The Possible Use of a Millimeter-Wave Meteoradar for Radioacoustic Sounding of the Atmosphere

Abstract

The use of millimeter-wave meteoradars with amplitude modulation of radio pulses in systems of radioacoustic sounding of the atmosphere, proposed by A. L. Fabrikant, opened new opportunities in atmospheric research. However, the experimental layout and measurement technique chosen by A. L. Fabrikant are far from optimal. Even using record-power acoustic emitters, one can only perform measurements at heights not larger than 1.5-2 km. In this paper, we consider methods for optimization of the system. We propose design solutions which improve significantly (by a factor of about 10⁴) the signal-to-noise ratio in comparison with the estimates performed by A. L. Fabrikant. The influence of wind and temperature gradients on the system operation is considered. In contrast to conventional systems of radioacoustic sounding, the use of a millimeter-wave radar with a narrow radiation pattern allows one to avoid losses in efficiency due to the wind drift of the acoustic mirror. We show that the height of sounding by a system comprising a millimeter-wave radar and an acoustic emitter with standard parameters can be increased up to 10-15 km. The proposed system allows one to measure the aerosol content and the temperature and wind profiles in the atmosphere as well as to study turbulent processes during active (prestorm or thunderstorm) periods. Moreover, such a system is compact enough to be mounted on mobile platforms.