NORTH AMERICAN MONSOON EXPERIMENT

(NAME)

DATA MANAGEMENT PLAN

August 2004

Compiled by:

1.0 Introduction/Background
1.1 NAME Scientific Objectives
1.2 Data Management Philosophy
2.0 NAME Data Management Policy
2.1 Data protocol
2.2 Data processing/Quality control
2.3 Data Availability
2.4 Data Attribution
2.5 Community Access to Data

3.0 NAME Data Management Functional Description and Strategy
3.1 NAME Data Archive Center (NDAC)
3.3.1 NAME Data Management Web Pages
3.2 NAME On-line Field Data Catalog
3.3 Investigator Requirements
3.3.1 Data Submission Requirements
3.4 Data Collection Schedule
3.4.1 Data Processing Following the NAME Field Phase
3.5 Data Archival and Long-term Access

4.0 NAME Data Sets
4.1 Hydrometeorological Networks in the NAME Region
4.2 Data Collection and processing
4.2.1 Operational Data Sets
4.2.2 Research Data Sets
4.3 Coordination with Other Programs

APPENDICES

A.-  List of Acronyms

1. Introduction/Background

An integrated data management plan is important to assure that a complete database is provided for easy access to all NAME project investigators and the science community in general. The final objective is a high quality data archive that has easy and timely access by a large community of investigators. This is a large task given the diversity of participation and instrumentation planned for NAME. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) has primary responsibility for the development and implementation of a comprehensive data management strategy for NAME. General guidelines were given to EOL by the NAME Science Working Group (SWG) and in cooperation with the NAME Project Office and Project investigators as appropriate.

1.1 NAME Scientific Objectives

The scientific objectives of NAME are to promote a better understanding and more realistic simulation of:

• warm season convective processes in complex terrain (Tier 1);

• intraseasonal variability of the monsoon (Tier 2);

• the response of the warm season atmospheric circulation and precipitation patterns to slowly varying, potentially predictable oceanic and continental surface boundary conditions (Tier 3);

• the evolution of the North American monsoon system and its variability.

To accomplish these objectives, planning has proceeded with the intent of developing:

• empirical and modeling studies plus data set development and enhanced monitoring activities that carry on some elements of the existing PACS program and the US CLIVAR/GEWEX Warm Season Precipitation Initiative (2000 onward), initiate new elements, and provide the spatial and temporal context for NAME;

• field activities in the core region of the North American monsoon during the summer of 2004;

In addition to significant improvements in short-term climate prediction, NAME will lead to joint international experience with Mexican and Central American scientists in the exploitation of in-situ and satellite data, advancements in high-resolution climate models, advancements in the development of the climate observing system, and the production of consistent climate data sets over the Americas.

Further information about NAME can be found on the World Wide Web (WWW) "home" page located at: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/name/

1.2 Data Management Philosophy

The development and maintenance of a comprehensive and accurate data archive is a critical step in meeting the scientific objectives of NAME. The overall guiding philosophy for the NAME data management is to make the completed data set available to the world scientific community as soon as possible following the Field Phase in order to better incorporate land surface-atmosphere-ocean data for improved simulations and predictions with coupled models.

The NAME data will be available to the scientific community through a number of designated distributed NAME Data Archive Centers coordinated by the NCAR/EOL. These EOL activities fall into three major areas: (1) determine the data requirements of the NAME scientific community and develop them into a comprehensive NAME Data Management Plan (this document); (2) development and implementation of an on-line field catalog to provide in-field support and project summaries/updates for the Principal Investigators (PIs) to insure optimum data collection; and (3) establishment of a coordinated distributed archive system and providing data access/support of both research and operational data sets for the NAME PIs and the world scientific community. To accomplish these goals, EOL will also be responsible for the establishment and maintenance of the NAME Data Management WWW pages (located at: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/name/dm/ ) . These pages provide "one-stop" access to all distributed NAME data sets, documentation, on-line field catalog products, collaborating project data archives, and other relevant data links. EOL will make arrangements to ensure that "orphan" data sets (i.e. smaller regional and local networks) will be archived and made available through the NAME archive. The EOL may also quality control and reformat selected operational data sets (e.g. atmospheric soundings or surface data) prior to access by the community as well as prepare special products or composited data sets.

Oversight of the NAME data management tasks will come from the NAME SWG, as well as coordination with individual investigators and other participating groups. This NAME Data Management Plan describes the guiding data management policy (Section 2.0), the strategy and functional description of the data management systems (Section 3.0), and the implementation details of the NAME data sets and coordination with other related programs (Section 4.0). A list of Acronyms used in this document is provided in Appendix A.

2. NAME Data Management Policy

· Develop and implement a real-time web-based field data catalog to provide in-field support products for operations planning, project summaries, and field phase documentation (facility and product status) for the PIs, and

· Establish a NAME Data Archive Center (NDAC) which provides data distribution/support for the PIs and the general scientific community. This includes comprehensive seamless access to all operational and research data sets (i.e., development of a distributed data archive) .

2.1 Data Protocol

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Resolutions 40 and 25 (adopted by the XII Congress on 26 October 1995) comprises the basis for the NAME data policy and protocol to be adopted and practiced by each of the NAME affiliated Data Archive Centers:

"As a fundamental principle of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and in consonance with the expanding requirements for its scientific and technical expertise, the WMO commits itself to broadening and enhancing the free and unrestricted international exchange of meteorological and related data and products".

In general, users will have free and open access to all the NAME data, subject to procedures in place at the various Archive Centers involved. The following is a summary of the NAME Data Management Policy that all participants of NAME are requested to abide by.

1) All investigators participating in NAME must agree to promptly submit their processed data to the NAME Archive to facilitate intercomparison of results, quality control checks and inter-calibrations, and an integrated interpretation of the combined data set.

3) During the initial data analysis period (one year after the data were collected), no data may be provided to a third party (journal articles, presentations, research proposals, other investigators) without the consent of the investigator who collected the data. This initial analysis period is designed to provide an opportunity to adequately quality control the combined data set before release to the general scientific community.

4) It is the intent of the NAME SWG that all data will be considered public domain one year following the end of the NAME field experiment and that any use of the data will include either acknowledgment or co-authorship at the discretion of the investigator who collected the data.

Further details on data set compilation processing, attribution, and access are provided in the subsequent sections.

2.2 Data Processing/Quality Control

All data released in the field will be considered "preliminary" data to be used for planning and operational purposes ONLY. Preliminary data are defined as data that have not been thoroughly analyzed or quality assured (e.g.., final instrument calibrations applied, etc.) by the PIs to become "final" processed data. No distribution of preliminary data outside the NAME Operations Center will be permitted without the consent of the PI who collected that data. At the end of the NAME field phase, no preliminary data will be archived or distributed at the NDAC unless agreed to by the PI. Individual PIs will be responsible for the final processing, quality control and submission of their own data sets to the NDAC since they are best qualified to do so. The NDAC will perform any necessary processing for the operational data sets only (e.g., satellite, upper air soundings, surface observations, model output, etc.).

2.3 Data Availability

All PIs participating in NAME must agree to promptly (within 12 months following the conclusion of the field phase [i.e., 30 September 2005]) to submit their processed, quality controlled "final" data to the NDAC. The requirement for PIs to submit their final data following 12 months after the field phase will facilitate intercomparison of results, quality control checks and inter-calibrations, as well as an integrated interpretation of the combined NAME data set. The PIs will greatly benefit by further collaborative analysis of his/her data sets within the NAME community. Complete metadata (including data set descriptions, documentation, calibrations, quality assurance results, etc.) must accompany the submitted data. Upon submission, unless otherwise specified by the PI, these data will be available to the general scientific community. The PI does reserve the right to request that the NDAC password protect these data or send notification when a request for his data is received during the initial one year data analysis period. The NDAC will record who has downloaded a PI's individual dataset and provide this information to the PI upon request.

Most operational data sets collected in real time (e.g., satellite, upper air soundings, surface observations, model output) will initially be available through the NAME on-line Field Catalog for project operations purposes and archived and available through the NDAC no later than six months following the field phase. All field documentation (e.g., daily operations summaries, mission summaries, status reports, mission scientist reports, etc.) will also be available through the NAME on-line Field Catalog and the NDAC in an electronic format.

2.4 Data Attribution

All data shall be promptly provided to other NAME PIs upon request with the approval of the PI that collected the data. NAME PIs are defined as those designated by the NAME Science Working Group/NAME Project Office and/or those directly participating in the field experiment. Distribution can be done either directly by the PI (particularly during the initial 1-year analysis period) or through the NDAC with the permission of the PI.

During the initial data analysis period (one year after the data were collected), no data may be provided to a third party (journal articles, presentations, research proposals, other investigators) without the consent of the investigator who collected the data. Co-authorship during the one year analysis phase will be at the discretion of the Investigator(s) who collected the data. This initial analysis period is designed to provide an opportunity to adequately quality control the combined data set. At any time, any use of the data must include acknowledgment (i.e. citation).

2.5 Community Access to Data

It is the intent of the NAME Science Working Group that all data will be considered public domain not more later than one year following the end of the NAME field phase (i.e., 30 September 2005). Data can be opened to the public domain earlier depending on the discretion of the data provider. There will be exceptions to this 1-year deadline where extensive data processing is required. General community access to the data will be available through the NDAC who will be responsible for making arrangements on data distribution (e.g., cost, if any, method of distribution, etc.) and coordinate data orders with the requestor.

3. NAME Data Management Functional Description and Strategy

The general approach to data management support for NAME is summarized in a data flow diagram (see Fig. 2). It is important that the NAME data management strategy be responsive to the needs of the investigators, ensuring that data are accurate and disseminated in a timely fashion. It is also important that the investigators know what is expected of them in this process. After a description of the NDAC (Section 3.1), each step in the NAME data management process is discussed in more detail.

Fig. 2 - NAME Data Flow

3.1 NAME Data Archive Center (NDAC)

The NDAC will be located at NCAR/EOL in Boulder, CO, and data will be available through the existing EOL Data Management System (CODIAC). CODIAC offers scientists access to research and operational data. It provides the means to identify data sets of interest, facilities to view data and associated metadata and the ability to automatically obtain data via Internet file transfer or magnetic media. The user may browse data to preview selected data sets prior to retrieval. Data displays include time series plots for surface parameters, skew-T/log-P diagrams for soundings and gif images for model analysis and satellite imagery. CODIAC users can directly retrieve data. Users can download data via the Internet directly to their workstation or personal computer or request delivery of data on magnetic media. Data may be selected by time or location and can be converted to one of several formats before delivery. CODIAC automatically includes associated documentation concerning the data itself, processing steps and quality control procedures.

Contact Information:

Contact: CODIAC (codiac@ucar.edu).

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO, USA, 80307

Shipping Address: 3300 Mitchell Lane (Suite 2400), Boulder, CO 80307, USA

Telephone: (303) 497-8987, FAX (303) 497-8158

Internet Access: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/name/dm/

3.1.1 NAME Data Management Web pages

To organize NAME data management activities and access to data sets, EOL has created and maintains NAME Data Management web pages located directly at: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/name/dm/ . These pages (also linked from the NAME "Home" Page) provide access to NAME data sources and information (in-situ, satellite, and model output), project documentation, the on-line field catalog, data submission/guidelines, collaborating project data archives, and other relevant data related links. The "Master Table of all NAME international data sets (with links and Platform Information)" link from this page (or located directly at: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/name/dm/archive/ ) will consist of a searchable master table of all NAME data sets with links to in-house and distributed data sources (including documentation, data set status, and date of availability). This table will also contain links to data set documentation and date of data set posting. As data sets become available (or revised), this table will be updated providing an easy up-to-date "one-stop" access to all NAME data sets.

3.2 NAME On-line Field Data Catalog

NCAR/EOL will implement and maintain a web-based NAME On-line Field Data Catalog that will be operational during the NAME field phase to support the field operational planning, product display, and documentation (e.g. facility status, daily operations summaries, weather forecasts, and mission reports). Data collection information about both operational and research products (including documentation) will be entered into the system in near real time beginning 1 June 2004. The catalog will permit data entry (data collection details, field summary notes, certain operational data etc.), data browsing (listings, plots) and limited catalog information distribution. A Daily Operations Summary will be prepared and contain information regarding operations (aircraft flight times, major instrument systems sampling times, weather forecasts and synopses, etc.). These summaries will be entered into the On-line Field Catalog either electronically (via WWW interface and/or e-mail) or manually. It is important and desirable for the PIs to contribute product graphics (e.g., plots in gif, jpg, png, or postScript format) and/or data for retention on the catalog whenever possible. Updates of the status of data collection and instrumentation (on a daily basis or more often depending on the platforms and other operational requirements) will be available. Public access to the On-line Field Catalog is located at: http://catalog.eol.ucar.edu/name/ The On-line Field Data Catalog User's Guide (with specific instructions for submitting reports and data products) is located at: http://catalog.eol.ucar.edu/name/other/user-guide.html . Following the NAME field phase this catalog will continue to be available on-line to assist researchers with access to project information.

3.3 Investigator Requirements

The first step in organizing the data management support is to understand what data are anticipated from the various components of the program. The NAME SWG and the NAME Project Office have compiled a list of data set requirements. This will assist the NDAC in handling and processing the data as well as developing any format converters necessary. The NAME SWG has agreed that tasks associated with NAME data acquisition (e.g. in-field record keeping, backing up field data, data documentation [for catalog purposes], provision of data to data processing locations, and processing of raw data into geophysical parameters) is the responsibility of and will be performed by NDAC and the participating PIs (see Section 2.2).

3.3.1 Data Submission Requirements

The initial (or "raw") field data sets produced by various data sources and the PI's instrumentation will be recorded in a variety of formats (World Meteorological Organization (WMO) level I and IIA data). It is important that processed data end up in a converted easily accessible format (using engineering units) to be disseminated to the NAME scientific community and eventually the larger scientific community. EOL will work with the PIs to establish format standards for data and products submitted first to the On-line Field Catalog and then to the archive. It is important to set the format convention prior to data collection so that the NDAC can plan on required data conversion software and storage requirements. However, there may be certain situations where conversion to a final format must occur after the data are received at the NDAC and prior to dissemination.

The NAME Guidelines for data set submission (i.e. metadata and data formats) can be found at:  http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/name/dm/data_doc.html . This link provides important specific information and background to the PIs in submitting both documentation and data files, respectively. It is important for PIs to adhere to these requirements as much as possible so that any future data integration (e.g. data assimilation) could be performed in an efficient manner. Also, details of data set submission instructions to the NDAC are located at: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/name/dm/data_submission_instructions.html

3.4 Data Collection Schedule

A time line of critical dates in the sequence of NAME data management tasks are included in Fig. 3. Operational data sets to support the NAME Field Phase will be collected beginning early June 2004 and continue throughout the Field Phase (scheduled from 20 June to 31 August 2004). During this period, EOL will have primary responsibility for coordinating receipt of research-quality operational data sets along with complete documentation of field season activities (i.e. status reports and mission summaries). All this information along with selected research and operational products will be available from the On-line Field Data Catalog on a near real-time basis. PIs will have the responsibility of processing their data sets and submitting them to the NDAC in a timely manner.

3.4.1 Data Processing following the NAME Field Phase

It is important that all NAME PIs concentrate on post field season data processing activities to assure timely availability of data sets to the NDAC. The PIs will have complete responsibility for the processing and delivery of their data to the respective Data Archive Centers within 12 months of the conclusion of the Field Phase. Following the wishes of the NAME Science Working Group, the NDAC may restrict access of research data sets to other than NAME investigators only for the period 12 months following the Field Phase, if requested by the PIs (on an individual data set basis). As data sets are received by the EOL they will be promptly staged to CODIAC and made available to the scientific community. If requested by the PI, the data will be restricted to only NAME investigators on a password protected basis. EOL will assign individual passwords for each data set and respective PIs will be responsible for the distribution and policing of these passwords. All operational data will be staged and freely accessible by the entire scientific community as soon as possible after the field season (6 months or earlier following the end of the Field Phase).

The impact of timely receipt of the data on further steps in the data processing scheme is summarized with the time line in Fig. 3. The "preliminary" data will be in "native" format and resolution, that is, in the format and resolution the PI produces during their initial data processing. It is hoped that most preliminary research and all operational data sets will become available within 6 months of the end of the NAME Field Phase. Between the end of the Field Phase and the time the PI submits data to the NDAC, each PI will be individually responsible for the distribution and support of their data sets.

3.5 Data Archival and Long-term Access

The NAME data sets will be archived and distributed through the various NAME Data Archive Centers. These Data Archive Centers will be linked and contain all "shared" data sets, that is, all research and operational data that will eventually be accessible by the general scientific community. EOL has the responsibility for getting all research and operational data sets into a long term archive in coordination with the other Data Archive Centers. Again, the CODIAC Data Management System (section 3.1) will be used for the access, browse, and distribution of these data sets archived at the NDAC. As directed by the NAME Science Working Group, research data sets will be available (perhaps on a restricted basis), as PIs provide processed data to the NDAC (Section 3.1). As shown in Fig. 3, data will accessible to all NAME PIs within 6 to 12 months of the completion of the Field Phase. Then, following the schedule described in Chapter 2.0, the data sets will be freely available to the general scientific community no later than October 2005.

4. NAME Data Sets

4.1 Hydrometeorological Networks in the NAME Region

A survey of all available hydrometeorological networks in the NAME Region has been completed and contains descriptions of potential in-situ operational data streams that are available to NAME. This survey includes surface meteorological (national, regional, and state/local), precipitation and radar, radiation/flux, soils, hydrology, and upper air networks. This information (network descriptions, measured parameters, maps, and relevant links, etc.) have been compiled, organized by State/Country, and is available from the NAME Data Management WWW page or directly at: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/dm/gapp/networks/ . Some of these data are available in real (or near real) time, while others would only become available after the completion of the field phase of NAME. EOL has the responsibility to arrange for and collect network data relevant to NAME requirements.

Figure 4 shows the project area for NAME. Major data collection locations (fixed and mobile) are provided on this figure or described in the caption. Special research data will come from the aircraft

Fig. 4 - NAME 2004 EOP Instrument Network (after Gochis, 2004)

and ship platforms as well as land-based locations. Operational datasets to be collected for NAME will include satellite, sounding, surface, and model output (including trajectories).

A listing of all expected data sets (with documentation and data access links) can be found at: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/name/dm/archive/ . An overview of Operational and Research Data Sources are provided below.

4.2.1 Operational Data Sources

Surface Data:

Mexican SMN-CNA Automated Weather Station (AWS) Network - This network contains 74 Automatic Weather Stations measuring 10-min averages of temperature, station pressure, relative humidity, precipitation, solar radiation, and wind (direction, speed, and gust). For further information visit the SMN web site at http://smn.cna.gob.mx/productos/emas/emas.html

Mexican Navy SEMAR Automated Weather Station Network - This network contains 25 Automatic Weather Stations measuring 10-min averages of temperature, station pressure, relative humidity, precipitation, solar radiation, and wind (direction, speed, and gust). Some of these sites are in the NAME domain. For further information visit the SEMAR web site at http://www.semar.gob.mx/index.php .

Mexican GASIR-CNA Automated Weather Station Network - This network consists of 10 sites that are operated by the surface hydrology and river engineering.

Mexican CILA Automated Weather Station Network - This network consists of 44 sites operated by the International Boundary and Water Commission.

Mexican Agriculture Automated Weather Station Networks - There are numerous small networks in the State of Sonora that measure precipitation and various other meteorological parameters.

Mexican Meteorological Observatories - SMN operates a network of 83 surface synoptic reporting stations throughout Mexico. This network measures 3-h observations of temperature, station pressure, relative humidity, precipitation, solar radiation, and wind (direction, speed, and gust). For further information visit the SMN web site at http://smn.cna.gob.mx/ .

Mexican Climatological Station Network - This network consists of 2750 cooperative observers across Mexico. Approximately 850 record daily observations of precipitation.

NOAA/NWS ALERT Network - The existing ALERT (Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time) network in Arizona includes weather stations, precipitation gages, and streamflow gages. The 269 precipitation gages provide 15-minute observations of precipitation. For NAME, three additional automatic weather stations that measure temperature, relative humidity, station pressure, event precipitation, and wind (direction, speed and gust) will be added to this network. For further information on the ALERT Network in Arizona visit http://www.fcd.maricopa.gov/alert/alert.htm .

Upper Air Data:

Mexican SMN-CNA Rawinsonde Network - This network consists of 15 stations throughout Mexico that releases 1-2 rawinsondes per day. For NAME, 8 stations will provide additional releases. Stations at Chihuahua, Guaymas, Mazatlan, and La Paz will provide 6 releases on 20 IOP days and 2 releases on EOP days. Stations at Monterrey, Zacatecas, and Torreon will provide 6 releases on 12 IOP days and 2 releases on EOP days. For further information visit the SMN web site at http://smn.cna.gob.mx/ .

NOAA/NWS Rawinsonde Network - This network consists of 70 stations in the conterminous U.S. that release two rawinsondes daily (00 and 12 UTC). There are 9 stations in the NAME domain (Tucson, Las Vegas, San Diego, Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Midland, El Paso, Amarillo, and Del Rio) that will release four rawinsondes daily for 20 IOP days during NAME. For further information visit the NWS web site at http://www.ua.nws.noaa.gov/ .

U.S. DOD Yuma and Huachuca Rawinsonde - Additional rawinsonde releases will be provided by the U.S. Department of Defense Yuma Proving Grounds and Fort Huachuca to support NAME for the period 1 July through 15 August. For further information visit the Yuma Proving Grounds web site at http://www.yuma.army.mil/ and the Fort Huachuca web site at http://huachuca-www.army.mil/ .

National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) - The NLDN consists of over 100 remote, ground-based sensing stations located across the United States that instantaneously detect the electromagnetic signals given off when lightning strikes the earth's surface. These remote sensors send the raw data via a satellite-based communications network to the Network Control Center (NCC) operated by Vaisala Inc. in Tucson, Arizona. Within seconds of a lightning strike, the NCC's central analyzers process information on the location, time, polarity, and amplitude of each strike. For more information and technical specifications please visit the Vaisala web site at http://www.lightning.com .

NOAA/NWS WSR88-D Radar Network - The NOAA/NWS and the Department of Defense operate this network of 143 WSR-88D radars across the continguous US (4 in Arizona, 4 in New Mexico). 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. 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/ .

NOAA/NODC Buoys - NOAA operates a network of buoys off the California coast and in the gulf of Mexico that are of interest to NAME. Parameters measured include meteorological variables (temperature, dew point temperature, pressure, precipitation, solar radiation, wind, visibility), wave spectra (height, period, direction), and oceanographic variables (SST, salinity, conductivity). For further information visit the NODC web site at http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/ .

Aircraft:

NOAA P-3 - The NOAA Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) Lockheed WP-3D "Orion" aircraft will provide flight level data (navigation, temperature, specific humidity, pressure, and winds) as well as lower fuselage and tail C-band radars. For further information and technical specifications visit the AOC web site at http://www.aoc.noaa.gov/aircraft_lockheed.htm .

Surface Data:

NCAR ISS - Three NCAR/ATD Integrated Sounding Systems (ISS) will provide enhanced surface meteorological observations at Puerto Peñasco, Bahía Kino, and Los Mochis. Surface observations include one minute averages of temperature, humidity, precipitation, station pressure, wind, and radiation (up-looking solar radiation, PIR, and net radiation). For further information and technical specifications visit the ISS web site at http://www.atd.ucar.edu/rtf/facilities/iss/iss.html .

NOAA/ETL/AL Flux Supersite - NOAA will provide a coastal Flux supersite from Estación Obispo, Sinaloa, approximately 45 km NW of the S-Pol radar. Surface measurements will consist of meteorological parameters (temperature, humidity, pressure, precipitation, wind, and radiation), flux (latent and sensible heat), disdrometer, and soil moisture.

NOAA/NSSL Flux Site - NSSL will provide a flux tower site in the deciduous tropical forest in the SMO foothills to measure bare ground and canopy flux estimates. Observations include Eddy Co-variance flux, soil moisture, and surface meteorological parameters.

NERN Raingages - The NAME Event Rangage Network (NERN) consists of 100 tipping bucket raingages that have been installed in primarily east-west transects across the Sierra Madre Occidental in Northwest Mexico. The raw rainfall data is stored as rainfall events which correspond to tips of the tipping bucket mechanism. This data will be reprocessed into the following equal interval periods: 5 min, 15 min, 30 min, 1 hr, 3 hr, 12 hr, and 24 hr.

Creighton University supplemental sfc stations - Creighton University is providing 16 remote stations that measure temperature and relative humidity only. These stations will be co-located with 16 NERN sites.

NAME "Simple" raingage network - NAME will provide 1400 supplemental gages to ranches distributed in the NAME area. Daily observations will be recorded on-site and sent to IMTA (Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua) for final processing.

Upper Air:

NOAA/NSSL PACS SONET PIBAL Network - The PACS SONET Pilot Balloon project will provide approximately 21 stations in the NAME region. These stations will provide profiles of wind speed & direction from the surface to approx 11 km altitude. For further information on the PACS SONET PIBAL program visit the NOAA/NSSL web site at: http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/projects/pacs/ .

NOAA/NSSL Flux Site - In addition to surface meteorological, soils, and flux measurements, Pressure/temperature/humidity profiles will be provided by radiosonde. Winds in the boundary layer will be provided by balloon tracking using a theodolite.

NOAA/ETL/AL Flux Supersite - NOAA will provide a coastal Flux supersite (Est. Obispo, 45 km NW of S-Pol Radar). Upper air measurements will consist of 915-MHz & 449-MHz Doppler clear-air wind radar profiles with Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) profiles, and ceiliometer.

NCAR ISS - Three NCAR/ATD Integrated Sounding Systems (ISS) will provide enhanced upper air observations at Puerto Peñasco, Bahía Kino, and Los Mochis. Observations include 915 MHz Doppler clear-air wind radar profiles, Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) profiles, and Balloon borne radiosonde navaid (GPS) soundings. For further information and technical specifications visit the ISS web site at http://www.atd.ucar.edu/rtf/facilities/iss/iss.html .

NCAR GAOS Rawinsonde - One NCAR/ATD (GAOS) station will provide upper air profiles of temperature, humidity, pressure, and winds at Loreto, Baja California Sur. For further information and technical specifications visit the GAOS web site at http://www.atd.ucar.edu/rtf/facilities/class/class.html .

GPS - This network of ~200 stations measures atmospheric water vapor using ground-based Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. The data consists of surface meteorological parameters (temperature, relative humidity, and pressure) and integrated precipitable water vapor (IPW) every 30 minutes. For further information and technical specifications visit the NOAA/FSL web site at http://www.gpsmet.noaa.gov/jsp/index.jsp .

Radar:

NCAR S-Pol Radar - The S-Band Polarization Doppler Radar (S-Pol) will be deployed north of Mazatlán, near the town of La Crúz, Sinaloa. Data consists of reflectivity, doppler velocity and microphysical detection at a resolution of 500m with 120 km range. Variables recorded include PHH, PVV, V, W, R(1)HV, R(1)VH|, |R(2)|, PhiDP, PhoHV, NCP, ZH, ZDR, LDR, Kdp. For further information and technical specifications visit the S-Pol web site at http://www.atd.ucar.edu/rsf/spol/spol.html .

Ship:

Mexican Navy SEMAR Research Vessel "Altair" - Measurements on-board include standard meteorological and navigational parameters, ocean-atmosphere fluxes, 915 MHz Doppler clear-air wind radar profiles, ceilometer, rawinsondes, and CTD profiles. The Altair will be anchored at the location 23.5°N, 108°W from July 5-22 and July 26- Aug 12. For further information and technical specifications visit the Altair web site at http://www.semar.gob.mx/digadoc/buque_bi03.htm .

Mexican CICESE Research Vessel "Francisco de Ulloa" - Measurements on-board include standard meteorological and navigational parameters, pilot balloons (PIBALS), tethersonde balloon, GPS rawinsonde, and oceanographic (drifter deployment, water temperature, salinity, and current mapping). The Francisco de Ulloa will be making multiple transects traversing southern gulf of California. For further information and technical specifications visit the Francisco de Ulloa web site (Spanish only) at http://oceanografia.cicese.mx/fcoulloa/ .

UNAM Research Vessel "El Puma" - Measurements on-board include standard meteorological and navigational parameters, radiosondes (Vaisala Digicora), tethersonde balloon, radiometers (short and long wave, upwelling and downwelling radiation), precipitation gauges, satellite imagery, and oceanographic measurements (thermosalinometer and CTD). For further information and technical specifications visit the El Puma web site at http://www.cms.udel.edu/ships/country/Mexico/el_puma.htm .

4.3 Coordination with other Programs

The need for data from other programs operating spatially or temporally close to NAME are very important to NAME. These include the CLIVAR Pan American Climate Studies (PACS), GEWEX Americas Prediction Project (GAPP), and the 2004 Soil Moisture Experiment (SMEX-04). Further details of these projects are provided below:

SMEX-04 - The intention of SMEX04 collaboration with NAME is to enhance the terrestrial hydrology component of NAME by facilitating development of soil moisture data and products. Specific activities include the provision of soil moisture products from the existing in-situ network in Arizona, the development of an equivalent network within a study region in Mexico, and soil moisture products derived from aircraft and existing satellite sensors on Aqua and TRMM. An intensive ground and aircraft field campaign will take place between mid July and mid August 2004 that will provide validation of the in-situ and satellite products. SMEX04-NAME will also address important algorithm and validation issues for existing satellite based soil moisture products from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) and future low frequency instruments.

Further details on SMEX-04 can be found at: http://hydrolab.arsusda.gov/smex04/

The SMEX-04 Data Archive is located at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and can be found at: http://nsidc.org/data/amsr_validation/soil_moisture/smex04/

PACS - The principal goal of the CLIVAR PACS is to extend the scope and improve the skill of operational seasonal-to-interdecadal climate prediction over the Americas. Several of the important climate features of this region include the warm season rainfall and extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and torrential rain falls. The climate of the region is dominated by the intertropical convergence zones (ITCZ) over the eastern Pacific and equatorial Atlantic and by the monsoons over the land regions. Current research supported by CLIVAR PACS has the following scientific goals:

• Identify cause-and-effect relationships for monsoon modulation on time scales from seasonal to interdecadal, including teleconnection patterns that span the Pan American region;

• Model the structure and evolution of the eastern tropical Pacific SST field, the ITCZ/cold tongue complex and subtropical stratus cloud decks and their influence on climate over the Americas;

• Define dynamical processes responsible for the onset, demise and character of the continental-scale monsoon over South America.

Further details on PACS can be found at: http://www.ogp.noaa.gov/mpe/clivar/pacs/index.htm

The PACS Data Management Center is located at NCAR/EOl can be found at: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/pacs/index.html

GAPP - The GAPP program (GEWEX [Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment] Americas Prediction Project) objectives are to make monthly to seasonal predictions of the hydrological cycle and to use these improved predictions for better water resources management. The first objective largely involves improving the land surface, hydrology, and boundary layer representations of models used for climate prediction through improved understanding of the hydrological processes, feedbacks between the land and atmosphere, model transferability, and development of a comprehensive modeling system. The second objective involves scaling the climate model output to make it useful for water resource managers, improved understanding of the links between hydrologic predictions and water resources management, including the use of demonstration projects, and better understanding of the effects of land surface changes on the regional hydrology. Two major new initiatives will be the effect of orography on the hydrological cycle of the Western Cordillera and the predictability of the North American Monsoon (NAMS) and its effects on summer precipitation over the USA. The other components all relate to improving the predictability of the hydrological cycle with special regards to the land surface and the role of predictions for water resources management.
Further details on GAPP can be found at: http://www.ogp.noaa.gov/mpe/gapp/gapp/index.htm

The GAPP Data Management Center is located at NCAR/EOL can be found at:
http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/gapp/dm/

Data will be linked from all these archives through formal channels and coordinated data management agreements and interfaces. Data from these and other programs will be requested and included in the NAME archive as available. Links to the data access for these collaborating projects are located on the NAME Data Management WWW page: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/name/dm/

APPENDIX A

LIST OF ACRONYMS

AOC Aircraft Operations Center (NOAA)

AMSR Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer

ATD Atmospheric Technology Division (NCAR)

AWS Automated Weather Station

ALERT Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time

CICESE Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada

CLIVAR CLImate VARiability and predictability

CNA Comisión Nacional del Agua

CTD Current Temperature Density Profile

DAAC Distributed Active Archive Center

DM Data Management

DOD Department of Defense (U.S.)

EOP Enhanced Observing Period

ETL Environmental Technology Laboratory (NOAA)

GAPP GEWEX Americas Prediction Project

GEWEX Global Energy and Water cycle Experiment

GPS Global Positioning System

GSFC Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA)

GTS Global Telecommunications System

IMTA Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua

IOP Intensive Observing Period

IPW Integrated Precipitable Water

ISS Integrated Sounding System

ITCZ Inter Tropical Convergence Zone

Earth Obeserving Laboratory (NCAR/EOL)

JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA)

LaRC Langley Research Center (NASA)

NAME North American Monsoon Experiment

NAMS North American Monsoon System

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NCAR National Center for Atmospheric Research

NCC Network Control Center

NCDC National Climatic Data Center (NOAA)

NDAC NAME Data Archive Center

NERN NAME Event Raingage Network

NLDN National Lightning Detection Network

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NODC National Oceanographic Data Center (NOAA)

NSIDC National Snow and Ice Data Center

NSSL National Severe Storms Laboratory (NOAA)

NWS National Weather Service (NOAA)

PACS Pan American Climate Studies

PI Principal Investigator

PIBAL PIlot BALoon

QC Quality Control

RASS Radio Acoustic Sounding System

SEMAR Secretaría de Marina, Armada de Mexico

SMEX Soil Moisture EXperiment

SMN Servicio Meteorológico Nacional

SST Sea Surface Temperature

SWG Science Working Group

UCAR University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

UTC Universal Time Coordinated

VAD Velocity Azimuth Display

VAMOS Variability of the American MOnsoon Systems

VIL Vertically Integrated Liquid

WMO World Meteorological Organization

WSR-88D Weather Service Radar-1988 Doppler

WWW World Wide Web