Retrieval of High-Resolution Wind Fields over the Southern Korean Peninsula Using the Doppler Weather Radar Network

Abstract

The performance of a radar network for retrieving high-resolution wind fields over South Korea is examined. The network consists of a total of 18 operational radars. All of the radars possess the Doppler capability and carry out plan position indicator (PPI) volume scans comprising 6?15 elevation steps at every 6 or 10 min. An examination of the coverage of the radar network reveals that the radar network allows the retrieval of three-dimensional high-resolution wind fields over the entire area of the southern Korean Peninsula as well as nearby oceans above a height of approximately 3 km. After the quality control procedures of the radar measurements, the high-resolution wind fields (a few kilometers) are extracted using multiple-Doppler wind synthesis in the Custom Editing and Display of Reduced Information in Cartesian Space (CEDRIC) package developed by NCAR. The radar-retrieved winds are evaluated using the following two rain events: 1) Typhoon Ewiniar in 2006, which resulted in strong winds and heavy rainfall over the entire southern Korean Peninsula, and 2) a well-developed hook echo with a relatively small-scale diameter of about 30 km. The wind fields retrieved from the radar network exhibit counterclockwise rotation around the typhoon center and a general structure around a hook echo such as a cyclonically rotating updraft (i.e., mesocyclone). Comparisons with the wind measurements from four UHF wind profilers for the typhoon case reveal that the u- and ?-wind components retrieved from the radar network deviate by standard deviations of 3.6 and 4.5 m s?1 over ranges from ?30 to 20 m s?1 and from 0 to 40 m s?1, respectively. Therefore, it is concluded that the operational radar network has the potential to provide three-dimensional high-resolution wind fields within the mesoscale precipitation systems over almost the entire area of the southern Korean Peninsula.