TIMED TIDI: Zonal and Meridional Winds at 60-180 km Altitude

The TIMED Doppler Interferometer (TIDI) instrument provides neutral gas doppler temperature estimates and vector wind velocities in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. This Level 3 data set contains wind vectors mapped onto fixed angle-along-the-track grids, with vertical resolution ranging from approximately 2 km to 25 km and an accuracy approaching 3 m/sec. The data is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Use Cases

• Modeling mesosphere and lower thermosphere dynamics based on zonal and meridional wind profiles.
• Analyzing vertical wind structure based on data with resolution from ~2 km to 25 km.
• Studying neutral gas temperature variations based on doppler temperature estimates.
• Validating atmospheric circulation models based on wind velocity data with ~3 m/sec accuracy.

Strengths

• Vertical resolution is ~2 km at lower altitudes and 25 km in the thermosphere.
• Wind velocity accuracy approaches approximately 3 m/sec.
• Data is annotated with ancillary information including profile position and processing status.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is stored in BIN format, which may require specialized tools for access.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from the TIMED satellite's Fabry-Perot interferometer, using rotational line measurements of molecular Oxygen (O₂).

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 05:43:43.676984; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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