Appendix 2. Graphical User Interface: PROCESSNOAA 1

Purpose

The purpose of creating the Graphical User Interface 

(GUI) called PROCESSNOAA was to automate the process 

of extracting, processing, and calculating rainfall and wind 

direction and speed variables from National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data files. Barometric 

pressure data are also extracted. The NOAA data files are local 

climatological data collected at airports that contain measurements of rainfall, wind speed, wind direction, and barometric 

pressure. PROCESSNOAA allows users to view plots and 

tables of processed rainfall, wind-speed, and wind-direction 

data. In addition, users can merge field measurements of E.coli

with NOAA data files and save processed data in a format 

ready for direct import into Virtual Beach.

Requirements for Using PROCESSNOAA

To use PROCESSNOAA, a free MATLAB Runtime 

Library 2012a (32-bit) version 7.17 needs to be installed on 

the computer that will run PROCESSNOAA. The MATLAB 

compiler is available for download at MathWorks: http://www.

mathworks.com/products/compiler/mcr/

Steps to Download NOAA Data Files

NOTE: You will need a subscription or Government 

access to pull these files. 

1. Go to the following NOAA download site:

• Quality Controlled Local Climatological Data after 

2005 http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/qclcd/QCLCD?prior=N

2. Follow windows to the airport of interest and select data 

for the desired month.

• Select the entire month and click on “ASCII Download 

(Hourly Obs) (10A).”

3. Copy, paste, and save data as a text file.

• Select all the data using ctrl+A, copy using ctrl+C, and 

paste all the data into Notepad using ctrl+V.

NOTE: Data in Notepad file must be displayed with 

“Hourly obs” and “Month/Year” on separate lines, as 

 follows:

Hourly obs

Month/Year: 08/2012

4. Repeat steps 1–3 for multiple months of data. Place all 

data pertaining to a particular airport in the same folder.

Steps to Use PROCESSNOAA

1. Use the menu bar to select “File” and open NOAA text 

files:

• File → Open NOAA *.txt files → Select all downloaded NOAA text files for a particular airport.

• Hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple months of 

data.

2. PROCESSNOAA automatically extracts, processes, and 

calculates the variables of interest such as rainfall, wind 

speed, and wind direction; variables are based on the 

time of sampling being near 8:00 am. A main rainfall 

parameter of interest is a 24-hour sum of rainfall (Rd−1). 

The original NOAA data are displayed in a table called 

“Hourly Data.” The processed NOAA data is displayed in 

a table called “Daily Data.” 

• Day of the year is the day of the calendar from 1 to 

365. 

• Wind Speed Inst is the instantaneous wind speed at 

approximately 8:00 a.m.

• Wind Direction Inst is the instantaneous wind direction at approximately 8:00 a.m.

• Lagged and weighted precipitation are automatically 

calculated and placed in the “Daily Data” table.

• Airport Rain (Rd−1) is the total amount of rain that 

fell in the previous 24 hours up to the time of sampling (near 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.). 

• Airport Rain (Rd−2) is the total amount of rain that 

fell in the 24-hour period 2 days before sampling. It 

is Airport Rain (Rd−1)lagged 1 day.

• Airport Rain (Rd−3) is the total amount of rain that 

fell in the 24-hour period 3 days before sampling. It 

is Airport Rain (Rd−1) lagged 2 days.

• Airport Rain 48 weighted (Rw48) is cumulative 

rainfall in the past 48 hours, with the most recent 

rainfall receiving the most weight.

Appendix 2. Graphical User Interface: PROCESSNOAA

Below are instructions (updated March 2014) for running PROCESSNOAA. The software (executable file), source code, and test 

files are available for downloading from the indicated Web address: http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2013/5166
2 Developing and Implementing Predictive Models for Estimating Recreational Water Quality at Great Lakes Beaches

• Airport Rain 72 weighted (Rw72) is cumulative 

rainfall in the past 72 hours, with the most recent 

rainfall receiving the most weight.

• Barometric Pressure Inst is the instantaneous barometric pressure at approximately 8:00 a.m.

3. **Optional** If measured E.coli data are available, use 

the menu bar to select and open an Excel file containing 

E.coli data pertaining to the beach of interest near the 

NOAA airport site. PROCESSNOAA will merge E.coli

data with the NOAA data for dates that overlap. The first 

column of the Excel file containing the measured E.coli

data must contain the sampling date in the following 

format: mm/dd/yyyy. The second column of the Excel file 

containing the measured E.coli data must contain the measured E.coli data. The measured E.coli data should not be 

log10 transformed. Other data parameters (such as field 

variables) can be placed after the measured E.coli column 

in any order. 

• Options → Merge E.coli data (*.xls)

• Note: PROCESSNOAA will open a Microsoft Excel 

97-2003 Worksheet (*.xls) and a Microsoft Excel 

Worksheet (*.xlsx). The default file type that PROCESSNOAA accepts is a *.xls file. To open a *.xlsx 

file, use the “File of type” drop-down menu in the open 

file dialog window and select “All Files.”

4. Use the menu bar to save the “Hourly Data” and the 

“Daily Data” tables as an Excel file. The saved Excel 

files will automatically be placed in the same directory 

containing the NOAA text files. If E.coli data are merged 

with NOAA data, then the saved Excel file should be 

ready for direct import into Virtual Beach. Column names 

are written in a format that Virtual Beach accepts. NOTE: 

The daily data are used for Virtual Beach.

• Save → Save Daily Data (.xls)—this file is used for 

predictive modeling 

• Save → Save Hourly Data (.xls)―optional

Additional Features of PROCESSNOAA

PROCESSNOAA has many additional features that allow 

users to gain more insight and knowledge about NOAA data 

and measured E. coli data. These additional features include 

the following:

• Time-series plots of Airport Rain (Rd−1) and instantaneous wind speed and direction near 8:00 a.m. Access 

the different plots by using the drop-down menu below 

the time-series plot.

• If measured E. coli data are merged with the NOAA 

data, then frequency plots of Log10 E. coli, Airport 

Rain (Rd−1) and instantaneous wind speed and direction 

near 8:00 a.m. are made available through the options 

menu. 

• Options → View → Precipitation Frequency (these 

are rounded to the nearest 0.1 inch)

• Options → View → Wind Speed Frequency

• Options → View → Wind Direction Frequency (each 

wind direction value on the x-axis is ±15 degrees)

• Options → View → E. coli Frequency (these are 

rounded to the nearest 0.1 log10)

• If measured E. coli data are merged with NOAA data, 

the time-series plot changes to plot Log10(E. coli) 

versus Airport Rain (Rd−1), wind speed, and wind direction. Access the different plots by using the drop-down 

menu below the plot.

Additional Help

Contact Jeremiah Lant, U.S. Geological Survey Kentucky 

Water Science Center, jlant@usgs.gov