This is the tenth ECMWF-users' newsletter. To get copies of previous newsletters, use anonymous FTP to ncardata.ucar.edu [128.117.8.111] and change directory to datasets/ds111.2/news. Or, use a WWW client such as Xmosaic and open http://www.ucar.edu/metapage.html, then select "Research Data Archives" which will get you into the Data Support Section ftp area with a nicer interface. You can then get into the ECMWF information via the gridded datasets catalog. 4 January 1994 CONTENTS: o Basic Consolidated Dataset (ds111.2) updated through September 1993 o Advanced Operational Analysis datasets (ds111.0, .1, .3) updated through June 1993 o ECMWF has switched to GRIB Edition 1; new read code is required o WWW access for ECMWF data information ============================================================================ Basic Consolidated Dataset (ds111.2) update The Basic Consolidated Dataset (ds111.2) has been updated with the July - September 1993 data. If you are planning to use the data on NCAR's Cray, you can obtain the listing of the volume serial numbers containing the data from the file datasets/ds111.2/MASTER, via anonymous FTP to ncardata.ucar.edu. This file is also on the Mass Store under the name /DSS/D/DS1112. You can also access this file via the WWW interface as described below. === Advanced Operational Analysis (ds111.0, .1, .3) update The Advanced Operational Analysis datasets (ds111.0, .1, .3) have been updated with the January - June 1993 data. These datasets will be updated every 6 months. If you are planning to use the data on NCAR's Cray, you can obtain the listing of the volume serial numbers containing the data from the file datasets/ds111.x/MASTER (where x is 0, 1, or 3, depending on the particular dataset), via anonymous FTP to ncardata.ucar.edu. This file is also on the Mass Store under the name /DSS/D/DS111x. You can also access this file via the WWW interface as described below. === ECMWF has switched to GRIB Edition 1; new read code is required ECMWF has changed their data format from GRIB Edition 0 to GRIB Edition 1, as of July 1993 for the Basic Consolidated Dataset (ds111.2) and as of January 1993 for the Advanced Operational Analyses Datasets (ds111.0, ds111.1, and ds111.3). The GRIB Edition 1 format description can be found in the ncardata.ucar.edu ftp area, in the directory datasets/ds111.x/format, or via the WWW interface as described below. Because of this new format, you will need to change to the new read code supplied by ECMWF. This code handles both formats transparently. I didn't write a "new version" which you could just plug into your old programs, because there are many changes in the structure of the arrays which are returned. However, it should not be too difficult to change your programs to use the new code. The read programs in the ftp area now use the new code, and you can "diff" them with the old versions (also in the ftp area) to see the changes you need to make. If you still have problems, you can send me email. The major changes are: 1) Subroutines LENGRIB and DECOGB are both replaced by GRIBEX, which has a different calling sequence; 2) The header arrays iblk1 and iblk2 are renamed ksec1 and ksec2 (not necessary, but useful for consistency) and must be larger (25 and 23 words, respectively, instead of 18 and 11); there is an extra variable at the front of ksec1, vers2, which is added into the equivalence statement; 3) There are more header arrays: ksec0(2), ksec3(2), ksec4(42) (integers) and psec2(10), psec3(2) (reals); 4) The routines to print the header arrays, PRTBK1 and PRTBK2, have been replaced by GRPRSx (where x is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4); 5) The machine-dependent code has been separated out into different packages. All of the routines, along with sample main programs, are available in the ftp area in the directory datasets/ds111.x/software. There are subdirectories for the older code, and for the machine-specific code. The code is also available through the WWW interface. === WWW access for ECMWF data information If you have a WWW client such as Xmosaic available at your site, you can get ECMWF information, as well as information about other NCAR datasets, from the Data Support Section's anonymous ftp machine, using a much easier interface with hypertext linkages. To access the DSS ftp machine via WWW, open the URL http://www.ucar.edu/metapage.html and select the Research Data Archives. This will bring you to the DSS home page, which contains links to various catalogs (some hypertext), DSS documents and files, and the rest of the ftp area. The ECMWF information is most easily reached via the gridded data catalog. I may make this more obviously accessible if it seems useful. I would appreciate those of you who try this out to give me feedback and suggestions. ============================================================================ If you would like to be taken off this mailing list, please contact me. If you are interested in ordering any ECMWF/TOGA data, or any other data from NCAR's archives, please contact me. I can be reached at ilana@ncar.ucar.edu or by phone at (303)497-1214. Ilana Stern Data Support Section National Center for Atmospheric Research