An Evaluation of Two NEXRAD Wind Retrieval Methodologies and Their Use in Atmospheric Dispersion Models

Abstract Two entirely different methods for retrieving 3D fields of horizontal winds from Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) radial velocities have been evaluated using radar wind profiler measurements to determine whether routine wind retrievals would be useful for atmospheric dispersion model applications. The first method uses a physical algorithm based on four-dimensional variational data assimilation, and the second simpler method uses a statistical technique based on an analytic formulation of the background error covariance. Both methods can be run in near–real time, but the simpler method was executed about 2.5 times as fast as the four-dimensional variational method. The observed multiday and diurnal variations in wind speed and direction were reproduced by both methods below ∼1.5 km above the ground in the vicinity of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, during July 2003. However, wind retrievals overestimated the strength of the nighttime low-level jet by as much as 65%. The wind speeds and directions ...

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