Realization of the NASA Dual-Frequency Dual-Polarized Doppler Radar (D3R)

This paper describes some of the novel technologies adopted in the realization of the NASA Dual-frequency Dual-polarized Doppler Radar (D3R) system for to be used by the GPM ground validation program. A description of the transceivers and major trades that lead to a solid-state architecture is presented. Other aspects enabling the design such as the waveform design and generation and the digital receiver is also described. Data measured from a similar power amplifier was used to estimate the expected range side lobe performance. An estimate of the expected sensitivity based on the transceiver parameters also presented.