The Next Generation of Radar

In the late 80s the National Weather Service revolutionized the science of weather with it's upgrade from a 1940s radar to a high powered Doppler radar which not only took a picture of the reflectivity of precipitation but brought many more sources of data into view. It looked like kind of a 'cat scan' of the atmosphere with several algorithms and volume scans that gave us an indication of hail size and the formation of winds in the clouds that could cause damage as tornadoes or micro bursts (Straight line winds).

Now a new generation of radar comes into the picture. (And no I'm not talking about the over promoted snake weather system some are talking about). No this radar is called Dual Polarization radar or 'dual pole'. Here's a look at the difference. The National Weather Service will be updating to this new radar. As you can see by the image above it takes a different type of scan of the atmosphere. Because it scans horizontally and vertically it can do much more than the current radar systems. It detects size, shape and speed of precipitation. For instance it will give meteorologists a true depiction of rain, snow and sleet. In the past we would have to look at atmospheric conditions to tell us whether we were having rain or snow. Research is also being done in Indiana on this radar at Valparaiso University and is also being tested by the National Weather Service in Huntsville Alabama.