Weather Radar Specific Data User Requirements for Canadian Network Design

Weather radar is an essential tool for the detection and short-term prediction of impending severe and hazardous weather. The infrastructure of the current Canadian weather radar network is aging, and has encountered more frequent operational problems. In January 2012, the Minister of the Environment announced a $45.2 million renewal funding for improving performance and upgrading to next-generation technology. This year, the Government of Canada announced $248 million for new investments in radar, surface weather and climate monitoring stations. In support of the radar renewal and modernization activities, defining operational weather radar requirements has been recognized as the essential first step of the strategic network planning and design process. Beginning in 2011, the requirements gathering process was developed jointly by the Strategies, Planning and Performance (SPP) section of the Weather and Environmental Monitoring (WEM) Directorate, in cooperation with the National Radar Program (NRP) and radar experts from the Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate. It involves several steps including collection, analysis, documentation, validation, prioritization, and ongoing management.

For the requirements gathering initiative, radar survey questionnaires were designed and distributed to various identified priority user groups within Environment Canada: Prediction, Services, Numerical Weather Predictions, Hydrological Modelling and Applications, Science Sections and National Labs, and relevant Signature Projects. The survey questionnaires asked each user group to describe their current radar data usage, and to define current requirements, perceived discrepancies, as well as their anticipated future needs. In addition, face-to-face meetings, webinars, and telephone interviews were conducted to elicit and validate information from users.

In this talk we will provide an overview of the requirements documented to date, and present the analysis results from the following specifications:

• radar characterization, including the needs for spatial coverage, spatial and temporal resolution, data quality, latency and consistency, system reliability; • radar data, products and training needs; • tools to process, disseminate and display radar data and products.

We will also provide a broad overview on the radar network design and renewal plan.