Milestone-Proposal:The MU (Middle and Upper atmosphere) radar, 1984
To see comments, or add a comment to this discussion, click here.
Docket #:2013-29
This Proposal has been approved, and is now a Milestone
To the proposer’s knowledge, is this achievement subject to litigation?
Is the achievement you are proposing more than 25 years old?
Yes
Is the achievement you are proposing within IEEE’s designated fields as defined by IEEE Bylaw I-104.11, namely: Engineering, Computer Sciences and Information Technology, Physical Sciences, Biological and Medical Sciences, Mathematics, Technical Communications, Education, Management, and Law and Policy. Yes
Did the achievement provide a meaningful benefit for humanity? Yes
Was it of at least regional importance? Yes
Has an IEEE Organizational Unit agreed to pay for the milestone plaque(s)? Yes
Has the IEEE Section(s) in which the plaque(s) will be located agreed to arrange the dedication ceremony? Yes
Has the IEEE Section in which the milestone is located agreed to take responsibility for the plaque after it is dedicated? Yes
Has the owner of the site agreed to have it designated as an IEEE Milestone? Yes
Year or range of years in which the achievement occurred:
1984
Title of the proposed milestone:
The MU (Middle and Upper Atmosphere) Radar, 1984
Plaque citation summarizing the achievement and its significance; if personal name(s) are included, such name(s) must follow the achievement itself in the citation wording: Text absolutely limited by plaque dimensions to 70 words; 60 is preferable for aesthetic reasons.
In 1984, Kyoto University built the MU (Middle and Upper atmosphere) radar as the first large-scale MST (Mesosphere, Stratosphere, and Troposphere) radar with a two-dimensional active phased array antenna system, with the collaboration of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. The MU radar enabled continuous and flexible observation of the atmosphere, and has contributed to the progress of atmospheric science and radar engineering.
200-250 word abstract describing the significance of the technical achievement being proposed, the person(s) involved, historical context, humanitarian and social impact, as well as any possible controversies the advocate might need to review.
IEEE technical societies and technical councils within whose fields of interest the Milestone proposal resides.
In what IEEE section(s) does it reside?
IEEE Kansai Section, Japan
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) which have agreed to sponsor the Milestone:
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) paying for milestone plaque(s):
Unit: IEEE Kansai Section, Japan
Senior Officer Name: Hidetoshi Onodera, IEEE Kansai Section Chair
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) arranging the dedication ceremony:
Unit: IEEE Kansai Section, Japan
Senior Officer Name: Hidetoshi Onodera, IEEE Kansai Section Chair
IEEE section(s) monitoring the plaque(s):
IEEE Section: IEEE Kansai Section, Japan
IEEE Section Chair name: Hidetoshi Onodera, IEEE Kansai Section Chair
Milestone proposer(s):
Proposer name: Haruko Kawahigashi
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Please note: your email address and contact information will be masked on the website for privacy reasons. Only IEEE History Center Staff will be able to view the email address.
Street address(es) and GPS coordinates in decimal form of the intended milestone plaque site(s):
Shigaraki MU Observatory,
Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University,
Koyama, Shigaraki-cho, Koka-city, Shiga 529-1812 Japan.
Latitude of 136°06’32”E and longitude of 34°51’08”N.
Describe briefly the intended site(s) of the milestone plaque(s). The intended site(s) must have a direct connection with the achievement (e.g. where developed, invented, tested, demonstrated, installed, or operated, etc.). A museum where a device or example of the technology is displayed, or the university where the inventor studied, are not, in themselves, sufficient connection for a milestone plaque.
Please give the address(es) of the plaque site(s) (GPS coordinates if you have them). Also please give the details of the mounting, i.e. on the outside of the building, in the ground floor entrance hall, on a plinth on the grounds, etc. If visitors to the plaque site will need to go through security, or make an appointment, please give the contact information visitors will need. The original radar observatory site where the MU radar was built, and it is used today. It is owned by Kyoto University.
Are the original buildings extant?
Yes
Details of the plaque mounting:
In the ground floor entrance hall.
How is the site protected/secured, and in what ways is it accessible to the public?
The plaque will be placed near the reception area at the floor entrance hall of Shigaraki MU Observatory. The observatory welcomes any visitors. Prior notification is required before a visit. The contact information the visitor will need is as follows.
Shigaraki MU Observatory
Tel +81-748-82-3211, Fax +81-748-82-3217
mu@rish.kyoto-u.ad.jp
http://www.rish.kyoto-u.ac.jp/mu/en/index.html
Who is the present owner of the site(s)?
Shigaraki MU Observatory,
Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University
What is the historical significance of the work (its technological, scientific, or social importance)? If personal names are included in citation, include detailed support at the end of this section preceded by "Justification for Inclusion of Name(s)". (see section 6 of Milestone Guidelines)
The MU radar is the large-scale atmosphere radar where the active phased array mechanism was used for the first time in the world.
(1) Conventional observation methods and their limitations:
Before the MU radar, the rawinsonde (meteorological balloon) and rocket observed the stratosphere and the mesosphere, and the satellite observed the thermosphere and space. The former observations have a defect in that we can obtain the data only infrequently, and the latter also has one inasmuch as satellites do not give consecutive observations of a specific point. The radar offers a method of remote sensing of the atmosphere from the Earth’s surface. The Arecibo radar in Puerto Rico and the Jicamarca radar in Peru were developed as radars capable of observing the atmosphere and the ionosphere, and their immense utility has become clear. With time, the importance of three-dimensional wind velocity observations was recognized and this led to the development of the MU radar.
The U.S. implemented the Arecibo radar and the Jicamarca radar in the 1960’s as precursor atmospheric radars. They were, however, inappropriate for observing meteorological phenomena or atmospheric waves, since they could not perform high speed beam steering. As a new radar capable of overcoming this problem, the MU radar was designed. The active phased array technique was introduced as the key to satisfy this requirement in observations and research. This was the first such application of the active phased array technique to a large-scale system, and it has had a significant impact on the design of subsequent, similar radar systems, thus leading us to believe that the MU radar deserves recognition as an IEEE milestone.
(2) Importance of the observation of middle atmosphere dynamics:
The Earth is covered with an atmosphere which spans from Earth’s surface to outer space. The atmosphere consists of the troposphere (surface to 10 km altitude), the middle atmosphere (10 - 110 km, consisting of the stratosphere, the mesosphere, and the lower thermosphere), and the upper atmosphere (110 km and higher), the latter two including the ionosphere (60-500 km).
The ambient air motion in the troposphere and the stratosphere directly affects the global climate and daily weather, and the dynamics of the middle atmosphere plays critical roles in investigation of the behavior of various meteorological phenomena, including both temporary weather changes such as sudden downpours, typhoons, cold waves, and heat waves as well as long range phenomena such as seasonal winds.
Observation of the middle atmosphere is also important for environmental studies such those relating to global warming, depletion of the ozone layer, and the effects of CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) gas. CFC gas originating from sprays can reach the middle atmosphere and destroys the ozone layer which protects us from the ultraviolet rays of the sun. Observation of the middle atmosphere enables extensive studies in the field of abnormal weather caused by volcano eruptions, environmental pollution, effects of atmospheric gravity waves, and atmospheric tides based on solar radiation.
(3) Necessity of radar observations with fine temporal and spatial resolution, and of high speed beam steering:
In the middle atmosphere, there always exists a certain amount of turbulence. If radio waves are used to illuminate this turbulence, a small amount of the wave is scattered back to the radar on Earth. By measuring this scattered wave, we can obtain information about the turbulence.
In order to investigate atmospheric dynamics, especially in micro-scale and meso-scale processes occurring in the middle and the upper atmosphere, it is essential to observe the three-dimensional wind field, including a small vertical component, continuously both in time and space over a given domain, with fine temporal and spatial resolution. Fast and continuous beam steerability is necessary to determine the fine spatial structures of fast dynamic processes.
(4) Design and development of the MU radar with two-dimensional active phased array system:
The MU radar is the first large-scale two-dimensional active phased array radar developed through original technology [1, 3, 4, 11]. The MU radar can observe the lower, middle, and the upper atmosphere. It can observe continuously, regardless of weather condition.
The operational frequency of the MU radar is 46.5 MHz, and its peak output power is 1 MW. It is composed of 475 crossed three-element Yagi antennas and an equivalent number of solid-state transmitter–receiver (TR) modules. Each Yagi antenna is driven by a TR module with peak output power of 2.4 kW. This system operates as an active phased array radar to achieve very rapid and almost continuous beam steering. The MU radar has the capacity to continuously monitor three-dimensional winds, waves, turbulence, and atmospheric instability over the wide range of altitudes found in the Earth’s atmosphere. Furthermore, it has a temporal resolution of approximately 1 min and an altitude resolution of approximately 100 m, unequalled by conventional instruments such as the radiosonde. Due to these resolutions it is possible to quantitatively investigate the small-scale atmospheric gravity waves that are considered to play important roles in the dynamics of the Earth’s atmosphere.
(5) The scientific impacts of the MU radar:
The atmospheric gravity waves produced in the lower atmosphere propagate to the middle and upper atmosphere and carry momentum. This plays a decisive role in determining the dynamical structure of the middle and upper atmosphere. The MU radar contributed to scientific progress by confirming this mechanism which had been theoretically predicted [2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10].
Furthermore, the later systems that followed the MU radar have contributed considerably to efforts to improve the precision of weather forecasts, particularly predictions of local meteorological phenomena, with great benefit to societies impacted by these phenomena.
(6) The social impacts of the MU radar
MU radar observed actual structures and mechanisms of various meteorological phenomena, from local extreme weathers to global atmospheric behaviors. Its observation served to explore the countermeasures to minimize damages of weather disasters and environment disruptions.
The Significance of the MU radar
- It can simultaneously capture the raindrop and the airflow when they are mixed, whereas the conventional meteorological radar can see only the raindrop. [A1]
- It observed the precise typhoon structure and the eye cross-section for the first time in the world. [A2]
- It revealed birth and growth processes of the violent raincloud causing the local downpour, etc. [A1]
- Its observation of the precise meteorological phenomena led precise weather forecasting. [A1] [A2]
- Its long-term observation of the vertical atmospheric movement led to quantifying the irregular atmospheric turbulence and its daily and seasonal fluctuation, for the first time in the world. The result revealed that the greenhouse gas diffusion is much slower than it had been believed. Its observation served as a concrete evidence for the global environmental sustainment measures. [A3]
- Its leading edge technologies of the active phased array antenna were utilized and followed by numerous atmospheric radars constructed later. [A4]
(7) The MU radar's influence on later systems:
The MU radar established the technological basis for a number of wind profiler systems and phased array meteorological radars that were later developed.
The MU archetype has been directly used for WINDAS (Wind Profiler Network and Data Acquisition System) operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency, which observes the three-dimensional wind from about 30 locations in Japan, EAR (The Equatorial Atmosphere Radar) at West Sumatra (Indonesia), and PANSY (Program of the Antarctic Syowa MST/IS radar) at Syowa Station (Antarctica). It has also influenced the MAARSY (The Middle Atmosphere Alomar Radar System) at Andøya (Norway).
The other active phased array radars constructed or planned after the MU radar include AMISR (the Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar funded by the National Science Foundation) at mobile sites in the United States and EISCAT_3D (next-generation radar project for atmospheric and geospace science conducted by the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association) in Tromsø (Norway), Kiruna (Sweden) and Sodankylä (Finland).
What obstacles (technical, political, geographic) needed to be overcome?
In the MU radar system, each element of the 475 phased array antenna is provided with its own Transmitter-Receiver (TR) module, and all the TR modules need to be coherently driven. The phase-level synchronization and precise control of a large number of TR modules was extremely challenging, but rapidly developing electronics technology, namely solid-state technology and micro-computer technology, enabled the tasks to be solved.
Moreover, development of the rapid phase change mechanism for the beam steering at every 400 micro seconds, and the alignment mechanism of the reference phases called for collaboration from a number of university researchers and skilled company engineers.
What features set this work apart from similar achievements?
There had been several previous large-scale atmospheric radars, such as the ones in Jicamarca and Arecibo.
The most outstanding feature of the MU radar is that there is no high-power transmitter in it. In conventional radar systems, a high-power transmitter feeds all phased array antenna elements via an appropriate cascading feeding network. The MU radar system, on the other hand, does not incorporate such a passive array connected to a high-power transmitter. Instead, each element of the phased array antenna is provided with its own solid state power amplifier, and all the amplifiers are coherently driven by low-level pulses in order to produce the desired peak output power. The peak output power of the individual antenna array is 2.4 kW. Since the total number of antennas is 475, the total peak output power becomes approximately 1MW allowing for antenna loss.
The main advantage of this active array system is that the phase of the signal transmitted from each antenna required for the beam steering is electronically controlled at low power level. Thus the MU radar system enables very fast transition (up to 2500 times per second) and almost continuous beam steering as well as various flexible operations made possible by dividing the antenna array into independent sub-arrays. The 475 antennas can be divided into 25 antenna sub-arrays, and can operate as at the maximum of four individual small radars [3, 4].
The MU radar was the first large-scale active phased array atmospheric radar, and the other radars constructed later followed the mechanisms of the MU radar. The MU radar was upgraded in 2004 and its contribution continues [12, 13].
Why was the achievement successful and impactful?
Supporting texts and citations to establish the dates, location, and importance of the achievement: Minimum of five (5), but as many as needed to support the milestone, such as patents, contemporary newspaper articles, journal articles, or chapters in scholarly books. 'Scholarly' is defined as peer-reviewed, with references, and published. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. At least one of the references must be from a scholarly book or journal article. All supporting materials must be in English, or accompanied by an English translation.
There are over five hundred papers and articles related to the MU radar. The most significant papers among them are listed below.
[1] Kato, S., T. Ogawa, T. Tsuda, T. Sato, I. Kimura, and S. Fukao, The Middle and Upper Atmosphere Radar: First Results Using a Partial System, Radio Sci., 19, 1475-1484, 1984.
[2] Fukao, S., K. Wakasugi, T. Sato, S. Morimoto, T. Tsuda, I. Hirota, I. Kimura, and S. Kato, Direct Measurement of Air and Precipitation Particle Motion by Very High Frequency Doppler Radar, Nature, 316, 712-714, 1985.
[3] Fukao, S., T. Sato, T. Tsuda, S. Kato, K. Wakasugi, and T. Makihira, The MU Radar with an Active Phased Array System: 1. Antenna and Power Amplifiers, Radio Sci., 20, 1155-1168, 1985.
[4] Fukao, S., T. Tsuda, T. Sato, S. Kato, K. Wakasugi, and T. Makihira, The MU Radar with an Active Phased Array System: 2. In-House Equipment, Radio Sci., 20, 1169-1176, 1985.
[5] Matuura, N., Y. Masuda, H. Inuki, S. Kato, S. Fukao, T. Sato, and T. Tsuda, Radio acoustic measurement of temperature profile in the troposphere and stratosphere, Nature, 323, 426-428, 1986.
[6] Tsuda, T., T. Inoue, D. C. Fritts, T. E. VanZandt, S. Kato, T. Sato, and S. Fukao, MST Radar Observations of a Saturated Gravity Wave Spectrum, J. Atmos. Sci., 46, 2440-2447, 1989.
[7] Yamamoto, M., S. Fukao, R. F. Woodman, T. Ogawa, T. Tsuda, and S. Kato, Mid-Latitude E-Region Field-Aligned Irregularities Observed with the MU Radar, J. Geophys. Res., 96, 15943-15949, 1991.
[8] Nakamura, T., T. Tsuda, M. Yamamoto, S. Fukao, and S. Kato, Characteristics of Gravity Waves in the Mesosphere Observed with the Middle and Upper Atmosphere Radar: 1. Momentum Flux, J. Geophys. Res. 98, 8899-8910, 1993.
[9] Fukao, S., M. D. Yamanaka, N. Ao, W. K. Hocking, T. Sato, M. Yamamoto, T. Nakamura, T. Tsuda, and S. Kato, Seasonal variability of vertical eddy diffusivity in the middle atmosphere, 1. Three-year observations by the middle and upper atmosphere radar, J. Geophys. Res. 99(D9), 18973-18987, 1994.
[10] Sato, K., H. Hashiguchi, and S. Fukao, Gravity Waves and Turbulence Associated with Cumulus Convection Observed with the UHF/VHF Clear-Air Doppler Radars, J. Geophys. Res., 100(D4), 7111-7119, 1995.
[11]Chiba, I., Y. Konishi, T. Nishino, Progress of Phased Array Systems in Japan, 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Phased Array Systems and Technology (ARRAY), 19-28, doi:10.1109/ARRAY.2010.5613395, 2010.
[12] Sureshbabu, V.N., V.K. Anandan, T. Tsuda, J. Furumoto, and S.V. Rao, Performance Analysis of Optimum Tilt Angle and Beam Configuration to Derive Horizontal Wind Velocities by Postset Beam Steering Technique, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 51, 520-526, doi:10.1109/TGRS.2012.2200256, 2013.
[13] Kumar, S., V.K. Anandan, T. Tsuda, J. Furumoto, and C.G. Reddy, Improved Performance in Horizontal Wind Estimation Using a Spaced Antenna Drift Technique and Signal Processing Approaches, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 51, 3056-3062, doi:10.1109/TGRS.2012.2214442, 2013.
Additional References of the MU radar's social impacts
[A1] The Raincloud Development Process Revealed, Kyoto Univ. Group Uses VHF Radar, Simultaneous Measurement of the Atmospheric Movement and the Raindrop, Nikkei Newspaper, Oct. 2, 1985.
[A2] Caught the Typhoon-eye (Kyoto Univ. Group), Yomiuri Newspaper, Tuesday Evening, Dec. 13, 1994.
[A3] Air Pollutant Diffuses Slowly, Freon (CFC) Resides ten times longer than the established value, Kyoto Univ. Revealed the Turbulence Movement, Yomiuri Newspaper, Tuesday Evening, Aug. 12, 1993.
[A4] "Eye" for Abnormal Weather Clarification, Kyoto Univ. Build a radar in Sumatra, Kyoto Newspaper, March 23, 2001.
Supporting materials (supported formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, PDF, DOC): All supporting materials must be in English, or if not in English, accompanied by an English translation. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. For documents that are copyright-encumbered, or which you do not have rights to post, email the documents themselves to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please see the Milestone Program Guidelines for more information.
MUradar_supporting_materials.pdf
Please email a jpeg or PDF a letter in English, or with English translation, from the site owner(s) giving permission to place IEEE milestone plaque on the property, and a letter (or forwarded email) from the appropriate Section Chair supporting the Milestone application to ieee-history@ieee.org with the subject line "Attention: Milestone Administrator." Note that there are multiple texts of the letter depending on whether an IEEE organizational unit other than the section will be paying for the plaque(s).
Please recommend reviewers by emailing their names and email addresses to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please include the docket number and brief title of your proposal in the subject line of all emails.
MUradar supporting materials.pdf
Reference 1.pdf
Reference 2.pdf
Reference 3.pdf
Reference 4.pdf
Reference 5.pdf
Reference 6.pdf
Reference 7.pdf
Reference 8.pdf
Reference 9.pdf
ReferenceA1 Nikkei 1985 10 02 rainclaud.pdf
ReferenceA2 Yomiuri 1994 12 13 typhooneye.pdf
ReferenceA3 Yomiuri 1993 08 12 CFC.pdf
ReferenceA4 Kyoto 2001 03 23 EAR.pdf
2013 29 MUradar at a glance.pdf
