Radar wind profilers (RWPs) provide hourly measurements of wind speed and direction from 100 m to 5 km above the ground. Between 1992 and 1996, four 915 MHz 9-panel radar wind profilers (RWPs) were deployed at the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) site, followed by one more at the North Slope of Alaska (NSA) site in Barrow in 2001. As these systems have aged, hardware repair costs have increased significantly and parts have become more difficult to obtain. To overcome these problems, all the components other than the antenna on each RWP system are being upgraded, at a cost of only about 20% of a new system.
The upgrade includes a new computer with the latest version of Vaisala’s Lower Atmosphere Profiler (LAP) operating software, as well as new digital receivers based on the PC-Integrated Radar AcQuisition System (PIRAQ-III) processor. Also licensed through Vaisala, the PIRAQ-III processor provides enhanced performance and increased reliability, while the LAP-XM® software allows site specific optimization of system performance, depending on the application. With one vendor supplying both the processor and operating software, technical support is expected to be much more efficient. RWPs at the SGP Central Facility and the SGP intermediate facility at Meeker, Oklahoma were upgraded in September 2006. In 2007, the SGP’s sites remaining two RWPs (at Beaumont and Medicine Lodge, Kansas) will be upgraded, as well as the system in Barrow.