Multi parameter phased array weather radar

Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation*

In recent years, immense damage due to local heavy rain (so-called "guerrilla rainstorms") and tornadoes caused by climate change have become serious social problems. In Japan, the Climate Change Adaptation Act was enacted in June 2018 in response to these circumstances. The Act requires the central and local governments and companies to actively facilitate adaptation measures in preparation for climate change risks.
Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation participated in the "Reinforcement of Resilient Disaster Prevention and Natural Disaster Reduction Function" project of the SIP^*1 as a research group member, and developed the world’s first^*2 practical "multi-parameter phased array weather radar (MP-PAWR)".
The MP-PAWR features the latest phased array antenna instead of a conventional reflecting mirror. By simply rotating the antenna one turn, it can capture 3D data of rain clouds in the area up to an altitude of around 15 km in 30~60 sec up to an 80 km radius. In addition, as a result of mounting the high-precision precipitation observation function, the MP-PAWR can now observe signs and precipitation of guerrilla rainstorms faster and at higher precision than conventional weather radars. Since it can observe a rapidly developing cumulonimbus cloud and predict local heavy rain and tornado hazard 20 to 30 minutes beforehand at high precision, the MP-PAWR is expected to be a means for disaster prevention and natural disaster reduction.
Since it can observe a rapidly developing cumulonimbus cloud and predict local heavy rains as well as tornado and lightning hazards 20 to 30 minutes beforehand at high precision, the MP-PAWR is expected to be a means for disaster prevention and natural disaster reduction. The MP-PAWR is currently being operated and utilizing in research and development at three locations, including the NICT^*3 Advanced ICT Research Institute.

*Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation has been integrated into Toshiba Corporation on April 1, 2025.

• SIP
  The cross-ministerial strategic innovation promotion program. A project established by the Cabinet Office and the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation to achieve innovation in the science technology area in 2014.
• The world’s first practical MP-PAWR
  As a phased array radar specially designed for weather observation that features a dual polarization function to transmit and receive horizontally polarized waves and vertically polarized waves at the same time as well as a real-time processing function for digital beam forming (DBF) that can observe more than ten directions at the same time.
  
• National Institute of Information and Communications Technology; NICT

• Phased Array Weather Radar (Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation)