Design and sensitivity analysis of China´s first Ka-band airborne precipitation radar

In order to evaluate the performance and demonstrate key technologies of China´s future Ka-band spaceborne precipitation radar, an airborne Ka-band precipitation radar (APR) was developed by Science and Technology on Millimeter-wave Laboratory (STMWL). It adopts phased array antenna to allow fast and flexible cross-track scanning and was designed as a hybrid coherent system combining both the short-pulse system and the pulse compression system. The flight test of APR was conducted in August, 2010, through 7 effective flights under both clear and raining conditions over Tianjin area, northeast China. In this paper, the design considerations and system description of APR are presented. And the rain measurement results as well as sensitivity analysis base on real data are also introduced.