1. Real-time Tail Doppler Radar Data Server Paul Chang, NOAA NESDIS STAR Email: paul.s.chang@noaa.gov Tel: (301)763-8231 Jim Carswell, Remote Sensing Solutions Email: carswell@remotesensingsolutions.com Tel: (508)362-9400 Paul Chang, NOAA NESDIS STAR Email: paul.s.chang@noaa.gov Tel: (301)763-8231 Jim Carswell, Remote Sensing Solutions Email: carswell@remotesensingsolutions.com Tel: (508)362-9400

2. Real-Time Data (RTD) Chronology of Events Informal efforts conducted since 2003 demonstrating transmission and display of lower fuselage radar data and the 1 Hz serial data stream (flight level, SFMR, etc.) Real-Time Data (RTD) working group established in November 2008 – Goals: To define and execute the formal pathways/procedures to flow data from the NOAA aircraft into NCO for operational utilization by NWS – Key members: Michelle Mainelli (NCO), Jim Carswell (RSS), Sean McMillan and John Hill (AOC), Paul Chang (NESDIS) and Dan Starosta (TOC)‏ HFIP Observation Team established in November 2008 with one of its goals to: – Transmit new data types from P3s (Doppler, AXBT, AWRAP, 1-Hz flight- level, WSRA), including software development. – $60K of HFIP funding became available in 3Q FY09 to help support some of the software development work.

3. Project Objectives Real-time Radar / Data Server: Aircraft-ground data communication server will provide in near real-time: Aircraft-ground data communication server will provide in near real-time: Processed Tail Doppler Radar Profiles (Doppler, spectral width, Z)Processed Tail Doppler Radar Profiles (Doppler, spectral width, Z) Lower Fuselage Reflectivity ProfilesLower Fuselage Reflectivity Profiles Scientific DataScientific Data File Builder will provide:File Builder will provide: Radar meta data files to NCO as the data becomes available. Will contain processed Tail Doppler and/or Lower Fuselage radar profiles.Radar meta data files to NCO as the data becomes available. Will contain processed Tail Doppler and/or Lower Fuselage radar profiles. Scientific and AXBT meta data files.Scientific and AXBT meta data files. Quality of service will be implemented that monitors aircraft-ground communications and automatically handles disruptions.Quality of service will be implemented that monitors aircraft-ground communications and automatically handles disruptions. Demonstrate capabilities in Winter Storms 2010.Demonstrate capabilities in Winter Storms 2010. 3National Hurricane Conference – 12/1/2009 Question: Can we help? If so how?

4. 4National Hurricane Conference – 12/1/2009 Real-Time Data Flow Diagram

5. Project Goals Data Availability: Provide Tail Doppler Radar profiles, Lower Fuselage Radar profiles and scientific data through same system.Provide Tail Doppler Radar profiles, Lower Fuselage Radar profiles and scientific data through same system. Send data via packets and/or file based.Send data via packets and/or file based. Extend real-time access of all data to NHC, HRD, STAR and other potential users.Extend real-time access of all data to NHC, HRD, STAR and other potential users. Ground Processing: Enable ground processing of data versus processing data on board aircraft (e.g. John Gamache’s Doppler processing) by transmitting “raw” profiles.Enable ground processing of data versus processing data on board aircraft (e.g. John Gamache’s Doppler processing) by transmitting “raw” profiles. Data Visualization Integrate radar data into the RSS Real-time Data Display as mosaic background imagery.Integrate radar data into the RSS Real-time Data Display as mosaic background imagery. 5National Hurricane Conference – 12/1/2009 Purpose: Can we help? If so how?

6. Real-time Radar Profile Data 6National Hurricane Conference – 12/1/2009 Airborne Server: Receives data packets from Sigmet processor & extracts radar profiles. Archives radar profile and ancillary data. For lower bandwidth data links, further profile data processing implemented (i.e. range gate averaging, bit remapping, compression, Gamache’s Doppler processing) to reduce data rates to within link budget. Build compressed packetized data and transmits to ground server. Transmits data as soon as it becomes available. Ground Server Receive packetized data, and rebuild radar profile data. Implement quality of control and ground processing of radar profiles. Build NCO standardized radar files and send to TOC server as they become available. Relay data packets to subscribed users.

7. RECORD NUMBER 3 ITEM NUMBER 3 DESCRIPTION FORMAT Type 4 Detailed Description / Interpretation HEADER 1 1 1Mission ID (i.e. Flight Date)Long IntegerYYYYMMDD 2Aircraft IDShort Integer42 = N42RF, 43 = N43RF, 49 = N49RF 3TD numberShort Integer Tropical Depression Number (or invest / research flag) 2 1Bins (range gates) Per RadialShort IntegerNumber 2Range DelayFloatmeters (add to range calculation to get true range) 5 2Bin (range gate) ResolutionFloatmeters 3Radial Data Type FlagShort Integer Bit 0: Reflectivity (1 = present, 0 = not present) Bit 1: Doppler (1 = present, 0 = not present) Bit 2: Spectral Width (1 = present, 0 = not present) 31Antenna NumberShort Integer 0=NOAA parabolic antenna on P3 1=dual French-built flat plane antennas on P3 2=dual flat plane antennas on G-IV REPEAT DATA BLOCK 2 4 1Time StampDoubleUnix time (seconds since 1/1/1970) 2Radar LatitudeFloatdegrees 3Radar LongitudeFloatdegrees 4Radar AltitudeFloatmeters 5Earth Relative AzimuthFloatdegrees (relative to east, increase clockwise) 6Earth Relative IncidenceFloatdegrees 7Reflectivity Radial ProfileShort Integer Only present if flag is set, record 2, item 3, bit 0 Units: tenths of dBZ (i.e. 305 = 30.5 dBZ) Length: defined by record 2, item 2 8Doppler RadialShort Integer Only present if flag is set, record 2, item 3, bit 1 Units: tenths of m/s (i.e. -125 = -12.5 m/s) Length: defined by record 2, item 2 9Spectral Width Radial if presentShort Integer Only present if flag is set, record 2, item 3, bit 3 Units: tenths of m/s (i.e. 25 = 2.5 m/s) Length: defined by record 2, item 2 NCO Tail Doppler & Lower Fuselage Radar Files 7National Hurricane Conference – 12/1/2009 Each file will contain 10 minutes of profile data.

8. NCO Tail Doppler & Lower Fuselage Radar Files 1Records 1, 2, 3 appear only once at the top of the file in the order given. 2Record 4 repeats as a block to the end of the file. 3 Record & line item numbers are not in the file. They are merely for grouping and organizing the data for these discussions 4Assuming 32-bit Linux machine: Short Integer - 2 byte signed integer Float - single precision float ( 4 bytes) Double - double precision (8 bytes) 5Range Calculation: Fortran folks: Range[bin] = RangeDelay + bin * BinResolution ; bin = 1 to BinsPerRadial C folks: Range[bin] = RangeDelay + (bin+1) * BinResolution ; bin = 0 to BinsPerRadial-1 8National Hurricane Conference – 12/1/2009 Notes:

9. QUESTIONS ? INTERESTED END USERS ? REQUIREMENTS ? 9National Hurricane Conference – 12/1/2009