Development of a 94 GHz Radar System for Dedicated Bird Detection at Airports and Airfields

Utilizing a state-of-the-art 575 mW solid state millimeter-wave power source, the system, called BIRDAR™, the system successfully detected small birds at distances of 1.2 to 1.3 km and large birds, such as geese, at distances of 2.3 to 2.6 km during testing.

Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York

WaveBand, as part of a Dual Use and Science and Technology Contract in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Air Force Research Laboratory at Rome, NY, developed a 94 GHz radar to detect birds at airports and airfields that could potentially interfere with the landing and takeoff of aircraft. The requirements for the radar system were summarized as follows:

The radar system developed by WaveBand was subsequently given the name BIRDAR™. The radar system concept is illustrated in Figure 1. BIRDAR™ detects and reports bird activity in the airspace surrounding airports to decrease bird encounters with aircraft. The antenna scans a 30-degree by 2.5-degree or 30-degree by 5-degree field of view, depending on the model selected. Separate transmit and receive antennas are used to increase the isolation between the transmitted and received signals. A video camera is mounted on top of the radar to capture imagery from the scanned area. The primary purpose of this feature was to assist in assessing the performance of the radar during its development.