Cloud Inderect Effects Experiment (CIFEX04) 1-21 April 2004 Wyoming Cloud Radar Data Status Report Content: General Notes Radar Status/Problems Flight Information WCR configuration Calibration Notes Terminology and other notes ................................................................................ General Notes: * WCR raw data is archived and available on DVD disks. Quicklooks, dataquality, and calibration data is also recorded on these disks. Radar processed data files in NetCDF format are available usually within 2 months after the conclusion of the experiment. The NetCDF files are available on DVD disks as well. * Quick look images of co-pol reflectivity for all the flights are stored in their corresponding directories(mmmDD) as pdf files. ................................................................................ Radar Status/Problems _______________ April 1, Flight After the flight during preparation for a 2nd flight (later canceled) VXI TFP card failed: display showed 80000E as time and the status bits 4,5 and 6 were giving 0f0. The card was replaced with the KA spare. KA tfp card also shows some problems. Occasionally it does not initialize properly (888888 stays on the display) and in this condition it does not work. Toggling the VXI power eventually causes the tfp to initialize correctly. The status bits displayed by cpas show from time to time value beyond 7, like 0c0 or 0e0. This might be a result of some incompatibility between the software code written for the original card and the KA card which is newer revision and also includes GPS option. The first available radar data will show if the KA tfp can be used successfully (WCR was not run during the flight on April 2). _______________ April 2, Flight The radar was not run. _______________ April 3, 1st Flight !!!!!! The KA tfp card did not work well (with the software imbedded in cpas). The time stamps have occasional positive jumps (by several days+hours, 288000 secs, but the mm:ss.dd appear correct) random in time. Most of the jumps are constant but not all. During IHOP02 we used the KA spare tfp card and it did not work very well at that time either. The problem in the time stamps was very consistent though (negative jumps at the top of the second by 1 to 3 secs). _______________ April 3, 2nd Flight !!!!!!! Time stamps appear OK. Time intervals between profiles shorter than the acquisition time for all files First time problem again ! The files indicated below have severe attenuation in the 1st V pulse return, but the 2nd V pulse is OK. The outcome is that averaged reflectivity is bad (can fix this one) and Down beam Doppler velocity can be calculated correctly only for some of the affected files (files for which only odd or even profiles are corrupted). _______________ April 6, Flight !!!!!!! Same problem as during Apr03b flight _______________ April 16, 2nd Flight !!!!!!! Same problem as during Apr03b flight _______________ April 20, 1st Flight The radar TURBO switch was OFF until 15:55:18 (3612-3612 profile records) _______________ April 21, 1st Flight !!!!!!! Same problem as during Apr03b flight ................................................................................ WCR Flight Information: ************************************************************************** mar25: (radar test flight; crew: Fagerstrom, Gordon, Haimov) Total data: 218 MB Alg Antennas Notes 12M W2004-03-25-19-13-56 sppH, up 64M W2004-03-25-19-19-08 ppm4, up,down 30M W2004-03-25-19-24-52 ppm4, side,down 45 roll, ice cloud, rel.cal. 77M W2004-03-25-19-27-42 ppm4, side,down 33M W2004-03-25-19-35-55 ppm4, side,down 45 roll, ground ****************************************************************************** apr03a: (crew: Fagerstrom, Ramanathan, Gordon) Total data: 605 MB Alg Antennas Notes 2.8M W2004-04-03-17-09-27 spp Up Arcata hangar 41M W2004-04-03-18-03-54 spp Down ground 8.5M W2004-04-03-18-58-11 spp Down time jumps, nothing useful 12M W2004-04-03-19-02-01 spp Side time jumps, wrong start time very weak signal close to AC 22M W2004-04-03-19-06-55 spp Side time jumps, wrong end time very weak signal close to AC 6.3M W2004-04-03-19-16-28 spp Side time jumps, wrong start time very weak signal in the beginning and nothing else 2.7M W2004-04-03-19-19-21 spp Side time jumps, nothing useful 314M W2004-04-03-19-20-48 pp4 Side, Down time jumps, very weak signal 195M W2004-04-03-20-25-43 pp4 Side, Down time jumps, wrong start time weak thin layer ****************************************************************************** apr03b: (crew: Fagerstrom, Wilcox, Wechsler) Total data: 776 MB Alg Antennas Notes 204M W2004-04-04-00-36-11 pp4 Side,Down 1st V pulse Odd profs huge atten. 153M W2004-04-04-00-51-43 pp4 Side,Down 1st V pulse Even profs huge atten. 3.1M W2004-04-04-01-22-12 spp Down no return from clouds 2.6M W2004-04-04-01-23-47 spp Down no return from clouds 36M W2004-04-04-01-25-13 spp Down very,very weak thin layer 81M W2004-04-04-01-47-47 spp Down very,very weak thin layer, weak two layers 230M W2004-04-04-02-40-16 pp4 Side,Down 56M W2004-04-04-02-57-50 spp Down com interference(03:02-05) ground return at the end 7.5M W2004-04-04-03-15-42 spp Side ****************************************************************************** apr05a: (crew: Fagerstrom, Wilcox, Gordon) Total data: 1.6 GB Alg Antennas Notes 8.6M W2004-04-05-16-10-04 pp4, Up,Down 669M W2004-04-05-16-11-15 pp4, Up/Side, Down 959M W2004-04-05-17-38-30 pp4, Up/Side, Down ****************************************************************************** apr05b: (crew: Fagerstrom, Wilcox, Wechsler) Total data: 1.3 GB Alg Antennas Notes 132M W2004-04-05-21-50-47 pp4, Up,Down nothing useful 258M W2004-04-05-22-04-43 pp4, Up,Down 40M W2004-04-05-22-30-23 pp4, Up/Side,Down 90M W2004-04-05-22-34-29 pp4, Up/Side,Down 138M W2004-04-05-22-42-52 pp4, Up/Side,Down 76M W2004-04-05-22-55-45 pp4, Up/Side,Down 33M W2004-04-05-23-34-22 pp4, Up/Side,Down H-ch atten ? 46M W2004-04-05-23-37-40 spp, Down 119M W2004-04-05-23-55-27 pp4, Up/Side,Down 387M W2004-04-06-00-14-09 pp4, Up/Side,Down ****************************************************************************** apr06: (crew: Fagerstrom, Roberts, Gordon) Total data: 806 MB Alg Antennas Notes 2.2M W2004-04-06-16-09-07 spp, Down 12M W2004-04-06-16-10-56 spp, Up 120M W2004-04-06-16-16-09 pp4, Side,Down 15M W2004-04-06-16-27-34 spp, Up/Side 100M W2004-04-06-16-33-50 pp4, Up/Side,Down 11M W2004-04-06-16-42-54 spp, Up 114M W2004-04-06-16-47-29 pp4, Up/Side,Down 7.9M W2004-04-06-16-59-10 spp, Up/Side very,very weak return 1.8M W2004-04-06-17-39-23 spp, Up/Side 15M W2004-04-06-17-40-33 spp, Up 22M W2004-04-06-17-56-22 pp4, Up/Side,Down 11M W2004-04-06-17-58-42 spp, Up 5.0M W2004-04-06-18-14-10 pp4, Up,Down 102M W2004-04-06-18-16-21 pp4, Up/Side,Down 1st V pulse huge atten. 4.4M W2004-04-06-18-24-57 spp, Up H-pulse atten. suspect 85M W2004-04-06-18-27-04 pp4, Up/Side,Down 1st V pulse huge atten. 18M W2004-04-06-18-37-01 pp4, Up/Side,Down 1st V pulse huge atten. 60M W2004-04-06-18-38-58 spp, Up/Side 50M W2004-04-06-19-00-38 spp, Down 49M W2004-04-06-19-19-19 pp4, Up,Down 1st V pulse odd profs huge atten. ****************************************************************************** apr07a: (crew: Fagerstrom, Wilcox, Wechsler) Total data: 1.4 GB Alg Antennas Notes 658M W2004-04-07-13-56-43 pp4, Up, Down 31M W2004-04-07-15-32-16 spp, Down 693M W2004-04-07-15-44-08 pp4, Up/Side, Down ****************************************************************************** apr07b: (crew: Fagerstrom, Ramanathan, Gordon) Total data: 1.1 GB Alg Antennas Notes 59M W2004-04-07-18-29-54 spp, Up/Side 33M W2004-04-07-18-52-20 spp, Down 6.3M W2004-04-07-19-05-32 pp4, Up/Side,Down 428M W2004-04-07-19-06-34 pp4, Up/Side,Down 497M W2004-04-07-20-26-35 pp4, Up/Side,Down ****************************************************************************** apr09a: (crew: Fagerstrom, Roberts, Wechsler) Total data: 180 MB Alg Antennas Notes 49M W2004-04-09-15-36-59 pp4, Up/Side,Down 7.2M W2004-04-09-15-41-59 spp, Down 75M W2004-04-09-15-45-14 pp4, Up/Side,Down 24M W2004-04-09-15-52-10 spp, Down no useful return 17M W2004-04-09-17-41-16 spp, Down 7.2M W2004-04-09-17-48-09 spp, Down ****************************************************************************** apr12: (crew: Fagerstrom, Wilcox, Wechsler) Total data: 1.5 GB Alg Antennas Notes 24M W2004-04-12-16-06-46 pp4, Up,Down 73M W2004-04-12-16-09-28 pp4, Up,Down 6.1M W2004-04-12-16-16-16 pp4, Up,Down 76M W2004-04-12-16-16-51 pp4, Up,Down 92M W2004-04-12-16-23-53 pp4, Up,Down 102M W2004-04-12-16-46-23 pp4, Up,Down No useful return 169M W2004-04-12-17-06-50 pp4, Up,Down 252M W2004-04-12-17-25-36 pp4, Up,Down 163M W2004-04-12-17-48-29 pp4, Up,Down 134M W2004-04-12-18-14-23 pp4, Up,Down 358M W2004-04-12-18-56-06 pp4, Up,Down 19:18-19 - flat cloud base ****************************************************************************** apr13: (crew: Fagerstrom, Roberts, Lukens) Total data: 1.9 GB Alg Antennas Notes 2.7M W2004-04-13-17-09-47 pp4, Up,Down No useful return 15M W2004-04-13-17-25-45 spp, Down 38M W2004-04-13-17-32-36 spp, Up/Side 1.8G W2004-04-13-17-48-10 pp4, Up,Down ****************************************************************************** apr14a: (crew: Fagerstrom, Carl Schmitt, Wechsler) Total data: 1.0 GB Alg Antennas Notes 14M W2004-04-14-17-28-03 pp4, Up,Down 4.8M W2004-04-14-17-32-14 pp4, Up,Down Tx fault 116M W2004-04-14-17-34-30 pp4, Up,Down No useful return 41M W2004-04-14-17-45-04 spp, Down 342M W2004-04-14-18-01-08 pp4, Up,Down 92M W2004-04-14-18-51-18 spp, Down 25M W2004-04-14-19-28-02 spp, Down 261M W2004-04-14-19-37-55 pp4, Up,Down 126M W2004-04-14-20-13-10 pp4, Up,Down ****************************************************************************** apr14b: (crew: Fagerstrom, Ramanathan, Gordon) Total data: 1.9 GB Alg Antennas Notes 979M W2004-04-14-22-09-07 pp4, Up,Down 340M W2004-04-14-23-34-02 pp4, Up,Down 9.0M W2004-04-15-00-03-59 spp, Down 8.4M W2004-04-15-00-08-04 pp4, Up,Down No useful return 350M W2004-04-15-00-09-17 pp4, Up,Down 28M W2004-04-15-00-40-08 spp, Up 135M W2004-04-15-00-50-59 pp4, Up,Down ****************************************************************************** apr15: (crew: Fagerstrom, Roberts, Lukens) Total data: 1.5 GB Alg Antennas Notes 44M W2004-04-15-19-09-47 spp, Down 11M W2004-04-15-19-33-04 spp, Down 189M W2004-04-15-19-38-02 pp4, Up/Side,Down 18M W2004-04-15-19-55-05 spp, Down 21M W2004-04-15-20-03-54 pp4, Up/Side,Down Nothing useful 27M W2004-04-15-20-06-54 spp, Up/Side 17M W2004-04-15-20-17-50 spp, Down 39M W2004-04-15-20-25-28 pp4, Up/Side,Down Nothing useful 6.2M W2004-04-15-20-32-22 spp, Up/Side 32M W2004-04-15-20-35-12 spp, Up/Side 984M W2004-04-15-20-48-10 pp4, Up/Side,Down 58M W2004-04-15-22-14-13 pp4, Up/Side,Down ****************************************************************************** apr17a: (crew: Fagerstrom, Roberts, Wechsler) Total data: 1.5 GB Alg Antennas Notes 13M W2004-04-17-18-07-04 spp, Up/Side on the ground till 18:08:25 nothing useful 1.0M W2004-04-17-18-16-37 spp, Down 60M W2004-04-17-18-17-45 spp, Down 50M W2004-04-17-18-44-20 spp, Up/Side 251M W2004-04-17-19-03-15 pp4, Up/Side,Down 1st V pulse odd profs huge atten. 186M W2004-04-17-19-24-32 pp4, Up/Side,Down 1st V pulse odd profs huge atten. 8.5M W2004-04-17-19-51-57 spp, Down 309M W2004-04-17-19-56-00 pp4, Up/Side,Down 357M W2004-04-17-20-23-03 pp4, Up/Side,Down 48M W2004-04-17-20-55-08 spp, Up/Side 152M W2004-04-17-21-13-41 pp4, Up/Side,Down 1st V pulse odd profs huge atten. ****************************************************************************** apr17b: (crew: Fagerstrom, Wilcox, Gordon) Total data: 1.8 GB Alg Antennas Notes 276M W2004-04-17-23-23-09 pp4, Up,Down 2.9M W2004-04-17-23-47-45 spp, Down 51M W2004-04-17-23-49-17 spp, Down 510M W2004-04-18-00-08-56 pp4, Up,Down 37M W2004-04-18-00-53-23 spp, Up 829M W2004-04-18-01-07-49 pp4, Up,Down 4.4M W2004-04-18-02-19-40 spp, Up 32M W2004-04-18-02-21-48 spp, Up ****************************************************************************** apr18: (crew: Fagerstrom, Ramanathan, Lukens) Total data: 2.1 GB Alg Antennas Notes 44M W2004-04-18-19-29-00 spp, Up 2.0G W2004-04-18-19-46-38 pp4, Up,Down ****************************************************************************** apr20a: (crew: Fagerstrom, Roberts, Wechsler) Total data: 2.4 GB Alg Antennas Notes 1.2G W2004-04-20-13-07-55 pp4, Up/Side,Down TURBO OFF (about 7dB less power) rel.calib 144905-145100 183M W2004-04-20-14-54-12 pp4, Up,Down TURBO OFF 461M W2004-04-20-15-10-27 pp4, Up,Down TURBO OFF 527M W2004-04-20-15-53-37 pp4, Up/Side,Down TURBO OFF until 155518(rec:3615) rel.calib 162850-163035 ****************************************************************************** apr20b: (crew: Fagerstrom, Roberts, Wechsler) Total data: 2.3 GB Alg Antennas Notes 9.8M W2004-04-20-19-08-58 spp, Up 497M W2004-04-20-19-13-26 pp4, Up,Down 11M W2004-04-20-19-57-49 pp4, Up,Down 482M W2004-04-20-19-59-41 pp4, Up,Down 60m rgs but w/ 250ns pulse 79M W2004-04-20-20-45-32 pp4, Up,Down 60m rgs but w/ 250ns pulse 23M W2004-04-20-20-52-51 pp4, Up,Down 776M W2004-04-20-20-55-37 pp4, Up,Down 60m rgs but w/ 250ns pulse 307M W2004-04-20-22-03-00 pp4, Up,Down 2.2M W2004-04-20-22-29-24 pp4, Up,Down 76M W2004-04-20-22-30-19 spp, Up ****************************************************************************** apr21a: (crew: Fagerstrom, Ramanathan, Gordon) Total data: 1.7 GB Alg Antennas Notes 104M W2004-04-21-15-15-55 pp4, Up,Down 193M W2004-04-21-15-25-20 pp4, Up,Down 113M W2004-04-21-15-42-34 pp4, Up,Down 1st V pulse even profs huge atten. 99M W2004-04-21-15-52-31 pp4, Up,Down 284M W2004-04-21-16-01-31 pp4, Up,Down 431M W2004-04-21-16-26-03 pp4, Up,Down 414M W2004-04-21-17-03-10 pp4, Up,Down 77M W2004-04-21-17-39-15 spp, Down ................................................................................ WCR configuration: WCR was installed on UWKA with a dual-antenna configuration: Antenna 1 and 2; modes 1,3,4, http://www-das.uwyo.edu/wcr/mmradar.modes.html; H-receiver (channel) is associated with Ant. 1, V-receiver (channel) is associated with Ant 2; the transmission is linearly polarized 250/500 ns pulses; Ant.1, while in side-looking direction, transmit H-polarized pulses. Cross-channels (HV and VH channels) have no meaning for this configuration. Ant. 1 uses UWKA radar mirror wing to direct the radar beam side or up. Ant. 2 is permanently directed near nadir. The radar mirror events are recorded in the King Air data files. Mirror switching times are extracted in ascii files and placed under their corresponding flight day directories (file names: KAyyyymmdd.hhmmss_hhmmss.mirror) When the mirror file is not present a single positon (up or side) has been used during the flight. ................................................................................ Calibration notes: * Calibration constants for this experiment as of 29 April 2004. Calibration constants (250 ns pulse, 5 MHz IF filter, dynamic range > 70 dB; for 500 ns pulse subtract 3.5 dB): Ant. 1 (side/up), HHcal1 = 53.0 Ant. 2 (nadir), VVcal2 = 50.0 Calibration constant precision over the whole dynamic range is about +- dB for h-channel and +- for v-channel The absolute accuracy of the calibration constants for side/up and nadir antennas is estimated to be around +-2.5 dB (based on the overall variability of the calibration constants and the expected drift in the receivers and transmitted power). Transmitted power drift is estimated to be less than 1 dB for less than 2 hour flight and no more than 1.5 dB for longer flights. Receiver gain drift is estimated to be less than 1 dB. The relative calibration error between side/up and nadir antenna is estimated at approximately +-1.5 dB Cross-channel Isolation > 50 dB (not important since cross-channels have no meaning in this 2-antenna configuration) Antenna Coupling Separation: antenna coupling not detected (OMT not installed) **************************************************************************** * Calibration constants used for quick look images: Ant. 1 (side/up), HHcal = 53.0 @ 250ns Ant. 2 (nadir), VVcal = 50.0 @ 250ns **************************************************************************** ................................................................................ Terminology and other notes: Terminology used to acknowledge data quality for each data file reported under Flights indormation: 1) SPIKES are defined as short lasting (less than a few secs), large excursions in positive or negative direction (higher than 2-3 dB). 2) ELEVATED NOISE (including short spikes) is defined as occasional change in the mean noise that exceeds 2-3 dB and lasts from fraction of a second to more than a minute. It is usually associated with ground hits and/or multi-trip echoes. It is observed for side looking mode only. 3) NOISE JUMPS/SPIKES (up to 10-20 sec). Probably some sort of short interference not necessarily in both channels and in some cases associated with the mirror position change or A/C radio communications at freqs close to 120MHz 3) NOISE DRIFT is up to 2dB slow drift in the noise channel; likely due to drift in the receivers gain. Usually it does not exceed 0.5 dB. 4) BAD DATA refer to corrupted data or improbable data behavior. 5) DATA SHIFT means that all data channels are shifted one range gate to the right for one or both of the DSPs. 6) DATA GAPS: gaps between profiles exceeding several times the average time interval between profiles 7) TIME STAMP ERROR: known fixed shift in the time stamps. 8) TIME JUMPS: sync problem in the time which results in time stamps jumps including negative jumps 9) DATA DISCONTINUITY: unexpected jumps in reflectivity occurring thru all range gates from one profile to another. Other Notes: * WCR data acquisition system (DAQ) records time stamps from the vxi IRIG card which is slaved to the master KingAir data system IRIG card. The recorded time stamps are GPS time (currently 13 sec ahead of UTC). * The zero range gate, when at 75 m, is contaminated with the transmitter pulse leakage which appears at levels as high as -35 dBm@500ns (+13 dBZ). On the other hand very stong returns at 0 and 1st range gates are slightly undervalued (1 dB or less) due to receiver protection switches still residually closed. This range is in the antenna far field for the SideUp (12") antenna. Far fields for the 18" and 15" down antennas are 132 m and 91 m, respectively. Thus for the bigger antennas the first few range gates may have larger calibration errors. * When in side looking mode the noise channels, as well as some of the data range gates, are frequently contaminated from second trip echoes, mostly from ground. Caution should be exercised when analyzing side looks. * Average DSP jumps (data jumps between two consecutive profiles due to data acquisition DSP) are mostly near zero for low power returns but frequently high power return (as indicated by the leak) exhibit jumps as high as 1-2 dB and thus averaging at least two profiles is recommended to reduce calibration errors. This is usually taken care of in the post- processing of the radar data which archives the radar products in NetCDF files.