image: The above radar looks much like the new radar system that will be constructed in the southeast area of the OU Research Campus. view more
Credit: EEC
NORMAN, Okla. – A new weather radar – the first of its kind in the United States – is being constructed and located at the University of Oklahoma to enhance education, training, research and development and encourage future innovations.
“The new radar will contribute tremendous potential to the meteorological community for development of weather-related information services that will benefit from co-location with the core weather radar programs on OU’s Research Campus,” said Lee Williams, OU vice president for research. “Together they will create an environment with endless potential for the university, federal, state and private-sector entities,” he said.
An agreement between OU and Enterprise Electronics Corp. will initiate construction of the new, C-band, high-resolution, dual polarization radar, which is expected to be operational by late 2008.
This radar will further OU’s vision for its weather radar enterprise, which is to furtherthe development of OU radar meteorology so that radar-derived information can benefit decisions about the atmospheric and hydrologic environment worldwide, Williams said.
The new radar will serve as a research and development testbed for the Atmospheric Radar Research Center, an interdisciplinary university center engaged in collaborative research to define the next generation of weather radar sensors. The center offers an exceptional radar education for OU students based on a foundation of combining meteorology and engineering expertise and training from OU’s colleges of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences, and Engineering. With the acquisition of the new radar, students and researchers will be able to perform a variety of activities, such as testing new and enhanced algorithms and developing unique hardware designs.
“The addition of this radar is invaluable to the Atmospheric Radar Research Center and radar meteorology as a whole at OU,” said the center’s director, Robert Palmer. “The radar will help us collaborate even more with private weather companies and, in turn, will help continue to foster research and development between academia and the private sector.”
EEC will design and install the radar. A wholly owned subsidiary of Weather Services International, EEC is the largest manufacturer of commercial weather radars, with systems operations across the globe from Algeria to Zaire.
About EEC
Enterprise Electronics Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of WSI, is recognized as the world leader in the meteorological radar field. Since its inception in 1971, the company has designed, manufactured and installed more than 900 radar systems worldwide. EEC developed the world’s first commercial Doppler weather radar system in 1981. The corporation’s range of radar systems is the product of years of experience, superior engineering and a top-ranked quality control process. EEC’s 53,000-square-foot facility is located in Enterprise, Ala.
About WSI Corp.
WSI Corp. is the world’s leading provider of weather-driven business solutions for professionals in the media, aviation and energy markets. For more than 30 years, WSI has focused on predicting, detecting and visualizing disruptive weather – from the severe weather that makes headlines a few weeks each year to the more subtle weather changes that affect the business operations and profits of its clients each day. WSI is headquartered in Andover, Mass., and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark Communications.
On the Web:
University of Oklahoma www.ou.edu
College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences www.ags.ou.edu
Atmospheric Radar Research Center arrc.ou.edu
University Research Campus urc.ou.edu
WSI www.wsi.com
Enterprise Electronics Corporation www.eecradar.com