A python library to calibrate the pointing of your weather or cloud radar based on the position of the Sun!
Precise knowledge of the pointing direction is essential for weather and cloud radars. Radars with scanning capability can be calibrated using the sun as a microwave emitting target with a precisely defined position in the sky. SunscanPy provides tools to evaluate radar measurements of the sun, derive the mispointing of your antenna and actively correct misalignments using the scanner motors.
Some inaccuracies of a two axis scanner, which can be analyzed and corrected using SunscanPy
pip install sunscanpygit clone https://github.com/Ockenfuss/sunscanpy.git
cd sunscanpy
pip install -e .For usage information, see the two tutorial jupyter notebooks provided in the examples subfolder:
For a detailed introduction and evaluation of SunscanPy, see the reference publication
sunscan/scanner_animation_streamlit.py contains a streamlit application to visualize the orientation of the scanner, given a set of axis positions and scanner parameters. To run it:
pip install sunscanpy[dev] # needs streamlit, which is not installed by default with sunscanpy
streamlit run sunscan/scanner_animation_streamlit.py
See Contributing.md
When using SunscanPy, please cite: Ockenfuß, P., Köcher, G., Bauer-Pfundstein, M., and Kneifel, S.: A novel framework for automatic scanning radar pointing calibration using the Sun, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 2961–2984, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2961-2026, 2026.
SunscanPy © 2025 by Paul Ockenfuß, Gregor Köcher, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
- Paul Ockenfuß
- Gregor Köcher