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Arctic Water Vapor Characteristics from Rawinsondes
Entry ID: NSIDC-0033

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Summary

Abstract: A gridded climatological monthly-mean data base of Arctic water vapor characteristics has been assembled by combining fixed station data with data from soundings taken over the Arctic Ocean from ships and Russian drifting stations. Variables provided include temperature, specific humidity, zonal vapor flux, meridional vapor flux, zonal wind speed, and meridional wind speed, available for 15 levels extending from the surface and then at every 50 mb from 950 mb to 300 mb; sea level pressure and geopotential height, available at 850 mb, 700 mb, 500 mb and 300 mb; and precipitable water, vertically integrated zonal vapor flux and vertically integrated meridional vapor flux, available for five layers, surface to 850 mb, 850 to 700 mb, 700 to 500 mb, 500 to 400 mb and 400 to 300 mb. Coverage of the rawinsonde archives extends from 1945 through 1990 for data from the Russian North Pole series of drifting ice stations over the Arctic Ocean; from 1976 through 1991 for fixed-station data obtained from the National Center for Atmospheric Research; and from about 1958 through 1991 for fixed-station data obtained from the Historical Arctic Rawinsonde Archive. All variables were obtained through interpolation of the raw sounding data, with the exception of sea level pressure and geopotential height. The file, available via ftp, is structured in monthly data arrays over a subsection of the National Meteorological Center grid (octagonal grid format) centered over the pole, extending to approximately 65 degrees North on each side and about 55 degrees North at the corners.

Related URL

Link: GET DATA > ECHO
Description: Refine your granule search with ECHO's next generation Earth Science discovery tool (Reverb) using information from this record.

Geographic Coverage

N: 90.0 S: 65.0 E: 180.0 W: -180.0

Data Set Citation

Dataset Title: Arctic Water Vapor Characteristics from Rawinsondes
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, CO U.S.A.
Dataset Publisher: National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
Online Resource: http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0033.html

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 1954-01-01

Location Keywords

OCEAN > ARCTIC OCEAN > BAFFIN BAY
OCEAN > ARCTIC OCEAN > BEAUFORT SEA
OCEAN > ARCTIC OCEAN > CHUKCHI SEA
OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GREENLAND SEA
OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN > BERING SEA
CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > CANADA > HUDSON BAY
GEOGRAPHIC REGION > ARCTIC
GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Science Keywords

ATMOSPHERE >ALTITUDE >GEOPOTENTIAL HEIGHT    [Definition]

ATMOSPHERE >ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE >SEA LEVEL PRESSURE    [Definition]

ATMOSPHERE >ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE >AIR TEMPERATURE    [Definition]

ATMOSPHERE >ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR >HUMIDITY >HUMIDITY    [Definition]

ATMOSPHERE >ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR >PRECIPITABLE WATER >WATER VAPOR FLUX    [Definition]

ATMOSPHERE >ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR >WATER VAPOR >HUMIDITY    [Definition]

ATMOSPHERE >ATMOSPHERIC WINDS >SURFACE WINDS >WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    [Definition]

ATMOSPHERE >ATMOSPHERIC WINDS >UPPER LEVEL WINDS >WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    [Definition]

ISO Topic Category

CLIMATOLOGY/METEOROLOGY/ATMOSPHERE
ENVIRONMENT

Platform

BALLOONS [Information]

GROUND STATIONS [Information]

Instrument

RAWINSONDES [Information]

Project

EOSDIS >Earth Observing System Data Information System [Information]

ESIP >Earth Science Information Partners Program [Information]

Keywords

DRIFTING STATIONS

IDN_NODE GSFC/NSIDC

Precipitable Water

Rawinsondes

Sea Level Pressure

Vapor Flux

Wind Speed

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Data Center

NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center [Information]
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/daac/index.html

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC USER SERVICES
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc at nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

National Snow and Ice Data Center [Information]
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org
Dataset ID: NSIDC-0033

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC USER SERVICES
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc at nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

Distribution

Distribution_Media: ftp

Personnel

MARK C. SERREZE
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Phone: (303) 492-6199
Fax: (303) 492-2468
Email: serreze at nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449

JONATHAN D. W. KAHL
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Phone: 414-229-4561
Email: kahl at csd.uwm.edu
Contact Address:
Department of Geosciences
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
P.O. Box 413
City: Milwaukee
Province or State: WI
Postal Code: 53201
Country: USA

R. G. BARRY
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Contact Address:
University of Colorado
National Snow and Ice Data Center/World Data Center for Glaciology
449 UCB
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

NSIDC USER SERVICES
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc at nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

Publications/References

Serreze, M. C., M. C. Rehder, R. G. Barry and J. D. Kahl. 1995. Arctic Water Vapor Characteristics: A Climatological Data Base. User's Guide. National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Serreze, M. C., M. C. Rehder, R. G. Barry and J. D. Kahl. 1994(a). A climatological database of arctic water vapor characteristics. Polar Geography and Geology. 18(1):63-75.

Serreze, M. C., M. C. Rehder, R. G. Barry, J. D. Kahl and N. A. Zaitseva. 1994 (b). The distribution and transport of water vapor over the Arctic Basin. Int. J. Climatology. In press.

Creation and Review Dates

Last DIF Revision Date: 2012-05-14

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