Field test of a lidar wind profiler

Gerard J. Kunz

doi:10.1117/1.601045

1 November 1996 Field test of a lidar wind profiler

Gerard J. Kunz

Optical Engineering, Vol. 35, Issue 11, (November 1996). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.601045

Wind speeds and wind directions are measured remotely using an incoherent backscatter lidar system operating at a wavelength of 1.06 µm with a maximum repetition rate of 13 Hz. The principle of the measurements is based on following detectable atmospheric structures, which are transported by the wind (Taylor’s hypothesis). The characteristic size and lifetime of these structures are also inverted from the data. Initially, the lidar was pointed in the horizontal plane parallel to the wind direction to measure the horizontal wind speed from the displacement of the atmospheric structures along the lidar axis. Subsequently, the sensor was expanded with a time synchronous lidar that operated at an azimuth angle of about 15 deg with respect to the direction of the first lidar. The horizontal wind vector could then be measured over ranges of about 1.5 km using the geometry of the dual lidar and the transit times of the atmospheric structures between the two lidar axes. Results obtained with this dual lidar are comparable with the in situ measured wind vector. Finally, vertical profiles of the wind vector are measured to altitudes of about 1 km. This is realized by operating one lidar in the triangulation mode using a fast adjustable platform. The results obtained in this mode are in good agreement with in situ measured data from sensors on a 213-m-high meteorologically instrumented mast and with data provided by an acoustic sounder.

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Gerard J. Kunz "Field test of a lidar wind profiler," Optical Engineering 35(11), (1 November 1996). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.601045

Published: 1 November 1996

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