"The data has been successfully received and synchronously uploaded to the Tianqing system!"

At 07:35 on January 1, upper-air data from four Beidou sounding stations in Qingyuan, Yangjiang, Heyuan and Shantou, Guangdong, were uploaded to the Tianqing system -- the meteorological big data cloud platform of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), marking Guangdong’s official transition to Beidou sounding for its meteorological observation in this connection, while creating a template for the full adoption of Beidou sounding system in China.

According to Dr. CAO Xiaozhong, Deputy Administrator of CMA, this upgrade has brought about changes in aspects such as technical system, sounding mode, transmission process, data application, and forecasting mode.

Currently, against the backdrop of global warming, extreme weather and climate events have mounted in China.

The data transmitted back by each Beidou sonde can be received by different ground receiving stations simultaneously, and under the Internet-based "cloud plus terminal" architecture, real-time transmission of Beidou sonde data and original observations directly from the station to the national database is made possible.

The observation is essential to forecasting and service. In case of extreme weather, intensive observations are needed to obtain as much meteorological data as possible.

With a complex weather pattern, Guangdong is prone to extreme weather like typhoons. Since August 2022, the local meteorological service has piloted and demonstrated the networked observation using the Beidou sounding system for the operational implementation purpose.

The experiment shows that the Beidou sounding system is stable and reliable with data, with the wind measurement error lessened from 3 m/s to 0.3 m/s.

Meteorologists in Guangdong have applied the Beidou sounding data to the fields of weather forecasting, numerical weather prediction, satellite remote sensing and so on. In addition, Beidou sounding, when promoted as a new technology, will provide China's solution for the high-quality development of global meteorological sounding.

Editor: LIU Shuqiao