A Polarization Diversity Meteorological Radar System

Book excerpt: The AFGL 10-cm Doppler weather radar was modified to enable the measurement of the differential reflectivity between horizontal and vertical polarizations in addition to the absolute reflectivity and the Doppler mean velocity and spectrum variance. Polarization switching is achieved by means of a diplexer, which separates at the antenna the transmitted signals of two frequencies, 2710 and 2760 MHz, and permits nearly simultaneous transmission of signals of orthogonal polarizations. Signals of these frequencies can be transmitted either with horizontal and vertical polarization, respectively, or with left and right circular, polarization, respectively. We describe the design and performance of the diplexer and the performance of the real-time data processor, present examples of meteorological measurements, and discuss future developments of the radar system. Keywords: Polarization diversity weather radar, Dual polarization radar, and Polarization switching.