A Study of Atmospheric Temperature and Wind Profiles Obtained from Rocketsondes in the Chinese Midlatitude Region

Abstract

AbstractIn November 2004, five TK-1 meteorological rockets were launched at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China for the first time. The observations are compared with models, reanalysis, and satellite datasets. The mean differences of temperature between the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) and the rocketsondes are about 0.7–2.4 K in the stratosphere and −6 K in the mesosphere. The temperature biases between the Naval Research Laboratory Mass Spectrometer and Incoherent Scatter Radar, Exosphere (NRLMSISE-00)/Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM), and the rocketsondes are small (~1–2 K) in the lower stratosphere and largest near the stratopause. Both models strongly overestimated the temperature by 11 K on average. The discrepancies of horizontal winds between the Horizontal Wind Model 07 (HWM07)/WACCM and the rocketsondes reached the maximum in the upper stratosphere and the lower mesosphere. The westerly observed zonal winds and equatorward meridional winds were two interesting phenomena that led to large biases in the upper stratosphere, which need further study.