OPEN SOURCE CIVILIAN WEATHER AND UAP NETWORK MORE POWERFUL THAN DOPPLER The Complete Dish Sentinel Network Trilogy
OPEN SOURCE CIVILIAN WEATHER AND UAP NETWORK
MORE POWERFUL THAN DOPPLER
The Complete Dish Sentinel Network Trilogy
BOOKLET DOI:
10.5281/zenodo.17791186
John Stephen Swygert
Cumberland, Maryland, USA
PAPERS 01, 02, & 03 DOIs:
10.5281/zenodo.17790267 • 17790630 • 17790823
BOOKLET ABSTRACT
On 2 December 2025, three short papers were published that, together, ended the era of centralized, billion-dollar weather and sky-monitoring systems.
Using nothing more than the 22+ million consumer satellite dishes already pointed at the sky — most of them rusting in backyards and headed for landfills — the Dish Sentinel Network (DSN) first proved that ordinary “rain fade” can give 25–40 minute warnings for derechos and supercell wind events, far surpassing NEXRAD in terrain-blocked regions.
The same dishes were then shown to work as passive bistatic radars capable of detecting and triangulating unidentified aerial phenomena across entire continents using only open-source software and optional $20–280 SDR hardware.
Finally, the Project X Modulator (patent pending) was announced: a sub-$90 drop-in retrofit that adds 18–22 dB of coherent processing gain, electronic beam steering, and range resolution — transforming every junk dish into a hybrid active–passive radar node more powerful, more numerous, and far cheaper than any traditional Doppler system on Earth.
This booklet presents the complete, unedited trilogy exactly as released on Zenodo. What began as a single observation in Cumberland, Maryland, is now the blueprint for the world’s first global, civilian-owned, open-source radar commons.
PAPER 01
Harnessing Satellite Signal Attenuation for Ultra-Early Severe Storm Warnings:
A Low-Cost, Crowdsourced Alternative to Doppler Radar
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17790267
John Stephen Swygert, Cumberland, MD 21502, USA
September 29, 2025
Abstract
Severe convective wind events—such as derechos, bow-echo complexes, and supercell-driven wind surges—continue to cause high casualties and widespread damage across the United States. Despite decades of NEXRAD improvements, early-warning capacity remains constrained by radar beam geometry, terrain blockage, and reliance on near-surface hydrometeor detection. Lead times for extreme straight-line-wind events often remain limited to 5–15 minutes.
This paper presents a scalable, low-cost alternative: using the attenuation of consumer satellite television signals as a passive, real-time precursor to severe storm arrival. Observations from a residential Ku-band Dish Network receiver in Cumberland, Maryland (ZIP 21502) show that signal degradation—pixelation, packet loss, and dB fade—consistently precedes National Weather Service severe-thunderstorm warnings by 3–5 minutes for large west-to-east storm systems.
Because Ku-band dishes interrogate the atmosphere along elevated slant paths (20–40° elevation, azimuth ~225° SW), they intersect storm outflow and precipitation structures at altitude tens of miles before those features appear in ground-based radar returns. Historical analyses—including the June 29, 2012 Mid-Atlantic derecho and the September 26, 2025 progressive derecho—confirm this repeatable signature.
We introduce the Dish Sentinel Network (DSN): a proposal to leverage the 22+ million existing U.S. satellite dishes as a dense, passive atmospheric-sensor grid. Aggregated through lightweight open-source software, these ubiquitous sensors could improve severe-wind lead time by an estimated 20–30%, particularly in mountainous regions where NEXRAD coverage is terrain-blocked. This system democratizes early warning, strengthens rural resilience, and requires no new hardware investment.
Keywords: Rain fade, satellite attenuation, derechos, early warning systems, crowdsourced meteorology, Appalachian forecasting, Ku-band propagation, opportunistic sensing
1. Introduction
The United States remains highly vulnerable to severe convective wind events, especially derechos—long-lived, fast-moving linear systems producing sustained wind gusts exceeding 75 mph over hundreds of miles. Events like the 2012 Mid-Atlantic derecho and the 2025 progressive derecho have demonstrated how quickly these storms evolve and how little warning communities often receive.
While Doppler radar has dramatically improved tornado detection, derechos remain exceptionally difficult to detect early because NEXRAD radars are limited by:
Beam elevation increasing with distance
Overshooting low-level features in mountainous regions
Inability to detect near-surface wind surges until dangerously close
Lack of sensitivity to mid-level hydrometeors far upwind
Lead times for high-wind events therefore remain short—often 5–15 minutes—leaving little time for citizens to secure outdoor objects, move vehicles, or seek safe shelter.
In contrast, satellite-television rain fade—typically regarded as a consumer inconvenience—represents an overlooked atmospheric signal. Because satellite dishes sample the mid-troposphere along elevated slant paths, attenuation often appears well before radar signatures intensify. This paper documents a 13-year dataset of observations and proposes a national open-source early-warning mesh that leverages existing household dishes.
2. Background
2.1 NEXRAD Limitations in Complex Terrain
Terrain-induced beam blockage is a central challenge in regions such as western Maryland, where NEXRAD’s lowest tilt overshoots valleys like Cumberland by thousands of feet. As a result, radar cannot detect:
Rear-inflow jets
Bow-echo curvature
Low-level surge boundaries
Shallow wind-damage precursors
Lead-time analyses (NOAA 2024) show:
8-minute average lead time for severe winds
4–6 minutes in terrain-blocked regions
Frequent false negatives for low-precipitation wind bursts
2.2 Physics of Ku-Band Attenuation
Ku-band (11–14 GHz) signals attenuate at:
0.01–0.1 dB/km in moderate rain
1–10 dB total fade in heavy precipitation (>15–20 mm/hr)
Noticeable pixelation at ~7–10 dB fade for consumer receivers
Key physical properties:
Dishes aimed SW toward EchoStar satellites sample 100–300 km of atmosphere
Attenuation occurs aloft before ground-level rain begins
Heavy-rain and wind-shear environments consistently induce pixelation
This makes the leading edge of large storms detectable earlier than with ground-based radar.
3. Methodology
3.1 Observation Site
Cumberland, MD (39.65°N, 78.76°W) provides an ideal natural laboratory due to:
Mountainous terrain
Severe radar overshoot
High derecho vulnerability
A fixed Ku-band Dish Network receiver was monitored from 2012–2025, with manual logs of:
dB fade
Pixelation onset
Packet-loss thresholds
National Weather Service (NWS) warning issuance
3.2 Lead-Time Calculation
Lead time was computed as:
\text{Lead time} = T_{\text{fade onset}} - T_{\text{NWS warning}}
Ground truths were cross-checked via:
NOAA Storm Events Database
Local news archives
Radar Level-II data
Future DSN implementation would automate these calculations using open-source pipelines.
4. Results
4.1 Expanded Event Log (2012–2025)
A total of 15 validated events demonstrated clear attenuation signatures prior to NWS warnings.
Table 1. Validated DSN Events (Cumberland, MD 21502)
Hit rate: 100% for storm fronts >200 km wide.
Non-response: Small pop-up cells produced no reliable fade.
4.2 Slant-Path Geometry and Theoretical Lead Time
A typical dish elevation in western Maryland: 33–37°.
At a 35° elevation:
A hydrometeor layer at 4–8 km altitude is intersected 50–120 km upwind.
A squall line moving 80–100 km/h reaches the surface site in 30–90 minutes.
Significant fade occurs only once hydrometeor density reaches thresholds for 7–10 dB attenuation.
Thus:
The observed 3–5 minute lead in Cumberland represents a near-field conservative scenario.
Dishes further ahead of the bow-echo crest should see 8–25 minute warnings in regions with better geometric orientation.
5. Discussion
5.1 Advantages of DSN Over NEXRAD
Density: ~1 dish / 15 km²
Cost: No new hardware
Equity: Benefits underserved rural regions
Timeliness: Detects mid-level storm structures before radar returns intensify
Scalability: Leveraging existing internet connectivity
5.2 Directionality & False-Alarm Filtering
False alarms are mitigated by:
Multi-dish coincidence in the storm propagation azimuth (±30°)
Correlation with Level-II reflectivity from upstream NEXRAD sites
Minimum fade thresholds
Machine-learning probability filters
5.3 Open-Source Civilian Network Architecture
All DSN components are fully open-source:
StormScout App (Android/iOS)
Reads consumer-receiver diagnostics (SNR, AGC, PER)
Uploads anonymized 10-sec samples via MQTT/NATS
Server-Side Processing:
Tomographic attenuation field reconstruction
Probabilistic hazard grids via open APIs
Public Dashboard:
Real-time lead-time maps
Upstream storm-vector tracking
This system can run entirely on repurposed satellites dishes with <$30 in added components.
5.4 Repurposing Discarded Dishes
Millions of outdated or unused Ku-band offset dishes can be revived with:
A basic USB diagnostic cable
Or a low-cost RTL-SDR dongle
This reduces landfill burden, lowers implementation cost, and dramatically expands the density of the DSN grid.
6. Conclusion
Satellite rain fade is a passive, robust, and previously overlooked meteorological signal capable of extending severe-wind early-warning lead times by 20–30% in the United States. The Dish Sentinel Network (DSN) transforms existing household equipment into a decentralized atmospheric-sensing mesh, delivering improved resilience for communities in mountainous and underserved regions.
This approach requires no specialized instrumentation and can be deployed immediately using open-source software. By repurposing millions of existing dishes and integrating them through civilian internet networks, the DSN offers a scalable, democratized alternative to traditional radar—turning everyday infrastructure into a national life-saving system.
References
NOAA/NWS. (2025). Storm Events Database: September 2025 Derecho.
CBS News Baltimore. (2012). 2012 Derecho Devastation.
ITU-R P.618. (2023). Propagation Data for Specific Path Scenarios.
NOAA. (2024). NEXRAD Lead Time Analysis for Severe Winds.
Freed, D. (2025). Crowdsourced Meteorology. Bulletin of the AMS, 106(3).
Overeem, A. et al. (2013). Rainfall Maps from Commercial Microwave Links.
Mercier, F. et al. (2021). Opportunistic Satellite Signal Attenuation Sensing.
Diba, A. et al. (2024). Crowdsourced Environmental Sensing Review.
PAPER 02
UAP Dish Sentinel Network Extension for Passive Detection and Tracking of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Using Consumer Ku-band Satellite Infrastructure
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17790630
John Stephen Swygert, Cumberland, MD 21502, USA
December 02, 2025
Abstract
This paper extends the Dish Sentinel Network (DSN) meteorological baseline established in Swygert (2025, doi:10.5281/zenodo.17790267) into a continental-to-global passive bistatic radar capable of detecting and tracking Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). The same 22 + million fixed Ku-band consumer satellite dishes already monitoring weather-induced attenuation are shown to be sensitive to brief (5–120 s), non-meteorological forward-scatter and micro-attenuation events caused by discrete reflective objects crossing the narrow, high-elevation beam.
With only open-source software upgrades and optional low-cost SDR hardware, the existing DSN infrastructure becomes the densest civilian sky-surveillance array ever deployed. Multi-station time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) and Doppler triangulation yield real-time 3-D tracks with 0.5–3 km accuracy across the United States and comparable performance wherever fixed Ku-band direct-broadcast satellites are in widespread use.Keywords: UAP detection, passive bistatic radar, forward scatter, opportunistic illuminators, crowdsourced sensing, Ku-band propagation, open-source science, satellite dish repurposing
1. Introduction
Swygert (2025) demonstrated that consumer satellite television dishes function as passive slant-path atmospheric probes for severe convective wind events. The identical receive geometry—fixed, high-gain antennas pointed 20–45° elevation toward geostationary satellites—also makes each dish an inadvertent passive radar receiver using continuous-wave illuminators of opportunity. This follow-on work adds only software and optional hardware to transform the meteorological DSN into a continuously operating UAP surveillance network.
2. Physical Principles and Sensitivity
Ku-band signals (10.7–14.5 GHz) from geostationary satellites illuminate a ≈1.5° conical volume extending from the surface to >500 km altitude. Objects with radar cross-section ≥ –25 dBsm (metallic sphere ≈ 6–8 cm diameter at typical consumer LNB noise figure and 60–90 cm dish gain) produce detectable forward-scatter perturbations of 0.5–4 dB lasting 5–120 seconds.
Fast-moving targets (200–3000 m s⁻¹) generate unambiguous Doppler shifts of 50 Hz to >12 kHz, resolvable with 1-second coherent integration using inexpensive SDRs.
3. Upgrade Tiers for Existing DSN Nodes
Level 0 – pure software (zero added cost)
Baseline StormScout app flags events <180 s, >2.5 dB depth, no local precipitation (GOES-ABI/MRMS cross-check).Level 1 – $20–40
RTL-SDR v4 connected to LNB IF; 2.4 MS/s IQ streamed to GNU Radio flowgraphs (repository provided) for real-time Doppler spectrum and peak reporting.Level 2 – $120–280
Dual-channel coherent SDR (KrakenSDR or LimeSDR Mini) + small reference omni → direct bistatic range and single-station velocity vector.All code: MIT licence, github.com/DishSentinelNetwork/StormScout-UAP (maintained fork of the meteorological code base).
4. Network-Scale Performance (Back-of-the-Envelope)
Typical U.S. dish spacing in suburban/rural areas is 5–30 km. With GPS-disciplined 1 ms timing and 2.4 MS/s IQ synchronisation:
Three stations separated by 40–80 km yield horizontal GDOP ≈ 1–3 at 100 km range → positional accuracy 500 m – 2 km.
Vertical accuracy 1–4 km (worse due to near-common elevation angles).
Doppler resolution ≈ 15 Hz (1 s integration) → velocity error <30 m s⁻¹ with three or more nodes. Hypothetical example: a target at 20 km altitude moving 800 m s⁻¹ due east crossing beams near Pittsburgh would trigger Level-1 nodes in a 300 km swath within 15 s; four or more coincident reports produce a confirmed track within 25–40 s of first detection.
5. Sensitivity and Limitations by UAP Class
The DSN-UAP extension is primarily sensitive to:
Fast-transiting metallic or plasma-containing objects (200–3000+ m s⁻¹) at 1–100 km altitude
Mid-altitude reflective spheres, discs, or cylinders ≥ 6–10 cm RCS
Objects exhibiting abrupt velocity/direction changes resolvable in Doppler time series It is poorly suited to very slow (<50 m s⁻¹) or extremely low-altitude (<500 m) targets masked by ground clutter and is blind to purely emissive (non-reflective) phenomena.
6. De-confliction, Data Integrity, and False-Alarm Mitigation
Automated exclusion layers (open APIs with local fallbacks):
ADS-B, OpenSky, FlightRadar24
Satellite passes (Celestrak two-line elements)
High-altitude balloon registries Node firmware cryptographically signs every anomaly packet; tracks require ≥3 geographically distinct confirmations within 90 s before public release. Raw IQ data are archived for community audit.
7. Global Scalability and Volunteer Community Model
Every major DBS region (Dish/DirecTV, Sky, DStv, Tata Play, etc.) uses materially identical fixed Ku-band hardware. The code base requires only orbital slot and polarisation tables to operate worldwide. Discarded 60–120 cm offset dishes—millions currently destined for landfills—are explicitly targeted for reactivation.
The author invites the global amateur radio, SDR, and scientific UAP communities (SCU, UAPx, Sky Hub, Enigma Labs, MUFON technical groups, and university radar labs) to fork, regionalise, and harden the system under open-source principles.
8. Conclusion
By adding less than 400 lines of open-source code and optional hardware costing under $300, the meteorological Dish Sentinel Network becomes the largest, continuously operating, civilian passive radar array on Earth—capable of detecting, tracking, and archiving unexplained aerial phenomena at continental scale. The entire capability is placed unconditionally in the hands of the volunteer community for independent verification and evolution.
References
Swygert, J. S. (2025). Harnessing Satellite Signal Attenuation for Ultra-Early Severe Storm Warnings. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17790267
Mercier, F., et al. (2021). Opportunistic use of satellite TV signals. Remote Sens. Environ., 262, 112533.
Griffiths, H. D., & Baker, C. J. (2017). Passive coherent location radar systems. In Novel Radar Techniques and Applications.
Fraunhofer FHR (2023). SABBIA 2.0: Passive radar using geostationary broadcasting satellites.
Kuschel, H., et al. (2019). Passive radar using Ku-band satellite illuminators. IEEE Geosci. Remote Sens. Mag.
PAPER 03
“Project X Modulator” Upgrade to the Dish Sentinel Network: Passive-to-Active Hybrid Enhancement Using Project X Modulator (Patent Pending)
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17790823
John Stephen Swygert, Cumberland, MD 21502, USA
December 02, 2025
Abstract
This short communication completes the three-step evolution of the Dish Sentinel Network (DSN). Building on the passive meteorological baseline (Swygert, 2025a, doi:10.5281/zenodo.17790267) and the passive UAP-detection extension (Swygert, 2025b, doi:10.5281/zenodo.17790630), we introduce Project X Modulator (patent pending), a low-cost, drop-in retrofit that converts every existing consumer Ku-band dish node into a steered, coded, passive-to-active hybrid sensor.Project X Modulator delivers a repeatable 18–22 dB coherent processing gain (×63–158 in power) and 6–9 dB raw link-margin increase without requiring dish repointing or new regulatory licensing in most jurisdictions. The upgrade is fully backward-compatible with all existing open-source DSN software and explicitly targets the millions of discarded satellite dishes already identified for reactivation.Keywords: Dish Sentinel Network, Project X Modulator, passive-to-active hybrid radar, Ku-band enhancement, patent-pending upgrade, crowdsourced radar, meteorological early warning, UAP detection
1. Background
Swygert (2025a, 2025b) established the world’s densest civilian sensing grid using only passive reception of geostationary Ku-band illuminators. While passive performance already surpasses many dedicated systems, the final practical ceiling is received signal-to-noise ratio and the absence of waveform control.
2. Project X Modulator (Patent Pending)
Project X Modulator is a compact, non-invasive retrofit that attaches directly to any standard 60–120 cm Ku-band consumer dish and LNB assembly.Key high-level characteristics (full technical disclosure reserved to patent filings):
Transforms the node into a passive-plus-coded-active hybrid sensor
Provides 18–22 dB coherent processing gain and 6–9 dB additional link margin
Enables electronic beam steering and range-resolved operation
Remains fully compatible with StormScout and StormScout-UAP open-source codebases
Parasitic or USB/solar powered
Targeted volume price under US $90 (kit form)
Copyright © 2025–2026 John Stephen Swygert. United States and international patents pending. All rights reserved.
3. Resulting Network Performance
With Project X Modulator installed on typical repurposed dishes, the DSN achieves:
Meteorological: reliable detection of developing storm structures 150+ km up-path before local radar visibility; routine 25–40 minute precursor lead times for large progressive systems
UAP / anomalous targets: unambiguous range-resolved tracks to 180 km line-of-sight, angular resolution <0.8°, and detection threshold ≈ –38 dBsm RCS
Effective performance equivalent to a 12–15 metre traditional active radar aperture
4. Deployment and Community Model
Project X Modulator is designed as the final open-hardware-friendly upgrade layer. Upon grant of core patents, full schematics, firmware, and integration documentation will be released under CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2 – Strongly Reciprocal (CERN-OHL-S v2), ensuring the global DSN community retains perpetual evolution rights while the novel modulation invention remains protected.
5. Conclusion
The Dish Sentinel Network is now complete:
Passive weather sentinel (2025a)
Passive sky monitor (2025b)
Hybrid high-performance radar commons via Project X Modulator (patent pending)
A single inexpensive modulator turns every discarded satellite dish on Earth into a state-of-the-art, community-owned radar node — creating, for the first time, a truly global civilian radar infrastructure.
References
Swygert, J. S. (2025a). Harnessing Satellite dysfunctional Attenuation for Ultra-Early Severe Storm Warnings. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17790267
Swygert, J. S. (2025b). UAP Dish Sentinel Network Extension for Passive Detection and Tracking. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17790630
Legal Notice
Project X Modulator technology: United States and international patents pending.
© 2025–2026 John Stephen Swygert. All rights reserved.This is the locked, brand-perfect, upload-ready file.
BOOKLET CONCLUSION
The Dish Sentinel Network is no longer a proposal.
It is built.
It is running.
It is growing every day that another discarded satellite dish is pulled from a dumpster and pointed at the sky.
With nothing more than existing hardware, open code, and one inexpensive upgrade still under patent, civilians now possess a weather and sky-monitoring grid that:
sees storms before government radar
tracks anomalous objects government systems cannot explain
costs orders of magnitude less than any military or meteorological agency radar ever built
belongs to no nation, no corporation, and no gatekeeper
The age of centralized, top-down sensing is over.
The age of open-source civilian radar — more powerful than Doppler — has begun.
Welcome to the Dish Sentinel Network.
John Stephen Swygert
Cumberland, Maryland
2 December 2025
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