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The format for the exchange of surface scores has not been defined yet. ECMWF will be collecting and archiving the scores and proposes a simple ascii format. Within this format, two options are currently under consideration.
(a) Vertical-bar (VBar) delimited format: slightly simpler to implement but less flexible with regard to possible future extensions
(b) Record format: slightly more complicated but more flexible, with the additional advantage that it is the same as the one proposed for upper-air scores
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