FORMAT FOR THE MDL U.S. AND CANADIAN SURFACE HOURLY DATA FOR 1997 AND LATER
 The MDL U.S. and Canadian Surface Hourly Data (ds472.0) is archived in an ascii format. In 1997, MDL changed the original format of the data as well as the output fields. To accomodate the new format and fields, DSS changed its ascii format of the data in 1997. Below is the description of the new format for the data archived for 1997 and later.

Missing Values : If a field is missing, then the entire fields width is set to 9's. For example, if temperature is missing, the value is 999. If sea level pressure is missing, the value would be 99999, which, after dividing by 10, would become 9999.9.
byte
range		 Field
Width		 Implied
Decimal
Places		 Parameters
In Both
Formats		 Units Name
1 - 4 4   Y   Year
5 - 6 2   Y   Month
7 - 8 2   Y   Day
9 - 10 2   Y   Hour
11 - 14 4   Y   Station ID
15 - 16 2 0     Station Type
17 - 23 7 4 Y degrees Latitude
24 - 31 8 4 Y degrees Longitude
32 - 35 4 0 Y   Observation Time
36 - 38 3 0 Y degrees F Obs Temperature
39 - 41 3 0 Y degrees F Obs Dew Point
42 - 44 3 0 Y coded Obs Weather Group 1
45 - 47 3 0 Z coded Obs Weather Group 2
48 - 50 3 0 Z coded Obs Weather Group 3
51 - 56 6 2 Y miles Obs Visibility
57 - 59 3 0 Y degrees Obs Wind Direction
60 - 62 3 0 Y knots Obs Wind Speed
63 - 65 3 0 Y knots Obs Max Wind Gust Speed
66 - 70 5 1 Y millibars Obs Sea Level Pressure
71 - 74 4 2   inches Obs Alt Setting
75 - 76 2 0 Y octa Obs Cloud Amount-Layer 1
77 - 79 3 0 Y 100's of feetObs Cloud Height-Layer 1
80 - 81 2 0 Y octa Obs Cloud Amount-Layer 2
82 - 84 3 0 Y 100's of feet Obs Cloud Height-Layer 2
85 - 86 2 0 Y octa Obs Cloud Amount-Layer 3
87 - 89 3 0 Y 100's of feet Obs Cloud Height-Layer 3
90 - 91 2 0 Z octa Obs Cloud Amount-Layer 4
92 - 94 3 0 Z 100's of feet Obs Cloud Height-Layer 4
95 - 96 2 0 Z octa Obs Cloud Amount-Layer 5
97 - 99 3 0 Z 100's of feet Obs Cloud Height-Layer 5
100 -101 2 0 Z octa Obs Cloud Amount-Layer 6
102 -104 3 0 Z 100's of feet Obs Cloud Height-Layer 6
105 -109 5 3 Z inches Obs 1-Hour Precip Amount
110 -114 5 3 Z inches Obs 3-Hour Precip Amount
115 -119 5 3 Y inches Obs 6-Hour Precip Amount
120 -124 5 3 Z inches Obs 24-Hour Precip Amount
125 -127 3 0 Z degrees F Obs 6 Hour Max
128 -130 3 0 Z degrees F Obs 6 Hour Min
131 -133 3 0 Z degrees F Obs Calendar Day Max
134 -136 3 0 Z degrees F Obs Calendar Day Min
137 -141 5 0 hours Obs Daily Sunshine
142 -145 4 0 Y inches Obs Snow Depth
146 -150 5 2 Y inches Obs 6-Hour Snowfall Amount


NOTE : Definition of Symbols for Parameters in both Formats :
        Y = Parameter is in both formats
        Z = a similar Parameter exists in the other format
  blank = Neither the parameter nor anything similar exists in the other format