Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) Messages, Part of the Met Office MetDB System

The Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) messages data describe hourly observations from around 120 stations distributed globally. The observations, which are later transmitted in reports, give measurements of parameters such as wind speed, and temperature. The data are collected by observation stations worldwide and transmitted within the RASS message.

Data are extracted daily at around 00 UT from the Met Office's MetDB system for the previous day's coverage.

The dataset contains measurements of the following parameters:

- Station height (in m)

- Virtual temperature (in Kelvin)

- Wind w velocity component (in m/s)

- Signal to noise ratio

See linked documentation for general information about surface station readings can be obtained from the abridged version of "MIDAS Data Users Guide", provided by the Met Office. This document describes the meteorological surface data in the Met Office Database - MIDAS. This guide is rich in information and is aimed at those with little familiarity with observing methods or instrumentation. Details of the WMO Meteorological codes used at weather observing stations (daily and hourly weather) explain the codes used in this dataset further are also linked to on this record.

Date (Publication): 2008-08-08T14:01:18

Date (Creation): 2008-08-08T14:01:18

Citation identifier: https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/cea4f08cec2e55a381d643b806b36c84

Citation identifier: NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre (NCAS BADC) / cea4f08cec2e55a381d643b806b36c84

Point of contact

Organisation name	Electronic mail address	Role
Met Office	enquiries@metoffice.gov.uk	Author
NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre (NCAS BADC)	badc@rl.ac.uk	Custodian
NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre (NCAS BADC)	badc@rl.ac.uk	Distributor
Met Office	enquiries@metoffice.gov.uk	Principal investigator
NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre (NCAS BADC)	badc@rl.ac.uk	pointofContact
NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre (NCAS BADC)	badc@rl.ac.uk	Publisher

Maintenance and update frequency: Continual

Update scope: Dataset

Keywords

Met Office
MetDB
RASS
profile
meteorology
temperature
wind speed
wind direction

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

atmospheric conditions

Access constraints: Other restrictions

Other constraints: These data have multiple licences for different applications. Always make sure to read the appropriate licence for full data usage limitations details. Other usage may not be permitted. Restricted data: please submit an application using the REQUEST ACCESS link for access.

Use constraints: Other restrictions

Other constraints: Under the following licence https://artefacts.ceda.ac.uk/licences/specific_licences/ukmo_agreement.pdf, appropriate use of these data may fall under academic use. This message is intended as guidance, always read the full licence. When using these data you must cite them correctly using the citation given on the CEDA Data Catalogue record.

Other constraints: Under the following licence https://artefacts.ceda.ac.uk/licences/specific_licences/ukmo_agreement_gov.pdf, appropriate use of these data may fall under policy use. This message is intended as guidance, always read the full licence. When using these data you must cite them correctly using the citation given on the CEDA Data Catalogue record.

Spatial representation type: Grid

Language: English

Topic category

Climatology, meteorology, atmosphere

Begin date: 2009-04-30T23:00:00

Unique resource identifier: WGS 84

Distribution format

Name	Version
Data are BADC-CSV formatted

Distributor contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre (NCAS BADC)		badc@rl.ac.uk	Distributor

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
	https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/cea4f08cec2e55a381d643b806b36c84	CEDA Data Catalogue Page

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
	http://data.ceda.ac.uk/badc/ukmo-metdb/data/rass	DOWNLOAD

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
	https://artefacts.ceda.ac.uk/badc_datadocs/ukmo-metdb/rass.html	Further information on the RASS message

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
	https://zenodo.org/record/7357325	MIDAS User Guide version v20200921

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
	https://artefacts.ceda.ac.uk/badc_datadocs/surface/code.html	WMO Meteorological codes

Hierarchy level: Dataset

Conformance result

Title: Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services

Date (Publication): 2010-12-08

Statement: Data are extracted from the Met Office's "metDB" system and supplied to Centre for Environmental Data Analysis. These are then processed to generate BADC-CSV files, where possible.

Metadata

File identifier: cea4f08cec2e55a381d643b806b36c84 XML

Metadata language: English

Character set: UTF8

Parent identifier: Met Office MetDB system: Surface, upper air and satellite data
8ee156b6ed41b153e85dbf02a4134513

Hierarchy level: Dataset

Date stamp: 2026-03-11T03:01:41

Metadata standard name: UK GEMINI

Metadata standard version: 2.3

Metadata author

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre (NCAS BADC)		badc@rl.ac.uk	Point of contact

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