Technology - NEXRAD Radar :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

NEXRAD Radar    In the 1950's, the government appropriated money for the building of  Ã‚  Ã‚   weather radar (also known as WSR-57) stations at strategic locations,  Ã‚   usually airports, all across the U.S. Those performed well for the era in which they were used. In the 1990's, new technology was updating  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   everything except weather radar. While Pentium-run computers were plotting scientist's data on color monitors, meteorologists were guessing the movement of thunderstorms on monochrome screens. Because the radar needed to be updated, the Federal Airline Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration pulled together money to create a better radar system. This new radar was called NEXRAD (Next Generation Weather Radar) or WSR-88D. Because of this change in technology, more aspects of the weather can be seen and analyzed that in turn save lives. NEXRAD technology is amazing. It can show the motion of rain, sleet, hail and even dust or insects moving towards or away from the radar's antenna. It can detect strong changes in wind direction inside a thunderstorm that could indicate the beginning of tornadic activity. The WSR-57 could never do this. The 88D can track precipitation totals over various periods of time and locations and can track wind speed and direction at various altitudes. The new radar has improved sensitivity and resolution. It can make the invisible wind of a storm visible even if there is no precipitation present. The old radar never had these capabilities and also left 33% of all tornadoes unnoticed. Now that NEXRAD is in place, the percentage has dropped to 13% nationally. Also, offices with WSR-88D radar are issuing fewer severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings that turn out to be false alarms. In Norman, Oklahoma, the false alarm rate dropped from 80% in the 1980's to 18% in 1992 (Williams 43 -46). To understand how NEXRAD receives its images, it is important to know how NEXRAD works. First, it sends radio waves into the surrounding area. Once the radio waves hit something, they bounce back. If precipitation is moving towards the station, it increases the radio waves' frequency. If the wind is blowing precipitation away from the station, the frequency of reflected radio waves is lowered. Doppler radar (NEXRAD) detects these frequency changes and uses them to show wind and precipitation patterns (Williams 176-179). Technology - NEXRAD Radar :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers NEXRAD Radar    In the 1950's, the government appropriated money for the building of  Ã‚  Ã‚   weather radar (also known as WSR-57) stations at strategic locations,  Ã‚   usually airports, all across the U.S. Those performed well for the era in which they were used. In the 1990's, new technology was updating  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   everything except weather radar. While Pentium-run computers were plotting scientist's data on color monitors, meteorologists were guessing the movement of thunderstorms on monochrome screens. Because the radar needed to be updated, the Federal Airline Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration pulled together money to create a better radar system. This new radar was called NEXRAD (Next Generation Weather Radar) or WSR-88D. Because of this change in technology, more aspects of the weather can be seen and analyzed that in turn save lives. NEXRAD technology is amazing. It can show the motion of rain, sleet, hail and even dust or insects moving towards or away from the radar's antenna. It can detect strong changes in wind direction inside a thunderstorm that could indicate the beginning of tornadic activity. The WSR-57 could never do this. The 88D can track precipitation totals over various periods of time and locations and can track wind speed and direction at various altitudes. The new radar has improved sensitivity and resolution. It can make the invisible wind of a storm visible even if there is no precipitation present. The old radar never had these capabilities and also left 33% of all tornadoes unnoticed. Now that NEXRAD is in place, the percentage has dropped to 13% nationally. Also, offices with WSR-88D radar are issuing fewer severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings that turn out to be false alarms. In Norman, Oklahoma, the false alarm rate dropped from 80% in the 1980's to 18% in 1992 (Williams 43 -46). To understand how NEXRAD receives its images, it is important to know how NEXRAD works. First, it sends radio waves into the surrounding area. Once the radio waves hit something, they bounce back. If precipitation is moving towards the station, it increases the radio waves' frequency. If the wind is blowing precipitation away from the station, the frequency of reflected radio waves is lowered. Doppler radar (NEXRAD) detects these frequency changes and uses them to show wind and precipitation patterns (Williams 176-179).