Climate technology provider Climavision has installed a dual-polarization, X-Band weather radar in Dry Ridge, Kentucky, to fill a low-level coverage gap along the I-75 and I-71 corridors connecting Cincinnati to Lexington and Louisville.
Climavision’s radar is designed to fill the gaps between the National Weather Service’s NEXRAD S-band radars, which have been in service since the 1990s. These gaps exist because the radar beam moves higher in the atmosphere the further it gets from the radar location. Climavision’s radar is intended to provide a high-resolution view of what’s happening nearest to the ground, and expected to leave these areas in Northern and Central Kentucky less exposed to weather phenomena that often happens in the lower atmosphere such as flash flooding, sleet, ice and tornadoes.
The Dry Ridge radar now completely fills the low-level gaps in the state of Kentucky, joining an installation in Jamestown in South Central Kentucky. The company is already at work addressing other similar gaps around the country, with plans to scale the network to more than 200 radar systems.
These weather situation insights are intended to help commercial forecasters and emergency officials better plan, prepare and respond to volatile weather situations. The Weather Act Reauthorization, recently passed by the US House Committee, prioritizes solutions for data void areas and encourages the National Weather Service to work with commercial providers like Climavision to accelerate those possible solutions. The National Weather Service has already gained access to data from Climavision’s previously installed sites, under a contract signed with the National Mesonet Program in the summer of 2023.
Through this agreement, several Weather Forecasting Offices (WFOs) are accessing over a dozen Climavision systems to evaluate the data for use in forecasting and emergency planning operations. Climavision also provides the data to a number of private and public industry clients such as media and state governments.
“The I-75 corridor is a crucial components of the country’s supply chain,” said Chris Goode, CEO and co-founder of Climavision. “Our solution is strategically placed to protect interstate commerce and hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians who call this region of the Bluegrass home.”
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