The NOAA Council on Long-term Climate Monitoring has concluded that over the short-term, radiosonde dual flights should be supported over an annual cycle. NWS, in response to this request, is actively planning a field comparison of the new Radiosonde Replacement System Global Positioning System-type radiosondes with the current Radio-direction finding-type radiosondes in use at over 92 locations. Drs. Tom Petersen and Imke Durre from the National Climatic Data Center under Dr. Tom Karl, have prepared a comprehensive document on the requirements for such a study. A brief overview of the report to the Council will be presented, followed by NWS’ current plans for the conduct of the data continuity study. An introduction to plans on the use of a reference radiosonde to perform this function will be discussed in preparation for later discussions between NCAR, NASA, and NOAA on how to conduct these intercomparisons in the future.