Radar Product Files

The U.S. National Weather Service provides anonymous FTP access to files containing collectives of code generated and binary radar imagery products from NWS, FAA, and DOD radar sites located in the United States and Puerto Rico.   The collectives are in the same format as received from the WSR-88D Radar Product Generator (RPG) and the TDWR Supplemental Product Generator (SPG).   The server internal structure for sub-directory names and file names can be found with descriptions in the document TOC File Name Standards. The naming conventions for the sub-directories and files are described in the document titled: File and Directory Name Standards.   The data is available at the NWS Telecommunication Gateway on the server ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/ via anonymous FTP.

Availability

The data can be obtained either through a direct LDM data feed from the NWS or by standard ftp. Either process follows the directory path established below.

The Implementation Guide for a LDM connection is available.

Directory and File Descriptions

Delivery Details

Data files are updated on the FTP server every five minutes or sooner with data from the RPG or SPG. File names within each radar site directory have the format sn.nnnn where nnnn is a four-digit number ranging from 0000 to 0250. Files are written in sequence with the file sn.0000 following sn.0250. This scheme provides unique file names for at least the previous 48 hours of data received, as older files are over-written.

A sample of the most recently written radar file (base reflectivity - 54 nmi range, elevation of 1.5°) for Dallas/Fort Worth, TX is:

Data files are written only when data of that subcategory type is available.

Further questions or comments concerning data in SL.us008001 path may be directed to nws.isg@noaa.gov .

Radar Site Identification List