Radar waves are usually thought of as being reflected from the surface of the ground. However, at the lower frequencies (below several hundred megahertz), radar energy can penetrate into the ground and be reflected from buried objects. The loss in propagating in the ground is very high at these frequencies, but it is low enough to permit ranges of about 3.3 to 33 feet (1 to 10 metres) or more. This is sufficient for probing the subsurface soil in order to detect underground tunnels and utility pipes and cables, to aid in archaeological digs, and to monitor the subsurface conditions of highways and bridge roadways. The short ranges require that the radar system be able to resolve closely spaced objects, which means wide-bandwidth signals must be radiated. Normally, wide bandwidth is not available at the lower frequencies (especially when a 1-foot (30-cm) range resolution requires a 500-MHz bandwidth). However, since the energy is directed into the ground rather than radiated into space, the large frequency band needed for high resolution can be obtained without serious interference to other users of the radio spectrum.

A ground-probing radar might radiate over frequencies ranging from 5 to 500 MHz in order to obtain good penetration (which requires low frequencies) with high resolution (which requires wide bandwidth). The antenna can be placed directly on the ground. Ground-probing radar units generally are small enough to be portable.

Over-the-horizon radar

Frequencies lower than about 100 MHz usually are not desirable for radar applications. An example where lower frequencies can provide a unique and important capability is in the shortwave, or high-frequency (HF), portion of the radio band (from 3 to 30 MHz). The advantage of the HF band is that radio waves of these frequencies are refracted (bent) by the ionosphere so that the waves return to the Earth’s surface at long distances beyond the horizon, as shown in the figure. This permits target detection at distances from about 500 to 2,000 nautical miles (900 to 3,700 km). Thus, an HF over-the-horizon (OTH) radar can detect aircraft at distances up to 10 times that of a ground-based microwave air-surveillance radar, whose range is limited by the curvature of the Earth. Besides detection and tracking of aircraft at long ranges, an HF OTH radar can be designed to detect ballistic missiles (particularly the disturbance caused by ballistic missiles as they travel through the ionosphere), ships, and weather effects over the ocean. Winds over the ocean generate waves on the water that can be recognized by HF OTH radar. From the Doppler frequency spectrum produced by echoes from the water waves, one can determine the direction of the waves generated by the wind and hence the direction of the wind itself. The strength of the waves (which indicates the state of the sea, or roughness) also can be ascertained. Timely information about the winds that drive waves over a wide expanse of the ocean can be obtained with HF OTH—obtainable only with great difficulty, if at all, by other means—which has proved valuable for weather prediction.

An HF OTH radar might have an average power of about one megawatt and have phased-array antennas that sometimes extend several thousands of feet. This type of radar was originally developed for military purposes, especially for the surveillance of aircraft and ships over large expanses of water, where it is difficult for conventional microwave radars to provide coverage of large areas. For example, an important application of HF OTH is to provide wide-area surveillance of regions where illegal drug-carrying aircraft are suspected of operating. The area that can be held under surveillance by HF OTH radar is so large that it is difficult for aircraft to avoid detection by flying around or under its coverage. Furthermore, these counternarcotic radars can in many cases detect aircraft as they take off from a distant airfield and can sometimes follow them all the way to their destination. It is also possible in some cases to recognize specific aircraft types on the basis of the radar observation of the aircraft during takeoff and landing. The U.S. Navy’s HF OTH radars known as relocatable over-the-horizon radar (ROTHR), or AN/TPS-71, have been redirected for use in drug interdiction. Such radars, located in Virginia, Texas, and Puerto Rico, provide multiple coverage of drug-traffic regions in Central America and the northern part of South America. An ROTHR can cover a 64-degree wedge-shaped area at ranges from 500 to 1,600 nautical miles (900 to 3,000 km). Its receiving antenna is an electronically steered phased-array consisting of 372 pairs of monopole antennas. The antenna extends 1.4 nautical miles (2.5 km) in length. The transmitter operates from 5 to 28 MHz with an average power of 210 kilowatts. Each radar can provide surveillance of approximately 1.3 million square nautical miles (4.5 million square km). This is much more than 10 times the area covered by a conventional surface-based long-range microwave air-surveillance radar.