The Doppler On Wheels and CSWR Surface Observational Facility

CSWR operates The Doppler On Wheels (DOW) mobile radars, mobile mesonets, and deployable instrumentation as an NSF Lower Atmospheric Observing Facility. Two DOWs are dual-polarization, dual-frequency fast scanning systems, and one is a multiple-beam multiple-frequency rapid-scan passive phased array system capable of volumetric scanning at 7-second intervals. The systems have recently been upgraded using Pentek processors and record full time series in all channels. Fine-scale-resolution gates of 12.5m and 11.2m are implemented with the dual-Pol and Rapid-scan DOWs, respectively, with 8 m resolution planned.

During the past several years, the DOWs and surface instrumentation have participated in the PECAN (Plains Elevated Convection At Night) project, studying the initiation and evolution of nighttime convection, the Olympic Mountains Experiment (OLYMPEX), characterizing the evolution of orographic precipitation in the Olympic Mountain range in Washington State, The TWIRL (Tornadic Winds: In situ and Radar observations and Low-levels) study, characterizing low-level tornado structure, and The Seeded and Natural Orographic Wintertime Clouds: The Idaho Experiment (SNOWIE), evaluating cloud seeding effects on precipitation prcocess and resulting snowfall. The DOWs have collected data in two major east coast blizzards in 2015 and have been deployed to Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, Florida, Vermont, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Washington D. C. for education purposes. CSWR launched soundings in support of a winter storm project in Colorado and a Mobile Mesonet with in situ instrumentation was used educationally for a nomadic storm-chasing class in the central plains.

DOWs will play a central role in the RELAMPAGO project in 2018, and have been requested for the several upcoming research campaigns.

The capabilities of the DOW network and examples of products will be described, as well as recent upgrades to platforms, antennas, and other systems.