Shared Mobile Atmospheric Research & Teaching Radar
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The SMART Radars are a shared facility operated jointly by Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, the University of Oklahoma, and the National Severe Storms Lab. |
Recent Activity
Hurricane Lili Intercept - Texas Tech
Technical Specifications
| Platform | Each radar is mounted on a diesel, flatbed truck |
| Transmitter | 250kW peak power, four selectable pulse durations from 0.3 – 2.5 microseconds. Duty cycle: 0.001. Selectable PRF: 300 – 3000. Linear horizontal polarization. Solid state high voltage power supply and modulator. |
| Pedestal | SCR-584 units with 8.5” base extensions and retrofitted motors, digital servo amplifiers, 14 bit digital shaft encoders, and digital antenna control. |
| Antenna | 8-ft diameter solid parabolic reflector with shock mounted center feed horn. Provides a 1.5 degree beamwidth and approximately 40 dB gain. |
| Processor | Digital SIGMET RVP-7 signal processor with selectable clutter filter, gate spacing, multiple PRF velocity dealiasing, and multiply quality control thresholds. |
| Data | Radar reflectivity, radial velocity, and spectrum width out to 2048 gates with minimal gate spacing of 62.5 meters. |
| Archive | Data is burned on to writeable CDROM. |
The SMART-Radar chief engineer is Mr. Jerry Guynes, TAMU Atmospheric Sciences. Jerry designed and built the state of the art C-band Doppler radar transmitters and transmitter control interface units. He also retrofitted the SCR-584 antenna pedestal systems with custom designed azimuth and elevation dynamic digital control interface units. He and Mr. Rick O’Neill, SMART-Radar Master Machinist TAMU Oceanography, refurbished the SCR-584 pedestal systems with current technology drive motors, tachometers, and digital shaft encoders. Rick designed and machined the motor mounting hubs, direct drive couplers, and the parabolic reflector mounting hub assembly which adapted the WSR-74C reflector to the SCR-584 antenna pedestal. SMART-Radar #1 was completed at Texas A&M University in August, 2001. SMART-Radar #2 is due for completion in March, 2002.
Images
(click to enlarge)
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SR-1 ready for deployment during the NSSL International
H2O Project, IHOP. |
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SR-1 aside the NOAA P-3 Hurricane Hunter aircraft
for the NASA CAMEX field project. |
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SR-1 in front of the NOAA hanger, McDill AFB, Tampa, FL, August 2001. |
