GoKawiilRADAR LABORATORY QUICK REF · λ=c/f · R=cτ_d/2 · ΔR=cτ/2 · f_d=2v_r/λ · v_u=PRF·λ/4 · θ=0.886λ/D
The explanations and theory sections connect the visuals to the math, assumptions, and real radar challenges.
Change one slider at a time and compare the scene, plot, and readouts. That is the fastest way to build intuition.
Each module pairs a simple simulation with plots so you can see how radar behavior changes in real time.
Radar can feel abstract because the important behavior happens in places you cannot easily see: time delay, Doppler shift, antenna patterns, noise, clutter, detection thresholds, and line-of-sight geometry. Radar Laboratory was created to make those invisible ideas visible. Use the modules below to build intuition first, then connect what you see to the equations and deeper theory.
Move through each phase left to right. Each module introduces one radar idea, shows the visual behavior, then connects it to the underlying equation.
MODULE 01 EM WAVE PROPAGATION MODULE 02 USING TIME DELAY TO MEASURE RANGE MODULE 03 PRF & MAX UNAMBIGUOUS RANGE MODULE 04 RANGE RESOLUTION MODULE 05 WHAT IS DOPPLER? MODULE 06 DOPPLER ALIASING MODULE 07 RANGE-DOPPLER BUDGETING MODULE 08 PULSE ENERGY vs RANGE RESOLUTION MODULE 09 THE MATCHED FILTER MODULE 10 RADAR CROSS SECTION MODULE 11 ANTENNA GAIN MODULE 12 ANTENNA ARRAYS MODULE 13 BEAMWIDTH, GAIN & ANGULAR RESOLUTION MODULE 15 NOISE & NOISE FIGURE MODULE 16 WHAT IS SNR? MODULE 17 COHERENT INTEGRATION & THE CPI MODULE 18 THE RADAR RANGE EQUATION MODULE 19 FREE SPACE PATH LOSS MODULE 20 ATMOSPHERIC ATTENUATION MODULE 21 MULTIPATHING MODULE 22 EARTH CURVATURE & LOW-ALTITUDE TARGETS MODULE 23 GROUND & SEA CLUTTER MODULE 24 THE DETECTION PROBLEM MODULE 26 CFAR MODULE 27 IQ / COMPLEX BASEBAND MODULE 28 FOURIER TRANSFORM INTUITION MODULE 29 FAST/SLOW-TIME DATA MATRIX MODULE 30 RANGE BINS & THE RANGE PROFILE MODULE 31 THE DOPPLER SPECTRUM MODULE 32 THE RANGE-DOPPLER MAP MODULE 33 RD MAP FOR A MOVING TARGET MODULE 34 TARGET TRAJECTORIES MODULE 35 TARGET SCATTERERS & FEATURES MODULE 36 ROTATING TARGETS — ISAR MODULE 37 MTI — MOVING TARGET INDICATION MODULE 38 STAP MODULE 39 ELECTRONIC WARFARE & JAMMING
Electromagnetic waves carry energy at the speed of light. The frequency you choose shapes every performance parameter that follows — beamwidth, Doppler shift, ambiguity, and antenna size.
An ellipsoidal validation gate selects candidate measurements for each track. The Mahalanobis distance determines whether a measurement falls within the predicted uncertainty ellipsoid.
The Kalman filter is the minimum mean-square-error estimator for linear Gaussian systems. Each cycle alternates between prediction (propagating uncertainty forward) and update (correcting with new measurement).
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