Identification of sea ice types in spaceborne synthetic aperture radar data

Science.gov (United States)

Kwok, Ronald; Rignot, Eric; Holt, Benjamin; Onstott, R.

1992-01-01

This study presents an approach for identification of sea ice types in spaceborne SAR image data. The unsupervised classification approach involves cluster analysis for segmentation of the image data followed by cluster labeling based on previously defined look-up tables containing the expected backscatter signatures of different ice types measured by a land-based scatterometer. Extensive scatterometer observations and experience accumulated in field campaigns during the last 10 yr were used to construct these look-up tables. The classification approach, its expected performance, the dependence of this performance on radar system performance, and expected ice scattering characteristics are discussed. Results using both aircraft and simulated ERS-1 SAR data are presented and compared to limited field ice property measurements and coincident passive microwave imagery. The importance of an integrated postlaunch program for the validation and improvement of this approach is discussed.

Toward an optimal inversion method for synthetic aperture radar wind retrieval

OpenAIRE

Portabella, M.; Stoffelen, A.; Johannessen, Johnny A.

2002-01-01

In recent years, particular efforts have been made to derive wind fields over the oceans from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. In contrast with the scatterometer, the SAR has a higher spatial resolution and therefore has the potential to provide higher resolution wind information. Since there are at least two geophysical parameters (wind speed and wind direction) modulating the single SAR backscatter measurements, the inversion of wind fields from SAR observations has an inherent proble...

Spatial variability and trends of seasonal snowmelt processes over Antarctic sea ice observed by satellite scatterometers

Science.gov (United States)

Arndt, S.; Haas, C.

2017-12-01

Snow is one of the key drivers determining the seasonal energy and mass budgets of sea ice in the Southern Ocean. Here, we analyze radar backscatter time series from the European Remote Sensing Satellites (ERS)-1 and-2 scatterometers, from the Quick Scatterometer (QSCAT), and from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) in order to observe the regional and inter-annual variability of Antarctic snowmelt processes from 1992 to 2014. On perennial ice, seasonal backscatter changes show two different snowmelt stages: A weak backscatter rise indicating the initial warming and metamorphosis of the snowpack (pre-melt), followed by a rapid rise indicating the onset of internal snowmelt and thaw-freeze cycles (snowmelt). In contrast, similar seasonal backscatter cycles are absent on seasonal ice, preventing the periodic retrieval of spring/summer transitions. This may be due to the dominance of ice bottom melt over snowmelt, leading to flooding and ice disintegration before strong snowmelt sets in. Resulting snowmelt onset dates on perennial sea ice show the expected latitudinal gradient from early melt onsets (mid-November) in the northern Weddell Sea towards late (end-December) or even absent snowmelt conditions further south. This result is likely related to seasonal variations in solar shortwave radiation (absorption). In addition, observations with different microwave frequencies allow to detect changing snow properties at different depths. We show that short wavelengths of passive microwave observations indicate earlier pre-melt and snowmelt onset dates than longer wavelength scatterometer observations, in response to earlier warming of upper snow layers compared to lower snow layers. Similarly, pre-melt and snowmelt onset dates retrieved from Ku-Band radars were earlier by an average of 11 and 23 days, respectively, than those retrieved from C-Band. This time difference was used to correct melt onset dates retrieved from Ku-Band to compile a consistent time series from

Analysis of Arctic Sea ice coverage in 2012 using multi-source scatterometer data

Science.gov (United States)

Zhai, M.

2013-12-01

Arctic sea ice extent, regarded as an indicator of climate change, has been declining for the past few decades and reached the lowest ice extent in satellite record during the summer of 2012. Scatterometers can be used in sea ice identification, due to its ability to measure the backscatter characteristics of surface coverage. Thus, daily scatterometer data can be used in Arctic sea ice monitoring. In this paper, we compared the similarity and difference of three different scatterometer datasets, including ASCAT(METOP-A/B Advanced scatterometer) data, OSCAT(Oceansat-2 scatterometer)data and China's HY-2 scatterometer data, and then evaluated their performance in Artic sea ice investigation. We also constructed the sea ice coverage time series in 2012 using different scatterometer data and analyzed its temporal and spatial variation. Preliminary Results show that the maximum extent was set on 19 March, 2012. Cracks started to appear in Arctic sea ice coverage near New Siberian Islands on 18,May. Later, melt process accelerates in July and August. The northeast passage is not open until late August. On 18 September, the extent reached the minimum level and the refreezing process began. The duration of melting season is slightly shorter than the average level over the period of 1978 to 2012(ERS-1/2 scattermeter and Quickscat scatterometer data are used as supplementary records). The record low extent is likely resulted from (1)Arctic dipole pressure pattern, bringing in warm southerly winds and enhancing arctic ice discharge in Fram Strait and (2)relatively warm conditions over the Arctic areas.

Performance of a fully automated scatterometer for BRDF and BTDF measurements at visible and infrared wavelengths

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, S.; Shepard, D.F.; Pompea, S.M.; Castonguay, R.

1989-01-01

The general performance of a fully automated scatterometer shows that the instrument can make rapid, accurate BRDF (bidirectional reflectance distribution function) and BTDF (bidirectional transmittance distribution function) measurements of optical surfaces over a range of approximately ten orders of magnitude in BRDF. These measurements can be made for most surfaces even with the detector at the specular angle, because of beam-attenuation techniques. He-Ne and CO2 lasers are used as sources in conjunction with a reference detector and chopper

Polar Sea Ice Monitoring Using HY-2A Scatterometer Measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingming Li

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A sea ice detection algorithm based on Fisher’s linear discriminant analysis is developed to segment sea ice and open water for the Ku-band scatterometer onboard the China’s Hai Yang 2A Satellite (HY-2A/SCAT. Residual classification errors are reduced through image erosion/dilation techniques and sea ice growth/retreat constraint methods. The arctic sea-ice-type classification is estimated via a time-dependent threshold derived from the annual backscatter trends based on previous HY-2A/SCAT derived sea ice extent. The extent and edge of the sea ice obtained in this study is compared with the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS sea ice concentration data and the Sentinel-1 SAR imagery for verification, respectively. Meanwhile, the classified sea ice type is compared with a multi-sensor sea ice type product based on data from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT and SSMIS. Results show that HY-2A/SCAT is powerful in providing sea ice extent and type information, while differences in the sensitivities of active/passive products are found. In addition, HY-2A/SCAT derived sea ice products are also proved to be valuable complements for existing polar sea ice data products.

Reconciling Electrical Properties of Titan's Surface Derived from Cassini RADAR Scatterometer and Radiometer Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Zebker, H. A.; Wye, L. C.; Janssen, M.; Paganelli, F.; Cassini RADAR Team

2006-12-01

We observe Titan, Saturn's largest moon, using active and passive microwave instruments carried on board the Cassini spacecraft. The 2.2-cm wavelength penetrates the thick atmosphere and provides surface measurements at resolutions from 10-200 km over much of the satellite's surface. The emissivity and reflectivity of surface features are generally anticorrelated, and both values are fairly high. Inversion of either set of data alone yields dielectric constants ranging from 1.5 to 3 or 4, consistent with an icy hydrocarbon or water ice composition. However, the dielectric constants retrieved from radiometric data alone are usually less than those inferred from backscatter measurements, a discrepancy consistent with similar analyses dating back to lunar observations in the 1960's. Here we seek to reconcile Titan's reflectivity and emissivity observations using a single physical model of the surface. Our approach is to calculate the energy scattered by Titan's surface and near subsurface, with the remainder absorbed. In equilibrium the absorption equals the emission, so that both the reflectivity and emissivity are described by the model. We use a form of the Kirchhoff model for modeling surface scatter, and a model based on weak localization of light for the volume scatter. With this model we present dielectric constant and surface roughness parameters that match both sets of Cassini RADAR observations over limited regions on Titan's surface, helping to constrain the composition and roughness of the surface. Most regions display electrical properties consistent with solid surfaces, however some of the darker "lake-like" features at higher latitudes can be modeled as either solid or liquid materials. The ambiguity arises from the limited set of observational angles available.

Terahertz radar cross section measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iwaszczuk, Krzysztof; Heiselberg, Henning; Jepsen, Peter Uhd

2010-01-01

We perform angle- and frequency-resolved radar cross section (RCS) measurements on objects at terahertz frequencies. Our RCS measurements are performed on a scale model aircraft of size 5-10 cm in polar and azimuthal configurations, and correspond closely to RCS measurements with conventional radar...

Enhanced Ocean Scatterometry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fois, F.

2015-01-01

An ocean scatterometer is an active microwave instrument which is designed to determine the normalized radar cross section (NRCS) of the sea surface. Scatterometers transmit pulses towards the sea surface and measure the reflected energy. The primary objective of spaceborne scatterometers is to

Assimilation of global radar backscatter and radiometer brightness temperature observations to improve soil moisture and land evaporation estimates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lievens, H.; Martens, B.; Verhoest, N.E.C.; Hahn, S.; Reichle, R.H.; Gonzalez Miralles, D.

2016-01-01

Active radar backscatter (σ°) observations from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) and passive radiometer brightness temperature (TB) observations from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission are assimilated either individually or jointly into the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model

Airborn Ku-band polarimetric radar remote sensing of terrestrial snow cover

Science.gov (United States)

Simon H. Yueh; Steve J. Dinardo; Ahmed Akgiray; Richard West; Donald W. Cline; Kelly Elder

2009-01-01

Characteristics of the Ku-band polarimetric scatterometer (POLSCAT) data acquired from five sets of aircraft flights in the winter months of 2006-2008 for the second Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX-II) in Colorado are described in this paper. The data showed the response of the Ku-band radar echoes to snowpack changes for various types of background vegetation in...

Empirical wind retrieval model based on SAR spectrum measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Panfilova, Maria; Karaev, Vladimir; Balandina, Galina; Kanevsky, Mikhail; Portabella, Marcos; Stoffelen, Ad

The present paper considers polarimetric SAR wind vector applications. Remote-sensing measurements of the near-surface wind over the ocean are of great importance for the understanding of atmosphere-ocean interaction. In recent years investigations for wind vector retrieval using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data have been performed. In contrast with scatterometers, a SAR has a finer spatial resolution that makes it a more suitable microwave instrument to explore wind conditions in the marginal ice zones, coastal regions and lakes. The wind speed retrieval procedure from scatterometer data matches the measured radar backscattering signal with the geophysical model function (GMF). The GMF determines the radar cross section dependence on the wind speed and direction with respect to the azimuthal angle of the radar beam. Scatterometers provide information on wind speed and direction simultaneously due to the fact that each wind vector cell (WVC) is observed at several azimuth angles. However, SAR is not designed to be used as a high resolution scatterometer. In this case, each WVC is observed at only one single azimuth angle. That is why for wind vector determination additional information such as wind streak orientation over the sea surface is required. It is shown that the wind vector can be obtained using polarimetric SAR without additional information. The main idea is to analyze the spectrum of a homogeneous SAR image area instead of the backscattering normalized radar cross section. Preliminary numerical simulations revealed that SAR image spectral maxima positions depend on the wind vector. Thus the following method for wind speed retrieval is proposed. In the first stage of the algorithm, the SAR spectrum maxima are determined. This procedure is carried out to estimate the wind speed and direction with ambiguities separated by 180 degrees due to the SAR spectrum symmetry. The second stage of the algorithm allows us to select the correct wind direction

Impact of Scatterometer Ocean Wind Vector Data on NOAA Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Jelenak, Z.; Chang, P.; Brennan, M. J.; Sienkiewicz, J. M.

2015-12-01

Near real-time measurements of ocean surface vector winds (OSVW), including both wind speed and direction from non-NOAA satellites, are being widely used in critical operational NOAA forecasting and warning activities. The scatterometer wind data data have had major operational impact in: a) determining wind warning areas for mid-latitude systems (gale, storm,hurricane force); b) determining tropical cyclone 34-knot and 50-knot wind radii. c) tracking the center location of tropical cyclones, including the initial identification of their formation. d) identifying and warning of extreme gap and jet wind events at all latitudes. e) identifying the current location of frontal systems and high and low pressure centers. f) improving coastal surf and swell forecasts Much has been learned about the importance and utility of satellite OSVW data in operational weather forecasting and warning by exploiting OSVW research satellites in near real-time. Since December 1999 when first data from QuikSCAT scatterometer became available in near real time NOAA operations have been benefiting from ASCAT scatterometer observations on MetOp-A and B, Indian OSCAT scatterometer on OceanSat-3 and lately NASA's RapidScat mission on International Space Station. With oceans comprising over 70 percent of the earth's surface, the impacts of these data have been tremendous in serving society's needs for weather and water information and in supporting the nation's commerce with information for safe, efficient, and environmentally sound transportation and coastal preparedness. The satellite OSVW experience that has been gained over the past decade by users in the operational weather community allows for realistic operational OSVW requirements to be properly stated for future missions. Successful model of transitioning research data into operation implemented by Ocean Winds Team in NOAA's NESDIS/STAR office and subsequent data impacts will be presented and discussed.

Seasat synthetic aperture radar ( SAR) response to lowland vegetation types in eastern Maryland and Virginia.

Science.gov (United States)

Krohn, M.D.; Milton, N.M.; Segal, D.B.

1983-01-01

Examination of Seasat SAR images of eastern Maryland and Virginia reveals botanical distinctions between vegetated lowland areas and adjacent upland areas. Radar returns from the lowland areas can be either brighter or darker than returns from the upland forests. Scattering models and scatterometer measurements predict an increase of 6 dB in backscatter from vegetation over standing water. This agrees with the 30-digital number (DN) increase observed in the digital Seasat data. The density, morphology, and relative geometry of the lowland vegetation with respect to standing water can all affect the strength of the return L band signal.-from Authors

Eight years of wind measurements from scatterometer for wind resource mapping in the Mediterranean Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Furevik, Birgitte R.; Sempreviva, Anna Maria; Cavaleri, Luigi

2011-01-01

that the scatterometer is able to provide similar long-term statistics as available from buoy data, such as annual and monthly wind indexes. Such statistics is useful to give an overview of the climatology in the different areas. The correlation between QuikScat and in situ observations is degraded towards the coast...

Wind stress over the Arabian Sea from ship reports and Seasat scatterometer data

Science.gov (United States)

Perigaud, C.; Minster, J. F.; Delecluse, P.

1989-01-01

Seasat scatterometer data over the Arabian Sea are used to build wind-stress fields during July and August 1978. They are first compared with 3-day wind analyses from ship data along the Somali coast. Seasat scatterometer specifications of 2-m/s and 20-deg accuracy are fulfilled in almost all cases. The exceptions are for winds stronger than 14 m/s, which are underestimated by the scatterometer by 15 percent. Wind stress is derived from these wind data using a bulk formula with a drag coefficient depending on the wind intensity. A successive-correction objective analysis is used to build the wind-stress field over the Arabian Sea with 2 x 2-deg and 6-day resolution. The final wind-stress fields are not significantly dependent on the objective analysis because of the dense coverage of the scatterometer. The combination of scatterometer and coastal ship data gives the best coverage to resolve monsoon wind structures even close to the coast. The final wind stress fields show wind features consistent with other monthly mean wind stress field. However, a high variability is observed on the 6-day time scale.

Terahertz radar cross section measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwaszczuk, Krzysztof; Heiselberg, Henning; Jepsen, Peter Uhd

2010-12-06

We perform angle- and frequency-resolved radar cross section (RCS) measurements on objects at terahertz frequencies. Our RCS measurements are performed on a scale model aircraft of size 5-10 cm in polar and azimuthal configurations, and correspond closely to RCS measurements with conventional radar on full-size objects. The measurements are performed in a terahertz time-domain system with freely propagating terahertz pulses generated by tilted pulse front excitation of lithium niobate crystals and measured with sub-picosecond time resolution. The application of a time domain system provides ranging information and also allows for identification of scattering points such as weaponry attached to the aircraft. The shapes of the models and positions of reflecting parts are retrieved by the filtered back projection algorithm.

Impact of scatterometer wind (ASCAT-A/B) data assimilation on semi real-time forecast system at KIAPS

Science.gov (United States)

Han, H. J.; Kang, J. H.

2016-12-01

Since Jul. 2015, KIAPS (Korea Institute of Atmospheric Prediction Systems) has been performing the semi real-time forecast system to assess the performance of their forecast system as a NWP model. KPOP (KIAPS Protocol for Observation Processing) is a part of KIAPS data assimilation system and has been performing well in KIAPS semi real-time forecast system. In this study, due to the fact that KPOP would be able to treat the scatterometer wind data, we analyze the effect of scatterometer wind (ASCAT-A/B) on KIAPS semi real-time forecast system. O-B global distribution and statistics of scatterometer wind give use two information which are the difference between background field and observation is not too large and KPOP processed the scatterometer wind data well. The changes of analysis increment because of O-B global distribution appear remarkably at the bottom of atmospheric field. It also shows that scatterometer wind data cover wide ocean where data would be able to short. Performance of scatterometer wind data can be checked through the vertical error reduction against IFS between background and analysis field and vertical statistics of O-A. By these analysis result, we can notice that scatterometer wind data will influence the positive effect on lower level performance of semi real-time forecast system at KIAPS. After, long-term result based on effect of scatterometer wind data will be analyzed.

Validation and downscaling of Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) soil moisture using ground measurements in the Western Cape, South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Moller, J

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Satellite-based remote sensing of soil water content (SWC) is a promising technology for hydrological applications to overcome large spatiotemporal variabilities of SWC. This study investigated the performance of the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT...

Observations of urban and suburban environments with global satellite scatterometer data

Science.gov (United States)

Nghiem, S. V.; Balk, D.; Rodriguez, E.; Neumann, G.; Sorichetta, A.; Small, C.; Elvidge, C. D.

A global and consistent characterization of land use and land change in urban and suburban environments is crucial for many fundamental social and natural science studies and applications. Presented here is a dense sampling method (DSM) that uses satellite scatterometer data to delineate urban and intraurban areas at a posting scale of about 1 km. DSM results are analyzed together with information on population and housing censuses, with Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) imagery, and with Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) night-light data. The analyses include Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix in the United States, Bogotá in Colombia, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Guangzhou in China, and Quito in Ecuador. Results show that scatterometer signatures correspond to buildings and infrastructures in urban and suburban environments. City extents detected by scatterometer data are significantly smaller than city light extents, but not all urban areas are detectable by the current SeaWinds scatterometer on the QuikSCAT satellite. Core commercial and industrial areas with high buildings and large factories are identified as high-backscatter centers. Data from DSM backscatter and DMSP nighttime lights have a good correlation with population density. However, the correlation relations from the two satellite datasets are different for different cities indicating that they contain complementary information. Together with night-light and census data, DSM and satellite scatterometer data provide new observations to study global urban and suburban environments and their changes. Furthermore, the capability of DSM to identify hydrological channels on the Greenland ice sheet and ecological biomes in central Africa demonstrates that DSM can be used to observe persistent structures in natural environments at a km scale, providing contemporaneous data to study human impacts beyond urban and suburban areas.

Radar cross section measurements using terahertz waves

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iwaszczuk, Krzysztof; Heiselberg, Henning; Jepsen, Peter Uhd

2010-01-01

Radar cross sections at terahertz frequencies are measured on scale models of aircrafts. A time domain broadband THz system generates freely propagating THz pulses measured with sub-picosecond time resolution. The THz radiation is generated using fs laser pulses by optical rectification...... in order to measure realistic radar cross sections. RCS polar and azimuthal angle plots of F-16 and F-35 are presented....... in a lithium niobate crystal with application of the tilted wave front method, resulting in high electric field THz pulses with a broad band spectrum from 100 GHz up to 4 THz. The corresponding wave lengths are two orders of magnitude smaller than normal radars and we therefore use scale models of size 5-10 cm...

Motion measurement for synthetic aperture radar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doerry, Armin W. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2015-01-01

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) measures radar soundings from a set of locations typically along the flight path of a radar platform vehicle. Optimal focusing requires precise knowledge of the sounding source locations in 3-D space with respect to the target scene. Even data driven focusing techniques (i.e. autofocus) requires some degree of initial fidelity in the measurements of the motion of the radar. These requirements may be quite stringent especially for fine resolution, long ranges, and low velocities. The principal instrument for measuring motion is typically an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), but these instruments have inherent limi ted precision and accuracy. The question is %22How good does an IMU need to be for a SAR across its performance space?%22 This report analytically relates IMU specifications to parametric requirements for SAR. - 4 - Acknowledgements Th e preparation of this report is the result of a n unfunded research and development activity . Although this report is an independent effort, it draws heavily from limited - release documentation generated under a CRADA with General Atomics - Aeronautical System, Inc. (GA - ASI), and under the Joint DoD/DOE Munitions Program Memorandum of Understanding. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi - program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of En ergy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract AC04-94AL85000.

The impact of scatterometer wind data on global weather forecasting

Science.gov (United States)

Atlas, D.; Baker, W. E.; Kalnay, E.; Halem, M.; Woiceshyn, P. M.; Peteherych, S.

1984-01-01

The impact of SEASAT-A scatterometer (SASS) winds on coarse resolution atmospheric model forecasts was assessed. The scatterometer provides high resolution winds, but each wind can have up to four possible directions. One wind direction is correct; the remainder are ambiguous or "aliases'. In general, the effect of objectively dealiased-SASS data was found to be negligible in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, the impact was larger and primarily beneficial when vertical temperature profile radiometer (VTPR) data was excluded. However, the inclusion of VTPR data eliminates the positive impact, indicating some redundancy between the two data sets.

Satellite remote sensing of landscape freeze/thaw state dynamics for complex Topography and Fire Disturbance Areas Using multi-sensor radar and SRTM digital elevation models

Science.gov (United States)

Podest, Erika; McDonald, Kyle; Kimball, John; Randerson, James

2003-01-01

We characterize differences in radar-derived freeze/thaw state, examining transitions over complex terrain and landscape disturbance regimes. In areas of complex terrain, we explore freezekhaw dynamics related to elevation, slope aspect and varying landcover. In the burned regions, we explore the timing of seasonal freeze/thaw transition as related to the recovering landscape, relative to that of a nearby control site. We apply in situ biophysical measurements, including flux tower measurements to validate and interpret the remotely sensed parameters. A multi-scale analysis is performed relating high-resolution SAR backscatter and moderate resolution scatterometer measurements to assess trade-offs in spatial and temporal resolution in the remotely sensed fields.

A 100 GHz Polarimetric Compact Radar Range for Scale-Model Radar Cross Section Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-01

common radar bands. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors wish to thank David Jillson (UML STL – Electrical Engineer) for efforts involved in RF and DC wiring...Waldman J., Fetterman H.R., Duffy P.E., Bryant T.G., Tannenwald P.E., “Submillimeter Model Measurements and Their Applications to Millimeter Radar

Comparison of HF radar measurements with Eulerian and Lagrangian surface currents

Science.gov (United States)

Röhrs, Johannes; Sperrevik, Ann Kristin; Christensen, Kai Håkon; Broström, Göran; Breivik, Øyvind

2015-05-01

High-frequency (HF) radar-derived ocean currents are compared with in situ measurements to conclude if the radar observations include effects of surface waves that are of second order in the wave amplitude. Eulerian current measurements from a high-resolution acoustic Doppler current profiler and Lagrangian measurements from surface drifters are used as references. Directional wave spectra are obtained from a combination of pressure sensor data and a wave model. Our analysis shows that the wave-induced Stokes drift is not included in the HF radar-derived currents, that is, HF radars measure the Eulerian current. A disputed nonlinear correction to the phase velocity of surface gravity waves, which may affect HF radar signals, has a magnitude of about half the Stokes drift at the surface. In our case, this contribution by nonlinear dispersion would be smaller than the accuracy of the HF radar currents, hence no conclusion can be made. Finally, the analysis confirms that the HF radar data represent an exponentially weighted vertical average where the decay scale is proportional to the wavelength of the transmitted signal.

Arecibo Radar Observation of Near-Earth Asteroids: Expanded Sample Size, Determination of Radar Albedos, and Measurements of Polarization Ratios

Science.gov (United States)

Lejoly, Cassandra; Howell, Ellen S.; Taylor, Patrick A.; Springmann, Alessondra; Virkki, Anne; Nolan, Michael C.; Rivera-Valentin, Edgard G.; Benner, Lance A. M.; Brozovic, Marina; Giorgini, Jon D.

2017-10-01

The Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) population ranges in size from a few meters to more than 10 kilometers. NEAs have a wide variety of taxonomic classes, surface features, and shapes, including spheroids, binary objects, contact binaries, elongated, as well as irregular bodies. Using the Arecibo Observatory planetary radar system, we have measured apparent rotation rate, radar reflectivity, apparent diameter, and radar albedos for over 350 NEAs. The radar albedo is defined as the radar cross-section divided by the geometric cross-section. If a shape model is available, the actual cross-section is known at the time of the observation. Otherwise we derive a geometric cross-section from a measured diameter. When radar imaging is available, the diameter was measured from the apparent range depth. However, when radar imaging was not available, we used the continuous wave (CW) bandwidth radar measurements in conjunction with the period of the object. The CW bandwidth provides apparent rotation rate, which, given an independent rotation measurement, such as from lightcurves, constrains the size of the object. We assumed an equatorial view unless we knew the pole orientation, which gives a lower limit on the diameter. The CW also provides the polarization ratio, which is the ratio of the SC and OC cross-sections.We confirm the trend found by Benner et al. (2008) that taxonomic types E and V have very high polarization ratios. We have obtained a larger sample and can analyze additional trends with spin, size, rotation rate, taxonomic class, polarization ratio, and radar albedo to interpret the origin of the NEAs and their dynamical processes. The distribution of radar albedo and polarization ratio at the smallest diameters (≤50 m) differs from the distribution of larger objects (>50 m), although the sample size is limited. Additionally, we find more moderate radar albedos for the smallest NEAs when compared to those with diameters 50-150 m. We will present additional trends we

Classification of new-ice in the Greenland Sea using Satellite SSM/I radiometer and SeaWinds scatterometer data and comparison with ice model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tonboe, Rasmus; Pedersen, Leif Toudal

2005-01-01

In the ice covered waters of the Greenland Sea the polarisation ratio of QuikSCAT SeaWinds Ku-band (13.4 GHz) scatterometer measurements and the polarisation ratio of DMSP-SSM/I 19 GHz radiometer measurements are used in combination to classify new-ice and mature ice. In particular, the formation...... to the physical transition of the ice cover from pancake ice to a consolidated young-ice sheet. The classification of each pixel into ice or water is done using two scatterometer parameters, namely the polarisation ratio and the daily standard deviation of the backscatter. (C) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights...

Radar velocity determination using direction of arrival measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doerry, Armin W.; Bickel, Douglas L.; Naething, Richard M.; Horndt, Volker

2017-12-19

The various technologies presented herein relate to utilizing direction of arrival (DOA) data to determine various flight parameters for an aircraft A plurality of radar images (e.g., SAR images) can be analyzed to identify a plurality of pixels in the radar images relating to one or more ground targets. In an embodiment, the plurality of pixels can be selected based upon the pixels exceeding a SNR threshold. The DOA data in conjunction with a measurable Doppler frequency for each pixel can be obtained. Multi-aperture technology enables derivation of an independent measure of DOA to each pixel based on interferometric analysis. This independent measure of DOA enables decoupling of the aircraft velocity from the DOA in a range-Doppler map, thereby enabling determination of a radar velocity. The determined aircraft velocity can be utilized to update an onboard INS, and to keep it aligned, without the need for additional velocity-measuring instrumentation.

Greenland Radar Ice Sheet Thickness Measurements

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Two 150-MHz coherent radar depth sounders were developed and flown over the Greenland ice sheet to obtain ice thickness measurements in support of PARCA...

A quantum inspired model of radar range and range-rate measurements with applications to weak value measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Escalante, George

2017-05-01

Weak Value Measurements (WVMs) with pre- and post-selected quantum mechanical ensembles were proposed by Aharonov, Albert, and Vaidman in 1988 and have found numerous applications in both theoretical and applied physics. In the field of precision metrology, WVM techniques have been demonstrated and proven valuable as a means to shift, amplify, and detect signals and to make precise measurements of small effects in both quantum and classical systems, including: particle spin, the Spin-Hall effect of light, optical beam deflections, frequency shifts, field gradients, and many others. In principal, WVM amplification techniques are also possible in radar and could be a valuable tool for precision measurements. However, relatively limited research has been done in this area. This article presents a quantum-inspired model of radar range and range-rate measurements of arbitrary strength, including standard and pre- and post-selected measurements. The model is used to extend WVM amplification theory to radar, with the receive filter performing the post-selection role. It is shown that the description of range and range-rate measurements based on the quantum-mechanical measurement model and formalism produces the same results as the conventional approach used in radar based on signal processing and filtering of the reflected signal at the radar receiver. Numerical simulation results using simple point scatterrer configurations are presented, applying the quantum-inspired model of radar range and range-rate measurements that occur in the weak measurement regime. Potential applications and benefits of the quantum inspired approach to radar measurements are presented, including improved range and Doppler measurement resolution.

Operational Implementation of ERS Satellite Scatterometer Wind Retrieval and Ambiguity Removal

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Martin, Christy

1996-01-01

.... The European Space Agency uses this data to generate a wind Fast Delivery Product (FDP). However, this product is insufficient in its resolution of the scatterometer's inherent wind direction ambiguity...

Determination of the thermospheric neutral wind from incoherent scatter radar measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haeggstroem, I.; Murdin, J.; Rees, D.

1984-11-01

Measurements made by the EISCAT UHF incoherent scatter radar are used to derive thermospheric winds. The derived wind is compared to Fabry-Perot interferometer measurements of the neutral wind made simultaneously. The uncertainties in the radar derived wind are discussed. (author)

Study of sea-surface slope distribution and its effect on radar backscatter based on Global Precipitation Measurement Ku-band precipitation radar measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Qiushuang; Zhang, Jie; Fan, Chenqing; Wang, Jing; Meng, Junmin

2018-01-01

The collocated normalized radar backscattering cross-section measurements from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Ku-band precipitation radar (KuPR) and the winds from the moored buoys are used to study the effect of different sea-surface slope probability density functions (PDFs), including the Gaussian PDF, the Gram-Charlier PDF, and the Liu PDF, on the geometrical optics (GO) model predictions of the radar backscatter at low incidence angles (0 deg to 18 deg) at different sea states. First, the peakedness coefficient in the Liu distribution is determined using the collocations at the normal incidence angle, and the results indicate that the peakedness coefficient is a nonlinear function of the wind speed. Then, the performance of the modified Liu distribution, i.e., Liu distribution using the obtained peakedness coefficient estimate; the Gaussian distribution; and the Gram-Charlier distribution is analyzed. The results show that the GO model predictions with the modified Liu distribution agree best with the KuPR measurements, followed by the predictions with the Gaussian distribution, while the predictions with the Gram-Charlier distribution have larger differences as the total or the slick filtered, not the radar filtered, probability density is included in the distribution. The best-performing distribution changes with incidence angle and changes with wind speed.

NASA 3D Models: QuikSCAT

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA's Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) is equipped with a specialized microwave radar that measures near-surface wind speed and direction under all weather and cloud...

Maritime target and sea clutter measurements with a coherent Doppler polarimetric surveillance radar

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smith, A.J.E.; Gelsema, S.J.; Kester, L.J.H.M.; Melief, H.W.; Premel Cabic, G.; Theil, A.; Woudenberg, E.

2002-01-01

Doppler polarimetry in a surveillance radar for the maritime surface picture is considered. This radar must be able to detect low-RCS targets in littoral environments. Measurements on such targets have been conducted with a coherent polarimetric measurement radar in March 2001 and preliminary

Accuracy of three-dimensional glacier surface volocities derived from radar interfeometry and ice-soundin radar measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mohr, Johan Jacob; Reeh, Niels; Madsen, Søren Nørvang

2003-01-01

We present a method for analyzing the errors involved in measuring three-dimensional glacier velocities with interferometric radar. We address the surface-parallel flow assumption and an augmented approach with a flux-divergence (FD) term. The errors in an interferometric ERS-1/-2 satellite radar...... dataset with ascending- and descending-orbit data covering Storstrommen glacier, northeast Greenland, are assessed. The FD error assessment is carried out on airborne 60 MHz ice-sounding radar data from the same area. A simple model of an interferometric radar system is developed and analyzed. The error...... sources considered include phase noise, atmospheric distortions, baseline calibration errors, a dry snow layer, and the stationary-flow assumption used in differential interferometry. The additional error sources in the analysis of FD errors are noise, bias and unknown variations of the ice thickness...

Performance of high-resolution X-band radar for rainfall measurement in The Netherlands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Z. van de Beek

2010-02-01

Full Text Available This study presents an analysis of 195 rainfall events gathered with the X-band weather radar SOLIDAR and a tipping bucket rain gauge network near Delft, The Netherlands, between May 1993 and April 1994. The aim of this paper is to present a thorough analysis of a climatological dataset using a high spatial (120 m and temporal (16 s resolution X-band radar. This makes it a study of the potential for high-resolution rainfall measurements with non-polarimetric X-band radar over flat terrain. An appropriate radar reflectivity – rain rate relation is derived from measurements of raindrop size distributions and compared with radar – rain gauge data. The radar calibration is assessed using a long-term comparison of rain gauge measurements with corresponding radar reflectivities as well as by analyzing the evolution of the stability of ground clutter areas over time. Three different methods for ground clutter correction as well as the effectiveness of forward and backward attenuation correction algorithms have been studied. Five individual rainfall events are discussed in detail to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of high-resolution X-band radar and the effectiveness of the presented correction methods. X-band radar is found to be able to measure the space-time variation of rainfall at high resolution, far greater than what can be achieved by rain gauge networks or a typical operational C-band weather radar. On the other hand, SOLIDAR can suffer from receiver saturation, wet radome attenuation as well as signal loss along the path. During very strong convective situations the signal can even be lost completely. In combination with several rain gauges for quality control, high resolution X-band radar is considered to be suitable for rainfall monitoring over relatively small (urban catchments. These results offer great prospects for the new high resolution polarimetric doppler X-band radar IDRA.

Multiscale radar mapping of surface melt over mountain glaciers in High Mountain Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Steiner, N.; McDonald, K. C.

2017-12-01

Glacier melt dominates input for many hydrologic systems in the Himalayan Hindukush region that feed rivers that are critical for downstream ecosystems and hydropower generation in this highly populated area. Deviation in seasonal surface melt timing and duration with a changing climate has the potential to affect up to a billion people on the Indian Subcontinent. Satellite-borne microwave remote sensing has unique capabilities that allow monitoring of numerous landscape processes associated with snowmelt and freeze/thaw state, without many of the limitations in optical-infrared sensors such as solar illumination or atmospheric conditions. The onset of regional freeze/thaw and surface melting transitions determine important surface hydrologic variables like river discharge. Theses regional events are abrupt therefore difficult to observe with low-frequency observation sensors. Recently launched synthetic aperture radar (SAR) onboard the Sentinel-1 A and B satellites from the European Space Agency (ESA) provide wide-swath and high spatial resolution (50-100 m) C-Band SAR observations with observations frequencies not previously available, on the order of 8 to 16 days. The Sentinel SARs provide unique opportunity to study freeze/thaw and mountain glacier melt dynamics at process level scales, spatial and temporal. The melt process of individual glaciers, being fully resolved by imaging radar, will inform on the radiometric scattering physics associated with surface hydrology during the transition from melted to thawed state and during refreeze. Backscatter observations, along with structural information about the surface will be compared with complimentary coarse spatial resolution C-Band radar scatterometers, Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT Met Op A+B), to understand the sub-pixel contribution of surface melting and freeze/thaw signals. This information will inform on longer-scale records of backscatter from ASCAT, 2006-2017. We present a comparison of polarimetric C

Simultaneous rocket and radar measurements of currents in an auroral arc

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, R.M.; Bering, E.A.; Vondrak, R.R.; Anderson, H.R.; Cloutier, P.A.

1981-01-01

A detailed study of electric field, current and conductivities associated with an auroral arc was made in a coordinated rocket and radar experiment in Alaska on March 9, 1978. The payload, designated 29.007 UE, was launched at 1013 p.m. local time. It penetrated the diffuse aurora on the upleg and at apogee traversed field lines connected to a stable auroral arc of 40 kR intensity. Among the instruments carried by the payload were a vector magnetometer, a set of electrostatic double probes and a set of electron and proton spectrometers. Simultaneous electron density and line-of-sight velocity measurements were made by Chatanika radar operating in an elevation scan mode in the magnetic meridian plane. Both the radar and rocket measurements indicated that the zonal electric field was westward and approximately constant across the arc with a magnitude of about 7 mV/m. Small differences between the rocket and radar zonal electric field measurements indicated the presence of upward drifting ions in the region of the arc. The meridional field was large and northward equatorward of the arc, but negligible within the arc. Conductivities computed from measured fluxes of energetic electrons agreed well with the conductivities derived from the radar measureements of electron density. The electric field and conductivity measurements indicated that the zonal currents were eastward equatorward of the arc and westward within the arc. These electrojet currents agreed well with those inferred from the rocket magnetometer data. Better agreement was obtained when a westward neutral wind was added. The westward wind was also consistent with differences between the rocket and radar meridional electric fields. The meridional currents computed from the electric field measurements were northward over the entire region

Radar studies of the planets. [radar measurements of lunar surface, Mars, Mercury, and Venus

Science.gov (United States)

Ingalls, R. P.; Pettengill, G. H.; Rogers, A. E. E.; Sebring, P. B. (Editor); Shapiro, I. I.

1974-01-01

The radar measurements phase of the lunar studies involving reflectivity and topographic mapping of the visible lunar surface was ended in December 1972, but studies of the data and production of maps have continued. This work was supported by Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston. Topographic mapping of the equatorial regions of Mars has been carried out during the period of each opposition since that of 1967. The method comprised extended precise traveling time measurements to a small area centered on the subradar point. As measurements continued, planetary motions caused this point to sweep out extensive areas in both latitude and longitude permitting the development of a fairly extensive topographical map in the equatorial region. Radar observations of Mercury and Venus have also been made over the past few years. Refinements of planetary motions, reflectivity maps and determinations of rotation rates have resulted.

Measurement of electromagnetic fields generated by air traffic control radar systems with spectrum analysers.

Science.gov (United States)

Barellini, A; Bogi, L; Licitra, G; Silvi, A M; Zari, A

2009-12-01

Air traffic control (ATC) primary radars are 'classical' radars that use echoes of radiofrequency (RF) pulses from aircraft to determine their position. High-power RF pulses radiated from radar antennas may produce high electromagnetic field levels in the surrounding area. Measurement of electromagnetic fields produced by RF-pulsed radar by means of a swept-tuned spectrum analyser are investigated here. Measurements have been carried out both in the laboratory and in situ on signals generated by an ATC primary radar.

Measurement of electromagnetic fields generated by air traffic control radar systems with spectrum analysers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barellini, A.; Bogi, L.; Licitra, G.; Silvi, A. M.; Zari, A.

2009-01-01

Air traffic control (ATC) primary radars are 'classical' radars that use echoes of radiofrequency (RF) pulses from aircraft to determine their position. High-power RF pulses radiated from radar antennas may produce high electromagnetic field levels in the surrounding area. Measurement of electromagnetic fields produced by RF-pulsed radar by means of a swept-tuned spectrum analyser are investigated here. Measurements have been carried out both in the laboratory and in situ on signals generated by an ATC primary radar. (authors)

Off-nadir antenna bias correction using Amazon rain forest sigma deg data. [Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Birrer, I. J.; Bracalente, E. M.; Dome, G. J.; Sweet, J.; Berthold, G.; Moore, R. K. (Principal Investigator)

1981-01-01

The radar response from the Amazon rain forest was studied to determine the suitability of this region for use as a standard target to calibrate a scatterometer like that proposed for the National Ocean Satellite System (NOSS). Backscattering observations made by the SEASAT-1 scatterometer system show the Amazon rain forest to be a homogeneous, azimuthally-isotropic, radar target which is insensitive to polarization. The variation with angle of incidence may be adequately modeled as sigma deg (dB) = alpha theta + beta with typical values for the incidence-angle coefficient from 0.07 dB deg to 0.15 dB/deg. A small diurnal effect occurs, with measurements at sunrise being 0.5 dB to 1 dB higher than the rest of the day. Maximum likelihood estimation algorithms are presented which permit determination of relative bias and true pointing angle for each beam. Specific implementation of these algorithms for the proposed NOSS scatterometer system is also discussed.

Off-nadir antenna bias correction using Amazon rain sigma(0) data

Science.gov (United States)

Birrer, I. J.; Dome, G. J.; Sweet, J.; Berthold, G.; Moore, R. K.

1982-01-01

The radar response from the Amazon rain forest was studied to determine the suitability of this region for use as a standard target to calibrate a scatterometer like that proposed for the National Oceanic Satellite System (NOSS). Backscattering observations made by the SEASAT Scatterometer System (SASS) showed the Amazon rain forest to be a homogeneous, azimuthally-isotropic, radar target which was insensitive to polarization. The variation with angle of incidence was adequately modeled as scattering coefficient (dB) = a theta b with typical values for the incidence-angle coefficient from 0.07 to 0.15 dB/deg. A small diurnal effect occurs, with measurements at sunrise being 0.5 dB to 1 dB higher than the rest of the day. Maximum-likelihood estimation algorithms presented here permit determination of relative bias and true pointing angle for each beam. Specific implementation of these algorithms for the proposed NOSS scatterometer system is also discussed.

Developments in radar and remote-sensing methods for measuring and forecasting rainfall.

Science.gov (United States)

Collier, C G

2002-07-15

Over the last 25 years or so, weather-radar networks have become an integral part of operational meteorological observing systems. While measurements of rainfall made using radar systems have been used qualitatively by weather forecasters, and by some operational hydrologists, acceptance has been limited as a consequence of uncertainties in the quality of the data. Nevertheless, new algorithms for improving the accuracy of radar measurements of rainfall have been developed, including the potential to calibrate radars using the measurements of attenuation on microwave telecommunications links. Likewise, ways of assimilating these data into both meteorological and hydrological models are being developed. In this paper we review the current accuracy of radar estimates of rainfall, pointing out those approaches to the improvement of accuracy which are likely to be most successful operationally. Comment is made on the usefulness of satellite data for estimating rainfall in a flood-forecasting context. Finally, problems in coping with the error characteristics of all these data using both simple schemes and more complex four-dimensional variational analysis are being addressed, and are discussed briefly in this paper.

Research cooperation of the development of laser radar for environmental measurements; Kankyo keisokuyo laser radar no kaihatsu ni kansuru kenkyu kyoryoku

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-03-01

Research and development of the laser radar for measuring the air pollution in urban areas and the environmental information network have been conducted through the cooperation with Indonesian researchers. A measurement system suitable to actual situation of Indonesia has been constructed. In FY 1996, some works have been conducted as in the final fiscal year. To set the laser radar for environmental measurements and to make a plan of measurement research, conditions of air pollution in Indonesia and setting places of systems have been investigated. Opinions for the cooperation research have been exchanged with Indonesian researchers. Actual trends of the environmental measurements technology using laser radar have been surveyed. Indonesian researchers have been invited to learn operation and data processing of the system. One unit of MIE diffusion laser radar system has been designed and fabricated, and an additional data processing program has been made. The system has been delivered to Jakarta and installed. After the adjustment, performance tests have been conducted to complete the construction of the system. 3 refs., 72 figs., 10 tabs.

Borehole radar measurements performed on preliminary investigation areas in Finland for final disposal of spent nuclear fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlsten, S.

1991-05-01

Borehole radar measurements with the RAMAC system have been performed in 24 boreholes distributed between the investigation areas Kuhmo Romuvaara, Hyrynsalmi Veitsivaara, Konginkangas Kivetty, Sievi Syyry, and Eurajoki Olkiluoto. The purpose of the borehole radar measurement program has been to investigate the bedrock in the vicinity of the boreholes in order to obtain information about geometry and extent of fracture zones, lithological contacts and other structures. The measurements have been performed as singlehole radar reflection measurements and Vertical Radar Profiling (VRP) measurements, using antennas with 22 MHz frequency range in both configurations. The total measured length in the singlehole radar reflection mode is 13304 meter and in the VRP mode 9200 meter. The VRP measurements are not presented in the report. Radar data from the singlehole reflection measurements are presented as grey scale radar maps after digital filtering with a bandpass filter and a moving average filter. Interpreted zones from the singlehole radar measurements are presented in tables for each borehole. It has been possible to study structures at distances of more than 110 meter from the borehole

A comparison on radar range profiles between in-flight measurements and RCS-predictions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heiden, R. van der; Ewijk, L.J. van; Groen, F.C.A.

1998-01-01

The validation of Radar Cross Section (RCS) prediction techniques against real measurements is crucial to acquire confidence in predictions when measurements are nut available. In this paper we present the results of a comparison on one-dimensional signatures, i.e. radar range profiles. The profiles

Theory and Measurement of Signal-to-Noise Ratio in Continuous-Wave Noise Radar.

Science.gov (United States)

Stec, Bronisław; Susek, Waldemar

2018-05-06

Determination of the signal power-to-noise power ratio on the input and output of reception systems is essential to the estimation of their quality and signal reception capability. This issue is especially important in the case when both signal and noise have the same characteristic as Gaussian white noise. This article considers the problem of how a signal-to-noise ratio is changed as a result of signal processing in the correlation receiver of a noise radar in order to determine the ability to detect weak features in the presence of strong clutter-type interference. These studies concern both theoretical analysis and practical measurements of a noise radar with a digital correlation receiver for 9.2 GHz bandwidth. Firstly, signals participating individually in the correlation process are defined and the terms signal and interference are ascribed to them. Further studies show that it is possible to distinguish a signal and a noise on the input and output of a correlation receiver, respectively, when all the considered noises are in the form of white noise. Considering the above, a measurement system is designed in which it is possible to represent the actual conditions of noise radar operation and power measurement of a useful noise signal and interference noise signals—in particular the power of an internal leakage signal between a transmitter and a receiver of the noise radar. The proposed measurement stands and the obtained results show that it is possible to optimize with the use of the equipment and not with the complex processing of a noise signal. The radar parameters depend on its prospective application, such as short- and medium-range radar, ground-penetrating radar, and through-the-wall detection radar.

Radar for Measuring Soil Moisture Under Vegetation

Science.gov (United States)

Moghaddam, Mahta; Moller, Delwyn; Rodriguez, Ernesto; Rahmat-Samii, Yahya

2004-01-01

A two-frequency, polarimetric, spaceborne synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) system has been proposed for measuring the moisture content of soil as a function of depth, even in the presence of overlying vegetation. These measurements are needed because data on soil moisture under vegetation canopies are not available now and are necessary for completing mathematical models of global energy and water balance with major implications for global variations in weather and climate.

Incoherent-scatter radar measurements of electric field and plasma in the auroral ionosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vondrak, R.

1983-01-01

This chapter summarizes Chatanika radar measurements of electric fields and currents, and their relation to E-region ionization and conductivity. Electric-field coupling between the ionosphere and magnetosphere and the relationship between field-aligned currents and meridional ionospheric currents are examined. Topics considered include the diurnal pattern of the ionization and electric field; electrical coupling between the ionosphere and magnetosphere; and the relationship between meridional currents and field-aligned currents. It is concluded that the incoherent-scatter radar technique has been developed into a powerful method for remotely measuring the electrical and thermal properties of the auroral ionospheric plasma, and that the usefulness of the radar measurements is greatly enhanced when combined with simultaneous satellite measurements

Improving Weather Radar Precipitation Estimates by Combining two Types of Radars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jesper Ellerbæk; Thorndahl, Søren Liedtke; Rasmussen, Michael R.

2014-01-01

This paper presents a demonstration of how Local Area Weather Radar (LAWR) X-band measurements can be combined with meteorological C–band measurements into a single radar product. For this purpose, a blending method has been developed which combines the strengths of the two radar systems. Combining...... the two radar types achieves a radar product with both long range and high temporal resolution. It is validated that the blended radar product performs better than the individual radars based on ground observations from laser disdrometers. However, the data combination is challenged by lower performance...... of the LAWR. Although both radars benefits from the data combination, it is also found that advection based temporal interpolation is a more favourable method for increasing the temporal resolution of meteorological C–band measurements....

Detecting forest structure and biomass with C-band multipolarization radar - Physical model and field tests

Science.gov (United States)

Westman, Walter E.; Paris, Jack F.

1987-01-01

The ability of C-band radar (4.75 GHz) to discriminate features of forest structure, including biomass, is tested using a truck-mounted scatterometer for field tests on a 1.5-3.0 m pygmy forest of cypress (Cupressus pygmaea) and pine (Pinus contorta ssp, Bolanderi) near Mendocino, CA. In all, 31 structural variables of the forest are quantified at seven sites. Also measured was the backscatter from a life-sized physical model of the pygmy forest, composed of nine wooden trees with 'leafy branches' of sponge-wrapped dowels. This model enabled independent testing of the effects of stem, branch, and leafy branch biomass, branch angle, and moisture content on radar backscatter. Field results suggested that surface area of leaves played a greater role in leaf scattering properties than leaf biomass per se. Tree leaf area index was strongly correlated with vertically polarized power backscatter (r = 0.94; P less than 0.01). Field results suggested that the scattering role of leaf water is enhanced as leaf surface area per unit leaf mass increases; i.e., as the moist scattering surfaces become more dispersed. Fog condensate caused a measurable rise in forest backscatter, both from surface and internal rises in water content. Tree branch mass per unit area was highly correlated with cross-polarized backscatter in the field (r = 0.93; P less than 0.01), a result also seen in the physical model.

Optimization of a dual-rotating-retarder polarimeter as applied to a tunable infrared Mueller-matrix scatterometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vap, J C; Nauyoks, S E; Marciniak, M A

2013-01-01

The value of Mueller-matrix (Mm) scatterometers lies in their ability to simultaneously characterize the polarimetric and directional scatter properties of a sample. To extend their utility to characterizing modern optical materials in the infrared (IR), which often have very narrow resonances yet interesting polarization and directional properties, the addition of tunable IR lasers and an achromatic dual-rotating-retarder (DRR) polarimeter is necessary. An optimization method has been developed for use with the tunable IR Mm scatterometer. This method is rooted in the application of random error analysis to three different DRR retardances, λ/5, λ/4 and λ/3, for three different analyzer (A)-to-generator (G) retarder rotation ratios, θ A :θ G = 34:26, 25:5 and 37.5:7.5, and a variable number of intensity measurements. The product of the error analysis is in terms of the level of error that could be expected from a free-space Mm extraction for the various retardances, retarder rotation ratios and number of intensity measurements of the DRR. The optimal DRR specifications identified are a λ/3 retardance and a Fourier rotation ratio, with the number of required collected measurements dependent on the level of error acceptable to the user. Experimental results corroborate this error analysis using an achromatic 110-degree retardance-configured DRR polarimeter at 5 µm wavelength, which resulted in consistent 1% error in its free-space Mm extractions. (paper)

Estimating Radar Velocity using Direction of Arrival Measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doerry, Armin Walter [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Horndt, Volker [General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., San Diego, CA (United States); Bickel, Douglas Lloyd [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Naething, Richard M. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2014-09-01

Direction of Arrival (DOA) measurements, as with a monopulse antenna, can be compared against Doppler measurements in a Synthetic Aperture Radar ( SAR ) image to determine an aircraft's forward velocity as well as its crab angle, to assist the aircraft's navigation as well as improving high - performance SAR image formation and spatial calibration.

Application of the Tikhonov regularization method to wind retrieval from scatterometer data I. Sensitivity analysis and simulation experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong Jian; Huang Si-Xun; Du Hua-Dong; Zhang Liang

2011-01-01

Scatterometer is an instrument which provides all-day and large-scale wind field information, and its application especially to wind retrieval always attracts meteorologists. Certain reasons cause large direction error, so it is important to find where the error mainly comes. Does it mainly result from the background field, the normalized radar cross-section (NRCS) or the method of wind retrieval? It is valuable to research. First, depending on SDP2.0, the simulated ‘true’ NRCS is calculated from the simulated ‘true’ wind through the geophysical model function NSCAT2. The simulated background field is configured by adding a noise to the simulated ‘true’ wind with the non-divergence constraint. Also, the simulated ‘measured’ NRCS is formed by adding a noise to the simulated ‘true’ NRCS. Then, the sensitivity experiments are taken, and the new method of regularization is used to improve the ambiguity removal with simulation experiments. The results show that the accuracy of wind retrieval is more sensitive to the noise in the background than in the measured NRCS; compared with the two-dimensional variational (2DVAR) ambiguity removal method, the accuracy of wind retrieval can be improved with the new method of Tikhonov regularization through choosing an appropriate regularization parameter, especially for the case of large error in the background. The work will provide important information and a new method for the wind retrieval with real data. (electromagnetism, optics, acoustics, heat transfer, classical mechanics, and fluid dynamics)

Ionospheric propagation effects on spectral widths measured by SuperDARN HF radars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. Vallières

2004-06-01

Full Text Available SuperDARN HF radars provide a global survey of the large-scale convection transversely to the Earth's magnetic field in the high-latitude ionosphere. In addition to the mean plasma velocity, this network also provides measurements of spectral widths which are related to the level of turbulence of the sounded plasma. There is an increasing interest in using spectral widths in geophysical studies, since they are used to monitor the footprints of several magnetospheric regions. In the present paper, we show the effect of radio wave propagation through a typical turbulent ionosphere on spectral widths measured by SuperDARN radars. This effect has already been evidenced experimentally in a previous paper. Here, we model the effects of meso-scale structures on a radar wave front and study their impact on a typical measurement. Numerical simulations reproduce the effect evidenced experimentally and show the role of meso-scale structures (1-10km in the systematic bias that affects spectral width values. As in experimental data, this effect is shown to be increasing with decreasing radar frequency.

Ionospheric propagation effects on spectral widths measured by SuperDARN HF radars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. Vallières

2004-06-01

Full Text Available SuperDARN HF radars provide a global survey of the large-scale convection transversely to the Earth's magnetic field in the high-latitude ionosphere. In addition to the mean plasma velocity, this network also provides measurements of spectral widths which are related to the level of turbulence of the sounded plasma. There is an increasing interest in using spectral widths in geophysical studies, since they are used to monitor the footprints of several magnetospheric regions. In the present paper, we show the effect of radio wave propagation through a typical turbulent ionosphere on spectral widths measured by SuperDARN radars. This effect has already been evidenced experimentally in a previous paper. Here, we model the effects of meso-scale structures on a radar wave front and study their impact on a typical measurement. Numerical simulations reproduce the effect evidenced experimentally and show the role of meso-scale structures (1-10km in the systematic bias that affects spectral width values. As in experimental data, this effect is shown to be increasing with decreasing radar frequency.

Radar and photometric measurements of an intense type A red aurora

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, R. M.; Mende, S. B.; Vondrak, R. R.; Kozyra, J. U.; Nagy, A. F.

1985-01-01

On the evening of March 5, 1981, an intense, type A red aurora appeared over southern Alaska. Radar and photometric measurements were made of the aurora from the Chatanika radar site. The line of sight intensity of the 630.0-nm emissions exceeded 150 kR and was accompanied by enhanced emissions at 486.1 and 427.8 nm. The Chatanika radar measured electron densities of 10 to the 6th per cu cm and electron temperatures of 6000 K at an altitude of 400 km and an invariant latitude of 59 deg in association with the aurora. Comparison of optical and radar measurements indicated that the 630.0-nm emissions were produced to a large degree by thermal excitation of O(1D) in the region of high electron temperatures and densities. Model calculations indicate that the observed density and temperature enhancements and the related optical emissions were the results of a relatively short duration (5-10 min) pulse of precipitating, low-energy (about 30 eV) electrons. Whereas conventional stable auroral red arcs are associated with a gradual decrease in ring current energy density during the recovery phase of a magnetic storm, the type A red aurora may be produced by impulsive ring current energy loss during the main phase.

Measurement of Precipitation in the Alps Using Dual-Polarization C-Band Ground-Based Radars, the GPM Spaceborne Ku-Band Radar, and Rain Gauges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Gabella

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The complex problem of quantitative precipitation estimation in the Alpine region is tackled from four different points of view: (1 the modern MeteoSwiss network of automatic telemetered rain gauges (GAUGE; (2 the recently upgraded MeteoSwiss dual-polarization Doppler, ground-based weather radar network (RADAR; (3 a real-time merging of GAUGE and RADAR, implemented at MeteoSwiss, in which a technique based on co-kriging with external drift (CombiPrecip is used; (4 spaceborne observations, acquired by the dual-wavelength precipitation radar on board the Global Precipitation Measuring (GPM core satellite. There are obviously large differences in these sampling modes, which we have tried to minimize by integrating synchronous observations taken during the first 2 years of the GPM mission. The data comprises 327 “wet” overpasses of Switzerland, taken after the launch of GPM in February 2014. By comparing the GPM radar estimates with the MeteoSwiss products, a similar performance was found in terms of bias. On average (whole country, all days and seasons, both solid and liquid phases, underestimation is as large as −3.0 (−3.4 dB with respect to RADAR (GAUGE. GPM is not suitable for assessing what product is the best in terms of average precipitation over the Alps. GPM can nevertheless be used to evaluate the dispersion of the error around the mean, which is a measure of the geographical distribution of the error inside the country. Using 221 rain-gauge sites, the result is clear both in terms of correlation and in terms of scatter (a robust, weighted measure of the dispersion of the multiplicative error around the mean. The best agreement was observed between GPM and CombiPrecip, and, next, between GPM and RADAR, whereas a larger disagreement was found between GPM and GAUGE. Hence, GPM confirms that, for precipitation mapping in the Alpine region, the best results are obtained by combining ground-based radar with rain-gauge measurements using

Retrievals of Ice Cloud Microphysical Properties of Deep Convective Systems using Radar Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, J.; Dong, X.; Xi, B.; Wang, J.; Homeyer, C. R.

2015-12-01

This study presents innovative algorithms for retrieving ice cloud microphysical properties of Deep Convective Systems (DCSs) using Next-Generation Radar (NEXRAD) reflectivity and newly derived empirical relationships from aircraft in situ measurements in Wang et al. (2015) during the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E). With composite gridded NEXRAD radar reflectivity, four-dimensional (space-time) ice cloud microphysical properties of DCSs are retrieved, which is not possible from either in situ sampling at a single altitude or from vertical pointing radar measurements. For this study, aircraft in situ measurements provide the best-estimated ice cloud microphysical properties for validating the radar retrievals. Two statistical comparisons between retrieved and aircraft in situ measured ice microphysical properties are conducted from six selected cases during MC3E. For the temporal-averaged method, the averaged ice water content (IWC) and median mass diameter (Dm) from aircraft in situ measurements are 0.50 g m-3 and 1.51 mm, while the retrievals from radar reflectivity have negative biases of 0.12 g m-3 (24%) and 0.02 mm (1.3%) with correlations of 0.71 and 0.48, respectively. For the spatial-averaged method, the IWC retrievals are closer to the aircraft results (0.51 vs. 0.47 g m-3) with a positive bias of 8.5%, whereas the Dm retrievals are larger than the aircraft results (1.65 mm vs. 1.51 mm) with a positive bias of 9.3%. The retrieved IWCs decrease from ~0.6 g m-3 at 5 km to ~0.15 g m-3 at 13 km, and Dm values decrease from ~2 mm to ~0.7 mm at the same levels. In general, the aircraft in situ measured IWC and Dm values at each level are within one standard derivation of retrieved properties. Good agreements between microphysical properties measured from aircraft and retrieved from radar reflectivity measurements indicate the reasonable accuracy of our retrievals.

Measurement needs guided by synthetic radar scans in high-resolution model output

Science.gov (United States)

Varble, A.; Nesbitt, S. W.; Borque, P.

2017-12-01

Microphysical and dynamical process interactions within deep convective clouds are not well understood, partly because measurement strategies often focus on statistics of cloud state rather than cloud processes. While processes cannot be directly measured, they can be inferred with sufficiently frequent and detailed scanning radar measurements focused on the life cycleof individual cloud regions. This is a primary goal of the 2018-19 DOE ARM Cloud, Aerosol, and Complex Terrain Interactions (CACTI) and NSF Remote sensing of Electrification, Lightning, And Mesoscale/microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) field campaigns in central Argentina, where orographic deep convective initiation is frequent with some high-impact systems growing into the tallest and largest in the world. An array of fixed and mobile scanning multi-wavelength dual-polarization radars will be coupled with surface observations, sounding systems, multi-wavelength vertical profilers, and aircraft in situ measurements to characterize convective cloud life cycles and their relationship with environmental conditions. While detailed cloud processes are an observational target, the radar scan patterns that are most ideal for observing them are unclear. They depend on the locations and scales of key microphysical and dynamical processes operating within the cloud. High-resolution simulations of clouds, while imperfect, can provide information on these locations and scales that guide radar measurement needs. Radar locations are set in the model domain based on planned experiment locations, and simulatedorographic deep convective initiation and upscale growth are sampled using a number of different scans involving RHIs or PPIs with predefined elevation and azimuthal angles that approximately conform with radar range and beam width specifications. Each full scan pattern is applied to output atsingle model time steps with time step intervals that depend on the length of time

Initial results from SKiYMET meteor radar at Thumba (8.5°N, 77°E): 1. Comparison of wind measurements with MF spaced antenna radar system

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Karanam Kishore; Ramkumar, Geetha; Shelbi, S. T.

2007-12-01

In the present communication, initial results from the allSKy interferometric METeor (SKiYMET) radar installed at Thumba (8.5°N, 77°E) are presented. The meteor radar system provides hourly zonal and meridional winds in the mesosphere lower thermosphere (MLT) region. The meteor radar measured zonal and meridional winds are compared with nearby MF radar at Tirunalveli (8.7°N, 77.8°E). The present study provided an opportunity to compare the winds measured by the two different techniques, namely, interferometry and spaced antenna drift methods. Simultaneous wind measurements for a total number of 273 days during September 2004 to May 2005 are compared. The comparison showed a very good agreement between these two techniques in the height region 82-90 km and poor agreement above this height region. In general, the zonal winds compare very well as compared to the meridional winds. The observed discrepancies in the wind comparison above 90 km are discussed in the light of existing limitations of both the radars. The detailed analysis revealed the consistency of the measured winds by both the techniques. However, the discrepancies are observed at higher altitudes and are attributed to the contamination of MF radar neutral wind measurements with Equatorial Electro Jet (EEJ) induced inospheric drifts rather than the limitations of the spaced antenna technique. The comparison of diurnal variation of zonal winds above 90 km measured by both the radars is in reasonably good agreement in the absence of EEJ (during local nighttime). It is also been noted that the difference in the zonal wind measurements by both the radars is directly related to the strength of EEJ, which is a noteworthy result from the present study.

Conceptual Architecture to Measure the Effects of Subauroral Polarization Streams on Radar Operations

Science.gov (United States)

2016-09-01

Institute of Technology Air University Air Education and Training Command In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of...and estimate how much SAPS effects radar operations, the execution of over the horizon radars and documentation of clutter should use the high- level ...for various operations will be portrayed in a systems model to show all parts involved in the measurements. The degree of radar interference due to

Field intercomparison of channel master ADCP with RiverSonde Radar for measuring river discharge

Science.gov (United States)

Spain, P.; Marsden, R.; Barrick, D.; Teague, C.; Ruhl, C.

2005-01-01

The RiverSonde radar makes non-contact measurement of a horizontal swath of surface velocity across a river section. This radar, which has worked successfully at several rivers in the Western USA, has shown encouraging correlation with simultaneous measurements of average currents at one level recorded by an acoustic travel-time system. This work reports a field study intercomparing data sets from a 600 kHz Channel Master ADCP with the RiverSonde radar. The primary goal was to begin to explore the robustness of the radar data as a reliable index of discharge. This site Is at Three Mile Slough in Northern California, USA. The larger intent of the work is to examine variability in space and time of the radar's surface currents compared with subsurface flows across the river section. Here we examine data from a couple of periods with strong winds. ?? 2005 IEEE.

Measurements of mesospheric ice aerosols using radars and rockets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strelnikova, Irina; Li, Qiang; Strelnikov, Boris; Rapp, Markus [Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Kuehlungsborn (Germany)

2010-07-01

Polar summer mesopause is the coldest region of Earth's atmosphere with temperatures as low as minus 130 C. In this extreme environment ice aerosol layers have appeared. Larger aerosols can be seen from the ground as clouds known as NLC (Noctilucent clouds). Ice aerosols from sub-visible range give rise to the phenomena known as Polar Mesosphere Sommer Echo (PMSE). For efficient scattering, electron number density must be structured at the radar half wavelength (Bragg condition). The general requirement to allow for the observation of structures at VHF and higher frequencies is that the dust size (and charge number) must be large enough to extend the convective-diffusive subrange of the energy spectrum of electrons (by reducing their diffusivity) to the wavelength which is shorter than the Bragg-scale of the probing radar. In this paper we present main results of ice particles measurements inside the PMSE layers obtained from in situ rocket soundings and newly developed radar techniques.

A New Ka-Band Scanning Radar Facility: Polarimetric and Doppler Spectra Measurements of Snow Events

Science.gov (United States)

Oue, M.; Kollias, P.; Luke, E. P.; Mead, J.

2017-12-01

Polarimetric radar analyses offer the capability of identification of ice hydrometeor species as well as their spatial distributions. In addition to polarimetric parameter observations, Doppler spectra measurements offer unique insights into ice particle properties according to particle fall velocities. In particular, millimeter-wavelength radar Doppler spectra can reveal supercooled liquid cloud droplets embedded in ice precipitation clouds. A Ka-band scanning polarimetric radar, named KASPR, was installed in an observation facility at Stony Brook University, located 22 km west of the KOKX NEXRAD radar at Upton, NY. The KASPR can measure Doppler spectra and full polarimetric variables, including radar reflectivity, differential reflectivity (ZDR), differential phase (φDP), specific differential phase (KDP), correlation coefficient (ρhv), and linear depolarization ratio (LDR). The facility also includes a micro-rain radar and a microwave radiometer capable of measuring reflectivity profiles and integrated liquid water path, respectively. The instruments collected initial datasets during two snowstorm events and two snow shower events in March 2017. The radar scan strategy was a combination of PPI scans at 4 elevation angles (10, 20, 45, and 60°) and RHI scans in polarimetry mode, and zenith pointing with Doppler spectra collection. During the snowstorm events the radar observed relatively larger ZDR (1-1.5 dB) and enhanced KDP (1-2 ° km-1) at heights corresponding to a plate/dendrite crystal growth regime. The Doppler spectra showed that slower-falling particles ( 1 m s-1). The weakly increased ZDR could be produced by large, faster falling particles such as quasi-spherical aggregates, while the enhanced KDP could be produced by highly-oriented oblate, slowly-falling particles. Below 2 km altitude, measurements of dual wavelength ratio (DWR) based on Ka and S-band reflectivities from the KASPR and NEXRAD radars were available. Larger DWR (>10 dB) suggested

An Assessment of Wind Plant Complex Flows Using Advanced Doppler Radar Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Gunter, W. S.; Schroeder, J.; Hirth, B.; Duncan, J.; Guynes, J.

2015-12-01

As installed wind energy capacity continues to steadily increase, the need for comprehensive measurements of wind plant complex flows to further reduce the cost of wind energy has been well advertised by the industry as a whole. Such measurements serve diverse perspectives including resource assessment, turbine inflow and power curve validation, wake and wind plant layout model verification, operations and maintenance, and the development of future advanced wind plant control schemes. While various measurement devices have been matured for wind energy applications (e.g. meteorological towers, LIDAR, SODAR), this presentation will focus on the use of advanced Doppler radar systems to observe the complex wind flows within and surrounding wind plants. Advanced Doppler radars can provide the combined advantage of a large analysis footprint (tens of square kilometers) with rapid data analysis updates (a few seconds to one minute) using both single- and dual-Doppler data collection methods. This presentation demonstrates the utility of measurements collected by the Texas Tech University Ka-band (TTUKa) radars to identify complex wind flows occurring within and nearby operational wind plants, and provide reliable forecasts of wind speeds and directions at given locations (i.e. turbine or instrumented tower sites) 45+ seconds in advance. Radar-derived wind maps reveal commonly observed features such as turbine wakes and turbine-to-turbine interaction, high momentum wind speed channels between turbine wakes, turbine array edge effects, transient boundary layer flow structures (such as wind streaks, frontal boundaries, etc.), and the impact of local terrain. Operational turbine or instrumented tower data are merged with the radar analysis to link the observed complex flow features to turbine and wind plant performance.

Stealth metamaterial objects characterized in the far field by Radar Cross Section measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iwaszczuk, Krzysztof; Fan, K.; Strikwerda, A. C.

Reflection spectra and radar cross sections (RCS) at terahertz frequencies are measured on structures incorporating absorbing metamaterials. Reduction of the RCS by the factor of 375 at the resonant frequencies is observed.......Reflection spectra and radar cross sections (RCS) at terahertz frequencies are measured on structures incorporating absorbing metamaterials. Reduction of the RCS by the factor of 375 at the resonant frequencies is observed....

Monitoring drought affected crop yields based on ERS-scatterometer data : exploration of possibilities to integrate ERS-scatterometer derived soil moisture into the CGMS crop model for a Russian-Ukrainian study area

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boogaard, H.L.; Diepen, van C.A.; Savin, I.

2000-01-01

In this study the possibilities of integrating ERS scatterometer-derived soil moisture into CGMS are explored. This remote sensed soil moisture is used to calculate drought stress in grains of barley for a Russian-Ukrainian study area. The results arecompared with drought stress based on the

Dual-wavelength millimeter-wave radar measurements of cirrus clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sekelsky, S.M.; Firda, J.M.; McIntosh, R.E. [Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States)

1996-04-01

In April 1994, the University of Massachusetts` 33-GHz/95-GHz Cloud Profiling Radar System (CPRS) participated in the multi-sensor Remote Cloud Sensing (RCS) Intensive Operation Period (IOP), which was conducted at the Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART). During the 3-week experiment, CPRS measured a variety of cloud types and severe weather. In the context of global warming, the most significant measurements are dual-frequency observations of cirrus clouds, which may eventually be used to estimate ice crystal size and shape. Much of the cirrus data collected with CPRS show differences between 33-GHz and 95-GHz reflectivity measurements that are correlated with Doppler estimates of fall velocity. Because of the small range of reflectivity differences, a precise calibration of the radar is required and differential attenuation must also be removed from the data. Depolarization, which is an indicator of crystal shape, was also observed in several clouds. In this abstract we present examples of Mie scattering from cirrus and estimates of differential attenuation due to water vapor and oxygen that were derived from CART radiosonde measurements.

REMOTE SENSING IN OCEANOGRAPHY.

Science.gov (United States)

remote sensing from satellites. Sensing of oceanographic variables from aircraft began with the photographing of waves and ice. Since then remote measurement of sea surface temperatures and wave heights have become routine. Sensors tested for oceanographic applications include multi-band color cameras, radar scatterometers, infrared spectrometers and scanners, passive microwave radiometers, and radar imagers. Remote sensing has found its greatest application in providing rapid coverage of large oceanographic areas for synoptic and analysis and

Energetics of small scale turbulence in the lower stratosphere from high resolution radar measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Dole

2001-08-01

Full Text Available Very high resolution radar measurements were performed in the troposphere and lower stratosphere by means of the PROUST radar. The PROUST radar operates in the UHF band (961 MHz and is located in St. Santin, France (44°39’ N, 2°12’ E. A field campaign involving high resolution balloon measurements and the PROUST radar was conducted during April 1998. Under the classical hypothesis that refractive index inhomogeneities at half radar wavelength lie within the inertial subrange, assumed to be isotropic, kinetic energy and temperature variance dissipation rates were estimated independently in the lower stratosphere. The dissipation rate of temperature variance is proportional to the dissipation rate of available potential energy. We therefore estimate the ratio of dissipation rates of potential to kinetic energy. This ratio is a key parameter of atmospheric turbulence which, in locally homogeneous and stationary conditions, is simply related to the flux Richardson number, Rf .Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (turbulence – Radio science (remote sensing

Radar orthogonality and radar length in Finsler and metric spacetime geometry

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeifer, Christian

2014-09-01

The radar experiment connects the geometry of spacetime with an observers measurement of spatial length. We investigate the radar experiment on Finsler spacetimes which leads to a general definition of radar orthogonality and radar length. The directions radar orthogonal to an observer form the spatial equal time surface an observer experiences and the radar length is the physical length the observer associates to spatial objects. We demonstrate these concepts on a forth order polynomial Finsler spacetime geometry which may emerge from area metric or premetric linear electrodynamics or in quantum gravity phenomenology. In an explicit generalization of Minkowski spacetime geometry we derive the deviation from the Euclidean spatial length measure in an observers rest frame explicitly.

Assimilation of Global Radar Backscatter and Radiometer Brightness Temperature Observations to Improve Soil Moisture and Land Evaporation Estimates

Science.gov (United States)

Lievens, H.; Martens, B.; Verhoest, N. E. C.; Hahn, S.; Reichle, R. H.; Miralles, D. G.

2017-01-01

Active radar backscatter (s?) observations from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) and passive radiometer brightness temperature (TB) observations from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission are assimilated either individually or jointly into the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM) to improve its simulations of soil moisture and land evaporation. To enable s? and TB assimilation, GLEAM is coupled to the Water Cloud Model and the L-band Microwave Emission from the Biosphere (L-MEB) model. The innovations, i.e. differences between observations and simulations, are mapped onto the model soil moisture states through an Ensemble Kalman Filter. The validation of surface (0-10 cm) soil moisture simulations over the period 2010-2014 against in situ measurements from the International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN) shows that assimilating s? or TB alone improves the average correlation of seasonal anomalies (Ran) from 0.514 to 0.547 and 0.548, respectively. The joint assimilation further improves Ran to 0.559. Associated enhancements in daily evaporative flux simulations by GLEAM are validated based on measurements from 22 FLUXNET stations. Again, the singular assimilation improves Ran from 0.502 to 0.536 and 0.533, respectively for s? and TB, whereas the best performance is observed for the joint assimilation (Ran = 0.546). These results demonstrate the complementary value of assimilating radar backscatter observations together with brightness temperatures for improving estimates of hydrological variables, as their joint assimilation outperforms the assimilation of each observation type separately.

A simple biota removal algorithm for 35 GHz cloud radar measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Kalapureddy, Madhu Chandra R.; Sukanya, Patra; Das, Subrata K.; Deshpande, Sachin M.; Pandithurai, Govindan; Pazamany, Andrew L.; Ambuj K., Jha; Chakravarty, Kaustav; Kalekar, Prasad; Krishna Devisetty, Hari; Annam, Sreenivas

2018-03-01

Cloud radar reflectivity profiles can be an important measurement for the investigation of cloud vertical structure (CVS). However, extracting intended meteorological cloud content from the measurement often demands an effective technique or algorithm that can reduce error and observational uncertainties in the recorded data. In this work, a technique is proposed to identify and separate cloud and non-hydrometeor echoes using the radar Doppler spectral moments profile measurements. The point and volume target-based theoretical radar sensitivity curves are used for removing the receiver noise floor and identified radar echoes are scrutinized according to the signal decorrelation period. Here, it is hypothesized that cloud echoes are observed to be temporally more coherent and homogenous and have a longer correlation period than biota. That can be checked statistically using ˜ 4 s sliding mean and standard deviation value of reflectivity profiles. The above step helps in screen out clouds critically by filtering out the biota. The final important step strives for the retrieval of cloud height. The proposed algorithm potentially identifies cloud height solely through the systematic characterization of Z variability using the local atmospheric vertical structure knowledge besides to the theoretical, statistical and echo tracing tools. Thus, characterization of high-resolution cloud radar reflectivity profile measurements has been done with the theoretical echo sensitivity curves and observed echo statistics for the true cloud height tracking (TEST). TEST showed superior performance in screening out clouds and filtering out isolated insects. TEST constrained with polarimetric measurements was found to be more promising under high-density biota whereas TEST combined with linear depolarization ratio and spectral width perform potentially to filter out biota within the highly turbulent shallow cumulus clouds in the convective boundary layer (CBL). This TEST technique is

Research and development of laser radar for environmental measurements. Pt. 3; Kankyo keisokuyo laser radar no kenkyu kaihatsu. 3

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-03-01

Described herein are the results of the joint project between Japan and Indonesia to construct a new laser radar network system, which can three-dimensionally measure air pollution conditions in urban areas, in Djakarta. This joint project is implemented to elucidate the mechanisms involved in air pollution in the city, and thereby to contribute to environmental administration of Indonesia. This project is expected to give the basic approach to solution of environmental problems in urban areas, and eventually on a global scale, and hence to contribute to construction of the global network systems for environment-related information, which should be necessary in the near future. The (ODA Laser Radar Development Committee) is the deliberative body for the project, responsible for evaluating the project results. The project will be implemented on a 4-year plan from FY1993 to 1996. The activities in this year, the third year for the project, include on-the-spot survey, selection of the laser radar site, and development/improvement of the laser radar system. These results are described herein. (NEDO)

Characterization Of Ocean Wind Vector Retrievals Using ERS-2 High-Resolution Long-Term Dataset And Buoy Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Polverari, F.; Talone, M.; Crapolicchio, R. Levy, G.; Marzano, F.

2013-12-01

The European Remote-sensing Satellite (ERS)-2 scatterometer provides wind retrievals over Ocean. To satisfy the needs of high quality and homogeneous set of scatterometer measurements, the European Space Agency (ESA) has developed the project Advanced Scatterometer Processing System (ASPS) with which a long-term dataset of new ERS-2 wind products, with an enhanced resolution of 25km square, has been generated by the reprocessing of the entire ERS mission. This paper presents the main results of the validation work of such new dataset using in situ measurements provided by the Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA). The comparison indicates that, on average, the scatterometer data agree well with buoys measurements, however the scatterometer tends to overestimates lower winds and underestimates higher winds.

Energetics of small scale turbulence in the lower stratosphere from high resolution radar measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Dole

Full Text Available Very high resolution radar measurements were performed in the troposphere and lower stratosphere by means of the PROUST radar. The PROUST radar operates in the UHF band (961 MHz and is located in St. Santin, France (44°39’ N, 2°12’ E. A field campaign involving high resolution balloon measurements and the PROUST radar was conducted during April 1998. Under the classical hypothesis that refractive index inhomogeneities at half radar wavelength lie within the inertial subrange, assumed to be isotropic, kinetic energy and temperature variance dissipation rates were estimated independently in the lower stratosphere. The dissipation rate of temperature variance is proportional to the dissipation rate of available potential energy. We therefore estimate the ratio of dissipation rates of potential to kinetic energy. This ratio is a key parameter of atmospheric turbulence which, in locally homogeneous and stationary conditions, is simply related to the flux Richardson number, R_f .

Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (turbulence – Radio science (remote sensing

Evaluating a Radar-Based, Non Contact Streamflow Measurement System in the San Joaquin River at Vernalis, California

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Ralph T.; Gartner, Jeffrey W.; Mason, Jr., Robert R.; Costa, John E.; Plant, William J.; Spicer, Kurt R.; Haeni, F. Peter; Melcher, Nick B.; Keller, William C.; Hayes, Ken

2004-01-01

Accurate measurement of flow in the San Joaquin River at Vernalis, California, is vital to a wide range of Federal and State agencies, environmental interests, and water contractors. The U.S. Geological Survey uses a conventional stage-discharge rating technique to determine flows at Vernalis. Since the flood of January 1997, the channel has scoured and filled as much as 20 feet in some sections near the measurement site resulting in an unstable stage-discharge rating. In response to recent advances in measurement techniques and the need for more accurate measurement methods, the Geological Survey has undertaken a technology demonstration project to develop and deploy a radar-based streamflow measuring system on the bank of the San Joaquin River at Vernalis, California. The proposed flow-measurement system consists of a ground-penetrating radar system for mapping channel geometries, a microwave radar system for measuring surface velocities, and other necessary infrastructure. Cross-section information derived from ground penetrating radar provided depths similar to those measured by other instruments during the study. Likewise, surface-velocity patterns and magnitudes measured by the pulsed Doppler radar system are consistent with near surface current measurements derived from acoustic velocity instruments. Since the ratio of surface velocity to mean velocity falls to within a small range of theoretical value, using surface velocity as an index velocity to compute river discharge is feasable. Ultimately, the non-contact radar system may be used to make continuous, near-real-time flow measurements during high and medium flows. This report documents the data collected between April 14, 2002 and May 17, 2002 for the purposes of testing this radar based system. Further analyses of the data collected during this field effort will lead to further development and improvement of the system.

Polarimetric borehole radar measurement near Nojima fault and its application to subsurface crack characterization; Polarimetric borehole radar ni yoru Nojima danso shuhen no chika kiretsu keisoku jikken

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sato, M.; Taniguchi, Y.; Miwa, T.; Niitsuma, H. [Tohoku University, Sendai (Japan); Ikeda, R. [National Research Institute for Disaster Prevention, Tsukuba (Japan); Makino, K. [Geophysical Surveying and Consulting Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

1997-05-27

Practical application of subsurface crack characterization by the borehole radar measurement to which the radar polarimetric method was introduced was attempted to measuring objects for which the borehole radar has not been much used, for example, the inside of low loss rock mass or fracture zone where cracks tightly exist. A system was trially manufactured which makes the radar polarimetric measurement possible in the borehole at a 1000m depth and with a about 10cm diameter, and a field experiment was conducted for realizing the subsurface crack characterization near the Nojima fault. For the measuring experiment by the polarimetric borehole radar, used were Iwaya borehole and Hirabayashi borehole drilled in the north of Awaji-shima, Hyogo-ken. In a comparison of both polarization systems of Hirabayashi borehole, reflected waves at depths of 1038m and 1047m are relatively stronger in both polarization systems than those with the same polarization form and at different depths, whereas reflected waves around a 1017m depth are strong only as to the parallel polarization system. Characteristics of the polarization in this experiment indirectly reflect crack structures. 6 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.

Evaluation of HY-2A Scatterometer Wind Vectors Using Data from Buoys, ERA-Interim and ASCAT during 2012–2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianyong Xing

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The first Chinese operational Ku-band scatterometer on board Haiyang-2A (HY-2A, launched in August 2011, is designed for monitoring the global ocean surface wind. This study estimates the quality of the near-real-time (NRT retrieval wind speed and wind direction from the HY-2A scatterometer for 36 months from 2012 to 2014. We employed three types of sea-surface wind data from oceanic moored buoys operated by the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC and the Tropical Atmospheric Ocean project (TAO, the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF reanalysis data (ERA-Interim, and the advanced scatterometer (ASCAT to calculate the error statistics including mean bias, root mean square error (RMSE, and standard deviation. In addition, the rain effects on the retrieval winds were investigated using collocated Climate Prediction Center morphing method (CMORPH precipitation data. All data were collocated with the HY-2A scatterometer wind data for comparison. The quality performances of the HY-2A NRT wind vectors data (especially the wind speeds were satisfactory throughout the service period. The RMSEs of the HY-2A wind speeds relative to the NDBC, TAO, ERA-Interim, and ASCAT data were 1.94, 1.73, 2.25, and 1.62 m·s−1, respectively. The corresponding RMSEs of the wind direction were 46.63°, 43.11°, 39.93°, and 47.47°, respectively. The HY-2A scatterometer overestimated low wind speeds, especially under rainy conditions. Rain exerted a diminishing effect on the wind speed retrievals with increasing wind speed, but its effect on wind direction was robust at low and moderate wind speeds. Relative to the TAO buoy data, the RMSEs without rain effect were reduced to 1.2 m·s−1 and 39.68° for the wind speed direction, respectively, regardless of wind speed. By investigating the objective laws between rain and the retrieval winds from HY-2A, we could improve the quality of wind retrievals through future studies.

On results using automated wideband instrumentation for radar measurements and characterization

Science.gov (United States)

Govoni, Mark A.; Dogaru, Traian; Le, Calvin; Sobczak, Kevin

2017-05-01

Experiences are shared from a recent radar measurement and characterization effort. A regimented data collection procedure ensures repeatability and provides an expedited alternative to typical narrowband capabilities. Commercially-available instrumentation is repurposed to support wideband data collections spanning a contiguous range of frequencies from 700 MHz to 40 GHz. Utilizing a 4-port network analyzer, both monostatic and quasi-monostatic measurements are achievable. Polarization is varied by way of a custom-designed antenna mount that allows for the mechanical reorientation of the antennas. Computational electromagnetic modeling is briefly introduced and serves in validating the legitimacy of the collection capability. Data products presented will include high-range resolution profiles and inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imagery.

Cross-polarization microwave radar return at severe wind conditions: laboratory model and geophysical model function.

Science.gov (United States)

Troitskaya, Yuliya; Abramov, Victor; Ermoshkin, Alexey; Zuikova, Emma; Kazakov, Vassily; Sergeev, Daniil; Kandaurov, Alexandr

2014-05-01

Satellite remote sensing is one of the main techniques of monitoring severe weather conditions over the ocean. The principal difficulty of the existing algorithms of retrieving wind based on dependence of microwave backscattering cross-section on wind speed (Geophysical Model Function, GMF) is due to its saturation at winds exceeding 25 - 30 m/s. Recently analysis of dual- and quad-polarization C-band radar return measured from satellite Radarsat-2 suggested that the cross-polarized radar return has much higher sensitivity to the wind speed than co-polarized back scattering [1] and conserved sensitivity to wind speed at hurricane conditions [2]. Since complete collocation of these data was not possible and time difference in flight legs and SAR images acquisition was up to 3 hours, these two sets of data were compared in [2] only statistically. The main purpose of this paper is investigation of the functional dependence of cross-polarized radar cross-section on the wind speed in laboratory experiment. Since cross-polarized radar return is formed due to scattering at small-scale structures of the air-sea interface (short-crested waves, foam, sprays, etc), which are well reproduced in laboratory conditions, then the approach based on laboratory experiment on radar scattering of microwaves at the water surface under hurricane wind looks feasible. The experiments were performed in the Wind-wave flume located on top of the Large Thermostratified Tank of the Institute of Applied Physics, where the airflow was produced in the flume with the straight working part of 10 m and operating cross section 0.40?0.40 sq. m, the axis velocity can be varied from 5 to 25 m/s. Microwave measurements were carried out by a coherent Doppler X-band (3.2 cm) scatterometer with the consequent receive of linear polarizations. Experiments confirmed higher sensitivity to the wind speed of the cross-polarized radar return. Simultaneously parameters of the air flow in the turbulent boundary layer

Airborne Radar Observations of Severe Hailstorms: Implications for Future Spaceborne Radar

Science.gov (United States)

Heymsfield, Gerald M.; Tian, Lin; Li, Lihua; McLinden, Matthew; Cervantes, Jaime I.

2013-01-01

A new dual-frequency (Ku and Ka band) nadir-pointing Doppler radar on the high-altitude NASA ER-2 aircraft, called the High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP), has collected data over severe thunderstorms in Oklahoma and Kansas during the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E). The overarching motivation for this study is to understand the behavior of the dualwavelength airborne radar measurements in a global variety of thunderstorms and how these may relate to future spaceborne-radar measurements. HIWRAP is operated at frequencies that are similar to those of the precipitation radar on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (Ku band) and the upcoming Global Precipitation Measurement mission satellite's dual-frequency (Ku and Ka bands) precipitation radar. The aircraft measurements of strong hailstorms have been combined with ground-based polarimetric measurements to obtain a better understanding of the response of the Ku- and Ka-band radar to the vertical distribution of the hydrometeors, including hail. Data from two flight lines on 24 May 2011 are presented. Doppler velocities were approx. 39m/s2at 10.7-km altitude from the first flight line early on 24 May, and the lower value of approx. 25m/s on a second flight line later in the day. Vertical motions estimated using a fall speed estimate for large graupel and hail suggested that the first storm had an updraft that possibly exceeded 60m/s for the more intense part of the storm. This large updraft speed along with reports of 5-cm hail at the surface, reflectivities reaching 70 dBZ at S band in the storm cores, and hail signals from polarimetric data provide a highly challenging situation for spaceborne-radar measurements in intense convective systems. The Ku- and Ka-band reflectivities rarely exceed approx. 47 and approx. 37 dBZ, respectively, in these storms.

Social Radar

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

RTA HFM-201/RSM PAPER 3 - 1 © 2012 The MITRE Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Social Radar Barry Costa and John Boiney MITRE Corporation...defenders require an integrated set of capabilities that we refer to as a “ social radar.” Such a system would support strategic- to operational-level...situation awareness, alerting, course of action analysis, and measures of effectiveness for each action undertaken. Success of a social radar

Surface Current Measurements In Terra Nova Bay By Hf Radar

Science.gov (United States)

Flocco, D.; Falco, P.; Wadhams, P.; Spezie, G.

We present the preliminary results of a field experiment carried out within frame- work of the CLIMA project of the Italian National Programme for Antarctic Research (PNRA) and in cooperation with the Scott Polar Research Institute of Cambridge. Dur- ing the second period (02/12/1999-23/01/2000) of the XV Italian expedition a coastal radar was used to characterize the current field in the area of Terra Nova Bay (TNB). One of the aims of the CLIMA (Climatic Long-term Interactions for the Mass balance in Antarctica) project is to determine the role of the polynya in the sea ice mass bal- ance, water structure and local climate. The OSCR-II experiment was planned in order to provide surface current measurements in the area of TNB polynya, one of the most important coastal polynya of the Ross Sea. OSCR (Ocean Surface Current Radar) is a shore based, remote sensing system designed to measure sea surface currents in coastal waters. Two radar sites (a master and a slave) provide with radial current mea- surements; data combined from both sites yield the total current vector. Unfortunately the master and slave stations did not work together throughout the whole period of the experiment. A description of the experiment and a discussion of the results, will be proposed.

High-resolution humidity profiles retrieved from wind profiler radar measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Saïd, Frédérique; Campistron, Bernard; Di Girolamo, Paolo

2018-03-01

The retrieval of humidity profiles from wind profiler radars has already been documented in the past 30 years and is known to be neither as straightforward and nor as robust as the retrieval of the wind velocity. The main constraint to retrieve the humidity profile is the necessity to combine measurements from the wind profiler and additional measurements (such as observations from radiosoundings at a coarser time resolution). Furthermore, the method relies on some assumptions and simplifications that restrict the scope of its application. The first objective of this paper is to identify the obstacles and limitations and solve them, or at least define the field of applicability. To improve the method, we propose using the radar capacity to detect transition levels, such as the top level of the boundary layer, marked by a maximum in the radar reflectivity. This forces the humidity profile from the free troposphere and from the boundary layer to coincide at this level, after an optimization of the calibration coefficients, and reduces the error. The resulting mean bias affecting the specific humidity profile never exceeds 0.25 g kg-1. The second objective is to explore the capability of the algorithm to retrieve the humidity vertical profiles for an operational purpose by comparing the results with observations from a Raman lidar.

Noise and LPI radar as part of counter-drone mitigation system measures

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yan (Rockee); Huang, Yih-Ru; Thumann, Charles

2017-05-01

With the rapid proliferation of small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in the national airspace, small operational drones are being sometimes considered as a security threat for critical infrastructures, such as sports stadiums, military facilities, and airports. There have been many civilian counter-drone solutions and products reported, including radar and electromagnetic counter measures. For the current electromagnetic solutions, they are usually limited to particular type of detection and counter-measure scheme, which is usually effective for the specific type of drones. Also, control and communication link technologies used in even RC drones nowadays are more sophisticated, making them more difficult to detect, decode and counter. Facing these challenges, our team proposes a "software-defined" solution based on noise and LPI radar. For the detection, wideband-noise radar has the resolution performance to discriminate possible micro-Doppler features of the drone versus biological scatterers. It also has the benefit of more adaptive to different types of drones, and covertly detecting for security application. For counter-measures, random noise can be combined with "random sweeping" jamming scheme, to achieve the optimal balance between peak power allowed and the effective jamming probabilities. Some theoretical analysis of the proposed solution is provided in this study, a design case study is developed, and initial laboratory experiments, as well as outdoor tests are conducted to validate the basic concepts and theories. The study demonstrates the basic feasibilities of the Drone Detection and Mitigation Radar (DDMR) concept, while there are still much work needs to be done for a complete and field-worthy technology development.

Principles of modern radar systems

CERN Document Server

Carpentier, Michel H

1988-01-01

Introduction to random functions ; signal and noise : the ideal receiver ; performance of radar systems equipped with ideal receivers ; analysis of the operating principles of some types of radar ; behavior of real targets, fluctuation of targets ; angle measurement using radar ; data processing of radar information, radar coverage ; applications to electronic scanning antennas to radar ; introduction to Hilbert spaces.

A study of the feasibility of using sea and wind information from the ERS-1 satellite. Part 1: Wind scatterometer data

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, D.; Hollingsworth, A.; Uppala, S.; Woiceshyn, P.

1987-01-01

The use of scatterometer and altimeter data in wind and wave assimilation, and the benefits this offers for quality assurance and validation of ERS-1 data were examined. Real time use of ERS-1 data was simulated through assimilation of Seasat scatterometer data. The potential for quality assurance and validation is demonstrated by documenting a series of substantial problems with the scatterometer data, which are known but took years to establish, or are new. A data impact study, and an analysis of the performance of ambiguity removal algorithms on real and simulated data were conducted. The impact of the data on analyses and forecasts is large in the Southern Hemisphere, generally small in the Northern Hemisphere, and occasionally large in the Tropics. Tests with simulated data give more optimistic results than tests with real data. Errors in ambiguity removal results occur in clusters. The probabilities which can be calculated for the ambiguous wind directions on ERS-1 contain more information than is given by a simple ranking of the directions.

Validation of Airborne FMCW Radar Measurements of Snow Thickness Over Sea Ice in Antarctica

Science.gov (United States)

Galin, Natalia; Worby, Anthony; Markus, Thorsten; Leuschen, Carl; Gogineni, Prasad

2012-01-01

Antarctic sea ice and its snow cover are integral components of the global climate system, yet many aspects of their vertical dimensions are poorly understood, making their representation in global climate models poor. Remote sensing is the key to monitoring the dynamic nature of sea ice and its snow cover. Reliable and accurate snow thickness data are currently a highly sought after data product. Remotely sensed snow thickness measurements can provide an indication of precipitation levels, predicted to increase with effects of climate change in the polar regions. Airborne techniques provide a means for regional-scale estimation of snow depth and distribution. Accurate regional-scale snow thickness data will also facilitate an increase in the accuracy of sea ice thickness retrieval from satellite altimeter freeboard estimates. The airborne data sets are easier to validate with in situ measurements and are better suited to validating satellite algorithms when compared with in situ techniques. This is primarily due to two factors: better chance of getting coincident in situ and airborne data sets and the tractability of comparison between an in situ data set and the airborne data set averaged over the footprint of the antennas. A 28-GHz frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar loaned by the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets to the Australian Antarctic Division is used to measure snow thickness over sea ice in East Antarctica. Provided with the radar design parameters, the expected performance parameters of the radar are summarized. The necessary conditions for unambiguous identification of the airsnow and snowice layers for the radar are presented. Roughnesses of the snow and ice surfaces are found to be dominant determinants in the effectiveness of layer identification for this radar. Finally, this paper presents the first in situ validated snow thickness estimates over sea ice in Antarctica derived from an FMCW radar on a helicopterborne platform.

Active laser radar (lidar) for measurement of corresponding height and reflectance images

Science.gov (United States)

Froehlich, Christoph; Mettenleiter, M.; Haertl, F.

1997-08-01

For the survey and inspection of environmental objects, a non-tactile, robust and precise imaging of height and depth is the basis sensor technology. For visual inspection,surface classification, and documentation purposes, however, additional information concerning reflectance of measured objects is necessary. High-speed acquisition of both geometric and visual information is achieved by means of an active laser radar, supporting consistent 3D height and 2D reflectance images. The laser radar is an optical-wavelength system, and is comparable to devices built by ERIM, Odetics, and Perceptron, measuring the range between sensor and target surfaces as well as the reflectance of the target surface, which corresponds to the magnitude of the back scattered laser energy. In contrast to these range sensing devices, the laser radar under consideration is designed for high speed and precise operation in both indoor and outdoor environments, emitting a minimum of near-IR laser energy. It integrates a laser range measurement system and a mechanical deflection system for 3D environmental measurements. This paper reports on design details of the laser radar for surface inspection tasks. It outlines the performance requirements and introduces the measurement principle. The hardware design, including the main modules, such as the laser head, the high frequency unit, the laser beam deflection system, and the digital signal processing unit are discussed.the signal processing unit consists of dedicated signal processors for real-time sensor data preprocessing as well as a sensor computer for high-level image analysis and feature extraction. The paper focuses on performance data of the system, including noise, drift over time, precision, and accuracy with measurements. It discuses the influences of ambient light, surface material of the target, and ambient temperature for range accuracy and range precision. Furthermore, experimental results from inspection of buildings, monuments

Radar and ARPA manual

CERN Document Server

Bole, A G

2013-01-01

Radar and ARPA Manual focuses on the theoretical and practical aspects of electronic navigation. The manual first discusses basic radar principles, including principles of range and bearing measurements and picture orientation and presentation. The text then looks at the operational principles of radar systems. Function of units; aerial, receiver, and display principles; transmitter principles; and sitting of units on board ships are discussed. The book also describes target detection, Automatic Radar Plotting Aids (ARPA), and operational controls of radar systems, and then discusses radar plo

Ground penetrating radar antenna measurements based on plane-wave expansions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lenler-Eriksen, Hans-Rudolph; Meincke, Peter

2005-01-01

The plane-wave transmitting spectrum of the system consisting of the ground penetrating radar (GPR) antenna and the air-soil interface is measured using a loop buried in the soil. The plane-wave spectrum is used to determine various parameters characterizing the radiation of the GPR antenna...

Measurement of Plane-Wave Spectra of Ground Penetrating Radar Antennas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lenler-Eriksen, Hans-Rudolph; Meincke, Peter

2005-01-01

The plane-wave transmitting spectrum of a ground penetrating radar (GPR) loop antenna close to the air-soil interface is measured by means of a probe buried in soil. Probe correction is implemented based upon knowledge about the complex permittivity of the soil and the current distribution...

Human walking estimation with radar

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dorp, Ph. van; Groen, F.C.A.

2003-01-01

Radar can be used to observe humans that are obscured by objects such as walls. These humans cannot be visually observed. The radar measurements are used to animate an obscured human in virtual reality. This requires detailed information about the motion. The radar measurements give detailed

Scatterometer Observes Extratropical Transition of Pacific Typhoons

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, W. Timothy; Tang, Wenqing; Dunbar, R. Scott

1997-01-01

From September 15 to 25, 1996, NASA's scatterometer (NSCAT) monitored the evolution of twin typhoons, Violet and Tom, as they moved north from the western tropical Pacific, acquiring features of mid-latitude storms. The typhoons developed frontal structures, increased asymmetry, and dry air was introduced into their cores. Violet hit Japan, causing death and destruction (Figure 1), and Tom merged with a mid-latitude trough and evolved into a large extratropical storm with gale-force winds (Figure 2). We understand relatively little about the extratropical transition of tropical cyclones because of the complex thermodynamics involved [e.g., Sinclair, 1993], but we do know that the mid-latitude storms resulting from tropical cyclones usually generate strong winds and heavy precipitation. Since the transition usually occurs over the ocean, few measurements have been made. The transition is a fascinating science problem, but it also has important economic consequences. The transition occurs over the busiest trans-ocean shipping lanes, and when the resulting storms hit land, they usually devastate populated areas. NSCAT was successfully launched into a near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit on the Japanese Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) in August 1996 from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. NSCAT's six antennas send microwave pulses at a frequency of 14 GHz to the Earth's surface and measure the backscatter. The antennas scan two 600-km bands of the ocean, which are separated by a 330-km data gap. From NSCAT observations, surface wind vectors can be derived at 25-km spatial resolution, covering 77% of the ice-free ocean in one day and 97% of the ocean in two days, under both clear and cloudy conditions.

Relating multifrequency radar backscattering to forest biomass: Modeling and AIRSAR measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Guo-Qing; Ranson, K. Jon

1992-01-01

During the last several years, significant efforts in microwave remote sensing were devoted to relating forest parameters to radar backscattering coefficients. These and other studies showed that in most cases, the longer wavelength (i.e. P band) and cross-polarization (HV) backscattering had higher sensitivity and better correlation to forest biomass. This research examines this relationship in a northern forest area through both backscatter modeling and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data analysis. The field measurements were used to estimate stand biomass from forest weight tables. The backscatter model described by Sun et al. was modified to simulate the backscattering coefficients with respect to stand biomass. The average number of trees per square meter or radar resolution cell, and the average tree height or diameter breast height (dbh) in the forest stand are the driving parameters of the model. The rest of the soil surface, orientation, and size distributions of leaves and branches, remain unchanged in the simulations.

Radar studies of arctic ice and development of a real-time Arctic ice type identification system

Science.gov (United States)

Rouse, J. W., Jr.; Schell, J. A.; Permenter, J. A.

1973-01-01

Studies were conducted to develop a real-time Arctic ice type identification system. Data obtained by NASA Mission 126, conducted at Pt. Barrow, Alaska (Site 93) in April 1970 was analyzed in detail to more clearly define the major mechanisms at work affecting the radar energy illuminating a terrain cell of sea ice. General techniques for reduction of the scatterometer data to a form suitable for application of ice type decision criteria were investigated, and the electronic circuit requirements for implementation of these techniques were determined. Also, consideration of circuit requirements are extended to include the electronics necessary for analog programming of ice type decision algorithms. After completing the basic circuit designs a laboratory model was constructed and a preliminary evaluation performed. Several system modifications for improved performance are suggested. (Modified author abstract)

Spaceborne Applications of P Band Imaging Radars for Measuring Forest Biomass

Science.gov (United States)

Rignot, Eric J.; Zimmermann, Reiner; vanZyl, Jakob J.

1995-01-01

In three sites of boreal and temperate forests, P band HH, HV, and VV polarization data combined estimate total aboveground dry woody biomass within 12 to 27% of the values derived from allometric equations, depending on forest complexity. Biomass estimates derived from HV-polarization data only are 2 to 14% less accurate. When the radar operates at circular polarization, the errors exceed 100% over flooded forests, wet or damaged trees and sparse open tall forests because double-bounce reflections of the radar signals yield radar signatures similar to that of tall and massive forests. Circular polarizations, which minimize the effect of Faraday rotation in spaceborne applications, are therefore of limited use for measuring forest biomass. In the tropical rain forest of Manu, in Peru, where forest biomass ranges from 4 kg/sq m in young forest succession up to 50 kg/sq m in old, undisturbed floodplain stands, the P band horizontal and vertical polarization data combined separate biomass classes in good agreement with forest inventory estimates. The worldwide need for large scale, updated, biomass estimates, achieved with a uniformly applied method, justifies a more in-depth exploration of multi-polarization long wavelength imaging radar applications for tropical forests inventories.

Ground penetrating radar for determining volumetric soil water content ; results of comparative measurements at two test sites

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Overmeeren, R.A. van; Sariowan, S.V.; Gehrels, J.C.

1997-01-01

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) can provide information on the soil water content of the unsaturated zone in sandy deposits via measurements from the surface, and so avoids drilling. Proof of this was found from measurements of radar wave velocities carried out ten times over 13 months at two test

Constraining variable density of ice shelves using wide-angle radar measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Drews, Reinhard; Brown, Joel; Matsuoka, Kenichi; Witrant, Emmanuel; Philippe, Morgane; Hubbard, Bryn; Pattyn, Frank

2016-04-01

The thickness of ice shelves, a basic parameter for mass balance estimates, is typically inferred using hydrostatic equilibrium, for which knowledge of the depth-averaged density is essential. The densification from snow to ice depends on a number of local factors (e.g., temperature and surface mass balance) causing spatial and temporal variations in density-depth profiles. However, direct measurements of firn density are sparse, requiring substantial logistical effort. Here, we infer density from radio-wave propagation speed using ground-based wide-angle radar data sets (10 MHz) collected at five sites on Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf (RBIS), Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. We reconstruct depth to internal reflectors, local ice thickness, and firn-air content using a novel algorithm that includes traveltime inversion and ray tracing with a prescribed shape of the depth-density relationship. For the particular case of an ice-shelf channel, where ice thickness and surface slope change substantially over a few kilometers, the radar data suggest that firn inside the channel is about 5 % denser than outside the channel. Although this density difference is at the detection limit of the radar, it is consistent with a similar density anomaly reconstructed from optical televiewing, which reveals that the firn inside the channel is 4.7 % denser than that outside the channel. Hydrostatic ice thickness calculations used for determining basal melt rates should account for the denser firn in ice-shelf channels. The radar method presented here is robust and can easily be adapted to different radar frequencies and data-acquisition geometries.

Combined High Spectral Resolution Lidar and Millimeter Wavelength Radar Measurement of Ice Crystal Precipitation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eloranta, Edwin [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

2016-10-28

The goal of this research has been to improve measurements of snowfall using a combination of millimeter-wavelength radar and High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) Observations. Snowflakes are large compared to the 532nm HSRL wavelength and small compared to the 3.2 and 8.6 mm wavelength radars used in this study. This places the particles in the optical scattering regime of the HSRL, where extinction cross-section is proportional to the projected area of the particles, and in the Rayleigh regime for the radar, where the backscatter cross-section is proportional to the mass-squared of the particles. Forming a ratio of the radar measured cross-section to the HSRL measured cross section eliminates any dependence on the number of scattering particles, yielding a quantity proportional to the average mass-squared of the snowflakes over the average area of the flakes. Using simultaneous radar measurements of particle fall velocities, which are dependent particle mass and cross-sectional area it is possible to derive the average mass of the snow flakes, and with the radar measured fall velocities compute the snowfall rate. Since this retrieval requires the optical extinction cross-section we began by considering errors this quantity. The HSRL is particularly good at measuring the backscatter cross-section. In previous studies of snowfall in the high Arctic were able to estimate the extinction cross-section directly as a fixed ratio to the backscatter cross-section. Measurements acquired in the STORMVEX experiment in Colorado showed that this approach was not valid in mid-latitude snowfalls and that direct measurement of the extinction cross-section is required. Attempts to measure the extinction directly uncovered shortcomings in thermal regulation and mechanical stability of the newly deployed DOE HSRL systems. These problems were largely mitigated by modifications installed in both of the DOE systems. We also investigated other sources of error in the HSRL direct

Determination of radar MTF

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chambers, D. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)

1994-11-15

The ultimate goal of the Current Meter Array (CMA) is to be able to compare the current patterns detected with the array with radar images of the water surface. The internal wave current patterns modulate the waves on the water surface giving a detectable modulation of the radar cross-section (RCS). The function relating the RCS modulations to the current patterns is the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF). By comparing radar images directly with co-located CMA measurements the MTF can be determined. In this talk radar images and CMA measurements from a recent experiment at Loch Linnhe, Scotland, will be used to make the first direct determination of MTF for an X and S band radar at low grazing angles. The technical problems associated with comparing radar images to CMA data will be explained and the solution method discussed. The results suggest the both current and strain rate contribute equally to the radar modulation for X band. For S band, the strain rate contributes more than the current. The magnitude of the MTF and the RCS modulations are consistent with previous estimates when the wind is blowing perpendicular to the radar look direction.

Planar Near-Field Measurements of Ground Penetrating Radar Antennas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meincke, Peter; Hansen, Thorkild

2004-01-01

Planar near-field measurements are formulated for a general ground penetrating radar (GPR) antenna. A total plane-wave scattering matrix is defined for the system consisting of the GPR antenna and the planar air-soil interface. The transmitting spectrum of the GPR antenna is expressed in terms...... of measurements obtained with a buried probe as the GPR antenna moves over a scan plane on the ground. A numerical example in which the scan plane is finite validates the expressions for the spectrum of the GPR antenna....

Global composites of surface wind speeds in tropical cyclones based on a 12 year scatterometer database

Science.gov (United States)

Klotz, Bradley W.; Jiang, Haiyan

2016-10-01

A 12 year global database of rain-corrected satellite scatterometer surface winds for tropical cyclones (TCs) is used to produce composites of TC surface wind speed distributions relative to vertical wind shear and storm motion directions in each TC-prone basin and various TC intensity stages. These composites corroborate ideas presented in earlier studies, where maxima are located right of motion in the Earth-relative framework. The entire TC surface wind asymmetry is down motion left for all basins and for lower strength TCs after removing the motion vector. Relative to the shear direction, the motion-removed composites indicate that the surface wind asymmetry is located down shear left for the outer region of all TCs, but for the inner-core region it varies from left of shear to down shear right for different basin and TC intensity groups. Quantification of the surface wind asymmetric structure in further stratifications is a necessary next step for this scatterometer data set.

Island based radar and microwave radiometer measurements of stratus cloud parameters during the Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment (ASTEX)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frisch, A.S. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Fairall, C.W.; Snider, J.B. [NOAA Environmental Technology Lab., Boulder, CO (United States); Lenshow, D.H.; Mayer, S.D. [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)

1996-04-01

During the Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment (ASTEX) in June 1992, simultaneous measurements were made with a vertically pointing cloud sensing radar and a microwave radiometer. The radar measurements are used to estimate stratus cloud drizzle and turbulence parameters. In addition, with the microwave radiometer measurements of reflectivity, we estimated the profiles of cloud liquid water and effective radius. We used radar data for computation of vertical profiles of various drizzle parameters such as droplet concentration, modal radius, and spread. A sample of these results is shown in Figure 1. In addition, in non-drizzle clouds, with the radar and radiometer we can estimate the verticle profiles of stratus cloud parameters such as liquid water concentration and effective radius. This is accomplished by assuming a droplet distribution with droplet number concentration and width constant with height.

Field campaign for the comparison of SOUSY radar wind measurements with rawinsonde and model data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Steinhagen

Full Text Available A field campaign was carried out from 26 October to 7 November 1992, using the SOUSY-VHF radar and a mobile rawinsonde system installed and operated nearby to produce vertical wind profiles. The purpose of this campaign was to compare the two types of wind measurements with one another and with results from forecast models. Numerical algorithms were developed and applied to the radar data in order to eliminate random errors, correct for velocity aliasing, and calculate the effective zenith angle of the off-vertical beams. Differences between wind profiler data and rawinsonde or model results depend not only upon the errors of the different systems, but also on temporal and spatial variations of the wind field. Therefore, methods for the comparison of radar and rawinsonde data were developed which take into consideration these variations. The practical potential of these methods is demonstrated by comparisons of rawinsonde and radar wind profiles. The comparison of radar data and model output shows excellent agreement in the direction and in the speed of the wind at virtually all altitudes. An evaluation of the quality of wind profiler measurements is possible using the estimation of variance and variability of wind components.

Field campaign for the comparison of SOUSY radar wind measurements with rawinsonde and model data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Steinhagen

1994-07-01

Full Text Available A field campaign was carried out from 26 October to 7 November 1992, using the SOUSY-VHF radar and a mobile rawinsonde system installed and operated nearby to produce vertical wind profiles. The purpose of this campaign was to compare the two types of wind measurements with one another and with results from forecast models. Numerical algorithms were developed and applied to the radar data in order to eliminate random errors, correct for velocity aliasing, and calculate the effective zenith angle of the off-vertical beams. Differences between wind profiler data and rawinsonde or model results depend not only upon the errors of the different systems, but also on temporal and spatial variations of the wind field. Therefore, methods for the comparison of radar and rawinsonde data were developed which take into consideration these variations. The practical potential of these methods is demonstrated by comparisons of rawinsonde and radar wind profiles. The comparison of radar data and model output shows excellent agreement in the direction and in the speed of the wind at virtually all altitudes. An evaluation of the quality of wind profiler measurements is possible using the estimation of variance and variability of wind components.

Millimeter-Wave Radar Field Measurements and Inversion of Cloud Parameters for the 1999 Mt. Washington Icing Sensors Project

Science.gov (United States)

Pazmany, Andrew L.; Reehorst, Andrew (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The Mount Washington Icing Sensors Project (MWISP) was a multi-investigator experiment with participants from Quadrant Engineering, NOAA Environmental Technology Laboratory (NOAA/ETL), the Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory (MIRSL) of the University of Massachusetts (UMass), and others. Radar systems from UMass and NOAA/ETL were used to measure X-, Ka-, and W-band backscatter data from the base of Mt. Washington, while simultaneous in-situ particle measurements were made from aircraft and from the observatory at the summit. This report presents range and time profiles of liquid water content and particle size parameters derived from range profiles of radar reflectivity as measured at X-, Ka-, and W-band (9.3, 33.1, and 94.9 GHz) using an artificial neural network inversion algorithm. In this report, we provide a brief description of the experiment configuration, radar systems, and a review of the artificial neural network used to extract cloud parameters from the radar data. Time histories of liquid water content (LWC), mean volume diameter (MVD) and mean Z diameter (MZD) are plotted at 300 m range intervals for slant ranges between 1.1 and 4 km. Appendix A provides details on the extraction of radar reflectivity from measured radar power, and Appendix B provides summary logs of the weather conditions for each day in which we processed data.

In-flight measurements and RCS-predictions: A comparison on broad-side radar range profiles of a Boeing 737

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heiden, R. van der; Ewijk, L.J. van; Groen, F.C.A.

1997-01-01

The validation of Radar Cross Section (RCS) prediction techniques against real measurements is crucial to acquire confidence in predictions when measurements are not available. In this paper we present the first results of a comparison on one dimensional images, i.e., radar range profiles. The

Synergetic Combination of Radar Information and Gauge Measurements - with the Conflict between Two Types of Data Being Removed via Displacement and Downscaling

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, J.; Bardossy, A.

2017-12-01

Rain gauges are the foundation in hydrology to collect rainfall data, however, gauge measurements alone are limited at representing the complete rainfall distribution. On the other hand, the reliability of radar data is often limited because of the errors in the radar signal (e.g. clutter, variation of the vertical reflectivity profile, beam blockage, attenuation, etc). Thus, merging radar information and gauge rainfall measurements is in an area of active research. The merging method proposed here is to use the radar data in its [0, 1] format (p-value). The actual precipitation values come from the gauge measurements. At each measurement location, two types of data are available, the radar p-value and the gauge measurement in mm. It happens very frequently that there exists a contradiction between these two types of data. A very likely reason is the influence of the unknown process between the radar measurement height and the surface onto which the hydrometeors fall. A method for quantification of the impact of the unknown process is proposed to fix the conflict, but only to a certain degree. Another possible source that can explain the discrepancy between these two types of data is discretization, i.e., the spatial variability cannot be identified by coarse discretization. Thus, downscaling is also considered to further remove the conflict. Based on the p-value from the radar data and the precipitation from the gauge measurements, a distribution function can be built up. The ultimate goal is to simulate the precipitation field for nowcasting purpose. The conditions to be fulfilled by the simulated field is as the following: honoring the measurements at the gauge locations; sharing a similar pattern with the radar image; preserving the inherent covariance structure. The simulation approach employed here is random mixing. The study domain is located in Reutlingen, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany (Latitude 48.49N, Longitude 9.20E). The radar data are obtained from a C

Development and usage of a false color display technique for presenting Seasat-A scatterometer data

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, C. B.

1980-01-01

A computer generated false color program which creates digital multicolor graphics to display geophysical surface parameters measured by the Seasat-A satellite scatterometer (SASS) is described. The data is incrementally scaled over the range of acceptable values and each increment and its data points are assigned a color. The advantage of the false color display is that it visually infers cool or weak data versus hot or intense data by using the rainbow of colors. For example, with wind speeds, levels of yellow and red could be used to imply high winds while green and blue could imply calmer air. The SASS data is sorted into geographic regions and the final false color images are projected onto various world maps with superimposed land/water boundaries.

Radar speed gun true velocity measurements of sports-balls in flight: application to tennis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, Garry; Robinson, Ian

2016-01-01

Spectators of ball-games often seem to be fascinated by the speed of delivery of the ball. They appear to be less interested in or even oblivious to the mechanism and accuracy of the measurement or where in the flight path of the ball the measurement is actually made. Radar speed guns using the Doppler effect are often employed for such speed measurements. It is well known that such guns virtually always measure the line-of-sight or radial velocity of the ball and as such will return a reading less than or equal to the true speed of the ball. In this paper, using only basic physics principles we investigate such measurements, in particular those associated with the service stroke in tennis. For the service trajectories employed here, a single radar gun located in line with the centre-line of the court in fact under-estimates the speed of a wide serve by about 3.4% at the point of delivery, and by about 14.3% on impact with the court. However, we demonstrate that both the magnitude and direction of the true velocity of the ball throughout its entire flight path may be obtained, at least in principle, by the use of four suitably placed radar speed guns. These four guns must be able to measure the ‘range’ to the ball, enabling its position in flight to be determined, and three of them must be able to measure the radial velocity of the ball. Restrictions on the locations of the speed guns are discussed. Such restrictions are quite liberal, although there are certain configurations of the radar gun positions which cannot be used. Importantly, with the one proviso that no speed gun can be directly in the path of the ball (not only for the obvious reasons), we find that if the speed of the ball can be determined for one point in the trajectory, it can also be determined for all points. The accuracy of the range and radial velocity measurements required to give meaningful results for the true velocity are also briefly discussed. It is found that the accuracy required

Radar-to-Radar Interference Suppression for Distributed Radar Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen-Qin Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Radar sensor networks, including bi- and multi-static radars, provide several operational advantages, like reduced vulnerability, good system flexibility and an increased radar cross-section. However, radar-to-radar interference suppression is a major problem in distributed radar sensor networks. In this paper, we present a cross-matched filtering-based radar-to-radar interference suppression algorithm. This algorithm first uses an iterative filtering algorithm to suppress the radar-to-radar interferences and, then, separately matched filtering for each radar. Besides the detailed algorithm derivation, extensive numerical simulation examples are performed with the down-chirp and up-chirp waveforms, partially overlapped or inverse chirp rate linearly frequency modulation (LFM waveforms and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (ODFM chirp diverse waveforms. The effectiveness of the algorithm is verified by the simulation results.

Scatterometry measurement of nested lines, dual space, and rectangular contact CD on phase-shift masks

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kyung M.; Yedur, Sanjay; Henrichs, Sven; Tavassoli, Malahat; Baik, Kiho

2007-03-01

Evaluation of lithography process or stepper involves very large quantity of CD measurements and measurement time. In this paper, we report on a application of Scatterometry based metrology for evaluation of binary photomask lithography. Measurements were made on mask level with ODP scatterometer then on wafer with CD-SEM. 4 to 1 scaling from mask to wafer means 60nm line on wafer translates to 240nm on mask, easily measurable on ODP. Calculation of scatterometer profile information was performed by a in-situ library-based analysis (5sec/site). We characterized the CD uniformity, linearity, and metal film thickness uniformity. Results show that linearity measured from fixed-pitch, varying line/space ratio targets show good correlation to top-down CD-SEM with R2 of more than 0.99. ODP-SEM correlation results for variable pitch shows that careful examination of scatterometer profile results in order to obtain better correlation to CD SEM, since both tools react differently to the target profile variation. ODP results show that global CD distribution is clearly measurable with less outliers compared to CD SEM data. This is thought to be due to 'averaging' effect of scatterometer. The data show that Scatterometry provides a nondestructive and faster mean of characterizing lithography stepper performanceprofiles. APSM 1st level (before Cr removal) 'dual-space' CDs and EPSM rectangular contacts were also measured with and results demonstrates that Scatterometer is capable of measuring these targets with reasonable correlation to SEM.

Research on Radar Cross Section Measurement Based on Near-field Imaging of Cylindrical Scanning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xing Shu-guang

2015-04-01

Full Text Available A new method of Radar Cross Section (RCS measurement based on near-field imaging of cylindrical scanning surface is proposed. The method is based on the core assumption that the target consists of ideal isotropic scattered centers. Three-dimensional radar scattered images are obtained by using the proposed method, and then to obtain the RCS of the target, the scattered far field is calculated by summing the fields generated by the equivalent scattered centers. Not only three dimensional radar reflectivity images but also the RCS of targets in certain three dimensional angle areas can be obtained. Compared with circular scanning that can only obtain twodimensional radar reflectivity images and RCS results in two-dimensional angle areas, cylindrical scanning can provide more information about the scattering properties of the targets. The method has strong practicability and its validity is verified by simulations.

Atomic bomb made in Germany. Geo-radar measurements provide new insights

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hauk, Rolf-Guenter; Focken, Christel

2017-01-01

The authors describe new geo radar measurements In Jonastal and discuss the results in relation to rumors on German efforts to build an atomic bond during the Second World War. The book includes available documentation on German and American research and technological activities (Manhattan project).

SNOW THICKNESS ON AUSTRE GRØNFJORDBREEN, SVALBARD, FROM RADAR MEASUREMENTS AND STANDARD SNOW SURVEYS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. I. Lavrentiev

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Summary Comparison of two methods of measurements of snow cover thickness on the glacier Austre Grønfjordbreen, Svalbard was performed in the spring of 2014. These methods were the radar (500 MHz observations and standard snow surveys. Measurements were conducted in 77 different points on the surface of the glacier. A good correlation (R2 = 0.98 was revealed. In comparison with the data of snow surveys, the radar measurements show a similar but more detailed pattern of the distribution of the snow cover depth. The discrepancy between the depths of snow cover on maps plotted from data of both methods did not exceed 30 cm in most parts of the glacier. The standard error of interpolation of the radar data onto the entire glacier surface amounts, on average, to 18 cm. This corresponds to the error of radar measurements of 18.8% when an average snow depth is about 160 cm and 9.4% at its maximum thickness of 320 cm. The distance between the measurement points at which the spatial covariance of the snow depth disappears falls between 236 and 283 m along the glacier, and between 117 and 165 m across its position. We compared the results of radar measurements of the pulse-delay time of reflections from the base of the snow cover with the data of manual probe measurements at 10 points and direct measurements of snow depth and average density in 12 snow pits. The average speed of radio waves propagation in the snow was determined as Vcr = 23.4±0.2 cm ns−1. This magnitude and the Looyenga and Kovacs formulas allowed estimating the average density of snow cover ρL = 353.1±13.1 kg m−3 and ρK = 337.4±12.9 kg m−3. The difference from average density measured in 12 pits ρav.meas = 387.4±12.9 kg m−3 amounts to −10.8% and −14.8%. In 2014, according to snow and radar measurements, altitudinal gradient of snow accumulation on the glacier Austre Grønfjordbreen was equal to 0.21 m/100 m, which is smaller than the

First Measurements of Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes by a Tri-static Radar System

Science.gov (United States)

La Hoz, C.

2015-12-01

Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes (PMSE) have been observed for the first time by a tri-static radar system comprising the EISCAT VHF (224 MHz, 0.67 m Bragg wavelength) active radar in Tromso (Norway) and passive receiving stations in Kiruna, (Sweden) and Sodankyla (Finland). The antennas at the receiving stations, originally part of the EISCAT tri-static UHF radar system at 930 MHz, have been refitted with new feeder systems at the VHF frequency of the transmitter in Tromso. The refitted radar system opens new opportunities to study PMSE for its own sake and as a tracer of the dynamics of the polar mesosphere, a region that is difficult to investigate by other means. The measurements show that very frequently both remote receiving antennas detect coherent signals that are much greater than the regular incoherent scattering due to thermal electrons and coinciding in time and space with PMSE measured by the transmitter station in Tromso. This represents further evidence that PMSE is not aspect sensitive, as was already indicated by a less sensitive radar system in a bi-static configuration, and implying that the underlying atmospheric turbulence, at least at sub-meter scales, is isotropic in agreement with Kolmogorov's hypothesis. Measurements also show that the vertical rate of fall of persistent features of PMSE is the same as the vertical line of sight velocity inferred from the doppler shift of the PMSE signals. This equivalence forms the basis for using PMSE as a tracer of the dynamics of the background mesosphere. Thus, it is possible to measure the 3-dimensional velocity field in the PMSE layer over the intersection volume of the three antennas. Since the signals have large signal-to-noise ratios (up to 30 dB), the inferred velocities have high accuracies and good time resolutions. This affords the possibility to make estimates of momentum flux in the mesosphere deposited by overturning gravity waves. Gravity wave momentum flux is believed to be the engine of a

Surface current dynamics under sea breeze conditions observed by simultaneous HF radar, ADCP and drifter measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Sentchev, Alexei; Forget, Philippe; Fraunié, Philippe

2017-04-01

Ocean surface boundary layer dynamics off the southern coast of France in the NW Mediterranean is investigated by using velocity observations by high-frequency (HF) radars, surface drifting buoys and a downward-looking drifting acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP). The analysis confirms that velocities measured by HF radars correspond to those observed by an ADCP at the effective depth z f = k -1, where k is wavenumber of the radio wave emitted by the radar. The radials provided by the radars were in a very good agreement with in situ measurements, with the relative errors of 1 and 9 % and root mean square (RMS) differences of 0.02 and 0.04 m/s for monostatic and bistatic radar, respectively. The total radar-based velocities appeared to be slightly underestimated in magnitude and somewhat biased in direction. At the end of the survey period, the difference in the surface current direction, based on HF radar and ADCP data, attained 10°. It was demonstrated that the surface boundary layer dynamics cannot be reconstructed successfully without taking into the account velocity variation with depth. A significant misalignment of ˜30° caused by the sea breeze was documented between the HF radar (HFR-derived) surface current and the background current. It was also found that the ocean response to a moderate wind forcing was confined to the 4-m-thick upper layer. The respective Ekman current attained the maximum value of 0.15 m/s, and the current rotation was found to be lagging the wind by approximately 40 min, with the current vector direction being 15-20° to the left of the wind. The range of velocity variability due to wind forcing was found comparable with the magnitude of the background current variability.

Measuring Balance Across Multiple Radar Receiver Channels.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doerry, Armin W.; Bickel, Douglas L.

2018-03-01

When radar receivers employ multiple channels, the general intent is for the receive channels to be as alike as possible, if not as ideal as possible. This is usually done via prudent hardware design, supplemented by system calibration. Towards this end, we require a quality metric for ascertaining the goodness of a radar channel, and the degree of match to sibling channels. We propose a relevant and useable metric to do just that. Acknowledgements This report was the result of an unfunded research and development activity.

Coordinated measurements made by the Sondrestrom radar and the Polar Bear ultraviolet imager

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, R.; Vondrak, R.; Dabbs, T.; Vickrey, J.; Eastes, R.; Del Greco, F.; Huffman, R.; Meng, C.; Daniell, R.; Strickland, D.; Vondrak, R.

1992-01-01

In 1986 and 1987 the Sondrestrom incoherent scatter radar in Greenland was operated routinely in coordination with selected overpasses of the Polar Bear satellite. For these experiments the auroral ionospheric remote sensor on Polar Bear obtained images of auroral emissions in two far ultraviolet wavelength bands centered at approximately 136 and 160 nm and one visible band centered at 391.4 nm. Measurements at these three wavelengths were extracted from the images for comparison with the coincident radar measurements. Model calculations have shown that for Maxwellian incident electron distributions the ratio between the 136-nm luminosity and 391.4-nm luminosity can be used to estimate the mean energy of precipitating electrons. Once the mean energy is known, then either of the two emissions can be used to determine the total energy flux. This procedure is used to determine the properties of the incident electron distribution during three midnight sector auroral events over Sondre Stromfjord. The incident electron flux is then used to calculate the expected height profile of electron density which is compared with the simultaneous and coincident radar measurements. The results show that the derived profiles agree well with the measured profiles both in the peak electron density and the altitude of the peak. The accuracy with which the peak of the profile is predicted by this technique is such that many important ionospheric parameters can be reliably inferred from remote measurements, including, for example, the height-integrated electrical conductivities

Sensor management in RADAR/IRST track fusion

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Shi-qiang; Jing, Zhong-liang

2004-07-01

In this paper, a novel radar management strategy technique suitable for RADAR/IRST track fusion, which is based on Fisher Information Matrix (FIM) and fuzzy stochastic decision approach, is put forward. Firstly, optimal radar measurements' scheduling is obtained by the method of maximizing determinant of the Fisher information matrix of radar and IRST measurements, which is managed by the expert system. Then, suggested a "pseudo sensor" to predict the possible target position using the polynomial method based on the radar and IRST measurements, using "pseudo sensor" model to estimate the target position even if the radar is turned off. At last, based on the tracking performance and the state of target maneuver, fuzzy stochastic decision is used to adjust the optimal radar scheduling and retrieve the module parameter of "pseudo sensor". The experiment result indicates that the algorithm can not only limit Radar activity effectively but also keep the tracking accuracy of active/passive system well. And this algorithm eliminates the drawback of traditional Radar management methods that the Radar activity is fixed and not easy to control and protect.

VHF and HF radar measurements of E and R region plasma drifts at the magnetic equator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Viswanathan, K.S.; Namboothiri, S.P.; Rao, P.B.

1992-01-01

Simultaneous observations of E region horizontal irregularity drifts by VHF backscatter radar and of F region vertical plasma drift by HF Doppler radar conducted during daytime on a few magnetically quiet days at Trivandrum (dip 0.2 degree N) are presented. A comparative study of the two measurements indicates broadly (1) a resemblance in the daytime changes of the E-W component between the electric field and (2) evidence of quasi-periodic electric field variations with periods ranging mostly from 1 to 2 hours. The electric fields derived from HF Doppler radar observations are somewhat lower than those deduced by HVHF radar observations. The correlation coefficient for the variations of the electric fields measured by the two experimental techniques is found to be in the range of about 0.5 to 0.9. The observed difference in the E and F region electric fields at the magnetic equator is discussed in terms of the measurement uncertainties and the limitations involved in deriving E-W electric fields. The observations are suggestive of a latitudinal variation in the E-W component of the electric field in the equatorial ionosphere

Monitoring the effect of restoration measures in Indonesian peatlands by radar satellite imagery.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaenicke, J; Englhart, S; Siegert, F

2011-03-01

In the context of the ongoing climate change discussions the importance of peatlands as carbon stores is increasingly recognised in the public. Drainage, deforestation and peat fires are the main reasons for the release of huge amounts of carbon from peatlands. Successful restoration of degraded tropical peatlands is of high interest due to their huge carbon store and sequestration potential. The blocking of drainage canals by dam building has become one of the most important measures to restore the hydrology and the ecological function of the peat domes. This study investigates the capability of using multitemporal radar remote sensing imagery for monitoring the hydrological effects of these measures. The study area is the former Mega Rice Project area in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, where peat drainage and forest degradation is especially intense. Restoration measures started in July 2004 by building 30 large dams until June 2008. We applied change detection analysis with more than 80 ENVISAT ASAR and ALOS PALSAR images, acquired between 2004 and 2009. Radar signal increases of up to 1.36 dB show that high frequency multitemporal radar satellite imagery can be used to detect an increase in peat soil moisture after dam construction, especially in deforested areas with a high density of dams. Furthermore, a strong correlation between cross-polarised radar backscatter coefficients and groundwater levels above -50 cm was found. Monitoring peatland rewetting and quantifying groundwater level variations is important information for vegetation re-establishment, fire hazard warning and making carbon emission mitigation tradable under the voluntary carbon market or REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) mechanism. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synthetic impulse and aperture radar (SIAR) a novel multi-frequency MIMO radar

CERN Document Server

Chen, Baixiao

2014-01-01

Analyzes and discusses the operating principle, signal processing method, and experimental results of this advanced radar technology This book systematically discusses the operating principle, signal processing method, target measurement technology, and experimental results of a new kind of radar called synthetic impulse and aperture radar (SIAR). The purpose is to help readers acquire an insight into the concept and principle of the SIAR, to know its operation mode, signal processing method, the difference between the traditional radar and itself, the designing ideals, and the developing me

Measurements of millimeter wave radar transmission and backscatter during dusty infrared test 2, dirt 2

Science.gov (United States)

Petito, F. C.; Wentworth, E. W.

1980-05-01

Recently there has been much interest expressed to determine the ability of millimeter wave radar to perform target acquisition during degraded visibility conditions. In this regard, one of the primary issues of concern has been the potential of high-explosive artillery barrages to obscure the battlefield from millimeter wave radar systems. To address this issue 95 GHz millimeter wave radar measurements were conducted during the Dusty Infrared Test 2 (DIRT 2). This test was held at White Sands Missile Range, NM, 18-28 July 1979. Millimeter wave transmission and backscatter measurements were performed during singular live firings and static detonations of 155 mm and 105 mm high-explosive artillery rounds in addition to static detonations of C-4 explosives. A brief description of the millimeter wave portion of the test and instrumentation is given. The data along with some preliminary conclusions are presented.

Simulation of laser radar tooling ball measurements: focus dependence

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Daniel G.; Slotwinski, Anthony; Hedges, Thomas

2015-10-01

The Nikon Metrology Laser Radar system focuses a beam from a fiber to a target object and receives the light scattered from the target through the same fiber. The system can, among other things, make highly accurate measurements of the position of a tooling ball by locating the angular position of peak signal quality, which is related to the fiber coupling efficiency. This article explores the relationship between fiber coupling efficiency and focus condition.

The diurnal pattern of microwave backscattering by wheat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brisco, B.; Brown, R.J.; Koehler, J.A.; Sofko, G.J.; McKibben, M.J.

1990-01-01

A truck-mounted Ku-, C-, and L-band scatterometer system was used to obtain diurnal multiparameter radar backscatter measurements of wheat in August 1987 and June and July 1988. Concurrent field measurements of plant and soil moisture content were made in support of the radar data. Analyses of these data demonstrate the sensitivity of the microwave signals to the daily movement of water in the soil/plant system. The dependence of frequency, incidence angle, and polarization are discussed in relationship to the diurnal and seasonal changes in the soil and plant water content. The results are used to identify potential agronomic applications and future research requirements. (author)

Effects of Compound K-Distributed Sea Clutter on Angle Measurement of Wideband Monopulse Radar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hong Zhu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The effects of compound K-distributed sea clutter on angle measurement of wideband monopulse radar are investigated in this paper. We apply the conditional probability density function (pdf of monopulse ratio (MR error to analyze these effects. Based on the angle measurement procedure of the wideband monopulse radar, this conditional pdf is first deduced in detail for the case of compound K-distributed sea clutter plus noise. Herein, the spatial correlation of the texture components for each channel clutter and the correlation of the texture components between the sum and difference channel clutters are considered, and two extreme situations for each of them are tackled. Referring to the measured sea clutter data, angle measurement performances in various K-distributed sea clutter plus noise circumstances are simulated, and the effects of compound K-distributed sea clutter on angle measurement are discussed.

Identification of hydrometeor mixtures in polarimetric radar measurements and their linear de-mixing

Science.gov (United States)

Besic, Nikola; Ventura, Jordi Figueras i.; Grazioli, Jacopo; Gabella, Marco; Germann, Urs; Berne, Alexis

2017-04-01

entropy values: low for pure volumes, and high for different possible combinations of mixed hydrometeors. The parametrized entropy is further on applied to real polarimetric C and X band radar datasets, where we demonstrate the potential of linear de-mixing using a simplex formed by a set of pre-defined centroids in the five-dimensional space. As main outcome, the proposed approach allows to provide plausible proportions of the different hydrometeors contained in a given radar sampling volume. [1] Besic, N., Figueras i Ventura, J., Grazioli, J., Gabella, M., Germann, U., and Berne, A.: Hydrometeor classification through statistical clustering of polarimetric radar measurements: a semi-supervised approach, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4425-4445, doi:10.5194/amt-9-4425-2016, 2016.

Comparison of Ground- and Space-based Radar Observations with Disdrometer Measurements During the PECAN Field Campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, A. D.; Rasmussen, K. L.; Bodine, D. J.; Dougherty, E.

2015-12-01

Plains Elevated Convection At Night (PECAN) was a large field campaign that studied nocturnal mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), convective initiation, bores, and low-level jets across the central plains in the United States. MCSs are responsible for over half of the warm-season precipitation across the central U.S. plains. The rainfall from deep convection of these systems over land have been observed to be underestimated by satellite radar rainfall-retrieval algorithms by as much as 40 percent. These algorithms have a strong dependence on the generally unmeasured rain drop-size distribution (DSD). During the campaign, our group measured rainfall DSDs, precipitation fall velocities, and total precipitation in the convective and stratiform regions of MCSs using Ott Parsivel optical laser disdrometers. The disdrometers were co-located with mobile pod units that measured temperature, wind, and relative humidity for quality control purposes. Data from the operational NEXRAD radar in LaCrosse, Wisconsin and space-based radar measurements from a Global Precipitation Measurement satellite overpass on July 13, 2015 were used for the analysis. The focus of this study is to compare DSD measurements from the disdrometers to radars in an effort to reduce errors in existing rainfall-retrieval algorithms. The error analysis consists of substituting measured DSDs into existing quantitative precipitation estimation techniques (e.g. Z-R relationships and dual-polarization rain estimates) and comparing these estimates to ground measurements of total precipitation. The results from this study will improve climatological estimates of total precipitation in continental convection that are used in hydrological studies, climate models, and other applications.

Characterization of VHF radar observations associated with equatorial Spread F by narrow-band optical measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Sekar

2004-09-01

Full Text Available The VHF radars have been extensively used to investigate the structures and dynamics of equatorial Spread F (ESF irregularities. However, unambiguous identification of the nature of the structures in terms of plasma depletion or enhancement requires another technique, as the return echo measured by VHF radar is proportional to the square of the electron density fluctuations. In order to address this issue, co-ordinated radar backscatter and thermospheric airglow intensity measurements were carried out during March 2003 from the MST radar site at Gadanki. Temporal variations of 630.0-nm and 777.4-nm emission intensities reveal small-scale ("micro" and large-scale ("macro" variations during the period of observation. The micro variations are absent on non-ESF nights while the macro variations are present on both ESF and non-ESF nights. In addition to the well-known anti-correlation between the base height of the F-region and the nocturnal variation of thermospheric airglow intensities, the variation of the base height of the F-layer, on occasion, is found to manifest as a bottomside wave-like structure, as seen by VHF radar on an ESF night. The micro variations in the airglow intensities are associated with large-scale irregular plasma structures and found to be in correspondence with the "plume" structures obtained by VHF radar. In addition to the commonly observed depletions with upward movement, the observation unequivocally reveals the presence of plasma enhancements which move downwards. The observation of enhancement in 777.4-nm airglow intensity, which is characterized as plasma enhancement, provides an experimental verification of the earlier prediction based on numerical modeling studies.

Estimating soil water evaporation using radar measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Sadeghi, Ali M.; Scott, H. D.; Waite, W. P.; Asrar, G.

1988-01-01

Field studies were conducted to evaluate the application of radar reflectivity as compared with the shortwave reflectivity (albedo) used in the Idso-Jackson equation for the estimation of daily evaporation under overcast sky and subhumid climatic conditions. Soil water content, water potential, shortwave and radar reflectivity, and soil and air temperatures were monitored during three soil drying cycles. The data from each cycle were used to calculate daily evaporation from the Idso-Jackson equation and from two other standard methods, the modified Penman and plane of zero-flux. All three methods resulted in similar estimates of evaporation under clear sky conditions; however, under overcast sky conditions, evaporation fluxes computed from the Idso-Jackson equation were consistently lower than the other two methods. The shortwave albedo values in the Idso-Jackson equation were then replaced with radar reflectivities and a new set of total daily evaporation fluxes were calculated. This resulted in a significant improvement in computed soil evaporation fluxes from the Idso-Jackson equation, and a better agreement between the three methods under overcast sky conditions.

Analysis of Active Lava Flows on Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, Using SIR-C Radar Correlation Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Zebker, H. A.; Rosen, P.; Hensley, S.; Mouginis-Mark, P. J.

1995-01-01

Precise eruption rates of active pahoehoe lava flows on Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, have been determined using spaceborne radar data acquired by the Space Shuttle Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C). Measurement of the rate of lava flow advance, and the determination of the volume of new material erupted in a given period of time, are among the most important observations that can be made when studying a volcano.

Preliminary results on ocean dynamics from Skylab and their implications for future spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, J.; Pierson, W. J.; Cardone, V. J.

1975-01-01

The instrument aboard Skylab designated S193 - a combined passive and active microwave radar system acting as a radiometer, scatterometer, and altimeter - is used to measure the surface vector wind speeds in the planetary boundary layer over the oceans. Preliminary results corroborate the hypothesis that sea surface winds in the planetary boundary layer can be determined from satellite data. Future spacecraft plans for measuring a geoid with an accuracy up to 10 cm are discussed.

FMWC Radar for Breath Detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Suhr, Lau Frejstrup; Tafur Monroy, Idelfonso; Vegas Olmos, Juan José

We report on the experimental demonstration of an FMCW radar operating in the 25.7 - 26.6 GHz range with a repetition rate of 500 sweeps per second. The radar is able to track the breathing rate of an adult human from a distance of 1 meter. The experiments have utilized a 50 second recording window...... to accurately track the breathing rate. The radar utilizes a saw tooth modulation format and a low latency receiver. A breath tracking radar is useful both in medical scenarios, diagnosing disorders such as sleep apnea, and for home use where the user can monitor its health. Breathing is a central part of every...... radar chip which, through the use of a simple modulation scheme, is able to measure the breathing rate of an adult human from a distance. A high frequency output makes sure that the radar cannot penetrate solid obstacles which is a wanted feature in private homes where people therefore cannot measure...

Surface current measurements in Juan de Fuca Strait using the SeaSonde HF [high frequency] radar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hodgins, D.O.

1994-09-01

The shore-based SeaSonde high-frequency (HF) radar was deployed for three weeks in summer 1993 to measure surface currents in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia. Experimental objectives included documenting the complex flow regime generated by large tides and the brackish plume of the Fraser River, and determining the radar performance under low-wind, low-salinity conditions. The radar data showed that surface flows are dominated by the plume jet formed by the Fraser River outflow, giving rise to recurring, energetic eddies with scales of 8-12 km, strong flow meanders, and convergent fronts. These features were continuously modulated by the along-channel tidal flows. Comparisons with a detailed numerical model hindcast gave good correlation between observed and predicted flow fields, especially at tidal and low frequencies. Radar return was found to be correlated with local winds and radar performance was independent of salinity variations in the plume. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) provides a map of the radar scattering characteristics of the ocean surface on a capillary wave scale. ERS-1 satellite and airborne SAR images for July 28, 1993 were obtained and surface features were examined in the context of the HF radar current fields. Results show that SAR images alone cannot reliably provide the dynamical data required in this region by oil spill models. Under certain conditions, however, the radar imagery offers valuable physical information on phenomena affecting oil slick development. Interpretation of SAR imagery in conjunction with other remote sensing information would offer more quantitative prediction data. 28 refs., 334 figs., 1 tab

Doppler radar physiological sensing

CERN Document Server

Lubecke, Victor M; Droitcour, Amy D; Park, Byung-Kwon; Singh, Aditya

2016-01-01

Presents a comprehensive description of the theory and practical implementation of Doppler radar-based physiological monitoring. This book includes an overview of current physiological monitoring techniques and explains the fundamental technology used in remote non-contact monitoring methods. Basic radio wave propagation and radar principles are introduced along with the fundamentals of physiological motion and measurement. Specific design and implementation considerations for physiological monitoring radar systems are then discussed in detail. The authors address current research and commercial development of Doppler radar based physiological monitoring for healthcare and other applications.

Sensitivity of C-Band Polarimetric Radar-Based Drop Size Distribution Measurements to Maximum Diameter Assumptions

Science.gov (United States)

Carey, Lawrence D.; Petersen, Walter A.

2011-01-01

The estimation of rain drop size distribution (DSD) parameters from polarimetric radar observations is accomplished by first establishing a relationship between differential reflectivity (Z(sub dr)) and the central tendency of the rain DSD such as the median volume diameter (D0). Since Z(sub dr) does not provide a direct measurement of DSD central tendency, the relationship is typically derived empirically from rain drop and radar scattering models (e.g., D0 = F[Z (sub dr)] ). Past studies have explored the general sensitivity of these models to temperature, radar wavelength, the drop shape vs. size relation, and DSD variability. Much progress has been made in recent years in measuring the drop shape and DSD variability using surface-based disdrometers, such as the 2D Video disdrometer (2DVD), and documenting their impact on polarimetric radar techniques. In addition to measuring drop shape, another advantage of the 2DVD over earlier impact type disdrometers is its ability to resolve drop diameters in excess of 5 mm. Despite this improvement, the sampling limitations of a disdrometer, including the 2DVD, make it very difficult to adequately measure the maximum drop diameter (D(sub max)) present in a typical radar resolution volume. As a result, D(sub max) must still be assumed in the drop and radar models from which D0 = F[Z(sub dr)] is derived. Since scattering resonance at C-band wavelengths begins to occur in drop diameters larger than about 5 mm, modeled C-band radar parameters, particularly Z(sub dr), can be sensitive to D(sub max) assumptions. In past C-band radar studies, a variety of D(sub max) assumptions have been made, including the actual disdrometer estimate of D(sub max) during a typical sampling period (e.g., 1-3 minutes), D(sub max) = C (where C is constant at values from 5 to 8 mm), and D(sub max) = M*D0 (where the constant multiple, M, is fixed at values ranging from 2.5 to 3.5). The overall objective of this NASA Global Precipitation Measurement

Radar observations of Mercury

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harmon, J.K.; Campbell, D.B.

1988-01-01

Some of the radar altimetry profiles of Mercury obtained on the basis of data from the Arecibo Observatory are presented. In these measurements, the delay-Doppler method was used to measure altitudes along the Doppler equator, rather than to map radar reflectivity. The profiles, derived from observations made over a 6-yr period, provide extensive coverage over a restricted equatorial band and permit the identification of radar signatures for features as small as 50-km diameter craters and 1-km-high arcuate scarps. The data allowed identification of large-scale topographic features such as smooth plains subsidence zones and major highland regions

Analysis of measured radar data for specific emitter identification

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Conning, M

2010-05-01

Full Text Available and can be used more efficiently to determine the exact times when a pulse starts and ends [3]. Other statistical methods are also available, as mentioned below. To determine the start of a signal, [4] and [5] used a variance fractal dimension... measure together with a Bayesian step change detector. Temporal, nonstationary signals’ fractal dimensions change over time. Multifractals can be used with such signals, e.g. radar pulses that have time-varying fractal dimensions [4], [6] and [7]. A...

First mesospheric turbulence study using coordinated rocket and MST radar measurements over Indian low latitude region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Chandra

2008-09-01

Full Text Available A campaign to study turbulence in the mesosphere, over low latitudes in India, using rocket-borne measurements and Indian MST radar, was conducted during July 2004. A rocket-borne Langmuir probe detected a spectrum of electron density irregularities, with scale sizes in the range of about 1 m to 1 km, in 67.5–78.0 km and 84–89 km altitude regions over a low latitude station Sriharikota (13.6° N, 80.2° E. A rocket-borne chaff experiment measured zonal and meridional winds about 30 min after the Langmuir probe flight. The MST radar located at Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E, which is about 100 km west of Sriharikota, also detected the presence of a strong scattering layer in 73.5–77.5 km region from which radar echoes corresponding to 3 m irregularities were received. Based on the region of occurrence of irregularities, which was highly collisional, presence of significant shears in zonal and meridional components of wind measured by the chaff experiment, 10 min periodicity in zonal and meridional winds obtained by the MST radar and the nature of wave number spectra of the irregularities, it is suggested that the observed irregularities were produced through the neutral turbulence mechanism. The percentage amplitude of fluctuations across the entire scale size range showed that the strength of turbulence was stronger in the lower altitude regions and decreased with increasing altitude. It was also found that the amplitude of fluctuations was large in regions of steeper electron density gradients. MST radar observations showed that at smaller scales of turbulence such as 3 m, (a the thickness of the turbulent layer was between 2 and 3 km and (b and fine structures, with layer thicknesses of about a km or less were also embedded in these layers. Rocket also detected 3-m fluctuations, which were very strong (a few percent in lower altitudes (67.5 to 71.0 km and small but clearly well above the noise floor at higher altitudes. Rocket and radar

First mesospheric turbulence study using coordinated rocket and MST radar measurements over Indian low latitude region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chandra, H.; Sinha, H.S.S.; Das, U.; Misra, R.N.; Das, S.R. [Physical Research Lab., Ahmedabad (India); Datta, J.; Chakravarty, S.C. [ISRO Headquarters, Bangalore (India); Patra, A.K.; Vekateswara Rao, N.; Narayana Rao, D. [National Atmospheric Research Lab., Tirupati (India)

2008-07-01

A campaign to study turbulence in the mesosphere, over low latitudes in India, using rocket-borne measurements and Indian MST radar, was conducted during July 2004. A rocket-borne Langmuir probe detected a spectrum of electron density irregularities, with scale sizes in the range of about 1 m to 1 km, in 67.5-78.0 km and 84-89 km altitude regions over a low latitude station Sriharikota (13.6 N, 80.2 E). A rocket-borne chaff experiment measured zonal and meridional winds about 30 min after the Langmuir probe flight. The MST radar located at Gadanki (13.5 N, 79.2 E), which is about 100 km west of Sriharikota, also detected the presence of a strong scattering layer in 73.5-77.5 km region from which radar echoes corresponding to 3 m irregularities were received. Based on the region of occurrence of irregularities, which was highly collisional, presence of significant shears in zonal and meridional components of wind measured by the chaff experiment, 10 min periodicity in zonal and meridional winds obtained by the MST radar and the nature of wave number spectra of the irregularities, it is suggested that the observed irregularities were produced through the neutral turbulence mechanism. The percentage amplitude of fluctuations across the entire scale size range showed that the strength of turbulence was stronger in the lower altitude regions and decreased with increasing altitude. It was also found that the amplitude of fluctuations was large in regions of steeper electron density gradients. MST radar observations showed that at smaller scales of turbulence such as 3 m, (a) the thickness of the turbulent layer was between 2 and 3 km and (b) and fine structures, with layer thicknesses of about a km or less were also embedded in these layers. Rocket also detected 3-m fluctuations, which were very strong (a few percent) in lower altitudes (67.5 to 71.0 km) and small but clearly well above the noise floor at higher altitudes. Rocket and radar results also point to the

Classification and correction of the radar bright band with polarimetric radar

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Will; Rico-Ramirez, Miguel; Kramer, Stefan

2015-04-01

The annular region of enhanced radar reflectivity, known as the Bright Band (BB), occurs when the radar beam intersects a layer of melting hydrometeors. Radar reflectivity is related to rainfall through a power law equation and so this enhanced region can lead to overestimations of rainfall by a factor of up to 5, so it is important to correct for this. The BB region can be identified by using several techniques including hydrometeor classification and freezing level forecasts from mesoscale meteorological models. Advances in dual-polarisation radar measurements and continued research in the field has led to increased accuracy in the ability to identify the melting snow region. A method proposed by Kitchen et al (1994), a form of which is currently used operationally in the UK, utilises idealised Vertical Profiles of Reflectivity (VPR) to correct for the BB enhancement. A simpler and more computationally efficient method involves the formation of an average VPR from multiple elevations for correction that can still cause a significant decrease in error (Vignal 2000). The purpose of this research is to evaluate a method that relies only on analysis of measurements from an operational C-band polarimetric radar without the need for computationally expensive models. Initial results show that LDR is a strong classifier of melting snow with a high Critical Success Index of 97% when compared to the other variables. An algorithm based on idealised VPRs resulted in the largest decrease in error when BB corrected scans are compared to rain gauges and to lower level scans with a reduction in RMSE of 61% for rain-rate measurements. References Kitchen, M., R. Brown, and A. G. Davies, 1994: Real-time correction of weather radar data for the effects of bright band, range and orographic growth in widespread precipitation. Q.J.R. Meteorol. Soc., 120, 1231-1254. Vignal, B. et al, 2000: Three methods to determine profiles of reflectivity from volumetric radar data to correct

Research and development cooperation project on environmental measurement using laser radar in fiscal 1994; Kankyo keisokuyo laser radar no kaihatsu ni kansuru kenkyu kyoryoku

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-03-01

The paper outlined activities in fiscal 1994 in the R and D cooperation project on a laser radar for environmental measurement. In the activities in fiscal 1994 of `the ODA laser radar development committee,` the committee held four meetings, two field surveys were carried out, and two researchers were invited from Indonesia. In the field survey, the environment in Jakarta city was investigated in terms of changes in population and number of the cars registered. Further, from data collected during 1994-1998 in the central Jakarta city, the following were made clear: the trend of a decrease in SO2, the trend of a rapid increase and an excess of NO2 content over the environmental standard, the status of pollution of which the level is close to the upper limit of the environmental standard of dust, etc. In the meeting of the policy study for the field survey at LIPI headquarters, Japan proposed a system which is constituted of a difference absorption laser radar, two Mie scattering laser radars, and a central processing unit. The sites proposed were studied in cooperation with Indonesia. 40 refs., 65 figs., 9 tabs.

Grimsel test site. Analysis of radar measurements performed at the Grimsel rock laboratory in October 1985

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Falk, L.; Magnusson, K.A.; Olsson, O.; Ammann, M.; Keusen, H.R.; Sattel, G.

1988-02-01

In October 1985 Swedish Geological Co. conducted a radar reflection survey at Grimsel Test Site to map discontinuities in the rock mass of the Underground Seismic (US) test field. These measurements first designed as a test of the equipment at that specific site allowed a comprehensive interpretation of the geometrical structure of the test field. The geological interpretation of the radar reflectors observed is discussed and a possible way is shown to construct a geological model of a site using the combination of radar results and geological information. Additionally to these results the report describes the radar equipment and the theoretical background for the analysis of the data. The main geological features in the area under investigation, situated in the 'Zentraler Aaregranit', are lamprophyre dykes and fracture/shear zones. Their position and strike have been determined using single- and crosshole radar data, SABIS data (accoustic televiewer) as well as existing geological information from the boreholes or the drifts under the assumption of steep dipping elements (70 to 90 o ). (author) 10 refs., 32 figs., 17 tabs

Characterization of hydrometeors in Sahelian convective systems with an X-band radar and comparison with in situ measurements. Part I : Sensitivity of polarimetric radar particle identification retrieval and case study evaluation

OpenAIRE

Cazenave, Frédéric; Gosset, Marielle; Kacou, M.; Alcoba, M.; Fontaine, E.; Duroure, C.; Dolan, B.

2016-01-01

The particle identification scheme developed by Dolan and Rutledge for X-band polarimetric radar is tested for the first time in Africa and compared with in situ measurements. The data were acquired during the Megha-Tropiques mission algorithm-validation campaign that occurred in Niger in 2010. The radar classification is compared with the in situ observations gathered by an instrumented aircraft for the 13 August 2010 squall-line case. An original approach has been developed for the radar-in...

Improved Micro Rain Radar snow measurements using Doppler spectra post-processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Maahn

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The Micro Rain Radar 2 (MRR is a compact Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW system that operates at 24 GHz. The MRR is a low-cost, portable radar system that requires minimum supervision in the field. As such, the MRR is a frequently used radar system for conducting precipitation research. Current MRR drawbacks are the lack of a sophisticated post-processing algorithm to improve its sensitivity (currently at +3 dBz, spurious artefacts concerning radar receiver noise and the lack of high quality Doppler radar moments. Here we propose an improved processing method which is especially suited for snow observations and provides reliable values of effective reflectivity, Doppler velocity and spectral width. The proposed method is freely available on the web and features a noise removal based on recognition of the most significant peak. A dynamic dealiasing routine allows observations even if the Nyquist velocity range is exceeded. Collocated observations over 115 days of a MRR and a pulsed 35.2 GHz MIRA35 cloud radar show a very high agreement for the proposed method for snow, if reflectivities are larger than −5 dBz. The overall sensitivity is increased to −14 and −8 dBz, depending on range. The proposed method exploits the full potential of MRR's hardware and substantially enhances the use of Micro Rain Radar for studies of solid precipitation.

Radar equations for modern radar

CERN Document Server

Barton, David K

2012-01-01

Based on the classic Radar Range-Performance Analysis from 1980, this practical volume extends that work to ensure applicability of radar equations to the design and analysis of modern radars. This unique book helps you identify what information on the radar and its environment is needed to predict detection range. Moreover, it provides equations and data to improve the accuracy of range calculations. You find detailed information on propagation effects, methods of range calculation in environments that include clutter, jamming and thermal noise, as well as loss factors that reduce radar perfo

OW ASCAT Ocean Surface Winds

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) sensor onboard the EUMETSAT MetOp polar-orbiting satellite provides ocean surface wind observations by means of radar...

Assessing the potential for measuring Europa's tidal Love number h2 using radar sounder and topographic imager data

Science.gov (United States)

Steinbrügge, G.; Schroeder, D. M.; Haynes, M. S.; Hussmann, H.; Grima, C.; Blankenship, D. D.

2018-01-01

The tidal Love number h2 is a key geophysical measurement for the characterization of Europa's interior, especially of its outer ice shell if a subsurface ocean is present. We performed numerical simulations to assess the potential for estimating h2 using altimetric measurements with a combination of radar sounding and stereo imaging data. The measurement principle exploits both delay and Doppler information in the radar surface return in combination with topography from a digital terrain model (DTM). The resulting radar range measurements at cross-over locations can be used in combination with radio science Doppler data for an improved trajectory solution and for estimating the h2 Love number. Our simulation results suggest that the absolute accuracy of h2 from the joint analysis of REASON (Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface) surface return and EIS (Europa Imaging System) DTM data will be in the range of 0.04-0.17 assuming full radio link coverage. The error is controlled by the SNR budget and DTM quality, both dependent on the surface properties of Europa. We estimate that this would unambiguously confirm (or reject) the global ocean hypothesis and, in combination with a nominal radio-science based measurement of the tidal Love number k2, constrain the thickness of Europa's outer ice shell to up to ±15 km.

Radar measurements of the latitudinal variation of auroral ionization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vondrak, R.R.; Baron, M.J.

1976-01-01

The Chatanika, Alaska, incoherent scatter radar has been used to measure the spatial variation of auroral ionization. A two-dimensional (altitude, latitude) cross-sectional map of electron densities in the ionosphere is produced by scanning in the geomagnetic meridian plane. The altitutde variation of ionization is used to infer the differential energy distribution of the incident auroral electrons. The latitudinal variation of this energy distribution and the total energy input are obtained by use of the meridian-scanning technique. Examples are shown of observations made during an active aurora

HF Radar Sea-echo from Shallow Water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josh Kohut

2008-08-01

Full Text Available HF radar systems are widely and routinely used for the measurement of ocean surface currents and waves. Analysis methods presently in use are based on the assumption of infinite water depth, and may therefore be inadequate close to shore where the radar echo is strongest. In this paper, we treat the situation when the radar echo is returned from ocean waves that interact with the ocean floor. Simulations are described which demonstrate the effect of shallow water on radar sea-echo. These are used to investigate limits on the existing theory and to define water depths at which shallow-water effects become significant. The second-order spectral energy increases relative to the first-order as the water depth decreases, resulting in spectral saturation when the waveheight exceeds a limit defined by the radar transmit frequency. This effect is particularly marked for lower radar transmit frequencies. The saturation limit on waveheight is less for shallow water. Shallow water affects second-order spectra (which gives wave information far more than first-order (which gives information on current velocities, the latter being significantly affected only for the lowest radar transmit frequencies for extremely shallow water. We describe analysis of radar echo from shallow water measured by a Rutgers University HF radar system to give ocean wave spectral estimates. Radar-derived wave height, period and direction are compared with simultaneous shallow-water in-situ measurements.

Analysis of rainfall intensities using very dense network measurements and radar information for the Brno area during the period 2003-2009

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Salek, Milan; Stepanek, Petr; Zahradnicek, Pavel [Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Brno (Czech Republic)

2012-02-15

This study presents a data quality control and spatial analysis of maximum precipitation sums of various durations for the area of the city of Brno, using a dense network of automatic gauge stations and radar information. The measurements of 18 stations in the area of Brno, Czech Republic were established for the purposes of better management of the city sewerage system. Before evaluation of the measurements, quality control was executed on the daily, hourly and 15-minute precipitation sums. All suspicious data were compared with radar measurements and erroneous input data were removed. From this quality controlled data, the maxima of precipitation sums for durations of 5, 10, 15 and 60 minutes were calculated for the given time frames (months, seasons and years) and were spatially analyzed. The role of spatial precipitation estimates using weather radar data for hourly rainfall accumulations has been investigated as well. It is revealed that radar measurements show rather little improvement of the areal precipitation estimates when such a dense gauge network is available in real time, but it would be hard to replace radar measurements by any other source of data for successful quality control of the rain-gauge data, especially in summer months. (orig.)

Field Experiments on SAR Detection of Film Slicks

Science.gov (United States)

Ermakov, S.; da Silva, J. C. B.; Kapustin, I.; Sergievskaya, I.

2013-03-01

Field experiments on radar detection of film slicks using satellite synthetic aperture radar TerraSAR-X and X-band scatterometer on board a research vessel are described. The experiments were carried out with surfactant films with known physical parameters, the surface tension and the film elasticity, at low to moderate wind conditions and at different radar incidence angles. It is shown that the depression of radar backscatter (contrast) in films slicks for X-band SAR weakly depends on wind velocity/direction, film elasticity and incidence angles within the range of 200-400. Scatterometer contrasts obtained at incidence angles of about 600 are larger than SAR contrasts. Theoretical analysis of radar contrasts for low-to-moderate incidence angles has been carried out based on a hydrodynamic model of wind wave damping due to films and on a composite radar imaging model. The hydrodynamic model takes into account wave damping due to viscoelastic films, wind wave generation and a phenomenological term describing nonlinear limitation of the wind wave spectrum. The radar model takes into account Bragg scattering and specular scattering mechanisms, the latter is usually negligible compared to the Bragg mechanism at moderate incidence angles (larger than 30-35 degrees), but gives noticeable contribution to radar backscattering at smaller incidence angles particularly for slick areas when cm-scale ripples are strongly depressed by films. Calculated radar contrasts in slicks are compared with experiments and it is concluded that development of the model is needed to predict quantitatively observations.

Ground and Space Radar Volume Matching and Comparison Software

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Kenneth; Schwaller, Mathew

2010-01-01

This software enables easy comparison of ground- and space-based radar observations. The software was initially designed to compare ground radar reflectivity from operational, ground based Sand C-band meteorological radars with comparable measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite s Precipitation Radar (PR) instrument. The software is also applicable to other ground-based and space-based radars. The ground and space radar volume matching and comparison software was developed in response to requirements defined by the Ground Validation System (GVS) of Goddard s Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) project. This software innovation is specifically concerned with simplifying the comparison of ground- and spacebased radar measurements for the purpose of GPM algorithm and data product validation. This software is unique in that it provides an operational environment to routinely create comparison products, and uses a direct geometric approach to derive common volumes of space- and ground-based radar data. In this approach, spatially coincident volumes are defined by the intersection of individual space-based Precipitation Radar rays with the each of the conical elevation sweeps of the ground radar. Thus, the resampled volume elements of the space and ground radar reflectivity can be directly compared to one another.

CSU-CHILL Polarimetric Radar Measurements from a Severe Hail Storm in Eastern Colorado.

Science.gov (United States)

Hubbert, J.; Bringi, V. N.; Carey, L. D.; Bolen, S.

1998-08-01

Polarimetric radar measurements made by the recently upgraded CSU-CHILL radar system in a severe hailstorm are analyzed permitting for the first time the combined use of Zh, ZDR, linear depolarization ratio (LDR), KDP, and h to infer hydrometeor types. A chase van equipped for manual collection of hail, and instrumented with a rain gauge, intercepted the storm core for 50 min. The period of golfball-sized hail is easily distinguished by high LDR (greater than or equal to 18 dB), negative ZDR (less than or equal to 0.5 dB), and low h (less than or equal to 0.93) values near the surface. Rainfall accumulation over the entire event (about 40 mm) estimated using KDP is in excellent agreement with the rain gauge measurement. Limited dual-Doppler synthesis using the CSU-CHILL and Denver WSR-88D radars permit estimates of the horizontal convergence at altitudes less than 3 km above ground level (AGL) at 1747 and 1812 mountain daylight time (MDT). Locations of peak horizontal convergence at these times are centered on well-defined positive ZDR columns. Vertical sections of multiparameter radar data at 1812 MDT are interpreted in terms of hydrometeor type. In particular, an enhanced LDR `cap' area on top of the the positive ZDR column is interpreted as a region of mixed phase with large drops mixed with partially frozen and frozen hydrometeors. A positive KDP column on the the western fringe of the main updraft is inferred to be the result of drops (1-2 mm) shed by wet hailstones. Swaths of large hail at the surface (inferred from LDR signatures) and positive ZDR at 3.5 km AGL suggest that potential frozen drop embryos are favorably located for growth into large hailstones. Thin section analysis of a sample of the large hailstones shows that 30%-40% have frozen drop embryos.

Physical working principles of medical radar.

Science.gov (United States)

Aardal, Øyvind; Paichard, Yoann; Brovoll, Sverre; Berger, Tor; Lande, Tor Sverre; Hamran, Svein-Erik

2013-04-01

There has been research interest in using radar for contactless measurements of the human heartbeat for several years. While many systems have been demonstrated, not much attention have been given to the actual physical causes of why this work. The consensus seems to be that the radar senses small body movements correlated with heartbeats, but whether only the movements of the body surface or reflections from internal organs are also monitored have not been answered definitely. There has recently been proposed another theory that blood perfusion in the skin could be the main reason radars are able to detect heartbeats. In this paper, an experimental approach is given to determine the physical causes. The measurement results show that it is the body surface reflections that dominate radar measurements of human heartbeats.

Detection performance improvement of FMCW radar using frequency shift

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wu, Y.; Linnartz, J.P.M.G.

2011-01-01

Frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radars have been widely used for measuring target range and speed. In this paper, we present a mathematical model that quantifies the system-level performance of FMCW radar systems. In FMCW radar, the target range is measured through measuring the beat

Radar cross section

CERN Document Server

Knott, Gene; Tuley, Michael

2004-01-01

This is the second edition of the first and foremost book on this subject for self-study, training, and course work. Radar cross section (RCS) is a comparison of two radar signal strengths. One is the strength of the radar beam sweeping over a target, the other is the strength of the reflected echo sensed by the receiver. This book shows how the RCS ?gauge? can be predicted for theoretical objects and how it can be measured for real targets. Predicting RCS is not easy, even for simple objects like spheres or cylinders, but this book explains the two ?exact? forms of theory so well that even a

A Dual-Wavelength Radar Technique to Detect Hydrometeor Phases

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Liang; Meneghini, Robert

2016-01-01

This study is aimed at investigating the feasibility of a Ku- and Ka-band space/air-borne dual wavelength radar algorithm to discriminate various phase states of precipitating hydrometeors. A phase-state classification algorithm has been developed from the radar measurements of snow, mixed-phase and rain obtained from stratiform storms. The algorithm, presented in the form of the look-up table that links the Ku-band radar reflectivities and dual-frequency ratio (DFR) to the phase states of hydrometeors, is checked by applying it to the measurements of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Airborne Precipitation Radar Second Generation (APR-2). In creating the statistically-based phase look-up table, the attenuation corrected (or true) radar reflectivity factors are employed, leading to better accuracy in determining the hydrometeor phase. In practice, however, the true radar reflectivities are not always available before the phase states of the hydrometeors are determined. Therefore, it is desirable to make use of the measured radar reflectivities in classifying the phase states. To do this, a phase-identification procedure is proposed that uses only measured radar reflectivities. The procedure is then tested using APR-2 airborne radar data. Analysis of the classification results in stratiform rain indicates that the regions of snow, mixed-phase and rain derived from the phase-identification algorithm coincide reasonably well with those determined from the measured radar reflectivities and linear depolarization ratio (LDR).

Meteor radar measurements of MLT winds near the equatorial electro jet region over Thumba (8.5° N, 77° E: comparison with TIDI observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. R. John

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The All-Sky interferometric meteor (SKYiMET radar (MR derived winds in the vicinity of the equatorial electrojet (EEJ are discussed. As Thumba (8.5° N, 77° E; dip lat. 0.5° N is under the EEJ belt, there has been some debate on the reliability of the meteor radar derived winds near the EEJ height region. In this regard, the composite diurnal variations of zonal wind profiles in the mesosphere-lower thermosphere (MLT region derived from TIMED Doppler Interferometer (TIDI and ground based meteor radar at Thumba are compared. In this study, emphasis is given to verify the meteor radar observations at 98 km height region, especially during the EEJ peaking time (11:00 to 14:00 LT. The composite diurnal cycles of zonal winds over Thumba are constructed during four seasons of the year 2006 using TIDI and meteor radar observations, which showed good agreement especially during the peak EEJ hours, thus assuring the reliability of meteor radar measurements of neutral winds close to the EEJ height region. It is evident from the present study that on seasonal scales, the radar measurements are not biased by the EEJ. The day-time variations of HF radar measured E-region drifts at the EEJ region are also compared with MR measurements to show there are large differences between ionospheric drifts and MR measurements. The significance of the present study lies in validating the meteor radar technique over Thumba located at magnetic equator by comparing with other than the radio technique for the first time.

Raindrop size distribution and radar reflectivity-rain rate relationships for radar hydrology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Uijlenhoet, R.

2001-01-01

The conversion of the radar reflectivity factor Z (mm6m-3) to rain rate R (mm h-1) is a crucial step in the hydrological application of weather radar measurements. It has been common practice for over 50 years now to take for this conversion a simple power law relationship between Z and R. It is the

SMAP RADAR Calibration and Validation

Science.gov (United States)

West, R. D.; Jaruwatanadilok, S.; Chaubel, M. J.; Spencer, M.; Chan, S. F.; Chen, C. W.; Fore, A.

2015-12-01

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission launched on Jan 31, 2015. The mission employs L-band radar and radiometer measurements to estimate soil moisture with 4% volumetric accuracy at a resolution of 10 km, and freeze-thaw state at a resolution of 1-3 km. Immediately following launch, there was a three month instrument checkout period, followed by six months of level 1 (L1) calibration and validation. In this presentation, we will discuss the calibration and validation activities and results for the L1 radar data. Early SMAP radar data were used to check commanded timing parameters, and to work out issues in the low- and high-resolution radar processors. From April 3-13 the radar collected receive only mode data to conduct a survey of RFI sources. Analysis of the RFI environment led to a preferred operating frequency. The RFI survey data were also used to validate noise subtraction and scaling operations in the radar processors. Normal radar operations resumed on April 13. All radar data were examined closely for image quality and calibration issues which led to improvements in the radar data products for the beta release at the end of July. Radar data were used to determine and correct for small biases in the reported spacecraft attitude. Geo-location was validated against coastline positions and the known positions of corner reflectors. Residual errors at the time of the beta release are about 350 m. Intra-swath biases in the high-resolution backscatter images are reduced to less than 0.3 dB for all polarizations. Radiometric cross-calibration with Aquarius was performed using areas of the Amazon rain forest. Cross-calibration was also examined using ocean data from the low-resolution processor and comparing with the Aquarius wind model function. Using all a-priori calibration constants provided good results with co-polarized measurements matching to better than 1 dB, and cross-polarized measurements matching to about 1 dB in the beta release. During the

Quantification of Reflection Patterns in Ground-Penetrating Radar Data

Science.gov (United States)

Moysey, S.; Knight, R. J.; Jol, H. M.; Allen-King, R. M.; Gaylord, D. R.

2005-12-01

Radar facies analysis provides a way of interpreting the large-scale structure of the subsurface from ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data. Radar facies are often distinguished from each other by the presence of patterns, such as flat-lying, dipping, or chaotic reflections, in different regions of a radar image. When these patterns can be associated with radar facies in a repeated and predictable manner we refer to them as `radar textures'. While it is often possible to qualitatively differentiate between radar textures visually, pattern recognition tools, like neural networks, require a quantitative measure to discriminate between them. We investigate whether currently available tools, such as instantaneous attributes or metrics adapted from standard texture analysis techniques, can be used to improve the classification of radar facies. To this end, we use a neural network to perform cross-validation tests that assess the efficacy of different textural measures for classifying radar facies in GPR data collected from the William River delta, Saskatchewan, Canada. We found that the highest classification accuracies (>93%) were obtained for measures of texture that preserve information about the spatial arrangement of reflections in the radar image, e.g., spatial covariance. Lower accuracy (87%) was obtained for classifications based directly on windows of amplitude data extracted from the radar image. Measures that did not account for the spatial arrangement of reflections in the image, e.g., instantaneous attributes and amplitude variance, yielded classification accuracies of less than 65%. Optimal classifications were obtained for textural measures that extracted sufficient information from the radar data to discriminate between radar facies but were insensitive to other facies specific characteristics. For example, the rotationally invariant Fourier-Mellin transform delivered better classification results than the spatial covariance because dip angle of the

Quantitative gait measurement with pulse-Doppler radar for passive in-home gait assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Fang; Skubic, Marjorie; Rantz, Marilyn; Cuddihy, Paul E

2014-09-01

In this paper, we propose a pulse-Doppler radar system for in-home gait assessment of older adults. A methodology has been developed to extract gait parameters including walking speed and step time using Doppler radar. The gait parameters have been validated with a Vicon motion capture system in the lab with 13 participants and 158 test runs. The study revealed that for an optimal step recognition and walking speed estimation, a dual radar set up with one radar placed at foot level and the other at torso level is necessary. An excellent absolute agreement with intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.97 was found for step time estimation with the foot level radar. For walking speed, although both radars show excellent consistency they all have a system offset compared to the ground truth due to walking direction with respect to the radar beam. The torso level radar has a better performance (9% offset on average) in the speed estimation compared to the foot level radar (13%-18% offset). Quantitative analysis has been performed to compute the angles causing the systematic error. These lab results demonstrate the capability of the system to be used as a daily gait assessment tool in home environments, useful for fall risk assessment and other health care applications. The system is currently being tested in an unstructured home environment.

Phased-array radar design application of radar fundamentals

CERN Document Server

Jeffrey, Thomas

2009-01-01

Phased-Array Radar Design is a text-reference designed for electrical engineering graduate students in colleges and universities as well as for corporate in-house training programs for radar design engineers, especially systems engineers and analysts who would like to gain hands-on, practical knowledge and skills in radar design fundamentals, advanced radar concepts, trade-offs for radar design and radar performance analysis.

Mixing height measurements from UHF wind profiling radar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Angevine, W.M.; Grimsdell, A.W. [CIRES, Univ. of Colorado, and NOAA Aeronomy Lab., Boulder, Colorado (United States)

1997-10-01

Mixing height in convective boundary layers can be detected by wind profiling radars (profilers) operating at or near 915 MHZ. We have made such measurements in a variety of settings including Alabama in 1992; Nova Scotia, Canada, during the North Atlantic Regional Experiment (NARE) 1993; Tennessee during the Southern Oxidant Study (SOS) 1994; near a 450 m tower in Wisconsin in 1995; and extensively in Illinois during the Flatland95, `96, and `97 experiments, as well as continuous operations at the Flatland Atmospheric Observatory. Profiler mixing height measurements, like all measurements, are subject to some limitations. The most important of these are due to rainfall, minimum height, and height resolution. Profilers are very sensitive to rain, which dominates the reflectivity and prevents the mixing height from being detected. Because the best height resolution is currently 60 m and the minimum height is 120-150 m AGL, the profiler is not suited for detecting mixing height in stable or nocturnal boundary layers. Problems may also arise in very dry or cold environments. (au) 12 refs.

Dynamic radar cross section measurements of a full-scale aircraft for RCS modelling validation

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Schalkwyk, Richard F

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper the process followed in generating a high fidelity reference data set for radar cross section (RCS) modelling validation for a full-scale aircraft, is presented. An overview of two dynamic RCS measurement campaigns, involving both...

Antecedent wetness conditions based on ERS scatterometer data

Science.gov (United States)

Brocca, L.; Melone, F.; Moramarco, T.; Morbidelli, R.

2009-01-01

SummarySoil moisture is widely recognized as a key parameter in environmental processes mainly for the role of rainfall partitioning into runoff and infiltration. Therefore, for storm rainfall-runoff modeling the estimation of the antecedent wetness conditions ( AWC) is one of the most important aspect. In this context, this study investigates the potential of scatterometer on board of the ERS satellites for the assessment of wetness conditions in three Tiber sub-catchments (Central Italy), of which one includes an experimental area for soil moisture monitoring. The satellite soil moisture data are taken from the ERS/METOP soil moisture archive. First, the scatterometer-derived soil wetness index ( SWI) data are compared with two on-site soil moisture data sets acquired by different methodologies on areas of different extension ranging from 0.01 km 2 to ˜60 km 2. Moreover, the reliability of SWI to estimate the AWC at a catchment scale is investigated considering the relationship between SWI and the soil potential maximum retention parameter, S, of the Soil Conservation Service-Curve Number (SCS-CN) method for abstraction. Several flood events occurred from 1992 to 2005 are selected for this purpose. Specifically, the performance of the SWI for S estimation is compared with two antecedent precipitation indices ( API) and one base flow index ( BFI). The S values obtained through the observed direct runoff volume and rainfall depth are used as benchmark. Results show the great reliability of the SWI for the estimation of wetness conditions both at the plot and catchment scale despite the complex orography of the investigated areas. As far as the comparison with on site soil moisture data set is concerned, the SWI is found quite reliable in representing the soil moisture at layer depth of 15 cm, with a mean correlation coefficient equal to 0.81. The characteristic time length parameter variations, as expected, is depended on soil type, with values in accordance with

Comparison of FPS-16 radar/jimsphere and NASA's 50-MHz radar wind profiler turbulence indicators

Science.gov (United States)

Susko, Michael

1993-01-01

Measurements of the wind and turbulent regions from the surface to 16 km by the FPS-11 radar/jimsphere system are reported with particular attention given to the use of these turbulence and wind assessments to validate the NASA 50-MHz radar wind profiler. Wind profile statistics were compared at 150-m wavelengths, a wavelength validated from 20 jimspheres, simultaneously tracked by FPS-16 and FPQ-14 radar, and the resulting analysis of auto spectra, cross-spectra, and coherence squared spectra of the wind profiles. Results demonstrate that the NASA prototype wind profiler is an excellent monitoring device illustrating the measurements of the winds within 1/2 hour of launch zero.

Diurnal evolution of wind structure and data availability measured by the DOE prototype radar system

Science.gov (United States)

Hirth, Brian D.; Schroeder, John L.; Guynes, Jerry G.

2017-11-01

A new Doppler radar prototype has been developed and deployed at Texas Tech University with a focus on enhancing the technologies’ capability to contribute to wind plant relevant complex flow measurements. In particular, improvements in data availability, total data coverage, and autonomous operation were targeted to enable contributions to a wider range of wind energy applications. Doppler radar offers rapid scan speeds, extended maximum range and excellent along-beam range resolution allowing for the simultaneous measurement of various wind phenomena ranging from regional and wind plant scales to inflow and wake flow assessment for an individual turbine. Data examples and performance improvements relative to a previous edition of the technology are presented, including insights into the influence of diurnal atmospheric stability evolution of wind structure and system performance.

Radar Target Classification using Recursive Knowledge-Based Methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jochumsen, Lars Wurtz

The topic of this thesis is target classification of radar tracks from a 2D mechanically scanning coastal surveillance radar. The measurements provided by the radar are position data and therefore the classification is mainly based on kinematic data, which is deduced from the position. The target...... been terminated. Therefore, an update of the classification results must be made for each measurement of the target. The data for this work are collected throughout the PhD and are both collected from radars and other sensors such as GPS....

Investigation of hopped frequency waveforms for range and velocity measurements of radar targets

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kathree, U

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In the field of radar, High Range Resolution (HRR) profiles are often used to improve target tracking accuracy in range and to allow the radar system to produce an image of an object using techniques such as inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR...

Radar efficiency and the calculation of decade-long PMSE backscatter cross-section for the Resolute Bay VHF radar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Swarnalingam

2009-04-01

Full Text Available The Resolute Bay VHF radar, located in Nunavut, Canada (75.0° N, 95.0° W and operating at 51.5 MHz, has been used to investigate Polar Mesosphere Summer Echoes (PMSE since 1997. PMSE are a unique form of strong coherent radar echoes, and their understanding has been a challenge to the scientific community since their discovery more than three decades ago. While other high latitude radars have recorded strong levels of PMSE activities, the Resolute Bay radar has observed relatively lower levels of PMSE strengths. In order to derive absolute measurements of PMSE strength at this site, a technique is developed to determine the radar efficiency using cosmic (sky noise variations along with the help of a calibrated noise source. VHF radars are only rarely calibrated, but determination of efficiency is even less common. Here we emphasize the importance of efficiency for determination of cross-section measurements. The significant advantage of this method is that it can be directly applied to any MST radar system anywhere in the world as long as the sky noise variations are known. The radar efficiencies for two on-site radars at Resolute Bay are determined. PMSE backscatter cross-section is estimated, and decade-long PMSE strength variations at this location are investigated. It was noticed that the median of the backscatter cross-section distribution remains relatively unchanged, but over the years a great level of variability occurs in the high power tail of the distribution.

On reconciling ground-based with spaceborne normalized radar cross section measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baumgartner, Francois; Munk, Jens; Jezek, K C

2002-01-01

This study examines differences in the normalized radar cross section, derived from ground-based versus spaceborne radar data. A simple homogeneous half-space model, indicates that agreement between the two improves as 1) the distance from the scatterer is increased; and/or 2) the extinction...

Monitoring of rain water storage in forests with satellite radar

OpenAIRE

de Jong, JJM; Klaassen, W; Kuiper, PJC

2002-01-01

The sensitivity of radar backscatter to the amount of intercepted rain in temperate deciduous forests is analyzed to determine the feasibility of retrieval of this parameter from satellite radar data. A backscatter model is validated with X-band radar measurements of a single tree exposed to rain. A good agreement between simulation and measurements is observed and this demonstrates the ability of radar to measure the amount of intercepted rain. The backscatter model is next applied to simula...

Extended Target Recognition in Cognitive Radar Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiqin Wang

2010-11-01

Full Text Available We address the problem of adaptive waveform design for extended target recognition in cognitive radar networks. A closed-loop active target recognition radar system is extended to the case of a centralized cognitive radar network, in which a generalized likelihood ratio (GLR based sequential hypothesis testing (SHT framework is employed. Using Doppler velocities measured by multiple radars, the target aspect angle for each radar is calculated. The joint probability of each target hypothesis is then updated using observations from different radar line of sights (LOS. Based on these probabilities, a minimum correlation algorithm is proposed to adaptively design the transmit waveform for each radar in an amplitude fluctuation situation. Simulation results demonstrate performance improvements due to the cognitive radar network and adaptive waveform design. Our minimum correlation algorithm outperforms the eigen-waveform solution and other non-cognitive waveform design approaches.

Simultaneous observations of structure function parameter of refractive index using a high-resolution radar and the DataHawk small airborne measurement system

Science.gov (United States)

Scipión, Danny E.; Lawrence, Dale A.; Milla, Marco A.; Woodman, Ronald F.; Lume, Diego A.; Balsley, Ben B.

2016-09-01

The SOUSY (SOUnding SYstem) radar was relocated to the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO) near Lima, Peru, in 2000, where the radar controller and acquisition system were upgraded with state-of-the-art parts to take full advantage of its potential for high-resolution atmospheric sounding. Due to its broad bandwidth (4 MHz), it is able to characterize clear-air backscattering with high range resolution (37.5 m). A campaign conducted at JRO in July 2014 aimed to characterize the lower troposphere with a high temporal resolution (8.1 Hz) using the DataHawk (DH) small unmanned aircraft system, which provides in situ atmospheric measurements at scales as small as 1 m in the lower troposphere and can be GPS-guided to obtain measurements within the beam of the radar. This was a unique opportunity to make coincident observations by both systems and to directly compare their in situ and remotely sensed parameters. Because SOUSY only points vertically, it is only possible to retrieve vertical radar profiles caused by changes in the refractive index within the resolution volume. Turbulent variations due to scattering are described by the structure function parameter of refractive index Cn2. Profiles of Cn2 from the DH are obtained by combining pressure, temperature, and relative humidity measurements along the helical trajectory and integrated at the same scale as the radar range resolution. Excellent agreement is observed between the Cn2 estimates obtained from the DH and SOUSY in the overlapping measurement regime from 1200 m up to 4200 m above sea level, and this correspondence provides the first accurate calibration of the SOUSY radar for measuring Cn2.

Mapping ionospheric backscatter measured by the SuperDARN HF radars – Part 2: Assessing SuperDARN virtual height models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. K. Yeoman

2008-05-01

Full Text Available The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN network of HF coherent backscatter radars form a unique global diagnostic of large-scale ionospheric and magnetospheric dynamics in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Currently the ground projections of the HF radar returns are routinely determined by a simple rangefinding algorithm, which takes no account of the prevailing, or indeed the average, HF propagation conditions. This is in spite of the fact that both direct E- and F-region backscatter and 1½-hop E- and F-region backscatter are commonly used in geophysical interpretation of the data. In a companion paper, Chisham et al. (2008 have suggested a new virtual height model for SuperDARN, based on average measured propagation paths. Over shorter propagation paths the existing rangefinding algorithm is adequate, but mapping errors become significant for longer paths where the roundness of the Earth becomes important, and a correct assumption of virtual height becomes more difficult. The SuperDARN radar at Hankasalmi has a propagation path to high power HF ionospheric modification facilities at both Tromsø on a ½-hop path and SPEAR on a 1½-hop path. The SuperDARN radar at Þykkvibǽr has propagation paths to both facilities over 1½-hop paths. These paths provide an opportunity to quantitatively test the available SuperDARN virtual height models. It is also possible to use HF radar backscatter which has been artificially induced by the ionospheric heaters as an accurate calibration point for the Hankasalmi elevation angle of arrival data, providing a range correction algorithm for the SuperDARN radars which directly uses elevation angle. These developments enable the accurate mappings of the SuperDARN electric field measurements which are required for the growing number of multi-instrument studies of the Earth's ionosphere and magnetosphere.

Quantitative Gait Measurement With Pulse-Doppler Radar for Passive In-Home Gait Assessment

OpenAIRE

Wang, Fang; Skubic, Marjorie; Rantz, Marilyn; Cuddihy, Paul E.

2014-01-01

In this paper, we propose a pulse-Doppler radar system for in-home gait assessment of older adults. A methodology has been developed to extract gait parameters including walking speed and step time using Doppler radar. The gait parameters have been validated with a Vicon motion capture system in the lab with 13 participants and 158 test runs. The study revealed that for an optimal step recognition and walking speed estimation, a dual radar set up with one radar placed at foot level and the ot...

Annual and interannual variability of scatterometer ocean surface wind over the South China Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, GS; Xu, Q.; Gong, Z.

2014-01-01

To investigate the annual and interannual variability of ocean surface wind over the South China Sea (SCS), the vector empirical orthogonal function (VEOF) method and the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) method were employed to analyze a set of combined satellite scatterometer wind data during.......3% of the total variance and represents the East Asian monsoon features. The second mode of VEOF corresponds to a spring-autumn oscillation which accounts for 8.3% of the total variance. To analyze the interannual variability, the annual signal was removed from the wind data set and the VEOFs of the residuals...

Retrieval of convective boundary layer wind field statistics from radar profiler measurements in conjunction with large eddy simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danny Scipión

2009-05-01

Full Text Available The daytime convective boundary layer (CBL is characterized by strong turbulence that is primarily forced by buoyancy transport from the heated underlying surface. The present study focuses on an example of flow structure of the CBL as observed in the U.S. Great Plains on June 8, 2007. The considered CBL flow has been reproduced using a numerical large eddy simulation (LES, sampled with an LES-based virtual boundary layer radar (BLR, and probed with an actual operational radar profiler. The LES-generated CBL flow data are then ingested by the virtual BLR and treated as a proxy for prevailing atmospheric conditions. The mean flow and turbulence parameters retrieved via each technique (actual radar profiler, virtual BLR, and LES have been cross-analyzed and reasonable agreement was found between the CBL wind parameters obtained from the LES and those measured by the actual radar. Averaged vertical velocity variance estimates from the virtual and actual BLRs were compared with estimates calculated from the LES for different periods of time. There is good agreement in the estimates from all three sources. Also, values of the vertical velocity skewness retrieved by all three techniques have been inter-compared as a function of height for different stages of the CBL evolution, showing fair agreement with each other. All three retrievals contain positively skewed vertical velocity structure throughout the main portion of the CBL. Radar estimates of the turbulence kinetic energy (eddy dissipation rate (ε have been obtained based on the Doppler spectral width of the returned signal for the vertical radar beam. The radar estimates were averaged over time in the same fashion as the LES output data. The agreement between estimates was generally good, especially within the mixing layer. Discrepancies observed above the inversion layer may be explained by a weak turbulence signal in particular flow configurations. The virtual BLR produces voltage

CROP SPECIES RECOGNITION AND DISCRIMINATION PADDY-RICE-GROWINGFIELDS FROM REAPED-FIELDS BY THE RADAR VEGETATION INDEX (RVI OF ALOS-2/PALSAR2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Yamada

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The Japanese ALOS-2 satellite was launched on May 24th, 2014. It has the L-band SAR, PALSAR-2. Kim,Y. and van Zyl, J.J. proposed a kind of Radar Vegetation Index (RVI as RVI = 8 * σ0hv / (σ0hh + σ0vv + 2* σ0hv by L-band full-polarimetric radar data. Kim, Y. and Jackson, T.J., et al. applied the equation into rice and soybean by multi-frequency polarimetric scatterometer above 4.16 meters from the ground. Their report showed the L-band was the most promising wave length for estimating LAI and NDVI from RVI. The author tried to apply the analysis to the actual paddy field areas, both Inashiki region and Miyagi region in the eastern main island, “Honshu”, areas of Japan by ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 full-polarimetry data in the summer season, the main crop growing time, of 2015. Judging from conventional methods, it will be possible to discriminate paddy rice growing fields from reaped fields or the other crops growing fields by the PALSAR-2 data. But the RVI value is vaguely related to such land use or biomass at the present preliminary experiment. The continuous research by the additional PALSAR-2 full-polarimetry data should be desired.

A Machine Learning-based Rainfall System for GPM Dual-frequency Radar

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, H.; Chandrasekar, V.; Chen, H.

2017-12-01

Precipitation measurement produced by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) plays an important role in researching the water circle and forecasting extreme weather event. Compare with its predecessor - Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR), GRM DPR measures precipitation in two different frequencies (i.e., Ku and Ka band), which can provide detailed information on the microphysical properties of precipitation particles, quantify particle size distribution and quantitatively measure light rain and falling snow. This paper presents a novel Machine Learning system for ground-based and space borne radar rainfall estimation. The system first trains ground radar data for rainfall estimation using rainfall measurements from gauges and subsequently uses the ground radar based rainfall estimates to train GPM DPR data in order to get space based rainfall product. Therein, data alignment between space DPR and ground radar is conducted using the methodology proposed by Bolen and Chandrasekar (2013), which can minimize the effects of potential geometric distortion of GPM DPR observations. For demonstration purposes, rainfall measurements from three rain gauge networks near Melbourne, Florida, are used for training and validation purposes. These three gauge networks, which are located in Kennedy Space Center (KSC), South Florida Water Management District (SFL), and St. Johns Water Management District (STJ), include 33, 46, and 99 rain gauge stations, respectively. Collocated ground radar observations from the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Surveillance Radar - 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) in Melbourne (i.e., KMLB radar) are trained with the gauge measurements. The trained model is then used to derive KMLB radar based rainfall product, which is used to train GPM DPR data collected from coincident overpasses events. The machine learning based rainfall product is compared against the GPM standard products

Informational analysis for compressive sampling in radar imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jingxiong; Yang, Ke

2015-03-24

Compressive sampling or compressed sensing (CS) works on the assumption of the sparsity or compressibility of the underlying signal, relies on the trans-informational capability of the measurement matrix employed and the resultant measurements, operates with optimization-based algorithms for signal reconstruction and is thus able to complete data compression, while acquiring data, leading to sub-Nyquist sampling strategies that promote efficiency in data acquisition, while ensuring certain accuracy criteria. Information theory provides a framework complementary to classic CS theory for analyzing information mechanisms and for determining the necessary number of measurements in a CS environment, such as CS-radar, a radar sensor conceptualized or designed with CS principles and techniques. Despite increasing awareness of information-theoretic perspectives on CS-radar, reported research has been rare. This paper seeks to bridge the gap in the interdisciplinary area of CS, radar and information theory by analyzing information flows in CS-radar from sparse scenes to measurements and determining sub-Nyquist sampling rates necessary for scene reconstruction within certain distortion thresholds, given differing scene sparsity and average per-sample signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Simulated studies were performed to complement and validate the information-theoretic analysis. The combined strategy proposed in this paper is valuable for information-theoretic orientated CS-radar system analysis and performance evaluation.

High-precision positioning of radar scatterers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dheenathayalan, P.; Small, D.; Schubert, A.; Hanssen, R.F.

2016-01-01

Remote sensing radar satellites cover wide areas and provide spatially dense measurements, with millions of scatterers. Knowledge of the precise position of each radar scatterer is essential to identify the corresponding object and interpret the estimated deformation. The absolute position accuracy

Use of radars to monitor stream discharge by noncontact methods

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, J.E.; Cheng, R.T.; Haeni, F.P.; Melcher, N.; Spicer, K.R.; Hayes, E.; Plant, W.; Hayes, K.; Teague, C.; Barrick, D.

2006-01-01

Conventional measurements of river flows are costly, time‐consuming, and frequently dangerous. This report evaluates the use of a continuous wave microwave radar, a monostatic UHF Doppler radar, a pulsed Doppler microwave radar, and a ground‐penetrating radar to measure river flows continuously over long periods and without touching the water with any instruments. The experiments duplicate the flow records from conventional stream gauging stations on the San Joaquin River in California and the Cowlitz River in Washington. The purpose of the experiments was to directly measure the parameters necessary to compute flow: surface velocity (converted to mean velocity) and cross‐sectional area, thereby avoiding the uncertainty, complexity, and cost of maintaining rating curves. River channel cross sections were measured by ground‐penetrating radar suspended above the river. River surface water velocity was obtained by Bragg scattering of microwave and UHF Doppler radars, and the surface velocity data were converted to mean velocity on the basis of detailed velocity profiles measured by current meters and hydroacoustic instruments. Experiments using these radars to acquire a continuous record of flow were conducted for 4 weeks on the San Joaquin River and for 16 weeks on the Cowlitz River. At the San Joaquin River the radar noncontact measurements produced discharges more than 20% higher than the other independent measurements in the early part of the experiment. After the first 3 days, the noncontact radar discharge measurements were within 5% of the rating values. On the Cowlitz River at Castle Rock, correlation coefficients between the USGS stream gauging station rating curve discharge and discharge computed from three different Doppler radar systems and GPR data over the 16 week experiment were 0.883, 0.969, and 0.992. Noncontact radar results were within a few percent of discharge values obtained by gauging station, current meter, and hydroacoustic methods

Simultaneous observations of structure function parameter of refractive index using a high-resolution radar and the DataHawk small airborne measurement system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. E. Scipión

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The SOUSY (SOUnding SYstem radar was relocated to the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO near Lima, Peru, in 2000, where the radar controller and acquisition system were upgraded with state-of-the-art parts to take full advantage of its potential for high-resolution atmospheric sounding. Due to its broad bandwidth (4 MHz, it is able to characterize clear-air backscattering with high range resolution (37.5 m. A campaign conducted at JRO in July 2014 aimed to characterize the lower troposphere with a high temporal resolution (8.1 Hz using the DataHawk (DH small unmanned aircraft system, which provides in situ atmospheric measurements at scales as small as 1 m in the lower troposphere and can be GPS-guided to obtain measurements within the beam of the radar. This was a unique opportunity to make coincident observations by both systems and to directly compare their in situ and remotely sensed parameters. Because SOUSY only points vertically, it is only possible to retrieve vertical radar profiles caused by changes in the refractive index within the resolution volume. Turbulent variations due to scattering are described by the structure function parameter of refractive index Cn2. Profiles of Cn2 from the DH are obtained by combining pressure, temperature, and relative humidity measurements along the helical trajectory and integrated at the same scale as the radar range resolution. Excellent agreement is observed between the Cn2 estimates obtained from the DH and SOUSY in the overlapping measurement regime from 1200 m up to 4200 m above sea level, and this correspondence provides the first accurate calibration of the SOUSY radar for measuring Cn2.

The 183-WSL Fast Rain Rate Retrieval Algorithm. Part II: Validation Using Ground Radar Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Laviola, Sante; Levizzani, Vincenzo

2014-01-01

The Water vapour Strong Lines at 183 GHz (183-WSL) algorithm is a method for the retrieval of rain rates and precipitation type classification (convectivestratiform), that makes use of the water vapor absorption lines centered at 183.31 GHz of the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit module B (AMSU-B) and of the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) flying on NOAA-15-18 and NOAA-19Metop-A satellite series, respectively. The characteristics of this algorithm were described in Part I of this paper together with comparisons against analogous precipitation products. The focus of Part II is the analysis of the performance of the 183-WSL technique based on surface radar measurements. The ground truth dataset consists of 2.5 years of rainfall intensity fields from the NIMROD European radar network which covers North-Western Europe. The investigation of the 183-WSL retrieval performance is based on a twofold approach: 1) the dichotomous statistic is used to evaluate the capabilities of the method to identify rain and no-rain clouds; 2) the accuracy statistic is applied to quantify the errors in the estimation of rain rates.The results reveal that the 183-WSL technique shows good skills in the detection of rainno-rain areas and in the quantification of rain rate intensities. The categorical analysis shows annual values of the POD, FAR and HK indices varying in the range 0.80-0.82, 0.330.36 and 0.39-0.46, respectively. The RMSE value is 2.8 millimeters per hour for the whole period despite an overestimation in the retrieved rain rates. Of note is the distribution of the 183-WSL monthly mean rain rate with respect to radar: the seasonal fluctuations of the average rainfalls measured by radar are reproduced by the 183-WSL. However, the retrieval method appears to suffer for the winter seasonal conditions especially when the soil is partially frozen and the surface emissivity drastically changes. This fact is verified observing the discrepancy distribution diagrams where2the 183-WSL

Comparisons between high-resolution profiles of squared refractive index gradient M2 measured by the Middle and Upper Atmosphere Radar and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs during the Shigaraki UAV-Radar Experiment 2015 campaign

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Luce

2017-03-01

Full Text Available New comparisons between the square of the generalized potential refractive index gradient M2, estimated from the very high-frequency (VHF Middle and Upper Atmosphere (MU Radar, located at Shigaraki, Japan, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV measurements are presented. These comparisons were performed at unprecedented temporal and range resolutions (1–4 min and  ∼  20 m, respectively in the altitude range  ∼  1.27–4.5 km from simultaneous and nearly collocated measurements made during the ShUREX (Shigaraki UAV-Radar Experiment 2015 campaign. Seven consecutive UAV flights made during daytime on 7 June 2015 were used for this purpose. The MU Radar was operated in range imaging mode for improving the range resolution at vertical incidence (typically a few tens of meters. The proportionality of the radar echo power to M2 is reported for the first time at such high time and range resolutions for stratified conditions for which Fresnel scatter or a reflection mechanism is expected. In more complex features obtained for a range of turbulent layers generated by shear instabilities or associated with convective cloud cells, M2 estimated from UAV data does not reproduce observed radar echo power profiles. Proposed interpretations of this discrepancy are presented.

Case Study Analysis of Linear Chirp and Multitones (OFDM) Radar Signals Through Simulations and Measurement with HYCAM-Research Test Bench

OpenAIRE

Le Kernec, Julien; Dreuillet, Philippe; Bobillot, Gerard; Garda, Patrick; Romain, Olivier; Denoulet, Julien

2009-01-01

This paper presents a experimental platform that allows comparing objectively any radar waveforms. This is realized by equating radar characteristics, using the same test-bench HYCAM-Research, the same signal processing and also insuring the reproducibility of the experiments. The experimental measurements on linear chirp and multitones are analyzed through distance and velocity imaging.

New approach to Fork measurements data analysis by RADAR-CRISP and ORIGEN integration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaccaro, S.; Svedkauskaite, J.; Smejkal, A.; Schwalbach, P.; De Baere, P.; Hu, J.; Gauld, I.C.

2013-06-01

Currently, in the EU, activities related to interim storage of spent fuel are constantly increasing. This is particularly true in Finland and Sweden, where final geological repository sites are planned to be operational in 2023 and 2026 respectively, but also in several other countries where fuel is moved from wet ponds to dry storage (Germany, Belgium, Spain, Czech, Bulgaria, etc). The required verification activities present a considerable challenge to the EURATOM Safeguards authority.. Both EURATOM and IAEA safeguards need to know what is in the storage casks and keep continuity of knowledge of the spent fuel. A frequently-used tool for the verification of the nuclear material during loading is the 'Fork' detectors for gross gamma and neutron counting. The IT applications RADAR (Remote Acquisition of Data and Review) and CRISP (Central RADAR Inspection Support Package), developed by EURATOM, are used to acquire safeguards measurement data and to analyze them in order to verify the declarations of the nuclear plant operators. Under the framework of the U.S. DOE-EURATOM Agreement on nuclear safeguards and security, a module for automated analysis of spent fuel measurement data using the ORIGEN (Oak Ridge Isotope Generation) code, part of the SCALE nuclear systems modeling and simulation package, has been integrated into CRISP. Measurement data are collected in an unattended mode by RADAR and then processed by CRISP, which outputs, for each fuel assembly, the measured gamma and neutron count rates. Simultaneously, ORIGEN performs burn-up calculations based on operator declarations previously entered into CRISP and calculates the expected neutron and gamma count rates for each assembly. These calculations also used response functions, developed using Monte Carlo modeling, to account for the detection probabilities of both neutron and photon particles that originated in each fuel pin. Finally, CRISP correlates and compares the expected (calculated) gamma

Quantum radar

CERN Document Server

Lanzagorta, Marco

2011-01-01

This book offers a concise review of quantum radar theory. Our approach is pedagogical, making emphasis on the physics behind the operation of a hypothetical quantum radar. We concentrate our discussion on the two major models proposed to date: interferometric quantum radar and quantum illumination. In addition, this book offers some new results, including an analytical study of quantum interferometry in the X-band radar region with a variety of atmospheric conditions, a derivation of a quantum radar equation, and a discussion of quantum radar jamming.This book assumes the reader is familiar w

Sea clutter scattering, the K distribution and radar performance

CERN Document Server

Ward, Keith; Watts, Simon

2013-01-01

Sea Clutter: Scattering, the K Distribution and Radar Performance, 2nd Edition gives an authoritative account of our current understanding of radar sea clutter. Topics covered include the characteristics of radar sea clutter, modelling radar scattering by the ocean surface, statistical models of sea clutter, the simulation of clutter and other random processes, detection of small targets in sea clutter, imaging ocean surface features, radar detection performance calculations, CFAR detection, and the specification and measurement of radar performance. The calculation of the performance of pract

Radar Cross Section measurements on the stealth metamaterial objects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iwaszczuk, Krzysztof; Fan, Kim; Strikwerda, Andrew C.

have been realized in the form of thin, flexible metallized films of polyimide [1]. Here we apply a near-unity absorbing MM as a way to reduce the radar cross section of an object, and consider the real-life situation where the probe beam is significantly larger than the MM film and the object under...... investigation. We use a terahertz radar cross section (RCS) setup [2] for the characterization of the RCS of a real object covered with an absorbing MM film designed for high absorption in the THz frequency range, specifically at 0.8 THz. The results are in a form of 2D maps (sinograms), from which the RCS...

Pulse compression radar reflectometry for density measurements on fusion plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Costley, A; Prentice, R [Commission of the European Communities, Abingdon (United Kingdom). JET Joint Undertaking; Laviron, C [Compagnie Generale des Matieres Nucleaires (COGEMA), 78 - Velizy-Villacoublay (France); Prentice, R [Toulouse-3 Univ., 31 (France). Centre d` Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements

1994-07-01

On tokamaks and other toroidal machines, reflectometry is a very rapidly developing technique for density profile measurements, particularly near the edge. Its principle relies on the total reflection of an electromagnetic wave at a cutoff layer, where the critical density is reached and the local refractive index goes to zero. With the new fast frequency synthesizers now available, a method based on pulse compression radar is proposed for plasma reflectometry, overcoming the limitations of the previous reflectometry methods. The measurement can be made on a time-scale which is effectively very short relatively to the plasma fluctuations, and the very high reproducibility and stability of the source allows an absolute calibration of the waveguides to be made, which corrects for the effects of the parasitic reflections. 2 refs., 5 figs.

Imaging of concrete specimens using inverse synthetic aperture radar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rhim, Hong C.; Buyukozturk, Oral

2000-01-01

Radar Measurement results of laboratory size concrete specimens are presented in this paper. The purpose of this research work is to study various aspects of the radar method in an effort to develop an improved radar system for nondestructive testing of concrete structures. The radar system used for the study is an Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR), which is capable of transmitting microwaves at three different frequency ranges of 2-3.4, 3.4-5.8, and 8-12 GHz. Radar measurement setup is such that the radar is locates 14.4 m away from a concrete target to satisfy a far-field criterion. The concrete target is rotated for 20 degrees during the measurements for the generation of two-dimensional (cross-range) imagery. Concrete targets used for the measurements have the dimensions of 305 mm (width)x305 mm (height)x92 mm (thickness) with different inside configurations. Comparisons are made for dry and wet specimens, specimens with and without inclusions. Each specimen is made to model various situations that a concrete structure can have in reality. Results show that center frequency, frequency bandwidth, and polarization of the incident wave have different effects on identifying the thickness or inclusions inside concrete specimens. Results also suggest that a certain combination of measurement parameters is suitable for a specific application area. Thus, measurement parameters can be optimized for a specific problem. The findings are presented and discussed in details in the paper. Signal processing schemes implemented for imaging of the specimens are also discussed

A 100,000 Scale Factor Radar Range.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanche, Pierre-Alexandre; Neifeld, Mark; Peyghambarian, Nasser

2017-12-19

The radar cross section of an object is an important electromagnetic property that is often measured in anechoic chambers. However, for very large and complex structures such as ships or sea and land clutters, this common approach is not practical. The use of computer simulations is also not viable since it would take many years of computational time to model and predict the radar characteristics of such large objects. We have now devised a new scaling technique to overcome these difficulties, and make accurate measurements of the radar cross section of large items. In this article we demonstrate that by reducing the scale of the model by a factor 100,000, and using near infrared wavelength, the radar cross section can be determined in a tabletop setup. The accuracy of the method is compared to simulations, and an example of measurement is provided on a 1 mm highly detailed model of a ship. The advantages of this scaling approach is its versatility, and the possibility to perform fast, convenient, and inexpensive measurements.

Comparison of the performance of different radar pulse compression techniques in an incoherent scatter radar measurement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Damtie

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Improving an estimate of an incoherent scatter radar signal is vital to provide reliable and unbiased information about the Earth's ionosphere. Thus optimizing the measurement spatial and temporal resolutions has attracted considerable attention. The optimization usually relies on employing different kinds of pulse compression filters in the analysis and a matched filter is perhaps the most widely used one. A mismatched filter has also been used in order to suppress the undesirable sidelobes that appear in the case of matched filtering. Moreover, recently an adaptive pulse compression method, which can be derived based on the minimum mean-square error estimate, has been proposed. In this paper we have investigated the performance of matched, mismatched and adaptive pulse compression methods in terms of the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR and the variance and bias of the estimator. This is done by using different types of optimal radar waveforms. It is shown that for the case of low SNR the signal degradation associated to an adaptive filtering is less than that of the mismatched filtering. The SNR loss of both matched and adaptive pulse compression techniques was found to be nearly the same for most of the investigated codes for the case of high SNR. We have shown that the adaptive filtering technique is a compromise between matched and mismatched filtering method when one evaluates its performance in terms of the variance and the bias of the estimator. All the three analysis methods were found to have the same performance when a sidelobe-free matched filter code is employed.

Comparison of the performance of different radar pulse compression techniques in an incoherent scatter radar measurement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Damtie

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Improving an estimate of an incoherent scatter radar signal is vital to provide reliable and unbiased information about the Earth's ionosphere. Thus optimizing the measurement spatial and temporal resolutions has attracted considerable attention. The optimization usually relies on employing different kinds of pulse compression filters in the analysis and a matched filter is perhaps the most widely used one. A mismatched filter has also been used in order to suppress the undesirable sidelobes that appear in the case of matched filtering. Moreover, recently an adaptive pulse compression method, which can be derived based on the minimum mean-square error estimate, has been proposed. In this paper we have investigated the performance of matched, mismatched and adaptive pulse compression methods in terms of the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR and the variance and bias of the estimator. This is done by using different types of optimal radar waveforms. It is shown that for the case of low SNR the signal degradation associated to an adaptive filtering is less than that of the mismatched filtering. The SNR loss of both matched and adaptive pulse compression techniques was found to be nearly the same for most of the investigated codes for the case of high SNR. We have shown that the adaptive filtering technique is a compromise between matched and mismatched filtering method when one evaluates its performance in terms of the variance and the bias of the estimator. All the three analysis methods were found to have the same performance when a sidelobe-free matched filter code is employed.

Coherent Doppler Laser Radar: Technology Development and Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Kavaya, Michael J.; Arnold, James E. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has been investigating, developing, and applying coherent Doppler laser radar technology for over 30 years. These efforts have included the first wind measurement in 1967, the first airborne flights in 1972, the first airborne wind field mapping in 1981, and the first measurement of hurricane eyewall winds in 1998. A parallel effort at MSFC since 1982 has been the study, modeling and technology development for a space-based global wind measurement system. These endeavors to date have resulted in compact, robust, eyesafe lidars at 2 micron wavelength based on solid-state laser technology; in a factor of 6 volume reduction in near diffraction limited, space-qualifiable telescopes; in sophisticated airborne scanners with full platform motion subtraction; in local oscillator lasers capable of rapid tuning of 25 GHz for removal of relative laser radar to target velocities over a 25 km/s range; in performance prediction theory and simulations that have been validated experimentally; and in extensive field campaign experience. We have also begun efforts to dramatically improve the fundamental photon efficiency of the laser radar, to demonstrate advanced lower mass laser radar telescopes and scanners; to develop laser and laser radar system alignment maintenance technologies; and to greatly improve the electrical efficiency, cooling technique, and robustness of the pulsed laser. This coherent Doppler laser radar technology is suitable for high resolution, high accuracy wind mapping; for aerosol and cloud measurement; for Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) measurements of atmospheric and trace gases; for hard target range and velocity measurement; and for hard target vibration spectra measurement. It is also suitable for a number of aircraft operations applications such as clear air turbulence (CAT) detection; dangerous wind shear (microburst) detection; airspeed, angle of attack, and sideslip measurement; and fuel savings through

Satellite Remote Sensing in Offshore Wind Energy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hasager, Charlotte Bay; Badger, Merete; Astrup, Poul

2013-01-01

Satellite remote sensing of ocean surface winds are presented with focus on wind energy applications. The history on operational and research-based satellite ocean wind mapping is briefly described for passive microwave, scatterometer and synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Currently 6 GW installed...

Detection of buried pipes by polarimetric borehole radar; Polarimetric borehole radar ni yoru maisetsukan no kenshutsu jikken

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sato, M.; Niitsuma, H. [Tohoku University, Sendai (Japan); Nakauchi, T. [Osaka Gas Co. Ltd., Osaka (Japan)

1997-05-27

If the borehole radar is utilized for detection of buried pipes, the underground radar measurement becomes possible even in the situation where the mesurement on the earth surface is difficult, for example, such a place as under the road where there is much traffic. However, since buried pipes are horizontally installed and the existing borehole radar can send/receive only vertical polarization, the measurement conducted comes to be poor in efficiency from a viewpoint of the polarization utilization. Therefore, by introducing the polarimetric borehole radar to the detection of buried pipes, a basic experiment was conducted for the effective detection of horizontal buried pipes. Proposing the use of a slot antenna which can send/receive horizontal polarization in borehole in addition to a dipole antenna which sends/receives vertical polarization, developed was a step frequency type continuous wave radar of a network analyzer basis. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that reflection from buried pipes is largely dependent on polarization. Especially, it was found that in the slot dipole cross polarization mesurement, reflection from buried pipes can be emphasized. 4 refs., 5 figs.

Radar Polarimetry and Interferometry (La polarimetrie et l'interferometrie radar) (CD-ROM)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Keydel, W; Boerner, W. M; Pottier, E; Lee, J. S; Ferro-Famil, L; Hellmann, M; Cloude, S. R

2005-01-01

...: Scientists and engineers already engaged in the fields of radar surveillance, reconnaissance and scattering measurements, for instance, generally gain their specialist knowledge in both polarimetry...

Research and development cooperation project on environmental measurement using laser radar in fiscal 1995; Kankyo keisokuyo laser radar no kaihatsu ni kansuru kenkyu kyoryoku

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-03-01

For the purpose of contributing to the environmental management in Indonesia, Japan made R and D of a laser radar to measure the urban air pollution and an environmental network jointly with Indonesia in compliance with the actual situation of the country. At present, in developing countries, air pollution is becoming a big problem because of increases in population and in energy consumption in urban areas according to the industrial/economic growth. As for the laser radar, it is an active sensor with laser as light source and can observe in high resolution the three-dimensional space distribution such as density and composition of air pollutants. Japan is a leader in the development of laser technology which is a core technology for the laser radar and the preceding research. The equipment is installed at several points of urban areas in Indonesia, and at the same time, the observation network is constructed to collect, analyze and process data at the central processing center. This is a 4-year plan from fiscal 1993 to 1996. In fiscal 1995, negotiations with Indonesia and field surveys were conducted to determine sites for installation. A plan for system improvement was also decided on. 38 refs., 24 figs., 14 tabs.

Simultaneous measurements from the Millstone Hill radar and the Active satellite during the SAID/SAR arc event of the March 1990 CEDAR storm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Förster

Full Text Available During a nearby passage of the Active satellite above the Millstone Hill radar on 21 March 1990 at local sunset, the satellite and the radar performed simultaneous measurements of upper ionospheric parameters in nearly the same spatial volume. For this purpose the radar carried out a special azimuth-elevation scan to track the satellite. Direct comparisons of radar data and in situ satellite measurements have been carried out quite rarely. In this case, the coincidence of co-ordinated measurements and active ionospheric-magnetospheric processes during an extended storm recovery phase presents a unique occasion resulting in a very valuable data set. The measurements show generally good agreement both during quiet prestorm and storm conditions and the combination of radar and satellite observations gives a more comprehensive picture of the physical processes involved. We find a close relationship between the rapid westward ion drift peak at subauroral latitudes (SAID event and the occurrence of a stable auroral red (SAR arc observed after sunset by an all-sky imager and reported in an earlier study of this event. The SAID electric field is caused by the penetration of energetic ions with energies between about 1 keV and 100 keV into the outer plasmasphere to a latitude equatorward of the extent of the plasmasheet electrons. Charge separation results in the observed polarisation field and the SAID. Unusually high molecular ion densities measured by the satellite at altitudes of 700-870 km at subauroral and auroral latitudes point on strong upward-directed ion acceleration processes and an intense neutral gas upwelling. These structures are collocated with a narrow trough in electron density and an electron temperature peak as observed simultaneously by the radar and the satellite probes.

Key words. Ionosphere (ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions; plasma temperature and density; Magnetospheric physics (plasmasphere.

Dynamic gauge adjustment of high-resolution X-band radar data for convective rain storms: Model-based evaluation against measured combined sewer overflow

Science.gov (United States)

Borup, Morten; Grum, Morten; Linde, Jens Jørgen; Mikkelsen, Peter Steen

2016-08-01

Numerous studies have shown that radar rainfall estimates need to be adjusted against rain gauge measurements in order to be useful for hydrological modelling. In the current study we investigate if adjustment can improve radar rainfall estimates to the point where they can be used for modelling overflows from urban drainage systems, and we furthermore investigate the importance of the aggregation period of the adjustment scheme. This is done by continuously adjusting X-band radar data based on the previous 5-30 min of rain data recorded by multiple rain gauges and propagating the rainfall estimates through a hydraulic urban drainage model. The model is built entirely from physical data, without any calibration, to avoid bias towards any specific type of rainfall estimate. The performance is assessed by comparing measured and modelled water levels at a weir downstream of a highly impermeable, well defined, 64 ha urban catchment, for nine overflow generating rain events. The dynamically adjusted radar data perform best when the aggregation period is as small as 10-20 min, in which case it performs much better than static adjusted radar data and data from rain gauges situated 2-3 km away.

A preliminary study of the impact of the ERS 1 C band scatterometer wind data on the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts global data assimilation system

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, Ross N.

1993-01-01

A preliminary assessment of the impact of the ERS 1 scatterometer wind data on the current European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analysis and forecast system has been carried out. Although the scatterometer data results in changes to the analyses and forecasts, there is no consistent improvement or degradation. Our results are based on comparing analyses and forecasts from assimilation cycles. The two sets of analyses are very similar except for the low level wind fields over the ocean. Impacts on the analyzed wind fields are greater over the southern ocean, where other data are scarce. For the most part the mass field increments are too small to balance the wind increments. The effect of the nonlinear normal mode initialization on the analysis differences is quite small, but we observe that the differences tend to wash out in the subsequent 6-hour forecast. In the Northern Hemisphere, analysis differences are very small, except directly at the scatterometer locations. Forecast comparisons reveal large differences in the Southern Hemisphere after 72 hours. Notable differences in the Northern Hemisphere do not appear until late in the forecast. Overall, however, the Southern Hemisphere impacts are neutral. The experiments described are preliminary in several respects. We expect these data to ultimately prove useful for global data assimilation.

Electron temperature measurements by the plasma line technique at the French incoherent scatter radar facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kofman, W.; Lejeune, G.; Hagfors, T.; Bauer, P.

1981-01-01

The results of experiments aimed at the determination of the electron temperature by a plasma line technique are presented. Using the multistatic capabilities of the French incoherent scatter radar, the plasma line frequencies were simultaneously measured at two receiving stations (Mende and Nancay) at the altitude corresponding to the maximum of the F layer. Different plasma line frequencies are measued because of different effective k vectors that appear in the thermal term of the plasma dispersion relation. We derive and apply two data analysis procedures that enable us to determine this frequency difference. Comparison of this measured frequency difference to that calculated using the ion component electron temperature demonstrates that the plasma lines could indeed be used to determine the electron temperature. A strong dependence of the power in the plasma line as a function of the angle between k vector and magnetic field is observed in agreement with the theory. The future developments of this technique with the EISCAT radar facilities are discussed

Software Radar Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tang Jun

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the definition and the key features of Software Radar, which is a new concept, are proposed and discussed. We consider the development of modern radar system technology to be divided into three stages: Digital Radar, Software radar and Intelligent Radar, and the second stage is just commencing now. A Software Radar system should be a combination of various modern digital modular components conformed to certain software and hardware standards. Moreover, a software radar system with an open system architecture supporting to decouple application software and low level hardware would be easy to adopt "user requirements-oriented" developing methodology instead of traditional "specific function-oriented" developing methodology. Compared with traditional Digital Radar, Software Radar system can be easily reconfigured and scaled up or down to adapt to the changes of requirements and technologies. A demonstration Software Radar signal processing system, RadarLab 2.0, which has been developed by Tsinghua University, is introduced in this paper and the suggestions for the future development of Software Radar in China are also given in the conclusion.

Forward scatter radar for remote intelligence of building interiors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rossum, W.L. van; Wit, J.J.M. de

2017-01-01

Through-wall radar allows for remote intelligence of building interiors including stand-off detection and tracking of persons inside a building. However, reliable radar tracking of people inside a building is not trivial. Conventional, monostatic through-wall radar measures the backscatter of moving

Study on Effectiveness of the chaos laser radar

OpenAIRE

成田, 義之; 津田, 紀生; 山田, 諄

2003-01-01

A laser is widely applied for measurements, since it is invented. There are two types of laser distance meter for short and long distance. For long distance, a laser radar using propagation time of laser light is used. Generally, a distance is measured from delay time using either a periodic signal or a single pulse. But the signal becomes to be buried in noise with increasing distance. A new type of chaos laser radar which processes by only an addition is proposed. This radar can quickly pro...

Monitoring internal organ motion with continuous wave radar in CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pfanner, Florian; Maier, Joscha; Allmendinger, Thomas; Flohr, Thomas; Kachelrieß, Marc

2013-01-01

Purpose: To avoid motion artifacts in medical imaging or to minimize the exposure of healthy tissues in radiation therapy, medical devices are often synchronized with the patient's respiratory motion. Today's respiratory motion monitors require additional effort to prepare the patients, e.g., mounting a motion belt or placing an optical reflector on the patient's breast. Furthermore, they are not able to measure internal organ motion without implanting markers. An interesting alternative to assess the patient's organ motion is continuous wave radar. The aim of this work is to design, implement, and evaluate such a radar system focusing on application in CT.Methods: The authors designed a radar system operating in the 860 MHz band to monitor the patient motion. In the intended application of the radar system, the antennas are located close to the patient's body inside the table of a CT system. One receive and four transmitting antennas are used to avoid the requirement of exact patient positioning. The radar waves propagate into the patient's body and are reflected at tissue boundaries, for example at the borderline between muscle and adipose tissue, or at the boundaries of organs. At present, the authors focus on the detection of respiratory motion. The radar system consists of the hardware mentioned above as well as of dedicated signal processing software to extract the desired information from the radar signal. The system was evaluated using simulations and measurements. To simulate the radar system, a simulation model based on radar and wave field equations was designed and 4D respiratory-gated CT data sets were used as input. The simulated radar signals and the measured data were processed in the same way. The radar system hardware and the signal processing algorithms were tested with data from ten volunteers. As a reference, the respiratory motion signal was recorded using a breast belt simultaneously with the radar measurements.Results: Concerning the

Radar observation of the equatorial counter-electrojet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanuise, C.; Crochet, M.; Gouin, P.; Ogubazghi, Ghebrebrhan

1979-01-01

Electron drift velocity in the equatorial electrojet has been measured for a few years by coherent radar techniques in Africa. For the first time such measurements were performed during a strong reversal of the ionospheric current dubbed 'counter-electrojet'. These observations agree with the theories of the plasma instabilities at the origin of the electron density irregularities giving the radar echoes

Extended volume and surface scatterometer for optical characterization of 3D-printed elements

Science.gov (United States)

Dannenberg, Florian; Uebeler, Denise; Weiß, Jürgen; Pescoller, Lukas; Weyer, Cornelia; Hahlweg, Cornelius

2015-09-01

The use of 3d printing technology seems to be a promising way for low cost prototyping, not only of mechanical, but also of optical components or systems. It is especially useful in applications where customized equipment repeatedly is subject to immediate destruction, as in experimental detonics and the like. Due to the nature of the 3D-printing process, there is a certain inner texture and therefore inhomogeneous optical behaviour to be taken into account, which also indicates mechanical anisotropy. Recent investigations are dedicated to quantification of optical properties of such printed bodies and derivation of corresponding optimization strategies for the printing process. Beside mounting, alignment and illumination means, also refractive and reflective elements are subject to investigation. The proposed measurement methods are based on an imaging nearfield scatterometer for combined volume and surface scatter measurements as proposed in previous papers. In continuation of last year's paper on the use of near field imaging, which basically is a reflective shadowgraph method, for characterization of glossy surfaces like printed matter or laminated material, further developments are discussed. The device has been extended for observation of photoelasticity effects and therefore homogeneity of polarization behaviour. A refined experimental set-up is introduced. Variation of plane of focus and incident angle are used for separation of various the images of the layers of the surface under test, cross and parallel polarization techniques are applied. Practical examples from current research studies are included.

Vertical Pointing Weather Radar for Built-up Urban Areas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Michael R.; Thorndahl, Søren; Schaarup-Jensen, Kjeld

2008-01-01

  A cost effective vertical pointing X-band weather radar (VPR) has been tested for measurement of precipitation in urban areas. Stationary tests indicate that the VPR performs well compared to horizontal weather radars, such as the local area weather radars (LAWR). The test illustrated...

Retrieval of Effective Correlation Length and Snow Water Equivalent from Radar and Passive Microwave Measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juha Lemmetyinen

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Current methods for retrieving SWE (snow water equivalent from space rely on passive microwave sensors. Observations are limited by poor spatial resolution, ambiguities related to separation of snow microstructural properties from the total snow mass, and signal saturation when snow is deep (~>80 cm. The use of SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar at suitable frequencies has been suggested as a potential observation method to overcome the coarse resolution of passive microwave sensors. Nevertheless, suitable sensors operating from space are, up to now, unavailable. Active microwave retrievals suffer, however, from the same difficulties as the passive case in separating impacts of scattering efficiency from those of snow mass. In this study, we explore the potential of applying active (radar and passive (radiometer microwave observations in tandem, by using a dataset of co-incident tower-based active and passive microwave observations and detailed in situ data from a test site in Northern Finland. The dataset spans four winter seasons with daily coverage. In order to quantify the temporal variability of snow microstructure, we derive an effective correlation length for the snowpack (treated as a single layer, which matches the simulated microwave response of a semi-empirical radiative transfer model to observations. This effective parameter is derived from radiometer and radar observations at different frequencies and frequency combinations (10.2, 13.3 and 16.7 GHz for radar; 10.65, 18.7 and 37 GHz for radiometer. Under dry snow conditions, correlations are found between the effective correlation length retrieved from active and passive measurements. Consequently, the derived effective correlation length from passive microwave observations is applied to parameterize the retrieval of SWE using radar, improving retrieval skill compared to a case with no prior knowledge of snow-scattering efficiency. The same concept can be applied to future radar

3D electrical method and step continuous wave radar method for Nojima site. Results of measurement of resistivity at trench site; Nojima danso ni okeru sanjigenhi teikoho to step shiki renzokuha chika radar ho tansa. Trench chosa chiten deno hiteiko sokutei kekka

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suzuki, K; Oda, Y; Tank, K [Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Tokyo (Japan); Hayashi, H [Kawasaki Geological Engineering Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Jomori, A [Japan Crust Research, Tokyo (Japan)

1996-05-01

Several surveys were carried out near the Nojima fault, including three-dimensional resistivity measurement and underground radar survey at the Ogura area, underground radar survey at the Hirabayashi area, and resistivity measurement in the vicinity of the trench at the Nashinomoto area, in order to investigate in detail the underground structures at a depth up to several tens meters from the ground surface. Resistivity was measured by an automatic analyzer capable of simultaneously measuring potential levels at 14 channels which can cover 112 measuring points at the largest. At the Ogura area, the boundary planes of the resistivity structures are continuously detected in the direction of the fault moving during the earthquake period. The underground radar measurement results suggest accumulated displacement of strata at a depth of around 25m in the Osaka Strata and flexible structures. At the Hirabayashi area, the underground radar analysis detects discrete sections in the reflection planes at the fault position, but no reflection planes of high continuity. At the Nashinomoto area, the clay stratum detected in the fault by excavating the trenches are found to be low in resistivity by the resistivity measurement. 4 refs., 11 figs., 2 tabs.

Estimation of Snow Parameters from Dual-Wavelength Airborne Radar

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Liang; Meneghini, Robert; Iguchi, Toshio; Detwiler, Andrew

1997-01-01

Estimation of snow characteristics from airborne radar measurements would complement In-situ measurements. While In-situ data provide more detailed information than radar, they are limited in their space-time sampling. In the absence of significant cloud water contents, dual-wavelength radar data can be used to estimate 2 parameters of a drop size distribution if the snow density is assumed. To estimate, rather than assume, a snow density is difficult, however, and represents a major limitation in the radar retrieval. There are a number of ways that this problem can be investigated: direct comparisons with in-situ measurements, examination of the large scale characteristics of the retrievals and their comparison to cloud model outputs, use of LDR measurements, and comparisons to the theoretical results of Passarelli(1978) and others. In this paper we address the first approach and, in part, the second.

Radar Fundamentals, Presentation

OpenAIRE

Jenn, David

2008-01-01

Topics include: introduction, radar functions, antennas basics, radar range equation, system parameters, electromagnetic waves, scattering mechanisms, radar cross section and stealth, and sample radar systems.

Light scattering by ultrasonically-controlled small particles: system design, calibration, and measurement results

Science.gov (United States)

Kassamakov, Ivan; Maconi, Göran; Penttilä, Antti; Helander, Petteri; Gritsevich, Maria; Puranen, Tuomas; Salmi, Ari; Hæggström, Edward; Muinonen, Karri

2018-02-01

We present the design of a novel scatterometer for precise measurement of the angular Mueller matrix profile of a mm- to µm-sized sample held in place by sound. The scatterometer comprises a tunable multimode Argon-krypton laser (with possibility to set 1 of the 12 wavelengths in visible range), linear polarizers, a reference photomultiplier tube (PMT) for monitoring the beam intensity, and a micro-PMT module mounted radially towards the sample at an adjustable radius. The measurement angle is controlled by a motor-driven rotation stage with an accuracy of 15'. The system is fully automated using LabVIEW, including the FPGA-based data acquisition and the instrument's user interface. The calibration protocol ensures accurate measurements by using a control sphere sample (diameter 3 mm, refractive index of 1.5) fixed first on a static holder followed by accurate multi-wavelength measurements of the same sample levitated ultrasonically. To demonstrate performance of the scatterometer, we conducted detailed measurements of light scattered by a particle derived from the Chelyabinsk meteorite, as well as planetary analogue materials. The measurements are the first of this kind, since they are obtained using controlled spectral angular scattering including linear polarization effects, for arbitrary shaped objects. Thus, our novel approach permits a non-destructive, disturbance-free measurement with control of the orientation and location of the scattering object.

Classification of radar echoes using fractal geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azzaz, Nafissa; Haddad, Boualem

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Implementation of two concepts of fractal geometry to classify two types of meteorological radar echoes. • A new approach, called a multi-scale fractal dimension is used for classification between fixed echoes and rain echoes. • An Automatic identification system of meteorological radar echoes was proposed using fractal geometry. - Abstract: This paper deals with the discrimination between the precipitation echoes and the ground echoes in meteorological radar images using fractal geometry. This study aims to improve the measurement of precipitations by weather radars. For this, we considered three radar sites: Bordeaux (France), Dakar (Senegal) and Me lbourne (USA). We showed that the fractal dimension based on contourlet and the fractal lacunarity are pertinent to discriminate between ground and precipitation echoes. We also demonstrated that the ground echoes have a multifractal structure but the precipitations are more homogeneous than ground echoes whatever the prevailing climate. Thereby, we developed an automatic classification system of radar using a graphic interface. This interface, based on the fractal geometry makes possible the identification of radar echoes type in real time. This system can be inserted in weather radar for the improvement of precipitation estimations.

Investigating nearby exoplanets via interstellar radar

Science.gov (United States)

Scheffer, Louis K.

2014-01-01

Interstellar radar is a potential intermediate step between passive observation of exoplanets and interstellar exploratory missions. Compared with passive observation, it has the traditional advantages of radar astronomy. It can measure surface characteristics, determine spin rates and axes, provide extremely accurate ranges, construct maps of planets, distinguish liquid from solid surfaces, find rings and moons, and penetrate clouds. It can do this even for planets close to the parent star. Compared with interstellar travel or probes, it also offers significant advantages. The technology required to build such a radar already exists, radar can return results within a human lifetime, and a single facility can investigate thousands of planetary systems. The cost, although too high for current implementation, is within the reach of Earth's economy.

Hydrometeor discrimination in melting layer using multiparameter airborne radar measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Kumagai, H.; Meneghini, R.; Kozu, T.

1992-01-01

Results from a multiparameter airborne radar/radiometer experiment (the Typhoon experiment) are presented. The experiment was conducted in the western Pacific with the NASA DC-8 aircraft, in which a dual-wavelength at X-band and Ka-band and dual-polarization at X-band radar was installed. The signatures of dBZ(X), dBZ(Ka), LDR (linear depolarization ratio) at X-band and DZ=dBZ(X)-dBZ(Ka) are discussed for the data obtained in the penetration of the typhoon Flo. With emphasis on discrimination of hydrometeor particles, some statistical features of the brightband in stratiform rain are discussed.

Weather Radar Stations

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — These data represent Next-Generation Radar (NEXRAD) and Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) weather radar stations within the US. The NEXRAD radar stations are...

Site characterization and validation - monitoring of saline tracer transport by borehole radar measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olsson, O.; Andersson, P.; Gustafsson, E.

1991-08-01

The objective of this experiment was to map tracer transport in fractured crystalline rock through a combination of radar difference tomography and measurements of tracer concentration in boreholes and the validation drift. The experiment was performed twice, first the D-boreholes were used as a sink and then they were replaced by the validation drift and the experiment repeated. In both experiments saline tracer (200 ml/min, 2% salinity) was injected into fracture zone H about 25 m from the validation drift. The experiment revealed an inhomogeneous transmissivity distribution in Zone H. A significant portion of the tracer is transported upwards along Zone H and towards boreholes T1, T2, and W1. The breakthrough data from both experiments indicate that there are two major transport paths from borehole C2 to the D-boreholes/validation drift. One slow and diluted path to the bottom of the drift which carries the bulk of the mass and one fast path to the crown of the drift with high tracer concentration. The radar difference tomograms show that some tracer is lost through Zone S which intersects Zone H and is nearly perpendicular to it. The intersection between the two zones seems to constitute a preferred flow path. The breakthrough data and the radar difference tomograms have also been used to estimate flow porosity. The estimate obtained area of the same order approximately 10 -4 . (au) (28 refs.)

Penn State Radar Systems: Implementation and Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Urbina, J. V.; Seal, R.; Sorbello, R.; Kuyeng, K.; Dyrud, L. P.

2014-12-01

Software Defined Radio/Radar (SDR) platforms have become increasingly popular as researchers, hobbyists, and military seek more efficient and cost-effective means for radar construction and operation. SDR platforms, by definition, utilize a software-based interface for configuration in contrast to traditional, hard-wired platforms. In an effort to provide new and improved radar sensing capabilities, Penn State has been developing advanced instruments and technologies for future radars, with primary objectives of making such instruments more capable, portable, and more cost effective. This paper will describe the design and implementation of two low-cost radar systems and their deployment in ionospheric research at both low and mid-latitudes. One radar has been installed near Penn State campus, University Park, Pennsylvania (77.97°W, 40.70°N), to make continuous meteor observations and mid-latitude plasma irregularities. The second radar is being installed in Huancayo (12.05°S, -75.33°E), Peru, which is capable of detecting E and F region plasma irregularities as well as meteor reflections. In this paper, we examine and compare the diurnal and seasonal variability of specular, non- specular, and head-echoes collected with these two new radar systems and discuss sampling biases of each meteor observation technique. We report our current efforts to validate and calibrate these radar systems with other VHF radars such as Jicamarca and SOUSY. We also present the general characteristics of continuous measurements of E-region and F-region coherent echoes using these modern radar systems and compare them with coherent radar events observed at other geographic mid-latitude radar stations.

UAV-Borne Profiling Radar for Forest Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuwei Chen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Microwave Radar is an attractive solution for forest mapping and inventories because microwave signals penetrates into the forest canopy and the backscattering signal can provide information regarding the whole forest structure. Satellite-borne and airborne imaging radars have been used in forest resources mapping for many decades. However, their accuracy with respect to the main forest inventory attributes substantially varies depending on the wavelength and techniques used in the estimation. Systems providing canopy backscatter as a function of canopy height are, practically speaking, missing. Therefore, there is a need for a radar system that would enable the scientific community to better understand the radar backscatter response from the forest canopy. Consequently, we undertook a research study to develop an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV-borne profiling (i.e., waveform radar that could be used to improve the understanding of the radar backscatter response for forestry mapping and inventories. A frequency modulation continuous waveform (FMCW profiling radar, termed FGI-Tomoradar, was introduced, designed and tested. One goal is the total weight of the whole system is less than 7 kg, including the radar system and georeferencing system, with centimetre-level positioning accuracy. Achieving this weight goal would enable the FGI-Tomoradar system to be installed on the Mini-UAV platform. The prototype system had all four linear polarization measuring capabilities, with bistatic configuration in Ku-band. In system performance tests in this study, FGI-Tomoradar was mounted on a manned helicopter together with a Riegl VQ-480-U laser scanner and tested in several flight campaigns performed at the Evo site, Finland. Airborne laser scanning data was simultaneously collected to investigate the differences and similarities of the outputs for the same target area for better understanding the penetration of the microwave signal into the forest canopy

Effects of respiration depth on human body radar cross section Using 2.4GHz continuous wave radar.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Alexander; Xiaomeng Gao; Jia Xu; Boric-Lubecke, Olga

2017-07-01

In this study, it was tested whether deep and shallow breathing has an effect on the cardiopulmonary radar cross-section (RCS). Continuous wave radar with quadrature architecture at 2.4GHz was used to test 2 human subjects breathing deep and shallow for 30 seconds each while seated 2 meters away from the radar. A retro-reflective marker was placed on the sternum of each subject and measured by infrared motion capture cameras to accurately track displacement of the chest. The quadrature radar outputs were processed to find the radius of the arc on the IQ plot using a circle-fitting algorithm. Results showed that the effective RCS ratio of deep to shallow breathing for subjects 1 and 2 was 6.99 and 2.24 respectively.

Wind energy applications of synthetic aperture radar

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badger, Merete

Synthetic aperture radars (SAR), mounted on satellites or aircraft, have proven useful for ocean wind mapping. Wind speeds at the height 10 m may be retrieved from measurements of radar backscatter using empirical model functions. The resulting windfields are valuable in offshore wind energy plan...

Meteor observation by the Kyoto meteor radar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, S.; Tsuda, T.

1987-01-01

The Kyoto Meteor Radar is a monostatic coherent pulsed Doppler radar operating on the frequency of 31.57 MH. The system is computer controlled and uses radio interferometry for echo height determination. The antenna, an improvement, can be directed either to the north or the east. The system has been continuously collecting data on winds at meteor heights by radar observation. The meteor echo rate was also measured, the echo rate distribution with height and the daily variation in height integrated echo rate are discussed. Investigations of atmospheric tides are being pursued by cooperative observations. A novel approach to the study of gravity waves was attempted using the meteor radar which is able to detect the horizontal propagation of the waves by observing the changing phase through the region illuminated by the radar

Precipitation Estimation Using Combined Radar/Radiometer Measurements Within the GPM Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Arthur

2012-01-01

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission is an international satellite mission specifically designed to unify and advance precipitation measurements from a constellation of research and operational microwave sensors. The GPM mission centers upon the deployment of a Core Observatory in a 65o non-Sun-synchronous orbit to serve as a physics observatory and a transfer standard for intersatellite calibration of constellation radiometers. The GPM Core Observatory will carry a Ku/Ka-band Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) and a conical-scanning multi-channel (10-183 GHz) GPM Microwave Radiometer (GMI). The DPR will be the first dual-frequency radar in space to provide not only measurements of 3-D precipitation structures but also quantitative information on microphysical properties of precipitating particles needed for improving precipitation retrievals from microwave sensors. The DPR and GMI measurements will together provide a database that relates vertical hydrometeor profiles to multi-frequency microwave radiances over a variety of environmental conditions across the globe. This combined database will be used as a common transfer standard for improving the accuracy and consistency of precipitation retrievals from all constellation radiometers. For global coverage, GPM relies on existing satellite programs and new mission opportunities from a consortium of partners through bilateral agreements with either NASA or JAXA. Each constellation member may have its unique scientific or operational objectives but contributes microwave observations to GPM for the generation and dissemination of unified global precipitation data products. In addition to the DPR and GMI on the Core Observatory, the baseline GPM constellation consists of the following sensors: (1) Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) instruments on the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites, (2) the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-2 (AMSR-2) on the GCOM-W1

Applications of Seasat to the offshore oil, gas and mining industries

Science.gov (United States)

Mourad, A. G.; Robinson, A. C.

1977-01-01

The NASA satellite Seasat-A (to be launched in 1978) has applications to the offshore oil, gas, and mining industries including: (1) improvements in weather and wave forecasting, (2) studies of past wind and wave statistics for planning design requirements, and (3) monitoring ice formation, breakup, and movement in arctic regions. The primary geographic areas which will be monitored by Seasat-A include: the Beaufort Sea, the Labrador Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. east coast, West Africa, Equatorial East Pacific, the Gulf of Alaska, and the North Sea. Seasat-A instrumentation used in ocean monitoring consists of a radar altimeter, a radar scatterometer, a synthetic aperture radar, a microwave radiometer, and a visible and infrared radiometer. The future outlook of the Seasat program is planned in three phases: measurement feasibility demonstration (1978-1980), data accessibility/utility demonstration (1980-1983), and operational system demonstration (1983-1985).

Interpretation of measured data and the resolution analysis of the RTP 4-channel pulsed radar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavlo, P.

1993-01-01

The resolution of a 4-channel pulsed radar being built at Rijnhuisen for the RTP tokamak is analyzed. The achievable resolution mainly depends on the accuracy of the time-of-flight measurements and the number of sampling frequencies; since the technological solution and the configuration have already been set, emphasis is put on interpretation of the measured data (the inversion problem) and minimization of the overall error. For this purpose, a specific neural network - the Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP) - has successfully been applied. Central density in the range of 0.2-0.6 x 10 20 m -3 was considered, i.e., one above the critical density for all four frequencies but not so high as to restrict the measurements to just the edge of the plasma. By balancing the inversion error and the time measurement error, for a wide class of density profiles the overall error in estimating the reflection point position of between 0.72 cm (for the lowest frequency) and 0.52 cm (for the highest frequency) root mean square was obtained, assuming an RMS error of 70 ps in the time of flight measurements. This is probably much better than what could be obtained by the Abel transform. Moreover, mapping with the MLP is considerably faster, and it should be considered for routine multichannel pulsed radar data processing. (author) 2 tabs., 4 figs., 6 refs

Error Ellipsoid Analysis for the Diameter Measurement of Cylindroid Components Using a Laser Radar Measurement System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhengchun Du

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The use of three-dimensional (3D data in the industrial measurement field is becoming increasingly popular because of the rapid development of laser scanning techniques based on the time-of-flight principle. However, the accuracy and uncertainty of these types of measurement methods are seldom investigated. In this study, a mathematical uncertainty evaluation model for the diameter measurement of standard cylindroid components has been proposed and applied to a 3D laser radar measurement system (LRMS. First, a single-point error ellipsoid analysis for the LRMS was established. An error ellipsoid model and algorithm for diameter measurement of cylindroid components was then proposed based on the single-point error ellipsoid. Finally, four experiments were conducted using the LRMS to measure the diameter of a standard cylinder in the laboratory. The experimental results of the uncertainty evaluation consistently matched well with the predictions. The proposed uncertainty evaluation model for cylindrical diameters can provide a reliable method for actual measurements and support further accuracy improvement of the LRMS.

SAT-WIND project. Final report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hasager, Charlotte Bay; Astrup, Poul; Nielsen, Niels Morten

microwave, altimeter, scatterometer and imaging Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technologies for wind energy tools for wind resources and wind-indexing. The study area was the Danish Seas including the North Sea, interior seas and the Baltic Sea. The report describes technical details on the satellite data...

Phased Array Radar Network Experiment for Severe Weather

Science.gov (United States)

Ushio, T.; Kikuchi, H.; Mega, T.; Yoshikawa, E.; Mizutani, F.; Takahashi, N.

2017-12-01

Phased Array Weather Radar (PAWR) was firstly developed in 2012 by Osaka University and Toshiba under a grant of NICT using the Digital Beamforming Technique, and showed a impressive thunderstorm behavior with 30 second resolution. After that development, second PAWR was installed in Kobe city about 60 km away from the first PAWR site, and Tokyo Metropolitan University, Osaka Univeristy, Toshiba and the Osaka Local Government started a new project to develop the Osaka Urban Demonstration Network. The main sensor of the Osaka Network is a 2-node Phased Array Radar Network and lightning location system. Data products that are created both in local high performance computer and Toshiba Computer Cloud, include single and multi-radar data, vector wind, quantitative precipitation estimation, VIL, nowcasting, lightning location and analysis. Each radar node is calibarated by the baloon measurement and through the comparison with the GPM (Global Precipitation Measurement)/ DPR (Dual Frequency Space borne Radar) within 1 dB. The attenuated radar reflectivities obtained by the Phased Array Radar Network at X band are corrected based on the bayesian scheme proposed in Shimamura et al. [2016]. The obtained high resolution (every 30 seconds/ 100 elevation angles) 3D reflectivity and rain rate fields are used to nowcast the surface rain rate up to 30 minutes ahead. These new products are transferred to Osaka Local Government in operational mode and evaluated by several section in Osaka Prefecture. Furthermore, a new Phased Array Radar with polarimetric function has been developed in 2017, and will be operated in the fiscal year of 2017. In this presentation, Phased Array Radar, network architecuture, processing algorithm, evalution of the social experiment and first Multi-Prameter Phased Array Radar experiment are presented.

Multi-function radar emitter identification based on stochastic syntax-directed translation schema

OpenAIRE

Liu, Haijun; Yu, Hongqi; Sun, Zhaolin; Diao, Jietao

2014-01-01

To cope with the problem of emitter identification caused by the radar words’ uncertainty of measured multi-function radar emitters, this paper proposes a new identification method based on stochastic syntax-directed translation schema (SSDTS). This method, which is deduced from the syntactic modeling of multi-function radars, considers the probabilities of radar phrases appearance in different radar modes as well as the probabilities of radar word errors occurrence in different radar phrases...

Research and development of laser radar for environmental measurement. 2; Kankyo keisokuyo laser radar no kenkyu kaihatsu. 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-03-01

This project was received by Optoelectronic Industry and Technology Development Association from NEDO, and aims to contribute to the improvement of Indonesia's environmental administration through the development of an air pollution observing laser radar (LR) and of an environmental information network system fit for use in the country in cooperation with Indonesian engineers. LRs will be installed at several sites in an urban area where environmental problems are increasingly serious, and a observation network system will be constructed to link the laser radar sites. The observed data will be collected, analyzed, and processed by an observation data processing center for the investigation of the three-dimensional spatial distribution of air pollution to determine the actual state of air pollution over an urban area. The laser radars and the network will be placed in the city of Djakarta. The Indonesian authority responsible for the project is Indonesian Institute of Sciences. In fiscal 1994, part of the equipment (difference absorbing LR) was designed and manufactured, the design of the environmental information network system was developed, and various researches required in this connection were conducted. (NEDO)

Classification of Agricultural Crops in Radar Images

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoogeboom, P.

1983-01-01

For the past few years an accurate X-band SLAR system with digital recording has been available in The Netherlands. The images of this system are corrected to indicate radar backscatter coefficients (gamma) instead of arbitrary greytones. In 1980 a radar measurement campaign was organized in the

Forward scatter radar for detection of moving people inside buildings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wit, J.J.M. de; Rossum, W.L. van

2017-01-01

Through-wall radar offers capabilities that allow an important contribution to inside-building awareness, such as target detection and tracking. However, reliable radar tracking of people inside a building is not a trivial task. In monostatic operation, radar measures the backscatter from people

Estimation of three-dimensional radar tracking using modified extended kalman filter

Science.gov (United States)

Aditya, Prima; Apriliani, Erna; Khusnul Arif, Didik; Baihaqi, Komar

2018-03-01

Kalman filter is an estimation method by combining data and mathematical models then developed be extended Kalman filter to handle nonlinear systems. Three-dimensional radar tracking is one of example of nonlinear system. In this paper developed a modification method of extended Kalman filter from the direct decline of the three-dimensional radar tracking case. The development of this filter algorithm can solve the three-dimensional radar measurements in the case proposed in this case the target measured by radar with distance r, azimuth angle θ, and the elevation angle ϕ. Artificial covariance and mean adjusted directly on the three-dimensional radar system. Simulations result show that the proposed formulation is effective in the calculation of nonlinear measurement compared with extended Kalman filter with the value error at 0.77% until 1.15%.

Intercomparison of attenuation correction algorithms for single-polarized X-band radars

Science.gov (United States)

Lengfeld, K.; Berenguer, M.; Sempere Torres, D.

2018-03-01

Attenuation due to liquid water is one of the largest uncertainties in radar observations. The effects of attenuation are generally inversely proportional to the wavelength, i.e. observations from X-band radars are more affected by attenuation than those from C- or S-band systems. On the other hand, X-band radars can measure precipitation fields in higher temporal and spatial resolution and are more mobile and easier to install due to smaller antennas. A first algorithm for attenuation correction in single-polarized systems was proposed by Hitschfeld and Bordan (1954) (HB), but it gets unstable in case of small errors (e.g. in the radar calibration) and strong attenuation. Therefore, methods have been developed that restrict attenuation correction to keep the algorithm stable, using e.g. surface echoes (for space-borne radars) and mountain returns (for ground radars) as a final value (FV), or adjustment of the radar constant (C) or the coefficient α. In the absence of mountain returns, measurements from C- or S-band radars can be used to constrain the correction. All these methods are based on the statistical relation between reflectivity and specific attenuation. Another way to correct for attenuation in X-band radar observations is to use additional information from less attenuated radar systems, e.g. the ratio between X-band and C- or S-band radar measurements. Lengfeld et al. (2016) proposed such a method based isotonic regression of the ratio between X- and C-band radar observations along the radar beam. This study presents a comparison of the original HB algorithm and three algorithms based on the statistical relation between reflectivity and specific attenuation as well as two methods implementing additional information of C-band radar measurements. Their performance in two precipitation events (one mainly convective and the other one stratiform) shows that a restriction of the HB is necessary to avoid instabilities. A comparison with vertically pointing

A prototype of radar-drone system for measuring the surface flow velocity at river sites and discharge estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Moramarco, Tommaso; Alimenti, Federico; Zucco, Graziano; Barbetta, Silvia; Tarpanelli, Angelica; Brocca, Luca; Mezzanotte, Paolo; Rosselli, Luca; Orecchini, Giulia; Virili, Marco; Valigi, Paolo; Ciarfuglia, Thomas; Pagnottelli, Stefano

2015-04-01

Discharge estimation at a river site depends on local hydraulic conditions identified by recording water levels. In fact, stage monitoring is straightforward and relatively inexpensive compared with the cost necessary to carry out flow velocity measurements which are, however, limited to low flows and constrained by the accessibility of the site. In this context the mean flow velocity is hard to estimate for high flow, affecting de-facto the reliability of discharge assessment for extreme events. On the other hand, the surface flow velocity can be easily monitored by using radar sensors allowing to achieve a good estimate of discharge by exploiting the entropy theory applied to rivers hydraulic (Chiu,1987). Recently, a growing interest towards the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UVA), henceforth drone, for topographic applications is observed and considering their capability drones may be of a considerable interest for the hydrological monitoring and in particular for streamflow measurements. With this aim, for the first time, a miniaturized Doppler radar sensor, operating at 24 GHz, will be mounted on a drone to measure the surface flow velocity in rivers. The sensor is constituted by a single-board circuit (i.e. is a fully planar circuits - no waveguides) with the antenna on one side and the front-end electronic on the other side (Alimenti et al., 2007). The antenna has a half-power beam width of less than 10 degrees in the elevation plane and a gain of 13 dBi. The radar is equipped with a monolithic oscillator and transmits a power of about 4 mW at 24 GHz. The sensor is mounted with an inclination of 45 degrees with respect to the drone flying plane and such an angle is considered in recovering the surface speed of the water. The drone is a quadricopter that has more than 30 min, flying time before recharging the battery. Furthermore its flying plan can be scheduled with a suitable software and is executed thanks to the on-board sensors (GPS, accelerometers

Radar Location Equipment Development Program: Phase I

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sandness, G.A.; Davis, K.C.

1985-06-01

The work described in this report represents the first phase of a planned three-phase project designed to develop a radar system for monitoring waste canisters stored in a thick layer of bedded salt at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The canisters will be contained in holes drilled into the floor of the underground waste storage facility. It is hoped that these measurements can be made to accuracies of +-5 cm and +-2/sup 0/, respectively. The initial phase of this project was primarily a feasibility study. Its principal objective was to evaluate the potential effectiveness of the radar method in the planned canister monitoring application. Its scope included an investigation of the characteristics of radar signals backscattered from waste canisters, a test of preliminary data analysis methods, an assessment of the effects of salt and bentonite (a proposed backfill material) on the propagation of the radar signals, and a review of current ground-penetrating radar technology. A laboratory experiment was performed in which radar signals were backscattered from simulated waste canisters. The radar data were recorded by a digital data acquisition system and were subsequently analyzed by three different computer-based methods to extract estimates of canister location and tilt. Each of these methods yielded results that were accurate within a few centimeters in canister location and within 1/sup 0/ in canister tilt. Measurements were also made to determine the signal propagation velocities in salt and bentonite (actually a bentonite/sand mixture) and to estimate the signal attenuation rate in the bentonite. Finally, a product survey and a literature search were made to identify available ground-penetrating radar systems and alternative antenna designs that may be particularly suitable for this unique application. 10 refs., 21 figs., 4 tabs.

Radar Location Equipment Development Program: Phase I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sandness, G.A.; Davis, K.C.

1985-06-01

The work described in this report represents the first phase of a planned three-phase project designed to develop a radar system for monitoring waste canisters stored in a thick layer of bedded salt at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The canisters will be contained in holes drilled into the floor of the underground waste storage facility. It is hoped that these measurements can be made to accuracies of +-5 cm and +-2 0 , respectively. The initial phase of this project was primarily a feasibility study. Its principal objective was to evaluate the potential effectiveness of the radar method in the planned canister monitoring application. Its scope included an investigation of the characteristics of radar signals backscattered from waste canisters, a test of preliminary data analysis methods, an assessment of the effects of salt and bentonite (a proposed backfill material) on the propagation of the radar signals, and a review of current ground-penetrating radar technology. A laboratory experiment was performed in which radar signals were backscattered from simulated waste canisters. The radar data were recorded by a digital data acquisition system and were subsequently analyzed by three different computer-based methods to extract estimates of canister location and tilt. Each of these methods yielded results that were accurate within a few centimeters in canister location and within 1 0 in canister tilt. Measurements were also made to determine the signal propagation velocities in salt and bentonite (actually a bentonite/sand mixture) and to estimate the signal attenuation rate in the bentonite. Finally, a product survey and a literature search were made to identify available ground-penetrating radar systems and alternative antenna designs that may be particularly suitable for this unique application. 10 refs., 21 figs., 4 tabs

Tsunami Arrival Detection with High Frequency (HF Radar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donald Barrick

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Quantitative real-time observations of a tsunami have been limited to deep-water, pressure-sensor observations of changes in the sea surface elevation and observations of sea level fluctuations at the coast, which are essentially point measurements. Constrained by these data, models have been used for predictions and warning of the arrival of a tsunami, but to date no system exists for local detection of an actual incoming wave with a significant warning capability. Networks of coastal high frequency (HF-radars are now routinely observing surface currents in many countries. We report here on an empirical method for the detection of the initial arrival of a tsunami, and demonstrate its use with results from data measured by fourteen HF radar sites in Japan and USA following the magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Sendai, Japan, on 11 March 2011. The distance offshore at which the tsunami can be detected, and hence the warning time provided, depends on the bathymetry: the wider the shallow continental shelf, the greater this time. We compare arrival times at the radars with those measured by neighboring tide gauges. Arrival times measured by the radars preceded those at neighboring tide gauges by an average of 19 min (Japan and 15 min (USA The initial water-height increase due to the tsunami as measured by the tide gauges was moderate, ranging from 0.3 to 2 m. Thus it appears possible to detect even moderate tsunamis using this method. Larger tsunamis could obviously be detected further from the coast. We find that tsunami arrival within the radar coverage area can be announced 8 min (i.e., twice the radar spectral time resolution after its first appearance. This can provide advance warning of the tsunami approach to the coastline locations.

Drake Antarctic Agile Meteor Radar (DrAAMER) First Results: Configuration and Comparison of Mean and Tidal Wind and Gravity Wave Momentum Flux Measurements with SAAMER

Science.gov (United States)

Fritts, D. C.; Janches, D.; Iimura, H.; Hocking, W. K.; Bageston, J. V.; Pene, N. M.

2011-01-01

A new-generation meteor radar was installed at the Brazilian Antarctic Comandante Ferraz Base (62.1degS) in March 2010. This paper describes the motivations for the radar location, its measurement capabilities, and comparisons of measured mean winds, tides, and gravity wave momentum fluxes from April to June of 2010 and 2011 with those by a similar radar on Tierra del Fuego (53.8degS). Motivations for the radars include the "hotspot" of small-scale gravity wave activity extending from the troposphere into the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) centered over the Drake Passage, the maximum of the semidiurnal tide at these latitudes, and the lack of other MLT wind measurements in this latitude band. Mean winds are seen to be strongly modulated at planetary wave and longer periods and to exhibit strong coherence over the two radars at shorter time scales as well as systematic seasonal variations. The semidiurnal tide contribute most to the large-scale winds over both radars, with maximum tidal amplitudes during May and maxima at the highest altitudes varying from approx.20 to >70 m/s. In contrast, the diurnal tide and various planetary waves achieve maximum winds of approx.10 to 20 m/s. Monthly-mean gravity wave momentum fluxes appear to reflect the occurrence of significant sources at lower altitudes, with relatively small zonal fluxes over both radars, but with significant, and opposite, meridional momentum fluxes below approx.85 km. These suggest gravity waves propagating away from the Drake Passage at both sites, and may indicate an important source region accounting in part for this "hotspot".

A Wing Pod-based Millimeter Wave Cloud Radar on HIAPER

Science.gov (United States)

Vivekanandan, Jothiram; Tsai, Peisang; Ellis, Scott; Loew, Eric; Lee, Wen-Chau; Emmett, Joanthan

2014-05-01

One of the attractive features of a millimeter wave radar system is its ability to detect micron-sized particles that constitute clouds with lower than 0.1 g m-3 liquid or ice water content. Scanning or vertically-pointing ground-based millimeter wavelength radars are used to study stratocumulus (Vali et al. 1998; Kollias and Albrecht 2000) and fair-weather cumulus (Kollias et al. 2001). Airborne millimeter wavelength radars have been used for atmospheric remote sensing since the early 1990s (Pazmany et al. 1995). Airborne millimeter wavelength radar systems, such as the University of Wyoming King Air Cloud Radar (WCR) and the NASA ER-2 Cloud Radar System (CRS), have added mobility to observe clouds in remote regions and over oceans. Scientific requirements of millimeter wavelength radar are mainly driven by climate and cloud initiation studies. Survey results from the cloud radar user community indicated a common preference for a narrow beam W-band radar with polarimetric and Doppler capabilities for airborne remote sensing of clouds. For detecting small amounts of liquid and ice, it is desired to have -30 dBZ sensitivity at a 10 km range. Additional desired capabilities included a second wavelength and/or dual-Doppler winds. Modern radar technology offers various options (e.g., dual-polarization and dual-wavelength). Even though a basic fixed beam Doppler radar system with a sensitivity of -30 dBZ at 10 km is capable of satisfying cloud detection requirements, the above-mentioned additional options, namely dual-wavelength, and dual-polarization, significantly extend the measurement capabilities to further reduce any uncertainty in radar-based retrievals of cloud properties. This paper describes a novel, airborne pod-based millimeter wave radar, preliminary radar measurements and corresponding derived scientific products. Since some of the primary engineering requirements of this millimeter wave radar are that it should be deployable on an airborne platform

Runoff Calculation by Neural Networks Using Radar Rainfall Data

OpenAIRE

岡田, 晋作; 四俵, 正俊

1997-01-01

Neural networks, are used to calculate runoff from weather radar data and ground rain gauge data. Compared to usual runoff models, it is easier to use radar data in neural network runoff calculation. Basically you can use the radar data directly, or without transforming them into rainfall, as the input of the neural network. A situation with the difficulty of ground measurement is supposed. To cover the area lacking ground rain gauge, radar data are used. In case that the distribution of grou...

Development of Radar Control system for Multi-mode Active Phased Array Radar for atmospheric probing

Science.gov (United States)

Yasodha, Polisetti; Jayaraman, Achuthan; Thriveni, A.

2016-07-01

TR modules, (ii) radar operation software which facilitates experimental parameter setting and operating the radar in different modes, (iii) beam steering software which computes the amplitude co-efficients and phases required for each TR module, for forming the beams selected for radar operation with the desired shape and (iv) Calibration software for calibrating the radar by measuring the differential insertion phase and amplitudes in all 1024 Transmit and Receive paths and correcting them. The TR module configuring software is a major task as it needs to control 1024 TR modules, which are located in the field about 150 m away from the RC system in the control room. Each TR module has a processor identified with a dedicated IP address, along with memory to store the instructions and parameters required for radar operation. A communication link is designed using Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switches to realise 1 to 1024 way switching network. RC system computer communicates with the each processor using its IP address and establishes connection, via 1 to 1024 port GbE switching network. The experimental parameters data are pre-loaded parallely into all the TR modules along with the phase shifter data required for beam steering using this network. A reference timing pulse is sent to all the TR modules simultaneously, which indicates the start of radar operation. RC system also monitors the status parameters from the TR modules indicating their health during radar operation at regular intervals, via GbE switching network. Beam steering software generates the phase shift required for each TR module for the beams selected for operation. Radar operational software calls the phase shift data required for beam steering and adds it to the calibration phase obtained through calibration software and loads the resultant phase data into TR modules. Timed command/data transfer to/from subsystems and synchronisation of subsystems is essential for proper real-time operation of the

The Python ARM Radar Toolkit (Py-ART), a Library for Working with Weather Radar Data in the Python Programming Language

OpenAIRE

Helmus, Jonathan J; Collis, Scott M

2016-01-01

The Python ARM Radar Toolkit is a package for reading, visualizing, correcting and analysing data from weather radars. Development began to meet the needs of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility and has since expanded to provide a general-purpose framework for working with data from weather radars in the Python programming language. The toolkit is built on top of libraries in the Scientific Python ecosystem including NumPy, SciPy, and matplotlib, and makes use of Cy...

The NASA Polarimetric Radar (NPOL)

Science.gov (United States)

Petersen, Walter A.; Wolff, David B.

2013-01-01

Characteristics of the NASA NPOL S-band dual-polarimetric radar are presented including its operating characteristics, field configuration, scanning capabilities and calibration approaches. Examples of precipitation science data collections conducted using various scan types, and associated products, are presented for different convective system types and previous field campaign deployments. Finally, the NASA NPOL radar location is depicted in its home base configuration within the greater Wallops Flight Facility precipitation research array supporting NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Mission ground validation.

Dynamic gauge adjustment of high-resolution X-band radar data for convective rain storms: Model-based evaluation against measured combined sewer overflow

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borup, Morten; Grum, Morten; Linde, Jens Jørgen

2016-01-01

estimates through a hydraulic urban drainage model. The model is built entirely from physical data, without any calibration, to avoid bias towards any specific type of rainfall estimate. The performance is assessed by comparing measured and modelled water levels at a weir downstream of a highly impermeable......Numerous studies have shown that radar rainfall estimates need to be adjusted against rain gauge measurements in order to be useful for hydrological modelling. In the current study we investigate if adjustment can improve radar rainfall estimates to the point where they can be used for modelling...... overflows from urban drainage systems, and we furthermore investigate the importance of the aggregation period of the adjustment scheme. This is done by continuously adjusting X-band radar data based on the previous 5–30 min of rain data recorded by multiple rain gauges and propagating the rainfall...

Improved analysis of all-sky meteor radar measurements of gravity wave variances and momentum fluxes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. F. Andrioli

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The advantages of using a composite day analysis for all-sky interferometric meteor radars when measuring mean winds and tides are widely known. On the other hand, problems arise if this technique is applied to Hocking's (2005 gravity wave analysis for all-sky meteor radars. In this paper we describe how a simple change in the procedure makes it possible to use a composite day in Hocking's analysis. Also, we explain how a modified composite day can be constructed to test its ability to measure gravity wave momentum fluxes. Test results for specified mean, tidal, and gravity wave fields, including tidal amplitudes and gravity wave momentum fluxes varying strongly with altitude and/or time, suggest that the modified composite day allows characterization of monthly mean profiles of the gravity wave momentum fluxes, with good accuracy at least at the altitudes where the meteor counts are large (from 89 to 92.5 km. In the present work we also show that the variances measured with Hocking's method are often contaminated by the tidal fields and suggest a method of empirical correction derived from a simple simulation model. The results presented here greatly increase our confidence because they show that our technique is able to remove the tide-induced false variances from Hocking's analysis.

Near surface bulk density estimates of NEAs from radar observations and permittivity measurements of powdered geologic material

Science.gov (United States)

Hickson, Dylan; Boivin, Alexandre; Daly, Michael G.; Ghent, Rebecca; Nolan, Michael C.; Tait, Kimberly; Cunje, Alister; Tsai, Chun An

2018-05-01

The variations in near-surface properties and regolith structure of asteroids are currently not well constrained by remote sensing techniques. Radar is a useful tool for such determinations of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) as the power of the reflected signal from the surface is dependent on the bulk density, ρbd, and dielectric permittivity. In this study, high precision complex permittivity measurements of powdered aluminum oxide and dunite samples are used to characterize the change in the real part of the permittivity with the bulk density of the sample. In this work, we use silica aerogel for the first time to increase the void space in the samples (and decrease the bulk density) without significantly altering the electrical properties. We fit various mixing equations to the experimental results. The Looyenga-Landau-Lifshitz mixing formula has the best fit and the Lichtenecker mixing formula, which is typically used to approximate planetary regolith, does not model the results well. We find that the Looyenga-Landau-Lifshitz formula adequately matches Lunar regolith permittivity measurements, and we incorporate it into an existing model for obtaining asteroid regolith bulk density from radar returns which is then used to estimate the bulk density in the near surface of NEA's (101955) Bennu and (25143) Itokawa. Constraints on the material properties appropriate for either asteroid give average estimates of ρbd = 1.27 ± 0.33g/cm3 for Bennu and ρbd = 1.68 ± 0.53g/cm3 for Itokawa. We conclude that our data suggest that the Looyenga-Landau-Lifshitz mixing model, in tandem with an appropriate radar scattering model, is the best method for estimating bulk densities of regoliths from radar observations of airless bodies.

Rainfall estimation for hydrology using volumetric weather radar

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hazenberg, P.

2013-01-01

This thesis focuses specifically on weather radar rainfall measurements in strati form precipitation. In North-Western Europe this type of precipitation is most dominant in winter and leads to the largest hydro logical response of catchments. Unfortunately, the quality of uncorrected radar rainfall

ERS-1 - Our new window on the oceans for the 1990s

Science.gov (United States)

Llewellyn-Jones, D. T.

1986-05-01

ESA's First Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1) due for launch in 1989 will monitor a carefully selected set of geophysical parameters in an effort to describe the state of the sea-surface. The payload instruments of ERS-1, how they make their measurements, and how the data will be dealt with, are described and discussed. The payload consists of three microwave radars: (1) a wind and wave scatterometer, (2) a synthetic aperture radar, and (3) a radar altimeter. These instruments are complemented by an Along Track Scanning Radiometer and a Precise Range and Range-Rate Experiment. The concept of fast delivery data products is an essential element of the ERS-1 system, meaning that the processed ERS-1 data will be distributed to designated points of contact within three hours of being obtained by the spacecraft. It is concluded that these measurements will lead to a better scientific understanding of ocean-atmosphere interactions; moreover, they will pave the way to the application of such data products to a large range of commercial activities.

Ku-Band radar penetration into Snow over Arctic Sea Ice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hendricks, Stefan; Stenseng, Lars; Helm, Veit

is the snow/air interface, whereas radar waves interact with the variable physical properties of the snow cover on the Arctic sea ice. In addition, radar elevation measurements may vary for different retracker algorithms, which determine the track point of the scattered echo power distribution. Since accurate...... knowledge of the reflection horizon is critical for sea ice thickness retrieval, validation data is necessary to investigate the penetration of radar waves into the snow for the upcoming CryoSat-2 mission. Furthermore, the combination of both optical and RF wavelengths might be used to derive snow thickness......, if radar altimeters are capable of measuring the distance to the snow-ice interface reliably. We present the results of aircraft campaigns in the Arctic with a scanning laser altimeter and the Airborne SAR/Interferometric Radar Altimeter System (ASIRAS) of the European Space Agency. The elevation...

Ground clutter cancellation in incoherent radars: solutions for EISCAT Svalbard radar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Turunen

2000-09-01

Full Text Available Incoherent scatter radars measure ionosphere parameters using modified Thomson scatter from free electrons in the target (see e.g. Hagfors, 1997. The integrated cross section of the ionospheric scatterers is extremely small and the measurements can easily be disturbed by signals returned by unwanted targets. Ground clutter signals, entering via the antenna side lobes, can render measurements at the nearest target ranges totally impossible. The EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR, which started measurements in 1996, suffers from severe ground clutter and the ionosphere cannot be measured in any simple manner at ranges less than about 120–150 km, depending on the modulation employed. If the target and clutter signals have different, and clearly identifiable, properties then, in principle, there are always ways to eliminate the clutter. In incoherent scatter measurements, differences in the coherence times of the wanted and unwanted signals can be used for clutter cancellation. The clutter cancellation must be applied to all modulations, usually alternating codes in modern experiments, used for shorter ranges. Excellent results have been obtained at the ESR using a simple pulse-to-pulse clutter subtraction method, but there are also other possibilities.Key words: Radio science (ionospheric physics; signal processing; instruments and techniques

Improved Laser Vibration Radar

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hilaire, Pierre

1998-01-01

.... This thesis reconfigured an existing CO2 laboratory laser radar system that is capable of measuring the frequencies of vibration of a simulated target into a more compact and rugged form for field testing...

Simulation of a weather radar display for over-water airborne radar approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Clary, G. R.

1983-01-01

Airborne radar approach (ARA) concepts are being investigated as a part of NASA's Rotorcraft All-Weather Operations Research Program on advanced guidance and navigation methods. This research is being conducted using both piloted simulations and flight test evaluations. For the piloted simulations, a mathematical model of the airborne radar was developed for over-water ARAs to offshore platforms. This simulated flight scenario requires radar simulation of point targets, such as oil rigs and ships, distributed sea clutter, and transponder beacon replies. Radar theory, weather radar characteristics, and empirical data derived from in-flight radar photographs are combined to model a civil weather/mapping radar typical of those used in offshore rotorcraft operations. The resulting radar simulation is realistic and provides the needed simulation capability for ongoing ARA research.

Advancements on Radar Polarization Information Acquisition and Processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dai Dahai

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The study on radar polarization information acquisition and processing has currently been one important part of radar techniques. The development of the polarization theory is simply reviewed firstly. Subsequently, some key techniques which include polarization measurement, polarization anti-jamming, polarization recognition, imaging and parameters inversion using radar polarimetry are emphatically analyzed in this paper. The basic theories, the present states and the development trends of these key techniques are presented and some meaningful conclusions are derived.

A technique to obtain a multiparameter radar rainfall algorithm using the probability matching procedure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorgucci, E.; Scarchilli, G.

1997-01-01

The natural cumulative distributions of rainfall observed by a network of rain gauges and a multiparameter radar are matched to derive multiparameter radar algorithms for rainfall estimation. The use of multiparameter radar measurements in a statistical framework to estimate rainfall is resented in this paper, The techniques developed in this paper are applied to the radar and rain gauge measurement of rainfall observed in central Florida and central Italy. Conventional pointwise estimates of rainfall are also compared. The probability matching procedure, when applied to the radar and surface measurements, shows that multiparameter radar algorithms can match the probability distribution function better than the reflectivity-based algorithms. It is also shown that the multiparameter radar algorithm derived matching the cumulative distribution function of rainfall provides more accurate estimates of rainfall on the ground in comparison to any conventional reflectivity-based algorithm

Research cooperation in the development of laser radar for environmental measurements. Environmental network; Kankyo keisokuyo laser radar no kaihatsu ni kansuru kenkyu kyoryoku. Kankyo network

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-03-01

Among the research cooperation in the development of laser radar for environmental measurements with Indonesia between FY 1993 and FY 1996, results of the research and development of the environmental network are summarized. For the environmental information network, the Tokyo NOC is linked as an Internet connection point in Japan with the Jakarta NOC using an international dedicated line with a capacity of 64 Kbps. The Tokyo NOC is linked with domestic environmental information researchers using Internet. Thus, data stored in the data processing system of laser radar can be exchanged, information in both countries can be exchanged using E-mail, and data can be accumulated. For the research cooperation with Indonesia, research of path control and information relay server, research of effective transmission of data on the network, and research of multimedia communication have been conducted. The multimedia communication, distributed processing, and extension of dedicated line network using PPTP have been also conducted. 39 figs., 4 tabs.

Planetary Radar

Science.gov (United States)

Neish, Catherine D.; Carter, Lynn M.

2015-01-01

This chapter describes the principles of planetary radar, and the primary scientific discoveries that have been made using this technique. The chapter starts by describing the different types of radar systems and how they are used to acquire images and accurate topography of planetary surfaces and probe their subsurface structure. It then explains how these products can be used to understand the properties of the target being investigated. Several examples of discoveries made with planetary radar are then summarized, covering solar system objects from Mercury to Saturn. Finally, opportunities for future discoveries in planetary radar are outlined and discussed.

Understanding radar systems

CERN Document Server

Kingsley, Simon

1999-01-01

What is radar? What systems are currently in use? How do they work? This book provides engineers and scientists with answers to these critical questions, focusing on actual radar systems in use today. It is a perfect resource for those just entering the field, or as a quick refresher for experienced practitioners. The book leads readers through the specialized language and calculations that comprise the complex world of radar engineering as seen in dozens of state-of-the-art radar systems. An easy to read, wide ranging guide to the world of modern radar systems.

Pulse Doppler radar

CERN Document Server

Alabaster, Clive

2012-01-01

This book is a practitioner's guide to all aspects of pulse Doppler radar. It concentrates on airborne military radar systems since they are the most used, most complex, and most interesting of the pulse Doppler radars; however, ground-based and non-military systems are also included. It covers the fundamental science, signal processing, hardware issues, systems design and case studies of typical systems. It will be a useful resource for engineers of all types (hardware, software and systems), academics, post-graduate students, scientists in radar and radar electronic warfare sectors and milit

The Python ARM Radar Toolkit (Py-ART, a Library for Working with Weather Radar Data in the Python Programming Language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan J Helmus

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The Python ARM Radar Toolkit is a package for reading, visualizing, correcting and analysing data from weather radars. Development began to meet the needs of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility and has since expanded to provide a general-purpose framework for working with data from weather radars in the Python programming language. The toolkit is built on top of libraries in the Scientific Python ecosystem including NumPy, SciPy, and matplotlib, and makes use of Cython for interfacing with existing radar libraries written in C and to speed up computationally demanding algorithms. The source code for the toolkit is available on GitHub and is distributed under a BSD license.

Application of the nonlinear time series prediction method of genetic algorithm for forecasting surface wind of point station in the South China Sea with scatterometer observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong Jian; Dong Gang; Sun Yimei; Zhang Zhaoyang; Wu Yuqin

2016-01-01

The present work reports the development of nonlinear time series prediction method of genetic algorithm (GA) with singular spectrum analysis (SSA) for forecasting the surface wind of a point station in the South China Sea (SCS) with scatterometer observations. Before the nonlinear technique GA is used for forecasting the time series of surface wind, the SSA is applied to reduce the noise. The surface wind speed and surface wind components from scatterometer observations at three locations in the SCS have been used to develop and test the technique. The predictions have been compared with persistence forecasts in terms of root mean square error. The predicted surface wind with GA and SSA made up to four days (longer for some point station) in advance have been found to be significantly superior to those made by persistence model. This method can serve as a cost-effective alternate prediction technique for forecasting surface wind of a point station in the SCS basin. (paper)

Development of Bread Board Model of TRMM precipitation radar

Science.gov (United States)

Okamoto, Ken'ichi; Ihara, Toshio; Kumagai, Hiroshi

The active array radar was selected as a reliable candidate for the TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) precipitation radar after the trade off studies performed by Communications Research Laboratory (CRL) in the US-Japan joint feasibility study of TRMM in 1987-1988. Main system parameters and block diagram for TRMM precipitation radar are shown as the result of feasibility study. CRL developed key devices for the active array precipitation radar such as 8-element slotted waveguide array antenna, the 5 bit PIN diode phase shifters, solid state power amplifiers and low noise amplifiers in 1988-1990. Integration of these key devices was made to compose 8-element Bread Board Model of TRMM precipitation radar.

Evaluating precipitation in a regional climate model using ground-based radar measurements in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica

Science.gov (United States)

Gorodetskaya, Irina; Maahn, Maximilan; Gallée, Hubert; Souverijns, Niels; Gossart, Alexandra; Kneifel, Stefan; Crewell, Susanne; Van Lipzig, Nicole

2017-04-01

Occasional very intense snowfall events over Dronning Maud Land (DML) region in East Antarctica, contributed significantly to the entire Antarctic ice sheet surface mass balance (SMB) during the last years. The meteorological-cloud-precipitation observatory running at the Princess Elisabeth station (PE) in the DML escarpment zone since 2009 (HYDRANT/AEROCLOUD projects), provides unique opportunity to estimate contribution of precipitation to the local snow accumulation and new data for evaluating precipitation in climate models. Our previous work using PE measurements showed that occasional intense precipitation events determine the total local yearly SMB and account for its large interannual variability. Here we use radar measurements to evaluate precipitation in a regional climate model with a special focus on intense precipitation events together with the large-scale atmospheric dynamics responsible for these events. The coupled snow-atmosphere regional climate model MAR (Modèle Atmosphérique Régional) is used to simulate climate and SMB in DML at 5-km horizontal resolution during 2012 using initial and boundary conditions from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Interim re-analysis atmospheric and oceanic fields. Two evaluation approaches are used: observations-to-model and model-to-observations. In the first approach, snowfall rate (S) is derived from the MRR (vertically profiling 24-GHz precipitation radar) effective reflectivity factor (Ze) at 400 m agl using various Ze-S relationships for dry snow. The uncertainty in Ze-S relationships is constrained using snow particle size distribution from Snow Video Imager - Precipitation Imaging Package (SVI/PIP) and information about particle shapes. For the second approach we apply the Passive and Active Microwave radiative TRAnsfer model (PAMTRA), which allows direct comparison of the radar-measured and climate model-based vertical profiles of the radar Ze and Doppler velocity. In MAR

Mesospheric Temperatures and Winds measured by a VHF Meteor Radar at King Sejong Station (62.2S, 58.8W), Antarctica

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Yongha; Kim, Jeong-Han; Jee, Geonwha; Lee, Chang-Sup

2010-05-01

A VHF radar at King Sejong Station, Antarctica has been measuring meteor echoes since March 2007. Temperatures near the mesopause are derived from meteor decay times with an improved method of selecting meteor echo samples, and compared with airglow temperatures simultaneously observed by a spectral airglow temperature imager (SATI). The temperatures derived from meteor decay times are mostly consistent with the rotational temperatures of SATI OH(6-2) and O2(0-1) emissions from March through October. During southern summer when SATI cannot be operated due to brief night time, the meteor radar observation shows cold mesospheric temperatures, significantly lower than the CIRA86 model. The meteor radar observation also provides wind field information between 80 and 100 km of altitude. The measured meridional winds seem to follow the summer pole to winter pole circulation, and thus are correlated with the measured seasonal temperature change. However, the correlation between meridional winds and temperatures is not found in day by day base, as a previous study reported. Tidal characteristics of both zonal and meridional winds will also be compared with those of other Antarctic stations.

Aercibo S-band radar program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, D.B.

1988-01-01

The high powered 12.6 cm wavelength radar on the 1000-ft Arecibo reflector is utilized for a number of solar system studies. Chief among these are: (1) surface reflectivity mapping of Venus, Mercury and the Moon. Resolutions achievable on Venus are less than 1.5 km over some areas, for Mercury about 30 km and for the Moon 200 m at present, (2) high time resolution ranging measurements to the surfaces of the terrestrial planets. These measurements are used to obtain profiles and scattering parameters in the equatorial region. They can also be used to test relativistic and gravitational theories by monitoring the rate of advance of the perihelion of the orbit of Mercury and placing limits on the stability of the gravitational constant, (3) measurements of the orbital parameters, figure, spin vector and surface properties of asteroids and comets, and (4) observations of the Galilean Satellites of Jupiter and the satellites of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. The Galilean Satellites of Jupiter were re-observed with the 12.6 cm radar for the first time since 1981. Much more accurate measurements of the scattering properties of the three icy satellites were obtained that generally confirmed previous observations. Unambiguous measurements of the cross section and circular polarizations ratio of Io were also obtained for the first time. The radar scattering properties of four mainbelt asteroids and one near-earth asteroid were studied

Combined incoherent scatter radar and Fabry-Perot interferometer measurements of frictional heating effects over Millstone Hill during March 7-10, 1989

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hagan, M.E.; Sipler, D.P.

1991-01-01

The authors introduce a methodology to calculate the effects of frictional heating associated with geomagnetic activity using simultaneous incoherent scatter radar and Fabry-Perot interferometer measurements. Vector measurements of ion drift from radar backscatter and neutral wind from optical shifts in the atomic oxygen red line over Millstone Hill, Massachusetts (43 degree N) for the nights of March 7-10, 1989 are presented and are characterized by the magnetic storm activity which prevailed. They combine these measurements to calculate differences in the ion and neutral velocity fields which approach 350 m/s during the most geomagnetically active period that they monitored near 01 UT on March 9. This velocity difference results in a 110 degree K heating of the ion gas at that time

Modern Radar Techniques for Geophysical Applications: Two Examples

Science.gov (United States)

Arokiasamy, B. J.; Bianchi, C.; Sciacca, U.; Tutone, G.; Zirizzotti, A.; Zuccheretti, E.

2005-01-01

The last decade of the evolution of radar was heavily influenced by the rapid increase in the information processing capabilities. Advances in solid state radio HF devices, digital technology, computing architectures and software offered the designers to develop very efficient radars. In designing modern radars the emphasis goes towards the simplification of the system hardware, reduction of overall power, which is compensated by coding and real time signal processing techniques. Radars are commonly employed in geophysical radio soundings like probing the ionosphere; stratosphere-mesosphere measurement, weather forecast, GPR and radio-glaciology etc. In the laboratorio di Geofisica Ambientale of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Rome, Italy, we developed two pulse compression radars. The first is a HF radar called AIS-INGV; Advanced Ionospheric Sounder designed both for the purpose of research and for routine service of the HF radio wave propagation forecast. The second is a VHF radar called GLACIORADAR, which will be substituting the high power envelope radar used by the Italian Glaciological group. This will be employed in studying the sub glacial structures of Antarctica, giving information about layering, the bed rock and sub glacial lakes if present. These are low power radars, which heavily rely on advanced hardware and powerful real time signal processing. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

Research and development cooperation project on environmental measurement using laser radar in fiscal 1993; Kankyo keisokuyo laser radar no kaihatsu ni kansuru kenkyu kyoryoku

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1994-03-01

As one of the international research cooperation projects, the research cooperation in developing laser radar for environment measurement started between Japan and Indonesia. The project is scheduled to be carried out in a 4-year plan starting fiscal 1993. In fiscal 1993, conducted were negotiations with Indonesia on its implementation and a field survey. Between January 6 and 15, 1994, the first field survey was made in terms of topography, climate, road network and traffic situation of Jakarta city, and the proposed sites for installation were reported. The paper also introduced the reception system on the Indonesian side and a request for technical learning through stay in Japan. The second field survey was conducted between February 27 and March 6, 1994. Indonesia requested that they want to make laser radar observation not only for the local area, but the one that covers industrial areas, central urban areas and residential areas. Incidentally, there was an opinion that it is important to elucidate the pollution mechanism. 19 refs., 43 figs., 6 tabs.

Evaluation of turbulent dissipation rate retrievals from Doppler Cloud Radar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. D. Shupe

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Turbulent dissipation rate retrievals from cloud radar Doppler velocity measurements are evaluated using independent, in situ observations in Arctic stratocumulus clouds. In situ validation data sets of dissipation rate are derived using sonic anemometer measurements from a tethered balloon and high frequency pressure variation observations from a research aircraft, both flown in proximity to stationary, ground-based radars. Modest biases are found among the data sets in particularly low- or high-turbulence regimes, but in general the radar-retrieved values correspond well with the in situ measurements. Root mean square differences are typically a factor of 4–6 relative to any given magnitude of dissipation rate. These differences are no larger than those found when comparing dissipation rates computed from tethered-balloon and meteorological tower-mounted sonic anemometer measurements made at spatial distances of a few hundred meters. Temporal lag analyses suggest that approximately half of the observed differences are due to spatial sampling considerations, such that the anticipated radar-based retrieval uncertainty is on the order of a factor of 2–3. Moreover, radar retrievals are clearly able to capture the vertical dissipation rate structure observed by the in situ sensors, while offering substantially more information on the time variability of turbulence profiles. Together these evaluations indicate that radar-based retrievals can, at a minimum, be used to determine the vertical structure of turbulence in Arctic stratocumulus clouds.

Comet radar explorer

Science.gov (United States)

Farnham, Tony; Asphaug, Erik; Barucci, Antonella; Belton, Mike; Bockelee-Morvan, Dominique; Brownlee, Donald; Capria, Maria Teresa; Carter, Lynn; Chesley, Steve; Farnham, Tony; Gaskell, Robert; Gim, Young; Heggy, Essam; Herique, Alain; Klaasen, Ken; Kofman, Wlodek; Kreslavsky, Misha; Lisse, Casey; Orosei, Roberto; Plaut, Jeff; Scheeres, Dan

will enjoy significant simplifying benefits compared to using the same instrument for Mars or lunar radar science: (1) The proximity of operations leads to a much higher signal to noise, as much as +30 dB. (2) The lack of an ionosphere simplifies data modeling and analysis. (3) The body is globally illuminated during every data acquisition, minimizing ambiguity or 'clutter' and allowing for tomographic reconstruction. What is novel is the data processing, where instead of a planar radargram approach we coherently process the data into an image of the deep interior. CORE thus uses a MARSIS-SHARAD heritage radar to make coherent reflection sounding measurements, a 'CAT SCAN' of a comet nucleus. What is unique about this mission compared to the Mars radars mentioned above, is that the target is a finite mass of dirty ice in free space, rather than a sheet of dirty ice draped on a planet surface. The depth of penetration (kilometers), attainable resolution (decameters), and the target materials, are more or less the same. This means that the science story is robust, and the radar implementation is robust. The target is comet 10P/Tempel 2, discovered by Wilhelm Tempel in 1873 and observed on most apparitions since. It has been extensively studied, in part because of interest as a CRAF target in the mid-1980s, and much is known about it. Tempel 2 is one of the largest known comet nuclei, 16×8×8 km (about the same size as Halley) [1] and has rotation period 8.9 hours [3,5,6,7,9]. The spin state is evolving with time, spinning up by ˜10 sec per perihelion pass [5,7]. The comet is active, but not exceedingly so, especially given its size. The water production is measured at ˜ 4 × 1028 mol/sec at its peak [2], a factor of 25 lower than comet Halley, and it is active over only ˜2% of its surface. The dust environment is well known, producing a factor of ˜100 less dust than Halley. Comet References: [1] A'Hearn et al., ApJ 347, 1155, 1989 [2] Feldman and Festou, ACM 1991, p

Advances in bistatic radar

CERN Document Server

Willis, Nick

2007-01-01

Advances in Bistatic Radar updates and extends bistatic and multistatic radar developments since publication of Willis' Bistatic Radar in 1991. New and recently declassified military applications are documented. Civil applications are detailed including commercial and scientific systems. Leading radar engineers provide expertise to each of these applications. Advances in Bistatic Radar consists of two major sections: Bistatic/Multistatic Radar Systems and Bistatic Clutter and Signal Processing. Starting with a history update, the first section documents the early and now declassified military

Recommendation on Transition from Primary/Secondary Radar to Secondary- Only Radar Capability

Science.gov (United States)

1994-10-01

Radar Beacon Performance Monitor RCIU Remote Control Interface Unit RCL Remote Communications Link R E&D Research, Engineering and Development RML Radar...rate. 3.1.2.5 Maintenance The current LRRs have limited remote maintenance monitoring (RMM) capabilities via the Remote Control Interface Unit ( RCIU ...1, -2 and FPS-20 radars required an upgrade of some of the radar subsystems, namely the RCIU to respond as an RMS and the CD to interface with radar

Plans for the Meter Class Autonomous Telescope and Potential Coordinated Measurements with Kwajalein Radars

Science.gov (United States)

Stansberry, Gene; Kervin, Paul; Mulrooney, Mark

2010-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Orbital Debris Program Office is teaming with the US Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Maui Optical Site to deploy a moderate field-of-view, 1.3 m aperture, optical telescope for orbital debris applications. The telescope will be located on the island of Legan in the Kwajalein Atoll and is scheduled for completion in the Spring of 2011. The telescope is intended to sample both low inclination/high eccentricity orbits and near geosynchronous orbits. The telescope will have a 1 deg diagonal field-of-view on a 4K x 4K CCD. The telescope is expected to be able to detect 10-cm diameter debris at geosynchronous altitudes (5 sec exposure assuming a spherical specular phase function w/ albedo =0.13). Once operational, the telescope has the potential of conducting simultaneous observations with radars operated by the US Army at Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) and located on the island of Roi-Namur, approximately 55 km to the north of Legan. Four radars, representing 6 frequency bands, are available for use: ALTAIR (ARPA-Long Range Tracking and Instrumentation Radar) operating at VHF & UHF, TRADEX (Target Resolution and Discrimination Experiment) operating at L-band and S-band, ALCOR (ARPA-Lincoln C-band Observables Radar) operating at S-band, and MMW (Millimeter Wave) Radar operating at Ka-band. Also potentially available is the X-band GBRP (Ground Based Radar-Prototype located 25 km to the southeast of Legan on the main island of Kwajalein.

To the question on accuracy of forest heights’ measurements by the TanDEM-X radar interferometry data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. N. Chimitdorzhiev

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the validation results of the InSAR method for determining the forest canopy height, based on TanDEM-X and ALOS PALSAR data. The research conducted on the territory of the Baikal-Kudara forest area of the Republic of Buryatia (52°10'N, 106°48'E. Forest vegetation is represented mainly by conifers – pine, and spruce, with a small admixture of deciduous trees – aspen, birch, etc. The forest vegetation height was determined by subtracting the digital elevation model (DEM of the digital terrain model (DTM. DEM is built according to the L-band (wavelength of 23.5 cm ALOS PALSAR satellite with horizontal co-polarization mode. In the investigation it was assumed that a radar signal of ALOS PALSAR passes all forest thickness and reflected from the underlying surface, made it possible to recover terrain under forest canopy. DTM has been built using the TanDEM-X data (wavelength 3 cm. In this case, it was assumed that the radar echoes scattered from a some virtual phase centers of scattering surface, which characterizes the upper limit of the continuous forest canopy. To check the accuracy of satellite definitions of forest height in study area were made high-precision geodetic measurement of trees heights using electronic total station and the coordinates of geographic control points using differential GPS receivers. The discrepancy between the satellite and ground-based measurements at 11 test sites did not exceed 2 m, which is mainly due to the difference in measurement techniques: height of individual trees by ground methods and continuous forest canopy height using radar interferometry.

The Next Generation Airborne Polarimetric Doppler Radar

Science.gov (United States)

Vivekanandan, J.; Lee, Wen-Chau; Loew, Eric; Salazar, Jorge; Chandrasekar, V.

2013-04-01

NCAR's Electra Doppler radar (ELDORA) with a dual-beam slotted waveguide array using dual-transmitter, dual-beam, rapid scan and step-chirped waveform significantly improved the spatial scale to 300m (Hildebrand et al. 1996). However, ELDORA X-band radar's penetration into precipitation is limited by attenuation and is not designed to collect polarimetric measurements to remotely estimate microphysics. ELDORA has been placed on dormancy because its airborne platform (P3 587) was retired in January 2013. The US research community has strongly voiced the need to continue measurement capability similar to the ELDORA. A critical weather research area is quantitative precipitation estimation/forecasting (QPE/QPF). In recent years, hurricane intensity change involving eye-eyewall interactions has drawn research attention (Montgomery et al., 2006; Bell and Montgomery, 2006). In the case of convective precipitation, two issues, namely, (1) when and where convection will be initiated, and (2) determining the organization and structure of ensuing convection, are key for QPF. Therefore collocated measurements of 3-D winds and precipitation microphysics are required for achieving significant skills in QPF and QPE. Multiple radars in dual-Doppler configuration with polarization capability estimate dynamical and microphysical characteristics of clouds and precipitation are mostly available over land. However, storms over complex terrain, the ocean and in forest regions are not observable by ground-based radars (Bluestein and Wakimoto, 2003). NCAR/EOL is investigating potential configurations for the next generation airborne radar that is capable of retrieving dynamic and microphysical characteristics of clouds and precipitation. ELDORA's slotted waveguide array radar is not compatible for dual-polarization measurements. Therefore, the new design has to address both dual-polarization capability and platform requirements to replace the ELDORA system. NCAR maintains a C-130

The Next Generation of Airborne Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radar: NCAR/EOL Airborne Phased Array Radar (APAR) Development

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, James; Lee, Wen-Chau; Loew, Eric; Vivekanandan, Jothiram; Grubišić, Vanda; Tsai, Peisang; Dixon, Mike; Emmett, Jonathan; Lord, Mark; Lussier, Louis; Hwang, Kyuil; Ranson, James

2017-04-01

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Earth observing Laboratory (EOL) is entering the third year of preliminary system design studies, engineering prototype testing and project management plan preparation for the development of a novel Airborne Phased Array Radar (APAR). This system being designed by NCAR/EOL will be installed and operated on the NSF/NCAR C-130 aircraft. The APAR system will consist of four removable C-band Active Electronically Scanned Arrays (AESA) strategically placed on the fuselage of the aircraft. Each AESA measures approximately 1.5 x 1.9 m and is composed of 3000 active radiating elements arranged in an array of line replaceable units (LRU) to simplify maintenance. APAR will provide unprecedented observations, and in conjunction with the advanced radar data assimilation schema, will be able to address the key science questions to improve understanding and predictability of significant and high-impact weather APAR, operating at C-band, allows the measurement of 3-D kinematics of the more intense portions of storms (e.g. thunderstorm dynamics and tornadic development, tropical cyclone rainband structure and evolution) with less attenuation compared with current airborne Doppler radar systems. Polarimetric measurements are not available from current airborne tail Doppler radars. However, APAR, with dual-Doppler and dual polarization diversity at a lesser attenuating C-band wavelength, will further advance the understanding of the microphysical processes within a variety of precipitation systems. The radar is sensitive enough to provide high resolution measurements of winter storm dynamics and microphysics. The planned APAR development that would bring the system to operational readiness for research community use aboard the C-130 is expected to take 8 years once major funding support is realized. The authors will review the overall APAR design and provide new details of the system based on our Technical Requirements Document

ONKALO EDZ-measurements using ground penetrating radar (GPR) method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silvast, M.; Wiljanen, B. (Roadscanners Oy, Rovaniemi (Finland))

2008-09-15

This report presents pilot project results from various Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) tests performed on bedrock in ONKALO, the research tunnel system being built for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel (in Finland). In recent years the GPR technology for structure inspection has improved to faster systems and higher frequencies. Processing and interpretation software has been developed for better visualization of processed data. GPR is a powerful non-destructive testing method with major advantages such as fast measurement speed and continuous survey lines. The purpose of the tests was to determine the capacity of GPR in identifying the Excavation Damaged or Disturbed Zone (EDZ). Topics included comparison of different types of GPR systems and antennas in select locations in the tunnel system and data presentation. High quality GPR data was obtained from all systems that were used on surfaces without concrete or steel reinforcement. Data processed using Geo Doctor software, which enables integrated analysis of available datasets on a single screen, provided promising results. (orig.)

ONKALO EDZ-measurements using ground penetrating radar (GPR) method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silvast, M.; Wiljanen, B.

2008-09-01

This report presents pilot project results from various Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) tests performed on bedrock in ONKALO, the research tunnel system being built for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel (in Finland). In recent years the GPR technology for structure inspection has improved to faster systems and higher frequencies. Processing and interpretation software has been developed for better visualization of processed data. GPR is a powerful non-destructive testing method with major advantages such as fast measurement speed and continuous survey lines. The purpose of the tests was to determine the capacity of GPR in identifying the Excavation Damaged or Disturbed Zone (EDZ). Topics included comparison of different types of GPR systems and antennas in select locations in the tunnel system and data presentation. High quality GPR data was obtained from all systems that were used on surfaces without concrete or steel reinforcement. Data processed using Geo Doctor software, which enables integrated analysis of available datasets on a single screen, provided promising results. (orig.)

Environmental effects on the radar signature of maritime targets and assets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heemskerk, H.J.M.

1999-01-01

The member nations of task group 5 (TG05) of the NATO AC/323 SET panel have conducted the cooperative research project Livorno'96 to investigate the dependence of the radar signature on radar, geometrical and target parameters, and to investigate the environmental effects on the measured radar

Adaptive radar resource management

CERN Document Server

Moo, Peter

2015-01-01

Radar Resource Management (RRM) is vital for optimizing the performance of modern phased array radars, which are the primary sensor for aircraft, ships, and land platforms. Adaptive Radar Resource Management gives an introduction to radar resource management (RRM), presenting a clear overview of different approaches and techniques, making it very suitable for radar practitioners and researchers in industry and universities. Coverage includes: RRM's role in optimizing the performance of modern phased array radars The advantages of adaptivity in implementing RRMThe role that modelling and

Work flow of signal processing data of ground penetrating radar case of rigid pavement measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Handayani, Gunawan

2015-04-01

The signal processing of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) requires a certain work flow to obtain good results. Even though the Ground Penetrating Radar data looks similar with seismic reflection data, but the GPR data has particular signatures that the seismic reflection data does not have. This is something to do with coupling between antennae and the ground surface. Because of this, the GPR data should be treated differently from the seismic signal data processing work flow. Even though most of the processing steps still follow the same work flow of seismic reflection data such as: filtering, predictive deconvolution etc. This paper presents the work flow of GPR processing data on rigid pavement measurements. The processing steps start from raw data, de-Wow process, remove DC and continue with the standard process to get rid of noises i.e. filtering process. Some radargram particular features of rigid pavement along with pile foundations are presented.

Work flow of signal processing data of ground penetrating radar case of rigid pavement measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Handayani, Gunawan

2015-01-01

The signal processing of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) requires a certain work flow to obtain good results. Even though the Ground Penetrating Radar data looks similar with seismic reflection data, but the GPR data has particular signatures that the seismic reflection data does not have. This is something to do with coupling between antennae and the ground surface. Because of this, the GPR data should be treated differently from the seismic signal data processing work flow. Even though most of the processing steps still follow the same work flow of seismic reflection data such as: filtering, predictive deconvolution etc. This paper presents the work flow of GPR processing data on rigid pavement measurements. The processing steps start from raw data, de-Wow process, remove DC and continue with the standard process to get rid of noises i.e. filtering process. Some radargram particular features of rigid pavement along with pile foundations are presented

Work flow of signal processing data of ground penetrating radar case of rigid pavement measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Handayani, Gunawan [The Earth Physics and Complex Systems Research Group (Jl. Ganesa 10 Bandung Indonesia) gunawanhandayani@gmail.com (Indonesia)

2015-04-16

The signal processing of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) requires a certain work flow to obtain good results. Even though the Ground Penetrating Radar data looks similar with seismic reflection data, but the GPR data has particular signatures that the seismic reflection data does not have. This is something to do with coupling between antennae and the ground surface. Because of this, the GPR data should be treated differently from the seismic signal data processing work flow. Even though most of the processing steps still follow the same work flow of seismic reflection data such as: filtering, predictive deconvolution etc. This paper presents the work flow of GPR processing data on rigid pavement measurements. The processing steps start from raw data, de-Wow process, remove DC and continue with the standard process to get rid of noises i.e. filtering process. Some radargram particular features of rigid pavement along with pile foundations are presented.

Forecasting slope failures from space-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Wasowski, J.; Bovenga, F.; Nutricato, R.; Nitti, D. O.; Chiaradia, M. T.; Tijani, K.; Morea, A.

2017-12-01

New space-borne radar sensors enable multi-scale monitoring of potentially unstable slopes thanks to wide-area coverage (tens of thousands km2), regular long-term image acquisition schedule with increasing re-visit frequency (weekly to daily), and high measurement precision (mm). In particular, the recent radar satellite missions e.g., COSMO-SkyMed (CSK), Sentinel-1 (S-1) and improved multi-temporal interferometry (MTI) processing techniques allow timely delivery of information on slow ground surface displacements. Here we use two case study examples to show that it is possible to capture pre-failure slope strains through long-term MTI-based monitoring. The first case is a retrospective investigation of a huge 500ML m3 landslide, which occurred in Sept. 2016 in a large, active open-cast coal mine in central Europe. We processed over 100 S-1 images acquired since Fall 2014. The MTI results showed that the slope that failed had been unstable at least since 2014. Importantly, we detected consistent displacement trends and trend changes, which can be used for slope failure forecasting. Specifically, we documented significant acceleration in slope surface displacement in the two months preceding the catastrophic failure. The second case of retrospectively captured pre-failure slope strains regards our earlier study of a small 50 m long landslide, which occurred on Jan. 2014 and caused the derailment of a train on the railway line connecting NW Italy to France. We processed 56 CSK images acquired from Fall 2008 to Spring 2014. The MTI results revealed pre-failure displacements of the engineering structures on the slope subsequently affected by the 2014 slide. The analysis of the MTI time series further showed that the displacements had been occurring since 2009. This information could have been used to forewarn the railway authority about the slope instability hazard. The above examples indicate that more frequent and consistent image acquisitions by the new radar

Novel radar techniques and applications

CERN Document Server

Klemm, Richard; Lombardo, Pierfrancesco; Nickel, Ulrich

2017-01-01

Novel Radar Techniques and Applications presents the state-of-the-art in advanced radar, with emphasis on ongoing novel research and development and contributions from an international team of leading radar experts. This volume covers: Real aperture array radar; Imaging radar and Passive and multistatic radar.

Rotational temperature of N2+ (0,2 ions from spectrographic measurements used to infer the energy of precipitation in different auroral forms and compared with radar measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Lummerzheim

2008-05-01

Full Text Available High resolution spectral data are used to estimate neutral temperatures at auroral heights. The data are from the High Throughput Imaging Echelle Spectrograph (HiTIES which forms part of the Spectrographic Imaging Facility (SIF, located at Longyearbyen, Svalbard in Norway. The platform also contains photometers and a narrow angle auroral imager. Quantum molecular spectroscopy is used for modelling N2+ 1NG (0,2, which serves as a diagnostic tool for neutral temperature and emission height variations. The theoretical spectra are convolved with the instrument function and fitted to measured rotational transition lines as a function of temperature. Measurements were made in the magnetic zenith, and along a meridian slit centred on the magnetic zenith. In the results described, the high spectral resolution of the data (0.08 nm allows an error analysis to be performed more thoroughly than previous findings, with particular attention paid to the correct subtraction of background, and to precise wavelength calibration. Supporting measurements were made with the Svalbard Eiscat Radar (ESR. Estimates were made from both optical and radar observations of the average energy of precipitating electrons in different types of aurora. These provide confirmation that the spectral results are in agreement with the variations observed in radar profiles. In rayed aurora the neutral temperature was highest (800 K and the energy lowest (1 keV. In a bright curling arc, the temperature at the lower border was about 550 K, corresponding to energies of 2 keV. The radar and modelling results confirm that these average values are a lower limit for an estimation of the characteristic energy. In each event the energy distribution is clearly made up of more than one spectral shape. This work emphasises the need for high time resolution as well as high spectral resolution. The present work is the first to provide rotational temperatures using a method which pays particular

Experimentelles FMCW-Radar zur hochfrequenten Charakterisierung von Windenergieanlagen

Science.gov (United States)

Schubert, Karsten; Werner, Jens; Schwartau, Fabian

2017-09-01

During the increasing dissemination of renewable energy sources the potential and actual interference effects of wind turbine plants became obvious. Turbines reflect the signals of weather radar and other radar systems. In addition to the static radar echoes, in particular the Doppler echoes are to be mentioned as an undesirable impairment Keränen (2014). As a result, building permit is refused for numerous new wind turbines, as the potential interference can not be reliably predicted. As a contribution to the improvement of this predictability, measurements are planned which aim at the high-frequency characterisation of wind energy installations. In this paper, a cost-effective FMCW radar is presented, which is operated in the same frequency band (C-band) as the weather radars of the German weather service. Here, the focus is on the description of the hardware design including the considerations used for its dimensioning.

Comparison between HF radar current data and moored ADCP currentmeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cosoli, S.

2005-01-01

A preliminary assessment of accuracy of a two-sites shore-based HF Radar network along the Venice Lagoon littoral was attempted by means of comparison with a 57.5 day-long ADCP current time series for the period September-October 2002. Results showed that radar measurements were accurate ( O . The main differences between the HF radar and surface ADCP currents can be explained in terms of random errors affecting the measurement technique and the daily sea breeze forcing, since low-pass filtering of current time series significantly improved the correlation and decreased the RMS of the differences between the two measured data set. Comparison of the semidiurnal (M2, S2) tidal band suggested good agreement between tidal ellipse amplitudes. Wind forcing on a daily time-scale (sea-breeze) was associated with larger differences between radar and ADCP currents at a diurnal band due to the presence of a vertical shear in the surface layer

Laser radar: historical prospective-from the East to the West

Science.gov (United States)

Molebny, Vasyl; McManamon, Paul; Steinvall, Ove; Kobayashi, Takao; Chen, Weibiao

2017-03-01

This article discusses the history of laser radar development in America, Europe, and Asia. Direct detection laser radar is discussed for range finding, designation, and topographic mapping of Earth and of extraterrestrial objects. Coherent laser radar is discussed for environmental applications, such as wind sensing and for synthetic aperture laser radar development. Gated imaging is discussed through scattering layers for military, medical, and security applications. Laser microradars have found applications in intravascular studies and in ophthalmology for vision correction. Ghost laser radar has emerged as a new technology in theoretical and simulation applications. Laser radar is now emerging as an important technology for applications such as self-driving cars and unmanned aerial vehicles. It is also used by police to measure speed, and in gaming, such as the Microsoft Kinect.

Airborne polarimetric Doppler weather radar: trade-offs between various engineering specifications

Science.gov (United States)

Vivekanandan, Jothiram; Loew, Eric

2018-01-01

NCAR EOL is investigating potential configurations for the next-generation airborne phased array radar (APAR) that is capable of retrieving dynamic and microphysical characteristics of clouds and precipitation. The APAR will operate at C band. The APAR will use the electronic scanning (e-scan) feature to acquire the optimal number of independent samples for recording research-quality measurements. Since the airborne radar has only a limited time for collecting measurements over a specified region (moving aircraft platform ˜ 100 m s-1), beam multiplexing will significantly enhance its ability to collect high-resolution, research-quality measurements. Beam multiplexing reduces errors in radar measurements while providing rapid updates of scan volumes. Beamwidth depends on the size of the antenna aperture. Beamwidth and directivity of elliptical, circular, and rectangular antenna apertures are compared and radar sensitivity is evaluated for various polarimetric configurations and transmit-receive (T/R) elements. In the case of polarimetric measurements, alternate transmit with alternate receive (single-channel receiver) and simultaneous reception (dual-channel receiver) is compared. From an overall architecture perspective, element-level digitization of T/R module versus digital sub-array is considered with regard to flexibility in adaptive beamforming, polarimetric performance, calibration, and data quality. Methodologies for calibration of the radar and removing bias in polarimetric measurements are outlined. The above-mentioned engineering options are evaluated for realizing an optimal APAR system suitable for measuring the high temporal and spatial resolutions of Doppler and polarimetric measurements of precipitation and clouds.

Minimum redundancy MIMO radars

OpenAIRE

Chen, Chun-Yang; Vaidyanathan, P. P.

2008-01-01

The multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar concept has drawn considerable attention recently. In the traditional single-input multiple-output (SIMO) radar system, the transmitter emits scaled versions of a single waveform. However, in the MIMO radar system, the transmitter transmits independent waveforms. It has been shown that the MIMO radar can be used to improve system performance. Most of the MIMO radar research so far has focused on the uniform array. However, i...

Radar Polarimetry: Theory, Analysis, and Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Hubbert, John Clark

delta is present. Algorithms are presented for estimating delta and K_{DP} from range profiles of Psi_ {CO}. Also discussed are procedures for the estimation and interpretation of other radar measurables such as reflectivity, Z_{HH}, differential reflectivity, Z_{DR }, the magnitude of the copolar correlation coefficient, rho_{HV}(0), and Doppler spectrum width, sigma _{v}. The techniques are again illustrated with data collected by POLDIRAD.

Tenth Biennial Coherent Laser Radar Technology and Applications Conference

Science.gov (United States)

Kavaya, Michael J. (Compiler)

1999-01-01

The tenth conference on coherent laser radar technology and applications is the latest in a series beginning in 1980 which provides a forum for exchange of information on recent events current status, and future directions of coherent laser radar (or lidar or lader) technology and applications. This conference emphasizes the latest advancement in the coherent laser radar field, including theory, modeling, components, systems, instrumentation, measurements, calibration, data processing techniques, operational uses, and comparisons with other remote sensing technologies.

ARM Cloud Radar Simulator Package for Global Climate Models Value-Added Product

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Yuying [North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States); Xie, Shaocheng [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-05-01

It has been challenging to directly compare U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility ground-based cloud radar measurements with climate model output because of limitations or features of the observing processes and the spatial gap between model and the single-point measurements. To facilitate the use of ARM radar data in numerical models, an ARM cloud radar simulator was developed to converts model data into pseudo-ARM cloud radar observations that mimic the instrument view of a narrow atmospheric column (as compared to a large global climate model [GCM] grid-cell), thus allowing meaningful comparison between model output and ARM cloud observations. The ARM cloud radar simulator value-added product (VAP) was developed based on the CloudSat simulator contained in the community satellite simulator package, the Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project (CFMIP) Observation Simulator Package (COSP) (Bodas-Salcedo et al., 2011), which has been widely used in climate model evaluation with satellite data (Klein et al., 2013, Zhang et al., 2010). The essential part of the CloudSat simulator is the QuickBeam radar simulator that is used to produce CloudSat-like radar reflectivity, but is capable of simulating reflectivity for other radars (Marchand et al., 2009; Haynes et al., 2007). Adapting QuickBeam to the ARM cloud radar simulator within COSP required two primary changes: one was to set the frequency to 35 GHz for the ARM Ka-band cloud radar, as opposed to 94 GHz used for the CloudSat W-band radar, and the second was to invert the view from the ground to space so as to attenuate the beam correctly. In addition, the ARM cloud radar simulator uses a finer vertical resolution (100 m compared to 500 m for CloudSat) to resolve the more detailed structure of clouds captured by the ARM radars. The ARM simulator has been developed following the COSP workflow (Figure 1) and using the capabilities available in COSP

Radar-based rainfall estimation: Improving Z/R relations through comparison of drop size distributions, rainfall rates and radar reflectivity patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Neuper, Malte; Ehret, Uwe

2014-05-01

The relation between the measured radar reflectivity factor Z and surface rainfall intensity R - the Z/R relation - is profoundly complex, so that in general one speaks about radar-based quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) rather than exact measurement. Like in Plato's Allegory of the Cave, what we observe in the end is only the 'shadow' of the true rainfall field through a very small backscatter of an electromagnetic signal emitted by the radar, which we hope has been actually reflected by hydrometeors. The meteorological relevant and valuable Information is gained only indirectly by more or less justified assumptions. One of these assumptions concerns the drop size distribution, through which the rain intensity is finally associated with the measured radar reflectivity factor Z. The real drop size distribution is however subject to large spatial and temporal variability, and consequently so is the true Z/R relation. Better knowledge of the true spatio-temporal Z/R structure therefore has the potential to improve radar-based QPE compared to the common practice of applying a single or a few standard Z/R relations. To this end, we use observations from six laser-optic disdrometers, two vertically pointing micro rain radars, 205 rain gauges, one rawindsonde station and two C-band Doppler radars installed or operated in and near the Attert catchment (Luxembourg). The C-band radars and the rawindsonde station are operated by the Belgian and German Weather Services, the rain gauge data was partly provided by the French, Dutch, Belgian, German Weather Services and the Ministry of Agriculture of Luxembourg and the other equipment was installed as part of the interdisciplinary DFG research project CAOS (Catchment as Organized Systems). With the various data sets correlation analyzes were executed. In order to get a notion on the different appearance of the reflectivity patterns in the radar image, first of all various simple distribution indices (for example the

W-band spaceborne radar observations of atmospheric river events

Science.gov (United States)

Matrosov, S. Y.

2010-12-01

While the main objective of the world first W-band radar aboard the CloudSat satellite is to provide vertically resolved information on clouds, it proved to be a valuable tool for observing precipitation. The CloudSat radar is generally able to resolve precipitating cloud systems in their vertical entirety. Although measurements from the liquid hydrometer layer containing rainfall are strongly attenuated, special retrieval approaches can be used to estimate rainfall parameters. These approaches are based on vertical gradients of observed radar reflectivity factor rather than on absolute estimates of reflectivity. Concurrent independent estimations of ice cloud parameters in the same vertical column allow characterization of precipitating systems and provide information on coupling between clouds and rainfall they produce. The potential of CloudSat for observations atmospheric river events affecting the West Coast of North America is evaluated. It is shown that spaceborne radar measurements can provide high resolution information on the height of the freezing level thus separating areas of rainfall and snowfall. CloudSat precipitation rate estimates complement information from the surface-based radars. Observations of atmospheric rivers at different locations above the ocean and during landfall help to understand evolutions of atmospheric rivers and their structures.

Assessing a multilayered dynamic firn-compaction model for Greenland with ASIRAS radar measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonsen, Sebastian Bjerregaard; Stenseng, Lars; Adalgeirsdottir, G.

2013-01-01

A method to assess firn compaction using data collected with the Airborne SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar)/Interferometric Radar Altimeter System (ASIRAS) is developed. For this, we develop a dynamical firn-compaction model that includes meltwater retention. Based on the ASIRAS data, which show...... internal layers as annual horizons in the uppermost firn, the method relies on inferring the age/ depth (internal layers) information from the radar data using a Monte Carlo inversion technique to tune in parallel both the firn model and the atmospheric forcing parameters (temperature and accumulation......). The model is validated against two firn cores, and it is shown that applying both firn densities and age/ depth information for the inversion gives the most accurate understanding of model biases. The method is then applied to a 67 km section of the EGIG line forced by atmospheric output from a regional...

Efficiency evaluation of ground-penetrating radar by the results of measurement of dielectric properties of soils

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khakiev, Zelimkhan; Kislitsa, Konstantin; Yavna, Victor [Rostov State Transport University, Rostov-on-Don (Russian Federation)

2012-12-15

The work considers the depth evaluation of ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys using the attenuation factor of electromagnetic radiation in a medium. A method of determining the attenuation factor of low-conductive non-magnetic soils is developed based on the results of direct measurements of permittivity and conductivity of soils in the range of typical frequencies of GPR. The method relies on measuring the shift and width of the resonance line after a soil sample is being placed into a tunable cavity resonator. The advantage of this method is the preservation of soil structure during the measurement.

Wind turbine clutter mitigation in coastal UHF radar.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jing; Pan, Chao; Wang, Caijun; Jiang, Dapeng; Wen, Biyang

2014-01-01

Coastal UHF radar provides a unique capability to measure the sea surface dynamic parameters and detect small moving targets, by exploiting the low energy loss of electromagnetic waves propagating along the salty and good conducting ocean surface. It could compensate the blind zone of HF surface wave radar at close range and reach further distance than microwave radars. However, its performance is susceptible to wind turbines which are usually installed on the shore. The size of a wind turbine is much larger than the wavelength of radio waves at UHF band, which results in large radar cross section. Furthermore, the rotation of blades adds time-varying Doppler frequency to the clutter and makes the suppression difficult. This paper proposes a mitigation method which is based on the specific periodicity of wind turbine clutter and performed mainly in the time-frequency domain. Field experimental data of a newly developed UHF radar are used to verify this method, and the results prove its effectiveness.

Radar Chart

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Radar Chart collection is an archived product of summarized radar data. The geographic coverage is the 48 contiguous states of the United States. These hourly...

UAV-based Radar Sounding of Antarctic Ice

Science.gov (United States)

Leuschen, Carl; Yan, Jie-Bang; Mahmood, Ali; Rodriguez-Morales, Fernando; Hale, Rick; Camps-Raga, Bruno; Metz, Lynsey; Wang, Zongbo; Paden, John; Bowman, Alec; Keshmiri, Shahriar; Gogineni, Sivaprasad

2014-05-01

We developed a compact radar for use on a small UAV to conduct measurements over the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. It operates at center frequencies of 14 and 35 MHz with bandwidths of 1 MHz and 4 MHz, respectively. The radar weighs about 2 kgs and is housed in a box with dimensions of 20.3 cm x 15.2 cm x 13.2 cm. It transmits a signal power of 100 W at a pulse repletion frequency of 10 kHz and requires average power of about 20 W. The antennas for operating the radar are integrated into the wings and airframe of a small UAV with a wingspan of 5.3 m. We selected the frequencies of 14 and 35 MHz based on previous successful soundings of temperate ice in Alaska with a 12.5 MHz impulse radar [Arcone, 2002] and temperate glaciers in Patagonia with a 30 MHz monocycle radar [Blindow et al., 2012]. We developed the radar-equipped UAV to perform surveys over a 2-D grid, which allows us to synthesize a large two-dimensional aperture and obtain fine resolution in both the along- and cross-track directions. Low-frequency, high-sensitivity radars with 2-D aperture synthesis capability are needed to overcome the surface and volume scatter that masks weak echoes from the ice-bed interface of fast-flowing glaciers. We collected data with the radar-equipped UAV on sub-glacial ice near Lake Whillans at both 14 and 35 MHz. We acquired data to evaluate the concept of 2-D aperture synthesis and successfully demonstrated the first successful sounding of ice with a radar on an UAV. We are planning to build multiple radar-equipped UAVs for collecting fine-resolution data near the grounding lines of fast-flowing glaciers. In this presentation we will provide a brief overview of the radar and UAV, as well as present results obtained at both 14 and 35 MHz. Arcone, S. 2002. Airborne-radar stratigraphy and electrical structure of temperate firn: Bagley Ice Field, Alaska, U.S.A. Journal of Glaciology, 48, 317-334. Blindow, N., C. Salat, and G. Casassa. 2012. Airborne GPR sounding of

Radar investigations at the Saltsjoetunnel - predictions and validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olsson, Olle; Palmqvist, Kai

1989-01-01

Borehole radar investigations have been performed in two boreholes drilled along the extent of the Saltsjoe tunnel in Stockholm, Sweden. The objective of the project was to test investigate the capabilities of the borehole radar technique to predict geological structures prior to tunnel excavation. Singlehole and crosshole radar measurements were made in the two boreholes which outlined and equilateral triangle. The crosshole data was used to produce tomograms showing the distribution of radar attenuation and slowness (inverse of velocity) in the plane between the boreholes. The radar model of the site contained one major feature which was identified as a fracture zone. The intersection of the fracture zone with the tunnel was extrapolated from the radar data and found to be in agreement with observations in the tunnel. At the intersection of the fracture zone with the tunnel grouting had to be applied. It has also been found that the radar identifies a number of smaller features which are of practically no significance with respect to tunnel construction. There is general agreement between the radar model of the site and the geologic-tectonic model of the site. This project has demonstrated the capability of the boreholes radar technique to predict the existence, location, and orientation of geologic features (e.g. fracture zones) which can be of significance to the cost and safety when excavating a tunnel. However, further development is needed to be able to use the technique cost effectively for continuous prediction ahead of the tunnel front. (authors) (17 figs., 1 tab.)

Nearly simultaneous measurements of radar auroral heights and Doppler velocities at 398 MHz

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moorcroft, D.; Ruohoniemi, J.M.

1987-01-01

Nearly simultaneous measurements of radar auroral heights and Doppler velocities were obtained using the Homer, Alaska, 398-MHz phased-array radar over a total of 16 hours on four different days. The heights show a consistent variation with time, being highest near the time of electrojet current reversal, and lowest late in the morning. A variety of east-west height asymmetries were observed, different from those previously reported, which can be explained in terms of favorable flow angles preferentially favoring high-altitude primary two-stream waves to one side of the field of view. Low-velocity echoes, presumably due to secondary irregularities, are found to be more restricted in height range than echoes with ion acoustic velocities, which presumably come from primary two-stream instabilities. Echo power was examined as a function of velocity and height. For the westward electrojet it was found that echoes with ion acoustic velocities are relatively constant in strength over most of their height range, but for low-velocity echoes the power is a maximum between 100 and 105 km and falls off steadily at greater heights. Doppler speeds show a noticeable decrease at heights below 105 km, in agreement with the expected variation in ion acoustic velocity

Copula-based assimilation of radar and gauge information to derive bias-corrected precipitation fields

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Vogl

2012-07-01

Full Text Available This study addresses the problem of combining radar information and gauge measurements. Gauge measurements are the best available source of absolute rainfall intensity albeit their spatial availability is limited. Precipitation information obtained by radar mimics well the spatial patterns but is biased for their absolute values.

In this study copula models are used to describe the dependence structure between gauge observations and rainfall derived from radar reflectivity at the corresponding grid cells. After appropriate time series transformation to generate "iid" variates, only the positive pairs (radar >0, gauge >0 of the residuals are considered. As not each grid cell can be assigned to one gauge, the integration of point information, i.e. gauge rainfall intensities, is achieved by considering the structure and the strength of dependence between the radar pixels and all the gauges within the radar image. Two different approaches, namely Maximum Theta and Multiple Theta, are presented. They finally allow for generating precipitation fields that mimic the spatial patterns of the radar fields and correct them for biases in their absolute rainfall intensities. The performance of the approach, which can be seen as a bias-correction for radar fields, is demonstrated for the Bavarian Alps. The bias-corrected rainfall fields are compared to a field of interpolated gauge values (ordinary kriging and are validated with available gauge measurements. The simulated precipitation fields are compared to an operationally corrected radar precipitation field (RADOLAN. The copula-based approach performs similarly well as indicated by different validation measures and successfully corrects for errors in the radar precipitation.

Maximum Available Accuracy of FM-CW Radars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Ricny

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This article deals with the principles and above all with the maximum available measuring accuracy analyse of FM-CW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave radars, which are usually employed for distance and velocity measurements of moving objects in road traffic, as well as air traffic and in other applications. These radars often form an important part of the active safety equipment of high-end cars – the so-called anticollision systems. They usually work in the frequency bands of mm waves (24, 35, 77 GHz. Function principles and analyses of factors, that dominantly influence the distance measurement accuracy of these equipments especially in the modulation and demodulation part, are shown in the paper.

Offshore Wind Resources Assessment from Multiple Satellite Data and WRF Modeling over South China Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chang, Rui; Rong, Zhu; Badger, Merete

2015-01-01

offshore winds which can be used for offshore wind resource assessment. First, wind speeds retrieved from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Scatterometer ASCAT images were validated against in situ measurements from seven coastal meteorological stations in South China Sea (SCS). The wind roses from...... (SD) of 2.09 m/s (1.83 m/s) and correlation coefficient of R 0.75 (0.80). When the offshore winds (i.e., winds directed from land to sea) are excluded, the comparison results for wind speeds show an improvement of SD and R, indicating that the satellite data are more credible over the open ocean...

Wind Resource Estimation using QuikSCAT Ocean Surface Winds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xu, Qing; Zhang, Guosheng; Cheng, Yongcun

2011-01-01

In this study, the offshore wind resources in the East China Sea and South China Sea were estimated from over ten years of QuikSCAT scatterometer wind products. Since the errors of these products are larger close to the coast due to the land contamination of radar backscatter signal...... and the complexity of air-sea interaction processes, an empirical relationship that adjusts QuikSCAT winds in coastal waters was first proposed based on vessel measurements. Then the shape and scale parameters of Weibull function are determined for wind resource estimation. The wind roses are also plotted. Results...

Adjustment of rainfall estimates from weather radars using in-situ stormwater drainage sensors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahm, Malte

importance as long as the estimated flow and water levels are correct. It makes sense to investigate the possibility of adjusting weather radar data to rainfall-runoff measurements instead of rain gauge measurements in order to obtain better predictions of flow and water levels. This Ph.D. study investigates......-rain gauge adjusted data is applied for urban drainage models, discrepancies between radar-estimated runoff and observed runoff still occur. The aim of urban drainage applications is to estimate flow and water levels in critical points in the system. The “true” rainfall at ground level is, therefore, of less...... how rainfall-runoff measurements can be utilised to adjust weather radars. Two traditional adjustments methods based on rain gauges were used as the basis for developing two radar-runoff adjustment methods. The first method is based on the ZR relationship describing the relation between radar...

Flood Monitoring using X-band Dual-polarization Radar Network

Science.gov (United States)

Chandrasekar, V.; Wang, Y.; Maki, M.; Nakane, K.

2009-09-01

A dense weather radar network is an emerging concept advanced by the Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA). Using multiple radars observing over a common will create different data outcomes depending on the characteristics of the radar units employed and the network topology. To define this a general framework is developed to describe the radar network space, and formulations are obtained that can be used for weather radar network characterization. Current weather radar surveillance networks are based upon conventional sensing paradigm of widely-separated, standalone sensing systems using long range radars that operate at wavelengths in 5-10 cm range. Such configuration has limited capability to observe close to the surface of the earth because of the earth's curvature but also has poorer resolution at far ranges. The dense network radar system, observes and measures weather phenomenon such as rainfall and severe weather close to the ground at higher spatial and temporal resolution compared to the current paradigm. In addition the dense network paradigm also is easily adaptable to complex terrain. Flooding is one of the most common natural hazards in the world. Especially, excessive development decreases the response time of urban watersheds and complex terrain to rainfall and increases the chance of localized flooding events over a small spatial domain. Successful monitoring of urban floods requires high spatiotemporal resolution, accurate precipitation estimation because of the rapid flood response as well as the complex hydrologic and hydraulic characteristics in an urban environment. This paper reviews various aspects in radar rainfall mapping in urban coverage using dense X-band dual-polarization radar networks. By reducing the maximum range and operating at X-band, one can ensure good azimuthal resolution with a small-size antenna and keep the radar beam closer to the ground. The networked topology helps to achieve satisfactory

Identification and uncertainty estimation of vertical reflectivity profiles using a Lagrangian approach to support quantitative precipitation measurements by weather radar

Science.gov (United States)

Hazenberg, P.; Torfs, P. J. J. F.; Leijnse, H.; Delrieu, G.; Uijlenhoet, R.

2013-09-01

This paper presents a novel approach to estimate the vertical profile of reflectivity (VPR) from volumetric weather radar data using both a traditional Eulerian as well as a newly proposed Lagrangian implementation. For this latter implementation, the recently developed Rotational Carpenter Square Cluster Algorithm (RoCaSCA) is used to delineate precipitation regions at different reflectivity levels. A piecewise linear VPR is estimated for either stratiform or neither stratiform/convective precipitation. As a second aspect of this paper, a novel approach is presented which is able to account for the impact of VPR uncertainty on the estimated radar rainfall variability. Results show that implementation of the VPR identification and correction procedure has a positive impact on quantitative precipitation estimates from radar. Unfortunately, visibility problems severely limit the impact of the Lagrangian implementation beyond distances of 100 km. However, by combining this procedure with the global Eulerian VPR estimation procedure for a given rainfall type (stratiform and neither stratiform/convective), the quality of the quantitative precipitation estimates increases up to a distance of 150 km. Analyses of the impact of VPR uncertainty shows that this aspect accounts for a large fraction of the differences between weather radar rainfall estimates and rain gauge measurements.

Radar cross-section measurements of ice particles using vector network analyzer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinhu Wang

2016-09-01

Full Text Available We carried out radar cross-section (RSC measurements of ice particles in a microwave anechoic chamber at Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology. We used microwave similarity theory to enlarge the size of particle from the micrometer to millimeter scale and to reduce the testing frequency from 94 GHz to 10 GHz. The microwave similarity theory was validated using the method of moments for single metal sphere, single dielectric sphere, and spherical and non-spherical dielectric particle swarms. The differences between the retrieved and theoretical results at 94 GHz were 0.016117%, 0.0023029%, 0.027627%, and 0.0046053%, respectively. We proposed a device that can measure the RCS of ice particles in the chamber based on the S21 parameter obtained from vector network analyzer. On the basis of the measured S21 parameter of the calibration material (metal plates and their corresponding theoretical RCS values, the RCS values of a spherical Teflon particle swarm and cuboid candle particle swarm was retrieved at 10 GHz. In this case, the differences between the retrieved and theoretical results were 12.72% and 24.49% for the Teflon particle swarm and cuboid candle swarm, respectively.

Offshore wind power resource assessment using Oceansat-2 scatterometer data at a regional scale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gadad, Sanjeev; Deka, Paresh Chandra

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Accuracy assessment of Oceansat-2 scatterometer (OSCAT) winds by the in situ real-time ship observations for study area. • OSCAT data for two years (2011 and 2012) were used to evaluate the offshore wind power potential for the Karnataka state. • Wind speed and power atlases are developed to study the spatial distribution over study area. • 9,091 MW potential was estimated using 5 MW wind turbine in the Monopile region. • Recommend development of 10% of the estimated potential, 116% of energy deficit for 2012–13 can be met. - Abstract: In the offshore region the scarcity of in situ wind data in space proves to be a major setback for wind power potential assessments. Satellite data effectively overcomes this setback by providing continuous and total spatial coverage. The study intends to assess the offshore wind power resource of the Karnataka state, which is located on the west coast of India. Oceansat-2 scatterometer (OSCAT) wind data and GIS based methodology were adopted in the study. The OSCAT data accuracy was assessed using INCOIS Realtime All Weather Station (IRAWS) data. Wind speed maps at 10 m, 90 m and wind power density maps using OSCAT data were developed to understand the spatial distribution of winds over the study area. Bathymetric map was developed based on the available foundation types and demarking various exclusion zones to help in minimizing conflicts. The wind power generation capacity estimation performed using REpower 5 MW turbine, based on the water depth classes was found to be 9,091 MW in Monopile (0–35 m), 11,709 MW in Jacket (35–50 m), 23,689 MW in Advanced Jacket (50–100 m) and 117,681 MW in Floating (100–1000 m) foundation technology. In Indian scenario major thrust for wind farm development in Monopile region is required. Therefore as first phase of development, if 10% of the estimated potential in the region can be developed then, 116% of energy deficit for FY 2011–12 could be met. Also, up to 79

Disaggregating radar-derived rainfall measurements in East Azarbaijan, Iran, using a spatial random-cascade model

Science.gov (United States)

Fouladi Osgouei, Hojjatollah; Zarghami, Mahdi; Ashouri, Hamed

2017-07-01

The availability of spatial, high-resolution rainfall data is one of the most essential needs in the study of water resources. These data are extremely valuable in providing flood awareness for dense urban and industrial areas. The first part of this paper applies an optimization-based method to the calibration of radar data based on ground rainfall gauges. Then, the climatological Z-R relationship for the Sahand radar, located in the East Azarbaijan province of Iran, with the help of three adjacent rainfall stations, is obtained. The new climatological Z-R relationship with a power-law form shows acceptable statistical performance, making it suitable for radar-rainfall estimation by the Sahand radar outputs. The second part of the study develops a new heterogeneous random-cascade model for spatially disaggregating the rainfall data resulting from the power-law model. This model is applied to the radar-rainfall image data to disaggregate rainfall data with coverage area of 512 × 512 km2 to a resolution of 32 × 32 km2. Results show that the proposed model has a good ability to disaggregate rainfall data, which may lead to improvement in precipitation forecasting, and ultimately better water-resources management in this arid region, including Urmia Lake.

Single Bit Radar Systems for Digital Integration

OpenAIRE

Bjørndal, Øystein

2017-01-01

Small, low cost, radar systems have exciting applications in monitoring and imaging for the industrial, healthcare and Internet of Things (IoT) sectors. We here explore, and show the feasibility of, several single bit square wave radar architectures; that benefits from the continuous improvement in digital technologies for system-on-chip digital integration. By analysis, simulation and measurements we explore novel and harmonic-rich continuous wave (CW), stepped-frequency CW (SFCW) and freque...

Combined radar and telemetry system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodenbeck, Christopher T.; Young, Derek; Chou, Tina; Hsieh, Lung-Hwa; Conover, Kurt; Heintzleman, Richard

2017-08-01

A combined radar and telemetry system is described. The combined radar and telemetry system includes a processing unit that executes instructions, where the instructions define a radar waveform and a telemetry waveform. The processor outputs a digital baseband signal based upon the instructions, where the digital baseband signal is based upon the radar waveform and the telemetry waveform. A radar and telemetry circuit transmits, simultaneously, a radar signal and telemetry signal based upon the digital baseband signal.

Atomic bomb made in Germany. Geo-radar measurements provide new insights; Atombombe - Made in Germany. Georadarmessungen liefern neue Erkenntnisse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hauk, Rolf-Guenter; Focken, Christel

2017-07-01

The authors describe new geo radar measurements In Jonastal and discuss the results in relation to rumors on German efforts to build an atomic bond during the Second World War. The book includes available documentation on German and American research and technological activities (Manhattan project).

Multiple scattering effects on the Linear Depolarization Ratio (LDR) measured during CaPE by a Ka-band air-borne radar

Science.gov (United States)

Iguchi, Toshio; Meneghini, Robert

1993-01-01

Air-borne radar measurements of thunderstorms were made as part of the CaPE (Convection and Precipitation/Electrification) experiment in Florida in July 1991. The radar has two channels, X-band (10 GHz) and Ka-band (34.5 GHz), and is capable of measuring cross-polarized returns as well as co-polarized returns. In stratiform rain, the cross-polarized components can be observed only at the bright band region and from the surface reflection. The linear depolarization ratios (LDR's) measured at X-band and Ka-band at the bright band are nearly equal. In convective rain, however, the LDR in Ka-band often exceeds the X-band LDR by several dB, and sometimes by more than 10 dB, reaching LDR values of up to -5 dB over heavy convective rain. For randomly oriented hydrometeors, such high LDR values cannot be explained by single scattering from non-spherical scattering particles alone. Because the LDR by single backscatter depends weakly on the wavelength, the difference between the Ka-band and X-band LDR's suggests that multiple scattering effects prevail in the Ka-band LDR. In order to test this inference, the magnitude of the cross-polarized component created by double scattering was calculated using the parameters of the airborne radar, which for both frequencies has beamwidths of 5.1 degrees and pulse widths of 0.5 microsecond. Uniform rain beyond the range of 3 km is assumed.

Offshore wind potential evaluation and remote sensing imagery; Evaluation du potentiel eolien offshore et imagerie satellitale

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fichaux, N.

2003-12-15

Offshore wind energy may help to contribute to the respect of the Kyoto objectives by Europe. It is a key issue to struggle against global change. To sit the future offshore wind parks, it is necessary to accurately evaluate the spatial repartition of the wind potential. We demonstrate that the offshore wind potential shall be represented by maps of wind statistics. As remote sensing is a tool for measuring space physical phenomena, we evaluate its potentialities for mapping wind statistics. Space-borne scatterometers enables the obtention of wind statistics, but far from our areas of interest and at low spatial resolution. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) enables the computation of high resolution wind maps over our areas of interest, but are unsuitable to compute wind statistics. We define the mathematical framework of a statistical method. That method enables to take advantage of both scatterometer and SAR to compute maps of wind statistics at high spatial resolution over the areas of interest. It enables remote sensing to be used operationally to map the offshore wind potential. (author)

Applying volumetric weather radar data for rainfall runoff modeling: The importance of error correction.

Science.gov (United States)

Hazenberg, P.; Leijnse, H.; Uijlenhoet, R.; Delobbe, L.; Weerts, A.; Reggiani, P.

2009-04-01

In the current study half a year of volumetric radar data for the period October 1, 2002 until March 31, 2003 is being analyzed which was sampled at 5 minutes intervals by C-band Doppler radar situated at an elevation of 600 m in the southern Ardennes region, Belgium. During this winter half year most of the rainfall has a stratiform character. Though radar and raingauge will never sample the same amount of rainfall due to differences in sampling strategies, for these stratiform situations differences between both measuring devices become even larger due to the occurrence of a bright band (the point where ice particles start to melt intensifying the radar reflectivity measurement). For these circumstances the radar overestimates the amount of precipitation and because in the Ardennes bright bands occur within 1000 meter from the surface, it's detrimental effects on the performance of the radar can already be observed at relatively close range (e.g. within 50 km). Although the radar is situated at one of the highest points in the region, very close to the radar clutter is a serious problem. As a result both nearby and farther away, using uncorrected radar results in serious errors when estimating the amount of precipitation. This study shows the effect of carefully correcting for these radar errors using volumetric radar data, taking into account the vertical reflectivity profile of the atmosphere, the effects of attenuation and trying to limit the amount of clutter. After applying these correction algorithms, the overall differences between radar and raingauge are much smaller which emphasizes the importance of carefully correcting radar rainfall measurements. The next step is to assess the effect of using uncorrected and corrected radar measurements on rainfall-runoff modeling. The 1597 km2 Ourthe catchment lies within 60 km of the radar. Using a lumped hydrological model serious improvement in simulating observed discharges is found when using corrected radar

RADAR PPI Scope Overlay

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — RADAR PPI Scope Overlays are used to position a RADAR image over a station at the correct resolution. The archive maintains several different RADAR resolution types,...

Radar-acoustic interaction for IFF applications

Science.gov (United States)

Saffold, James A.; Williamson, Frank R.; Ahuja, Krishan; Stein, Lawrence R.; Muller, Marjorie

1998-08-01

This paper describes the results of an internal development program (IDP) No. 97-1 conducted from August 1-October 1 1996 at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. The IDP program was implemented to establish theoretical relationships and verify the interaction between X-band radar waves and ultrasonic acoustics. Low cost, off-the-shelf components were used for the verification in order to illustrate the cost savings potential of developing and utilizing these systems. The measured data was used to calibrate the developed models of the phenomenology and to support extrapolation for radar systems which can exploit these interactions. One such exploitation is for soldier identification IFF and radar taggant concepts. The described IDP program provided the phenomenological data which is being used to extrapolate concept system performances based on technological limitations and battlefield conditions for low cost IFF and taggant configurations.

Measurement of Mars Analog Soil Dielectric Properties for Mars 2020 Radar Science Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Decrossas, E.; Bell, D. J.; Jin, C.; Steinfeld, D.; Batres, J.

2017-12-01

On multiple solar system missions, radar instruments have been used to probe subsurface geomorphology and to infer chemical composition based on the dielectric signature derived from the reflected signal. One important planetary application is the identification of subsurface water ice at Mars. Low frequency, 15 MHz to 25 MHz, instruments like SHARAD have been used from Mars orbit to investigate subsurface features from 10's to 1000's of meters below the surface of Mars with a vertical resolution of 15m and a horizontal resolution of 300 to 3000 meters. SHARAD has been able to identify vast layers of CO2 and water ice. The ground-penetrating RIMFAX instrument that will ride on the back of the Mars 2020 rover will operate over the 150 MHz to 1200 MHz band and penetrate to a depth of 10 meters with a vertical resolution of 15 to 30 cm. RIMFAX will be able to identify near surface water ice if it exists below the travel path of the Mars 2020 rover. Identification of near surface water ice has science application to current and past Mars hydrologic processes and to the potential for finding remnants of past Mars biologic activity. Identification of near surface water ice also has application to future human missions that would benefit from access to a Mars local water source. Recently, JPL investigators have been pursuing a secondary use of telecom signals to capture bistatic radar signatures from subsurface areas surrounding the rover but away from its travel path. A particularly promising potential source would be the telecom signal from a proposed Mars Helicopter back to the Mars 2020 rover. The Mars 2020 rover will be equipped with up to three telecom subsystems. The Rover Relay telecom subsystem operates at UHF receiving at 435 MHz frequency. Anticipating opportunistic collection of near-surface bistatic radar signatures from telecom signals received at the rover, it is valuable to understand the dielectric properties of the Martian soil in each of these three

Toward a Framework for Systematic Error Modeling of NASA Spaceborne Radar with NOAA/NSSL Ground Radar-Based National Mosaic QPE

Science.gov (United States)

Kirstettier, Pierre-Emmanual; Honh, Y.; Gourley, J. J.; Chen, S.; Flamig, Z.; Zhang, J.; Howard, K.; Schwaller, M.; Petersen, W.; Amitai, E.

2011-01-01

Characterization of the error associated to satellite rainfall estimates is a necessary component of deterministic and probabilistic frameworks involving space-born passive and active microwave measurement") for applications ranging from water budget studies to forecasting natural hazards related to extreme rainfall events. We focus here on the error structure of NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR) quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) at ground. The problem is addressed by comparison of PR QPEs with reference values derived from ground-based measurements using NOAA/NSSL ground radar-based National Mosaic and QPE system (NMQ/Q2). A preliminary investigation of this subject has been carried out at the PR estimation scale (instantaneous and 5 km) using a three-month data sample in the southern part of US. The primary contribution of this study is the presentation of the detailed steps required to derive trustworthy reference rainfall dataset from Q2 at the PR pixel resolution. It relics on a bias correction and a radar quality index, both of which provide a basis to filter out the less trustworthy Q2 values. Several aspects of PR errors arc revealed and quantified including sensitivity to the processing steps with the reference rainfall, comparisons of rainfall detectability and rainfall rate distributions, spatial representativeness of error, and separation of systematic biases and random errors. The methodology and framework developed herein applies more generally to rainfall rate estimates from other sensors onboard low-earth orbiting satellites such as microwave imagers and dual-wavelength radars such as with the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission.

Systems and Methods for Radar Data Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Bunch, Brian (Inventor); Szeto, Roland (Inventor); Miller, Brad (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A radar information processing system is operable to process high bandwidth radar information received from a radar system into low bandwidth radar information that may be communicated to a low bandwidth connection coupled to an electronic flight bag (EFB). An exemplary embodiment receives radar information from a radar system, the radar information communicated from the radar system at a first bandwidth; processes the received radar information into processed radar information, the processed radar information configured for communication over a connection operable at a second bandwidth, the second bandwidth lower than the first bandwidth; and communicates the radar information from a radar system, the radar information communicated from the radar system at a first bandwidth.

HF Radar Observations of Current, Wave and Wind Parameters in the South Australian Gulf

Science.gov (United States)

Middleditch, A.; Cosoli, S.

2016-12-01

The Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network (ACORN) has been measuring metocean parameters from an array of HF radar systems since 2007. Current, wave and wind measurements from a WERA phased-array radar system in the South Australian Gulf are evaluated using current meter, wave buoy and weather station data over a 12-month period. The spatial and temporal scales of the radar deployment have been configured for the measurement of surface currents from the first order backscatter spectra. Quality control procedures are applied to the radar currents that relate to the geometric configurations, statistical properties, and diagnostic variables provided by the analysis software. Wave measurements are obtained through an iterative inversion algorithm that provides an estimate of the directional frequency spectrum. The standard static configurations and data sampling strategies are not optimised for waves and so additional signal processing steps need to be implemented in order to provide reliable estimates. These techniques are currently only applied in offline mode but a real-time approach is in development. Improvements in the quality of extracted wave data are found through increased averaging of the raw radar data but the impact of temporal non-stationarity and spatial inhomogeneities in the WERA measurement region needs to be taken into account. Validations of wind direction data from a weather station on Neptune Island show the potential of using HF radar to combat the spread of bushfires in South Australia.

A Numerical Method to Generate High Temporal Resolution Precipitation Time Series by Combining Weather Radar Measurements with a Nowcast Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jesper Ellerbæk; Thorndahl, Søren Liedtke; Rasmussen, Michael R.

2014-01-01

The topic of this paper is temporal interpolation of precipitation observed by weather radars. Precipitation measurements with high spatial and temporal resolution are, in general, desired for urban drainage applications. An advection-based interpolation method is developed which uses methods...

Ku/Ka/W-band Antenna for Electronically-Scanned Cloud and Precipitation Radar

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Previously, cloud radars such as CloudSat have been separated from precipitation radars such as TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission) and GPM (Global...

Java Radar Analysis Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Zaczek, Mariusz P.

2005-01-01

Java Radar Analysis Tool (JRAT) is a computer program for analyzing two-dimensional (2D) scatter plots derived from radar returns showing pieces of the disintegrating Space Shuttle Columbia. JRAT can also be applied to similar plots representing radar returns showing aviation accidents, and to scatter plots in general. The 2D scatter plots include overhead map views and side altitude views. The superposition of points in these views makes searching difficult. JRAT enables three-dimensional (3D) viewing: by use of a mouse and keyboard, the user can rotate to any desired viewing angle. The 3D view can include overlaid trajectories and search footprints to enhance situational awareness in searching for pieces. JRAT also enables playback: time-tagged radar-return data can be displayed in time order and an animated 3D model can be moved through the scene to show the locations of the Columbia (or other vehicle) at the times of the corresponding radar events. The combination of overlays and playback enables the user to correlate a radar return with a position of the vehicle to determine whether the return is valid. JRAT can optionally filter single radar returns, enabling the user to selectively hide or highlight a desired radar return.

Using raindrop size distributions from different types of disdrometer to establish weather radar algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Baldini, Luca; Adirosi, Elisa; Roberto, Nicoletta; Vulpiani, Gianfranco; Russo, Fabio; Napolitano, Francesco

2015-04-01

Radar precipitation retrieval uses several relationships that parameterize precipitation properties (like rainfall rate and liquid water content and attenuation (in case of radars at attenuated frequencies such as those at C- and X- band) as a function of combinations of radar measurements. The uncertainty in such relations highly affects the uncertainty precipitation and attenuation estimates. A commonly used method to derive such relationships is to apply regression methods to precipitation measurements and radar observables simulated from datasets of drop size distributions (DSD) using microphysical and electromagnetic assumptions. DSD datasets are determined both by theoretical considerations (i.e. based on the assumption that the radar always samples raindrops whose sizes follow a gamma distribution) or from experimental measurements collected throughout the years by disdrometers. In principle, using long-term disdrometer measurements provide parameterizations more representative of a specific climatology. However, instrumental errors, specific of a disdrometer, can affect the results. In this study, different weather radar algorithms resulting from DSDs collected by diverse types of disdrometers, namely 2D video disdrometer, first and second generation of OTT Parsivel laser disdrometer, and Thies Clima laser disdrometer, in the area of Rome (Italy) are presented and discussed to establish at what extent dual-polarization radar algorithms derived from experimental DSD datasets are influenced by the different error structure of the different type of disdrometers used to collect the data.

An improved hydrometeor detection method for millimeter-wavelength cloud radar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Ge

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A modified method with a new noise reduction scheme that can reduce the noise distribution to a narrow range is proposed to distinguish clouds and other hydrometeors from noise and recognize more features with weak signal in cloud radar observations. A spatial filter with central weighting, which is widely used in cloud radar hydrometeor detection algorithms, is also applied in our method to examine radar return for significant levels of signals. Square clouds were constructed to test our algorithm and the method used for the US Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurements Program millimeter-wavelength cloud radar. We also applied both the methods to 6 months of cloud radar observations at the Semi-Arid Climate and Environment Observatory of Lanzhou University and compared the results. It was found that our method has significant advantages in reducing the rates of both failed negative and false positive hydrometeor identifications in simulated clouds and recognizing clouds with weak signal from our cloud radar observations.

Quality Control and Calibration of the Dual-Polarization Radar at Kwajalein, RMI

Science.gov (United States)

Marks, David A.; Wolff, David B.; Carey, Lawrence D.; Tokay, Ali

2010-01-01

Weather radars, recording information about precipitation around the globe, will soon be significantly upgraded. Most of today s weather radars transmit and receive microwave energy with horizontal orientation only, but upgraded systems have the capability to send and receive both horizontally and vertically oriented waves. These enhanced "dual-polarimetric" (DP) radars peer into precipitation and provide information on the size, shape, phase (liquid / frozen), and concentration of the falling particles (termed hydrometeors). This information is valuable for improved rain rate estimates, and for providing data on the release and absorption of heat in the atmosphere from condensation and evaporation (phase changes). The heating profiles in the atmosphere influence global circulation, and are a vital component in studies of Earth s changing climate. However, to provide the most accurate interpretation of radar data, the radar must be properly calibrated and data must be quality controlled (cleaned) to remove non-precipitation artifacts; both of which are challenging tasks for today s weather radar. The DP capability maximizes performance of these procedures using properties of the observed precipitation. In a notable paper published in 2005, scientists from the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (CIMMS) at the University of Oklahoma developed a method to calibrate radars using statistically averaged DP measurements within light rain. An additional publication by one of the same scientists at the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Norman, Oklahoma introduced several techniques to perform quality control of radar data using DP measurements. Following their lead, the Topical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Satellite Validation Office at NASA s Goddard Space Flight Center has fine-tuned these methods for specific application to the weather radar at Kwajalein Island in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, approximately 2100 miles

Flood occurrence mapping of the middle Mahakam lowland area using satellite radar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Hidayat

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Floodplain lakes and peatlands in the middle Mahakam lowland area are considered as ecologically important wetland in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. However, due to a lack of data, the hydrological functioning of the region is still poorly understood. Among remote sensing techniques that can increase data availability, radar is well-suitable for the identification, mapping, and measurement of tropical wetlands, for its cloud unimpeded sensing and night and day operation. Here we aim to extract flood extent and flood occurrence information from a series of radar images of the middle Mahakam lowland area. We explore the use of Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR imagery for observing flood inundation dynamics by incorporating field water level measurements. Water level measurements were carried out along the river, in lakes and in peatlands, using pressure transducers. For validation of the open water flood occurrence map, bathymetry measurements were carried out in the main lakes. A series of PALSAR images covering the middle and lower Mahakam area in the years 2007 through 2010 were collected. A fully inundated region can be easily recognized on radar images from a dark signature. Open water flood occurrence was mapped using a threshold value taken from radar backscatter of the permanently inundated river and lakes areas. Radar backscatter intensity analysis of the vegetated floodplain area revealed consistently high backscatter values, indicating flood inundation under forest canopy. We used those values as the threshold for flood occurrence mapping in the vegetated area.

Using high-resolution satellite radar to measure lava flow morphology, rheology, effusion rate and subsidence at El Reventador Volcano, Ecuador.

Science.gov (United States)

Biggs, J.; Arnold, D. W. D.; Mothes, P. A.; Anderson, K. R.; Albino, F.; Wadge, G.; Vallejo Vargas, S.; Ebmeier, S. K.

2017-12-01

There are relatively few studies of active lava flows of an andesitic rather than basaltic composition. The flow field at El Reventador volcano, Ecuador is a good example, but observations are hampered by persistent cloud cover. We use high resolution satellite radar from Radarsat-2 and TanDEM-X to map the dimensions of 43 lava flows extruded between 9 Feb 2012 and 24 Aug 2016. Flow height is measured using the width of radar shadow cast by steep sided features, or the difference in radar phase between two sensors separated in space. The cumulative volume of erupted material was 44.8M m3 dense rock equivalent with an average rate of 0.31 ± 0.02 m3s-1, similar to the long term average. The flows were mostly emplaced over durations shorter than the satellite repeat interval of 24 days and ranged in length from 0.3 to 1.7 km. We use the dimensions of the levees to estimate the flow yield strengths and compare measurements of diversions around barriers with observations from laboratory experiments. The rate of effusion, flow length and flow volume all decrease with time, and simple physics-based models can be equally well fit by a closed reservoir depressurising during the eruption with no magma recharge, or an open reservoir with a time-constant magma recharge rate of up to 0.35 ± 0.01 m3s-1. We propose that the conduit acts as magma capacitor and individual flows are volume-limited. Emplaced flows are subsiding at rates proportional to lava thickness that decay with time following a square-root relationship. Radar observations, such as those presented here, could be used to map and measure properties of evolving lava flow fields at other remote or difficult to monitor volcanoes. Physics-based models can be run into the future, but a sudden increase in flow length in 2017 seen by Sentinel illustrates that changes in magma supply can cause rapid changes in behavior, which remain challenging to forecast.

Observation of snowfall with a low-power FM-CW K-band radar (Micro Rain Radar)

Science.gov (United States)

Kneifel, Stefan; Maahn, Maximilian; Peters, Gerhard; Simmer, Clemens

2011-06-01

Quantifying snowfall intensity especially under arctic conditions is a challenge because wind and snow drift deteriorate estimates obtained from both ground-based gauges and disdrometers. Ground-based remote sensing with active instruments might be a solution because they can measure well above drifting snow and do not suffer from flow distortions by the instrument. Clear disadvantages are, however, the dependency of e.g. radar returns on snow habit which might lead to similar large uncertainties. Moreover, high sensitivity radars are still far too costly to operate in a network and under harsh conditions. In this paper we compare returns from a low-cost, low-power vertically pointing FM-CW radar (Micro Rain Radar, MRR) operating at 24.1 GHz with returns from a 35.5 GHz cloud radar (MIRA36) for dry snowfall during a 6-month observation period at an Alpine station (Environmental Research Station Schneefernerhaus, UFS) at 2,650 m height above sea level. The goal was to quantify the potential and limitations of the MRR in relation to what is achievable by a cloud radar. The operational MRR procedures to derive standard radar variables like effective reflectivity factor ( Z e) or the mean Doppler velocity ( W) had to be modified for snowfall since the MRR was originally designed for rain observations. Since the radar returns from snowfall are weaker than from comparable rainfall, the behavior of the MRR close to its detection threshold has been analyzed and a method is proposed to quantify the noise level of the MRR based on clear sky observations. By converting the resulting MRR- Z e into 35.5 GHz equivalent Z e values, a remaining difference below 1 dBz with slightly higher values close to the noise threshold could be obtained. Due to the much higher sensitivity of MIRA36, the transition of the MRR from the true signal to noise can be observed, which agrees well with the independent clear sky noise estimate. The mean Doppler velocity differences between both radars

Application of radar polarimetry techniques for retrieval snow and rain characteristics in remote sensing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Darvishi

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The presence of snow cover has significant impacts on the both global and regional climate and water balance on earth. The accurate estimation of snow cover area can be used for forecasting runoff due to snow melt and output of hydroelectric power. With development of remote sensing techniques at different scopes in earth science, enormous algorithms for retrieval hydrometeor parameters have been developed. Some of these algorithms are used to provide snow cover map such as NLR with AVHRR/MODIS sensor for Norway, Finnish with AVHRR sensor for Finland and NASA with MODIS sensor for global maps. Monitoring snow cover at different parts of spectral electromagnetic is detectable (visible, near and thermal infrared, passive and active microwave. Recently, specific capabilities of active microwave remote sensing such as snow extent map, snow depth, snow water equivalent (SWE, snow state (wet/dry and discrimination between rain and snow region were given a strong impetus for using this technology in snow monitoring, hydrology, climatology, avalanche research and etc. This paper evaluates the potentials and feasibility of polarimetric ground microwave measurements of snow in active remote sensing field. We will consider the behavior co- and cross-polarized backscattering coefficients of snowpack response with polarimetric scatterometer in Ku and L band at the different incident angles. Then we will show how to retrieve snow cover depth, snow permittivity and density parameters at the local scale with ground-based SAR (GB-SAR. Finally, for the sake of remarkable significant the transition region between rain and snow; the variables role of horizontal reflectivity (ZHH and differential reflectivity (ZDR in delineation boundary between snow and rain and some others important variables at polarimetric weather radar are presented.

Optimum radars and filters for the passive sphere system

Science.gov (United States)

Luers, J. K.; Soltes, A.

1971-01-01

Studies have been conducted to determine the influence of the tracking radar and data reduction technique on the accuracy of the meteorological measurements made in the 30 to 100 kilometer altitude region by the ROBIN passive falling sphere. A survey of accuracy requirements was made of agencies interested in data from this region of the atmosphere. In light of these requirements, various types of radars were evaluated to determine the tracking system most applicable to the ROBIN, and methods were developed to compute the errors in wind and density that arise from noise errors in the radar supplied data. The effects of launch conditions on the measurements were also examined. Conclusions and recommendations have been made concerning the optimum tracking and data reduction techniques for the ROBIN falling sphere system.

Microwave Remote Sensing Modeling of Ocean Surface Salinity and Winds Using an Empirical Sea Surface Spectrum

Science.gov (United States)

Yueh, Simon H.

2004-01-01

Active and passive microwave remote sensing techniques have been investigated for the remote sensing of ocean surface wind and salinity. We revised an ocean surface spectrum using the CMOD-5 geophysical model function (GMF) for the European Remote Sensing (ERS) C-band scatterometer and the Ku-band GMF for the NASA SeaWinds scatterometer. The predictions of microwave brightness temperatures from this model agree well with satellite, aircraft and tower-based microwave radiometer data. This suggests that the impact of surface roughness on microwave brightness temperatures and radar scattering coefficients of sea surfaces can be consistently characterized by a roughness spectrum, providing physical basis for using combined active and passive remote sensing techniques for ocean surface wind and salinity remote sensing.

Array-Based Ultrawideband through-Wall Radar: Prediction and Assessment of Real Radar Abilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadia Maaref

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with a new through-the-wall (TTW radar demonstrator for the detection and the localisation of people in a room (in a noncooperative way with the radar situated outside but in the vicinity of the first wall. After modelling the propagation through various walls and quantifying the backscattering by the human body, an analysis of the technical considerations which aims at defining the radar design is presented. Finally, an ultrawideband (UWB frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW radar is proposed, designed, and implemented. Some representative trials show that this radar is able to localise and track moving people behind a wall in real time.

Remote Cloud Sensing Intensive Observation Period (RCS-IOP) millimeter-wave radar calibration and data intercomparison

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sekelsky, S.M.; Firda, J.M.; McIntosh, R.E. [Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States)] [and others

1996-04-01

During April 1994, the University of Massachusetts (UMass) and the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) fielded two millimeter-wave atmospheric radars in the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Remote Cloud Sensing Intensive Operation Period (RCS-IOP) experiment. The UMass Cloud Profiling Radar System (CPRS) operates simultaneously at 33.12 GHz and 94.92 GHz through a single antenna. The Penn State radar operates at 93.95 GHz and has separate transmitting and receiving antennas. The two systems were separated by approximately 75 meters and simultaneously observed a variety of cloud types at verticle incidence over the course of the experiment. This abstract presents some initial results from our calibration efforts. An absolute calibration of the UMass radar was made from radar measurements of a trihedral corner reflector, which has a known radar cross-section. A relative calibration of between the Penn State and UMass radars is made from the statistical comparison of zenith pointing measurements of low altitude liquid clouds. Attenuation is removed with the aid of radiosonde data, and the difference in the calibration between the UMass and Penn State radars is determined by comparing the ratio of 94-GHz and 95-GHz reflectivity values to a model that accounts for parallax effects of the two antennas used in the Penn State system.

Novel radar techniques and applications

CERN Document Server

Klemm, Richard; Koch, Wolfgang

2017-01-01

Novel Radar Techniques and Applications presents the state-of-the-art in advanced radar, with emphasis on ongoing novel research and development and contributions from an international team of leading radar experts. This volume covers: Waveform diversity and cognitive radar and Target tracking and data fusion.

Near-surface bulk densities of asteroids derived from dual-polarization radar observations

Science.gov (United States)

Virkki, A.; Taylor, P. A.; Zambrano-Marin, L. F.; Howell, E. S.; Nolan, M. C.; Lejoly, C.; Rivera-Valentin, E. G.; Aponte, B. A.

2017-09-01

We present a new method to constrain the near-surface bulk density and surface roughness of regolith on asteroid surfaces using planetary radar measurements. The number of radar observations has increased rapidly during the last five years, allowing us to compare and contrast the radar scattering properties of different small-body populations and compositional types. This provides us with new opportunities to investigate their near-surface physical properties such as the chemical composition, bulk density, porosity, or the structural roughness in the scale of centimeters to meters. Because the radar signal can penetrate into a planetary surface up to a few decimeters, radar can reveal information that is hidden from other ground-based methods, such as optical and infrared measurements. The near-surface structure of asteroids and comets in centimeter-to-meter scale is essential information for robotic and human space missions, impact threat mitigation, and understanding the history of these bodies as well as the formation of the whole Solar System.

Focusing millimeter wave radar for radial gap measurements in power plant combustion turbines; Fokussierendes Radarverfahren im Millimeterwellenbereich zur Radialspaltmessung in Kraftwerksturbinen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schicht, Andreas

2011-07-11

In this work a method for spatially resolved radial gap measurements in power plant combustion turbines by means of an autofocusing imaging radar technique in the millimeter wave range was developed and verified experimentally. The radial gap measurement has been subject of engineering studies for many years, as a reliable, simple solution does not seem to be possible due to the given boundary conditions. These include on the one hand the adverse measurement conditions such as high temperature and pressure, corrosive atmosphere and high speed of motion. On the other hand, the geometrical structure of the rotor blades at their tips turns out to be a key problem for the distance measurement. In particular, the blade tip is composed of small extended portions forming thin ribs of only a few millimeters width. Many established distance sensors like e. g. capacitive sensors cannot detect the correct tip clearance of the blade edge independently from other structures on the blade end only due to their large surface area and thus their lack of spatial resolution. The problem of small structure sizes is overcome by choosing a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in the millimeter wave range capable of resolving the edges of a typical blade tip. The clearance is determined by measuring the reflection at the blade tip while passing by the antenna, subsequently focusing the data by means of a matched filter operation and interpreting the phase of the blade edge reflection according to the CW radar principle. For this, an autofocus approach was developed, which provides an estimate of the clearance as a first result, which is utilized to overcome the phase ambiguity and thus to increase the measurement range. The autofocus algorithm applies a weighted phase gradient of the point-like blade edge reflection as cost function and sensitive indicator for the focal quality.

Sixteenth International Laser Radar Conference, Part 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mccormick, M.P.

1992-07-01

Given here are extended abstracts of papers presented at the 16th International Laser Radar Conference, held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, July 20-24, 1992. Topics discussed include the Mt. Pinatubo volcanic dust laser observations, global change, ozone measurements, Earth mesospheric measurements, wind measurements, imaging, ranging, water vapor measurements, and laser devices and technology

Radar facies of unconsolidated sediments in The Netherlands : A radar stratigraphy interpretation method for hydrogeology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Overmeeren, R.A. van

1998-01-01

Since 1990, The Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience TNO has been carrying out ground penetrating radar (GPR) measurements to assess the potential for imaging and characterising different hydrogeological targets in more than 30 pilot areas in The Netherlands. The experience gained by

Slope stability radar for monitoring mine walls

Science.gov (United States)

Reeves, Bryan; Noon, David A.; Stickley, Glen F.; Longstaff, Dennis

2001-11-01

Determining slope stability in a mining operation is an important task. This is especially true when the mine workings are close to a potentially unstable slope. A common technique to determine slope stability is to monitor the small precursory movements, which occur prior to collapse. The slope stability radar has been developed to remotely scan a rock slope to continuously monitor the spatial deformation of the face. Using differential radar interferometry, the system can detect deformation movements of a rough wall with sub-millimeter accuracy, and with high spatial and temporal resolution. The effects of atmospheric variations and spurious signals can be reduced via signal processing means. The advantage of radar over other monitoring techniques is that it provides full area coverage without the need for mounted reflectors or equipment on the wall. In addition, the radar waves adequately penetrate through rain, dust and smoke to give reliable measurements, twenty-four hours a day. The system has been trialed at three open-cut coal mines in Australia, which demonstrated the potential for real-time monitoring of slope stability during active mining operations.

A Technique for Real-Time Ionospheric Ranging Error Correction Based On Radar Dual-Frequency Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Lyu, Jiang-Tao; Zhou, Chen

2017-12-01

Ionospheric refraction is one of the principal error sources for limiting the accuracy of radar systems for space target detection. High-accuracy measurement of the ionospheric electron density along the propagation path of radar wave is the most important procedure for the ionospheric refraction correction. Traditionally, the ionospheric model and the ionospheric detection instruments, like ionosonde or GPS receivers, are employed for obtaining the electron density. However, both methods are not capable of satisfying the requirements of correction accuracy for the advanced space target radar system. In this study, we propose a novel technique for ionospheric refraction correction based on radar dual-frequency detection. Radar target range measurements at two adjacent frequencies are utilized for calculating the electron density integral exactly along the propagation path of the radar wave, which can generate accurate ionospheric range correction. The implementation of radar dual-frequency detection is validated by a P band radar located in midlatitude China. The experimental results present that the accuracy of this novel technique is more accurate than the traditional ionospheric model correction. The technique proposed in this study is very promising for the high-accuracy radar detection and tracking of objects in geospace.

Assessment of human respiration patterns via noncontact sensing using Doppler multi-radar system.

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Changzhan; Li, Changzhi

2015-03-16

Human respiratory patterns at chest and abdomen are associated with both physical and emotional states. Accurate measurement of the respiratory patterns provides an approach to assess and analyze the physical and emotional states of the subject persons. Not many research efforts have been made to wirelessly assess different respiration patterns, largely due to the inaccuracy of the conventional continuous-wave radar sensor to track the original signal pattern of slow respiratory movements. This paper presents the accurate assessment of different respiratory patterns based on noncontact Doppler radar sensing. This paper evaluates the feasibility of accurately monitoring different human respiration patterns via noncontact radar sensing. A 2.4 GHz DC coupled multi-radar system was used for accurate measurement of the complete respiration patterns without any signal distortion. Experiments were carried out in the lab environment to measure the different respiration patterns when the subject person performed natural breathing, chest breathing and diaphragmatic breathing. The experimental results showed that accurate assessment of different respiration patterns is feasible using the proposed noncontact radar sensing technique.

Ocean current surface measurement using dynamic elevations obtained by the GEOS-3 radar altimeter

Science.gov (United States)

Leitao, C. D.; Huang, N. E.; Parra, C. G.

1977-01-01

Remote Sensing of the ocean surface from the GEOS-3 satellite using radar altimeter data has confirmed that the altimeter can detect the dynamic ocean topographic elevations relative to an equipotential surface, thus resulting in a reliable direct measurement of the ocean surface. Maps of the ocean dynamic topography calculated over a one month period and with 20 cm contour interval are prepared for the last half of 1975. The Gulf Stream is observed by the rapid slope change shown by the crowding of contours. Cold eddies associated with the current are seen as roughly circular depressions.

SKB - PNC. Development of tunnel radar antennas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Falk, L.

1991-07-01

Tunnel antennas for the RAMAC borehole radar system have been developed and tested in the field. The antennas are of the loaded dipole type and the receiver and transmitter electronics have been rebuilt to screen them from the antennas. A series of measurements has demonstrated that the radar pulse is short and well shaped and relatively free from ringing, even compared with the existing borehole antennas. Two antenna sets were tested: one centered at 60 MHz and another above 100 MHz. Both produced excellent radar pictures when tested in tunnels in Stripa mine. The antennas have been designed to be easy to carry, since the signal quality often depends on the way the antenna is held relative to electric conductors in the tunnels. (au) (46 figs., 57 refs.)

Radar remote sensing in biology

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Richard K.; Simonett, David S.

1967-01-01

The present status of research on discrimination of natural and cultivated vegetation using radar imaging systems is sketched. The value of multiple polarization radar in improved discrimination of vegetation types over monoscopic radars is also documented. Possible future use of multi-frequency, multi-polarization radar systems for all weather agricultural survey is noted.

Spectral Polarimetric Features Analysis of Wind Turbine Clutter in Weather Radar

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yin, J.; Krasnov, O.A.; Unal, C.M.H.; Medagli, S.; Russchenberg, H.W.J.

2017-01-01

Wind turbine clutter has gradually become a concern for the radar community for its increasing size and quantity worldwide. Based on the S-band polarimetric Doppler PARSAX radar measurements, this paper demonstrates the micro-Doppler features and spectral-polarimetric characteristic of wind turbine

Signal processing in noise waveform radar

CERN Document Server

Kulpa, Krzysztof

2013-01-01

This book is devoted to the emerging technology of noise waveform radar and its signal processing aspects. It is a new kind of radar, which use noise-like waveform to illuminate the target. The book includes an introduction to basic radar theory, starting from classical pulse radar, signal compression, and wave radar. The book then discusses the properties, difficulties and potential of noise radar systems, primarily for low-power and short-range civil applications. The contribution of modern signal processing techniques to making noise radar practical are emphasized, and application examples

Low-resolution Airborne Radar Air/ground Moving Target Classification and Recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Fu-you

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Radar Target Recognition (RTR is one of the most important needs of modern and future airborne surveillance radars, and it is still one of the key technologies of radar. The majority of present algorithms are based on wide-band radar signal, which not only needs high performance radar system and high target Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR, but also is sensitive to angle between radar and target. Low-Resolution Airborne Surveillance Radar (LRASR in downward-looking mode, slow flying aircraft and ground moving truck have similar Doppler velocity and Radar Cross Section (RCS, leading to the problem that LRASR air/ground moving targets can not be distinguished, which also disturbs detection, tracking, and classification of low altitude slow flying aircraft to solve these issues, an algorithm based on narrowband fractal feature and phase modulation feature is presented for LRASR air/ground moving targets classification. Real measured data is applied to verify the algorithm, the classification results validate the proposed method, helicopters and truck can be well classified, the average discrimination rate is more than 89% when SNR ≥ 15 dB.

Radar Weather Observation

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Radar Weather Observation is a set of archived historical manuscripts stored on microfiche. The primary source of these radar weather observations manuscript records...

Phased-array design for MST and ST radars

Science.gov (United States)

Ecklund, W. L.

1986-01-01

All of the existing radar systems fully dedicated to clear-air radar studies use some type of phased-array antennas. The effects of beam-steering techniques including feed networks and phase shifters; sidelobe control; ground-clutter suppression; low altitude coverage; arrays with integrated radiating elements and feed networks; analysis of coaxial-collinear antennas; use of arrays with multiple beams; and array testing and measure on structural design of the antenna are discussed.

A study of different fabrics to increase radar cross section of humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Ödman, Torbjörn; Welinder, Jan; Andersson, Nils; Otterskog, Magnus; Lindén, Maria; Ödman, Natalia; Larsson, Christer

2015-01-01

This purpose of the study was to increase the visibility on radar for unprotected pedestrians with the aid of conducting fabric. The experiment comprised measurements of four types of fabric to determine the radio frequency properties, such as radar cross section (RCS) for the vehicle radar frequency 77 GHz and transmission (shielding) in the frequency range 3-18 GHz. Two different thicknesses of polypyrrole (PPy) nonvowen fabric were tested and one thickness for 30 % and 40 % stainless steel fabrics respectively. A jacket with the thinner nonvowen material and one with 40 % steel were tested and compared to an unmodified jacket in the RCS measurement. The measurement showed an increase in RCS of 4 dB for the jacket with the 40 % steel lining compared to the unmodified jacket. The transmission measurement was aimed at determining the fabric with the highest transmission of an incoming radio wave. The 30 % steel fabric and the two thicknesses of the nonvowen fabrics were tested. One practical application is for example the use of radar reflective material in search and rescue (SAR) clothes. The study showed that the 30 % steel fabric was the best candidate for further RCS measurements.

A review of array radars

Science.gov (United States)

Brookner, E.

1981-10-01

Achievements in the area of array radars are illustrated by such activities as the operational deployment of the large high-power, high-range-resolution Cobra Dane; the operational deployment of two all-solid-state high-power, large UHF Pave Paws radars; and the development of the SAM multifunction Patriot radar. This paper reviews the following topics: array radars steered in azimuth and elevation by phase shifting (phase-phase steered arrays); arrays steered + or - 60 deg, limited scan arrays, hemispherical coverage, and omnidirectional coverage arrays; array radars steering electronically in only one dimension, either by frequency or by phase steering; and array radar antennas which use no electronic scanning but instead use array antennas for achieving low antenna sidelobes.

Study on the shipboard radar reconnaissance equipment azimuth benchmark method

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhenxing; Jiang, Ning; Ma, Qian; Liu, Songtao; Wang, Longtao

2015-10-01

The future naval battle will take place in a complex electromagnetic environment. Therefore, seizing the electromagnetic superiority has become the major actions of the navy. Radar reconnaissance equipment is an important part of the system to obtain and master battlefield electromagnetic radiation source information. Azimuth measurement function is one of the main function radar reconnaissance equipments. Whether the accuracy of direction finding meets the requirements, determines the vessels successful or not active jamming, passive jamming, guided missile attack and other combat missions, having a direct bearing on the vessels combat capabilities . How to test the performance of radar reconnaissance equipment, while affecting the task as little as possible is a problem. This paper, based on radar signal simulator and GPS positioning equipment, researches and experiments on one new method, which povides the azimuth benchmark required by the direction-finding precision test anytime anywhere, for the ships at jetty to test radar reconnaissance equipment performance in direction-finding. It provides a powerful means for the naval radar reconnaissance equipments daily maintenance and repair work[1].

MST radar and polarization lidar observations of tropical cirrus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Bhavani Kumar

2001-08-01

Full Text Available Significant gaps in our understanding of global cirrus effects on the climate system involve the role of frequently occurring tropical cirrus. Much of the cirrus in the atmosphere is largely due to frequent cumulus and convective activity in the tropics. In the Indian sub-tropical region, the deep convective activity is very prominent from April to December, which is a favorable period for the formation of deep cumulus clouds. The fibrous anvils of these clouds, laden with ice crystals, are one of the source mechanisms for much of the cirrus in the atmosphere. In the present study, several passages of tropical cirrus were investigated by simultaneously operating MST radar and a co-located polarization lidar at the National MST Radar Facility (NMRF, Gadanki (13.45° N, 79.18° E, India to understand its structure, the background wind field and the microphysics at the cloud boundaries. The lidar system used is capable of measuring the degree of depolarization in the laser backscatter. It has identified several different cirrus structures with a peak linear depolarization ratio (LDR in the range of 0.1 to 0.32. Simultaneous observations of tropical cirrus by the VHF Doppler radar indicated a clear enhancement of reflectivity detected in the vicinity of the cloud boundaries, as revealed by the lidar and are strongly dependent on observed cloud LDR. An inter-comparison of radar reflectivity observed for vertical and oblique beams reveals that the radar-enhanced reflectivity at the cloud boundaries is also accompanied by significant aspect sensitivity. These observations indicate the presence of anisotropic turbulence at the cloud boundaries. Radar velocity measurements show that boundaries of cirrus are associated with enhanced horizontal winds, significant vertical shear in the horizontal winds and reduced vertical velocity. Therefore, these measurements indicate that a circulation at the cloud boundaries suggest an entrainment taking place close to

MST radar and polarization lidar observations of tropical cirrus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Bhavani Kumar

Full Text Available Significant gaps in our understanding of global cirrus effects on the climate system involve the role of frequently occurring tropical cirrus. Much of the cirrus in the atmosphere is largely due to frequent cumulus and convective activity in the tropics. In the Indian sub-tropical region, the deep convective activity is very prominent from April to December, which is a favorable period for the formation of deep cumulus clouds. The fibrous anvils of these clouds, laden with ice crystals, are one of the source mechanisms for much of the cirrus in the atmosphere. In the present study, several passages of tropical cirrus were investigated by simultaneously operating MST radar and a co-located polarization lidar at the National MST Radar Facility (NMRF, Gadanki (13.45° N, 79.18° E, India to understand its structure, the background wind field and the microphysics at the cloud boundaries. The lidar system used is capable of measuring the degree of depolarization in the laser backscatter. It has identified several different cirrus structures with a peak linear depolarization ratio (LDR in the range of 0.1 to 0.32. Simultaneous observations of tropical cirrus by the VHF Doppler radar indicated a clear enhancement of reflectivity detected in the vicinity of the cloud boundaries, as revealed by the lidar and are strongly dependent on observed cloud LDR. An inter-comparison of radar reflectivity observed for vertical and oblique beams reveals that the radar-enhanced reflectivity at the cloud boundaries is also accompanied by significant aspect sensitivity. These observations indicate the presence of anisotropic turbulence at the cloud boundaries. Radar velocity measurements show that boundaries of cirrus are associated with enhanced horizontal winds, significant vertical shear in the horizontal winds and reduced vertical velocity. Therefore, these measurements indicate that a circulation at the cloud boundaries suggest an entrainment taking place close to

Weather radar performance monitoring using a metallic-grid ground-scatterer

Science.gov (United States)

Falconi, Marta Tecla; Montopoli, Mario; Marzano, Frank Silvio; Baldini, Luca

2017-10-01

The use of ground return signals is investigated for checks on the calibration of power measurements of a polarimetric C-band radar. To this aim, a peculiar permanent single scatterer (PSS) consisting of a big metallic roof with a periodic mesh grid structure and having a hemisphere-like shape is considered. The latter is positioned in the near-field region of the weather radar and its use, as a reference calibrator, shows fairly good results in terms of reflectivity and differential reflectivity monitoring. In addition, the use of PSS indirectly allows to check for the radar antenna de-pointing which is another issue usually underestimated when dealing with weather radars. Because of the periodic structure of the considered PSS, simulations of its electromagnetic behavior were relatively easy to perform. To this goal, we used an electromagnetic Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) with an ad-hoc numerical implementation of a full-wave solution to model our PSS in terms of reflectivity and differential reflectivity factor. Comparison of model results and experimental measurements are then shown in this work. Our preliminary investigation can pave the way for future studies aiming at characterizing ground-clutter returns in a more accurate way for radar calibration purposes.

Radar Remote Sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Rosen, Paul A.

2012-01-01

This lecture was just a taste of radar remote sensing techniques and applications. Other important areas include Stereo radar grammetry. PolInSAR for volumetric structure mapping. Agricultural monitoring, soil moisture, ice-mapping, etc. The broad range of sensor types, frequencies of observation and availability of sensors have enabled radar sensors to make significant contributions in a wide area of earth and planetary remote sensing sciences. The range of applications, both qualitative and quantitative, continue to expand with each new generation of sensors.

Mapping high-latitude plasma convection with coherent HF radars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruohoniemi, J.M.; Greenwald, R.A.; Baker, K.B.; Villain, J.-P.; Hanuise, C.; Kelly, J.

1989-01-01

In this decade, a new technique for the study of ionosphere electrodynamics has been implemented in an evolving generation of high-latitude HF radars. Coherent backscatter from electron density irregularities at F region altitudes is utilized to observe convective plasma motion. The electronic beam forming and scanning capabilities of the radars afford an excellent combination of spatial (∼50 km) and temporal (∼1 min) resolution of the large-scale (∼10 6 km 2 ) convection pattern. In this paper, we outline the methods developed to synthesize the HF radar data into two-dimensional maps of convection velocity. Although any single radar can directly measure only the line-of-sight, or radial, component of the plasma motion, the convection pattern is sometimes so uniform and stable that scanning in azimuth serves to determine the transverse component as well. Under more variable conditions, data from a second radar are necessary to unambiguously resolve velocity vectors. In either case, a limited region of vector solution can be expanded into contiguous areas of single-radar radial velocity data by noting that the convection must everywhere be divergence-free, i.e., ∇·v=0. It is thus often possible to map velocity vectors without extensive second-radar coverage. We present several examples of two-dimensional velocity maps. These show instances of L shell-aligned flow in the dusk sector, the reversal of convection near magnetic midnight, and counterstreaming in the dayside cleft. We include a study of merged coherent and incoherent radar data that illustrates the applicability of these methods to other ionospheric radar systems. copyright American Geophysical Union 1989

Noncontact Detection and Analysis of Respiratory Function Using Microwave Doppler Radar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yee Siong Lee

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Real-time respiratory measurement with Doppler Radar has an important advantage in the monitoring of certain conditions such as sleep apnoea, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS, and many other general clinical uses requiring fast nonwearable and non-contact measurement of the respiratory function. In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility of using Doppler Radar in measuring the basic respiratory frequencies (via fast Fourier transform for four different types of breathing scenarios: normal breathing, rapid breathing, slow inhalation-fast exhalation, and fast inhalation-slow exhalation conducted in a laboratory environment. A high correlation factor was achieved between the Doppler Radar-based measurements and the conventional measurement device, a respiration strap. We also extended this work from basic signal acquisition to extracting detailed features of breathing function (I : E ratio. This facilitated additional insights into breathing activity and is likely to trigger a number of new applications in respiratory medicine.

Basic study for tsunami detection with DBF ocean radar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakai, Shin'ichi; Matsuyama, Masafumi; Okuda, Kouzou; Uehara, Fumihiro

2015-01-01

To develop early tsunami warning system utilizing ocean radars, the evaluation of the variety of measuring coverage and data accuracy is indispensable in real oceans. The field observation was carried out at 5 minutes interval with two digital beam forming ocean radars with VHF band from 2012 to 2014 in the sea of Enshu. The high data acquisition areas are found in the extent of 17 km off the coast on a hill site and of 13 km on a low ground site. The measured current by the ocean radar were well correlated with that by the current-meter in the depth of 2 m near the coast with the correlation coefficient of ∼0.6. It is inferred that the main factor of difference in both data sets was due to the presence of wind-driven current through the multi-regression analysis with both current data and wind data. In addition, the order of the temporal current deviations as to the representative time-scale of one hour is about 5 cm/s under the ordinary sea conditions, which suggest that ocean radars could sufficiently detect the current deviation due to grant tsunami. (author)

Field-aligned currents and ionospheric parameters deduced from EISCAT radar measurements in the post-midnight sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Sugino

2002-09-01

Full Text Available Attempting to derive the field-aligned current (FAC density using the EISCAT radar and to understand the role of the ionosphere on closing FACs, we conducted special radar experiments with the EISCAT radar on 9 October 1999. In order to derive the gradient of the ionospheric conductivity (grad S and the divergence of the electric field (div E nearly simultaneously, a special experiment employed an EISCAT radar mode which let the transmitting antenna sequentially point to four directions within 10 min; two pairs of the four directions formed two orthogonal diagonals of a square.  Our analysis of the EISCAT radar data disclosed that SP div E and E · grad SP produced FACs with the same direction inside a stable broad arc around 05:00 MLT, when the EISCAT radar presumably crossed the boundary between the large-scale upward and downward current regions. In the most successfully observed case, in which the conductances and the electric field were spatially varying with little temporal variations, the contribution of SP div E was nearly twice as large as that of E · grad SP . On the other hand, the contribution of (b × E · grad SH was small and not effective in closing FACs. The present EISCAT radar mode along with auroral images also enables us to focus on the temporal or spatial variation of high electric fields associated with auroral arcs. In the present experiment, the electric field associated with a stable arc was confined in a spatially restricted region, within ~ 100 km from the arc, with no distinct depletion of electron density. We also detected a region of the high arc-associated electric field, accompanied by the depletion of electron density above 110 km. Using auroral images, this region was identified as a dark spot with a spatial scale of over 150 × 150 km. The dark spot and the electron depletion were likely in existence for a limited time of a few minutes.Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; electric fields and currents

Principles of modern radar radar applications

CERN Document Server

Scheer, James A

2013-01-01

Principles of Modern Radar: Radar Applications is the third of the three-volume seriesof what was originally designed to be accomplished in one volume. As the final volumeof the set, it finishes the original vision of a complete yet bounded reference for radartechnology. This volume describes fifteen different system applications or class ofapplications in more detail than can be found in Volumes I or II.As different as the applications described, there is a difference in how these topicsare treated by the authors. Whereas in Volumes I and II there is strict adherence tochapter format and leve

Using Radar, Lidar, and Radiometer measurements to Classify Cloud Type and Study Middle-Level Cloud Properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Zhien

2010-06-29

The project is mainly focused on the characterization of cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties, especially for mixed-phased clouds and middle level ice clouds by combining radar, lidar, and radiometer measurements available from the ACRF sites. First, an advanced mixed-phase cloud retrieval algorithm will be developed to cover all mixed-phase clouds observed at the ACRF NSA site. The algorithm will be applied to the ACRF NSA observations to generate a long-term arctic mixed-phase cloud product for model validations and arctic mixed-phase cloud processes studies. To improve the representation of arctic mixed-phase clouds in GCMs, an advanced understanding of mixed-phase cloud processes is needed. By combining retrieved mixed-phase cloud microphysical properties with in situ data and large-scale meteorological data, the project aim to better understand the generations of ice crystals in supercooled water clouds, the maintenance mechanisms of the arctic mixed-phase clouds, and their connections with large-scale dynamics. The project will try to develop a new retrieval algorithm to study more complex mixed-phase clouds observed at the ACRF SGP site. Compared with optically thin ice clouds, optically thick middle level ice clouds are less studied because of limited available tools. The project will develop a new two wavelength radar technique for optically thick ice cloud study at SGP site by combining the MMCR with the W-band radar measurements. With this new algorithm, the SGP site will have a better capability to study all ice clouds. Another area of the proposal is to generate long-term cloud type classification product for the multiple ACRF sites. The cloud type classification product will not only facilitates the generation of the integrated cloud product by applying different retrieval algorithms to different types of clouds operationally, but will also support other research to better understand cloud properties and to validate model simulations. The

High Frequency Radar Locations in the United States as of February 2016.

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset show the point locations of High Frequency (HF) radar systems across the US. HF radars measure the speed and direction of ocean surface currents in near...

EISCAT as a tristatic auroral radar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schlegel, K.; Moorcroft, D.R.

1989-01-01

The authors have used the European Incoherent Scatter radar (EISCAT) in a mode which allows them to use it as a tristatic auroral radar. Observing at an elevation of less than 10 degree with the Tromsoe beam, they achieved magnetic aspect angles between 4 degree and 6 degree at 105 km altitude and recorded coherent echoes simultaneously from all three sites. The backscattered power for these echoes is up to 3 orders of magnitude higher than typical incoherent scatter echoes. Contrary to most existing auroral radars, they can calibrate the coherent echo strength and thus determine absolute values of the coherent backscatter cross section. Moreover, switching the common volume in short time intervals from E to F region heights, permits the determination of the E x B drift vector almost simultaneously with the E region coherent scattering measurements. This opens unique possibilities to study the E region plasma instabilities and their driving force. The main aim of this paper is to describe the capabilities of EISCAT as an auroral radar and to present and discuss results in terms of coherent backscatter cross sections, coherent spectra shape, irregularity phase velocities, and aspect angle dependence. In forthcoming papers several of these topics will be explored in more detail

Measurement of Seaward Ground Displacements on Coastal Landfill Area Using Radar Interferometry

Science.gov (United States)

Baek, W.-K.; Jung, H.-S.

2018-04-01

In order to understand the mechanism of subsidence and help reducing damage, researchers has been observed the line-of-sight subsidence on the Noksan industrial complex using SAR Interferometry(InSAR) and suggested subsidence prediction models. Although these researches explained a spatially uneven ground subsidence near the seaside, they could not have been explained the occurrence of the newly proposed seaward horizontal, especially nearly north-ward, displacement because of the geometric limitation of InSAR measurements. In this study, we measured the seaward ground displacements trend on the coastal landfill area, Noksan Industrial Complex. We set the interferometric pairs from an ascending and a descending orbits strip map data of ALOS PALSAR2. We employed InSAR and MAI stacking approaches for the both orbits respectively in order to improve the measurement. Finally, seaward deformation was estimated by retrieving three-dimensional displacements from multi-geometric displacements. As a results, maximally 3.3 and 0.7 cm/year of ground displacements for the vertical and seaward directions. In further study, we plan to generate InSAR and MAI stacking measurements with additional SAR data to mitigate tropospheric effect and noise well. Such a seaward observation approach using spaceborne radar is expected to be effective in observing the long-term movements on coastal landfill area.

Recalculation of an artificially released avalanche with SAMOS and validation with measurements from a pulsed Doppler radar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Sailer

2002-01-01

Full Text Available A joint experiment was carried out on 10 February 1999 by the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SFISAR and the Austrian Institute for Avalanche and Torrent Research (AIATR, of the Federal Office and Re-search Centre for Forests, BFW to measure forces and velocities at the full scale experimental site CRÊTA BESSE in VALLÉE DE LA SIONNE, Canton du Valais, Switzerland. A huge avalanche could be released artificially, which permitted extensive investigations (dynamic measurements, im-provement of measurement systems, simulation model verification, design of protective measures, etc.. The results of the velocity measurements from the dual frequency pulsed Doppler avalanche radar of the AIATR and the recalculation with the numerical simulation model SAMOS are explained in this paper.

Prospective IS-MST radar. Potential and diagnostic capabilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Potekhin A.P.

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In the next few years, a new radar is planned to be built near Irkutsk. It should have capabilities of incoherent scatter (IS radars and mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere (MST radars [Zherebtsov et al., 2011]. The IS-MST radar is a phased array of two separated antenna panels with a multichannel digital receiving system, which allows detailed space-time processing of backscattered signal. This paper describes characteristics, configuration, and capabilities of the antenna and transceiver systems of this radar. We estimate its potential in basic operating modes to study the ionosphere by the IS method at heights above 100 km and the atmosphere with the use of signals scattered from refractive index fluctuations, caused by turbulent mixing at heights below 100 km. The modeling shows that the radar will allow us to regularly measure neutral atmosphere parameters at heights up to 26 km as well as to observe mesosphere summer echoes at heights near 85 km in the presence of charged ice particles (an increase in Schmidt number and mesosphere winter echoes at heights near 65 km with increasing background electron density. Evaluation of radar resources at the IS mode in two height ranges 100–600 and 600–2000 km demonstrates that in the daytime and with the accumulation time of 10 min, the upper boundaries of electron density and ionospheric plasma temperature are ~1500 and ~1300 km respectively, with the standard deviation of no more than 10 %. The upper boundary of plasma drift velocity is ~1100 km with the standard deviation of 45 m/s. The estimation of interferometric capabilities of the MST radar shows that it has a high sensitivity to objects of angular size near 7.5 arc min, and its potential accuracy in determining target angles can reach 40 arc sec.

Radar and infrared remote sensing of terrain, water resources, arctic sea ice, and agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Biggs, A. W.

1983-01-01

Radar range measurements, basic waveforms of radar systems, and radar displays are initially described. These are followed by backscatter from several types of terrain and vegetation as a function of frequency and grazing angle. Analytical models for this backscatter include the facet models of radar return, with range-angle, velocity-range, velocity-angle, range, velocity, and angular only discriminations. Several side-looking airborne radar geometries are presented. Radar images of Arctic sea ice, fresh water lake ice, cloud-covered terrain, and related areas are presented to identify applications of radar imagery. Volume scatter models are applied to radar imagery from alpine snowfields. Short pulse ice thickness radar for subsurface probes is discussed in fresh-water ice and sea ice detection. Infrared scanners, including multispectral, are described. Diffusion of cold water into a river, Arctic sea ice, power plant discharges, volcanic heat, and related areas are presented in thermal imagery. Multispectral radar and infrared imagery are discussed, with comparisons of photographic, infrared, and radar imagery of the same terrain or subjects.

Effects of surface roughness on sea ice freeboard retrieval with an Airborne Ku-Band SAR radar altimeter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hendricks, Stefan; Stenseng, Lars; Helm, Veit

2010-01-01

to investigate sea ice volume changes on an Arctic wide scale. Freeboard retrieval requires precise radar range measurements to the ice surface, therefore we investigate the penetration of the Ku-Band radar waves into the overlying snow cover as well as the effects of sub-footprint-scale surface roughness using...... airborne radar and laser altimeters. We find regional variable penetration of the radar signal at late spring conditions, where the difference of the radar and the reference laser range measurement never agrees with the expected snow thickness. In addition, a rough surface can lead to biases...

Survey of Ultra-wideband Radar

Science.gov (United States)

Mokole, Eric L.; Hansen, Pete

The development of UWB radar over the last four decades is very briefly summarized. A discussion of the meaning of UWB is followed by a short history of UWB radar developments and discussions of key supporting technologies and current UWB radars. Selected UWB radars and the associated applications are highlighted. Applications include detecting and imaging buried mines, detecting and mapping underground utilities, detecting and imaging objects obscured by foliage, through-wall detection in urban areas, short-range detection of suicide bombs, and the characterization of the impulse responses of various artificial and naturally occurring scattering objects. In particular, the Naval Research Laboratory's experimental, low-power, dual-polarized, short-pulse, ultra-high resolution radar is used to discuss applications and issues of UWB radar. Some crucial issues that are problematic to UWB radar are spectral availability, electromagnetic interference and compatibility, difficulties with waveform control/shaping, hardware limitations in the transmission chain, and the unreliability of high-power sources for sustained use above 2 GHz.

Hourly surface currents measured by high frequency Wellen radars off western Oahu, Hawaii, from September 2002 to May 2003 (NODC Accession 0013113)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — A pair of High Frequency Wellen radars (WERA) shore-based at southwest Oahu (Ko'Olina) and northwest Oahu (Kaena), Hawaii measured surface currents over a nine-month...

Meteor detection on ST (MST) radars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avery, S.K.

1987-01-01

The ability to detect radar echoes from backscatter due to turbulent irregularities of the radio refractive index in the clear atmosphere has lead to an increasing number of established mesosphere - stratosphere - troposphere (MST or ST) radars. Humidity and temperature variations are responsible for the echo in the troposphere and stratosphere and turbulence acting on electron density gradients provides the echo in the mesosphere. The MST radar and its smaller version, the ST radar, are pulsed Doppler radars operating in the VHF - UHF frequency range. These echoes can be used to determine upper atmosphere winds at little extra cost to the ST radar configuration. In addition, the meteor echoes can supplement mesospheric data from an MST radar. The detection techniques required on the ST radar for delineating meteor echo returns are described

Temperature sheets and aspect sensitive radar echoes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Luce

Full Text Available here have been years of discussion and controversy about the existence of very thin and stable temperature sheets and their relationship to the VHF radar aspect sensitivity. It is only recently that very high-resolution in situ temperature observations have brought credence to the reality and ubiquity of these structures in the free atmosphere and to their contribution to radar echo enhancements along the vertical. Indeed, measurements with very high-resolution sensors are still extremely rare and rather difficult to obtain outside of the planetary boundary layer. They have only been carried out up to the lower stratosphere by Service d’A´ eronomie (CNRS, France for about 10 years. The controversy also persisted due to the volume resolution of the (Mesosphere-Stratosphere-Troposphere VHF radars which is coarse with respect to sheet thickness, although widely sufficient for meteorological or mesoscale investigations. The contribution within the range gate of many of these structures, which are advected by the wind, and decay and grow at different instants and could be distorted either by internal gravity waves or turbulence fields, could lead to radar echoes with statistical properties similar to those produced by anisotropic turbulence. Some questions thus remain regarding the manner in which temperature sheets contribute to VHF radar echoes. In particular, the zenithal and azimuthal angular dependence of the echo power may not only be produced by diffuse reflection on stable distorted or corrugated sheets, but also by extra contributions from anisotropic turbulence occurring in the stratified atmosphere. Thus, for several years, efforts have been put forth to improve the radar height resolution in order to better describe thin structures. Frequency interferometric techniques are widely used and have been recently further developed with the implementation of high-resolution data processings. We begin by reviewing briefly some characteristics

Temperature sheets and aspect sensitive radar echoes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Luce

2001-08-01

Full Text Available here have been years of discussion and controversy about the existence of very thin and stable temperature sheets and their relationship to the VHF radar aspect sensitivity. It is only recently that very high-resolution in situ temperature observations have brought credence to the reality and ubiquity of these structures in the free atmosphere and to their contribution to radar echo enhancements along the vertical. Indeed, measurements with very high-resolution sensors are still extremely rare and rather difficult to obtain outside of the planetary boundary layer. They have only been carried out up to the lower stratosphere by Service d’A´ eronomie (CNRS, France for about 10 years. The controversy also persisted due to the volume resolution of the (Mesosphere-Stratosphere-Troposphere VHF radars which is coarse with respect to sheet thickness, although widely sufficient for meteorological or mesoscale investigations. The contribution within the range gate of many of these structures, which are advected by the wind, and decay and grow at different instants and could be distorted either by internal gravity waves or turbulence fields, could lead to radar echoes with statistical properties similar to those produced by anisotropic turbulence. Some questions thus remain regarding the manner in which temperature sheets contribute to VHF radar echoes. In particular, the zenithal and azimuthal angular dependence of the echo power may not only be produced by diffuse reflection on stable distorted or corrugated sheets, but also by extra contributions from anisotropic turbulence occurring in the stratified atmosphere. Thus, for several years, efforts have been put forth to improve the radar height resolution in order to better describe thin structures. Frequency interferometric techniques are widely used and have been recently further developed with the implementation of high-resolution data processings. We begin by reviewing briefly some characteristics

CAMEX-4 TOGA RADAR V1

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The TOGA radar dataset consists of browse and radar data collected from the TOGA radar during the CAMEX-4 experiment. TOGA is a C-band linear polarized doppler radar...

Simulador de radar meteorológico basado en modelo de Reflectividades en el espacio; Weather radar simulator based on space Reflectivity distribution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladímir Rodríguez Diez

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Los radares meteorológicos son potentes instrumentos de medición de potencia eléctrica. Los simuladores de radar permiten estudiar la influencia de todos sus parámetros en las mediciones que realiza. Su aplicación en laactualidad comprende el estudio de la influencia de las propiedades físicas de los hidrometeoros y la configuración del radar en la observación; y el estudio del desempeño de los modelos climáticos a partir de la confrontación de lasalida del simulador con la observación real. En este trabajo se utiliza como entrada al simulador una distribución de Reflectividades (parámetro proporcional a la potencia retornada en la atmósfera; obviando la compleja relación que existe entre esta última y las propiedades físicas del blanco meteorológico. El resultado es un simulador que posibilita el estudio de los efectos de patrón de escaneo de la atmósfera y el esquema de adquisición yprocesamientos de los datos, sobre la percepción de un blanco meteorológico. Weather radar are powerful measurement instruments for electric power. Radar simulators allows to investigate the influence of its parameter on measurements.Its application comprehend the study of influence of hydrometeor's physical properties and radar configurations in observation; and the study of climate model performance upon the confrontation of simulator output versus actual observations. In this work simulator input is given as a spacial reflectivity (proportional to returned power distribution in atmosphere, obviating the complex relation between this and physical properties of meteorological target. The result is a simulator for the study of volume scan pattern and acquisition and processing scheme effects on weather target observation.

Hardware in the loop simulation of arbitrary magnitude shaped correlated radar clutter

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Strydom, JJ

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a simple process for the generation of arbitrary probability distributions of complex data with correlation from sample to sample, optimized for hardware in the loop radar environment simulation. Measured radar clutter is used...

Shigaraki UAV-Radar Experiment (ShUREX): overview of the campaign with some preliminary results

Science.gov (United States)

Kantha, Lakshmi; Lawrence, Dale; Luce, Hubert; Hashiguchi, Hiroyuki; Tsuda, Toshitaka; Wilson, Richard; Mixa, Tyler; Yabuki, Masanori

2017-12-01

The Shigaraki unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-Radar Experiment (ShUREX) is an international (USA-Japan-France) observational campaign, whose overarching goal is to demonstrate the utility of small, lightweight, inexpensive, autonomous UAVs in probing and monitoring the lower troposphere and to promote synergistic use of UAVs and very high frequency (VHF) radars. The 2-week campaign lasting from June 1 to June 14, 2015, was carried out at the Middle and Upper Atmosphere (MU) Observatory in Shigaraki, Japan. During the campaign, the DataHawk UAV, developed at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and equipped with high-frequency response cold wire and pitot tube sensors (as well as an iMET radiosonde), was flown near and over the VHF-band MU radar. Measurements in the atmospheric column in the immediate vicinity of the radar were obtained. Simultaneous and continuous operation of the radar in range imaging mode enabled fine-scale structures in the atmosphere to be visualized by the radar. It also permitted the UAV to be commanded to sample interesting structures, guided in near real time by the radar images. This overview provides a description of the ShUREX campaign and some interesting but preliminary results of the very first simultaneous and intensive probing of turbulent structures by UAVs and the MU radar. The campaign demonstrated the validity and utility of the radar range imaging technique in obtaining very high vertical resolution ( 20 m) images of echo power in the atmospheric column, which display evolving fine-scale atmospheric structures in unprecedented detail. The campaign also permitted for the very first time the evaluation of the consistency of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rates in turbulent structures inferred from the spectral broadening of the backscattered radar signal and direct, in situ measurements by the high-frequency response velocity sensor on the UAV. The data also enabled other turbulence parameters such as the temperature