Rain rate estimation from attenuation measurements using a 35 GHz dual polarization microwave link

Author

Ruf, Christopher S. ; Aydin, Kultegin ; Mathur, Savyasachee

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA, USA

Volume

3

fYear

1994

fDate

8-12 Aug 1994

Firstpage

1777

Abstract

A 35 GHz dual polarization microwave link has been built at Penn State University. The operating principle of this instrument is essentially that of a pulsed bi-static radar. Rain attenuation measurements are made by placing a corner reflector in the beam of the antennas. Calibration and stability requirements are simplified compared to standard uni-directional propagation links. Taking the ratio of horizontal to vertical attenuation factors also reduces the sensitivity to instrument fluctuations, since receiver drifts which are slower than the polarization switching speed (2200 Hz) will be canceled out. This is a primary motivation for using the differential polarization technique. The results of differential sensitivity measurements by this instrument are presented

Keywords

atmospheric techniques; millimetre wave propagation; rain; remote sensing; tropospheric electromagnetic wave propagation; 35 GHz; EHF; atmosphere; corner reflector; differential polarization; dual polarization microwave link; instrument; measurement technique; meteorology; millimetric radiowave propagation; mm wave; polarimetry; rain rate estimation; remote sensing; Antennas and propagation; Attenuation measurement; Calibration; Instruments; Microwave propagation; Polarization; Radar antennas; Rain; Reflector antennas; Stability;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 1994. IGARSS '94. Surface and Atmospheric Remote Sensing: Technologies, Data Analysis and Interpretation., International

Conference_Location

Pasadena, CA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-1497-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IGARSS.1994.399563

Filename

399563