This IAP course will cover the design principles and technology of defense radar systems for applications including ground-, air-, and space-based sensing.  The course will explore radar antenna, frequency, power, and signal processing trade-offs for radar design, and several real-world examples will be explored.  The course will include visits to the MIT Millstone and Haystack radar sites in Westford, MA, as well as a tour of the MIT Lincoln Laboratory compact range radar measurement facility.  

Students who complete this course will be able to understand:

•    Radar antenna performance and design options
•    Core elements of transmitter and receiver design
•    Recent advances in adaptive radar signal processing and interference rejection
•    Approaches for determining radar detection and track ranges
•    Radar design techniques for air surveillance, ground surveillance, and over-the-horizon sensing
•    Extensions of radar principles for laser radar detection and ranging
•    Radar applications for weather and climate change characterization

This course is not for credit, but students will have a unique radar design experience at the end of the course.