FRONT: Front Range Observational Network Testbed

Summary

FRONT: A testbed for innovative weather and climate technology development; leading, promoting and enabling geoscience research and education.

FRONT provides the atmospheric science community with an easily accessible, cost-efficient, observational infrastructure for the collection of comprehensive data sets for hydro-meteorology, mesoscale meteorology, climate process studies and for the advancement of technology.

FRONT integrates CSU-CHILL and NCAR/EOL S-Pol systems to streamline development and operations for expanded science and education opportunities and forms one engineering development team whose efforts benefit both NSF S-band radar facilities. The shared engineering and scientific activities between CHILL and NCAR/EOL S-band research radars provide the scientific community with opportunities to:

1) conduct target of opportunity scientific field experiments

2) maintain a long-term mesoscale test bed for assessing instruments, data quality procedures, sensor integration, numerical models, networking capabilities and derived products

3) provide a framework or magnet for local field campaigns, and

4) conduct continuous hands-on education.