User:DavidChristoperHall/Traffic Radar

[Radar] devices are commonly used in military applications. The [radar gun] was developed as a enforcement device to determine the velocity of an automobile. [Radars] are also found on automobiles where it is used as a safety device to warn motorists of fast approaching vehicles in their blind spot or to control the accelerator/brake to follow or avoid other vehicles ahead. Radars are also currently used around the world to monitor traffic flow.

Radar is able to measure the velocity of vehicles on a road as well as count vehicles passing a particular point. New generation radar devices employing digital beam steering technology are able to locate vehicles on a geometric plain. Radars that are able to locate vehicles in short enough subsequent intervals are able to track vehicle trajectories.

In Traffic Control applications the ability to track vehicle trajectories provide insight into driver behavior such as turning movements at an intersection. Movements through an intersection as well as queues at an intersection provide an indication of the current demand for right of way at an intersection. Adaptive Traffic Control Systems depend on timeous and accurate information in order to decide how much time should be allocated to each phase. Measuring platoon progression through intersections is also a key part in optimizing traffic flow. Trajectory based radar devices provide much more detailed information to a local or centralized traffic optimization algorithm allowing these algorithms to make better decisions.

Radars are favored over video based traffic sensors because they are not influenced to the same extent by adverse weather conditions. It is often during these adverse weather conditions that accurate traffic information is needed to deal with problematic situations that arise under such conditions.

Operation
Traffic radars monitor vehicles in real-time. Vehicle data, gathered continuously, may include a unique tracked ID per vehicle, position and speed of each vehicle as well as their headings.

The data gathered from the radar may be used for intersection control (such as simple inductive loop replacement or ramp metering) or statistics gathering. These include (among others)
 * 1) traffic volumes
 * 2) 85 percentile speed
 * 3) queue lengths

Traffic Radar using digital tracking radar offers opportunities to optimise:


 * 1) Traffic volumes
 * 2) Safety
 * 3) Emissions

Technology
Advanced traffic radar systems use a tracking radar to identify and track all moving objects including trucks, busses, cars, trailers, motorcycles, bicycles, and even pedestrians.