MRI: Acquisition of Mobile Facility for Providing High-Resolution Input to Hydrologic Observatories

这项重大研究仪器(MRI)计划赠款的资金将支持爱荷华大学土木工程与环境工程系购买四个挂车安装的x波段极化/多普勒雷达系统。双极化雷达设计将允许高空间(1.5度波束宽度或在10公里范围内约250平方米像素)和时间(约1-2分钟扫描时间)对降雨分布/速率、三维风场的遥感，并区分10-30平方公里区域的降雨、冰雹和降雪。ProSense公司将建造四个完整的定制移动x波段(3厘米波长)雷达系统。这些系统将包括6英尺长的雷达系统。直径雷达天线、仰角和方位可变底座。这些系统将安装在配备液压调平系统的卡车拖车上，并安装在120 VAC发电机上。流动雷达网将为气象和水文研究提供支助，这些研究需要对区域风暴单元内的降水变化进行高分辨率观测。对气象学和水文学当前有兴趣的多个前沿领域的研究将受益于拟议的雷达网，这些雷达网包括：1)雷达测量流域降雨参数的不确定性的基础研究；2)多雷达和激光雷达对降雨事件的成像，以研究国家下一代雷达S波段网络(平均4平方公里像素分辨率，最大反射率范围约230公里)与弹性扫描激光雷达(米级像素分辨率；距离=1-2公里)之间的非线性尺度效应；3)城市化对气象和水文过程的影响；4)未测量流域的洪水预报；以及5)土壤侵蚀过程。更好地了解风暴事件与流域水文系统动态之间的关系，对于水土资源管理和减灾具有明显的社会意义。流动雷达网将促进跨气象学和流域水文学学科的协作研究，并将向外部用户提供设备。获得的数据将以无线方式实时传输，并最终提供给社区使用。学生将通过在土木工程系以及电气和计算机工程系开设遥感和雷达应用课程，从事雷达系统的使用和开发。PI在爱荷华大学研究生教育和教授联盟(AGEP)项目中很活跃，该项目的主要目标是大幅增加授予科学、技术、工程和数学领域代表性较低的美国少数民族学生的博士学位数量。AGEP支持为学生提供暑期实习，为他们提供实践研究经验。

Funds from this Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program grant will support acquisition of four trailer mounted x-band polarimetric/Doppler radar systems by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Iowa. The dual polarization radar design will allow for high spatial (1.5 deg beamwidth or ca. 250 m2 pixels at 10 km range) and temporal (ca. 1-2 minute scan times) remote sensing of rainfall distribution/rate, the 3-D wind field and to discriminate between rainfall, hail and snow over regions of 10-30 km2. Four complete custom-built mobile x-band (3 cm wavelength) radar systems will be built by ProSensing Inc. The systems will include the 6 ft. diameter radar antennae and elevation and azimuth variable pedestals. These systems will be mounted on truck trailers equipped with hydraulic leveling systems and on board 120 VAC generators. The mobile radar network will support meteorological and hydrologic research requiring high resolution observations of precipitation variability within regional storm cells. Research on multiple fronts of current interest in meteorology and hydrology will benefit from the proposed radar network including: 1) fundamental studies of uncertainty in radar measurement of rainfall parameters in gauged basins; 2) multi-radar and LiDAR imaging of rainfall events to study non-linear scaling effects between the range of the national NEXRAD (Next Generation Radar) s-band network (avg 4 km2 pixel resolution, maximum range of reflectivity ~ 230 km) and elastic scanning LiDAR (meter scale pixel resolution; range = 1-2 km); 3) studies of the effects of urbanization on meteorological and hydrologic processes; 4) flood prediction in ungauged basins; and 5) soil erosion processes. A better understanding of the relationships between storm events and hydrologic system dynamics of watersheds have clear societal relevance for water and soil resources management and hazards mitigation. The mobile radar network will facilitate collaborative research across the disciplines of meteorology and watershed hydrology and the equipment will be made available to external users. Data acquired will be wirelessly transmitted in real-time and will ultimately be made available for community access. Students will be engaged in the use and development of the radar system through the creation of courses in remote sensing and radar applications in both the departments of Civil Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering. The PI's are active in the University of Iowa Alliance for Graduate Education and Professoriate (AGEP) program for which the primary goal is to significantly increase the number of PhD degrees awarded to underrepresented U.S. minority students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. AGEP supports summer internships for students to provide them with hands-on research experiences.