This is one of the upper air data sets developed for the Dynamics of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO) 2011-2012 project. This preliminary data set includes 1411 high vertical resolution (2-sec) soundings from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) C1 Momote, Manus Island site, collected during the DYNAMO field campaign for 24 September 2011 through 31 March 2012. There are typically eight soundings per day at 00, 03, 06, 09, 12, 15, 18, and 21 UTC. These data were provided by ARM and had preliminarly quality control by NCAR/EOL. This L3 version of the data set has a correction by CSU see Section 2.2 for details. This station used Vaisala RS92-SGP radiosondes with GPS windfinding during the DYNAMO field campaign.
Scot Loehrer
NCAR/EOL
loehrer@ucar.edu
Location: ARM Site on the Manus airport grounds, same location as Manus TOGA-COARE sondes launches occurred. Lat/Long: -2.050485, 147.3606
Sondes used are RS-92 using Digicora V3.64 software. This software includes proprietary daytime dry bias correction for RH and applies the Vaisala smoothing algorithm. The details of these algorithms are proprietary to Vaisala. All sondes prepped using a GC25 unit inside an air-conditioned van. Balloons use hydrogen gas with the sonde package set inside an Australian BoM designed Remote Balloon Launcher (RBL) system for safety, with remote filling and release mechanisms, with forced-air-aspirated slot for sonde package during balloon filling prior to launch.
Surface data entered in to the Digicora software come from an Australian Automated Weather System (AWS) enclosed in a standard non-forced-air Stevenson screen enclosure located about 50 feet from the RBL up through end of February 2012, then switched to forced-air aspirated Vaisala HMP45 combined T/RH probe (same as at Gan) located about 200 feet from balloon filling station. Some indications of disagreements between the AWS met measurements and sonde values at launch time (the reason for the switch to using aspirated Met system) which affects the lowest 10-20 m of launch due to Vaisala smoothing algorithm. This is being further studied at this time. Also appears to be a persistently occurring low-level (lowest 40 m) night time temperature inversion for the Manus site.
All upper air soundings were converted to National Center for Atmospheric Research/Earth Observing Laboratory (NCAR/EOL) Sounding Composite Format (ESC). ESC is a version of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) CLASS format and is an ASCII format consisting of 15 header records for each sounding followed by the data records with associated QC information.
The header records (15 total records) contain data type, project ID, site ID, site location, release time, sonde type, and meteorological and wind data processors. The first five header lines contain information identifying the sounding, and have a rigidly defined form. The following 7 header lines are used for auxiliary information and comments about the sounding, and may vary from dataset to dataset. The last 3 header records contain header information for the data columns. Line 13 holds the field names, line 14 the field units, and line 15 contains dashes ('-' characters) delineating the extent of the field.
The five standard header lines are as follows:
| Line | Label (padded to 35 char) | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Data Type: | Description of type and resolution of data. |
| 2 | Project ID: | Id of weather project. |
| 3 | Release Site Type/Site ID: | Description of the release site. |
| 4 | Release Location (lon,lat,alt): | Position of release site in the format described below. |
| 5 | UTC Release Time (y,m,d,h,m,s): | Time of release, in the format: yyyy, mm, dd, hh:mm:ss |
The release location is given as: lon (deg min), lat (deg min), lon (dec. deg), lat (dec. deg), alt (m)
Longitude in deg min is in the format: ddd mm.mm'W where ddd is the number of degrees from True North (with leading zeros if necessary), mm.mm is the decimal number of minutes, and W represents W or E for west or east longitude, respectively. Latitude has the same format as longitude, except there are only two digits for degrees and N or S for north/south latitude. The decimal equivalent of longitude and latitude and station elevation follow.
The seven non-standard header lines may contain any label and contents. The labels are padded to 35 characters to match the standard header lines. Records for this dataset include the following non-standard header lines.
| Line | Label (padded to 35 char) | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Sonde Id/Sonde Type: | G1513077/Vaisala RS92-SGP with GPS windfinding |
| 7 | ||
| 8 | ||
| 9 | ||
| 10 | ||
| 11 | ||
| 12 | Nominal Release Time (y,m,d,h,m,s): | Nominal time of release, in the format: yyyy, mm, dd, hh:mm:ss |
The data records each contain time from release, pressure, temperature, dew point, relative humidity, U and V wind components, wind speed and direction, ascent rate, balloon position data, altitude, and quality control flags (see the QC code description). Each data line contains 21 fields, separated by spaces, with a total width of 130 characters. The data are right-justified within the fields. All fields have one decimal place of precision, with the exception of latitude and longitude, which have three decimal places of precision. The contents and sizes of the 21 fields that appear in each data record are as follows:
| Field No. | Width | Format | Parameter | Units | Missing Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | F6.1 | Time | Seconds | 9999.0 |
| 2 | 6 | F6.1 | Pressure | Millibars | 9999.0 |
| 3 | 5 | F5.1 | Dry-bulb Temperature | Degrees C | 999.0 |
| 4 | 5 | F5.1 | Dew Point Temperature | Degrees C | 999.0 |
| 5 | 5 | F5.1 | Relative Humidity | Percent | 999.0 |
| 6 | 6 | F6.1 | U Wind Component | Meters / Second | 9999.0 |
| 7 | 6 | F6.1 | V Wind Component | Meters / Second | 9999.0 |
| 8 | 5 | F5.1 | Wind Speed | Meters / Second | 999.0 |
| 9 | 5 | F5.1 | Wind Direction | Degrees | 999.0 |
| 10 | 5 | F5.1 | Ascent Rate | Meters / Second | 999.0 |
| 11 | 8 | F8.3 | Longitude | Degrees | 9999.0 |
| 12 | 7 | F7.3 | Latitude | Degrees | 999.0 |
| 13 | 5 | F5.1 | Elevation Angle | Degrees | 999.0 |
| 14 | 5 | F5.1 | Azimuth Angle | Degrees | 999.0 |
| 15 | 7 | F7.1 | Altitude | Meters | 99999.0 |
| 16 | 4 | F4.1 | QC for Pressure | Code (see below) | 99.0 |
| 17 | 4 | F4.1 | QC for Temperature | Code (see below) | 99.0 |
| 18 | 4 | F4.1 | QC for Humidity | Code (see below) | 99.0 |
| 19 | 4 | F4.1 | QC for U Wind Component | Code (see below) | 99.0 |
| 20 | 4 | F4.1 | QC for V Wind Component | Code (see below) | 99.0 |
| 21 | 4 | F4.1 | QC for Ascension Rate | Code (see below) | 99.0 |
Fields 16 through 21 contain the Quality Control information derived at the NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory (NCAR/EOL). Any QC information from the original sounding is replaced by the following EOL codes:
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 99.0 | Unchecked (QC information is "missing.") ("UNCHECKED") |
| 1.0 | Checked, datum seems physically reasonable. ("GOOD") |
| 2.0 | Checked, datum seems questionable on physical basis. ("MAYBE") |
| 3.0 | Checked, datum seems to be in error. ("BAD") |
| 4.0 | Checked, datum is interpolated. ("ESTIMATED") |
| 9.0 | Checked, datum was missing in original file. ("MISSING") |
The following is a sample record of DYNAMO Manus ARM high resolution sounding data in ESC format. The data portion is much longer than 80 characters and, therefore, wraps around to a second line. See section 2.1 for an exact format specification.
Data Type: ARM AMF Radiosonde/Ascending Project ID: DYNAMO Release Site Type/Site ID: C1: Momote, Manus Island Release Location (lon,lat,alt): 147 25.80'E, 02 03.60'S, 147.430, -2.060, 4.0 UTC Release Time (y,m,d,h,m,s): 2011, 08, 31, 23:29:00 Sonde Id/Sonde Type: G1513077/Vaisala RS92-SGP with GPS windfinding / / / / / Nominal Release Time (y,m,d,h,m,s):2011, 09, 01, 00:00:00 Time Press Temp Dewpt RH Ucmp Vcmp spd dir Wcmp Lon Lat Ele Azi Alt Qp Qt Qrh Qu Qv QdZ sec mb C C % m/s m/s m/s deg m/s deg deg deg deg m code code code code code code ------ ------ ----- ----- ----- ------ ------ ----- ----- ----- -------- ------- ----- ----- ------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 0.0 1010.2 29.0 23.9 74.0 -1.3 -5.8 6.0 13.0 0.0 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 4.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 2.0 1007.5 28.5 21.6 66.1 -0.7 -1.0 1.2 33.0 11.7 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 27.5 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 4.0 1005.7 28.2 22.1 69.8 -0.6 -0.9 1.1 34.0 9.9 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 43.8 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 6.0 1004.1 27.9 22.6 72.8 -0.8 -1.2 1.5 34.0 9.0 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 58.1 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 8.0 1002.8 27.7 22.9 75.3 -1.0 -1.4 1.7 34.0 8.2 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 69.9 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 10.0 1001.6 27.5 23.1 76.6 -1.1 -1.6 1.9 34.0 7.6 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 79.9 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 12.0 1000.5 27.4 23.1 77.4 -1.2 -1.7 2.1 35.0 7.2 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 90.2 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 14.0 999.3 27.3 23.3 78.8 -1.4 -1.9 2.3 36.0 6.9 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 100.3 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 16.0 998.2 27.1 23.3 79.4 -1.5 -2.0 2.5 37.0 6.6 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 110.1 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 18.0 997.1 27.0 23.3 79.9 -1.6 -2.1 2.6 37.0 6.5 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 120.3 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 20.0 995.8 26.9 23.2 80.4 -1.7 -2.1 2.7 38.0 6.4 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 131.5 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 22.0 994.6 26.8 23.1 80.5 -1.8 -2.2 2.8 39.0 6.3 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 142.5 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 24.0 993.4 26.6 23.1 81.2 -1.8 -2.1 2.8 40.0 6.2 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 153.6 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 26.0 992.0 26.5 23.2 82.0 -1.9 -2.2 2.9 41.0 6.2 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 165.4 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 28.0 990.6 26.4 23.2 82.8 -1.9 -2.2 2.9 42.0 6.2 147.430 -2.060 999.0 999.0 178.6 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 30.0 989.1 26.2 23.2 83.4 -2.0 -2.1 2.9 43.0 6.3 147.430 -2.061 999.0 999.0 191.9 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 32.0 987.8 26.1 23.2 83.7 -2.0 -2.1 2.9 43.0 5.9 147.430 -2.061 999.0 999.0 203.3 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 34.0 986.7 26.1 23.1 83.8 -2.0 -2.1 2.9 44.0 5.6 147.430 -2.061 999.0 999.0 213.2 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 36.0 985.4 26.0 23.0 83.2 -2.0 -2.1 2.9 44.0 5.6 147.430 -2.061 999.0 999.0 224.6 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 38.0 984.0 26.0 22.8 82.8 -2.1 -2.1 2.9 45.0 5.6 147.430 -2.061 999.0 999.0 237.3 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 40.0 982.8 25.9 22.7 82.4 -2.1 -2.1 2.9 45.0 5.6 147.429 -2.061 999.0 999.0 247.9 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 42.0 982.0 25.9 22.5 81.6 -2.1 -2.0 2.9 46.0 5.5 147.429 -2.061 999.0 999.0 255.2 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 44.0 981.4 25.8 22.4 81.2 -2.1 -2.0 2.9 47.0 5.4 147.429 -2.061 999.0 999.0 261.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 46.0 980.4 25.8 22.3 81.3 -2.2 -1.9 2.9 48.0 5.3 147.429 -2.061 999.0 999.0 269.7 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 48.0 979.1 25.7 22.3 81.7 -2.2 -1.9 2.9 49.0 5.4 147.429 -2.061 999.0 999.0 281.4 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 50.0 977.8 25.6 22.3 81.8 -2.2 -1.9 2.9 50.0 5.4 147.429 -2.061 999.0 999.0 293.8 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 52.0 976.4 25.5 22.2 81.9 -2.3 -1.8 2.9 52.0 5.5 147.429 -2.061 999.0 999.0 306.3 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 54.0 975.2 25.4 22.1 81.8 -2.3 -1.7 2.9 54.0 5.4 147.429 -2.061 999.0 999.0 316.6 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0
| ID | SITE | LONG | LAT | ELEV (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARM_Manus | C1 Momote, Manus Island | -2.060 | 147.430 | 4.0 |
This dataset underwent an automated QC process. The dataset underwent internal consistency checks which included two types of checks, gross limit checks on all parameters and rate-of-change checks on temperature, pressure and ascension rate. Some further information on the QC processing conducted by NCAR/EOL can be found in Loehrer et al. (1996) and Loehrer et al. (1998).
These checks were conducted on each sounding and data were automatically flagged as appropriate. Only the data point under examination was flagged. NCAR/EOL conducted the following gross limit checks on the DYNAMO Manus ARM sounding dataset. In the table P = pressure, T = temperature, RH = relative humidity, U = U wind component, V = V wind component, B = bad, and Q = questionable.
| Parameter | Gross Limit Check | Parameter(s) Flagged | Flag Applied |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pressure | < 0 mb or > 1050 mb | P | B |
| Altitude | < 0 m or > 40000 m | P, T, RH | Q |
| Temperature | < -90 °C or > 45 °C | T | T |
| Dew Point | < -99.9 °C or > 33 °C > Temperature |
RH T, RH | Q Q |
| Relative Humidity | < 0% or > 100% | RH | B |
| Wind Speed | < 0 m/s or > 100 m/s > 150 m/s |
U, V U, V | Q B |
| U Wind Component | < 0 m/s or > 100 m/s > 150 m/s |
U U | Q B |
| V Wind Component | < 0 m/s or > 100 m/s > 150 m/s |
V V | Q B |
| Wind Direction | < 0° or > 360° | U, V | B |
| Ascent Rate | < -10 m/s or > 10 m/s | P, T, RH | Q |
These checks were conducted on each sounding and data were automatically flagged as appropriate. These checks were started at the lowest level of the sounding and compared neighboring 2-sec data points (except at pressures less than 100 mb where 30-sec average values were used). In the case of checks ensuring that the values increased/decreased as expected, only the data point under examination was flagged. However, for the other checks, all of the data points used in the examination were flagged. All items within the table are as previously defined.
| Parameter | Vertical Consitency Check | Parameter(s) Flagged | Flag Applied |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | decreasing / equal | None | None |
| Altitude | decreasing / equal | P, T, RH | Q |
| Pressure | increasing / equal > 1 mb/s or < -1 mb/s > 2 mb/s or < -2 mb/s |
P, T, RH P, T, RH P, T, RH | Q Q B |
| Temperature | < -15 °C/km < -30 °C/km > 50 °C/km (not applied at p < 250 mb) >100 °C/km (not applied at p < 2 50 mb) |
P, T, RH P, T, RH P, T, RH P, T, RH |
Q B Q B |
| Ascent Rate | change of > 3 m/s or & lt; -3 m/s change of > 5 m/s or < -5 m/s |
P P | Q B |
Each sounding was visually examined for data quality issues. Any issues found were flagged in the data file and/or noted in Section 3.4.
Some soundings exhibit seeming oscillations in the RH data. This sometimes occurs during periods of slow (< 3m/s) balloon ascent due to the cycling of the dual VRS92 humidity sensors. Examples can be seen in the following soundings:
201109261427 201110082033 201110122032 201110161136 201110161803 201111051142 201111121205 201111130021 201111171741 201111300348 201112020527 201201310858 201202010303 201202091149 201202091519 201203041750 201203241129 201203280831
A few soundings had bad surface temperature or RH values:
201110271434 201111132034 201112041129 201112160001 201201102339 201201170235 201203080930
A few soundings had problem temperature sensors during a substantial period of the flight:
201111181740 - sfc-350mb too cold 201112230527 - sfc-350mb too warm 201112231132 - sfc-670mb too cold 201112260857 - 650-225mb too warm 201201232031 - all too warm 201201251433 - all too cold 201203162033 - all too warm?
Several soundings were missing RH or wind data for substantial periods of the sounding:
201109240241 - No RH 201109240521 - No RH abv 1000mb 201109290835 - No RH abv 293mb 201109300831 - No RH abv 393mb 201110020537 - No RH 201110021435 - No RH abv 550mb 201110031445 - No RH 201110032336 - No RH abv 472mb 201110040232 - No RH abv 416mb 201110040532 - No RH abv 372mb 201110060535 - No RH 201110121431 - No RH 201110141433 - No RH abv 145mb 201110160533 - No RH abv 403mb 201111060240 - No RH 201111132331 - No winds 201111190229 - No winds 612-159mb 201111200543 - No RH 201112032338 - No Winds 201112092329 - No RH abv 921mb 201112120528 - No RH abv 862mb 201112241453 - No RH abv 973mb 201112260229 - No RH abv 985mb 201112290528 - No RH 201112312046 - No Winds below 210mb 201201061130 - No RH abv 840mb 201201252335 - No winds 201201270227 - No RH abv 758mb 201201312332 - No RH 201202052327 - No RH abv 720mb 201202180526 - No RH abv 679mb 201202251133 - No RH 201203060527 - No RH abv 742mb 201203162341 - No RH abv 995mb
Several soundings in the original data set from ARM had only surface data values and they were not included in this data set:
201109261126 201109270220 201109292328 201110040818 201110092332 201111010546 201111020532 201111160550 201112170229 201112210230 201201012328 201201041747 201201070604 201202012057 201202031500 201202050828 201203050827 201203190845 201203250225 201203272330 201203292325 201203310539
Loehrer, S. M., T. A. Edmands, and J. A. Moore, 1996: TOGA COARE upper-air sounding data archive: development and quality control procedures. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77, 2651-2671.
Loehrer, S. M., S. F. Williams, and J. A. Moore, 1998: Results from UCAR/JOSS quality control of atmospheric soundings from field projects. Preprints, Tenth Symposium on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation, Phoenix, AZ, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 1-6.