Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

A computer simulation of radar-measured radial velocity profiles was made to evaluate the effects of finite antenna beamwidth and the location of the radar on the measurement of low-level wind shear. The inputs to the computer simulation program are the radar characteristics and the existing wind field - the outputs are the wind component along any line (usually the glide path) and the radar-measured radial velocity profile for a given antenna location and antenna pointing. The results show that a radar beamwidth of 1.5 deg. provides sufficient spatial resolution to measure low-level wind profiles. However, when the wind fields contain horizontal gradients, headwinds and tailwinds encountered by an aircraft on the glide path cannot be measured by a fixed-beam radar that is offset from the end of the runway. A steerable antenna is needed to adequately measure the wind profile for these cases. (Author)