National Meteorological Center (NMC) Global Upper Air of Comprehensive Aerological Data Set (CARDS)

National Meteorological Center (NMC) Global Upper Air is historical digital data set consists of meteorological upper air data from around the world provided by the NMC, which later became the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). NMC received the data via the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) and later sent it to NCDC. Data began in 1946 and ended in 1998. This data set is one of a large family of NCEI upper air data sets that were acquired and archived as part of the Comprehensive Aerological Reference Data Set (CARDS) project during the 1990s. CARDS data includes the following purely meteorological parameters: clouds and obscuration, pressure, geopotential height, temperature, relative humidity, dew point depression, and wind speed and direction. CARDS data also includes a large number of technical specifications and quality control parameters. This data set is in the archive but is no longer being updated nor actively distributed. This data has been integrated into Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA).