Doppler Radar Probing of the Clear Atmosphere

Abstract

In the past few years, sensitive Doppler radars have been used to probe the clear atmosphere from the boundary layer up to stratospheric altitudes. Routine Doppler radar observations are now attainable over a wide range of frequencies at virtually all altitudes in this height range. Although a number of these systems operate at UHF (300-3000 MHz), sensitive Doppler radars have recently been developed that operate at VHF (30-300 MHz). These new systems employ large, inexpensive antennas constructed of phased arrays of dipole elements. This paper surveys recent developments in the use of both VHF and UHF Doppler radars for probing the clear atmosphere and presents design considerations for new radar systems.

A review of Mesosphere–Stratosphere–Troposphere (MST) radar developments and studies, circa 1997–2008

“…The original field developed out of observations by Woodman and Guillen (1974) of radar echoes observed from tropospheric heights using a 50 MHz ionospheric radar in Peru. Several radars specifically designed for tropospheric studies were quickly developed, especially by the SOUSY group in Germany and by NOAA in the USA (Röttger et al, 1978;Gage and Balsley, 1978). Other radars were then developed world-wide by adapting these various designs.…”

Diurnal and seasonal variability of TKE dissipation rate in the ABL over a tropical station using UHF wind profiler

“…Various features of LAWP at Gadanki are given by Krishna Reddy et al (2001). Many researchers have examined the possibility of deducing the turbulence parameters like eddy dissipation rate (e) and eddy diffusivity (K h ) from the observed Doppler spectrum of the wind profiler (e.g., Gage and Balsley, 1978;Gossard, 1990;Gage, 1990;Narayana Rao et al, 2001;Satheesan and Krishna Murthy, 2002). One of the limitations of UHF radar for the studies on atmospheric turbulence is its sensitivity to the hydrometeors.…”

A partial 45 MHz sky temperature map obtained from the observations of five ST radars

“…Stratosphere-Troposphere (ST) radars are meteorological devices primarily designed to provide vertical profiles of the three components of the wind in the troposphere and lower stratosphere (Gage and Balsley, 1978;Larsen and Röttger, 1982;Balsley and Gage, 1982). Height and time resolution of the measurements are typically about one hundred meters and a few minutes, respectively.…”