Radar Data Packs
We can provide radar data in a number of different formats, and also combine it with additional data supplied by you. Below are some examples of these, and a request form. Please let us know if you have other specific requirements not necissarily covered here such as combination with automatic weather station (AWS) observations and satellite data.
Animated GIF
These are not packs as such, and are already able to be created directly from any part of our archive as part of our Pro subscription.
Free (registered) users and Personal subscribers are able to create a limited number of animated GIFs from recent radar activity
This sample is from a severe storm around Perth from 27th of February 2020:
This GIF was created from the sequence here.
Datapack requests
You can request a datapack using this form. Please provide any comments as appropriate. Either way though, we will be in touch to confirm your request and organise payment and prompt supply of the requested data.
You can see more details and download samples for each type of datapack below : Standard, Standard with Location, HD, and Rainfall
Standard
Our standard data pack contains imagery and products based upon the standard BoM radar imagery. These are available for both rain rate and doppler wind products. The ranges are from 64km to 512km. Note though that some radars don't have a 64km option, and the doppler wind is only available at 128km
You can download a sample of this data pack here. This is from the Sydney 128km rain rate radar for the 12 hours from 6pm on the 15th of November 2013 to 6am 16th November 2013. This includes an animated gif, video file, individual image frames, and a KMZ file for use with Google Earth
Shown here is the included video (click to play) :
We can provide these via a one off manual process, or as part of a subscription plan where you can create them yourself on demand like the animated GIFs.
For reference, this data pack was created from the sequence shown here.
Price : $110
Standard with Location
This is the same as the standard data pack, but with a user defined location marked on the imagery to make it easier to see the weather passing a particular point of interest such as where flooding or an accident occured.
This sample is from a damaging hailstorm as seen by the Brisbane 64km rain rate radar from 1pm to 6pm on the 27th of November 2014. The location is marked here as the Archerfield Airport (-27.570, 153.008) where a number of planes were flipped during this event. The location marker is small and subtle in order to ensure that the radar details are minimally obscured around the point of interest.
Shown here is the video included in the datapack (click to play) :
We can provide these via a one off manual process, or as part of a subscription plan where you can create them yourself on demand like the animated GIFs.
The source for this particular event can be found here.
Price : $140
HD with Location
Our HD datapack uses higher resolution radar imagery at up to 1024 pixels in size (Two times larger than the standard). The resolution of the rendered data is higher, as is the number of different rain levels displayed.
Currently this is limited to sequences from March 2020 onwards.
It can optionally include a single location as per the Standard with Location.
Sample from a storm that swept across Melbourne on the 12th of September 2020:
Zip file containing all data : sample
KMZ for use in Google Earth : sample
Shown here is the included video (click to play) :
These currently are only available via a manual provision, though we are planning to be able to offer these as a self serve option in the near future
Source sequence for this can be found here.
Price : $195
Rainfall estimation
We can convert radar reflectivity information as is used in the datapacks above into estimated rainfall over various time frames.
These can be provided as NetCDF (.nc) and GeoTIFF (.tif), and reference 'visual' images (.png) with values representing the mm of rainfall at each point in the area covered.
Rainfall can be provided on a per-radar-interval (5/6/10 minute depending upon the radar), or accumulated at 1-24 hour intervals.
Spatial, temporal, and rainfall resolution varies based upon a number of factors. We can provide more information on these depending upon your location, time of interest and purpose.
We can also extract a text based timeseries of rainfall estimates for one or more point locations, or an average for a catchment covered by the radar that can be directly imported into your favourite spreadsheet.
These currently are only available via a manual provision, though we are planning to be able to offer these as a self serve option in the near future.
Contact Us for more information and samples
Notes
- Frame rates in generated GIFs and videos can be set between 1 and 60 fps, by default is 10fps
- Variants of the the above datapacks are also available with multiple point locations shown and/or areas such as catchments.
- Data availability for our standard product is mostly continuous for all Australian radar locations back to 2005. There are howver some gaps due to radar and system outages, and also some missing frames due to temporary transient issues.
- Some data is available prior to 2005, please contact us if you require a sequence earlier than is available on the site.
- HD imagery is currently available from March 2020 onwards.
- The animated GIF supplied with the HD version may show variation in colour rendering due to limitations of this format. It is recommended to use the video (.mp3) in preference.
- All prices are in AUD and inclusive of GST
- Ongoing access to historical radar images via the web
- Create a downloadable and shareable GIF visualisation each month
- Access new functionality as it becomes available
- Be the first to know about new features