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.

NOTE:This format description is for the Reanalysis version of the data. The only difference between this version and the ascii version are the byte ranges of the fields.

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
35 - 38 4   Y   Year
39 - 40 2   Y   Month
41 - 42 2   Y   Day
43 - 44 2   Y   Hour
45 - 48 4   Y   Station ID
49 - 50 2 0     Station Type
51 - 57 7 4 Y degrees Latitude
58 - 65 8 4 Y degrees Longitude
66 - 69 4 0 Y   Observation Time
70 - 72 3 0 Y degrees F Obs Temperature
73 - 75 3 0 Y degrees F Obs Dew Point
76 - 78 3 0 Y coded Obs Weather Group 1
79 - 81 3 0 Z coded Obs Weather Group 2
82 - 84 3 0 Z coded Obs Weather Group 3
85 - 90 6 2 Y miles Obs Visibility
91 - 93 3 0 Y degrees Obs Wind Direction
94 - 96 3 0 Y knots Obs Wind Speed
97 - 99 3 0 Y knots Obs Max Wind Gust Speed
100 - 104 5 1 Y millibars Obs Sea Level Pressure
105 - 108 4 2   inches Obs Alt Setting
109 - 110 2 0 Y octa Obs Cloud Amount-Layer 1
111 - 113 3 0 Y 100's of feetObs Cloud Height-Layer 1
114 - 115 2 0 Y octa Obs Cloud Amount-Layer 2
116 - 118 3 0 Y 100's of feet Obs Cloud Height-Layer 2
119 - 120 2 0 Y octa Obs Cloud Amount-Layer 3
121 - 123 3 0 Y 100's of feet Obs Cloud Height-Layer 3
124 - 125 2 0 Z octa Obs Cloud Amount-Layer 4
126 - 128 3 0 Z 100's of feet Obs Cloud Height-Layer 4
129 - 130 2 0 Z octa Obs Cloud Amount-Layer 5
131 - 133 3 0 Z 100's of feet Obs Cloud Height-Layer 5
134 -135 2 0 Z octa Obs Cloud Amount-Layer 6
136 -138 3 0 Z 100's of feet Obs Cloud Height-Layer 6
139 -143 5 3 Z inches Obs 1-Hour Precip Amount
144 -148 5 3 Z inches Obs 3-Hour Precip Amount
149 -153 5 3 Y inches Obs 6-Hour Precip Amount
154 -158 5 3 Z inches Obs 24-Hour Precip Amount
159 -161 3 0 Z degrees F Obs 6 Hour Max
162 -164 3 0 Z degrees F Obs 6 Hour Min
165 -167 3 0 Z degrees F Obs Calendar Day Max
168 -170 3 0 Z degrees F Obs Calendar Day Min
171 -175 5 0 hours Obs Daily Sunshine
176 -179 4 0 Y inches Obs Snow Depth
180 -184 5 2 Y inches Obs 6-Hour Snowfall Amount

The byte ranges noted above are for the reanalysis version of the data

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