Salient features of radar nodes of the first generation NetRad System

The recently established National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA) will be deploying the first generation of an automated network of four low-power, short-range, X-band, polarimetric, Doppler radars, known as NetRad, in central Oklahoma in late 2005. This network is developed with the goal of tracking tornadoes with high spatial and temporal resolution as well as mapping severe weather events in the lowest 2 km of the troposphere. Each radar node has been developed to accomplish this system goal through the coordinated interaction with other radars in the network via a real-time, closed-loop software control system. This paper will describe the characteristics of the individual radar nodes in the system, with emphasis on those aspects of the design that lend themselves toward operation as a coordinated network. Calibration results and performance characteristics of the single node radar of the first generation system will also be presented.