RICO-UK

Introduction

RICO (Rain In Cumulus over the Ocean) is a US-led international project to study trade wind cumulus clouds in the Caribbean. The main objective is to characterise and understand the properties of trade wind cumulus at all scales, with particular emphasis on understanding the warm rain process and determining its importance. The field campaign took place near Antigua and Barbuda from the 17th of November 2004 to the 24th of January 2005.

The UK participation to RICO involved the use of the FAAM aircraft based at Antigua, from the 5th to the 28th of January 2005, including transit flights from Cranfield to Antigua and back. The FAAM aircraft is run jointly by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and by the UK Met Office.

Availability of data

The RICO archive maintained at the BADC contains data collected by the UK participants to RICO. For information on and access to data collected by other country members, see the "Links to further information" section below. RICO-UK data archived at BADC include the following.

Data collected on board the FAAM Bae-146 aircraft in January 2005 (*).
Data from ground-based instruments.

(*) The FAAM data include both core and non-core data (for a definition of core data, see the document on FAAM Instruments).

Access to data

(1) Public and restricted data

Access to the FAAM Bae-146 non-core data is now public. after having been restricted to the RICO-UK participants during a period of 12 months following the end of the dataset collection, in agreement with the RICO-UK Data Protocol. Requirements continue to apply to publication of studies based on RICO-UK data.
Authorised users of the processed Bae-146 core data include everyone. If you would like to access these data, please follow the access to FAAM Processed core data instructions online. Access is granted automatically once you have agreed online with the FAAM Conditions of Use.
Access to raw Bae-146 core data is restricted to the FAAM staff. If you are a FAAM instrument operator and would like to access these data, please follow the access to raw FAAM core data instructions online.

(2) Where to find the data

Data and documentation supplied to the BADC by the project teams are stored in the RICO-UK archive, from where they can be viewed and downloaded by authorised users.

Data format - File names

• Processed core and non-core FAAM data are formatted in NetCDF.

• Raw core FAAM data are stored in zipped VMS files.

File names follow the BADC file name convention and (for FAAM data) the FAAM file name convention.

Instructions to data providers

Data file names. Data providers are kindly requested to follow the BADC file name convention. Additional rules apply to FAAM file names. Note that the first component of the file name is the instrument (or group of instruments, or model) name. Please refer to the current list of standard instrument/model names. and advise the BADC if your instrument or model is not in the list, or if you would like to record data from several instruments in a single file, so that we can update the list.
Data file format. Please format your data in NetCDF, using the CF metadata conventions. NASA Ames formatted files are also accepted. If you wish to check that files are correctly formatted before uploading them please use the NetCDF format checker or the BADC NASA-Ames format checker.
Metadata. It is important that the data be well documented. Please follow the BADC guidelines regarding the submission of metadata. Some standard metadata have to be provided in the data files themselves. Additional documents are also welcome.
Data file submission. In order to upload data files or documents to the BADC, you need to be registered with the RICO group – see the "Access to data" section above. The RICO web uploader will allow you to submit data files or documents to the BADC. Large amounts of files can also be submitted by ftp (please contact the BADC help desk for further information).

Documentation

RICO Scientific Overview (PDF)
RICO-UK Data Protocol – Conditions of Use of RICO data at BADC.
RICO Data Policy
FAAM Data Protocol
FAAM Conditions of Use applying to processed core flight data
Metadata
NetCDF format and CF metadata conventions.
NASA-Ames data and metadata format including time variable
The BADC File Name Convention and the list of Standard Instrument Names
The FAAM File Name Convention.

Services

Links to further information

RICO portal
RICO Data Management page
RICO Central Data Archive
RICO-UK
FAAM Welcome Page at BADC
The Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) Web site

Citation

Date of citation

Who to contact

The RICO Principal Investigators in the UK are Alan Blyth (University of Leeds) and Phil Brown (Met Office).
Any query regarding the data should be sent to the BADC help desk.

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