Dynamic and adaptive radar tracking of storms (DARTS)
View Patent ↗Methods and systems for estimating atmospheric conditions are disclosed according to embodiments of the invention. In one embodiment, a method may include receiving reflective atmospheric data and solving a flow equation for motion coefficients using the reflective atmospheric data. Future atmospheric conditions can be estimated using the motion coefficients and the reflective atmospheric data. In another embodiment of the invention, the flow equation is solved in the frequency domain. Various linear regression tools may be used to solve for the coefficients. In another embodiment of the system, a radar system is disclosed that predicts future atmospheric conditions by solving the spectral flow equation.
1. A method for predicting atmospheric conditions, the method comprising:
receiving reflective atmospheric data;
solving a flow equation for motion coefficients using the reflective atmospheric data, wherein the flow equation comprises a frequency domain flow equation;
predicting future atmospheric conditions using the motion coefficients and the reflective atmospheric data; and
returning the predicted future atmospheric conditions.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the reflective atmospheric data comprises a time series of sequential radar images.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the flow equation comprises a frequency domain flow equation.
4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the frequency domain flow equation comprises:
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5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the estimating further comprises using a least squares error algorithm.
6. A method for predicting a storm motion field; the method comprising:
propagating a radar signal to the region of interest;
collecting sampled time domain radar data scattered within the region of interest;
converting the time domain radar data into the frequency domain;
solving a frequency domain flow equation for motion coefficients using the reflective atmospheric data;
predicting future atmospheric conditions using the motion coefficients and the reflective atmospheric data; and
returning the predicted future atmospheric conditions.
7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the frequency domain flow equation comprises:
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8. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising estimating future atmospheric conditions by applying the motion coefficients to the received reflective atmospheric data.
9. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the estimating further comprises using a least squares error algorithm.
10. A radar system for nowcasting weather patterns within a region of interest, the system comprising:
a radar source configured to propagate a radar signal;
a radar detector configured to collect radar data; and
a computational system in communication with the radar source and with the radar detector, the computational system comprising a processor and a memory coupled with the processor, the memory comprising a computer-readable medium having a computer-readable program embodied therein for direction operation of the radar system to investigate the region of interest, the computer-readable program including:
instructions for propagating the radar signal into the region of interest with the radar source;
instructions for collecting sampled time domain radar data scattered within the region of interest with the radar detector;
instructions for converting the time domain radar data into frequency domain data;
instructions for solving a frequency domain flow equation for motion coefficients using the reflective atmospheric data; and
instructions for predicting future atmospheric conditions using the motion coefficients and the reflective atmospheric data.
11. The radar system according to claim 10 , wherein the frequency domain flow equations comprises:
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12. A radar system for nowcasting weather patterns within a region of interest, the system comprising:
a radar source configured to propagate a radar signal;
a radar detector configured to collect radar data; and
a computational system in communication with the radar source and with the radar detector, the computational system comprising a processor and a memory coupled with the processor, the memory comprising a computer-readable medium having a computer-readable program embodied therein for direction operation of the radar system to investigate the region of interest, the computer-readable program including:
means for propagating the radar signal into the region of interest with the radar source;
means for collecting sampled time domain radar data scattered within the region of interest with the radar detector;
means for converting the time domain radar data into frequency domain data;
means for solving a frequency domain flow equation for motion coefficients using the reflective atmospheric data; and
means for predicting future atmospheric conditions using the motion coefficients and the reflective atmospheric data.