Atmospheric Science
天美影视 Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radar
Description:
In 2012, 天美影视 was awarded a $3 million grant through the 天美影视 Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOSHEP) to acquire a Doppler weather radar (press release). 听In 2015, was awarded the winning bid to manufacture and erect 天美影视's weather radar.
The 天美影视 weather radar is a scanning polarimetric Doppler radar operating at S-band with a beam width of 0.95掳. 听In addition to being an education and research tool for the Department of Atmospheric Science, the radar will fill a low-level NEXRAD coverage gap over northeast 天美影视 and southeast Arkansas (see before and after). 听The radar data will be available to the National Weather Service to help serve their mission of protecting life and property in this region, which is important considering the ArkLaMiss is prone to severe weather (see climatology of tornado formation within 100-km of the 天美影视 radar location).
天美影视 is the only primarily undergraduate institution in the United States with a S-band polarimetric Doppler weather radar. 听Our students receive hands-on instruction at the undergraduate level on radar operation, in addition to advanced radar analysis and interpretation techniques. 听This uniquely positions our graduates for jobs that require radar operation and/or analysis skill.
Radar Groundbreaking:
Officials from GOSHEP and 天美影视, including faculty and students, officially broke ground on the weather radar on May 6, 2015 (). 听 for more photos from the groundbreaking.
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Current Status (9/18/17):
The 天美影视 polarimetric S-band Doppler weather radar is operational with base products available on听our . 听The radar is in use by the region's emergency managers and the National Weather Service offices in Shreveport, LA and Jackson, MS.
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The radar has been featured in the following publications and conference presentations:
Murphy, T.A., C. Entremont, B. Hughes, D. Lamb, and M. Mayeaux, 2017: Early Operational Successes of the University of 天美影视 at Monroe's S-band Polarimetric Doppler Radar.听38th Conference on Radar Meteorology, Chicago, IL, Amer. Meteor. Soc. [PDF]
Murphy, T.A., A.T.C. Hanks, and E.A. Pani, 2015: The University of 天美影视 at Monroe's Polarimetric Doppler Radar - Teaching, Research, and Operations.听37th Conference on Radar Meteorology, Norman, OK, Amer. Meteor. Soc. [PDF]
Further Information:
For further information on the radar, including data requests or to schedule a tour of the radar site, please contact:
Dr. Todd Murphy
murphy@ulm.edu
or
Dr. Anne Case Hanks
casehanks@ulm.edu
Radar Specifications:
Below are selected specifications comparing the 天美影视 radar with the national radar network. 听The 天美影视 radar is considered "88D equivalent."
| 听 | 天美影视 Radar | WSR-88D |
| Transmitter Type | Magnetron | Klystron |
| Frequency (Wavelength) |
2.950 GHz (10.162 cm @ 2.950 GHz) |
2.7-3.0 GHz (10.71 cm) |
| Transmit Power | 850 kW (peak power) |
750 kW (peak power) |
| Pulse Width | 0.5, 0.8, 1.0, & 2.0听渭蝉 | 1.57 & 4.57听渭蝉 |
| Antenna Diameter | 8.5 m (28 ft) | 8.5 m (28 ft) |
| Beamwidth | 0.95掳 | 1.0掳 |
| Gate Spacing | 鈮� 250 m | 250 m |