Theory and application of a radio-acoustic sounding system (RASS)

Thesis/Dissertation · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:6980422

Lataitis, R J

A Doppler wind-profiler radar can measure the speed of a sound wave, emitted from a nearby acoustic source, at various heights, from which a virtual temperature profile can be inferred. This thesis examines the effect of various environmental factors on the performance of a Radio-Acoustic Sounding Systems (RASS). A simple expression for the RASS echo power in the form of a radar equation has been derived. The effects of a horizontal winds, turbulence, vertical temperature gradients, and a displacement of the acoustic source from the radar have been included. The development here unifies and extends earlier work. A RASS comprising a monostatic pulsed Doppler radar and a band-limited acoustic source was analyzed theoretically for the first time. Previous results based on uniform turbulence profiles were extended to include realistic profiles. The effect of a vertical temperature gradient is described analytically. The accuracy of the RASS temperature retrievals was theoretically examined. An analytic expression for the temperature error that includes all of the above effects was developed. The contribution of turbulence to this error was identified and quantified. Multiple acoustic sources are often used in RASS to enhance the height coverage. No analytic description of such systems had previously existed. The development was extended to include multiple acoustic sources and the expected enhancement was theoretically confirmed. The effect of multiple acoustic sources on the error in the temperature retrieval was investigated. There have been few studies investigating how well a wind-profiler/RASS can measure wind and temperature variances and fluxes. Vertical wind and temperature spectra, and heat flux cospectra, obtained from sonic anemometer and wind-profiler/RASS time series were compared. The agreement was poor suggesting the need for more comparative studies to identify sources of error.

• Research Organization: Colorado Univ., Boulder, CO (United States)
• OSTI ID: 6980422
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440500 -- Thermal Instrumentation-- (1990-)
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540110*
ACOUSTIC MEASUREMENTS
DOPPLER EFFECT
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
PERFORMANCE TESTING
RADIO EQUIPMENT
TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT
TESTING
WIND