Measurement of velocities in noisy environments with a microwave Doppler-effect radar

Abstract

An undergraduate experiment is proposed to facilitate the understanding of the basic principles related to radar systems and signal analysis. A Doppler-effect radar has been installed and used to measure the velocities of a target under different conditions. This system features the use of a low-power generator and a general purpose data acquisition card. The analysis of the measured IF (intermediate frequency) voltage has been made by using the fast Fourier transform in order to illustrate the relevance of the basic spectral techniques for the characterization of weak signals in noisy environments.