The characterization of the effect of antenna polarization errors on simultaneous horizontal and vertical transmitt polarization data

Many radars are now adopting the simultaneous transmission of horizontal and

vertical polarization to achieve dual polarization data streams. The technique relies

on two assumptions 1) the mean canting angle of the precipitation particles in

propagation medium is zero and 2) the antenna polarization errors are negligible.

If either condition is not met, it has been shown that biases in the dual polarization

data appear, especially for differential reflectivity. This paper investigates the nature

of the antenna polarization errors and quantifies their effects on dual polarization data.

Data from several radars are used to illustrate the theory presented.