Towards Distributed Phased Array Radar for High Resolution Weather Monitoring. Several recent reports on climate change by leading international and national bodies forecast that the rate of weather hazards such as storms and wind-shear, and of weather-associated phenomena such as bush fires will increase over the next 40 years. The current technology for monitoring weather events, and effects like wind-shift, which has a serious impact on dangers associated with bush fires, has significant wea ....Towards Distributed Phased Array Radar for High Resolution Weather Monitoring. Several recent reports on climate change by leading international and national bodies forecast that the rate of weather hazards such as storms and wind-shear, and of weather-associated phenomena such as bush fires will increase over the next 40 years. The current technology for monitoring weather events, and effects like wind-shift, which has a serious impact on dangers associated with bush fires, has significant weaknesses. We will deliver considerable improvements in monitoring capability by developing the technology for using a network of small phased array radars. We aim to place monitoring resources where end-user needs are greatest.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453434
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,077.00
Summary
A new airborne facility for environmental, hydrological, atmospheric and oceanic research: high resolution measurement of soil moisture, temperature and salinity. This proposal seeks to establish a new national capability for airborne remote sensing of key environmental variables. It will enable high-resolution mapping of near-surface soil moisture, land surface salinity and temperature, and ocean surface salinity and temperature. It will be a new tool for hydrologic, atmospheric and oceanic r ....A new airborne facility for environmental, hydrological, atmospheric and oceanic research: high resolution measurement of soil moisture, temperature and salinity. This proposal seeks to establish a new national capability for airborne remote sensing of key environmental variables. It will enable high-resolution mapping of near-surface soil moisture, land surface salinity and temperature, and ocean surface salinity and temperature. It will be a new tool for hydrologic, atmospheric and oceanic researchers, providing unprecedented detail on characteristics critical to our understanding and management of the environment. The small instrument size and weight will enable use of a light aircraft as the observing platform, providing the national (and international) research community with an affordable tool, hitherto unavailable.Read moreRead less
A low-cost water vapour profiler for the lower troposphere. Water vapour plays an important role in weather forecasting, as well as being the most important greenhouse gas. Its distribution is not known in sufficient detail for many aspects of predicting weather and climate change. With the Bureau of Meteorology we will develop a low-cost laser ranging system to measure the profile of water vapour in the lower atmosphere. A low-cost instrument can be placed at a sufficient number of locations ....A low-cost water vapour profiler for the lower troposphere. Water vapour plays an important role in weather forecasting, as well as being the most important greenhouse gas. Its distribution is not known in sufficient detail for many aspects of predicting weather and climate change. With the Bureau of Meteorology we will develop a low-cost laser ranging system to measure the profile of water vapour in the lower atmosphere. A low-cost instrument can be placed at a sufficient number of locations to significantly enhance weather forecasting and climate modelling. The instrument will be useful for detecting fog formation, measuring cloudbase heights and can be adapted for pollution detection and measurement.Read moreRead less
Radar Studies of Rainfall with Applications to Forecasting. Weather watch radars are used to predict severe weather events, with echo strengths depending on the number of rain drops in the beam. With suitable calibration the echo intensities can be used to predict rainfall rates. In 2005 the Bureau of Meteorology will establish a new weather radar near Adelaide. We will compare rainfall estimates made with the new radar with results from a VHF profiler that accurately measures rain drop distribu ....Radar Studies of Rainfall with Applications to Forecasting. Weather watch radars are used to predict severe weather events, with echo strengths depending on the number of rain drops in the beam. With suitable calibration the echo intensities can be used to predict rainfall rates. In 2005 the Bureau of Meteorology will establish a new weather radar near Adelaide. We will compare rainfall estimates made with the new radar with results from a VHF profiler that accurately measures rain drop distributions and rainfall. The aim is to test the weather radar estimates of rainfall rates and their uncertainties. Outcomes will have applications in flood forecasting and hydrology.Read moreRead less
AN INTEGRATED STUDY OF ATMOSPHERIC WAVE GENERATION AND COUPLING. Small-scale atmospheric gravity waves play an important, but not well understood, role in determining the state of the atmosphere. Observations to be made in northern Australia in 2005-2006 will bring together different kinds of radars and other instruments to study rain production processes in thunderstorms. Results will be used in a high-resolution numerical model to test wave generation by storms and to study their impact on the ....AN INTEGRATED STUDY OF ATMOSPHERIC WAVE GENERATION AND COUPLING. Small-scale atmospheric gravity waves play an important, but not well understood, role in determining the state of the atmosphere. Observations to be made in northern Australia in 2005-2006 will bring together different kinds of radars and other instruments to study rain production processes in thunderstorms. Results will be used in a high-resolution numerical model to test wave generation by storms and to study their impact on the atmosphere. The project will contribute to the improvement of weather radar measurements of rainfall and to improvement in numerical weather forecasting and climate prediction. It will provide high-quality training for postgraduate students in the use of state-of-the-art instrumentation and models.Read moreRead less