The 94-GHz cloud profiling radar for the CloudSat mission

The CloudSat Mission is a new international satellite mission to acquire a global data set of vertical atmospheric cloud structure and its variability. Such data set is expected to provide crucial input to the studies of cloud physics, radiation budget, water distribution in the atmosphere, and to the numerical weather prediction models. The key science instrument aboard the CloudSat satellite is the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR). CPR is a 94-GHz nadir-looking radar that measures the power backscattered by clouds as a function of distance from the radar. This sensor is expected to provide cloud measurements at a 500-m vertical resolution and a 1.5-km horizontal resolution. CPR will operate in a short-pulse mode and will yield measurements at a minimum detectable sensitivity of -28 dBZ. In this paper, we will present the system design and the expected performance of this instrument, as well as the state-of-the art millimeter-wave technologies employed by this instrument