Sign in to view source links and access this dataset
Description
Historical upper air meteorological data extracted from the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) under international agreement. The dataset contains mandatory and significant level observations including pressure, height, temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed and direction. It was compiled by the National Meteorological Center (now NCEP) and archived by the National Climatic Data Center, with general collection starting in September 1963 for the Northern Hemisphere and ending in December 1970.
Use Cases
Analyzing long-term trends in upper air temperature and humidity from the 1960s.
Studying historical wind speed and direction patterns at mandatory and significant pressure levels.
Validating climate reanalysis products using observed pressure and height data from the GTS network.
Investigating hemispheric differences in atmospheric parameters, as Southern Hemisphere station coverage began later in mid-1966.
Strengths
Covers a defined historical period from September 1963 to December 1970.
Includes multiple key atmospheric parameters: pressure, height, temperature, humidity, and wind.
Data was collected under international agreement via the Global Telecommunications System, suggesting standardized reporting.
Limitations
Temporal coverage ends in 1970, making the data over 50 years old and potentially stale for contemporary analysis.
Station coverage is inconsistent, with Southern Hemisphere data generally unavailable until mid-1966 or later.
The period of record varies from station to station, complicating time-series analysis for specific locations.
Provenance
Source
National Meteorological Center (NMC), now the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), part of the US National Weather Service.
Collection Method
Observations were extracted from the Global Telecommunications System (GTS), which collects data transmitted under international agreement.
Time Range
September 1963 to December 1970, with variable start dates per station.
Freshness
null
Geography
Global, with Northern Hemisphere coverage starting in 1963 and Southern Hemisphere coverage generally from mid-1966.
Data is archived as historical digital dataset DSI-6202; users may need to consult NCDC/NCEI for specific access protocols and potential data format details.