X-Band Radar Monitors El Niño Rainfall Before And After Super Bowl

CSU radar researchers installed a scanning X-band radar at the Penitencia water treatment plant in San Jose, California. (Credit: Francesc Junyent)

A few months before Super Bowl 50, scientists at Colorado State University were busy working to deploy a sophisticated radar system to monitor El Niño and predict associated extreme weather events, according to a release. The effort was part of the El Niño Rapid Response Field Campaign led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The ground-based, scanning X-band radar was deployed near San Jose, California, only a short distance from Levi’s Stadium, just one week before the Super Bowl. The team wanted to get the instrument deployed before the massive crowds of fans started pouring in so that the visitors could benefit from high-resolution weather forecasts.

It took about eight weeks to deploy the radar, scientists say. Its X-band technology was used throughout the week leading up to the Super Bowl to monitor rainfall associated with El Niño. Moving forward after the big game, Colorado State researchers have continued to use it to monitor rainfall, as well as flooding, linked to El Niño.

Top image: CSU radar researchers installed a scanning X-band radar at the Penitencia water treatment plant in San Jose, California. (Credit: Francesc Junyent)