Scanning ARM Cloud Radar-Velocity Azimuth Display Product Released to Production

Published: 18 October 2019

The Scanning ARM Cloud Radar-Advanced-Velocity Azimuth Display (SACR-ADV-VAD) value-added product, which provides profiles of horizontal wind estimates at cloud level, has moved to production. SACR-ADV-VAD uses radial mean Doppler velocity observations from the Hemispherical Sky Range Height Indicator (HS-RHI) scan strategy of the Ka-Band Scanning ARM Cloud Radar (KASACR).

The VAD technique provides retrieved wind field properties using weather radars. SACR-ADV-VAD employs the technique using three horizon-to-horizon HS-RHI scans, typically repeated one to two times per hour, and spaced by 30 degrees in azimuth. The product outputs horizontal wind fields with a 30- to 60-minute time resolution and a 50-meter (164-foot) height resolution. It is intended to complement infrequent soundings, routinely two to four per day, depending upon the site.

SACR-ADV-VAD, previously an evaluation product, is available in production as a daily netCDF file for the KASACR at the following ARM sites and time periods:

• Eastern North Atlantic atmospheric observatory, Graciosa Island, Azores: June 14, 2017, to November 17, 2017
• North Slope of Alaska atmospheric observatory, Oliktok Point, Alaska: March 28, 2016, to June 30, 2017
• Southern Great Plains Central Facility, Lamont, Oklahoma: August 1 to August 31, 2012
• Two-Column Aerosol Project (TCAP) field campaign, Cape Cod, Massachusetts: September 1 to September 30, 2012
• Biogenic Aerosols – Effects on Clouds and Climate (BAECC) field campaign, Hyytiälä, Finland: August 1 to August 30, 2014.

Scientists can use the SACR-ADV-VAD data now.

For questions, please contact Scott Giangrande, a translator for SACR-ADV-VAD. To access the data, please log in to the ARM Data Center. (Go here to create an account to download the data.)

To cite the SACR-ADV-VAD data, use doi:10.5439/1275483.