Global High-Resolution Radiosonde BUFR Archive from ECMWF

ECMWF archives global upper air soundings in the WMO BUFR format, containing parameters like geopotential height, pressure, temperature, and wind data at each level. Data collection began on October 2, 2014, with monthly updates continuing to the present. Many soundings offer high vertical resolution, with reports at 1- or 2-second intervals containing up to 14,500 levels per ascent.

Use Cases

• Analyze vertical profiles of temperature and dew point temperature to study atmospheric stability and moisture content.
• Model wind speed and wind direction data across pressure levels to improve boundary layer and jet stream representations in forecasts.
• Use geopotential height and pressure fields for calibrating satellite-based atmospheric retrievals.
• Investigate temporal trends in upper-air climate variables using the time displacement metadata from long-term records.
• Apply level significance flags to filter and quality-control data for specific atmospheric layers in research.

Strengths

• High vertical resolution data, with many soundings at 1- or 2-second intervals providing thousands of levels per ascent.
• Continuous temporal coverage from October 2, 2014, to the present, supporting longitudinal climate studies.
• Global spatial coverage from the worldwide radiosonde network distributed via the GTS.

Limitations

• Some observations are at lower resolution (standard+significant levels), creating inconsistency in data density.
• The binary BUFR format requires specialized libraries or tools for decoding and access, creating a technical barrier.

Provenance

Source

European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), archived by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Data collected from the global radiosonde network and distributed via the World Meteorological Organization's Global Telecommunications System (GTS) in BUFR format.

Time Range

October 2, - present.

Freshness

Updated monthly.

Geography

Global.