Weather Stations for Idaho

Frequently-asked questions:

• What does this data set describe?
  1. How should this data set be cited?
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
• Who produced the data set?
  1. Who are the originators of the data set?
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
• Why was the data set created?
• How was the data set created?
  1. Where did the data come from?
  2. What changes have been made?
• How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?
  1. How well have the observations been checked?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?
• How can someone get a copy of the data set?
  1. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
  2. Who distributes the data?
  3. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  4. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
  5. How can I download or order the data?
  6. Is there some other way to get the data?
  7. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?
• Who wrote the metadata?

This data set reflects National Weather Service (NWS) and National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) stations for the state of Idaho.  There are 213 stations in this data set and these are the stations used to compile the mean annual precipitation map for Idaho which was created by Myron Molnau.

The index used to create the point locations can be found at:  http://baegis.ag.uidaho.edu/~climate/cgi-bin/index.cgi

1. How should this data set be cited?
   
   
   Idaho State Climate Services, 20000415, Weather Stations for Idaho: Idaho State Climate Services, Moscow, ID, USA.
   
   
   Online links:

   • http://data.insideidaho.org/util/zip.ashx?fn=http://data.insideidaho.org/data/ICS/downdata/weatstns_id_ics.zip

   
   
2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
   
   
   Bounding coordinates:

   West: -117.243529

   East: -110.813643

   North: 49.027088

   South: 41.983359
   
   
3. What does it look like?
   
   
   Thumbnail image:
   
   
   
4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
   
   
   Calendar date: unknown
   Currentness reference:

   unknown

   
   
5. What is the general form of this data set?
   
   
   Geospatial data presentation form: vector digital data
   
   
6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
   
   
   1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      
      
      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

      • Entity point (213)
      
      
   2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
      
      
      The map projection used is Transverse Mercator.

      
      

      Projection parameters:

      Transverse Mercator

      Scale factor at central meridian: 0.999600

      Longitude of central meridian: -114.000000

      Latitude of projection origin: 42.000000

      False easting: 500000.000000

      False northing: 100000.000000

      
      

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair.

      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.002048.

      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.002048.

      Planar coordinates are specified in meters.

      
      

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1927.

      The ellipsoid used is Clarke 1866.

      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378206.400000.

      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/294.978698.

      
      
7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
   
   
   weatstns_id_ics.dbf

   Attributes of the weather stations (Source: University of Idaho Library)

   
   

   FID

   Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)
                     

   
   

   Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

   
   

   Shape

   Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)
                     

   
   

   Coordinates defining the features.

   
   

   WSTNS_

   Feature Number (Source: University of  Idaho Library)
                     

   
   

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	213

   
   

   WSTNS_ID

   Feature Number (Source: University of  Idaho Library)
                     

   
   

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	213

   
   

   STNSNAME

   Name of the station (Source: University of  Idaho Library)
                     

   
   

   Example: ABERDEEN EXP STN

   
   

   STNSCODE

   Station code (Source: University of  Idaho Library)
                     

   
   

   Example: 11E10S

   
   

   AGENCY

   Agency associated with the station (Source: University of  Idaho Library)
                     

   
   

   Value	Definition
   NWS	National Weather Service
   NRCS	Natural Resources Conservation Service

   
   

   COUNTY

   Name of the county that the station is in (Source: University of  Idaho Library)
                     

   
   

   The name of each of the county in Idaho. Example: ADA.

   
   

   LONGITUDE

   Longitude of the station (Degrees-Minutes) (Source: University of  Idaho Library)
                     

   
   

   Range of values
   Minimum:	-111 07 00
   Maximum:	-117 01 00

   
   

   LATITUDE

   Latitude of the station (Degrees-Minutes) (Source: University of  Idaho Library)
                     

   
   

   Range of values
   Minimum:	42 01 00
   Maximum:	49 00 00

   
   

   ELEVATION

   Station elevation (Source: University of  Idaho Library)
                     

   
   

   Range of values
   Minimum:	995
   Maximum:	9150

   
   

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   
   
   • Idaho State Climate Services
   
   
2. Who also contributed to the data set?
   
   

   Idaho State Climate Services -- Bruce R. Godfrey, Myron P. Molnau

   
   
3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   
   
   Idaho State Climate Services

   Department of Biological and Agriclutural Engineering

   University of Idaho Library

   EP425

   Moscow, Idaho 83844-0904

   USA

   
   

   208-885-7004 (voice)

   208-885-7908 (FAX)

   climate@uidaho.edu

   Hours of Service: 0900-1700 Pacific Time

These data are intended to show the general distribution of weather stations throughout in Idaho. The latitude/longitude coordinates used to create this shapfile are in "degree-minutes"--there was no "seconds" value.  Therefore, these point locations are not highly accurate.  This coverage should only be used to represent the general distribution of weather stations throughout the state.  It should not be used to try to "pin-point" exact locations of stations--the useable scale is in the millions. Neither the Idaho State Climate Office, nor the Agricultural Engineering Department of the University of Idaho assume liability of this product.

1. Where did the data come from?
   
   
   WSICS (source 1 of 1)

   
   

   Idaho State Climate Services, Unpublished Material, Weather Stations (ICS): Idaho State Climate Services, Moscow, ID, USA.

   
   

   Type of source media: online

   Source contribution:

   A file containg the list of 213 weather stations with their latitude/logitude coordinates.

   
   
2. What changes have been made?
   
   
   Date: 1998 (change 1 of 2)

   A file containg the list of 213 weather stations with their latitude/logitude coordinates was projected from geographic (thought to be NAD27) to IDTM.
   
   The Arc/Info command GENERATE was used to create a point coverage from the projected coordinate file and it was built with point topology.
   
   Attribute information was joined to the INFO table using the Arc/Info commands DBASEINFO and JOINITEM.
   

   
   

   Person responsible for change:
   

   Idaho State Climate Services

   Department of Biological and Agriclutural Engineering
   
   University of Idaho
   EP425
   

   Moscow, Idaho 83844-0904

   
   

   208-885-7004 (voice)

   208-885-7908 (FAX)

   climate@uidaho.edu

   Hours of Service: 0900-1700 Pacific Time

   
   
   Date: 20000414 (change 2 of 2)

   The coverage was converted to a shapefile. Metadata was created using metadata acquired with the original coverage.

   
   

   Person responsible for change:
   

   Bruce Godfrey

   University of Idaho Library

   GIS Specialist

   University of Idaho Library

   Moscow, ID 83844-2350

   USA

   
   

   208-885-6463 (voice)

   208-885-6817 (FAX)

   bgodfrey@uidaho.edu

   
   

   Data sources used in this process:

   • WSICS

   
   

1. How well have the observations been checked?
   
   

   Accuracy of the attributes is not know precisely.  The latitude/longitude coordinates are only in degrees-minutes and not in degrees-minutes-seconds.  Therefore, the spatial distribution of the points is thought to be correct on a large scale.  The accuracy of the elevation is unknown.  The station name and county is thought to be correct.

   
   
2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
   
   

   The horizontal positional accuracy of the points is not very good.  The Moscow-University of Idaho station was overlayed on a 1:24,000 DRG and found to be approximately 1000 meters to the northwest of it's "real-word" location.

   
   
3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
   
   
4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
   
   

   The index provide by Idaho State Climate Services (http://baegis.ag.uidaho.edu/~climate/cgi-bin/index.cgi) was used to create the data set.  A subset of available attibutes was used for the final data set.

   
   
5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
   
   

   A general test of the graphic data was done in ArcView.  The point locations were overlayed on 1:250,000 DRGs to confirm that a random sample of the point were in the correct geographic area.  The distribution of points appeared accurate from a statewide point of view.

   
   

None

Who distributes the data set?


Bruce Godfrey
University of Idaho Library
GIS Specialist
Box 442350
Moscow, ID 83844-2350
USA


208-885-6463 (voice)
208-885-6817 (FAX)
bgodfrey@uidaho.edu


What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?


Downloadable Data


What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?


Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the Idaho State Climate Services office, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding the utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty.


How can I download or order the data?


• Availability in digital form:




Data format:	in format ESRI Shapefile (.shp) Size: 0.151
Network links:	http://data.insideidaho.org/util/zip.ashx?fn=http://data.insideidaho.org/data/ICS/downdata/weatstns_id_ics.zip



• Cost to order the data: None



Is there some other way to get the data?


What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

Department of Biological and Agriclutural Engineering

University of Idaho

EP425