Pulse radar emits energy to detect objects and measures the time it takes for the energy to bounce back to determine distance. There are two types: simple pulse radar and pulse Doppler radar. The latter is more accurate for detecting moving objects. All pulse radar systems require a transmitter, antenna, receiver, and interface.
Pulse radar is a well-known method of detecting objects by emitting short pulses of radar energy into space and then detecting the bouncing energy after hitting an object. To determine the distance to the object, the radar system measures how long a pulse travels to and from the object. Pulse radar has important functions in air traffic, naval and military object tracking, weather surveillance, and space exploration, among other uses.
The predecessor of the pulse radar system was the single pulse radar, which has the ability to approximate the location and position of an object from a single pulse. It was invented in 1943 by Robert Morris Page. Monopulse radar was used sparingly due to its expensive maintenance, and was used only in special cases, such as in tracking the Nike Ajax missile and in the Apollo, Gemini and Mercury space explorations in the United States. It has since become the basis for all subsequent radar technology.
The pulse radar system has two types. The first type is simple pulse radar, which sends out one pulse of energy at a time. After the pulse is reflected, the radar transmits another pulse of energy. This process establishes the distance to an object and can estimate the speed at which it is travelling, although the estimate is not very accurate.
The other type is pulse Doppler radar. This type is more sophisticated because it works on the Doppler shift principle, which states that an object changes its wave frequency as it approaches and moves away from the observer. Pulse Doppler radar emits a constant stream of radar pulses. By analyzing multiple pulses, rather than just one, you get a more accurate reading of an object’s speed. This capability makes it more effective to detect moving objects among stationary ones, unlike pulse radar, which is more useful for simply identifying the distance to an object.
Pulse radar systems, whether they use pulse radar or pulse Doppler radar, need four major parts to function: the transmitter, the antenna, the receiver, and the interface. The transmitter is responsible for sending out the radio energy. The antenna is the primary recipient after the energy is reflected. The receiver’s job is to magnify the received signal from the antenna, and the interface provides switches for adjusting settings and a visual display for the entire process.
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