dec 03, 1999



Here are the formats of the files in the GOES SST archive files.

Throughout the file names:
yyyy = year
ddd  = day
hh   = hour(UTC)
h    = coded hour (0=00Z,1=03Z,2=06Z,etc.)


1)   3 Hourly SST
name:  sst3_yyyy_ddd_hh 
3 hourly sst file for hour hh and day ddd.  Binary file.  The area of coverage is 60 degrees North 
latitude to 45 degrees South latitude, 180 degrees West longitude to 30 degrees West longitude.
Each file is 2100 lines (60n to -45S) by 3000 points (180W to 30W). 
Each point consists of a one byte coded SST value. 
The file is a direct access file of 2100 records; 3000 bytes per record.
 The coded SST values are:
          0=space
          1=not used
          2=land
          3=not used
          4=cloud
          5=not used
     coded SST values 6-255 use algorithm : uncoded SST(K)=271+0.15*coded SST

2)   Coast Watch Regional SST files
There are six files.  Binary files.  The latitude/longitude limits of the files vary per file; therefore
the number of lines and points/line vary.  Each point is the same as in (1) above.
The files are
	region		dataset name	lines(records)	elements	size(bytes)
	Alaska		yyyy_ddd_3hA	240		700		168000
	East		yyyy_ddd_3hE	480		640		307200
	Hawaii		yyyy_ddd_3hH	600		700		420000
	Great Lakes	yyyy_ddd_3hL	260		400		104000
	South		yyyy_ddd_3hS	260		360		 93600
	West		yyyy_ddd_3hW	400		540		216000

The approximate latitude and longitude bounds are:
     Alaska region	60 N to 48 N; 150 W to 115 W
     East region        46 N to 22 N;  98 W to  66 W
     Hawaii region      40 N to 10 N; 180 W to 145 W
     Great Lakes        51 N to 38 N;  95 W to  75 W
     South region       31 N to 18 N;  98 W to  80 W
     West region        50 N to 30 N; 142 W to 115 W

3)   Hourly Matchup.  (new format as of 12/3/99)
name: match1_yyyy_ddd_hh  
Ascii file.  The hourly match files.  Each file is of variable length with
formatted ascii records.  The records are
buoy id               i7
satellite id          i7   (70=GOES-8; 74=GOES-10)
reference year        i7
reference month       i7
reference day         i7
reference hour        i7
buoy time variation   i7   (-30 minutes to +30 minutes from reference time)
sat. time variation   i7   (-30 minutes to +30 minutes from reference time)
number valid pixels   i7
buoy latitude       f9.2   (degrees)
buoy longitude      f9.2   (degrees; west is positive)
sat. zenith angle   f9.2   (degrees)
solar zenith angle  f9.2   (degrees)
rel. azimuth angle  f9.2   (degrees) (relative azimuth angle)
air temperature     f9.2   (K)
dew point           f9.2   (K) 
buoy sst            f9.2   (K)
wind direction      f9.2   (degree)
wind speed          f9.2   (m/s)
mslp                f9.2   (mb)
GOES data in 11-by-7 array  each f9.2
The 11 elements refer to :
	northwest pixel
	north pixel
	northeast pixel
	west pixel
	center pixel (buoy location)
	east pixel
	southwest pixel
	south pixel
	southeast pixel
	average of clear pixels
	standard deviation of clear pixels
The 7 repitions are:
	albedo  (%)
	channel 2 brightness temperature (K)
	channel 3 brightness temperature (K)
	channel 4 brightness temperature (K)
  	channel 5 brightness temperature (K)
	derived instantaneous SST (K)
	archived SST (K) *currently not used. either 0.0 or -6.0)

Note: In calculating average and standard deviation, only values of valid SST were used.

The format of the record is (9i7,8(11f9.2))


4)   Full Globe Radiance Files
There are two files: radE3_yyyy_ddd_hh.Z and radW3_yyyy_ddd_hh.Z 
Compressed binary files;unix compress  command used.  The files are of variable length with 
the maximum size of 3001 lines by 5000 points.
The first record is a housekeeping record of 7 four byte integers:
date of data  yyyyddd
time of data hhmmss
image line coordinate of area line 0, element 0
image element coordinatge of area line 0, element 0
number of lines
number of elements 
channel number

The image line coordinate and the element coordinate are meaningful only on McIDAS systems. 
The remaining 3000 (max) lines have a maximum of 5000 points.  Each point has seven 2 byte
integer numbers: channels 1 thru 5 albedo/radiance values and the latitude and longitude values
(actually latitude/longitude times 100).  Missing values are assigned the values 9999.

5)   Hourly SST Files (Full Geographic Coverage)
name: sst1_yyyy_ddd_hh
These files cover 60N to 45S, 180W to 30W at .05 degrees.  There are 2100 lines by 3000 elements.  The files
are direct access binary files.  Each point is a one byte SST value coded as in (1) above. 

NOTE: NOTE:
The 3 hourly SST, CoastWatch Regional SST and the Hourly SST files all contain 1 byte coded sst values.  These values are  
one byte, unsigned values (0..255).  The SGI computer Fortran interprets INTEGER*1 (or BYTE) variable types as one byte, 
signed values (-128..127).  Therefore original values of 128 to 255 (hex 80 to hex FF) will be interpreted as -128 to -1. 
To correctly interpret the SST values if they are read in as INTEGER*1 do the following: 
   if the number is zero or positive do nothing, 
   if the number is negative add 256. 
The result will be a value from 0 to 255 and can then be decoded as in (1) above.


NOTE:
During the week of 4/11-4/17/99 computer problems resulted in incorrectly processed datasets and therefore missed ouput datasets.  The following should be noted:
	4/14/99 (day 104) radW3_1999_104_12.Z and radW3_1999_104_15.Z not processed
 	                  match1_1999_104_11 through match1_1999_104_20  not processed
	4/15/99 (day 105) radE3_1999_105_21.Z not processed
	4/16/99 (day 106) radE3_1999_106_00.Z through radE3_1999_106_12.Z not processed