Based on five - layer wind speed, air temperature, humidity and vapor p ressure of the gradient tower of Zhangye National Climate Observatory built in 2007 from Sep tember 2007 to August 2008, the percentage of missing value was calculated, and the climate characteristics of Zhangye in different seasons were also analyzed. The reliability of data from the gradient towerwas checked by comparing with some other observational stations.

Firstly,the working p rincip le and measurement p recision of the Airda - 3000Q type atmospheric wind p rofiler (AWP) were introduced. Then, a contradistinctive analysis on the wind p rofile data acquired by both AWP and synchronous balloon sounding was conducted to estimate the reliability ofAWP for detectingwind field. The results show that under the stable weather condition, the p rofiler’s detection ofwind direction and wind speed had some deviation compared by the balloon’s detection from the ground to 200 m height due to the detecting blind spots of the AWP and the ground clutter, but above 200 m, both wind field p rofiles correlated well;Under the comp lex weather condition, theirwind p rofiles had obvious deviation because the wind information on the different height acquired by AWP is a temporal average of wind field in a time period, but the wind data measured by sounding balloon on a specific height is the instantaneous value while balloon passed by.