Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. | Press Release (2006) Sumitomo Electric Developed New Wind Profiler Radar System that Uses Luneburg Lenses as Antenna Element

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Sumitomo Electric Developed New Wind Profiler Radar System that Uses Luneburg Lenses as Antenna Element

June 8, 2006

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. has developed "LQ Series", a new model of wind profiler radar system, for measuring the velocity and direction of winds using radio waves.

In joint research with Kyoto University's Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Sumitomo Electric has developed a new model of wind profiler radar system that employs a Luneburg lens at the antenna unit. The new "LQ Series" model has substantially lower price and improved characteristics and user-friendliness than previous models. Sumitomo Electric has already received an order for two sets of "LQ Series" from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). JAMSTEC will install the systems at Indonesia for their observation projects in that region.

The main features of "LQ Series" are as follows

(1) Low price

An equivalent performance can be achieved at the price about 40% less than that of Sumitomo Electric's previous "L Series" models.

(2) Expandable system structure

The system uses a plurality of 900-mm-diameter antenna units. The number of antenna units can be selected according to the altitude to be measured. Antenna units can be purchased separately and added to the system to enhance system performance.

[ Standard lineup ]

LQ-4:	four antenna units
LQ-7:	seven antenna units (performance equal to or more than that of the previous "L-28" model)
LQ-13:	thirteen antenna units

(3) Low running cost

Simplified structure allows easy maintenance at less running cost than previous models.

The development of "LQ Series" has allowed Sumitomo Electric to provide observation systems that better satisfy various customer needs. Sumitomo Electric will offer its "LQ Series" wind profiler radar systems to observatories and researchers of weather and environment worldwide.

[ Product photographs (LQ-7 model) ]

[ Wind Profiler Radar ]

The troposphere (from the earth's surface up to 10 km) is the lowest layer of the atmosphere surrounding the earth and where various weather phenomena take place. When friction of atmosphere with the earth's surface occurs or heat is radiated or absorbed from or to the earth's surface, atmospheric motions (wind direction and velocity) become complicated. Wind profiler radar is a type of radar that uses radio waves in the microwave band to observe atmospheric motions. A standard wind profiler radar system has an antenna about 3 m x 3 m in size and can display the real-time 3D profiles of wind direction and velocity with a high range resolution of 100 m.

[ Principle of Wind Profiler Radar ]

Radio wave transmitted towards the upper air from an antenna is scattered due to fluctuation of reflective index caused by atmospheric turbulence. By measuring the time interval until the transmitted wave returns to the antenna again, the distance from the antenna (altitude) can be estimated. Also, because atmospheric turbulence moves on background atmospheric movements (wind), frequency of scattered wave is shifted by Doppler effect. Information of the wind velocity is obtained by measuring the quantity of this Doppler frequency shift. In addition, information of the wind direction is obtained by switching the beam direction where the electric wave is radiated in five directions of total (the zenith and north, south, east, and west).

[ Luneburg Lens ]

Luneburg lens is a dielectric lens (collects radio waves to the focal point by a dielectric materials) designed by Luneburg in 1944. Because its relative dielectric constant changes according to the distance from the center of a spherical dielectric lens, it works as an antenna having uniform characteristics against radio waves coming from different directions.