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Air surveillance radar

Belongs to:
Radar system
Synonyms:
ASR, Airport surveillance radar
Description:

Air surveillance radar is used to detect all flight movements in a specific airspace. In most cases, they are secondary radar systems which receive periodically transmitted signals of aircrafts, encoding e.g position and altitude. Frequencies used for transmission and reception lie in the L-band between 1 GHz and 2 GHz. The most prominent application of air surveillance radar is the air traffic control radar (ATC) for the surveillance of scheduled flights.

A special form of the air surveillance radar is the airport surveillance radar (ASR). An ASR is used at airports by air traffic controllers to register all flight movements -both in airspace and on the ground on the runways. As the received echoes result from reflections of the primary signal with an aircraft, an ASR is a primary radar system. The frequencies employed lie in the S-band between 2.7 and 2.9 GHz.

Frequency ranges:
  • 1.25–1.26 GHz (within the L band)
  • 1.34–1.35 GHz (within the L band)
  • 1.35–2.79 GHz (within the L band)
Type of field:
electromagnetic

Measurements (acc. to literature)

airport surveillance radar
Measurand Value Feature Remarks
power density 1 mW/cm² (maximum, measured) civil application at a distance of 8.2 - 15.2 m depending on the device [1]
power density 10 mW/cm² (maximum, measured) civil application at a distance of 2.44 - 5.5 m depending on the device [1]
power density 50 W/m² (maximum, measured) civil application at a distance of 100 m to the antenna [2]
power 600 W (maximum, measured) civil application maximum value at the antenna [3]
air surveillance radar
Measurand Value Feature Remarks
electric field strength 0.003–0.14 V/m (measured) civil application general exposure, secondary radar [4]
electric field strength 0.01–2.41 V/m (measured) civil application occupational exposure, secondary radar [4]
electric field strength 0.51–2.61 V/m (measured) civil application general exposure, primary radar [4]
electric field strength 3.95–15.5 V/m (measured) civil application occupational exposure, primary radar [4]
electric field strength 5.58 V/m (maximum) civil application maximum value at a distance of 10 m, caused by a rotating antenna [5]
electric field strength 26.24 V/m (maximum) civil application maximum value at a distance of 10 m, caused by a fixed antenna [5]
electric field strength 200 V/m (maximum) civil application maximum value at 2.79 GHz [6]
power density 10 W/m² (maximum) civil application at a distance of 553 m [7]
power density 100 W/m² (maximum) civil application at a distance of 100 m from the antenna [2]
power density 173 W/m² (maximum) civil application maximum value in near field [7]
power density 0.01 mW/cm² (maximum) military application maximal mean exposure [8]
power density 8–300 µW/cm² (maximum) military application at frequencies between 200 kHz - 26 GHz [9]
power density 1 mW/cm² (maximum) military application at 435 MHz [9]
power density 1,528 W/m² (maximum) military application maximum value in near field [7]
power density 10 W/m² (maximum) military application at a distance of 102 m [7]
power 2.3 MW (maximum) civil application peak power [7]
power 200 kW (maximum) military application peak value [7]
Measurand Value Feature Remarks
power density 0.5–10 W/m² (maximum) civil application exposure at a distance of 100 m from an air traffic control radar [7]

References

  1. Tell RA et al. (1974): Microwave hazard measurements near various aircraft radars
  2. Jokela K et al. (1999): Occupational RF Exposures
  3. Joyner KH et al. (1986): Exposure survey of civilian airport radar workers in Australia
  4. Joseph W et al. (2012): Occupational and public field exposure from communication, navigation, and radar systems used for air traffic control
  5. Nicholls B et al. (2009): The aversive effect of electromagnetic radiation on foraging bats: a possible means of discouraging bats from approaching wind turbines
  6. Carranza N et al. (2011): Patient safety and electromagnetic protection: a review
  7. Swerdlow AJ et al. (2012): Health Effects from Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields - RCE 20
  8. Hjollund NH et al. (1997): Semen analysis of personnel operating military radar equipment
  9. Yakymenko I et al. (2011): Long-term exposure to microwave radiation provokes cancer growth: evidences from radars and mobile communication systems