Site Averaged AMS Data: 1987 Meteorological Time Series

The FIFE experiment on the Konza Prairie collected this site-averaged meteorological data in 30-minute intervals during 1987. It contains measurements from Portable Automatic Meteorological Stations (AMS), likely including atmospheric pressure, solar and longwave radiation, air and soil temperature, surface winds, and precipitation. This dataset provides a standardized, temporally consistent record for analyzing land-atmosphere interactions.

Use Cases

• Modeling surface energy balance using solar radiation and longwave radiation measurements.
• Analyzing diurnal cycles of soil and air temperature from the 30-minute time series.
• Studying wind patterns and their influence on local microclimates based on surface wind data.
• Investigating precipitation events and their correlation with other atmospheric variables.
• Validating or calibrating remote sensing products with ground-based atmospheric measurements.

Strengths

• Provides temporally dense data with a 30-minute sampling interval throughout 1987.
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and NASA Earthdata signals established importance and curation.
• Data is site-averaged, offering a standardized product from the field experiment.

Limitations

• Column names and exact row counts are not provided, limiting precise assessment of data structure.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata (1987 vs. 2026) creates uncertainty about provenance and maintenance.
• Documentation is sparse, with no author or detailed methodology described.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Acquired via Portable Automatic Meteorological Stations (AMS) deployed during the FIFE experiment.

Time Range

1987 (with experiment spanning 1987-1989)

Freshness

Last updated metadata conflicts: one source shows 1987-12-31, another shows 2026-04-09.

Geography

Konza Prairie (FIFE experiment site)