About UNC Asheville’s Data Files
The Department of Atmospheric Sciences at UNC Asheville produces space-delimited files that are used to display data on our Current Data Display and 60-inch Weather Wall Display. The format also makes it easy to plot meteorological data in programs like Microsoft Excel. To plot your own data or retrieve data files for a particular date, see the daily data retrieval page. Each original T01 or T05 file displays data for a given UTC day. T01 files contain data every minute and T05 files contain data every five minutes.
File Header
The T01/T05 header contains 4 lines. The first line displays copyright information.
The second line describes the file version that corresponds with a given format, as well as whether the data are in metric units (i.e., °C, meters per second, and mm) or U.S. customary units (i.e., °F, m.p.h., and inches). The 4-character version identifier is followed by -SI or -US for metric or U.S. customary units, respectively.
The third line shows the creation date of the original file on our server. The creation date may change because data are occasionally reprocessed as part of our quality assurance procedures.
The fourth line shows the variable ID for each data column.
Special Notes
- The 0000 UTC observation shows the total accumulated rainfall from the previous day.
- Frozen precipitation is measured at the time of thaw. Some snowmelt may never be observed due to sublimation or blowing snow.
- The data are reviewed for quality. Quality assurance algorithms may change or remove questionable observations in the time following your data request.
Variables
| Name | ID | Metric Unit (US) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Station ID | STID | Station ID | |
| Date and Time | YYYYMMDDhhmm | Date (year, month, day) followed by time (hour, minute) in UTC | |
| Relative Humidity | RELH | percent | Sample relative humidity at 2 m |
| Air Temperature | TAIR | °C (°F) | Sample air temperature at 2 m |
| Wind Speed | WSPD | m s-1 (m.p.h.) | 1- or 5-minute averaged wind speed at 10 m |
| Wind Vector | WVEC | m s-1 (m.p.h.) | 1- or 5-minute averaged wind velocity (speed and direction accounted for) at 10 m |
| Wind Direction | WDIR | degrees | 1- or 5-minute averaged wind direction at 10 m |
| Wind Direction Standard Deviation | WDSD | degrees | Standard deviation of 10-m wind direction during the 1- or 5-minute interval |
| Wind Speed Standard Deviation | WSSD | m s-1 (m.p.h.) | Standard deviation of 10-m wind speed during the 1- or 5-minute interval |
| Maximum Wind Speed | WMAX | m s-1 (m.p.h.) | Highest 3-second wind speed at 10 m during the 1- or 5-minute interval |
| Precipitation | RAIN | millimeters (inches) | Liquid precipitation accumulation since 0000 UTC. Frozen precipitation cannot be recorded until it melts. Therefore, precipitation from snow may not be recorded until several days after the snow event. |
| Barometric Pressure | PRES | millibars | Sample atmospheric pressure |
| Solar Radiation | SRAD | Watts per square meter | Sample downwelling global solar radiation |
| 2-m Wind Speed | WS2M | m s-1 (m.p.h.) | 1- or 5-minute averaged wind speed at 2 m |
| 3-m Wind Speed | WS3M | m s-1 (m.p.h.) | 1- or 5-minute averaged wind speed at 3 m |
| 6-m Wind Speed | WS6M | m s-1 (m.p.h.) | 1- or 5-minute averaged wind speed at 6 m |
| 6-m Wind Direction | WDR6 | degrees | 1- or 5-minute averaged wind direction at 6 m |
| 9-m Wind Speed | WS9M | m s-1 (m.p.h.) | 1- or 5-minute averaged wind speed at 9 m |
| Temperature Under Vegetation at 10 cm | TR10 | °C (°F) | Sample temperature under vegetation at 10 cm |
| Soil Moisture at 20 cm | SM20 | m3 m-3 | Sample volumetric water content of the soil at 20 cm |
| Leaf Wetness | LEAF | millivolts | Sample leaf wetness |
| Photosynthetically Active Radiation | PAR2 | μmol m-2 s-1 | Sample downwelling solar radiation in the 400–700 nm portion of the electromagnetic spectrum used in the process of photosynthesis. The units are a measure of photosynthetic photon flux density. |
| Air Temperature at 9 m | TA9M | °C (°F) | Sample air temperature at 9.0 m |
| Black globe temperature at 2 m | BGBT | °C (°F) | Black globe (radiant heat) temperature, along with the wet bulb and dry bulb temperatures, is used to calculate the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index. |
Missing Data Values
| Value | Description | -999 | Data flagged as bad by quality assurance routines. |
|---|---|
| -998 | Sensor not installed. |
| -996 | Missing value. Station did not report or measurement has not yet occurred. |