MTI AND PULSE DOPPLER RADAR

laken as hth then A/,, is a measure of tlie width of doppler frequency spectrum. When the
antenna points in lire direction of (he platform velocity (0 — 0), the doppler shift of the clutter is
maximum, but the width of the doppler spectrum A/j is a minimum. On the other hand, when
the antenna is directed perpendicular to the direction of the platform velocity (0 = 90°), the
clutter doppler center-frequency is zero, but the spread is maximum. This widening of the clutter
spectrum can set a limit on the improvement factor.
Thus the effect of platform velocity can be considered as having two components. One is
in the direction of antenna pointing and shifts the center frequency of the clutter dop pler
spectrum. The other is normal to the direction of antenna pointing and results in a widening of
the clutter doppler spectrum. These two components are compensated by two different
techniques.
An MTI radar on a moving platform is called AMTI. Although the "A" originally stood for
airborne, the term is now often applied to an MTI radar on any moving platform. Most of the
interest in AMTI. however, is for airborne radar. 58

Compensation for clutter doppler shift. When the clutter doppler frequency is other than at dc,
the null of the frequency response of the MTI processor must be shifted accordingly. The effect
on the improvement factor when the center of the clutter doppler frequency is shifted by an
amount /, is shown in Fig. 4.34 for a three-pulse delay-line canceler. 616' There are two basic
methods for providing the doppler frequency compensation. In one implementation the
frequency of the coherent oscillator (coho) is changed to compensate for the shift in the clutter
doppler frequency. This may be accomplished by mixing the output of the coho with a signal
from a tunable oscillator, the frequency of which is made equal to the clutter doppler. The
other implementation is to insert a phase shifter in one branch of the delay-line canceler and
adjust its phase to shift the null of the frequency response. (A phase shift T in one branch of the
canceler corresponds to a frequency shift 2nf4 = ^/T,, where Tp = pulse repetition interval.) The
clulter-doppler-frequency compensation can, in some cases, be made open loop by using the a
priori knowledge of the velocity of the platform carrying the radar and the direction of the
antenna pointing. This is more practical with a shipborne radar rather than with an airborne
radar. When the clutter-doppler-frequency compensation cannot be obtained

Figure 4.34 Effect of a nonzero clutter doppler frequency on the improvement factor of a three-pulse
canceler. /, = mean frequency of the clutter spectrum, at = standard deviation of clutter spectrum, ff
— pulse repetition frequency. (From Andrews.*')
 INTRODUCTION TO RADAR SYSTEMS

filtering on a single spectral line of the pulse spectrum. (A radar which employs multiple pulse
repetition frequencies to avoid blind speeds is usually classed as an MTI if its average prf
would cause blind speeds. The justification for this definition is that the technology and design
philosophy of a multiple prf radar are more like that of an MTI t han a pulse doppler.)
The pulse doppler radar is more likely to use range-gated doppler filter-banks than
delay-line cancelers. Also, a power amplifier such as a klystron is more likely to be used than a
power oscillator like the magnetron. A pulse doppler radar operates at a higher duty cycle
than does an MTI. Although it is difficult to generalize, the MTI radar seems to be the more
widely used of the two, but pulse doppler is usually more capable of reducing clutter
When the prf must be so high that the number of range ambiguities is too large lo be
easily resolved, the performance of the pulse-doppler radar approaches that of the CW doppler
radar. The pulse-doppler radar, like the CW radar, may be limited in ils ability lo measure
range under these conditions. Even so, the pulse-doppler radar has an advantage over the CW
radar in that the detection performance is not limited by transmitter leakage or by signals
reflected from nearby clutter or from the radome. The pulse-doppler radar avoids this
difficulty since ils receiver is turned off during transmission, whereas Ihe CW radar receiver is
always on. On the other hand, Ihe detection capability of Ihe pulse-doppler radar is reduced
because of the blind spots in range resulting from the high prf.
One other method should be mentioned of achieving coherent MTI. If the number of
cycles of the doppler frequency shift contained within the duration of a single pulse is
sufficient, the returned echoes from moving targets may be separated from clutter by suitable RF
or IF filters. This is possible if the doppler frequency shift is at least comparable with or greater
than the spectral width of the transmitted signal. It is not usually applicable to aircrafi targets,
but it can sometimes be applied to radars designed lo detect exlraterreslrial targets such as
satellites or astronomical bodies. In these cases, the transmitted pulse width is relatively wide
and its spectrum is narrow. The high speed of extraterrestrial largets results in doppler shifts
that are usually significantly greater than the spectral width of the transmitted signal.

4.11 MTI FROM A MOVING PLATFORM

When the radar itself is in motion, as when mounted on a ship or an aircraft, Ihe deled ion of a
moving target in the presence of clutter is more difficult tlian if the radar were stationary. The
doppler frequency shift of the clutter is no longer al dc. It varies wjth the speed of the radai
platform, Ihe direction of Ihe antenna in azimuth, and Ihe elevation angle lo Ihe clutter. Thus Ihe
clutter rejection notch needed to cancel clutter cannot be lixed, but must vary. The design of an
MTI is more difficult with an airborne radar than a shipborne radar because the highei speeds
and the greater range of elevation angles result in a grealer variation of the c lu l lu i spectrum.
In addition to shifting the center frequency of the clutter, ils spectrum is also widened. An
approximate measure of the spectrum width can be found by taking the differential of Ihe
doppler frequency fd = 2(v/i.) cos 0, or
Af d = ^ sin 0 A0 (4.36)

where i< = platform speed, X — wavelength, and 0 is the azimuth angle between the aircraft's
velocity and the direction of the antenna beam. (The negative sign introduced by differentia-
tion of cos 0 is ignored and the elevation angle is assumed to be zero.) If the beamwidth is