Retrieval of single-Doppler radar wind field by nonlinear approximation

Abstract

The methods employed in recent years to retrieve vector wind information from single-Doppler radar observation are reviewed briefly. These methods are based on a linearity hypothesis for the wind field, so the retrieved wind field is sometimes negatively affected by the non-linearity of wind. This paper proposes a new method based on a non-linear approximation technique. This method, which relies on the piecewise smooth property of the wind field and makes full use of the radar velocity data, is applied to two cases of the Huaihe River Basin Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (HUBEX) in 1998. Checked against the wind field observed by dual-Doppler radar, the retrieved wind field by the method presented in this paper yields a relatively accurate horizontal vector wind field with high resolution, as well as a reasonable estimate of the magnitude of vertical velocity.