BOREAS AES Five-Day Averaged Surface Meteorological and Upper Air Data Summary: The Canadian Atmospheric Environment Service (AES) provided BOREAS with hourly and daily surface meteorological data from 23 of the AES meteorological stations located across Canada and upper air data from 1 station at The Pas, Manitoba. Due to copyright restrictions on the full resolution surface meteorological data, this data set contains 5-day average values for the surface parameters. The upper air data are provided in their full resolution form. The 5-day averaging was performed in order to create a data set that could be publicly distributed at no cost. Temporally, the surface meteorological data cover the period of January 1975 to December 1996 and the upper air data cover the period of January 1961 to November 1996. Table of Contents * 1 Data Set Overview * 2 Investigator(s) * 3 Theory of Measurements * 4 Equipment * 5 Data Acquisition Methods * 6 Observations * 7 Data Description * 8 Data Organization * 9 Data Manipulations * 10 Errors * 11 Notes * 12 Application of the Data Set * 13 Future Modifications and Plans * 14 Software * 15 Data Access * 16 Output Products and Availability * 17 References * 18 Glossary of Terms * 19 List of Acronyms * 20 Document Information 1. Data Set Overview 1.1 Data set identification. BOREAS AES Five-Day Averaged Surface Meteorological and Upper Air Data 1.2 Data Set Introduction The BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Staff Science effort covered those activities that were BOREAS community-level activities, or required uniform data collection procedures across sites and time. These activities included the acquisition of relevant meteorological data. These meteorological data were purchased from the AES and then averaged for use by BOREAS researchers. This data set contains 5-day averages of hourly and daily data from 23 meteorological stations across Canada along with full-resolution upper air measurements from 1 station in The Pas, Manitoba. 1.3 Objective/Purpose For BOREAS, the AES historic meteorological data were obtained in order to provide spatially and temporally extensive information over the region. The AES monitoring sites were established to provide hourly weather reports, input to the operational program of forecasts and warnings, input to operational weather prediction models, and climate data. 1.4 Summary of Parameters The surface meteorology parameters include: 5-day averages of hourly values for sea level pressure, station pressure, dew point, wind direction, wind speed, dry and wet bulb temperature, relative humidity, cloud opacity and cloud amount. 5-day averages of daily values for date, temperature, precipitation, and snow. The full-resolution upper air data includes station ID, observation date and time, pressure, altitude, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction. 1.5 Discussion These data were derived from the original daily and hourly meteorological data. Many of the stations only record temperature and precipitation. Generally, these stations were installed before BOREAS began and conform to AES criteria for accuracy and exposure. BOREAS Information System (BORIS) personnel derived the 5-day daily and hourly averages in the surface meteorology files in order to distribute the data at no cost. The original full resolution data can be purchased from AES. 1.6 Related Data Sets. BOREAS AFM-05 Level-1 Upper-Air Network Data BOREAS AFM-05 Level-2 Upper-Air Network Standard Pressure Level Data BOREAS AFM-07 SRC Surface Meteorological and Radiation Data AES Canadian Hourly and Daily Surface Meteorological Data BOREAS AES MARSII Surface Meteorological Data BOREAS AES READAC Surface Meteorological Data Saskatchewan Forest Fire Control Centre Surface Meteorological Data 2. Investigator(s) 2.1 Investigator(s) Name and Title BOREAS Staff Science 2.2 Title of Investigation. BOREAS Staff Science Meteorological Data Acquisition Program 2.3 Contact Information Contact 1 Richard Strub Raytheon ITSS NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD (301) 286-4545 Richard.Strub@gsfc.nasa.gov Contact 2 Jeffrey A. Newcomer Raytheon ITSS NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD (301) 286-785 (301) 286-0239 Jeffrey.Newcomer@gsfc.nasa.gov Contact 3 Barry Funk Supervisor, Special Programs Environment Canada, AES Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada Phone: (204) 983-2018 Fax: (204) 984-2072 3. Theory of Measurements The BOREAS staff does not have any detailed information on how the original full resolution measurements were made at the various AES stations. The best source of information for this would be AES. Due to turnover and staff changes at AES, there is not a single point of contact for these data at this time. See Section 9.2 for details on how the averaging was performed. 4. Equipment 4.1 Sensor/Instrument Description BOREAS staff does not have specific descriptions of the various types of instruments used by AES to collect the data. The user is encouraged to contact AES or to review the information contained in AES, 1989. 4.1.1 Collection Environment The data was collected continuously in all types of weather. 4.1.2 Source/Platform. See AES, 1989 in section 17.2. 4.1.3 Source/Platform Mission Objectives See AES, 1989 in section 17.2. 4.1.4 Key Variables The surface meteorology parameters include: 5-day averages of hourly values for sea level pressure, station pressure, dew point, wind direction, wind speed, dry and wet bulb temperature, relative humidity, cloud opacity and cloud amount. 5-day averages of daily values for date, time, temperature, precipitation and snow. The upper air data set includes station ID, observation date and time, pressure, altitude, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction. 4.1.5 Principles of Operation See AES, 1989 in section 17.2. 4.1.6 Sensor/Instrument Measurement Geometry See AES, 1989 in section 17.2. 4.1.7 Manufacturer of Sensor/Instrument See AES, 1989 in section 17.2. 4.2 Calibration 4.2.1 Specifications See AES, 1989 in section 17.2. 4.2.1.1 Tolerance See AES, 1989 in section 17.2. 4.2.2 Frequency of Calibration See AES, 1989 in section 17.2. 4.2.3 Other Calibration Information See AES, 1989 in section 17.2. 5. Data Acquisition Methods The full-resolution surface and upper air data were obtained from AES. The averaging of the surface data was performed by BOREAS Information System (BORIS) staff. 6. Observations 6.1 Data Notes None given. 6.2 Field Notes These are historical data. 7. Data Description 7.1 Spatial Characteristics 7.1.1 Spatial Coverage The following table contains the AES station identifier, the station name, the latitude and longitude coordinates, and the type of reporting for each station. Detailed descriptions of these sites are available from the Prairies Provinces volume of the Climatological station catalog from Environment Canada. Note that the station numbers starting with 4 are contained in the province of Saskatchewan and the station numbers starting with 5 are in the province of Manitoba. Information provided to BOREAS Information System (BORIS) staff by AES indicated that the latitude and longitude coordinates of each station depended on whatever reference map was used at the time of station siting. As such, it is not clear what datum(s) should be associated with the coordinates. Station Number Name Latitude Longitude Report Types -------- ---------------- --------- ---------- ------------ 4060620 Big River 53° 50’ N 107° 02’ W Daily 4051080 Cameo 53° 17’ N 106° 32’ W Daily 4071560 Choiceland 53° 30’ N 104° 29’ W Daily 4061861 Cree Lake 57° 21’ N 107° 08’ W Daily 4052448 Ethelton 52° 46’ N 104° 54’ W Daily 4063020 Green Lake 54° 17’ N 107° 47’ W Daily 4063560 Island Falls 55° 32’ N 102° 21’ W Daily 4064150 La Ronge A 55° 09’ N 105° 16’ W Daily, Hourly 4074640 Lost River 53° 17’ N 104° 20’ W Daily 4063755 Key Lake 57° 15’ N 105° 37’ W Daily 4075518 Nipawin A 53° 20’ N 104° 00’ W Daily 4056240 Prince Albert A 53° 13’ N 105° 41’ W Daily, Hourly 4046360 Rabbit Lake 53° 06’ N 107° 52’ W Daily 4057120 Saskatoon A 52° 10’ N 106° 41’ W Daily, Hourly 4068560 Waskesiu Lake 53° 55’ N 106° 05’ W Daily 4068840 Whitesand Dam 56° 14’ N 103° 09’ W Daily 5060623 Crosslake Jenpeg 53° 09’ N 99° 17’ W Daily 5050960 Flin Flon A 54° 41’ N 101° 41’ W Daily 5031111 Grand Rapids 53° 09’ N 99° 17’ W Daily 5061646 Lynn Lake A 56° 52’ N 101° 05’ W Daily, Hourly 506B047 Norway House A 53° 58’ N 97° 50’ W Daily, Hourly 5062529 Ruttan Lake 56° 29’ N 99° 39’ W Daily 5062922 Thompson A 55° 48’ N 97° 52’ W Daily, Hourly 5063041 Wabowden 54° 55’ N 98° 39’ W Daily The upper air stations were located at 5052880 The Pas A 53° 58’ N 101° 06’ W Daily, Upper Air 505KR20 The Pas A 53° 58’ N 101° 06’ W Upper Air 7.1.2 Spatial Coverage Map Not available. 7.1.3 Spatial Resolution The data represent point measurements of the various parameters at the locations given. 7.1.4 Projection Not applicable. 7.1.5 Grid Description Not applicable. 7.2 Temporal Characteristics 7.2.1 Temporal Coverage All hourly data are complete from 1-Jan-76 to 31-Dec-96. The upper air data cover the period of January 1961 to November 1996. The following table gives the range of dates over which the daily data were provided for the various stations. Station Number Name Date Range -------- ---------------- ---------------------- 4051080 Cameo 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 4052448 Ethelton 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 4056240 Prince Albert A 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 4057120 Saskatoon A 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-93 4061861 Cree Lake 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-93 4063020 Green Lake 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-90 4063560 Island Falls 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 4063755 Key Lake 01-Jan-76 to 31-Dec-96 4064150 La Ronge A 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 4068560 Waskesiu Lake 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-95 4068840 Whitesand Dam 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 4071560 Choiceland 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-94 4074640 Lost River 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-94 4075518 Nipawin A 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 4046360 Rabbit Lake 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-89 4060620 Big River 01-Jan-75 to 31-Aug-96 5031111 Grand Rapids 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 5050960 Flin Flon A 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 5052880 The Pas A 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 5060623 Crosslake Jenpeg 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 5061646 Lynn Lake A 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 5062529 Ruttan Lake 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-91 5062922 Thompson A 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 5063041 Wabowden 01-Jan-82 to 31-Dec-96 506B047 Norway House A 01-Jan-75 to 31-Dec-96 7.2.2 Temporal Coverage Map Not available 7.2.3 Temporal Resolution The original surface data were provided as hourly and daily values. Due to copyright constraints, these data have been averaged over 5-day periods. For the daily surface data, the data presented are averages of the original data over non-overlapping 5-day periods. For the hourly data, the data presented are averages of the hourly values over non-overlapping 5-day periods. In the event of a leap year, the last row of data for the year is a 6-day average. If data were missing, the average is only over those days in which there were valid data. The upper air data are presented in their original and full resolution form. 7.3 Data Characteristics Data characteristics are defined in the companion data definition file (aes5davg.def). 7.4 Sample Data Record Sample data format shown in the companion data definition file (aes5davg.def). 8. Data Organization 8.1 Data Granularity The 5-day averaged hourly data, the 5-day averaged daily data, the upper-air winds data, and the upper-air soundings are in four separate files. 8.2 Data Format(s) The data files contain numerical and character fields of varying length separated by commas. The character fields are enclosed with single apostrophe marks. There are no spaces between the fields. Sample data records are shown in the companion data definition file (aes5davg.def). 9. Data Manipulations 9.1 Formulae None given. 9.1.1 Derivation Techniques and Algorithms None given. 9.2 Data Processing Sequence 9.2.1 Processing Steps Each of the original hourly and daily data sets were averaged over non- overlapping 5-day periods in order to make these data distributable at no cost. For the daily data, this involved averaging the data over non-overlapping 5-day periods. For the hourly data, this involved averaging the data for a given hour for non-overlapping 5-day periods. In case of a leap year, the last row of data is a 6-day average to avoid overlap of data from multiple years. If the original data were missing/invalid for a particular hour or day, these values were excluded from the averaging. If a data value had a value of 0.0, it was included in the averaging. 9.2.2 Processing Changes None given. 9.3 Calculations 9.3.1 Special Corrections/Adjustments None given. 9.3.2 Calculated Variables See section 9.2.1. 9.4 Graphs and Plots None given. 10. Errors 10.1 Sources of Error None given. 10.2 Quality Assessment None given. 10.2.1 Data Validation by Source None given. 10.2.2 Confidence Level/Accuracy Judgement The original data were not quality assessed except to note where missing values occurred for averaging operations. The BORIS staff is confident that the averaging operations were carried out as described in section 9.2.1. 10.2.3 Measurement Error for Parameters None given. 10.2.4 Additional Quality Assessments None given. 10.2.5 Data Verification by Data Center An automated quality assurance program was run on this data set to identify anomalies including sudden jumps or drops (spikes) in the data. Any problems of this sort are identified in Section 11.2. 11. Notes 11.1 Limitations of the Data See section 10.2.2. 11.2 Known Problems with the Data Snow on the ground will not be available if snow on the ground is only reported on the last day of the month. In 1981 many non-primary stations began to observe daily snow depth. Frequently, zero amounts are not entered and are entered as missing. This deficiency is most evident after the last spring measurement. Invalid data were not included in the averaging process. If there were invalid data in the original data set, it was not included in the averaging; resulting in average values for less than 5 days. A value of –999 signifies that all 5 days had invalid data. If the date was missing from the original data set and all of the data columns were flagged as invalid, then that data record is not included in the averaged data. The following original data sets were incomplete: Daily data: Rabbit Lake 1986,1987,1988,1989 Cameo 1996 Ethelton 1983,1992,1996 Big River 1996 Key Lake 1976,1977,1978,1979 La Ronge A 1996 Whitesand Dam 1996 Grand Rapids 1996 The Pas A 1996 Crosslake Jenpeg 1996 Lynn Lake A 1996 Thompson A 1996 11.3 Usage Guidance Users are advised to read the information in this document before using the data and to contact AES regarding the collection of the original data. 11.4 Other Relevant Information None given. 12. Application of the Data Set These data could be used for course scale modeling efforts of for looking at trends in meteorological conditions over time. 13. Future Modifications and Plans None given. 14. Software 14.1 Software Description BORIS personnel developed a program in C to perform the 5-day averaging. 14.2 Software Access The software can be obtained from the ORNL DAAC (see section 15). 15. Data Access 15.1 Contact Information Ms. Beth Nelson BOREAS Data Manager NASA GSFC Greenbelt, MD (301) 286-4005 (301) 286-0239 (fax) Elizabeth.Nelson@gsfc.nasa.gov 15.2 Data Center Identification See section 15.1 15.3 Procedures for Obtaining Data Users may place requests by telephone, electronic mail, or FAX. 15.4 Data Center Status/Plans The 5-day averaged surface meteorological and full-resolution upper air data are available from the EOSDIS ORNL DAAC (Earth Observing System Data and Information System) (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) (Distributed Active Archive Center). The BOREAS contact at ORNL is: ORNL DAAC User Services Oak Ridge National Laboratory (865) 241-3952 ornldaac@ornl.gov ornl@eos.nasa.gov 16. Output Products and Availability 16.1 Tape Products None. 16.2 Film Products None. 16.3 Other Products Tabular ASCII files. 17. References 17.1 Platform/Sensor/Instrument/Data Processing Documentation 21X Micrologger Operator's Manual, Revision 8/91, Campbell Scientific Inc. 17.2 Journal Articles and Study Reports AES, 1989. Climatological Station Catalogue - Prairie Provinces. Environment Canada. Atmospheric Environment Service. Sellers, P. and F. Hall. 1994. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study: Experiment Plan. Version 1994-3.0, NASA BOREAS Report (EXPLAN 94). Sellers, P., F. Hall, H. Margolis, B. Kelly, D. Baldocchi, G. den Hartog, J. Cihlar, M.G. Ryan, B. Goodison, P. Crill, K.J. Ranson, D. Lettenmaier, and D.E. Wickland. 1995. The boreal ecosystem-atmosphere study (BOREAS): an overview and early results from the 1994 field year. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 76(9):1549-1577. Sellers, P., F. Hall, and K.F. Huemmrich. 1996. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study: 1994 Operations. NASA BOREAS Report (OPS DOC 94). Sellers, P. and F. Hall. 1996. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study: Experiment Plan. Version 1996-2.0, NASA BOREAS Report (EXPLAN 96). Sellers, P., F. Hall, and K.F. Huemmrich. 1997. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study: 1996 Operations. NASA BOREAS Report (OPS DOC 96). Sellers, P.J., F.G. Hall, R.D. Kelly, A. Black, D. Baldocchi, J. Berry, M. Ryan, K.J. Ranson, P.M. Crill, D.P. Lettenmaier, H. Margolis, J. Cihlar, J. Newcomer, D. Fitzjarrald, P.G. Jarvis, S.T. Gower, D. Halliwell, D. Williams, B. Goodison, D.E. Wickland, and F.E. Guertin. (1997). "BOREAS in 1997: Experiment Overview, Scientific Results and Future Directions", Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR), BOREAS Special Issue, 102(D24), Dec. 1997, pp. 28731-28770. 17.3 Archive/DBMS Usage Documentation None. 18. Glossary of Terms 19. List of Acronyms AES - Atmospheric and Environment Service AFM - Airborne Fluxes and Meteorology BOREAS - BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study BORIS - BOREAS Information System CGR - Certified by Group CPI - Checked by PI CPI-??? - CPI but questionable DAAC - Distributed Active Archive Center EOS - Earth Observing System EOSDIS - EOS Data and Information System GSFC - Goddard Space Flight Center MARSII - Meteorological Automatic Reporting System II MB - Manitoba NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration ORNL - Oak Ridge National Laboratory READAC - Remote Environmental Automated Data Acquisition Concept PI - Principal Investigator PRE - Preliminary SK - Saskatchewan TBRG - Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge T/RH - Temperature / Relative Humidity URL - Uniform Resource Locator 20. Document Information 20.1 Document Revision Date Written: 06-Oct-1998 Last Updated: 03-Dec-1998 20.2 Document Review Date(s) BORIS Review: 27-Nov-1998 Science Review: 20.3 Document ID 20.4 Citation These data were derived by BORIS staff from the original data provided by the Atmospheric Environment Service (AES) of Canada. The efforts of the BORIS staff to process and document these data and the efforts of AES staff in providing the data and working out a distribution agreement are greatly appreciated. 20.5 Document Curator 20.6 Document URL KEYWORDS --------- SURFACE METEOROLOGY TEMPERATURE RELATIVE HUMIDITY WIND SPEED WIND DIRECTION ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE PRECIPITATION DEWPOINT SNOW DEPTH UPPER AIR SOUNDINGS UPPER LEVEL WINDS ALTITUDE AES_Hist_Met_Avg.doc 01/13/99