Cara Radar Altimeter
Radar Alt
Model if applicable: RT-1438/APN-232(V) CARA
Measurements Provided: Geometric (Radar) Altitude, HGM232
Manufacturer or Builder of the Instrument: Stewart-Warner Electronics Div.
When Acquired: Circa 1990
Operational Status:
General Description:
The Altitude Radar is a FM CW system that determine altitude from zero to 50,000 feet. The output of the transmitter is a swept CW frequency from 4.24 GHz to 4.36 GHz or 4.3 GHz +/- 60 MHz. The Maximum power output of the transmitter is 1 watt, Track power of the antenna is attenuated or adjusted to 10dB above receiver noise.
*6 32000-50000 25.319
Calibration Methods:
History of Significant Changes to the Instrument:
Description of Software, Data Handling, and Data Flow:
Software Components (data acquisition, display, processing, and analysis):
Data Processing Chain (from flight to archival): Data processing follows the standard data path for RAF measurements: instrument -> NIDAS -> nimbus -> netCDF archives. See this page for more information.
QA Procedures and Needs:
Safety Issues:
Examples of Measurements:
Lead Contact: Kurt Zrubek
Lead Engineer:
Lead Technician: Kyle Holden
Lead Software Engineer: Chris Webster
Lead for Data Processing: Chris Webster
Primary External Contact:
Internal users: See http://wiki.eol.ucar.edu/rafscience/RadarAltimeter (last edited 2012-12-10)