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Some types of weather radar data are available, although not in real time, on the World Wide Web. Recently, the lower cost of reasonably sophisticated ground-based weather radars, some Doppler capable, has made them affordable by a broader range of commercial weather services and broadcast weather facilities. Remote single-radar and multiradar composite data service is provided by value-added NEXRAD Imagery Dissemination System (NIDS) vendors. In the late 1980s and 1990s, responding to the successful development of techniques for employing single-Doppler weather radar observations, the Department of Commerce, Department of Defense (DOD), and Department of Transportation (DOT) jointly fielded two highly sophisticated, ground-based Doppler weather radar systems, the Next-Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD), now called the WSR-88D, and the DOT’s Terminal Doppler Weather Radar. The sophistication of the remote information provided in response to this demand grew significantly, from the simple, facsimile-based systems of the 1960s to the computer-based techniques used today.
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From the late 1960s through the present time, demand continued for remote radar weather information, originating from radars not under local control. By 1969, a few television stations in the midwestern United States and along the southeast coast had installed radars for use in the weather segments of their news broadcasts the trend broadened through the 1970s, as ground-based weather radars became more capable and more affordable. The capabilities of aircraft weather radars have steadily grown, and they are now widely available. Some of these systems were adapted for use on the ground. In the 1960s, increased availability of lighter-weight, solid-state electronics made it practical to manufacture a storm avoidance radar for use in commercial and eventually private aircraft. Later the cost and complexity of these systems limited their operational use to government agencies, principally the military and civil weather services however, remote displays from weather radar systems became affordable at airline weather offices, commercial weather services, and broadcast weather facilities. Initially the security classification attached to radar systems of all kinds limited their use to the military weather services. Commercial applications of weather radar could not be covered in the space available Jorgensen and Gerdes (1951) present a good example. Length restrictions prevented addressing the history of the operational use of cloud detection radars, wind profilers, and most other clear-air applications, the exception being the widely used single-Doppler clear-air wind measurement technique. Here we concentrate on the history of application of storm detection radar for operational purposes, such as severe storm identification. Research conducted by operational weather agencies is discussed here, as are research threads that have found their way into operational use or have been of great benefit to operational radar meteorology. Weather Bureau that material is updated and expanded in this paper. (1962) and Bigler (1981) summarize the history and status of the weather radar program conducted by what was then called the U.S. The history of those early developments, and of the research aspects of radar meteorology, is well described in Hitschfeld (1986), Atlas (1990a), and Rogers and Smith (1996). The use of radar to observe the weather developed as an outcome of the intensive work on radar technology during World War II. The papers are based on the experience of some of those who, at various times, have participated in or led operational weather radar programs. This and the companion paper describe the history of the operational use of storm surveillance radars by U.S. Military applications of radar weather data
#Doppler weather fort lauderdale professional#
Education, training, and professional development activities Advances in operational radar data processing and digital applications Use of air defense and air traffic control radars for weather detection
#Doppler weather fort lauderdale code#
Radar reporting code and radar summary chart
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Acquisition, deployment, and employment of AN/FPS-77 storm-detection radar and interim replacement Expansion of Weather Bureau radar and warning capabilities Acquisition, deployment, and operational use of the first weather radar Post-war use of World War II radars at weather stations First radar networks used for weather surveillance First radar operations at individual stations
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