rawinn.
/ˈreɪwɪn/, U.S. /ˈreɪˌwɪn/ Meteorology.
A measurement of atmospheric wind speed and direction made by tracking a balloon-borne target with radar; (also) the balloon-borne radar target, often combined with a radiosonde (cf. rawinsonde n.). Frequently attributive.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > study or science of weather > study or science of specific conditions or phenomena > [noun] > study or science of wind > a determination of atmospheric wind
rawin1946
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > study or science of weather > meteorological instruments > [noun] > upper air wind instruments
pilot balloon1802
rawin1967
1946 Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc. 27 371/1 A system of obtaining winds-aloft reports by electronic means known as rawins is now gaining great favor.
1967 R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Atmospheric Sci. & Astrogeol. 581/1 It [sc. a radiosonde] consists of a small radio transmitter sent aloft by a helium or hydrogen-filled balloon which transmits the values of the meteorological elements in code to ground stations. If the instrument is tracked by radar to determine wind speed and direction aloft, it is called a rawin. If the two are combined in one, it is called a rawinsonde.
1979 C. Kilian Icequake vi. 103 A few tractors and a collapsed rawin tower were all that was left of the station.
1984 Atmospheric Environment 18 2582/1 The mass transport of particulate S is computed with the wind velocity at the midlevel (925 mb) measured by rawins 1 h before the satellite observations.
2002 Internat. Jrnl. Climatol. 22 347 An easterly speed maximum in the mid troposphere over the equator is consistent with the 4 year rawin record at Galapagos.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1946