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Spokane weather radar to get upgrade |
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October 27, 2017 |
The weather radar used by the National Weather
Service Forecast Office in Spokane, which
provides coverage to an area including Boundary
County, will be down for approximately five days
beginning October 30 for technicians to install
an important technological upgrade.
The work on the WSR-88D has been scheduled to
minimize any potential impacts to office
operations.
During the outage, radar coverage is available
from adjacent radar sites including Seattle,
Pendleton and Missoula.
A crew will install a new signal processor,
which replaces obsolete technology, improves
processing speed and data quality, provides
added functionality, and supports IT security.
Nexrad (Next-Generation Radar) is a network of
159 high-resolution S-band Doppler weather
radars operated by the National Weather Service.
Its technical name, WSR-88D, stands for Weather
Surveillance Radar, 1988, Doppler.
Nexrad detects precipitation and atmospheric
movement or wind. It returns data which when
processed can be displayed in a mosaic map which
shows patterns of precipitation and its
movement. The radar system operates in two basic
modes, selectable by the operator – a
slow-scanning clear-air mode for analyzing air
movements when there is little or no activity in
the area, and a precipitation mode, with a
faster scan for tracking active weather. NEXRAD
has an increased emphasis on automation,
including the use of algorithms and automated
volume scans.
Installation of an operational prototype was
completed in the fall of 1990 in Norman,
Oklahoma. The first installation of a WSR-88D
for operational use in everyday forecasting was
in Sterling, Virginia, on June 12, 1992. The
last system deployed as part of this
installation campaign was installed in North
Webster, Indiana, on August 30, 1997. In 2011, a
single new radar was added at Langley Hill,
Washington, to better cover the Pacific Coast.
This is the first of four major upgrades, known
as service life extension projects, planned over
the next five years to replace and refurbish
major components of the 20 year old WSR-88Ds and
to keep the radars operational into the 2030s.
The $150-million investment is being made by the
three organizations that use these radars, the
NOAA National Weather Service, the United States
Air Force and the Federal Aviation
Administration.
The other service life extension projects
include refurbishing the transmitter, pedestal
and equipment shelters. |
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