Langley DAAC Version Number: LD_xxxxxxxx FIRE_ACE_UWCV580_UWA Readme 1.0 Introduction This file contains information about the data provided by the University of Washington instruments flown onboard their CV580 aircraft during the FIRE.ACE/SHEBA field campaign. It includes implementation of the sample READ software. This data set is available through the Langley Atmospheric Sciences Data Center as: FIRE_ACE_UWCV580_UWA Each data granule contains one flight of data, taken at approximately 1Hz intervals. The data consists of navigation, meteorology, aerosols, cloud physics, chemistry and remote sensing. Additional information about the University of Washington FIRE.ACE data set can be obtained at the following location: http://cargsun2.atmos.washington.edu/sys/research/fire-ace/ General information regarding the University of Washington Cloud and Aerosol Research Group (CARG) can be found at the following location: http://cargsun2.atmos.washington.edu This Readme file includes the following sections: Section 2.0 - Data Set Description Section 3.0 - Data Format and Packaging Section 4.0 - Science Parameter Information Section 5.0 - Description of Sample Read Software Section 6.0 - Implementing Sample Read Software Section 7.0 - Sample Output Section 8.0 - Additional Information If there are questions about using the FIRE_ACE_UWCV580_UWA sample read software, please contact the Langley Science User and Data Services (SUDS) office at: Langley Atmospheric Sciences Data Center NASA Langley Research Center Mail Stop 157D, 2 S. Wright St. Hampton, VA 23681-2199 USA E-Mail: larc@eos.nasa.gov Phone: (757)864-8656 FAX: (757)864-8807 2.0 Data Set Information This data set consists of navigation, meteorology, aerosols, cloud physics, chemistry and remote sensing parameters collected onboard the Univ. of Washington's Convair 580. Data were collected on 23 flights from May 19, 1998 through June 24, 1998. Specific information regarding instruments, parameters and caveats are provided in Section 8.0. In October 1999, new bin widths for the FSSP-100 instrument were created. This modification slightly adjusts the values for the liquid water content, particle concentration and effective particle radius described in Sections 4.0 and 8.0. 2.1 Science Point of Contact Prof. Peter V. Hobbs Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences University of Washington Box 351640 Seattle WA 98195-1640 Phone: 206/543-6027 Fax: 206/685-7160 E-mail: phobbs@atmos.washington.edu If you propose to use any of these data in publications, co-authorship must be offered to those responsible for the collection of the data. For this purpose, please contact Prof. Peter V. Hobbs. 3.0 Data Format and Packaging 3.1 Data Format The data are in HDF format. Further information about HDF (Hierarchical Data Format) can be found at the HDF web site, http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/ Also, the Langley Atmospheric Sciences Data Center has general information regarding HDF and HDF tools (http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/HBDOCS/hdf.html). 3.2 File Naming Convention: The FIRE_ACE_UWCV580_UWA data granules are prefixed with "fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa_" to indicate they belong to this data set. An 8 digit designation follows the prefix and it indicates the year, month and day of the flight. Example filename: fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa_19980609.hdf Univ. of Wash. data taken June 9, 1998 4.0 Science Parameter Information Note: Missing or poor data are denoted by 32768.0. See Section 8.0 for a list of sensors and caveats regarding the data. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Field Description Units ----------------------------------------------------------------- timeh time - hhmmss UTC latgps latitude degs longps longitude degs tas air speed m/s azimth azimuth, clockwise from North deg pitchc pitch angle deg rollcr roll angle deg rolltn roll angle deg galt altitude m above MSL palt altitude m above MSL pstat air pressure mb tstat air temperature degrees C dp dew point degrees C rhhum relative humidity percent turb turbulence cm^(2/3)/sec lwfspa liquid water content g/m^3 lwcp liquid water content g/m^3 lwpvm0 liquid water content g/m^3 sapvm0 particle surface area cm^2/m^3 reff effective particle radius micrometer erpvm0 effective particle radius micrometer cnc3 cloud condensation nuclei conc. number/cm^3 cpdn(15) part. conc. in 15 ch. 14-310um number/cm^3 fsp3dn(31) part. conc. in 31 ch. .3-20um number/cm^3 fspdna(15) part. conc. in 15 ch. 2-47um number/cm^3 pcasdn(15) part. conc. in 15 ch. .1-3um number/cm^3 bkspbl backscatter at 450nm (blue) inverse m bkspgr backscatter at 550nm (green) inverse m bksprd backscatter at 700nm (red) inverse m tspbl total scatter coeff.at 450nm inverse m tspgr total scatter coeff.at 550nm inverse m tsprd total scatter coeff.at 700nm inverse m pyrdn hemispheric up radiance .3-3um W/m^2 pyrup hemis. down radiance .3-3um W/m^2 uv hemis. down radiance .295-.39um W/m^2 uvbot hemis. up radiance .295-.39um W/m^2 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5.0 Description of Sample Read Software Currently, there is one sample read program which works with the FIRE_ACE_UWCV580_UWA data set, read_fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa.pro. It is written in the IDL programming language. This program has been tested on the following computers and operating systems: Computer Operating System IDL Version ---------------- ---------------- ----------- Sun Sparc Solaris 2.6 5.2 SGI Origin 2000 IRIX 6.4 5.2 HP 9000/735 HP-UX 10.10 5.2 This program is written as an example of how to read in UWA data. As delivered, it prompts the user for input and output filenames, and parameters to output. It reads in the entire file and writes to the output file the data as selected by the user. A dialog box then displays the data file names for user selection. The dialog box is created with a call to the dialog_pickfile procedure which assumes that the data files are in the current working directory. The "Path" parameter in the call to dialog_pickfile may be modified to specify an alternative data directory. 6.0 Implementing the Sample Read Software The file read_fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa.pro contains several procedures, so the entire file must be compiled before it can be run. To do this, the user must first start up idl by typing "idl". At the IDL prompt, type ".compile read_fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa", then type the program name, "read_fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa" to start the program Alternatively, the IDL development environment can be used. To start IDL this way, type "idlde" at the prompt. Under file, choose "open" and then select the file read_fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa.pro. Under Run, choose "compile read_fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa.pro". Finally, under Run, choose "run read_fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa". 7.0 Sample Output The read_fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa.pro program can be used to read any of the UWA data files. The following is a sample session showing compilation and execution of the program. IDL> .compile read_fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa IDL> read_fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa ***************************************************************** * * * * * FIRE_ACE_UWCV580_UWA Read Software * * * * Version: 1.0 * * * * Date: October 13, 1999 * * * * Contact: EOSDIS Langley DAAC * * Science, Users and Data Services Office * * NASA Langley Research Center * * Mail Stop 157D * * 2 South Wright Street * * Hampton, Virginia 23681-2199 * * U.S.A. * * * * E-mail: larc@eos.nasa.gov * * Phone: (757)864-8656 * * FAX: (757)864-8807 * * * ***************************************************************** [A window pops up for you to choose the file of interest] CHOOSE THE PARAMETERS TO BE SAVED [A window pops up for you to choose the parameters of interest] You chose the following 3 parameters: latgps longps rhhum **************** Begin reading data ********************* Input Filename: fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa_19980603.hdf Parameters: ------------------------------------------------------------ field # of records minimum value maximum value ------------------------------------------------------------ latgps 19646 71.24 76.95 longps 19646 -167.98 0.00 rhhum 19646 -0.19 84.40 ------------------------------------------------------------ Data Start Time (UTC): 19:08:23 Data End Time (UTC): 24:35:48 Total number of fields output: 3 Completed reading fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa_19980603.hdf Output is in fire_ace_uwcv580_uwa_19980603.hdf_output Contents of the output file: Data Start Time (UTC): 19:08:23 Data End Time (UTC): 24:35:48 Number of Records: 19646 Parameter: latgps 71.2872 71.2872 32768.0 71.2872 71.2872 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 71.2872 71.2872 32768.0 71.2868 71.2868 32768.0 71.2868 71.2868 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 71.2867 71.2867 32768.0 71.2867 ... many more lines 32768.0 71.2860 71.2860 71.2860 71.2860 71.2860 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 71.2860 71.2860 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 71.2860 71.2860 32768.0 71.2860 71.2860 32768.0 71.2860 71.2860 32768.0 71.2860 71.2860 32768.0 71.2860 71.2860 32768.0 Number of Records: 19646 Parameter: longps -156.756 -156.756 32768.0 -156.756 -156.756 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 -156.756 -156.756 32768.0 -156.756 -156.756 32768.0 -156.756 -156.756 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 -156.756 -156.756 32768.0 -156.756 -156.756 -156.756 -156.756 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 ... many more lines 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 -156.840 -156.840 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 32768.0 -156.817 -156.817 32768.0 -156.817 -156.817 32768.0 -156.808 -156.808 32768.0 -156.803 -156.803 32768.0 -156.803 -156.803 32768.0 Number of Records: 19646 Parameter: rhhum -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.0592456 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.100000 -0.0518956 -0.100000 8.0 Additional Information PARAMETERS Note: All values use 32768.0 to denote missing or bad data azimth -- aircraft azimuth angle (deg clockwise from north) Instrument: Trimble TANS/Vector GPS Altitude System Processing: none Caveats: many missing values and occasional wild points bkspbl -- backscatter coefficient (1/mm) at 450nm wavelength (blue) Instrument: MS Electron nephelometer Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: When the scanning humidograph is active, air comes from the humidograph, not the outside bkspgr -- backscatter coefficient (1/mm) at 550nm wavelength (green) Instrument: MS Electron nephelometer Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: When the scanning humidograph is active, air comes from the humidograph, not the outside bksprd -- backscatter coefficient (1/mm) at 700nm wavelength (red) Instrument: MS Electron nephelometer Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: When the scanning humidograph is active, air comes from the humidograph, not the outside cnc3 -- cloud condensation nuclei concentration (#/cc) Instrument: TSI Model 3760 Processing: calculated from raw counts and sample volume with correction Caveats: none cpdn -- particle concentration (#/cc) between 14 and 310um in 15 channels (limits: 14.20, 34.00, 53.80, 73.60, 93.40, 113.20, 132.80, 152.40, 172.20, 192.00, 211.80, 231.20, 251.00, 270.60, 290.40, 310.00) Instrument: Particle Measuring Systems OAP-200X (1D-C) Processing: calculated from raw counts and sample time Caveats: none dp -- air dew point temperature (deg C) Instrument: Cambridge System Model TH73-244 Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: nature of instrument causes very small oscillation around "true" value erpvm0 -- effective particle radius (um) Instrument: Gerber Scientific Instruments PVM-100A Processing: calculated from "lwpvm0" and "sapvm0" Caveats: none fsp3dn -- particle concentration (#/cc) between 0.3 and 20um in 31 channels (limits: 0.30, 0.35, 0.40, 0.45, 0.50, 0.55, 0.60, 0.65, 0.70, 0.80, 0.90, 1.00, 1.20, 1.40, 1.70, 2.00, 2.50, 3.00, 3.50, 4.00, 4.50, 5.00, 6.00, 7.00, 8.00, 9.00, 10.00, 12.00, 14.00, 16.00, 18.00, 20.00) Instrument: Particle Measuring Systems Model FSSP-300 Processing: calculated from raw counts and sample time Caveats: none fspdna -- particle concentration (#/cc) between 2 and 47um in 15 channels (limits (1760-1772): 2.50, 5.73, 9.44, 11.94, 14.32, 16.59, 18.99, 21.51, 23.91, 26.44, 29.19, 32.26, 35.41, 38.75, 42.63, 47.00. limits (1750-1759): 2.68, 6.31, 10.21, 12.91, 15.36, 17.97, 20.67, 23.15, 25.73, 28.46, 31.52, 34.66, 38.04, 41.88, 46.26, 51.00) Instrument: Particle Measuring Systems Model FSSP-100 Processing: calculated from raw counts and sample time, activity- adjusted Caveats: none latgps -- aircraft latitude (deg N) Instrument: Trimble TANS/Vector GPS Altitude System Processing: none Caveats: many missing values and occasional wild points longps -- aircraft longitude (deg E) Instrument: Trimble TANS/Vector GPS Altitude System Processing: none Caveats: many missing values and occasional wild points lwcp -- liquid water content (g/cc) Instrument: Particle Measuring Systems OAP-200X (1D-C) Processing: calculated from "cpdn" Caveats: assumes spherical droplets lwfspa -- liquid water content (g/cc) Instrument: Particle Measuring Systems Model FSSP-100 Processing: calculated from "fspdn" Caveats: assumes spherical droplets lwpvm0 -- liquid water content (g/cc) Instrument: Gerber Scientific Instruments PVM-100A Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units with offset applied to keep value at zero outside of clouds Caveats: none palt -- aircraft altitude (m MSL) Instrument: none Processing: adjusted to match surface and radiosonde data Caveats: none pcasdn -- particle concentration (#/cc) between 0.1 and 3.0um in 15 channels (limits: 0.10, 0.12, 0.14, 0.17, 0.20, 0.25, 0.30, 0.40, 0.50, 0.70, 0.90, 1.20, 1.50, 2.00, 2.50, 3.00) Instrument: Particle Measuring Systems Model PCASP-100X Processing: calculated from raw counts and sample time Caveats: none pitchc -- aircraft pitch angle (deg) Instrument: NASA CAR Processing: none Caveats: missing from Flight 1750 to Flight 1762 at 22:24:50 pstat -- air pressure (mb) Instrument: Rosemount Model 830 BA Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: none pyrdn -- hemispheric upward radiance [W/m2] from 0.3 to 3um wavelengths (visible and near-infrared) Sensor: Eppley Lab Inc. Model PSP Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: none pyrup -- hemispheric downward radiance [W/m2] from 0.3 to 3um wavelengths (visible and near-infrared) Sensor: Eppley Lab Inc. Model PSP Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: none reff -- effective particle radius (um) Instrument: none Processing: calculatede from combined "fspdn" and "cpdn" size spectra Caveats: none rhhum -- relative humidity (per cent) in the scanning humidograph Instrument: Scanning humidigraph Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: only valid when instrument is active (30% < RH < 80%) rollcr -- aircraft roll angle (deg) Instrument: NASA CAR Processing: none Caveats: none rolltn -- aircraft roll angle (deg) Instrument: Trimble TANS/Vector GPS Altitude System Processing: none Caveats: many missing values sapvm0 -- particle surface area concentration (cm^2 / m^3) Instrument: Gerber Scientific Instruments PVM-100A Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units with offset applied to keep value at zero outside of clouds Caveats: none tas -- true air speed (m/s) Instrument: Rosemount Model 831 BA Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: none timeh -- time of day (hhmmss UTC) Instrument: Microcomputer Processing: initialized from GPS Caveats: Next day values handled by times > 240000 tspbl -- total scattering coefficient [1/m] at 450nm wavelength (blue) Instrument: MS Electron nephelometer Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: none tspgr -- total scattering coefficient [1/m] at 550nm wavelength (green) Instrument: MS Electron nephelometer Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: none tsprd -- total scattering coefficient [1/m] at 700nm wavelength (red) Instrument: MS Electron nephelometer Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: none tstat -- air temperature (deg C) Instrument: Rosemount Model 102CY2CG and 414L bridge Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units, corrected for true air speed Caveats: none turb -- air turbulence (cm^2/3 / sec) Instrument: Meteorology Research Inc. Model 1120 Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: Values are only relative uv -- hemispheric downward radiance [W/m2] from 0.295 to 0.390um wavelengths (ultraviolet) Sensor: Eppley Lab Inc. Model 14042 Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: none uvbot -- hemispheric upward radiance [W/m2] from 0.295 to 0.390um wavelengths (ultraviolet) Sensor: Eppley Lab Inc. Model 14042 Processing: linear scaling from voltage to units Caveats: none SENSORS Trimble TANS/Vector GPS Altitude System Parameters: latgps, longps, rolltn, azimth Range/error: global; roll -- 0 to 360 deg -- +/-0.15 deg Description: The attitude is calculated from the difference in GPS positions from three sensors distributed throughout the aircraft. Rosemount Model 831 BA Parameters: tas Range/error: 0 to 250 m/s -- <0.2% Description: variable capacitance Rosemount Model 830 BA Parameters: pstat Range/error: 150 to 1150 mb -- <0.2% Description: variable capacitance Rosemount Model 102CY2CG and 414L bridge Parameters: ttot Range/error: -60 to 40 degC -- <0.1 degC Description: platinum wire resistance. This quantity is not archived directly but is used to calculate air temperature (tstat). Cambridge System Model TH73-244 Parameters: dp Range/error: -40 to 40 degC -- <1 degC Description: The dew point is measured directly using the temperature of a mirror continually cooled until condensation develops. Meteorology Research Inc. Model 1120 Parameters: turb Range/error: 0 to 10 cm^2/3 / s -- <10% Description: root mean square of the pressure variation Eppley Lab Inc. Model 14042 Parameters: uv, uvbot Range/error: 0 to 70 W/m2 -- +/-3W/m2 Description: upward and downward hemispheric ultraviolet radiance measured via diffuser, filter photocell Eppley Lab Inc. Model PSP Parameters: pyrup, pyrdn Range/error: 0 to 1400 W/m2 -- +/-10W/m2 Description: upward and downward hemispheric visible to near infrared radiance measured by a thermopile TSI Model 3760 Parameters: cnc3 Range/error: 10-2 to 10^4 /cm3 Description: counts particles with diameters >0.02um Particle Measuring Systems Model FSSP-300 Parameters: fsp3dn Range/error: Description: uses forward light scattering to count particles with diameters from 0.3um to 20um in 31 channels Particle Measuring Systems Model PCASP-100X Parameters: pcasdn Range/error: Description: uses 35 to 120deg light scattering to count particles with diameters from 0.12 to 3.0um in 15 channels Particle Measuring Systems Model FSSP-100 Parameters: fspdn Range/error: Description: uses forward light scattering to count particles with diameters from 2 to 47um in 15 channels Gerber Scientific Instruments PVM-100A Parameters: lwpvm0, sapvm0, erpvm0 Range/error: 0.01 to 10 g/m3, 5 to 10000 cm2/m3, 2 to 70 um Description: optical sensor This instrument was calibrated by Hermann Gerber in December 1998 MS Electron nephelometer Parameters: bkspbl, bkspgr, bksprd, tspbl, tspgr, tsprd Range/error: (550,700nm): 10^-7 to 10^-3 /m, (450nm): 2x10^-7 to 10^-3 /m Description: three wavelength (450nm, 550nm, 700nm) integrating nephelo- meter with backscatter shutter Particle Measuring Systems OAP-200X (1D-C) Parameters: cpdn Range/error: Description: uses one-dimensional diode array occultation to count particles with diameters from 20 to 310um in 15 channels Scanning humidigraph Parameters: rhhum Range/error: RH: 30% - 80% Description: Ramps relative humidity while measuring aerosol light scattering at wavelengths of 450nm, 550nm, and 700nm with the MS Electron nephelometer Last Updated October 27, 1999