With the change to super-resolution Level-II data (0.5 deg x 0.5 km), the format of Level-II data is changing. Below is the the Technical Information Notice with details:

NOUS41 KWBC 261818
PNSWSH

TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICE 07-95
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
118 PM EST MON NOV 26 2007

TO:	  FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER
          WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS...EMERGENCY MANAGERS 
          WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK /EMWIN/ SUBSCRIBERS... 
          NOAAPORT SUBSCRIBERS...OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 
          /NWS/ CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS...NWS EMPLOYEES

FROM:	  RICHARD J. VOGT
	  DIRECTOR...WSR-88D RADAR OPERATIONS CENTER

SUBJECT:  IMPLEMENTATION OF CHANGES TO WSR-88D LEVEL II DATA 
          STREAM AND FORMAT: EFFECTIVE WITH WSR-88D BUILD 10 
          /FEBRUARY 2008 BETA TEST/

REFERENCE PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT SENT MARCH 2 2007
/USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:  

  HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/OS/NOTIFICATION/OLD/PNS_WSR-88D_LEVELII_ 
  MODFCTN.TXT

THE WSR-88D LEVEL II DATA STREAM CONTENT AND FORMAT WILL CHANGE 
WHEN WSR-88D SITES INSTALL BUILD 10 SOFTWARE: BEGINNING WITH  
WSR-88D BUILD 10 BETA TEST /STARTS IN LATE FEBRUARY 2008/.

THE NWS...USAF AND FAA WSR-88D SYSTEMS PRODUCE LEVEL II DATA... 
THE HIGHEST RESOLUTION DIGITAL RADAR DATA AVAILABLE. THESE DATA 
CONTAIN REFLECTIVITY...RADIAL VELOCITY AND SPECTRUM WIDTH DATA 
FROM ALL RADAR SCANS. LEVEL II DATA ARE COLLECTED... DISTRIBUTED 
AND ARCHIVED IN REAL TIME FROM 135 WSR-88D SYSTEMS VIA THE NWS 
WSR-88D LEVEL II DATA COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION NETWORK.  

PLANNED CHANGES:

THE LEVEL II DATA FORMAT AT ALL BUT ONE SITE AND THE CONTENT OF 
THE LEVEL II DATA STREAM AT SELECT SITES WILL CHANGE BEGINNING IN 
WSR-88D SOFTWARE BUILD 10. BETA TEST AT APPROXIMATELY FIVE SITES 
BEGINS IN LATE FEBRUARY 2008 AND DEPLOYMENT TO ALL OPERATIONAL 
SITES BEGINS IN EARLY MAY 2008. 

1.  THE FORMAT OF THE DATA WILL CHANGE FROM MSG1 TO MSG31 AS 
SITES INSTALL BUILD 10 SOFTWARE...EXCEPT FOR THE KVWX /EVANSVILLE 
INDIANA/ RADAR SITE...WHICH WILL CONTINUE TO USE MSG1 
INDEFINITELY. USER LEVEL II SOFTWARE WILL NEED TO BE ABLE TO 
RECEIVE AND DECODE MSG1 AND MSG31 FORMAT DATA DURING THE BUILD 10 
BETA TEST DEPLOYMENT PERIOD AND BEYOND. THE CHANGE TO MSG31 IS 
REQUIRED TO HANDLE THE PLANNED ADDITIONS TO THE WSR-88D LEVEL II 
DATA STREAM: SUPER RESOLUTION DATA... BUILD 10...AND DUAL 
POLARIZATION DATA...BEGINNING IN 2010. NWS WILL NOT CHANGE THE 
LOCAL DATA MANAGER /LDM/ METHOD OF DISTRIBUTING LEVEL II DATA VIA
THE NWS WSR-88D LEVEL II DATA COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION NETWORK.

2.  THE DATA STREAM WILL INCREASE IN SIZE DUE TO THE PLANNED 
CHANGE TO SUPER RESOLUTION RADAR DATA IN BUILD 10. SUPER 
RESOLUTION DATA INCREASE THE AZIMUTH RESOLUTION FROM 1 DEGREE TO 
0.5 DEGREE...THE REFLECTIVITY DATA RANGE RESOLUTION FROM 1 KM TO 
0.25 KM...AND DOPPLER DATA RANGE FROM 230 KM TO 300 KM FOR SPLIT 
CUTS...GENERALLY SCANS AT 1.5 DEGREES OR LOWER ELEVATION. THE 
AMOUNT OF DATA COLLECTED AND TRANSMITTED DURING A VOLUME SCAN 
WILL INCREASE BY A FACTOR OF APPROXIMATELY 2.3.  

CURRENT PLANS ARE THAT NETWORK-WIDE TRANSMISSION OF SUPER 
RESOLUTION DATA WILL NOT BEGIN IMMEDIATELY AT ALL SITES AS BUILD 
10 IS DEPLOYED. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOME OF THE BETA TEST SITES 
WILL BE ABLE TO TRANSMIT SUPER RESOLUTION DATA DURING THE BETA 
TEST. USER LEVEL II SOFTWARE WILL NEED TO BE ABLE TO RECEIVE AND 
DECODE SUPER RESOLUTION AND LEGACY RESOLUTION DATA DURING THE 
BUILD 10 BETA TEST. . .DEPLOYMENT PERIOD AND BEYOND.  IN SOME 
CASES THE LEVEL II DATA ARE NOT TRANSMITTED AS SUPER RESOLUTION. 
. .THE DATA WILL BE RECOMBINED. . .AT THE RPG. . .BACK TO THE 
LEGACY DATA RESOLUTION. TIMING OF NETWORK-WIDE TRANSMISSION OF 
SUPER RESOLUTION DATA WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER.   

THE FOLLOWING TOOLS ARE AVAILABLE TO LEVEL II USERS TO ASSIST 
THEIR TRANSITION TO THE NEW DATA FORMAT AND CONTENT. INFORMATION 
ON HOW TO ACCESS THE TOOLS AND OTHER RELATED INFORMATION ARE 
POSTED AND PERIODICALLY UPDATED ON THE LEVEL II WEBSITE AT  
/USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:  

  HTTP://WWW.ROC.NOAA.GOV/NWS_LEVEL_2

1.  DRAFT INTERFACE CONTROL DOCUMENTS DESCRIBING THE NEW DATA 
    FORMAT AND DATA STREAM ARE AVAILABLE AT.  

  HTTP://WWW.ROC.NOAA.GOV/NWS_LEVEL_2/BUILDINFO/BUILD10ICDS.ASPX

2.  SAMPLE ARCHIVE DATA SETS USING THE NEW FORMAT AND DATA STREAM 
    ARE AVAILABLE AT: 

  HTTP://WWW.NCDC.NOAA.GOV/NEXRADINV/CHOOSEDAY.JSP?ID=NOP3

3.  SAMPLE REAL-TIME DATA STREAMS USING THE NEW FORMAT AND DATA     
    STREAM ARE AVAILABLE AS /NOP3/ ON THE NWS LEVEL II DATA 
    COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION NETWORK AS PER THE SCHEDULE /BUILD 10 
    LDM SCHEDULE/ AT: 

  HTTP://WWW.ROC.NOAA.GOV/NWS_LEVEL_2/BUILDINFO/B10MAIN.ASPX
	
4.  AN EARLY VERSION OF BUILD 10 SOFTWARE...EXECUTABLE AND 
    SOURCE CODE...IS AVAILABLE FROM THE NWS COMMON OPERATIONS 
    AND DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT CODE WEBSITE /USE LOWER CASE 
    LETTERS/:  

  HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/CODE88D

THE SOFTWARE CONTAINS CODE TO READ SUPER RESOLUTION DATA AND 
TO RECOMBINE THE SUPER RESOLUTION DATA INTO LEGACY RESOLUTION 
DATA. THE RPG LEGACY ALGORITHMS AND PRODUCTS WILL USE 
RECOMBINED DATA.  
 
NWS IS PLANNING A CONFERENCE CALL STARTING AT 11 AM (EASTERN) ON 
DECEMBER 5 2007 TO PROVIDE USERS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO ASK 
QUESTIONS ON THESE PLANS TO CHANGE THE DATA FORMAT AND CONTENT 
ALONG WITH THE TOOLS AVAILABLE. THE CONFERENCE CALL CONTACT 
INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED IN THE NEWS SECTION AT:

  HTTP://WWW.ROC.NOAA.GOV/NWS_LEVEL_2/BUILDINFO/B10MAIN.ASPX

PLEASE SEND ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ON THE BUILD 10 CHANGES TO:

  TIM CRUM
  WSR-88D RADAR OPERATIONS CENTER
  1200 WESTHEIMER DRIVE
  NORMAN OK 73069
  TIM.D.CRUM@NOAA.GOV
	
THIS AND OTHER NWS TECHNICAL IMPLEMENATION NOTICES ARE AVAILABLE 
ONLINE AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:

  HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/NOTIF.HTM

$$
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