TITLE:  Mesonet Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) 20-min Data [JOSS] 


CONTACTS:

Steve Williams
UCAR/JOSS
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307-3000

phone: 303-497-8164
email: sfw@ucar.edu


1.0  DATA SET OVERVIEW


This data set contains 20-minute resolution surface meteorological data
from the Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) stations located
across the IHOP region.  This data set includes only those AWOS data that
are not sent on the NWS circuit. These data were retrieved via modem twice
during the IHOP period (13 May to 25 June 2002).  Each file contains 
several days of data and there may be some overlap between the files. The
data are in ASCII format.


2.0  INSTRUMENT DESCRIPTION


2.1  Instrumentation information

Some information on AWOS can be found at the Federal Aviation Administration
Automated Weather Sensors page at: http://www.faa.gov/asos/


2.2  Station Locations

These station locations are taken from the AirNav database (http://www.airnav.com).
Elevations are in meters.

 ID    City                  Location                ST   Latitude      Longitude    Elev
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K2K3 Johnson      Stanton County Municipal Airport   KS  37.5827111   -101.7328100  1013
K4O4 Idabel       Mc Curtain County Regional Airport OK  33.9093250    -94.8583528   143
KCBK Colby        Shalz Field Airport                KS  39.4275308   -101.0465719   971.1
KF05 Vernon       Wilbarger County Airport           TX  34.2256681    -99.2837500   385.6
KHHF Canadian     Hemphill County Airport            TX  35.8953078   -100.4036397   729.7
KHHW Hugo         Stan Stamper Municipal Airport     OK  34.0348256    -95.5419061   174.0
KIDP Independence Independence Municipal Airport     KS  37.1583611    -95.7783889   251
KK88 Iola         Allen County Airport               KS  37.8700833    -95.3863889   309.4
KM58 Monett       Monett Municipal Airport           MO  36.9062153    -94.0127583   400.8
KMPR McPherson    McPherson Airport                  KS  38.3524372    -97.6913303   456.3
KPTT Pratt        Pratt Industrial Airport           KS  37.7000175    -98.7462025   595.0
KPVW Plainview    Hale County Airport                TX  34.1681472   -101.7173361  1028.4
KSNK Snyder       Winston Field Airport              TX  32.6933867   -100.9504525   740.7
KTQK Scott City   Scott City Municipal Airport       KS  38.4742778   -100.8849444   903.1
KULS Ulysses      Ulysses Airport                    KS  37.6037528   -101.3733889   934.8


3.0  DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING


UCAR/JOSS conducted no processing or quality control on these data.

Further information is also available at the FAA Automated Weather Sensor Home Page:
http://www.faa.gov/asos/index.htm


4.0  DATA FORMAT AND FILE NAMING


4.1  Data Format

What follows is a very short description of the AWOS format.

1042 0206040045 SCT070 SCT095 BKN120  10    024 017 11 0080122978 5000 06V13 00D                              LTG AT
APRT AND DSNT W THRU N  TS  -RA

1042
number of observation in file.

0206040045
date - yymmddhhmm UTC

SCT070 SCT 095 BKN 120 
Cloud cover SCT=scattered, BKN=broken, OVC=Overcast, CLR=clear below 12000ft
cloud heights in hundreds of feet (070 = 7000ft) 

10
visibility in statute miles

024
air temperature in deg C (may be deg F for some stations)

017
dew point temperature in deg C (may be deg F for some stations)

11
wind direction in tens of degrees (11 = 110 deg)

0080122978
008 wind speed in knots
012 wind gust in knots
2978 altimeter setting in inches of mercury * 100

5000
unknown

06V13
Believed to be wind direction variable between 60 and 130 deg

00D
00 precipitation recorded in previous 20 min
D day/night indicator

LTG AT APRT AND DSNT W THRU N  TS  -RA
present weather indicators

For information on the meaning of the present weather indicator and other
items reported please see the Federal Meteorological Handbook 1 Surface
Weather Observations and Reports which is included with your order 
(FMH.pdf)

4.2  File Naming Conventions

KULS.vaisala.20020614

KULS is the station identifier (see station list above)

vaisala is the type of AWOS station

20020614 is yyyymmdd and represents the day that we dialed up the station
so it includes data up to that date.  Typically around 3 weeks of data are
in a particular data file.


5.0  DATA REMARKS


None.


6.0  REFERNCES


None.