Cloud profiling radar

Laura Bates
Sunday 4 December 2016
wave-cloud-profiling
CAD model of cloud radar showing transmit beam (yellow) and receive beam (blue).

Millimetre wave cloud profiling radar development

Dr Duncan A. Robertson  | Millimeter Wave & EPR Group,
School of Physics & Astronomy

Cloud profiling radars are used to determine the structure and extent of clouds, fog and aerosols and to generate data that can guide weather predictions.  Radars operating at millimetre wavelengths are ideal for this application as the particle sizes in clouds are such that radar measurements can be made successfully throughout the cloud structure. The aim of the project is to modify an existing low power solid-state millimetre wave radar to make it suitable for cloud profiling.

There is a newly emerging market for cloud profiling radars which are more affordable than traditional high power designs. We believe our architecture will achieve state‑of‑the‑art performance at substantially lower costs than alternative designs which, once demonstrated to stake holders (e.g. MetOffice), will make a convincing case for commercialisation.

transmitter
Cloud radar electronics: transmitter (left)
receiver
and receive (right)
robertson
Dr Duncan A. Robertson

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