Terminal Doppler weather radar clutter control

Abstract

A number of unique approaches to clutter rejection which have been validated with the terminal Doppler weather radar (TDWR) testbed radar are described. Key aspects of the detection problem are emphasized from the viewpoint of a radar engineer (as opposed to the meteorological and pattern recognition features of the problem). Attention is focused on mainlobe clutter suppression since it is a principal cause of inadequate detection performance. To provide a framework for the TDWR system discussions, the salient features of the low-altitude wind shear detection environment and the pattern recognition algorithms are first described. Some of the system features which arise from ground clutter suppression considerations are then discussed. Clutter due to out-of-trip weather returns is also an important factor in TDWR system engineering due to the trade-off between unambiguous velocity and range (coupled with the (range)/sup -2/ power law for weather echoes). Some of the radar engineering areas which warrant additional investigation are discussed.<>