Calculation of Magos Radar Performance on pole during strong winds
Magos radars provide wide-angle coverage — 30 degrees in elevation and 120 degrees in azimuth. As a result, they are not significantly affected by angular movement of the pole; an angular shift of 5–10 degrees is generally acceptable.
However, as Doppler radars, they are sensitive to radial velocity movement of the radar. A radial velocity of 0.2 m/s will degrade performance, while 0.4 m/s or more can significantly impact detection — especially for slow-moving targets and targets moving tangentially near the edge of the detection range.
To calculate the expected movement velocity, the integrator must request that the pole manufacturer perform a dynamic simulation of the pole under the specific wind velocity conditions. The simulation must account for the weight and projected wind area (i.e., wind-exposed surface area) of all equipment mounted on the pole. The simulation output should include the natural frequencies (eigenfrequencies) of oscillation and their corresponding amplitudes.
For each eigen-frequency fn [Hz], and amplitude An [m], the radial velocity is: vn = 2*pi*fn*An [m/s].
Take the highest resulting velocity across all modes as the worst-case scenario.