System and method for synthesizing data in a radar system

1. A system for synthesizing data received from a weather radar system, comprising:

a. a digital signal processor configured to digitize reflectivity data from a radar antenna;

b. said digital signal processor including a data synthesizer configured to generate an M×N matrix for a digitized reflectivity data point and further configured to populate each element in said M×N matrix with the value of said digitized reflectivity data point;

c. said digital signal processor including a convolution filter configured to calculate a filtered value for each said element in said M×N matrix; and,

d. data storage configured to store said M×N matrix for display.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said data synthesizer is further configured to generate an M×N matrix for each digitized reflectivity point.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein said M×N matrix is a square matrix.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface configured to receive parameters for said data synthesizer and said convolution filter.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein said parameters comprise the size of said M×N matrix.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein said user interface is configured to receive an update of said size of said M×N matrix, such that at least one of the values defining said size of said updated M×N matrix differs from said M×N matrix.

7. The system of claim 4 , wherein said parameters comprise the shape of said convolution filter.

8. The system of claim 4 , wherein said parameters comprise a weighting matrix for said convolution filter.

9. The system of claim 4 , wherein said parameters comprise an order for said convolution filter.

10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an inverse logarithmic base 10 operator configured to invert exponentiated digitized reflectivity data into floating point data.

11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising a logarithmic base 10 operator configured to exponentiate said filtered values for each said element in said M×N matrix.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a display configured to display an intensity map of said exponentiated filtered value for each said element in said M×N matrix.

13. A method of synthesizing data received from a weather radar system, comprising:

a. digitizing reflectivity data from a radar antenna;

b. generating an M×N matrix for a digitized reflectivity data point;

c. populating each element in said M×N matrix with the value of said digitized reflectivity data point;

d. filtering each said element in said M×N matrix; and

e. storing said M×N matrix for display.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said generating step and said populating step generates and populates an M×N matrix for each digitized reflectivity point.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein said M×N matrix is a square matrix.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising the step of synthesizing said M×N matrix into a larger M×N matrix after said filtering step.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising the step of filtering said M×N matrix.

18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising the step of filtering again said M×N matrix after said filtering step.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein said filtering step uses a convolution filter to filter said M×N matrix.

20. The method of claim 13 , further comprising the step of inverting exponential digitized reflectivity data into floating point data.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising the step of exponentiating said filtered M×N matrix.

22. The method of claim 21 , further comprising displaying an intensity map of said exponentiated and filtered M×N matrix.

23. A system for synthesizing data received from a weather radar system, comprising:

a. means for digitizing reflectivity data from a radar antenna;

b. means for generating an M×N matrix for a digitized reflectivity data point based upon said digitized reflectivity data;

c. means for populating each element in said M×N matrix with the value of said digitized reflectivity data point;

d. means for filtering each said element in said M×N matrix; and

e. means for storing said M×N matrix for display.

24. The system of claim 23 , wherein said means for generating is further configured to generate an M×N matrix for each digitized reflectivity point.

25. The system of claim 24 , wherein said M×N matrix is a square matrix.

26. The system of claim 23 , further comprising means for receiving parameters for said means for generating and said means for filtering.

27. The system of claim 26 , wherein said parameters comprise the size of said M×N matrix.

28. The system of claim 27 , wherein said means for receiving parameters is configured to receive an update of said size of said M×N matrix, such that at least one of the values defining said size of said updated M×N matrix differs from said M×N matrix.

29. The system of claim 26 , wherein said parameters comprise the shape of a convolution filter.

30. The system of claim 26 , wherein said parameters comprise a weighting matrix for said convolution filter.

31. The system of claim 26 , wherein said parameters comprise an order for said convolution filter.

32. The system of claim 23 , further comprising means for inverting exponential digitized reflectivity data into floating point data.

33. The system of claim 32 , further comprising means for exponentiating said filtered values for each said element in said M×N matrix.

34. The system of claim 33 , further comprising means for displaying an intensity map of said exponentiated filtered value for each said element in said M×N matrix.