RADAR and LiDAR are both wave-based technologies that detect, track, and image the environment. Although these two technologies serve similar purposes, they are different in how they work. These differences then make them appropriate for different scenarios, where you would favor one over the other.
From an article in MUO by Amir M. Bohooli.
Both of these technologies transmit waves and receive the reflected waves. Then, they account for the duration it took for the reflected wave to return, calculate the distance, and finally give an image of the environment. But where RADAR uses radio waves, LiDAR uses light waves. Let’s see how this difference further distinguishes these two.
What is RADAR?
The idea of RADAR, or Radio Detection and Ranging, was introduced in 1935 and developed later on to become RADAR as we know it now. A RADAR device comes with a transmitter, antenna, and receiver.
The transmitter creates radio waves which are amplified and sent through the antenna. These waves are sent to the environment, where they bounce back from objects they collide with.
The receiver then takes in the reflected waves. Radio waves travel at a constant speed, so the RADAR can calculate how far objects are, based on the time it took for the transmitted waves to bounce back to the receiver.
Radio waves can have wavelengths from 3 millimeters to thousands of meters. A larger wavelength means a lower frequency and vice versa. RADARs that use high frequency, short wave radio waves have a shorter range of detection but yield a much clearer image.
Even though radio waves can have wavelengths well above 100 centimeters, they are not used in RADARs as they don’t provide adequate precision and accuracy in imaging.
RADARs are used in various applications, for example, in ships and airplanes to navigate in poor weather conditions, in cars as parking sensors, and by astronomers to detect changes in the atmosphere.
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