Modernization of the Cuban weather radar network

The Cuban Weather Radar Network is composed by 3 RC-32B (Japan) and 4 MRL-5 (Russia). In 1993 the Cuban Meteorological Service decided to mount a mode rnized radar prototype at Camaguey Meteorological Center, incorporating com puter control and data acquisition hardware to achieve fully unmanned opera tion. Modernization of conventional weather radars is now possible within a small budget using open hardware and software architectures. Our Primary P rocessor "ELBRUS" (Signal Processor + Radar Controller) makes use of availa ble computer cards and commercial PC systems. The system architecture was d esigned with a particular stress on software. All functions that could be h andled within the Data Acquisition Computer have been put there. Also, a ve rsatile Product Generator and Processing System were developed. Vests proce ssor Vesta RPG and its front end application Vesta\Process deal with produc t and composite generation, data base management and web server links. They function in a server-client fashion using standard protocols. Results obta ined with this prototype are now being extended to other 6 radars under a N ational Program for the modernization of the Cuban Weather Radar Network, w hich also includes composition and distribution of the products. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.