Dataset
Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) Messages, Part of the Met Office MetDB System
Abstract
The Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) messages data describe hourly observations from around 120 stations distributed globally. The observations, which are later transmitted in reports, give measurements of parameters such as wind speed, and temperature. The data are collected by observation stations worldwide and transmitted within the RASS message.
Details
| Previous Info: |
No news update for this record
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| Previously used record identifiers: |
http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/view/badc.nerc.ac.uk__ATOM__ACTIVITY_864e442a-e161-11e1-9e26-00163e251233
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| 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.
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| 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 Radio Acoustic Sounding System messages data table, describes what each column in the data table represents. Ingest scripts run at the BADC every 20 minutes, converting the incoming files to the self describing BADC-CSV format, but neither the processed or raw data are placed into archive until the following day. |
More Information (under review)
This entity contains hourly observations from 120 stations distributed globally. Data are extracted daily at around 00 UT for the previous day's coverage.
The dataset contains measurements of the following parameters:
The wind speed in given in metres per second.
The temperature is measured in Kelvin.
The station height is given in metres.
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.
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 Radio Acoustic Sounding System messages data table, describes what each column in the data table represents.
Ingest scripts run at the BADC every 20 minutes, converting the incoming files to the self describing BADC-CSV format, but neither the processed or raw data are placed into archive until the following day.
Some general information about surface station readings can be obtained from the abridged version of "MIDAS Data Users Guide", provided by the Met Office. This document describes the meteorological surface data in the Met Office Database - MIDAS. This guide is rich in information and is aimed at those with little familiarity with observing methods or instrumentation.
Details of the WMO Meteorological codes used at weather observing stations (daily and hourly weather) explain the codes used in this dataset further.
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
Instrument/Platform pairings
| Radio Acoustic Sounding Systems | Deployed on: RASS (Radio Acoustic Sounding System) Station Network |
| Output Description | None |
- units: m
- long_name: Height
- names: Height
- long_name: Signa to noise ratio
- units: DB
- names: Signa to noise ratio
- units: 1
- long_name: Vertical wind quality control information
- names: Vertical wind quality control information
- units: K
- long_name: Virtual temperature
- names: Virtual temperature
- units: 1
- long_name: Virtual temperature quality control information
- names: Virtual temperature quality control information
- units: m/s
- long_name: Wind w component
- names: Wind w component
Co-ordinate Variables
Temporal Range
2009-04-30T23:00:00
Ongoing
Geographic Extent
90.0000° |
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-180.0000° |
180.0000° |
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-90.0000° |