Short wavelength technology and the potential for distributed networks of small radar systems

The NSF Engineering Research Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA) is advancing a new approach to radar network design based on dense networks of short-range radars. The center's concept is to deploy small radars atop communication towers, rooftops, and other elements of the infrastructure as a means to comprehensively map winds, rainfall, and other atmospheric and airborne objects throughout the atmosphere with resolution, low-altitude coverage, Doppler wind vector measurement, and other capabilities that are substantially beyond the current state-of-the-art. The technology has the potential to supplement - or perhaps replace - the large long-range civil infrastructure radars in use today.