Upper-air meteorologists face constantly increasing demands for better data at a lower cost. Technological changes offer new options, but also create challenges for operators who want to take advantage of the new opportunities but not find themselves locked in to high costs or obsolete methods.

International Met Systems is designing flexible, open-architecture ground systems that use multiple technologies and allow operators to fly radiosondes offered by different manufacturers. Previous generations of upper-air ground equipment were radiosonde-specific and offered little flexibility. With the advent of digital processing, it has become possible to design ground equipment that is software controlled and can adapt quickly to changes in radiosonde designs. The objective is to give users the ability to take advantage of new radiosonde technology while not having to replace costly ground equipment.

The iMetOS operating system is at the heart of InterMet’s open system. It is a user-centric tool that combines operator functions with maintenance diagnostics, data analysis and communications. This paper describes the software developed by InterMet for the InterMet IMS-1500 and IMS-2000 (TRS) ground stations, highlighting the design of an effective user interface and the implementation of an underlying architecture that accommodates different types of radiosondes.