Abstract-A C-band four-frequency resonant stacked-patch array antenna is developed for synthetic thinned aperture radiometer measurements of hurricane force wind speeds. This antenna is being integrated into an aircraft instrument referred to as the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD). Details of the antenna design are presented along with antenna performance tests and laboratory measurements using a full-scale prototype array with a subset model of the HIRAD instrument.Index Terms-Microstrip antennas, multifrequency antennas, remote sensing, stacked microstrip antennas, synthetic aperture imaging.
The Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD) is an airborne passive microwave radiometer designed to provide high resolution, wide swath imagery of surface wind speed in tropical cyclones from a low profile planar antenna with no mechanical scanning. Wind speed and rain rate images from HIRAD's first field campaign (GRIP, 2010) are presented here followed, by a discussion on the performance of the newly installed thermal control system during the 2012 HS3 campaign. The paper ends with a discussion on the next generation dual polarization HIRAD antenna (already designed) for a future system capable of measuring wind direction as well as wind speed.Index Terms-HIRAD, hurricane wind speed, imaging radiometer.
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