Bronze level automatically awarded US beta

This data has achieved Bronze level on 22 October 2015 which means this data makes a great start at the basics of publishing open data.

NOAA NEXt-Generation RADar (NEXRAD) Products

Summary

Type of release
ongoing release of a series of related datasets

Data Licence
Not Applicable

Content Licence
Creative Commons CCZero

Verification
automatically awarded

Release Date
26 September 2015
Modified Date
6 October 2015
Update Frequency
continual
Publishers
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
Identifier
noaa-next-generation-radar-nexrad-products
Landing Page
http://catalog.data.gov/dataset/noaa-next-generation-radar-nexrad-products
Theme
climate5434
Temporal Coverage
7 May 1992

Community verification

Other people can verify whether the answers on this certificate are correct.

This certificate is automatically awarded.

Sign in to verify or report this certificate


Description

This dataset consists of Level III weather radar products collected from Next-Generation Radar (NEXRAD) stations located in the contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. territories and at military base sites. NEXRAD is a network of 160 high-resolution Doppler weather radars operated by the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the U.S. Air Force (USAF). Doppler radars detect atmospheric precipitation and winds, which allow scientists to track and anticipate weather events, such as rain, ice pellets, snow, hail, and tornadoes, as well as some non-weather objects like birds and insects. NEXRAD stations use the Weather Surveillance Radar - 1988, Doppler (WSR-88D) system. This is a 10 cm wavelength (S-Band) radar that operates at a frequency between 2,700 and 3,000 MHz. The radar system operates in two basic modes: a slow-scanning Clear Air Mode (Mode B) for analyzing air movements when there is little or no precipitation activity in the area, and a Precipitation Mode (Mode A) with a faster scan for tracking active weather. The two modes employ nine Volume Coverage Patterns (VCPs) to adequately sample the atmosphere based on weather conditions. A VCP is a series of 360 degree sweeps of the antenna at pre-determined elevation angles and pulse repetition frequencies completed in a specified period of time. The radar scan times 4.5, 5, 6 or 10 minutes depending on the selected VCP. During 2008, the WSR-88D radars were upgraded to produce increased spatial resolution data, called Super Resolution. The earlier Legacy Resolution data provides radar reflectivity at 1.0 degree azimuthal by 1 km range gate resolution to a range of 460 km, and Doppler velocity and spectrum width at 1.0 degree azimuthal by 250 m range gate resolution to a range of 230 km. The upgraded Super Resolution data provides radar reflectivity at 0.5 degree azimuthal by 250 m range gate resolution to a range of 460 km, and Doppler velocity and spectrum width at 0.5 degree azimuthal by 250 m range gate resolution to a range of 300 km. Super resolution makes a compromise of slightly decreased noise reduction for a large gain in resolution. In 2010, the deployment of the Dual Polarization (Dual Pol) capability to NEXRAD sites began with the first operational Dual Pol radar in May 2011. Dual Pol radar capability adds vertical polarization to the previous horizontal radar waves, in order to more accurately discern the return signal. This allows the radar to better distinguish between types of precipitation (e.g., rain, hail and snow), improves rainfall estimates, improves data retrieval in mountainous terrain, and aids in removal of non-weather artifacts. The NEXRAD products are divided in two data processing levels. The lower Level II data are base products at original resolution. Level II data are recorded at all NWS and most USAF and FAA WSR-88D sites. From the Level II quantities, computer processing generates numerous meteorological analysis Level III products. The Level III data consists of reduced resolution, low-bandwidth, base products as well as many derived, post-processed products. Level III products are recorded at most U.S. sites, though non-US sites do not have Level III products. There are over 40 Level III products available from the NCDC. General products for Level III include the base and composite reflectivity, storm relative velocity, vertical integrated liquid, echo tops and VAD wind profile. Precipitation products for Level III include estimated ground accumulated rainfall amounts for one and three hour periods, storm totals, and digital arrays. Estimates are based on reflectivity to rainfall rate (Z-R) relationships. Overlay products for Level III are alphanumeric data that give detailed information on certain parameters for an identified storm cell. These include storm structure, hail index, mesocyclone identification, tornadic vortex signature, and storm tracking information. Radar messages for Level III are sent by the radar site to users in order to know more about the radar status and special product data. NEXRAD data are provided to the NOAA National Climatic Data Center for archiving and dissemination to users. Data coverage varies by station and ranges from May 1992 to 1 day from present. Most stations began observing in the mid-1990s, and most period of records are continuous.


General Information


Legal Information

This dataset has been created by US Government which means it is required to be in the public domain. However US copyright law only allows open access by US citizens, we have assumed the data is equivalently licensed as CC0 for the rest of the world as this is in the spirit of the US Government’s Open Data policy.
  • The rights statement is at

    http://catalog.data.gov/dataset/noaa-next-generation-radar-nexrad-products Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • Outside the US, this data is available under

    Creative Commons CCZero Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • There are

    yes, and the rights are all held by the same person or organisation Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The content is available under

    Creative Commons CCZero Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • This data contains

    no data about individuals Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know


Practical Information

  • The data appears in this collection

    http://catalog.data.gov/organization/noaa-gov Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • This data changes

    no Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The data is

    backed up offsite Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know


Technical Information


Social Information

  • The documentation includes machine-readable data for

    title Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation includes machine-readable data for

    description Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation includes machine-readable data for

    identifier Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation includes machine-readable data for

    landing page Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation includes machine-readable data for

    release frequency Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation includes machine-readable data for

    publisher Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation includes machine-readable data for

    theme(s) Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation includes machine-readable data for

    distribution(s) Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation includes machine-readable data for

    release date Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation includes machine-readable data for

    modification date Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation includes machine-readable data for

    temporal coverage Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation includes machine-readable data for

    spatial/geographical coverage Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation about each distribution includes machine-readable data for

    title Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation about each distribution includes machine-readable data for

    description Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation about each distribution includes machine-readable data for

    release date Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation about each distribution includes machine-readable data for

    a URL to access the data Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • The documentation about each distribution includes machine-readable data for

    a URL to download the dataset Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • Find out how to contact someone about this data at

    http://catalog.data.gov/dataset/noaa-next-generation-radar-nexrad-products Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know

  • Find out how to suggest improvements to publication at

    http://www.data.gov/issue/?media_url=http://catalog.data.gov/dataset/noaa-next-generation-radar-nexrad-products Do you think this data is incorrect? Let us know