Wind Shear Target Echo Modeling and Simulation

Abstract

Wind shear is a dangerous atmospheric phenomenon in aviation. Wind shear is defined as a sudden change of speed or direction of the wind. In order to analyze the influence of wind shear on the efficiency of the airplane, this paper proposes a mathematical model of point target rain echo and weather target signal echo based on Doppler effect. The wind field model is developed in this paper, and the antenna model is also studied by using Bessel function. The spectrum distribution of symmetric and asymmetric wind fields is researched by using the mathematical model proposed in this paper. The simulation results are in accordance with radial velocity component, and the simulation results also confirm the correctness of the established model of antenna.

Xiaoyang Liu 1, 2 and Chao Liu 1 and Wanping Liu 1

Academic Editor:Filippo Cacace

1, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing 400054, China
2, Postdoctoral Research Station of Information and Communication Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China

Received 3 December 2014; Revised 19 March 2015; Accepted 23 March 2015; 14 April 2015

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

1. Introduction

As for airborne weather radar, wind shear is a unique atmosphere phenomenon. Microburst is a main form in wind shear. Wind shear often refers to the wind speed or size changing suddenly. Wind shear especially low-level wind shear can cause the maximum damage to airplane. In the aeronautical meteorology, according to the structure of the wind field, wind shear can mainly consist of three kinds of basic situation: vertical wind shear of horizontal wind, horizontal wind shear of horizontal wind, and wind shear of vertical wind. In the actual atmosphere, these three kinds of wind shear can affect flight. According to the airplane relative to the wind vector, the wind shear can be divided into the following: wind shear, cross wind shear, partial wind shear, and head wind shear four forms [1-5].

The scale and strength of low-level wind shear are closely related to wind shear weather system and environmental conditions. Because the phenomenon of wind shear belongs to a small probability event, the existence time of this unique atmosphere phenomenon is only a few minutes [6-9]. It is not repeated. If we rely on the actual test method, not only the cost is very high, but also the risk is quite large, so it is necessary for us to study real wind shear weather change rule of the simulation method [10].

When people realize the serious harm of wind shear, people have invented many equipment which can detect wind field and wind shear, including ground anemometer theodolite, radiosonde wind profile, line radar laser radar, Doppler weather radar, Doppler sound radar, and airborne sensors. The malignant plane crash accident is mainly caused by wind shear [11]. Therefore, it is the most effective method for detecting low-level wind shear in time, so that the airplane has enough time and space to avoid it [12].

The testing technology of low-level wind shear is mainly by means of signal processing algorithm, analyzing radar echo signal of wind shear [13]. The echo power, wind speed of Doppler, and spectrum width parameters can be extracted by using signal processing algorithm. The wind speed of Doppler is the most important parameter among all the parameters, because it reflects the wind field characteristics of the movement [14-16].

The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 contains mathematical model of point target echo, and the signal model of target echo is established in Section 3. Wind field and antenna model are proposed in Section 4, followed by the analysis of simulation results in Section 5. Finally, Section 6 contains the conclusions.

2. The Proposed Mathematical Model of Point Target Echo

There is a relative motion between airborne weather radar and the meteorological scattering target. So the Doppler frequency shift consists of two parts: the speed of an airplane and meteorological scattering target. For airborne pulsed Doppler radar detecting meteorological target of wind shear, we assume that the speed of airplane is [figure omitted; refer to PDF] , the average radial velocity among meteorological scattering target is [figure omitted; refer to PDF] , the initial distance between the airplane and the meteorological scattering target is [figure omitted; refer to PDF] , and the distance of airplane away from meteorological scattering unit is [figure omitted; refer to PDF] . The relationship between [figure omitted; refer to PDF] and time [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is as follows: [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

The time rate of the phase [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is [figure omitted; refer to PDF] where [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the Doppler frequency shift caused by the airplane and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the Doppler frequency shift caused by the meteorological scattering target. Equation (2) indicates that the Doppler frequency shift [figure omitted; refer to PDF] can be extracted which is caused by the target movement of wind shear rain echo.

The average power of wind shear target rain echo can be expressed as [figure omitted; refer to PDF] where [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the transmit power, [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the antenna gain, [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the wavelength of airborne weather radar, the scattering rate of meteorological target is [figure omitted; refer to PDF] , system loss is [figure omitted; refer to PDF] , and the distance between target and meteorological target is [figure omitted; refer to PDF] .

We assume that the body reflectivity of meteorological target is [figure omitted; refer to PDF] ; [figure omitted; refer to PDF] represents the target volume unit.

As for airborne weather radar, we assume that the target is the ideal point target; the effective scattering cross section of the target is [figure omitted; refer to PDF] . So [figure omitted; refer to PDF] where the body reflectivity of meteorological target [figure omitted; refer to PDF] can be expressed as [figure omitted; refer to PDF] where [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the wavelength of airborne weather radar. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] represents the diameter of the target sphere, [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the dielectric constant of scattering particle, and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] denotes the reflection factor.

We assume that the radar transmitted signal is a narrow signal. It can be expressed as [figure omitted; refer to PDF] where [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

The [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is carrier frequency. So, echo signal can be regarded as a signal delay form of transmitted signal. Its amplitude is multiplied by a scale factor [figure omitted; refer to PDF] .

We assume that the complex reflection constant is [figure omitted; refer to PDF] . We also defined the scale factor [figure omitted; refer to PDF] : [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

The echo signal of the mathematical formula can be expressed as [figure omitted; refer to PDF] where time delay [figure omitted; refer to PDF] can be expressed as [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Putting (2) into (10), we can get [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Then by putting (11) into (9), we can get [figure omitted; refer to PDF] where [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is time delay of target echo.

So, for a single wind shear meteorological target scattering body, echo signal of radar target can be expressed as [figure omitted; refer to PDF] where [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the total path length and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the random phase caused by the scatter body. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the amplitude of echo signal. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] can be expressed as [figure omitted; refer to PDF] where [figure omitted; refer to PDF] denotes the average power of the wind shear rain echo.

3. Signal Model of Target Echo

We assume that [figure omitted; refer to PDF] denotes the speed component of target scatter body; [figure omitted; refer to PDF] represents the speed component of airplane along the radial. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is constant. We defined [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

The in-phase component [figure omitted; refer to PDF] and quadrature [figure omitted; refer to PDF] component of the target echo signal can be expressed, respectively, as [figure omitted; refer to PDF] where [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the random phase of the scatter target and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] represents the transmitted phase error. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the receiver noise. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] expresses the number of pulses. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the pulse time interval.

Signal amplitude [figure omitted; refer to PDF] can be obtained by radar equation and reflectivity factor. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] can be expressed as [figure omitted; refer to PDF] where [figure omitted; refer to PDF] where [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the constant of radar equation and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] represents the receiver loss. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] indicates the volume of the scatter body. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] shows the multipath fading factor. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the antenna gain. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is wind shear wind field reflectivity.

Signal phase is mainly decided by the Doppler frequency shift. Doppler frequency shift consists of two parts, [figure omitted; refer to PDF] and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] .

The total rain echo signal phase can be expressed as [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

The principle diagram of wind shear target echo simulation is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The principle diagram of wind shear target echo simulation.

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

4. Wind Field and Antenna Model

4.1. Wind Field Model of Wind Shear

In order to simulate the whole space wind field within the scope of the [figure omitted; refer to PDF] - [figure omitted; refer to PDF] - [figure omitted; refer to PDF] three direction of the wind speed, we build a microburst wind shear of wind field model, and the simulation process is as follows:

(1) The speed of the vertical flow

(a) The calculation of the radial distance [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

: where [figure omitted; refer to PDF] and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] are the airplane's [figure omitted; refer to PDF] and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] position coordinates and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] are the center of wind field in [figure omitted; refer to PDF] and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] position. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the radial distance of airplane. The minimum value of [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is set to 2.0.

(b) We define a parameter [figure omitted; refer to PDF] ; [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is related to the position of airplane, wind shear, and distortion factor [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

: where [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

: where [figure omitted; refer to PDF] and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] are the distortion factors in [figure omitted; refer to PDF] and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] position. The minimum value of [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is set to 0.002. The minimum value of [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is set to 2.0.

(2) The radial velocity of horizontal flow

: The variable of radial velocity distribution is defined by [figure omitted; refer to PDF] : [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

: where [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the height of airplane, [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the initial reference velocity, [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the height limit of horizontal airflow, and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] is the gain factor of wind field.

(3) The wind shear model

: According to the changing rule of the horizontal wind [figure omitted; refer to PDF] and vertical wind [figure omitted; refer to PDF] , the following wind shear model is established: [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

: In the formula, [figure omitted; refer to PDF] and [figure omitted; refer to PDF] denote the size of horizontal wind and vertical wind, respectively. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] . [figure omitted; refer to PDF] shows the total time of the plane through the microburst. [figure omitted; refer to PDF] expresses the initial phase. To solve the derivative [figure omitted; refer to PDF] , we also can get [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

4.2. Antenna Model

The antenna model is made by Bessel function. The gain of main lobe is 34.2 dB. The 3 dB beam width is 2.8° and the center of first side lobe is 4.4° and the antenna beam pattern is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: The pattern of antenna beam.

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

5. Simulation Results Analysis

5.1. The Main Parameters Settings

The main simulation parameter settings are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: The parameters settings of simulation.

Variable	Value	Unit
Pulse repetition frequency	3500	Hz
Pulse width	1.5	us
Sampling interval	1	us
Operating frequency	9.0	GHz
Range resolution	150	m
Antenna gain	34	dB
Antenna beamwidth	2.8	dB
System noise	2.5	dB
Transmitter power	200	W

5.2. The Simulation Performance Analysis and Discussion

5.2.1. The Condition of No Wind Shear

The wind speed is set to 0, and the reflectivity is set to 0 dBZ, get rid of the plane, the airplane of the speed along the antenna beam radial velocity takes 0. The speed of Doppler frequency is 0, because there is no the signal of wind shear. The signal of radar received will exist noise and only considers clutter, which is showed in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Rain Echo Spectrum Distribution of no Wind Shear.

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

5.2.2. The Simulation of Symmetric Wind Field

Considering symmetry wind field, the reflectivity is set to 30 dBZ, because the intensity of rain echo is related to the intensity of the wind field. The center of wind field is large according to the data of wind field model of microburst wind shear, and the intensity of rain echo is large; by contrast wind field edge rain echo is weak, as is shown in Figures 4 and 5. Figures 4 and 5 depict the spectrum distribution of rain echo and range bin change in the first scan line. Figures 6 and 7 depict the spectrum distribution of rain echo and range bin change in the thirtieth scan line.

Figure 4: Rain Echo Spectrum Distribution of the first scan line (three-dimensional diagram).

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Figure 5: Rain Echo Spectrum Distribution of the first scan line (Contour Map).

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Figure 6: Rain Echo Spectrum Distribution of the thirtieth scan line (three-dimensional diagram).

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Figure 7: Rain Echo Spectrum Distribution of the thirtieth scan line (Contour Map).

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

As can be seen from Figures 4 and 5. the wind speed is almost perpendicular to the radial in microburst wind field edge. The radial velocity component is almost equal to 0. It means that it almost does not produce Doppler frequency shift, and as shown in Figures 6 and 7 it shows that the thirtieth scan line is in the position of the wind field center, so relative to the first scan line, the signal strength of rain echo is greater, and the radial velocity component is obvious.

5.2.3. The Simulation of Asymmetric Wind Field

Considering asymmetry wind field, we assume that the reflectivity is 30 dBZ. The settings of other parameters are showed in Table 1. Figure 8 depicts the spectrum distribution under the head hind, while Figure 9 depicts the spectrum distribution under the partial hind.

Figure 8: Rain Echo Spectrum Distribution of asymmetric wind field for head wind (Contour Map).

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Figure 9: Rain Echo Spectrum Distribution of asymmetric wind field for partial wind (Contour Map).

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Figures 8 and 9 show that the spectrum profile is related to rain echo signal and range bin under the head wind and partial wind in the thirtieth scan line. As can be seen from Figures 8 and 9, the simulation results can reflect the actual rain echo distribution.

6. Conclusion

In this paper, a novel mathematical model of wind field in wind shear is established. The mathematical model of rain echo point target echo and antenna model are proposed. The Rain Echo Spectrum Distribution under different scan lines is studied in this paper. The simulation realized the symmetric wind field and asymmetric wind field, in a given antenna model and system parameters. It is explained that the data in different coordinate systems can be transformed and an example having analytical solution is given.

The simulation results show that the wind field data of the established model can reflect the basic characteristics of the wind shear in perfect. The distribution of speed spectrum of rain target echo signal can reflect the wind shear condition. The simulation results are in accordance with radial velocity component.

Acknowledgment

The paper is supported by Chongqing Science and Technology Committee Fund of Foundation and Cutting-edge Research Plan (cstc2014jcyjA40007).

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.

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