More wintery weather in the south and the future of forecasting...

Well, the report in from the guys (since my rain gauge is currently not offering rainfall totals) was that South Central Georgia received a whopping 1/2" of rain with this past system that rolled through the area. Hardly adequate for the ridiculous drought situation. Of course, another wintery mix storm is setting in for much of the southeast (that excludes my area, just for those who aren't familiar with the Dewvoid. We will just get more rain...) Here is the forecast for the Atlanta area... A high of 35?! Ewww... Y'all enjoy all the snow up that way. I know Rick is chomping at the bit to get up there and shoot some snow photography. Glad it's not me in all that cold white stuff. No thank you! Actually, I have plans to head south for the winter. I will be in Tallahassee tomorrow, actually at FSU. It would be nice to get in a visit with the guys while I am down there, but we'll just have to see what time allows.

With this current disappointing local weather pattern including rain and drizzle and more rain and drizzle, just before a drop in temperature, and my current lack of sun interaction, I decided to solicit ideas for a topic for my blog entry today. So, here's my topic, recommended by Meso Mike... phased array radar technology (thanks, Mike) So, here I go.

The rapid scanning ability of phased array radar gives it the potential to be a multi-use, adaptively scanning radar.

Phased array radar technology is currently in use by the military and has been for 30 years for tactical operations. Practical application of this technology to the benefit of weather forecasting (among other things) presents a tremendous opportunity for faster warnings, thereby protecting more lives, and by offering a tremendous cost savings to the tune of say 3 to 5 billion dollars over the life of the system. What makes up the difference? Well, the phased array radar is not a mechanical radar; there are no moving parts. The scans are taken electronically, and a completed scan is captured in a swift 30 seconds, which you can compare with the four to five minutes of the current radar. This directly translates to a faster awareness of the actual weather situation, and that spells out more timely short term forecasts and most valuable benefit, faster warnings, which will allow for a better protection of life and property, which is the main mission of our National Weather Service.

PAYOFF: This technology has the potential to increase the average lead time for tornado warnings well beyond the current average of 11 minutes.

The cost savings comes in the fact that consumer electronics technology has developed to the point where the cost of this technology has dropped rapidly. Using similar components as cell phones, blue tooth and other wireless technology, the phased array radar has become much more affordable. When you consider that with the effectiveness of the radar system allowing for approximately 500 of the current weather and aviation radars to be replaced with one radar system, and fewer of the new technology will be required than exist now, which in turn eliminates the cost of maintenance and monitoring associated with the mechanical systems currently in place. Here are a couple of sites regarding the phased array radar technology: Link 1 and Link 2. These links also happen to be my resource sites for this topic.

What are clouds, but an excuse for the sky? ~Shogun

Have a lovely weekend.
~Dewdrop