Validation of TAMDAR Wind Data by Comparison to Radiosonde Data Collected at the TAMDAR AERIBAGO Validation Experiment

The Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting (TAMDAR) sensor measures temperature, relative humidity, wind, ice presence, and turbulence. This sensor is intended for installation on aircraft that fly at altitudes including below 25,000 feet (7620 m) and to a variety of airports to collect in-situ observations for input to numerical weather prediction models and local forecasts. There is great interest in evaluating the data provided by these sensors due to the potential impact on weather reporting and prediction, and this paper will examine wind data obtained from TAMDAR sensors. Currently the TAMDAR project, a collaborative effort between NASA, FAA, NOAA, Universities, and Industry, is conducting the Great Lakes Fleet experiment (GLFE), a major fleet-wide event with the TAMDAR sensor installed on 63 Mesaba Saab 340 aircraft with routes across the Great Lakes region and central U.S. The original six-month experiment commenced on January 15th, 2005 and has been extended an additional six months with funding from the FAA. As part of the GLFE, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (UW-CIMSS) has deployed a suite of in situ and remote sensing weather instruments at the Memphis International Airport (MEM) to validate moisture and temperature profiles from TAMDAR sensors operating on the Mesaba Airline aircraft. Data collected in this experiment, the TAMDAR AERIBAGO (AERI-equipped, mobile laboratory in a Winnebago) Validation Experiment, creates an opportunity to evaluate TAMDAR wind measurements recorded during the soundings from arriving and departing aircraft. As part of the experiment, frequent radiosonde data has been recorded for comparison to routine TAMDAR soundings collected as part of the GLFE. Tamdar wind data is compared to radiosonde wind data to establish the quality of the data and to provide meteorologists with a gauge for the usefulness of the TAMDAR soundings as a source of synoptic atmospheric data.