The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service is seeking industry feedback on potential contractors capable of developing an advanced network of weather radars that will eventually succeed the one currently used.
According to the request for information notice posted on SAM.gov Wednesday, the NOAA NWS aims to develop a new backbone of S-Band weather radars with enhanced capabilities, enabling it to replace the old Weather Surveillance Radar, operated by the Next Generation Radar, or NEXRAD, program.
Radar-as-a-Service
The NEXRAD WSR-88D plays a crucial role in detecting and issuing warnings for severe weather such as tornadoes, hurricanes, winter weather and floods. With the infrastructure aging, the need for a new and more advanced network is currently a priority for NSW. The Radar Next program is looking at the possibility of developing and deploying a radar-as-a-service model. The program intends to acquire commercial data to integrate into NSW operations.
The new network should be capable of seamlessly continuing the job of the NEXRAD network by maintaining radar operations, particularly the flow of radar data, without interruptions. The network should also expand radar coverage to tackle blind spots at lower altitudes and boost overall performance through enhanced flexibility, scalability and other critical features.
