Assessment of virtual towers performed with scanning wind lidars and Ka-band radars during the XPIA experiment
Mithu Debnath1,Giacomo Valerio Iungo1,W. Alan Brewer2,Aditya Choukulkar2,Ruben Delgado3,Scott Gunter4,Julie K. Lundquist5,6,John L. Schroeder7,James M. Wilczak2,and Daniel Wolfe8Mithu Debnath et al. Mithu Debnath1,Giacomo Valerio Iungo1,W. Alan Brewer2,Aditya Choukulkar2,Ruben Delgado3,Scott Gunter4,Julie K. Lundquist5,6,John L. Schroeder7,James M. Wilczak2,and Daniel Wolfe8
1Wind Fluids and Experiments (WindFluX) Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA
2National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Earth Sciences Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
3Atmospheric Physics Department, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA
4Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Columbus State University, Columbus, GA, USA
5National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA
6Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
7Department of Geosciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA
8Physical Sciences Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO, USA
1Wind Fluids and Experiments (WindFluX) Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA
2National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Earth Sciences Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
3Atmospheric Physics Department, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA
4Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Columbus State University, Columbus, GA, USA
5National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA
6Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
7Department of Geosciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA
8Physical Sciences Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO, USA
Received: 01 Oct 2016 – Discussion started: 14 Oct 2016 – Revised: 01 Mar 2017 – Accepted: 07 Mar 2017 – Published: 29 Mar 2017
Abstract. During the eXperimental Planetary boundary layer Instrumentation Assessment (XPIA) campaign, which was carried out at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (BAO) in spring 2015, multiple-Doppler scanning strategies were carried out with scanning wind lidars and Ka-band radars. Specifically, step–stare measurements were collected simultaneously with three scanning Doppler lidars, while two scanning Ka-band radars carried out simultaneous range height indicator (RHI) scans. The XPIA experiment provided the unique opportunity to compare directly virtual-tower measurements performed simultaneously with Ka-band radars and Doppler wind lidars. Furthermore, multiple-Doppler measurements were assessed against sonic anemometer data acquired from the meteorological tower (met-tower) present at the BAO site and a lidar wind profiler. This survey shows that – despite the different technologies, measurement volumes and sampling periods used for the lidar and radar measurements – a very good accuracy is achieved for both remote-sensing techniques for probing horizontal wind speed and wind direction with the virtual-tower scanning technique.
The XPIA experiment was conducted in 2015 at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory to estimate capabilities of various remote-sensing techniques for the characterization of complex atmospheric flows. Among different tests, XPIA provided the unique opportunity to perform simultaneous virtual towers with Ka-band radars and scanning Doppler wind lidars. Wind speed and wind direction were assessed against lidar profilers and sonic anemometer data, highlighting a good accuracy of the data retrieved.
The XPIA experiment was conducted in 2015 at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory to estimate...
