MRI Track 1: Acquisition of a Ka-band Polarization Radar for Atmospheric Process Studies

MRI 轨道 1：获取用于大气过程研究的 Ka 波段偏振雷达

• 批准号: 2320710
• 负责人: Kevin Knupp
• 金额: $ 77.96万
• 依托单位: University of Alabama in Huntsville
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2320710&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Track; Acquisition; Ka; band

This Major Research Instrumentation award is for the acquisition of a profiling cloud radar. Cloud radars transmit shorter wavelengths than traditional weather radars and are more sensitive to small scatterers, like cloud droplets and even insects. The radar will be incorporated into the University of Alabama in Huntsville’s (UAH) Mobile Atmospheric Profiling Network (MAPNet) facility which is available for wide community usage. This radar will complement the existing MAPNet remote sensing instrumentation and allow users to address a variety of new science topics. The radar will be used for hands-on educational experiences for students and enhance outreach activities. This award is for the acquisition of a Ka-band profiling radar (KaPR) that would be integrated into UAH’s MAPNet. MAPNet is part of the current AGS Community Instrument and Facility (CIF) cohort and is available for deployment by members of the scientific community supported by NSF. MAPNet currently lacks a cloud radar, which would provide important information on cloud depth/top, cloud water phase, refined estimates of cloud water content, precipitation characteristics, and hydrometeor type. The specific instrument to be acquired is the ProSensing dual antenna Quadratic Phase Coded, continuous wave radar. This new radar has improved signal to noise ratio, lower range sidelobes, and a much smaller minimum range. The research team has identified the following areas of study that could be enhanced by the use of KaPR: cool season stratocumulus clouds, convective system environments, cloud electrification, hurricane boundary layers, aerosol-cloud interactions, convective snow bands, mammatus clouds, and biological flyers. This project is jointly funded by the Major Research Instrumentation program, the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), and the Physical and Dynamic Meteorology program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项主要的研究仪器奖是为了获得分析云雷达。云雷达传输短波长比传统的天气雷达较短，并且对小散射器（如云液滴甚至绝缘）更敏感。雷达将在亨茨维尔（UAH）的移动大气分析网络（MAPNET）设施中纳入阿拉巴马大学，可用于广泛的社区使用。此雷达将完成现有的MAPNET遥感仪器，并允许用户解决各种新科学主题。雷达将用于学生的动手教育经验，并增强外展活动。该奖项是因为收购了将集成到UAH的MapNet中的KA波段分析雷达（KAPR）。 MAPNET是当前AGS社区工具和设施（CIF）队列的一部分，可以由NSF支持的科学社区成员进行部署。 MAPNET目前缺乏云雷达，该云雷达将提供有关云深/顶部，云水相，云水含量，降水特征和水晶类型的精致估计的重要信息。要获取的特定仪器是编码连续波雷达的二重天线二次相。这种新的雷达改善了信号与噪声比，较低范围的距离和最小范围要小得多。研究小组已经确定了以下研究领域，可以通过使用KAPR来增强：凉爽的季节层流云，对流系统环境，云电气化，飓风边界层，气溶胶云相互作用，对流雪带，乳腺云和生物学飞行者。该项目由主要的研究工具计划，既定的竞争研究计划（EPSCOR）以及身体和动态气象学计划共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，通过评估来诚实地对其进行评估。