How Does NEXRAD Doppler Radar Work?
NEXRAD Doppler radar processes the radar’s reflected signal to determine the location and intensity of precipitation (reflectivity products), the wind speeds toward and away from the radar site (radial velocity products) and many other products. This information goes directly to AccuWeather’s computer systems, which create easy to read color displays of the NEXRAD information for each individual radar, and combine information from all radars to create mosaic displays. The Base Reflectivity, Tilt 1 product is the product most like that available from conventional radar; however, there are some significant differences. For one, NEXRAD Doppler radar data is gathered at a high resolution out to a farther distance from the radar site than conventional radar data, .6 by .6 of a mile resolution out to 143 miles for NEXRAD Base Reflectivity data, as opposed to similar resolution out to only 66 miles for conventional radar. And NEXRAD data depicts 16 data levels, as opposed to only 6 data level
