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The quality of the vertical distribution measurements of humidity in the atmosphere is very important in meteorology due to the crucial role that water vapor plays in the earth's energy budget. The radiosonde is the humidity measurement device that provides the best vertical resolution. Also, radiosondes are the operational devices that are used to measure the vertical profile of atmospheric water vapor. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has carried out several intercomparison experiments at different climatic zones in order to identify the differences between the available commercial sensors. This article presents the results of an experiment that was carried out in Brazil in 2001 in which major commercial radiosonde manufacturers [e.g., Graw Radiosondes GmbH & Co., KG (Germany); MODEM (France); InterMet Systems (United States); Sippican, Inc. (United States); and Vaisala (Finland)] were involved. One of the main goals of this experiment was to evaluate the performance of the different humidity sensors in a tropical region. This evaluation was performed for different atmospheric layers and distinct periods of the day. It also considers the computation of the integrated water vapor (IWV). The results showed that the humidity measurements achieved by the different sensors were quite similar in the low troposphere (the bias median value regarding the RS80 was around 1.8%) and were quite dispersed in the superior layers (the median rms regarding the RS80 was around 14.9%).

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High quality and well-managed climate data are the cornerstone of all climate services. Consistently assessing how well the data are managed is one way to establish or demonstrate the trustworthiness of the data. This paper presents the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) Stewardship Maturity Matrix for Climate Data (SMM-CD) and the subsidiary SMM-CD for National and Regional Purposes (SMM-CD_NRP). Both these matrices have been developed with the support of the WMO and its High-Quality Global Data Management Framework for Climate (HQ-GDMFC). These self-assessment tools enable data managers to discover WMO recommended data stewardship practices, determine a roadmap for future development and improvement, as well as compare their process against other data providers. Datasets which have been maturity assessed are included in the WMO Climate Data Catalogue, where users can include the results of these maturity assessments into their decisionmaking process. The SMM-CD contains four categories (data access, usability and usage, quality management, and data management) each of which has a number of aspects, with scores assigned to one of five levels. A smaller number of categories in the SMM-CD_NRP are assigned to four levels appropriate for operationally produced datasets which are national or regional in scope. We explore a number of case studies where these matrices have been applied, as well as supply links to where the Guidance Documents and Assessment Templates (which may be updated) can be found.

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