WEATHER DATA FORMAT

INTRODUCTION
Data for our degree-day calculators and models use the following format.
Note that the temperature data must be in degrees Fahrenheit. You must convert
temperatures from Celsius (Centigrade) to Fahrenheit (multiple by 9, divide by 5, then add 32)
to use these programs (but output is available in degrees Celsius).

Contact Len Coop at coopl@bcc.orst.edu if you have questions or need for some other format.

Here is an example of the format. Following is an explanation of it.

 1996 CRVO             { Agrimet data proc. L Coop }
 1  1 43.022 31.934 0.011 0.00
 1  2 49.312 35.829 0.381 0.00
 1  3 37.020 24.419 0.000 0.00
...etc

In the format above, there is a one line header for each year and station,
with comments placed at least 10 characters after the station name
(required). Station names may be up to 10 characters.

Each day has one line with MONTH DAY MAX MIN RAINFALL DD50 as a complete
record. MAX and MIN are the daily maximum and minimum temperatures in
degrees Fahrenheit, normally collected several feet off the ground in a
weather shelter (wooden box with open air ventilation, painted white). 
RAINFALL (in inches) and DD50 are optional. Other types of data such as 
soil MAX and MIN are also optional. Comments may be placed after these 
fields, they will be ignored by the IPM models. DD50 is the degree-days 
calculated using a lower threshold of 50 F, no upper threshold, and a 
single triangulation calculation method. These values may be incorrect 
or only approximate, due to errors and missing data.

MISSING days are allowed but will result in inaccurate degree-day accumulations.
Extra comments at the top and throughout the data will be ignored.

NO missing data are allowed. If we find missing data (a common occurrance),
we fill it in with interpolated data. See here for more
information on interpolation of temperature data.

In the case of rainfall data, we replace missing data with zeros. Trace data are given as
0.003 or -0.007 by Agrimet; we try to remove the minus signs.


Last updated Sep. 16, 2004
prep. by L. Coop