Update on the National Weahter Radar Testbed (Phased-Array)

The National Weather Radar Testbed (NWRT) has now been available for research for over two years. Located in Norman, Oklahoma, this 10-cm phased array radar is used for studying and developing faster and more accurate warning, analysis and forecast techniques for severe and hazardous weather along with testing multifunction capabilities such as aircraft tracking and wind profiling. As reported at several American Meteorological Society conferences, (Forsyth, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007), the NWRT was developed by a government/university/ industry team consisting of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), the Tri-Agencies’ (Department of Commerce, Defense & Transportation) Radar Operations Center (ROC), the United States Navy’s Office of Naval Research, Lockheed Martin Corporation, the University of Oklahoma’s (OU) Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and School of Meteorology, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) William J. Hughes Technical Center and Basic Commerce and Industries, Inc.. The NWRT uses a converted Navy SPY-1A phased array antenna system, thus providing the first phased array radar available on a full-time basis to the meteorological research community and for testing of the concept of a Multi-mission Phased Array Radar (MPAR) system.