Radar is an object-detection system that uses radio waves to determine the range, angle, or

velocity of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor
vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. A radar system consists of
a transmitter producing electromagnetic waves in the radio or microwaves domain, a
transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna (often the same antenna is used for transmitting and
receiving) and areceiver and processor to determine properties of the object(s). Radio waves
(pulsed or continuous) from the transmitter reflect off the object and return to the receiver, giving
information about the object's location and speed.

Radar was developed secretly for military use by several nations in the period before and
during World War II. The term RADAR was coined in 1940 by the United States Navy as
an acronym for RAdio Detection And Ranging[1][2]or RAdio Direction And Ranging.[3][4] The
term radar has since entered English and other languages as a common noun, losing all
capitalization.

The modern uses of radar are highly diverse, including air and terrestrial traffic control, radar
astronomy, air-defence systems, antimissile systems, marine radars to locate landmarks and
other ships, aircraft anticollision systems, ocean surveillance systems, outer space surveillance
and rendezvous systems, meteorologicalprecipitation monitoring, altimetry and flight control
systems, guided missile target locating systems, ground-penetrating radar for geological
observations, and range-controlled radar for public health surveillance.[5] High tech radar systems
are associated with digital signal processing,machine learning and are capable of extracting
useful information from very high noise levels.

Other systems similar to radar make use of other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. One
example is "lidar", which uses predominantly infrared light from lasers rather than radio waves.

Contents
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1History
o 1.1First experiments
o 1.2Just before World War II
o 1.3During World War II
2Applications
3Principles
o 3.1Radar signal
o 3.2Illumination
o 3.3Reflection
o 3.4Radar equation
o 3.5Doppler effect
o 3.6Polarization
o 3.7Limiting factors
3.7.1Beam path and range
3.7.2Noise
3.7.3Interference
3.7.4Clutter
3.7.5Jamming
 4Radar signal processing
o 4.1Distance measurement
4.1.1Transit time
4.1.2Frequency modulation
o 4.2Speed measurement
o 4.3Pulse-Doppler signal processing
o 4.4Reduction of interference effects
o 4.5Plot and track extraction
5Engineering
o 5.1Antenna design
5.1.1Parabolic reflector
5.1.2Types of scan
5.1.3Slotted waveguide
5.1.4Phased array
o 5.2Frequency bands
o 5.3Radar modulators
o 5.4Radar coolant
6Regulations
7See also
8Notes and references
9Bibliography
o 9.1References
o 9.2General
o 9.3Technical reading
10External links