Mobile Radar and Fixed-Location Radar Data Comparison for a VORTEX2 Case: Two Tornadic Supercells on May 19, 2010

On May 19, 2010, two mobile Doppler radars (NOAA X-Band NOXP and CSWR X-Band DOW7), that were a part of VORTEX2, collected data on two tornadic supercells in north-central Oklahoma. These data are compared to the fixed-location Multi-Mission Phased Array Radar (MPAR), a fixed-location, fast scanning S-Band radar. Data from the fixed-location, operational WSR-88D (KTLX) were also available for comparison. The near equidistant range from MPAR and KTLX to the two supercells makes this an interesting comparison between the two S-band radars. In exploring the possibility of implementing the MPAR into an operational environment, a comprehensive comparison is useful. However, each of the four radars has its own strengths and weaknesses in the sampling of the two storms. This paper discusses those strengths and weaknesses by comparing the temporal and spatial resolution of observations from the mobile radars at closer range to the storms and the fixed-location radars at longer range to the storms.