Pulse Doppler Radar: Principles, technology, applications (Radar, Sonar and Navigation)
This book is a practitioner's guide to all aspects of pulse Doppler radar. It concentrates on airborne military radar systems since they are the most used, most complex, and most interesting of the pulse Doppler radars; however, surface-based systems are also included.
It covers the fundamental science, signal processing, hardware issues, systems design and case studies of typical systems. It will be a useful resource for engineers of all types (hardware, software and systems), academics, post-graduate students, scientists in radar and radar electronic warfare (EW) sectors and military staff. Case studies add interest and credibility by illustrating how and where the ideas presented within the book work in real life.
Pulse Doppler Radar covers medium PRF waveform design and analysis including: methods of selection of precise PRF values, PRF schedule design, strategies to combat the ghosting problem, minimize range/velocity blindness and minimize dwell time, case studies on generic radar types such as airborne fire control radar, airborne early warning radar, active radar missile seekers and air defense radars.
Why Read This Book
You will get a practical, end-to-end treatment of pulse-Doppler radar that ties theory directly to real airborne and surface system design — from Doppler theory and PRF trade-offs to FFT-based processing, clutter mitigation and ECM considerations. The book balances solid signal-processing foundations with hardware, systems engineering and real case studies so you can apply techniques to operational radar and EW problems.
Who Will Benefit
Radar and DSP engineers, system designers, EW specialists, postgraduate students and military technical staff who need a practical guide to pulse-Doppler systems and their signal-processing challenges.
Level: Advanced — Prerequisites: Undergraduate-level calculus and linear algebra, basic signals & systems and digital signal processing (Fourier transform, FFT, filtering), basic electromagnetics/antenna concepts and introductory probability/statistics for detection theory.
Key Takeaways
- Analyze and design pulse-Doppler processing chains including PRF selection, ambiguity resolution and range-Doppler trade-offs.
- Implement FFT-based spectral analysis, pulse compression and coherent integration techniques for improved range and velocity resolution.
- Design and apply MTI/MTD filtering, adaptive clutter suppression and CFAR detection strategies to detect moving targets in realistic clutter.
- Evaluate and mitigate Doppler ambiguities, blind speeds and medium/high PRF effects in airborne radar scenarios.
- Assess system-level hardware and implementation issues: antennas and beamforming, transmit/receive chain, time/frequency synchronization and practical DSP/FPGA considerations.
- Interpret real-world case studies of airborne and surface radars to translate theory into operational system design and EW countermeasures.
Topics Covered
- 1. Introduction to Pulse-Doppler Radar and Operational Context
- 2. Radar Fundamentals: Range, Doppler and Resolution
- 3. Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF) Choice and Ambiguity Management
- 4. Waveforms, Pulse Compression and Matched Filtering
- 5. Spectral Analysis and FFT-Based Range-Doppler Processing
- 6. MTI, MTD and Clutter Suppression Techniques
- 7. Detection Theory, CFAR and Statistical Signal Processing
- 8. Adaptive Filtering and Interference Mitigation
- 9. Antennas, Beamforming and Scan Strategies for Airborne Systems
- 10. Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) and Electronic Protection (EP)
- 11. Hardware, Real-Time Implementation and DSP/FPGA Considerations
- 12. System Design, Integration and Performance Trade-offs
- 13. Case Studies: Typical Airborne and Surface Pulse-Doppler Systems
- 14. Test, Calibration and Operational Considerations
Languages, Platforms & Tools
How It Compares
Compared with Skolnik's broad encyclopedic coverage, Alabaster focuses tightly on pulse-Doppler practice for airborne systems; versus Richards' 'Fundamentals of Radar Signal Processing', this book places more emphasis on system-level trade-offs and hardware/operational case studies.
