North Dakota Hydrometeorological Networks

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Regional Surface Meteorological Networks

High Plains Regional Climate Center (HPRCC) Automated Weather Data Network (AWDN) - The HPRCC oversees and ingests data from various state agricultural networks and makes it available as the AWDN. The AWDN is comprised of 167 stations located primarily in High Plains region (55 in North Dakota). The network provides hourly observations of air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, soil temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation. For further information visit the HPRCC AWDN home page or the North Dakota AWDN home page or the NDAWN page at UND.

State and Local Surface Meteorological Networks

North Dakota Department of Transportation (DOT) Road Weather Information System (RWIS) Network - The North Dakota DOT operates this network of 14 RWIS locations throughout the state of North Dakota. The network provides hourly observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and wind direction. For further information visit the North Dakota DOT RWIS home page or the Surface Systems, Inc Road Weather page.

North Dakota Air Monitoring Network - The North Dakota Department of Health Division of Air Quality operates this network of 13 stations with locations throughout the state of North Dakota. The network provides hourly observations of wind speed and wind direction. For further information visit the Air Quality Division page.

Precipitation and Radar Networks

NOAA/National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Hourly Precipitation Data - NOAA/NCEP routinely develops a National Multi-sensor Hourly Precipitation Analysis (Stage II) data set from hourly radar precipitation estimates and from hourly gage reports. The gage data includes hourly observations from ~4000 gages across the US (27 in North Dakota) collected by the NOAA River Forecast Centers and sent to NCEP. Further information on these data is available at: http://wwwt.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/ylin/pcpanl/.

NOAA/NWS Cooperative Observer 15-minute Precipitation Network - The NOAA/NWS routinely collects 15-minute observations of precipitation from Fisher-Porter and Universal rain gages operated by 2777 cooperative observers located throughout the US (55 in North Dakota). These data are archived at NOAA/National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) as data set TD 3260. For further information visit the NOAA/NCDC TD3260 page at: http://ols.nndc.noaa.gov/plolstore/plsql/olstore.prodspecific?prodnum=C00505-TAP-A0001

North Dakota State Water Commission (NDSWC) Precipitation Network - The NDSWC oversees this network of ~800 precipitation gauges operated by volunteers throughout the state. The network provides daily observations of precipitation. For further information visit the State Water Commission Data page.

Weather Surveillance Radar 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) Network - The NOAA/NWS and the Department of Defence operate this network of 143 WSR-88D radars across the continguous US (3 in North Dakota). The Level II data are the three meteorological base data quantities (reflectivitiy, mean radial velocity, and spectrum width) and are recorded at all NWS and most DOD sites. Level II data are then processed in order to create a number of meteorological analysis products known as Level III data. Level III data are recorded at the NWS sites. The Level III products included base reflectivity, base spectrum width, base velocity, composite reflectivity, echo tops, velocity azimuth display (VAD) wind profile, vertically integrated liquid (VIL), 1-hour precipitation, storm total precipitation, hail index overlay, mesocyclone overlay, severe weather probability overlay, storm structure, storm tracking information overlay, and tornadic vortex signature overlay. All Level II and III data are archived at NOAA/NCDC. For further information visit the NOAA/NCDC Radar Resources page at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/radar/radarresources.html or the NOAA Radar Operations Center at: http://www.roc.noaa.gov/.

Radiation and Flux Networks

Integrated Surface Irradiance Study (ISIS) Network - The ISIS network is operated by the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) Surface Radiation Research Branch (SRRB). The network provides 3 minute observations of downwelling global solar, direct solar, downwelling diffuse solar and global UVB. There are 9 ISIS sites located across the US (1 in North Dakota). For further information visit the ISIS home page at: http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/isis/.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ultraviolet Monitoring Program (UV-Net) - The EPA operates this network of 20 Brewer spectrophotometers throughout the US (1 in North Dakota). The network provides observations of full-sky spectrally resolved solar radiation in the UV-B and UV-A bands. The irradiance and total column ozone concentrations are derived from these data. For further information visit the EPA UV-Net page.

Soil Networks

Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) - The SCAN is operated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The network provides hourly observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation, precipitation, barometric pressure, snow water content, snow depth, soil temperature (at 2, 4, 8, 20, and 40 cm depths), and soil moisture (at 2, 4, 8, 20 and 40 cm depths). The 80 SCAN stations are located across the US in primarily agricultural regions (1 in North Dakota). For further information visit the SCAN home page.

North Central River Forecast Center (NCRFC) Soil Temperature Network - The NCRFC operates this network of 47 stations (2 in North Dakota) that collect weekly readings of soil temperature at depths of 2, 4, 8, 20, 40 and 60 in at locations throughout the north central US. For further information visit the NCRFC Soil Temperature Network web page.

Hydrology Networks

United States Geological Survey (USGS) Streamflow Network - The USGS (part of the US Department of the Interior) operates this network of 7237 streamflow gages (105 in North Dakota) at locations throughout the US. The network provides hourly or more frequent observations of stage (water level) from which discharge (flow) is comuputed using a stage-discharge rating relation. The rating is defined by occasional direct current-meter measurements of discharge. All data are available through the USGS and the district offices in each state. Many of these gages provide realtime data relayed via the GOES satellite data collection system. The realtime data are provisional data that have not been reviewed or edited. These realtime data may be subject to significant change and are not citeable until reviewed and approved by the USGS. Realtime data may be changed after review because the stage-discharge relationship may have been affected by: 1) backwater from ice or debris; 2) algal and aquatic growth in the stream; 3) sediment movement; and 4) malfunction of recording equipment. Each station record is considered provisional until the data are published. The data are usually published with 6 months of the end of the water year (1 October to 30 September). Data users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of the information before using it. For further information on the USGS stremflow network visit the USGS Water Resources of the United States page at: http://water.usgs.gov/ or the USGS North Dakota District Office home page at: http://nd.water.usgs.gov/.

Upper Air Networks

NOAA/NWS Radiosonde Network Low Vertical Resolution Data - The NOAA/NWS typically releases radiosondes twice per day at 0000 and 1200 UTC at 69 locations throughout the US (1 in North Dakota). During special weather situations the NWS can request to release additional radiosondes at off-times (e.g. 1800 UTC). The low resolution data is sent out over the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) and provides mandatory and significant level observations of pressure, altitude, temperature, dew point, wind speed, and wind direction. There are 3 types of radiosondes utilized within the US network, Vaisala, VIZ (or Sippican), and Microsonde. These data are archived by NOAA/NCDC and other organizations. For further information on the NWS Radiosonde network visit the NWS Upper-air Observations Program home page. A several year archive of GTS upper air data is available at the NOAA/FSL Radiosonde Database.

NOAA/NWS Radiosonde Network High Vertical Resolution Data - The same radiosonde locations mentioned in the previous data set also provide a 6-second vertical resolution data set that provides observations of pressure, temperature, altitude, relative humidity, and azimuth and elevation angles. UCAR/JOSS has developed software to derive 6-second vertical resolution winds from the angle data. These data are archived by NCDC and UCAR/JOSS.

Ground Based Global Positioning System (GPS) Meteorology Demonstration Network (GPS-MET) - The NOAA/FSL ingests data from 323 GPS locations around the US operated by many different agencies (2 in North Dakota). Typically each location provides 30-minute observations of integrated precipitatable water along with a number of surface meteorology parameters (air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, etc). For further information visit the GPS-MET home page.

Regional Surface Meteorological Networks
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High Plains Regional Climate Center (HPRCC) Automated Weather Data Network (AWDN) - The HPRCC oversees and ingests data from various state agricultural networks and makes it available as the AWDN. The AWDN is comprised of 167 stations located primarily in High Plains region (55 in North Dakota). The network provides hourly observations of air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, soil temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation. For further information visit the HPRCC AWDN home page or the North Dakota AWDN home page or the NDAWN page at UND.

State and Local Surface Meteorological Networks

North Dakota Department of Transportation (DOT) Road Weather Information System (RWIS) Network - The North Dakota DOT operates this network of 14 RWIS locations throughout the state of North Dakota. The network provides hourly observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and wind direction. For further information visit the North Dakota DOT RWIS home page or the Surface Systems, Inc Road Weather page.

North Dakota Air Monitoring Network - The North Dakota Department of Health Division of Air Quality operates this network of 13 stations with locations throughout the state of North Dakota. The network provides hourly observations of wind speed and wind direction. For further information visit the Air Quality Division page.

Precipitation and Radar Networks

NOAA/National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Hourly Precipitation Data - NOAA/NCEP routinely develops a National Multi-sensor Hourly Precipitation Analysis (Stage II) data set from hourly radar precipitation estimates and from hourly gage reports. The gage data includes hourly observations from ~4000 gages across the US (27 in North Dakota) collected by the NOAA River Forecast Centers and sent to NCEP. Further information on these data is available at: http://wwwt.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/ylin/pcpanl/.

NOAA/NWS Cooperative Observer 15-minute Precipitation Network - The NOAA/NWS routinely collects 15-minute observations of precipitation from Fisher-Porter and Universal rain gages operated by 2777 cooperative observers located throughout the US (55 in North Dakota). These data are archived at NOAA/National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) as data set TD 3260. For further information visit the NOAA/NCDC TD3260 page at: http://ols.nndc.noaa.gov/plolstore/plsql/olstore.prodspecific?prodnum=C00505-TAP-A0001

North Dakota State Water Commission (NDSWC) Precipitation Network - The NDSWC oversees this network of ~800 precipitation gauges operated by volunteers throughout the state. The network provides daily observations of precipitation. For further information visit the State Water Commission Data page.

Weather Surveillance Radar 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) Network - The NOAA/NWS and the Department of Defence operate this network of 143 WSR-88D radars across the continguous US (3 in North Dakota). The Level II data are the three meteorological base data quantities (reflectivitiy, mean radial velocity, and spectrum width) and are recorded at all NWS and most DOD sites. Level II data are then processed in order to create a number of meteorological analysis products known as Level III data. Level III data are recorded at the NWS sites. The Level III products included base reflectivity, base spectrum width, base velocity, composite reflectivity, echo tops, velocity azimuth display (VAD) wind profile, vertically integrated liquid (VIL), 1-hour precipitation, storm total precipitation, hail index overlay, mesocyclone overlay, severe weather probability overlay, storm structure, storm tracking information overlay, and tornadic vortex signature overlay. All Level II and III data are archived at NOAA/NCDC. For further information visit the NOAA/NCDC Radar Resources page at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/radar/radarresources.html or the NOAA Radar Operations Center at: http://www.roc.noaa.gov/.

Radiation and Flux Networks

Integrated Surface Irradiance Study (ISIS) Network - The ISIS network is operated by the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) Surface Radiation Research Branch (SRRB). The network provides 3 minute observations of downwelling global solar, direct solar, downwelling diffuse solar and global UVB. There are 9 ISIS sites located across the US (1 in North Dakota). For further information visit the ISIS home page at: http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/isis/.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ultraviolet Monitoring Program (UV-Net) - The EPA operates this network of 20 Brewer spectrophotometers throughout the US (1 in North Dakota). The network provides observations of full-sky spectrally resolved solar radiation in the UV-B and UV-A bands. The irradiance and total column ozone concentrations are derived from these data. For further information visit the EPA UV-Net page.

Soil Networks

Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) - The SCAN is operated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The network provides hourly observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation, precipitation, barometric pressure, snow water content, snow depth, soil temperature (at 2, 4, 8, 20, and 40 cm depths), and soil moisture (at 2, 4, 8, 20 and 40 cm depths). The 80 SCAN stations are located across the US in primarily agricultural regions (1 in North Dakota). For further information visit the SCAN home page.

North Central River Forecast Center (NCRFC) Soil Temperature Network - The NCRFC operates this network of 47 stations (2 in North Dakota) that collect weekly readings of soil temperature at depths of 2, 4, 8, 20, 40 and 60 in at locations throughout the north central US. For further information visit the NCRFC Soil Temperature Network web page.

Hydrology Networks

United States Geological Survey (USGS) Streamflow Network - The USGS (part of the US Department of the Interior) operates this network of 7237 streamflow gages (105 in North Dakota) at locations throughout the US. The network provides hourly or more frequent observations of stage (water level) from which discharge (flow) is comuputed using a stage-discharge rating relation. The rating is defined by occasional direct current-meter measurements of discharge. All data are available through the USGS and the district offices in each state. Many of these gages provide realtime data relayed via the GOES satellite data collection system. The realtime data are provisional data that have not been reviewed or edited. These realtime data may be subject to significant change and are not citeable until reviewed and approved by the USGS. Realtime data may be changed after review because the stage-discharge relationship may have been affected by: 1) backwater from ice or debris; 2) algal and aquatic growth in the stream; 3) sediment movement; and 4) malfunction of recording equipment. Each station record is considered provisional until the data are published. The data are usually published with 6 months of the end of the water year (1 October to 30 September). Data users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of the information before using it. For further information on the USGS stremflow network visit the USGS Water Resources of the United States page at: http://water.usgs.gov/ or the USGS North Dakota District Office home page at: http://nd.water.usgs.gov/.

Upper Air Networks

NOAA/NWS Radiosonde Network Low Vertical Resolution Data - The NOAA/NWS typically releases radiosondes twice per day at 0000 and 1200 UTC at 69 locations throughout the US (1 in North Dakota). During special weather situations the NWS can request to release additional radiosondes at off-times (e.g. 1800 UTC). The low resolution data is sent out over the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) and provides mandatory and significant level observations of pressure, altitude, temperature, dew point, wind speed, and wind direction. There are 3 types of radiosondes utilized within the US network, Vaisala, VIZ (or Sippican), and Microsonde. These data are archived by NOAA/NCDC and other organizations. For further information on the NWS Radiosonde network visit the NWS Upper-air Observations Program home page. A several year archive of GTS upper air data is available at the NOAA/FSL Radiosonde Database.

NOAA/NWS Radiosonde Network High Vertical Resolution Data - The same radiosonde locations mentioned in the previous data set also provide a 6-second vertical resolution data set that provides observations of pressure, temperature, altitude, relative humidity, and azimuth and elevation angles. UCAR/JOSS has developed software to derive 6-second vertical resolution winds from the angle data. These data are archived by NCDC and UCAR/JOSS.

Ground Based Global Positioning System (GPS) Meteorology Demonstration Network (GPS-MET) - The NOAA/FSL ingests data from 323 GPS locations around the US operated by many different agencies (2 in North Dakota). Typically each location provides 30-minute observations of integrated precipitatable water along with a number of surface meteorology parameters (air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, etc). For further information visit the GPS-MET home page.