SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTATION WATERWAYS EXPERIMENT STATION TERRAIN ANALYSIS RADAR

Texas Instruments, under Contract DA-22-079 eng-295 to the Waterways Experiment Station (WES) at Vicksburg, Mississippi, is assisting in the study of terrain analysis by radar in a laboratory environment. The design of the radar laboratory was established in Phase I, System Analysis, of the project. This Phase II report includes a description of Phase I design and fabrication and installation of designated components of the WESTAR facility. These components are from three sources: (1) government furnished equipment, e.g., various sub-units of the operational radar set AN/TPS-33; (2) Texas Instruments fabrication and model shops, e.g., the control console; and (3) commercial vendors, e.g., radar antennas. The laboratory radar system consists of eight major components. They are: Ka-band receiver-transmitter; X-band receiver- transmitter; C-band receiver-transmitter; P-band receiver- transmitter; Interconnection and control console; Separate antenna systems for each of four bands; Carriage electronics cooling unit. Other than system control and read-out elements, the system operates in an open-end archway 44 feet long and 100 feet wide at the base with an arch radius of 50 feet (see frontispiece). A carriage, mounting the receiver-transmitters, a control junction box, and radar antennas, is track mounted to the arch and is capable of traversinga segment of the arch from the zenith to nearly ground level. This permits the radar system to rotate around a fixed terrain sample and to collect reradiation data from the samples at aspect angles between 30 and 90 degrees. These reradiation data are collected as signal amplitude vs. aspect angle curves. Terrain specimens are prepared in wooden containers, track mounted on the floor of the WESTAR facility. These containers are constructed of wood to reduce spurious reradiations. Preliminary laboratory testing, calibration, and data collection indicate system losses are negligible, the radar system is functioning as designed and is expected to collect determinative terrain information at all radar frequencies provided.

• Corporate Authors:

  Texas Instruments, Incorporated

  13510 North Central Expressway
  Dallas, TX  United States  75222
• Publication Date: 1961-8

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 120 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Data collection; Laboratory studies; Radar; Radar devices; Terrain; Terrain evaluation
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00083897
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 8 1975 12:00AM