1. March 12, 2002 Eric A. Smith 1 ISLSCP II Data Intercomparison Workshop Eric A. Smith; NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 [tel: 301-286-5770; fax: 301-286-1626; easmith@pop900.gsfc.nasa.gov] March 12-14, 2002; Greenbelt, MD Subjective Evaluation of ISLSCP II SRB Parameters for January-1992 [Eric A. Smith & Amita V. Mehta]

2. March 12, 2002 Eric A. Smith 2 FilenameVariable NameStats Records 1. cldamt_monthlytotal cloud amount (%)MSMM4 2. cldtopp_monthlycloud-top pressure (mb)MSMM4 3. cldtopt_monthlycloud-top temperature (K)MSMM4 4. csalb_monthlyclear-sky surface albedoMSMM4 5. csdsf_diurnalclear-sky downward sw fluxMSMM32 6. csdsf_monthlyclear-sky downward sw fluxMSMM4 7. cwv_monthlyqcolumn water vapor (gm/cm2)MSMM4 8. dif_diurnalall-sky diffuse sw fluxMSMM32 9. dif_monthlyall-sky diffuse sw fluxMSMM4 10. dlf_3hourlyall-sky downward lw fluxMean248 11. dlf_diurnalall-sky downward lw fluxMSMM32 12. dlf_monthlyall-sky downward lw fluxMSMM4 13. dsf_3hourlyall-sky downward sw fluxMean248 14. dsf_diurnalall-sky downward sw fluxMSMM32 15. dsf_monthlyall-sky downward sw fluxMSMM4 16. nlf_3hourlyall-sky net lw fluxMean248 17. nlf_diurnalaall-sky net lw fluxMSMM32 18. nlf_monthlyall-sky net lw fluxMSMM4 19. nsf_3hourlyall-sky net sw fluxMean248 20. nsf_diurnalall-sky net sw fluxMSMM32 21. nsf_monthlyall-sky net sw fluxMSMM4 22. ntf_diurnalall-sky net total fluxMSMM32 23. ntf_monthlyall-sky net total fluxMSMM4 24. ozone_monthlycolumn ozone (dobson units)MSMM4 25. par_diurnalall-sky par fluxMSMM32 26. par_monthlyall-sky par fluxMSMM4 27. sfalb_monthlyall-sky surface albedoMSMM4 28. skint_monthlysurface skin temperature (K)MSMM4 29. tau_monthlycloud optical depthMSMM4 30. toains_diurnaltoa insolationMean8 31. toains_monthlyttoa insolationMean1 32. toaref_diurnaltoa reflected sw fluxMSMM32 33. toaref_monthlytoa reflected sw fluxMSMM4 34. ulf_diurnalsurface upward lw flux MSMM32 35. ulf_monthlysurface upward lw fluxMSMM4 36. usf_diurnalsurface upward sw fluxMSMM32 37. usf_monthlysurface upward sw fluxMSMM4 38. waterpath_monthlycloud liquid water path (gm/m2)MSMM4 Notes: Archives are zipped. Use unzip or pkunzip to unpack. Diurnal in the filename means that the file contains monthly averagesat 8 synoptic hours (00, 03, 06, 09, 12, 15, 18, and 21 Z). All fluxes are in Watts per meter sq. Other units are given above. toa - top-of-atmosphere par - photosynthetically active radiation MSMM - File contains mean, standard deviation, maximum, and minimum in that order (order very important) Mean - File contains just the mean values Net total flux in files 22 and 23 is: net sw + net lw Each record in a file is a global field on a 1 deg x 1 deg grid, i.e., 360 x180 = 64800 values. The grid starts at the North Pole-Dateline and goes East and South from there. This orientation was requested by ISLSCP folks. The files are written as floating point values with 3 significant digits. All files are space delimited with one space between fields. Parameter values are undefined (=-999.000) where they were not available or could not be computed. Shortwave fluxes, when there was no Sun, were put equal to zero (not undefined). In the absence of Sun, albedos (csalb and sfalb) are considered undefined (not zero). Documentation Provided

3. March 12, 2002 Eric A. Smith 3 Monthly Means

4. March 12, 2002 Eric A. Smith 4 TOA Insolation

5. March 12, 2002 Eric A. Smith 5 Clear Sky Downward SWF

6. March 12, 2002 Eric A. Smith 6 Downward SWF

7. March 12, 2002 Eric A. Smith 7 Downward LWF

8. March 12, 2002 Eric A. Smith 8 Upward SWF

9. March 12, 2002 Eric A. Smith 9 Net SWF

10. March 12, 2002 Eric A. Smith 10 Net LWF

11. March 12, 2002 Eric A. Smith 11 Downward PAR Flux

12. March 12, 2002 Eric A. Smith 12 Summary 1.Documentation: Brief but clear. 2.Data Files: Appear to be end-of-line problems with 3-hourly files. 3.Data Quality: Mostly OK but with apparently some significant problems: a. continental clear sky shortwave flux contains noise -- maybe interpretting large desert albedos as cloud b. cloud contamination in reflected shortwave flux c. tropical net longwave fluxes seem to be too large