Transcript No Slide Title

Puerto Rico Deployable Radar Network Design;
Site Survey
J. M. Trabal(1), J. G. Colom(1), S. L. Cruz-Pol(1), S. M. Sekelsky(2)
(1) University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus
(2) University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract
The Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory (MIRSL) at the
University of Massachusetts and the Electrical Engineering
Department at the University of Puerto Rico are collaborating to
modify Raytheon marine radars for use as meteorological radar nodes
in a proposed weather radar network. This will be the first network to
measure lower atmospheric phenomena in Puerto Rico. The radar
consists of an antenna, a rotator, and a transceiver that will be placed
at a top of a tower or building, along with a data processing system.
This paper derives two important equations describing the curved
earth effect on beam propagation for radar range calculation. It also
describes the method used to survey the MIRSL Tilson Farm field site,
and the eleven campuses of the University of Puerto Rico backbone
and justifies their fixed offset antennas’ elevation angle and location.
Research Objectives
• Solve the curved Earth signal propagation problem to
obtain graphically the radars’ range distance at the eleven
campuses of the University of Puerto Rico.
• Site surveying each campus in order to decide the height of
the radar tower and the inclination angle the antenna must
have, for the beam point above clutter from trees and
buildings.
Survey Materials and Procedure
•
•
First of all we had to make the decision of in which
area on the campuses the antenna must be installed to
get an obstruction free view angle (tallest buildings in
our case).
To determine the height and fixed elevation offset of
the antenna we measure the minimum elevation angle
over a full 360 degrees azimuth swath (in 5 degree
increments from North to West) using a distance range
meter telescope, a digital level, and a compass.
University of Puerto Rico, Humacao Campus
Satellite IKONOS
Antenna Vertical Angle and Range Results
Radar Antenna Location
Site
Mayagüez
Ponce
Aguadilla
Humacao
Arecibo
Bayamón
Ciencias Médicas
Cayey
Utuado
Rio Piedras
Carolina
Minimum Vertical Angle (Degrees)
4.8
5.2
4
6
5
5
3.5
16
11.3
3.3
14.1
Antenna Height (Feets)
5
9
5
5
18
5
25
5
5
15
5
Maximum Radar Range (Km)
46
42
52
37
44
44
60.5
13.5
19.5
62
15.5
Mayagüez Campus Survey Site Panorama
Future Work
Radar Network Design
• Install the Raytheon marine radar
rotator, transceiver, and antenna and
design the data processing system
for testing purposes.
• After the survey procedure in all the
University of Puerto Rico’s campuses
and after completing the master’s
degree, I will pursue a PhD program
in Electrical Engineering at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
with the modification of the Raytheon
marine radar as the investigation
topic.
Acknowledgements
This research is made possible
thanks to the support of NASA Tropical
Center for Earth and Space Studies
(TCESS), NASA Faculty Award for
Research
in
Cloud
Microwave
Measurements of Atmospheric Events
(FAR-Climmate) and the NASA Partnership
for Spatial and Computational Research
(PaSCoR) at University of Puerto Rico,
Mayagüez Campus and in collaboration
with the Microwave Remote Sensing
Laboratory at University of Massachusetts
Amherst.
Sponsored by: NASA- TCESS-FAR