Unaveraged version-0 and version-2 data products and quick-look
plots are now available for all MST radar observations.
The entire MST radar observation archive has now been reprocessed
using both version-0 (without time averaging) and version-2 signal
processing software. Click
here to find out more about the different version numbers.
The unaveraged version-0 data products were previously only stored as
far back as 2001. Since, in any case, the signal processing scheme had
changed gradually over the years (but not since 2001), this exercise
has ensured that all unaveraged version-0 files (available through the
BADC) relate to the same version of the software. Windows-based users
of the wind data files should check the file format page for information
concerning an unexpected change in file name after uncompressing using
WinZip.
The archive of 12 minute averaged version-0 data products was already
more complete and so has been left untouched. Since unaveraged data
products are typically much more useful than averaged data products,
there are no plans to recreate the archive of the latter using the
last available version of the software. However,
please contact the NERC MST Radar
Facility Project Scientist if you have a requirement for these
files.
Version-2 processing, which was introduced in late 2004, is basically
identical to version-1 processing, but the files contain more
comprehensive reliability flagging. For this reason, there are no
plans to extend the archive of version-1 products, which are primarily
limited to the period June 2003 - December 2004.
Quick-look MST radar plots, based on
the version-2 data products, are also now available for the entire
observation archive. Since useful radar returns from mesospheric
altitudes occur only sporadically, and are of limited vertical extent,
the quick-look plots of M-mode data simply show signal power. They are
consequently only useful for identifying days on which useful radar
returns were observed. The ST-mode quick-look plots should also only
be used as a way of identifying days which are worthy of further
investigation. This is particularly true of observations made between
1989 and 1996, when observations were often only made for 12 minutes
at 3-hourly intervals.
THE NERC MST RADAR FACILITY AT ABERYSTWYTH