Radar Observations of the Free Atmosphere: Structure and Dynamics

Abstract

In the past decade rapid progress has been made in the development of Doppler radar suited to probing the clear atmosphere for research and operational applications. To the meteorologist these developments are embodied in the concept of the wind profiler, which is simply a Doppler radar system designed to monitor the atmospheric wind field. Along with NEXRAD the wind profiler has the potential for making an enormous contribution to the way in which we observe and forecast the daily weather, especially for regional nowcasting and short-range forecasting. In terms of atmospheric research the wind profiler is widely recognized as an important research tool in any mesoscale field program.