North Central Research Station

Purpose:   Produce a 30-year climatology of the Haines Index for the United States and Puerto Rico

Objectives:

1. Compute and preserve the temperature differences and dewpoint depressions used to generate the low, medium, and high elevation Haines Index for all radiosonde sites in the contiguous U.S., as well as those in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico for the period 1961 through 1990, inclusive. These computations will be done with both 0000Z and 1200Z radiosonde data.

2. Produce a climatological summary of the standard Haines Index at each site. This summary will include average Haines Index at each site by month, as well as the frequency distribution of the temperature differences and dewpoint depressions used to determine the A and B components of the Haines Index.

3. Document and archive results from (1) and (2) above in a format conducive to the creation of a searchable database for distribution over the Word Wide Web and/or on CD-ROM.