As time permits, I'll activate links here so you can just click on them to check them out.
This is a guide to Internet sources of meteorological, oceanographic,
and geophysical data. Contents:
1) Overview
2) How to get a current copy of this document
3) How to use this document
4) Topic Index
5) List of sites
6) How to use the data retrieval methods
Each (major) section has a "Subject:" line, so you can search on the
subject title above to find the section quickly.
---------------
Subject: Overview
This is part 1 of a guide to various sources of meteorological,
oceanographic, and geophysical data. Some of these data sets are intended
for enjoyment or hobbyist use; other data are more research-oriented.
Much of the research data is not free and is not directly available over
the network; usually, only information about this data is available, and
you must place an order for the actual data.
The contents of this series of FAQs are:
Part 1: Meteorological data available via the Internet
Part 2: Meteorological data available via tape, CD-ROM, and other media
The section on mailing lists which used to be included in this FAQ
is now a separate FAQ, "Mailing lists and newsgroups for meteorology".
This article is copyright (c) 1993,1994 by Ilana Stern. It may be freely
distributed for non-commercial purposes only, provided that this copyright
notice and the instructions on retrieving a current copy are not
removed. The information in this article is provided as-is, with no
warranties or assurances as to its accuracy. I prefer that archives
maintain current copies, since this information changes rapidly. If
you would like to put this article in an archive and want to receive
a new copy automatically at every update, please send me email.
Corrections, additions, and comments should be sent to Ilana Stern at
ilana@ncar.ucar.edu. Please include in your message where you read
this document. Note that if I know about it, it's in this document.
---------------
Subject: How to get a current copy of this document
If you are reading this document after 18 Oct 1994, you are reading an
outdated copy. A current copy can be obtained by anonymous FTP to
rtfm.mit.edu, from the file weather/data/part1 in the directory
/pub/usenet/news.answers. These files are updated every two weeks,
when a new copy is posted to sci.geo.meteorology, news.answers,
and sci.answers. This document also appears on the mailing lists
CLIMLIST and met-stud, which are described in the FAQ, "Mailing Lists
for Meteorology".
If you can't use FTP, send email to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with
send /pub/usenet/news.answers/weather/data/part1
as the only text in the message (leave the subject blank).
Other sources for this document:
ftp://vmd.cso.uiuc.edu/wx/sources.doc
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/weather/top.html
(in somewhat hypertext form!)
---------------
Subject: How to use this document
As the amount of information available over the networks has been
increasing, so have the methods by which this information can be obtained.
No longer is direct usage of FTP the only, or even the most frequent, method
of obtaining data; we now have Gopher, Wais, and WWW, as well as many
site-specific interfaces. Because the information itself may be accessible
in many different ways, this FAQ will identify resources in terms of
URLs (Uniform Resource Locators). This will also help convert this
FAQ to a hypertext document, so that it can be used with a WWW browser
to go directly to any of the listed sources.
Here's a glossary, so you can decode the URLs if necessary to reach
the sites:
ftp://host.name.domain/directory/[filename] ftp site
http://host.name.domain/directory/[filename] www server
telnet://host.name.domain telnet site
gopher://host.name.domain gopher server
wais://host.name.domain wais server
news:newsgroup.name newsgroup
So, for example, if a document is available at ftp://ncardata.ucar.edu/
it means that you should ftp to ncardata.ucar.edu, and the information is
in the top-level directory.
If you don't know what these information retrieval methods are, see
the section "How to use the data retrieval methods".
---------------
Subject: Topic Index
1) Current weather (satellite images)
2) Current weather and forecasts (maps, radar, soundings)
3) Current weather and forecasts (text)
4) Special event information (may be transient)
5) Other images
6) Map data
7) Research data and metadata
8) Software
9) Pointers to other resources
This section lists the names and access protocol of sites of interest, with
a brief blurb as to their contents. See section 5 for more information
about these sites. Some sites appear more than once under different subject
headings. Some sites have identical contents; please use the site closest
to you.
1. Current weather (satellite images)
a) North America
b) Europe
c) Pacific
d) Other
a. North America
a1. Hourly GOES visible and IR (last few days)
ftp://early-bird.think.com/pub/weather/maps/
ftp://ftp.uwp.edu/pub/wx/
ftp://kestrel.umd.edu/pub/wx/
ftp://wmaps.aoc.nrao.edu/pub/wx/
ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/multimedia/images/wx/
ftp://wx.research.att.com/wx/
gopher://wx.atmos.uiuc.edu:70/11/Images/
gopher://metlab1.met.fsu.edu/11/images/
gopher://geograf1.sbs.ohio-state.edu/1/wxascii/gophergrafx/satpix/
http://www.atmos.uiuc.edu/wxworld/html/satimg.html
afs://afs/athena.mit.edu/project/weather
a2. Daily full-disk GOES
gopher://gopher.ssec.wisc.edu:70/11/gsdc.d/
a3. Image archives (older images)
gopher://wx.atmos.uiuc.edu:70/11/Images/
gopher://nevado.srcc.lsu.edu/11/Images/GOES/
gopher://nevado.srcc.lsu.edu/11/Images/AVHRR/
a4. Other
ftp://ats.orst.edu/pub/weather/
GOES vis/IR images of North, Central America
ftp://cmits02.dow.on.doe.ca/photos/
GOES-7, NOAA-series images of central and eastern Canada (non-current)
ftp://uriacc.uri.edu/davet.195/ (VMS)
NOAA-11 images of the northeast US
ftp://ftp.colorado.edu/pub/weather-images/
Visible and IR images of the US
ftp://wilbur.stanford.edu/pub/weathergifs/
Visible and IR images of the US
ftp://rainbow.physics.utoronto.ca/pub/sat_images/
NOAA-11/12 mosaic images of North America
ftp://photo1.si.edu//More.Smithsonian.Stuff/nasm.planetarium/weather.gif/
NOAA and other satellite images
ftp://snow.nohrsc.nws.gov/pub/jpg
NOAA-10 and -11 AVHRR images of the US, Alaska and Canada
false color composite of bands 1,3&4 in JPEG format
gopher://ashpool.micro.umn.edu/11/Weather/Maps/
Visible and IR over North America
gopher://cmits02.dow.on.doe.ca/11/photos/
GOES-7, NOAA-series images of central and eastern Canada (non-current)
gopher://downwind.sprl.umich.edu/11/Weather_Images
US IR and vis GIF images
gopher://geograf1.sbs.ohio-state.edu/1/wxascii/gophergrafx/satpix
Water vapor, enhanced infrared over US
gopher://meteor.atms.purdue.edu/
GOES vis, IR, composites, enhanced images over US and Indiana
gopher://metlab1.met.fsu.edu/11/images/
GOES 1.1 km vis images of Tallahassee, Orlando, Florida
gopher://grizzly.uwyo.edu/
GOES vis, IR images of North America, western US, eastern US, plus floater
wais://quake.think.com:210/weather/
Searchable weather index containing satellite maps
http://thunder.atms.purdue.edu/
GOES vis, IR, composites, enhanced images over US and Indiana
http://www.atmos.uiuc.edu/wxworld/html/satimg.html
GOES vis and IR over North America, MPEG animations
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/images.html
SST off US east coast from high resolution NOAA polar orbiter
http://rs560.cl.msu.edu/weather/
GOES visible and IR images over North America
b. Europe
ftp://cumulus.met.ed.ac.uk/
Meteosat vis/IR images of Europe
ftp://ftp.cs.nott.ac.uk/pub/sat-images/
Meteosat vis/IR images of Europe, globe in gif format
ftp://ftp.sat.dundee.ac.uk/
NOAA AVHRR images of Europe
ftp://liasun3.epfl.ch
Meteosat vis/IR images of Europe
ftp://plaza.aarnet.edu.au
Full-disk GMS vis/IR images
ftp://unicorn.nott.ac.uk/pub/sat-images/
Meteosat vis/IR images of Europe, globe in jpeg format
ftp://wilbur.stanford.edu
Meteosat vis/IR images of Europe, Africa in gif format
http://www.met.fu-berlin.de/english/Wetter/index.html
Latest Meteosat vis/IR image of Europe, Africa in jpeg format
http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/
NOAA AVHRR images of Europe
gopher://ashpool.micro.umn.edu/11/Weather/Maps
UK, Europe, Scandinavian visible and IR
gopher://gopher.uni-bayreuth.de:70/11/Service/Meteosat/
Meteosat vis/IR images of Europe
gopher://cognac-f.epfl.ch:70/11/Divers/meteo/
Images of Europe
http://web.nexor.co.uk/places/satelite.html/
IR, vis images of Europe and N. Africa in gif and jpeg format
http://rs560.cl.msu.edu/weather/
IR, vis images of Europe and N. Africa in gif and jpeg format
telnet://cspnsv.csp.it:5000/
Meteosat images
c. Pacific
ftp://boa.gsfc.nasa.gov/Weather/gms/ (for use by east America, Europe)
Full-disk GMS vis/IR hourly images in gif and hdf
ftp://ftp.gphs.vuw.ac.nz/pub/weather/pictures
GMS images over New Zealand in JPEG format
ftp://ftp.jcu.edu.au/JCUMetSat/
GMS-4 images of Australia, TOGA/COARE area
ftp://explorer.arc.nasa.gov/pub/Weather/ (for use by west America)
Full-disk GMS-4 vis/IR hourly images, GOES-7 half-hourly, GOES-8, in
gif and hdf
ftp://plaza.aarnet.edu.au/Weather (for use by Australia, NZ, Asia)
Full-disk GMS vis/IR hourly images in gif and hdf
ftp://hydro.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/data/noaa/
Quick-look HRPT images of Japan, Pacific in pgm format
ftp://satftp.soest.hawaii.edu/
5-channel and SST data from AVHRR on NOAA-11, NOAA-12, full-disk and
TOGA/COARE GMS-4 vis/IR hourly
ftp://wilbur.stanford.edu/
Images of Australia, TOGA/COARE area in gif format
gopher://babel.ho.bom.gov.au/11/Australian%20Weather%20Information/Images
Images of Australia
gopher://gopher.ncc.go.jp:70/11/INFO/weather/
GMS and NOAA images of Japan and Pacific
gopher://nippori.tkl.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/
Quick-look NOAA jpg images of Pacific -- archive back to November 1992
http://rs560.cl.msu.edu/weather/
Full-disk GMS vis/IR hourly images in gif and hdf format
http://life.anu.edu.au:80/weather.html
Various images & forecasts for Australia, world
http://satftp.soest.hawaii.edu/
5-channel and SST data from AVHRR on NOAA-11, NOAA-12, full-disk and
TOGA/COARE GMS-4 vis/IR hourly
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/images.html
SST in NW Pacific from high resolution NOAA polar orbiter
http://www.met.fu-berlin.de/english/Wetter/index.html
d. Other
ftp://photo1.si.edu//More.Smithsonian.Stuff/nasm.planetarium/weather.gif/
Images from various satellites
gopher://gopher.ssec.wisc.edu/70/
Antarctic composite images, worldwide composite
gopher://geograf1.sbs.ohio-state.edu/1/wximages/antartica/sat/
Satellite images over Antarctica
http://rs560.cl.msu.edu/weather/
Antarctic composite images, worldwide composite
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/images.html
SST in various places from high resolution NOAA polar orbiter
2. Current weather and forecasts (maps, radar, soundings)
a. US maps: 6-panel, UA, surface
ftp://early-bird.think.com/pub/weather/maps/
ftp://ftp.uwp.edu/pub/wx/
ftp://kestrel.umd.edu/pub/wx/
ftp://wmaps.aoc.nrao.edu/pub/wx/
ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/multimedia/images/wx/
b. Other
ftp://cmits02.dow.on.doe.ca/maps/
Canadian weather map (in French or English) (not current)
ftp://ftp.colorado.edu/pub/weather-images/
Surface analyses, radar summaries, soundings for various locations
ftp://kestrel.umd.edu/pub/wx/
Surface maps for Alaska, US regions (see files 00name)
ftp://unidata.ucar.edu/images/
Surface analyses, radar summaries, meteorgrams, skewT for various locations
telnet://wind.atmos.uah.edu:3000/
Surface T, SLP, radar, wind, surface data for US and S.E. US (using WXP)
gopher://apollo.lsc.vsc.edu:70/
Surface & upper air analyses, forecasts, meteorgrams for Vermont, N.E. US
gopher://cmits02.dow.on.doe.ca/11/maps/
Canadian weather map (in French or English) (not current)
gopher://downwind.sprl.umich.edu/11/Weather_Images
Current Asian, European, South American temperatures and precipitation
gopher://geograf1.sbs.ohio-state.edu/1/wxascii/gophergrafx/surface
Surface analyses for Ohio, US, Antarctica, Alaska
gopher://mcidas.uncc.edu/1mcidas.70
Southeast US skew-T, meteorgrams, mesoscale analyses, upper-air plots
gopher://meteor.atms.purdue.edu/
Surface & upper air analyses, forecast model output, radar, skewT,
meteorgrams for US states
gopher://metlab1.met.fsu.edu/
Radar summaries, upper air plots, soundings, for US states; surface
plots for US states, Canada, Caribbean
gopher://grizzly.uwyo.edu/
Four-panel US maps from forecast models, meteorgrams, forecasts for US
states, regional surface maps, radar
gopher://unidata.ucar.edu:70/11/Images/
Surface analyses, radar summaries, meteorgrams, skewT for various locations
gopher://vortex.weather.brockport.edu/11/
Forecast model output (ECMWF, NMC), Oswego lake effect model output images
gopher://wx.atmos.uiuc.edu:70/11/Images/
Six-panel US maps (various variables), UA and surface maps (US, Canada)
http://rs560.cl.msu.edu/weather/
Six-panel US maps (various weather variables), radar maps
http://aristarchus.rutgers.edu/weather.html
Weather map with radar (US) (updated every 20 minutes!):
http://cs.indiana.edu/weather/panels.html
Six-panel US maps
http://cs.indiana.edu/weather/surface.html
Current surface weather map
http://thunder.atms.purdue.edu/
Surface & upper air analyses, forecast model output, radar, skewT,
meteorgrams for US states
http://www.atmos.uiuc.edu/wxworld/html/top.html
Surface and upper air analyses, 6-panel maps, soundings, forecast model
output for US and US regions
http://www.mit.edu:8001/weather/
Surface analysis for US, plus forecasts
3. Current weather and forecasts (text)
A. Weather Undergrounds (US/Canada fcsts, global reports, ski conds, severe wx)
B. Other North American forecasts
C. Forecasts elsewhere
a. Weather Undergrounds (US/Canada fcsts, global reports, ski conds, severe wx)
gopher://downwind.sprl.umich.edu/11/Weather_Text
telnet://downwind.sprl.umich.edu:3000/
telnet://hermes.merit.edu/
telnet://measun.nrrc.ncsu.edu:3000/
telnet://thunder.met.fsu.edu:3000/
telnet://vortex.weather.brockport.edu:3000/
telnet://wind.atmos.uah.edu:3000/
b. Other North American forecasts
ftp://ats.orst.edu/pub/weather/
Some US city and Oregon weather forecasts
ftp://ncardata.ucar.edu/pub/weather/
Colorado weather forecasts
telnet://duat2.wtp.gtefsd.com
Aviation weather
telnet://empire.cce.cornell.edu
Climate data and information (login "guest"), select "Weather" then "CLIMOD"
telnet://nevado.srcc.lsu.edu
Observations and forecasts for US
telnet://shelley.ca.uky.edu
Zone forecasts for US States, central US river stage forecasts,
detailed Kentucky information (login "kyag")
gopher://apollo.lsc.vsc.edu:70/
Forecasts and summaries for US as whole, N.E. US
gopher://ashpool.micro.umn.edu/11/Weather/
Current weather and forecasts for US, Canada
gopher://geograf1.sbs.ohio-state.edu/
Forecasts for US, Canada, Caribbean; severe weather, NMC products, tropical
observations and forecasts, marine and aviation weather
gopher://gopher.atmos.albany.edu
Forecasts and other weather products for eastern New York State
gopher://gopherpc.abrfc.noaa.gov/
River stage forecasts for Arkansas-Red River Basin (central US)
gopher://mcidas.uncc.edu/
Many National Weather Service products for Southeast US
gopher://metlab1.met.fsu.edu/11/weather
Florida weather and forecasts
gopher://nevado.srcc.lsu.edu/
Observations and forecasts for south central US states
gopher://owl.nstn.ns.ca/
Canadian forecasts
gopher://shelley.ca.uky.edu/11/.weather
Zone forecasts for US States, central US river stage forecasts,
detailed Kentucky information
gopher://swami.tamu.edu/
Agricultural weather forecasts and reports for southern US, esp. Texas
gopher://vortex.weather.brockport.edu/
Current weather at SUNY brockport, US forecasts
gopher://wx.atmos.uiuc.edu:70/
Current weather and forecasts for US, Canada, Caribbean
http://rs560.cl.msu.edu/weather/
Current weather and forecast for Lansing, MI
http://swami.tamu.edu/
Agricultural weather forecasts and reports for southern US, esp. Texas
http://www.mit.edu:8001/weather/
Current weather and forecasts for US cities
c. Forecasts elsewhere
telnet://vicbeta.vic.bom.gov.au:55555/
Australian weather observations and forecasts
gopher://babel.ho.bom.gov.au/11/Australian%20Weather%20Information
Australian weather summaries, forecasts, warnings
gopher://gopher.ncc.go.jp:70/11/INFO/weather/
Japan weather forecasts (in Kanji)
gopher://tortel.dcc.uchile.cl:70/
Chilean weather forecasts (in Spanish)
http://www.met.fu-berlin.de/deutsch/Wetter/meldungen.html
Berlin weather (in German)
4. Special event information (may be transient)
A. Still images
B. Movies
C. Text
a. Still images
ftp://unidata.ucar.edu/images/
Images of hurricanes Emily, Hugo, Beryl, Kevin
ftp://ats.orst.edu/pub/weather/
Hurricane Andrew and Emily images
ftp://ftp.colorado.edu/pub/weather-images/hurricane.andrew
Hurricane Andrew images and weather maps
ftp://ftp.colorado.edu/pub/weather-images/hurricane.emily
Hurricane Emily images and weather maps
ftp://ftp.met.fsu.edu/pub/hurricane_Andrew
Hurricane Andrew images
ftp://snow.nohrsc.nws.gov/
"Blizzard of 93", midwest flood, Malibu fires smoke plume jpeg images
ftp://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/gumley/
Midwest flood images
ftp://satftp.soest.hawaii.edu/pub/spectactular
Hurricane Fernanda images
ftp://satftp.soest.hawaii.edu/pub/avhrr/images/hurricane
Hurricanes Emilia and Fabio
gopher://downwind.sprl.umich.edu/11/Weather_Archives/
Blizzard of 93, hurricanes Andrew, Hugo, Emily, Elena; tornado paths
gopher://wx.atmos.uiuc.edu:70/11/Images/Hurricane%20Emily/
Hurricane Emily track (gif and ps) and image
gopher://unidata.ucar.edu:70/11/Images/
Images of hurricanes Emily, Hugo, Beryl, Kevin
http://satftp.soest.hawaii.edu/fernanda.html
Hurricane Fernanda images
http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/weather.html
California fires, hurricane Emily track
http://www.sec.noaa.gov/images/eclipse.html
Images of May 10, 1994 annular eclipse
b. Movies
ftp://earthsun.umd.edu/JEI/GOES
"Blizzard of 93" movie in .flc format
ftp://sumex-aim.stanford.edu/pub/info-mac/art/qt/
Quicktime (for Macintosh) movie of "Blizzard of 93"
gopher://ageninfo.tamu.edu/11/eclipse
MPEG of GOES-7 and GOES-8 images during May 10 1994 eclipse
http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/weather.html
Hurricane Emily movies (mpg)
http://ageninfo.tamu.edu/eclipse/
MPEG of GOES-7 and GOES-8 images during May 10 1994 eclipse
c. Text
ftp://ftp.ngdc.noaa.gov/DMSP/SERVICES/WEEKLY/TCYCLONE
Tropical Cyclone Weekly summary
ftp://nic.fb4.noaa.gov/pub/cac
CAC ENSO advisories and indices, monthly mean and anomaly fields
gopher://cmits02.dow.on.doe.ca/11/climate/nino/
CAC ENSO advisories and indices (CMAF climate monitoring)
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/dmsp/weekly.html
Tropical Cyclone Weekly summary
http://www.sec.noaa.gov/
Space weather (magnetic and solar)
5. Other images
ftp://explorer.arc.nasa.gov/SPACE/CDROM/
Various earth-from-space images
ftp://explorer.arc.nasa.gov/pub/cdrom/
Viking, Magellan, Voyager images from CD-ROMs
ftp://snow.nohrsc.nws.gov/
Snow cover maps of US derived from GOES and AVHRR
ftp://sseop.jsc.nasa.gov/
Pictures taken from the space shuttle in bitmap format
gopher://downwind.sprl.umich.edu/11/Weather_Archives/Clouds/
Images of Whole earth, various types of clouds
telnet://sanddunes.scd.ucar.edu/
AVHRR images of USA
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/sircxsar.html
SIR-C/X-SAR space radar images of Earth
http://www.sec.noaa.gov/
Space weather (magnetic and solar), current solar images
6. Map data
ftp://ftp.csn.org/COGS/
Mapping software and datasets
ftp://ncardata.ucar.edu/
Elevation data
ftp://spectrum.xerox.com/pub/map/
Various USGS data
gopher://ageninfo.tamu.edu/11/apl-us
Shaded relief map of USA generated from ETOPO5 dataset
http://ageninfo.tamu.edu/apl-us/
Shaded relief map of USA generated from ETOPO5 dataset
http://walleye.forestry.umn.edu:70/0/www/main.html
University of Minnesota remote sensing lab (choose GIS information)
http://www.ucar.edu/metapage.html
Elevation data (choose "Research data" and then look at geophysical data)
1) How to use FTP
2) How to use telnet
3) Gopher information
4) Wais information
5) WWW information
1. How to use FTP
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) allows transfer of files between two computers
which are on the Internet. To access the FTP areas listed here, at your
system prompt type "ftp" followed by the name of the desired system. For
example, to access ncardata.ucar.edu you'd type
ftp ncardata.ucar.edu
Use "anonymous" as your login and your email address as the password (if
requested).
[Note: quotes ("like this") are used to set off names of directories and
files, or commands you'd type, and are not part of these names.]
Not all FTP systems accept the same commands, but here's a list of the
most useful:
ls list files in the current directory.
cd change directory, e.g. "cd wx" changes to the wx directory.
binary sets binary mode
ascii sets ascii mode (the default). Use for retrieving text.
get retrieves a file, e.g. "get readme" gets a file called readme.
bye exits FTP.
If you can't seem to connect to the site, check to see if it is a telnet
site. If it is, follow the instructions in the following section instead.
If you can't FTP from your site, use one of the following ftp-by-mail servers:
ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com
ftpmail@src.doc.ic.ac.uk
ftpmail@cs.uow.edu.au
ftpmail@grasp.insa-lyon.fr
ftpmail@ftp.uni-stuttgart.de
Send an e-mail message to the closest address, with the lines:
reply your_address@some.where (your email address)
connect ncardata.ucar.edu (for example)
cd datasets/ds111.2/software
get access_sun.f
quit
For complete instructions, send a one-line message reading "help" to the
server. Please don't ask me for help!
2. How to use telnet
Type "telnet" followed by the name or IP number of the desired system. These
publicly accessible systems generally allow you to log in but put you in
a restricted shell, from which only a certain menu of commands is available.
The description for the site will include the login to use.
If you can't seem to connect to the site, re-check its description in the
document; if it's an FTP site, follow the instructions in the previous
section instead.
3. Gopher information
Available by ftp at ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/gopher-faq.
4. Wais information
Available by ftp at
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/wais-faq/getting-started.
5. WWW information
Available by ftp at ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/www/faq.
WWW is so easy to use that you might as well just hop in and try it, so
ask your sysadmin if you have a WWW browser such as NCSA Mosaic.