Dual Pol Radar Information

Dual-Pol In the ArkLaMiss
The National Weather Service has upgraded its nationwide Doppler radar network to include Dual Polarization (commonly referred to as Dual-Pol) technology. This is the most significant upgrade to the National Weather Service radar network since the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the WSR-88D deployment took place.

Prior to the dual-pol upgrade, NWS radar transmitted horizontal pulses, which only gave a measure of the horizontal dimension of clouds and precipitation. Dual pol radar transmits radio wave pulses that have both horizontal and vertical orientations, providing additional information on the size and shape of particles being detected by the radar. This additional information can be used in turn to improve rainfall estimates, help determine precipitation type, and better detect certain types of hazardous weather. The upgrade adds several new products to the existing suite of data provided by the WSR-88D.

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