High resolution dropsonde data: data set description page


Data set source
Information on available Data
Quality Control Processing
Data format
References
Data selection page
High resolution data from research aircraft dropsoundings.

Data set source

  • LEAR 36
  • NOAA Gulfstream IV
  • NOAA P-3
  • UK C-130
  • US C-130


    • Information on available data in the FASTEX Central Archive

    Code AircraftNumber of flights Number of soundings Last Update
    LEAR36 Lear-36 jet aircraft 13 220 980511
    NOAA-GIV NOAA Gulfstream IV jet aircraft 16 498 980507
    NOAA-P3 NOAA P-3 Orion turboprop aircraft 2 31 980507
    UK-C130 UK C130 turboprop aircraft 11 439 990511
    US-C1307 US C130-AF967 turboprop aircraft 1 8 971201
    US-C1308 US C130-AF968 turboprop aircraft 8 100 971201
  • the position of the different dropsondes launchings during FASTEX.
  • additional information .


    • Quality Control Processing

  • LEAR36, NOAA-GIV, NOAA-P3 dropsondings:
    These soundings include the correction applied by NCAR/SSSF to correct for the incorrect usage of the internal radiosonde temperature rather than the ambient temperature to correct the reported relative humidity values.
  • Data providers validation:
    The UK-C130 dataset was validated by the University of Reading (UK) before sending it to the FASTEX Archive.
  • UCAR/JOSS Procedures:
    for the LEAR36, NOAA-GIV, NOAA-P3, US-C1307, US-C1308 and UK-C130: automated quality control procedures (gross limit checks and vertical consistency checks) and visual quality control procedures (available since November 97, except June 98 for the UK-C130).
  • FASTEX Central archive checking
    Skew-T plots of each sounding are produced and manually reviewed for internal consistency.


    • Data format

    All upper air soundings were converted to the UCAR/JOSS CLASS Format (OCF). OCF is an ASCII format consisting of 15 header records for each sounding followed by the data records with associated QC information.

    References

    Herzegh, P. H., 1988: Formulation of output parameters for PAM II CMF data. Field Observing Facility, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO.
    Hess, S. L., 1959: Introduction to Theoretical Meteorology. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 362 pp.
    Holton, J.R., 1979: An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology. Academic Press, 391 pp.
    Snyder, J. P., 1987: Map Projections - A Working Manual. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1395, 383 pp.
    Updated: 11 May 1999

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