THE RADAR EQUATION IS
SYSTEMS
Figure 2.4 Envelope of receiver output illustrating false alarms due to noise.
V\
where lk and 71 are defined in Fig. 2.4. The average duration of a noise pulse is
approximately the reciprocal of the bandwidth B, which in the case of the envelope
detector is BIF. Equating Eqs. (2.24) and (2.25), we get
(2.26)
A plot of Eq. (2.26) is shown in Fig. 2.5, with V\l2>ji0 as the abscissa. If, for example,
the bandwidth of the IF amplifier were 1 MHz and the average false-alarm time
that could be tolerated were 15 min, the probability of a false alarm is 1.11 x 10"'.
From Eq. (2.24) the threshold voltage necessary to achieve this false-alarm time is
6.45 times the rms value of the noise voltage.
The false-alarm probabilities of practical radars are quite small. The reason for this
is that the false-alarm probability is the probability that a noise pulse will cross
the threshold during an interval of time approximately equal to the reciprocal of
the bandwidth. For a 1-MHz bandwidth, there are of the order of 10 6 noise pulses
per second. Hence the false-alarm probability of any one pulse must be small ( <
10" 6) if false-alarm times greater than 1 s are to be obtained.
The specification of a tolerable false-alarm time usually follows from the
requirements desired by the customer and depends on the nature of the radar
application. The exponential relationship between the false-alarm time T,, and the
threshold level VT results in the false-alarm time being sensitive to variations or
4 INTRODUCTION TO RADAR
may be considered envelope detectors. Either a square-law or a linear detector
may be assumed since the effect on the detection probability by assuming one
instead of the other is usually small.
The noise entering the IF filter (the terms filter and amplifier are used
interchangeably) is assumed to be gaussian, with probability-density function
given by
1
(2.20)
Pip) =
where p(v) dv is the probability of finding the noise voltage t> between the
values of t> and v + dv, i/'o is the variance, or mean-square value ofthe noise
voltage, and the mean value of I' is taken to be zero. If gaussian noise were passed
through a narrowband IF filler—one whose bandwidth is small compared with the
midfrequency—the probability density of the envelope of the noise voltage
output is shown by Rice 9 to be
instabilities in the threshold level. For example, if the bandwidth were 1 MHz, a
value of 10 log (V\l2iji<>) = 12.95 dB results in an average false-alarm time of 6 min,
while a value of 14.72 dB results in a false-alarm time of 10,000 h. Thus a change in
the threshold of only 1.77 dB changes the false-alarm time by five orders of
magnitude. Such is the nature of gaussian noise. In practice, therefore, the
threshold level would probably be adjusted slightly above that computed by Eq.
(2.26), so that instabilities which lower the threshold slightly will not cause a
flood of false alarms.
If the receiver were turned off (gated) for a fraction of time (as in a tracking radar
with a servo-controlled range gate or a radar which turns off the receiver during
the time of transmission), the false-alarm probability will be increased by the
fraction of time the receiver is not operative assuming that the average
false-alarm time remains the same. However, this is usually not important since
small changes in the probability of false alarm result in even smaller changes in
the threshold level because of the exponential relationship of Eq. (2.26).
Thus far, a receiver with only a noise input has been discussed. Next, consider a
sine-wave signal of amplitude A to be present along with noise at the input to the IF
filter. The frequency
(121)

= £ ex p l ^
where K is the amplitude of the envelope of the filter output. Equation (2.21) is a
form of (he Rayleigh probability-density function.

The probability that the envelope of the noise voltage will lie between the values of
V, and V2 is

Probability {V, < R < K 2 ) = f ' ■£■ exp I - £-) dR (2.22)

V, YO \ 2t//0/

The probability that the noise voltage envelope will exceed the voltage threshold
Vr is Probability (Vr < R < oo) = ( — exp I - —1 dR

Whenever the voltage envelope exceeds the threshold, a target detection is

consulted 10 lllVI occurred, by definition. Since the probability of a false alarm is
the probability thai nolll will cross the threshold, Eq. (2.24) gives the probability
of a false alarm, denoted /\,.

The average time interval between crossings of the threshold by noise alone is
di-fmrd 111 the false-alarm time 7f»,

where Tt is the time between crossings of the threshold VT by the noise envelope,
whin I III slope of the crossing is positive. The false-alarm probability may also be
defined Mtht rttlool the duration of time the envelope is actually above the threshold
to the total time it could httVt been above the threshold, or

(3 IS)

T,,B

El