SAFARI 2000 UPPER AIR METEOROLOGICAL PROFILES, SKUKUZA, DRY SEASONS 1999-2000

Vaisala RS80 sondes were deployed from Skukuza Airport, South Africa, to collect atmospheric sounding profiles of temperature and moisture data from the surface to 30 km. These sonde launches were coordinated to augment the regional sounding network in the region during the SAFARI 2000 Dry Season Campaigns of 1999 and 2000. The radiosondes were launched from Skukuza Airport between August 14-September 3, 1999 and between August 24-September 23, 2000. The radiosonde instrument package RS80 measured the following meteorological parameters: pressure in hecto-Pascals (P), ambient temperature in degrees Celsius (T), and relative humidity in percentage (RH). A hydrostatic equation was applied to the recorded data, after error-checking, to calculate the output parameters: height above sea level in meters, dew point temperature in degrees Celsius, and q (g/kg) which is specific humidity in grams per kilogram.