In the past year, the Advanced Radar Techniques (ART) team at CIMMS/NSSL and the Radar R&D team at the UK Met Office have been working together on weather-radar signal processing techniques. As part of the collaborative effort, Sebastian Torres and David Warde visited the UK Met Office (Exeter) from February 22-26, supporting the implementation of CLEAN-AP on the UK weather radar network.
During their visit, Torres and Warde met with many engineers, scientists, and forecasters, who explained the UK Met Office’s research-to-operations process. They were able to see how CLEAN-AP has been a success in the local radar testing facilities. This month, UK Met will enter the operational acceptance phase for CLEAN-AP, and the data will be tested in an operational setting. Researchers will be looking at how to best utilize this new, filtered data, and the ART team’s experience will be instrumental to guide their decision-making.
While they were in Exeter, Torres and Warde also presented a seminar on “Advanced Radar Techniques at the National Severe Storms Laboratory.” They provided an overview of advanced signal processing techniques that the ART group has recently transitioned or will soon transition into NWS operations, and shared plans and progress toward the development of multifunction phased-array radars.
The February visit undoubtedly strengthened the relationship between the two teams and brings to light the mutual benefits of their work. Because the ART team has already developed several signal processing techniques for the NEXRAD network, they are well-positioned to help advance techniques abroad. Similarly, this international partnership promotes increased visibility for CIMMS/NSSL research beyond the Norman weather community and helps our scientists improve their techniques. We look forward to the collaboration’s continued success!
To learn more about CLEAN-AP: https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/JTECH-D-13-00117.1