Triple Doppler wind lidar observations during the mountain terrain atmospheric modeling and observations field campaign

Coordinated triple Doppler wind lidars (DWLs) were employed during the Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observations (MATERHORN) program field campaign to observe turbulent winds in the mountain terrain atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). The feasibility of observing large turbulent eddies was investigated by pointing three DWL at an intersecting probe volume adjoining a sonic anemometer mounted on the top of a meteorological tower. The time series and spectra of the sonic anemometer measurement were compared with the lidars. The lidar radial velocities closely followed those of the sonic anemometer, both in time and in the low frequency spectral domain, suggesting that the DWL technique is suitable for observing large turbulent eddies in the ABL. In addition, coordinated scanning triple DWL were used to directly measure the three-dimensional wind vectors, thus circumventing the assumptions required in using single or dual lidar deployments for full velocity measurements. The scanning triple lidar results were in satisfactory agreement with data from tower-based sonic anemometers. Notwithstanding, because of the difficulty of obtaining temporal and spatial synchronizations of the three lidars, the data were scant since a large amount of data had to be rejected in postprocessing. This difficulty is surmountable in the future by employing a robust control system for coordinated scanning.