The BADC help pages now includes a description and tutorial of two software packages used extensively in the atmospheric sciences: * **CDAT** - see * **GrADS** - see We have also made a GrADS/GRIB interface page which is relevant to all users of our datasets held in GRIB format. This is located at: Climate Data Analysis Tools (CDAT) is a freely available software infrastructure used for analysis, manipulation and plotting of atmospheric science (and other) data. It is designed for gridded datasets but can also cope with other types. Below are some key features of CDAT: * the software is open-source, consisting of a collection of Python modules. * available for multiple platforms (but not Windows). * a choice of interfaces: command-line, scripting or graphical user-interface (Visual CDAT (VCDAT)). * an XML-based format and tools for aggregating large datasets. * manipulation of large data arrays possible due to use of Python *Numeric* package. * interfaces to external packages such as the Live Access Server (LAS) for web-based access to datasets.< /LI> Grid Analysis and Display System (GrADS) is a freely available package used for analysis, manipulation and plotting of earth science data. It is designed for gridded datasets but can also cope with station data. Below are some key features of GrADS: * available for multiple platforms as an executable (including Windows). * accessible by both a command-line and scripting interface. * support for multiple common data formats. * significant support for user-defined plotting. * manipulation of large 4-D datasets. * a rich set of built-in functions for data manipulation. Ag Stephens, BADC, 11th September 2003

NASA satellite observations have provided the first evidence the rate of ozone depletion in the Earth’s upper atmosphere is decreasing. This may indicate the first stage of ozone layer recovery. ...

Update on BADC archive of ERA-40 data: 6-hourly data and monthly means ====================================================================== 1. The 6-hourly ERA-40 Re-analysis Dataset - is now complete. 2. The monthly means for the ERA-40 Re-analysis Dataset - are now available (Includes a special note about INCORRECT FILES during the extraction period). More details follow: ========================================== 1. The 6-hourly ERA-40 Re-analysis Dataset ========================================== The 6-hourly data for the ERA-40 dataset is NOW COMPLETE in the main BADC archive from 1958-2001. Details about the type of data available can be found at: and the links from that page. A parameters page provides a list of those available on each level type: ======================================================= 2. The monthly means for the ERA-40 Re-analysis Dataset ======================================================= Two types of monthly mean are now available for the ERA-40 dataset. These are the: i. Monthly diurnal means (moda) - calculated from all time steps in a given month (i.e. one mean per month). ii. Monthly synoptic (6-hourly) means (mm) - calculated from all values of a given time of day in a given month (i.e. 4 means exist per month, at 00, 06, 12 and 18UTC). Details on these means are now available at: SPECIAL NOTE FOR USERS ACCESSING ERA-40 MEANS DURING THE EXTRACTION PERIOD: =========================================================================== Please note that during the extraction period (January - May 2003) some of the monthly mean files were incorrect. The means were not clearly visible and had not been advertised at this period so I am not aware of anyone having used them. However, if you did locate the means and you have used those located under one of the following directories then please obtain the new means as directed in the link above. The directories where errors occurred were /badc/ecmwf-e40/data/diags, /disks/tornado4/e40_means/mm and /disks/tornado4/e40_moda/moda. All the erroneous means were deleted on 20th June 2003. BADC Support 03/07/03.

Temporary Disruption to BADC services on Monday 30th June 2003 ============================================================== The BADC file server, Tornado, has experienced a hardware fault earlier this morning. The fault appears to have been cleared after reseating the controllers. An engineer is still expected later today and we may need to take the machine down for him to investigate the fault. We are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause. BADC Support 30/06/03.

TRAJECTORY WEB SERVICE IS BACK ONLINE =========================================== The BADC Trajectory is now back in service at: BADC Support 26/06/03.

TRAJECTORY WEB SERVICE TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE =================================================== We regret that the BADC trajectory service is not currently available due to a technical problem. We hope to have it fixed shortly. Sorry for any inconvenience. BADC Support 20/06/03.

A new batch of high resolution radiosonde data is now available from the BADC. ============================================================================== The dataset now includes more recent data and data from extra stations. In particular 3 years of data from the St Helena site, and data from the new Met Office autosonde sites is now available. More information about the High Resolution data held at the BADC can be found at: BADC Support 03th June 2003

Earth Probe TOMS went into safehold mode at 0025UTC on May 15, 2003. The problem appears to be a single event upset (SEU) in the attitude control system. This is very similar to the event that occurred in August 2002. TOMS is hoped to be back in science mode operation within a week. ...

The Met Office has now stopped updating GISST/GIICE datasets. HadISST 1.1 is the replacement product provided by the Hadley Centre at the The Met Office. It contains monthly long-term global gridded SST and sea ice analysis (1870 to present). This dataset was available from the Met Office as an historical dataset and is now being made operational (i.e. updated every month). HadISST has a different sea-ice analysis from GISST; as a consequence of this, the data will not be available until the 2nd of the month, 2 months afterwards (e.g. January's data will become available in March). To find out more about this new dataset and access restrictions, please read through the [HadIsst dataset web pages](/data/hadisst/). BADC Support 16/04/03.