Removal of the Vertical Structure Ambiguity in the Thermodynamic Retrieval from Multiple-Doppler Radar Synthesized Wind Fields

Abstract It has been long recognized that in the retrieved thermodynamic fields using multiple-Doppler radar synthesized winds, an unknown constant exists on each horizontal level, leading to an ambiguity in the retrieved vertical structure. In this study, the traditional thermodynamic retrieval scheme is significantly improved by the implementation of the Equation of State (EoS) as an additional constraint. With this new formulation the ambiguity of the vertical structure can be explicitly identified and removed from the retrieved three-dimensional thermodynamic fields. The only in-situ independent observations needed to perform the correction is the pressure and temperature measurements taken at a single surface station. If data from multiple surface stations are available, a strategy is proposed to obtain a better estimate of the unknown constant. Experiments in this research were conducted under the Observation System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) framework to demonstrate the validity of the new approach. Problems and possible solutions associated with using real data sets and potential future extended applications of this new method are discussed.