Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-638
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-638
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
20 Nov 2025
| 20 Nov 2025
Status: this preprint is currently under review for the journal ESSD.
RAPSODI: Radiosonde Atmospheric Profiles from Ship and island platforms during ORCESTRA, collected to Decipher the ITCZ
Abstract. The RAPSODI (Radiosonde Atmospheric Profiles from Ship and island platforms during ORCESTRA, collected to Decipher the ITCZ) radiosonde dataset was collected during the ORCESTRA field campaign. It is designed to investigate the mechanisms linking mesoscale tropical convection to tropical waves and to air–sea heat and moisture exchanges that regulate convection and tropical cyclone formation. The campaign began at the Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia e Geofisica (INMG) on Sal on the Cape Verde Islands, continued with ship-based observations aboard the R/V Meteor across the Atlantic, and concluded at the Barbados Cloud Observatory (BCO) in the eastern Caribbean. During the campaign, a total of 624 radiosondes were launched, capturing high-resolution profiles of temperature, humidity, pressure, and winds. This radiosonde dataset, encompassing raw, quality-controlled, and vertically gridded data, is detailed in this paper and offers a valuable resource for investigating the atmospheric structure and processes shaping tropical convection and the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). The complete dataset is openly available at ipfs://bafybeid7cnw62zmzfgxcvc6q6fa267a7ivk2wcchbmkoyk4kdi5z2yj2w4.
How to cite. Winkler, M., Rixen, M., Beucher, F., Couvreux, F., Nam, C. C., Peyrillé, P., Schmidt, H., Segura, H., Wieners, K.-H., Alkilani-Brown, E., Coly, A. A., Biagioli, G., Bell, M. M., Brito, E., Chauvin, E., Capo, J., Colón-Burgos, D., Dawes, A., da Luz, J. C., Demiralay, Z., Douet, V., Ducastin, V., Dufaux, C., Dufresne, J.-L., Favot, F., Fiolleau, T., Fons, E., George, G., Gloeckner, H. M., Gonçalves, S., Gouttesoulard, L., Hayo, L., Hsiao, W.-T., Kennison, S., Kopelman, M., Lee, T.-Y., Le Gall, E., Lovato, M., Luschen, E., Maury, N., McKim, B., Netz, L., Ousseynou, D., Peters-von Gehlen, K., Pope, C., Poujol, B., Rivera Maldonado, N., Robbins-Blanch, N., Rochetin, N., Rowe, D., Romero Jure, P., Ruppert Jr., J. H., Segura Bermudez, J., Starr, J. C., Stelzner, M., Stoll, C., Syrett, M., Tekoe, A., Trules, J., Welty, C., Klocke, D., Vogel, R., Bony, S., Wing, A. A., and Stevens, B.: RAPSODI: Radiosonde Atmospheric Profiles from Ship and island platforms during ORCESTRA, collected to Decipher the ITCZ, Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-638, in review, 2025.
Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this paper. While Copernicus Publications makes every effort to include appropriate place names, the final responsibility lies with the authors. Views expressed in the text are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.
Download & links
- Preprint
(12497 KB) - Metadata XML
-
Supplement
(1234 KB) - BibTeX
- EndNote
Status: open (until 27 Dec 2025)
Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor
| : Report abuse
Data sets
RAPSODI Radiosonde Measurements during ORCESTRA (Level 2) Marius Winkler and Marius Rixen https://browser.orcestra-campaign.org/#/ds/ipfs://bafybeid7cnw62zmzfgxcvc6q6fa267a7ivk2wcchbmkoyk4kdi5z2yj2w4
RAPSODI Radiosonde Measurements during ORCESTRA (Level 1) (merged, padded to common vertical levels) Marius Winkler and Marius Rixen https://browser.orcestra-campaign.org/#/ds/ipfs://bafybeidol5jadpzb2ibssf2lbbgdhm2zgzeg2urdyefwsxx7eelmcuumn4
RAPSODI Oscillating Radiosonde Measurements during ORCESTRA (Level 1) Marius Winkler, Karl-Hermann Wieners, and Marius Rixen https://browser.orcestra-campaign.org/#/ds/ipfs://bafybeidtfcyurvbw5obbhl5zlyfaoamnlhu6rrxyrmg2r2wwwidxq32oeq
Model code and software
pySonde for ORCESTRA-RAPSODI Hauke Schulz, Marius Winkler, Katharina Stolla, and Marius Rixen https://github.com/mariuswinkler/Winkler_et_al_RAPSODI_PySonde_for_Data_Paper_2025
Interactive computing environment
Plotting scripts for RAPSODI paper Marius Winkler and Marius Rixen https://github.com/mariuswinkler/Winkler_et_al_RAPSODI_Data_Paper_2025
Latest update: 20 Nov 2025
Marius Winkler
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany
Marius Rixen
Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany
Florent Beucher
Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques, University of Toulouse, Météo-France, CNRS, Toulouse, France
Fleur Couvreux
Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques, University of Toulouse, Météo-France, CNRS, Toulouse, France
Chaehyeon C. Nam
Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Philippe Peyrillé
Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques, University of Toulouse, Météo-France, CNRS, Toulouse, France
Hauke Schmidt
Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany
Hans Segura
Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany
Karl-Hermann Wieners
Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany
Ezri Alkilani-Brown
School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
Abdou Aziz Coly
Agence Nationale de l’Aviation Civile et de la Météorologie, Dakar, Sénégal
Giovanni Biagioli
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université, École Normale Supérieure, École Polytechnique, CNRS, Paris, France
Michael M. Bell
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Ester Brito
Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia e Geofísica, Sal, Cape Verde
Emma Chauvin
Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques, University of Toulouse, Météo-France, CNRS, Toulouse, France
Julie Capo
Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques, University of Toulouse, Météo-France, CNRS, Toulouse, France
Delián Colón-Burgos
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Akeem Dawes
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Barbados
Jose Carlos da Luz
Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia e Geofísica, Sal, Cape Verde
Zekican Demiralay
Meteorological Institute, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
Vincent Douet
Institute Pierre-Simon Laplace, CNRS, Paris, France
Vincent Ducastin
Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques, University of Toulouse, Météo-France, CNRS, Toulouse, France
Clarisse Dufaux
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université, École Normale Supérieure, École Polytechnique, CNRS, Paris, France
Jean-Louis Dufresne
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université, École Normale Supérieure, École Polytechnique, CNRS, Paris, France
Florence Favot
Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques, University of Toulouse, Météo-France, CNRS, Toulouse, France
Thomas Fiolleau
Laboratoire d’Etudes en Geophysique et Océanographie Spatiale, University of Toulouse, IRD, CNRS, CNES, UPS, Toulouse, France
Emilie Fons
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université, École Normale Supérieure, École Polytechnique, CNRS, Paris, France
Geet George
Department of Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
Helene M. Gloeckner
Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany
Suelly Gonçalves
Department of Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
Laurent Gouttesoulard
Laboratoire d’Etudes en Geophysique et Océanographie Spatiale, University of Toulouse, IRD, CNRS, CNES, UPS, Toulouse, France
Lennéa Hayo
Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany
Wei-Ting Hsiao
Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Sarah Kennison
Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Michael Kopelman
Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Tsung-Yung Lee
Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Enora Le Gall
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université, École Normale Supérieure, École Polytechnique, CNRS, Paris, France
Mateo Lovato
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Emily Luschen
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Nicolas Maury
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université, École Normale Supérieure, École Polytechnique, CNRS, Paris, France
Brett McKim
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université, École Normale Supérieure, École Polytechnique, CNRS, Paris, France
Louis Netz
Laboratoire d’Etudes en Geophysique et Océanographie Spatiale, University of Toulouse, IRD, CNRS, CNES, UPS, Toulouse, France
Diouf Ousseynou
Agence Nationale de l’Aviation Civile et de la Météorologie, Dakar, Sénégal
Karsten Peters-von Gehlen
Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum GmbH, Hamburg, Germany
Chavez Pope
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Barbados
Basile Poujol
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université, École Normale Supérieure, École Polytechnique, CNRS, Paris, France
Niwde Rivera Maldonado
University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Nina Robbins-Blanch
Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Nicolas Rochetin
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université, École Normale Supérieure, École Polytechnique, CNRS, Paris, France
Daniel Rowe
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Barbados
Paula Romero Jure
School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
James H. Ruppert Jr.
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Jairo Segura Bermudez
Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany
Jarrett C. Starr
Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Martin Stelzner
Deutscher Wetterdienst, Offenbach, Germany
Connor Stoll
Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Macintyre Syrett
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Abraham Tekoe
Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Jeremie Trules
Institute Pierre-Simon Laplace, CNRS, Paris, France
Colin Welty
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Daniel Klocke
Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany
Raphaela Vogel
Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Sandrine Bony
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université, École Normale Supérieure, École Polytechnique, CNRS, Paris, France
Allison A. Wing
Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Bjorn Stevens
Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany
Short summary
The RAPSODI dataset compiles 624 radiosonde profiles collected during the 2024 ORCESTRA campaign across the tropical Atlantic—from Cape Verde (INMG), the R/V Meteor, and the Barbados Cloud Observatory. It provides high-resolution temperature, humidity, wind, and pressure data to study convection, tropical waves, and ITCZ dynamics. Data are quality-controlled and openly available in Zarr format via IPFS.
The RAPSODI dataset compiles 624 radiosonde profiles collected during the 2024 ORCESTRA campaign...
Altmetrics