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  MADIS Frequently Asked Questions

MADIS Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Historical Data Questions


Question:

Are historical MADIS datafiles archived?

Answer:

Yes.

http access:
MADIS unrestricted surface dump
MADIS restricted surface dump

ftp access:
The archived data is under directories named for the year, month and day, e.g., 2002/10/08 for 2002 Oct 8. Aircraft-based data for that date, for example, would be found at archive/2002/10/08/point/acars/netcdf. The aircraft profiles data would be at ../acarsProfiles/netcdf. The files are compressed using a standard zip command, so after you've downloaded them, unzip them. MADIS also offers software to read the data files that are downloaded. Information and download capability for the software can be found on the MADIS API page. If you decide to use the software, let MADIS support know and you will be added to the MADIS email list which announces version upgrades, etc. For users who want to download and then process a lot of data from the MADIS archive (e.g., weeks-to-years), we offer a script package that can be used to a) ftp the archive data to your local machine, put it into the MADIS directory structure, and if desired, b) use the MADIS API dump programs to dump the data. To download the script package, visit the MADIS API page, then scroll down to the "Archive Script Package" section, and click on the link offered there.

Question:

I was hoping you could steer me to a heating degree days archive from a weather station in the vicinity of Thurmont, MD.

Answer:

MADIS has data from a station in Thurmont, MD that started reporting to MADIS in May of 2008. MADIS also contains NWS surface stations that have been collected since 2001 in Fredrick MD and other locations that are close to Thurmont. You can query the MADIS archive and real-time database using the MADIS surface dump utility.

Question:

What are the start dates for your archive datasets?

Answer:

Meteorological Surface (METAR, Maritime, Integrated Mesonet) July 1, 2001
Modernized NWS Cooperative Observer May 4, 2004
National Mesonet/UrbaNet December 1, 2006
1-minute ASOS February 24, 2009
Hydrological Surface July 1, 2001
Radiosonde July 1, 2001
NOAA Profiler Network July 1, 2001
Aircraft-Based Reports July 1, 2001
Profiles at Airports June 18, 2004
Multi-Agency Profiler June 1, 2002
Radiometer July 8, 2003
Satellite Wind November 4, 2003
Satellite Sounding June 9, 2005
Satellite Radiance November 1, 2005
Snow November 18, 2005
WISDOM August 8, 2008


Question:

I have a class where we must manage big amounts of data. For that reason I'm interested in the METAR. Is it possible to have a file with the historical METAR, maybe for the last several years, and from different stations around the world?

Answer:

MADIS is a global database of surface observations. METAR is one of the surface datasets that MADIS carries. MADIS processes ~180000 surface sites an hour, so one file for years worth of data would be inefficient for MADIS. MADIS processes data in 0-3 hour time periods. Look at the MADIS guest dump to see how MADIS handles data.


Last updated 16 March 2017