Observations of Clouds with the Newly Developed Cloud Profiling FM-CW Radar at 95 GHz

摘要

We developed a low-power and high-sensitivity cloud profiling radar transmitting frequency modulated continuous wave (FM-CW) at 95 GHz for ground-based observations. Millimeter wave at 95 GHz is used to realize much higher sensitivity than lower frequencies to small cloud particles. An FM-CW type radar realizes similar sensitivity with much smaller output power to a pulse type radar. Two 1m-diameter parabolic antennas separated by 1.4m each other are used for transmitting and receiving the wave. The direction of the antennas is fixed at the zenith. The radar is designed to observe clouds between 0.3 and 20 km in height with a resolution of 15 m. Using the developed millimeter-wave FM-CW radar at 95 GHz, we observed clouds in a campaign observation in Amami Island in March 2003, and on a sail on Mirai, a Japanese scientific research vessel, in September 2004 to January 2005 in the Arctic Ocean and the southwest of the Pacific Ocean. The radar provided good and sensitive data in these long-term observations.