QVAD: A Method to Obtain Quadratic Winds from Conical Scans by a Doppler Weather Radar Network

Abstract

Recently, the (effective or projected) development of radar networks devoted to short-term forecasting has considerably emphasized the need for new forecasting methods using single- or multiple-radar data that are easy to manage, rapid, and cheap in terms of computer time. In this context, this paper presents the quadratic velocity-azimuth display (QVAD) analysis, a method that generalizes VAD and double VAD (DVAD) analyses: a quadratic form of the wind is assumed (instead of a linear one for VAD-DVAD) while using a conical scanning geometry. This generalization is double aimed. On the one hand, the quadratic form allows the detection of discontinuities that are not attainable by the linear form. On the other hand, the single-double radar presentation allows the modulation of the method and the associated software in two independent steps. The first step is performed locally on each radar and provides a limited dataset. The second step, which is performed in a central computer station, consists in gathering the dataset of each radar of the network, selecting the pair of radars to be associated, and retrieving the corresponding three-dimensional wind field.