Analysis of weather radar return

A mathematical model of detected clutter from an airborne weather radar of conventional design is developed. The model is the joint probability density of samples of radar return from hydrometeors at the same nominal range and scan angle. It is developed from analysis of the effect on the received signal of the following parameters: inhomogeneous hydrometeor motion, radar frequency stability, pulsewidth, antenna beamwidth, scan angle, scan rate, and aircraft speed. In addition, the influence of finite pulse volume on radar sensitivity to hydrometeor motion is examined.