Polarimetric signal processing of meteorological target observations with the DLR weather radar

At DLR (formerly DFVLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, a coherent polarimetric C-Band radar is in operation since about three years for applications in microwave propagation (satellite communications) and cloud physics research. Its functional aspects are briefly described. The radar permits the characterization of scatter volumes consisting of statistically distributed targets like weather targets by a time series of scattering matrices as well as by the Stokes matrix or the covariance matrix. Special consideration is given to the microphysical interpretation of polarimetric radar echoes using the fundamental second moments (covariances). Polarization signatures for backscattered power and correlation observables are derived applying polarization transformations to the covariance matrix. Finally, typical signal degradations on earth-satellite paths are derived from actually measured radar data and compared with beacon measurements.