Episode
WeatherBrains 1049: Say A Little WeatherBrains Prayer
- Podcast
- WeatherBrains
- Published
- Feb 24, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 6423
- Processing state
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- https://weatherbrains.libsyn.com/weatherbrains-1049-say-a-little-weatherbrains-prayer
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Summary
Tonight's show is all about radar and reflectivity. Guest WeatherBrain Charles Kuster works in the radar division of NSSL. He started his career at the OU Cooperative Institute. Then, moved to NSSL and has been there ever since. He attended the University of Oklahoma, where he completed his Bachelor's degree in 2012 and eventually his Master's in 2014. Charles was a Graduate Research Assistant with OU CIMMS before securing a position as Research Associate in January of this year. Charles , welcome to WeatherBrains! Second Guest WeatherBrain Jami Boettcher came to CIWRO/NSSL after retiring from the National Weather Service, comprised of about 10 years in operations, and 25 years as an Instructor for the Warning Decision Training Division. Her first area of expertise as a trainer focused on the WSR-88D system updates, with the most significant being the conversion to dual polarization. Developing and delivering training that focused on the needs of the NWS operational community was always the priority. Her second area of training expertise was on the cognitive domain of NWS warning operations and its three components: science, technology, and human factors. Jamie , welcome to the show! Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: [email protected]. Side lobe contamination (16:00) ZDR column radar signature (19:30) Precursor radar signatures (25:30) Dual-polarization radar general concepts and variables (27:00) Correlation coefficient definition (28:30) KDP/Specific Differential Phase (29:30) Radar spectrum width (43:00) Mitigating side lobe contamination? (55:00) Difference between WSR-88D and phased array radar (01:05:00) Well-known radar gaps and the ensuing issues (01:10:30) X-Band radar vs WSR-88D (01:12…