A Novel Internet-based Radar Digital Receiver and Processor (iRAP) System

The NOAA strategic vision is to help realized ¿an informed society that uses a comprehensive understanding of the role of the oceans, coasts, and atmosphere in the global ecosystem to make the best social and economic decisions.¿ Never is this vision more applicable as it is to tropical cyclones (TCs). These systems pose one of the largest natural threats to our society and economy. The NOAA research aircraft carry several NOAA and other radar systems designed to extract information critical to forecasters and improving our understanding of TCs, as well as collecting the necessary information to improve or lead to new satellite-based sensors that can provide observations of TCs on a global scale. This proposed effort seeks to realize an Internet-based radar digital receiver and processor system that provides compatibility between the NOAA and other radar systems and AAMPS. This novel system takes advantage of recent technology advances in FPGAs, a network processors and communication schemes and utilizes a unique system architecture to realize a solution that leap frogs over today¿s commercially available technology, while providing flexibility and modularity to ensure a long life cycle and complying with electrical and manufacturing standards to minimize production and support costs.