A new kind of weather radar being tested in Oklahoma promises to revolutionize weather forecasting by allowing meteorologists to accurately map what’s happening in the lowest part of the atmosphere–the area where storms generally form. In particular, it should be able to pinpoint the location of tornadoes. Some details:
Current measurements of the lower three kilometers of atmospheric soup are severely limited by existing technology, which uses long-range high-power radars that scan a 200-kilometer radius above cloud level. Because the curvature of the planet prevents these units from sensing the lower atmosphere, the current technology is also relatively insensitive to storms, such as tornadoes, after they fall to earth.
But the four-radar system located in and around Chickasha, Oklahoma, will be part of a network that uses short beams that overcome the earth’s curvature. Known as DCAS, or Distributed Collaborative Adaptive Sensing radar network, the test unit uses large numbers of low-power Distributed nodes. These tiny DCAS radars are Collaborative— they can cooperate to target their beams on one weather pattern—a tornado, for instance—thus triangulating on it and following its course with the precision of storm chasers in mobile units. The DCAS nodes are also Adaptive because they’re engineered to be rapidly reconfigured in response to quickly changing weather.
The radars making up the new test bed will communicate with one another and adjust their sensing strategies in direct response to the evolving weather and changing user needs—a dramatic change from current technology. They can map winds in fine detail and pinpoint the location of tornadoes within storms, thereby benefiting the general public, weather forecasters, farmers and researchers. In addition, DCAS radar networks will provide emergency managers with an invaluable new tool to save lives, carry out evacuations and direct the emergency flow of traffic.
Saskatchewan gets as many violent thunderstorms as anywhere on Earth, and if we weren’t so sparsely populated we’d probably get a lot more storm-related casualties. And it’s worth remembering that Regina was the site of Canada’s worst tornado disaster in 1912, when a twister cut a huge swath right through the city’s heart, killing several people. So here’s hoping the new system pans out and comes into widespread use sooner rather than later.
