CLAIRE: An UHF wind profiler radar for turbulence and precipitation studies

Abstract

Due to diverse and extreme weather conditions, the Peruvian population is vulnerable to high-impact natural disasters. A continuous monitoring of all weather conditions is necessary for accurate weather models, forecast, and nowcast along the territory. To cope with this problem, the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO) is developing a low-cost, portable CLear AIr and Rainfall Estimations (CLAIRE) Radar that will provide tropospheric winds, turbulence, and rainfall estimations that will help analyze and quantify meteorological phenomena. CLAIRE consists of four Yagi-Uda antenna phased arrays, one for transmission and three for reception, arranged in a quasimonostatic system. The 445-MHz CLAIRE system is sensitive to both clear-air and precipitation echoes. The aim is to separate the two types of echoes through spectral analysis and process them independently. For the wind and turbulence measurements, Spaced Antenna technique will be applied, while precipitation measurements will be obtained by analyzing the corresponding radar reflectivity factor (Ze).