NOAA’s New $6 Billion Weather Radar Program Will Replace NEXRAD

A long-planned weather radar upgrade by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be a new requirement and not simply an extension of existing contracts, NOAA confirmed in a recent Q&A exchange with industry.

A January request for information announced the start of NOAA’s replacement of NEXRAD, the Weather Surveillance Radar–1988 Doppler model. The project will likely take 13 to 18 years and cost an estimated $6 billion.

The RFI seeks industry input about current and anticipated weather-tracking solutions to inform the agency’s Radar Acquisition Management Program, a research-based cost-benefit analysis comparing the value of continued NEXRAD enhancements to other ...