In this paper, the original simple adjoint method of Qiu and Xu is improved
and tested for retrieving the 3D storm-scale wind field from single-Dopple
r radar data. The method incorporates single-radar data and background fiel
ds, along with a dynamical constraint, smoothness, and anelastic mass conti
nuity constraint, in a cost function. The minimization of the cost function
, with the desired fit to these constraints, is obtained in an iterative pr
ocedure.
The current method is tested on simulated datasets of supercell storms. It
is shown that the circulation inside and around the storms, including the s
trong updraft and associated downdraft, are well retrieved. Furthermore, th
e method is robust in the presence of data error.