Effects of Wind Turbulence on Coherent Doppler Lidar Performance

Abstract

Abstract The effects of wind turbulence on pulsed coherent Doppler lidar performance are investigated theoretically and with computer simulations. The performance of velocity estimators is determined for the case of a single realization of a wind field described by a Kolmogorov spatial spectrum and for an ensemble average over many realizations. The results are compared with previously published data. The important normalized physical parameters are identified to reduce the parameter space. For a given realization of a random wind field, the mean Doppler lidar velocity (an ensemble average over the random aerosol particles) is a function of the lidar parameters and the instantaneous radial velocity over the sensing volume of the lidar pulse. Various approximations for the mean Doppler lidar velocity are compared using computer simulations. The best approximation for the mean Doppler lidar velocity is used to calculate the effects of the spatial averaging of the radial velocity by the lidar pulse on Dopple...