NEXRAD or Nexrad is a network of 159 high-resolution S-band Doppler weather radars operated by the National Weather Service (NWS), an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the United States Department of Commerce, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) within the Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Air Force within the Department of Defense. Its technical name is WSR-88D.
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type. Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the intensity of the precipitation. Both types of data can be analyzed to determine the structure of storms and their potential to cause severe weather.
The National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather research laboratory under the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. It is one of seven NOAA Research Laboratories (RLs).
The Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms (CAPS) was established at the University of Oklahoma in 1989 as one of the first eleven National Science Foundation Science and Technology Centers. Located at the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma, its mission is the development of techniques for the computer-based prediction of high-impact local weather, such as individual spring and winter storms, with the NEXRAD (WSR-88D) Doppler weather radar serving as a key data source.
ARMOR Doppler weather radar is a C-Band, Dual-Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radar, located at the Huntsville International Airport in Huntsville, Alabama. The radar is a collaborative effort between WHNT-TV and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Live data for the radar is only available to a limited audience, such as UAH employees and NWS meteorologists. All ARMOR data is archived at the National Space Science and Technology Center located on the UAH campus.
Volumetric Imaging and Processing of Integrated Radar, known by the acronym VIPIR, is an analysis and display program for Doppler weather radar, created and sold by Baron Services. This software allows improved analysis of radar data for private users, in particular television stations, similar to the Weather Decision Support System program used by the National Weather Service.
Doppler on Wheels is a fleet of X-band and C-band mobile and quickly-deployable truck-borne radars which are the core instrumentation of the Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets affiliated with the University of Alabama Huntsville and led by Joshua Wurman, with the funding partially provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF), as part of the "Community Instruments and Facilities," (CIF) program. The DOW fleet and its associated Mobile Mesonets and deployable weather stations have been used throughout the United States since 1995, as well as occasionally in Europe and Southern America. The Doppler on Wheels network has deployed itself through hazardous and challenging weather to gather data and information that may be missed by conventional stationary radar systems.
Convective storm detection is the meteorological observation, and short-term prediction, of deep moist convection (DMC). DMC describes atmospheric conditions producing single or clusters of large vertical extension clouds ranging from cumulus congestus to cumulonimbus, the latter producing thunderstorms associated with lightning and thunder. Those two types of clouds can produce severe weather at the surface and aloft.
The Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment are field experiments that study tornadoes. VORTEX1 was the first time scientists completely researched the entire evolution of a tornado with an array of instrumentation, enabling a greater understanding of the processes involved with tornadogenesis. A violent tornado near Union City, Oklahoma was documented in its entirety by chasers of the Tornado Intercept Project (TIP) in 1973. Their visual observations led to advancement in understanding of tornado structure and life cycles.
GRLevelX is a suite of data processing and display programs developed by Gibson Ridge Software, LLC (GRS), to view weather radar data. It went on the market in March 2005. It comes in three versions, all of which ingest raw data: GRLevel2 and GRLevel2 Analyst Edition for viewing Level II data of the National Weather Service (NWS), and GRLevel3 for viewing Level III data. All programs are capable of rendering dual polarization data.
Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) is a Doppler weather radar system with a three-dimensional "pencil beam" used primarily for the detection of hazardous wind shear conditions, precipitation, and winds aloft on and near major airports situated in climates with great exposure to thunderstorms in the United States. As of 2011, all were in-service with 45 operational radars, some covering multiple airports in major metropolitan locations, across the United States & Puerto Rico. Several similar weather radars have also been sold to other countries such as China (Hong Kong). Funded by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), TDWR technology was developed in the early 1990s at Lincoln Laboratory, part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to assist air traffic controllers by providing real-time wind shear detection and high-resolution precipitation data.
Donald W. Burgess is an American meteorologist who has made important contributions to understanding of severe convective storms, particularly tornadoes, radar observations and techniques, as well as to training other meteorologists. He was a radar operator during the first organized storm chasing expeditions by the University of Oklahoma (OU) in the early 1970s and participated in both the VORTEX projects.
The Radar Operations Center (ROC) is a National Weather Service (NWS) unit that coordinates the development, maintenance, and training for the NEXRAD weather radar network. It is located near the University of Oklahoma Westheimer Airport in Norman, Oklahoma and run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the Department of Commerce with partners at the Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation.
Multifunction Phased Array Radar (MPAR) was an experimental Doppler radar system that utilized phased array technology. MPAR could scan at angles as high as 60 degrees in elevation, and simultaneously track meteorological phenomena, biological flyers, non-cooperative aircraft, and air traffic. From 2003 through 2016, there was one operational MPAR within the mainland United States—a repurposed AN/SPY-1A radar set loaned to NOAA by the U.S. Navy. The MPAR was decommissioned and removed in 2016.
The Joint Polarization Experiment (JPOLE) was a test for evaluating the performance of the WSR-88D in order to modify it to include dual polarization. This program was a joint project of the National Weather Service (NWS), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the US Air Force Meteorological Agency (AFWA), which took place from 2000-2004. It has resulted in the upgrading of the entire meteorological radar network in the United States by adding dual polarization to better determine the type of hydrometeor, and quantities that have fallen.
Roger M. Lhermitte was a French meteorologist who "pioneered the development of meteorological Doppler radar." His career extended from the 1950s until his death where he made numerous contributions to the field of radar meteorology resulting in over 100 publications and numerous patents.
James F. "Jeff" Kimpel was an American atmospheric scientist with expertise on severe storms who was a provost of the University of Oklahoma (OU) and director of the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL).
The RapidX-bandPolarimetric Radar, commonly abbreviated as RaXPol, is a mobile research radar designed and operated by the University of Oklahoma, led by Howard Bluestein. RaXPol often collaborates with adjacent mobile radar projects, such as Doppler on Wheels and SMART-R. Unlike its counterparts, RaXPol typically places emphasis on temporal resolution, and as such is capable of surveilling the entire local atmosphere in three dimensions in as little as 20 seconds, or a single level in less than 3 seconds.
Dušan S. Zrnić is an American engineer of Yugoslav origin, head of the Doppler Weather Radar and Remote Sensing Research Group at the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) as well as assistant professor of electrical engineering and meteorology at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. His research interests include circuit design, applied mathematics, magnetohydrodynamics, radar signal processing, and systems design.
Richard James Doviak was an American engineer and university professor, pioneer of weather radar. He worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the National Severe Storms Laboratory developing the NEXRAD radar array using reflectivity, the Doppler effect and the dual polarization to detect precipitation and its movement in clouds. He is also the co-author with Dusan S. Zrnic of the reference book “Doppler Radar and Weather Observations” about modern weather radar and its use.
