Tropospheric wind and humidity derived from spaceborne radar intensity andphase observations

Causal connections between mesoscale wind patterns and moisture distributio n in the lower boundary layer can be studied using satellite synthetic aper ture radar (SAR) observations. Wind information is retrieved from radar bac kscatter intensity over water areas, whereas the moisture distribution is r eflected in the radar signal delay. The latter can only be observed over la nd areas, using the interferometric combination of two radar images. This p aper reports on the relation between wind and moisture associated with boun dary layer rolls and with a cold-frontal rain band. The combination of both signals, originating from one sensor, is used to infer a quantitative desc ription of the underlying dynamical processes.