETAILS ARE GIVEN IN 7ILLIS
&IGURE SHOWS FOUR CASES OF OVALS OF #ASSINI NORMALIZED TO THE BENCHMARK
RANGE A BENCHMARK , B ONE
OVAL , 2- C LEMNISCATE , 2- AND
D TWO
OVALS , 2- )N ALL CASES THE TRANSMITTER IS LOCATED AT THE LEFT OVAL FOCUS
4HE RECEIVER IS LOCATED AT THE RIGHT OVAL FOCUS /THER TERMS AND SYMBOLS ARE
DEFINED IN THE KEY SHOWN WITH &IGURE
4ABLE LISTS EXPRESSIONS FOR CALCULATING OVAL AREA AND MAXIMUMMINIMUM
RECEIVER DETECTION RANGES FOR THESE FOUR CASES AGAIN REFERENCED TO THE BENCHMARK RANGE
2-
&OR &IGURE D WHEN , 2- THE OVALS CAN CONVENIENTLY BE APPROXIMATED AS
CIRCLES WITH RADIUS 22AV ^ 2-, AND CORRESPONDING AREA O 2-, %XPRESSIONS FOR
4HE ONE OVAL AREA FORMULA IS DERIVED FROM %Q $A IN 7ILLIS )T IS ALSO USED FOR CALCULATING THE LEMNISCATE AREA
&ORMULAS FOR THE TWO OVAL AREA ARE DERIVED FROM %Q $A IN 7ILLIS -ORE TERMS IN THESE SERIES CAN BE USED IF
GREATER ACCURACY IS REQUIRED
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% !REA AND $ETECTION 2ANGES FOR 'ENERAL /VALS OF #ASSINI #OURTESY 3CI4ECH )NC
#ASE
#IRCLE "ENCHMARK
/NE /VAL
4WO /VALS
,
2 2 2-
!REA OF ONE OVAL
O 2-
^O ;2-
, 2- =
^O 2- ;2-,=
^O 2- ;2-,=
22MAX ON 2X OVAL
22- , ,
,
,
2-
^2- ,
22MIN ON 2X OVAL
22- ,
,
2- ,
,
^2- ,
RECEIVER AND TRANSMITTER RANGES ON THE OPPOSITE OVAL ARE READILY CALCULATED THROUGH
MIRROR
IMAGE SYMMETRY !LSO NOTE THAT THE AREA OF EVERY BISTATIC OVAL IS ALWAYS LESS
THAN THE MONOSTATIC CIRCLE
4HE EXPRESSIONS IN 4ABLE CAN ALSO BE USED TO ASSESS FIRST
ORDER BISTATIC RADAR
LINE
OF
SIGHT ,/3 CONSTRAINTS WHERE THE ,/3 IS DEFINED AS A LINE BETWEEN TRANSMIT
AND RECEIVE ANTENNAS TANGENT TO THE %ARTHS SURFACE 3PECIFICALLY FOR A GIVEN TARGET
TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER ALTITUDES THE TARGET MUST SIMULTANEOUSLY BE WITHIN ,/3 TO
BOTH THE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER SITES &OR A SMOOTH %ARTH MODEL THE ,/3 RANGE
R2 BETWEEN A RECEIVE ANTENNA OF ALTITUDE H2 AND TARGET OF ALTITUDE HT IS
R2 H2 HT
WHERE ALL UNITS ARE IN KILOMETERS 3IMILARLY THE ,/3 RANGE R4 BETWEEN A TRANSMIT
ANTENNA OF ALTITUDE H4 AND TARGET OF ALTITUDE HT IS
R4 H4 HT
4HUS TO PREVENT ,/3 TRUNCATION OF THE OVALS R2 q 22MAX AND R4 q 24MAX 4HESE
EXPRESSIONS IGNORE BOTH DIFFRACTION AND MULTIPATH WHICH CAN SIGNIFICANTLY ALTER THESE
RANGES SO THEY MUST BE CONSIDERED FIRST ORDER APPROXIMATIONS
! TYPICAL TASK FOR BISTATIC AIR SURVEILLANCE IS TO SELECT A BASELINE , SO THAT A RECEIVER
WITH ANTENNA ALTITUDE H2 WILL MATCH EXISTING ,/3 COVERAGE OF A TRANSMITTER WITH ANTENNA
ALTITUDE H4 &OR THE WORST CASE OVER THE SHOULDER GEOMETRY THE REQUIREMENT WOULD BE
TO MATCH ,/3 COVERAGE ON THE EXTENDED BASELINE R4 R2 , SO THAT
, H4 H2
&OR EXAMPLE WHEN H4 KM AND H2 KM , KM WHICH FROM %Q
AND WILL PROVIDE ,/3 TO AN M ALTITUDE TARGET FLYING ABOVE THE EXTENDED
BASELINE KM FROM THE RECEIVER AND KM FROM THE TRANSMITTER "ASELINES GREATER
THAN KM CAN POSE SEVERE TARGET ,/3 PROBLEMS &OR EXAMPLE IF , KM AND
H4 KM THEN FROM %Q THE TRANSMITTER WOULD ONLY ILLUMINATE A TARGET FLYING
DIRECTLY ABOVE THE RECEIVER AT AN ALTITUDE HT KM 4HUS THE TARGET COULD READILY
UNDER FLY THE ILLUMINATION AND LOW ALTITUDE AIR SURVEILLANCE CAPABILITY IS LOST !S A
CONSEQUENCE THE BISTATIC RADAR MUST EITHER EMPLOY A GREATLY ELEVATED ^ KM TRANS
MITTER AT THESE LONG BASELINES OR OPERATE WITH SHORTER BASELINES TO ACHIEVE ACCEPTABLE
LOW ALTITUDE SURVEILLANCE COVERAGE .OTE THAT THE TWO OVAL CASE CAN ALSO REQUIRE A VERY
HIGH ALTITUDE FOR THE SITE LOCATED IN THE OVAL NOT UNDER SURVEILLANCESO HIGH THAT THE
SITE MUST OFTEN BECOME AIRBORNE
&INALLY THE TRANSMIT ANTENNA WILL BE IN DIRECT ,/3 OF THE RECEIVE ANTENNA WHEN , a
R4 R2 WITH HT SO THAT AGAIN WITH ALL UNITS IN KILOMETERS
, a H4 H2
")34!4)# 2!$!2
)F %Q IS SATISFIED EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES ARE USUALLY REQUIRED TO SUPPRESS THE
DIRECT PATH SIGNAL TO A LEVEL WHERE TARGETS CAN BE DETECTED AS OUTLINED IN 3ECTION
{ **
/" /VALS OF #ASSINI CAN BE USED TO DEFINE THREE OPERATING REGIONS FOR A BISTATIC RADAR CO
SITE RECEIVER
CENTERED AND TRANSMITTER
CENTERED #O
SITE CORRESPONDS TO &IGURE B
RECEIVER
CENTERED TO THE RIGHT OVAL IN &IGURE D AND TRANSMITTER
CENTERED TO THE
LEFT OVAL IN &IGURE D 4HE TYPE OF TRANSMITTERDEDICATED COOPERATIVE OR NON
COOPERATIVECOMPLETES THE TAXONOMY ! DEDICATED TRANSMITTER IS DESIGNED AND
CONTROLLED BY THE BISTATIC OR MULTISTATIC RADAR ANALOGOUS TO A MONOSTATIC RADAR
"OTH COOPERATIVE AND NONCOOPERATIVE TRANSMITTERS ARE TRANSMITTERS
OF
OPPORTUNITY
DESIGNED FOR OTHER FUNCTIONS INCLUDING RADAR AND COMMUNICATIONS BUT FOUND SUITABLE
FOR BISTATIC OPERATION 4HE COOPERATIVE TRANSMITTER IS CONTROLLED BY ALLIED OR FRIENDLY
FORCES THE NONCOOPERATIVE TRANSMITTER BY HOSTILE OR NEUTRAL FORCES 4ABLE SUM
MARIZES BISTATIC RADAR APPLICATIONS IN THESE OPERATING REGIONS
%NTRIES IN THE DEDICATED TRANSMITTERCO
SITE CATEGORY REPRESENT A COMPLETE BISTATIC
RADAR SUITERADARS WITH ALL COMPONENTS INCLUDING THE TRANSMITTER DESIGNED FOR
BISTATIC OPERATION -ANY OF THESE SYSTEMS WERE DEVELOPED TESTED OR DEPLOYED PRIOR
TO %XAMPLES ARE THE &RENCH 5332 AND *APANESE FORWARD SCATTER FENCES USED
IN 77)) THE !.&03
FOR AIR
DEFENSE GAP FILLING 0!2!$/0 AND -)$/0 RANGE
INSTRUMENTATION TRACKERS 30!352 FOR SPACE SURVEILLANCE AND 3ANCTUARY FOR
AIR DEFENSE 4HE "27, FOR ARTILLERY MORTAR AND ROCKET LOCATION THE 2USSIAN
3TRUNA
FORWARD SCATTER FENCE n AND THE &RENCH 'RAVES FOR SPACE SURVEILLANCE
WERE LATER DEVELOPMENTS
/MITTED ENTRIES IN THE DEDICATED TRANSMITTER COLUMN FOR OPERATION IN THE RECEIVER
AND TRANSMITTER
CENTERED OVALS AT LARGE BASELINE RANGES ARE DICTATED BY OPERATIONS
AND COST BOTH COOPERATIVE AND NONCOOPERATIVE TRANSMITTERS
OF
OPPORTUNITY ARE OFTEN
PRESENT AND CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING BISTATIC OPERATION IN THESE SMALL AREAS OF INTEREST
4!",% "ISTATIC 2ADAR !PPLICATIONS
2ECEIVER
/PERATING
2EGIONS
2ANGE
2ELATIONSHIP
$EDICATED 4RANSMITTER
#OOPERATIVE 4RANSMITTER
.ONCOOPERATIVE 4RANSMITTER
#O SITE
, 2-
s !IR SURVEILLANCE
s 2ANGE INSTRUMENTATION
s 3ATELLITE TRACKING
s )NTRUSION DETECTION
s !IR SURVEILLANCE
s 2ANGE INSTRUMENTATION
s )ONOSPHERIC MEASUREMENT
s 7IND MEASUREMENT
s !IR SURVEILLANCE
2ECEIVER
CENTERED
, 224 22
s 3HORT
RANGE AIR SURVEILLANCE
s 3ILENT AIR
TO
GROUND ATTACK
s 0LANETARY EXPLORATION
s 3HORT RANGE SURVEILLANCE
4RANSMITTER
CENTERED
, 222 24
s 0LANETARY EXPLORATION
s !IR THREAT MONITORING
s -ISSILE LAUNCH ALERT
! MULTISTATIC RADAR WITH ITS REQUIREMENT FOR COMMON SPATIAL COVERAGE NEARLY ALWAYS OPERATES IN THE CO SITE REGION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&URTHERMORE THIS APPROACH IS LESS COSTLY AND WHEN EXPLOITING NONCOOPERATIVE TRANS
MITTERS MORE COVERT AND LESS RISKY THAN USING A DEDICATED TRANSMITTER #ONSEQUENTLY
DEDICATED TRANSMITTERS ARE NOT USUALLY CONSIDERED FOR THESE APPLICATIONS
%NTRIES IN THE COOPERATIVE AND NONCOOPERATIVE TRANSMITTER COLUMNS ARE CALLED
HITCHHIKERS WHEN THE TRANSMITTER IS A MONOSTATIC RADAR 7HEN THE TRANSMITTER IS FROM
A COMMUNICATIONS OR BROADCAST SYSTEM IE NOT FROM A RADAR ENTRIES ARE CALLED A
PASSIVE BISTATIC RADAR 0"2
%XAMPLES OF A HITCHHIKER OPERATING WITH A COOPERATIVE TRANSMITTER IN THE CO
SITE
REGION ARE THE -ULTISTATIC -EASUREMENT 3YSTEM OPERATING WITH 42!$%8 FOR INCREAS
ING BALLISTIC MISSILE REENTRY MEASUREMENT ACCURACY AND THE COMMERCIAL "INET )NC
BISTATIC RECEIVER OPERATING WITH MONOSTATIC DOPPLER WEATHER RADARS TO MEASURE THREE
DIMENSIONAL VECTOR WIND FIELDS &IGURE IS A BLOCK DIAGRAM OF THE "INET )NC
DEVELOPED PROTOTYPE
%XAMPLES OF HITCHHIKERS OPERATING WITH A COOPERATIVE TRANSMITTER IN THE RECEIVER
CENTERED REGION ARE THE #OVIN 2EST PROGRAM OPERATING WITH THE SPACE
SHUTTLE RADAR FOR
SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR 3!2 GROUND MAPPING THE 4")2$ PROGRAM OPERATING WITH
*OINT 34!23 FOR SILENT AIR
TO
GROUND ATTACK VIA FORWARD
LOOKING BISTATIC 3!2 AND
THE "!# PROGRAM OPERATING WITH !7!#3 FOR ALERTING AND CUEING SHORT RANGE MOBILE
AIR
DEFENSE SYSTEMS
"%"%(!)!%$!$ ) ""!) (
(.!((
"%))
+ *!
$) $$
,
'$(#!)*"( '! '
, %'
'$
%*$) '!# '
%$)'%"%")
,
,$##!,),
!-.
/&-!
1
)**&!,
,
%&&" '
*"( %"'!,)!%$
!())!
!+ '
$) $$
%!$)!$
$ " (
)&&$(#!+/!-.
1
),
(#!
.$(#
,$##!,-
)(.,)&)&. #!
(.!((
,
)&&$(#!+/!-.
$#( &
)/-!%!!*$(#
("),' .$)(
)/-!%!!*$(#
("),' .$)(
$#( &
&)'52% 3IMPLIFIED BLOCK DIAGRAM OF THE "INET )NC DEVELOPED BISTATIC WIND MEASUREMENT PROTOTYPE
SYSTEM ! MODIFIED #0 MONOSTATIC WEATHER RADAR TRANSMITS AND RECEIVES ON A NARROW BEAM ANTENNA WHILE
ONE OR MORE BISTATIC RECEIVE SITES n KM FROM THE #0 RECEIVE BISTATICALLY SCATTERED ENERGY FROM THE
SAME ILLUMINATED WEATHER VOLUME OVER A BROAD ANTENNA BEAM ! TRANSMITRECEIVE TUBE IS USED TO PROTECT THE
RECEIVER JUST AS IN A MONOSTATIC RADAR !LL GENERATED FREQUENCIES ARE LOCKED TO THE MASTER -(Z 6#8/
WHICH IS IN TURN LOCKED TO '03 TIMING SIGNALS 3YNCHRONIZATION AND OTHER HOUSEKEEPING DATA ARE SENT OVER
TELEPHONE LINES 3IGNAL AND DATA PROCESSING IS 0# BASED AFTER * 7URMAN )%%%
")34!4)# 2!$!2
(ITCHHIKERS USING COOPERATIVE MONOSTATIC RADAR TRANSMITTERS ALSO HAVE THE INHER
ENT CAPABILITY TO COUNTER RETRO
DIRECTIVE JAMMERS OPERATING AGAINST THEIR HOST RADAR
"ECAUSE THE JAMMER USES A HIGH
GAIN ANTENNA TO RETRO
DIRECT THE TRANSMITTERS SIGNAL
BACK TO THE TRANSMITTER AND THUS ITS MONOSTATIC RECEIVER THE SPATIALLY SEPARATED HITCH
HIKER CAN BE POSITIONED IN THE SIDELOBES OF THAT ANTENNA THUS REDUCING THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF THE JAMMER ! RULE OF THUMB IS TO ANTICIPATE ENHANCED HITCHHIKER PERFORMANCE WHEN
EVER THE BISTATIC ANGLE IS GREATER THAN THE ESTIMATED
D" WIDTH OF THE RETRO
DIRECTED
MAIN BEAM
%XAMPLES OF 0"2S OPERATING WITH COOPERATIVE BROADCAST TRANSMITTERS IN THE CO
SITE
REGION ARE THE -ANASTASH 2IDGE 2ADAR OPERATING WITH AN &- BROADCAST TRANSMITTER FOR
TROPOSPHERIC SOUNDINGS 3ILENT 3ENTRY OPERATING WITH &- AND 46 BROADCAST TRANS
MITTERS AND THE ($46
"ASED 0ASSIVE 2ADAR OPERATING WITH A HIGH DEFINITION
46
BROADCAST TRANSMITTER THE LATTER TWO CONFIGURED FOR AIR SURVEILLANCE %XAMPLES OF
0"2S OPERATING WITH COOPERATIVE COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTERS IN THE RECEIVER
AND
TRANSMITTER
CENTERED REGIONS ARE BISTATIC RADARS FOR PLANETARY EXPLORATION 4HEY USE
A DATA LINK TRANSMITTER ON THE PROBE VEHICLE IN THE TRANSMITTER
CENTERED REGION AND AN
%ARTH
BASED COMMAND TRANSMITTER IN THE RECEIVER
CENTERED REGION
4HE TERM COOPERATIVE TRANSMITTER IS SOMEWHAT OF A MISNOMER &OR EXAMPLE A COOP
ERATIVE 46 OR &- STATION OPERATOR WOULD NOT BE INCLINED TO hCOOPERATEv WITH A 0"2 BY
ALTERING ANTENNA COVERAGE OR MODIFYING BROADCAST MATERIAL WITH SPECIAL WAVEFORMS
&URTHERMORE THERE IS ALWAYS THE POSSIBILITY OF A TRANSMITTER FAILURE IN THE COURSE OF
NORMAL OPERATIONS OR FROM AN ENEMY ATTACK 4HIS EVENT WILL DEGRADE PERFORMANCE OF A
0"2 THAT OPERATES WITH MULTIPLE TRANSMITTERS AND ELIMINATE PERFORMANCE OF A 0"2 THAT
OPERATES ONLY WITH THAT TRANSMITTER !S A RESULT THE 0"2 IS FREE TO EXPLOIT COOPERATIVE
OR NONCOOPERATIVE TRANSMISSIONS IF THEY ARE SUITABLE HOWEVER COMMERCE CONTROLS
THEIR OPERATION WITH THE 0"2 REMAINING A USER OF OPPORTUNITY SPECIFICALLY SUFFERING
NONOPTIMUM WAVEFORMS 3ECTION LIMITED ELEVATION COVERAGE AND OCCASIONALLY
REDUCED OR DENIED PERFORMANCE
#ONSTRAINTS ALSO APPLY WHEN A HITCHHIKER ATTEMPTS TO EXPLOIT A COOPERATIVE OR NON
COOPERATIVE MONOSTATIC RADAR SPECIFICALLY WITH THE HITCHHIKER SUFFERING ANTENNA SCAN
ON
SCAN PROBLEMS 3ECTION (OWEVER THE POTENTIAL FOR ENHANCING PERFORMANCE
OF A COOPERATIVE MONOSTATIC RADAR AGAINST RETRO
DIRECTIVE
TYPE JAMMERS WHEN USING A
SUITABLY POSITIONED HITCHHIKER NECESSITATES DISTINGUISHING COOPERATIVE FROM NONCOOP
ERATIVE TRANSMITTERS
)N THE NONCOOPERATIVE TRANSMITTER COLUMN IF A NONCOOPERATIVE TRANSMITTER AND A
HITCHHIKER WERE LOCATED IN OR NEAR A BATTLE AREA A HITCHHIKER COULD USE THAT TRANSMITTER
IN THE CO
SITE REGION JUST AS IT WOULD FOR A COOPERATIVE TRANSMITTER 4HE 'ERMAN +LEIN
(EIDELBERG HITCHHIKING OFF THE "RITISH #HAIN (OME RADARS TO CONDUCT AIR SURVEILLANCE
DURING 77)) IS AN EXAMPLE ! HITCHHIKER IMPLANTED IN OR FLYING OVER HOSTILE AREAS
COULD USE ANY HIGH
POWERED SATELLITE TRANSMITTER ILLUMINATING THAT AREA TO CONDUCT
SHORT
RANGE SURVEILLANCE IN THE RECEIVER
CENTERED OVAL
4HE MOST SIGNIFICANT SYSTEM TO USE A DEDICATED TRANSMITTER IS THE 3PACE 3URVEILLANCE
30!352 -(Z MULTISTATIC RADAR FENCE )T WAS DEPLOYED STARTING IN AT SEVEN
SITES SPANNING THE CONTINENTAL 5NITED 3TATES TO DETECT AND TRACK NONCOOPERATIVE SATEL
LITES 4RANSMITTERS ARE LOCATED AT THREE SITES THE LARGEST OF WHICH TRANSMITS -7
#7 FROM A LINEAR ARRAY ABOUT KM LONG GENERATING A FIXED FAN BEAM 4HE SIX RECEIVE
SITES CONSIST OF SEVEN OR EIGHT LINEAR ARRAYS WITH DIMENSIONS ON THE ORDER OF KM ALSO
GENERATING FIXED FAN BEAMS COLLINEAR WITH THE TRANSMIT BEAM &IGURE SHOWS THE
DATA FLOW IN A TYPICAL RECEIVING STATION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
$*
$*
'& !'( " ) %#&
$*
&)'52% 2EAL TIME DATA FLOW IN A .!630!352 RECEIVING STATION h 4RANSMITTER
ENERGY REFLECTED BY THE SATELLITE IS RECEIVED BY VARIOUS COLLINEAR ARRAYS OF DIPOLES AT
THE RECEIVER STATIONx ;3IGNALS= FROM FOUR IN LINE ARRAYS FEEDS THE ALERT RECEIVER WHICH
DETECTS THE PRESENCE OF RADIO ENERGY IN EXCESS OF PRESET THRESHOLD LEVELS 4HE REFLECTED
ENERGY IS ALSO SIMULTANEOUSLY RECEIVED ON OTHER ARRAYS THAT ARE SEPARATED IN THE EAST
WEST DIRECTION BY VARIOUS DISTANCES BASELINE 3IGNALS FROM ANY TWO CAN BE ADDED
TO FORM A BASELINE PAIR 4HE BASELINE RECEIVERS EMPLOY TRIPLE FREQUENCY CONVERSION
WHERE THE PHASE DIFFERENCE OF THE SIGNALS RECEIVED BY THE ANTENNA PAIR IS PRESERVED IN
A HERTZ DIFFERENCE FREQUENCY ;CALLED A K(Z PHASE SIGNAL IN THE FIGURE=x 4HERE
IS A RADIO RECEIVER AND CONSEQUENTLY A HERTZ PHASE ;SIGNAL= FOR EACH BASELINE PAIR
EAST WEST AND NORTH SOUTH 4HIS PHASE SIGNAL IS COMPARED WITH A HERTZ REFER
ENCE SIGNAL AND ENCODED DIGITIZED BY THE !$$!3 ENCODING EQUIPMENT 4HE DIGITAL
COMBINER CONTAINED WITHIN THE !$$!3 ENCODER RECEIVES THE +(Z PHASE DATA AND
GENERATES AN UNAMBIGUOUS ZENITH ANGLE SOLUTION 4HE COMBINER OUTPUTS ALONG WITH DIGI
TIZED PHASE INFORMATION AND CONTROL BITS FOREMOST OF WHICH IS @ALERT ARE APPLIED TO THE
TELEPHONE LINES VIA A DIGITAL DATA TRANSMITTERvFROM (ANDBOOK FOR .!630!352 3YSTEM
/RIENTATION COURTESY 53 .AVY
4ARGET LOCATION IS ESTABLISHED BY TRIANGULATION IE THE INTERSECTION OF ZENITH ANGLE
$/! MEASUREMENTS FROM TWO OR MORE RECEIVE SITES 3UBSEQUENTLY A THREE SITE FENCE
IN 3OUTH 4EXAS WAS DEPLOYED TO EVALUATE THE USE OF BISTATIC RANGE MEASUREMENTS TO
IMPROVE LOCATION ACCURACY BUT IT NEVER ENTERED CONTINUOUS OPERATION
")34!4)# 2!$!2
!CCORDING TO %ASTON THE 30!352 DESIGN WAS DRIVEN BY COST A NMI DETEC
TION RANGE REQUIRED VERY HIGH AVERAGE POWER WHICH WAS SATISFIED BY THE LOWEST COST
#7 OPERATION "UT THIS SOLUTION IN TURN REQUIRED SEPARATE SITES FOR ISOLATIONHENCE
MULTISTATIC OPERATION 4HE STATIONARY BEAM LINEAR ARRAYS ALSO MINIMIZED COST WHEN
COMPARED TO SCANNING ARRAYS OR REFLECTOR ANTENNAS )N SHORT FIX THE BEAMS AND LET THE
SATELLITES FLY THROUGH THEM )T HAS BEEN IN CONTINUOUS USE SINCE
! HITCHHIKER USING A COOPERATIVE RADAR TRANSMITTER IN THE CO SITE REGION WAS THE
-ULTISTATIC -EASUREMENT 3YSTEM --3 )T WAS INSTALLED AT THE 53 +WAJALEIN -ISSILE
2ANGE IN AS AN ADJUNCT TO THE 42!$%8 , BAND MONOSTATIC RADAR 42!$%8
OPERATED IN ITS NORMAL MONOSTATIC MODE ACQUIRING TRACKING AND ILLUMINATING BALLISTIC
MISSILE REENTRY VEHICLES 26S 4WO UNMANNED SLAVED RECEIVE STATIONS LOCATED ABOUT
KM FROM 42!$%8 RECEIVED ECHOES BISTATICALLY SCATTERED OFF THE 26 AND RECORDED
BISTATIC RANGE DOPPLER AND SIGNATURE DATA FROM 26S 4HIS DATA WAS USED TO CALCULATE
26 POSITION AND DYNAMICS NEAR THE ATMOSPHERIC PIERCE POINT OR START OF RE ENTRY 4HE
SYSTEM WAS PROJECTED TO MEASURE THREE DIMENSIONAL POSITION AND VELOCITY WITH ACCURA
CIES BETTER THAN M AND MS RESPECTIVELY THROUGHOUT RE ENTRY
&IELD TESTS SHOWED THAT --3 RANGE DATA COMBINED WITH 42!$%8S MONOSTATIC
RANGE DATA IN A TRILATERATION NET PROVIDED THE MOST ACCURATE ESTIMATE OF EXO ATMOSPHERIC
26 POSITIONS OBTAINED BY ANY OF THE RANGE RADARS --3 OPERATIONS WERE CONCLUDED IN
AFTER THE METRIC ACCURACY OF MONOSTATIC RADARS WAS IMPROVED
)N THE MID S A 0"2 USING A COOPERATIVE &- BROADCAST TRANSMITTER IN
THE CO SITE REGION WAS DEVELOPED BY THE 5NIVERSITY OF 7ASHINGTON #ALLED THE
-ANASTASH 2IDGE 2ADAR -22 IT IS DESIGNED TO STUDY TURBULENCE IN THE IONO
SPHERE SPECIFICALLY AURORAL % REGION IRREGULARITIES USING RANGE DOPPLER AND $/!
VIA INTERFEROMETRY MEASUREMENTS -OTIVATION FOR -22 DEVELOPMENT INCLUDED
LOWER COST INCREASED SAFETY SPECTRUM AVAILABILITY AND PEDAGOGICAL OPPORTUNITY
-22 PROVIDES RANGE TIME INTENSITY AND RANGE DOPPLER PLOTS TO THE 7ORLD 7IDE
7EB EVERY HALF HOUR !LTHOUGH IT IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE STRINGENT AIR DEFENSE REQUIRE
MENTS FOR ACCURATE LOCATION OF MULTIPLE TARGETS IN REAL TIME IT HAS DETECTED METEORS
AND AIRCRAFT IN THE COURSE OF NORMAL OPERATIONS
! SECOND 0"2 CALLED THE ($46 "ASED 0ASSIVE 2ADAR EXPLOITS A COOPERATIVE
HIGH DEFINITION 46 TRANSMITTER FOR AIR SURVEILLANCE IN THE CO SITE REGION )T USES RANGE
MULTILATERATION FROM FOUR RECEIVERS LOCATED WITHIN KM OF THE TRANSMITTER TO TRACK
LOW FLYING AIRCRAFT AND HELICOPTERS AS A GAP FILLER FOR MONOSTATIC AIR SURVEILLANCE
RADARS 0REDICTED DETECTION AND TRACKING RANGES OF KM ON A M TARGET HAVE BEEN
DEMONSTRATED IN REAL TIME WITH $ TRACKING ERRORS GENERALLY LESS THAN M #OARSE
TARGET ELEVATION HAS ALSO BEEN MEASURED $OPPLER DATA HAS BEEN USED TO RESOLVE GHOSTS
IE FALSE DETECTIONS THAT INEVITABLY ARISE WHEN USING MULTILATERATION ON UNAUGMENTED
TARGETS
0"2S HAVE USED SATELLITE COMMUNICATION TRANSMITTERS TO MEASURE CHARACTERISTICS
OF MOON AND PLANETARY SURFACES AND ATMOSPHERES IN BOTH THE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER
CENTERED REGIONS 4HE FIRST SUCCESSFUL PIGGYBACK OPERATION IN EXPLOITED DATA LINK
SIGNALS TRANSMITTED FROM THE ,UNA PROBE SCATTERED OFF THE MOONS SURFACE AND
THEN RECEIVED BY AN %ARTH BASED STATION IN A DOWN LINK MODE CHARACTERIZED BY THE
TRANSMITTER CENTERED OVAL OF #ASSINI 3UCH STATIONS INCLUDE THE !RECIBO /BSERVATORY
AND THE .!3! $EEP 3PACE .ETWORK 3UBSEQUENT MEASUREMENTS WERE MADE USING
,UNAR /RBITER %XPLORER AND !POLLO n -ARS BISTATIC RADAR MEASUREMENTS
WERE MADE USING -ARINER 6IKING -ARS 'LOBAL 3URVEYOR AND -ARS
%XPRESS 6ENUS MEASUREMENTS WERE MADE BY 6ENERAS -AGELLAN AND 6ENUS
%XPRESS &IGURE IS A SIMPLIFIED SCHEMATIC OF AN %ARTH BASED RECEIVER
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% "LOCK DIAGRAM OF A TYPICAL %ARTH BASED SYSTEM USED FOR DOWNLINK BISTATIC RADAR 4HE LOW
NOISE AMPLIFIER ,.! IS EITHER A COOLED MASER OR A FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR AND MAY BE SWITCHED BETWEEN THE
ANTENNA AND AN AMBIENT LOAD ALLOWING AMPLITUDE CALIBRATION OF THE INPUT $URING BISTATIC OPERATIONS A SIGNAL
FROM THE LOW LEVEL NOISE DIODE PREVIOUSLY CALIBRATED AGAINST THE AMBIENT LOAD MAY BE INJECTED TO MONITOR
REAL TIME PERFORMANCE OF THE SYSTEM -ICROWAVE INPUTS n '(Z ARE MIXED TO A -(Z INTERMEDIATE
FREQUENCY )& FOR AMPLIFICATION ! PROGRAMMABLE OSCILLATOR WHICH CAN CORRECT FOR FIRST ORDER DOPPLER EFFECTS
THEN MIXES THE )& SIGNAL TO BASEBAND AND DIGITAL SAMPLES ARE STORED FOR LATER PROCESSING !LTHOUGH AN ANALOG
TO DIGITAL CONVERSION IS SHOWN AT THE OUTPUT THE !$# MAY ACTUALLY TAKE PLACE AT ANY POINT IN THE SYSTEM
#OURTESY 3CI4ECH
! RECIPROCAL BUT MORE COMPLEX AND COSTLY UPLINK MODE USES A BISTATIC RECEIVER
CARRIED BY THE PROBE COLLECTING HIGH POWER %ARTH
TRANSMITTED COMMAND SIGNALS FIRST
SCATTERED OFF THE PLANETS SURFACE AND CHARACTERIZED BY THE RECEIVER
CENTERED OVAL OF
#ASSINI )T HAS AN ^ D" GREATER LINK MARGIN WHICH WAS FIRST USED FOR -ARS /DYSSEY
AND IS PLANNED FOR FUTURE PROBES )N BOTH CONFIGURATIONS EVEN THOUGH TWO LEGS OF THE
BISTATIC TRIANGLE ARE EXTRAORDINARILY LONG MILES THE THIRD LEG IS SUFFICIENTLY SHORT
^ MILES TO PRODUCE STRONG ECHOES AT THE RECEIVER
4HESE PIGGYBACK BISTATIC RADARS HAVE PROVIDED USEFUL DATA IN SIMPLE INEXPENSIVE
SURVEYS OF PLANETARY SURFACE PROPERTIES AS A PRELUDE TO ROBOTIC OR HUMAN EXPLORATION
SPECIFICALLY CENTIMETER
TO METER
SCALE ROUGHNESS AND MATERIAL DENSITIES IN THE TOP
FEW CENTIMETERS OF REGOLITH 3PECIAL GEOMETRIES SUCH AS NEAR
BACKSCATTER TO IDENTIFY
DEPOSITS OF CLEAN WATER ICE ARE ALSO A UNIQUE ADVANTAGE OF BISTATIC RADAR 4HE ABILITY TO
OBSERVE FORWARD SCATTERING AT LATITUDES AWAY FROM PLANETARY EQUATORS IS ALSO ADVANTA
GEOUS FOR PROBING SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS
x -//
"**
,
&IGURE DEFINES THE GEOMETRY FOR BISTATIC DOPPLER WHEN THE TARGET TRANSMITTER
AND RECEIVER ARE MOVING 4HE TARGET HAS A VELOCITY VECTOR OF MAGNITUDE 6 AND ASPECT
ANGLE C REFERENCED TO THE BISTATIC BISECTOR 4HE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER HAVE VELOCITY
VECTORS OF MAGNITUDE 64 AND 62 AND ASPECT ANGLES C 4 AND C 2 RESPECTIVELY REFERENCED
TO THE NORTH COORDINATE SYSTEM OF &IGURE !LL VECTORS ARE PROJECTIONS OF THE THREE
DIMENSION VECTORS ONTO THE BISTATIC PLANE
4ARGET $OPPLER 7HEN THE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER ARE STATIONARY 64 62
THE TARGETS BISTATIC DOPPLER AT THE RECEIVE SITE F" IS
F" 6K COS C COS A
")34!4)# 2!$!2
&)'52% 'EOMETRY FOR BISTATIC DOPPLER IN THE
BISTATIC PLANE
4HE TERM F" ALSO DEFINES THE DOPPLER BEAT FREQUENCY WHICH IS PRODUCED BY MIX
ING THE TARGETS DOPPLER WITH THE DIRECT PATH SIGNAL IN THE RECEIVER 7ILLIS PROVIDES AN
EXPRESSION FOR F" WHEN ALL THREE SITES ARE IN MOTION %QUATION SHOWS THAT
7HEN A n F" REDUCES TO THE MONOSTATIC CASE FOR A MONOSTATIC RADAR LOCATED ON THE
BISTATIC BISECTOR 4HE MAGNITUDE OF THE BISTATIC DOPPLER IS NEVER GREATER THAN THAT OF
THIS MONOSTATIC DOPPLER
7HEN A n F" FOR ANY C WHICH IS THE FORWARD
SCATTER CASE
7HEN C o n THE BISTATIC DOPPLER IS ZERO 3INCE THESE VELOCITY VECTORS ARE ALSO
TANGENT TO A RANGE
SUM ELLIPSE AT THIS POINT ALL SUCH ELLIPSES INCLUDING THE BASELINE
BECOME CONTOURS OF ZERO TARGET DOPPLER
7HEN C n THE BISTATIC DOPPLER IS A MAXIMUM 3INCE THIS VELOCITY VECTOR IS ALSO
TANGENT TO A HYPERBOLA ORTHOGONAL TO THE RANGE
SUM ELLIPSE AT THIS POINT ALL SUCH
HYPERBOLAS BECOME CONTOURS OF MAXIMUM TARGET DOPPLER
7HEN C o A n THE VELOCITY VECTOR IS POINTED AT THE TRANSMITTER OR RECEIVER AND
F" 6K COSA WHICH OCCASIONALLY APPEARS IN THE LITERATURE AS A SPECIAL CASE
OF %Q
)F A MONOSTATIC RADAR IS LOCATED AT THE TRANSMIT SITE AND A BISTATIC HITCHHIKER IS
LOCATED AT THE RECEIVE SITE BOTH MEASURING TARGET DOPPLER F- AND F" RESPECTIVELY THE
TWO MEASUREMENTS CAN BE COMBINED TO ESTIMATE THE TARGET VELOCITY VECTOR 6 C IN THE
BISTATIC PLANE /NE SUCH ESTIMATE IS
C TAN [; F- F" SINA = COTA ]
6 K F" COSC K F- COSC A
WHERE A IS OBTAINED BY SOLVING THE BISTATIC TRIANGLE FOR EXAMPLE BY USING MONO
STATIC RANGE MONOSTATIC ,/3 AND AN ESTIMATE OF THE BASELINE ! THIRD HITCHHIKING
SITE ALLOWS THE TARGET VELOCITY VECTOR TO BE MEASURED IN THREE DIMENSIONS 4HIS PRO
CESS IS CALLED DUAL DOPPLER FOR TWO MEASUREMENTS AND MULTIPLE DOPPLER FOR THREE OR
MORE MEASUREMENTS AND HAS BEEN USED TO MEASURE THREE DIMENSIONAL VECTOR WIND
FIELDS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)SODOPPLER #ONTOURS 7HEN THE TARGET IS STATIONARY AND THE TRANSMITTER AND
RECEIVER ARE MOVING EG ON AIRBORNE PLATFORMS THE BISTATIC DOPPLER SHIFT AT THE
RECEIVER SITE F42 IS
F 42 64 K COS C 3 P 4 62 K COS C 2 P 2
WHERE TERMS ARE DEFINED IN &IGURE
4HE LOCUS OF POINTS FOR CONSTANT DOPPLER SHIFT ON THE %ARTHS SURFACE IS CALLED AN
ISODOPPLER CONTOUR OR ISODOP #LUTTER RETURNS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY THESE ISODOPS
WHICH ARE CALLED CLUTTER DOPPLER SHIFT )N THE MONOSTATIC CASE AND A FLAT %ARTH THESE
ISODOPS ARE CONIC SECTIONS IN THREE DIMENSIONS AND RADIAL LINES EMANATING FROM THE
RADAR IN TWO DIMENSIONS "ECAUSE THESE ISODOPS ARE ALIGNED WITH THE RADARS LOOK
ANGLE THE CLUTTER IS CALLED STATIONARY )N THE BISTATIC CASE THE ISODOPS ARE SKEWED
AWAY FROM THE LOOK ANGLE DEPENDING UPON THE GEOMETRY AND PLATFORM MOTION AND
THE CLUTTER IS CALLED NONSTATIONARY "ISTATIC ISODOPS ARE DEVELOPED ANALYTICALLY FOR
TWO DIMENSIONS AND A FLAT EARTH BY SETTING F42 CONSTANT IN %Q AND SOLVING
FOR P2 OR P 4 IF APPROPRIATE
&IGURE IS A PLOT OF BISTATIC ISODOPS IN A TWO
DIMENSIONAL BISTATIC PLANE IE
WHERE THE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER ARE AT ZERO OR NEAR
ZERO ALTITUDE FOR THE FOLLOWING
CONDITIONS 64 62 MS C 4 C 2 AND K M
$IMENSION OF THE GRID ON THE BISTATIC PLANE IS ARBITRARY THAT IS THE ISODOPS ARE INVARI
ANT WITH SCALE /N THE LEFT AND RIGHT SIDES OF &IGURE THE ISODOPS ARE APPROXIMATELY
STATIONARY WHICH ARE PSEUDO
MONOSTATIC OPERATING POINTS %LSEWHERE THE ISODOPS ARE
NONSTATIONARY )N THESE NONSTATIONARY REGIONS THE QUALITY OF BISTATIC 3!2 IMAGERY IS
LIMITED AND MOVING TARGET INDICATION -4) PERFORMANCE IS DEGRADED WHEN USING STAN
DARD MONOSTATIC RADAR PROCESSING TECHNIQUES
&)'52% "ISTATIC ISODOPPLER CONTOURS FOR TWO DIMENSIONS AND A FLAT
EARTH #OURTESY ,EE 2 -OYER 4ECHNOLOGY 3ERVICE #ORP
")34!4)# 2!$!2
2ESEARCH WAS STARTED IN THE S TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF BISTATIC 3!2 IMAGES
WHICH WERE CONSTRAINED TO COHERENT INTEGRATION TIMES OF A FEW SECONDS AND CONSE
QUENTLY WERE OF LIMITED TACTICAL INTEREST 3PECIFICALLY LOCAL OSCILLATOR PHASE INSTABILITIES
WERE REDUCED AND BISTATIC AUTOMATIC FOCUSING AUTOFOCUS ALGORITHMS WERE DEVELOPED
TO IMPROVE RANGE MEASUREMENT ACCURACY FROM THE ANTENNA PHASE CENTER TO THE IMAGED
SCENE "ISTATIC AUTOFOCUS REQUIRES THAT THE POSITION OF BOTH TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE PLAT
FORMS MUST BE TRACKED WITH SUBWAVELENGTH RELATIVE ACCURACY TO CORRECT TIME
VARYING
PHASE ERRORS AS PART OF THE IMAGE FORMATION PROCESS 4HE RESULT ALLOWED AN INCREASE
IN COHERENT INTEGRATION TIMES COMPARABLE TO MONOSTATIC 3!2 TYPICALLY SECONDS
#ONSEQUENTLY BISTATIC 3!2 IMAGE QUALITY WAS GREATLY IMPROVED AS REPORTED BY "
2IGLING IN #HAPTER OF 7ILLIS AND 'RIFFITHS
"ISTATIC SPACE
TIME ADAPTIVE PROCESSING 34!0 WAS ALSO DEVELOPED TO IMPROVE
-4) PERFORMANCE OF SEPARATELY MOVING TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE PLATFORMS 3INCE BISTATIC
CLUTTER EXHIBITS NONSTATIONARY SPACE
TIME CHARACTERISTICS BISTATIC 34!0 METHODS ARE
NOT SIMPLE APPLICATIONS OF MONOSTATIC APPROACHES BUT A NEW CLASS OF ALGORITHMS
3PECIFICALLY THEY APPLY A DATA
DEPENDENT WEIGHTING TO VOLTAGES COLLECTED OVER MUL
TIPLE RECEIVE ANTENNA CHANNELS AND PULSES 4HIS WEIGHTING DYNAMICALLY TAILORS A FILTER
RESPONSE IN ANGLE AND BISTATIC DOPPLER TO SUPPRESS GROUND CLUTTER REFLECTIONS $IGITAL
BEAMFORMING IS REQUIRED FOR THIS OPERATION /THER NECESSARY ELEMENTS INCLUDE A
MEANS TO ESTIMATE THE SPATIO
TEMPORAL CLUTTER COVARIANCE MATRIX THE DATA
DEPENDENT
ELEMENT OF THE FILTER WEIGHTING AND HYPOTHESIS OF THE TARGET STEERING VECTOR )N GENERAL
AUXILIARY DATA TAKEN FROM RANGE BINS OTHER THAN THE CELL UNDER TEST IS USED TO ESTIMATE
THE UNKNOWN BUT CRITICAL CLUTTER COVARIANCE MATRIX 7ITH COMPENSATION FOR NONSTA
TIONARY BEHAVIOR BISTATIC CLUTTER SUPPRESSION HAS BEEN GREATLY IMPROVED AS REPORTED BY
7 -ELVIN IN #HAPTER OF 7ILLIS AND 'RIFFITHS
/,
/ "
/"
"ISTATIC ,OCATION ! BISTATIC RECEIVER TYPICALLY USES RANGE SUM 24 22 FOR TAR
GET LOCATION WHICH CAN BE ESTIMATED BY TWO METHODS )N THE DIRECT METHOD THE RECEIVER
MEASURES THE TIME INTERVAL $4RT BETWEEN RECEPTION OF THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL AND RECEP
TION OF THE TARGET ECHO )T THEN CALCULATES THE RANGE SUM AS 24 22 C$4RT , 4HIS
METHOD CAN BE USED WITH ANY SUITABLE MODULATED TRANSMISSION AND ANY TYPE OF TRANS
MITTER DEDICATED COOPERATIVE OR NONCOOPERATIVE GIVEN AN ADEQUATE ,/3 BETWEEN
TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER )N THE INDIRECT METHOD PRESYNCHRONIZED STABLE CLOCKS ARE
USED BY THE RECEIVER AND A DEDICATED TRANSMITTER 4HE RECEIVER MEASURES THE TIME INTER
VAL $4TT BETWEEN THE TRANSMISSION OF A SIGNAL AND RECEPTION OF THE TARGET ECHO )T THEN
CALCULATES THE RANGE SUM AS 24 22 C$4TT ! TRANSMITTER
TO
RECEIVER ,/3 IS NOT
REQUIRED UNLESS PERIODIC CLOCK SYNCHRONIZATION IS IMPLEMENTED OVER THE DIRECT PATH
4HE TRADITIONAL METHOD FOR CONVERTING TARGET RANGE SUM INTO TARGET RANGE FROM THE
RECEIVER 22 IS
22
24 22
,
24 22 , SINP 2
4HE BASELINE , CAN BE DETERMINED USING '03 OR OTHER METHODS SUCH AS AN EMITTER LOCA
TOR FOR NONCOOPERATIVE TRANSMITTERS !S OUTLINED IN 3ECTION THE RECEIVER LOOK ANGLE
P2 CAN BE MEASURED DIRECTLY WITH A PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA THAT SCANS IN TWO DIMENSIONS
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
OR TARGET AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION MEASUREMENTS CAN BE CONVERTED TO P2 "EAM
SPLITTING
TECHNIQUES CAN BE USED TO REDUCE THE MEASUREMENT ERROR %VEN WITH BEAM
SPLITTING P2 IS
THE CRITICAL PARAMETER ESTABLISHING ACCURACY OF THE 22 ESTIMATE SINCE AS IN THE MONOSTATIC
CASE ITS ERROR IS PROPORTIONAL TO TARGET RANGE ! FULL ERROR ANALYSIS OF %Q IS GIVEN
IN 3ECTION OF 7ILLIS .O BISTATIC RADAR OPERATING AUTONOMOUSLY HAS BEEN SHOWN TO
PROVIDE ADEQUATE LOCATION OF AIR OR SPACE TARGETS WITHOUT EMPLOYING RECEIVE APERTURES
COMPARABLE IN SIZE TO MONOSTATIC RECEIVE APERTURES USED FOR THOSE PURPOSES
)N THE SPECIAL CASE OF A BISTATIC RADAR USING THE DIRECT RANGE SUM ESTIMATION METHOD
WHEN 24 22 y , %Q CAN BE APPROXIMATED AS
22
C$4RT
SIN P 2
4WO EXAMPLES ARE A RECEIVER OPERATING IN AN OVER THE SHOULDER GEOMETRY AND THE
TRANSMITTER OPERATING ON A SATELLITE WITH THE RECEIVER AND TARGET NEAR THE EARTH 4HE ERROR
IN %Q IS LESS THAN PERCENT FOR n P2 n AND , 24 22 OR C$4RT
4HE ERROR GROWS RAPIDLY FOR P2 n
/THER TARGET LOCATION TECHNIQUES ARE POSSIBLE n &OR EXAMPLE WHEN A
BISTATIC HITCHHIKER EXPLOITS THE TRANSMITTER OF A MONOSTATIC RADAR THE RADARS LOOK ANGLE
P4 CAN BE USED IN PLACE OF OR IN CONJUNCTION WITH P2 !N EXAMPLE OF THE LATTER IS THE
THETA THETA LOCATION TECHNIQUE WHERE
22 , COSP 4 SIN P4 P2
AND P4 P2 A ! DEDICATED OR COOPERATIVE MONOSTATIC RADAR CAN PROVIDE VALUES OF
P 4 DIRECTLY TO THE HITCHHIKER /THERWISE THE HITCHHIKER MUST ESTIMATE THE VALUE FOR
EXAMPLE VIA AN EMITTER LOCATOR MEASURING THE RADARS ANTENNA SCAN RATE WHEN IT IS PRE
DICTABLE )N THIS CASE TARGET LOCATION ACCURACY IS OFTEN SET BY THE P 4 ESTIMATION ERROR
-ULTISTATIC ,OCATION -ULTISTATIC LOCATION TYPICALLY USES MULTIPLE TRANSMITTERS
OPERATING WITH ONE RECEIVER OR MULTIPLE RECEIVERS OPERATING WITH ONE TRANSMITTER %LLIPSES
OF CONSTANT RANGE SUM IE ISORANGE CONTOURS FROM EACH TRANSMITTER RECEIVER PAIR ARE CAL
CULATED AND COMBINED AT A CENTRAL SITE TO PRODUCE INTERSECTING CONTOURS WHICH LOCATE THE
TARGET
-ULTISTATIC CROSS RANGE LOCATION CAN BE MORE ACCURATE THAN MONOSTATIC OR BISTATIC
CROSS RANGE LOCATION SINCE ANGLE DATA WITH ITS RANGE DEPENDENT ACCURACY IS NOT USED 4HE
MULTISTATIC RADAR MUST HOWEVER USE MULTIPLE PROPERLY LOCATED SITES WITH BOTH OVERLAP
PING COVERAGE AND SIMULTANEOUS MEASUREMENTS WHICH IN TURN REQUIRE BROAD TRANSMIT AND
RECEIVE BEAMS TO ACHIEVE THIS ACCURACY 4HESE REQUIREMENTS USUALLY COMBINE TO RESTRICT
MULTISTATIC AIR SURVEILLANCE PERFORMANCE TO SHORT OR MEDIUM RANGES
'EOMETRIC DILUTION OF PRECISION '$/0 ESTABLISHES MULTISTATIC LOCATION ACCURACY
AND RESOLUTION AND IS DEVELOPED BY $ "ARTON IN #HAPTER OF 7ILLIS AND 'RIFFITHS
'$/0 IS A FUNCTION OF THE ANGLE OF INTERSECTION @ BETWEEN ISORANGE CONTOURS "ECAUSE
THE BISECTOR OF A BISTATIC ANGLE IS ORTHOGONAL TO AN ISORANGE CONTOUR '$/0 CAN READILY
BE DETERMINED BY THE ANGLE OF INTERSECTION ALSO @ OF THESE BISTATIC BISECTORS )N THE
SIMPLEST CASE THE DOWN RANGE ERROR RDR IS PROPORTIONAL TO ; COS @ = AND CROSS
RANGE ERROR RCR IS PROPORTIONAL TO ; SIN @ =
)SORANGE CONTOURS INTERSECT AT OTHER LOCATIONS AS WELL 4HESE NONTARGET LOCATIONS ARE CALLED GHOSTS WHICH MUST BE
EXCISED 4HIS SUBJECT IS TREATED IN #HAPTER OF 7ILLIS AND 'RIFFITHS
")34!4)# 2!$!2
&OR EXAMPLE WHEN THE TARGET IS SURROUNDED ON THREE SIDES BY A RECEIVE SITE A
TRANSMIT SITE AND ANOTHER RECEIVE SITE SUCH THAT @ RDR RCR 4HIS GEOMETRY
REPRESENTS THE OPTIMUM CASE OF A UNITY '$/0 FACTOR YIELDING A CIRCULAR ERROR ELLIPSE
WITH RADIUS EQUAL TO THE RANGE ERROR OF ONE TRANSMIT
RECEIVE PAIR )N CONTRAST WHEN THE
TARGET IS LOCATED SOME DISTANCE FROM THE THREE SITES @ IS REDUCED &OR EXAMPLE WHEN
@ RDR AND RCR 4HUS THE DOWN
RANGE ERROR IS SLIGHTLY REDUCED BUT
THE CROSS
RANGE ERROR IS GREATLY INCREASED NOT UNLIKE THAT OF A RADAR USING ANGLE DATA TO
ESTABLISH CROSS
RANGE ACCURACY
4HESE EXAMPLES ALSO APPLY WHEN GROUND
BASED MULTISTATIC SITES ATTEMPT TO MEA
SURE TARGET ALTITUDE 7HEN THE SITES SURROUND THE TARGET FOR EXAMPLE WHEN POSITIONED
AROUND THE LAUNCH SITE OF A BALLISTIC MISSILE @ REMAINS RELATIVELY LARGE DURING THE
MISSILES LAUNCH PHASE YIELDING PRECISE ALTITUDE ESTIMATES 7HEN THE SITES ARE SOME
DISTANCE FROM THE TARGET FOR EXAMPLE WHEN CONDUCTING AIR OR MISSILE SURVEILLANCE @ IS
SMALL YIELDING POOR ALTITUDE ESTIMATES
"OTH BISTATIC AND MULTISTATIC RADARS CAN POTENTIALLY ACHIEVE EVEN BETTER LOCATION
ACCURACY BY USING NARROW
BAND DOPPLER TRACKING UNDER THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS
7HEN INTEGRATING DOPPLER DATA INITIAL CONDITIONS THE PESKY CONSTANT OF INTEGRA
TION CAN BE ESTABLISHED WITH SUFFICIENT ACCURACY 7HEN TAKING SEQUENTIAL DOPPLER
MEASUREMENTS THE TARGETS VELOCITY VECTOR REMAINS CONSTANT OR PREDICTABLE &OR
EXAMPLE MANY DOPPLER
ONLY PRECISION RANGE INSTRUMENTATION SYSTEMS WERE DEVELOPED
IN THE 53 AFTER 77)) "OTH BEACON
AIDED AND SKIN
TRACK SYSTEMS WERE DEVELOPED
!LL REQUIRED INITIALIZATION OF THE TRACK DATA WHICH WAS CONVENIENTLY PROVIDED BY THE
TARGETS LAUNCH COORDINATES (OWEVER IF THE TARGET RETURN MOMENTARILY FADED OR THE
TRANSPONDER SIGNAL WAS INTERRUPTED DURING FLIGHT SO THAT TRACK WAS LOST THERE WAS NO
WAY TO REINITIALIZE NEW TRACK DATA AND SUBSEQUENT LOCATION ESTIMATES BECAME BIASED OR
WERE LOST 4HESE SYSTEMS WERE SUBSEQUENTLY REPLACED WITH PRECISION MONOSTATIC RADARS
AND OPTICAL TRACKERS
/,
/
,"---
/"
{]x]]qn
4HE BISTATIC RADAR CROSS SECTION 2#3 OF A TARGET R" IS A MEASURE AS IS THE MONOSTATIC
RADAR CROSS SECTION R- OF THE ENERGY SCATTERED FROM THE TARGET IN THE DIRECTION OF THE
RECEIVER "ISTATIC CROSS SECTIONS ARE MORE COMPLEX THAN MONOSTATIC CROSS SECTIONS IN
THE OPTICAL REGION SINCE R" IS A FUNCTION OF ASPECT ANGLE AND BISTATIC ANGLE A
4HREE
BISTATIC 2#3 REGIONS ARE OF INTEREST IN THE OPTICAL REGION PSEUDO MONOSTATIC BISTATIC
AND FORWARD SCATTER %ACH REGION IS DEFINED BY THE BISTATIC ANGLE 4HE EXTENT OF EACH
REGION IS SET PRIMARILY BY THE TARGETS PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
0SEUDO -ONOSTATIC 2#3 2EGION 4HE #RISPIN AND 3IEGAL MONOSTATIC BISTATIC
EQUIVALENCE THEOREM APPLIES IN THE PSEUDO MONOSTATIC REGION FOR VANISHINGLY SMALL
WAVELENGTHS THE BISTATIC 2#3 OF A SUFFICIENTLY SMOOTH PERFECTLY CONDUCTING TARGET IS
EQUAL TO THE MONOSTATIC 2#3 MEASURED ON THE BISECTOR OF THE BISTATIC ANGLE 3UFFICIENTLY
SMOOTH TARGETS INCLUDE SPHERES ELLIPTIC CYLINDERS CONES AND OGIVES ALLOWING THE
REGION TO EXTEND OUT TO A n AND OCCASIONALLY OUT TO A n n
(OWEVER IN THE RESONANCE REGION TYPICALLY AT 6(& AND LOW 5(& FOR MANY AIR TARGETS VARIATIONS IN A ^n HAVE
LITTLE EFFECT ON R" SUCH THAT R" y R-
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&OR TARGETS OF MORE COMPLEX STRUCTURE THE EXTENT OF THE PSEUDO MONOSTATIC REGION
IS REDUCED ! VARIATION OF THE EQUIVALENCE THEOREM DEVELOPED BY +ELL APPLIES TO SMALL
BISTATIC ANGLES IN SOME CASES AS SMALL AS n THE BISTATIC 2#3 OF A COMPLEX TARGET IS
EQUAL TO THE MONOSTATIC 2#3 MEASURED ON THE BISECTOR OF THE BISTATIC ANGLE AT A FRE
QUENCY LOWER BY A FACTOR OF COS A
+ELLS COMPLEX TARGETS ARE DEFINED AS AN ASSEMBLY OF DISCRETE SCATTERING CENTERS
SIMPLE CENTERS SUCH AS FLAT PLATES REFLEX CENTERS SUCH AS CORNER REFLECTORS SKEWED
REFLEX CENTERS SUCH AS A DIHEDRAL WITH CORNER w n AND STATIONARY PHASE REGIONS FOR
CREEPING WAVES 7HEN THE WAVELENGTH IS SMALL COMPARED TO TARGET DIMENSIONS THESE
COMPLEX TARGET MODELS APPROXIMATE CONVENTIONAL AIRCRAFT SHIPS GROUND VEHICLES AND
SOME MISSILES 4HE TARGETS CAN BE COMPOSED OF CONDUCTING AND DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
!T SMALL BISTATIC ANGLES THE COS A FREQUENCY REDUCTION TERM HAS LITTLE EFFECT IN
+ELLS PSEUDO MONOSTATIC REGION &OR EXAMPLE A n BISTATIC ANGLE CORRESPONDS TO A
SHIFT IN WAVELENGTH AND USUALLY CAN BE IGNORED "OTH VERSIONS OF THE EQUIVALENCE
THEOREM ARE VALID WHEN THE POSITIONS OF THE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER ARE INTERCHANGED
GIVEN THAT THE TARGET SCATTERING MEDIA ARE RECIPROCAL -OST MEDIA ARE RECIPROCAL
%XCEPTIONS ARE GYROTROPIC MEDIA SUCH AS FERRITE MATERIALS AND THE IONOSPHERE
"ISTATIC 2#3 2EGION 4HE BISTATIC ANGLE AT WHICH THE EQUIVALENCE THEOREM FAILS
TO PREDICT THE BISTATIC 2#3 IDENTIFIES THE START OF THE SECOND BISTATIC REGION )N THIS
REGION THE BISTATIC 2#3 DIVERGES FROM THE MONOSTATIC 2#3 +ELL IDENTIFIED THREE
SOURCES OF THIS DIVERGENCE FOR COMPLEX TARGETS AND FOR A TARGET ASPECT ANGLE FIXED WITH
RESPECT TO THE BISTATIC BISECTOR 4HESE SOURCES ARE CHANGES IN RELATIVE PHASE BETWEEN
DISCRETE SCATTERING CENTERS CHANGES IN RADIATION FROM DISCRETE SCATTERING CENTERS
AND CHANGES IN THE EXISTENCE OF CENTERSAPPEARANCE OF NEW CENTERS OR DISAPPEAR
ANCE OF THOSE PREVIOUSLY PRESENT
4HE FIRST SOURCE IS ANALOGOUS TO FLUCTUATIONS IN MONOSTATIC 2#3 AS THE TARGET ASPECT
ANGLE CHANGES BUT NOW THE EFFECT IS CAUSED BY A CHANGE IN BISTATIC ANGLE 4HE SECOND
SOURCE OCCURS WHEN FOR EXAMPLE THE DISCRETE SCATTERING CENTER INCLUDING FLAT PLATES
RETRO REFLECTS ENERGY TOWARD THE TRANSMITTER AND THE RECEIVER IS POSITIONED OUTSIDE THE
RETRO REFLECTED BEAMWIDTH THUS THE RECEIVED ENERGY IS REDUCED 4HE THIRD SOURCE IS
TYPICALLY CAUSED BY SHADOWING FOR EXAMPLE BY AN AIRCRAFT FUSELAGE BLOCKING ONE OF
THE BISTATIC PATHSTRANSMITTER OR RECEIVER ,/3 TO A SCATTERING CENTER
)N GENERAL THIS DIVERGENCE RESULTS IN A BISTATIC 2#3 LOWER THAN THE MONOSTATIC 2#3
FOR COMPLEX TARGETS &OR EXAMPLE %WELL AND :EHNER MEASURED THE MONOSTATIC AND
BISTATIC 2#3 OF COASTAL FREIGHTERS AT 8 BAND WHEN BOTH THE TRANSMITTER AND THE RECEIVER
WERE NEAR GRAZING INCIDENCE 4HE DATA WAS PLOTTED AS A RATIO OF BISTATIC TO MONOSTATIC
2#3 R"R- 4HE MEASUREMENTS GENERALLY MATCH +ELLS MODEL OF THE DATA POINTS
SHOW BISTATIC 2#3 LOWER THAN MONOSTATIC 2#3 4HE REDUCTION IN BISTATIC 2#3 STARTS
BETWEEN A n AND A n AND TRENDS DOWNWARD TO R"R- D" AT A n
4HIS RATHER SEVERE LOSS WAS MEASURED UNDER SPECIAL CONDITIONS LOW GRAZING ANGLES
FOR TARGETS WITH VERTICAL SURFACES AND DIHEDRALS AND TRIHEDRALS WHICH GENERATE A LARGE
MONOSTATIC 2#3 4HUS THE BISTATIC 2#3 BECOMES SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER AS THE BISTATIC
ANGLE INCREASES DUE TO SHADOWING AND LOSS OF THESE SPECULARS AND RETRO REFLECTORS
"ISTATIC LOSSES SHOULD NOT BE AS SEVERE FOR TARGETS WITH BLENDED SURFACES AND A LESS
COMPLEX STRUCTURE SUCH AS COMBAT AIRCRAFT
'LINT 2EDUCTION IN THE "ISTATIC 2#3 2EGION ! SECOND EFFECT CAN OCCUR IN THE
BISTATIC REGION 7HEN THE BISTATIC 2#3 REDUCTION IS CAUSED BY A LOSS OR ATTENUATION OF
")34!4)# 2!$!2
LARGE DISCRETE SCATTERING CENTERS FOR EXAMPLE THROUGH SHADOWING TARGET GLINT IS OFTEN
REDUCED 4ARGET GLINT IS THE ANGULAR DISPLACEMENT IN APPARENT PHASE CENTER OF A TARGET
RETURN AND IS CAUSED BY THE PHASE INTERFERENCE BETWEEN TWO OR MORE DOMINANT SCATTERS
WITHIN A RADAR RESOLUTION CELL !S THE TARGET ASPECT ANGLE CHANGES THIS PHASE INTERFER
ENCE CHANGES SHIFTING THE APPARENT PHASE CENTER OFTEN WITH EXCURSIONS BEYOND THE
PHYSICAL EXTENT OF THE TARGET 4HESE EXCURSIONS CAN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE ERRORS IN
ANGLE TRACKING OR MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS 7HEN THE RETURNS FROM DOMINANT SCATTERERS
ARE REDUCED IN THE BISTATIC REGION THE SOURCE AND HENCE THE MAGNITUDE OF GLINT EXCUR
SIONS IS REDUCED -EASUREMENTS WITH TACTICAL AIRCRAFT SHOWED THAT FOR A n BISTATIC
ANGLE PEAK GLINT EXCURSIONS COULD BE REDUCED BY A FACTOR OF OR MORE WITH MOST OF
THE EXCURSIONS CONTAINED WITHIN THE PHYSICAL EXTENT OF THE TARGET 4HIS REDUCTION CAN
BE EXPLOITED IN A SEMI ACTIVE HOMING MISSILE BY MODIFYING ITS TRAJECTORY TO MAINTAIN
A nn DURING ENDGAME
&ORWARD 3CATTER 2#3 2EGION 4HE THIRD BISTATIC 2#3 REGION FORWARD SCATTER
OCCURS WHEN THE BISTATIC ANGLE APPROACHES n 7HEN A n 3IEGEL SHOWED
BASED ON PHYSICAL OPTICS THAT THE FORWARD SCATTER 2#3 R& OF A TARGET WITH SILHOUETTE
OR SHADOW AREA ! IS
R& O !K
WHERE K THE WAVELENGTH IS SMALL COMPARED WITH THE TARGET DIMENSIONS 4HE TARGETS
CAN BE EITHER SMOOTH OR COMPLEX STRUCTURES AND FROM THE APPLICATION OF "ABINETS
PRINCIPLE CAN BE TOTALLY ABSORBING
&OR A n THE FORWARD SCATTER 2#3 ROLLS OFF FROM R& 4HE ROLLOFF IS APPROXI
MATED BY TREATING THE SHADOW AREA ! AS A UNIFORMLY ILLUMINATED ANTENNA APERTURE 4HE
RADIATION PATTERN OF THIS SHADOW APERTURE IS EQUAL TO THE FORWARD SCATTER 2#3 ROLLOFF
WHEN O A IS SUBSTITUTED FOR THE ANGLE OFF THE APERTURE NORMAL ! SPHERE OF RADIUS
A WILL ROLL OFF D" AT O A y K O A WHEN AK 4HE ROLL OFF CONTINUES APPROXI
MATING *X X DOWN TO A y n WHERE * IS A "ESSEL FUNCTION OF ZERO ORDER ! LINEAR
APERTURE OF LENGTH $ WITH ASPECT ANGLE ORTHOGONAL TO THE TRANSMITTER ,/3 WILL ROLL OFF
D" AT O A K $ WHEN $K 4HE FORWARD SCATTER 2#3 ROLLOFF CONTINUES
WITH SIDELOBES APPROXIMATING SIN XX OVER THE FORWARD SCATTER QUADRANT A n
&OR OTHER ASPECT ANGLES AND TARGETS WITH COMPLEX SHADOW APERTURES CALCULATION OF THE
FORWARD SCATTER 2#3 ROLLOFF USUALLY REQUIRES SIMULATION
4HE FORWARD SCATTER 2#3 OF MORE COMPLEX BODIES HAS BEEN SIMULATED AND MEA
SURED THE BODIES WERE BOTH REFLECTING AND ABSORBING n &IGURE SHOWS A
METHOD OF MOMENTS SIMULATION OF A BY CM CYLINDER WITH FACETS AT '(Z
FOR THREE FIXED TRANSMITTER TO TARGET GEOMETRIES A NEAR END ON B n ASPECT ANGLE
AND C BROADSIDE !LL THREE BISTATIC REGIONS ARE SHOWN IN THE FIGURE )N THE BROADSIDE
GEOMETRY THE PSEUDO MONOSTATIC REGION OCCURS AT A n BISTATIC AT n A n
AND FORWARD SCATTER AT A n 4HE OTHER TWO GEOMETRIES SHOW A SIMILAR BUT BROADER
FORWARD SCATTER LOBE AS IS EXPECTED SINCE THE SILHOUETTE AREA AND HENCE THE SHADOWING
APERTURE ARE SMALLER 4HE n ASPECT GEOMETRY IS OF INTEREST BECAUSE THE 2#3 IN THE
BISTATIC REGIONS IS LARGER THAN THE MONOSTATIC 2#3 FOR MOST BISTATIC ANGLES 4HE LARGE
SPIKE AT A n IS THE BISTATIC SPECULAR LOBE ANALOGOUS TO THE MONOSTATIC SPECULAR LOBE
IN THE BROADSIDE GEOMETRY 7HILE &IGURE SHOWS THE CLEAR DEPENDENCY OF BISTATIC
2#3 ON BOTH ASPECT AND BISTATIC ANGLES IT ALSO SERVES TO CAUTION AGAINST ATTEMPTS TO USE
OVERSIMPLIFIED BISTATIC 2#3 MODELS ESPECIALLY IN THE BISTATIC REGION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 3IMULATED BISTATIC 2#3 REPLOTTED AS A FUNCTION OF BISTATIC ANGLE FOR A CONDUCTING CYLINDER
BY CM AT '(Z (( POLARIZATION AFTER 2 # 0ADDISON ET AL A NEAR END ON B ASPECT
ANGLE AND C BROADSIDE
n -1,
1//
,
4HE BISTATIC RADAR CROSS SECTION OF SURFACE CLUTTER RC IS A MEASURE AS IS THE MONOSTATIC
RADAR CLUTTER CROSS SECTION OF THE ENERGY SCATTERED FROM A CLUTTER CELL AREA !C IN THE DIREC
TION OF THE RECEIVER )T IS DEFINED AS S C S " !C WHERE S " IS THE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT
OR THE CLUTTER CROSS SECTION PER UNIT AREA OF THE ILLUMINATED SURFACE 4HE CLUTTER CELL AREA
!C HAS BEEN DEVELOPED FOR BEAM
AND RANGE
LIMITED CASES AND IS REPORTED ELSEWHERE
$OPPLER
LIMITED CASES ARE A FUNCTION OF PLATFORM MOTION WHICH IN TURN DEPEND ON A
SPECIFIC SCENARIO #ONSEQUENTLY THEY ARE MODELED ON A CASE
BY
CASE BASIS
"ISTATIC 3CATTERING #OEFFICIENT 6ALUES OF THE SCATTERING COEFFICIENT S " VARY AS A
FUNCTION OF THE SURFACE COMPOSITION FREQUENCY AND GEOMETRY AND ARE OBTAINED THROUGH
FIELD MEASUREMENT PROGRAMS )N - - 7EINER DOCUMENTED AND EVALUATED ALL
UNCLASSIFIED MEASUREMENTS OF S " HOWEVER ITS USE WAS RESTRICTED TO 53 GOVERNMENT
AGENCIES )N 7ILLIS USED 7EINERS REFERENCES TO RECONSTRUCT AND EVALUATE TYPICAL
DATA FROM 7EINERS WORK WHICH BECAME AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC USE IN 7ILLIS )N
7EINERS WORK WAS CLEARED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE MAKING AVAILABLE IN ONE DOCUMENT ALL
UNCLASSIFIED S " DATA AND ANALYSIS THROUGH 7EINER THEN UPDATED HIS WORK WITH DATA
AVAILABLE THROUGH AND REPUBLISHED IT IN #HAPTER OF !DVANCES IN "ISTATIC 2ADAR
4HIS SECTION SUMMARIZES AND COMMENTS ON ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF 7EINERS WORK
")34!4)# 2!$!2
4HE AVAILABLE DATABASE FOR TERRAIN
AND SEA CLUTTER AT MICROWAVE FREQUEN
CIES CONSISTS OF NINE MEASUREMENT
PROGRAMS WHICH ARE SUMMARIZED IN
4ABLE 4HE MEASUREMENT ANGLES
SHOWN IN 4ABLE ARE DEFINED IN
&IGURE WHICH IS A CLUTTER
CENTERED
COORDINATE SYSTEM SIMILAR TO THOSE
USED IN ALL THE MEASUREMENT PROGRAMS
"ECAUSE TERRAIN AND SEA ARE RECIPROCAL
MEDIA PI AND PS ARE INTERCHANGEABLE IN
THE SUBSEQUENT DATA
4WO MEASUREMENT SETS ARE OF INTER
EST IN PLANE WHERE E n AND OUT OF &)'52% #OORDINATE SYSTEM FOR BISTATIC CLUTTER
PLANE WHERE E n 7HEN E n MEASUREMENTS PI INCIDENT ANGLE IN XZ PLANE
A \PS
PI\ )N THE MONOSTATIC CASE PS SCATTERING ANGLE IN PLANE CONTAINING Z AXIS AND
E n A AND PS PI )N
PLANE E OUT
OF
PLANE ANGLE IN XY PLANE
DATA IS SHOWN IN BOLD TYPE ON THE TABLE
/UT
OF
PLANE DATA IS OFTEN USED IN SCATTER JAMMING HOT CLUTTER CALCULATIONS
4HE BISTATIC ANGLE IS CALCULATED FROM THE ANGLES IN &IGURE BY THE USE OF
DIRECTION COSINES
A COS COS PI COS PS SIN PI SIN PS COS E
4RENDS IN THIS BISTATIC SCATTERING COEFFICIENT DATABASE ARE SUMMARIZED FROM 7ILLIS
7EINER AND #HAPTER IN 7ILLIS AND 'RIFFITHS AS FOLLOWS
L
-OST OF THE R" DATABASE IS AT 8 BAND WITH OUT OF DATA CURVES FOR BOTH TERRAIN
AND SEA CLUTTER TAKEN BY OF THE ORGANIZATIONS 4HE REMAINING DATABASE CONSISTS
OF DATA CURVES AT , BAND TERRAIN ONLY AT 3 BAND TERRAIN ONLY AT # BAND SEA
ONLY AND AT +A BAND TERRAIN ONLY EACH PROVIDED BY ONE ORGANIZATION .O DATA
IS AVAILABLE AT 6(& OR 5(& 4HUS ONLY 8 BAND ALLOWS CHOICES IN SELECTING DATA 4HE
#OST0EAKE AND $OMVILLEn IN
PLANE DATA SHOW GOOD CORRELATION
!TTEMPTS TO MODEL R" DATA HAVE BEEN MADE USING GEOMETRICAL STATISTICAL AND SEMI
EMPIRICAL TECHNIQUES INCLUDING VARIATIONS OF THOSE USED TO MODEL MONOSTATIC DATA
-EANINGFUL RESULTS HAVE ONLY BEEN ACHIEVED OVER A NARROW RANGE OF IN
PLANE DATA
E n
6ALUES OF R" FOR E ^ n ARE NOT APPRECIABLY DIFFERENT WITHIN ^ D" FROM THE
MONOSTATIC CASE
6ALUES OF R" IN A BROAD ANGULAR REGION CENTERED ON E n ARE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER
THAN ELSEWHERE AND TYPICALLY TO D" BELOW THE MONOSTATIC VALUE CONSE
QUENTLY BISTATIC RADAR SURVEILLANCE CAN BE ENHANCED AND HOT CLUTTER CAN BE REDUCED
IN THESE REGIONS
6ALUES OF R" ARE SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER NEAR THE FORWARD
SCATTERED SPECULAR DIRECTION
E n PI PS THAN ELSEWHERE AND MAY IN SOME CASES REDUCE ADVANTAGES OF THE
ENHANCED FORWARD
SCATTERED TARGET 2#3 PARTICULARLY AT FREQUENCIES -(Z
4HE BISTATIC
MONOSTATIC EQUIVALENCE THEOREM USED TO MODEL THE 2#3 OF SOME TARGETS
IS NOT GENERALLY USEFUL FOR CLUTTER MODELING EXCEPT TO INDICATE AN UPPER LIMIT TO R"
IN SOME REGIONS
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n
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-EASUREMENT !NGLES
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4!",% 3UMMARY OF -EASUREMENT 0ROGRAMS FOR "ISTATIC 3CATTERING #OEFFICIENT S " )N PLANE DATA IS SHOWN IN BOLD TYPESEE SUBSEQUENT TEXT
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-EASUREMENT !NGLES
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4!",% 3UMMARY OF -EASUREMENT 0ROGRAMS FOR "ISTATIC 3CATTERING #OEFFICIENT S " )N PLANE DATA IS SHOWN IN BOLD TYPESEE SUBSEQUENT TEXT
")34!4)# 2!$!2
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)N ADDITION TO THIS DATABASE BISTATIC REFLECTIVITY MEASUREMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE AT
OPTICAL AND SONIC WAVELENGTHS AND OF BUILDINGS AIRPORT STRUCTURES AND PLAN
ETARY SURFACES )N EACH OF THESE MEASUREMENTS THE REFLECTIVITY DATA IS EXPRESSED IN
TERMS OF REFLECTED POWER NOT R"
1 +1 *," - , +1, /)N THE PREVIOUS EDITION OF THIS BOOK THIS SECTION COVERED SUCH HARDWARE PROBLEMS
AS TIME AND PHASE SYNCHRONIZATION BETWEEN TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER CONSTRAINED BY
TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE IN THE S 0HASE STABILITY WAS ALSO AN ISSUE 3INCE THEN
MASSIVE ADVANCES IN DIGITAL SIGNAL CORRELATION AND PROCESSING COUPLED WITH GREAT
REDUCTIONS IN THE COST OF HARDWARE TO EXECUTE SUCH PROCESSING HAVE MITIGATED THESE
PROBLEMS -ANY RECENT BISTATIC RADAR PROGRAMS HAVE DEMONSTRATED QUITE ADEQUATE
SYNCHRONIZATION AND STABILITYAS WELL AS DETECTION PERFORMANCEUSING OFF THE
SHELF COMMERCIAL HARDWARE .OTABLE EXAMPLES ARE THE .!4/ AIR DEFENSE TRIALS
AND THE 5NIVERSITY OF 7ASHINGTONS -ANASTASH 2IDGE 2ADAR MEASURING IONOSPHERE
TURBULENCE BOTH PASSIVE BISTATIC RADARS EXPLOITING &- BROADCAST TRANSMITTERS
THE ($46 "ASED 0ASSIVE 2ADAR EXPLOITING A HIGH DEFINITION 46 BROADCAST TRANSMIT
TER FOR AIR SURVEILLANCE THE INEXPENSIVE COMMERCIAL BISTATIC RECEIVER HITCHHIKING
OFF WEATHER RADARS TO MEASURE FULL VECTOR WIND FIELDS AND THE BISTATIC RADAR FOR
WEAPONS LOCATION
&URTHERMORE MAJOR PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN DEVELOPING SIGNAL AND DATA PROCESS
ING ALGORITHMS INCLUDING BISTATIC 3!2 AUTOFOCUS AND IMAGE FORMATION AND SPACE TIME
ADAPTIVE PROCESSING FOR BISTATIC AIRBORNE -4) SEE 3ECTION (OWEVER TWO PROB
LEMS CONTINUE TO PLAGUE BISTATIC AND MULTISTATIC RADARS AND HAVE BECOME THE TOPICS
OF THIS SECTION BEAM SCAN ON SCAN FOR BISTATIC RADARS AND RADAR HITCHHIKERS AND
NONCOOPERATIVE 2& ENVIRONMENTS FOR PASSIVE BISTATIC RADARS 4HESE PROBLEMS AND
THEIR POTENTIAL REMEDIES ARE DETAILED NEXT
"EAM 3CAN ON 3CAN 7HEN HIGH GAIN NARROW BEAM SCANNING ANTENNAS ARE
USED BY BOTH TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER IN A BISTATIC SURVEILLANCE RADAR INEFFICIENT USE
IS MADE OF THE RADAR ENERGY BECAUSE ONLY THE VOLUME COMMON TO BOTH BEAMS CAN BE
OBSERVED BY THE RECEIVER AT ANY GIVEN TIME /UTSIDE THIS COMMON BEAM VOLUME TARGETS
ARE LOST TO THE RECEIVER &IGURE SHOWS THE GEOMETRY 4HIS PROBLEM COMMONLY
ARISES WHEN ATTEMPTING TO HITCHHIKE OFF MONOSTATIC SURVEILLANCE RADARS &OUR REMEDIES
ARE AVAILABLE TO MITIGATE THE BEAM SCAN ON SCAN PROBLEM STEP SCANNING FLOOD
LIGHT BEAMS MULTIPLE BEAMS AND TIME MULTIPLEXED BEAMS WHICH IN THE LIMIT
IS CALLED PULSE CHASING
3TEP 3CANNING &OR HITCHHIKING THE STEP SCANNING REMEDY CONSISTS OF FIXING
THE RECEIVE BEAM AND WAITING FOR THE TRANSMIT BEAM TO SCAN THROUGH THE SURVEILLANCE
SECTOR 4HE RECEIVE BEAM IS THEN STEPPED ONE BEAMWIDTH FOR THE NEXT TRANSMIT BEAM
SCAN AND SO ON UNTIL THE RECEIVE BEAM HAS STEPPED ACROSS THE FULL SURVEILLANCE SEC
TOR &OR A DEDICATED TRANSMITTER THE PROCESS CAN BE REVERSED FIX THE TRANSMIT BEAM
AND SCAN THE RECEIVE BEAM 4HIS REMEDY INCREASES THE SURVEILLANCE FRAME TIME BY THE
NUMBER OF REQUIRED BEAM STEPS AND IS USUALLY NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR LARGE AREA SURVEIL
LANCE )T CAN BE CONSIDERED IN AN OVER THE SHOULDER GEOMETRY OR WHEN THE BASELINE IS
SMALL )N THESE CASES TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE BEAMS BECOME MORE CLOSELY ALIGNED IN A
")34!4)# 2!$!2
&)'52% "EAM SCAN ON SCAN COVERAGE PROBLEM SHOWN IN
TWO DIMENSIONS IN THE BISTATIC PLANE #OURTESY 3CI4ECH
PSEUDO MONOSTATIC GEOMETRY WHICH REDUCES THE NUMBER OF REQUIRED BEAM STEPS 4HE
"ISTATIC 2ADAR FOR 7EAPONS ,OCATION TEST PROGRAM IS AN EXAMPLE
&LOODLIGHT "EAMS ! FLOODLIGHT BEAM CAN BE USED WITH EITHER TRANSMITTER OR
RECEIVER 4HE FLOODLIGHT TRANSMITTER REMEDY REQUIRES A DEDICATED TRANSMIT ANTENNA THAT
IS DESIGNED TO FLOOD THE SURVEILLANCE SECTOR CONTINUOUSLY 4HE RECEIVER THEN SCANS THE
SECTOR WITH A HIGH GAIN ANTENNA 4HIS REMEDY RESTORES THE SURVEILLANCE FRAME TIME
LOST BY STEP SCANNING WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY SERVICING MULTIPLE RECEIVERS (OWEVER IT
INCURS A DETECTION RANGE PENALTY BY THE REDUCED TRANSMIT ANTENNA GAIN AND ALSO SUF
FERS INCREASED SIDELOBE CLUTTER LEVELS 4HE FLOODLIGHT RECEIVER REMEDY CAN BE USED BY
A HITCHHIKER TO FLOOD A SECTOR SCANNED BY THE TRANSMIT BEAM AGAIN RESTORING THE SUR
VEILLANCE FRAME TIME )N ADDITION TO THE RANGE PENALTY THE RECEIVER WILL ALSO SUFFER
INCREASED CLUTTER LEVELS AND ANGLE MEASUREMENT ERRORS $ESPITE THESE LIMITATIONS THE
"INET FLOODLIGHT RECEIVER WAS FOUND QUITE ADEQUATE FOR MEASURING THREE DIMENSIONAL
VECTOR WIND FIELDS
-ULTIPLE "EAMS ! BISTATIC RECEIVER CAN USE MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS FIXED RECEIVE
BEAMS TO COVER THE SURVEILLANCE SECTOR WHICH AGAIN RESTORES THE SURVEILLANCE FRAME
TIME )F THE GAIN OF EACH RECEIVE ANTENNA IS MADE EQUAL TO THE GAIN OF THE INITIAL SINGLE
RECEIVE ANTENNA RANGE PERFORMANCE IS ALSO RESTORED (OWEVER THIS REMEDY INCREASES
THE COST AND COMPLEXITY OF THE RECEIVER SINCE A SPECIAL BEAMFORMING NETWORK IS
REQUIRED ALONG WITH A RECEIVER AND SIGNAL PROCESSOR 230 FOR EACH BEAM 4HE MULTI
BEAM RECEIVER CAN BE USED WITH ANY TYPE OF TRANSMITTER INCLUDING A FLOODLIGHT TRANSMIT
TER WHERE THE LOSS IN RANGE PERFORMANCE MIGHT BE OFFSET BY AN INCREASE IN DWELL TIME
ON TARGET AS DETAILED SUBSEQUENTLY
4IME MULTIPLEXING )F THE TRANSMITTERS BEAM SCANNING SCHEDULE IS KNOWN THE
NUMBER OF RECEIVE BEAMS AND 230S CAN BE REDUCED IN SOME GEOMETRIES BY TIME
MULTIPLEXING THEM TO COVER ONLY THE CURRENTLY ILLUMINATED SURVEILLANCE SECTOR
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&OR EXAMPLE IN AN OVER THE SHOULDER GEOMETRY THE RECEIVER MIGHT USE A SET OF BEAMS TO
COVER THE NORTH SIDE OF THE BASELINE THEN AS THE TRANSMIT BEAM SCANS PAST THE RECEIVER
IT SWITCHES THE SET TO THE SOUTH SIDE THUS HALVING THE TOTAL NUMBER REQUIRED 4HE "ISTATIC
!LERTING AND #UEING TEST PROGRAM USED TIME MULTIPLEXED BEAMS WHEN HITCHHIKING OFF
THE !7!#3 TRANSMITTER FOR SHORT RANGE AIR SURVEILLANCE
0ULSE #HASING )F THE TRANSMITTERS BEAM SCANNING AND PULSE TRANSMISSION SCHED
ULE ARE KNOWN PULSE CHASING CAN BE CONSIDERED TO REDUCE THE MULTIBEAM COST PEN
ALTY FURTHER n 4HIS WAS SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATED IN THE "ISTATIC 2ADAR FOR
7EAPONS ,OCATION TEST PROGRAM 4HE SIMPLEST PULSE CHASING CONCEPT USES A SINGLE
BEAM AND 230 THAT RAPIDLY SCANS THE VOLUME COVERED BY THE TRANSMIT BEAM CHASING
THE PULSE AS IT PROPAGATES FROM THE TRANSMITTER 4HE RECEIVE BEAM SCANNING RATE MUST
BE AT THE TRANSMITTERS PULSE PROPAGATION RATE MODIFIED BY THE USUAL GEOMETRIC CONDI
TIONS 4HIS RATE P2 WAS INITIALLY IDENTIFIED BY *ACKSON AND SUBSEQUENTLY VERIFIED BY
-OYER AND -ORGAN
P2 C TAN A 22
&OR OPERATION IN THE CO SITE REGION SEE 4ABLE P2 CAN VARY FROM nMS NEAR THE
BASELINE TO nMS WHEN 24 22 , 4YPICAL P2 CONTOURS ARE SHOWN IN *ACKSON
4HESE RATES AND RATE CHANGES REQUIRE AN INERTIALESS ANTENNA FOR EXAMPLE A PHASED
ARRAY WITH DIODE PHASE SHIFTERS .ORMALLY A PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA USED FOR SURVEILLANCE
IS PROGRAMMED TO SWITCH BEAMS IN INCREMENTS OF A BEAMWIDTH &RACTIONAL SHIFTS OF A
BEAMWIDTH CAN BE ACHIEVED BY CHANGING THE PHASE OF A FEW SYMMETRIC PAIRS OF PHASE
SHIFTERS IN THE ARRAY )N THIS WAY A PSEUDO CONTINUOUS BEAM SCAN CAN BE GENERATED WITH
THE REQUIRED RATES AND RATE CHANGES
"ECAUSE OF PULSE PROPAGATION DELAYS FROM THE TARGET TO THE RECEIVER THE POINTING
ANGLE OF THE RECEIVE BEAM P2 MUST LAG THE ACTUAL PULSE POSITION &OR AN INSTANTANEOUS
PULSE POSITION THAT GENERATES A BISTATIC ANGLE A P2 P4 A )N TERMS OF THE BISTATIC
TRIANGLE THE REQUIRED RECEIVE BEAM POINTING ANGLE IS
, COS P 4
P 2 P 4
TAN
2
4 22
, SIN P 4
4HE MINIMUM RECEIVE BEAMWIDTH $P2 M REQUIRED TO CAPTURE ALL RETURNS FROM A
RANGE CELL INTERSECTING THE COMMON BEAM AREA IS APPROXIMATED BY
$P 2 M y CS U TAN A $P 4 24 22
WHERE SU IS THE UNCOMPRESSED PULSE WIDTH AND $P4 IS THE TRANSMIT BEAMWIDTH 4HE
APPROXIMATION ASSUMES THAT RESPECTIVE RAYS FROM THE TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE BEAMS ARE
PARALLEL 4HE APPROXIMATION IS REASONABLE WHEN 24 22 , OR WHEN , CSU
%QUATION SHOWS THAT $P2 M CHANGES AS THE RECEIVE BEAM SCANS OUT THE TRANSMIT
BEAM 0HASED ARRAY ANTENNAS OPERATING WITH A DIGITAL BEAMFORMER CAN ACCOMMO
DATE THIS CHANGE /THERWISE USE OF A FIXED BEAMWIDTH INCURS A SMALL BEAM MISMATCH
LOSS !N EXAMPLE IS GIVEN IN 7ILLIS
%VEN THOUGH ONE PULSE MUST BE CHASED AT A TIME A HITCHHIKER OPERATING IN THE
CO
SITE REGION HAS TIME TO CAPTURE ALL PULSES FROM A MONOSTATIC RADAR THAT USES RANGE
UNAMBIGUOUS 02&S &URTHERMORE WHEN OPERATING IN THE TRANSMIT
OR RECEIVE
CENTERED
OVALS REFER TO 4ABLE A HITCHHIKER CAN OPERATE WITH RANGE
AMBIGUOUS 02&S FOR
EXAMPLE WHEN TRANSMITTED FROM AN AIRBORNE RADAR %XAMPLES ARE GIVEN IN 7ILLIS
")34!4)# 2!$!2
/THER IMPLEMENTATIONS OF PULSE CHASING ARE POSSIBLE )N ONE CONCEPT THE FIXED
MULTIBEAM RECEIVE ANTENNA IS USED AND TWO 230S ARE TIME
MULTIPLEXED ACROSS THE
MULTIBEAMS /NE 230 STEPS ACROSS THE EVEN
NUMBERED BEAMS AND THE OTHER 230 STEPS
ACROSS THE ODD
NUMBERED BEAMS SO THAT RETURNS IN BEAM PAIRS ARE PROCESSED SIMULTANE
OUSLY ETC 4HIS LEAPFROG SEQUENCE IS REQUIRED TO CAPTURE ALL RETURNS
IN THE COMMON
BEAM AREA
! SECOND CONCEPT USES TWO BEAMS AND TWO 230S STEP
SCANNING OVER THE VOLUME COV
ERED BY THE MULTIBEAM ANTENNA )T USES AN IDENTICAL LEAPFROG SEQUENCE "OTH CONCEPTS
RELAX THE FRACTIONAL BEAM SCAN REQUIREMENTS BY EITHER SAMPLING OR STEPPING THE BEAMS
IN UNITS OF A BEAMWIDTH 3INCE THEY BOTH PROCESS RETURNS ACROSS TWO BEAMWIDTHS BEFORE
SWITCHING THE BEAM DWELL TIME 4B IS APPROXIMATELY $P2 M 22 C AND THE STEPPING RATE
IS 4B
4HE APPROXIMATION ASSUMES NEGLIGIBLE PHASE
SHIFT DELAYS AND SETTLING TIMES
-OVING 4ARGET )NDICATION -4) CAN BE USED WITH ANY OF THESE PULSE CHASING IMPLE
MENTATIONS AS LONG AS THE RECEIVE BEAM PRECISELY RETRACES ITS SCAN PATTERN ON SUCCES
SIVE SWEEPS TO CAPTURE THE SAME CLUTTER SAMPLES OVER THE -4) PROCESSING TIME
#OMBINATIONS #OMBINATIONS OF THESE REMEDIES CAN BE CONSIDERED &OR EXAM
PLE A FIXED MULTIBEAM RECEIVE ANTENNA CAN BE USED WITH A FIXED FLOODLIGHT TRANSMIT
ANTENNA 4HIS CONFIGURATION ALLOWS THE RECEIVER TO INTEGRATE LONGER SUBJECT TO TARGET
CELL MIGRATION LIMITS WHICH IN TURN CAN RECOVER SOME OF THE LOST RANGE PERFORMANCE OF
THE FLOODLIGHT ANTENNA )T ALSO HAS THE BENEFITS OF INCREASING DATA RATES AND SIMULTANE
OUSLY SERVICING MULTIPLE RECEIVERS )T INCURS INCREASED SIDELOBE CLUTTER LEVELS AS WELL AS
COMPLEXITY AND COST 3OME PASSIVE BISTATIC RADARS OPERATE IN THIS CONFIGURATION WHERE
THE FLOODLIGHT TRANSMITTER IS PROVIDED BY A 46 OR &- BROADCAST STATION
! SINGLE RECEIVE BEAM CAN BE USED WITH A TRANSMIT ANTENNA THAT IS ADAPTIVELY TAPERED
TO FLOOD ONLY THE ANGULAR REGION COVERED BY THE RECEIVE BEAM AT A GIVEN LOOK ANGLE
WITH THE TAPERING SUCH THAT THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO AT THE RECEIVER IS HELD CONSTANT AT
ALL POSITIONS ALONG THE RECEIVE BEAM 4HIS SCHEME IS ANALOGOUS TO THE MONOSTATIC AIR
SURVEILLANCE RADAR USING A COSECANT
SQUARED ANTENNA PATTERN WHERE THE ECHO IS INDE
PENDENT OF RANGE FOR A CONSTANT ALTITUDE TARGET )T HAS THE POTENTIAL OF RESTORING MUCH
OF THE FRAME TIME AND RANGE PERFORMANCE BUT INCURS INCREASED SIDELOBE CLUTTER LEVELS
AND INCREASED TRANSMITTER COST AND COMPLEXITY !N EXAMPLE IS GIVEN IN 7ILLIS
.ONCOOPERATIVE 2& %NVIRONMENT -OST PASSIVE BISTATIC RADAR 0"2 CONCEPTS
AND DEVELOPMENTS EXPLOIT COMMERCIAL BROADCAST TRANSMITTERS AS THEIR SOURCE OF RADAR
ILLUMINATION &- AND (IGH $EFINITION ($ 46 TERRESTRIAL BROADCAST TRANSMITTERS ARE
PARTICULARLY ATTRACTIVE DUE TO THEIR HIGH
POWER NOISE
LIKE WAVEFORMS AND RELATIVELY
WIDE BANDWIDTHSn 7HEN THESE BROADCAST TRANSMITTERS ARE APPROPRIATELY SITED AND
OPERATING THEY CAN SUPPORT MANY TYPES OF SURVEILLANCE PARTICULARLY AIR SURVEILLANCE
WHICH IS OFTEN RESTRICTED FOR MONOSTATIC RADARS OPERATING AT 6(&5(& 4HE SURVEILLANCE
CAN BE COVERT BECAUSE EVEN THE TRANSMITTER IS UNAWARE IT IS BEING EXPLOITED AND CAN BE
COUNTER
STEALTH DUE TO UNAVOIDABLE AIRCRAFT RESONANCES IN THE 6(&5(& REGION /THER
ATTRACTIVE FEATURES ARE LOWER PRIME POWER REQUIREMENTS AND LOWER COSTS FOR THE 0"2
7HILE A 0"2 CAN EXPLOIT BOTH COOPERATIVE AND NONCOOPERATIVE BROADCAST TRANS
MITTERS THE 0"2 HAS NO CONTROL OVER THEIR TRANSMISSION OR WAVEFORM PROPERTIES
SPECIFICALLY THE TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE EFFECTIVE RADIATED POWER SPATIAL COVERAGE
MODULATION TYPE MODULATION CONTENT AND RESULTING AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION AS OUT
LINED EARLIER &URTHERMORE INTERFERENCE FROM THE HOST EMITTER AND OTHER EMITTERS ESPE
CIALLY IN URBAN AND SUBURBAN AREAS CAN SIGNIFICANTLY DEGRADE 0"2 PERFORMANCE 4HIS
SECTION SUMMARIZES THE PROBLEMS AND REMEDIES ENCOUNTERED BY A 0"2 EXPLOITING
THESE BROADCAST TRANSMITTERS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
7AVEFORMS 4HE EFFECTIVE RADIATED POWER %20 OF BROADCAST TRANSMITTERS CAN VARY
FROM A MAXIMUM OF ^ -7 FOR 46 TRANSMITTERS TO A MINIMUM OF ^ 7 FOR CELL PHONE
TOWER TRANSMITTERS 4HE FORMER CAN YIELD EQUIVALENT MONOSTATIC DETECTION RANGES OF AIR
TARGETS OF n KM THE LATTER n KM WHICH IS OF THE ORDER OF THE CELL PHONE WAVE
FORM RESOLUTION TYPICALLY KM #ONSEQUENTLY WHEN THESE LOW POWERED TRANSMITTERS
ARE EVALUATED FOR SHORT RANGE GROUND OR AIR TARGET LOCATION ONLY DOPPLER AND COARSE
$/! DATA ARE AVAILABLE WHICH SEVERELY RESTRICTS LOCATION CAPABILITY AS OUTLINED IN
3ECTION 4HUS THE LOW %20 OF THESE TRANSMITTERS CONSTRAINED BY THE AVAILABLE
BANDWIDTH CONSPIRE TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THEIR UTILITY FOR 0"2 SURVEILLANCE
4HE TYPE OF MODULATION USED BY A BROADCAST TRANSMITTER IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT &OR
EXAMPLE THE #RYSTAL 0ALACE 46 TRANSMITTER TRIALS IN ,ONDON ATTEMPTED RANGE
MEASUREMENTS WITH ANALOG 46 WAVEFORMS BUT FOUND THAT THEY GENERATED HIGH RANGE SIDE
LOBES ^ D" RANGE AMBIGUITIES EVERY KM AND MODEST RANGE RESOLUTION ^ KM
AND CONCLUDED THAT SUCH WAVEFORMS WERE MORE SUITABLE FOR DOPPLER MEASUREMENTS
4HIS FINDING ESTABLISHED THE PRECEDENCE FOR SUBSEQUENT 0"2 DEVELOPMENTS DOPPLER
EXPLOITATION OF STABLE NARROW BAND CARRIER LINES IN 46 TRANSMISSIONS AND RANGEDOPPLER
EXPLOITATION OF THE WIDER BAND NOISE LIKE SPECTRUM OF &- TRANSMISSIONS
4HE MODULATION CONTENT OF MANY BROADCAST TRANSMITTERS CHANGES AS A FUNCTION OF
TIME THEREBY COMPLICATING MATCHED FILTERING BY THE 0"2S RECEIVER 3PECIFICALLY THE
RECEIVER MUST SAMPLE AND STORE A SEGMENT OF THE DIRECT PATH WAVEFORM AND THEN CROSS
CORRELATE IT WITH THE RETURNED ECHO ALL IN REAL TIME 3INCE CROSS CORRELATION MUST BE
PERFORMED OVER THE RANGE OF EXPECTED TARGET ECHO TIME DELAYS ANDOR DOPPLER SHIFTS
CORRELATION RECEIVER COMPLEXITY IS INCREASED WITH RESPECT TO A MATCHED FILTER RECEIVER
TYPICALLY USED BY MONOSTATIC RADAR 3UCH CROSS CORRELATION IS NOW FEASIBLE TO IMPLE
MENT BUT COMPLICATES AN OTHERWISE WELL DEVELOPED OPERATION IN THE STABLE MORE PRE
DICTABLE MONOSTATIC WORLD
! RELATED MODULATION CONTENT PROBLEM IS DEAD AIR WHERE NO INFORMATION IS BROAD
CAST THUS THE BROADCAST TRANSMITTER MODULATION GOES TO ZERO AND RANGE MEASUREMENT
ERRORS INCREASE WITHOUT LIMIT 4HIS CONDITION CAN OCCUR WHEN BROADCASTING A TALK SHOW
OR CLASSICAL MUSIC BUT OCCURS LESS OFTEN WITH POPULAR OR ROCK MUSIC 4HE FREQUENCY
OF THIS TYPE OF OUTAGE IS NOT INSIGNIFICANT OCCURRING ROUGHLY ONCE PER SECOND FOR TALK
BROADCASTS #ONSEQUENTLY ONCE A TRACK HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED A NONLINEAR TRACKING FILTER
MAY BE NEEDED TO EDIT OUT LARGE ERROR SPIKES SEE #HAPTER OF 7ILLIS AND 'RIFFITHS
2ADIO &REQUENCY )NTERFERENCE 0ASSIVE BISTATIC RADAR PERFORMANCE IS SUBJECT TO
DEGRADATION BY RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE 2&) FROM BOTH THE EXPLOITED BROADCAST
TRANSMITTER AND OTHER EMITTERS IN SPATIAL OR FREQUENCY PROXIMITY 4HESE EMITTERS CAN
INCLUDE BROADCAST COMMUNICATIONS AND NAVIGATION TRANSMITTERS AS WELL AS POWER
TOOLS FLUORESCENT LIGHTS COOLING FANS AND OLD AUTOMOBILE IGNITIONS WHICH TYPICALLY
GENERATE IMPULSIVE NOISE
2&) CAN ARRIVE VIA A DIRECT PATH OR MULTIPATH AND INCLUDES
SCATTERING FROM TERRAIN OR SEA SURFACES ALSO CALLED CLUTTER (OWEVER THE SIGNAL FROM AN
EXPLOITED TRANSMITTER ARRIVING OVER THE DIRECT TRANSMITTER TO RECEIVER PATH CALLED THE
DIRECT PATH IS NEARLY ALWAYS THE DOMINANT 2&) SOURCE -ULTIPATH SIGNALS FROM THAT
TRANSMITTER ARE LESS SEVERE BUT CAN ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO 2&)
2&) OVER THE DIRECT PATH FROM THE EXPLOITED TRANSMITTER ALSO CALLED DIRECT PATH
BREAKTHROUGH IS COMMON TO ALL BUT THE SIMPLEST LOW POWER #7 RADAR )T BECOMES
3KY NOISE CONSISTING OF SUN GALACTIC AND ATMOSPHERIC NOISE IS ANOTHER SOURCE OF 2&) WHICH CAN INCREASE THE
RECEIVERS NOISE TEMPERATURE BY A FACTOR OF n AT FREQUENCIES BELOW ^ -(Z (OWEVER THIS INCREASE IS USUALLY
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$IRECT
PATH BREAKTHROUGH EFFECTS ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE OF A SPOT NOISE JAMMER AND
CAN BE CHARACTERIZED BY AN INCREASE IN THE SYSTEM NOISE TEMPERATURE 4S &N 4O WHERE
&N IS THE RECEIVER NOISE FIGURE AND 4O + 3PECIFICALLY THE AMOUNT OF INCREASE IN
4S AND HENCE THE AMOUNT OF ATTENUATION #DP REQUIRED TO REDUCE THE DIRECT PATH SIGNAL
TO THE LEVEL OF 4S IS
#DP 04 '4 '2 4 K O " , K4S
WHERE 04 '4 K AND K ARE DEFINED WITH %Q '2 4 IS THE RECEIVING ANTENNA POWER
GAIN IN THE DIRECTION OF THE TRANSMITTER " IS THE INPUT 2& BANDWIDTH AND , IS THE
BASELINE RANGE
&OR EXAMPLE IF THE 0"2 EXPLOITS A TYPICAL &- BROADCAST TRANSMITTER LOCATED AT A
KM ,/3 FROM THE RECEIVER 04 '4 K7 K M " K(Z AND , KM
!SSUMING A FIXED RECEIVING ANTENNA BEAM TAILORED IN ELEVATION AND COVERING A WIDE
AZIMUTH SECTOR WHICH INCLUDES THE TRANSMITTER SITE '2 4 MIGHT BE D"I !LSO ASSUM
ING THE AMBIENT 2&) ENVIRONMENT DESCRIBED BELOW THE NOISE SPECTRAL DENSITY K4S
D"7(Z THUS #DP D"
#OMBINATIONS OF EARTH MASKING ANTENNA SHIELDING SPATIAL CANCELLATION AND SPEC
TRAL CANCELLATION CAN BE USED TO ACHIEVE THE REQUIRED DIRECT PATH ATTENUATION ! BRUTE
FORCE REMEDY IS TO PHYSICALLY BLOCK THE TRANSMIT SIGNAL FROM THE RECEIVER WITH A SHROUD
OR STRUCTURE OR IF COVERAGE ALLOWS OVER THE HORIZON SEPARATION 7HILE MANY ORDERS OF
MAGNITUDE ATTENUATION ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE MASKING AND SHIELDING TECHNIQUES ADDI
TIONAL REDUCTION IS NEARLY ALWAYS NECESSARY (OWLAND REPORTED A TWO STAGE SPATIAL NOISE
CANCELLER WITH AN ADAPTIVE - STAGE LATTICE PREDICTOR - AS THE FIRST STAGE AND AN
ADAPTIVE TAPPED DELAY LINE AS THE SECOND STAGE WHICH ACHIEVED ^ D" CANCELLATION
OF THE NARROW BAND STATIONARY DIRECT PATH SIGNAL 4HIS CANCELLATION COMBINED WITH
MASKING ACHIEVED D" ATTENUATION WHICH SATISFIES THE #DP REQUIREMENT IN THE ABOVE
EXAMPLE (OWLAND ALSO OBSERVED THAT RECEIVER DYNAMIC RANGE ULTIMATELY LIMITS THE AVAIL
ABLE CANCELLATION WHICH IN TURN IS SET BY THE RECEIVERS ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER
.EARBY EMITTERS CAN SIGNIFICANTLY RAISE THE SYSTEM NOISE LEVEL SIMPLY THROUGH SPEC
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INTERFERENCE IN ONE WAY HOME RECEIVERS FROM ADJACENT TRANSMISSIONS (OWEVER IT IS
NOT SUFFICIENT FOR TWO WAY RADAR RECEIVERS WHICH NECESSARILY MUST WORK MUCH FARTHER
INTO THE RECEIVER NOISE
4HE SEVERITY OF THIS PROBLEM WAS QUANTIFIED BY IN SITU MEASUREMENTS OF SEVERAL
6(& AND 5(& BANDS IN A DENSE URBAN ENVIRONMENT !MBIENT 6(& NOISE LEVELS
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ARE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN THOSE OBTAINED IN THE 53 RADAR DESIGNATED 6(&5(&
CHANNELS AND ARE A PENALTY FOR EXPLOITING BROADCAST TRANSMITTERS OF OPPORTUNITY
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!NALYSIS OF )NTEGRATED 3YSTEMS
3%,%8 3ISTEMI )NTEGRATI
{ /," 1
/"
3INCE 7ORLD 7AR )) BOTH RADAR AND ELECTRONIC WARFARE %7
HAVE ACHIEVED A VERY
HIGH STATE OF PERFORMANCE -ODERN MILITARY FORCES DEPEND HEAVILY ON ELECTROMAGNETIC
%- SYSTEMS FOR SURVEILLANCE WEAPON CONTROL COMMUNICATION AND NAVIGATION THUS
ACCESS TO AND CONTROL OF THE %- SPECTRUM IS VITAL %LECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES %#-
ARE LIKELY TO BE TAKEN BY HOSTILE FORCES TO DEGRADE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF %- SYSTEMSn
!S A DIRECT CONSEQUENCE %- SYSTEMS ARE MORE AND MORE FREQUENTLY EQUIPPED WITH SO
CALLED ELECTRONIC COUNTER
COUNTERMEASURES %##- TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE USE OF THE %-
SPECTRUM DESPITE AN ENEMYS USE OF %7 ACTIONS
4HIS CHAPTER IS DEVOTED TO THE DESCRIPTION OF THE %##- TECHNIQUES AND DESIGN PRIN
CIPLES TO BE USED IN RADAR SYSTEMS WHEN THEY ARE SUBJECT TO AN %#- THREAT 3ECTION
STARTS WITH A RECALL OF THE DEFINITIONS PERTAINING TO %7 AND %##- 4HE TOPIC OF RADAR
SIGNALS INTERCEPTION BY %7 DEVICES IS INTRODUCED IN 3ECTION THE FIRST STRATEGY TO
BE ADOPTED BY RADAR DESIGNERS IS TO TRY TO AVOID INTERCEPTION BY THE OPPONENT ELECTRONIC
DEVICES 3ECTION IS DEDICATED ENTIRELY TO THE ANALYSIS OF THE MAJOR %#- TECHNIQUES
AND STRATEGIES )T IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE %#- THREAT TO A RADAR SYSTEM IN ORDER
TO BE ABLE TO EFFICIENTLY REACT TO IT 4O FACILITATE THE DESCRIPTION OF THE CROWDED FAMILY
OF %##- TECHNIQUES 3ECTIONS THROUGH A CLASSIFICATION IS ATTEMPTED IN
3ECTION 4HEN THE TECHNIQUES ARE INTRODUCED ACCORDING TO THEIR USE IN THE VARI
OUS SECTIONS OF RADAR NAMELY ANTENNA TRANSMITTER RECEIVER AND SIGNAL PROCESSING
! KEY ROLE IS ALSO PLAYED BY THOSE %##- TECHNIQUES THAT CANNOT BE CLASSIFIED AS
ELECTRONIC SUCH AS HUMAN FACTORS METHODS OF RADAR OPERATION AND RADAR DEPLOYMENT
TACTICS 3ECTION
4HE ENSUING 3ECTION SHOWS THE APPLICATION OF THE AFOREMENTIONED TECHNIQUES
TO THE MOST COMMON RADAR FAMILIES NAMELY SURVEILLANCE TRACKING MULTIFUNCTIONAL
PHASED
ARRAY IMAGING AND OVER
THE
HORIZON RADARS 4HE MAIN DESIGN PRINCIPLES EG
SELECTION OF TRANSMITTER POWER FREQUENCY WAVEFORM AND ANTENNA GAIN AS DICTATED BY
THE %#- THREAT ARE ALSO DISCUSSED IN SOME DETAIL
! LIST OF ACRONYMS IS AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER BEFORE THE LIST OF REFERENCES
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE CHAPTER ENDS WITH AN APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM OF EVALUATING THE EFFICACY OF
%##- AND %#- TECHNIQUES 3ECTION 4HERE IS A LACK OF THEORY TO PROPERLY QUAN
TIFY THE ENDLESS BATTLE BETWEEN %##- AND %#- TECHNIQUES .EVERTHELESS A COMMONLY
ADOPTED APPROACH TO DETERMINE THE %#- EFFECT ON A RADAR SYSTEM IS BASED ON EVALUATION
OF THE RADAR RANGE UNDER JAMMING CONDITIONS 4HE ADVANTAGE OF USING SPECIFIC %##-
TECHNIQUES CAN BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT BY CALCULATING THE RADAR RANGE RECOVERY
! LIST OF ACRONYMS USED IN THE CHAPTER AND THE REFERENCES APPEAR AT THE END OF
THE CHAPTER
{ /
, " "9
%7 IS DEFINED AS A MILITARY ACTION INVOLVING THE USE OF %- ENERGY TO DETERMINE
EXPLOIT REDUCE OR PREVENT RADAR USE OF THE %- SPECTRUMn 4HE OPERATIONAL EMPLOY
MENT OF %7 RELIES UPON THE CAPTURE OF RADAR %- EMISSIONS USING ELECTRONIC INTELLI
GENCE %,).4 DEVICES COLLATING THE INFORMATION IN SUPPORT DATABASES THAT ARE THEN
USED TO INTERPRET %- EMISSION DATA TO UNDERSTAND THE RADAR SYSTEM FUNCTIONS AND
TO PROGRAM REACTIONS AGAINST THE RADAR %7 IS ORGANIZED INTO TWO MAJOR CATEGORIES
ELECTRONIC WARFARE SUPPORT MEASURES %3- AND %#- "ASICALLY THE %7 COMMUNITY
TAKES AS ITS JOB THE DEGRADATION OF RADAR CAPABILITY 4HE RADAR COMMUNITY TAKES AS ITS
JOB THE SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION OF RADAR IN SPITE OF WHAT THE %7 COMMUNITY DOES THE
GOAL IS PURSUED BY MEANS OF %##- TECHNIQUES 4HE DEFINITIONS OF %3- %#- AND
%##- ARE LISTED BELOW o
%3- IS THAT DIVISION OF %7 INVOLVING ACTIONS TAKEN TO SEARCH FOR INTERCEPT LOCATE
RECORD AND ANALYZE RADIATED %- ENERGY FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXPLOITING SUCH RADIATIONS
IN THE SUPPORT OF MILITARY OPERATIONS 4HUS %3- PROVIDES A SOURCE OF %7 INFORMATION
REQUIRED TO CONDUCT %#- THREAT DETECTION WARNING AND AVOIDANCE %#- IS THAT DIVI
SION OF %7 INVOLVING ACTIONS TAKEN TO PREVENT OR REDUCE A RADARS EFFECTIVE USE OF THE
%- SPECTRUM %##- COMPRISES THOSE RADAR ACTIONS TAKEN TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE USE OF
THE %- SPECTRUM DESPITE THE ENEMYS USE OF %7
4HE TOPIC OF %7 IS EXTREMELY RICH IN TERMS SOME OF WHICH ARE ALSO IN GENERAL USE
IN OTHER ELECTRONIC FIELDS ! COMPLETE GLOSSARY OF TERMS IN USE IN THE %#- AND %##-
FIELDS IS FOUND IN THE LITERATURE
{
/,"
7,,
-1**",/
-1,
%3- USUALLY CONSISTS OF SEVERAL DETECTION AND MEASUREMENT RECEIVERS AND REAL TIME
PROCESSOR BOARDS DEDICATED TO THE INTERCEPTION OF RADAR EMISSIONS 4HE IDENTIFICATION OF
SPECIFIC EMITTERS IS BASED ON COMPARISON WITH TACTICAL OR STRATEGIC %,).4 n %MITTER
LOCATION CAN BE ADDITIONALLY PROVIDED THROUGH SEVERAL METHODS SUCH AS TRIANGULATION
o 3INCE THE PUBLICATION OF THE SECOND EDITION OF THIS (ANDBOOK THE 53 !IR &ORCE CHANGED SOME OF THE %7 TERMS WE
HAVE GOTTEN USED TO OVER THESE MANY YEARS %#- IS NOW %LECTRONIC !TTACK %! %##- IS %LECTRONIC 0ROTECTION
%0 AND %3- IS %LECTRONIC 3UPPORT %3 4HESE TERMS ARE NOT USED IN THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE THEY ARE SELDOM USED
BY THE RADAR COMMUNITY WHO SEEM TO PREFER RETAINING THE MORE FAMILIAR EXPRESSIONS %#- %##- AND %3-
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
FROM REMOTE SYSTEMS OR SINGLE PLATFORM SEQUENTIAL BEARING MEASUREMENTS DIFFERENCE
TIME OF ARRIVAL $4O! OR HYPERBOLATION AND 0HASE $IFFERENCE 2ATE 0$2 -ODERN
DIGITAL RECEIVER TECHNOLOGY COUPLED WITH STATE
OF
THE
ART DEINTERLEAVING SIGNAL PRO
CESSING TO CLEANLY ISOLATE AND IDENTIFY INDIVIDUAL %- EMITTERS WILL ENHANCE SITUATION
AWARENESS 5SING TECHNIQUES SUCH AS TIME AND FREQUENCY DIFFERENCE OF ARRIVAL WILL
IMPROVE SINGLE AND MULTIPLE PLATFORM SPATIAL LOCATION THIS WILL ALLOW %7 TO BE USED
TO CUE TARGETING SYSTEMS
2ADAR INTERCEPTION WHICH IS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST IN THIS SECTION IS BASED ON THE
RECEPTION AND MEASUREMENTS OF THE SIGNALS TRANSMITTED BY RADAR SYSTEMS WHETHER PULSE
OR #ONTINUOUS 7AVE #7 4HE OPERATIONAL SCENARIO IN WHICH %3- SHOULD OPERATE IS
GENERALLY CROWDED WITH PULSED RADAR SIGNALS FIGURES OF TO MILLION PULSES PER
SECOND ARE FREQUENTLY QUOTED IN THE LITERATURE 4HE CENTER FREQUENCY AMPLITUDE PULSE
WIDTH TIME OF ARRIVAL 4O! AND BEARING OF EACH DETECTED PULSE ARE MEASURED CON
VERTED IN DIGITAL FORMAT AND PACKED INTO A PULSE DESCRIPTOR WORD 0$7 4HE TRAIN OF
0$7S ARE SENT TO A PULSE
SORT PROCESSOR THAT DEINTERLEAVES THE SEQUENCES BELONGING TO
DIFFERENT EMITTERS AND IDENTIFIES 0ULSE 2EPETITION )NTERVAL 02) VALUES AND MODULATION
LAWS RANDOM JITTER STAGGER SWITCHING &URTHER COMPARISON AGAINST AN EMITTER DATA
BASE WHICH CONTAINS THE RANGE OF CHARACTERISTIC PARAMETERS FREQUENCY PULSE WIDTH
02) THE RELATED PATTERN OF AGILITY RANDOM STAGGER ETC FOR EACH EMITTER THE TYPE OF
ANTENNA SCANNING PATTERN AND PERIODS PERMITS THE GENERATION OF AN EMITTER LIST WITH AN
IDENTIFICATION SCORE 4HE %3- RECEIVER IS USED TO CONTROL THE DEPLOYMENT AND OPERATION
OF %#- THE LINK BETWEEN %3- AND %#- IS OFTEN AUTOMATIC
! SINGLE RECEIVED RADAR PULSE IS CHARACTERIZED BY A NUMBER OF MEASURABLE PARAME
TERS 4HE AVAILABILITY RESOLUTION AND ACCURACY OF THESE MEASUREMENTS MUST ALL BE TAKEN
INTO ACCOUNT WHEN DESIGNING THE DEINTERLEAVING SYSTEM BECAUSE THE APPROACH USED
DEPENDS ON THE PARAMETER DATA SET AVAILABLE /BVIOUSLY THE BETTER THE RESOLUTION AND
ACCURACY OF ANY PARAMETER MEASUREMENT THE MORE EFFICIENTLY THE PULSE
SORT PROCES
SOR CAN CARRY OUT ITS TASK (OWEVER THERE ARE LIMITATIONS ON THE MEASUREMENT PROCESS
FROM OUTSIDE THE %3- SYSTEM EG MULTIPATH FROM INSIDE THE SYSTEM EG TIMING
CONSTRAINTS DEAD TIME DURING RECEPTION AND FROM COST
EFFECTIVENESS CONSIDERATIONS
!NGLE OF ARRIVAL IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SORTING PARAMETER AVAILABLE TO THE DEINTERLEAV
ING PROCESS SINCE THE TARGET BEARING DOES NOT VARY FROM PULSE TO PULSE 4HEREFORE
AMPLITUDE COMPARISON MONOPULSE ANTENNAS OR MULTIPLE BASE INTERFEROMETRIC PHASE
COMPARISON SYSTEMS ARE OFTEN USED IN ORDER TO WARRANT BOTH SPATIAL COVERAGE AND
PULSE
BASED ANGLE OF ARRIVAL MEASUREMENT -ONOPULSE ROTATING ANTENNAS CAN ALSO BE
USED WHEN THE TIME TO INTERCEPT IS NOT CRITICAL THIS IS THE %,).4 CASE AND IT IS POSSIBLE
TO SCAN SEQUENTIALLY THE OPERATIONAL SCENARIO
4HE CARRIER FREQUENCY IS THE NEXT MOST IMPORTANT PULSE PARAMETER FOR DEINTERLEAV
ING ! COMMON METHOD OF FREQUENCY MEASUREMENT IS TO USE A SCANNING SUPERHETERO
DYNE RECEIVER THAT HAS THE ADVANTAGE OF HIGH SENSITIVITY GOOD FREQUENCY RESOLUTION
AND IMMUNITY WITH RESPECT TO THE INTERFERENCE OF NEARBY EMITTERS 5NFORTUNATELY
THIS TYPE OF RECEIVER HAS A POOR PROBABILITY OF INTERCEPT FOR THE SAME REASONS AS THE
ROTATING BEARING MEASUREMENT SYSTEM 4HE SITUATION IS MUCH WORSE IF THE EMITTER IS
ALSO FREQUENCY
AGILE RANDOM VARIATION OR FREQUENCY
HOPPING SYSTEMATIC VARIA
TION ! COMMON METHOD TO ALLOW FOR WIDEBAND FREQUENCY MEASUREMENTS IS BASED
ON INTERFEROMETRIC DEVICES THAT PROVIDE INSTANTANEOUS FREQUENCY MEASUREMENT WITH
GOOD ACCURACY AND ARE ABLE TO REJECT SIGNAL INTERFERENCE WITH LOWER INTENSITY 4HE
HIGHER SENSITIVITY AND PROBABILITY OF INTERCEPTION ARE PROVIDED BY WIDE INSTANTANEOUS
BAND SUPERHETERODYNE RECEIVERS FOLLOWED BY BANKS OF CONTIGUOUS RECEIVER CHANNELS
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3EVERAL TECHNOLOGIES HAVE BEEN PROPOSED IN THE PAST SUCH AS SURFACE ACOUSTIC WAVE
3!7 FILTERS AND "RAGG CELLS 4HE PREFERRED APPROACH IS BASED ON DIGITAL RECEIVERS
THAT INTEGRATE WIDEBAND SPECTRAL ANALYSIS AND SEVERAL POST
DETECTION FUNCTIONS SUCH
AS INTRAPULSE MODULATION MEASUREMENT AND WAVEFORM CODE RECONNAISSANCE
0ULSE WIDTH IS AN UNRELIABLE SORTING PARAMETER BECAUSE OF THE HIGH DEGREE OF CORRUP
TION RESULTING FROM MULTIPATH TRANSMISSION -ULTIPATH EFFECTS CAN SEVERELY DISTORT THE
PULSE ENVELOPE FOR EXAMPLE BY CREATING A LONG TAIL TO THE PULSE AND EVEN DISPLACING
THE POSITION OF THE PEAK
4HE 4O! OF THE PULSE CAN BE TAKEN AS THE INSTANT THAT A THRESHOLD IS CROSSED BUT IN THE
PRESENCE OF NOISE AND DISTORTION THIS BECOMES A VARIABLE MEASUREMENT .EVERTHELESS
THE 4O! IS USED FOR DERIVING THE 02) OF THE RADAR 4HE AMPLITUDE OF THE PULSE IS TAKEN
AS THE PEAK VALUE $YNAMIC
RANGE CONSIDERATIONS MUST TAKE INTO ACCOUNT AT LEAST SOME
THREE ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE FOR RANGE VARIATION AND THREE ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE FOR SCAN
PATTERN VARIATIONS )N PRACTICE D" INSTANTANEOUS DYNAMIC RANGE SOUNDS LIKE A MINI
MUM VALUE IN MANY APPLICATIONS IT SHOULD BE LARGER 4HE AMPLITUDE MEASUREMENT IS
USED ALONG WITH 4O! FOR DERIVING THE SCAN PATTERN OF THE EMITTER
4HE CLASSIFICATION OF RADAR INTERCEPTION SYSTEMS IS BASED ON THE TYPE OF REPRESEN
TATION THEY PROVIDE OF THE ELECTRONIC ENVIRONMENT ! RADAR WARNING RECEIVER 272
IN AN AIRBORNE INSTALLATION PROVIDES ALERTS OF THE PRESENCE OF THREATS SUCH AS RADAR ON
A MISSILE SUPPLYING THE RELATIVE BEARING ON A COCKPIT
BASED DISPLAY 3EARCH RADARS
ARE NOT THE PRIMARY TARGET FOR THESE SYSTEMS THOUGH RANGE ADVANTAGE DUE TO ONE
WAY
PROPAGATION WITH RESPECT TO TWO
WAY PROPAGATION ALLOWS RADAR INTERCEPTION AT FARTHER
RANGE THAN OWN PLATFORM DETECTION 2EQUIRED SENSITIVITY VALUES RANGE FROM n D"M
D" MILLI7ATT WITH RESPECT TO THE ISOTROPIC TO n D"M %3- IS THE MOST COMPLEX
SYSTEM AND USUALLY COMPRISES THE CAPABILITY TO PRODUCE A PICTURE OF THE COMPLETE
ELECTRONIC ORDER OF BATTLE IN ITS DEPLOYMENT AREA AND ALERT FUNCTION 4HIS KIND OF
SYSTEM IS ABLE TO DETECT AND ANALYZE EMITTER WAVEFORMS AND SCANNING PATTERNS 4HE
REACTION TIME FOR THE RECONNAISSANCE OF THE OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT MAY BE LESS
THAN S THOUGH DANGEROUS EMITTERS AND ALERT FUNCTIONS CALL FOR TIGHTER CONSTRAINTS
2EQUIRED SENSITIVITY RANGES FROM n D"M TO BETTER THAN n D"M %,).4 SYSTEMS
ARE SIMILAR TO %3- BUT MAY NOT REQUIRE PROBABILITY OF INTERCEPT 4HE REACTION
TIME MAY BE MINUTES OR HOURS 4HE PURPOSE IS NOT TO DETECT EMITTERS AS SOON AS THEY
SWITCH ON IN THE OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT BUT TO PROVIDE DETAILED CHARACTERISTICS OF
EMITTERS TO ALLOW THE GENERATION OF AN IDENTIFICATION DATABASE FOR 272 AND %3-
SYSTEMS %,).4 SYSTEM SENSITIVITY MAY REACH n D"M BUT THEY DONT NEED TO PRO
VIDE SURVEILLANCE AND THEY CAN REACH SUCH PERFORMANCE BY MEANS OF SEVERAL
DIRECTIVE ANTENNAS
4HE RANGE AT WHICH A RADAR EMISSION IS DETECTED BY AN 272 DEPENDS PRIMARILY ON
THE SENSITIVITY OF THE RECEIVER AND THE RADIATED POWER OF THE VICTIM RADAR 4HE CALCU
LATION OF THE WARNING RANGE CAN BE OBTAINED BY THE BASIC ONE
WAY BEACON EQUATION
WHICH PROVIDES THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO 3.2 AT THE 272
3
0 'R L
'
.
P 2 T P K43 " ,
AT 272
WHERE 0 IS THE RADAR RADIATED POWER 2 IS THE RANGE FROM THE 272 TO THE RADAR 'T IS THE
TRANSMITTING
ANTENNA GAIN OF THE RADAR 'R IS THE RECEIVING
ANTENNA GAIN OF THE 272 K
IS THE RADAR WAVELENGTH THE QUANTITY K4S" IS THE TOTAL SYSTEM NOISE POWER OF THE 272
AND , IS THE LOSSES
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
{x
%QUATION IS THE BASIS OF PERFORMANCE CALCULATION FOR AN 272 )T IS NOTED THAT
THE 272 DETECTION PERFORMANCE IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO 2 RATHER THAN TO 2 OF THE
RADAR TARGET DETECTION EQUATION &OR THIS REASON THE 272 CAN DETECT A RADIATING RADAR
AT DISTANCES FAR BEYOND THOSE OF A RADARS OWN TARGET DETECTION CAPABILITY 4HE RADAR
VERSUS
INTERCEPTOR PROBLEM IS A BATTLE IN WHICH THE RADARS ADVANTAGE LIES IN THE USE
OF MATCHED FILTERING WHICH CANNOT BE DUPLICATED BY THE INTERCEPTOR IT DOES NOT KNOW
THE EXACT RADAR WAVEFORM WHILE THE INTERCEPTORS ADVANTAGE LIES IN THE FUNDAMENTAL
2 ADVANTAGE OF ONE
WAY VERSUS TWO
WAY RADAR PROPAGATIONn ,OW PROBABILITY OF
INTERCEPT ,0) TECHNIQUES ARE APPLIED TO RADAR TO WIN THE BATTLE OF hTO SEE AND NOT TO BE
SEENv SEE 3CHLEHER AND REFERENCES THEREIN
{{
/,"
"1 / , -1, 4HE OBJECTIVES OF AN %#- SYSTEM ARE TO DENY INFORMATION DETECTION POSITION TRACK
INITIATION TRACK UPDATE AND CLASSIFICATION OF ONE OR MORE TARGETS THAT THE RADAR SEEKS
OR TO SURROUND DESIRED RADAR ECHOES WITH SO MANY FALSE TARGETS THAT THE TRUE INFORMATION
CANNOT BE EXTRACTEDn
%#- TACTICS AND TECHNIQUES MAY BE CLASSIFIED IN A NUMBER OF WAYS IE BY MAIN
PURPOSE WHETHER ACTIVE OR PASSIVE BY DEPLOYMENT BY PLATFORM BY VICTIM RADAR OR
BY A COMBINATION OF THESEn !N ENCYCLOPEDIA OF %#- TACTICS AND TECHNIQUES CAN
BE FOUND IN THE LITERATURE (ERE DESCRIPTION IS LIMITED TO THE MOST COMMON TYPES
OF %#-
%#- INCLUDES BOTH JAMMING AND DECEPTION *AMMING IS THE INTENTIONAL AND DELIB
ERATE TRANSMISSION OR RETRANSMISSION OF AMPLITUDE FREQUENCY PHASE OR OTHERWISE
MODULATED INTERMITTENT #7 OR NOISE LIKE SIGNALS FOR THE PURPOSE OF INTERFERING WITH
DISTURBING EXPLOITING DECEIVING MASKING OR OTHERWISE DEGRADING THE RECEPTION OF
OTHER SIGNALS THAT ARE USED BY RADAR SYSTEMSn ! JAMMER IS ANY %#- DEVICE THAT
TRANSMITS A SIGNAL OF ANY DUTY CYCLE FOR THE SOLE OR PARTIAL PURPOSE OF JAMMING A
RADAR SYSTEMn
2ADIO SIGNALS BY SPECIAL TRANSMITTERS INTENDED FOR INTERFERING WITH OR PRECLUDING THE
NORMAL OPERATION OF A VICTIM RADAR SYSTEM ARE CALLED ACTIVE JAMMING 4HEY PRODUCE AT
THE INPUT OF A VICTIM SYSTEM A BACKGROUND THAT IMPEDES THE DETECTION AND RECOGNITION OF
USEFUL SIGNALS AND DETERMINATION OF THEIR PARAMETERS 4HE MOST COMMON FORMS OF ACTIVE
NOISE JAMMING ARE SPOT SWEPT AND BARRAGE NOISES 3POT NOISE IS USED WHEN THE CENTER
FREQUENCY AND BANDWIDTH OF THE VICTIM SYSTEM TO BE JAMMED ARE KNOWN AND CONFINED TO
A NARROW BAND (OWEVER MANY RADARS ARE FREQUENCY AGILE OVER A WIDEBAND AS AN %##-
AGAINST SPOT JAMMING )F THE RATE OF FREQUENCY AGILITY IS SLOW ENOUGH THE JAMMER CAN
FOLLOW THE FREQUENCY CHANGES AND MAINTAIN THE EFFECT OF SPOT JAMMING "ARRAGE OR BROAD
BAND JAMMING IS SIMULTANEOUSLY RADIATED ACROSS THE ENTIRE BAND OF THE RADAR SPECTRUM OF
INTEREST 4HIS METHOD IS USED AGAINST FREQUENCY AGILE SYSTEMS WHOSE RATES ARE TOO FAST TO
FOLLOW OR WHEN THE VICTIMS FREQUENCY PARAMETERS ARE IMPRECISELY KNOWN
*AMMER SIZE IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE EFFECTIVE RADIATED POWER %20 'J0J WHERE 'J
IS THE TRANSMIT ANTENNA GAIN OF THE JAMMER AND 0J IS THE JAMMER POWER
0ASSIVE %#- IS SYNONYMOUS WITH CHAFF DECOYS AND OTHER REFLECTORS THAT REQUIRE NO
PRIME POWER 4HE CHAFF IS MADE OF ELEMENTAL PASSIVE REFLECTORS THAT CAN BE FLOATED OR
OTHERWISE SUSPENDED IN THE ATMOSPHERE OR EXOATMOSPHERE FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONFUSING
SCREENING OR OTHERWISE ADVERSELY AFFECTING THE VICTIM ELECTRONIC SYSTEM %XAMPLES ARE
METAL FOILS METAL COATED DIELECTRICS ALUMINUM SILVER OR ZINC OVER FIBERGLASS OR NYLON
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
BEING THE MOST COMMON STRING BALLS ROPE AND SEMICONDUCTORS #HAFF CONSISTS OF
DIPOLES CUT TO APPROXIMATELY A HALF WAVELENGTH OF THE RADAR FREQUENCY )T IS SUITABLY
PACKAGED TO CONTAIN A BROAD RANGE OF DIPOLE LENGTHS DESIGNED TO BE EFFECTIVE OVER
A WIDE FREQUENCY BAND 4HE BASIC PROPERTIES OF CHAFF ARE EFFECTIVE SCATTER AREA THE
CHARACTER AND TIME OF DEVELOPMENT OF A CHAFF CLOUD THE SPECTRA OF THE SIGNALS REFLECTED
BY THE CLOUD AND THE WIDTH OF THE BAND THAT CONCEALS THE TARGET &ROM A RADAR
VIEWPOINT THE PROPERTIES OF CHAFF ARE VERY SIMILAR TO THOSE OF WEATHER CLUTTER EXCEPT
THAT ITS BROADBAND IN FREQUENCY CAN EXTEND DOWN TO 6(& 4HE MEAN DOPPLER FREQUENCY
OF THE CHAFF SPECTRUM IS DETERMINED BY THE MEAN WIND VELOCITY WHILE THE SPECTRUM
SPREAD IS DETERMINED BY WIND TURBULENCE AND A SHEARING EFFECT DUE TO DIFFERENT WIND
VELOCITIES AS A FUNCTION OF ALTITUDE
$ECOYS WHICH ARE ANOTHER TYPE OF PASSIVE %#- ARE A CLASS OF PHYSICALLY SMALL
RADAR TARGETS WHOSE RADAR CROSS SECTIONS 2#3 ARE GENERALLY ENHANCED BY USING REFLEC
TORS OR A ,UNEBURG LENS TO SIMULATE FIGHTER OR BOMBER AIRCRAFT 4HE OBJECTIVE OF DECOYS
IS TO CAUSE A DILUTION OF THE ASSETS OF THE DEFENSIVE SYSTEM THEREBY INCREASING THE SUR
VIVABILITY OF THE PENETRATING AIRCRAFT (OWEVER WHEN THE DECOYS GROW TOO LARGE THEY
HAVE TO BE ENGAGED IF THEY ARE THOUGHT LARGE ENOUGH TO CARRY A WEAPON
0ENETRATION !ID 0ENAIDS COULD BE USED BY INCOMING BALLISTIC MISSILES "-S 0ENAID
DECOYS ARE ONLY ONE OF SEVERAL POSSIBLE PENAIDS ! DECOY PROVIDES ANOTHER TARGET THAT THE
DEFENSE HAS TO HANDLE IF THE DEFENSE CANNOT DISTINGUISH A DECOY FROM A RE ENTRY VEHICLE
4HE OTHER MAJOR TYPE OF ACTIVE JAMMER IS DECEPTIVE %#- $%#- $ECEPTION IS
THE INTENTIONAL AND DELIBERATE TRANSMISSION OR RETRANSMISSION OF AMPLITUDE FREQUENCY
PHASE OR OTHERWISE MODULATED INTERMITTENT OR #7 SIGNALS FOR THE PURPOSE OF MISLEAD
ING IN THE INTERPRETATION OR USE OF INFORMATION BY ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS 4HE CATEGORIES
OF DECEPTION ARE MANIPULATIVE AND IMITATIVE -ANIPULATIVE IMPLIES THE ALTERATION OF
FRIENDLY %- SIGNALS TO ACCOMPLISH DECEPTION WHEREAS IMITATIVE CONSISTS OF INTRODUCING
RADIATION INTO RADAR CHANNELS THAT IMITATES A HOSTILE EMISSION $%#- IS ALSO DIVIDED
INTO TRANSPONDERS AND REPEATERS 4RANSPONDERS GENERATE NONCOHERENT SIGNALS THAT EMU
LATE THE TEMPORAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ACTUAL RADAR RETURN 2EPEATERS GENERATE COHERENT
RETURNS THAT ATTEMPT TO EMULATE THE AMPLITUDE FREQUENCY AND TEMPORAL CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE ACTUAL RADAR RETURN 2EPEATERS USUALLY REQUIRE SOME FORM OF MEMORY FOR MICROWAVE
SIGNALS TO ALLOW ANTICIPATORY RETURNS TO BE GENERATED THIS IS USUALLY IMPLEMENTED BY
USING A MICROWAVE ACOUSTIC MEMORY OR A DIGITAL 2& MEMORY $2&-
)N A $2&- SYSTEM THE INPUT 2& SIGNAL IS GENERALLY FIRST DOWN SHIFTED IN FREQUENCY
AND THEN SAMPLED WITH A HIGH SPEED ANALOGUE TO DIGITAL CONVERTER !$# 4HE SAMPLES
STORED IN MEMORY CAN BE MANIPULATED IN AMPLITUDE FREQUENCY AND PHASE TO GENERATE A
WIDE RANGE OF JAMMING SIGNALS 4HE STORED SAMPLES ARE LATER RECALLED PROCESSED BY THE
DIGITAL TO ANALOGUE CONVERTER $!# UP CONVERTED AND TRANSMITTED BACK TO THE VICTIM
RADAR 4HE INFORMATION CONTENT OF AN INTERCEPTED RADAR SIGNAL IS MAINLY CARRIED IN THE
PHASE OF THE SIGNAL AND THEN THE AMPLITUDE IS USUALLY DISCARDED AND ONLY THE PHASE
CONTRIBUTION IS QUANTIZED AND PROCESSED 4HE PHASE QUANTIZATION IS PERFORMED BY THE
$2&- BY MEANS OF - BITS INTO . - LEVELS !FTER THE PHASE QUANTIZATION INTRODUCED
ON THE SIGNAL BY THE $2&- THE JAMMING SIGNAL IS TRANSMITTED BACK TO THE VICTIM RADAR
WITH AN INCREASING DELAY WITH RESPECT TO THE RECEIVED RADAR SIGNAL 4HIS DELAY IS QUANTIZED
BY A RANGE GATE PULL OFF 2'0/ DEVICE ! RANGE GATE STEALER SYSTEM LINEARLY DELAYS THE
QUANTIZED SIGNAL IN ORDER TO GENERATE A CONSTANT RANGE RATE FALSE TARGET 4HE JOINT EFFECT
OF PHASE AND DELAY QUANTIZATION IN $2&- CAN BE ANALYZED AS REPORTED IN 'RECO 'INI
AND &ARINA /THER ARTIFACTS IN THE DECEPTION SIGNALS CAN BE INTRODUCED BY IMPERFECTIONS
IN THE DOWN UP CONVERSION AND DEMODULATIONMODULATION OF THE SIGNAL PERFORMED IN THE
$2&- DEVICE ! DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THIS KIND OF ERRORS IS IN "ERGER
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
4HE $2&- IS THE PRINCIPAL MEANS TO IMPLEMENT A DECEPTION JAMMER THE RANGE
GATE
STEALER PULLS THE RADAR
TRACKING GATE FROM THE TARGET POSITION THROUGH THE INTRODUCTION
OF A FALSE TARGET INTO THE RADARS RANGE
TRACKING CIRCUITS ! REPEATER JAMMER SENDS BACK
AN AMPLIFIED VERSION OF THE SIGNAL RECEIVED FROM THE RADAR 4HE DECEPTION SIGNAL BEING
STRONGER THAN THE RADARS RETURN SIGNAL CAPTURES THE RANGE
TRACKING CIRCUITS 4HE DECEP
TION SIGNAL IS THEN PROGRESSIVELY DELAYED BY USING THE $2&- THEREBY hWALKINGv THE
RANGE GATE OFF THE ACTUAL TARGET 2'0/ TECHNIQUE 7HEN THE RANGE GATE IS SUFFICIENTLY
REMOVED FROM THE ACTUAL TARGET THE DECEPTION JAMMER IS TURNED OFF FORCING THE TRACK
ING RADAR INTO A TARGET REACQUISITION MODE !NOTHER FORM OF DECEPTION IS THE VELOCITY
GATE PULL OFF 6'0/ A COMBINATION OF 2'0/ AND 6'0/ IS ALSO POSSIBLE
!NOTHER $%#- TECHNIQUE IS CALLED INVERSE
GAIN JAMMING IT IS USED TO CAPTURE THE
ANGLE
TRACKING CIRCUITS OF A CONICAL
SCAN TRACKING RADAR 4HIS TECHNIQUE REPEATS A
REPLICA OF THE RECEIVED SIGNAL WITH AN INDUCED AMPLITUDE MODULATION THAT IS THE INVERSE
OF THE VICTIM RADARS COMBINED TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING ANTENNA SCAN PATTERNS
!GAINST A CONICALLY SCANNING TRACKING RADAR AN INVERSE
GAIN REPEATER JAMMER HAS THE
EFFECT OF CAUSING POSITIVE FEEDBACK WHICH PUSHES THE TRACKING
RADAR ANTENNA AWAY
FROM THE TARGET RATHER THAN TOWARD THE TARGET )NVERSE
GAIN JAMMING AND 2'0/ ARE
COMBINED IN MANY CASES TO COUNTER CONICAL
SCAN TRACKING RADARS 4HE VULNERABILITY OF
CONICAL SCAN TO SUCH COUNTERMEASURES MOTIVATES THE USE OF MONOPULSE TRACKERS THAT ARE
ALMOST ALWAYS USED IN MILITARY TRACKING RADARS
! DIFFERENT FORM OF $%#- USED AGAINST THE MAIN BEAM OF SURVEILLANCE RADAR
ATTEMPTS TO COVER THE TARGETS SKIN RETURN WITH A WIDE PULSE IN ORDER TO CONFUSE THE
RADARS SIGNAL
PROCESSING CIRCUITRY INTO SUPPRESSING THE ACTUAL TARGET RETURN
7HAT THE RADAR CAN DO AGAINST $%#- IS DISCUSSED LATER SEE 3ECTION
)N THE DEPLOYMENT OF %#- SEVERAL CLASSES CAN BE SINGLED OUT )N THE STAND
OFF
JAMMER 3/* CASE THE JAMMING PLATFORM REMAINS CLOSE TO BUT OUTSIDE THE LETHAL RANGE
OF ENEMY WEAPON SYSTEMS AND JAMS THESE SYSTEMS TO PROTECT THE ATTACKING VEHICLES
3TAND
OFF %#- SYSTEMS EMPLOY HIGH
POWER NOISE JAMMING THAT MUST PENETRATE THROUGH
THE RADAR ANTENNA RECEIVING SIDELOBES AT LONG RANGES %SCORT JAMMING IS ANOTHER %#-
TACTIC IN WHICH THE JAMMING PLATFORM ACCOMPANIES THE STRIKE VEHICLES AND JAMS RADARS
TO PROTECT THE STRIKE VEHICLES
-UTUAL
SUPPORT OR COOPERATIVE %#- INVOLVES THE COORDINATED CONDUCT OF %#-
BY COMBAT ELEMENTS AGAINST ACQUISITION AND WEAPON CONTROL RADARS /NE ADVANTAGE OF
MUTUAL
SUPPORT JAMMING IS THE GREATER %20 AVAILABLE FROM A COLLECTION OF PLATFORMS
IN CONTRAST WITH A SINGLE PLATFORM (OWEVER THE REAL VALUE OF MUTUAL
SUPPORT JAMMING
IS IN THE COORDINATED TACTICS THAT CAN BE EMPLOYED ! FAVORITE TACTIC EMPLOYED AGAINST
TRACKING RADARS FOR EXAMPLE IS TO SWITCH BETWEEN JAMMERS LOCATED ON SEPARATE AIRCRAFT
WITHIN THE RADARS BEAMWIDTH 4HIS BLINKING HAS THE EFFECT OF INTRODUCING ARTIFICIAL
GLINT INTO THE RADAR TRACKING CIRCUITS WHICH IF INTRODUCED AT THE PROPER RATE TYPICALLY
TO (Z CAN CAUSE THE RADAR TO BREAK ANGLE TRACK )N ADDITION BLINKING HAS THE
DESIRABLE EFFECT OF CONFUSING RADIATION HOMING MISSILES THAT MIGHT BE DIRECTED AGAINST
THE JAMMER RADIATIONS
3TAND
FORWARD JAMMING IS AN %#- TACTIC IN WHICH THE JAMMING PLATFORM IS LOCATED
BETWEEN THE WEAPON SYSTEMS AND THE STRIKE VEHICLES AND JAMS THE RADARS TO PROTECT THE
STRIKE VEHICLES 4HE STAND
FORWARD JAMMER IS USUALLY WITHIN THE LETHAL RANGE OF DEFEN
SIVE WEAPON SYSTEMS FOR A CONSIDERABLE TIME 4HEREFORE ONLY THE USE OF RELATIVELY
LOW
COST REMOTELY PILOTED VEHICLES MIGHT BE PRACTICAL THEY CAN ASSIST STRIKE AIRCRAFT
OR MISSILES IN PENETRATING RADAR
DEFENDED AREAS BY JAMMING EJECTING CHAFF DROPPING
EXPENDABLE JAMMERS OR DECOYS ACTING AS DECOYS THEMSELVES AND PERFORMING OTHER
RELATED %#- TASKS
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
! SELF SCREENING JAMMER 33* IS USED TO PROTECT THE CARRYING VEHICLE 4HIS SITUATION
STRESSES THE CAPABILITY OF AN %#- SYSTEM RELATING TO ITS POWER SIGNAL PROCESSING AND
%3- CAPABILITIES
3ELF PROTECTION 30 DECOY JAMMING IS AN OFF BOARD TECHNIQUE INTENDED TO CREATE
ANGLE DECEPTION BY CAUSING A MISSILE SEEKER TO TRANSFER ANGLE TRACK FROM THE TARGET TO
A DECOY #ONSEQUENTLY THE MISSILE GUIDES TOWARD THE DECOY AND AWAY FROM THE TARGET
! SELF PROTECTION DECOY IS MOST LIKELY TO BE USED BY LARGE FIGHTERATTACK AND BOMBER
AIRCRAFT 4HE 30 DECOYS ARE EXPENDABLE OR TOWED %XPENDABLE DECOYS ARE EJECTED OR
DROPPED FROM THE AIRCRAFT WHEREAS TOWED DECOYS ARE TETHERED BEHIND THE AIRCRAFT
%XPENDABLE DECOYS CONTAIN MINIATURE JAMMING SYSTEMS THAT ARE SMALL ENOUGH TO FIT INTO
A STANDARD CHAFFFLARE DISPENSER 4HE DECOY ORIENTS ITSELF TO THE AIR STREAM BY DEPLOYING
LOW DRAG AERODYNAMIC FINS SUFFICIENT TO MAINTAIN STABLE FLIGHT 4HE DECOY DIVERGES FROM
THE VELOCITY VECTOR OF THE LAUNCH AIRCRAFT BY NATURAL DECELERATION AS A RESULT OF AIR STREAM
AND FALLING DUE TO GRAVITY 4HE DECOY TYPICALLY STARTS RADIATING JAMMING SIGNALS TOWARD
THE MISSILE SEEKER IMMEDIATELY AFTER EJECTION FROM THE AIRCRAFT AND CONTINUES RADIATION
THROUGHOUT ITS FLIGHT $ECOY EJECTION IS TYPICALLY COMMENCED WHEN THE 272 DETECTS
INCOMING RADAR GUIDED MISSILES -ULTIPLE DECOYS ARE SOMETIMES DISPENSED AT PREDETER
MINED RATES IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THE CUMULATIVE PROBABILITY OF AIRCRAFT SURVIVAL
! TOWED DECOY IS A SMALL AERODYNAMICALLY STABLE BODY THAT HOUSES A MINIATURE JAM
MER 4HE DECOY IS DEPLOYED BY REELING IT OUT ON A CABLE BEHIND THE AIRCRAFT TO A FIXED
DISTANCE OR OFFSET 4HIS OFFSET IS CHOSEN SUCH THAT EVEN IF A MISSILE HITS THE DECOY THE
AIRCRAFT WILL NOT BE DAMAGED 4HE DECOY CAN EITHER BE POWERED BY THE AIRCRAFT VIA THE
CABLE OR BE SELF POWERED "ESIDES PROVIDING POWER TO THE DECOY THE CABLE CAN ALSO BE
USED AS A DATA LINK TO CONTROL JAMMER OPERATION /NCE DEPLOYED THE TOWED DECOY CAN
BEGIN RADIATING JAMMING SIGNALS TOWARD THE MISSILE SEEKER 7HEN THE TOWED DECOY IS
NO LONGER NEEDED IT IS EITHER REELED IN OR JETTISONED 4HE MAJOR DRAWBACK WITH TOWED
DECOYS IS THAT THEY MIGHT SEVERELY DEGRADE AIRCRAFT MANEUVERABILITY
!CCORDING TO THE PLATFORM THE JAMMER CAN BE CLASSIFIED AS AIRBORNE MISSILE BORNE
NAVAL BASED OR GROUND BASED
! SPECIAL CLASS OF MISSILE BORNE THREAT IS THE ANTI RADIATION MISSILE !2- HAVING
THE OBJECTIVE OF HOMING ON AND DESTROYING THE VICTIM RADAR 4HE SORTING AND ACQUISITION
OF RADAR SIGNALS IS PRELIMINARILY MADE BY AN %3- SYSTEM AFTERWARD IT CUES THE !2-
WHICH CONTINUES HOMING ON THE VICTIM RADAR BY MEANS OF ITS OWN ANTENNA RECEIVER AND
SIGNAL PROCESSOR !CQUISITION DEPENDS ON THE DIRECTION OF ARRIVAL $O! OPERATING BAND
CARRIER FREQUENCY PULSE WIDTH 02) SCAN RATE AND OTHER PARAMETERS OF THE VICTIM RADAR
!N !2- HOMES ON THE CONTINUOUS RADIATION FROM THE RADAR SIDELOBES OR ON THE FLASH OF
ENERGY FROM THE MAIN BEAM !2- BENEFITS FROM THE ONE WAY ONLY RADAR SIGNAL ATTENUA
TION (OWEVER !2- RECEIVER SENSITIVITY IS AFFECTED BY MISMATCHING LOSSES ACCURACY IN
LOCATING THE VICTIM RADAR IS AFFECTED BY THE LIMITED DIMENSION OF THE !2- ANTENNA
{x "
/6
- /8" " 9
"
/
+1
4HE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF %##- TECHNIQUES WHEN APPLIED TO A RADAR SYSTEM IS TO
ALLOW THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE RADAR INTENDED MISSION WHILE COUNTERING THE EFFECTS
OF THE ENEMYS %#- )N GREATER DETAIL THE BENEFITS OF USING %##- TECHNIQUES MAY
BE SUMMARIZED AS FOLLOWS PREVENTION OF RADAR SATURATION ENHANCEMENT OF THE
SIGNAL
TO
JAMMING RATIO DISCRIMINATION OF DIRECTIONAL INTERFERENCE REJECTION OF
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
FALSE TARGETS MAINTENANCE OF TARGET TRACKS COUNTERACTION OF %3- AND RADAR
SYSTEM SURVIVABILITY
4HERE ARE TWO BROAD CLASSES OF %##- ELECTRONIC TECHNIQUES 3ECTION n
AND OPERATIONAL DOCTRINES 3ECTION 3PECIFIC ELECTRONIC TECHNIQUES TAKE PLACE
IN THE MAIN RADAR SUBSYSTEMS NAMELY THE ANTENNA TRANSMITTER RECEIVER AND SIG
NAL PROCESSOR 4ABLE SHOWS A CATEGORIZATION OF SOME %##- TECHNIQUES ALONG
WITH THE %#- TECHNIQUES THAT ARE USED TO COUNTER 3UITABLE BLENDING OF THESE
%##- TECHNIQUES CAN BE IMPLEMENTED IN THE VARIOUS TYPES OF RADARS AS DISCUSSED
IN 3ECTION
4HE ENSUING DESCRIPTION IS LIMITED TO THE MAJOR %##- TECHNIQUES THE READER SHOULD
BE AWARE THAT AN ALPHABETICALLY LISTED COLLECTION OF %##- TECHNIQUES AND AN ENCY
CLOPEDIA OF %##- TACTICS AND TECHNIQUES CAN BE FOUND IN THE LITERATURE -ANY OTHER
REFERENCES DESCRIBE THE %##- PROBLEM AMONG WHICH 3LOCUMB AND 7EST -AKSIMOV
ET AL 'ROS ET AL AND *OHNSON AND 3TONER ARE WORTH NOTING
4!",% %##- 4ECHNIQUES 6ERSUS %#- 4ECHNIQUE #OUNTERED 2EPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION
FROM 3LOCUMB AND 7EST !RTECH (OUSE AND ' 6 -ORRIS
%#- 4ECHNIQUE #ATEGORY #OUNTERED
2ADAR
3UBSYSTEM
!NTENNA
RELATED
%##- 4ECHNIQUE
,OW OR ULTRA
LOW SIDELOBES
-ONOPULSE ANGLE TRACKING
,OW CROSS
POLARIZED RESPONSE
3," SIDELOBE BLANKING
3,# SIDELOBE CANCELER
%LECTRONIC SCAN
!DAPTIVE RECEIVE POLARIZATION
#ROSS POLARIZATION CANCELLATION
,OW CROSS
POLARIZED ANTENNA
(IGH POWER
4RANSMITTER 0ULSE COMPRESSION
&REQUENCY DIVERSITY
RELATED
&REQUENCY AGILITY
02& JITTER
2ECEIVER
RELATED
3IGNAL
PROCESSING
RELATED
2'0/ MEMORY NULLING
"ANDWIDTH EXPANSION
"EAT FREQUENCY DETECTOR
#OVER PULSE CHANNEL PROCESSING
(OME
ON
JAM
,EADINGTRAILING EDGE TRACK
.ARROWBAND DOPPLER NOISE DETECTOR
6ELOCITY GUARD GATES
6'0/ RESET
3IGNAL REALISM
!CCELERATION LIMITING
#ENSORED OR ORDERED STATISTIC #&!2
$OPPLERRANGE RATE COMPARISON
4IME AVERAGE #&!2
4OTAL ENERGY TEST
.OISE
&ALSE
4ARGET
2ANGE 6ELOCITY
'ATE
'ATE
0ULL /FF 0ULL /FF
!NGLE
{
{ /
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
, /
"ECAUSE THE ANTENNA REPRESENTS THE TRANSDUCER BETWEEN THE RADAR AND THE ENVIRON
MENT IT IS THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST JAMMING 4HE DIRECTIVITY OF THE ANTENNA IN
THE TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION PHASES ALLOWS SPACE DISCRIMINATION TO BE USED AS AN
%##- STRATEGY 4ECHNIQUES FOR SPACE DISCRIMINATION INCLUDE ANTENNA COVERAGE AND
SCAN CONTROL REDUCTION OF MAIN
BEAM WIDTH LOW SIDELOBES SIDELOBE BLANKING SIDE
LOBE CANCELERS AND ADAPTIVE ARRAY SYSTEMS 3OME OF THESE TECHNIQUES ARE USEFUL DUR
ING TRANSMISSION WHEREAS OTHERS OPERATE IN THE RECEPTION PHASE !DDITIONALLY SOME
ARE ACTIVE AGAINST MAIN
BEAM JAMMERS AND OTHERS PROVIDE BENEFITS AGAINST SIDELOBE
JAMMERS
"LANKING OR TURNING OFF THE RECEIVER WHILE THE RADAR IS SCANNING ACROSS THE AZI
MUTH SECTOR CONTAINING THE JAMMER OR REDUCING THE SCAN SECTOR COVERED ARE MEANS TO
PREVENT THE RADAR FROM LOOKING AT THE JAMMER #ERTAIN DECEPTION JAMMERS DEPEND ON
ANTICIPATION OF THE BEAM SCAN OR ON KNOWLEDGE OR MEASUREMENT OF THE ANTENNA SCAN
RATE 2ANDOM ELECTRONIC SCANNING EFFECTIVELY PREVENTS THESE DECEPTION JAMMERS FROM
SYNCHRONIZING TO THE ANTENNA SCAN RATE THUS DEFEATING THIS TYPE OF JAMMER ! HIGH
GAIN ANTENNA CAN BE EMPLOYED TO SPOTLIGHT A TARGET AND BURN THROUGH THE JAMMERS !N
ANTENNA HAVING MULTIPLE BEAMS CAN ALSO BE USED TO ALLOW DELETION OF THE BEAM CON
TAINING THE JAMMER AND STILL MAINTAIN DETECTION CAPABILITIES WITH THE REMAINING BEAMS
!LTHOUGH THEY ADD COMPLEXITY COST AND POSSIBLY WEIGHT TO THE ANTENNA REDUCTION
OF MAIN
BEAM WIDTH AND CONTROL OF COVERAGE AND SCAN ARE VALUABLE AND WORTHWHILE
%##- FEATURES OF ALL RADARS
)F AN AIR DEFENSE RADAR OPERATES IN A SEVERE %#- ENVIRONMENT THE DETECTION RANGE
CAN BE DEGRADED BECAUSE OF JAMMING ENTERING THE SIDELOBES /N TRANSMIT THE ENERGY
RADIATED INTO SPATIAL REGIONS OUTSIDE OF THE MAIN BEAM IS SUBJECT TO BEING RECEIVED
BY ENEMY 272S OR !2-S &OR THESE REASONS LOW SIDELOBES ARE DESIRABLE ON BOTH
RECEIVE AND TRANSMIT SEE 3CHRANK 0ATTON AND #HAPTER IN &ARINA 3OMETIMES
THE INCREASE IN MAIN
BEAM WIDTH THAT RESULTS FROM LOW SIDELOBES WORSENS THE PROBLEM
OF MAIN
BEAM JAMMING THIS CONSEQUENCE SHOULD BE CAREFULLY CONSIDERED IN SPECIFYING
THE ANTENNA RADIATION PATTERN
5SUALLY SPECIFICATION OF THE SIDELOBES AS A SINGLE NUMBER EG
D" MEANS
THAT THE PEAK OF THE HIGHEST SIDELOBE IS D" BELOW THE PEAK OF THE MAIN BEAM
4HE AVERAGE OR ROOT
MEAN
SQUARE RMS SIDELOBE LEVEL IS OFTEN MORE IMPORTANT
&OR EXAMPLE IF OF THE RADIATED POWER IS IN THE SIDELOBES THE AVERAGE SIDELOBE
LEVEL IS
D" WHERE D" REFERS TO THE NUMBER OF DECIBELS BY WHICH THE AVERAGE
SIDELOBE LEVEL IS BELOW THE GAIN OF AN ISOTROPIC IDEAL RADIATOR )N THEORY EXTREMELY
LOW SIDELOBES CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH APERTURE ILLUMINATION FUNCTIONS THAT ARE APPRO
PRIATELY TAPERED 4HIS LEADS TO THE WELL
KNOWN TRADEOFFS AMONG GAIN BEAMWIDTH AND
SIDELOBE LEVEL )N ORDER TO KEEP THE BEAMWIDTH SMALL WITH LOW SIDELOBES A LARGER
AND COSTLY THE COST COULD NOT BE THAT LARGE UNLESS THE RADAR USES AN ACTIVE APERTURE
ANTENNA IS NEEDED 4HE CHIEF PROBLEM WITH THE LOW SIDELOBE ANTENNA IN ITS EARLY DAYS
WAS THAT IT HAD MORE MECHANICAL PROBLEMS BECAUSE IT WAS A WAVEGUIDE ARRAY AND
NOT A REFLECTOR /THER DESIGN PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN LOW ANTENNA SIDELOBES ARE THE
USE OF RADAR
ABSORBENT MATERIAL ABOUT THE ANTENNA STRUCTURE THE USE OF A FENCE ON
GROUND INSTALLATIONS AND THE USE OF POLARIZATION SCREENS AND REFLECTORS 4HIS MEANS
THAT VERY LOW SIDELOBE ANTENNAS ARE COSTLY IN TERMS OF SIZE AND COMPLEXITY WHEN
COMPARED WITH CONVENTIONAL ANTENNAS OF SIMILAR GAIN AND BEAMWIDTH CHARACTERISTICS
3ECOND AS THE DESIGN SIDELOBES ARE PUSHED LOWER AND LOWER A POINT IS REACHED WHERE
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
MINOR ERROR CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCATTERED ENERGY RANDOM ERRORS OR MISDIRECTED RADIA
TION SYSTEMATIC ERRORS BECOME SIGNIFICANT )N PRACTICE PEAK SIDELOBE LEVELS AS LOW
AS
TO
D" AVERAGE LEVEL
TO
D" CAN BE READILY REALIZED WITH PHASED
ARRAY ANTENNAS THAT ELECTRONICALLY SCAN 4O OBTAIN SIDELOBES AT LEVELS
D" DOWN
FROM THE MAIN BEAM AVERAGE LEVEL BELOW
D" THE TOTAL PHASE
ERROR BUDGET
IS REQUIRED TO BE IN THE ORDER OF n RMS OR LESS 4HIS IS DIFFICULT IN ARRAYS THAT ELEC
TRONICALLY SCAN THE ERRORS INDUCED BY PHASE SHIFTERS ACTIVE COMPONENTS AND FEED
ELEMENTS MUST BE INCLUDED IN THIS BUDGET !RRAYS HAVE BEEN REALIZED IN PRACTICE THAT
HAVE PEAK SIDELOBES IN THE VICINITY OF THE
D" LEVEL HOWEVER THESE ARE GENERALLY
MECHANICALLY SCANNED AND THE LOW ERROR BUDGETS ARE ACHIEVED BY USING ALL
PASSIVE
FEED COMPONENTS 0HASED
ARRAY DEVELOPMENTS WHICH DO SCAN ELECTRONICALLY ALSO
FORESEE FAIRLY GOOD SIDELOBE PERFORMANCE SEE THE FOLLOWING REFERENCESn FOR A
VIEW OF RELEVANT DEVELOPMENTS
4WO ADDITIONAL TECHNIQUES TO PREVENT JAMMING FROM ENTERING THROUGH THE RADARS
SIDELOBES ARE THE SO
CALLED SIDELOBE BLANKING 3," AND SIDELOBE CANCELER 3,# !N
EXAMPLE OF THE PRACTICAL EFFECTIVENESS OF THE 3," AND 3,# DEVICES IS PRESENTED IN THE
LITERATURE WHERE THE PLAN POSITION INDICATOR 00) DISPLAY IS SHOWN FOR A RADAR SUBJECT
TO AN %#- EQUIPPED WITH AND WITHOUT THE 3," AND 3,# SYSTEMS
/THER DISCRIMINATION MEANS ARE BASED ON POLARIZATION 4HE POLARIZATION CHARACTER
ISTICS OF A RADAR CAN BE EXPLOITED AS %##- TECHNIQUES IN TWO WAYS &IRST THE CROSS
POLARIZED PATTERN IE THE ORTHOGONAL POLARIZATION TO THE MAIN PLANE OF POLARIZATION
OF A RADAR ANTENNA SHOULD BE KEPT AS LOW AS POSSIBLE CONSISTENT WITH RADAR SYSTEM COST
2ATIOS OF COPOLARIZED MAIN
BEAM PEAK GAIN TO CROSS
POLARIZED GAIN ANYWHERE IN THE
ANTENNA PATTERN SHOULD BE GREATER THAN D" TO PROVIDE PROTECTION AGAINST COMMON
CROSS
POLARIZED JAMMING 4HIS IS THOUGHT OF AS AN %##- TECHNIQUE BUT IT IS REALLY
NO MORE THAN GOOD ANTENNA DESIGN 4HE CROSS
POLARIZED JAMMING IN THIS CASE ATTACKS
A DESIGN DEFICIENCY IN THE RADAR 4HE REQUIREMENT FOR GOOD CROSS
POLARIZATION DESIGN
PRACTICE IN A RADAR ANTENNA SYSTEM EXTENDS TO ANY AUXILIARY %##- ANTENNAS AS WELL )F
THEIR CROSS
POLARIZED GAINS ARE HIGH %##- TECHNIQUES SUCH AS 3,# AND 3," MAY NOT
BE EFFECTIVE AGAINST CROSS
POLARIZED NOISE OR REPEATER JAMMERS
)N THE SECOND USE OF POLARIZATION THE RADAR ANTENNA SYSTEM PURPOSELY RECEIVES
THE CROSS
POLARIZATION COMPONENT OF THE RADAR WAVE IN ADDITION TO THE COPOLARIZED
COMPONENT 4HE TWO ORTHOGONALLY POLARIZED COMPONENTS CAN BE USED TO DISCRIMINATE
THE USEFUL TARGET FROM CHAFF AND JAMMER ON THE BASIS OF THEIR DIFFERENT POLARIZATIONS
(OWEVER LIMITED BENEFITS A FEW DECIBELS OF CANCELLATION RATIO CAN BE OBTAINED AT
THE EXPENSE OF A MORE COMPLEX ANTENNA SYSTEM CONSIDER FOR EXAMPLE A PHASED
ARRAY WITH RADIATING ELEMENTS ABLE TO SEPARATELY RECEIVE AND POSSIBLY TRANSMIT THE
TWO ORTHOGONAL COMPONENTS OF A RADAR WAVE AND OF A DUPLICATION OF THE RECEIVER AND
SIGNAL PROCESSING
3IDELOBE "LANKING 3," 3YSTEM 4HE PURPOSE OF AN 3," SYSTEM IS TO PREVENT
THE DETECTION OF STRONG TARGETS AND INTERFERENCE PULSES AS THEY MIGHT APPEAR AFTER
PULSE COMPRESSION ENTERING THE RADAR RECEIVER VIA THE ANTENNA SIDELOBES 4HUS 3,"
IS MAINLY USED TO ELIMINATE INTERFERENCE FROM OTHER PULSE TRANSMISSIONS AND DELIBER
ATE PULSE
LIKE JAMMING !LSO 3," IS EFFECTIVE AGAINST COHERENT REPEATER INTERFERENCE
#2) HERE hCOHERENTv MEANS THAT THE INTERFERENCE TRIES TO MIMIC THE CODED WAVEFORM
RADIATED BY THE RADAR APPEARING AS A SPIKE SIGNAL AFTER PULSE COMPRESSIONn !
METHOD OF ACHIEVING THIS IS TO EMPLOY AN AUXILIARY ANTENNA COUPLED TO A PARALLEL RECEIV
ING CHANNEL SO THAT TWO SIGNALS FROM A SINGLE SOURCE ARE AVAILABLE FOR COMPARISON
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% A -AIN AND AUXILIARY ANTENNA PATTERNS FOR THE 3," AFTER
, -AISEL )%%%
"Y SUITABLE CHOICE OF THE ANTENNA GAINS ONE MAY DISTINGUISH SIGNALS ENTERING THE
SIDELOBES FROM THOSE ENTERING THE MAIN BEAM AND THE FORMER MAY BE SUPPRESSED
&IGURE A ILLUSTRATES THE RADIATION PATTERN OF THE MAIN ANTENNA TOGETHER WITH A
LOW
GAIN AUXILIARY ANTENNA !N IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 3," PROCESSOR IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE B WHERE THE SQUARE
LAW
DETECTED OUTPUTS OF THE TWO CHANNELS IDEALLY
IDENTICAL EXCEPT FOR THE ANTENNA PATTERNS ARE COMPARED 4HE COMPARISON IS MADE AT
EACH RANGE BIN FOR EACH PULSE RECEIVED AND PROCESSED BY THE TWO PARALLEL CHANNELS
4HUS THE 3," DECIDES WHETHER OR NOT TO BLANK THE MAIN CHANNEL ON A SINGLE
SWEEP
BASIS AND FOR EACH RANGE BIN ! TARGET ! IN THE MAIN BEAM WILL RESULT IN A LARGE SIGNAL
IN THE MAIN RECEIVING CHANNEL AND A SMALL SIGNAL IN THE AUXILIARY RECEIVING CHANNEL !
PROPER BLANKING LOGIC ALLOWS THIS SIGNAL TO PASS 4ARGETS ANDOR JAMMERS * SITUATED IN
THE SIDELOBES GIVE SMALL MAIN BUT LARGE AUXILIARY SIGNALS SO THAT THESE TARGETS ARE SUP
PRESSED BY THE BLANKING LOGIC )T IS ASSUMED THAT THE GAIN '! OF THE AUXILIARY ANTENNA
IS HIGHER THAN THE MAXIMUM GAIN 'SL OF THE SIDELOBES OF THE RADAR ANTENNA
4HE PERFORMANCE OF THE 3," MAY BE ANALYZED BY LOOKING AT THE DIFFERENT OUTCOMES
OBTAINED AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE PAIR U V OF THE PROCESSED SIGNALS SEE &IGURE B
&)'52% B 3CHEME OF SIDELOBE BLANKING SYSTEM AFTER , -AISEL )%%%
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
4HREE HYPOTHESES HAVE TO BE TESTED THE NULL HYPOTHESIS ( CORRESPONDING TO THE
PRESENCE OF NOISE IN THE TWO CHANNELS THE ( HYPOTHESIS PERTAINING TO THE TARGET
IN THE MAIN BEAM AND THE ( HYPOTHESIS CORRESPONDING TO TARGET OR INTERFERENCE
SIGNAL IN THE SIDELOBE REGION 4HE NULL AND ( HYPOTHESES CORRESPOND TO THE USUAL DECI
SIONS OF hNO DETECTIONv AND hTARGET DETECTION v RESPECTIVELY 4HE BLANKING COMMAND IS
DELIVERED WHEN ( IS DETECTED
3," PERFORMANCE CAN BE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE FOLLOWING PROBABILITIES I 4HE
PROBABILITY 0" OF BLANKING A JAMMER IN THE RADAR SIDELOBES WHICH IS THE PROBABILITY OF
ASSOCIATING THE RECEIVED SIGNALS U V WITH ( WHEN THE SAME HYPOTHESIS IS TRUE 0"
IS A FUNCTION OF THE JAMMER
TO
NOISE RATIO *.2 VALUE THE BLANKING THRESHOLD & AND
THE GAIN MARGIN A '!'SL OF THE AUXILIARY ANTENNA WITH RESPECT TO THE RADAR ANTENNA
SIDELOBES II 4HE PROBABILITY 0&! OF FALSE ALARM WHICH IS THE PROBABILITY OF ASSOCIAT
ING THE RECEIVED SIGNALS U V WITH THE HYPOTHESIS ( WHEN THE TRUE HYPOTHESIS IS (
0&! IS A FUNCTION OF THE DETECTION THRESHOLD @ NORMALIZED TO THE NOISE POWER LEVEL AND
OF THE BLANKING THRESHOLD & III 4HE PROBABILITY 0$ OF DETECTING A TARGET IN THE MAIN
BEAM WHICH IS THE PROBABILITY OF ASSOCIATING THE RECEIVED SIGNAL U V WITH ( WHEN
THE SAME HYPOTHESIS IS TRUE 0$ DEPENDS AMONG OTHER THINGS ON THE SIGNAL
TO
NOISE
POWER RATIO 3.2 0&! AND THE BLANKING THRESHOLD & IV 4HE PROBABILITY 0&4 OF DETECT
ING A FALSE TARGET PRODUCED BY A JAMMER ENTERING THROUGH THE RADAR SIDELOBES 0&4 IS
THE PROBABILITY OF ASSOCIATING U V WITH ( WHEN ( IS TRUE IT IS A FUNCTION OF *.2
THE THRESHOLDS @ AND & AND THE GAIN MARGIN A V 4HE PROBABILITY 04" OF BLANKING
A TARGET RECEIVED IN THE MAIN BEAM 4HIS IS THE PROBABILITY OF ASSOCIATING U V WITH
( WHEN ( IS THE TRUE HYPOTHESIS 04" IS RELATED TO 3.2 & AND THE AUXILIARY GAIN
W '!'T NORMALIZED TO THE GAIN 'T OF THE MAIN BEAM 4O COMPLETE THE LIST OF PARAM
ETERS NEEDED TO DESCRIBE THE 3," PERFORMANCE THE LAST FIGURE TO CONSIDER IS THE DETEC
TION LOSS , ON THE MAIN
BEAM TARGET 4HIS CAN BE FOUND BY COMPARING THE 3.2 VALUES
REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE A SPECIFIED 0$ VALUE FOR THE RADAR SYSTEM WITH AND WITHOUT THE 3,"
, IS A FUNCTION OF MANY PARAMETERS SUCH AS 0$ 0&! & '! *.2 AND A ! NUMERICAL
EVALUATION OF THESE PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS CAN BE FOUND IN THE LITERATURE SPECIFICALLY
#HAPTER OF &ARINA AMONG OTHERSn
4HE 3," DESIGN REQUIRES THE SELECTION OF SUITABLE VALUES FOR THE FOLLOWING PARAME
TERS #HAPTER OF &ARINA I THE GAIN MARGIN A AND THEN THE GAIN '! OF THE AUXILIARY
ANTENNA II THE BLANKING THRESHOLD & AND THE NORMALIZED DETECTION THRESHOLD @ 4HE A
PRIORI KNOWN PARAMETERS ARE HYPOTHESIZED TO BE THE RADAR SIDELOBE LEVEL 'SL AND THE VAL
UES OF 3.2 AND *.2 4HE DESIGN PARAMETERS CAN BE SELECTED BY TRYING TO MAXIMIZE THE
DETECTION PROBABILITY 0$ WHILE KEEPING AT PRESCRIBED VALUES THE PROBABILITIES 0" AND
0&! AND TRYING TO MINIMIZE 0&4 04" AND , 4HE CHOICE OF THE POSITION OF THE AUXILIARY
ANTENNA HAS AN IMPACT ON 3," PERFORMANCE IN PRESENCE FOR INSTANCE OF MULTIPATH TO
AVOID ITS EFFECT THE PHASE CENTERS OF MAIN AND AUXILIARY ANTENNAS SHOULD BE POSITIONED
AT THE SAME HEIGHT WITH RESPECT TO THE TERRAIN SURFACE
)N MODERN RADAR THE BLANKING OF SIDELOBE IMPULSIVE INTERFERENCE MAY BE ACHIEVED
BY THE COMPARISON OF SIGNALS PERTAINING TO THE SAME CELLS OF THE RANGE
FILTER MAP
2&- OF MAIN BEAM AND 3," CHANNELS 4HE 2&- IS A TWO
DIMENSIONAL MAP COL
LECTING THE RADAR ECHOES OF ALL RANGE CELLS AFTER PULSE COMPRESSION AND ALL DOPPLER
FILTERS OF A RADAR BURST 4HE TWO 2&-S ARE INDEPENDENTLY GENERATED FOR THE MAIN AND
AUXILIARY SIGNALS AND THE TESTING OF THE MAIN AND AUXILIARY RECEIVED POWER VALUES IS
PERFORMED FOR ALL RANGE CELLS AND ALL DOPPLER FILTERS 4HIS IS DIFFERENT FROM A CONVEN
TIONAL 3," APPROACH SUCH AS THE ONE ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE OPERATING SO THAT
IF INTERFERINGREPEATER JAMMER POWER IS DETECTED AT A PARTICULAR RANGE CELL THEN THAT
RANGE CELL HAS TO BE EFFECTIVELY BLANKED 4HE 2&-
BASED 3," LOGIC GREATLY REDUCES
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
THE RISK OF SUCCESSFULLY EMULATING A USEFUL TARGET BECAUSE A REPEATER HAS TO APPEAR IN
THE SAME TARGET RANGE CELL AND HAS TO EMULATE THE SAME TARGET DOPPLER
3IDELOBE #ANCELER 3,# 3YSTEM 4HE OBJECTIVE OF THE 3,# IS TO SUPPRESS
HIGH DUTY CYCLE OR EVEN CONTINUOUS NOISE
LIKE INTERFERENCES .,) EG 3/*
RECEIVED THROUGH THE SIDELOBES OF THE RADAR 4HIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY EQUIPPING THE
RADAR WITH AN ARRAY OF AUXILIARY ANTENNAS USED TO ADAPTIVELY ESTIMATE THE $O! AND
THE POWER OF THE JAMMERS AND SUBSEQUENTLY TO MODIFY THE RECEIVING PATTERN OF THE
RADAR ANTENNA TO PLACE NULLS IN THE JAMMERS DIRECTIONS 4HE 3,# WAS INVENTED BY
0 (OWELLS AND 3 !PPLEBAUMn ! SAMPLE OF SUBSEQUENT REFERENCES ON 3,# ARE
ALSO IN THE LITERATURE n
4HE CONCEPTUAL SCHEME OF AN 3,# SYSTEM IS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE AUXILIARY
ANTENNAS PROVIDE REPLICAS OF THE JAMMING SIGNALS IN THE RADAR ANTENNA SIDELOBES
4O THIS END THE AUXILIARY PATTERNS APPROXIMATE THE AVERAGE SIDELOBE LEVEL OF THE
RADAR RECEIVING PATTERN )N ADDITION THE AUXILIARIES ARE PLACED SUFFICIENTLY CLOSE TO
THE PHASE CENTER OF THE RADAR ANTENNA TO ENSURE THAT THE SAMPLES OF THE INTERFERENCE
THAT THEY OBTAIN ARE STATISTICALLY CORRELATED WITH THE RADAR JAMMING SIGNAL )T IS ALSO
NOTED THAT AS MANY AUXILIARY ANTENNAS ARE NEEDED AS THERE ARE JAMMING SIGNALS TO
BE SUPPRESSED )N FACT AT LEAST . AUXILIARY PATTERNS PROPERLY CONTROLLED IN AMPLITUDE
&)'52% 0RINCIPLE OF 3,# OPERATION CONNECTION A ONLY IN THE CLOSED
LOOP
IMPLEMENTATION TECHNIQUES 28 RECEIVER
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
{x
AND PHASE ARE NEEDED TO FORCE TO ZERO THE MAIN ANTENNA RECEIVING PATTERN IN . GIVEN
DIRECTIONS 4HE AUXILIARIES MAY BE INDIVIDUAL ANTENNAS OR GROUPS OF RECEIVING ELE
MENTS OF A PHASED
ARRAY ANTENNA
4HE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE OF THE SIGNALS DELIVERED BY THE . AUXILIARIES ARE CONTROLLED
BY A SET OF SUITABLE WEIGHTS DENOTE THE SET WITH THE .
DIMENSIONAL VECTOR 7 7 7
x 7. 4HE JAMMING SIGNAL IS CANCELED BY A LINEAR COMBINATION OF THE SIGNALS FROM THE
AUXILIARIES AND THE MAIN ANTENNA 4HE PROBLEM IS TO FIND A SUITABLE MEANS OF CONTROLLING
THE WEIGHTS 7 OF THE LINEAR COMBINATION SO THAT THE MAXIMUM POSSIBLE CANCELLATION IS
ACHIEVED /WING TO THE STOCHASTIC NATURE OF THE JAMMING SIGNALS IN THE RADAR AND IN THE
AUXILIARY CHANNELS AND TO THE HYPOTHESIZED LINEAR COMBINATION OF SIGNALS IT IS ADVIS
ABLE TO RESORT TO THE TECHNIQUES OF LINEAR PREDICTION THEORY FOR STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
$ENOTE WITH 6- THE RADAR SIGNAL AT A CERTAIN RANGE BIN AND WITH 6 6 6 x 6.
THE .
DIMENSIONAL VECTOR CONTAINING THE SET OF SIGNALS AT THE SAME RANGE BIN FROM THE
. AUXILIARY ANTENNAS )T IS ASSUMED THAT ALL THE SIGNALS HAVE BANDPASS FREQUENCY SPEC
TRA THEREFORE THE SIGNALS CAN BE REPRESENTED BY THEIR COMPLEX ENVELOPES WHICH MODU
LATE A COMMON CARRIER FREQUENCY THAT DOES NOT APPEAR EXPLICITLY 4HE JAMMING SIGNALS
IN THE CHANNELS MAY BE REGARDED AS SAMPLES OF A STOCHASTIC PROCESS HAVING ZERO MEAN
VALUE AND A CERTAIN TIME AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION &OR LINEAR PREDICTION PROBLEMS THE
SET OF SAMPLES 6 IS COMPLETELY DESCRIBED BY ITS .
DIMENSIONAL COVARIANCE MATRIX
- %6
64 WHERE % DENOTES THE STATISTICAL EXPECTATION THE ASTERISK
INDICATES
THE COMPLEX CONJUGATE AND 64 IS THE TRANSPOSE VECTOR OF 6 4HE STATISTICAL RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN 6- AND 6 IS MATHEMATICALLY REPRESENTED BY THE .
DIMENSIONAL COVARIANCE
} IS DETERMINED BY MINIMIZING THE
VECTOR 2 %6-6
4HE OPTIMUM WEIGHT VECTOR 7
MEAN SQUARE PREDICTION ERROR WHICH EQUALS THE OUTPUT RESIDUAL POWER
} 4 6 \]
0: %[\ : \] %[\ 6-
7
WHERE : IS THE SYSTEM OUTPUT )T IS FOUND THAT THE FOLLOWING FUNDAMENTAL EQUATION
APPLIES
} L- 2
7
WHERE L IS AN ARBITRARY CONSTANT VALUE 4HE BENEFIT OF USING THE 3,# CAN BE MEASURED
BY INTRODUCING THE JAMMER CANCELLATION RATIO *#2 DEFINED AS THE RATIO OF THE OUTPUT
NOISE POWER WITHOUT AND WITH THE 3,#
*#2
%[\ 6- \]
%[\ 6- \]
4
4
}
%[\ 6-
7 6 \ ] %[\ 6- \ ]
2 - 2
"Y APPLYING %QS AND TO THE SIMPLE CASE OF ONE AUXILIARY ANTENNA AND ONE
JAMMER THE FOLLOWING RESULTS ARE FOUND
} %[6- 6!
] $ R
7
%[\ 6! \ ]
*#2
\ R \
)T IS NOTED THAT THE OPTIMUM WEIGHT IS RELATED TO THE CORRELATION COEFFICIENT Q BETWEEN
THE MAIN SIGNAL 6- AND THE AUXILIARY SIGNAL 6! HIGH VALUES OF THE CORRELATION COEF
FICIENT PROVIDE HIGH VALUES OF *#2
4HE PROBLEM OF IMPLEMENTING THE OPTIMUM
WEIGHT SET %Q IS ESSENTIALLY RELATED
TO THE REAL
TIME ESTIMATION OF - AND 2 AND TO THE INVERSION OF - 3EVERAL PROCESSING
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SCHEMES HAVE BEEN CONCEIVED THAT MAY BE CLASSIFIED IN TWO MAIN CATEGORIES CLOSED
LOOP TECHNIQUES IN WHICH THE OUTPUT RESIDUE CONNECTION A IN &IGURE IS FED BACK INTO
THE ADAPTIVE SYSTEM AND DIRECT
SOLUTION METHODS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS OPEN
LOOP WHICH
OPERATE JUST ON THE INCOMING SIGNALS 6- AND 6 "ROADLY SPEAKING CLOSED
LOOP METHODS ARE
CHEAPER AND SIMPLER TO IMPLEMENT THAN DIRECT
SOLUTION METHODS ONE OF SEVERAL PRACTICAL
IMPLEMENTATIONS IS DESCRIBED IN 'RIFFITHS "Y VIRTUE OF THEIR SELF
CORRECTING NATURE THEY DO
NOT REQUIRE COMPONENTS THAT HAVE A WIDE DYNAMIC RANGE OR A HIGH DEGREE OF LINEARITY AND
SO THEY ARE WELL SUITED TO ANALOGUE IMPLEMENTATION (OWEVER CLOSED
LOOP METHODS SUFFER
FROM THE FUNDAMENTAL LIMITATION THAT THEIR SPEED OF RESPONSE MUST BE RESTRICTED IN ORDER TO
ACHIEVE A STABLE AND NOT NOISY STEADY STATE $IRECT
SOLUTION METHODS ON THE OTHER HAND DO
NOT SUFFER FROM PROBLEMS OF SLOW CONVERGENCE BUT IN GENERAL REQUIRE COMPONENTS OF SUCH
HIGH ACCURACY AND WIDE DYNAMIC RANGE THAT THEY CAN ONLY BE REALIZED BY DIGITAL MEANS /F
COURSE CLOSED
LOOP METHODS CAN ALSO BE IMPLEMENTED BY USING DIGITAL CIRCUITRY IN WHICH
CASE THE CONSTRAINTS ON NUMERICAL ACCURACY ARE GREATLY RELAXED AND THE TOTAL NUMBER OF
ARITHMETIC OPERATIONS IS MUCH REDUCED BY COMPARISON WITH DIRECT
SOLUTION METHODS 4HE
MAJORITY OF IMPLEMENTATIONS HAS BECOME OPEN LOOP WITH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
0RACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS SEE #HAPTER OF &ARINA FOR A DETAILED ANALYSIS OFTEN
LIMIT THE 3,# NULLING CAPABILITIES TO A *#2 OF ABOUT TO D" BUT THEIR THEORETI
CAL PERFORMANCE IS POTENTIALLY MUCH HIGHER !DEQUATE CANCELLATION OF THE DIRECTIONAL
INTERFERENCE IS OBTAINED IF THE RECEIVING CHANNELS ARE PROPERLY MATCHED IN AMPLITUDE
AND PHASE ACROSS THE RADAR RECEIVING BANDWIDTH 4HIS CONDITION IS NECESSARY TO ATTRI
BUTE THE AMPLITUDE AND PHASE DIFFERENCES MEASURED ACROSS THE CHANNELS ONLY TO THE
NATURE POWER AND $O! OF THE IMPINGING INTERFERENCE 4HERE ARE SEVERAL SOURCES OF
MISMATCHING THE IMPERFECT MATCHING OF THE ANALOGUE RECEIVING CHANNELS IS ONE OF THE
MAIN LIMITATIONS TO THE INTERFERENCE CANCELLATION 4HE EFFECT OF THIS MISMATCH ON THE
*#2 HAS BEEN STUDIED IN THE LITERATURE SEE &ARINA AND REFERENCES THEREIN
&OR CONTEMPORARY PRESENCE OF AMPLITUDE AND PHASE MISMATCHES THE *#2 HAS AN
EXPRESSION THAT IS DERIVED IN !PPENDIX ! NUMERICAL APPLICATION OF THIS EQUATION IS
SHOWN IN &IGURE THE PARAMETER VALUES OF THE STUDY CASE ARE QUOTED IN &ARINA
&IGURE SHOWS THE *#2 CONTOUR CURVES VERSUS THE NORMALIZED AMPLITUDE AN AND THE
PHASE B DEGREES MISMATCHES OF THE ANALOGUE RECEIVING CHANNELS SEE &ARINA FOR THE
PRECISE DEFINITION OF THESE PARAMETERS
)T IS SEEN THAT TO HAVE D" OF *#2 ONE NEEDS TO SPECIFY TIGHT REQUIREMENTS FOR
BOTH AMPLITUDE BELOW AND PHASE BELOW MISMATCHES 4HIS FIGURE MOTIVATES
THE NEED TO RESORT TO EQUALIZATION DIGITAL FILTERS TO COMPENSATE FOR THE MISMATCHES OF
THE AUXILIARY CHANNELS IN THEIR ANALOGUE PART WITH RESPECT TO THE MAIN CHANNEL 4HIS
SUBJECT IS COVERED IN &ARINA AND REFERENCES THEREIN %XAMPLES OF OTHER POSSIBLE LIMI
TATIONS TO CANCELLATION ARE LISTED BELOW
-ISMATCH BETWEEN THE MAIN AND AUXILIARY SIGNALS INCLUDING THE PROPAGATION PATHS
THE PATTERNS OF THE MAIN AND AUXILIARY ANTENNAS THE PATHS INTERNAL TO THE SYSTEM UP
TO THE CANCELLATION POINT AND THE CROSSTALK BETWEEN THE CHANNELSn
4HE LIMITED NUMBER OF AUXILIARY CHANNELS ADOPTED IN A PRACTICAL SYSTEM AS COM
PARED WITH THE NUMBER OF JAMMING SIGNALS
!PERTURE
FREQUENCY DISPERSION OFTEN EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF APERTURE
BANDWIDTH
PRODUCT
4HE LIMITED BANDWIDTH OF THE MAJORITY OF THE SCHEMES IMPLEMENTING %Q AS
COMPARED WITH THE WIDEBAND OF A BARRAGE JAMMER THAT CAN BE REGARDED AS A CLUSTER
SPREAD IN ANGLE OF NARROWBAND JAMMERS
1UADRATURE ERRORS IN SYNCHRONOUS IE ) 1 DETECTORSn
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
&)'52% #ONTOUR CURVE OF *#2 D" VERSUS THE AMPLITUDE IN NATURAL
NUMBER ALONG THE HORIZONTAL AXIS AND PHASE IN DEGREES ALONG THE VERTICAL AXIS
MISMATCHES OF THE ANALOGUE RECEIVING CHANNELS
$IGITAL RECEIVER CHANNEL ERRORS SUCH AS !$# QUANTIZATION SAMPLEHOLD JITTER AND
DIGITAL CONVERTER OFFSET
4HE PULSE WIDTH THAT LIMITS THE REACTION TIME OF THE ADAPTIVE SYSTEM IN ORDER TO
AVOID THE CANCELLATION OF TARGET SIGNAL
4HE TARGET SIGNAL IN THE AUXILIARY ARRAY THAT MAY RESULT IN NONNEGLIGIBLE STEERING OF
THE AUXILIARIES TOWARD THE MAIN BEAM DIRECTION
-ULTIPATH DELAY OFTEN EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF DELAY BANDWIDTH PRODUCTn
4HE PRESENCE OF CLUTTER THAT IF NOT PROPERLY REMOVED MAY CAPTURE THE ADAPTIVE SYS
TEM GIVING RISE TO NULLS ALONG DIRECTIONS DIFFERENT FROM THOSE OF THE JAMMERS
4HE TRADEOFF THAT HAS TO BE SOUGHT BETWEEN THE ACCURACY OF WEIGHTS ESTIMATION AND
THE REACTION TIME OF THE ADAPTIVE SYSTEM
4HE LIMITED NUMBER OF TIME SAMPLES AVAILABLE TO ESTIMATE THE JAMMER COVARIANCE
MATRIX USUALLY . SAMPLE SHOULD BE AVAILABLE IF . IS THE NUMBER OF ADAPTIVE
CHANNELS
4HE ANTENNA ROTATION RATE THAT MIGHT PRODUCE A FAST TIME VARYING POWER AND
JAMMER $O!
*OINT 3," AND 3,# 3," IS EFFECTIVE AGAINST SPIKY SIGNAL AFTER PULSE COMPRES
SION LIKE #2) WHEREAS 3,# COMBATS THE CONTINUOUS .,) !S PREVIOUSLY STATED BOTH
TECHNIQUES COMBAT THE INTERFERENCES IMPINGING ON THE MAIN ANTENNA SIDELOBES 4HE
TWO TECHNIQUES CAN BE JOINTLY USED AGAINST THE SIMULTANEOUS PRESENCE OF #2) AND .,)
!N APPROACH IS TO CASCADE THE 3,# AND 3," TECHNIQUES AS SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE
SCHEME DEPICTS THREE RECEIVING CHANNELS EACH ONE HAVING AN ANTENNA A RECEIVER AND
AN !$# THEY PROVIDE THREE SIGNALS LABELED RESPECTIVELY AS 3,# -!). AND 3,"
4HE LEFT HAND SIDE ANTENNA IS A LOW GAIN AUXILIARY PERFORMING THE 3,# PROCESSING IN
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
! "
!
#
#
#
#
# #
&)'52% ! PROCESSING SCHEME INCORPORATING 3,# AND 3," DEVICES
THE MAIN AND SIDELOBE BLANKING CHANNELS 4HE CENTER ANTENNA IS THE HIGH
GAIN RADAR
ANTENNA TO DETECT TARGETS NOTWITHSTANDING IMPULSIVE AND NOISE
LIKE INTERFERENCES 4HE
RIGHT
HAND SIDE ANTENNA IS A LOW
GAIN AUXILIARY THAT IS USED FOR 3," PROCESSING IN
THE MAIN CHANNEL 4HE ADAPTIVE CANCELLATION OF .,) RECEIVED BY THE MAIN ANTENNA IS
ACHIEVED BY THE LINEAR COMBINATION OF THE 3,# AND -!). SIGNALS WITH THE ADAPTIVE
WEIGHTS 7 AND RESPECTIVELY THE RESULTING ADAPTED SIGNAL -!).g DOESNT CONTAIN THE
.,) 3IMILARLY THE ADAPTIVE CANCELLATION OF .,) RECEIVED BY THE RHS AUXILIARY ANTENNA
IS REACHED BY THE LINEAR COMBINATION OF THE 3,# AND 3," SIGNALS WITH THE ADAPTIVE
WEIGHTS 7 AND RESPECTIVELY THE ADAPTED SIGNAL 3,"g DOESNT CONTAIN THE .,) /NCE
THE .,) IS REMOVED FROM THE TWO CHANNELS THEN THE CLASSIC 3," LOGIC CAN BE APPLIED
AGAINST THE #2) BY COMPARING THE AMPLITUDE \-!).g\ OF THE MAIN CHANNEL WITH THAT
\3,"g\ OF THE BLANKING CHANNEL WHICH ARE BOTH .,) FREE
"ECAUSE THE PHASE CENTERS OF THE THREE ANTENNAS THE MAIN AND THE TWO AUXILIARIES
ARE SPACED IN GENERAL MORE THAN K WHERE K IS THE LENGTH OF THE RADIATED %-
WAVE THE ADAPTED PATTERNS OF THE MAIN AND 3," CHANNELS FLUCTUATE AROUND AVERAGE
CURVES DUE TO THE PRESENCE OF GRATING LOBES .EVERTHELESS A REASONABLE GAIN MARGIN
IS PRESENT BETWEEN THE PATTERN OF THE ADAPTED 3," AND THE SIDELOBES OF THE ADAPTED
MAIN ANTENNA THUS AN ADEQUATE PROBABILITY OF BLANKING THE #2) IN THE PRESENCE OF
ADAPTIVELY NULLED .,) SHOULD BE EXPECTED )N ORDER TO IMPROVE THE ABOVE GAIN MARGIN
AND CONSEQUENTLY THE BLANKING PROBABILITY OF #2) THE FOLLOWING PROCESSING STRATEGIES
ARE SUGGESTED SPATIAL AND FREQUENCY DIVERSITY
3PATIAL $IVERSITY 4HE RATIONALE IS TO USE TWO LOW
GAIN AUXILIARIES INSTEAD OF ONE
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE FOR THE 3," BECAUSE THEIR PHASE CENTERS WILL BE DIFFERENT THE
GRATING LOBES AFFECTING THE ADAPTED PATTERNS OF THE TWO 3," ANTENNAS WILL BE DIFFERENT
TOO 4AKING THE GREATER OF THE TWO ADAPTED 3," SIGNALS THE GAIN MARGIN BETWEEN THE
3," AND THE MAIN ANTENNA SIDELOBES WILL INCREASE WITH A CONSEQUENT IMPROVEMENT OF
THE PERFORMANCE OF THE BLANKING LOGIC
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
&REQUENCY $IVERSITY !NOTHER TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE BLANKING PERFORMANCE
IS TO RESORT TO THE DIVERSITY OF THE RADAR CARRIER FREQUENCY IN THIS CASE WE NEED JUST
ONE LOW
GAIN ANTENNA AS SHOWN IN &IGURE FOR THE 3," 4HE RADAR OPERATES
IN FREQUENCY DIVERSITY MODE IE IT RADIATES A BURST OF , PULSES 4 SECONDS APART
WITH SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT CARRIER FREQUENCIES 4HE GRATING LOBES IN THE ADAPTED MAIN
AND THE , 3," PATTERNS WILL CHANGE AS A FUNCTION OF THE CARRIER FREQUENCY 4AKING
THE MAX OF THE OUTPUT OF THE , 3," SIGNALS IS EQUIVALENT TO A SMOOTHING OF THE GRAT
ING LOBES )N A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE PRESENTED IN &ARINA AND 4IMMONERI TWO CARRIER
FREQUENCIES ARE USED AND THE VALUES OF DK WHERE hDv IS THE INTER
ELEMENT DISTANCE
FOR THE ARRAY OF RECEIVING ELEMENTS ARE RESPECTIVELY AND 4HE BLANKING IS
SEPARATELY APPLIED ON THE RECEIVED DATA AT THE TWO CARRIER FREQUENCIES SUBSEQUENTLY
THE SEPARATE BLANKING BITS ARE PROCESSED BY A LOGIC /2 THE GLOBAL BLANKING LOGIC
4HE ENSUING &IGURE DISPLAYS THE BLANKING CURVES FOR THE TWO SEPARATE CARRIER
FREQUENCIES AND FOR THE LOGIC /2 )T IS NOTED THAT THE FREQUENCY DIVERSITY AND THE
LOGIC /2 PROVIDE AN IMPROVEMENT OF THE BLANKING PROBABILITY THIS IS DUE TO THE
DIFFERENT SHAPES OF THE ANTENNA PATTERNS AT THE TWO SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT CARRIER FREQUEN
CIES &IGURE ALSO PRESENTS THE PROBABILITY OF BLANKING A USEFUL TARGET 04"
RECEIVED BY THE MAIN ANTENNA BEAM 4HE PROBABILITIES ARE ESTIMATED VIA INDE
PENDENT -ONTE #ARLO SIMULATIONS 4HE TARGET 3.2 IS D" THE *.2 IS D" THE
TARGET $O! IS ASSUMED TO BE EVENLY DISTRIBUTED IN THE MAIN
BEAM ANGULAR INTERVAL
;n = DETAILS ON THE NUMERICAL PARAMETERS USED IN THE STUDY CASE ARE IN THE
REFERENCE )T IS NOTED THAT 04" IS NEGLIGIBLE FOR & D" WHILE 0" q
!FTER A CAREFUL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF THE SYSTEM DEPICTED IN &IGURE IT
MIGHT BE NECESSARY TO ALWAYS RESORT TO EITHER SPATIAL OR FREQUENCY DIVERSITY TO IMPROVE
THE 3," PERFORMANCE 4HE SELECTION OF ONE OF THE TWO DIVERSITY TECHNIQUES DEPENDS
ON OVERALL SYSTEM CONSIDERATIONS RELATED TO THE IMPACT OF ADDING MORE AUXILIARIES AND
OR RADIATING WITH THE RADAR PROPER CARRIER FREQUENCIES &URTHERMORE IF COMPACT AND
HIGH
SPEED PROCESSING ARE REQUESTED SPATIAL AND FREQUENCY DIVERSITY TECHNIQUES CAN
BE FRUITFULLY IMPLEMENTED RESORTING TO SYSTOLIC SCHEMES
&)'52% "LANKING PROBABILITY 0" AND TARGET BLANKING PROBABILITY 04"
VERSUS THE BLANKING THRESHOLD & IN D" FOR THE FREQUENCY DIVERSITY SCHEME
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3YSTOLIC 3CHEMES FOR 3," AND 3,# )N THE QUEST FOR EFFICIENT PARALLEL PROCESSING
THE SYSTOLIC SCHEMES COME INTO THE SCENE THEIR USE HAS BEEN DESCRIBED FOR THE IMPLE
MENTATION OF 3,# AND MORE GENERAL ADAPTIVE ARRAY PROBLEMS IN THE LITERATURE 4HE
RATIONALE AND THE USE OF A SYSTOLIC ARRAY THAT PROCESSES THE SIGNALS RECEIVED BY 3,# AND
MAIN CHANNEL IS REPORTED ON PAGES n OF &ARINA AND IN &ARINA AND 4IMMONERI
&IGURES TO DEPICT THE USE OF A SYSTOLIC PROCESSING SCHEME THAT INCORPORATES THE
3," AND 3,# 4HE ADVANTAGE OF THESE SCHEMES RESIDES IN THE DECOMPOSITION OF THE
COMPLEX PROCESSING FOR ADAPTIVE CANCELLATION OF THE .,) INTO A NETWORK OF SIMPLE
PROCESSING ELEMENTS THAT CAN BE CONVENIENTLY MAPPED ONTO A PARALLEL PROCESSING ARCHI
TECTURE BASED EITHER ON #OMMERCIAL OFF THE 3HELF #/43 TECHNOLOGY OR CUSTOM 6ERY
,ARGE 3CALE )NTEGRATION 6,3) DEVICES )N THE LITERATUREn IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT
A WIDE SPECTRUM OF TECHNOLOGIES CAN BE USED LIKE &IELD 0ROGRAMMABLE 'ATE !RRAYS
&0'! #OORDINATE 2OTATION $IGITAL #OMPUTER #/2$)# IMPLEMENTED WITH 6,3)
AND OPTICAL COMPUTERS 0IONEERING WORK ON THE USE OF #/2$)# FOR ADAPTIVE NULL
ING DATES BACK TO # 2ADER AT -)4
,INCOLN ,ABORATORY 4HE ADVANTAGE OF SYSTOLIC
IMPLEMENTATION IS HIGH PROCESSING SPEED AND COMPACT LOW WEIGHT LOW POWER CON
SUMPTION HARDWARE
!DAPTIVE !RRAYS !N ADAPTIVE ARRAY &IGURE IS A COLLECTION OF . ANTENNAS
WITH THEIR OWN RECEIVERS 28 AND !$# FEEDING A WEIGHTING AND SUMMING NETWORK
WITH AUTOMATIC SIGNAL
DEPENDENT WEIGHT ADJUSTMENT TO REDUCE THE EFFECT OF UNWANTED
&)'52% 4HE ADAPTIVE ARRAY SCHEME
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
SIGNALS ANDOR TO EMPHASIZE THE DESIRED SIGNAL OR SIGNALS IN THE SUMMING NETWORK
OUTPUT /UTPUT SIGNAL : IS ENVELOPE
DETECTED AND COMPARED WITH A SUITABLE THRESH
OLD @ TO DETECT THE PRESENCE OF A USEFUL TARGET SEE #HAPTER IN &ARINA AND OTHER
SOURCESn 4HE ADAPTIVE ARRAY IS A GENERALIZATION OF THE 3,# DESCRIBED IN THE
PRECEDING SUBSECTION 4HE BASIC THEORY OF JAMMER CANCELLATION AND TARGET ENHANCE
MENT IS CONSIDERED FIRST ATTENTION IS THEN FOCUSED ON THE FOLLOWING TOPICS MAIN
BEAM
JAMMER CANCELLATION TARGET $O! ESTIMATION IN PRESENCE OF JAMMER TWO
DIMENSIONAL
ADAPTIVE PROCESSING FOR JOINT CLUTTER AND JAMMER CANCELLATION ADAPTIVITY AT THE SUBAR
RAY LEVEL AND SUPERRESOLUTION 4HE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ADAPTIVE ARRAY CONCEPT IS
MORE AND MORE RELATED TO DIGITAL BEAMFORMINGn AND TO DIGITAL ARRAY RADAR $!2
TECHNOLOGIES
*AMMER #ANCELLATION AND 4ARGET 3IGNAL %NHANCEMENT !DAPTIVE ARRAY PRIN
CIPLES HAVE FOUND A THOROUGH MATHEMATICAL TREATMENT SINCE THE LATE S FOR A
BRIEF HISTORY OF ADAPTIVE ARRAYS SEE 2EED FOR AN OVERVIEW OF LEAST SQUARES ADAP
TIVE PROCESSING IN MILITARY APPLICATIONS WITH CELEBRATION OF " &RANKLIN MEDAL TO
" 7IDROW FOR PIONEERING WORK ON ADAPTIVE SIGNAL PROCESSING SEE %TTER ET AL 4HE
THEORY AND APPLICATION OF ADAPTIVE ARRAY PRINCIPLES TO RADAR IS WELL ESTABLISHED FOR
A LOOK TO POPULAR PUBLICATIONS SEE FOR INSTANCE (AYKIN AND 3TEINHARDT 3MITH
AND &ARINA ET AL 4HE BASIC RESULT IS GIVEN BY THE EXPRESSION OF THE OPTIMUM SET
OF WEIGHTS
} M -
3
7
WHERE - %6
64 IS THE .
DIMENSIONAL COVARIANCE MATRIX OF THE OVERALL DISTURBANCE
NOISE AND JAMMER 6 RECEIVED BY THE ARRAY AND 3 IS THE .
DIMENSIONAL VECTOR CON
TAINING THE EXPECTED SIGNAL SAMPLES IN THE ARRAY FROM A TARGET ALONG A CERTAIN DIRECTION
OF ARRIVAL 4HE SIMILARITY OF %Q TO %Q GOVERNING THE 3,# IS IMMEDIATELY
RECOGNIZED
7ITH RESPECT TO 3,# ADAPTIVE ARRAY TECHNIQUES OFFER THE CAPABILITY OF ENHANCING
THE TARGET SIGNAL WHILE CANCELING THE DISTURBANCE 4HE ADAPTIVE SYSTEM ALLOCATES IN AN
OPTIMUM FASHION ITS DEGREES OF FREEDOM TO THE ENHANCEMENT OF THE TARGET SIGNAL AND TO
THE CANCELLATION OF JAMMER
3EVERAL GENERALIZATIONS OF THE BASIC THEORY HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED INCLUDING I
THE TARGET MODEL 3 IS NOT KNOWN A PRIORI AS IT IS ASSUMED IN DERIVING %Q II IN
ADDITION TO SPATIAL FILTERING DOPPLER FILTERING IS PERFORMED TO CANCEL CLUTTER AND CHAFF
AND III THE RADAR PLATFORM IS MOVING AS IN SHIPBORNE AIRBORNE OR EVEN SPACEBORNE
APPLICATIONS ! RELEVANT ADVANCEMENT OF THE ADAPTIVE ARRAY CONCEPT IS SPACE
TIME ADAP
TIVE PROCESSING 34!0 n
34!0 MAY BE THOUGHT OF AS A TWO
DIMENSIONAL ADAPTIVE FILTER THAT COMBINES RECEIVE
BEAMFORMING AND DOPPLER FILTERING ! BASIC ILLUSTRATION OF 34!0 IS GIVEN IN &IGURE
OF 7ARD WHERE A PICTORIAL VIEW OF THE INTERFERENCE ENVIRONMENT SEEN BY AN AIRBORNE
RADAR AND THE CORRESPONDING ADAPTED TWO
DIMENSIONAL FILTER RESPONSE ARE SHOWN 4HE
POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY RESULTING FROM JAMMER AND CLUTTER IS DEPICTED AS A FUNCTION OF
THE SPATIAL IE THE SINANGLE AND THE TEMPORAL IE DOPPLER FREQUENCIES "ARRAGE
NOISE JAMMING APPEARS AS A WALL LOCALIZED IN ANGLE AND DISTRIBUTED ALL OVER DOPPLER
FREQUENCIES 4HE CLUTTER ECHO FROM A SINGLE GROUND PATCH HAS A DOPPLER FREQUENCY THAT
DEPENDS ON THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE CLUTTER PATCH AND THE PLATFORM FLIGHT DIRECTION CLUTTER
FROM ALL ANGLES LIES ON A DIAGONAL RIDGE ACROSS THE SPACE
TIME FREQUENCY PLANE ! MAIN
BEAM TARGET COMPETES WITH BOTH MAIN
BEAM AND SIDELOBE CLUTTER AS WELL AS JAMMING
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE 34!0 GENERATES A SPACE
TIME FILTERING RESPONSE WITH A MAIN BEAM ALONG THE
EXPECTED DOPPLER FREQUENCY AND ANGLE OF ARRIVAL OF TARGET AND DEEP NULLS ALONG
THE JAMMER WALL AND THE CLUTTER RIDGE 4O PERFORM 34!0 THE RADAR SHOULD HAVE AN
ARRAY OF . ANTENNAS EACH WITH THEIR OWN RECEIVING CHANNEL AND !$# %ACH CHANNEL
RECEIVES - ECHOES FROM A TRANSMITTED TRAIN OF - COHERENT PULSES !DAPTIVITY INVOLVES
THE .- ECHOES
4HE DETECTION PROBABILITY 0$ FOR THE OPTIMUM FILTER OF %Q IS FOR A CONSTANT
CROSS SECTION TARGET MODEL
0$ 1
;3 4
LN 0&!
WHERE 1 IS THE -ARCUM 1 FUNCTIONp AND 0&! IS THE PRESCRIBED PROBABILITY OF FALSE
ALARM )T IS ALSO SHOWN THAT THE SET OF WEIGHTS OF %Q PROVIDES THE MAXIMUM VALUE
OF THE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR )F WHICH IS DEFINED AS FOLLOWS
)F
SIGNALnTOnINTERFERENCE PLUS NOISE POWER RATIO AT THE OUTPUT
SIGNALnTOnINTERFERENCE PLUS NOISE POWER RATIO AT THE INPUT
4HE )F VALUE CORRESPONDING TO THE OPTIMUM SET OF WEIGHTS OF %Q IS
)F
34 -
3
3).2 )
4HE SIGNAL
TO
INTERFERENCE PLUS NOISE POWER RATIO 3).2 ) IS MEASURED AT THE INPUT
OF A RECEIVING ELEMENT OF THE ARRAY AND REFERS TO ONE ECHO PULSE 4HE )F REPRESENTS
THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ADAPTIVE ARRAY IT ACCOUNTS FOR THE TARGET SIGNAL INTEGRATION
AND THE INTERFERENCE CANCELLATION 0RACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF THE EQUATION ABOVE ARE FOR
INSTANCE IN #HAPTER OF &ARINA #RUCIAL FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ADAPTED ARRAY
PATTERN IS THE CONCEPT OF EIGENVALUE
EIGENVECTOR DECOMPOSITION OF THE INTERFERENCE
COVARIANCE MATRIX - SEE AGAIN #HAPTER OF &ARINA AND 4ESTA AND 6ANNICOLA !N
IMPORTANT TECHNIQUE THAT MITIGATES THE DELETERIOUS EFFECTS OF THE NOISE EIGENVECTORS
THUS CONTINUING TO MAINTAIN A PRESCRIBED LEVEL OF LOW SIDELOBES IN THE ADAPTED ARRAY
PATTERN IS THE SO
CALLED DIAGONAL LOADING
!DAPTIVE ARRAYS CAME ABOUT AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION OF 3,# THE APPLICA
TION OF %Q AND OF MORE GENERAL AND POWERFUL ADAPTIVE ARRAY CONCEPTS EG
'3,# GENERALIZED 3,# #LEARLY THE EFFICIENCY OF THE ADAPTIVE ARRAY DEPENDS
ON THE NUMBER OF DEGREES OF FREEDOM DOF AND THE ACCURACY OF RECEIVING CHAN
NELS EG DEGREES OF MATCHING 4HERE IS SOME TRADE
OFF BETWEEN ACCURACY AND
NUMBER OF CHANNELS A SYSTEM WITH ONE DOF IS LESS EFFICIENT AND REQUIRES MAXIMUM
ACCURACY THAN A SYSTEM WITH SAY FOUR DOF !N ADAPTIVE SYSTEM WITH . DOF CAN
THEORETICALLY SUPPRESS . n JAMMERS REALISTICALLYAS A RULE OF THUMB. OR
. )F THE NUMBER OF JAMMERS IS HIGHER THE ADAPTIVE ARRAY IS STILL USEFUL BECAUSE
SOME JAMMER SUPPRESSION IS ACHIEVED WITH AN ACCORDINGLY REDUCED DETECTION RANGE
p 4HE -ARCUM 1 FUNCTION IS DEFINED AS
1 A B
X A
) O AX DX
X EXP
WHERE )O IS THE MODIFIED "ESSEL FUNCTION OF ORDER
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
#ONCERNING THE COMPARISON BETWEEN ADAPTIVE BEAMFORMING AND A VERY LOW SID
ELOBE ANTENNA IT IS IN THE IMPORTANT CASE OF CLOSE TO MAIN
BEAM JAMMING WHERE
ADAPTIVE BEAMFORMING IS SUPERIOR /N THE OTHER HAND THE ADAPTIVE ARRAY ALLOWS ONE
TO OBTAIN CERTAIN LOWERED SIDELOBES SIMULTANEOUSLY TO JAMMING NULLING #ONCERNING
THE PRACTICAL APPLICABILITY OF ADAPTIVE ARRAYS SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOLLOW ! NUM
BER OF OPERATIONAL RADAR SYSTEMS ARE ADAPTIVE THEY ARE DESCRIBED IN THE TECHNICAL
LITERATUREn ! MODERN RADAR WITH DIGITAL PROCESSING ALREADY HAS AT LEAST FOUR
DIGITAL CHANNELS SUM DIFFERENCE IN AZIMUTH DIFFERENCE IN ELEVATION AND GUARD )N
GENERAL THE NUMBER OF IMPLEMENTED RECEIVING CHANNELS IS MAINLY A MATTER OF COST
)T HAS BEEN ARGUED THAT RADAR SYSTEMS WITH A NUMBER OF ADAPTIVE DOF OF A FEW TENS
ARE ALREADY IN OPERATION IN THE MICROWAVE BAND THE NUMBER OF ADAPTIVE DOF MAY BE
MORE IN THE OVER
THE
HORIZON /4( RADAR
&OR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE THE FULLY ADAPTIVE ARRAY IE WITH ADAPTIVITY AT RECEIVING
ELEMENT LEVEL HAS ONLY THEORETICAL VALUE FOR ANTENNAS WITH A THOUSAND ELEMENTS 4HERE
ARE RADARS THAT ARE FULLY ADAPTIVE BUT THEY HAVE ONLY A LIMITED NUMBER OF ELEMENTS
THAT CAN BE ECONOMICALLY HANDLED IN AN ADAPTIVE ARRAY !RRAYS WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF
RECEIVING ELEMENTS NEED SOME FORM OF PROCESSING REDUCTION /NE METHOD OF PARTIAL
ADAPTIVITY IS TO ARRANGE THE ARRAY ELEMENTS IN SUBGROUPS THAT FORM THE INPUTS OF THE
ADAPTIVE PROCESSOR #AREFUL SELECTION OF THE SUBGROUP ELEMENTS IS NECESSARY TO AVOID
GRATING LOBES THIS TOPIC IS DISCUSSED IN A FOLLOWING SECTION !NOTHER SIMPLIFICATION OF
THE FULLY ADAPTIVE ARRAY IS THE DETERMINISTIC SPATIAL FILTERING WHERE A FIXED REDUCTION
OF THE SIDELOBES IS OPERATED IN THOSE DIRECTIONS OR SOLID ANGLES FROM WHICH THE INTERFER
ENCES ARE EXPECTED TO COME !S AN EXAMPLE A PROBABLE REGION WITH INTERFERENCES IS
THE HORIZON OR PART OF IT BECAUSE JAMMERS ARE MOSTLY GROUND
BASED OR AT LONG RANGE
4HE WEIGHTS ARE COMPUTED OFFLINE BY ASSUMING AN A PRIORI KNOWN COVARIANCE MATRIX
- AND STORED IN A MEMORY WHERE A hMENUv OF WEIGHTS IS AVAILABLE TO AN OPERATOR OR
AN AUTOMATIC DECISION SYSTEM PP n OF &ARINA
-AIN "EAM #ANCELLATION -"# 3YSTEMS 4HE OBJECTIVE OF THE -"# IS TO SUP
PRESS HIGH DUTY CYCLE AND .,) RECEIVED THROUGH THE MAIN BEAM OF THE RADAR 4HE
CONCEPTUAL SCHEME OF -"# IS ANALOGOUS TO THE SCHEME OF 3,# HOWEVER HIGH GAIN
BEAMS ARE EMPLOYED IN LIEU OF LOW GAIN AUXILIARY ANTENNAS *AMMING IS CANCELLED BY A
LINEAR COMBINATION OF THE SIGNALS FROM THE HIGH GAIN BEAMS AND THE MAIN ANTENNA 4HE
WEIGHTS TO BE APPLIED CAN BE COMPUTED BY %Q 4HE CAPABILITY TO CANCEL A CERTAIN
NUMBER OF MAIN
BEAM INTERFERENCES DEPENDS ON THE AVAILABLE NUMBER OF HIGH GAIN
BEAMS ! SO
CALLED FOUR
LOBED PATTERN CAN BE USED FOR MAIN
BEAM INTERFERENCE CANCEL
LATION 4HE USE OF LOW
GAIN AUXILIARY ANTENNAS JOINED TO HIGH GAIN BEAMS ALLOWS
THE CONTEMPORANEOUS CANCELLATION OF SIDELOBE AND MAIN
BEAM INTERFERENCES
4ARGET $O! %STIMATION IN 0RESENCE OF 3IDELOBE AND -AIN
"EAM )NTERFERENCES
0HASED
ARRAY RADARS ARE REQUIRED TO DETECT LOCATE AND TRACK TARGETS IN THE PRESENCE OF
NATURAL INTERFERENCE AND JAMMING -ONOPULSE IS THE TECHNIQUE OF CHOICE TO DETERMINE
THE TARGET ANGULAR COORDINATES WHEN %#- IS ENCOUNTERED SINCE IT IS MUCH HARDER TO
DECEIVE THAN A CONICAL SCAN (OWEVER THE APPLICATION OF ADAPTIVE BEAMFORMING TO BET
TER MITIGATE THE PRESENCE OF AN INTENSE JAMMER WITH THE RELATED DISTORTION OF SUM AND
DIFFERENCE BEAM SHAPES MAY INTRODUCE ERRORS IN THE CONVENTIONAL MONOPULSE TECHNIQUE
IN PARTICULAR IF THE JAMMER IS CLOSE TO THE MAIN BEAM THUS THE CONVENTIONAL MONO
PULSE TECHNIQUE CANNOT BE APPLIED ! -AXIMUM ,IKELIHOOD -, APPROACH FOR TARGET
$O! ESTIMATION IS CONSIDERED WHICH GENERALIZES THE MONOPULSE CONCEPTn
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HE TARGET ANGULAR COORDINATESAZIMUTH AND ELEVATION P E CAN BE ESTIMATED BY
-, ALSO IN THE PRESENCE OF MAIN
BEAM AND SIDELOBE JAMMING BY PROCESSING THE DATA
RECEIVED BY A SET OF LOW AND HIGH GAIN BEAMS 4HE SET OF RECEIVED RADAR ECHOES 6 x
B3P4 E4 D DEPENDS ON THE ANGULAR COORDINATES OF THE TARGET P4 E4 THE COMPLEX
TARGET AMPLITUDE B AND WHITE GAUSSIAN ZERO MEAN NOISE PLUS JAMMING DISTURBANCE D
3 IS A VECTOR CONTAINING THE VALUES OF THE PATTERNS OF HIGH AND LOW GAIN ANTENNAS IN A
CERTAIN DIRECTION P E 4HE DATA 6 ARE CHARACTERIZED BY A GAUSSIAN PROBABILITY DENSITY
FUNCTION CONDITIONED TO THE TARGET UNKNOWN PARAMETERS IE PV6B P4 E4 4HE -,
ESTIMATION OF THE TARGETS UNKNOWN PARAMETERS IS OBTAINED AS FOLLOWS
B} Q}4 F}4 ARG MIN B Q F ;6 B3Q F = - D ;6 B3Q F = ARG MIN B Q F [& B Q F ]
(
WHERE -D IS THE DISTURBANCE COVARIANCE MATRIX -D S N ;) *.2 s 3P* E* s
3P* E* (= DEPENDING ON THE ANGULAR COORDINATES OF THE JAMMING P* E* e AND ON THE
JAMMING
TO
NOISE POWER RATIO *.2 0* S N IN %Q ( STANDS FOR THE COM
PLEX CONJUGATE TRANSPOSE OPERATION 4HE AMPLITUDE B CAN BE SEPARATELY ESTIMATED BY
NULLING THE FIRST DERIVATIVE OF THE FUNCTION TO BE MINIMIZED "Y REPLACING THE AMPLI
TUDE ESTIMATION B} INTO THE FUNCTION TO BE MINIMIZED THE FOLLOWING $O! ESTIMATOR
IS OBTAINED
3( Q F ; -
; 6
D
Q}4 F}4 ARGMAXQ F [5 Q F ] ARGMAXQ F (
Q
F
Q
F
3
;
;
3
D
)T CAN BE NOTED THAT THE NUMERATOR OF THE FUNCTIONAL 5P E IS THE SQUARED ADAPTED
OUTPUT \ 3 ( Q F ; - D
; 6 \ OF A GENERALIZED ARRAY OF HIGH AND LOW GAIN ANTENNA
PATTERNS THE DENOMINATOR ;3 ( Q F ; - D
; 3 Q F = IS A NORMALIZING TERM THAT AS WE
WILL SEE IN A MOMENT PLAYS A KEY ROLE 4HE 5 FUNCTION FOR A CERTAIN PAIR OF ANGLES
P E DETERMINES AFTER COMPARISON WITH A SUITABLE THRESHOLD IF A TARGET IS DETECTED
4HE SAME 5 FUNCTIONAL WHEN SCANNED ACROSS A SUITABLE SET OF P E ANGLE VALUES
PROVIDES BY MEANS OF %Q THE TARGET $O! ESTIMATE 7E REFER TO %Q AND
ITS PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION AS THE GENERALIZED MONOPULSE TECHNIQUE
4HE ALGORITHM NEEDS THE ESTIMATION OF THE DISTURBANCE COVARIANCE MATRIX -D
WHICH IS OBTAINED BY THE RADAR ECHOES CORRESPONDING TO RANGE CELLS ADJACENT TO THE
CELL UNDER TEST WHERE A POTENTIAL TARGET IS SOUGHT 4HE MAXIMUM OF THE 5 FUNCTIONAL
CAN BE ESTIMATED BY AN EXHAUSTIVE SEARCH IN THE RANGE OF VALUES OF INTEREST OF P E
OR BY USING A FAST RECURSIVE ALGORITHM 4HE RECURSION CAN BE INITIALIZED WITH THE
ANGULAR COORDINATES OF THE MAIN
BEAM POINTING "Y REPLACING THE ESTIMATED DISTUR
BANCE COVARIANCE MATRIX INTO THE 5 FUNCTIONAL A #ONSTANT &ALSE !LARM 2ATE #&!2
DETECTOR IS OBTAINED 4HUS THE COMPARISON OF THE 5 FUNCTIONAL WITH A SUITABLE
THRESHOLD PERMITS THE TARGET DETECTION MAINTAINING THE PRESCRIBED #&!2 /NLY FOR
THE RANGE CELL IN WHICH THE DETECTION OCCURRED THE RADAR SIGNALS ARE TAKEN AND FURTHER
PROCESSED BY THE -, ALGORITHM TO PRODUCE THE TARGET $O! ESTIMATE
4HE PERFORMANCE OF THE -, ESTIMATION ALGORITHM OF TARGET $O! CAN BE STUDIED
BY RESORTING TO THE #RAMER
2AO ,OWER "OUND #2," ANALYSIS AND -ONTE #ARLO
SIMULATIONS n )N THESE STUDIES IT IS SHOWN THAT THE SHAPE OF THE 5 FUNCTIONAL
e (ERE JUST ONE JAMMER IS CONSIDERED BUT THE MATHEMATICAL APPROACH IS EASILY EXTENDED TO MORE THAN ONE JAMMER
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
{x
DEPICTS THE PRESENCE OF THE TARGET AS WELL AS OF THE JAMMING )T HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED
THAT -ONTE #ARLO SIMULATION IS IN CLOSE AGREEMENT WITH #2," ANALYSIS )T HAS BEEN
FOUND THAT THE USE OF THE FOUR
LOBED ANTENNA PATTERN IN ADDITION TO THE CONVENTIONAL
MONOPULSE BEAMS SUM DIFFERENCE IN AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION CAN IMPROVE THE ESTIMA
TION OF THE TARGET $O! IN PRESENCE OF A JAMMER
*OINT !DAPTIVE *AMMER AND #LUTTER #ANCELLATION #LUTTER ALWAYS PRESENT IN
A RADAR NEGATIVELY AFFECTS THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ADAPTIVE JAMMER CANCELLATION
THEREFORE MEANS HAVE TO BE ADOPTED TO EFFECTIVELY CONTRAST THE CONTEMPORANEOUS
PRESENCE OF CLUTTER AND JAMMER 7HEN HEAVY CLUTTER IS PRESENT THE 3,# AND ADAPTIVE
ARRAY WILL ATTEMPT TO MINIMIZE THE POWER IN THE ADAPTED OUTPUT WITHOUT DIFFERENTIAT
ING BETWEEN CLUTTER AND OTHER FORMS OF INTERFERENCE )N OTHER WORDS THE ADAPTED PAT
TERN WILL CONTAIN NULLS STEERED IN THE DIRECTION OF THE MAIN
BEAM ANTENNA ! NUMBER
OF TECHNIQUES MAY BE USED TO AVOID THE PROBLEMS RAISED BY THE PRESENCE OF CLUT
TER ! TECHNIQUE PARTICULARLY SUITABLE FOR LOW
02& 0ULSE 2EPETITION &REQUENCY
RADAR AVOIDS THE INFLUENCE OF CLOSE
IN CLUTTER RETURNS ON ADAPTIVE WEIGHTS BY SIMPLY
SELECTING FOR ADAPTATION THE CLUTTER
FREE RANGES AT THE END OF EACH 02) 4HIS TECH
NIQUE DOES NOT APPLY TO RADARS OPERATING IN HIGH
02& RANGE
AMBIGUOUS MODES WITH
SIGNIFICANT CLUTTER IN ALL RANGE CELLS )F THE CLUTTER AND JAMMER CANNOT BE SEPARATED
EITHER IN RANGE OR DOPPLER DOMAINS THEN A TWO
DIMENSIONAL IN DOPPLER FREQUENCY
AND ANGLE ADAPTIVE FILTER MIGHT BE REQUIRED THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE WHEN THE STATIS
TICAL FEATURES OF CLUTTER AND JAMMER ARE NOT KNOWN A PRIORI )N FACT WHEN EITHER THE
JAMMING OR CLUTTER STATISTICS CANNOT BE ESTIMATED INDEPENDENTLY OF ONE ANOTHER IT
BECOMES DIFFICULT TO DESIGN AN EFFECTIVE SPATIAL ADAPTIVE FILTER FOR JAMMING REJECTION
OR A TEMPORAL ADAPTIVE FILTER FOR CLUTTER MITIGATION SINCE THE PRESENCE OF ONE CON
TAMINATES THE ESTIMATION PROCESS FOR THE OTHER 4HIS PROBLEM IS MOST ACCENTUATED
WHEN THE CLUTTER
TO
JAMMING RATIO APPROACHES UNITY IN WHICH CASE THE CASCADE OF A
SPATIAL AND A TEMPORAL ADAPTIVE PROCESSORS MAY PERFORM POORLY )N SUCH SITUATIONS
A JOINT TWO
DIMENSIONAL ADAPTIVE FILTERING IN DOPPLER AND ANGLE DOMAINS REPRESENTS
A MEANS TO CANCEL THE COMPOSITE DISTURBANCE IE THE SUPERPOSITION OF JAMMING
AND CLUTTER JOINTLY RATHER THAN SEQUENTIALLY 4HE PERFORMANCE ADVANTAGES OF TWO
DIMENSIONAL ADAPTIVITY SHALL BE TRADED
OFF WITH THE COMPUTATIONAL COST 4O REDUCE
THE COMPUTATIONAL LOAD DIFFERENT COMPUTATIONAL STRATEGIES MAY BE DEVISED FOR
EXAMPLE BY CALCULATING THE ADAPTED TWO
DIMENSIONAL WEIGHTS AT A RATE LOWER THAN
THE INPUT DATA AND APPLYING THEM TO THE RADAR SNAPSHOTS AT THEIR NATURAL RATE !N EFFI
CIENT ALGORITHMIC PROCEDURE TO EXTRACT THE WEIGHTS NAMED )NVERSE 12 IS DETAILED IN
"OLLINI ET AL /THER POSSIBILITIES ARE TO USE MODERN COMPUTING TECHNOLOGIES LIKE THE
&0'! 0OWER 0# OR HIGH
SPEED OPTICAL PROCESSOR TO SUPPORT THE TWO
DIMENSIONAL
ADAPTIVE PROCESSING
!DAPTIVITY AT THE 3UB
!RRAY ,EVEL &OR AN OPERATIONAL PHASED
ARRAY RADAR
0!2 WITH THOUSANDS OF ELEMENTS IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO ADAPT DIRECTLY THE SIGNALS FROM
EACH RADIATING ELEMENT )T IS NECESSARY TO REDUCE THE SYSTEM COMPLEXITY BY USING
SUB
ARRAYS ! SUB
ARRAY IS AN AGGREGATION OF ANTENNA ELEMENTARY RADIATORS THE WHOLE
ANTENNA CAN BE CONSIDERED AS AN ARRAY OF THESE SUPER ELEMENTS !DAPTIVE PROCESS
ING CAN BE APPLIED AT THE OUTPUT SIGNALS OF EACH SUB
ARRAY THUS REDUCING THE SYSTEM
COMPLEXITY 0ROVIDED THAT THE SUB
ARRAYS ARE CONFIGURED REASONABLY THE NUMBER OF
SUB
ARRAYS AND THE RECEIVING CHANNEL ERRORS EG CHANNEL MISMATCHING DETERMINE
THE CANCELLATION PERFORMANCE 4HUS THE NUMBER OF SUB
ARRAYS IS A TRADE
OFF BETWEEN
HARDWARE COMPLEXITY COST AND ACHIEVABLE PERFORMANCE
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
)T IS HIGHLY DESIRABLE IN 0!2 TO HAVE LOW SIDELOBES THIS IS OBTAINED BY I FIXED WEIGHT
ING LAYER WITH ANALOGUE TECHNOLOGY IE AT THE MICROWAVE ELEMENT STAGE TO REDUCE THE
SIDELOBE LEVEL EVERYWHERE II FIXED WEIGHTS AT THE DIGITAL SUB
ARRAY LEVEL TO REACH A
PRESCRIBED PEAK
TO
SIDELOBE RATIO 03,2 AND III AN ADAPTIVE WEIGHTING LAYER WITH
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY TO PUT NULLS ALONG THE JAMMER $O! OF HIGH DIRECTIONAL BEAMS SUM
DIFFERENCE CLUSTER OF HIGH GAIN PATTERNS AND LOW GAIN POSSIBLY OMNIDIRECTIONAL BEAMS
EG GUARD CHANNEL 7 &IGURE PRESENTS A SIMPLIFIED SCHEME OF A MODERN 0!2
&ORMATION OF 3UM AND $IFFERENCE 0ATTERNS #ONSIDER THE PROBLEM OF HOW TO FORM
SUM AND DIFFERENCE BEAMS WITH PRESCRIBED LOW SIDELOBES IN A 0!2 WITH SUB
ARRAYS
! STRATEGY IS TO APPLY A TAPERING AT ELEMENT LEVEL IE IN THE ANALOGUE RECEIVING SEC
TION WHERE ONE ATTENUATOR IS GENERALLY AVAILABLE PER ELEMENT THUS ONE TAPER FUNCTION
IS AVAILABLE TO ACHIEVE REASONABLE LOW SIDELOBES FOR BOTH SUM AND DIFFERENCE BEAMS
3UBSEQUENTLY A FIXED DIGITAL TAPER AFTER THE FORMATION OF SUB
ARRAYS IS APPLIED WITH A
SET OF WEIGHTS FOR THE SUM AND A DIFFERENT SET OF WEIGHTS FOR EACH DIFFERENCE CHANNEL
4HIS IS SCHEMATICALLY ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE FOR A UNIFORM LINEAR ARRAY 5,! THAT
GENERATES A SUM AND A DIFFERENCE CHANNEL 4HE FIGURE DEPICTS A 5,! WITH RECEIVING
ELEMENTS CLUSTERED INTO FOUR NOT OVERLAPPING AND NOT REGULAR SUB
ARRAYS
4HE CALCULATION OF ANALOGUE TAPER IS MADE BY RESORTING TO THE NULLING OF FICTITIOUS
WIDE ANGLE JAMMING WHICH OCCUPIES THE WHOLE ANGULAR SECTOR WHERE SIDELOBES OF
SUM AND DIFFERENCE BEAMS HAVE TO BE KEPT LOW )N &ARINA ET AL IT WAS FOUND THAT THE
ANALOGUE TAPERING IS A COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE 4AYLOR WHICH IS THE BEST TAPER FOR THE
SUM BEAM AND THE "AYLISS WHICH IS THE BEST TAPER FOR THE DIFFERENCE BEAM THE DEGREE
OF COMPROMISE BEING REGULATED BY AMOUNT OF FICTITIOUS *.2 SELECTED FOR THE SUM AND
DIFFERENCE BEAMS ! NUMERICAL EXAMPLE REPORTED IN &ARINA ET AL FOR A 5,! OF
. ELEMENTS AND A UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION OF THE FICTITIOUS JAMMER OUT OF THE MAIN
BEAMS OF THE SUM AND DIFFERENCE BEAMS GIVES A 03,2 OF D" AND D" FOR THE
SUM AND DIFFERENCE BEAMS RESPECTIVELY
4HE NEXT STEP IS TO DERIVE THE FIXED TAPERS AT A DIGITAL LEVEL FOR SUM AND DIFFERENCE
BEAMS A SUITABLE TECHNIQUE IS DESCRIBED IN .ICKEL 4HE RATIONALE OF THE APPROACH
&)'52% 3CHEME OF A 0!2
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
# $
"
# $
"
# $
"
# $
"
""
!# "
""
"
&)'52% %XAMPLE OF A 5,! WITH SUB ARRAYS THAT GENERATE SUM AND DIFFERENCE CHANNELS
IS TO OBTAIN THE SUM BEAM BY COMPENSATING AT THE SUB ARRAY LEVEL THE ANALOGUE TAPER
AT THE ELEMENT LEVEL TO ACHIEVE AN OVERALL TAPER MORE SIMILAR TO THE 4AYLOR ONE THIS
IS OBTAINED BY INCREASING THE CONTRIBUTION OF CENTRAL SUB ARRAY WEIGHTS IE THE SUB
ARRAYS AND SHOWN IN &IGURE WITH RESPECT TO THE WEIGHTS OF THE SIDE SUB ARRAYS
AND 4O OBTAIN THE DIFFERENCE BEAM THE ANALOGUE TAPERING AT THE ELEMENT LEVEL IS
COMPENSATED AT THE SUB ARRAY LEVEL TO ACHIEVE AN OVERALL TAPER FUNCTION MORE SIMILAR
TO THE "AYLISS ONE THIS IS OBTAINED BY DECREASING THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE CENTRAL SUB
ARRAYS AND
! NUMERICAL EXAMPLE IS REPORTED IN &ARINA ET AL WITH AN 5,! OF . ELEMENTS
AND - SUB ARRAYS 4HE CHOSEN WEIGHT IS A 4AYLOR TAPERING WITH D" OF 03,2
4HERE ARE ONLY DIGITAL DEGREES OF FREEDOM THIS MEANS THAT MARGINAL IMPROVEMENT OF
PERFORMANCE IN TERMS OF 03,2 CAN BE ACHIEVED .EVERTHELESS A 03,2 OF D" WAS
OBTAINED FOR THE COMBINATION OF ANALOGUE WEIGHTS AND DIGITAL WEIGHTS &OR THE
SAME 5,! ABOUT D" OF 03,2 WAS OBTAINED FOR THE DIFFERENCE CHANNEL
#ONSIDERATIONS 2ELATED TO 3UB ARRAY !DAPTIVITY 4APERING AT THE ARRAY ELEMENT LEVEL
PRODUCES UNEQUAL NOISE POWER AT SUB ARRAY OUTPUTS BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENT NUMBER OF
ELEMENTS IN EACH SUB ARRAY !DAPTIVITY WOULD TRY TO EQUALIZE THE NOISE BETWEEN CHAN
NELS THUS NEGATING THE TAPERING EFFECT 4HE TRANSFORMATION 4 THAT ENCODES THE SUB ARRAY
ARCHITECTURE
SHOULD BE SUCH THAT 4(4 ) )N THIS WAY THE NOISE POWER AT SUB ARRAY OUTPUTS
IS EQUAL SUBSEQUENTLY THE MISSING TAPER WEIGHTS ARE APPLIED DIGITALLY AT SUB ARRAY OUTPUTS
WEIGHT RESCALING !S AN EXAMPLE CONSIDER A LINEAR ARRAY OF ELEMENTS AND RAISED
COSINE TAPERING &IGURE DEPICTS THE FOLLOWING #ONTINUOUS CURVE PATTERN OF ARRAY
4HE SUB
ARRAYS ARCHITECTURE CAN BE REPRESENTED BY A MATRIX 4 HAVING A NUMBER - OF COLUMNS EQUAL TO THE NUMBER
OF SUB
ARRAYS AND A NUMBER . OF ROWS EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF ELEMENTARY RADIATORS 4HE ELEMENT TIJ OF THE MATRIX IS
DEFINED EITHER AS WI IF THE I
TH ELEMENTARY RADIATOR BELONGS TO THE J
TH SUB
ARRAY OR AS IF THE I
TH ELEMENTARY RADIATOR
DOES NOT BELONG TO THE J
TH SUB
ARRAY WHERE WI IS THE TAPERING WEIGHT IN THE ANALOGUE LAYER OF &IGURE
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% %XAMPLES OF THE ANTENNA PATTERNS ACHIEVED IN SEVERAL CASES
OF SUB ARRAYS WITHOUT NOISE NORMALIZATION AT THE OUTPUT OF SUB ARRAYS IT APPROXIMATELY
FOLLOWS THE UNIFORM TAPERING DASHED LINE $OTTED LINE PATTERN OF ARRAY OF ELEMENTS AND
OF ARRAY OF SUB ARRAYS AFTER NOISE NORMALIZATION AND WEIGHT RESCALING
4HE NUMERICAL EXAMPLE FOLLOWS WITH &IGURE WHICH PORTRAYS THE CANCELLATION
OF A JAMMER WITH THE $O! n AND A *.2 OF D" 4HE CONTINUOUS LINE REFERS TO
AN UNADAPTED PATTERN TAPERED AT THE ELEMENT LEVEL WHEREAS THE DOTTED LINE PERTAINS TO
THE ADAPTED PATTERN AT THE SUB ARRAY LEVEL
3UB ARRAYS ARE IN GENERAL CHOSEN TO BE IRREGULAR IN THEIR SHAPE AND POSITION TO
AVOID GRATING LOBES )F A JAMMER IMPINGES ON A GRATING LOBE THE JAMMER WILL BE
NULLED BY DISTORTING THE GRATING LOBE AND AS A CONSEQUENCE THE ARRAY MAIN BEAM
GRATING NOTCH &OR EXAMPLE CONSIDER A 5,! WITH . ELEMENTS THEN FORM TWO
TYPES OF NOT OVERLAPPING SUB ARRAY CONFIGURATIONS BOTH HAVING - SUB ARRAYS
"
! #"
&)'52% *AMMER CANCELLATION AT SUB
ARRAY LEVEL
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
"!
!#!%!
" %#
!#!%
!
!! $!
&)'52% 3).2 VERSUS THE JAMMER $O! *$O!
4HE FIRST CONFIGURATION IS REGULAR WITH TWO ELEMENTS FOR EACH SUB
ARRAY 4HE SECOND
CONFIGURATION IS IRREGULAR WITH AND ELEMENTS RESPECTIVELY &IGURE
SHOWS THE 3).2 AT THE OUTPUT OF THE ARRAY VERSUS THE JAMMER $O! 4HE TARGET $O!
IS AT THE 3.2 IS D" THE *.2 IS D" 4HREE CURVES SUMMARIZE THE SYSTEM
PERFORMANCE 4HE DASHED LINE IS THE ARRAY PATTERN WITH RAISED COSINE TAPER THIS IS
SHOWN FOR THE SAKE OF COMPARISON WITH THE OTHER TWO CURVES OF THE 3).2 4HE DOT
TED LINE IS THE 3).2 FOR THE QUIESCENT ABSENCE OF ADAPTIVITY PATTERN IT MIMICS THE
RECIPROCAL OF THE SIDELOBE AND MAIN
BEAM PATTERN 4HE CONTINUOUS LINE IS THE 3).2
FOR THE ADAPTIVE IRREGULAR SUB
ARRAY ARCHITECTURE THE MAXIMUM VALUE OF THE 3).2 IS
LOG n TAPERING LOSSES
&IGURE DEPICTS THE 3).2 FOR THE REGULAR ARRAY CONFIGURATION AND ABSENCE OF
TAPERING )T IS NOTED THAT WHEN THE JAMMER $O! IS AROUND THE 3).2 DECREASES THIS
IS BECAUSE OF THE GRATING LOBE 4HE MAXIMUM VALUE OF 3).2 IS D" LOG
BECAUSE THERE ARE NO TAPERING LOSSES
&)'52% 3).2 VERSUS THE *$O! FOR A REGULAR SUB
ARRAY ARCHITECTURE
AND NO TAPERING
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
3UPERRESOLUTION 4HE RESOLUTION OF A CONVENTIONAL ANTENNA IS LIMITED BY THE WELL
KNOWN 2AYLEIGH CRITERION WHICH STATES THAT TWO EQUAL
AMPLITUDE NOISE SOURCES CAN BE
RESOLVED IF THEY ARE SEPARATED IN ANGLE BY K, IN RADIANS WHERE K IS THE WAVELENGTH
AND , IS THE APERTURE LENGTH 7HEN THE INCIDENT WAVE IS RECEIVED WITH A HIGH *.2 AN
ADAPTIVE ARRAY ANTENNA MAYIN PRINCIPLEACHIEVE A NARROWER ADAPTIVE BEAMWIDTH
GIVING A SHARPER BEARING ESTIMATION OF THE INCIDENT WAVE )F ACCURATE STROBES OF THE JAM
MERS CAN BE OBTAINED THESE CAN BE EXPLOITED TO FORM BEAMS IN THE JAMMER DIRECTIONS
WHICH ARE USED AS AUXILIARY CHANNELS FOR ADAPTIVE INTERFERENCE SUPPRESSION 4HE
INTERFERENCE DIRECTIONS CAN ALSO BE USED FOR DETERMINISTIC NULLING WHICH IS OF INTEREST
FOR MAIN
BEAM NULLING )N ADDITION TO THE INTERFERENCE SOURCE DIRECTIONS AND SOURCE
STRENGTHS THIS TECHNIQUE CAN PROVIDE OTHER INFORMATION AS TO THE NUMBER OF SOURCES
AND ANY CROSS CORRELATIONS COHERENCE BETWEEN THE SOURCES 3UCH INFORMATION CAN BE
USED TO TRACK AND CATALOGUE THE INTERFERENCE SOURCES IN ORDER TO PROPERLY REACT TO THEM
THE JAMMER MAPPINGA FUNCTION RUNNING IN THE BACKGROUNDIS USEFUL TO SELECT THE
MODES EG ADMISSIBLE POINTING DIRECTIONS AND WAVEFORMS OF MULTIFUNCTION RADAR
AND FOR GENERAL SITUATION AWARENESS 3UPERRESOLUTION MIGHT BE ABLE TO RESOLVE MULTIPLE
INDEPENDENT SOURCES DUE TO SIDELOBE SUPERPOSITION AND MASKING PROBLEMS SUPERRESO
LUTION MIGHT BE VITAL FOR JAMMER MAPPING IN CASE OF MULTIPLE JAMMERS 3UPERRESOLUTION
IS ALSO OF INTEREST AS AN %##- TO COUNTER CROSS
EYE JAMMING IN SEEKER HEAD APPLICA
TIONS SEE 3ECTION OF 7IRTH
4HE SUPERRESOLUTION CONCEPT WAS MAINLY DEVELOPED AND ANALYZED BY 7 & 'ABRIEL
AT THE .AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY 53 $IFFERENT METHODS FOR BEARING ESTIMATION WERE
DESCRIBED BY 'ABRIEL AND SUBSEQUENTLY BY OTHER AUTHORS n /NE IS THE MAXI
MUM
ENTROPY METHOD -%- INVENTED BY * 0 "URG )T WORKS WELL WITH A (OWELLS
!PPLEBAUM ADAPTIVE BEAMFORMER WHICH HAS AN OMNIDIRECTIONAL RECEIVING PATTERN
EXCEPT WHERE JAMMERS ARE PRESENT 4HE PRESENCE OF JAMMERS IS INDICATED BY NULLS IN
THE RECEIVING PATTERN "ECAUSE NULLS ARE ALWAYS SHARPER THAN ANTENNA LOBES JAMMER
BEARINGS CAN BE OBTAINED MORE ACCURATELY FROM THE ADAPTIVE BEAM PATTERN AND SUPER
RESOLUTION IS THE RESULT 4HE DESIRED SPATIAL SPECTRUM PATTERN IS OBTAINED AS SIMPLY THE
INVERSE OF THE ADAPTED PATTERN !S 'ABRIEL POINTED OUT THERE IS NOT A TRUE ANTENNA PATTERN
BECAUSE THERE IS NO LINEAR COMBINATION OF THE SIGNALS FROM AN ARRAY THAT COULD PRODUCE
SUCH A PEAKED SPATIAL PATTERN )T IS SIMPLY A FUNCTION COMPUTED FROM THE RECIPROCAL OF
A TRUE ADAPTED ANTENNA PATTERN 3UPERRESOLUTION AND ADAPTIVE ANTENNAS FOR JAMMER CAN
CELLATION ARE INTIMATELY RELATED 2OUGHLY SPEAKING THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT ONE PRODUCES
A PATTERN WITH THE NULLS DOWN ADAPTIVE ANTENNA FOR JAMMER CANCELLATION AND THE OTHER
WITH THE NULLS UP IE PEAKS SUPERRESOLUTION OF JAMMERS
/NE LIMITING FACTOR OF SUPERRESOLUTION TECHNIQUES IS THAT THEY OFTEN REQUIRE THE
RECEIVED SIGNALS TO OBEY ACCURATE MODELS OF THE ARRAY MANIFOLD 4HIS CAN BE VIOLATED
DUE TO PROPAGATION EFFECTS EG SPATIAL SPREADING AND NONSTATIONARITY AS WELL AS INSTRU
MENTAL EFFECTS EG CHANNEL MISMATCH 4HESE FACTORS ALSO AFFECT THE PERFORMANCE OF
ADAPTIVE ANTENNAS FOR JAMMER CANCELLATION BUT MODEL MISMATCHES CAN DEGRADE THE
PERFORMANCE OF SUPERRESOLUTION TECHNIQUES MORE SEVERELY 4HE HIGHER PERFORMANCE OF
THE SUPERRESOLUTION TECHNIQUES IS OFTEN OBTAINED AT THE EXPENSE OF REQUIRING A STRICTER
ADHERENCE TO THE ASSUMED MODEL IF THE MODEL IS INACCURATE THESE TECHNIQUESWHICH
RELY ON ITS HEAVY EXPLOITATIONSUBSEQUENTLY BECOME THE MOST SENSITIVE AND MORE
PRONE TO PERFORM BADLY
&OR EFFICIENT SUPERRESOLUTION AN ARRAY WITH A REASONABLE NUMBER OF SUB
ARRAYS IS
REQUIRED THIS MAY BE THE REASON FOR THE LACK OF APPLICATION OF THIS TECHNIQUE TO PRACTI
CAL RADAR SYSTEMS EXCEPT FOR EXPERIMENTAL PURPOSES 3UPERRESOLUTION BASED ON A SMALL
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
3,# CONFIGURATION IS NOT EFFICIENT BECAUSE THIS LEADS TO THE MAXIMUM ENTROPY OR
AUTOREGRESSIVE METHODS THAT BEING NONLINEAR PROCESSING HAVE A HIGH PROBABILITY OF
SPURIOUS PEAKS
0RACTICAL EXPERIENCES INDICATE THAT THE RESOLUTION LIMIT IS DETERMINED RATHER MORE BY
IMPLEMENTATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS THAN BY THE PURE *.2 CONSIDERATIONS
{ /, - // ,, /
4HE DIFFERENT TYPES OF %##- ARE RELATED TO THE PROPER USE AND CONTROL OF THE POWER
FREQUENCY AND WAVEFORM OF THE RADIATED SIGNAL /NE BRUTE
FORCE APPROACH TO DEFEAT
NOISE JAMMING IS TO INCREASE THE RADARS TRANSMITTER POWER 4HIS TECHNIQUE WHEN COU
PLED WITH hSPOTLIGHTINGv THE RADAR ANTENNA ON THE TARGET RESULTS IN AN INCREASE OF THE
RADARS DETECTION RANGE 3POTLIGHTING OR BURNTHROUGH MODES MIGHT BE EFFECTIVE BUT
A PRICE MUST BE PAID !S THE RADAR DWELLS IN A PARTICULAR DIRECTION IT IS NOT LOOKING
ELSEWHEREWHERE IT IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK )N ADDITION THE BURNTHROUGH MODE IS NOT
EFFECTIVE AGAINST CHAFF DECOYS REPEATERS SPOOFERS AND SO ON
-ORE EFFECTIVE IS THE USE OF COMPLEX VARIABLE AND DISSIMILAR TRANSMITTED SIGNALS THAT
PLACE A MAXIMUM BURDEN ON %3- AND %#- $IFFERENT WAYS OF OPERATION REFER TO THE
CHANGE OF THE TRANSMITTED FREQUENCY IN FREQUENCY
AGILITY OR FREQUENCY
DIVERSITY MODES
OR TO THE USE OF WIDE INSTANTANEOUS BANDWIDTHn &REQUENCY AGILITY USUALLY REFERS TO
THE RADARS ABILITY TO CHANGE THE TRANSMITTER FREQUENCY ON A PULSE
TO
PULSE OR A BATCH
TO
BATCH BASIS 4HE BATCH
TO
BATCH APPROACH ALLOWS DOPPLER PROCESSING WHICH IS NOT
COMPATIBLE WITH FREQUENCY AGILITY ON A PULSE
TO
PULSE BASIS )N A WAVEFORM WITH PULSE
TO
PULSE FREQUENCY AGILITY THE CENTER FREQUENCY OF EACH TRANSMITTED PULSE IS MOVED IN
EITHER A RANDOM OR A PROGRAMMED SCHEDULE BETWEEN A LARGE NUMBER OF CENTER FREQUEN
CIES 4HE FREQUENCY OF THE NEXT PULSE CANNOT GENERALLY BE PREDICTED FROM THE FREQUENCY
OF THE CURRENT PULSE &REQUENCY DIVERSITY REFERS TO THE USE OF SEVERAL COMPLEMENTARY
RADAR TRANSMISSIONS AT DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES EITHER FROM A SINGLE RADAR EG A RADAR HAV
ING STACKED BEAMS IN ELEVATION BY EMPLOYING DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES ON EACH ELEVATION
BEAM OR FROM SEVERAL RADARS 4HE OBJECTIVE OF FREQUENCY AGILITY AND DIVERSITY IS TO
FORCE THE JAMMER TO SPREAD ITS ENERGY OVER THE ENTIRE AGILE BANDWIDTH OF THE RADAR THIS
CORRESPONDS TO A REDUCTION OF THE JAMMER DENSITY AND RESULTING %#- EFFECTIVENESS
! GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE USE OF THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN FOR PURPOSE OF %##- IS THE
3ENRAD AN EXPERIMENTAL LONG
RANGE AIR
SURVEILLANCE RADAR BUILT AND TESTED AT THE .AVAL
2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY 53 3ENRAD WAS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO BUILD A RADAR SO AS
TO FORCE THE JAMMER TO DILUTE ITS RADIATED ENERGY PER UNIT BANDWIDTH IT INCLUDES BOTH
FREQUENCY AGILITY AND FREQUENCY DIVERSITY 4HIS RADAR SHOWS THAT ITS UNUSUALLY WIDE
BANDWIDTH ALLOWS A REDUCTION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE NOISE JAMMER THAT CAN SERI
OUSLY DEGRADE MORE NARROWBAND RADARS
&REQUENCY AGILITY DIVERSITY AND INSTANTANEOUS WIDEBAND TECHNIQUES REPRESENT A
FORM OF %##- IN WHICH THE INFORMATION
CARRYING SIGNAL IS SPREAD OVER AS WIDE A
FREQUENCY OR SPACE OR TIME REGION AS POSSIBLE TO REDUCE DETECTABILITY BY %3- ANDOR
!2- AND MAKE JAMMING MORE DIFFICULT 4HIS %##- TECHNIQUE PERTAINS TO THE REALM
OF WAVEFORM CODING n
4HE AMBIGUITY FUNCTION !& IS THE TOOL TO CHARACTERIZE WAVEFORM CODING IN TERMS
OF RESOLUTION SIDELOBE LEVEL AND AMBIGUITY )N SELECTING A WAVEFORM FOR A GIVEN
RADAR APPLICATION THE !& SHOULD BE TESTED AGAINST THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THE RADAR
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WILL BE EXPECTED TO OPERATE 4HE SO
CALLED ENVIRONMENTAL DIAGRAM DEPICTS SPECTRAL
SPATIAL AND AMPLITUDE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RADAR ENVIRONMENT CLUTTER %#- SUCH AS
CHAFF INTENTIONAL INTERFERENCES ANDPERHAPSINTERFERENCES FROM NEIGHBORING %-
APPARATUSES AND IS USED TO ASSIST THE RADAR WAVEFORM DESIGN !N EXAMPLE OF AN ENVI
RONMENTAL DIAGRAM IS ON P OF ,EVANON AND -OZESON ON THE RANGE
DOPPLER PLANE
ARE SHOWN THE REGIONS IN WHICH SEVERAL TYPES OF CLUTTER AND HIGH ALTITUDE CHAFF ARE
EXPECTED /N THE SAME DIAGRAM ARE SUPERIMPOSED THE EXPECTED TARGET TRAJECTORIES AND
THE !& CONTOUR OF A SAY PULSE
BURST WAVEFORM !S THE TARGET FOLLOWS A PARTICULAR TRA
JECTORY THE !& WILL MOVE ACCORDINGLY AND THE SPURIOUS !& PEAKS WILL SLIDE ACROSS THE
CLUTTER AND CHAFF REGIONS DETERMINING THE INTENSITY AND FEATURES OF THE RADAR ECHOES
7AVEFORM CODING INCLUDES 02& JITTER AND 02& STAGGER WHICH ARE HELPFUL FOR SOME
DECEPTION JAMMER BUT DONT HELP AGAINST NOISE JAMMER 7AVEFORM CODING MAKES DECEP
TION JAMMING OR SPOOFING OF THE RADAR DIFFICULT SINCE THE ENEMY SHOULD NOT KNOW OR
ANTICIPATE THE FINE STRUCTURE OF THE TRANSMITTED WAVEFORM AS A CONSEQUENCE IT GIVES
ASSURANCE OF MAXIMUM RANGE PERFORMANCE AGAINST SUCH TYPES OF JAMMING )NTRAPULSE
CODING TO ACHIEVE PULSE COMPRESSION MAY BE PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING TARGET
DETECTION CAPABILITY BY RADIATION OF ENOUGH AVERAGE RADAR POWER WITHOUT EXCEEDING
PEAK POWER LIMITATIONS WITHIN THE RADAR AND BY IMPROVING RANGE RESOLUTION LARGER BAND
WIDTH WHICH IN TURN REDUCES CHAFF RETURNS AND RESOLVES TARGETS TO A HIGHER DEGREE
3OME ADVANTAGE CAN BE GAINED BY INCLUDING THE CAPABILITY TO EXAMINE THE JAMMER
SIGNALS FIND HOLES IN THEIR TRANSMITTED SPECTRA AND SELECT THE RADAR FREQUENCY WITH THE
LOWEST LEVEL OF JAMMING 4HIS APPROACH IS PARTICULARLY USEFUL AGAINST PULSED %#-
SPOT NOISE AND NONUNIFORM BARRAGE NOISE ITS EFFECTIVENESS DEPENDS PRIMARILY ON THE
EXTENT OF THE RADAR AGILE BANDWIDTH AND THE ACQUISITION SPEED AND FREQUENCY TRACKING OF
AN hINTELLIGENTv JAMMER ! TECHNIQUE SUITED TO THIS PURPOSE IS REFERRED TO AS AUTOMATIC
FREQUENCY SELECTION !&3
!NOTHER METHOD TO REDUCE THE EFFECT OF MAIN
BEAM NOISE JAMMING IS TO INCREASE THE
TRANSMITTER FREQUENCY AS AN ALTERNATIVE MEANS TO THE USE OF A LARGER ANTENNA IN ORDER
TO NARROW THE ANTENNAS BEAMWIDTH 4HIS RESTRICTS THE SECTOR THAT IS BLANKED BY MAIN
BEAM JAMMING AND ALSO PROVIDES A STROBE IN THE DIRECTION OF THE JAMMER 3TROBES FROM
A FEW SPATIALLY SEPARATED RADARS ALLOW THE JAMMER TO BE LOCATED
4HE AVAILABILITY OF SOLID
STATE TRANSMITTER TECHNOLOGYn ALLOWS THE GENERATION OF
HIGH DUTY CYCLE WAVEFORMS WHICH MAY BE OF SOME HELP TO REALIZE ,0) RADAR
!S A GENERAL REMARK ONE OF THE FACTORS PREVENTING GOOD %##- IS THE REDUCTION OF
%- SPECTRUM ALLOCATED TO RADAR !S DISCUSSED OPERATING OVER A WIDE SPECTRAL RANGE
HAS IMPORTANT ADVANTAGES FOR %##- BUT THE CIVILIAN AND COMMERCIAL TELECOMMUNICA
TION SYSTEMS ERODE MORE AND MORE PORTIONS OF THE SPECTRUM AT THE EXPENSE OF MILITARY
%##- CAPABILITY
{n ,
6
,,
/
*AMMING SIGNALS THAT SURVIVE THE ANTENNA %##- EXPEDIENTS CAN IF LARGE ENOUGH
SATURATE THE RADAR PROCESSING CHAIN 7IDE DYNAMIC RANGE RECEIVERS NEED TO BE USED TO
AVOID SATURATION
! LOGARITHMIC LOG RECEIVER MIGHT HELP AGAINST NOISE JAMMING BUT IT HAS DETRIMEN
TAL EFFECTS AGAINST CLUTTER WHEN DOPPLER PROCESSING IS USED ! LOG RECEIVER IS A DEVICE
WHOSE VIDEO OUTPUT IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE LOGARITHM OF THE ENVELOPE OF THE 2& INPUT
SIGNAL OVER A SPECIFIED RANGE )T MIGHT BE USEFUL IN PREVENTING RECEIVER SATURATION IN
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
THE PRESENCE OF VARIABLE INTENSITIES OF JAMMING NOISE "Y COMPARISON WITH A LINEAR
RECEIVER OF LOW DYNAMIC RANGE MODERATE JAMMING NOISE LEVELS WILL NORMALLY CAUSE
THE COMPUTER TO SATURATE SO THAT THE TARGET SIGNAL WILL NOT BE DETECTED 4HE MAIN DISAD
VANTAGE IS THAT A LOG CHARACTERISTIC CAUSES SPECTRAL SPREADING OF THE RECEIVED ECHOES )T
WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE TO MAINTAIN CLUTTER REJECTION IN AN -4) OR PULSE DOPPLER RADAR IF
THE SPECTRUM OF CLUTTER ECHOES WERE TO SPREAD INTO THE SPECTRAL REGION IN WHICH TARGET
RETURNS WERE EXPECTED
4HE MAIN MESSAGE IS THAT THE DYNAMIC RANGE PROBLEM IS IMPORTANT FOR THE REJECTION
OF JAMMER AS WELL AS CLUTTER THE LATTER ALWAYS PRESENT IN A RADAR 4HUS THE RECOM
MENDATION IS TO IMPLEMENT IN A MODERN RADAR A RECEIVER WITH A WIDE LINEAR DYNAMIC
RANGE EG D" 4HIS WIDE DYNAMIC RANGE NEEDS TO BE MAINTAINED ALSO IN THE !$#
DEVICES WITH A SUITABLE NUMBER OF BITS AS A RULE OF THUMB EACH BIT ADDS D" TO THE
DYNAMIC RANGE COUNT
(ARD OR SOFT LIMITERS CAN ALSO BE USED TO COUNTER JAMMING SIGNALS 4HEY ARE NONLINEAR
MEMORYLESS DEVICES THAT CUT JAMMING SIGNALS HAVING WIDE AMPLITUDES 4HE $ICKE
&IX
RECEIVER COUNTERS HIGH RATES OF SWEPT
FREQUENCY #7 JAMMING AND SWEPT SPOT NOISE JAM
MERS )N A RADAR RECEIVER THE $ICKE
&IX USES A WIDEBAND INTERMEDIATE
FREQUENCY
)& AMPLIFIER AND A LIMITER AHEAD OF THE NARROW
BANDWIDTH )& AMPLIFIER 4HE WIDEBAND
AMPLIFIER ALLOWS A RAPID RECOVERY TIME FROM THE EFFECTS OF THE SWEPT JAMMER AND THE
LIMITER CUTS THE JAMMING SIGNAL 4HE NARROWBAND TARGET SIGNAL AFTER TRANSIT THROUGH THE
WIDEBAND AMPLIFIER AND THE LIMITER WITHOUT REMARKABLE DEGRADATION IS INTEGRATED BY
THE NARROWBAND FILTER MATCHED TO THE SIGNAL 4HE WORD &IX IN THE $ICKE
&IX WAS PUT THERE
MANY YEARS AGO TO INDICATE IT WAS A hFIXv FOR A PROBLEM THAT OCCURRED AT THE TIME AND WAS
TO BE REPLACED BY SOMETHING BETTER )T WAS USUALLY INSTALLED WITH A SWITCH TO TURN IT OFF IF
NECESSARY 4ODAY $ICKE
&IX IS NOT USED IN A MODERN RADAR ESPECIALLY ONE THAT EMPLOYS
DOPPLER PROCESSING THUS IT IS NO LONGER OF INTEREST IN MANY RADAR APPLICATIONS
/THER SPECIAL PROCESSING CIRCUITS CAN BE USED IN THE RADAR TO AVOID SATURATION IE
FAST
TIME
CONSTANT &4# DEVICES PERHAPS OF LITTLE USE IN MODERN RADAR AUTOMATIC
GAIN CONTROL !'# AND #&!2 (OWEVER THEY CANNOT BE SAID TO BE %##- TECH
NIQUES &OR EXAMPLE &4# ALLOWS THE DETECTION OF SIGNALS THAT ARE GREATER THAN CLUTTER
BY PREVENTING THE CLUTTER FROM SATURATING THE COMPUTER &4# DOES NOT PROVIDE SUB
CLUTTER VISIBILITY !'# KEEPS THE RADAR RECEIVER OPERATING WITHIN ITS DYNAMIC RANGE
PREVENTING SYSTEM OVERLOAD AND PROVIDING PROPER NORMALIZATION SO AS TO FURNISH SIG
NALS OF STANDARDIZED AMPLITUDE TO RADAR RANGE VELOCITY AND ANGLE PROCESSING
TRACKING
CIRCUITS )N CONCLUSION THESE DEVICES HAVE A PLACE IN THE RADAR BUT NOT AS MEANS FOR
FIGHTING THE %#- BATTLE
)N SUMMARY THERE ISNT MUCH THAT HAS BEEN DONE IN THE RECEIVER TO COMBAT %#-
OTHER THAN TO INSURE THERE IS A GOOD RECEIVER THAT DOES ITS JOB 4ODAY MODERN PHASED
ARRAY MULTI
CHANNEL RADAR ARE GOING TO ADOPT FULLY DIGITAL SOFTWARE CONTROLLED RECEIVERS
AS IN THE $!2 CASE HERE THE EXPECTED ADVANTAGES ARE THE WIDER LINEAR DYNAMIC RANGE
AND THE WITHIN
BAND CALIBRATION OF THE RECEIVERS THAT WILL SUPPORT THE ADAPTIVITY ON SEV
ERAL TENS OF CHANNELS A DISTINCTIVE ADVANTAGE AGAINST DIRECTIONAL NOISE JAMMERS
{ - *,"
-- ,
/
$IGITAL COHERENT SIGNAL PROCESSING GREATLY ALLEVIATES THE EFFECTS OF CLUTTER AND CHAFF
4HIS IS MOTIVATED BY THE USE OF COHERENT DOPPLER PROCESSING TECHNIQUES SUCH AS FIXED
ADAPTIVE -4) OR OPTIMUM PULSE
DOPPLER PROCESSING .ONCOHERENT DEVICES ARE ALSO
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
REQUIRED BECAUSE OF THE LIMITED DEGREE OF CLUTTER CHAFF AND JAMMER SUPPRESSION PRACTI
CALLY ACHIEVED BY COHERENT DEVICES SO THAT THE CANCELLATION RESIDUE MAY STILL BE A SIG
NIFICANT SOURCE OF FALSE ALARM !MONG THE NONCOHERENT DEVICES IT IS WORTH MENTIONING
THE #&!2 DETECTORn AND THE PULSE WIDTH DISCRIMINATOR THIS LATTER BEING EFFECTIVE
AGAINST PULSED JAMMERS 4HE PULSE WIDTH DISCRIMINATION CIRCUIT MEASURES THE WIDTH OF
EACH RECEIVED PULSE )F THE RECEIVED PULSE IS NOT OF APPROXIMATELY THE SAME WIDTH AS
THE TRANSMITTED PULSE IT IS REJECTED ! PULSE WIDTH DISCRIMINATION TECHNIQUE CAN HELP
IN REJECTING CHAFF IN FACT ECHO RETURNS FROM CHAFF CORRIDORS ARE MUCH WIDER THAN THE
TRANSMITTED PULSE (OWEVER IF A TARGET IS WITHIN THE CHAFF CORRIDOR THE PULSE WIDTH
DISCRIMINATOR MIGHT ALSO ELIMINATE THE TARGET
#OHERENT 0ROCESSING 4HE MOST EFFECTIVE ANTI CHAFF TECHNIQUE AVAILABLE TO RADAR
IS THE USE OF DOPPLER FILTERING WHICH EXPLOITS THE DIFFERENT MOTION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
TARGET AND THE CHAFF 4HE CHARACTERISTICS OF CHAFF ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE OF WEATHER CLUTTER
EXCEPT THAT THE CHAFF SCATTERING ELEMENTS ARE CUT TO RESPOND TO A BROAD SPECTRUM OF RADAR
FREQUENCIES 7EATHER CLUTTER AND CHAFF DIFFER FROM GROUND CLUTTER IN THAT BOTH THE MEAN
DOPPLER SHIFT AND THE SPREAD ARE DETERMINED BY WIND VELOCITY AND WIND SHEAR THE LAT
TER ARISING FROM THE VARIATION OF WIND VELOCITY WITH HEIGHT #HAFF MOVES WITH THE LOCAL
WIND AND THERE ARE WAYS ADAPTIVE -4) AND OPTIMUM DOPPLER PROCESSINGo TO MAKE AN
-4) NULL OUT BOTH MOVING AND STATIONARY UNWANTED ECHOES 4HERE ARE TWO BASIC
DOPPLER FILTERING TECHNIQUES THAT ARE USED 4HE FIRST IS THE -4) WHICH EMPLOYS A 02&
THAT PROVIDES UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE COVERAGE WHILE USING A COMB DOPPLER FILTER WHOSE
NULLS ARE TUNED TO THE AVERAGE RADIAL SPEED OF CHAFF 4HE SECOND IS THE PULSE DOPPLER
WHICH CAN USE A HIGH 02& TO PROVIDE UNAMBIGUOUS DOPPLER COVERAGE IN CONJUNCTION
WITH A DOPPLER FILTER BANK ALLOWING SEPARATION OF TARGET FROM THE CHAFF ! PROBLEM WITH
CHAFF MIGHT BE WHEN THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT WIND SHEAR IN THE ATMOSPHERE 7ITH WIND
SHEAR THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM FROM CHAFF CAN HAVE A WIDE SPECTRAL WIDTH UNLESS THE ELEVA
TION BEAMWIDTH IS VERY NARROW AS MIGHT OCCUR WITH TRI DIMENSIONAL RADAR WITH STACKED
BEAMS IN ELEVATION SO THAT IT IS DIFFICULT TO CANCEL MOVING CHAFF ECHOES ! PULSE DOP
PLER RADAR HAS A BETTER CHANCE BUT IT HAS PROBLEMS OF ITS OWN BECAUSE OF THE FOLDOVER OF
THE CLUTTER THAT MIGHT OCCUPY A LARGE RANGE EXTENT
#OHERENT DOPPLER PROCESSORS MIGHT REQUIRE RELATIVELY LARGE AMOUNTS OF PULSES EG
MORE THAN WHICH MUST BE TRANSMITTED AT A STABLE FREQUENCY AND 02& ! RESPONSIVE
JAMMER COULD MEASURE THE FREQUENCY OF THE FIRST TRANSMITTED PULSE AND THEN CENTER THE
JAMMER TO SPOT JAM THE FOLLOWING PULSES !LSO THE REQUIREMENT FOR A STABLE 02& PRE
CLUDES THE USE OF PULSE TO PULSE JITTER WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE TECHNIQUES
AGAINST DECEPTION JAMMERS THAT RELY ON ANTICIPATING THE RADAR TRANSMITTER PULSE #OHERENT
DOPPLER PROCESSORS ARE ALSO GENERALLY VULNERABLE TO IMPULSIVE RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFER
ENCE ESPECIALLY IN RADARS WITH A LIMITED NUMBER OF COHERENT BURSTS ON TARGET
!NOTHER %##- TECHNIQUE TO BE CONSIDERED IS PULSE COMPRESSION BY MATCHED
FILTERING IT IS INTIMATELY RELATED TO THE WAVEFORM CODING DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION
0ULSE COMPRESSION IS A PULSE RADAR TECHNIQUE IN WHICH LONG PULSES ARE TRANS
MITTED TO INCREASE THE ENERGY ON THE TARGET WHILE STILL RETAINING THE TARGET RANGE RESO
LUTION OF A SHORT PULSE TRANSMISSION )T IS ALMOST ALWAYS USED IN RADAR FOR ACHIEVING
o 4HE ADAPTIVE -4) ESTIMATES THE MEAN DOPPLER FREQUENCY OF A MOVING CLUTTER SOURCE AND PLACES THE NULL OF SAY A
BINOMIAL -4) /PTIMUM DOPPLER PROCESSING ESTIMATES THE WHOLE SPECTRUM OF CLUTTER AND SHAPES BY MEANS OF THE
INVERSE OF THE CLUTTER COVARIANCE MATRIX THE CANCELLATION FILTER ACCORDINGLY FURTHERMORE WITH A DOPPLER FILTER BANK
IT INTEGRATES THE ECHO SIGNAL FROM MOVING TARGETS 4HE OPTIMUM FILTER WEIGHTS ARE CALCULATED BY AN EQUATION SIMILAR
TO %Q APPLIED TO THE RADAR ECHOES RECEIVED BY A COHERENT PULSE TRAIN TRANSMITTED BY THE RADAR
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
{x
HIGH RANGE RESOLUTION OR REDUCING THE PEAK POWER 0ULSE COMPRESSION OFFERS SOME
%##- ADVANTAGE THAT IS DISCUSSED HEREAFTER 7HEN THE PULSE COMPRESSION SEARCH
RADAR IS COMPARED FROM AN %3- STANDPOINT WITH A CONVENTIONAL SEARCH RADAR WITH
THE SAME WIDE PULSE THE ENEMY RECEIVER ON A JAMMING PLATFORM WILL NOT KNOW IN
THE GENERAL CASE THE PULSE COMPRESSION REFERENCE CODE AND WILL BE AT A DISADVANTAGE
#OMPARED WITH A RADAR THAT USES AN UNCOMPRESSED WIDE PULSE THE PULSE COMPRESSION
TECHNIQUE INCREASES THE RADARS CAPABILITY AGAINST EXTENDED SIGNAL RETURNS LIKE CHAFF
AND CLUTTER )N ADDITION NOISE FROM A JAMMER DOES NOT PULSE
COMPRESS %XTENDED
CLUTTER TENDS TO BE NOISE LIKE AND WILL NOT PULSE
COMPRESS WHICH KEEPS DOWN INTER
FERENCE DISPLAYED TO OPERATORS 4HE DISADVANTAGES OF PULSE COMPRESSION ARE RELATED
TO THE LONG DURATION OF THE CODED PULSE WHICH GIVES MORE TIME FOR THE %#- EQUIP
MENT TO PROCESS THE PULSE )N MANY CASES PULSE COMPRESSION CAN PROVIDE THE MEANS
FOR EASY RADAR JAMMING FOR THE ENEMY %#- OPERATOR 0ULSE COMPRESSION IS ALSO
VULNERABLE TO COVER
PULSE JAMMING IN WHICH THE %#- PULSE IS RETURNED TO THE RADAR
WITH A HIGH *.2 SUCH THAT THE NORMAL TARGET RETURN IS COVERED BY THE JAMMING PULSE
4HE WIDTH OF THE %#- PULSE IS NORMALLY WIDER THAN THE RADAR SKIN RETURN 4HIS TYPE
OF DECEPTION CAN BE COUNTERACTED BY AN %##- TECHNIQUE SUCH AS THE COVER
PULSE
CHANNEL WHERE THE TRACKING IS ON THE %#- TRANSMISSION RATHER THAN ON THE SKIN
RETURN FROM THE TARGET
4HE DIGITAL COHERENT IMPLEMENTATION OF THE $ICKE
&IX RECEIVER CONCEPT REQUIRES THE
USE OF A COHERENT HARD LIMITER THAT PRESERVES THE PHASE OF THE SIGNAL WHILE KEEPING THE
AMPLITUDE AT A CONSTANT VALUEp 4HE COHERENT LIMITER IS INSERTED UPSTREAM OF THE PULSE
COMPRESSION FILTER IN A RADAR THAT USES PHASE
CODED SIGNALS )N RECEPTION THE JAMMER
AND TARGET SIGNALS ARE CUT IN AMPLITUDE 4HE PRESERVATION OF THE TARGET SIGNAL PHASE
CODING ALLOWS THE INTEGRATION OF TARGET ENERGY BY MEANS OF THE PULSE COMPRESSION
FILTER MATCHED TO THE PHASE CODE 4HE $ICKE
&IX PROCESSING SCHEME SUFFERS FROM THREE
LIMITATIONS 4HE FIRST IS RELATED TO THE DETECTION LOSS EXPERIENCED WHEN THE TARGET DOES
NOT COMPETE WITH THE JAMMER 4HE SECOND DISADVANTAGE REFERS TO THE MASKING EFFECT
OF A WEAK TARGET SIGNAL SUFFICIENTLY CLOSE IN RANGE COMPARED WITH THE SPATIAL EXTEN
SION OF THE CODE TO A STRONG TARGET &URTHERMORE IT CANNOT BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH
DOPPLER PROCESSING
#&!2 #&!2 IS A TECHNIQUE MADE NECESSARY TO PREVENT THE COMPUTER FROM
BEING OVERLOADED BY FALSE ALARMS WHICH REDUCE THE CAPABILITY OF THE RADAR TO DETECT
DESIRED TARGETS 4HIS PROCESSING ALSO PLAYS A ROLE AS %##- THERE ARE THREE MOTIVA
TIONS FOR THIS
&IRST THE SCOPE OF %#- TECHNIQUES IN A BROAD SENSE IS TO IMPAIR THE TARGET DETEC
TION AND TRACKING PERFORMANCE OF A RADAR SYSTEM $ETECTION PERFORMANCE IS MEASURED
BY THE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION TRACKING PERFORMANCE IS DETERMINED BY THE PROBABILITY
OF DETECTION AND THE PROBABILITY OF FALSE ALARM AS WELL #ONVENTIONAL CELL AVERAGING
#&!2 RAISES THE THRESHOLD IN THE PRESENCE OF NOISE JAMMING AND REDUCES THE NUMBER OF
TARGETS DETECTED (OWEVER THE TARGETS THAT SURVIVE CAN BE EFFECTIVELY TRACKED BECAUSE
THE PROBABILITY OF FALSE ALARM HAS BEEN MAINTAINED AT SUFFICIENTLY LOW LEVELS 7ITHOUT
#&!2 AND APPROPRIATE THRESHOLD ADJUSTMENTS PERHAPS NO TARGETS WILL BE TRACKED DUE TO
THE VERY LARGE NUMBER OF FALSE PEAKS DETECTIONS ON THE JAMMER MAKING IT THROUGH TO
SATURATE THE TRACKER #ONVENTIONAL #&!2 IS NOT REALLY REMOVING THE INTERFERENCE IT IS
JUST hHIDINGv IT FROM THE RADAR OPERATOR (OWEVER IT IS ALLOWING THE TRACKER TO OPERATE
p 4HIS IS USED WITH "ARKER CODES FOR INSTANCE WHERE THE AMPLITUDE LIMITATION DOESNT IMPAIR THE PHASE CODE
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
EFFECTIVELY FOR THE TARGETS THAT SURVIVE AND SO IN THIS WAY IT CAN PREVENT THE OVERALL
FAILURE OF THE RADAR )N THE LIMIT OF NO TARGETS BEING DETECTED IE A VERY POWERFUL JAM
MER THEN IT COULD STILL BE ARGUED THAT NO TRACKS ARE BETTER THAN MANY FALSE TRACKS
3ECOND NOT ALL JAMMERS ARE NOISE JAMMERS 3OME INDEED HAVE A STRUCTURE IN
RANGE DOPPLER SPACE AND #&!2 TECHNIQUES CAN POTENTIALLY BE USED TO LOWER THESE
UNWANTED SIGNALS BENEATH THE DETECTION THRESHOLD ONCE AGAIN PREVENTING THE DETEC
TION OF FALSE TRACKS WHICHFROM A TACTICAL PERSPECTIVECAN CAUSE SERIOUS DILEMMAS
FOR A RADAR OPERATOR
4HIRD THERE ARE THE ADAPTIVE #&!2 DETECTORS !-& OR ADAPTIVE MATCHED FILTER
FOR EXAMPLE THAT REALLY ARE %##- TECHNIQUES IN THE SENSE THAT THEY ENHANCE THE
PROBABILITY OF DETECTION AGAINST STRUCTURED INTERFERENCES IN SPACE ANDOR TIME WHILE
MAINTAINING THE CONSTANT FALSE ALARM RATE PROPERTY THAT ALLOWS THESE DETECTED TARGETS TO
BE EFFECTIVELY TRACKED RATHER THAN BEING SEDUCED BY A HIGH NUMBER OF FALSE DETECTIONS
4HIS TYPE OF PROCESSINGOR SIMILARLY DERIVED FROM THE GENERALIZED LIKELIHOOD RATIO
TEST ',24 HAS BEEN USED IN SOME PRACTICAL RADAR
&URTHERMORE ANY SELF RESPECTING RADAR SYSTEM SHOULD MAKE THE OPERATOR AWARE OF
HIGHER NOISE LEVELS DUE TO JAMMING EVEN THOUGH THEY MAY NOT BE VISIBLE ON THE #&!2
DISPLAY THE ACT OF PERFORMING #&!2 SHOULD NOT EXCLUDE THE OPERATOR FROM KNOWING
THAT JAMMING IS PRESENT AND THAT THE DETECTION THRESHOLD HAS BEEN RAISED
{ "* ,/" * "9 /
/
+1 4O THIS POINT IN THE CHAPTER ONLY ELECTRONIC %##- TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED
(OWEVER RADAR OPERATIONAL PHILOSOPHY AND DEPLOYMENT TACTICS MAY ALSO HAVE A SIG
NIFICANT EFFECT ON THE RADARS RESISTANCE TO %#- %3- AND !2- 4HIS GROUP OF TECH
NIQUES CAN BE SUBDIVIDED INTO THOSE INVOLVING THE OPERATOR THE METHODS OF OPERATION
THE RADAR DEPLOYMENT TACTICS AND THE FRIEND %3- IN SUPPORT TO %##- !N OPERATIONAL
TECHNIQUE AGAINST %#- IS TO USE MISSILES WITH HOME ON JAM (/* GUIDANCE TO INTER
CEPT NOISE JAMMERS (/* IS A MEANS WHEREBY A MISSILE GUIDANCE RECEIVER UTILIZES THE
SELF SCREENING TARGET JAMMING SIGNAL TO DEVELOP ANGULAR STEERING INFORMATION SO THE
MISSILE CAN HOME ON THAT TARGET
4HE ROLE OF THE OPERATOR IN THE %##- CHAIN PERTAINS TO THE MORE GENERAL TOPIC OF
HUMAN FACTOR %##- 4HIS IS A GENERIC %##- TECHNIQUE THAT COVERS THE ABILITY OF
AN AIR DEFENSE OFFICER A RADAR OPERATOR A COMMANDING OFFICER ANDOR ANY OTHER AIR
DEFENSE ASSOCIATED PERSONNEL TO RECOGNIZE THE VARIOUS KINDS OF %#- TO ANALYZE THE
EFFECT OF THE %#- TO DECIDE WHAT THE APPROPRIATE %##- SHOULD BE ANDOR TO TAKE
THE NECESSARY %##- ACTION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE PERSONS COMMAND STRUCTURE
(OWEVER THE HUMAN OPERATOR IS LESS EFFECTIVE AGAINST A SIMULTANEOUS ATTACK OF MANY
ENEMY VEHICLES SUPPORTED BY A STRONG %#- FORCE !N OPERATOR CONFRONTED WITH A LARGE
MIX OF %#- TYPES AND A LARGE NUMBER OF %##- TECHNIQUES IS LIKELY TO DO THE WRONG
THING ANDOR REACT TOO SLOWLY )N THIS SITUATION IT MIGHT BE PROPER TO RESORT TO AUTO
MATICALLY APPLIED %##- TECHNIQUES THIS IS THE TENDENCY TODAY (OWEVER A POSSIBLE
CONCERN IS THAT THIS COULD SOMETIMES HURT THE %##- CAPABILITY OF THE RADAR SINCE A
WELL TRAINED OPERATOR CAN OFTEN FIGURE OUT WHAT IS HAPPENING BUT THE AUTOMATIC PROCES
SOR CAN ONLY MAKE DECISIONS BASED ON PREPROGRAMMED LOGICS INSTALLED IN ITS COMPUTER
AND MIGHT NOT RECOGNIZE WHEN SOMETHING UNUSUAL AS IN JAMMING OCCURS 4HIS IS A
POSSIBLE ADVERSE EFFECT OF THE ABSENCE OF A DECISION MAKING OPERATOR
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
4HE OPERATIONAL METHODS INCLUDE EMISSION CONTROL %-#/. THE APPROPRIATE
ASSIGNMENT OF OPERATING FREQUENCIES TO VARIOUS RADARS THE USE OF COMBINED %##-S
TO MEET COMBINED %#-S THE USE OF DUMMY TRANSMITTERS TO DRAW %#- TO OTHER FRE
QUENCIES AND SO ON %-#/. IS A TECHNIQUE FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF ALL %- RADIA
TIONS OF A FRIENDLY SYSTEM FORCE OR COMPLEX TO OBTAIN MAXIMUM ADVANTAGES IN THE
AREAS OF INTELLIGENCE DATA RECEPTION DETECTION IDENTIFICATION NAVIGATION MISSILE GUID
ANCE ETC OVER THE ENEMY IN A GIVEN SITUATION %-#/. PERMITS ESSENTIAL OPERATIONS
WHILE MINIMIZING THE DISCLOSURE OF LOCATION IDENTIFICATION FORCE LEVEL OR OPERATIONAL
INTENTIONS TO ENEMY INTELLIGENCE RECEPTORS )T INCLUDES THE AUTHORIZATION TO RADIATE THE
CONTROL OF RADIATION PARAMETERS SUCH AS AMPLITUDE FREQUENCY PHASE DIRECTION AND
TIME THE PROHIBITION OF RADIATION AND THE SCHEDULING OF SUCH ACTIONS FOR ALL UNITS AND
EQUIPMENT OF A COMPLEX 4HE ON OFF SCHEDULING OF THE RADARS OPERATION TO INCLUDE
ONLY THOSE TIME INTERVALS WHEN SURVEILLANCE IS REQUIRED CAN REDUCE THE PROBABILITY OF
THE RADAR LOCATION BEING FOUND BY DIRECTION FINDING $& EQUIPMENT OR RADAR HOMING
AND WARNING RECEIVERS 2ADAR BLINKING USING MULTIPLE RADARS WITH COORDINATED ON OFF
TIMES CAN CONFUSE AN !2- SEEKER AND GUIDANCE OR A $& RECEIVER $ECOY TRANSMITTERS
RADIATING FROM ANTENNAS NOT LOCATED AT THE RADAR MAY ALSO BE EMPLOYED TO CONFUSE $&
RECEIVERS AND !2-S THESE DECOYS CAN ALSO OPERATE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE RADARS IN
A BLINKING MODE
0ROPER SITE SELECTION FOR GROUND BASED RADARS IN FIXED INSTALLATIONS CAN PROVIDE A
DEGREE OF NATURAL SIGNAL MASKING TO PREVENT FOR EXAMPLE DETECTION BY GROUND BASED
%3- EQUIPMENT ! HIGH DEGREE OF MOBILITY FOR TACTICAL SYSTEMS ALLOWS hRADIATE AND RUNv
OPERATIONS WHICH ARE DESIGNED TO PREVENT THE RADAR FROM BEING ENGAGED BY $& LOCATION
TECHNIQUES AND ASSOCIATED WEAPONS 4HE DEPLOYMENT OF A RADAR NETWORK WITH OVERLAP
PING COVERAGE COULD PROVIDE SOME %##- BENEFITS )N THE NETTED MONOSTATIC CASE THE
RADARS HAVE DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES FOR INTERFERENCE REDUCTION PURPOSES CONSEQUENTLY
THE %#- HAS TO CONSIDER JAMMING ALL RADARS IN THE OVERLAPPING ZONE THUS REDUCING ITS
EFFICACY 4HIS IS THE KIND OF FREQUENCY DIVERSITY DISCUSSED IN 3ECTION
&INALLY IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT FRIENDLY %3- CAN SUPPORT %##- ACTION BY WARN
ING OF POSSIBLE HOSTILE ACTIVITY PROVIDING ANGULAR LOCATIONS OF HOSTILE JAMMERS AND
INFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS OF JAMMERS 4HIS INFORMATION IS HELPFUL IN THE SELECTION OF
A SUITABLE %##- ACTION
{ **
/" "
/
+1
4HIS SECTION SHOWS THE APPLICATION OF THE PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED %##- TECHNIQUES TO
SURVEILLANCE TRACKING PHASED
ARRAY IMAGING AND OVER
THE
HORIZON RADARS 4HE USE
OF %##- TECHNIQUES IN OTHER TYPES OF RADARS SUCH AS MORTAR LOCATION RADARS MISSILE
GUIDANCE RADARS AND NAVIGATION RADARS IS CONSIDERED IN THE LITERATURE
3URVEILLANCE 2ADARS 4HE FUNCTION OF A SURVEILLANCE RADAR IS TO SEARCH A LARGE
VOLUME OF SPACE AND LOCATE THE POSITION OF TARGETS WITHIN THE SEARCH COVERAGE 4HE
RADAR RANGE AND THE AZIMUTH
ELEVATION COVERAGE DEPEND ON THE SPECIFIC RADAR APPLICA
TIONS 4HE TARGET REPORTS GENERATED BY A SURVEILLANCE RADAR ARE PROCESSED TO FORM TARGET
TRACKS 4HE KEY FEATURES OF A SURVEILLANCE RADAR ARE THE DETECTION RANGE IN CLEAR CLUTTER
AND JAMMING ENVIRONMENTS THE ACCURACY AND RATE OF THE EXTRACTED DATA AND THE FALSE
ALARM RATE )N THE ENSUING DISCUSSION THE DESIGN PRINCIPLES DRIVEN BY THE REQUIREMENTS
FORCED BY THE THREAT ARE MAINLY ADDRESSED
{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
$ETECTION IN A CLEAR ENVIRONMENT IS A FEATURE OF EARLY WARNING RADARS e WHICH LOOK
PRIMARILY FOR HIGH ALTITUDE TARGETS AT LONG RANGES BEYOND THE SURFACE HORIZON WHERE THE
EFFECTS OF CLUTTER CAN BE IGNORED 5NDER THESE CONDITIONS A SIMPLIFIED ANALYSIS STATES
THAT RADAR PERFORMANCE IS RELATIVELY INSENSITIVE TO TRANSMITTER FREQUENCY AND WAVEFORM
SHAPE IN PRACTICE THE LOWER MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES ARE PREFERRED BECAUSE IT IS EASIER
TO OBTAIN LARGE ANTENNA AND HIGH AVERAGE POWER AT LOWER FREQUENCIES AND RAIN CLUTTER
IS NOT IMPORTANT 4HE MAXIMUM DETECTION RANGE ON A TARGET WITH A CERTAIN 2#3 R IN
FREE SPACE FOR A SURVEILLANCE RADAR THAT MUST UNIFORMLY SEARCH A SPECIFIED VOLUME IN
A GIVEN TIME PERIOD DEPENDS ON THE PRODUCT OF THE AVERAGE TRANSMITTER POWER 0 AND
THE EFFECTIVE ANTENNA APERTURE !R )T ALSO DEPENDS ON THE INVERSE OF THE SYSTEM NOISE
TEMPERATURE BUT THIS IS OF LITTLE CONSEQUENCE SINCE THE NOISE TEMPERATURE IS NOT A MAJOR
DESIGN ISSUE ANYMORE 4HE SITUATION IS MORE COMPLEX WHEN THE TARGET TO BE DETECTED
IS OF THE STEALTH TYPE
7AVEFORM DESIGN AND OPERATING FREQUENCY ARE RELEVANT PARAMETERS IN TACTICAL AND
VOLUME SURVEILLANCE RADARS WHICH MUST BE ABLE TO DETECT LOW FLYING PENETRATING TAR
GETS THAT ATTEMPT TO USE TERRAIN SHIELDING EFFECTS TO ESCAPE RADAR DETECTION )N THIS CASE
THE SELECTION OF WAVEFORM AND FREQUENCY IS MADE TO TACKLE THE PROBLEMS OF MASKING
MULTIPATH CHAFF CLUTTER AND %#-
4HE MAJOR %7 THREATS TO A SURVEILLANCE RADAR ARE I NOISE JAMMING II CHAFF
III DECEPTION JAMMING IV DECOYS AND EXPENDABLES AND V !2-
#OMMON TYPES OF JAMMING ARE MAIN BEAM NOISE JAMMING AND SIDELOBE NOISE
JAMMING !GAINST THIS THREAT GOOD RADAR %##- PERFORMANCE IS ACHIEVED BY INCREAS
ING THE PRODUCT 0!R OF AVERAGE TRANSMITTER POWER BY THE EFFECTIVE ANTENNA APERTURE
! MILITARY RADAR SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE D" MORE POWER APERTURE PRODUCT THAN GIVEN
BY STANDARD DESIGNS YET THIS IS SELDOM ALLOWED 4HE REQUEST FOR A LOW SIDELOBE LEVEL
HAS TO BE TRADED OFF WITH THE CORRESPONDING DEGRADATION OF THE MAIN BEAM WIDTH
THE WIDENING OF THE MAIN BEAM WIDTH MAY MAKE THE RADAR MORE VULNERABLE TO MAIN
BEAM JAMMING
4HE NOISE JAMMER SITUATION IS BASICALLY AN ENERGY BATTLE BETWEEN THE RADAR AND THE
JAMMER )N THE MAIN BEAM NOISE JAMMING SITUATION THE ADVANTAGE IS WITH THE JAMMER
BECAUSE THE RADAR EXPERIENCES A TWO WAY PROPAGATION LOSS OF ITS ENERGY AS CONTRASTED
WITH THE ONE WAY PROPAGATION LOSS BETWEEN THE JAMMER AND THE RADAR 7ITH SIDELOBE
JAMMING THE RADAR DESIGNER CAN REDUCE THE JAMMER ADVANTAGE BY LOW SIDELOBE DESIGN
COUPLED WITH THE USE OF SIDELOBE CANCELLATION TECHNIQUES 7ITH MAIN BEAM NOISE JAM
MING THE RADAR CAN MAXIMIZE THE RECEIVED TARGET ENERGY BY TRANSMITTING MORE AVERAGE
POWER DWELLING LONGER ON THE TARGET OR INCREASING THE ANTENNA GAIN )F THE RADARS DATA
RATE IS FIXED AND A UNIFORM ANGULAR SEARCH RATE IS DICTATED BY MECHANICAL OR SEARCH
STRATEGY THEN THE ONLY OPTION FOR THE RADAR IS TO INCREASE ITS AVERAGE TRANSMITTER POWER
4HE NEXT OPTION IS TO MANAGE THE DATA RATE THEREBY ALLOWING A LONGER DWELL TIME ON THE
TARGET BURNTHROUGH MODE ALONG SPECIFIC SPATIAL SECTORS WHERE NEEDED 4HE ABILITY TO
VARY THE DATA RATE IN AN OPTIMAL MANNER IS ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL ADVANTAGES OF PHASED
ARRAY RADARS
!NOTHER PRINCIPLE OF %##- DESIGN AGAINST MAIN BEAM NOISE JAMMING IS TO MINI
MIZE THE AMOUNT OF JAMMING ENERGY ACCEPTED BY THE RADAR 4HIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY
SPREADING THE TRANSMITTED FREQUENCY RANGE OF THE RADAR OVER AS WIDE A BAND AS POS
SIBLE THUS FORCING THE JAMMER INTO A BARRAGE JAMMING MODE 4HIS CAN BE OBTAINED BY
e /F COURSE SUCH RADARS HAVE TO SEE ALSO TARGETS AT SHORTER RANGES WHERE CLUTTER ECHOES CAN MASK THE TARGETS ECHO FOR
THIS REASON ALL LONG RANGE CIVIL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL RADAR EMPLOY DOPPLER PROCESSING
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
RESORTING TO FREQUENCY AGILITY ANDOR FREQUENCY DIVERSITY 3OME RADARS INCORPORATE AN
!&3 DEVICE THAT ALLOWS THE RADAR FREQUENCY TO BE TUNED TO THAT PART OF THE SPECTRUM
CONTAINING THE MINIMUM JAMMING ENERGY
)N ACCORDANCE WITH THE SEARCH
RADAR EQUATION SEE 3ECTION %##- PERFOR
MANCE APPEARS EXPLICITLY TO BE INSENSITIVE TO FREQUENCY
)NCREASING THE RADAR FRE
QUENCY DOES NOT AFFECT THE SIGNAL
TO
INTERFERENCE ENERGY RATIO WITHIN A RADAR RESOLUTION
CELL WHEN THE ANTENNA APERTURE AND THE RADAR DATA RATE ARE HELD CONSTANT 4HE INCREASED
FREQUENCY INCREASES BOTH THE ANTENNA GAIN AND THE NUMBER OF RADAR RESOLUTION CELLS THAT
MUST BE SEARCHED BY EQUIVALENT AMOUNTS THE NET EFFECT IS THAT THE TARGET RETURN POWER
IS INCREASED BY THE SAME AMOUNT BY WHICH THE TARGET DWELL TIME IS DECREASED THEREBY
HOLDING THE TARGET
TO
JAMMING ENERGY RATIO CONSTANT .EVERTHELESS IN PRACTICE THE
EFFECT OF MAIN
BEAM NOISE JAMMING CAN BE REDUCED WITH HIGH RADAR FREQUENCY (IGHER
FREQUENCY RADARS TEND TO HAVE NARROWER ANTENNA BEAMWIDTHS AND LARGER OPERATING FRE
QUENCY BANDWIDTHS TO PERCENT OF RADAR CENTER FREQUENCY THAN LOWER FREQUENCY
RADARS 4HUS MAIN
BEAM JAMMERS WILL BLANK SMALLER SECTORS OF HIGH FREQUENCY RADARS
THAN OF LOW FREQUENCY RADARS )N ADDITION MAIN
BEAM JAMMING OF A NARROW BEAM
RADAR TENDS TO PROVIDE A STROBE IN THE DIRECTION OF THE JAMMER WHICH CAN BE USED TO
TRIANGULATE AND REVEAL THE JAMMER LOCATION 7IDER RADAR BANDWIDTH WITH APPROPRIATE
CODING FORCES THE JAMMER TO SPREAD ITS ENERGY OVER A WIDER BAND THEREBY DILUTING THE
EFFECTIVE JAMMING ENERGY
%##- DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR MAIN
BEAM NOISE JAMMING ALSO APPLY TO SIDELOBE
NOISE JAMMING WITH THE ADDITION THAT THE SIDELOBE RESPONSE IN THE DIRECTION OF THE
JAMMER MUST BE MINIMIZED 5LTRALOW SIDELOBES IN THE ORDER OF SAY D" BELOW
THE ANTENNAS MAIN
BEAM PEAK RESPONSE ARE FEASIBLE BY USING ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
3OMETIMES THE CONTROL OF SIDELOBE NOISE JAMMING BY USING ULTRALOW
SIDELOBE ANTEN
NAS IS NOT PROPER THIS IS TRUE BECAUSE THE MAIN
BEAM WIDTH MIGHT BE INCREASED TWO
TO THREE TIMES )N ADDITION MOST OPERATIONAL RADARS DO NOT USE ULTRALOW LESS THAN
D" OR LOW
TO
D" SIDELOBE ANTENNAS AND HAVE ANTENNA SIDELOBES IN THE
TO
D" REGION WITH AVERAGE SIDELOBES OF TO D" BELOW ISOTROPIC 3,# HAS
THE POTENTIAL OF REDUCING NOISE JAMMING THROUGH THE ANTENNA SIDELOBES AND IT IS USED
FOR THIS PURPOSE IN OPERATIONAL RADARS
!S EXPLAINED IN 3ECTION %##- TECHNIQUES AGAINST CHAFF ARE MAINLY THOSE
BASED ON COHERENT DOPPLER PROCESSING )N PARTICULAR THE REFERENCE DESCRIBES A
COMPARISON OF FIXED AND ADAPTIVE DOPPLER CANCELERS APPLIED TO CHAFF DATA RECORDED BY
A MULTIFUNCTIONAL PHASED
ARRAY RADAR OPERATING AT 3 BAND "OTH CANCELERS PROCESS AN
PULSE COHERENT BURST 4HE FIXED IE NONADAPTIVE PROCESSING IS A $OLPH
#HEBYSHEV
FILTER WITH D" OF SIDELOBE ATTENUATION WITH RESPECT TO PEAK 4HE ADAPTIVE FILTER BASED
ON THE OPTIMUM DOPPLER FILTERING SEE 3ECTION AND THE LITERATURE HAS THE
WEIGHTS BUILT AROUND THE ESTIMATION AND INVERSION OF THE DISTURBANCE CHAFF AND NOISE
COVARIANCE MATRIX 4HE TARGET DETECTABILITY IS EVALUATED AGAINST A DENSE CHAFF CLOUD
&OR THE PARTICULAR SET OF RECORDED MEASUREMENTS IT HAS BEEN SHOWN A SUBSTANTIALLY
ENHANCED PERFORMANCE OF THE ADAPTIVE FILTER OVER THE NONADAPTIVE FILTER
!S MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY THE LOWER FREQUENCIES MIGHT BE PREFERRED FOR LONG RANGE SURVEILLANCE BECAUSE THE USUAL
RADAR EQUATION DOES NOT INCLUDE ALL THE PERTINENT FACTORS )N THE JAMMING CASE ONE SHOULD TAKE ACCOUNT THAT THE
JAMMING ANTENNA ON AN AIRCRAFT HAS A LOWER GAIN AT LOWER FREQUENCIES SO THE JAMMING POWER DENSITY MIGHT BE LESS
AT THE LOWER FREQUENCIES !LSO WHEN MULTIPATH IS IMPORTANT BY SELECTING THE RADAR FREQUENCY PROPERLY ONE MIGHT
REDUCE THE JAMMING POWER RECEIVED BY BEING IN A NULL OF THE JAMMER TRANSMITTING ANTENNA #HAFF MIGHT NOT BE AS
EASY TO DEPLOY AT THE LOWER FREQUENCIES )N CONCLUSION THE LOWER RADAR FREQUENCIES MIGHT NOT BE AS VULNERABLE AS
ONE MIGHT THINK BY EXAMINING THE TRADITIONAL RADAR EQUATION
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
!NOTHER CLASS OF %##- TECHNIQUES IS AIMED TO CONTRAST THE DECEPTIVE %#-
$ECEPTION JAMMERS HAVE A NUMBER OF SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS THAT CAN BE USED BY
RADARS TO IDENTIFY THEIR PRESENCE 4HE MOST PROMINENT IS THAT FALSE
TARGET RETURNS MUST
USUALLY FOLLOW THE RETURN FROM THE JAMMER
CARRYING TARGET AND MUST ALL LIE IN THE SAME
DIRECTION WITHIN A RADAR 02) )F THE DECEPTION JAMMER USES A DELAY THAT IS GREATER THAN
A 02) PERIOD TO GENERATE AN ANTICIPATORY FALSE
TARGET RETURN THEN PULSE
TO
PULSE 02)
JITTER IDENTIFIES THE FALSE
TARGET RETURNS 4HE GENERATION OF FALSE TARGETS IN DIRECTIONS
DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF THE JAMMER
CARRYING AIRCRAFT REQUIRES INJECTING PULSE
JAMMING
SIGNALS INTO THE RADARS SIDELOBES -ANY RADARS EMPLOY THE 3," SEE 3ECTION TO
DEFEAT THIS TYPE OF %#-
4RUE
TARGET RETURNS TEND TO FLUCTUATE FROM SCAN TO SCAN WITH FIXED
FREQUENCY RADARS
AND FROM PULSE TO PULSE WITH FREQUENCY
AGILITY RADARS 4RANSPONDER JAMMERS GENER
ALLY SEND THE SAME AMPLITUDE REPLY TO ALL SIGNALS THEY RECEIVE ABOVE A THRESHOLD AND
THEREFORE DO NOT SIMULATE ACTUAL TARGET FLUCTUATION RESPONSES )N ADDITION THEY USUALLY
APPEAR WIDER IN AZIMUTH THAN REAL TARGETS OWING TO THE MODULATION EFFECT OF THE RADAR
SCANNING ANTENNAS RESPONSE ON THE REAL TARGET 2EPEATER JAMMERS CAN BE MADE TO SIMU
LATE THE ACTUAL AMPLITUDE RESPONSE OF REAL TARGETS AND HENCE ARE MORE EFFECTIVE OVER
TRANSPONDER
TYPE JAMMERS FROM AN %#- VIEWPOINT !N OPERATING MODE TO BE INCLUDED
IN A RADAR TO DISTINGUISH USEFUL TARGETS FROM TRANSPONDER AND REPEATER JAMMERS IS BASED
ON A DOPPLER SPECTRUM ANALYSIS PROVIDED ENOUGH TIME ON TARGET IS AVAILABLE !DDITIONAL
EXPENSIVE TECHNIQUES AGAINST DECEPTIVE JAMMING CAN BE BASED ON THE MEASUREMENT
AND ANALYSIS OF THE ANGULAR AND POLARIZATION SIGNATURES OF THE ECHO SIGNALS
4HE SAME %##- CONSIDERATIONS APPLY WITH DECOY TARGETS THAT HAVE THE GENERAL
ATTRIBUTES OF REAL TARGETS AND ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY AS FALSE TARGETS ! METHOD
SOMETIMES EMPLOYED IS TO TEST THE SCINTILLATION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DETECTED TARGETS TO
DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THEY FOLLOW THOSE OF REAL TARGETS %XPENDABLES THAT TEND TO BE
DESIGNED UNDER STRINGENT ECONOMIC CONSTRAINTS OFTEN RETURN ONLY A STEADY SIGNAL TO THE
RADAR 7ITH DOPPLER SPECTRUM ANALYSIS IT IS POSSIBLE TO LOOK FOR RETURNS FROM ROTATING
COMPONENTS OF THE TARGET THAT ANY FORM OF POWERED TARGET MUST POSSESS %XAMPLES ARE
JET ENGINE OR PROPELLER MODULATION RETURNS ASSOCIATED WITH AIRCRAFT TARGETS
!2-S POSE A SERIOUS THREAT TO A SURVEILLANCE RADAR 4HE SURVIVABILITY OF A SURVEIL
LANCE RADAR TO AN !2- ATTACK RELIES UPON WAVEFORM CODING TO DILUTE THE ENERGY IN THE
FREQUENCY RANGE THE MANAGEMENT OF RADIATED ENERGY IN TIME AND ALONG THE ANGULAR
SECTORS AND THE ADOPTION OF LOW SIDELOBES IN TRANSMISSION 4HESE ACTIONS MAKE IT MORE
DIFFICULT FOR AN !2- TO HOME ON RADAR 7HEN AN !2- ATTACK IS DETECTED IT MAY BE
USEFUL TO TURN ON SPATIALLY REMOTE DECOY TRANSMITTERS TO DRAW THE !2- AWAY FROM
THE RADAR SITE "LINKING WITH A NETWORK OF RADARS ACHIEVES BETTER RESULTS 4HE !2-
TRAJECTORY IS USUALLY SELECTED TO ATTACK THE RADAR THROUGH THE ZENITH HOLE REGION ABOVE
THE RADAR WHERE ITS DETECTION CAPABILITY IS MINIMAL 4HUS A SUPPLEMENTAL RADAR THAT
PROVIDES A HIGH PROBABILITY OF DETECTION IN THE ZENITH HOLE REGION IS REQUIRED 4HERE ARE
CERTAIN ADVANTAGES IN CHOOSING A LOW TRANSMITTING FREQUENCY 5(& OR 6(& FOR THE
SUPPLEMENTAL RADAR 4HE 2#3 OF THE !2- BECOMES GREATER AS THE WAVELENGTH OF THE
RADAR APPROACHES THE MISSILE DIMENSIONS CAUSING A RESONANCE EFFECT ! LOW
FREQUENCY
RADAR IS SOMEWHAT LESS VULNERABLE TO AN !2- ATTACK OWING TO THE DIFFICULTY OF IMPLE
MENTING A LOW
FREQUENCY ANTENNA WITH THE LIMITED APERTURE AVAILABLE IN THE MISSILE
(OWEVER LOW
FREQUENCY RADAR HAS POOR ANGULAR RESOLUTION
4RACKING 2ADARS 4RACKING RADARS PROVIDE GOOD RESOLUTION AND PRECISE MEASURE
MENT OF THE KINEMATIC PARAMETERS POSITION VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION OF TARGETS 4HE
ESTIMATION UPDATED WITH MEASUREMENTS AND PREDICTION OF THE KINEMATIC PARAMETERS
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
{{
AS THE TIME RUNS ARE THE PROCESSING STEPS USED TO BUILD UP THE TRACKS OF TARGETS 4RACKS
ALLOW GUIDANCE AND CONTROL OF FRIENDLY FORCES THREAT ASSESSMENT AND ENEMY TARGET
ENGAGEMENT BY WEAPONS 4RACKING CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED IN FOUR WAYS I 4HE DEDICATED
RADAR TRACKER SOMETIMES CALLED A SINGLE TARGET TRACKER AND DENOTED 344 CONTINUOUSLY
POINTS ITS ANTENNA AT A SINGLE TARGET BY SENSING ERRORS FROM THE TRUE TARGET POSITION AND
CORRECTING THESE ERRORS BY A SERVO CONTROL SYSTEM 4HEN THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF
RADARS CALLED IN THE PAST TRACK
WHILE
SCAN II /NE IS A LIMITED ANGLE SCAN AS IN SOME
AIR
DEFENSE RADARS AND AIRCRAFT LANDING RADARS WHICH SEARCH A LIMITED ANGULAR SECTOR
AT A RAPID RATE EG OR TIMES A SECOND III 4HE OTHER TYPE OF TRACK WHILE SCAN
473 WAS WHAT IS NOW CALLED AUTOMATIC DETECTION AND TRACKING !$4 4HE !$4
SYSTEM GENERATES TRACKS OF MORE THAN ONE TARGET BY USING A SERIES OF SCAN
TO
SCAN TARGET
MEASUREMENTS TAKEN AS THE ANTENNA SAMPLES THE TARGET PATHS IV 4HE MULTIFUNCTIONAL
PHASED
ARRAY RADAR TRACKS MULTIPLE TARGETS BY MULTIPLE INDEPENDENT BEAMS FORMED BY
THE SAME ARRAY APERTURE THAT ARE ALLOTTED TO DIFFERENT TARGETS 4HIS SUBSECTION IS LIM
ITED TO THE DESIGN PRINCIPLES DRIVEN BY THE THREAT REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEDICATED RADAR
TRACKER 4HE ENSUING SUBSECTION WILL REFER TO MULTIFUNCTIONAL PHASED
ARRAY RADAR
'OOD %##- PERFORMANCE IS ACHIEVED BY RADIATING AS LARGE AN AVERAGE TRANSMITTER
POWER AT THE HIGHEST TRANSMITTER FREQUENCY PRACTICABLE COUPLED WITH AS LOW A SIDELOBE
LEVEL AS ACHIEVABLE )NCREASING THE TRANSMITTER FREQUENCY FOR A FIXED ANTENNA SIZE
INCREASES THE ANTENNA GAIN 'T WHICH IN TURN INCREASES THE RECEIVED TARGET POWER AS
'T &OR MAIN
BEAM NOISE JAMMING THE RECEIVED JAMMING POWER INCREASES DIRECTLY
AS 'T RESULTING IN A NET INCREASE IN SIGNAL
TO
JAMMING POWER BY A FACTOR PROPORTIONAL
TO THE ANTENNA GAIN 'T (ERE IT IS NOTED A BASIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SURVEILLANCE AND
TRACKING RADAR THE DETECTION RANGE OF A TRACKING RADAR IMPROVES AS THE FREQUENCY IS
INCREASED FOR A FIXED
SIZE ANTENNA 4HE REASON FOR THIS IMPROVEMENT IS THAT THE ANTENNA
GAIN IS DIRECTLY INCREASED WITH FREQUENCY THEREBY FOCUSING MORE POWER ON THE TARGET
4HIS INCREASED POWER IS INTEGRATED FOR A TIME WHICH IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE
BANDWIDTH OF THE SERVO CONTROL LOOP &OR A SURVEILLANCE RADAR THIS INCREASED POWER IS
COLLECTED FOR A PROPORTIONALLY SHORTER TIME SINCE THE RADAR MUST SEARCH MORE CELLS IN
THE SAME TIME BECAUSE OF THE NARROWER ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH
7ITH SIDELOBE JAMMING THE RECEIVED JAMMING POWER IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE SIDELOBE
ANTENNA GAIN 'SL RESULTING IN A NET INCREASE IN SIGNAL
TO
JAMMING POWER RATIO BY
THE FACTOR 'T'SL
!S WITH SURVEILLANCE RADARS SIDELOBE NOISE JAMMING AND DECEPTION
CAN BE FURTHER ATTENUATED BY THE USE OF 3,# IN CONJUNCTION WITH 3," AS DESCRIBED IN
3ECTION
4HE USE OF HIGHER TRANSMISSION FREQUENCIES FOR TRACKING RADARS GENERALLY MAKE THEM
LESS SUSCEPTIBLE TO NOISE JAMMING THAN SURVEILLANCE RADARS )N ADDITION TACTICAL TRACK
ING RADARS MAY TRACK THE NOISE JAMMER IN ANGLE 4RACKING A NOISE JAMMER IN ANGLE FROM
TWO SPATIALLY SEPARATED RADARS PROVIDES ENOUGH INFORMATION TO LOCATE A JAMMER WITH
SUFFICIENT ACCURACY
! MORE THREATENING %#- AGAINST TRACKING RADARS IS $%#- 4HESE THREATS REQUIRE
CONSIDERABLY LESS ENERGY THAN NOISE JAMMING A FEATURE PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT ON TACTI
CAL AIRCRAFT WHERE AVAILABLE SPACE IS LIMITED .EVERTHELESS THEY ARE VERY EFFECTIVE IN
CAPTURING AND DECEIVING THE RANGE GATE WITH THE 2'0/ TECHNIQUE THE VELOCITY GATE
WITH THE 6'0/ TECHNIQUE AND THE ANGLE
TRACKING CIRCUITS ! PRIMARY %##- DEFENSE
AGAINST 2'0/ IS THE USE OF A LEADING
EDGE RANGE TRACKER 4HE ASSUMPTION IS THAT THE
DECEPTION JAMMER NEEDS TIME TO REACT AND THAT THE LEADING EDGE OF THE RETURN PULSE
WILL NOT BE COVERED BY THE JAMMER 02) JITTER AND FREQUENCY AGILITY BOTH HELP TO ENSURE
THAT THE JAMMER WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ANTICIPATE THE RADAR PULSE AND LEAD THE ACTUAL SKIN
INTERVAL !LTERNATIVELY THE TRACKING RADAR MIGHT EMPLOY A MULTIGATE RANGE
TRACKING
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SYSTEM TO SIMULTANEOUSLY TRACK BOTH THE SKIN AND FALSE
TARGET RETURNS 4HIS APPROACH
UTILIZES THE FACT THAT BOTH THE JAMMING SIGNALS AND THE TARGET RETURN COME FROM THE
SAME ANGULAR DIRECTION SO THAT THE RADARS ANGLE
TRACKING CIRCUITS ARE ALWAYS LOCKED
ONTO THE REAL TARGET
4HE METHODOLOGY OF INTRODUCING 6'0/ INTO THE RADARS TRACKING CIRCUITS IS ANALOGOUS
TO THE METHOD USED WITH 2'0/ 4HE FREQUENCY SHIFT IS INITIALLY PROGRAMMED SO THAT THE
REPEATED SIGNAL IS WITHIN THE PASSBAND OF THE DOPPLER FILTER CONTAINING THE TARGET RETURN
4HIS IS NEEDED TO CAPTURE THE DOPPLER FILTER CONTAINING THE TARGET THROUGH THE RADARS !'#
ACTION 4HE REPEATER JAMMER SIGNAL IS THEN FURTHER SHIFTED IN FREQUENCY TO THE MAXIMUM
EXPECTED DOPPLER FREQUENCY OF THE RADAR 4HE REPEATED SIGNAL IS THEN SWITCHED OFF FORCING
THE VICTIM RADAR TO REACQUIRE THE TARGET #OHERENT TRACKING RADARS CAN CHECK THE RADIAL
VELOCITY DERIVED FROM DOPPLER MEASUREMENTS WITH THAT DERIVED FROM DIFFERENTIATED RANGE
DATA !NOMALOUS DIFFERENCES PROVIDE A WARNING OF THE PROBABLE PRESENCE OF A DECEPTION
JAMMER 7HEN 2'0/ AND 6'0/ OPERATE SIMULTANEOUSLY THE BEST DEFENSE IS THE CONTEM
PORARY TRACKING OF TRUE AND FALSE TARGETS IN BOTH RANGE AND DOPPLER DIMENSIONS 4HE USE OF
MULTIMODE HIGH LOW AND MEDIUM 02& RADARS CAN ALSO BE AN EFFECTIVE %##- MEASURE
HELPING TO COUNTER RANGE
GATE AND VELOCITY
GATE STEALERS BY SWITCHING RADAR MODES
!NGLE
GATE STEALING IS PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE AGAINST CONICAL
SCANNING OR SEQUEN
TIAL
LOBING TRACKING RADARS )T IS FOR THIS REASON THAT SUCH TRACKERS CANNOT BE USED
IN MILITARY APPLICATIONS 4HE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM WITH THESE RADARS IS THAT ANGLE
TRACKING IS ACCOMPLISHED BY DEMODULATING THE AMPLITUDE MODULATION IMPOSED ON
THE TARGET RETURN PULSES OVER A COMPLETE SCANNING OR LOBING CYCLE 4O JAM THIS TYPE OF
RADAR EFFECTIVELY THE RADARS ANGLE
TRACKING
ERROR
SENSING CIRCUITS MUST BE CAPTURED
WITH A FALSE AMPLITUDE
MODULATED SIGNAL AT THE SCANNING OR LOBING RATE WHICH IS
SIGNIFICANTLY OUT OF PHASE WITH THAT FROM THE TARGET RETURN 7HEN THE CONICAL
SCAN
OR LOBING MODULATION IS IMPOSED ON BOTH THE TRANSMITTER AND THE RECEIVER BEAMS IT
IS RELATIVELY SIMPLE FOR A JAMMER TO SYNTHESIZE THE APPROPRIATE JAMMING SIGNAL BY
INVERTING AND REPEATING THE TRANSMITTER MODULATION INVERSE
GAIN REPEATER 4HIS
CAN BE PARTIALLY OVERCOME BY A CONICAL SCAN
ON
RECEIVER ONLY #/32/ SYSTEM
WHERE THE TRACKING RADAR RADIATES A NONSCANNING TRANSMITTING BEAM BUT RECEIVES WITH
A CONICAL
SCAN BEAM 4HE JAMMER THEN HAS NO KNOWLEDGE OF THE PHASE OF THE CONI
CALLY SCANNED RECEIVING BEAM AND MUST ADOPT A TRIAL
AND
ERROR METHOD OF SCANNING
THE JAMMING MODULATION UNTIL A NOTICEABLE REACTION OCCURS IN THE TRACKING RADAR
BEAM 4HIS JAMMING TECHNIQUE IS CALLED JOG DETECTION ! SEQUENTIAL LOBING
ON
RECEIVE ONLY ,/2/ SYSTEM CONCEALS THE LOBING RATE FROM A POTENTIAL JAMMER
#ONICAL SCAN AND SEQUENTIAL LOBING ARE GOING TO BE REPLACED BY THE MONOPULSE TECH
NIQUE THUS #/32/ AND ,/2/ ARE BECOMING OBSOLETE
-ONOPULSE TRACKING IS INHERENTLY INSENSITIVE TO ANGLE DECEPTIVE JAMMING FROM A
SINGLE POINT SOURCE 4HIS IS A RESULT OF THE MONOPULSE ANGLE
ERROR
SENSING MECHANISM
THAT FORMS AN ERROR PROPORTIONAL TO THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE TARGET AND THE ANTENNAS
BORESIGHT ON EACH RETURN PULSE 4HIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY COMPARING SIGNALS RECEIVED
SIMULTANEOUSLY IN TWO OR MORE ANTENNA BEAMS AS DISTINGUISHED FROM TECHNIQUES SUCH
AS LOBE SWITCHING OR CONICAL SCANNING IN WHICH ANGLE INFORMATION REQUIRES MULTIPLE
PULSES %FFECTIVE MONOPULSE JAMMING TECHNIQUES GENERALLY ATTEMPT TO EXPLOIT THE MON
OPULSE RADARS SUSCEPTIBILITY TO TARGET GLINT OR MULTIPATH SIGNALS
/NE JAMMING APPROACH KNOWN AS CROSS
EYE USED AGAINST MONOPULSE RADARS GENER
ATES ARTIFICIAL GLINT INTO THE MONOPULSE TRACKING LOOP 4HE INVENTORS OF THE CROSS
EYE
TECHNIQUE ARE " ,EWIS .2, 53! AND $ (OWARD SEE THEIR PATENT ORIGINALLY FILED
THE #ROSS
EYE IS BASICALLY A TWO
SOURCE INTERFEROMETER WHOSE ANTENNAS USUALLY ARE
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
{{
MOUNTED ON THE AIRCRAFTS WINGTIP AS FAR APART AS POSSIBLE 4HE SIGNALS RECEIVED IN EACH
WINGTIP ANTENNA ARE REPEATED IN THE OPPOSITE WINGTIP ANTENNA EXCEPT FOR A n PHASE
SHIFT WHICH IS INSERTED IN ONE LINE TO DIRECT AN INTERFEROMETRIC NULL TOWARD THE VICTIM
RADAR )N EFFECT THIS CREATES AN APPARENT CHANGE OF TARGET DIRECTION AS VIEWED FROM THE
RADAR ! LARGE REPEATER GAIN IS REQUIRED TO GENERATE A HIGH JAMMER
TO
SIGNAL RATIO OTH
ERWISE THE SKIN ECHO WILL OVERWHELM THE JAMMING SIGNALS IN THE INTERFEROMETER PATTERN
NULLS 4HE MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TECHNIQUE IMPLIES A CONSIDERABLE DELAY ON
THE ORDER OF NS IN THE REPEATED SIGNAL OWING TO THE TRANSMISSION LINE AND AMPLIFIER
BETWEEN THE RECEIVER AND TRANSMITTER ANTENNAS 4HUS LEADING
EDGE OR MULTIGATE RANGE
TRACKING SHOULD BE AN EFFECTIVE %##- TECHNIQUE AGAINST CROSS
EYE JAMMING
4ERRAIN
BOUNCE JAMMING OR TERRAIN SCATTERED INTERFERENCE 43) OR HOT CLUTTER IS
ANOTHER MONOPULSE JAMMING TECHNIQUE THAT IS USED AGAINST SEMIACTIVE MISSILE SEEKERS
AND AIRBORNE TRACKING RADARS 7ITH THIS TECHNIQUE THE JAMMER AIRCRAFT ILLUMINATES THE
%ARTHS SURFACE IN FRONT OF AND BELOW IT SO THAT THE SEMIACTIVE MISSILE HOMES ON THE
ILLUMINATED GROUND SPOT AND NOT ON THE JAMMER AIRCRAFT 4HE UNCERTAINTY OF THE TERRAIN
SCATTERING PARAMETERS AND THE POSSIBLE DEPOLARIZING EFFECTS OF SURFACE REFLECTION ARE
SOME OF THE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TECHNIQUE
4HE 43) AGAINST AIRBORNE RADAR AND THE CORRESPONDING MITIGATION TECHNIQUES ARE
DESCRIBED IN DETAIL IN THE LITERATUREn 43) IS A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM TO MILITARY AIR
BORNE RADAR IN FACT AN OFTEN WEAK TARGET SIGNAL IN THE MAIN BEAM HAS TO COMPETE
WITH JAMMER THAT PROPAGATES NOT ONLY VIA DIRECT
PATH BUT ALSO VIA MULTIPATH FROM THE
UNDERLYING TERRAIN -ITIGATION TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN FOCUSED ON ESTIMATING THE DIRECT
JAMMER SIGNAL ESTIMATING THE LINEAR SYSTEM CREATED BY THE MULTIPATH AND REMOVING
AN ESTIMATE OF THE REFLECTED JAMMER SIGNAL FROM THE MAIN RECEIVED RADAR SIGNAL THIS
IS ALSO ALLOWED BY USING REFERENCE BEAMS POINTED AT HOT CLUTTER !DAPTIVE CANCELLA
TION TECHNIQUES HAVE TO BE ABLE TO ACCOUNT FOR THE DOPPLER INDUCED BY RELATIVE MOTION
BETWEEN AIRBORNE RADAR AND JAMMER PLATFORMS AND THE JAMMER SIGNAL NONSTATIONARITY
THAT IS PRODUCED FROM SUCH A BISTATIC GEOMETRY 43) MITIGATION FOR OVER
THE
HORIZON
/4( RADAR IS DESCRIBED IN !BRAMOVICH ET AL
-ONOPULSE RADARS THAT USE PARABOLIC REFLECTOR ANTENNAS ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO JAMMING
THROUGH CROSS
POLARIZATION LOBES GENERATED BY THE REFLECTOR SURFACE 4HIS OCCURS
BECAUSE THE ANGLE
ERROR
SENSING DISCRIMINATOR HAS AN INVERSE SLOPE FOR A CROSS
POLARIZED
SIGNAL WHICH CAUSES THE ANGLE
TRACKING SERVO TO HAVE POSITIVE FEEDBACK INSTEAD OF THE
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK REQUIRED FOR TRACKING -ONOPULSE ESTIMATES WITH PLANAR ARRAY ANTEN
NAS USUALLY HAVE A HIGH RESISTANCE TO CROSS
POLARIZATION JAMMING SEE 3ECTION OF
7IRTH 7ITH ARRAY ANTENNASIN CONTRAST TO REFLECTOR ANTENNASALL THE SINGLE ANTENNA
ELEMENTS HAVE THE SAME POLARIZATION
DEPENDENT PATTERN 4HIS IS MULTIPLIED WITH THE ARRAY
FACTOR AND ALSO APPLIES FOR THE SUM AND DIFFERENCE PATTERNS 4HE RESULTANT FORM OF THE
BEAM PATTERN WILL THUS BE INDEPENDENT OF POLARIZATION 4HEREFORE THE MONOPULSE OPERA
TION WILL ALSO NOT BE DISTURBED
0HASED
!RRAY 2ADARS )N THIS SUBSECTION WE ILLUSTRATE BY A NUMERICAL EXAM
PLE THE ROLE PLAYED BY THE SCHEDULER IN A MULTIFUNCTIONAL 0!2 TO COMBAT %#- 4O THIS
END WE RESORT TO A BENCHMARK STUDY DESCRIBED IN THE LITERATURE WHICH DEFINES TYPICAL
%#- THREATS OPERATIONAL SCENARIOS AND PHASED
ARRAY PERFORMANCE MAINLY IN TERMS
OF TARGET TRACKING UNDER %#- 4HE SIMULATION BENCHMARK INCLUDES TWO TYPES OF
%#- NAMELY 3/* AND 2'0/ 4HE 3/* MOUNTED ON AN AIRCRAFT TRANSMITS BROADBAND
NOISE TOWARD THE RADAR 4HE 3/* FLIES AN OVAL RACE COURSE HOLDING PATTERN IN A CLOCK
WISE DIRECTION AT AN ALTITUDE OF M AND A SPEED OF MS IT IS APPROXIMATELY
{{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
KM FROM THE RADAR 4HE TWO CIRCULAR TURNS ARE PERFORMED AT AN ACCELERATION OF
G 4HE TRANSMITTED 3/* NOISE IMPACTS THE RADAR WITH POWER F NOT EXCEEDING EIGHT
TIMES THE RECEIVER NOISE POWER 4HUS A 3/* WILL NOT COMPLETELY HIDE A TARGET AND IT CAN
BE DEFEATED WITH A HIGHER ENERGY WAVEFORM )N 2'0/ THE TARGET UNDER TRACK REPEATS
WITH DELAY AND AMPLIFICATION THE RADAR PULSE SO AS TO PULL THE RADAR RANGE GATE OFF THE
TARGET 4HE TIME DELAY IS CONTROLLED SO THE FALSE TARGET IS SEPARATED FROM THE TRUE ONE
WITH EITHER LINEAR OR QUADRATIC MOTION &OR THE LINEAR CASE THE RANGE OF THE FALSE TARGET
2KFT IS RELATED TO THE RANGE OF THE TRUE TARGET 2KT VIA
2KFT 2KT VPO TK T
WHERE VPO IS THE PULL
OFF RATE TK IS THE TIME AT WHICH THE TARGET IS BEING OBSERVED
AND T IS THE INITIAL REFERENCE TIME OF THE 2'0/ FALSE TARGET !LTERNATIVELY FOR THE
QUADRATIC CASE
2KFT 2KT
A T
T
PO K
WHERE APO IS THE PULL
OFF ACCELERATION
2ADAR 3CHEDULING 4HE SCHEDULING AND THE TRACKING FUNCTIONS CLOSELY COOPER
ATE BOTH INTERACT TO UPDATE WITH CURRENT MEASUREMENTS THE TARGETS STATE VECTOR AND
MAKE THE PREDICTIONS NECESSARY TO POINT THE RADAR BEAM AT THE TARGET THE NEXT TIME IT
IS OBSERVED SELECT THE TYPE OF WAVEFORM TO RADIATE AND SELECT THE THRESHOLD TO APPLY
FOR TARGET DETECTION ! CONCEPTUAL SCHEME SHOWING THE INTERACTION OF SCHEDULING AND
TRACKING IS SHOWN IN &IGURE WHERE RK BK EK ARE THE RANGE BEARING AND ELEVA
TION MEASUREMENTS AT TK 3.2K IS THE OBSERVED 3.2 AT TK TK IS THE COMMANDED TIME
FOR THE NEXT TARGET OBSERVATION RK \K BK \K EK \K ARE THE PREDICTED RANGE BEARING AND
ELEVATION FOR BEAM POINTING CONTROL AT TK 7K IS THE WAVEFORM SELECTION AT TK AK
IS THE DETECTION THRESHOLD FOR THE DWELL SET AT TK AND 8K\K 0K\K ARE THE TARGET FILTERED
STATE ESTIMATE AND COVARIANCE MATRIX AT TK GIVEN ALL THE RADAR MEASUREMENTS UP TO TK
&)'52% )NTERACTION OF RADAR SCHEDULER AND TRACKING FILTER
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
{{x
4HE SCHEME IS BUILT AROUND TWO CLOSED LOOPS I THE LOOP ENCOMPASSING THE RADAR
MODEL THE TRACKING FILTER AND THE SCHEDULER AND II THE TRACKING FILTER LOOP 4HE SCE
NARIO IS OBSERVED BY THE RADAR AT TIME TK THE RADAR MODEL PROVIDES THE MEASUREMENTS
RK BK EK AND 3.2K 4HE TRACKING FILTER UPDATES THE PREVIOUS TARGET STATE ESTIMATE 8K
\K
AND ITS COVARIANCE MATRIX 0K
\K
AT TIME TK PROVIDING THE NEW ESTIMATES 8K\K AND 0K\K AND
THE VALUES RK \K BK \K AND EK \K AT THE NEXT TIME INSTANT TK 4HE SCHEDULER PROVIDES THE
WAVEFORM TO RADIATE 7K AND THE THRESHOLD AK TO APPLY FOR TARGET DETECTION AT TK
3ELECTION OF THE 3AMPLING 0ERIOD 4HE SAMPLING PERIOD IS CHOSEN AMONG A FINITE
NUMBER OF POSSIBLE DIFFERENT VALUES BASED ON KINEMATIC CONSIDERATIONS ON THE TARGET
ESTIMATED SPEED AS WELL AS ON WHETHER MISSED DETECTIONS HAVE OCCURRED )F THERE
IS NO MEASUREMENT TO BE ASSOCIATED TO THE TARGET THE SAMPLING PERIOD IS SET EQUAL TO
4S S AND THE WAVEFORM OF HIGHEST ENERGY IS SELECTED SO AS TO POSSIBLY AVOID A
SECOND MISSED DETECTION DUE TO THE POSSIBLY LOW TARGET
2#3 #ONVERSELY THE SAM
PLING PERIOD IS SELECTED AS FOLLOWS
4S S FOR TARGETS WITH ESTIMATED SPEED GREATER THAN MS
4S S FOR TARGETS WITH ESTIMATED SPEED BETWEEN AND MS
4S S FOR TARGETS WITH ESTIMATED SPEED LESS THAN MS
%VEN THOUGH THE TARGET MAY ACCELERATE OR MANEUVER FOR THE SAKE OF SIMPLICITY THE
SAMPLING PERIOD IS SELECTED ONLY ON THE BASIS OF THE TARGET ESTIMATED SPEED
3ELECTION OF THE $ETECTION 4HRESHOLD 4HE PRESENCE OF A JAMMING SIGNAL CAN
INCREASE THE NUMBER OF FALSE ALARMS AND WRONG PLOT
TRACK ASSOCIATIONS UP TO AN UNAC
CEPTABLE LEVEL THUS INCREASING SIGNIFICANTLY THE PROBABILITY OF LOOSING A TARGET UNDER
TRACK )T IS THEREFORE IMPORTANT THAT THE RADAR RECEIVER BE EQUIPPED WITH A #&!2 3INCE
THE FALSE ALARM PROBABILITY IS RELATED TO THE DETECTION THRESHOLD THE LATTER SHOULD BE
ADAPTED ONLINE BASED ON THE INTENSITY OF DISTURBANCES
3ELECTION OF THE 7AVEFORM 4HE BENCHMARK INCLUDES WAVEFORMS INDEXED BY I
AND CHARACTERIZED BY A DIFFERENT PULSE WIDTH SEI SO THAT THE WAVEFORM CAN BE SELECTED
IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A 3.2 GREATER THAN THE DETECTION THRESHOLD AND THUS MAINTAIN AN
ASSIGNED PROBABILITY OF TARGET DETECTION 4HIS CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY FIRST ESTIMATING
THE AVERAGE TARGET 2#3Ko AT TIME TK AND THEN COMPUTING FOR EACH WAVEFORM I THE PRE
DICTED 3.2KI AND FINALLY SELECTING THE WAVEFORM INDEX I SUCH THAT THE CORRESPONDING
3.2KI IS JUST GREATER THAN THE DESIRED DETECTION THRESHOLD PLUS A GIVEN TOLERANCE
%##- !
3/* AND !
2'0/ (EREAFTER SPECIFIC ANTI
3/* !
3/* AND ANTI
2'0/ !
2'0/ TECHNIQUES WILL BE DESCRIBED
!
3/* IS BASED ON ESTIMATING THE JAMMER POSITION AND POWER LEVEL AND THEN USING
SUCH ESTIMATES TO ADAPT THE RADAR DETECTION THRESHOLD ONLINE
u *AMMER STATE ESTIMATION 7HENEVER THE RADAR OPERATES IN THE PASSIVE MODE IE WITH
OUT EMITTING PULSES BEARING BKJ AND ELEVATION EKJ OF THE JAMMER AS WELL AS THE RELATIVE
STANDARD DEVIATIONS RKJB AND RKJE AND THE JAMMER
TO
NOISE RATIO QKJ IN THE FOLLOWING
o 4HE 2#3 IS CERTAINLY A FLUCTUATING QUANTITY VERSUS TIME IT ALSO DEPENDS UPON THE TARGET ASPECT ANGLE (OWEVER IF
ENOUGH TIME
ON
TARGET IS AVAILABLE THE 2#3 ESTIMATE CAN BE SUFFICIENTLY ACCURATE
{{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
EXPRESSED IN D" ARE MEASURED 4HIS ALLOWS THE TRACKING FILTER TO ESTIMATE THE JAMMER
STATE MADE UP OF FOUR STATE COMPONENTS THE TWO ANGULAR POSITIONS BEARING AND ELEVA
TION AND THE RELATIVE ANGULAR SPEEDS 4HE JAMMER TRACK IS INITIALIZED BY USING THE FIRST
TWO MEASUREMENTS PROVIDED BY THE RADAR
u *AMMER POWER LEVEL ESTIMATION !N ESTIMATE OF THE POWER LEVEL CAN BE OBTAINED BY
THE FIRST
ORDER LINEAR FILTER INITIALIZED FROM FTJ FOR A SUITABLE FILTER COEFFICIENT
@J
G O TKJ A J G O TKJ A J RK
u !DAPTATION OF THE DETECTION THRESHOLD &OR A GIVEN DETECTION THRESHOLD A IN D" THE
PROBABILITY OF FALSE ALARM TURNS OUT TO BE
B
0FA EXP
J
G 'STC 2 3 K
(ENCE THE DETECTION THRESHOLD CAN BE SELECTED AT EACH TIME INSTANT TK IN THE FOLLOW
ING WAY
BK MAX LOG
G TKJ
'STC RK K 3 KJ LN 0FA
J
IS THE MOST RECENT AVAILABLE ESTIMATE OF THE JAMMER POWER LEVEL THE
WHERE FT K
VALUE AK D" IS THE ONE WHICH ALLOWS IN THE ABSENCE OF JAMMERS THE DESIRED
FALSE ALARM PROBABILITY 0FA
RK\K IS THE FILTERED ESTIMATE OF THE TARGET RANGE 'STC
IS THE SENSITIVITY TIME CONTROL GAIN AND 3KJ IS THE NORMALIZED ANTENNA GAIN FOR THE
RECEIVED SIGNAL COMPUTED IN THE RADAR ACTIVE MODE
"ECAUSE THE PHASED ARRAY RADAR CONSIDERED HERE IS A MULTIFUNCTIONAL ONE IT HAS ALSO
A TRACKING MODE THAT MIGHT BE AFFECTED BY THE 2'0/ FOR THIS REASON AN ! 2'0/ IS
CONSIDERED AN %##- TECHNIQUE 7HENEVER 2'0/ IS ACTIVE TWO HIGH AMPLITUDE SIGNALS
ARE RECEIVED FROM THE RADAR THE TRUE TARGETS ECHO AND AN 2'0/ INDUCED SIGNAL 3INCE
THE TIME AT WHICH THE TARGET UNDER TRACK ACTIVATES 2'0/ IS UNKNOWN TO THE TRACKING
ALGORITHM THE LATTER MUST FIRST RECOGNIZE THAT 2'0/ IS ACTIVE AND THEN IMPLEMENT AN
APPROPRIATE ! 2'0/ TECHNIQUE )N ORDER TO ESTABLISH WHETHER 2'0/ IS ACTIVE THE FOL
LOWING TEST CAN BE ADOPTED ,ET . BE THE NUMBER OF MEASUREMENTS EXCEEDING THE DETEC
TION THRESHOLD OF MORE THAN D" 4HEN IF . IT IS DECIDED THAT 2'0/ IS NOT ACTIVE AND
NO ! 2'0/ ACTION IS UNDERTAKEN OTHERWISE IF . THE ! 2'0/ %##-S DESCRIBED
BELOW ARE APPLIED .OTICE THAT THE TEST ALSO AIMS AT DISCRIMINATING THE TYPE OF %#- BEING
ACTIVE IE 3/* OR 2'0/ )N FACT WHENEVER THE NOISE JAMMER IS IN THE ANTENNA MAIN
BEAM MANY FALSE MEASUREMENTS WITH HIGH JAMMER TO NOISE RATIO ARE INDUCED IN THIS
CASE IT TURNS OUT THAT . AND 2'0/ IS DECLARED INACTIVE 7HENEVER THE JAMMER IS NO
LONGER IN THE TARGETS LINE OF SIGHT IT MAY HAPPEN THAT MULTIPLE MEASUREMENTS EXCEED THE
DETECTION THRESHOLD BUT THE CONDITION THAT THE EXCESS IS GREATER THAN D" WILL BE VERY
UNLIKELY TO BE FULFILLED IN PRACTICE /NCE IT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED THAT 2'0/ IS ACTIVE
SEVERAL DEVICES CAN BE ADOPTED IN ORDER TO PREVENT THE LOSS OF THE TARGET UNDER TRACK
! FIRST APPROACH CONSISTS OF MAINTAINING TWO TRACKS UNTIL THE 2'0/ IS DEACTIVATED
! SECOND APPROACH CONSISTS OF PENALIZING IN THE DATA ASSOCIATION THE MEASURE
MENTS WHOSE RANGE IS GREATER THAN THE AVERAGE RANGE OF MEASUREMENTS WITH 3.2
HIGHER THAN THE DETECTION THRESHOLD
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
{{
! THIRD MORE DRASTIC APPROACH CONSISTS OF DISCARDING THE MEASUREMENT WITH HIGHER
RANGE AMONG THE TWO MEASUREMENTS THAT HAVE EXCEEDED THE DETECTION THRESHOLD OF
MORE THAN D"
)T IS IMPORTANT TO GUARANTEE UNDER 2'0/ A VERY HIGH 3.2 FOR THE TARGET )N FACT
IT MIGHT HAPPEN THAT THE SIGNAL PRODUCED BY THE FALSE TARGET OVERCOMES THE DETECTION
THRESHOLD WHEREAS THE ONE FROM THE TRUE TARGET DOES NOT THUS CAUSING AN ASSOCIATION
ERROR WITH POSSIBLE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES IN THE TARGETS TRACKING (ENCE WHENEVER
2'0/ IS ACTIVE A HIGH ENERGY WAVEFORM MUST BE SELECTED ! FURTHER PRECAUTION IS THE
FOLLOWING IF THERE ARE MISSED DETECTIONS FOR AT LEAST TWO OUT OF THE LAST THREE SCANS AN
IMMEDIATE REVISIT WITH SAMPLING INTERVAL 4S S IN SEARCH DWELL MODE IS PERFORMED
)N SEARCH MODE THE RANGE GATE IS KM INSTEAD OF KM SO IN THIS WAY IT IS POSSIBLE
TO OBTAIN A NEW TARGET MEASUREMENT FOR UPDATING THE TRACKING FILTER AND THUS AVOID THE
TARGETS LOSS
3IMULATION 2ESULTS -ONTE #ARLO SIMULATION EXPERIMENTS USING THE BENCHMARK
HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT IN ORDER TO ASSESS THE BENEFITS OF THE ABOVE DESCRIBED %##-S
-ORE SPECIFICALLY THE ADAPTATION OF THE DETECTION THRESHOLD HAS BEEN USED AS ! 3/*
WHEREAS THE TECHNIQUE BASED ON DISCARDING THE MEASUREMENTS WITH HIGHER RANGE HAS
BEEN ADOPTED AS ! 2'0/ 4HREE TYPES OF TARGETS NUMBERED AND HAVE BEEN
CONSIDERED TARGET REPRESENTS A CARGO AIRCRAFT WHILE TARGETS AND REPRESENT FIGHTER
ATTACK AIRCRAFTS WITH A MUCH HIGHER DEGREE OF MANEUVERABILITY &OR EACH EXPERIMENT
THE FOLLOWING RESULTS ARE DISPLAYED NUMBER OF LOST TARGETS OVER -ONTE #ARLO TRIALS
4S RADAR SAMPLING TIME 4AVE AVERAGE FRACTION OF TIME REQUIRED BY THE RADAR FOR TARGET
TRACKING 0- AVERAGE POWER POSITION ERROR AND VELOCITY ERROR 4ABLE SHOWS
SIMULATION RESULTS FOR THE )NTERACTING -ULTIPLE -ODEL )-- TRACKING ALGORITHM IN
THE ABSENCE OF %#-S 4ABLES AND REPORT THE RESULTS IN THE PRESENCE OF 3/*
WITHOUT AND RESPECTIVELY WITH ! 3/* 3IMILARLY 4ABLES AND REPORT THE RESULTS
IN THE PRESENCE OF 2'0/ WITHOUT AND RESPECTIVELY WITH ! 2'0/ 4HE EXAMINATION OF
THESE TABLES REVEALS THAT THE PRESENCE OF %#-S CONSIDERABLY DETERIORATES THE TRACKING
PERFORMANCE IF NO APPROPRIATE %##-S ARE UNDERTAKEN #ONVERSELY THE ADOPTION OF THE
ABOVE DESCRIBED ! 3/* AND ! 2'0/ TECHNIQUES ALLOWS THE PERFORMANCE THAT WOULD
BE ATTAINED IN THE ABSENCE OF THE CORRESPONDING %#-S TO BE RESTORED
4!",% 3IMULATION 2ESULTS 7ITHOUT %#-
4!2'%4 ./
,/34
4!2'%43
4S S
4AVE S
0- 7
0/3
%22 M
6%,
%22 MS
n
n
n
4!",% 3IMULATION 2ESULTS 7ITH 3/* AND 7ITHOUT ! 3/*
4!2'%4 ./
,/34
4!2'%43
4S S
4AVE S
0- 7
0/3
%22 M
6%,
%22 MS
n
n
{{n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% 3IMULATION 2ESULTS 7ITH 3/* AND ! 3/*
4!2'%4 ./
,/34
4!2'%43
4S S
4AVE S
0- 7
0/3
%22 M
6%,
%22 MS
n
n
n
4!",% 3IMULATION 2ESULTS 7ITH 2'0/ AND 7ITHOUT ! 2'0/
4!2'%4 ./
,/34
4!2'%43
4S S
4AVE S
0- 7
0/3
%22 M
6%,
%22 MS
n
4!",% 3IMULATION 2ESULTS 7ITH 2'0/ AND ! 2'0/
4!2'%4 ./
,/34
4!2'%43
4S S
4AVE S
0- 7
0/3
%22 M
6%,
%22 MS
n
n
n
)MAGING 2ADAR 4HERE ARE TWO TYPES OF IMAGING RADAR THAT WILL BE DISCUSSED
SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR 3!2 AND INVERSE 3!2 )3!2
3!2 3!2 ALLOWS US TO HAVE A HIGH
RESOLUTION MAPPING OF THE %- BACKSCATTER
FROM AN OBSERVED SCENE -ORE PRECISELY THE RADAR DATA IS OBTAINED IN POLAR COORDI
NATES IE SLANT RANGE AND AZIMUTH WHILE A TWO
DIMENSIONAL IMAGE IN THE RECTANGULAR
COORDINATES X Y IS PROVIDED (IGH RESOLUTION IN SLANT
RANGE IS OBTAINED BY TRANS
MITTING A CODED WAVEFORM WITH A LARGE VALUE OF THE TIME
BANDWIDTH PRODUCT AND
COHERENTLY PROCESSINGIN A FILTER MATCHED TO THE WAVEFORMTHE ECHO SIGNALS (IGH
RESOLUTION ALONG THE TRANSVERSAL DIRECTION IS ACHIEVED BY FORMING A SYNTHETIC APERTURE
4HIS REQUIRES I TO PUT THE RADAR ONBOARD A MOVING PLATFORM EG AN AIRCRAFT OR A
SATELLITE II TO RECORD THE %- SIGNALS FROM EACH SCATTERER THAT IS ILLUMINATED BY THE
MOVING ANTENNA BEAM IN SUCCESSIVE INSTANTS OF TIME AND III TO COHERENTLY COMBINE
THE SIGNALSVIA A SUITABLE AZIMUTHAL MATCHED FILTERTHUS FOCUSING THE SLIDING ANTENNA
PATTERN IN A NARROWER SYNTHETIC BEAM 2ADIOMETRIC RESOLUTION ANOTHER KEY PARAMETER
IS RELATED TO THE CAPABILITY OF 3!2 OF DISTINGUISHING DIFFERENT OBJECTS IN THE SCENE
ON THE BASIS OF THEIR %- REFLECTIVITY 2ADIOMETRIC RESOLUTION DETERMINES HOW FINE A
SENSOR CAN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN OBJECTS WITH SIMILAR %- REFLECTION PROPERTIES )T IS A
PARAMETER OF GREAT IMPORTANCE ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE APPLICATIONS ORIENTED TO EXTENDED
TARGET EXPLOITATION LIKE POLARIMETRY AND CLASSIFICATION 4HUS THE RADIOMETRIC RESOLU
TION SHOULD BE OPTIMIZED MAINLY FOR GOOD EXTENDED TARGET INTERPRETATION ACCOUNTING
FOR ALL KIND OF BACK
SCATTERERS -ULTILOOK PROCESSING IS COMMONLY USED IN 3!2 IMAGE
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
{{
FORMATION IN ORDER TO REDUCE THE SPECKLE NOISE 4RADITIONAL DIGITAL MULTILOOK PROCESSING
CONSISTS OF AN INCOHERENT ADDITION OF INDEPENDENT IMAGES LOOKS OF THE SAME SCENE
4HE LOOKS CAN BE OBTAINED BY PARTITIONING THE AVAILABLE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH RANGE AND
OR AZIMUTH AND PROCESSING EACH LOOK INDEPENDENTLY 4HE FINAL IMAGE IS PRODUCED BY
ADDING THE LOOKS INCOHERENTLY PIXEL BY PIXEL 4HE DIRECT TRADE
OFF BETWEEN GEOMETRIC
AND RADIOMETRIC RESOLUTION MUST BE CONSIDERED WHEN CHOOSING THE NUMBER OF LOOKS FOR
PROCESSING /NE
LOOK PROCESSING MEANS A FULLY COHERENT USE OF THE BANDWIDTH BEST
GEOMETRIC RESOLUTION AND IN THIS CASE THE SPECKLE NOISE WILL OBEY AN EXPONENTIAL DIS
TRIBUTION WHERE THE STANDARD DEVIATION IS EQUAL TO THE MEAN VALUE IN THE INTENSITY IMAGE
MULTIPLICATIVE CHARACTERISTIC &OR MULTILOOK PROCESSING THE GEOMETRIC RESOLUTION WILL
DEGRADE AS THE NUMBER OF LOOKS INCREASES AND THE SPECKLE STATISTICS OF THE INTENSITY
IMAGE OBEY A GAMMA DISTRIBUTION WHERE THE STANDARD DEVIATION DECREASES WITH THE
SQUARE ROOT OF THE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT LOOKS
3!2 IMAGES ARE USEFUL FOR SURVEILLANCE AND RECONNAISSANCE APPLICATIONS (OWEVER
JAMMING COULD MAKE 3!2 IMAGES UNUSABLE 4HE USE OF %##- IS THEREFORE ESSEN
TIAL TO REDUCING THE VULNERABILITY OF 3!2 TO JAMMERS 4HE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO INTERCEPT
SIGNALS FROM 3!2 AND VULNERABILITY TO JAMMING ARE DESCRIBED IN 'OJ ! SIMULATED
NOISE JAMMING PRODUCES STRIPES ON THE 3!2 IMAGES THAT DEMONSTRATE THE EFFECTIVE
NESS OF JAMMING AGAINST TARGETS LIKE STRONG POINT SCATTERERS SUCH AS ELECTRIC POWER
LINE
TOWERS AS WELL AS LOW
REFLECTIVITY AGRICULTURAL PATTERNS AND DESERT LAND 4HE REFER
ENCES DISCUSS THE SIGNIFICANT VULNERABILITY TO %#- OF SPACEBORNE 3!2 DUR
ING MARITIME RECONNAISSANCE MISSIONS )N TYPICAL IMAGERY FROM 3EASAT 3!2
SHOWED SEVERAL FEATURES THAT MADE THE 3!2 A POWERFUL MARITIME SURVEILLANCE SENSOR
4HE SHIPS AND THE WAKES PRODUCED BY THE SHIP MOTION WERE IMAGED 4HE SHIP IMAGE
A BLOB APPEARED DISPLACED FROM ITS WAKE DUE TO THE DOPPLER SHIFT CAUSED BY THE SHIPS
MOTION RELATIVE TO THE SPACECRAFT (OWEVER THE SHIPS POSITION AT THE TIME OF IMAGING
AND ITS COURSE COULD BE DETERMINED FROM THE WAKE 4HE SHIP SPEED CAN BE CALCULATED
TOO BY THE DISPLACEMENT OF THE SHIP FROM ITS WAKE !LL THIS INFORMATION IS OBTAINABLE
ONLY IF ENOUGH 3.2 IS AVAILABLE FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF THESE IMAGE FEATURES EITHER
BY A HUMAN OPERATOR OR AN AUTOMATIC PROCESSOR 4HERE EXISTS THEREFORE A POTENTIAL
VULNERABILITY TO 3!2 IN THE MARITIME SURVEILLANCE APPLICATION IF A HIGH LEVEL OF BACK
GROUND NOISE CAUSES DEGRADATIONS OF THE 3!2 IMAGE TO AN EXTENT WHERE SHIP AND WAKE
CAN NO LONGER BE IDENTIFIED IN THE IMAGE )N THE LITERATURE SOME CRITICAL ASPECTS IN
TERMS OF JAMMER RECEIVER SENSITIVITY AND TRANSMITTED POWER FOR SPOT
NOISE JAMMING
ARE CONSIDERED AND THE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ARE DERIVED TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY
AND PRACTICALITY OF SUCH JAMMER 2ESULTS OF A COMPUTER SIMULATION OF AN ENGAGEMENT
BETWEEN 3!2 AND REPRESENTATIVE JAMMING SYSTEM ARE GIVEN TO ENABLE THE EFFECTIVE
NESS OF %#- TO BE ASSESSED
4HE THREATS TO A 3!2 ARE BARRAGE JAMMING SPOT JAMMING RANDOM PULSE JAMMING
AND REPEATER JAMMING 2EPEATERDECEPTION JAMMING IS A MAJOR THREAT BECAUSE IT MIGHT
NOT BE RECOGNIZABLE WHEREAS THE OTHERS ARE AT LEAST IN PRINCIPLE RECOGNIZABLE 4HE
IMPACT OF EACH THREAT AND THE POSSIBLE COUNTERMEASURES ARE DESCRIBED IN THE REMAINING
PART OF THIS SECTION
u "ARRAGE JAMMER 4HE DISTURBANCE NOISE EXTENDS OVER THE ENTIRE SWATH OF THE 3!2
IMAGE AND IT SHOWS GENERALLY A UNIFORM INTENSITY 4HE RADAR IMAGE OF BARRAGE JAM
MER NOISE WILL EXHIBIT SPECKLE IE A BRIGHTNESS VARIATION FROM ONE RESOLUTION CELL TO
ANOTHER )N ADDITION BECAUSE A LARGE NUMBER OF NOISE SAMPLES ARE ADDED NONCOHER
ENTLY THE MULTIPLE LOOKS OF JAMMER NOISE TEND TO SMOOTH OUT THE INTENSITY VARIATION
FROM PIXEL TO PIXEL JUST AS IN THE CASE OF THERMAL NOISE
{x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
u 3POT JAMMER )T ALSO COVERS THE ENTIRE SWATH AND WITH UNIFORM INTENSITY DISTURBING
NOISE AS FOR THE BARRAGE JAMMER HOWEVER ITS IMAGE WILL DIFFER FROM THE BARRAGE NOISE
BECAUSE THE &OURIER TRANSFORM OF NARROWER BAND JAMMER NOISE WILL RESULT IN SPECKLE
SIZE IN THE RANGE DIMENSION THAT IS LARGER THAN THAT OF THERMAL NOISE OR CLUTTER 4HE
PROCESSED CROSS
RANGE DIMENSION IS AGAIN EQUAL TO THAT OF CLUTTER OR THERMAL NOISE
3POT JAMMER NOISE WILL APPEAR TO BE STRETCHED IN RANGE
u 2ANDOM PULSE JAMMING 4HE JAMMER PULSES MAY ALSO BE TRANSMITTED AT RANDOM INTER
VALS SO THAT SUCH NOISE PULSES CAN APPEAR IN ANY PART OF THE RANGE SWATH 7HEN
OBSERVED OVER A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF SAMPLES THE NOISE PULSES WILL OCCUPY ALL PARTS
OF THE RANGE SWATH IN ONE SAMPLE OR ANOTHER 4HE AZIMUTH PROCESSOR FORMS THE SUM
OF THE NOISE POWER FROM ALL SAMPLES WITHIN ONE SYNTHETIC APERTURE LENGTH 4HAT SUM
WILL BE EQUAL TO THE TOTAL NOISE POWER IN THE APERTURE WHICH IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE
AVERAGE JAMMER NOISE POWER !LSO IN THIS CASE THE SPECKLE DIMENSION WILL APPEAR
STRETCHED IN RANGE JUST AS IN THE SPOT JAMMER CASE (OWEVER THE RANDOM PULSE JAM
MER SPECKLE WILL EXHIBIT MORE PRONOUNCED BRIGHTNESS VARIATIONS THAN THAT FROM SPOT
OR BARRAGE JAMMING BECAUSE FEWER NOISE SAMPLES ARE ADDED NONCOHERENTLY THEREBY
REDUCING THE SMOOTHING EFFECT OF MULTIPLE LOOKS
u 2EPEATER JAMMING 4HE ENEMY MAY UTILIZE THE TRANSMITTING RADAR TO SEND OUT A
SIGNAL WITHIN THE BAND OF THE 3!2 TO CONFUSE THE 3!2 SYSTEM RECEIVER 4HE JAMMING
SIGNAL CAUSES THE 3!2 TO RECEIVE AND PROCESS ERRONEOUS INFORMATION THAT RESULTS IN
SEVERE DEGRADATIONS IN THE 3!2 IMAGES ANDOR FORMATION OF THE IMAGE OF NONEXISTENT
TARGETS ! DECEPTION JAMMING COULD BE COMPOSED OF MANIPULATED REPLICAS OF THE
TRANSMITTED RADAR SIGNALS VIA $2&- )N (YBERG THE POSSIBILITY OF PREVENTING 3!2
MAPPING THROUGH COHERENT $2&- JAMMING HAS BEEN INVESTIGATED ! SOFTWARE MODEL
HAS BEEN DEVELOPED AND VERIFIED IN SEVERAL FLIGHT TRIALS IN THE CASE OF A GROUND
BASED
$2&- JAMMER
%##- TECHNIQUES FOR 3!2 CAN BE DIVIDED INTO I ANTENNA
BASED TECHNIQUES LOW
SIDELOBES ADAPTIVE ARRAYS AND II TRANSMITTERRECEIVERPROCESSINGnBASED TECHNIQUES
FREQUENCY AGILITY PULSE CODING
u ,OW SIDELOBES 3!2 ANTENNAS WITH LOW SIDELOBES REDUCE THE LEVEL OF JAMMING
POWER RECEIVED AND IN ADDITION REDUCE THE PROBABILITY OF BEING INTERCEPTED BY
%#- STATIONS IN THE SIDELOBE REGION )N RELATION TO LOW SIDELOBES THE FOLLOWING
COMMENT IS IN ORDER )N A CONVENTIONAL RADAR THE EFFECT OF LOW SIDELOBES IS CLEAR
BUT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE IN 3!2 BECAUSE THE BEAMWIDTH IS MUCH WIDER THAN IN
OTHER RADAR APPLICATIONS )N PRINCIPLE THE FINER THE RESOLUTION THE SMALLER THE 3!2
PHYSICAL ANTENNA AND THE WIDER IS ITS BEAMWIDTH 4HUS JAMMING IN THE MAIN BEAM
IS MORE LIKELY IN A 3!2 THAN IN OTHER RADARS BECAUSE OF THE WIDE MAIN BEAM 4O
GET FALSE TARGETS INTO THE 3!2 IT WOULD HAVE TO COME FROM THE MAIN BEAM SO LOW
SIDELOBES MIGHT NOT BE MUCH INVOLVED IN DECEPTION JAMMER ,IKEWISE MAIN
BEAM
JAMMING MAY BE MORE OF A THREAT TO 3!2 THAN SIDELOBE JAMMING
u !DAPTIVE ARRAYS 4HE REFERENCESn DEAL WITH THE REJECTION OF A BARRAGE NOISE
JAMMING USING AN ADAPTIVE SPATIAL NULLING %QUIPPING THE 3!2 SYSTEM WITH AN
ANTENNA PARTITIONED INTO SEVERAL SUB
APERTURES CONNECTED TO PARALLEL CHANNELS
IE MULTICHANNEL 3!2 ALLOWS SPATIAL ADAPTIVE PROCESSING TO SUPPRESS THE
INTERFERING SIGNAL )N &ARINA AND ,OMBARDO THE PERFORMANCE OF SUCH A TECH
NIQUE IS EVALUATED IN TERMS OF 3!2 IMPULSE RESPONSE DETECTION PERFORMANCE OF
POINT TARGET AND RADIOMETRIC RESOLUTION OF AN EXTENDED SCENE )N %NDER A 3!2
IMAGE TAKEN WITH AN EXPERIMENTAL FOUR
CHANNEL 3!2 JAMMED BY A SMALL WATT
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
{x
NOISE JAMMER LEADING TO A *.2 IN THE RAW DATA OF ABOUT D" WHEN THE JAMMER
PASSES THE CENTER OF THE MAIN BEAM IS DEPICTED 4HE DE
JAMMED IMAGE BY ADAP
TIVE SPATIAL SUPPRESSION IS ALSO SHOWN DEMONSTRATING THE GOOD PERFORMANCE OF
ADAPTIVE SPATIAL CANCELLATION 4HE REFERENCE PROVIDES A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY
OF ANTI
JAMMING SPATIAL ADAPTIVE TECHNIQUES INCLUDING ALSO THE SPACESLOW
TIME
ANTI
JAMMING FILTER WITH SUITABLE IMAGE RECONSTRUCTION ALGORITHM 2ESULTS INDI
CATE THAT THE SLOW
TIME 34!0 PROVIDES SUPERIOR INTERFERENCE CANCELLATION THAN
SPATIAL
ONLY FILTERING 3!2 USUALLY INVOLVES WIDEBAND PROCESSING REQUIRING FOR
ADAPTIVE NULLING TECHNIQUES PECULIAR ALGORITHMS %FFICIENT BROADBAND JAMMER
NULLING HAS TO BE COUNTERED WITH SPACEFAST
TIME IE RANGE CELL PROCESSING
4HE EXPECTED NUMBER OF SPATIAL DOF IS NOT HIGHER WE HAVE ONLY TO ADD THE DOF
IN TIME 4HE ADAPTIVE BEAMFORMING ALGORITHMS HAVE TO BE IMPLEMENTED INTO THE
3!2 PROCESSING WHICH IS ALWAYS SPACE
TIME PROCESSING TYPICALLY POST
DOPPLER
2OSENBERG AND 'RAY TACKLE THE PROBLEM OF MITIGATING THE EFFECTS OF AN AIRBORNE
BROADBAND JAMMER PRESENT IN THE MAIN BEAM OF A 3!2 )N ADDITION TO THIS MUL
TIPATH REFLECTIONS FROM THE GROUND KNOWN AS HOT
CLUTTER WILL ADD A NONSTATIONARY
INTERFERENCE COMPONENT TO THE IMAGE 4HE AUTHORS SHOW THE IMAGE DEGRADATION FROM
HOT
CLUTTER THE LIMITED RESTORATION THAT MULTI
CHANNEL SPATIAL IMAGING AND SLOW
TIME
34!0 CAN PROVIDE AND HOW FAST
TIME 34!0 CAN IMPROVE THE FINAL IMAGE QUALITY
u &REQUENCY AGILITY 3!2 PROCESSING NEEDS PHASE COHERENCE FOR OBTAINING THE SYN
THETIC APERTURE THUS FREQUENCY AGILITY HAS TO BE USED WITH CARE &REQUENCY CHANG
ING DURING A SYNTHETIC APERTURE LENGTH TIME RESULTS IN A CHANGE OF FOCAL LENGTH
DIFFERENT COEFFICIENT OF THE QUADRATIC PHASE TERM OF THE PHASE HISTORY OF THE ILLU
MINATED TARGETS THAT DEGRADES THE CROSS
RANGE RESOLUTION 3!2 OPERATING IN BURST
MODE CAN CHANGE ITS CENTRAL FREQUENCY FROM ONE LOOK TO ANOTHER WITHOUT ANY
DEGRADATION IN IMAGE QUALITY 'IVEN THE EFFICIENCY OF SIMPLE BROADBAND JAMMING
AND MODERN %3- WE NEED TO CONCLUDE THAT FREQUENCY AGILITY IS NOT OF GREAT HELP
IN 3!2 %##-
u 0ULSE CODING !N EFFECTIVE %##- AGAINST A $2&- REPEAT JAMMER IS TO CHANGE
THE RADAR TRANSMITTED PULSE CODE FROM ONE 02) TO ANOTHER 4HE RADAR MAINTAINS
THE SAME CARRIER AND BANDWIDTH HOWEVER THE PULSES ARE CODED TO BE APPROXI
MATELY ORTHOGONAL TO EACH OTHER IE THEIR CROSS
CORRELATION IS APPROXIMATELY
EQUAL TO ZERO 3UCH A RADAR IS LESS SUSCEPTIBLE TO A $2&- REPEATER BECAUSE
I THE JAMMER CANNOT ADAPT EASILY SINCE THE RADAR SIGNAL IS VARYING IN THE 02)
DOMAIN AND II THE SIGNAL TRANSMITTED BY A $2&- REPEATER JAMMER AT A GIVEN
02) IE THE RADAR SIGNAL THAT IS USED BY THE 3!2 AT THE PREVIOUS 02) IS APPROXI
MATELY ORTHOGONAL TO THE RADAR SIGNAL THAT THE 3!2 IS UTILIZING AT THE CURRENT 02)
AND THUS A MATCHED FILTERING WITH THE CURRENT 02) RADAR SIGNAL WOULD WEAKEN THE
$2&- REPEATER JAMMER SIGNAL )N 3OUMEKH A NOVEL METHOD IS OUTLINED THAT
COMBINES THE ABOVE MENTIONED PULSE DIVERSITY RADAR SIGNALING WITH A NEW COHER
ENT TWO
DIMENSIONAL PROCESSING OF THE MEASURED DATA TO EFFECTIVELY SUPPRESS A
$2&- REPEATER JAMMER
)3!2 4HE INVERSE 3!2 IS A METHOD OF RECONSTRUCTING A HIGH
RESOLUTION TWO
DIMENSIONAL %- INTENSITY IMAGE OF MOVING TARGETS EG SHIPS AIRCRAFT IN THE RANGE
AND CROSS
RANGE DOPPLER DOMAINS )3!2 IMAGING IS IMPORTANT IN MILITARY APPLICATIONS
SUCH AS TARGET RECOGNITION AND CLASSIFICATION SINCE IT CAN USUALLY RECOGNIZE THE CLASS OF
TARGET THAT CAN ALSO BE USED TO CUE WEAPON SYSTEMS 4HE NEED FOR COHERENT COUNTERING
OF THESE IMAGING SENSORS IS A HIGH PRIORITY FOR %7 4HE REFERENCES PRESENT THE
{x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
DESIGN OF A PIPELINED ALL DIGITAL IMAGE SYNTHESIZER CAPABLE OF GENERATING FALSE TARGET
IMAGES FROM A SERIES OF INTERCEPTED )3!2 CHIRP PULSES THUS PROVIDING 2& IMAGING
DECOY CAPABILITY 4HE IMAGE SYNTHESIZER MODULATES THE PHASE SAMPLES FROM A PHASE
SAMPLING $2&- THAT STORES INTERCEPTED )3!2 PULSES 4HE IMAGE SYNTHESIZER MUST ALSO
SYNTHESIZE THE TEMPORAL LENGTHENING AND AMPLITUDE MODULATION CAUSED BY THE MANY
REFLECTIVE SURFACES OF A TARGET AND MUST GENERATE A REALISTIC DOPPLER PROFILE FOR EACH SUR
FACE 4HE POSITION OF A FALSE TARGET IMAGE IN RANGE CAN BE CONTROLLED BY DELAYING IN TIME
THE READ OUT SAMPLES GOING TO THE IMAGE SYNTHESIZER 4HE RANGE DOPPLER IMAGE OF A SHIP
WITH RANGE BINS IS SYNTHESIZED AS AN EXAMPLE IN 0ACE ET AL %##- TECHNIQUES TO
DEFEAT THIS TYPE OF JAMMING SIGNALS ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE PROPOSED FOR 3!2
/VER THE (ORIZON 2ADAR !N IMPORTANT DEFENSE RELATED ROLE OF HIGH FREQUENCY
(& OVER THE HORIZON /4( RADAR IS TO PROVIDE A CAPABILITY FOR EARLY WARNING DETEC
TION AND TRACKING OF AIR AND SHIP TARGETS "Y USING THE IONOSPHERE AS A PROPAGATION
MEDIUM SKYWAVE /4( RADARS CAN OPERATE AT VERY LONG DISTANCES TO ACHIEVE DETECTION
AND TRACKING AT RANGES OF n KM /N THE OTHER HAND SURFACE WAVE /4( RADARS
EXPLOIT VERTICALLY POLARIZED (& SIGNALS n -(Z AND THE CONDUCTIVE PROPERTIES OF
SEA WATER TO DETECT TARGETS AT RANGES LIMITED TO ABOUT KM 4HIS UPPER LIMIT GENERALLY
APPLIES TO LARGE SHIPS AND FREQUENCIES IN THE LOWER (& BAND
%#- TO /4( 2ADAR &OR BOTH SKYWAVE AND SURFACE WAVE /4( RADAR SYSTEMS
THE IONOSPHERE ALSO PROPAGATES UNWANTED INTERFERENCE SIGNALS TO THE RADAR SITE PAR
TICULARLY AT NIGHT WHEN THE IONOSPHERE IS PRONE TO PROPAGATING RADIO FREQUENCY INTER
FERENCE 2&) SOURCES FROM VERY LONG DISTANCES 2&) CAN ARISE FROM UNINTENTIONAL AND
INTENTIONAL ANTHROPOGENIC EMITTERS IN THE USER CONGESTED (& BAND AS WELL AS JAMMING
SOURCES *AMMING SOURCES MAY BE LOCATED ON THE TARGET PLATFORM ITSELF SELF SCREENING
AND RECEIVED BY THE MAIN ANTENNA BEAM OR RADIATE FROM A SEPARATE LOCATION STAND OFF
AND BE RECEIVED MAINLY THROUGH THE ANTENNA BEAMPATTERN SIDELOBES 4HE JAMMING SIG
NAL MAY BE INCOHERENT WITH THE RADAR WAVEFORM AND OPERATE IN A hSPOTv OR hBARRAGEv
FASHION TO RAISE THE NOISE FLOOR IN BOTH RANGE AND DOPPLER SEARCH SPACES TO POTENTIALLY
IMPAIR DETECTION PERFORMANCE OR IT CAN BE COHERENT WITH THE RADAR WAVEFORM AS IN THE
CASE OF DECEPTION JAMMING WHICH MAY GENERATE FALSE TARGETS AND POTENTIALLY IMPAIR
THE TRACKING SYSTEM FROM FOLLOWING THE TRUE TARGET
)MPACT OF )ONOSPHERE !N IMPORTANT ASPECT THAT DISTINGUISHES /4( RADAR FROM
LINE OF SIGHT SYSTEMS IS THE IMPACT OF THE IONOSPHERIC PROPAGATION MEDIUM ON THE
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RECEIVED INTERFERENCE 4HE IONOSPHERE IS STRATIFIED WITH DIFFER
ENT REFLECTING LAYERS SO A SINGLE INTERFERENCE SOURCE IS OFTEN RECEIVED AS A NUMBER OF
MULTIPATH COMPONENTS WITH DIFFERENT $O!S BOTH IN ELEVATION DUE TO THE DIFFERENT
HEIGHTS OF REFLECTION POINTS AND IN AZIMUTH DUE TO LAYER DEPENDENT IONOSPHERIC TILTS
OR GRADIENTS )N ADDITION TO MULTIPATH EACH INTERFERENCE COMPONENT IS SUBJECTED TO
TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL DISTORTIONS CAUSED BY THE DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF ELECTRON DENSITY
IRREGULARITIES PRESENT IN THE INDIVIDUAL REFLECTING LAYERS 4HIS PHYSICAL PHENOMENON
IS KNOWN NOT ONLY TO DEFORM THE INTERFERENCE WAVEFRONTS RELATIVE TO THE ANTICIPATED
PLANE WAVEFRONT BUT ALSO TO INDUCE A SIGNIFICANT LEVEL OF SPATIAL NONSTATIONARITY ON THE
VARIOUS INTERFERENCE COMPONENTS OVER TIME INTERVALS COMMENSURATE WITH THE COHERENT
PROCESSING INTERVAL OF /4( RADARS IN THE ORDER OF A FEW TO TENS OF SECONDS
2ELEVANCE TO )NTERFERING 3IGNALS 3OURCES OF INTERFERENCE WITHIN THE RADAR COVERAGE
EG ON AN AIRBORNE PLATFORM CAN POTENTIALLY SCREEN THE PLATFORM IN RANGE AND IMPAIR
THE DETECTION OF OTHER TARGETS WITH SIMILAR AZIMUTH BUT POSSIBLY AT DIFFERENT RANGES
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
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3UCH SOURCES CAN EXPECT GOOD PROPAGATION TO THE RADAR RECEIVER BECAUSE THE CHOICE OF
OPERATING FREQUENCY IS USUALLY OPTIMIZED FOR THE COVERAGE AREA )N THE CASE OF STAND
OFF INTERFERENCE SOURCES WHICH ARE LOCATED ARBITRARILY WITH RESPECT TO THE SURVEILLANCE
REGION EG A GROUND
BASED EMITTER PROPAGATION CONDITIONS WILL GENERALLY BE SUB
OPTIMUM (OWEVER SUCH SOURCES MAY HAVE GREATER POWER AND ANTENNA GAIN AT THEIR
DISPOSAL ALLOWING THE SIGNALS TO REACH THE RADAR RECEIVER WITH APPRECIABLE STRENGTH
SOMETIMES AFTER PROPAGATION VIA HIGHLY DISTURBED AND NONSTATIONARY IONOSPHERIC PATHS
AS COMMONLY OCCURS IN THE EQUATORIAL AND POLAR REGIONS 5NDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES
/4( RADARS SEEK TO FIND RELATIVELY CLEAR FREQUENCY CHANNELS IN THE USER
CONGESTED (&
SPECTRUM SO THE PRESENCE OF INTERFERENCE FROM OTHER MANMADE SOURCES IS EFFECTIVELY
DIMINISHED BY SUITABLE FREQUENCY SELECTION 7HEN JAMMING IS PRESENT THE RADAR MAY
NEED TO OPERATE WITH MUCH HIGHER THAN USUAL LEVELS OF INTERFERENCE THAT CAN DEGRADE
PERFORMANCE &OR THIS REASON PROTECTION IN THE FORM OF %##- TECHNIQUES BECOMES
NECESSARY
%##- 4ECHNIQUES %LECTRONIC PROTECTION FOR /4( RADAR ANTENNA ARRAYS CAN BE
PROVIDED IN THE FORM OF ADAPTIVE SIGNAL PROCESSING IN SPACE AND TIME 4HE STOCHASTIC
CONSTRAINTS ADAPTIVE BEAMFORMING AND 34!0 METHODSn WERE DEVELOPED SPECIFI
CALLY FOR THE (& ENVIRONMENT TO ADDRESS THE REJECTION OF NONSTATIONARY INTERFERENCE
WHILE PROTECTING THE CLUTTER DOPPLER SPECTRUM PROPERTIES ! METHOD FOR TIME
VARYING
SPATIAL ADAPTIVE PROCESSING 46
3!0 THAT ADDRESSES THE SAME PROBLEM WAS FOUND TO
BE MORE ATTRACTIVE FOR PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION DUE TO THE MUCH LOWER COMPUTATIONAL
COST IN REAL
TIME APPLICATIONS AS WELL AS GREATER ROBUSTNESS IN PROTECTING SUB
CLUTTER
VISIBILITY AFTER DOPPLER PROCESSING 4HE PROBLEM OF REDUCING FALSE ALARMS CAUSED BY
STRONG SIDELOBE TARGETS AND SPATIALLY STRUCTURED NON
GAUSSIAN DISTRIBUTED 2&) WAS
TREATED IN &ABRIZIO ET AL WHERE THE ADVANTAGES OF ADAPTIVE SUBSPACE DETECTORS RELA
TIVE TO CONVENTIONAL APPROACHES WERE SHOWN 34!0 TECHNIQUES WITH TEMPORAL DEGREES
OF FREEDOM SPACED AT THE 02) IE SLOW
TIME HAVE BEEN PROPOSED IN &ARINA ET AL
TO JOINTLY CANCEL 2&) AND CLUTTER WHEN BOTH ARE OF SIMILAR STRENGTH BUT NEITHER CAN BE
ISOLATED FOR ESTIMATION WHEREAS AN ALTERNATIVE LOW
DIMENSION 34!0 FORMULATION WITH
TEMPORAL TAPS SPACED AT THE RANGE CELL INTERVAL IE FAST
TIME HAS BEEN PROPOSED IN
&ABRIZIO ET AL TO JOINTLY CANCEL SIDELOBE AND MAIN
BEAM 2&) THAT EXHIBITS CORRELA
TION IN THE RANGE DIMENSION 4HE 34!0 METHODS USED IN /4( RADAR ARE VERY SIMILAR
CONCEPTUALLY TO THOSE ADOPTED FOR AIRBORNE RADAR ESPECIALLY THE FORMER TAP ARCHITEC
TURE 4HE CHIEF DIFFERENCE IS THAT IN BENIGN CONDITIONS FREE OF SIGNIFICANT CO
CHANNEL
INTERFERENCEp 34!0 IS NOT INDICATED FOR /4( RADAR BECAUSE THE SIDELOBE CLUTTER DOES
NOT TYPICALLY MASK DOPPLER SHIFTED TARGETS ANY MORE THAN THE MAIN
BEAM CLUTTERe
! POSSIBLE EXCEPTION TO THIS IS SHIPBORNE (& SURFACE
WAVE RADAR
ALTHOUGH SUCH SYS
TEMS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED THEY HAVE NOT YET DEMONSTRATED THEIR PRACTICAL UTILITY
p #O
CHANNEL INTERFERENCE FOR /4( RADAR REFERS MAINLY TO OTHER TRANSMISSIONS IN THE (& SPECTRUM THAT EITHER FULLY OR
PARTIALLY OVERLAP THE RADAR BANDWIDTH
e 4HE MAIN BEAM AND SIDELOBE CLUTTER RECEIVED BY AIRBORNE RADARS CAN HAVE QUITE DIFFERENT DOPPLER SHIFTS DUE TO
THE MOVEMENT OF THE PLATFORM WITH RESPECT TO THE GROUND RESULTING IN THE ANGLE
DOPPLER COUPLING OF THE CLUTTER
(OWEVER IN /4( RADAR MAIN BEAM AND SIDELOBE CLUTTER FROM A SINGLE IONOSPHERIC MODE TYPICALLY HAVE SIMI
LAR DOPPLER SPECTRUM CHARACTERISTICS BECAUSE THE RADAR IS STATIONARY 4HIS MEANS THAT SIDELOBE CLUTTER APPEARS AT
ROUGHLY THE SAME DOPPLER SHIFT AS MAIN BEAM CLUTTER AND DOPPLER FILTERING CAN BE USED EFFECTIVELY FOR DETECTING
TARGETS USUALLY WITHOUT SPECIAL NEED TO REJECT THE SIDELOBE CLUTTER SPATIALLY
/BVIOUSLY THE SITUATION MAY CHANGE IN SHIPBORNE (& SURFACE WAVE RADAR BECAUSE THE PLATFORM IS MOVING WITH
RESPECT TO THE SEA SURFACE AND HENCE A CONCEPTUALLY SIMILAR SITUATION ARISES FOR THE CLUTTER AS ENCOUNTERED IN
AIRBORNE RADAR
{x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
9
4HERE IS A NEED FOR A QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENT OF THE EFFICACY OF ONE OR MORE %##-
ELECTRONIC TECHNIQUES WHEN A RADAR EQUIPPED WITH THESE DEVICES IS SUBJECT TO AN %#-
THREAT /NE PERFORMANCE MEASURE GENERALLY USED FOR AN UNJAMMED SEARCH RADAR IS THE
DETECTION RANGE OF A CERTAIN TARGET AGAINST A SYSTEM NOISE BACKGROUND THIS SITUATION IS
REFERRED TO AS DETECTION IN CLEAR ENVIRONMENT 7HEN THE RADAR IS JAMMED IT IS OF INTER
EST TO CALCULATE THE DEGRADATION OF THE DETECTION RANGE WITH RESPECT TO SELF
SCREENING
STANDOFF AND ESCORT JAMMERS 4HESE CALCULATIONS APPLY TO BOTH SEARCH AND TRACKING
RADARS &OR TRACKING RADARS IT IS ALSO WORTHWHILE TO CONSIDER THE DEGRADATION OF MEA
SUREMENT ACCURACY AND RESOLUTION 4HE BENEFITS OF USING %##- TECHNIQUES SUCH AS
FREQUENCY AGILITY COHERENT DOPPLER PROCESSING VERY LOW SIDELOBE ANTENNAS AND 3,#
CAN BE EASILY ASSESSED AT A FIRST APPROXIMATION BY PROPERLY MODIFYING THE PARAMETERS
INVOLVED IN THE RADAR EQUATION )F FOR INSTANCE AN 3,# IS ADOPTED AGAINST AN 3/* ITS
NET EFFECT IS TO REDUCE JAMMING POWER BY THE AMOUNT OF JAMMER CANCELLATION RATIO THAT
THE 3,# CAN OFFER
4HE PREDICTION OF RADAR RANGE IS DIFFICULT BECAUSE OF THE MANY FACTORS THAT ARE HARD
TO REPRESENT WITH MODELS OF THE REQUIRED ACCURACY 4HE FACTORS INVOLVE THE TARGET TO
BE DETECTED TARGET RETURNS OF AN UNKNOWN STATISTICAL NATURE THE NATURAL ENVIRON
MENT IN WHICH THE TARGET IS EMBEDDED EG CLUTTER RETURNS UNINTENTIONAL INTERFERENCE
UNCONTROLLABLE ENVIRONMENTAL REFRACTION AND ABSORPTION THE RANDOM NATURE OF THE
INTERFERENCE AND THE RADAR ITSELF SYSTEM NOISE TEMPERATURE SIGNAL DISTORTIONS ETC
.EVERTHELESS RADAR RANGE PREDICTION MADE UNDER AVERAGE CONDITIONS PROVIDES A PRE
LIMINARY AND USEFUL INDICATION OF PERFORMANCE UNDER %#- THREAT AND %##- DESIGN
EFFECTIVENESS THAT PRODUCES BASELINE VALUES PRIOR TO SIMULATION AND OPERATIONAL TESTS
! CLASSICAL BOOK PRESENTS ACCURATE DETECTION RANGE EQUATIONS IN A VARIETY OF PRACTICAL
SITUATIONS )N THE SECOND PART OF THIS SECTION A REVIEW OF SOFTWARE TOOLS AVAILABLE FOR
THE PREDICTION OF RANGE EQUATION IN JAMMING AND CHAFF CONDITIONS IS GIVEN
/F COURSE THE RADAR EQUATION IS A SIMPLIFICATION IN ASSESSING %#-
%##- INTERAC
TIONS A MEASURE OF %##- EFFECTIVENESS SHOULD INVOLVE THE WHOLE WEAPON SYSTEM IN
WHICH THE RADAR OPERATES 4HE MEASURE OF EFFECTIVENESS SHOULD BE EXPRESSED IN TERMS
OF THE NUMBER OF ATTACKERS DESTROYED OR THE PROBABILITY OF RADAR SURVIVAL 2EFERENCES
IN THE LITERATURE ATTEMPT TO ASSESS THE %##- EFFICACYn
3IMULATION IS ANOTHER MEANS TO ASSESS THE %##- BENEFITS IN RADAR AND WEAPON
SYSTEMS !N ADVANTAGE OF THIS APPROACH RESIDES IN THE CAPABILITY TO ARTIFICIALLY
GENERATE DIFFERENT TYPES OF THREATS AND TO LOOK AT THE RADAR AND WEAPON SYSTEM
REACTIONS (OWEVER THE SIMULATION OF SUCH A COMPLEX SYSTEM IS A DIFFICULT TIME
CONSUMING TASK THAT SOMETIMES INVOLVES THE USE OF AD
HOC PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
SUITABLE FOR SIMULATION
3IMULATION OF A COMPLEX SYSTEM ON A DIGITAL COMPUTER IS A TECHNIQUE USED FOR THE
ANALYSIS DESIGN AND TESTING OF A SYSTEM WHOSE BEHAVIOR CANNOT BE EASILY EVALUATED
BY MEANS OF ANALYSIS OR COMPUTATION 4HE PROCEDURE ESSENTIALLY CONSISTS OF REPRODUC
ING THE ALGORITHMS OF A SUITABLE MODEL OF THE EXAMINED SYSTEM BY MEANS OF COMPUTER
PROGRAMS 0ROPER INPUTS TO THE MODEL CORRESPONDING TO THE MOST RELEVANT OPERATIONAL
CONDITIONS FOR THE REAL SYSTEM CAN BE GENERATED BY THE SAME COMPUTER PROGRAMS 4HE
OUTPUTS OBTAINED ARE COMPARED WITH SOME REFERENCE VALUES EXPECTED OR THEORETICAL
TO ASSESS SYSTEM PERFORMANCE 7HEN RANDOM INPUTS ARE PROVIDED A NUMBER OF STATISTI
CALLY INDEPENDENT TRIALS ARE PERFORMED TO ACHIEVE A SIGNIFICANT SAMPLE OF THE OUTPUT
VALUES FROM WHICH RELIABLE STATISTICS CAN BE ESTIMATED
%,%#42/.)# #/5.4%2 #/5.4%2-%!352%3
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4HE ACCURACY AND DETAIL OF THE MODEL MAY VARY FROM A COARSE FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION
OF THE SYSTEM TO A VERY ACCURATE ONE ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSE OF THE SIMULATION AND
THE REQUIRED ACCURACY OF THE RESULTS (OWEVER IT IS DESIRABLE TO LIMIT THE COMPLEXITY
OF THE SIMULATION TOOLS IN ORDER TO HAVE MANAGEABLE PROGRAMS GIVING RESULTS THAT ARE
EASILY INTERPRETED 4HE ACCURACY IN REPRESENTING EACH SYSTEM FUNCTION DEPENDS UPON
ITS RELEVANCE WITH RESPECT TO SYSTEM PERFORMANCE 7HEN A VERY COMPLEX SYSTEM IS TO
BE SIMULATED IT IS GENERALLY PREFERRED TO RESORT TO SEVERAL PROGRAMS OF LIMITED COM
PLEXITY IN LIEU OF A SINGLE BULKY SIMULATION 4HIS APPROACH CORRESPONDS TO PARTITIONING
THE WHOLE SYSTEM INTO SUBSYSTEMS SEPARATELY MODELED IN DETAIL &ROM EACH PARTIAL
SIMULATION A LIMITED NUMBER OF RELEVANT FEATURES ARE EXTRACTED AND EMPLOYED TO BUILD
A SIMPLIFIED MODEL OF THE OVERALL SYSTEM
3IMULATION IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT TO ACCOUNT FOR THE ADAPTIVE NATURE EG #&!2
ADAPTIVE BEAMFORMING AUTOMATIC RADAR MANAGEMENT ADAPTIVE TRACKING ADAPTIVE CLUT
TER CANCELLATION OF MODERN RADAR SYSTEMS )N THIS CASE TRADITIONAL STATIC MEASURES
SUCH AS DETECTION RANGE AGAINST A GIVEN TARGET WILL NO LONGER ADEQUATELY DEFINE THE
CAPABILITIES OF RADAR SYSTEMS -EASURES OF RADAR DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS SUCH AS THE
SUSCEPTIBILITY TO PROCESSOR OVERLOAD OR THE TIME TO ADAPT IN CHANGING CONDITIONS ARE
MORE IMPORTANT -ODELING AND SIMULATIONS TO EVALUATE THE RADAR RESPONSE TO STANDARD
IZED CHANGING SCENARIOS REPRESENT AN ATTRACTIVE TECHNICAL SOLUTION
3IMULATION IS ALWAYS OF VALUE HOWEVER THE EFFECTIVENESS OF %#- AND %##- IS
ULTIMATELY DONE WHEN POSSIBLE WITH TESTS OF REAL %7 CAPABILITIES AGAINST REAL RADAR
SYSTEMS UNDER REAL
WORLD CONDITIONS 4HIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR RADAR EQUIPPED
WITH ADAPTIVE TECHNIQUES SINCE THEY MIGHT NOT BE ALWAYS FULLY MODELED IN A SIMULATION
AS THEY ARE IN THE REAL
WORLD ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THEY MUST OPERATE
4HE 2ADAR %QUATION IN *AMMING AND #HAFF #ONDITIONS !N EXAMPLE OF RADAR
RANGE PERFORMANCE UNDER NOISE JAMMING IS REPORTED ON PP n OF &ARINA WHERE
THE IMPORTANT ROLE PLAYED BY A RADAR WITH LOW SIDELOBE ANTENNAS IS ALSO NOTED 4ODAY
THE USE OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS FOR PREDICTING RADAR PERFORMANCE UNDER JAMMING CLUT
TER AND CHAFF AND IN THE PRESENCE OF VARIOUS REFINED PROPAGATION MODELS IS WELL ESTAB
LISHED THERE ARE PROGRAMS DEVELOPED IN HOUSE BY INDIVIDUAL RADAR COMPANIES OR
AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET
4HE 2ADAR 7ORK 3TATION 273 IS AN EXAMPLE OF A DEVELOPED IN
HOUSE PROGRAM
273 ORIGINATES FROM THE MODELING AND SIMULATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT FOR PREDICTION
OF RADAR PERFORMANCE IN SEVERAL SCENARIOS /NE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF 273 IS TO PROVIDE
THE RADAR ANALYST OR SYSTEM DESIGNER WITH A FRIENDLY BUT COMPREHENSIVE TOOLKIT FOR
PREDICTION OF RADAR PERFORMANCE BASED ON WELL RECOGNIZED FLEXIBLE AND DOCUMENTED
MATHEMATICAL MODELS ! BROAD RANGE OF RADAR TYPES BI
DIMENSIONAL MULTI
BEAM THREE
DIMENSIONAL PHASED
ARRAY COMPOSITE CLUTTER %#- AND PROPAGATION SCENARIOS AND
A TARGETS KINEMATICS AND 2#3 FEATURES ARE COVERED )NPUT AND OUTPUT DATA CAN BE
SAVED LOADED AND EXPORTED TO OTHER SIMILAR APPLICATIONS OR FOR GENERAL USE IE -3
/FFICE TOOLS FOR DATA ANALYSIS ! SECOND PURPOSE IS TO PROVIDE A HANDY AND RELIABLE
TOOL FOR TECHNICIANS AND ENGINEERS PERFORMING SYSTEM SETUP AT THE SITE OR ACCEPTANCE
TESTS BY MEANS OF FIELD TRIALS BY PROVIDING NOT ONLY THE SOFTWARE TOOLS AND MODELS BUT
ALSO WHERE REQUIRED A DATABASE OF PREDICTION RESULTS AND ALLOWING SIMPLE PARAMETRIC
EXCURSIONS THEREOF WITHOUT THE NEED TO CONSULT A BULKY REFERENCE DOCUMENTATION )N
BRIEF THE MOST VALUABLE OUTCOMES THAT CAN BE OBTAINED WITH THE 273 ARE RADAR RANGE
CALCULATION RADAR ELEVATION COVERAGE DIAGRAMS IN CLEAR %#- AND MULTI
PROPAGATION
BOTH FOR COHERENT AND NONCOHERENT RADARS RANGE AND VELOCITY RESPONSES IN COMPLEX
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SCENARIOS MULTIPLE CLUTTER SOURCES USER DEFINED TRAJECTORY IN TERMS OF SIGNAL TO DIS
TURBANCE POWER RATIO AND DETECTION PROBABILITY AND RADAR RANGE AND HEIGHT ACCURACY
CALCULATION RADAR RESOLUTION EVALUATIONS EMPLOYING SUITABLE DATA EXTRACTING LOGICS
4HE 273 SUITE CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING MAIN MODULES #<# AND &ORTRAN TO CALCU
LATE SPECIAL FUNCTIONS LIKE 'AMMA AND "ESSEL + CODED LIBRARIES A STANDARD LIBRARY OF
7INDOWS !0)S !PPLICATION 0ROGRAMMING )NTERFACES TO DRAW THE COVERAGE DIAGRAMS
A TEMPLATE LIBRARY TO IMPLEMENT THE MATRIX ALGEBRA AN APPLICATION BASED ON -3 /FFICE
%XCEL TO CODE THE "LAKE #HARTo A SET OF 6ISUAL "ASIC TOOLS TO EVALUATE SOME ASPECTS
OF RADAR PERFORMANCE EG !$# JITTER ATMOSPHERIC LOSS TAPERING LOSS ETC AND AN
UNFORMATTED ARCHIVE OF RADAR DATA AS SIMPLE !3#)) FILES PERTINENT TO PERFORMANCE
ENVIRONMENT TRAJECTORIES TERRAIN HEIGHT AND WAVEFORM 5SER FRIENDLY INTERFACES RUN
ON LOW COST PLATFORMS 0# AND POPULAR ENVIRONMENTS 7IN 7IN.4 7IN
7INDOWS 80 6ISTA FOR USERS AND DEVELOPERS
)N THE 273 THE CHAFF VOLUME CLUTTER MODEL IS CHARACTERIZED IN TERMS OF VOLUME
EXTENT %- REFLECTIVITY AND DOPPLER SPECTRUM 4HE SIGNAL TO NOISE PLUS CHAFF RATIO
IS DETERMINED ON THE BASIS OF THE CHAFF LOCATION IN THE SPACE THE ANTENNA RECEIVING
PATTERN AND THE RADIATED RADAR WAVEFORM 4HE RADAR EQUATION CAN BE APPLIED AND THE
SIGNAL PROCESSING SCHEME CAN BE EMULATED TO DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF CHAFF MITIGA
TION ! BARRAGE NOISE JAMMER IS MODELED IN TERMS OF EFFECTIVE RADIATED POWER %20
AND FREQUENCY BAND OF OPERATION 4HE SIGNAL TO NOISE PLUS JAMMER RATIO IS DETERMINED
ON THE BASIS OF THE *$O! AND THE ANTENNA RECEIVING PATTERNS THE RADAR EQUATION IS THEN
APPLIED AND SUITABLE %##- SIGNAL PROCESSING SCHEMES CAN BE EMULATED TO DETERMINE
TO WHICH EXTENT THE JAMMER IS ATTENUATED
#OMPUTER !IDED 2ADAR 0ERFORMANCE %VALUATION 4OOL #!20%4 IS AN EXAMPLE
OF AVAILABLE SOFTWARE ON THE MARKET )N THE #!20%4 MANUAL THE EQUATIONS
FOR CALCULATING THE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CHAFF VOLUME CLUTTER IN THE SIGNAL TO
INTERFERENCE RATIO ARE DESCRIBED ON PP AND AND THE EQUATIONS FOR CALCULATING
THE CONTRIBUTION FROM NOISE JAMMING BARRAGE OR RESPONSIVE ARE DESCRIBED ON P
#!20%4 IS PROGRAMMED IN # AND HAS A 7INDOWS 80 COMPATIBLE USER FRIENDLY
GRAPHICAL INTERFACE
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#HAPTER
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.AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY
x /," 1
/"
4HE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH IN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY SINCE THE S ALONG WITH THE COR
RESPONDING DECREASE IN ITS COST HAS HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT ON THE WAY RADAR SYSTEMS
ARE DESIGNED -ORE AND MORE FUNCTIONS THAT HISTORICALLY WERE IMPLEMENTED IN ANALOG
HARDWARE ARE NOW BEING PERFORMED DIGITALLY RESULTING IN INCREASED PERFORMANCE AND
FLEXIBILITY AND REDUCED SIZE AND COST !DVANCES IN ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL CONVERTER !$#
AND DIGITAL
TO
ANALOG CONVERTER $!# TECHNOLOGIES ARE PUSHING THE BORDER BETWEEN
ANALOG AND DIGITAL PROCESSING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO THE ANTENNA
&OR EXAMPLE &IGURE SHOWS A SIMPLIFIED BLOCK DIAGRAM OF THE RECEIVER FRONT
END OF A TYPICAL RADAR SYSTEM THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN DESIGNED AROUND .OTE THAT
THIS SYSTEM INCORPORATED ANALOG PULSE COMPRESSION 0# )T ALSO INCLUDED SEVERAL
STAGES OF ANALOG DOWNCONVERSION IN ORDER TO GENERATE BASEBAND IN
PHASE ) AND
QUADRATURE 1 SIGNALS WITH A SMALL ENOUGH BANDWIDTH THAT THE !$#S OF THE DAY
COULD SAMPLE THEM 4HE DIGITIZED SIGNALS WERE THEN FED INTO DIGITAL DOPPLER-4) AND
DETECTION PROCESSORS
"Y CONTRAST &IGURE DEPICTS A TYPICAL DIGITAL RECEIVER FOR A RADAR FRONT END
4HE 2& INPUT USUALLY PASSES THROUGH ONE OR TWO STAGES OF ANALOG DOWNCONVERSION TO
GENERATE AN )NTERMEDIATE &REQUENCY )& SIGNAL THAT IS SAMPLED DIRECTLY BY THE !$#
! DIGITAL DOWNCONVERTER $$# CONVERTS THE DIGITIZED SIGNAL SAMPLES TO COMPLEX FORM
AT A LOWER RATE FOR PASSING THROUGH A DIGITAL PULSE COMPRESSOR TO BACKEND PROCESSING
.OTE THAT THE OUTPUT OF THE !$# HAS A SLASH THROUGH THE DIGITAL SIGNAL LINE WITH A LETTER
ABOVE 4HE LETTER DEPICTS THE NUMBER OF BITS IN THE DIGITIZED INPUT SIGNAL AND REPRESENTS
THE MAXIMUM POSSIBLE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE !$# !S WILL BE DESCRIBED LATER THE USE
OF DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING $30 CAN OFTEN IMPROVE THE DYNAMIC RANGE STABILITY
AND OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF THE SYSTEM WHILE REDUCING SIZE AND COST COMPARED TO THE
ANALOG APPROACH
4HIS CHAPTER WILL PROVIDE A HIGH
LEVEL OUTLINE OF SOME OF THE MAJOR DIGITAL PRO
CESSING TECHNIQUES FOR RADAR SYSTEMS THAT HAVE BECOME PRACTICAL SINCE THE 3ECOND
%DITION OF THIS (ANDBOOK WAS PUBLISHED AS WELL AS SOME DESIGN TRADEOFFS THAT NEED
TO BE CONSIDERED
x
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 4YPICAL RADAR RECEIVER FRONT END DESIGN FROM
&)'52% 4YPICAL DIGITAL RECEIVER FRONT END
x ,
6
*,"
--
-AJOR ADVANCES IN ANALOG
TO
DIGITAL CONVERTER AND DIGITAL COMPONENT TECHNOLOGY HAVE
TRANSFORMED THE RECEIVER FRONT ENDS OF RADAR SYSTEMS PROVIDING HIGHER PERFORMANCE AT
LOWER COST 4HIS SECTION WILL DESCRIBE HOW THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES ARE BEING APPLIED TO
RADAR SYSTEMS AND THE BENEFITS THEY BRING TO SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
3IGNAL 3AMPLING "ASICS $IGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSORS ARE SAMPLED SIGNAL SYSTEMS
3AMPLING IS THE PROCESS BY WHICH A CONTINUOUS ANALOG SIGNAL IS MEASURED AT REGULAR
INTERVALS OF TIME THE SAMPLING INTERVAL PRODUCING A SEQUENCE OF DISCRETE NUMBERS
SAMPLES THAT REPRESENTS THE VALUES OF THE SIGNAL AT THE SAMPLING INSTANTS 4HE SAM
PLING FREQUENCY IS THE INVERSE OF THE SAMPLING INTERVAL AND IS TYPICALLY DESIGNATED FS
3AMPLED SYSTEMS ARE SUBJECT TO THE .YQUIST LIMIT WHICH LOWER BOUNDS THE SAMPLING
RATE AT WHICH RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UNSAMPLED SIGNAL FROM ITS SAMPLES IS POSSIBLE WITH
OUT CORRUPTION BY ALIASING THE OVERLAPPING OF SPECTRAL COMPONENTS 4HE BOUND TERMED
THE .YQUIST FREQUENCY OR .YQUIST RATE IS EQUAL TO THE TWO
SIDED SIGNAL BANDWIDTH "
THE BANDWIDTH CONSIDERING COMPONENTS AT BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FREQUENCIES
3AMPLING BELOW THE .YQUIST RATE ALWAYS RESULTS IN ALIASING BUT SAMPLING ABOVE IT DOES
NOT GUARANTEE ALIAS
FREE OPERATION 7E WILL SEE THAT FOR BANDPASS SIGNALS A SAMPLING
RATE HIGHER THAN .YQUIST MAY BE REQUIRED TO AVOID ALIASING IN SOME SITUATIONS
4HE .YQUIST RATE IS OFTEN SAID TO BE TWICE THE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH BUT THAT REFERS TO A
ONE
SIDED BANDWIDTH POSITIVE FREQUENCIES ONLY OF A REAL SIGNAL /UR DEFINITION REFERS
TO THE TWO
SIDED BANDWIDTH BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FREQUENCIES OF A SIGNAL THAT IN
GENERAL IS COMPLEX WITH A REAL SIGNAL AS A SPECIAL CASE
)S THE TWO
SIDED BANDWIDTH ALWAYS TWICE THE ONE
SIDED BANDWIDTH &OR COMPLEX
SIGNALS IN GENERAL NO BUT FOR REAL SIGNALS IN PARTICULAR YES (ERES WHY ANY SIGNAL
REAL OR COMPLEX WHEN EXPRESSED AS A &OURIER INTEGRAL INVERSE &OURIER TRANSFORM IS
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
SEEN TO BE A COMBINATION OF SPECTRAL COMPONENTS OF THE FORM ! E JO FT 3AMPLED SIGNALS
HAVE T N4 WITH 4 A SAMPLING INTERVAL AND N AN INTEGER TIME BUT SAMPLED OR NOT THE
BASIC COMPONENT FORM IS THE SAME !ND EITHER WAY COMPLEX AMPLITUDE ! IS A FUNCTION
OF FREQUENCY F BUT LETS WRITE ! INSTEAD OF ! F FOR SIMPLICITY
)N THESE TERMS THEN WHATS SPECIAL ABOUT REAL SIGNALS IS THAT AN EASILY DERIVED
&OURIER
TRANSFORM PROPERTY REQUIRES THEIR &OURIER COMPONENTS TO OCCUR IN CONJUGATE
PAIRS SO THAT IF THERE IS A COMPONENT ! E JO FT AT FREQUENCY F WITH COMPLEX AMPLITUDE
! THERE IS ALSO A COMPONENT !
E
JO FT AT FREQUENCY
F WITH THE COMPLEX CONJUGATE !
OF THAT COMPLEX AMPLITUDE )F A BAND OF POSITIVE FREQUENCIES FROM F TO F IS OCCUPIED
BY SPECTRAL COMPONENTS THE CORRESPONDING BAND OF NEGATIVE FREQUENCIES FROM
F TO
F WILL BE OCCUPIED BY SPECTRAL COMPONENTS ALSO SO THE TWO
SIDED BANDWIDTH MUST BE
TWICE THE ONE
SIDED BANDWIDTH
2EAL SIGNALS HAVE SPECTRAL COMPONENTS IN CONJUGATE PAIRS BECAUSE BY USING COM
PLEX AMPLITUDE EXPRESSED IN POLAR FORM AS ! R EJP
! E JO FT !
E
JO FT 2E[!E JO FT] 2E[R E JP E JO FT]
R 2E[E JO FT P ] R COSO FT P
4HE IMAGINARY PARTS OF THE CONJUGATE SPECTRAL COMPONENTS HAVE CANCELED TO REVEAL
THAT THOSE COMPONENTS TOGETHER INDEED REPRESENT A REAL SIGNAL A SINUSOID WITH AMPLI
TUDE AND PHASE SPECIFIED BY THE MAGNITUDE AND ANGLE OF THE COMPLEX AMPLITUDE 4HE
LATTER RELATIONSHIP IS SO MUCH A PART OF THE ENGINEERING CULTURE THAT THE TERMS AMPLITUDE
AND PHASE ARE COMMONLY IF IMPRECISELY USED TO REFER TO THE MAGNITUDE AND ANGLE OF A
COMPLEX SIGNAL AT AN INSTANT IN TIME
4HE FOLLOWING FIGURES ILLUSTRATE THE ORIGIN OF THE .YQUIST RATE )MAGINE THAT A REAL
SIGNAL WITH A LOWPASS SIGNAL SPECTRUM OF TWO
SIDED BANDWIDTH " IS PLOTTED ON A LONG
PIECE OF PAPER AS SHOWN IN &IGURE A )N THE FIGURE THE POSITIVE
FREQUENCY SPECTRAL
COMPONENTS OF THE SIGNAL ARE DARKLY SHADED AND THE NEGATIVE
FREQUENCY COMPONENTS
ARE LIGHTLY SHADED 4O SEE THE EFFECT OF SAMPLING THIS SIGNAL AT .YQUIST RATE " THE LONG
SHEET IS CUT INTO SMALLER SHEETS WITH THE FIRST CUT AT ZERO FREQUENCY AND SUBSEQUENT CUTS
AT SAMPLE
RATE " IN THIS CASE INTERVALS IN POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FREQUENCY 4HE SHEETS
ARE STACKED ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER AS SHOWN ON THE LEFT SIDE OF &IGURE B AND THE
RESULTING PORTION OF THE SAMPLED SIGNAL SPECTRUM FROM TO THE SAMPLING RATE OF " IS
GENERATED BY ADDING THE SPECTRA OF THE STACKED PAGES TOGETHER AS SHOWN ON THE RIGHT
&)'52% A "ANDLIMITED REAL SIGNAL SPECTRUM BEFORE SAMPLING B PORTION OF SAMPLED SPECTRUM
FROM TO " AND C FULL SAMPLED SIGNAL SPECTRUM
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% A "ANDLIMITED LOWPASS SIGNAL SPECTRUM BEFORE SAMPLING B ALIASED LOWPASS SIGNAL
SPECTRUM AFTER SAMPLING AT RATE FS " AND C ALIASED SAMPLED SIGNAL SPECTRUM
.OTE THAT THE LIGHTLY SHADED NEGATIVE
FREQUENCY PORTION OF THE SPECTRUM NOW APPEARS
ON THE RIGHT OF THE SAMPLED SPECTRUM AND DOESNT OVERLAP THE DARKER POSITIVE
FREQUENCY
PORTION !S LONG AS THE TWO PORTIONS OF THE SAMPLED SIGNAL DONT OVERLAP THE SIGNAL IS
NOT ALIASED 4HE FULL SAMPLED
SIGNAL SPECTRUM IS OBTAINED BY LAYING COPIES OF THIS PAGE
END
TO
END AS SHOWN IN &IGURE C PRODUCING COPIES OF THE TO " PORTION OF THE
SAMPLED SIGNAL SPECTRUM AT " INTERVALS
&IGURE SHOWS THE RESULT OF SAMPLING BELOW THE .YQUIST RATE &IGURE A
SHOWS THE SAME BANDLIMITED SIGNAL AS THE PREVIOUS EXAMPLE BUT THIS TIME IT IS SAMPLED
AT SOME RATE THAT IS LESS THAN .YQUIST RATE " 4HE RESULTING SAMPLED SPECTRUM SHOWN IN
&IGURE B AND C CONTAINS OVERLAPPED OR ALIASED SPECTRAL COMPONENTS THAT ADD AND
REPRESENT CORRUPTION OF THE SIGNAL
&IGURE REPEATS THIS .YQUIST ANALYSIS FOR A BANDPASS SIGNALA SIGNAL NOT
CONTAINING SPECTRAL COMPONENTS AT OR NEAR (Z &IGURE A SHOWS A REAL BANDPASS
SIGNAL WITH TWO
SIDED BANDWIDTH " AND COMPOSED OF POSITIVE
FREQUENCY AND NEGATIVE
FREQUENCY SPECTRAL COMPONENTS EACH OF BANDWIDTH " THAT ARE COMPLEX
CONJUGATED
MIRROR IMAGES 4HE .YQUIST RATE IS THE SIGNALS TWO
SIDED BANDWIDTH IRRESPECTIVE OF
THE PARTICULAR PORTION OF THE SPECTRUM IN WHICH THE SIGNAL RESIDES 4HEREFORE FOR THIS
SIGNAL THE .YQUIST FREQUENCY IS " EVEN THOUGH THE SIGNAL CONTAINS COMPONENTS AT ACTUAL
FREQUENCIES GREATER THAN " &IGURE B SHOWS THE RESULT OF SAMPLING THIS SIGNAL AT
&)'52% A "ANDLIMITED REAL PASSBAND SIGNAL SPECTRUM BEFORE SAMPLING AND B SIGNAL SPECTRUM
AFTER SAMPLING
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
xx
&)'52% A .ON
REAL SIGNAL SPECTRUM BEFORE SAMPLING BY .YQUIST FREQUENCY " AND B SIGNAL
SPECTRUM AFTER SAMPLING
THE .YQUIST BOUND 4HE SAMPLED SPECTRA OF THE TWO PORTIONS OF THE SIGNAL DO NOT OVER
LAP THE SAMPLED SIGNAL IS NOT ALIASED !S WILL BE DESCRIBED IN MORE DETAIL LATER IN THE
CHAPTER THIS TECHNIQUE BANDPASS SAMPLING IS A POWERFUL TOOL THAT ALLOWS A RELATIVELY
HIGH
FREQUENCY SIGNAL TO BE SAMPLED BY A RELATIVELY LOW
PERFORMANCE DIGITIZER WHICH
CAN RESULT IN CONSIDERABLE COST SAVINGS
&IGURE A SHOWS THE SPECTRUM OF A MORE GENERAL COMPLEX SIGNAL OF BANDWIDTH
" BEFORE SAMPLING .OTE THAT THIS SIGNAL DOES NOT POSSESS COMPLEX
CONJUGATE SPECTRAL
SYMMETRY 4HE SIGNAL SPECTRUM AFTER SAMPLING BY ITS .YQUIST FREQUENCY " IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE B 4HERE IS NO ALIASING
4HE .YQUIST RATE IS A MINIMUM SAMPLING FREQUENCY FOR A SIGNAL A BOUND AND
MEETING THE BOUND IS NECESSARY BUT NOT SUFFICIENT TO ENSURE THAT NO ALIASING OCCURS
#ONSIDER THE CASE PRESENTED IN &IGURE A WHICH IS THE SAME BANDLIMITED BANDPASS
SIGNAL SHOWN IN &IGURE BUT SHIFTED IN FREQUENCY SO THAT IT DOESNT BEGIN EXACTLY
AT " 4HE SAMPLED SIGNAL SPECTRUM IN &IGURE B SHOWS THAT ALTHOUGH THE SAMPLING
RATE SATISFIES THE .YQUIST BOUND THE SAMPLED SIGNAL IS STILL ALIASED 4O SOLVE THIS PROB
LEM THE SIGNAL COULD BE MOVED TO A DIFFERENT CENTER FREQUENCY BEFORE SAMPLING OR
THE SAMPLING RATE COULD BE INCREASED 4HE SYSTEM DESIGNER MUST ALWAYS DEVELOP THE
FREQUENCY PLAN OF A SAMPLING SYSTEM CAREFULLY TO DETERMINE AN APPROPRIATE SAMPLING
FREQUENCY AND TO ENSURE THAT ALIASING DOES NOT OCCUR ! FULL TREATMENT OF THIS SUBJECT IS
PRESENTED BY ,YONS
)N AN ACTUAL SYSTEM BEFORE SAMPLING THE SIGNAL IS TYPICALLY PASSED THROUGH AN ANTI
ALIASING FILTER WHICH IS AN ANALOG LOWPASS OR BANDPASS FILTER THAT PLACES AN UPPER
LIMIT ON THE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH 4HE FILTER NEEDS TO PROVIDE ENOUGH STOPBAND REJECTION
THAT ANY ALIASED COMPONENTS ARE INSIGNIFICANT /F COURSE PRACTICAL FILTERS DO NOT HAVE
&)'52% A "ANDLIMITED REAL PASSBAND SIGNAL SPECTRUM BEFORE SAMPLING AND B SIGNAL SPECTRUM
AFTER SAMPLING
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
PASSBANDS EXTENDING RIGHT UP TO THEIR STOPBAND EDGES SO THE WIDTHS OF INTERVENING
TRANSITION BANDS MUST BE COUNTED AS PART OF TWO
SIDED SIGNAL BANDWIDTH " FOR PURPOSES
OF DETERMINING THE .YQUIST RATE AS THE FILTER OUTPUT MAY CONTAIN COMPONENTS IN THESE
TRANSITIONS BANDS THAT COULD OTHERWISE RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT ALIASING
$IGITAL $OWNCONVERSION $$# 4HE APPLICATION OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY TO )1
DEMODULATION WHICH IS JUST DOWNCONVERSION OF AN )& SIGNAL TO A COMPLEX BASEBAND
HAS GREATLY IMPROVED THE PERFORMANCE OF COHERENT SYSTEMS (ERE WE EXPLORE TWO
FORMS OF SUCH DIGITAL DOWNCONVERSION A GENERAL FORM THAT IS STRUCTURALLY PARALLEL TO
TRADITIONAL ANALOG DOWNCONVERSION AND A RESTRICTED FORM DIRECT DIGITAL DOWNCONVER
SION WHICH IS MORE ECONOMICAL WHEN IT IS APPLICABLE
!NALOG $OWNCONVERSION AND 3AMPLING 4HE GENERAL APPROACH TO DIGITAL DOWN
CONVERSION DERIVES FROM ANALOG DOWNCONVERSION AND SAMPLING AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE
FREQUENCY DOMAIN IN &IGURE 4HE SPECTRA ON THE FIRST AND LINES REPRESENT SIGNALS
AT VARIOUS POINTS IN THE SYSTEM AND THE SPECTRA ON THE
AND r LINES RESPECTIVELY REP
RESENT SPECTRAL
CONVOLUTION AND POINT
BY
POINT SPECTRAL MULTIPLICATION OPERATIONS THAT
RELATE THOSE SIGNALS
4HE FIRST LINE IN THE FIGURE DEPICTS SCHEMATICALLY A REAL )& SIGNAL WITH ONE
AND
TWO
SIDED BANDWIDTHS OF -(Z AND -(Z RESPECTIVELY AND WITH POSITIVE
AND
NEGATIVE
FREQUENCY COMPONENTS RESPECTIVELY CENTERED AT -(Z AND -(Z 4HE
SECOND LINE OF &IGURE SHIFTS THE )& SIGNAL BY ,/ FREQUENCY -(Z USING SPEC
TRAL CONVOLUTION 7ELL SEE SHORTLY HOW THIS IS DONE IN HARDWARE 4HE RESULT ON THE
THIRD LINE HAS SPECTRAL COMPONENTS CENTERED AT -(Z AND -(Z -ULTIPLICATION
BY THE LOWPASS
FILTER FREQUENCY RESPONSE IN LINE THEN REMOVES THE LATTER COMPONENT
LEAVING ONLY THE COMPLEX BASEBAND SIGNAL OF LINE WHICH HAS A TWO
SIDED BANDWIDTH
AND A .YQUIST FREQUENCY OF -(Z 4HE SPECTRAL CONVOLUTION ON LINE CORRESPONDS
+
*
+
*
*
$
#"& )$ %
+
* ! (
%
#"& )$ %
$
'!$$ %#
#$! $
! ($
$
!
*
! ! (
$ $
&)'52% !NALOG DOWNCONVERSION IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
TO TIME
DOMAIN MULTIPLICATION OF A UNIFORM IMPULSE TRAIN AT THE -(Z SAMPLING
FREQUENCY WITH THE SIGNAL REPRESENTED BY LINE )N THE TIME DOMAIN THE RESULT IS A
-(Z TRAIN OF SAMPLING IMPULSES WITH AREAS THAT ARE GIVE OR TAKE A SCALE FACTOR THAT
WE ARE IGNORING SAMPLES OF THE LINE SIGNAL AT THE SAMPLING INSTANTS /F COURSE WE
WILL NOT CREATE THE LINE IMPULSES IN HARDWARE BUT WILL INSTEAD REALIZE THE IMPULSE AREAS
DIGITALLY AS NUMBERS IN REGISTERS
! BLOCK DIAGRAM SHOWING HOW THIS PROCESS MIGHT BE IMPLEMENTED IN HARDWARE IS
SHOWN IN &IGURE 4HE )& SIGNAL IS SENT TO TWO MIXERS )N ONE MIXER THE )& SIGNAL
IS BEAT WITH THE -(Z ,/ WITH COSINE PHASING AND IN THE OTHER MIXER THE )& IS
BEAT WITH THE SAME ,/ BUT WITH NEGATIVE SINE PHASING SO THAT THE MIXERS ARE OPERATED
IN QUADRATURE O APART 4HE MIXER OUTPUTS TAKEN TOGETHER AS A COMPLEX PAIR FORM A
COMPLEX SIGNAL WITH THE SPECTRUM SHOWN IN LINE OF THE PREVIOUS FIGURE 4HESE SIG
NALS ARE THEN PASSED THROUGH LOWPASS FILTERS ,0& TO REMOVE THE SPECTRAL COMPONENT
CENTERED AT -(Z THAT WOULD OTHERWISE HAVE RESULTED IN ALIASING IN THE SAMPLING
STEP TO FOLLOW
,ABELS ) IN
PHASE AND 1 QUADRATURE ARE TRADITIONALLY USED TO INDICATE THE REAL
AND IMAGINARY PARTS OF COMPLEX TIME
DOMAIN SIGNALS LIKE THOSE HERE THAT ARE REALIZED
AS PAIRS OF REAL SIGNALS 7HEN A VERTICAL CUT THROUGH A DIAGRAM SUCH AS IN &IGURE
PICKS UP ONE ) SIGNAL AND ONE 1 SIGNAL THE REPRESENTED COMPLEX SIGNAL CROSSING THAT
CUT IS ) J1 )N THE DIAGRAM CUTS JUST BEFORE AND AFTER THE ,0& BLOCKS PICK UP COMPLEX
SIGNALS WITH THE SPECTRA SHOWN ON LINES AND OF &IGURE RESPECTIVELY 4HE
LINE SIGNAL IS CREATED IN THE TIME DOMAIN AS
;LINE = ;LINE = E
JO F,/T
;LINE = COSO F,/T
nJ;LINE = SINO F,/T
;)
J1=
&)'52% 4YPICAL ANALOG DOWNCONVERSION TO BASEBAND
AND DIGITIZER
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
WHERE F,/ -(Z 3IMILARLY USING
FOR TIME
DOMAIN CONVOLUTION FILTERING WITH
AN IMPULSE RESPONSE
;LINE = ;LINE =
HT
;)
J1=
HT
)
HT
J1
HT
)
J1
7HEN THE FILTER OUTPUTS ARE VIEWED AS COMPLEX SIGNAL ;LINE = ) J1 !EJP THE
COMPLEX MAGNITUDE ! AND ANGLE P GIVE THE AMPLITUDE GIVE OR TAKE A SCALE FACTOR AND
PHASE OF THE )& SIGNAL BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL )& SIGNAL COULD BE RE CREATED FROM THE LINE
SIGNAL IN THE TIME DOMAIN AGAIN GIVE OR TAKE A SCALE FACTOR AS ;LINE = 2E[;LINE =
EJO F,/T] FROM WHICH IT FOLLOWS THAT ;LINE = 2E[! EJP E JO F,/T] ! 2E[EJO F,/T P ]
! COSO F,/T P
!S A FINAL STEP THE BASEBAND ) AND 1 SIGNALS AFTER THE FILTERS ARE DIGITIZED BY !$#S AT
A -(Z SAMPLING RATE PRODUCING ) AND 1 OUTPUT SAMPLES OR EQUIVALENTLY COMPLEX
OUTPUT SAMPLES ) J1
4HE SLASH THROUGH THE OUTPUT OF THE !$# WITH A hv ABOVE IT IN &IGURE INDI
CATES THAT OUR !$# PRODUCES BITS OF DIGITAL OUTPUT !$#S PROVIDE APPROXIMATELY
D" OF DYNAMIC RANGE PER BIT SO OUR BIT !$# PROVIDES ABOUT D" OF DYNAMIC
RANGE ASSUMING !$# NONLINEARITIES ARE NEGLIGIBLE
! 'ENERAL !PPROACH TO $IGITAL $OWNCONVERSION )N DIGITAL DOWNCONVERSION
THE ANALOG )& SIGNAL IS FIRST SAMPLED BY AN !$# AND ALL OF THE SUBSEQUENT PROCESSING
IS THEN DONE DIGITALLY &IGURE DEPICTS THE DIGITAL DOWNCONVERSION PROCESS FOR OUR
PREVIOUS EXAMPLE AGAIN IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN 4HE TOP LINE SCHEMATICALLY REPRE
SENTS THE REAL )& SIGNAL WITH PARAMETERS AS BEFORE 0ERFORMING THE SAMPLING ANALYSIS
DESCRIBED PREVIOUSLY WE DISCOVER THAT SETTING THE SAMPLE RATE TO THE TWO SIDED SIGNAL
BANDWIDTH OF -(Z WOULD PRODUCE ALIASING (OWEVER A -(Z SAMPLE RATE DOES
NOT CAUSE ALIASING AND IS USED ON THE SECOND LINE OF THE FIGURE 3AMPLING THE INPUT
SIGNAL AT -(Z REPLICATES THE SIGNAL SPECTRUM AT -(Z INTERVALS AS SHOWN ON
LINE &REQUENCY SHIFTING IS ACCOMPLISHED BY SPECTRALLY CONVOLVING THIS SIGNAL WITH
THE COMPLEX n -(Z ,/ TONE SHOWN IN LINE PRODUCING THE FREQUENCY SHIFTED SIG
NAL ON LINE 4HE LATTER SIGNAL IS SPECTRALLY MULTIPLIED BY THE FILTER RESPONSE SHOWN ON
LINE TO REMOVE THE COPIES OF THE NEGATIVE FREQUENCY SIGNAL COMPONENT PRODUCING
THE COMPLEX BASEBAND SIGNAL SHOWN ON LINE 4HIS SIGNAL WHICH NOW HAS A TWO SIDED
BANDWIDTH AND .YQUIST FREQUENCY OF -(Z IS SPECTRALLY CONVOLVED IN LINE WITH
IMPULSES AT THE SPECTRAL ORIGIN AND AT -(Z TO EFFECTIVELY DECIMATE THE SIGNAL BY A
FACTOR OF TWO 4HE FINAL BASEBAND SIGNAL ON LINE HAS A SAMPLE RATE OF -(Z
&IGURE DEPICTS THE HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS $$# ARCHITECTURE 4HE
)& SIGNAL CENTERED AT -(Z IS DIGITIZED DIRECTLY BY AN !$# !FTER THE !$# THE
ARCHITECTURE IS VERY SIMILAR TO ANALOG DOWNCONVERSION EXCEPT THAT THE PROCESSING IS
PERFORMED DIGITALLY )N OUR EXAMPLE WE ELECT TO SAMPLE THE )& SIGNAL AT A RATE OF
-(Z WITH A BIT !$# 4HIS ARCHITECTURE REALIZES THE ,/ WITH A NUMERICALLY
CONTROLLED OSCILLATOR .#/ THAT GENERATES DIGITAL WORDS TO REPRESENT THE COSINE AND
NEGATIVE SINE SIGNALS AT THE ,/ FREQUENCY HERE -(Z AND SAMPLED AT THE !$#
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
0
1
0
0
")! $"
#&"!$ -, %(#
0
#&" )! $"
1 0%#&" .*%$
( '+ $/) ! *
)! $"
""%-&)) !"* (
( )&%$)
%#&" .) $
)! $"
!#* /*-%
)#&" 0
%#&" . !#*
) $ )! $"
&)'52% $IGITAL DOWNCONVERSION IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN
SAMPLE RATE 4HE SINE AND COSINE SIGNALS FROM THE .#/ ARE THEN DIGITALLY MULTIPLIED
BY THE DIGITIZED )& SIGNAL )N THIS PARTICULAR EXAMPLE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ,/
FREQUENCY AND THE SAMPLING RATE WILL MAKE THE REQUIRED .#/ AND THE MULTIPLIERS BOTH
RATHER TRIVIAL BECAUSE EACH REQUIRED .#/ OUTPUT VALUE IS ZERO OR o AND THAT SPECIAL
CASE WILL BE ADDRESSED SHORTLY &OR NOW THIS ARCHITECTURE SUPPOSES THAT NO SUCH SPECIAL
SITUATION EXISTS AND THAT A GENERAL .#/MULTIPLIER STRUCTURE IS NEEDED 4HE DESIGN OF
&)'52% $IGITAL DOWNCONVERSION ARCHITECTURE
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
A GENERAL .#/ WILL BE IN 3ECTION &OLLOWING THE MULTIPLICATIONS DIGITAL LOWPASS
FILTERS PREVENT ALIASING WHEN THEIR OUTPUTS ARE DECIMATED BY A FACTOR OF TWO TO PRODUCE
COMPLEX OUTPUT SAMPLES AT A -(Z RATE )N THE FIGURE -#303 STANDS FOR MILLION
COMPLEX SAMPLES PER SECOND
4HE LOWPASS FILTER ALSO REDUCES OUT
OF
BAND NOISE AND THUS INCREASES SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO 3.2 )N ORDER TO PRESERVE THIS 3.2 GROWTH THE NUMBER OF BITS USED
TO REPRESENT THE FILTER OUTPUT MIGHT NEED TO INCREASE )F THE FILTER REDUCES THE BAND
WIDTH OF THE DATA BY A FACTOR 2 WITHOUT AFFECTING THE SIGNAL OF INTEREST THEN THE 3.2
INCREASE IN D" IS GIVEN BY LOG2 )N OUR EXAMPLE A REDUCTION IN BANDWIDTH
RESULTS IN APPROXIMATELY A D" INCREASE IN 3.2 7ITH EACH BIT REPRESENTING ABOUT
D" OF 3.2 THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF BITS REQUIRED TO REPRESENT THE FILTERED SIGNAL
COULD GROW FROM TO
)N AN ACTUAL APPLICATION THE SYSTEM DESIGNER NEEDS TO ANALYZE THE EFFECTS OF SAM
PLING AND DIGITAL PROCESSING AND DETERMINE HOW MANY BITS NEED TO BE CARRIED THROUGH
THE CALCULATIONS IN ORDER TO PRESERVE 3.2 AND PREVENT OVERFLOW #ONSIDERATIONS
INCLUDE FRONT
END SYSTEM NOISE WHICH IS TYPICALLY ALLOWED TO TOGGLE TWO OR MORE
BITS FOUR OR MORE QUANTIZATION LEVELS OF THE !$# OUTPUT !LSO AN ACTUAL .
BIT !$#
NEVER PROVIDES EXACTLY . D" OF 3.2 DUE TO !$#
INDUCED ERRORS &OR EXAMPLE A
TYPICAL
BIT !$# GENERALLY PROVIDES ABOUT BITS OR ABOUT D" OF 3.2 #ARRYING
BITS THROUGH THE SIGNAL PROCESSING PROVIDES ABOUT D" OF DYNAMIC RANGE )N THIS
CASE THE DESIGNER MAY ELECT TO ALLOW THE DATAPATH THROUGH THE LOWPASS FILTER TO REMAIN
AT BITS REALIZING THAT THE FILTERING PROCESS HAS SIMPLY INCREASED THE 3.2 OF THE
SIGNAL TO D" WHICH COULD STILL BE ACCOMMODATED BY THE
BIT DATAPATH
! $$# PROVIDES SEVERAL BENEFITS COMPARED TO ANALOG DOWNCONVERSION 4HE ANA
LOG APPROACH IS SUBJECT TO VARIOUS HARDWARE ERRORS INCLUDING MISMATCH OF THE MIX
ERS ,/ SIGNALS NOT EXACTLY O APART AND MISMATCHES IN THE GAINS $# OFFSETS OR
FREQUENCY RESPONSES OF THE ) AND 1 SIGNAL PATHS ! $$# AVOIDS THESE PROBLEMS
THOUGH IT IS VULNERABLE TO THE PHASE NOISE OF THE !$# SAMPLE CLOCK !$# NONLIN
EARITIES AND ARITHMETIC ROUND
OFF NOISE 2EALIZING MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE REQUIRES
CAREFUL ATTENTION TO DESIGN DETAILS
$IRECT $IGITAL $OWNCONVERSION )F THE DESIGNER HAS SOME FLEXIBILITY IN EITHER
THE )& CENTER FREQUENCY OR !$# SAMPLE RATE A SIMPLIFIED $$# ARCHITECTURE DIRECT
DIGITAL DOWNCONVERSION CAN BE CONSIDERED )F THE !$# SAMPLE RATE IS FOUR TIMES
THE CENTER OF THE )& BAND THEN THE SAMPLING PROCESS CAN ALSO SHIFT THE SPECTRUM
TO BASEBAND AND THE .#/ AND ASSOCIATED MULTIPLIERS OF THE GENERAL $$# ARE NOT
NEEDED )N GENERAL DIRECT CONVERSION TO BASEBAND IS A SIMPLE AND COST
EFFECTIVE
$$# METHOD THAT CAN BE USED WHEN THE SIGNAL BEING SAMPLED IS ALWAYS CENTERED AT
A SINGLE FREQUENCY 4HE STANDARD $$# ARCHITECTURE MIGHT NEED TO BE USED WHEN THE
CENTER FREQUENCY OF THE SIGNAL BEING SAMPLED DYNAMICALLY CHANGES WHICH FORCES THE
$$#S ,/ TO CHANGE ACCORDINGLY
,ETS LOOK AT THE DIRECT $$# IN THE TIME DOMAIN FIRST FOR INTUITION AND THEN WE CAN
CAREFULLY DERIVE THE ARCHITECTURE IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN 3UPPOSE THE $$# ARCHI
TECTURE IS AS SKETCHED IN &IGURE WITH AN )& CENTERED AT -(Z AND A -(Z
,/ AND SUPPOSE THE .#/ IS SET TO -(Z SO THAT IT PRODUCES THE SAMPLED SINES AND
COSINES SHOWN IN &IGURE A WHERE VERTICAL LINES AND DOTS INDICATE SAMPLE TIMES
AND VALUES RESPECTIVELY "ECAUSE THE SAMPLE RATE IS FOUR TIMES THE ,/ FREQUENCY THE
COS
SIN ,/ SAMPLE PAIRS CYCLE REPEATEDLY THROUGH n n AND
.EXT SUPPOSE THE )& SIGNAL IS A -(Z SINUSOID OF ARBITRARY PHASE AS IN LINE B
4HE $$#S MIXER OUTPUTS ) AND 1 THE PRODUCTS OF THE LINE B )& SIGNAL WITH THE TWO
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
&)'52% 6ARIOUS SIGNALS SAMPLED AT -(Z A -(Z COSINE AND nSINE ,/ SIGNALS
B -(Z )& TONE AND C RESULT OF MULTIPLYING A SAMPLES BY B SAMPLES
LINE A ,/ SIGNALS ARE THEN AS IN LINE C "ECAUSE OUR HYPOTHETICAL )& SIGNAL ON
LINE B WAS EXACTLY AT ONE QUARTER OF THE SAMPLE RATE BOTH ) AND 1 ARE CONSTANTS THE
SINE AND COSINE OF THE )& SIGNALS PHASE ANGLE
&IGURE SHOWS THE SAME -(Z )& TONE BUT SAMPLED AT -(Z AND -(Z
WHICH ARE ODD INTEGER SUBMULTIPLES AND OF THE ORIGINAL SAMPLE RATE OF THE )&
CENTER FREQUENCY -(Z .OTE THAT ODD SAMPLES STILL CYCLE BETWEEN ) AND ) AND THE
EVEN SAMPLES SWITCH BETWEEN 1 AND 1 /DD INTEGER SUBMULTIPLES OF THE )& CENTER
FREQUENCY CAN THEREFORE BE VIABLE ALTERNATIVE SAMPLE RATES ! .YQUIST BOUND APPLIES AND
REQUIRES THE TWO
SIDED )& BANDWIDTH TO BE LESS THAN THE SAMPLING RATE
.OW LETS DERIVE THE DIRECT
$$# ARCHITECTURE CAREFULLY IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN
3UPPOSE A REAL )& SIGNAL IS ONCE AGAIN CENTERED AT -(Z AND SAMPLED AT -(Z
AS IN LINE A OF &IGURE 4HE FIRST THREE LINES OF &IGURE ILLUSTRATE THIS IN
THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN WITH LINE SHOWING THE SAMPLED )& SIGNAL 4HE BANDPASS
FILTER RESPONSE ON LINE REMOVES THE UNWANTED SPECTRAL COMPONENTS TO PRODUCE THE
COMPLEX PASSBAND SIGNAL OF LINE 4HIS SIGNAL IS THEN DECIMATED BY AND SHIFTED
BY n -(Z TO PRODUCE AT A -(Z SAMPLING RATE THE DESIRED COMPLEX BASEBAND
SIGNAL SHOWN ON LINE
&IGURE SHOWS THE CORRESPONDING BLOCK DIAGRAM 4HE MAGNITUDE OF THE FRE
QUENCY RESPONSE ON LINE OF &IGURE IS NEITHER AN EVEN NOR AN ODD FUNCTION
SO THE CORRESPONDING IMPULSE RESPONSE IS NEITHER PURELY REAL NOR PURELY IMAGINARY
&)'52% -(Z TONE SAMPLED AT A -(Z r )& AND B -(Z r )&
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
-
.
!' #!
"%! # *) $&"
-
"%! ' #!
# %'' !( &
$"%! +%''#
' #!
"( ,(*$
$"%! + "(
%''# ' #!
. -$"%! +($#
$"%! + "(
' # ' #!
&)'52% $IRECT DIGITAL DOWNCONVERSION IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN
7RITING THAT IMPULSE RESPONSE AS HN H)N JH1N USING REAL FUNCTIONS H)N AND
H1N THE LINE OPERATION BECOMES
;LINE = ;LINE =
HN
;LINE =
;H)N
JH1N =
;LINE =
H)N
J;LINE =
JH1N
)
J1
WHERE THE FACT THAT LINE IS REAL IN THE TIME DOMAIN WAS USED IN THE LAST STEP )N
&IGURE THE SAMPLED )& SIGNAL THEREFORE PASSES THROUGH DIFFERENT &)2 FILTERS
&)'52% 4IME DOMAIN IMPLEMENTATION OF A DIRECT DIGITAL DOWNCONVERTER
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
x
&)'52% A (ALFBAND BANDPASS FILTER COEFFICIENTS FOR A DIRECT DIGITAL DOWNCONVERTER B REAL ODD
AND C IMAGINARY EVEN PARTS OF THE COMPLEX IMPULSE RESPONSE
&)2 FILTERS ARE DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION WHERE THE TOP AND BOTTOM FILTERS APPLY THE
REAL AND IMAGINARY PARTS OF THE COEFFICIENTS RESPECTIVELY 4HE EQUIVALENT COMPLEX
IMPULSE
RESPONSE FILTER WITH THE FREQUENCY RESPONSE SHOWN IN LINE OF &IGURE
IS A HALFBAND FILTER BECAUSE THAT FREQUENCY RESPONSE AND A VERSION SHIFTED IN FREQUENCY
BY HALF A PERIOD SUM TO A CONSTANT 4HIS PROPERTY CAUSES ALMOST HALF OF ITS IMPULSE
RESPONSE COEFFICIENTS TO BE ZERO &IGURE A ILLUSTRATES THE COEFFICIENTS OF A TYPICAL
FILTER FOR THIS APPLICATION !LL OF THE ODD
NUMBERED COEFFICIENTS EXCEPT FOR THE ONE
IN THE CENTER ARE ZERO SO THE FILTER IS VERY EFFICIENT TO IMPLEMENT AS THE ZERO COEFFI
CIENTS DONT REQUIRE MULTIPLIERS 4HE FREQUENCY RESPONSES SYMMETRY ABOUT OF THE
SAMPLING RATE CAUSES THE EVEN
AND ODD
NUMBERED COEFFICIENTS TO BE PURELY REAL AND
PURELY IMAGINARY RESPECTIVELY SO THE EVEN
AND ODD
NUMBERED COEFFICIENTS ARE USED
TO RESPECTIVELY CREATE ) AND 1 AS SHOWN IN &IGURE B AND C
!FTER THE FILTERS THE COMPLEX SIGNAL IS DECIMATED BY TO PRODUCE A -(Z OUTPUT
SAMPLE RATE 4HE FINAL SPECTRAL CONVOLUTION BY A n -(Z TONE IS ACCOMPLISHED BY
NEGATING EVERY OTHER SAMPLE
)N &IGURE WE TRANSFORM THE SYSTEM OF &IGURE TO MAKE IT MORE COMPUTA
TIONALLY EFFICIENT 7E BEGIN WITH THE STRUCTURE IN &IGURE A WHICH SHOWS THE FILTERING
IN DETAIL USING S TO INDICATE EACH CLOCK
INTERVAL DELAY 4HE LOCATION OF THE ONE NONZERO
COEFFICIENT IN THE REAL PART H)N OF THE &IGURE IMPULSE RESPONSE CORRESPONDS TO AN
ODD
NUMBERED DELAY SO H)N IS REALIZED USING A SINGLE DELAY AND SOME NUMBER OF DOUBLE
DELAYS 4HE IMAGINARY PART H1N OF THE IMPULSE RESPONSE IN CONTRAST HAS NONZERO COEF
FICIENTS ONLY AT EVEN NUMBERS OF DELAYS SO IT IS REALIZED WITH DOUBLE DELAYS ONLY
4HE ARCHITECTURE CAN THEN BE FURTHER SIMPLIFIED BY MOVING THE DECIMATION AHEAD OF
THE S DELAYS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE B 4HIS CHANGES EACH DOUBLE DELAY TO A SINGLE
DELAY AT THE LOWER CLOCK RATE AT WHICH THE FILTER COMPUTATIONS ARE NOW MORE EFFICIENTLY
CLOCKED /PTIONALLY THE NEGATION OF ALTERNATE SAMPLES AT THE OUTPUT CAN NOW BE RELO
CATED TO THE DECIMATIONS OUTPUT %ACH DELAY THAT THE NEGATION CROSSES AS IT MOVES IN
THIS TRANSFORMATION CAUSES A NET SIGN CHANGE IN THE SIGNAL SO EACH SIGNAL PATH BETWEEN
THE OLD LOCATION AND THE NEW THAT CONTAINS ODD NUMBERS OF DELAYS REQUIRES COEFFICIENT
NEGATION TO COMPENSATE 4HE RESULT IN THE DESIGN OF &IGURE C IS NEGATION OF ALTER
NATE COEFFICIENTS IN THE 1 FILTER AS SHOWN IN &IGURE C
4HE OPTIONAL NEGATION
MOVING TRANSFORMATION JUST DESCRIBED YIELDS A SIMPLE INTER
PRETATION OF SYSTEM OPERATION &IGURE SHOWS THAT THE LEADING S DELAY DECIMA
TION AND SIGN
NEGATION OPERATIONS OF &IGURE C WORK TOGETHER TO STEER ) AND 1
SAMPLES INTO THE UPPER AND LOWER FILTER PATHS RESPECTIVELY BUT THE SAMPLES THAT ARE
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% $IRECT DIGITAL DOWNCONVERTER A BASELINE IMPLEMENTATION B DECIMATING BEFORE FILTERS
AND C INVERTING EVERY OTHER SAMPLE AFTER DECIMATION
NOW ALIGNED IN TIME AS THEY PASS THROUGH THE REMAINING PROCESSING DO NOT ACTUALLY COR
RESPOND TO THE SAME POINTS ON THE )& SIGNAL INPUTS TIME LINE SINCE THE ) AND 1 SAMPLES
WERE DERIVED FROM ALTERNATE !$# SAMPLES (OWEVER THE 1 FILTER WITH ALTERNATE COEF
FICIENTS NEGATED SHOWN IN &IGURE ACTUALLY APPROXIMATES THE HALF
SAMPLE DELAY
&)'52% .EGATED ALTERNATE SIGNS VERSION OF 1 FILTER COEFFICIENTS
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
xx
REQUIRED TO REALIGN THE DATA IN THE TWO PATHS AND THIS CAUSES THE ) AND 1 OUTPUT VALUES
TO BE EFFECTIVELY SAMPLED AT THE SAME INSTANTS
3IGNAL
3AMPLING #ONSIDERATIONS !CTUAL DEVICES AND SIGNALS INTRODUCE ERRORS
&OR EXAMPLE CLOCK JITTER RESULTS IN ERRORS IN THE SAMPLED OUTPUT OF AN !$# AS SHOWN
IN &IGURE )N ADDITION REAL !$#S ALSO ADD INTERNAL JITTER OR APERTURE UNCERTAINTY
WHICH MUST BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT )F THE ERRORS IN THE EFFECTIVE SAMPLING INSTANT INTRO
DUCED BY THESE JITTERS ARE UNCORRELATED A REASONABLE APPROXIMATION THE 2-3 SAMPLE
TIME JITTER THEY INTRODUCE T* IS
T * T * !$# T * #,/#+
WHERE T*!$# AND T*#,/#+ ARE THE 2-3 SAMPLE TIME JITTERS INTRODUCED BY THE !$# AND
THE CLOCK RESPECTIVELY
! SINUSOIDAL INPUT SIGNAL OF AMPLITUDE ! AND FREQUENCY F IS EXPRESSED AS
VT !SINO FT
WHICH HAS DERIVATIVE
DVT DT !O FCOSO FT
4HE MAXIMUM ERROR DUE TO JITTER OCCURS AT T WHEN THE DERIVATIVE OF THE SIGNAL
IS AT ITS PEAK OR
DV DT !O F
4HE 2-3 ERROR VOLTAGE 6E PRODUCED BY AN 2-3 SAMPLE TIME JITTER T* IS GIVEN BY
6E !O F T*
!.!,/'
3)'.!,
%22/2
6/,4!'%
*)44%2
3!-0,%
#,/#+
&)'52% 2-3 JITTER VS 2-3
NOISE
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HIS ERROR VOLTAGE LIMITS THE THEORETICAL MAXIMUM 3.2 OF AN !$# BY
3.2MAX LOG!6E nLOG;O F T*=
4HIS RELATIONSHIP IS PRESENTED IN &IGURE WHICH PLOTS ON THE LEFT AND RIGHT
AXES RESPECTIVELY THE 3.2 AND THE EQUIVALENT !$# EFFECTIVE NUMBER OF BITS OR %./"
y 3.2 D" BOTH VERSUS ANALOG FREQUENCY AND FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF 2-3 SAMPLE
JITTER $UE TO A VARIETY OF ERROR SOURCES INTERNAL TO AN !$# APERTURE UNCERTAINTY NON
LINEARITIES ADDED NOISE ETC THE SPECIFIED %./" OF AN !$# IS ALWAYS LESS THAN THE
NUMBER OF BITS IT PROVIDES &OR EXAMPLE A
BIT !$# TYPICALLY HAS AN %./" OF
7ITH THE BANDPASS SAMPLING TECHNIQUE DESCRIBED EARLIER WHERE THE !$# CAN SAM
PLE AT A RATE THAT IS CONSIDERABLY LOWER THAN THE ANALOG FREQUENCIES BEING SAMPLED
IT MIGHT SEEM ATTRACTIVE TO DO AWAY WITH THE RECEIVER ALTOGETHER AND SAMPLE THE 2&
SIGNAL DIRECTLY !LTHOUGH THIS IS POSSIBLE !$# LIMITATIONS RESTRICT THE PERFORMANCE OF
SUCH ARCHITECTURES &IRST THE ANALOG FRONT END OF AN !$# HAS A LOWPASS D" CUTOFF
FREQUENCY SPECIFIED BY THE MANUFACTURER !$# INPUT FREQUENCIES SHOULD BE KEPT WELL
BELOW THIS CUTOFF 3ECOND AS SHOWN PREVIOUSLY IN &IGURE SAMPLING THE 2&
SIGNAL DIRECTLY WILL DRAMATICALLY INCREASE THE SLEW RATE OF THE SIGNAL PRESENTED TO THE
!$# THUS REQUIRING VERY LOW LEVELS OF 2-3 CLOCK JITTER !LSO THE !$# HAS INHERENT
NONLINEARITIES THAT PRODUCE SPURS IN THE !$# OUTPUT A PROBLEM WHICH TYPICALLY WORS
ENS WITH INCREASING INPUT FREQUENCY !$# DATASHEETS SPECIFY THE SPUR
FREE DYNAMIC
RANGE 3&$2 OF THE DEVICE WHICH IS TYPICALLY DEFINED AS THE D" DIFFERENCE IN SIGNAL
LEVEL BETWEEN THE DESIRED SIGNAL AND THE LARGEST SPUR MEASURED AT THE !$# OUTPUT
WITH A SINGLE TONE APPLIED TO THE INPUT 4HE 3&$2 OF A TYPICAL !$# IS HIGHER THAN ITS
SPECIFIED 3.2 5NFORTUNATELY THERE ARE MANY DEFINITIONS OF 3&$2 SO THE DESIGNER
IS ADVISED TO READ MANUFACTURERS DATASHEETS CAREFULLY IN THIS REGARD !S MENTIONED
EARLIER THE 3.2 OF A SAMPLED SIGNAL CAN BE INCREASED BY FILTERING TO ELIMINATE NOISE
IN PARTS OF THE SPECTRUM THAT ARE OTHERWISE UNUSED (OWEVER THE SPURS GENERATED
BY AN !$# MAY LIE IN THE BAND OF INTEREST WHERE FILTERING WOULD BE INAPPROPRIATE
4HEREFORE SPURS LOWER THAN THE UNFILTERED NOISE LEVEL CAN BECOME RELATIVELY SIGNIFI
CANT AFTER !$# NOISE IS REDUCED THROUGH FILTERING
(% &'
(%&'
$
(%&'
(%&'
(% &'
(% &'
(%&'
# "! )
&)'52% 3IGNAL TO NOISE RATIO VS ANALOG FREQUENCY FOR VARYING SAMPLE JITTER
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
-ULTI "EAM $IGITAL "EAMFORMING !N IMPORTANT APPLICATION OF DIGITAL TECHNOL
OGY IS FOR THE BEAMFORMING FUNCTION IN A PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA SYSTEM &IGURE A
DEPICTS AN ANALOG BEAMFORMING SYSTEM 4HE WAVEFRONT SHOWN CAN BE THOUGHT OF AS THE
RETURN FROM A TARGET OF INTEREST .OTE THAT THE WAVEFRONT WILL HIT EACH ELEMENT OF THE ARRAY
AT DIFFERENT TIMES )N ORDER TO FORM A BEAM IN THAT PARTICULAR DIRECTION EACH ELEMENT OF
THE ARRAY NEEDS TO BE FOLLOWED BY A TIME DELAY UNIT THAT DELAYS THE SIGNAL RECEIVED AT
EACH ELEMENT BY THE APPROPRIATE AMOUNT SUCH THAT WHEN ALL OF THE OUTPUTS OF THE TIME
DELAYS ARE SUMMED THEY ADD UP COHERENTLY TO FORM A BEAM IN THE DESIRED DIRECTION
)F THE SYSTEM HAS A NARROW BANDWIDTH BANDWIDTH ^ OF 2& FREQUENCY AND THE
ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH IS NOT TOO NARROW SO THAT THE D" BEAMWIDTH IN DEGREES IS GREATER
THAN THE PERCENT BANDWIDTH THE TIME DELAY CAN BE APPROXIMATED USING PHASE SHIFTERS
7IDE BANDWIDTH SYSTEMS REQUIRE hTRUEv TIME DELAYS IN ORDER TO FORM THE BEAMS AND
PRESERVE THE BANDWIDTH 4HE RECEIVER WOULD FOLLOW THE ANALOG BEAMFORMER AS SHOWN IN
THE FIGURE &IGURE B SHOWS AN EXTREME APPLICATION OF DIGITAL BEAMFORMING WHERE
&)'52% A !NALOG BEAMFORMER B EVERY ELEMENT DIGITAL BEAMFORMER AND C SUBARRAY DIGITAL
BEAMFORMER
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
A RECEIVER AND !$# ARE BEHIND EVERY ELEMENT )N THIS SYSTEM THE TIME DELAY IS IMPLE
MENTED EITHER AS A DIGITAL PHASE SHIFT OR DIGITAL TIME DELAY FOLLOWED BY A DIGITAL SUMMER
4HIS CONFIGURATION ALLOWS BEAMS TO BE FORMED IN ANY DIRECTION AND MULTIPLE BEAMS CAN
BE FORMED SIMULTANEOUSLY IF DESIRED BY USING THE SAME SAMPLE DATA AND IMPLEMENTING
DIFFERENT TIME DELAYS TO FORM THE DIFFERENT BEAMS (OWEVER AT THIS WRITING PUTTING A
DIGITAL RECEIVER BEHIND EVERY ELEMENT IS EXPENSIVE AND IS USUALLY NOT FEASIBLE FOR MOST
LARGE ANTENNA APPLICATIONS IE FOR SYSTEMS WITH THOUSANDS OF ELEMENTS /NE COMPRO
MISE SOLUTION IS SHOWN IN &IGURE C WHERE ANALOG BEAMFORMING IS USED TO IMPLE
MENT SUBARRAYS WHICH ARE FOLLOWED BY DIGITAL RECEIVERS AND DIGITAL TIME DELAYS
$IGITAL BEAMFORMING OFFERS SEVERAL ADVANTAGES OVER ANALOG BEAMFORMING 7ITH AN
ANALOG BEAMFORMER USUALLY ONLY ONE BEAM IS FORMED AT A TIME 2ADARS ARE TYPICALLY
REQUIRED TO PERFORM MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS SUCH AS VOLUME SURVEILLANCE TARGET CONFIR
MATION TRACKING ETC 7ITH ONLY ONE BEAM AT A TIME THERE MAY NOT BE ENOUGH TIME
AVAILABLE TO PERFORM ALL OF THE REQUIRED FUNCTIONS ! DIGITAL BEAMFORMER ALLOWS THE
FORMATION OF MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS BEAMS ALLOWING THE VOLUME SURVEILLANCE FUNC
TION TO BE PERFORMED MUCH MORE QUICKLY ALLOWING MORE TIME TO DO OTHER THINGS /F
COURSE IN ORDER TO FORM MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS RECEIVE BEAMS THE TRANSMITTED BEAM
MUST BE MADE BROADER TO ENCOMPASS THE RECEIVE BEAMS WHICH MIGHT REQUIRE A MORE
POWERFUL TRANSMITTER OR MORE INTEGRATION ON RECEIVE TO PROVIDE THE SAME PERFORMANCE
AS A SINGLE
BEAM SYSTEM
!NOTHER ADVANTAGE HAS TO DO WITH DYNAMIC RANGE )N AN ANALOG BEAMFORMING SYS
TEM THERE IS ONLY ONE RECEIVER AND !$# AND THE DYNAMIC RANGE PERFORMANCE IS LIM
ITED TO THE CAPABILITY OF A SINGLE CHANNEL )N A DIGITAL BEAMFORMING SYSTEM THERE ARE
MULTIPLE RECEIVERS AND !$#S AND THE NUMBER OF !$#S THAT ARE COMBINED DETERMINES
THE SYSTEM DYNAMIC RANGE &OR EXAMPLE IF THE OUTPUTS OF !$#S WERE COMBINED
TO FORM A BEAM ASSUMING THAT EACH !$# INDUCES NOISE THAT IS OF EQUAL AMPLITUDE
AND UNCORRELATED WITH THE OTHERS THERE WOULD BE A D" INCREASE IN SYSTEM DYNAMIC
RANGE COMPARED TO A SINGLE
RECEIVER SYSTEM USING THE SAME !$#
&IGURE SHOWS A BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A TYPICAL DIGITAL BEAMFORMING SYSTEM %ACH
ANTENNA OUTPUT PORT BE IT FROM AN ELEMENT OR A SUBARRAY IS FOLLOWED BY A DIGITAL
&)'52% 4YPICAL DIGITAL BEAMFORMER
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
DOWNCONVERTER AND AN EQUALIZATION FILTER %15 &)2 4HE EQUALIZATION FILTER IS TYPI
CALLY A COMPLEX FINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE &)2 FILTER DESCRIBED LATER THAT ADJUSTS THE
FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF EACH CHANNEL SO THAT ITS PASSBAND MATCHES THE OTHER CHANNELS IN
PHASE AND AMPLITUDE BEFORE IT IS SUMMED WITH THE OTHER CHANNELS IN THE BEAMFORMER
4HE COEFFICIENTS OF THIS FILTER ARE DETERMINED THROUGH A CALIBRATION PROCESS $URING
CALIBRATION A TEST SIGNAL IS PRESENTED TO THE 2& INPUT OF ALL CHANNELS 4HIS SIGNAL IS TYPI
CALLY A SWEPT FREQUENCY TONE OR A NOISE INPUT THAT COVERS THE CHANNEL BANDWIDTH 4HE
!$# SAMPLES OF ALL CHANNELS ARE COLLECTED SIMULTANEOUSLY AND COMPLEX WEIGHTS ARE
CALCULATED FOR THE EQUALIZATION FILTERS THAT FORCE THE FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF EACH CHANNEL
TO BE MATCHED /NCE THE CHANNEL IS EQUALIZED A UNIQUE TIME DELAY IS IMPLEMENTED FOR
EACH BEAM TO BE FORMED !S MENTIONED EARLIER THIS TIME DELAY CAN BE REALIZED EITHER
AS A PHASE SHIFT FOR A NARROWBAND SYSTEM OR AS A TIME DELAY FOR A WIDEBAND SYSTEM !
PHASE SHIFT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WITH A COMPLEX MULTIPLY OR A #/2$)# OPERATION BOTH
OF WHICH WILL BE DESCRIBED LATER ! TIME DELAY CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WITH A &)2 FILTER THAT
IMPOSES A LINEARLY CHANGING PHASE SHIFT OVER FREQUENCY ON THE SIGNAL /NCE THE TIME
DELAY IS REALIZED IN EACH CHANNEL THE APPROPRIATE COMPLEX TIME
DELAYED SIGNALS FROM
ALL OF THE CHANNELS ARE SUMMED TO FORM A BEAM - COMPLEX SUMMERS ARE REQUIRED TO
FORM - BEAMS
$IGITAL 0ULSE #OMPRESSION 0ULSE COMPRESSION IS ANOTHER SIGNAL PROCESSING
FUNCTION THAT IS PREDOMINANTLY BEING PERFORMED DIGITALLY IN RADAR SYSTEMS (OWEVER
AT THIS WRITING MANY SYSTEMS STILL EXIST WITH ANALOG
DELAY
LINE PULSE COMPRESSORS
)N THESE SYSTEMS ANALOG PULSE COMPRESSION IS PERFORMED AT AN )& FOLLOWED BY THE
!$# IN THE PROCESSING CHAIN "ECAUSE PULSE COMPRESSION INCREASES THE 3.2 OF
THE SIGNAL PERFORMING IT BEFORE SAMPLING INCREASES THE DYNAMIC RANGE REQUIREMENT
OF THE !$# )N A DIGITAL PULSE COMPRESSION SYSTEM THE !$# PRECEDES THE PULSE
COMPRESSOR AND ONLY HAS TO ACCOMMODATE THE PRECOMPRESSION DYNAMIC RANGE OF
THE SIGNAL WHICH CAN BE A SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER REQUIREMENT 4HE DIGITIZED SIGNAL IS
CONVERTED TO BASEBAND AND PASSED TO THE DIGITAL PULSE COMPRESSOR 4HE INCREASED
DYNAMIC RANGE DUE TO THE PULSE COMPRESSION GAIN IS ACCOMMODATED BY INCREASING
THE NUMBER OF BITS IN THE DIGITAL COMPUTATION
#HAPTER IS DEVOTED TOTALLY TO PULSE COMPRESSION RADAR )N SUMMARY THERE ARE
TWO BASIC APPROACHES TO IMPLEMENTING DIGITAL PULSE COMPRESSION TIME
DOMAIN AND
FREQUENCY
DOMAIN CONVOLUTION ! GENERIC TIME
DOMAIN CONVOLVER CONSISTS OF A COM
PLEX &)2 FILTER WHERE THE COEFFICIENTS ARE THE COMPLEX CONJUGATE OF THE TRANSMITTED
BASEBAND WAVEFORM SAMPLES IN TIME
REVERSED ORDER WHICH IS ALSO THE DEFINITION OF
THE MATCHED FILTER FOR THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL 4HIS ARCHITECTURE CAN COMPRESS ANY
ARBITRARY WAVEFORM ! SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF THE ARCHITECTURE RESULTS WHEN THE MODU
LATION IS A BINARY PHASE CODE )N THIS CASE THE COEFFICIENTS ARE EITHER OR n SO THE
ARITHMETIC PERFORMED FOR EACH SAMPLE IS A COMPLEX SUM OR SUBTRACTION INSTEAD OF
A FULL COMPLEX MULTIPLICATION
0ULSE COMPRESSION MAY ALSO BE ACCOMPLISHED BY OPERATING IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN
WHERE IT IS REFERRED TO AS FAST CONVOLUTION )N THIS CASE THE BASEBAND SAMPLES OF THE
RECEIVE DATA AND THE REFERENCE TRANSMIT WAVEFORM ARE PASSED THROUGH FAST &OURIER
TRANSFORMS &&4S THE DATA &&4 OUTPUTS ARE MULTIPLIED POINT
BY
POINT BY THE COMPLEX
CONJUGATE OF THE REFERENCE &&4 OUTPUTS AND THEN THE RESULT IS CONVERTED BACK TO THE
TIME DOMAIN BY AN INVERSE &&4 )N GENERAL IT IS MORE HARDWARE EFFICIENT TO PERFORM
TIME
DOMAIN CONVOLUTION FOR A SMALL NUMBER OF COEFFICIENTS AND FREQUENCY DOMAIN
CONVOLUTION FOR A LARGE NUMBER MORE THAN OR COEFFICIENTS
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
x /, - /
*,"
--
"EFORE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY BECAME WIDELY AVAILABLE ANALOG TECHNIQUES WERE
EMPLOYED TO GENERATE RADAR TRANSMIT WAVEFORMS 3IMPLE PULSED SYSTEMS USED ANALOG
2& SWITCHES TO GATE THE ,/ ON AND OFF &REQUENCY MODULATED SIGNALS WERE GENERATED
BY SURFACE ACOUSTIC WAVE 3!7 DEVICES 3IMPLE BINARY PHASE MODULATION SCHEMES
LIKE PSEUDO RANDOM NOISE WAVEFORMS WERE ALSO POSSIBLE $IGITAL TECHNOLOGY HOW
EVER PRESENTS THE RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNER WITH MANY MORE OPTIONS AND ALLOWS ARBI
TRARILY MODULATED TRANSMIT WAVEFORMS TO BE MODIFIED PULSE TO PULSE IF DESIRED 4HIS
SECTION DESCRIBES SEVERAL OF THE TECHNIQUES COMMONLY USED TO GENERATE THE RADAR
TRANSMIT SIGNAL DIGITALLY
$IRECT $IGITAL 3YNTHESIZER $$3 &IGURE SHOWS A BLOCK DIAGRAM OF THIS
TECHNIQUE IN WHICH A NUMERICALLY CONTROLLED OSCILLATOR .#/ GENERATES A DIGITIZED
SINUSOID THAT IS CONVERTED TO AN ANALOG SIGNAL BY A DIGITAL TO ANALOG CONVERTER $!#
&IGURE DEMONSTRATES HOW AN .#/ OPERATES TO PRODUCE A SINE WAVE 4HE N BIT
TUNING WORD IS ACTUALLY A PHASE INCREMENT THAT DETERMINES THE FREQUENCY OF THE SINE
WAVE OUTPUT 4HE PHASE INCREMENT IS EXPRESSED IN A FORMAT CALLED "INARY !NGLE
-EASUREMENT "!- IN WHICH THE MOST SIGNIFICANT BIT -3" OF THE WORD REPRE
SENTS O THE NEXT BIT REPRESENTS O AND SO ON )N THE PHASE ACCUMULATOR THE TUN
ING WORD IS ADDED TO THE OUTPUT OF A RUNNING SUM IMPLEMENTED AS AN ADDER FOLLOWED
BY A REGISTER 2%' 4HIS PRODUCES A UNIFORMLY INCREASING PHASE INCREMENTED AT THE
SYSTEM CLOCK RATE 4HE M -3"S OF THE RUNNING SUM ARE SENT TO A PHASE TO AMPLITUDE
CONVERTER WHICH IS A LOOKUP TABLE THAT PRODUCES A K BIT VALUE THAT REPRESENTS THE
AMPLITUDE OF THE SINE WAVE AT THE INPUT PHASE )F WE REPRESENT THE TUNING WORD BY -
THE SAMPLE FREQUENCY BY FS AND THE NUMBER OF BITS IN THE PHASE ACCUMULATOR BY N
THEN THE FREQUENCY OF THE OUTPUT SINE WAVE CAN BE EXPRESSED AS -FSN
)N THIS SCHEME THE PHASE REPRESENTED BY THE RUNNING SUM WILL OVERFLOW WHEN IT
CROSSES OVER O 4HE ADVANTAGE OF EXPRESSING THE PHASE IN "!- NOTATION IS THAT IT
ALLOWS MODULO O ARITHMETIC AND OVERFLOWS ARE AUTOMATICALLY TAKEN CARE OF SINCE A
O PHASE SHIFT IS THE SAME AS O &OR EXAMPLE ASSUME WE HAVE A BIT "!- NOTA
TION WHICH MEANS THAT THE LEAST SIGNIFICANT BIT ,3" REPRESENTS A PHASE SHIFT OF O
,ETS ALSO ASSUME THAT THE TUNING WORD IS REPRESENTED BY FOR A PHASE INCREMENT
OF O EVERY CLOCK 4HE RUNNING SUM PHASE WOULD STEADILY INCREASE ON EVERY CLOCK
EDGE BECOMING O O x O AND O /N THE NEXT CLOCK
EDGE THE PHASE SHOULD BE REPRESENTED BY FOR O (OWEVER WE ARE ONLY PRO
VIDED A BIT ADDER SO THE -3" IS SIMPLY LOST LEAVING US WITH A PHASE CODE OF
O WHICH IS THE SAME AS O 4HEREFORE THE RESULTING PHASE WAVEFORM TAKES ON A
SAWTOOTH PATTERN LINEARLY RAMPING FROM O TO NOT QUITE O AND THEN RESETTING TO O
AND RAMPING AGAIN
!N IMPORTANT FEATURE OF AN .#/ FOR A RADAR APPLICATION IS THE #,%!2 SIGNAL SHOWN
GOING TO THE PHASE ACCUMULATOR REGISTER &OR A COHERENT RADAR EXCITER IMPLEMENTA
TION THE TRANSMIT SIGNAL MUST START AT THE SAME PHASE ON EVERY PULSE /THERWISE THE
&)'52% $IRECT $IGITAL 3YNTHESIZER $$3
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
&)'52% .#/ BLOCK DIAGRAM
TRANSMITTED SIGNAL WILL HAVE ARBITRARY PHASE FROM PULSE TO PULSE MAKING DOPPLER
PROCESSING DIFFICULT IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE 4HE #,%!2 CONTROL PROVIDES THE MEANS TO DO
THIS )N SOME APPLICATIONS LIKE FOR A TRANSMIT BEAMFORMER THE STARTING PHASE IN EACH
CHANNEL MAY NEED TO BE DIFFERENT IN ORDER TO STEER THE BEAM )N THIS CASE WE COULD
PROVIDE A MECHANISM TO SET THE PHASE TO THE DESIRED VALUE AT THE BEGINNING OF A PULSE
INSTEAD OF SIMPLY CLEARING IT
4HE $$3 CAN ALSO BE USED TO GENERATE LINEAR AND NONLINEAR &- hCHIRPv WAVEFORMS
4HIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY PROVIDING CIRCUITRY THAT CHANGES THE TUNING WORD FROM SAMPLE
TO SAMPLE IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THE DESIRED FREQUENCY OR PHASE MODULATION &OR EXAM
PLE A LINEAR &- CHIRP WAVEFORM REQUIRES A PHASE THAT CHANGES IN A SQUARE
LAW FASHION
WITH TIME 4HIS CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY CHANGING THE TUNING WORD OR PHASE STEP SIZE
IN A LINEARLY INCREASING OR DECREASING WAY ON EVERY SAMPLE
$IGITAL 5PCONVERTER $5# !NOTHER POPULAR METHOD TO IMPLEMENT A TRANSMIT
WAVEFORM IS THROUGH DIGITAL UPCONVERSION ALSO REFERRED TO AS ARBITRARY WAVEFORM GEN
ERATION )N THIS TECHNIQUE A DIGITAL COMPLEX BASEBAND WAVEFORM USUALLY READ FROM A
MEMORY IS FIRST INTERPOLATED TO A HIGHER SAMPLE RATE AND THEN MODULATED WITH DIGITIZED
SINE AND COSINE SIGNALS TO PRODUCE A MODULATED CARRIER &IGURE PROVIDES A BLOCK
DIAGRAM OF A $5# THAT TRANSLATES A COMPLEX BASEBAND SIGNAL UP TO A -(Z )& 4HE
BASEBAND ) AND 1 SIGNALS ENTER THE $5# AT A RATE OF -#303 AND ARE FIRST UP
SAMPLED
BY A FACTOR OF 4HIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY INSERTING ZEROES BETWEEN EACH INPUT
SAMPLE AND INCREASING THE CLOCK RATE TO -(Z 4HIS SIGNAL IS THEN PASSED THROUGH A
DIGITAL LOWPASS FILTER THAT PERFORMS THE INTERPOLATION 4HESE SIGNALS ARE THEN MULTIPLIED
&)'52% $IGITAL UPCONVERTER $5#
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
BY DIGITIZED SINE AND COSINE WAVEFORMS FOR THE MODULATION CARRIER FREQUENCY PRODUC
ING A COMPLEX MODULATED )& AS AN OUTPUT 4HESE SIGNALS ARE DIGITALLY SUMMED CON
VERTED TO ANALOG THROUGH A $!# AND PASSED THROUGH A BANDPASS FILTER TO PRODUCE AN
)& OUTPUT &OR LARGE UPSAMPLING RATIOS A CASCADED
INTEGRATOR COMB #)# INTERPOLATOR
DESCRIBED IN THE NEXT SECTION PROVIDES AN EFFICIENT IMPLEMENTATION
x{ -*/"" 4HIS SECTION WILL DESCRIBE VARIOUS PROCESSING ARCHITECTURES AND TECHNIQUES THAT ARE
AVAILABLE TO $30 ENGINEERS
0HASE 3HIFT 4HE PHASE SHIFT IS A CORE ELEMENT IN $30 DESIGN AND THERE ARE SEV
ERAL TECHNIQUES AVAILABLE TO IMPLEMENT ONE 4HE MOST STRAIGHTFORWARD APPROACH IS TO
SIMPLY PERFORM A COMPLEX MULTIPLY AS SHOWN IN &IGURE )N THIS EXAMPLE THE
COMPLEX INPUT SAMPLE IS DENOTED AS ! J" WHICH IS MULTIPLIED BY THE COMPLEX COEF
FICIENT # J$ TO PRODUCE !# n "$ J!$ "# IN ORDER TO EFFECT THE PHASE SHIFT
4HIS OPERATION REQUIRES FOUR MULTIPLIERS AND TWO ADDERS
!FTER SOME MANIPULATION THE FOLLOWING CAN BE SHOWN
) !# n "$ $! n " !# n $
1 !$ "# #! " n !# n $
.OTING THAT THE FINAL TERM IS THE SAME IN BOTH EQUATIONS WE SEE THAT THIS COMPLEX
MULTIPLIER CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WITH ONLY THREE REAL MULTIPLIERS AND FIVE REAL ADDS 4HIS
CAN BE IMPORTANT IF REAL MULTIPLIERS ARE AT A PREMIUM &IGURE SHOWS A BLOCK
DIAGRAM OF THIS ARCHITECTURE
#/2$)# 0ROCESSOR !N EFFICIENT AND VERSATILE ALGORITHM THAT CAN IMPLEMENT A
PHASE SHIFT WITHOUT USING MULTIPLIERS IS THE #/ORDINATE 2OTATION $)GITAL #OMPUTER
#/2$)# FUNCTION FIRST DESCRIBED BY 6OLDER IN 4HE #/2$)# CAN IMPLEMENT
&)'52% 3TANDARD COMPLEX MULTIPLY
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
&)'52% #OMPLEX MULTIPLY WITH THREE REAL MULTIPLIERS
A VARIETY OF FUNCTIONS INCLUDING SINE COSINE VECTOR ROTATION PHASE SHIFT POLAR TO
RECTANGULAR AND RECTANGULAR TO POLAR CONVERSIONS ARCTANGENT ARCSINE ARCCOSINE AND
VECTOR MAGNITUDE THROUGH AN ITERATIVE PROCESS THAT JUST USES BIT SHIFTS AND ADDS 4HE
FOLLOWING DISCUSSION DESCRIBES THE #/2$)# ALGORITHM
4HE EQUATIONS THAT SHIFT THE PHASE OF COMPLEX NUMBER ) J1 BY AN ANGLE P TO
PRODUCE ) J1 ARE AS FOLLOWS
) )COSP 1SINP
1 )SINP 1COSP
4HESE EQUATIONS CAN BE MANIPULATED TO PROVIDE
) COSP ;) 1TANP =
1 COSP ;1 )TANP =
4HE #/2$)# ALGORITHM TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THIS RELATIONSHIP TO APPROXIMATE AN ARBI
TRARY PHASE SHIFT BY IMPLEMENTING MULTIPLE STAGES OF PHASE SHIFTS WHERE THE TANGENT OF
THE PHASE SHIFT IN EACH SUCCESSIVE STAGE IS THE NEXT SMALLER FRACTIONAL POWER OF AND
MULTIPLICATION BY THIS NUMBER CAN BE IMPLEMENTED BY SHIFTING THE INPUT DATA BITS AN
INTEGER NUMBER OF PLACES 4HE FIRST FEW STAGES ARE AS FOLLOWS
) COSP ;) n 1TANP = COSP ;) n 1 =
1 COSP ;1 )TANP = COSP ;1 ) =
) COSP ;) n 1TANP = COSP ;) 1 =
1 COSP ;1 )TANP = COSP ;1 ) =
4ABLE SHOWS THESE PARAMETERS FOR AN EIGHT
STAGE #/2$)# PROCESSOR %ACH
ROW OF THE TABLE REPRESENTS SUCCESSIVE ITERATIONS OF THE ALGORITHM 4HE TANP I COLUMN
SHOWS THE FACTOR BY WHICH THE ) AND 1 VALUES ARE MULTIPLIED FOR EACH ITERATION .OTE THAT
THESE VALUES ARE FRACTIONAL POWERS OF SO THE MULTIPLICATION CAN BE REALIZED BY SHIFTING
THE BINARY ) AND 1 VALUES RIGHT BY I PLACES 4HE P I COLUMN SHOWS THE ARCTANGENT OF THIS
FACTOR WHICH CAN ALSO BE THOUGHT OF AS THE PHASE SHIFT APPLIED DURING EACH ITERATION
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4!",% #/2$)# 0ARAMETERS FOR &IRST %IGHT 3TAGES
TANP I
P I DEG
COSP I
0 ;COSP I =
4HE COSP I COLUMN SHOWS THE COSINE OF THIS ANGLE WHICH SHOULD BE MULTIPLIED BY
THE RESULT OF EACH ITERATION AS SHOWN IN THE EQUATIONS ABOVE )N ACTUAL APPLICATIONS
HOWEVER THIS COSINE MULTIPLICATION IS NOT PERFORMED AT EVERY ITERATION !T EACH STAGE
THE IMPLIED FACTOR THAT NEEDS TO BE MULTIPLIED BY THE )1 OUTPUTS OF THE STAGE IN ORDER TO
PROVIDE THE CORRECT ANSWER IS THE PRODUCT OF ALL OF THE COSINES UP TO THAT POINT AS SHOWN
IN THE 0;COSP I = COLUMN &OR A LARGE NUMBER OF ITERATIONS THIS PRODUCT OF COSINES
CONVERGES TO A VALUE OF )N
MOST CASES THIS SCALING CAN BE COMPEN
SATED FOR IN LATER STAGES OF PROCESSING
4HE INVERSE OF THIS FACTOR FOR
A LARGE NUMBER OF ITERATIONS IS THE PRO
CESSING GAIN IMPOSED ON THE )1 RESULTS
OF THE #/2$)# )F INTEGER ARITHMETIC IS
PERFORMED AN EXTRA BIT SHOULD BE PRO
VIDED AT THE MOST SIGNIFICANT END OF THE
ADDERS IN ORDER TO ACCOMMODATE THIS
INCREASED SIGNAL LEVEL
&IGURE IS A FLOW CHART THAT
REPRESENTS THE #/2$)# ALGORITHM TO
IMPLEMENT A PHASE SHIFT 4HE INPUTS
TO THE ALGORITHM ARE THE )IN 1IN AND EIN
THE DESIRED PHASE SHIFT 4HE VARIABLE I
WILL KEEP TRACK OF THE PROCESSING STAGE
BEING PERFORMED AND IS INITIALIZED TO
ZERO 4HE BASIC ALGORITHM CAN PERFORM A
PHASE SHIFT BETWEEN oO )F THE DESIRED
PHASE SHIFT IS OUTSIDE OF THAT RANGE THE
INPUT ) AND 1 VALUES ARE FIRST NEGATED
IMPOSING A O PHASE SHIFT AND O IS
SUBTRACTED FROM THE DESIRED PHASE SHIFT
4HE NEW PHASE SHIFT IS NOW WITHIN oO
AND THE ALGORITHM PROCEEDS NORMALLY
.EXT THE ALGORITHM LOOPS THROUGH
. ITERATIONS WITH THE GOAL OF DRIVING
THE RESIDUAL PHASE ERROR E TO ZERO )N
EACH ITERATION A NEW E IS CALCULATED BY
SUBTRACTING OR ADDING THE PHASE SHIFT FOR &)'52% #/2$)# ALGORITHM FLOW CHART
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
xx
THAT STAGE P I FROM THE TABLE TO THE PREVIOUS VALUE OF E )F E P I IS ADDED TO E
/THERWISE P I IS SUBTRACTED FROM E )N EACH STAGE THE 1 OR ) INPUT IS DIVIDED BY A FAC
TOR OF I BY SHIFTING THE NUMBER TO THE RIGHT BY I BITS AND THEN ADDED TO OR SUBTRACTED
FROM THE ) OR 1 INPUT DEPENDING ON THE SIGN OF E 4HE VARIABLE I IS INCREMENTED AND
THE PROCESS REPEATS UNTIL I . AT WHICH POINT THE PHASE SHIFTED RESULTS ARE AVAILABLE
&IGURE IS A BLOCK DIAGRAM OF AN EIGHT STAGE #/2$)# PROCESSOR THAT IMPLE
MENTS A PHASE SHIFT WHERE EACH STAGE REPRESENTS AN ITERATION IN THE FLOW CHART !N
. STAGE PROCESSOR PROVIDES A PHASE SHIFT THAT IS ACCURATE TO WITHIN oP . DEGREES FROM
THE TABLE SO THE MORE STAGES IN THE PROCESSOR THE MORE ACCURATE THE ANSWER 4HE INPUT
) AND 1 VALUES CHANGE ON THE RISING EDGE OF AN ASSUMED SAMPLE CLOCK )N THE FIRST
STAGE THE ) VALUE IS EITHER ADDED TO OR SUBTRACTED FROM THE 1 VALUE IN THE !$$35"
BLOCK 4HE CONTROL BLOCK ON THE BOTTOM OF THE FIGURE DETERMINES WHETHER ADDITIONS OR
SUBTRACTIONS ARE PERFORMED AT EACH STAGE BASED ON THE ALGORITHM DESCRIBED PREVIOUSLY
)F THE !$$35" BLOCK IN THE 1 CHANNEL PERFORMS AN ADDITION THE SAME BLOCK IN
THE ) CHANNEL WILL PERFORM A SUBTRACTION AND VICE VERSA 4HE RESULT OF THE !$$35"
BLOCKS IS STORED IN A REGISTER 2%' ON THE NEXT CLOCK EDGE AND PASSED TO THE NEXT STAGE
OF PROCESSING )N THIS IMPLEMENTATION THE LAST BLOCK LABELED 0!33).6 PERFORMS
THE REQUIRED INVERSION OF ) AND 1 IF THE DESIRED PHASE SHIFT IS BEYOND THE oO RANGE OF
THE ALGORITHM 4HE FINAL MULTIPLICATION BY A CONSTANT IS OPTIONAL AS DESCRIBED EARLIER
4HE ARCHITECTURE SHOWN IN &IGURE IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A PIPELINED PROCESSOR
IN WHICH A PORTION OF THE COMPUTATION IS PERFORMED AND THE RESULT IS STORED IN A REGISTER
ON EACH RISING EDGE OF THE SAMPLE CLOCK AND PASSED TO THE NEXT STAGE OF PROCESSING 4HE
PROCESSOR WOULD STILL FUNCTION IF THE REGISTERS WERE REMOVED (OWEVER IN THAT CASE
WHEN THE INPUT ) AND 1 VALUES CHANGED THE FINAL OUTPUT WOULD NOT BE USEABLE UNTIL THE
RESULTS OF THE NEW INPUT VALUES RIPPLED THROUGH ALL OF THE STAGES OF PROCESSING WHICH
WOULD GENERALLY BE AN UNACCEPTABLY LONG PERIOD OF TIME )N A PIPELINED PROCESSOR A
SMALL PORTION OF THE TOTAL CALCULATIONS IS PERFORMED AT A TIME AND THE RESULT IS STORED IN
A REGISTER AND PASSED TO THE NEXT PROCESSING STAGE 4HIS ARCHITECTURE PROVIDES A HIGHER
THROUGHPUT THAN THE NONPIPELINED VERSION WHICH MEANS THAT THE FINAL RESULT CAN BE
PRODUCED AT A MUCH HIGHER SAMPLE RATE WHICH IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE DELAY
OF A SINGLE STAGE 4HE LATENCY OF A PIPELINED PROCESSOR REFERS TO THE DELAY EXPERIENCED
BETWEEN THE TIME A NEW DATA SAMPLE IS ENTERED INTO THE PROCESSOR AND THE TIME THAT
THE RESULT BASED ON THAT INPUT IS AVAILABLE ON THE OUTPUT 4HE EIGHT STAGE PIPELINED
#/2$)# PROCESSOR SHOWN IN THE FIGURE WOULD HAVE A LATENCY EQUIVALENT TO EIGHT CLOCK
PERIODS AND A THROUGHPUT EQUIVALENT TO THE CLOCK RATE IE ONCE THE PIPELINE IS FILLED
AND THE FIRST RESULT IS AVAILABLE ON THE OUTPUT SUCCESSIVE CLOCKS WILL PRODUCE NEW OUT
PUTS AT THE CLOCK RATE
!
&)'52% %IGHT STAGE #/2$)# PROCESSOR
!
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
$IGITAL &ILTERS AND !PPLICATIONS 4HIS SECTION
DESCRIBES SEVERAL OF THE MAJOR FORMS OF DIGITAL FILTERS
AND HOW THEY ARE USED IN RADAR SIGNAL PROCESSING
&INITE )MPULSE 2ESPONSE &)2 AND )NFINITE
)MPULSE 2ESPONSE ))2 &ILTERS &IGURE
SHOWS A BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A DIRECT
FORM DIGITAL &)2
FILTER 4HE INPUT SAMPLE FEEDS A SHIFT REGISTER WHERE
EACH BLOCK LABELED S INDICATES A ONE
SAMPLE DELAY
IN THE SHIFT REGISTER 4HE INPUT SAMPLE AND THE OUTPUT
OF EACH STAGE OF THE SHIFT REGISTER ARE MULTIPLIED BY
UNIQUE COEFFICIENTS AND THE MULTIPLIER OUTPUTS ARE
SUMMED TO PRODUCE THE FILTERED OUTPUT 3OFTWARE
TOOLS EXIST THAT GENERATE THESE COEFFICIENTS AND THE
NUMBER REQUIRED WHEN THE USER PROVIDES THE DESIRED
FILTER CHARACTERISTICS SUCH AS FILTER TYPE LOWPASS &)'52% 'ENERAL DIRECT
FORM
HIGHPASS BANDPASS ETC SAMPLE RATE CUTOFF AND &)2 FILTER BLOCK DIAGRAM
STOPBAND FREQUENCY DESIRED PASSBAND RIPPLE AND
STOPBAND ATTENUATION 4HE FILTER SHOWN IS REFERRED TO AS A REAL &)2 FILTER SINCE THE INPUT
DATA AND COEFFICIENTS ARE REAL VALUES AND REAL MATHEMATICAL OPERATIONS ARE PERFORMED
)N A COMPLEX &)2 FILTER THE DATA SAMPLES COEFFICIENTS AND MATH ARE COMPLEX
4HIS TYPE OF FILTER IS TERMED FINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE BECAUSE AN IMPULSE PRESENTED
AT THE INPUT A SINGLE SAMPLE OF hv SURROUNDED BY SAMPLES OF ZEROES WOULD PRODUCE
A FINITE
LENGTH OUTPUT CONSISTING OF THE COEFFICIENTS OF THE FILTER OUTPUT IN ORDER AS
THE hv PROPAGATES DOWN THE SHIFT REGISTER AS SHOWN IN &IGURE FOR A &)2 FILTER
WITH SEVEN COEFFICIENTS COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS A
TAP &)2 FILTER )N THIS EXAMPLE
ZERO
VALUED SAMPLES ARE FIRST CLOCKED INTO THE &)2 FILTER SHIFT REGISTER FILLING THE SHIFT
REGISTER WITH ZEROES AND FORCING THE FILTER OUTPUT TO BE ZERO 7HEN THE SAMPLE WITH A
VALUE OF hv IS CLOCKED INTO THE FILTER THE FILTER OUTPUT PRODUCES THE FIRST COEFFICIENT A
SINCE THE OTHER SAMPLES IN THE FILTER ARE STILL ZERO /N THE NEXT CLOCK THE hv MOVES TO
THE SECOND TAP OF THE SHIFT REGISTER AND A hv IS CLOCKED INTO THE FIRST TAP FORCING THE
FILTER OUTPUT TO PRODUCE THE SECOND FILTER COEFFICIENT A /N SUCCESSIVE CLOCKS THE hv
PROPAGATES THROUGH THE SHIFT REGISTER WHILE ZEROES ARE CLOCKED INTO THE SHIFT REGISTER
INPUT PRODUCING ALL OF THE FILTER COEFFICIENTS ON THE OUTPUT IN SEQUENCE 4HE &)2 FILTER
USES FEED
FORWARD TERMS ONLY MEANING THAT THE OUTPUT VALUES ONLY DEPEND ON THE INPUT
VALUES WITH NO FEEDBACK TERMS
&IGURE DEPICTS THE GENERAL FORM FOR AN INFINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE ))2 FILTER
))2 FILTERS MAKE USE OF FEED
FORWARD AND FEEDBACK TERMS 4HEY ARE REFERRED TO AS INFINITE
IMPULSE RESPONSE BECAUSE AN IMPULSE PRESENTED AT THE INPUT TO THE FILTER WILL PRODUCE AN
INFINITE STRING OF NONZERO OUTPUTS IN AN IDEAL SITUATION
&)'52% )MPULSE RESPONSE OF
TAP &)2 FILTER
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
&)'52% 'ENERAL ))2 FILTER BLOCK DIAGRAM
#OMPARED TO &)2 FILTERS ))2 FILTERS OFFER SEVERAL ADVANTAGES )N GENERAL THEY REQUIRE
LESS PROCESSING AND MEMORY TO IMPLEMENT SIMILAR FUNCTIONS )T IS ALSO EASIER TO IMPLE
MENT SOME FILTER RESPONSES AS ))2 RATHER THAN &)2 FILTERS (OWEVER WITHOUT CAREFUL
DESIGN ))2 FILTER RESPONSES CAN BE VERY SENSITIVE TO COEFFICIENT QUANTIZATION LIMITATIONS
AND COULD EXHIBIT A TENDENCY TO OVERFLOW IE PRODUCE AN OUTPUT THAT EXCEEDS THE PROCES
SOR DYNAMIC RANGE DETERMINED BY THE NUMBER OF BITS IN THE DATAPATH !LTHOUGH ))2 FIL
TERS ARE ALMOST NEVER USED IN RADAR SYSTEMS FOR THESE AND A VARIETY OF HISTORICAL REASONS A
CAUTIOUS DESIGNER MIGHT FIND AN APPLICATION WHERE THEY CAN BE USED TO GOOD ADVANTAGE
"Y CONTRAST &)2 FILTERS ARE INHERENTLY STABLE 2EAL &)2 FILTERS WITH SYMMETRIC COEF
FICIENTS AUTOMATICALLY PROVIDE A LINEAR PHASE SHIFT OVER FREQUENCY INTRODUCING LITTLE OR
NO PHASE DISTORTION TO THE FILTERED SIGNAL WHICH IS HIGHLY DESIRABLE IN MANY APPLICA
TIONS "ECAUSE &)2 FILTERS REQUIRE NO FEEDBACK THEY
ARE EASIER TO USE IN VERY HIGH SPEED APPLICATIONS
THAN ))2 FILTERS WHICH TYPICALLY REQUIRE THE COMPU
TATION OF AN OUTPUT SAMPLE BEFORE THE NEXT OUTPUT
SAMPLE CAN BE FORMED #OMPLEX &)2 FILTERS WHERE
A COMPLEX MULTIPLICATION IS PERFORMED AT EACH TAP
CAN BE USED TO IMPLEMENT EQUALIZATION FILTERS TIME
DELAYS AND PULSE COMPRESSION FILTERS
&IGURE SHOWS AN ALTERNATIVE FORM FOR A
&)2 FILTER CALLED A TRANSPOSED FORM &)2 FILTER )N
THIS CONFIGURATION EACH INPUT SAMPLE IS MULTIPLIED
BY ALL OF THE COEFFICIENTS AT ONCE WITH THE SAMPLE
DELAYS BETWEEN THE SUMMER OUTPUTS
)F THE COEFFICIENTS OF A &)2 FILTER ARE SYMMETRIC
SO THAT THE COEFFICIENTS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE CENTER
OF THE FILTER ARE MIRROR IMAGES OF EACH OTHER AS IS
THE CASE WITH LINEAR PHASE FILTERS MULTIPLIERS CAN BE
SAVED BY ADDING THE SAMPLES THAT GET MULTIPLIED BY
THE SAME COEFFICIENT FIRST THEREBY REQUIRING ABOUT
HALF AS MANY MULTIPLIERS AS SHOWN IN &IGURE &)'52% 4RANSPOSED FORM
FOR A TAP EXAMPLE
&)2 FILTER
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52%
TAP &)2 FILTER WITH
SYMMETRIC COEFFICIENTS
$ECIMATION &ILTERS !S MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY THE COMPLEXITY AND COST OF A SIGNAL
PROCESSOR IN TERMS OF THE AMOUNT OF SYSTEM RESOURCES REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT IT GENER
ALLY VARIES LINEARLY WITH THE DATA SAMPLE RATE &OR THIS REASON IN MOST SYSTEM APPLICA
TIONS IT IS COST EFFECTIVE TO REDUCE THE DATA SAMPLE RATE TO A VALUE THAT IS JUST ADEQUATE TO
SUPPORT THE BANDWIDTH OF THE SYSTEM )N APPLICATIONS WHERE THE SAMPLE RATE OF A SIGNAL IS
TO BE DECREASED DECIMATED THE FREQUENCY CONTENT OF THE SIGNAL MUST FIRST BE REDUCED SO
THAT THE .YQUIST CRITERION IS SATISFIED FOR THE NEW SAMPLE RATE 4HIS CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED
BY FIRST PASSING THE SIGNAL THROUGH A DIGITAL &)2 FILTER TO RESTRICT THE BANDWIDTH OF THE
SIGNAL TO LESS THAN HALF OF THE DECIMATED SAMPLE RATE AND THEN REDUCING THE SAMPLE RATE
OF THE FILTERED SIGNAL BY A FACTOR OF 2 BY SELECTING EVERY 2TH SAMPLE AS DESCRIBED IN THE
PREVIOUS DISCUSSION OF DECIMATION ! DESIGNER CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DECIMATION BY
REALIZING THAT ONLY THE FILTER OUTPUTS THAT ARE USED NEED TO BE COMPUTED &OR EXAMPLE
IF THE OUTPUT OF A &)2 FILTER IS TO BE DECIMATED BY A FACTOR OF ONLY EVERY FOURTH FILTER
OUTPUT NEEDS TO BE COMPUTED WHICH REDUCES THE REQUIRED PROCESSING BY A FACTOR OF
)NTERPOLATION &ILTERS )NTERPOLATION IS THE PROCESS BY WHICH THE SAMPLE RATE OF A
SIGNAL IS INCREASED FOR EXAMPLE IN PREPARING THE SIGNAL TO BE UPCONVERTED TO AN )&
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE )NTERPOLATORS ARE TYPICALLY &)2 FILTERS WITH A LOWPASS FILTER
RESPONSE 4O INCREASE THE SAMPLE RATE BY A FACTOR 2 2 n ZEROES ARE FIRST INSERTED
BETWEEN THE LOW RATE DATA SAMPLES CREATING A DATA STREAM AT A SAMPLE RATE 2 TIMES
FASTER THAN THE INPUT RATE UPSAMPLING 4HIS DATA STREAM IS THEN PASSED THROUGH THE
LOWPASS &)2 FILTER TO PRODUCE THE INTERPOLATED HIGH SAMPLE RATE OUTPUT /F COURSE
THE &)2 FILTER MUST BE CLOCKED AT THE HIGHER DATA RATE 4HIS PROCESS IS ILLUSTRATED IN
&IGURE FOR A FOUR TIMES INCREASE IN SAMPLE RATE
&)'52% )LLUSTRATION OF INTERPOLATION FILTERING
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
#ASCADED )NTEGRATOR #OMB #)# &ILTERS )N DECIMATION OR INTERPOLATION APPLI
CATIONS WHERE THE RATE CHANGE FACTOR IS LARGE TYPICALLY OR GREATER A &)2 FILTER
IMPLEMENTATION MIGHT BE PROHIBITIVELY COSTLY DUE TO THE LARGE NUMBER OF FILTER TAPS
THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED #)# FILTERS ARE A CLASS OF FILTERS INTRODUCED BY (OGENAUER
THAT PROVIDE A VERY EFFICIENT MEANS OF IMPLEMENTING THESE FILTER FUNCTIONS THAT DO
NOT REQUIRE MULTIPLIERS %XCELLENT DESCRIPTIONS OF THIS CLASS OF FILTER ARE PROVIDED BY
,YONS AND (ARRIS WHICH FORM THE BASIS FOR THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION
&IGURE A SHOWS A SINGLE STAGE #)# DECIMATOR 4HE FILTER CONTAINS AN INTEGRATOR
STAGE CONSISTING OF A SINGLE SAMPLE DELAY AND AN ADDER FOLLOWED BY A COMB STAGE WITH
A $ STAGE SHIFT REGISTER DENOTED BY THE $S BLOCK AND A SUBTRACTOR 4HE COMB FILTER GETS
ITS NAME BECAUSE ITS FREQUENCY RESPONSE LOOKS LIKE A RECTIFIED SINE WAVE AND RESEMBLES
THE TEETH OF A COMB !FTER THE COMB STAGE THE SIGNAL IS DECIMATED BY A FACTOR 2 DENOTED
BY THE m2 BLOCK BY ONLY PASSING EVERY 2TH SAMPLE )N MOST APPLICATIONS THE NUMBER
OF STAGES IN THE SHIFT REGISTER $ IS EQUAL TO THE RATE CHANGE FACTOR 2 &IGURE B
DEPICTS A #)# INTERPOLATOR WHERE UPSAMPLING BY A FACTOR OF 2 DENOTED BY THE k2 BLOCK
IS FOLLOWED BY A COMB SECTION AND AN INTEGRATOR 4HE UPSAMPLING IS ACCOMPLISHED BY
ZERO INSERTION AS DESCRIBED IN THE PREVIOUS SECTION h)NTERPOLATION &ILTERSv .OTE THAT THE
PROCESSING ONLY CONSISTS OF DELAYS AND ADDS
&IGURE A SHOWS THE SINX X FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF A SINGLE STAGE #)# DECI
MATOR WHERE 2 $ 4HE DESIRED PASSBAND IS THE LIGHTLY SHADED AREA CENTERED AT
(Z WITH BANDWIDTH "7 4HE DARKER SHADED AREAS WITH BANDWIDTH "7 IN &IGURE A
INDICATE SIGNALS THAT WILL ALIAS INTO THE BASEBAND SIGNAL AFTER DECIMATION BY AS SHOWN
IN &IGURE B AFTER ,YONS .OTE THAT UNLESS "7 IS VERY SMALL A SIGNIFICANT PORTION
OF OUT OF BAND SIGNALS WOULD GET FOLDED INTO THE DECIMATED BASEBAND SIGNAL 4HE TYPI
CAL METHOD USED TO IMPROVE THIS FILTER RESPONSE IS TO INCREASE THE FILTER ORDER BY ADDING
MORE STAGES &IGURE SHOWS A THREE STAGE #)# DECIMATION FILTER AND ITS FREQUENCY
RESPONSE BEFORE AND AFTER DECIMATION BY IS SHOWN IN &IGURE A AND B RESPECTIVELY
.OTE THAT THE ALIASED COMPONENTS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED IN AMPLITUDE COMPARED TO THE
SINGLE STAGE #)# FILTER RESPONSE AND THE MAIN PASSBAND HAS MORE ATTENUATION TOWARD THE
EDGES )N TYPICAL APPLICATIONS A #)# DECIMATOR IS FOLLOWED BY A &)2 LOWPASS FILTER AND A
FINAL DECIMATION BY 4HAT IS A DECIMATE BY FILTER WOULD BE COMPOSED OF A DECIMATE
BY #)# FILTER FOLLOWED BY A DECIMATE BY &)2 FILTER 4HE &)2 FILTER CAN BE TAILORED TO
REMOVE THE UNDESIRED RESIDUAL COMPONENTS BEFORE THE FINAL DECIMATION 4HE &)2 FILTER
CAN ALSO BE CONFIGURED TO COMPENSATE FOR THE DROOP IN THE PASSBAND RESPONSE
&IGURE SHOWS AN EQUIVALENT FORM FOR A #)# DECIMATION FILTER WHERE THE DECI
MATION OCCURS RIGHT AFTER THE INTEGRATOR SECTION AND BEFORE THE COMB SECTION 4HE DELAY
IN THE COMB FILTER BECOMES A VALUE .S WHERE . IS EQUAL TO $2 4HIS ALLOWS THE COMB
SECTION TO OPERATE AT THE DECIMATED SAMPLE RATE WHICH MAKES IT SIMPLER TO IMPLEMENT
$UE TO THIS SIMPLIFICATION #)# DECIMATORS ARE GENERALLY IMPLEMENTED IN THIS FORM
&)'52% A #)# DECIMATION FILTER AND B #)# INTERPOLATION FILTER
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% &REQUENCY RESPONSE OF SINGLE
STAGE #)# DECIMATION FILTER A BEFORE DECIMATION
AND B AFTER DECIMATION
&)'52% 4HREE STAGE #)# DECIMATION FILTER
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
&)'52% &REQUENCY RESPONSE OF THIRD
ORDER #)# DECIMATION FILTER A BEFORE DECIMATION
AND B AFTER DECIMATION
&)'52% #)# FILTER WITH DECIMATION
AFTER INTEGRATOR
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
#AREFUL INSPECTION OF THE DECIMATOR ARCHITECTURE REVEALS A POTENTIAL PROBLEM WITH
THE INTEGRATOR 4HE INPUT SAMPLES CONTINUALLY GET ADDED TO THE RUNNING SUM PRODUCING A
DEFINITE OVERFLOW CONDITION 4HE BEAUTY OF THE ARCHITECTURE IS THAT OVERFLOWS ARE ALLOWED
AND COMPENSATED FOR BY THE COMB SECTION AS LONG AS THERE ARE ENOUGH BITS IN THE ADDERS
TO REPRESENT THE MAXIMUM EXPECTED OUTPUT VALUE AND THE FILTER IS IMPLEMENTED USING
TWOS COMPLEMENT ARITHMETIC !S DESCRIBED BY (ARRIS THE NUMBER OF BITS REQUIRED IN
THE ADDERS B!$$%2 IS GIVEN BY
B!$$%2 B$!4! #%),;LOG'!). =
WHERE B$!4! IS THE NUMBER OF BITS IN THE INPUT DATA AND #%),; = INDICATES ROUNDING THE
NUMBER IN THE BRACKETS TO THE NEXT HIGHEST INTEGER '!). IS GIVEN BY
'!). 2+
WHERE 2 IS THE DECIMATION FACTOR AND + IS THE NUMBER OF STAGES IN THE FILTER RESULTING IN
B!$$%2 B$!4! #%),;LOG2+ =
&OR EXAMPLE ASSUME WE HAVE BIT INPUT DATA B$!4! AND A STAGE #)# FILTER
+ THAT DECIMATES THE SAMPLE RATE BY A FACTOR OF 2 3UBSTITUTING INTO THIS
EQUATION PRODUCES
B!$$%2 #%),;LOG = #%),;=
)N PRACTICE ALTHOUGH THE FIRST ADDER STAGE MUST SUPPORT THIS NUMBER OF BITS LOWER
ORDER BITS MAY BE PRUNED FROM THE ADDERS IN SUCCESSIVE STAGES AS DESCRIBED BY
(ARRIS
! #)# INTERPOLATING FILTER WOULD BE PRECEDED BY A &)2 FILTER BASED INTERPOLATOR
#)# INTERPOLATORS ARE DESCRIBED IN DETAIL IN THE REFERENCED LITERATURE
4HE $ISCRETE &OURIER 4RANSFORM $&4 )N MANY SAMPLED DATA SYSTEMS SPEC
TRAL ANALYSIS IS IMPLEMENTED BY PERFORMING THE DISCRETE &OURIER TRANSFORM $&4 4HE
$&4 FORMS THE BASIS FOR MANY RADAR SIGNAL PROCESSING ALGORITHMS SUCH AS DOPPLER
PROCESSING AND FAST CONVOLUTION PULSE COMPRESSION DESCRIBED IN #HAPTER AS WELL AS
RADAR FUNCTIONS SUCH AS SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR 3!2 AND INVERSE SYNTHETIC APERTURE
RADAR )3!2 4HE $&4 TAKES . DATA SAMPLES REAL OR COMPLEX AS INPUT AND GENER
ATES . COMPLEX NUMBERS AS OUTPUT WHERE THE OUTPUT SAMPLES REPRESENT THE FREQUENCY
CONTENT OF THE INPUT DATA SEQUENCE &OR A SAMPLE RATE FS EACH OUTPUT FREQUENCY SAMPLE
BIN HAS A WIDTH OF FS. 4HE MTH OUTPUT SAMPLE 8M REPRESENTS THE AMPLITUDE AND
PHASE OF THE FREQUENCY CONTENT OF THE FINITE LENGTH INPUT SEQUENCE CENTERED AT THE
FREQUENCY MFS.
)F AN INPUT SIGNAL IS EXACTLY CENTERED IN ONE OF THE $&4 FREQUENCY BINS THE OUTPUT
WILL HAVE A MAXIMUM VALUE FOR THAT BIN AND NULLS FOR ALL OTHER BINS (OWEVER ANY FRE
QUENCY OTHER THAN ONE CENTERED IN A BIN WILL BLEED INTO THE OTHER BINS 4HE BASIC $&4
BIN HAS A FREQUENCY RESPONSE SIMILAR TO SINX X WHICH MEANS THAT A SIGNAL IN ANOTHER
BIN MIGHT BLEED INTO A $&4 FREQUENCY BIN WITH AN ATTENUATION AS SMALL AS D" 4O
COMPENSATE FOR THIS THE INPUT SAMPLES CAN BE WEIGHTED IN AMPLITUDE WITH A WIDE SELEC
TION OF WEIGHTS SUCH AS (ANNING AND (AMMING WEIGHTS WHICH BROADEN THE MAIN LOBE
RESPONSE OF THE $&4 OUTPUT BUT REDUCE THE AMPLITUDE OF THE SIDE LOBES ! THOROUGH
TREATMENT OF $&4 WEIGHTING FUNCTIONS AND THEIR EFFECTS IS GIVEN BY (ARRIS
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
&)'52% 2ADIX
BUTTERFLY
4HE &AST &OURIER 4RANSFORM &&4 4HE IMPLEMENTATION OF A $&4 IS COMPUTA
TIONALLY INTENSIVE REQUIRING . COMPLEX MULTIPLIES 4HE FAST &OURIER TRANSFORM &&4
IS A VERY EFFICIENT TECHNIQUE TO IMPLEMENT THE $&4 IF . IS A POWER OF WHICH REQUIRES
ONLY . LOG. COMPLEX MULTIPLIES
4HE BASIC COMPUTATIONAL ELEMENT IN AN &&4 IS THE BUTTERFLY SHOWN IN &IGURE
)N THE BUTTERFLY OPERATION ONE INPUT IS PHASE SHIFTED AND THEN ADDED TO AND SUBTRACTED
FROM A SECOND INPUT TO FORM TWO OUTPUTS 4HIS STRUCTURE IS REFERRED TO AS A RADIX
BUT
TERFLY BECAUSE IT HAS TWO INPUTS &OR CERTAIN &&4 CONFIGURATIONS RADIX
AND HIGHER
RADIX BUTTERFLIES PROVIDE SOME COMPUTATIONAL SAVINGS
&IGURE SHOWS A RADIX
POINT &&4 4HE PHASE SHIFTS ARE REPRESENTED AS
COMPLEX WEIGHTS 7.K WHERE . IS THE NUMBER OF POINTS IN THE &&4 AND K INDICATES THE
PARTICULAR PHASE SHIFT APPLIED 7.K DENOTES A PHASE SHIFT OF KP. 4HESE WEIGHTS ARE
OFTEN REFERRED TO AS TWIDDLE FACTORS &IGURE SHOWS THE PHASE SHIFTS ASSOCIATED
WITH VARIOUS TWIDDLE FACTORS
.OTE THAT THE
POINT &&4 CONSISTS OF THREE STAGES !LL OF THE COMPUTATIONS IN EACH
STAGE ARE EXECUTED BEFORE PROCEEDING TO THE NEXT STAGE !LSO NOTE THAT THE PHASE SHIFT
IN THE FIRST STAGE 7 IS ZERO WHICH REQUIRES NO COMPUTATION AT ALL
&)'52% %IGHT
POINT 2ADIX
&&4
x{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% 0HASE SHIFTS INFERRED BY VARIOUS TWIDDLE FACTORS
3INCE ADDITIONS ARE PERFORMED IN EACH STAGE THE MAGNITUDE OF EACH OUTPUT STAGE
SAMPLE COULD BE A FACTOR OF TWO OR MORE GREATER THAN THE INPUT SAMPLES )F FIXED
POINT
COMPUTATIONS ARE USED THEN THIS INCREASED DYNAMIC RANGE RESULTS IN A GROWTH IN THE
NUMBER OF BITS REQUIRED TO REPRESENT THE VALUES AND THERE NEEDS TO BE A STRATEGY TO
ACCOMMODATE IT
4HERE ARE SEVERAL TECHNIQUES GENERALLY USED TO HANDLE THIS INCREASED DYNAMIC RANGE
IN FIXED
POINT &&4S /NE SCHEME WOULD BE TO ENSURE THAT THE COMPUTATION STAGES CARRY
ENOUGH BITS TO ACCOMMODATE THE BIT
GROWTH &OR EXAMPLE IN OUR
POINT &&4 EXAMPLE
IF WE ASSUME THAT THE INPUT SAMPLES ARE
BIT COMPLEX NUMBERS AND IF WE ASSUME
THAT THE MAGNITUDES OF THE COMPLEX NUMBERS DO NOT EXCEED BITS THEN THE FINAL &&4
OUTPUTS COULD GROW BITS COMPARED TO THE INPUTS SO THE &&4 COMPUTATIONS COULD BE
PERFORMED WITH BIT OR LARGER ADDERS 4HIS ALSO MEANS THAT THE MULTIPLIERS WOULD HAVE
TO HANDLE THE LARGER NUMBER OF BITS ON THE INPUTS 4HIS METHOD COULD GET UNWIELDY FOR
LARGE &&4S
!NOTHER TECHNIQUE IS TO AUTOMATICALLY SCALE THE OUTPUTS OF EACH STAGE BY A FACTOR OF
WHICH WOULD NOT ALLOW THE OUTPUTS TO GROW 5NFORTUNATELY THIS WOULD ALSO LIMIT
ANY PROCESSING GAIN THAT THE &&4 MIGHT OFFER
! THIRD METHOD CALLED BLOCK FLOATING POINT CHECKS THE MAGNITUDES OF ALL THE OUT
PUTS AFTER EACH STAGE IS COMPUTED AND PROVIDES A SINGLE EXPONENT FOR ALL OUTPUT VALUES
)F ANY OF THE OUTPUTS HAVE OVERFLOWED OR COME NEAR TO OVERFLOWING THEN ALL OF THE
OUTPUTS ARE SCALED BY A FACTOR OF AND THE COMMON EXPONENT IS INCREMENTED BY
%NOUGH BITS HAVE TO BE PROVIDED IN THE FINAL MANTISSA TO ACCOMMODATE THE DYNAMIC
RANGE GROWTH 4HIS TECHNIQUE IS POPULAR BECAUSE IT ONLY SCALES THE OUTPUT VALUES WHEN
ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY
xx
-
" -
,/" 4HIS SECTION ADDRESSES TOPICS THAT NEED TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE DESIGN OF RADAR $30
SYSTEMS AS WELL AS IMPLEMENTATION ALTERNATIVES
4IMING $EPENDENCIES )N COHERENT RADAR SYSTEMS ALL LOCAL OSCILLATORS ,/S
AND CLOCKS THAT GENERATE SYSTEM TIMING ARE DERIVED FROM A SINGLE REFERENCE OSCILLA
TOR (OWEVER THIS FACT ALONE DOES NOT ENSURE THAT THE TRANSMITTED WAVEFORM STARTS
AT THE SAME 2& PHASE ON EVERY PULSE WHICH IS A REQUIREMENT FOR COHERENT SYSTEMS
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
xx
#ONSIDER A SYSTEM WITH A
-(Z REFERENCE OSCILLATOR FROM WHICH IS DERIVED A
-(Z )& CENTER FREQUENCY ON TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE AND A COMPLEX SAMPLE RATE
OF -(Z ! RULE OF THUMB IS THAT THE CLOCK USED TO PRODUCE THE PULSE REPETITION
INTERVAL 02) NEEDS TO BE A COMMON DENOMINATOR OF THE )& CENTER FREQUENCIES ON
TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE AND THE COMPLEX SAMPLE FREQUENCY IN ORDER TO ASSURE PULSE
TO
PULSE PHASE COHERENCY &OR THIS EXAMPLE WITH AN )& CENTER FREQUENCY OF -(Z AND
A COMPLEX SAMPLE RATE OF -(Z ALLOWABLE 02) CLOCK FREQUENCIES WOULD INCLUDE
-(Z AND -(Z
(ARDWARE )MPLEMENTATION 4ECHNOLOGY )N THE PAST IMPLEMENTING A REAL
TIME RADAR DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR TYPICALLY REQUIRED THE DESIGN OF A CUSTOM COMPUT
ING MACHINE USING THOUSANDS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE INTEGRATED CIRCUITS )#S 4HESE
MACHINES WERE VERY DIFFICULT TO DESIGN DEVELOP AND MODIFY $IGITAL TECHNOLOGY HAS
ADVANCED TO THE POINT WHERE SEVERAL IMPLEMENTATION ALTERNATIVES EXIST THAT MAKE THE
PROCESSOR MORE PROGRAMMABLE AND HENCE EASIER TO DESIGN AND CHANGE
0ARALLEL 'ENERAL
PURPOSE #OMPUTERS 4HIS ARCHITECTURE EMPLOYS MULTIPLE GEN
ERAL
PURPOSE PROCESSORS THAT ARE CONNECTED VIA HIGH
SPEED COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
)NCLUDED IN THIS CLASS ARE HIGH
END SERVERS AND EMBEDDED PROCESSOR ARCHITECTURES
3ERVERS ARE TYPICALLY HOMOGENEOUS PROCESSORS WHERE ALL OF THE PROCESSING NODES
ARE IDENTICAL AND ARE CONNECTED BY A VERY HIGH
PERFORMANCE DATA BUS ARCHITECTURE
%MBEDDED PROCESSOR ARCHITECTURES ARE TYPICALLY COMPOSED OF SINGLE
BOARD COMPUTERS
BLADES THAT CONTAIN MULTIPLE GENERAL
PURPOSE PROCESSORS AND PLUG INTO A STANDARD
BACKPLANE ARCHITECTURE SUCH AS 6-% 4HIS CONFIGURATION OFFERS THE FLEXIBILITY OF SUP
PORTING A HETEROGENEOUS ARCHITECTURE WHERE A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT PROCESSING BLADES
OR INTERFACE BOARDS CAN BE PLUGGED INTO THE STANDARD BACKPLANE TO CONFIGURE A TOTAL
SYSTEM !T THIS WRITING BACKPLANES ARE MIGRATING FROM PARALLEL ARCHITECTURES WHERE
DATA IS TYPICALLY PASSED AS
OR
BIT WORDS TO SERIAL DATA LINKS WHICH PASS SINGLE
BITS AT VERY HIGH CLOCK RATES CURRENTLY IN EXCESS OF GIGABITS PER SECOND 'BPS
4HESE SERIAL DATA LINKS ARE TYPICALLY POINT
TO
POINT CONNECTIONS )N ORDER TO COMMUNI
CATE WITH MULTIPLE BOARDS THE SERIAL LINKS FROM EACH BOARD GO TO A HIGH
SPEED SWITCH
BOARD THAT CONNECTS THE APPROPRIATE SOURCE AND DESTINATION SERIAL LINKS TOGETHER TO FORM
A SERIAL FABRIC %XAMPLES OF POPULAR SERIAL FABRIC BACKPLANES AT THIS WRITING INCLUDE
683 608 AND !4#! )T IS APPARENT THAT HIGH
SPEED SERIAL LINKS WILL BE THE PRIMARY
COMMUNICATION MECHANISM FOR MULTIPROCESSOR MACHINES INTO THE FUTURE WITH EVER
INCREASING DATA BANDWIDTHS
4HESE PARALLEL PROCESSOR ARCHITECTURES OFFER THE BENEFIT OF BEING PROGRAMMABLE
USING HIGH
LEVEL LANGUAGES SUCH AS # AND # ! RELATED ADVANTAGE IS THAT PROGRAM
MERS CAN DESIGN THE SYSTEM WITHOUT KNOWING THE INTIMATE DETAILS OF THE HARDWARE
!LSO THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPED TO IMPLEMENT THE SYSTEM CAN TYPICALLY BE MOVED RELA
TIVELY EASILY TO A NEW HARDWARE ARCHITECTURE AS PART OF A TECHNOLOGY REFRESH CYCLE
/N THE NEGATIVE SIDE THESE SYSTEMS CAN BE DIFFICULT TO PROGRAM TO SUPPORT REAL
TIME
SIGNAL PROCESSING 4HE REQUIRED OPERATIONS NEED TO BE SPLIT UP APPROPRIATELY AMONG
THE AVAILABLE PROCESSORS AND THE RESULTS NEED TO BE PROPERLY MERGED TO FORM THE FINAL
RESULT ! MAJOR CHALLENGE IN THESE APPLICATIONS IS TO SUPPORT THE PROCESSING LATENCY
REQUIREMENTS OF THE SYSTEM WHICH DEFINES THE MAXIMUM LENGTH OF TIME ALLOWED TO
PRODUCE A RESULT 4HE LATENCY OF A PROCESSOR IS DEFINED AS THE AMOUNT OF TIME REQUIRED
TO OBSERVE THE EFFECT OF A CHANGE AT A PROCESSORS INPUT ON ITS OUTPUT !CHIEVING LATENCY
GOALS OFTEN REQUIRES ASSIGNING SMALLER PIECES OF THE WORKLOAD TO INDIVIDUAL PROCESSORS
LEADING TO MORE PROCESSORS AND A MORE EXPENSIVE SYSTEM !NOTHER CHALLENGE FACING
x
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
THESE SYSTEMS IN A RADAR APPLICATION IS RESET TIME )N A MILITARY APPLICATION WHEN A
SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE RESET IN ORDER TO FIX A PROBLEM THE SYSTEM NEEDS TO COME BACK TO
FULL OPERATION IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME 4HESE MULTIPROCESSOR SYSTEMS TYPICALLY
TAKE A LONG TIME TO REBOOT FROM A CENTRAL PROGRAM STORE AND HENCE HAVE DIFFICULTY
MEETING RESET REQUIREMENTS $EVELOPING TECHNIQUES TO ADDRESS THESE DEFICIENCIES IS AN
ACTIVE AREA OF RESEARCH &INALLY THESE PROCESSORS ARE GENERALLY USED FOR NON
REAL
TIME
OR NEAR
REAL
TIME DATA PROCESSING AS IN TARGET TRACKING AND DISPLAY PROCESSING 3INCE
THE S THEY HAVE STARTED TO BE APPLIED TO REAL
TIME SIGNAL PROCESSING APPLICATIONS
!LTHOUGH THEY MIGHT BE COST
EFFECTIVE FOR RELATIVELY NARROWBAND SYSTEMS THEIR USE IN
WIDEBAND $30 SYSTEMS IN THE EARLY ST CENTURY IS TYPICALLY PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE
DUE TO THE LARGE NUMBER OF PROCESSORS REQUIRED 4HIS SITUATION SHOULD IMPROVE OVER
TIME AS FASTER AND FASTER PROCESSORS BECOME AVAILABLE
#USTOM
DESIGNED (ARDWARE 4HROUGH THE S REAL
TIME RADAR $30 SYSTEMS
WERE BUILT USING DISCRETE LOGIC 4HESE SYSTEMS WERE VERY DIFFICULT TO DEVELOP AND MOD
IFY BUT IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE REQUIRED SYSTEM PERFORMANCE IT WAS THE ONLY OPTION
AVAILABLE -ANY SYSTEMS WERE BUILT USING !PPLICATION
3PECIFIC )NTEGRATED #IRCUITS
!3)#S WHICH ARE CUSTOM DEVICES DESIGNED TO PERFORM A PARTICULAR FUNCTION 4HE
USE OF !3)#S ALLOWED $30 SYSTEMS TO BECOME VERY SMALL WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE
(OWEVER THEY WERE AND STILL ARE DIFFICULT AND EXPENSIVE TO DEVELOP OFTEN REQUIRING
SEVERAL DESIGN ITERATIONS BEFORE THE DEVICE WAS FULLY OPERATIONAL )F AN !3)#
BASED
SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE MODIFIED THE !3)#S NEED TO BE REDESIGNED INCURRING SIGNIFICANT
EXPENSE 4YPICALLY THE USE OF !3)#S MAKES SENSE IF TENS OR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF
UNITS ARE TO BE SOLD SO THAT THE DEVELOPMENT COSTS CAN BE AMORTIZED OVER THE LIFE OF THE
UNIT 4HIS IS RARELY THE CASE FOR RADAR SYSTEMS (OWEVER MANY !3)#S HAVE BEEN DEVEL
OPED TO SUPPORT THE COMMUNICATION INDUSTRY SUCH AS DIGITAL UP
AND DOWNCONVERTERS
WHICH CAN BE UTILIZED IN RADAR SYSTEMS
4HE INTRODUCTION OF THE &IELD 0ROGRAMMABLE 'ATE !RRAY &0'! IN THE S
HERALDED A REVOLUTION IN THE WAY REAL
TIME $30 SYSTEMS WERE DESIGNED &0'!S ARE
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS THAT CONSIST OF A LARGE ARRAY OF CONFIGURABLE LOGIC ELEMENTS THAT
ARE CONNECTED BY A PROGRAMMABLE INTERCONNECT STRUCTURE !T THE TIME OF THIS WRITING
&0'!S CAN ALSO INCORPORATE HUNDREDS OF MULTIPLIERS THAT CAN BE CLOCKED AT RATES UP
TO A HALF BILLION OPERATIONS PER SECOND AND MEMORY BLOCKS MICROPROCESSORS AND
SERIAL COMMUNICATION LINKS THAT CAN SUPPORT MULTIGIGABIT
PER
SECOND DATA TRANSFERS
#IRCUITS ARE TYPICALLY DESIGNED USING A HARDWARE DESCRIPTION LANGUAGE ($, SUCH
AS 6($, 6(3)# (ARDWARE $ESCRIPTION ,ANGUAGE OR 6ERILOG 3OFTWARE TOOLS CON
VERT THIS HIGH
LEVEL DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESSOR TO A FILE THAT IS SENT TO THE DEVICE TO
TELL IT HOW TO CONFIGURE ITSELF (IGH
PERFORMANCE &0'!S STORE THEIR CONFIGURATION IN
VOLATILE MEMORY WHICH LOSES ITS CONTENTS WHEN POWERED DOWN MAKING THE DEVICES
INFINITELY REPROGRAMMABLE
&0'!S ALLOW THE DESIGNER TO FABRICATE COMPLEX SIGNAL PROCESSING ARCHITECTURES VERY
EFFICIENTLY )N TYPICAL LARGE APPLICATIONS &0'!
BASED PROCESSORS CAN BE A FACTOR OF TEN
OR MORE SMALLER AND LESS COSTLY THAN SYSTEMS BASED ON GENERAL
PURPOSE PROCESSORS
4HIS IS DUE TO THE FACT THAT MOST MICROPROCESSORS ONLY HAVE ONE OR VERY FEW PROCESSING
ELEMENTS WHEREAS &0'!S HAVE AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC ELEMENTS
AND MULTIPLIERS &OR EXAMPLE TO IMPLEMENT A
TAP &)2 FILTER IN A MICROPROCESSOR
WITH A SINGLE MULTIPLIER AND ACCUMULATOR IT WOULD TAKE CLOCK CYCLES TO PERFORM THE
MULTIPLICATIONS )N AN &0'! WE COULD ASSIGN MULTIPLIERS AND ACCUMULATORS TO
THE TASK AND THE FILTER COULD BE PERFORMED IN ONE CLOCK CYCLE
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
)N ORDER TO USE AN &0'! MOST EFFICIENTLY WE HAVE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL OF
THE RESOURCES IT OFFERS 4HESE INCLUDE NOT ONLY THE LARGE NUMBERS OF LOGIC ELEMENTS
MULTIPLIERS AND MEMORY BLOCKS BUT ALSO THE RATE AT WHICH THE COMPONENTS CAN BE
CLOCKED )N THE PREVIOUS EXAMPLE ASSUME THAT THE DATA SAMPLE RATE IS -(Z AND ALSO
ASSUME THAT THE MULTIPLIERS AND LOGIC CAN BE CLOCKED AT -(Z )F WE SIMPLY ASSIGN
ONE MULTIPLIER TO EACH COEFFICIENT WE WOULD USE MULTIPLIERS CLOCKING AT -(Z
3INCE THE DATA RATE IS ONLY -(Z EACH MULTIPLIER WOULD ONLY PERFORM ONE SIGNIFICANT
MULTIPLICATION EVERY MICROSECOND AND THEN BE IDLE FOR THE OTHER CLOCKS IN THE
MICROSECOND WHICH IS VERY INEFFICIENT )T WOULD BE MUCH MORE EFFICIENT IN THIS CASE
TO USE ONE MULTIPLIER TO PERFORM AS MANY PRODUCTS AS POSSIBLE 4HIS TECHNIQUE CALLED
TIME
DOMAIN MULTIPLEXING REQUIRES ADDITIONAL LOGIC TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM AND PROVIDE
THE CORRECT OPERANDS TO THE MULTIPLIER AT THE RIGHT TIME 3INCE AN &0'! CAN INCORPORATE
HUNDREDS OF MULTIPLIERS ONE CAN APPRECIATE THE POWER OF THIS TECHNIQUE
/N THE NEGATIVE SIDE UTILIZING AN &0'! TO ITS BEST ADVANTAGE TYPICALLY REQUIRES THE
DESIGNER TO HAVE A THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING OF THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN THE DEVICE
4HIS TYPICALLY MAKES EFFICIENT &0'!
BASED SYSTEMS HARDER TO DESIGN THAN SYSTEMS
BASED ON GENERAL
PURPOSE PROCESSORS WHERE A DETAILED UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCES
SOR ARCHITECTURE IS NOT NECESSARILY REQUIRED !LSO &0'! DESIGNS TEND TO BE AIMED AT
A PARTICULAR FAMILY OF DEVICES AND TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE RESOURCES PROVIDED BY
THAT FAMILY (ARDWARE VENDORS ARE CONSTANTLY INTRODUCING NEW PRODUCTS INVARIABLY
INCORPORATING NEW AND IMPROVED CAPABILITIES /VER TIME THE OLDER DEVICES BECOME
OBSOLETE AND NEED TO BE REPLACED DURING A TECHNOLOGY REFRESH CYCLE 7HEN A TECHNOL
OGY REFRESH OCCURS SEVERAL YEARS DOWN THE ROAD TYPICALLY THE AVAILABLE RESOURCES IN THE
LATEST &0'!S HAVE CHANGED OR A TOTALLY DIFFERENT DEVICE FAMILY IS USED WHICH PROBABLY
REQUIRES A REDESIGN /N THE OTHER HAND SOFTWARE DEVELOPED FOR GENERAL
PURPOSE PRO
CESSORS MAY ONLY NEED TO BE RECOMPILED IN ORDER TO MOVE IT TO A NEW PROCESSOR 4OOLS
CURRENTLY EXIST THAT SYNTHESIZE # OR -ATLAB CODE INTO AN &0'! DESIGN BUT THESE TOOLS
ARE TYPICALLY NOT VERY EFFICIENT 4HE EVOLUTION OF DESIGN TOOLS FOR &0'!S TO ADDRESS
THESE PROBLEMS IS AN AREA OF MUCH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
(YBRID 0ROCESSORS !LTHOUGH IT WOULD BE VERY DESIRABLE TO SIMPLY WRITE # CODE
TO IMPLEMENT A COMPLEX RADAR SIGNAL PROCESSOR THE REALITY IN THE EARLY ST CENTURY IS
THAT FOR MANY SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTING SUCH A SYSTEM WOULD BE PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE
OR INFLICT MAJOR PERFORMANCE DEGRADATION !LTHOUGH THE STEADY INCREASE IN PROCESSOR
THROUGHPUT MAY SOMEDAY COME TO THE RESCUE THE REALITY AT THIS WRITING IS THAT HIGH
PERFORMANCE RADAR SIGNAL PROCESSORS ARE USUALLY A HYBRID OF APPLICATION
SPECIFIC AND
PROGRAMMABLE PROCESSORS $EDICATED PROCESSORS SUCH AS &0'!S OR !3)#S ARE TYPI
CALLY USED IN THE HIGH
SPEED FRONT END OF RADAR SIGNAL PROCESSORS PERFORMING DEMAND
ING FUNCTIONS SUCH AS DIGITAL DOWNCONVERSION AND PULSE COMPRESSION FOLLOWED BY
PROGRAMMABLE PROCESSORS IN THE REAR PERFORMING THE LOWER
SPEED TASKS SUCH AS DETEC
TION PROCESSING 4HE LOCATION OF THE LINE THAT SEPARATES THE TWO DOMAINS IS APPLICATION
DEPENDENT BUT OVER TIME IT IS CONSTANTLY MOVING TOWARD THE FRONT END OF THE SYSTEM
x -1 ,9
4HE PURPOSE OF THIS CHAPTER WAS TO PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF HOW DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESS
ING HAS TRANSFORMED RADAR SYSTEM DESIGN AND TO GIVE SOME INSIGHT INTO THE TECHNIQUES
AND TRADEOFFS THAT A DESIGNER HAS TO CONSIDER 7ITH MANUFACTURERS CONTINUALLY PRODUCING
xn
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% $IRECT SAMPLING RADAR DIGITAL RECEIVER
FASTER AND MORE POWERFUL !$#S $30 DEVICES AND GENERAL PURPOSE PROCESSORS MORE
AND MORE OF THE RADAR SYSTEM FRONT END WILL MOVE FROM ANALOG TO DIGITAL DESIGNS &OR
EXAMPLE &IGURE SHOWS A TYPICAL DIGITAL RECEIVER FOR A RADAR FRONT END WHICH REQUIRES
TWO STAGES OF ANALOG DOWNCONVERSION TO BRING THE 2& SIGNAL DOWN TO AN )& THAT CAN BE
SAMPLED BY AN !$# 4HIS IS REQUIRED BECAUSE OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE !$# WHICH
TYPICALLY HAS POORER SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO 3.2 AND SPUR FREE DYNAMIC RANGE 3&$2
WHEN THE INPUT ANALOG SIGNAL IS TOO HIGH AS WOULD BE THE CASE IF IT WERE PRESENTED WITH
THE 2& OR HIGH )& SIGNAL DIRECTLY (OWEVER WHEN FASTER !$#S BECOME AVAILABLE WHICH
CAN ACCOMMODATE HIGHER ANALOG INPUT FREQUENCIES WHILE PROVIDING ADEQUATE 3.2 AND
3&$2 SYSTEMS WILL BE DESIGNED THAT SAMPLE THE 2& DIRECTLY AS SHOWN IN &IGURE
!T THIS WRITING !$# TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS DIRECT SAMPLING SYSTEMS WITH RESPECTABLE PERFOR
MANCE TO BE DESIGNED FOR RADARS IN THE (& AND 6(& BANDS $OUBTLESS FUTURE COMPONENTS
WILL EXTEND THIS PERFORMANCE TO HIGHER 2& FREQUENCIES
"7
/4HE AUTHORS WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE EFFORTS OF AND EXTEND THEIR SINCERE GRATI
TUDE TO SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS WHO HELPED THEM IMMENSELY IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS
CHAPTER &IRST TO -R 'REGORY 4AVIK OF .2, FOR HIS THOROUGH REVIEW OF THIS CHAPTER
AND THE MANY EXCELLENT COMMENTS HE MADE .EXT TO $R &RED (ARRIS OF 3AN $IEGO
3TATE 5NIVERSITY AND -R 2ICHARD ,YONS WHO GRACIOUSLY REVIEWED SECTIONS OF THE
CHAPTER AND OFFERED SEVERAL SUGGESTIONS ALL OF WHICH WERE INCORPORATED
,
,
! 6 /PPENHEIM AND 2 7 3CHAFER $IGITAL 3IGNAL 0ROCESSING ND %D %NGLEWOOD #LIFFS .*
0RENTICE
(ALL
2 ' ,YONS 5NDERSTANDING $IGITAL 3IGNAL 0ROCESSING ND %D 5PPER 3ADDLE 2IVER .*
0RENTICE (ALL
* / #OLEMAN h-ULTI
RATE $30 BEFORE DISCRETE
TIME SIGNALS AND SYSTEMS v PRESENTED AT &IRST
)%%% 7ORKSHOP ON 3IGNAL 0ROCESSING %DUCATION 30% (UNT 48 /CTOBER
7 - 7ATERS AND " 2 *ARRETT h"ANDPASS SIGNAL SAMPLING AND COHERENT DETECTION v )%%% 4RANS
/N !EROSPACE %LECTRONIC 3YSTEMS VOL !%3
NO PP n .OVEMBER
$ 0 3CHOLNIK AND * / #OLEMAN h)NTEGRATED )
1 DEMODULATION MATCHED FILTERING AND SYMBOL
RATE SAMPLING USING MINIMUM
RATE )& SAMPLING v IN 0ROC OF THE 3YMPOSIUM ON 7IRELESS
0ERSONAL #OMMUNICATION "LACKSBURG 6! *UNE
2!$!2 $)')4!, 3)'.!, 02/#%33).'
" "RANNON AND ! "ARLOW h!PERTURE UNCERTAINTY AND !$# SYSTEM PERFORMANCE v !NALOG $EVICES
!PPLICATION .OTE !. 2EV ! -ARCH
* % 6OLDER h4HE #/2$)# TRIGONOMETRIC COMPUTING TECHNIQUE v )2% 4RANS ON %LECTRONIC
#OMPUTERS VOL %# PP n
2 !NDRAKA h! SURVEY OF #/2$)# ALGORITHMS FOR &0'! BASED COMPUTERS v IN !#-3)'$!
)NTERNATIONAL 3YMPOSIUM ON &IELD 0ROGRAMMABLE 'ATE !RRAYS -ONTEREY #! &EBRUARY
PP n
% " (OGENAUER h!N ECONOMICAL CLASS OF DIGITAL FILTERS FOR DECIMATION AND INTERPOLATION v )%%%
4RANS ON !COUSTICS 3PEECH AND 3IGNAL 0ROCESSING !330 PP n !PRIL
& * (ARRIS -ULTIRATE 3IGNAL 0ROCESSING FOR #OMMUNICATION 3YSTEMS 5PPER 3ADDLE 2IVER .*
0RENTICE (ALL
& (ARRIS h/N THE USE OF WINDOWS FOR HARMONIC ANALYSIS WITH THE DISCRETE &OURIER TRANSFORM v
0ROC )%%% VOL NO *ANUARY PP n
* #OOLEY AND * 4UKEY h!N !LGORITHM FOR THE MACHINE CALCULATION OF COMPLEX &OURIER SERIES v
-ATHEMATICS OF #OMPUTATION VOL NO PP n !PRIL
#HAPTER
/i*>}>>V]
]i,>`>
>
7>i *>i
3PACE AND .AVAL 7ARFARE 3YSTEMS #ENTER
!TMOSPHERIC 0ROPAGATION "RANCH
/," 1
/"
0ARALLELING THE DEVELOPMENT OF RADAR TECHNOLOGY IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RADAR EQUA
TION !S ENGINEERING CONSIDERATIONS SUCH AS THE PROBABILITY OF DETECTION PROBABILITY
OF FALSE ALARM SIGNAL LOSS FACTORS AND SIGNAL
TO
NOISE RATIO ALLOWED THE RADAR RANGE
EQUATION TO DEVELOP SUFFICIENTLY TO BE USEFUL IN RADAR PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS DEVELOPING
COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES ALLOWED FOR MORE SOPHISTICATED RADAR RANGE EQUATION SOLUTION
TECHNIQUES 4HUS SOLUTION TECHNIQUES TO THE RADAR RANGE EQUATION MIGRATED FROM PENCIL
AND PAPER hWORKSHEETSv TO SIMPLE COMPUTER PROGRAMS AUTOMATING THE hWORKSHEETv TO
HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED COMPUTER PROGRAMS ACCOUNTING FOR TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES IN SIGNAL
PROCESSING AND ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING
4HE INTENT OF THIS CHAPTER IS TWOFOLD 4HE FIRST IS TO FOCUS ON ONE PARTICULAR TERM
OF THE RADAR RANGE EQUATION THE PROPAGATION FACTOR &0 DEFINED IN 3ECTION
%NCOMPASSED WITHIN THE PROPAGATION FACTOR ARE ALL THE EFFECTS UPON PROPAGATION ATTRIB
UTABLE TO THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT 4HESE EFFECTS ARE ENERGY ABSORPTION FROM GASSES AND
LIQUID WATER DIFFRACTION REFRACTION MULTIPATH INTERFERENCE EARTH
SURFACE DIELECTRICS
TERRAIN INTERFERENCE AND A NUMBER OF OTHER NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS
4HE SECOND FOCUS OF THIS CHAPTER IS TO DESCRIBE THE COMPUTER MODELING OF THE PROPA
GATION FACTOR &OR EASE OF COMPUTATIONS IN EARLY SOLUTION TECHNIQUES THE PROPAGATION
FACTOR WAS OFTEN TAKEN AS UNITY A CONDITION REPRESENTING FREE SPACE 7ITH COMPUTER
IMPLEMENTED PROPAGATION MODELS HOWEVER THE ASSUMPTION OF FREE SPACE NEED NO
LONGER BE A LIMITING FACTOR /NE SUCH PROPAGATION MODEL THE !DVANCED 0ROPAGATION
-ODEL !0- AND ITS GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE PROGRAM THE !DVANCED 2EFRACTIVE
%FFECTS 0REDICTION 3YSTEM !2%03 ARE FEATURED HERE 7HILE THE FOCUS UPON !2%03
WITHIN THIS CHAPTER IS FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW IMPORTANT THE PROPAGATION FACTOR IS
WITHIN THE RADAR EQUATION !2%03 IS MUCH MORE THAN A PROPAGATION FACTOR TOOL !2%03
PROVIDES THE RADAR ENGINEER AND THE OPERATIONAL RADAR OPERATOR WITH AN EASY TO USE BUT
EXTREMELY POWERFUL METHOD TO DEFINE THE NATURAL ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT USING DATA
FROM A WIDE RANGE OF SOURCES TO MANAGE CREATE AND DEFINE VARIOUS ELEMENTS OF TER
RAIN DATA TO EXECUTE THE APPROPRIATE PROPAGATION MODEL FOR THE TASK AT HAND AND THEN
TO PRESENT THE RESULTS IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT AND HIGHLY CONFIGURABLE GRAPHIC AND
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
TEXT DISPLAYS INCLUDING EXPORTING COMPUTED DATA IN SEVERAL FORMATS FOR IMPORT INTO
OTHER APPLICATIONS !2%03 IS NOT LIMITED TO JUST RADAR APPLICATIONS HOWEVER !2%03
TOGETHER WITH !0- AND ITS OTHER EMBEDDED PROPAGATION MODELS CAN PROVIDE ASSESS
MENTS FOR ,& TO %(& COMMUNICATIONS GROUND AND SKY WAVE STRIKE AND ELECTRONIC
COUNTERMEASURES %LECTRONIC 3UPPORT -EASURES %3- VULNERABILITIES AND MANY OTHER
APPLICATIONS !2%03 AND !0- ARE PRODUCTS OF THE ATMOSPHERIC PROPAGATION BRANCH OF
THE 3PACE AND .AVAL 7ARFARE 3YSTEMS #ENTER 30!7!2393#%. 3AN $IEGO !2%03
WILL EXECUTE ON A PERSONAL COMPUTER DESKTOP OR LAPTOP USING A -ICROSOFT 7INDOWS
OPERATING SYSTEM SUCH AS .4 80 OR 6ISTA AND REQUIRES NO ADDITIONAL SPECIAL
HARDWARE !2%03 MAY BE FREELY OBTAINED AT THE 52, LISTED IN THE FIRST REFERENCE
"EFORE CONTINUING WITH THE DISCUSSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC %- PROPAGATION MOD
ELS AND ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS IT IS APPROPRIATE TO DISCUSS THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND ITS
INFLUENCE UPON %- SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
/
,/-/ "-*
,
3TRUCTURE AND #HARACTERISTICS 4HE %ARTHS ATMOSPHERE IS A COLLECTION OF MANY
GASES TOGETHER WITH SUSPENDED PARTICLES OF LIQUIDS AND SOLIDS %XCLUDING VARIABLE
COMPONENTS SUCH AS WATER VAPOR OZONE SULFUR DIOXIDE AND DUST THE GASES OF NITROGEN
AND OXYGEN OCCUPY ABOUT OF THE VOLUME WITH ARGON AND CARBON DIOXIDE BEING THE
NEXT TWO MOST ABUNDANT GASES &ROM THE %ARTHS SURFACE TO AN ALTITUDE OF APPROXIMATELY
KILOMETERS MECHANICAL MIXING OF THE ATMOSPHERE BY HEAT
DRIVEN AIR CURRENTS EVENLY
DISTRIBUTES THE COMPONENTS OF THE ATMOSPHERE !T ABOUT KILOMETERS THE MIXING
DECREASES TO THE POINT WHERE THE GASES TEND TO STRATIFY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THEIR WEIGHTS
4HE LOWER WELL
MIXED PORTION OF THE ATMOSPHERE IS CALLED THE HOMOSPHERE WHILE
THE HIGHER STRATIFIED PORTION IS CALLED THE HETEROSPHERE 7ITHIN THE HETEROSPHERE LIES THE
IONOSPHERE 4HE BOTTOM PORTION OF THE HOMOSPHERE IS CALLED THE TROPOSPHERE
4ROPOSPHERE 4HE TROPOSPHERE EXTENDS FROM THE %ARTHS SURFACE TO AN ALTITUDE
OF TO KILOMETERS AT POLAR LATITUDES TO KILOMETERS AT MIDDLE LATITUDES AND
UP TO KILOMETERS AT THE EQUATOR )T IS CHARACTERIZED BY A TEMPERATURE DECREASE WITH
HEIGHT 4HE POINT AT WHICH THE TEMPERATURE CEASES TO DECREASE WITH HEIGHT IS KNOWN AS
THE TROPOPAUSE 4HE AVERAGE VERTICAL TEMPERATURE GRADIENT OF THE TROPOSPHERE VARIES
BETWEEN AND #ELSIUS PER KILOMETER
4HE CONCENTRATIONS OF GAS COMPONENTS OF THE TROPOSPHERE VARY LITTLE WITH HEIGHT
EXCEPT FOR WATER VAPOR 4HE WATER VAPOR CONTENT OF THE TROPOSPHERE COMES FROM EVAP
ORATION OF WATER FROM OCEANS LAKES RIVERS AND OTHER WATER RESERVOIRS $IFFERENTIAL
HEATING OF LAND AND OCEAN SURFACES PRODUCES VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL WIND CIRCULATIONS
THAT DISTRIBUTE THE WATER VAPOR THROUGHOUT THE TROPOSPHERE 4HE WATER VAPOR CONTENT
OF THE TROPOSPHERE RAPIDLY DECREASES WITH HEIGHT !T AN ALTITUDE OF KILOMETERS THE
WATER VAPOR CONTENT IS APPROXIMATELY HALF OF THE SURFACE CONTENT !T THE TROPOPAUSE
THE CONTENT IS ONLY A FEW THOUSANDTHS OF WHAT IT IS AT THE SURFACE
)N THE 7EATHER "UREAU AT THE REQUEST OF THE .ATIONAL !DVISORY #OMMITTEE FOR
!ERONAUTICS .!#! PREPARED A STANDARD ATMOSPHERE FOR SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING
USE BASED PRIMARILY ON THE AVERAGE CONDITIONS OVER THE 5NITED 3TATES AT LATITUDE
)N THE COMPUTATIONS WERE EXTENDED TO METERS USING CONSTANTS ADOPTED
BY THE .!#! !N EXTENSION OF THE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE TO METERS WAS
PREPARED IN
4(% 02/0!'!4)/. &!#4/2 &0 ). 4(% 2!$!2 %15!4)/.
4HE STANDARD ATMOSPHERE IS BASED PRIMARILY ON THE ASSUMPTION OF A LINEAR DECREASE
IN TEMPERATURE WITH HEIGHT UP TO THE TROPOPAUSE AND AN ISOTHERMAL LAYER ABOVE )N ADDI
TION CERTAIN OTHER ASSUMPTIONS ARE
A 4HE AIR IS DRY
B 4HE AIR IS A PERFECT GAS OBEYING THE ,AWS OF #HARLES AND "OYLE
C 'RAVITY IS CONSTANT AT ALL ALTITUDES
D 4HE TEMPERATURE OF THE ISOTHERMAL ATMOSPHERE IS
#
E 4HE LINEAR DECREASE OF TEMPERATURE WITH HEIGHT IS
# PER KILOMETER
4HE )NTERNATIONAL #OMMISSION FOR !IR .AVIGATION )#!. USES THE .!#!
STANDARD ATMOSPHERE WITH MINOR MODIFICATIONS PRIMARILY IN THE VALUE OF GRAVITY AND
THE TEMPERATURE OF THE ISOTHERMAL REGION &OR GENERIC RADAR STUDIES AND OTHER RADAR
APPLICATIONS SUCH AS TARGET HEIGHT CALCULATIONS FOR HEIGHT
FINDING RADARS IT IS THE PROP
AGATION THROUGH THIS STANDARD ATMOSPHERE THAT IS CONSIDERED
,
,
/"
)NDEX OF 2EFRACTION 4HE TERM REFRACTION REFERS TO THE PROPERTY OF A MEDIUM
TO BEND AN ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE AS IT PASSES THROUGH THE MEDIUM ! MEASURE OF THE
AMOUNT OF REFRACTION IS THE INDEX OF REFRACTION N DEFINED AS THE VELOCITY C OF PROPAGA
TION IN FREE
SPACE AWAY FROM THE INFLUENCE OF THE %ARTH OR OTHER OBJECTS TO THE VELOC
ITY V IN THE MEDIUM 4HIS IS
N
C
V
2EFRACTIVITY AND -ODIFIED 2EFRACTIVITY IN THE 4ROPOSPHERE 4HE NORMAL
VALUE OF THE REFRACTIVE INDEX N FOR THE ATMOSPHERE NEAR THE %ARTHS SURFACE VARIES
BETWEEN AND &OR STUDIES OF PROPAGATION THE INDEX OF REFRACTION
IS NOT A VERY CONVENIENT NUMBER THEREFORE A SCALED INDEX OF REFRACTION . CALLED
REFRACTIVITY HAS BEEN DEFINED !T MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES AND BELOW THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE INDEX OF REFRACTION N AND REFRACTIVITY . FOR AIR THAT CONTAINS WATER VAPOR
IS GIVEN AS
. N
P ES r
4
4
WHERE ES IS THE PARTIAL PRESSURE OF WATER VAPOR IN MILLIBARS OR
ES
X
RH E X
4
4
LOG E
4
P ATMOSPHERES BAROMETRIC PRESSURE IN MILLIBARS
4 ATMOSPHERES ABSOLUTE TEMPERATURE IN +ELVIN
RH ATMOSPHERES RELATIVE HUMIDITY IN PERCENT
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4HUS THE ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTIVITY NEAR THE %ARTHS SURFACE WOULD NORMALLY VARY
BETWEEN AND .
UNITS
"ECAUSE THE BAROMETRIC PRESSURE AND WATER VAPOR CONTENT OF THE ATMOSPHERE DECREASE
RAPIDLY WITH HEIGHT WHILE THE TEMPERATURE DECREASES SLOWLY WITH HEIGHT THE INDEX OF
REFRACTION AND THEREFORE REFRACTIVITY NORMALLY DECREASES WITH INCREASING ALTITUDE
7HILE A RADAR ENGINEER MAY LIKE TO CONSIDER REFRACTION IN TERMS OF .
UNITS BECAUSE
IT PROVIDES A BETTER PHYSICAL POINT OF VIEW AN !2%03 USER MAY NOT BE A RADAR ENGINEER
BUT A TACTICAL OPERATOR SUCH AS A COMBAT PILOT )N GRAPHICALLY EXAMINING REFRACTIVE GRA
DIENTS AND THEIR EFFECT UPON PROPAGATION SUCH AS DUCTING DESCRIBED IN 3ECTION
A MODIFIED REFRACTIVITY DEFINED AS
- . H FOR ALTITUDE H IN METERS AN
- . H FOR ALTITUDE H IN FEET
IS USED IN PLACE OF THE REFRACTIVITY 7HILE A GRAPHICAL .
UNIT VERSUS HEIGHT DISPLAY WILL
SHOW A NEGATIVE SLOPE DECREASING .
UNITS WITH HEIGHT A GRAPHICAL -
UNIT VERSUS
HEIGHT DISPLAY WILL SHOW A CHANGE IN SLOPE FROM POSITIVE INCREASING -
UNITS UNDER
STANDARD ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS TO A NEGATIVE SLOPE DECREASING -
UNITS UNDER DUCTING
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS 4HEREFORE A -
UNIT TYPE DISPLAY IS MORE READILY UNDERSTOOD BY
THE TACTICAL RADAR OPERATOR LOOKING FOR AN OPTIMUM FLIGHT ALTITUDE FOR HIS ATTACK
{ -/ , *,"*/"
3TANDARD PROPAGATION MECHANISMS ARE THOSE MECHANISMS AND PROCESSES THAT OCCUR IN
THE PRESENCE OF A STANDARD ATMOSPHERE 4HESE PROPAGATION MECHANISMS ARE STANDARD
REFRACTION FREE
SPACE PROPAGATION MULTIPATH INTERFERENCE OR SURFACE REFLECTION
DIFFRACTION AND TROPOSPHERIC SCATTER
.ORMAL3TANDARD 2EFRACTION 4HE REFRACTIVITY DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE ATMO
SPHERE IS NEARLY AN EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION OF HEIGHT 4HE DECREASE OF . WITH HEIGHT CLOSE
TO THE %ARTHS SURFACE WITHIN KILOMETER IS SUFFICIENTLY SMOOTH HOWEVER TO ALLOW
AN APPROXIMATION OF THE EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION BY A LINEAR FUNCTION 4HIS LINEAR FUNC
TION IS KNOWN AS A STANDARD GRADIENT AND IS CHARACTERIZED BY A DECREASE OF .
UNITS
PER KILOMETER OR AN INCREASE OF -
UNITS PER KILOMETER ! STANDARD GRADIENT WILL
CAUSE TRAVELING %- WAVES TO BEND DOWNWARD FROM A STRAIGHT LINE 'RADIENTS THAT CAUSE
EFFECTS SIMILAR TO A STANDARD GRADIENT BUT VARY BETWEEN AND
.
UNITS PER KILOMETER
OR BETWEEN AND -
UNITS PER KILOMETER ARE KNOWN AS NORMAL GRADIENTS
&REE
SPACE 0ROPAGATION 4HE SIMPLEST CASE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE PROPAGA
TION IS THE TRANSMISSION OF A WAVE BETWEEN A TRANSMITTER AND A RECEIVER IN FREE SPACE
&REE SPACE IS DEFINED AS A REGION WHOSE PROPERTIES ARE ISOTROPIC HOMOGENEOUS AND
LOSS
FREE IE AWAY FROM THE INFLUENCES OF THE %ARTHS ATMOSPHERE AND SURFACE )N FREE
SPACE THE ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVEFRONT FROM AN ISOTROPIC RADIATOR SPREADS UNIFORMLY IN
ALL DIRECTIONS FROM THE TRANSMITTER
-ULTIPATH )NTERFERENCE AND 3URFACE 2EFLECTION 7HEN AN ELECTROMAGNETIC
WAVE STRIKES A NEARLY SMOOTH LARGE SURFACE SUCH AS THE OCEAN A PORTION OF THE ENERGY
IS REFLECTED FROM THE SURFACE AND CONTINUES PROPAGATING ALONG A PATH THAT MAKES AN
4(% 02/0!'!4)/. &!#4/2 &0 ). 4(% 2!$!2 %15!4)/.
ANGLE WITH THE SURFACE EQUAL
TO THAT OF THE INCIDENT WAVE
AS SHOWN IN &IGURE
4HE STRENGTH OF THE
REFLECTED WAVE IS DETERMINED
BY THE REFLECTION COEFFICIENT
A VALUE THAT DEPENDS UPON THE
FREQUENCY AND POLARIZATION
OF RADIATION THE ANGLE OF
INCIDENCE AND THE ROUGHNESS
OF THE REFLECTING SURFACE
&)'52% 3URFACE REFLECTION
&OR SHALLOW INCIDENCE
ANGLES AND SMOOTH SEAS TYPI
CAL VALUES OF THE REFLECTION COEFFICIENT ARE NEAR UNITY IE THE REFLECTED WAVE IS ALMOST
AS STRONG AS THE INCIDENCE WAVE !S THE WIND SPEED INCREASES THE OCEAN SURFACE GROWS
ROUGHER AND THE REFLECTION COEFFICIENT DECREASES &OR A TRANSMITTER NEAR THE SURFACE THE
REFLECTION PROCESS RESULTS IN TWO PATHS TO A RECEIVER WITHIN THE LINE OF SIGHT
!S STATED ABOVE UPON REFLECTION A PORTION OF THE ENERGY IS PROPAGATED IN THE DIREC
TION OF INITIAL WAVE MOTION ! PORTION OF ENERGY IS ALSO REFLECTED BACKWARD TOWARD THE
TRANSMITTER 4HIS BACKWARD REFLECTED ENERGY IS ALSO RECEIVED BY THE RADAR AND MAY INTER
FERE WITH THE RADARS ABILITY TO DISTINGUISH A DESIRED TARGET 4HIS BACKWARD REFLECTED
ENERGY IS CALLED CLUTTER
.OT ONLY IS THE MAGNITUDE OF THE REFLECTED WAVE REDUCED BUT ALSO THE PHASE OF THE
WAVE IS ALTERED &OR HORIZONTALLY OR VERTICALLY POLARIZED WAVES AT LOW GRAZING ANGLES
THE PHASE CHANGE UPON REFLECTION IS APPROXIMATELY 7HENEVER TWO OR MORE WAVE
TRAINS TRAVELING OVER DIFFERENT PATHS INTERSECT AT A POINT IN SPACE THEY ARE SAID TO INTER
FERE MULTIPATH INTERFERENCE )F TWO WAVES ARRIVE AT THE SAME POINT IN PHASE THEY
CONSTRUCTIVELY INTERFERE AND THE ELECTRIC FIELD STRENGTH IS GREATER THAN EITHER OF THE TWO
COMPONENT WAVES TAKEN ALONE )F THE TWO WAVES ARRIVE TOGETHER OUT OF PHASE THEY
DESTRUCTIVELY INTERFERE AND THE RESULTANT FIELD STRENGTH IS WEAKENED
!S THE GEOMETRY OF THE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER CHANGE THE RELATIVE LENGTHS OF THE
DIRECT PATH AND REFLECTED PATH ALSO CHANGE WHICH RESULTS IN THE DIRECT AND REFLECTED
WAVE ARRIVING AT THE RECEIVER IN VARYING AMOUNTS OF PHASE DIFFERENCE 4HE RECEIVED SIG
NAL STRENGTH WHICH IS THE VECTOR SUM OF THE SIGNAL STRENGTHS OF THE DIRECT AND REFLECTED
WAVE MAY VARY UP TO D" ABOVE AND D" OR MORE BELOW THE FREE
SPACE VALUE
$IFFRACTION %NERGY TENDS TO FOLLOW ALONG THE CURVED SURFACE OF AN OBJECT 4HE
DEGREE OF REFRACTION IS DEPENDENT UPON THE POLARIZATION OF THE PROPAGATING WAVE AND
THE SIZE OF THE DIFFRACTING OBJECT RELATIVE TO THE WAVELENGTH $IFFRACTION IS THE PROCESS
BY WHICH THE DIRECTION OF PROPAGATING RADIATION IS CHANGED SO THAT IT SPREADS INTO THE
GEOMETRIC SHADOW REGION OF AN OPAQUE OBJECT THAT LIES IN THE RADIATION FIELD )N THE
EARTH
ATMOSPHERE SYSTEM DIFFRACTION OCCURS WHERE THE STRAIGHT
LINE DISTANCE BETWEEN
THE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER IS JUST TANGENT TO THE %ARTHS SURFACE &OR A HOMOGENEOUS
ATMOSPHERE THIS POINT OF TANGENCY WITH THE %ARTH IS REFERRED TO AS THE GEOMETRICAL
HORIZON &OR AN INHOMOGENEOUS ATMOSPHERE USING AN EFFECTIVE EARTH RADIUS AND AT
RADAR AND OPTICAL FREQUENCIES THIS POINT OF TANGENCY IS REFERRED TO AS THE RADAR AND
OPTICAL HORIZON RESPECTIVELY
4HE ABILITY OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE TO PROPAGATE BEYOND THE HORIZON BY DIFFRAC
TION IS HIGHLY DEPENDENT UPON FREQUENCY 4HE LOWER THE FREQUENCY THE MORE THE WAVE
IS DIFFRACTED !T MICROWAVE RADAR FREQUENCIES THE WAVELENGTH IS SMALL WHEN COMPARED
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
TO THE %ARTHS DIMENSIONS AND LITTLE ENERGY IS DIFFRACTED !T OPTICAL FREQUENCIES OR
VERY SHORT RADAR WAVELENGTHS THE OPTICAL HORIZON REPRESENTS THE APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY
BETWEEN REGIONS OF PROPAGATION AND NO PROPAGATION
4ROPOSPHERIC 3CATTER !T RANGES FAR BEYOND THE HORIZON THE PROPAGATION LOSS
IS DOMINATED BY TROPOSCATTER 0ROPAGATION IN THE TROPOSCATTER REGION IS THE RESULT OF
SCATTERING BY SMALL INHOMOGENEITIES WITHIN THE ATMOSPHERES REFRACTIVE STRUCTURE !T
RADAR FREQUENCIES TROPOSCATTER IS GENERALLY NOT CONSIDERED FOR RADAR RANGE PERFOR
MANCE (OWEVER TROPOSCATTER SCATTERING COULD BE AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION IN TARGET
DETECTION BY A RECEIVER NOT CO
LOCATED WITH THE RADAR ITSELF OR DETECTION OF THE RADARS
EMISSIONS BY AN %LECTRONIC 3UPPORT -EASURES %3- SYSTEM
x " "1-*,"*/"
!NOMALOUS OR NONSTANDARD WAVE PROPAGATION USUALLY REFERS TO THE CONSIDERATION OF
NONSTANDARD REFRACTION VERSUS STANDARD REFRACTION 4HESE NONSTANDARD REFRACTIVE CONDI
TIONS LEAD TO TRANS
HORIZON PATHS DECREASED HORIZON PATHS AND DISTORTIONS IN SIMPLE
SURFACE REFECTION AND MULTIPATH INTERFERENCE
3UBREFRACTION )F THE MOTIONS OF THE ATMOSPHERE PRODUCE A SITUATION WHERE THE
TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY DISTRIBUTION CREATE AN INCREASING VALUE OF . WITH HEIGHT
THE WAVE PATH WOULD ACTUALLY BEND UPWARD AND THE ENERGY WOULD TRAVEL AWAY FROM
THE %ARTH 4HIS IS TERMED SUBREFRACTION !LTHOUGH THIS SITUATION OCCURS INFREQUENTLY
IN NATURE IT STILL MUST BE CONSIDERED WHEN ASSESSING ELECTROMAGNETIC SYSTEMS PER
FORMANCE &OR EXAMPLE AN !TLANTIC COAST VESSEL TRAFFIC CONTROL RADAR LOCATED NEAR THE
ENTRANCE TO THE $ELAWARE "AY OBSERVED A REDUCTION IN DETECTION RANGE FROM TO
KM 3OMETIMES SHIPS CAN BE SEEN VISUALLY FROM THE RADAR TOWER BEFORE THEY CAN BE
OBSERVED ON THE RADAR SCREEN 4HE REDUCTION IN THE RADAR DETECTION RANGE USUALLY LASTS
SEVERAL HOURS AND OCCURS OFTEN WHEN FOG IS PRESENT
! SUBREFRACTIVE LAYER OF THE TROPOSPHERE WOULD CAUSE THE PROPAGATING ENERGY TO
BEND UPWARD OR AWAY FROM THE %ARTHS SURFACE THEREBY LEADING TO DECREASED DETECTION
RANGES AND SHORTENED RADIO HORIZONS
3UBREFRACTIVE LAYERS MAY BE FOUND AT THE %ARTHS SURFACE OR ALOFT )N AREAS WHERE
THE SURFACE TEMPERATURE IS GREATER THAN #ELSIUS AND RELATIVE HUMIDITIES ARE LESS
THAN IE LARGE DESERT AND STEPPE REGIONS SOLAR HEATING WILL PRODUCE A VERY
NEARLY HOMOGENEOUS SURFACE LAYER OFTEN SEVERAL HUNDREDS OF METERS THICK "ECAUSE
THIS LAYER IS UNSTABLE THE RESULTANT CONVECTIVE PROCESSES TEND TO CONCENTRATE ANY AVAIL
ABLE MOISTURE NEAR THE TOP OF THE LAYER 4HIS IN TURN CREATES A POSITIVE . GRADIENT OR
SUBREFRACTIVE STRATUM ALOFT 4HIS LAYER MAY RETAIN ITS SUBREFRACTIVE NATURE INTO THE EARLY
EVENING HOURS ESPECIALLY IF A RADIATION INVERSION DEVELOPS TRAPPING THE WATER VAPOR
BETWEEN TWO STABLE LAYERS
&OR AREAS WITH SURFACE TEMPERATURES BETWEEN AND #ELSIUS AND RELATIVE
HUMIDITIES ABOVE IE THE WESTERN -EDITERRANEAN 2ED 3EA )NDONESIAN 3OUTHWEST
0ACIFIC SURFACE
BASED SUBREFRACTIVE LAYERS MAY DEVELOP DURING THE NIGHT AND EARLY
MORNING HOURS 4HESE LAYERS ARE CHARACTERISTICALLY CAUSED BY ADVECTION OF WARM MOIST
AIR OVER A RELATIVELY COOLER AND DRIER SURFACE 7HILE THE . GRADIENT IS GENERALLY MORE
INTENSE THAN THAT DESCRIBED ABOVE THE LAYER IS OFTEN NOT AS THICK 3IMILAR CONDITIONS
MAY ALSO BE FOUND IN REGIONS OF WARM FRONTAL ACTIVITY
4(% 02/0!'!4)/. &!#4/2 &0 ). 4(% 2!$!2 %15!4)/.
3UPERREFRACTION )F THE TROPOSPHERES TEMPERATURE INCREASES WITH HEIGHT TEM
PERATURE INVERSION ANDOR THE WATER VAPOR CONTENT DECREASES RAPIDLY WITH HEIGHT THE
REFRACTIVITY GRADIENT WILL DECREASE FROM THE STANDARD 4HE PROPAGATING WAVE WILL BE BENT
DOWNWARD FROM A STRAIGHT LINE MORE THAN NORMAL !S THE REFRACTIVITY GRADIENT CONTINUES
TO DECREASE THE RADIUS OF CURVATURE FOR THE WAVE PATH WILL APPROACH THE RADIUS OF CUR
VATURE FOR THE %ARTH 4HE REFRACTIVITY GRADIENT FOR WHICH THE TWO RADII OF CURVATURE ARE
EQUAL IS REFERRED TO AS THE CRITICAL GRADIENT !T THE CRITICAL GRADIENT THE WAVE WILL PROPA
GATE AT A FIXED HEIGHT ABOVE THE GROUND AND WILL TRAVEL PARALLEL TO THE %ARTHS SURFACE
2EFRACTION BETWEEN THE NORMAL AND CRITICAL GRADIENTS IS KNOWN AS SUPERREFRACTION
3UPERREFRACTIVE CONDITIONS ARE LARGELY ASSOCIATED WITH TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY
VARIATIONS NEAR THE %ARTHS SURFACE )NVERSIONS ALOFT DUE TO LARGE SCALE SUBSIDENCE WILL
LEAD TO SUPERREFRACTIVE LAYERS ALOFT 3UPERREFRACTIVE LAYERS WILL LEAD TO AN INCREASE OF
RADAR DETECTION RANGES AND EXTENSIONS OF THE RADIO HORIZON
4HE EFFECTS OF A SUPERREFRACTIVE LAYER UPON A SURFACE BASED SYSTEM ARE DIRECTLY
RELATED TO ITS HEIGHT ABOVE THE %ARTHS SURFACE &OR AIRBORNE SYSTEMS THE EFFECTS OF A
SUPERREFRACTIVE LAYER DEPEND UPON THE POSITION OF THE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER RELATIVE
TO THE LAYER "OTH OF THESE FACTORS ARE RELATED TO THE ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES ANGLE OF
LAYER PENETRATION 4HE STEEPER THE PENETRATION ANGLE THE LESS OF AN EFFECT THE LAYER WILL
HAVE UPON PROPAGATION
4RAPPING 4RAPPING IS AN EXTENSION OF SUPERREFRACTION BECAUSE THE METEOROLOGICAL
CONDITIONS FOR BOTH ARE THE SAME 3HOULD THE REFRACTIVITY GRADIENT DECREASE BEYOND THE
CRITICAL GRADIENT THE RADIUS OF CURVATURE FOR THE WAVE WILL BECOME SMALLER THAN THE %ARTHS
CURVATURE 4HE WAVE WILL EITHER STRIKE THE %ARTH AND UNDERGO SURFACE REFLECTION OR ENTER
A REGION OF STANDARD REFRACTION AND BE REFRACTED BACK UPWARD ONLY TO REENTER THE AREA OF
REFRACTIVITY GRADIENT THAT CAUSES DOWNWARD REFRACTION 4HIS REFRACTIVE CONDITION IS CALLED
TRAPPING BECAUSE THE WAVE IS CONFINED TO A NARROW REGION OF THE TROPOSPHERE 4HE COMMON
TERM FOR THIS CONFINEMENT REGION IS A TROPOSPHERIC DUCT OR A TROPOSPHERIC WAVEGUIDE )T
SHOULD BE NOTED THAT A TROPOSPHERIC WAVEGUIDE IS NOT A WAVEGUIDE IN THE TRUE SENSE OF THE
WORD BECAUSE THERE ARE NO RIGID WALLS THAT PREVENT THE ESCAPE OF ENERGY FROM THE GUIDE
4HE REFRACTIVITY GRADIENTS AND THEIR ASSOCIATED REFRACTIVE CONDITIONS ARE SUMMA
RIZED IN 4ABLE
!TMOSPHERIC $UCTS ! DUCT IS A CHANNEL IN WHICH ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY CAN
PROPAGATE OVER GREAT RANGES 4O PROPAGATE ENERGY WITHIN A DUCT THE ANGLE MADE BY
THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SYSTEMS ENERGY WITH THE DUCT MUST BE SMALL USUALLY LESS THAN
4HICKER DUCTS IN GENERAL CAN SUPPORT TRAPPING FOR LOWER FREQUENCIES 4HE VERTICAL
DISTRIBUTION OF REFRACTIVITY FOR A GIVEN SITUATION MUST BE CONSIDERED AS WELL AS THE GEO
METRICAL RELATIONSHIP OF TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER TO THE DUCT IN ORDER TO ASSESS THE DUCTS
EFFECT AT ANY PARTICULAR FREQUENCY
4!",% 2EFRACTIVE 'RADIENTS AND #ONDITIONS
#ONDITION
4RAPPING
3UPERREFRACTION
.ORMAL
3TANDARD
3UBREFRACTION
. 'RADIENT
- 'RADIENT
.KM OR
.KFT
TO
.KM OR
TO
.KFT
TO .KM OR
TO .KFT
.KM
.KM OR .KFT
-KM OR -KFT
TO -KM OR TO -KFT
TO -KM OR TO -KFT
-KM
-KM OR -KFT
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
! SIMPLE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A DUCTS THICKNESS AND ITS ABILITY TO TRAP A PARTICULAR
FREQUENCY IS GIVEN BY
C .
KMAX r
T
T
WHERE KMAX IS THE MAXIMUM FREQUENCY TRAPPED C . IS THE REFRACTIVE INDEX CHANGE
ACROSS THE DUCT AND T IS THE DUCT THICKNESS
)N ADDITION TO EXTENDED RADAR RANGES ATMOSPHERIC DUCTS AND OTHER PROPAGATION
EFFECTS SUCH AS MULTIPATH INTERFERENCE HAVE OTHER SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS UPON RADAR PER
FORMANCE 4HESE EFFECTS MAY BE VISUALIZED WITH THE AID OF A HEIGHT VERSUS RANGE GRAPHIC
AVAILABLE FROM AN ASSESSMENT SYSTEM SUCH AS !2%03 3UCH A GRAPHIC IS SHOWN IN
&IGURE )N THIS FIGURE THE DIFFERENT SHADINGS CORRESPOND TO DIFFERENT PROPAGATION
LOSS VALUES DEFINED LATER AS COMPUTED BY THE PROPAGATION MODEL 4HE ACTUAL VALUES
ARE IMMATERIAL TO THIS ILLUSTRATION AS THE IMPORTANT FEATURES TO NOTE ARE THE CONSEQUENCES
OF DUCTING )N THIS FIGURE ONE CAN CLEARLY SEE THE NULL AND LOBE STRUCTURE RESULTING
FROM MULTIPATH INTERFERENCE 7HILE A DISCUSSION OF DUCTING CONDITIONS UPON %- WAVE
PROPAGATION IS USUALLY CONCERNED WITH PROPAGATION BEYOND THE NORMAL HORIZON DUCT
ING CAN HAVE AN EFFECT WITHIN THE HORIZON $UCTING CAN ALTER THE NORMAL LOBE PATTERN
CAUSED BY THE INTERFERENCE OF THE DIRECT RAY AND THE SURFACE
REFLECTED RAY 4HE RELATIVE
PHASE BETWEEN THE DIRECT AND REFLECTED PATH MAY BE CHANGED AS WELL AS THE RELATIVE
AMPLITUDES OF THE TWO RAYS 4HE EFFECT OF THE DUCT ON THE LINE
OF
SIGHT PROPAGATION IS TO
REDUCE THE ANGLE OF THE LOWEST LOBE BRINGING IT CLOSER TO THE SURFACE
& $
!
%%
#!
## !
!$$(
)
"'!
&)'52% $UCTING CONSEQUENCES
4(% 02/0!'!4)/. &!#4/2 &0 ). 4(% 2!$!2 %15!4)/.
$UCTS NOT ONLY GIVE EXTENDED RADAR DETECTION RANGES FOR SYSTEMS WITHIN THE DUCT
BUT THEY MAY ALSO HAVE A DRAMATIC EFFECT UPON TRANSMITTERRECEIVER SYSTEMS THAT TRAN
SCEND DUCT BOUNDARIES &OR EXAMPLE AN AIR TARGET THAT WOULD NORMALLY BE DETECTED MAY
BE MISSED IF THE RADAR IS WITHIN OR JUST ABOVE THE DUCT AND THE TARGET IS JUST ABOVE THE
DUCT 4HIS AREA OF REDUCED COVERAGE IS KNOWN AS A RADAR HOLE OR SHADOW ZONE
!NOTHER INTERESTING FEATURE OF SURFACE
BASED DUCTS IS THE SKIP ZONE NEAR THE NORMAL
HORIZON IN WHICH THE DUCT HAS NO INFLUENCE )T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE SURFACE DUCT CRE
ATED FROM A SURFACE
BASED TRAPPING LAYER DOES NOT HAVE THIS SKIP ZONE PHENOMENON
(EIGHT
FINDING RADARS USUALLY DETERMINE HEIGHT FROM ENERGY PATH ASSUMPTIONS
WITHIN A NORMAL ENVIRONMENT .ONSTANDARD REFRACTIVE CONDITIONS AS DISCUSSED EARLIER
WILL CAUSE THE ENERGYS PATH TO DEVIATE FROM THESE ASSUMPTIONS RESULTING IN ERRORS IN
ALTITUDE CALCULATIONS &IGURE SHOWS THE DOWNWARD DEVIATED PATH ASSOCIATED WITH
A SURFACE DUCTING CONDITION COMPARED TO THE PATH UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS )T CAN BE
SEEN THAT ACTUAL ALTITUDE OF THE RADAR TARGET IS LOWER THAN CALCULATED BY THE HEIGHT
FINDING RADAR 4HIS ERROR COULD LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT TACTICAL CONSEQUENCES IN A SHIPS
SELF
DEFENSE SCENARIO
&OR A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF DUCTING EFFECTS ONE CAN READ ABOUT THE h"ATTLE OF THE
0IPSv $URING THE SUMMER OF TWO 53 .AVY TASK GROUPS WERE DEPLOYED TO
REMOVE THE *APANESE OCCUPATION OF !TTU !LASKA /N THE NIGHT OF *ULY TH THE 533
-ISSISSIPPI GAINED RADAR CONTACT WITH WHAT WAS BELIEVED TO BE *APANESE FLEET UNITS MOV
ING TOWARD !TTU IN ORDER TO WITHDRAW TROOPS 2ADARS ONBOARD THE 533 .EW -EXICO
THE 533 0ORTLAND AND THE 533 7ICHITA CONFIRMED THE RADAR CONTACTS /N THE ORDERS OF
!DMIRAL 'IFFEN THE 53 .AVY SHIPS OPENED FIRE 4HE FIRING CONTINUED FOR ABOUT HALF
AN HOUR DURING WHICH TIME
INCH SHELLS AND
INCH SHELLS WERE EXPENDED
'UN FLASHES WERE REPORTEDLY SEEN BY THE *APANESE ON +ISKA MILES AWAY 4WO OTHER
SHIPS THE DESTROYERS 533 3AN &RANCISCO AND 533 3ANTA &E COULD NOT GAIN RADAR CON
TACT BUT THEY DID DETECT THE SPLASHES MADE BY SHELLS HITTING THE WATER .OTHING WAS
EVER FOUND 7HEN 53 AND #ANADIAN FORCES LANDED AT !TTU ON !UGUST TH THEY FOUND
THE ISLAND ABANDONED 4HE *APANESE TROOPS HAD BEEN EVACUATED UNDER COVER OF
FOG AND RAIN ON *ULY TH ,ATER INVESTIGATION DETERMINED THAT THE *APANESE EVACUATION
&)'52% !LTITUDE ERRORS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
SHIPS WERE NAUTICAL MILES 37 OF +ISKA DURING THE FIRING 4HE RADAR CONTACTS WERE
ACTUALLY RETURNS FROM LAND THAT HAD BEEN DUCTED OVER THE HORIZON
3EVERAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS WILL LEAD TO THE CREATION OF DUCTS 7HERE THESE CON
DITIONS EXIST AND WHAT THESE CONDITIONS ARE DETERMINES THE NAME AND NATURE OF THE DUCT
3URFACE $UCTS )F THE METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS CAUSE A TRAPPING LAYER TO OCCUR
SUCH THAT THE BASE OF THE RESULTANT DUCT IS AT THE %ARTHS SURFACE A SURFACE DUCT IS
FORMED 4HERE ARE THREE TYPES OF SURFACE DUCTS BASED ON THE TRAPPING LAYERS RELATION
SHIP TO THE %ARTHS SURFACE 4HE TRAPPING LAYER IS INDICATED GRAPHICALLY BY THE SOLID
BLACK -
UNIT VERSUS HEIGHT LINE WHERE THE SLOPE OF THE LINE IS NEGATIVE -
UNIT DECREASE
WITH HEIGHT
4HE FIRST TYPE OF DUCT IS A SURFACE DUCT CREATED FROM A SURFACE
BASED TRAPPING LAYER
4HIS DUCT IS REFERRED TO AS A SURFACE DUCT AND IS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE 4HE DOTTED
LINE IN THE FIGURE SHOWS THE VERTICAL DIMENSION OF THE DUCT FROM BOTTOM TO TOP 4HE
SECOND TYPE OF SURFACE DUCT IS CREATED FROM AN ELEVATED TRAPPING LAYER 4HIS DUCT IS
COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS A SURFACE
BASED DUCT AND IS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE .OTE THE
DUCT IDENTIFIED BY THE DASHED LINE CONTAINS THE TRAPPING LAYER AND hNORMALv GRADIENT
LAYER BELOW 4HE THIRD TYPE OF SURFACE DUCT IS ONE CREATED BY A RAPID DECREASE OF RELATIVE
HUMIDITY IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO THE AIR
SEA INTERFACE 4HIS DUCT IS REFERRED TO AS AN
EVAPORATION DUCT "ECAUSE THE EVAPORATION DUCT IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE FOR OVER
WATER
%- PROPAGATION IT WARRANTS A DETAILED DISCUSSION 4HIS DISCUSSION APPEARS IN ITS OWN
SECTION BELOW
3URFACE
BASED DUCTS OCCUR WHEN THE AIR ALOFT IS EXCEPTIONALLY WARM AND DRY COM
PARED WITH THE AIR AT THE %ARTHS SURFACE 3EVERAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS MAY LEAD
TO THE FORMATION OF SURFACE
BASED DUCTS
/VER THE OCEAN AND NEAR LAND MASSES WARM DRY CONTINENTAL AIR MAY BE ADVECTED
OVER THE COOLER WATER SURFACE %XAMPLES OF THIS TYPE OF ADVECTION ARE THE 3ANTA !NA
OF SOUTHERN #ALIFORNIA THE 3IROCCO OF THE SOUTHERN -EDITERRANEAN AND THE 3HAMAL OF
THE 0ERSIAN 'ULF 4HIS ADVECTION WILL LEAD TO A TEMPERATURE INVERSION AT THE SURFACE )N
ADDITION MOISTURE IS ADDED TO THE AIR BY EVAPORATION PRODUCING A MOISTURE GRADIENT TO
STRENGTHEN THE TRAPPING GRADIENT 4HIS TYPE OF METEOROLOGICAL CONDITION ROUTINELY LEADS
TO A SURFACE DUCT CREATED BY A SURFACE
BASED TRAPPING CONDITION (OWEVER AS YOU TRAVEL
FROM THE COASTAL ENVIRONMENT INTO THE OPEN OCEAN THIS TRAPPING LAYER MAY WELL RISE
FROM THE SURFACE THEREBY CREATING THE SURFACE
BASED DUCT 3URFACE
BASED DUCTS TEND
&)'52% 3URFACE DUCT
4(% 02/0!'!4)/. &!#4/2 &0 ). 4(% 2!$!2 %15!4)/.
&)'52% 3URFACE
BASED DUCT
TO BE ON THE LEEWARD SIDE OF LAND MASSES AND MAY OCCUR BOTH DURING THE DAY AND AT
NIGHT )N ADDITION SURFACE
BASED DUCTS MAY EXTEND OVER THE OCEAN FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED
KILOMETERS AND MAY BE VERY PERSISTENT LASTING FOR DAYS
!NOTHER METHOD OF PRODUCING SURFACE
BASED DUCTING CONDITIONS IS BY DIVERGENCE
SPREADING OUT OF RELATIVELY COOL AIR UNDER A THUNDERSTORM 7HILE THIS METHOD MAY NOT
BE AS FREQUENT AS THE OTHER METHODS IT MAY STILL ENHANCE SURFACE PROPAGATION DURING
THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY USUALLY ON THE ORDER OF A FEW HOURS
7ITH THE EXCEPTION OF THUNDERSTORM CONDITIONS SURFACE
BASED DUCTING IS ASSOCI
ATED WITH FAIR WEATHER AND WITH INCREASED OCCURRENCE OF SURFACE
BASED DUCTS DURING
THE WARMER MONTHS AND IN MORE EQUATORIAL LATITUDES !NY TIME THE TROPOSPHERE IS WELL
MIXED SUCH AS WITH FRONTAL ACTIVITY OR WITH HIGH WIND CONDITIONS SURFACE
BASED DUCT
ING IS DECREASED
%VAPORATION $UCTS ! CHANGE IN THE MOISTURE DISTRIBUTION WITHOUT AN ACCOM
PANYING TEMPERATURE CHANGE CAN ALSO LEAD TO A TRAPPING REFRACTIVITY GRADIENT 4HE AIR
IN CONTACT WITH THE OCEANS SURFACE IS SATURATED WITH WATER VAPOR ! FEW METERS ABOVE
THE SURFACE THE AIR IS NOT USUALLY SATURATED SO THERE IS A DECREASE OF WATER VAPOR PRES
SURE FROM THE SURFACE TO SOME VALUE WELL ABOVE THE SURFACE 4HE RAPID DECREASE OF
WATER VAPOR INITIALLY CAUSES THE MODIFIED REFRACTIVITY - TO DECREASE WITH HEIGHT BUT
AT GREATER HEIGHTS THE WATER VAPOR DISTRIBUTION WILL CAUSE - TO REACH A MINIMUM AND
THEREAFTER INCREASE WITH HEIGHT 4HE HEIGHT AT WHICH - REACHES A MINIMUM IS CALLED
THE EVAPORATION DUCT HEIGHT AS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE
%VAPORATION DUCTS EXIST OVER THE OCEAN TO SOME DEGREE ALMOST ALL THE TIME 4HE
DUCT HEIGHT VARIES FROM A METER OR TWO IN NORTHERN LATITUDES DURING WINTER NIGHTS TO AS
MUCH AS METERS IN EQUATORIAL LATITUDES DURING SUMMER DAYS /N A WORLD AVERAGE
THE EVAPORATION DUCT HEIGHT IS APPROXIMATELY METERS )T SHOULD BE EMPHASIZED THAT
THE EVAPORATION DUCT hHEIGHTv IS NOT A HEIGHT BELOW WHICH AN ANTENNA MUST BE LOCATED
IN ORDER TO HAVE EXTENDED PROPAGATION BUT A VALUE THAT RELATES TO THE DUCTS STRENGTH
OR ITS ABILITY TO TRAP RADIATION 4HE DUCT STRENGTH IS ALSO A FUNCTION OF WIND VELOCITY
&OR UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS CONDITIONS WHERE A COOLER LAYER OF AIR OVERLIES
A WARMER LAYER OF AIR STRONGER WINDS GENERALLY RESULT IN STRONGER SIGNAL STRENGTHS
OR LESS PROPAGATION LOSS THAN DO WEAKER WINDS
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
&)'52% %VAPORATION DUCT
"ECAUSE THE EVAPORATION DUCT IS MUCH WEAKER THAN THE SURFACE BASED DUCT ITS ABIL
ITY TO TRAP ENERGY IS HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON FREQUENCY 'ENERALLY THE EVAPORATION DUCT IS
ONLY STRONG ENOUGH TO AFFECT ELECTROMAGNETIC SYSTEMS ABOVE -(Z
&OR SURFACE DUCTING CONDITIONS THE VERTICAL EXTENT OF THE DUCT IS SUFFICIENT TO ALLOW FOR
ITS MEASUREMENT USING AN ASCENDING RADIOSONDE A DESCENDING ROCKETSONDE OR A MICRO
WAVE REFRACTOMETER ONBOARD SOME SORT OF AIR VEHICLE (OWEVER FOR AN EVAPORATION DUCT
IT IS NOT THE VERTICAL EXTENT OF THE DUCT THAT IS IMPORTANT BUT THE REFRACTIVE GRADIENT WITHIN
THE DUCT #HANGES OF REFRACTIVE GRADIENTS OVER VERTICAL HEIGHTS LESS THAN A FEW MILLIMETERS
MAY HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT UPON THE DUCTS TRAPPING ABILITY 4HUS ASSESSMENT OF THE
EVAPORATION DUCT IS BEST PERFORMED BY MAKING SURFACE METEOROLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS AND
INFERRING THE DUCT HEIGHT FROM THE METEOROLOGICAL PROCESSES OCCURRING AT THE AIRSEA INTER
FACE AND NOT FROM DIRECT MEASUREMENTS USING THE TRADITIONAL RADIOSONDE ROCKETSONDE OR
MICROWAVE REFRACTOMETER 7ITH THE ADVENT OF NEWER HIGH RESOLUTION SONDES THAT MAY BE
LOWERED TO THE SURFACE FROM A SHIP THE IMPRESSION IS GIVEN THAT THE EVAPORATION DUCT MAY
BE MEASURED DIRECTLY &OR PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS HOWEVER THIS IMPRESSION IS FALSE AND A
DIRECT MEASUREMENT SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED $UE TO THE TURBULENT NATURE OF THE TROPO
SPHERE AT THE OCEAN SURFACE A REFRACTIVITY PROFILE MEASURED AT ONE TIME WOULD MOST LIKELY
NOT BE THE SAME AS ONE MEASURED AT ANOTHER TIME EVEN WHEN THE TWO MEASUREMENTS ARE
SECONDS APART 4HEREFORE ANY MEASURED PROFILE WOULD NOT BE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE AVERAGE
EVAPORATION DUCTING CONDITIONS THE CONDITIONS THAT AN ASSESSMENT SYSTEM MUST CONSIDER
%LEVATED $UCTS )F METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS CAUSE A TRAPPING LAYER TO OCCUR
ALOFT SUCH THAT THE BASE OF THE DUCT OCCURS ABOVE THE %ARTHS SURFACE THE DUCT IS
REFERRED TO AS AN ELEVATED DUCT AS ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE .OTE AGAIN THE ADVANTAGE
OF SHOWING - UNIT GRADIENTS VERSUS . UNIT GRADIENTS &ROM &IGURE IT CAN BE SEEN
THAT THE DUCT EXTENDS FROM THE TOP OF THE TRAPPING LAYER DOWNWARD UNTIL IT INTERSECTS
WITH THE - UNIT LINE WHERE THE - UNIT AT THE TOP OF THE DUCT IS THE SAME AS THE - UNIT
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DUCT ILLUSTRATED BY THE DASHED LINE
'REAT SEMIPERMANENT SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEMS CENTERED AT APPROXIMATELY
NORTH AND SOUTH LATITUDE COVER THE OCEAN AREAS OF THE WORLD 0OLEWARD OF THESE SYSTEMS
LAY THE MID LATITUDE WESTERLY WINDS AND EQUATORWARD LAY THE TROPICAL EASTERLIES OR THE
TRADE WINDS 7ITHIN THESE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEMS LARGE SCALE SUBSIDENCE OF AIR CAUSES
HEATING AS THE AIR UNDERGOES COMPRESSION 4HIS LEADS TO A LAYER OF WARM DRY AIR OVERLAY
ING A COOL MOIST LAYER OF AIR OFTEN CALLED THE MARINE BOUNDARY LAYER
4(% 02/0!'!4)/. &!#4/2 &0 ). 4(% 2!$!2 %15!4)/.
&)'52% %LEVATED DUCT
4HE RESULTANT INVERSION IS REFERRED TO AS THE TRADEWIND INVERSION AND MAY CREATE A
STRONG DUCTING CONDITION AT THE TOP OF THE MARINE BOUNDARY LAYER %LEVATED DUCTS MAY
VARY FROM A FEW HUNDRED METERS ABOVE THE SURFACE AT THE EASTERN PART OF THE TROPICAL
OCEANS TO SEVERAL THOUSAND METERS AT THE WESTERN PART &OR EXAMPLE ALONG THE SOUTHERN
#ALIFORNIA COAST ELEVATED DUCTS OCCUR AN AVERAGE OF OF THE TIME WITH AN AVERAGE
TOP ELEVATION OF METERS !LONG THE COAST OF *APAN ELEVATED DUCTS OCCUR AN AVERAGE
OF OF THE TIME WITH AN AVERAGE TOP ELEVATION OF METERS
)T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR A SURFACE
BASED
DUCT ARE THE SAME AS THOSE FOR AN ELEVATED DUCT )N FACT A SURFACE
BASED DUCT MAY SLOPE
UPWARD TO BECOME AN ELEVATED DUCT AS WARM DRY CONTINENTAL AIR GLIDES OVER COOL MOIST
MARINE AIR 4HE TRADEWIND INVERSION MAY ALSO INTENSIFY THEREBY TURNING AN ELEVATED
DUCT INTO A SURFACE
BASED DUCT
*,"*/" "
]
2ADIO WAVE MODELING IS IMPORTANT FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS ALL OF WHICH COULD BE
SUMMARIZED INTO TWO LARGE CATEGORIES OF ENGINEERING STUDIES AND OPERATIONAL PERFOR
MANCE &OR ENGINEERING STUDIES THE EFFECTS OF PROPAGATION MAY BE CONSIDERED IN NEW
SYSTEM DESIGN OR IN THE EVALUATION OF LONG
TERM PERFORMANCE OF EXISTING SYSTEMS &OR
OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATION OF PROPAGATION EFFECTS IS USUALLY BASED UPON
A SINGLE MEASURED OR FORECASTED ATMOSPHERE SUCH THAT THESE EFFECTS CAN BE EXPLOITED
OR MITIGATED BY ALTERING THE SYSTEMS USE TACTICS /VER THE YEARS MANY PROPAGATION
MODELS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO ACCOUNT FOR THE EFFECTS IMPORTANT TO A PARTICULAR APPLI
CATION 4HESE MODELS SPAN THE SPECTRUM OF VERY FAST EXECUTING BUT WITH LOW FIDELITY
SIMPLIFIED MODELING OF OR THE COMPLETE IGNORING OF CERTAIN PROPAGATION MECHANISMS
TO RELATIVELY SLOW EXECUTING BUT WITH HIGH FIDELITY PHYSICALLY RIGOROUS MODELING OF
AND FULL INCLUSION OF ALL PROPAGATION MECHANISMS
3PHERICAL 3PREADING OR &REE
SPACE 0ROPAGATION -ODEL 4HE SIMPLEST PROPAGA
TION MODEL IS SPHERICAL SPREADING WHERE THE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER ARE FAR REMOVED
{
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
FROM THE %ARTHS SURFACE AND THE ATMOSPHERE IE FREE SPACE &REE SPACE IS DEFINED AS A
REGION WHOSE PROPERTIES ARE ISOTROPIC HOMOGENEOUS AND LOSS FREE 3PHERICAL SPREADING
MODELS ONLY CONSIDER THE INCREASING SURFACE AREA OF A SPHERE CENTERED ON THE TRANSMITTER
AND RADIATING OUT UNIFORMLY IN ALL DIRECTIONS 4HE FIELD STRENGTH AT ANY POINT IS INVERSELY
PROPORTIONAL TO THE SQUARE OF THE RANGE BETWEEN TRANSMITTER AND THE POINT 4HIS IS CALLED
FREE SPACE PATH LOSS 4HE POWER DENSITY 0A OVER A SPHERE AT ANY POINT IN FREE SPACE IS
0'
0A T T 7 M
O R
WHERE 0T IS THE POWER RADIATED BY THE TRANSMITTER R IS THE RADIUS OF THE SPHERE AND 'T IS
THE TRANSMITTING ANTENNAS GAIN &OR A LOSS FREE ISOTROPIC ANTENNA THE GAIN IS UNITY
)N FREE SPACE THE POWER DENSITY AT A LOSS FREE ISOTROPIC RECEIVING ANTENNA IS THE
POWER DENSITY OVER THE ENTIRE SPHERES SURFACE TIMES THE AREA OF THE SPHERE COVERED
BY THE RECEIVER ANTENNA ALSO CALLED THE ANTENNAS EFFECTIVE APERTURE !E 4HE EFFECTIVE
APERTURE IS RELATED TO THE WAVELENGTH K OF RADIATION BY
!E
'K
O
4HUS THE POWER AT THE RECEIVER 0R FOR ISOTROPIC RADIATING AND RECEIVING ANTENNAS
'T 'R IS
0R 0A !E
0T K
O R
4HE FREE SPACE PATH LOSS ,FS EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE SPHERES RADIUS R AND WAVE
LENGTH K WHERE R AND K ARE IN THE SAME UNITS IS
O R
0
,FS LOG T LOG
0R
K
&REE SPACE PATH LOSS ,FS EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF RANGE AND FREQUENCY IN DECIBELS
IS GIVEN BY
,FS LOG F LOGR
WHERE F IS FREQUENCY IN -(Z AND R IS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER
IN KILOMETERS &REE SPACE IS INCLUDED IN MANY MODELING APPLICATIONS AS A REFERENCE FOR
OTHER PROPAGATION EFFECTS
)F NONISOTROPIC ANTENNA RADIATIONAL PATTERNS ARE CONSIDERED WITHIN THE LOSS CALCULA
TIONS THE LOSS IS REFERRED TO AS A PROPAGATION LOSS RATHER THAN A PATH LOSS 4HE PROPAGA
TION LOSS CAN BE DESCRIBED WITH THE AID OF THE PROPAGATION FACTOR & WHICH IS DEFINED
AS THE RATIO OF THE ACTUAL FIELD STRENGTH AT A POINT IN SPACE TO THE FIELD STRENGTH THAT WOULD
EXIST AT THE SAME RANGE UNDER FREE
SPACE CONDITIONS WITH THE BEAM OF THE TRANSMITTER
DIRECTED TOWARD THE POINT IN QUESTION 3YMBOLICALLY THIS IS
&
\%\
\ %O \
WHERE %O IS THE MAGNITUDE OF THE ELECTRIC FIELD UNDER FREE
SPACE CONDITIONS AND % IS THE
MAGNITUDE OF THE FIELD TO BE INVESTIGATED AT THE SAME POINT
4(% 02/0!'!4)/. &!#4/2 &0 ). 4(% 2!$!2 %15!4)/.
4HE PROPAGATION FACTOR IS A DESIRABLE QUANTITY SINCE IT IS AN IDENTIFIABLE PARAMETER IN
MOST RADAR EQUATIONS !S STATED EARLIER IT ALSO CONTAINS ALL THE INFORMATION NECESSARY TO
ACCOUNT FOR NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 4HUS IF THE FUNCTIONAL FORM OF & IS KNOWN
THEN THE PROPAGATION LOSS AT ANY POINT CAN BE DETERMINED BECAUSE THE CALCULATION OF THE
FREE
SPACE FIELD IS QUITE SIMPLE 4HE PROPAGATION LOSS INCLUDING ANTENNA PARAMETERS
IS EQUIVALENT TO
, ,FS LOG &
%FFECTIVE EARTH RADIUS -ODEL 3INCE THE MAJORITY OF HUMAN ACTIVITY TAKES PLACE
WITHIN THE %ARTHS ATMOSPHERE THE FREE SPACE PROPAGATION MODEL IS USUALLY INADEQUATE
FOR PROPAGATION ASSESSMENT APPLICATIONS AND OTHER PROPAGATION MECHANISMS NEED CON
SIDERATION 5NDER STANDARD OR NORMAL ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS THE RADIO RAY CURVES
DOWNWARD WITH A CURVATURE LESS THAN THE %ARTHS SURFACE 4HE EFFECTIVE EARTH RADIUS
CONCEPT REPLACES THE %ARTHS TRUE RADIUS WITH A LARGER RADIUS SUCH THAT THE RELATIVE
CURVATURE BETWEEN THE RAY AND THE %ARTHS SURFACE IS MAINTAINED AND THE RAY BECOMES
A STRAIGHT LINE 4HE EFFECTIVE EARTH RADIUS AE AND THE ACTUAL EARTH RADIUS A ARE RELATED
BY AN EFFECTIVE EARTH RADIUS FACTOR K SUCH THAT
AE KA
K MAY BE COMPUTED USING
K
; A DN DH =
WHERE DNDH IS THE VERTICAL REFRACTIVE INDEX GRADIENT 5SING THE MEAN EARTH RADIUS OF
KILOMETERS AND A REFRACTIVITY GRADIENT OF n .KM GIVES A K OF OR ABOUT
)N ADDITION TO THE CONSIDERATION OF REFRACTION OTHER STANDARD PROPAGATION MECH
ANISMS SUCH AS MULTIPATH INTERFERENCE DIFFRACTION TROPOSCATTER AND TERRAIN MAY BE
INCLUDED !MONG THE GENERAL CLASS OF EFFECTIVE EARTH RADIUS MODELS ARE THE 3TANDARD
0ROPAGATION -ODEL & &ACTOR THE 4ERRAIN )NTEGRATED 2OUGH %ARTH -ODEL 4)2%-
THE )RREGULAR 4ERRAIN -ODEL )4- ALSO KNOWN AS ,ONGLEY 2ICE AND THE 3PHERICAL
%ARTH +NIFE %DGE 3%+%
7HILE THESE EFFECTIVE EARTH RADIUS MODELS ARE OF THE SAME NATURE THEY DO NOT
IMPLEMENT THE VARIOUS PROPAGATION MECHANISMS EQUALLY &OR EXAMPLE THE & FACTOR
MODEL PROPERLY IMPLEMENTS MULTIPATH PROPAGATION FOR OVER WATER SURFACES WHEREAS THE
4)2%- MODEL IS BASED UPON KNIFE EDGE DIFFRACTION TECHNIQUES MAKING THE 4)2%-
MODEL INAPPROPRIATE FOR OVER WATER APPLICATIONS !GAIN WHILE TROPOSCATTER MAY BE
UNIMPORTANT FOR ACTIVE RADAR APPLICATIONS ITS EFFECTS NEED TO BE INCLUDED FOR APPLICA
TIONS OF RADAR INTERCEPT BY OTHER SENSORS
7AVEGUIDE -ODELS !S ENGINEERING REQUIREMENTS DEMANDED GREATER AND GREATER
FIDELITY OTHER MODELING TECHNIQUES WERE DEVELOPED /NE SUCH MODELING TECHNIQUE IS
USING NORMAL MODE THEORY TO COMPUTE FIELD STRENGTH UNDER STANDARD OR NONSTANDARD
REFRACTIVE CONDITIONS 4HIS CLASS OF MODELS IS REFERRED TO AS WAVEGUIDE MODELS 4HE USE
OF WAVEGUIDE MODELS DATES BACK TO THE EARLY S WHEN THEY WERE USED TO EXPLAIN THE
PROPAGATION OF LONG WAVELENGTH RADIO WAVES AROUND THE SURFACE OF THE %ARTH IN A WAVE
GUIDE FORMED BY THE %ARTH AND THE IONOSPHERE ! DESCRIPTION OF WAVEGUIDE MODELS IS
BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER BUT MAY BE FOUND IN A PUBLICATION BY "UDDEN
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
7HILE WAVEGUIDE MODELS ARE MOST USEFUL FOR CONDITIONS WHERE THE VERTICAL REFRACTIV
ITY PROFILE DOES NOT CHANGE ALONG THE PROPAGATION PATH HOMOGENEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
THEY CAN BE APPLIED TO INHOMOGENEOUS ENVIRONMENTS BY BREAKING THE WAVEGUIDE UP
INTO SLABS IN A TECHNIQUE KNOWN AS MODE CONVERSION 7HILE SUCCESSFUL THIS TECHNIQUE
IS LESS COMPUTATIONALLY EFFICIENT THAN OTHER MODELING TECHNIQUES AND HENCE WAVE
GUIDE MODELS ARE NOT GENERALLY USED FOR ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS REQUIRING RAPID EXECUTION
TIMES 7AVEGUIDE MODELS SERVE AS hLABORATORY BENCHMARKv MODELS AGAINST WHICH THE
RESULTS OF OTHER MODELING TECHNIQUES CAN BE COMPARED /NE SUCH WAVEGUIDE MODEL IS
THE -,!9%2 DERIVED FROM THE ORIGINAL WORKS OF "AUMGARTNER
0ARABOLIC %QUATION -ODELS )N &OCK USED THE PARABOLIC EQUATION 0%
METHOD TO DESCRIBE ELECTROMAGNETIC PROPAGATION IN A VERTICALLY STRATIFIED TROPOSPHERE
)N (ARDIN AND 4APPERT DEVELOPED AN EFFICIENT PRACTICAL SOLUTION CALLED THE SPLIT
STEP &OURIER METHOD BASED UPON FAST &OURIER TRANSFORMS &&4S THAT HAS BEEN WIDELY
APPLIED TO OCEAN ACOUSTIC PROPAGATION PROBLEMS 4HE 0% METHOD AND ITS SOLUTION BY THE
SPLIT
STEP &OURIER TECHNIQUE PROVIDES A VERY ROBUST MODEL FOR COMPLICATED REFRACTIVITY
STRUCTURES FOR WITHIN NEAR AND BEYOND THE HORIZON EFFECTS AND IS PARTICULARLY GOOD FOR
PROPAGATION OVER IRREGULAR TERRAIN 4HUS 0% MODELS ALLOW FOR A SINGLE MODEL ASSESS
MENT IN MANY IMPORTANT APPLICATIONS 4HREE SUCH 0% MODELS ARE THE 4ERRAIN 0ARABOLIC
%QUATION -ODEL 40%- THE 4ROPOSPHERIC %LECTROMAGNETIC 0ARABOLIC %QUATION
2OUTINE 4%-0%2 AND THE 6ARIABLE 4ERRAIN 2ADIO 0ARABOLIC %QUATION 6420%
(YBRID -ODELS 7HILE 0% MODELS ARE VERY ATTRACTIVE THEY ALSO HAVE THEIR DISAD
VANTAGES 0ROBABLY THE BIGGEST DISADVANTAGE IS THAT THEY REQUIRE VERY LARGE COMPUTER
RESOURCES BOTH IN TERMS OF MEMORY AND EXECUTION TIMES PARTICULARLY FOR APPLICATIONS
INVOLVING COMBINATIONS OF HIGH FREQUENCIES HIGH ELEVATION ANGLES HIGH TERMINALS
AND LONG RANGES )N SOME CASES THIS COMPUTATIONAL BURDEN CAN BE REDUCED BY COMBIN
ING THE BEST FEATURES OF THE VARIOUS OTHER MODELS IN A HYBRID MODEL /NCE SUCH MODEL
IS THE !DVANCED 0ROPAGATION -ODEL !0- DESCRIBED BY "ARRIOS )N !0- THE 0%
MODEL IS COMBINED WITH VARIOUS RAY OPTICS AND OTHER PHENOMENA MODELS TO CREATE A
HYBRID MODEL THAT CAN BE UP TO TIMES FASTER THAN A 0% MODEL FOR STRESSFUL CASES
4HREE OTHER HYBRID MODELS ARE 2ADIO 0HYSICAL /PTICS 20/ 4%20%- AUTHORED BY
3IGNAL 3CIENCE ,IMITED AND A HYBRID METHOD FOR COMPUTING TRANSMISSION LOSSES IN
AN INHOMOGENEOUS ATMOSPHERE OVER IRREGULAR TERRAIN BY -ARCUS
7ITHIN !0- THE ASSESSMENT SPACE IS DIVIDED INTO FOUR REGIONS OR SUBMODELS AS
ILLUSTRATED IN &IGURE !T RANGES LESS THAN M AND FOR ALL ELEVATION ANGLES
ABOVE !0- USES A FLAT EARTH &% MODEL THAT IGNORES REFRACTION AND EARTH CURVATURE
EFFECTS &OR RANGES BEYOND THE &% REGION WHERE THE GRAZING ANGLES OF REFLECTED RAYS
FROM THE TRANSMITTER EXCEED A SMALL LIMITING VALUE A FULL RAY OPTIC 2/ MODEL IS USED
THAT ACCOUNTS FOR THE EFFECTS OF REFRACTION AND EARTH CURVATURE 4HE 0% MODEL IS USED
FOR RANGES BEYOND THE 2/ REGION BUT ONLY FOR ALTITUDES BELOW A MAXIMUM 0% ALTI
TUDE DETERMINED BY A MAXIMUM FAST &OURIER TRANSFORM &&4 SIZE ALLOWED &OR RANGES
BEYOND THE 2/ REGION AND ABOVE THE 0% REGION AN EXTENDED OPTICS 8/ METHOD IS
USED THAT IS INITIALIZED BY THE 0% MODEL AT THE MAXIMUM 0% ALTITUDE AND USES RAY OPTICS
METHODS TO PROPAGATE THE SIGNAL TO HIGHER ALTITUDES #ONTINUITY OF THE SOLUTIONS ACROSS
EACH REGIONS BOUNDARIES IS KEPT LESS THAN D" BY CAREFUL SELECTION OF THE LIMITING
2/ GRAZING ANGLE AND THE MAXIMUM 0% PROPAGATION ANGLE
4HE PROPAGATION MODELS WITHIN !0- HAVE ALSO BEEN COMBINED WITH OTHER ENVI
RONMENTAL EFFECTS MODELS SUCH AS GASEOUS ABSORPTION AND SURFACE CLUTTER TO FORM
A COMPLETE PROPAGATION PACKAGE 4HE PHYSICAL PROPAGATION PHENOMENA CONSIDERED
BY !0- VERSION ARE ILLUSTRATED IN 4ABLE !S CAN BE SEEN FROM THE TABLE
4(% 02/0!'!4)/. &!#4/2 &0 ). 4(% 2!$!2 %15!4)/.
4!",% 0ROPAGATION %FFECTS -ODELED BY !0-
%#$ ' #" '&
" &!&
(# ") %#"!"'
%% "
'!#&$ %
" $""'
%%' )#" ' #"&
% '%% "
( ' $'
%' #"
%% "!& "
%#$#&''%
#( &(%
&(%*)
" $""'
'% &
&' "
(% (''%
&#(&#&%$' #"
"''"(' #"
'' #"
!0- CONSIDERS ALMOST EVERY ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECT MAKING IT A HIGHLY DESIRABLE MODEL
FOR USE IN COMPLEX ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS
&)'52% !0- SUBMODEL REGIONS
n
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
-9-/
--
--
/*,", 5SING THE POWER OF THE PERSONAL COMPUTER IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE MATURITY OF
%- SYSTEM AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROPAGATION MODELING ASSESSMENT PROGRAMS AND
ASSOCIATED SOFTWARE ALLOW A USER TO DEFINE AND MANIPULATE REFRACTIVITY AND OTHER
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT DATA RUN PROPAGATION MODELS ON THAT DATA AND DISPLAY THE
RESULTS IN TERMS OF EXPECTED PERFORMANCE ON ACTUAL OR PROPOSED ELECTROMAGNETIC
SYSTEMS 7HILE THERE ARE SEVERAL ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS IN USE WITHIN THE 53 AND IN
VARIOUS OTHER COUNTRIES THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION IS LIMITED TO !2%03 )T IS USED
EXTENSIVELY THROUGHOUT THE 53 $EPARTMENT OF $EFENSE $O$ AND OTHER FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES 53 PRIVATE INDUSTRY THEIR FOREIGN COUNTERPARTS AND BY
PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS
!2%03 GREW OUT OF AN URGENT MILITARY OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR RADAR PERFOR
MANCE AND PROPAGATION MODELING WITHIN A TERRAIN EFFECTS DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT
4HE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS INCLUDED MODELING ALL NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL
EFFECTS BEING QUICKLY EXECUTABLE AND EXECUTING ON A -ICROSOFT 7INDOWS OPERATING
SYSTEM PERSONAL COMPUTER !N EVALUATION OF THE VARIOUS PROPAGATION MODELS FOR THEIR
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES QUICKLY SHOWED THAT A HYBRID MODEL WAS THE ONLY ACCEPT
ABLE SOLUTION 4HE !2%03 GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE WAS CREATED AND INTERFACED TO THE
!0- TO PROVIDE THE USER AN END
TO
END RADAR PROPAGATION ASSESSMENT TOOL "ECAUSE
%- PROPAGATION EFFECTS ARE NOT JUST LIMITED TO RADAR FREQUENCIES OVER TIME THE INITIAL
RADAR REQUIREMENTS FOR !2%03 WERE EXPANDED BEYOND SIMPLE RADAR DETECTION APPLI
CATIONS TO INCLUDE APPLICATIONS IN COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONIC WARFARE !2%03 IS
THE ONLY APPROVED %- SYSTEM ASSESSMENT APPLICATION WITHIN THE $EPARTMENT OF THE
.AVY #HIEF )NFORMATION /FFICER $/. !PPLICATIONS $ATABASE -ANAGEMENT 3YSTEM
$!$-3 !0- IS THE ONLY ACCREDITED BY THE #HIEF OF .AVAL /PERATIONS %- PROPA
GATION -(Z TO '(Z MODEL FOR USE IN .AVY SYSTEMS "OTH !2%03 AND !0- ARE
ACCREDITED WITHIN THE .AVY -ODELING AND 3IMULATION /FFICE .-3/ !2%03 IS ALSO
A .ORTH !TLANTIC 4REATY /RGANIZATION .!4/ APPLICATION APPROVED BY THE -ILITARY
#OMMITTEE -ETEOROLOGICAL 'ROUP7ORKING 'ROUP "ATTLE !REA -ETEOROLOGICAL
3YSTEMS AND 3UPPORT PLUS WITH 0ARTNERS
!2%03 VERSION CONTAINS SEVERAL %- PROPAGATION MODELS FOR APPLICATIONS AT
VARIOUS FREQUENCIES &OR FREQUENCIES OF -(Z TO '(Z !2%03 USES THE !0- &OR
(& SKY WAVE COMMUNICATIONS !2%03 USES AN (& MODELING SUITE CONSISTING OF A
FULLY $ IONOSPHERE RAY TRACE MODEL AN (& FIELD STRENGTH MODEL AND AN (& NOISE
MODEL )N ADDITION TO THESE %- PROPAGATION MODELS !2%03 MAY OPTIONALLY USE TWO
INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED IONOSPHERE MODELS THE 0ARAMETERIZED )ONOSPHERIC -ODEL
0)- AND THE )NTERNATIONAL 2EFERENCE )ONOSPHERE )2) )N ADDITION TO THE PROPAGA
TION MODELS !2%03 CONTAINS A SYSTEM PERFORMANCE RADAR MODEL WHICH IS DISCUSSED
IN THE NEXT SECTION
!2%03 CONSIDERS RANGE
AND AZIMUTH ANGLEnDEPENDENT INFLUENCES FROM SURFACE
FEATURES TO INCLUDE TERRAIN ELEVATION FINITE CONDUCTIVITY DIELECTRIC GROUND CONSTANTS
AND SCATTERING EFFECTIVENESS FACTORS 4HE TERRAIN ELEVATION DATA MAY BE OBTAINED FROM
THE .ATIONAL 'EOSPATIAL
)NTELLIGENCE !GENCYS .'! $IGITAL 4ERRAIN %LEVATION
$ATA $4%$ OR FROM ANY OTHER SUITABLE SOURCE 4HE FINITE CONDUCTIVITY AND DIELEC
TRIC GROUND CONSTANTS MAY BE SELECTED FROM THOSE DEFINED BY THE )NTERNATIONAL
4ELECOMMUNICATION 5NION )NTERNATIONAL 2ADIO #ONSULTATIVE #OMMITTEE ##)2
OR FROM ANY OTHER SUITABLE SOURCE
4(% 02/0!'!4)/. &!#4/2 &0 ). 4(% 2!$!2 %15!4)/.
!2%03 CONSIDERS RANGE
AND AZIMUTH ANGLEnDEPENDENT ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTIVITY
DATA DERIVED FROM THE UPPER
AIR OBSERVATIONS OF RADIOSONDES OTHER SENSORS OR MESO
SCALE METEOROLOGICAL MODELS SUCH AS THE 53 .AVY #OUPLED /CEAN!TMOSPHERE
-ESOSCALE 0REDICTION 3YSTEM #/!-03 2ADIOSONDE DATA MAY BE MANUALLY
ENTERED OR AUTOMATICALLY DECODED FROM EITHER THE 7ORLD -ETEOROLOGICAL /RGANIZATION
7-/ OBSERVATIONAL MESSAGE FORMAT OR A FREE
FORM COLUMN FORMAT OBTAINED FROM
A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT DATA SOURCES )N ADDITION CLIMATOLOGICAL REFRACTIVE CONDI
TIONS MAY BE SELECTED FROM A 7-/ STATION WORLDWIDE REPORTING DATABASE &OR
OCEAN REPORTING STATIONS OR NUMERICAL WEATHER PREDICTION GRID POINTS OVER THE OCEAN
!2%03 AUTOMATICALLY CALCULATES AN EVAPORATION DUCT REFRACTIVE PROFILE AND APPENDS
IT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE UPPER
AIR OBSERVATION FOR A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPA
GATION ENVIRONMENT
!2%03 COMPUTES AND DISPLAYS A NUMBER OF %- SYSTEM PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
TACTICAL DECISION AIDS 4HESE ARE RADAR PROBABILITY OF DETECTION %3- VULNERABILITY ,&
TO %(& COMMUNICATIONS SIMULTANEOUS RADAR DETECTION AND %3- VULNERABILITY AND
SURFACE
SEARCH DETECTION RANGES !LL DECISION AIDS ARE DISPLAYED AS FUNCTIONS OF RANGE
AZIMUTH ANGLE ANDOR HEIGHT $ETECTION PROBABILITY %3- VULNERABILITY AND COMMUNI
CATIONS ASSESSMENTS ARE BASED ON %- SYSTEM PARAMETERS STORED IN A USER
DEFINED AND
CHANGEABLE DATABASE )N ADDITION TO NORMAL RADAR PARAMETERS A USER MAY COMPLETELY
DEFINE THE ANTENNA RADIATION PATTERN TO ACCOUNT FOR SIDELOBE CONSIDERATIONS 4HE DATA
BASE ALSO INCLUDES RADAR TARGET DESCRIPTIONS AND PLATFORMS %- EMITTER SUITES
&IGURE IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF AN !2%03 FOUR
PANEL DISPLAY 4HIS DISPLAY WAS
CREATED IN SUPPORT OF 53 HOMELAND DEFENSE FOR THE &EBRUARY 3UPER "OWL
8, 4HE 3UPER "OWL 8, 2OMAN NUMERAL FOR IS A CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL GAME
&)'52% !2%03 HOMELAND DEFENSE APPLICATION
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
PLAYED IN THE 5NITED 3TATES )T WAS ATTENDED BY OVER PEOPLE ALL CONFINED IN
ONE SPORTING EVENT STADIUM WHICH PRESENTED A SIGNIFICANT TARGET FOR A TERRORISM ATTACK
4HE DISPLAY SHOWS A RADAR PROBABILITY OF DETECTION IN A RANGE VERSUS HEIGHT DEPICTION
RADAR PROBABILITY OF DETECTION VERSUS RANGE AT A CONSTANT ALTITUDE DEPICTION AND RADAR
PROBABILITY OF DETECTION VERSUS HEIGHT AT A CONSTANT RANGE DEPICTION 4HIS DISPLAY IS
COURTESY OF THE TH 2ADAR %VALUATION 3QUADRON (ILL !IR &ORCE "ASE 5TAH 4HE RADAR
DEPICTED IS THE !232 % 53 !IR 2OUTE 3URVEILLANCE 2ADAR LOCATED AT #ANTON
-ICHIGAN 4HE TARGET OF INTEREST IS A SMALL PRIVATE AIRCRAFT
!S THE PERSONAL COMPUTER VERSION OF !2%03 DEVELOPED IT ALSO TRANSITIONED INTO AN
APPLICATION CALLED THE .AVAL )NTEGRATED 4ACTICAL %NVIRONMENTAL 3UBSYSTEM .)4%3 A
SEGMENT OF THE 'LOBAL #OMMAND AND #ONTROL 3YSTEM -ARITIME '##3 - )N .)4%3
THE !2%03 FUNCTIONALITY OF THE PERSONAL COMPUTER WAS CODED IN *AVA AND INTERFACED
TO THE #OMMON /PERATING 0ICTURE #/0 4HE #/0 IS A REAL TIME DISPLAY OF TACTICAL
INFORMATION AND CURRENT FORCE POSITIONING 4HUS A RADAR ASSESSMENT PROVIDED BY !2%03
MAY BE DISPLAYED AS A TACTICAL OVERLAY UPON THE OPERATING PICTURE &IGURE IS AN
ILLUSTRATION OF SUCH A #/0 DISPLAY )N THIS ILLUSTRATION THE RADAR COVERAGE OF THREE COASTAL
SURVEILLANCE RADARS IS SHOWN ALONG WITH THE TRADITIONAL HEIGHT VERSUS RANGE COVERAGE
DISPLAY TYPICAL OF THE PERSONAL COMPUTER VERSION OF !2%03
!S THE .AVY PROGRESSED INTO WEB BASED APPLICATIONS THE DISPLAY OF !2%03
TACTICAL DECISION AIDS FOLLOWED SUIT /NE SUCH WEB BASED APPLICATION IS THE .AVYS
#OMPOSABLE &ORCE.ET AN APPLICATION SIMILAR IN NATURE TO THE '##3 - &IGURE
IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE #OMPOSABLE &ORCE.ET APPLICATION &OR THIS ILLUSTRATION THE
BACKGROUND FOR THE #OMPOSABLE &ORCE.ET #/0 IS A HYPOTHETICAL OCEAN AND ISLAND
OPERATION AREA 4HE SYMBOLOGY SUCH AS THE SMALL CIRCLES SQUARES AND HALF CIRCLES
REPRESENT THE DISPOSITION OF VARIOUS FORCES SUCH AS SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT 4HE MULTIPLE
ELLIPTICAL AND FAN SHAPED SHADED AREAS CORRESPOND TO A CERTAIN RADAR PROBABILITY OF
DETECTION OF VARIOUS TARGETS BY VARIOUS OPERATIONAL RADARS &OR EXAMPLE THE SMALL FAN
SHAPED SHADED AREA IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER OF THE DISPLAY REPRESENTS THE AREA WHERE
A GROUND BASED RADAR WOULD BE ABLE TO DETECT WITH A CERTAIN PROBABILITY OF DETECTION
A PARTICULAR AIRCRAFT TARGET
!N OPTIONAL CAPABILITY OF !2%03 IS TO PROVIDE TO AN EXTERNAL APPLICATION THE COM
PUTED RADAR PROBABILITY OF DETECTION PROPAGATION LOSS OR PROPAGATION FACTOR TO AN EXTER
NAL APPLICATION 4HUS A TACTICAL APPLICATION DEVELOPER NEED NOT HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE
UNDERLYING RADAR PROPAGATION MODELING TECHNIQUES OR OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDER
ATIONS BUT CAN RELY UPON !2%03 TO hSERVE UPv DATA FOR DISPLAY WITHIN HIS OR HER OWN
APPLICATION 3UCH AN APPLICATION IS THE 3IMULATION AND $ISPLAY 3YSTEM 3)-$)3
AUTHORED BY THE .AVAL 2ESEARCH ,ABORATORY 7ASHINGTON $# &IGURE IS AN ILLUS
TRATION OF !2%03 COMPUTED DATA DISPLAYED THREE DIMENSIONALLY WITHIN 3)-$)3 )N
THIS FIGURE THE VIEW IS LOOKING NORTHWARD WITHIN THE BYTE OF 3OUTHERN #ALIFORNIA 4HE
EASTERN TERRAIN OF 3AN #LEMENTE )SLAND SHOWS IN THE MIDDLE LEFT OF THE FIGURE &ROM
THIS CURRENT VIEW A SHIP WITH A PARTICULAR AIR SEARCH RADAR IS LOCATED BEYOND NORTH OF
THE ISLAND 4HE DARKENED FAN SHAPED AREA EXTENDING UPWARD OVER THE ISLAND REPRESENTS
THE RADARS PROBABILITY OF DETECTION OF A CERTAIN TARGET AS THE RADAR SWEEPS SOUTHWARD
OVER THE ISLAND &OR A TARGET LOCATED IN THE FOREFRONT OF THE ISLAND AND AT A SUFFICIENTLY
LOW ALTITUDE THE DISPLAY SHOWS THE TARGET IS NOT DETECTABLE BY THE RADAR AS THE TARGET IS
MASKED BY THE INTERVENING TERRAIN
4(% 02/0!'!4)/. &!#4/2 &0 ). 4(% 2!$!2 %15!4)/.
&)'52% !2%03 DISPLAY UPON THE #/0 WITHIN .)4%3
&)'52% !2%03 COMPUTATIONS DISPLAY UPON THE #OMPOSABLE &ORCE.ET #/0
2!$!2 (!.$"//+
4(% 02/0!'!4)/. &!#4/2 &0 ). 4(% 2!$!2 %15!4)/.
&)'52% !2%03 COMPUTATIONS DISPLAY WITHIN 3)-$)3 SHOWING RADAR PROBABILITY OF DETECTION OF A
SMALL TARGET UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF TERRAIN
MASKING EFFECTS
n ,
*-, ,-9-/
--
--
/ "
4HE MAIN PURPOSE OF !2%03 IS TO OFFER RADAR OPERATORS THE ABILITY TO VISUALIZE THEIR
RADARS DETECTION OF THREAT TARGETS OR THEIR OWN PLATFORMS DETECTION BY THREAT RADARS
UNDER VARIOUS NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS 4HE PRIMARY VISUALIZATION IS A HEIGHT
VERSUS RANGE DISPLAY OF RADAR PROBABILITY OF DETECTION WHERE THE RADAR PROBABILITY OF
DETECTION EXPRESSED IN PERCENT CORRESPONDS TO CERTAIN ENERGY LEVELS IN HEIGHT AND RANGE
FROM THE RADAR !0- COMPUTES PROPAGATION LOSS IN D" 4O MAKE A DETERMINATION OF
RADAR PERFORMANCE !2%03 NEEDS TO MAKE A COMPARISON OF FREE
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!2%03 CONTAINS A FAIRLY SIMPLISTIC PULSED
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TION LOSS FROM RADAR SYSTEM PARAMETERS SUCH AS FREQUENCY PULSE LENGTH ETC 4HE MODELS
TO DO THIS CALCULATION ARE TAKEN FROM "LAKE AND ARE FULLY DESCRIBED WITHIN THE !2%03
ONLINE HELP AND THE !2%03 OPERATORS MANUAL 4HUS !2%03 RADAR SYSTEM ASSESSMENT
MODEL WILL NOT BE REPEATED HERE 4HE INTENT OF THIS SECTION IS TO SHOW THE NECESSARY RADAR
SYSTEM AND RADAR TARGET INPUTS NEEDED BY THE !2%03 PROGRAM 4HESE INPUTS ARE SHOWN
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APPLICATION !N EXAMPLE OF MULTIPLE UNITS IS THE TRANSMITTERS PEAK POWER 4HE DEFAULT
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AS A TACTICAL DECISION AID BECAUSE IT WILL ALLOW THE RADAR OPERATOR TO MAKE SOME SORT OF
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I_1
INDEX
A
A-12 low cross section aircraft, 14.40
Absorbers, 14.32, 14.36 to 14.38
Active aperture, 13.53 to 13.55
Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA), 5.1, 5.8 to 5.10, 10.28
compared to mechanical scan, 5.9 to 5.10
timing structure, 5.15 to 5.16
typical waveform parameters, 5.13, 5.15
waveform variations for air-to-surface mode, 5.12 to 5.13
Active jamming, 24.5
Active-switch modulator, 10.24
A/D converter
and MTI dynamic range, 2.78 to 2.80
Adaptive arrays (ECCM), 24.20 to 24.30
Adaptive jammer and clutter cancellation, 24.25
Adaptive MTI, 2.80 to 2.83
Adaptive thresholding, 7.11 to 7.19
Advanced Propagation Model (APM), 26.16 to 26.17
Advanced Refractive Effects Prediction System (AREPS), 26.1 to 26.2, 26.18 to 26.27
Aid to Navigation (AtoN), 22.25 to 22.26
Air-to-air ground ranging, 5.33
Air-to-air mission profile, 5.12 to 5.14
Air-to-air modes, 5.14, 5.16 to 5.28
medium PRF, 5.16 to 5.20
Air-to-surface mission profile, 5.10
Air-to-surface mode suite, 5.11 to 5.12
Air-to-surface radar modes, 5.28 to 5.42
Air-traffic control (ATC) radar, 1.21 to 1.22
Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS), 7.49
Airborne Early Warning, 3.1.
See also Airborne Moving Target Indication
antenna sidelobes, 3.13 to 3.14
coverage, 3.2 to 3.3
platform motion, 3.3 to 3.14
TACCAR, 3.4 to 3.9
Airborne Moving Target Indication (AMTI)
example of, 3.32 to 3.33
improvement factor, 3.8
multiple spectra, 3.31 to 3.32
scanning motion compensation, 3.14 to 3.17
and STAP, 3.23 to 3.31
Aircraft radar cross section, 14.13 to 14.14
Alpha-beta (-) filter, 7.26 to 7.27, 7.30
Altimeters, from space, 18.33 to 18.57
Altitude line, 4.4 to 4.5
Ambiguity function, 8.40
Ambiguity resolution, in MTI, 2.89 to 2.91
Amplitude-comparison monopulse, 9.3 to 9.11
Amplitude noise, in tracking, 9.27 to 9.30
AN/APG-76, 17.25
AN/APY-9, 3.32 to 3.33
AN/FPQ-6, 9.2, 9.9, 9.18, 9.21, 9.44
AN/FPS-23, 23.7
AN/EPS-117, 8.30, 13.63 to 13.64
AN/MPS-39, 9.2, 9.26
AN/SPS-40, 10.27, 11.32 to 11.33
AN/SPY-1, 13.62
AN/SPY-3, 13.69
AN/TPS-59, 8.30, 13.63 to 13.64
AN/TPS-63, 12.18
AN/TPS-77, 13.63 to 13.64
AN/TPS-78, 13.65 to 13.66
Analog-to-digital (A/D) converters, 6.35 to 6.40
I_2
Anechoic chamber, 14.32
Angle accuracy, by beam splitting, 7.5 to 7.7
Angle measurement errors, 9.43 to 9.44
Angle noise, 9.30 to 9.35
Angle scintillation (glint), 9.30 to 9.35, 9.47
Angular direction, 1.8
Anomalous propagation, 26.6 to 26.13
Antenna-related ECCM, 24.10 to 24.31
Antennas, 1.2, 1.4 to 1.5.
See also phased arrays, reflector antennas
basic principles, 12.3 to 12.15
for civil marine radar, 22.10 to 22.12
for ground penetrating radar, 21.24 to 21.30
phased array, 13.2 to 13.3
for pulse doppler, 4.12 to 4.13
reflector antennas, role of, 12.1
reflector antennas, types of, 12.7
Anti-radiation missile (ARM), 24.40
Anti-range-gate pull-off (A-RGPO), 24.46
Aperture gain, of antennas, 12.4 to 12.5
Apollo Lunar Sounder, 18.60 to 18.61
Aquarius scatterometer, 18.58
Area MTI, 2.84
Array feeds, for reflector antennas, 12.28 to 12.30
ARSR-4, 12.30
ASR-9, 10.27 to 10.28, 12.20 to 12.21
ASR-11 MTI filter design, 2.50 to 2.51
ASR-12, 8.30, 10.27 to 10.28
Atmosphere, of the Earth, 26.2
Atmospheric ducts, 26.7 to 26.10
Attenuation, by clouds, 19.7 to 19.8
by fog, 19.12
by hail, 19.11 to 19.12
by rain, 19.8 to 19.11
Automatic detection, 7.1 to 7.2, 7.20 to 7.22
Automatic gain control (AGC), in monopulse tracker, 9.5, 9.10 to 9.11
Automatic Identification System (AIS)
in civil marine radar, 22.23 to 22.25
in search and rescue, 22.27
Automatic noise-level control, 6.23 to 6.24
Automatic Radar Plotting Aid (ARPA), 22.17
Automatic tracking, 7.22 to 7.46
alpha-beta (-) filter, 7.26 to 7.27, 7.30
detection acceptance, 7.25 to 7.26
Interacting Multiple Model (IMM), 7.35 to 7.37
Kalman filter, 7.28 to 7.35
new track formation, 7.41 to 7.46
retrospective processing, 7.42 to 7.43
scheduling and control, 7.46
track association, 7.38 to 7.41
track file, 7.23 to 7.25
updating tracks, 7.26 to 7.30
AWACS, 13.65
B
B-2 low cross section aircraft, 14.18, 14.42
Ballistic missile defense, 13.54
Bandwidth
importance of, 1.8 to 1.9
of phased arrays, 13.38 to 13.45
receiver, 6.9
Bar, in airborne radar, 5.15 to 5.16
Barker codes, 8.17
Batch processor, 7.8 to 7.11
Battle of the Pips, ducting effects, 26.9
Beacon equation, 24.4
Beacon rendezvous, 5.27
Beam-shape factor, 7.3
Beam-shape loss, 4.40
Beam-splitting angle accuracy, 7.5 to 7.7
Beam steering, 13.15 to 13.19
Beam steering control, 5.10
Binary integrator, 7.7 to 7.8, 7.12 to 7.13
Birds, and MTI, 2.96 to 2.98
Bistatic plane, 23.3
Bistatic radar
applications, 23.9 to 23.14
benchmark range, 23.4 to 23.5
concept of, 23.1 to 23.3
coordinate system, 23.3 to 23.4
doppler in, 23.14 to 23.17
floodlight beams, 23.27
forward scatter, 23.21
glint in, 23.20 to 23.21
ground echo, 16.29
hitchhiker, 23.10
with noncooperative transmitter, 23.29 to 23.31
ovals of Cassini, 23.6 to 23.8
passive, 23.10
pseudo-monostatic region, 23.19 to 23.20
pulse chasing, 23.28 to 23.29
I_3
range equation, 23.5 to 23.6
SAR, 23.17
scattering coefficient, 23.22 to 23.25
surface clutter in, 23.22 to 23.26
target cross section, 23.19 to 23.21
target location, 23.17 to 23.19
with TV transmitter, 23.29 to 23.31
Blind speeds, 2.9 to 2.10
Block diagram
digital receiver, 25.2
medium PRF air-to-air pulse doppler, 5.17
monopulse tracking radar, 9.4 to 9.5
Moving Target Detection, 2.6 to 2.7
multifunctional fighter aircraft radar, 5.3
pulse compression, 8.1 to 8.2
pulse doppler, 4.11
radar, 1.3
SBR altimeter, 18.40
Bodies of revolution radar cross section, 14.39 to 14.40
Bragg scatter, 15.2, 15.28 to 15.32, 15.38,
and ground echo, 16.11 to 16.12
Burst mode, in SBR SAR, 18.23 to 18.24
C
C band, 1.16
Calibrate and self-test, 5.42
Calibration of meteorological radar, 19.18 to 19.19
Cascaded Integrator-Comb (CIC) Filters, 25.29 to 25.32
Cassegrain antenna, 12.21 to 12.23, 12.25, 14.34
Cassini, 18.46
Cathode pulser, 10.23
Cell-averaging CFAR, 7.11 to 7.12, 7.17
CFAR, 7.11 to 7.18
and ECCM, 24.35 to 24.36
loss, 4.44
probability of detection, 7.15
target suppression in, 7.16 to 7.17
Chaff, 24.5 to 24.6
Chaff and ECCM, 24.19, 24.34
Chart radars, 22.22 to 22.23
Chebyshev filter bank, 2.54 to 2.55
Civil Marine Radar (CMR), 22.33
and aids to navigation (AtoN), 22.25, 22.26
antennas, 22.10 to 22.12
Automatic Identification System (AIS), 22.2, 22.8
integration with, 22.23 to 22.25
cost of, 22.3
detection performance, 22.4 to 22.6
detection and processing, 22.13 to 22.15
display, 22.21
early days of, 22.31 to 22.33
environmental conditions, 22.3
international standards for, 22.7 to 22.10
magnetrons for, 10.16
precipitation and sea clutter, 22.5
racons and, 22.26
radar beacons and, 22.25
radar target enhancers (RTEs), 22.27
RF head (transmitter and receiver), 22.12 to 22.13
search and rescue transponders, 22.27
solid-state, 22.16 to 22.17
target tracking, 22.17 to 22.19
user interface, 22.19 to 22.22
validation testing of, 22.28 to 22.29
vertical lobing in, 22.6 to 22.7
Class of (amplifier) operation, 11.18 to 11.20
Clouds, attenuation in, 19.7 to 19.8
CloudSat, 18.63, 19.39
Clustered-cavity klystron, 10.12 to 10.13
Clutter
amplitude characteristics, 2.17
attenuation, in MTI, 2.20 to 2.21
characteristics for MTI, 2.10 to 2.19
exponential model, 2.12 to 2.16
in ground penetrating radar, 21.5, 21.10
maps, 2.83 to 2.87, 6.23, 7.19
models, for ground echo, 16.29 to 16.34
MTI filter design, 2.33 to 2.46
optimum filter design, 2.25 to 2.33
point scatterers, 2.18 to 2.19
in pulse doppler radar, 4.14 to 4.24
reflectivity, 2.17 to 2.18
Clutter-limited detection in pulse doppler, 4.48
Coaxial magnetron, 10.14 to 10.15
Coaxitron, 10.21
Cobra Dane radar, 8.36
Coherent processing, and ECCM, 24.34 to 24.35
Coherent Processing Interval (CPI), 2.7
Coherent on receive, 10.14
I_4
COHO, 6.3, 6.20
Collapsing loss, 7.3
Compact range, 14.32 to 14.33
Complementary pulse compression waveforms, 8.19
Complex envelope representation, 8.38 to 8.39
Computer codes for reflector design, 12.33 to 12.35
Conformal arrays, 13.3
Conical-scan tracking, 9.16 to 9.17
Conopulse, 9.15
Constant false alarm rate. See CFAR
Continuous wave (CW) radar, 1.5
Constant Efficiency Amplifier (CEA), 10.21 to 10.22, 10.26
Cooperative target identification, 5.22 to 5.23
CORDIC processor, 25.22 to 25.25
Corner reflector, radar cross section, 14.9 to 14.11
Corporate feed monopulse phased array, 9.14
Co secant-squared antenna, and STC, 2.98
COSMO-SkyMed SAR, 18.12
Costas codes, 8.25 to 8.26
Counter Battery Radar (COBRA), 13.62
Creeping waves, 14.3, 14.5
Critical frequency, in HE OTH, 20.3
Crossed-field amplifier (CFA), 10.3, 10.16 to 10.17
Crossed-field tubes, 10.2
Cross-eye ECM, 24.42 to 24.43
Cross-polarization jamming, 24.43
Cross-polarization tracking, 9.40 to 9.41
Crossrange resolution, 17.1
Cross section. See radar cross section
Crosstalk, in tracking, 9.40 to 9.41
Crowbar, in transmitters, 10.24
CryoSat altimeter, 18.42 to 18.43
D
D region, 20.14
Dllenbach layer, 14.37 to 14.38
Data link, missile, 5.26
Data links, in MFAR, 5.24 to 5.27
Data processing, 1.3
dBZ, 19.5 to 19.6
DC operation of CFA, 10.17, 10.24
Deceptive ECM (DECM), and ECCM, 24.6 to 24.7, 24.40
and tracking radar, 24.41 to 24.42
Decimation, 6.41 to 6.42
Decimation filters, 25.28 to 25.32
Decoys, 24.6, 24.8
Delta-Sigma converters, 6.36
Depressed collector, 10.10
Detection acceptance, 7.25 to 7.26
Detectors
batch processor, 7.8 to 7.11
binary integrator, 7.7 to 7.8, 7.12 to 7.13
M-out-of-N, 7.7 to 7.8
moving window, 7.4 to 7.7
nonparametric, 7.17 to 7.18
optimal, 7.2 to 7.4
practical, 7.4 to 7.11
rank, 7.17 to 7.18
Dicke fix, 24.33, 24.35
Differential reflectivity, 19.18
Diffraction, 26.5
Digital beamforming, 13.8, 13.56 to 13.57
multiple beams, 25.17 to 25.19
Digital downconversion (DDC), 6.41 to 6.42, 6.44 to 6.45, 25.6 to 25.15
Digital filters, 25.26 to 25.32
Digital pulse compression, 25.19
generation of, 8.28 to 8.30
Digital receiver, 6.40 to 6.46
block diagram, 25.2
direct sampling, 25.38
Digital RF memory (DREM), 24.6 to 24.7
Digital signal processing
hardware implementation, 25.35 to 25.37
timing dependence, 25.34 to 25.35
tools, 25.22 to 25.34
Digital upconverter (DUC), 25.21 to 25.22
Diode phase shifter, 13.51 to 13.52
Dipole antenna, 21.25 to 21.26
Direct digital downconversion, 25.10 to 25.15
Direct digital synthesizer (DDS), 6.22, 6.48 to 6.49, 25.20 to 25.21
Direct sampling digital receiver. 25.38
Direction finding (DF) and radar, 7.50 to 7.54
Directive gain, of an antenna, 12.5
Discrete Fourier transform (DFT), 25.32 to 25.34
Displaced Phase Center Antenna (DPCA), 3.10 to 3.13, 3.19 to 3.21, 5.2 to 5.3
Distortion, in receiver, 6.6 to 6.7
Doppler ambiguity resolution, 4.33 to 4.34
I_5
Doppler beam sharpening (DBS), 5.34 to 5.36, 5.37, 17.2, 17.3
Doppler, in bistatic radar, 23.14 to 23.17
Doppler filter bank, 2.7 to 2.9
Doppler filter straddle loss, 4.43
Doppler filter weighting loss, 4.43
Doppler radars, 4.1
Doppler scintillation, in tracking radars, 9.36 to 9.37
Doppler shift, 1.10
Doppler spectra, spurious, 6.11
Doppler spectrum
of ground echo, 16.16 to 16.19
of HF sea echo, 20.49 to 20.52, 20.75
Doppler weather radar, 1.7
Ducts
atmospheric, 26.7 to 26.10
elevated, 26.12 to 26.13
evaporation, 26.11 to 26.12
surface, 26.10 to 26.11
Duplexer, 1.2, 6.2
Dynamic range, 1.3, 6.4 to 6.8
of A/D converters, 6.38 to 6.39
and ECCM, 24.32 to 24.33
in pulse doppler radar, 24.32 to 24.33
E
E-2C, 3.3
E-2D, 3.1 to 3.3
E region, 20.14
Early-late gate range tracking, 9.21 to 9.22
Eclipsing loss, 4.40 to 4.43, 5.18
Effective-earth-radius model, 26.15
Eldora radar, 19.37 to 19.38
EM system assessment, 26.18 to 16.23
Electronic Attack, 24.2
Electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM)
antenna-related, 24.10 to 24.31
decoys, 24.8
efficiency, 24.54 to 24.56
and imaging radar, 24.48 to 24.52
and ISAR, 24.51 to 24.52
operational-deployment techniques, 24.36 to 24.37
and over-the-horizon radar, 24.52 to 24.53
and phased array radar, 24.43 to 24.48
and radar equation, 24.55 to 24.56
receiver related, 24.32 to 24.33
role of the operator with, 24.36
SLB and SLC, 24.17 to 24.20
sidelobe canceler, 24.14 to 24.20
signal-processing related, 24.33 to 24.36
STAP, 24.21 to 24.22
and subarrays, 24.25 to 24.29
and surveillance radars, 24.37 to 24.40
and SAR, 24.48 to 24.51
techniques, 24.8 to 24.9, 24.37 to 24.53
terminology, 24.2
and tracking radars, 24.40 to 24.43
transmitter related, 24.31 to 24.32
Electronic countermeasures (ECM), 24.5 to 24.8
Electronic Protection (EP), 24.2
Electronic-scan monopulse, 9.12 to 9.13
Electronic Support (ES), 24.2
Electronic Warfare Support Measures (ESM), 24.2 to 24.5
Elevated ducts, 26.12 to 26.13
Elint, 24.2, 24.3, 24.4
Emission Control (EMCON), 24.37
ENVIS AT, 18.11
Errors in tracking radar
external causes of, 9.37 to 9.43
internal sources of, 9.42 to 9.43, 9.47
reduction techniques, 9.46 to 9.47
sources of, 9.26
target caused, 9.26 to 9.37
ERS SAR, 18.8 to 18.9
Evaporation ducts, 26.11 to 26.12
Exponential model of land clutter, 2.12 to 2.16
Extended Interaction Klystron (EIK), 10.11
External noise at HF, 20.43 to 20.45
F
F-117 low cross section aircraft, 14.40 to 14.42
F region, 20.14 to 20.15
Fading, 16.12
False-alarm control, 7.11 to 7.19
Far field, 14.4
Far-field criterion, 14.27 to 14.28
Fast Fourier transform (FFT), 25.33 to 25.34
filter bank, 2.55 to 2.56
Fast Time Constant (FTC), in CMR, 22.5
Fast-wave tube, 10.3
Ferrite phase shifters, 13.52 to 13.53
Fighter aircraft missions, 5.10 to 5.16
I_6
Filter-bank design, 2.52 to 2.59
Filter mismatch loss, in MTI, 2.22 to 2.23
Filters, in radar, 6.24 to 6.29
Finite impulse response (FIR) filters, 2.33, 25.26 to 25.28
FM-CW radar, 1.5, 9.20
Focused SAR, 17.2
Foliage-penetration (FOPEN) SAR, 17.33 to 17.34
Fog, attenuation in, 19.12
Forward scatter, in bistatic radar, 23.21
Fourier transform, 8.38
Frank codes, 8.19 to 8.20
Free-space propagation, 26.13 to 26.15
Frequency agility, 1.9, 24.31
Frequency diversity, 1.9, 24.31
Frequency, effect on radar, 1.14 to 1.18
Frequency multipliers, 6.49 to 6.50
Frequency synthesis, 6.21 to 6.22
Front end, of receiver, 6.10 to 6.14
G
GaAs PHEMT FET, 11.12 to 11.16
Geometrical optics, 14.20 to 14.21
and ground echo, 16.8
reflector analysis, 12.33
Geometric theory of diffraction, 14.24 to 14.25
Geosat, 18.41 to 18.42
Ghosts, 2.88, 4.33, 14.35
Glint
in bistatic radar, 23.20 to 23.21
in tracking radar, 9.30 to 9.35
Global Nearest Neighbor (GNN), 7.39 to 7.40
Graceful degradation, 13.4
Graded absorber, 14.37
Grating lobes, 13.10 to 13.12
Gregorian antenna, 12.21, 12.25
Gregorian system, 14.33 to 14.34
Grid-controlled vacuum tubes, 10.21 to 10.23, 10.25
Grid locking, 7.49
Ground echo
available information from, 16.4
bistatic, 16.29
fading of, 16.12 to 16.19
at HF, 20.29 to 20.30
imaging radar interpretation, 16.55 to 16.56
at low grazing angle, 16.52 to 16.55
measurement techniques for, 16.19 to 16.29
in meteorological radar, 19.13 to 19.14
models for scattering coefficient, 16.29 to 16.34
near-grazing angle, 16.52 to 16.55
near-vertical, 16.25
number of independent samples, 16.24
parameters affecting, 16.4 to 16.7
polarimetry, 16.46 to 16.52
scattering coefficient data, 16.35 to 16.46
scattering coefficients from radar images, 16.28 to 16.29
sea ice, 16.44 to 16.46
snow, 16.42 to 16.44
soil moisture, 16.40 to 16.41
speckle, 16.55
theoretical models, 16.7 to 16.12
vegetation, 16.41
Ground moving target indication (GMTI), 5.38 to 5.42, 17.25
Ground moving target thresholding, 5.39 to 5.40
Ground moving target track (GMTT), 5.38
Ground moving target weapon delivery, 5.40 to 5.41
Ground penetrating radar (GPR)
antennas, 21.24 to 21.30
applications of, 21.3, 21.35 to 21.40
archeological applications, 21.36
and land mines, 21.37
AT mines, 21.34, 21.39
attenuation with, 21.7 to 21.9
bandwidth, 21.1
characteristics of, 21.4
clutter in, 21.5, 21.10
comparison with optical image, 21.4
depth resolution, 21.11
description of, 21.1 to 21.6
dispersion in, 21.11
earth material properties, 21.18 to 21.19
example of, 21.2
forensic investigations, 21.35
and frequency domain, 21.23
and glacier, 21.37
image processing, 21.30 to 21.35
licensing of, 21.39 to 21.40
modeling of, 21.13 to 21.18
modulation techniques, 21.21 to 21.24
I_7
polarization, 21.10 to 21.11
propagation, 21.6 to 21.13
reflections in, 21.9 to 21.10
resolution, 21.13
road thickness measurement, 21.37 to 21.38
and SAR, 21.13
signal processing, 21.30 to 21.35
soil suitability map, 21.20
from space, 18.59 to 18.62
systems, 21.20 to 21.21
velocity of propagation, 21.11
Ground plane, 14.31
Guard blanking loss, 4.44
Guard channel, in pulse doppler, 4.19 to 4.22
Gyrotrons, 10.3, 10.17 to 10.19, 10.26
H
Hail, attenuation in, 19.11 to 19.12
Hail, detection of, 19.31
Height measurement, with InSAR, 17.30 to 17.33
Height measurement, with SAR, 17.27 to 17.33
HF, 1.15
HF over-the-horizon radar. See over-the-horizon radar
High-medium PRF, 4.7
High-PRF pulse doppler, 4.7 to 4.8
High-PRF range-while-search, 4.36
High-PRF ranging, in pulse doppler, 4.34 to 4.35
High-resolution radar, 1.5
Hilbert transform, 6.43 to 6.44
HJ-1-C SAR, 18.13
Hot clutter, 24.43
Hybrid models for propagation, 26.16 to 26.17
Hybrid processors, 25.37
I
Identification friend or foe (IFF), integration with radar, 7.50
I/Q channels, 6.31 to 6.35
Image-reject mixer, 6.13
Imaging radar ground echo, 16.55 to 16.56
Improvement factor, for AMTI, 3.8
Improvement factor limitations caused by staggering, 2.42 to 2.44
Improvement factor, for MTI, 2.19 to 2.20, 2.23 to 2.25, 6.17 to 6.18
Inductive output tube, 10.22
Infinite impulse response (IIR) filters, 2.33, 25.26 to 25.27
Insets, radar cross section of, 14.11 to 14.12
Instabilities in MTI, 2.65, 2.73
Instability limitations in MTI, 2.72
Instantaneous bandwidth, 6.9
Interclutter visibility in MTI, 2.22
Interacting multiple model (IMM) in ADT, 7.35 to 7.37
Interferometric SAR (InSAR), 17.5, 17.23 to 17.24
target height measurement, 17.30 to 17.33
International Maritime Organization (IMO), 22.1, 22.4, 22.8, 22.27, 22.28, 22.32
Interpolation filters, 25.28
Inverse Cassegrain, 9.25
Inverse SAR (ISAR), 5.23 to 5.24, 5.31 to 5.33, 9.37, 17.5
and ECCM, 24.51 to 24.52
Ionogram, 20.16 to 20.17
Ionosphere, 20.13 to 20.21
Ionospheric models, 20.19 to 20.20
Isodoppler contours in bistatic radar, 23.16
J
Jamming, 5.27, 24.5
Jaumann absorber, 14.36 to 14.37
J-ERS SAR, 18.9
Jet-engine modulation, 5.23
JianBing-5 SAR, 18.12
Jindalee OTH radar, 20.3, 20.22
performance model, 20.67 to 20.70
Joint STARS, 13.66 to 13.67, 17.23 to 17.24
JORN OTH, 20.12, 20.19
K
K band, 1.17
Kalman filter, 7.28 to 7.35
Klystrode, 10.22
Klystron, 10.5 to 10.8, 10.26
origin of, 10.2 to 10.3
L
L band, 1.16
Land clutter. See ground echo
Laser radar, 1.18
I_8
Letter-band nomenclature, 1.13 to 1.14
Lewis and Kretschmer codes, 8.20 to 8.22
Limiters, 6.29 to 6.31
Line-type modulator, 10.23
Linear array antenna, 13.11 to 13.13
Linear-beam vacuum tube, 10.3
Linear-beam amplifier, 10.4 to 10.13
Linear FM pulse compression, 8.3 to 8.11
Liquid crystal display, for CMR, 22.19
Lobing, in elevation, 22.6 to 22.7
Local oscillator, 6.14 to 6.22
Low-earth orbit, 18.2
Low grazing-angle clutter measurements, 16.52 to 16.55
Low-noise amplifier, 6.10
Low radar cross section
ships 14.42 to 14.43
vehicles, 14.39 to 14.43
Low-sidelobe antenna, 24.10 to 14.11
M
Madre HF OTH radar, 20.24 to 20.45
Magellan Venus mapper, 18.48 to 18.52
Magnetron, 10.2, 10.14 to 10.16, 10.26
for civil marine radar, 10.16, 22.12
Main-beam cancellation, 24.33
MAPSAR, 18.14 to 18.15
Marcum Q-function, 24.22
Marine boundary layer, 26.12
Matched filter, 1.3, 6.25, 8.39 to 8.40
loss in pulse doppler, 4.40
Maximal-length sequences, 8.18
Maxwells equations, 14.17
Mechanical design of antenna, 12.35 to 12.41
Medium PRF for air-to-air mode, 5.16 to 5.20
Medium PRF for pulse doppler, 4.8
Medium PRF for range while search, 4.37 to 4.38
Medium PRF selection algorithms, 5.18 to 5.20
Metal plate, radar cross section of, 14.8 to 14.9
Meteor trails, and HF OTH radar, 20.38 to 20.40
Meteorological radar
airborne, 19.37 to 19.38
attenuation effects, 19.7 to 19.12
calibration, 19.18 to 19.19
design considerations, 19.6 to 19.19
ground clutter effects, 19.13 to 19.14
measurement accuracy, 19.22 to 19.23
microbursts, 19.29 to 19.31
MTI filter design for, 2.46 to 2.51
multiple radars, 19.33 to 19.35
operational applications, 19.25 to 19.33
phased array, 19.35 to 19.37
polarization, 19.18, 19.27 to 19.28, 19.33
precipitation measurement, 19.26 to 19.28
processor implementation. 19.24 to 19.25
pulse compression, 19.23 to 19.24
pulse-pair algorithm, 19.21
range and velocity ambiguities, 19.12 to 19.13
research applications, 19.33 to 19.40
severe storm warning, 19.28 to 19.33
signal processing, 19.19 to 19.25
spaceborne, 19.38 to 19.39
spaced antenna techniques, 19.40
spectrum moment estimation, 19.20 to 19.21
typical designs, 19.14 to 19.18
whitening filter, 19.24
wind profiler, 19.39 to 19.40
Method of moments, 14.1, 14.18 to 14.19
MFAR. See Multifunctional Fighter Aircraft Radar
Microbursts, 19.29 to 19.31
Microwaves, 1.1, 1.14
Microwave monolithic integrated circuits (MMIC)
characteristics of, 11.24 to 11.29
power amplifiers, 11.26
low-noise amplifiers, 11.26
phase shifters, 11.27 to 11.29
transmit/receive switching, 11.27
Microwave power module (MPM), 10.13
Military radar, 1.20
Millimeter waves, 1.14, 1.17 to 1.18
Mirror-scanned antenna, 9.25
Missile guidance performance assessment, 5.42
Missile-range instrumentation radar, 9.2
Mixer, image-reject, 6.13
Mixers, performance parameters, 6.14
Mixers, spurious response of, 6.11 to 6.13
MMIC. See Microwave monolithic integrated circuits
I_9
Modeling, of propagation, 26.13 to 26.17
Modified generalized sign test processor, 7.17 to 7.19
Modulators, 10.23 to 10.25
Monopulse-antenna feed techniques, 9.6 to 9.10
Monopulse antenna feeds, 12.26 to 12.28
Monopulse, dual band, 9.24 to 9.25
Monopulse, and ECM, 24.23 to 24.24, 24.42 to 24.43
Monopulse, phased arrays, 13.4
Monopulse tracking, 9.3 to 9.16
Moving Target Indication (MTI), 1.5, 4.2
A/D converter effect on dynamic range, 2.78 to 2.80
adaptive, 2.80 to 2.83
binomial weight cancelers, 2.35
and birds as clutter, 2.85, 2.87 to 2.88, 2.96 to 2.98
blind speeds, 2.9 to 2.10
block diagram, 2.4 to 2.7
canonical filter design, 2.34
clutter attenuation (CA), 2.20 to 2.21
clutter characteristics, 2.10 to 2.19
clutter filter-bank design, 2.52 to 2.59
clutter filter response, 2.9 to 2.10
clutter maps, 2.83 to 2.87
clutter visibility factor (Voc), 2.23
definitions, 2.19 to 2.23
dynamic range, 2.78 to 2.80
environmental considerations, 2.94 to 2.100
feedforward canceler, 2.39
filter design, 2.25 to 2.46
filter design for weather radar, 2.46 to 2.51
filter mismatch loss, 2.22 to 2.23
hardware considerations, 2.92 to 2.94
improvement factor, 2.19 to 2.20, 2.23 to 2.25, 6.17 to 6.18
interclutter visibility (ICV), 2.22
limitation due to scanning, 2.23, 2.38
limiting in receiver, 2.59 to 2.65
one-delay canceler, 2.35
optimum clutter filter design, 2.25 to 2.33
performance degradation due to limiting, 2.59 to 2.65
pulse compression considerations, 2.75 to 2.78
purpose of, 2.2
radial velocity ambiguity resolution, 2.89 to 2.91
range ambiguity resolution, 2.89 to 2.91
rules for, 2.92 to 2.94
in SAR, 17.23
and STC, 2.96 to 2.98
sensitivity velocity control (SVC), 2.87 to 2.91, 2.99 to 2.100
signal-to-clutter ratio improvement (ISCR), 2.21 to 2.22
stability requirements, 2.65 to 2.78
staggered PRF design, 2.39 to 2.46
subclutter visibility (SCV), 2.6, 2.22
superclutter visibility, 2.84
three-delay canceler, 2.37
two-delay canceler, 2.36
unwanted targets, removal of, 2.96 to 2.100
Moving targets, in SAR, 17.23 to 17.27
Moving Target Detection (MTD), 2.6 to 2.9
block diagram, 2.6 to 2.7
ducted propagation, effect of, 2.95
Moving-window detector, 7.4 to 7.7
MTBF, of klystrons, 10.6 to 10.7
Multi-beam digital beamforming, 25.17 to 25.19
Multifunction radar, 1.7, 13.1
Multifunctional Fighter Aircraft Radar (MFAR), 5.2 to 5.7
processing, 5.5
range-doppler situation in, 5.7 to 5.8
software structure, 5.6 to 5.7
Multipath, 26.4 to 26.5
in tracking radar, 9.37 to 9.40, 9.46 to 9.47
Multiple-beam klystron, 10.7 to 10.8
Multiple hypothesis algorithm in track association, 7.40 to 7.41
Multiple Object Tracking Radar (MOTR), 9.2, 9.26
Multiple reflector antenna, 12.21 to 12.24
Multiple scattering in target recognition, 14.35
Multiplicative noise, 4.28, 18.18
in SAR, 17.17 to 17.18
N
NCAR dual band radar, 19.17
Networked radar, 7.46 to 7.49
I_10
Nexrad (WSR-88D) weather radar, 19.1, 19.16 to 19.17
automated weather products, 19.25
Noise, in receiver, 6.4 to 6.5
Noise, in tracking, 9.27 to 9.30
Noncooperative air target recognition, 5.22 to 5.24
Nonlinear FM pulse compression, 8.12 to 8.16
Nonparametric detectors, 7.17 to 7.18
Nonspecular absorbers, 14.38
nth-time-around tracking, 9.24
Nyquist, 25.2, 25.4 to 25.6
O
Ogive, radar cross section of, 14.7 to 14.8
On-axis tracking 9.25 to 9.26
Operating bandwidth, 6.9
Optics region, 14.5 to 14.6
Optimal detection, 7.2 to 7.4
Orographic rain, 19.26
Oscillator vs. amplifier transmitter, 10.4
Ovals of Cassini, 23.6 to 23.8
Over-the-horizon radar
antennas for, 20.24 to 20.26, 20.45 to 20.46
calibration, 20.48 to 20.49
clutter, 20.29 to 20.33
coherent processing for, 20.6
compared to microwave radar, 20.7 to 20.10
doppler spectrum of the sea, 20.49 to 20.52
and ECCM, 24.52 to 24.53
examples of, 20.11 to 20.12
external noise in, 20.40
and meteor trails, 20.38 to 20.40
noise models, 20.43 to 20.45
oceanography, 20.33 to 20.38
performance modeling, 20.55 to 20.70
propagation factor, 20.6 to 20.7
radar cross section, 20.26 to 20.29
radar equation, 20.5 to 20.7
receiving system, 20.45 to 20.49
resource management, 20.54 to 20.55
revisit times, 20.4 to 20.5
signal processing, 20.49 to 20.54
sky wave radar design, 20.8 to 20.13
spectrum occupancy, 20.40 to 20.45
surface-wave radar, 20.70 to 20.76
tracking, 20.53 to 20.54
transmitters, 20.23 to 20.26
waveforms, 20.21 to 20.23
P
PALSAR, 18.11, 18.15 to 18.16
Parabolic cylinder antenna, 12.18 to 12.19
Parabolic equation methods, for propagation, 26.16
Parabolic reflector antenna, 12.17 to 12.18
Passive bistatic radar, 23.29
Passive ECM, 24.5 to 24.6
Passive listening, 5.34
Patriot radar, 13.66 to 13.67
Pave Paws radar, 11.31 to 11.32
Penetration aids accompanying ballistic missiles, 24.6
Phase-comparison monopulse, 9.11 to 9.12
Phase instabilities, 2.66 to 2.70
Phase noise in pulse doppler, 4.28 to 4.30
Phase shifters, 13.51 to 13.53
Phased array radar
active aperture, 13.53 to 13.55
antennas, 13.2 to 13.3
AN/SPY-1, 13.62
AN/SPY-3, 13.69
aperture matching, 13.20
array simulator for, 13.25 to 13.26
bandwidth of, 13.38 to 13.45
beam switching, 13.8
calibration of active arrays, 13.60 to 13.62
circular polarization, 13.6
constrained feed, 13.46
Counter Battery Radar (COBRA), 13.62
digital beamforming, 13.56 to 13.57
diode phase shifters, 13.51 to 13.52
and ECM, 24.43 to 24.48
element pattern, 13.22 to 13.23
errors in, 13.30 to 13.38
feed networks, 13.46 to 13.50
ferrite phase shifters, 13.52 to 13.53
frequency scan, 13.7 to 13.8
gain, 13.13 to 13.15
grating lobes, 13.10 to 13.12, 13.17 to 13.19
ground-based, 13.63 to 13.65
illumination functions, 13.28 to 13.29
instantaneous bandwidth, 13.42 to 13.45
limited scan, 13.6 to 13.7
I_11
linear array, 13.11 to 13.13
low sidelobes, 13.28 to 13.33
meteorological, 19.35 to 19.37
monitoring of, 13.4 to 13.5
monopulse tracking, 9.12 to 9.13, 13.4
multifunction, 13.1
mutual coupling, 13.20 to 13.22
optical feed, 13.46
parallel feed, 13.48 to 13.49
periodic errors in, 13.35 to 13.38
phase-only control, 13.58
phase quantization, 13.34
phase shifters, 13.51 to 13.53
planar array, 13.15 to 13.19
radiation pattern nulling, 13.57 to 13.60
scanning, 13.7 to 13.9
series feed, 13.47 to 13.48
simultaneous receive beams, 13.54 to 13.56
small arrays, 13.27
solid-state modules for, 13.53 to 13.54
solid-state transmitter for, 11.24 to 11.31
subarrays, 13.43 to 13.44, 13.49 to 13.50
surface waves and mutual coupling, 13.24 to 13.45
Taylor illumination, 13.29
thinned arrays, 13.23 to 13.24
3D search, 13.4
theory, 13.9 to 13.15
time-delay networks, 13.44 to 13.45
time-delay scanning, 13.7
tracking with, 7.46
Volume Search Radar (VSR), 13.62 to 13.63
wide bandwidth operation, 13.6
Phase shift in DSP, 25.22 to 25.25
Physical optics, 14.21 to 14.24
and ground echo, 16.9 to 16.10
reflector analysis, 12.31 to 12.33
Physical theory of diffraction, 14.25 to 14.26
Pilotage and CMR, 27.31
Pioneer Venus, 18.44
Planar array, 13.15 to 13.19
Planetary radars, 18.43 to 18.53
atmospheric sounding, 18.62 to 18.63
Cassini, 18.46
Clementine, 18.46 to 18.47
cloud profiling, 18.63
flight systems, 18.43, 18.56 to 18.58
ice exploration, 18.47 to 18.48
ionospheric sounding, 18.62
Magellan, 18.45 to 18.46, 18.48 to 18.52
polarization, 18.52
rainfall measurement, 18.62
scatterometers, 18.53 to 18.58
sounders, 18.59 to 18.63
table of, 18.44
Venera, 18.43 to 18.45
Plasma frequency, 20.2
Platform motion, in AMTI, 3.3 to 3.14
compensation abeam, 3.10 to 3.14
forward direction, 3.21 to 3.23
and scan compensation, 3.18 to 3.21
P(n,k) polyphase codes, 8.22 to 8.24
Point-clutter scatterers, 2.18 to 2.19
Polarimetric SAR, 17.22
Polarization
and ground echo, 16.46 to 16.52
in ground penetrating radar, 21.10 to 21.11
in meteorological radar, 19.18
for planetary radar, 18.52
Polarization-twist reflector, 12.23
Polyphase codes, 8.19 to 8.24
Power-aperture product, 10.1
Power supply, for AESA, 5.10
Practical detectors, 7.4 to 7.11
Precipitation measurement, 19.26 to 19.28
Precision velocity update, 5.33 to 5.34
Probabilistic data association, 7.39 to 7.40
Probability of detection, in pulse doppler, 4.46 to 4.48
Probability of false alarm, in pulse doppler, 4.44 to 4.46
Propagation, anomalous, 26.6 to 26.13
Propagation factor, 26.1
Propagation, in free space, 26.13 to 26.15
Propagation loss, 4.40
Propagation modeling, 26.13 to 26.17
Propagation, standard, 26.4 to 26.6
Pseudo coherent radar, 6.20
Pulse chasing in bistatic radar, 23.28 to 23.29
Pulse compression
block diagram, 8.1 to 8.2
comparison of various waveforms, 8.27
digital, 25.19
and ECCM, 24.34 to 24.35
examples of, 8.30 to 8.36
factors affecting choice of, 8.26 to 8.27
I_12
Pulse compression (cont.)
implementation of, 8.28 to 8.30
linear FM, 8.3 to 8.11
in meteorological radar, 19.23 to 19.24
and MTI, 2.75 to 2.78
nonlinear FM, 8.12 to 8.16
phase coded, 8.16 to 8.24
radar, 1.5
range sidelobes, 6.29
SAW devices for, 8.10 to 8.11
signal analysis definitions, 8.36 to 8.37
stretch, 8.31 to 8.36
time-frequency coded, 8.25 to 8.26
waveforms, 8.2 to 8.26
Pulse doppler
antenna, 4.12 to 4.13
applications, 4.2 to 4.3
basic configuration, 4.10 to 4.14
block diagram, 4.11
clutter, 4.14 to 4.24
clutter-limited detection, 4.48
doppler ambiguity resolution, 4.33 to 4.34
dynamic range, 4.24 to 4.27
high-PRF ranging, 4.34 to 4.35
losses in, 4.39
nomenclature, 4.1 to 4.2
probability of detection, 4.46 to 4.48
probability of false alarm, 4.44 to 4.46
range ambiguity resolution, 4.31 to 4.33
range performance, 4.39 to 4.48
search mode, 4.36 to 4.38
spectrum, 4.4 to 4.6
stability requirements, 4.27 to 4.31
timeline definitions, 4.9 to 4.10
track mode, 4.38 to 4.39
Pulse-pair algorithm for meteorological radar, 19.21
Pulse repetition frequency
and ambiguities in pulse doppler, 4.6 to 4.10
and doppler, 4.2 to 4.4
for SAR, 17.13 to 17.15
Pyramidal absorber, 14.37 to 14.38
Q
Quadraphase codes, 8.24
Quantization noise, affect on MTI, 2.73 to 2.74
R
Racons, and CMR, 22.26 to 22.27
Radar
applications of, 1.20 to 1.22
bandwidth in, 1.8 to 1.9
basic parts of, 1.2
beacons, in CMR, 22.25
blinking for ECCM, 24.37
block diagram, 1.3
in brief, 1.1
conceptual system design, 1.22 to 1.23
cross section
of aircraft, 14.13 to 14.14
approximate methods, 14.19 to 14.27
approximations for simple scatterers, 14.10
basic echo mechanisms, 14.2 to 14.4
of birds, 14.11
bistatic, 23.19 to 23.21
of bodies of revolution, 14.39 to 14.40
characteristics, 14.5 to 14.16
of complex objects, 14.11 to 14.16
of a corner reflector, 14.9 to 14.11
definition of, 14.4 to 14.5
exact methods, 14.16 to 14.19
at HF, 20.26 to 20.29
general, for various target types, 14.16
of insects, 14.11 to 14.12
of a man, 14.11 to 14.12
measurement ranges, 14.30 to 14.35
measurement techniques, 14.27 to 14.35
of a metal plate, 14.8 to 14.9
of an ogive, 14.7 to 14.8
prediction techniques, 14.16 to 14.27
of ships, 14.13 to 14.15
of a short wire dipole, 14.7
of a sphere, 14.5 to 14.6
of string, 14.6, 14.7, 14.29
and surface traveling waves, 14.7
of target support, 14.29 to 14.30
doppler shift in, 1.10
echo suppression, 14.36 to 14.43
in A-12, 14.40
in B-2, 14.42
in F-117, 14.40 to 14.42
in SR-71, 14.39 to 14.41
in X-45C, 14.42 to 14.43
by absorbers, 14.36 to 14.38
I_13
by shaping, 14.36, 14.38 to 14.39
in ships, 14.42 to 14.43
equation, 1.10 to 1.13
bistatic, 23.4 to 23.6
and chaff, 24.55 to 24.56
in conceptual design, 1.23
ground penetrating radar, 21.8 to 21.9
HF over-the-horizon, 20.5 to 20.7
and jamming, 24.55
for meteorological targets, 19.3 to 19.6
surveillance, 3.1
frequency bands, 1.13 to 1.14
hole, in propagation, 26.9
information from, 1.7 to 1.10
letter-band nomenclature, 1.13 to 1.14
multifunction, for fighter aircraft, 5.1 to 5.10
networked, 7.46 to 7.49
nomenclature, 1.18 to 1.19
oceanography at HF, 20.30 to 20.38
past advances in, 1.19 to 1.20
reflectivity, 19.3
reflectivity factor, Z, 19.4
scheduling and control, 7.46
types of, 1.5 to 1.7
warning receiver (RWR), 24.4 to 24.5
work station, 24.55 to 24.56
RADARS AT, 18.9 to 18.10
Radial velocity, 1.7
Radiating elements, 13.5 to 13.6
Radomes, 12.39 to 12.41
Radome loss, 4.40
Rain, attenuation by, 19.8 to 19.11
Rain, detection of, 19.3 to 19.6
RAMP air traffic control radar, 11.33 to 11.34
Range, as used in radar, 1.2, 1.7
Range
ambiguities, in meteorological radar, 19.12 to 19.13
ambiguity resolution in pulse doppler, 4.31 to 4.33
and doppler, in MFAR, 5.7 to 5.8
error, in tracking radar, 9.43 to 9.44
filter map in sidelobe blanking, 24.13 to 24.14
-gate pull-off, 24.6, 24.44
-gate straddle loss, 4.40 to 4.43
-gated high PRF (RGHPRF), 5.20 to 5.22
gates, 4.2
gating in pulse doppler, 4.9
glint, 9.35 to 9.36, 9.47
noise, 9.35 to 9.36
sidelobes, 6.29
tracking, 9.21 to 9.24
Rank detector, 7.17
Rapid Doppler on Wheels (Rapid-DOW) 19.36 to 19.37
Ratio detector, 7.13 to 7.14
Rayleigh region, 14.5, 19.3 to 19.4
Rayleigh scattering, 14.19 to 14.20
Ray tracing, 20.20 to 20.21
Receiver, 1.3
analog-to-digital converter, 6.35 to 6.40
bandwidth, 6.9
channel matching, 6.29
COHO, 6.20
configuration of, 6.1 to 6.4
digital, 6.40 to 6.46
diplex operation, 6.46 to 6.47
dynamic range, 6.4 to 6.8
effect on radiated signal, 6.11
exciter, 6.47
filtering, 6.24 to 6.29
front end, 6.10 to 6.14
gain control of, 6.22 to 6.24
instability, 6.20 to 6.21
I/Q channels, 6.31 to 6.35
limiter, 6.29 to 6.31
local oscillator, 6.14 to 6.22
multi-channel, 6.45 to 6.46
noise, 6.4 to 6.5
and tracking accuracy, 9.42
spurious response, 6.11 to 6.12
STALO, 6.14 to 6.20
upconversion, 6.47 to 6.50
waveform generation, 6.47 to 6.50
Receiver-related ECCM, 24.32 to 24.33
Reentrant structures and cross section, 14.3
Reflectivity, 19.3
Reflectivity factor, Z, 19.4
Reflector antenna
analysis, 12.31 to 12.35
applications of, 12.1 to 12.2
architecture, 12.16 to 12.25
array feeds for, 12.28 to 12.30
basic principles of, 12.3 to 12.15
environmental factors, 12.39
feed blockage, 12.6 to 12.8
I_14
Reflector antenna (cont.)
feed displacement, 12.14
feeds for, 12.25 to 12.30
gain optimization, 12.8 to 12.10
mechanical design, 12.35 to 12.41
radomes for, 12.39 to 12.41
role in radar, 12.1
spillover loss, 12.6
strut blockage, 12.14 to 12.15
surface ace of, 12.10 to 12.14
surface roughness loss, 12.12 to 12.14
types of, 12.2
Refraction, 14.20, 26.3 to 26.4
Refractivity, 26.3 to 26.4
Refractivity measurements, 19.32 to 19.33
Region of uncertainty (ROU) in target tracking, 7.47 to 7.48
Remote sensing of the environment, 1.21
Remote sensing, with SBR, 18.11
Repeater jammer, 24.6
Resolution, in GPR, 21.11 to 21.13
Resonance region, 14.5
RF receive loss, 4.40
RF transmit loss, 4.40
RGHPRF (Range Gated High PRF) algorithm, 5.22
Ricker wavelet, 21.11, 21.21
RIS AT SAR, 18.14
River radar, 22.9
ROTHR, 20.3
S
S-193 altimeter, 18.33
S band, 1.16
Salisbury screen, 14.36
Sampled signal spectrum, 25.3 to 25.5
Sampling period in phased arrays, 24.45
Sampling receiver, 21.23
SAR-Lupe radar, 18.13 to 18.14
SARTs (Search and Rescue Transponders), 22.27
SAW delay line for pulse compression, 8.10 to 8.11
Scan compensation, and platform motion, 3.18 to 3.21
Scan SAR, 18.12 to 18.13, 18.24
Scatterer, 14.4
Scatterometers, 16.19 to 16.24, 16.26 to 16.28
space based, 18.53 to 18.58
table of, 18.56
wind measurement, 18.54 to 18.55
Sea clutter
Bragg scatter, 15.28 to 15.32, 15.38
breaking waves, 15.6 to 15.7
composite-surf ace model, 15.30 to 15.32
contaminants, effect of, 15.26 to 15.27
and ducting, 15.24 to 15.25
empirical behavior of, 15.7 to 15.27
as a global boundary-value problem, 15.27 to 15.32
at HF, 15.19, 20.30 to 20.33
at high grazing angles, 15.16
at low grazing angles, 15.16 to 15.18
at millimeter waves, 15.20
numerical methods for, 15.36
rain, effect of, 15.23 to 15.24
sea spikes, 15.2, 15.16 to 15.17, 15.35
shadowing, effect of, 15.25
sigma zero definition, 15.7
spectrum, 15.20 to 15.23
statistics, 15.8 to 15.9
surface currents, effect of, 15.25 to 15.26
surface features, 15.33 to 15.34
theories of, 15.27 to 15.37
wind speed and direction, 15.12 to 15.16
Sea descriptors, general, 15.5 to 15.6
Sea echo. See sea clutter
Sea ice, 16.44 to 16.46, 16.48, 22.14
Sea spikes, 15.2, 15.16 to 15.17, 15.35
Sea state, 15.6, 22.14
Sea surface, 15.3
Sea surface search, 5.30 to 5.31
Seawinds scatterometer, 18.58
Sensitivity time control (STC), 2.96 to 2.98, 6.22 to 6.24, 19.6
in CMR, 22.5, 22.13
and cosecant-squared antenna, 2.98
in pulse doppler, 4.22
Sensitivity velocity control (SVC), 2.87 to 2.91, 2.99 to 2.100
Sensor integration, other than radar, 7.49 to 7.54
Senrad broadband radar, 24.31
Sequential lobing, 9.16 to 9.17
Servosystems, for tracking radar, 9.17 to 9.19
Shaped pulses for transmitter, 10.19 to 10.20
Shaped reflector antennas, 12.19 to 12.20
I_15
Shaping, for radar cross-section reduction, 14.38 to 14.39
Ship, radar cross section, 14.13 to 14.15
Ships, low cross section, 14.42 to 14.43
Sidelooking airborne radar (SLAR), 1.6 17.3
Sidelobe blanking (SLB), 24.11 to 24.14
Sidelobe canceler, 24.14 to 24.20
Sigma zero (for clutter echo), 15.7, 16.1 to 16.3
Signal-to-clutter ratio improvement, 2.21 to 2.22
Signal-to-noise ratio, 1.9
in SAR, 17.16 to 17.17
Signal processing, and ECCM, 24.33 to 24.36
Signal processing, for meteorological radar, 19.19 to 19.25
Signal processor, 1.3
Signal sampling, 25.15 to 25.16
Silicon bipolar junction transistor, 11.10 to 11.11
Silicon LDMOS FET, 11.11 to 11.12
Silicon transistor capabilities, 11.13
Simultaneous lobing, 9.3
SIR-C, 16.46
SIR (spaceborne) SARs, 18.8
Skin depth, 21.8
Skip zone, 20.3
Sky wave OTH radar, 20.8 to 20.13
Slip-SAR, 18.14
Slow-wave tubes, 10.3
Sniff (or passive listening), 5.34
Snow, echo from, 16.42 to 16.44
Software structure, in MFAR, 5.6 to 5.7
Soil, dielectric properties of, 21.19
Soil moisture, effect on radar echo, 16.38, 16.40 to 16.41
Solar calibration of radar, 19.19
SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea), 22.8
Solid-state
advantages of, 11.1 to 11.5
amplifier, 10.4, 10.26 to 10.28
amplitude and phase sensitivities, 11.22 to 11.23
AN/SPS-40 transmitter, 11.32 to 11.33
class of (amplifier) operation, 11.18 to 11.20
devices, 11.5 to 11.17
examples of, 11.31 to 11.34
MMIC, 11.24 to 11.29
modulator, 11.24 to 11.25
modules, 13.53 to 13.54
Pave Paws radar, 11.31 to 11.32
performance capability, 11.2
phased array transmitter, 11.24 to 11.31
power combining, 11.20 to 11.22
power limitations, 11.8 to 11.10
RAMP radar, 11.33 to 11.34
spectral emissions, 11.23
transmit/receive modules, 11.29 to 11.31
Sounders, 18.59 to 18.63
Space-based radars (SBR)
altimeters, 18.29 to 18.43
block diagram, 18.40
CryoSat, 18.42 to 18.43
flight systems, 18.33 to 18.37
Geosat, 18.41 to 18.42
orbit considerations, 18.37 to 18.38
overview, 18.30 to 18.31
precision, 18.31
theoretical foundations, 18.38 to 18.41
hardware, 18.4 to 18.5
meteorological, 19.38 to 19.39
planetary. See planetary radars
synthetic aperture radars (SAR), 18.5 to 18.29
ambiguities, 18.17 to 18.18
ambiguity limits, 18.22 to 18.24
antennas, 18.19
applications, 18.29
data products, 18.21 to 18.22
data rate, 18.20
design issues, 18.16 to 18.24
interferometry, 18.24 to 18.27
Kosmos, 18.8
list of, 18.6 to 18.7
multiple channels, 18.24 to 18.29
nadir, return from, 18.18
orbit characteristics, 18.2 to 18.4
polarimetry, 18.27 to 18.29
PRF constraints, 18.16 to 18.17
processing, 18.20 to 18.21
Quill (first space-based SAR), 18.6
ScanSAR, 18.12 to 18.13, 18.24
Seasat, 18.7 to 18.8
Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR), 18.8
spotSAR 18.23
strip map, 18.23
transmitters, 18.19
I_16
Space-time adaptive processing (STAP), 3.23 to 3.31, 3.33, 5.2 to 5.3, 5.17, 24.21 to 24.22
in HF OTH radar, 20.53, 24.52
Spark-gap transmitter, 10.2
SPASUR, 23.2, 23.9, 23.11 to 23.13
Speckle, 16.55
Spectral characteristics of clutter, 2.11 to 2.16
Spectral noise in doppler radars, 10.20 to 10.21
Spectrometers, 16.20, 16.26 to 16.28
Spectrum, of pulse doppler radar, 4.4 to 4.6
Specular point, 14.20 to 14.21
Specular scatterers, 14.3
Sphere, radar cross section of, 14.5 to 14.6
Spherical reflector antenna, 12.24 to 12.25
Spotlight SAR, 17.4 to 17.5
SpotSAR, 18.12, 18.23
Spread-F region, 20.19
Spurious output, in transmitters, 10.19
Spurious response of mixers, 6.11 to 6.13
SR-71 low cross section aircraft, 14.39 to 14.41
Stability requirements in pulse doppler, 4.27 to 4.31
Stagger PRF design for MTI, 2.39 to 2.46
STALO, 6.3, 6.14 to 6.20
Standard atmosphere, 26.3
Stand-off jamming (SOJ), 24.43 to 24.44
Station keeping, airborne, 5.27
Stealth, 14.2, 14.36, 24.38
Stratiform rain, 19.26
Stretch pulse compression, 6.10, 6.22, 8.31 to 8.36
in SBR altimeter, 18.40 to 18.41
String, radar cross section of, 14.6 to 14.7
Strip map, 18.23
Stripmap SAR (or strip SAR), 17.3 to 17.4
Subarray adaptivity to ECM, 24.25 to 24.27
Subarrays, 13.43 to 13.44, 13.49 to 13.50
Subclutter visibility, in MTI, 2.22
Subrefraction, 26.6
Sudden ionospheric disturbance, 20.18
Sunspot number, 20.17
Superclutter visibility, 2.84
Superheterodyne, 6.1
Superrefraction, 26.7
Superresolution, 24.30 to 24.31
Surface discontinuities, and radar cross section, 14.3
Surface ducts, 26.10 to 26.11
Surface traveling-wave echoes, 14.36, 14.38
Surface ace-wave absorbers, 14.38
Surface winds, and HF radar, 20.37 to 20.38
Surveillance radar, 1.5
Surveillance radar equation, 1.12
Synthesizer, digital, 25.20 to 25.22
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR)
autofocus, 17.15
basic principle of 17.1
burst mode, 18.23 to 18.24
clutterlock, 17.15
comparison with optical imaging, 17.18 to 17.21
comparison with real-aperture radar, 17.9 to 17.10
crossrange resolution, 17.7 to 17.8
design issues for SBR, 18.16 to 18.24
doppler beam sharpening, 5.34 to 5.36, 5.37, 17.2, 17.3
early history of, 17.2
and ECCM, 24.48 to 24.51
fast-time processing, 17.6
focused, 17.3 to 17.5
foliage penetration, 17.33 to 17.34
and ground penetrating radar, 21.4, 21.13
height measurement with, 17.27 to 17.23
image quality, 17.16 to 17.21
interferometric (InSAR), 17.5, 17.23 to 17.24, 17.30 to 17.33
inverse (ISAR), 5.23 to 5.24, 5.31 to 5.33, 9.37, 17.5, 24.51 to 24.52
Joint STARS, 17.23 to 17.24
key aspects of, 17.10 to 17.15
key equations, 17.21 to 17.22
motion compensation in, 17.12
moving targets in, 17.23 to 17.27
multiplicative noise ratio, 17.17 to 17.18
point-spread function, 17.16
polarimetric, 17.22
pulse repetition frequency requirements for, 17.13 to 17.15
range migration, 17.15
range resolution, 17.6 to 17.7
range and velocity contours, 17.10 to 17.12
I_17
resolution, 17.5 to 17.10
resolution (crossrange) examples, 17.5 to 17.6
shadows in, 17.28
signal-to-noise ratio, 17.16 to 17.17
slow-time processing, 17.6
for space applications, 18.5 to 18.29
specific aspects of, 17.22 to 17.34
spotlight, 17.4 to 17.5
squinted stripmap, 17.4
stereo, 17.29 to 17.30
stripmap, 17.3 to 17.4, 17.14 to 17.15
types of, 17.2 to 17.6
vibrating targets in, 17.25 to 17.27
unfocused, 17.3
Washington monument image, 17.18 to 17.21
System instabilities and MTI, 2.65 to 2.73
System noise, 6.5
T
TACCAR, 3.4 to 3.9, 3.33
Target acquisition, in tracking radar, 9.20 to 9.21
Target caused errors in tracking, 9.26 to 9.37
Target cross section. See radar cross section
Target noise, in tracking radar, 9.26 to 9.37
Target recognition, 1.7
cooperative, 5.22 to 5.23
noncooperative 5.22 to 5.24
Target resolution, in automatic detection, 7.19 to 7.20
Taylor weighting or illumination, 8.7 to 8.9, 13.29
TecSAR, 18.12
TEM horn, 21.27 to 21.30
Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR), 19.1, 19.30 to 19.31
MTI filter design for, 2.47 to 2.50
Terrain avoidance, 5.28 to 5.29
Terrain-bounce jamming, 24.43
Terrain database and radar, 5.30
Terrain following, 5.28 to 5.29
Terrain height estimation, 5.29 to 5.30
Terrain scattered interference, 24.43
TerraS AR-X, 18.12
Test ranges, indoor, 14.32 to 14.35
Test ranges, outdoor, 14.30 to 14.32
THAAD radar, 13.68
Thunderstorm prediction, 19.32
Time-delay scanning, 13.7
Time-frequency coded waveforms, 8.25 to 8.26
Topex altimeter parameters, 18.35
Tornado detection, 19.28 to 19.29
Towed decoy, 24.8
T/R module, 10.28
Track association, 7.38 to 7.41
Track file, 7.23 to 7.25
Tracking, automatic, 7.22 to 7.46
Tracking radar, 1.6
acquisition with, 9.20 to 9.21
automatic gain control (AGC), 9.33 to 9.35
conical scan, 9.16 to 9.17
dual band, 9.24 to 9.25
and ECCM, 24.43
error reduction techniques, 9.46 to 9.47
errors in, 9.26 to 9.46
external causes of error, 9.37 to 9.42
glint in, 9.30 to 9.35, 9.47
limitations in performance, 9.44 to 9.45
monopulse, 9.3 to 9.16
two-channel, 9.14 to 9.15
multipath error reduction, 9.46 to 9.47
nth-time-around tracking, 9.24
on-axis tracking, 9.25 to 9.26
range tracking in, 9.21 to 9.24
sequential lobing, 9.16 to 9.17
servosystems for, 9.17 to 9.19
sources of error in, 9.26
updating tracks, 7.26 to 7.30
TRAKX, dual band monopulse radar, 9.24
Transmit/receive module characteristics, 11.29 to 11.31
Transmit signal digital processing, 25.20 to 25.22
Transmitter-related ECCM, 24.31 to 23.32
Transmitters, 1.2, 1.4
clustered-cavity klystrons, 10.12 to 10.13
constant efficiency amplifier, 10.21 to 10.22, 10.26
crossed-field amplifiers (CFA), 10.16 to 10.17
extended interaction klystron (EIK), 10.11
grid-controlled tubes, 10.21 to 10.23, 10.25
gyrotrons, 10.17 to 10.19, 10.26
for HF OTH radar, 20.23 to 20.26
linear-beam amplifiers, 10.4 to 10.13
I_18
Transmitters (cont.)
klystrons, 10.5 to 10.8, 10.26
multiple-beam, 10.7 to 10.8
magnetrons, 10.14 to 10.16, 10.26
microwave power module (MPM), 10.13
modulators for, 10.23 to 10.24
MTBF of tubes, 10.6 to 10.7, 10.10, 10.15, 10.16
oscillator vs. amplifier, 10.4
role in radar, 10.1 to 10.2
solid-state, 10.26 to 10.28.
See also solid-state
spectrum control, 10.19 to 10.21
traveling wave tube, 10.3, 10.8 to 10.10, 10.26
Twystron, 10.11
types of, 10.2 to 10.4
variants of klystrons and TWTs, 10.11 to 10.13
which type to use, 10.25 to 10.28
Transponder, 24.6
Trapping, in ducting, 26.7
Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) SBR, 18.62, 19.39
Troposphere, 26.2
effect on tracking accuracy, 9.41 to 9.42
U
UHF, 1.15
Ultralow sidelobes, 24.37
Ultrawideband (UWB), 21.1
Updating tracks, 7.26 to 7.30
V
Velocity ambiguities, in meteorological radar, 19.12 to 19.13
Velocity-Azimuth-Display (VAD), 19.31 to 19.32
Velocity estimation, 19.22
Velocity of propagation, in GPR, 21.11
Velocity search, in pulse doppler, 4.36
Venera, 18.43 to 18.45
Vessel tracking service (VTS) radars, 22.1
Vessel tracking services, 22.29 to 22.31
VHF, 1.15
Vibrating targets, in SAR, 17.25 to 17.27
Volume Search Radar (VSR), 13.62 to 13.63
W
Wake detection, 5.31
Warloc millimeter-weave radar, 10.18
Washington Monument SAR image, 17.18 to 17.21
Water vapor, attenuation in, 19.7
Water vapor measurement with radar, 19.32 to 19.33
Wave spectrum, of the ocean, 15.3 to 15.5
Waveform upconversion, 6.50
Waveguide models, for propagation, 26.15 to 26.26
Weather avoidance, with fighter radar, 5.24
Weather radar. See meteorological radar
Wedgetail AEW radar, 3.3
Wide bandgap semiconductors, 11.15 to 11.17
Wind measurement, 19.31 to 19.32
Wind profiler, 19.39 to 19.40
WSR-88D (Nexrad), 19.1, 19.16 to 19.17
X
X-45C low cross section unmanned combat aircraft, 14.42 to 14.43
X band, 1.17
X-Band Radar (XBR), 13.68 to 13.69
Z
Z (radar reflectivity factor), 19.4
Ze (effective reflectivity factor), 19.6
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