For the last several years, the National Weather Service (NWS) has been exploring the utility of bringing weather radar data from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radars into Warning and Forecast Office (WFO) operations. Demonstration radar data ingest and display systems have been created with several being tested at field offices and at NWS Headquarters. These systems include the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR), the Air Route Surveillance Radar, model 4 (ARSR-4) and the Airport Surveillance Radar, Model 11 (ASR-11).

As a first step toward the development and deployment of an operational system, the NWS has embarked upon the development of a Linux-based data ingest and processing system using data from the TDWR. This system will provide images of base reflectivity and base velocity data directly to forecasters at Advanced Weather Information Processing System (AWIPS) consoles. A description of the system capabilities, comparisons of data sets between the TDWR and a nearby Weather Surveillance Radar, 1988D (WSR-88D), and updated plans for future development will be discussed.