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A 35-GHz Polarimetric Doppler Radar for Long-Term Observations of Cloud Parameters - Description of System and Data Processing
Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 32, #4, pp.675-690 (2015)

U. Goersdorf, V. Lehmann, M. Bauer-Pfundstein, G. Peters, D.M. Vavriv, V.V. Vinogradov and V.A. Volkov

A 35-GHz radar has been operating at the Meteorological Observatory Lindenberg (Germany) since 2004, measuring cloud parameters continuously. The radar is equipped with a powerful magnetron transmitter and a high-gain antenna resulting in a high sensitivity of -55 dBZ at 5-km height for a 10-s averaging time. The main purpose of the radar is to provide long-term datasets of cloud parameters for model evaluation, satellite validation, and climatological studies. Therefore, the system operates with largely unchanged parameter settings and a vertically pointing antenna. The accuracy of the internal calibration (budget calibration) has been appraised to be 1.3 dB. Cloud parameters are derived by two different approaches: macrophysical parameters have been deduced for the complete period of operation through combination with ceilometer measurements; a more enhanced target classification and the calculation of liquid and ice water contents are realized by algorithms developed in the framework of the European CloudNet project.

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