ENSTROM 480B RFM SUPPLEMENT
7-9
Report No. 28-AC-062
Jun 5/14
7-3-2. NEXRAD
The National Weather Service (NWS) operates the WSR-
88D, or NEXRAD (NEXt-generation RADar) system, an
extensive network of 156 high-resolution Doppler radar
systems. The NEXRAD network provides centralized
meteorological information for the continental United
States and selected overseas locations. The maximum
range of a single NEXRAD site is 250 nm. In addition to a
wide array of services, the NEXRAD network provides
important information about severe weather and air traffic
safety. Individual NEXRAD sites supply the network with
radar images, and the images from each radar site may
arrive at the network at different rates and times.
Periodically, the weather data provider compiles the
available individual site images from the network to form a
composite image, and assigns a single time to indicate
when it created the image. This image becomes the
NEXRAD weather product. Individual images--gathered
from each NEXRAD site--differ in age, and are always
older than the displayed NEXRAD weather product age.
The data provider then sends the NEXRAD data to the
SiriusXM Weather service, whose satellites transmit this
information during the next designated broadcast time for
the NEXRAD weather product.
7-3-3. ECHO TOPS
The Echo Tops weather product shows the location,
elevation, and direction of the highest radar echo. The
highest radar echo does not indicate the top of a storm or
clouds; rather it indicates the highest altitude at which
precipitation is detected. Information is derived from
NEXRAD data.
7-3-4. Cloud Tops
The Cloud Tops weather product depicts cloud top
altitudes as determined from satellite imagery.
7-3-5. SiriusXM Lightning
The SiriusXM Lightning weather product shows the
approximate location of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes.
A strike icon represents a strike that has occurred within
a two-kilometer region. The exact location of the lightning
strike is not displayed.
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