Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content
  • Feedback

    • NOAA Next Generation Radar (NEXRAD) Level 3 Products

    Metadata Updated: August 25, 2023

    This dataset consists of Level 3 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 2 data are base products at original resolution. Level 2 data are recorded at all NWS and most USAF and FAA WSR-88D sites. From the Level 2 quantities, computer processing generates numerous meteorological analysis Level 3 products. The Level 3 data consists of reduced resolution, low-bandwidth, base products as well as many derived, post-processed products. Level 3 products are recorded at most U.S. sites, though non-US sites do not have Level 3 products. There are over 40 Level 3 products available from the NCDC. General products for Level 3 include the base and composite reflectivity, storm relative velocity, vertical integrated liquid, echo tops and VAD wind profile. Precipitation products for Level 3 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 3 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 3 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 Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) 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.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Date August 22, 2023
    Metadata Created Date October 28, 2022
    Metadata Updated Date August 25, 2023
    Reference Date(s) 1992 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update continual

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from ncdc

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    NEXRAD reflectivity image

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date August 22, 2023
    Metadata Created Date October 28, 2022
    Metadata Updated Date August 25, 2023
    Reference Date(s) 1992 (publication)
    Responsible Party NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.ncdc:C00708
    Access Constraints Cite as: NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) Radar Operations Center (1992): NOAA Next Generation Radar (NEXRAD) Level 3 Products. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. NCEI DSI 7000. [access date]., Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
    Bbox East Long -64.0
    Bbox North Lat 68.0
    Bbox South Lat 11.0
    Bbox West Long 124.0
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update continual
    Graphic Preview Description NEXRAD reflectivity image
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/metadata/images/C00708_fdr_baserefl.jpg
    Graphic Preview Type JPEG
    Harvest Object Id 9ac2b640-7355-4255-871d-028ff00a660e
    Harvest Source Id 2cb3ef77-1683-4c2a-9119-dc65e50917c6
    Harvest Source Title ncdc
    Licence
    Lineage NEXRAD Level 3 products were created by the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) and are archived by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).
    Metadata Language eng; USA
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[124.0, 11.0], [-64.0, 11.0], [-64.0, 68.0], [124.0, 68.0], [124.0, 11.0]]]}
    Progress onGoing
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 1992-05-07

    Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.