Some Educational Innovations in Radar Meteorology

Abstract

This study is aimed at describing past, current, and future thrusts associated with educating radar meteorologists. The study is geared toward graduate educational activities in academia and is purposely limited to the mid-1950s onward. The review is influenced by the personal experiences of the authors, in particular, through their experiences at their graduate institutions (S. Rutledge, University of Washington; V. Chandrasekar, Colorado State University) and via their faculty appointments at Colorado State University (CSU). The methods used to educate radar meteorologists have continually evolved with the arrival of new radar hardware, a rather expected occurrence, since this educational discipline is obviously hardware intensive. Today, many institutions have their own radar systems, which form focal points for their in-house educational activities. Still, other universities do not have ready access to radar systems, leaving their students to gain hands-on experience via field programs that employ radars, or by other means [e.g., viewing Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) data over the Internet]. To address this deficiency in the future, it is hoped that students can acquire “virtual” hands-on experience with radar systems through imaginative uses of the Internet. As will be discussed below in more detail, mobile radar systems can also fill this niche by moving around to various universities, providing valuable hands-on experience for students, even just for limited periods of time.