Engineering topics

Baxa, Ernest G., Jr.

Publications and source records attributed to Baxa, Ernest G., Jr..

7 records

NASA NTRS1993

Windshear detection radar signal processing studies

This final report briefly summarizes research work at Clemson in the Radar Systems Laboratory under the NASA Langley Research Grant NAG-1-928 in support of the Antenna and Microwave Branch, Guidance and Control Division, program to develop airborne sensor technology for the detection of low altitude windshear. A bibliography of all publications generated by Clemson personnel is included. An appendix provides abstracts of all publications.

Baxa, Ernest G., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Signal processing aspects of windshear detection

Low-altitude windshear (LAWS) has been identified as a major hazard to aircraft, particularly during takeoff and landing. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been involved with developing technology to detect LAWS. A key element in this technology is high resolution pulse Doppler weather radar equipped with signal and data processing to provide timely information about possible hazardous conditions.

Aalfs, David D.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Signal processing for airborne doppler radar detection of hazardous wind shear as applied to NASA 1991 radar flight experiment data

Radar data collected during the 1991 NASA flight tests have been selectively analyzed to support research directed at developing both improved as well as new algorithms for detecting hazardous low-altitude windshear. Analysis of aircraft attitude data from several flights indicated that platform stability bandwidths were small compared to the data rate bandwidths which should support an assumption that radar returns can be treated as short time stationary. Various approaches at detection of weather returns in the presence of ground clutter are being investigated. Non-coventional clutter rejection through spectrum mode tracking and classification algorithms is a subject of continuing research. Based upon autoregressive modeling of the radar return time sequence, this approach may offer an alternative to overcome errors in conventional pulse-pair estimates. Adaptive filtering is being evaluated as a means of rejecting clutter with emphasis on low signal-to-clutter ratio situations, particularly in the presence of discrete clutter interference. An analysis of out-of-range clutter returns is included to illustrate effects of ground clutter interference due to range aliasing for aircraft on final approach. Data are presented to indicate how aircraft groundspeed might be corrected from the radar data as well as point to an observed problem of groundspeed estimate bias variation with radar antenna scan angle. A description of how recorded clutter return data are mixed with simulated weather returns is included. This enables the researcher to run controlled experiments to test signal processing algorithms. In the summary research efforts involving improved modelling of radar ground clutter returns and a Bayesian approach at hazard factor estimation are mentioned.

Baxa, Ernest G., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1991

The pulse-pair algorithm as a robust estimator of turbulent weather spectral parameters using airborne pulse Doppler radar

The pulse pair method for spectrum parameter estimation is commonly used in pulse Doppler weather radar signal processing since it is economical to implement and can be shown to be a maximum likelihood estimator. With the use of airborne weather radar for windshear detection, the turbulent weather and strong ground clutter return spectrum differs from that assumed in its derivation, so the performance robustness of the pulse pair technique must be understood. Here, the effect of radar system pulse to pulse phase jitter and signal spectrum skew on the pulse pair algorithm performance is discussed. Phase jitter effect may be significant when the weather return signal to clutter ratio is very low and clutter rejection filtering is attempted. The analysis can be used to develop design specifications for airborne radar system phase stability. It is also shown that the weather return spectrum skew can cause a significant bias in the pulse pair mean windspeed estimates, and that the poly pulse pair algorithm can reduce this bias. It is suggested that use of a spectrum mode estimator may be more appropriate in characterizing the windspeed within a radar range resolution cell for detection of hazardous windspeed gradients.

Baxa, Ernest G., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Signal processing techniques for clutter filtering and wind shear detection

An extended Prony algorithm applicable to signal processing techniques for clutter filtering and windshear detection is discussed. The algorithm is based upon modelling the radar return as a time series, and appears to offer potential for improving hazard factor estimates in the presence of strong clutter returns.

Baxa, Ernest G., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Clutter filter design considerations for Airborne Doppler radar detection of windshear

The problem of clutter rejection when processing down-looking Doppler radar returns from a low altitude airborne platform is a paramount problem. With radar as a remote sensor for detecting and predicting windshear in the vicinity of an urban airport, dynamic range requirements can exceed 50 dB because of high clutter to signal ratios. This presentation describes signal processing considerations in the presence of distributed and/or discrete clutter interference. Previous analyses have considered conventional range cell processing of radar returns from a rigidly mounted radar platform using either the Fourier or the pulse-pair method to estimate average windspeed and windspeed variation within a cell. Clutter rejection has been based largely upon analyzing a particular environment in the vicinity of the radar and employing a variety of techniques to reduce interference effects including notch filtering, Fourier domain line editing, and use of clutter maps. For the airborne environment the clutter characteristics may be somewhat different. Conventional clutter rejection methods may have to be changed and new methods will probably be required to provide useful signal to noise ratios. Various considerations are described. A major thrust has been to evaluate the effect of clutter rejection filtering upon the ability to derive useful information from the post-filter radar data. This analysis software is briefly described. Finally, some ideas for future analysis are considered including the use of adaptive filtering for clutter rejection and the estimation of windspeed spatial gradient directly from radar returns as a means of reducing the effects of clutter on the determination of a windshear hazard.

Baxa, Ernest G., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Phase noise effects on turbulent weather radar spectrum parameter estimation

Accurate weather spectrum moment estimation is important in the use of weather radar for hazardous windshear detection. The effect of the stable local oscillator (STALO) instability (jitter) on the spectrum moment estimation algorithm is investigated. Uncertainty in the stable local oscillator will affect both the transmitted signal and the received signal since the STALO provides transmitted and reference carriers. The proposed approach models STALO phase jitter as it affects the complex autocorrelation of the radar return. The results can therefore by interpreted in terms of any source of system phase jitter for which the model is appropriate and, in particular, may be considered as a cumulative effect of all radar system sources.

Lee, Jonggil↗