Humidity gradients derived from wind profiler radar and RASS in presence of elevated ducts

Abstract

Wind profiler radars, developed over a decade ago, provide a wealth of information about wind and turbulence in the troposphere. Refractive index gradients retrieved from these radars combined with temperature gradients obtained from a radio acoustic sounding system (RASS) can provide continuous humidity gradient profiles in the lower troposphere. This technique has a distinct advantage over humidity gradient retrievals from radiosondes, which are launched periodically (with a period of 6 hours or 12 hours). The 482 MHz wind profiler and RASS data from the Meteorological Observatory at Lindenberg, Germany, have been analysed in the presence of ducting conditions to obtain height profiles of humidity gradient. These profiles compare well with those retrieved from radiosonde data analysis.