Introduction to Radar Basics - MATLAB Simulations for Radar Systems Design - page 35

Symbol Description Units Status

nf noise figure dB input

loss radar losses dB input

range target range (can be either a sin-

gle value or a vector)

meters input

np number of integrated pulses none input

ci_nci 1 for CI; 2 for NCI none input

snr SNR (single value or a vector,

depending on the input range)

dB output

U s ing para m et e r s o f pr e v i o us exam p le, R=5 . 01 Km

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Coherent integration
Non-coherent integration

-5

-10

10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 10 4

Number of integrated pulses

Figure 1.21. SNR improvement when integration is utilized.

1.8. Radar Losses

As indicated by the radar equation, the receiver SNR is inversely propor-
tional to the radar losses. Hence, any increase in radar losses causes a drop in
the SNR, thus decreasing the probability of detection, as it is a function of the
SNR. Often, the principal difference between a good radar design and a poor
radar design is the radar losses. Radar losses include ohmic (resistance) losses
and statistical losses. In this section we will briefly summarize radar losses.