An Integrated Display and Analysis Methodology for Multivariable Radar Data

Polarimetric Doppler radars provide valuable information about the kinematic and microphysical structure of storms. However, in-depth analysis using radar products, such as Doppler-derived wind vectors and hydrometeor identification, has been difficult to achieve in (near) real time, mainly because of the large volumes of data generated by these radars, lack of quick access to these data, and the challenge of applying quality-control measures in real time. This study focuses on modifying and automating several radaranalysis and quality-control algorithms currently used in postprocessing and merging the resulting data from several radars into an integrated analysis and display in (near) real time. Although the method was developed for a specific network of four Doppler radars: two Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR88D) radars (KFTG and KCYS) and two Colorado State University (CSU) research radars [Pawnee and CSU–University of Chicago–Illinois State Water Survey (CSU–CHILL)], the software is easily adaptable to any radar platform or network of radars. The software includes code to synthesize radial velocities to obtain three-dimensional wind vectors and includes algorithms for automatic quality control of the raw polarimetric data, hydrometeor identification, and rainfall rate. The software was successfully tested during the summers of 2004 and 2005 at the CSU–CHILL radar facility, ingesting data from the four-radar network. The display software allows users the ability to view mosaics of reflectivity, wind vectors, and rain rates, to zoom in and out of radar features easily, to create vertical cross sections, to contour data, and to archive data in real time. Despite the lag time of approximately 10 min, the software proved invaluable for diagnosing areas of intense rainfall, hail, strong updrafts, and other features such as mesocyclones and convergence lines. A case study is presented to demonstrate the utility of the software.