A Supplemental High-Resolution Radar Network within the Conterminous United States

Since the introduction of the WSR-57 weather radar network, the United States has established a long history in radar meteorology in terms of network operations as well as research. Over several decades the national radar network was improved and expanded to include the rollout of the WSR-74 network, which eventually was replaced by the WSR-88D network, and ultimately upgraded to dual-polarization technology beginning in 2012. The NEXRAD fleet is known for providing significant information to further NOAA’s mission to protect life and property. While research has provided critical improvements to the NEXRAD fleet over the years, the network continues to be limited in its ability to observe weather conditions close to the ground due to the location and spacing of radars, the curvature of the earth, and the beam height increase as it travels from the radar. Low-altitude radar observation gaps deprive valuable measurements needed to initialize forecast models; impede the assessment of the intensity and track of tornadoes and damaging downbursts; reduce the accuracy of rainfall measurements; and prevent the early detection of wildfires and other low-atmospheric hazards. It has been indicated that an increase in low-level coverage would provide a necessary benefit for weather forecasters, especially during severe weather events. The purpose of the current talk is to introduce such a supplemental radar network to the NEXRAD fleet, providing high spatiotemporal coverage in areas that will particularly benefit from enhanced lower-level coverage. An overview of the fleet as well as several case studies demonstrating the benefits and/or improvements of the supplemental network will be presented.