Introduction: Data Formats

Forecast Data

Forecast data used in MET generally begins in GRIB1 format. PCP-Combine converts this to a NetCDF format that can be used in MODE and Grid-Stat. However, each statistical analysis tool (MODE, Point-Stat, and Grid-Stat) can also read GRIB1 directly.

Point Observations

Point observations used in MET may either be in PrepBufr format (converted to NetCDF in PB2NC) or in ASCII format (converted to NetCDF in ASCII2NC). The NetCDF output of PB2NC and ASCII2NC is used as input to Point-Stat.

Gridded Analyses

Gridded analyses can be used for model evaluation in MET. These are generally in GRIB1 format. However, the NetCDF output from PCP-Combine may also be used.