Doppler On Wheels Mobile Radar Network

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Intellectual Merit: Under this Cooperative Agreement the Principal investigator will provide as a national facility a three-system ground-based mobile radar fleet, the Doppler On Wheels (DOWs). The three systems include two mobile X-band Doppler on Wheels and the 6 to 12 beam "Rapid Scan DOW". In the past these radar systems have participated in research projects that have covered a broad range of topics including individual cumulus cloud studies, orographic precipitation and dynamics, hydrologic studies, fire weather investigations, severe convective storms and tropical cyclones at landfall. By establishing these systems as a national facility, community access to mobile radar systems will be greatly enhanced with a concomitant increase in research activities. The DOW mobile multiple-Doppler network has the potential to play a critical role in obtaining spatially and temporally fine-scale three-dimensional single-Doppler and multiple- Doppler vector wind fields and reflectivity fields in support of a variety of the NSF community's scientific studies. The DOW network has the following characteristics: Ultra-high resolution three-dimensional sampling with volumetric repeat intervals of 50 seconds with the DOWs and 5-10 seconds with the Rapid-Scan DOW; Rapid Deployment: Deployment time in the USA is about 36 hours; Near ground observations: Mobility permits typical multiple-Doppler observations as low as 100 meters above ground level and single-Doppler observations as low as 20 meters above ground level; Hostile environments: The DOWs can operate in environments with 10 centimeter hail, 70 meter per second winds, salt spray, volcanic ash, etc. Broader Impacts: Due to the ease of use, transportability and low deployment cost, the DOWs can be frequently utilized on site for educational activities, such as being part of a university atmospheric instrumentation courses. The DOWs can be operated by students with minimal, often remote, technical supervision. The DOWs add significantly to the facility infrastructure of the atmospheric sciences community. It is anticipated that many researchers from many different institutions and disciplines will be using these systems on a variety of research projects.