TRMM radar

Abstract

The results of a conceptual design study and the performance of key components of the Bread Board Model (BBM) of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) radar are presented. The radar, which operates at 13.8 GHz and is designed to meet TRMM mission objectives, has a minimum measurable rain rate of 0.5 mm/h with a range resolution of 250 m, a horizontal resolution of about 4 km, and a swath width of 220 km. A 128-element active phased array system is adopted to achieve contiguous scanning within the swath. The basic characteristics of BBM were confirmed by experiments. The development of EM started with the cooperation of NASDA and CRL.