FIRETRACC/CRYOSTAT format and filenaming conventions


Introduction

All FIRETRACC and CRYOSTAT data is archived at the British Atmospheric Data Centre.

FIRETRACC and CRYOSTAT data are now publicly accessible, but you are advised to consult with the authors of the data before citing the data in any publication or presentation. Contact authors are shown on the data files.

Data will be 'primary' (simple concentration versus depth profiles), or 'secondary' (reconstructed trends from firn).


NASA-Ames Format

Data must be formatted in "NASA-Ames" format. NASA-Ames is not difficult! A template has been constructed below. To submit data, cut and paste the template to your word processor or spreadsheet, modify the header lines to match your requirements, and then add your table of data in space delimited format. You can construct your files in Excel or similar, but it is recommended to at least check the resulting file in a text viewer before submitting.

Filenames must conform to the naming convention outlined below. They are saved as ASCII text and sent by ftp (Note: set the file type to ASCII) to the restricted database at UEA. It will be sent from there to the BADC. Notify the Co-ordinator when they have been submitted to the UEA database.

There is a useful program on the BADC website that checks files for compliance with NASA-Ames. Please check your files with this utility before submitting to the database.


Example of NASA-Ames file

The file text is in black, with explanatory notes underlined in red. You can read more about NASA-Ames here.

25 1001                                                                   25 is number of header lines including this one, 1001 is the same for all files 
Sturges, William T                                                        name
School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia               address
Long-lived halocarbons in firn air, Dome Concordia, Antarctica - short description
FIRETRACC             – project name, same for all files
1 1                   – same for all files (purely historical reason, means tape volume 1 of 1)
1998 04 03 2000 05 21 – data start date, and date this file was created as YYYY MM DD
0                     – interval between independent variable values; use zero if not constant, or if in doubt!
Depth (m)             – description of independent variable including units
4                     – number of dependent variables
1 1 1 1               – scaling factors of dependent variables in order (CFC-12, CFC-11, CH3Br)
99999 99999 99999 99999       – missing value indicators for the dependent variables (must be >largest data value)
canister              – name of first independent variable (here it is the type of sample canister)
CFC-12 (ppt)          – name of second independent variable including units, etc.
CFC-11 (ppt)          - third independent variable
CH3Br (ppt)           - fourth independent variable, etc.
2                     – number of ‘special’ comment lines, however many you want
Sample canister codes: 1=Silcocan; 2=Meriter; 3=NCAR; 4=Max Plank   ‘special’ comment
CFC-12 calibration preliminary; consult data author before use     – ‘special’ comment
5                     – number of ‘normal’ comment lines + title line (same for all files)
THIS-FILE-NAME= dc9fup01.lha   ‘normal’ comment: must be in this format
THIS-FILE-VERSION=1           – must be in this format; versions start at 1 and increment by 1
THIS-FILE-ENDS=1999 01 10
E-MAIL-CONTACT=w.sturges@uea.ac.uk   ‘normal’ comment line: must be in this format
Depth canister CFC-12 CFC-11 CH3Br   column titles
0 1 550 245 8.1                     – first line of data; space delimited
1 1 549 243 8.2
5 1 530 240 8.0
10 2 520 236 99999

NASA-Ames Template

Here is the template again, without the notes, which can be cut-and-pasted to your word processor or spreadsheet:

25 1001 
Sturges, William T
School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
Long-lived halocarbons in firn air, Dome Concordia, Antarctica
FIRETRACC
1 1
1998 04 03 2000 05 21
0
Depth (m)
4
1 1 1 1
99999 99999 99999 99999
canister
CFC-12 (ppt)
CFC-11 (ppt)
CH3Br (ppt)
2
Sample canister codes: 1=Silcocan; 2=Meriter; 3=NCAR; 4=Max Plank
CFC-12 calibration preliminary; consult data author before use
5
THIS-FILE-NAME= dc9fup01.lha
THIS-FILE-VERSION=1
THIS-FILE-ENDS=1999 01 10
E-MAIL-CONTACT=w.sturges@uea.ac.uk
Depth canister CFC-12 CFC-11 CH3Br


File Naming Conventions

Filenames should be 8 characters long with a three character extension, and should follow the format:

uuvwxyzz.rrr

where

uu = di (Devon Island), dm (Dronning Maud Land), dc (Dome Concordia), nm (Neumayer)

v = year of campaign (e.g. 8 for 1998, etc.)

w = measurement type (f = firn air depth profile, a = ambient air measurements, r = reconstructed time series, m = model parameters)

x = institute (u = uea, l = lgge, b = unibe, a = bas (antractic survey), m = mpi, n = ncar, c = cfr/lcme, r = reading, o = open, z = csiro (oz!))

y = p (primary data – concentrations versus depths), or s (secondary data – concentration versus year)

zz = version number (01, 02, etc.)

rrr = variable type (see below)


Variable types

The following are reserved variable types, please inform the Co-ordinator if you use a new variable name, to avoid duplication.

.co2 carbon dioxide gas concentration

.ch4 methane gas concentration

.ccg CO2 and CH4 gas concentrations

.cog carbon monoxide

.dc2 isotopes of CO2

.dc1 isotopes of CO

.dch isotopes of CH4

.icc isotopes of multiple carbon gases

.ipm isotopes (and elemental ratios) of permanent gases

.phy firn physical parameters

.has halocarbons, short-lived

.hal halocarbons, long-lived

.haa halocarbons and alkyl nitrates

.nmh non-methane hydrocarbons

.rno alkyl nitrates

.sf5 specific data on SF5CF3 and SF6

.cmp comparison between laboratories

.gch Green Functions (age spectra) for CH4

.gco Green Functions (age spectra) for OCS (carbonyl sulphide)


Example

di8fup01.has

is Devon Island 1998 firn air data analysed for short-lived halocarbons by UEA as a primary depth profile, version 1.