Abstract
This letter illustrates the effects that the regular pattern of the metallic unions of a four-panel radome had on the polarimetric variables [differential reflectivity Z <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dr</sub> , copolar differential phase φ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dp</sub> offset, and copolar correlation coefficient (ρ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">hv</sub> )] as well as on the sun measurements of a mobile X-band weather radar. In particular, we focus on the analysis of the spatial distribution of the biases and the temporal variability of the sun measurements. We show that the metallic unions result in a nonnegligible sinusoidal-like spatial variability of the estimated biases (on the order of 7°-8° for φ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dp</sub> offset and 0.4-0.5 dB for Z <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dr</sub> bias), as well as a drop in ρ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">hv</sub> in rain and a large temporal variability in the power measured by sun scans. These effects are compared with the measurements collected without a radome and with the measurements collected with a seamless monoblock radome on the same radar system. It is shown that operating without radome, when possible, has a positive impact on the data quality, largely reducing the spatial variability of the biases and increasing the ρ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">hv</sub> in rain. Similar performances, without the inherent risks, can be obtained as well with a seamless radome. Nevertheless, regardless of the form of operation, we advocate for monitoring the data quality as accurately as possible if quantitative applications are desired.
Highlights
T HE widespread introduction of polarimetric radars has been a game changer for radar meteorology
Attempts have been made at correcting radome attenuation by exploiting the self-consistency of the polarimetric variables [6], by correlating the increase in the microwave emissions due to the precipitation at high elevation angles with radome attenuation [7], or by using nearby radars less prone to radome attenuation [8]
This letter illustrated the effects of the radome on the quality of the polarimetric variables of a mobile X-band Doppler polarimetric weather radar
Summary
T HE widespread introduction of polarimetric radars has been a game changer for radar meteorology. Attempts have been made at correcting radome attenuation by exploiting the self-consistency of the polarimetric variables [6], by correlating the increase in the microwave emissions due to the precipitation at high elevation angles with radome attenuation [7], or by using nearby radars less prone to radome attenuation [8] Another important effect is caused by the radome structure. A weather radar radome is formed by several panels lap-joined using metallic threaded unions If such unions are aligned over a particular orientation (typically vertically oriented), they may have a nonnegligible effect on the quality of the polarimetric variables. In order to reduce costs, weather services sometimes opt for keeping the old radomes when adding polarimetric capability to their radar systems In such a case, attempts at mitigating the problem by using spatial calibration curves have been performed [9].
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