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At least 217 records · Page 12

Rain volume estimation over areas using satellite and radar data

An investigation of the feasibility of rain volume estimation using satellite data following a technique recently developed with radar data called the Arera Time Integral was undertaken. Case studies were selected on the basis of existing radar and satellite data sets which match in space and time. Four multicell clusters were analyzed. Routines for navigation remapping amd smoothing of satellite images were performed. Visible counts were normalized for solar zenith angle. A radar sector of interest was defined to delineate specific radar echo clusters for each radar time throughout the radar echo cluster lifetime. A satellite sector of interest was defined by applying small adjustments to the radar sector using a manual processing technique. The radar echo area, the IR maximum counts and the IR counts matching radar echo areas were found to evolve similarly, except for the decaying phase of the cluster where the cirrus debris keeps the IR counts high.

Doneaud, A. A.↗

Planning for VRM: Radar and sonar studies of volcanic terrains on Earth, Venus and Mars

Venera 15 and 16 radar images of Venus, together with Earth based data from the Arecibo Observatory, indicate that volcanism has played an important role in the evolution of the Venusian landscape. At the end of this decade, NASA's Venus Radar Mapper (VRM) spacecraft will return near global information that will further constrain the planet's geologic history. Due to the diversity of volcano/tectonic features that have already been identified on Venus, and the intrinsic differences between radar images and conventional photography, additional expertise is being developed with which to interpret the VRM images of this unusual environment. Several attempts to better understand the physical characteristics of volcanic terrains are described here. Pioneer Venus radar altimeter measurements of topographic variability and surface roughness are compared with Goldstone radar measurements of volcanic terrains on Mars. Synthetic aperture radar images obtained by the SIR-B Space Shuttle experiment over Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, are employed to investigate the differences in radar returns from pahoehoe, aa and sheet lava flows. Four polarization, multiple incidence angle, aircraft radar images of the Medicine Lake area of N. California are used to address the unusually high cross-polarization ratio of lobate flows around Beta Regio on Venus, as measured by the Arecibo radar.

Mouginis-Mark, P. J.↗

Lunar and Venusian radar bright rings

Twenty-one lunar craters have radar bright ring appearances which are analogous to eleven complete ring features in the earth-based 12.5 cm observations of Venus. Radar ring diameters and widths for the lunar and Venusian features overlap for sizes from 45 to 100 km. Radar bright areas for the lunar craters are associated with the slopes of the inner and outer rim walls, while level crater floors and level ejecta fields beyond the raised portion of the rim have average radar backscatter. It is proposed that the radar bright areas of the Venusian rings are also associated with the slopes on the rims of craters. The lunar craters have evolved to radar bright rings via mass wasting of crater rim walls and via post-impact flooding of crater floors. Aeolian deposits of fine-grained material on Venusian crater floors may produce radar scattering effects similar to lunar crater floor flooding. These Venusian aeolian deposits may preferentially cover blocky crater floors producing a radar bright ring appearance. It is proposed that the Venusian features with complete bright ring appearances and sizes less than 100 km are impact craters. They have the same sizes as lunar craters and could have evolved to radar bright rings via analogous surface processes.

Thompson, T. W.↗

Equatorial radar system

A large clear air radar with the sensitivity of an incoherent scatter radar for observing the whole equatorial atmosphere up to 1000 km altitude is now being designed in Japan. The radar, called the Equatorial Radar, will be built in Pontianak, Kalimantan Island, Indonesia (0.03 N, 109.3 E). The system is a 47 MHz monostatic Doppler radar with an active phased array configuration similar to that of the MU radar in Japan, which has been in successful operation since 1983. It will have a PA product of more than 5 x 10(9) sq. Wm (P = average transmitter power, A = effective antenna aperture) with sensitivity more than 10 times that of the MU radar. This system configuration enables pulse-to-pulse beam steering within 25 deg from the zenith. As is the case of the MU radar, a variety of sophisticated operations will be made feasible under the supervision of the radar controller. A brief description of the system configuration is presented.

Rukao, S.↗

A satellite-based radar wind sensor

The objective is to investigate the application of Doppler radar systems for global wind measurement. A model of the satellite-based radar wind sounder (RAWS) is discussed, and many critical problems in the designing process, such as the antenna scan pattern, tracking the Doppler shift caused by satellite motion, and backscattering of radar signals from different types of clouds, are discussed along with their computer simulations. In addition, algorithms for measuring mean frequency of radar echoes, such as the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) estimator, the covariance estimator, and the estimators based on autoregressive models, are discussed. Monte Carlo computer simulations were used to compare the performance of these algorithms. Anti-alias methods are discussed for the FFT and the autoregressive methods. Several algorithms for reducing radar ambiguity were studied, such as random phase coding methods and staggered pulse repitition frequncy (PRF) methods. Computer simulations showed that these methods are not applicable to the RAWS because of the broad spectral widths of the radar echoes from clouds. A waveform modulation method using the concept of spread spectrum and correlation detection was developed to solve the radar ambiguity. Radar ambiguity functions were used to analyze the effective signal-to-noise ratios for the waveform modulation method. The results showed that, with suitable bandwidth product and modulation of the waveform, this method can achieve the desired maximum range and maximum frequency of the radar system.

Xin, Weizhuang↗

Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) project. VI - Spacecraft, scientific instruments, and launching rocket. Part 4 - TRMM rain radar

The basic system parameters for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) radar system are frequency, beamwidth, scan angle, resolution, number of independent samples, pulse repetition frequency, data rate, and so on. These parameters were chosen to satisfy NASA's mission requirements. Six candidates for the TRMM rain radar were studied. The study considered three major competitive items: (1) a pulse-compression radar vs. a conventional radar; (2) an active-array radar with a solid state power amplifier vs. a passive-array radar with a traveling-wave-tube amplifier; and (3) antenna types (planar-array antenna vs. cylindrical parabolic antenna). Basic system parameters such as radar sensitivities, power consumption, weight, and size of these six types are described. Trade-off studies of these cases show that the non-pulse-compression active-array radar with a planar array is considered to be the most suitable candidate for the TRMM rain radar at 13.8 GHz.

Meneghini, Robert↗

First radar echoes from cumulus clouds

In attempting to use centimeter-wavelength radars to investigate the early stage of precipitation formation in clouds, 'mantle echoes' are rediscovered and shown to come mostly from scattering by small-scale variations in refractive index, a Bragg kind of scattering mechanism. This limits the usefulness of single-wavelength radar for studies of hydrometeor growth, according to data on summer cumulus clouds in North Dakota, Hawaii, and Florida, to values of reflectivity factor above about 10 dBZe with 10-cm radar, 0 dBZe with 5-cm radar, and -10 dBZe with 3-cm radar. These are limits at or above which the backscattered radar signal from the kinds of clouds observed can be assumed to be almost entirely from hydrometeors or (rarely) other particulate material such as insects. Dual-wavelength radar data can provide the desired information about hydrometeors at very low reflectivity levels if assumptions can be made about the inhomogeneities responsible for the Bragg scattering. The Bragg scattering signal itself probably will be a useful way to probe inhomogeneities one-half the radar wavelength in scale for studying cloud entrainment and mixing processes. However, this use is possible only before scattering from hydrometeors dominates the radar return.

Knight, Charles A.↗

Observations of the marine environment from spaceborne side-looking real aperture radars

Real aperture, side looking X-band radars have been operated from the Soviet Cosmos-1500, -1602, -1766 and Ocean satellites since 1984. Wind velocities were inferred from sea surface radar scattering for speeds ranging from approximately 2 m/s to those of hurricane proportions. The wind speeds were within 10-20 percent of the measured in situ values, and the direction of the wind velocity agreed with in situ direction measurements within 20-50 deg. Various atmospheric mesoscale eddies and tropical cyclones were thus located, and their strengths were inferred from sea surface reflectivity measurements. Rain cells were observed over both land and sea with these spaceborne radars. Algorithms to retrieve rainfall rates from spaceborne radar measurements were also developed. Spaceborne radars have been used to monitor various marine hazards. For example, information derived from those radars was used to plan rescue operations of distressed ships trapped in sea ice. Icebergs have also been monitored, and oil spills were mapped. Tsunamis produced by underwater earthquakes were also observed from space by the radars on the Cosmos 1500 series of satellites. The Cosmos-1500 satellite series have provided all weather radar imagery of the earths surface to a user community in real time by means of a 137.4 MHz Automatic Picture Transmission channel. This feature enabled the radar information to be used in direct support of Soviet polar maritime activities.

Kalmykov, A. I.↗

Theoretical studies of the radar properties of the icy Galilean moons of Jupiter

The icy Galilean satellites of Jupiter - Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto - have unusual radar scattering properties compared with those of the terrestrial planets or Earth's Moon. There are three main features of the data that distinguish these targets: (1) the radar cross-section normalized by the geometrical cross-section is an order of magnitude larger than that of any terrestrial planet; (2) the reflected power is almost evenly distributed between two orthogonal polarizations with more power being returned in the same circular polarization as was transmitted whereas virtually all of the power returned from the terrestrial planets is contained in the opposite circular polarization to the one that was transmitted; and (3) the echo power spectra have a broad shape indicating a nearly uniformly radar-bright surface in contrast to the spectra from the terrestrial planets that contain a strong quasi-specular component from the vicinity of the sub-radar point and very little reflected power from the rest of the surface. The normalized radar cross-sections decrease as the areal water ice coverage decreases from Europa to Ganymede to Callisto. Recently, radar echoes from the polar caps of Mars and Mercury, and from Saturn's satellite Titan imply similarly strong cross-sections and have classically unexpected polarization properties and it is also thought that this is due to the presence of ice on the surface. A model called the radar glory model is analyzed and it is shown that the main features of the radar echoes calculated from this model agree well with the observations from all three icy Galilean satellites. This model involves long radar paths in the ice below the surface and special structures in which the refractive index decreases abruptly at a hemispherical boundary. It is not known whether such structures exist or how they could be created, but possible scenarios can be imagined such as the formation of an impact crater followed by deposition of a frost layer followed by a resurfacing event in which a layer of solid ice is placed above the layer of frost. Regardless of the exact geophysical processes required to create such structures, the superior ability of this model to account for all of the important observations with very few adjustable parameters and with no ad hoc assumptions is a compelling argument in support of at least the electromagnetic model. The key features of the electromagnetic model are multiple subsurface scattering events, total internal reflection, and a low degree of randomness imposed on a deterministic geometry that strongly favors backscattering.

Eshleman, Von R.↗

X-SAR: The X-band synthetic aperture radar on board the Space Shuttle

The X-band synthetic aperture radar (X-SAR) is the German/Italian contribution to the NASA/JPL Shuttle Radar Lab missions as part of the preparation for the Earth Observation System (EOS) program. The Shuttle Radar Lab is a combination of several radars: an L-band (1.2 GHz) and a C-band (5.3 GHz) multipolarization SAR known as SIR-C (Shuttle Imaging Radar); and an X-band (9.6 GHz) vertically polarized SAR which will be operated synchronously over the same target areas to deliver calibrated multifrequency and multipolarization SAR data at multiple incidence angles from space. A joint German/Italian project office at DARA (German Space Agency) is responsible for the management of the X-SAR project. The space hardware has been developed and manufactured under industrial contract by Dornier and Alenia Spazio. Besides supporting all the technical and scientific tasks, DLR, in cooperation with ASI (Agencia Spaziale Italiano) is responsible for mission operation, calibration, and high precision SAR processing. In addition, DLR developed an airborne X-band SAR to support the experimenters with campaigns to prepare for the missions. The main advantage of adding a shorter wavelength (3 cm) radar to the SIR-C radars is the X-band radar's weaker penetration into vegetation and soil and its high sensitivity to surface roughness and associated phenomena. The performance of each of the three radars is comparable with respect to radiometric and geometric resolution.

Werner, Marian U.↗

Description and availability of airborne Doppler radar data

An airborne, forward-looking, pulse, Doppler radar has been developed in conjunction with the joint FAA/NASA Wind Shear Program. This radar represents a first in an emerging technology. The radar was developed to assess the applicability of an airborne radar to detect low altitude hazardous wind shears for civil aviation applications. Such a radar must be capable of looking down into the ground clutter environment and extracting wind estimates from relatively low reflectivity weather targets. These weather targets often have reflectivities several orders of magnitude lower than the surrounding ground clutter. The NASA radar design incorporates numerous technological and engineering achievements in order to accomplish this task. The basic R/T unit evolved from a standard Collins 708 weather radar, which supports specific pulse widths of 1-7 microns and Pulse Repetition Frequencies (PRF) of less than 1-10 kHz. It was modified to allow for the output of the first IF signal, which fed a NASA developed receiver/detector subsystem. The NASA receiver incorporated a distributed, high-speed digital attenuator, producing a range bin to range bin automatic gain control system with 65 dB of dynamic range. Using group speed information supplied by the aircraft's navigation system, the radar signal is frequency demodulated back to base band (zero Doppler relative to stationary ground). The In-phase & Quadrature-phase (I/Q) components of the measured voltage signal are then digitized by a 12-bit A-D converter (producing an additional 36 dB of dynamic range). The raw I/Q signal for each range bin is then recorded (along with the current radar & aircraft state parameters) by a high-speed Kodak tape recorder.

Harrah, S. D.↗

Determining F-factor using ground-based Doppler radar: Validation and results

Using a two-dimensional linear least-squares method applied to Doppler radar data, we test the viability of determining F-factor remotely. The ultimate application of such an algorithm will be supplying real-time F-factor maps, derived from ground-based Doppler radars to air traffic control personnel and pilots. Data from NASA deployments to the MIT/Lincoln Lab TDWR testbed radar in Orlando in 1991 and 1992 along with NASA deployments to the NCAR TDWR testbed radar in Denver are examined. Preliminary analyses show that the two-dimensional method correlates reasonably well with in situ measurements. Several effects, independent of the method used, act to reduce the correlation to less than one. These include time differences between radar and aircraft data, vertical misalignment between the aircraft and the radar beam, different spatial resolution scales between aircraft and radar data, inhomogeneous radar beam filling, noise in radar data that eludes filtering, and phase lag between time and space due to low pass filtering of the aircraft data. In the final assessment, it appears that a shear-based F-factor algorithm is preferable to the currently implemented TDWR algorithms which lack any local shear estimates.

Elmore, K. L.↗

Surface Properties of the Moon, Venus and Small Bodies from Radar Observations

Studies of the moon during the period of the grant revolved around the issues of the possible presence of ice at the lunar poles and the determination of the electrical properties of the maria regoliths. The search for ice at the poles was conducted using measurements of the radar backscatter cross sections and circular polarization ratios measured from 125 m resolution Arecibo radar imagery at 13 cm wavelength obtained by Nicholas Stacy. No clear indication of the presence of ice was found in areas thought to be in permanent shadow from solar radiation. Then Cornell graduate student Greg Black modeled the radar backscattering behavior of the icy Galilean satellites using three wavelength measurements of their radar backscattering properties obtained with the Arecibo and Goldstone radars. The radar scattering properties of Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are unlike those of any other object observed with planetary radars. They are strongly backscattering with specific radar cross sections that can exceed unity. Polarization ratios are also high, approx. 1.5, indicative of multiple scattering, and the echos follow a diffuse scattering law at all incident angles with no indication of quasi-specular reflections. 3) Most of our effort on small bodies went into developing and investigating methods for long baseline radar synthesis imaging of near-earth asteroids and comets. At X-band, the width of the synthesized beam of the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) is approximately 15 m at 0.03AU, a typical close approach distance for near-earth asteroids. A small amount of work was done analyzing Venus data from Arecibo and the Magellan mission.

Campbell, Donald B.↗

Microphysical Retrievals Over Stratiform Rain Using Measurements from an Airborne Dual-Wavelength Radar-Radiometer

The need to understand the complementarity of the radar and radiometer is important not only to the Tropical Rain Measuring Mission (TRMM) program but to a growing number of multi-instrumented airborne experiment that combine single or dual-frequency radars with multichannel radiometers. The method of analysis used in this study begins with the derivation of dual-wavelength radar equations for the estimation of a two-parameter drop size distribution (DSD). Defining a "storm model" as the set of parameters that characterize snow density, cloud water, water vapor, and features of the melting layer, then to each storm model there will usually correspond a set of range-profiled drop size distributions that are approximate solutions of the radar equations. To test these solutions, a radiative transfer model is used to compute the brightness temperatures for the radiometric frequencies of interest. A storm model or class of storm models is considered optimum if it provides the best reproduction of the radar and radiometer measurements. Tests of the method are made for stratiform rain using simulated storm models as well as measured airborne data. Preliminary results show that the best correspondence between the measured and estimated radar profiles usually can be obtained by using a moderate snow density (0.1-0.2 g/cu cm), the Maxwell-Garnett mixing formula for partially melted hydrometeors (water matrix with snow inclusions), and low to moderate values of the integrated cloud liquid water (less than 1 kg/sq m). The storm-model parameters that yield the best reproductions of the measured radar reflectivity factors also provide brightness temperatures at 10 GHz that agree well with the measurements. On the other hand, the correspondence between the measured and modeled values usually worsens in going to the higher frequency channels at 19 and 34 GHz. In searching for possible reasons for the discrepancies, It is found that changes in the DSD parameter Mu, the radar constants, or the path-integrated attenuation can affect the high frequency channels significantly. In particular, parameters that cause only modest increases in the median mass diameter of the snow, and which have a minor effect on the radar returns or the low frequency brightness temperature, can produce a strong cooling of the 34 GHz brightness temperature.

Meneghini, Robert↗

System Concepts for the Advanced Post-TRMM Rainfall Profiling Radars

Global rainfall is the primary distributor of latent heat through atmospheric circulation. The recently launched Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite is dedicated to advance our understanding of tropical precipitation patterns and their implications on global climate and its change. The Precipitation Radar (PR) aboard the satellite is the first radar ever flown in space and has provided. exciting, new data on the 3-D rain structures for a variety of scientific uses. However, due to the limited mission lifetime and the dynamical nature of precipitation, the TRMM PR data acquired cannot address all the issues associated with precipitation, its related processes, and the long-term climate variability. In fact, a number of new post-TRMM mission concepts have emerged in response to the recent NASA's request for new ideas on Earth science missions at the post 2002 era. This paper will discuss the system concepts for two advanced, spaceborne rainfall profiling radars. In the first portion of this paper, we will present a system concept for a second-generation spaceborne precipitation radar for operations at the Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The key PR-2 electronics system will possess the following capabilities: (1) A 13.6/35 GHz dual frequency radar electronics that has Doppler and dual-polarization capabilities. (2) A large but light weight, dual-frequency, wide-swath scanning, deployable antenna. (3) Digital chirp generation and the corresponding on-board pulse compression scheme. This will allow a significant improvement on rain signal detection without using the traditional, high-peak-power transmitters and without sacrificing the range resolution. (4) Radar electronics and algorithm to adaptively scan the antenna so that more time can be spent to observe rain rather than clear air. and (5) Built-in flexibility on the radar parameters and timing control such that the same radar can be used by different future rain missions. This will help to reduce the overall instrument development costs. In the second portion of this paper, we will present a system concept for a geostationary rainfall monitoring radar for operations at the geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO). In particular, the science requirements, the observational strategy, the instrument design, and the required technologies will be discussed.

Im, Eastwood↗

Quantitative Estimation of Some Possible Errors Associated With TRMM GV Monthly Rain Maps and a Scheme for Spatial Averaging of Radar Accumulations

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Ground Validation (GV) rain products are generated from ground-based radar observations using a bulk adjusted FACE radar reflectivity (Ze) - rain rate (R) relationship. Monthly Ze-R relationships are obtained by extracting the Ze data with a horizontal resolution of 2 km from an altitude of 1.5 km (from Constant Altitude PPIS, CAPPIS) over the locations of the gauges. The gauge and radar data are merged, and a quality control procedure is applied that eliminates poorly correlated gauge-radar data. Bulk adjusted Ze-R relations are then derived from this quality-controlled merged data base. These Z-R relations are applied to the base scan reflectivity to produce rain maps. The present study examines the effect of these different planes on the total accumulations from the radar and the associated effect on the bulk adjustment coefficient. In order to evaluate the credibility of these GV products, the effect of the different planes involved in the bulk adjustment method will be discussed, The gauge data will also be used to assess the impact of missing radar data (i.e., data gaps) upon the monthly radar-derived rainfall estimates. Experiments were also performed varying both the area of the radar data extracted over the gauges and the use of different weighting coefficients. Preliminary results from these sensitivity tests indicate improved agreement and consistency between the gauge and radar data.

Datta, Saswati↗

Imaging Radar in the Mojave Desert-Death Valley Region

The Mojave Desert-Death Valley region has had a long history as a test bed for remote sensing techniques. Along with visible-near infrared and thermal IR sensors, imaging radars have flown and orbited over the area since the 1970's, yielding new insights into the geologic applications of these technologies. More recently, radar interferometry has been used to derive digital topographic maps of the area, supplementing the USGS 7.5' digital quadrangles currently available for nearly the entire area. As for their shorter-wavelength brethren, imaging radars were tested early in their civilian history in the Mojave Desert-Death Valley region because it contains a variety of surface types in a small area without the confounding effects of vegetation. The earliest imaging radars to be flown over the region included military tests of short-wavelength (3 cm) X-band sensors. Later, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory began its development of imaging radars with an airborne sensor, followed by the Seasat orbital radar in 1978. These systems were L-band (25 cm). Following Seasat, JPL embarked upon a series of Space Shuttle Imaging Radars: SIRA (1981), SIR-B (1984), and SIR-C (1994). The most recent in the series was the most capable radar sensor flown in space and acquired large numbers of data swaths in a variety of test areas around the world. The Mojave Desert-Death Valley region was one of those test areas, and was covered very well with 3 wavelengths, multiple polarizations, and at multiple angles. At the same time, the JPL aircraft radar program continued improving and collecting data over the Mojave Desert Death Valley region. Now called AIRSAR, the system includes 3 bands (P-band, 67 cm; L-band, 25 cm; C-band, 5 cm). Each band can collect all possible polarizations in a mode called polarimetry. In addition, AIRSAR can be operated in the TOPSAR mode wherein 2 antennas collect data interferometrically, yielding a digital elevation model (DEM). Both L-band and C-band can be operated in this way, with horizontal resolution of about 5 m and vertical errors less than 2 m. The findings and developments of these earlier investigations are discussed.

Farr, Tom G.↗

Intercontinental Bistatic Radar Test Observation of Asteroid 1998 WT24

We describe the first intercontinental planetary radar test performed in Italy observing the near Earth asteroid (NEA) 33342 (1998 WT24) in December 2001 by means of the bistatic configurations Goldstone (California, USA)-Medicina (Italy) and Evpatoria (Ukraine)-Medicina. The experiment goal was to characterize the system for realtime radar follow-up observations of NEAs and artificial orbiting debris, in the framework of a feasibility study which aims at using the Sardinia Radio Telescope, at present under construction, also as a planetary radar facility. We report the preliminary results of the radar observations carried out by the IRA-CNR (Instituto di Radioastronomia - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) and the OATo (Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino) groups, aimed at exploring the scientific potentials of a new space radar program, using the existing facilities in Italy. The planetary radar technique is uniquely capable of investigating geometry and surface properties of various solar system objects, demonstrating advantages over the optical methods in its high spatial resolution and ability to obtain three-dimensional images. A single radar detection allows to obtain extremely accurate orbital elements, improving the instantaneous positional uncertainties by orders of magnitude with respect to an optically determined orbit. Radar is a powerful means to spatially resolve NEAs by measuring the distribution of the echo power in time delay (range) and Doppler frequency (line-of-sight velocity) with extreme precision in each coordinate, as it provides detailed information about the target physical properties like size, shape, rotation, near-surface bulk density and roughness and internal density distribution. The Medicina 32m antenna had been successfully used for the first time as the receiving part of a bistatic configuration during a test experiment (September 2001) held to check the capabilities of the entire data acquisition system. This test was possible thanks to the collaboration undertaken with the Evpatoria radar station, and consisted in the observation of the ETALON-1 low orbit satellite

Righini, S.↗