TEMPERATURE SOUNDING WITH WIND PROFILER RADARS

A network of 31 radar wind profilers is being installed in the central United States by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The radars are expected to measure the vertical profile of horizontal and vertical wind starting at 500 m above the surface (AGL) and extending to about 16 km AGL. These 404.37-MHz radars can also be adapted to measure virtual temperature profiles in the lower troposphere by the radio acoustic sounding system (RASS) technique. RASS experiments were conducted using the prototype radar of the NOAA network, and results showed that virtual temperature profiles can be measured starting at 500 m AGL (the lowest height observed with this radar) and extending to 3.5-5.2 km AGL.