Comparison of tropopause height and frontal boundary locations based on radar and radiosonde data

Abstract

In February of 1982 the SOUSY‐VHF‐Radar, located near Hannover, West Germany, was operated during the passage of a warm front. The timing of the radiosonde ascent from nearby Hannover was such that the narrow frontal zone boundary was immediately overhead at a height of approximately 7 km. The data from this event has made it possible to make a detailed comparison of the radar and radiosonde reflectivity data that has not been possible before. We find that the frontal boundary that is detected by the radar appears as a very low tropopause height in the radiosonde data (approximately 3 km less than the mean during this time).