RAOB Data Types
Data types and formats that RAOB can process.
Basic Program
- BUFKIT Forecast Soundings
- Display hourly sequential soundings used by the popular BUFKIT program, including the ability to merge SREF Member data groups.
- RAOB CSV format
- This is a highly versatile, spreadsheet-style format with multiple data format options and allows over 10,000 data levels per sounding. Options exist to include ozone, cloud data, vertical motion, and other sounding parameters.
- RAOB RAW format
- Originating from the popular RAOB DOS program, this text-based format only allows one sounding per datafile, but it also allows up to 10,000 data levels. Similar to the CSV Format above, any sounding data can be converted into this format.
- SHARP Modified Data
- Data files created by the popular SHARP (Skew-T and Hodograph) program.
- University of Wyoming (UWYO) data
- A very popular web-based source of sounding data.
- WMO Coded Data
- TTAA, TTBB, PPBB, TTCC, TTDD, and PPDD. (Including 21212 & 51515 data groups) Including Mobile SHIP, LAND MOBILE stations, and Dropsonde (hurricane) soundings. Dropsonde Data is provided by the National Hurricane Center’s "hurricane hunter" planes.
Special Data Decoders module
- ACARS (aircraft sounding) Data
- Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) data.
- BOM (Bureau Of Meteorology) Data from Australia
- Data files contain either a single high-density sounding or multi-sounding time-series forecast soundings.
- CLASS/NCAR Data
- These massive high-resolution data files can contain over 1,000 data levels per sounding.
- Commercial Data Types
- Weather Network
- WeatherBank
- WSI
- MeteoSwiss
- FSL/NCDC Archived Data
- GRAW Data
- Produced by the GRAW Company. Each file contains a single high-density sounding.
- IGRA Data
- Integrated Global Radiosonde Archives (an NCDC product).
- InterMet (IMET) Data
- Produced by the International Met Systems company. Each file contains a single high-density sounding.
- KMA Data
- Korean Meteorological Administration.
- RAOB can not directly read the data from the source CD, but RAOB can process the data files produced by the CD’s retrieval software.
- NCDC (TD63 format) CARDS & GTS Data
- RAOB can process NCDC’s 6200/6300 format un-edited datasets from CD-ROM or Internet download.
- NOAA Analysis & Forecast Soundings
- A popular web-based source of forecast soundings, including the following:
- FSL: RUC & MAPS Forecast Soundings
- GSD: Bak/Op/dev Forecast Soundings
- NOAA/READY Data
- Both real-time and forecast soundings.
- PAOS Data
- Recently archived data via University of Colorado at Boulder (Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences).
- SH4/NASA Space Shuttle Data
- Uniquely formatted data and typically derived from Vaisala data.
- Sippican RTSO Data
- Real-time Serial Output data from MarkII soundings (old and new formats).
- Tephis Data from Canada
- Data files contain GEM 00-48 hour forecast sounding data.
- Vaisala High Resolution Soundings
- Sounding formats containing 1, 2, and 5-second data (P, T, Td, and wind data).
Binary Decoders module
- BUFR
- GRIB
- NetCDF
Radiometrics Decoder module
- Microwave data
Sodar/Lidar Decoder module
- RASS
- Radio/Acoustic