Title: CloudCube: A Demonstration of a Multifrequency Solid-State Radar for Affordable Cloud and Precipitation Observations
Presenting Author: Raquel Rodriguez Monje
Organization: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Co-Author(s): Ken Cooper; Matthew Lebsock; Juan Socuellamos, Robert Beauchamp,Simone Tanelli

Abstract:
CloudCube is the first, compact, low-cost, pulsed-compression, solid-state based radar that combines three frequency channels Ka-, W- and G-band (35/94/239 GHz) for vertical profiling of clouds, convection and precipitation structures and dynamics. CloudCube’s radar architecture is designed so that it can be implemented using as few RF components as possible and to be compatible with low-power, Small Satellite platforms. To achieve that, CloudCube’s radar electronics use a single-stage up/down conversion, where a low frequency IF (intermediate frequency) at a few MHz is directly upconverted into the millimeter band signal. This approach leads to an overall reduction in the instrument’s size, mass and power compared to more conventional multi-stage up/down conversion schemes. CloudCube is also designed to be modular, allowing the selection of subsets of the radar frequencies to meet targeted mission observables from a resource-limited platform. Each frequency band’s radar module is being designed to fit within a 3U volume. This new radar instrument also provides flexible and timely capabilities to complement other instruments (e.g., lidar/spectrometer/microwave radiometer) to expand the science return for other mission concepts that can be enhanced with the addition of radar observations. CloudCube’s three frequency channel radar participated in the EPCAPE (Eastern Pacific Cloud Aerosol Precipitation Experiment) field campaign in March-April 2023, obtaining a unique data set. The progress of the CloudCube radar development, as well as a discussion of the observations from the deployments, will be presented at the forum.