New science for the WSR-88D: staggered PRT implementation on the SIGMET RVP8

The NEXRAD WSR-88D Radar Operations Center (ROC) is responsible for implementing new signal processing algorithms planned for deployment in the Open Radar Data Acquisition (ORDA) System. The overarching goal of these new signal processing algorithms is to improve data quality. After the successful deployment of the Sachidananda/Zrnic Phase Coding algorithm (SZ-2) which mitigates range folding and Clutter Mitigation Decision (CMD) algorithm which dynamically identifies ground clutter, the ROC is implementing the Staggered Pulse Repetition Time (SPRT) algorithm developed at the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) to mitigate velocity aliasing. The ROC is following a three phased approach for the design and implementation of SPRT. The first phase provided requirement analysis, specifications, and the architectural foundation needed to implement the SPRT algorithm into the ORDA. The second phase provided early design, implementation, and engineering testing for an engineering analysis of the SPRT algorithm with a simple mean-level-removal clutter filter. The third phase will provide an operational version of SPRT utilizing a spectral clutter filter. This paper will illustrate the benefits of SPRT and present the progression through the three phases of the SPRT implementation for the WSR-88D.