OSWEGO -- Students at Oswego High School got a chance to check out one of the latest devices used by meteorologists to study severe storms.
Doppler-on-Wheels, one of only three mounted Doppler Radars units in the country, was on display at the high school Tuesday morning. SUNY Oswego Professor Dr. Scott Steiger says the Doppler-on-Wheels, or DOW, gives scientists a chance to go to where the storm is.
"We don't have to sit and wait for the storm to come to us. We can go to it and sample many storms. Many more than before because we can drive right up to it and sample the storm directly," he says.
The high-tech radar system is on loan from the National Science Foundation. SUNY Oswego students and professors are using the radar to study lake effect storms this winter. The Doppler-on-Wheels radar can actually see inside clouds and identify what kind of snow particle is falling something never before possible.
Steiger says the radar will help scientists better understand severe weather. "The more we sample these storms with radar the more we will be able to understand them and be better able to predict them," he says.
For more information visit www.nssl.noaa.gov/smartradars
