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Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (), direction (azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method [1] used to detect and track aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, map weather formations, and terrain.
In navigation, bearing or azimuth is the horizontal angle between the direction of an object and north or another object. The angle value can be specified in various angular units , such as degrees , mils , or grad .
The azimuth is the angle formed between a reference direction (in this example north) and a line from the observer to a point of interest projected on the same plane as the reference direction orthogonal to the zenith. An azimuth (/ ˈ æ z ə m ə θ / ⓘ; from Arabic: اَلسُّمُوت, romanized: as-sumūt, lit.
At any range, with similar azimuth and elevation angles and as viewed by a radar with an unmodulated pulse, the range resolution is approximately equal in distance to half of the pulse duration times the speed of light (approximately 300 meters per microsecond). Radar echoes, showing a representation of the carrier
The radar "looks" with the looking angle θ (or so called off-nadir angle). The angle α between x-axis and the line of sight (LOS) is called cone angle, the angle φ between the x-axis and the projection of the line of sight to the (x; y)-plane is called azimuth angle. Cone- and azimuth angle are related by cosα = cosφ ∙ cosε.
The ASV radar introduced by RAF Coastal Command was designed to track down submarines and ships by displaying the signal from two antennas side by side and allowing the operator to compare their relative strength. Adding a ground-based transponder immediately turned the same display into a system able to guide the aircraft towards a transponder ...
To obtain fine azimuth resolution, a physically large antenna is needed to focus the transmitted and received energy into a sharp beam. The sharpness of the beam defines the azimuth resolution. An airborne radar could collect data while flying this distance and process the data as if it came from a physically long antenna.
In 1954, [2] McGill University obtained a new radar (CPS-9) which had a better resolution and used FASE (Fast Azimuth Slow Elevation) to program multi-angle soundings of the atmosphere. In 1957, Langleben and Gaherty developed a scheme with FASE to keep only the data at a certain height at each angle and scan on 360 degrees.