readme.915      Readme file for MIPS 915MHz wind profiler data

The 915 MHz Wind Profiler data is in 3 forms:
        1) raw, binary spectra (*.SPC)
        2) cns, ascii 30 min consensus winds (*.CNS)
        3) NIMA/NWCA-processed, ascii 30 min consensus winds (*.cns)
	  4) NIMA/NWCA-processed, ascii 10 min consensus winds (*.cns)

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1) The raw, binary files containing spectra are located in the 'data/raw' directory
and are named DYYJJJA.SPC and HYYJJJA.SPC where:

C   -> file contents - D for data, H for header
YY  -> two digit year
JJJ -> Julian day
A   -> reference, if more than one file
SPC -> spectral data

Refer to the document "915_raw_data_format.doc" (included with this dataset) for
the format of these data.

Moments plots in the 'images/' directory are generated from these data.

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2) The raw, 30 min consensus wind (produced by the profiler POP4 software)
are also located in the 'data/cns' directory and are named WYYJJJ.CNS where:

C   -> file contents - W for winds, T for (virtual) temperature
YY  -> two digit year
JJJ -> Julian day
CNS -> consensus data

Refer to the document "915_raw_data_format.doc" for the format of the *.CNS data.

The directional (wind) data has been adjusted for MIPS heading but should be
corrected for magnetic declination at each of the MIPS sites.


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3) The NIMA/NWCA-processed 30 min & 10 min consensus wind ascii files, located in the'NIMA' directory are named YYJJJ.cns, where:

Wind plots in the 'images/' directory are generated from these data.

YY  -> two digit year
JJJ -> Julian day
CNS -> consensus data

The file header and an example of a line of data is given below:

Ht (m)  U (m/s) uconf  V (m/s) vconf  W (m/s) wconf
195     -9.46 0.98    -15.85 0.80     -3.03 0.48

Ht (m)          --> measurement (gate) height AGL
U(m/s)          --> U-component of wind
V(m/s)          --> V-component of wind
W(m/s)          --> W-component of wind

Below The Processed Data is a comparison using (3) different techniques:
 Ht(m)   -------------------- U ------------------  -------------------- V ------------------  -------------------- W ------------------
       ClassicC conf classicL conf   NWCA conf   classicC conf classicL conf    NWCA conf    classicC conf classicL conf NWCA conf
195     -9.91 0.99    -9.46 0.98    -9.71 0.88    -14.61 0.91   -15.85 0.80   -16.32 0.74     -2.95 0.98    -3.03 0.48    -3.4

Missing data is denoted by -999.

Directional data has been adjusted for MIPS heading and magnetic declination
at the deployment site.

The data has been processed by the NCAR Winds and Confidence Algorithm (NWCA).

4) The NIMA/NWCA-processed 10 min & 30 min moments ascii files, located in the
'NIMA' directory are named YYJJJ.mom, where:

YY  -> two digit year
JJJ -> Julian day
mom -> moments data


The file header and an example of a line of data is given below:

Ht(m)     Mom1  conf      Mom2  conf     Noise       SNR
  195   6.3945 (0.99)   1.6963 (0.51) 2543926.2418   6.72


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Know Data Issues:

IOP3 - Issues with the 915 Processor - data is limited
IOP12 - Issues with the 915 Processor - data is limited
IOP18 - Winds Are Not Reliable
IOP23 - Winds Are Not Reliable


If you have any questions, please contact:

Dustin Phillips
ph:  256-961-7008
email:  phillips@nsstc.uah.edu