A New 48-MHz Radar Wind Profiler for the U.S. Eastern Range

A new 48-MHz radar wind profiler (RWP) has been installed at the U.S. Eastern Range, Florida. The system uses a 150 m Yagi antenna array coupled with a 250 kW peak-power solid-state transmitter system to enable profiling 150 m resolution winds from about 2 km to over 18 km AGL, every 5 minutes. The wind data is used for launch support after being screened by a specialized quality control system which uses both automated signal tracking algorithms in conjunction with a human-in-the-loop for final data disposition. A system description will be provided along with comparison data and operational notes.