The FIFE Thirty Minute Rainfall Data Data Set contains data from thirty rain gauges located in the Kings Creek basin in the northwest corner of the FIFE study area during 1987. Reliability of the gauges were such that at any particular time, data from approximately 20 were recovered. The high temperatures and humidity, plus software problems in the loggers, resulted in data losses. The collected data were of high quality and sufficiently many gauges were working that the structure of the raincells can be observed from the gauge data.
30 Minute Rainfall Data (FIFE).
(Kings Creek Watershed 30 Minute Precipitation).
The FIFE Thirty Minute Rainfall Data Data Set contains data from thirty rain gauges located in the Kings Creek basin in the northwest corner of the FIFE study area during 1987. Reliability of the gauges were such that at any particular time, data from approximately 20 were recovered.
The purpose of collecting the rainfall data was to provide an accurate estimation of areal storm rainfall for the terrestrial water balance model for the Kings Creek area of the FIFE study area. Using the distributed water balance model, the spatial characteristics of the land surface hydrology (infiltration, evaporation and runoff) can be estimated.
Rainfall.
Thirty rain gauges were put out in June 1987 within the 11.7 sq km Kings Creek basin which was in the northwest corner of the FIFE study area. These gauges measured rainfall until October 1987. Reliability of the gauges were such that at any particular time, data from approximately 20 were recovered. The high temperatures and humidity, plus software problems in the loggers, resulted in the described data losses. The collected data were of high quality and sufficiently many gauges were working that the structure of the raincells can be observed from the gauge data.
RAIN_30MIN_DATA.
Professor Eric F. Wood
Princeton University
A Terrestrial Water Balance Model for FIFE.
Contact 1:
Dr. Eric F. Wood
Department of Civil Engineering
Princeton, NJ
Tel. (609) 258-4675
Email efwood@pucc.princeton.edu
The Kings Creek Watershed 30 Minute Precipitation data were collected by A. Volkmann, P.C.D. Milly, and E.F. Wood.
The University of Princeton used tipping bucket rain gauges in which a 0.2 mm tip connected to a data logger (that recorded the date and time to within 1 min of the tip) was used to record rainfall. The 1 minute rainfall readings were aggregated into 30 minute intervals.
Ground-based.
Tipping bucket rain gauges were placed on the ground at multiple locations throughout the Kings Creek Watershed.
Not applicable.
Rainfall depth at gauge locations.
Tipping bucket rain gauge, with a 0.2 mm tip, connected to a data logger that recorded the date and time (to within 1 min) of the tip.
Rain gauge was leveled and placed approximately 6 inches above the ground. Vegetation was kept clear so as not to influence the rain capture.
Manufacturer: Environmental Measurements (UK).
Carried out by the manufacturer for each instrument.
ARG100 Aerodynamic Rain gauge with a 0.2 mm tip sensitivity, funnel dia 254 mm, overall height 340 mm. L2000 single channel data logger with 4k memory.
Not available at this revision.
Not available at this revision.
Not available at this revision.
The rain gauges were deployed in the field and loggers initialized for the date and time. Periodically, the loggers were interrogated and the data downloaded.
Not available.
Not available at this revision.
The FIFE study area, with areal extent of 15 km by 15 km, is located south of the Tuttle Reservoir and Kansas River, and about 10 km from Manhattan, Kansas, USA. The northwest corner of the area has UTM coordinates of 4,334,000 Northing and 705,000 Easting in UTM Zone 14.
Thirty-one rain gauges were placed throughout the Kings Creek Basin within the FIFE study area. The exact location of each gauge follows:
SITEGRID STN NORTHING EASTING LATITUDE LONGITUDE ELEV -------- --- -------- ------- -------- --------- ---- 1318-RGP 301 4331360 708524 39 06 30 -96 35 18 375 1621-RGP 30 34330732 709244 39 06 09 -96 34 49 355 1626-RGP 30 44330841 710152 39 06 12 -96 34 11 385 1824-RGP 30 64330366 709866 39 05 57 -96 34 24 370 1829-RGP 30 74330427 710750 39 05 58 -96 33 47 415 1917-RGP 30 54330256 708498 39 05 54 -96 35 21 340 2020-RGP 30 94329924 709063 39 05 43 -96 34 57 400 2026-RGP 311 4329933 710158 39 05 42 -96 34 12 375 2123-RGP 310 4329811 709640 39 05 39 -96 34 34 405 2132-RGP 312 4329723 711329 39 05 35 -96 33 23 435 2316-RGP 308 4329376 708140 39 05 26 -96 35 36 395 2316-RGP 332 4329354 708156 39 05 25 -96 35 36 395 2321-RGP 314 4329309 709212 39 05 23 -96 34 52 365 2326-RGP 316 4329457 710188 39 05 27 -96 34 11 410 2329-RGP 317 4329500 710876 39 05 28 -96 33 42 415 2418-RGP 313 4329146 708577 39 05 18 -96 35 18 365 2424-RGP 315 4329256 709754 39 05 21 -96 34 29 380 2433-RGP 318 4329113 711634 39 05 15 -96 33 11 440 2521-RGP 320 4328921 709272 39 05 10 -96 34 50 400 2525-RGP 322 4328909 709961 39 05 09 -96 34 21 410 2616-RGP 319 4328884 708195 39 05 10 -96 35 35 380 2629-RGP 323 4328823 710821 39 05 06 -96 33 46 435 2723-RGP 321 4328671 709549 39 05 02 -96 34 39 405 2814-RGP 324 4328488 707878 39 04 57 -96 35 48 405 2819-RGP 325 4328335 708701 39 04 52 -96 35 14 410 2822-RGP 334 4328327 709498 39 04 51 -96 34 41 410 2929-RGP 327 4328244 710726 39 04 47 -96 33 50 440 2930-RGP 328 4328128 711091 39 04 43 -96 33 35 440 3120-RGP 329 4327746 708927 39 04 33 -96 35 05 430 3121-RGP 326 4327854 709293 39 04 36 -96 34 50 430 3121-RGP 330 4327805 709276 39 04 34 -96 34 51 425
Not available.
Approximately 0.6 [km^2][gauge^-1].
Not available.
Not available.
June 1, 1987 through October 15, 1987.
Not available.
Thirty minute rainfall depths.
The SQL definition found in this table for the RAIN_30M.TDF file located on FIFE CD-ROM Volume 1.
Footnote:
Parameter/Variable Name
Parameter/Variable Description Range Units Source
SITEGRID_ID This is a FIS grid location code. FIS Site grid codes(SSEE-III) give the south (SS) and east (EE) cell number in a 100 x 100 array of 200 m square cells. The last 3 characters (III) are an instrument identifier.
STATION_ID The Station ID of the location of min = 301, PRINCETON the observation. See FIFE_SITE_REF max = 334 UNIVERSITY for more information.
OBS_DATE The FIFE standard date of the min = 29-MAY-87, [GMT] FIS observation. max = 26-OCT-87
OBS_TIME The FIFE standard time of the min = 15, [GMT] FIS observation. It is the midpoint max = 2345 time of the half hour period reported.
LOCAL_OBS_DATE The local date of the 29-MAY-87, [CDT] PRINCETON observations. max = 26-OCT-87 UNIVERSITY
LOCAL_OBS_TIME The local time of the min = 15, [CDT] PRINCETON observation. The midpoint time max = 2345 UNIVERSITY of the half hour period reported.
RAINFALL The amount of rain recorded in min = .199, [mm] RAIN GAUGE this 30 minute period. max = 89.948
FIFE_DATA_CRTFCN_CODE The FIFE Certification Code * FIS for the data, in the following CPI=checked by format: CPI (Certified by PI), principal CPI-??? (CPI - questionable investigator, data). CPI-MRG=merged data
LAST_REVISION_DATE data, in the format (DD-MMM-YY). max = 30-MAY-88
* Decode the FIFE_DATA_CRTFCN_CODE field as follows:
The primary certification codes are:
EXM Example or Test data (not for release). PRE Preliminary (unchecked, use at your own risk). CPI Checked by Principal Investigator (reviewed for quality). CGR Checked by a group and reconciled (data comparisons and cross-checks).
The certification code modifiers are:
PRE-NFP Preliminary - Not for publication, at the request of investigator. CPI-MRG PAMS data that are "merged" from two separate receiving stations to eliminate transmission errors. CPI-??? Investigator thinks data item may be questionable.
SITEGRID_ID STATION_ID OBS_DATE OBS_TIME LOCAL_OBS_DATE LOCAL_OBS_TIME ----------- ---------- -------- -------- -------------- -------------- 1917-RGP 305 29-MAY-87 715 29-MAY-87 215 2316-RGP 308 29-MAY-87 715 29-MAY-87 215 2321-RGP 314 29-MAY-87 715 29-MAY-87 215 3121-RGP 330 29-MAY-87 945 29-MAY-87 445 RAINFALL FIFE_DATA_CRTFCN_CODE LAST_REVISION_DATE -------- --------------------- ------------------ .8120 CPI 30-MAY-88 .4060 CPI 30-MAY-88 .8120 CPI 30-MAY-88 .2000 CPI 30-MAY-88
Thirty minute rainfall depths.
A general description of data granularity as it applies to the IMS appears in the EOSDIS Glossary.
The CD-ROM file format consists of numerical and character fields of varying length separated by commas. The character fields are enclosed with a single apostrophe. There are no spaces between the fields. Each file begins with five header records. Header records contain the following information:
Record 1 Name of this file, its table name, number of records in this file, path and name of the document that describes the data in this file, and name of principal investigator for these data. Record 2 Path and filename of the previous data set, and path and filename of the next data set. (Path and filenames for files that contain another set of data taken at the same site on the same day.) Record 3 Path and filename of the previous site, and path and filename of the next site. (Path and filenames for files of the same data set taken on the same day for the previous and next sites (sequentially numbered by SITEGRID_ID)). Record 4 Path and filename of the previous date, and path and filename of the next date. (Path and filenames for files of the same data set taken at the same site for the previous and next date.) Record 5 Column names for the data within the file, delimited by commas. Record 6 Data records begin.
Each field represents one of the attributes listed in the chart in the Data Characteristics Section and described in detail in the TDF file. These fields are in the same order as in the chart.
None.
None.
The rainfall was collected at 1 minute intervals, using tipping bucket rain gauges and automatic data loggers. The 1 minute data were then aggregated into 30 minute intervals.
All rainfall values of 0 were removed from the data by FIS staff, so that only observations during times in which rainfall was recorded are in the data set.
Not available at this revision.
Not available at this revision.
Not available at this revision.
None.
None.
The investigators did not provide information or specific sources of error. The FIFE Information Scientist obtained information on instrument placement and operations from A. Volkmann during a field visit. The following suggested sources of error are based on observations during that field visit.
The rain gauge units were well constructed, but not totally suited for the Kansas environment. As noted in the Discussion Section, as many as 10 of the 31 gauges might have problems at a given time. Two of the units were replaced completely during the course of the 1987 field season. Basic sources of error would include contamination of the buckets and tipping mechanism by evaporates or insects. Rainfall amounts less than the size of the bucket (0.2 mm), of course, could be lost due to evaporation. The bigger problem was corruption or loss of data in the logging unit. Although sealed, the units did not withstand the Kansas temperature and humidity ranges well. Problems included loss of seal, internal condensation or entry of water, corrosions of contacts, loss of power (battery), and inability to read data from the logging unit memory. While complete loss of data is obvious, it seems likely that some portion of the recovered data may have been corrupted when the above mentioned problems were intermittent and not sufficient to cause complete failure. Constant attention to the gauge units by A. Volkmann caught many of these problems and resulted in generally good quality for the recovered data.
Not available at this revision.
The collected data were generally of high quality and a sufficient number of gauges were working most of the time that the structure of raincells during rain events can be recovered from the data.
Not available at this revision.
FIS staff applied a general QA procedure to the data to identify inconsistencies and problems for potential users. As a general procedure, the FIS QA consisted of examining the maximum, minimum, average, and standard deviation for each numerical field in the data table. Inconsistencies and problems found in the QA check are described is the Known Problems with the Data Section.
The data verification performed by the ORNL DAAC deals with the quality of the data format, media, and readability. The ORNL DAAC does not make an assessment of the quality of the data itself except during the course of performing other QA procedures as described below.
The FIFE data were transferred to the ORNL DAAC via CD-ROM. These CD-ROMs are distributed by the ORNL DAAC unmodified as a set or in individual volumes, as requested. In addition, the DAAC has incorporated each of the 98 FIFE tabular datasets from the CD-ROMs into its online data holdings. Incorporation of these data involved the following steps:
Each distinct type of data (i.e. "data set" on the CD-ROM), is accompanied by a documentation file (i.e., .doc file) and a data format/structure definition file (i.e., .tdf file). The data format files on the CD-ROM are Oracle SQL commands (e.g., "create table") that can be used to set up a relational database table structure. This file provides column/variable names, character/numeric type, length, and format, and labels/comments. These SQL commands were converted to SAS code and were used to create SAS data sets and subsequently to input data files directly from the CD-ROM into a SAS dataset. During this process, file names and directory paths were captured and metadata was extracted to the extent possible electronically. No files were found to be corrupted or unreadable during the conversion process.
Additional Quality Assurance procedures were performed as follows:
As errors are discovered in the online tabular data by investigators, users, or DAAC staff, corrections are made in cooperation with the principal investigators. These corrections are then distributed to users. CD-ROM data are corrected when re-mastering occurs for replenishment of CD-ROM stock.
Not available.
As of the revision data of this document, the following discrepancies or errors in the data have been reported:
On July 5, 1987 a rainfall value of 89.948 mm was reported at site 317(2329-RGP) at 1815 GMT.
Site 302(1718-RGP) malfunctioned, therefore no rainfall data exists for this location.
Only observations times in which rainfall was recorded are reported.
Two instruments existed at both the 2316 and 3121 sitegrid_id's. Therefore, two station id's exist for each of these sitegrid_id's (308 and 332 for 2316, and 326 and 330 for 3121). On dates when of the duplicate instruments, malfunctioned rainfall data can usually be obtained from the other instrument at the site.
A theoretical analysis determined that 20 - 30 rain gauges should be able to estimate storm rainfall volume in the Kings Creek Watershed to within 10% with a reliability of 15%.
This data set provides an estimation of areal storm rainfall for the terrestrial water balance model for the Kings Creek area of the FIFE study area. Using the distributed water balance model, the spatial characteristics of the land surface hydrology (infiltration, evaporation and runoff) can be estimated.
The FIFE field campaigns were held in 1987 and 1989 and there are no plans for new data collection. Field work continues near the FIFE site at the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network Konza research site (i.e., LTER continues to monitor the site). The FIFE investigators are continuing to analyze and model the data from the field campaigns to produce new data products.
Software to access the data set is available on the all volumes of the FIFE CD-ROM set. For a detailed description of the available software see the Software Description Document.
ORNL DAAC User Services
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Telephone: (865) 241-3952
FAX: (865) 574-4665
Email: ornldaac@ornl.gov
ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
USA
Telephone: (865) 241-3952
FAX: (865) 574-4665
Email: ornldaac@ornl.gov
Users may place requests by telephone, electronic mail, or FAX. Data is also available via the World Wide Web at http://daac.ornl.gov.
FIFE data are available from the ORNL DAAC. Please contact the ORNL DAAC User Services Office for the most current information about these data.
The Kings Creek Watershed 30 Minute Precipitation data are available on FIFE CD-ROM Volume 1. The CD-ROM filename is as follows:
\DATA\SUR_MET\RAIN_30M\GRIDxxxx\ydddgrid.R30
Where xxxx is the four digit code for the location within the FIFE site grid. Note: capital letters indicate fixed values that appear on the CD-ROM exactly as shown here, lower case indicates characters (values) that change for each path and file.
The format used for the filenames is: ydddgrid.sfx, where grid is the four-number code for the location within the FIFE site grid, y is the last digit of the year (e.g. 7 = 1987, and 9 = 1989), and ddd is the day of the year (e.g. 061 = sixty-first day in the year). The filename extension (.sfx), identifies the data set content for the file (see the Data Characteristics Section) and is equal to .R30 for this data set.
Not available at this revision.
Blain, C.A., and P.C.D. Milly. 1991. Development and application of a hillslope hydrologic model. Adv. Water Res. (In press).
Wood, E.F., M. Sivapalan, and K. Beven. 1990. Similarity and scale in catchment storm response. Rev. in Geophy. 28(1).
Wood, E.F. 1990. Water balance model for Kings Creek. Proc. of the Symposium on FIFE. Am. Meteorol. Soc. February 7-9. Anaheim, CA, pp. 163-167.
Wood, E.F., and J.S. Famiglietti. 1991. Comparison of passive microwave and model derived estimates for soil moisture fields. Fifth Int. Colloquium on Physical Measurements and Signatures in Remote Sensing. Courcheval. Jan 14-18. European Space Agency. Noordwijk. The Netherlands.
Famiglietti J.S., E.F. Wood, M. Sivapalan, and D.J. Thongs. 1992. Acatchment scale water balance model for FIFE. J. of Geophys. Res. 97(17):18,997-19,007.
Contact the EOS Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, Tennessee (see the Data Center Identification Section). Documentation about using the archive and/or online access to the data at the ORNL DAAC is not available at this revision.
A general glossary for the DAAC is located at Glossary.
A general list of acronyms for the DAAC is available at Acronyms.
May 4,1994 (citation revised on October 15, 2002).
Warning: This document has not been checked for technical or editorial accuracy by the FIFE Information Scientist. There may be inconsistencies with other documents, technical or editorial errors that were inadvertently introduced when the document was compiled or references to preliminary data that were not included on the final CD-ROM.
Previous versions of this document have been reviewed by the Principal Investigator, the person who transmitted the data to FIS, a FIS staff member, or a FIFE scientist generally familiar with the data.
January 9, 1996.
ORNL-FIFE_RAIN_30M.
Wood, E. F. 1994. 30 Minute Rainfall Data (FIFE). Data set. Available on-line [http://www.daac.ornl.gov] from Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A. Also published in D. E. Strebel, D. R. Landis, K. F. Huemmrich, and B. W. Meeson (eds.), Collected Data of the First ISLSCP Field Experiment, Vol. 1: Surface Observations and Non-Image Data Sets. CD-ROM. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, U.S.A. (available from http://www.daac.ornl.gov).