RADAR Systems - An Overview
-
font size
decrease font size
increase font size
A lecture was presented by Mr Antony Judice to the Engineering faculty on 13 February 2018 between 12.00 noon to 1pm, organized by the Research and Consultancy Committee.
Radar systems are radio detection and ranging systems that are operated at Ultra-High-Frequency (UHF). The object-detection system uses radio waves to determine the range, angle, or velocity of objects and to detect the position and/or movement of objects. The purpose of such systems is to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations etc.
The magnetron generates high-frequency radio waves (GHz Ranges) which the duplexer (circulator) switches to the antenna. The antenna transmits a narrow beam of RF through the air and when the radio waves hit the airplane they are reflected back and the reflected waves are picked up through receiver antenna. The IEEE standard for the radar band and radar range measurement was discussed.
The major areas of military, civilian and scientific applications were addressed. Doppler radar is used in weather forecasting to figure out how fast storms are moving and when they are likely to arrive towns and cities. Scientists use a form of visible radar called LIDAR (light detection and ranging) to measure air pollution with lasers. Archaeologists and geologists point radar down into the ground to study the composition of the earth and find buried deposits of historical interest. Submarines use a very similar system called SONAR (Sound Navigation and Ranging), which uses sound to see objects instead of radio waves.
The New Muscat Air Traffic Control Centre air activity controllers have the capacity to deal with 1,500 flights per day. It will accommodate 12 million passenger per annum costing $1.8bn. A new 100-metre tall Air Traffic Control (ATC) Tower has been built. The detailed information of the aircraft is obtained from the radar screen (First 56 inch radar screen in the world) which manages Oman’s entire airspace. The lecture was highly informative and provoked the faculty members to choose the area for research.