Published May 5, 2026 | Version v26
Dataset Open

QBO: monthly zonal stratospheric winds from tropical radiosonde data (mainly Singapore)

  • 1. ROR icon Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
  • 2. Deutscher Wetterdienst

Contributors

Description

Monthly Tropical Stratospheric Zonal Winds from Radiosondes

Data Source and Processing:

Monthly mean zonal wind data for the tropics are provided as a service for the global QBO and trend analysis communities. The original data source and processing chain were established by the Free University of Berlin (FUB). Currently, the data is processed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, ROR:04t3en479), Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK), Germany with the tools developed at FUB.

Data Description:

The dataset includes monthly mean zonal wind values at pressure levels 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 12, and 10 hPa, derived from radiosonde observations at four equatorial stations:

  • Kiribati (Canton Island) - data from 1953 to 1967 (closed)
  • Maldives (Gan Island) - data from 1967 to 1975 (closed)
  • Singapore (Payalebar) - data from 1975 to 1989
  • Singapore (Changi) - data from 1989 onwards

Important Notes:

  • Values for 100 hPa from October 1967 are solely from Singapore (Changi).
  • Values for 100 hPa before October 1967 are from Kiribati (Canton Island) when available.
  • Detailed information about the radiosonde stations and their periods of operation is provided below.

Additional Information:

Detailed List of Radiosonde Stations:

Station Name Location (Lat, Lon) Data Period Pressure Levels (hPa)
Kiribati (Canton Island) -2.7667, -171.7167 1953 - 1967 (closed)

Above 100 (until August 1967)

100 (until September 1967)

Maldives (Gan Island) -0.6933, 73.1556 1967 - 1975 (closed) Above 100 (September 1967 to December 1975)
Singapore (Payalebar) 1.3667, 103.9167 1975 - 1989 Above 100 (January 1976 to May 1989)
Singapore Upper Air Observatory 1.3404, 103.8879 1989 - present

100 (October 1967 to May 1989), 

All levels from June 1989

 

Files

qbo_wind.pdf

Files (1.4 MB)

Name Size Download all
md5:ce150b7168a0d7eb162c8efd32533735
52.6 kB Download
md5:8a573202492b89b4fac23133ce896137
28.7 kB Download
md5:076abd2dd0e305d1b239619da9c3dc73
28.9 kB Preview Download
md5:0ff24f97e27c6bfa5465923622dd8b20
818.8 kB Preview Download
md5:adcf9e77b45219a2ae1775401d2f356d
151.2 kB Preview Download
md5:838bbda045949ee9b9fe1c830ac8e95a
231.9 kB Download
md5:1b2a4e171961d5247866c6d0b93acfe8
148 Bytes Download
md5:1abe62aec5553353e7d3c3c31c4b9c05
40.1 kB Download
md5:d05083bb1012de22e730fb4ecc9ef9be
521 Bytes Download

Additional details

Related works

Continues
Dataset: https://www.geo.fu-berlin.de/en/met/ag/strat/produkte/qbo/index.html (Other)
Is identical to
Dataset: https://www.atmohub.kit.edu/english/807.php (Other)

Dates

Updated
2026-05-05

References