A wind profiler emits microwave or UHF pulses vertically and measures the Doppler shift of atmospheric turbulence to determine wind at different altitudes (up to 10–16 km). It generates a complete profile every 6–15 minutes.
Essential for aviation (wind shear and jet stream detection), numerical prediction (data assimilation), and front tracking. AEMET operates a profiler network in Spain complementing radiosondes (which only ascend twice daily).