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o
t
=
}
, (3)
Total reflectivity is the result from summing the contributes of
hail and rain calculated separately.
For DSD calculation we adopted the Weather Research and
Forecast Model (WRF), a state-of the art NWP developed by a
consortium of research institutes including NOAA and NCAR
[4]. The WRF can also provide the temporal evolution of
parameters based on a real scenario. This NWP gives us
important parameters needed for the definition of an analytical,
physical based Drop Size Distribution (DSD):
1) Hydrometeor mixing ratio [Kg/Kg]
2) Pressure [Pa]
3) Potential temperature [K]
4) Particle Number Concentration [particles/m
3
].
Additionally WRF provides the wind field used to compute
Doppler shifts.
The DSD that we used in our computation is a Gamma
probability density function.
To compute the polarimetric RCS, we utilized a T-Matrix
method. The T-Matrix method is the fastest exact technique for
the computation of non-spherical scattering based on a direct
solution of Maxwell equations [5],[6]. Dielectric constants,
particle orientation, diameter and the relationship between
diameter and axial ratio are set as parameters to calculate the
electromagnetic scattering. Details on the generation of the 3D
reflectivity maps for every polarimetric channel can be found
in our previous work [7].
The received radar signal is then generated using a custo-
mized version of Airborne Windshear Doppler Radar
Simulation (ADWRS), extensively used by NASA in various
campaigns [8].
The simulation input values include the radar systems
parameters, the cinematic characteristics of the airborne
platform, the antenna parameters and the scanning angle
strategy. Other inputs specify the phenomenon characteristics
in term of wind field and radar reflectivity. Last two variable is
represented by a 3D data cube, described before. From both the
initial aircraft position and the initial antenna scan direction,
the simulation consists of the generation of the instantaneous
received signal. For each range bin, the amplitude and phase of
the received signal can be seen as the coherent sum of a
number of contributions that came from volumetric scattering
mechanism.
III. 3D SIMULATION RESULTS
A. Description of the simulated scenario
Simulations were performed with the transponder
characteristics summarized in Table 1. It is worth nothing that
the radar simulator can perform a full 360 scanning, but for
avionic uses we can reduce this range to 180 or less. The
aircraft is positioned in the center (0,0), heading south at 150
knots. The relatively low transmitted power is meant to
simulate the latest state-of-the-art solid-state GaAs radar
transmitters equipping civil avionic weather radars, designed to
work with such low peak power.
TABLE I. TRANSCEIVER CHARACTERISTICS
Transmitted frequency 9.353 GHz
Pulse length 1 s
PRF 6.5 kHz
Range resolution 150 m
Beamwidth 3
Transmitted power 195 Watt
Antenna Gain 33 dB
Noise figure 4 dB
An area of about 1800 km
2
in the Mediterranean Sea, close
to Barcelona, Spain, was selected, with a maximum height of
8000 m. Figure 1 shows the profiles of hydrometeor mixing
ratios obtained from WRF at altitudes of 450 m, 1000 m and
2000 m with a RGB mapping. Red indicates hail/graupel, blue
indicates rain and mixed precipitation zones are in purple.
B. Results
Figures 2 to 4 show some simulation results regarding Z
HH
,
Z
DR
and LDR, which accounts for the more or less pronounced
oscillations of hydrometeors. All these parameters are useful
for classification between liquid and solid dangerous particles.
Figure 2 shows results for the lowest altitude level, well
under the melting layer, dominated by rain. We can notice the
presence of a heavy storm characterized by strong reflectivity
74 Proceedings of ESAV'11 - September 12 - 14 Capri, Italy
echoes up to 53 dBZ, however we cannot distinguish if these
echoes are due to hail or rain. Analyzing Z
DR
, the radar
retrieves values from 1 up to 3.6 dB in the storm core. As
explained in section I, this behavior indicates a rain dominated
zone, as. Moreover, LDR level do not surpass -25 dB level,
indicating small oscillations of particles during fall, which is
another characteristics of rain. Over -15 dB values appear
usually where both Zhh and Zvh are very low, so the ratio is
similar.
Figure 3 represents an intermediate altitude where rain and
hail are heavily mixed. As expected, total reflectivity level
remains the same as before, but we can appreciate variations in
the values of Z
DR
and LDR. Z
DR
begins to decrease steadily
reaching his top at 2.8 dB, while LDR rises up to a value of -
21.2 dB. This behavior is typical of a mixed precipitation zone,
but we can still detect rain presence in near the borders of the
scanned area at (0,-20) and (-15,10) coordinates.
Where polarimetry shows its potential in detecting
dangerous area is well shown in Figure 4. Once more, total
reflectivity level remains in the 55 dBZ range, but observation
of Z
DR
and LDR supports the evidence of a hail dominated
zone. Maximum value of Z
DR
do not exceed 0.3 dB, and it even
has negative value, -0.1 dB, which can be caused, other than
the tumbling motion of hail, by the Mie scattering effects for
larger stones. LDR rise up to a value of -18/-17 dB, indicating
a very high signal power in the VH channel (see Eq. 2).
IV. CONCLUSIONS
It is clear that even in an uniform reflectivity phenomenon,
in both its horizontal and vertical structure, polarimetric data
processing can provide useful information for feature
discrimination and thus to reduce risk due to solid particles
impact. Even if the beamwidth is three degrees, combining the
signal received from partially overlapping azimuthal sectors it
is possible to have information which permit to make a good
discrimination and resolve different scattering behaviour.
Further studies will be conducted to evaluate returns from very
long distances. Long ranges suffer also from heavy attenuation
which can be compensated using an additional polarimetric
variable, the Specific Differential Phase (KDP), that is also a
good estimator for rainfall rate. This accurate risk assessment
is not possible with single-polarization avionic radar, so the
only action that is taken is making long detours, even if the
phenomenon would pose no threats.
REFERENCES
[1] F. J. Yanovsky, Evolution and Prospects of Airborne Weather Radar
Functionality and Technology, 18th International Conference on
Applied Electromagnetics and Communications, 2005.
[2] V.N. Bringi, and V. Chandrasekar, Polarimetric Doppler Weather
Radar, Cambridge University Press, 2004.
[3] J.M. Straka, D.S. Zrnic, and A.V. Ryzhkov, 'Bulk Hydrometeor
Classification and Quantification Using Polarimetric Radar Data:
Synthesis of Relations, J. Appl. Meteor. 39, 2000, pp. 13411372.
[4] S.E. Koch, The Use of Simulated Radar Reflectivity Fields in the
Diagnosis of Mesoscale Phenomena from High-Resolution WRF Model
Forecasts, 32nd Conference on Radar Meteorology, 2005.
[5] P.C. Waterman, Scattering by Dielectric Obstacles, Alta Frequenza
(Speciale), 1969, pp. 348352., 1969.
[6] M. Mishchenko, L.D. Travis, and A.A. Lacis, Scattering, Absorption
and Emission of Light by Small Particles, Cambridge University Press,
2
nd
ed., 2005.
[7] A. Lupidi, C. Moscardini, F. Berizzi, M. Martorella, "Simulation of X-
Band Polarimetric Weather Radar Returns based on the Weather
Research and Forecast Model", 2011 IEEE Radar Conference, Kansas
City, 2011.
[8] Britt, C., L., Kelly, C., W., Users Guide for an Airborne Doppler
Weather Radar simulation (ADWRS), Center for Aerospace
Technology, Tech. Rep. 7473/029-05S NASA, 2002.
Proceedings of ESAV'11 - September 12 - 14 Capri, Italy 75
1 (a)
1 (b)
1 (c)
Figure 1: Mixing Ratio: (a) 450 m (b) 1000 m (c) 2000 m altitude
2 (a)
2 (b)
2 (c)
Figure 2: 450 m altitude: (a) Total Reflectivity, (b) ZDR, (c) LDR
76 Proceedings of ESAV'11 - September 12 - 14 Capri, Italy
3 (a)
3 (b)
3 (c)
Figure 3: 1000 m altitude: (a) Total Reflectivity, (b) ZDR, (c) LDR
4 (a)
4 (b)
4 (c)
Figure 4: 2000 m altitude: (a) Total Reflectivity, (b) ZDR, (c) LDR
Proceedings of ESAV'11 - September 12 - 14 Capri, Italy 77