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TOOCAN database

The TOOCAN database is a level-2 product available over the entire tropics for the 2012-2016 period.
It gives an access to the integrated morphological parameters of each MCS (Location and time of initiation and dissipation, lifetime duration, propagated distance, maximum extent…). The MCSs are also described by their morphological characteristics at each 30min-step of their life cycles (Cold cloud surface at different level of brightness temperature thresholds, eccentricity, instantaneous velocity… )

The TOOCAN database is available over the 5-year period for each region of interest (Eastern-Pacific, America, Africa, India, Western-Pacific) in the following link: https://doi.org/10.14768/20191112001.1

The TOOCAN database is composed by two types of files:

  • Regional segmented images at a 0.04° spatial resolution and a 30 minute temporal frequency (in NETCDF).
  • Regional and monthly tracking files (in ASCII) documenting the MCS integrated morphological parameters and the MCS parameters at each 30minute-step of their life cycles.

Each MCS is then described by a unique label, which is useful to make the link between a given MCS described in the tracking files and the same MCS identified within the segmented images from the IR images. That’s way, using both the tracking file and the segmented images gives the opportunity to have an access to all the pixels of a given MCS identified in the segmented images, as well as its morphological parameters inside the monthly tracking files.

Animation of the MCS identified and tracked by TOOCAN from the segmentation of the HIMAWARI-8 IR data over the Western Pacific region in October 2015. (Each color corresponds to a unique MCS, and the black lines represent the displacements of the MCS barycenters)

MCS Integrated morphological parameters

ParametersDescriptionUnits
label ID of the MCS within the segmented images  
qltyMCS MCS flag quality
classif Classification of the MCSs class 1 = MCS with a duration < 5hr
class 2a = MCS with a duration ≥ 5hr and described by a uniq maximum extent along their life cycles
class 2b = MCS with a duration ≥ 5hr and described by several maximums extent along their life cycles
duration Life time duration number of frames
UTimeInit Universal Time of the MCS initiation integer part: number of days since the 1st January 1970
decimal part: frame (1-48)
LTimeInit Local time of the MCS initiation initiation in number of days since the 1st January 1970 plus the fraction of the day integer part: number of days since the 1st January 1970
decimal part: fraction of the day
LonInit Longitude of the MCS center of mass at its initiation °
latInit Latitude of the MCS center of mass at its initiation °
UTimeEnd Coordinated Universal Time of the MCS dissipation in number of days since the 1st January 1970 plus the slot integer part: number of days since the 1st January 1970
decimal part: frame (1-48)
LTimeEnd Local time of the MCS dissipation in number of days since the 1st January 1970 plus the fraction of the day integer part: number of days since the 1st January 1970
decimal part: fraction of the day
LonEnd Longitude of the MCS center of mass at its dissipation °
latEnd Latitude of the MCS center of mass at its dissipation °
velocity Average velocity of the MCS from its initiation to its dissipation m/s
distance Distance covered by the MCS km
lonMin Minimum longitude of the MCS along its life cycle °
latMin Minimum latitude of the MCS along its life cycle °
lonMax Maximum longitude of the MCS along its life cycle °
latMax Maximum latitude of the MCS along its life cycle °
TbMin Minimum brightness temperature of the MCS along its life cycle K
maxSurf235K_pix Maximum cold cloud surface reached by the MCS along its life cycle at 235K number of pixels within the segmented images
maxSurf235K_km2 Maximum cold cloud surface reached by the MCS along its life cycle at 235K km²
maxSurf220K_km2 Maximum cold cloud surface reached by the MCS along its life cycle at 220K km²
maxSurf210K_km2 Maximum cold cloud surface reached by the MCS along its life cycle at 210K km²
maxSurf200K_km2 Maximum cold cloud surface reached by the MCS along its life cycle at 200K km²
coldCloudi  MCS Cold Cloudiness at 235K from its initiation to its dissipation km²

MCS morphological parameters along their life cycles

Parameters Description Units
qltyGEO Flag Indicating missing IR image 0 = missing of the IR image and interpolation of the TOOCAN segmented image
1 = presence of the IR image
Tbmin Minimum brightness temperature K
Tbavg Average brightness temperature K
UTime Coordinated Universal Time of the MCS in number of days since the 1st January 1970 plus the slot integer part: number of days since the 1st January 1970
decimal part: frame (1-48)
LTime Local time of the MCS in number of days since the 1st January 1970 plus the fraction of the day integer part: number of days since the 1st January 1970
decimal part: fraction of the day
lon Longitude of the center of mass degrees
lat Latitude of the center of mass degrees
jcm Column of the center of mass in the TOOCAN image Indices of the column
icm Line of the center of mass in the TOOCAN image Indices of the line
velocity Instantaneous velocity m/s
sminor_220K Semi-minor axis of the ellipse at a 220K threshold km
smajor_220K Semi-major axis of the ellipse at a 220K threshold km
e_220K Eccentricity of the ellipse for a 220K threshold
angle_220K Orientation of the ellipse at a 220K threshold °
sminor_235K Semi-minor axis of the ellipse at a 235K threshold km
smajor_235K Semi-major axis of the ellipse at a 235K threshold km
e_235K Eccentricity of the ellipse at a 235K threshold
angle_235K Orientation of the ellipse at a 235K threshold °
surf235K_pix Cold cloud surface of the convective cluster for a 235K threshold number of pixels
surf210K_pix Cold cloud surface of the convective cluster for a 210K threshold number of pixels
surf235K_km2 Cold cloud surface of the convective cluster for a 235k threshold km²
surf220K_km2 Cold cloud surface of the convective cluster for a 220k threshold km²
surf210K_km2 Cold cloud surface of the convective cluster for a 210k threshold km²
surf200K_km2 Cold cloud surface of the convective cluster for a 200k threshold km²

The technical aspects of the TOOCAN database can be found in the following documentation: