Our main research tool at the Chilbolton Observatory is the 25m fully steerable antenna. The pioneering 3 GHz Doppler-polarisation radar is installed on this antenna, along with the 1275MHz clear air radar. Other facilities at the site include 35 and 94 GHz cloud radar systems, meteorological sensors and a high power UV lidar measuring cloud and water vapour profiles.
We operate a second field site at Sparsholt College, 8km from Chilbolton Observatory. This provides precipitation measurements at a distance where they can be usefully compared with measurements from the 3 GHz rain radar.
Since 2010 Chilbolton Observatory has been home to LOFAR-UK (link opens in a new window), part of the Europe-wide LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) radio telescope.
