Evaluation of Distributed Collaborative Adaptive Sensing in a Four-Node Radar Network: Integrated Project 1

A dense weather radar network is an emerging concept advanced by the Engineering Research Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA). A major goal of CASA is to develop an entirely new paradigm, referred to as Distributed Collaborative Adaptive Sensing (DCAS), for improving the coverage of the lowest portion of the atmosphere through coordinated scanning of low-power, short-range, networked radars. The CASA enterprise designs, develops, and deploys system-level test beds to integrate underlying scientific and technical advances and demonstrate the potential to observe, understand, predict and respond to hazardous atmospheric phenomena-with end users involved from the outset. The first one of DCAS test-beds was deployed in south-west Oklahoma, named as Integrated Project 1 (IP1). It is an end-to-end system of a network of four, low-power, short-range, dual polarization, Doppler radar units, aimed at severe weather and hazardous wind sensing. In this paper, a number of aspects in developing a DCAS radar network for these specific applications are reviewed.