On Tropical Cyclones, Waterspouts, and the Brown Tree Snake: A Brief History of NEXRAD on Guam

摘要

The Andersen Air Force Base on Guam is host to the first WSR-88D to be placed in a tropical setting. This single-threaded DoD radar began operations in February 1993. A survivor of tropical storms, strong earthquakes, and an extremely unstable commercial power supply, the Guam WSR-88D has nonetheless given operational and research meteorologists an exciting look at the synoptic and mesoscale forces at work in the tropical western Pacific. In this paper we will give a general overview of some of the many phenomena that have been observed by the Guam WSR-88D. We will also touch on some of the algorithmic and functional shortcomings of the radar that have been discovered thus far in this unique environment. Finally, we will give a summary of what we hope to discover and accomplish in the near future with this new and exciting tool.