AERMINUTE Hands-on Course #423 Day 2 Morning Air Pollution Dispersion Models: Applications with the AERMOD Modeling System AERMINUTE Hands-on Course #423 Day 2 Morning

Day 2 Morning: AERMINUTE Hands-On

Learning Objectives At the end of this session, you will understand: The input requirements for AERMINUTE How to run AERMINUTE

AERMINUTE – Obtaining Data AERMINUTE processes one or more monthly files of 1­ minute ASOS wind data Data are available, without cost, through the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) website at ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/asos-onemin Files can be downloaded from the FTP site using Windows Explorer or other FTP client or a web browser (least preferred) Open the appropriate folder (data type + year) 6405 = wind data, 6406 = temperature data The file format of the 1-minute files can be found at: http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/documentlibrary/tddoc/td6405.pdf As noted in the slide, the 1-minute data are in one-month files, so to get a year of data, you need to download 12 separate files. Since we will be processing 5 years of data, it would take too long to download all the files. In the interest of time, all but the first 3 months are provided in the AERMINUTE hands-on folder (APTI 423 \Hands- on\AERMINUTE). These slides provide instructions for obtaining the omitted 3-months of 1-minute data from the NCDC website. We will go through the instructions and download the three files required to complete the hands-on. However, if you find that you get stuck or cannot complete the exercise in the time allotted, data for this hands-on activity are provided in the hands-on package. Data can be downloaded from the FTP site listed using a file manager that supports ftp (e.g., Windows Explorer), third party FTP client software, or a web browser, though the use of a web browser is the least preferred method if you need to download multiple files such as a year (12 monthly files) or more.

This slide is hidden to continue notes from previous slide. The nomenclature for naming the folders where the files are archived is of the form data type-year. For example, 6405-2008 is the folder for the 1-minute ASOS winds for 2008. Opening that folder reveals all the 1-minute ASOS file for 2008. You will need to know the 4-character station identifier to download data. The station for the hands-on is KABE. Within a folder, the individual monthly 1-minute ASOS files are named using a combination of the data type (64050 for wind data) + 4-character station identifier + 4- digit year + 2-digit month. An example is 64050 KABE 2008 01.dat. We have put spaces between the components for easier reading – they are not there in the actual filenames. Note as well the location where the documentation for the file format can be found.

AERMINUTE – Obtaining Data ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/asos-onemin Go ahead and enter the FTP link into your file manager, web browser, or third party ftp client and go to the FTP site. Since we are downloading only three months of data, all three methods should work equally well.

AERMINUTE – Obtaining Data Internet Explorer Windows Explorer Two views of obtaining data are shown: via Microsoft’s Internet Explorer on the left and Microsoft’s Windows Explorer on the right (Details view). Using Internet Explorer, you would have to click on each individual monthly file in a year to download the data (lower left). With a file manager such as Windows Explorer, you can copy/paste or drag and drop groups of files, such as an entire year from one or more stations (lower right), making the download operation much quicker. With whichever method you prefer, download the following files (each is 4-5 Mb): 64050KABE200801.dat 64050KABE200802.dat 64050KABE200803.dat And put them in the following subfolder: APTI 423\Hands-on\AERMINUTE

AERSURFACE – Control File The 1-minute ASOS wind data files and program executable needed to complete this hands-on activity can be found in the following directory: APTI423\Hands-on\AERMINUTE\ aerminute_110325.exe: program executable aerminute.inp: AERMINUTE control file 14737-yyyy.DAT: NWS hourly observations, standard format 64050KABEyyyymm.dat: 1-minute ASOS wind data files where: yyyy = year and mm = month The files needed to complete the AERMINUTE hands-on activity, including the three files you just downloaded, should be in the subfolder “APTI423\Hands- on\AERMINUTE\.” There, you will find the AERMINUTE program executable (aerminute_11325.exe), the AERMINUTE control file, NWS hour observations in standard format (Integrated Surface Hourly Data (ISHD) in the DS-3505 full archival format), and the individual monthly 1­ minute ASOS wind data files referenced in the control file. The files beginning with 14737 are optional. They are the NWS hourly observations used to compare the results from AERMINUTE with the one hour data. They are not required but are used in the hands-on.

Control File – Quick Review STARTEND – the start, end month and year to process IFWGROUP – ice-free wind group DATAFILE STARTING - list of data files to process is next DATAFILE FINISHED - list of data files is completed SURFDATA STARTING (Optional) - list of standard NWS data files SURFDATA FINISHED - list of standard files is completed OUTFILES STARTING – list of output files follows OUTFILES FINISHED - list of output files is completed Here is a brief refresher on the AERMINUTE control file. Refer back to the previous session on AERMINUTE for details of these keywords. Remember that AERMINUTE only processes entire months, so there is no day field with the STARTEND keyword. The SURFDATA files are optional. They are the NWS hourly observations used to compare the results from AERMINUTE with the one hour data. They are not required but are used in the hands-on.

AERMINUTE Control File aerminute.inp STARTEND 01 2008 12 2012 IFWGROUP y 09 08 2006 DATAFILE STARTING 64050KABE200801.dat 64050KABE200802.dat 64050KABE200803.dat 64050KABE200804.dat 64050KABE200805.dat 64050KABE200806.dat 64050KABE200807.dat 64050KABE200808.dat 64050KABE200809.dat 64050KABE200810.dat 64050KABE200811.dat ... 64050KABE201203.dat 64050KABE201204.dat 64050KABE201205.dat 64050KABE201206.dat 64050KABE201208.dat 64050KABE201209.dat 64050KABE201210.dat 64050KABE201211.dat 64050KABE201212.dat DATAFILE FINISHED Since so many files are to be processed and the input control file is fairly straightforward, we will use the control file that comes with the hands-on rather than develop one from a template. Recall we will be using onsite meteorological data from the Martins Creek evaluation dataset for the period May 1, 2011 through April 30, 2012. However, to accommodate hands-on activities in future sessions, we will process five full years of monthly 1-minute ASOS wind data files, 2008 through 2012, downloaded from the NCDC. This slide shows the top portion of the control file used in this hands-on activity. STARTEND Start: January 2008 End: December 2012 IFWGROUP Part of the ice-free group: “Y” or “y” for Yes, “N” or “n” for No ASOS commissioning date: month, day, 4-digit year DATAFILE STARTING, FINISHED Place the list of 1-minute ASOS files, in chronological order, between these two keywords. Use quotation marks if there are spaces in the path or filename (there are no spaces in the filenames above, so the quotation marks are not necessary). In the partial control file shown on the slide, due to limited space, we have listed only the first and last files. Refer to the control file (aerminute.inp) in “APTI423\Hands-on\AERMINTUE\” to see the full list of monthly 1-minute ASOS wind data files.

AERMINUTE Control File, cont’d aerminute.inp SURFDATA STARTING 14737-2008.DAT 14737-2009.DAT 14737-2010.DAT 14737-2011.DAT 14737-2012.DAT SURFDATA FINISHED OUTFILES STARTING HOURFILE KABE_2008-2012_1-Min_hour.out SUMMFILE KABE_2008-2012_1-Min_summ.out COMPFILE KABE_2008-2012_1-Min_comp.out OUTFILES FINISHED This slide presents the remainder of the control file. SURFDATA STARTING, FINISHED Place the list of NWS hourly observation files, in chronological order, between these two keywords. Use quotation marks if there are spaces in the path or filename (there are no spaces in the filenames above, so the quotation marks are not necessary). OUTFILES STARTING, FINISHED Place the list output files between these two keywords. Use quotation marks if there are spaces in the path or filename (there are no spaces in the filenames above, so the quotation marks are not necessary). The HOURFILE has the hourly averaged 1-minute data that will be used by AERMET. The SUMMFILE is a comma delimited summary file that details the number of minutes used for each hour as well as minimum, maximum, and average wind speed and direction. This keyword is optional. COMPFILE is a comma delimited file that lists the winds from the 1-minute data and standard observations for all observation times listed in the standard observations file. This keyword must be present if the SURFDATA keywords are used. Cannot be present if there are not SURFADATA files.

Running AERMINUTE A text editor, such as Notepad or your favorite text editor, can be used to generate an input control file Run AERMINUTE by opening a command prompt, setting the working directory to the directory where the executable is located To start AERMINUTE, type: aerminute_11325 Enter the path and filename of the control file, when prompted Note: you can also run AERMINUTE by double clicking on the executable in Windows Explorer Progress of the data processing is displayed on screen; less than a minute is required to process two years of data You can execute AERMINUTE by double-clicking on the executable in a Windows Explorer window which will launch a command prompt and initiate AERMINUTE or by opening a command prompt, navigating to the hands-on folder, and typing the path, if needed, and filename of the executable. When launched, AERMINUTE prompts you to enter the control file name. For this reason, AERMINUTE does not require that the control file be named “aerminute.inp”.

Running AERMINUTE This slide shows AERMINUTE executed from a command prompt by typing “aerminute_11325” and the subsequent prompt to enter path and filename of the AERMINUTE control file. In our activity, the control file is located in the same directory as the AERMINTUE program executable, and is named “aerminute.inp.” Let’s run AERMINUTE.

Output - HOURFILE KABE_2008-2012_1-Min_hour.out AERMINUTE Version 11325 WBAN: 14737 Call sign: KABE IFW: Y IFW date: 09/08/2006 8 1 1 1 999.00 999.0 8 1 1 2 999.00 999.0 8 1 1 3 999.00 999.0 8 1 1 4 999.00 999.0 8 1 1 5 3.64 100.0 8 1 1 6 5.59 124.0 8 1 1 7 2.07 180.0 8 1 1 8 3.67 152.0 8 1 1 9 4.47 186.0 8 1 1 10 3.13 207.0 8 1 1 11 4.01 215.0 8 1 1 12 5.76 238.0 8 1 1 13 7.94 252.0 8 1 1 14 6.66 253.0 8 1 1 15 6.48 268.0 8 1 1 16 6.94 265.0 8 1 1 17 4.98 264.0 8 1 1 18 7.00 264.0 8 1 1 19 6.66 257.0 8 1 1 20 6.15 256.0 8 1 1 21 6.94 256.0 8 1 1 22 7.11 253.0 ... Now we will take a look at some of the output. The HOURFILE contains the hourly averaged winds output from AERMINUTE and formatted for input into AERMET in Stage 2. This slide shows a portion of the 1-hour averaged wind data output file (KABE_2008- 2012_1-Min_hour.out) generated by AERMINUTE. The file contains a single header record followed by the hourly wind data. Header Record AERMINUTE version number, station identifiers, and ice-free wind information Data Records Each data record consists of: Date/Time Group: 2-digit year, month, day hour Hour Average of the 1-minute ASOS Data: Wind speed, wind direction If you notice there are some very low wind speeds. You will be able to bypass those hours with the AERMET keyword THRESH_1MIN on the METPREP pathway. With it, you can specify a wind speed threshold for winds derived from 1−minute ASOS wind data processed through AERMINUTE.

Output -SUMMFILE KABE_2008-2012_1-Min_summ.out Date,hr,flag,IFW flag,total minutes,total calms,total even,even calms,total odd,total odd calm,odd used,odd calms used,min speed,avg speed,max speed,min dir,avg dir,max dir 20080101,01,M , 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,999.00,999.00,999.00,999,999,999 20080101,02,M , 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,999.00,999.00,999.00,999,999,999 20080101,03,M , 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,999.00,999.00,999.00,999,999,999 20080101,04,M , 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,999.00,999.00,999.00,999,999,999 20080101,05,V , 1,44, 0,22, 0,22, 0, 0, 0, 2.04, 3.64, 4.59, 90,100,111 20080101,06,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 2.55, 5.59, 7.14, 94,124,156 20080101,07,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 0.51, 2.07, 3.57,135,180,306 20080101,08,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 1.53, 3.67, 6.63,127,152,191 20080101,09,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 1.53, 4.47, 6.63,141,186,255 20080101,10,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 1.02, 3.13, 4.59,156,207,246 20080101,11,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 3.06, 4.01, 5.10,191,215,234 20080101,12,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 4.08, 5.76, 8.67,220,238,263 20080101,13,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 5.61, 7.94, 9.69,239,252,266 20080101,14,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 4.59, 6.66, 9.18,225,253,292 20080101,15,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 5.10, 6.48, 8.16,254,268,283 20080101,16,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 5.10, 6.94, 9.18,250,265,283 20080101,17,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 3.57, 4.98, 7.14,255,264,277 20080101,18,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 5.10, 7.00, 9.69,254,264,279 20080101,19,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 5.10, 6.66, 8.67,249,257,269 20080101,20,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 4.59, 6.15, 7.65,246,256,266 20080101,21,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 5.10, 6.94, 9.18,247,256,265 20080101,22,V , 1,59, 0,30, 0,29, 0, 0, 0, 6.12, 7.11, 8.16,246,253,263 The SUMMFILE is an optional output file that details the number of minutes used for each hour as well as minimum, maximum, and average wind speed and direction. This file is structured so it can be imported into any program that recognizes a comma separated value (csv) file. The first record that identifies the columns is one long record but wrapped in this slide. The SUMMFILE lists each hour in the data period, including those not in the 1-minute files, with Counts of minutes for the hour that can be used as a quality assurance check against the hourly averaged winds file Minimum and maximum 2-minute wind speed and direction used in the hourly calculations Hourly averaged wind speed and direction that are listed in the HOURFILE. NOTE: The minimum wind speed and direction are unpaired in time, i.e. they may not represent the same period of time. The same is true for the maximum wind speed and direction.

Output - COMPFILE KABE_2000-2012_1-Min_comp.out date(yyyymmdd),hour,minute,calm flag,1-min dir,1-min dir10,1-min speed,1-min speed_1,obs. dir,obs. speed,dirdiff,speeddiff,wind flag,qc flag 20080101, 1,51,0, -999.0, -999.0, -999.0, -999.0, 50.0, 2.6, -999.0, -999.0,N,5 20080101, 2,51,0, -999.0, -999.0, -999.0, -999.0, 50.0, 4.6, -999.0, -999.0,N,5 20080101, 4,51,0, -999.0, -999.0, -999.0, -999.0, 80.0, 2.6, -999.0, -999.0,N,5 20080101, 5,51,0, 103.0, 100.0, 4.1, 4.1, 100.0, 4.1, 0.0, 0.0,N,5 20080101, 6,49,0, 123.0, 120.0, 6.6, 6.6, 120.0, 6.7, 0.0, 0.1,N,5 20080101, 7, 4,0, 152.0, 150.0, 2.5, 2.6, 150.0, 2.6, 0.0, 0.0,N,5 20080101, 7,58,0, 190.0, 190.0, 3.1, 3.1, 999.0, 3.1, -999.0, 0.0,V,5 20080101, 8,51,0, 133.0, 130.0, 5.1, 5.1, 130.0, 5.1, 0.0, 0.0,N,5 20080101, 9,51,0, 205.0, 210.0, 4.6, 4.6, 210.0, 4.6, 0.0, 0.0,N,5 20080101,10,42,0, 156.0, 160.0, 2.5, 2.6, 160.0, 2.6, 0.0, 0.0,N,5 20080101,11,51,0, 214.0, 210.0, 4.1, 4.1, 210.0, 4.1, 0.0, 0.0,N,5 20080101,13,51,0, 254.0, 250.0, 7.6, 7.7, 250.0, 7.7, 0.0, 0.0,N,5 20080101,14,51,0, 288.0, 290.0, 8.7, 8.7, 290.0, 8.8, 0.0, 0.1,N,5 20080101,16,51,0, 267.0, 270.0, 7.6, 7.7, 270.0, 7.7, 0.0, 0.0,N,5 20080101,18,51,0, 270.0, 270.0, 5.6, 5.6, 270.0, 5.7, 0.0, 0.1,N,5 20080101,19, 0,0, 255.0, 260.0, 6.1, 6.1, 250.0, 8.7, 10.0, 2.6,N,1 20080101,21,51,0, 250.0, 250.0, 8.7, 8.7, 250.0, 8.8, 0.0, 0.1,N,5 20080101,23,51,0, 252.0, 250.0, 6.6, 6.6, 250.0, 6.7, 0.0, 0.1,N,5 20080101,24,59,0, 252.0, 250.0, 7.6, 7.7, 999.0, 999.9, -999.0, -999.0,9,9 20080102, 1, 0,0, 266.0, 270.0, 8.2, 8.2, 250.0, 6.2, 20.0, 2.0,N,1 20080102, 3,51,0, 273.0, 270.0, 5.1, 5.1, 270.0, 5.1, 0.0, 0.0,N,5 20080102, 5,51,0, 307.0, 310.0, 6.6, 6.6, 310.0, 6.7, 0.0, 0.1,N,5 20080102, 7,51,0, 324.0, 320.0, 6.1, 6.1, 320.0, 6.2, 0.0, 0.1,N,5 The COMPFILE is an optional comma delimited output file that compares the hourly averaged wind data computed from the 1-minute ASOS data to the standard hourly observations for all observation times listed in the standard observations file. This file is only applicable when the SURFDATA keyword is used in the control to identify standard NWS observation files against which to perform a comparison. AERMINUTE is only configured to read Integrated Surface Hourly Data (ISHD) in the DS-3505 full archival format. The COMPFILE is structured so it can be imported into any program that recognizes a comma- separated value (csv) file. The first record that identifies the columns is one long record but wrapped in this slide to see all the fields. COMPFILE compares the standard observations against the 1-minute observations. The file allows the user to review specific observations to determine if the 1-minute data and the standard observations are in reasonable agreement. For minutes where either the standard observation is missing or the 1-minute data is missing, speeds and directions are listed as 999 and differences as -999.

Additional Output aerminute.log: summary of user inputs, data files processed, and summary statistics good_records.dat: valid records according to strict quality control checks in AERMINUTE and the winds from these files are considered valid bad_records.dat: records from the 1-minute files that did not meet the strict quality controls in AERMINUTE, and are unlikely to contain usable data check_records.dat: records that did not meet the strict quality controls in AERMINUTE and are not used in calculating hourly averages, but could possibly be edited to provide useful data This slide describes some of the additional output files generated by AERMINUTE. The student should look at these on his/her own to see the format and contents. The log file has some interesting information in it. Portions of it are reproduced here.

Additional Output – .LOG File AERMINUTE VERSION 11325 Program start date & time: January 06, 2014 14:43:36 PM ################################ INPUTS ############################### Control input file: aerminute.inp Summary of dates Start date: 1 1 2008 End Date: 12 31 2012 Station is part of IFW group for data period With start date of 9 8 2006 ####################################################################### ######################## 1-MINUTE DATA FILES CHECK #################### Checking for duplicate filenames No duplicate filenames found All files found... Number of files to process: 60 The actual number of records in the log file is 356. The first 24 are shown here and show some basic information.

Additional Output - .LOG File All files read... RECORD FORMAT QA Total number of records read from files: 2481602 Number of processed records: 2439098 Number of records outside data period: 0 Number of records inside data period: 2439098 Number of non-processed records: 42504 Number of records for minute 1: 41311 Number of bad records: 1192 Number of check records: 1 Number of bad minute records: 0 NOTE: Number of non-processed records includes records outside data period . STANDARD CALMS Number of standard observation calms: 6834 Number of missing 1-minute winds: 439 Number of 1-minute winds < 3 knots: 6209 Number of 1-minute winds >= 3 knots: 186 This slide is from near the middle of the log file. Here we have information on the number of records processed. As we can see, over 2.4 million records were processed. Of those, only about ¼ percent are a calm wind. This is far better than the 10-20% that might be observed in the hourly data files. The student should review the remainder of the log file and consult the AERMINUTE user’s guide for information on the content of the file.