• Overview
• General Navigation
  • Selecting Multiple Stations
  • Using the Mouse
• Selecting a Data Set
• Zooming to a Specific Location
• Zooming In/Out on the Map
• Panning
• Resetting the Map
• Adding/Removing Map Layers
• Selecting Stations
  • Selecting a Single Station
  • Selecting Multiple Stations
• Submitting a Request
• Downloading the Data
• Viewing the Data Output
• Setting Page Options
  • Map Options
  • Data Options
  • Display Options

A Geographic Information System (GIS) search engine for data retrieval (http://climate.usurf.usu.edu/products/data.php) is provided to facilitate the access of climate data. The governing philosophy of the UCC is to provide all levels of climate data starting with basic observations coupled with flexibility for data output. Presently, the GIS search engine can access three climate datasets / data types: those of the Cooperative Observer Program (COOP), the Global Summary of Day (GSOD), and the Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS). The COOP and GSOD datasets are static in the sense that staff at the UCC download the data at regular intervals when made available by government institutions, e.g., the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). The third dataset (AWOS) is dynamic; i.e., data is automatically ingested into the database in near real-time from the UNIDATA Internet Data Distribution system.

Do NOT use your browser's Back button on the GIS pages. Use the tabs to navigate between the pages. Using the Back button will result in the loss of prior settings (if this happens, Reload/Refresh the page).

Navigation Buttons:
Zoom In: Zoom in to the center of the current image.
Zoom Out: Zoom out from the center of the current image.
Reset to Full Extent: Return the map view to its full extent.
Band Select: With this button enabled, the next rubber band that is drawn with the right mouse button will select the stations in that area.
Help: Opens this help topic.

• Multiple stations can be selected by either using the Band Select feature or by holding down the Shift key while left-clicking on multiple stations.
• You can select up to 10 stations at a time. If you select more than 10 stations while using the Shift key, the oldest selected station will be dropped from the list to allow the new one to be added.
• To use a combination of the Shift key and Band Select tool to select multiple stations, use the Band Select tool first, and then select the remaining stations with the Shift key depressed.

• Left Button Click: Clicking a station selects that station. Clicking on the map zooms in and centers the map on the point that was clicked.
• Right Button Click: Zooms out and centers the map on the point that was clicked.
• Drag Map with Left Button Depressed: Pans the map view.
• Hold Down Right Button: Rubber band - zoom to selected area. If the Band Select button is enabled first, the stations inside the rubber band are selected.

Select a data set by clicking one of the Data tabs at the top of the page. The options are: COOP Data, GSOD Data, or AWOS Data.

The default full coverage map for the selected data set will appear.

NOTE: Under the AWOS Data tab, if the user chooses “Daily Fields”, the values calculated are the average values for that day. These values are calculated from midnight to midnight local time.

• Enter the desired City name in the box provided, select the corresponding State (or Country in the GSOD data set) from the drop-down list, and press the Find button .

• Simply select the desired State (or Country in the GSOD data set) from the drop-down list and press the Find button .

Hint: Once the State drop-down list has been displayed, you can press the first letter of the desired state to jump to that place in the list. For example, press “U” to jump to Utah without having to scroll down manually.

Zoom in using the tool button or by clicking the left mouse button while the cursor is over the map.

Zoom out using the tool button or by clicking the right mouse button while the cursor is over the map.

Zoom in on a selected area by holding the right mouse button and dragging the yellow selection box around an area on the map.

To pan a zoomed map image, hold the left mouse button and drag the map in the desired direction.

NOTE: The image cannot pan past the edge of the available map.

Press the Reset button to reset the map to the full coverage view.

Use the Layers options on the left side of the page to select/deselect features to show on the map. Features that are checked will appear on the map. Features with no check mark will not appear on the map. Once you have changed the selected Layers, you must press the Apply button to update the map image.

Move the cursor over the station indicator (red dot for active stations, yellow dot for inactive stations). A station identifier will popup on the map when the cursor is in the correct location.Move the cursor over the station indicator (red dot for active stations, yellow dot for inactive stations). A station identifier will popup on the map when the cursor is in the correct location.

Click the left mouse button to select that station. The Station Information will appear to the right of the map.

Repeat this action to select a different station.

NOTE: The maximum number of stations that can be selected at one time is 10.

To select multiple stations, you must use either the Shift key or the Band Select tool:

• To select another individual station, move the cursor over the station indicator and hold the Shift key while clicking the left mouse button. If you select more than 10 stations while using the Shift key, the oldest selected station will be dropped from the list to allow the new one to be added.
• To select multiple stations at once, press the Band Select button to enable this tool, then hold the right mouse button and drag the yellow selection box around the desired stations on the map.

The Station Information for multiple stations will appear to the right of the map.

Hint: To use a combination of the Shift key and Band Select tool to select multiple stations, use the Band Select tool first, and then select the remaining stations with the Shift key depressed.

Once you have selected the desired station(s), specify the parameters for the data request:

• Specify the Period of Record Requested by setting the date boundaries using the Start/Stop drop down menus.
  NOTE: When multiple stations are selected, the time period available on the Start/Stop menus may not be available for all stations.

• Specify the Station Fields to include in the output by selecting the desired fields from the Output Selections options. Fields that are checked will be included in the output. Fields with no check mark will not be included in the output. Use the Select All option to include all Station Fields in the output.

• If using the COOP or GSOD Data, specify the Climate Data Fields to include in the output by selecting the desired fields from the Output Selections options. Fields that are checked will be included in the output. Fields with no check mark will not be included in the output. Use the Select All option to include all Climate Data Fields in the output.
  
  If using the GDD (Growing Degree Days) field, enter the desired base temperature in the box provided. GDD values will be calculated, showing the number of degrees the average temperature is above the specified value.
  
  Hint: Placing the cursor over a Climate Data Fields title will popup a description of that data field.

• If using the AWOS Data, select either Hourly Fields or Daily Fields option, then specify either the Hourly Fields or Daily Fields to include in the output. Fields that are checked will be included in the output. Fields with no check mark will not be included in the output. Use the Select All option to include all Hourly or Daily Fields in the output.

• When all desired fields have been selected, press the Submit button to submit the data request.

When a data request is first submitted and the data is retrieved, the page will automatically switch to the Downloads tab to display the data specifications and download options.

The approximate file size and estimated download times are given. Any previous requests are also shown.

• To view or save the data in HTML format, press the Table button . The table will be automatically displayed on the Output tab. Use the Save As option from your browsers File menu to save the HTML file to your local disk. NOTE: If a requested data set is greater than 500,000 bytes, you will not be able to choose the Table format, as this could crash the browser. In this case, choose the CSV File option instead.
• To view or save the data in a Microsoft Office Excel Comma Separated Values file, press the CSV File button . A File Download popup will ask whether to open or save the file. NOTE: If a requested data set has more than 65,536 rows, you will need to change the default settings in your CSV viewer to view all of the data. By default, Excel only displays the first 65,536 rows and must be manually configured to view large data sets.

Subsequent returns to the Downloads tab will show the list of all requests made (since the browsers cookies last expired or were deleted). The data from these requests can be viewed/saved as HTML , viewed/saved in Excel , or removed .

To view the data for the last request on the Climate Center web page, without downloading it, select the Output tab. The requested data will be displayed in columns. Use the browsers scroll bar to scroll down through the data.

Pressing the Options button on one of the main Data pages will bring up a separate window with global page options.

Once you have changed these options, you must press the Apply button .
NOTE: Page options do not take effect until the page has been reloaded/refreshed.

• Selecting the Average Annual Precipitation in inches (1961-1990) Layer option will place a layer over COOP and AWOS maps showing the average annual precipitation for that location (in inches). This average is calculated from available data between 1961 and 1990. This option is disabled by default. NOTE: The annual precipitation data is only available for U.S. locations; thus, this layer will not apply to GSOD maps.

• Selecting the Lock COOP, GSOD, and AWOS map positions option will link the map locations for the three data types. Thus, changing the position of one map (e.g., COOP) will change the position of the other two maps (e.g., GSOD and AWOS) as well. This option is disabled by default.

• The Temperature Units option allows you to set the reported temperature units to either Celsius or Fahrenheit (default).
• The Wind Speed Units option allows you to set the reported wind speed units to either Miles Per Hour (default) or Knots.
• The Missing Data Value option allows you to set the value reported when data is missing from a field. The default value is M.
• The Trace Value option allows you to set the value reported when a trace is recorded (below 0.01). The default trace value is T.

The Metadata Popups option is enabled by default. Disabling this option will turn off the definitions that popup when you move the cursor over Output Selection fields (e.g., Climate Data Fields or Hourly Fields).