Del Laboratorio al

Centro de Operaciones
Tecnologas actuales y futuras
para radares meteorolgicos

Dr. Sebastin Torres

Investigador Cientfico Senior

Inst. Cooperativo de Estudios Meteorolgicos de Mesoescala (CIMMS)

Centro de Investigacin de Radares Avanzados (ARRC)
Universidad de Oklahoma (OU)
Laboratorio Nacional de Tormentas Severas (NSSL)
Administracin Nacional Ocenica y Atmosfrica (NOAA)
Norman, Oklahoma (EEUU)

Simposio de Radarizacin y Sistema de

Alertas Hidrometeolgicos del Cono Sur
12 de septiembre de 2012
The Role of Technology

is the application of
scientific knowledge for practical purposes
The Origins of Radar Meteorology
Radar operators realized
that weather signals could
clutter their displays!

Radar echoes could be

used to infer precipitation
structure hidden inside
clouds.

1944
(Source: http://www.history.noaa.gov/stories_tales/radar.html)

3
Revolutionary Milestones

Warn on forecast
Melting layer detection
MPAR
WSR-57 antenna

Hook echo and tornadic

vortex signature

Hurricane Carla (1961)

?
WSR88D

WSR57

(adaptedfromDusan Zrni,NSSL)
4
NEXRAD Program Milestones

SZ-2
First ORPG
operational
Production First full-scale installed,
2007
contract production ORDA
R&D plan awarded to unit contract First MPAR CMD
established Unisys Corp. installed awarded symposium operational
1981 1987 1992 2001 2007 2009

1980 1990 2000 2010

R&D WSR-88D 100th unit Super
contract prototype in installed First ORDA resolution
awarded to Norman, OK 1995 installed Dual-pol operational
Raytheon 1988 2005 contract 2008
1982 awarded First
to L3/Baron dual-pol
2007 upgrade
2010

5
 Weather Radar Technology
measurements

multi- collaborative and

rain winds fast
parameter multifunction
radar type

active PAR
surveillance Doppler polarimetric phased
radar radar radar array radar
radar
network

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

transmitter

active array
solid state
klystron
magnetron

digital RF
digital IF
receiver

digital I/Q
digital video
analog video
(adapted from Toshiba Corp. 2011)
6
Do we need more?
Tornado Warning Lead Time Tornado Warning False Alarm Rate

improvements can be realized with a continuous influx of technology

from the lab to

the operations
center

Radar R&D @ NSSL Local Weather Forecast Office

7
 Improving Radar
Performance through
Signal Processing
Spot the Differences!
Two Observations of the Same Weather Phenomenon
Reflectivity from the NWRT PAR Reflectivity from the KTLX WSR-88D

(Radar images courtesy of Pam Heinselman, NSSL)

9
Weather Signal Sampling
Range-Time

I &Q
Pulse 1
2
PRT

RangeRadial
Time
c PRT/2
M
Sample-Time

1 range location (AZ, EL, r)

Single pol: Dual pol:

reflectivity, differential reflectivity,
Doppler velocity, co-polar correlation coef.,
spectrum width differential phase

(Adapted from Svetlana Bachmann, NSSL)

Radial:
10
Weather Radar Signal Processing
Time series data

Meteorological variables
Weather
Radar
Signal
Processing

Smaller amounts of data

Large amounts of data Understandable
Unintelligible

Separation and classification of echoes

Mitigation of sampling artifacts

11
Algo para pensar
El procesamiento de seales y datos es
tan o ms importante que el radar.
Isztar Zawadzki

12
Why is DSP important?
Four basic needs to improve weather radar
observations
Effective quality control

Data Quality
Faster updates
Better precision B
Data
Acquisition
Greater coverage E
N

Improvements at the source E

F Product
Benefits carry over downstream I Generation
T

Enabled by technology S

Feasible real-time implementation Users

13
Effective Quality Control
Radar data are messy!
Ground Clutter Total US wind
Users and algorithms

Clutter Filter OFF

power capacity
has increased
more than 6 need clean data
times over the
past decade

Ground Clutter
Clutter Filter OFF

& Weather

Storms Wind
Farms

NSSLs Clean-AP
Clutter Filter ON

Filter

14
Faster Updates
Faster updates are needed to see first signs of potentially
severe weather from quickly evolving phenomena
NoNewScans
4%

Other
Elevations
8% More
Below0.5deg
10% FrequentLow
Elevation
Scans

62%
BetterRange 37%
Unfolding
16%
of forecasters* want
FasterScans faster updates
25% *US National Weather Service survey on radar
scanning strategy needs (2008)
15
Better Precision
Super-Resolution Dual Polarization
Legacy Resolution

250 m

250 m
1 km
250 m

1/8 250 m
1 deg

Super-Resolution

Tornado outbreak in Oklahoma City, 9 May 2003 Hydrometeor classification algorithm (A. Rhyzkov, NSSL)
from Curtis et al. (2003)

16
Greater Coverage

Acquisition
Parameters

Echoes appear in Echoes appear in

the wrong place! the right place!
Reflectivity Reflectivity
Where is the storm?

Echoes are Echoes are

obscured! recovered!

Radar Signal
Processing

Doppler Velocity Doppler Velocity Enjoying the light breeze?

17
Weather Data Quality
Data quality is important for
Effective data interpretation
Warnings are usually issued from real-time radar
observations
Algorithm design and performance
Meteorological variables are
the main inputs to algorithms
Data quality drives the
design of algorithms
Effective performance of
algorithms depends on meeting
predicted data quality levels

Example of poor data quality

on the NEXRAD network
18
NEXRAD Product Improvement
Last NEXRAD radar installed in 1998
Computing capabilities had stayed at the 1988 level!
Important scientific and engineering
developments since original design
Improvements to operations required
modernization of the network
Enabled by technology upgrades

19
Technology Transfer Process
SZ2
NWS forecasters Timeline
2007

ROC implementers 2005

SREC schedulers

PMC triagencies

TAC 2004
scienceadvisors
2001
R&D scientists 1997
20
Signal Processing
Example #1

Mitigation of
the Doppler Dilemma

21
Range Ambiguities

Overlaid echoes

Ambiguous echoes

Ts = 3.1 ms and ra = 466 km Ts = 780 s and ra = 117 km

23
Velocity Ambiguities
Doppler velocities away from the radar
Doppler velocities toward the radar

Velocity aliasing

Ts = 3.1 ms and va = 8.9 m/s Ts = 1.167 ms and va = 23.75 m/s

25
The Doppler Dilemma
Tradeoff: short PRTs are needed for unambiguous Doppler
velocity measurements while long PRTs are needed for
unambiguous positioning of echoes.

C-band radars are more

susceptible to the
Doppler Dilemma!

26
Phase Coding Performance
An Operational Example
KTLX radar in
Oklahoma City
30 Mar 2007,
0.5 deg elevation

Notice switch from

VCP12
(no phase coding)
to
VCP 212
(phase coding)

(courtesy of WDTB)
27
Signal Processing
Example #2

Realizing faster updates

28
 Tornado Warning
How much lead time would YOU need?

A Tornado Warning
indicates imminent
danger to life and
property

has issued a Tornado Warning

More than this, for sure!

Twister (Warner Bros. Pictures, 1996)

29
How do we get faster updates?
Full Scan Partial Scan Full Scan
Short Obs. Time

Faster updates Faster updates

Less coverage Less precision

30
Range Oversampling
A Signal Processing Solution

Range oversampling (RO) adds more information

(samples) without increasing the observation time
RO leads to overlapping radar volumes (gates)

c/2L

gate

radial
range range

c/2 c/2

Traditional Sampling Oversampling (xL)

RO data are correlated and correlation is known

Set of L oversampled data can be decorrelated/whitened

31
Range Oversampling
Performance Demonstration

Standard Processing Range Oversampling Processing

Data collected using

same observation time

A smoother field with no loss of detail is an indication of more precise data

32
 Signal Processing
Example #3

Mitigation of
ground clutter contamination

33
What is Clutter?
Clutter refers to echoes that might interfere
with desired signals
Depending on the application, weather signals can be
regarded as clutter!
Types of clutter for weather radars
Point targets
Ground clutter
Vegetation (seasonal!)
Ground terrain
Man-made structures
Sea clutter
Biological scatterers
34
What does clutter do?
Clutter targets are usually very efficient reflectors of
electromagnetic energy
Clutter contaminates the signal of interest
Biases all meteorological variables
This affects all downstream radar products!

Radar Reflectivity Doppler Velocity

(Source of images: WDTB)
35
The Doppler Spectrum
The Doppler Spectrum is the power-weighted
distribution of Doppler velocities in the radar volume

power power

0 velocity vr velocity

power power

vr velocity
vr velocity

36
Ground Clutter Filters
Clutter
Ground clutter will Signal Weather
bias all estimates! Signal
Original Doppler spectrum
v (m s-1)

Notch
Width Ground Clutter Filter
v (m s-1)
Ground clutter
residue
Filtered Doppler spectrum
v (m s-1)

Select the filters notch width to

Minimize ground clutter residue
Trade-off!
Maximize weather signal retention
37
CLEAN-AP Performance
Unfiltered Filtered

ground
zero clutter
isodop

Where is the zero isodop?

 Improving Radar
Performance through
Electronic Beam Steering
Pioneering Use of Array Capabilities
Archimedes heat ray (215-212 BC)
Mirrors acting collectively as a parabolic reflector

Eureka!

Source: Wikipedia

40
PAR Electronic Beam Steering
Want fields to interfere constructively in desired directions,
and interfere destructively in the remaining space

Beam Perpendicular Scan To 30 deg

to the Array

(adapted from Jeff Herd, MIT LL)

41
Weather Radar Antennas
Parabolic Reflector vs. Phased Array

Parabolic Reflector Antennas:

Rotating Antenna (Smearing)
Mechanical Inertia
Limited Scanning Capabilities
Fixed Beam Pattern
Dual Polarization with Feed

Phased Array Antennas:

Fixed Antenna (No Smearing)
No Mechanical Inertia
Adaptive Scanning Capabilities
Changing Beam Pattern
Issues with Dual Polarization

42
Graceful Degradation
Passive array or conventional radar
One transmitter/receiver
Catastrophic loss of function
Active array
Many T/R elements Random degradation

No single point of failure

Maintenance not urgent

The Navys experience with the

SPY-1 PAR demonstrates that up to
10% of the T/R elements can fail
before there is significant
degradation in performance.
(Source: JAG/PARP report 2006)

Source: Evaluation of the MPAR Planning Process (NRC 2008)

43
Beam Blockage Mitigation
Beam blockage occurs when
the radar beam is blocked blockage

by terrain
Blockage may be total or partial
Blockage introduces biases
in meteorological products

Electronic steering can be

exploited to graze the horizon

Electronically
Constant
Steered
Elevation
Elevation

44
Elimination of Beam Smearing
Radars use many samples of a resolution
volume to reduce errors of estimates
Mechanically steered antenna
Samples come from different volumes
Beam is smeared
Electronically steered antenna
Samples come from the same volume
Beam is not smeared
No moving parts!
beam #1 beam #2

1 2 3 4 5 1 Sample No.
45
Beam Multiplexing
Allows more time between samples without
increasing the update time
Multitasking leads to faster updates
Contiguous Beams BMX
T
1

Faster updates and/or lower errors

Incompatible w/standard processing
What do forecasters want from the radar?

fast automatic
updates QC
accurate weak-echo
estimates detection
precise full
estimates coverage

uncontaminated fine spatial

data resolution

49
Forecasters could have it all!
Adaptive scanning consists of changing the
radars scanning strategy in response to
changes in the atmosphere
the radar provides what they need
when they need it

to adapt: to adjust oneself

to different conditions

50
Weather Matters
Scanning strategies must be tailored to the
characteristics of the weather phenomenon
being sampled
Near Range Far Range
Scanning Strategy
Design Considerations

Update time
Range coverage
Volumetric coverage
Spatial resolution
Data Quality

(source: WDTB)

51
Adaptive Scanning
Conventional
scanning

Everywhere
Sequential

Adaptive scanning

Areas of interest only

Arbitrary
(courtesy of Chris Curtis, NSSL)

Faster updates
May miss new developments
52
how does ADAPTS work?
ADAPTS classifies beam
positions as active or inactive Adaptive DSP Algorithm for PAR Timely Scans

active beam positions

meet one or more criteria
Elevation angle

el
Significance az
Real-time display of active beam positions
Neighborhood
continuity and
Z coverage
EL

down up
Zth

AZ
Range left right

Always scan at the Determine significant Look around to

lower elevations weather signals respond to storm
evolution
1st Criterion 2nd Criterion 3rd Criterion
Today: Conventional Scanning
el

engineers
representation
of a storm

storm 2 storm 3
storm 1

scan A_
0 90 az
PAR

All storm and clear-air regions are

scanned the same
54
The Future: Adaptive Scanning
el

surveillance scan
scan B

scan A scan C
storm 2 storm 3
storm 1

0 90 az
PAR

Each storm and clear-air regions are

scanned with tailored strategies
55
Adaptive Scanning with PAR
PARs are best suited to perform adaptive
scanning due to the lack of mechanical inertia
focused observations lead to faster updates
spend more time where its needed and
less time where its not
storm-specific sampling leads to improved
observations
make the best out of the time spent scanning
the areas of interest

Faster updates
Improved observations
Complex decisions Warn on forecast vision
56
Adaptive Beamforming
Spatial filtering
Antenna pattern can be Main lobe
altered using active array
or auxiliary channels Side lobes
Nulls can be placed in
the direction of clutter
Without SLC With SLC
target target

clutter clutter

Source: K. Le (2009) Null

Improved data quality

Computational complexity
58
Challenges with PAR
Cost
Transmit/Receive elements
Backend
Dual polarization
Coupling away from principal planes
Cross-polar pattern
Beam matching
Multifunction
Meeting diverse, strict requirements

60
 Phased-Array Radar
Technology at the NSSL
What is the NWRT PAR?
National Weather
SPY-1A Antenna + Partnership = Radar Testbed
Phased-Array Radar

U.S. Navy
Government Photo by A. Zahrai

Academia NWRT PAR

Private Industry
(adapted from P. Heinselman, NSSL)
62
PAR vs. Conventional (I)
Conventional Radar is White

PAR is Blue

NSSLs research radars in Norman, Oklahoma

63
PAR vs. Conventional (II)
Doppler velocity and reflectivity fields - May 24, 2011 tornado
NWRT PAR

(Images courtesy of Pam Heinselman, NSSL)

WSR-88D

64
Were evaluating the MPAR concept
as a NEXRAD replacement

long-range surveillance

severe weather
non-cooperative targets weather fronts

wmd cloud
terminal surveillance

multi-network replacement OFCM Report (2006)

improved capabilities
reduced maintenance costs
65
PARISE* brings users into the loop

scanning strategies

strengths and limitations

operational challenges

Photos by J. Murnan
(NSSL)

*Phased-Array Radar Innovative Sensing Experiments

PARISE: rapid updates do help
in the warning decision process

Conceptual models It takes some getting used to

are easier to apply

less uncertainty need to adapt analysis approach

easier use of cross sections

possibility of greater fatigue

PAR technology is being evaluated
for weather observations

unique
capabilities

engineering involvement
upgrades of users

68
Concluding Remarks
weather radar technology

can help save lives

Can you guess?
Since the dual-polarization upgrade, how many
tornado warnings have NEXRAD radars
issued?

NONE
Tornado debris detection using dual polarization
(Source: WDTB)
71
Technology is not enough!
science & technology operations

saving
lives &
property

users 72
Summary
An evolutionary system is essential as a tool
to save lives and property
hardware, software, signal processing, users,
Signal processing is a major 22 May 11 Joplin, MO tornado
component of successful EF-5: 158 dead, $2.8B damage

weather radar operations

Techniques respond to users needs
If done right, the users are unaware of it
Technology upgrades are the
foundation for radar data quality
Good data quality leads to good products,
which are needed for algorithms,
effective interpretation, and decision making

73