King City weather radar station

The King City weather radar station (ICAO site identifier CWKR) is a weather radar located in King City, Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Environment Canada and is part of the Canadian weather radar network, for which it is the primary research station.

King City weather radar station
Coordinates: 43°57′50″N 79°34′25″W
CountryCanada
ProvinceOntario
Regional municipalityYork Region
TownshipKing
CommunityKing City
Elevation
360 m (1,180 ft)
Time zoneUTC−05:00 (Eastern Standard Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−04:00 (Eastern Daylight Time)
TypeResearch station and weather radar

The 16.45 hectare[1] site is listed at an elevation of 360 m, and the tower is 27 m tall.[2]

Mounted on the tower is a 5 cm weather radar, and a C-band dual-polarization radar system was installed at the site in 2004.[1]

Research

The station serves a number of research roles, and collects data to fulfill those observational needs. It is "responsible for providing national leadership on radar meteorology research applications".[1]

In 1984, the Research Directorate of the Atmospheric Environment Service established the first Canadian weather radar with Doppler capability in King City.[3] In 2004, a dual-polarization radar was installed for further research.[4] These systems are used for predictive purposes, and the data collected is used for weather forecasts for the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe.

Further, under the auspices of the Cloud Physics and Severe Weather Research Section of Environment Canada, the King Doppler Weather Radar Research Facility collects data for research.

The C-band radar can be useful for observing bird migration patterns, especially when data is taken in aggregate with that of other radar stations. Current active research in dual-polarization radar includes winter precipitation, detection and short-term forecasting of high-impact weather events,[1] quantitative precipitation estimation,[1] satellite validation,[1] and particle type identification.

Equipment

The WSR82D radar installed in 1982 had a fiberglass laminate radome, and a parabolic reflector with a diameter of 6.1m and linear horizontal polarisation.[5] Its gain was 48 dB.[5] The radar emitted a 260kW beam with a frequency of 5625 MHz and wavelength of 5.33cm having a beam width of 0.65 degrees.[5] In conventional operation, it had a pulse duration of 2µs, pulse repetition frequency of 250 pulses per second, and performed 6.0 scanning rotations per minute.[5] In Doppler operation, it had a pulse duration of 0.5µs, pulse repetition frequency of 892 or 1190 pulses per second, and a scan rate of 0.75 rotations per minute. [5] In long-range Doppler operation, a pulse repetition frequency of 650 pulses per second and a scan rate of 2 rotations per minute were used.[5]

It was replaced in 2004 by a similar radar but with dual polarization capabilities.[1]

Notes
  1. Environment Canada 2008.
  2. Environment Canada 2002.
  3. Crozier et al. 1991.
  4. Sills 2004.
  5. Raghavan 2003, p. 45.

References
  • "King City Radar Station". Environmental Science Centres: Ontario. Environment Canada. 24 January 2008. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  • "King City, Ontario: Information about the site". The National Radar Program. Environment Canada. 26 August 2002. Archived from the original on 4 August 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2006.
  • Crozier, C.L.; Joe, P.I.; Scott, J.W.; Herscovitch, H.N.; Nichols, T.R. (1991). "The King City Operational Doppler Radar: Development, All-Season Applications and Forecasting". Atmosphere-Ocean. 29 (3): 479–516. doi:10.1080/07055900.1991.9649414.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Sills, David (2004). "The New Dual-Polarization Radar at King City". Retrieved 24 May 2006.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Raghavan, S. (2003). "Radar Meteorology — History, Principles and Technology". In Sadourny, Robert; Mysak, Lawrence A. (eds.). Radar Meteorology. Atmospheric and Oceanographic Sciences Library. 27. Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 1–49. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-0201-0_1. ISBN 978-1-4020-1604-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Further reading
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