# Presentation: 125083

## The Future of NWS Technology –

**The Future of NWS Technology –**
**NEXRAD**

**1st NWS Severe Weather Technology User Meeting**
***July 12-14, 2005***

***Mike Istok***
***NPI Development Manager***
***NWS – Office of Science and Technology***
**Michael.Istok@NOAA.GOV**

## Overview

**NEXRAD Product Improvement: Progress and plans**
**Schedules: WSR-88D 7-11, SPG 1-3, AWIPS 7-10**
**Radar Product Distribution Enhancements**
**Open RDA**
**Mesocyclone Detection Algorithm**
**Environmental Data Ingest**
**TDWR**
**Super Resolution Data**
**Dual Polarization**
**Common Operations and Development Environment**
**Priorities: Radar Data Capability Enhancement**
**Summary**

## NPI: Progress and Plans

## Schedules: WSR-88D 7-11, SPG 1-3, AWIPS 7-10 Build 10+, OB9+, SPG 2+ dates are tentative 

## Recent Radar Product Distribution Enhancements (Build 6, 7)

**Compress 8 bit products (Z, V, DHR)**
- Available for WAN OTR and frame relay dedicated users
**Class 2 user access to products in RPG database**
**Increase RPS list limit to 160 products (AWIPS OB4.2)**
**AWIPS-WAN based interfaces**
- OTR Flow Control 64 kbps from NWS WSR-88Ds
- OTR Flow Control 28 kbps from DOD and FAA WSR-88Ds
- AWIPS configuration change for Dual WAN OTR port use
**Implement frame relay links**
- 100 kbps allocated to product distribution function
- DOD & FAA WSR-88Ds
- Supplemental NWS WSR-88Ds radar
**LAN-LAN interface for RFCs co-located with WSR-88Ds**

## Future Radar Product Distribution Enhancements (Build 8, 9)

**AWIPS-WAN based interfaces**
- Aggregate Flow Control
- 128 kbps from NWS WSR-88D
- 64 kbps from DOD and FAA WSR-88Ds
- Add two more WAN OTR ports (44-45)
- Add one dedicated WAN port (29) for service backup and/or central radar product collection backup (AWIPS OB6)
**Default Product Generation**
- Add products to ensure availability for class 2 users
**Increase frame relay bandwidth to DOD/FAA RPG**
- To increase Aggregate Flow Control to 128 kbps
**Generate products for non-assoc. user requests**
- RCS, VCS, ULR, USP, USD, USW, VAD, and CS

## Slide 7

## Open RDA

**Accurate base data time stamps (obtained via GPS)**
**Base data radials centered on the half degree(+/- 0.04 deg)**
**Elevation cuts contain 360 radials (i.e., no overlap)**
**New signal processor and clutter filter scheme changes quality of base data**
**General Status Message includes RDA software version and redundant channel number (AWIPS OB6)**
**Suppression level and Channel removed from Clutter Filter Control (CFC) product (AWIPS OB6)**
**Calibration constants in GSM and Reflectivity products changed range and/or format**
**Several changes to Level 2 data format and content**

## Mesocyclone Detection Algorithm: Completion

- Central Collection and NCDC archive of MD product
- Alerting, CR, and RCM
- New MDA Alerting Categories
**Use spare Volume(16) and Forecast(32) Group categories**
**Alert Thresholds based on Strength Rank.**
**Proposed Defaults: T1=1, T2=2, T3=3, T4=4, T5=5, T6=6**
- Modify CZ Combined Attributes (MESO) column
**Change from MESO, 3DCO, UNCO or NONE to 1-25(Strength Rank) or NONE**
- Modify Radar Coded Message (RCM) product
**NMESnn: The total number (nn) of mesocyclones (NMES) detected at or above the Minimum Display Filter Strength Rank** i**s encoded.  (Example:  /NMES05:)**
**Mnnggg: The location (ggg) and strength rank (nn) of each Mesocyclone at or above the Minimum Display Filter Strength Rank** i**s encoded using the three-letter grid box designator.  (Example:  M13NLD). **
- Retire legacy Meso algorithm (M, MRU)

**Notes:**
Legacy ICD says: 
/NMESnn : The total number (nn) of mesocyclones and areas of uncorrelated shear (NMES) detected by the Mesocyclone Detection algorithm and reported in Part C shall be encoded (Example: /NMESO5:). 

Mnnggg: The location (ggg) and  number identifier (nn) of each mesocyclone or area of uncorrelated shear (M) shall be encoded using the three-letter grid box designator (Example:  M03JLC). 

Legacy part C example (note Meso’s have ID 1-20, 3D corr shear have IDs 21-39?, uncorr ?? Mistake??):
/NEXRCC 0303 0305992322
/NTVS00:
/NMES12: M01NLD,M02MKC,M03NJI,M04OKD,M05MKD,M06NKD,M21NJE,M22NJA,
M23NJA,M24MKI,M25MKG,M26NLB
/NCEN10: CA0OKC S463HH,CB0NLC S416HH,CE0MKG S362HH,CG0NJI S340HP,
CH0OJI S128HN,CC0NJA S338HH,CI0MKI S095HN,CJ0MKK S316HN,CD0NKA S325HH,
CF0LKI S225HP

## Environmental Data Ingest

**AWIPS provides hourly update to RPG**
- AWIPS config. will determine which RPG is being served
- 3-D grid of temperature, dew point, wind speed and direction
- Provide data within range of ~200 nmi from radar
- RUC model runs every 3 hours and provides output on 40 km grid
- Analysis, 1 hour, 2 hour
- 40 levels in the vertical
**MSCF option to use/not-use for automatic updating of:**
- Environmental winds table (velocity dealiasing algorithm)
- Altitude of 0 and -20 deg C temperatures (hail algorithm)
**MSCF will provide simple data viewer to check data quality**
**Possible future uses**
- Severe storm algorithms, determine precip. type, compute heights

## TDWR

## Comparison of TBWI (20.7deg) and KLWX (19.5 deg)

**Comparison of TBWI (20.7deg) and KLWX (19.5 deg)**

## Slide 13

## Super Resolution

**Base Reflectivity and Velocity products**
- Initially, just on split cuts
- New products
- 1⁄2 degree radials
- 1⁄4 km range bins
**Signal processing techniques to reduce variance**
- Over-sampling
- Whitening
**Algorithm tuning**
- Mesocyclone
- TVS
- Precipitation

## 1 deg / 1 km Resolution

- 0.5 deg / 0.25 km Resolution

- May 10, 2003   03:42 UTC

## Dual Polarization

**Base data products**
*Differential Reflectivity (Z**DR**)*
*Correlation Coefficient (RHO)*
*Differential Phase Shift (PHI**DP**)*
**Derived products**
*Specific Differential Phase (K**DP**)*
*Hydrometeor Classification algorithm (HCA)*
*Convective and winter precipitation versions*
*Discriminate hail, rain, snow, biological targets, and clutter*
*Rainfall accumulation algorithm*
*Based on a combination of polarimetric parameters K**DP** and Z**DR**, and the current linear horizontal reflectivity parameter Z*

## Supercell Thunderstorm Producing Softball-Size Hail

## WSR-88D Common Operations and Development Environment (CODE)

**An algorithm development environment for the WSR-88D **
**Contains software and guidance to create the development environment on an Intel PC running Red Hat Enterprise Workstation Linux or a Sun Ultra-Sparc/Blade with Solaris 8**
- Provides a 'clone' of a WSR-88D Radar Product Generator on a workstation which can run existing and user-created algorithms by ingesting WSR-88D Level 2 data
- Also used to study past weather events by ingesting Level 2 data obtained from NCDC and creating products for analysis
**Includes visualization tools, data sets, documentation, and the operational RPG baseline source code**
**Developed and maintained by the NWS OS&T**
**Updated with each new WSR-88D RPG software release**
**Used by groups that implement software for future RPG releases, technique developers, and researchers**
**A Public Edition is available at **_**[http://weather.gov/code88d/](http://weather.gov/code88d/)**_

## Priorities: Radar Data Capability Enhancements

**All Tilts Frame Expansion(1.8)***
**Super-Resolution**
- Base Z and V Products(1.8)
- MDA(2.0), TVS(2.8), PPS(2.8)
**Dual Polarization**
- Base Data products(2.0)
- HCA(2.0),QPE(2.0)
**NSSL/FSI 4D Radar (2.3)* **
**Plan View Display of VWP (2.5)***
**All Tilts Navigation Tool (2.5)***
**Estimated Actual Velocity (3.3)***
**Data Quality**
- SZ-2, SZ-1, Staggered-PRT, Oversampling, Whitening (3.2)
- Lower Elevation angles(3.2)
- New VCPs(3.4)
- 300 km Doppler Range(4.3)
**MDA: Alerting, CR, RCM (3.3)**
**SPG(TDWR) Products**
- VWP(4.8), Velocity Dealiasing (3.8)
- VIL(6.0)
- MDA(4.0), TVS(3.8), SCIT(5.3)
- PPS(5.3)
- CR(6.3), ULR(6.3)

**Integ. Radar/Enviro. Sampling(4.0)***
**MIGFA (3.8)**
**Enviro. Data From AWIPS (4.3)**
**Prototype Radars/Products (4.3)**
**Freezing Level ULR Request (4.3)***
**Moving Point Meteogram (4.3)***
**Hail Tracks (4.3)**
**ASR-11 (4.5)**
**TVS Tracking (4.8)**
**DVL at a higher scale (5.0)**
**CANRAD (5.0)**
**ARSR-4 (5.0)**
**Rotation Tracks (5.5)**
**SCIT Rapid Update (5.8)**
**Probabilistic Precip. Est. (5.8)**
**VWP Improvements (6.0)**
**VWP Wind Averaging/Stepping (6.3)***
**Uniform Winds Algo. (7.0)**
**4km EET (8.3)**

*** - AWIPS only**

## Summary

**Priorities determined with field input**
- 1. Dual Polarization
- 2. Super Resolution
- 3. SPG products using TDWR data
- 4. Whatever else can be done with remaining resources
**OSIP followed to ensure conops, requirements and business case supports implementation**
**Resource profiles limit quantity of change**
**AWIPS & NEXRAD SRECs determine release content **
**Longer time between major releases lengthens time to deployment and complicates integration**
**Prototype, test, and demo platforms representative of the intended operational environment can foster design refinement and reduce the risk of deploying defects**
**User input and feedback is critical **