LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- When severe weather strikes and time is of the essence, minutes and seconds could be the difference between life and death.
That’s why it’s important for tools used by weather forecasters to predict a storm’s intensity and path are functioning to the best of their ability.
The 47th Operations Support Squadron radar airfield weather systems (RAWS) flight understands the need for using the latest technology—hence their goal for improving the WSR-88D Service Life Extension Program.
“The ID for these radars is the WSR-88D. Laughlin got theirs in 1993, and has been modified over the years,” said Matt Haven, 47th Operations Support Squadron RAWS flight chief. “The NexRAD [Next Generation Radar] is the latest, greatest, and most sophisticated weather radar out there.”
The current upgrade, performed by the RAWS flight jointly with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), are set to improve both the computational power and the antennas of the system.
“The upgrade itself is about improving system reliability,” Haven said. “Laughlin has always been good with providing a system that’s almost always up and running—[more than] 96 percent of the time.”
The radar Laughlin uses is not only used by the base but also by the surrounding communities. The radar services a wide area as part of a network of radars used to forecast weather conditions at a further distance than any other system available.
“The radar allows us to see and predict the weather in the hill country, so we can have eyes on precipitation or dangerous weather that may be on its way,” said Capt. Dan Schreiber, 47th Operations Group weather flight commander. “We support over 200 sorties a day, and without the radar in top shape all we would know about the weather is when we walk outside and see it ourselves.”
The upgrades are the first of four SLEP projects set to take place over the next five years. Other areas of attention include refurbishing the transmitter, pedestal and equipment shelters. According to NOAA and the Laughlin RAWS team, the projects are set to keep WSR-88D radars operational until at least 2030.