Title: MAGS BERMS Radiosonde Data Set
1.0 DATA SET OVERVIEW
This data set contains the mandatory and signifcant level observations from the radiosonde site at The Pas in Manitoba, Canada (WMO 71867, 53.97N and 101.10W). The data set includes the period from 1 October 2002 to 31 December 2004 and there are typically observations twice per day at 00 and 1200 UTC. The data were retrieved from the NOAA/ESRL/GSD Raob Database: http://raob.fsl.noaa.gov.
2.0 INSTRUMENTATION DESCRIPTION:
No information available.
3.0 DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING:
Radiosondes are launched in principle two times a day (12 and 24 h UTC).
3.1 Format Description from NOAA/ESRL/GSD
The wind speeds are in knots.
FSL Rawinsonde data format
The official FSL data format is similar to the format used by the National
Severe Storms Forecast Center (NSSFC) in Kansas City. The first 4 lines of
the sounding are identification and information lines. All additional lines
are data lines. An entry of 32767 (original format) or 99999 (new format)
indicates that the information is either missing, not reported, or not
applicable.
---COLUMN NUMBER---
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
LINTYP
header lines
254 HOUR DAY MONTH YEAR (blank) (blank)
1 WBAN# WMO# LAT D LON D ELEV RTIME
2 HYDRO MXWD TROPL LINES TINDEX SOURCE
3 (blank) STAID (blank) (blank) SONDE WSUNITS
data lines
9 PRESSURE HEIGHT TEMP DEWPT WIND DIR WIND SPD
4
5
6
7
8
LEGEND
LINTYP: type of identification line
254 = indicates a new sounding in the output file
1 = station identification line
2 = sounding checks line
3 = station identifier and other indicators line
4 = mandatory level
5 = significant level
6 = wind level (PPBB) (GTS or merged data)
7 = tropopause level (GTS or merged data)
8 = maximum wind level (GTS or merged data)
9 = surface level
HOUR: time of report in UTC
LAT: latitude in degrees and hundredths
LON: longitude in degrees and hundredths
D: direction latitude ('N' or 'S') or longitude ('E' or 'W') -note this
only appears in the online archive containing international
observations.
ELEV: elevation from station history in meters
RTIME: is the actual release time of radiosonde from TTBB. Appears in GTS data
only.
HYDRO: the pressure of the level to where the sounding passes the hydrostatic
check (see section 4.3).**
MXWD: the pressure of the level having the maximum wind in the sounding. If
within the body of the sounding there is no "8" level then
MXWN is estimated (see section 3.2).
TROPL: the pressure of the level containing the tropopause. If within the
body of the sounding there is no "7" level, then TROPL is estimated
(see section 3.3)**
LINES: number of levels in the sounding, including the 4 identification lines.
TINDEX: indicator for estimated tropopause. A "7" indicates that sufficient
data was available to attempt the estimation; 11 indicates that data
terminated and that tropopause is a "suspected" tropopause.
SOURCE: 0 = National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)
1 = Atmospheric Environment Service (AES), Canada
2 = National Severe Storms Forecast Center (NSSFC)
3 = GTS or FSL GTS data only
4 = merge of NCDC and GTS data (sources 2,3 merged into sources 0,1)
SONDE: type of radiosonde code from TTBB. Only reported with GTS data
10 = VIZ "A" type radiosonde
11 = VIZ "B" type radiosonde
12 = Space data corp.(SDC) radiosonde.
WSUNITS:wind speed units (selected upon output)
ms = tenths of meters per second
kt = knots
PRESSURE: in whole millibars (original format)
in tenths of millibars (new format)
HEIGHT: height in meters (m)
TEMP: temperature in tenths of degrees Celsius
DEWPT: dew point temperature in tenths of a degree Celsius
WIND DIR: wind direction in degrees
WIND SPD: wind speed in either knots or tenths of a meter per second
(selected by user upon output)
An example of fortran format statements necessary to read output rawinsonde
data, according to LINTYP, is as follows:
LINTYP
254 (3i7,6x,a4,i7)
1 (3i7,f7.2,a1,f6.2,a1,i6,i7)
2 (7i7)
3 (i7,10x,a4,14x,i7,5x,a2)
4,5,6,7,8,9 (7i7)
Note the format descriptor for LINTYP=1 has changed to conform with the
CDROM archive.
**- section of noaa tech memo on the data base (in print)
TECHNICAL INFORMATION: Schwartz, B.E., and M. Govett, 1992: "A hydrostatically
consistent North American Radiosonde Data Base at the forecast Systems
Laboratory, 1946-present." NOAA Technical Memorandum ERL FSL-4. Available
from NOAA/ERL/FSL 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303.
4.0 QUALITY CONTROL PROCEDURES
These data have not been quality controlled by NCAR/EOL.
5.0 GAP FILLING PROCEDURES
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6.0 DATA REMARKS:
7.0 REFERENCE REQUIREMENTS:
8.0 REFERENCES:
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