Meteorology FAQ Part 4/7: Sources of CD-ROMs

Archive-name: meteorology/cdroms
Last-modified: 1 April 2000

Recent changes:

  ==within last two weeks==

  ==within last four weeks==


This article is copyright (c) 20000 by Tom Berg. It may be freely
distributed for non-commercial purposes only, provided that this copyright notice and 
the instructions on retrieving a current copy are not removed. 

With special honor given to Ilana Stern who conceived of this FAQ and
maintained it with the greatest of professionalism and care until the torch was passed 
to me.

If the date in the headers of the document you're reading
is more than a month old, you should retrieve a current copy.
Current copies of this FAQ series can be obtained in hypertext form via WWW at 
<URL:http://www.mobile.gulf.net/~hcane/met/scigeo.html>.

There are 7 documents in this FAQ series:
  Meteorology FAQ Part 1/7: Intro
  Meteorology FAQ Part 2/7: Sources of weather data  
  Meteorology FAQ Part 3/7: Sources of research data
  Meteorology FAQ Part 4/7: Sources of CD-ROMs  <=== 
  Meteorology FAQ Part 5/7: Internet resources
  Meteorology FAQ Part 6/7: Print and other resources
  Meteorology FAQ Part 7/7: List of U.S. State Climatologists

Corrections, additions, and comments should be sent to Tom Berg at
[EMAIL PROTECTED]  Please include in your message where you read
this FAQ series.  Note that if I know about it, it's in these documents.

------------------------------

Subject: 1) Table of contents

 1) Table of contents
 2) Overview
 3) Weather data 
 4) Research data 
 5) Miscellaneous CDs

Each (major) section has a "Subject:" line, so you can search on the
subject title above to find the section quickly.

------------------------------

Subject: 2) Overview

CD-ROMs tend to be relatively expensive, but can hold as much as 600 megabytes of 
data.  Prices may be outdated, so be sure to inquire from the provider for current 
prices.  Prices for some discs are not known.  Some discs are provided with driving 
software.  Most of the software is for IBM-PC or compatible systems, but some is 
available for the Macintosh, and, increasingly, for Unix systems.

Some of these listings are not for CD-ROMs, but are for floppies or
tapes.  These are listed here, rather than in the section on data available on other 
media, because they have been prepared as a package.  For non-prepackaged data 
requests, see the data centers listed in the FAQ section Meteorology FAQ Part 3/7: 
Sources of research data.

Commercial sources are flagged as such.  Inclusion of a commercial
source in this listing does not imply endorsement.  

------------------------------

Subject: 3) Weather data

Climate Change Data ($950, or 595 pounds sterling from UK source):
  Monthly 5-degree surface temperature anomaly grids 1854-1990, pressure grids 
1873-1990.  Monthly world temperature data at about 3500 stations and precipitation 
data at about 6500 stations, for period of record (long).
Retrieval and mapping software included, available for various systems.
  Contact:  Dr. Phil Jones, Climatic Research Unit, University of East
Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ United Kingdom.  Distributed in North America by 
Chadwyck-Healey Inc.,1101 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314.  800/752-0515.

World Weather Disc ($295):
  Monthly temp, precip, pressure, sunshine data for about 2000 world stations for 
period of record.  Daily weather data at hundreds of US stations.  Data for some 
stations on temp, precip, freeze, drought, soil moisture, wind, storms.  Frequency and 
movement of tropical cyclones.
  Contact:  Cliff Mass, Dept. of Atmos. Sci. (AK40), University of Washington, 
Seattle, WA  98195.  206/685-0910.

National Climate Information Disc Volume 1 ($120):
  Monthly temperature, precipitation, Palmer Hydrological Drought Index for 344 
climate divisions of US.  Data can be viewed in tabular or graphical format.
The disc covers the period 1895-1989 and contains 1032 time-series graphs, 4180 maps, 
and 5400 frames of video animation.
  Contact:  National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), Attn:  Climate Services Branch, 151 
Patton Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801-5001.  704/271-4800, fax 704-271-4876, email [EMAIL 
PROTECTED]  Add $5 service charge per order.

SAMSON (Solar and Meteorological Surface Observational Network) 
(3 disks, $120 each or $360 for the set):
  The three CD-ROMs are divided geographically into regions:  eastern, 
central, and western U.S., and contain hourly solar radiation data along with selected 
meteorological elements for the period 1961-1990.  It encompasses 237 NWS stations in 
the United States, and also includes Guam and Puerto Rico.  The dataset includes both 
observational and modelled data.  The hourly solar elements are:  Extraterrestrial 
horizontal and extraterrestrial direct normal radiation; global, diffuse, and direct 
normal radiation.  
  Meteorological elements are:  Total and opaque sky cover, temperature and dew point, 
relative humidity, pressure, wind direction and speed, visibility, ceiling height, 
present weather, precipitable water, aerosol optical depth, snow depth, days since 
last snowfall, and hourly precipitation. Joint NCDC and NREL product, available for 
DOS only.
 Contact:  National Climatic Data Center, see above.

CLIVUE CD-ROM  ($120):
  The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) developed a CD-ROM in support of a museum 
exhibit which traveled across the U.S.  The CD contains a 1,500-station subset of 
NCDC's nearly 8,000 U.S. daily cooperative stations.  
The user selects a date and area of the U.S. and the CD-ROM database is 
queried for stations within the specified domain having data.  Then, the system 
displays daily maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation, and snowfall for the 
site.  Graphs showing 7 years, 21 years, and the full period of record (varies by 
station) for the station(s) are available.  Visual displays allow users to view 
trends, variability, and extremes. 
  This is a joint NCDC and Franklin Institute product, available for DOS only.
  Contact:  National Climatic Data Center, see above.

International Station Meteorological Climate Summary (ISMCS) v. 3.0 ($120)
  This CD-ROM gives detailed climatological summaries for 2200 locations worldwide.  
These locations include National Weather Service stations, domestic and overseas Navy 
and Air Force sites, and numerous foreign stations.
Limited summaries are also given for approximately 5000 additional worldwide sites. 
Tabular or statistical data can be exported to a printer or spreadsheet.
  Version 3.0 supports mouse capability and allows users to graph selected tables.  
Joint NCDC, USAF and U.S. Navy product.  DOS only.
  Contact:  National Climatic Data Center, see above.

U.S. Navy Marine Climatic Atlas of the World Ver 1.1 ($120):
  This CD-ROM includes analysis and display software for climatological 
averages of atmospheric and oceanographic data.  The data are summarized with 
user-defined 1 and 5 degree grid areas covering the global marine environment.
The summaries are produced using predominately ship data collected between 1854-1969.  
The major elements include air and sea temperature, dewpoint temperature, scalar wind 
speed, sea- level pressure, wave height, wind and ocean- current roses.  This CD also 
allows the user to define element intervals (e.g. 5 to 10 knots, 2 degree temperature 
intervals).  Contouring for explicitly user-defined regions and exporting data to a 
printer or diskette are supported. 
  Contact:  National Climatic Data Center, see above.

Global Historical Fields (GHF) Vers 1.0. ($120): 
  This version has no data for the Southern Hemisphere.  This CD-ROM allows users to 
view daily surface charts for the period 1899 through April 1994.
Daily upper air charts (700mb, 500mb, 300mb) are available from the late 1940's 
through April 1994.  Surface charts contour sea level pressure only (not station 
plots); upper air charts contour geopotential heights and temperatures.  Charts can be 
contoured, looped, and exported to a file or printer.  Joint NCDC and U.S. Navy 
product, DOS only.
  Contact:  National Climatic Data Center, see above.

U.S. Divisional and Station Climatic Data and Normals (USDS) v 1.0 ($120):
  This NCDC CD-ROM contains a collection of ASCII text data and documentation files 
that pertain to the U.S climate normals and by-products of the normals.  
Climatic variables include temperature, precipitation, degree days, and 
Palmer Drought Indices.  The current normals period of 1961-1990 is covered with 
monthly values calculated for approximately 6600 precipitation and 4700 temperature 
stations.  The earlier data/normals are provided for comparison and research 
applications.
  This CD-ROM contains no software or extraction routines that allow users to import 
the data directly into spreadsheets or other applications.  Format and description of 
the files match NCDC magnetic tape series TD-9640 and TD-9641.
  Contact:  National Climatic Data Center, see above.

NCDC Cooperative Station Data ($120 per volume, $1500 for complete set):
  21 volume CD-ROM set containing TD-3200 cooperative station data.  Major elements 
include daily high and low temperatures, daily rainfall, daily snowfall and snow 
depth, and evaporation.  General period of record is 1948-1993, but longer for 
selected stations.  There are approximately 8000 active stations in the dataset.  
Historically, approximately 23,000 stations are included for various years.  States 
are grouped geographically into volume numbers.  The set contains inventories, station 
histories, and
 ASCII data files. Joint NCDC and ARL project.
  Contact:  National Climatic Data Center, see above.

Hourly Modeled Sounding Data.  ($480, sold as set only):
  This 12 volume CD-ROM set contains hourly 80 KM modeled gridpoint U.S. sounding data 
for 1990.  This data is the output from the Penn State University MM4 model which used 
available daily sounding data for 1990 as input.  Wind, temperature, dewpoint 
depression, and geopotential height data for 8 standard and 15 variable levels are 
included in the NWS TTAA, TTBB format.  Joint NCDC and ARL product. Requires 544K of 
RAM, DOS only.
  Contact:  National Climatic Data Center, see above.

Meteosat Images on CD-ROM, 1986 to 1991 (price on request):
  One full-disk infra-red image per day (usually at 12h00 UTC), one visible 
image on day 1 of each month (at the same time as the infra-red image), one 
water-vapour image on day 1 of each month of 1991 (at the same time as the
infra-red and visible image).  Images of the snow storm over the East coast 
of the USA on 12&13 March 1993 (from meteosat-3 at 75 degrees East).  Images 
of Kuwait during the Gulf war.  Full-disk Images taken by Meteosat-3 at 75 
degrees East at the beginning of March 1993.
  Contact:  J. Le Ber, Meteosat Data Service, European Space Agency, 
Robert Bosch Str. 5,  D6100 DARMSTADT GERMANY

High Resolution Climatology ($199/variable):  *COMMERCIAL*  (Floppy disk)
  Average monthly climatological values of maximum temperature, minimum
temperature,  and precipitation for every 1 square km of the conterminous US for the 
30-year periods 1951-1980 and 1961-1990.  The data are stored as a rectangular matrix 
for each state.  Digitized state and county political boundaries are included and 
referenced to the climate data sets.  The data are in raster form as ASCII or 16-bit 
binary integers.  This dataset is distributed on 5.25" or 3.5" floppy disks. 
  Contact:  ZedX, Inc., P.O. Box 404, Boalsburg, PA  16827-0404.  
814/466-2025.

US Summary of Day (4 disks, prices vary):  *COMMERCIAL*
  NCDC Summary of Day data, USGS streamflow data, retrieval and analysis software.  
  Contact:  Hydrosphere, Inc., 1002 Walnut, Suite 200, Boulder, CO  80302 
800/949-4937, 303/443-7839

Atlas of Global Instrumental Climate Data - Version 1.0 ($30):
  Color-shaded and contoured images of global gridded instrumental data, with each 
image simultaneously depicting anomaly maps of surface temperature, sea level 
pressure, and 500 millibar geopotential heights and percentages of reference period 
precipitation.  Monthly, seasonal, and annual composites are available, in either 
cylindrical equidistant, or northern and southern hemisphere polar projections.  
Temperature maps are available from 1854 to 1991, precipitation maps from 1851 to 
1989, sea level press
ure maps from 1899 to 1991, and 500 mb height maps from 1946 to 1991.  All images are 
GIF files (1024 x 822 pixels, 256 color). Shareware for viewing GIF images is also 
available on the CD-ROM.
  Contact: Frank Keimig, Department of Geology and Geography, Box 35820,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-5820. 413/545-0659,
email [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Historical Soviet Daily Snow Depth CD-ROM ($50):
  Historical Soviet Daily Snow Depth is based on observations at a
series of 284 World Meteorological Organization (WMO) stations throughout the Former 
Soviet Union. The earliest operational stations began recording snow depth in 1881 and 
the data continues until 1985. Geographic distribution of stations is primarily in the 
mid latitudes of Eurasia and correspond to inhabited areas. Stations range from 35 to 
75 degrees north latitude and from 20 to 180 degrees west longitude. Stations range in 
altitude from -15 meters to 2100 meters.
  Daily data, as well as NSIDC-generated monthly means, are available 
on a single CD-ROM containing ASCII data files, extraction software, and data 
documentation. The source of the data used is the State 
Hydrometeorological Service in Obninsk, Russia. Data were provided to NSIDC via the 
Bilateral US-USSR WG-8 Exchange.  Production of this CD-ROM was funded by the NOAA 
Earth Science Data and Information (ESDIM) Initiative through the National Geophysical 
Data Center (NGDC).
  Contact: NSIDC User Services, National Snow and Ice Data Center, 
CIRES - Campus Box 449, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO  80309-0449.  
303/492-6199, FAX 303/492-2468, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED], Omnet: NSIDC.

------------------------------

Subject: 4) Research data

NMC gridpoint dataset ($150):
  Twice daily grids for the Northern Hemisphere at a resolution of about 381 km.  
  Contact: National Center for Atmospheric Research, PO Box 3000, Boulder, CO  80307.  
303/497-1219, email [EMAIL PROTECTED]

National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) discs:
  Various discs available, including:  Gulf of Mexico GLORIA data, 
Geophysics of North America, global ecosystems, global topography,
gravity data, solar activity, and more.  A catalog and price list are 
available via gopher or ftp (see part 1). 
  Contact:  NGDC, 325 Broadway E/GC4, Dept. 894, Boulder, CO  80303.  
303/497-6958, email [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Global Ocean Temperature and Salinity (2 discs, $80 each or $124/both)
  Temperature and salinity in the world ocean for about 1900-1990, based on all 
available XBTs, MBTs, BTs, etc.
  Contact:  National Oceanographic Data Center, NOAA/NESDIS E/OC21, 
Washington, DC  20235.  202/606-4549.

Global Upper Air Climatic Atlas (GUACA) ($240 for set):
  This two-volume CD-ROM set uses a 12-year (1980-1991) 2.5 degree upper air data base 
obtained from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).  This CD 
presents upper air statistics for 15 vertical levels in the Northern and Southern 
Hemisphere for dry bulb and dewpoint temperature, geopotential height, air density, 
and vector and scalar wind speed.  The disc provides access/display software for 
gridpoint data, contouring capability for user-defined areas, and vertical profiles.  
The climatology covers the 12-year period as well as individual year-months.
  This is a joint NCDC and U.S. Navy product.  DOS only.  An ASCII data 
CD-ROM (no graphic interface) is also available at a cost of $120.00. 
  Contact:  National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), Attn:  Climate Services Branch, 151 
Patton Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801-5001.  704/271-4800, fax 704-271-4876, email [EMAIL 
PROTECTED]  Add $5 service charge per order.

Radiosonde Data of North America 1946-1994. ($480):
  Contains all available radiosonde data for North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico, and 
Caribbean Islands) through the 100-mb level on four disks.
Disk periods are 1946-1965, 1966-1979, 1980-1989, and 1990-1994.  Data 
includes significant, mandatory, and special wind levels for all observation times and 
includes geopotential height, temperature, dew point and wind direction, and scalar 
speed.  The user can select for output to printer, screen, or file, a single station 
or multiple stations for a defined time period, or all stations within a specified 
geographic region in either synoptic or station sort.  The CD also contains available 
station metadata. 
  Software is available to access the data for DOS, UNIX and VMS computer systems.  
This is a joint NCDC and ERL product.  The latest single CD-ROM (1990-1994) is also 
available separately for 120.00.
  Contact:  National Climatic Data Center, see above.

Global Tropical and Extratropical Cyclone Climatic Atlas (GTECCA) ($120):
  This CD-ROM contains all global historic tropical storm track data 
available for five tropical storm basins.  Periods of record varies for each basin, 
with the beginning as early as the 1870s and with 1992 at the latest year.  Northern 
hemispheric extratropical storm track data will be included from 1965 to 1992.  
Tropical track data includes time, position, storm stage (maximum wind, central 
pressure when available).  The user can display tracks,
track data for any basin or user-selected geographic area, or tracks passing within a 
user-defined radius of any point.  Narratives for all tropical storms for the 
1980-1992 period will be included as well as basin-wide tropical storm climatological 
statistics.  
  Joint NCDC and U.S. Navy product, available for DOS only.
  Contact:  National Climatic Data Center, see above.

Global Daily Summary (GDS) ($120):
  This CD-ROM provides access to a 10,000-station set of daily maximum/minimum 
temperature, daily precipitation, and 3-hourly present weather for the 1977-1991 
period of record.  Data can be selected for viewing or output to file for geographic 
areas or by a predefined user-selected list of stations.  
The dataset includes element flags for suspected erroneous data.  A data inventory 
contains station name, latitude/longitude, elevation, period of record, and the number 
of observations of available data.  
  Available for DOS only:  requires a bare minimum of 4 MB of RAM, with 8MB of RAM 
recommended for superior performance.
  Contact:  National Climatic Data Center, see above.

GALE dataset (price not known):
  GALE (Genesis of Atlantic Lows), 1/15/86-4/15/86:  ship data, raobs,
aircraft, radar, etc off N Carolina coast.  Available through Dept. of 
Atmos. Sci. (AK40), University of Washington, Seattle, WA  98195.

ERICA dataset ($35):
  ERICA (Experiment on Rapidly Intensifying Cyclones over the Atlantic), 
12/1/88-2/26/89:  rawinsondes, aircraft, radar, buoys, satellite data, etc. 
  Contact:  C. Kreitzberg, Dept. of Physics and Atmospheric Science, 
Philadelphia, PA  19104.  (215) 895-2726, [EMAIL PROTECTED]

GEDEX (Greenhouse Effect Detection Experiment)(price not known):
  Two discs containing surface, upper air, and/or satellite-derived 
measurements of temperature, solar irradiance, clouds, greenhouse
gases, fluxes, albedo, aerosols, ozone, and water vapor, along with
Southern Oscillation Indices and Quasi-Biennial Oscillation statistics.
Many of the data sets provide global coverage.  The spatial resolutions
vary from zonal to 2.5 degree grids.  Some surface station data sets 
span more than 100 years;  most satellite-derived sets cover only the
past 12 years.  Temporal coverage is monthly for most sets.
  Contact:  NCDS/Goddard Distributed Active Archive Center, Code 935,
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD  20771.  301/286-3209, email 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
  A more complete description of these discs may be obtained from 
the ncardata.ucar.edu FTP site, in the file "other_resources/gedex".

HCDN (Hydro-climatic data network) streamflow dataset (price not known):
  Contains dataset, search software, and USGS Open-File Report 92-129
(Slack, J.R., and Landwehr, J.M., 1992, Hydro-climatic data network (HCDN): 
A U.S. Geological Survey streamflow data set for the United States for the study of 
climate variations, 1874-1988).  
  Contact:  USGS, National Water Data Exchange (NAWDEX), MS 421 - National Center, 
Reston VA  22092.
  The principal author of this dataset, James R. Slack, can be reached via email at 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  The information on the CD-ROM is also available via anonymous FTP 
from srv1rvares.er.usgs.gov in the directory "hcdn92". 

The following 6 discs/disc sets are available from NSIDC User Services, 
National Snow and Ice Data Center, CIRES - Campus Box 449, University of Colorado, 
Boulder, CO  80309-0449.  303/492-6199, FAX 303/492-2468, 
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED], Omnet: NSIDC.

DMSP F8 Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) Brightness Temperature 
Grids for the Polar Regions (Price on request):
  18 CD-ROM discs contain daily gridded brightness temperature (Tb) for 
the north and south polar regions (areas where sea ice occurs), on polar stereographic 
grids, 9 July 1987 through 31 December 1991.  Each CD-ROM contains approximately 3 
months of data.  Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F8 platform carried 
this first functional SSM/I instrument.  
The SSM/I is a 7-channel, 4-frequency, linearly polarized, passive
microwave radiometric system; channels are 85.5 GHz Vertical/Horizontal, 37.0 GHz 
Vertical/Horizontal, 22.2 GHz Vertical, 19.3 GHz Vertical/Horizontal.
  Fortran program provided on diskette to extract single channel from 
inter-leaved storage format.  Images can be displayed using IDL or other Unix or PC 
software.  For 1992 and later data, see DMSP F11 SSM/I Brightness Temperature Grids 
for the Polar Regions, below.
  Contact NSIDC, information above.

DMSP F8 Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) Sea Ice Concentration Grids for the 
Polar Regions 1987 - 1991. (Price on request):
  DMSP F8 SSM/I Ice Concentration Grids for the Polar Regions consist of daily 
first-year, multi-year, and total ice concentration on 25 x 25 km polar stereographic 
grids for north and south polar regions.  SSM/I sea ice CD-ROMs contain two sets of 
grids, 1) NASA Team algorithm; 2) J.C. Comiso algorithm. Orbital antenna temperatures 
are processed to gridded brightness temperatures and then used to derive gridded ice 
concentrations.  The SSM/I sensor flies on U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological 
Satellite 
Program (DMSP) platforms; the first operational SSM/I (Special Sensor 
Microwave/Imager) was that on DMSP F8.  Two CD-ROMs contain all F8 SSM/I ice 
concentrations, 9 July 1987 - 31 December 1991.  North polar files are 137202 bytes, 
south polar are 105922 bytes.  
  Data are in HDF format and can be read using software from the National Center for 
Supercomputing Applications (NSCA), available by anonymous ftp from NCSA 
(ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu) or with commercial packages such as IDL.  
  The SSM/I is a 7-channel, 4-frequency, linearly polarized, passive microwave 
radiometric system: 85.5 GHz Vertical/Horizontal, 37.0 GHz Vertical/Horizontal, 22.2 
GHz Vertical, 19.3 GHz Vertical/Horizontal.  DMSP F11 SSM/I ice concentrations for 
1992 and later dates will be produced starting in late 1994, after the ice algorithms 
have been modified for F11 data.
  Contact NSIDC, information above.

DMSP F11 Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) Brightness Temperature Grids for the 
Polar Regions.  (Price on request):
  CD-ROM discs contain daily gridded brightness temperature (Tb) for the north and 
south polar regions (areas where sea ice occurs), on polar stereographic grids, 
beginning on 3 December 1991.  Each CD-ROM contains approximately 3 months of data in 
single-channel files, in HDF (Hierarchical Data Format).  As of 8/94, 5 volumes cover 
12/91 - 2/93.  Inquire for latest available data. 
  Software to read and manipulate the data in HDF is available via ftp from National 
Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA): ftp to 
ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu; help is available from NCSA at [EMAIL PROTECTED]  
Data can also be displayed and manipulated using commercial packages such as IDL.  
  The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F11 platform carries this SSM/I 
instrument, a 7-channel, 4-frequency, linearly polarized, passive microwave 
radiometric system; channels are 85.5 GHz Vertical/Horizontal, 37.0 GHz 
Vertical/Horizontal, 22.2 GHz Vertical, 19.3 GHz Vertical/Horizontal.
This product uses the same grid and projection as the NSIDC DMSP F8 SSM/I brightness 
temperature and sea ice concentration CD-ROMs (1987 - 1991, see above).
  Contact NSIDC, information above.

Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) Polar Radiances and Arctic 
and Antarctic Sea Ice Concentrations, 1978 - 1987.  (Price on request):
  Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) Polar Radiances and 
Sea Ice Concentrations on CD-ROM contain gridded brightness temperatures (Tb) and sea 
ice concentrations for 10/78 - 8/87 (the life of the Nimbus-7 SMMR scanner) for both 
polar regions on 12 CD-ROMs.  Data were collected at 6.60, 10.69, 18.00, 21.00 and 
37.00 GHz in an alternate-day operating pattern due to spacecraft power limitations.  
[NOTE: Input data set is SMMR TCT tapes; this is different from the previous SMMR 
CD-ROM product distributed by NSIDC in 1989.]  Tb (in Kelvins) and sea ice 
concentration 
(in percent) grids have 25 x 25 km grid elements in polar stereographic projection.  
Volume 7 contains all SMMR sea ice concentrations for both polar regions, plus 5 
months of Tb grids for the north polar region.  The Tb grids are stored as 16-bit 
integers; one day of Tb data is 0.27 mbytes for the north polar region, 0.21 mbytes 
for the south.  Ice grids are stored as 8-bit integers, each file = 136192 bytes for 
the north, 104912 bytes for the south.
The NASA Team Algorithm (Cavalieri et al., 1984; Gloersen and Cavalieri, 1986) was 
used to calculate ice concentrations from the Tbs.  Data produced by Dr. P. Gloersen, 
NASA/GSFC, Oceans and Ice Branch.  
  Documentation is provided on the CD-ROMs, in a hard-copy User's Guide, and in the 
"SMMR Atlas", NASA Special Report SP-511 (Gloersen, et al., 1992.)  
  Contact NSIDC, information above.

Historical Arctic Rawinsonde Archive (HARA), 1947-1987. (Price on request):
  The Historical Arctic Rawisonde Archive on CD-ROM, volumes 1-3, contains over 1.2 
million vertical soundings of temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind, representing 
all available rawisonde ascents from Arctic land stations poleward of 65 degrees North 
from the beginning of record through 1987.  For most stations the record begins in 
1958, a few begin in 1947 or 1948.  The data are one file per year per station.  
Coverage is relatively uniform, except in the interior of Greenland.  Typically 20-40 
leve
ls are available in each sounding.  
  Documentation is provided on the CD-ROM volumes, and in hard copy (NSIDC Special 
Report 2, 1992).  Software (Fortran and C) is provided on the CD-ROM volumes to 
retrieve a subset of the sounding data.
  Data for 1988-1990, and monthly averaged data, will be distributed in late 1994.  
Sounding data were obtained from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), 
Boulder, Colorado and the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) of NOAA in Asheville, 
North Carolina.  Data from drifting ice islands, ships and aircraft dropsondes are 
being assembled as a separate archive.  
  Contact NSIDC, information above.

Eastern Arctic Ice, Ocean and Atmosphere Data, Volume 1, CEAREX-1 ($50):
  Contains sea ice acceleration, deformation and stress; hydrography
(CTDs); meteorology; bathymetry; acoustics and ambient noise (sample
data) from Coordinated Eastern Arctic Experiment (CEAREX).  Includes
meteorology from Marginal Ice Zone Experiment (MIZEX), 1983, 1984, 1987. Experiment 
location: Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard; Fram Strait, September 1988 - May 1989.  
Amount of data: 460 mbytes.  
  Data format: ASCII files.  Associated software: none.  Additional volumes are 
planned; content not yet determined. 
  Contact NSIDC, information above.

NWS/NOHRSC snow cover data ($50 each year):
  Airborne snow water equivalent and satellite areal extent of snow cover data for 
1990-1993 are now available on CD-ROM for major portions of the U.S., Alaska, and 
Canada. The CD-ROMs include: (1) airborne snow water equivalent data and the digitized 
flight line network, (2) calibrated AVHRR and GOES satellite data used to map snow 
cover, (3) the classified snow cover images (4) national and regional snow cover image 
products, and (5) ancillary data sets including digital elevation data, digitized NWS 
bas
in boundaries, and the alphanumeric results of the satellite snow cover mapping by 
basin and by elevation zone.
  Contact:  CD-ROM Snow Cover Data, National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing 
Center (NOHRSC),  National Weather Service, NOAA,
1735 Lake Drive West, Chanhassen, Minnesota  55317-8582
612/361-6610, FAX 612/361-6634, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Tim Szeliga) dial-up bbs 
612/361-6632

STORM-FEST data (3 discs, price unknown):
  Data from the STORM-FEST experiment -- surface observations and rawinsonde, 
satellite, radar, NOWRAD, and profiler data -- plus Zeb software for viewing the data. 
 
  Contact Steve Williams, [EMAIL PROTECTED]

AVHRR monthly global MCSST / CZCS data (5 discs, price on request) 
  The AVHRR MCSST and CZCS phytoplankton pigment concentration data set 
contains monthly averaged sea-surface temperatures (day and night) derived from NOAA 
satellite AVHRR which are temporally and spatially coregistered with phytoplankton 
pigment concentration data acquired from the CZCS instrument on Nimbus-7.  The CZCS 
data cover 1978-1986 and AVHRR data cover the period from 1981-1986, giving 5 years of 
coregistered data. 
  Contact:  PO.DAAC at JPL. Contact the User Services Office at 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] for more details.

TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter merged geophysical data record (Price on request)
   Global coverage data from the TOPEX/POSEIDON mission from both the U.S. and French 
altimeters with high precision orbits and environmental corrections.
The data are distributed on CD-ROMs (ISO 9660) and in an integer format usable on VAX, 
UNIX, PCs, and Macs.  Each CD-ROM contains two ten-day cycles of data, precision 
orbit, and cross-over files for each cycle and read software for VAX and UNIX. As of 
May '94  cycles 1-52 exist on CD-ROM. 
  Contact:  PO.DAAC, information above. 

TOGA related satellite and in-situ data CD-ROM '85-'90. (Price on request).  
  PO.DAAC has produced a set of seven CD-ROMs which contain satellite, 
in-situ, and model derived data pertaining to atmospheric and oceanographic 
parameters. Parameters include ocean currents, sea-surface temperature and salinity, 
air temperature and pressure, cloud, and precipitation. Software will be included. The 
data have been provided by agencies worldwide. (Available in June '94.)
  Contact:  PO.DAAC, information above. 

Software atlas and plotting tool for oceanographic sections (diskettes)
  ATLAST, a PC software atlas and plotting tool for oceanographic sections (Rhines) 
OCEANATLAS, a Macintosh software atlas and plotting tool for oceanographic sections 
(Swift et al.) are available on diskettes. 
  Contact:  PO.DAAC, information above. 

TOGA/COARE GMS-4 images (2 discs, $75 for the set):
  GMS-4 images during the TOGA/COARE Intensive Observation Period
(November 1992 to March 1993) regridded over 135E - 175E, 10S - 10N,
5km square pixel size.  1910 infrared and 877 visible images of albedo and brightness 
temperature with overlays of the geographic grid and the 
positions of moorings and ships.  Images are in compressed PostScript 
format but tools are included to uncompress and convert the data
into other formats.
  Contact:  Satellite Oceanography Laboratory, University of Hawaii, 1000 
Pope Road, Honolulu, HI 96822.  The check should be made to the order
of "RCUH".

Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) Global Datasets (price not known):
  Contains Version 1.1 SRB shortwave products for the period March 
1985 through December 1988 as produced by the World Climate Research
Programme's (WCRP) SRB Satellite Data Analysis Center (SDAC). 
Inputs to the Version 1.1 product are results from the International
Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) and the Earth Radiation
Budget Experiment (ERBE).  SDAC uses two methods (known as the
Pinker and Staylor algorithms) to estimate surface downward and
net irradiances, surface albedo, downward direct/diffuse ratio,
surface cloud forcing, and daylight cloud fraction.  In addition,
various other radiation, cloud, meteorological and diagnostic  
parameters are provided to aid the user in understanding variations 
in the SRB parameters.
  The SRB CD-ROM has been formatted and produced to work with IBM PCs,
Apple Macintoshes and Unix systems with ISO-9660 CD-ROM driver support.
In addition, read and display software for IBM PCs and Apple Macintoshes 
are available upon request.  
  Contact:  Langley DAAC User Services, MS 157B, NASA Langley Research
Center, Hampton, VA, 23681-0001. (804)864-8656, [EMAIL PROTECTED]

SAM II Aerosol Data (no cost):
  Contains Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement (SAM) II data collected from October 1978 
- January 1993, documentation, and read software.   The SAM II instrument, aboard the 
Earth-orbiting Nimbus-7 spacecraft, was designed to measure solar irradiance 
attenuated by aerosol particles in the Arctic and Antarctic stratosphere.  The 
scientific objective of the SAM II experiment was to develop a stratospheric aerosol 
database for the polar regions by measuring and mapping vertical profiles of the 
atmospheric exti
nction due to aerosols.  This database allows for studies of aerosol changes due to 
seasonal and short-term meteorological variations, atmospheric chemistry, 
cloud microphysics, and volcanic activity and other perturbations.  
  Contact:  Langley DAAC, information above.

United Kindom Digital Marine Atlas V2.0 (UKP56.40):   (Floppy disk)
  This is an IBM compatibile PC based Marine Atlas covering the Northeast Atlantic and 
mainly centered on the British Isles.  It comes on five 1.4MB floppies and runs under 
DOS (V3.0 or higher).  It has several sections covering areas such as general 
Bathymetry, Marine Geology, Marine and Coastal Nature Conservation in Breat Britain, 
Marine Biology, Physical Oceanography, Marine Chemistry, Fisheries and the BODC data 
catalogues amongst others.
  Contact:  UKDMAP Project Manager, British Oceanographic Data Centre,
Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, Bidston Observatory, BIRKENHEAD,
Merseyside L43 7RA United Kingdom.  +44 51 653 8633, Fax: +44 51 652 3950.

Stratospheric Ozone ($39.95, $49.95 beginning March 1 1995) *COMMERCIAL*
  This is a multimedia CD-ROM for the Apple Macintosh from Lenticular Press (College 
Station, TX).  It includes the huge Nimbus 7 TOMS database of stratospheric ozone 
measurements; global and hemispheric daily, monthly, and climatological maps, and 
numerical data for the entire 14.5-year record, more than 16,000 maps and 500 MB of 
data in all.
  Contact:  Lenticular Press, P.O. Box 10413, College Station, TX  77842-0413.
409/693-0622, 409/693-0729 fax, [EMAIL PROTECTED]


------------------------------

Subject: 5) Miscellaneous 

NASA discs:
  Various discs available, including:  Voyager spacecraft images (12 discs, under $20 
each!), Viking images of Mars, Magellan Venus data, Halley's
comet data (25 discs), excerpts from astronomical catalogs, and more.
  Contact:  NSSDC (NASA Space Science Data Center), Code 933.4, NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD  20771.  301/286-6695.  They
also publish a free newsletter.

CD-ROM, INC:            *COMMERCIAL*
  Several hundred discs available, including:  "GRIPS 2" high resolution images of 
topography, Landsat, vegetation maps, plus software ($49), 
"JEDI" 3 discs full of earth, space, and sea science data intended for
school use ($31), 13 business/economic discs, >50 literature and
entertainment discs, >40 health-related discs, many science discs.
Prices range from $29-$895.  Free catalog available from them.
  Contact:  CD-ROM, Inc, 1667 Cole Blvd. Suite 400, Golden, CO  80401.
303/526-7600, FAX 303/231-9581.  

Digital Chart of the World ($200):
  The Digital Chart of the World (DCW) is a comprehensive 1:1,000,000-scale vector 
basemap of the world containing cartographic, attribute, and textual data.  It is 
provided with software that permits the database to be accessed, queried, and 
displayed on PC-class computers.  The primary source for the database is the U.S. 
Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) Operational Navigation Chart (ONC) series.  
  There are 4 discs:   (1)North America, (2)Europe/Northern Asia, (3)South 
American/Africa/Antarctica, and (4)Southern Asia/Australia.  The data are organized 
into 17 thematic coverages, including political boundaries and ocean coast lines, 
cities, transportation networks, drainage, land cover, and elevation contours.  
  Contact:  USGS Open File Section, Box 25286, Denver, CO  80225. 
303/236-7476.

GOES Space Environment Data (price unknown):
  This disk includes data from January 1986 - April 1994 in 1-minute and 5-minute 
averages.  Includes measurements of the 3 components of the Earth's magnetic field, 
whole-sun X-ray fluxes for the 0.5-to-4.0 and 1-to-8 Angstrom wavelength bands, 
photon, alpha particle, and electron fluxes.
  The CD-ROM includes software to display and analyze the Space Environment Monitor 
data.  DOS and IDL (Interactive Data Language) versions of the software allow the use 
of data on many platforms. 
  Contact:  Solar-Terrestrial Physics Division, National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA 
Code E/GC2, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO  80303.  303/497-6761, fax 303/497-6513, email 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Windows on the Weather (price unknown):
  This is an educational disc which allows the user to explore typical 
airmasses over Britain using satellite sequences, weather charts, weather data, 
pictures, diagrams, text and audio descriptions.  Samples from this disc can be seen 
at:
http://www.rmplc.co.uk/eduweb/sites/advunit/wow.html
  Contact:  The Advisory Unit computers inEducation, 126 Great North Road, Hatfield 
Herts, AL9 5JZ UK, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] 

Landsat images ($10):                           *COMMERCIAL*
  Over 500 Landsat satellite images (JPG and GIF) from around the world, 
along with many Windows and DOS utilities for CAD and image processing,
some educational games and a tutorial about LANDSAT satellites.
  Contact:  Intermountain Digital Imaging, LC, 275 East 200 South, Suite 15, Salt Lake 
City UT  84111.  801/355-4030, US toll-free 800/280-4030, 
fax 801/355-4063, email [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Earth Observatorium ($49 for 2 CDs)             *COMMERCIAL*
  These disks explore NASA's program "Mission to Planet Earth" through the use of the 
complete photographic results of Earth from Space Shuttle flights 59 & 68. (almost 
25,500 24- bit color photos). Includes annotation of each picture by country name, 
general feature, time, and lat/long location. 
  Contact:  Rocky Mountain Digital Peeks, 303/258-3779, US toll-free 
800/266-7637,  fax 303/258-7170, URL:http://www.sni.net/malls/rmdp/ee.html
email [EMAIL PROTECTED]