Mission and Goals

The Research Data Program (RDP) supports the scientific user community and the ATD facility organizations via service and development in each of the following areas:

Data Management Activities

RDP serves as a one-stop source for ATD data sets, associated documentation, and consulting services related to data access and analysis software. Data archived and distributed through RDP in FY 96 include those from aircraft (Electra, C-130, King Air, and Sabreliner), radar (S-POL, CP-2, CP-3, CP-4, ELDORA, and Mile High Radar), lidar (SABL, O3-Dial), PAM, CLASS, ISS, and ASTER, as well as Zebra summary data sets.

Data Distributions. In FY96 we had 110 individual data requests from non-NCAR researchers (see Table ATD-5). In addition, data services were provided to NCAR investigators in RAP, MMM, and ATD. Data distribution was accomplished primarily via high-density 8-mm Exabyte cassettes. Network transfer continues to grow in application, particularly for data sets of a few tens of megabytes or less. Conventional nine-track tapes, DAT tapes, digital linear tapes, and PC floppy disks are used for investigators who require these media. A second TOGA COARE integrated data set release was made in FY 96. This data set was assembled by RDP in collaboration with the TOGA COARE International Project Office and UCAR's Joint Office for Scientific Support.

WWW Data Access. RDP continued work on developing methods for data documentation and distribution thorough the World Wide Web (WWW). Currently, information regarding the time, location, and mode of data collection, quick-look images of pertinent data sets, and information for ordering full data sets is available via the WWW for several projects. These include STERAO-A (1996), ACE-1 (1995), COPE (1995), SCMS (1995), VORTEX (1995), WISP (1994), TOGA COARE (1992-93), STORMFEST (1992), CAPE (1992), HaRP (1990), and a number of other, smaller projects. All project- and data-related information can be found in the ATD Data page.

Table ATD-5: Researchers Receiving Data Distributions from RDP in FY 96
Requestor Institution Data Type Field Program
Rachel Ames RAP PAM HaRP
--- United States Army Satellite, Aircraft KuDA
Nolan Atkins NCAR/MMM Aircraft, Radar VORTEX
Gary Barnes SOEST/University of Hawaii Zebra TOGA COARE
Alan Blyth New Mexico Tech Radar, Aircraft SCMS
V. Bringi Colorado State University Radar S-POL Precip
Baode Chen UCLA Zebra TOGA COARE
Han-Ru Cho University of Toronto Zebra TOGA COARE
Dean Churchill University of Miami Zebra TOGA COARE
Carol-Anne Clayson University of Colorado Zebra TOGA COARE
Judith Curry University of Colorado Zebra TOGA COARE
John Daugherty NOAA/MRD Zebra TOGA COARE
Peter Duynkerke Inst. Marine and Atmos Res., Utrecht, The Netherlands Aircraft ASTEX
Jim Dye NCAR/MMM Misc. NOLTG
Gerard Eldin ORSTOM, New Caledonia Zebra TOGA COARE
J. Erdman Colorado State University Radar Denver NEXRAD
Paul F. Hein Colorado State University Zebra TOGA COARE
Ming Feng University of Hawaii Zebra TOGA COARE
Pierre Flament University of Hawaii Zebra TOGA COARE
D. Flannigan Colorado State University Zebra CaPE
Jeff French University of Wyoming Aircraft SCMS
Carl Friehe University of California/Irvine Aircraft CODE, CODE-II, SMILE
Steve Gaddy University of Oklahoma Radar VORTEX
Hermann Gerber University of Wyoming Aircraft SCMS
J. Gibson UMIST, UK CLASS WISP-94
Rick Graves NCAR/MMM Aircraft FIRE-II
Grant Gray New Mexico Tech Radar CP-2
Eric Hackert NASA/GIS Zebra TOGA COARE
J. Hammer Mitre Corporation CLASS Various
Steve Hill Institute of Ocean Sciences, B.C., Canada Zebra TOGA COARE
Peter Hoellrigl Division of Climate Research ETH Zebra TOGA COARE
Tihomir Hristov University of California/Irvine Aircraft CODE, CODE-II, SMILE
Pat Hrubiak NASA/GISS Zebra TOGA COARE
Huang-Hsiung Hsu National Taiwan University Zebra TOGA COARE
Kelan Huang Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst. Zebra TOGA COARE
James Hudson Desert Research Institute Aircraft SCMS
Sam Iacobellis University of California/SD Zebra TOGA COARE
Qiao-Lin Jin SDSMT CLASS CaPE
Isabelle Jobard CNRS, France Zebra TOGA COARE
Ben Jou NTU, Taiwan Radar TAMEX
Robert Kelly University of Wyoming Radar SCMS
Cathy Kessinger NCAR/RAP Radar TNEXRAD90
Alexander Khain Hebrew University Aircraft WISP-94
Charles Knight MMM Radar SCMS
Kevin Knight RAP Radar HaRP
Kevin Knupp University of Alabama Radar MIST, CaPE
Paul Kucera TRMM/NASA/GISS Zebra TOGA COARE
--- Government of Kuwait Satellite, Aircraft KuDA (entire archive)
Sonia Lasher-Trapp University of Oklahoma Aircraft, Radar SCMS
David Ledvina NASA/GISS Zebra TOGA COARE
Don Lenschow NCAR/MMM Aircraft ACE-1
Jialin Lin SUNY/Stonybrook CLASS, PAM CaPE, NDTP
Timothy Liu Jet Propulsion Lab Zebra TOGA COARE
David M. Legler Florida State University Zebra TOGA COARE
Leslie M. Hartten NOAA Aeronomy Lab Zebra TOGA COARE
Mark J. MacLennan CGRER, University of Iowa Zebra TOGA COARE
Mike Magsig University of Oklahoma ELDORA VORTEX
Shane Mayor University of Wisconsin Lidar LIFT
L. Jay Miller NCAR/MMM Radar SCMS
Dewayne Mitchell NSSL Radar CaPE
Joel Moeller National Weather Service Zebra TOGA COARE
Martin Murphy University of Arizona Radar CP-2
Tetsuo Nakazawa Meteorological Research Inst., Japan Zebra TOGA COARE
Riko Oki University of Tokyo Zebra TOGA COARE
Steve Oncley NCAR/ATD ASTER BOREAS
Ilga Paluch NCAR/MMM Aircraft BASE, SCMS
Michele Petrie University of California/SD Aircraft ACE-1 (sample HRT data)
Bruno Piguet Meteo-France Aircraft SCMS
James Pinto University of Colorado Aircraft BASE
Dave Priegnitz SDSMT Radar CaPE
David Raymond New Mexico Tech Zebra TOGA COARE
Alfred Rodi University of Wyoming Radar SCMS
Peter Roohr Colorado State University Radar MHR, WISP, STORMFEST, NEXRAD
Lew Rothstein University of Rhode Island Zebra TOGA COARE
Frank Roux Universite Paul Sabatier, France Zebra TOGA COARE
M. Ryan NOAA ETL CLASS WISP-94
Bryan Seng-Hpa Monash University Zebra TOGA COARE
J. Shepherd NASA/GSFC Radar, CLASS CaPE
Samantha Smith NASA/Goddard Aircraft FIRE II
Donna Sueper NOAA Aircraft ROSE-AIR
Jaques Testud CETP, France ELDORA Various
Lin Tian University of Chicago Radar SCMS
John Tuttle NCAR/MMM Radar SCMS
Natty Urquizo Atmospheric Environment Service, Canada Zebra TOGA COARE
Hans Verlinde Pennsylvania State University ELDORA VORTEX
Dean Vickers Oregon State University Zebra TOGA COARE
J. Vivekanandan NCAR/RAP Radar MHR
Roger Wakimoto UCLA ELDORA VORTEX
Jeanette Walters UCAR/TCIPO Aircraft TOGA COARE
Qing Wang UCLA Aircraft BASE, ACE-1
Tammy Weckwerth NCAR/RSF (visitor) Zebra SCMS
Alastair Williams Flinders University of South Australia Zebra TOGA COARE
Steve Williams UCAR/JOSS Aircraft STORM-FEST
David Wolff NASA/Goddard Radar SCMS
Xiaoqing Wu NCAR/MMM Zebra TOGA COARE
Josh Wurman University of Oklahoma Radar Ocean Reflectivity
Yuanzheng Yao University of Colorado Zebra TOGA COARE
Seongsoo Yum Desert Research Institute Aircraft ACE-1
Sandra Yuter University of Washington Aircraft TOGA COARE
Yiping Zhao University of Maryland/College Park Zebra TOGA COARE
Yong Zheng University of Colorado Zebra TOGA COARE
Conrad Ziegler National Severe Storms Laboratory Zebra TOGA COARE
Ed Zipser Texas A&M University Zebra TOGA COARE

Software Tools and Capabilities

Applications Software. Software tools are developed and supported for community use to facilitate the display, editing, analysis, and graphical integration of observational data sets. RDP software support includes documentation, distribution, maintenance of code, and user consultation. RDP's principal community software tools are targeted for use on UNIX workstations and include: RDP also continues to provide support for the radar editor and perusal programs, but most new development effort is directed toward SOLO.

RDP's software runs on workstations provided by Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Silicon Graphics. In addition, most of the software suite is also supported on PC-class hardware under the Linux operating system.

Consultation and Other Support. Our scientific and programming staff provide extensive consultation and support to community scientists making use of RDP's analysis tools. These tools are developed and maintained to facilitate portability to users' home computing facilities. Institutions that have ported RDP software to their home machines or used the software in FY 96 are listed in Table ATD-6.

Table ATD-6: Institutions Using RDP Software in FY 96

Institution		 Software Package
Radar Zebra Robot Reorder SOLO SUDS
Abaconet
*



Air Force Technical Applications Center
*



Applied Research Corporation * *
*

Argonne National Laboratory
*



ARWC Weather Center
*



Atmospheric & Environmental Research, Inc. * *



Atmospheric Environment Service (Canada)
*



Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories
*


*
Boeing Corporation * *



Brookhaven National Laboratory
*



Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre * *
*

CESGA
*



CNRM GMME/COME
*



CRC Southern Hemisphere Meteorology
*



Center for Innovative Computing Applications
*



Centre de Meteorologie Spatiale
*



Colorado State University * * * * * *
Columbia University
*



Copel/Simepar
*



Creighton University
*



Dalhousie University *




Desert Research Institute * *



Dipartimento Servizi Tecnici Nazionali
*



Drexel University
*



ENSCO, Inc.
*



ERSA
*



ETH
*


*
EUMETSAT
*



Environmental Protection Agency
*



Finnish Institute of Marine Research
*



Flinders Institute
*



Florida Institute of Technology
*



Florida State University * * * * * *
Garstang Research
*


*
General Electric Aerospace * *



Georgia Tech University
*



German Space Research
*


*
Global Hydrology & Climate


* *
Hankook University of Foreign Studies
*



Hellenic National Meteorological Service
* *

*
Hughes Aircraft Company
*



Hughes STX Corporation
*



Illinois State Water Survey * * * * *
Inst. f. Angew. Geophysik
* *

*
Intermountain Fire Sciences Lab *




Japan Meteorological Agency
*



John Hopkins University
*



King Mongkut's Institute of Technology
*



Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique
*



Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
*



Lunar and Planetary Labs
*



MESO, Inc.

*


MSS
*



MIT Lincoln Lab
*


*
MIT Weather Radar Laboratory *




Massachusetts Institute of Technology
*



McGill University
*



Meteorological Research Institute * *
*

Michigan State University
*



Millersville University
*



Mission Research Corporation
*



Mohr
*



NASA/MSFC * * * * * *
NASA/GSFC * * * * * *
NOAA * * * * * *
National Central University * *

* *
National Chung Hsing University
*



National Research Council of Canada
*



National Severe Storms Laboratory * * * * * *
National Taiwan University * *

* *
National Weather Service * *
* *
New Mexico Tech
*

*
North Carolina State University * * * *
*
Norwegian Meteorological Institute
*



ORSTOM (New Caledonia)
*



Oak Ridge National Laboratory
*



Ohio State University
*



Oregon State University
*



Pennsylvania State University * *
* *
Phillips Lab *
*

*
Princeton University * * * * * *
Reading University *




Rutherford Appleton Laboratory *




SUNY/Albany
*



SUNY/Brockport *




Saint Louis University * *

*
San Diego State University

*


Sandia National Laboratory
*



Sao Paulo State University
*

*
Scripps Institution of Oceanography *

*

Soil Conservation Service
*



South Dakota School of Mines & Tech. * *
*

Southern Regional Climate Center
*



Sutron Corporation

*


Synap Corporation
*



System Eng. Research Institute
*



Technical University Graz *


*
Tel Aviv University * *



Texas Nat. Resource Conservation
*



Texas A&M University * * * * * *
Texas Tech University *




Universitat de Barcelona
*



University of Adelaide
*



University of Alabama * *
*
*
University of Bristol
*



University of California/Los Angeles * * * * * *
University of California/San Diego
*



University of California/Santa Barbara *




University of Chicago *

*
*
University of Colorado * * * *
*
University of Essex, UK * *
* * *
University of Hawaii * * * * * *
University of Illinois * * * *

University of Iowa
*



University of Maryland
* *


University of Miami
*


*
University of Missouri


* *
University of New England
*



University of North Dakota *

*
*
University of Oklahoma * *
* *
University of Reading, UK *




University of Rhode Island
*


*
University of Tasmania, Tasmania
*



University of Tsukuba, Japan
*



University of Utah
*



University of Virginia
*



University of Washington * * * * * *
University of Wisconsin/Madison * * * *
*
University of Wyoming * *
* *
UCAR/COMET * * *

*
UCAR/JOSS * *


*
Universite Paul Sabatier
* *


ATD-Foothills Laboratory Computing System

This computing system and its resident applications software supports ongoing needs for data processing and analysis within ATD, and serves as a resource for data users in the community. The core servers are a four-processor Sun SparcServer 670MP and a two-processor SparcStation 20/612. The network as a whole consists of approximately 80 workstations manufactured by Sun, Hewlett-Packard, and Silicon Graphics. Multiple tape drives (9-track, DAT, and Exabyte) and large disk storage capacity available to the scientific user provide for flexible ingest and manipulation of large data sets.

In FY 96, RDP took on an increased responsibility for the management of the approximately 140 personal computers in ATD. A standard hardware and software architecture has been developed, and the divisional machines are slowly being brought into compliance with this standard.

RDP is also now actively supporting the Linux operating system on PC-class computers within the division.

Field Project Support

On a cost-recovery basis, RDP is able to assist field projects in the areas of networking, communications, operations support, and analysis support. In FY 96, the only field project supported by RDP was the Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-1) in Hobart, Tasmania. RDP provided systems and networking support (69Kb), as well as operations support via the Zebra software.

Analysis Support Activities

Enhancements to Zebra. The pace of Zebra development slowed somewhat in 1996. Nevertheless, a number of portability and performance enhancements have been made, and a field-derivation capability is under development.

Enhanced Radar Translator, Perusal and Editing. The SOLO package, developed and maintained in cooperation with RSF, has moved out of the beta-test stage. It is now ATD's primary package for display and editing of radar and lidar data. During FY 96, a number of new features were added to SOLO, including:

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