1. Skew-T Description

Sounding Data Legend, etc.

Example of multiple soundings plotted on a skew-T with legend, date field, and calculated quantities highlighted

A legend on the skew-T diagram provides essential identifying information about the sounding.  The legend must include the sounding location (WMO station number, three- or four-letter station identifier, or station name), as well as the UTC time and date.

It is sometimes instructive to plot two soundings on the same skew-T diagram, for instance, to compare atmospheric changes over time at a particular location or to compare soundings from two different NWP model runs.  While there are several conventions for plotting multiple soundings, it is most important to plot them such that you can distinguish them (e.g., solid/dashed lines, different colors, etc.).  Winds for different soundings can be plotted on different wind staffs (appropriately labeled) or on the same wind shaft using different colors.

For electronically plotted soundings, various calculated quantities, levels, and indices are often included on the right-hand side of the diagram.