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Development of the NASA High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne ProfilerThe scope of this paper is the development and recent field deployments of the High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP), which was funded under the NASA Instrument Incubator Program (IIP) [1]. HIWRAP is a dual-frequency (Ka- and Ku-band), dual-beam (300 and 400 incidence angles), conical scanning, Doppler radar system designed for operation on the NASA high-altitude (65,000 ft) Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). It utilizes solid state transmitters along with a novel pulse compression scheme that results in a system with compact size, light weight, less power consumption, and low cost compared to radars currently in use for precipitation and Doppler wind measurements. By combining measurements at Ku- and Ka-band, HIWRAP is able to image winds through measuring volume backscattering from clouds and precipitation. In addition, HIWRAP is also capable of measuring surface winds in an approach similar to SeaWinds on QuikScat. To this end, HIWRAP hardware and software development has been completed. It was installed on the NASA WB57 for instrument test flights in March, 2010 and then deployed on the NASA Global Hawk for supporting the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) field campaign in August-September, 2010. This paper describes the scientific motivations of the development of HIWRAP as well as system hardware, aircraft integration and flight missions. Preliminary data from GRIP science flights is also presented.
Document ID
20110008361
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Li, Lihua
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Heymsfield, Gerald
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Carswell, James
(Remote Sensing Solutions, Inc. Barnstable, MA, United States)
Schaubert, Dan
(Massachusetts Univ. Amherst, MA, United States)
McLinden, Matthew
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Vega, Manuel
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Perrine, Martin
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
March 5, 2011
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Meeting Information
Meeting: 2011 IEEF Aerospace Conference
Location: Big Sky, MT
Country: United States
Start Date: March 5, 2011
End Date: March 12, 2011
Sponsors: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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