Mission and Goals

ATD's 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 1997 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, 2-µm), PAM, CLASS, ISS, and ASTER, as well as Zebra summary data sets.

Data Distributions. In FY 1997 RDP had 65 individual data requests from non-NCAR researchers (see Table RDP-1). In addition, data services were provided to UCAR/NCAR investigators in RAP, MMM, SCD, JOSS, COMET, 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. DAT tapes, digital linear tapes, and PC floppy disks are used for investigators who require these media.

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 FASTEX (1997), TOCS/JAMSTEC (1997), CASES (1997), LIFT (1996), 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. Web log information shows access to these pages from all over the world.

Table RDP-1: Researchers Receiving Data Distributions from RDP in FY 1997

Requestor

Institution

Data Type

Field Program

Rachel Ames

NCAR/RAP

Aircraft

COARE, JHWRP

Brad Baker

New Mexico Tech

Aircraft

SCMS

Robert Banta

NOAA

Lidar

LIFT

Alan M. Blyth

New Mexico Tech

Aircraft

SCMS

Brian Bosart

UCLA

Aircraft

FASTEX

Edward Brandes

NCAR/RAP

Radar

PRECIP96, NEXRAD, CASES

Jean-Louis Brenguier

Meteo France, Toulouse

Aircraft

SCMS

V.N. Bringi

Colorado State University

Radar

CaPE, PROWS, CASES

Bradley Cameron

Penn State University

Aircraft

FASTEX

Seung-Hyun Cho

Kwang-Ju IS&T, Korea

Zebra

COARE

Rich Cianflone

UCAR/COMET

Radar

CASES

Rob Cifelli

NOAA

Radar

S-Pol PRECIP96

Janel B. Cobb

Colorado State University

Aircraft

ACE-1

John R. Daugherty

NOAA/NSSL

Aircraft

FASTEX

Andy Detwiler

SDSMT

Radar, Aircraft, Zebra

CaPE

Peter Duynkerke

Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Aircraft

SCMS

Marlene Ferreira

Sao Jose, Brazil

Zebra

STORMFEST

Kirsten Findell

MIT - Parsons Lab

CLASS

FLATLANDS

Hermann Gerber

 

Aircraft

SCMS

John Gibson

University of Manchester

Radar

WISP94

Janine Goldstein

NCAR/MMM

Aircraft

COARE

Chris Grund

NOAA

Lidar

LIFT

Andy Heymsfield

NCAR/MMM

Lidar

 

Tihomir Hristov

U. of California Irvine

Aircraft

SMILE

Kelan Huang

WHOI

Zebra

COARE

Barry Huebert

University of Hawaii

Aircraft

CAINE-2

Rick Igau

Texas A&M University

Radar

SCMS

Genevieve Jaubert

Meteo France, Toulouse

Aircraft

FASTEX

Ben Jou

NTU, Taiwan

 

TAMEX

Dave Johnson

NCAR/RAP

Aircraft

JHWRP

Kazuaki Kawamoto

University of Tokyo

Aircraft

HARP

Robert Kelly

University of Wyoming

Radar

SCMS

Pat Kennedy

Colorado State University

Radar

CASES, PROWS

Erik Kjellstroem

University of Stockholm, Sweden

Aircraft

GAMETAG

Paul Krummel

CSIRO, Australia

Aircraft

ACE-1

Vince Larson

MIT

Aircraft

SCMS

Margaret Lemone

NCAR/MMM

Radar

CASES

Don Lenschow

NCAR/MMM

Aircraft

ELDOME

David Levinson

NOAA/ERL

Lidar

LIFT

Shane Mayor

University of Wisconsin

Lidar

LIFT

Tim Peterson

University of Colorado

Aircraft

COARE

Graciela Raga

Ciudad University, Mexico City

Aircraft

SCMS, MEXCAPS

Eric Rasmussen

NOAA

Radar

VORTEX

Bob Rauber

University of Illinois

Aircraft

FASTEX

David P. Rogers

Scripps

Aircraft

FASINEX

Steve Rutledge

Colorado State University

Radar

NEXRAD, PROWS

Alex Ryzhkov

NOAA/NSSL

Radar

CASES

J. Marshall Shepherd

NASA/GSFC

Aircraft, PAM, CLASS

CaPE

Thomas Shepherd

NOAA/NSSL

Radar

VORTEX

Ilana Stern

NCAR/SCD

Aircraft

COARE

Martin Ventecinque

NCAR/MMM

Radar

NEXRAD, PRECIP96

Dean Vickers

Oregon State University

Aircraft

HAPEX

J. Vivekanandan

NCAR/RAP

Radar

PRECIP96

Jeanette Walters

UCAR/TCIPO

Aircraft

COARE

Doug Westphal

NRLM

Satellite

KuDA

Qing Wang

USN Postgraduate School

Aircraft

BASE

Josh Wurman

University of Oklahoma

Radar

VORTEX, LIFT, PRECIP96

Hsi-Chyi Yeh

University of Hawaii

Radar

TAMEX

 

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, as well as PC-class hardware under the Linux operating system.

Consultation and Other Support. RDP's 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 1997 are listed in Table RDP-2.

Table RDP-2: Institutions Using RDP Software in FY 96


Institution

Software Package

Radar

Zebra

Robot

Reorder

SOLO

SUDS

Abaconet


*





Air Force Technical Applications Center


*





Algonet


*





Applied Research Corporation

*

*


*



Argonne National Laboratory


*





ARWC Weather Center


*





Atmospheric & Environmental Research, Inc.

*

*





Atmospheric Environment Service (Canada)


*





Augsburg College


*




*

Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories


*




*

Bay Area Quality Management District


*





Boeing Corporation

*

*





Brookhaven National Laboratory


*



*


Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre

*

*


*

*


CESGA


*





CNRM GMME/COME


*





CNRS/CETP/ABM





*


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


*





Dornier Satellitensysteme GmbH


*





Drexel University


*





Eaglenet


*





ENSCO, Inc.


*





ERSA (Italy)


*





ETH


*




*

EUMETSAT


*





Environmental Protection Agency


*





Federal University of Pelotas

*

*





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


*

*



*

HI


*





Hughes Aircraft Company


*





Hughes STX Corporation


*





IBMC


*





Illinois State Water Survey

*

*

*

*

*


Indian Institute of Science


*





Institut fuer Angewandte Geophysik


*

*



*

Intermountain Fire Sciences Lab

*






Japan Meteorological Agency


*





Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universitaet


*





John Hopkins University


*





King Mongkut's Institute of Technology


*





Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique


*





Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory


*





Lunar and Planetary Labs


*





Marisys, Inc.


*





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

*






SNU


*

*


*


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


*





TNO


*





Technical University Graz

*




*


Tel Aviv University

*

*





Texas Nat. Resource Conservation


*





Texas A&M University

*

*

*

*

*

*

Texas Tech University

*






UK Meteorological Office


*





Universitat de Barcelona


*





University of Adelaide


*





University of Alabama

*

*


*


*

University of Basque


*





University of Bristol


*





University of California/Los Angeles

*

*

*

*

*

*

University of California/San Diego


*





University of California/Santa Barbara

*






University of Chicago

*



*

*

*

University of Chile


*





University of Colorado

*

*

*

*


*

University of Essex, UK

*

*


*

*

*

University of Hamburg


*





University of Hawaii

*

*

*

*

*

*

University of Illinois

*

*

*

*



University of Iowa


*





University of Maine


*




*

University of Maryland


*

*




University of Miami


*




*

University of Missouri




*

*


University of Nebraska-Lincoln


*





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


*

*




Wellington School of Medicine


*





Zeitgeist


*





 

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, a two-processor SparcStation 20/612, and a Pentium-based machine running Linux. The network as a whole consists of approximately 80 workstations manufactured by Sun, Hewlett-Packard, and Silicon Graphics, and roughly 160 personal computers, many of which run Linux. Multiple tape drives (9-track, DAT, DLT, and Exabyte) and large disk storage capacity available to the scientific user provide for flexible ingest and manipulation of large data sets.

 

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 1997, RDP supported the Fronts and Atlantic Storm Tracks Experiment (FASTEX) from the Shannon, Ireland base. RDP provided local area networking, Internet connectivity, HF radio communications, US domestic power, systems support, and applications software for the project, in cooperation with UCAR's Joint Office for Science Support (JOSS). RDP also provided support for the S-Pol radar (and associated precipitation products) in the PROWS and CASES experiments.

 

Analysis Support Activities

Enhancements to Zebra. Zebra development remains slow, due to lack of development resources. Additions were made, however, in the areas of large database handling, field derivation, portability, and additional plot types.

Enhanced Radar Translator, Perusal and Editing. The SOLO package, developed and maintained in cooperation with RSF, remains ATD's primary package for display and editing of radar and lidar data. During FY 1997, a number of new features were added to SOLO, including:

Radar precipitation accumulation. Working with RSF, RDP developed code to implement several precipitation algorithms using data from the S-Pol radar in real time. RDP also designed and implemented the radar data product recorder subsystem for S-Pol.

Bistatic Radar. RDP provided the data acquisition, analysis, display, and recording software for the successful Bistatic Radar deployment in CASES.


NCAR FY97 ASR | ATD FY97 ASR | ATD/DFS Report