Dataset Documentation
& Metadata

About Dataset Documentation

Dataset documentation is available for most digital and non-digital datasets archived here at the NCDC. Users will find documentation as well as FGDC metadata below. The metadata is categorized by observation type: Surface, Marine, Upper Air, Satellite or Other. Publications, maps, posters and multimedia presentations are just some of the non-digital products documented in the 'Other' category. If you are unsure of what you are looking for, submit a search in the golden search bar above. For a complete list of datasets see the Archive List.. Documentation for all items are updated periodically.

Documentation

• General Documentation
  
  

  This page provides the user with documentation of most of the digital datasets that NCDC offers. The same informatation can be found here as what is in FGDC format below. This documentation is what is provided to our customers and are accessed "in-house". The list is sorted by DSI number. Updates are made periodically.

FGDC Metadata

• Surface Metadata
  
  

  Surface metadata is available for a wide variety of datasets. These include Cooperative, NEXRAD, NCEP weather charts, NOMADS, NOAAPort, and the CRN.

• Upper Air Metadata
  
  

  Upper air metadata is available for datasets that contain observations from radiosondes, rawinsondes, rocketsondes, and various other instrumentation. IGRA, NOAA Profiler Network, NCEP PREBUFR Data, and MicroArt System are some of the types of upper air datasets archived at the NCDC.

• Marine Metadata
  
  

  Marine metadata is available for sea surface and sub surface datasets. These come from Ships and Buoys, however, you can also find Remotely Sensed metadata here as well. Types of data found here are: Marine Buoy Data, ICOADS, and Sea Ice Charts.

• Satellite Metadata
  
  

  Satellite metadata is available for NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) and their products. NCDC archives the GOES raw data as well as the GOES derived products. The GOES data user's guide can be found here: GOES Data Users Guide

• Other Metadata
  
  

  Other metadata is for mostly non-digital miscellaneous items such as publications, special-purpose customer products, charts, forms, summaries and others. These may include The Historical Climatology Series, Local Climatological Data Annual Summaries, Daily Weather Maps, and Rain Gauge Charts.

• Metadata Resources
  
  

  This is a link to the Metadata Resources Page. Here you will find various links to station histories, observing systems, inventories, and standards.

NCDC's Archival List

• Archive List
  
  

  The Archive List consists of all the digital data sets that are archived on NCDC's storage system (HDSS). Hierarchical Data Storage System (HDSS) is also known as the High Performance Storage System (HPSS). HPSS is the software that runs the system. HDSS is NCDC's concept of our hardware and software. This list provides the user with a period of record for each digital data set as well as the latest load date of the operational data sets. This list is updated on a regular basis.

Products and Services Guide

• Products and Services Guide
  
  

  This guide is an annual publication that is free to anyone. It includes resource consultations, subscription items and publications, copies of original records, certifications, generation of specialized climate studies, and a host of other climate-related studies.

Products and Publications Page

• Products and Publications Page
  
  

  This is a link to the Products and Publications Page. Here you will find various products, publications, and special reports that are available on CDROMS's, PDF's, and digitally.

Contact

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Contact information