The BALTRAD File Format

Daniel B. Michelson

March 21, 1999

Abstract:

A new self-explaining file format for weather radar data and products is presented. It is primariliy intended for use by the Radar Analysis and Visualization Environment (RAVE) and by the Baltic Sea Experiment's Radar Data Centre with users in the BALTEX community. Format components have been taken from freely available sources. The format is comprised of a variable-length header consisting of ASCII-text only, and it uses an efficient lossless data compression algorithm. It is designed for ease of use, both by users of RAVE and by users of data from the BRDC.