METEOROLOGICAL EQUIPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY
Automated Surface Observing System. Currently active and available weather stations.
ASOS
Next-Generation Radar (Technical name WSR-88D--Weather Surveillance Radar 1988 Doppler). Current network of Doppler weather radars used by the National Weather Service.
Mesonet
Regional network of weather observation stations.
Weather Balloon
High altitude balloon carrying instruments to measure temperature, pressure, dew point, wind speed & direction up to 15+km through the troposphere. The data received from weather balloons is vital to forecasts and forecast models.
What are some of the products of Dual Pol NEXRAD?
Reflectivity - Detects precipitation and how heavy or light it is occurring. Can also be used to detect insects, birds, fronts, dry lines, and outflow boundaries of storms.
Velocity - The speed and direction of motion of objects detected by radar. Measures the speed and direction of a hydrometeor (rain drop, hail stone, etc) which can be used to derive wind speed, especially during severe storms or hurricanes.
Storm Relative Velocity - used to aid in displaying shear and rotation in storms by subtracting the storm's motion. A storm's motion can sometimes hide actual strength of rotation.
Spectrum Width- How truthful velocity data is. Higher values indicate lower verifiability in velocity values.
Correlation Coefficient - A higher correlation (value closer to 1) means a more uniform composition and most likely meteorological objects detected on radar.
A lower correlation (Values closer to 0) indicate less uniform or even non-meteorological detected objects on radar. These could be insects, birds, bats, smoke, or tornado debris lofted into the air.
Traditional Radar
Dual Pol Radar
Forecast Guidance
Computer-generated forecast materials used to assist the preparation of a forecast, such as numerical forecast models.
Climometer
Instrument measuring angles of inclination that can be used to measure cloud ceiling heights.
RADAR
What is it? A radio device or system for locating an object by means of ultrahigh-frequency radio waves reflected from the object and received, observed, and analyzed by the receiving part of the device in such a way that characteristics (as distance and direction) of the object may be determined.
What is Doppler Radar? Radar that can be used to measure radial velocity and the instantaneous component of motion parallel to the radar beam.
(The object detected on radar has two motion vectors: toward or away from the radar antenna).
What is the radar beam and why is it important? The radar beam is a straight line the pulse of the radar travels along. The radar beam becomes wider farther away from the radar site. In order for precipitation to be detected by the radar, it must fill the ENTIRE width of the beam. Smaller rain showers/ or storms far away from the radar may be obscured because of this.
What is NEXRAD?
Sounding
A set of data measuring the vertical structure of an atmospheric parameter (temp, wind speed/direction, pressure, dew point, etc.)
SATELLITE
Infrared Satellite Imagery - Satellite that senses surface and cloud
top temperatures through "infrared" technology. High cloud tops
are the coldest since they are at higher altitudes.
Visible Satellite Imagery- Satellite that uses reflected sunlight to see
things in earth's atmosphere and on earth's surface. Since this
satellite uses sunlight, it can only be used during the day.
Water Vapor Imagery - Satellite imagery that uses a wavelength
sensitive to the moisture content in the atmosphere.
GOES-Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite- Satellites orbiting at 22,370 miles above the Equator with the same rotational velocity as the Earth; therefore, the satellite remains over the same location on the Earth 24 hours a day. Besides sending back satellite pictures to earth, it also relays the DCPs river and rainfall data back to the ground
GOES 16- NOAA's newest satellite sitting at 22,300 miles above earth's surface providing 4x higher resolution images than the previous GOES system. Can provide an image of the entire Earth every 15 minutes and the Continental U.S. every 5 minutes!
Thermometer
An instrument for measuring air temperature.
Hygrometer
An instrument for measuring the humidity in the air.
Rain Gauge
An instrument for measuring the quantity of rain that has fallen.
River Gauge
A device for measuring the river stage.
Anemometer
An instrument used for measuring the speed of the wind.
A device that measures atmospheric pressure.
Dry Line Research Paper--FINAL.FORMAT.pdf