The radar wind profiler (RWP) present at the SGP central facility operates at 915 MHz and was reconfigured in early 2011, to collect key sets of measurements for precipitation and boundary layer studies. The RWP is configured to run in two main operating modes: a precipitation (PR) mode with frequent vertical observations and a boundary layer (BL) mode that is similar to what has been traditionally applied to RWPs. To address issues regarding saturation of the radar signal, range resolution and maximum range, the RWP PR mode is set to operate with two different pulse lengths, termed as short pulse (SP) and long pulse (LP). Please refer to the RWP handbook (Coulter, 2012) for further information. Data from the RWP PR-SP and PR-LP modes have been extensively used to study deep precipitating clouds, especially their dynamical structure as the RWP data does not suffer from signal attenuation during these conditions (Giangrande et al., 2013).
Tridon et al. (2013) used the data collected during the Mid-latitude Continental Convective Cloud Experiment (MC3E) to improve the estimation of noise floor of the RWP recorded Doppler spectra. This also led to a significant improvement in the estimates of Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and mean Doppler velocity. Additionally they also calibrated the RWP using disdrometer observations to calculate reflectivity. We have implemented their technique to process six months (summer of 2012 and 2013) of RWP data from the SGP central facility. We have also merged the data from the PR-SP and PR-LP modes and have calculated the feature mask with the intention of inclusion of the calibrated RWP moments in the future versions of the ARSCL VAP.
Daily files of merged RWP Doppler spectral moments (Reflectivity, Mean Doppler Velocity and Spectrum Width) are generated. Please refer to the header of the NetCDF files for further details. In addition to the moments, other relevant parameters like the source mode, calibration factor, de-aliasing flag and feature mask are included. It should be noted that the data product is primarily made for studies focused on deep precipitation and echoes due to Bragg scattering might be present in the data. The calibration was made using the averaged calibration factor determined from the data for the entire summer (3 months).