Status of the HIWRAP and URAD Conical Scan

Status of the HIWRAP and URAD Conical Scan Radars for Wind Measurements Gerald Heymsfield NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (Gerald. Heymsfield@nasa. gov) L. Li, M. Vega /NASA/ GSFC J. Carswell /Remote Sensing Solutions, Inc. D. Schaubert, J. Creticos / Univ. Mass. W. Welch / Welch Mechanical Design GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

Current High-Altitude Capability Using X-band ER-2 Doppler Radar (EDOP) • More than a decade of high-altitude Doppler measurements from ER-2 aircraft over tropical cyclones capturing events such as hot towers • Two beams ->vertical motions, along-track winds -> very high resolution below aircraft -> but no horizontal wind vector GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

Why Conical Scan Radar? ->3 D Winds in precipitation /cloudy regions - emphasis on horizontal winds ->Surface winds through scatterometry (Quik. Scat, IWRAP, . . ) Make both measurements with one radar Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (IWRAP) (Esteban, Carswell. . 2005) GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

Motivation for Radar on Global Hawk ØLong-duration (~30 hours) & high-altitude (>18 km) capability. -> e. g, reaches E. Atlantic genesis region ØIncreased time sampling storm -> capture RI events, hot towers, etc. ØFill gaps in coverage from orbiting satellites (Quik. Scat, TRMM, . . ) GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER 4

NASA Conical Scan Radars in Development High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Profiler (HIWRAP) Ku, Ka-Band (14 and 35 GHz) NASA Instrument Incubator Program (IIP) Aircraft: WB-57, Global Hawk UAV Radar (URAD) X-Band (9. 4 GHz) Goddard Space Flight Center IR&D Aircraft: ER-2, Global Hawk GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

HIWRAP NASA technology development Low power solid-state transmitter , high altitude, power efficient digital receiver & processor *3 D winds (grid point retrieval) and reflectivity *Two frequencies and two incidence angles to increase the number independent wind measurements GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

HIWRAP Measurement Concept Two look angles and two frequencies Grid Point Analysis • 3 D grid covering conical scan region • Radial wind measurements from fore and aft looks are used to calculate horizontal wind vector GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

HIWRAP Scanner Scan motor Ka-band transceiver IF/LO subsystem Dual-freq feeds Ku-band transceiver GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER Digital receiver 8

Ka-Band Transceiver Power Amplifiers Heat pipe & heat sink for PAs GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER Waveguide ports to antenna Test Frame 9

HIWRAP Development Plan • Instrument Completion - Summer 2009 • Test flights on NASA WB -57 high-altitude aircraft - Fall 2009 • Reconfiguration and test flights for Global Hawk - early 2010 • Possible NASA hurricane field experiment Summer 2010 GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER 10

WB-57 Test Flights • WB-57 provides an excellent simulator for the Global Hawk operating environment • HIWRAP will fly on WB 57 for initial instrumental and measurement concept test HIWRAP in WB 57 6 -foot pallet GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER 11

HIWRAP in Global Hawk HIWRAP & Radome GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER • Integration plans and test flight plans are still evolving for 2010 Summer flights. 12

URAD Measurement Concept ØEarlier development than HIWRAP using conventional radar technology ØOriginally designed for Global Hawk but now may be used for EDOP replacement X-Band, tube-based (TWT) transmitter, fully steerable antenna scan up to 35 degree elevation GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER ØNadir capabilities of EDOP, plus a second conical/crosstrack scanning beam ØHardware in integration stage and near completion 13

URAD Integration Concept for ER-2 GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER 14

URAD Hardware Antenna/ positioner High peak power transmitter and the pressure enclosure (cover off) IF/LO and digital receiver enclosure GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER 15

Summary ØWorking toward completion of flight ready HIWRAP and URAD by Summer 2009. ØWB-57 HIWRAP flights planned for Fall 2009 ØFunding in discussion for HIWRAP Global Hawk integration, test flights, and hurricane field experiment in 2010 ØURAD targeted for EDOP replacement GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER 16

GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

Outline • Conical scan radar for 3 D winds in cloud/precip regions & surface winds from high-altitude manned aircraft and UAS. • High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) development status for Global Hawk • UAV Radar (URAD) development status for ER-2. GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER