NEXRAD Open Systems–Progress and Plans

To meet the need for orderly system evolution under existing NEXRAD Change Management procedures, the NEXRAD Tri-agencies have established the NEXRAD Product Improvement (NPI) Program as a long term sub-activity of the overall NEXRAD Program. The NPI Program Management is led by the NWS Office of Science and Technology, with individual NPI projects enlisting the participation and support of all of the NEXRAD Tri-agencies. The NPI Program is currently within its fifth year, now with wide participation throughout NOAA, the Air Force Weather Agency, and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Significant strides have been accomplished in the organizational, management, and technical components of the NPI program. The Agencies have developed the Tri-Agency Requirements (TAR) for the Operational Use of Weather Radar Data, which will guide the selection and execution of NPI projects. The program, which began as an NWS funded activity, now enjoys coordinated budget planning and execution among the Tri-agencies. A rewrite of the WSR-88D System Specification, which defines the technical requirements of the WSR-88D system, has been completed. The Open Radar Product Generator (RPG) software and hardware are in the formal testing phase. The communications infrastructure has been redesigned to facilitate broader and more efficient dissemination of both product and base data. The Open Radar Data Acquisition (RDA) proof of concept has been completed, and is demonstrating a large subset of the legacy RDA functional requirements.