Arctic Marine Rawinsonde Archive 1976-1996

NCEP/NCAR Arctic Marine Rawinsonde Archive provides 17,659 atmospheric soundings from the region north of 65 degrees North. This dataset, created by NASA from the National Center for Atmospheric Research archive, covers a 21-year period from 1976 to 1996. It complements land-based and drifting station Arctic atmospheric records.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical vertical profiles of temperature, pressure, and humidity over the Arctic Ocean.
• Studying long-term trends in atmospheric winds and geopotential height for climate modeling.
• Complementing land-station and Russian drifting station data to create a more complete picture of Arctic atmospheric conditions.

Strengths

• Contains a specific count of 17,659 marine rawinsonde reports.
• Covers a defined 21-year time range from 1976 to 1996.
• Focuses on the geographically specific region north of 65 degrees North.
• Its cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData signals recognized importance.

Limitations

• The exact column structure and data schema are not provided in the available metadata.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: Data.gov lists 2026-03-12, while NASA EarthData lists 1996-06 30.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) rawinsonde archive.

Collection Method

Soundings extracted from the NCAR archive of the National Meteorological Center (now NCEP).

Time Range

1976 to 1996

Freshness

2026-03-12 23:16:24.791857

Geography

Marine region north of 65 degrees North latitude.