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High Resolution Surveillance Radar

Patrick Beasley, Tom Leonard, Tim Lamont-Smith A presentation to: BMEA

20th October 2010

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Content

1 Introduction

2 PILOT radar

3 Tarsier® radar

4 Cheddar reservoir

5 Recent advances

6 Future radar

7 Conclusions

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1 Introduction

The use of high range resolution radar for harbour and coastal surveillance

Background to the World’s first production marine navigation radar – PILOT

Tarsier®, an example of a state-of–the-art high resolution radar

Trials results from Cheddar reservoir

Current technology

Future harbour and coastal radar

Conclusions

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The World’s first FMCW production marine navigation radar (1987)

Developed by Philips Research Laboratories and Hollandse Signaal Apparaten

Designed to have equivalent performance to ZW06 pulsed radar

Detection performance

1m2 Swerling 1 target at 7.2km (Pd = 50%, Pfa = 10-6)

Instrumented to 36km, minimum range 9m

Range resolution 4.5m to 36m

Dual antenna to minimise transmit – receive leakage

Later versions used reflected power canceller for single antenna operation

Frequency linearity derived from YIG oscillator limited effective range resolution

2 PILOT

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2 PILOT – technology demonstrator

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2 PILOT

Advantages

• Solid state transmitter

− Reliability

− Low voltage supplies

• Very good range resolution

• Low probability of intercept

− Waveform mismatched to ESM

Disadvantages

• Frequency linearity challenging to achieve

• Phase noise requirement

− Inconvenience of separate Tx and Rx antennas

− Can’t cancel reflected noise from very large targets

• Range-Doppler coupling

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2 PILOT

PPI recorded in the strait between Sweden’s mainland and the island of Oland with a bridge approx 50m high at 15nm.

Range rings every 4nm

Note phase noise flash from large target

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2 PILOT

Scout Mark 2 Squire Page

courtesy Thales

Marine navigation Battlefield surveillance Air surveillance

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3 Tarsier®

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3 Tarsier® - parameters

Centre frequency 94.5GHz

Transmit power 100mW

Frequency sweep 600MHz

Antenna gain 47dB

Azimuth beamwidth 0.2°

Elevation beamwidth 2°

Polarisation Circular

Noise figure 8dB

Detects a 2” bolt at 1 mile.

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3 Tarsier® - The effect of phase noise from large targets

1000_tri_x

50

60

70

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90

100

110

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0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

rangecell

Pow

er(d

B)

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3 Tarsier® - Providence RI

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3 Tarsier® - Providence zoomed in

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3 Tarsier® - rain at Malvern, 90s intervals

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3 Tarsier®

Floodlights

Houses

Trees

Phase noise flash

Ground clutter

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4 Cheddar Reservoir

High resolution clutter map of intensity, collected staring into wind

• Dark pixels show high intensity (dB scale)

Lines remain visible over ~100 s

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4 Cheddar Reservoir

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4 Cheddar Reservoir

Zoomed in image

• Waves are modulated (faint lines)

• Individual waves travel at phase velocity, modulation envelope propagates at half that velocity

• Higher RCS of waves at peak of modulation envelope

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4 Cheddar Reservoir – Raytheon display

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4 Cheddar Reservoir - Geese

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4 Cheddar Reservoir - Geese

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5 Recent Advances – Harbour / Coastal surveillance requirement

• Traditionally, a safety aid

• Recent requirement for anti-terrorism

− Jet skis, swimmers, divers, RHIBs

• Small targets vs. sea clutter

• Choice of RF frequency

− Cost

− Size

− Weather

− Transmit power and noise figure

− Licensing and available bandwidth

• Coastal surveillance very challenging for a CW based radar

− High CW transmit power

− Ultra low phase noise

− High Tx/Rx antenna isolation

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5 Recent Advances

Non-coherent

• Fast scan rate (60rpm)

− Good update for tracking algorithms

• Minimises clutter cell (sea, land, rain)

• Excellent range resolution, 10cm

• Two target discrimination based on range resolution

• Excellent geolocation, especially if used in multistatic mode

Coherent

• Low scan rate (12rpm)

− Slow update but additional Doppler information for tracker

• Rejects clutter based on Doppler

− Sub-clutter visibility

• Very good range resolution, 1m

• Target discrimination based on range resolution and Doppler

• Very good geolocation, especially if used in multistatic mode

Optimal solution is to adapt the mode to the environment

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5 Recent Advances – coherent operation

Provides phase and Doppler information

Traditionally exploited for military applications• Now low cost, high stability oscillators and DDS make coherent operation viable

Advantages of coherent integration• Integration of thermal noise improves sensitivity

− Target discrimination based on range resolution and Doppler

• Provision of target Doppler

− Improves tracking

− Aid to target classification

• Rejection of sea and land clutter

− Sub-clutter visibility

• Rejection of rain backscatter – important at higher RF frequencies

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6 Future radar

Parameter PILOT (military only) 24GHz harbour radar (military or civil)

Range resolution 4.5m to 36m (range scale dependent)

1.5m (all range settings)

Clutter rejection Poor (non-coherent) Very good (coherent and non-coherent)

Phase noise -110dBc/Hz at 166kHz -135dBc/Hz at 166kHz (COTS)

-160dBc/Hz (custom)

Instrumented range 36km 24km

Antenna size 1.8m 0.7m

Interference Susceptible in highly populated band – uses frequency diversity

Sparsely populated band

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6 Conclusions

• High range resolution radar is achievable and affordable.

• Excellent detection of small targets.

• Coherent processing has many benefits.

• Advantages in moving to a higher RF frequency.

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