Virginia Hydrometeorological Networks

Click on the maps for larger image

Regional Surface Meteorological Networks

WFMY WeatherNet - WFMY-TV in Greensboro, North Carolina operates this network of 23 stations located primarily at schools throughout North Carolina and one in Virginia. The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WFMY network page. No map yet.

WAVY WeatherNet - WAVY-TV in Norfolk, Virginia operates this network of 46 stations located primarily at schools throughout Virginia and North Carolina (35 in Virginia). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WAVY network page. No map yet.

WNCN WeatherNet - WNCN-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina operates this network of 58 stations located primarily at schools throughout North Carolina and Virginia (5 in Virginia). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WNCN network page. No map yet.
WCYB WeatherNet - WCYB-TV in Brisol, Tri-Cities, Virginia operates this network of 59 stations located primarily at schools throughout Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and one in Kentucky (33 in Virginia). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WCYB network page. No map yet.

State and Local Surface Meteorological Networks

Road Weather Information System (RWIS) - The Virginia Department of Transportation (DOT), Richmond County, and Suffolk County operate this network of 40 stations located throughout Virginia. The network provides variable temporal resolution observations of air temperature, relative humidity, dew point, wind speed, wind direction, visibility, and precipitation (yes/no). For further information visit the Surface Systems, Inc Road Weather page. Map at Web Site
WWBT WeatherNet - WWBT-TV in Richmond, Virginia operates this network of 66 stations located primarily at schools throughout Virginia. The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WWBT network page. No map yet.

WDBJ WeatherNet - WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, Virginia operates this network of 15 stations located primarily at schools throughout Virginia. The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WDBJ network page. No map yet.

Precipitation and Radar Networks
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) - The Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University overseas this cooperative network of observers located throughout Virginia. The network provides daily observations of precipitation, snowfall, and snow depth. Hailpad observations are also made at many locations. For further information visit the CoCoRaHS home page. No map.

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 (44 in Virgina) 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 (53 in Virginia). These data are archived at NOAA/NCDC as data set TD 3260. For further information visit the NOAA/NCDC TD3260 page.

Integrated FLood Observing and Warning System (IFLOWS) Precipitation Network - The IFLOWS precipitation network is a collection of various state operated Automated Flood Warning System (AFWS) networks throughout the mid-Atlantic and northeastern portions of the United States. The network is comprised of 1530 precipitation stations that provide 15-minute observations of precipitation (255 in Virginia). These precipitation data are included as part of the NCEP Precipitation data set described above. For further information visit the AFWS home page.

Radiation and Flux Networks

CERES Ocean Validation Experiment (COVE) - NASA operates the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Ocean Validation Experiment (COVE) at the Chesapeake Lighthouse (a Coast Guard platform located 25 km east of Virginia near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay). The site offers observations of direct and diffuse shortwave, global shortwave (up and down), diffuse longwave (up and down), spectral irradiance (up and down, UV irradiance (down), spectral radiance (up), station pressure, temperature, relative humidity, wind direction, wind speed and sea surface temperature. Additional colocated instrumentation included AERONET, GPS-MET, C-MAN and MPLNET (Micropuls Lidar). For further information visit the COVE home page. No map.

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 Virginia). For further information visit the ISIS home page at: http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/isis/.

Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) - The BSRN is a project of the World Climate Research Programme. The primary parameters measured by each station include global radiation, direct and diffuse radiation, downward longwave radiation, and meteorological observations. The networks includes 12 stations within the United States (1 in Virginia). For further information visit the BSRN home page.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ultraviolet Monitoring Program (UV-Net) - The EPA operates this network of 20 Brewer spectrophotometers throughout the US (1 in Virginia). 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 (2 in Virginia). For further information visit the SCAN home 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 (126 in Virginia) 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 or the USGS Virginia District Office home page.

Integrated FLood Observing and Warning System (IFLOWS) Streamflow Network - The IFLOWS network is a collection of various state operated Automated Flood Warning System (AFWS) networks throughout the mid-Atlantic and northeastern portions of the United States. The network is comprised of 275 streamflow gages that provide 15-min stage observations (48 in Virginia). For further information visit the AFWS home page.

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 (2 in Virginia). 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.

Cooperative Agency Profiler (CAP) Network - The NOAA/FSL ingests data from wind profilers and RASS operated by a number of cooperating agencies. Most of these profilers are 915 MHz, but some are 449 or 50 MHz. Most provide hourly observations of wind speed and direction. The number and location of these can vary through time. As this is being written the network included 58 locations within the US (1 in Virginia). Most of the sites are along the US West Coast and in the northeastern US. For further information visit the CAP home page at: http://www.profiler.noaa.gov/jsp/aboutCap.jsp.

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 (6 in Virginia). 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.

Aerosol Networks

Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) - AERONET is an optical ground-based aerosol monitoring network and data archive supported by NASA's Earth Observing System. The network hardware consists of identical automatic sun-sky scanning spectral radiometers owned by national agencies and universities. Data from this collaboration provides globally distributed (2 in Virginia) near real time observations of aerosol spectral optical depths, aerosol size distributions and precipitable water. For further information visit the AERONET home page.

Regional East Atmospheric Lidar Mesonet - The Regional East Atmospheric Lidar Mesonet (REALM) is a proposal by a number of lidar researchers and is designed to monitor air quality in the vertical from multiple locations on the east coast. For further information visit the REALM web site. Map at web site.

Micro-Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNET) - MPLNET is comprised of ground-based lidar systems that are co-located with sun/sky photometer sites in the NASA AERONET. Basic data from the MPL include aerosol and cloud layer heights. The primary purpose of MPLNET is to acquire long-term observations of aerosol and cloud vertical structure at sites around the world (1 in Virginia). For further information visit the MPLNET home page.

Coastal Networks

Coastal-Marine Automated Network (C-MAN) - The National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) operates this network of 55 C-MAN stations with locations along coastlines throughout the US (1 in Virginia). The network typically provides hourly observations of air temperature, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, and wind gust. Some stations also provide observations of sea water temperature, water level, waves, relative humidity, precipitation, and visibility. For further information visit the NDBC home page.

National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) Moored Buoy Network - The NDBC operates this network of 77 moored buoys with locations throughout the US coastal regions (1 off the coast of Virginia). The network typically provides hourly observations of air temperature, dew point, water temperature, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, wave height, wave period, and swell. For further information visit the NDBC home page.

Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS) - The National Ocean Service (NOS) operates this network of 51 weather stations with locations within bays and harbors along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastlines (5 in Virginia). The network provides 15-minute observations of air temperature, wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, water temperature, and water level. For further information visit the PORTS home page .

Regional Surface Meteorological Networks
	Click on the maps for larger image


WFMY WeatherNet - WFMY-TV in Greensboro, North Carolina operates this network of 23 stations located primarily at schools throughout North Carolina and one in Virginia. The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WFMY network page.	No map yet.

WAVY WeatherNet - WAVY-TV in Norfolk, Virginia operates this network of 46 stations located primarily at schools throughout Virginia and North Carolina (35 in Virginia). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WAVY network page.	No map yet.

WNCN WeatherNet - WNCN-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina operates this network of 58 stations located primarily at schools throughout North Carolina and Virginia (5 in Virginia). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WNCN network page.	No map yet.
WCYB WeatherNet - WCYB-TV in Brisol, Tri-Cities, Virginia operates this network of 59 stations located primarily at schools throughout Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and one in Kentucky (33 in Virginia). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WCYB network page.	No map yet.

State and Local Surface Meteorological Networks

Road Weather Information System (RWIS) - The Virginia Department of Transportation (DOT), Richmond County, and Suffolk County operate this network of 40 stations located throughout Virginia. The network provides variable temporal resolution observations of air temperature, relative humidity, dew point, wind speed, wind direction, visibility, and precipitation (yes/no). For further information visit the Surface Systems, Inc Road Weather page.	Map at Web Site
WWBT WeatherNet - WWBT-TV in Richmond, Virginia operates this network of 66 stations located primarily at schools throughout Virginia. The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WWBT network page.	No map yet.

WDBJ WeatherNet - WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, Virginia operates this network of 15 stations located primarily at schools throughout Virginia. The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WDBJ network page.	No map yet.

Precipitation and Radar Networks
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) - The Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University overseas this cooperative network of observers located throughout Virginia. The network provides daily observations of precipitation, snowfall, and snow depth. Hailpad observations are also made at many locations. For further information visit the CoCoRaHS home page.	No map.

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 (44 in Virgina) 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 (53 in Virginia). These data are archived at NOAA/NCDC as data set TD 3260. For further information visit the NOAA/NCDC TD3260 page.

Integrated FLood Observing and Warning System (IFLOWS) Precipitation Network - The IFLOWS precipitation network is a collection of various state operated Automated Flood Warning System (AFWS) networks throughout the mid-Atlantic and northeastern portions of the United States. The network is comprised of 1530 precipitation stations that provide 15-minute observations of precipitation (255 in Virginia). These precipitation data are included as part of the NCEP Precipitation data set described above. For further information visit the AFWS home page.

Radiation and Flux Networks

CERES Ocean Validation Experiment (COVE) - NASA operates the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Ocean Validation Experiment (COVE) at the Chesapeake Lighthouse (a Coast Guard platform located 25 km east of Virginia near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay). The site offers observations of direct and diffuse shortwave, global shortwave (up and down), diffuse longwave (up and down), spectral irradiance (up and down, UV irradiance (down), spectral radiance (up), station pressure, temperature, relative humidity, wind direction, wind speed and sea surface temperature. Additional colocated instrumentation included AERONET, GPS-MET, C-MAN and MPLNET (Micropuls Lidar). For further information visit the COVE home page.	No map.

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 Virginia). For further information visit the ISIS home page at: http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/isis/.

Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) - The BSRN is a project of the World Climate Research Programme. The primary parameters measured by each station include global radiation, direct and diffuse radiation, downward longwave radiation, and meteorological observations. The networks includes 12 stations within the United States (1 in Virginia). For further information visit the BSRN home page.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ultraviolet Monitoring Program (UV-Net) - The EPA operates this network of 20 Brewer spectrophotometers throughout the US (1 in Virginia). 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 (2 in Virginia). For further information visit the SCAN home 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 (126 in Virginia) 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 or the USGS Virginia District Office home page.

Integrated FLood Observing and Warning System (IFLOWS) Streamflow Network - The IFLOWS network is a collection of various state operated Automated Flood Warning System (AFWS) networks throughout the mid-Atlantic and northeastern portions of the United States. The network is comprised of 275 streamflow gages that provide 15-min stage observations (48 in Virginia). For further information visit the AFWS home page.

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 (2 in Virginia). 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.

Cooperative Agency Profiler (CAP) Network - The NOAA/FSL ingests data from wind profilers and RASS operated by a number of cooperating agencies. Most of these profilers are 915 MHz, but some are 449 or 50 MHz. Most provide hourly observations of wind speed and direction. The number and location of these can vary through time. As this is being written the network included 58 locations within the US (1 in Virginia). Most of the sites are along the US West Coast and in the northeastern US. For further information visit the CAP home page at: http://www.profiler.noaa.gov/jsp/aboutCap.jsp.

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 (6 in Virginia). 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.

Aerosol Networks

Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) - AERONET is an optical ground-based aerosol monitoring network and data archive supported by NASA's Earth Observing System. The network hardware consists of identical automatic sun-sky scanning spectral radiometers owned by national agencies and universities. Data from this collaboration provides globally distributed (2 in Virginia) near real time observations of aerosol spectral optical depths, aerosol size distributions and precipitable water. For further information visit the AERONET home page.

Regional East Atmospheric Lidar Mesonet - The Regional East Atmospheric Lidar Mesonet (REALM) is a proposal by a number of lidar researchers and is designed to monitor air quality in the vertical from multiple locations on the east coast. For further information visit the REALM web site.	Map at web site.

Micro-Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNET) - MPLNET is comprised of ground-based lidar systems that are co-located with sun/sky photometer sites in the NASA AERONET. Basic data from the MPL include aerosol and cloud layer heights. The primary purpose of MPLNET is to acquire long-term observations of aerosol and cloud vertical structure at sites around the world (1 in Virginia). For further information visit the MPLNET home page.

Coastal Networks

Coastal-Marine Automated Network (C-MAN) - The National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) operates this network of 55 C-MAN stations with locations along coastlines throughout the US (1 in Virginia). The network typically provides hourly observations of air temperature, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, and wind gust. Some stations also provide observations of sea water temperature, water level, waves, relative humidity, precipitation, and visibility. For further information visit the NDBC home page.

National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) Moored Buoy Network - The NDBC operates this network of 77 moored buoys with locations throughout the US coastal regions (1 off the coast of Virginia). The network typically provides hourly observations of air temperature, dew point, water temperature, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, wave height, wave period, and swell. For further information visit the NDBC home page.

Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS) - The National Ocean Service (NOS) operates this network of 51 weather stations with locations within bays and harbors along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastlines (5 in Virginia). The network provides 15-minute observations of air temperature, wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, water temperature, and water level. For further information visit the PORTS home page .