RADAR RESOLUTION CELL

The volume of space that is occupied by a radar pulse and that is determined by the pulse duration and the horizontal and vertical beamwidths of the transmitting radar. Note: The radar cannot distinguish between two separate objects that lie within the same resolution cell. The radar resolution cell depth ( RCD ) remains constant regardless of the distance from the transmitting antenna . It does not increase with range. The RCD is given by RCD = 150 d , where the RCD is in meters and d is the pulse duration in microseconds. The height of the cell and the width of the cell do increase with range. These are given by W = ( HBW )( R /57) and H = ( VBW )( R /57), where W is the width of the cell, HBW is the horizontal beamwidth in degrees, R is the range, H is the height of the cell, and VBW is the vertical beamwidth in degrees. The range, R , is the distance from the radar antenna to the reflecting object, i.e., the target. The width and height will come out in the same units in which the range is given. For example, if the range is given in meters, the width and height of the radar resolution cell will be in meters. The 57 merely converts degrees to radians. If the beamwidths are given in radian measure, the 57 is omitted. [ From Weik '89 ]