Application of quality control algorithms to the Indian MST radar wind data and comparison with rawinsonde wind data

Abstract

For the first time quality control algorithms have been applied to the Indian MST radar data for studying / estimating accuracy of wind under different atmospheric weather conditions. To assure the quality of the MST radar wind data, consensus averaging and continuity algorithms have been applied successively for 18 days in March 1996 between 1000 and 1100 hrs LT during PSLV launch from SHAR Center, Sriharikota. These winds have been compared with the wind profiles obtained by ordinary averaging procedure and rawinsonde wind measurements. The statistical analysis of the wind data shows that the mean average increased from 6.52 to 9.45 m/s for the zonal winds and 3.29 to 3.56 m/s for the meridional winds when the consensus continuity algorithms were applied. Also, the standard deviation decreased from 7.69 to 4.08 for the zonal winds and 3.16 to 2.11 for the meridional winds after utilizing the quality control algorithms. Application of quality control algorithms to the Indian MST radar wind data shows improved agreement with the rawinsonde data compared to the ordinary averaging.