Sam Emmerson - September 10

Convective Meteorology (Mesoscale Dynamics) Seminar   Demonstrating the Capabilities of a Low-Cost Passive Multistatic Weather Radar System through Observations and Simulations   Sam Emmerson Friday, September 10th 3:00pm Join Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/iru-ggiv-afj          Multistatic radar architectures have the potential to provide a cost-effective source of 3D wind information from both

Start

September 10, 2021 - 3:00 pm

End

September 10, 2021 - 4:00 pm

Convective Meteorology (Mesoscale Dynamics) Seminar

 

Demonstrating the Capabilities of a Low-Cost Passive Multistatic Weather Radar System through Observations and Simulations

 

Sam Emmerson

Friday, September 10th

3:00pm

Join Google Meet:

https://meet.google.com/iru-ggiv-afj

         Multistatic radar architectures have the potential to provide a cost-effective source of 3D wind information from both operational and research radars, owing to a system design of one transmitter and several receivers. A prototype multistatic network consisting of two passive receivers and the KTLX WSR-88D has been constructed in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. To achieve sufficiently precise Doppler frequency estimates while reducing cost, transmitter/receiver synchronization is done through measurements of the WSR-88D’s sidelobe radiation, rather than an expensive GPS-based system. Convective weather cases collected with the passive radar network demonstrate its benefits and weaknesses, as the simultaneity of the observations negates the need for interpolation in time, but the low directivity of the antennae can lead to significant sidelobe contamination.

            Using a multistatic radar simulator and NWP model data, simulations of the system show that additional receiver systems can improve the network’s coverage and retrieval quality at little additional cost. If a phased-array weather radar (PAWR) is used as a transmitter of opportunity, then techniques like sidelobe whitening could be used to greatly reduce sidelobe contamination, while improved PAWR scanning techniques could provide 3D wind retrievals with temporal resolution of 60 s or less, yielding a promising future for this type of weather radar system. In addition, a receiver upgrade to dual polarimetry is being considered, which could allow for novel hydrometeor classification and retrieval techniques. Preliminary simulations of such a network will be presented.