Sea-Pol
| Deployment Type | Ship/Land-deployable, containerized |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 5.65 GHz (C-band) |
| Typical Range | 120-300 km |
The CSU Sea-Pol ship- and land-deployable radar measures dual-polarization data over a range in excess of 200 km. It is designed for operation aboard Global-class research ships operated by the US oceanographic community, but has successfully been operated on land-based deployments. The radar operates at C-band (5.65 GHz) and has a 4.3m stabilized antenna system.
The radar is packaged into two sub-assemblies, the radar shelter and the antenna platform. The radar shelter is housed in a 20' ISO container for ease of transportation and mounting onto research ships. The antenna platform is designed to mate to the top of the radar shelter, and holds the antenna positioner, antenna and radome.
Technical Overview
Transmitter
The radar transmitter uses a 250 kW coaxial magnetron tube, coupled to a solid-state modulator with multiple selectable pulse widths. A programmable logic controller (PLC) based control system sends commands to the modulator, and monitors its status. The transmitter is capable of a maximum duty cycle of 0.12%, with selectable pulse widths and programmable PRFs. Built-in monitoring circuitry reports faults such as arcs within the magnetron, waveguide under-pressurization and cooling subsystem failure. The output of the transmitter is fed through a high-power isolator to protect the magnetron against faults in the waveguide run to the antenna. A combined dehydrator and pressurization unit ensures that the waveguide is filled with dry air (-20 °C dew point) pressurized to at least 350 mbar to avoid arcing due to the high electric fields.
