Wind vector retrieval using ERS-1 synthetic aperture radar imagery

An automated algorithm intended for operational use is developed and tested for estimating wind speed and direction using ERS-1 SAR imagery. The wind direction comes from the orientation of low frequency, linear signatures in the SAR imagery that the authors believe are manifestations of roll vortices within the planetary boundary layer. The wind direction thus has inherently a 180° ambiguity since only a single SAR image is used. Wind speed is estimated by using a new algorithm that utilizes both the estimated wind direction and σ ₀ values to invert radar cross section models. The authors show that: 1) on average the direction of the roll vortices signatures is approximately 11° to the right of the surface wind direction and can be used to estimate the surface wind direction to within ±19° and 2) utilizing these estimated wind directions from the SAR imagery subsequently improves wind speed estimation, generating errors of approximately ±1.2 m/s, for ERS-1 SAR data collected during the Norwegian Continental Shelf Experiment in 1991     

Effect of squall-line direction on space-diversity improvement obtainable with millimetre-wave satellite radiocommunication systems

The relative movement of intense rain cells associated with a squall line significantly affects the improvement obtained by any given pair of earth stations operating In space diversity. The letter outlines an experiment for observing the movement of rain cells across a 30 GHz space-diversity network using a p.p.i. radar, and presents in detail the analysis of a prefrontal squall event. Values of rain attenuation computed from the radar are compared with those measured on the 30 GHz network.     

ERS-1 SAR images of atmospheric gravity waves

ERS-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of atmospheric gravity waves over the ocean are discussed. Several case studies are presented in detail. It is shown that the well-organized long wavelength (1 to 10 km) wave phenomena which often are seen in SAR images over the ocean may be atmospheric gravity waves. The waves appear in the SAR images because they modulate the surface wind speed which in turn modulates the surface roughness and the radar cross section. The wavelength may be measured directly from the SAR image, and the mean wind speed and wind speed modulation near the ocean surface may be estimated from the observed radar cross section modulation using a wind retrieval model. The atmospheric gravity waves usually were generated by the approach or passing of a meteorological front. Atmospheric soundings and a two-layer model for the lower troposphere indicate that, in general, the observed atmospheric wave phenomena could have been supported by accompanying temperature inversion layers and wind shears     

机载雷达气象方式的降雨补偿方法设计与实现

高空降雨云层作为一种气象目标,也是对雷达波的吸收体,降雨路径上造成的衰减会对气象信息的探测带来严重的影响。文中设计了一种具有降雨路径补偿的机载雷达气象方式,引入了降雨区衰减和降雨率的关系,将近端降雨区的衰减量作为参数解算远端降雨率,并对其原理、算法和实现方法作了详细阐述。通过对实测数据处理验证表明:具有降雨路径补偿的气象方式可以更准确地反映气象环境,保证飞行安全。     

Prediction model of time diversity using Japan rain radar data

The effects of rain attenuation on communication systems will become more pronounced in future satellite communication systems, especially with the planned use of the 21‐GHz band or higher‐frequency bands. Diversity techniques provide a solution to mitigate rain attenuation effects. This study proposes a time diversity technique, one such technique that is likely to demonstrate high effectiveness. To model the system, rainfall rate statistics are necessary, and reliability is improved as the amount of statistical data increases. This paper derives the cumulative distribution of the rainfall rate across Japan over 4 years using rain radar data from the automated meteorological data acquisition system and ground‐based rain radar network and evaluates the rainfall rate at 23 observation points across Japan. We carry out a performance evaluation for all locations within Japan to confirm the efficiency of the time diversity method. Finally, we propose prediction model of the time diversity gain for Japan and other significant parameter which is time correlation of rainfall rate that was found from the time diversity results for further investigation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new wind vector algorithm for C-band SAR

Ocean wind speed and wind direction are estimated simultaneously using the normalized radar cross sections /spl sigma//sup 0/ corresponding to two neighboring (25-km) blocks, within a given synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image, having slightly different incidence angles. This method is motivated by the methodology used for scatterometer data. The wind direction ambiguity is removed by using the direction closest to that given by a buoy or some other source of information. We demonstrate this method with 11 ENVISAT Advanced SAR sensor images of the Gulf of Mexico and coastal waters of the North Atlantic. Estimated wind vectors are compared with wind measurements from buoys and scatterometer data. We show that this method can surpass other methods in some cases, even those with insufficient visible wind-induced streaks in the SAR images, to extract wind vectors.     

Synthetic aperture radar calibration using reference reflectors

A simple expression for the terrain backscatter coefficient is derived in terms of the integrated power of an adjacent known radar reflector in a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image. It is shown that this technique for SAR image calibration is independent of the radar system focus or partial coherence and thereby possesses an important advantage over the usual technique, which relies on an estimate of the peak of the reflector impulse response. Results from airborne SAR overflights of corner reflectors and active radar calibrators are used to demonstrate the validity and consistency of the method and to show that the method is robust under defocus caused by an incorrect FM rate or inadequate motion compensation of data collected during turbulence. It is also shown that the fading errors associated with the integral method are comparable to or slightly worse than those associated with the peak estimation method. However, this small disadvantage is outweighed by the fact that the integral method is independent of actual resolution     

The application of S-band polarimetric radar measurements toKa-band attenuation prediction

In September 1993, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) was deployed into a geostationary orbit near 100° W longitude. The ACTS satellite employs two Ka-band beacons, one at 20.185 GHz and another at 27.505 GHz. Impairments due to rain attenuation and tropospheric scintillations will significantly affect new technologies for this spectrum. Heavy rain at Ka-band can easily produce 30 dB of attenuation along the propagation path. Propagation experiments being conducted in seven different climatic zones involve multiyear attenuation measurements along the satellite-Earth slant path. Measurements in the B2 climatic zone are made with an ACTS propagation terminal located in northeast Colorado. In order to gain move understanding about the physical processes that are responsible for Ka-band attenuation, the Colorado State University CHILL S-band polarimetric radar is used to take radar measurements along the slant path. The Colorado Front Range experiences a variety of weather conditions throughout the year ranging from upslope rain conditions to winter storms. Four such events measured along the slant path are illustrated in this paper. They include two convective cases and two “bright-band” cases. The S-band polarimetric radar data is used to initialize radar-based attenuation-prediction models, which are applied to the four precipitation events described. The comparisons of predicted attenuation to measured attenuation are quite good. It was also found during the course of the experiment that water droplets standing on the antenna surface can cause appreciable attenuation at Ka-band frequencies. That finding needs to be recognized in future model development and statistical analysis     

Comparison of SAR-derived wind speed with model predictions andocean buoy measurements

As part of the Alaska synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Demonstration Project in 1999 and 2000, wide-swath RADARSAT SAR imagery has been acquired on a regular basis in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. During 1998 and 1999, similar data were acquired off the East Coast of the United States as part of the StormWatch Project. The radar cross section measurements from these images were combined with wind direction estimates from the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System model to produce high-resolution maps of the surface wind speed. For this study, 2862 SAR image frames were collected and examined. Averaged wind estimates from this data base have been systematically compared with corresponding wind speed estimates from buoy measurements and model predictions, and very good agreement has been found. The standard deviation between the buoy wind speed and the SAR estimates is 1.76 m/s. Details of the SAR wind extraction procedure are discussed, along with implications of the comparisons on the C-band polarization ratio     

A Wind and Rain Backscatter Model Derived From AMSR and SeaWinds Data

The SeaWinds scatterometer was originally designed to measure wind vectors over the ocean by exploiting the relationship between wind-induced surface roughening and the normalized radar backscatter cross section. Rain can degrade scatterometer wind estimation; however, the simultaneous wind/rain (SWR) algorithm was developed to enable SeaWinds to simultaneously retrieve wind and rain rate data. This algorithm is based on colocating data from the Precipitation Radar on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission and SeaWinds on QuikSCAT. This paper develops a new wind and rain radar backscatter model for SWR using colocated data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) and SeaWinds aboard the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite II. This paper accounts for rain height in the model in order to calculate surface rain rate from the integrated rain rate. The performance of SWR using the new wind/rain model is measured by comparison of wind vectors and rain rates to the previous SWR algorithm, AMSR rain rates, and National Center for Environmental Prediction numerical weather prediction winds. The new SWR algorithm produces more accurate rain estimates and improved winds, and detects rain with a low false alarm rate.      

Analysis of algorithms for the retrieval of rain-rate profiles froma spaceborne dual-wavelength radar

The ability to retrieve rain-rate profiles from a dual-wavelength spaceborne radar system operating at 13.6 and 35 GHz is analyzed. The fundamental problem of extracting either the attenuation and/or the reflectivity from the backscatter echo, which contains both contributions, is addressed. Three algorithms, the backscatter, the attenuation coefficient, and the dual-wavelength methods, are examined. These algorithms are tested using four rain-rate profiles derived from radar measurements. In particular, measured (true) values are compared with calculated (retrieved) rain rates applying the algorithms with superimposed uncertainties assuming a suggested spaceborne dual-wavelength radar system. Error values of rain rates are determined where these values reflect failure of the assumptions utilized in the derivation of the algorithms, rain backscatter noise, and instrument noise     

Doppler Parameter Estimation for Spaceborne Synthetic-Aperture Radars

Problems in the determination of Doppler parameters for spaceborne synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) data processing are examined. The degradations in image quality due to errors in these parameters are summarized. We show that these parameters can be estimated using accurate spacecraft ancillary data. In cases where such data are not available, we propose two techniques to estimate these parameters using the coherent radar return. These techniques were tested with the Seasat SAR data and the test results demonstrate that the accuracies achieved exceed the system performance requirements. Possible applications of these techniques in other areas of SAR data utilization are briefly discussed.     

雷达图像运动矢量场计算

多普勒天气雷达是强对流天气监测和预警的主要工具。基于能够达到准确预报天气的目的,需要计算雷达图像的运动矢量场,因此在全局约束光流算法和L-K算法的基础上,本文提出了一种计算雷达图像运动矢量场的详细算法,这种算法能有效加快运算时间,同时又能保证运算结果的有效性。其中包括图像预处理方面的内容,并给出了处理过程中所需的较好的参数。并通过天津地区雷达图像数据的大量实验,确定此算法能够较为准确的计算出雷达图像的矢量场,从而可用于天气预报的过程之中。     

The effects of rain clutter on millimeter radar performance

The effects of rain clutter on millimeter radar performance are investigated at 35, 94 and 140GHz frequencies, including rain attenuation, radar reflectivity, maximum radar range and equivalent target cross section.     

QuikSCAT geophysical model function for tropical cyclones andapplication to Hurricane Floyd

The QuikSCAT radar measurements of several tropical cyclones in 1999 have been studied to develop the geophysical model function (GMF) of Ku-band radar σ₀ values (normalized radar cross section) for extreme high wind conditions. To account for the effects of precipitation, the authors analyze the co-located rain rates from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and propose the rain rate as a parameter of the GMF. The analysis indicates the deficiency of the NSCAT2 GMF developed for the NASA scatterometer, which overestimates the ocean σ₀ for tropical cyclones and ignores the influence of rain. It is suggested that the QuikSCAT σ₀ is sensitive to the wind speed of up to about 40-50 m s^-1. The authors introduce modifications to the NSCAT2 GMF and apply the modified GMF to the QuikSCAT observations of Hurricane Floyd. The QuikSCAT wind estimates for Hurricane Floyd in 1999 was improved with the maximum wind speed reaching above 60 m s^-1. The authors perform an error analysis by comparing the QuikSCAT winds with the analyses fields from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hurricane Research Division (HRD). The reasonable agreement between the improved QuikSCAT winds and the HRD analyses supports the applications of scatterometer wind retrievals for hurricanes     

毫米波测云雷达回波信号衰减补偿仿真研究

针对毫米波测云雷达受云雨衰减的问题,从雷达I、Q信号角度出发,模拟毫米波测云雷达回波I、Q信号并假设一定的探测环境,进行雷达回波信号衰减补偿仿真试验.试验结果表明,雷达电磁波信号穿过雨区和云区时,在远距离处衰减量很大,通过衰减补偿,信号强度明显增强,目标信号突出.     

On the mechanism for imaging ocean waves by synthetic aperture radar

Based on the analogies between spectral analysis of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery, the two-frequency technique, and the technique of self-mixing of Doppler microwave backscatter for surfaces with periodically varying reflectivity, the SAR imaging of ocean waves is considered as a process of measuring correlation between the values of backscattered SAR radiation in different azimuthal positions of the platform. In this way a relatively simple explanation is given for the focusing effect and for the wave image contrast dependence on the integration time. Results of this approach are in agreement with those obtained in previous works by another (much more complex) manner: the wave image focus shift is proportional to half of the wave phase speed (the wave traveling along the line of flight), and the image contrast does not decrease with an increase the integration time.     

基于有限元方法对高压架空输电线路风偏电场的研究

中国地域辽阔气候复杂,架空输电线路经常面临风速大、飑线风多以及其它恶劣天气因素的影响,导致频繁出现输电线路风偏故障,对电力系统安全运行构成严重威胁.导线周围的电场能够反映输电线路风偏情况,对输电线路风偏电场的研究有利于风偏故障的防治.本文基于有限元方法对西北电网330kV架空输电线路风偏电场进行模拟,获取了输电线路周围电场分布的仿真结果.根据不同风速下输电线路的电场分布,采取相应的防风措施,可以大大降低风偏故障发生概率,这对电力系统的安全运行具有重要的工程意义和经济价值.     

A statistical approach for determining radiometric precisions andaccuracies in the calibration of synthetic aperture radar imagery

A model that estimates a relative error bound for the radiometric calibration of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery is presented. This model is based on a statistical `Coefficient of Variation of Error Model', which produces a relative error bound by propagating the measured or estimated uncertainties in the radar system parameters utilized to correct digitally processed SAR image intensity values. Using this model, algorithms are generated for absolute and relative radiometric calibration of SAR imagery. These algorithms are parametrically exercised using radar system parameters from an existing airborne SAR system to determine their impact on the relative error bound     

Predictive methods for rain attenuation using radar and in-situ measurements tested against the 28-GHz Comstar beacon signal

A program to measure the rain attenuation of the Comstar beacon signal at 28.56 GHz has been in continuous operation since March of 1977 at Wallops Island, VA. During the summer of 1977 simultaneous radar and disdrometer measurements at the site were also made and used for predicting path attenuation. The best-fit values ofaandbof the relationk = aZ^{b}were deduced for each rain period from the raindrop size measurements, wherekis the attenuation coefficient [dB/km] andZis the reflectivity factor [mm⁶/m³]. The measuredk-Zrelations and the simultaneous radar reflectivity measurements along the beacon path were injected into a computer program for estimating the path attenuation. Predicted attenuations, when compared with the directly measured ones, show generally good correlation on a case-by-case basis and very good agreement statistically after an empirical calibration adjustment is applied to the radar data. A method was also tested for predicting fade statistics at another frequency (e.g., 19 GHz) using simultaneous rain rate and fade distributions (28 GHz) in conjunction with disdrometer data. The predicted distributions showed good agreement with radar-predicted levels. The results demonstrate the utility of using radar in conjunction with disdrometer and rain gauge measurements for predicting fade events, long-term fade distributions, and establishing predictive criteria associated with earth-satellite telecommunications.