GCIP/LSA-NW99 Surface Wyoming's Remote Weather Informational System (RWIS) Dataset 1.0 General Description The Wyoming's Remote Weather Informational System (RWIS) surface dataset is one of several datasets provided in the GEWEX Continental-Scale International Project (GCIP) Large Scale Area-North West (LSA-NW) Enhanced Annual Observing Period (EAOP) 1999. Data from this source are provided as is in their original format and were not quality controlled by UCAR/JOSS. This dataset contains the available data for the GCIP LSA-NW EAOP-99 domain and time period (01 April 1999 through 31 March 2000). The GCIP LSA-NW EAOP-99 domain is approximately 90W to 115W longitude and 36N to 51N latitude. 2.0 Detailed Data Description The Wyoming Department of Transportation maintains the Roadway Weather Information System (RWIS) which is comprised of two separate networks of automated climatological stations across the State of Wyoming. The purpose of the system is to provide near real-time atmospheric and road condition information to the Department of Transportation district and field offices as well as the Wyoming Highway Patrol. The system is also regularly used by the National Weather Service in the course of forecast activities. RWIS station deployment began in 1988 with 4 unique stations. The system has been upgraded and expanded through new station installation, and currently comprises a total of 27 stations statewide. RWIS stations operating in the State of Wyoming regularly monitor temperature, dew point, wind direction and speed, relative humidity, and precipitation determination. Accumulated precipitation values are also available for a few select sites. Significant changes in parameter values between pollings are identified with a special data flag. While only a minimal amount of QA/QC takes place with the climatological data that is collected, the information acquired in many cases represents the only known climatological monitoring ever done at these often remote locations. Individuals wishing to use RWIS climate data should be aware that only a very few agencies are archiving the information beyond the short term histories (last 3 months) resident on the Wyoming Department of Transportation servers. This includes the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Wyoming (UW), and the Water Resources Data System, which possess data back through the 1994 calendar year for a majority of the stations. For more information, contact source agency at Wyoming Department of Transportation 5300 Bishop Boulevard Cheyenne, WY 82009 307 777-4458 Or Wyoming Department of Transportation PO Box 1708 Cheyenne, WY 82009-1708 Additional information can be found at the following web sites; http://www.wrds.uwyo.edu/wydot/wydot.html , http://waterplan.state.wy.us/ and http://waterplan.state.wy.us/sdi/SP/SP06AP04.html . 2.1 Detailed Format Description The Wyoming's Remote Weather Informational System (RWIS) data format is provided in each data file. Below are sample header and data lines from the data with parameter definitions. The Wyoming Roadway Weather Information Systems database contains observerations of temperature, dewpoint, wind, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, and precipitation taken at 15-minute intervals. Data are available for 21 stations around the State of Wyoming. Stn Day Time Tmp Dew RH Dir Spd Gst Precip AccumP ---- ----------- ----- --- --- --- --- --- --- ------ ------ WTK 2000-OCT-01 04:34 56 34 43 245 11 13 N WTK 2000-OCT-01 05:04 51 32 49 210 8 9 N Parameter - Definition -------------------------------------------------------- Stn - Station ID Day - Date Time - Time in Greenwich Mean Time Tmp - Temperature in Degrees F Dew - Dewpoint temperature in Degrees F RH - Relative Humidity in percent Dir - Wind direction from true north (0-360) 999 is missing or calm Spd - Wind speed in mph Gst - Wind gust in mph Precip - N=None Y=Precip or Blowing R+ Heavy Rain S+ Heavy Snow P+ Heavy Precip (unknown type) R Moderate Rain S Moderate Snow P Moderate Precip(unknown type) R- Light Rain S- Light Snow P- Light Precip (unknown type) L Moderate Drizzle L- Light Drizzle l=Something to 18 inches u=Something 7-8 ft b=Moisture at both AccumP - Accumulated Precipitation, resets at Local midnight daily A -99 Indicates missing value A # Indicates problems with the sensor 3.0 Quality Control Processing No quality control was done on this dataset. 4.0 References None.