Cloud Radars

Cloud radars use electromagnetic radiation approximately in the range of 30 to 200 GHz in bands which are sensitive to cloud droplets and ice crystals. As the wavelength is typically larger than the size of the observed particles, the signal is mainly governed by Rayleigh scattering, and thus, the signal is more sensitive to the size of the observed particles than their amount. Although clouds attenuate the radiation, cloud radars can typically see through clouds and thus, can also provide information behind the first layer.

The first cloud radar measurements at the BCO started on the 10th of April 2010 with the KIT-WORA a cloud radar owned by the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT). It was operated until the 9th of January 2011. In December 2010 the scanning Ka-Band radar KATRIN was installed at the BCO. Both radars were operated in parallel for a short time before KATRIN replaced the KIT-WORA in January 2011.

In 2015 the more sensitive, but only profiling Ka-Band radar CORAL (also called MBR2) was installed at the BCO and after a time of parallel operation the KATRIN radar was decommissioned in 2018 and the CORAL radar runs up to date.

In December 2022, a new version, the MBRS joined the MBR2 radar.