Articles | Volume 17, issue 16
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4979-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4979-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
30 Aug 2024
Research article |
| 30 Aug 2024
| 30 Aug 2024
Closing the gap in the tropics: the added value of radio-occultation data for wind field monitoring across the Equator
Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change, University of Graz, Graz, 8010, Austria
Magdalena Pieler
Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change, University of Graz, Graz, 8010, Austria
Gottfried Kirchengast
Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change, University of Graz, Graz, 8010, Austria
Institute of Physics, University of Graz, Graz, 8010, Austria
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Short summary
We investigated the potential of radio occultation (RO) data for climate-oriented wind field monitoring, focusing on the equatorial band within ±5° latitude. In this region, the geostrophic balance breaks down, and the equatorial balance approximation takes over. The study encourages the use of RO wind fields for mesoscale climate monitoring for the equatorial region, showing a small improvement in the troposphere when including the meridional wind in the zonal-mean total wind speed.
We investigated the potential of radio occultation (RO) data for climate-oriented wind field...
