Developing a Ship Motion Effect Correction Method for Shipborne Polarimetric Radar Measurement Bias via T-Matrix Simulation: An OSSE case study

A shipborne polarimetric radar measurement error correction for the ship motion effect is developed. A C-band shipborne polarimetric will be installed on Research Vessel (R/V) New Ocean Researcher 1 (NOR1). The pseudo C-band polarimetric radar measurements with ship motion effect error are simulated using the T-matrix simulation. A series of sensitivity experiments were conducted to examine the ship motion (pitch and roll) induced canting and elevation angles on the shipborne C-band polarimetric radar data. The results indicate that the bias difference of differential reflectivity (Z_dr, dB) and specific differential phase (K_dp, ºkm-1) can vary to 0.25 dB and 0.7 ºkm-1, respectively, at the canting angles of 10º. Similarly, the bias difference of Z_dr and K_dp at the elevation angle of 10º can vary to 0.2 dB and 0.5 ºkm-1, respectively. A correction procedure for the canting and elevation angles is obtained through the simulation with the observed ship movement (pitch and roll) data. Further studies are needed to validate and evaluate this approach for calibrating the observed shipborne polarimetric radar of NOR1.