The current antenna is a parabolic solid with a 4.88 meter (16 foot) diameter.
TEXAS DOPPLER RADAR SOFTWARE
In 2016, ADRAD data became available for use by the National Weather Service offices and research teams through Gibson Ridge Analyst software ( GRLevelX). Starting in October 1998, live radar pictures from the ADRAD were available online during storms.
TEXAS DOPPLER RADAR UPGRADE
A final upgrade to the pedestal, removal of the side dishes, new processor, and work station occurred in 1997. The new system was renamed the TAMU Aggie Doppler Radar (TAMU-ADRAD). The integration of a Lassen Research PSP-32 processor in 1992 enabled Doppler capability. The A&M radar tracked the remnants as they moved inland. As the storm made landfall, the Galveston NWS office lost its radar. One of the storms that was tracked with this radar was Hurricane Alicia in 1983. More modifications were made in 1989 in anticipation of adding Doppler capability. After several modifications, the radar was placed on top of the newly completed Eller O&M Building in 1973. The TAMU-1 was updated in 1966 to allow dual wavelength operations. In 1962, a longer wavelength radar, 10-cm, was constructed and designated WSR/TAMU-1. Today, with improved warning dissemination methods, increased community preparedness, and better radar capabilities and coverage, it would be less likely that a research team would be issuing warnings to communities directly." WSR/TAMU-1 and TAMU-ADRAD This is probably the first warning based solely on interpretation of radar data and is a good example of effective interaction between warning meteorologists and the local community. Texas A&M University also warned the College Station Consolidated School System, which decided to keep the children in their school buildings instead of releasing them at the scheduled time of 1500 LT. At 1445 LT, Texas A&M University meteorologists called the Bryan Police Department and forecast that a tornado would touch down 30 min.
The Texas A&M University radar observed strong, tall, hook-shaped echoes with V-notch signatures after 1400 LT. At noon that day, the Weather Bureau Forecast Center at Kansas City, Missouri, had issued what we would today call a tornado watch for an area just to the north of Bryan. On 5 April 1956, a tornado that produced damage in Bryan and College Station, Texas, was detected by the Texas A&M University radar. "The modified APS-2F at Texas A&M University, although not formally a part of the Texas Tornado Warning Network, was used at least once for warning purposes (Bigler 1956). The AN/CPS-9 model was the first purpose-built weather radar. Using this 3-cm radar, researchers studied mid-latitude mesoscale systems, severe storms, and land-falling cyclones. In the early 1950s, the department received a 3-cm weather radar, AN/CPS-9, from the US Air Force. In 1992, the Aggie Doppler RADar was born with the installation of doppler capability.
In 1962, they upgraded to a 10 cm, and in 1966, dual wavelength capability was added. The Meteorology department first began its study of convective storms with the use of a 3 cm wavelength radar in the early 1950s.