For sources of Nexrad level 3 data, refer to these urls:

1. ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/ (FTP server, go to /SL.us008001/DF.of/DC.radar/ for the data. Can be used in Windows file explorer)
2. https://registry.opendata.aws/noaa-nexrad/
3. https://console.cloud.google.com/storage/browser/gcp-public-data-nexrad-l3;tab=objects?pli=1&invt=AbulJA&prefix=&forceOnObjectsSortingFiltering=false
4. https://console.cloud.google.com/storage/browser/gcp-public-data-nexrad-l3-realtime;tab=objects?inv=1&invt=Ab30-A&prefix=&forceOnObjectsSortingFiltering=false&pageState=(%22StorageObjectListTable%22:(%22f%22:%22%255B%255D%22)) (for real time level 3 from Google)

NuGet Install

This package is on NuGet.org and can be found here https://www.nuget.org/packages/Nexrad.NET/.

To add it to a project via the package manager console, run this dotnet add package Nexrad.NET --version 1.0.6 (latest version as of 10/16/25).

Or add it in your package reference in your project file <PackageReference Include="Nexrad.NET" Version="1.0.6" />

Nexrad.NET

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Nexrad.NET is a C# library created for the purpose of reading and processing NEXRAD Level 3 radar files.

Overview

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Basic Usage

This library is pretty straightfoward in its usage. Here is a basic example of decoding a radar file:

BinaryReader reader = new(File.OpenRead("super_res_base_ref_file"));
Level3 level3 = new(ref reader);

Arguments

The Level3 object has different arguments. They are specified as:

Level3 level3 = new(
    ref reader, // binary reader, which is always required and is the only required arg. (must be passed as reference via ref keyword)
    processingStages = 0b111, // processing stages. see below for more details.
    textHeaderLength = -1, // the length of the text header, if known. default value is -1.
    guessFormat = true, // tells the object to try to guess the format and text header length. default value is true.
    enableDebuggingLogging = true // tells the object to output to console for logging reasons.
);

Unsupported Products

Currently, there are 4 unsupported products that may get support in the future. Those products are:

1. Storm Structure (code=62)
2. Melting Layer (code=166)
3. Digital Precipitation Array (code=81)
4. Supplemental Precipitation Data (code=82)

Processing Stages

The Level3 object has a processing stages argument which tells the class what parts of the product to decode. The value is structured as "0b111". This value is composed of 3 bits, each one telling the program what part to decode.

Basic overview of the bit stucture:

0b111
  ^^^
  |||
  ||⤷ Bit 3. Decode symbology block if set to 1.
  |⤷ Bit 2. Decode graphic block if set to 1.
  ⤷ Bit 1. Decode tabular block if set to 1.

Setting any of the bits to 0 will make that block not get processed. Can be used to save memory and processing time if you do not need the other blocks.