ADRAD

The Aggie Doppler Radar (ADRAD) is the only on-campus S-band, Doppler weather radar in the country, located on the roof of the Eller O&M building with a control station on the 12th floor. TAMU undergraduate and graduate students are trained in hands-on radar operations providing unparalleled undergraduate and graduate student access to a high-quality weather radar system. ADRAD is operated by students during periods of active weather in the area, often serving as a backup observation for local National Weather Service forecast offices.

With hardware components dating over 50 years and new upgrades on a consistent basis, ADRAD represents an evolving link between the rich radar history of our department and our current educational and research goals. Following modifications to a radar which was used in 1956 to provide the first radar-based tornado warning in history (PDF), ADRAD was placed on the roof of the newly built Eller O&M Building in 1973. Over the intervening years, ADRAD has been upgraded with Doppler capability, digitized components and signal processors, and more advanced display capabilities.

ADRAD is a prominent part of ATMO 443, an upper-level undergraduate radar meteorology course, where students learn to operate the radar, observe radar hardware in action, design and implement unique scanning strategies, as well as collect and explore ADRAD data in class assignments and projects. ADRAD has also served as the focal point of the high-impact learning experience, the Student Operational ADRAD Project (SOAP), where ADRAD has been used to provide research data for publications and undergraduate student projects presented at regional and national conferences.

In addition to the educational and research mission of ADRAD, it continues to provide a vital public service through the public dissemination of radar data. When operational, the latest scans and raw data available for realtime viewing and interrogation in external software from ADRAD are available to the public.

Latest ADRAD Scans ADRAD Raw Data Other ADRAD Products

ADRAD Specifications

Transmitter Type: Coaxial Magnetron

Wavelength (frequency): 10.5 cm (2.8 GHz)

Peak Transmitted Power: 1 MW

Reflector Diameter: 4.88 m (16 ft)

Beamwidth: 1.5 degrees

Maximum Azimuthal Scanning Rate: 27 degrees per second

Maximum Range: 260 km

Data products: Reflectivity, Doppler Velocity, Spectrum Width