Water vapor observation device, water vapor observation system, water vapor observation method, and recording medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022326164-A1
Application number	US-202217849716-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 27, 2022
Priority date	Feb 14, 2020
Publication date	Oct 13, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

This water vapor observation device comprises an antenna, an RF amplifier, and processing circuitry. The antenna receives radio waves radiated from an atmosphere including water vapor. The RF amplifier amplifies the received radio waves and generates an observation signal. The processing circuitry is programmed to at least: use the observation signal to select a plurality of observation frequencies excluding an accuracy degraded frequency; and calculate a water vapor index using the spectral intensities of the plurality of observation frequencies. This configuration makes it possible to accurately observe a water vapor amount.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A water vapor observation device, comprising:
an antenna configured to receive radio waves radiated from an atmosphere including water vapor; an RF amplifier configured to amplify the radio waves received and generate an observation signal; and processing circuitry configured to:
select a plurality of observation frequencies by excluding an accuracy degraded frequency based on the observation signal; and
calculate a water vapor index by using spectral intensities of the plurality of observation frequencies.

2 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
detect an abnormal value in a frequency spectrum of the observation signal; select a frequency of the abnormal value as the accuracy degraded frequency; and select the plurality of observation frequencies by excluding the accuracy degraded frequency.

3 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
set a normal range of a spectral intensity for each frequency, and detect the abnormal value from the spectral intensity of each frequency in which the spectral intensity is outside the normal range.

4 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 3 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
detect the abnormal value by using an approximate frequency characteristic based on spectral intensities of a plurality of frequencies arranged on a frequency axis of the frequency spectrum.

5 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 4 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
detect the abnormal value by using the approximate frequency characteristic calculated from spectral intensities of two adjacent frequencies on the frequency axis.

6 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 5 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
set a normal range for each frequency based on the approximate frequency characteristic, and detect the abnormal value from a spectral intensity of a frequency in which the spectral intensity is outside the normal range of each frequency.

7 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 6 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
detect the abnormal value from based on a difference between spectral intensities of adjacent frequencies arranged on the frequency axis of the frequency spectrum.

8 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
detect the abnormal value based on a change over time of the frequency spectrum.

9 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 8 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
select a frequency adjacent to the accuracy degraded frequency in the frequency spectrum of the observation signal as at least one of the plurality of observation frequencies.

10 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 9 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
select two frequencies sandwiching the accuracy degraded frequency on the frequency axis as interpolation frequencies, and calculate the spectral intensity of the observation frequency having the same frequency as the accuracy degraded frequency based on spectral intensities of the interpolation frequencies.

11 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
detect the abnormal value by using an approximate frequency characteristic based on spectral intensities of a plurality of frequencies arranged on a frequency axis of the frequency spectrum.

12 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 4 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
set a normal range for each frequency based on the approximate frequency characteristic, and detect the abnormal value from a spectral intensity of a frequency in which the spectral intensity is outside the normal range of each frequency.

13 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
detect the abnormal value based on a difference between spectral intensities of adjacent frequencies arranged on the frequency axis of the frequency spectrum.

14 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
detect the abnormal value based on a change over time of the frequency spectrum.

15 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
select a frequency adjacent to the accuracy degraded frequency in the frequency spectrum of the observation signal as at least one of the plurality of observation frequencies.

16 . The water vapor observation device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
select two frequencies sandwiching the accuracy degraded frequency on the frequency axis as interpolation frequencies, and calculate the spectral intensity of the observation frequency having the same frequency as the accuracy degraded frequency based on spectral intensities of the interpolation frequencies.

17 . A water vapor observation system, comprising:
the water vapor observation device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is programmed to at least measure an NF characteristic of the RF amplifier, and the processing circuitry is programmed to at least select the plurality of observation frequencies by using a measurement result of the NF characteristic.

18 . A water vapor observation system, comprising:
the water vapor observation device according to claim 10 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: measure an NF characteristic of the RF amplifier, and select the plurality of observation frequencies by using a measurement result of the NF characteristic.

19 . A water vapor observation method, comprising:
receiving radio waves radiated from an atmosphere including water vapor; amplifying the radio waves received and generating an observation signal; selecting a plurality of observation frequencies by excluding an accuracy degraded frequency in the observation signal based on the observation signal; and calculating a water vapor index by using spectral intensities of the plurality of observation frequencies.

20 . A non-transient computer-readable recording medium, recording a water vapor observation program, causing a calculation processing device to execute processes of:
amplifying radio waves radiated from an atmosphere including water vapor; generating an observation signal from the radio waves amplified; selecting a plurality of observation frequencies by excluding an accuracy degraded frequency in the observation signal based on the observation signal; and calculating a water vapor index by using spectral intensities of the plurality of observation frequencies.

Assignees

• Furuno Electric Co

Inventors

• Inoue Shuhei
• Iwahori Taiki

Classifications

• G01W1/11 Primary

  Weather houses or other ornaments for indicating humidity · CPC title

• G01S13/95

  for meteorological use · CPC title

• G01W1/02

  Instruments for indicating weather conditions by measuring two or more variables, e.g. humidity, pressure, temperature, cloud cover or wind speed (G01W1/10 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01N22/00 Primary

  Investigating or analysing materials by the use of microwaves or radio waves, i.e. electromagnetic waves with a wavelength of one millimetre or more (G01N3/00 - G01N17/00, G01N24/00 take precedence) · CPC title