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Planetary Scale
- size: hemisphereic
- time: weeks, months, and years
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Synoptic Scale
- size: hundreds to thousands of kilometers
- time: several days or weeks
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Meso-Scale
- includes a variety of space and time scales
- These can be defined theoretically, empirically, and dynamically
- mesoα- time: day to week
- size: 200km to 2000km
- mesoβ- time: 1 hour to day
- size: 20km to 200km
- mesoα- time: less than a hour to one day
- size: 2km to 20km
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Attenuation
Other targets reduce the power of the returned energy.
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pulse repetition frequency
Number of radiation pulses emitted by the radar every second.
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range and velocity folding
Radiation backscattered off of a far away target and received at the radar after the radiation from next pulse has been sent.
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Level II
- Basic products consist of base reflectivity (0.5 dBz increments), radial velocity (1 kt incremets), and spectrum width data
- radial velocity is 250 m
- vertical resolution: 9-14 vertical tilts availible
- others are also availible
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Level III
- Basic (processed) products consist of base reflectivity (5dBz increments), radial velocity (5 kt increments), storm relative velocity (5 kt incremets), echo tops, vertically integrated liquid (vil), 1hr/3hr/storm total precip. estimates, and the vertical azimuth display (VAD) profiler.
- radial resolution: 1 km
- vertical: 4 tilts
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Two primary VCP modes
clear air and precip.
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cone of silence
Since the radar does not measure full atmospheric column the radar contains a void spot over top of it depending on the VCP mode.
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precip. mode
- Faster scan strategy
- better vertical sampling
- VCP 11, 12, and 21
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Clear Air Mode
- cone of silence is larger
- only for shallow weather system
- slower scan strategy (10 mins.) and more sensitive
- good for snow, smoke, and etc.
- VCP 31 and 32
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VCP 11
- Original convection VCP
- Uniform vertical sampling, 14 slices, 5 mins.
- Good for severe weather
- Fewer gaps in vertical sampling
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VCP 12
- Best low level vertical sampling with uniform gaps aloft
- 14 slices, 4 mins.
- Good for severe weather
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VCP 21
- Original stratiform VCP
- 9 slices, 6 mins.
- Non-severe detection and analysis
- Uniform low levels; gaps aloft
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VCP 31
- Clear air mode: 5 slices, 10 mins.
- Long pulse, highest sensitivity but at the cost decreased wind velocity range.
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VCP 32
- 5 slices, 10 mins.
- short pulse, lower sensitivity but with the advantage of increased wind velocity range.
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