Coherent Doppler Wind Lidars In A Turbulent Atmosphere

Radiophysical tools for measuring atmospheric dynamics include sodars, Doppler radars, and Doppler lidars. Among these, coherent Doppler lidars (CDLs) have been considered the best for remote measurement of wind turbulence. This is important not only for understanding the exchange processes in the boundary layer, but also in the applied aspect, such as aviation safety. CDLs significantly extend possibilities of experimental investigation of not only wind turbulence, but also coherent structures such as aircraft wake vortices. The authors of this book conducted field tests of the developed methods of lidar measurements of the wind velocity, atmospheric turbulence parameters, and aircraft wake vortices. This valuable resource, containing over 500 equations based on original results from the authors’ work, gives professionals a comprehensive description of the operating principles of continuous wave and pulsed coherent Doppler lidars. This book studies the possibilities of obtaining information about wind turbulence from data measured by continuous wave and pulsed CDLs. The procedures for estimation are described, as well as algorithms for numerical simulation. Results on the vortex behavior and evolution are then presented.

The performance of a coherent Doppler lidar is affected by the atmosphere. Refractive index inhomogeneities limit the effective aperture of our system to 15.5 cm + or - 4% on the average for a 2.6 km horizontal path 2 m above the surface under daytime conditions. Effective aperture scales as range to the -3/5 power. A differential Doppler technique can measure the wind vector in a single atmospheric volume with three (or mor) closely-spaced beams. This method works even when the distribution of velocities in the volume is wider than the velocity separation from beam angle differences. The structure function for backscatter and wind inhomogeneities scales approximately as r to the 2/3 power between the minimum detectable scale in our experiment and an outer scale of 100 to 500 m, depending on atmospheric condition. (Author).

This practical handbook provides a clearly structured, concise and comprehensive account of the huge variety of atmospheric and related measurements relevant to meteorologists and for the purpose of weather forecasting and climate research, but also to the practitioner in the wider field of environmental physics and ecology. The Springer Handbook of Atmospheric Measurements is divided into six parts: The first part offers instructive descriptions of the basics of atmospheric measurements and the multitude of their influencing factors, fundamentals of quality control and standardization, as well as equations and tables of atmospheric, water, and soil quantities. The subsequent parts present classical in-situ measurements as well as remote sensing techniques from both ground-based as well as airborn or satellite-based methods. The next part focusses on complex measurements and methods that integrate different techniques to establish more holistic data. Brief discussions of measurements in soils and water, at plants, in urban and rural environments and for renewable energies demonstrate the potential of such applications. The final part provides an overview of atmospheric and ecological networks. Written by distinguished experts from academia and industry, each of the 64 chapters provides in-depth discussions of the available devices with their specifications, aspects of quality control, maintenance as well as their potential for the future. A large number of thoroughly compiled tables of physical quantities, sensors and system characteristics make this handbook a unique, universal and useful reference for the practitioner and absolutely essential for researchers, students, and technicians.

Coherent structures are patterns in the wind field of the atmospheric boundary layer. The deployment of two scanning Doppler lidars facilitates the measurement of the horizontal wind field, but the inherent averaging processes complicate an interpretation of the results. To assess the suitability of this technique for coherent structure detection large-eddy simulations are used as a basis for virtual measurements, and the effects of the lidar technique on the wind field structure are analyzed.

This Special Issue “Atmospheric Conditions for Wind Energy Applications” hosts papers on aspects of remote sensing for atmospheric conditions for wind energy applications. Wind lidar technology is presented from a theoretical view on the coherent focused Doppler lidar principles. Furthermore, wind lidar for applied use for wind turbine control, wind farm wake, and gust characterizations is presented, as well as methods to reduce uncertainty when using lidar in complex terrain. Wind lidar observations are used to validate numerical model results. Wind Doppler lidar mounted on aircraft used for observing winds in hurricane conditions and Doppler radar on the ground used for very short-term wind forecasting are presented. For the offshore environment, floating lidar data processing is presented as well as an experiment with wind-profiling lidar on a ferry for model validation. Assessments of wind resources in the coastal zone using wind-profiling lidar and global wind maps using satellite data are presented.

This thesis outlines the development of a vector retrieval technique, based on data assimilation, for a coherent Doppler LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). A detailed analysis of the Optimal Interpolation (OI) technique for vector retrieval is presented. Through several modifications to the OI technique, it is shown that the modified technique results in significant improvement in velocity retrieval accuracy. These modifications include changes to innovation covariance portioning, covariance binning, and analysis increment calculation. It is observed that the modified technique is able to make retrievals with better accuracy, preserves local information better, and compares well with tower measurements. In order to study the error of representativeness and vector retrieval error, a lidar simulator was constructed. Using the lidar simulator a thorough sensitivity analysis of the lidar measurement process and vector retrieval is carried out. The error of representativeness as a function of scales of motion and sensitivity of vector retrieval to look angle is quantified. Using the modified OI technique, study of nocturnal flow in Owens' Valley, CA was carried out to identify and understand uncharacteristic events on the night of March 27th 2006. Observations from 1030 UTC to 1230 UTC (0230 hr local time to 0430 hr local time) on March 27 2006 are presented. Lidar observations show complex and uncharacteristic flows such as sudden bursts of westerly cross-valley wind mixing with the dominant up-valley wind. Model results from Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS®) and other in-situ instrumentations are used to corroborate and complement these observations. The modified OI technique is used to identify uncharacteristic and extreme flow events at a wind development site. Estimates of turbulence and shear from this technique are compared to tower measurements. A formulation for equivalent wind speed in the presence of variations in wind speed and direction, combined with shear is developed and used to determine wind energy content in presence of turbulence.

The 10th conference on coherent laser radar technology and applications is the latest in a series beginning in 1980, which provides a forum for exchange of information on recent events, current status, and future directions of coherent laser radar (or lidar or lader) technology and applications. This conference emphasizes the latest advancements in the coherent laser radar field, including theory, modeling, components, systems, instrumentation, measurements, calibration, data processing techniques, operational uses, and comparisons with other remote sensing technologies.

Spatial Variability in Environmental Science - Patterns, Processes, and Analyses includes eight studies that examine the issue of spatial variability in four areas of the environmental sciences – atmospheric science, geological science, biological science, and landscape science. The topics range from monitoring of wind, the urban heat island, and atmospheric pollution, to coastal geomorphology, landscape planning and forest ecology, the problem of introduced species to regional ecologies, and a technique to improve the identification of human constructions in semi-natural landscapes. A small volume can only offer a small glimpse at the activities of scientists and insights into environmental science, but the array of papers herein offers a unique view of the current scholarship.