NASA GHRC Collaboration between NASA MSFC and The University of Alabama in Huntsville
  • Access Data
    • Dataset List (HyDRO)
      • View a list of all GHRC dataset holdings using our custom search tool, HyDRO.
    • Search (HyDRO)
      • HyDRO is GHRC's custom dataset search and order tool.

        With HyDRO, you can search, discover, and filter GHRC's dataset holdings.

        HyDRO will also help you find information about browse imagery, access restrictions, and dataset guide documents.
    • NASA Earthdata Search
      • Earthdata is NASA's next generation metadata and service discovery tool, providing search and access capabilities for dataset holdings at all of the Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) including the GHRC.
    • Latest Data (HyDRO)
      • View the latest additions to our data holdings using HyDRO.
  • Measurements
  • Field Campaigns
    • Hurricane Science
      • GHRC has worked with NASA's Hurricane Science Research Program (HSRP) since the 1990's. We are the archive and distribution center for data collected during HSRP field campaigns, as well as the recent Hurricane Science and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) Earth Venture mission. Field campaigns provide for intensive observation of specific phenomena using a variety of instruments on aircraft, satellites and surface networks.

        GHRC also hosts a database of Atlantic and Pacific tropical storm tracks derived from the storm data published by the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
    • HS3 (2012-14)
      • Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) is an Earth Ventures – Suborbital 1 mission aimed at better understanding the physical processes that control hurricane intensity change, addressing questions related to the roles of environmental conditions and internal storm structures to storm intensification.

        A variety of in-situ, satellite observations, airborne data, meteorological analyses, and simulation data were collected with missions over the Atlantic in August and September of three observation years (2012, 2013, 2014). These data are available at GHRC beginning in 2015.
    • GRIP (2010)
      • The Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment was a NASA Earth science field experiment in 2010 that was conducted to better understand how tropical storms form and develop into major hurricanes.

        The GRIP deployment was 15 August – 30 September 2010 with bases in Ft. Lauderdale, FL for the DC-8, at Houston, TX for the WB-57, and at NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, CA for the Global Hawk.
    • TC4 (2007)
      • The NASA TC4 (Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling) mission investigated the structure and properties of the chemical, dynamic, and physical processes in atmosphere of the tropical Eastern Pacific.

        TC4 was based in San Jose, Costa Rica during July 2007.

        The Real Time Mission Monitor provided simultaneous aircraft status for three aircraft during the TC4 experiment. During TC4, the NASA ER-2, WB-57 and DC-8 aircraft flew missions at various times. The science flights were scheduled between 17 July and 8 August 2007.
    • NAMMA (2006)
      • The NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) campaign was a field research investigation based in the Cape Verde Islands, 350 miles off the coast of Senegal in west Africa.

        Commenced in August 2006, NASA scientists employed surface observation networks and aircraft to characterize the evolution and structure of African Easterly Waves (AEWs) and Mesoscale Convective Systems over continental western Africa, and their associated impacts on regional water and energy budgets.
    • TCSP (2005)
      • The Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes (TCSP) mission was an Earth science field research investigation focused on the study of the dynamics and thermodynamics of precipitating cloud systems and tropical cyclones. TCSP was conducted during the period July 1-27, 2005 out of the Juan Santamaria Airfield in San Jose, Costa Rica.

        The TCSP field experiment flew 12 NASA ER-2 science flights, including missions to Hurricanes Dennis and Emily, Tropical Storm Gert and an eastern Pacific mesoscale complex that may possibly have further developed into Tropical Storm Eugene.
    • ACES (2002)
      • The Altus Cumulus Electrification Study (ACES) was aimed at better understanding the causes and effects of electrical storms.

        Based at the Naval Air Station Key West in Florida, researchers in August 2002 chased down thunderstorms using an uninhabited aerial vehicle, or "UAV", allowing them to achieve dual goals of gathering weather data safely and testing new aircraft technology. This marked the first time a UAV was used to conduct lightning research.
    • CAMEX-4 (2001)
      • The Convection And Moisture EXperiment (CAMEX) was a series of NASA-sponsored hurricane science field research investigations. The fourth field campaign in the CAMEX series (CAMEX-4) was held in 16 August - 24 September, 2001 and was based out of Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Florida.

        CAMEX-4 was focused on the study of tropical cyclone (hurricane) development, tracking, intensification, and landfalling impacts using NASA-funded aircraft and surface remote sensing instrumentation.
    • CAMEX-3 (1998)
      • The Convection And Moisture EXperiment (CAMEX) is a series of hurricane science field research investigations sponsored by NASA. The third field campaign in the CAMEX series (CAMEX-3) was based at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida from 6 August - 23 September, 1998.

        CAMEX-3 successfully studied Hurricanes Bonnie, Danielle, Earl and Georges, yielding data on hurricane structure, dynamics, and motion. CAMEX-3 collected data for research in tropical cyclone development, tracking, intensification, and landfalling impacts using NASA-funded aircraft and surface remote sensing instrumentation.
    • GPM Ground Validation
      • The NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) Ground Validation (GV) program includes the following field campaigns:

        a) LPVEx, Gulf of Finland in autumn 2010, to study rainfall in high latitude environments

        b) MC3E, cental Oklahoma spring and early summer 2011, to develop a complete characterization of convective cloud systems, precipitation and the environment

        c) GCPEx, Ontario, Canada winter of 2011-2012, direct and remove sensing observations, and coordinated model simulations of precipitating snow.

        d) IFloodS, Iowa, spring and early summer 2013, to study the relative roles of rainfall quantities and other factors in flood genesis.

        e) IPHEx, N. Carolina Appalachians/Piedmont region May-June 2014, for hydrologic validation over varied topography.

        f) OLYMPEx, Washington's Olympic Peninsula scheduled November 2015-February 2016, for hydrologic validation in extreme coastal and topographic gradients
    • OLYMPEX (Upcoming)
      • The OLYMPEX field campaign is scheduled to take place between November, 2015, and February, 2016, on the Olympic Peninsula in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

        This field campaign will provide ground-based validation support of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite program that is a joint effort between NASA and JAXA.

        As for all GPM-GV campaigns, the GHRC will provide a collaboration portal to help investigators exchange planning information and to support collection of real-time data as well as mission science, project and instrument status reports during the campaign.
    • IPHEx (2014)
      • The Integrated Precipitation and Hydrology Experiment (IPHEx) was conducted in North Carolina during the months of April-June, 2014.

        IPHEx sought to characterize warm season orographic precipitation regimes, and the relationship between precipitation regimes and hydrologic processes in regions of complex terrain.
    • IFLOODs (2013)
      • The Iowa Flood Studies (IFloodS) experiment was conducted in the central to northeastern part of Iowa in Midwestern United States during the months of April-June, 2013.

        IFloodS' primary goal was to discern the relative roles of rainfall quantities such as rate and accumulation as compared to other factors (e.g. transport of water in the drainage network) in flood genesis.
    • GCPEX (2011-2012)
      • The GPM Cold-season Precipitation Experiment (GCPEx) occurred in Ontario, Canada during the winter season (Jan 15- Feb 26) of 2011-2012.

        GCPEx addressed shortcomings in GPM snowfall retrieval algorithm by collecting microphysical properties, associated remote sensing observations, and coordinated model simulations of precipitating snow. Collectively the GCPEx data set provides a high quality, physically-consistent and coherent data set suited to the development and testing of GPM snowfall retrieval algorithm physics.
    • MC3E (2011)
      • The Mid-latitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) took place in central Oklahoma during the April–June 2011 period.

        The overarching goal was to provide the most complete characterization of convective cloud systems, precipitation, and the environment that has ever been obtained, providing constraints for model cumulus parameterizations and space-based rainfall retrieval algorithms over land that had never before been available.
    • LPVEx (2010)
      • The Light Precipitation Evaluation Experiment (LPVEx) took place in the Gulf of Finland in September and October, 2010 and collected microphysical properties, associated remote sensing observations, and coordinated model simulations of high latitude precipitation systems to drive the evaluation and development of precipitation algorithms for current and future satellite platforms.

        In doing so, LPVEx sought to address the general lack of dedicated ground-validation datasets from the ongoing development of new or improved algorithms for detecting and quantifying high latitude rainfall
  • Projects
    • HS3 Suborbital Mission
      • Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) is an Earth Ventures – Suborbital 1 mission aimed at better understanding the physical processes that control hurricane intensity change, addressing questions related to the roles of environmental conditions and internal storm structures to storm intensification.
    • DISCOVER - MEaSUREs
      • DISCOVER was funded by NASA’s MEaSUREs program to provide highly accurate, multi-decadal geophysical products derived from satellite microwave sensors.
    • LIS Mission
      • Lightning observations from the Lightning Imaging Sensors (LIS) aboard the NASA’s TRMM satellite and International Space Station, as well as airborne observations and ground validation data.
    • SANDS
      • The SANDS project addressed Gulf of Mexico Alliance priority issues by generating enhanced imagery from MODIS and Landsat data to identify suspended sediment resulting from tropical cyclones. These tropical cyclones have significantly altered normal coastal processes and characteristics in the Gulf region through sediment disturbance.
    • LANCE AMSR2
      • The Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE) system provides access to near real-time data (less than 3 hours from observation) from AIRS, AMSR2, MLS, MODIS, and OMI instruments. LANCE AMSR2 products are generated by the AMSR Science Investigator-led Processing System at the GHRC.
  • Resources
    • Tools & Technologies
      • A collection of tools & technologies developed and/or used by GHRC.
    • Publications
      • View GHRC & ITSC publications on the ITSC website
    • Innovations Lab
      • The GHRC Innovations Lab is a showcase for emerging geoinformatics technologies resulting from NASA-sponsored research at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
    • Educational Resources
      • A list of resources from NASA, MSFC, and other sources for teachers and students focused on global change, hydrology, and science education.
    • Referencing our data
      • GHRC dataset citation help and examples.
    • Documents
      • Documentation related to GHRC datasets, software, and other offerings.
    • Glossary
      • Terms and their definitions
    • Featured items
      • The latest tools from GHRC.
  • Multimedia
  • About
    • Welcome
      • Local resources, lodging information, and weather to help you plan your visit to GHRC.
    • GHRC Personnel
      • A list to help you keep in touch with our personnel
    • FAQ
      • Frequently Asked Questions about GHRC data and services, and their answers.
    • Data Citations and Acknowledgements
      • GHRC dataset citation help and examples
  • Cite Us
  • Contact Us
feedback
DOCUMENTATION

Documentation

Guide Documents

Dataset PI Documents

Dataset Software

NAMMA Praia Cape Verde Radiosonde

Table of Contents

Introduction
Campaign
Principles of operation		 File Naming Convention
Data Format
Contact Information

Introduction

A radiosonde is just like a dropsonde, except it is not dropped from an airplane, it is launched upward into the atmosphere using a balloon. Measurements are taken on both the ascent and descent. The instrument measures the ambient pressure, temperature, relative humidity, as well as high resolution vertical measurements, accurate GPS altitudes, and detailed wind direction and speed.

Radiosondes were released from Praia, Cape Verde. The first radiosonde was released on August 18, 2006 at 1707 UTC. A radiosonde was released every four hours through September 9.  Radiosonde releases resumed on September 10 at 1553 UTC but on a reduced release schedule of one per six hours. The last radiosonde was released on September 14 at 1132 UTC. In all there were 153 releases. The radiosonde flight log can be view here.

Campaign

These data files were generated during support of the NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) campaign, a field research investigation sponsored by the Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This mission was based in the Cape Verde Islands, 350 miles off the coast of Senegal in west Africa. Commencing in August 2006, NASA scientists employed surface observation networks and aircraft to characterize the evolution and structure of African Easterly Waves (AEWs) and Mesoscale Convective Systems over continental western Africa, and their associated impacts on regional water and energy budgets. For more information about the NAMMA Campaign, go to the NAMMA web site: http://namma.nsstc.nasa.gov/

Principles of operation

The radiosonde transmits its data to a ground-based telemetry system (antenna and receiver). This telemetry system receives the signals and forwards them to another module (signal processing system) to be decoded into meteorological units. Data are then passed to a computer for collection of data for the entire sounding and formulation of the observation products. When the balloon reaches it elastic limit and bursts, a parachute slows the descent of the radiosonde to the ground. Data are collected on both the ascent and descent.

The radiosondes released during the NAMMA campaign were Sippican MK IIa 403 MHz type with metalized chip thermistors and the ubiquitous Sippican resistive carbon relative humidity sensor. The balloons used were 350 gram with an expected burst pressure of 30-40 hPa. Originally, it was intended to release one chilled mirror radiosonde once each evening simultaneous with the MK IIa, to obtain more accurate relative humidity profiles. However, only 12 profiles were obtained. This document will supply a more detailed description of the radiosondes: ftp://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/pub/doc/namma/namradio/namma_praia-radiosonde_description.pdf

File Naming Conventions

Data

The Praia radiosonde vertical profile data are in ASCII text files of two types, ascent and descent. The files are named:

namma_praia-radiosonde_YYYYMMDD_hhmmZ_data_<type>t_L2.txt

where,

YYYYMMDD = the UTC balloon release date as year-month-day, and
hhmm = the UTC balloon release time in hours-minutes, and
<type> = either ascent or descent

Browse

Browse images of the following types are also available in gif format:

NAMMA Praia-Radiosonde Skew-T Graph
NAMMA Praia-Radiosonde Balloon Trajectory Plot
NAMMA Praia-Radiosonde Total Precipitable Water Plot
NAMMA Praia-Radiosonde Wind Speed/Direction Plot

Example files:

namma_praia-radiosonde_20060818_1707z_skewt_lev2.gif
namma_praia-radiosonde_20060818_1707Z_traj_lev2.gif
namma_praia-radiosonde_20060818_1707Z_temp_dew_ql_lev2.gif
namma_praia-radiosonde_20060818_1707Z_wind_ql_lev2.gif

There are also a number of time series plots available:

NAMMA Praia-Radiosonde Temperature Time Series Plot
NAMMA Praia-Radiosonde Relative Humidity Time Series Plot
NAMMA Praia-Radiosonde u Component Wind Time Series Plot
NAMMA Praia-Radiosonde v Component Wind Time Series Plot
NAMMA Praia-Radiosonde Wind Vector Time Series Plot

Example files:

namma_praia-radiosonde_precipwater-timeseries.gif
namma_praia-radiosonde_relhumid-timeseries.gif
namma_praia-radiosonde_u-component-timeseries.gif
namma_praia-radiosonde_v-component-timeseries.gif
namma_praia-radiosonde_windspeed-timeseries.gif
namma_praia-radiosonde_windvector-timeseries.gif

Data Format

Below are two tables describing the radiosonde data. The user needs to be aware that there are two format sections: one for the up leg-tracked data and the second for the down leg track.

All radiosonde flights are tracked down to as low an altitude as allowed by the system. The data record at the point where the descent occurs has been split from the full file and designated "descent". The up track has been designated as "ascent".

Table 1 describes the header format of the file, which actually is the Metadata. Table 2 describes the data file contents and its format. The data file is in two parts. Part 1 is the up leg track data and part 2 is the down leg track. The up leg and down leg tracks are identified by the designator’s ‘ASCENT’ and ‘DESCENT’.

TABLE 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRAIA RADIOSONDE DATA FILE HEADER INFORMATION AND METADATA.

Record Line No. Record content Record Description
1 Balloon / radiosonde release date UTC date of detected sonde release based on host PC clock in month-day-year format (MM/DD/YY)
2 Flight identification internal ground station track identification assigned to all files
3 Radiosonde type edited manufacturer’s radiosonde model
4 Radiosonde serial number manufacturer’s radiosonde serial number
5 Station location sub-heading information sub-header only
6 Station latitude latitude of balloon release site in decimal degrees
7 Station longitude longitude of balloon release site in decimal degrees
8 Station height the balloon release site height in meters above mean sea level
9 Balloon release time the ground station identified balloon release time in UTC based on the host PC clock in hours-minutes-seconds format (hh:mm:ss) [Note: this is generally the time of the first frame aloft for the Sippican tracking software]
10 Flight termination time the ground station identified flight termination time in UTC based on the host PC clock in hours-minutes-seconds format (hh:mm:ss) [Note: this time will generally NOT be the balloon burst time, but will represent the identified time of loss of track or when the operator manually ends the flight track]
11 Surface data sub-heading information sub-header only
12 Surface pressure observation surface pressure reading from AIR hand-held barometer; generally taken at 15 minutes prior to release
13 Surface temperature observation surface temperature (dry bulb) reading from the sling psychrometer; generally taken at 15 minutes prior to release
14 Surface relative humidity surface relative humidity determined from the sling psychrometer reading; generally taken at 15 minutes prior to release
15 Surface wind direction surface wind direction reading; usually obtained at 15 minutes prior to release
16 Surface wind speed surface wind speed reading; usually obtained at 15 minutes prior to release
17 Flight segment indicator that this data file contains either the “ascent” or “descent” portion of the radiosonde track
18 Filler record empty record spacer

TABLE 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRAIA RADIOSONDE DATA FORMAT

Character
Positions 		Data Field Units Character Width Format Column Heading Missing Data
001-001 filler  
1
 1 space    
002-012 Flight Time Since Launch elapsed seconds
11
 seconds.xx ElpsTime[s] -999.00
013-013 filler  
1
 1 space    
014-024 Pressure hPa
11
 fixed - 3 decimal places Press [hPa] -999.000
025-025 filler  
1
 1 space    
026-036 Temperature degrees Celsius
11
 fixed - 2 decimal places Temp [C] -999.00
037-037 filler  
1
 1 space    
038-048 Relative Humidity %
11
 fixed - 1 decimal places RH [%] -999.0
049-049 filler  
1
 1 space    
050-060 Dew Point degrees Celsius
11
 fixed - 2 decimal places Dewpt [C] -999.00
061-061 filler  
1
 1 space    
062-072 Geopotential Height meters
11
 fixed - 1 decimal places GeopHt [m] -999.0
073-073 filler  
1
 1 space    
074-084 Smoothed Wind Direction degrees
11
 fixed - 1 decimal places Dir [deg] -999.0
085-085 filler  
1
 1 space    
086-096 Smoothed Wind Speed meters per second
11
 fixed - 1 decimal places Speed [m/s] -999.0
097-097 filler  
1
 1 space    
098-108 Smoothed Wind Comp. (E/W) meters per second
11
 fixed - 1 decimal places u [m/s] -999.0
109-109 filler  
1
 1 space    
110-120 Smoothed Wind Comp. (N/S) meters per second
11
 fixed - 1 decimal places v [m/s] -999.0
121-121 filler  
1
 1 space    
122-132 UTC Time hours:minutes:seconds
11
 hrs:mins:secs.x UTC [h:m:s] -999.0
133-133 filler  
1
 1 space    
134-144 Latitude degrees
11
 fixed - 5 decimal places Lat [deg] -999.00000
145-145 filler  
1
 1 space    
146-156 Longitude degrees
11
 fixed - 5 decimal places Lon [deg] -999.00000

An example of an ASCII data "ascent" file layout can be viewed here: Ascent Data File, and an ASCII "decent" file here: Decent Data File.

A chart of the available radiosonde products can be view here: Radiosonde Product Chart

Contact Information

The data provider is:

Francis (Frank) J. Schmidlin
GSFC, Wallops Island
Francis.J.Schmidlin@nasa.gov

To order these data or for further information, please contact:

Global Hydrology Resource Center
User Services
320 Sparkman Drive
Huntsville, AL 35805
Phone: 256-961-7932
E-mail: support-ghrc@earthdata.nasa.gov
Web: http://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/

ITSC

UAH

ABOUT GHRC
Welcome
GHRC Personnel
FAQs
Data Citations and Acknowledgements

ACCESS DATA
Dataset List (HyDRO)
Search (HyDRO)
NASA Earthdata Search
Latest Data (HyDRO)

PROJECTS
HS3 Suborbital Mission
DISCOVER - MEaSUREs
LIS Mission
SANDS
LANCE AMSR2

MEASUREMENTS
Field Campaigns
Atmospheric Electricity
Precipitation
Atmospheric Water Vapor
Atmospheric Winds
Atmospheric Temperature
Cloud Hydrometeors

RESOURCES
Tools & Technologies
Publications
GHRC Innovations Lab
Educational Resources
Data Citations and Acknowledgements
Documents
Glossary
Featured Items

MULTIMEDIA
Image Gallery (Flickr)
Videos (YouTube)

NEWS
CONTACT US
RSS feed GHRC Facebook GHRC Twitter

NASA Official:
Manil Maskey

Website maintained by the
UAH ITSC Web Team

If you have trouble viewing or
navigating this page, please contact
GHRC User Services

NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
      The GHRC repository is included in the Thomson Reuters Data Citation Index The GHRC is a member of the ICSU World Data System