Abstract
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) defines the frequency band of 77 GHz (W-band) as the one dedicated to automatic cruise control long-range radars. A car can be thought as a moving integrated weather sensor since it can provide meteorological information exploiting the sensors installed on board. This work presents the preliminary analysis of how a 77 GHz mini radar can be used as a short range microwave rain gauge. After the discussion of the Mie scattering formulation applied to a microwave rain gauge working in the W-band, the proposal of a new Z-R equation to be used for correct rain estimation is given. Atmospheric attenuation and absorption are estimated taking into account the ITU-T recommendations. Functional requirements in adapting automatic cruise control long-range radar to a microwave rain gauge are analyzed. The technical specifications are determined in order to meet the functional requirements.
Highlights
The advances of the automotive industry are highly dependent on the number of sensors installed on cars
This work presents how common automotive anti-collision radar operating at 77 GHz can be used as a microwave rain gauge
Particular attention has been paid to numerically determine the proper Z-R relationship for a radar operating in W-band using the Mie scattering theory
Summary
The advances of the automotive industry are highly dependent on the number of sensors installed on cars. This work aims to show that, it is possible to use a 77 GHz radar as a microwave rain gauge for meteorological purposes and real time monitoring operations. RADAR METEOROLOGY AT 77 GHZ In order to use a 77 GHz radar as a microwave rain gauge, the first step is to evaluate the atmospheric absorption and attenuation, since they can put some constraints on the operative range. According to [10, 11] the atmospheric absorption at the operative frequency of 77 GHz is about 1 dB/km and it is sufficient low for a W-band microwave rain gauge. Assuming the Mie scattering, the radar reflectivity factor Z can be rewritten as in (2): Z. where σMie is the backscattering cross section of a raindrop evaluated according to the Mie theory. Equation (5) avoids the underestimation of the rainfall rate R caused by a wrong evaluation of the backscattering cross section, and the whole scattering raindrop mechanism [22]
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