Estimation of vertical wind velocity using doppler radar data with vorticity constraints

The vorticity equation and the mass continuity equation are used as constraints to aid in calculation of the vertical component of a wind field from horizontal wind components. Typically the horizontal wind components result from estimations obtained from radar data. Using a Hilbert space minimization formulation, we characterize the estimated vertical velocity as a solution of an elliptic boundary value problem whose coefficients are functions of the horizontal wind components. Differentiable dependence of the vertical component of the wind field with respect to the horizontal fields is established. Finite dimensional approximating problems are obtained. A numerical study is presented using a sample problem based on the Beltrami flow to compare accuracy of the estimated vertical wind component with the exact. Also, sensitivity to perturbations in horizontal wind components are observed.