NWS Use of FAA Radar Data—Status and Operational Considerations

The National Weather Service (NWS) has demonstrated that weather data from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radars could complement the Weather Surveillance Radar – 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) network. The agency is collaborating with the FAA on projects to ingest data from several FAA radars: Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR), Air Route Surveillance Radar – Model 4 (ARSR-4) and Airport Surveillance Radar – Model 11 (ASR-11). The use of TDWR data would support improved short term forecasts and warnings for tornado and other severe weather. The NWS developed and will nationally deploy a system to provide TDWR data into the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) in a way that allows it to be displayed and fully integrated along with WSR-88D and other weather data. Deployment will begin in the summer of 2005 and functions with AWIPS Operational Build 5 (OB5) software. This paper presents the status of these projects and future plans. Examples of radar data products will be presented, along with a discussion of operational considerations involved in the use of data from these FAA radars.