Comprehensive Hydrostatic Quality Control at the National Meteorological Center

Abstract The Comprehensive Hydrostatic Quality Control (CHQC) of rawinsonde data on height and temperature at mandatory isobaric surfaces designed and implemented at the National Meteorological Center in Washington is described in detail. Main principles of the quality control design are discussed, followed by a brief description of the CHQC design and implementation at NMC. The CHQC algorithm is presented with particular emphasis on the Decision Making Algorithm. Numerous examples taken from the operational CHQC outputs illustrate the CHQC performance in general as well as its reaction to errors of various types and to their combinations.