Grlevelx is a data processing and display program developed by Gibson Ridge Software, LLC (GRS), to view weather radar data. It was put on the market in March 2005. It comes in three versions : GRLevel2 and GRLevel2Analyst for viewing Level II data of the National Weather Service raw data, GRLevel3 for viewing Level III type. Both viewers feature high speed, high quality displays with an intuitive user interface.
The software allows the user to look at live data and analyze it on spot. It is used by professionals outside the National Weather Service for general precipitation analysis, tornado detection and hurricane strength.
Grlevel2Analyst allows the user to take a 3D images of a precipitation in clouds, such as in supercell thunderstorms. Its integrated algorithms flag possible hail, tornado vortexes, and storm strength.
All GRS applications are written in multithreaded C++ using the base Windows APIs.
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GRLevel2 is a Windows viewer for live and archived NEXRAD Level II data (volumetric reflectivity and velocity data[1]). Base reflectivity, base velocity, storm relative velocity, and spectrum width sweeps for all radar tilts can be ingested. The display has high speed zooming and panning to allow the user a quickly focus on the area of interest.
GRLevel2 Analyst Edition is an advanced Nexrad Level II analysis application to produce a high quality volumetric display and several high resolution reflectivity-derived graphical products in addition to the standard Level II data products.
GRLevel3 is a Windows viewer for live NEXRAD Level III data from the NWS Radar Product Central Collection Dissemination Service (already produced 2D images[2]). Many television meteorologists, storm chasers, and weather enthusiasts use this software to locate supercells, tornadoes, rain, and other weather phenomenon.
GR2Analyst has algorithms flagging certain features in the reflectivity data. In reflectivities, GR2 extract the height above ground of the highest elevation where they are greater than 18 dBZ (Echo tops), the vertically integrated liquid water content of clouds (VIL) and the VIL divided by the Echo tops which is an indicator of possible large hail. Further algorithm use environmental information about of 0C and -20°C heights, inputted by the user, to output an hail algorithm size. The algorithm uses any temp/height data within 48 hours of the volume scan time. If no recent data is found, it defaults to 10,000 ft and 20,000 ft for the heights.
The results are displayed with a high resolution of 1 km x 1° x 230 km grid with 256 data levels. There is an automatic extraction of the storm motion which is integrated in the algorithms for corrections.
GR2Analyst has significant system requirements: