Doppler shift

In airborne Doppler radar, a transmitter which, by means of a directional antenna, radiates energy toward the ground. This results in a situation in which both the transmitter and the receiver are moving relative to the ground; consequently the original frequency is changed twice. The difference between transmitted and received frequencies is known as the Doppler shift and is very nearly proportional to the relative motion between the aircraft and the ground along the direction of the radar beam. A moving target will cause the frequency of the echo signal to increase if it is approaching the radar or decrease if it is receding from the radar. Since the Doppler frequency shift is proportional to radial velocity, a radar system that measures such a shift in frequency can also provide the radial velocity of a target. The Doppler frequency shift also is used to separate moving targets from stationary ones even when the undesired clutter power might be much greater than the power of echo from the targets. Also called the Doppler effect.