DeTect is the leader in advancement of Radar Wind Profiler technology with its modern, state-of-the-art RAPTOR Tropospheric and Boundary Layer radar wind profiler systems.

Advanced Radar Wind Profilers:

Radar wind profiler (RWP) technology has advanced significantly over the past five years as computer hardware and software have become significantly more capable and as faster analog-to-digital converters (ADC's) utilizing on-board full digital-down-converters have become readily available. This has resulted in a new generation of modern radar wind tropospheric and boundary layer profilers that are more reliable and more capable and that produce higher quality measurements than conventional systems.

DeTect’s Meteorological Systems Group is the leader in advancing wind profiler technology and offers a new generation of advanced, modern systems that incorporate the latest in digital processing technology and functionality delivering significantly improved system performance and reliability over legacy designs. DeTect’s engineers and meteorologists have a broad range experience in design, development, testing, installation, operation, maintenance and data analysis on operational and research wind profiler systems worldwide.  This includes development and application of advanced signal processing techniques for wind profilers for government, aviation and industrial clients.  Relevant experience also includes manufacture and installation of traditional coaxial-collinear (COCO) antennas for 50, 404, 449, and 482 MHz radar wind profilers and modernization of these older systems.  DeTect also produces smaller boundary layer systems (e.g., 915 MHz) and provides upgrades of other vendor systems to the modern, higher performance RAPTOR technology.  RAPTOR Radar Wind Profiler systems by DeTect, Inc. include the following standard models in various frequencies and power configurations:

• FBS-STN Stratospheric & Tropospheric Network Class
• FBS-ST Stratospheric & Tropospheric
• FBS-M Mesospheric
• DBS LAP®-3000 Boundary Layer Upgrade
• FMC-BL Shipborne Boundary Layer (stabilized antenna system)
• VAD-BL Parabolic Dish Boundary Layer (in fixed and mobile systems)

Scalable & Expandable Technology:

DeTect’s RAPTOR Radar Wind Profiler system represents the state-of-the-art and incorporates modern software, advanced signal processing techniques and data acquisition hardware.  RAPTOR wind profilers have been developed from the “ground up,” with renewed emphasis on reliability and long term sustainability. The design meets a wide spectrum of user needs from large Mesospheric-Stratospheric-Tropospheric profilers to small planetary boundary-layer (BL) systems.

For most ST applications, systems are built to operate in the 400 – 500 MHz band. RAPTOR ST systems employs a unique Yagi antenna array, which along with the transmitter, is designed to be scalable so that custom configurations can easily be derived from a single design to meet target wind height availability specifications. For BL only applications, systems in the 800-1500 MHz range are available. The BL systems employ micro-patch antenna technology to allow small antenna sizes. With solid-state phase-shifters, the systems have no moving parts, no expensive consumables and are extremely reliable. This technology enables the radar to form a beam at any azimuth angle (0 to 360 degrees) and at any zenith angle from 0 to 21 degrees.

System features include:

• Utilization of software defined radio (SDR) cards for a full digital intermediate frequency receiver
• Robust and user-friendly software interfaces
• Highly advanced time-height continuity analysis package with long time-series, multi-peak selection and quality control wind calculations to produce and display high quality winds
• Real-time displays of time-series, large FFTs, and all other data products
• Health and status monitor system for full monitoring of radar operations (fully remote controllable)
• Electronically-steered Yagi antenna array with reliable 4-bit PIN diodes for beam pointing anywhere within the cone above the system
• System designed for scalability in transmit power and antenna size for boundary-layer through tropospheric coverage
• Available as an upgrade to existing RWP systems for improved performance & added capability

The DeTect RAPTOR Radar Wind Profiler line was developed to provide unattended real-time operational support for weather forecasting, aviation and space launch operations delivering high quality meteorological data products at high temporal resolution with minimal spurious data. The design is open and modern incorporating advanced signal processing, a wide range of data and maintenance displays, non-proprietary acquisition cards and hardware designed for ease of maintenance.  Systems are built to US and international standards incorporating commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components where possible to deliver low acquisition cost, reduced cost of ownership, and to support ongoing technology insertion and upgrade opportunities over the life of the system.

Software Application Suite:

The RAPTOR system is controlled by a graphics-rich suite of user-friendly software. A comprehensive set of data displays are available for all aspects of profiler operations and data products, as well as Health and Status Monitoring (HSM). Software can be specified for Microsoft Windows or Linux operation at time of order. Highly advanced signal processing is used to determine and isolate meteorological signal in backscatter data, producing high quality data products.

Application Oriented Design:

DeTect's team of radar experts have assembled a suite of specialized tools to define performance of various profiler configurations, and works with each client to determine the most cost effective solution for the project and application. DeTect offers a complete range of training and installation services and post sales support. RAPTOR systems are available for purchase with lease and lease/purchase options also available. Customization of hardware (mobile, trailer mounted for small scale systems) or software is also available for specific customer needs. DeTect works closely with each user to fine tune the system to match specific requirements. The RAPTOR technology also can be applied to virtually any existing wind profiler as an upgrade to deliver substantially improved performance.

Custom Weather Radar Engineering:

DeTect's Met Services Group includes expert radar engineers, electrical engineers and meteorologists and specializes in design, development, manufacturing, delivery and support of specialized weather radar systems for research applications. Based in Longmont, Colorado USA, the facility includes full software and electronics engineering and design capabilities and includes local test and evaluation sites.