Clutter cancellation in a weather radar using an adaptive array antenna

Abstract

High resolution windspeed profile measurements are needed in a weather radar to provide the reliable information of rapidly changing weather conditions. The commonly used pulse pair method is quite attractive when processing an enormous amount of weather radar data in real time since it is considered the fastest algorithm available[1] [2] [3] [4]. However, it is necessary to remove both stationary and moving clutter to obtain the accurate pulse pair estimates. The use of the conventional pulse pair canceller or other high-pass Doppler filters may be effective for the removal of ground clutter but the moving clutter occurring from airplanes, vehicles or turbulent sea surfaces cannot be eliminated. To make matters worse, even the removal of stationary ground clutter is not an easy task because of Doppler spectrum spread due to antenna rotation and phase noise.