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Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA), Version 2

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: April 12, 2026 at 09:19 PM | Dataset Last Updated: February 01, 2023 at 12:00 AM
Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA) Version 2 consists of quality-controlled radiosonde observations of temperature, humidity, and wind at stations across all continents. Data are drawn from more than 30 different sources. The earliest year of data is 1905, and the data are updated on a daily basis. Record length, vertical extent and resolution, and availability of variables varies among stations and over time. In addition to the merged and quality-controlled set of soundings, several supplementary products are included: sounding-derived moisture and stability parameters for each suitable sounding; monthly means at mandatory pressure levels; the Radiosonde Atmospheric Temperature Products for Assessing Climate (RATPAC) in which post-1997 data are based on IGRA 2; and station history information derived from documented changes in instruments and observing practice as well as from instrument codes received along with the sounding data. The change to Version 2.2 includes two additional data streams which permits further updating of the IGRA data records that use the new BUFR format. Version 2.2 began in 2023.

Resources

12 resources available

  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

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  • Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA)

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  • NCEI Direct Download

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  • Direct Download (Documentation Files)

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  • Dataset README

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  • Overview of the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive

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  • Enhanced radiosonde data for studies of vertical structure

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  • A DIGITIZED METADATA SET OF GLOBAL UPPER-AIR STATION HISTORIES

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  • IGRA Station listing

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  • Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords

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  • GCOS Essential Climate Variables

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  • NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

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Earth Science > Atmosphere > Altitude > Geopotential Height Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Indicators > Humidity Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Upper Air Temperature Atmospheric - Upper-air - Upper-air Temperature Atmospheric - Upper-air - Upper-air Wind Speed And Direction Atmospheric - Upper-air - Upper-air Water Vapour Geographic Region > Global Land

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
accrualPeriodicity R/P1D
contactPoint 
                                            {
  "fn": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:ncei.igra@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA) Version 2 consists of quality-controlled radiosonde observations of temperature, humidity, and wind at stations across all continents. Data are drawn from more than 30 different sources. The earliest year of data is 1905, and the data are updated on a daily basis. Record length, vertical extent and resolution, and availability of variables varies among stations and over time. In addition to the merged and quality-controlled set of soundings, several supplementary products are included: sounding-derived moisture and stability parameters for each suitable sounding; monthly means at mandatory pressure levels; the Radiosonde Atmospheric Temperature Products for Assessing Climate (RATPAC) in which post-1997 data are based on IGRA 2; and station history information derived from documented changes in instruments and observing practice as well as from instrument codes received along with the sounding data. The change to Version 2.2 includes two additional data streams which permits further updating of the IGRA data records that use the new BUFR format. Version 2.2 began in 2023.
distribution 
                                            [
  {
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    "title": "NCEI Dataset Landing Page",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.7289/V5X63K0Q",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Landing page for the dataset.",
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  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA)",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/weather-balloon/integrated-global-radiosonde-archive",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Description of the data and related resources.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Direct Download",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/integrated-global-radiosonde-archive/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Direct download for the IGRA data files.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Direct Download (Documentation Files)",
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    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Direct download for the documentation.",
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Dataset README",
    "format": "TEXT",
    "mediaType": "text/plain",
    "description": "Please refer to the README file for more information about the dataset.",
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    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Overview of the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "Overview of the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive IGRA 1.",
    "downloadURL": "https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI3594.1",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Enhanced radiosonde data for studies of vertical structure",
    "accessURL": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/26220887",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Durre, I., and X. Yin, 2008: Enhanced radiosonde data for studies of vertical structure. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 89(9), 1257-1262.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "A DIGITIZED METADATA SET OF GLOBAL UPPER-AIR STATION HISTORIES",
    "format": "PDF",
    "mediaType": "application/pdf",
    "description": "Information on IGRA Metadata",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/images/gaffen1996.pdf",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "IGRA Station listing",
    "format": "TEXT",
    "mediaType": "text/plain",
    "description": "Detailed listing of stations used within IGRA data set.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/integrated-global-radiosonde-archive/doc/igra2-station-list.txt",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords",
    "accessURL": "https://earthdata.nasa.gov/about/gcmd/global-change-master-directory-gcmd-keywords",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "GCOS Essential Climate Variables",
    "accessURL": "https://public.wmo.int/en/programmes/global-climate-observing-system/essential-climate-variables",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Overview of the GCOS Essential Climate Variables.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
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    "title": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)",
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    "description": "NCEI home page with information, data access and contact information.",
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/aim/iso/xml/C00975.xml
issued 2011-01-06T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
                                            [
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Altitude > Geopotential Height",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Indicators > Humidity",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Upper Air Temperature",
  "Atmospheric - Upper-air - Upper-air Temperature",
  "Atmospheric - Upper-air - Upper-air Wind Speed And Direction",
  "Atmospheric - Upper-air - Upper-air Water Vapour",
  "Geographic Region > Global Land",
  "Vertical Location > Boundary Layer",
  "Vertical Location > Land Surface",
  "Vertical Location > Troposphere",
  "Vertical Location > Stratosphere",
  "Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Profilers/Sounders > Radiosondes",
  "Balloons/Rockets > Radiosondes",
  "Balloons/Rockets > PIBAL > Pilot Balloons",
  "Point Resolution",
  "Hourly - < Daily",
  "Hourly - < Daily",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce"
]
language 
                                            []
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2023-02-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
                                            [
  "https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI3594.1",
  "http://www.jstor.org/stable/26220887",
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/images/gaffen1996.pdf",
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/integrated-global-radiosonde-archive/doc/igra2-station-list.txt"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial 180.0,-90.0,-180.0,90.0
temporal 1905-01-01T00:00:00+00:00/1905-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
title Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA), Version 2

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