S2E5: Everything about Radars
Introduction
Have you ever wondered about the following?
How is an aircraft that you take to go back home monitored and tracked?
How was the speed of your car measured by the cop who caught you the last time?
How are we warned of hazards associated with severe local storms, including hail, tornadoes, and high winds?
How do we track satellites and asteroids that are flying toward the Earth to collide?
What technology do adaptive cruise control, and automatic parking assistance use?
What’s the spinning thing on the top of ships as seen in this Gif? And what is it used for?
Make way for Radar
Well, all the above are achieved by Radar.
RADAR (RAdio Detecting And Ranging) is a radiolocation system used to determine other objects' distance, angle, and velocity relative to the source. A radar system in an automobile produces electromagnetic waves with frequencies that have wavelengths between 1mm and 10mm (AKA Millimeter Wave Band).
They send out electromagnetic waves similar to wireless computer networks and mobile phones. Here is how it works!
Transmitting Radio Waves: A radar system generates radio waves with a transmitter, which sends them out into the environment.
Reflection: When these radio waves encounter an object in their path, some of the waves are reflected toward the radar system.
Receiving Reflected Waves: The reflected waves are detected by a receiver in the radar system.
Calculating Distance: The radar system calculates the distance to the object by measuring the time it takes for the radio waves to travel to the object and back. This is done by measuring the time delay between the transmission of the radio waves and the reception of the reflected waves.
Calculating Speed: The radar system can also calculate the speed of an object by measuring the Doppler shift in the frequency of the reflected waves. The Doppler shift is caused by the movement of the object towards or away from the radar system.
Conclusion
So what’s the spinning device on the ship as seen in the Gif?
It’s a marine radar - with each rotation, the beam scans the surrounding surface. Any ships or obstructions reflect waves back to the antenna, displaying on the radar screen.
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