NOAA Atlas 2 - Precipitation-Frequency Atlas for the Western United States All-season series

Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Data_Organization_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Entity_and_Attribute_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator:

NOAA/National Weather Service/Office of Hydrologic Development/Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center (HDSC)

Publication_Date: 20011205

Title:

NOAA Atlas 2 - Precipitation-Frequency Atlas for the Western United States All-season series

Edition: first

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Map/Atlas

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Silver Spring, MD, USA

Publisher: NOAA/National Weather Service

Other_Citation_Details: none.

Online_Linkage: <URL:http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/hdsc/>

Description:

Abstract:

NOAA Atlas 2 is divided into 11 volumes, one for each of the 11 Western states and contains precipitation-frequency maps for 6-hour and 24-hour return Periods from 2 to 100 years. However, only a subset of these maps have been converted into GIS rasters. The digitizing of the NOAA Atlas 2 data sets was begun for the specific purpose of performing the storm studies used in the development of Hydrometeorological Report (HMR) 55A, HMR 57 and the analysis of parameters used in the development of probable maximum precipitation (PMP) in these reports. The digitizing and processing of these files occurred at the Bureau of Reclamation in Denver, Colorado. Richard Stodt was the project leader and conducted a large portion of the work. The NWS had the opportunity to see the work as it progressed beyond the QC stage and make suggestions or note corrections that might have been needed. The NWS and the Bureau of Reclamation were essentially operating as an integrated team with tasks allocated according to which office had the appropriate resources to complete them with NWS having final say on technical matters. More detailed info can be found in the minutes of the 'Interagency Hydrometeorological Study Team' meetings between 1984-1988. With the permission of the Bureau of Reclamation, we are posting these rasters as part of our growing on-line spatial database.

Purpose:

With the growing use of geographic information systems (GIS) and the the continued need of precipitation frequency data for design criteria, these GIS rasters have been produced. Originally however, the digitizing of the NOAA Atlas 2 data sets was begun for the specific purpose of performing the storm studies used in the development of HMR 55A, HMR 57 and the analysis of parameters used in the development of PMP in these reports.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 1897

Ending_Date: 1970

Currentness_Reference:

Climatological period from which the point precipitation observations were taken.

Status:

Progress: Complete

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed

Spatial_Domain:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -124.897916667

East_Bounding_Coordinate: -101.818750000

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 49.2270833333

South_Bounding_Coordinate: 31.0979166667

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Theme_Keyword: 100-year precipitation

Theme_Keyword: atlas

Theme_Keyword: all-season

Theme_Keyword: design criteria

Theme_Keyword: frequencies

Theme_Keyword: hydrometeorology

Theme_Keyword: meteorology

Theme_Keyword: NOAA Atlas 2

Theme_Keyword: precipitation

Theme_Keyword: precipitation frequency

Theme_Keyword: raster data

Theme_Keyword: climatology

Theme_Keyword: extreme precipitation

Theme_Keyword: maps

Theme_Keyword: GIS

Theme_Keyword: Geographical Information System

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Place_Keyword: Arizona

Place_Keyword: California

Place_Keyword: Nevada

Place_Keyword: New Mexico

Place_Keyword: Western United States

Place_Keyword: Colorado

Place_Keyword: Wyoming

Place_Keyword: Montana

Place_Keyword: Oregon

Place_Keyword: Washington

Place_Keyword: Idaho

Place_Keyword: Utah

Access_Constraints: n/a, no restrictions apply and data is public domain

Use_Constraints:

Acknowledgement of NOAA/National Weather Service/Office of Hydrologic Development/Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center (HDSC) and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization:

NOAA/National Weather Service/Office of Hydrologic Development/Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center (HDSC)

Contact_Person:

Contact_Position:

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address:

Office of Hydrologic Development, National Weather Service W/OHD13, 1325 East-West Highway

City: Silver Spring

State_or_Province: MD

Postal_Code: 20910

Country: U.S.A.

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (301) 713-0640

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (301) 713-0963

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: hdsc.questions@noaa.gov

Hours_of_Service: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, Monday-Friday

Native_Data_Set_Environment:

Red Hat Linux version 7.2, GRASS GIS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System) version 4.2.1

Data_Quality_Information:

Attribute_Accuracy:

Attribute_Accuracy_Report:

All attributes created during the digitization process were tested for internal consistency. In addition, thorough comparisons where conducted with hardcopy NOAA Atlas 2 maps. In fact, each file of digitized vectors was plotted at 1:1,000,000 scale and overlaid on the master NOAA Atlas 2 map. For the whole project several hundred of these check plots were produced. Labels were compared and corrected if necessary. If the x-y position of points along a line were out of place, the appropriate x-y corrections were computed and applied or if it was not correctable the line was re-digitized. Once satisfied with an accurate digitized vector data set, the maps were composited for the digitized files for the NOAA Atlas 2 map being processed. The resutling grid was contoured using the Surface II contouring program. This was overlaid on the NOAA Atlas 2 map being digitized and checked for discrepancies. Occasionally an error would be discovered that slipped through the initial QC process. It would be corrected and appropriate new check maps would be created until the map was considered to be free of errors.

Logical_Consistency_Report:

All data were based on precipitation-reporting stations that had at least 20 years of daily or hourly precipitation data between 1897 and 1970. Similar quality assurance procedures were used with all input data sets.

Completeness_Report:

Point precipitation values originated from the following sources: 1) National Weather Service Cooperative (COOP) stations, 2) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) SNOTEL, NWS First Order hourly and daily stations. All NWS station data were subjected to quality control checks by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Positional_Accuracy:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report: Positional accuracy has not been determined.

Lineage:

Source_Information:

Source_Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: National Climatic Data Center

Publication_Date: 1970

Title: Precipitation Data, Hourly

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Asheville, NC, USA

Publisher: National Climatic Data Center

Online_Linkage: <URL:http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html>

Type_of_Source_Media: digital files

Source_Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 1897

Ending_Date: 1970

Source_Currentness_Reference: ground condition

Source_Citation_Abbreviation: TD3240

Source_Contribution:

Location and values of known hourly precipitation amounts.

Source_Information:

Source_Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: National Climatic Data Center

Publication_Date: 1970

Title: Daily Cooperative Summary of the Day

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Asheville, NC, USA

Publisher: National Climatic Data Center

Online_Linkage: <URL:http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html>

Type_of_Source_Media: digital files

Source_Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 1897

Ending_Date: 1970

Source_Currentness_Reference: ground condition

Source_Citation_Abbreviation: TD3200

Source_Contribution:

Location and values of known daily precipitation amounts at National Weather Service Cooperative observer sites.

Source_Information:

Source_Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: National Climatic Data Center

Publication_Date: 1970

Title: First Order Summary of the Day

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Asheville, NC, USA

Publisher: National Climatic Data Center

Online_Linkage: <URL:http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html>

Type_of_Source_Media: digital files

Source_Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 1897

Ending_Date: 1970

Source_Currentness_Reference: ground condition

Source_Citation_Abbreviation: TD3210

Source_Contribution:

Location and values of known hourly and daily precipitation amounts at National Weather Service First Order stations.

Source_Information:

Source_Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

Publication_Date: 1970

Title:

Cooperative Snow Survey Data of Federal - State - Private Cooperative Snow Surveys

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Portland, Oregon, USA

Publisher:

Natural Resources Conservation Service, Water and Climate Center

Online_Linkage: <URL:http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/>

Type_of_Source_Media: digital files, paper reports, online

Source_Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 1940

Ending_Date: 1970

Source_Currentness_Reference: ground condition

Source_Citation_Abbreviation: SNOTEL (SNOwpack TELemetry)

Source_Contribution: Location and values of known daily precipitation.

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

It is beyond the scope of this metadata to document the processes involved in generating the NOAA Atlas 2 precipitation frequency contours. However, the processes are documented in the NOAA Atlas 2 report which is available from HDSC at <URL:http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/hdsc/studies/prcpfreq.html>

Process_Date: 197401

Process_Step:

Process_Description: The NOAA Atlas 2 hardcopy maps were hand-digitized.

Process_Date: 198401

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

The contour lines and their attribute labels were quality checked.

Process_Date: 198501

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

The contour lines were converted into GRASS GIS binary vector files.

Process_Date: 200111

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

The GRASS binary vector files were then converted into raster-lines, using the GRASS command, v.to.rast. Thereafter, the command r.surf.contour was used to interpolate between the raster lines and produce the final rasters.

Process_Date: 200011

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Raster

Raster_Object_Information:

Raster_Object_Type: Grid Cell

Row_Count: 4351

Column_Count: 5539

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Geographic:

Latitude_Resolution: 0.0041666667

Longitude_Resolution: 0.0041666667

Geographic_Coordinate_Units: Decimal Degrees

Geodetic_Model:

Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1927 (NAD27)

Ellipsoid_Name: Clarke 1866

Semi-major_Axis: 6378206.4

Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 294.98

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label: precipitation frequency grid cell value

Entity_Type_Definition: ASCII values

Entity_Type_Definition_Source: Self-evident

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: precipitation frequency grid cell value

Attribute_Definition: spatially gridded precipitation frequency estimates

Attribute_Definition_Source:

Miller, J.F., R.H. Frederick, and R.J. Tracy, 1973. Precipitation-frequency atlas of the western United States, NOAA Atlas 2, 11 vols., National Weather Service, Silver Spring, MD.

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Range_Domain:

Range_Domain_Minimum: 45000

Range_Domain_Maximum: 2400000

Attribute_Units_of_Measure: in * 100000

Attribute_Measurement_Resolution: 1

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: -9999

Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: no data available or outside of range domain

Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: NOAA Atlas 2 Precipitation Frequency Study

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization:

National Weather Service/Office of Hydrologic Development/Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center (HDSC)

Contact_Person:

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address:

Office of Hydrologic Development, National Weather Service W/OHD13, 1325 East-West Highway

City: Silver Spring

State_or_Province: MD

Postal_Code: 20910

Country: U.S.A.

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (301) 713-0640

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (301) 713-0963

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: hdsc.questions@noaa.gov

Hours_of_Service: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, Monday-Friday

Resource_Description:

These rasters were originally developed for the specific purpose of performing the storm studies used in the development of HMR 55A, HMR 57 and the analysis of parameters used in the development of probable maximum precipitation (PMP) in these reports.

Distribution_Liability:

Users must assume responsibility to determine the appropriate use of these data.

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: ARC/INFO ASCII Grid

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name: <URL:http://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/>

Fees: none

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20030425

Metadata_Review_Date: 20030425

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization:

National Weather Service/Office of Hydrologic Development/Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center (HDSC)

Contact_Person:

Contact_Position:

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and physical address

Address:

Office of Hydrologic Development, National Weather Service W/OHD13, 1325 East-West Highway

City: Silver Spring

State_or_Province: MD

Postal_Code: 20910

Country: U.S.A.

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (301) 713-0640

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (301) 713-0963

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: hdsc.questions@noaa.gov

Hours_of_Service: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, Monday-Friday

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC CSDGM

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998