Several months ago, we published a Modeling Tip discussing important changes to processing upper air with the AERMET meteorological preprocessor. Since that time, the U.S. EPA released the 24142 versions of AERMET and other AERMOD modeling system components. This update expanded AERMET’s capabilities for handling the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA) upper air data format, and Lakes Software’s AERMET View Version 13.0 provides further optimization for users.
Users of AERMET View 13.0 will find the following enhancements:
New Base Elevation Field
With the 24142 version, AERMET requires that a Base Elevation value be identified for all upper air stations. This ensures that the ground level can be properly identified even when the IGRA file is missing this value. In AERMET View, the field is found in the Upper Air Station Location group. A warning will be issued if users forget to input this information.
Expanded Upper Air Station Database
AERMET View also features an updated station database using NCEI documentation to populate station information for all global sites (including the newly required Base Elevation field). Simply load any IGRA data file into AERMET View, and the application will automatically apply any relevant information. Users can also manually search the database using the Search Stations button highlighted below.
To access IGRA data, check out our earlier Modeling Tip.