Significant changes to the PACRAIN database (other than monthly updates)
are described below in reverse chronological order. In general, changes are
retroactive and all previous versions of the modified data are considered
obsolete.
With the standard interface
all effected rainfall records can be retrieved easily using the
Last Modified option.
To receive announcements about database changes subscribe to the
PACRAIN users mailing list.
6 June 2008
Format Changes
- The data format has changed to allow for high-resolution data. The
period and amount fields are wider and have a different precision, and
the timestamp field is wider and is now in
ISO 8601 format with a
precision of 0.1 seconds.
27 October 2006
Content Changes
14 September 2006
Content Changes
- Timestamps have been corrected for SP00885 (Ecom HS) for and SP00960
(Pitcairn Island). The corrections apply to the records from the
2006-09-01 regular update and effect data from the
standard interface.
- Four deferred observations have been added to the SP00960 data for
June 2006. This effects data from both the
standard and
legacy interfaces.
2 July 2005
Content Changes
- Numerous midnight (LT) timestamps for numerous NCDC (US) sites have
been corrected by advancing them forward by 24 hours. This effects data
from both the standard and
legacy interfaces.
- Numerous midnight (LT) timestamps for numerous NCDC (US) site have been
corrected to non-midnight values. This effects data from both the
standard and
legacy interfaces.
- Missing records for US14001 (Agat, Guam) for 1982-12-30 through
1983-01-13 have been added to the database. This effects data from both the
standard and
legacy interfaces.
- Erroneous records for US14000 (Aasufou, American Samoa) for 1982-12-31
through 1983-01-14 have been corrected. This effects data from both the
standard and
legacy interfaces.
- Records for US14727 (Pirate's Cove, Guam) have been converted to UTC.
This only effects data from the standard
interface.
20 June 2005
Content Changes
- US cooperative observation times prior to 1982 were only given as
"AM" or "PM". In the NCDC dataset used by PACRAIN these are times are
encoded as 0600 or 1800 LT. All such observations have been given the
"estimated timestamp" flag. This only effects data from the
standard interface.
2 June 2005
Content Changes
- There is a new flag to indicate an estimated timestamp for rainfall
records. This only effects data retrieved using the
standard interface. For more information
see the data format documentation.
The new flag has been applied to all records from all SPaRCE (SP) sites
except SP00590 and SP00960, and to US02227.
16 May 2005
Content Changes
- The timstamps for all records from French Polynesian (FR) sites have
been advanced by 12 hours from 0600 to 1800 UTC (20000 LT to 0800 LT the
next day). This effects data from both the
standard and
legacy interfaces.
9 November 2004
Content Changes
- Records for the following sites have been converted to UTC. This only
effects data from the standard interface.
| US14015 | US14193 | US14650 | US14869 |
| US14021 | US14260 | US14665 | US14870 |
| US14138 | US14300 | US14811 | US14873 |
| US14145 | US14405 | US14828 | US14902 |
| US14149 | US14465 | US14840 | US14910 |
| US14188 | US14551 | US14861 | US14912 |
- Metadata for numerous sites have been updated, and corrected in
some cases.
20 September 2004
Content Changes
- Historical daily data (prior to 1971) have been added for NCDC (US)
sites. This addition adds 202598 new records and 29 new sites to the
database. The new data are currently only available via the
standard interface.
16 September 2004
Content Changes
- A total of 289 bservations for SP00960 (Pitcairn Island) which were
previously missing have been identifed as defferred observations and
added to the database.
3 August 2004
Content Changes
- Timestamps for site SP00960 (Pitcairn Island) have been corrected by
advancing them forward 24 hours. In addition to site-specific data this
change effects monthly files from the
legacy interface for the months March 1998 through
February 2004.
2 August 2004
The prototype interface has been improved and is now considered to be
the standard interface for accessing PACRAIN
data. Although the legacy interface is still
available at this time, users are strongly encouraged to migrate to the
standard interface as soon as possible.
Content Changes
- Except where indicated otherwise, all timestamps for data retrieved
from the standard interface are now UTC.
There is currently no adjustment for Daylight Saving Time.
- Due to the varying needs of different users aggregated data (e.g.
monthly accumulations calculated from daily source data) are no longer
available from the standard interface.
- All timestamps for data retrieved from the legacy
interface are local time; timestamps for French Polynesian (FR) data
had previously been UTC.
Format Changes
1 June 2004
Content Changes
- The catalog file has been modified. The time of observation field
(TIME) has been replaced with a time zone (TZ) given as hours ahead of or
behind UTC. Formally, a time zone can be a fractional number. However,
all PACRAIN time zones are integer values (-999 indicates an unknown time
zone). In conjunction with the complete timestamps retrieved from the
prototype interface the given time zone
can be used to go between local time (LT) and UTC, where LT = UTC + TZ.
There is currently no provision for sites which observe Daylight Saving
Time.
5 May 2004
Content Changes
- A complete timestamp (date and time) is
available for all daily observations retrieved through the
prototype interface. Times are
approximate for SPaRCE (SP) data.
- All data from NCDC (US) sites have been verified against source data.
Inconsistencies have been corrected, and many previously missing
observations have been added.
Format Changes
- Output from the prototype interface
now includes a time following the date.
20 August 2003
Content Changes
- Date inconsistencies between different data sources have been corrected.
With NIWA (NZ) and Meteo France (FR) data the date given for a daily
observation is the beginning of the 24-hour accumulation period. For NCDC
(US) and SPaRCE (SP) sites the date is the observation date, or end of the
24-hour accumulation period. All dates in the PACRAIN database now
represent the beginning of the accumulation period. This change
also effects monthly accumulations.
- Historical data (prior to 1971) from
Taylor's Atlas is now
included in the PACRAIN monthly files. Forty-two Taylor's sites have been
merged with corresponding PACRAIN sites. For some of these sites the period
of record extends from the late Nineteenth Century to the present.
- Many data inconsistencies and have been fixed, and many previously
missing observations have been added.
Format Changes
- There have been three changes to the catalog file. The NUM data field
has been eliminated because had no significant meaning. The RGN and ID
fields have been combined into a single STATION field to reinforce that both
are needed to identify a site. Also, there is an additional header line
before the data begins.
- The format of the daily data files has been changed to allow for a wider
range of values. Previously, each daily total was limited to four digits,
or 9999 (999.9 mm). This was found to be inadequate when dealing with
multi-day accumulations, so each value is now allowed to have five digits:
99999 (9999.9 mm).
- There have been two changes to the monthly data files. The data flags
have been changed to be more consistent with the flags in the daily files.
Also, some column widths have been changed.
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© 2003 - 2008, The Board of Regents of the
University of Oklahoma
Send comments and questions about this web page to
Michael Klatt
6 June 2008
