A Comparison of Cloud Motion Winds with Coinciding Radiosonde Winds

Abstract

The relative capability of a wind derived from tracking the movement of clouds displayed in SMS-I infrared image sequence and of a wind reported by a radiosonde to represent atmospheric motion was investigated. Cloud winds intercompared with radiosonde winds over North America gave mean absolute differences between a cloud wind and surrounding radiosonde winds of 4.4 m s?1 for the u component and 4.6 m s?1 for the v component. An intracomparison of radiosonde winds for the same periods gave mean absolute differences between a radiosonde wind and surrounding reports of 4.2 m s?1 for the u component and 5.1 in s?1 for the v component. These and associated results suggest that a cloud wind and a radiosonde wind have a similar capability to represent atmospheric motions.