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Dataset

 

AMDAR (Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay) reports collected by the Met Office MetDB System

Update Frequency: Continual
Latest Data Update: 2022-12-16
Status: Ongoing
Online Status: ONLINE
Publication State: Published
Publication Date: 2008-08-08
Download Stats: last 12 months
Dataset Size: 4.65K Files | 544GB

Abstract

The Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay (AMDAR) measurements describe hourly observations from aircraft across the world during all stages of flight. The observations cumulate into 160,000 reports a day, giving measurements of parameters such as aircraft characteristics, wind speed and direction, degree of turbulence, and air temperature. The data are collected by observation stations worldwide and transmitted within the AMDAR message, which prior to March 1992, was known as ASDAR(Aircraft to Satellite Data Relay).

Citable as:  Met Office (2008): AMDAR (Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay) reports collected by the Met Office MetDB System. NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre, date of citation. https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/33f44351f9ceb09c495b8cef74860726
Abbreviation: Not defined
Keywords: Met Office, MetDB, AMDAR, meteorological data

Details

Previous Info:
No news update for this record
Previously used record identifiers:
http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/view/badc.nerc.ac.uk__ATOM__ACTIVITY_70a80a0c-e161-11e1-a2a6-00163e251233
Access rules:
Restricted data: please submit an application using the REQUEST ACCESS link for access.
Use of these data is covered by the following licence: http://licences.ceda.ac.uk/image/data_access_condition/ukmo_agreement.pdf. When using these data you must cite them correctly using the citation given on the CEDA Data Catalogue record.
Data lineage:

Data are extracted from the Met Office's "metDB" system and supplied to BADC. These are then processed to generate BADC-CSV files, where possible. METARS and CLIMAT message types are stored as original message types only within http://data.ceda.ac.uk/badc/ukmo-metdb/raw

Data Quality:
Land and ship SYNOP messages undergo some quality control at the Met Office, but these messages are not as rigorously checked as they are within the MIDAS system into which the data are later migrated. Thus, for historic data the MIDAS dataset is the recommended dataset to use for surface observations.
File Format:
Data availability and file format

The data are held in the BADC-CSV file format, each of which will contain one or more data records and are comma separated variables. "Metadata" are provided giving a full description of the content of the data. More information about the file format can be found on the BADC-CSV format page, which also contains two example files taken from the MetDB dataset.

The file format for the Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay data table, describes what each column in the data table represents.

More Information (under review)


Introduction

This entity contains hourly observations from aircraft during all stages of flight giving global coverage in around 160,000 reports a day. Data are extracted for the 4 principal synoptic periods (00-06, 06-12, 12-18 and 18-00 UT).

The dataset contains measurements of the following parameters:

  • Aircraft characteristics (i.e. longitude and latitude, aircraft roll angle, and altitude of aircraft)
  • Wind speed and direction
  • Vertical gust velocity and acceleration
  • Degree of turbulence
  • Air temperature and dew-point temperature
  • Relative humidity
  • Mixing ratio
  • Degree of air frame icing
  • Air pressure
  • The wind speed and vertical gust speed are given to the nearest metre per second, and the vertical gust acceleration to the nearest metre per second squared. The wind direction from which the wind blows is measured in Degrees (true). The entry for an east wind is 090, for a south wind it is 180 and so on clockwise. Note that zero values in both wind speed and wind direction fields indicate that there was no wind blowing at the time of observation.

    The air temperature and dew-point temperature are measured in Kelvin.

    The mixing ratio has only been recorded from the 18th of June 2007. It is given as a ratio of kilograms to kilograms.

    The relative humidity is measured as a percentage.


    Restricted Data Access

    The Met Office wish to monitor the use of this data and require an acknowledgement of the data source if they are used in any publication. Their data is therefore restricted. The online application for access to the Met Office MetDB data includes acceptance of the Met Office Conditions of Use.

    Please note that the Met Office data sets held at the BADC are available for bona fide academic research only. If you wish to access the Met Office data for commercial or personal purposes, please contact the Met Office directly.

    Your application for accessing the dataset will be processed within a day of receipt and you will receive a confirmation email. Provided your application is complete and fully meets the Met Office conditions, your web account will be activated to allow you access to the Met Office MetDB data directories via your login account from the BADC WWW Browse Archive pages.


    Data availability and file format

    The data are held in the BADC-CSV file format, each of which will contain one or more data records and are comma separated variables. "Metadata" are provided giving a full description of the content of the data. More information about the file format can be found on the BADC-CSV format page, which also contains two example files taken from the MetDB dataset.

    The file format for the Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay data table, describes what each column in the data table represents.


    Details of the WMO Meteorological codes used at weather observing stations (daily and hourly weather) explain the codes used in this dataset further.


    Who to contact

    If you have queries about these pages or about obtaining the Met Office surface stations data from the BADC then you should contact BADC Support. Your query should be answered within one working day. When follow-up work is required, the BADC support will carry out the work as quickly and efficiently as possible, and in any case, the user will be kept informed of progress.

    Process overview

    This dataset was generated by instruments deployed on platforms as listed below.
    Output Description

    None

    • long_name: Type of aircraft data relay system
    • names: Type of aircraft data relay system
    • long_name: Air temperature
    • names: Air temperature
    • long_name: Aircraft identifier
    • names: Aircraft identifier
    • long_name: Aircraft navigational system
    • names: Aircraft navigational system
    • long_name: Aircraft registration number
    • names: Aircraft registration number
    • long_name: Aircraft roll angle
    • names: Aircraft roll angle
    • long_name: Altitude
    • names: Altitude
    • long_name: Collecting centre
    • names: Collecting centre
    • long_name: Degree of air frame icing
    • names: Degree of air frame icing
    • long_name: Degree of airgframe icing
    • names: Degree of airgframe icing
    • long_name: Degree of turbulence
    • names: Degree of turbulence
    • long_name: Dew point temperature
    • names: Dew point temperature
    • long_name: Mixing ratio (from 18/06/07)
    • names: Mixing ratio (from 18/06/07)
    • long_name: Mixing ration (from 18/06/07)
    • names: Mixing ration (from 18/06/07)
    • long_name: Original specification of lat/long
    • names: Original specification of lat/long
    • long_name: Phase of flight
    • names: Phase of flight
    • long_name: Precision of temperature observation
    • names: Precision of temperature observation
    • long_name: Precision of temperture observation
    • names: Precision of temperture observation
    • long_name: Pressure
    • names: Pressure
    • long_name: Relative humidity
    • names: Relative humidity
    • long_name: TIME OF RECEIPT DAY
    • names: TIME OF RECEIPT DAY
    • long_name: TIME OF RECEIPT HOUR
    • names: TIME OF RECEIPT HOUR
    • long_name: TIME OF RECEIPT MINUTE
    • names: TIME OF RECEIPT MINUTE
    • long_name: TIME OF RECEIPT MONTH
    • names: TIME OF RECEIPT MONTH
    • long_name: TIME OF RECEIPT YEAR
    • names: TIME OF RECEIPT YEAR
    • long_name: Vertical gust acceleration
    • names: Vertical gust acceleration
    • long_name: Vertical gust velocity
    • names: Vertical gust velocity
    • long_name: Wind direction
    • names: Wind direction
    • long_name: Wind measurement instrument type
    • names: Wind measurement instrument type
    • long_name: Wind speed
    • names: Wind speed

    Co-ordinate Variables

    • standard_name: time
    • long_name: DAY
    • names: time, DAY
    • standard_name: time
    • long_name: HOUR
    • names: time, HOUR
    • standard_name: latitude
    • long_name: LATITUDE
    • names: latitude, LATITUDE
    • standard_name: longitude
    • long_name: LONGITUDE
    • names: longitude, LONGITUDE
    • standard_name: time
    • long_name: MINUTE
    • names: time, MINUTE
    • standard_name: time
    • long_name: MONTH
    • names: time, MONTH
    • standard_name: time
    • long_name: Second
    • names: time, Second
    • standard_name: time
    • long_name: YEAR
    • names: time, YEAR
    Coverage
    Temporal Range
    Start time:
    2009-04-30T23:00:00
    End time:
    Ongoing
    Geographic Extent

     
    90.0000°
     
    -180.0000°
     
    180.0000°
     
    -90.0000°
     
    Related parties
    Authors (1)
    Principal Investigators (1)