Systems Engineering - ATI

Fundamentals of Radar Technology
February 15-17, 2011
Beltsville, Maryland
$1590 (8:30am - 4:00pm)
"Register 3 or More & Receive $100 00 each
Off The Course Tuition."
Summary
A three-day course covering the basics of radar,
taught in a manner for true understanding of the
fundamentals, even for the complete newcomer.
Covered are electromagnetic waves, frequency bands,
the natural phenomena of scattering and propagation,
radar performance calculations and other tools used in
radar work, and a “walk through” of the four principal
subsystems – the transmitter, the antenna, the receiver
and signal processor, and the control and interface
apparatus – covering in each the underlying principle
and componentry. A few simple exercises reinforce the
student’s understanding. Both surface-based and
airborne radars are addressed.
Instructor
Bob Hill received his BS degree from Iowa State
University and the MS from the University
of Maryland, both in electrical
engineering. After spending a year in
microwave work with an electronics firm
in Virginia, he was then a ground
electronics officer in the U.S. Air Force
and began his civil service career with the
U.S. Navy . He managed the development of the phased
array radar of the Navy’s AEGIS system through its
introduction to the fleet. Later in his career he directed
the development, acquisition and support of all
surveillance radars of the surface navy.
Mr. Hill is a Fellow of the IEEE, an IEEE “distinguished
lecturer”, a member of its Radar Systems Panel and
previously a member of its Aerospace and Electronic
Systems Society Board of Governors for many years. He
established and chaired through 1990 the IEEE’s series
of international radar conferences and remains on the
organizing committee of these, and works with the
several other nations cooperating in that series. He has
published numerous conference papers, magazine
articles and chapters of books, and is the author of the
radar, monopulse radar, airborne radar and synthetic
aperture radar articles in the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia
of Science and Technology and contributor for radarrelated
entries of their technical dictionary.
Course Outline
First Morning – Introduction
The basic nature of radar and its applications, military
and civil Radiative physics (an exercise); the radar
range equation; the statistical nature of detection
Electromagnetic waves, constituent fields and vector
representation Radar “timing”, general nature, block
diagrams, typical characteristics,
First Afternoon – Natural Phenomena:
Scattering and Propagation. Scattering: Rayleigh point
scattering; target fluctuation models; the nature of
clutter. Propagation: Earth surface multipath;
atmospheric refraction and “ducting”; atmospheric
attenuation. Other tools: the decibel, etc. (a dB
exercise).
Second Morning – Workshop
An example radar and performance calculations, with
variations.
Second Afternoon – Introduction to the
Subsystems.
Overview: the role, general nature and challenges of
each. The Transmitter, basics of power conversion:
power supplies, modulators, rf devices (tubes, solid
state). The Antenna: basic principle; microwave optics
and pattern formation, weighting, sidelobe concerns,
sum and difference patterns; introduction to phased
arrays.
Third Morning – Subsytems Continued:
The Receiver and Signal Processor.
Receiver: preamplification, conversion, heterodyne
operation “image” frequencies and double conversion.
Signal processing: pulse compression. Signal
processing: Doppler-sensitive processing Airborne
radar – the absolute necessity of Doppler processing.
Third Afternoon – Subsystems: Control and
Interface Apparatus.
Automatic detection and constant-false-alarm-rate
(CFAR) techniques of threshold control. Automatic
tracking: exponential track filters. Multi-radar fusion,
briefly Course review, discussion, current topics and
community activity.
The course is taught from the student notebook
supplied, based heavily on the open literature and
with adequate references to the most popular of
the many textbooks now available. The student’s
own note-taking and participation in the exercises
will enhance understanding as well.
10 – Vol. 104 Register online at www.ATIcourses.com or call ATI at 888.501.2100 or 410.956.8805