Impact of Pulse Compression on Doppler Weather Radar Products

Pulse compression applied to the transmitted waveforms in weather radars represents an alternative to the use of low power transmitters used in these systems based on antenna arrays. These techniques allow transmitting long duration pulses without affecting the range resolution. However, these waveforms usually present significant sidelobes, which affect the range weight function and degrade radar product estimates. In this paper we analyze the impact of pulse compression on Doppler weather radar products. The novelty of the analysis lies in the signal generation process that combines a statistical signal model, which takes into account the waveforms, with real measurements, including contributions from meteorological targets and clutter. The result is a platform to validate the design of new waveforms. The waveform study includes linear frequency modulated and phase modulated signals based on Barker codes. The generated data are used in the estimation of reflectivity and mean Doppler velocity. It is verified that the sidelobes of these signals affect the estimates, increasing the regions corresponding to the clutter with respect to the one that really exists.