Wind-profiling Doppler Radar Research Articles

Comparison Study of Lower-tropospheric Horizontal Wind over Sumatra, Indonesia Using NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis, Operational Radiosonde, and the Equatorial Atmosphere Radar

Horizontal wind at 700 hPa over Sumatra (0°N, 100°E) analyzed by National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis was compared with wind observed by a VHF wind-profiling Doppler radar at Kototabang (0.20°S, 100.32°E) during 2001-2007. Radiosonde wind data at Padang (0.88°S, 100.35°E) were reported through Global Telecommunication System (GTS) for assimilation into NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. To examine if radiosonde observations at Padang improve wind quality of NCEP/NCAR reanalysis over Sumatra, dataset of radar wind, which was compared with NCEP/NCAR reanalysis, was divided into the group when radiosonde observations were reported though GTS (Group A) and when they were not reported (Group B). For each group, correlation coefficient and regression line were computed. In Group A, both zonal and meridional winds showed better correlation coefficients (0.90 and 0.77) than in Group B (0.79 and 0.63). Amplitude of NCEP/NCAR-reanalysis zonal and meridional winds showed a better agreement in Group A (82 and 96% of radar wind) than in Group B (66 and 80% of radar wind). These results suggest that wind observations in the Indonesian Maritime Continent contribute to improve wind quality of NCEP/NCAR reanalysis there.

A wind profiler trajectory tool for air quality transport applications

Horizontal transport is a key factor in air pollution meteorology. In several recent air quality field campaigns, networks of wind profiling Doppler radars have been deployed to help characterize this important phenomenon. This paper describes a Lagrangian particle trajectory tool developed to take advantage of the hourly wind observations provided by these special profiler networks. The tool uses only the observed wind profiles to calculate trajectory positions and does not involve any model physics or parameterizations. An interpolation scheme is used to determine the wind speed and direction at any given location and altitude along the trajectory. Only the horizontal winds measured by the profilers are included because the type of profiling radars used in this study are unable to resolve synoptic‐scale vertical motions. The trajectory tool is applied to a case study from the International Consortium for Research on Transport and Transformation air quality experiment conducted during the summer of 2004 (ICARTT‐04). During this international field study, air chemistry observations were collected at Chebogue Point, a coastal station in southwestern Nova Scotia, and factor analysis was used to identify time periods when air pollution from the United States arrived at the site. The profiler trajectories are compared to trajectories produced from numerical model initialization fields. The profiler‐based trajectories more accurately reflect changes in the synoptic weather pattern that occurred between operational upper air soundings, thereby providing a more accurate depiction of the horizontal transport responsible for air pollution arriving in Nova Scotia.

First Test of a Shipboard Wind Profiler

Abstract The Aeronomy Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Atmospheric Technology Division of the National Center for Atmospheric Research are jointly developing Integrated Sounding Systems (ISS) for use in support of TOGA (Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere) and TOGA COARE (Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment). Some of the ISS units will have to be operated on research ships during TOGA COARE's intensive observing period in late 1992 and early 1993. The greatest technical challenge in adapting the ISS to shipboard use is to stabilize the UHF wind profiler that is an integral part of the ISS. In June 1991 a UHF wind-profiling Doppler radar was installed on a stabilized platform aboard the NOAA research vessel Malcolm Baldrige on an eight-day cruise in the Atlantic Ocean. The wind profiler was gyrostabilized and profiler winds were corrected for ship motion utilizing the Global Positioning System. During the eight days at sea, CLASS (Cross-Chain LORAN Atmospheric...

Long-Term Mean Vertical Motion over the Tropical Pacific: Wind-Profiling Doppler Radar Measurements

Measurement from Christmas Island (2 degrees N, 157 degrees W) of long-term mean vertical motions in the tropical atmosphere using very-high-frequency wind-profiling Doppler radar show that there is a transition from downward motion in the free troposphere to upward motion in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The observations in the free troposphere are consistent with a balance between adiabatic and diabatic heating and cooling rates in a clear atmosphere. Comparison of the results at Christmas Island during El Niño and non-El Niño conditions with earlier results obtained for stratiform rain conditions over Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, show that cirrus clouds in the vicinity of the tropopause likely play an important role in determining the sense and magnitude of vertical motions in this region. These results have implications for the exchange of mass between the troposphere and stratosphere over the tropics.

A Comparison of Winds Observed at Christmas Island using a Wind-Profiling Doppler Radar with NMC and ECMWF Analyses

Abstract Wind profilers can provide useful wind data from remote regions of the globe, and incorporation of upper-level wind profiler data into analysis products can significantly improve the quality of analyses in data sparse regions. A wind-profiling Doppler radar was installed by the Acronomy Laboratory on Christmas Island during late 1985 as part of the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Program. The Christmas Island profiler is self-contained and operates essentially unattended. Since April 1986, data from the Christmas Island profiler have been telemetered via GOES Satellite to provide hourly-averaged soundings of the wind four times daily keyed to the standard synoptic observing times and incorporated routinely onto the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) for world-wide distribution. In 1987 both NMC and ECMWF began using Christmas Island wind profiler observations in preparing their global analysis and forecast products. Detailed comparisons of NMC and ECMWF analyses with Christmas Island w...