MGorse Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 The Fort Dix, NJ (KDIX) Doppler Radar will get the Dual-Pol upgrade in late January to early February 2012. I think this will be exciting and we are looking forward to seeing the data as we go through different types of weather. PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 420 PM EST TUE DEC 13 2011 ...DUAL-POLARIZATION UPGRADE TO WSR-88D RADAR AT FORT DIX COMING SOON... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY, NEW JERSEY WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THE UPCOMING UPGRADE TO THE WSR-88D RADAR LOCATED AT FORT DIX (KDIX). THE UPGRADE WILL INVOLVE THE INSTALLATION OF THE NEW DUAL-POLARIZATION RADAR TECHNOLOGY. DUAL-POL AS IT IS COMMONLY REFERRED TO WILL HELP USERS IDENTIFY NON-WEATHER TARGETS MORE EASILY, DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN RAIN, SNOW, AND MELTING SNOW, HELP DETECT WHEN HAIL IS PRESENT IN A THUNDERSTORM, DETECT AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN BETTER, AND DETECT DEBRIS LOFTED BY SIGNIFICANT TORNADOES. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE WSR-88D RADAR LOCATED AT FORT DIX WILL BE UNAVAILABLE FOR 10-14 DAYS DURING THIS PROCESS. THE CURRENT EXPECTED DATE TO BEGIN INSTALLATION IS JANUARY 30, 2012. THE INSTALLATION IS EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED BY FEBRUARY 12, 2012. ANOTHER PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED BEFORE THE RADAR IS TAKEN OFFLINE, IN ADDITION TO A FREE TEXT MESSAGE (FTM). RADARS FROM SURROUNDING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES WILL STILL BE OPERABLE, IN ADDITION TO THE SURROUNDING TERMINAL DOPPLER RADARS. THESE INCLUDE DOVER AIR FORCE BASE (KDOX), WAKEFIELD, VIRGINIA (KAKQ), STERLING, VIRGINIA (KLWX), STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA (KCCX), BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK (KBGM), AND UPTON, NEW YORK (KOKX), AS WELL AS PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (TPHL), BALTIMORE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (TBWI), ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE (TADW), AND NEWARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (TEWR). FOR MORE INFORMATION ON DUAL-POLARIZATION, PLEASE VISIT THE WARNING DECISION TRAINING BRANCH AT... WWW.WDTB.NOAA.GOV/COURSES/DUALPOL/OUTREACH YOU CAN VIEW THE TRAINING FOR EITHER NON-NWS METEOROLOGISTS OR FOR NON-METEOROLOGISTS. ALSO, YOU CAN SPEAK TO A METEOROLOGIST DURING THE HOURS OF 8 AM AND 4 PM BY CALLING 609-261-6615, OR SEND AN EMAIL TO [email protected] IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS. $$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rib Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 There were times last year when I thought the radar was made of cardboard Jk, looks good but we know there will be a blizzard in that span of it being down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cast4 Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Great News. Hopefully the reliability is also improved with the dual pol upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGorse Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 There were times last year when I thought the radar was made of cardboard Jk, looks good but we know there will be a blizzard in that span of it being down. Be nice, or no sleet for you. Yeah, it will be interesting to see if rather active weather decides to take place during that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phlwx Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Be nice, or no sleet for you. Yeah, it will be interesting to see if rather active weather decides to take place during that time. Might as well "book" a snowstorm or icestorm for this timeframe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Lightning Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 It will be interesting to see how different the radars will be between OKX and DOX during that time frame since OKX will have just completed the dual pol upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quakertown needs snow Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 cool. upgrades are always nice, most of the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absolute Humidity Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Does this upgrade include resolution enhancement? (To make those zoomed Radar Scope loops even more awesome!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGorse Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 Does this upgrade include resolution enhancement? (To make those zoomed Radar Scope loops even more awesome!) As far as I know of, nope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absolute Humidity Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 As far as I know of, nope. Ok, thanks. One more question, during the late night and early morning hours, the KDIX radar beam displays a thin line of less precipitation that propagates from the site, NNE, heads directly over my area then widens slightly as it heads over Brooklyn. This seems to be more evident durning snow events than rain and can reduce areas over this line by 10 dBZ. Any idea if this type of defect will be corrected? Or is this caused by some ground clutter object actually blocking the single? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGorse Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 Ok, thanks. One more question, during the late night and early morning hours, the KDIX radar beam displays a thin line of less precipitation that propagates from the site, NNE, heads directly over my area then widens slightly as it heads over Brooklyn. This seems to be more evident durning snow events than rain and can reduce areas over this line by 10 dBZ. Any idea if this type of defect will be corrected? Or is this caused by some ground clutter object actually blocking the single? If I remember correctly, it had something to do with the "zero isodop" line which is where there is no velocity. Basically at the zero isodop, the true wind is blowing perpendicular to the radar beam and therefore the radar cannot tell if the particle is moving toward or away from the radar, thus the radar assumes a velocity of zero. This should be better now as we changed our clutter suppression setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absolute Humidity Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Excellent and thanks. There was many a storm when I could not tell if the bands were dissapating or being snuffed out by some radar analmaly and often visibility became the best gauge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmagan Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 It seems to me that the TDWR TPHL is always out of service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGorse Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 It seems to me that the TDWR TPHL is always out of service. I have not really noticed that. Perhaps at times it is a comms problem and not the radar itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGorse Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 A quick update as some pre-dual pol maintenance being done today. I was told that the team is actually ahead of schedule a little bit (finishing up at the Upton, NY radar). FTMDIX Message Date: Jan 18 2012 14:56:57 kdix will be down for a majority of the day for pre-dual pol MAINTENANCE. the radar should return to service by late this afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phlwx Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 A quick update as some pre-dual pol maintenance being done today. I was told that the team is actually ahead of schedule a little bit (finishing up at the Upton, NY radar). FTMDIX Message Date: Jan 18 2012 14:56:57 kdix will be down for a majority of the day for pre-dual pol MAINTENANCE. the radar should return to service by late this afternoon. And here I thought it was a protest against SOPA on the radar's part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGorse Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 And here I thought it was a protest against SOPA on the radar's part. Nope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastonwx Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 A quick update as some pre-dual pol maintenance being done today. I was told that the team is actually ahead of schedule a little bit (finishing up at the Upton, NY radar). I guess the weather has been cooperative Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGorse Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 I guess the weather has been cooperative Yes indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobbTC Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Starting now PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 900 AM EST SUN JAN 22 2012 ...DUAL POLARIZATION UPGRADE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE... THE DUAL POLARIZATION UPGRADE TO THE WSR-88D RADAR LOCATED AT FORT DIX IS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE AND WILL BEGIN TODAY, SUNDAY JANUARY 22. THE RADAR WILL BE OUT OF SERVICE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, AND THE OUTAGE MAY LAST UP TO A WEEK TO 10 DAYS. DURING THIS OUTAGE, PLEASE USE THE RADARS FROM SURROUNDING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES, IN ADDITION TO THE SURROUNDING TERMINAL DOPPLER RADARS. THESE INCLUDE: DOVER AIR FORCE BASE (KDOX); WAKEFIELD, VIRGINIA (KAKQ); STERLING, VIRGINIA (KLWX); STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA (KCCX); BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK (KBGM), AND UPTON, NEW YORK (KOXK). THE UPTON, NEW YORK RADAR HAS ALREADY BEEN UPGRADED. IN ADDITION, THE FOLLOWING TERMINAL DOPPLER RADARS ARE AVAILABLE: PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (TPHL); BALTIMORE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (TBWI); ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE (TADW); AND NEWARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (TEWR). FOR MORE INFORMATION ON DUAL-POLARIZATION, PLEASE VISIT THE WARNING DECISION TRAINING BRANCH AT... WWW.WDTB.NOAA.GOV/COURSES/DUALPOL/OUTREACH YOU CAN VIEW THE TRAINING FOR EITHER NON-NWS METEOROLOGISTS OR FOR NON-METEOROLOGISTS. ALSO, YOU CAN SPEAK TO A METEOROLOGIST DURING THE HOURS OF 8 AM AND 4 PM BY CALLING 609-261-6615, OR SEND AN EMAIL TO [email protected] IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absolute Humidity Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Starting now PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 900 AM EST SUN JAN 22 2012 ...DUAL POLARIZATION UPGRADE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE... THE DUAL POLARIZATION UPGRADE TO THE WSR-88D RADAR LOCATED AT FORT DIX IS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE AND WILL BEGIN TODAY, SUNDAY JANUARY 22. THE RADAR WILL BE OUT OF SERVICE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, AND THE OUTAGE MAY LAST UP TO A WEEK TO 10 DAYS. DURING THIS OUTAGE, PLEASE USE THE RADARS FROM SURROUNDING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES, IN ADDITION TO THE SURROUNDING TERMINAL DOPPLER RADARS. THESE INCLUDE: DOVER AIR FORCE BASE (KDOX); WAKEFIELD, VIRGINIA (KAKQ); STERLING, VIRGINIA (KLWX); STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA (KCCX); BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK (KBGM), AND UPTON, NEW YORK (KOXK). THE UPTON, NEW YORK RADAR HAS ALREADY BEEN UPGRADED. IN ADDITION, THE FOLLOWING TERMINAL DOPPLER RADARS ARE AVAILABLE: PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (TPHL); BALTIMORE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (TBWI); ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE (TADW); AND NEWARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (TEWR). FOR MORE INFORMATION ON DUAL-POLARIZATION, PLEASE VISIT THE WARNING DECISION TRAINING BRANCH AT... WWW.WDTB.NOAA.GOV/COURSES/DUALPOL/OUTREACH YOU CAN VIEW THE TRAINING FOR EITHER NON-NWS METEOROLOGISTS OR FOR NON-METEOROLOGISTS. ALSO, YOU CAN SPEAK TO A METEOROLOGIST DURING THE HOURS OF 8 AM AND 4 PM BY CALLING 609-261-6615, OR SEND AN EMAIL TO [email protected] IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS. Noticed that too, now it's sure to snow next week so long as radar is down. Haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue sky Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Great news. Just a question...Why does the radar go down now and than? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunny and Warm Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 well, the good news is that this was the perfect winter for the upgrade. A real snore fest. Can you imagine doing the upgrade during this time frame the last couple years! Hopefully, you guys will get a good t-storm season this year and great winters to follow and make good use of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phlwx Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 how's the progress on the radar going? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGorse Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 how's the progress on the radar going? I believe the completion is not that far away. Some parts had to be replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainshadow Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 well, the good news is that this was the perfect winter for the upgrade. A real snore fest. Can you imagine doing the upgrade during this time frame the last couple years! Hopefully, you guys will get a good t-storm season this year and great winters to follow and make good use of it. It was originally scheduled for June of last year. Given the choice, I'd still prefer for it to occur on any winter month vs one of the most convectively active months of the year for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lab94 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 It was originally scheduled for June of last year. Given the choice, I'd still prefer for it to occur on any winter month vs one of the most convectively active months of the year for us. Saw the test photos on Face Book. Looks nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGorse Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 FYI... FTMDIX Message Date: Jan 31 2012 21:07:46 THE DUAL POLARIZATION UPGRADE FOR THE WSR-88D LOCATED AT FORT DIX, NEW JERSEY IS COMPLETE. THE RADAR IS BACK ON LINE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaoPos Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Awesome! My radar scope app has the upgrades. Now, we sit and wait.. Haha, PHL just had it's wettest year on scored..Dare I say we have one of our driest years?! Just to mess with the upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGorse Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 The dual-pol upgrade started today on the KDOX (Dover, DE) radar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.