Database design for an experimental, dual band, polarimetric radar

Multistatic measurements of targets and clutter have been performed over the past few years by the NetRAD system developed at the University College London and the University of Cape Town. A new system, NeXtRAD, is now being developed in order to investigate some of the many aspects of multistatic radar at L and X Bands, dual polarised. This paper discusses the data archive system of the new radar in the light of the lessons learnt from the use of NetRAD. Although this data can be conveniently grouped by day, within campaigns, it is highly desirable to be able to search for specific recording conditions, across many data takes. In addition, to assist investigators during post processing, a library of routines to access the data have been prepared. The radar raw target returns, together with ancillary data, is merged into an Hierarchical Data File version 5 (HDF5) archive. During this process, important parameters are extracted to a searchable database.