A technique for measuring winds in the lower atmosphere using incoherent Doppler lidar

Technical Report · Wed Apr 14 04:00:00 EDT 1993

OSTI ID:6339394

DeSlover, D H; Slaughter, D R; Tulloch, W M; White, W E

Wind speed is useful from a meteorological standpoint, in atmospheric modeling, and assessment of trace gas dispersal. A continuing effort is involved in improving the sensitivity of such measurements, and is exemplified by the literature. The Mobile Atmospheric Research Laboratory (MARL) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is currently developing a method to improve the sensitivity of wind sounding in the lower through middle atmosphere using a pair of Fabry-Perot interferometers in parallel. This technique, first described by Chanin, et al., for the middle atmosphere using Doppler Rayleigh lidar, can be applied to the lower atmosphere where Mie (aerosol) backscatter is strong. Elastic events, inherent in both Rayleigh and Mie backscatter, dominate the return signal throughout the atmosphere. Both are susceptible to local wind vectors; which will Doppler shift the laser frequency proportional to the wind velocity. A pair of Fabry-Perot interferometers, tuned to either side of the laser frequency, will provide necessary data to determine the shift in frequency of the backscattered signal. Spectral drift and jitter of the laser and a lack of data points to determine the wind vector place limits on the sensitivity of the system. A method to minimize each of these is presented.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6339394
• Report Number(s): UCRL-JC-113310; ON: DE93017163
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540110*
ANEMOMETERS
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
BACKSCATTERING
GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS
INTERFEROMETERS
LASER DOPPLER ANEMOMETERS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
OPTICAL RADAR
RADAR
RANGE FINDERS
SCATTERING
SENSITIVITY
TENSORS
VECTORS
VELOCITY
WIND