Without the ability to understand and accurately forecast weather, NextGen technology won’t amount to much. For that reason, industry participants including Baron Services, NCAR and the FAA are not only working to integrate weather into the NextGen technology, but they are also working to improve forecasting techniques. One of the most significant advancements is the move from traditional Nexrad weather radars to dual-polarization Doppler radars.
In late 2007 the FAA awarded Baron Services and L-3 Communications a five-year, $43 million contract to design, develop and produce a system-wide upgrade of the 171 NWS, FAA and DOD Nexrad radars. Current radars provide storm location and intensity, as well as the movement of winds inside the storm–which is essential in forecasting tornados–but send out only a single horizontal beam to measure and analyze storm systems. The dual-polarization radar will send out two separate beams–in the horizontal and the vertical–giving forecasters the additional ability to measure the size, shape, orientation and state of precipitation in a storm system.
