Wind speed and turbulence estimation with a backscatter lidar at a single line of sight

Abstract

The bidimensional auto-correlation for the lidar signal measured along a single line of sight (LOS) is spectrally analyzed to estimate the wind turbulence variance, while a correlation contour analysis retrieves the mean wind speed. A combined model of a turbulent wind field plus an isotropic gaussian aerosol concentration field is used to 1) estimate the wind field variance causing diffusion on the aerosol structures and 2) to extend the contour autocorrelation analysis to include the turbulence effect and correct the mean wind estimation. The present analysis is intended to be used on a single LOS sensing, that can provide an estimation of the relative turbulence.