Coherent Ka-band radar with a semiconductor transmitter for airport surface movement monitoring

The paper outlines the operation principles, technical characteristics and the field tests results of the innovative Ka-band radar for airport surface monitoring. Advantages and disadvantages of operation in the Ka-band with respect to a shorter one, i.e. the W-band, are discussed. It is shown that in the Ka-band the coherent operation regime can be realized. This regime enables one not only to essentially reduce the radiation power to the level provided by the available semiconductor devices, but also to perform moving target detection on a interference created by reflections from surface objects and rain as well as to perform automatic classification of targets according to their radial velocity of movement. Main performance specifications, principle of operation, and design of the innovative antenna developed for the radar are described in details. The results of the field tests confirm the predicted radar operation characteristics. The radars of the proposed type can find use as radar-sensors for systems of airport surface monitoring.