Robust, Light-Weight Bistatic Weather Radar

BCI will develop a Portable Bi-static Weather Radar (PBWR) which can be deployed by the US Air Force in forward operating areas with a minimal size, weight, and power (SWaP) footprint. This radar will provide adverse weather detection in the theater of operations with improved performance and reliability over the existing Portable Doppler Radar (PDR) solution currently used. The PBWR system will complement other existing radar systems, demonstrating interoperability with existing communications networks, power sources and computing nodes and eliminating custom support equipment that must be carried into the field. Software-defined radar transceivers and processing/control nodes will allow for flexibility in the bi-static receivers under different operating conditions and software-driven system upgrades, as well as extensibility of the radar sensor for other future missions. The Phase I effort will focus on studying the feasibility of the bi-static concept and developing system concepts for implementing the bi-static radar system. BCI will enumerate the strengths and weaknesses of various system architecture approaches and select and document an initial design approach that maximizes system performance while minimizing the SWaP footprint.