Abstract

Knowledge of the global wind field is widely recognized as fundamental to advancing our understanding and prediction of the total Earth system. The motion of the atmosphere directly affects a wide-range of geophysical processes including: the horizontal transport of momentum, moisture, chemical constituents and aerosols, the evaporation of water and heat from the land and oceans, and atmospheric teleconnections, such as the influence of the tropical Pacific on the circulation of the northern hemisphere middle latitudes. An accurate depiction of the atmospheric motion is also a key parameter for improving the skill of weather forecasts. Yet, because wind profiles are primarily measured by land-based, balloon-tethered instruments, the oceanic areas (covering roughly three quarters of the Earth’s surface) and many regions of the less-developed tropical and southern hemisphere land areas are poorly observed. The gap between our requirements for global wind data and their availability continues to widen. For example, as faster computers become available to model the atmosphere with ever increasing resolution and sophistication, our ability to do so is hampered because of the lack of data, particularly wind profiles.

© 1991 Optical Society of America