Development and application of the Ascent-Drift-Descent Radiosonde System (ADDRS)
11 affiliations
- 1China Meteorological Administration (Beijing, China)
- 2Engineering Technology Research Center for Meteorological Observation of CMA, Beijing, China
- 3Meteorological Observation Centre of China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, China
- 4State Key Laboratory of Environment Characteristics and Effects for Near-space, Beijing, China
- 5CMA Earth System Modeling and Prediction Centre (CEMC), Beijing, China
- 6Hunan Key Laboratory of Near-space Meteo-ballon Materials and Technology, Zhuzhou Research & Design Institute Co, Ltd, Zhuzhou, China
- 7Beijing Huayun Orient Detection Technology Co, Ltd., Beijing, China
- 8Allystar Technology (Shenzhen) Co. LTD., Shenzhen, China
- 9Department of Advanced Technology Training of China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, China
- 10National Satellite Meteorological Centre of China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, China
- 11Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, China
Abstract
Meteorological sounding primarily refers to the balloon-borne radiosonde, which conducts a ground-to-uppe-rair “ascent phase” sounding. This paper introduces the Round-trip Drifting Sounding System (RDSS), an innovative system characterized by three observation phases—'Ascent-Drift-Descent' (ADD)—in which all three phases of sounding observation are executed through single balloon launch. Several key technologies were successfully developed, including the carrier (zero-pressure dual-mode meteorological balloon), the payload (System-on-Chip (SoC) module for meteorological sounding), air-to-ground data reception and ground-to-air control command transmission. RDSS data processing framework based on 'Internet cloud + Instrument terminal' was established. Data quality control methods and data assimilation techniques of RDSS were also developed. An interactive experiment encompassing observations and forecasting was conducted to evaluate the quality of experimental data at each phase of RDSS. The quality evaluation results indicate that the data quality in the RDSS 'ADD' phases meets the breakthrough targets outlined in WMO CIMO-8. The observation quality of wind and temperature in both the ascent and descent phases meets the ideal targets specified in WMO CIMO-8. A numerical experiment on the impact of RDSS data assimilation on forecasting demonstrated a 2 % reduction in precipitation forecast error at 06:00 and 18:00 (UTC), along with an average 1 % improvement in precipitation forecast accuracy following the assimilation of RDSS data. Furthermore, a new trajectory prediction method for RDSS, based on CMA-MESO, achieved an average simulated landing-point error of less than 40 km. Notably, the accuracy of first guess positioning and trajectory prediction for Typhoon 'Saola' in 2023 was significantly enhanced through RDSS data assimilation, reducing the average trajectory prediction error by 40 %. On January 1, 2024, operational observations using RDSS commenced at four stations in Guangdong, China. Starting in July 2024, an operational experiment at one hundred and twenty-seven stations within the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) was planned, with the goal of achieving full operational capability at all CMA stations by 2026.
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BibTeX
@article{cao2026development,
title = {{Development and application of the Ascent-Drift-Descent Radiosonde System (ADDRS)}},
author = {Xiaozhong Cao and Qiyun Guo and Haowen Luo and Jincheng Wang and Rongkang Yang and Die Xiao and Yinfeng Liu and Zhongliang Sun and S X Liu and Sijie Chen and Anfan Huang and Guo Jianping and Peng Zhang},
journal = {Atmospheric measurement techniques},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.5194/amt-19-3231-2026},
url = {https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-3231-2026},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Development and application of the Ascent-Drift-Descent Radiosonde System (ADDRS)
AU - Xiaozhong Cao
AU - Qiyun Guo
AU - Haowen Luo
AU - Jincheng Wang
AU - Rongkang Yang
AU - Die Xiao
AU - Yinfeng Liu
AU - Zhongliang Sun
AU - S X Liu
AU - Sijie Chen
AU - Anfan Huang
AU - Guo Jianping
AU - Peng Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/21
JO - Atmospheric measurement techniques
DO - 10.5194/amt-19-3231-2026
UR - https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-3231-2026
AB - Meteorological sounding primarily refers to the balloon-borne radiosonde, which conducts a ground-to-uppe-rair “ascent phase” sounding. This paper introduces the Round-trip Drifting Sounding System (RDSS), an innovative system characterized by three observation phases—'Ascent-Drift-Descent' (ADD)—in which all three phases of sounding observation are executed through single balloon launch. Several key technologies were successfully developed, including the carrier (zero-pressure dual-mode meteorological balloon), the payload (System-on-Chip (SoC) module for meteorological sounding), air-to-ground data reception and ground-to-air control command transmission. RDSS data processing framework based on 'Internet cloud + Instrument terminal' was established. Data quality control methods and data assimilation techniques of RDSS were also developed. An interactive experiment encompassing observations and forecasting was conducted to evaluate the quality of experimental data at each phase of RDSS. The quality evaluation results indicate that the data quality in the RDSS 'ADD' phases meets the breakthrough targets outlined in WMO CIMO-8. The observation quality of wind and temperature in both the ascent and descent phases meets the ideal targets specified in WMO CIMO-8. A numerical experiment on the impact of RDSS data assimilation on forecasting demonstrated a 2 % reduction in precipitation forecast error at 06:00 and 18:00 (UTC), along with an average 1 % improvement in precipitation forecast accuracy following the assimilation of RDSS data. Furthermore, a new trajectory prediction method for RDSS, based on CMA-MESO, achieved an average simulated landing-point error of less than 40 km. Notably, the accuracy of first guess positioning and trajectory prediction for Typhoon 'Saola' in 2023 was significantly enhanced through RDSS data assimilation, reducing the average trajectory prediction error by 40 %. On January 1, 2024, operational observations using RDSS commenced at four stations in Guangdong, China. Starting in July 2024, an operational experiment at one hundred and twenty-seven stations within the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) was planned, with the goal of achieving full operational capability at all CMA stations by 2026.
SN - 1867-1381
SN - 1867-8548
ER -