Determination of Radiosonde Station Elevation from Observational Data

Correct radiosonde station elevation (balloon release height) is important in quality control of radiosonde soundings. Incorrect heights introduce errors in calculated temperature trends and numerical forecasts. Radiosonde metadata frequently contain erroneous information regarding station elevations. Soundings are produced at the station using the correct station elevation and the hydrostatic equation to determine the height of each pressure level in the sounding. It is easy to do a reverse calculation using the soundings to calculate the station elevation (release point). From a time series of calculated station elevations, the change dates and station elevations can be determined for individual stations. A method was developed to calculate station elevation and change dates automatically from time series of calculated station elevations.