Dwell time (radar)

Dwell time (T_D) in surveillance radar is the time that an antenna beam spends on a target.^[1] The dwell time of a 2D–search radar depends predominantly on

• the antenna's horizontal beam width θ_AZ, and
• the turn speed n of the antenna (in rotations per minute or rpm, i.e. 360 degrees in 60 seconds = multiplied by a factor of 6).

Dwell time is calculated by:

$T_D = \frac{\theta_{AZ}}{6 \cdot n} \quad\quad \text{(in seconds)}$

References

1. "Dwell Time and Hits Per Scan". Radartutorial.

 This article incorporates text by Christian Wolff available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license.