A Space & astronomy forum. SpaceBanter.com

Go Back   Home » SpaceBanter.com forum » Astronomy and Astrophysics » Amateur Astronomy
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

looking for detailed past weather radar archives



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old July 2nd 12, 03:59 AM posted to sci.astro.amateur
wHAMO
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default looking for detailed past weather radar archives

I'm on the search for detailed radar archives dating back probably at least
10 years. I came across Weather Underground, which is the best I have been
able to find so far, but I wish it was more detailed than just hourly, and I
am seeking out possible alternatives.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

  #2  
Old July 2nd 12, 06:25 AM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Chris L Peterson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,007
Default looking for detailed past weather radar archives

On Sun, 1 Jul 2012 22:59:06 -0400, "wHAMO"
wrote:

I'm on the search for detailed radar archives dating back probably at least
10 years. I came across Weather Underground, which is the best I have been
able to find so far, but I wish it was more detailed than just hourly, and I
am seeking out possible alternatives.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.


All the archived U.S. Dopper radar data can be found at
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/nexradinv/ , typically with 10-minute
resolution.

  #3  
Old July 2nd 12, 02:55 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
wHAMO
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default looking for detailed past weather radar archives


"Chris L Peterson" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 1 Jul 2012 22:59:06 -0400, "wHAMO"
wrote:

I'm on the search for detailed radar archives dating back probably at
least
10 years. I came across Weather Underground, which is the best I have
been
able to find so far, but I wish it was more detailed than just hourly, and
I
am seeking out possible alternatives.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.


All the archived U.S. Dopper radar data can be found at
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/nexradinv/ , typically with 10-minute
resolution.


Wow! That is definitely a great resource. It took me a while to figure out
how to decode the data, but I downloaded one of the recommended programs and
I am viewing the various data now as actual past radar.

I am just having a couple of issues. Since the data provided is so
extensive, I am trying to narrow down the images that provide the best radar
view, similar to Weather Underground:
http://www.wunderground.com/radar/radblast.asp?ID=YUX

It looks like Base Reflectivity 0.50° Elevation provides a good view.

The only other issue is the radar residuals around the detection station.
On the media maps often shown on TWC and others, they get rid of this- any
idea how they do it?

Thanks again!


  #4  
Old July 2nd 12, 05:35 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
wHAMO
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default looking for detailed past weather radar archives

Ok, I think I figured it out after playing around with the software. Almost
all of the variables have filters so simply filtering the radar data to
exclude the most sensitive (and noisy) range seems to get rid of the radar
clutter. Now I just have to determine which is the highest resolution for
the most zoomed in area.

"Chris L Peterson" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 1 Jul 2012 22:59:06 -0400, "wHAMO"
wrote:

I'm on the search for detailed radar archives dating back probably at
least
10 years. I came across Weather Underground, which is the best I have
been
able to find so far, but I wish it was more detailed than just hourly, and
I
am seeking out possible alternatives.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.


All the archived U.S. Dopper radar data can be found at
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/nexradinv/ , typically with 10-minute
resolution.


  #5  
Old July 4th 12, 02:38 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
wHAMO
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default looking for detailed past weather radar archives

Perhaps you can help me out with something else too, Chris. First of all, I
am having a field day with all the data from NOAA site. Lots of specific
data available at my fingertips! Couple of things I'm still looking for and
maybe you can help me out:

1) Lightning data archives with the data presented on a map like the radar.
Everything I've come across so far are paid services and I am obviously
looking for something free.

2) Wind speed data also presented in a radar like format. They do it all
the time for storms like hurricanes, but unless I'm mistaken, I don't see
this anywhere on the NOAA site.

Thanks in advance for any help!


"Chris L Peterson" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 1 Jul 2012 22:59:06 -0400, "wHAMO"
wrote:

I'm on the search for detailed radar archives dating back probably at
least
10 years. I came across Weather Underground, which is the best I have
been
able to find so far, but I wish it was more detailed than just hourly, and
I
am seeking out possible alternatives.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.


All the archived U.S. Dopper radar data can be found at
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/nexradinv/ , typically with 10-minute
resolution.


  #6  
Old July 4th 12, 03:55 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Chris L Peterson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,007
Default looking for detailed past weather radar archives

On Wed, 4 Jul 2012 09:38:07 -0400, "wHAMO"
wrote:

Perhaps you can help me out with something else too, Chris. First of all, I
am having a field day with all the data from NOAA site. Lots of specific
data available at my fingertips! Couple of things I'm still looking for and
maybe you can help me out:

1) Lightning data archives with the data presented on a map like the radar.
Everything I've come across so far are paid services and I am obviously
looking for something free.

2) Wind speed data also presented in a radar like format. They do it all
the time for storms like hurricanes, but unless I'm mistaken, I don't see
this anywhere on the NOAA site.


Can't help with the lightning.

My use for various weather data is in my meteor research. Doppler
radar sometimes catches the falling dust train from large fireballs. I
also analyze the cold flight phase of meteorite falls, and for that I
need to know the high altitude wind. That's available from radiosonde
data- typically two balloon launches per day from a variety of sites.
Historical data is online at
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/raobs/General_Information.html

I don't generally care about surface data, but it can be useful
sometimes when assessing witness reports, to determine where clouds
might have been. There are useful historical weather maps (12-hour
resolution) at http://weather.unisys.com/archive/index.php which might
help you with your wind speed data.
  #7  
Old July 6th 12, 02:31 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
wHAMO
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default looking for detailed past weather radar archives


"Chris L Peterson" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 4 Jul 2012 09:38:07 -0400, "wHAMO"
wrote:

Perhaps you can help me out with something else too, Chris. First of all,
I
am having a field day with all the data from NOAA site. Lots of specific
data available at my fingertips! Couple of things I'm still looking for
and
maybe you can help me out:

1) Lightning data archives with the data presented on a map like the
radar.
Everything I've come across so far are paid services and I am obviously
looking for something free.

2) Wind speed data also presented in a radar like format. They do it all
the time for storms like hurricanes, but unless I'm mistaken, I don't see
this anywhere on the NOAA site.


Can't help with the lightning.

My use for various weather data is in my meteor research. Doppler
radar sometimes catches the falling dust train from large fireballs. I
also analyze the cold flight phase of meteorite falls, and for that I
need to know the high altitude wind. That's available from radiosonde
data- typically two balloon launches per day from a variety of sites.
Historical data is online at
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/raobs/General_Information.html

I don't generally care about surface data, but it can be useful
sometimes when assessing witness reports, to determine where clouds
might have been. There are useful historical weather maps (12-hour
resolution) at http://weather.unisys.com/archive/index.php which might
help you with your wind speed data.


Hi Chris,

This has sure been an interesting "journey" over the last several days and I
have been led on various data paths. For near real-time and recently past
lightning data, Weather Underground appears to offer a lightning option when
looking at radar data:
http://www.wunderground.com/radar/ra...ngeles%2c%20CA

Under "Radar Controls". They do get their lightning data from an outside
network. I've visited the website, but it doesn't mention archival data, so
I don't know about availability.

Still interesting to see current or past lightning data within the last hour
though.

The only resource I've come across offering lightning archives, plus a whole
bunch of others, is Iowa state:

http://mtarchive.geol.iastate.edu/

However, the major stumbling block so far is the way the data is stored.
It's called GEMPAK and doesn't look like data decoding is available for
Windows, although I am looking into it.

 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
One FROM the archives advicegiven[_3_] Astronomy Misc 2 July 7th 09 07:51 PM
One FROM the archives advicegiven[_3_] Amateur Astronomy 2 July 7th 09 07:51 PM
Archives Michael Barlow Amateur Astronomy 2 April 2nd 05 10:19 PM
Space Based Radar, FIA/radar, redundancy? Allen Thomson Policy 2 April 22nd 04 05:19 PM
Where are archives of weekly MER news briefings? Gary W. Swearingen Policy 0 March 18th 04 02:22 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:11 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 SpaceBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.