Improving Satellite-Retrieved Cloud Base Height with Ground-Based Cloud Radar Measurements

Cloud base height(CBH) is a crucial parameter for cloud radiative effect estimates, climate change simulations, and aviation guidance. However, due to the limited information on cloud vertical structures included in passive satellite radiometer observations, few operational satellite CBH products are currently available. This study presents a new method for retrieving CBH from satellite radiometers. The method first uses the combined measurements of satellite radiometers and ground-based cloud radars to develop a lookup table(LUT) of effective cloud water content(ECWC), representing the vertically varying cloud water content. This LUT allows for the conversion of cloud water path to cloud geometric thickness(CGT), enabling the estimation of CBH as the difference between cloud top height and CGT. Detailed comparative analysis of CBH estimates from the state-of-the-art ECWC LUT are conducted against four ground-based millimeter-wave cloud radar(MMCR) measurements, and results show that the mean bias(correlation coefficient) is0.18±1.79 km(0.73), which is lower(higher) than 0.23±2.11 km(0.67) as derived from the combined measurements of satellite radiometers and satellite radar-lidar(i.e., Cloud Sat and CALIPSO). Furthermore, the percentages of the CBH biases within 250 m increase by 5% to 10%, which varies by location. This indicates that the CBH estimates from our algorithm are more consistent with ground-based MMCR measurements. Therefore, this algorithm shows great potential for further improvement of the CBH retrievals as ground-based MMCR are being increasingly included in global surface meteorological observing networks, and the improved CBH retrievals will contribute to better cloud radiative effect estimates.

A Novel Method of Deinterleaving Radar Pulse Sequences Based on a Modified DBSCAN Algorithm

A modified DBSCAN algorithm is presented for deinterleaving of radar pulses in modern EW environments.A main characteristic of the proposed method is that using only time of arrival of pulses,the method can sort the pulses efficiently.Other PDW information such as rise time,carrier frequency,pulse width,modulation on pulse,fall time and direction of arrival are not required.To identify the valid PRIs in a set of interleaved pulses,an innovative modification of the DBSCAN algorithm is introduced which is accurate and easy to implement.The proposed method determines valid PRIs more accurately and neglects the spurious ones more efficiently as compared to the classical histogram based algorithms such as SDIF.Furthermore,without specifying any input parameter,the proposed method can deinterleave radar pulses while up to 30%jitter is present in the associated PRI.The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are verified by computer simulations and real data results.Experimental simulations are based on different real and operational scenarios where the presence of missing and spurious pulses are also considered.So,the simulation results can be of practical significance.

Boost-Phase ballistic missile trajectory estimation with ground based radar

A conditional boost-phase trajectory estimation method based on ballistic missile （BM） information database and classification is developed to estimate and predict boos-phase BM trajectory. The main uncertain factors to describe BM dynamics equation are reduced to the control law of trajectory pitch angle in boost-phase. After the BM mass at the beginning of estimation, the BM attack angle and the modification of engine thrust denoting BM acceleration are modeled reasonably, the boost-phase BM trajectory estimation with ground based radar is well realized. The validity of this estimation method is testified by computer simulation with a typical example.

Three-dimensional Fusion of Spaceborne and Ground Radar Reflectivity Data Using a Neural Network–Based Approach

The spaceborne precipitation radar onboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite （TRMM PR） can provide good measurement of the vertical structure of reflectivity, while ground radar （GR） has a relatively high horizontal resolution and greater sensitivity. Fusion of TRMM PR and GR reflectivity data may maximize the advantages from both instruments. In this paper, TRMM PR and GR reflectivity data are fused using a neural network （NN）-based approach. The main steps included are： quality control of TRMM PR and GR reflectivity data; spatiotemporal matchup; GR calibration bias correction; conversion of TRMM PR data from Ku to S band; fusion of TRMM PR and GR reflectivity data with an NN method： interpolation of reflectivity data that are below PR＇s sensitivity; blind areas compensation with a distance weighting-based merging approach; combination of three types of data： data with the NN method, data below PR＇s sensitivity and data within compensated blind areas. During the NN fusion step, the TRMM PR data are taken as targets of the training NNs, and gridded GR data after horizontal downsampling at different heights are used as the input. The trained NNs are then used to obtain 3D high-resolution reflectivity from the original GR gridded data. After 3D fusion of the TRMM PR and GR reflectivity data, a more complete and finer-scale 3D radar reflectivity dataset incorporating characteristics from both the TRMM PR and GR observations can be obtained. The fused reflectivity data are evaluated based on a convective precipitation event through comparison with the high resolution TRMM PR and GR data with an interpolation algorithm.

The Study of Single Station Inverting the Sea Surface Current by HF Ground Wave Radar Based on Adjoint Assimilation Technology

This paper introduces the assimilation technology in an ocean dynamics model and discusses the feasibility of inverting the sea surface current in the detection zone by assimilating the sea current radial velocity detected by single station HF ground wave radar in ocean dynamics model. Based on the adjoint assimilation and POM model, the paper successfully inverts the sea surface current through single station HF ground wave radar in the Zhoushan sea area. The single station HF radar inversion results are also compared with the bistatic HF radar composite results and the fixed point measured results by Annderaa current meter. The error analysis shows that acquisition of flow velocity and flow direction data from the single station HF radar based on adjoint assimilation and POM model is viable and the data obtained have a high correlation and consistency with the flow field observed by HF radar.

Identifying soil structure along headwater hillslopes using ground penetrating radar based technique

Soil structure plays an important role in understanding soil attributes as well as hydrological processes. Effective method to obtain high quality soil map is therefore important for both soil science research and soil work ability improvement. However,traditional method such as digging soil pits is destructive and time-consuming. In this study, the structure of headwater hillslopes from Hemuqiao catchment(Taihu Basin, China) have been analyzed both by indirect(ground penetrating radar, GPR) and direct(excavation or soil auger) methods. Four transects at different locations of hillslopes in the catchment were selected for GPR survey. Three of them(#1, #2, and #3) were excavated to obtain fullscale soil information for interpreting radar images.We found that the most distinct boundary that can be detected by GPR is the boundary between soil and underlain bedrock. In some cases(e.g., 8-17 m in transect #2), in which the in situ soil was scarcely affected by colluvial process, different soil layers can be identified. This identification process utilized the sensitive of GPR to capture abrupt changes of soil characteristics in layer boundaries, e.g., surface organic layer(layer #1) and bamboo roots layer(layer#2, contain stone fragments), illuvial deposits layer(layer #3) and regolith layer(layer #4). However, in areas where stone fragments were irregularly distributed in the soil profile(highly affected bycolluvial and/or fluvial process), it was possible to distinguish which part contains more stone fragments in soil profile on the basis of reflection density(transect #3). Transect #4(unexcavated) was used to justify the GPR method for soil survey based on experiences from former transects. After that, O horizon thickness was compared by a hand auger.This work has demonstrated that GPR images can be of a potential data source for hydrological predictions.

Layer-Constrained Triangulated Irregular Network Algorithm Based on Ground Penetrating Radar Data and Its Application

In this paper,a layer-constrained triangulated irregular network（ LC-TIN） algorithm is proposed for three-dimensional（ 3 D） modelling,and applied to construct a 3 D model for geological disease information based on ground penetrating radar（ GPR） data. Compared with the traditional TIN algorithm,the LCTIN algorithm introduced a layer constraint to the discrete data points during the 3 D modelling process,and it can dynamically construct networks from layer to layer and implement 3 D modelling for arbitrary shapes with high precision. The experimental results validated this method,the proposed algorithm not only can maintain the rationality of triangulation network,but also can obtain a good generation speed. In addition,the algorithm is also introduced to our self-developed 3 D visualization platform,which utilized GPR data to model geological diseases. Therefore the feasibility of the algorithm is verified in the practical application.

Comparison of Precipitation Observations from a Prototype Space-based Cloud Radar and Ground-based Radars

A prototype space-based cloud radar has been a precipitation system over Tianjin, China in July developed and was installed on an airplane to observe 2010. Ground-based S-band and Ka-band radars were used to examine the observational capability of the prototype. A cross-comparison algorithm between different wavelengths, spatial resolutions and platform radars is presented. The reflectivity biases, correlation coefficients and standard deviations between the radars are analyzed. The equivalent reflectivity bias between the S- and Ka-band radars were simulated with a given raindrop size distribution. The results indicated that reflectivity bias between the S- and Ka-band radars due to scattering properties was less than 5 dB, and for weak precipitation the bias was negligible. The prototype space-based cloud radar was able to measure a reasonable vertical profile of reflectivity, but the reflectivity below an altitude of 1.5 km above ground level was obscured by ground clutter. The measured refiectivity by the prototype space-based cloud radar was approximately 10.9 dB stronger than that by the S-band Doppler radar （SA radar）, and 13.7 dB stronger than that by the ground-based cloud radar. The reflectivity measured by the SA radar was 0.4 dB stronger than that by the ground-based cloud radar. This study could provide a method for the quantitative examination of the observation ability for space-based radars.

3D prestack reverse time migration of ground penetrating radar data based on the normalized correlation imaging condition

The reverse time migration(RTM)of ground penetrating radar(GPR)is usually implemented in its two-dimensional(2D)form,due to huge computational cost.However,2D RTM algorithm is difficult to focus the scattering signal and produce a high precision subsurface image when the object is buried in a complicated subsurface environment.To better handle the multi-off set GPR data,we propose a three-dimensional(3D)prestack RTM algorithm.The high-order fi nite diff erence time domian(FDTD)method,with the accuracy of eighth-order in space and second-order in time,is applied to simulate the forward and backward extrapolation electromagnetic fi elds.In addition,we use the normalized correlation imaging condition to obtain pre-stack RTM result and the Laplace fi lter to suppress the low frequency noise generated during the correlation process.The numerical test of 3D simulated GPR data demonstrated that 3D RTM image shows excellent coincidence with the true model.Compared with 2D RTM image,the 3D RTM image can more clearly and accurately refl ect the 3D spatial distribution of the target,and the resolution of the imaging results is far better.Furthermore,the application of observed GPR data further validates the eff ectiveness of the proposed 3D GPR RTM algorithm,and its fi nal image can more reliably guide the subsequent interpretation.

Optimum selection of common master image for ground deformation monitoring based on PS-DInSAR technique

Considering the joint effects of various factors such as temporal baseline, spatial baseline, thermal noise, the difference of Doppler centroid frequency and the error of data processing on the interference correlation, an optimum selection method of common master images for ground deformation monitoring based on the permanent scatterer and differential SAR interferometry （PS-DInSAR） technique is proposed, in which the joint correlation coeficient is used as the evaluation function. The principle and realization method of PS-DInSAR technology is introduced, the factors affecting the DInSAR correlation are analysed, and the joint correlation function model and its solution are presented. Finally an experiment for the optimum selection of common master images is performed by using 25 SAR images over Shanghai taken by the ERS-1/2 as test data. The results indicate that the optimum selection method for PS-DInSAR common master images is effective and reliable.

Extended state observer-based control with an adjustable parameter for a large ground-based telescope

The high-precision requirements will always be constrained due to the complicated operating conditions of the ground-based telescope. Owing to various internal and external disturbances, it is necessary to study a control method, which should have a good ability on disturbance rejection and a good adaptability on system parameter variation. The traditional proportional-integral(PI) controller has the advantage of simple and easy adjustment, but it cannot deal with the disturbances well in different situations. This paper proposes a simplified active disturbance rejection control law, whose debugging is as simple as the PI controller, and with better disturbance rejection ability and parameter adaptability. It adopts a simplified second-order extended state observer(ESO) with an adjustable parameter to accommodate the significant variation of the inertia during the different design stages of the telescope. The gain parameter of the ESO can be adjusted online with a recursive least square estimating method once the system parameter has changed significantly. Thus, the ESO can estimate the total disturbances timely and the controller will compensate them accordingly. With the adjustable parameter of the ESO, the controller can always achieve better performance in different applications of the telescope. The simulation and experimental verification of the control law was conducted on a 1.2-meter ground based telescope. The results verify the necessity of adjusting the parameter of the ESO, and demonstrate better disturbance rejection ability in a large range of speed variations during the design stages of the telescope.

Underground Disease Detection Based on Cloud Computing and Attention Region Neural Network

Detecting the underground disease is very crucial for the roadbed health monitoring and maintenance of transport facilities,since it is very closely related to the structural health and reliability with the rapid development of road traffic.Ground penetrating radar(GPR)is widely used to detect road and underground diseases.However,it is still a challenging task due to data access anywhere,transmission security and data processing on cloud.Cloud computing can provide scalable and powerful technologies for large-scale storage,processing and dissemination of GPR data.Combined with cloud computing and radar detection technology,it is possible to locate the underground disease quickly and accurately.This paper deploys the framework of a ground disease detection system based on cloud computing and proposes an attention region convolution neural network for object detection in the GPR images.Experimental results of the precision and recall metrics show that the proposed approach is more efficient than traditional objection detection method in ground disease detection of cloud based system.

Long-term gravity changes in Chinese mainland from GRACE and ground-based gravity measurements

A long-term （9 years） gravity change in Chinese mainland is obtained on the basis of observation of the ground-based national gravity network. The result shows several features that may be related to sore, large-scale groundwater pumping in North China, glacier-water flow and storage in Tianshan region, and pre seismic gravity changes of the 2008 MsS. 0 Wenchuan earthquake, which are spatially similar to co-seismi, changes but reversed in sign. These features are also shown in the result of the satellite-based GRACE obser vation, after a height effect is corrected with GPS data.

Percentile-based Neighborhood Precipitation Verification and Its Application to a Landfalling Tropical Storm Case with Radar Data Assimilation

The traditional threat score based on fixed thresholds for precipitation verification is sensitive to intensity forecast bias. In this study, the neighborhood precipitation threat score is modified by defining the thresholds in terms of the percentiles of overall precipitation instead of fixed threshold values. The impact of intensity forecast bias on the calculated threat score is reduced. The method is tested with the forecasts of a tropical storm that re-intensified after making landfall and caused heavy flooding. The forecasts are produced with and without radar data assimilation. The forecast with assimilation of both radial velocity and reflectivity produce precipitation patterns that better match observations but have large positive intensity bias. When using fixed thresholds, the neighborhood threat scores fail to yield high scores for forecasts that have good pattern match with observations, due to large intensity bias. In contrast, the percentile-based neighborhood method yields the highest score for the forecast with the best pattern match and the smallest position error. The percentile-based method also yields scores that are more consistent with object-based verifications, which are less sensitive to intensity bias, demonstrating the potential value of percentile-based verification.

Correlation of Ground Penetrating Radar Data with Geotechnical Prospect Profiles: Reduto Case Study, Belém-PA, Brazil

The study presented in this manuscript aimed to relate the sedimentary strata imaged by the ground penetrating radar(GPR)method through numerical modeling with the mapping of sedimentary strata acquired through geotechnical surveys.The study aimed to expose how obtaining subsoil information through noninvasive/destructive electromagnetic waves is beneficial,as they are reliable and less costly than drilling holes beyond what is necessary to have a subsurface mapping.In this sense,physical-geological modeling was carried out.The information on the type of sediments,acquired through simple recognition surveys carried out in the city of Belém-PA,helped to create a model of a sedimentary package with its respective intrinsic physical properties.The result shows that the GPR recovered with good vertical and horizontal resolution at the beginning and end of the layers of the sedimentary package studied,proving to be very effective for locating geotechnical sounding points and safely reducing costs.

Integrated Digital Design for Radar Typical Structure Using Knowledge Based Engineering

With the deep research of knowledge engineering and the widespread applications of CAD technology, the joining of knowledge engineering with CAD is the focus of advanced manufacturing. An intelligent approach is presented for configurating the typical structural components of radar. Case based reasoning, rule based reasoning, geometric, constraint solving and domain ontology are merged into a compound knowledge model. The main frame and workflow of radar typical structural component design system are illustrated. Experiments show this approach is efficient and effective.

0-10 KM TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY PROFILES RETRIEVAL FROM GROUND-BASED MICROWAVE RADIOMETER

Deviation exists between measured and simulated microwave radiometer sounding data. The bias results in low-accuracy atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles simulated by Back Propagation artificial neural network models. This paper evaluated a retrieving atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles method by adopting an input data adjustment-based Back Propagation artificial neural networks model. First, the sounding data acquired at a Nanjing meteorological site in June 2014 were inputted into the Mono RTM Radiative transfer model to simulate atmospheric downwelling radiance at the 22 spectral channels from 22.234 GHz to 58.8 GHz, and we performed a comparison and analysis of the real observed data; an adjustment model for the measured microwave radiometer sounding data was built. Second, we simulated the sounding data of the 22 channels using the sounding data acquired at the site from 2011 to 2013. Based on the simulated rightness temperature data and the sounding data, BP neural network-based models were trained for the retrieval of atmospheric temperature, water vapor density and relative humidity profiles. Finally, we applied the adjustment model to the microwave radiometer sounding data collected in July 2014, generating the corrected data. After that, we inputted the corrected data into the BP neural network regression model to predict the atmospheric temperature, vapor density and relative humidity profile at 58 high levels from 0 to 10 km. We evaluated our model's effect by comparing its output with the real measured data and the microwave radiometer's own second-level product. The experiments showed that the inversion model improves atmospheric temperature and humidity profile retrieval accuracy; the atmospheric temperature RMS error is between 1 K and 2.0 K; the water vapor density's RMS error is between 0.2 g/m^3 and 1.93 g/m3; and the relative humidity's RMS error is between 2.5% and 18.6%.

Ray tracing/correlation approach to estimation of surface-based duct parameters from radar clutter

This paper describes a technique to estimate surface-based duct parameters by using a simple ray tracing/correlation method. The approach is novel in that it incorporates the Spearman rank-order correlation scheme between the observed surface clutter and the surface ray density for a given propagation path. The simulation results and the real data results both demonstrate the ability of this method to estimate surface-based duct parameters. Compared with the results obtained by a modified genetic algorithm combined with the parabolic wave equation, the results retrieved from the ray tracing/correlation scheme show a minor reduction in accuracy but a great improvement on computation time. Therefore the ray tracing/correlation method might be used as a precursor to more sophisticated and slower techniques, such as genetic algorithm and particle filters, by narrowing the parameter search space and providing a comprehensive and more efficient estimation algorithm.

Cloud Base Height and Effective Cloud Emissivity Retrieval with Ground-Based Infrared Interferometer

Based on ground-based Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI) observations in Shouxian, Anhui province, China, the authors retrieve the cloud base height (CBH) and effective cloud emissivity by using the minimum root-mean-square difference method. This method was originally developed for satellite remote sensing. The high-temporal-resolution retrieval results can depict the trivial variations of the zenith clouds continu-ously. The retrieval results are evaluated by comparing them with observations by the cloud radar. The comparison shows that the retrieval bias is smaller for the middle and low cloud, especially for the opaque cloud. When two layers of clouds exist, the retrieval results reflect the weighting radiative contribution of the multi-layer cloud. The retrieval accuracy is affected by uncertainties of the AERI radiances and sounding profiles, in which the role of uncertainty in the temperature profile is dominant.

Ground Motion and Site Effects on Performance-Based Design

The objective of Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering （PBEE） is the analysis of performance objectives with a specified annual probability of exceedance. Increasingly undesirable performance is caused by increasing levels of strong ground motion having decreasing annual probabilities of exceedance. The development of this methodology includes three steps： （1） evaluation of the distribution of ground motion at a site; （2） evaluation of the distribution of system response; （3） evaluation of the probability of exceeding decision variables within a given time period, given appropriate damage measures. The work has taken a systematic approach to determine the impact of increasing levels of detail in site characterization on the accuracy of ground motion and site effects predictions. Complementary studies have investigated the use of the following models for evaluating site effects： （1） amplification factors defined on the basis of generalized site categories, （2） one-dimensional ground response analysis, and （3） two-dimensional ground response analysis for surface topography on ground motion. The paper provides a brief synthesis of ground motion and site effects analysis procedures within a Performance-Based Design framework. It focuses about the influence on the evaluation of site effects in some active regions by different shear waves velocity measurements Down Hole （D-H）, Cross Hole （C-H）, Seismic Dilatometer Marchetti Test （SDMT） and by different variation of shear modulus and damping ratio with strain level and depth from different laboratory dynamic tests for soil characterization： Resonant Column Test （RCT）, Cyclic Loading Torsional Shear Test （CLTST）.