Global Upper Air Meteorological Data from 1946 to 1998

CARDS provides a 52-year historical record of upper atmospheric observations from weather balloons and radiosondes worldwide. The dataset, created by the U.S. National Meteorological Center and archived by NOAA NCEI, contains core meteorological parameters like pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind. Data collection ceased in 1998 after integration into the modern Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive.

Use Cases

• Analyze long-term trends in upper-air temperature and geopotential height for climate change studies.
• Study the vertical profile of atmospheric humidity and dew point depression across different regions and seasons.
• Model historical wind speed and direction patterns in the upper atmosphere for reanalysis projects.
• Investigate the quality and consistency of early global radiosonde observations via the included technical specifications and quality control parameters.
• Examine historical cloud and obscuration data to understand changes in atmospheric visibility and cloud cover over decades.

Strengths

• Covers a 52-year time range from 1946 to 1998, providing a long historical baseline.
• Includes a comprehensive set of core meteorological parameters and technical quality control flags.

Limitations

• Data collection ended in 1998, making it temporally stale for contemporary analysis.
• As an early global collection, data density and consistency may vary significantly by region and time period.
• The dataset is archived and no longer updated or actively distributed, requiring integration with newer sources for current studies.

Provenance

Source

National Meteorological Center (NMC), later National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), via the Global Telecommunications System (GTS).

Collection Method

Observational data collected globally via weather balloons and radiosondes, transmitted via GTS, and archived as part of the CARDS project.

Time Range

1946 to 1998

Freshness

Static; last updated in 1998.

Geography

Global upper air observations