PACS Costa Rican Daily Precipitation 1.0 General Description The Costa Rican Daily Precipitation is one of several precipitation datasets provided in the Pan American Climate Studies (PACS). This precipitation dataset contains daily precipitation data from 45 daily stations within Costa Rica. Data from this source were not quality controlled by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research/ Joint Office for Science Support (UCAR/JOSS). 2.0 Detailed Data Description The Costa Rican Daily Precipitation dataset is formed by retaining all raw data. Precipitation values are incremental. No information on the formation of the raw dataset is available at this time. 2.1 Detailed Format Description The Daily Precipitation Composite contains six metadata parameters and four data parameters. The metadata parameters describe the station location and time at which the data were collected. The four data parameters repeat once for each day in the monthly record. Every record has 31 days reported, regardless of the actual number of days in the month. For months with less than 31 days, the extra days are reported as missing (i.e., '-999.99 7 M'). Each 24 hour precipitation value has an associated observation hour. The observation hour is the ending UTC hour for the 24 hour period for which the precipitation value is valid. Data values are valid for the 24 hours preceding the observation hour given for the day. A Quality Flag and a Quality Control (QC) Code are assigned to each data value during quality control processing. For a list of possible Quality Flag and QC Code values see the Quality Control section 3.0. The table below details each parameter. Parameters Units ---------------------- ------------------------------------- Date of Observation UTC Network Identifier Abbreviation of platform name Station Identifier Network Dependent Latitude Decimal degrees, South is negative Longitude Decimal degrees, West is negative Station Occurrence Unitless Daily Precip Value millimeters Quality Flag See list of Definitions QC Code See list of Definitions Observation hour Beginning UTC hour for 24 hour period for which value is valid. 2.2 Data Remarks None. 3.0 Quality Control Processing These data were not quality controlled by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research/Joint Office for Science Support. 4.0 References None.