Meteorological radar system and method and device for processing meteorological information

• US 10,139,487 B2
• Filed: 06/03/2014
• Issued: 11/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Furuno Electric Co, Ltd
• Original Assignee: Furuno Electric Co, Ltd
• Inventors: Takechi, Yoshiaki, Asada, Yasunobu
• Primary Examiner(s): Brainard, Timothy A
• Application Number:
  US14/912,068
• Publication Number:
  US 20160252614A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,638 Days
• Field of Search: 342 26 R
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/58 Velocity or trajectory determination systems; Sense-of-movement determination systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/87 Combinations of radar systems, e.g. primary radar and secondary radar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/95 for meteorological use
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/951 ground based
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/024 using polarisation effects in waveguides H01P1/165; for aerials H01Q, e.g. H01Q15/22, H01Q15/24, H01Q19/195
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/025 involving the transmission of linearly polarised waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 1/02 Instruments for indicating weather conditions by measuring two or more variables, e.g. humidity, pressure, temperature, cloud cover or wind speed G01W1/10 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

A meteorological radar system and a method and device for processing meteorological information which can detect a rain cloud and detect an upward movement of the detected rain cloud in the sky, at low cost and short time are provided. A rain cloud detecting module detects a location and three-dimensional velocity of a rain cloud based on signals from at least three radars of first to third radars disposed at different locations. A rain cloud characteristic detecting module detects a characteristic of the detected rain cloud based on signals from either a radar being different from the three radars, or one of the three radars.

Claims

1. A meteorological information processing device, comprising:

processing circuitry configured to;

detect a location and three-dimensional velocity of a rain cloud in an overlapping area of each detectable area detected by at least three radars including a first and second radar that each include a single-polarization radar and at least a third radar that includes a dual-polarization radar based on signals transmitted to the overlapping area from the first, the second and the third radars positioned at different locations respectively; and

detect a characteristic of the rain cloud based on signals from the dual-polarization radar.

2. The meteorological information processing device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry tracks the rain cloud by using the detected three-dimensional velocity of the rain cloud.

3. The meteorological information processing device of claim 2, wherein when a plurality of rain clouds are detected, the processing circuitry detects, based on the signals from one of the at least three radars, sizes of precipitation particles forming the rain clouds, respectively, and selects, based on the detected sizes, a rain cloud with a highest possibility of causing precipitation as the rain cloud to be tracked.

4. The meteorological information processing device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry detects the characteristic of the rain cloud based on the signals from the third radar,

wherein the first and second radars are single-polarization radars, and

wherein the third radar is the dual-polarization radar.

5. The meteorological information processing device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry detects the characteristic of the rain cloud based on signals from a fourth radar different from the at least three radars, and

wherein the fourth radar is the dual-polarization radar.

6. The meteorological information processing device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry detects the location and three-dimensional velocity of the rain cloud based on signals obtained by controlling antennas of the at least three radars to perform a scan in a CAPPI mode.

7. The meteorological information processing device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry detects the characteristic of the rain cloud based on signals obtained by controlling an antenna of the radar to perform an RHI scan, the radar used to obtain the signals for detecting the characteristic of the rain cloud.

8. The meteorological information processing device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry detects the three-dimensional velocity of the rain cloud by detecting the location of the rain cloud, controlling antennas of the first to third radars to perform a scan, and synthesizing velocity components obtained for the detected location of the rain cloud by the respective first to third radars, the location of the rain cloud detected based on signals obtained by controlling antennas of the first and second radars to perform the scan.

9. The meteorological information processing device of claim 8, the processing circuitry further configured to operate the third radar in a low power consumption state until the rain cloud is detected based on the signals from the first and second radars.

10. The meteorological information processing device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry detects the three-dimensional velocity of the rain cloud by detecting the location of the rain cloud and a two-dimensional velocity of the rain cloud, predicting, based on the detected two-dimensional velocity of the rain cloud, a location of the rain cloud after the rain cloud moves, controlling the antennas of the first to third radars to perform a scan, and synthesizing velocity components obtained for the predicted location of the rain cloud by the respective first to third radars, the location of the rain cloud and the two-dimensional velocity of the rain cloud detected based on signals obtained by controlling the antennas of the first and second radars to perform the scan.

11. The meteorological information processing device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry detects the three-dimensional velocity of the rain cloud by detecting the location of the rain cloud based on the signal obtained by controlling an antenna of the first radar to perform a scan, controlling antennas of the first to third radars to perform the scan, and synthesizing velocity components obtained for the detected location of the rain cloud by the respective first to third radars.

12. The meteorological information processing device of claim 11, the processing circuitry further configured to operate each of the second and third radars in a low power consumption state until the rain cloud is detected based on the signal from the first radar.

13. The meteorological information processing device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry detects the characteristic of a precipitation particle forming the rain cloud.

14. The meteorological information processing device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry detects a vertical length of the rain cloud.

15. The meteorological information processing device of claim 1, the processing circuitry further configured to predict precipitation based on at least one of the detected location, three-dimensional velocity and characteristic of the rain cloud.

16. The meteorological information processing device of claim 15, wherein the characteristic of the rain cloud includes a size of a precipitation particle forming the rain cloud, and

wherein the processing circuitry predicts occurrence of the precipitation based on the size of the precipitation particle forming the rain cloud.

17. The meteorological information processing device of claim 15, wherein the processing circuitry predicts occurrence of the precipitation based on a vertical length of the rain cloud.

18. A meteorological radar system, comprising:

two single-polarization radars and a single dual-polarization radar that are positioned at different locations; and

a meteorological information processing device including;

processing circuitry configured to;

detect a location and three-dimensional velocity of a rain cloud in an overlapping area of each detectable area detected by the two single-polarization radars and the single dual-polarization radar, based on signals transmitted to the overlapping area from the two single-polarization radars and the single dual-polarization radar; and

detect a characteristic of the rain cloud based on signals from the dual-polarization radar.

19. The meteorological radar system of claim 18, wherein in a transmission and reception of a radio wave, each of the three radars forms a pencil type antenna beam.

20. A method of processing meteorological information, comprising:

detecting a location of a rain cloud in an overlapping area of each detectable area detected by at least three radars including a first and second radar that each include a single-polarization radar and at least a third radar that includes a dual-polarization radar based on a signal obtained by controlling at least one of antennas of the three radars to perform a CAPPI scan, the first, the second, and the third radars positioned at different locations respectively;

detecting a three-dimensional velocity of the rain cloud in the overlapping area based on signals obtained by controlling the antennas of the three radars to perform the CAPPI scan;

tracking the rain cloud by using the detected three-dimensional velocity of the rain cloud; and

detecting a characteristic of the rain cloud based on signals obtained by controlling an antenna of the dual-polarization radar to perform an RHI scan.