3B.2 a Demonstration of Multifunction Capabilities on the National Weather Radar Testbed Phased-Array Radar (original) (raw)

Weather-Surveillance Capabilities for NSSL ’ S Phased-Array Radar

2012

The U.S. Government operates seven distinct radar networks providing weather and aircraft surveillance for public weather services, air traffic control, and homeland defense. A next-generation, multifunction phased array radar (MPAR) concept has been proposed that could provide enhanced weather and aircraft surveillance services with potentially lower life-cycle costs than multiple single-function radar networks. As critical technology costs decrease, MPAR radars could prove to be a cost-effective alternative to current surveillance radars. Because the total number of required radars would be reduced, maintenance and logistics infrastructure would be simplified. The National Weather Radar Testbed PhasedArray Radar (NWRT PAR) is an S-band phased-array radar located in Norman, Oklahoma that was established to demonstrate the MPAR concept. Since its inception, scientists and engineers at the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) have been improving the quality of data produced by th...

New weather-surveillance capabilities for NSSL's phased-array radar

The U.S. Government operates seven distinct radar networks providing weather and aircraft surveillance for public weather services, air traffic control, and homeland defense. A next-generation, multifunction phased array radar (MPAR) concept has been proposed that could provide enhanced weather and aircraft surveillance services with potentially lower life-cycle costs than multiple single-function radar networks. As critical technology costs decrease, MPAR radars could prove to be a cost-effective alternative to current surveillance radars. Because the total number of required radars would be reduced, maintenance and logistics infrastructure would be simplified. The National Weather Radar Testbed Phased-Array Radar (NWRT PAR) is an S-band phased-array radar located in Norman, Oklahoma that was established to demonstrate the MPAR concept. Since its inception, a team of scientists and engineers at the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) has been enhancing the functionality of thi...

Phased array weather / multipurpose radar

IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, 2011

The first phased array radar dedicated to weather observation and analysis is now instrumented with eight simultaneous digital receivers. The addition of these additional channels will enable the use of advanced signal processing to improve signal/clutter in an adaptive mode. Elimination of strone point and ground clutter returns from the low-level, volumetrically-distributed weather cell returns is a new application of adaptive processing. The NSF funded 8-channel receiver has been added to the National Weather Radar Testbed (NWRT) system in Norman, Oklahoma, to enable operation as a multi-function and/or adaptive processing system. Herein, we describe the system concept, system installation and early results from fielded weather data returns.

High-Temporal-Resolution Capabilities of the National Weather Radar Testbed Phased-Array Radar

Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 2011

Since 2007 the advancement of the National Weather Radar Testbed Phased-Array Radar (NWRT PAR) hardware and software capabilities has been supporting the implementation of high-temporal-resolution (∼1 min) sampling. To achieve the increase in computational power and data archiving needs required for high-temporal-resolution sampling, the signal processor was upgraded to a scalable, Linux-based cluster with a distributed computing architecture. The development of electronic adaptive scanning, which can reduce update times by focusing data collection on significant weather, became possible through functionality added to the radar control interface and real-time controller. Signal processing techniques were implemented to address data quality issues, such as artifact removal and range-and-velocity ambiguity mitigation, absent from the NWRT PAR at its installation. The hardware and software advancements described above have made possible the development of conventional and electronic sc...

Towards the Next Generation Operational Meteorological Radar

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 2021

This article summarizes research and risk reduction that will inform acquisition decisions regarding NOAA’s future national operational weather radar network. A key alternative being evaluated is polarimetric phased-array radar (PAR). Research indicates PAR can plausibly achieve fast, adaptive volumetric scanning, with associated benefits for severe-weather warning performance. We assess these benefits using storm observations and analyses, observing system simulation experiments, and real radar-data assimilation studies. Changes in the number and/or locations of radars in the future network could improve coverage at low altitude. Analysis of benefits that might be so realized indicates the possibility for additional improvement in severe-weather and flash-flood warning performance, with associated reduction in casualties. Simulations are used to evaluate techniques for rapid volumetric scanning and assess data quality characteristics of PAR. Finally, we describe progress in develop...