Resolution Enhancement System for Networked Radar System

The resolution of Doppler weather radars is primarily dependent on the transmit pulse length and antenna beam width. The resolution has two independent components namely, range resolution and cross-range resolution. Range resolution corresponds to the pulse length while cross-range resolution is a function of beam width and the range to the resolution volume. Obtaining good range resolution for Doppler weather radars has not been a very serious problem because a short transmit pulse provides very good range resolution. However, obtaining good cross-range resolutions at farther ranges requires the use of larger antennas, which is not a viable solution. This paper presents a methodology for the retrieval of radar reflectivity at high resolution for volume targets. An analysis of spatial variability is performed to demonstrate the performance of the methodology. Results are presented from simulations and data collected with an X-band radar network. The data collected are from the Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA) radars deployed in southern Oklahoma. In addition, data collected from the X-band radar network deployed by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) climate research facility at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site in northern Oklahoma is presented.