A mobile, phased-array doppler radar for the study of severe convective storms: The MWR-05XP

A meteorological weather radar 2005 X-band phased array (MWR-05XP) modified by ProSensing Inc., was used to study severe convective storms and tornadoes on very short time scales and relatively close range. Two radars employed frequency hopping to generate more independent samples and this hopping also allowed pulse pairs to be formed at a common frequency for Doppler velocity estimation. MWR-05XP was field tested in the US Great Plains in 2007 and 2008 when the likelihood of severe weather migrates northward with the upper-level westerlies. The radar probed a tornado at a range of 20-25 km in northeast Oklahoma showing a well-defined hook echo and evidence of a trailing rear-flank gust front and a cyclonic vortex signature coincident with the tip of the hook. The number of tornadic supercells probed showed that none of the supercells were isolated and there were nearby neighboring or connected storms.