United States Environmental Protection Agency \' •*.- Atmospheric Sciences _ Research Laboratory -/ Research Triangle Park NC 27711 / \ /1" Research and Development EPA/$00/S3-88/031 Sept. 1988 v°/EPA Project Summary Project PEPE-NEROS (1980) Description of the Data Base Noor V. Gillani Protect PEPE-NEROS was a major EPA- sponsored field measurement program conducted during the summer of 1980 out of Columbus, Ohio. The dual objec- tives were to create data bases for (a) the study of the evolution and composition of regional haze episodes occurring in northeastern U.S., particularly during summer months, and (b) the study of ox- Idant formation and transport in urban plumes and on regional scale. Many research groups representing EPA, NASA and other government agencies, as well as Industry and universities par- ticipated In the field study. The overall data base of PEPE-NEROS was centraliz- ed and standardized at Washington Uni- versity. This two-part report describes and documents the data base and its availability. Part I overviews the measurements and the data base, and lists the many reports which contain details of the measurement platforms and their missions. Part II gives documentation of the final General Distribution Data Base of PEPE-NEROS which is contained on two magnetic tapes. This Project Summary was developed by ERA'S Atmospheric Sciences Research Laboratory, Research Wangle Park, NC, to announce key findings of the research project that Is fully documented In a separate report of the same title (see Project Report ordering information at back). Introduction Project PEPE-NEROS was a large field measurement program sponsored by the Atmospheric Sciences Research Labora- tory (ASRL) of the U.S. Environmental Pro- tection Agency, carried out during the sum- mer of 1980. It represented a coordination of two separate but related projects, PEPE and NEROS. The principal objectives of project PEPE (Persistent Elevated Pollution Episodes) were to investigate the evolution, dynamics and kinetics, spatial-temporal distribution, chemical composition, and op- tics of regional haze episodes that frequent- ly occur over multi-state areas of the north- eastern quadrant of the U.S., particularly during summer months. The principal ob- jectives of project NEROS (Northeast Regional Oxidant Study) were to investigate the formation and transport of oxidants within urban plumes and over regional scales Regional haze episodes, or PEPEs, may occur only a few times during a sum- mer, each typically lasting a week or less. Continuous deployment of a large field ex- pedition over a five- or six-week period to study just PEPEs was thus considered un- wise, and the partnership of PEPE and NEROS was the practical solution, in which emphasis during non-PEPE intervals was on urban-scale studies. The field study was conducted during the period 15 July to 15 August 1980, and was based at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. A con- current second component of NEROS was conducted in the Baltimore-Washington area. While EPA was the principal sponsor of the PEPE-NEROS study, NASA also played a major role through its own funded par- ticipation. Other federal agencies with significant participation included DOE, NOAA, FAA, TVA, and NSF (NCAR), and there was major participation by industry and universities. The many participants specialized in a broad range of measure- ment techniques and capabilities. The measurements were very diverse, and in- cluded chemical, optical, and meteorologi- cal measurements from stationary and mobile platforms.both ground-based and airborne, in-situ and remote sensing, cover- ing spatial-temporal scales ranging from ------- microscale turbulence to synoptic scale haze, both within and above the planetary boundary layer. Following the field program, data- collecting groups performed their own data reduction and validation. The "clean" data were then submitted to the PEPE-NEROS Data Manager (the author of this report) for archival in the PEPE-NEROS data base. The data were converted to standardized formats, further documented as necessary, and generally segregated and grouped by day of measurement. This final data base, the General Distribution Data Base (GDDB) is available to users on two 2400-foot magnetic tapes in a form designed to be thoroughly documented and user-friendly. In addition to the GBBD, a number of hard-copy reports prepared by the various organizations participating in the study are also a part of the final PEPE-NEROS data base. These reports contain details of the measurement platforms and instrumenta- tion, and of the measured parameters. A list of these reports is containedin the full pro- ject report, which also includes a program overview of the measurements and the dai- ly experimental missions. General Distribution Data Base The GDDB Project PEPE-NEROS is the final form of the data base which is normally available to potential users of the data base. It is expected to be adequate for the vast majority of the user community. A very limited set of users may need the unreduc- ed data of the EPA-Las Vegas and NASA Aircraft Lidars and of the NOAA turbulence aircraft for some special projects. These detailed data are not included in the GDDB, but may be obtained directly from the data- collecting organizations. The bulk of the data are grouped by day. For some platforms with extremely small data sets, the data were retained in single data files covering the full field study period (July 15-August 15,1980). These data files are collectively called the "monthly data base," as distinguished from the "daily data base" which consists of all the data files grouped by day from the 32 days of the study period. The entire GDDB is in a highly standar- dized form. All data files except those con- taining routine surface and upper air data of the National Weather Service are presented in one of two standard STATE for- mats, which are identical to those of the GDDBs of other field studies (EPA's MISTT and Tennessee Plume Study, and the joint EPA-EPRI Cold Weather Plume Study). All data of a time-series type, constituting the bulk of the data, are cast in the STATE-20 format, and all data from vertical soundings except for the NWS data are cast in the STATE-VS format. The STATE formats are substantially self- documenting. The header records of STATE-20 identify the project, organization, platform collecting the data, a brief data description, time interval between suc- cessive data records (if regular), FORTRAN format of the data record, list of parameters in each data record, and the corresponding engineering units and physical upper and lower bounds. Comment records following the data records generally elucidate mea- sured parameter names (when necessary) and give brief when-where-how-why type of information. The STATE-VS files similarly provide complete self-documentation. In both STATE formats, the logical record length in this GDDB in 80 bytes throughout. The first file in each daily subset of the data base is a summary file which contains a list of the data files present in that day's data base. Each entry in the list pertains to a specific data file, and gives the file name, identifies the organization and platform col- lecting the data, the type of data and the file format. Multiple files from the same plat- form for a given day are separately iden- tified by including sequential numbering in the file name. The monthly data base is similarly head- ed by a file that consists of a list of files in the monthly data base, and contains the same kind of information as is given in the daily summary file. The GDDB of PEPE-NEROS is packed into two 2400-ft industry, standard, 1/2-inch magnetic tapes. The data density is 1600 bpi, and the data are blocked in fixed blocks, 1600 bytes per block. Tape 1 con- tains 417 files comprising the daily data base for the period July 15 - August 7, in- clusive, and tape 2 contains 178 files com- prising the remainder of the daily data base for the period August 8 - August 15, in- clusive, and 17 files comprising the mon- thly data base. The full report contains a number of listings to help the users of the data base. These include a listing of the daily sum- mary files for each day as well as a listing of the monthly summary files. Represen- tative files are partially listed, to show all the information at the start of each file, in- cluding identification, parameters, units, and ranges. For these same files, a number of records from the end of the file are also listed, to include the end of the data listing together with comments, explanations of the data elements, and quality assurance information as appropriate. Lastly, the coding of the National Weather Service sur- face and upper air data are included for these users unfamiliar with these codes. ------- Noor V. Gillani is with Washington University, St. Louis. MO 63130. Francis Pooler. Jr., is the EPA Project Officer (see below). The complete report, entitled "Project PEPE-NEROS (1980): Description of the Data Base," (Order No. PB 88-238 472/AS; Cost: $19.95, subject to change) will be available only from: National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA22161 Telephone: 703-487-4650 The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at: Atmospheric Sciences Research Laboratory U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Research Triangle Park. NC 27711 United States Environmental Protection Agency Center for Environmental Research Information Cincinnati OH 45268 Official Business Penalty for Private Use $300 EPA/600/S3-88/031 9000329 PS ------- |