A Modulation Waveform for Short-Dwell-Time Meteorogical Doppler Radars

Abstract

A modulation waveform for meteorological Doppler radars that obtain estimates of radar reflectivity, mean velocity, and Doppler width with dwell time much shorter than that used with conventional meteorological Doppler radars is described. The transmitted signal is a sequence of three identical chirp pulses; signal parameters can be estimated from the radar echoes of a single sequence with standard deviation similar to that of conventional meteorological radars that use dwell times more than an order of magnitude longer. This waveform would be particularly useful for radars with electronically steered antennas where the antenna scan rate is not limited by mechanical constraints and there is no spectral broadening caused by antenna motion.