Experiments in X-band Phased-Array Weather Radar Polarimetry

相控阵雷达是近年来应用于云、降水遥感的一项成熟技术。与目前的天气雷达相比，这些雷达系统有几个优点，但在处理有助于区分降水类型的偏振变量时，存在偏差。这一奖项将允许研究人员进行实验，目的是更清楚地了解相控阵技术在天气偏振测量中的能力和局限性。该奖项的更广泛的社会影响与改进技术有关，这些技术最终可能被用于研究和预报恶劣天气。学生将直接参与该项目，为他们提供宝贵的培训经验。雷达试验台将向其他研究人员提供，它可能被用作填补当地空白的雷达。相控阵雷达用于点测量有很长的历史，但使用相控阵进行极化测量比传统的天线设计要复杂得多。PI将与雷神低功率雷达(LPR)进行工程和观测实验，以研究相控阵天气雷达天线的极化性能、偏差和其他测量不确定因素，并探索包括快速扫描、极化校正和备用极化基地在内的新功能。为了进行比较，LPR将与机械扫描雷达放在同一位置。

Phased-array radar is a mature technology that has recently been applied to remote sensing of clouds and precipitation. These radar systems have several advantages over current weather radars, however there are biases introduced when dealing with polarimetric variables that help to discriminate between precipitation types. This award will allow researchers to conduct experiments with the goal of providing a clearer picture of the capabilities and limitations of phased-array technology for weather polarimetry. The broader societal impacts of the award are related to improving technology that could eventually be used to study and forecast severe weather. Students would be directly involved in the project, giving them valuable training experience. The radar testbed will be made available to other researchers and it could potentially be used as a gap-filling radar for the local region. Phased-array radar has a long history of use for point measurements, but making polarimetric measurements using phased-array is more complicated than for a traditional antenna design. The PI will perform engineering and observational experiments with the Raytheon Low Power Radar (LPR) to study the polarization performance, biases, and other measurement uncertainties particular to phased-array weather radar antennas, as well as to explore new capabilities including rapid scanning, polarization correction, and alternate polarization bases. The LPR would be co-located with a mechanically-scanned radar for comparison purposes.