NCAR/RAP's NEXRAD Weather Radar Data Archive

The Research Application Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research maintains an online archive of much of the NIDS/NEXRAD data collected around the country. Specifically, we keep (in image format), all of the level 1 Base Reflectivity and Velocity NEXRAD data from about 150 radars. In addition, we keep an archive of national and regional radar reflectivity composites. All images have a resolution of 768x576 and are roughly 20Kb in size. Images are typically available at 5 or 10 minute intervals depending on the current radar mode. All composites are updated on a 5 minute basis. >From this page you can view a loop of archived NEXRAD radar imagery. You select the NEXRAD site or the composite region, the starting time of the loop, the duration of the loop, and the time interval between images of the loop. (A selection of images that closest matches your interval will be made). The requested images, if available, will be presented in a image-loop viewer that allows you to control the speed, direction, mode, etc. of the loop. If both reflectivity and velocity images are requested (velocity is not available for the composites), you can toggle between the two image types by clicking on the imagery. To copy the images to your computer, use the movie player to find the specific images you want and then use your brower to save the image to your local disk. From most browers this can be done by right clicking on the image and then selecting either "Save Image As..." (Netscape) or "Save Picture As..." (IE). Users from outside of UCAR will only be able to access images that are at least 48 hrs old (sometimes somewhat longer depending on when the security is lifted). UCAR users can access the complete archive or may wish to visit the Real-time NEXRAD data page for access to the live NEXRAD imagery. NCAR/RAP NEXRAD Data Archive: http://www.ral.ucar.edu/weather/radar/ [Summary extracted from the NCAR/RAP NEXRAD Data Web Page]