Manufacturers of drone detection radar point out that radar systems detect and locate targets by emitting electromagnetic waves and receiving the echo signals reflected from the targets. The core detection mechanism is unaffected by frequency variations. Radars typically operate within the frequency range of 220 MHz to 35,000 MHz, though practical applications may involve a broader spectrum. For instance, over-the-horizon (OTH) radars can function in the low-frequency band of 2–5 MHz, millimeter-wave radars can operate at frequencies as high as 94 GHz, and lidar systems work at even higher frequencies. Radars operating in different frequency bands exhibit significant differences in engineering implementation and performance.

Below are the main technical specifications of radar systems, as summarized by drone detection radar manufacturers:

  1. Antenna and Feedline Performance
    Key parameters include antenna aperture, gain, beamwidth, sidelobe level, polarization type, feedline loss, and system bandwidth.

  2. Radar Signal Characteristics
    These encompass operating frequency, pulse repetition frequency (PRF), pulse width, signal bandwidth, modulation type, and pulse train length.

  3. Transmitter Performance
    Key metrics include peak power, average power, total gain of the amplifier chain, transmitter efficiency, and total power consumption.

  4. Receiver Performance
    Elements such as receiver sensitivity, system noise temperature, operating bandwidth, dynamic range, and intermediate frequency (IF) characteristics.

  5. Angle Measurement Methods
    Common techniques include amplitude comparison, phase comparison, and antenna beam scanning.

  6. Radar Signal Processing
    This includes system improvement factors for Moving Target Indication (MTI) and Moving Target Detection (MTD), implementation of pulse-Doppler filtering, computational speed requirements, Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) processing, and video integration methods.

  7. Radar Data Processing Capability
    This covers target tracking capability, secondary data processing performance, and data conversion and input/output functionalities.

In modern aviation transportation systems, drone detection radars play a critical role, primarily in stringent monitoring of aircraft around airports and along flight routes. Air traffic control radars integrate both surveillance and guidance functions and are often referred to as Airport Surveillance Radars (ASR). They typically operate in conjunction with secondary surveillance radars. Secondary radars transmit interrogation signals via ground-based equipment, which are received by airborne transponders and responded to in encoded form. The ground system then processes these signals and displays them on air traffic control radar screens.

Such radar systems can identify target altitude, speed, and attribute information, enabling precise discrimination of airborne objects. Additionally, radars mounted on satellites or aircraft serve as microwave remote sensing devices for acquiring physical information about the Earth’s surface. With their high-resolution imaging capabilities, radar systems are widely used in various fields, including topographic mapping, water resource and ice cap monitoring, agricultural and forestry surveys, geological structure analysis, and environmental pollution assessment.

Further Reading