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International Journal of Student Research in Technology & Management
Vol 1 (1), pg 27-38
MOVING TARGET INDICATION RADAR
Abhinav Singh, Vaibhav Shah, Anurag Sarnaik
Thakur College of Engg. and Technology, Thakur Village, Kandivli(E),
Mumbai-400101, India
[email protected] Abstract
MTI (Moving Target Indication) radar systems have been built for many years, based on system
concepts evolved in the early 1950's. Digital techniques now permit easier implementation, but do
not change the basic concepts; staggered repetition periods to eliminate blind speeds; and MTI
cancellers with the velocity response shaped by feed forward and feedback techniques. Radar MTI
may be specialized in terms of the type of clutter and environment: airborne MTI (AMTI), ground
MTI (GMTI), etc., or may be combined mode: stationary and moving target indication (SMTI).The
most common approach takes advantage of the Doppler effect. Many of the existing systems are
very successful considering their performance, measured in terms of MTI improvement factor or
sub clutter visibility. In this paper the basic MTI concepts and definitions are presented, and the
real problems of modern surface-based MTI radar systems are discussed.
I. INTRODUCTION
RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) is a system used mainly in defence applications which is
used to locate the target, that is, to find its exact position in the range which it covers. The drawback
of conventional pulse RADAR is that it can determine only the range, that is, the distance of the target
from RADAR antenna. It cannot determine whether the target is moving or not and in which direction
it is moving. Thus in order to determine the motion of the target we use MTI (Moving Target
Indication) RADAR. MTI RADAR has become a boon for detecting motion of the targets in the field
of RADAR Engineering. MTI RADAR is defined as the RADAR in which the Doppler effect can be
employed to differentiate between stationary and moving targets, with the former suppressed and only
the latter displayed. In this process, the permanent echoes as well as those from very slow moving
objects (if desired) are not displayed on the PPI (plan position indicator), and the radar controller can
pay attention to the real aircraft. Along with the detection of moving targets it also eliminates the
effect of stationary objects or stationary clutters. This can be achieved by using the Delay line
cancellor.
II. EVOLUTION OF RADAR
Previously, RADAR systems were very simple. There were no separate antennas for transmitter and
receiver. A single antenna used to function as transmitter and receiver. A gaseous device was called as
duplexer was used to separate the transmitter and receiver subsystems. For certain time the single
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antenna used to work as a transmitter while for other time it used to function as a receiver. The
transmitting and receiving functions were time multiplexed. The received echo was demodulated,
amplified and compared with the threshold level. But the disadvantage was that the doppler frequency
shift due to motion of the target was not detected. Thus such a RADAR could not detect moving
target. It was used only to detect stationary targets.
After World War-I when aircrafts were used in war for the first time there was a need to detect
moving targets in which the conventional RADAR failed. Also as the aviation industry progressed
there was also a need to control the motion of aircrafts to prevent fatal accidents. Thus a special
RADAR system to detect moving targets was developed called as MTI (Moving Target Indication)
RADAR was developed. Another type of RADAR used to detect moving targets was Pulse Dopplar
RADAR. Both the RADAR systems used the concept of Dopplar frequency shift or dopplar effect to
detect the moving targets. History was made when Croydon airport of London was the first airport to
use ATC(Air Traffic Control) system in the year 1921. It used the RADARS used to detect moving
targets.
ІІІ. DOPPLER FREQUENCY SHIFT
Doppler shift is an apparent change in frequency (or wavelength) due to the relative motion of two
objects. Either one or both of the objects may be moving with respect to the ground. Radar systems
exploit the Doppler shift to provide an indication of relative speed. When the two objects are
approaching each other (closing), the Doppler shift causes a shortening of wavelength - or increase in
frequency. When the two objects are receding from each other (opening), the Doppler shift causes a
lengthening of wavelength - or decrease in frequency. In case of an MTI RADAR, when the target is
moving towards the RADAR, the frequency of the echo received from the target increases whereas if
the target is moving away from the RADAR, the frequency of the echo received from the target
decreases. Difference in the transmitted frequency and received frequency from the target is called as
dopplar frequency and is denoted by fd.
ІV. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PULSE DOPPLER RADAR AND MTI RADAR
Both this RADAR basically depends on same principle of Doppler frequency shift.But there are some
difference that are some differences. MTI RADAR uses low pulse repetition frequency while pulse
Doppler uses high and medium pulse repetition frequency.MTI RADAR has no range ambiguity
while range ambiguity may occur in pulse Doppler.
Improvement factor need not to be improved in MTI RADAR while in pulse Doppler improvement
in Improvement factor is needed. Usually magnetron oscillator is commonly used as transmitter ,in
pulse Doppler high power klyston amplifier is used as transmitter. MTI RADAR uses analog delay
line canceller while in pulse Doppler it uses analog filter banks.MTI RADAR receives less clutter
signal while pulse Doppler RADAR receives more clutter signals.
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Vol 1 (1), pg 27-38
V. WORKING
Fig.1 - Pulse Radar
A simple CW radar consists of a transmitter, receiver, indicator, and the necessary antennas. In
principle, the CW radar may be converted into a pulse radar as shown in Fig. 1 by providing a
power amplifier and a modulator to turn the amplifier on and off for tllc purpose of generating pulses.
The chief difference between the pulse radar and the CW radar is that a small portion of the
CW oscillator power that generates the transmitted pulses is diverted to the receiver to take the
place of the local oscillator. It acts as the coherent reference needed to detect the doppler frequency
shift.
If the CW oscillator voltage is represented as
and the doppler-shifted echo-signal voltage is
Where:
A2 = amplitude of reference signal
A3 = amplitude of signal received from a target at a range R,
fd = doppler frequency shift
t = time
c = velocity of propagation
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Vol 1 (1), pg 27-38
Fig.2 - A scope display
Moving targets may be distinguished from stationary targets by observing the video output on an A-
scope (amplitude vs. range). A single sweep on an A-scope might appear as in Fig.2. This sweep
slows several fixed targets and two moving targets indicated by the two arrows. O n the basis of a
single sweep, moving targets cannot be distinguished from fixed targets. ( It may be possible to
distinguish extended ground targets from point targets by the string of the echo pulses. However, this
is not a reliable means of discriminating moving from fixed targets since some fixed targets can look
like point targets, e.g., a water tower. Also, some moving targets such as aircraft flying in formation
can look like extended targets.) Successive A-scope sweeps (pulse-repetition intervals) are shown in
Fig.. Echoes fromfixed targets remain constant throughout, but echoes from moving targets vary in
amplitude from sweep to sweep at a rate corresponding to the doppler frequency.
A) MTI operation
The block diagram of a more common MTI radar employing a power amplifier is shown.The
significant difference between this MTI configuration and that Figure is the manner in which the
reference signal is generated. In Fig.3, the coherent reference is supplied by at oscillator called the
coho, which stands for coherent oscillator. The coho is a stable oscillator whose frequency is the same
as the intermediate frequency used in the receiver. In addition to providing the reference signal the
output of the coho. is also mixed with the local-oscillator frequency.The local oscillator- must be a
stable oscillator and is called stalo.. The RF echo signal is heterodyned with the stalo signal to
produce the IF frequency just as in the superheterodyne reciever. They serve in both the receiver and
the transmitter mode.The characteristic feature of coherent MTI radar is that the transmitted signal
must be coherent (in phase) with the reference signal in the receiver. This is accomplished in the radar
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system diagramed in Fig.3 by generating the transmitted signal from rile coho reference signal. The
function of the stalo is to provide the necessary frequency translation from the IF to the transmitted
frequency. Although the phase of the stalo influences the phase of the transmitted signal, any stalo
phase shift is canceled on reception because the stalo that generates the transmitted signal also acts as
the local oscillator in the receiver. The reference signal from the coho and the IF echo signal are both
fed into a mixer called the phase detector.
The phase detector differs from the normal amplitude detector since its output is proportional to the
phase difference between the two input signals.
Fig.3-MTI block diagram
B) Delay Line Canceller
Fig.4 – Delay Line Canceller
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The simple MTI delay-line canceller shown in Fig.4 is an example of a time-domain filter. The
capability of this device depends on the quality of the medium used is the delay line. The Pulse
modulator delay line must introduce a time delay equal to the pulse repetition interval. For typical
ground-based air-surveillance radars this might be several milliseconds. Delay times of this magnitude
cannot be achieved with practical electromagnetic transmission lines. By converting the
electromagnetic signal to an 'acoustic signal it is possible to utilize delay lines of a reasonable
physical length since the velocity of propagation of acoustic waves is about that of electromagnetic
waves. After the necessary delay is introduced by the acoustic line, the signal is converted back to an
electromagnetic signal for further processing. The early acoustic delay lines developed during World
War 11 used liquid delay lines filled with either water or mercury.' Liquid delay lines were large and
inconvenient to use. They were replaced in the mid-1950s by the solid fused-quartz delay line that
used multiple internal reflections to obtain a compact device. These analog acoustic delay lines were,
in turn supplanted in the early 1970s by storage devices based on digital computer technology. The
use of digital delay lines requires that the output of the MTI receiver phase-detector be quantized into
a sequence of digital words. The compactness and convenience of digital processing allows the
implerfientation of more complex delay-line cancellers with filter characteristics not practical with
analog met holds. One of the advantages of a time-domain delay-line canceller as compared to the
more conventional frequency-domain filter is that a single network operates at all ranges and does not
require a separate filter for each range resolution cell. Frequency-domain doppler filterbanks are of
interest in some forms of MTI and pulse-doppler radar.
Fig.5 – Delay Line Canceller Working
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C) Filter characteristics of the delay-line canceler
The delay-line canceler acts as a filter which rejects the d-c component of clutter. Because of its
periodic nature, the filter also rejects energy in the vicinity of the pulse repetition frequency and its
harmonics.The video signal received from a particular target at a range R, is
V1 = k sin (2Πfdt - Φ,)………………………………..Eqn 1
where Φ = phase shift and k = amplitude of video signal. The signal from the previous transmission,
which is delayed by a time T = pulse repetition interval, is
V2 = k sin [2Πfd (t - T) – Φ]……………………………Eqn 2.
Everything else is assumed to.remain essentially constant over the interval T so that k is the same for
both pulses. The output from the subtractor is
V = V1, - V2 =2k sin Π fd Tcos [2Π fd(t – T/2) - Φ]….Eqn 3
It is assumed that the gain through the delay-line canceller is unity. The output from the canceller
consists of a cosine wave at the doppler frequency& with an amplitude 2k sin ΠfdT: Thus the
amplitude of the canceled video output is a function of the doppler frequency shift and the pulse-
repetition interval, or prf. The magnitude of the relative frequency-response of the delay-line canceller
[ratio of the amplitude of the output from the delay-line canceller, 2k sin (Πfd T), to the amplitude of
the normal radar video kj is shown in Fig.6.
Fig.6 - Delay Line Frequency Response
VI. DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING
The introduction of practical and ecorlomical digital processing to MTI radar allowed a
significant increase in the options open to the signal processing designer. The convenience of digital
processing meant that multiple delay-line cancelers with tailored frequency-response can be obtained.
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Fig.7 – Digital MTI Signal Processor
A simple block diagram of a digital MTI processor is shown in Fig. 7. From the output of the IF
amplifier the signal is split into two channels. One is denoted I, for in-phase channel. The other is
denoted Q, for quadrature channel, since a 90" phase change (∏/2 radians) is introduced into
the coho reference signal at the phase detector. The purpose of the quadrature channel is to eliminate
the blind speeds.
VII. BLIND SPEED LIMITATION
The response of the single-delay-line canceller will be zero whenever the argument
ΠfdT in the amplitude factor of is 0, Π , 2Π, . .., etc., or when
where r l = 0, 1, 2, . . . , and j, = pulse repetition frequency. The delay-line canceller not only
eliminates the d-c component caused by clutter (n = 0), but unfortunately it also rejects any
moving target whose doppler frequency happens to be the same as the prf or a multiple
there of. Those relative target velocities which result in zero MTI response are called blind
speeds are given by
v = nλ/2T=nλfp/2
n = l , 2 , 3, ...
where vn, is the nth blind speed.
The blind speeds are one of the limitations of pulse MTI radar which do not occur with CW radar.
They are present in pulse radar because doppler is measured by discrete samples -(pulses) at the prf
rather than continuously. If the first blind speed is to be greater than the maximum radial velocity
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expected from the target, the product ,IF must be large. Thus the MTI radar must operate at long
wavelengths (low frequencies) or with high pulse repetition frequencies, or both. Unfortunately, there
are usually constraints other than blind speeds which determine the wavelength and the pulse
repetition frequency. Therefore blind speeds might not be easy to avoid. Low radar frequencies have
the disadvantage that antenna beamwidths, for a given-size antenna, are wider than at the higher
frequencies and would not be satisfactory in applications where angular accuracy or angular
resolution is important. The pulse repetition frequency cannot always be varied over wide limits since
it is primarily determined by the unambiguous range requirement.
A) Staggered Pulse Repetitive Frequency
The use of more than one pulse repetition frequency offers additional flexibility in the design of
MTI doppler filters. It not only reduces the effect of the blind speeds , but it also allows a sharper low-
frequency cutoff in the frequency response than might be obtained with a cascade of single-delay-line
cancelers with sinn nf,T response.
The blind speeds of two independent radars operating at the same frequency will be different if their
pulse repetition frequencies are different. Therefore, if one radar were " blind " to moving targets, it
would be unlikely that the other radar would be " blind" also. Instead of using two separate radars, the
same result can be obtained with one radar which time-shares its pulse repetition frequency between
two or more different values (multiple prf's). The pulse repetition frequency might be switched every
other scan or every time the antenna is scanned a half beam width, or the period might be alternated
on every other pulse. When the switching is pulse to pulse, it is known as a staggered prf. An example
of the composite (average) response of an MTI radar operating with two separate pulse repetition
frequencies on a time-shared basis is shown in Fig. 7. repetition frequencies are in the ratio of 5 : 4.
Note that the first blind speed of the composite response is increased several times over what it would
be for a radar operating on only a single pulse repetition frequency. Zero response occurs only when
the blind speeds of each prf coincide.
VIII . OTHER LIMITATIONS TO MTI PERFORMANCE
There are limitations to the performance of MTI radar. The degradation in the performance of MTI
radar are caused due to following reasons:
A) Antenna scanning modulation
The duration of echo signal received from a target or a clutter scatterer as antenna of pulse radar
scans is given by to=Nb/fp=Өb/Өs where
Nb=number of pulses received
fp=pulse reptition frequency
Өb=antenna beamwidth in degrees
Өs=antenna scanning rate in degree/second
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The bandwidth of the frequency spectrum is inversally proportional to the time duration to.
Consequently,even if the clutter scatterer were perfectly stationary and there were no instabilities in
equipment ,there would be still finite spectral spread due to finite duration of echo signal.
This limitation has been called antenna scanning modulation ,but it is basically due to finite time on
target.The longer time on the target,less will be the spread in the clutter spectrum.
Fig.7 – Staggered PRF
B.)Internal fluctuations of clutter
Echoes from mountains, rocks, buildings, water towers ,fences, thick tree trunks, hills usually
stationary in nature.
Many other sources of clutter echoes however can be in motion .These include echoes from sea, rain,
chaff, rees, large vegetations, structures blowing in wind etc. The amplitude and phase fluctuations
of windblown structures results in widened frequency spectrum of clutter echo that can be a
limitation on performance of MTI radar.
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C) .Equipment instabilities
Changes in amplitude, frequency or phase of stalo and coho oscillators as well as changes in pulse
to pulse characteristics of transmitted signal or errors in timing can result in uncancelled clutter
echoes and causes limit to improvement factor of MTI radar that can be achieved.
D). Limiting
A limiter in the MTI receiver has sometimes been used to reduce the clutter to the level of receiver
noise.The hard limiters used in MTI radar cause quite serious degradation of the MTI
performance.Instead a limiter should be set above the receiver noise by an amount equal to
MTI radar improvement factor.
IX. APPLICATIONS
A) Astronomy
Redshift of spectral lines in the optical spectrum of a supercluster of distant galaxies (right), as
compared to that of the Sun (left). The Doppler effect for electromagnetic waves such as light is of
great use in astronomy and results in either a so-called redshift or blueshift. It has been used to
measure the speed at which stars and galaxies are approaching or receding from us, that is, the radial
velocity. This is used to detect if an apparently single star is, in reality, a close binary and even to
measure the rotational speed of stars and galaxies.
The use of the Doppler effect for light in astronomy depends on our knowledge that the spectra of
stars are not continuous. They exhibit absorption lines at well defined frequencies that are correlated
with the energies required to excite electrons in various elements from one level to another. The
Doppler effect is recognizable in the fact that the absorption lines are not always at the frequencies
that are obtained from the spectrum of a stationary light source. Since blue light has a higher
frequency than red light, the spectral lines of an approaching astronomical light source exhibit a
blueshift and those of a receding astronomical light source exhibit a redshift.
Among the nearby stars, the largest radial velocities with respect to the Sun are +308 km/s (BD-
15°4041, also known as LHS 52, 81.7 light-years away) and -260 km/s (Woolley 9722, also known as
Wolf 1106 and LHS 64, 78.2 light-years away). Positive radial velocity means the star is receding
from the Sun,
The Doppler effect is used in some types of radar, to measure the velocity of detected objects. A radar
beam is fired at a moving target — e.g. a motor car, as police use radar to detect speeding motorists
— as it approaches or recedes from the radar source. Each successive radar wave has to travel farther
to reach the car, before being reflected and re-detected near the source. As each wave has to move
farther, the gap between each wave increases, increasing the wavelength. In some situations, the radar
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beam is fired at the moving car as it approaches, in which case each successive wave travels a lesser
distance, decreasing the wavelength. In either situation, calculations from the Doppler effect
accurately determine the car's velocity. Moreover, the proximity fuze, developed during World War
II, relies upon Doppler radar to detonate explosives at the correct time, height, distance, etc.
B) RADAR Gun
Police use a radar detector to determine the speed of a car as it moves down the highway. Radar
waves are transmitted from the police car at a certain frequency. Recall that waves have both
amplitude and frequency. When the waves bounce off a moving object their frequency is effected. As
the radio waves bounce of a car that is moving toward the detector the frequency of the wave
decreases. If the waves bounce of a car moving away from the detector the frequency of the wave
increases. The detector uses the difference in the transmitted and received wave frequencies to
determine the speed of the car.
C) Military purpose
In aviation, aircraft are equipped with radar devices that warn of obstacles in or approaching their path
and give accurate altitude readings. The first commercial device fitted to aircraft was a 1938 Bell Lab
unit on some United Air Lines aircraft. Such aircraft can land in fog at airports equipped with radar-
assisted ground-controlled approach systems in which the plane's flight is observed on radar screens
while operators radio landing directions to the pilot.
X. CONCLUSION
Here we have presented a special application of radar ie. MTI radar which is far more superior to
ordinary radar. The basic principle involved and its operation has been elaborated
along with its limitations. MTI radar can be used for various air borne as well as ground based
applications and shows a lot of promise in the near future.
REFERENCES
1. Introduction to RADAR system by Merrill I.Skolnik
2. RADAR Systems by V.S. Bagad
3. Wikipedia.com
4. Britinca.com
5. Modern RADAR systems by Hamish Meikle
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