The NAMAP monthly mean archive at JOSS

Dear Colleagues,

I would like to start coordinating the output archive for NAMAP 1990 simulations. This message outlines a directory and file-naming convention and I solicit your comments. I will work with personnel at JOSS to get this set up. It's my hope that data transfer and access will be as easy and transparent as possible.

Here is the file and naming convention I suggest. The list of files is based on the NAMAP protocol (online at

http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/name/namap/NAMAP_protocol.html

if you don't have it handy).

Files: each file is a concatenated set of monthly average maps for a particular variable and time of day, written in binary x-y format suitable for import into GrADS. Thus for NAME Tier I high-resolution output, hourly data for surface latent flux for the month of July would be written out as 24 x-y maps for 00Z, 01Z, ..., 23Z concatenated into one file. Since each model will have a different resolution we'll need clear instructions about the x-y format and how to convert your model's horizontal coordinates into latitude and longitude.

Directories:

I. For each model we'll create a top directory named after you or your group/model, e.g. RAMS_CSU.

II. The next level of subdirectory is the month, e.g. Jul_1990

III. The next level is the domain, either Tier1 or Tier2.

IV. Within Tier1 or Tier2 are the concatenated map files as described above. For Tier1 the NAMAP protocol calls for the following fields. I would like to propose that each file name include the number of maps (i.e. number of hours) included in the file, as some of you may be archiving maps every 3 hours instead of every hour. For example, LH_24 would instead be named LH_8 if it contains 3-hourly monthly averages. Here's a proposed naming convention (I hope the basic variables are self-evident, if not let me know):

Cheers,
Dave