Ian, many thanks for the pointer. My difficulty is not with obtaining the
format specification
(I've already written my decoder) but more about which models exist, and
what data do they
generate when. I've located half the information I'm looking for in the NOAA
Wave Watch III
Model- it has world coverage, is detailed around the US coast but does not
cover the Mediterranean.
It is this kind of knowledge that I'm seeking before downloading and
decoding the thousands of
GRIB files available on the server.

Many thanks again.... Alan Smith.

"Ian Watkins" wrote in message
...
"Alan Smith" wrote in message
...
Firstly, apologies if this is the wrong place for this request. I don't
know
where else to go! Sob sob bit done.

I am looking at doing some processing on GRIB data files such as those
that
can be found at ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/, however
what
I really need is either an index/catalogue of all files with their
characteristics or for some very helpful person to point me to the file
or
subset that I might find useful for my needs.

My ideal file(s) would be a GRIB containing high-resolution (better than
1
deg) world coverage daily forecast of wind speed, temperature,
precipitation
and wave height, with the data being organised in lat-long and not
pre-projected (e.g. Mercator or otherwise).

Please excuse any naivety in my question, as I said, I'm just an
amateur.

Many thanks for any help,

Alan Smith.


Hi Alan,

Have a look here to get you started:
http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/staff/chiz/ncep_idd/

Cheers

Ian