Spaceport Weather Archive

Cape Weather Surveillance Radar (WSR) is a Titan Doppler Radar (TDR 43-250) with 4.3 meter (m) antenna and average 250 kilowatt (kW) transmitted peak power and was manufactured by Radtec Engineering, Inc. The WSR is located on Deseret Ranch in Orange County, Florida (28.3938 degrees N, 80.9510 degrees W), roughly 37.0 kilometers (km; 20 nautical miles (nmi)) northwest of Patrick Space Force Base and 42.6 km (23 nmi) west-southwest of the KSC/CCSFS launch complexes. The C-band, klystron-based, dual-polarization Doppler radar measures particle velocity data in addition to range, direction, and reflectivity data within 300 kilometers (km) of its location. The analysis and display software is the Integrated Radar Information System (IRIS) Version 8.13.3 from Vaisala, Inc. The current weather scan strategy provides a raw IRIS radar file every ~2.5 minutes with a radial bin spacing of 250 m. The scan strategy can be adjusted to spin slower on clear weather days, providing files every ~6-10 minutes. The IRIS radar products include:



The raw IRIS radar files may be converted to other data formats (e.g., NetCDF) using software like the Python Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Radar Toolkit (PY-ART) and Radx by the National Center for Atmospheric Research/Earth Observing Laboratory (NCAR/EOL). The data may also be visualized using GR2Analyst by Gibson Ridge Software.

 Cape WSR Radar Raw Historical Data »

Useful references:
Huddleston, L. L., 2012: Dual-Doppler Feasibility Study. NASA/TM-2012-216310, 25 pp. [Available online https://kscweather.ksc.nasa.gov/amu/FinalReport/Index#imse .]

Roeder, W. P., and D. A. Short, 2009: The new weather radar for America's space program in Florida: Scan strategy design, 34th Conference on Radar Meteorology, 5-9 Oct 2009, Paper P6.2, 6 pp.

Roeder, W. P., T. M. McNamara, B. F. Boyd, and F. J. Merceret, 2009: The new weather radar for America's space program In Florida: An overview, 34th Conference on Radar Meteorology, 5-9 Oct 2009, Paper 10B.6, 9 pp.

Short, D., 2008: Radar Scan Strategies for the Patrick Air Force Cape Weather Surveillance Radar, Model-74C, Replacement. NASA Contractor Report. NASA/CR-2008-214745, 29 pp. [Available from ENSCO, Inc., 1980 N. Atlantic Ave., Suite 230, Cocoa Beach, FL, 32931 and https://kscweather.ksc.nasa.gov/amu/FinalReport/Index#imse.]