Convective Precipitation Experiment Microphysics and entrainment dependencies (COPE-MED) 1 July 2013 - 28 August 2013 Wyoming Cloud Radar Status Report Content: WCR configuration Radar Status/Problems General Notes Calibration Notes Other notes Data Files Information ................................................................................ WCR configuration: WCR is installed on UW King Air with 3-antenna configuration: Antenna 1 2,4 and polarization capability for Ant. 1. Antenna ports are: Ant1(side/up) - H1, Ant2 (near nadir) - V2, Ant4 (down-fore) - H2; H/V stands for the receiver used (there are 2 receivers). Cross-polarization channels (hxvx and vxhx, where x is 'h' or 'v') valid for Ant1 only. ................................................................................ Radar Status/Problems * Preparation of the radar = April 2013 - installed and tested the new modulator (Modulator 2) - corner reflector power calibration = May 2013 - beam calibration test flight (TF01) - COPEMED radar research modes test * Notes for specific flights: = For all flights the Modulator status word is frequently corrupted caused by an interference = Occasionally H1 and H2 beams gets scrambled without any intervention by te operator. This is a data system problem and there is no solution for it (according to Prosensing). = Frequently there is a spurious spike after the Tx fire which affects the up beam only. It is typically less than 5 dB above the mean noise at the peak and extends no more than 5 range gates at the base of the spike. ______ Aug 6 (RF11) = wcrdata1 failed several times during the flight; this followed problems with wcrdata mounting and reading with the processing computer puma; Larry managed to use wcrdata1 with tiger but after RF11 it is not working well on any computer and some of the data was lost when the data was copied to tiger and/or puma. The failure of wcrdata1 was first revealed by several wcrserv crashes. This opens the posibility that some of the wcrserv crashes during previous flights were actually due to the failing disk. ______ Aug 7 (RF12) = Applanix real-time vars (av) are corrupter. Post-processed ones(AV) are OK. ______ Aug 17 (RF15) = Larry's report: On the first flight yesterday, I initially loaded the H1V1 mode and the server crashed shortly after starting. I also noted scrambled beams around 0919, 0952, and 1017. At 0926 we had something odd happen that I hadn't seen before, A message similar to \u20181 Command rejected\u2019 popped up. My displays disconnected. One of Jeff's two displays disconnected, the other remained up. The system appeared to keep recording but the upward beam appeared scrambled. On the second flight I only noticed scramble beams in the last file around 1548. I shut down at that point. ................................................................................ General Notes: * Quick look images of reflectivity and Doppler veocity for all the flights are stored on the project WCR web site in their corresponding directories (mmmDD) as mostly pdf files. * WCR raw data is archived on a disk array in the UW DAS and a mass storage at NCAR. Quicklooks, dataquality, and calibration data are also archived. Radar processed data files in NetCDF format are available usually within 2 months after the conclusion of the experiment (preliminary version is generally available during the field campaign). The NetCDF files are available via the Internet. They may be protected with a password. Contact the PI for access. ................................................................................ Calibration notes: **************************************************************************** Power Calibration: * Calibration constants used: see wcr2conf_copemed13.pro * Notes: 1) The absolute accuracy of the calibration constant for the "up/side" antenna(H1) is estimated to be better than 3 dB. The precision of the calibration from the corner reflector is within 1.5 dB. 2) The accuracy of the calibration constant for the rest of the beams is with respect to H1. The expected added uncertainty is about 1-2 dB. The slanted beam reflectivity uncertainty is expected to be a bit higher than the reflectivity for up, side, and down beams. 3) Cross-channel/antenna isolation: up/side antenna h-pol-to-v-pol is better than 30 dB all other antennas: is greater than 50 dB: 4) Saturation of the digital receivers at close range for strong targets: The saturation starts at about 0 dBm. The data from the first several range gates (up to ~300 m) may be saturated for the up/side and down antennas when the cloud/precip return exeeds approximately +22 dBZ. Surface return for up to ~6 km AGL may have pixels(data points) in the saturation range (0 to ~2.7 dBm). The percentage of saturated profiles decreases with range and is small at large ranges. **************************************************************************** Beam angles calibration: * Unit beam angles(in AC coordinates): use Honeywell Laser Ref II or Applanix AV410 (see wcr2conf_copemed13.pro) The accuracy of the beam angles for 'up' beam is not known due to lack of calib data. The accuracy of the down beams is within 0.4 deg for Honeywell IRS and better than 0.1 deg for Applanix. King Air maneuvers for beam calibration should be done with the following considerations in mind: = preferred weather conditions: clear air, light to moderate winds = low turbulence at flight level = 3000 ft AGL flight level = 45 deg turns = flat terrain with no ponds/lakes = no precipitation reaching the surface detected by the radar Cloud runs for checking the up beam pointing angles = light winds, deep stratiform clouds and/or very light precip are desirable = 2-3 mins passes in the middle of the cloud or precip = straight and leveled legs with up-dualdown config: -2 legs forth and back along the wind -2 legs forth and back across the wind ................................................................................ Other notes: * WCR data acquisition system (DAQ) records time stamps from an IRIG card which is slaved to the master KA data system time server. The recorded time stamps are UTC time. * The zero range gate (first data gate) is about 105 m (for 250 ns pulse). The far field for the 12" up/side antenna is 60 m and the far field for the 15" down-slant antenna and 18" down antenna are 91 m and 131 m, respectively. * When maximum unambiguous range is 7.5 km and the aircraft flies AGL close to that range the data can be contaminated from second trip surface echoes. * Antenna Coupling Separation for all non-polarimetric antennas is better than 50 dB, but could be less than the radar dynamic range. Coupling between down and down-aft antenna (leak into the down-aft return) as well as between up and down-aft antenna (leak into the up return) are present for strong targets (mostly surface returns). ................................................................................ WCR Data File Information: ************************************************************************** may03 (tf01, Drew,Oolman,Burkhart,Zane Little): Test Flight Total data: 550 MB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 154M WCR-20130503-165101 CPP/200 S,D,D 55M WCR-20130503-165644 CPP/200 S,D,D beam cal right turns 15M WCR-20130503-165847 CPP/200 S,D,D 60M WCR-20130503-165921 CPP/200 S,D,D beam cal left turns 15M WCR-20130503-170135 CPP/200 S,D,D 9.7M WCR-20130503-170220 CPP/250 U,D,D noPwrAv, dual-pol, crash wcrserv timestamp jump (use Host time) 9.1M WCR-20130503-170612 CPP/250 U,D,D hh/vh research mode, OK 234M WCR-20130503-170645 CPP/250 U,D,D noPwrAv, single-pol, OK ************************************************************************** may07 (tf02, Drew,Oolman,Alexi Korolev,Bo Liu): Test Flight Total data: 1.2 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 643M WCR-20130507-210638 CPP/250 U,D,D 146M WCR-20130507-214451 CPP/250 U,D,D 154M WCR-20130507-215331 CPP/250 D,D 2.0M WCR-20130507-221638 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 4 sec; wcrserv crashed 255M WCR-20130507-222552 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D ************************************************************************** may10 (tf03, Drew,Leon,Oolman,Bo Liu): Test Flight Total data: 1.5 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 601M WCR-20130510-175035 CPP/250 Up,D,D 364M WCR-20130510-182002 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 89M WCR-20130510-183411 CPP/250 Up,D,D 342M WCR-20130510-183809 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 43M WCR-20130510-185125 CPP/250 Up,D,D ************************************************************************** may17 (tf04, Drew,Zane,Oolman,Bo Liu): Test Flight Total data: 622 MB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 565M WCR-20130517-155534 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 57M WCR-20130517-161729 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D ************************************************************************** jun29 (tf05, Drew,Glover,Oolman,Wang): Test Flight Total data: 653 MB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 498M WCR-20130629-114320 CPP/250 Up,D,D 155M WCR-20130629-120531 CPP/250 Up,D,D ************************************************************************** jul03 (rf01, Drew,Lasher,French,Oolman): Total data: 1.5 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 539M WCR-20130703-080931 CPP/250 Up,D,D 549M WCR-20130703-083332 CPP/250 Up,D,D 448M WCR-20130703-085758 CPP/250 Up,D,D H1/H2 scrambling after 08:57:35 ************************************************************************** jul09 (rf02, Drew, Alexei Korolev,French,Oolman): Total data: 2.8 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 605M WCR-20130709-102748 CPP/250 Up,D,D H1/H2 scrambling after 10:51(23800) H2 2nd trip ground 86M WCR-20130709-105446 CPP/250 Up,D,D V2 2nd trip, H1 -V2 2nd trip ground leak H2 2nd trip ground 28M WCR-20130709-105836 CPP/250 Up,D,D V2 2nd trip, H1 -V2 2nd trip ground leak H2 2nd trip ground 149M WCR-20130709-105953 CPP/250 Up,D,D V2 2nd trip, H1 -V2 2nd trip ground leak H2 2nd trip ground 470M WCR-20130709-110631 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D - mirror error V2 2nd trip, H1 -V2 2nd trip ground leak H2 2nd trip ground 452M WCR-20130709-112445 CPP/250 Up,D,D - mirror error 462M WCR-20130709-114452 CPP/250 Up,D,D insects; plumes (~-30 to -40 dBZ) 85M WCR-20130709-120526 CPP/200 S,D,D mirror error 52M WCR-20130709-120835 CPP/200 S,D,D beamcal, right turns 116M WCR-20130709-121032 CPP/200 S,D,D 53M WCR-20130709-121451 CPP/200 S,D,D beamcal, left turns 24M WCR-20130709-121650 CPP/200 S,D,D 223M WCR-20130709-121746 CPP/250 Up,D,D - mirror error ('up' micro-switch) ************************************************************************** jul10 (rf03, Drew, Lasher,French,Oolman): Total data: 4.1 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 769M WCR-20130710-112418 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D mirror errors 671M WCR-20130710-115930 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 544M WCR-20130710-122534 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 610M WCR-20130710-124641 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 40M WCR-20130710-131021 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 571M WCR-20130710-131154 CPP/250 Up,D,D(8.3km) 596M WCR-20130710-134127 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 377M WCR-20130710-140435 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D ************************************************************************** jul18 (rf04): Total data: 3.3 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes .5.9M WCR-20130718-123741 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 520M WCR-20130718-124206 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 448M WCR-20130718-130217 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 596M WCR-20130718-131939 CPP/250 Up,D,D(8.3km) 455M WCR-20130718-134817 CPP/250 Up,D,D(8.3km) 590M WCR-20130718-141009 CPP/250 Up,D,D(8.3km) 269M WCR-20130718-143832 CPP/250 Up,D,D(8.3km) 237M WCR-20130718-145127 CPP/250 Up,D,D(8.3km) 186M WCR-20130718-150252 CPP/250 Up,D,D ************************************************************************** jul22 (tf06): Test Flight Total data: 757 MB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 555M WCR-20130722-143907 CPP/250 Up,D,D 90M WCR-20130722-151523 CPP/250 U,D,D 53M WCR-20130722-151844 CPP/250 U,D,D 9.1M WCR-20130722-152042 CPP/250 U,D,D 51M WCR-20130722-152104 CPP/250 U,D,D ************************************************************************** jul25 (rf05): Total data: 4.5 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 608M WCR-20130725-102221 CPP/250 Up,D,D 587M WCR-20130725-104925 CPP/250 Up,D,D 581M WCR-20130725-111534 CPP/250 Up,D,D 726M WCR-20130725-114128 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 12:04 475M WCR-20130725-121347 CPP/250 Up,D,D 584M WCR-20130725-123456 CPP/250 Up,D,D 524M WCR-20130725-130058 CPP/250 Up,D,D 509M WCR-20130725-132417 CPP/250 Up,D,D ************************************************************************** jul27 (rf06): Total data: 2.8 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 470M WCR-20130727-115152 CPP/250 Up,D,D 2nd trip echo 11:53-11:57 551M WCR-20130727-121248 CPP/250 Up,D,D 404M WCR-20130727-123721 CPP/250 Up,D,D 529M WCR-20130727-125521 CPP/250 Up,D,D 317M WCR-20130727-131854 CPP/250 Up,D,D 501M WCR-20130727-133300 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D ************************************************************************** jul28 (rf07): Total data: 4.5 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 516M WCR-20130728-114648 CPP/250 Up,D,D 484M WCR-20130728-120947 CPP/250 Up,D,D 509M WCR-20130728-123121 CPP/250 Up,D,D 537M WCR-20130728-125401 CPP/250 Up,D,D 421M WCR-20130728-131755 CPP/250 Up,D,D 619M WCR-20130728-133640 CPP/250 Up,D,D 412M WCR-20130728-140414 CPP/250 Up,D,D 522M WCR-20130728-142236 CPP/250 Up,D,D 518M WCR-20130728-144551 CPP/250 Up,D,D 45M WCR-20130728-150854 CPP/250 Up,D,D ************************************************************************** jul29 (rf08): Total data: 4.7 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 479M WCR-20130729-114753 CPP/250 Up,D,D 482M WCR-20130729-120912 CPP/250 Up,D,D 607M WCR-20130729-123041 CPP/250 Up,D,D 533M WCR-20130729-125743 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 514M WCR-20130729-131824 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 433M WCR-20130729-133821 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 594M WCR-20130729-135508 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 515M WCR-20130729-141811 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 187M WCR-20130729-143810 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D 389M WCR-20130729-144527 CPP/250 Up,D,D ************************************************************************** aug02 (rf09): Total data: 4.4 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 30M WCR-20130802-122226 CPP/250 Up,D,D 37M WCR-20130802-122442 CPP/250 Up,D,D 772M WCR-20130802-122652 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 12:54 654M WCR-20130802-130114 CPP/250 Up,D,D 662M WCR-20130802-133023 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 13:55 622M WCR-20130802-135951 CPP/250 Up,D,D 751M WCR-20130802-142734 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 14:55 888M WCR-20130802-150100 CPP/250 Up,D,D 51M WCR-20130802-154033 CPP/250 Up,D,D ************************************************************************** aug03 (rf10): Total data: 4.6 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 817M WCR-20130803-114301 CPP/250 Up,D,D 796M WCR-20130803-121922 CPP/250 Up,D,D 707M WCR-20130803-125448 CPP/250 Up,D,D 782M WCR-20130803-132617 CPP/250 Up,D,D 674M WCR-20130803-140107 CPP/250 Up,D,D 650M WCR-20130803-143108 CPP/250 Up,D,D 197M WCR-20130803-150004 CPP/250 Up,D,D ************************************************************************** aug06 (rf11, Bandani, Leon, French, Moser) Total data: 1.2 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 330M WCR-20130806-122121 CPP/250 Up,D,D 163M WCR-20130806-131855 CPP/250 Up,D,D 666M WCR-20130806-140338 CPP/250 Up,D,D ************************************************************************** aug07 (rf12) Total data: 4.4 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 649M WCR-20130807-123723 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 28400 prof 793M WCR-20130807-130617 CPP/250 Up,D,D 747M WCR-20130807-134136 CPP/250 Up,D,D 13:41-43:H1Vrx, H2Hrx - noise spikes 603M WCR-20130807-141451 CPP/250 Up,D,D 14:30:H1Hrx noise spikes scrambling after 26000 578M WCR-20130807-144141 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 24500 752M WCR-20130807-150725 CPP/250 Up,D,D 371M WCR-20130807-154055 CPP/250 Up,D,D ************************************************************************** aug14 (rf13) Total data: 4.5 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 2.9M WCR-20130814-103043 CPP/250 Up aircraft on ground, drizzle 412M WCR-20130814-113757 CPP/250 Up,D,D 571M WCR-20130814-115619 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 24900 496M WCR-20130814-122143 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 21500 463M WCR-20130814-124348 CPP/250 Up,D,D 404M WCR-20130814-130425 CPP/250 Up,D,D 101M WCR-20130814-132226 CPP/250 Up,D,D lost time sync due to server crash 536M WCR-20130814-133024 CPP/250 Up,D,D 572M WCR-20130814-135415 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 24800 671M WCR-20130814-141944 CPP/250 Up,D,D 281M WCR-20130814-144937 CPP/250 Up,D,D ************************************************************************** aug15 (rf14) Total data: 3.3 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 612M WCR-20130815-122616 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 22500 h1h1noise-large spikes, H1 2nd trip echo 503M WCR-20130815-125331 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 21500 473M WCR-20130815-131555 CPP/250 Up,D,D h1h1noise-large spikes, H1 2nd trip 448M WCR-20130815-133658 CPP/250 Up,D,D 233M WCR-20130815-135656 CPP/250 Up,D,D 509M WCR-20130815-140720 CPP/250 Up,D,D 118M WCR-20130815-142959 CPP/250 Up,D,D lost time sync due to server crash 398M WCR-20130815-143900 CPP/250 Up,D,D ************************************************************************** aug17a (rf15) Total data: 2.4 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 7.2M WCR-20130817-084630 CPP/250 Up(H1V1),D,D wcr server crashed shortly timestamp problem 609M WCR-20130817-085224 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 09:19; 2nd trip 190M WCR-20130817-091932 CPP/250 Up,D,D 2nd trip echoes 554M WCR-20130817-092759 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 09:52, 2nd trip 554M WCR-20130817-095239 CPP/250 Up,D,D scrambling after 10:17, 2nd trip ? 507M WCR-20130817-101720 CPP/250 Up,D,D ************************************************************************** aug17b (rf16) Total data: 1.7 GB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 571M WCR-20130817-143351 CPP/250 Up,D,D 507M WCR-20130817-145917 CPP/250 Up,D,D H2/V2noise spikes 370M WCR-20130817-152152 CPP/250 Up,D,D H2noise spikes 251M WCR-20130817-153821 CPP/250 Up,D,D H1noise spikes ************************************************************************** aug21 (rf17) Total data: 1005 MB Alg/Pulse Antennas Notes 474M WCR-20130821-110458 CPP/250 Up,D,D 531M WCR-20130821-112605 CPP/250 Up,D,D **************************************************************************