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A Note on the FM-CW radar as a remote probe of the pacific trade-wind inversion

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Abstract

A vertically pointed FM-CW radar was used to monitor the Pacific Trade-Wind Inversion in the Hawaiian Islands during the summer of 1971. An instrumented aircraft was used forin situ measurements of radio refractivity and temperature. The correspondence between the position of the radar returns and the aircraft data was excellent. The strong returns seen by the radar were due chiefly to the strong lapse of humidity across the inversion.

The radar indicated that over the island of Lanai the trade-wind inversion was highly variable both in position and intensity. At times the layer would move from above 2 km to less than 1 km in the space of five minutes associated with strong mechanical turbulence. Its thickness would change rapidly from tens of meters to hundreds of meters. Wave-like structure induced by the mountains on the east side were observed by the radar.

Our analysis indicates that interpretation ofin situ aircraft measurements may be greatly aided by using the FM-CW radar as a guide.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA/ERL, Wave Propagation Laboratory, Boulder, Colo., USA

    B. R. Bean & R. E. McGavin

  2. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Institute for Telecommunications (ITS/OT), Boulder, Colo., USA

    B. D. Warner

Authors
  1. B. R. Bean
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  2. R. E. McGavin
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  3. B. D. Warner
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Bean, B.R., McGavin, R.E. & Warner, B.D. A Note on the FM-CW radar as a remote probe of the pacific trade-wind inversion. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 4, 201–209 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02265232

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02265232

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