With the termination of the NEXRAD Information Dissemination Service (NIDS) contracts, a multitude of government and non-government web sites are posting freely accessible WSR-88D data on the Internet. Prior to the termination of these contracts, the number of end users of WSR-88D data was around 550, now that information is available to anyone. The majority of these "new users" do not have access to meteorological or technical expertise, nor do they have the professional training necessary to understand subtle yet significant radar data quality problems. Recently, the Federal Aviation Administration began passing WSR-88D data directly to their air traffic controllers' display screens further enhancing the need for the data displayed to be of the highest quality. Additionally, data of questionable quality, from sites that are apparently operating nominally, continues to be incorporated into the national archives and used to develop new radar algorithms and make operational decisions.

This paper will discuss and illustrate data quality problems that occasionally occur in the WSR-88D network and focus on Radar Operations' activities for improving the quality of data for all users.