Radiosonde descent profiles have been available from tens of stations for several years now–
mainly from Vaisala RS41 radiosondes. They have been compared with the ascent profiles,
with ECMWF short-range forecasts and with co-located radio-occultation retrievals. Over this
time our understanding of the data has grown, and the comparison also shed some light on
radiosonde ascent data. It has become clear that the fall rate is very variable and that it is an
important factor, with high fall rates being associated with temperature biases, especially at …

Radiosonde descent profiles have been available from tens of stations for several years now-
mainly from Vaisala 12 RS41 radiosondes. They have been compared with the ascent
profiles, with ECMWF short-range forecasts and with co-located 13 radio-occultation
retrievals. Over this time our understanding of the data has grown, and the comparison also
shed some light 14 on radiosonde ascent data. It has become clear that the fall rate is very
variable and that it is an important factor, with high 15 fall rates being associated with …