An RTK UAV-Based Method for Radial Velocity Validation of Weather Radar

Abstract

The quality of weather radar affects the reliability and effectiveness of monitoring severe convective weather. Therefore, rigorous calibration and validation are the foundation for the quantitative application of weather radar. Among the available methods, radial velocity validation is of great significance for reducing the false alarm rate in the identification of tornadoes and thunderstorms. Based on the traditional method that utilizes internal and external instrument radar velocity measurements, we propose a weather radar radial velocity validation method that uses RTK UAV to simulate external targets. In addition, according to the characteristics of the UAV application scenarios, we introduce the evaluation parameter of optimal absolute accuracy to supplement the original parametric system. The experimental results show that the evaluation parameter of optimal absolute accuracy can effectively reduce the interference caused by the systematic deviation of the UAV due to the internal and external environment, which can affect the validation results. When the UAV velocity is not greater than 10 m/s, the optimal absolute accuracy of the radial velocity validation is less than 0.05 m/s, which is essentially consistent with the external instruments’ measurement results. This method can be effectively applied to the procedural handling of weather radar radial velocity validation. It is significant for ensuring the accuracy and quality of weather radar radial velocity measurements and improving the effectiveness of radar velocity data applications.