P2.11
Urban observations available from MADIS
Michael F. Barth, NOAA/ESRL/GSD, Boulder, CO; and P. A. Miller and L. A. Benjamin
NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory's Global Systems Division
(ESRL/GSD) has established the MADIS (Meteorological Assimilation Data
Ingest System) project to make integrated, quality-controlled datasets
available to the greater meteorological community. The goals of MADIS
are to promote comprehensive data collection and distribution of
operational and experimental observation systems, and to decrease the
cost and time required to move observation systems from research to
operations. Users of the MADIS database have access to a reliable and
easy-to-use database containing real-time and saved real-time datasets
available via http, ftp, or Local Data Manager (LDM).
Observational datasets currently available via MADIS include
radiosonde soundings, automated aircraft reports, NOAA and non-NOAA
wind profilers, non-NOAA experimental microwave radiometer
observations, operational and experimental GOES winds, POES soundings
and radiances, and several types of surface datasets. The latter
includes water vapor observations derived from signals from
geo-positioning satellites (GPS) and a unique national collection of
over 40,000 mesonet stations from local, state, and federal agencies,
and private firms.
Many of the mesonet networks have stations that are located in urban
areas. Examples of these include networks of road weather information
systems operated by state Departments of Transportation, personal
weather stations organized into the Citizen Weather Observing Program
(CWOP), as well as the WeatherBug and UrbaNet networks operated by AWS
Convergence Technologies, Inc. UrbaNet is a surface network designed
to explore the utility of using integrated commercial and government
meteorological data in forecasting within the complex topology of the
urban environment. Another unique network with many urban
observations is the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network
(CoCoRaHS). CoCoRaHS is a network of volunteers who take daily,
manual observations of accumulated precipitation and snow. CoCoRaHS
is organized by Colorado State University, but has been rapidly
expanding in recent years and now has volunteers in most states. In
addition to the surface observations, aircraft ascents and descents
into major airports are organized into soundings of winds,
temperatures, and in some cases, moisture.
All MADIS data files are available in uniform formats with uniform QC
structures within the data files. They are compatible with the NWS
AWIPS systems, and with data assimilation systems such as the Weather
Research and Forecasting (WRF) 3D-variational system. Software
support is provided for all MADIS datasets through the use of an
Application Program Interface (API) that provides users with easy
access to the data and QC information. The API allows each user to
subset the data by specifying station and observation types, as well
as QC choices, and domain and time boundaries. Many of the
implementation details that arise in data ingest programs are
automatically performed, greatly simplifying user access to the
disparate datasets, and effectively integrating the database by
allowing, for example, users to access many different types of surface
observations (e.g. UrbaNet, ASOS, modernized COOP, maritime, and
non-NOAA mesonets) through a single interface. The API can be
downloaded to a user's local computer, or utilized on the MADIS web
server.
First made publicly available in July 2001, MADIS datasets have proven
to be popular within the meteorological community. ESRL/GSD now
supports hundreds of MADIS users, including the majority of NWS
forecast offices, NCDC, NCEP, and many universities and private
companies. Additionally, MADIS supplies non-NOAA data providers with
QC and station monitoring information which have proven useful in
their maintenance activities. NOAA plans to transition MADIS
real-time operations to the NWS and archive operations to the
NESDIS National Climatic Data Center, with ESRL/GSD remaining
the primary research and development organization.
This paper will provide an inventory of MADIS observations available
for urban areas, and will address future plans for expanding the
available datasets. Companion papers by P.A. Miller et al. and
D. Helms et al., will provide additional information on the status of
the MADIS project and on the transition to NOAA operations.
Note - Leon A. Benjamin is also affiliated with Systems Research Group, Inc.
Poster Session 2, IIPS Poster Session II
Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 2:30 PM-4:00 PM, Hall 5
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