Weather.gov > Raleigh, NC > COOP
Cooperative Observer Program
Introduction:
The
National Weather Service's (NWS) Cooperative Observer Program (COOP)
is the nation's largest and oldest weather network. It was
established in 1891 to formalize the collection of meteorological
observations and establish/record climate conditions in the United
States. Our nation has a long history of weather observations. Many
citizens including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin
Franklin maintained weather records. Today, more than 11,000
Cooperative Weather Observers across the United States donate more
than one million hours each year to collect daily hydrometeorological
data.
The Cooperative Observer Program is truly the
nation's weather and climate observing network of, by and for the
people. Thanks to its dedicated participants, many decades of
relatively stable operation, and high station densities in many rural
locations, the Cooperative Network has been recognized both as the
most comprehensive daily source of U.S. temperature and precipitation
data and for establishing an invaluable climate record.
The
operations of the COOP program including training, data acquisition,
and station management are managed by the NWS. Data processing,
including quality control, archiving, and publication, are handled by
NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). Participants receive a
set of simple weather instruments and observing instructions by the
NWS. Equipment used at NWS cooperative stations may be owned by the
NWS, the observer or by a company or other government agency, as long
as it meets NWS equipment standards.
Of the more than
11,000 COOP stations, nearly 5,000 are climate stations (1,200 are
Historical Climate Network sites), while more than 6,000 cooperative
stations support hydrology requirements. Climate stations report
24-hour maximum and minimum temperatures, liquid equivalent of
precipitation, snowfall, snow depth and other special phenomena such
as days with thunder, hail, etc. Hydrologic stations, on the other
hand, report liquid equivalent of precipitation and may also observe
river water level heights, 24-hour maximum and minimum temperature,
snowfall, snow depth, evaporation and other parameters. Observations
are sent as monthly reports to the NCDC in Asheville, N.C. or to the
local NWS forecast office where the data is digitized, checked and
archived (i.e., about 5,800 COOP stations have their monthly
summaries published by NOAA's NCDC. Several thousand observers also
report 24-hour summaries of observations to the NWS on a daily
basis). Data is transmitted through telephone, computer or
mail.
There are 75 cooperative observers in the Raleigh
County Warning area. The map below shows the locations and station
names of the cooperative observers in the Raleigh forecast area,
click on the map to open a larger image.
Other information and links:
Daily Observations across central NC Including those from the COOP Stations
Historical Data and Observations from COOP Stations across central NC
Handbooks, Guides, COOP Forms
Weather.gov > COOP > Handbooks, Guides, COOP Forms
COOP Observations Forms
TEMPERATURE OBSERVER Instructions for Nimbus MMTS Nimbus Display Unit Manual - July 2000
Fischer-Porter Rebuild (FPR) Gauges
Fischer-Porter Mechanical (F&P) Gauges
SNOWFALL OBSERVER Instructions Snow Measurement Guidelines for NWS Surface Observing Programs - Sep 2013
PAN
EVAPORATION OBSERVER Instructions Water Thermometer Note - ThermoWorks Maximum/Minimum Digital - August 2013
TECH SUPPORT HOTLINE - STERLING FIELD SUPPORT CENTER (SFSC)
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File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
Author | Joe.I.Terry |
File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
File Created | 2023-09-28 |