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The WSR-88D Radar

The WSR-88D Radar. An overview by: Thomas Jones December 2, 2002. WSR-88D Characteristics. Data Types: Reflectivity Radial Velocity Spectrum Width Data Resolution: Beam Width = 0.93° Bin resolution = 250m (1km for Reflectivity) Maximum reflectivity range = 230km Without unfolding

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The WSR-88D Radar

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  1. The WSR-88D Radar An overview by: Thomas Jones December 2, 2002

  2. WSR-88D Characteristics • Data Types: • Reflectivity • Radial Velocity • Spectrum Width • Data Resolution: • Beam Width = 0.93° • Bin resolution = 250m (1km for Reflectivity) • Maximum reflectivity range = 230km • Without unfolding • Maximum unambiguous velocity range = 150km • Less for higher unambiguous velocities

  3. WSR-88D Operation Modes • 4 Scanning modes currently available: • VCP-11 = 14 elevation / 5 minute volume • VCP-21 = 9 elevation / 6 minute volume • VCP-31&32 = 4 elevation / 10 minute volume • VCP-31 & 32 are “clear-air” scanning strategies designed for non-convective events • VCP-21 is a “precipitation” mode designed for observing stratoform precipitation events • VCP-11 is a “severe weather” mode designed to observe intense convective events

  4. VCP-11 vs. VCP-21 Height (km) VCP-11 VCP-21 Range (km) Range (km)

  5. WSR-88D Data • Level-II data • Full resolution “base” data • Includes all moments and elevations • No derived products (unlike Level-III) • Compressed formats (1-2 MB per VS) • *raw CRAFT • *ldm NSSL • *Z NCDC • *bz2 CAPS • Uncompressed format (8-12 MB per VS) • *ridds all

  6. WSR-88D Data • Data written to file in a binary format • Each VS begins with short header file containing • Radar site • Volume scan number (1-999) • Begin date and time of VS • This is not the level-II tape header file which contains radar settings • Not available for level-II data recorded using CRAFT method.

  7. Important Algorithms • Storm Cell Identification and Tracking Algorithm (SCIT) • Identifies “Storm-cells” based on 3-D reflectivity data • Mesocyclone Detection Algorithm (MDA) • Identifies mesocyclone vortices from radial velocity data using a Rankine vortex model • Tornado Detection Algorithm (TDA) • Identifies TVSs base on gate-to-gate shear from radial velocity data

  8. Example MDA Output

  9. Questions

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