KATU launches VIPIR, the 'nerdtacular' weather radar system
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PORTLAND, Ore. - It's Christmas in October here at the KATU Storm Tracker Weather Center. We have a brand new toy and the batteries have been included. But considering it costs as much as a house, I really shouldn’t call it a toy – makes the bosses a bit upset. Still, it's as much fun as my first Erector Set.
Beginning Thursday morning KATU will debut VIPIR (Volumetric Imaging & Processing Integrated Radar). More than a present for the weather geeks here at KATU, this is also a present for our viewers. VIPIR is simply the best weather radar display on the market today.
Barons systems in Alabama built our VIPIR radar unit. For over 25 years Barons has been recognized as the leader in weather radar. The company has the contract to upgrade all of the National Weather Service's WSR-88D radars to Dual Pole Doppler Radar by 2013.
What kind of an advantage does VIPIR have over its competition? The answer is five minutes. Let me explain: Weather radars scan various elevations creating a volume scan. Software in the VIPIR computer then lets us create a 3D view of what the radar sees. The computer does this faster, five minutes faster and in more detail than any competitors can.
Besides showing precipitation intensity, VIPIR can predict rain and snowfall rates up to 24 hours in advance using a computer model called BAMs. The accuracy of BAMs modeling has been incredible with the rain we’ve see this past week. I wish I could have used it on air, but this project has been under wraps for months.
We've paired VIPIR with a new Omni 3 HD weather graphics computer. I can honestly say that the new weather maps and displays we’re making are stunning. I've included a link so you can look at some the products you'll see on KATU in the near future.
http://www.baronservices.com/broadcast/display/omni
Rhonda Shelby won the coin toss so she gets to debut the system Thursday morning. Dang, I knew we should have drawn cards instead. Let us know what you think. dsalesky@katu.com.
Watch the VIPIR system in action during Thursday's forecast!
Does a TV set need to be 3D capable to view the 3d image? Or is a faux 3d image displayed?
What a bunch of whiners. The money didn't come out of your pockets did it?
Great, so someone working inside at KATU can tell us it's actively raining outside five minutes before their competition gets word. Dave and Rhonda still can't tell us what will be happening five minutes from now though...
Great! Another system to "track" the existing weather instead of telling me what it will be like an hour from now! I can track the weather for free. I'll gladly tell you what has happened. Weather forecasters and fortune tellers have a lot in common, credibility is not part of their makeup!
can you change the color scheme to an autum harvest spectrum? plum purple to corn moon red to smashed pumpkin innards orange to sidewalk vomit yellow?
It sounds like KATU has got the desire for accuracy confused with definition or "bling".I don't need to know how many more showers are over my neighbors house than my own house.I dont' need prettier graphics (although the old system did make it hard to tell between showers and rain in the winter).Accuracy is when the weather actually does what you say it will. Â I like KGW's morning forcast. Â They explain in plain terms what to expect and what they know/don't know.There is nothing wrong with just saying.. "the models tend to show X but my feeling is more like Y. Â I best guess is that we'll see rain until around noon or 1:00 and then see the clouds break up. Â The risk is that X will cause this to stay around longer etc etc.. "Â
All that money -- and excitement -- and glamor . . . . . .
But will the forecast be any more accurate? Hmmm.
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Only job in America (besides be the President of the USA) where you get it wrong most of the time and no one cares.
ahh- I was up at mnt Hood Meadows last year when their weather forcaster walked outside looked up and said. "My weather report for today is cloudy with a chance of snow", and he was right...
This stuff is hugely beneficial for aviation, esp student pilots and weather briefing. It's pretty awesome to see this kind of data streamed over a sectional chart with a GPS overlay on an iPad.Â
All this is is 3d imagery of NWS NEXRAD Radar. Personally I am not a big fan of Baron and do know this Vipir and Omni system costs in the 6-7 digit price level, which would be the same as buying their own Baron Doppler. Alot of stations have dumped Baron and Vipir because of the high cost and fees to use and KATU's ESP:LIVE system was more advanced I think. All Vipir and Omni do is make eye candy visuals of NWS Radar data.
Great-more pretty pictures and mumbo-jumbo explaining why yesterday's "chance of showers" turned into a full day's downpour.
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I don't really care what sort of graphic wizardry the weatherman needs to make his predictions---just show me one slide with a five day forecast that I can believe in. You could use a black magic marker and a flip chart.
Is this Wx radar owned by KATU (or its parents)? Or is it NWS owned? If the former, it is an impressive acquisition. If the latter, won't all the media outlets be using it?
 @7Ws the latter.  There is only one station in the market that owns their own weather radar.  Everyone else, and most of the stations in the country take their radar data from NWS.  It's about the software that takes that raw data and presents it for the viewer.  While I think this is kinda cool, is it a technology that is needed  here in the NW?  I don't think so.  If we were living in the midwest and needed to look at severe and tornadic supercells it would be a great tool.  The 3D technology allows you to look inside the storm and detect updrafts that could spawn a tornado, or the downdrafts that cause straight line winds.  For the 7 digit price tag that KATU paid for this system, I think it could have been spent better elsewhere.  But who are we to make that decision, I'm not a Fisher stockholder.
ah, 3d Radar is coming online and KATU is catching up I see, I believe this is the new standard in radar imagery. I hear it can even filter out birds...well..sort of lol
K2, that is fantastic. Really. I know it might seem like whining, but just once I'd like the get an accurate weather forecast -- I highly doubt these new fangled toys will make it any more accurate.
 @Jamie Actaully 3d radar is highly accurate, it uses 3 beams to scan with... but here in MW Models have difficult time with our weather because of all the "Micro Climates" involved. We have a hill here that gets snow all winter long. even if the other hills are with out snow.
 @lee986321  @Jamie This radar is the same radar that's provided by the NWS.  It has only one beam that's comprised of two radar "signals".  One that is vertically polarized and one that is horizontally polarized.  The upgrade to the dual polarization was done last year.  To create 3D radar images all the computer software does it take the various scans at different elevations and combines them into one 3D image.  There is experimentation with phased-array radar antennas that allow for this volume scanning to be done at a much faster rate but the basic concept is the same.  I doubt that 3D radar here in the NW will be much of a benefit over knowing what type of precip is actually falling which can be gathered using the dual polarization and the HCA product that it provides.  It can differentiate between rain, large rain drops, hail, dry snow, wet snow, etc.  That data is available to anyone for free.