RP-1170 -- Identify and Characterize International Weather Data Sets and Sources

ASHRAE has recognized the growing demand for more comprehensive global coverage of weather data for HVAC applications around the world. The purpose of this project was to provide the ASHRAE membership with easy access via the World Wide Web (WWW) to major sources of international weather data. A survey was distributed to over 100 potential weather data sources in an effort to gather information on type of data, ordering information, inventory information, etc. Responses were received from 30 different data providers who entered their information directly into a web based form. For many of the countries that did not respond to the survey, the web page contains a URL or other link to that countries weather service or data provider. A Global Weather Data Source (GWDS) database was developed in Oracle which provides rapid access to user queries from the web. Users are able to select a country from a map or country list, choose the type (i.e. hourly, daily, monthly, etc.) and element of climate data they are interested in, and then receive a list of data sources along with information on how to obtain that data. This database will be maintained at the National Climatic Data Center and will be dynamic in that new sources can be added as the information becomes available.



Product Code(s): D-28811