NOAA G-IV Dropsonde Atmospheric Profiles from the 2016 El Niño Rapid Response Campaign

NOAA's 2016 El Niño Rapid Response field campaign deployed 607 dropsondes from 22 research flights. Each dropsonde recorded vertical profiles of temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, pressure, and altitude. The data was collected by NOAA and the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) between January 21 and March 11, 2016.

Use Cases

• Analyze vertical wind shear by correlating u-wind and v-wind components with altitude and pressure.
• Model atmospheric boundary layer structure using temperature (C) and relative humidity (RH) profiles.
• Validate numerical weather prediction models by comparing observed wind speed and wind direction profiles against forecasts.
• Study descent rate variability in relation to atmospheric stability metrics derived from the PTU data.

Strengths

• 607 individual dropsonde profiles provide a detailed vertical snapshot of the atmosphere.
• High-frequency sensor data with PTU measurements at 2 Hz and wind/altitude at 4 Hz.
• Data collected during a focused 22-flight campaign targeting a specific climatic phenomenon (El Niño).

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a 50-day period in early 2016.
• Geographic scope is confined to the flight paths of the NOAA G-IV aircraft during the campaign.
• Specific data volume, file formats, and column-level metadata are not provided in the input.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Measured by Vaisala RS-92 dropsondes released from a NOAA G-IV aircraft during 22 dedicated research flights.

Time Range

2016-01-21 to 2016-03-11

Freshness

Data collection ended on 2016-03-11; it is a static research dataset.

Geography

Flight paths during the El Niño Rapid Response campaign, likely over the Pacific Ocean region influenced by El Niño.