TIRA

The Tracking & Imaging Radar system serves as the central experimental facility for the development and investigation of radar techniques for the detection and reconnaissance of objects in space, and of air targets. TIRA has a 34-metre parabolic dish antenna is a monopulse radar operating at 1.333 GHz or 22.5 cm and 16.7 GHz or 1.8 cm wavelengths. The L-band is usually used for tracking debris with a 0.45° beam width, at 1 MW peak power. The system is capable of determining orbits from direction angles, range and Doppler shift for single targets. The detection size threshold is about 2 cm at 1000 km range. The radar conducts regular ‘beam park’ experiments, where the radar beam is pointed in a fixed direction on the celestial sphere for 24 hours, scanning 360° in a narrow strip a complete Earth rotation. The tracking sensitive can be enhanced when the TIRA system is used as a transmitter, part of a bistatic radar system. In conjunction with the Effelsberg Radio Telescope, functioning as a receiver, the combined system has a detection size threshold of 1 cm. The Ku-band is used for imaging in Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar mode, with 13 kW peak power, the radar is capable of producing images with range resolutions better than 7 cm. The dish can be turned full 360° in azimuth with speed of 24° per second and 90° in elevation. The radar is protected by a radome with 47 meters diameter – one of the largest in the world.

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