A Comparison of Meteor Radar Observation over China Region with Horizontal Wind Model (HWM14)

This paper compares the wind fields measured by the meteor radar at Mohe, Beijing, Wuhan, and Sanya stations and horizontal wind model (HWM14) predictions. HWM14 appears to successfully reproduce the height-time distribution of the monthly mean zonal winds, although large discrepancies occur in wind speed between the model and measurement, especially in the summer and winter months. For meridional wind, the consistency between model prediction and radar observation is worse than that of zonal wind. The consistency between radar measurements and model prediction at Sanya station is worse than other sites located at higher latitudes. Harmonic analysis reveals large discrepancies in diurnal, semidiurnal, and terdiurnal tides extracted from meteor radar observations and HWM14 predictions.

Automated summary

This study compares wind fields measured by meteor radar with model predictions, finding significant discrepancies in wind speed and direction, especially in summer and winter. Consistency for meridional wind is worse than for zonal wind, with Sanya station showing the worst consistency. Harmonic analysis reveals significant differences between radar observations and model predictions.