Three-Dimensional Wind Retrievals in Convective Storms from a Multistatic Radar Network Coupled with a WSR-88D Site

Multistatic radar networks are capable of retrieving the three-dimensional wind field using bistatic measurements coupled to a single radar as a “transmitter of opportunity.” Development of new signal processing methods that negate the need for direct synchronization between transmitting and receiving radars has facilitated deployment of a low-cost, multistatic network with the KTLX WSR-88D site in central Oklahoma. Six bistatic passive receivers have been installed surrounding KTLX with approximately 40-km baselines, resulting in dual-Doppler coverage over a roughly 100-km by 100-km region, including overdetermined multi-Doppler coverage of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan area.

This presentation will provide an overview of the multistatic network design and deployment as well as error analysis relative to retrievals from a monostatic multi-Doppler network. Additionally, network observations collected during the spring of 2024 will be presented, including dual-Doppler analysis of a QLCS mesovortex that produced an EF-1 tornado in Norman, Oklahoma on 27 April 2024. Analyses of the ten minutes prior to tornadogenesis reveal the presence of several distinct near-surface vorticity maxima along the leading edge of the system cold pool. These maxima are consistent with expectations of circulations generated by horizontal shearing instability and tornadogenesis occurs as one maximum propagates underneath a local maximum in low-level vertical velocity associated with a broader mesovortex. Finally, progress towards real-time generation and dissemination of three-dimensional retrievals from the network will be discussed.