High-frequency meteorological phenomena observed with the Naval Postgraduate School's UHF Doppler Wind Profiler

Abstract

) A UHF clear-air Doppler radar wind profiler was purchased by the Naval Postgraduate School and began operation in late-March of 1990. The identification of numerous meteorological phenomena using UHF Doppler radar wind profilers has been successfully documented; however, published work to-date has concentrated on interpretation of hourly-consensus data. But with the onset of improved technology, it is now possible to retrieve reliable data within the hourly period. This study examines the quality of the six-minute data through statistical analysis and determines the overall accuracy of the School's profiler. Specifically, the performance of the profiler is compared with rawinsonde data, other profiler comparison studies, as well as the contract specifications. This study also looks at overall performance of UHF Doppler radar profiler in an environment characterized by a strong marine inversion. Finally the study presents evidence that meteorological phenomena which exhibits time scales on the order of minutes can be observed using the six-minute profiler data.