Radar Wind Profiler Radial Velocity: A Comparison with Doppler Lidar

Abstract

Abstract The accuracy of the radial wind velocity measured with a radar wind profiler will depend on turbulent variability and instrumental noise. Radial velocity estimates of a boundary layer wind profiler are compared with those estimated by a Doppler lidar over 2.3 h. The lidar resolution volume was much narrower than the profiler volume, but the samples were well matched in range and time. The wind profiler radial velocity was computed using two common algorithms [profiler online program (POP) and National Center for Atmospheric Research improved moments algorithm (NIMA)]. The squared correlation between radial velocities measured with the two instruments was R2 = 0.99, and the standard deviation of the difference was about σr = 0.20–0.23 m s−1 for radial velocities of greater than 1 m s−1 and σr = 0.16–0.35 m s−1 for radial velocities of less than 1 m s−1. Small radial velocities may be treated differently in radar wind profiler processing because of ground-clutter mitigation strategies. A standard d...