A Report on theA Report on the

NCAR S-Pol and CSU-CHILL NCAR S-Pol and CSU-CHILL Integrated Radar FacilitiesIntegrated Radar Facilities

CHILL Site CHILL Site

OverviewOverview NSF asked NCAR and CSU to develop a

framework for aligning the various activities of both Facilities

Many planning meetings were held between EOL and CSU staff starting in the fall of 2006

Integrated Weather Radar Facility (IWRF) white paper developed, reviewed by various members of our community

Briefing presented to NSF in April 2008 Recommendation made to move ahead with the

IWRF Overarching goal is to provide enhanced services

to the user community

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Strategic ThrustsStrategic Thrusts “Integrate” CSU/CHILL and NCAR/S-Pol

systems Permits sharing of expertise and ideas Work together on problems of mutual interest Provide commonality for various components of the

radar Compliment the “deployment” mission of S-Pol and

the “development” mission of CSU-CHILL Broaden the use of the facilities for education Individual business structures maintained

CHILL funded by a Cooperative Agreement from NSF S-Pol funding as part of NCAR base funding

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Theme Areas under the Integrated Theme Areas under the Integrated FacilityFacility

Engineering System engineering, advanced development,

data and visualization Strategic Science

Centered on “Front Range Laboratory” and potential science applications

Education Innovative educational utilization of real time

and archived data from S-Pol and CHILL

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Unique Advancements throughUnique Advancements throughNCAR – CSU Collaboration (1)NCAR – CSU Collaboration (1)

Accelerate development-to-deployment time for hardware and software initiatives

Integrated engineering efforts Uninterrupted development during S-Pol deployment

Combine expertise available at S-Pol and CSU-CHILL for educational opportunities Remote real time presentations (V-CHILL); VCHILL to

be installed on S-Pol Case study data collection, digital library Participation in CSU educational initiatives by NCAR

staff Recent ASP Remote Sensing Symposium was an

example

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InternetInternet

Remote Client Remote Clients

Remote Processor

Tx. Waveform

Rx. Signal

Radar Hardware

Radar Controller/Signal Processor/

Storage

The Virtual CHILL - VCHILLThe Virtual CHILL - VCHILL Enables remote

real-time data Time series Radar products

Enables remote signal processing

Enables remote operation

Unique Advancements throughUnique Advancements throughNCAR – CSU Collaboration (2)NCAR – CSU Collaboration (2)

Development of remote/unattended operational capability Reduce staffing levels during data collection Enhanced efficiency More periods of data collection

S-Pol to operate at home base when not deployed Follows the CSU-CHILL model

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Short Term Projects--UnderwayShort Term Projects--Underway

S-Pol adapting the new CHILL timing control Both CHILL and S-Pol have purchased new

(identical) antenna controllers S-Pol HAWK signal processing system has been

installed on CHILL as a parallel processor. Facilitates NCAR work with the National Weather Service. HAWK system utilizes the digitized I,Q data from CHILL as input. Output is generated for the NCAR CIDD scientific display which is also operational at CHILL.

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Short Term Projects, continued….Short Term Projects, continued….

The current CHILL signal processor will be implemented on S-Pol. Therefore both radars will have identical, parallel processing systems (CHILL and HAWK). NCAR gained valuable experience in TiMREX where they operated the current S-Pol and HAWK processors in parallel.

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Integrated Architecture Integrated Architecture

S-Pol

Common Architecture

CSU-CHILLCommon Software Common Hardware

Collaboratively Specified and Designed Independently Designed

S-Pol Antenna

S-Pol Antenna

Antenna Electronics

Antenna Electronics

TransmitterTransmitter

ReceiverReceiver

CHILL AntennaCHILL

Antenna

Antenna Electronics

Antenna Electronics

TransmitterTransmitter

ReceiverReceiver

Digital Waveform Synthesis

Digital Waveform Synthesis

Digital ReceiverDigital Receiver

Antenna ControllerAntenna

Controller

Scan and System Control

Scan and System Control

Signal ProcessingSignal Processing

Data Capture and Display

Data Capture and Display

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Short Term Projects, continued….Short Term Projects, continued….

Improve polarimetric capabilities of S-Pol antenna. Photogrammatic analysis of the current S-Pol reflector has been carried out to determine surface accuracy. Analysis currently underway. Purchase new OMT feedhorn for S-Pol and use

current reflector Use 1994 CHILL feedhorn and current S-Pol

reflector Use entire 1994 CHILL antenna on S-Pol

(mechanical study has been done to determine suitability for non-radome operations)

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Local Operational Aspects (1)Local Operational Aspects (1)

Dedicated efforts towards target of opportunity, home-base operation of both radars…when not supporting NSF projects

Allows continuous testing and development of Automated calibration techniques Signal processing algorithms Remote control capabilities S-Pol will be maintained in an operational, ready

state when not deployed

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Local Operational Aspects (2)Local Operational Aspects (2)

Re-location of S-Pol could ultimately allow CHILL and S-Pol to become anchor points in a Colorado Front Range Observing Network Provide a cost-effective, high value technology

test-bed for validating new instruments and measurements. Serve as a “magnet” for a variety of field projects.

None of these local activities will reduce the radars’ traditional availabilities for NSF-supported projects

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63 km

51 k

m

42 km

73 k

m

TDWR

KCYS

Grand ViewGrand View

N SE

W

• 40° 2.361’ N; 104° 55.696’ W; 5195’ MSL

• SE of I-25/Hwy 52; ~4 miles S of Dacono; ~5 miles SW of Ft. Lupton

• 63 km from Continental Divide; 51 km from CHILL/ 42 km from KFTG

• 0.5° terrain blockage to S; nearly 0° horizon in all other directions

• Clutter to NE (Ft Lupton) but can use CMD; good for refractivity

• Excellent site but should check for planned developments

Front Range Network Science Front Range Network Science PossibilitiesPossibilities

High resolution 3D wind and dual-polarization observations available on the mesoscale, over varying terrain Evolution of the boundary layer wind and moisture patterns Diagnoses of airflow and hydrometeor fields in convective

storms (especially those producing hail, locally heavy rainfall, etc.)

Precipitation processes in winter “upslope” events Validation of kinematic and microphysical fields in numerical

models

Investigations into realtime applications of network data Algorithm improvements (hydrometeor ID, etc.) Assimilation of radar data fields into NWP models

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TimelineTimeline

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Dual Offset-Fed Gregorian Antenna Dual Offset-Fed Gregorian Antenna SystemSystem

Operational March 2008

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CSU-CHILL developinga second frequency,X-band (polarimetric)

Rainfall estimation

High resolutionmicrophysics

Dual-wavelength attenuation studies

Test data planned in winter 2010

X-band

S-bandDual-frequency feedhornbeing constructed

0.3 degree beamwidth atX-band, boresighted with1.0 degree beam at S-band

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S-Pol projects include:

Installation of WSR-88D transmitter forbetter performance and reliability

Antenna upgrade, as described earlier. ExpectLdr limit to -35 dB (currently at -30 dB) andimproved H,V pattern matching

S-Pol now features CMD, Clutter Mitigation Decision for real time clutter mitigation (does not filter zero velocity weather)

All leads to better data quality and reliability….

TRMM-LBA 1999

NAME 2004

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Yesterday when you were listening to all those greatscience talks……

CSU-CHILL data from15 June 2009

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Specific differential phaseshowing rain rates in excessof 4 inches per hour, mixedwith hail (note Zdr field)

Differential reflectivity