Colorado State University CHILL Radar

The CHILL radar (named so because it was first located in CHicago, ILL) is an 11-cm wavelength, transportable, multiple polarization research radar system and is operated by Colorado State University (CSU's) Atmospheric Science and Electrical Engineering department. 

It uses a matched dual-transmitter and dual-receiver configuration, mated to a custom-designed 28-ft diameter (1° beam width) parabolic antenna to maximize data collection capabilities. A state-of-the-art digital signal processor handles both the co- and cross-polar return signal components and provides the investigator with a full complement of digitally recorded output data, standard meteorological moments (dBZ, ZDR, LDR etc.), complex covariances, and pulse-by-pulse in phase and quadrature voltage time series.

The parameters governing radar data acquisition, recording and color display are under flexible software control and are interactively adjustable in real time. The CHILL radar includes a unique antenna design.  This dual-offset Gregorian antenna greatly reduces side lobe energy resulting in an overall increase in performance over traditional radar antennas.