This brought up quite a few questions for me, so I emailed the NHC a few days back posted below:
Hello NHC!
First of all, I want to thank you for posting each issue of the Q & A. There is always something new and juicy in there that I have not heard yet. In the internet age we have all come to know, that is hard to come by.
This months new batch of information that jumped out to me was the "Nexrad-in-space". I can completely see the problems with that technologically, but the first thing that came to my mind was that the Satellite/Radar would have to be very low comparatively to the Earth to get a good radar image and an image with out having the radar beam hitting the earth. Do you know how low that would be? Also, Do you know when we might be able to see that technology?
Dual-Pol is standard equipment where I live (down the street from Klystron 9 in St. Petersburg, FL). It gives much better data than the 88-D. In the article it says that the NWS radars will be available next year. I had earlier heard that it would be available late this fall or this winter, was this a delay or miscommunication? Will all stations be going Dual-Pol or just select stations? How much data from those NWS Dual-Pol radars will be released to the general public?
Thank You for everything you do!
Jonathan Belles
Meteorology Student
Today I got a response from Colin McAdie, who answered questions this month.
Jonathan,
Thank you for your interest. In answer to your question about Nexrad-in-space, the concept is to actually have this on a geostationary platform. This gives the advantage of continuous coverage, but also introduces the chief technological hurdle of needing a very large antenna to focus the microwave energy, perhaps on the order of 35 meters. Issues are how this could be folded and deployed, and also the materials required to maintain tolerances with solar heating, etc. This is going to take some work.
It is possible that we may see some of the first dual-polarization data this fall, but we'll see. That may be a bit optimistic. Next season we're hoping for complete coverage.
Colin McAdie
Just thought I would share. Didnt know where to put it, so I put it here.