May 10, 2024
NCAR C-130

MIRSL will be contributing to the development of the next-generation airborne radar for the National Science Foundation's C-130 research aircraft, pictured at right.  The Airborne Phased Array Radar (APAR) will be developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) along with partners at NOAA, Ball Aerospace, Colorado State University, Stony Brook University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the University of Oklahoma.  See the press release from NCAR here.

The APAR will improve on existing radar by allowing scientists to sample the atmosphere at higher spatial resolution and probe more deeply into storms, ultimately painting a more detailed picture of storm dynamics and microphysics. APAR will also be an extremely flexible platform. Its agile scanning capability can switch radar beam directions almost instantaneously, allowing scientists to scan the atmosphere in any direction, a contrast to traditional fixed-direction airborne scanning radars.