APPENDIX F

ARCHIVING

F.1 Introduction. There are many critical non-real-time users of rawinsonde observations in climatology and research. In order to make rawinsonde observations available to retrospective users, observations shall be sent to major data centers in compliance with the standards defined in this chapter. Three data centers maintain historical rawinsonde data: NOAA's NCDC, OL-A of the AFCCC, and the U.S. Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Detachment (FNMOD). All three centers are collocated in Asheville, NC.

F.2 Data Centers. NCDC is a designated Department of Commerce Agency Records Center operating under the federal regulations issued by the National Archives and Records Administration. NCDC is the official repository for meteorological records collected by NOAA observing systems and for other agencies where there is an agreement between NOAA and the agency(s). NCDC currently has such an agreement with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. NCDC also serves as the archive for data collected from the GTS by the NCEP. Navy's FNMOD Asheville processes and stores rawinsonde data from Navy ships and upper reporting stations as received by FNMOC Monterey, CA. Following quality control, these observations are submitted to NCDC. Information about NCDC may be obtained from:

Data Administrator
National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
704-271-4384

AFCCC processes and stores rawinsonde observations from worldwide locations as received by the AFGWC. AFCCC also receives original records from U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army sites and submits these records to NCDC for archiving. Information about AFCCC may be obtained from:

Data Administration
OL-A, AFCCC
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5002
DSN 266-3100
704-271-4299

F.3 Data Transfer to the Data Centers. NCDC, AFCCC, and FNMOD Asheville all receive and archive data from the GTS system as collected by NCEP, AFGWC, and FNMOC. In addition, agencies shall submit the highest resolution upper-air data directly to NCDC, AFCCC, or FNMOD Asheville. In order for the data to be processed at NCDC, the observation shall be sent in the NCDC Standard Nonreal-Time Transfer Format. The format contains two types of records; an identification record and data records. Each balloon flight must contain one identification record which contains fields for the location and time of the observation along with metadata information. The data records contain the actual data and are unlimited in number. Archival requirements changes to accept BUFR code, position information for GPS flights, and fields for corrected and uncorrected data will require format revision or a new format. If the current format does not provide fields for required information contained from flights or is anticipated to not meet next-generation system requirements, contact NCDC, AFCCC, or FNMOD Asheville for guidance. The format and the field descriptions follow:

 

Identification Record

FIELD

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

ELEMENT

STN

IND

STN

NUM

LAT

LONG

ELEV

YEAR

MONTH

DAY

#CHARS.

X

X..X

XXXXA

XXXXXA

XXXX

XXXX

XX

XX

REC POS

1

2-9

10-14

15-20

21-24

25-28

29-30

31-32

 

FIELD

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

ELEMENT

HOUR

REL

TIME

ASCN

NUM

OBSVR

INIT

DATA

RDC

SONDE

MAN

SONDE

TYPE

SON/BAR

IND

#CHARS.

XX

XXXX

XXXX

XXXX

XXX

XXX

XXX

X

REC POS

33-34

35-38

39-42

43-46

47-49

50-52

53-55

56

 

FIELD

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

ELEMENT

SON/BAR

NUMBER

HUM

TYPE

TEMP

TYPE

PRESS

TYPE

TRACK

TYPE

TRNSP

BAL

MAN

BAL WGT

#CHARS

X....X

XXX

XXX

XXX

XXX

X

XX

XXXX

REC POS

57-76

77-79

80-82

83-85

86-88

89

90-92

93-96

 

FIELD

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

ELEMENT

BAL

AGE

TRN

REG

PBL

LGT

PBL

TYPE

REASON

TERM

NUM

RCP

CLOUDS

AND WX

SFCWND DIR

#CHARS

XX

X

X

X

XX

X

XXXXXXXXX

XXX

REC POS

97-98

99

100

101

102-103

104

105-113

114-116

 

FIELD

33

34

35

36

37

ELEMENT

SFCWND

SPD

WND AVE

INT

TYPE OFCORRECTION

P Z T H TD W

SOFTWARE

VERSION

RESERVE

FIELD

#CHARS

XXX

XXX

XX XX XX XX XX XX

X...X

X...X

REC POS

117-119

120-122

123-134

135-144

145-160

 

Data Record

FIELD

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

ELEMENT

ASC

NUM

ELP

TME

PRESS

HGT

TEMP

REL

HUM

DPDP

WND

DIR

WND

SPD

#CHARS

X.X

X.X

X...X

XXXXX

XXXX

XXXX

XXX

XXX

X..X

REC POS

1-4

5-9

10-15

16-20

21-24

25-28

29-31

32-34

35-38

 

FIELD

10

11

12

13

ELEMENT

TYPE

LVL

SIGNAL QUALITY

QP QT QU QD

ELEMENT QUALITY

ET P H T U D WD WS

RES

FLD

#CHARS

XX

XXX XXX XXX XXX

XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX

X..X

REC POS

39-40

41-52

53-68

69-80

 

 

Identification Record

 

RECORD         ELEMENT

POSITION       NAME                CODE DEFINITIONS AND REMARKS

1 STN IND STATION NUMBER INDICATOR -- This field contains an indicatorspecifying the type of station number in the next field:

0 = WBAN NUMBER
1 = WMO NUMBER
2 = AIR FORCE AUGMENTED WMO NUMBER
3 = SHIP CALL SIGN
4 = MOBILE UNIT CALL SIGN

________________________________________________________________________________________

2-9 STN NUM STATION NUMBER -- The number assigned to the station according to the numbering system specified in record position 1. Numbers should be right-justified with leading blanks, ship CALL signs left justified with trailing blanks. NWS stations must enter WBAN number. If the number is missing, enter "00000000".

________________________________________________________________________________________

10-14 LAT LATITUDE -- The station latitude in degrees and minutes. The last character is "N" or "S" as appropriate. When unknown, this field contains "9999N".

________________________________________________________________________________________

15-20 LONG LONGITUDE -- The station longitude in degrees and minutes. The last character is "E" or "W" as appropriate. When unknown, this field contains "99999E".

________________________________________________________________________________________

21-24 ELEV ELEVATION -- The height of the launch site in whole meters.

________________________________________________________________________________________

25-28 YEAR YEAR -- The 4-digit year expressed at the hour of observation (UTC).

________________________________________________________________________________________

29-30 MONTH MONTH -- The numeric month expressed at the hour of observation (UTC).

________________________________________________________________________________________

31-32 DAY DAY -- The numeric day expressed at the hour of observation (UTC).

________________________________________________________________________________________

33-34 HOUR HOUR -- The hour (24-hour clock) of observation (UTC). The hour of observation will be the nearest whole hour, H-30 to H+29 (e.g. the hour is entered as 10 when release is 0930 to 1029 UTC).

________________________________________________________________________________________

35-38 REL TIME TIME OF ACTUAL RELEASE -- The hour and minute UTC (24-hour clock) of the actual release time.

________________________________________________________________________________________

39-42 ASCN NUM ASCENSION NUMBER -- The ascension number for the year. The first release on or after Jan 1 will be numbered 0001. Ascension numbers are right-justified with leading zeros.

________________________________________________________________________________________

43-46 OBSVR INIT OBSERVER INITIALS -- The initials of the first and last name of the observer.

________________________________________________________________________________________

47-49 DATA RDC DATA REDUCTION SYSTEM -- The type of data reduction system used at the site.

001 = MANUAL
002 = TIME-SHARE
003 = NOVA MINI COMPUTER
004 = MINI-ART
005 = MICRO-ART
007 = MARWIN, MRS
008 = MSS
009 = LAM
010 = ASAP
011 = MV 7800
012 = AIR MET RESEARCH RAWIN SYSTEM
013 = VIZ WO-9000
          Meteorological Processing System

________________________________________________________________________________________

50-52 SONDE MAN SONDE MANUFACTURER -- The manufacturer of the Sonde in use.

001 = VIZ
002 = VAISALA
003 = SPACEDATA
004 = AIR
005 = ATEAR


53-55 SONDE TYP SONDE TYPE -- The type of Sonde used at the station.

001 = VIZ J031
002 = VIZ ACCU-LOC
003 = VIZ A
004 = VIZ B
005 = VIZ MSS
006 = SPACEDATA-TRANSPONDER
007 = SPACEDATA-ARTSONDE
008 = SPACEDATA-MSS
009 = VAISALA
010 = VIZ B - TRANSPONDER
011 = AIR INTELLISONDE
012 = VIZ Mark II MICROSONDE

________________________________________________________________________________________

56 SON/BAR IND SONDE/BAROSWITCH NUMBER INDICATOR -- An indicatorspecifying the type of number in the next field.

0 = SONDE SERIAL NUMBER
1 = BAROSWITCH NUMBER

________________________________________________________________________________________

57-76 SON/BAR NUM SONDE/BAROSWITCH -- The Sonde serial number or the Baroswitch number right-justified in the field, with leading blanks. This "number" probably will include non-numeric characters.

________________________________________________________________________________________

77-79 HUM TYPE HUMIDITY TYPE -- Type of humidity element used in the system.

001 = Lithium Chloride Hygristor
002 = 1960's Carbon Hygristor
003 = 1980's Carbon Hygristor
004 = Humicap
005 = H-Humicap
006 = VIZ Mark II carbon
          hygristor

________________________________________________________________________________________

80-82 TEMP TYPE TEMPERATURE TYPE -- Type of temperature element used in the system.

001 = Rod Thermistor
002 = Bead Thermistor
003 = Chip Thermistor
004 = Capacitive Bead

________________________________________________________________________________________

83-85 PRESS TYPE PRESSURE TYPE -- Type of pressure element used in the system.

001 = Baroswitch
002 = Transducer - oven controlled
003 = Transducer - non-oven controlled
004 = Derived (Transponder)
005 = Capacitive aneriod

________________________________________________________________________________________

86-88 TRACK TYPE TRACKING TYPE -- The type of tracking system

001 = 72-2                   009 = OMEGA
002 = SCR-658           010 = LORAN
003 = WBRT-57          011 = ART-1
004 = WBRT-60          012 = ART-1R
005 = GMD-1              013 = ART-2
006 = GMD-1A           014 = ART-2R
007 = GMD-1B           015 = MDS
008 = GMD-5              016 = MSS RANGING
                                     017 = RADIO THEODOLITE

________________________________________________________________________________________

89 TRNSP TRANSPONDER -- Is a transponder used?

0 = No
1 = Yes

________________________________________________________________________________________

90-92 BAL MAN BALLOON MANUFACTURER -- The manufacturer of the balloon.

001 = KAYSAM
002 = WEATHERTRONICS

________________________________________________________________________________________

93-96 BAL WGT BALLOON WEIGHT -- Nominal weight of the balloon in grams.

________________________________________________________________________________________

97-98 BAL AGE BALLOON AGE -- Age of the balloon in months.

________________________________________________________________________________________

99 TRN REG 4 TRAIN REGULATOR -- Was a train regulator used

N = No
Y = Yes

________________________________________________________________________________________

100 PBL LGT PIBAL LIGHT -- Was a PIBAL light used

N = No
Y = Yes

________________________________________________________________________________________

101 PBL TYPE PIBAL TYPE -- PIBAL wind equipment type according to WMO Code Table 0265.

0 =     Pressure instrument associated with wind-measuring equipment
1 =     Optical Theodolite
2 =     Radio Theodolite
3 =     Radar

_______________________________________________________________________________________

102-103 REASON TERM REASON FOR TERMINATION of the flight:

01 =   Balloon burst
02 =   Balloon forced down by icing
03 =   Leaking or floating balloon
04 =   Weak or fading signal
05 =   Battery failure
06 =   Ground equipment failure
07 =   Switching failure
08 =   Radiosonde failure
09 =   Other

________________________________________________________________________________________

104 NUM RCP RECOMPUTES -- The number of times this flight has been recomputed.

________________________________________________________________________________________

105-113 CLOUDS AND WX CLOUDS AND WEATHER -- The observation of the clouds and weather at the time of release. The field is of the form NhCLhCMCHWWWW, where:

Nh=The amount of low or mid-level clouds present according to WMO Code Table 2700. See Appendix E.

0 = 0 okta (tenths)
1 = 1 okta (1/10) or less, but not zero
2 = 2 oktas (2/10-3/10)
3 = 3 oktas (4/10)
4 = 4 oktas (5/10)
5 = 5 oktas (6/10)
6 = 6 oktas (7/10-8/10)
7 = 7 oktas (9/10) or more, but not overcast
8 = 8 oktas (10/10)
9 = Sky is obscured by fog and/or other meteorological phenomena
- = Cloud cover is indiscernible for reason other than "9" or observation not made. The WMO code figure "/" must be converted to "-".

CL,CM,CH = The cloud type according to WMO Code Tables 0509, 0513, and 0515. Code figure "/" must be converted to "-".

H = WMO Code Table 1600 for the height above ground of the base of the lowest cloud seen. Code figure "/" must be converted to "-".

WW = Present weather according to WMO Code Table 4677. Up to two types of present weather or obscurations may be entered. If present weather is not observed, enter "////" in this field (WWWW). See Appendix E.

________________________________________________________________________________________

114-116 SFCWND DIR SURFACE WIND DIRECTION -- The direction of the surface wind at time of release in whole degrees.

________________________________________________________________________________________

117-119 SFCWND SPD SURFACE WINDSPEED -- The speed of the surface wind at time of release in meters per second to the nearest 0.1 meter per second. Do not enter the decimal point; 12.3 meters per second = 123.

________________________________________________________________________________________

120-122 WIND AVE INT WIND AVERAGING INTERVAL -- The interval of time or height over which the wind is derived.

000 = None (instantaneous)
001 = Two mins. to 14km (MSL),
          four mins. above 14km (MSL).
(Pre-1990 FMH Standard, NWS)
002 = Post-1989 FMH Standard
003 = 20 seconds to 15K ft.,60 seconds above 15K ft.
004 = 30 seconds up to 2500m AGL,
          45 seconds up to 5000m AGL,
          60 seconds up to 7500m AGL,
          75 seconds up to 10 km AGL,
          90 seconds up to 15 km AGL,
          105 seconds up to 20 km AGL,
          120 seconds above 20 km AGL.
005 = Four mins. for the entire flight

________________________________________________________________________________________

123-124 CORTYP TYPE OF CORRECTION -- The type of correction applied to individual data elements by automated systems or observers.
123-124 CORTYP-P

PRESSURE CORRECTIONS

00 = No correction applied
01 = NASA temperature correction
02 = ECMWF temperature correction
.
.
.
99 = Unknown

125-126 CORTYP-Z

HEIGHT CORRECTIONS

00 = No correction applied
01 = Local gravity correction
02 = Standard gravity correction
.
.
.
99 = Unknown

127-128 CORTYP-T

TEMPERATURE CORRECTIONS

00 = No correction applied
01 = NASA radiation correction
02 = ECMWF radiation correction
03 = NCEP radiation correction
04 = Vaisala RSN-93 solar and infrared radiation correction
.
.
.
11 = NASA lag correction
13 = NMC lag correction
12 = ECMWF lag correction
.
.
.
21 = NASA radiation and lag correction
22 = ECMWF radiation and lag correction
23 = NMC radiation and lag correction
.
.
.
99 = Unknown

129-130 CORTYP-H

HUMIDITY CORRECTIONS

00 = No corrections applied
01 = NASA lag correction
02 = ECMWF lag correction
03 = NMC lag correction
.
.
.
99 = Unknown

131-132 CORTYP-TD

DEW POINT CORRECTIONS

00 = No corrections applied
01 = NASA lag correction
02 = ECMWF lag correction
03 = NMC lag correction
.
.
.
99 = Unknown

133-134 CORTYP-W

WIND CORRECTIONS

00 = No corrections applied
01 = Elevation angle correction
02 = Ranging correction
.
.
.
99 = Unknown

________________________________________________________________________________________

135-144 SOFT VER SOFTWARE VERSION -- The version of software in use with the specified recording system. Enter the software version left-justified with trailing blanks.

________________________________________________________________________________________

145-160 RES FLD RESERVED FIELD -- Leave blank

________________________________________________________________________________________

1-4 ASC NUM ASCENSION NUMBER -- The ascension number for the year. The first release on or after Jan 1 will be numbered 0001.

________________________________________________________________________________________

5-9 ELP SD TIME ELAPSED TIME -- The time in minutes and seconds (mmmss) since the actual release time.

________________________________________________________________________________________

10-15 PRESS PRESSURE -- Atmospheric pressure at the current level in hundredths of hectopascals (0.01 millibars).

________________________________________________________________________________________

16-20 HGT HEIGHT -- Geopotential height of the pressure level in whole geopotential meters (MSL).

________________________________________________________________________________________

21-24 TEMP TEMPERATURE -- Dry-bulb temperature to the nearest 0.1 Celsius degree.

________________________________________________________________________________________

25-28 REL HUM RELATIVE HUMIDITY -- The relative humidity to the nearest 0.1 percent.

________________________________________________________________________________________

29-31 DPDP DEW POINT DEPRESSION -- The dew point depression to the nearest 0.1 Celsius degree.

________________________________________________________________________________________

32-34 WIND DIR WIND DIRECTION -- The wind direction to the nearest whole degree.

________________________________________________________________________________________

35-38 WND SPD WIND SPEED -- Wind speed to the nearest 0.1 meter per second.

________________________________________________________________________________________

39-40 TYPE LVL TYPE OF LEVEL -- The reason for selection of the level:

00 = High resolution data sample
01 = Within 20 hectopascals (mb) of the surface
02 = Pressure less than 10 hectopascals (mb)
03 = Base pressure level for stability index
04 = Begin doubtful temperature, altitude data
05 = Begin missing data (all elements)
06 = Begin missing relative humidity data
07 = Begin missing temperature data
08 = Highest level reached before balloon descent because of icing or turbulence.
09 = End doubtful temperature, altitude data
10 = End missing data (all elements)
11 = End missing relative humidity data
12 = End missing temperature data
13 = Zero degree crossing for the RADAT
14 = Mandatory pressure level
15 = Operator added level
16 = Operator deleted level
17 = Balloon re-ascended beyond previous highest level
18 = Significant relative humidity level
19 = Relative humidity level selection terminated
20 = Surface level
21 = Significant temperature level
22 = Mandatory temperature level
23 = Flight termination level
24 = Tropopause
25 = Aircraft report
26 = Interpolated (generated) level
27 = Mandatory wind level
28 = Significant wind level
29 = Maximum wind level
30 = Incremental wind level (e.g., 1-minute, fixed regional)
31 = Incremental height level (generated)
40 = Significant thermo level (reason for selection unknown)

________________________________________________________________________________________

41-43 SQP
(Pressure)
SIGNAL QUALITY -- Signal quality for the element expressed as a percentage of individual samples accepted
44-46 SQT
(Temperature)
 
47-49 SQU
(Humidity)
 
50-52 SQD
(Dew point temperature)

________________________________________________________________________________________

53-54 EQET ELEMENT QUALITY FLAGS -- These fields contain the results (Elapsed Time) of any quality control procedures for identifying suspect and doubtful individual elements:
55-56 EQP
(Pressure/Ranging)
 

00 = Element is correct
01 = Element is suspect
02 = Element is doubtful
03 = Element failed QC checks
04 = Replacement value (correction)
05 = Estimated value
06 = Observer edited value
09 = Element not checked

57-58 EQH
(Height)
 
59-60 EQT
(Temperature)
 
61-62 EQU
(Humidity)
 
63-64 EQD
(Dew point depression)
 
65-66 EQWD
(Wind direction)
 
67-68 EQWS
(Wind speed)

________________________________________________________________________________________

69-80 RES FLD RESERVED FIELD Leave Blank

________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The data records are repeated as many times as necessary to record all levels of the flight.

All fields must be right-justified (least significant digit in the rightmost position) unless specified
otherwise.

All missing fields must be 9 filled unless specified otherwise.

Do not enter decimal points. The decimal point is implied by the field position.

F.4 Station Information. Station information contains details about the operational status of rawinsonde observing stations to include observational site characteristics, the type of equipment in use, and the date of a station's establishment, re-establishment, or closure. Station information shall be forwarded to NCDC or AFCCC for placement in the station's Information File. Also, any changes involving the site or the equipment at the site shall be submitted to NCDC or AFCCC. The information shall include the item changed and the date of the change. The following are items that shall be contained in a Station Information File.

Physical Characteristics

Station Name
Type of Station
Airport Name
Description of Significant Topography
Station Identifier/Ship Call Sign
WMO or WBAN Index Number
Time Zone
Latitude/Longitude (release site)
Release Elevation (release site)
Date of establishment, re-establishment, closure            

 

Observation Schedule

Types of Observations
Schedule for Observations

Observation Program

Processing Algorithms
Corrections Made to Data

 

Sensor Data

Type/Model of Sonde
Type of Sensors
Receiving Equipment
Length of Train
Balloon Make/Model Number/Size
Wind Finding Method


 
 
 

 

Appendix E
Appendix E-III
Appendix G
Table of Contents
Publications List
Home