Dual-Doppler Analyses of Tornadic Supercells using a Rapid-scan, X-band, Polarimetric, Mobile-Doppler Radar, and Temporally-interpolated WSR-88D Data

Since the late 1960s, dual-Doppler analyses have been used to resolve the three-dimensional wind fields in and around tornadic supercells. While early analyses were limited to fixed-site radars in close proximity to one another, mobile radars offer the benefit of pre-positioning the instruments to obtain these datasets more easily and with higher spatial resolution. However, in some instances, synchronization of radar data among multiple platforms can be challenging. On a number of occasions, data collected by a rapid-scan, X-band, polarimetric, Doppler radar (RaXPol) have allowed for the possibility of dual-Doppler syntheses with data from nearby WSR-88D radars; however, drastic differences in radar scanning rates makes combining these data sets difficult. To account for differences in temporal resolution, a reflectivity-tracking scheme has been employed to interpolate linearly (in a Lagrangian sense) between two WSR-88D volumes through the use of a variational algorithm. Once interpolated in time, WSR-88D data can be paired with volumes collected by RaXPol to create quasi-rapid-scan dual-Doppler analyses. This presentation will focus on the application of a spatially variable advection correction technique (Shapiro et al., 2010a, b) to WSR-88D data to create dual-Doppler analyses of three tornadic supercells: the 19 May 2013 Edmond-Carney and Norman-Shawnee storms, and the 24 May 2016 Dodge City storm. Results of the dual-Doppler analyses will be briefly examined, and potential improvements to this technique will be discussed.