GIST ETA Model Location Time Series (MOLTS) 1.0 General Description The Eta Model Location Time Series is one of the model output datasets provided in the GEWEX Continental-scale International Project (GCIP) Integrated Systems Test (GIST). The full MOLTS dataset for GIST covered most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains (257 locations). A more concentrated set of locations was selected within the GIST domain (33-40 degrees N and 91-107 degrees west) with 67 stations within the domain (see section 2.3). MOLTS are hourly time series output at selected locations that contain values for various surface parameters and `sounding' profiles at Eta model levels and are derived from the Eta model output. The MOLTS output files were converted into OFPS Quality Control Format (QCF) the same format used for atmospheric rawinsonde soundings processed by OFPS. The MOLTS output provided by OFPS on-line includes only the initial analysis output (i.e. no forecast MOLTS), only those locations within the GIST domain, and only state parameters (pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind). Output for the other locations is available off-line. The full output, including the forecast MOLTS and all output parameters, in its orignal format (BUFR) is available from the NCAR/Scientific Computing Division. 2.0 Detailed Data Description The National Meteorological Center (NMC) began operations for the Eta model in June 1993 with a resolution of 80 km and 38 levels. The top level was 50 mb. In late 1994, the domain of the Eta model was increased and the resolution became 48 km with 38 levels. The Eta analysis and forecast fields are generated every 12 hours at 0000 and 1200 UTC daily. MOLTS are hourly vertical profile and surface time series derived from the Eta model output. The complete MOLTS output includes six informational items, 12 parameters for each level and 32 parameters at the surface (a full listing is provided in section 2.2). Output are available each hour beginning at the initial analysis (the only output available from OFPS)) and and ending at the 48 hour forecast. OFPS converts the raw format files into OFPS QCF format which is the same format used for atmospheric sounding data such as NWS soundings. A description of OFPS QCF format is included within section 2.1. OFPS calculated the total wind speed and direction from the u and v wind components. OFPS calculated the mixing ratio from the specific humidity (Pruppacher and Klett 1980) and the dew point from the mixing ratio (Wallace and Hobbs 1977). Then the relative humidity was calculated from the dew point (Bolton 1980). The altitude was not calculated due to the lack of data at the surface other than the pressure. OFPS did not conduct any quality control on this output. 2.1 Detailed Format Description 2.1.1 Header records The header records (15 total records) contain output type, project ID, the location of the nearest station to the MOLTS location (this can be a rawinsonde station, an ARM/CART station, a wind profiler station, a surface station, or just the nearest town), the location of the MOLTS output, and the valid time for the MOLTS output. The five header lines contain information identifying the sounding, and have a rigidly defined form. The following 6 header lines are used for auxiliary information and comments about the sounding, and they vary significantly from dataset to dataset. The last 3 header records contain header information for the data columns. Line 13 holds the field names, line 14 the field units, and line 15 contains dashes ('-' characters) delineating the extent of the field. The six standard header lines are as follows: Line Label (fixed to 35 char in length) Contents 1 Output Type: Description of type of data. 2 Project ID: ID of weather project. 3 Nearest Station (lon,lat): Description of the nearest location. 4 Output Location (lon,lat,alt): Position of MOLTS output in format described below. 5 Valid Time (y,m,d,h,m,s): Time of release in UTC, in format: yyyy, mm, dd, hh:mm:ss 6 CAUTION: A warning that this is not actual rawinsonde data, but rather model output. The release location is given as: lon (deg min), lat (deg min), lon (dec. deg), lat (dec. deg), alt (m) Longitude in deg min is in the format: ddd mm.mm'W where ddd is the number of degrees from True North (with leading zeros if necessary), mm.mm is the decimal number of minutes, and W represents W or E for west or east longitude, respectively. Latitude has the same format as longitude, except there are only two digits for degrees and N or S for north/south latitude. The decimal equivalent of longitude and latitude and station elevation follow. The seven non-standard header lines may contain any label and contents. The label is fixed to 35 characters to match the standard header lines. Sample header records are provided in the sample data file in section 2.1.3. 2.1.2 Data records The data records each contain time from release, pressure, temperature, dew point, relative humidity, U and V wind components, wind speed and direction, ascent rate, balloon position data, altitude, and quality control flags (see QC code description). Each data line contains 21 fields, separated by spaces, with a total width of 130 characters. The data are right-justified within the fields. All fields have one decimal place of precision, with the exception of latitude and longitude, which have three decimal places of precision. The contents and sizes of the 21 fields that appear in each data record are as follows: Field Format Missing No. Width Parameter Units Value ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 6 F6.1 Time Seconds 9999.0 2 6 F6.1 Pressure Millibars 9999.0 3 5 F5.1 Dry-bulb Temperature Degrees C 999.0 4 5 F5.1 Dew Point Temperature Degrees C 999.0 5 5 F5.1 Relative Humidity Percent 999.0 6 6 F6.1 U Wind Component Meters/Second 9999.0 7 6 F6.1 V Wind Component Meters/Second 9999.0 8 5 F5.1 Wind Speed Meters/Second 999.0 9 5 F5.1 Wind Direction Degrees 999.0 10 5 F5.1 Ascension Rate Meters/Second 999.0 11 8 F8.3 Longitude Degrees 9999.0 12 7 F7.3 Latitude Degrees 999.0 13 5 F5.1 Variable (see below) 999.0 14 5 F5.1 Variable (see below) 999.0 15 7 F7.1 Altitude Meters 99999.0 16 4 F4.1 QC flag for Pressure Code (see below) 99.0 17 4 F4.1 QC flag for Temperature Code (see below) 99.0 18 4 F4.1 QC flag for Humidity Code (see below) 99.0 19 4 F4.1 QC flag for U Component Code (see below) 99.0 20 4 F4.1 QC flag for V Component Code (see below) 99.0 21 4 F4.1 QC flag for Ascension Rate Code (see below) 99.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Fields 13 and 14 are `variable' because depending on the sounding system the variables used in these positions can vary. For the MOLTS output, these columns have been set to missing. Fields 16 through 21 contain the Quality Control information (flags) generated locally at OFPS. These flags are based on the automatic or visual checks made. See Sections 3.0 and 4.0 for further information. The OFPS QC flags are as follows: Code Description 99.0 Unchecked (QC information is `missing.') (`UNCHECKED') 1.0 Checked, datum seems physically reasonable. (`GOOD') 2.0 Checked, datum seems questionable on physical basis. (`MAYBE') 3.0 Checked, datum seems to be in error. (`BAD') 4.0 Checked, datum is interpolated. (`ESTIMATED') 9.0 Checked, datum was missing in original file. (`MISSING') 2.1.3 Sample data The following is a sample portion of an OFPS QCF file including header records. The data portion is much longer than 80 characters and, therefore, wraps around to a second line. Output Type: ETA MOLTS derived sounding Project ID: GCIP Nearest Station (lon,lat): CHILDRESS, TX 100.30W 34.43N Output Location (lon,lat,alt): 100 18.00'W, 34 25.80'N, -100.30, 34.43, 672.3 Valid Time (y,m,d,h,m,s): 1994, 8, 22, 0: 0: 0 CAUTION: This is not actual rawinsonde data, it is output from the NCEP ETA model initial analysis. / / / / / / Time Press Temp Dewpt Rh Ucmp Vcmp Spd Dir Wcmp Lon Lat Rng Azi Alt Qp Qt Qrh Qu Qv Qdz Sec mb C C % m/s m/s m/s deg m/s deg deg km deg m code code code code code code ------ ------ ----- ----- ----- ------ ------ ----- ----- ----- -------- ------- ----- ----- ------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 9999.0 935.4 999.0 999.0 999.0 9999.0 9999.0 999.0 999.0 999.0 -100.300 34.430 999.0 999.0 672.3 99.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 9999.0 925.8 24.0 10.8 43.6 -2.6 1.8 3.2 124.7 999.0 -100.300 34.430 999.0 999.0 99999.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 9.0 9999.0 905.6 23.6 10.6 43.8 -4.3 2.2 4.8 117.1 999.0 -100.300 34.430 999.0 999.0 99999.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 9.0 . . . etc. 2.2 Full MOLTS parameter listing for GCIP As previously mentioned, the full MOLTS output is not avaialbe from OFPS. It is, however, available from NCAR/SCD. A listing of the parameters available follows. Identifiers Forecast Time Station Number Latitude Longitude Station Elevation Class of Profile Output Atmospheric Parameters at Each Model Vertical Level Pressure Temperature U Wind Component V Wind Component Specific Humidity Omega Cloud Water Mixing Ratio Convective Latent Heating Rate Stable Latent Heating Rate Short-wave Heating Rate Long-wave Heating Rate Cloud Fraction in a Layer Surface Parameters Mean Sea Level Pressure Surface Pressure Skin Temperature Minimum Temperature Over Hour Maximum Temperature Over Hour Surface Moisture Availability Total Precipitation in Past Hour Convective Precipitation in Past Hour Snow Precipitation Type Ice Pellet Precipitation Type Freezing Rain Precipitation Type Rain Precipitation Type Flux of Latent Heat Potential Flux of Latent Heat Flux of Sensible Heat Flux of Sub-surface Heat Flux of Snow Phase Change Heat Short-wave Radiation Downward Flux Short-wave Radiation Upward Flux Long-wave Radiation Downward Flux Long-wave Radiation Upward Flux Net Long-wave Radiative Flux at Top Net Short-wave Radiative Flux at Top Soil Temperature Soil Moisture Snow Water Equivalent Snow Melt Surface Runoff Baseflow-groundwater Runoff Bottom Soil Temperature Roughness Length 2.3 List of MOLTS Output Locations Within the GIST Domain The MOLTS ID # is either an applied MOLTS id number or the WMO number of the nearest location. The latitude, longitude, and elevation given are those of the nearest location and not of the MOLTS point. An elevation of 999 is a missing elevation. The site id is either the WMO id or an applied MOLTS id. This list includes only the 67 output locations within the GIST domain. MOLTS LAT OF LON OF SITE ELEV ID # NEAR NEAR ID NEAREST LOCATION NEAR 00024 34.43N 100.30W CDS 2 CHILDRESS, TX 595 3-93 00026 36.02N 102.55W DHT 2 DALHART, TX 1216 FOUS 3-93 00028 33.22N 92.80W ELD 2 EL DORADO/GOODWIN, AR 87 3-93 00031 36.00N 94.17W FYV 2 FAYETTEVILLE/DRAKE, AR 381 3-93 00034 35.65N 105.15W LVS 2 LAS VEGAS/MUNI, NM 2095 FOUS 3-93 00036 34.88N 95.78W MLC 2 MCALESTER, OK 235 3-93 00039 33.63N 95.45W PRX 2 PARIS/COX FLD, TX 167 3-93 00043 38.85N 99.27W HYS 2 HAYS, KS 609 3-93 00044 34.30N 97.02W ADM 2 ARDMORE, OK 232 3-93 00603 37.80N 97.01W C03 2 TOWANDA, KS 999 GCIP 5-94 00604 34.60N 94.30W C04 2 NEAR MENA, AR 999 GCIP 5-94 00605 35.40N 94.40W C05 2 VAN BUREN, AR 999 GCIP 5-94 00606 37.90N 95.20W C06 2 NEAR MORAN, KS 999 GCIP 5-94 00607 38.50N 101.50W C07 2 NEAR BRANDON, KS 999 GCIP 5-94 00608 37.40N 105.20W C08 2 NEAR WHISKEY CRK, CO 999 GCIP 5-94 00609 36.00N 105.30W C09 2 NEAR HOLMAN, CO 999 GCIP 5-94 00610 34.20N 101.70W C10 2 NEAR PLAINVIEW, TX 999 GCIP 5-94 00611 33.60N 99.30W C11 2 NEAR SEYMOUR,TX 999 GCIP 5-94 00612 33.70N 97.40W C12 2 NEAR MUENSTER, TX 999 GCIP 5-94 00613 37.10N 92.30W C13 2 NEAR MTN GROVE, MO 999 GCIP 5-94 00628 39.00N 96.50W C28 2 NEAR MANHATTAN, KS 999 GCIP 5-94 00691 37.50N 96.00W C29 2 R07-ARM/CART, KS 999 ARM 5-94 00692 38.00N 98.40W C30 2 R04-ARM/CART, KS 999 ARM 5-94 00693 37.35N 99.35W C31 2 R08-ARM/CART, KS 999 ARM 5-94 00694 35.30N 98.90W C32 2 R22-ARM/CART, OK 999 ARM 5-94 00695 35.50N 97.00W C33 2 P20-ARM/CART, OK 999 ARM 5-94 00804 34.64N 103.63W CVS 2 CANNON AFB, NM 1436 WSR88D FOUS 3-93 00808 38.81N 94.26W EAX 2 KANSAS C/PLEASANT HILL, MO 333 WSR88D 3-93 00810 36.74N 98.13W END 2 VANCE AFB, OK 385 WSR88D 3-93 00811 34.36N 98.98W FDR 2 FREDERICK, OK 401 WSR88D 3-93 72267 33.65N 101.82W LBB 2 LUBBOCK/INTL, TX 988 FOUS 72268 33.30N 104.53W ROW 2 ROSWELL, NM 1104 72340 34.83N 92.25W 1M1 2 LITTLE ROCK, AR 172 UA NA110 FOUS(LIT) 72349 36.88N 93.90W UMN 2 MONETT, MO 438 UA NA110 72351 33.98N 98.50W SPS 2 SHEPPARD AFB, TX 309 FOUS 3-93 72353 35.40N 97.60W OKC 2 OKLAHOMA CITY/W.ROGERS, OK 392 FOUS 72355 34.60N 98.40W FSI 2 FORT SILL, OK 360 UA 72356 36.18N 95.56W TUL 2 TULSA, OK 226 WSR88D FOUS 3-93 72357 35.23N 97.47W OUN 2 NORMAN, OK 358 UA NA110 3-93 72363 35.23N 101.70W AMA 2 AMARILLO, TX 1094 UA NA110 72365 35.05N 106.62W ABQ 2 ALBUQUERQUE, NM 1619 UA NA110 FOUS 72445 38.82N 92.22W COU 2 COLUMBIA/RGNL, MO 271 72446 39.32N 94.72W MCI 2 KANSAS CITY/INTL, MO 312 72450 37.65N 97.43W ICT 2 WICHITA, KS 406 72451 37.77N 99.97W DDC 2 DODGE CITY, KS 791 UA NA110 FOUS 72456 39.07N 95.62W TOP 2 TOPEKA, KS 268 UA NA110 FOUS 72464 38.46N 104.18W PUB 2 PUEBLO, CO 1618 WSR88D 3-93 72465 39.37N 101.70W GLD 2 GOODLAND/RENNER FLD, KS 1115 72467 38.53N 106.93W GUC 2 GUNNISON, CO 2339 UA 72468 38.70N 104.77W FCS 2 FORT CARSON, CO 1789 72469 39.75N 104.87W DEN 2 DENVER/STAPLETON, CO 1611 UA NA110 FOUS 74532 39.26N 103.70W LIC 2 LIMON CO 1694 GCIP 5-94 74530 37.77N 102.18W P#C 2 GDAC2 GRANADA CO 1155 PROF 74541 37.65N 99.09W P#E 2 HVLK1 HAVILAND KS 648 PROF 74542 37.38N 95.63W P#F 2 NDSK1 NEODESHA KS 255 PROF 74546 38.31N 97.30W P#G 2 HBRK1 HILLSBORO KS 447 PROF 74550 37.52N 92.70W P#H 2 CNWM7 CONWAY MO 390 PROF 74551 39.58N 94.19W P#I 2 LTHM7 LATHROP MO 297 PROF 74640 36.07N 99.22W P#N 2 VCIO2 VICI OK 648 PROF 74647 36.69N 97.48W P#O 2 LMNO2 LAMONT OK 306 PROF 74648 35.68N 95.86W P#P 2 HKLO2 HASKELL/MORRIS OK 219 PROF NEW LOC 74649 34.98N 97.52W P#Q 2 PRCO2 PURCELL OK 331 PROF 74731 35.08N 103.61W P#S 2 TCUN5 TUCUMCARI NM 1241 PROF 74732 33.08N 106.12W HMN 2 HOLLOMAN AFB, NM 1300 UA WSR88D 3-93 74735 33.02N 100.98W P#T 2 JTNT2 JAYTON TX 707 PROF 74752 34.11N 94.29W P#V 2 DQUA4 DEQUEEN AR 195 PROF 90001 36.50N 100.80W G#1 2 PERRYTON, TX 999 GUFMEX 12-93 2.4 Data Remarks Only partial output was available from 10 July 1994 to 15 July 1994. From 00 UTC 16 July to 00 UTC 1 September 1994 all output was available. 3.0 Quality Control Processing No quality control was performed by OFPS. 4.0 References Bolton, D., 1980: The Computation of Equivalent Potential Temperature. Mon. Wea. Rev., 108, 171-180. Pruppacher, H. R., and J. D. Klett, 1980: Microphysics of Clouds and Precipitation. D. Reidel Publishing Company. 714 pp. Wallace, J. M., and P. V. Hobbs, 1977: Atmospheric Science: An Introductory Survey. Academic Press. 467 pp.