Radiosonde Temperature-Baseline Inaccuracy

Stephen K. Cox University of Wisconsin, Madison

Search for other papers by Stephen K. Cox in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
James A. Maynard University of Wisconsin, Madison

Search for other papers by James A. Maynard in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
, and
Verner E. Suomi University of Wisconsin, Madison

Search for other papers by Verner E. Suomi in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Restricted access

Abstract

An analysis of tropical radiosonde temperature measurements made during the Line Island Experiment suggests that conventional radiosonde preflight procedures are inadequate in a remote tropical environment. Temperatures computed from conventional and modified baseline techniques are compared at five pressure surfaces, 1000, 800, 600, 400 and 200 mb. Temperatures obtained from the two baseline techniques showed an average deviation at 1000 mb of 0.96C for 62 soundings. These comparisons indicate that a careful examination of radiosonde calibration techniques is needed before large investments are made in future global experiments.

Abstract

An analysis of tropical radiosonde temperature measurements made during the Line Island Experiment suggests that conventional radiosonde preflight procedures are inadequate in a remote tropical environment. Temperatures computed from conventional and modified baseline techniques are compared at five pressure surfaces, 1000, 800, 600, 400 and 200 mb. Temperatures obtained from the two baseline techniques showed an average deviation at 1000 mb of 0.96C for 62 soundings. These comparisons indicate that a careful examination of radiosonde calibration techniques is needed before large investments are made in future global experiments.

Save