Two Methods of Ambiguity Resolution in Pulse Doppler Weather Radars

A comparison is made of the performance of a weather Doppler radar with a staggered pulse repetition time and a radar with a random (but known) phase. As a standard for this comparison, the specifications of the forthcoming next generation weather radar (NEXRAD) are used. A statistical analysis of the spectral moment estimates for the staggered scheme is developed, and a theoretical expression for the signal-to-noise ratio due to recohering-filtering-recohering for the random phase radar is obtained. Algorithms for assignment of correct ranges to pertinent spectral moments for both techniques are presented.