William R. Blair
Encyclopedia
William Richards Blair was an American scientist and Army Officer who led the U.S. Signal Corps Laboratories
during its formative years. He is often called the "Father of Army Radar."
in 1906 from the University of Chicago
. His dissertation involved experimental studies of microwave
reflections, including those from non-metallic surfaces. After graduation, he took a position with the U.S. Weather Bureau as a specialist in atmospheric sciences
. There he prepared a major report, “Meteorology and Aeronautics,” for the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
, predecessor of NASA
) that was widely circulated as a basic handbook. The theoretical portions of the report were published in a research journal.
When World War I began, Blair was commissioned as a Major in the Aviation Section of the Army Signal Corps Reserves, and served as the Chief Meteorologist for the American Expeditionary Force
. Following the war, he remained in the Army as a meteorologist and participated in planning the first round-the-world airplane flight in 1924. While attending the Command and General Staff College
, he made a study of acoustical direction-finding for antiaircraft artillery
, and soon realized that this could better be done using electromagnetic waves.
In 1917, the Army established the Signal Corps Radio Laboratories at Camp Vail, in eastern New Jersey
. After the war, this became Fort Vail, then in 1925, it was renamed Fort Monmouth
. In 1926, Blair was assigned as the Chief of Research and Engineering. Coupling capabilities in electronics and meteorology, in 1929 the Laboratory developed and launched the first radio-equipped weather balloon
.
Going into the 1930s, the Great Depression
with declining economic conditions led the Signal Corps to consolidate their widespread laboratories to Fort Monmouth. On June 30, 1930, the consolidated operations became the Signal Corps Laboratories
(SCL), with Colonel Blair named the Director.
In 1931, Blair initiated Project 88, “Position Finding by Means of Light.” Here “light” was used in the general sense of electromagnetic radiation
, including infrared
and the very-short radio waves with line-of-sight transmission characteristics (microwaves). Some success was made with detection of thermal radiation
from aircraft engines, but Blair was soon convinced that detection could best be done using reflected microwave signals.
After several years investigating microwave generating and receiving devices, followed by experiments in target detection using Doppler
-beat interference methods, in 1935 Blair reported the following:
In 1936, a laboratory project in pulsed transmission and detection was started, and on December 14, the experimental apparatus detected an aircraft at 7 miles distance. Development then started on the Army’s first system for Radio Position Finding (RPF) -- the name “radar” did not come into existence until 1940.
Unfortunately, Blair’s health failed during 1938, and he retired before the system was completed. This system, eventually designated SCR-268, was intended to aim searchlights.
In 1945, the Signal Corps applied, in Blair's name, for a patent titled “Object Locating System." This was based on the pulse-echo technique that was originally proposed by Blair in 1935. Because of secrecy, however, the patent was not granted until 1957.
Signal Corps Laboratories
Signal Corps Laboratories was formed on June 30, 1930, as part of the U.S. Army Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Through the years, the SCL had a number of changes in name, but remained the operation providing research and development services for the Signal Corps.-Background:At the...
during its formative years. He is often called the "Father of Army Radar."
Career and achievements
Blair was awarded a Ph.D. in physicsPhysics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
in 1906 from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. His dissertation involved experimental studies of microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
reflections, including those from non-metallic surfaces. After graduation, he took a position with the U.S. Weather Bureau as a specialist in atmospheric sciences
Atmospheric sciences
Atmospheric sciences is an umbrella term for the study of the atmosphere, its processes, the effects other systems have on the atmosphere, and the effects of the atmosphere on these other systems. Meteorology includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics with a major focus on weather...
. There he prepared a major report, “Meteorology and Aeronautics,” for the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was a U.S. federal agency founded on March 3, 1915 to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958 the agency was dissolved, and its assets and personnel transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and...
, predecessor of NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
) that was widely circulated as a basic handbook. The theoretical portions of the report were published in a research journal.
When World War I began, Blair was commissioned as a Major in the Aviation Section of the Army Signal Corps Reserves, and served as the Chief Meteorologist for the American Expeditionary Force
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces or AEF were the United States Armed Forces sent to Europe in World War I. During the United States campaigns in World War I the AEF fought in France alongside British and French allied forces in the last year of the war, against Imperial German forces...
. Following the war, he remained in the Army as a meteorologist and participated in planning the first round-the-world airplane flight in 1924. While attending the Command and General Staff College
Command and General Staff College
The United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military officers. The college was established in 1881 by William Tecumseh Sherman as a...
, he made a study of acoustical direction-finding for antiaircraft artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
, and soon realized that this could better be done using electromagnetic waves.
In 1917, the Army established the Signal Corps Radio Laboratories at Camp Vail, in eastern New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. After the war, this became Fort Vail, then in 1925, it was renamed Fort Monmouth
Fort Monmouth
Fort Monmouth was an installation of the Department of the Army in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The post is surrounded by the communities of Eatontown, Tinton Falls and Oceanport, New Jersey, and is located about 5 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The post covers nearly of land, from the Shrewsbury...
. In 1926, Blair was assigned as the Chief of Research and Engineering. Coupling capabilities in electronics and meteorology, in 1929 the Laboratory developed and launched the first radio-equipped weather balloon
Weather balloon
A weather or sounding balloon is a balloon which carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed by means of a small, expendable measuring device called a radiosonde...
.
Going into the 1930s, the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
with declining economic conditions led the Signal Corps to consolidate their widespread laboratories to Fort Monmouth. On June 30, 1930, the consolidated operations became the Signal Corps Laboratories
Signal Corps Laboratories
Signal Corps Laboratories was formed on June 30, 1930, as part of the U.S. Army Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Through the years, the SCL had a number of changes in name, but remained the operation providing research and development services for the Signal Corps.-Background:At the...
(SCL), with Colonel Blair named the Director.
In 1931, Blair initiated Project 88, “Position Finding by Means of Light.” Here “light” was used in the general sense of electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation is a form of energy that exhibits wave-like behavior as it travels through space...
, including infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
and the very-short radio waves with line-of-sight transmission characteristics (microwaves). Some success was made with detection of thermal radiation
Thermal radiation
Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation generated by the thermal motion of charged particles in matter. All matter with a temperature greater than absolute zero emits thermal radiation....
from aircraft engines, but Blair was soon convinced that detection could best be done using reflected microwave signals.
After several years investigating microwave generating and receiving devices, followed by experiments in target detection using Doppler
Doppler effect
The Doppler effect , named after Austrian physicist Christian Doppler who proposed it in 1842 in Prague, is the change in frequency of a wave for an observer moving relative to the source of the wave. It is commonly heard when a vehicle sounding a siren or horn approaches, passes, and recedes from...
-beat interference methods, in 1935 Blair reported the following:
- To date the distances at which reflected signals can be detected with radio-optical equipment are not great enough to be of value. . . . Consideration is now being given to the scheme of projecting an interrupted sequence of trains of oscillations against the target and attempting to detect the echoes during the interstices between the projections.
In 1936, a laboratory project in pulsed transmission and detection was started, and on December 14, the experimental apparatus detected an aircraft at 7 miles distance. Development then started on the Army’s first system for Radio Position Finding (RPF) -- the name “radar” did not come into existence until 1940.
Unfortunately, Blair’s health failed during 1938, and he retired before the system was completed. This system, eventually designated SCR-268, was intended to aim searchlights.
In 1945, the Signal Corps applied, in Blair's name, for a patent titled “Object Locating System." This was based on the pulse-echo technique that was originally proposed by Blair in 1935. Because of secrecy, however, the patent was not granted until 1957.
General
- Colton, Roger B.; “Radar in the United States Army,” Proc. IRE, vol. 33, p. 749, 1947
- Davis, Harry M.; History of the Signal Corps Development of US Army Radar Equipment, Part II, Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 1945
- Maurer, Maurer; Aviation in he U.S. Army, 1919-1939, University Press of the Pacific, 2004
- Rejan, Wendy; Fort Monmouth, Arcadia Publishing, 2009
- Terrett, Dulany; The Signal Corps: The Emergency (to December 1941), 4th ed., Government Printing Office, 2002
- Vieweger A. L.; “Radar in the Signal Corps,” IRE Trans Mil. Elect., MIL-4, p. 555, Oct. 1960
External links
- Fort Monmouth Historical Office; "A Concise History of the U. S. Army Communications-Electronics Life Cycle Management Command and Fort Monmouth, New Jersey," CE LCMC Historical Office, 2005; electronic version, http://www.monmouth.army.mil/historian/pub.php
- Radar: A Report on Science at War,” Office of Scientific Research and Development, distributed by Office of War Information, 15 August 1945; http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/Radar-OSRD/index.html