| New hi-resolution Doppler Radar developed by US Naval Research Laboratory is so powerful that it can track individual raindrops 0.5 mm in diameter from up to two kilometers away. The technology developed can now be used in enhancing the understanding of behavior, dynamics and structure of clouds and weather formations. |
The finding is published in the June 12, 2012 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Doppler radar used for the research was previously used to track small debris shed from the NASAs space shuttle missions during launch. The researchers observed larger cloud particles leaving well-defined, nearly linear, radar reflectivity "streaks" which could be analyzed to infer their underlying properties.
Scientists have detected the individual particles because of a combination of the radar's 3MW power, narrow 0.22 degree beamwidth, and an unprecedented range resolution as fine as 0.5m.
With this combination of radar features, researchers can sample a volume of cloud about the size of a small bus (roughly 14 cubic meters) from 2 kilometers away.
The purpose of this research was to study the properties of various cloud systems as well as to evaluate the ability of the U.S. Navy's Mid-Course Radar (MCR) to retrieve information on the cloud's internal flow and precipitation structure.
SOURCE US Navy News
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