GenericRadar v0.6.6

GenericRadar v0.6.6

Smoother, clearer map navigation with seamless basemaps and uninterrupted radar imagery.

Basemap and navigation improvements

• Raster map tiles now meet cleanly without visible cracks; vector boundaries
  remain continuous across zoom levels.
• Previously loaded basemap detail stays visible until its exact replacement
  is ready, preventing black flashes while zooming.
• Cursor-anchored animated zoom and inertial panning make map movement smooth
  and predictable.
• Disable animation at Settings → Navigation → Smooth camera motion if
  immediate movement is preferred.
• Radar imagery is smoothly resampled during movement; decoded gate values,
  scientific readouts, and underlying radar data are unchanged.
• Live low-tilt following, Level 1 I/Q reprocessing, surface observations,
  placefiles, and current-view/animated-loop exports remain available.
• Pure Rust implementation with no new dependencies.

Downloads

GenericRadar.exe is the locally built and verified Windows binary. Windows
may show a SmartScreen warning because the application is not code-signed.

Additional Windows x64/ARM64, Linux x64/ARM64, and macOS Intel/Apple Silicon
packages are compiled from the same tagged source. Non-Windows builds are not
flight-tested.

Data credits

NEXRAD Level II is produced by NOAA/NWS and served from the
Unidata-hosted unidata-nexrad-level2 and
unidata-nexrad-level2-chunks buckets. Surface METAR observations are
published by the NOAA/NWS Aviation Weather Center; historical reports and
supplemental station networks are served by the Iowa Environmental
Mesonet. Additional sources include NOAA/NWS api.weather.gov,
NOAA/NSSL KOUN Level 1 data, USGS The National Map, and
OpenStreetMap contributors. Optional user-selected placefiles belong to
their respective providers. Research-radar fixtures and applicable CC BY 4.0
attributions are documented in DATA-SOURCES.md.

GenericRadar v0.6.5

GenericRadar v0.6.5

Export the entire radar timeline as a high-quality, compact animated loop
without installing external video software.

Native animated loop export

• Use File → Export loop to save every loaded radar frame directly to
  Downloads as a non-overwriting, infinitely looping GIF.
• The export captures the actual composited application window, including the
  radar, basemap, all visible panes, legends, surface observations, placefile
  overlays, and timeline context.
• Playback timing follows the application's configured loop speed. The prior
  selected frame and playback state are restored after capture.
• A purpose-built, dependency-free Rust GIF encoder combines adaptive color
  quantization, unchanged-frame coalescing, changed-region optimization, and
  LZW compression for accurate radar colors and compact downloads.
• No arbitrary timeline-frame ceiling, external encoder, account, or cloud
  service is required. GIF's own maximum image dimensions still apply.
• Existing single-frame PNG export and v0.6.4 Level 1 I/Q reprocessing remain
  available and unchanged.

Downloads

GenericRadar.exe is the locally built and verified Windows binary. Windows
may show a SmartScreen warning because the application is not code-signed.

Additional Windows x64/ARM64, Linux x64/ARM64, and macOS Intel/Apple Silicon
packages are compiled from the same tagged source. Non-Windows builds are not
flight-tested.

Data credits

NEXRAD Level II is produced by NOAA/NWS and served from the
Unidata-hosted unidata-nexrad-level2 and
unidata-nexrad-level2-chunks buckets. Surface METAR observations are
published by the NOAA/NWS Aviation Weather Center; historical reports and
supplemental station networks are served by the Iowa Environmental
Mesonet. Additional sources include NOAA/NWS api.weather.gov,
NOAA/NSSL KOUN Level 1 data, USGS The National Map, and
OpenStreetMap contributors. Optional user-selected placefiles belong to
their respective providers. Research-radar fixtures and applicable CC BY 4.0
attributions are documented in DATA-SOURCES.md.

GenericRadar v0.6.4

GenericRadar v0.6.4

Surface observations and GR-compatible placefiles now live directly on the
radar map, alongside the low-tilt following added in v0.6.3.

Surface station observations

• Enable Layers → Show METAR / ASOS / AWOS stations to display real
  worldwide surface observations over every radar pane.
• Station models include temperature, dewpoint, wind direction and speed,
  gusts, cloud cover, station identifiers, and optional present weather,
  visibility, and sea-level pressure.
• Click a station to open its actual observation history, with temperature
  and dewpoint trends and selectable 3–72-hour lookbacks.
• Archived radar views request station history for the selected radar time;
  live observations are clearly identified when displayed over older radar.
• Optionally add real road-weather and environmental mesonet stations.
• Settings → Surface observations controls reporting networks, refresh
  cadence, Fahrenheit/Celsius, station spacing, and individual plotted fields.
• Observation downloads run in the background; existing stations remain
  visible during refresh, and user-selected station density has no artificial
  station-count ceiling.

GR / GR2Analyst placefiles

• Open Layers → Manage placefiles… to add local files, HTTP(S) URLs, or
  the built-in Spotter Network reports option.
• Local placefiles can be browsed, pasted by path, or dragged into the
  application, including extensionless files.
• Supports GR-style text, icon sheets and correctly rotated icons, colored
  lines and polygons, object anchors, visibility thresholds, font settings,
  HSLuv colors, refresh directives, and frame-aligned TimeRange entries.
• Each source can be enabled, refreshed, removed, and adjusted independently;
  source preferences persist between application launches.
• Placefiles and their actual icon sprites load in background workers, retain
  the last good overlay while refreshing, follow the radar projection and
  globe, and do not impose arbitrary data or image-size ceilings.

Downloads

GenericRadar.exe is the exact Windows build tested and approved for this
release. Windows may show a SmartScreen warning because the application is
not code-signed.

Additional Windows x64/ARM64, Linux x64/ARM64, and macOS Intel/Apple Silicon
packages are compiled from the same tagged source. Non-Windows builds are not
flight-tested.

Data credits

NEXRAD Level II is produced by NOAA/NWS and served from the
Unidata-hosted unidata-nexrad-level2 and
unidata-nexrad-level2-chunks buckets. Surface METAR observations are
published by the NOAA/NWS Aviation Weather Center; historical reports and
supplemental station networks are served by the Iowa Environmental
Mesonet. Additional sources include NOAA/NWS api.weather.gov,
NOAA/NSSL KOUN Level 1 data, USGS The National Map, and
OpenStreetMap contributors. Optional user-selected placefiles belong to
their respective providers. Research-radar fixtures and applicable CC BY 4.0
attributions are documented in DATA-SOURCES.md.

GenericRadar v0.6.3

GenericRadar v0.6.3

Automatic low-elevation radar tracking now follows new live sweeps as they arrive, including in-progress supplemental scans, while preserving the real radial sweep animation.

• Enable Auto tilt beside the elevation controls; right-click it or open Settings → Data to configure live following.
• Set the maximum followed elevation independently of the minimum interval between followed sweeps. Defaults: 1.4° and 30 seconds.
• Adjust live-feed polling separately without changing the sweep-following cadence.
• Incoming low-level scans are revealed over the previous complete radar image, including supplemental sweeps within the same volume.
• Reflectivity and velocity continue using their correct surveillance and Doppler acquisition legs.
• Manual tilt selection, archived files, and playback remain under the operator’s control.

Downloads

GenericRadar.exe is the exact Windows build tested and approved for this release. Windows may display a SmartScreen warning because the application is not code-signed.

Additional Windows x64/ARM64, Linux x64/ARM64, and macOS Intel/Apple Silicon packages are built from the same tagged source. Non-Windows builds are not flight-tested.

Data credits

NEXRAD Level II is produced by NOAA/NWS and served from the Unidata-hosted unidata-nexrad-level2 and unidata-nexrad-level2-chunks buckets. Additional sources include NOAA/NSSL KOUN Level 1 data, NOAA/NWS api.weather.gov, USGS The National Map, and OpenStreetMap contributors. Research-radar fixtures and applicable CC BY 4.0 attributions are documented in DATA-SOURCES.md.

GenericRadar v0.6.2

GenericRadar v0.6.2

What changed

• Operator-selected local playlists are unlimited by default. A background preflight estimates decoded RAM and asks Continue or Cancel only when the estimate exceeds 16 GiB; it never refuses the load. Optional frame/RAM limits remain available, while unattended live feeds retain bounded fallback history.
• One-cut Archive II/Message 31 research exports now assemble into a logical multi-elevation volume only when their internal volume sequence, radar identity, exact recorded position, acquisition date/VCP and radial timing agree. Ambiguous files remain independent, and the same conservative assembly applies inside mobile deployment ZIPs.
• DORADE, CfRadial and ODIM volumes expose exact producer-native fields from the current file, preserving producer names, descriptions, unit tokens and observed ranges without inventing semantics. Each exact field has its own palette and fixed-range override. Unsaved Apply changes last for the session; a matching saved edit can return after restart; Reset to observed range restores automatic display.
• Exact source fields are currently 2D-only. The 3D and cross-section tools now show an explicit unavailable message instead of silently substituting reflectivity.
• Message 31 exports with a zero outer Archive II clock now use their first radial's acquisition time. Different selected local files with the same radar/time identity remain separate timeline frames.

Builds

GenericRadar.exe attached to this release is the exact Windows build flight-tested and approved by the maintainer.

The Windows executable is unsigned, so Microsoft Defender SmartScreen may warn when it is first opened. If you downloaded it from this official release and choose to run it, select More info, then Run anyway.

Linux and macOS archives are compiled from the same v0.6.2 tag and lockfile, but they were not flight-tested by the maintainer.

Data credits

• NEXRAD Level II is produced by NOAA/NWS and read from the UCAR/Unidata-hosted unidata-nexrad-level2 and unidata-nexrad-level2-chunks buckets.
• KOUN Level 1/I/Q is published by NOAA/NSSL through its public THREDDS archive.
• Watches, warnings and site metadata come from NOAA/NWS api.weather.gov.
• Basemap imagery comes from USGS The National Map and © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Full live-source and redistributed-fixture attribution, including CC BY 4.0 material, is in DATA-SOURCES.md.

GenericRadar v0.6.1

What's new

• Load MATLAB Level 5/v7 OU-PRIME I/Q cubes, including gzip-wrapped files. Calibration-free cubes remain honest: power is shown as relative PWR_REL, no dBm, dBZ, or SNR threshold is invented, and the measured 32-pulse ray boundaries determine dwell length. The Window control re-estimates the field; preferred-dwell and SNR controls intentionally do not alter this source.
• Read native DOW receiver-chain products: DBMH1/2/M, DBMV1/2/M, DBZH1/2/M, and DBZV1/2/M, with dBm and dBZ kept distinct.
• Select or drop multiple local files to build a filename-ordered timeline. Files decode independently, failures do not stop the remaining files, and data from different radar positions is never silently combined.
• Export the fully composited current application view as a non-overwriting PNG directly to Downloads.
• Browse and download NOAA/NSSL KOUN RVP Level 1 data inside the app from File → Download Level I data, with filtering, progress, cancellation, bounded downloads, atomic writes, and optional open-after-download.
• Improved relative-power legends, product-picker wrapping, and regression coverage around the map, settings, themes, and research-radar paths.

Downloads

GenericRadar.exe is the exact Windows x64 build flight-tested and approved for this release.

SHA-256: F8618661B5E505DC1A781F8CD6349AE188BD491DD8E4F22F5B526E9B94A8F3D4

Windows binaries are not code-signed, so Microsoft Defender SmartScreen may show an unknown-publisher warning. The platform archives added by CI are built from this same tag and lockfile for Windows x64/ARM64, Linux x64/ARM64, macOS Intel, and macOS Apple Silicon. The non-Windows builds are compiled but have not been flight-tested. macOS users may need to approve the first launch in Privacy & Security or remove quarantine after verifying the download.

Data credits

• NOAA/NWS NEXRAD Level II, served by UCAR/Unidata through the unidata-nexrad-level2 and unidata-nexrad-level2-chunks public buckets
• NOAA/NWS api.weather.gov
• NOAA/NSSL KOUN public Level 1 archive
• USGS The National Map
• © OpenStreetMap contributors, under the Open Database License

Redistributed decoder and map fixtures, including applicable CC BY 4.0 material, are credited in DATA-SOURCES.md.

GenericRadar v0.6.0

A native NEXRAD radar workstation. No accounts, no API keys, no telemetry.

New in this release

Open a file by browsing for one. Until now a file was opened by typing
its path or dropping it on the window, both of which assume you already know
which file you want. There is now a browser drawn in the application's own
chrome — identical on every platform — reached from File > Browse… or the
button beside Load.

It identifies what it lists by reading it. Each row's first 8 KiB goes
through the same format sniff the loader uses, so a volume stored with no
extension at all still says NEXRAD Archive II, and a screenshot sitting
beside it says it is not radar data. Nothing is hidden by filename. The
folder you were last in is remembered between sessions, and is also on the
Data settings page so it can be seen and cleared.

Level 1 (I/Q) time series. Vaisala RVP8/RVP900 records are read and the
moments are estimated in the application from the pulses themselves by
pulse-pair processing — reflectivity, velocity, spectrum width and RhoHV —
rather than read back from a processor's output. The dwell length, the window
(rectangular, von Hann, Hamming, Blackman) and the SNR threshold are yours to
set, under Settings > Level 1 (I/Q), and a Doppler spectrum can be drawn
for a chosen gate.

A time-series header states a signal processor, not a position, so these
records have to be located. The radars that publish them are research
installations, which by definition are absent from the operational station
directory the application already carries. KOUN and KCRI are now in a small
catalogue whose every coordinate cites the NCEI HOMR station it came from.
Where a record cannot be located it still says so rather than guessing —
mobile radars are deliberately not in that table, because their position is
in each deployment's own file and a fixed entry would be wrong by tens of
kilometres on all but one deployment.

CfRadial in netCDF-4. CfRadial 1.x files in netCDF-4/HDF5 containers now
open directly. Previously only the classic container was read, and a
netCDF-4 file had to be converted with nccopy -k classic first — which is
the container most CfRadial files in the wild actually use.

Downloads

GenericRadar.exe is the Windows build that was run and checked before this
release was published.

SHA-256: e571b4e1abbc0ab3172ace9dc71a94635d21f1b48f9c7a52f2926cc6e71d1994

The macOS and Linux archives beside it are built by CI from this same tag and
the same lockfile. They are not flight-tested.

The binaries are unsigned. Windows SmartScreen will warn on first run — More
info, then Run anyway. On macOS, right-click the app and choose Open.

Data sources

• NEXRAD Level II: NOAA/NWS, read from the Unidata-hosted
  unidata-nexrad-level2 and unidata-nexrad-level2-chunks buckets
• Warnings and site metadata: NOAA/NWS api.weather.gov
• Imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain); © OpenStreetMap
  contributors, under the Open Database License (ODbL)

This repository also redistributes real radar files as decoder test fixtures,
including material used under CC BY 4.0 from EUMETNET OPERA / AEMET, EUMETNET
OPERA / SMHI and NOAA. Every one of them, and the terms it is carried under,
is listed in DATA-SOURCES.md.

MIT or Apache-2.0, at your option.

GenericRadar v0.5.0

GenericRadar v0.5.0

• The map is drawn far closer to north-up away from the radar. The projection
  is azimuthal-equidistant about the selected radar, so away from that anchor
  the meridians converge and a west-coast radar drew the eastern United States
  well off its axis. North is now put up at the middle of the pane once the
  view is beyond the radar's own surveillance range, ramped in so nothing
  snaps. Measured from a Portland anchor on a 1600x900 point pane, north off
  vertical falls from 32.3 to 3.9 degrees RMS on a regional view of the east
  coast (1 km per point) and from 18.4 to 10.7 across the whole contiguous
  United States (2.8 km per point). What is left is the meridian fan any
  azimuthal projection has over that much ground, and it grows with how much
  ground the pane covers. Inside the radar's surveillance range the rule does
  nothing at all and the rendered field is byte-identical.
• A pane that is hiding gates says so on its header, rather than behind a red
  band across the pane. The toolbar's filter chip carries a clear key that
  shows everything again in one click.
• Range-ring labels sit against the arc at any rotation.
• The Windows download is a bare .exe as well as a zip, so there is no
  unpacking step.

The Windows exe is the build that was run and checked on Windows. It is
unsigned, so SmartScreen warns on first run. The other platform archives are
compiled from the same source at this tag and are not flight-tested.

Data: NOAA/NWS NEXRAD Level II; api.weather.gov; USGS The National Map;
(c) OpenStreetMap contributors.

GenericRadar v0.4.0

GenericRadar v0.4.0

• Radar files are routed by their contents rather than by their extension.
  Newly readable: legacy NEXRAD Message 1, so pre-2008 Level II archives
  decode; ODIM_H5 polar volumes from European radars; DORADE sweepfiles and
  mobile deployment zips (DOW, COW, RaXPol, NOXP); GR2Analyst-style .msg31
  exports; and CfRadial 1.x.
• Six new themes — Storm night, Broadcast desk, Paper, Amber ops, Modern flat
  and High visibility — for eight in total. The two original benches are
  unchanged. High visibility holds 7:1 text contrast (WCAG AAA) and uses
  colour-universal accents.
• Interface scale, density (comfortable, compact or dense), accent colour, and
  bevelled or flat chrome are now chosen separately from the theme.
• Four new settings pages: Units & time (distance, altitude, UTC or local time,
  12- or 24-hour clock), Data & network, Readout & annotation, and
  Cross-section.
• Settings gained search across every page, a mark on each value that differs
  from the shipped default, per-setting and per-page reset, import and export,
  and named profiles you can save and switch between.
• Gate filters for the 2D panes: hide reflectivity below a threshold, hide
  velocity where its companion sweep has no echo, censor by correlation
  coefficient, hide range-folded gates, and cut off the near range — with
  presets. A pane that is hiding gates says so and says what is hidden;
  clicking that band shows everything again.

The Windows executable is the build that was run and checked on Windows. It is
unsigned, so SmartScreen warns on first run. The other platform archives are
compiled from the same source at this tag and are not flight-tested.

Data: NOAA/NWS NEXRAD Level II; api.weather.gov; USGS The National Map;
© OpenStreetMap contributors.

GenericRadar v0.3.0

Bring your own colour tables — or build them in the app.

• Drop a .pal on the window. It lands in your colortables folder, sorts itself into the right product list, and comes back next launch. Nothing gets overwritten. Files that won't parse are listed in Settings → Radar with the reason and line number.
• Colour table editor. Copy a built-in or edit your own: draggable stops on a live gradient, preview drawn on the volume you have loaded, authoring in m/s, knots or mph, two-colour ramp rows. A save is refused unless the file reads back as what's on screen.
• GR two-colour ramp rows are read. The second colour on each row used to be thrown away. Both are now painted as the file declares them.
• New defaults: AWIPS Wilson REF and GenericRadar VEL, the classic WDT/RadarScope ramp. The old defaults are still in the picker.
• Closing the cross-section window clears the line and its A/B handles.

Windows GenericRadar.exe is the build that was run and checked on Windows; it's unsigned, so SmartScreen will warn on first run. The other platform archives compile from this same source but are not flight-tested.

Data: NOAA/NWS NEXRAD Level II · api.weather.gov · USGS The National Map · © OpenStreetMap contributors