Performance analysis of FMCW-based X-band weather radar

Abstract

In this paper, a performance analysis of weather radar system works on X-band frequency is approached using an EM & Circuit simulator. The radar which is designed using frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) technique is intended to operate at center frequency of 9GHz. The FMCW signal referred as chirp signal is generated using a direct digital synthesizer (DDS) with a bandwidth of 50MHz. By using double up-converter to reach the operating frequency, the signal is powered using 2Watt amplifier to be transmitted by the transmitter antenna. The reflected signal is then received by the receiver antenna to be further processed and analyzed. From the simulation results, it shows that the reflected signal has a delay time compared to the reference signal indicating the performance of FMCW radar weather to detect the object as far as 800 meters from the radar.