The web site at http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html has archived radiosonde data obtained in Chile. Select:
- South America
- text list
- date(s)
- include frost point
- recalculate data
relevant stations are Antofagasta, SCFA number 85442, Santo Domingo SCSN number 85586 (on the coast near Santiago) and Mendoza Argentina, 87418 SAME.
Data files look like
-----------------
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PRES HGHT TEMP DWPT FRPT RELH RELI MIXR DRCT SKNT THTA THTE THTV
hPa m C C C % % g/kg deg knot K K K
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
927.0 704 21.6 6.6 6.6 38 38 6.63 0 0 301.2 321.2 302.4
925.0 729 21.2 7.2 7.2 40 40 6.93 180 5 301.0 321.9 302.2
905.6 914 22.5 6.9 6.9 36 37 6.92 70 6 304.1 325.3 305.4
901.0 959 22.8 6.8 6.8 36 36 6.92 88 8 304.9 326.1 306.2
874.5 1219 21.5 6.0 6.0 36 37 6.74 195 18 306.1 326.9 307.4
850.0 1467 20.2 5.2 5.2 37 37 6.56 190 13 307.3 327.6 308.5
845.0 1518 19.6 4.6 4.6 37 37 6.33 201 11 307.2 326.8 308.4
814.9 1829 18.8 1.1 1.1 30 30 5.10 270 2 309.5 325.6 310.5
801.0 1976 18.4 -0.6 -0.5 28 28 4.59 284 5 310.6 325.3 311.5
786.1 2134 17.2 -2.4 -2.1 26 26 4.10 300 8 311.0 324.2 311.8
758.2 2438 14.8 -5.8 -5.2 24 24 3.28 335 16 311.7 322.4 312.3
731.2 2743 12.4 -9.3 -8.2 21 21 2.61 0 21 312.3 320.9 312.8
700.0 3110 9.6 -13.4 -11.9 18 18 1.95 340 14 313.1 319.7 313.4
663.0 3556 5.4 -15.6 -13.9 20 20 1.72 330 12 313.3 319.1 313.6
607.0 4267 0.9 -25.0 -22.5 12 12 0.83 315 10 316.1 319.1 316.2
595.0 4428 -0.1 -27.1 -24.4 11 11 0.70 293 8 316.7 319.3 316.9
540.6 5182 -5.8 -30.8 -27.9 12 13 0.55 190 1 318.7 320.7 318.8
515.0 5563 -8.7 -32.7 -29.6 12 14 0.48 230 5 319.7 321.4 319.8
500.0 5790 -10.9 -33.9 -30.8 13 15 0.44 255 7 319.7 321.3 319.8
480.0 6096 -13.6 -35.3 -32.1 14 16 0.40 225 7 320.1 321.6 320.2
400.0 7460 -25.5 -41.5 -37.9 21 27 0.25 290 15 321.8 322.8 321.8
391.0 7620 -26.8 -42.4 -38.8 22 28 0.24 290 18 322.1 323.0 322.2
358.4 8230 -31.9 -45.7 -42.0 24 33 0.18 270 19 323.4 324.1 323.4
343.3 8534 -34.5 -47.4 -43.6 26 36 0.15 260 21 323.9 324.6 324.0
312.0 9204 -40.1 -51.1 -47.1 30 44 0.11 253 17 325.1 325.5 325.1
300.9 9449 -42.3 -53.3 -49.3 29 44 0.09 250 16 325.3 325.7 325.3
So we get wind speed and direction vs. elevation, as well as RELI which is relative humidity for ice crystal formation.
This paper: Jensen_JGR1998.pdf has formulae that describe conditions under which contrails are expected to form.
Tasks:
- correlate atmospheric data with our sky camera observations, to check contrail formation conditions
- see what differences there are between the 3 sites that surround Cerro Pachon
- See what proportion of the time we expect to get contrail formation
- think about working with Chilean atmospheric sciences community to fly some radiosondes from La Serena or Pachon?