Appendix A

The Basics of Radar

Introduction
Radars used by the FAA operate under some very basic principles. They transmit a quick
burst of energy into space and go into a listen mode that is long enough in duration for
the pulse of energy to travel to the range extent of the radar and back to the antenna.
When the pulse of energy bumps into an object, such as an aircraft, the energy bounces
off the object and returns to the radar as an energy echo. The range of the aircraft from
the radar is derived from the round-trip-travel time of the pulse at the speed of light from
the radar to the aircraft and back to the radar. Radar antennas focus the energy burst into
a very narrow beam 1-2.5°, so the direction of the energy burst is very specific and
determined by orientation of a rotating antenna. The azimuth of a detected aircraft
relative to the radar is known by the orientation of the antenna at the instant of
transmission. A radar transmits hundreds of pulses per second on regular intervals called
the Pulse Repetition Time period (PRT). Air traffic control radars are categorized into
two classifications: Beacon and Search.

The p objec
rimar ts
y rad pulse illuminate
r d
ar se
nds a back eflect a sm by the e
pulse to the a ne
of en anten ll por tion rgy
ergy na
into s
antenna

antenna
pace

round trip =
The range of an object from the radar is determined by the 12.36 micro seconds
amount of time required for the energy to travel the round trip Range = 1mile
from the antenna to the object and back to the antenna.

Figure A1
Beacon Radar
Beacon radar is a simple communications system between a ground station interrogator at
the radar site and a transponder located in the aircraft. The interrogator sends a short
series of pulses that are coded to request information such as identity or altitude; and then
listens. If an aircraft is in the path of the interrogation pulses, the aircraft transponder
will receive and process the interrogation. Three microseconds after receiving the
interrogation, the transponder transmits the appropriate coded reply pulses. The beam
width of a beacon antenna is about 2.4°. Beacon radar systems are known as dependent
surveillance systems because they only work when aircraft are equipped with
transponders. As a throw-back to military applications, search radar is often referred to
as primary radar, and beacon as secondary radar. Regarding the mission of the FAA, this
is a misnomer because most aircraft in the US are equipped with transponders. Beacon
systems are much more versatile and robust than search systems from an air traffic
control perspective. For example, beacon systems provide unambiguous identification
and altitude of aircraft. For this reason, air traffic control relies more heavily on beacon
systems for directing aircraft.

A1
Search Radar
Search radars are known as independent surveillance systems because they require no
cooperation from the aircraft. A search radar transmits a single high energy, high
frequency pulse of energy and listens. When the pulse collides with objects in its path,
small echoes of the pulse return to the radar antenna. A pulse of energy bounces off the
skin of an aircraft, and the position of that aircraft is painted on the controller’s display;
hence the term: skin-paint radar. A good way to understand search radar is to consider
the pulse of energy as a very bright pulse of light that our eyes ccan not detect. This
pulse of light illuminates objects which reflect a small portion of the light back to the
radar. Some materials absorb the radar energy the same way that the color black absorbs
visible light. Most materials reflect a portion of the energy, and some materials, such as
metal, are more reflective than others, such as concrete. Most objects illuminated by the
radar beam reflect echoes of the energy to the antenna. The radar detects these
reflections and converts them to voltage levels of a much lower frequency. The voltage
levels are sent to the radar signal processor. The processor determines which echoes are
from aircraft. The range of the object from the antenna is given by the round-trip travel
time of the energy at the speed of light. This is measured in microseconds where 12.36us
is equivalent to 1 nautical mile( nmi). Typical range resolution for FAA search radars is
1/16 nmi. Azimuth resolution for FAA search radars is related to the 3dB horizontal
beam width of the antenna: normally about 1.5°. Therefore, the smallest range, azimuth
increment, or bin, normally processed by a search radar is approximately 1/16 nmi X
1.5°.

The signal processor is designed to discriminate between echoes from aircraft and echoes
from other objects such as mountains and buildings. One important property of an
aircraft in flight is that it moves at a high velocity relative to mountains and buildings.

An object moving away from or toward a point has radial motion with respect to the
point. A moving object that maintains constant range from a point, such as an object in
orbit, has tangential motion. A radar echo from a stationary object or an object with
tangential motion is nearly identical to the original transmitted pulse at a fraction of the
original power. An echo from an object with radial motion is shifted slightly in
frequency according to a principal known as the Doppler Effect. The radar processor
exploits this Doppler shift to discriminate moving targets from stationary targets. A
possible search target is declared when an echo from an object with radial motion
exceeds a voltage level called the detection threshold. This phenomenon is known as a
“hit” in radar terminology. A radar processor declares hit to be a moving target (aircraft)
when successive transmit pulses result in multiple hits from the same range within a
single beam width, or beam dwell. Other sources also return Doppler shifted echoes to
the radar: swaying trees or grass, waves on water, trains and road traffic, even clouds.
Echoes from such sources that display on ATC consoles are collectively called primary
moving clutter. Moving clutter as well as noise and interference emitted from other
sources can all be sent to the processor masked as possible moving targets. The
processor must determine a detection threshold above the level of the noise and clutter,
but below the level of real aircraft echoes. If the detection threshold is too high, small
aircraft might not be detected. If the threshold is too low, false detections of noise (false

A2
alarms) might overwhelm the processor and the ATC displays. The detection threshold is
set dynamically according to the level of ambient noise and clutter through a process
known as Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) . When false detections occur, they
display on the ATC consoles as clutter. Clutter can distract controllers and obscure
aircraft detections. Beyond radial motion detection and CFAR thresholding, older analog
radars have only limited means to edit the content of their output. As a result, they are
often susceptible to excessive clutter. Newer digital radars, such as the ASR-9, employ
numerous techniques in post processing to remove clutter.

Detection Threshold

aircraft
false alarm
false alarm

threshold

Receiver Off
Receiver Off

System Noise System Noise

Figure A2

This image is a representation of what analog Moving Target Video might look
like on an oscilloscope. In this representation, only the largest maximum
represents a return from an aircraft. The detection threshold is arbitrarily
placed. In this representation, the 2 maximums labeled false alarms would
display on an ATC console as clutter.

Analog Vs Digital Radar Processor

The ASR-8 is considered an analog radar because its output is analog video pulses. The
signal processor of the ASR-8 compares each echo with a reference frequency to
determine phase or Doppler shift. The output of this stage of the processor is echoes with
radial velocity. These echoes are digitally sampled at 1/16th nmi increments. Each 1/16th
nmi is called a range cell and the sampled voltage level from an echo is called residue.
The processor uses a digital Moving Target Integrator (MTI) filter to combine residue
over multiple PRTs (2-4 listening periods). True targets with sufficient phase shift that
occur at the same range add over multiple PRTs while random, spurious echoes do not.
The processor of the ASR-8 also implements a digital mean filter CFAR to calculate a
detection threshold for each range, azimuth bin. The amplitude of the integrated moving
target residue in each range, azimuth bin is compared with the detection threshold
calculated for the same bin. At the conclusion of MTI and CFAR, the target data is
converted to quantized video pulses and output to the ARTS automation system. Beyond
MTI and CFAR, the ASR-8 has no further means to differentiate between moving targets
and moving clutter. The automation system doesn’t filter or track analog search video.
Any video pulses output from the ASR-8 are displayed on the ATC console.

A3
 Moving Target Integration

BEFORE INTEGRATION AFTER INTEGRATION

Azimuth
Azimuth

Current PRT-2 +
Current PRT-1 +
Current PRT + Threshold Current PRT Threshold

Range Range
1/16 nm range cells 1/16 nm range cells

Figure A3
Digital Radar

The ASR-9 is considered a digital radar because the final output from the ASR-9 is a
digital target message: a series of 8 bit words to describe a target’s positions. The ASR-9
implements Moving Target Detection (MTD) to cancel stationary targets and classify
moving targets by velocity. This allows MTD radars to identify aircraft in weather and
over other sources of slow moving clutter. MTD radars have much faster processors and
much greater memory capacity than older analog systems. This allows much more
information to be stored and accessed during processing. The echoes are compared to a
reference and sampled for amplitude and phase. This information is stored in digital
memory addressed by range, azimuth. From that point on, all the processing is
accomplished with numerical analysis that includes frequency content (velocity),
amplitude, target detection and detection thresholds. The detection threshold is
dynamically calculated for each range, azimuth bin in a process that includes ambient
noise and clutter as well as clutter or noise that is known to occur historically in a
particular bin. The on-board CPUs store and process 1 beam dwell of information at a
time (1 beam dwell or beam width ≈ 1.4° in azimuth). For each target, this could be 10 –
15 sequential hits. The MTD processor integrates residue with like velocity at the same
range across a beam dwell. The processor then determines if the integrated residue in a
particular range, azimuth bin meets the detection threshold for that bin. All the complete
targets from a single scan (1 antenna rotation) are then stored in what could be called
scan memory. This scan memory is addressed by range, azimuth and scan number and
contains amplitude and approximate velocity among other attributes. Multiple scans are
stored at a time. This scan memory is accessed by the post processor.

Post Processor
Traditionally, the post processor is a group of micro-processors that are incorporated into
the digital radar system. The post processor works with detected targets as opposed to
hits. In essence, targets with radial motion that integrated across the beam dwell to
exceed amplitude thresholds. In modern systems, the post processor interfaces with the
signal processor to the point that it is difficult to distinguish between the two. Three
features of post processing will be mentioned here.

A4
Tracker
The tracker retains a history of each target. At a basic level, each target is classified
according to 2 categories: primitive, and track (in some tracker literature, primitives are
called plots). When a target is initially detected by the radar, the tracker makes an entry
on the primitive list for the position of that target and predicts a region in space where
that primitive might appear on the next scan. That region excludes the same range and
azimuth as the previous or current scan since trackers generally employ minimum
movement criteria for aircraft. When a target occurs within the predicted zone on the
next scan, the tracker updates the primitive’s position on the primitive list. If a primitive
is updated m out of n scans (for example, a new target appears in its predicted zone 3 out
of 4 scans), the tracker moves that target from the primitive list to the track list. If a
target from the track list is doesn’t appear in its predicted zone on a particular scan, the
tracker places that track into the coast list and predicts a new position for the next scan. If
a track remains on the coast list for a predetermined number of scans (3, for example),
that track will be dropped from the trackers inventory. Ideally, this happens when an
aircraft lands or flies out of range. For the most part, controllers only need to look at
tracks. Ideally, the processor will not upgrade random occurrences, such as clutter, noise
and interference to track status. In ASR-9 terminology, mature tracks are assigned the
title “correlated targets” implying that these targets correlated to a track in the track list.
Controllers select, by push button, to view either Correlated or Uncorrelated Search
targets. In Uncorrelated mode, all search targets are displayed; this includes primitives
and mature tracks. In Correlated mode, only mature tracks are displayed. In both cases,
this doesn’t include search targets that correspond to beacon replies. Beacon / search
merging occurs prior to the tracker in the processor path(Merging of Search and Beacon
is covered below).

Geocensor Maps
Static geocensoring is a means of dealing with frequently occurring clutter that is
problematic. A geocensor map is a means of manually lowering the radar’s sensitivity in
the area where excessive clutter is generated. As an example, a roadway 10 nmi North of
a radar might generate excessive targets during commuting hours. A geocensor map is
partitioned into Range, azimuth bins – for example 1/16 nmi X 1.5°. During an
evaluation by an expert, a detection threshold override value is entered for each bin
where excessive clutter is observed. The override value is chosen according to the
magnitude of the clutter. During operation, the processor selects the larger of the
calculated detection threshold and the override value. A sufficiently high override can
ameliorate most clutter, however, at a cost. Artificially raising the threshold in over a
roadway subsequently lowers the sensitivity of the radar over the roadway, which in-turn
lowers probability of detection of aircraft over the roadway. In order for the radar to
detect an aircraft over the roadway, the echo of the aircraft must exceed the raised
detection threshold. This is to say that the echo from the aircraft must have greater
amplitude than the echoes from the rush-hour traffic. In such an instance, the expert must
decide which is more important for air traffic control in a particular area. Another
drawback to this method is that static geocensor maps are permanent and applied 100%
of the time even though the source of clutter may be transient – such as when there is not
a car on the road.

A5
While a static geocensor map remains constant, and the environment can change from
minute to minute. A roadway might have episodes of high traffic interspersed with long
periods when there is no traffic. There are also seasonal occurrences, such as bird
migration, high winds, rain and snow. The most recent upgrade to clutter processing in
the ASR-9 was introduced with the ASR-9 Processor Augmentation Card Phase II
(9PAC-II ). Included, as part of the 9PAC-II, is an adaptive geocensor map. The
adaptive geocensor map reacts dynamically to changes in the environment and adjusts
detection thresholds accordingly. The adaptive geocensor function generates a range &
azimuth map of accumulated clutter power over time to identify stationary or slow
moving emitters of clutter. The resolution of the geocensor map is 1/16 nmi X 0.7°, ½
the width of the antenna beam. This fine resolution requires hours of accumulation to
achieve. In order to improve reaction time to changes in the environment, the geocensor
map has four layers: one very-fine resolution layer, and three layers of sequentially
decreasing resolution. The coarsest map matures in about one minute. The geocencor
function incorporates all four layers into the final map with weighted averaging. In the
low resolution maps, the range azimuth bins can be one to three miles wide. Very strong
emitters of clutter, such as a freeway bridge or overpass, can raise the average clutter
power for a fairly large area. When the four map layers are merged, the received average
clutter powers blend in to areas surrounding the main source. The end result is that the
sensitivity of the radar is heavily reduced above the roadway, and gradually reduced
around the roadway with a gradient from greatly reduced sensitivity over the clutter
source to normal sensitivity some distance away from the source. One of the best affects
of the dynamic geocensor map is that sensitivity is normalized when clutter is absent.
For example, when there is no traffic on a road, or there is no wind over a wind farm, the
sensitivity of the radar will gradually increase to normal levels over those areas.

Merging Beacon and Search

For ACK, both the ASR-9 and the Mode S are capable of merging the search targets to
the beacon replies. When the Mode S is in Interim Beacon Interrogator (IBI), the ASR-9
digitizes and decodes the reply video pulses from the Mode S interrogator. Using a best
curve fit function; the ASR-9 examines each beacon target to determine if there is a
corresponding search target at the same range and azimuth. Merging takes place before
the tracker and before the geo-map. There is no further processing for merged search
targets. In normal operation or Mode S mode, the Mode S receives the ASR-9 search
messages, and determines for each beacon target if there is a corresponding search target.
The expression used to describe a merged target is to say that the beacon was reinforced
by the search. For a merged target, the search message is dropped, and a beacon target
message with the reinforced bit set is sent to the automation system.
In the case of the ASR-8 and the BI-5 at FMH, there is no merging. Any search video
output from the ASR-8 is sent to the automation system and displayed on the ATC
console

A6
Common Automated Radar Terminal System-2E (ARTS-IIE)
The ARTS-IIE performs some processing functions and distributes radar and beacon
video to the air traffic control consoles. The ARTS-IIE can be configured to accept raw
search and beacon video or digital target messages. There are two ARTS-IIEs at the
FMH TRACON: One for the FMH ASR-8, B-5 video and a second for the ACK ASR-9,
Mode S data. The ARTS that receives FMH Radar video feeds 3 air traffic control
consoles that are dedicated to approach control into Hyannis and Otis AFB. The other
ARTS feeds 2 displays that are dedicated to approach control into Nantucket. All the
displays are Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) analog video display systems. The two ARTS
systems at the FMH TRACON function independently and have different capabilities
related to their different input configurations.

ARTS with Analog Video Input

This system receives beacon video reply pulses and ASR target video. The ARTS
processor contains a beacon video DEFRUITER and decoder. The output from the
decoder is digital reply messages. This system has a beacon tracker that correlates the
beacon identification codes to flight plans and flight numbers. This information is can be
displayed along with ID codes, altitude, ground speed and raw reply pulses. ASR-8
target video is displayed at the appropriate range and azimuth. There is no processing of
ASR-8 target video. If an aircraft is seen by both the beacon and the ASR, a search paint
will appear adjacent to the beacon symbol. The ARTS will display aircraft without
transponders at their appropriate range and azimuth as search paints. Any false alarms
will also display as clutter.

ARTS with Digital Input

Currently, this system is capable of receiving inputs from up to 2 different beacon
systems and 1 search radar, giving the controller the ability to switch between two
different beacon radar feeds almost instantaneously. This system has a search tracker and
will display a data block for search only targets when a controller selects that search track
with a track-ball curser on the display. For aircraft that are picked up by both the beacon
and the search radars, only the beacon symbol is displayed. Merging is accomplished at
the radar site by the Mode S or the ASR processor.

A7
 WinPlot
WinPlot is a software application created by Steve Smith, FAA Central Region Radar
Engineer, for the FAA for the purpose analyzing radar coverage. WinPlot reads the radar
data and simultaneously displays the targets on a range azimuth plot (X,Y plot) to give
the effect of watching targets on an ATC console. The user can select to view,
independently or all at once, X,Y plot, Elevation plot, a Message viewer or Statistics.
WinPlot has many tools to help examine radar coverage.

Figure A4
Figure A4 shows the Winplot Graphical User Interface.

Table A1

Format of WinPlot message viewer

Scan Message Range Degrees Code Altitude RL Port Time Delta

number of Greenwich
replies Mean (the Time (sec) since
message type received GPS clock previous reply from
scan range Azimuth Mode pressure
(beacon,search,equipment (X2 due to NA was 15 sec this aircraft (1
number (nmi) (deg) 3 ID alditude
status) an error faster than rotation of the
with the the BEXR antenna = 4.7 sec)
BEXR) clock)

A8
 Appendix B

Wind Turbine Impacts to Radar

Wind Turbines An aspect

Wind Turbines present a special set of problems for search radars. angle from the
side of the
The blades of wind turbines can be 140’ long by 9’wide. This wind turbine
presents a large radar cross-section that is larger than many aircraft. provides the
greatest
The tips of the blades can travel at speeds in excess of 150 knots. component of
The worst case aspect angle from the radar to the wind turbine is in radial motion
of the blades
profile, such that the motion of the blade tips with respect to the
radar is purely radial. The Doppler shifted echoes from rotating
wind turbine blades share many characteristics with those of
aircraft. As a result, a radar processor can not discern between a Figure B1
wind turbine blade and an aircraft. This produces false alarms at
the range and azimuth of the wind turbine. Echoes from the blades
combine with echoes from aircraft flying over the same range and
azimuth. The echoes from the aircraft are masked by the wind
turbine blade echoes. Wind turbines are tall structures that can
obstruct a radar’s view of the coverage volume. This is known as shadowing. If erected
close enough to a radar, tall metal towers, such as wind turbines, can distort or even
reflect the beam pattern of the radar antenna to other directions. These phenomena can
result in false targets and speed jumps. A speed jump occurs when an aircraft appears to
travel much farther during one particular scan compared to all the other scans. One
possible cause for speed jumps is a slight bending or deforming of the beam pattern by a
metal tower placed too close to the radar antenna.

Figure B2

Photo of single 2-section wind turbine blade on a flat-bed trailer [3]

B1
Clutter, Obscuration, and Misses
Though the blades are generally made of fiber glass or carbon fiber composite, which is
less reflective than metal, it has been observed that the echoes from wind turbine blades
are sufficiently large to meet moving target detection criterion of air search radars at
ranges greater than 70 nmi. Moving targets in the radar processor generated by wind
turbine blades pose two problems: 1. Clutter: wind turbine blades generate clutter on the
display that is a distraction for air traffic controllers because it is difficult for a controller
to distinguish between a dot of clutter and a dot that represents an aircraft without a
transponder. 2. Obscuration: A search radar processor also ccan not discriminate
between an echo from a wind turbine blade and one from an aircraft. Terminal radars
used by the FAA such as the ASR-8/9 are 2-dimensional radars that classify targets by
range, azimuth (bearing). Such radars do not discriminate by altitude. The processor of
an ASR-8/9 would classify two aircraft at the same range, azimuth, but different altitudes,
as a single target. The same is true of an aircraft flying over a rotating wind turbine
blade. Since the echo from a rotating wind turbine blade matches many characteristics of
an echo from an aircraft, a radar processor would classify an aircraft and a rotating wind
turbine blade at the same range & azimuth as a single target. In this way, wind turbine
blades can obscure aircraft flying over them.

Track Seduction
The problem of having to discriminate between an aircraft and a wind turbine blade near
the same range & azimuth is repeated for the tracker in post processing or the automation
system. The tracker records the current position of a tracked target, and predicts where
that target will appear during the next antenna scan. If multiple targets appear in an area
where the tracker is expecting a tracked target, the tracker must select one target to
update the track. It is possible for the tracker to select clutter in place of an aircraft.
Selecting the wrong target can shift the prediction box away from the aircraft’s trajectory
during the next scan. If the new prediction box includes the position of another wind
turbine, the tracker can update the track with wind turbine clutter for a second time. This
scenario is most likely to occur when an aircraft is obscured by wind turbine clutter or
missed due to raised detection thresholds in the vicinity of a wind farm. If there are many
wind turbines close together, it is possible for a tracker to track wind turbine clutter all
the way across the wind farm while losing track of a real aircraft in the process. This
phenomenon is called track seduction.

Raised Detection Thresholds

Excessive false alarms from wind turbine blades can be reduced by raising the detection
threshold in the range, azimuth bin of a wind turbine. The trade-off is that decreasing the
sensitivity near a wind turbine reduces the probability of detecting an aircraft at the same
range & azimuth. Both static and dynamic geocensor maps can also reduce processor
sensitivity in the proximity of and between wind turbines. Static geocensor maps
generally have low resolution. Therefore, the cost of ameliorating one clutter source is to
desensitize the radar over a region that is wider than the space occupied by the wind
turbine. Because the ASR-9 dynamic geocensor map includes low resolution layers, the
same principal serves to lower the sensitivity of the radar, to a lesser degree, over a wind

B2
farm. A wind turbine is a very strong point emitter of clutter. In the low resolution
layers, a wind turbine may substantially raise the average clutter power over time for a
large area. In a wind farm, there may be many point emitters spread across one or more
low-resolution cells. This would result in the low resolution maps showing high levels of
clutter throughout the farm rather than at the position of each wind turbine. When the
four layers are merged by weighted averaging into a single map, the low resolution maps
contribute high clutter counts between the wind turbines and in the vicinity of the wind
farm. Areas with high clutter counts are assigned higher detection thresholds. The result
is a maximum sensitivity reduction occurring over each wind turbine with sensitivity
blending of reduction between the wind turbines.

1
a detection threshold value is assigned to each 2
5 range, azimuth bin according to the average 5 2
amount of clutter received from that bin over time 2
3
1
High resolution bin Figure B3
over low resolution bin Merged map

Figure B4 (next page) shows playback of a 1-hour data recording from the ASR-9 at
Palm Springs, CA. Figure B4 shows aircraft flying over a wind farm on approach to
Palm Springs Intl. The red dots indicate ASR-9 search misses. The light blue dots
represent uncorrelated primitives which are not displayed on the air traffic control
console unless the controller selects uncorrelated search at the control consol. A close
examination of the data reveals that many of the search misses do not occur directly over
a wind turbine. This implies that most of the search misses in this recording are the result
of raised thresholds across the wind farm as well as directly over each wind turbine. It is
interesting to note that there is very little wind turbine clutter displayed on the
controllers’ screens, and still there are many search misses over the wind farm.

B3
 Traffic Over Palm Springs Wind Farm

B4
Figure B4
Figure B4 shows tracks of aircraft flying over wind turbines on approach to Palm Springs International Airport. A red dot
indicates a search miss. The light blue dots represent uncorrelated plots that do not show up in the final display. Most
uncorrelated plots within the wind farm are due to rotating wind turbine blades. A close look at the data reveals that most
of the search misses are due to raised thresholds within the wind farm.
Shadowing
Since wind turbine towers are tall and up to 16’ wide, they can obstruct a radars view of
the coverage volume. This loss of coverage occurs behind the wind turbine in the
shadow of the illuminating radar beam. In theory, wind turbines do not completely
screen a radar’s view because the energy from the radar is diffracted, or bends, around
the wind turbine tower. Due to diffraction, the shadow behind the wind turbine is
partially illuminated. This partial illumination behind the tower results in a region of
signal reduction, also called attenuation, due to fading Signal reduction in the shadow
varies inversely with the squares of the distances from the radar to the wind turbine and
the wind turbine to the aircraft. Signal reduction varies directly with the diameter of the
tower. The wind turbine creates a shadow at both the search and beacon frequencies;
however, the search signal is attenuated much more than the beacon. The beacon
interrogations and replies are separate transmissions and each makes one pass through the
shadow. The energy from a single search transmission makes a full round trip between
the radar and the aircraft; thus passing through the shadow twice (Figure B5).
Mathematically, the signal attenuation at any point in the shadow of the wind turbine is
squared for the round-trip case.

One-way Travel of Beacon Round-Trip Travel of Search

Beacon Search
Interrogate
Transmit Pulse shadow
shadow

Reply
shadow
Echo
shadow

Figure B5

The beacon interrogations and replies each
have a direct path from a transmitter to
receiver. Therefore, each transmission
passes through the shadow once during
each interrogate reply sequence.
The energy from the search transmit pulse
must make a full round-trip from the antenna
to the target and back to the antenna. For an
aircraft in the shadow of a wind turbine, that
energy must pass through the shadow twice.

B5
 The formula for calculating the relative illumination in the shadow of
the wind turbine is based on the ratio of the scattered electric field
that versus the direct electric field. The direct electric field
represents total amount of energy that would arrive at a particular
point if there were no obstruction. The scattered energy represents
the portion of the total energy that is scattered by the tower.

R r2p D 2
illu min ation _ in _ the _ shadow = 1 −
Rr 2 w Rw 2 p λ

Where
 E scat 
Relative Illumination in the shadow is the ratio of Escattered:Edirect=   =
 E dir 
the strength of the electric field behind the wind turbine relative to the unobstructed field at the same range.

Rr2p = range from radar to plane

Rr2w = range from radar to wind turbine
Rw2p = range from wind turbine to plane
D= diameter of wind turbine tower

B6
 Attenuation Behind a Wind Turbine

Signal Loss with Wind Turbine 1nm From Radar Signal Loss with Aircraft 1nm From WT
0 0

-10 -10

-20 -20
Attenuation (dB)

Attenuation (dB)
-30 -30

-40 -40

-50 -50

-60 -60
Figure B6b
-70 -70
Figure B6a 0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
Distance from Wind Turbine to Aircraft(nm) Distance from Radar to Wind Turbine (nm)

Figure B6a,b show how the strength of a signal making a round-trip through the shadow
of a wind turbine changes with range. Figure B6a simulates an aircraft flying a radial
behind a 5 meter diameter tower positioned 1nmi from a search radar. Figure B6b
simulates an aircraft 1nm behind a 5 meter diameter tower as the position of the tower
varies in range. Note that the plots are identical

The theory that governs illumination in the shadow of a wind turbine is based on
communications principals where the radar transmitter and the aircraft transponder form
a communications link, and the wind turbine is an obstruction between them. The
equations are derived in Reference [1a]. According to the theory, most of the in-phase
energy that reaches the aircraft from the radar travels within an ellipsoid shell known as
the first Fresnel zone. If the obstruction between them blocks an entire vertical column
of this Fresnel zone, that component of the signal is scattered. Part of the signal is
scattered away and lost, and part of the signal is scattered to the receiver, but arrives out
of phase with the direct path signal. Both features of scattering serve to weaken the
signal at the receiver. The result is a partial shadow that gets brighter with range due to
diffraction. If more than one-half of the first Fresnel zone is obstructed, then the shadow
behind the wind turbine is very dark, which constitutes screening? The positions of the
antenna and the aircraft are actually the foci of the ellipsoid.

B7
 Most of the energy that reaches the aircraft from the antenna
travels within an ellipsoid shell. The radius of the ellipsoid center increases
with the range of the aircraft.

If an obstruciton blocks a portion of the first Fresnel zone,

there is partial shadowing behind the wind turbine. The
shadow is partially illuminated due to diffraction.

Figure B7
The illumination in the shadow behind the wind turbine beyond 10 miles approaches a
constant value that depends on the distance between the radar and the wind turbine. For
example, in the case of a 5 meter diameter tower at a range of 1 nmi, the signal loss for a
search radar beyond 11 nmi is about 8dB. A Lear jet seen from the nose, flying along a
radial towards the radar, has an approximate radar cross section of 1m2. For detection of
such a target, 8dB of additional attenuation can be significant, especially near the
maximum range of the radar. If a strong STC is employed, 8dB could have an impact
throughout the coverage volume for marginal targets. STC is a systematic reduction in
sensitivity for close range targets. STC begins with some initial value of signal
attenuation. The sensitivity is then successively increased by 6 dB for every range octave
(doubling of range). For example, if 45dB of attenuation is applied at range= 1 nmi.
Between range=1 nmi and range=2 nmi, attenuation is reduced to 39dB, therefore,
sensitivity is increased by approximately 6dB. If the initial STC value is high, then it is
possible for small targets to be near the minimum discernible signal (MDS) level of the
radar receiver. In this situation, the shadow from a wind turbine could push smaller
targets below the MDS – which means they could go undetected. Also, 8dB of
attenuation from a wind turbine could theoretically reduce the maximum detection range
for marginal targets. In this example, maximum range for a 1m2 target in the nose of the
beam is reduced by 20 nmi.

B8
 Power in Search Receiver
Power in Sarch Receiver; Frequency: 2.9GHz; STC initial value: 45dB; Range to wind turbine: 1nm; Diameter: 5 meter
-70
Rx Sig STC No Shadow
Rx Sig STC In Shadow
MDS
-80

-90
Signal Level at Receiver (dBm)

-100

-110

-120

-130

-140
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Range from Radar to Target(nm)
Figure B8

Figure B8 shows the approximate power in the receiver after STC of an echo from a 1m2
search target as range to the target varies from 1nm to 65nm. The blue curve represents
the power from an echo with no wind turbine. The green curve represents the power in
the receiver from the same target in the shadow of a 5 meter diameter tower. The
horizontal line at -108 dBm represents the smallest echo that the radar can distinguish
from noise, called the minimum Discernible Signal or MDS. This plot doesn’t represent
an accurate model of the ASR-9 receiver. This plot was generated using the radar
equation with some easily known ASR-9 parameters. The aggressive STC begins at 1nm
and decays at 20dB/decade (approximately 6dB / octave) and doesn’t fully recover before
end of range. For Figure B8, it is assumed that the aircraft is in the nose of the vertical
beam where the antenna gain is maximal. The parameters chosen to create this plot place
the blue curve at MDS just beyond the 60nm maximum range. This implies that the radar
can see a 1m2 target just beyond 60nm with no atmospheric attenuation. The shadowing
function employed is simple, well-known and discussed in many papers on wind turbine
impacts to radar. The purpose of this plot is to demonstrate that the simple equation
generally used to model the illumination behind a wind turbine tower predicts that there
is attenuation behind the wind turbine that extends for the full range of the radar. This
could effectively reduce the maximum detection range for marginal targets, especially
during inclement weather.

B9
Shadow Width
For determination of shadow width, this report relies on the method recommended for
Eurocontrol [2a]. This method assumes that the greatest contribution to the shadow effect
comes from the bistatic forward scatter of the wind turbine tower. The bistatic radar
cross section of an object is the measured or calculated amount of energy scattered in
other directions when illuminated from a particular direction. The bistatic radar cross
section of a wind turbine with the illuminator directly in front of the wind turbine, shown
in Figure 10, predicts that the greatest amount of reflected energy is a highly focused
lobe directly behind the tower. This energy, called forward scatter, is scattered in the
direction of incident propagation. The path of the forward scatter energy around the wind
turbine tower is slightly farther than direct incident path. The worst case assumption for
shadowing is that the peak of the forward scatter lobe has a path-length difference of λ/2
with respect to the direct path signal. This means that there is nearly complete
cancellation of the two signals when they combine on the back side of the wind turbine.
This cancelation produces the effect of fading (signal reduction, attenuation). Another
worst case assumption is that the effective width of the shadow ends where path-length
difference is at the mid-point between destructive interference, λ/2, and constructive
interference, λ. This value occurs at +-λ/4.

Bistatic RCS dBsm windturbine from the front

illuminated: 0 az, 0 el
observed: 0-359 azimuth, 0 elevation

illuminator

windturbine

Figure B9

Figure B9 shows the computed bistatic radar cross section of a wind turbine illuminated from the front
using computational electromagnetism (Comp EM) software. Note that the largest lobe or magnitude of
scattered energy due to the tower is directly behind the wind turbine relative to the illuminator. This
lobe is the forward scatter region.

B10
 Therefore, the suggested effective width of the shadow behind a wind turbine lies
between the lines where the path-length difference between the direct signal and the
scattered signal is 3λ/4. This effective width, which varies with range and frequency,
relies on an assumption that the darkest part of the shadow is directly behind the wind
turbine. According to this model, the darkness of the shadow across the effective width
varies as (sin(x))/(x) with the darkest point in the center. For simplicity and
consideration of worst case, no effort has been made to quantify the variance of
illumination across the effective width of the shadow for this report. Instead, the
assumption has been made that the shadow is uniform across the effective width.

Where two shadows overlap, their combined destructive interference will be the vector
sum of the phases and amplitude of the two interfering signals with the direct signal.
Since the shadow is assumed uniform across the width of the effective angle, it is implied
that the resultant attenuation from overlapping shadows in decibels (dB) will add directly.
According to the model used for this report, a wind turbine shadow would be darkest only
at center. From the center toward the edges, attenuation would decrease rapidly
according to a sync function. This means that the shadow gets brighter toward the edges.

Sinc Function
The peek of a sinc function from -pi to pi
1

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
Figure B10

Figure B10a is a sinc function. Figure B10b is an example of a gradient from light to dark to
light at the rate of a sinc function from –π to π. In this example, very light blue would represent
no shadow

B11
Computational EM models predict that the darkest portions of the shadow behind the
wind turbine are two narrow lobes along the angular extremities of the effective shadow.
The analysis for this report will make use of the simpler approach that relies on the ratio
of the direct field and the scattered field and the path-lengths of their respective wave-
fronts.

Shadow Tower Illumination Beam

Figure B11 Figure B11 shows the approximate shape that

Computational Electromagnetism models give for the
shadow behind a cylinder

B12
 Effective Angle of Shadow Width with respect to range behind a wind turbine at 2.9 GHz
2

Effective Angle of Shadow Width (deg)

1.5

0.5

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Figure B12 distance from wind turbine (nm)

Figure B12 shows the width in degrees of the effective angle of the shadow as a
function of distance behind the wind turbine where effective shadow width is
defined by the path-length difference of the incident and scattered wave fronts.

The equations used to model shadowing for this report do not incorporate
electromagnetic anomalies associated with Radio Frequency (RF) propagation. The
model relies on many worst case predictions. Empirical evidence of shadowing has been
difficult to observe. There are not many instances in the US where wind turbines directly
obstruct the coverage volume of a radar. Reduction in maximum range of a radar due to
wind turbines has not been observed. When drawing conclusions regarding the impacts
to radar coverage due to wind turbines, mathematical modeling can not replace empirical
evidence. Currently, there is very little empirical evidence regarding the propagation of
RF through a wind farm.

B13
References
1. NTIA Technical Report TR-08-XXX, “Assessment of the Effects of Wind Turbines on
Air Traffic Control Radars”; John J. Lemmon, John E. Carroll, Frank H. Sanders.
a. Section 3.4 p11

2. Eurocontrol Document, “Assessment Methodology to Determine the Impact of Wind

Turbines on ATC Surveillance Systems”, 5/18/2007
a. Section C.5 p73

1. Photo of wind turbine on truck, taken by Brad Moon and posted August 25, 2008
“Windmills: Coming to a Shoreline Near You” on Wired Blog Network.

4. Report for NPR, “Nantucket Air Traffic”, by Kate Splaine, December, 2008

xx