A LOW-COST OPTICAL WEATHER IDENTIFIER FOR AN AUTOMATED WEATHER OBSERVING SYSTEM

THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE TYPE OF PRECIPITATION (RAIN, SNOW, FOG/HAZE, HAIL) HAS TRACTIONALLY RELIED ON HUMAN JUDGMENT. RECENTLY, THE WAVE PROPAGATION LABORATORY OF DEVELOPED A TECHNOLOGY FOR AUTOMATIC WEATHER IDENTIFICATION USING LASER SCINTILLATION AND SCATTERING. THE TECHNIQUE HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY TESTED IN FIELD OPERATION. HOWEVER, THE SYSTEM IS TOO CLUMSY AND EXPENSIVE FOR LARGE-SCALE FIELD USE. DYNAMICS TECHNOLOGY PROPOSES AN EXTENSION OF THE TECHNOLOGY USING A PARTIALLY COHERENT SOURCE LIKE AN INFRARED LED IN A SHORT BASELINE ( 1 M) SYSTEM. AN LED IS MORE RELIABLE, SAFER, AND LESS EXPENSIVE THAN A LASER SOURCE. DURING PHASE I, DYNAMICS TECHNOLOGY WILL EXTEND THE THEORY TO A PARTIALLY COHERENT SOURCE TO OBTAIN A SET OF OPTIMUM PARAMETERS FOR THE SYSTEM DESIGN. PRELIMINARY LABORATORY TESTS WILL BE PERFORMED FOR VERIFICATION. FINALLY, DYNAMICS TECHNOLOGY WILL FINALIZE THE DESIGN OF A SHORT BASELINE WEATHER IDENTIFIER USING AN INFRARED LED.