This dataset contains the highest possible resolution (i.e. the 'native' resolution) upper-air sounding data in the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) Sounding Composite Format from stations in the following networks:
Data for the North American Monsoon Experiment (NAME) 2004 Tier 3 domain (5°N to 50°N latitude and 75°W to 125°W longitude) are contained in this dataset. The dataset covers the time period of 01 June 2004 through 30 September 2004. This NAME 2004 Sounding Composite Highest Resolution Upper-Air Dataset contains 24308 soundings from 112 sites.
Most of the soundings have passed through the NCAR/EOL automatic quality control. The PIBALS from the PIBAL Wind Only from PACS-SONET and the tethersondes from the Mexican UNAM R/V El Puma did not run through the quality control performed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research/Earth Observing Laboratory (NCAR/EOL).
On 23 March 2010 a new version of these data were released that included the corrections of Ciesielski, et al (2009). Not all stations in the composite were affected by the correction. The U.S. stations that were affected are: Amarillo, TX (KAMA), El Paso TX/Santa Teresa, NM (KEPZ), Flagstaff, AZ (KFGZ), Midland, TX (KMAF), Phoenix, AZ (KPHX), Tucson, AZ (KTUS), and Yuma Proving Grounds, AZ (KYUM). The Mexican stations affected are: Chihuahua (MMCU), Empalme/Guaymas, MX (MGYM), Guadalajara, MX (MGDL), Kino Bay, MX (MBKN), La Paz (MLAP), Loreto, MX (MNLO), Los Mochis, MX (MIS4), Manzanillo (MZLO), Mazatlan (MMZT), Monterrey (MMAN), Puerto Penasco, MX (MNPP), Torreon (MMTC), Zacatacas (MMZC), and R/V Altair (XCWH).
Section 2.0 contains a detailed description of the source network that collected the data. Section 2.1 contains a detailed description of the format of the composite dataset. See Section 3.0 below for the quality control processing performed by NCAR/EOL on this dataset. Section 4.0 contains references.
This dataset contains 140 high vertical resolution (2 second) soundings from the Belize City site in Belize (WMO 78583). Soundings were typically released once per day (1200 UTC) from 01 June to 13 July 2004 and twice per day from 14 July to 02 September 2004. The sites antenna failed on 03 September 2004 so no soundings are available for the remainder of the NAME time period.
This dataset contains 90 high vertical resolution (2 second) soundings from the Centro de Investigación Cienífica y de Educatció Superior de Ensendada (CICESE) Research Vessel (R/V) Francisco de Ulloa. During NAME the R/V Francisco de Ulloa conducted two cruises (05 June through 21 June 2004 and 06 August through 16 August 2004) through the Gulf of California. Soundings were typically released four times per day.
The R/V Ulloa utilized two different types of radiosondes during NAME.
1. RS-80G - fresh radiosondes that measured temperature, pressure, humidity and winds. They expected small biases in pressure and humidity (3%) with these radiosondes. These soundings were most often released at the 0000 and 1200 UTC release times.
2. RS-80N - older radiosondes that measured temperature, pressure and humidity (these soundings do not include wind measurements). They expected larger biases with these radiosondes. These soundings were most often released at the 0600 and 1800 UTC release times.
More information about the R/V Francisco de Ulloa can be found at http://oceanografia.cicese.mx/fcoulloa/ (CICESE, 2005).
This dataset contains 153 high vertical resolution (2 second) soundings from the Secretaria de Marina Armada Mexico (SEMAR) Research Vessel (R/V) Altair. During NAME the R/V Altair was located near 23.5°N and 108.0°W for two cruises (07 July through 22 July 2004 and 27 July through 12 August 2004). Soundings were typically released four times per day but they were more frequent during Intensive Observing Periods (IOPs). These data were provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Environmental Technology Laboratory (NOAA/ETL).
This dataset contains 31 high vertical resolution (approximately 10 second) tethersondes from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) Research Vessel (R/V) El Puma. During NAME the R/V El Puma was conducted during the ECAC-5 cruise (06 August through 17 August 2004). NCAR/EOL did do any quality control on these data.
The release location was determined from a separate navigational parameters file containing one minute data. The nearest minute in the navigational parameters file was used from the release time of the sounding.
An additional document Reporte-ECAC-5.doc (UNAM, 2005) was provided from the ECAC project that describes the methodology used by the UNAM in developing the data set. This document is in Spanish.
This dataset contains 2468 high vertical resolution (2 second) soundings from 15 stations from the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN) Comisión del Agua (CNA), which forms part of the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT). Soundings were typically released twice per day, but were released up to 8 per day by selected stations during intensive operations.
The SMN home page contains more information and can be found at http://smn.cna.gob.mx/ (SMN, 2005). It is in Spanish
This dataset contains 175 high vertical resolution (1 second) soundings from the GPS Loran Atmospheric Sounding System (GLASS) site in Loreto, Mexico between 09 July and 15 August 2004. These data were provided by the National Center of Atmospheric Research/Earth Observing Laboratory (NCAR/EOL).
For more information on the NCAR GLASS System, please visit the following site: http://www.atd.ucar.edu/rtf/facilities/class/class.html (EOL, 2005a).
The variables pressure, temperature, and relative humidity are calibrated values from measurements made by the radiosonde. The dew point is calculated from the relative humidity. The altitude is calculated from the hydrostatic equation using pressure, temperature, and dew point. The rate of ascent is obtained from the altitude difference between two successive time steps. The position (latitude, longitude) are computed by using horizontal winds to integrate location from the initial launch position.
All wind data are computed from GPs navigation signals received from the radiosonde. The raw wind values are calculated at a one-half second data rate by a commercial processing card. These raw values are subjected to a digital filter to remove low frequency oscillations due to the sonde pendulum motion beneath the balloon. The resolution of the data is reduced to one second. This time record is used in the interpolation of the pressure, temperature, and humidity data.
The raw soundings are first run through the Atmospheric Sounding Processing ENvironment (ASPEN), which analyzes the data, performs smoothing, and removes suspect data points. The soundings are then visually evaluated for outliers, or any other obvious problems. Scatter plots of the data are created to check the range in values of pressure, temperature and relative humidity. Lastly, we create profiles of temperature and RH, and wind speed and direction, in order to check for any major inconsistencies.
The first data line in each sounding, denoted by a time stamp of -1.0 second, typically represents data collected from an independent surface met station. During the quality control process this data is used as a reference to determine the accuracy of the radiosondes pressure, temperature and relative humidity measurements. The surface met sensors at the Loreto GLASS site failed to work during the project, so in place of the surface met data, pre-launch pressure, temperature and RH measured by the sonde and human estimated winds were entered into the first line of each sounding. A major concern is that if sensor arm heating (which is a common problem during projects where sondes are launched in warm weather without proper ventilation, as was the case at Loreto) occurred, there is either no way to detect it or the extent of it. From looking at the scatter plots, shown in figure 2 below, and visually comparing the GLASS data with that collected at the ISS sites, there seems to be no evidence of sensor arm heating. However, we wanted to make the users were aware of what had been done and to warn them to be skeptical about the accuracy of the GLASS radiosonde data near the surface.
This dataset contains 460 high vertical resolution (1 second) soundings from 3 Integrated Sounding System (ISS) sites in Mexico; Port Penasco (ISS2), Kino Bay (ISS3), and Los Mochis (ISS4), between 03 July and 15 August 2004. These data were provided by the National Center of Atmospheric Research/Earth Observing Laboratory (NCAR/EOL).
For more information on the NCAR ISS System, please visit the following site: http://www.atd.ucar.edu/rtf/facilities/iss/iss.html (EOL, 2005b).
The variables pressure, temperature, and relative humidity are calibrated values from measurements made by the radiosonde. The dew point is calculated from the relative humidity. The altitude is calculated from the hydrostatic equation using pressure, temperature, and dew point. The rate of ascent is obtained from the altitude difference between two successive time steps. The position (lat, lon) are computed by using horizontal winds to integrate location from the initial launch position.
All wind data are computed from GPs navigation signals received from the radiosonde. The raw wind values are calculated at a one-half second data rate by a commercial processing card. These raw values are subjected to a digital filter to remove low frequency oscillations due to the sonde pendulum motion beneath the balloon. The resolution of the data is reduced to one second. This time record is used in the interpolation of the pressure, temperature, and humidity data.
The raw soundings are first run through the Atmospheric Sounding Processing ENvironment (ASPEN), which analyzes the data, performs smoothing, and removes suspect data points. The soundings are then visually evaluated for outliers, or any other obvious problems. Scatter plots of the data are created to check the range in values of pressure, temperature and relative humidity. Lastly, we create profiles of temperature and RH, and wind speed and direction, in order to check for any major inconsistencies.
The first data line in each sounding, denoted by a time stamp of -1.0 second, typically represents data collected from an independent surface met station. During the quality control process this data is used as a reference to determine the accuracy of the radiosondes pressure, temperature and relative humidity measurements. The surface met sensors at the Loreto GLASS site failed to work during the project, so in place of the surface met data, pre-launch pressure, temperature and RH measured by the sonde and human estimated winds were entered into the first line of each sounding. A major concern is that if sensor arm heating (which is a common problem during projects where sondes are launched in warm weather without proper ventilation, as was the case at Loreto) occurred, there is either no way to detect it or the extent of it. From looking at the scatter plots, shown in figure 2 below, and visually comparing the GLASS data with that collected at the ISS sites, there seems to be no evidence of sensor arm heating. However, we wanted to make the users were aware of what had been done and to warn them to be skeptical about the accuracy of the GLASS radiosonde data near the surface.
This dataset contains 16079 high vertical resolution (6 second) soundings from 61 National Weather Service (NWS) sites.
The detailed description of NWS sounding collection and instrumentation is located in NWS, 1991.
This dataset contains 360 high vertical resolution (5 second to 900 seconds after release and 10 second from 900 seconds after release to the end of the sounding) soundings from the Phoenix, Arizona sounding site (WMO 74626) from 08 June to 24 September 2004. These soundings were provided by the Salt River Project (SRP). During the period from 10 June to 06 July 2004, Phoenix typically released two sounding per day at 0000 and 1200 UTC. For the period from 07 July to 29 August 2004, Phoenix typically released between 4 and 6 soundings per day. After 29 August 2004, Phoenix typically released 3 or 4 soundings per day.
More information can be found at the SRP home page at http://www.srpnet.com/ (SRP, 2005).
This dataset contains 3085 high resolution vertical (30 second to 480 seconds after release and 60 second from 480 seconds after release to the end of the sounding) pilot balloon (PIBAL) data from the Pan American Climate Studies-Sounding Network (PACS-SONET). For more information on PACS-SONET visit the PACS-SONET home page (PACS-SONET, 2005). This network included data from 21 location throughout Mexico and the Southwestern United States. This data includes only wind and height information.
This dataset was provided and quality controlled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Severe Storms Laboratory (NOAA/NSSL). NCAR/EOL has not done any additional quality checking of these data.
This dataset contains 324 high vertical resolution (2 second) soundings from the San Jose, Costa Rica sounding site (WMO 78762) from 16 June to 30 September 2004. These soundings were provided by the Universidad de Costa Rica - Instituto Meteorologico Nacional (UCR-IMN). During the period from 17 June to 05 September 2004, San Jose typically released four soundings per day at 0000, 0600, 1200, and 1800 UTC each day. For the period from 06 September to 30 September 2004, San Jose typically released one sounding per day at 1200 UTC (except on Sundays when no soundings were released).
This station used both Vaisala RS80-15G and RS90-AG radiosonde models during NAME.
More information on IMN can be found on the IMN home page at http://www.imn.ac.cr (IMN, 2005).
This dataset contains 41 high vertical resolution (approximately 10 second) sounndings from the San Cristobal site in Ecuador (WMO 84008). San Cristobal released soundings semi-daily, however, there are days within the time period where rawinsonde data is missing or a rawinsonde was not released. All soundings were made with Vaisala RS-80 sondes which utilized GPS tracking to determine the winds.
This dataset contains 933 high vertical resolution (5 seconds up to 480 seconds after release and 10 seconds from 480 seconds after the release to the end of the sounding) soundings from 3 sites in Yuma, Arizona. These data were provided by the United States Army Met Team from the Yuma Proving Ground. The 3555 site is the station that is sent over the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) as WMO index 74004.
All upper air soundings were converted to National Center for Atmospheric Research/Earth Observing Laboratory (NCAR/EOL) Sounding Composite Format (ESCF). ESCF 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, meteorological and wind data processors, and the operator's name and comments. 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 nonstandard 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 three nonstandard header lines.
| Line | Label (padded to 35 char) | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Sounding Composite Format 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 a NAME high resolution rawinsonde data from SMN in EOL Sounding Composite 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: Mexican National Weather Service Project ID: NAME Release Site Type/Site ID: MGYM 76256 Empalme/Guaymas Release Location (lon,lat,alt): 110 49.51'W, 27 56.51'N, -110.825, 27.942, 12.0 UTC Release Time (y,m,d,h,m,s): 2004, 08, 24, 00:00:00 / / / / / / Nominal Release Time (y,m,d,h,m,s):2004, 08, 24, 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 1009.3 33.2 24.1 59.0 2.5 4.3 5.0 210.0 999.0 -110.825 27.942 999.0 999.0 12.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 9.0 2.0 1006.6 31.3 19.4 49.0 2.7 4.7 5.4 210.0 12.0 9999.000 999.000 999.0 999.0 36.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 4.0 1005.6 31.3 19.7 50.0 2.8 4.8 5.6 210.0 4.5 9999.000 999.000 999.0 999.0 45.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 6.0 1004.4 31.2 19.6 50.0 2.9 4.9 5.7 210.0 5.5 9999.000 999.000 999.0 999.0 56.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 8.0 1003.1 31.1 19.8 51.0 2.9 5.0 5.8 210.0 5.5 9999.000 999.000 999.0 999.0 67.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 10.0 1001.7 30.8 19.8 52.0 3.0 5.2 6.0 210.0 6.5 9999.000 999.000 999.0 999.0 80.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0
| ID | NETWORK | SITE | STATE | COUNTRY | LONG | LAT | ELEV (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3555 | Yuma | 00000 Yuma Proving Ground | AZ | US | -114.33 | 32.87 | 131.0 |
| ABQ | NWS | Albuquerque | NM | US | -106.6 | 35.0 | 1615.0 |
| ABR | NWS | Aberdeen | SD | US | -98.4 | 45.5 | 397.0 |
| AMA | NWS | Amarillo | TX | US | -101.7 | 35.2 | 1094.0 |
| APX | NWS | Gaylord | MI | US | -84.7 | 44.9 | 448.0 |
| BIS | NWS | Bismarck | ND | US | -100.7 | 46.8 | 505.0 |
| BKN | ISS | Kino Bay | MX | -111.927 | 28.814 | 2.0 | |
| BMX | NWS | Shelby County | AL | US | -86.8 | 33.2 | 178.0 |
| BNA | NWS | Nashville | TN | US | -86.6 | 36.2 | 180.0 |
| BOI | NWS | Boise | ID | US | -116.2 | 43.6 | 871.0 |
| BRO | NWS | Brownsville | TX | US | -97.4 | 25.9 | 7.0 |
| BT | PIBAL | Bahia Tortugas | BC | MX | -114.9 | 27.7 | 18.0 |
| BUF | NWS | Buffalo | NY | US | -78.7 | 42.9 | 218.0 |
| CA | PIBAL | Catavina | BC | MX | -114.79 | 29.84 | 554.0 |
| CH | PIBAL | Choix | SIN | MX | -108.31 | 26.72 | 250.0 |
| CN | PIBAL | Ciudad Constitucion | BCS | MX | -111.68 | 25.09 | 50.0 |
| CRP | NWS | Corpus Christi | TX | US | -97.5 | 27.8 | 14.0 |
| DDC | NWS | Dodge City | KS | US | -100.0 | 37.8 | 788.0 |
| DNR | NWS | Denver INT APT | CO | US | -104.9 | 39.8 | 1611.0 |
| DRA | NWS | Desert Rock | NV | US | -116.0 | 36.6 | 1007.0 |
| DRT | NWS | Del Rio | TX | US | -100.9 | 29.4 | 314.0 |
| DTX | NWS | White Lake | MI | US | -83.5 | 42.7 | 329.0 |
| DU | PIBAL | Durange | DGO | MX | -104.6 | 24.0 | 1885.0 |
| EPZ | NWS | Santa Teresa | NM | US | -106.7 | 31.9 | 1252.0 |
| EYW | NWS | Key West | FL | US | -81.8 | 24.5 | 2.0 |
| FFC | NWS | Peachtree City | GA | US | -84.6 | 33.4 | 245.0 |
| FGZ | NWS | Flagstaff | AZ | US | -111.8 | 35.2 | 2180.0 |
| FWD | NWS | Fort Worth | TX | US | -97.3 | 32.8 | 198.0 |
| GB | PIBAL | Gila Bend | AZ | US | -112.70 | 32.96 | 262.0 |
| GGW | NWS | Glasgow | MT | US | -106.6 | 48.2 | 693.0 |
| GJT | NWS | Grand Junction | CO | US | -108.5 | 39.1 | 1472.0 |
| GRB | NWS | Green Bay | WI | US | -88.1 | 44.5 | 214.0 |
| GSO | NWS | Greensboro | NC | US | -79.9 | 36.1 | 277.0 |
| GY | PIBAL | Empalme | SON | MX | -110.76 | 27.95 | 12.0 |
| HB | PIBAL | Huatabampo | SON | MX | -109.61 | 26.84 | 17.0 |
| IAD | NWS | Sterling | VA | US | -77.5 | 39.0 | 86.0 |
| ILN | NWS | Wilmington | OH | US | -83.7 | 39.4 | 323.0 |
| ILX | NWS | Central Illinois | IL | US | -89.3 | 40.2 | 178.0 |
| IM | PIBAL | Isla Maria | NAY | MX | -106.54 | 21.76 | 2.0 |
| INL | NWS | International Falls | MN | US | -93.4 | 48.5 | 361.0 |
| IS4 | ISS | Los Mochis | MX | -109.082 | 25.689 | 3.0 | |
| JAN | NWS | Jackson | MS | US | -90.1 | 32.3 | 91.0 |
| JAX | NWS | Jacksonville | FL | US | -81.7 | 30.5 | 9.0 |
| JI | PIBAL | Jimenex | CHIH | MX | -104.86 | 27.13 | 1380.0 |
| LBF | NWS | North Platte | NE | US | -100.7 | 41.1 | 849.0 |
| LCH | NWS | Lake Charles | LA | US | -93.2 | 30.1 | 9.0 |
| LE | PIBAL | Lerdo (Torreon) | DGO | MX | -103.46 | 25.45 | 1130.0 |
| LH | PIBAL | Lake Havasu City | AZ | US | -114.36 | 34.57 | 197.0 |
| LIT | NWS | Little Rock | AR | US | -92.3 | 34.8 | 172.0 |
| LKN | NWS | Elko | NV | US | -115.7 | 40.9 | 1592.0 |
| LP | PIBAL | La Paz | BCS | MX | -110.24 | 24.15 | 15.0 |
| LR | PIBAL | Loreto | BCS | MX | -111.33 | 26.10 | 7.0 |
| MA | PIBAL | Matehuala | SLP | MX | -100.82 | 23.65 | 1544.0 |
| MACA | SMN | 76805 Acapulco | MX | -99.93 | 16.83 | 3.0 | |
| MAF | NWS | Midland | TX | US | -102.2 | 32.0 | 873.0 |
| MCUN | SMN | 76595 Cancun | MX | -86.85 | 21.02 | 10.0 | |
| MFL | NWS | Miami | FL | US | -80.4 | 25.8 | 5.0 |
| MFR | NWS | Medford | OR | US | -122.9 | 42.9 | 397.0 |
| MGDL | SMN | 76612 Guadalajara | MX | -103.3405 | 20.4989 | 1551.0 | |
| MGYM | SMN | 76256 Empalme/Guaymas | MX | -110.8251 | 27.9418 | 12.0 | |
| MHX | NWS | Newport | NC | US | -76.9 | 34.8 | 11.0 |
| MLAP | SMN | 76405 La Paz | MX | -110.3873 | 24.0431 | 18.0 | |
| MMAN | SMN | 76394 Monterrey | MX | -100.2341 | 25.8986 | 450.0 | |
| MMCU | SMN | 76225 Chihuahua | MX | -106.1167 | 28.70 | 1482.0 | |
| MMEX | SMN | 76679 Mexico City | MX | -99.20 | 19.40 | 2308.0 | |
| MMMD | SMN | 76644 Merida | MX | -89.65 | 20.98 | 11.0 | |
| MMTC | SMN | 76382 Torreon | MX | -103.4031 | 25.5442 | 1123.0 | |
| MMZC | SMN | 76526 Zacatecas | MX | -103.7568 | 22.7714 | 2265.0 | |
| MMZT | SMN | 76458 Mazatlan | MX | -106.3010 | 23.1466 | 4.0 | |
| MPX | NWS | Chanhassen | MN | US | -93.6 | 44.8 | 290.0 |
| MRS | RV_Ulloa | NPS Ship Francisco de Ulloa | MX | 9999.0 | 999.0 | 99999.0 | |
| MVER | SMN | 76692 Vera Cruz | MX | -96.12 | 19.15 | 16.0 | |
| MZBZ | Belize | 78583 Belize City, Belize | BZ | -88.30 | 17.483 | 5.0 | |
| MZLO | SMN | 76654 Mananillo | MX | -104.32 | 19.05 | 3.0 | |
| NKX | NWS | San Diego | CA | US | -117.1 | 32.8 | 134.0 |
| NLO | GLASS | Loreto | MX | -111.344 | 26.019 | 2.0 | |
| NPP | ISS | Puerto Penasco | MX | -113.509 | 31.344 | 2.0 | |
| OAK | NWS | Oakland | CA | US | -122.2 | 37.7 | 6.0 |
| OAX | NWS | Valley | NE | US | -96.4 | 41.3 | 350.0 |
| OKX | NWS | Brookhaven | NY | US | -72.9 | 40.9 | 20.0 |
| OTX | NWS | Spokane | WA | US | -117.6 | 47.7 | 728.0 |
| OUN | NWS | Norman | OK | US | -97.4 | 35.2 | 357.0 |
| P55 | PIBAL | Puerto Penasco | SON | MX | -113.55 | 31.31 | 3.0 |
| P56 | PIBAL | Topolobampo | SIN | MX | -108.98 | 25.60 | 12.0 |
| PIT | NWS | Pittsburgh | PA | US | -80.2 | 40.5 | 360.0 |
| PSR | Phoenix | 74626 SRP/PSR | AZ | US | -111.95 | 33.45 | 379.0 |
| REV | NWS | Reno | NV | US | -119.8 | 69.6 | 1516.0 |
| RIW | NWS | Riverton | WY | US | -108.05 | 43.1 | 1699.0 |
| RNK | NWS | Blacksburg | VA | US | -80.4 | 37.2 | 640.0 |
| SC | PIBAL | Silver City | NM | US | -108.29 | 32.78 | 1856.0 |
| SGF | NWS | Springfield | MO | US | -93.4 | 37.2 | 391.0 |
| SHV | NWS | Shreveport | LA | US | -93.8 | 32.5 | 85.0 |
| SIL | NWS | Slidell | LA | US | -89.8 | 30.4 | 10.0 |
| SJ | PIBAL | San Jose del Cabo | BCS | MX | -109.62 | 23.06 | 95.0 |
| SJS | San_Jose | 78762 | CR | -84.21 | 10.00 | 921.0 | |
| SLC | NWS | Salt Lake City | UT | US | -111.9 | 40.8 | 1288.0 |
| SLE | NWS | Salem | OR | US | -123.0 | 44.9 | 61.0 |
| SNCR | Galapagos | San Cristobal SNCR 84008 | Ecuador | -89.610 | -.900 | 8.0 | |
| SR | PIBAL | Santa Rosalia | BCS | MX | -112.29 | 27.50 | 33.0 |
| T31 | Yuma | 02999 Yuma Proving Ground | AZ | US | -114.03 | 32.86 | 231.0 |
| TBW | NWS | Tampa Bay Area | FL | US | -82.3 | 27.7 | 13.0 |
| TE | PIBAL | Tesopaco | SON | MX | -109.35 | 27.81 | 440.0 |
| TFX | NWS | Great Falls | MT | US | -111.4 | 47.5 | 1132.0 |
| TLH | NWS | Tallahassee | FL | US | -84.3 | 30.5 | 53.0 |
| TOP | NWS | Topeka | KS | US | -95.6 | 39.1 | 270.0 |
| TUS | NWS | Tucson | AZ | US | -110.0 | 23.1 | 787.0 |
| TWR_M | Yuma | 07000 Yuma Proving Ground | AZ | US | -113.80 | 32.92 | 145.0 |
| UIL | NWS | Quillayute | WA | US | -124.6 | 48.0 | 56.0 |
| UNR | NWS | Rapid City | SD | US | -103.2 | 44.1 | 1029.0 |
| XCUM | RV_El_Puma | R/V El Puma: Cruise ECAC-5 | MX | 9999.0 | 999.0 | 99999.0 | |
| XCWH | RV_Altair | R/V Altair | MX | 9999.0 | 999.0 | 99999.0 |
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 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. EOL conducted the following gross limit checks on the NAME sounding datasets. 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 Consistency 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 < 250 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 |
Belize is one of the Caribbean upper air sites that has had a known problem with erratic and inconsistent meteorological parameter reports in the high resolution data from the B-2 sondes used in conjunction with the 1500C.
To alleviate this known problem, the data were rederived from the raw data using a seven point traveling average to smooth these fluctuations that appeared in the raw data. The averaging used the previous three points, the current point, and the following three points to make the averaged record for the new current point. The first three points of the record were assumed correct since there were not three previous points to use in the average.
The measurements of pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and the U and V wind components were averaged. The remaining parameters were derived from the new averaged values. In the cases where there were missing values in the average, the average was not calculated and was set to the corresponding missing value instead.
The older Vaisala RS80-N radiosondes (typically released at the 0600 and 1800 UTC release times) have a substantial dry bias in the measured humidity values evident in the data. The raw data set included over 16000 negative relative humidity values. These have been set to missing in this processed data set. No corrections have been applied to these data.
The amount of noise in the high resolution data was substantially more significant in the first cruise (7-22 July 2004) than in the second cruise (26 July - 18 August 2004).
NWS soundings during NAME utilized either the VIZ type radiosonde produced by Sippican Inc. (http://www.sippican.com/meteorological.html) or the Vaisala RS-80 radiosonde (http://www.vaisala.com, under "Product and Systems/Radiosonde,dropsondes,rockectsondes").
The use of the raw 6-sec resolution elevation and azimuth angle data to derive the winds sometimes led to large oscillations in wind speed, due to the presence of oscillations in the elevation angle data, particularly at low elevation angles. The general approach to correct this problem was to remove the out-lier radiosonde position data before computing the wind components (Williams et al. 1993). For both the azimuth and elevation angles from 360 sec to the end of the sounding, a ninth order polynomial was fit to the curve. The residuals were calculated and compared to the observed values. The outliers of the residuals were then removed.
Then to help correct the more extensive problems at low elevation angles within 10 degrees of the limiting angles (LA) some additional smoothing was applied. If the elevation angle was between (LA + 7.5) and (LA + 10), the new elevation angle was computed with a 2 min linear fit. If the elevation angle was between (LA + 5) and (LA + 7.5), the new elevation angle was computed with a 3 min linear fit. If the elevation angle was less than (LA + 5), the new elevation angle was computed with a 4 min linear fit. If the number of observations with low elevation angles was greater than 20% of the total number of observations for the sounding no frequency smoothing occurred.
Then, for the elevation angle only, a finite Fourier analysis was performed on the residuals. Periods from 90-190 sec were removed and those below 30 sec were flattened.
Finally, a 2 min second order polynomial was then fit to the position to derive the u and v wind components, except for the beginning and end minute (or 1.5 minutes if over 50 Mb) which used a 3 min fit. If there were less than 15% of the total number of points, not counting the beginning or end of the flight, on one side of the point for which the wind value was being computed, a linear fit was used.
For further information on this methodology and its changes since Williams et al. (1993) please see Williams, et al. (1998).
A common problem in near surface wind speed values calculated from the 6-second position data is that the first radiosonde wind speed is much higher than the independently measured surface value. The calculated radiosonde winds then decrease rapidly so that within about 60 s (20-30 Mb) after release the wind speeds are more realistic. The cause of this appears to be the acceptance of radiosonde position data prior to a "good lock" being achieved on the radiosonde by the tracking system. Thus there appear to be rapid positional shifts of the radiosonde while the tracking system "searches" for the radiosonde.
Despite the extensive efforts to remove oscillations in wind speeds caused by oscillations in elevation angles (see Section 2.2) there are occasional cases with remaining oscillations. Most of the remaining oscillations have periods just slightly longer than the 190 s maximum point of our notch filter.
The following is a portion of the document "The Design and Evolution of the PACS-SONET Observing System in Latin America" by Douglas et al.
The use of pilot balloons for determining winds above the surface has been carried out for more than 100 years, and is still widespread in some regions today. In principle it is straightforward, though many details must be considered to make the highest quality observations.
The main advantage of pilot balloon observations is that they are inexpensive. Typically, a 30 gm pilot balloon launch, excluding labor costs, is only 5-10% the cost of a radiosonde launch. In addition, they require a relatively simple instrument (a meteorological theodolite), require no electric power, and the observer does not need to be computer-literate.
The main uncertainty in the winds calculated from pilot balloon observations does not result from errors in measuring the angles - such errors can usually be detected and corrected by data editing procedures. Rather it is a consequence of turbulence in the atmosphere which causes the balloon's ascent rate to deviate from the assumed value. On a hot, windy afternoon the vertical motions associated with turbulence one km above the surface can be 1-2m/s or even more, introducing departures of 25-50% from the assumed ascent rate. This source of error was recognized, and the PACS-SONET observations were scheduled for early morning or late afternoon, when boundary layer turbulence is generally weak. For monthly mean values, this source of error should be fairly small, since the turbulence fluctuations are random, and the average ascent rate should be close to the assumed rate for an average composed of approximately 30 observations.
The original PACS-SONET configuration, consisted of 12 pilot balloon sites. The stations were established during April and May of 1997 in Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, together with one radiosonde station on Cocos Island in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The intended duration of the observations was 6 months, ideally extending through October, and close to the end of the rainy season in much of Central America. The pilot balloon soundings were made twice-daily at all sites. This permits an assessment of the uncertainties inherent in climatological upper-air wind analyses that are generally based upon only once-daily soundings.
Shortly after the first stations were established in April 1997, it became apparent that a significant warm event in the eastern and central Pacific was developing. By mid-summer, the extreme magnitude of the event had become apparent. This led to two conclusions: 1) the observations being made during the summer of 1997 would be very anomalous over Central America, thus putting into question the extrapolation of potential scientific findings to other years, and 2) there existed the possibility of obtaining an unprecedented data set to describe the evolution of the windfield associated with the developing El Niño. Therefore, the observational plan was modified to: 1) extend the observational period at many stations through the end of October 1998, 2) establish additional pilot balloon stations in Ecuador and Peru to better sample conditions in the region of anticipated heavy rainfall, and 3) include the installation of several hundred inexpensive raingauges in coastal Ecuador and Peru. The last activity was necessary to assure adequate measurement of daily rainfall for comparison with pilot balloon and satellite observations. The financial, logistical, and technical difficulties involved in establishing and expanding the network (ultimately to 17 pilot balloon sites) is described in this section.
Because the warm season rainfall over Central America was observed to be well below normal, and it was apparent that El Niño was modifying the normal conditions, it was considered desirable to make observations during a more normal warm season. This would not only more closely satisfy the original objectives of the project, but also provide an excellent comparison with the 1997 El Niño summer. Thus, plans were made to extend the observation program until the end of October 1998, which is close to the end of the rainy season over Central America. Thus, two complete rainy seasons will have been observed by PACS-SONET. The principal difficulty in extending the observations for another year was related to the cost of the additional observations. To manage this, we had to reduce the observations from twice- to once-daily. However, even this created considerable budgetary difficulties, due to the short notice that was given to the funding agency.
After about 45 mostly successful launches, we experienced difficulties with the operation of the radiosonde system on Cocos Island. Based on these difficulties, it was decided to eliminate the radiosonde observations there; a step that saved some $20-25,000. The elimination was deemed justifiable, since the loss of winds from the majority of the radiosonde sites in the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America (due to the shutdown of the Omega system on Sept 30, 1997) had already left huge gaps in the radiosonde network. Thus, the Cocos observations would not have been especially useful to estimate typical NCEP analysis uncertainty over this data void, since any difference between the analyses and the Cocos observations could be ascribed to the lack of neighboring stations to help initialize the analyses. Also, given the anomalous year, the Cocos soundings would not describe a "normal" boundary layer downwind of the zone of cold ocean temperatures along the Equator (the oceanic "cold tongue"), which was an additional PACS-SONET objective.
By October 1997 it was apparent that the El Niño event was comparable to one during 1982-3, and that heavy rains might again affect the northern region of Peru. During the 1982-3 event there were no regular radiosonde or other wind sounding systems anywhere in the coastal region of Peru (north of Lima), or in any part of Ecuador. This lack of atmospheric soundings has limited the meteorological interpretation and explanation of the distribution of heavy rainfall associated with the 1982-3 event. Since such strong El Niño events are quite rare, we deemed it wise not to pass up this opportunity for sampling a rare phenomenon, especially since a basic sounding network was already in place in Ecuador and Peru.
During the 1982-3 El Niño there was a large north-south gradient in the rainfall along the Peruvian coast, with Piura, Peru receiving more than 2000 mm over the 6 month period of rains, while Trujillo, only 300 km to the south, received no rainfall. To measure the north-south variations in the windfield we decided to establish additional pilot balloon stations at Tumbes, Trujillo, Chiclayo and Ancon2. (Ancon2 was to partially replace the lost winds from the Lima Omega-based radiosonde station.) A site was also established at Iquitos, in the Amazon Basin, which when coupled with the wind observations along the coast, and at San Cristobal in the Galapagos Islands, would better describe east-west windfield variations. In Ecuador, additional sites were established on the coast at Ancon (near Salinas), and at Portoviejo.
There were a number of cases where there was conflicting date and time information in the provided data files. Contacts at San Jose were able to verify some of the information, but not all.
The soundings that are labeled at the following times were unable to be verified by San Jose:
The soundings that are labeled at the following times were verified by San Jose:
Ciesielski, P. E., R. H. Johnson, and J. Wang, 2009: Correction of Humidity Biases in Vaisala RS80-H Sondes during NAME. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 26, 1763-1780.
CICESE, cited 2005: Página del Barco Oceanográfico Francisco de Ulloa [Available online from http://oceanografia.cicese.mx/fcoulloa/].
Douglas, M., Fernandez, W., and Pena, M., 1996: "The Design And Evolution of the PACS-SONET Observing System in Latin America", PACS-SONET Preprint
EOL, cited 2005a: NCAR/ATD/SSSF - Facility Descriptions - CLASS [Available online from http://www.atd.ucar.edu/rtf/facilities/class/class.html].
EOL, cited 2005b: NCAR/ATD Facility Description - ISS [Available online from http://www.atd.ucar.edu/rtf/facilities/iss/iss.html].
IMN, cited 2005: Instituto Meteorológico Nacional [Available online from http://www.imn.ac.cr].
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.
NWS, 1991: Micro-ART Observation and Rework Programs Technical Document, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, D.C., March 1991.
PACS-SONET, cited 2005: PACS SOunding NETwork [Available online from http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/projects/pacs/].
SMN, cited 2005: CNA, Servicio Meteorológico Nacional [Available online from http://smn.cna.gob.mx/].
SRP, cited 2005: The Salt River Project Home Page [Available online from http://www.srpnet.com/].
UNAM, cited 2005: [Available online from http://data.eol.ucar.edu/datafile/nph-get/82.143/Reporte-ECAC-5.doc].
Wade, C. G., 1995: Calibration and data reduction problems affecting National Weather Service radiosonde humidity measurements. Preprints, Ninth Symposium on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation, Charlotte, NC, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 37-42.
Williams, S. F., C. G. Wade, and C. Morel, 1993: A comparison of high resolution radiosonde winds: 6-second Micro-ART winds versus 10-second CLASS LORAN winds. Preprints, Eighth Symposium on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation, Anaheim, California, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 60-65.
Williams, S. F., S. M. Loehrer, and D. R. Gallant, 1998: Computation of high-resolution National Weather Service rawinsonde winds. Preprints, Tenth Symposium on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation, Phoenix, AZ, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 387-391.