Compact Airborne Ka-Band Radar: a New Addition to the University of Wyoming Aircraft for Atmospheric Research

The University of Wyoming (UW) acquired a new compact airborne pulsed Ka-band (8-mm wavelength) Precipitation Radar (KPR) in 2016. Developed by ProSensing Inc. in collaboration with the UW Atmospheric Science Department, this radar operates from a standard Particle Measurement Systems (PMS) canister. Key components are an arbitrary transmit pulse waveform generator, a 10 W solid state power amplifier, and a pair of 14 cm diameter flat plate slotted waveguide array antennas for interleaved profiling above and below the aircraft. KPR is installed on the right wing of the UW King Air research aircraft (UWKA). The combined use of KPR, UWKA 3-mm wavelength cloud radar (WCR), cloud lidar (WCL), and in situ instruments allows for a better retrieval of cloud and precipitation properties and analysis of weather processes. In this paper we present this new Ka-band radar and show an example of the synergy between the in situ and the remote sensing instruments on board UWKA.