README 664 12212 62 10253 5172345222 5052 CaPE Sounding Data Information ============================== NCAR CLASS data were collected through the efforts of the ATD Surface and Sounding Systems Facility. Please acknowledge NCAR's SSSF and it's funding agency, the National Science Foundation, when making use of these data in any reports or publications. Sounding files for CaPE include data from three stations not supported by NCAR. These stations are Melbourne and Cape Canaveral AF Base (both Air Force operated), and Orlando (operated by the University of Lowell). NCAR can make no statements concerning the correctness of the data collected by these other agencies, and distributes the data as a courtesy to CaPE investigators. Note that the NCAR CLASS data have three versions of a given sounding: an "x" version, that includes data at 10-second intervals, an "i" version, with data interpolated to every 5mb level, and an "m" (for "meteorological") version that contains approximately 1-sec raw data and data flags collected during the sonde ascent. For CaPE, an "r" version may also be available; this "r" version is derived from the "x" version after careful editing by RAP (Research Applications Program) personnel. NCAR CLASS data are easily accessed by the ATD SUDS software (a sounding analysis and editing package; SUDS runs on UNIX machines in an X-window environment; contact M. Case at 303-497-8756 for information about SUDS). Data from other agencies differ in format from that of the NCAR CLASS data. The Orlando U of L data are *nearly* in the same format as the NCAR CLASS data. Air Force soundings are in a completely different format. SUDS is able to access the Orlando data with the same settings used for the NCAR CLASS data ("fixes" have been installed in the software), but you must select the "cape" format option to access the Air Force soundings with SUDS. The date and time of the soundings has been coded into the filenames. Filenames were kept short to conform to PC filename conventions. NCAR CLASS files are named according to the following convention: amddhhmm.sta where a refers to the file type (either "i", "x", or "m") m is the month of the data (values 1-9,a-c; b=Nov) dd day of month hh hour of day of sounding start (time zone varies with project needs; GMT was used for CaPE) mm minute of day for sounding start (hhmm is approximate) sta three-letter station ID For the location of the CaPE sounding sites, refer to information within the data files themselves, or to the Cape Data Inventory (this last document is distributed by the NCAR STORM Project Office). NCAR CLASS soundings have been reviewed as to correctness, and have received limited editing to remove some obviously bad data. Note that there are occasional "spikes" in the dewpoint field of many NCAR soundings; these spikes are obvious, and have not yet been removed from the soundings. If a user notes anything wrong with the data, please contact the Research Data Program at the number given below. Plots of all soundings are available for the cost of reproduction. Note that the degree of data editing/correction varies with the type of sounding file: the "m" (thermodynamic/meteorolgical) soundings are the highest resolution data and have received no editing; the "x" data versions have had minimal automatic error removal applied, but may still contain spurious data points; and the "i" data files have been carefully reviewed and then "hand-edited" to a limited extent, producing the cleanest, and, likely, the most useful files to the average user. Some miscellaneous notes: The windspeed data for Orlando are stated as being in m/s, as are the u-wind and v-wind components. However, it is possible that the windspeed is actually in *knots*, since the windspeed value tends to be too great, given the u and v components. The first 8 soundings that are designated "Melbourne" were actually test soundings sited at Cape Canaveral AFB. The Melbourne equipment was moved to Melbourne on 13 July. Note that the location information given in the text of the sounding files does not necessarily reflect this fact, and continues to state "Cape Canaveral AFB" even after the site was moved. R. Rilling 12/6/91 NCAR ATD/RDP 303-497-8842 rilling@ncar.ucar.edu 0