I am reading in NEXRAD level 2 data from AWS with PyART. It appears that the reflectivity (velocity) data are stored to only 0.5 dBZ (m/s) precision. Does anyone know if that is expected / documented somewhere? The other variables (differential_reflectivity, cross_correlation coefficient, differential_phase) appear to have much higher precision (out to at least 4 decimals if not 14 decimal places). Thanks!
Taking a look at the discussion here
It looks like NOAA stores the data (at least reflectivity) as 8 bit resolution, but I think we should wait for someone to confirm from NCEI/NEXRAD team.
We add an issue here
To keep track of this on the Py-ART side!
@bdolan44 here is the discussion/response from Ryan May (from Unidata, lead developer for MetPy)
He included the associated table from the NEXRAD product document which digs into the resolution for each variable. Velocity and reflectivity are both 8 bit.
This is very useful information. Thanks!
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