Title :
The 94-GHz cloud profiling radar for the CloudSat mission
Author :
Im, Eastwood ; Durden, Stephen L. ; Wu, Chialin ; Livermore, Thomas R.
Author_Institution :
Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA
Abstract :
The CloudSat Mission is a new international satellite mission to acquire a global data set of vertical atmospheric cloud structure and its variability. Such data set is expected to provide crucial input to the studies of cloud physics, radiation budget, water distribution in the atmosphere, and to the numerical weather prediction models. The key science instrument aboard the CloudSat satellite is the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR). CPR is a 94-GHz nadir-looking radar that measures the power backscattered by clouds as a function of distance from the radar. This sensor is expected to provide cloud measurements at a 500-m vertical resolution and a 1.5-km horizontal resolution. CPR will operate in a short-pulse mode and will yield measurements at a minimum detectable sensitivity of -28 dBZ. In this paper, we will present the system design and the expected performance of this instrument, as well as the state-of-the art millimeter-wave technologies employed by this instrument
Keywords :
clouds; meteorological radar; millimetre wave devices; remote sensing by radar; spaceborne radar; weather forecasting; -28 dBZ; 1.5 km horizontal resolution; 500 m vertical resolution; 94 GHz; 94-GHz; CloudSat Mission; backscattered power; cloud physics; cloud profiling radar; detectable sensitivity; mm-wave technologies; nadir-looking radar; radiation budget; short-pulse mode; vertical atmospheric cloud structure; water distribution; weather prediction models; Atmosphere; Atmospheric measurements; Atmospheric modeling; Clouds; Instruments; Physics; Radar measurements; Satellites; Spaceborne radar; Weather forecasting;
Conference_Titel :
Aerospace Conference, 2001, IEEE Proceedings.
Conference_Location :
Big Sky, MT
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-6599-2
DOI :
10.1109/AERO.2001.931494
