Working with Vertically Pointing Radar Data Using PyART, Xarray, and hvPlot#

This notebook will walk through how to utilize existing packages in the Python ecosystem (PyART, Xarray, and hvPlot) to visualize data from a vertically pointing Ka-band radar.

By the end of this notebook, you will learn how to create the following visualization: interactive-kazr-viz

Data Overview#

Before starting up this notebook, make sure to download your data from the ARM data portal, using this link!

We are using data from a snow storm on 14 March 2022.

Ka-band ARM zenith radar (KAZR) Instrument#

An image of the KAZR radar collecting the data is shown below:

KAZR radar

From the official ARM KAZR Documentation, “The Ka-band ARM zenith radar (KAZR) remotely probes the extent and composition of clouds at millimeter wavelengths. The KAZR is a zenith-pointing Doppler radar that operates at a frequency of approximately 35 GHz. The main purpose of this radar is to determine the first three Doppler moments (reflectivity, vertical velocity, and spectral width) at a range resolution of approximately 30 meters from near-ground to nearly 20 km in altitude.”

Imports#

Before running through this notebook, you will need to install :

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import glob
import pyart
import pandas as pd
import hvplot.xarray
from bokeh.models.formatters import DatetimeTickFormatter
import xarray as xr
import holoviews as hv
import warnings

warnings.filterwarnings("ignore")
hv.extension("bokeh")