The evolution of the Weather Surveillance Radar, 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) has taken a major step forward with the deployment of the Open Radar Product Generator (ORPG) to National Weather Service (NWS) forecast offices beginning during the fall of 2001. The Common Operations and Development Environment (CODE) will mark a new era in radar algorithm development. CODE allows atmospheric scientists and techniques developers to tap into the real-time radar data stream, create and validate algorithms and thereby speed the integration of new science directly into the operational suite of products available to the forecaster.

This paper illustrates pathfinding activities by a number of national resources that have had early experience with the ORPG and CODE. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory, the NWS Hydrologic Developmental Laboratory, the NWS Tropical Prediction Center and the NWS Office of Science and Technology have provided contributions. It is hoped that these experiences will highlight both the problems and the power of the ORPG and encourage others to push the envelope of the science of radar meteorology.