The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 7/30/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Lisa Streeb Patrick Kennedy, a faculty manager for the Department of Atmospheric Science, stands next to the CSU-CHILL radar antenna on June 19.The CSU-CHILL radar antenna is about five stories tall.

The large white bubble of a dome is a strange sight in the stretches of farmland and county roads north of Greeley. Towering over five stories high, the dome of one of the most advanced weather research systems in the world may appear to a passersby as something akin to a giant igloo.

The system, owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by CSU researchers, resides in the dome, which is big enough for the technology to maneuver 360 degrees around and flip vertically, scanning the skies above -- something rare in operational radar systems.

Yet the most exceptional aspect of the CHILL Radar is its advanced dual polarization technology, which allows meteorologists and scientists to indicate where hailstones melt into water and better forecast the weather and send out warnings.

"The next generation of technologies is being introduced in the TV market," said Chandrasekar V. Chandra, an electrical and computer engineering professor.

Chandra said in the year 2009 170 dual polarization radars will be adapted by weather stations across the nation.

The CHILL Radar Facility near Greeley can detect a hail stone 10 miles away and is so sensitive that bugs flying over Denver can interfere with the weather information that gets transmitted back to researchers at the CHILL facility.

Chandra said the research CSU students and professors are able to acquire through the CHILL Radar is crucial to the continued advancement of dual polarization systems and weather forecasting.

"This is our research platform," Chandra said.

Chandra is primarily interested in the advancing radar technology and the CHILL facility allows for better research on how to improve weather radar technology and release new technologies to the nation and globe.

Non-CSU researchers, whose proposals are approved, can also use the radar and its sophisticated antenna for recording atmospheric activity to aid in their research.

Unlike radar systems used by the National Weather Service, the CHILL Radar serves as a research tool, meaning it is not required to run 24 hours a day.

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