Advanced radar wind profiling

Abstract

During the last three decades, radar wind profiling (RWP) has evolved into a key technology for atmospheric science and operational meteorology. In this tutorial status report, RWP is divided into three distinct areas: single-signal RWP, two-signal RWP, and multi-signal RWP. While single-signal RWP, or standard RWP, is a mature technology in many respects, there is still much room for improvement, particularly in the interpretation of signals that are severely contaminated by radio interference or by clutter from aircraft, birds, hydrometeors, etc. Two-signal RWP, the best known examples of which are the spaced-antenna (SA) and frequency-domain interferometry (FDI) techniques, have been used to overcome some of the limitations inherent to standard RWP. Multi-signal RWP is, to a large extent, still unexplored territory. This paper attempts to provide a coherent conceptual framework of advanced RWP and to identify areas of future research and development.