[Met_help] converting sfc obs to ascii

[John Halley Gotway]

Kathleen,

The short answer to your first question is to put -9999 in the "level"
column for ADPSFC observations to indicate missing data.  When verifying
at the surface Point-Stat does not actually use the "level" value. 
Instead, it assumes that any point observations with a message type of
"ADPSFC" are at the surface.  So that's why you can put in missing data.

You could also put -9999 in the columns for "elevation" and "height" for
ADPSFC observations since they won't actually be used by Point-Stat for
the same reason.

Regarding the station name, you're welcome to use whatever string you'd
like.  Just don't embed any spaces or funny characters.  Point-Stat only
actually uses the station name when the user sets the "mask_sid" option in
the Point-Stat configuration file.  Please see the config file or MET
User's Guide for a description of that.  So use whatever string you'd like
for the station name.

Just let us know if any more questions arise in your use of MET.

Thanks,
John Halley Gotway
johnhg at ucar.edu

> I am in the process now of converting some surface observations from a
> field
> program into the ascii format needed for the ascii2nc tool and I have a
> couple questions.
>
> First, the sample_obs/ascii directory only has sample obs from upper air
> (ADPUPA) and none from (ASPSFC), so the question is what should I put for
> the Level?
> Second, where can I find the Station_ID for my data if it is not from an
> NWS
> upper air location?  Can I use a character string or does it have to be a
> 5
> digit number?
>
> Thanks,
> --
> Kathleen Carroll
> Institute of Atmospheric Sciences
> South Dakota School of Mines & Tech.
> Rapid City, SD 57701
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