Effects of Phase Coding on Doppler Spectra in PPAR Weather Radar

One option for the improvement of weather radar technology is the use of dual-polarized phased-array radar for weather observations. Several risk factors on this path have been identified and one of the most important ones is the existence of significant cross-polar patterns inherent to the phased-array antenna. These antenna patterns induce cross-coupling between returns from the two orthogonal radiation planes, which results in the biases of polarimetric variable estimates. Furthermore, the inductive and capacitive coupling in hardware behind the antenna may exacerbate the cross-coupling effects. This presents a formidable challenge because sufficient cross-polar isolation is difficult to achieve by the antenna hardware alone. Hence, additional approaches are required to reduce the biases due to cross-coupling. One proposed technique is a 180° pulse-to-pulse phase change of signals injected in either the horizontal or vertical ports of the transmission elements. This approach was analyzed for signals processed in the time domain but its effects in the frequency domain have not been investigated. Herein, these effects are considered in the presence of nondepolarizing scatterers.