A Review of Data Collected in 2023 by the NSSL Advanced Technology Demonstrator Phased Array Radar

As the next generation of operational weather radar is being considered to replace the current WSR-88Ds around the 2035-2040 timeframe, the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) is actively evaluating the benefits of phased array radar (PAR). The Advanced Technology Demonstrator (ATD) is a full-scale, S-band, dual-polarized PAR that was developed exclusively for weather observation. In 2023, the ATD was used to collect a novel dataset that consists of more than forty individual cases. The cases can be subdivided into 1) tornadic supercells, 2) mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), 3) severe multi-cell convection, 4) non-severe single- and multi-cell convection, 5) downbursts, and 6) winter weather. This presentation will review the 2023 data collection goals, which included developing specialized scanning strategies targeted loosely toward the former categories and examining ATD dual-polarization data quality. Observations of the 11 May 2023 central Oklahoma tornadic supercells and the 26 June 2023 central Oklahoma severe MCS will be of particular focus to highlight the benefits of targeted scanning strategies that optimize both rapid update times and dense vertical elevation sampling. The dual-polarization data quality of the ATD will also be briefly compared to conventional WSR-88D data. Finally, the future of ATD data collection strategies will be briefly discussed.