How are the hourly data files formated and how can the files be used?

Hourly data files are extracted from the last 24 hours of "Realtime" data - data that went through automated quality checks and were distributed as soon as they were received. Missing data in the Realtime and Hourly data are denoted by “MM.”

Click on the Data description links below for a detail explanation of each Hourly file type.

Hourly files group all the Station ID's into a single file, then they are sorted by Station ID, Year, Month, Day, Hour and Minute over a 24 hour period. Example: View the Hourly file format below; hour_xx.adcp

The only except to sorting all the files listed in the Hourly2 directory is the hour_xx.adcp2 type files, the sort order is the same as above but with an addition Instrument (I) and Bin column that is sorted.

Access to Hourly Files

You can view the directory containing the hourly files here: Hourly files directory


Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler - Ocean Current Data Files

The files are named: hour_xx.adcp (where xx is the two digit GMT hour (00 ... 23)

The files have a main and a secondary line header of the form:

#STN  #YY  MM DD hh mm DEP01 DIR01 SPD01 DEP02 DIR02 SPD02 DEP03 DIR03 SPD03 DEP04 DIR04 SPD04 DEP05 DIR05 SPD05 ...
-Sub  #yr  mo dy hr mn     m  degT  cm/s     m  degT  cm/s     m  degT  cm/s     m  degT  cm/s     m  degT  cm/s ...
41008 2010 01 15 00 00     2   297   7.6     3   289   9.2     4   281  11.3     5   276  11.1     6   277  10.6 ...
44037 2010 01 15 01 00     2    70    21    18    70    25    26    60    27    34    60    24    42    60    22 ...
44029 2010 01 15 02 00     2    60     3    10   150     8    14   160     8    18   160     9    22   160     9 ...

The data that follows the header line are the measurement data for that hour for all stations (STN) 
that reported observations for that hour. Data description

Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler - Ocean Current Data (Expanded ADCP format) Files

The files are named: hour_xx.adcp2 (where xx is the two digit GMT hour (00 ... 23)

The files have a main and a secondary line header of the form:

#STN  #YY  MM DD hh mm I  Bin  Depth Dir  Speed ErrVl VerVl %Good3 %Good4 %GoodE  EI1   EI2   EI3   EI4   CM1   CM2   CM3   CM4 Flags
-Sub  #yr  mo dy hr mn -   -     m   degT  cm/s  cm/s  cm/s     %      %      %     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     - -
42362 2010 01 15 00 58 0   1    79.5 214   8.8    MM  -2.4    100      0      0     0   201   195   194    MM   231   232   232 292393330
42362 2010 01 15 00 58 0   2    95.5 240  11.6    MM  -0.3    100      0      0     0   199   192   189    MM   224   225   228 292393330
42362 2010 01 15 00 58 0   3   111.5 217   9.1    MM  -3.5    100      0      0     0   194   188   181    MM   225   229   225 292393330
42362 2010 01 15 00 58 0   4   127.5 225  14.8    MM  -1.3    100      0      0     0   191   185   176    MM   230   234   238 29239333

The data that follows the header line are the measurement data for that hour for all stations (STN) 
that reported observations for that hour. Data description

Standard Meteorological Files

The files are named: hour_xx.txt (where xx is the two digit GMT hour (00 ... 23)

The files have a main and a secondary line header of the form:

#STN  YY   MM DD hh mm WDIR WSPD GST  WVHT   DPD   APD MWD   PRES  ATMP  WTMP  DEWP  VIS PTDY  TIDE
#txt  yr   mo dy hr mn degT m/s  m/s     m   sec   sec deg    hPa  degC  degC  degC  nmi  hPa    ft
41001 2010 01 15 00 50 320 10.0 12.0   4.5    11    MM  MM 1017.0  15.5  19.0   7.9   MM +1.6    MM
41004 2010 01 15 00 50 130  1.0  2.0   0.4     9   6.6  MM 1026.5  14.1  18.4   7.6   MM +0.4    MM
41008 2010 01 15 00 50  10  2.0  3.0   0.5     8   5.2  MM 1026.2  10.3  10.6    MM   MM +0.5    MM
42012 2010 01 15 00 50  90  4.0  6.0   0.5     4   3.3  83 1024.0  13.1  13.1   7.0   MM +1.1    MM

The data that follows the header line are the measurement data for that hour for all stations (STN) 
that reported observations for that hour.Data description

Continuous Wind Files

The files are named: hour_xx.cwind (where xx is the two digit GMT hour (00 ... 23)

The files have a main and a secondary line header of the form:

#STN  YY   MM DD hh mm WDIR WSPD GDR GST GTIME
#txt  yr   mo dy hr mn degT m/s degT m/s hhmm
41001 2010 01 15 00 50 320  9.8 320 17.0 0018
41001 2010 01 15 00 40 331 10.8 999 99.0 9999
41001 2010 01 15 00 30 333 12.4 999 99.0 9999

The data that follows the header line are the measurement data for that hour for all stations (STN) 
that reported observations for that hour. Data description

Oceanographic Data Files

The files are named: hour_xx.ocean (where xx is the two digit GMT hour (00 ... 23)

The files have a main and a secondary line header of the form:

#STN  #YY  MM DD hh mm   DEPTH  OTMP   COND   SAL   O2% O2PPM  CLCON  TURB    PH    EH
-Sub  #yr  mo dy hr mn       m  degC  mS/cm   psu     %   ppm   ug/l   FTU     -    mv
ACQS1 2010 01 15 03 45     1.8  6.00  33.66 20.80  94.4 10.20     MM    MM  8.10    MM
ACQS1 2010 01 15 03 30     1.9  6.00  33.81 20.90  94.7 10.30     MM    MM  8.10    MM
ACQS1 2010 01 15 03 15     2.0  6.10  34.08 21.10  95.0 10.30     MM    MM  8.20    MM
ACQS1 2010 01 15 03 00     2.1  6.10  34.51 21.40  95.3 10.30     MM    MM  8.20    MM

The data that follows the header line are the measurement data for that hour for all stations (STN) 
that reported observations for that hour. Data description

Detailed Wave Summary Data Files

The files are named: hour_xx.spec (where xx is the two digit GMT hour (00 ... 23)

The files have a main and a secondary line header of the form:

#STN  #YY  MM DD hh mm WVHT  SwH  SwP  WWH  WWP SwD WWD  STEEPNESS  APD MWD
-Sub  #yr  mo dy hr mn    m    m  sec    m  sec  -  degT     -      sec degT
23020 2010 01 15 00 00  1.0   MM   MM   MM   MM  MM  MM    AVERAGE  5.4 150
32012 2010 01 15 00 00  2.5   MM   MM   MM   MM  MM  MM      STEEP  6.7 176
41004 2010 01 15 00 00  0.4  0.4  8.3  0.1  3.3  MM  MM        N/A  6.3 -99
41049 2010 01 15 00 00  2.7  2.1 11.4  1.6  6.7 N/A N/A      SWELL  6.4 -99
42055 2010 01 15 00 00  1.8  0.0  0.0  1.8  5.6 N/A N/A VERY_STEEP  4.7 -99

The data that follows the header line are the measurement data for that hour for all stations (STN) 
that reported observations for that hour. Data description

Solar Radiation Data Files

The files are named: hour_xx.srad (where xx is the two digit GMT hour (00 ... 23)

The files have a main and a secondary line header of the form:

#STN  #YY  MM DD hh mm  SRAD1  SWRAD  LWRAD
-Sub  #yr  mo dy hr mn   w/m2   w/m2   w/m2
32ST0 2010 01 15 04 00     MM    2.0  397.0
41NT0 2010 01 15 04 00     MM    1.0  378.0
51WH0 2010 01 15 04 00     MM    7.0     MM

The data that follows the header line are the measurement data for that hour for all stations (STN) 
that reported observations for that hour. Data description

Supplemental Measurements Data Files

The files are named: hour_xx.supl (where xx is the two digit GMT hour (00 ... 23)

The files have a main and a secondary line header of the form:

#STN  #YY  MM DD hh mm   PRES PTIME  WSPD  WDIR WTIME
-Sub  #yr  mo dy hr mn    hPa  hhmm   m/s  degT  hhmm
41040 2010 01 15 03 00     MM    MM   6.3    66  0241
41043 2010 01 15 03 00     MM    MM  10.7    32  0228
LPRP4 2010 01 15 03 00 1017.7  0300   1.4   348  0253
SRBV3 2010 01 15 03 00 1017.6  0214   8.1    58  0215

The data that follows the header line are the measurement data for that hour for all stations (STN) 
that reported observations for that hour. Data description