Wind Profiler Demonstration Network

This "Read Me" file contains relevant Wind Profiler Demonstration
Network (WPDN) information regarding the following areas of
interest:

     1. Station Information for each of the released wind profiler 
        sites
     2. Data Dictionary information regarding the dataset elements
     3. Quality Control information applied to the data received  
        from the wind profilers
     4. The processing performed hourly, including the quality    
        control algorithms applied to the collected data
     5. A list of referenced material regarding the WPDN
     6. Actual data files from a wind profiler site
     7. The software utilized to encode the wind profiler data into 
        the E_BUFR format
     8. The software utilized to decode the wind profiler data    
        from the E-BUFR format into FORTRAN readable files 

It is designed to give the user a well rounded understanding of how
the WPDN was designed and how the data may be applied.

The Profiler Control Center (PCC) will update the information as
new wind profiler sites are released after the check out phase or
the configuration of existing sites has been modified.

The directory structure for accessing the wind profiler data is
based on the user being in the directory
/hurricane/home/ftp/pub/profiler.

In regard to wind profiler Station Information, you will find on a
per site basis, pertinent current information about the
configuration of the wind profiler sites.  By configuration we mean
the state of the instrumentation at each site, operating
characteristics, and radar information. Refer to directory
/profiler/stn to find out specific information regarding such
things as:

     1. Precise locations of the wind profiler stations
     2. Radar beam information for the vertical and oblique beams
     3. Which stations have surface meteorological instrumentation
     4. What engineering parameters are recorded at each station
     5. What the clutter flags are currently set at for a         
        particular station
     6. The station temperature extremes (if the station has a    
        surface station)

Refer to the directory /profiler/dict for Data Dictionary
information regarding the data elements collected for a particular
dataset.  The element name, the units, and the element definition
are all defined in this directory.

In regards to the Quality Control applied to wind profiler data,
the user will find in directory /profiler/qc descriptions of the
three quality control algorithms implemented by the Wind Profiler
Demonstration Network's Hub software and Quality Control
information for decoding QC fields. For a detailed description of
the algorithms, refer to the source code itself which can be found
in /profiler/hdp.  Additional Quality Control information is
directly available from the PCC in Volume Two of the Wind Profiler
Training Manuals (Quality Control of Wind Profiler Data).  The
Training Manual will: 

     1. Review the situations which can cause errors in the data
     2. Describe techniques for screening the data
     3. Discuss situations when the QC algorithms may have        
        difficultly in deciding which data are bad and which      
        represent a valid extreme or transient meteorological     
        event.

In directory /profiler/hdp which contains Hourly Data Processing
information, you will find the FORTRAN code utilized to process the
profilers GOES and land-line data received from a wind profiler. 
The source code is presented for your review and is not supported
for processing any data you may have, it is purely submitted for
your information only.  Refer to /profiler/hdp for information
regarding how the source code:

     1. Applies the quality control algorithms
     2. Maintains the three hour quality control log and the      
        results of various QC tests
     3. Creates wind vectors
     4. Accumulates the QC data to meet the output requirements for 
        the National Weather Service (NWS)
     5. Formats the appropriate data for output to NWS

In directory /profiler/ref you will find references and a list of
bibliographies that reference the Wind Profiler Demonstration
Network.  Such publications include: 

     1. Wind Profiler Training Manuals (Volume One - Four)
     2. Profiler Forums/FSL Forums: June 1985 - February 1991
     3. Selected Bibliographies.

The dataset found in directory /profiler/data represents a sampling
of actual wind profiler data.  This sampling of wind profiler data
is presented to familiarize the research community with the format
in which the wind profiler data may be expected.

Included in directory /profiler/encode one can find the acutal
source code for encoding the wind profiler data into the E-BUFR
format. 

Lastly, included in directory /profiler/decode one can find the
actual software which decodes the wind profiler data from the E-
BUFR format.  This software will accompany each data request so
that the user will be able to transform the data into a useable
format to accomodate his application.