Assessing the quality of Aeolus wind over a tropical location (10.04 N, 76.9 E) using 205 MHz wind profiler radar

Aeolus is European Space Agency's unique and novel wind measuring satellite mission providing near real-time wind profiles from near surface to an altitude of 30 km. This paper presents the validation of Aeolus wind profiles over Cochin (10.04 degrees N, 76.9 degrees E), India using the 205 MHz wind profile radar. The Aeolus wind profiles (baselines 10 and 11) have been validated for an altitude range of 1 to 18 km during June, 2019 to September, 2021. Aeolus Rayleigh wind for clear (Rayleigh(clear)) and Mie wind for cloudy (Mie(cloudy)) show very good agreement with the radar wind profiles. The Pearson correlation coefficient between radar and Aeolus wind for Rayleigh(clear) and Mie(cloudy) are 0.93 and 0.94, respectively. The systematic and random errors in Rayleigh(clear) are found to be -0.15 m s(-1) and 4.87 m s(-1), respectively, while these values are -0.06 m s(-1) and 3.68 m s(-1) for Mie(cloudy). A detailed error characterization of Aeolus wind profiles with respect to radar is presented in this study. The bias in Aeolus wind is provided in terms of observation altitude, seasons, different windy conditions and ascending/descending orbits.