Engineering demands placed on littoral radar due to non-standard propagation revealed by mesoscale numerical weather prediction technology

Rapid improvements in skill and spatio-temporal resolution of mesoscale numerical weather prediction models have recently created the ability to simulate notional radar design performance in four dimensional non-standard refractivity environments. This paper quantifies the engineering demands, relative to a standard atmosphere, placed on notional ship borne S band, C band and X band radars during a strong sub-refractive event in the Chesapeake Bay. The Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPStrade) provided the refractivity field and the Advanced Refractivity Effects Prediction System (AREPS) was employed to model the radars. Engineering demands are wavelength, spatially, and temporally dependent and often exceed 50 dB.