Kelvin Hughes supplies it’s SharpEye™ radar transceivers into environmental and safety applications bringing benefits through ultra-high reliability, low cost, and superior performance. We have numerous applications where SharpEye™ is detecting extremely small targets such as birds, ultra-lights and even livestock.

Avian Migration
Avian and Wildlife Radar is a unique and niche application of short range radar techniques. There is a myriad of applications that benefit avian wildlife and improve the safety and operational cases for man. Kelvin Hughes is addressing these applications with the SharpEye™ coherent radar transceiver and low profile antennas. In collaboration with DeTect Inc. we have provided SharpEye™ transceivers to monitor the migratory movements of birds in the USA.

Bighorn Sheep
The Ocotillo desert is home to the Bighorn Sheep a species found in North America. Wind energy developments have required that the impact on the local inhabitants be researched, assessed and understood. SharpEye™ has been integrated with DeTect Inc. radar systems to accurately, in real-time, night and day, 24 hours a day over a long duration to monitor and record the movements of the sheep remotely and automatically provides critical information and insight into the habits of the sheep and other influencing factors.

Bird Strike
In collaboration with DeTect Inc. Kelvin Hughes supplied SharpEye™ radar and low profile antennas into a bird strike avoidance radar system deployed to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan to support coalition forces flight safety. Our radar sensor technology has also been deployed in Detect bird strike avoidance radar systems at Boston Logan International airport in the US and Riga Airport in Latvia.

Habitat Protection
Migratory and environmental laws allow charges to be brought against companies that operate large energy and mining facilities and areas such as refineries and Canada’s Tar Sands. An operator installing a radar system empowered by radar technology would very quickly repay the investment through not paying fines and immediately demonstrating they have the best solution for environmental compliance and protection with respect to migratory wildlife.

Surface Movement Radar (SMR)
The control of aircraft on the ground is typically provided visually and audibly between the aircraft control tower and pilots on the taxiway, in bad weather such as fog, heavy and even snow, visual control of the distance between aircraft on the ground is seriously hampered and can close an airport. Use of a SharpEye™ radar has been proven to provide extremely clear and sharp target detection with the ability to remove clutter at a UK airport. Such an approach for enable radar to be utilised for aircraft control on the ground as well as in the air, improving safety significantly and increasing airport operating periods.

Wind Farm Gap Filling
The use of deployable and mast mounted solid state radar systems is an accepted method to mitigate against wind farm objections on the basis that wind farm turbine blades create interference with civil and military Air Traffic Control (ATC) radar coverage. Gap filling ground based additional radar positioned accordingly has been accepted as a viable solution to solving this problem.