Ralph, F. Martin; Wilson, Anna M.; Demirdjian, Reuben; Alden, Douglas; Hecht, Chad; Ellis, Carolyn J.; Kawzenuk, Brian; Cannon, Forest; Cooper, Ava; Paulsson, Kerstin (2021). Radiosonde Data Collected During California Storms. UC San Diego Library Digital Collections. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.6075/J09P31S0

Rationale for data collection: Radiosondes are released during atmospheric river conditions (integrated vapor transport exceeding 250 kg/ms) or to coincide with Atmospheric River Reconnaissance flights.

Stations:
USBOD = Bodega Bay, CA; 38.3 N 123.1 W
USCAT = Catalina Island, CA; 33.4 N 118.5 W
USSAL = Salton Sea, CA; 33.2 N 115.9 W
USSIO = Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA; 32.9 N 117.3 W
USUKI = Ukiah, CA; 39.1 N 123.1 W
USYUB = Marysville, CA; 39.2 N 121.5 W

The raw data from the Vaisala radiosondes, which were originally in .mwx format, have been processed into .txt files and made available here.

Details for each directory in the archive are as follows:
Text files: Text file for each radiosonde launch including data for every level that was qualified as good data by sounding software. Filenames are formatted as station_yyyymmdd_hhmn.txt. Columns are year, month, day, hour, minute, seconds, pressure (hPa), temperature (C), dew point (C), wind direction, wind speed (m/s), height (m), latitude, longitude
Skew-Ts: Image files for all radiosonde launches, created by CW3E. Filenames are formatted as station_yyyymmdd_hhmn.png
Bufr: Raw bufr files output from sounding software for all radiosonde launches.
GTS_Files: Text files for all radiosonde launches decoded in WMO format for ingest in the GTS. Filenames are formatted as station_yyyymmdd_hhmn.txt.

• 2016 to 2021

• 2021

• Alden, Douglas
• Cooper, Ava
• Demirdjian, Reuben
• Ellis, Carolyn
• Hecht, Chad
• Paulsson, Kerstin

• Ralph, F. Martin

• Wilson, Anna M.

• Cannon, Forest

• Kawzenuk, Brian

We coordinate with the Atmospheric River Reconnaissance forecasting team during that campaign. Otherwise, we use ensemble forecasts of IVT (e.g., the AR landfall tool (Cordeira and Ralph, 2021)) to identify events to sample. During sampling, we obtain permission from the Federal Aviation Administration and local airports via filing Notice to Airmen to release unmanned free balloons. Balloons are filled with helium using the process described in Vaisala's manuals. Releases may or may not include parachutes. As of 2019, ascent and descent profiles are processed and provided to global operational numerical weather prediction models via the Global Telecommunications System. Profiles are also shared with National Weather Service Weather Forecast Offices throughout Western Region.

We use Vaisala radiosondes, models that may be either RS41-SG or RS41-SGP. Software used is Digicora Sounding Software MW41 made by Vaisala.

USACE grant W912HZ-19-2-0023
USACE grant W912HZ-15-2-0019

• Bodega Bay (Calif.)
• La Jolla (San Diego, Calif.)
• Marysville (Calif.)
• Salton Sea (Calif.)
• Santa Catalina Island (Calif.)
• Scripps Institute of Oceanography
• Ukiah (Calif.)

• Atmospheric river
• Orographic precipitation
• Precipitation

Polygon: 33.2,-115.9 32.9,-117.3 33.4,-118.5 38.3,-123.1 39.1,-123.1 39.2,-121.5 33.2,-115.9

• data

• English

Identifier: Anna M. Wilson: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7342-1955

Identifier: Brian Kawzenuk: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1194-4296

Identifier: Carolyn Ellis: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0901-1545

Identifier: Chad Hecht: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8357-3263

Identifier: F. Martin Ralph: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0870-6396

Identifier: Forest Cannon: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2520-3790

Doi: https://doi.org/10.6075/J09P31S0

Primary associated publication

• Mascioli, N. R., Evan, A. T., & Ralph, F. M. (2021). Influence of dust on precipitation during landfalling atmospheric rivers in an idealized framework. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 126, e2021JD034813. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JD034813

Other resource

• Center For Western Weather and Water Extremes (cw3e.ucsd.edu)

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License

• UC Regents

Under copyright (US)

Use: This work is available from the UC San Diego Library. This digital copy of the work is intended to support research, teaching, and private study.

Constraint(s) on Use: This work is protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Use of this work beyond that allowed by "fair use" or any license applied to this work requires written permission of the copyright holder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and any use and distribution of this work rests exclusively with the user and not the UC San Diego Library. Inquiries can be made to the UC San Diego Library program having custody of the work.

Research Data Curation Program, UC San Diego, La Jolla, 92093-0175 (https://lib.ucsd.edu/rdcp)

2022-10-03