Layers:
1 degree grid
5 degree grid
AL-Precipitation Profiling Radars
An S-Band (2835 MHz) Doppler radar system using backscatter from hydrometeors in the atmosphere to remotely study precipitation parameters.
AL-WIND-PROFILING-UHF
915-MHZ Doppler radars used to measure vertical profiles of horizontal wind speed and direction in the lower troposphere.
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AL-WIND-PROFILING-VHF
50-MHZ Doppler radars used to measure vertical profiles of horizontal wind speed and direction in the troposphere and lower stratosphere.
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NOS-CREIOS
The Coral Reef Ecosystem Integrated Observing System (CREIOS) will provide a diverse suite of long-term ecological and environmental observations and information products over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. The CREIOS goal is to understand the condition and health of, and processes influencing, coral reef ecosystems, to assist stakeholders in making improved and timely ecosystem-based management decisions to conserve coral reefs.
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OAR-IOOS Buoys
Maintain and support the Global Drifter Array and GDC Data Assembly Center. The GDC provides sea surface temperature and lagrangian motion data for the ENSO Observing System. The data are essential to the operational prediction mission and the velocity data contribute unique information for validation and research on the coupled ocean-atmosphere system. Supports the surface Drifter effort for ENSO Observing System by deploying Drifters in all three ocean basins, also the tropical Atlantic and southern oceans. Provides Voluntary Observing Ship opportunities for the deployment of Argo Floats and the collection of XBT data.
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OAR-IOOS Ships of Opportunity
Real time Expendable Bathythermograph observations are collected from Voluntry Observing Ships in support of the ENSO Observing Network and global climate change research. Mission: This global network provides real-time subsurface temperature data over repeatedly sampled shipping lines. The Low Density feature of this network will be supplanted as the ARGOS program comes on line.
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ARC
The Automated Remote Collector (ARC) collects data in near real time from a point deemed important by a service hydrologist. A Handar 540 data logger collects a specified set of hydrometeorological parameters from co-located instruments and transmits the data using GOES telemetry for communication. The collected data supports short-term forecast and warning operations.
OAR IOOS Argo
Argo, an international program to deploy a global array of
3,000 profiling floats to observe the ocean's upper layer in real
time. Along with satellites, the Argo array will initiate the oceanic
equivalent of today's operational observing system for the global
atmosphere.
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OAR-ARL-ISIS
The Integrated Surface Irradiance Study (ISIS)is a national network of surface solar irradiance stations representing differing climates of the United States.
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OAR-ARL-Mesonet
Mesonet includes 36 meteorological data collection stations located inside and near the U. S. Department of Energy Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.
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OAR-ARL-SURFRAD
SURFRAD is a national network of surface radiation budget stations representing differing climates of the United States.
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NWS-ASOS
The ASOS is a fully automated weather observing system. The system provides meteorological information to a wide variety of users.
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OAR-ATDD-AIRMoN
The AIRMoN has two distinct sub-networks, AIRMoN-wet and AIRMoN-dry. AIRMoN-wet monitors the wet deposition of certain key air pollutant species, and AIRMoN-dry does the same for dry deposition. Both have been in operation since the 1980s.
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OAR-ATDD-ETOS
ETOS is comprised of a seasonal network of ozone monitors and
tower-based met systems to determine local time-varying ozone
concentrations at mountain top, ridge top, and valley bottom sites
throughout eastern Tennessee. Data are collected by telemetry.
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OAR-ATDD-RAMAN
A tower network to provide met data from mountain top, ridge
top, and valley bottom locations in the complex terrain surrounding
Oak Ridge, TN.
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Average Annual Precipitation (mm)
The dataset consist of five thematic layers; a) Monthly Gauge
Corrected Precipitation, b)Monthly Standard Error for Gauge Corrected
Precipitation, c) Monthly Measured Precipitation, d) Monthly Surface
Air Temperature, and e) Average Monthly Air Temperature and
Precipitation. The datasets are gridded at a resolution of 30 minutes.
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Average Annual Temperature (deg. C)
The dataset consist of five thematic layers; a) Monthly Gauge Corrected Precipitation, b)Monthly Standard Error for Gauge Corrected Precipitation, c) Monthly Measured Precipitation, d) Monthly Surface Air Temperature, and e) Average Monthly Air Temperature and Precipitation. The datasets are gridded at a resolution of 30 minutes.
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NWS-BOY
Floating buoy, moored at a specific location, but able to drift up to approximately 2 miles in all directions, depending upon water depth, due to slack in the mooring. Mast attached to the deck contains sensors to automatically measure meteorological and oceanographic parameters; and antennas and power panels to provide power and communications capabilities via NESDIS' GOES system.
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OAR-CMDL-AERO
Measures aerosol optical properties as a function of size and wavelength at baseline and regional stations. The goals of this regional-scale monitoring program are to characterize means, variability, and trends of climate-forcing properties of different types of aerosols, and to understand the factors that control these properties.
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OAR-CMDL-CCGG
The use of fossil fuels and practice of deforestation to meet the world's energy demands has led to increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. Both gases absorb terrestrial infrared radiation and have the potential to affect earth's climate. Before policies can be developed to limit the emissions of these gases into the atmosphere, their biogeochemical cycling must be understood. The NOAA CMDL Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases group makes ongoing discrete measurements from land and sea surface sites and aircraft, and continuous measurements from baseline observatories and tall towers. These measurements document the spatial and temporal distributions of carbon-cycle gases and provide essential constraints to our understanding of the global carbon cycle.
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OAR-CMDL-DOBSTN
16 globally distributed stations operating Dobson ozone spectrophotometers making daily measurements of total column ozone.
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OAR-CMDL-HATS
Quantifies the spatial and temporal distributions of Halocarbons & other Atmospheric Trace Species (HATS) such as nitrous oxide and halogen containing compounds in the atmosphere and the magnitudes of their sources and sinks.
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OAR-CMDL-STAR
9 globally distributed sites that obtain highly accurate measurements of the surface radiation budget along with ancillary supporting observations. Some of the stations are part of the WCRP Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN).
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NOS-CO-OPS
CO-OPS provides the national infrastructure, science, and technical expertise to monitor, assess, and distribute tide, current, water level, and other coastal oceanographic products and services that support NOAA's misson of environmental stewardship and environmental assessment and prediction. CO-OPS provides operationally sound observations and monitoring capabilities coupled with operational Nowcast Forecast modeling.
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Continents
This layer is an ESRI reference layer that contains the seven continents of the world.
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NWS-COOP-Observing
The Cooperative Weather Observer Network (COOP) is the Nation's largest and oldest weather network. It was established under the Organic Act of 1890 to formalize the collection of meteorological and climate observations in the U. S. COOP observations are collected by nearly 12,000 volunteer citizens and institutions.
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NOS-CORS
NOAA coordinates a network of continuously operating reference stations (CORS) that provide Global Positioning System (GPS) carrier phase and code range measurements throughout the U. S. and its Territories. Surveyors, GIS/ LIS professionals, engineers, scientists, and others can apply CORS data to position points at which GPS data have been collected. The CORS system enables positioning accuracies that approach a few centimeters relative to the National Spatial Reference System, both horizontally and vertically. New sites are evaluated for inclusion according to established criteria.
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CREWS
This is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) program with moored buoys, subsurface platforms, and drifting
buoys which provide oceanographic and meteorological observations in
and around the tropical coral reefs of the US Pacific Islands. The
drifting and moored buoys telemeter their data near real-time. The
data is intended to be used for monitoring conditions and alerting
researchers to high stress levels at coral reefs.
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DART
The DART system consists of a bottom pressure recorder (BPR)
located on the sea floor capable of detecting a tsunami as small as 1
centimeter high on the ocean surface. A discus-shaped buoy, 2.5 meters
in diameter, on the ocean surface is moored at a position close enough
to receive data via acoustic link from the BPR. After receiving data
from the BPR, the surface buoy relays the information via the NOAA
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system to
ground stations. The ground stations demodulate the signals and
disseminate information to NOAA Tsunami Warning Centers (TWC) and the
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. TWCs use the data in real
time to decide what U.S. coastal communities need to be warned of
impending danger from a tsunami.
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Density 10X10 Grid
10x10 degree density grid of all of NOAA's Observing System. The layer is the count sum of all NOAA, all Non-NOAA, and total per 10 degree grid cell.
NESDIS-IPO-DMSP
DMSP satellites are in a near polar orbiting, sun synchronous orbit at an altitude of approximately 830 Km above the earth. Each satellite crosses any point on the earth up to two times a day and has an orbital period of about 101 minutes thus providing nearly complete global coverage of clouds every six hours.
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Ecoregion Divisions
Ecoregions of the Continents characterizes global potential natural vegetation at approximately 1/2-degree resolution. The dataset is based on a Russian vegetation map (Gerasimov, 1964) which was updated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (Robert C. Bailey), however the geographic projection was unknown. This version was reprojected to geodetic coordinates at the World Conservation Monitoring Center, England.
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OAR-ETL-449 RADAR
This is a Wind Profiling and Acoustic Sounding System Radar
operating at 449 MHz. The radar can be positioned to observe either in
a horizontal or vertical direction. The radar can provide remote
sensing anywhere in the world because it is mobile and very powerfull.
Purpose: This radar was designed to improve the understanding and
prediction of a variety of phenomena that span the interface of
weather and climate.
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OAR-ETL-AOC
The Airborne Ocean Color sensor comprises 7 optical radiometers that look up to measure the downwelling irradiance and 7 others that look down to measure the upwelling radiance. The ratio provides the remote sensing reflectance of the ocean. The 7 bands are chosen to approximate those on the SeaWIFS satellite sensor. From the remote sensing reflectance, the concentration of chlorophyll a near the surface can be estimated using the same algorithms that are used with the satellite data. The primary difference between the airborne and satellite data is that the former can be collected below clouds and have much greater spatial resolution.
OAR-ETL-BAO
The Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (BAO) is a 300m research tower measuring winds, temperature and RH at 5 levels.
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OAR-ETL-Fish LIDAR
This airborne system uses green light to profile distributions of scatterers such as plankton and fish in the upper ocean.
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OAR-ETL-GRIDS
GRIDS is a multi-sensor observing system, developed for the detection of supercooled liquid that would cause icing on aircraft. This system also has applications for cloud physics and climate research, model parameterization and verification, and calibration/ validation activities in support of other NOAA activities.
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OAR-ETL-HRDL
HRDL is a scanning atmospheric Doppler lidar that provides range-resolved measurements of radial wind speed and backscatter intensity. It is designed to make higher spatial and temporal resolution measurements in the atmospheric boundary layer.
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OAR-ETL-INFRASOUND
This is a system designed to measure atmospheric infrasound primarily in the 0.5 to 10 Hz frequency range.
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OAR-ETL-METEOROLOGICAL TOWER
915 MHz Doppler radar used to measure profiles of wind speed
and direction in the lower atmosphere.
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OAR-ETL-MOPA
Mini-MOPA is a scanning atmospheric Dopper lidar that provides
range-resolved measurements of radial wind speed and backscatter
intensity. It has dual wavelength capability to measure atmopsheric
water vapor concentration via the DIAL technique.
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OAR-ETL-NOAA/D
NOAA/ETL has long operated a pair of transportable X-band
Doppler radars for observing storm kinematics, boundary layer airflow,
ocean surface features and tracking air parcels with chaff. One of
these radars was outfitted in 1985 for circular dual-polarization
measurements. More recently, that radar has been retired while the
other, named NOAA/D, has become the focus of extensive hardware and
data system upgrades. This newly upgraded radar serves double duty as
an atmospheric and an ocean surface observation system. Of special
interest are new polarization capabilities that make it suitable for
highresolution quantitative measurements of rainfall and snowfall,
hence the "hydro" radar nickname. Traditionally, X-band has been a
poor choice for quantitative estimates of rainfall by radar because
rain attenuates signals strongly at these frequencies. However, recent
theoretical and experimental work at NOAA/ETL has demonstrated that
X-band measurements using specific differential phase (KDP) offer a
way around this limitation by relying on the radar"s phase
measurements in place of, or in addition to, the attenuation-prone
reflectivity-based measurements. In fact, differential phase estimates
of light rainfall are more promising at X-band than at longer
wavelengths, which are better suited for use in heavy rain. The
NOAA/ETL radar is one of the first X-band systems to be equipped with
KDP capability, and its usefulness has now been illustrated in a
number of recent rain projects
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OAR-ETL-NOAA/K
NOAA/K is a dual-polarized, scanning, Doppler radar (short
wavelength -- 8.66 mm/35GHz), for cloud physics research and climate
studies.
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OAR-ETL-OPAL
The Ozone Profiling Atmospheric Lidar (OPAL) observing system
provides ozone profiles for health of the atmosphere and climate
change programs. It is used for field campaigns to profile ozone and
aerosol backscatter.
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OAR-ETL-AOL
This system is a laser-based active remote sensor (LIDAR
system) for measuring ozone concentration and aerosol optical
backscatter in the lower troposphere.
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OAR-ETL-Platteville
The Platteville Tropospheric Profiler is a narrow-beam,
high-power, radar wind profiler operating at 915 MHz. Recently, it has
been upgraded to multi-frequency capability.
OAR-Portable Cloud Observatory (ETL)-Mobile
This system is comprised of a 35 GHz radar, a 3-channel
microwave radiometer and an infrared radiometer packaged in a
seatainer. An integral part of the system is a data processing package
and a suite of theoretical retrieval techniques that allows real time
production of cloud micropysical and optical properties.
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OAR-Portable Cloud Observatory (ETL)
This system is comprised of a 35 GHz radar, a 3-channel microwave radiometer and an infrared radiometer packaged in a seatainer. An integral part of the system is a data processing package and a suite of theoretical retrieval techniques that allows real time production of cloud micropysical and optical properties.
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OAR-ETL-RADAR
915 MHz Doppler radar used to measure profiles of wind speed
and direction in the lower atmosphere.
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OAR-ETL-RASS
915 MHz Doppler radar used to measure profiles of wind speed
and direction in the lower atmosphere.
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OAR-ETL-SODAR
915 MHz Doppler radar used to measure profiles of wind speed and direction in the lower atmosphere.
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OAR-ETL-SONIC
915 MHz Doppler radar used to measure profiles of wind speed
and direction in the lower atmosphere.
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OAR-ETL-TARS
This is a wind and temperature profiling Radar operating at
449 MHz.
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OAR-ETL-Teaco
TEACO2 is a scanning atmospheric Dopper lidar that provides
range-resolved measurements of radial wind speed and backscatter
intensity.
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ETL-Water Vapor Dial
This is a compact eye-safe autonomous lidar for profiling
water vapor in the lower troposphere.
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ETL-Windprofiler RB
915-MHz clear-air radar for measuring wind speed and direction
from 150 - 3000 m altitude. System automatically compensates for
platform motion.
Fluxnet
A global network of micrometeorological tower sites that use
eddy covariance methods to measure the exchanges of carbon dioxide
(CO2), water vapor, and energy between terrestrial ecosystem and
atmosphere. At present, over 200 tower sites are operating on a
long-term and continuous basis. Researchers also collect data on site
vegetation, soil, hydrologic, and meteorological characteristics at
the tower sites.
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FPN
The Fischer and Porter is a weighing precipitation gauge. These gages in this list are telemetered. This gauge records the precipitation amount at designated intervals.
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FSL-CWOP
Many citizen weather stations are producing weather data
today. When these data are used only by the weather station owners,
data quality is not a big issue. With the communications revolution
and the vast capabilities of the internet, many people with weather
stations are sending their weather data far and wide for other people
to use. In that case, data quality matters. The Citizen Weather
Observer Program (CWOP) is a private-public partnership with three
main goals: 1) to collect weather data contributed by private
citizens; 2) to make these data available for public weather services;
and 3) to provide feedback to the data contributors so that they have
the tools to improve the quality of their data. In fact, the web
address, wxqa.com, stands for weather quality assurance. Nearly 2000
citizen weather stations, located world-wide, have sent in data and
this graph shows the number of North American CWOP stations that data
were received from over the past four days.
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FSL-GPS-Water Vapor
Integrated (total column) precipitable water (IPW) is
retrieved from excess delays in the Global Positioning System (GPS)
radio signals caused by water vapor in the lower atmosphere.
Purpose: Provide accurate PWV retrievals under all weather conditions
with high temporal resolution. Provide observations that compliment
satellite soundings. Improve accuracy of short-range numerical weather
predictions for relative humidity below 500 hPa, and precipitation for
all levels above trace. Provide subjective forecast information,
especially during active weather conditions. Monitor total
precipitable water vapor with high accuracy and temporal resolution
under all weather conditions. Monitor total electron content of
ionosphere for space weather forecasting. Provide climate-quality
water vapor observations that require no external calibration. Factor
in a lighning prediction index that improves long range prediction
skill. Model assimilated observations improve GPS positioning accuracy.
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FSL-MADIS Mesonet (Regional)
These are a compliation of various observing systems or
sensors that support various goals of the NWS. Resources do not permit
a detailed break down of each and every location. The purpose of this
is to identify the locations of observing systems. In most cases the
basic paramaters such as temperature, winds precipitation are
available.
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FSL-RADIOSONDES
GHCN Precipitation
The Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) is a comprehensive global surface baseline climate data set designed for monitoring and detecting climate change. Comprised of surface station observations of temperature, precipitation, and pressure, all GHCN data are on a monthly basis. GHCN is produced jointly by the National Climatic Data Center, Arizona State University, and Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
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GHCN Temperature
The Global Historical Climatology Network version 2
temperature database was released in May 1997. This century-scale data
set consists of monthly surface observations from ~7,000 stations from
around the world. This archive breaks considerable new ground in the
field of global climate databases. The enhancements include: (1) data
for additional stations to improve regional-scale analyses,
particularly in previously data-sparse areas; (2) the addition of
maximum/minimum temperature data, to provide climate information not
available in mean temperature data alone; (3) detailed assessments of
data quality to increase the confidence in research results; (4)
rigorous and objective homogeneity adjustments to decrease the effect
of non-climatic factors on the time series; (5) detailed metadata
(e.g., population, vegetation, topography) that allows more detailed
analyses to be conducted; and (6) an infrastructure for updating the
archive at regular intervals, so that current climatic conditions can
constantly be put into historical perspective. This paper describes
these enhancements in detail.
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GODAE Buoys
The USGODAE Project consists of United States academic,
government and military researchers working to improve assimilative
ocean modeling as part of the International GODAE Project.
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GODAE Profile
The USGODAE Project consists of United States academic,
government and military researchers working to improve assimilative
ocean modeling as part of the International GODAE Project.
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GODAE Ships
The USGODAE Project consists of United States academic, government and military researchers working to improve assimilative ocean modeling as part of the International GODAE Project.
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GOES I/M Winds
GOES satellites provide continuous reliable operational,
environmental and storm warning systems to protect life and property
from a geo-synchronous orbit at an altitude of approximately 35,800
km. They provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" for
severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hailstorms,
and hurricanes. When these conditions develop the GOES satellites are
able to monitor storm development and track their movements. GOES
satellite imagery is also used to estimate rainfall during
thunderstorms and hurricanes for flash flood warnings, as well as
estimate snowfall accumulations and overall extent of snow cover. Such
data help meteorologists issue winter storm warnings and spring
snowmelt advisories. Satellite sensors also detect ice fields and map
the movements of sea and lake ice and monitor the space environment
around the satellite.
Grid Pull Down
GSLN
Global Sea Level Network (GSLN) stations are fixed platforms on islands and in the coastal zone that measure and report sea level information in real-time using geostationary satellites and the GTS.
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GSN
High quality and reliable climatological data are needed for
many scientific and commercial purposes. Therefore, these data are
globally collected and disseminated on the Global Telecommunication
System (GTS) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) by special
observing stations on the land surface using the CLIMAT code .
Presently some 2500 stations are designated by the WMO as
climatological stations (or CLIMAT stations).
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GUAN
The principal aims of the GUAN project are to ensure a
relatively homogenous distribution of upper air stations that meet
specific record length and homogeneity requirements outlined by GCOS
and to develop, and make available, their current and historical data.
(ENSO) Observing System, the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)
and the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). Support is provided
primarily by the United States (NOAA) and Japan (Japan Marine Science
and Technology Center) with additional contributions from France
(Institut de recherche pour le developpement).
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Habitat Assessment
Characterization and mapping of coastal habitats important to
NOAA trust resources by NOAA vessels and other means.
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HADS
HADS exists in support of National Weather Service (NWS)
activities of national scope, specifically the Flood a nd Flash Flood
Warning programs administered by the weather service forecast offices
and the operations performed at river forecast centers throughout the
United States. Additionally HADS created data products bolster several
other NWS program areas including fire weather support services, local
and national analysis of precipitation e vents, hydrologic modeling
and the verification of NEXRAD precipitation estimates. The data
acquisition aspect of HADS involves the receipt of raw hydrologic and
meteorologic observation message s from Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellites (GOES) Data Collection Platforms (DCPs). The
NWS operates a relatively small network of DCPs while the vast
majority of these observing systems are owned and operated by federal,
state and local agencies who share their data resources with the NWS.
In return the NWS shares other hydrologic and meteorologic products
and information with these agencies.
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HMISC
Unknown. This information will vary from station to station. The puprose is to meet various requirements
LARC
The Limited Automated Remote Collector (LARC) interrogates stage and/or precipitation sensors. A LARC is then interrogated and the stage and/or precipitation data is retrieved. A LARC can be programmed to call out when certain stage and/or precipitation thresholds are reached.
MAN
Coastal-Marine Automated Network (C-MAN) stations are fixed platforms in the coastal zone (land-based or in the water) that measure and report marine weather observations in real-time at least once per hour.
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MDCRS(ACARS)
A data set from commercial aircraft providing detailed
information on the vertical structure of winds and temperature during
aircraft ascent, descent, and en-route. The data provides high
resolution spatial and temporalrnatmospheric soundings and enroute data.
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METXX
The equipment is listed as Sierra Misco. Sierra Misco manufactures several instruments and data loggers. This information will vary from site to site.
MOBY
Moored bio-optical buoy that measures downwelling irradiance
and upwelling radiance in the ocean's surface waters. Measurements are
collected coincident with ocean color satellite overpasses on a daily
basis.
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MRFSS
The MRFSS is a multi-phase national survey of saltwater
recreational fishing to provide data for use in building sustainable
fisheries.
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NASA-AERONET
The AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) program is an inclusive
federation of ground-based remote sensing aerosol networks established
by AERONET and PHOTONS and greatly expanded by AEROCAN and other
agency, institute, and university partners. The goal is to assess
aerosol optical properties and validate satellite retrievals of
aerosol optical properties. The network imposes standardization of
instruments, calibration, and processing. Data from this collaboration
provides globally distributed observations of spectral aerosol optical
depths, inversion products, and precipitable water in geographically
diverse aerosol regimes. Three levels of data are available from this
website: Level 1.0 (unscreened), Level 1.5 (cloud-screened), and Level
2.0 (Cloud-screened and quality-assured). Descriptions may be found of
program objectives, affiliations, the instrumentation, operational
issues, data products, database browser "demonstrat", research
activities, links to similar data sets, NASA EOS links and personnel
involved in AERONET.
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National Observer Program
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) deploys fishery
observers to collect catch data from US commercial fishing and
processing vessels. Approximately 20 different fisheries are monitored
by observer programs annually. NMFS has been using observers to
collect fisheries data from 1972 to the present. Observers have
monitored fishing activities on all US coasts, collecting data for a
range of conservation and management issues. The National Marine
Fisheries Service coordinates observer program management through the
NMFS Office of Science and Technology/National Observer Program (NOP).
The NOP seeks to support regional observer programs and increase their
usefulness to the overall goals of NMFS. Improvements in data
collection, observer training, safety, outreach, and the integration
of observer data with other research are among the important issues
that the NOP works with on a national level.
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NCOP
The National Current Observation Program (NCOP) is presently an observation program relying upon the deployment of ADCP current profiler systems at selected location in the U.S. coastal zone. Station locations are driven by user requirements and the national need for new and updated tidal current information.
NEXRAD
WSR-88D systems acquire and process Doppler weather radar data.
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NOAA Profiling Network (NPN)
NOAA Profiler Network measures vertical profiles of horizontal wind speed and direction from near the earth's surface to above the troposphere.
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NST MUSSEL
Since 1986, NS&T's Mussel Watch has monitored chemical contaminants in sediments and bivalve mollusks (e.g., mussels and oysters). Mussel Watch sites are selected to be representative of large coastal areas and to avoid small-scale patches of contamination, or "hot spots." For this reason, its data can be used to compare contaminant concentrations across space and time to determine which coastal regions are at greatest risk in terms of environmental quality. Presently, bivalves are collected every other year and sediments about every fifth year at a network of over 250 U.S. coastal and estuarine sites. Tissue contaminant concentrations are measured for several different bivalve species. Bivalve and sediment samples are collected from three stations at each site (stations are generally within 100 m of a site center). Samples are analyzed for 24 PAHs; 18 PCB congeners; DDT and its breakdown products DDD and DDE; 16 other chlorinated pesticides; tributyl-tins; 3 major elements; and 11 trace elements. Bivalves are dredged or hand collected in intertidal to shallow subtidal zones.
o Sampling substrates, where possible, are limited to natural substrates or structures containing them, such as rock (including rip-rap and jetties), sand, or mud.
o Indigenous populations of mollusks must exist because caged mussels are not used in the regular monitoring effort. This criterion and constraint is one of the most important because mollusks are not uniformly distributed in the marine environment.
o The NS&T Mussel Watch Project selected sites that were sampled by the earlier Environmental Protection Agency Mussel Watch monitoring program (Palmieri et al., 1984). Selecting sites that are coincident to the two monitoring efforts allows decadal comparisons between estuarine contaminants (Lauenstein et al., 1990). Some locations that formerly supported bivalve mollusks and were sampled by the Environmental Protection Agency no longer support bivalve populations.
o Mussel Watch Project sites are collected in late fall and winter. Once a site and field sampling methods are established repeat sampling is required to occur within ?3 weeks of that sampling date. The rationale for winter sampling was to avoid collecting spawning organisms. When mollusks are collected at the same time of year their spawning status is more likely to be the same as that of the previous year and chances of discovering temporal trends are improved.
The number of species sampled is kept to a minimum in order to facilitate the greatest number of spatial data comparisons. The species collected include the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) from Maine to Delaware Bay. Mytilus edulis alternates with the California mussel (Mytilus californianus) for the West Coast collections. From Delaware Bay south and throughout the Gulf of Mexico, the American oyster (Crassostrea virginica) was sampled. Areas distant from the conterminous United States and those specimens collected in freshwater require the collection of alternate species. Ostrea sandvicensis, is taken at the Hawaiian Islands sites. Recent site additions have resulted with more species being sampled. The species collected from Puerto Rico is the Mangrove oyster (Crassostrea rhizophorae) and at a site in southern Florida the smooth edged jewel box (Chama sinuosa) is collected. The, introduced, Great Lakes species sampled is the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha).
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NWLON
The National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON) consists of 175 stations - every station measures water level and several stations also measure other parameters.
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PMEL-FOCI
Moorings, drifters, surveys, tows to describe the physical and
biological state of North Pacfic Ocean and Bering Sea ecosystems.
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PMEL-HYDROPHONE
Ocean Acoustic Monitoring System is arrays of underwater hydrophones, both autonomous and cabled, deployed at numerous sites around the global ocean that collect continuous digital acoustic data for ocean observation.
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PMEL-TAO
The Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) Array array is a major component of the El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Observing System, the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) and the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS).
Support is provided primarily by the United States (NOAA) and Japan (Japan Marine Science and Technology Center) with additional contributions from France (Institut de recherche pour le developpement).
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POES AVHRR
The POES satellite mission provides polar orbiting platforms
to support the environmental observations for imaging and measurement
of the earth's atmosphere, it's surface, and cloud cover. This
includes Earth radiation, atmospheric ozone, aerosol distribution, sea
surface temperature, vertical temperature and water profiles in the
troposphere and stratosphere; measurement of proton and electron flux
at orbit altitude; remote platform data collection; and Search and
Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking (SARSAT) system. Additionally, POES
Satellite systems support dedicated microwave instruments for the
generation of temperature, moisture, surface, and hydrological
products in all weather conditions.
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PORTS
The Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS?) is a program of the National Ocean Service that supports safe and cost-efficient navigation by providing ship masters and pilots with accurate real-time information required to avoid groundings and collisions.
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Profiling Radar-Alaska Network
Measures vertical profiles of horizontal wind speed and
direction from near the earth's surface to above the tropospause.
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PROFILING-RADAR-CAP
Measures vertical profiles of horizontal wind speed and
direction (and temperature in many cases) in the lower troposphere to
lower stratosphere.
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QUIKSCAT
Provide global all-weather ocean surface vector wind
measurements in near real-time to support NOAA's operational mission.
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NWS-Rawinsonde Observation Network (ROAB)
The NWS Rawinsonde network provides profiles of pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and winds from the surface to over 30 km high. These data are collected from balloon-borne radiosondes.
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RAWS (RAMAN)
A tower network to provide met data from mountain top, ridge
top, and valley bottom locations in the complex terrain surrounding
Oak Ridge, TN.
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Regional
These are a compilation of various observing systems or sensors that support various goals of the NWS. Resources do not permit a detailed break down of each and every location. The purpose of this is to identify the locations of observing systems. In most cases basic parameters such as temperature, winds and precipitation are available. Second phase of NOSA survey will have to break these out.
Sea Surface Temperature (Avg. Annual)
Shaded Relief
Ship Tracks
SNWCAN314_N6
STRATUS
Surface Salinity (Avg. Annual)
SWMP
The National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERRS) System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) is a network of protected areas established to study and improve the health of U.S. estuaries and coastal habitats. With 25 reserves on all three coasts of the continental U.S., in addition to those in Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Great Lakes, the reserve system has outstanding spatial coverage to detect changes in estuarine systems.
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United States
USCRN
USCRN (U.S. Climate Reference Network) Station is a general term which includes all the sensors and supporting equipment located on ~60' x 60' plot of land. Currently includes: 3 temperature sensors, relative humidity, solar radiation, wind speed, ground (skin) IR sensor, ligthning suppressor, data loggerr, batteries, GOES antenna/transmitter/GPS, all weather precipitation gauge w/ wind/snow shield, and protective fence around the site.
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Vegetation Groups
VOS
WCRP-BSRN
WOUDC
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