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Line Label (padded to 35 char) Contents
1 Data Type: Description of type and
resolution of data.
2 Project ID: Identification (ID) of
weather project.
3 Launch Site Type/Site ID: Description of launch site.
4 Launch Location (lon,lat,alt): Position of launch site
in format described below.
5 GMT Launch Time (y,m,d,h,m,s): Time of release, in format:
yyyy, mm, dd, hh:mm:ss
12 Nominal Launch Time (y,m,d,h,m,s): Nominal release time.
The release location is given as: lon (deg min), lat (deg min), lon
(dec. deg), lat (dec. deg), alt (m)
Longitude in deg min is in the format: ddd mm.mm'W
where ddd is the number of degrees from True North (with leading zeros
if necessary), mm.mm is the decimal number of minutes, and W represents
W or E for west or east longitude, respectively. Latitude has the same
format as longitude, except there are only two digits for degrees and N or
S for north/south latitude. The decimal equivalent of longitude and latitude
and station elevation follow.
The seven non-standard header lines may contain any label and
contents. The label is padded to 35 characters to match the standard
header lines. As mentioned above, line 12 has been used in the sounding
composite for the nominal release date and time. Currently, the other 6
lines are unused.
Sample header records are provided in section 2.1.
Data Records
The data records each contain time from release, pressure,
temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, U and V wind components, wind
speed and direction, ascent rate, balloon position data, altitude, and quality
control flags (see QC code description). Each data line contains 21 fields,
separated by spaces, with a total width of 130 characters. The data are
right-justified within the fields. All fields have one decimal place of
precision, with the exception of latitude and longitude, which have three
decimal places of precision. The contents and sizes of the 21 fields that
appear in each data record are as follows:
Field Format
No. Width Parameter Units Missing Value
1 6 F6.1 Time Seconds 9999.0
2 6 F6.1 Pressure Millibars 9999.0
3 5 F5.1 Dry-bulb Temperature Degrees C 999.0
4 5 F5.1 Dew Point Temperature Degrees C 999.0
5 5 F5.1 Relative Humidity Percent 999.0
6 6 F6.1 U Wind Component Meters / Second 9999.0
7 6 F6.1 V Wind Component Meters / Second 9999.0
8 5 F5.1 Wind Speed Meters / Second 999.0
9 5 F5.1 Wind Direction Degrees 999.0
10 5 F5.1 Ascension Rate Meters / Second 999.0
11 8 F8.3 Longitude Degrees 9999.0
12 7 F7.3 Latitude Degrees 999.0
13 5 F5.1 Variable (see below) 999.0
14 5 F5.1 Variable (see below) 999.0
15 7 F7.1 Altitude Meters 99999.0
16 4 F4.1 QC for Pressure Code (see below) 99.0
17 4 F4.1 QC for Temperature Code (see below) 99.0
18 4 F4.1 QC for Humidity Code (see below) 99.0
19 4 F4.1 QC for U Component Code (see below) 99.0
20 4 F4.1 QC for V Component Code (see below) 99.0
21 4 F4.1 QC for Ascension Rate Code (see below) 99.0
Fields 13 and 14 are "variable" because true CLASS soundings use
these fields for range in km and angle in degrees, respectively, which is
information unavailable for National Weather Service (NWS) soundings.
NWS soundings contain elevation and azimuth in degrees.
Fields 16 through 21 contain the Quality Control information
derived at the UCAR/Office of Field Project Support (UCAR/OFPS). Any
QC information from the original sounding is replaced by the following
UCAR/OFPS codes:
Code Description
99.0 Unchecked (QC information is "missing.") ("UNCHECKED")
1.0 Checked, datum seems physically reasonable. ("GOOD")
2.0 Checked, datum seems questionable on physical basis. ("MAYBE")
3.0 Checked, datum seems to be in error. ("BAD")
4.0 Checked, datum is interpolated. ("ESTIMATED")
9.0 Checked, datum was missing in original file. ("MISSING")
2.1 Sample Data
The following is a sample of a class format file. The data portion
is much longer than 80 characters and, therefore, wraps around to a second
line. Unlike this example, there are no carriage returns in the data. For
a precise example, see the actual data.
Data Type: CLASS 10 SECOND DATA
Project ID: STORM-FEST
Launch Site Type/Site ID: FIXED, 3V1
Launch Location (lon,lat,alt): 102 17.W, 39 14.40'N, -102.29, 39.24, 1286
GMT Launch Time (y,m,d,h,m,s): 1992, 02, 01, 23:00:47
Sonde Type/ID/Sensor ID/Tx Freq: VAISALA RS80-15L 0, 0, 403.05
Met Processor/Met Smoothing: VAISALA PP-11, 20 SECONDS
Winds Type/Processor/Smoothing: LORAN-C, ANI-7000, 60 SECONDS
Pre-launch Met Obs Source: CAMPBELL SCIENTIFIC CR10
/
Nominal Launch Time (y,m,d,h,m,s): 1992, 02, 02, 00:00:00
Time Press Temp Dewpt RH Uwind Vwind Wspd Dir dZ Lon Lat
Rng Ang Alt Qp Qt Qh Qu Qv Qw
sec mb C C % m/s m/s m/s deg m/s deg deg
km
deg m mb C % m/s m/s m/s
------ ------ ----- ----- ----- ------ ------ ----- ----- ----- -------- -----
-- -----
---- ---- ---- ---- ----
-43.0 869.3 12.6 1.1 45.2 -0.2 2.2 2.2 174.5 0.0 -102.290 39.2
40 999.0
999.0 1286.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
22.7 860.0 15.7 -6.5 21.2 3.6 7.7 8.5 205.1 5.2 -102.288 39.2
42 999.0
999.0 1377.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 99.0
41.9 850.0 15.1 -7.7 20.0 -0.5 9.1 9.1 177.0 4.8 -102.286 39.2
45 999.0
999.0 1476.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 99.0
62.6 840.0 14.2 -8.1 20.6 -1.2 9.2 9.2 172.4 4.9 -102.285 39.2
47 999.0
999.0 1576.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 99.0
.
.
.
etc.
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Updated : 2 February 1999