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[Upbeat Music]

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[Crunch sound]

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>>When forecasters issue a warning, one of
their primary tools is weather radar.

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The faster a radar updates - the earlier a
warning can be issued to the public.

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And minutes truly do matter when we’re talking
about protecting life and property.

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This is why NOAA’s National Severe Storms
Laboratory has a new research radar.

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With co-funding from the FAA and NOAA, the
Advanced Technology Demonstrator was installed

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in July of 2018.

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This new radar uses phased array technology
- so it scans the sky electronically instead

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of mechanically.

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This allows the beam to focus in a particular
area of interest - such as a tornado - and

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provide more frequent weather updates.

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>> “This is actually the second phased array
radar to go here.

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From 2003 to 2016, NOAA’s National Severe
Storms Laboratory operated a Navy SPY-1A antenna

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installed in this very location.

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Using that, we demonstrated some really good
things but that was a 1970’s radar that

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designed for aircraft and missile tracking.

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This radar is built from the ground up with
modern technology with the weather mission

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in mind.”

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>> “The Advanced Technology Demonstrator
is the first time that we’ve paired the

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benefits of a phased array radar with the
benefits of a dual polarization radar.

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That dual polarization capability allows us
to differentiate between raindrops, ice crystals,

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snowflakes, hailstones and determine what
type of precipitation is falling.”

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>> Now that the Advanced Technology Demonstrator
is installed, the hard work begins for researchers.

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The radar must be calibrated and tested.

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Can the combination of dual polarization on
a phased array radar be a better tool for

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weather forecasters?

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We’ll have to wait and see.

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>> “If we prove that those two can work
together, we can have the radar of the future.”

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>> For more info, check us out online and
follow us on Facebook and Twitter.