The PHARA consortium recently held a technical workshop at ASTRON’s facilities, bringing together the TU Delft-led research team with radio astronomy experts from our partner Astron, to address critical challenges in data processing and systems design for the groundbreaking weather radar project PHARA. The workshop focused on two key technical areas: managing the massive data flows from the radar system and implementing robust systems engineering practices.

During the morning session, ASTRON specialists shared insights from LOFAR operations, covering signal chain architecture and multi-stage data processing approaches using FPGAs. The PHARA team presented their system design, from antenna arrays through to final outputs, with discussions on data rates and processing requirements that will enable the radar to track cloud particles and weather fronts with unprecedented resolution.

The afternoon session emphasized systems engineering fundamentals, including a practical workshop on methodology and examination of a PHARA use case. Partners from Robin Radar Systems, TU Delft researchers, TU/e researchers and Astron experts contributed to discussions on design specifications and operational requirements.

The workshop concluded with agreement on critical next steps: activating a technical working group to ensure continuous alignment on design decisions across all partners and creating a comprehensive inventory of operational scenarios with their associated performance requirements for velocity, resolution, and range measurements.

The PHARA consortium includes TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, TNO, Robin Radar, ASTRON, KNMI, and Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, each bringing specialized expertise to develop what will be Europe’s first fully polarimetric phased-array weather radar.

The team is exploring synergies with automotive industry research and plans to develop precipitation and cloud scanning modes, pending future funding opportunities. The project aims to hold a physical meeting with the user committee in 2026, when the first data from subsystems become available.