A NEXRAD WSR-88D weather radar in Alaska, the United States, operated by Federal Aviation Administration.
- Station
- Fairbanks (PAPD)
- Site
- Pedro Dome
- Operator
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Network
- NEXRAD WSR-88D
- Antenna
- 65.035° N, 147.501° W, 2,593 ft (790 m) above sea level
- Products
- Reflectivity, composite reflectivity, echo tops, vertically integrated liquid, velocity, correlation coefficient, differential reflectivity, specific differential phase (KDP), spectrum width
PAPD is the NEXRAD weather radar for Fairbanks, in interior Alaska. The antenna stands on Pedro Dome, northeast of the city; the Fairbanks forecast office calls it the Pedro Dome radar. Fairbanks is about 24 km to the southwest, and Farmers Loop, College, Badger, North Pole, Ester and Two Rivers all lie within about 33 km.
It is a WSR-88D and stands far higher than Alaska's other NEXRAD sites: NCEI gives 2,707 ft for the antenna, against under 400 ft for the rest. The NEXRAD Radar Operations Center lists it as Fairbanks FAA, one of the 12 radars in its Federal Aviation Administration group, with the National Weather Service forecast office in Fairbanks as the responsible office; the office describes the Pedro Dome radar as one it operates. The NWS API and the registry carry the name as Fairbanks Faa.
In July 2019 its transmitter was refurbished under the NEXRAD Service Life Extension Program, replacing breakers and cables original to the radar.
Radar shows rain, snow and hail, not cloud, and nothing below its lowest beam; far from the antenna the beam passes high above the ground.