Mesonet MDF and MTS files are space delimited files used to display data in WeatherScope. MDF files display data for all stations for a given time, while MTS files display data for 1 station for a given UTC day. This is the standard file format used for Mesonet data.
File Header
The MDF/MTS header consists of 3 lines. The first line of the file contains copyright information. The second line lists the number of variables in the file (i.e., number of columns not including STID, STNM, and TIME), year, month, day, hour, minute, and second. The date is listed in UTC and serves as the base time for the data file. The third line lists the variable ID for each data column.
Special Notes
- The 0000 UTC observation stores the previous day's accumulated rainfall.
- Frozen precipitation is measured at the time of thaw. Some snowmelt may never be observed due to factors including sublimation and blowing snow.
- Data quality is frequently re-assessed. On rare occasions, some quality assurance flags may change in the months following your data request.
- For use of soil moisture measurements, see the Soil Moisture document.
Variables
Name | ID | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Station ID | STID | Station ID | |
Station Number | STNM | Station Number | |
Time | TIME | minutes after base time | Minutes after base time (typically 0000 UTC) |
Relative Humidity | RELH | percent | 5-minute averaged relative humidity at 1.5m. |
Air Temperature | TAIR | degrees Celsius | 5-minute averaged air temperature at 1.5m. |
Wind Speed | WSPD | meters per second | 5-minute averaged wind speed at 10m. |
Wind Vector | WVEC | meters per second | 5-minute averaged wind velocity (speed and direction accounted for) at 10m. |
Wind Direction | WDIR | degrees | 5-minute averaged wind direction at 10m. |
Wind Direction Standard Deviation | WDSD | degrees | Standard deviation of wind direction during the 5-minute interval. |
Wind Speed Standard Deviation | WSSD | meters per second | Standard deviation of wind speed during the 5-minute interval. |
Maximum Wind Speed | WMAX | meters per second | Highest 3-second wind speed at 10m sample. |
Precipitation | RAIN | millimeters | Liquid precipitation accumulation since 0000 UTC. Frozen precipitation cannot be recorded until it melts; therefore, precipitation from snow may not be recorded until several days after the snow event. |
Station Atmospheric Pressure | PRES | millibars | 5-minute averaged atmospheric pressure. |
Solar Radiation | SRAD | watts per square meter | 5-minute averaged downwelling global solar radiation. |
Air Temperature at 9m | TA9M | degrees Celsius | 5-minute averaged air temperature at 9m |
2m Wind Speed | WS2M | meters per second | 5-minute averaged wind speed at 2m |
Temperature Under Native Vegetation at 10cm | TS10 | degrees Celsius | 15-minute averaged temperature under native vegetation at 10cm. |
Temperature Under Bare Soil at 10cm | TB10 | degrees Celsius | 15-minute averaged temperature under bare soil at 10cm. |
Temperature Under Native Vegetation at 5cm | TS05 | degrees Celsius | 15-minute averaged temperature under native vegetation at 5cm. |
Temperature Under Bare Soil at 5cm | TB05 | degrees Celsius | 15-minute averaged temperature under bare soil at 5cm. This variable is only available prior to December 1, 2013. |
Temperature Under Native Vegetation at 25cm | TS25 | degrees Celsius | 15-minute averaged temperature under native vegetation at 25cm. This variable is only available after and including December 1, 2013. |
Temperature Under Native Vegetation at 30cm | TS30 | degrees Celsius | 15-minute averaged temperature under native vegetation at 30cm. This variable is only available prior to December 1, 2013. |
Temperature Under Native Vegetation at 60cm | TS60 | degrees Celsius | 15-minute averaged temperature under native vegetation at 60cm. This variable is only available after and including December 1, 2013. |
Soil Moisture Calibrated Delta-T at 5cm | TR05 | degrees Celsius | Calibrated change in temperature of soil over time after a heat pulse is introduced. Used to calculate soil water potential, fractional water index, or volumetric water. |
Soil Moisture Calibrated Delta-T at 25cm | TR25 | degrees Celsius | Calibrated change in temperature of soil over time after a heat pulse is introduced. Used to calculate soil water potential, fractional water index, or volumetric water. |
Soil Moisture Calibrated Delta-T at 60cm | TR60 | degrees Celsius | Calibrated change in temperature of soil over time after a heat pulse is introduced. Used to calculate soil water potential, fractional water index, or volumetric water. |
Missing Data Values
Value | Description |
|---|---|
-999 | Data flagged as bad by quality assurance routines. |
-998 | Sensor not installed. |
-997 | Cannot compute value due to missing calibration coefficient(s). |
-996 | Station did not report (missing). |
-995 | Data not reported on this time interval (e.g., soil temperature only reports every 15 minutes and is not available at 25 minutes after the hour). |
-994 | Value too wide to fit in column. |
Convert UTC to Central Time
Converting UTC time to Local Time | ||
|---|---|---|
UTC / Z | CST | CDT |
0000 UTC | 1800 (6 p.m.) CST | 1900 (7 p.m.) CDT |
0100 UTC | 1900 (7 p.m.) CST | 2000 (8 p.m.) CDT |
0200 UTC | 2000 (8 p.m.) CST | 2100 (9 p.m.) CDT |
0300 UTC | 2100 (9 p.m.) CST | 2200 (10 p.m.) CDT |
0400 UTC | 2200 (10 p.m.) CST | 2300 (11 p.m.) CDT |
0500 UTC | 2300 (11 p.m.) CST | 0000 (midnight) CDT |
0600 UTC | 0000 (midnight) CST | 0100 (1 a.m.) CDT |
0700 UTC | 0100 (1 a.m.) CST | 0200 (2 a.m.) CDT |
0800 UTC | 0200 (2 a.m.) CST | 0300 (3 a.m.) CDT |
0900 UTC | 0300 (3 a.m.) CST | 0400 (4 a.m.) CDT |
1000 UTC | 0400 (4 a.m.) CST | 0500 (5 a.m.) CDT |
1100 UTC | 0500 (5 a.m.) CST | 0600 (6 a.m.) CDT |
1200 UTC | 0600 (6 a.m.) CST | 0700 (7 a.m.) CDT |
1300 UTC | 0700 (7 a.m.) CST | 0800 (8 a.m.) CDT |
1400 UTC | 0800 (8 a.m.) CST | 0900 (9 a.m.) CDT |
1500 UTC | 0900 (9 a.m.) CST | 1000 (10 a.m.) CDT |
1600 UTC | 1000 (10 a.m.) CST | 1100 (11 a.m.) CDT |
1700 UTC | 1100 (11 a.m.) CST | 1200 (noon) CDT |
1800 UTC | 1200 (noon) CST | 1300 (1 p.m.) CDT |
1900 UTC | 1300 (1 p.m.) CST | 1400 (2 p.m.) CDT |
2000 UTC | 1400 (2 p.m.) CST | 1500 (3 p.m.) CDT |
2100 UTC | 1500 (3 p.m.) CST | 1600 (4 p.m.) CDT |
2200 UTC | 1600 (4 p.m.) CST | 1700 (5 p.m.) CDT |
2300 UTC | 1700 (5 p.m.) CST | 1800 (6 p.m.) CDT |