Wind speed and direction measurements with a backscatter lidar using the auto-correlation contour analysis

Abstract

A method to estimate wind velocity using the backscatter lidar signals of transported aerosol particles is presented. The lidar signal is correlated along range and time dimensions for each line of sight in which the lidar is pointing. The method is based on the analysis of contours of these range-time auto-correlation functions. This analysis obtains ellipse curve parameters which are related to the radial velocity and to the square wind speed, locally retrieved for a given line of sight. The combination of data from several angular positions enables the wind direction retrieval. Two possible implementations of the method are considered and tested with an actual measurement with the lidar of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC).