JPH10104356A - Meteorological radar equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a meteorological radar equipment which can perform meteorological observation of an azimuth existing a ground disturbance without lowering resolution and observation speed of the whole radar covering range. SOLUTION: An azimuth drive mechanism 102 varies the azimuth of an antenna 104 so as to become an angle instructed from an azimuth control circuit 401. An elevation angle drive mechanism 103 varies the elevation angle of the antenna 104 in response to the instruction from an elevation angle control circuit 402. The azimuth control circuit 401 controls the azimuth drive mechanism 102 so that the antenna 104 is rotated at a constant speed. The elevation angle control circuit 402 has an elevation angle storage table for previously storing an elevation angle corresponding to each azimuth, and controls the elevation angle drive mechanism 103 so as to become the elevation angle based on the storage table. In addition, in the storage table, the elevation angle is set so that the antenna 104 is directed more upward than its ground disturbance with regard to the azimuth having the ground disturbance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a meteorological radar apparatus for observing rainfall information over a wide area, the occurrence state of thunderclouds, and the like using a radar.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a weather radar is used to observe a wide area weather condition. Meteorological radar radiates radio waves to airdrops generated in the air due to weather phenomena and analyzes the received echo to obtain information such as the size and shape of the precipitation area or its moving speed, precipitation amount, etc. That is.

[0003] By the way, the weather radar is used for its purpose.
Since observation is performed at a relatively low altitude, if there are high-rise buildings or mountains in the radar coverage, there is a problem that these obstacles prevent observation in the shaded area.

On the other hand, conventionally, an azimuth where an obstacle is present is interpolated based on observation data around the azimuth, or observations are made at a plurality of elevation angles, and the observation results are synthesized and processed. I was getting data.

However, in the above-described interpolation processing, for example, when an obstacle is near or large in the radar, a region where observation data is obtained by the interpolation processing becomes large, and the accuracy of observation is significantly reduced. There is. Also, in the method of observing multiple elevation angles,
For example, when observation is performed at n elevation angles, the number of observation data per unit time becomes 1 / n, and thus there is a problem that the resolution is reduced or the observation speed is reduced.

[0006]

In the conventional meteorological radar system, if there are high-rise buildings, mountains, and other terrestrial objects in the radar coverage area, these obstructions reduce the accuracy in observing the direction in which the terrestrial objects are present. Or the observation speed or the resolution of the entire radar coverage is reduced.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem. Even if there are terrestrial objects such as high-rise buildings and mountains in the radar coverage, the resolution and observation speed of the entire radar coverage are not reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide a weather radar device capable of performing weather observation in a direction where a ground obstacle exists.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a weather radar apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an azimuth drive mechanism for changing at least the azimuth of the antenna; An elevation drive mechanism that controls the azimuth angle of the antenna by controlling the azimuth drive mechanism to receive the echo of radio waves radiated toward the weather target and observe the weather conditions in the radar coverage area. Antenna azimuth control means for varying at any speed, and antenna elevation angle control means for controlling an elevation drive mechanism such that the elevation angle of the antenna becomes a preset angle according to the azimuth angle of the antenna. To be configured.

Therefore, according to the weather radar device having the above configuration, the elevation angle of the antenna is controlled so as to be a preset angle in accordance with the azimuth angle of the antenna.
It is possible to observe the weather conditions in the radar coverage at an elevation angle corresponding to the azimuth.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the antenna elevation angle control means varies the elevation angle so that the azimuth angle of an arbitrary terrestrial object in the radar coverage area can be observed above the arbitrary terrestrial object. .

Therefore, according to the present invention, when observing the direction in which an arbitrary terrestrial object is present, it is possible to observe the area above the terrestrial object by changing the elevation angle. It is possible to perform meteorological observation in the direction where the ground obstacle exists without lowering the speed.

In order to achieve the above object, a meteorological radar device according to the present invention receives a radio wave echo radiated toward a meteorological target using a phased array antenna to determine the meteorological condition in the radar coverage area. What is to be observed, in a weather radar device having an azimuth drive mechanism for varying at least the azimuth angle of the phased array antenna, the azimuth angle of the phased array antenna is controlled by controlling the azimuth drive mechanism. Antenna azimuth control means for varying the speed, and phase shift for controlling the phase shift amount of the phased array antenna so that the elevation angle of the phased array antenna is set in advance according to the azimuth angle of the antenna. And an amount control means.

Therefore, according to the weather radar apparatus having the above configuration, the phase shift amount is controlled so that the elevation angle of the phased array antenna is set to an angle set in advance according to the azimuth angle. It is possible to observe the weather conditions in the radar coverage at different elevation angles.

Further, in the present invention, the phase shift amount control means controls the phase shift amount so as to observe above the arbitrary ground object at an azimuth where the arbitrary ground object exists in the radar coverage area. The feature is to change the elevation angle.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when observing the azimuth where an arbitrary ground object is present, it is possible to observe the ground object by varying the elevation angle. It is possible to perform meteorological observation in the direction where the ground obstacle exists without lowering the speed.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, a radar rainfall measuring device will be described as an example of a weather radar. FIG.
1 shows a configuration of a radar rainfall measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The radar rainfall measurement device shown in this figure includes an antenna unit 100, a transmission / reception unit 200, a signal processing unit 300, and an antenna control unit 400.

The antenna section 100 includes a radome 101, an azimuth drive mechanism 102, an elevation drive mechanism 103, and an antenna 104. The radome 101 is made of a material such as kraft paper or reinforced plastic, which has a small power loss and does not deteriorate the directional characteristics of the antenna 104, and protects the antenna 104 from severe weather conditions.

The azimuth drive mechanism 102 includes an antenna 104
Is rotated around a vertical axis to change its azimuth angle, and includes, for example, an electric motor such as a reduction gear, a shaft encoder, and an induction motor. The azimuth is specified by azimuth data from the antenna control unit 400 described later.

The elevation drive mechanism 103 varies the elevation of the antenna 104, and varies the elevation by, for example, using a reversible motor to expand and contract a screw rod that supports the reflector of the antenna 104. This elevation angle is indicated by the elevation angle data from the antenna control unit 400.

The antenna 104 uses, for example, a parabolic reflector having a circular paraboloid.
The transmission pulse generated in step (1) is radiated into space, and the reflection of the transmission pulse due to water droplets in the air is received as a reception echo. Then, the reception echo is input to the transmission / reception unit 200.

The transmitting / receiving unit 200 is, for example, a C band (5300
A high-frequency power having a constant pulse width such as a MHz band or an X band (9300 MHz band) is oscillated and input to the antenna 104 as the transmission pulse. When the above-described received echo is input as a received signal, the received signal is amplified, for example, with logarithmic characteristics, detected, and input to the signal processing unit 300 as received data.

The signal processing unit 300 includes a clutter removing circuit 3
01, a mesh averaging processing circuit 302 and a rainfall intensity calculation circuit 303. Data received from the transmission / reception unit 200 is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter (not shown) and input to the clutter removal circuit 301.

The clutter removing circuit 301 removes clutter due to fixed objects on the ground, etc., from the received data converted into digital signals, and obtains received data of only reflection components from weather targets.

The mesh averaging processing circuit 302 performs spatial averaging processing for each mesh in consideration of the volume of a weather target on the received data from which clutter has been removed by the clutter removing circuit 301.

The rainfall intensity calculation circuit 303 calculates the rainfall intensity by substituting the received data averaged by the mesh averaging processing circuit 302 into a radar equation. The rainfall intensity is obtained for each azimuth angle based on the elevation data. The rainfall intensity for each azimuth angle obtained in this manner is input to an instruction device (not shown). The radar equation is set in advance in consideration of the specifications of each part of the radar rainfall measuring device and the electrical properties of the observation target.

The antenna control section 400 includes an azimuth control circuit 401 and an elevation control circuit 402. The azimuth control circuit 401 inputs azimuth data to the azimuth driving mechanism 102 such that the antenna 104 rotates at a constant speed.

The elevation angle control circuit 402 has an elevation angle storage table for storing elevation angles associated with each azimuth in advance. Then, elevation data corresponding to the azimuth data input from the azimuth control circuit 401 is input to the elevation drive mechanism 103 based on this table.

In addition, in addition to the above-described functions, if there is a deviation between the designated angle and the angle to which the antenna 104 points, the antenna control unit 400 detects the deviation and performs calibration by detecting this deviation. It has an angle correction function.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, a description will be given of the operation of controlling the directional angle of the antenna 104 of the radar rainfall measuring device having the above configuration. FIG. 2 shows the entire view around the installation point (observation point) of the antenna unit 100. As shown in this figure, in the direction of -50 °, the peak is 0.15 in elevation.
There is a mountain of about °, and a skyscraper with an elevation of about 0.3 ° at the rooftop exists in the direction of 70 °.

At such an observation point, the data of the elevation angle storage table of the elevation angle control circuit 402 is stored in advance by -50.
For azimuths near 0 °, the elevation angle is set to, for example, about 0.2 °. For azimuths near 70 °, the elevation angle is set to, for example, 0.35 °.
Set to about °. Then, for the remaining azimuth angles, the elevation angle is set to 0.1 °.

First, the radar rainfall measuring device outputs azimuth data from the azimuth control circuit 401 so that the antenna 104 rotates at a constant speed. This azimuth data
The signals are input to the azimuth drive mechanism 102 and the elevation control circuit 402, respectively.

On the other hand, the azimuth drive mechanism 102 rotates the antenna 104 at a constant speed in accordance with the azimuth data input from the azimuth control circuit 401 at a constant cycle.

On the other hand, the elevation control circuit 402 obtains elevation data corresponding to the azimuth data from the azimuth control circuit 401 from the above-mentioned elevation storage table, and inputs the obtained elevation data to the elevation drive mechanism 103. As a result, the elevation drive mechanism 103 controls the elevation of the antenna 104 to be 0.2 ° at an azimuth near −50 °, and 70 °.
At a nearby azimuth angle, the angle is controlled to be 0.35 °. Then, control is performed so as to be 0.1 ° at other azimuth angles. That is, the elevation angle is controlled so as to follow the elevation angle line indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG.

Therefore, according to the radar rainfall measuring device, when there is a ground object that is an obstacle to observation on the elevation line to be observed, the elevation angle is increased for the azimuth where the obstacle is located to avoid the ground object. To observe.
For this reason, even when there is a ground obstacle, it is possible to observe the azimuth where the ground obstacle exists without lowering the resolution and observation speed of the entire radar coverage area.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In the above embodiment, the antenna 104
Was performed by an elevation drive mechanism 103 using a reversible motor. On the other hand, for example, the antenna 10
A protrusion (or groove) corresponding to the ground obstacle may be provided on the rotation circle of 4, and a mechanism may be provided such that the elevation angle can be changed by getting over the protrusion with the rotation of the antenna 104.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the parabolic reflector is used as the observation antenna has been described, but a phased array antenna may be used instead of this antenna. In this case, means for controlling the phase shift amount of the phased array antenna is provided in place of the elevation drive mechanism 103 to control the directional characteristic of the phased array antenna in the elevation direction. It goes without saying that the same effect as in the above-described embodiment can be achieved by such elevation angle control.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the radar rainfall measuring device has been described as an example of the weather radar. However, the same effect can be obtained when applied to other weather radars such as a lightning detection radar. Not even. It goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, the antenna elevation angle control means is newly provided so that the elevation angle of the antenna is controlled to a predetermined angle in accordance with the azimuth angle to which the antenna points. I have.

Therefore, according to the present invention, even if there are terrestrial objects such as high-rise buildings and mountains in the radar coverage area, the azimuth of such terrestrial objects is increased by increasing the elevation angle and observing above the terrestrial objects. can do. Therefore, it is possible to provide a meteorological radar device capable of performing meteorological observation in the azimuth where the obstacle on the ground exists without reducing the resolution and the observation speed of the entire radar coverage area.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a radar rainfall measuring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an entire view around an installation point of an antenna unit shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Antenna part 101 ... Radome 102 ... Azimuth angle drive mechanism 103 ... Elevation angle drive mechanism 104 ... Antenna 200 ... Transmission / reception part 300 ... Signal processing part 301 ... Clutter removal circuit 302 ... Mesh averaging processing circuit 303 ... Rainfall intensity calculation circuit 400 ... Antenna control unit 401: azimuth angle control circuit 402: elevation angle control circuit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An azimuth drive mechanism for varying at least the azimuth angle of the antenna, and an elevation drive mechanism for varying the elevation angle of the antenna, and receiving an echo of a radio wave radiated toward a weather target. A meteorological radar device for observing weather conditions in a radar coverage area, comprising: an antenna azimuth control means for controlling the azimuth driving mechanism to vary an azimuth at which the antenna points at an arbitrary speed; An antenna elevation control means for controlling the elevation drive mechanism so that the angle becomes a preset angle according to the azimuth angle to be performed. 2. The antenna elevation control means according to claim 1, wherein the elevation angle is varied so as to observe above the arbitrary ground object at an azimuth angle where the arbitrary ground object exists in the radar coverage area. 2. The weather radar device according to 1. 3. A phased array antenna for receiving an echo of a radio wave radiated toward a weather target and observing a weather condition in a radar coverage area, wherein at least an azimuth angle of the phased array antenna is determined. A weather radar device having an azimuth drive mechanism for changing the azimuth angle, an azimuth angle control means for controlling the azimuth drive mechanism to change the azimuth angle of the phased array antenna at an arbitrary speed, and the phased array antenna A phase shift amount control means for controlling the phase shift amount of the phased array antenna so that the elevation angle of the phased antenna becomes a preset angle according to the azimuth angle of the antenna. Radar equipment. 4. The phase shift amount control means controls the phase shift amount so as to observe above the arbitrary ground object at an azimuth where the arbitrary ground object exists in the radar coverage area, and raises the elevation angle. The weather radar device according to claim 3, wherein the radar device is variable.