FIRE ASTEX: ECMWF Weather Model Fields for the Atlantic, June 1992

The Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment region from 85W to 15E and 70N to 10N is covered by this dataset. It contains ECMWF T213L30 operational model analysis fields for June 1-28, 1992, incorporating about 650 special soundings from the experiment. The data was prepared by Ernst Klinker and Tony Hollingsworth of ECMWF and reformatted by Chris Bretherton of the University of Washington.

Use Cases

• Validate short-range weather forecasts based on the ECMWF T213L30 model initialization fields.
• Study atmospheric dynamics based on geopotential, temperature, and wind velocity fields.
• Analyze moisture transport based on specific humidity data across vertical pressure levels.
• Investigate vertical motion in the atmosphere based on the vertical velocity (Pa/s) field.

Strengths

• Incorporates about 650 special atmospheric soundings from research ships and islands during the ASTEX field campaign.
• Provides data at four initialization times per day (00, 06, 12, 18Z) for a focused 28-day period in June 1992.
• Offers multiple vertical levels from 1010 hPa to 100 hPa for key atmospheric variables.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Aircraft soundings were not included in the analyses, which may limit upper-air data completeness.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), reformatted by University of Washington.

Collection Method

Initializations and very short-range forecasts from the ECMWF T213L30 operational model, incorporating routine global observations and special ASTEX soundings.

Time Range

June 1-28, 1992

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:46:33.892985; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Atlantic region: 85W to 15E longitude, 70N to —10N latitude.