RAWINSONDE ERRORS AND THEIR APPLICATION TO A MESOSCALE STUDY.

Several studies of rawinsonde component errors in actual flight tests are discussed. RMS relative errors between radiosondes are assumed for measured parameters. These errors are then used to derive RMS relative errors for other parameters such as wind speed and direction, height, virtual temperature, and mixing ratio. Expected RMS errors in measured and derived parameters are discussed in relation to the data obtained from the Oklahoma National Severe Storms Laboratory upper-air mesonetwork. It is found that many analyses and computations which are useful in synoptic-scale meteorology are not practical on the mesoscale. Wind data, when processed by computer, yield the most valid results. Author