Title:
VORTEX-SE MESO 18-19 Tropospheric Soundings from Mobile, AL

Authors:
Dr. Wesley Terwey
Assistant Professor
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6394-5955
email: terwey@southalabama.edu

University of South Alabama, Department of Earth Sciences
5871 USA North Drive
Mobile, AL 36688-0002
(251)-460-6381


1.0 Data Set Overview
---------------------
Introduction:
This dataset includes all requested tropospheric sondes launched from the Mobile, AL site for the VORTEX-SE MESO 18-19 field campaign.  More information about the specific periods of observation can be found on the catalog site (http://catalog.eol.ucar.edu/meso18-19).  

Time Period:
10/31/2018 to 4/30/2019

Physical Location:
30.695N, 88.194W @ 51 m elevation


2.0 Instrument Description
--------------------------
Description:
The soundings were gathered using an iMet 3050-A 403 MHz portable receiver system (http://www.intermetsystems.com/products/imet-3050a), a Lenovo ThinkPad E480 laptop with the iMet sounding software, and InterMet sounding supplies including iMet-4 radiosondes (http://www.intermetsystems.com/products/iMet-4-Radiosonde).

Specifications:
The software was set to 10 second data output.
The ascent rate of the balloon was generally between 5 and 6 m/s.
Sondes were set to 403 MHz frequency for launches from this site.


3.0 Data Collection and Processing
----------------------------------
Data Collection Description:
As noted previously, the data collection was handled by the iMet sounding software and the attendent iMet materials.

Derived Parameters and Processing:
Soundings were plotted via SHARPpy when applicable.  No other special processing or derivations were made on the data outside those included in the iMet software.

Quality Assurance and Control:
No special quality assurance or control procedures were implemented.


4.0 Data Format
---------------
Data File Structure and Naming:
Data files follow the naming convention:
     upperair.USA_sonde.YYYYMMDDHHmm.Mobile_AL_SHARPpy.txt
where YYYY is the year, MM is the month, DD is the day of month, HHmm is the UTC time in hour/minute.

Data Format:
Data files are in standard SHARPpy format.

List of Parameters:
All parameters are output at 10 second time steps.
They include pressure (hPa), geopotential height (m), temperature (C), dewpoint (C), wind direction (degrees), and wind speed (knots).

Data Version:
Data is version 1 as of May 24, 2019.

Flags, Codes, Definitions:
All are as defined by the standard SHARPpy format.


5.0 Data Remarks
----------------
PI Assessment:
The data should be in solid working order.  There are potentially some small issues with near-surface data (surface temperatures may be too warm, winds may be too weak especially from the south).  These are due to data collection errors (sonde left on concrete during balloon setup) or site issues (tall trees within 100 feet to the south and southwest of site).  Otherwise, the data should be reliable.

Missing Data Periods:
Only one requested launch was missed (4/18/2019 12Z).  A few did not reach sufficient height, but the truncated dataset has been provided in this dataset.

Software Compatibility:
Any software able to handle plain-text SHARPpy format data files.


6.0 References
--------------

Not Applicable