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First-generation operational modes for ARM radars

 
Poster PDF

Authors

Nitin Bharadwaj — Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Pavlos Kollias — Stony Brook University
Kevin B. Widener — Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Scott Matthew Collis — Argonne National Laboratory

Category

Instruments

Description

ARM 's scanning dual-polarization dual-frequency cloud radars.

The ARM profiling radars have been used to observe cloud systems for over a decade. The cloud profiling radars have provided valuable data sets for the study of clouds. However, the profiling radars were limited to observing cloud properties in a vertical column. Recently, the ARM Climate Research Facility has added scanning cloud and precipitations radars to its facilities. The primary purpose of these radars is for the three-dimensional observation of clouds and spatial-temporal mapping of cloud properties. The ARM radars are deployed at four fixed sites and on two mobile facilities (AMF1 and AMF2) for regional climate studies. The four fixed sites are Southern Great Plains (SGP) in Oklahoma, North Slope of Alaska (NSA) in Barrow, Tropical Western Pacific (TWP) Darwin in Australia and TWP Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. These radars will be located with the baseline instrument suites at the ARM sites for comparative measurements.

Cloud systems have been observed at various scales and differing structures. The cloud systems classification is used as a guide to include the spatial scale and structure of the clouds to facilitate the design radar scan strategies. In addition to cloud structure and spatial scale, the geographical location of the radar must be taken into account while designing the scan strategy. The observation of cloud systems in three dimensions has not been done in a 24x7 operational environment. The first-generation scanning modes for the ARM radar are presented. The first-generation scan strategy is aimed to meet a few base-level objectives of the ARM Facility. The data from the first generation will provide data to evaluate the sampling strategies for the scanning ARM cloud radars (SACRs) and scanning ARM precipitation radars (SAPRs). In addition, the first-generation operating modes will provide a framework to build long-term operational scanning modes that are tailored for each of the radar sites, which cover a wide range of climatic regimes.