The new Radiosounding HARMonization (RHARM) dataset of homogenized
radiosounding temperature, humidity and wind profiles with
uncertainties. Part II: comparisons with reanalysis, satellite data and
validation of uncertainties
Abstract
The RHARM (Radiosounding HARMonization) algorithm is the first to
provide homogenized radiosonde-based records of temperature, relative
humidity and wind profiles since 1978, alongside an estimation of the
observational uncertainty for each observation and pressure level. The
algorithm and the dataset are presented in the companion paper. In this
paper we assess the performance of the dataset through comparison with
some of the most widely used climate data records. The RHARM adjustments
reduce the difference with the reanalysis especially in the northern
hemisphere for temperature and relative humidity. The study of
temperature trends at different pressure levels reveals a good agreement
between RHARM, reanalysis and existing radiosounding homogenized
datasets (<0.1K per decade above 300 hPa, 0.25 K per decade
below). For relative humidity, the discrepancies among the datasets are
more significant, although RHARM trends are most similar to the
reanalysis. For wind speed, the comparison indicates a good agreement
above 300 hPa. Compared to IGRA, RHARM also improves by 50% the
agreement with the estimated trends in the lower stratosphere from MSU
(Microwave Sounding Unit) deep layer averages. For water vapour, the
good performance of post-2004 RHARM data is quantified from the
comparison of the 300 hPa monthly means in tropics between RHARM and
AURA/MLS, as the absolute mean difference is 0.01 g/kg for RHARM and
0.03 g/kg for IGRA, and correlation increases from 0.95 to 0.99. A
validation of the observational uncertainties of RHARM is also presented
showing that they provide a good estimate or overestimate the
theoretical distribution.