Chapter 2 Radar Principle And Application

Q1.Define RADAR and give the application of radar.

A1 RADAR is acronym of Radio Detection And Ranging. A radar system operates
in the UHF or micro-wave part of the radio-frequency (RF) spectrum, and is used to
detect the position and /or movement of objects.
. The applications of Radar are as follows:
 Radars are employed throughout the world for the purpose of safety
controlling air traffic. They have been used with ground control approach
system to guide the aircraft to a safe landing in bad weather.
 Aircraft Navigation: Radars guide the aircraft in the safest path under
conditions of bad weather.
 Ship safety: Radar is used for enhancing the safety of ship travel by warning
of collision with other ships and navigating the ship under condition of poor
visibility.
 Space: Space vehicles use radar for docking and landing. Ground based radars
are used for detection and tracking of satellites.
 Remote Sensing: Radars are used for sensing the environment and weather. It
is also used to probe the moon and other planets. Remote sensing with radar is
also concerned with Earth resources, agriculture, forestry condition and
environmental pollution.
 Law Enforcement: Radar is used for measurement of speed of automobile
traffic by highway police. It is also used as a means for the detection of
intruders.
 Military: Radar is used in military application for the purpose of surveillance,
navigation and for the detection of intruders.

Q2. Explain basic principle of Radar system.

A2.Any radar system consists of four major component, these are:
1. Transmitter
2. Antenna(duplexer)
3. Receiver
4. Display and control equipments.
 Transmitter: The transmitter provides the RF signal of sufficient power and
sends it to the antenna. The transmitter is basically high power transmitter.
 Antenna: It radiates this RF signal into space in a desired direction. The
antenna used is Duplexer. It is a single antenna which acts both as transmitting
and receiving antenna. The transmitted signal propagates in space and some of
the signal is intercepted by reflecting bodies which are moving in free space.
 The receiving antenna collects the reflected signal and is called as received
signal. These received signals are very weak and hence they are amplified and
then detected. Thus the function of duplexer is to protect sensitive receiver
from high power transmitter and directs echo to the receiver and not
transmitter.
 Receiver: The receivers amplify and demodulate the received RF signals. The
receiver provides video signals on the output.
 The presence of any object or target causes an echo of the transmitted signal
in the received signal. The output of the detector rises suddenly when an echo
is detected.
 The time between the transmission and reception of echo gives the range of
the target.
 r= (c∆𝑡)/2; c=speed of light; ∆t=time taken by the pulse to
travel to the target and return in seconds.
 The factor 2 appears in the denominator because of the two way propagation
of EM waves.
 Display and control equipments: The display should present to the observer a
continuous, easily understandable, graphic picture of the relative position

Q3.Define the following:
a)Pulse width (b) PRF (c)Duty cycle (d)Peak power (e)Average power.
A3.Pulse Width(PW):The time measured from leading edge to trailing of one
pulse is known as puise width or pulse duration or On-time.
(b)PRF: It is reciprocal of pulse repetition time.PRF=1/PRT.
(c)Duty cycle:It is defined as ratio of pulse width to Time period.
Duty cycle=Pulse width /Time period=Ton/(Ton+Toff)x100%
(d)Peak power:Peak power is the power which will be generated if the transmitter
operates contiously.It is in the range of 100-800KW.
(e)Average power:It is product of Duty cycle and Peak power.
Pav=Duty cycle xPeak power.

Q4.What are the factors affecting range of radar.

1. A4.The maximum range (Rmax) is proportional to the fourth root of peak
transmitted pulse power.
2. To double the range the peak power must be increased sixteen times .
3. Pmin can be reduced by increasing the gain as well as signal to noise
ratio(S/N) of the signal.
4. The maximum range is proportional to square root of the capture area of the
antenna and proportional to its diameter. Thus maximum radar range can be
doubled by doubling the effective diameter of the antenna.
 5. The maximum range can be increased by reducing the wavelength ie,
increasing the frequency .
𝑃𝑟𝐴𝑜²𝑆
6. Radar range Rmax=( )¼.Range is maximum when receivable
4𝜋𝑃𝑚𝑖𝑛
power is minium.

Q5With diagram explain the working of Pulsed radar system.

A5.

A6.The Pulsed radar system has following functional blocks:

1. Transmitter
2. Receiver
3. Trigger source
4. Duplexer and antenna
 Transmitter: The Magnetron is a microwave oscillator which is turned ON and
OFF by pulsed modulator. The pulses are controlled and synchronized by trigger
source. The transmitted signal travels through the duplexer and finally to the
antenna where it is radiated into space.
 Receiver: The receiver is super heterodyne type.The reflected signal is given to
the Low noise Amplifier(LNA).Travelling wave tube is used for amplification..It
amplifies the received echo signal with high signal to noise ratio.(S/N).
 The functions of low noise amplifier is filter out unwanted signal.
 The Local Oscillator provides the RF power needed by the mixer for frequency
conversion .Reflex Klystron is used as oscillator.It is used to produce IF signal
 This IF signal is amplified by IF amplifier and given to the detector.The detector
recovers the original signal.
 This is given to the video amplifier for amplificationand is then displayed on a
CRT .
 The display is synchronized by trigger source.
 Trigger Source:It is used to produce pulses of appropriate time and frequency
,to synchronize transmitter and receiver.
 A single parabolic antenna is used for both transmission and reception.
 The data regarding the angle is supplied to the display from antenna system.
 Duplexer and Antenna:The duplexer works both as transmitting and receiving
antenna. Its function is to protect receiver from high power radiated by the
transmitter.It also directs the echo signal to receiver and not transmitter.