Derivation of High-Resolution Meteorological Parameters for Use in Airport Wind Shear Now-Casting Applications

Methods for now-casting adverse weather conditions with the potential to cause disruption to aircraft landings often make use of real-time measurements at high temporal resolution. This paper describes processing methodologies developed to derive meteorological parameters from such measurements recorded in the vicinity of Hong Kong International Airport, specifically a radiometer in King’s Park, a wind profiler and surface anemometer on Cheung Chau Island and weather buoys in the Pearl River estuary. These parameters are suitable for use as input to a now-casting application of the computationally efficient airflow model, FLOWSTAR, which has previously been shown to predict mountain waves generated by flow over Lantau Island to the southeast of the airport. Radiosonde data from King’s Park have been used to test the radiometer processing method; the novel approach of using minimum and maximum potential temperature deviations from a series of height-dependent linear profiles to derive radiometer inversion layer parameters generates data that compares well with values derived from corresponding radiosonde profiles. Mountain wave strength depends on the magnitude of wind speed in the inversion layer; wind profiler data can be used to estimate typical and maximum wind speeds and associated wind directions using estimates of inversion layer depth derived from the radiometer data. With estimates of surface sensible heat flux appropriate for the airport’s coastal location calculated using a marine boundary layer scheme, a dataset of meteorological parameters at 20-min resolution has been derived for input into the FLOWSTAR model. The combination of automated meteorological data processing methods and flow field modelling has the potential to form part of a now-casting system for determining strong wind shear conditions at the airport