A solid state 94 GHz FMCW Doppler radar demonstrator for cloud profiling

We present the design and characterization of a ground-based, zenith-pointing, 94 GHz FMCW Doppler radar demonstrator for cloud profiling. The radar uses an all solid-state and relatively simple homodyne architecture and two, low sidelobe 0.5 m diameter Fresnel zone plate antennas to reduce system costs. The low-phase noise, coherent radar employs a direct digital synthesis (DDS) chip for highly linear chirp generation. The design will be able to leverage ongoing future improvements in mm-wave low noise and power amplifier technology to maximize sensitivity. Once the radar is installed in a rooftop location, the processor will perform real-time range-Doppler measurements with averaging, to yield target velocity spectra as a function of altitude