X-band Magnetron Dualpolarization Weather Radar

Abstract

Weather modification operation is important for Olympic Games, agriculture, environment and ecology etc. in China. Suitable weather background is required for this task. The atmospheric conditions can be obtained by dual-polarization weather radar which measuring and evaluating operation variables and has been developed. Such a magnetron radar is with advance of high radiation power, simple structure, small volume and light weight, its transmitter, receiver and signal processors can be put and fixed on the antenna elevation platform, can be omitted the influence of amplitude and phase fluctuation caused by the azimuth and elevation rotation joints. And the modern digital receiver and signal processor technologies making coherence on received and the radar detection performance perfect are employed to cancel the random initial phase and reject the slow frequency drifting for magnetron transmitter. Such a magnetron x band dual-linear polarization weather surveillance radar, so call MaXPol, has been built and installed in Weining County, Guizhou province in China at the end of August 2019. For some operation, several times of rainfall and small hail observations have been obtained. By analyzing the echoes it is shown that the polarization variables are good corresponding to those weather processes. The MaXPol radar with easy operation, accuracy data and effective application has been accepted for their weather modification operation.