RADAR WAVE PROPAGATION
Earth Atmosphere
.
• The region below the horizon close to the earth’s surface is called the
diffraction region
• troposphere is the first layer extending in altitude to about 20 Km, with
refractive effect being related to its dielectric constant which is a function
of the pressure, temperature, water vapor, and gaseous content.
• interference zone, 20 to 50 Km above the troposphere has little refraction
in this region as it behaves like free space.
• ionsphere extends 50 Km to about 600 Km, very low gas density with
significant amount of ionized free electrons(caused by the sun’s
ultraviolet and X-rays)
• The effect on electromagnetic wave propagation by these electrons
include refraction, absorption, noise emission, and polarization
rotation.
• degree of degradation depends heavily on frequency of the incident
waves, such that by increasing frequency effects on the ionosphere
become less prominent
Refraction
• Refraction is the deviation of radar wave from straight line propagation
caused by the variation of the index of refraction.
• The index of refraction is defined as n=c/v where c - velocity of
electromagnetic waves in free space and v - wave velocity in the medium.
• Close to the earth’s surface the index of refraction is almost unity, but with
increasing altitude the index of refraction decreases gradually.
• The Refractivity gradient (dꞃ/ dh), due to its negative rate of change
electromagnetic waves travel at slightly higher velocities in the upper
troposphere than the lower
• Refraction affects radar waves in two different ways depending on height
mainly,
Refraction effects
on high altitude
1. for targets that have altitudes
slightly above 100 meters it
imposes limitations on the
radar’s capability to measure
target position by introducing
an error in measuring the
elevation angle.
Refraction effects on low altitude
2. Temperature changes and
humidity lapses close to the earth’s
surface may cause serious changes straight line
in the refractivity profile so that radar waves
when the refractivity index hr refracted
radar waves
becomes large enough e a rth
s u rfa
ce
electromagnetic waves bend
around the curvature of the earth
consequently extending radar’s
range to the horizon.
• Using ray tracing (geometric optics) for altitudes higher than 3 Km the
actual target heights are estimated from look-up tables or from charts
of target height versus range for different elevation angles while for
those less than 3 Km they are calculated by replacing the actual earth
with an imaginary earth.
Introduction to Anomalous propagation
Anomalous propagation (Anoprop) explains the different forms of electromagnetic wave propagation
that are not normally encountered in standard atmospheric conditions.
These forms of EM propagation are encountered due to changes in distribution of temperature, humidity
and pressure with height in the atmosphere.
The first assumption when trying to predict the propagation path of a wave is that it is moving through
air that cools down at a standard rate with height in the troposphere, which results in Normal
Refraction.
Any variation to this stratification of temperatures will modify the path followed by the wave into either
super refraction, sub refraction or a phenomenon called ducting.
• It is very common to have temperature inversions forming near the
ground, for instance air cooling at night while remaining warm at greater
heights.
• This also happens when a warm and dry air mass overrides a cooler one,
like in the instance caused by a high pressure intensifying.
• The index of refraction of air increases in both cases and the EM wave
bends toward the ground instead of continuing upward.
• In upper air inversion, the bending will be limited to the layer involved but
the bending will extend the path of the beam, possibly beyond the usual
transmission horizon. This is super-refraction.
• The concept of ducting is when the inversion is very strong and shallow, then
the EM wave is trapped within the inversion layer.
• The beam will bounce many times inside the layer as within a waveguide.
• On the other hand, if the air is unstable and cools faster than the standard
atmosphere with height, the wave is refracted higher than expected and can
miss the intended receiver. This is sub-refraction.
Other causes of Anoprop
Other causes of anomalous propagation include :
1. Troposcatters causing irregularities in the troposphere.
2. Refraction in the ionized regions and layers of the ionosphere, and
reflection from the ionosphere.
Effects of Anoprop on Radar
Technology.
If the beam is back scattered to the receiver, “false echoes” are experienced.
The position of the radar echoes depend heavily on the standard decrease of
temperature hypothesis. However, the real atmosphere can vary greatly from
the norm.
Dealing with Anoprop in Radar
Technology
• Anomalous Propagation is different from sea and ground clutter or biological
returns from birds and insects, debris etc.
• Sea and Ground clutters are permanent reflection from fixed areas on the
surface with stable reflective characteristics.
• Biological scatterer gives weak echoes over a large surface, although these can
vary in size with time but not much in intensity.
• Debris and chaff are transient and move in height with time. They are all
indicating something actually there and either relevant to the radar operator
and/or readily explicable and theoretically able to be reproduced.
Dealing with Anoprop in Radar
Technology
• Doppler radars and Pulse-Doppler radars extract the velocities of the
targets and since AP comes from stable targets, it is possible to
subtract the reflectivity data having a null speed and clean the radar
images.
• Ground, sea clutter and the energy spike from the sun setting can be
distinguished the same way too.
• This method is used in most modern radars, including air traffic
control and weather radars.
Diffraction
• Diffraction is a term used to describe the phenomenon of
electromagnetic waves bending around obstacles.
• It is of major importance to radar systems operating at very low
altitudes.
• Hills and ridges diffract radio energy and make it possible to perform
detection in regions that are physically shadowed.
• Huygen's Principle: Each point on a spherical wave front can be
considered as a source of a secondary wave front.
• Even though there will be a blindspot immediately behind the
obstacle, the signal will diffract around the obstacle and start to fill
the void.
Atmospheric Attenuation
Attenuation is the idea that the radar signal loses some of its strength as it
travels through the weather.
• The signal that progresses returns at a later time, milliseconds later,
allowing the radar receiver to interpret the signal as further distant.
• Radar attenuation can produce radar scope shadows which indicate
dangerous weather, potentially dangerous terrain (depending on your
altitude), or cities which will be below your flight path. Knowing how to tell
the difference is a vital skill every all-weather pilot should master.
• Most of the lost radar energy is normally absorbed by gases and water
vapor and transformed into heat, while a small portion of this lost energy is
used in molecular transformation of the atmosphere particles.
Radar Shadow
Radar Shadowing
• The area where a radar is prevented from detecting objects or
targets, as the radar waves are unable to reach them either because
of obstructions en route or curvature of the earth (radar horizon).
• A phenomenon in the weather radar when radar energy is unable to
penetrate the storm and is attenuated to an extent that there is no
return from the storm.
