The NCAR Modular Wind Profiler

NCAR's Earth Observing Lab (EOL) is developing a radar wind profiler with a unique flexible design to meet the wide ranging needs of the meteorological community. The wind profiler operates at 449 MHz and is modular so can be scaled to suit the needs of a particular experiment. Antenna modules can be combined together to probe high into the troposphere, or can broken up into smaller dispersed groups to probe the boundary layer over an extended area. Currently the system is capable of being deployed as two boundary layer, or one mid-troposphere systems, but ultimately we plan a system capable of being deployed as six boundary layer, or two mid-troposphere, or one full-troposphere wind profilers. Mobile and ship-capable versions of the profiler are also planned. Spaced Antenna techniques are used to provide rapid wind measurement, and the RIM (Range IMaging) as also been implemented to provide fine vertical range resolution. The presentation will highlight three recent deployments: the METCRAX-II campaign which focused on flow in and around Meteor Crater AZ, the DEEPWAVE mountain wave campaign in New Zealand, and the PECAN campaign which examined nighttime elevated convection on the Great Plains.