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Phased Array 2
Thu Sep 30, 2004
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I’m Bryan Yeaton, and this is The Weather Notebook. We continue today with
Douglas Forsythe from the National Severe Storms Lab, talking about the Phased
Array Radar. First of all, says Forsythe, the NSSL doesn’t do this in a vacuum.
Forsythe: This is a cooperative program. We’ve got collaborators from the Navy, Office
of Naval Research, and the Lockheed Martin’s a partner in this, the University of
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State Board of Regents. So we’re all partnered together
along with NOAA to build this facility.
You sound really excited about it.
Forsythe: To get your hands on this technology is a once in a lifetime thing and I
happened to be involved with the first Norman -- the first Doppler experiments -- that
came along when we took Doppler technology and put it out into the field and now I’m
getting a chance to also be involved with phased array technology.
The goal, according to Forsythe, is to save lives with earlier severe-weather
predictions.
Forsythe: We’re trying to speed up the time in which we issue a warning, and if we can
do that five to six times faster, the public will have more time to take cover for severe
weather, whatever that might be – and tornadoes, especially, having a few more
minutes to take cover and to make decisions. So if we could give you 45 minutes of
lead-time on a tornado coming through your area, you have time to take cover, move
out of the way, secure things down so things don’t get blown around and damaged.
Lots of things can be done.
Still, any public implementation is still five or 10 years down the road?
Forsythe: It’s an exciting program. It’s on its first steps.
The Weather Notebook is funded by Subaru of America and the National Science
Foundation. Find us online at www.weathernotebook.org.
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