Enhanced Hourly Wind Station Data for the Contiguous United States
Homogenized U.S. hourly wind data
U.S. Enhanced Hourly Wind Station Data is digital data set DSI-6421, archived at the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI; formerly National Climatic Data Center, NCDC). During earlier work at NCDC, it was noted that anemometer elevations at U.S. weather stations (for which metadata related to anemometer height was available) varied widely with time. Between 1931 and 2000, there were up to 12 significant anemometer height changes at some of these stations, and on average there was one change per decade at any station with more than 10 years of record. For example, at Los Angeles International Airport, the anemometer height changed 4 times during the 60 years, varying from 59 ft to 20 ft, while at Edwards Air Force Base, the anemometer height was changed 10 times and varied from 13 ft to 75 ft. Therefore, the elevation homogenization of the near-surface wind time series is a necessary pre-requisite for any climatological assessments. This was done at NCDC, creating the DSI-6421 data set. Stations were included in DSI-6421 on a year-by-year basis, depending upon the availability of anemometer metadata and the number of observations made during a year. The earliest data was from 1931, with very few stations. The number of stations increased during World War II to about 200, decreased briefly after the war, and increased to about 350 during the period 1948-1972 because most first-order (primary) stations qualified for inclusion. After 1972, as the importance of metadata was more widely recognized, the number of qualified stations rose to near 1000 by 1985, and continued at about that number through year 2000. The formulae used were U10g = Ua log[(10-Hsnod)/z0]/log[(Ha - Hsnod)/z0], and U10s = Ua log[10/z0]/log[(Ha - Hsnod)/z0], where z0 is the surface roughness (a function of the presence of snow cover at the site); Hsnod is the snow depth; Ha is the anemometer height above the ground; Ua is the wind speed at the anemometer height; U10g is the speed at 10 m above the ground; and U10s is the speed at 10 m above the surface.
Dataset Citation
- Cite as: NOAA National Climatic Data Center (2002): Enhanced Hourly Wind Station Data for the Contiguous United States, DSI-6421. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. [access date].
Dataset Identifiers
- NCEI DSI 6421_01
- gov.noaa.ncdc:C00391
ISO 19115-2 Metadata
gov.noaa.ncdc:C00391
Other Access |
|
Distribution Formats |
|
Ordering Instructions | Contact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions. |
Distributor |
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information ncei.info@noaa.gov |
Dataset Point of Contact | Customer Engagement Branch NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 1-828-271-4800 ncei.orders@noaa.gov |
Time Period | 1931-01-01 to 2000-12-31 |
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates |
West: -125.0
East: -66.0
South: 24.0
North: 50.0
|
Spatial Coverage Map |
General Documentation |
|
Associated Resources |
|
Publication Dates |
|
Data Presentation Form | Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns |
Dataset Progress Status | Complete - production of the data has been completed |
Data Update Frequency | Not planned |
Purpose | To make a wide range of climatic data available to researchers and the public. |
Dataset Citation |
|
Cited Authors |
|
Principal Investigators |
|
Publishers |
|
Theme keywords |
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords
|
Data Center keywords |
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
|
Platform keywords |
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Platform Keywords
|
Instrument keywords |
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords
|
Place keywords |
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords
|
Stratum keywords |
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords
|
Use Constraints |
|
Access Constraints |
|
Fees |
|
Lineage information for: dataset | |
---|---|
Lineage Statement |
Lineage information for: repository | |
---|---|
Processing Steps |
|
Acquisition Information (collection) | |
---|---|
Instrument |
|
Platform |
|
Last Modified: 2023-06-23
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov