![]() The mechanical systems of today's Doppler weather radar often break down, taking the radars offline. Researchers believe phased array can extend storm warning lead times from 10 minutes to 18-22 minutes.Īnother advantage of phased array radar is that it does not have moving parts. The researchers at NSSL aim to improve the quality, coverage, and accuracy of meteorological products from weather radars. This cuts down the required scan time by one-sixth. The NWS can steer these antennae electronically to scan a single thunderstorm. Instead of one antenna reflected off a parabolic dish like our current Doppler radar, a phased array radar consists of thousands of tiny antennae. Even with a new scanning cycle, the fastest that a weather service radar can scan a thunderstorm from top to bottom is about 4 minutes.Ī phased array radar is flat and does not move unlike the Doppler radar. ![]() While all these features were great at nowcasting storms, the current radar systems in use are slow to scan the sky. In 1988, they upgraded the national radar technology to include Doppler technology that measured the difference in wind speeds and aided forecasters in predicting tornado development. These early radars were great at measuring precipitation like rain and snow, but they lacked the technology to identify tornadoes, something Doppler radars are inherently good at detecting. While that weather interference was a problem for military strategy, it created an opportunity to study how radar could benefit weather observation and forecasting.īy 1957, there was a weather service network of radars nationally. When the military around the world used radar to search for enemy aircraft, the operators noticed that weather appeared on their display, blocking aircraft detection. Modern weather radar has World War II military roots.
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