Locating and siting a national network of advanced weather radars (NEXRAD)

'NEXRAD', (from Next Generation Weather Radar), is a new weather radar system being developed in the U.S. It will consist of a network of over 100 high performance pulsed Doppler radars. Siting the radars to ensure their maximum effectiveness is a major task that is being undertaken with exemplary thoroughness, and the use of novel methods and technology. After briefly describing the radars, the goals and criteria prescribed for deploying them are noted. Then follows a description of the site selection process that is being followed, with a short discussion of the techniques used. These include the use of satellite data to help determine how to locate the radars to achieve the basic coverage, and a mobile survey facility that is used to check out specific sites.