VORTEX 1995 Station Information
     
     1.0  General Description

          The Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes
     EXperiment (VORTEX) 1995 datasets contain data collected from 255
     stations in the VORTEX domain (i.e., approximately 91W to 107W
     longitude and 31N to 40N latitude) for the period 01 April 1995 through
     15 June 1995.  The station information provided defines each station in
     the VORTEX dataset with station location, name, frequency of observation,
     etc.  For a complete description of the station information file format,
     refer to section 2.1.
     
     2.0  Detailed Data Description
     
          None.
     
     2.1  Detailed Format Description
     
          The following is a complete description of the station information
     provided with the VORTEX 1995 data.  Table 1 details the station list
     parameters. The beginning and ending dates for the period of coverage are
     either in Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) or local time and is network
     dependent. The Identification Type field is network dependent, and
     indicates the source of the Identification field.  Example Identification
     Types are WBAN, FAA, etc. The Occurrence field is an integer value used
     to indicate co-located stations. Note that when a particular parameter is
     unknown for a station, either a blank or a question mark will appear in
     that parameter's position.  For a complete list of Country, State, and
     County values, refer to the documents in the references (Section 4.0).
     Possible platform types and frequency values are listed in Tables 2 and 3,
     respectively.  Note that only those platform types present in the VORTEX
     1995 data have been listed. Table 4 lists commissioning dates for all
     stations commissioned during this project.
     
     Table 1
     
     Parameter                Description
     ---------                -----------

     Identification           ID in data.
     Identification Type      ID number type.
     Latitude                 Station Latitude.
     Longitude                Station Longitude.
     Occurrence               Station occurrence. 
     Lat/Lon Accuracy         Number of digits accuracy in lat/lon
                              values. 
     Name                     Expanded station name. 
     Commissioned Flag        `(C)' indicates commissioned station,
                              `(N)' indicates station which is NOT
                              commissioned. Table 4 contains
                              commissioning dates for all stations
                              commissioned during this project.
     Begin Period of Coverage Beginning date of period of coverage.
     End Period of Coverage   End date of period of coverage.
     Country                  Country in which station is located.
                              Always US for VORTEX 1995. 
     State                    State code. 
     County                   County code. 
     UTC offset               Hour Offset from UTC time.
     DST switch               'y' indicates station does switch to 
                              Daylight Savings Time (DST). 
                              'n' indicates station does not switch.
     Platform type            Collection Platform. 
     Reporting Frequency      Frequency of data collection. 
     Elevation                Station elevation.
     Fixed/Mobile flag        Flag indicating if station has fixed 
                              location. 'f' indicates a fixed station.
                              'm' indicates a mobile station. 
     
     Table 2
     
     Platform Type  Description
     -------------  -----------

     40             Automated Surface Observing System. (ASOS)
     41             Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS)
     53             Cross-chain LORAN Atmospheric Sounding System
                    (CLASS)
     54             National Weather Service rawinsonde soundings.
                    (NWS sonde)
     109            Oklahoma Mesonet (OKMESO)
     111            National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
                    Mobile CLASS. (MCLASS-NCAR)
     112            National Severe Storms Laboratory Mobile CLASS
                    (MCLASS-NSSL).
     113            ARM CART rawinsonde.
     126            ARM CART surface.
     
     
     
     Table 3
     
     Reporting Frequency
     -------------------

     < 1 second
     1 second
     < 1 minute
     1 minute
     5 minute
     6 minute
     10 minute
     15 minute
     20 minute
     30 minute
     90 minute
     hourly
     2 hourly
     3 hourly
     6 hourly
     12 hourly
     criteria
     daily
     other
     no set schedule
     
     
     Table 4
     
     Platform Type  Site ID   Name              Date Commissioned
     -------------  -------   -----------       -----------------

     40             ELP       El Paso, TX       6/01/95
     40             LAA       Lamar, CO         5/18/95
     
     
     2.2  Data Remarks
     
          Several stations were commissioned during this project. A complete
     list of these stations is given in Table 4.
     
     3.0  Quality Control Processing
     
          Not applicable.
     
     4.0  References
          
     Department of Commerce - National Institute of Standards and Technology
          (NIST), 1985: Federal Information Processing Standards Publication
          10-3 Countries, Dependencies, & Areas of Special Sovereignty.
          Department of Commerce - NIST, Washington, DC.
     
     National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 1985: Federal
          Information Processing Standards Publication 5-1. NIST,
          Washington, DC.
      
     National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 1985: Federal
          Information Processing Standards Publication 6.-3. NIST,
          Washington, DC.
     
     World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 1988: Manual on Codes
          Volume I, Part B - Binary Codes. WMO, Geneva, Switzerland.