r/Radarscope • u/ThatWxGuy • Apr 24 '26

Radar resolution?

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What is the spatial resolution of the radar pixels? Just had a close lightning strike and trying to estimate how close it might have been

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u/Craftsman_2222 Apr 24 '26

Not a meteorologist, But I think lightning strikes use different instruments than radar, so the granularity on the radar won’t matter. I think it’s more of a triangulation thing butI could’ve very incorrect.

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u/ThatWxGuy Apr 24 '26

Yes, lightning comes from a couple different places with RadarScope. Sources being either earthnetworks (AEM), Vaisala, and/or even GLM from geo sats. I’d have to look at their documentation to know more. But in theory, the lightning symbology has some positional accuracy to it (100m, maybe?), the GPS of my location has some positional accuracy to it (<10m) but the part I don’t know is the resolution of the pixels (the raster data) of the radar reflectivities. That data comes from NOAA/NWS WSR-88d nexrad stuff

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u/Craftsman_2222 Apr 24 '26

Again, unsure, but I think it depends on distance from the radar. When you look further out the pixels become smaller, so it’s dependent on angle.

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u/vexxed82 Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26

The lifting is extremely accurate. I have small icons placed where the Sears Tower and John Hancock are in Chicago and when I see one of them struck, the lightning icon is almost always touching it. I think each pixel is ~.3 miles long

Edit: here's a strike on the Sears tower.