1.1.1 ICARTT File Naming and Verification

1.1.1  ICARTT File Naming and Verification

The format for an ICARTT filename is as follows:

dataID_locationID_YYYYMMDD[hh[mm[ss]]]_R#[_L#][_V#][_comments].ict

(Note: brackets ‘[]’ enclose optional fields of the file name and are not part of the filename, ‘# ‘is also not part of the filename it should be a number)

dataID / Project acronym with a short description of measured parameters/species, instrument, model, etc. (e.g. Discoveraq-CH2O)
locationID / Short description of the site, platform, or source (e.g., GROUND, P3B, DC8, MODEL, SATELLITE, etc.)
YYYY / Four (4) digit year
MM / Two (2) digit month
DD / Two (2) digit day
hh / Two (2) digit hour, optional
mm / Two (2) digit minutes, optional
ss / Two (2) digit seconds, optional
R# / Revision parameter and associated number of data (alphanumeric) (e.g., R0, R10)
L# / Launch parameter and associated number (numeric only), optional (e.g., L2, L5)
V# / Volume parameter and associated number (numeric only), optional (e.g., V2, V6)
comments / Additional information, optional (e.g., _allData, _CalibratedData)
.ict / Filename extension

A sample filename for a GLNTrOP TOLNet file would be: TOLNet GLNTrOP-O3DIAL_UAH_20111024_R0.ict

1.1.2  Sample header for TOLNetGLNTrOP files

This section is intended to provide an abbreviated explanation of the ICARTT format header for TOLNetGLNTrOP files. The areas highlighted in yellow are areas where PIs are suppose to provide more detail. The areas highlighted in green are areas that usually change from file to file. Values highlighted in Blue may or may not change from file to file. The value in blue for line one should always change if you change any other value highlighted in blue. If you change the number of reported primary or auxiliary variables for some reason, then make sure you modify the appropriate scale factor and missing data lines.

This header assumes that the O3 data is reported at a constant altitude increment. If you need to report at non-constant altitudes you could report the altitude as a primary variable (array) and make the increment 0.

Line Number / Header / Description
1 / 5144, 2310 / total number of lines in header, File Format Index
2 / Michael J. Newchurch / PI Name
3 / University of Alabama in Huntsville / PI Organization/affiliation
4 / UAH_O3_DIAL / Data Source description (instrument name, model number, etc.)
5 / Ground LIDAR Network for Troposperic O3 Profiles (TOLNetGLNTrOP) / Mission/Project Name
6 / 1, 1 (sometimes more than 1 file) / file volume number, number of file volumes ( usually 1,1 unless you require more than one file per day)
7 / 2011, 10, 24, 2011, 12, 06 (must change) / data collection date, data processing date
8 / 0 / Time interval; the value of 0 indicate that start and stop time of the integration should be reported
9 / Altitude above sea level, (~196m) / bounded independent variable for TOLNetGLNTrOP
10 / UTC_start, sec, start time of the integration period in UTC seconds from 00:00 UTC of the measurement day / unbounded independent variable; it is required to report data in UTC time.
11 / 2 / Number of data variables, reported in the file, other than independent variables
12 / 1.0, 1.0 / Scale Factor(s) for data variable(s); the number of scale factors on this line should the same as the number of the data variables
13 / -999, -999 / missing data code(s) for data variable(s); the number of missing data code on this line should the same as the number of the data variables
14 / O3MR[], ppbv, O3 mixing ratio and measurement uncertainty array of 318 / Data variable, unit, a long name or description
15 / O3MRSigma[], ppbv, O3 mixing ratio and measurement uncertainty array of 318 (in percentage) / Data variable, unit, a long name or description
16 / 5 / Number of auxiliary variables
17 / 1,1,1,1,1 / Scale Factor(s) for auxiliary variable(s), i.e., non-array data variable; the number of scale factors on this line should equal number of auxiliary variables
18 / -999, -999, -999, -999, -999 / missing data code(s) for auxiliary variable(s), i.e., non-array data variables; the number of scale factors on this line should equal number of auxiliary variables
19 / UTC_stop, sec, end time of the integration period in UTC seconds / Auxiliary variables, non-array data variable; short name, units, optional long name or description
20 / Obs_date, date, date of the measurement in yyyymmdd / “
21 / NumAlts, (none), number of altitudes at current time (# of alt points) / “
22 / GeoAltBeg, (m), geometric altitude at which data begin / “
23 / alt_increment, (m), altitude increment between observations (30m or other?) / “
24 / 71 / number of special comment lines not including this line (special comment lines are below)
25-31 / ------comments------
The UAH O3 DIAL, developed jointly by the UAHuntsville and NASA/GSFC, retrieves ozone profiles from 0.5 to ~10-km altitude
at 10-minute intervals with a vertical resolution of better than 750 m while it reports ozone every 30 m. The wavelengths are
285 and 291 nm. The receiving system has two telescopes, a 40-cm Newtonian telescope, which covers the altitudes from 3 to 10 km
with a precision better than 20%, and a 10-cm Cassegrain telescope for altitudes between 0.5 to 5 km with a precision better
than 10%. The ozone retrievals of the two altitude-channels join between 4 and 5 km, typically. ------comments end------
3225 / NASA Ground-based LIDAR measurements for O3 Profiles at University of Alabama in Huntsville?? (give site name here) / Special comment line, this line is optional for TOLNetGLNTrOP files
3326 / 18 / number of normal comment lines below, not including this line
3427 / PI_CONTACT_INFO: University of Alabama in Huntsville, Research Institute RI-E47, 301 Sparkman Drive, Huntsville, AL 35899, or 256-961-7825 / Normal comments/ Required meta data
3528 / PLATFORM: Site Name = UAHuntsville? / “
3629 / LOCATION: latitude = 34.7250N; longitude = 86.6450W and elevation = 1967 / “
370 / ASSOCIATED_DATA: N/A / Normal comments/ Required meta data, may not apply for TOLNetGLNTrOP
381 / INSTRUMENT_INFO: UAH O3 DIAL (ref or URL), Kuang et al. 2010 IEEE, http://nsstc.uah.edu/atmchem/lidar/dial_data.html / Normal comments/ Required meta data: a brief description with reference and/or URL
392 / DATA_INFO: Data processed using calibration on ????, key assumptions? Atm density source: colocated ozonesonde profile within one week or 1976 US standard if ozonesonde is NA. / Normal comments/ Required meta data: a brief note related to data processing
4033 / UNCERTAINTY: Reported in data stream, in the file. / Normal comments/ Required meta data: uncertainty may be reported in the header if it is a constant percentage or can be calculated with a formula
4134 / ULOD_FLAG: -7777 / Normal comments/ Required meta data: flag for data above upper limit of detection
4235 / ULOD_VALUE: N/A / Normal comments/ Required meta data: value for upper limit of detection
4336 / LLOD_FLAG: -8888 / Normal comments/ Required meta data: flag for data below lower limit of detection
4437 / LLOD_VALUE: N/A / Normal comments/ Required meta data: value for lower limit of detection
4538 / DM_CONTACT_INFO: Shi Kuang, , (256)961-7520 / Normal comments/ Required meta data
4639 / PROJECT_INFO: Ground LIDAR Network for Tropopheric Ozone Profiles - TOLNetGLNTrOP / Normal comments/ Required meta data: project name
470 / STIPULATIONS_ON_USE: The users are strongly encouraged to consult with the PI for proper data use. / Normal comments/ Required meta data: NASA data policy requires open data access to public
481 / OTHER_COMMENTS: N/A / Normal comments: optional
492 / REVISION: R0 / Revision number should be consistent with the file name, starting from 0 in ascending order
5043 / R0: No comments for this revision. / Revision note: highlight the revision changes. This is a required entry. Revision notes are cumulative and should be in descending order
5144 / UTC_start, UTC_stop, Obs_date, NumAlts, GeoAltBeg,alt_increment, O3MR[], O3MRSigma[] / Last normal comment line should consist of the short names of the unbounded independent variable , the auxiliary variable(s) and data variables {Note: names are comma separated}