United States Climate Reference Network (USCRN) Raw Data Transmitted from Satellite

USCRN Raw Transmitted Data is level 0 data received from the USCRN stations that are transmitted continuously. The data values are ingested with a unique 18-bit format due to satellite transmission limitations (documentation will be archived along with data); code is also included to read the bit format and parse out values for a stream. As of 2017, there are 26 possible stream format versions over the history of the USCRN network; format versions are dependent on hardware/software upgrades to the USCRN network and may increase over time. The data stream includes observations taken by USCRN stations for temperature, precipitation, etc., but users are encouraged to use downstream, processed versions of the data, due to the complexity of reading the satellite-encoded format (see documentation for more information).

As of 2017, data are ingested via various mechanisms, including: an LRGS receiver connected to the NOAA and EDDN satellite networks, a domestic communications satellite (DOMSAT) receiver located at NCEI, and parsed data from NOAAPort. Numerous data files from different sources (usually with a distinct filenaming convention based on source) are collected throughout the month and are separated into subdirectories based on the date of ingest into the CRN database. Files from all sources and all days for the month are packaged together into a monthly archive file.