Estimation of the Wind Component Normal to a Radar Beam

Abstract

A method is presented whereby a crude estimate of the total wind speed with a single Doppler radar observation may be obtained by making use of the spectral width of the returned signal. This method is demonstrated using data from the MU radar of Japan. However, the accuracy of the estimate is severely limited by spectral broadening due to windshear and turbulence within the radar pulse volume. Therefore the practical applications of this method are limited.