The Advanced Radar For Meteorological and Operational Research (ARMOR)

Located at the Huntsville International Airport, ARMOR is a dual polarization C-band radar operated by UAH. Before it was donated to UAH in 2002, ARMOR served as a WSR-74C radar for the Huntsville National Weather Service office. In 1977, NWS Huntsville received a new WSR-74C radar designed as a local warning radar to fill gaps in radar coverage over the region. In 1991, a Doppler upgrade was completed on this radar, making it the second operational C-band Doppler radar within the National Weather Service.

In 2002, the radar was decommissioned, donated to UAH, and renamed to ARMOR. With the help of Baron Radar Services, the radar was converted to dual polarization in 2004 as a collaboration between UAH, NASA, and one of Huntsville's local news stations, WHNT Channel 19. This made ARMOR the only dual polarization Doppler radar in the Southeast. In 2017, the ARMOR system was upgraded from the Vaisala Sigmet RVP8 system to the Baron Gen 3 Radar System.

Though ARMOR is located at the Huntsville International Airport, communications from the radar are sent from the airport to the ARMOR partners and stored locally at UAH for research and operational use. The radar can be controlled remotely from within the SWIRLL Research Operations Center and is maintained by UAH students and staff. Real-time ARMOR data can be viewed here.

Specifications:
  • Transmit Frequency: 5625 MHz (Magnetron)
  • Peak Power: 350 kW
  • Pulse Width: 0.4-2.0 μs
  • Maximum PRF: 250-2000 s-1
  • Antenna Diameter: 4.2 m
  • Antenna Beam Width: 0.9°
  • Polarization: Dual
  • Variables: Z, V, W, ZDR, ΦDP, KDP, ΡHV, LDR
ARMOR Over The Years



ARMOR data showing lightning initation sources.

Supercell passing to the North of ARMOR on 19 March 2018.