gov.noaa.ncdc:C00299 National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce Unknown tabular digital data Washington, DC National Aeronautics and Space Administration http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov Atmospheric Variability Experiment (AVE) Project is a historical digital data set archived at the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). During February 1964, the Marshall Space Flight Center supported an observational program in which rawinsonde data were collected from a network of 30 stations in the southeastern U.S. at intervals of 3 hours or less. This program, called Project AVE (Atmospheric Variability Experiment), presents, for the first time, data with a high degree of time resolution over a spatially and temporally extensive network. Part I of this report - Acquisition and Reduction of the Project AVE Data -is intended primarily as a documentation of the acquisition, checking, and processing of the data. Various printout and tape formats of the data are described, and a complete summary of the data available at each station and the location of known remaining errors are provided in appendices. The hourly parameters included in these data are surface, boundary layer, and upper level humidity, vapor pressure, temperature, precipitation, pressure, and winds. A wind computation scheme designed to extract as much detailed wind information as possible from AVE's unique angle data is discussed. Mesoscale wind features with amplitudes exceeding 2 ms-1 and 3 degrees should be resolvable at elevation angles approaching 12 degrees, while macroscale wind data are provided to about 6 degrees. Estimates of the accuracy of the thermodynamic and wind data are presented and comparisons with routine data made. These indicate that the extra care and precision used in evaluating the AVE data result in increased accuracy over data routinely available. Part II - Atmospheric Variability and Mesoscale Structure of the Atmosphere as Revealed by the Project AVE Data -presents results of first studies utilizing these data. Analysis of pressure-height and temperature on constant pressure charts at 3-hourly intervals shows that large scale features (wavelengths greater than 600 km) with amplitudes only half the values of commonly cited observational uncertainties exhibit space and time continuity. Examination of 3-hourly tendencies of important meteorological variables indicate that they typically exceed measurement uncertainties, may often be inadequately represented by interpolation of 12-hourly observations, and exhibit appreciable spatial variation. Time sections in the lower troposphere constructed from 90-minute soundings reveal features on scales seldom seen by the meteorologist; horizontal dimensions are on the mesoscale and vertical wavelength characteristically about 1 km. Such features can account for appreciable temporal variability on short time scales. Finally, it is demonstrated that the AVE detailed wind data resolve, in some detail, theme so scale wind structure of the lower stratosphere noted by various investigators. Observations of these features at two stations permitted their wavelength to be estimated at 600 km, and their motion, relative to the surface, to be approximately along the direction of the mean wind but at about half its speed. To make a wide range of climatic data available to researchers and the public. data set C00299 RADIOSONDES RAWINSONDES BALLOONS RADIOSONDES AVE > Atmospheric Variability Experiment National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce 19640219 19640228 Ground Condition Complete As Needed -98.0 -75.0 43.0 25.0 ISO 19115 Topic Category climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere 004 elevation 006 DIF Discipline Keyword Thesaurus Earth Sciences > Atmosphere > Meteorology Earth Sciences > Atmosphere > Climatology Earth Sciences > Atmosphere > Weather GCMD Sciences Keyword Valids EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ALTITUDE > GEOPOTENTIAL HEIGHT EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ALTITUDE > BAROMETRIC ALTITUDE EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ALTITUDE > PLANETARY BOUNDARY LAYER HEIGHT EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ALTITUDE > TROPOPAUSE EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ALTITUDE > STATION HEIGHT EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE > PLANETARY BOUNDARY LAYER HEIGHT EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE > PRESSURE THICKNESS EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE > SURFACE PRESSURE EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > AIR TEMPERATURE EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > SURFACE AIR TEMPERATURE EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > VIRTUAL TEMPERATURE EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > BOUNDARY LAYER TEMPERATURE EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > INVERSION HEIGHT EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > TEMPERATURE PROFILES EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > ATMOSPHERIC STABILITY EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > UPPER LEVEL WINDS EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > SURFACE WINDS EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > WIND PROFILES EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > VERTICAL WIND MOTION EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > HUMIDITY EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > WATER VAPOR PROFILES EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > WATER VAPOR EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE > PRESSURE TENDENCY EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > TEMPERATURE TENDENCY EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > WATER VAPOR TENDENCY EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > WIND TENDENCY GCMD Location Valids UNITED STATES OF AMERICA GCMD Location Valids BOUNDARY LAYER LAND SURFACE TROPOSPHERE STRATOSPHERE AVE > Atmospheric Variability Experiment RADIOSONDES RADIOSONDES AVE > Atmospheric Variability Experiment BALLOONS RAWINSONDES 1 None None Not provided Unknown Completeness information not available. Unknown Unknown HEADER SECTION ELEMENT: Date SAMPLE: 2/21/64 ELEMENT: Time of release SAMPLE: 230 ELEMENT: Station number SAMPLE: 33013 DATA SECTION ELEMENT: Contact SAMPLE: 5.6 ELEMENT: Time (minutes) SAMPLE: 0.2 ELEMENT: Temperature (degrees C) SAMPLE: -1.8 ELEMENT: Temperature (degrees K) SAMPLE: 271.33 ELEMENT: Humidity (%) SAMPLE: 84 ELEMENT: Pressure (Mb) SAMPLE: 989.7 ELEMENT: Saturation vapor pressure (Mb) SAMPLE: 3.43 ELEMENT: Virtual temperature (degrees K) SAMPLE: 271.69 ELEMENT: Geopotential height (M) SAMPLE: 255.9 ELEMENT: Elevation angle (degrees) SAMPLE: 40.5 ELEMENT: Azimuth angle (degrees) SAMPLE: 280.3 ELEMENT: Xc (M) SAMPLE: -295 ELEMENT: Zc (M) SAMPLE: 55 ELEMENT: Geometric height (M) SAMPLE: 256 ELEMENT: WX (M/sec) SAMPLE: -14.7 ELEMENT: WZ (M/sec) SAMPLE: 5.4 ELEMENT: Wind speed (M/sec) SAMPLE: 15.6 ELEMENT: Wind direction (degrees form north) SAMPLE: 298.3 None National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce Customer Services Branch Mailing and physical

151 Patton Avenue

Room 468

Asheville North Carolina 28801-5001 USA 828-271-4800 828-271-4010 828-271-4876 ncdc.orders@noaa.gov 8:00 - 6:00 Eastern http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/about/ncdcordering.html DSI-9660 Every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of current NOAA quality control procedures. NOAA can only certify that the data provided to its customers is an authentic copy of the records which were accepted for inclusion in NOAA archives. NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. 20060627 20060627 National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce Customer Services Branch Mailing and physical

151 Patton Avenue

Room 468

Asheville North Carolina 28801-5001 USA 828-271-4800 828-271-4010 828-271-4876 ncdc.metadata@noaa.gov 8:00 - 6:00 Eastern Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata: Extensions for Remote Sensing Metadata FGDC-STD-012-2002 http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/metadata/extensions/local_extensions.html NGDC Extensions to FGDC Metadata http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/projects/FGDC-standards-projects/csdgm_rs_ex/MetadataRemoteSensingExtens.pdf http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/projects/FGDC-standards-projects/csdgm_rs_ex/remote-sensing-metadata Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata: Extensions for Remote Sensing Metadata, FGDC-STD-012-2002 http://www.eis.noaa.gov/fgdc/fgdcleg.html NOAA Supplemental Information in Description (NOAA legacy extension to FGDC)