Title: NCDC: On the Forefront of E-Government
1DATA ARCHIVES AND ACCESS
NCDC
Data Archiving and Access at the National
Climatic Data Center David R. Easterling
Principal Scientist National
Climatic Data Center
Asheville, NC
National Climatic Data Center
2DATA ARCHIVES AND ACCESS
NCDC
BASE / MANDATED FUNCTIONS OF NCDCS MISSION
- Archive
- Data Sources
- Description of the Archives
- Data Sets Held
- Data Migration Goals to Improve Access
- Access
- Off-line
- On-line
- Customers
- Applications
National Climatic Data Center
3NCDC
DATA ARCHIVES
- Archive
- Data Sources
- Description of the Archives
- Data Sets Held
- Data Migration Goals to Improve Access
4NCDC
OPERATIONAL DATA RECEIVED FROM U.S. SOURCES
Climate Reference Network l NWS Coop Observers
l Hourly Airways l NCEP Charts l Ship
Reports l Rocketsonde l Radiosonde l Storm
Data l NEXRAD l Satellite l Aircraft l
Profiler l ASOS l
5NCDC
OPERATIONAL DATA RECEIVED FROM INTERNATIONAL
SOURCES
Daily max/min temp precip l Surface Synoptic
3/6 Hrly l Hourly Airways l Ship Reports l
Rocketsonde l Radiosonde l Aircraft l
6NCDC
DATA HELD IN MANY FORMS
l Original manuscripts l Diskettes l 35mm
microfilm l 16mm microfilm l Publications l
Autographic charts rolls
l Magnetic tape 8mm, 3480, 3590E LTO l
Optical disks l Paper copies l Mass Store
Robotics System
7NCDC
HARDCOPY DATA ARCHIVE
Manuscript / Autograph 200 Million Pages -
37,878 Miles (1.5 times around the earth)
35mm 16mm Film 125,129 Rolls 2,340
Miles (Washington D.C. to Los Angeles)
10 NOW IN MASS STORE SYSTEM NEAR ON-LINE
Microfiche 1.2 Million Pages 114
Miles (Washington D.C. to Philadelphia)
8NCDC
CLIMATOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS
Available electronically on-line and furnished in
paper form on demand
9NCDC
DIGITAL DATA ARCHIVE
10NCDC
NCDC MAJOR BASIC IN-SITU DATA SETS
- In-situ Data
- Monthly means/extremes of temp. total precip
U.S. 1831-current
5GB - Daily max/min mean temperatures, total
precipitation U.S. 1881-current 20GB - Hourly data U.S.
1936-current 45GB - Hourly 3/6 hrly surface synoptic Global
1900-current
500GB - Upper air synoptic - U.S.
1912-current 40GB - Upper air synoptic Global (CARDS)
1948-current
5GB - Marine surface observations (ships/buoys)
Global 1800s-current
14GB - Hourly Precipitation Data U.S.
1900-current 2GB - 15 Minute Precipitation Data U.S.
1970-current
2GB - International Experiments (U.S. sponsorship or
involvement) - Aircraft observations
1973-current 18GB
11NCDC
USA PRECIPITATION NETWORK
Number of Reporting Stations
Data prior to 1941 digitized under CDMP
12NCDC
USA DAILY DATA
Number of Reporting Stations
Data from stations added by CDMP
13NCDC
USA UPPER AIR NETWORK
Number of Reporting Stations
14NCDC
NCDC REMOTELY SENSED DATA SETS
- Satellite Data
- Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES)
1978-current
45,000GB - Geostationary Operational Environmental
Satellites (GOES) 1978-current
300,000GB - Radar Data
- Radar (NEXRAD) U.S.
Majority 1995-current
360,000GB
- Profiler
- Wind Profiler
1991-current 54GB
15NCDC
NCDC DIGITAL ARCHIVE GOALS
- Improve Access to Data by Migrating all Data to
Mass Store Robotics System - Migrate data from IBM 3480 tapes, 8MM tapes, WORM
discs to Mass Store
Robotics - NEXRAD by Jan. 2003
- In-situ by Jan 2003
- POES by Jan. 2004
- GOES by Jul. 2005
- Initiate placing current GOES data on Mass
Store Robotics by Jan. 2002 - Implement GOES Active Archive - FY 2003
16NCDC
DIGITAL DATA ARCHIVE -NEXRAD
NEXRAD LEVEL II Migration from 8MM Tapes to HDSS
(Near On-line)
- 25,000 tapes migrated to date
- 76,599 8MM tapes to migrate will be migrated to
700 IBM 3590E tapes in HDSS (approximately 300TB
compressed to 25TB) - Estimated completion Jan 2003
NEXRAD LEVEL III Migration from WORM disc to HDSS
(Near On-line)
- 15,000 discs to migrate
- Estimated completion Jan 2003
17NCDC
GLOBAL BASELINE DATA SETS
NCDC Global Historical Climatology Network
(GHCN) U.S. Historical Climatology Network
(USHCN) Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data
Set (COADS) Comprehensive Aerological
Reference Data Set (CARDS) Blended Space
Based In-Situ Data 1971-2000 Climate Normals
(U.S.) 1961-1990 Climate Normals
(Global) World Weather Records Global
Temperature Index Various Maximum / Minimum
Temperature Series Snow Cover Wind
Climatologies Drought Related Data NCDC
Distributed Trace Gas Data Sets Model
Output 100-Year Doubling of CO2, etc
Microwave Sounding Unit Tropospheric Temperature
Former USSR Climate Data IPCC Related
Data Sets
18Is the Earths surface getting warmer?Data from
the GHCN indicate warming temperatures in many
regions of the world, particularly in the past 25
years.
NCDC
INTERNATIONAL USA SURFACE WEATHER NETWORK
Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN)
19NCDC
CLIMATE DATA ACCESS
20NCDC
CLIMATE DATA ACCESS
NCDC On the Forefront of E-Government
Offline access Continues to exhibit a sharp
decline
Online web access Continues to exhibit a rapid
increase
21NCDC
CLIMATE DATA ACCESS
22NCDC
DATA ACCESS
NCDC User Statistics Offline and Online
23The NOAA Operational Model Archive and
Distribution System (NOMADS)
- NOMADS provides for distributed model data access
over the Internet and planning for NGI access. - Lack of access to climate and weather models
initiated the highly collaborative NOMADS
project. - Near format independent access using the eXtended
Markup Language (XML). Core s/w DODS/LAS/GDS. - Many institutions both inside and outside of NOAA
have understood the importance of NOMADS and have
collaborated to guarantee its success. - Currently there are 5 NOAA Lab/Data Centers and 9
external collaborators (DOE, NCAR, Unidata,
et.al.) under the NOMADS framework.
24NOMADS Current Status
- NOMADS servers are operational at the following
sites CDC, COLA, GFDL, NCAR, NCDC, PMEL,
UCAR/Unidata, Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab,
et.al. - NOMADS server software has the following
functionality Browse, Download, Graphics, Data
Format Conversion, and Diagnostic Analysis. Other
data types can be served. - NOMADS has proven the concept of distributed
serving model climate and weather data over the
internet. - A NOMADS site nomads.gfdl.noaa.gov/ck/nomads.htm
l - An FY04 NOAA Budget Initiative is being initiated
across NESDIS, NWS, and OAR Line Offices.
25NCDC
CUSTOMERS AND CLIMATE DATA APPLICATIONS
26NCDC
CUSTOMERS BY INDUSTRY GROUP
CONSULTING METEOROLOGIST Provide expert
testimony in court LEGAL Certified evidence
in court cases INSURANCE INDUSTRY Rate
determination claims settlement
INDIVIDUAL Recreation, retirement,
entertainment, vacations ENGINEERING
Provide guidance in the design and
construction of facilities / infrastructure BUSI
NESS Sales impact, site relocation,
environmental impacts NOAA / GOVERNMENT
Research, investigations, legal
claims, risk management, policy guidance
/ support RESEARCH Environmental issues,
science studies, weather,
prediction
27NCDC
CLIMATE DATA APPLICATIONS Climate Atlas
- Climate Atlas of the Contiguous United States
CD-ROM - CD-ROM Description
- Updates paper copy atlas published in 1968
- Contains 737 maps (monthly annual)
- Developed using latest GIS technology
- Includes temperature, precipitation, snowfall,
- HDD CDD
- Alaska and Hawaii maps in early 2002
- PDF maps available on-line
28NCDC
CLIMATE DATA APPLICATIONS Climate Normals
- 1971-2000 U.S Climate Normals
- Description
- Official Decadal Product
- Nearly 8,000 Stations in the U.S.,
Puerto Rico, Virgin Is., Pacific Is. - Data
- Maximum Temperature
- Minimum Temperature
- Mean Temperature
- Precipitation
- Heating Degree Days
- Cooling Degree Days
1971-2000 Normals Station Locations in the
United States
29NCDC
CLIMATE DATA APPLICATIONS Extreme Weather
Climate
Extreme Weather and Climate Events Web Page
- Description
- One of NCDCs most popular web pages
- More than 100K accesses per month
- Central NOAA web page for information/links
on hurricanes, tornadoes, storm events, drought,
extreme temperatures, heavy precipitation, etc. - Billion dollar weather disasters
- Applications
- Natural hazards mitigation
- Insurance claims
- Agriculture
- Many others
http//lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/severeweather/
extremes.html Hurricane Mitch
30NCDC
CLIMATE DATA APPLICATIONS - FEMA
Return period statistics are useful for planning
purposesand also help in determining federal
snow disaster areas