9/12/2016 DopplerFrequencyShiftEquationsFormulasRFCafe

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DopplerFrequencyShift

Dopplershiftisanapparentchangeinfrequency(and,correspondingly,wavelength)duetotherelativemotionoftwo
objects.Perthelowerrightdrawing,thewavefrontofthemovingobjectiscompressedandshortensthewavelengthin
thatregion(increasesfrequency)andlengthensthewavelength(decreasesfrequency)intheregionbehindit.Asshownin
theupperrightdrawing,eitheroneorbothoftheobjectsmaybemovingwithrespecttotheground.

RadarsystemsexploittheDopplershifttoprovideanindicationofrelativespeed.Whenthetwoobjectsareapproaching
eachother(closing),theDopplershiftcausesashorteningofwavelength(increaseinfrequency).Whenthetwoobjectsare
recedingfromeachother(opening),theDopplershiftcausesalengtheningofwavelength(decreaseinfrequency).
ForaDopplerradarsystemtomeasurespeed,anaccuratemeasurementoftheoriginaltransmittedfrequencyandthe
reflectedreturnfrequencyisrequired.ThedifferenceinthetwofrequenciesisthetermedtheDopplerfrequencyshift,
andisadirectindicationoftheobject'sspeedasindicatedintheequationsbelow.Themeasuredspeedisrelativetoa
straightlinedirectlyfromtheradartothetarget(RHorizontal)notitsspeedrelativetotheground(RSlant).Tocalculate
groundspeed,thetarget'sheightrelativetotheradarantennamustbeknown,andthatcanbeinferredfromthe
elevationangleoftheantenna(knownasboresightangle,).

Notethattheangleshown()isforelevationdifferencesonly.Ifthereisalsoanazimuthalangle,itmustbefactoredinto
theequationascos(),where''istheazimuthanglerelativetotheradarantennaboresightdirection.
RHorizontal=RSlant*cos.
Inthefollowingequations,distancecanbeexpressedinanyconvenientunitsaslongastheyareconsistentforboth'V'
and'c,'thatis,km/hr,mi/hr,cm/week,furlongs/fortnight,etc.Usepositivevelocity(+)whenthetargetismovingaway
fromtheradarandnegative()whenmovingtoward.'c'isthespeedoflight.fTransmittedshouldhaveunitsofHzsince
theDopplershiftisusuallynomorethanafewkHz.
Note:Whenusingtheseformulas,besuretokeepdimensionalunitsconsistenti.e.,donotmixkHzwithMHz,mmwith
inches,etc.Itissafertousebaseunits(e.g.,Hz,m)forcalculation,thenconvertresulttodesiredunits.
Hereisinformationonpropagationtime,radarequation,andpathloss.

RadarDopplerFrequencyShiftEquation

ThisequationappliesgenerallytoanyvalueofVMovingTargethowever,forVMovingTarget <<c,VMovingTarget cc
andtheequationsimplifiestotheonesshownbelow.
Note:Thefactorof2intheequationisduetoaDopplershiftoccurringbothfortheincidentandreflectedwave.When
calculatingDopplershiftfromanemitter,suchaslightfromastarorfromasatellite,replace2with1.

http://www.rfcafe.com/references/electrical/doppler.htm 1/2
9/12/2016 DopplerFrequencyShiftEquationsFormulasRFCafe
Example1:AnairplanemovingatMach1alongtheantennaboresightofa10GHzradarcreatesaDopplershiftof YourRFCafe
22.87kHz. Progenitor&Webmaster
Example2:TheSCR270radarinuseatPearlHarborduringtheJapaneseattackonDecember7,1941,operatedat Kirt
106MHzandanA6MZeroattackaircrafthadadivingspeedofaround400mi/hr.Thatcorrespondstoa Blattenberger
Dopplershiftofamere633Hz. BSEE
KB3UON
FixedRadarwithMovingTarget
EIEIO
CarpeDiem!
(SeizetheDay!)

whereVMovingTargetisrelativetothestationaryradar. 5thMOB:
MyUSAFradarshop
MovingRadarwithMovingTarget AirplanesandRockets:
Mypersonalhobbywebsite
EquineKingdom:
MydaughterSally'shorse
whereVMovingRadarandVMovingTargetarerelativetoafixedpointontheground. ridingwebsite

YoumightalsowanttocheckouttheDopplerShiftsectionoftheElectronicWarfareandRadarSystemsEngineeringHandbook.

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