An Electronically Stabilized Phased Array System for Shipborne Atmospheric Wind Profiling

Abstract

The design, construction, and first results are presented of a 915-MHz Doppler wind profiler that may be mounted on a moving platform such as a mobile land vehicle, ocean buoy, or a ship. The long dwell times in multiple beam directions, required for the detection of weak atmospheric radar echoes, are obtained by a passive phased array antenna, controlled by a motion control and monitoring (MCM) computer that acquires platform motion measurements and compensates in real time for the platform rotations. The platform translational velocities are accounted for in the signal processing system (SPS) before the calculation of the wind velocity profiles. The phased array antenna, MCM, and SPS are described, and radar-derived wind profiles are compared with those from rawinsonde balloons released during the first test cruise of the system, as the NOAA R/V Ronald H. Brown performed ship maneuvers.