WSR-74

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WSR-74 RADARs are Weather Surveillance Radars designed in 1974. The National Weather Service added them to the existing network of the WSR-57 model to improve forecasts and severe weather warnings.

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Radar Properties

There are two types in the WSR-74 series, which are almost identical except for operating frequency<ref>http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/pub/oprad/sect7.pdf</ref>. The WSR-74C operates in the C band, and the WSR-74S operates in the S band (like the WSR-57 and the current WSR-88D). S band frequencies are better suited for long range.

The WSR-74C uses a wavelength of 5.4 cm<ref name="Sirvatka">Paul Sirvatka. "WSR - Weather Surveillance Radar." Radar. College of DuPage. 4 Apr. 2006 <http://weather.cod.edu/sirvatka/radar.html>.</ref>. It also has a dish diameter of 8 feet, and a maximum range of 579 km (313 nm).

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History

The WSR-57 network by itself was very spread out, with 66 radars to cover the entire country. There was little overlap in case one of the radars went down for maintenance. The WSR-74 was introduced as a "gap filler", as well as an updated radar that wouldn't require vacuum tube technology<ref name="amsrad">Roger C. Whiton, et al. "History of Operational Use of Weather Radar by U.S. Weather Services. Part I: The Pre-NEXRAD Era." Weather and Forecasting: Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 219–243. 19 Feb. 1998. American Meteorological Society. 5 Apr. 2006 <http://ams.allenpress.com/amsonline/?request=get-document&doi=10.1175%2F1520-0434(1998)013%3C0219:HOOUOW%3E2.0.CO%3B2>.</ref>.

128<ref>http://sysu1.wsicorp.com/unidata/intro.html</ref> of the WSR-57 and WSR-74 model radars were spread across the country as the National Weather Service's radar network until the 1990's. They were gradually replaced by the WSR-88D model (Weather Surveillance Radar - 1988, Doppler), constituting the NEXRAD network. The WSR-74 had served the NWS for two decades.

Thirteen WSR-74Cs still have not been decommissioned and, of those, eight remain in active use today. No WSR-74Ss are in the NWS inventory today, having been replaced by the WSR-88D. Some of these radars are in commercial use.

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References

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