Gunnison Radar Project

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The goals of this project are to demonstrate the gap-filling potential of a small Doppler radar within the coverage area of the National Weather Service WSR-88D radar at Grand Junction and examine the terrain-induced circulations favorable for storm formation and motion. The NSSL’s mobile operational polarimetric X-band Doppler radar NOXP (upper right image) together with a large number of microphysical surface observation instruments (rain gauges, disdrometers, surface mesonet stations; lower right image) were deployed in the vicinity of Gunnison, CO between 15 July and 31 August 2009. While the surface instrument remained stationary the radar was operated from several locations (image below: blue crosses indicate location of microphysical instruments, black crosses indicate the location of the radar at College (WSC), Taylor Park Reservoir (TPR), Jacks Cabin Rd (JC), and Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR). Data collection at the various sites will provide insight into the variations of storm characteristics for different terrain profiles.