Ground-based remote sensing of atmospheric parameters using integrated profiling stations

As there is currently no remote-sensing method that can supply high-quality information on all meteorological parameters from one system alone, integrated stations for vertical profiling are needed. This paper defines a classification about integrated remote-sensing stations for wind, temperature and humidity profiling and analyzes their performance. Based on a SODAR/RASS, two different windprofiler/RASS devices and a microwave radiometer profiler, it is shown that reliable profiling of wind, temperature and humidity is possible in the troposphere and lower stratosphere with sufficient vertical resolutions in relation to the typical length scales of the boundary layer as well as the free atmosphere. Finally, the synergy of an integrated profiling station is demonstrated by an example of the accurate determination of the PBL depth. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.