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Radar Bands

Most of the radars operate in UHF as well as microwave frequency bands. Now-a-days radars even use millimeter bands.

Following table-1 mentiona in general radar bands and peak power transmitted in each of these bands.


radar
bands
Frequency
range (GHz)
Maximum
Peak
Power (MWatt)
UHF 0.3 to 1.0 5.0
L 1.0 to 1.5 30.0
S 1.5 to 3.9 25.0
C 3.9 to 8.0 15.0
X 8.0 to 12.5 10.0
Ku 12.5 to 18.0 2.0
K 18.0 to 26.5 0.6
Ka 26.5 to 40.0 0.25

Following table-2 mentions all the Radar bands with their respective frequency range, wavelength and applications.


Radar
Band
Frequency
Range
Wavelength Applications
HF 3 to
30 MHz
10 m to
100 m
Coastal radar systems, OTH radar
P 30 to
300 MHz
1m to
10m
applied retrospectively to early radar
UHF 300 to
1000MHz
0.3 to
1 m
very long range, ground penetrating radar
L 1 to
2 GHz
15 cm
to 30 cm
Long range air traffic control and surveillance
S 2 to
4 GHz
7.5 cm
to 15 cm
Terminal air traffic control, long range weather or marine radar
C 4 to
8 GHz
3.75 cm
to 7.5 cm
satellite transponders, weather radar
X 8 to
12 GHz
2.5 cm
to 3.75 cm
missile guidance, marine and weather radar, ground surveillance
Ku 12 to
18 GHz
1.67 cm
to 2.5 cm
High resolution mapping, satellite altimetry
K 18 to
27 GHz
1.11 to
1.67 cm
Used by meteorologists to detect clouds, used by police to detect motorists with high speed.
Ka 27 to
40 GHz
0.75 cm
to 1.11 cm
Mapping, short range, airport surveillance
mm 40 to
300 GHz
1 mm to
7.5 mm
This millimeter band is used for various radar applications
Q 40 to
60 GHz
5 mm
to 7.5 mm
Used for military communications
V 50 to
75 GHz
4 mm
to 6 mm
Very strongly absorbed by atmosphere
W 75 to
110 GHz
2.7 mm
to 4 mm
76GHz LRR,79GHz SRR automotive radar, high resolution meteorological observation, imaging


RADAR RELATED LINKS

RADAR tutorial
Doppler Radar
FMCW RADAR
RADAR BANDs
RADAR SCOPE
Weather Radar
Ground Penetrating Radar System
RADAR RANGE and RESOLUTION

Radar calculators

Following are useful radar calculators to calculate radar range, radar PRF, radar resolution etc.
Radar Range calculator

Radar PRF vs Range
Radar Range Resolution

Radar Calculators

Radar Range calculator
Radar PRF vs Range
Radar Range Resolution