Instrument : Ka ARM Zenith Radar (KAZR)

Beneficiary of Recovery Act funding.

Instrument Categories
Cloud Properties

General Overview

The Ka-band ARM zenith radar (KAZR) remotely probes the extent and composition of clouds at millimeter wavelengths. The KAZR is a zenith-pointing Doppler radar that operates at a frequency of approximately 35 GHz. The main purpose of this radar is to determine the first three Doppler moments (reflectivity, vertical velocity, and spectral width) at a range resolution of approximately 30 meters from near-ground to nearly 20 km in altitude.

The KAZR replaces the millimeter wavelength cloud radar (MMCR) and utilizes a new digital receiver that provides higher spatial and temporal resolution than the MMCR. In addition, spectral artifacts in the data are significantly reduced in the KAZR, providing researchers the ability to study cloud dynamics to a much higher degree than with the MMCR.

Output Datastreams

  • kazrbl : Ka ARM Zenith Radar (KAZR): boundary layer mode
  • kazrci : Ka ARM Zenith Radar (KAZR): cirrus mode
  • kazrge : Ka ARM Zenith Radar (KAZR): general mode
  • kazrspeccmaskblcopol : Ka ARM Zenith Radar (KAZR): filtered spectral data, Boundary Layer mode, co-polarized mode
  • kazrspeccmaskblxpol : Ka ARM Zenith Radar (KAZR): filtered spectral data, Boundary Layer mode, cross-polarized mode
  • kazrspeccmaskcicopol : Ka ARM Zenith Radar (KAZR): filtered spectral data, cirrus mode, co-polarized mode
  • kazrspeccmaskcixpol : Ka ARM Zenith Radar (KAZR): filtered spectral data, cirrus mode, cross-polarized mode
  • kazrspeccmaskgecopol : Ka ARM Zenith Radar (KAZR): filtered spectral data, general mode, co-polarized mode
  • kazrspeccmaskgexpol : Ka ARM Zenith Radar (KAZR): filtered spectral data, general mode, cross-polarized mode

Primary Measurements

The following measurements are those considered scientifically relevant.

Locations

  • North Slope Alaska (NSA)
    • Central Facility, Barrow AK (C1)
  • Southern Great Plains (SGP)
    • Central Facility, Lamont, OK (C1)
  • Tropical Western Pacific (TWP)
    • Central Facility, Darwin, Australia (C3)
    • Central Facility, Manus I., PNG (C1)
  • ARM Mobile Facility (GAN)
    • Gan Airport, Gan Island, Maldives (M1)
  • ARM Mobile Facility (MAG)
    • Los Angeles, CA to Honolulu, HI - container ship Horizon Spirit (M1)

Contact(s)

Nitin Bharadwaj
(509) 372-4267
nitin@pnnl.gov

Kevin Widener
(509) 528-9565
kevin.widener@pnnl.gov

Dan Nelson
associate
(509) 375-3868
danny.nelson@pnnl.gov

Iosif (Andrei) Lindenmaier
associate
(509) 375--6802
iosif.lindenmaier@pnnl.gov

Karen Johnson
data analysis
(631) 344-5952
kjohnson@bnl.gov