Developing high-quality field program sounding datasets

The article describes a procedure for refining these sonde observations into legacy datasets. To realize the full benefits of field program sonde data, post processing efforts should be directed toward creating an easily readable dataset in which rigorous and well-documented quality controls have been applied. Developing a research-quality sonde dataset that is able to meet the scientific objectives of the experiment begins with high-quality observations. Creating a corrected, quality-controlled (QCed) dataset in a timely fashion is important to facilitate use of the dataset while interest is still high and funding is available. With recent improvements in radiosonde technology and ground station software, biases in temperature, pressure, and winds are generally quite small, and their measurements are of suitable quality for both weather and climate research.