The RAPSODI (<ani:underline>R</ani:underline>adiosonde <ani:underline>A</ani:underline>tmospheric <ani:underline>P</ani:underline>rofiles from <ani:underline>S</ani:underline>hip and island platforms during <ani:underline>O</ani:underline>RCESTRA, collected to <ani:underline>D</ani:underline>ecipher the <ani:underline>I</ani:underline>TCZ) radiosonde dataset was collected during the ORCESTRA field campaign in August and September 2024. It is designed to investigate the mechanisms linking mesoscale tropical convection to tropical waves and to air-sea heat and moisture exchanges that regulate convection and tropical cyclone formation. The campaign began at the Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia e Geofísica (INMG) on Sal in the Cape Verde Islands, continued with ship-based observations aboard the German research vessel R/V Meteor during an Atlantic transect, and concluded at the Barbados Cloud Observatory (BCO) in the eastern Caribbean. Over the 52 d campaign, a total of 624 radiosondes were launched at high temporal frequency (typically every three hours), capturing high-resolution vertical profiles of temperature, humidity, pressure, and winds from three complementary platforms. The dataset encompasses raw, quality-controlled, and vertically gridded data, is detailed in this paper and offers a valuable resource for investigating the atmospheric structure and processes shaping tropical convection and the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). The datasets generated in this study include raw radiosonde measurements (Level 0), oscillating and merged radiosonde profiles (Level 1), and vertically gridded profiles (Level 2), which are publicly available via the ORCESTRA data portal and DOI-referenced archives (; https://ipfs.io/ipns/latest.orcestra-campaign.org/raw/BCO/radiosondes/,; https://ipfs.io/ipns/latest.orcestra-campaign.org/raw/INMG/radiosondes/,; https://ipfs.io/ipns/latest.orcestra-campaign.org/raw/METEOR/radiosondes/,; https://doi.org/10.82246/BAFYBEIHXRAJOJUQZYX65QSO7AMA6NGVREETKDW3HQZX3SDZFB7LCMG6VAQ,; https://doi.org/10.82246/BAFYBEIA34AUWYVBH2RQ7CN7AGUZZ7PULQ2KRDDDIEESM6KPYSI,; https://doi.org/10.82246/BAFYBEID7CNW62ZMZFGXCVC6Q6FA267A7IVK2W,).

As part of an international intercomparison project, the weak temperature gradient (WTG) and damped gravity wave (DGW) methods are used to parameterize large-scale dynamics in a set of cloud-resolving models (CRMs) and single column models (SCMs). The WTG or DGW method is implemented using a configuration that couples a model to a reference state defined with profiles obtained from the same model in radiative-convective equilibrium. We investigated the sensitivity of each model to changes in SST, given a fixed reference state. We performed a systematic comparison of the WTG and DGW methods in different models, and a systematic comparison of the behavior of those models using the WTG method and the DGW method. The sensitivity to the SST depends on both the large-scale parameterization method and the choice of the cloud model. In general, SCMs display a wider range of behaviors than CRMs. All CRMs using either the WTG or DGW method show an increase of precipitation with SST, while SCMs show sensitivities which are not always monotonic. CRMs using either the WTG or DGW method show a similar relationship between mean precipitation rate and column-relative humidity, while SCMs exhibit a much wider range of behaviors. DGW simulations produce large-scale velocity profiles which are smoother and less top-heavy compared to those produced by the WTG simulations. These large-scale parameterization methods provide a useful tool to identify the impact of parameterization differences on model behavior in the presence of two-way feedback between convection and the large-scale circulation.

As part of an international intercomparison project, a set of single-column models (SCMs) and cloud-resolving models (CRMs) are run under the weak-temperature gradient (WTG) method and the damped gravity wave (DGW) method. For each model, the implementation of the WTG or DGW method involves a simulated column which is coupled to a reference state defined with profiles obtained from the same model in radiative-convective equilibrium. The simulated column has the same surface conditions as the reference state and is initialized with profiles from the reference state. We performed systematic comparison of the behavior of different models under a consistent implementation of the WTG method and the DGW method and systematic comparison of the WTG and DGW methods in models with different physics and numerics. CRMs and SCMs produce a variety of behaviors under both WTG and DGW methods. Some of the models reproduce the reference state while others sustain a large-scale circulation which results in either substantially lower or higher precipitation compared to the value of the reference state. CRMs show a fairly linear relationship between precipitation and circulation strength. SCMs display a wider range of behaviors than CRMs. Some SCMs under the WTG method produce zero precipitation. Within an individual SCM, a DGW simulation and a corresponding WTG simulation can produce different signed circulation. When initialized with a dry troposphere, DGW simulations always result in a precipitating equilibrium state. The greatest sensitivities to the initial moisture conditions occur for multiple stable equilibria in some WTG simulations, corresponding to either a dry equilibrium state when initialized as dry or a precipitating equilibrium state when initialized as moist. Multiple equilibria are seen in more WTG simulations for higher SST. In some models, the existence of multiple equilibria is sensitive to some parameters in the WTG calculations.