[The image is a cartoon showing the actual radar and trailer, but outfitted with spoked wagon wheels and being pulled by a horse, much like a prairie schooner.]
Notes:
This is the USWB’s CW Doppler radar that was used in 1957-59 to detect and observe tornadoes. On June 10, 1958, this radar measured winds in the El Dorado, Kansas tornado. I believe this radar was given to NSSL when it was formed in January 1964. Lhermitte used this trailer, plus another trailer attached to it, or closely linked perpendicularly to this one to build from scratch a 3 cm pulsed-Doppler radar. The next slide shows this trailer. But on the top of the USWB Doppler trailer the photo shows a single 12 foot reflector. Perhaps the pedestal that controlled the pair of antennas from the CW Doppler radar was also used to control the 12 foot antenna. Evidence from technical memos published by NSSL show that NSSL’ 3 cm pulsed Doppler radar collected data in clear air in October 1965. I suspect this is likely one of the earliest observations made with NSSL’s
3 cm pulsed-Doppler radar.