ROC/NSSL Radar Product Improvement: An R2O Success Story

The Radar Product Improvement (RPI) Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the National Weather Service (NWS) Radar Operations Center (ROC) and National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) provides support for NSSL/OU CIWRO scientists to conduct applied research with the goal of developing new science and signal processing techniques to address operational problems and emerging requirements for the NEXRAD network. NSSL scientists and engineers have been supporting the ROC by providing hardware and software development and improvements to weather radar algorithms and applications since 1987, when the existing ROC/NSSL Technology Transfer SLA began. Improvements to the WSR-88D system associated with hardware and processor software (but not applications software) were transferred to the NEXRAD Product Improvement (NPI) project that started in the late 1990s. NPI’s primary purpose was to replace the Radar Data Acquisition (RDA) and Radar Product Generation (RPG) subsystems with open system hardware and software (ORDA and ORPG) and to implement dual polarization capability on the WSR-88D system. Although direct Congressional funding for NPI ended in 2013, the need for continued infusion of new capabilities continued by establishing RPI at that time.

This presentation will summarize the history, successes, and opportunities for the RPI project. The iterative nature of the R2O process taken by the ROC and NSSL/CIWRO will be highlighted with past and current examples in developing new signal processing techniques and radar science for the ORDA and ORPG. A brief summary of RPI’s current projects and status will be highlighted, with an emphasis on recent and imminent R2O transitions, hydrometeor classification (e.g., new melting layer detection algorithm), and improving dual pol capabilities and data quality (e.g., range-defined quasi-vertical profiles and a new method to estimate Zdr bias) to better observe and predict severe weather hazards. In addition, R&D initiatives for new or evolving requirements like wind clutter mitigation will be highlighted, along with some strategies for field engagement and training. Potential future directions and topics for RPI priorities will also be presented (e.g., area-based cell identification, machine learning approaches), with an emphasis on the ongoing collaboration between NSSL and the ROC to transfer R&D for both the WSR-88D and a potential radar follow-on system.