STATUS · ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL · —
STONY BROOK · 40.92°N 73.12°W ● LIVE
— Research · 7 themes · 4 active projects

Advancing the science of atmospheric observations.

Integrated sensing, computational methods, and collaborative observation — from ground-based field stations to spaceborne missions.

Core themes

Research areas.

Our work spans ground-based and spaceborne observation, cloud-process modeling, and adaptive cyberinfrastructure for atmospheric science.

01 / Connected Radar
Connected Radar — MAAS meets machine learning.
Our flagship research direction. Real-time, fine-grained, coordinated control of multiple connected radar systems through the MAAS cyberinfrastructure, fused with machine-learning-driven adaptive scanning. Enables agile sampling of fast-evolving atmospheric phenomena that conventional fixed-scan radars cannot capture.
MAASMachine learningAdaptive sensingMulti-radar
02 / MAAS
Multisensor Agile Adaptive Sampling.
The cyberinfrastructure backbone of Connected Radar. NSF-CISE-funded framework providing real-time, fine-grained, coordinated control across connected radar systems with feature detection, tracking, and integration of drones and phased-array radars.
NSF CISEReal-timeCyberinfrastructure
03 / Radar remote sensing
Millimeter-wavelength & phased-array systems.
Development and deployment of multi-frequency radar systems for high-resolution observation of clouds and precipitation. Doppler-spectra analysis, polarimetric retrievals, and dual-wavelength techniques.
Ka · X · KuPolarimetry
04 / Cloud microphysics
Ice nucleation, droplets, entrainment.
Ice nucleation, precipitation formation, aerosol-cloud interactions, entrainment, and droplet activation. In-situ + remote sensing + simulations.
In-situMixed-phase
05 / Spaceborne missions
EarthCARE, WIVERN, INCUS.
Forward modeling tools and retrieval algorithms for spaceborne radar observations of clouds and precipitation.
06 / Urban & boundary layer
Cities & mobile observatories.
Mobile observatories for boundary-layer studies. Climate resilience, environmental justice, security in metropolitan areas.
07 / Forward modeling & simulation
CR-SIM — making the unobservable observable.
A radar simulator that converts numerical weather prediction model output into synthetic radar observations across multiple frequencies, polarizations, and viewing geometries — enabling systematic evaluation of radar observables and sensing strategies. Widely adopted across the meteorological research community.
Open-sourceMulti-frequencyNWP coupling
Active projects

Key initiatives.

PRJ-01MAAS
Multisensor Agile Adaptive Sampling — real-time, fine-grained, coordinated control of atmospheric observing instruments. Integrates external observations for situational awareness, feature detection, and tracking, with potential for future drone and phased-array radar integration.
FunderNSF CISE
PIKollias et al.
Year2020
PRJ-02EarthCARE CPR
Development and quality control of Level 2a processors for the Cloud Profiling Radar on the ESA/JAXA EarthCARE satellite mission. Algorithm development for cloud and precipitation retrievals from space.
AgencyESA / JAXA
TypeSpaceborne
StatusOperational
PRJ-03INCUS
The NASA Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS) mission is designed to measure the vertical transport of air and water within tropical convective storms using a constellation of Ka-band radars and microwave radiometers to improve understanding and prediction of extreme weather and climate processes.
AgencyNASA
BandKa-band constellation
FocusTropical convection
PRJ-04WIVERN
The ESA WInd VElocity Radar Nephoscope (WIVERN) mission — selected in September 2025 as ESA's 11th Earth Explorer — will deliver global observations of in-cloud winds, cloud dynamics, precipitation, and ocean surface processes using the first conically scanning W-band Doppler cloud radar combined with passive microwave radiometry.wivern.polito.it →
AgencyESA
BandW-band Doppler
StatusEarth Explorer 11
PRJ-05PMM
The Precipitation Measuring Mission (PMM) is designed to provide global observations of precipitation structure, microphysics, and dynamics using a Ku-band (13.6 GHz) radar capable of measuring precipitation over a 255-km wide swath and the associated liquid or ice particle Doppler motions along the radar line of sight at nadir.
AgencyJAXA / NASA
BandKu · 13.6 GHz
Swath255 km
PRJ-06CR-SIM
Forward-modeling framework converting NWP model output into synthetic radar observations across multiple frequencies, polarizations, and viewing geometries. Widely adopted across the meteorological research community.
LicenseOpen-source
CitationOue et al., 2020
StatusActive
PRJ-07BNL Mobile Observatory
Mobile atmospheric observation platform developed for urban boundary-layer studies. Deployed for applications spanning climate resilience, environmental justice, and national security in metropolitan areas.
FunderDOE
LeadLamer
DomainUrban
PRJ-08Advanced Radar Applications
Our research group develops and experiments with advanced radar systems operating across frequencies from G-band to THz, including imaging systems, distributed sensing architectures such as bistatic receivers, and phased-array radar technologies for a wide range of atmospheric and Earth science applications.
FrequenciesG-band → THz
ArchitecturesImaging · Bistatic · Phased-array
DomainAtmospheric & Earth science
Funded projects & partners
FunderFunderFunderMissionMissionIndustryIndustry
Publications

Selected works.

A curated set of recent work from across the group, spanning radar instrumentation, spaceborne missions, cloud microphysics, and adaptive sensing.

  1. 001
    Connected Radar: A New Paradigm for Atmospheric Observation and Experimentation
    Kollias, P., Luke, E. P., Lamer, K., Hamann, H., Puigdomènech Treserras, B., Allwayin, N., Oue, M. · Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.
    2026
  2. 002
    EarthCARE Cloud Profiling Radar observations of the vertical structure of marine stratocumulus clouds
    Xu, Z., Kollias, P., Sasikumar, S., Battaglia, A., Puigdomènech Treserras, B., Walker McLinden, M. L. · Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 4619–4636
    2026
  3. 003
    Training the Next Generation of Researchers in Exploring Cloud Dynamics and Microphysics Using Millimeter-Wavelength Radars
    Oue, M., Lamer, K., Luke, E. P., Xu, Z., Yang, F., Zhu, Z., Kollias, P. · Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 105(8), E1514–E1520
    2024
  4. 004
    Detection of small drizzle droplets in a large cloud chamber using ultrahigh-resolution radar
    Zhu, Z., Yang, F., Kollias, P., Shaw, R. A., Kostinski, A. B., Krueger, S., Lamer, K., Allwayin, N., Oue, M. · Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1133–1149
    2024
  5. 005
    Multisensor Agile Adaptive Sampling (MAAS): A Methodology to Collect Radar Observations of Convective Cell Life Cycle
    Lamer, K., Kollias, P., Luke, E. P., Puigdomènech Treserras, B., Oue, M., Dolan, B. · J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 40(11), 1509–1522
    2023
  6. 006
    Science Applications of Phased Array Radars
    Kollias, P., Palmer, R., Bodine, D., Adachi, T., Bluestein, H., Cho, J. Y. N., Griffin, C., Houser, J., Kirstetter, P. E., Kumjian, M. R., Kurdzo, J. M., Lee, W. C., Luke, E. P., Nesbitt, S., Oue, M., Shapiro, A., Rowe, A., Salazar, J., Tanamachi, R., Tuftedal, K. S., Wang, X., Zrnić, D., Puigdomènech Treserras, B. · Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 103(10), E2370–E2390
    2022
  7. 007
    New insights into ice multiplication using remote-sensing observations of slightly supercooled mixed-phase clouds in the Arctic
    Luke, E. P., Yang, F., Kollias, P., Vogelmann, A. M., Maahn, M. · Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 118(13), e2021387118
    2021
  8. 008
    Multifrequency radar observations of clouds and precipitation including the G-band
    Lamer, K., Oue, M., Battaglia, A., Roy, R. J., Cooper, K. B., Dhillon, R., Kollias, P. · Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3615–3629
    2021
  9. 009
    Agile Adaptive Radar Sampling of Fast-Evolving Atmospheric Phenomena Guided by Satellite Imagery and Surface Cameras
    Kollias, P., Luke, E., Oue, M., Lamer, K. · Geophys. Res. Lett., 47(14), e2020GL088440
    2020
  10. 010
    The ARM Radar Network: At the Leading Edge of Cloud and Precipitation Observations
    Kollias, P., Bharadwaj, N., Clothiaux, E. E., Lamer, K., Oue, M., Hardin, J., Isom, B., Lindenmaier, I., Matthews, A., Luke, E. P., Giangrande, S. E., Johnson, K., Collis, S., Comstock, J., Mather, J. H. · Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.
    2020
  11. 011
    Evaluation of differential absorption radars in the 183 GHz band for profiling water vapour in ice clouds
    Battaglia, A., Kollias, P. · Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 3335–3349
    2019
  12. 012
    Calibration of the 2007–2017 record of ARM Cloud Radar Observations using CloudSat
    Kollias, P., Puigdomènech Treserras, B., Protat, A. · Atmos. Meas. Tech.
    2019