News Release

The University of Oklahoma to hold commissioning ceremony for newest radar

Business Announcement

University of Oklahoma

NORMAN, Okla. – The University of Oklahoma's newest radar, OU-PRIME (Polarimetric Radar for Innovations in Meteorology and Engineering), will be commissioned on Saturday, April 4, at the university's Research Campus, located on the corner of Highway 9 and Jenkins Avenue.

"This is the latest milestone in our 50-year history of leadership in weather radar," said Lee Williams, OU vice president for research. "OU-PRIME is by far the most advanced and powerful weather radar at a university and will provide our faculty and students with an exceptional facility for education and research."

The public commissioning ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. inside One Partner's Place (1PP), 350 David L. Boren Blvd., with opening remarks by Williams; John Snow, OU College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences dean; and Bob Palmer, Atmospheric Radar Research Center director.

Immediately following the opening remarks, a ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at the radar site just southeast of 1PP. Tours of the radar site will be given at this time.

Attendees will have the chance to tour the ARRC's Radar Innovations Lab in 1PP to see firsthand the workspace that meteorology and engineering students and faculty will use to analyze data gathered by OU-PRIME and to solve problems in remote sensing of the atmosphere.

"The commissioning of OU-PRIME marks the next step in our progress toward trying to make Norman the weather radar capitol of the world," Palmer said. "OU-PRIME was built by our private-sector partner EEC, and is one of the most advanced weather radars in the world. It provides a platform for our students, faculty and scientists to develop all sorts of interesting algorithms, techniques and hardware in the fields of meteorology and engineering – after all, the last two letters of PRIME stand for meteorology and engineering."

The day will conclude with a luncheon for the commissioning attendees. An announcement regarding the opening of EEC's new Norman office will be made during the luncheon.

The university purchased OU-PRIME from Enterprise Electronics Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of WSI and the world's largest manufacturer of commercial weather radar. The ARRC has established a strategic alliance with EEC that includes a five-year research contract, the establishment of an EEC research office in Norman and the development of OU-PRIME.

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About OU-PRIME

Completed in January 2009, OU-PRIME serves as a research and development testbed for the ARRC. It is the highest-resolution, dual-polarization, C-band weather radar in the United States. With the addition of the C-band radar, Norman's polarimetric radar sensing capabilities are now complete. This will allow OU to be better equipped to establish extensive, international collaboration with countries in Europe and Asia because of their primary interest in C-band polarimetric radars. Also, by providing the nation's only true interdisciplinary weather radar educational program between meteorology and engineering, OU-PRIME is the focal point in the United States for the innovative program.

About the ARRC

Established in 2004 and located on the OU Research Campus in the National Weather Center, the ARRC is an interdisciplinary center between OU's schools of Meteorology and Electrical and Computer Engineering and serves as a focal point for the university's strategic initiative in radar meteorology and engineering. It now includes 10 faculty members, more than 30 graduate students and two postdoctoral fellows and has more than $5 million in active grants. Through associations with the private sector, the ARRC is developing long-term research and development projects, unique educational opportunities for OU students and economic growth for the state of Oklahoma.

About EEC

Enterprise Electronics Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of WSI, is recognized as the world leader in the meteorological radar field. Since its inception in 1971, the company has designed, manufactured and installed more than 900 radar systems worldwide. EEC developed the world's first commercial Doppler weather radar system in 1981. The corporation's range of radar systems is the product of years of experience, superior engineering and a top-ranked quality control process. EEC's 53,000-square-foot facility is located in Enterprise, Ala.

About WSI Corp.

WSI Corp. is the world's leading provider of weather-driven business solutions for professionals in the media, aviation and energy markets. For more than 30 years, WSI has focused on predicting, detecting and visualizing disruptive weather – from the severe weather that makes headlines a few weeks each year to the more subtle weather changes that affect the business operations and profits of its clients each day. WSI is headquartered in Andover, Mass., and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark Communications.


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