Zenith Pointing W-band Cloud Radars

Zenith Pointing W-Band Cloud Radars

Operating in the atmospheric transmission window near 95 GHz, these dual polarized radars have very high sensitivity achieved using 1.8 kW peak power klystron amplifiers.  The radars feature liquid cooled enclosures, internal noise source for receiver calibration, and digital receivers with continuous full-spectrum processing.

W-band Cloud Radar Features
  • High peak power (1.8 kW) Extended Interaction Klystron Amplifier
  • 3.5 dB Noise Figure Low Noise Amplifier
  • Low Loss T/R network using latching circulators
  • Internal noise source for continuous monitoring of receiver gain and noise figure
  • High performance data acquisition system
    • 16-bit 120 MS/s digital receiver
    • Digital pulse compression with low range sidelobes (>60 dB below peak response)
    • Co-polarized and cross-polarized Doppler spectrum with real-time moment estimation (dBZ, velocity, velocity spectrum width)

Transportable W-band cloud radar with 1.2 m antenna and 1.8 kW peak power transmitter

Shipborne W-band cloud radar on a stabilized platform used to keep beam pointing at zenith