V AD W ind P rofile. A radar plot of horizontal winds, derived from VAD data, as a function of height above a Doppler Radar . The display is plotted with height as the vertical axis and time as the horizontal axis (a so-called time-height display), which then depicts the change in wind with time at various heights. This display is useful for observing local changes in vertical wind shear , such as backing of low-level winds, increases in speed shear , and development or evolution of nearby jet streams (including low-level jets ).
This product often is referred to erroneously as a VAD .