ICOADS Web information page (Friday, 24-Jun-2016 17:12:21 UTC):

Known Problems Log: ICOADS Releases 3.0-2.1

Table 1 provides an overview of data composition and major processing actions taken from Release 2.1 (completed in 2003) through Release 3.0 (completed in 2016), in reverse chronological order. Following Table 1 the changes made since Release 2.1 are reviewed in more detail, separately for Release 2.2 through Release 3.0 (again presented in reverse chronological order). These results include detailed lists of known problems, selected inventories, 4-panel comparison plots (Figs. 1a-4i and 10a-11i; format described on this webpage), and additional data composition plots (Figs. 5-9). Note: this webpage contains some fragmentary information, which the 2012 termination of ICOADS development provided insufficient time to organize and document satisfactorily.

Table 1. For Releases 3.0-2.1 (col. 1), this table lists the period over which the Observations were updated (col. 2), any update overview Notes (col. 3), the period over which WMO Pub. No. 47 (ship) metadata were updated (col. 4), Changed aspects over the 1784-1997 (i.e., Release 2.0) period (col. 5), and the period over which the monthly Summaries were updated (col. 6).

1 2 3 4 5 6
Release Observations Notes (where "DM" indicates delayed-mode) WMO47 Changed aspects 1784-1997 Summaries
3.0 1662-2014 DM 1966-2014 1800-2014
2.5 1662-2007 DM w/ ACRE, Antarctic, Byrd, CLIWOC2.1, COAPSRV, DWD, GCC, Keyed, Kiel, Kobe2003, MDB, MEDS, PMEL, RNWW2, RussRV, SEAS, USMMJ, VOSClim, Whale, WOD 1966-2007 RH 1910-49 limits for 1662-1949; corrects Dutch SLP; reveals DUPS 3-5 hidden by DUPS 6 1800-2007
2.4 1998-5/2007 corrects a) II (to 0); b) D (361 to 362); c) W (+ bias); d) WBT (IBT > 0); e) DPTI; f) DPT; g) PT (6-7 to missing); h) UF, VF, RF; i) WNC, XNC, ANC, GNC, DNC, ENC; j) QCZ (4 to missing) 2006 recovers supplemental data from LMR format and attaches as SUPD to IMMA format 1998-5/2007
2.3 2005 a) DPTI 1; b) DPT from rh; c) sort -u discontinued; d) LMR format discontinued 1999-2005   2005
2.2 1998-2004 DM w/ NCEP, 1171, MEDS, PMEL; corrects PT II 793-794 993-994 2003-04 corrects a) if PT missing then no B1 or ZNC-TNC; b) no QCE; c) leading zero SMV 1998-2004
2.1 1998-2002   1973-2002 adds Adaptive QC 1784-1997 1998-2002


Release 3.0

Spreadsheet inventory of Release 3.0 stratifying the output individual marine reports by YR, II, DCK, SID, PT, DUPS, and LZ.

Release 2.5

Known Problems

  • UK BUFR deck 700 BFL always 16 (999/60=16.65, ref. Eric.Freeman@noaa.gov, 10 Jun 2010).
  • NCEP tide gauge in the CREX format not translated.
  • NCEP tide gauge in the C-MAN format PT and II incorrect.
  • NCEP deck 792 ID indicator of unknown for ID "MASKSTID" 2008. [corrected Feb 2010]
  • ID indicator unknown and platform type missing for buoy IDs with last three digits "000" or "500" through 2009. [2008-09 corrected Feb 2010]

Spreadsheet inventory of Release 2.5 stratifying the output individual marine reports by YR, II, DCK, SID, PT, DUPS, and LZ.

Release 2.4

ENH NRT
Sea Surface Temperature Figure 10a Figure 11a
Air Temperature Figure 10b Figure 11b
Scalar Wind Figure 10c Figure 11c
U Wind Component Figure 10d Figure 11d
V Wind Component Figure 10e Figure 11e
Sea Level Pressure Figure 10f Figure 11f
Total Cloudiness Figure 10g Figure 11g
Specific Humidity Figure 10h Figure 11h
Relative Humidity Figure 10i Figure 11i

Known Problems

Spreadsheet inventory of Release 2.4 stratifying the output individual marine reports by YR, II, DCK, SID, PT, DUPS, and LZ.

Release 2.3

Known Problems
  • NCEP decks 792-5 in BUFR ice bulb temperature does not result in negative WBT 10/1999 onward. [corrected R2.4]
  • NCEP decks 792-5 variable wind directions converted to calm 10/1999 onward. [corrected R2.4]
  • NCEP decks 792-5 in BUFR wind from knots to m/s uses 1.9425 10/1999 onward. [corrected R2.4]
Spreadsheet inventory of Release 2.3 stratifying the output individual marine reports by YR, DCK, SID, and PT.

Release 2.2

ENH STD
RT NRT RT NRT
Sea Surface Temperature Figure 1a Figure 2a Figure 3a Figure 4a
Air Temperature Figure 1b Figure 2b Figure 3b Figure 4b
Scalar Wind Figure 1c Figure 2c Figure 3c Figure 4c
U Wind Component Figure 1d Figure 2d Figure 3d Figure 4d
V Wind Component Figure 1e Figure 2e Figure 3e Figure 4e
Sea Level Pressure Figure 1f Figure 2f Figure 3f Figure 4f
Total Cloudiness Figure 1g Figure 2g Figure 3g Figure 4g
Specific Humidity Figure 1h Figure 2h Figure 3h Figure 4h
Relative Humidity Figure 1i Figure 2i Figure 3i Figure 4i

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Known Problems

  • MEDS deck 714 QC flags ignored.
  • NDBC deck 883 precip greater than 989 mm set to missing.
  • NCEP decks 792-5 PT and II not corrected 1998-2002. [corrected R2.4]
  • NCEP decks 792-5 "Compute a missing dew point temperature if WBT and AT are extant" but observations not reQC'd so dew point temperature flags continued to reflect missing (RF=F and DNC=A) and therefore relative and specific humidity not included in monthly summaries. [corrected R2.4]
  • NCEP decks 792-5 in BUFR ice bulb temperature does not result in negative WBT 10/1999 onward. [corrected R2.4]
  • NCEP decks 792-5 and MEDS deck 714 DPTI not set to 1 when DPT computed. [corrected R2.4 NCEP IBT only]
  • 13,728 NDBC deck 883 and 1,893 Meds deck 714 landlocked reports not removed from individual observations.
  • 571 NCEP deck 793 truncated to 1024 characters 2002.
  • NCEP decks 792-5 variable wind directions converted to calm 10/1999 onward. [corrected R2.4]
  • NCEP decks 792-5 in BUFR wind from knots to m/s uses 1.9425 10/1999 onward. [corrected R2.4]

[Documentation and Software][Links to additional]

U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hosts the icoads website privacy disclaimer
 Document maintained by icoads@noaa.gov
Updated: Jun 24, 2016 17:12:21 UTC
http://icoads.noaa.gov/log.html