Solution for polarimetric radar cross section measurement and calibration

The exact radar cross-section （RCS） measurement is difficult when the scattering of targets is low. Ful polarimetric cali-bration is one technique that offers the potential for improving the accuracy of RCS measurements. There are numerous polarimetric calibration algorithms. Some complex expressions in these algo-rithms cannot be easily used in an engineering practice. A radar polarimetric coefficients matrix （RPCM） with a simpler expression is presented for the monostatic radar polarization scattering matrix （PSM） measurement. Using a rhombic dihedral corner reflector and a metal ic sphere, the RPCM can be obtained by solving a set of equations, which can be used to find the true PSM for any target. An example for the PSM of a metal ic dish shows that the proposed method obviously improves the accuracy of cross-polarized RCS measurements.

Calibration method of phase distortions for cross polarization channel of instantaneous polarization radar system

A novel polarimetric calibration method for new target property measurement radar system is presented. Its applica- tion in the real radar system is also discussed. The analysis indicates that instantaneous polarization radar （[PR） has inherent cross-polarization measurement error. The proposed method can effectively eliminate this error, and thus enhance the polarization scattering matrix （PSM） measurement precision. The phase error caused by digital receiver＇s direct IF sampling and mixing of two orthogonal polarization channels can be removed. Consequently, the inherent error of target polarization scattering measurement of the instantaneous polarization radar system is well revised. It has good reference value for further ploarimetric calibration and high practical application prospect.

Practical calibration method for instantaneous polarization radar systems utilizing a metal sphere

A practical calibration method is proposed for instantaneous polarization radar systems.The method only needs one measurement by using a metal sphere.The distortions of system and the actual polarization scattering matrix（PSM）of target can be obtained.First,an instantaneous polarization radar system is presented.The system can obtain PSM by a single pulse echo.The dual-polarization antenna can transmit and receive two orthogonal polarization waves.The multilayer micro-strip patch antenna is adopted for this kind of radar system.Second,based on the multi-port network theory,the operation and system errors of instantaneous polarization radar system are analyzed.By making assumption on the cross-talk factors of antenna,distortion matrices of R and Tare derived.Finally,the calibration method based on instantaneous polarization measurement is introduced.Simulation results show the performance of this calibration method.The values of calibrated PSM are in agreement with the actual ones after calibration.

Study on Calibration of L-band Radar by a Drone

A new calibration method of L-band radar accuracy using a rotary-wing drone equipped with"GPS"satellite positioning system was proposed.The L-band radar calibration system scheme based on this method was designed.The theoretical basis required for system realization was studied,and the system calibration method was given.The calibration results referred to the domestic new generation weather radar antenna beam pointing calibration technical indicator(≤0.3°),and its accuracy met relevant business requirement.It show that this method can easily and quickly complete the radar system calibration.Compared with the traditional radar calibration method,it is more convenient,less affected by surrounding environment,and has low requirements on the weather.

Data Based Calibration System for Radar Used by Vehicle Activated Signs

The accurate measurement of a vehicle’s velocity is an essential feature in adaptive vehicle activated sign systems. Since the velocities of the vehicles are acquired from a continuous wave Doppler radar, the data collection becomes challenging. Data accuracy is sensitive to the calibration of the radar on the road. However, clear methodologies for in-field calibration have not been carefully established. The signs are often installed by subjective judgment which results in measurement errors. This paper develops a calibration method based on mining the data collected and matching individual vehicles travelling between two radars. The data was cleaned and prepared in two ways: cleaning and reconstructing. The results showed that the proposed correction factor derived from the cleaned data corresponded well with the experimental factor done on site. In addition, this proposed factor showed superior performance to the one derived from the reconstructed data.

A Quality Assurance Procedure and Evaluation of Rainfall Estimates for C-Band Polarimetric Radar

A mobile C-band dual polarimetric weather radar J type （PCDJ）, which adopts simultaneous transmission and simultaneous reception （STSR） of horizontally and vertically polarized signals, was first developed in China in 2008. It was deployed in the radar observation plan in the South China Heavy Rainfall Experiment （SCHeREX） in the summer of 2008 and 2009, as well as in Tropical Western Pacific Ocean Observation Experiments and Research on the Predictability of High Impact Weather Events from 2008 to 2010 in China （TWPOR）. Using the observation data collected in these experiments, the radar systematic error and its sources were analyzed in depth. Meanwhile an algorithm that can smooth differential propagation phase （~Dp） for estimating the high-resolution specific differential phase （KDP） was developed. After attenuation correction of reflectivity in horizontal polarization （ZH） and differential reflectivity （ZDR） of PCDJ radar by means of KDP, the data quality was improved significantly. Using quality-controlled radar data, quantitative rainfall estimation was performed, and the resutls were compared with rain-gauge measurements. A synthetic ZH /KDp-based method was analyzed. The results the traditional ZH-based method when the rain suggest that the synthetic method has the advantage over rate is 〉5 mm h^-1. The more intensive the rain rates, the higher accuracy of the estimation.

An improved method of absolute calibration to satellite altimeter: A case study in the Yellow Sea, China

An improved absolute calibration technology based on indirect measurements was developed through two probative experiments, the performance of which was evaluated by applying the approach to in situ sea surface height （SSH） at the Tianheng Island （tidal gauge） and the satellite nadir （GPS buoy）. Using Geoid/MSS （mean sea surface） data, which accounted for a constant offset between nadir and onshore tidal gauge water levels, and TMD （tidal model driver）, which canceled out the time-varying offsets, nadir SSH （sea surface height） could be indirectly acquired at an onshore tidal gauge instead of from direct offshore observation. The approach extrapolated the onshore SSH out to the offshore nadir with an accuracy of （1.88±0.20） cm and a standard deviation of 3,3 cm, which suggested that the approach presented was feasible in absolute altimeter calibration/validation （Cal/Val）, and the approach enormously facilitated the obtaining SSH from the offshore nadir.

Raindrop Size Distribution Parameters Retrieved from Xinfeng C-Band Polarimetric Radar Observations

The objective of this research was to acquire a raindrop size distribution(DSDs)retrieved from C-band polarimetric radar observations scheme for the first time in south China.An observation period of the precipitation process was selected,and the shape-slope(μ-Λ)relationship of this region was statistically analyzed using the raindrop sample observations from the two-dimensional video disdrometer(2DVD)at Xinfeng Station,Guangdong Province.Simulated data of the C-band polarimetric radar reflectivity ZHHand differential reflectivity ZDRwere obtained through scattering simulation.The simulation data were combined with DSD fitting to determine the ZDR-Λand log10(ZHH/N0)-Λrelationships.Using Xinfeng C-band polarimetric radar observations ZDRand ZHH,the raindrop Gamma size distribution parametersμ,Λ,and N0were retrieved.A scheme for using C-band polarimetric radar to retrieve the DSDs was developed.This research revealed that during precipitation process,the DSDs obtained using the C-band polarimetric radar retrieval scheme are similar to the 2DVD observations,the precipitation characteristics of rainfall intensity(R),mass-weighted mean diameter(Dm)and intercept parameter(Nw)with time obtained by radar retrieval are basically consistent with the observational results of the 2DVD.This scheme establishes the relationship between the observations of the C-band polarimetric radar and the physical quantities of the numerical model.This method not only can test the prediction of the model data assimilation system on the convective scale and determine error sources,but also can improve the microphysical precipitation processes analysis and radar quantitative precipitation estimation.The present research will facilitate radar data assimilation in the future.

Weighted joint calibration for interferometric SAR

Calibration is a processing procedure for across-track interferometric synthetic aperture radar （InSAR） to achieve an accurate three-dimensional location. A calibration technique, called weighted joint calibration, for the generation of wide-area geocoded digital elevation models （DEMs） is proposed. It cali- brates multiple InSAR scenes simultaneously, and allows reducing the number of required ground control points （GCPs） by using tie points （TPs）. This approach may ensure the continuity of three- dimensional location among adjacent scenes, which is necessary for mosaic and fusion of data coming from different scenes. In addition, it introduces weights to calibration to discriminate GCPs and TPs with different coherences and locations. This paper presents the principles and methodology of this weighted joint calibration technique and illustrates its successful application in airborne In- SAR data.

IMPROVED CALIBRATION METHOD FOR AIRBORNE ATI-SAR BASELINE

Airborne Along-Track Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (ATI-SAR) baseline error is a main error resource affecting the precision of velocity measurement of moving objects and therefore should be calibrated externally. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has proposed a calibration scheme for tasks of PacRim98 and PacRim2000 based on several static objects on the ground. In this paper, the influence of phase center uncertainty on baseline determination by using PacRim method proposed by JPL is analyzed. According to the analysis, the phase center uncertainty can cause a constant part of error to the result of baseline calibration. In order to deal with this problem, an improved calibration method on the basis of sensitivity equations and some ground moving targets, whose velocities are already known, is proposed in this paper. The simulation results show that our proposed calibration method has improved the accuracy of baseline calibration and has obviously prohibited the effect of antennas' phase center uncertainty.

Feasibility of maintaining satellite altimetry calibration site based on qianliyan islet at the Yellow Sea

The calibration of the sea surface height(SSH)measured by satellite altimeters is essential to understand altimeter biases.Many factors affects the construction and maintenance of a permanent calibration site.In order to calibrate Chinese satellite altimetry missions,the feasibility of maintaining a calibration site based on the Qianliyan islet in Yellow Sea of China is taken into account.The related calibration facilities,such as the permanent tide gauge,GNSS reference station and meteorological station,were already operated by the Ministry of Natural Resources of China.The data could be fully used for satellite altimeter calibration with small fiscal expenditure.In addition,the location and marine environments of Qianliyan were discussed.Finally,we used the Jason-3 mission to check the possibility of calibration works.The result indicates that the brightness temperatures of three channels measured by microwave radiometer(MWR)and the derived wet tropospheric correction varies smoothly,which means the land contamination to MWR could be ignored.The high frequency waveforms at the Qianliyan site present no obvious difference from the normal waveforms received by satellite radar altimeter over the open ocean.In conclusion,the Qianliyan islet will not influence satellite altimetry observation.Following these analyses,a possible layout and mechanism of the Qianliyan calibration site are proposed.

Calibration and Data Quality Analysis with Mobile C-Band Polarimetric Radar

A C-band mobile polarimetric radar with simultaneous horizontal and vertical transmission was built in the State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences. It was used in heavy rainfall and typhoon observations in 2008. It is well-known that radar calibration is essential and critical to high quality radar data and products. In this paper, the test and weather signals were used in calibration of reflectivity ZH, differential reflectivity ZDR and differential phase ФDP. Noise effects on correlation coefficient ρHV at low signal-noise-ratio （SNR） were analyzed. The polarimetric radar data for a heavy rain and a snow event were inspected to evaluate the performance of the calibration method and radar data quality, and S-band Doppler radar data were used to validate the refiectivity data quality collected by the polarimetric radar. The results show that the polarimetric and S-band Doppler radars have observed comparable reflectivity values and a similar structure of a heavy rainfall case at middle and low levels. The mismatch of two receivers produce obvious ZDR biases, which were verified by the radar data observed at vertical incidence. The ZDR correction improved the radar data quality. The usage range for PHV was defined. Application of the calibration method introduced in this paper can reduce the system biases caused by the difference of horizontal （H） and vertical （V） channels. After the calibration and correction, the polarimetric parameters observed by the polarimetric radar could be used in further relevant researches.

Comparison and error analysis of remotely measured waveheight by high frequency ground wave radar

High frequency ground wave radar （HFGWR） has unique advantage in the survey of dynamical factors, such as sea surface current, sea wave, and sea surface wind in marine conditions in coastal sea area. Compared to marine satellite remote sensing, it involves lower cost, has higher measuring accuracy and spatial resolution and sampling frequency. High frequency ground wave radar is a new land based remote sensing instrument with superior vision and greater application potentials. This paper reviews the development history and application status of high frequency wave radar, introduces its remote-sensing principle and method to inverse offshore fluid, and wave and wind field. Based on the author＇s ＂863 Project＂, this paper recounts comparison and verification of radar remote-sensing value, the physical calibration of radar-measured data and methods to control the quality of radar-sensing data. The authors discuss the precision of radar-sensing data＇s inversing on offshore fluid field and application of the assimilated data on assimilation.

A STUDY ON VARIABLE QUANTITATIVE PRECIPITATION ESTIMATION USING DOPPLER RADAR DATA

With the pros and cons of the traditional optimization and probability pairing methods thoroughly considered, an improved optimal pairing window probability technique is developed using a dynamic relationship between the base reflectivity Z observed by radar and real time precipitation I by rain gauge. Then, the Doppler radar observations of base reflectivity for typhoons Haitang and Matsa in Wenzhou are employed to establish various Z-I relationships, which are subsequently used to estimate hourly precipitation of the two typhoons. Such estimations are calibrated by variational techniques. The results show that there exist significant differences in the Z-I relationships for the typhoons, leading to different typhoon precipitation efficiencies. The typhoon precipitation estimated by applying radar base reflectivity is capable of exhibiting clearly the spiral rain belts and mesoscale cells, and well matches the observed rainfall. Error statistical analyses indicate that the estimated typhoon precipitation is better with variational calibration than the one without. The variational calibration technique is able to maintain the characteristics of the distribution of radar-estimated typhoon precipitation, and to significantly reduce the error of the estimated precipitation in comparison with the observed rainfall.

Exploitation of Electromagnetic Models for Sea Wind Speed Estimation from C-Band Sentinel-1 Images

Among the different available wind sources, i.e. in situ measurements, numeric weather models, the retrieval of wind speed from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data is one of the most widely used methods, since it can give high wind resolution cells. For this purpose, one can find two principal approaches: via electromagnetic (EM) models and empirical (EP) models. In both approaches, the Geophysical Model Functions (GMFs) are used to describe the relation of radar scattering, wind speed, and the geometry of observations. By knowing radar scattering and geometric parameters, it is possible to invert the GMFs to retrieve wind speed. It is very interesting to compare wind speed estimated by the EM models, general descriptions of radar scattering from sea surface, to the one estimated by the EP models, specific descriptions for the inverse problem. Based on the comparisons, some ideas are proposed to improve the performance of the EM models for wind speed retrieval.

Improving Radar Rainfall Estimation by Accounting for Microphysical Processes Using a Micro Rain Radar in West Africa

This study evaluates the improvement of the radar Quantitative Precipitation Estimation (QPE) by involving microphysical processes in the determination of Z-R algorithms. Within the framework of the AMMA campaign, measurements of an X-band radar (Xport), a vertical pointing Micro Rain Radar (MRR) to investigate microphysical processes and a dense network of rain gauges deployed in Northern Benin (West Africa) in 2006 and 2007 were used as support to establish such estimators and evaluate their performance compared to other estimators in the literature. By carefully considering and correcting MRR attenuation and calibration issues, the Z-R estimator developed with the contribution of microphysical processes and non-linear least-squares adjustment proves to be more efficient for quantitative rainfall estimation and produces the best statistic scores than other optimal Z-R algorithms in the literature. We also find that it gives results comparable to some polarimetric algorithms including microphysical information through DSD integrated parameter retrievals.

利用无人机有源标定仪开展天气雷达远场标定试验

文章针对天气雷达缺乏远场标定能力的现状,提出利用无人机有源标定仪开展天气雷达远场标定的方案。通过给出无人机有源标定仪开展天气雷达远场标定试验的测试项目与条件,完成了对雷达天线、发射通道和接收通道的标定测试,试验结果符合相关技术要求。后期将对标定仪做进一步改进和完善,以期更好地满足雷达标定业务需要。

一种机载大型雷达精细化测角零值标定方法

针对机载大型雷达的波束指向受天线罩、机体散射耦合影响而产生的非规则误差,本文提出了一种精细化高效率标定方法.该方法中雷达无需发射,综合利用无人机挂载小型标定源和采取多项式拟合的方法实现快速误差标定.仿真结果验证了该方法的有效性.

一种无人机载侦察雷达通用动态标校方法

针对无人机载侦察雷达鉴定飞行前、以及定型后的批产交付中对固定误差进行标校的实际需求,在对目前常用的标校方式进行分析的基础上,提出一种无人机载侦察雷达通用动态标校方法,通过贯穿整个科研过程和机载侦察雷达批产交付试验的全过程验证,此方法具备简单实用、准确度高的优势,具有广泛的工程应用价值。