The Reference Climatological Stations (RCS) network represents the first effort by NOAA to create and maintain a nationwide network of stations located only in areas where no changes in the surroundings are foreseen. Efforts to establish the network began in 1954 by the National Weather Service. The network became operational in 1966 with the selection of fifteen stations from a list of 28 candidate sites; six more were added as the network expanded. Most stations were located at university agricultural experiment stations. Core data elements include temperature, rainfall, and wind speed & direction. Some stations also measured evaporation and soil temperature. Observations were taken daily by volunteer observers, and were a subset of the extensive NWS Cooperative Observations network. Stations were assigned Cooperative Station IDs, but were provided with special forms on which to record wind speed and direction, elements not recorded at other Coop stations.

Publication of monthly mean temperature, pressure, precipitation, vapor pressure, and hours of sunshine for approximately 2,000 surface data collection stations worldwide, and monthly mean upper air temperatures, dew point depressions, and wind velocities for approximately 500 observing sites.

The Global Telecommunications System (GTS) is a major component of transmitting global meteorological data, consisting of both in situ and satellite observations. This data is collected by a number of organizations, which archive and further process the data. The National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) collect this GTS data and format it into BUFR (Binary Universal Form for the Representation of meteorological data) for their processing needs. After processing, the BUFR is transmitted to NCAR for archival and additional processing into the International Maritime Meteorological Archive (IMMA) format for the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS). NCAR also archives this IMMA-formatted data. NCDC will use these data as source input for the new ICOADS Near-Real-Time (NRT) product and will archive the two data streams from NCAR--the NCEP-BUFR data as well as IMMA (International Maritime Meteorological Archive) formatted data files (converted from the NCEP-BUFR file format) that are produced by NCAR. The IMMA format has been adopted by many organizations as the preferred format for marine observations. The data consists of basic observations taken from ships, buoys, C-MAN (Coastal Marine Automated Network), and tide-gauge stations. Observations may include: air and sea surface temperature, wind direction/speed, waves, sea level pressure, etc.

The Global Telecommunications System (GTS) is a major component of transmitting global meteorological data, consisting of both in situ and satellite observations. This data is collected by a number of organizations, which archive and further process the data. The National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) collect this GTS data and format it into BUFR (Binary Universal Form for the Representation of meteorological data) for their processing needs. After processing, the BUFR is transmitted to NCAR for archival and additional processing into the International Maritime Meteorological Archive (IMMA) format for the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS). NCAR also archives this IMMA-formatted data. NCDC will use these data as source input for the new ICOADS Near-Real-Time (NRT) product and will archive the two data streams from NCAR--the NCEP-BUFR data as well as IMMA (International Maritime Meteorological Archive) formatted data files (converted from the NCEP-BUFR file format) that are produced by NCAR. The IMMA format has been adopted by many organizations as the preferred format for marine observations. The data consists of basic observations taken from ships, buoys, C-MAN (Coastal Marine Automated Network), and tide-gauge stations. Observations may include: air and sea surface temperature, wind direction/speed, waves, sea level pressure, etc.

Digitized data taken from Wind Gust Charts. Record contains hourly wind directions and speed with a peak wind recorded at the end of each day. Sorted by: station, year, month, day, hour. Overview: Standard text files with a 80 character record length. Year, month, and day are stored in separate 2 character fields ELEMENT: Station Number LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Card Number LENGTH: 2 ELEMENT: Year LENGTH: 2 ELEMENT: Month LENGTH: 2 ELEMENT: Day LENGTH: 2 ELEMENT: Level LENGTH: 1 ELEMENT: 10 Minutes +- 5 Minutes | Min Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: 10 Minutes +- 5 Minutes | Mean Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: 10 Minutes +- 5 Minutes | Max Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Hourly +- 30 Minutes | Min Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Hourly +- 30 Minutes | Max Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Code LENGTH: 1 ELEMENT: Hour LENGTH: 2 ELEMENT: 10 Minutes +- 5 Minutes | Min Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: 10 Minutes +- 5 Minutes | Mean Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: 10 Minutes +- 5 Minutes | Max Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Hourly +- 30 Minutes | Min Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Hourly +- 30 Minutes | Max Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Code LENGTH: 1

Digitized data taken from Wind Gust Charts. Record contains hourly wind directions and speed with a peak wind recorded at the end of each day. Sorted by: station, year, month, day, hour. Overview: Standard text files with a 80 character record length. Year, month, and day are stored in separate 2 character fields ELEMENT: Station Number LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Card Number LENGTH: 2 ELEMENT: Year LENGTH: 2 ELEMENT: Month LENGTH: 2 ELEMENT: Day LENGTH: 2 ELEMENT: Level LENGTH: 1 ELEMENT: 10 Minutes +- 5 Minutes | Min Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: 10 Minutes +- 5 Minutes | Mean Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: 10 Minutes +- 5 Minutes | Max Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Hourly +- 30 Minutes | Min Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Hourly +- 30 Minutes | Max Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Code LENGTH: 1 ELEMENT: Hour LENGTH: 2 ELEMENT: 10 Minutes +- 5 Minutes | Min Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: 10 Minutes +- 5 Minutes | Mean Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: 10 Minutes +- 5 Minutes | Max Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Hourly +- 30 Minutes | Min Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Hourly +- 30 Minutes | Max Speed +- LENGTH: 4 ELEMENT: Code LENGTH: 1

The Global Telecommunications System (GTS) is a major component of transmitting global meteorological data, consisting of both in situ and satellite observations. This data is collected by a number of organizations, which archive and further process the data. The National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) collect this GTS data and formats it into BUFR (Binary Universal Form for the Representation of meteorological data) for their processing needs. After processing, the BUFR is transmitted to NCAR for archival and additional processing into the International Maritime Meteorological Archive (IMMA) format for the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS). NCAR also archives this IMMA-formatted data. NCDC will use these data as source input for the new ICOADS Near-Real-Time (NRT) product and will archive the two data streams from NCAR--the NCEP-BUFR data as well as IMMA (International Maritime Meteorological Archive) formatted data files (converted from the NCEP-BUFR file format) that are produced by NCAR. The IMMA format has been adopted by many organizations as the preferred format for marine observations. The data consists of basic observations taken from ships, buoys, C-MAN (Coastal Marine Automated Network), and tide-gauge stations. Observations may include: air and sea surface temperature, wind direction/speed, waves, sea level pressure, etc.

The Global Telecommunications System (GTS) is a major component of transmitting global meteorological data, consisting of both in situ and satellite observations. This data is collected by a number of organizations, which archive and further process the data. The National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) collect this GTS data and formats it into BUFR (Binary Universal Form for the Representation of meteorological data) for their processing needs. After processing, the BUFR is transmitted to NCAR for archival and additional processing into the International Maritime Meteorological Archive (IMMA) format for the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS). NCAR also archives this IMMA-formatted data. NCDC will use these data as source input for the new ICOADS Near-Real-Time (NRT) product and will archive the two data streams from NCAR--the NCEP-BUFR data as well as IMMA (International Maritime Meteorological Archive) formatted data files (converted from the NCEP-BUFR file format) that are produced by NCAR. The IMMA format has been adopted by many organizations as the preferred format for marine observations. The data consists of basic observations taken from ships, buoys, C-MAN (Coastal Marine Automated Network), and tide-gauge stations. Observations may include: air and sea surface temperature, wind direction/speed, waves, sea level pressure, etc.

U.S. Enhanced Hourly Wind Station Data is digital data set DSI-6421, archived at the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI; formerly National Climatic Data Center, NCDC). During earlier work at NCDC, it was noted that anemometer elevations at U.S. weather stations (for which metadata related to anemometer height was available) varied widely with time. Between 1931 and 2000, there were up to 12 significant anemometer height changes at some of these stations, and on average there was one change per decade at any station with more than 10 years of record. For example, at Los Angeles International Airport, the anemometer height changed 4 times during the 60 years, varying from 59 ft to 20 ft, while at Edwards Air Force Base, the anemometer height was changed 10 times and varied from 13 ft to 75 ft. Therefore, the elevation homogenization of the near-surface wind time series is a necessary pre-requisite for any climatological assessments. This was done at NCDC, creating the DSI-6421 data set. Stations were included in DSI-6421 on a year-by-year basis, depending upon the availability of anemometer metadata and the number of observations made during a year. The earliest data was from 1931, with very few stations. The number of stations increased during World War II to about 200, decreased briefly after the war, and increased to about 350 during the period 1948-1972 because most first-order (primary) stations qualified for inclusion. After 1972, as the importance of metadata was more widely recognized, the number of qualified stations rose to near 1000 by 1985, and continued at about that number through year 2000. The formulae used were U10g = Ua log[(10-Hsnod)/z0]/log[(Ha - Hsnod)/z0], and U10s = Ua log[10/z0]/log[(Ha - Hsnod)/z0], where z0 is the surface roughness (a function of the presence of snow cover at the site); Hsnod is the snow depth; Ha is the anemometer height above the ground; Ua is the wind speed at the anemometer height; U10g is the speed at 10 m above the ground; and U10s is the speed at 10 m above the surface.

U.S. Enhanced Hourly Wind Station Data is digital data set DSI-6421, archived at the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI; formerly National Climatic Data Center, NCDC). During earlier work at NCDC, it was noted that anemometer elevations at U.S. weather stations (for which metadata related to anemometer height was available) varied widely with time. Between 1931 and 2000, there were up to 12 significant anemometer height changes at some of these stations, and on average there was one change per decade at any station with more than 10 years of record. For example, at Los Angeles International Airport, the anemometer height changed 4 times during the 60 years, varying from 59 ft to 20 ft, while at Edwards Air Force Base, the anemometer height was changed 10 times and varied from 13 ft to 75 ft. Therefore, the elevation homogenization of the near-surface wind time series is a necessary pre-requisite for any climatological assessments. This was done at NCDC, creating the DSI-6421 data set. Stations were included in DSI-6421 on a year-by-year basis, depending upon the availability of anemometer metadata and the number of observations made during a year. The earliest data was from 1931, with very few stations. The number of stations increased during World War II to about 200, decreased briefly after the war, and increased to about 350 during the period 1948-1972 because most first-order (primary) stations qualified for inclusion. After 1972, as the importance of metadata was more widely recognized, the number of qualified stations rose to near 1000 by 1985, and continued at about that number through year 2000. The formulae used were U10g = Ua log[(10-Hsnod)/z0]/log[(Ha - Hsnod)/z0], and U10s = Ua log[10/z0]/log[(Ha - Hsnod)/z0], where z0 is the surface roughness (a function of the presence of snow cover at the site); Hsnod is the snow depth; Ha is the anemometer height above the ground; Ua is the wind speed at the anemometer height; U10g is the speed at 10 m above the ground; and U10s is the speed at 10 m above the surface.