USSR Upper Air CARDS: Historical Meteorological Data 1961-1990

Historical digital meteorological upper air data set DSI-6325, archived at the National Climatic Data Center. The data was collected by the former USSR for its territory, Afghanistan, and Soviet Antarctic stations during the last 30 years of the USSR's existence, covering the period 1961-1990. It was included in the larger Comprehensive Aerological Data Set (CARDS) but was not quality controlled by the NCDC, which no longer updates or actively distributes it.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical atmospheric pressure trends based on the major parameters described.
• Studying temperature and humidity profiles over the USSR and Afghanistan for the 1961-1990 period.
• Investigating wind speed and direction patterns from Soviet-era Antarctic stations.

Strengths

• Data covers a specific 30-year historical period (1961-1990).
• Includes observations from a defined geographic scope: USSR, Afghanistan, and Soviet Antarctic stations.
• Was incorporated into the larger, quality-controlled CARDS dataset (DSI-6305).

Limitations

• The dataset (DSI-6325) itself was not quality controlled at the NCDC.
• Last updated 1990-12-31 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), NOAA.

Collection Method

Collected by the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Time Range

1961-1990

Freshness

Historical archive; not updated since 1990.

Geography

Former USSR, Afghanistan, Soviet stations in Antarctica.