Radar and its Applications

RADAR AND APPLICATIONS

Radar basically stands for Radio Detection and Ranging System. It is one of the important applications of communication systems and is mainly used to sense, detect, and locate distant objects like aircraft, ships, spacecraft, etc. The angle, range or velocity of the objects that are invisible to the human eye can be determined.

Radar uses electromagnetic waves for communication. The electromagnetic signal is initially radiated into space by an antenna in all directions. When this signal strikes the targeted object, it gets reflected or reradiated in many directions. This reflected (echo) signal is received by the radar antenna which in turn is delivered to the receiver. Then, it is processed and amplified to determine the geographical statistics of the object. The range is determined by calculating the time taken by the signal to travel from RADAR to the target and back.

Applications

Radars find extensive applications in almost all fields. A few are mentioned below.

• In military, it is used for locating and detecting the targets.

• It is used in navigation systems such as ship borne surface search, air search and missile guidance systems.

• To measure precipitation rate and wind speed in meteorological observations, Radars are used.

• It is employed to locate and rescue people in emergency situations.