Small ScaleTurbulence Observed Simultaneously by Radiosondes and the MU Radar

A Japanese-French field campaign devoted to study small-scale turbulence and instabilities in the lower atmosphere was conducted in September 2011 for three weeks at Shigaraki MU observatory (34.85N, 136.15E; Japan). The VHF MU radar was operated in range imaging mode [e.g. 1] for turbulence observations at high temporal ( 25 s) and high range (typically 30 m) resolutions. In addition, 59 balloons instrumented with RS92G Vaisala radiosondes were succesfully launched during the campaign when the radar was operated. Reference [2] showed that turbulence can be detected from raw vertical profiles of temperature measured from standard radiosoundings through the detection of overturns using the so-called Thorpe analysis [3]. In the present work, we shall present some comparison results between radiosonde and MU radar data.