This project is a cooperative effort between NCAR's Data Support Section (DSS) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) of NOAA. NCEP is responsible for the numerical analyses of the data, while the DSS is responsible for the majority of input data collection and preparation and output data archiving and distribution. This project is a good example of interagency cooperation to achieve a mutually beneficial scientific goal.
In general, the project goal is to reanalyze the previous 50 years of atmospheric data. Over 40 years are now completed. The project is described in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS), March 1996. A near final draft of the BAMS article is available online, and less detailed information concerning the project and model description, and project status is also online.
The complete output archive is approximately 54 GB of data per year and contains many subset data products. Various resolutions are also available beginning with 4x daily temporally, approximately 2.0 degrees horizontally, and 28 levels vertically. In many ways this scientific data collection is unmatched by any other at this time.
All reanalysis data products are available from the NCAR MSS for users with NCAR computing accounts at no cost, and they can be provided to other users at the minimal cost of copying the data to magnetic media. Software to access the data and information on how to order the reanalysis data are available online. The wide distribution of reanalysis data is enhanced by a set of annual CD-ROMs. The CD-ROMs contain the most popular reanalysis data products and necessary software to read and display the data. Below is an example of two-meter-height air temperature (degrees Kelvin) data from 0Z, 15 December, 1996, taken from the CD-ROM and illustrated (with reduced resolution here) using the GrADS display software.
The NCEP/NCAR reanalysis dataset is proving to be popular. During 1997, average monthly statistics show that the archive on the NCAR MSS has about 10 unique users, accessing over 1000 files containing about 300 GB of data. Data usage delivered by CD-ROMs and magnetic media are not included in these statistics. Overall, 1150 CD-ROMs have been distributed to fulfill 450 requests, and about 150 orders have been served with magnetic tape media.
Other organizations within NOAA are also distributing the reanalysis data and providing some interesting real-time access and displays using the web. One such site is provided through the NOAA-CIRES Climate Diagnostics Center. Here a web-based atlas allows anyone to access and visualize many different data products.
Many scientific evaluations of the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis archive have been completed, and many more will take place in coming years. An example of the level of scientific interest was demonstrated at the October 1997 International Workshop on Reanalysis in Silver Spring, MD, sponsored by the International Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Project office. Here the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis was a central topic of many presentations. The workshop agenda emphasizes how reanalyses can be applied to a wide range of scientific investigations.
More information related to the NCEP/NCAR Global Atmospheric Reanalysis Project appears in the FY97 SCD Research Data report.
During FY97, virtual 3D imaging technology was successfully integrated into all phases of Visualization Lab work:
Virtual 3D imaging provides the illusion of three-dimensional images on a two-dimensional screen. This technology allows the human visual cortex to do what it does best: recognize patterns and focus on areas of interest. Using this technology, researchers can quickly perceive complex inter-variable relationships and spatio-temporal characteristics of large datasets that are difficult or impossible to perceive in a 2D image.
| For example, the powerful and potentially damaging vortex in this image from a clear-air turbulence simulation is extremely difficult to locate. But the vortex and its evolution become apparent--and more understandable--when viewed using virtual 3D animation. (View a 2D mpeg animation.) |
The following two-dimensional images and animations represent a sample of the virtual 3D visualizations completed during FY97:
| Volume-visualizations depicting the formation and collapse of Solar Magnetic Flux Tubes (71 KB gif image, 917 KB mpeg animation) |
| Circulation around a mesoscale convective vortex (17 KB gif image, 542 KB mpeg animation) |
| Global sulfate aerosol evolution (97 KB gif image, 1.4 MB mpeg animation) |
| Explosive forest fire evolution (18 KB gif image, 871 KB mpeg animation) |
| NCAR | UCAR | NSF | NCAR FY97 ASR |
