From: ilana@kiowa.scd.ucar.edu (Ilana Stern)
Subject: Sources of Meteorological Data FAQ
Followup-To: sci.geo.meteorology
Summary: Weather and research data available via Internet, CD-ROM, and tape.
Reply-To: ilana@ncar.ucar.edu
Organization: NCAR/UCAR
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 15:40:28 GMT

Archive-name: weather-data
Last-modified: 21 July 1992

Recent changes:
  Addition of uriacc.uri.edu ftp site
  Addition of soundings to STORM-FEST info
  --
  Addition of STORM-FEST ftp site (storm.mmm.ucar.edu)
  Addition of weather-users mailing list

This is a guide to various sources of meteorological, oceanographic,
and geophysical data.  Some of these data types are intended for enjoyment
or hobbyist use;  other data are more research-oriented.  Much of the 
research data is not free.

More information on geological/geographical data can be found in the
FAQ for sci.geo.geology, or see the file available via FTP from csn.org.

This guide is divided into four sections.  The first discusses data 
available over the Internet (using FTP or telnet).  The second section
lists some CD-ROMS that are available from various sources.  The third
gives addresses for sources of research data on tape.  The fourth describes
some mailing lists which may be of interest.

This guide is posted every two weeks;  a copy can be obtained by 
anonymous FTP to pit-manager.mit.edu, from the file weather-data in
the directory /pub/usenet/news.answers.

Corrections, additions, and comments should be sent to Ilana Stern at
ilana@ncar.ucar.edu.

========================================================================

Data available via the network 

To access the FTP areas listed here, use "anonymous" as the login and
your email address as the password (if requested).  If you need help
with FTP, see your sysadmin.

[Note: quotes ("like this") are used to set off names of directories and
files, and are not part of these names.]

  ==Current weather GIFs via FTP==

vmd.cso.uiuc.edu 	[128.174.5.98]
  FTP: Change directory to "wx" and set transfer type to "binary".
GOES-7 visible and IR imagery are available.
A script to retrieve GIFs automatically is available from the ncardata FTP
area (see below).
  Also available in this directory are SPOTFREQ.DOC and CHASE-TV.DOC,
lists of ham radio frequencies and TV stations which carry useful info
for storm chasers.

uriacc.uri.edu		[131.128.1.1]
  FTP:  Change directory to "davet.195" and set transfer type to "binary".
Images in GIF format from the afternoon passes of NOAA-11.  (Provided
by Dave Tetreault, DAVET@uriacc.uri.edu.)

unidata.ucar.edu	[128.117.140.3]
  FTP:  Change directory to "images" and set transfer type to "binary".
Weather radar summary map GIFS, surface maps for various places, a few
soundings on skew-t log-p diagrams, GOES Hugo images (in subdirectory
"images/hugo").  

aurelie.soest.hawaii.edu	[128.171.151.121]
  FTP:  Sea-Surface-Temperature data (near-real-time) in "pub/avhrr/images".  
AVHRR images within the radius of reception of the university's HRPT station, 
approximately 5 S to 45 N and 125 W to 165 E.  The processed images are 
available usually within 30 min.  of noaa-11 and noaa-12 passages.  Data are
compressed binary in netCDF format (get documentation from unidata.ucar.edu,
above) labelled by satellite name (n11/n12) and time.  More info available
from hrpt@hokulea.soest.hawaii.edu.

  ==Current weather data via telnet==

madlab.sprl.umich.edu 3000	[141.212.196.79]
  Telnet:  include the "3000".  Menu driven.

hermes.merit.edu	[35.1.48.150]
  Telnet:  type um-weather at the "Which Host?" prompt and use menus.
(Connects to madlab.sprl.umich.edu)

  ==Meteorological, oceanographic, and geophysical research data==

ncardata.ucar.edu	[128.117.8.111]
  FTP:  contains information on datasets available from NCAR (the National
Center for Atmospheric Research, address in section 3) , not actual
data.  If you would like to order data after browsing this information,
email to datahelp@ncar.ucar.edu.  Small datasets can be provided by
FTP;  we also write various kinds of tapes.  See the README file, and the
information in section 3 of this posting.
  A shell archive containing scripts to retrieve GIFs from vmd.cso.uiuc.edu,
get_gifs, is located in the "weather" subdirectory.  This subdirectory also
contains Colorado weather and ski reports.
  A few special datasets are located in the FTP area, and are free.  They
are described in the file "pricing".

cdiac.esd.ornl.gov 	[128.219.24.36]  (formerly suns01.esd.ornl.gov) 
  FTP:  contains data and information on general and technical aspects of 
carbon dioxide, methane, and other trace gas emissions; the carbon cycle; 
and other climate-change topics from CDIAC (the Carbon Dioxide Information 
Analysis Center, address in section 3).  The data for CDIAC's "Trends 91: 
A Compendium of Data on Global Change" is also available here.  (Contact 
CDIAC to obtain a copy of the book.)

pioneer.unm.edu		[129.24.9.217]
  FTP:  change directory to "pub/info" and retrieve beginner-info, cd-list,
newcd-list, and cd-schedule to get started.  This machine is part of the
Space and Planetary Image Facility (SPIF), sponsored by the Computer and 
Information Resource Technology group at UNM;  it currently has 3 CD readers
and expects to add more.  You can use this machine to FTP data and software
from a variety of CD-ROMs, including both research data and images.  There
is no charge for this service.  Contact help@pioneer.unm.edu for more 
information.  

  ==STORM-FEST data==

storm.mmm.ucar.edu	[128.117.88.53]
  FTP:  contains hourly and 5-minute composite surface observations, and
composite rawinsonde soundings, from STORM-FEST, in the directories 
"/fest/hrly_sfc", "fest/5min_sfc", and "/fest/sounding", respectively.
There is one file per day. The data are in ASCII.  This data is a 
preliminary release. 
  This FTP system will eventually be replaced by a different data access
system, although the data will still be available via the new system.
(Info from Mark Bradford, bradfrd2@ncar.ucar.edu)

  ==Digital photos of earth from space==

sseop.jsc.nasa.gov	[146.154.11.34]
  FTP:  many pictures taken from the space shuttle.  Files are in a 512x512 
format as red, green, and blue bitmaps. Image files are binary format, 
and have .DAT as an extension. 

ames.arc.nasa.gov
  FTP:  change directory to "SPACE/CDROM".  Images from Magellan and Viking 
missions, other stuff.

Also see pioneer.unm.edu site in "Research Data" section.

  ==AVHRR satellite images of USA==

sanddunes.scd.ucar.edu
  Telnet:  contact Tim Kelley by email kelley@sanddunes.scd.ucar.edu
or telephone 303/497-1221 for login, password, and manual.  Service is
free to Internet users and is funded by NASA.
  AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) images from 1989 through
7 Jan 1992 cover CO, WY, KS, NE, and NM, as well as parts of AZ, UT, OK,
and TX.  Since 7 Jan 1992, coverage includes these plus CA, OR, NV, WA,
and MT, to 1000 km off Pacific coast.  Total coverage of US for 1989-present
will be available soon.  West coast data from 1980-1985 will be available
some time this year.
  Images are 1024 lines x 1024 elements before 7 Jan 1992, 2560 lines x
1024 elements after.  Images are 1 km resolution and 8-bit format.

  ==Snow cover maps of US from GOES==

gator.netcom.com	[192.100.81.102]
  FTP:  change directory to "snow". Various snow-related images in GIF 
form.  US snow cover map updated weekly.  Contact snow@netcom.com for
more info.

  ==Map data==

spectrum.xerox.com	[192.70.225.78]
  FTP:  various USGS data in subdirectories under the directory "pub/map".

hanauma.stanford.edu	[36.51.0.16]
  FTP:  the CIA World Bank database contains coastlines, rivers and 
political boundaries.  An 0.5 degree elevation dataset is also there.
A program for decoding the CIA data can be found as "mfil" on 
pi1.arc.umn.edu [137.66.130.11]  (Info from ken@msc.edu)

Also see pioneer.unm.edu site in "Research Data" section.

  ==Other resource information==

csn.org			[128.138.213.21]
  FTP:  a large, frequently updated file containing detailed information
on FTP sites, Bitnet and Usenet discussion groups, and data sources is
located in the file "internet.resources.earth.sci" in the directory "COGS".
This file contains more information on mapping, GIS, remote sensing, and 
geology, subjects which are mostly outside the scope of this meteorology-
oriented FAQ.  Mapping software and datasets are also available in this 
directory.  Contact bthoen@csn.org (Bill Thoen) for more information.

========================================================================

Sources for CD-ROMs

CD-ROMs tend to be relatively expensive, but can hold as much as 600 megabytes
of data.  Prices are current as of October 1991;  prices for some discs 
are not known.  Some discs are provided with driving software.

  ==Weather data==

Climate Change Data (price not known):
Monthly 5-degree surface temperature anomaly grids 1854-1990, pressure grids
1873-1990.  Monthly world temperature data at about 3500 stations and
precipitation data at about 6500 stations, for period of record (long).
Contact:  Dr. Phil Jones, Climatic Research Unit, University of East
Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ United Kingdom.

World Weather Disc ($295):
Monthly temp, precip, pressure, sunshine data for about 2000 world stations for
period of record.  Daily weather data at hundreds of US stations.  Data for
some stations on temp, precip, freeze, drought, soil moisture, wind,
storms.  Frequency and movement of tropical cyclones.
Contact:  Cliff Mass, Dept. of Atmos. Sci. (AK40), University of Washington,
Seattle, WA  98195.  206/685-0910.

National Climate Info System ($50):
Monthly temperature, precipitation, Palmer drought index data for 344
climate divisions of US.  Data can be viewed in tabular or graphical format.
Contact:  National Climatic Data Center, Federal Building, Asheville, NC
28801.  704/259-0682.

High Resolution Climatology ($199/variable):	*COMMERCIAL*
(NOT a CD-ROM)
Average monthly climatological values [don't have info as to which
variables] for every 1 square km of the conterminous US for the 30-year
period 1951-1980.  The data are stored as a rectangular matrix for each
state.  Digitized state and county political boundaries are included and
referenced to the climate data sets.  The data are in raster form as ASCII 
or 16-bit binary integers.  This dataset is distributed on 5.25" or 3.5" 
floppy disks. 
Contact:  ZedX, Inc., P.O. Box 404, Boalsburg, PA  16827-0404.


  ==Research data==

NMC gridpoint dataset ($150):
Twice daily grids for the Northern Hemisphere at a resolution of about 
381 km.  Available from NCAR;  email datahelp@ncar.ucar.edu, or contact
Ilana Stern at 303/497-1214, FAX 303/497-1137 or ilana@ncar.ucar.edu.

National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) discs:
Various discs available, including:  ice and snow coverage, ocean sediment
drilling data, ionospheric vertical soundings ($100), solar variability 
(sunspots, magnetic field data, flares, tree-ring data -- $100), geophysics
of North America (earthquake data, magnetic fields, topography, gravity,
geopolitical info -- $600), and more.
Contact:  NGDC, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO  80303.  303/497-6958.

Global Ocean Temperature and Salinity (2 discs, $80 each or $124/both)
Temperature and salinity in the world ocean for about 1900-1990, based
on all available XBTs, MBTs, BTs, etc.
Contact:  National Oceanographic Data Center, NOAA/NESDIS E/OC21, 
Washington, DC  20235.  202/673-5549.

GALE and ERICA datasets (price not known):
GALE (Genesis of Atlantic Lows), 1/15/86-4/15/86:  ship data, raobs,
aircraft, radar, etc off N Carolina coast.  ERICA (Experiment on Rapidly
Intensifying Cyclones over the Atlantic), 12/1/88-2/26/89:  rawinsondes,
aircraft, radar, buoys, satellite data, etc.  Two CD-ROMs.  
Contact:  C. Kreitzberg, Dept. of Physics and Atmospheric Science, 
Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA  19104.

A catalog containing a listing of these and other datasets available
on CD-ROM may be obtained from NCAR (address above).

GEDEX (Greenhouse Effect Detection Experiment)(price not known):
Two discs containing surface, upper air, and/or satellite-derived 
measurements of temperature, solar irradiance, clouds, greenhouse
gases, fluxes, albedo, aerosols, ozone, and water vapor, along with
Southern Oscillation Indices and Quasi-Biennial Oscillation statistics.
Many of the data sets provide global coverage.  The spatial resolutions
vary from zonal to 2.5 degree grids.  Some surface station data sets 
span more than 100 years;  most satellite-derived sets cover only the
past 12 years.  Temporal coverage is monthly for most sets.  An update
will be available by June 1992.
Contact:  NCDS/Goddard Distributed Active Archive Center, Code 935,
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD  20771.  301/286-3209,
email NCDSUSO@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV.
A more complete description of these discs may be obtained from 
the ncardata.ucar.edu FTP site described above, in the file
"catalogs/nondss/gedex".

  ==Snow coverage== 

Contact for the following four discs:
World Data Center A for Glaciology [Snow and Ice], National Snow and Ice
Data Center, University of Colorado, CIRES - Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO  
80309.   303/492-5171, FAX 303/492-2468, email hanson@kryos.colorado.edu
(Claire Hanson).

DMSP SSM/I Brightness Temperature Grids for the Polar Regions, volume 1-12, 
9 July 1987 - 30 June 1990 (Price on request):
Each volume contains 3 months of daily brightness temperature grids.
Sensor is currently flying; one additional CD-ROM volume is produced
approximately every 8 weeks.  Passive microwave brightness temperatures
(7 dual-polarized frequencies ranging from 19.3 to 85.5 GHz.), used
primarily to derive sea ice concentration; Northern and Southern
Hemispheres.  Data format: 16-bit raster images (2-byte integers), in
"SSM/I grid format".  Associated software:  Extraction and ice concentration 
software, IMDISP image display program for IBM PC, IMAGIC image display 
program for the Macintosh II.  Software distributed on diskettes.  
Contact information above.

DMSP SSM/I Ice Concentration Grids for the Polar Regions, Volume 1, 
9 July 1987 - 31 December 1989 (Price on request):
Contains sea ice concentration derived from SSM/I brightness
temperatures, using NASA Team algorithm and J. Comiso algorithm,
for Northern and Southern Hemispheres.  Data format:  8-bit raster
images (1-byte integers) in "SSM/I grid format".  Grid files have NASA
PDS (Planetary Data System) header labels.  Additional volumes will
be produced, for the entire time series.  Associated software:
Source code used to derive ice concentration from brightness
temperatures.  IMDISP image display software. Software distributed on
diskettes.  
Contact information above.

Nimbus-7 SMMR Polar Radiances, Volumes 1-12, 25 October 1978 - 20 August 
1987 (life of SMMR sensor) (Price on request):
Contains passive microwave brightness temperatures (5 dual-polarized
frequencies ranging from 6.6 to 37 GHz) and derived sea ice concentration
for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.  Data format:  2-byte
integers, in single-frequency grids.  Associated software:  IMDISP image
display program (C code) for IBM PC; landmask and latitude/longitude 
overlay (Fortran).  Software distributed on IBM PC diskettes.  
Contact information above.

Eastern Arctic Ice, Ocean and Atmosphere Data, Volume 1, CEAREX-1 ($50):
Contains sea ice acceleration, deformation and stress; hydrography
(CTDs); meteorology; bathymetry; acoustics and ambient noise (sample
data) from Coordinated Eastern Arctic Experiment (CEAREX).  Includes
meteorology from Marginal Ice Zone Experiment (MIZEX), 1983, 1984, 1987.
Experiment location: Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard; Fram Strait,
September 1988 - May 1989.  Amount of data: 460 mbytes.  Data
format: ASCII files.  Associated software: none.  Price: $50.
Additional volumes are planned; content not yet determined. 
Contact information above.

NWS/NOHRSC Snow cover data (1990 and 1991, $200 each):
Airborne snow water equivalent and satellite areal extent of snow cover data
for 1990 and 1991 are now available on CD-ROM for major portions of the U.S.
and southern Canada. The CD-ROMs include: (1) airborne snow water equivalent 
data and the digitized flight line network, (2) calibrated AVHRR and GOES 
satellite data used to map snow cover, (3) the classified snow cover images
(4) national and regional snow cover image products, and (5) ancillary data 
sets including digital elevation data, digitized NWS basin boundaries, and 
the alphanumeric results of the satellite snow cover mapping by basin and by
elevation zone.
Contact:  CD-ROM Snow Cover Data, National Operational Hydrologic Remote
Sensing Center (NOHRSC), Office of Hydrology, National Weather Service,
6301 34th Avenue South: Room 112, Minneapolis, MN 55450-2985.
612/725-3258, FAX 612/725-3338, email snow@netcom.com (Tim Szeliga)

  ==Other data==

NASA discs:
Various discs available, including:  Voyager spacecraft images (12 discs,
under $20 each!), Viking images of Mars, Magellan Venus data, Halley's
comet data (25 discs), excerpts from astronomical catalogs, and more.
Contact:  NSSCD (NASA Space Science Data Center), Code 933.4, NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD  20771.  301/286-6695.  They
also publish a free newsletter.

CD-ROM, INC:		*COMMERCIAL*
Several hundred discs available, including:  "GRIPS 2" high resolution
images of topography, Landsat, vegetation maps, plus software ($49), 
"JEDI" 3 discs full of earth, space, and sea science data intended for
school use ($31), 13 business/economic discs, >50 literature and
entertainment discs, >40 health-related discs, many science discs.
Prices range from $29-$895.  Free catalog available from them.
Contact:  CD-ROM, Inc, 1667 Cole Blvd. Suite 400, Golden, CO  80401.
303/231-9373, FAX 303/231-9581.

========================================================================

Sources of research data on tape or other media

National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR):
We have over 400 datasets available to the research community.  See 
above section on data available over the internet for information about
accessing the NCAR data catalogs.  Email to datahelp@ncar.ucar.edu for
more information about any particular dataset, or to order data.
NCAR Data Support Section, PO Box 3000, Boulder, CO  80307.  303/497-1219,
FAX 303/497-1137.
(DISCLAIMER:  NCAR is a non-profit government organization operated by 
UCAR under a grant from the NSF.  Our charges reflect the actual cost of 
data retrieval and magnetic media.  I receive no benefit from you ordering
data;  in fact, my co-workers will likely be mad at me for generating
more work for us to do! :-)

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC):  CDIAC, Oak Ridge 
National Laboratory, P. O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6335. 615/574-0390,
FAX 615/574-2232, email cdp@stc10.ctd.ornl.gov.  Research and distribution 
center for data related to carbon dioxide, methane, and other trace gas 
emissions; the carbon cycle; and other climate-change topics.  Datasets
are available on various media including CD-ROM and magnetic tape.  They
also publish a free newsletter.

National Climatic Data Center (NCDC):  NCDC, Federal Building, Asheville, 
NC 28801.  704/259-0682.

NASA Space Science Data Center (NSSDC):  NSSCD, Code 933.4, NASA Goddard 
Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD  20771.  301/286-6695. 

National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC):  NGDC, 325 Broadway, Boulder, 
CO  80303.  303/497-6958.

========================================================================

Mailing lists

==CLIMLIST (moderated by John Arnfield)==

CLIMLIST is a moderated electronic mail distribution list for climat-
ologists and those working in closely-related fields.  It is used to
disseminate notices regarding conferences and workshops, data avail-
ability, calls for papers, positions available etc, as well as requests
for information.  An updated directory of email addresses for the 
subscribers to the list is distributed every month (usually on the 15th).

To subscribe, mail to whichever of these addresses works for you:
  AJA+@OHSTMAIL.BITNET / aja+@osu.edu / johna@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
with the following information:

Your name (for directory listing), email address, institutional affiliation;
Indicate if your email address is shared, so your name will be in header
  of messages.
If your 'climatological credentials' are not apparent from your
affiliation, please explain.

==Wxsat (administered by Richard B. Emerson)==

Wxsat resends all NOAA/NESDIS bulletins on polar and geostationary weather 
satellites as well as occasional material on Meteosat.  Bulletins with 
orbital predictions, spacecraft operation schedules, and related messages 
are copied from NOAA.SAT on SCIENCEnet and forwarded to all addresses on 
the list.  The list is configured to accept and broadcast mail from
subscribers to the list at large.  Wxsat does not store or distribute imagery
and is not primarily a "chat" list.  Wxsat is oriented towards users with a
daily operational need for TBUS and related bulletins.

An archive of roughly 60 days' messages are available for retrieval via
email messages to wxsat-archive@ssg.com.  Send the message "help" in the
text to the archive server for details on how to retrieve the current index
and other files.

Subscription requests go to wxsat-request@ssg.com.  The service is free 
to all Internet users but donations are accepted as this is a volunteer 
operation.

==Weather-users (administered by scott@zorch.sf-bay.org)==

This list is for discussions of weather servers; sharing of code to 
automatically query weather servers; and announcements of availability 
(or lack thereof) and changes to weather servers.  Initially, Jeff Masters 
(sdm@madlab.sprl.umich.edu) has agreed to send Weather Underground status 
notices to this list.

To join or quit the list, email to weather-users-request@zorch.sf-bay.org;
the list mail address is weather-users@zorch.sf-bay.org.

========================================================================

-- 
/\        Ilana Stern DoD#009 | Whoever first said, "Things are seldom as they 
  \_][    ilana@ncar.ucar.edu | seem," was wrong.  Things are usually as they
      \_______________________| seem.  Otherwise, they wouldn't seem that way.