<p>I have contacted Dr. Larry Oolman, who is in-charge of the weather data provided at <a href="http://www.weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html</a>, regarding this issue and he has informed me that several countries have started using a new binary format which usually contains higher resolution data.<br />
He further added that there is a new site for these new sounding data, at <a href="http://www.weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/bufrraob.shtml" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/bufrraob.shtml</a>.</p>
<p>A sample sounding data from the new site is given below:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/lCwOv.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/lCwOv.png" alt="Sample sounding data" /></a></p>
<p>Which shows a vertical resolution of around 5 meters. If we assume an ascent rate of 5m/s, this means that the data is retrieved every second. Note that not all of the countries still not provide high vertical resolution data.</p>
<p>As for me, the new site does not give any data over Indian region. I have talked with an Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) staff and he has told me that they are still supplying the data in ASCII format, which must be why there's no data over India in the new site.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-16T00:50:38.807Z
Great to hear they are integrating the higher resolution data into their site, they are a great resource!  Thanks for coming back to answer your question!  I encourage you to accept it as the top answer, it certainly gives a depth of completion mine lacked!
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-15T19:15:17.217Z
2021-02-15T19:15:17.217Z
RogUE
<p>Looking for similar for another recent question, I stumbled across <a href="https://www.sparc-climate.org/data-centre/data-access/fisaps/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.sparc-climate.org/data-centre/data-access/fisaps/</a> which lists quite a few options on HVRRD (high vertical resolution radiosonde data)</p>
<p>Looks like a lot to sift through, but if your project can work for past data over the US, I found that from <a href="ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/ua/rrs-data/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/ua/rrs-data/</a> I was able to download the files and extract them using their software, resulting in data every second, typically about 5-10 meters apart... here's a clipped view with a rough idea of the type of data it has (also has v-wnd):</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/fSuqr.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/fSuqr.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Perhaps that fits your needs?</p>
<p>If not, and you can't find any useful data from the first link, maybe also try looking around <a href="https://madis-data.ncep.noaa.gov/madisPublic1/data/point/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://madis-data.ncep.noaa.gov/madisPublic1/data/point/</a> ... there's things like ACARS (commercial aircraft sounding data), MADIS data (satellite), radio profilers, etc.  Though less confident you'll find a resolution you want, never hurts to try.</p>
<p>But hopeful you'll find what you need with the HVRRD stuff!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-13T19:05:00.920Z
Sounding data for each second would be fantastic, except that my area of interest is not USA. I'm looking for data over Indian region. Anyway, I shall keep your tip in mind.
RogUE
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-14T07:39:15.780Z
Did a quick look and didn't net anything for India at high resolution :-(    I also think @gansub may be the member here who has done detailed research on Indian monsoons, so he might be able to offer somewhere to look for any one-off field campaigns that may've stored more of the data.  Hope you get it sorted out!
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-13T17:20:59.647Z
2021-02-13T17:20:59.647Z
JeopardyTempest
<p>I'm currently doing some analysis using atmospheric sounding data available at <a href="http://www.weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">University of Wyoming</a> (I assume these are from the GTS network).<br />
But, the vertical resolution of the sounding data available at University of Wyoming is very low for my use case. Except for the low vertical resolution, this data is perfect for my analysis.</p>
<p>Is there an atmospheric sounding dateset that has higher vertical resolution that I could use?</p>

<meteorology><open-data><radiosounding>
High vertical resolution atmospheric sounding data
RogUE
# High vertical resolution atmospheric sounding data

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-13)

I'm currently doing some analysis using atmospheric sounding data available at [University of Wyoming](http://www.weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html) (I assume these are from the GTS network).  
But, the vertical resolution of the sounding data available at University of Wyoming is very low for my use case. Except for the low vertical resolution, this data is perfect for my analysis.

Is there an atmospheric sounding dateset that has higher vertical resolution that I could use?

**Tags:** meteorology, open-data, radiosounding


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2021-02-15. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

I have contacted Dr. Larry Oolman, who is in-charge of the weather data provided at <http://www.weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html>, regarding this issue and he has informed me that several countries have started using a new binary format which usually contains higher resolution data.  
He further added that there is a new site for these new sounding data, at <http://www.weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/bufrraob.shtml>.

A sample sounding data from the new site is given below:
[![Sample sounding data](https://i.sstatic.net/lCwOv.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/lCwOv.png)

Which shows a vertical resolution of around 5 meters. If we assume an ascent rate of 5m/s, this means that the data is retrieved every second. Note that not all of the countries still not provide high vertical resolution data.

As for me, the new site does not give any data over Indian region. I have talked with an Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) staff and he has told me that they are still supplying the data in ASCII format, which must be why there's no data over India in the new site.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Great to hear they are integrating the higher resolution data into their site, they are a great resource!  Thanks for coming back to answer your question!  I encourage you to accept it as the top answer, it certainly gives a depth of completion mine lacked!  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-02-13. Score: 3

Looking for similar for another recent question, I stumbled across <https://www.sparc-climate.org/data-centre/data-access/fisaps/> which lists quite a few options on HVRRD (high vertical resolution radiosonde data)

Looks like a lot to sift through, but if your project can work for past data over the US, I found that from <ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/ua/rrs-data/> I was able to download the files and extract them using their software, resulting in data every second, typically about 5-10 meters apart... here's a clipped view with a rough idea of the type of data it has (also has v-wnd):

> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/fSuqr.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/fSuqr.png)

Perhaps that fits your needs?

If not, and you can't find any useful data from the first link, maybe also try looking around <https://madis-data.ncep.noaa.gov/madisPublic1/data/point/> ... there's things like ACARS (commercial aircraft sounding data), MADIS data (satellite), radio profilers, etc. Though less confident you'll find a resolution you want, never hurts to try.

But hopeful you'll find what you need with the HVRRD stuff!

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Sounding data for each second would be fantastic, except that my area of interest is not USA. I'm looking for data over Indian region. Anyway, I shall keep your tip in mind.  
> **username_1**: Did a quick look and didn't net anything for India at high resolution :-(    I also think @gansub may be the member here who has done detailed research on Indian monsoons, so he might be able to offer somewhere to look for any one-off field campaigns that may've stored more of the data.  Hope you get it sorted out!  

---

