This dataset contains output data from a number of models from the UK Met Office Hadley Centre which was processed into text files at the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. The data extraction was intended for use by the Climate Impacts Community (and was funded by the UK Departement of Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Defra). Output from each model is stored in a separate directory in the BADC archive, and the majority of the data comes from experiments performed using the Hadley centre Coupled Model, Version 3 (HadCM3). Note that is dataset is kept for historical purposes only. More consistent and complete HadCM3 data is available from the main British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC) HadCM3 archive.

A collection of products from rain radars operated by the Met Office and other European agencies for the UK and Europe. This collection includes rain composite plots and data for the UK and Europe, plus single site radar data including rain rate data, single and dual-polar data products. These were produced by the Met Office's Nimrod system. Nimrod is a fully automated system for weather analysis and nowcasting based around a network of C-band rainfall radars. This dataset has the fine-resolution analyses of rain rate for the UK and Europe. The UK has a network of C-band rainfall radars and data form these are processed by the Met Office NIMROD system. Four or five radar scans at different elevations at each site are processed to give the best possible estimate of rainfall at the ground. The main quality checking method is routine evaluation using rain gauges as ground truth. The BADC holds the analyses of rainfall rate at a time resolution of 5 or 15 minutes. Data are available from late 2002. Images are available for the UK as well as a further image including neighbouring European countries from 1999. Data files are available on a 1 km and 5 km Cartesian grid. Single radar site data are available for 2 and 5 km Cartesian grids for various UK radar sites. The value of radar-based data from the Nimrod system has been highlighted repeatedly. For example, in two severe flooding events during 1998 (at Easter over the Midlands and in late October over Wales), estimates of surface rainfall derived from radar data provided evidence of the extent and severity of the rainfall events. The 2 km data files reach to 100 km from the radar, the 5km files to 250 km. Detailed radar site location are given in the Met Office Weather Radar Factsheet. Time resolution is 5 or 15 minutes depending on the product. Various scripts have been made available under the software directory to aid use of these data, including within GIS applications.

Data from observations made using Chilbolton Facility for Atmospheric and Radio Research (CFARR).The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) facility at Chilbolton Observatory, Hampshire (51.1445N, 1.4270W) is the home of many observation systems for meteorological and atmospheric science research. There are 4 radar systems designed to study precipitation, clouds and clear air, of which the largest is the 3 GHz Doppler radar (CAMRa) on the 25 m dish. There are also 4 lidar systems providing data on elastic backscattering, Doppler velocity, water vapour profiles and depolarisation. A wide range of meteorological and multiple raingauge data are available from both Chilbolton and the nearby Sparsholt field site. There is a wide range of radiometers at the site: microwave (for water vapour and liquid water measurements) and downwelling infra-red and visible detectors for radiation budget measurements. This dataset holds attenuation time-series data from vertically polarised 5 km links from South Wonston to Sparsholt. Cloud camera data from the Chilbolton site are available to provide visual information on weather conditions. CFARR is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and is owned and operated by the Space Science and Technology Department of the STFC.

The Met Office have operated a network of wind profiling lidars at various sites around the British Isles since the first was installed in 1998, following the installation of the NERC MST radar near Aberystwyth. This datasets collection contains the available 30 minute averaged wind profile data from these sites made available for research by the academic community and included parameters such as measurements of the zonal, meridional and vertical components of winds, signal to noise ratio and spectral width. The data are from boundary layer UHF wind profilers located at Camborne (915 Mhz), Dunkeswell (1290 Mhz) and Wattisham (1290 Mhz) and a Stratosphere-Troposphere (ST) VHF radar at South Uist operating at 64 Mhz. A fourth UHF radar operated at 915 Mhz was operated at the NERC MST Radar site at Capel Dewi, near Aberystwyth, between November 1999 and March 2002; it was then relocated to South Uist until May 2005 ahead of and during the commissioning of the 64 Mhz radar, before being relocated to its present location on the Isle of Man. An additional Degreane wind profiler has since been purchased by the Met Office and is deployed at the Chilbolton Observatory, but data from this instrument are not presently part of this dataset. This dataset contains wind profiler data from: - Camborne (from 1998) - Dunkeswell (from 1999) - Wattisham (2001 to present) - Aberystwyth (Capel Dewi, 1999 to 2002) - South Uist (915MHz, 2003 to 2004) - South Uist (64MHz, from 2004) - Isle of Man (2005 to 2008 and since 2010). Data from these wind-profilers, and from the NERC MST Radar, are used operationally by the Met Office for numerical weather prediction. They additionally receive data from up to another 15 wind-profiling systems throughout Europe as part of the CWINDE (COST Wind Initiative for a Network Demonstration in Europe) project. A map showing the locations of the wind profilers is available on the CWINDE website. Data from wind profilers is also routinely transmitted across the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) according to standards defined by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). Those data can be found in the Met Office MetDB dataset also held by the CEDA.

Ozone and water vapour in the tropopause region was an Upper Troposphere Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) Round 3 project led by Dr G. Vaughan, Dr J.A. Whiteway, Physics Department University of Wales, Aberystwyth and Dr R.L. Jones, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge. Dataset contains Balloon-borne simultaneous measurements of ozone and water vapour in the tropopause region. The flights are targeted as far as possible at different air masses in the lower stratosphere over Aberystwyth, with a particular emphasis on north-westerly jet streams. Air at the base of the stratosphere, within 1-2 km of the tropopause, was considered intermediate in character between stratosphere and troposphere. The ozone concentration increases steeply with height from ~80 ppbv at the tropopause to several hundred ppbv 2 km above it. The water vapour concentration was more variable, but generally decreases from ~100 ppmv at the tropopause to the standard 5-6 ppmv in the same height region. Other tracers of tropospheric origin behave likewise, which means that the lowest 2 km of the stratosphere is of quite a different chemical character to the remainder of the stratosphere. Water vapour was a key molecule in the UTLS region, and one that has traditionally been poorly measured above the tropopause. Even though the newest generation of radiosonde at that time (e.g. the Vaisala RS90) performed much better than its predecessors in the upper troposphere it still did not measure adequately in the stratosphere. The MOZAIC humidity sensor was of this type, and was also unable to extend into the stratosphere; indeed, it cannot measure reliably below 100 ppmv in the upper troposphere. Satellite instruments extend water vapour profiles into the UTLS region but their limited resolution in a region of strong vertical gradients limits their value. Measurements of UTLS humidity have therefore relied on in-situ research instrumentation, either balloon-borne or aircraft-borne. Aircraft and large balloons are expensive and cannot provide a proper climatology for water vapour, and the long sequence of NOAA frost-point hygrometer profiles do so only in one location (Boulder). This project seeked to develop a small, relatively cheap package to measure water vapour and ozone in the region around the tropopause. The measurement phase of the project consisted of four month-long campaigns, for June, September and December 2001 and March 2002. An average of three flights a week were conducted during these periods - a total of 48 flights. These flights were targeted as far as possible, at different air masses in the lower stratosphere over Aberystwyth, with a particular emphasis on north-westerly jet streams. Forecast charts have been used to identify suitable conditions (350 K potential vorticity forecasts from ECMWF were available from NILU, Norway for 1 and 2 days ahead).

These data are part of the NERC Clouds, Water Vapour and Climate (CWVC) programme. With a diameter of 25 metres the 3 GHz CAMRa at Chilbolton Observatory (UK) is the largest steerable meteorological radar in the world. Polarisation and Doppler data are stored in netCDF format for 30 March 1999, 9 June 2000, 20 October 2000, 21 November 2000, and 28 February 2001. Quicklook images are also available.

CWAVE was a measurement campaign at the CCLRC-Chilbolton Observatory; it supported activities associated with two EC FP5 projects, CLOUDMAP2 and CLOUDNET. A wide range of satellite and ground based instruments measured a variety of atmospheric properties ranging from cloud parameters to water vapour. In addition the measurements coincided with the results from a reduced resolution Unified Model (UM) run by the Met Office. Access to such a data set allowed unprecedented comparisons between observed and modelled data. The core observing period was 16th June to 11th July 2003. The Aims of CWAVE were: -Validation and inter-comparison of cloud and water vapour measurements from satellite, with remotely sensed ground based measurements of cloud parameters and water vapour. -Comparison of measured cloud parameters and water vapour, with results from high resolution Unified Model (UM) run by the Met Office.

This dataset collection comprises Ungridded Brightness Temperature (UBT) products from both ATSR-1 and ATSR-2 on the respective ERS-1 & 2 platforms. The ATSR (Along Track Scanning Radiometer) is an imaging radiometer providing images of the Earth from space. The ERS (Earth Resources Satellite) was the first ESA satellite observation programme comprising 2 polar orbiters. The ERS-1 and 2 programmes commenced in 1991 and 1995 respectively with ERS1 ceasing operations in 2000 and ERS-2 in 2011. The UBT data is an ungridded brightness temperature/reflectance product in the SADIST-2 data format. The product contains ungridded, calibrated brightness temperatures or reflectances from all or some of the ATSR-1/ATSR-2 detectors. Although the product remains ungridded, it may optionally contain pixel latitude/longitude positions, and/or pixel X/Y (across-track/along-track) co-ordinates. Ungridded products contain pixels in the ATSR scan geometry. There is a correspondence between the contents of a record and the contents of an ATSR instrument scan. ATSR data is notable in that it incorporated 2 look directions (nadir and forward) to aid in atmospheric correction and also incorporated consistent calibration for each scan/scene. ATSR-1 and 2 data are available at CEDA to any registered UK user with correct authorisation from the ATSR-1/2 Science Team, and NERC Award reference. Non NERC users should have ESA Category 1 clearance. However, users are encouraged to use the ATSR-1/2 in the latest AATSR multimission format in preference to this UBT data. CEDA remains the primary archive for this data.

The CLOUDMAP 2 project cloud products include cloud top pressure, height, phase, fraction, effective radius and optical depth derived using a variational analysis method applied to data from the Along Track Scanning Radiometer-2 (ATSR-2) over Europe. These data are the result of a contract to Eumetsat for application to the Spinning Enhanced Visible Infra-Red Imager (SEVIRI) and partly under the European Framework 5 CLOUMAP2 project.

The International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) has the lead role in addressing land-atmosphere interactions - process modelling, data retrieval algorithms, field experiment design and execution, and the development of global data sets. The ISLSCP II dataset contains comprehensive data over the 10 year period from 1986 to 1995, from the International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP). The ISLSCP II datasets are compiled in four key areas: land cover, hydrometeorlolgy, radiation and soils. They are mapped to consistent grids (0.5 x 0.5 degrees for topography, 1 x 1 degrees for meteorological parameters). Some data have a grid size of 0.25 x 0.25 degrees. The temporal resolution for most data sets is monthly (however a few are at finer resolution - 3 hourly). This dataset is public. ISLSCP is one of several projects of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX), and has the lead role in addressing land-atmosphere interactions - process modelling, data retrieval algorithms, field experiment design and execution, and the development of global data sets. ISLSCP was established in 1983 under the United Nation's Environmental Programme to promote the use of satellite data for the global land surface data sets needed for climate studies. In 1994, ISLSCP produced a five-volume CD-ROM collection of global data sets to support energy, water and biogeochemical cycling studies, covering 1987 - 1988 - the ISLSCP I Initiative. The ISLSCP I data sets are available via the BADC ISLSCP I page. The ISLSCP working group meet regularly to assist Goddard Space Flight Center staff to coordinate production and publication of the various data sets in the data collection.