Many pilots understand that the NEXRAD image they see on datalink weather doesn’t exactly show where the rain is falling at that moment because of the delay in broadcasting the information up to the satellites and down to the weather receiver.
Turning Raw NEXRAD into Mosaic
Many pilots understand that the NEXRAD image they see on datalink weather doesnt exactly show where the rain is falling at that moment because of the delay in broadcasting the information up to the satellites and down to the weather receiver.
Key Takeaways:
- NEXRAD images presented to pilots are not real-time, single-source data but a processed mosaic compiled from multiple individual radar stations, each with its own scan timing.
- These images undergo significant automated and human quality control to filter out false returns (e.g., ground clutter, birds, inversions) and extrapolate data for temporal consistency.
- Despite extensive processing for usefulness, the resulting NEXRAD data carries inherent delays and may sometimes filter out important meteorological features like gust fronts.
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