Airborne hurricane surveillance radar predesign

This paper presents the results of a study to establish the key parameters of airborne hurricane reconnaissance radar systems. Broadly speaking, the primary objective was to lay the foundation of a cost effective airborne system capable of detecting, tracking, and quantitatively abstracting hurricane features. Two goals of this study were to firmly establish the optimum operating frequency and specify the minimum antenna aperture requirements. Various practical considerations had previously constrained the choice of frequency to S or C bands. Two spot frequencies, 3.6 GHz and 5.4 GHz, were selected for this comparative analysis. Two antenna aperture sizes were selected for detailed analysis. The intent was to bracket the problem with what preliminary analysis indicated to be the smallest useable aperture, and at the other extreme, the largest aperture that could be practicably mounted aboard a typical surveillance aircraft. The small aperture has a horizontal dimension of 4 meters and a vertical dimension of 4/3 meters. The large aperture is 6 meters horizontal and 2 meters vertical.