Introduction to Radar Basics - MATLAB Simulations for Radar Systems Design - page 42

that introduced by Brookner. Additionally, any and all design alternatives pre-
sented in this topic are based on and can be easily traced to open literature
sources.

Furthermore, the design approach adopted in this topic is based on modeling
many of the radar system components with no regards to any hardware con-
straints nor to any practical limitations. The design presented in this topic is
intended to be tutorial and academic in nature and does not adhere to any other
requirements. Finally, the MATLAB code presented in this topic is intended to
be illustrative and academic and is not designed nor intended for any other
uses.

Using the material presented in this topic and the MATLAB code
designed by the authors of this topic by any entity or person is strictly at
will. The authors and the publisher are neither liable nor responsible for
any material or non-material losses, loss of wages, personal or property
damages of any kind, or for any other type of damages of any and all types
that may be incurred by using this topic.

1.9.2. Problem Statement

You are to design a ground based radar to fulfill the following mission:
Search and Detection. The threat consists of aircraft with an average RCS of 6
dBsm ( ), and missiles with an average RCS of -3 dBsm
( ). The missile altitude is 2Km, and the aircraft altitude is about 7
Km. Assume a scanning radar with 360 degrees azimuth coverage. The scan
rate is less than or equal to 1 revolution every 2 seconds. Assume L to X band.
We need range resolution of 150 m. No angular resolution is specified at this
time. Also assume that only one missile and one aircraft constitute the whole
threat. Assume a noise figure F = 6 dB, and total receiver loss L = 8 dB. For
now use a fan beam with azimuth beamwidth of less than 3 degrees. Assume
that 13 dB SNR is a reasonable detection threshold. Finally, assume flat earth.

4 m 2 σ a =

0.5 m 2 σ m =

1.9.3. A Design

The desired range resolution is . Thus, using Eq. (1.8) one calcu-
lates the required pulsewidth as , or equivalently the required band-
width . At this point a few preliminary decisions must be made.
This includes the selection of the radar operating frequency, the aperture size,
and the single pulse peak power.

∆ R = 150 m

τ = 1µsec

B = 1 MHz

1. Brookner, Eli, Editor, Practical Phased Array Antenna Systems , Artech House,
1991, Chapter 7.