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Lifting of radome base for OU-PRIME
Installation of 8.5-meter dish for OU-PRIME
Completion of radome for OU-PRIME
Commissioning of OU-PRIME on April 4, 2009
OU-PRIME after completion, September 2009

OU-PRIME (Polarimetric Radar for Innovations in Meteorology and Engineering) was an advanced Doppler weather radar. It was completed in January 2009 after a ten-month construction period and commissioned on April 4, 2009.[1][2] It was operated by the Advanced Radar Research Center (ARRC) at the University of Oklahoma (OU). The radar was manufactured by Enterprise Electronics Corporation to provide OU students and faculty a platform for research and education in the field of radar meteorology. This C-band polarimetric radar has some of the highest resolution data of any C-band weather radar in the United States.[1][2][3][4]

OU-PRIME was struck by lightning on 19 March 2012 around 9:20am local time. Since then, the radar has not been operated due to damage.[5]

System characteristics

OU-PRIME, aka OU', is located on the Research Campus of the University of Oklahoma within walking distance of the National Weather Center building. Through a unique design, OU-PRIME can provide real-time time-series data providing opportunities for rapid developments in radar signal processing algorithms. Because of its C-band wavelength and 1 MW transmit power, OU-PRIME is extremely sensitive to clouds with approximately 10 dB more sensitivity over the NEXRAD system (S-band).

Characteristics:[4]

Research and educational pursuits

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to OU-PRIME radar.

References

  1. ^ a b Advanced Radar Research Center (April 3, 2009). "THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA TO HOLD COMMISSIONING CEREMONY FOR NEWEST RADAR" (pdf). University of Oklahoma. Retrieved 2009-04-15. [dead link]
  2. ^ a b Clark Foy (January 2009). "Hi-def radar comes to South Campus". The Oklahoma Daily. Archived from the original on 2009-05-23. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  3. ^ Bryan Painter (March 7, 2009). "OU-PRIME captures information from February tornado". The Oklahoman Direct. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  4. ^ a b Advanced Radar Research Center. "OU-PRIME" (pdf). University of Oklahoma. Retrieved 2009-04-15. [dead link]
  5. ^ https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/weathermatrix/videos-lightning-hits-radar-power-transformers/44648
  6. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20080917172519/http://arrc.ou.edu/education/
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