A 95 GHz airborne radar for high resolution polarimetric cloud measurements

The Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory of the University of Massachusetts developed a high power 95 GHz (three millimeter wavelength) airborne polarimetric Doppler radar that is being used in cooperative experiments with the University of Wyoming to remotely sense clouds. In February 1994 as part of the Winter Icing and Storms Project, WISP, the airborne system observed clouds containing a wide range of particle types and precipitation processes along with in-situ measurements of the weather conditions and particle characteristics. This paper describes the polarimetric and Doppler radar technology used in the experiment and presents some of the results