Patent ID: 7880666

Claim:
A system for detecting clear air turbulence along a path that is subject to turbulence, the system comprising: at least one airborne transmitter to transmit electromagnetic energy along the path; and at least one receiver located on a mobile platform to receive the electromagnetic energy, the mobile platform moving along the path; the receiver including: an antenna responsive to incident electromagnetic energy to produce a received signal; a first input to accept a velocity signal that is representative of a velocity at which the one of the receiver and the transmitter is moving along the path, a second input to accept a rotational velocity signal indicative of rotational motion of the antenna caused by a corresponding rotational motion of the mobile platform, the receiver adapted to process the received signal using the velocity signal and the rotational velocity signal to remove a shift associated with the received signal because of relative motion between a source of the electromagnetic energy and the mobile platform that is moving along the path, so that the receiver determines an alteration of the electromagnetic energy caused by the turbulence along a path looking toward the source of the electromagnetic signal; and the receiver is adapted to output a signal that is representative of the turbulence.