  The venerable NOD2 data reduction software package for single-dish radio
continuum observations, developed for use at the 100-m Effelsberg radio
telescope, has been successfully applied over many decades. Modern computing
facilities call for a new design.
  We aim to develop an interactive software tool with a graphical user
interface (GUI) for the reduction of single-dish radio continuum maps. Special
effort is given on the reduction of distortions along the scanning direction
(scanning effects) by combining maps scanned in orthogonal directions or dual-
or multiple-horn observations that need to be processed in a restoration
procedure. The package should also process polarisation data and offer the
possibility to include special tasks written by the individual user.
  Based on the ideas of the NOD2 package we developed NOD3, which includes all
necessary tasks from the raw maps to the final maps in total intensity and
linear polarisation. Furthermore, plot routines and several methods for map
analysis are available. The NOD3 package is written in Python which allows to
extend the package by additional tasks. The required data format for the input
maps is FITS.
  NOD3 is a sophisticated tool to process and analyse maps from single-dish
observations that are affected by 'scanning effects' due to clouds, receiver
instabilities, or radio-frequency interference (RFI). The 'basket-weaving' tool
combines orthogonally scanned maps to a final map that is almost free of
scanning effects. The new restoration tool for dual-beam observations reduces
the noise by a factor of about two compared to the NOD2 version. Combining
single-dish with interferometer data in the map plane ensures the full recovery
of the total flux density.
