Application of X-band Polarimetric Phased-array Radars in Quantitative Precipitation Estimation

The performance of different quantitative precipitation estimation(QPE) relationships is examined using the polarimetric variables from the X-band polarimetric phased-array radars in Guangzhou,China.Three QPE approaches,namely,R(ZH),R(ZH,ZDR) and R(KDP),are developed for horizontal reflectivity,differential reflectivity and specific phase shift rate,respectively.The estimation parameters are determined by fitting the relationships to the observed radar variables using the T-matrix method.The QPE relationships were examined using the data of four heavy precipitation events in southern China.The examination shows that the R(ZH) approach performs better for the precipitation rate less than 5 mm h-1, and R(KDP) is better for the rate higher than 5 mm h-1, while R(ZH,ZDR) has the worst performance.An adaptive approach is developed by taking the advantages of both R(ZH) and R(KDP) approaches to improve the QPE accuracy.

Recent Progress in Dual-Polarization Radar Research and Applications in China

Dual-polarization(dual-pol)radar can measure additional parameters that provide more microphysical information of precipitation systems than those provided by conventional Doppler radar.The dual-pol parameters have been successfully utilized to investigate precipitation microphysics and improve radar quantitative precipitation estimation(QPE).The recent progress in dual-pol radar research and applications in China is summarized in four aspects.Firstly,the characteristics of several representative dual-pol radars are reviewed.Various approaches have been developed for radar data quality control,including calibration,attenuation correction,calculation of specific differential phase shift,and identification and removal of non-meteorological echoes.Using dual-pol radar measurements,the microphysical characteristics derived from raindrop size distribution retrieval,hydrometeor classification,and QPE is better understood in China.The limited number of studies in China that have sought to use dual-pol radar data to validate the microphysical parameterization and initialization of numerical models and assimilate dual-pol data into numerical models are summarized.The challenges of applying dual-pol data in numerical models and emerging technologies that may make significant impacts on the field of radar meteorology are discussed.

Reliability of X-band Dual-polarization Phased Array Radars Through Comparison with an S-band Dual-polarization Doppler Radar

Based on the observations of a squall line on 11 May 2020 and stratiform precipitation on 6 June 2020 from two X-band dual-polarization phased array weather radars(DP-PAWRs)and an S-band dual-polarization Doppler weather radar(CINRAD/SA-D),the data reliability of DP-PAWR and its ability to detect the fine structures of mesoscale weather systems were assessed.After location matching,the observations of DP-PAWR and CINRAD/SA-D were compared in terms of reflectivity(Z_(H)),radial velocity(V),differential reflectivity(Z_(DR)),and specific differential phase(K_(DP)).The results showed that:(1)DP-PAWR has better ability to detect mesoscale weather systems than CINRAD/SAD;the multi-elevation-angles scanning of the RHI mode enables DP-PAWR to obtain a wider detection range in the vertical direction.(2)DP-PAWR’s Z_(H)and V structures are acceptable,while its sensitivity is worse than that of CINRAD/SA-D.The Z H suffers from attenuation and the Z_(H)area distribution is distorted around strong rainfall regions.(3)DP-PAWR’s Z_(DR)is close to a normal distribution but slightly smaller than that of CINRAD/SA-D.The K_(DP)products of DP-PAWR have much higher sensitivity,showing a better indication of precipitation.(4)DP-PAWR is capable of revealing a detailed and complete structure of the evolution of the whole storm and the characteristics of particle phase variations during the process of triggering and enhancement of a small cell in the front of a squall line,as well as the merging of the cell with the squall line,which cannot be observed by CINRAD/SA-D.With its fast volume scan feature and dual-polarization detection capability,DP-PAWR shows great potential in further understanding the development and evolution mechanisms of meso-γ-scale and microscale weather systems.

Identification and Removal of Non-meteorological Echoes in Dual-polarization Radar Data Based on a Fuzzy Logic Algorithm

A major issue in radar quantitative precipitation estimation is the contamination of radar echoes by non-meteorological targets such as ground clutter,chaff,clear air echoes etc.In this study,a fuzzy logic algorithm for the identification of non-meteorological echoes is developed using optimized membership functions and weights for the dual-polarization radar located at Mount Sobaek.For selected precipitation and non-meteorological events,the characteristics of the precipitation and non-meteorological echo are derived by the probability density functions of five fuzzy parameters as functions of reflectivity values.The membership functions and weights are then determined by these density functions.Finally,the nonmeteorological echoes are identified by combining the membership functions and weights.The performance is qualitatively evaluated by long-term rain accumulation.The detection accuracy of the fuzzy logic algorithm is calculated using the probability of detection（POD）,false alarm rate（FAR）,and clutter–signal ratio（CSR）.In addition,the issues in using filtered dual-polarization data are alleviated.

Experimental Research of Dual-Polarization Passive Radar Based on DTTB Signal

The passive radar is a hot research topic. A multi-channel wideband passive radar experimental system is designed and the digital television terrestrial broadcasting (DTTB) signal is chosen to carry out the target detection experiment of civil aviation aircraft. The polarization and spatial filtering methods are used to solve the strong direct path interference suppression problems brought by the receiving system location;combined with the characteristics of DTTB signal, the block length selection interval in the block batch processing method for range-Doppler images calculation is given;the clutter suppression performance is compared through the experimental data receiving from different bistatic polarization channels, the conclusion is different from the monostatic radar and it can guide the passive radar experiment.

Rapid-Scan and Polarimetric Phased-Array Radar Observations of a Tornado in the Pearl River Estuary

The strong destructive winds during tornadoes can greatly threaten human life and destroy property.The increasing availability of visual and remote observations,especially by Doppler weather radars,is of great value in understanding tornado formation and issuing warnings to the public.In this study,we present the first documented tornado over water detected by a state-of-the-art dual-polarization phased-array radar(dual-PAR)in China.In contrast to new-generation weather radars,the dual-PAR shows great advantages in tornado detection for its high spatial resolution,reliable polarimetric variables,and rapid-scan strategy.The polarimetric signature of copolar cross-correlation coefficient with anomalously low magnitude appears to be effective for verifying a tornado and thus is helpful for issuing tornado warnings.The Guangdong Meteorological Service has been developing an experimental X-band dual-PAR network in the Pearl River Delta with the goal of deploying at least 40 advanced dual-PARs and other dual-polarization weather radars before 2035.This network is the first quasi-operational X-band dual-PAR network with unprecedented high coverage in the globe.With such high-performance close-range PARs,efficient operational nowcasting and warning services for small-scale,rapidly evolving,and damaging weather(e.g.,tornadoes,localized heavy rainfall,microbursts,and hail)can be expected.

Comparison of the Observation Capability of an X-band Phased-array Radar with an X-band Doppler Radar and S-band Operational Radar

An X-band phased-array meteorological radar （XPAR） was developed in China and will be installed in an airplane to observe precipitation systems for research purposes.In order to examine the observational capability of the XPAR and to test the operating mode and calibration before installation in the airplane,a mobile X-band Doppler radar （XDR） and XPAR were installed at the same site to observe convective precipitation events.Nearby S-band operational radar （SA） data were also collected to examine the reflectivity bias of XPAR.An algorithm for quantitative analysis of reflectivity and velocity differences and radar sensitivity of XPAR is presented.The reflectivity and velocity biases of XPAR are examined with SA and XDR.Reflectivity sensitivities,the horizontal and vertical structures of reflectivity by the three radars are compared and analyzed.The results indicated that while the XPRA with different operating modes can capture the main characteristic of 3D structures of precipitation,and the averaged reflectivity differences between XPAR and XDR,and XDR and SA,were 0.4 dB and 6.6 dB on 13 July and-4.5 dB and 5.1 dB on 2 August 2012,respectively.The minimum observed reflectivities at a range of 50 km for XPAR,XDR and SA were about 15.4 dBZ,13.5 dBZ and-3.5 dBZ,respectively.The bias of velocity between XPAR and XDR was negligible.This study provides a possible method for the quantitative comparison of the XPAR data,as well as the sensitivity of reflectivity,calibration,gain and bias introduced by pulse compression.

Multiple-target tracking with adaptive sampling intervals for phased-array radar

A novel adaptive sampling interval algorithm for multitarget tracking is presented. This algorithm which is based on interacting multiple models incorporates the grey relational grade （GRG） into the particle swarm optimization （PSO）. Firstly, the desired tracking accuracy is set for each target. Secondly, sampling intervals are selected as particles, and then the advantage of the GRG is taken as the measurement function for resource management. Meanwhile, the fitness value of the PSO is used to measure the difference between desired tracking accuracy and estimated tracking accuracy. Finally, it is suggested that the radar should track the target whose prediction value of the next sampling interval is the smallest. Simulations show that the proposed method improves both the tracking accuracy and tracking efficiency of the phased-array radar.

Wigner Frequency Point Slice Analysis of Superposition Data for Phased-Array Ground Penetrating Radar

According to the frequency property of Phasedarray ground penetrating radar (PGPR), this paper gives a frequency point slice method based on Wigner time-frequency analysis. This method solves the problem of analysis for the PGPR's superposition data and makes detecting outcome simpler and detecting target more recognizable. At last, the analytical results of road test data of the Three Gorges prove the analytical method efficient. Key words phased-array ground penetrating radar - wigner time-frequency analysis - superposition data - object identification CLC number TN 715.7 Foundation item: Supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (50099620) and 863 Program Foundation of China (2001AA132050-03)Biography: ZOU Lian (1975-), male, Ph. D candidate, research direction: signal processing.

Research on Data Combination for Phased-Array Ground Penetrating Radar

To resolve the data combination of Phased-array Ground Penetrating Radar (PAGPR), we first build a model of PAGPR and a layered model, and then a new data combination algorithm is presented based on it. This method calculates time delay of multi-receivers, basing on the signal of the nearest receiver, then shifts other signals and adds them up, and gets one signal at last. It has been proved that this method can restrain noise, multiple waves, clutter waves and improve the precision of time location. In the end, an example is given to prove the method's efficiency.

Evaluating the Algorithm for Correction of the Bright Band Effects in QPEs with S-, C-and X-Band Dual-Polarized Radars

The bright band, a layer of enhanced radar reflectivity associated with melting ice particles, is a major source of signifi- cant overestimation in quantitative precipitation estimation （QPE） based on the Z-R （reflectivity factor-rain rate） relationship. The effects of the bright band on radar-based QPE can be eliminated by vertical profile of reflectivity （VPR） correction. In this study, we applied bright-band correction algorithms to evaluate three different bands （S-, C- and X-band） of dual-polarized radars and to reduce overestimation errors in Z-R relationship-based QPEs. After the reflectivity was corrected by the algo- rithms using average VPR （AVPR） alone and a combination of average VPR and the vertical profile of the copolar correlation coefficient （AVPR＋CC）, the QPEs were derived. The bright-band correction and resulting QPEs were evaluated in eight precipitation events by comparing to the uncorrected reflectivity and rain-gange observations, separately. The overestimation of Z-R relationship-based QPEs associated with the bright band was reduced after correction by the two schemes for which hourly rainfall was less than 5 mm. For the verification metrics of RMSE （root-mean-square error）, RMAE （relative mean absolute error） and RMB （relative mean bias） of QPEs, averaged over all eight cases, the AVPR method improved from 2.28, 0.94 and 0.78 to 1.55, 0.60 and 0.40, respectively, while the AVPR＋CC method improved to 1.44, 0.55 and 0.30, respectively. The QPEs after AVPR＋CC correction had less overestimation than those after AVPR correction, and similar conclusions were drawn for all three different bands of dual-polarized radars.

A New X-band Weather Radar System with Distributed Phased-Array Front-ends: Development and Preliminary Observation Results

A novel weather radar system with distributed phased-array front-ends was developed. The specifications and preliminary data synthesis of this system are presented, which comprises one back-end and three or more front-ends. Each front-end, which utilizes a phased-array digital beamforming technology, sequentially transmits four 22.5°-width beams to cover the 0°–90° elevational scan within about 0.05 s. The azimuthal detection is completed by one mechanical scan of0°–360° azimuths within about 12 s volume-scan update time. In the case of three front-ends, they are deployed according to an acute triangle to form a fine detection area(FDA). Because of the triangular deployment of multiple phased-array front-ends and a unique synchronized azimuthal scanning(SAS) rule, this new radar system is named Array Weather Radar(AWR). The back-end controls the front-ends to scan strictly in accordance with the SAS rule that assures the data time differences(DTD) among the three front-ends are less than 2 s for the same detection point in the FDA. The SAS can maintain DTD < 2 s for an expanded seven-front-end AWR. With the smallest DTD, gridded wind fields are derived from AWR data, by sampling of the interpolated grid, onto a rectangular grid of 100 m ×100 m ×100 m at a 12 s temporal resolution in the FDA. The first X-band single-polarized three-front-end AWR was deployed in field experiments in 2018 at Huanghua International Airport, China. Having completed the data synthesis and processing, the preliminary observation results of the first AWR are described herein.

Operational Evaluation of the Quantitative Precipitation Estimation by a CINRAD-SA Dual Polarization Radar System

In this paper,a quantitative precipitation estimation based on the hydrometeor classification(HCA-QPE)algorithm was proposed for the first operational S band dual-polarization radar upgraded from the CINRAD/SA radar of China.The HCA-QPE algorithm,localized Colorado State University-Hydrometeor Identification of Rainfall(CSUHIDRO)algorithm,the Joint Polarization Experiment(JPOLE)algorithm,and the dynamic Z-R relationships based on variational correction QPE(DRVC-QPE)algorithm were evaluated with the rainfall events from March 1 to October 30,2017 in Guangdong Province.The results indicated that even though the HCA-QPE algorithm did not use the observed rainfall data for correction,its estimation accuracy was better than that of the DRVC-QPE algorithm when the rainfall rate was greater than 5 mm h-1;and the stronger the rainfall intensity,the greater the QPE improvement.Besides,the HCA-QPE algorithm worked better than the localized CSU-HIDRO and JPOLE algorithms.This study preliminarily evaluated the improved accuracy of QPE by a dual-polarization radar system modified from CINRAD-SA radar.

Broadband printed antennas and dual-polarized microstrip and waveguide slot antenna arrays

In order to meet the urgent needs in wireless communications, microwave image synthetic aperture radars （SAR）, and electronic warfare systems, this dissertation studies several types of broadband dual-polarized planar antenna elements and arrays, and proposes a few of novel designs with experimental verification. The main accomplishments reported in the dissertation are as follows.

PROPAGATION EFFECTS AND APPLICATION OF PHASE INFORMATION FOR C-BAND DUAL-POLARIZATION RADAR

As a study on exploiting and popularizing the advanced dual-polarization weather radar technique in China,the physical mechanism for the propagation effect of the radar wave is discussed by using the widely adapted extended boundary condition method,and some theoretic results are provided for improving rain measurement accuracy.Furthermore,phase information, another important characteristic quantity of microwave,is considered for tapping the potentialities of the new meteorological radar system.

Fusion of Ground-Based and Spaceborne Radar Precipitation Based on Spatial Domain Regularization

High-quality and accurate precipitation estimations can be obtained by integrating precipitation information measures using ground-based and spaceborne radars in the same target area.Estimating the true precipitation state is a typical inverse problem for a given set of noisy radar precipitation observations.The regularization method can appropriately constrain the inverse problem to obtain a unique and stable solution.For different types of precipitation with different prior distributions,the L_(1) and L_(2) norms were more effective in constraining stratiform and convective precipitation,respectively.As a combination of L_(1) and L_(2) norms,the Huber norm is more suitable for mixed precipitation types.This study uses different regularization norms to combine precipitation data from the C-band dual-polarization ground radar(CDP)and dual-frequency precipitation radar(DPR)on the Global Precipitation Measurement(GPM)mission core satellite.Compared to single-source radar data,the fused figures contain more information and present a comprehensive precipitation structure encompassing the reflectivity and precipitation fields.In 27 precipitation cases,the fusion results utilizing the Huber norm achieved a structural similarity index measure(SSIM)and a peak signal-to-noise ratio(PSNR)of 0.8378 and 30.9322,respectively,compared with the CDP data.The fusion results showed that the Huber norm effectively amalgamate the features of convective and stratiform precipitation,with a reduction in the mean absolute error(MAE;16.1%and 22.6%,respectively)and root-mean-square error(RMSE;11.7%and 13.6%,respectively)compared to the 1-norm and 2-norm.Moreover,in contrast to the fusion results of scale recursive estimation(SRE),the Huber norm exhibits superior capability in capturing the localized precipitation intensity and reconstructing the detailed features of precipitation.

Progress in dual-band dual-polarization shared-aperture SAR antennas

The progress in dual-band dual-polarization(DBDP)shared-aperture antennas for the synthetic aperture radar(SAR)application in the last decade is reviewed.Several designs of DBDP SAR antenna arrays are introduced with their main performances,then their comparison is summarized.In addition,some techniques enhancing DBDP antenna performances are presented.

Interval type-2 fuzzy logic based radar task priority assignment method for detecting hypersonic-glide vehicles

A radar task priority assignment method based on interval type-2 fuzzy logic system(IT2 FLS)was designed to solve the problem of resource management for phased-array radar to detect hypersonic-glide vehicles(HGVs).The mathematical model of the radar task and the motion and detection models of HGVs are described in detail.The target threat of an HGV is divided into maneuver,speed,azimuth,and distance threats.In the radar task priority assignment method based on IT2 FLS,the maneuver factor,speed,azimuth difference,distance,and initial priority are input variables.The radar task priority is the output variable.To reduce the number of fuzzy rules and avoid rule explosion,an IT2 FLS with a hierarchical structure was designed.Finally,the feasibility of the task priority assignment method was verified by simulations.Simulation results showed that the method based on IT2 FLS has a higher precise tracking rate,mean initial priority,and target threat degree,and a shorter offset time.

Performance evaluation of optical beamforming-based wideband antenna array

A wideband-generalized pattern multiplication approach to evaluate the performance of an optical beamform- ing-based wideband antenna array is proposed and experimentally demonstrated, which enables the far-field measurement of a large wideband array with a small anechoic chamber. Because the optimum reception of a wideband microwave signal is highly related to the time-domain distortions of the beamforming system, a correlation-receiver-based radiation pattern is applied to take the fidelity of the wideband signals into account. A four-element optical beamforming system is built to verify the feasibility of the proposed method. The results achieved by the DrODosed method agree well with the conventional direct measurements.