Glossary

The WOUDC term for the contributing institute or organization responsible for the data submission to the WOUDC.

The WOUDC abbreviation or short form for the institute or organization name.

Measurements of UV-A, UV-B, or erythemally weighted UV radiation. This is a WOUDC defined data category. Refer to ultraviolet radiation.

An Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard for defining interfaces to discover, browse, and query metadata about geospatial records.

The institute or organization that obtains and submits the observation data to the WOUDC.

The abbreviation for Catalogue Service for the Web.

WOUDC term for type of data. Current data categories for ozone are total column ozone, lidar, ozonesonde, Umkehr and ultraviolet radiation data categories are broadband, multiband and high resolution spectral.

The WOUDC term for the type of observation data collection set. Current WOUDC data classes are ozone and solar ultraviolet radiation.

Refers to the data product. Raw data are Level 0 and considered unchanged. Processed data are Level 1 while spectrally gridded data is Level 2, etc.

Refers to value-added products such as maps, statistical summaries (e.g. daily means), data gridded on wavelengths and bandwidths, time series analysis, etc.

Refers to the frequency of data such as D = daily M = monthly.

Refers to a condensed scientific description of the origin, processing and quality of the data, typically written by the scientist responsible for these data and submitted by the contributing agency (formerly called the Scientific Sponsorship Statement (SSS)).

Data version specified by the submitting agency. These versions have the form major.minor (eg. 3.2).

A unit of measurement of atmospheric ozone columnar density, used as a measure of total column ozone, which is dominated by ozone in the stratospheric ozone layer.

The abbreviation for Data Sponsorship Statement.

The solar erythemal ultraviolet (UV) radiation which is defined by the integral over the UV wavelengths of the irradiance multiplied by the erythemal action spectrum (refer to carcinogenesis effectiveness).

The abbreviation for the extended (ext) Comma-Separated Values (CSV) file format created by WOUDC as a data archive file format standard that supports the provision of comments and multi data content within individual files.

Refer to extCSV.

The WOUDC term for the format of a data file. Data files of a given content will always contain the tables and fields specified by the WOUDC for that form. Refer to contributor registration form.

The version of the WOUDC extCSV file format (represented by the form index). If the existing file structure is altered the form index will be increased.

The abbreviation for the Global Atmosphere Watch programme of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The GAW programme was established in 1991 to provide scientific data on the chemical composition of the atmosphere.

The abbreviation for the station identifier defined by the GAW programme of the WMO. This identifier is a three letter code and is used in the WOUDC extCSV formatted files.

The abbreviation for the GAW station (platform) name.

The abbreviation for the GAW Station Information System.

Refer to GAW.

Height (elevation) in metres above sea level (m.a.s.l.).

The sensor or device used to measure / provide the data.

The manufacturer or make of an instrument or sensor.

the model identifier (ID) where applicable. For example, a typical Brewer spectrophotometer model is MKIII and an ECC sonde is 6A.

the serial number (S/N) for an instrument or sensor.

The common name of the instrument or sensor. For example, the Brewer spectrophotometer is called the "Brewer" where as the Brewer-Mast ozonesonde is called the "Brewer-Mast."

The abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization.

In signed decimal degrees (DD), with north positive and south negative.

Abbreviated term for Light Detection and Ranging. This is a WOUDC defined category.

The latitude, longitude and height of the data collection; typically the location of the station (platform) and instrument.

In signed decimal degrees (DD), with east positive and west negative.

Data about data. Additional spatial, temporal and instrument information for data within the WOUDC.

Measured with several discrete, pass-band filters with nominal spectral resolution of 2-10 nm at FWHM. This is a WOUDC defined data category. Refer to ultraviolet radiation.

Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change

The duration, usually one local or two days yielding a single profile.

The abbreviation for the Open Geospatial Consortium which serves as a global forum for the collaboration of geospatial data; they set the international standards and provide services that promote geospatial interoperability.

Refer to OGC.

A special form of oxygen with the chemical formula O₃. Ozone in the stratosphere absorbs some of the sun's biologically harmful ultraviolet radiation. Ozone is one of the current WOUDC data classes and includes these data categories: total column ozone (two levels: daily and hourly values), lidar vertical profiles, ozonesonde vertical profiles, and Umkehr (two levels: N-value and C-Umkehr) vertical profiles.

A balloon-borne, ozone instrument used to vertically profile the ozone amount in the atmosphere. This is a WOUDC defined data category. Refer to ozone.

Refer to Station.

Refer to Station Type.

The name of the project (e.g. IONS, EUVB, Antarctica).

Resource Description Framework - A part of the SKOS Web Service standard from World Wide Web Consortium (www.w3.org).

An update to existing data. This may be a minor adjustment or a major re-write of the data.

The abbreviation for the WMO Scientific Advisory Group. WOUDC receives guidance from the WMO SAG for issues related to both ozone and solar ultraviolet radiation data.

Refer to SAG.

The person responsible for the data quality.

Refer to Data Sponsorship Statement (DSS).

The abbreviation for Southern Hemisphere ADditional Ozonesondes.

The abbreviation and designator for a WOUDC mobile station (platform) for shipborne data. Refer to station (platform) type.

Simple Knowledge Organization System - A part of the Web Service standard from World Wide Web Consortium (www.w3.org).

The serial number of the instrument. Refer to instrument serial number.

WOUDC's term for the source of the data e.g. NDACC, SHADOZ

Radiation is measured in a continuous spectral band, with a resolution of less than or equal to 2 nm. This is a WOUDC defined data category. Refer to ultraviolet radiation.

The station platform at which an observation is performed. The stations consist of stationary platforms (including towers) and mobile platforms (including ships).

The abbreviation (short form) used to identify whether a station (platform) is stationary (STN) or on a ship (SHP).

The abbreviation and designator for the WOUDC stationary or station (platform) data. Refer to station (platform) type.

The institute or organization, other than the contributor, that technically or financially supports the observation.

Total column ozone measurements. This is a WOUDC defined data category. Refer to ozone and also to Dobson Unit.

Often abbreviated to UV. Short-wave radiation (UV-B) is absorbed by the ozone layer, whereas long-wave UV (UV-A) passes through the ozone layer and reaches the ground. The WOUDC UV radiation data is in the UV-A and UV-B regions (290 to 400 nm) of the E-M spectrum. UV radiation is one of the WOUDC data classes and includes three data categories: broadband, multiband, and high resolution spectral.

For Umkehr measurements using 14 N-values (representing 14 solar zenith angles). This is a WOUDC defined data category. Refer to ozone.

The international abbreviation for Coordinated Universal Time. It is the standard time common to every place in the world. The WMO has adopted the UTC as the standard time for use in reporting all meteorological data.

The signed amount of time subtracted from the local time in order to obtain UTC time (where east is positive and local time is defined by the data originator), represented in ISO-8601 time (hh).

One of the WOUDC Data Classes. Example of WOUDC UV Radiation data are Multiband, Broadband and Spectral.

The abbreviation for the World Data Centres. WOUDC is one of six GAW WDCs that collect, document and archive atmospheric measurements and the associated metadata from stations worldwide and make these data freely available to the scientific community.

The entire archive of contributed data files in Extended CSV format is made available at https://woudc.org/archive/ for users to browse, download or integrate into their workflows.

A common interface to access geospatial data. Typical use of WFS includes custom query / raw access to geospatial features. The WOUDC WFS provides archive data in numerous formats, including Extended CSV, KML, CSV, GML, ESRI Shapefile, MapInfo, GeoJSON, and NetCDF.

A common interface to visualize geospatial data layers. Typical use of WMS includes simple visualization in web or desktop GIS applications via web friendly image formats such as PNG or JPEG.

The acronym for the WMO Information System which is responsible for the telecommunications and data management functions for weather, climate and water information to ensures adequate uniformity and standardization in the data, information and communications practices procedures and specifications employed among WMO members.

The abbreviation for the World Meteorological Organization. The WMO carries out its work through scientific and technical programmes such as the WOUDC.

Refer to WIS.

Six specific geographic portions of the globe defined by the WMO.

Refer to WDC.

Refer to WMO.

One of six WDCs which are part of the GAW programme of the WMO.

The abbreviation for the World Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation Data Centre.

A number assigned by the WOUDC to uniquely identify each station (platform). Referred to as the WOUDC ID.