Surface Airways Observations (SAO) Hourly Data 1928-1948 (CDMP)

The dataset consists of hourly U.S. surface airways observations (SAO). These observations extend as far back as 1928, from the time when commercial aviation began in the United States and meteorological observing stations were established at many airports (although occasionally, early-period SAO's were taken at U.S. Weather Bureau city offices). For most stations, this dataset extends through June of 1948. The major data variables are as follows: WBAN Station Identification Number, observational type, ceiling and cloud, visibility, present weather data, temperature, wind and pressure. The observations are generally recorded for the 24-hour period midnight to midnight, although many stations did not record 24-hour observations, especially early in the period when commercial aviation was just getting started. Two output keying formats were created to adjust to an observational form change during the period. One format was generally used for years 1928-33, and the other for sets from around 1934 through June of 1948. Each keying format was designed to reflect the data as entered on the observational form for ease of keying by key entry personnel, who were not trained meteorological technicians. The "raw" observations which comprise the DSI-3851 dataset were quality checked, to include data adjustments, and converted to NCDC's Integrated Surface Hourly (ISH) format.

The complimentary data to this collection can be found in the Surface Weather Observation 1001 Forms (Keyed) collection.