Evaluation of Faster Scanning Strategies for the Wsr-88d with the Combined Range Aliasin Mitigation Techniques

In a recent survey of WSR-88D sites, operational staff indicated a desire for faster volume coverage pattern (VCPs) that also mitigates range aliasing. In 2004, the Radar Operations Center (ROC) fielded a new technique call the Multiple Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF) Dealiasing Algorithm (MPDA) that combines three sequential Doppler scans with PRFs of about 1300, 1100, 850 Hz, respectively, to mitigate range aliasing. Another technique to mitigate range aliasing, the Sachidananda-Zrnic phase coding algorithm (SZ-2), is being fielded in the summer of 2007. SZ-2, which provides the bulk of the velocity recovery, uses advanced signal processing to separate strong trip from weak trip signal. The two algorithms, when combined, recover an average of 98 percent of velocity area data out to 230 km. One major drawback with the combined technique is that a volume scan takes about five minutes forty-five seconds.