BOREAS/AES Campbell Scientific 15-Minute Surface Meteorological Data: 1994

7.3 Data Characteristics


7.3.1 Parameter/Variable

The parameters contained in the data files on the CD-ROM are:

         Column Name
------------------------------
SITE_NAME
SUB_SITE
DATE_OBS
TIME_OBS
STN_PRESS
MSL_PRESS
PRESS_TEND
AIR_TEMP_1_5M
DEW_TEMP_1_5M
REL_HUM
MEAN_WIND_SPEED_10M_2MIN
RT_MEAN_WIND_SPEED_10M_2MIN
RT_MEAN_WIND_DIR_10M_2MIN
SDEV_RT_MEAN_WIND_DIR_10M_2MIN
GUST_10M_10MIN
RAINFALL_LAST_HOUR
SNOW_DEPTH
TEMP_MAX_LAST_SYNOPTIC
TEMP_MIN_LAST_SYNOPTIC
RAINFALL_LAST_SYNOPTIC_HOUR
ACCUM_PRECIP
CRTFCN_CODE
REVISION_DATE


7.3.2 Variable Description/Definition

The descriptions of the parameters contained in the data files on
the CD-ROM are:

         Column Name                             Description
------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------
SITE_NAME                      The identifier assigned to the site by BOREAS,
                               in the format SSS-TTT-CCCCC, where SSS identifies
                               the portion of the study area: NSA, SSA, REG,
                               TRN, and TTT identifies the cover type for the
                               site, 999 if unknown, and CCCCC is the identifier
                               for site, exactly what it means will vary with
                               site type.
SUB_SITE                       The identifier assigned to the sub-site by
                               BOREAS, in the format GGGGG-IIIII, where GGGGG is
                               the group associated with the sub-site
                               instrument, e.g. HYD06 or STAFF, and IIIII is the
                               identifier for sub-site, often this will refer to
                               an instrument.
DATE_OBS                       The date on which the data were collected.
TIME_OBS                       The Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) when the data were
                               collected.
STN_PRESS                      The measured instantaneous atmospheric pressure
                               at station level.
MSL_PRESS                      The calculated instantaneous mean sea level
                               pressure.
PRESS_TEND                     The three hour pressure tendency valid only at
                               minute 00 but given every fifteen minutes.
AIR_TEMP_1_5M                  The instantaneous air temperature at a height of
                               1.5 meters above the surface.
DEW_TEMP_1_5M                  The instantaneous dewpoint temperature at a
                               height of 1.5 meters above the surface.
REL_HUM                        The calculated relative humidity of the air.
MEAN_WIND_SPEED_10M_2MIN       The two-minute mean scalar wind speed at ten
                               meters above the surface based on measurements
                               taken every six seconds during the two minutes
                               prior to the given time.
RT_MEAN_WIND_SPEED_10M_2MIN    The two-minute resultant mean wind speed at ten
                               meters above the surface based on measurements
                               taken every six seconds during the two minutes
                               prior to the given time.
RT_MEAN_WIND_DIR_10M_2MIN      The two-minute resultant mean wind direction at
                               ten meters above the surface based on
                               measurements taken every six seconds during the
                               two minutes prior to the given time.
SDEV_RT_MEAN_WIND_DIR_10M_2MIN The standard deviation of the resultant mean
                               wind direction using the equation from Campbell
                               Scientific,SDEV=81*(SQRT(1-U/N)).  U is the
                               resultant mean wind speed and N is the number of
                               samples.
GUST_10M_10MIN                 The peak wind speed over the past ten minutes at
                               ten meters above the surface.
RAINFALL_LAST_HOUR             The total amount of liquid precipitation that
                               has fallen since the last hour (minute 00).
SNOW_DEPTH                     The depth of snow on the ground.
TEMP_MAX_LAST_SYNOPTIC         The maximum temperature at 1.5 meters above the
                               surface since the last synoptic hour (0Z, 6Z,
                               12Z, ...) based on measurements taken every
                               second.
TEMP_MIN_LAST_SYNOPTIC         The minimum temperature at 1.5 meters above the
                               surface since the last synoptic hour (0Z, 6Z, 
                               12Z, ...) based on measurements taken every
                               second.
RAINFALL_LAST_SYNOPTIC_HOUR    The amount of liquid precipitation fallen since
                               the last synoptic hour (0Z, 6Z, 12Z, ...).
ACCUM_PRECIP                   The total amount of precipitation that has
                               fallen since a relative date.  This variable is
                               measured at the start of every hour but given for
                               every fifteen-minute time period.
CRTFCN_CODE                    The BOREAS certification level of the data.
                               Examples are CPI (Checked by PI), CGR (Certified
                               by Group), PRE (Preliminary), and CPI-??? (CPI
                               but questionable).
REVISION_DATE                  The most recent date when the information in the
                               referenced data base table record was revised.


7.3.3 Unit of Measurement

The measurement units for the parameters contained in the data files on
the CD-ROM are:

         Column Name                                Units
------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------
SITE_NAME                      [none]
SUB_SITE                       [none]
DATE_OBS                       [DD-MON-YYYY]
TIME_OBS                       [HHMM GMT]
STN_PRESS                      [kiloPascals]
MSL_PRESS                      [kiloPascals]
PRESS_TEND                     [kiloPascals]
AIR_TEMP_1_5M                  [degrees Celsius]
DEW_TEMP_1_5M                  [degrees Celsius]
REL_HUM                        [percent]
MEAN_WIND_SPEED_10M_2MIN       [meters][second^-1]
RT_MEAN_WIND_SPEED_10M_2MIN    [meters][second^-1]
RT_MEAN_WIND_DIR_10M_2MIN      [degrees]
SDEV_RT_MEAN_WIND_DIR_10M_2MIN [degrees]
GUST_10M_10MIN                 [meters][second^-1]
RAINFALL_LAST_HOUR             [millimeters]
SNOW_DEPTH                     [millimeters]
TEMP_MAX_LAST_SYNOPTIC         [degrees Celsius]
TEMP_MIN_LAST_SYNOPTIC         [degrees Celsius]
RAINFALL_LAST_SYNOPTIC_HOUR    [millimeters]
ACCUM_PRECIP                   [millimeters]
CRTFCN_CODE                    [none]
REVISION_DATE                  [DD-MON-YYYY]


7.3.4 Data Source

The source of the parameter values contained in the data files on
the CD-ROM are:

         Column Name                             Data Source
------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------
SITE_NAME                      [Assigned by BORIS]
SUB_SITE                       [Assigned by BORIS]
DATE_OBS                       [Supplied by AES]
TIME_OBS                       [Supplied by AES]
STN_PRESS                      [Supplied by AES]
MSL_PRESS                      [Supplied by AES]
PRESS_TEND                     [Supplied by AES]
AIR_TEMP_1_5M                  [Supplied by AES]
DEW_TEMP_1_5M                  [Supplied by AES]
REL_HUM                        [Supplied by AES]
MEAN_WIND_SPEED_10M_2MIN       [Supplied by AES]
RT_MEAN_WIND_SPEED_10M_2MIN    [Supplied by AES]
RT_MEAN_WIND_DIR_10M_2MIN      [Supplied by AES]
SDEV_RT_MEAN_WIND_DIR_10M_2MIN [Supplied by AES]
GUST_10M_10MIN                 [Supplied by AES]
RAINFALL_LAST_HOUR             [Supplied by AES]
SNOW_DEPTH                     [Supplied by AES]
TEMP_MAX_LAST_SYNOPTIC         [Supplied by AES]
TEMP_MIN_LAST_SYNOPTIC         [Supplied by AES]
RAINFALL_LAST_SYNOPTIC_HOUR    [Supplied by AES]
ACCUM_PRECIP                   [Supplied by AES]
CRTFCN_CODE                    [Assigned by BORIS]
REVISION_DATE                  [Assigned by BORIS]


7.3.5  Data Range

The actual ranges for the various parameters were not determined due to the 
large amount of data in this data set.

Please note that some of these values are quite unreasonable.  See Section 11.2 
of the dataset guide document for summary information.

7.4 Sample Data Record

SITE_NAME,SUB_SITE,DATE_OBS,TIME_OBS,STN_PRESS,MSL_PRESS,PRESS_TEND,
AIR_TEMP_1_5M,DEW_TEMP_1_5M,REL_HUM,MEAN_WIND_SPEED_10M_2MIN,
RT_MEAN_WIND_SPEED_10M_2MIN,RT_MEAN_WIND_DIR_10M_2MIN,
SDEV_RT_MEAN_WIND_DIR_10M_2MIN,GUST_10M_10MIN,RAINFALL_LAST_HOUR,SNOW_DEPTH,
TEMP_MAX_LAST_SYNOPTIC,TEMP_MIN_LAST_SYNOPTIC,RAINFALL_LAST_SYNOPTIC_HOUR,
ACCUM_PRECIP,CRTFCN_CODE,REVISION_DATE
'REG-999-WBL01','STAFF-AES01',01-JAN-1994,0,98.97,102.31,.2341,-22.54,-25.88,
74.0,3.71,3.705,346.3,2.969,4.697,0.0,-999.0,-14.96,-22.54,0.0,-999.0,'CPI',
01-DEC-1995
'REG-999-WBL01','STAFF-AES01',01-JAN-1994,15,98.995,102.34,.2341,-22.78,-26.1,
74.1,3.417,3.411,344.9,3.371,3.9,0.0,-999.0,-22.54,-22.78,0.0,-999.0,'CPI',
01-DEC-1995
