Identifying and Mitigating Clutter for Polarimetric Variables

The US NEXRAD WSR-88D (Weather Surveillance Radar – 1988 Doppler) was upgraded for polarimetric capability in 2013. Engineers and scientists at the WSR-88D Radar Operations Center (ROC) along with members of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have been investigating the performance of the Clutter Mitigation Decision (CMD) clutter identification algorithm and the Gaussian Model Adaptive Processing (GMAP) clutter filter with respect to the polarimetric variable data quality. The research community has established that polarimetric variables are much more susceptible to low levels of clutter contamination than the traditional Doppler moments. ROC and NCAR technical team members are investigating the probability of detection for CMD and the effectiveness of GMAP in preserving polarimetric data quality. The team is exploring improvements to these critical functions. This paper reviews progress and plans for enhancing the polarimetric data quality delivered by the WSR-88D.