The Accuracy of RASS Temperature Measurements Corrected for Vertical Air Motion

Abstract

Temperature measurements made with a 50-MHz wind profiler equipped with a radio acoustic sounding system (RASS) are compared with radiosonde observations (raobs) during a 5-week period in the fall of 1991. The accuracy of the RASS temperature measurements corrected for vertical air motion is reported. Measurements made during a period when vertical air motion was observed showed a mean improvement of 0.7°C after correction. The rms differences between the RASS observations and the raobs showed improvement at all the measurement heights when the correction for vertical air motion was made. The accuracy for all the observations is reported to be 0.9°C. The remaining differences in the temperature are compared with a model of RASS errors induced by horizontal winds and turbulence.