This study assesses surface air pressure remote sensing using a differential absorption radar at the 118 GHz O₂ line. The considered system would have, at least two, closely-spaced frequency channels. Environmental impacts like surface reflections and absorptions from water vapor and other gases, and liquid water clouds on the radar signals of these channels are very similar, but the difference in O₂ absorption is substantial. The surface pressure could be retrieved from the radar measured differential absorption optical depth of the atmosphere. The operational frequencies of the radar system are optimally selected, and the transmitted powers of the paired stronger and weaker O₂ absorption channels are carefully distributed to balance the signal-to-noise ratios of these channels. Simulations of radar signals and pressure retrievals show that with an airborne system cruising at 10 km altitude, surface pressure measurements could achieve 1 mb accuracy within 1-s data processing. These pressure measurements would provide urgently needed supports in improving severe and general weather forecasts and gain unique knowledge on planetary boundary layer meteorology. Other advantages of this kind of high frequency radars would be their higher spatial resolution and increased potentials of small- or CubeSat applications.

这项研究评估了在118 GHz O ₂线使用差分吸收雷达进行的地面气压遥感。所考虑的系统将具有至少两个紧密间隔的频道。这些通道的雷达信号对环境的影响非常相似，例如水蒸气和其他气体的表面反射和吸收，以及液态水云，但是O ₂吸收的差异很大。可以从雷达测得的大气的差分吸收光学深度中获取表面压力。最佳选择了雷达系统的工作频率，并且配对的强弱O ₂的发射功率仔细分配吸收通道，以平衡这些通道的信噪比。雷达信号和压力取回的模拟表明，在机载系统在10 km高度巡航的情况下，表面压力测量可以在1-s数据处理内达到1 mb的精度。这些压力测量将为改善恶劣和一般的天气预报提供急需的支持，并获得有关行星边界层气象学的独特知识。这种高频雷达的其他优点是其较高的空间分辨率和小型或CubeSat应用的潜力。