Airborne Demonstration of an Ultra-Compact Millimeter-Wave Radar for Atmospheric Measurements

We present the first-light airborne measurements of a new W-band atmospheric radar, part of the CloudCube instrument. CloudCube is a multifrequency, ultra-compact, low-cost, modular radar system for vertical profiling of clouds, convection, and precipitation structures and dynamics from space. The instrument employs a novel radar architecture that directly upconverts the baseband signal to the Radio frequency (RF) band, eliminating the need for intermediate frequencies or further multiplication schemes. This architecture, combined with pulse compression techniques, offers a straightforward and effective solution while achieving the necessary performance and robustness for airborne or spaceborne radar instruments. The W-band channel was installed and operated aboard NASA’s DC-8 Airborne Laboratory, completing two test flights over the coast of California and operated as a technology demonstration during science flights as part of the CPEX field deployment. A detailed pulse compression validation and comparison of reflectivity profiles across multiple frequency bands demonstrate the instrument’s performance for atmospheric profiling.