Products on RadarScope - Classic

The NEXRAD radar network was developed by the National Weather Service in the 1980s and first deployed in the early 1990s. In the years since advances in technology and communications have allowed them to improve the quality of radar products. The "Classic Products" in RadarScope date back to the original NEXRAD Level III product suite. Most of them of been superseded over the years by better alternatives. But they can still be useful for reference purposes or when using RadarScope on a low-bandwidth connection.

Classic Reflectivity

This product is the lowest tilt of the original base reflectivity product in the Level III product suite. It has a spatial resolution of 1 kilometer by 1 degree, and each pixel has 16 possible values. Compared to super-res reflectivity's 0.25 kilometer by 0.5-degree resolution and 256 data levels per pixel, classic reflectivity doesn't provide nearly as much detail. But if you're on a slow cellular connection in a rural area and need data in a hurry, it offers an alternative when super-res data loads more slowly or not at all.

Classic Reflectivity 248 nmi

This product is the same as classic reflectivity, but the radial resolution is 2 kilometers instead of 1 kilometer, and the range is 248 nautical miles (460 km) instead of 124 nautical miles (230 km).

Classic Velocity

This product is the lowest tilt of the original base velocity product in the Level III product suite. It has a spatial resolution of 1 kilometer by 1 degree, and each pixel has 16 possible values. Compared to super-res velocity's 0.25 kilometer by 0.5-degree resolution and 256 data levels per pixel, classic velocity doesn't provide nearly as much detail. But if you're on a slow cellular connection in a rural area and need data in a hurry, it offers an alternative when super-res data loads more slowly or not at all.

One-Hour Rainfall

The classic one-hour rainfall product estimates the amount of rain that has fallen over the past hour. It's an older, lower-resolution alternative to the Digital Accumulation Array product.

Storm Total Rainfall

The classic storm total rainfall product estimates the amount of rain that has fallen for an arbitrary period determined by the radar operator. It's an older, lower-resolution alternative to the Digital Storm Total product.

Vertically Integrated Liquid

Vertically integrated liquid (VIL) estimates the amount of water in a column of air. High values for VIL can indicate heavy rainfall or the presence of hail. When VIL values fall rapidly, it may suggest a downburst. VIL is subject to radar limitations and seasonal dependencies, so it's a tricky product to interpret. The classic VIL product is an older, lower-resolution alternative to Digital Vertically Integrated Liquid.

Echo Tops

The echo tops product shows the maximum height of precipitation echoes detected by the radar between 5,000 and 70,000 feet that exceed 18 dBZ. Higher echoes are often associated with stronger areas of a storm. This product is useful for identifying strong updrafts, and a sudden drop can indicate the onset of a downdraft. Some thunderstorms are too close to the radar for the beam to see the top, so echo tops are often underestimated for strong storms near the radar. The classic echo tops product is an older, lower-resolution alternative to Enhanced Echo Tops.

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