TAO

These data files contain 2 minute average radiation and 10 minute average meteorology, precipitation, salinity and sea surface temperature data from the seven TAO buoys located on the 165E line (8n, 5n, 2n, 0n, 2s, 5s, 8s) of the TAO Buoy Array. The radiation data were obtained from TAO Array moorings through a collaborative effort between NOAA/PMEL/TAO and DOE/ARM.
Data from these buoys are stored in monthly netCDF files that are generated by PMEL.

For detailed information about sampling and sensors, see these two web pages:
Sensor info
Sampling information

twp02taorad165eiiX1.a1.yyyymmdd.hhmmss.cdf

This file contains 2 minute averages of downwelling shortwave radiation in w/m**2 at 3 meters and a data quality flag.

twp10taoprecip165eiiX1.a1.yyyymmdd.hhmmss.cdf
This file contains 10 minute measurements of precipitation in mm/hr and a data quality flag.

To reduce instrumental noise, internally recorded 1-minute rain accumulation values are smoothed with a 16-minute Hanning filter upon recovery. These smoothed data are then differenced at 10-minute intervals and converted to rain rates in mm hr-1. The resultant rain rate values are centered at times coincident with other 10-minute data (0000, 0010, 0020…).

twp10taomet165eiiX1.a1.yyyymmdd.hhmmss.cdf
This file contains 10 minute averages of u and v component of the wind, and wind speed (all in m/sec), wind direction in degrees clockwise from true north, air temperature (C), sea surface temperature (C) and relative humidity (%). There are data quality flags for each of these measurements.

Winds use the oceanographic convention. A wind with zonal and meridional components of 1.0 and 1.0 is blowing toward the Northeast.

twp10taosalinity165eiiX1.a1.yyyymmdd.hhmmss.cdf
This file contains 10 minute averages of salinity (PSU) and data quality flags.

Quality Code Definitions:
0 = datum missing
1 = highest quality; Pre/post-deployment calibrations agree to within sensor specifications. In most cases only pre-deployment calibrations have been applied.
2 = default quality; Pre-deployment calibrations applied. Default value for sensors presently deployed and for sensors which were either not recovered or not calibratable when recovered.
3 = adjusted data; Pre/post calibrations differ, or original data do not agree with other data sources (e.g., other in situ data or climatology), or original data are noisy. Data have been adjusted to correct for error.
4 = lower quality; Pre/post calibrations differ, or data do not agree with other data sources (e.g., other in situ data or climatology), or data are noisy. Data could not be confidently adjusted to correct for error.
5 = sensor or tube failed

Definition of Time:
The times within the files are stored as “true Julian day” (in the measurement named time) and milliseconds since 0:00 GMT (in the measurement named time2). The Julian day is assumed to start at 0000GMT. In order to give the netCDF files names that match other ARM names (dates as we know it), we do convert the internal start time of the file to a yyyymmdd.hhmmss date.

The “caldat” routine in IDL is used to do the time conversion. The excerpt from IDL explaining the routine states:

“The CALDAT procedure computes the month, day, year, hour, minute, or second corresponding to a given Julian date. The inverse of this procedure is JULDAY. Note The Julian calendar, established by Julius Caesar in the year 45 BCE, was corrected by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, excising ten days from the calendar. The CALDAT procedure reflects the adjustment for dates after October 4, 1582. This routine is written in the IDL language. Its source code can be found in the file caldat.pro in the lib subdirectory of the IDL distribution.”

The algorithm is more fully described here.

The TAO Project Office provides near-real-time daily-averaged surface and subsurface data from ATLAS moorings as their standard product for climate research. Higher resolution data (which are available in these files) are recorded onboard the moorings and are made available after mooring recoveries, which are scheduled on an annual basis. Thus there may be a significant delay before data are available. Moreover, not all types of data are available for each month. The ARM XDC retrieves these data as monthly files. All available data since June 1997 are retrieved. The actual starting dates for each of the data streams are shown below.

The area covered is the seven TAO buoys located on the 165E line (8n, 5n, 2n, 0n, 2s, 5s, 8s) of the TAO Buoy Array.

These data are provided by PMEL in netCDF format.

Notification form

NOAA PMEL TAO Website

Institution
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

NOAA    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
PMEL    Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
PSU     Practical Salinity Units
TAO     Tropical Atmosphere Ocean

McPhaden, MJ, AJ Busalacchi, R Cheney, J-R Donguy, KS Gage, D Halpern, M Ji, P Julian, G Meyers, GT Mitchum, PP Niiler, J Picaut, RW Reynolds, N Smith, and K Takeuchi. 1998. “The Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere observing system: A decade of progress.” Journal of Geophysical Research 103(C7): 14,169-14,240, https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/pubs/outstand/mcph1720/mcph1720.shtml

Mangum, LJ, DC McClurg, LD Stratton, NN Soreide, and MJ McPhaden. 1998. “The Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) Array World Wide Web Site.” Argos Newsletter 53: 9-11, https://tao.ndbc.noaa.gov/proj_overview/pubs/argos_ndbc.shtml

Milburn, HB, PD McLain and C Meinig. 1996. “ATLAS buoy-reengineered for the next decade.” OCEANS 96 MTS/IEEE Conference Proceedings. The Coastal Ocean – Prospects for the 21st Century doi: 10.1109/OCEANS.1996.568312

“The Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) Array is Completed” McPhaden, M.J. Bul. of the American Meteorological Society, 76, 739-741(1995)

Mangum, LJ, HP Freitag, and MJ McPhaden. 1994. “TOGA-TAO array sampling schemes and sensor evaluations.” Proceedings of OCEANS’94 doi: 10.1109/OCEANS.1994.364077

Freitag, HP, Y Feng, LJ Mangum, MJ McPhaden, J Neander, and LD Stratton. 1994. “Calibration Procedures and Instrumental Accuracy Estimates of TAO Temperature, Relative Humidity and Radiation Measurements” https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/pubs/PDF/frei1589/frei1589.pdf

• Atmospheric moisture
• Atmospheric temperature
• Horizontal wind
• Shortwave broadband total downwelling irradiance
• Precipitation
• Surface condition