Doppler on Wheels

Doppler on Wheels (or DOW) is a fleet of X-band and C-band radar trucks managed by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and previously maintained by the Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR) in Boulder, Colorado, led by principal investigator (PI) Joshua Wurman, with the funding largely provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The DOW fleet and its associated Mobile Mesonets and deployable weather stations (Pods) were Lower Atmospheric Observing Facilities (LAOF) "National Facilities" supporting a wide variety NSF-sponsored research.^[1] They are now included in the NSF's "Community Instruments and Facilities" (CIF) program led by PI Karen Kosiba.^[2][3]

DOW 7 on display at the USA Science and Engineering Festival in 2010.

A Doppler on Wheels unit (DOW 3) observing a tornado near Attica, Kansas

Data gathered by a Doppler on Wheels unit showing a tornado near La Grange, Wyoming

History and deployment

As of 2022, there are three operational DOWs out of a total of eight constructed since 1995. Two of the three, DOWs 6 and 7, are dual-polarization, dual-frequency, quick-scanning Doppler weather radars. These radars have the highest transmitting power of any mobile X-band system with dual 250 kW transmitters. The third, referred to as the Rapid-Scan DOW (RSDOW), features a custom phased-array antenna that allows for multiple elevation scans to be completed simultaneously. The RSDOW can also be configured into a single beam, single frequency, single-polarization radar (fielded as DOW 8).^[4] Each DOW is also equipped with a communication mast that hosts various weather instruments. Several instrumented mobile mesonet pickup trucks host in situ weather instrumentation on 3.5-metre (11 ft) masts to complement the remote sensing radars. These mobile mesonets also carry approximately twenty instrumented "PODS", which are ruggedized quickly deployable weather stations designed to survive inside tornadoes, tropical cyclones, and other adverse environments. The DOW fleet is sometimes accompanied by a Mobile Operations and Repair Center (MORC), a large van containing workstations for in-field coordination, data management, and equipment repair.^[5]

The DOW fleet has collected data in 200 tornadoes and inside the cores of thirteen hurricanes. DOWs have been deployed to Europe twice,^[6] for the MAP and COPS field programs, and to Alaska twice for the JAWS-Juneau projects. DOWs have operated as high as 12,700 feet (3,900 m) on Bristol Head and at 10,000 feet (3,000 m) for the ASCII project at Battle Pass. Three DOWs, Mobile Mesonets and PODS were deployed for the OWLeS lake-effect snow study. The DOWs have participated in many field programs including VORTEX, VORTEX2, COPS, MAP, ASCII, IHOP, SCMS, CASES, ROTATE, PAMREX, SNOWD-UNDER, FLATLAND, HERO, UIDOW, UNDEO.^{[citation needed]}

The DOW fleet was deployed to the nocturnal convection study, PECAN, in June–July 2015.^{[citation needed]}

In late 2018, the DOW Facility debuted a new quickly-deployable C-band radar (or COW) featuring a larger antenna and 5 cm wavelength (as compared to the 3 cm wavelength of the DOWs). Due to the larger size of the antenna, the truck features a built-in crane allowing for the radar to be assembled on site. The COW was first deployed as part of the RELAMPAGO field campaign in Argentina in late 2018.^[7]

In November 2020, it was announced that the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign would become the managing partner of the DOW Facility.^[8] The contract includes three DOWs, the COW, and three mobile mesonet vehicles as well as sounding systems and other instrumentation. The partnership was funded through department money and outside research grants from the NSF and other agencies.^[9] After joining UIUC, the facility and its associated instrumentation were officially renamed the "FARM" (Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets).^[10]

FARM participated in multiple field campaigns in 2022 including WINTRE-MIX^[11] and PERiLS.^[12] It will also participate in the upcoming LEE project.^[13]

Findings

DOW data led to the discovery of sub-kilometer hurricane boundary layer rolls, which likely modulate wind damage and may play a key role in hurricane intensification. DOW data revealed the most intense winds ever recorded (Bridge Creek tornado, 3 May 1999),^[14] and the largest tornadic circulation ever documented (also 3 May 1999 in Mulhall, OK),^[15] and made the first 3D maps of tornado winds and sub-tornadic vortex winds, and documented intense vortices within lake-effect snow bands. About 70 peer reviewed scientific publications have used DOW data.^{[citation needed]}

The DOW fleet, PODS, and mobile mesonets have been featured on television, including Discovery Channel's reality series Storm Chasers,^[16] National Geographic Channel's specials Tornado Intercept and The True Face of Hurricanes, and PBS's Nova episode "The Hunt for the Supertwister," and others.^{[citation needed]}

Future Instrumentation

There are currently two major projects planned to expand the FARM's capabilities. The first is the creation of an S-band on Wheels Network (SOWNET) featuring four quickly-deployable S-band radars with 10 cm wavelengths capable of seeing through intense precipitation. These smaller truck-mounted radars would replace a single large S-band radar, allowing for dual-Doppler analyses and quicker deployment times. The second planned project is the Bistatic Adaptable Radar Network (BARN) which will be integrated with existing DOWs and the COW to provide high resolution wind vector observations without the need for multiple, expensive transmitters. These bistatic receivers will consist of small antennas that can be deployed like Pods or mounted onto a Mobile Mesonet or similar vehicle.^[17]

See also

• Bistatic radar
• Pulse-Doppler radar
• Storm chasing

References

1. O'Brien, Miles (18 May 2015). Walton, Marsh (ed.). . National Science Foundation. Archived from the original on 13 August 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2022. For nearly a decade, with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Doppler on Wheels (DOW) has been doing its best work in dangerous weather, driving into the eye of the storm to gather scientific data about wind, rain and snow that are missed by stationary radar systems.
2. "GEO AGS Facilities for Atmospheric Research and Education-FARE". National Science Foundation. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
3. "NSF Award Search: Award # 2113207 – CIF: Community Instruments and Facilities: Mobile and Quickly Deployable Radars". National Science Foundation. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
4. "FARM: The DOW Network". farm.atmos.illinois.edu. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
5. "Observation". NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory.
6. Kouhestani, Jeanne; McGehan, Barbara; Tarp, Keli (14 October 1999). (Press Release). Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2022. Scientists, a Doppler lidar, and a "hurricane hunter" aircraft from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have joined the largest weather research project ever conducted in Europe to study the effects on weather of wind flow over the Alps. Researchers from 11 nations hope to gain a better understanding of how this wind affects the weather, and to improve weather and river forecast models for mountainous areas, NOAA said today.
7. Reppenhagen, Cory (4 December 2018). "New Colorado-designed 'Doppler on Wheels' chasing storms in Argentina". KUSA. Retrieved 3 May 2022. Atmospheric scientists are excited about a new radar making its debut in Argentina. It's a Doppler on Wheels (DOW) built by the Center for Severe Weather Research in Boulder. [...] It is part of the RELAMPAGO project, studying severe storms in the Cordoba region of Argentina. A place where scientists believe some of the most intense storms on the planet form.
8. Illinois Atmospheric Sciences [@ATMS_Illinois] (25 November 2020). "We are pleased to announce that the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has become the managing partner of the Doppler on Wheels (DOW) mobile radars and instrumentation facility" (Tweet). from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022 – via Twitter.
9. ""Doppler on wheels" coming to University of Illinois". Urbana, Illinois: WCIA. 5 February 2021. from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022. The Doppler on Wheels will allow students to collect data on rain and wind systems. The doppler is basically a radar on a truck. This then allows students to research tornadoes, hurricanes, and winter weather. [...] The contract also comes with three other vehicles, which includes three weather balloon launch systems and several other features.
10. "FARM: Home". farm.atmos.illinois.edu. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
11. "WINTRE-MIX | Earth Observing Laboratory". eol.ucar.edu. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
12. Doppler on Wheels (DOW) [@DOWFacility] (19 October 2021). "Hanging with my people in the southeast United States" (Tweet). from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022 – via Twitter. Hanging with my people in the southeast United States (nobody takes pictures of them 😁). Evaluating radar sites for the PERiLS QLCS and tornado project this spring and then a couple outreach events coming up! Have met a lot of helpful people! Just another day in #RadarLife.
13. "Lake-effect lightning study to support robust student experiences". 20 October 2022.
14. Williams, Jack (17 May 2005). . USA Today. ISSN 0734-7456. LCCN sn82006685. OCLC 819006199. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2022. Scientists measured the fastest wind speed ever recorded, 318 mph, in one of the tornadoes that hit the suburbs of Oklahoma City on May 3, 1999. [...] The record-setting wind occurred about 7 p.m. near Moore, where the tornado killed four people and destroyed about 250 houses
15. . Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
16. . Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
17. Wurman, Joshua; Kosiba, Karen (1 August 2021). "The Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets (FARM)". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 102 (8): E1499–E1525. Bibcode:2021BAMS..102E1499W. doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0285.1. S2CID 234827910.

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