Met Office Surface Observations data - Message Types

PLEASE NOTE: The information described below solely refers to the Met Office Land Surface data (1900-2000) dataset which has been superseded by the Met Office MIDAS dataset (1853-present) at the BADC.

MESSAGE TYPE is referred to as MET. DOMAIN in the Met Office Land surface data set.

Table 1 presents the meaning of each message type.
Table 2 associates the surface data BADC file type, to MET.DOMAIN and the ID-TYPE (e.g. DCNN,WMO,RAIN,etc.)

A further table gives a full listing of STATION NAMES against station numbers (ID-TYPE) and corresponding message types (MET. DOMAIN) as well as other information relative to the station itself (e.g. latitude, longitude and period of operation).

Table 1.

MESSAGE TYPE

Description
CAWS Hourly values from Climatological AWS (CAWS) or non-standard AWS (Automatic Weather Stations)
DLY3208 Elements from Metform 3208 - Monthly Return of Daily Obs
DLY3259 Elements from Metform 3259 (pre 1982 NCM message) - Monthly Return of Obs
DRADR35 MetO1 Form R35 elements - Daily Totals of Radiation/Sunshine
ESAWRADT Hourly radiation values from ESAWS (Enhanced Synoptic AWS)
ESAWSOIL Hourly Soil temperatures from ESAWS (Enhanced Synoptic AWS)
ESAWWIND Mean hourly wind observations from ESAWS (Enhanced Synoptic AWS)
HSUN3445 Elements from Metform 3445 - Hourly values of Sunshine Duration
HWNDAUTO Elements from automatic wind recording devices
HWND6910 Elements from Metform 6910 - Analysis of Anemograms
METAR Elements from full FM 15-V METAR message - Runway - Airport messages - hourly
MODLERAD Hourly radiation values from MODLE (Met Office Data Logging Equipment)
NCM Elements from National Climate Messages reports (including climate reports pre 1982) - 12 hourly
RADTOB Radiation values currently being reported
RADXOB Optional radiation values, no longer reported
RNDRNL Daily rainfall values
RNHRLY Hourly rainfall observations
RNSHRLY Tip values from automatic rain recorders
RUNWAY Runway measurements, e.g. visual range
SOILTEMP Daily & hourly soil temperatures at 5, 10, 20, 30, 50 & 100cm
SREW Hourly Rainfall amount from SREW message
SSER Rainfall values from SSER (Solid State Event Recorder) loggers - Hourly rainfall amount and duration
SSERADJ Adjusted rainfall values from SSER loggers
SSERDLY Daily rainfall values from SSER data where no hourly values exist
SUNHRLY Hourly values of sunshine
SYNOP Elements from full FM 12-VII SYNOP message - WMO Standard Synoptic report - Hourly
TEMPDRNL Daily temperature extremes
TEMPMNSL Bare soil minimum temperatures
WADLOG Daily rainfall values from Water Authority logger; sub-hourly data possible also
WADRAIN Daily rainfall amounts from rainfall network
WAHRAIN Hourly rainfall values from analysis of TSR autographic records
WAMRAIN Monthly rainfall amount from rainfall network
WINDMEAN Wind parameters measured during one or more hours
WXDRNL Daily weather values
WXHRLY Hourly weather values

Table 2.

File type at BADC MET. DOMAIN ID-TYPE COMMENTS
.radt DRADR35 DCNN Daily radiation from Form R35
.radt MODLERAD DCNN Hourly radiation from MODLE
.radt ESAWRADT DCNN Hourly radiation from automatic stations
.radt AWSHRLY DCNN Hourly radiation from CDLs
.drain NCM RAIN Daily precipitation amount from synoptic station (no 12-hour values reported)
.drain DLY3208 RAIN Daily precipitation amount from ordinary climatological station
.drain DLY3208 LPMS Daily precipitation from long period climate station
.drain WADRAIN RAIN Precipitation amount from daily rainfall station
.drain WAMRAIN RAIN Precipitation amount from monthly rainfall station
.drain AWSDLY RAIN Daily precipitation from CDLs
.drain CHECK RAIN Daily check gauge reading
.hrain SREW RAIN Hourly amount received in real time SREW report from synoptic station
.hrain NCM RAIN 12-hourly amount received in real time NCM report from synoptic station
.hrain SSER RAIN Hourly amount calculated from SSER tip times
.hrain WAHRAIN RAIN Hourly amount and duration analysed from TSR. Reported on Form 7113
.hrain AWSDLY RAIN 12 hour precipitation from CDLs
.hrain AWSHRLY RAIN Hourly precipitation from CDLs
.tsoil NCM DCNN Soil temperature from a Principal Climatological Station reported in a NCM
.tsoil ESAWSOIL DCNN Hourly 10cm soil temperature from an automatic station
.tsoil DLY3208 DCNN Soil temperature from an Ordinary Climatological Station
.tsoil AWSHRLY DCNN Hourly soil temperatures from CDLs (Climate Data Loggers)
.hsun HSUN3445 DCNN Hourly sunshine reported on Form 3445
.temp NCM DCNN 12 or 24-hour max/min temperatures from a Principal Climatological Station reported in a NCM
.temp DLY3259 DCNN As above but reported on Form 3259 (only in archive segments)
.temp DLY3208 DCNN 24-hour max/min temperatures from an Ordinary Climatological Station
.temp DLY3208 LPMS 24-hour max/min temperatures from a long period climate station
.temp AWSDLY DCNN 12 or 24-hour max/min temperatures from CDLs
.dwx NCM DCNN Various daily climate values from a Principal Climatological Station reported in a NCM
.dwx DLY3259 DCNN As above but reported on Form 3259 (only in archive segments)
.dwx DLY3208 DCNN Various daily climate values from an Ordinary Climatological Station
.hwx SYNOP WMO Hourly synoptic observation received in SYNOP report
.hwx AWSHRLY DCNN Hourly synoptic observations received from Climate Data Loggers (CDLs)
.hwx METAR ICAO Half-hourly synoptic observation received in METAR report from station in aviation network
.hwx DLY3208 DCNN Daily synoptic report at 0900 or other hour from an Ordinary Climatological Station
.wind HWND6910 WIND Mean hourly wind and gust from analysis of anemograph record reported on Form 6910
.wind HWNDAUTO WIND Mean hourly wind and gust from Digital Anemograph Logging Equipment (DALE)
.wind ESAWWIND WIND Mean hourly wind and gust from automatic station
.wind DLY3208 DCNN 24 hour run of wind from an Ordinary Climatological Station
.wind AWSHRLY WIND Hourly mean wind from CDLs