Progress report on the National Weather Radar Testbed (Phased Array)

Since 2003, the National Weather Radar Testbed (NWRT) has provided a testbed for evaluating phased array technology for use as part of a national network of surveillance radars. Developed as a result of a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Severe Storms Laboratory, the United States Navy's Office of Naval Research, Lockheed Martin Corporation, the University of Oklahoma's Electrical and Computing Engineering Department and School of Meteorology, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the Tri-Agencies' (Department of Commerce, Defense and Transportation) Radar Operations Center, the Federal Aviation Administration's Technical Center and Basic Commerce and Industries, Inc, the NWRT continues to test the concepts of a multi-function radar system and has become an educational component for the next generation of radar meteorologists and engineer.

With each passing storm season, we have continued to demonstrate the advantages of phased array radar. In this paper, we will describe the present status and future plans for the NWRT and provide examples of the latest results of our testing of the phased array technology.