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National Oceanographic Data Center

NODC Ocean Profile Data Base, Version 3.0 Station Transfer File Format (P3)

Fields are delimited by commas.
Fields may be empty, but must terminate with a comma.
Each station must have an identifier record and a coordinates record, and at least one profile or parameter record to be meaningful.




The structure is as follows:
Station Identifier Record

Station Coordinates Record

Station Parameter Record - Numeric Value

Station Parameter Record - Text Value

Station Parameter Record - Coded Value

Profile Header Record

Profile Parameter Record - Coded Value

Observation Record


Station Identifier Record
(one record per station)

Field

Width

Name

Content

1

1

record type

always 'i'.

2

2

file version

database version, decrement from 0.

3

12

station

internal unique database identifier.

4

6

platform id

platform identifier

5

4

platCode

NODC ship/platform code.

6

8

callsign

radio callsign.

7

10

reference

NODC reference number.

8

4

fileAlias

NODC File Alias.

9

7

accession

NODC archive accession number.

10

2

country

NODC country code.

11

4

modagency

agency responsible for this version of station.

12

8

mod date

date of last modification, YYYYMMDD zulu.

12

4

mod time

time of last modification, HHMM zulu.

14

8

pgm Id

program used to make last modification.

15

5

pgm Version

version of program use to make last modification.

16

4

qc Def

definition of test set used.

17

4

qc Made

flags indicating tests made at the station level.

18

4

qc Flags

flags indicating tests failed at the station level.



Original Position and Epoch Record
( one record per station )

Field

Width

Name

Content

1

1

record type

always 'a'.

2

7

latitude

latitude, DDMMSSH.

3

8

longitude

longitude, DDDMMSSH.

4

8

obsdate

date of observation, YYYYMMDD zulu.

5

4

obs time

time of observation, HHMM zulu.


Current Position and Epoch Record
( one record per station )

Field

Width

Name

Content

1

1

record type

always 'b'.

2

7

latitude

latitude, DDMMSSH.

3

8

longitude

longitude, DDDMMSSH.

4

8

obs date

date of observation, YYYYMMDD zulu.

5

4

obs time

time of observation, HHMM zulu.



Station Parameter Record
( one to "n" number of records per station)

Field

Width

Name

Content

1

1

record type

always 'p'.

2

5

sequence

database sequence number.

3

4

parm Code

OPDB parameter code.

4

4

parm Units

parameter units.

5

4

parm Scale

parameter scale factor ( power of 10 ).

6

12

parm Value

parameter value.

7

2

sigDig

parameter significant digit.

8

4

instrId

Instrument Id.

9

4

method

Parameter Methodology.

10

4

qcDef

definition of test set used.

11

4

qcMade

flags indicating tests made at the surface parameter level.

12

4

qcFlags

flags indicating tests failed at the surface parameter level.



Station Codes Record
(one to "n" number records per station)

Field

Width

Name

Content

1

1

record type

always 'c'.

2

5

sequence

database sequence number.

3

4

parm Code

NODC/GF3/OCL parameter code.

4

40

parm Info

alphanumeric parameter information.



Station Num Records
(one to "n" number of records per station)

Field

Width

Name

Content

1

1

record type

always 'n'.

2

5

sequence

database sequence number.

3

4

parm Code

NODC/GF3/OCL parameter code.

4

4

value Code

parameter code value.



Profile Header Records
(one to "n" number of records per station)

Field

Width

Name

Content

1

1

record type

always 'h'.

2

3

profile

database profile number.

3

4

zUnit

depth/pressure units (OPDB Code).

4

4

orig. z unit

originators depth/pressure units.

5

4

z Scale

depth/pressure scale factor
( power of 10 ).

6

4

parm Code

NODC/GF3/OCL parameter code.

7

4

obs Unit

observation units ( OPDB Code ).

8

4

orig. obs unit

originators observation units.

9

4

obs scale

observation scale factor ( power of 10 ).

10

3

instrument

NODC/OCL instrument code.

11

3

method

NODC/OCL observation method code.

12

4

obsAgency

NODC observing agency code.

13

4

subAgency

NODC submitting agency code.

14

1

density

observation density
(H=High, L=low, U=unknown).

15

5

qc Def

definition number of test set used.

16

4

qcMade

flags indicating tests made on profile.

17

1

isDerived

derived value
(0= observed, 1= derived).



Profile Num Records
(one to "n" number of records per station)

Field

Width

Name

Content

1

1

record type

always 'g'.

2

5

sequence

database sequence number.

3

4

parmCode

NODC/GF3/OCL parameter code.

4

4

valueCode

coded value.



Profile Observation records
(one to "n" number of records per station)

Field

Width

Name

Content

1

1

record type

always 'o'.

2

4

qcFlags

flags indicating qc tests that failed.

3

5

sequence

database sequence number.

4

12

z

depth/pressure.

5

12

obs

observation.

6

4

zSigDig

depth/pressure significant digit.

7

4

obsSigDig

observation significant digit.

8

12

zOld

original depth/pressure ( if present ).

9

12

obsOld

original observation ( if present ).

  Last modified:    Wed, 10-Oct-2007 20:03 UTC NODC.Webmaster@noaa.gov
 
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