Radar Interferometer Investigations of the Horizontal Winds, Vertical Velocities, Vorticity, and Divergence Around Frontal Zones and in Mesoscale Waves

The goal of the research has been to use the state-of-the-art, phased-array MU radar facility in Kyoto, Japan, to study the perturbation winds and turbulence associated with frontal zones and mesoscale waves. There are four critical parameters in the dynamical studies. They include unbiased estimate...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Larsen, Miguel F
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Active & Passive Radar Detection & Equipment
ANTENNA ARRAYS
ANTENNAS
CONFIGURATIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC SCATTERING
FLOW
FRONTS(METEOROLOGY)
GRADIENTS
INTERFEROMETERS
LAYERS
MEASUREMENT
MESOSCALE WAVES
Meteorology
PARAMETERS
PERTURBATIONS
PHASED ARRAYS
PULSES
RADAR
RADAR METEOROLOGY
RECEPTION
STATE OF THE ART
TRANSMITTING
TURBULENCE
VELOCITY
VOLUME
WIND
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Summary:The goal of the research has been to use the state-of-the-art, phased-array MU radar facility in Kyoto, Japan, to study the perturbation winds and turbulence associated with frontal zones and mesoscale waves. There are four critical parameters in the dynamical studies. They include unbiased estimates of the horizontal winds, unbiased estimates of the vertical velocities, the location and strength of turbulent layers within the scattering volume, and the vorticity and divergence within the flow. Standard beam-swinging Doppler measurements lead to large biases in the vertical velocities and possible biases in the horizontal winds, the location of the scattering layers can only be determined with the uncertainty of the pulse volume, and vorticity measurements are not possible. Research during the first year has focused on the development of techniques for eliminating large biases in vertical velocity measurements that result when standard vertical beam Doppler methods are used, for eliminating biases in horizontal wind measurements that result with Doppler beam swinging techniques due to horizontal gradients in the flow. We have also worked on developing new techniques for measuring the vorticity and divergence in the flow. The MU radar operates at a frequency close to 50 MHz and has a transmitting/receiving antenna array 103 m in diameter. The beam can be steered from pulse to pulse, and the receiving array can easily be divided into sub- arrays for reception. All the system parameters are under software control so that changes can easily be implemented, and different experimental configurations can be tested quickly.