Wind Profiler Database from TOGA-COARE: Data Download

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Data File Location and Naming Convention

TOGA-COARE-format Files

The TOGA-COARE processed data files are stored in separate directories for each profiler. Click on the profiler name in the table below to view the list of files from that profiler that are available for downloading. Use your browser's "save as" or "copy to" function to download the files.

The data are in the form of half-hourly ASCII tables (see Data Description) that have been combined into sets of up to 10-day intervals using the UNIX "tar" facility. The resulting ".tar" files have been compressed using either the UNIX "compress" command (producing ".tar.Z" files) or the "gzip" command (producing ".tar.gz" files).

The base name of each "tar" file has the format "SSMYYDDx", where SS represents the profiler's 2-character prefix, given in the table below, M is the operating mode "l", "h", or "r", for "low", "high", and "rass" modes, YY is the last 2 digits of the year, and DD is the first 2 digits of the 3-digit day-of-year. For example, the file cxh9732x.tar.Z contains data from the Christmas Island 915 MHz profiler high mode taken between day 320 and day 329, 1997.

The individual files that are contained within the "tar" file have file names of the format "SSMYYDDD.HHa", where the letters have the same meaning as above except that here DDD is the full day-of-year number and HH is the half hour of the beginning of the data record (00 for 0000 U.T. and 47 for 2330 U.T.). So, within the example "tar" file cxh9732x.tar.Z, there might be a data file cxh97321.10a, which would contain data from 0500 to 0530 U.T. on day 321 (November 17), 1997.

"Tar" files that have a 'p' suffix in place of the 'x' suffix contain 24-hour wind vector plots in the form of postscript files . Not all sites currently have postscript plot files.

Gridded Data Files

A new gridded data set isalso available for certain stations. These data have been interpolated onto a uniform 100-mvertical height grid. These files can also be downloaded from the table below. The gridded data set is stored in files with names of the form "sss_ix_yyyy.txt", where "sss " is replaced by the 3-character station abbreviation given below, "x" is replaced by the profiler/mode character ('a'=915-MHz high mode, 'b'=915-MHz low mode, 'e'=50-MHz), andyyyy is the year. These files have been compressed into "zip" files, which have the same name except for the "zip" extension replacing the "txt" extension.

Data Acknowledgement

If you download these data please send us a 1-2 sentence description of your intended use so that we can inform you of other analysis programs underway on related topics and can keep you apprised of any developments regarding quality control. If you use these data in publications, please acknowledge NOAA/ESRL PSL. Also, we would appreciate receiving a preprint or reprint of any publications utilizing these profiler data for inclusion in our profiler bibliography.

Download Data Files

Click on a station name below to select and download TOGA-COARE-format files for that site.
Where available, click on "gridded" to select and download gridded data files for that site.

Profiler Station Name

TOGA File Prefix

Gridded File Prefix

Latitude Longitude Approx Data Range
Begin End
Biak - 50 MHz (gridded) bi bia 1.18 S 136.10 E Mar 1992 Mar 1999
Biak - 915 MHz (gridded) bb bia 1.18 S 136.10 E Dec 1994 Dec 1997
Christmas I. - 50 MHz (gridded) ch chr 2.00 N 157.40 W Mar 1990 Aug 2002
Christmas I. - 915 MHz (gridded) cx chr 2.00 N 157.40 W Mar 1990 Aug 2002
Darwin - 50 MHz (1)* ds dar 12.44 S 130.95 E Oct 1990 Aug 1995
Darwin - 920 MHz db dar 12.44 S 130.95 E -- --
Galapagos - 915 MHz (gridded) ga, gl gal 0.90 S 89.61 W Oct 1994 . . .
Kapingamarangi - 915 MHz* kp kap 1.07 N 154.81 E Nov 1992 Feb 1993
Kavieng - 915 MHz* ka kav 2.58 S 150.81 E Nov 1992 Feb 1993
Manus - 915 MHz(gridded) ma man 2.06 S 147.42 E Apr 1992 Feb 2003
Nauru - 915 MHz(gridded) na nau 0.54S 166.92 E Nov 1992 Feb 2003
Piura, Peru - 50 MHz (gridded) pi piu 5.17 S 80.64 W Feb 1991 . . .
R/V Ka'imimoana - 915 MHz* km kai -- -- Jun 1996 Nov 1996
R/V Kexue #1 - 915 MHz* s1 kx1 -- -- Nov 1992 Feb 1993
R/V Moana Wave - 915 MHz mw mwv -- -- Nov 1992 Feb 1993
R/V Shiyan #3 - 915 MHz* e3 sh3 -- -- Nov 1992 Feb 1993
Tarawa - 915 MHz (gridded) ta tar 1.36 N 172.92 E Aug 1994 Feb 2003
TOGA-COARE 6 sites -- -- -- -- Nov 1992 Feb 1993
TOGA-COARE Ship*
Surface Data
-- -- -- -- Nov 1992 Feb 1993

NOTE 1: The 50-MHz Darwin profiler is owned by Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre (BMRC), Melbourne, Australia.

*'d Data not available at this time.

R/V = Research Vessel