earth science

King City weather radar station

King City weather radar station is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand King City weather radar station rather than just read about it. In short: The King City weather radar station (ICAO site identifier CASKR (CWKR prior to 2021)) is a weather radar located in King City, Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Environment Canada and is part of the Canadian weather radar network, for which it is the primary research station.

Key takeaways

King City weather radar station belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect King City weather radar station to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of King City weather radar station from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The King City weather radar station (ICAO site identifier CASKR (CWKR prior to 2021)) is a weather radar located in King City, Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Environment Canada and is part of the Canadian weather radar network, for which it is the primary research station. The 16.45 hectare site is listed at an elevation of 360 m, and the tower is 27 m tall. Mounted on the tower was a 5 cm weather radar, and a C-band dual-polarization radar system, installed at the site in 2004, which was replaced during the modernization program of Canadian weather radar network of 2021 by an S band (10 cm), dual-polarization radar.

Research The station serves a number of research roles, and collects data to fulfill those observational needs. It is "responsible for providing national leadership on radar meteorology research applications". In 1984, the Research Directorate of the Atmospheric Environment Service established the first Canadian weather radar with Doppler capability in King City. In 2004, a dual-polarization radar was installed for further research. These systems are used for predictive purposes, and the data collected is used for weather forecasts for the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. Further, under the auspices of the Cloud Physics and Severe Weather Research Section of Environment Canada, the King Doppler Weather Radar Research Facility collects data for research. The radar can be useful for observing bird migration patterns, especially when data is taken in aggregate with that of other radar stations. Current active research in dual-polarization radar includes winter precipitation, detection and short-term forecasting of high-impact weather events, quantitative precipitation estimation, satellite validation, and particle type identification.

Equipment The WSR82D radar installed in 1982 had a fiberglass laminate radome, and a parabolic reflector with a diameter of 6.1m and linear horizontal polarisation. Its gain was 48 dB. The radar emitted a 260 kW beam with a frequency of 5625 MHz and wavelength of 5.33 cm having a beam width of 0.65 degrees. In conventional operation, it had a pulse duration of 2 μs, pulse repetition frequency of 250 pulses per second, and performed 6.0 scanning rotations per minute. In Doppler operation, it had a pulse duration of 0.5 μs, alternating pulse repetition frequencies of 892 and 1190 pulses per second, and a scan rate of 0.75 rotations per minute. In long-range Doppler operation, a pulse repetition frequency of 650 pulses per second and a scan rate of 2 rotations per minute were used. It was replaced in 2004 by a similar radar but with dual polarization capabilities, installed at a height of 27 m. During the modernization program of Canadian weather radar network, it is being replaced again on the same site in the spring of 2021 by an S band and dual-polarization radar with an estimated construction date from March to June. This new radar uses a klystron, instead of a magnetron, and has:

Frequency : 2.7 - 2.9 GHz Pulse repetition frequency (PRF): 250 – 2000 Hz Pulse length (τ): 0.4 μs ... 4.5 μs Peak power: 750 kW Doppler range: 240 km Reflectivity normal range: 300 km maximum range: 600 km Velocity resolution : ± 146 m/s Antenna diameter: 8.5 m Beamwidth : < 1° Rotation: 6 min−1

Notes

References "Every radar has a story". Environment and Climate Change Canada. 2025-04-07. Archived from the original on 2026-07-10. Retrieved 2026-07-10. "King City Radar Station". Environmental Science Centres: Ontario. Environment Canada. 24 January 2008. Retrieved 29 February 2012. "King City, Ontario: Information about the site". The National Radar Program. Environment Canada. 26 August 2002. Archived from the original on 4 August 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2006. Crozier, C.L.; Joe, P.I.; Scott, J.W.; Herscovitch, H.N.; Nichols, T.R. (1991). "The King City Operational Doppler Radar: Development, All-Season Applications and Forecasting". Atmosphere-Ocean. 29 (3): 479–516. Bibcode:1991AtO....29..479C. doi:10.1080/07055900.1991.9649414. Sills, David (2004). "The New Dual-Polarization Radar at King City". Retrieved 24 May 2006. Raghavan, S. (2003). "Radar Meteorology — History, Principles and Technology". In Sadourny, Robert; Mysak, Lawrence A. (eds.). Radar Meteorology. Atmospheric and Oceanographic Sciences Library. Vol. 27. Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 1–49. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-0201-0_1. ISBN 978-1-4020-1604-2.

Further reading Joe, P.; Lapczak, S. (2002). Evolution of the Canadian Operational Radar Network (PDF). Proceedings of ERAD. Copernicus GmbH. pp. 370–382. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2012-02-29.

External links Real time CWKR data Archived 2021-03-11 at the Wayback Machine from Environment Canada

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with King City weather radar station

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what King City weather radar station claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to King City weather radar station before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about King City weather radar station ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of King City weather radar station

In research: King City weather radar station appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses King City weather radar station in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: King City weather radar station is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Buildings and structures in King, Ontario, Federal government buildings in Ontario, Meteorological Service of Canada, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for King City weather radar station outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study King City weather radar station in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what King City weather radar station means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain King City weather radar station out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is King City weather radar station in simple terms?

Why does King City weather radar station matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study King City weather radar station?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on King City weather radar station.