NCAS deploys new state-of-the-art moveable weather radar
Posted 6th May 2023
A team of researchers from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science have successfully installed a new state-of-the-art moveable weather radar, funded by the UK Research and Innovation World Class Laboratories Fund.
The new specialised weather radar will help researchers to study clouds and different types of precipitation on fieldwork campaigns worldwide, and lead to improved weather forecasts and climate projections.
The radar, known as NXPol-2, operates at X-band frequency, which is a shorter wavelength suitable for close-range observations of clouds within 150km.
It is also a dual-polarisation radar, which means it transmits two pulses of radio waves simultaneously, perpendicular to each other, which enables both the size and shape of particles to be determined.
Weather radars are the most effective way to collect real-time rainfall information, and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science operates the only mobile weather radar in the UK.