The NIMA method for improved moment estimation from doppler spectra

Although NIMA's main application has been for real-time processing of wind profiler data, it has also been successfully applied to Doppler lidar and weather radar data. Profiler spectra are often contaminated by a variety of sources including aircraft, birds, velocities exceeding the Nyquist velocity, radio frequency interference, and ground clutter.

The NIMA method uses mathematical analysis, fuzzy logic synthesis, and global image processing algorithms to mimic human experts' ability to identify atmospheric signals in the presence of such contaminants. NIMA is configurable and its processing can be tuned to optimize performance for a given profiler site. Once configured, NIMA is a fully automated algorithm that runs in real time to produce Doppler moments and a confidence assessment of those moments.