What You Forgot You Knew

The Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) system network is designed to continuously collect, collate, and make available radar data and products that support the Next Generation Weather Radar’s (NEXRAD) Tri-Agency partners in meeting mission objectives to reliably observe weather and detect severe storms, support forecast and warning programs, protect life and property, promote a safe and efficient National Airspace System, and enhance the Nation’s economy. The operation modes of the WSR-88D radar are designed to provide data dependent on a wide variety of weather scenarios.
Forecasters have many years of continuous training and experience in operating the radar starting with radar fundamentals through advanced radar data interpretation. However, the radar undergoes hardware and software upgrades yearly to tune the radar product generator’s suite of algorithms or to also introduce new capability. As a result, training materials are fully integrated with each software release because additional training is required for operators to use the radar effectively. Operating the radar is best optimized when a forecaster, working a weather event, sets it to preferred or best option settings that maximize the output being used whether it is data and/or products. With that, the operation and settings to use on the radar are illustrated here.