VERTICAL WIND PROFILE
A series of wind direction and wind speed measurements taken at various levels in the atmosphere that show the wind structure of the atmosphere over a specific location.
The examples of vertical wind profiles are similar to those that have been observed with different storm types: from the chaotic, light winds of unorganized summer storms, to the veering and increasing winds typical of organized storms.
Atmospheric helicity is computed from the vertical wind profile in the lower part of the atmosphere (usually from the surface up to 3 km), and is measured relative to storm motion.
Computed from the vertical wind profile of the lower atmosphere and measured relative to the motion as a storm, it is used to forecast the formation of mesocyclones.
Hodograph: A polar coordinate graph which shows the vertical wind profile of the lowest 7000 meters of the atmosphere.
What does this mean for the vertical wind profile in the mid-latitude NH troposphere? If the thermal wind is westerly, the atmospheric flow will become more westerly with height, as the thermal wind describes the wind change with height.
An instrument designed to measure horizontal winds directly above its location, and thus measure the vertical wind profile. Profilers operate on the same principles as Doppler radar.
Prognostic chart ...
HELICITY A property of a moving fluid, such as air, representing the potential for helical flow (flow that follows a corkscrew pattern). Computed from the vertical wind profile of the lower atmosphere and measured relative to the motion as a ...
PROFILER- A remote ground-based sensing instrument that measures wind speed and direction at different levels of the atmosphere. The new National Weather Service WSR-88D radar has this capability, and its vertical wind profile is called a VAD Wind ...
Wind speeds increase rapidly with altitude, and most anemometers are in the surface boundary layer. A more detailed discussion of the vertical wind profile will be found in Turbulence, as well as below in the section on surface effects.
 See also: Air, Precipitation, Temperature, Atmosphere, Horizon
  
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