A millimeter-wave Cloud Profiling Radar System (CPRS)

The Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory (MIRSL) at the University of Massachusetts has developed a unique dual-frequency polarimetric Cloud Profiling Radar System (CPRS). This system, whose development was funded by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program, was intended to fill the need for remote sensors capable of remotely sensing cloud properties such as partical phase and size. CPRS polarimetric and dual-wavelength measurements when combined with in situ cloud measurements should lead to a greater ability to remotely determine cloud phase and particle size distribution. This paper describes the CPRS hardware and presents collocated 33 GHz and 95 GHz reflectivity measurements that show Mie scattering in mixed phase clouds.