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Documentation for /json/radar.py
This service provides metadata about available NEXRAD RADAR data that the IEM has archived. The data is stored in a directory structure that is organized by radar site and product type. The data is stored in PNG format and is available for direct download.
The IEM One makes heavy usage of this API endpoint.
Changelog
- 2026-04-28: A bug was squashed with lat/lon always being enabled for operation=available, which always limited the response to nearby RADARs to that point.
- 2024-07-24: Initial documentation release and pydantic validation
Example Usage
Provide metadata for N0B products for YUX radar between 8 and 10 UTC on July 24th, 2024:
Provide available RADAR products for the USCOMP (IEM generated mosaic) around the time 23:35 UTC on July 22nd, 2024:
Provide an approximation of available RADARs at 26.14N and 80.48W valid at 15:20 UTC on June 30th, 2024:
CGI Arguments
The following table lists the CGI arguments that are accepted by this service. A HTTP GET request is required. Fields of type Multi-Params or CSV value can accept either a comma separated list or multiple parameter and value combinations. For example, ?foo=1&foo=2 is equivalent to ?foo=1,2.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| callback | string or null | Legacy JSON-P style callback. It is likely best to not depend on this usage. The IEM website has a permissive CORS. |
| end | string or null | End of time period to search for data |
| lat | number or null | Latitude (decimal degrees) of point of interest |
| lon | number or null | Longitude (decimal degrees) of point of interest |
| operation | string | The operation to perform, either list or available |
| product | string | The NEXRAD product to search for data |
| radar | string | The RADAR site to search for data |
| start | string or null | Find RADARs available at the given time, default now |