NETWORK DESCRIPTIONS HELP PAGE

NWS Cooperative Observers (Coop)

Station Inventory

A cooperative station is a site where observations are taken or other services rendered by volunteers or contractors. Observers are not required to take any tests. Automatic observing stations are considered cooperative stations if their observed data are used for services which otherwise would be provided by cooperative observers. A cooperative station may be collocated with other types of observing stations such as standard observations stations, Flight Service Stations, etc. In these cases, that portion of the station observing program supporting the cooperative program's mission is treated and documented independently of the other observational and service programs.

While most cooperative observers are volunteers some are paid where specific types of services are needed. Observers frequently record temperature and precipitation daily and send those reports monthly to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) or an NWS office. Many cooperative observers provide additional hydrological or meteorological data, such as evaporation. Data is transmitted via telephone, computer or mail. Equipment used at NWS cooperative stations may be owned by the NWS, the observer, or by a company or other government agency, as long as it meets NWS equipment standards. Observers send data forms sent monthly to NCDC in Asheville, NC, where data are digitized, checked and archived.
(From NWS site)

SNOTEL

Station Inventory

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) installs, operates, and maintains an extensive, automated system to collect snowpack and related climatic data in the Western United States called SNOTEL (for SNOwpack TELemetry).

Basic SNOTEL sites have a pressure sensing snow pillow, storage precipitation gage, and air temperature sensor. However, they can accommodate 64 channels of data and will accept analog, parallel, or serial digital sensors. On-site microprocessors provide functions such as computing daily maximum, minimum, and average temperature information. Generally, sensor data is recorded every 15 minutes and reported out in a daily poll of all sites. Special polls are conducted more frequently in response to specific needs.
(From NRCS SNOTEL page)

RAWS (Remote Automated Weather Station)

Station Inventory

RAWS stations record data every hour and are transmitted by satellite. Most stations record wind speed and direction, peak winds, air temperature, dew point, wet bulb, fuel temperature, fuel moisture, relative humidity, precipitation, and solar radiation. These stations are owned and operated by various agencies, including Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the US Forest Service.

CIMIS (California Irrigation Management Information System)

Station Inventory

CIMIS is an integrated network of over 100 computerized weather stations located at key agricultural and municipal sites throughout California. This network is operated by the California Department of Water Resources. Hourly measurements of ETo, precipitation, solar radiation, vapor pressure, air temperature, relative humidity, dew point, wind speed, wind direction, and soil temperature are recorded and transmitted once daily.

CDEC (California Data Exchange Center)

The CDEC group of stations includes California Snow Survey sites and others operated by the State of California, federal, regional and local groups. Some groups that provide data to this network are Pacific Gas & Electric (PG & E) and Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). Many stations transmit data near-real time. Few quality checks are performed on this data.

Surface Airways

Station Inventory

This global data set contains hourly or 3-hourly surface weather observations that are measured primarily at major airports and military bases. Observations are made by trained personnel or automated equipment that has been tested by the controlling agency. The stations are usually fully instrumented and therefore record a complete range of meteorological parameters. The observations are generally recorded for the 24-hour period midnight to midnight.

The major data variables and parameters are as follows: Record Type (HLY), WBAN Identification Station number, Units of measurement indicators, source codes, data quality flags, and element types: cloud data, visibility data, wind data, temperature data, sky cover data, relative humidity data, pressure data, and present weather data.
(From NCDC Data Set Documentation, in PDF format)

NOAA Buoys and C-MAN Stations

The Coastal-Marine Automated Network (C-MAN) was established by National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) for the NWS in the early 1980's. The development of C-MAN was in response to a need to maintain meteorological observations in U. S. coastal areas. Such observations, which had been made previously by USCG personnel, would have been lost as many USCG navigational aids were automated under the Lighthouse Automation and Modernization Program (LAMPS). In all, approximately 60 stations make up C-MAN.

C-MAN stations have been installed on lighthouses, at capes and beaches, on near shore islands, and on offshore platforms (see the NDBC station location map for all station locations).

C-MAN station data typically include barometric pressure, wind direction, speed and gust, and air temperature; however, some C-MAN stations are designed to also measure sea water temperature, water level, waves, relative humidity, precipitation, and visibility. These data are processed and transmitted hourly to users in a manner almost identical to moored buoy data. In addition to the conventional method of data transmission, certain C-MAN stations are equipped with telephone modems that allow more frequent data acquisition, data quality checking, and remote payload reconfiguration or restarting.

See the NDBC website for more information.

Other Networks & Stations

This group includes any smaller networks or individual stations that do not fit in any of the categories above.