The Python-ARM Radar Toolkit: The Expected and Unexpected Uses of an Open Source Radar Toolkit

Open source radar software is fundamental to reading, plotting and analyzing radar data. One of these open source software packages is the Python ARM Radar Toolkit (Py-ART). This presentation will give a background of Py-ART covering its ability to read many radar file formats, library of correction algorithms and easy to use gridding and plotting tools. Py-ART was carefully engineered using continuous integration for automatic testing, and to provide a friendlier user environment with ways for users to contribute their own packages. These aspects have paid off, because over time, Py-ART has benefited from numerous and diverse contributions from users around the globe. Py-ART has also been used in ways that were not the original intent of the core developers. This presentation will cover, diverse applications like foreign meteorological services using Py-ART for real time applications, cases with machine learning and installation on a Raspberry Pi allowing for cheap distribution of an open-source radar software toolkit for radar sites and educational institutions. Finally, the package has also been used by the planetary and space science community to plot NEXRAD data to visualize meteorite strewn fields, which was definitely unexpected. As Py-ART and its community grew, the true power of open-source radar software really began to shine. The open-source radar software community should now expect the unexpected.