Radar (Radio Range and Detection) was developed more that 50 years ago before and during the 2nd World War. It is still heavily used in the military for fire control of missiles and artillery, detection, tracking, navigation, and other applications. Radar is also crucial in many other areas such as airport surveillance, aircraft landing, marine navigation, (satellite) remote sensing, and weather surveillance. In addition to pulse-echo radar, there are other types of radar such as continuous wave FM (CWFM) radars, polarimetric radars and phased array radars. This course will introduce students to the principles behind radar and some of its applications. Radar is an interesting and broad topic encompassing electromagnetic theory, microwaves, analog and digital signal processing, and statistics. Students in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Physics, and Civil and Environmental Engineering will benefit from the course.
At the conclusion of the course students will be familiar with terminology such as: radar equation, polarization, X-band, S-band, FMCW, Doppler radar, monopulse radar, bistatic radar, radar reflectivity factor, STALO, COHO, IF, AFC, dynamic range, folding range, anomalous propagation, Z-R relationship, Marshall-Palmer, drop-size distribution, and ground penetrating radar (GPR). Students will be able to discuss the differences between radars and their capabilities. Lectures will be given by guests that are experts in the application of radar. A trip to a National Weather Service NEXRAD radar site is planned.
Class Schedule
Class Time: 9:30 to 10:30 Tuesdays and Thursdays Office Hours: 10:30 to 11:30 Tuesday and Thursdays, or by appointment Class Location: 127 SHL Contact Information Anton Kruger Resources
Last updated: 04/27/2006