CLPX NOAA FSL Rapid Update Cycle 20 km (RUC-20) Dataset

Data Contributors

CLINE, DON
FALL, GREG
NILSSON, ANDERS

Parameters

> High Level Cloud Cover, Low Level Cloud Cover, Mid Level Cloud Cover
AIR TEMPERATURE > Potential Temperature
ALBEDO
GEOPOTENTIAL HEIGHT
HEAT FLUX > Latent Heat Flux, Sensible Heat Flux
HUMIDITY > Specific Humidity
INCOMING SOLAR RADIATION
LAND HEAT CAPACITY > Snow Phase-Change Heat Flux
LONGWAVE RADIATION > Incoming Long Wave
OUTGOING LONGWAVE RADIATION
PRECIPITATION AMOUNT
RUNOFF
SEA LEVEL PRESSURE
SHORTWAVE RADIATION > Outgoing Short Wave
SNOW
SNOW MELT
SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENT
SOIL TEMPERATURE
SURFACE AIR TEMPERATURE
SURFACE WINDS
UPPER LEVEL WINDS

The Rapid Update Cycle analysis/model system at a 20-km horizontal resolution (RUC20) provides short-range numerical weather guidance for general forecasting, as well as for the special short-term needs of aviation and severe-weather forecasting. This data set consists of 60 meteorological and soil parameters at 50 computational levels. Data are available from 1 October 2002 to 1 October 2003. RUC20 is a further development on the RUC40 model that produced output at a 40 km horizontal resolution.

The NASA Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX) is a multi-sensor, multi-scale experiment that focuses on extending a local-scale understanding of water fluxes, storage, and transformations to regional and global scales. Within a framework of nested study areas in the central Rocky Mountains of the western United States, ranging from 1-ha to 160,000 km2, intensive ground, airborne, and spaceborne observations are collected. Data collection focuses on two seasons: mid-winter, when conditions are generally frozen and dry, and early spring, a transitional period when both frozen and thawed, dry and wet conditions are widespread.

Data Citation

Cline, D., G. Fall, and A. Nilsson. 2003. CLPX-Model: NOAA FSL Rapid Update Cycle 20 km (RUC-20) Data Set. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital Media.