Historical Upper Air Meteorological Data for Hong Kong (1956-1990)

Hong Kong Upper Air is a historical meteorological dataset containing upper air observations from 1956 to 1990. The data was archived by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) as part of the larger Comprehensive Aerological Data Set (CARDS) but was not quality controlled at the source. Major parameters include pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed and direction.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term trends in upper air temperature and pressure over Hong Kong to study climate change.
• Modeling historical wind speed and direction patterns for atmospheric dynamics research.
• Comparing relative humidity profiles from this dataset with modern satellite observations for validation studies.

Strengths

• Data covers a 35-year time range from 1956 to 1990.
• Parameters are well-defined, including pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind.

Limitations

• The dataset itself was not quality controlled by the NCDC, unlike its parent dataset DSI-6305.
• Data is temporally stale, with the last update in 1990.
• The original description advises most users to request the quality-controlled parent dataset DSI-6305 instead.

Provenance

Source

National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), part of NOAA_NCEI.

Collection Method

Archived as historical digital dataset DSI-6318, assembled from smaller data sets.

Time Range

1956 to 1990

Freshness

1990-12-31

Geography

Hong Kong (former British colony).