World Data Center for Cosmic Rays

READ_ME (Starting Point of Data Access)

Takashi Watanabe, Tatsuki Ogino, Fumio Abe, and Yuka Kadowaki
WDC for Cosmic Rays, Solar-Terrestrial Environment laboratory, Nagoya University

I Introduction

This Web page includes numerical data and plots of cosmic-ray neutron observations covering the interval from 1953 to present. Contents of the page are also available via CD-R, upon request.

Quality control in a minimum level (e. g. checking dating and removing apparent erroneous data) is being applied by the WDC.

It should be noticed that datasets for recent several years are provisional. Although the WDC is updating our database frequently, we would strongly recommend users of new datasets to take a contact to the relevant data source.

In this READ_ME, we show several ways of data-accesses (data portals), data formats and remarks for data usage. Number of datasets (approximately equal to the number of operating stations) for each year is shown in the Appendix.

New CDR-R(CAWSESDB-J-OB0062) is available! A CD-R which includes numerical data and plots covering the interval from 1953 to 2011 is available now. Please send your request to our contact point shown below.

II Access to Data

This CD-R has three portals shown below to access numerical data (text files) and plots (PDF):

(1) List of Stations (Sorting an all-in-one Data by the Name of a Station)

This portal includes a table of information for each neutron station: name of the station (mainly name of the place where the neutron monitor is operated), the abbreviated name (6 characters), the geographic latitude (deg.), the geographic longitude (deg.), the altitude above the sea level (meters), the vertical cut-off rigidity (GV), number and type of monitor, and data coverage (years). For several stations with the cut-off rigidity of less than 1 GV, this value has been set to zero (0). From the column of "Data Coverage", you can jump to a PDF image file and a data file named L.all.txt (LONGFORMAT, see Section II) which covers all period in which the station was operated. An example of plots is shown below. The horizontal axis is years and the vertical axis is real counts (monthly averages).

CLIMAX_all

(2) Data Coverage (Sorting a Yearly PDF Plot by the Name of a Station)

This portal shows a table of yearly data coverage for each station. In this table, a certain year of full data coverage is indicated by a letter (*), and a letter of (-) is used for a partly-covered year. You can see the yearly data plot (12 months) by clicking these letters. An example of yearly plots is given below. The horizontal axis is the days of a month (always 31 days), and the vertical axis shows the variations (%) from the monthly average. Monthly average are shown on the right-hand side of the 0 % line for each month. The number given in the lower right corner is the yearly average.

THULE__00

A data plot of full data coverage for each station can be accessed by clicking "all.pdf" on the right-end of the table.

(3) Numerical Data (Sorting Numerical Data by Year or Station)

You can sort numerical datasets from this portal basing on a year or the name of a station. For neutron counts data, two datasets with different formats are installed in this CD-R (see Section II). The principal format is the 4096-byte "LONGFORMT" which has been currently employed by the WDC for Cosmic Rays. A dataset in this format includes information for data usage in the header section, e. g. factors and constants which are inevitable to calculate real count numbers. The 80-byte "CARDFORMT" is a simplified format without information on data usage. Hourly counts in one day are tabulated in two lines. Dataset in this format should be used only to see tabulated values at certain intervals. Detailed descriptions of these two formats are given below.
When you select the "Year" key in the title of this sub-section, you will find LONGFORMAT, CARDFORMAT, and PDFPLOT folders in a yearly base. From the "Station" key, you can find folders for each station. Each folder consists of LONGFORMAT data file (L.all.txt) and a PDF file These files cover all period in which the station was operated.

III Data Formats

In this section, details of data formats, which have been used currently at the WDC for Cosmic Rays, are given. It is important to note that these formats have a common special situation; the number of days in a month is always 31 days.

(1) LONGFORMAT

The LONGFORMAT data with 4096 bytes for one month is a fundamental dataset of the WDC, having a header section including information on the data source, location, altitude, coefficients and constants which are necessary to calculate real counts. Information on the data source is included also. The number of days in one month is fixed to be 31 days. So that, every years have 31 x 12 = 372 days in our data. Hourly data for days which do not exist in the normal calendar (e.g. "31 April") are filed by 99999, which mean "no data". The data size for one-year data is 49152 bytes. An example of data with this format is shown below:

KIEL N64PCSA191 1 54.34 10.12 54.00 2.32 100.0 0.0 0.0 5694.3KIEL, GERMANY, INST. FUER REINE UND ANGEWANDT KERNPHYSIK,UNIV.KIEL,KIEL, GERMANY18-NM-64 NEUTRON MONITOR, CORRECTED FOR PRESSURE TO 755 MM HG, COEF. -.961%/MMHG
950613 5591 5616 5609 5606 5598 5610 5623 5624 5612 5649 5629 5657 5647 5645 5661 5650 5643 5634 5651 5648 5643 5626 5613 5620 5589 5587 5589 5596 5615 5605 5630 5614 5617 5598 5639 5650 5678 5654 5671 5671 5676 5680 5691 5656 5646 5632 5639 5628 5605 5595 5587 5604 5611 5637 5633 5604 5632 5686 5677 5649 5667 5668 5657 5646 5644 5625 5646 5650
.............
Format of 4096-Byte LONGFORMAT Data of Cosmic-Ray Neutron

bytes

format

notes

1-6

First six characters of abbreviated station name

7-13

Comments on data, e.g.:

N64	NM-64neutron monitor
P	Pressure-corrected data
C	Counts
S	Scaled counts
A	Absolute values

1: Hourly data
2: Two-hour data

15-16

Year-1900 before 1999, Year-2000 after 2000

17-18

Month

19-46

4F7.2

Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, Vertical cut-off rigidity

47-74

4F7.1

Scaling Factor(SF),UT of the beginning of the first data of a given day (for 1-hour data measured in the interval from 00:00 to 01:00, this value is 0), Constant to be added to the tabulated data, Monthly average
Real Count = (tabulated value + Constant)*SF

75-364

A290

Information for data usage (see below)

365-370

Warning for discontinuity in monthly data (by 1988)
or information on data including contact point

371-376

3I2

Date of revision (YYMMDD)

377-4096

744I5

Hourly data (24 x 31=744). 99999 for "no data"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the header section from the 75th to 364th characters of each monthly dataset, following information for data usage is given:

The full name of the station (the organization conducting the observation, and the address of the organization.
Information on the neutron monitor.
When the dataset is for the pressure-corrected data, the average pressure and the correction factor with which the observed counts are corrected are also given.
The number of the operating counters is given by two digits from 155th bytes. From 164th to 364th bytes, information on the pressure correction, description on the normalization, information on data source (e. g. e-mail address) are given. For some stations, additional information concerning special observational situation to be taken it into account in data handling, e.g. heavy snow falls or strong wind, is given in the space.

(2) CARDFORMAT

Datasets having this format are convenient to see what values are included in the database at some instances. Information which is necessary to estimate actual counts is seen in the header section of LONGFORMAT data. The CARDFORMAT data are those of 80-byte data length. The size of one-year dataset is fixed to 60264 bytes. Each month has data for 31 days, and days with no data are filled by 99999. The number of days in a yearly dataset is 31 x 12 = 372 days. An example of datasets in this format for one day (1 January 1991) is shown below.

KIEL N64PCSA91 1 11 5591 5616 5609 5606 5598 5610 5623 5624 5612 5649 5629 5657
KIEL N64PCSA91 1 12 5647 5645 5661 5650 5643 5634 5651 5648 5643 5626 5613 5620

Format of 80-byte CARDFORMAT Data of Cosmic-Ray Neutron

bytes

format

notes

1-6

First six characters of station name

7-13

Comments on data, e.g.:

N64	NM-64neutron monitor
P	Pressure-corrected data
C	Counts
S	Scaled counts
A	Absolute values

14-15

Year-1900 before 1999, Year-2000 after 2000

16-17

Month

18-19

Day

1: 0-11h UT 2: 12-23h UT

22-80

12I5

Hourly data (99999: no data)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

IV Quality Control

Quality check procedures in a minimum level are applied by the WDC. In addition to a fundamental check for consistency of dating of the supplied data, we remove apparent erroneous data which were mistakenly included in the original data. We are also removing "unnatural" spiky noises exceeding a 3-sigma level of fluctuations. Substantial corrections are made after consulting with the relevant data source.

V Remarks for Data Usage

The data in the database are opened to research workers without limitation, following the policy of WDC System. The WDC strongly recommends you, however, to contact with original data sources when you use database in your research works because a part of our datasets, particularly new data obtained in this several years, have been under revision. Revised data will be posted in the web page of the WDC.

We would appreciate it very much if you could acknowledge the contribution of the WDC in your publication and send us two copies when you publish your work on the basis of the database. Your acknowledgement will be helpful very much for us to enforce the "reason of presence" of the WDC.

VI Contact Point

Inquiry about the database should be addressed to;
Takashi Watanabe (Director)
WDC for Cosmic Rays
Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Nagoya University
Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
e-mail: wdccr21@yahoo.co.jp or wdccr@stelab.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Acknowledgements

We would express our sincere thanks to people who provided us with their cosmic ray data. Without their contribution, the WDC for Cosmic Rays cannot work. The original database covering from 1953 to 1988 was constructed by RIKEN, Japan.

Appendix

Yearly Number of Data Sets Held by the WDC for Cosmic rays
YEAR NUMBER OF STATIONS

	10										20										30										40										50										60										70
1953	*	*																																																																		2
1954	*	*	*																																																																	3
1955	*	*	*	*																																																																4
1956	*	*	*	*	*																																																															5
1957	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																									43
1958	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																52
1959	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																52
1960	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																											41
1961	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																									43
1962	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																									43
1963	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																			49
1964	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	67
1965	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*			65
1966	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*					63
1967	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*				64
1968	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*					63
1969	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*		66
1970	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*						62
1971	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*			65
1972	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*											57
1973	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*												56
1974	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																	51
1975	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																	51
1976	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																			49
1977	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																		50
1978	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																					47
1979	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																										42
1980	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																									43
1981	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																					47
1982	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																								44
1983	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																								44
1984	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																									43
1985	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																							45
1986	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																						46
1987	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																						46
1988	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																						46
1989	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																									43
1990	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																									43
1991	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																						46
1992	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																							45
1993	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																						46
1994	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																									43
1995	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																									43
1996	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																												40
1997	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																									43
1998	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																							45
1999	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																									43
2000	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																							45
2001	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																					47
2002	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																						46
2003	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																			49
2004	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																		50
2005	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																			49
2006	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																								44
2007	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																									43
2008	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																													39
2009	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																										42
2010	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																									43
2011	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*																												40