Enhanced radiosonde data for studies of vertical structure

The dataset described herein consists of a set of temperature, humidity, and wind parameters that have been derived from radiosonde observations contained in IGRA. The data, along with a station list and appropriate documentation, are available from the IGRA Web page (www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ oa/cab/igra) on the NCDC Web site, and real-time updates are incorporated once a day. The dataset is intended to facilitate studies of the vertical structure of the atmosphere. The vertical gradients of potential temperature, relative humidity, and zonal and meridional wind components may assist in analyzing variations in the height of the PBL. Furthermore, the provision of actual vapor pressure and saturation vapor pressure in addition to relative humidity simplifies the task of analyzing moisture profiles in terms of various measures of humidity. Since the data cover significant portions of the global land area and contain records as long as 60 years, they provide an opportunity for studying the long-term variability of all of these characteristics. At the same time, the availability of daily updates makes it possible to place recent atmospheric conditions into historical perspective. © 2008 American Meteorological Society.