A Dual-Frequency Cloud Radar for Observations of Precipitation and Cloud in Tibet: Description and Preliminary Measurements
A new dual-frequency Doppler polarimetric cloud radar (DDCR), working at 35-GHz (Ka-band radar, wavelength: 8.6 mm) and 94-GHz (W-band radar, wavelength: 3.2 mm) frequencies, has been in operation at Yangbajing Observatory on the Tibetan Plateau (China) for more than a year at the time of writing. C...
Guardado en:
| Autores principales: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | EN |
| Publicado: |
MDPI AG
2021
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/3360c755028c405bbf650fc0472526b2 |
| Etiquetas: |
Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
|
| id |
oai:doaj.org-article:3360c755028c405bbf650fc0472526b2 |
|---|---|
| record_format |
dspace |
| spelling |
oai:doaj.org-article:3360c755028c405bbf650fc0472526b22021-11-25T18:55:23ZA Dual-Frequency Cloud Radar for Observations of Precipitation and Cloud in Tibet: Description and Preliminary Measurements10.3390/rs132246852072-4292https://doaj.org/article/3360c755028c405bbf650fc0472526b22021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/22/4685https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292A new dual-frequency Doppler polarimetric cloud radar (DDCR), working at 35-GHz (Ka-band radar, wavelength: 8.6 mm) and 94-GHz (W-band radar, wavelength: 3.2 mm) frequencies, has been in operation at Yangbajing Observatory on the Tibetan Plateau (China) for more than a year at the time of writing. Calculations and field observations show that the DDCR has a high detection sensitivity of −39.2 dBZ at 10 km and −33 dBZ at 10 km for the 94-GHz radar and 35-GHz radar, respectively. The radar reflectivity measured by the two radars illustrates different characteristics for different types of cloud: for precipitation, the attenuation caused by liquid cloud droplets is obviously more serious for the 94-GHz radar than the 35-GHz radar (the difference reaches 40 dB in some cases), and the 94-GHz radar lost signals due to serious attenuation by heavy rainfall; while for clouds dominated by ice crystals where the attenuation significantly weakens, the 94-GHz radar shows better detection ability than the 35-GHz radar. Observations in the Tibetan region show that the 35-GHz radar is prone to missing cloud near the edge, such as the cloud-top portion, resulting in underestimation of the cloud-top height (CTH). Statistical analysis based on one year of observations shows that the mean CTH measured by the 94-GHz radar in the Tibetan region is approximately 600 m higher than that measured by the 35-GHz radar. The analysis in this paper shows that the DDCR, with its dual-frequency design, provides more valuable information than simpler configurations, and will therefore play an important role in improving our understanding of clouds and precipitation in the Tibetan region.Juan HuoYongheng BiBo LiuCongzheng HanMinzheng DuanMDPI AGarticleradardual-frequencyTibetcloudprecipitationScienceQENRemote Sensing, Vol 13, Iss 4685, p 4685 (2021) |
| institution |
DOAJ |
| collection |
DOAJ |
| language |
EN |
| topic |
radar dual-frequency Tibet cloud precipitation Science Q |
| spellingShingle |
radar dual-frequency Tibet cloud precipitation Science Q Juan Huo Yongheng Bi Bo Liu Congzheng Han Minzheng Duan A Dual-Frequency Cloud Radar for Observations of Precipitation and Cloud in Tibet: Description and Preliminary Measurements |
| description |
A new dual-frequency Doppler polarimetric cloud radar (DDCR), working at 35-GHz (Ka-band radar, wavelength: 8.6 mm) and 94-GHz (W-band radar, wavelength: 3.2 mm) frequencies, has been in operation at Yangbajing Observatory on the Tibetan Plateau (China) for more than a year at the time of writing. Calculations and field observations show that the DDCR has a high detection sensitivity of −39.2 dBZ at 10 km and −33 dBZ at 10 km for the 94-GHz radar and 35-GHz radar, respectively. The radar reflectivity measured by the two radars illustrates different characteristics for different types of cloud: for precipitation, the attenuation caused by liquid cloud droplets is obviously more serious for the 94-GHz radar than the 35-GHz radar (the difference reaches 40 dB in some cases), and the 94-GHz radar lost signals due to serious attenuation by heavy rainfall; while for clouds dominated by ice crystals where the attenuation significantly weakens, the 94-GHz radar shows better detection ability than the 35-GHz radar. Observations in the Tibetan region show that the 35-GHz radar is prone to missing cloud near the edge, such as the cloud-top portion, resulting in underestimation of the cloud-top height (CTH). Statistical analysis based on one year of observations shows that the mean CTH measured by the 94-GHz radar in the Tibetan region is approximately 600 m higher than that measured by the 35-GHz radar. The analysis in this paper shows that the DDCR, with its dual-frequency design, provides more valuable information than simpler configurations, and will therefore play an important role in improving our understanding of clouds and precipitation in the Tibetan region. |
| format |
article |
| author |
Juan Huo Yongheng Bi Bo Liu Congzheng Han Minzheng Duan |
| author_facet |
Juan Huo Yongheng Bi Bo Liu Congzheng Han Minzheng Duan |
| author_sort |
Juan Huo |
| title |
A Dual-Frequency Cloud Radar for Observations of Precipitation and Cloud in Tibet: Description and Preliminary Measurements |
| title_short |
A Dual-Frequency Cloud Radar for Observations of Precipitation and Cloud in Tibet: Description and Preliminary Measurements |
| title_full |
A Dual-Frequency Cloud Radar for Observations of Precipitation and Cloud in Tibet: Description and Preliminary Measurements |
| title_fullStr |
A Dual-Frequency Cloud Radar for Observations of Precipitation and Cloud in Tibet: Description and Preliminary Measurements |
| title_full_unstemmed |
A Dual-Frequency Cloud Radar for Observations of Precipitation and Cloud in Tibet: Description and Preliminary Measurements |
| title_sort |
dual-frequency cloud radar for observations of precipitation and cloud in tibet: description and preliminary measurements |
| publisher |
MDPI AG |
| publishDate |
2021 |
| url |
https://doaj.org/article/3360c755028c405bbf650fc0472526b2 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT juanhuo adualfrequencycloudradarforobservationsofprecipitationandcloudintibetdescriptionandpreliminarymeasurements AT yonghengbi adualfrequencycloudradarforobservationsofprecipitationandcloudintibetdescriptionandpreliminarymeasurements AT boliu adualfrequencycloudradarforobservationsofprecipitationandcloudintibetdescriptionandpreliminarymeasurements AT congzhenghan adualfrequencycloudradarforobservationsofprecipitationandcloudintibetdescriptionandpreliminarymeasurements AT minzhengduan adualfrequencycloudradarforobservationsofprecipitationandcloudintibetdescriptionandpreliminarymeasurements AT juanhuo dualfrequencycloudradarforobservationsofprecipitationandcloudintibetdescriptionandpreliminarymeasurements AT yonghengbi dualfrequencycloudradarforobservationsofprecipitationandcloudintibetdescriptionandpreliminarymeasurements AT boliu dualfrequencycloudradarforobservationsofprecipitationandcloudintibetdescriptionandpreliminarymeasurements AT congzhenghan dualfrequencycloudradarforobservationsofprecipitationandcloudintibetdescriptionandpreliminarymeasurements AT minzhengduan dualfrequencycloudradarforobservationsofprecipitationandcloudintibetdescriptionandpreliminarymeasurements |
| _version_ |
1718410514894159872 |