This dataset collection contain data concerning stratospheric temperature, geopotential height and wind components produced by the Stratospheric Data Assimilation System at the UK Met Office. The data assimilation system is a development of the scheme used at the Met Office for operational weather forecasting, which has been extended to cover the stratosphere. The primary product is a daily analysis (at 1200 UTC) which is produced using operational observations only. For short periods of particular interest the analyses are available at 6-hourly intervals. Assimilation experiments using UARS (Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite) data in addition to operational meteorological observations have been carried out for limited periods. These data consist of 3-dimensional gridpoint analyses of temperature, geopotential height and wind components fields at 2.5 x 3.75 degree resolution from the ground to 0.3 hPa (for the period from 17th October 1991 (UARS day 36) to 2006-03-13) and on a smaller grid size 0.5625 degree x 0.375 degree on 27 (or 26 depending on variable) pressure levels, (note, this does not apply for the UARS versions of the data files), for the period 2006-03-03 to present day.

This collection contains data from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Mesosphere-Stratosphere-Troposphere (MST) Radar Facility at Capel Dewi, near Aberystwyth in West Wales. The principal measurements made by the MST radar, a 46.5 MHz pulsed Doppler radar), ideally suited for studied of atmospheric winds, waves and turbulence. It is run predominantly in the ST mode (approximately 2 - 20 km altitude) for which MST radars are unique in their ability to give continuous measurements of the three dimensional wind vector at high resolution (typically 2 - 3 minutes in time and 300 m in altitude). Under certain circumstances they can additionally provide information about humidity, static stability (thus allowing monitoring of the altitude and sharpness of the tropopause) and turbulence of at least moderate intensity. Surface meteorological measurements from the radar site, ceilometer data, sky camera images and wind speed and direction recorded from a 10m tower located at Frongoch (6km away) are also available. Other instruments at the facility have included one of the Met Office's boundary layer wind profilers and, on occasion, the NCAS's boundary layer wind profiler. The collection also includes high-resolution radiosonde data from RAF Aberporth, approximately 45 km to the south-west of the radar site, are available for the period April 1990 - June 2000 and data from the RAL Cloud Radar. Facility data are available to all registered users under the UK Open Government License; Met Office data are available under the NERC-Met Office agreement and the RAL Cloud Radar is restricted to registered users at present.

UK Met Office charts analyses pertaining to Mean Surface Level Pressure and 24 hour Weather Frontal Forecasting for the UK and Western Europe (see chart samples below). The charts have been produced by two systems at the Met Office and so are provided in two distinct datasets within this collection. The first set was delivered by the Met Office's GPCS Commercial Suite and covers the period 7th June 1999 to 24th June 2014. At this point the Met Office turned off that service and switched to providing images produced by the Met Office's SWIFT system using VisualWeather. These later data cover the period 30th June 2015 to present, though initially with some data gaps.

The COSPAR International Reference Atmosphere (CIRA) provides empirical models of atmospheric temperatures and densities as recommended by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). A global climatology of atmospheric temperature, zonal velocity and geopotential height derived from a combination of satellite, radiosonde and ground-based measurements. The reference atmosphere extends from pole to pole and 0-120 km. The majority of the data are on a 5 degree latitude grid and approximately 2 km vertical resolution. This dataset is public. Since the early sixties, several different editions of CIRA have been published. The CIRA Working Group meets biannually during the COSPAR general assemblies. In the thermosphere (above about 100 km) CIRA-86 is identical with the MSIS model, which is available from NSSDC (MI-91E). The lower part (0-120 km) of CIRA-86 consists of tables of the monthly mean values of temperature and zonal wind with almost global coverage (80°N - 80°S). Two files were compiled by Fleming et al. (1988), one in pressure coordinates including also the geopotential heights, and one in height coordinates including also the pressure values. These tables were generated from several global data compilations including ground-based and satellite (Nimbus 5,6,7) measurements (see Oort (1983) and Labitzke et al. (1985)). The lower part was merged with MSIS-86 at 120 km altitude. In general, hydrostatic and thermal wind balance are maintained at all levels. The model accurately reproduces most of the characteristic features of the atmosphere such as the equatorial wind and the general structure of the tropopause, stratopause, and mesopause.

Standard resolution radiosonde data from worldwide upper air stations over the period 1997 - present (Some European stations are available from 1990). The dataset consists of vertical profiles of temperature, dew-point temperature, wind speed and wind direction from the surface to approximately 20-30 km. Data are reported up to four times daily. The data are provided by the Met Office.

Earth-system modelling data from the UK-Japan Climate Collaboration (UJCC). The project is a joint project between the Hadley Centre (DEFRA) and the NCAS-CGAM (Centre for Global Atmospheric Modelling) at the University of Reading. UJCC makes use of a broad group of models in order to systematically explore the role and value of resolution in climate system research. The dataset comprises of UJCC 30 year simulations from models at resolutions of either (1.25 lat x 1.875 lon) or (0.83 lat x 1.25 lon) with differing degrees of atmosphere-ocean coupling (1 degree ocean or 1/3 degree ocean). The dataset also includes NUGAM (Nihon-UK Global Environmental Model) Atmosphere only simulations and NUGEM Coupled atmosphere and ocean simulations which are both at the same resolution (0.83 lat x 0.56 lon, corresponding to ~60 km in mid-latitudes).

The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) was an instrument aboard ERS-2. The main scientific objective of the GOME mission is to measure the global distribution of ozone and several trace gases which play an important role in the ozone chemistry of the Earth's stratosphere and troposphere, for example, NO2, BrO, OClO, and SO2. This dataset collection contains ozone profiles derived by the Remote Sensing Group (RSG) at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire, UK, as part of the National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO). These were derived from radiances measured by the GOME on-board ERS-2. The collection also includes total column ozone, column BrO, and column NO2 as well as cloud heights derived from the Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR), which are included to aid interpretation of the ozone profiles.

The LAND EMISSivity experiment (LAND EMISS) aimed to study the thermal infrared emissivity of a range of different land surface types using the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) BAE-146 aircraft. The UK based campaign made use of the FAAM BAE-146 aircraft during early summer 2006 with an additional period of UK-based flying in summer 2007, and opportunities for flights over snow and ice were investigated.

T-REX (Formerly SWRP - Sierra Wave Rotor Project) was a joint American/European project that took measurements of strong gravity wave activity and associated rotor activity beneath the waves in the lee of the Sierra Nevada mountains, California, USA. Measurements were made by three aircraft including the FAAM BAE-146 aircraft and many ground based instruments. The UK partners are the Met Office and the University of Leeds. Motivated by aviation safety issues, the main scientific objectives are to improve the understanding of the atmospheric conditions conducive to strong gravity wave activity, wave induced rotors and gravity wave breaking.

Data from the Armagh Observatory, founded in 1790 by Archbishop Richard Robinson. There are around 25 astronomers who are actively studying Stellar Astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy, and the Earth's climate. As well as astronomical observations various meteorological parameters have been recorded since 1794. The data held at the BADC are daily, mean monthly and seasonal and annual maximum and minimum temperatures from 1844, the 1m and 30 cm depth soil temperatures since 1904, precipitation since 1838 and sunshine daily and mean data produced by Armagh Observatory. If users wish to find data from other areas of work undertaken by the observatory they should visit the Armagh Observatory website.