Sodar data about wind profiles in Moscow city

The results of wind measurements in the lowermost 500 m air layer above Moscow by Doppler sodar 'MODOS' produced by METEK firm are presented for the period from 2004 to 2008. General features both of the annual cycle of wind profiles and of the diurnal one are being discussed. In average, the highest wind speed values are observed in autumn and in winter, the least ones in spring and in summer. The recordable maximal value of the wind speed averaged over 10 minutes in Moscow city has been found as nearly 31 m/s. The distributions of wind speed values regularly show a positive asymmetry and are close to the logarithmically normal law. For the first time, seasonal dynamics of the skewness coefficient and of the kurtosis of wind distributions are analyzed. The most frequently detected wind directions are South-Western and Western-South-Western; the rarest are directions with an Eastern component. The crossover height of wind profiles varies in average from 60-80 m in autumn and in winter to nearly of 100 m in summer. For the first time, mean values of wind turning during the passing of atmospheric fronts have been received and are studied by sodar data. It was found that right-hand (clockwise) turning of wind at cold fronts is more and occurs more quickly compared to warm fronts. The occlusion fronts show intermediate mean values of wind turning