A revised signal processing scheme for Met Office incoherent weather radar

The UK Met Office is currently in the process of replacing old radar site processors with a second generation system developed in-house. In addition to changes to the basic product generation and control functions, this has provided an opportunity to review whether the signal processing techniques originally developed for much older technology, can be better oriented to meeting today's operational requirements. For systems that cannot be readily upgraded to Doppler, this includes a re-assessment of assumptions about our sampling methods, as well as the implementation of techniques such as a statistical clutter recognizer based on the signal decorrelation time. An important question is to what extent these can be more tightly bound up with product generation, including new data quality products intended to support model assimilation. The paper will report the results of initial trials for one of our radars, as well as outlining the approach being taken towards implementation.