Image Archive
Frequently Asked Questions

back to introduction

General

What is this?
How do I download a lot of images?
How do I get the raw data?
Where did you get the images?
Are the times in the radar composites UTC?
Why did you create this?
What type of images do you have?
Why is this time missing?
Alternate sites

Technical

Are the time stamps wrong?
Cookies
Printing an image
Making a movie
I can't change the date!
The Back link/button does not work.
No images for X or The page cannot be found
Sorry! Image category unavailable for X. Change date or increase "extra days".

What is this?

This is a web accessible collection of images maintained by David Ahijevych in the Mesoscale and Microscale Meteorology Division of NCAR. The images include satellite, radar, surface, upper-air, and model output. The spatial domain is largely limited to the central United States and, prior to 2002, the warm season. Although a large portion of the archive originates from within NCAR, most images are simply downloaded from other sources. The archive was originally created for group members, but was put online for use by partner institutions.

How do I get the raw data?

Except for WSI radar composites, we do not have raw data. The case selection kit was not intended to be a comprehensive raw data repository. Only images were saved.

Where did you get the images?

Note on Archival Links: This project has been maintained for many years. To preserve the history of the archive, original source URLs are listed below even if the external sites are no longer active. Links with a strikethrough are preserved for reference but are no longer functional.
Image Category Source
Eta model analyses weather.rap.ucar.edu/model NCAR/RAL
Satellite
visible, infrared		 aviationweather.gov/satellite
weather.rap.ucar.edu/satellite NCAR/RAL
www-frd.fsl.noaa.gov/mab/sat NOAA/FSL 2004-2016
www.goes.noaa.gov NOAA/NESDIS
install Dr. Blaylock's goes2go python module and run goesplot.py mid-2017 onward
Surface-satellite-radar composite weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_sfc_map.html Unisys Weather 1998-2012
Precipitation analyses www.wsicorp.com WSI Corp.
 www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov NCEP/EMC
weather.rap.ucar.edu/surface/us_precip.gif NCAR/RAL
Surface analyses weather.unisys.com Unisys Weather
weather.rap.ucar.edu/surface NCAR/RAL
weather.rap.ucar.edu/model/sfc_ict_mcli.gif NCAR/RAL
weather.cod.edu 2004-2006 NEXLAB/College of DuPage
Upper air soundings weather.rap.ucar.edu/upper NCAR/RAL
Upper air analyses weather.rap.ucar.edu/upper NCAR/RAL
twister.sbs.ohio-state.edu OSU Weather
www.spc.noaa.gov/obswx/maps SPC
NIDS radar composites weather.rap.ucar.edu/radar NCAR/RAL
weather.cod.edu/analysis/analysis.1and2km.html
   Oct 2007-2008 College of DuPage
or
locally produced from WSI radar composites
or after 2020 College of DuPage subregional
old NIDS radar (Natl) motherlode.ucar.edu/unidata/images/nids/radar_mosaic.gif Unidata
www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/radar/radardata.html NCDC
Storm reports www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/ 1996-2017
Reports span 12 UTC of the date stamp to 12 UTC the next day.
Wind Profiler www.met.tamu.edu Dept. Atmospheric Sciences/Texas A&M Univ.
weather.cod.edu/profiler/profplots/ NEXLAB/CoD
Wind Profiler/4-panel weather.rap.ucar.edu/upper NCAR/RAL

Are the times in the radar composites UTC?

Yes, the times in the radar composites are UTC.

Why did you create this?

To summarize daily weather over the U.S. and help isolate potential case study periods.

What types of images do you have?

Image selection varies depending on availability and the time of year. It has evolved over time to accommodate changing image sources and additional image types. We may broaden the selection during field campaigns or otherwise interesting weather events.

Why is this time missing?

Internet downtime, 3rd party web page changes, or other circumstances beyond our control may prevent us from downloading images for extended periods.

Alternate sites

Technical

Are the time stamps wrong?

The time stamp shown in an image is generally correct. The image filename, on the other hand, usually contains a later time. The two times should never be more than an hour apart. The time embedded in the filename corresponds to the time the image was downloaded to the archive.

Cookies

Cookies keep track of your most recently chosen day, month, year, and image category. Google Analytics is used to count visitors but no unique personal identifying information is kept.

Printing an image

First pause the animation on the image you desire. Right-click the image and select "Save Image As...". After saving, use other software to print the image independently from the browser.

Downloading a lot of images and Making a movie

This is facilitated by the Image list link at the bottom of each animation window. Clicking this link produces a list of URLs. Write a script like this to download them.

I can't change the date!

Try pressing the Go! button after selecting a new date.

The Back link/button does not work.

If the Back link in the animation frame fails, try the browser's Back feature or click the Go! button.

No images for X or The page cannot be found

No images were saved for this date.

Sorry! Image category unavailable for X.

The image type may be listed, but no images are available for the initial date. Increase the number of extra days to see if the animation begins on a later date.

Please report problems to Dave Ahijevych at ahijevyc@ucar.edu

The National Science Foundation sponsors NCAR ACCESSIBILITY