Vaisala wind profilers establish foothold in China

The China Air Traffic Administration has chosen Vaisala lower atmosphere wind profilers to be used for wind shear detection at three airports in Shanghai, Songpan and Tibet provinces. The contracts include the deliveries and installations of six systems, totalling over 3 million US dollars in value. All systems have been delivered during 2004-2005. This is an important opening for the Vaisala wind profiler systems in the aviation weather market in China.

The Vaisala lower atmosphere wind profiler is a radar which provides continuous measurement of horizontal wind speed and direction, and vertical wind velocity to an altitude of 2-3 km above ground level, depending on atmospheric conditions. When equipped with a radio-acoustic sounding system, the system also provides virtual temperature profiles up to about 1-2 km above ground level. Vaisala lower atmosphere wind profilers can be used in research, aviation, mesoscale meteorological forecasting, defense operations, forest fire management, and urban airshed modeling. Vaisala's product offering also includes mid-tropospheric and tropospheric wind profilers.

Wind shear is the change in wind speed or direction with height in the atmosphere. In connection with aviation, wind shear refers to the change in wind with distance along a plane's flight path. If an aircraft experiences a sudden decrease in wind speed, it can reduce the lift on its wings to dangerously low values. This is why airports use wind shear detection equipment to warn pilots of dangerous landing conditions.

In addition to airports, Vaisala wind profilers are in use at several space shuttle launch sites in China. Vaisala has also reached an agreement to deliver in 2006 two systems to Shenzen Meteorological Bureau to be used in mesoscale weather observation.