Radiosonde Data of North America Software

  
 

The access software for the Radiosonde Data of North America 1946-1996 CD ROM set can be downloaded from the links provided below. This software is packaged with the CD ROM set whenever it is purchased but also made available here as an alternate source. Be sure to read the file readme.doc first as it provides further information on which files will be of use to you based on the platform you are running the CD ROMs in, whether you are analyzing the data and other factors. The update CDROM includes data for pressures below 100mb for the period 1994 through 1997 and requires version 2 software which can be found at the NCDC Radiosonde Data Archive. Please note that data collected since the most recent CD can be found at the Radiosonde Database Access site.


 
 

RAOB Software (for data access)

Download the necessary cd rom software and data files given below. Prior to downloading you will probably want to set up subdirectories for storing the downloaded files, particularly for DOS. For DOS discussions we will use "C:\RAOBS", and "C:\RAOBS\RAOB93" where "RAOB93" is a subdirectory of "RAOBS".

Downloads: 		 
 

SHARP Software (for data graphics/analysis)

For DOS users: Set up directories either on a disk or on a hard drive. The following commands use C:\RAOBS and C:\RAOBS\RAOB93\. SHARP software is a National Weather Service Product for analyzing data files extracted from this CD set. Some care will need to be taken to assure that the executable directory and data directory are correctly defined. "SOUNDING" is the program to execute, and an important data file is "CURRENT.DAT".

For UNIX users: UNIX systems use the following "tar" data files:

File Name System
ALPHA_v5.1.tar ALPHA
DEC_v1.4.1.tar DEC-RISC
HP_v1.5.tar HP-9000
IBM_RISC_v1.4.tar IBM RISC/6000
NeXT_v1.4.tar NeXT
SGI_v1.4.tar SGI
SUN_v1.5.tar SUN Sparc

The following command can be used to un"tar" the received data file on a Unix workstation. If you experience problems, consult your system's documentation of tar.
tar -xvf SUN_V1.4.tar

Downloads:
 
 

Caveats and Suggestions for using SHARP:

  1. Extract one station for one hour at a time from the CD set. A minimum extraction must include mandatory and significant levels.
  2. Extracted file names must be in the form mmddyyhh.SID. for example, Raleigh, NC data for June 5, 1990 at 12Z has a file name of JU059012.RDU. If the file name format differs, you may have problems analyzing it.
  3. The file name for July files is incorrect. The first to characters will be JL when extracted, and must be renamed to JY.
  4. The error message Unknown Station Identifier is caused by the AFOS header in the data file not agreeing with the record in the file LOCATION.DAT. The AFOS character is a 9 character line that precedes the TTAA and TTBB data. The solution is to edit the file either deleting the lines or revising the line to agree with the LOCATION.DAT record.
  5. The error message Subscript Out of Range line 100 Decoder 4 is caused by there being too many significant levels in the TTBB portion. A solution to this is to edit the data file, reducing the number of 5 digit groups to 98 (9 full lines and the 10th line with 8 groups).
  6. Other error causing conditions are missing tropopause, and/or missingmax wind level. The tropopause level is an 88 level in the mandatory (TTAA) portion. To add it, enter 88999. The max wind level is a 77 level in the mandatory (TTAA) portion. To add it enter 77999.
  7. Other more subtle problems occur when data levels are out of sequence. Correcting this requires being able to interpret the encoding format.
  8. Soundings prior to the 1980's do not have wind data.
  9. Overflow errors when selecting the SKEW T option or HODOGRAPH option are caused by the mouse driver being in high memory. Loading the driver in low memory should correct the problem.
  10. Some older inactive stations are not in the LOCATION.DAT file and must be added in order for the SHARP software to recognize it.