Colorado State University hosts and operates the CSU-CHILL radar facility for the NSF through a cooperative agreement. The CSU-CHILL radar is an advanced 10-cm wavelength polarimetric Doppler radar designed for remote sensing. This facility is designed to serve as a focal point for advanced research and education in radar engineering and radar meteorology. A new state-of-the-art data acquisition and (control system has been added to the radar. The power and flexibility of this new system will make it convenient for undergraduate students to learn radar operations, data collection, product display, and generation of new products. Hence, students will have the opportunity for hands-on experience on an advanced radar system. This radar system incorporates virtually every aspect of the Electrical Engineering discipline. Consequently, there is a wealth of opportunity for significant educational activities at the undergraduate level. This proposal requests fund for setting up a REU site focussed around the CSU-CHILL radar facility. The mode of operation is to provide summer research experience for students following the junior year at the CHILL radar. Extensive support in terms of radar experiments, data, computer link, will be provided for the students to continue their work at their home institutions as part of their senior projects if desired. At the end of the program, students are required to write a formal report and present their results in a seminar series. The participation of many faculties and the CSU-CHILL staff will enable the students to acquire a strong theoretical and experimental background while participating in team-oriented or individual research projects.
