Simulation of Doppler Lidar Measurement Range and Data Availability

Abstract

AbstractThe measurement range of a coherent wind Doppler lidar (CWDL) along a laser beam is the maximum distance from the lidar where wind speed data are accurately retrieved. It means that, at this distance, a sufficient number of emitted laser photons are backscattered and received by the lidar. Understanding of the propagation of the laser through the atmosphere, and particularly the backscattering and extinction processes from aerosols, is therefore important to estimate the metrological performances of a CWDL instrument. The range is directly related to specific instrument characteristics and atmospheric content, such as the aerosols type, size, and density distributions. Associated with the measurement range is the notion of data availability, which can be defined, at a given range and over a time period, as the percentage number of data retrieved correctly by the CWDL over the total number of measurement attempts.This paper proposes a new approach to predict the CWDL data availability and range of measurement using both instrumental simulation and atmospheric observations of aerosol optical properties from weather stations and simulations. This method is applied in several CWDL measurement campaigns during which estimated data availabilities and ranges are compared with the observations. It is shown that it is fairly possible to anticipate the data availability and the range coverage of CWDL technology at any site of interest where atmospheric data are available. The method also offers an additional way to diagnose the operation of the instrument and will help in the design of future instruments.