.. _vx-data-gdas-prepbufr: GDAS Prepbufr Data ------------------ Description Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) prepbufr files contain a variety of upper-air and surface weather observations from around the globe, including radiosonde, profiler and US radar derived winds, land and marine surface reports, aircraft reports, and more. NOAA/NCEI: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/model-data/model-datasets/global-data-assimilation-system-gdas Note: GDAS prepbufr data is also available via other sources (e.g., NOMADS, NOAA HPSS, and NCAR/Research Data Archive); however, NOAA/NCEI does not require an account and provides a long archive period. Recommended use GDAS prepbufr data are commonly used for verification of standard meteorological variables, such as temperatures, dew point temperature, wind speed, visibility, and precipitation, and precipitation type. File format BUFR Location of data https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/has/HAS.FileAppRouter?datasetname=GDAS_DyBuf&subqueryby=STATION&applname=&outdest=FILE Access restrictions None Spatial resolution, grid, or coverage Point observations with locations spanning the globe Temporal resolution Files are provided daily (but contain data from 4/day model runs) Starting and/or ending dates 13 Feb. 2012 - Present Data latency ~1 week For a near-realtime archive (but shorter retention period, see: https://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov/pub/data/nccf/com/gfs/prod) Variables available Temperature, sea surface temperature, wind, geopotential height, visibility, and moisture METplus Use Cases Link to `METplus Use Cases `_ for this dataset. Keywords .. note:: **Current Dataset:** VxDataGDASPREP .. note:: **Data Labels:** DataTypePoint, DataLevelSurface, DataLevelUpperAir, DataProviderNOAA, DataApplicationShortRange, DataApplicationMediumRange