Re: [galeon] need free data sets

• To: Ben Domenico <Ben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
• Subject: Re: [galeon] need free data sets
• From: Gerry Creager <gerry.creager@xxxxxxxx>
• Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:43:12 -0600

gerry

Ben Domenico wrote:

Hi Peter,

One place you might look for a set of the most recent Global Forecast Model runs from the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction on our Undata server at:

http://motherlode.ucar.edu:8080/thredds/catalog/fmrc/NCEP/GFS/Global_0p5deg/files/catalog.html

These are the runs of the 0.5 degree resolution forecasts. Each file is "only" about 3 GB, but you can combine a set of them to get to the size you are looking for. If you need larger collections, I know that we have about 20GB of ensemble forecast runs coming into UCAR/NCAR, but I don't know if they are being made available publicly yet. Others on the list may know.

In terms of interesting characteristics, you can drill down and look at what's available in each forecast, e.g.,

http://motherlode.ucar.edu:8080/thredds/ncss/grid/fmrc/NCEP/GFS/Global_0p5deg/files/GFS_Global_0p5deg_20071218_0000.grib2/dataset.html

One thing you'll notice is the variety of vertical coordinates for different parameters. In particular, the "geopotential height" is, in effect, a dependent variable with the pressure level as the independent coordinate variable. That's the sort of unusual characteristic where a transformation might benefit some user communities that are not used to working in pressure coordinates.

Hope this is enough to get you started.

-- Ben

• References:
  • [galeon] need free data sets
    • From: Peter Baumann
  • Re: [galeon] need free data sets
    • From: Ben Domenico