GARA – GMSPAZIO Advanced Radar Analysis

GARA is a solution dedicated to Mission Simulation focusing on Radar Performance and Detection. GARA has been designed by GMSPAZIO, integrating the existing functionalities of AGI STK (AGI Systems Tool Kit) products with a set of new features specifically made by GMSPAZIO, offering the possibility to have an integrated picture of Air, Ground, Sea and Space Domains.

GARA allows users to evaluate the capabilities of a radar to perform an advanced detection of an aircraft and to carry out a real-time simulation in a 3D modelling environment. The analysis considers the attenuation of the radar signal (due to the distance from the target, atmosphere absorption and scattering from the terrain), the radars and jammers specs and the RCS characterization of the target, producing a set of reports and graphs showing the values obtained in the 3D graphics window.

GARA GUI is articulated in 2D and 3D interfaces to start complex simulation evaluating their performances through a wide range of reports and graphs, exportable into Microsoft Excel file format.

GARA offers the following features:

Scenario Definition: Environment and Simulation Time

A number of environmental factors can affect the performance of a communication link or a radar system. The Environment configuration tool enables users to apply the following models to their analyses: Environmental Data; Rain, Cloud and Fog; Atmospheric Absorption.

Nevertheless, the same scenario can be enriched with any other simulated and real time object/asset interesting to the end-user analysis.

Aircraft mission configurations

Using the Aircraft configuration tool, users can define an aircraft object from Waypoints or from Ephemeris and Attitude files.

In both cases the altitude is measured using mean sea level (MSL) as the reference datum and it is possible to load a 3D model from .dae or .mdl file types, including also Digital Terrain and Digital Elevation modules.

RCS characterization

Radar Cross Section (RCS) is defined as the projected area of a metal sphere that would return the same echo signal as the target if it were substituted for the target. Users can add the RCS of an aircraft after creating a scenario and added an aircraft.

Radar features and position

With the Radar configuration tool, users can define a radar object attached to a ground station or to an aircraft.

Radar object is a monostatic radar (uses a common antenna for both transmitting and receiving) in search/track mode to detect and track point targets. Signal return from a point target is inversely proportional to the fourth power of target range, and directly proportional to the target’s radar cross section (RCS). Real targets have widely differing radar cross sections from different aspect angles.

Perform assessment: Reports and Graphs

With the Report configuration tool, users can generate, between an aircraft and a radar, the following reports:

Radar Antenna: provides an output regarding Antenna coordinate system, azimuth, elevation and gain, as functions of time.
Radar Environment: provides an output regarding Free Space, Atmospheric, Rain and Cloud/Fog Attenuation and Received Isotropic Power (RIP), as functions of time.
Radar Geometry: provides an output regarding Range, Range Rate, Target Incident azimuth and Elevation, as functions of time.
Radar RCS: provides an output regarding RCS and RCS CrossPol.
Radar SearchTrack: provides an output regarding Single-Pulse Signal to Noise Ratio, Probability of Detection, Probability of Detection with Jamming, Integrated SNR, Pulses Integrated, Integration Time, Dwell Time, Noise Power, Jamming power, J/S1 and Integrated J/S.
All reports VS Single Time.

Visualization of reports in the 3D graphic window

Users can display a report in the 3D graphic window that changes during the animation time and with the Single Object Coverage configuration tool it is possible to compute, between an aircraft and a radar, a coverage, using Probability of Detection or Probability of Detection with Jamming as constraints.

These features are very useful to have a deeper visual estimate of what can be read from the reports or the graphs.

Import of Objects and Terrain Data

With the Object Browser opened, users can explore different functions for each object in the scenario and in particular it is possible to import aircrafts, ground stations and radars from file.

Terrain imageries can be loaded from the 3D Globe Window and the 2D Map window.

GARA allows the user to optimize radar capabilities in order to obtain the maximum detection probability of an aircraft, computed in a given trajectory and in a defined scenario, by means of parametric analysis.

GARA is also able to generate a complex scenario, in which some values or realizations of the parameters of interest for the detection probability computation are specified in advance, so that they can be modified during the analysis, considering different sets of input data.

Project Description

GARA has been developed to allow users to perform an advanced radar analysis and detection in a real-time simulation and 3D modelling environment, producing a set of reports, graphs and showing dynamic values in the 3D window to further visual estimation.

Project Details

Date August 28, 2018

Categories Surveillance

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