The WSR-88D System incorporates many recent innovations in remote sensing, electronic data processing and display, and application of microscale and mesoscale meteorological knowledge. The network's first installation took place at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1990, with 140 NWS and U.S. Air Force sites due to be operational by 1996 throughout the contiguous U.S. An additional 13 WSR-88D Systems will be installed at FAA sites in in Alaska, Hawaii, the Carribean, and selected DOD bases overseas. The network coverage at 10,000 feet above site level is nearly continuous except for the western U.S. caused predominantly by mountainous terrain that blocks the lower-level scans.
The three major functional components of the WSR-88D System are (1) Level II Radar Data Acquisition (RDA), (2) Level III Radar Product Generator (RPG), and (3) Level IV Principal User Processor (PUP) along with the communications lines that link them. The RDA consisting of the antenna, pedestal, radome, tower, receiver, minicomputer, signal processor, and an S-band (10-11.1 cm , 2700-3000 MHz) klyston transmitter, acquires and processes the Doppler weather radar data. The RDA provides mean radial velocity and spectrum width data at 0.25 km spatial resolution and 0.5 m/s velocity resolution; and reflectivity data at a spatial resolution of 1 km and data resolution of 0.5 dBz. The RPG executes algorithms to convert RDA-generated base data into meteorological and hydrological products. The RPG also provides on-line base data and product storage, velocity dealiasing, control and status monitoring of the RDA and RPG, and product recording and distribution. Users from river forecast centers, rain gauge networks, Automated Weather Information Processing System (AWIPS), National Meteorological Center (NMC), National Hurricane Center (NHC), National Severe Storms Forecast Center (NSSFC), and the U.S. Air Force Global Weather Central (AFGWC) will have access to the RPG. The PUP's are the workstations of the system, receiving products from the RPG's, up to 20 products for each volume scan. A PUP workstation consists of a minicomputer, system console, color printer, graphics processor, workstation, and communications system. The PUP workstation displays, manipulates, annotates, distributes, and locally stores products; controls and monitors the PUP system status; and records products.
The RDA Base data (Level II) includes reflectivity, mean velocity, and spectrum width. The RPG algorithms and data (Level III) consists of a Precipitation Processing System; the STORM system generating segments/components, centroids, track/forecast, and structure/hail; Echo tops, vertically integrated liquid (VIL), and severe weather probability; Mesocyclone and tornadic vortex signature; velocity azimuth display (VAD); combined shear; and turbulence. The PUP products (Level IV) include one and three hour accumulation, storm-total accumulation, and hourly digital precipitation; storm tracks, structure and hail; echo tops, contoured echo tops, VIL, and severe weather probability; mesocyclone and tornadic vortex signature; VAD wind profile and VAD plot (single elevation); combined shear and contoured combined shear; and layer composite turbulence array and layer composite turbulence maximum.
As of September 1993, approximately 1,000 8mm tapes of Level II data have been copied and archived at the NCDC. These tapes contain data from 10 WSR-88D sites that are currently equipped with recorders. Although only 10 sites currently have recorders, more are on order and the NEXRAD agencies plan to acquire and install more Level II recorders as WSR-88D Systems are accepted. A user's guide is being developed and will be provided with each shipment of tapes. Tapes can be provided in EXABYTE 8200, 8500 or 8500c format.
As of November 1993, inventories of NEXRAD data will be placed into the menu-driven NCDC On-line Access and Service Information System (OASIS) accessible via INTERNET. To access, TELNET 192.67.134.72 or HURRICANE.NCDC.NOAA.GOV, and enter login: storm, password: research.
As of March 1994, NCDC is distributing software including source code to display WSR-88D Level II data. The WSR-88D Visualization Software (WVS) reads Level II data tapes and writes the data to disk in a format for WVS to display. WVS displays individual sweeps of reflectivity, velocity, and spectrum width data. Images can be displayed while the Level II tape is being read and written to disk, or images can be displayed after the data have been written to disk. WVS runs on SUN, IBM, HP, and SGI unix-based workstations. WVS is written in C and Fortran and uses X-windows v11.4 with Motif v1.1. The WVS is available via FTP or 8mm tape. To access, FTP HURRICANE.NCDC.NOAA.GOV, login: anonymous, password: your username, cd /pub/nexrad_12, and then get files README, zzzwvstar (TAR file), and guide.wp. To get a county line overlay file, get countyLines.XXXX where XXXX is the radar name acronym. If there are any questions or problems with installation, contact computer support personnel at the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), Norman, Oklahoma, at (405) 366-0533, or FAX (405) 366-0472, or via INTERNET:ESDIM@NSSLSUN.NSSL.UOKNOR.EDU.
WSR-88D equipment is not required to use Level II data. UNIX-based workstations and even a 486/50MHz PC have been used to read and manipulate Level II data.
These initial steps are building blocks for developing future value-added and user-friendly services to make Level II data more accessible and provide supplementary meteorological and ground truth data. Future development work will investigate the feasibility of creating an electronic bulletin board, on-line browse capability for researchers, cross-correlating Level II tapes with types of weather phenomena recorded on the tapes, expanding the NCDC capabilities to meet the increased amount of data collected and requests for archive data, and refine the capabilities to better serve the needs of data requesters.
Entry_ID: NEXRAD_NCDC (MD Identifier: 5194)
Temporal Coverage:
From: 1990-09-01 TO:
Geographic Coverage:
Southwest Extent: 24N,124W Northeast Extent: 48N,67W
Source:
GROUND STATIONS
Sensor:
RADAR>NEXRAD WSR-88D System
Storage Media:
5.25" Optical Disk (WORM), Level III and IV
8mm Metal Particle Tape Cassette, Level II
On-line
Campaign/Project:
NEXRAD>Next Generation Weather Radar
Discipline, Subdiscipline:
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE
EARTH SCIENCE > LAND
Location Keyword:
BOUNDARY LAYER
EQUATORIAL
MID-LATITUDE
NORTH AMERICA
TROPOSPHERE
Parameter Group, Parameter:
ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION > CLOUDS
ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION > HUMIDITY
ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS > CLOUD TYPES
ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS > HUMIDITY
ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS > PRECIPITATION
ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS > STORMS
ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS > WINDS
HYDROLOGIC PARAMETERS > PRECIPITATION
General Keywords:
FTP
HAIL
IDN_NODE GSFC
LAYER COMPOSITES
MEAN RADIAL VELOCITY
MESOCYCLONES
RADAR DATA
REFLECTIVITY
SEVERE WEATHER
SHEAR
SPECTRUM WIDTH
STORM TRACKING
SURFACE
THUNDERSTORMS
TORNADOES
TURBULENCE
UPPER AIR
WIND PROFILES
Science Review Date: 1994-03-23
Revision Date: 1994-03-23
Archive:
NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC>National Climatic Data Center, NOAA
Data Set ID: LEVEL II
LEVEL III
LEVEL IV
Contact: MCCOWN, SAM
Climate Services Branch
National Climatic Data Center
NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC E/CC31
Asheville, NC 28801
USA
Electronic Mail: INTERNET> ORDERS@NCDC.NOAA.GOV
OMNET> NCDC.SERVICE
Phone: (704) 271-4272
(704) 271-4800
(704) 271-4876 FAX
Tech Contact: CRUM, TIM D.
WSR-88D Operational Support Facility
Operations Branch Chief
1200 Westheimer Drive
Norman, OK 73069
USA
Phone: (405) 366-6500, ext 252
Entry Author: SCIALDONE, JOHN N.
Hughes STX
7701 Greenbelt Road, Suite 400
Greenbelt, MD 20770
USA
Electronic Mail: INTERNET> SCIALDONE@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV
NSI/DECnet> NCF::SCIALDONE
Phone: (301) 441-4214
Information in this entry provided by NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC
Crum, T.D., and R.L. Alberty, 1993: The WSR-88D and the WSR-88D Operational
Support Facility. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 74, 1669-1685.
Crum, T.D., R.L. Alberty, and D.W. Burgess, 1993: Recording, Archiving, and
Using WSR-88D Data. Bull. Amer. Meteor.. Soc., 74, 645-653.
Klazura, G.E., and D.A. Imy, 1993: A Description of the Initial Set of Analysis
Products Available from the NEXRAD WSR-88D System. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.,
74, 1293-1311.
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