Manually-Digitized Radar Data for the Midwest and Eastern United States

The former Techniques Development Laboratory (TDL) of the U.S. National Weather Service began collecting Manually-Digitized Radar (MDR) data in November 1973 from teletype reports. The MDR data were then archived in Model Output Statistics (MOS) predictand tape format to be used for thunderstorm prediction. The data were intended for both general and severe thunderstorm prediction using MOS which related the radar data to large-scale predictors from operational numerical models. Other uses of the data included development of improved initial moisture fields in TDL numerical models and verification of convective weather forecasts.

The MDR data were archived for a pseudo-grid covering roughly the eastern two-thirds of the United States. This pseudo-grid was a subset of the 47 by 51 (octagonal) polar-stereographic grid that was used for numerical weather output at the time.

美国国家气象服务的前技术发展实验室（TDL）自1973年11月起开始收集手动数字化雷达（MDR）数据，这些数据源自电传报告。随后，MDR数据被存档于模型输出统计（MOS）预测数据带格式中，以供雷暴预测使用。这些数据旨在通过MOS将雷达数据与数值模型的大规模预测因子相关联，从而用于一般雷暴和严重雷暴的预测。此外，数据的应用还包括在TDL数值模型中开发改进的初始湿度场，以及对对流性天气预报进行验证。MDR数据存档覆盖了一个覆盖美国东部三分之二区域的假网格。该假网格是当时用于数值天气输出的47×51（八边形）极地立体网格的一个子集。