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RaXPol

Rapid X-band Polarimetric Radar
RaXPol provides a versatile platform to support a wide variety of meteorological, engineering, and educational investigation of the atmosphere, radar systems, and signal processing.

System Overview

Operated by OU's Advanced Radar Research Center (ARRC), RaXPol boasts extremely rapid pedestal speeds, which enable a volume scan to be completed in as little as 20 seconds. The truck-based platform can quickly maneuver to a target area, deploy, operate, and depart with minimal preparation. While these advantages make RaXPol well-adapted to observation of severe weather phenomena, the arbitrary transmit waveform and raw I/Q data recording capabilities also allow for experiments with pulse compression and innovative radar signal processing.

The RaXPol is now part of the NSF CIF. Click here to learn more.

System characteristics

  • 20 kW peak power / 200 W average power TWT transmitter
  • Transmit frequency is 9730 MHz (X-band)
    • Wavelength: 3.08 cm
    • Pulse length: 0.1 - 40 μsec
    • Pulse repetition frequency: 1 - 8 kHz
    • Coherent pulse, chirp, or arbitrary waveform
    • Automatic frequency hopping mode for independent sampling during rapid-scan
  • Antenna
    • 3-dB Beamwidth: 1° (2.4 m Parabolic Dish)
    • Gain: 44.5 dBi
    • Sidelobe level: Better than -26 dB one-way
    • Cross-pol isolation better than 26 dB
  • Rotation rate:
    • Up to 180° sec-1 in azimuth
    • Up to 36° sec-1 in elevation
  • Simultaneous dual-polarization
  • Moment or I/Q data recording
    • A/D converter resolution: 16 bit
    • Receiver bandwidth: 50 MHz
    • Gate spacing: up to 3 m
  • Easy travel
    • Bridge clearance: 14'
    • Gross weight: 5 tons

Open for Collaboration

The University of Oklahoma encourages academic, government, and private sector collaborations focused on advancing weather radar technology and science. RaXPol is open for business as a platform to foster and support such relationships. Joint projects are also welcome in signal processing, radar system design, phased array radar, profiling radar, QPE, radar polarimetry, retrieval algorithms, and severe storm observations. Please contact the ARRC Director for specific inquires.

Publication of RaXPol Data

The use of RaXPol data in formal publications and research projects is strongly encouraged. For publications, please use the following acknowledgement: "RaXPol is maintained and operated by the Advanced Radar Research Center (ARRC) of the University of Oklahoma."

Data Access

The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing access to data collected during past field campaigns. To request data from this system, please contact data@arrc.ou.edu. In addition, you can find example datasets available to be downloaded at the Data page.