Three-dimensional wind profiles using a stabilized shipborne cloud radar in wind profiler mode.

In this study, a shipborne 95 GHz Doppler cloud radar mounted on a stabilized platform is used to retrieve vertical profiles of three-dimensional (3D) winds by sequentially pointing the stabilized platform in different directions. A specific challenge is that the maximum angle off zenith is 8°, which implies that the projection of the horizontal wind components onto the radar beam directions is a small component of Doppler velocity in most cases. A variational 3D wind retrieval technique is then described, allowing for 1-minute resolution 3D wind profiles to be retrieved. Statistical comparisons with 3-hourly radiosonde launches and qualitative comparisons with ship-level horizontal winds demonstrate that accurate 3D wind profiles can be obtained from such cloud radar observations at small off-zenith angles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]