Overview of NWS Radiosonde System Replacement

The National Weather Service (NWS) currently maintains a network of over 100 radiosonde observation sites. Much of the ground equipment used dates back to the 1950's, and is becoming very difficult to maintain. In addition, the current radiosonde systems use a large amount of radio-frequency spectrum. An effort is underway to replace this network with a new generation of equipment that will be based on GPS technology and provide functional capability in an environment of reduced radio-frequency spectrum use. This paper provides a status of the acquisition and implementation plans for the replacement system.