Extract GHCN Monthly Station Data
Description
Monthly minimum temperature, maximum temperature, and precipitation data can be downloaded from the Global Historical Climatology Network-Monthly (GHCN-Monthly) website, but these data are in a different format than the one used by Dendro Tools. This tool transforms these data into the format used by Dendro Tools (i.e., Year / Month / Temp , where each "/" is a tab). There are two versions of the monthly GHCN data currently available for download--temperature data are available only in version 3 and precipitation data are available only in version 2.
Input
File
Select the input file by clicking on "Browse" and navigating to the proper file.
Input Data Format
Data are downloaded from the GHCN-Monthly website by variable (i.e., mean temperature, precipitation, etc.). The file then needs to be extracted from the compressed format, and then it can be input into Dendro Tools as is for processing. All stations are contained within this one large datafile organized by station number. Thus, the inventory file, denoted with a ".inv" will also need to be downloaded in order to determine the station number (a value required by Dendro Tools, see "Station Number" below). This inventory file automatically comes with the downloaded dataset in version 3 of the GHCN.
Start Row
This input is the row number where the main data to be processed begin in the dataset. Data downloaded from GHCN and input as is into Dendro Tools will have a start row of one. This value is entered by default. An example of how row numbers are entered is shown in Figure 2 located in the Running Dendro Tools topic.
Station Number
Enter the number associated with the station to be extracted. This value can be found by searching for the station name in the inventory file (denoted with a ".inv") available from the GHCN-Monthly website.
Data Type
Select the variable being extracted.
Output
Units
Select the units for the output data.
File
Select the file where the new data will be stored.
Header
Information entered here will be output in the first line of the output file.