Advanced radar system getting first civilian use

Government and civilian representatives discussed cooperating on an advanced radar system at a symposium at the National Weather Center that began Wednesday and continues through Friday.

The multifunction phased array radar can scan the atmosphere more than five times faster and with higher resolution than current systems.

The technology has been around for over 30 years but was used primarily for military operations until research into other uses began about five years ago.

"What's new is its civilian use," said Dr. Jeff Kimpel, director of NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman. "What's very new is the application to weather."

That's where Norman comes in.

A prototype of the radar system, also known as MPAR, is being tested by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman. The National Weather Radar Testbed, a Navy SPY-1 phased array radar, was built in 2003 on the North Base near Westheimer Airport under a multi-agency agreement.

The results are preliminary, but when the radar was used to observe this spring's storms, meteorologists could detect severe weather patterns more quickly, Kimpel said.

'Their confidence factor in issuing a warning to the public was much higher," he said.

Instead of the traditional radar with a rotating antenna to scan the skies, the MPAR has four stationary panels that can scan in all directions without moving.

'This offers a huge boost in capabilities," said Samuel P. Williamson, federal coordinator for meteorological services and supporting research.

The new system could save the country about $3 million to $4 million over the lifetime of the system, according to the informational video presented at a media roundtable at the Weather Center. It would reduce the number of radars in use from 535 now to about 300 on this system.

The radar system won't be implemented until the mid-2010s at the earliest, Williamson said.

Part of that implementation requires cooperation among the parties interested in the phased array radar.

Representatives from NOAA, theFederal Aviation Administration, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security are attending the symposium with a theme of "Leveraging Technology for a Next-Generation National Radar System."

"The goal of this conference is to look at how to go forward," Williamson said.

Much research and development needs to be done on MPAR before it can be implemented, Williamson said. For example, the military is confident the radar can track incoming missiles, but doesn't know how it will work tracking weather or airplanes.

The current cost of a MPAR is about $10.5 million. The government and civilian interests need to examine how to reduce costs and eliminate any other possible faults in the system, Williamson said.

The FAA is conducting tests along with NOAA, to see how the new technology could be used for air traffic.

"For the FAA, we are looking at the technology as a backup for our current surveillance system," said Victoria Cox, vice president of operations planning in the FAA's Air Traffic Organization.

The FAA hopes to partner with the government in developing the system to benefit from "economies of scale," Cox said.

The Department of Homeland Security is interested in providing the technology to customs and border patrol officials.

"Knowing what's going in and out of the country is extremely important to them," said Randel Zeller, senior executive service director of interagency coordination at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Ultimately, the goal of this week's symposium is to create a national initiative to replace old radars with radars that perform better through a collaborative effort at reducing risks, according to the symposium's literature.

 

Julianna Parker
jparker@normantranscript.com