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WSR-74
Weather surveillance radar
Weather surveillance radar
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | WSR-74 |
| image | File:berrimah-radar-darwin-nt.jpg |
| caption | WSR-74C Radar in Darwin, Northern Territory Australia |
| country | United States |
| introdate | |
| number | 68 WSR-74C |
| 5 WSR-74S | |
| type | Weather radar |
| frequency | 2890 MHz (WSR-74S S band) |
| 5400 MHz (WSR-74C C band) | |
| PRF | 259 Hz (WSR-74C) |
| 545 and 162 Hz (WSR-74S) | |
| beamwidth | 1.6° (WSR-74C) |
| 2° (WSR-74S) | |
| pulsewidth | 3 μs (WSR-74C) |
| 1 and 4 μs (WSR-74S) | |
| RPM | |
| range | 579 km |
| altitude | |
| diameter | 2.6 m (WSR-74C) |
| 3.7 m (WSR-74S) | |
| height | |
| width | |
| azimuth | |
| elevation | |
| precision | 0.9 km in range |
| power | 250 KW (WSR-74C)500 KW (WSR-74S) |
5 WSR-74S 5400 MHz (WSR-74C C band) 545 and 162 Hz (WSR-74S) 2° (WSR-74S) 1 and 4 μs (WSR-74S) 3.7 m (WSR-74S) WSR-74 radars were Weather Surveillance Radars designed in 1974 for the National Weather Service. They were added to the existing network of the WSR-57 model to improve forecasts and severe weather warnings. Some have been sold to other countries like Australia, Greece, and Pakistan.
Radar properties
There are two types in the WSR-74 series, which are almost identical except for operating frequency. The WSR-74C (used for local warnings) operates in the C band, and the WSR-74S (used in the national network) operates in the S band (like the WSR-57 and the current WSR-88D). S band frequencies are better suited because they are not attenuated significantly in heavy rain while the C Band is strongly attenuated, and has a generally shorter maximum effective range.
The WSR-74C uses a wavelength of 5.4 cm. It also has a dish diameter of 8 feet, and a maximum range of 579 km (313 nm) as it was used only for reflectivities (see Doppler dilemma).
History
The WSR-57 network was very spread out, with 66 radars to cover the entire country. There was little to no overlap in case one of these vacuum-tube radars went down for maintenance. The WSR-74 was introduced as a "gap filler", as well as an updated radar that, among other things, was transistor-based. In the early 1970s, Enterprise Electronics Corporation (EEC), based out of Enterprise, Alabama won the contract to design, manufacture, test, and deliver the entire WSR-74 radar network (both C and S-Band versions).
WSR-74C radars were generally local-use radars that didn't operate unless severe weather was expected, while WSR-74S radars were generally used to replace WSR-57 radars in the national weather surveillance network. When a network radar went down, a nearby local radar might have to supply updates like a network radar. NWS Lubbock received the first WSR-74C in August 1973 following widespread attention from the F5 Lubbock tornado of 1970.
128 of the WSR-57 and WSR-74 model radars were spread across the country as the National Weather Service's radar network until the 1990s. They were gradually replaced by the WSR-88D model (Weather Surveillance Radar - 1988, Doppler), constituting the NEXRAD network. The WSR-74 had served the NWS for two decades.
The last WSR-74C used by the NWS was located in Williston, ND, before being decommissioned at the end of 2012.
No WSR-74S's are in the NWS inventory today, having been replaced by the WSR-88D, but some of these radars are in commercial use.
Radar sites in the US
WSR-74 sites include the following two categories:
| WSR-74C Site | Commissioned | Decommissioned | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abilene, TX (ABI) | ||||
| Akron, OH (CAK) | ||||
| Albany, NY (ALB) | ||||
| Alpena, MI (APN) | ||||
| Atlanta, GA (ATL) | ||||
| Augusta, GA (AGS) | ||||
| Austin, TX (AUS) | ||||
| Baton Rouge, LA (BTR) | ||||
| Beckley, WV (BKW) | ||||
| Billings, MT (BIL) | ||||
| Bismarck, ND (BIS) | ||||
| Burlington, VT (BTV) | ||||
| Charlotte, NC (CLT) | ||||
| Chattanooga, TN (CHA) | ||||
| Cheyenne, WY (CYS) | ||||
| Cleveland, OH (CLE) | ||||
| Columbia, MO (COU) | ||||
| Columbia, SC (CAE) | ||||
| Columbus, GA (CSG) | ||||
| Columbus, OH (CMH) | ||||
| Concordia, KS (CNK) | ||||
| Corpus Christi, TX (CRP) | ||||
| Duluth, MN (DLH) | ||||
| Erie, PA (ERI) | ||||
| Fort Smith, AR (FSM) | ||||
| Fort Wayne, IN (FWA) | ||||
| Goodland, KS (GLD) | ||||
| Harrisburg, PA (HAR) | ||||
| Hartford, CT (BDL) | ||||
| Houghton Lake, MI (HTL) | ||||
| Huntsville, AL (HSV) | ||||
| Indianapolis, IN (IND) | ||||
| Las Vegas, NV (LAS) | ||||
| Los Angeles, CA (LAX) | ||||
| Louisville, KY (SDF) | ||||
| Lubbock, TX (LBB) | ||||
| Macon, GA (MCN) | ||||
| Madison, WI (MSN) | ||||
| Marquette, MI (MQT) | ||||
| Meridian, MS (MEI) | ||||
| Mobile, AL (MOB) | ||||
| Moline, IL (MLI) | ||||
| Montgomery, AL (MGM) | ||||
| Muskegon, MI (MKG) | ||||
| Norfolk, NE (OFK) | ||||
| North Platte, NE (LBF) | ||||
| Omaha, NE (OVN) | ||||
| Paducah, KY (PAH) | ||||
| Phoenix, AZ (PHX) | ||||
| Portland, OR (PDX) | ||||
| Raleigh, NC (RDU) | ||||
| Rapid City, SD (RAP) | ||||
| Rochester, MN (RST) | ||||
| San Angelo, TX (SJT) | ||||
| Savannah, GA (SAV) | ||||
| Shreveport, LA (SHV) | ||||
| Sioux Falls, SD (FSD) | ||||
| South Bend, IN (SBN) | ||||
| Springfield, IL (SPI) | ||||
| Topeka, KS (TOP) | ||||
| Tucson, AZ (TUS) | ||||
| Tulsa, OK (TUL) | ||||
| Tupelo, MS (TUP) | ||||
| Waco, TX (ACT) | ||||
| Waterloo, IA (ALO) | ||||
| Wichita Falls, TX (SPS) | ||||
| Williston, ND (ISN) | ||||
| Worcester, MA (ORH) |
| WSR-74S Site | Commissioned | Decommissioned | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance, NE (AIA) | ||||
| Binghamton, NY (BGM) | ||||
| Charleston, WV (CRW) | ||||
| Chatham, MA (CHH) | ||||
| Detroit, MI (DTW) | ||||
| Fargo, ND (FAR) | ||||
| Jackson, KY (JKL)WSR-74S providing local coverage | ||||
| Key West, FL (EYW) | ||||
| Longview, TX (GGG) | ||||
| Marseilles, IL (MMO) | ||||
| Memphis, TN (MEG) | ||||
| Patuxent River, MD (NHK) | ||||
| Portland, ME (PWM) | ||||
| San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) | ||||
| Volens, VA (VQN/7VM) | ||||
| West Palm Beach, FL (PBI) | ||||
References
tags--
References
- "Advanced Search - ITS". bldrdoc.gov.
- Paul Sirvatka. "WSR - Weather Surveillance Radar." Radar. College of DuPage. 4 Apr. 2006 [http://weather.cod.edu/sirvatka/radar.html http://weather.cod.edu/sirvatka/radar.html].
- (1998-06-01). "History of Operational Use of Weather Radar by U.S. Weather Services. Part I: The Pre-NEXRAD Era". American Meteorological Society.
- (July 2018)
- "NWS Lubbock, TX Office History". noaa.gov.
- [http://sysu1.wsicorp.com/unidata/intro.html http://sysu1.wsicorp.com/unidata/intro.html] {{webarchive. link. (April 20, 2008)
- "Weather radar shutdown imminent". Williston Herald.
- "Assessment of Nexrad Coverage and Associated Weather Services". nap.edu.
- (July 2018)
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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