Radiosondes are meteorological devices that are launched from the ground and used to measure temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction in the upper atmosphere. A balloon filled with hydrogen or helium gas carries the radiosonde into the upper atmosphere.

 

During the radiosonde’s flight, it constantly transmits atmospheric temperature, humidity and pressure data to automated ground equipment. This equipment, called a sounding system, processes and converts the data into meteorological weather messages that are sent to the global weather network.

 

Radiosondes are launched by our various customers, such as national weather institutes, and environmental and research organizations.

 

 

According to the international scientific community, a reference-level radiosonde is necessary for climatological research. As the global leader in this field, Vaisala has unique know-how and resources to develop and manufacture a reference sonde. We are responding to the needs of the international scientific community, and thus doing our part to advance research on climate change. Ever since the company was established in 1936, Vaisala has produced radiosondes for research on climate and the atmosphere. This new project builds on the legacy of the company founder, Vilho Väisälä.

GCOS is the acronym for the Global Climate Observing System, which is a globally coordinated monitoring system for climate, established in 1992. Its task is to ensure that national and international needs for climatological information are catered for as well as possible.

 

 The core of GCOS is formed by traditional weather stations, complemented by other stations for environmental observations. Complementary information is also gained from satellites. The GCOS network is part of the large-scale network of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). However, the GCOS stations are subject to stricter criteria than normal stations. There are 160 GCOS stations.

 

 Information obtained through the GCOS network can be used not only for climatological observations, but also as an input for climatological models and to verify the reliability of these models. Climatological models are important tools that help estimate how the climate will change in the future. In addition to climatological use, the GCOS network observations are also used for weather forecasting, as GCOS network is part of the COS network.

GRUAN is the acronym for the GCOS Reference Upper-Air Network. The goal of GRUAN is to produce very precise and comprehensive atmospheric measurements for the study of climate change. It can also be used to evaluate the accuracy of other observations and to calibrate instruments. The GRUAN project is currently in the planning phase.

 

 The tasks of the network can be summarized as follows:

 - To produce the highest quality long-term climatological data

 - To verify and calibrate data from other global systems (such as satellites and existing radiosonde networks)

 - To look into atmospheric properties with precision