Vertical wind estimation from horizontal wind measurements

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the ability of simple vertical wind models to improve the hazard prediction capability of an airborne Doppler sensor in a realistic microburst environment. The results indicate that in the altitude region of interest (at or below 300 meters), both the linear and empirical vertical wind models improved the hazard estimate. The radar simulation study showed that the magnitude of the performance improvement was altitude dependent. The altitude of maximum performance improvement occurred at about 300 meters. At the lower altitudes the percent improvement was minimized by the diminished contribution of the vertical wind. The vertical hazard estimate errors from flight tests were less than those of the radar simulation study.