A Feasibility study on the use of Firefinder radar for wind profiling

Various meteorological ("weather") research radars and MST (mesospherestratosphere-troposphere) research radars have shown that vertical profiles of atmospheric winds can be measured by Doppler radars. Therefore, because wind information is necessary for many military and civilian problems and because development of new radar systems devoted solely to wind measurements is costly, the question of using existing (operational) radars for "wind profiling" arises. This report examines the feasibility of using a microwave military radar, the Firefinder, for measuring battlefield wind conditions. The resulting wind data would be used to improve the accuracy of battlefield artillery. We wish to determine what wind information (even though not ideal or totally satisfactory) this existing battlefield radar can provide before undertaking the design and development of a new radar that could provide wind data ideally suited for gun placement.