The potential of incorporating a synthetic aperture radar capability into the meteorological radar facility

A composite MRF-SAR system would not only measure precipitation in rainy regions but could provide moderate to high resolution radar images in clear and cloudy (but not precipitating) regions. It is shown that the MRF configuration is very conducive for implementing an imaging radar having many noteworthy features. The multibeam characteristic of the MRF circumvents the normal radar ambiguity problems and, consequently, can achieve a swath much wider than that realized by a conventional design. Furthermore, as a result of the high directivity achieved in each receiving beam, the transmitter power requirement is reduced substantially in comparison to a single radar beam offering the same coverage. Since radar returns can be strongly dependent on the angle of illumination, the nearly constant angle of incidence of the MRF beams should significantly ease the interpretation of the resulting radar image. It is recommended that this preliminary effort be extended to fully demonstrate the feasibility of such a composite system.