================================================================================ WCR3TEST15 WCR Level 1 Processed Data Directory Catalog ================================================================================ Last Update: 15 April 2016 ................................................................................ Directory FileDescriptors Comment Total Size File Size WCR.ExpName.YYYYMMDD...nc Antenna ID: H1: side or up beam h-pol V1: side or up beam v-pol H2: down_fore antenna V2: down antenna ................................................................................ rf01_nov12 total 5.2 GB 771M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.182331_184724.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 129M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.184831_185344.CPP-H2V2.nc 97M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.185420_185816.CPP-H1V2.nc 39M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.185849_185941.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 286M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.190124_190751.CPP-H1V2.nc 429M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.190902_191531.CPP-V1H1V2H2.nc 465M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.191557_191808.FFP-H1V2H2.nc 465M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.191807_192019.FFP-H1V2H2.nc 123M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.192018_192053.FFP-H1V2H2.nc 202M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.192203_192241.F4P-H1V1H2V2.nc 465M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.192241_192409.F4P-H1V1H2V2.nc 465M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.192408_192536.F4P-H1V1H2V2.nc 237M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.192535_192620.F4P-H1V1H2V2.nc 754M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.193058_194759.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 310M WCR.WCR3TEST15.20151112.194758_195458.CPP-H1V2H2.nc ................................................................................ rf02_nov24 Data from this flight was collected for test purposes only and is not available to external users ................................................................................ rf03_dec17 total 4.2 GB 135M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20151217.173538_173842.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 225M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20151217.174119_174443.CPP-V1H1V2H2.nc 175M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20151217.174538_174935.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 465M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20151217.175039_175250.F3P-H1V2H2.nc 51M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20151217.175249_175304.F3P-H1V2H2.nc 171M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20151217.175342_175617.CPP-V1H1V2H2.nc 137M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20151217.175735_180041.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 465M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20151217.180241_180409.F4P-H1V1H2V2.nc 180M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20151217.180408_180442.F4P-H1V1H2V2.nc 754M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20151217.180740_182442.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 585M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20151217.182441_183754.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 443M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20151217.184232_185616.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 454M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20151217.185701_190716.CPP-H1V2H2.nc ................................................................................ rf04_jan20 TF01 flight for KPR testing total 1.3 GB 753M Jan 27 16:46 WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160120.191309_194344.CPP-H1V2.nc 380M Jan 27 16:48 WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160120.194343_195909.CPP-H1V2.nc ................................................................................ rf05_jan25 TF02 flight for KPR testing total 837 MB 753M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160125.213349_220424.CPP-H1V2.nc 84M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160125.220423_220747.CPP-H1V2.nc ................................................................................ rf06_mar04 total 446 MB 446M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160304.190013_191017.CPP-H1V2H2.nc ................................................................................ rf07_mar07 total 4.5 GB 754M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160307.221228_222929.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 754M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160307.222928_224630.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 754M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160307.224629_230330.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 754M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160307.230329_232031.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 181M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160307.232030_232435.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 754M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160307.233228_234929.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 615M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160307.234928_000322.CPP-H1V2H2.nc ................................................................................ rf08_mar28 TF01 flight for zenith FOV lidar testing total 0 GB Radar Data not collected ................................................................................ rf09_apr01 TF02 flight for zenith FOV lidar testing total 716 MB 326M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160401.163823_164546.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 243M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160401.164545_165115.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 103M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160401.165540_165800.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 44M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160401.165833_165933.CPP-H1V2H2.nc ................................................................................ rf10_apr14 TF03 flight for zenith FOV lidar testing total 2.5 GB 428M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160414.182340_183320.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 497M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160414.183442_184556.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 498M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160414.184741_185856.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 449M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160414.190556_191605.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 469M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160414.191732_192808.CPP-H1V2H2.nc 217M WCR_L1.WCR3TEST15.20160414.192843_193336.CPP-H1V2H2.nc ................................................................................ The files listed below can be seen via: http://www-das.uwyo.edu/wcr/projects/wcr3test15/PROCESSED_DATA/ 672K WCR_L1_UserNotes.pdf WCR data user manual 37K WCR_L1_WCR3TEST15.20151023.cdl Processing cdl file 18K wcr3conf_wcr3test15.pro WCR configuration file ................................................................................ ================================================================================ WCR3TEST15 WCR L1 Processed Data Files Release Notes ================================================================================ * Revision history: = RevisionDate: 10 March 2016 = RevisionNumber = 1 = Revision_1: Reflectivity, Doppler velocity = ProcessAuthor: Samuel Haimov (haimov@uwyo.edu, atsc-cc@uwyo.edu) * All WCR Level 1 data product files (L1 processed data) are in NetCDF 3.5 and are cataloged above. Additional information about the variables and attributes in the files is provided in the netcdf prototype file WCR_L1_....cdl Detailed information about the radar configuration and calibration is given in wcr3conf_....pro. Short user manual about the radar processed data is available in WCR_L1_UserNotes.pdf * The data files are saved in L1/ sub-directories rfXX_mmmDD representing the research flight number and month and date of the flight using the WCR. ATTENTION: If you are reading these notes via the WCR project web page the processed data directories/files are available for download via the web. The access may be password protected. Contact the PI(s) for user/password information. * Quick looks of radar reflectivity and radial Doppler velocity corrected for the radar platform motion contribution are avialbale at: http://www-das.uwyo.edu/wcr/projects/wcr3test15/QUICKLOOKS/ The quick looks are located in directories named the same as the processed data directories (rfXX_mmmDD). The quick look images show only pixels for targets with reflectivity exceeding 3 standard deviations above the mean noise. The up- and down-pointing beam images, whenever both are availabe, are combined in a single image. The data is interpolated to represent the target in a vertical plane in altitude, but the velocities are not corrected for contamination from the horizontal wind (if any). The flight level is marked as black dotted line in the image. The area around the flight level without any signal represents the radar "blind" zone, which is about 100 m, depending on the transmitted pulse width. The sub-terrain pixels (when shown) are plotted in black. The immediate 75 m (150 m) above the surface for the down (down-slant) beam image are void of showing any targets. This is done to emphasize the possibility of ground clutter in the return from this near surface layer. Other markings are also possible. Currently, when requested, we mark pixels (with diamonds) in the reflectivity image affected by a reciever saturation. Areas where the down and/or up beam deviate from vertical more than 10 degrees are highlighted along the flight level trace with black squares (frequently it plots as a thick black line). This happens when the aircraft is flying with very large pitch and/or is in turn. For flights below 2.5 km above the surface the strong return from the surface may exceed the cross-channel(antenna) isolation. In the quick looks the pixels that may be affected are blanked out. This happens exclusively for the side/up antenna image with a leak from the down antenna surface return (for more see Reflectivity factor notes below). The ground return in dBZ may slso be plotted (for the up/down reflectivity only) as a straight tick line below the surface cross section (in black) and just above the time axis. * Known specifics of the data in this revision General: = Reflectivity factor: = Reflectivity absolute accuracy is estimated at better than 3 dB. The precision for the full received power dynamic range of the radar is expected to be less than 1 dB. The received power from the up-pointing antenna has been calibrated with a corner reflector. The down and down-slant channels are calibrated relative to the up-antenna channel using weather targets. The additional uncertainty for the down antenna and down-fore antennas antennas w.r.t. the up antenna is about 0.5 and 1.5 dB, respectively. = The receiver stability is better than 0.5 dB/hour when the ambient temperature does not change more than 5 degC/hour. = The transmitter leak to the first few range gates of the received signals is small (estimated to less than 0.3dB above the mean noise) or not detectable. = The received signal from the up and down antennas can get saturated by weather targets stronger than about +25 dBZ in the first 200-300 m from the radar/aircraft. Surface return for up to 5.5 km AGL may have pixels(data points) in the saturation range (0 to ~+3 dBm). The percentage of saturated data points decreases with range and is small at large ranges. = Cross-antenna talk is possible. Strong down-fore antenna targets may leak to the up antenna return and strong down antenna targets may leak into the down-fore antenna return. The most frequent cross-talk contamination is from surface returns from the down antenna, but is typically below 3 standard devitions of the noise. = Reflectivity in a few range gates above the surface returns (if any) may be cluttered by the surface or near surface targets (typically this is less than 150 m for the down-slant beam and 75 m for the down beam). The clutter is more pronounced for the slant beam. = Reflecitvity is not corrected for attenuation due to absorption and scattering. It could be significant in the presence of cloud liquid water and precipitation. Velocity: = Corrected Doppler velocity from the down-pointing beams may have bias of up to +- 1.0 m/s and uncertainty of up to +-1.0 m/s. Typical bias and uncertainty are less than +-0.5 m/s. It is our belief that the bias is mainly due to changes in the antennas pointing angles caused by flexing of the aircraft fuselage not represented in the IRS data. In addition the fuselage expands with altitude and this also changes slightly the antenna pointing directions. Errors in the IRS(navigation) data have an effect as well. = Corected Doppler velocity accuracy from the up-pointing antenna is not quantified with a known reference target. The analysis of appropriate weather targets suggests a maximum bias of ~1 m/s. = The errors in the beam pointing angles for the up and down beams as well as some other errors lead to possible discontinuity in the mean vertical Doppler velocity profile at the flight level. The discrepancy is generally less than 0.3 m/s and typically within 0.1 m/s. It is not established which beam is contributing more to this error. Given that the aircraft may flex/expand differently at the up/side antenna location and the 2 down antenna locations as well as the dependence of these distortions on the altitude and attitude of the aircraft there is no single optimal correction (optimal set of beam angles) for all conditions. = The Doppler data occasionally exhibit folded velocity regions (mostly in the slanted beam return). We do not make an attempt to unfold due to difficulties of automating this process. Typically unfolding any specific data segment is not difficult. For help on this you may contact Samuel Haimov (haimov@uwyo.edu). * Known corrupted data not fixed in this revision: = ================================================================================